#well we are never in danger in that state once we achieve it

[gonzodangerfeels]

I have a direct connection to the core of the technology.

Their only galactic response was serious 26

[knightbeng]

RWBY and Neurodiversity

Ive been thinking about this for a while but resisted posting until Volume 9 ended. Mainly to see how Ruby’s ascension would resolve, because I knew it would impact how I felt about this. 

Also this is long. Like seriously long. Once I started it got out of hand. But I feel it is all Important. 

I will start by saying that I am autistic, and I have friends and family who are both autistic and or neurodiverse. I also understand that a lot of this maybe subtext or head cannon, and at times deeply personal. I also get that this will never be made cannon or had ever even be intended by CRWBY. But, I cannot escape some of the connections I have made or how I relate to some characters. 

Right with that out of the way

RUBY IS AUTISTIC, or at least somewhere on the spectrum.

From the first volume I could see some of the traits coming through. From the use of headphones and music separating her from the world around her. Her over exuberance when is excited or interested in something. Right up to her passion/special interest in weapons and being a huntresses. This is not to lessen the other characters interests or passions, but Ruby’s is very much all consuming. She speaks about how she went over board on Crescent Rose’s design, and about how much she likes others designs. Including Jaune’s classic Crocea Mors. I cannot help but see my own love of history. That took me to university and beyond. Like Ruby with any weapon, I love any history. 

Then there is her abilities in the classroom. Ruby is clearly a natural talent, but she is never shown to be a savant. She has issues keeping her attention in class and with the work load. Although I do understand that this can be put down to being jumped ahead and that Port n Oobleck’s class seem to have a similar effect on others. Much like me and some of my friends we had classes we loved but struggled to show it though other academic difficulties. 

The early volumes also cover her struggles to connect with people. Such as wanting to be with Yang, instead of meeting new people. Or with Weiss and hers rocky relationship, early on. Countered with the open acceptance by Jaune, who sees a fellow outsider. Although for different reasons. Her own comment of wanting “normal knees” is something I think everyone one with autism can relate too. The wish to be just like everyone else and not stand out. That, at times, can be the greatest wish living in a world you struggle with. 

Then there’s the events post Beacon. They show a defining personality trait so common in autism. Her unshakeable moral centre. It can be hard to describe but it is well documented the autistic people have a very strong sense of justice and morals. Although obliviously not all the same morals. We are all have a different in outlook, just like everybody else. Ruby’s is based around helping people and making the world a better place. 

This is shown most strongly in her mission to walk to Haven. Even if most would say she is too young and it is too dangerous, for 4 unqualified huntsmen/huntress. They went and got hurt and burnt out along the way. Yes others went with her but would they have gone without her taking the lead. It shows a lack of self awareness that can be common as autistic people. To the point that they burn themselves out pushing to achieve things, without taking time for themselves. 

The other massive tell is her reaction to Ironwood. She has no dislike for him and shares his goal. But, his actions and plans go against her moral code. So again she sticks to her morals and works to stop him, while rescuing Atlas, at the same time. Yes others agreed that he was in the wrong, but would the likes of Winter changed their allegiance, without someone like Ruby offering an alternative.

Then we get to the biggest thing for me and the reason I felt I had to put my feelings down. Volume 9. While Ruby’s mental state and issues during this volume are very much based in trauma, lose and depression. That a lot of people can relate too, not just the autistic community. I cannot help but think about what she says before she drinks the tea. “I don’t want to be me anymore.” I have never related to a character more. Or be triggered more, for that matter. When I spoke to some of my autistic friends about it, it was something all of us had felt at one moment or another, to varying degrees. See we all know we cannot separate autism from the rest of our person. Most of us don’t even know what is an autistic trait and what is just us. But, I need to make this clear, none of us want a cure or to be changed. More the reaction was things I have felt at times when at your lowest a small voice screams that would it be easier if you weren’t you. 

Then there is Ruby’s ascension. After episode 9 when it was put to her she could change to be someone else, and people where discussing how she might change, if you see Ruby though the lens I’ve described it can be harmful.

Now I don’t want it to sound like I’m accusing CRWBY of not thinking about this. Thousands of people watch RWBY and can be effected by it in ways they would not think, not having that person’s experience. They are telling a story, and that story includes these real moments. 

Back to the point. Telling someone with autism or that person thinking they have to change to achieve or be accepted is a horrible experience. And it is something almost all autistic people experience. It is the reason we learn to mask and hide who we are. The world tells you that it is what’s expected of you. So when in episode 10 Ruby chooses herself and is then reminded that her friends accept her for being herself. It is powerful. Again I understand that this can relate to a lot of things; imposter syndrome, being gay or race issues. But, as someone who is autistic this is how I saw it. I personally have only had 2 people truly accept me like this. 

PENNY is the only other character I see as on the spectrum. Obviously a lot of her character traits are put down to her being a robot. But as Ruby says to her does that make her any less a real person. In fact the relationship between Penny and Ruby is a massive indicator for me of them being on the spectrum. When they first team Ruby asks if she was just like Penny to Weiss. It is not uncommon for autistic people to spot each other quickly, whether they realise it or not. Then when they meet up at the tournament, both feel no need to hide who they are. Ruby is openly dorky in asking Penny about Ciel’s knowledge and Penny doesn’t hide her excitement to see her friend. 

This is repeated multiple times when Penny returns in Atlas. Each time they see each other they share and communicate in away that they don’t with others. Such as hugging Ruby first and asking do all hugs feel like this, before hugging others. She knows that Ruby will be honest and non-judge mental. In fact we can see how non autistic people react when Penny is her over excited, unmasked, self in front of them. Winter stopping Penny bouncing is a typical action from neurotypicals. Even if it comes from a place of care and concern, with no wish to harm, as I believe Winters was. But it is something neither Penny or Ruby would do to the other. 

Then there is Penny’s morals. She is clearly guided to help her friends, people and world. At great detriment to herself. She becomes the hero of Mantel, protecting those who can not protect themselves, and when others will not. Much like Ruby she will risk it all for her sense of justice. 

One of the most impactful parts of Penny’s story is that of virus. I didn’t even think of this, my friend pointed it out when I spoke to her about it. But her Penny is controlled by the virus, she felt it worked as a metaphor for Applied Behaviour Analysis or ABA. Which if you haven’t heard of it, is a horrible thing to experience as someone with autism. Much like conversion therapy for the LGBTQ+ community this works by trying to train you out of being autistic and make you more accepting for others. Penny is pushed towards things she doesn’t want to do and most horribly to do harm. She becomes a tool to the villains, which can also mirror how some savant autistics are treated. There skills used for a “greater good” instead of them being in control of their own destiny. 

Now I want to move on to discuss Ships. These are all Ruby related and while I’m not saying these should be cannon or that they are over other ships, cannon or otherwise, but I feel they work at different points in Ruby’s story when viewed as discussed above. 

LADYBUG is the first ship I gravitated towards in the show. For me Blake was the first character to simply accept Ruby as who she was. This does stem from Blake’s own wish to be accepted for who is she and not what she is, but it is still important to outwardly show it to others as well. I understand that a lot of people find this to be a boring ship, I think that’s because it lacks drama, but for me the idea of someone new accepting you without question or concern is powerful. That is why I like the ship. It is comforting and has little interpersonal drama between the two. More mutually assured care and concern. In fact that is why they talk so little in the show. They understand and trust each other. One of the many reasons people have Blake as a deputy team leader, during and after the events of Volume 9, is this mutual trust. 

NUTS AND DOLTS maybe the most loved ship these days. Outside of Bumblebee, that is. As I have already gone into Penny and Ruby’s relationship as being very neurodiverse. They are themselves with each other, and communicate more easily with the other. Although I would add this is the only one I see as asexual, but I think both characters can be seen as both asexual and not. Just when they are together, they are asexual. Plus after events in Volumes 8 & 9 I think we can call it as close to cannon as possible. 

WHITEROSE i find the most interesting. At the start of the series I never got it. Weiss was mean and uncaring to Ruby. Why would Ruby ever being interested romantically in Weiss. But then as the show progress I understood it. Weiss is just as bigger dork as Ruby but due to reasons outside of autism, she had to mask this. Seeing Ruby act as she wishes and not be punished for it, as she might have been, lets her drop the mask. Two big things outside of the main show solidified this for me. The first is Ice Queendom. We see inside Weiss’ mind and how she has locked away her childish side for protection. Going as far as to do the same thing to Ruby. The second is that I was recently introduced to The Owl House. Luz and Amity’s relationship has a lot of similarities to Weiss and Ruby. Both start with a cold and unforgiving person who is thawed by the loveable dolt. Bringing out there more natural playful side, originally hidden away to protect themselves. Now after the loss of Penny and Weiss being so accepting of Ruby in the ever after. She is the first to call her name when she returns and doesn’t ask any questions, after all. I can see it becoming cannon. If there is time. 

Thank you for reading this I know it is long but I felt I never saw much discussion about RWBY from this perspective. 

[clownakai]

lowkey curious as to how you think rei's gonna go about the revelation that conan and shinichi are the same person and reveal to conan/shinichi that he Knows now

Hi anon! Apologies for the delay fjdkf I've been trying to lock in for my exams

I feel like there are a few options tbh, but it kind of depends on how (and if) Gosho intends to enforce factors like Rum's impatience. Rei has clearly been stalling on investigating Kudou Shinichi for a while, so I doubt Rum would be okay with even more radio silence from Bourbon after the nth warning about wasting time. If Rum really is someone to be taken seriously, then we should see Rei get a move on and either try to lie to the guy (who may or may not bust him) or finally give him something about Shinichi.

We might also need to consider that this last flashback prompted both of them to remember each other, so we could end up seeing Conan agonize over what Rei is going to do about it since I don't think lying to him the way he does with Ran would be of much help (also Rei has all the resources of the NPA on his side. He could bust Shinichi no problem). I don't know whether he'd rather go up to Rei and come clean himself tbh, since that's never really been Conan's M.O. re: his secret. It feels unlikely.

I guess Rei could choose not to say anything to Conan while juggling the lovely task of feeding enough information about Kudou Shinichi to Rum and Edogawa Conan to the other guy to keep them relatively appeased and buy some more time, but at that point what would that achieve? Yeah he bought himself maybe a few weeks if we really stretch it, and then... what? What does he do with that time if he can't try to plan around the issue along with the interested party? I don't think this option would work very well, especially since it basically makes the entire reveal completely useless (I'm aware that this kind of thing has happened before, but even then it usually sparked something else, some new subplot we could latch on. As it is I don't really see any way to justify Rei avoiding a confrontation with Conan since the plot itself is right there). I might also be completely off about this lmao

If we went with a more ruthless Rei approach, he could really just say nothing to Conan and give both his "employers" what he's found about the target. But that would literally mean taking the lid off the whole thing, immediately putting Conan and every other character (both major and secondary) in danger, which very much reads like an endgame situation to me. Given the current state of things, with so many unrelated loose ends that still need to be addressed, it's a bit too harsh of a tonal shift for Gosho imo. He's never given off the impression that he'd upset the status quo so suddenly and irreversibly.

Personally though, I think it would be really funny if Rei did the math and proceeded not to confront Conan directly, but to show up at the Kudous' again and be like "Hey what the hell is up with your 17yo why does he look like a first grader now" (heavily paraphrased), and then go from there, because I'm sick and tired of Gosho gatekeeping what happened during the first tea party and making a second one happen is a nice excuse for us to get a flashback to the first one (where we might see to what degree the Kudous may be willing to cooperate with Rei and vice versa if they ended up being included in whatever negotiations took place back then). Conan can later be called to join in, and then we would get the exchange that sparked this dumbass idea in the first place: Rei going "does the FBI know about this :/", Conan answering that of course they don't (he's only lying a little bit about Akai-san, okay. Can you blame him), and Rei being like "I fucking knew it. Once again I am the superior guy"

And with that out of the way they can all brainstorm how to deal with the double threat (as much as it pains me to say, Yusaku being there would indeed be really helpful) <3

Tbh I'm sure there are a lot of much more accurate guesses out there about how this is going to go fkdkffks I rarely focus much on speculation and theory crafting myself as I prefer to analyze what's already been written, but thinking about this was a nice change of pace :3 my apologies for turning things into silly shenanigans once again btw I simply cannot help myself

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

more thoughts on book 7

The more I think about it, the less sense it makes 😭 so I’m going to get my thoughts out here before they drive me up the wall…

Disclaimer: it’s entirely possible that future updates for book 7 will address or remedy the issues/questions I pose in this post; I’m just laying down what my thoughts are now just to get them out there.

***BOOK 7 SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT!!**

Alright, so it has been well-established by this point that Malleus is super OP, one of the top 5 strongest mages in all of Twisted Wonderland, may draw his power from nature so his magic is never-ending, blah, blah, blah. But like… doesn’t that, in of itself, create a bunch of narrative problems around powerscaling???

The first thing I think of is, “Malleus is one of the top 5 strongest mages”. That’s a VERY specific thing to explicitly state. I’m assuming that Malleus is not #1/THE strongest mage, since otherwise the characters would just say, “the” strongest mage in the world. (In fact, his grandmother is said to have power that far exceeds Malleus's own.) So… like… what’s stopping the other top 4 strongest mages from banding together to take him down (once they theoretically get alerted/contacted about this potentially WORLD ENDING event)? If they’re all located on Sage’s Island then maybe they’ve all fallen asleep and can’t help, but isn’t it statistically improbable that all of the world’s strongest people live on the same island???

Continuing off that point, a common theory is that Maleficia (Malleus’s grandmother) may also be one of the top 5 strongest mages since the entire Draconia line is powerful. B-But then why hasn’t she come in to bonk her grandson on the head? 😭 We can’t really say “oh, she’s busy with royal duties” because HER grandson is posing a danger to everyone in Twisted Wonderland; I think she can spare a few moments to attend to this crisis??? And it’s not like they can’t get in contact with Briar Valley (in spite of their lack of technological advances); Idia’s parents literally contacted them for help with breaking through Malleus’s barrier on Sage’s Island, and Briar Valley actually responded—but they even with their help, they could not bypass the magical field. The story did not say that Maleficia herself was involved in this process but COME ON, she’s the darn queen and it is her own family member that is causing this issue (Mr. Shroud said “the royal family” tried to help, and since Malleus said Maleficia is his only living relative… yeah, process of elimination). If she’s as strong as we think she is (ADDENDUM: Malleus and Sebek say in a chat that Maleficia is WAY more powerful than Malleus is, even in her old age), couldn’t she just waltz right in without feeling a thing (like how Malleus casually walked into the performance venue in book 5, completely bypassing OB Vil’s poisonous mist barrier). It’s just all so confusing…

Another weird thing is??? How can Malleus manipulate space-time in such a wide-reaching area… and expand forth from that… Is that the blot doing it for him??? In addition to his own insane magical powers + pulling more energy from the earth to fuel it???? I don’t know, it seems kind of bullshit how big of a gap there is between him and all the other plebs who can’t bend time and space to their will 😂 Even back in Endless Halloween Night (ie the last time he was shown manipulating time and space) it was just for the (relatively) small area that is NRC campus. I believe it was also stated that he had help from ghosts to achieve this…? (Or was that just help with the party? I don’t know, at this point I try to block out memories of Endless Halloween Night as much as possible.) It feels like it really breaks power-scaling and makes Malleus almost God-like with his powers (which, personally, isn’t for me).

I guess it makes him a formidable “end game” boss, but there’s a LOT of suspension of disbelief that comes with that. The circumstances seem very much stacked against the NRC students and the rest of the world; I wonder how they’ll exactly defeat Malleus if the high tech, magical, and physical forces cannot so much as breech his barrier. Not even confront Malleus and attempt to fight him, just even reaching him is a challenge. So how are they going to pull this big save off and get someone who is so indignant about getting his way (even before OBing) to reverse his curse? (I swear if it’s the power of friendship I’ll be 😬 because if ANY OB boy should face the consequences of his actions to the fullest degree, it should be the one who endangered the lives of not only students but of everyone in Twisted Wonderland 😭) Book 7 has been building up the hype for the ending so well so far, but as the conflict keeps escalating and Malleus falls deeper into despair I cannot help but get jittery about a potentially lukewarm punishment for all the shit he caused…

[blazehedgehog]

Recently I’ve been playing, and loving, Penny’s Big Breakaway and it’s made me realize how stiff official Sonic games have felt since Sonic Heroes. It feels fantastic to chain moves together as Penny. While I don’t want a Sonic game to play exactly like Penny’s Big Breakaway I do want to enter a similar flow state while playing. Sonic Team seems allergic to making any gameplay/movement options that allows for flow… do you have any idea why?

That's the 65-million-dollar question, isn't it.

Several times over the years I've pushed back on the idea when people say Sonic "can't work in 3D." Of course Sonic could work in 3D, it just takes the right team to build it. The concepts and principals of a Sonic game are not exclusive to 2D. You can build a game on those ideals in 3D and it will work just fine.

If you go back and watch my "How Do We Fix Sonic?" video, I also put forth the idea that a lot of 3D Sonic games are the way they are because Sonic Team does not trust the player. To some degree, rightfully so: there's a growing pile of one-level fangame demos where some college kid tries to do 3D Sonic "right" and while a lot of them are okay, I think it makes for an easy case to see why official Sonic games have so much scripting in them.

When you're going that fast, and you're that acrobatic, it becomes very easy to make some incredibly dumb mistakes. It's not that nobody can play that game, it's that a game like that might struggle to achieve mass market appeal. Sonic is, first and foremost, a pick-up-and-play game. I've been thinking of that term a lot lately since the release of Ring Racers, and it basically means a game you don't have to learn. A game where you turn it on and know everything about it instinctively.

The entire pitch for Sonic was a game you could play with just one button. Easy to start playing, difficult to master over the long term. It's a tough balancing act. Especially when you're aiming for a game that a 10 year old can play.

When I was 10 years old, I couldn't even stay on the road in Super Mario Kart. That's what we're working with here.

So they make Sonic into this guided experience with heavy scripting where they can insulate the player from making dangerous mistakes. Lots of spectacle and minimal friction.

Now you add in the pressure of deadlines and budgets. A fangame like Sonic GT can spend five years as an alpha still figuring out its level design, tweaking its mechanics, before finally releasing a four or five level "game." Whereas an official Sonic game probably has to make a pitch, get to alpha, nail all of its controls and mechanics down relatively early. Probably within the first year of development at least, if not within a period of months.

Then they have to build a game for those mechanics. And, with being so scripted and directed, they can't deviate much. Once they're locked in, they don't have a lot of wiggle room to redefine what the game plays like.

That even goes for researching better ways to do things. I don't think these guys were given much of a chance to stop and think. Sonic Adventure 1 came out in October 1998 in Japan, that team moved to America to work on the September 1999 United States release, Sonic Adventure 2 was announced probably not even six months later, it came out within 18 months of its announcement just in time for that team to crank on the super rushed Gamecube port, which segued into an equally rushed port of the original Sonic Adventure, then their first multiplatform release on a third-party engine just a year or two later, followed by a sequel less than two years later, and another sequel less than two years after that...

Running and running and running and never stopping... and, well, I guess this is just what Sonic in 3D plays like now, right? That's the precedent. Sales are relying on not alienating people who are used to the way these games play.

Plus, it also depends on who within Sega is involved. I tend to agree that we shouldn't pin decisions all on one guy anymore for how many developers are actually involved in a game (200+ for Sonic Frontiers), but it's hard to deny that in the Morio Kishimoto era of 3D Sonic games, they've made a dedicated to effort to lock Sonic down and script his movements more than ever. Starting in Sonic Colors all the way up to the most recent Sega of Japan games, player movement is more restricted and automatically controlled than any other Sonic games to come before it.

Even Sonic Frontiers, for all of its open zone gameplay, once you touch a rail or one of those floating platforms, it tries to restrict and control you as much as humanly possible. Helicopter parent game design. "Do it my way exactly, or stop playing the game."

And I think all of this just collides with itself and makes a big ugly mess. I think it's telling Sonic Unleashed is such a cult favorite given its the closest thing we've had to a decent reboot of mechanics, even though it's still trapped in a lot of that scripted spectacle design.

[enchi-elm]

Location FAQ: The Frontier

[for ambience: listen to a forest walk here]

How would you describe the Frontier?

Apfelessig (AE): [weak laugh] You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sheep and I have very similar but subtly different interpretations of the Frontier. I guess a better question is how would we individually describe the Frontier? And what ideas did we want it to represent?

ASheepsLife (SL): Insert “knocking over water and sprinting away” meme here. Not to over-mythologise our own creation, but I find it genuinely hard to picture the Frontier. I suppose one could call it an actualisation of the US-American frontier myth, but one that doesn’t render it real; a place that does but doesn’t exist. No wonder the bastard’s so elusive.

AE: At one point I was thinking of the Frontier as the space between the waterline and the shoreline of the Connecticut coast of the Long Island Sound. Like–this kind of infinitely slim line that somehow expands into this alternate realm. And then in some drafts of the story, it felt like the realm was smack dab in the middle of the Sound and you reached it by getting lost on a ship or on the land… It was never really a defined geographical area, for sure.

Who lives in the Frontier?

AE: Hah, so “lives” is maybe not the correct verb. “Roams”, maybe. “Dwells” might apply to one or two of them. It’s a terrain for undead, undying, unkillable, and immortal persons, as well as one who was dead and came back and another who was reborn.

SL: We do cover the whole spectrum of possible states of (non-)existence, of "no-longer", "maybe", "once again", "never-were" living. In its nature as a space of liminality, of elusive boundaries and boundary crossing, I think the very inability to define is a central part of the whole unsettling, disturbing point.

AE: At its simplest, we’ve got a whole cast of different mythologies. Witches, werewolves, ghouls, etc. Everything that goes bump in the night–but we’ve created a very dangerous and transient place for them to share space.

SL: And I think it’s not entirely clear, even to us, to what extent the Frontier and the war are entangled. In what sense do the dwellers, shall we call them, of this realm have a hand in its shaping in their perpetuating of the war? Obviously different characters have different relationships to this (supposedly) endless conflict, but I think they all are in some form or other entangled with the very existence of this place.

Are any of them ever getting out of there?

AE: We joked a lot about making it like Hotel California, the song, you know: “You can check out any time you like but you can never leave”. And there’s a bit of ambiguity around the Witch and whether he can leave. He seems to occupy a niche no one else does and we often discussed whether he was in fact a go-between of the worlds of the living and the undead.

SL: Interestingly enough, I think that would make him a lynchpin for this world, bringing it from a metaphorical place to somewhere you can actually go - at least if you’re undead. Perhaps paradoxically, it would lend presence to a world that is otherwise so hard to pin down. I can’t really speak to whether that’s a desirable thing or not. It’s all about the ambiguity, really.

AE: As for the rest… if they’re not stuck there by some external force, it’s their own actions and ideas that keep them tethered to this liminal space. But ultimately it’s fuzzy and unclear. Like so much of what we’re being told, we’re not sure who’s lying and who’s telling the truth, and who even knows the truth anyway, and if there’s only one version of the truth or several. Ambiguity was always important to us. It features in both of our storytelling heavily.

SL: Also, getting out implies the possibility of lasting change; is that even achievable for something that by definition requires being perpetually upheld?

____________________________________________

Read the story on AO3 here. // Read the DVD Commentary on AO3 here.

____________________________________________

Search the tag #The Lighthouse AU on @enchi-elm’s and @meretriciouslyloquacious’s blogs for the complete experience as it goes on.

Stay up to date on Apfel’s Blog // Stay up to date on Sheep’s Blog

[thegigilwriter]

21 | “Danger & Star, Rooster & Angel” — Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw x Female Mitchell OC

Summary. 26-year-old Lucy Asa Mitchell did not know what was in store for her when she first bumped into Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw. After an instant mutual connection followed by a sweet whirlwind romance that swept both their feet, Lucy found herself being immersed deeper into Bradley’s world of the Navy, F-14s, and deployments. What she didn’t expect was finding was the answer to an elusive part of her past — the identity of her long-lost father.

Chapter Summary. A mysterious letter shows up on Lucy's front door, and it changes everything.

Masterlist

Keywords/Warnings: ANGST, swearing, arguments, depressed Lucy, and anxious Bradley, reliving past traumas.

21 | That Day ⛈️

January 13, 2021

“Yani.ˮ

His broad shoulders were turned to her as she passed the threshold into his bedroom. The ceiling was painted a dark indigo, meticulously painted with constellations. The walls— a pristine white, was occupied with a strip of cork boards, upon which diagrams and post-its with red yarn weaving in between the multicolored pins. Two tall ebony bookshelves stood at the back of the room. The window in between them streaming what little light allowed by the dark sky outside. Heavy rain and rumbling thunder took its course.

“Ford, please.ˮ

Crack boom!

“You know just as well as I do what this means Asa,ˮ he uttered. “I canʼt say ‘no.ʼˮ

“Donʼt give me that!ˮ She spat, closing the door behind her as she reached for his towering shoulder, making him face her. “Donʼt give me that! You promised—ˮ His stormy hazel eyes gazed upon her, and his lips were pushed into a line. He gathered his dark locks in exasperation.

“What do you want me to do, Lucy?ˮ He sighed. “Hmm? Do you seriously think that I can turn this away. I may be the only one—“

“Oh donʼt be so full of yourself!ˮ She shot. “Celeste is just as a good of a detective as you are and you arenʼt the only person in the running for this bust—“

“I am now,ˮ he told her averting himself towards the suitcase on his mattress. “Celeste stepped aside and I took it.ˮ

“Have you lost your mind?!ˮ Lucy exclaimed. “Whatever you may think, this isnʼt just puzzles and mind games anymore Ford, youʼre going to be rubbing shoulders with these people! Actual psychopaths! Youʼve really lost it if you think you can just leave mom in the state that sheʼs in—“

“Like you care about mom!ˮ He roared, slamming the bag shut. “The only reason you want me to stay is because of that futile expedition youʼve been invited to go to—“

“It is not stupid!ˮ She replied fiercely. “And if I didnʼt care about mom I wouldnʼt be standing here— begging for you to stay! She needs you Yani, I need you. You have a choice here—“

“Donʼt be dramatic,ˮ he scoffed, turning to face her. “Itʼs pathetic when you do that. If youʼre going to prove a point at least do it through a lens of calm and logic. Of the two opportunities between us right now, whose is the most important? A whale hunt? Or arresting the people behind the Avery killings — fathers who should have never left their families!ˮ

“Like you of all people care about family! I know you, Ford.ˮ Lucy retorted walking towards the bookshelf, reading of his years of achievements in the force. “Medal of Valor, Medal of Honor, numerous MPDs!ˮ

“When you were off in New York, who did you think had to take care of mom? She worried about you every single day since youʼve join the force— and who do you think had to take the brunt of that?!ˮ She demanded, tears streaking down her cheeks. “When she was diagnosed? Who was here? When all the treatments began? Where were you? You were nowhere! I have given way for you for everything since we were kids! Do you know what that feels like, you robot of a person? Itʼs always me who had to adjust to you just because mom says so, and Iʼm sick of it! This research trip is a once in a lifetime opportunity and here you are again!ˮ

“Youʼre immature and selfish for thinking of yourself in a time like this,ˮ he hissed. “Do you ever think thatʼs why mom prefers me to you?ˮ

Lucy gasped quietly, her chest fluttering and her throat constricted with suppressed cries.

“You know what?ˮ She whispered dangerously. “Go! I hope you find what you're looking for and never come back!ˮ

“Maybe I will,ˮ he said quietly, his eyes gleaming. “Then I wouldnʼt have to put up with you.ˮ

Crack boom!

October 7, 2023

Lying on her side, Lucy looked outside of her bedroom window. The day was calm. Too calm, that it made her question whether or not she was stuck in some kind of simulation — that she was asleep the entire time and she was in another dream. The skies were clear and blue, the sun spread its gentle rays across the land, and the seas seemed tamed. She turned on her other side, towards the silent darkness of her room.

Ding!

Lazily reaching hand towards her night table, she retrieved her phone. She scrolled the length of her notifications on her home screen.

Sam Trace

Hey! You feeling alright? Dr. Foster said youʼve come down with something, but I know you donʼt get sick much. You havenʼt come in for three days now and Chen and I are this close to carrying out our secret plot annihilate Diego once and for all.

Sent Yesterday 10:53 PM

But seriously? Are you okay?

Sent Yesterday 10:56 PM

Missed Call From Frankie

Frankie

You missed wine night. Are you ok? Sent 2:08 AM

@itsnat_phoenix sent a reel

lol this is so hangman x rooster

Missed Call From Celeste Diaz

@itsnat_phoenix sent a reel

inspo for girls night?!

Celeste Diaz

Lucy, please call me Sent 4:59 AM

Daddy ❤️

Hey Angel, are you still not feeling well? I miss you. I wish youʼd let me come over. Sent 5:03 AM

Missed Call From Daddy ❤️

Daddy ❤️

I forgot youʼd still be asleep. Iʼm sorry if I disturbed you. Please let me know youʼre okay when you get this. Can I at least come over to bring you a care package? Sent 5:07 AM

Daddy ❤️

[Image]

Sunrises remind me of our mornings together. Thinking of you 🥰🥰🥰 Sent 5:10 AM

Ding!

Dr. Agnes Foster

Lucy, I understand if you canʼt come in today as well. Just let me know. Your situation will be at my discretion. Iʼm really sorry about the news. I still hope it turns out for the best. Weʼre all right behind you, remember that. Sent Just Now

A tear slipped past her cheek and wet the pillow beneath her head. She raised herself slowly, her head was spinning and her limbs felt numb. She felt as heavy as a storm cloud, one gust of wind and all tears would hail down and fill the seas — thats is if she had any more to shed. She could feel the oil on her scalp mark her fingertips and the rough feel of her skin beneath her palms. She walked towards the living room — not minding the unmade bed, the scattered albums, the unkempt pillows and quilts on the living room rug, the soiled laundry overwhelming the basket, the stack of dishes in the sink, and the disorderly bathroom. A sigh escaped her lips as she felt the sudden urge to surrender to the floor. She closed her eyes, succumbing to the prison of her own mind.

As Bradley disembarked from a routine flight, he walked across the tarmac with Mickey and Reuben for lunch. Conversing heartily about the ideal weather conditions, a few of the dogfighting tactics they practiced earlier, and Mickeyʼs ex- girlfriend, Nat caught Reubenʼs eye as she walked towards them in long strides.

“Phoenix!ˮ He called out.

“Scat, the both of you,ˮ she replied. “I need a word with Rooster.ˮ

Mickey patted Bradleyʼs shoulder before joining Reuben, leaving him and Nat by themselves.

“Whatʼs up?ˮ He nodded.

“Have you heard from Lucy, yet?ˮ Nat asked him, her brow creased.

“Iʼve been texting her for the past three days, and sheʼs been replying so far—“

“How so?ˮ She pressed.

“She hasnʼt been much of a chatterbox if thatʼs what youʼre asking. She hasnʼt been feeling well... ˮ

“Have you tried checking on her?ˮ

“I tried coming over but sheʼs been putting me off,ˮ he sighed. “Wait— whatʼs this about?ˮ

“Itʼs just that Samʼs worried,ˮ Nat hinged her fingers on her neck exasperatedly. “And I think he has good reason to. Did Lucy ever tell you she was up for a promotion?ˮ

Bradley nodded.

“Well her boss was going to announce who got it three days ago and she didnʼt show up for work,ˮ she replied. “Plus, Sam says that they apparently have a really important dive today.ˮ

“And she wouldnʼt miss it,ˮ Bradley sighed. “I couldnʼt calm her down when she found out that she missed a whale song recording on her day off. Angel has serious FOMO.ˮ

“And get this,ˮ Nat reaffirmed. “She missed wine night with Francesca and she never texted or called her back.ˮ

“Howʼd you know that?ˮ

“‘We text, Bradley.ˮ Nat stared at him as if he grew a second head. Bradley raised his hands in his defense. Hands on his hips, he stared off into the distance for a brief moment before Nat snapped her fingers in his periphery.

“Hey,ˮ she told him. “Look... I didnʼt mean to stir up anything. Everything might be fine and Lucy might have her own reasons—“

“But what if she didnʼt and she was in trouble and I wasnʼt there?ˮ He ran a hand through his locks as he shook his head. “Ever since this relationship started... Iʼve always felt that there was this wedge between us that I canʼt get through— sheʼs still shutting me out and I donʼt know what I can do to let myself in...ˮ

“Lucy adores you Bradley,ˮ she told him firmly. “I know it. If she has something that sheʼs keeping for herself, itʼs not about you. Keep your cool.ˮ

“Keep your cool.ˮ

Bradley tried. He really did. He hopped into his Bronco as soon as he was dismissed and set a course straight to her apartment. But as he drove home, he couldn't help that his grip on the wheel were turning his knuckles white or as he ran through two stop lights on the way. He was worried — but he also felt possessed.. for the answers he had had been looking for. Something instinctive and deeply rooted in his psyche — a scar that never really faded.

Why wonʼt she just tell me?

Does she not trust me?

Sheʼs shutting me out.

What did I do wrong?

I donʼt wanna lose her.

Iʼm fucking terrified.

“Daddy wonʼt be coming home soon Bradley,ˮ he remembered his mother say to him, as he wobbled into his parentʼs bedroom as a child. Caroleʼs eyes were gleaming and cheeks were flushed. She was holding a Hawaiian print shirt to her chest before she scooped him up in his arms. Bradley remembered staring at the flowers as she held him close.

“Heʼs okay.. heʼs just gonna be gone for a really long time, okay?ˮ

“Are you okay, mama?ˮ

“Iʼm okay... Iʼm okay...ˮ

And then he was a fresh grad, exasperated in the middle of the night and slicked in sweat with a hand in his hair and a phone to his ear.

“What the actual hell, Mav?!ˮ

“Iʼm sorry, Bradley. Youʼre not ready.ˮ

“So you go ahead and set me four fucking years back?!ˮ He roared. “Why the fuck did you pull my papers?!ˮ

“Iʼm sorry, Bradley.ˮ He repeated. “I canʼt tell you, please. Look I have to go— Iʼm depl—“

“This call has been disconnected.ˮ

As Bradley walked up the stairs to her apartment, a sense of dread came down upon him — it wrenched his insides when he turned his key in the knob and as he stepped into her apartment. He gazed upon the chaos, shrouded in an unusually dim space. He discarded his boots and slid off his flight suit.

“Angel?ˮ He called out as he went towards the kitchen. The dining table was littered with what seems to be various documents and coffee mugs. A wayward envelope caught his eye and he lifted it up to his periphery. It was pristinely white, compared to the other articles of paper on the table and the least disturbed. There was nothing, except the sender and receiverʼs address.

From: Celeste Diaz

NYPD 99th Precinct

65 6th Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11217

“Bradley?ˮ

He hastily folded the envelope and tucked it into his back pocket as Lucy emerged from her bedroom. When he finally beheld his figure, a small gasp parted his lips slightly. The figure before him stood sulking in a thick, cream sweater with dark eyes, hollow cheeks and matted hair. Her shoulders were slumped over as if bearing a burden, and her lips were dry and scarred.

“W-What are you doing, here?ˮ She snapped him out of his trance.

“What am I doing here?ˮ Bradley repeated incredulously to her. “Angel, what happened? It looks like you havenʼt slept or eaten in days!ˮ

“Youʼre not supposed to be here,ˮ she breathed. “I told you to leave me alone Bradley, please.ˮ

“But why?ˮ He said exasperatedly. “Are you sick? Is it contagious—“

“Please, Bradley...ˮ she sighed, her fingers intertwining with strands of her hair.

“No Lucy,ˮ he walked towards her, viewing her face more clearly in what little light peered from the shutters of her living room window. Her eyes were glistening and her olive complexion dull and pale. “I can't do this anymore. All the running and dodging— it has to stop. We are in a relationship, and I am committed to you.ˮ

He took a step closer. She casted her gaze at his feet as he gently held her by her shoulders. What was once so soft and warm felt frail and cold beneath his grasp.

“Look,ˮ he said quietly. “I know the way things are in your family is to push your problems and your feelings away and lock it in a box. But you're allowed to be vulnerable with me, Lucy. I meant it when I said that I wasnʼt going away. I'm in love with you.ˮ

Lucy stopped breathing. Her eyes slowly met his and then she tucked them away, shrugging his hands from her person.

“Please donʼt say that,ˮ she croaked. “I beg of you.ˮ

Bradleyʼ stopped breathing, taking a step back from the impact of her reaction.

Something weighed down on his chest, and it was getting harder to breathe.

“Keep your cool.ˮ

“Keep your cool.ˮ

“Keep your cool.ˮ

Lucy walked towards her bedroom, embracing her own shoulders with her back towards him.

“You canʼt possibly be in love with me Bradley,ˮ she whispered. “You just canʼt. Y-you—“ Lucy sighed, pausing. “You have to go.ˮ

A beat. What was once a lead-weight burden on his chest instantly turned into what felt like a searing scar — raw and bloody.

“People care about you, Lucy.ˮ Bradley told her. “They are going to worry about you whether you like it or not. Francesca, Sam, Nat, me— Itʼs not fair when you push us away like this. Itʼs selfish and immature — and Iʼm sick of it.ˮ

“Youʼre immature and selfish for thinking of yourself in a time like this,ˮ he hissed.

“Fuck you,ˮ Lucy spat bitterly.

Bradley stared at her. Lucy has never sworn before. Ever.

“Lucy—“

“You have no idea,ˮ she glared at him. “You have no idea what youʼre talking about.ˮ

“Of course I donʼt!ˮ Bradley laughed derisively. “You donʼt tell me anything!ˮ

“Get out,ˮ she looked him in the eye. “I donʼt need you here and I donʼt want you here.ˮ

“With pleasure,ˮ Bradley shot back. “Iʼm done putting up with you.ˮ

Lucy didnʼt look back until she heard the faint rustle as he donned his flight suit, the thud of his boots, the clatter of his keys, and the slam of the door.

“Maybe I will,ˮ he said quietly, his eyes gleaming. “Then I wouldnʼt have to put up with you.ˮ

She slid against a nearby wall, suddenly feeling faint. She brought her hands to her lips swiftly, suppressing a sudden cry that had lodged itself in her throat. Her gasps were deep, tears unending, and whimpers resounding...

On the other side of the door, Bradley had pressed an ear against it. He didnʼt know when his cheek got so wet — he only paid mind to it when he pressed a finger against the scarred skin. His vacant stare turned to the sky, grey and melancholy and looming with clouds full of rain. Earlier it had been perfect flying weather. In the 40 years that he had been alive, it still astounded Bradley how everything could change so quickly. From major scale to minor. From perfect flying weather to conditions for calamities.

I hate writing this fight... but we all knew both of their traumas had to resurface one way or another 😢 I won't leave you hanging. Here's 22 The Detective

Taglist: @itsarabellebabes @harrysgothicbitch

Thank you for these beautiful people in my little taglist -- sorry for the hiatus (just graduated nursing school!) I really appreciate you ❤️

P.S. Chapters 22 and 23 are up too! Check out my pinned Masterlist if isn't linked here yet :))

[astarab1aze]

✾ Corpse Flower Symbolism - Kaede

I’ve come to associate Kaede with spider lilies pretty heavily, both aesthetically and symbolically. For a few reasons.

Funnily enough, about half the reason is that he’s pretty and dangerous. The whole ‘looks can be decieving’ bit. More than that, he’s a pretty flower in a field of dead ones, the only one still in bloom (considering his family). But I digress - this is just the reason that got things started.

The truth of it is, Kaede is overwhelmingly surrounded by death and made to be responsible for it - to herald it in. Moreover, his inability to protect Terin thereby resulting in his death weighs extraordinarily heavily on him, once more proving his inherent responsibility over death to himself. Proving Kurai and the rest of his clan right about him. It is his fault, it is his cross to bear, it is his blame to take. So there’s a psychological reason for my association. They all blame him, and he believes it, just as well as he kills curse users without remorse and flippantly leads his brother to his death. Just as his inability to sense the lingering ghosts and abominations remaining at the Shikabane estate had led to a second massacre. His inaction, his mediocrity, his absence and inability to ignore his pain - it’s why they’re all dead. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t, but too rigidly determined to fulfill his duty that he can’t help but blame himself too.

The flowers themselves only serve as signifiers of death, and the context needn’t always be violent. Just as he is crushed under the weight of unnecessary expectation, blame, and the like, he is ever and constantly in a state of mourning, especially following Terin’s death. He watched him die, avenged that death with prejudicial brutality, and he curses himself to this day about it, but the fact of the matter is - he is grieving, always. Grieving his brother. Grieving his lost childhood, pushed to become something he never wanted to be. Grieving his humanity, forced to sacrifice friendship and love for the sake of those who blame and blame and blame him. Grieving his mother, his uncles, cousins, aunts, grandparents, missing what too few memories he might still have of them. He saw it all, saw them away. Saw them die. Countless people, watched them all die. So many corpses laid at his feet. He survives as the spider lily, preventing the wild animals from further desecrating what remains of both his family and himself (in the greater scheme).

If we consider his technique set, and especially his relationship with the youkai, I’d think it’s probably fair to say that reincarnation would also play into this a bit. Since Divine Retribution - joint spell with the youkai - has the capacity to eviscerate a soul, remove it from the reincarnation cycle, it effectively goes against the whole ’ greeting of the newly departed to the next cycle ’ thing. It’s a direct contradiction, yes, but I think that’s probably what drives a lot of the above home. The youkai eats, absorbs, and forever halts souls in their cycles. There is no next life. There is no heaven. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. The youkai is an extremely powerful demon, brought on by the love of Kaede’s mother and unbridled hatred for their family, using him to achieve the ultimate goal of slaughtering every sorcerer involved with what happened to her and what they’d done to Kaede. Perhaps this means simply the ’ next life ’ is really just fuel for a viciously angry youkai. She adds a bit of a hellish edge to Kaede’s techniques as well, even moreso than before, so the ’ hell flower ’ thing…I’m just saying.

In a more, I guess, natural sense, the Shikabane estate was once completely overgrown with red spider lilies. So many of their own had died there, buried beneath the grounds, planting a brilliant field of spider lilies above them seemed as good a deterrent as any. Apt, feeding into their collective ego. Kaede, however, always hated them. He hated being reminded of just how much death their family had been responsible for, indulgent in, and how much they’d blamed him for. Likewise, Kurai understood this, so he tried his best to replace them with his favorites instead (he wasn’t always garbage), i.e. hydrangeas. However, he didn’t get them all, meaning death was still on the horizon for their family - which, yeah, definitely, if we consider the second massacre. But I also really think Kaede would probably, after having destroyed the Shikabane estate, have planted spider lilies there again. Prevent both animals and people from messing with it. One mass grave.

Hm, I dunno. I thought my thoughts were a bit better collected than this.

[meowww-ffxiv]

Yukinko's second lover who was colloquially known as The Big Deal by the Scions because he wasn't going to use the guy's mountain name in front of strangers--

Krile asked him about this guy as idle conversation while they were on their way around doing the feats, in Dawntrail. "There isn't much to say," Yukinko began, and then spent an hour just talking about him.

The last time Yukinko spent an hour talking about anything, he'd been taking bets about how faithfully he could recite Gaius van Baelsar's speech. If he was going to talk for more than 5-10 minutes about anything to anyone, it was probably going to be a paid service.

But this guy?

The Big Deal, according to Yukinko, had known him since childhood. Their mothers were friends -- one of the few friends Yukinko's mother had, considering she was kind of the village failgirl. "He always puffed up his cheeks and got upset when I would sneak away to play with the other non-Viera villages," Yukinko said. "Yet he would lose every bout whenever we tussle. I do not mean to say that he was going easy on me; the boy was just weaker. And then he would always run off, red-faced, not even once letting me help him up. How then was I to know he would be courting me?"

And it was an unnecessary courtship too, Yukinko said. While he'd been allowed back into his clan, Yukinko not staying for any long amount of time meant he wasn't a wood warder, and so was quite outside whatever customs and practices that would have applied to one such. Yet, The Big Deal insisted on dueling. And he was far stronger now, but come on. Yukinko spent forty years fighting. He lost at least a dozen bouts more.

He never stated what he intended, either. There was custom tied to that -- men who wished to court one another could only bring it up once they had proven superiority in combat -- but still. Really.

"Wow, he sounds so dramatic," Krile said. From what passing horrors she had known of Zenos, she believed Yukinko had some fatal peacock-y tastes in men. But she didn't say that.

The Big Deal had what Yukinko used a phrase from Nagxia to describe: "a paper-thin face". Though he appeared aloof and arrogant to most people despite his achievements, he would turn red and start stuttering whenever things weren't going his way.

Alisaie scrunched her nose up. "Are you sure those symptoms don't develop just around you? Alphinaud had meltdowns in front of his crushes when he was younger, too."

"Alisaie!" Alphinaud screeched loud enough for Erenville to cover his ears.

Yukinko gave this serious thought. "It's possible," he eventually admitted, and sighed. "He watches over a territory well known for its natural aether springs. Many auspices and terrible beasts ascend to a higher form there, so it was extremely dangerous. Even against them, he was unusually strong, and himself had been courted by all manners of martial arts sects and covetous lords from Nagxia and Yanxia. Yet he remained in the mountain -- waiting for me, he said. Knowing full well I can never return."

"But you did return," Wuk Lamat pointed out, who was extremely invested in this high romance at this time.

"I did not do it for him. And I did so with another's child in tow," Yukinko replied. "At first, I thought he simply wanted to vent his anger. The Big Deal was a traditionalist, and domineering besides. What's the word? An 'asshole'."

"Mmhm," Krile said. "Okay."

"You have vexingly bad tastes in men," Alisaie rolled her eyes.

"Come now, let us give this suitor some credit," Alphinaud protested, very invested and indeed feeling a little kinship with this Big Deal guy. "I assume the courtship went somewhere?"

Alisaie scoffed. "What's this slander? As if Yukinko would fall for some bru--" She stopped herself, then corrected: "For another brute."

Yukinko said nothing.

Oh, no, Alisaie thought. Oh hell no.

She hated being right. Why did she have to be right? Yukinko did have vexingly bad taste in men. Another one?!?!

"He did win a duel against me," he said eventually, so calm and mild.

"And did he speak his mind? He did confess, right?" Wuk Lamat asked.

Yukinko nodded.

"And you told him to beat it," Alisaie supplied.

"That doesn't look like the face of someone who told the village 'big deal' to beat it," Erenville said.

"Be quiet."

An agonizing pause later, Yukinko said, "I thought he was quite adorable, standing there with his red face and twitching ears, stuttering so much he was incomprehensible. I had to stand up myself, he was in no state to help me. And then he tripped over himself as he finally realized he should help me... Just like when we were children. Even when he wasn't running away, he was such a mess."

Wuk Lamat squealed.

"In my village, a wedding usually follows," Erenville said.

Yukinko shook his head. "He will not leave the mountain, and I will not stay. We agreed on this. Having waited for me besides, he was sworn to his duty. If he had been so vapid as to have me for his sole reason, I wouldn't have respected him so much."

"It doesn't sound like you respected him that much to begin with," Alisaie muttered, only for Krile to elbow her.

Yukinko actually laughed, a low and sweet sound so soaked in fondness that answered the unspoken question and washed away any doubt anyone might harbor about this... this unknown, faceless wood warder with the silly moniker of "The Big Deal".

The conversation drifted off after that. Alisaie grilled Yukinko a few more times about this guy, just so she could know about him, you know? And yes, she did learn other things about him.

He was handsome and tall and even thought of as a fairy by some of the non-Viera tribes whenever his hunts caused him to descend the mountain. He was once an archer and spearsman, same as any in their tribe, but his encounter with a certain learned martial artist had him trained in a straight sword in the style of Nagxia's "immortals". He had dark hair and dark eyes, and wore it long in the same style as his shizun's, as a show of respect. It made him odd compared to their fellow wood warders', but The Big Deal was firm about it.

He was also not as shit at magic as Yukinko, and so had properly carved a bonding stone for him -- a talisman of polished gems and glinting black stone, tied in elegant knots of simmering red furs from some fierce mountain beast. Yukinko wore it on his obi, its cerulean hue an elegant contrast against his favored purples and reds.

"What did you give him?" Wuk Lamat asked. "Maybe we can find some souvenir for him in Wachunpelo."

"I gave him a hairpin," Yukinko replied. "Made with real flowers enchanted never to fade. He is quite vain about his hair and wears a high top-knot, so it seemed a gift that'd suit his tastes."

But he did take her advice of buying souvenirs from Wachunpelo for this... this Big Deal guy. That Alisaie was kind of miffed she would likely never meet. But maybe that was for the best? He sounded like a really annoying Alphinaud, and she'd been there when Alphinaud was annoying.

And THEN she had to realize for herself that Yukinko was suffering from morning sickness. Alisaie wasn't dumb. She put two and three together and decided yeah, good to hear about The Big Deal, but probably better they wouldn't meet.

[dailycharacteroption]

Deity Drop 5: Chinostes

We continue our adventures in the quasi-divine with perhaps the lowest power level we can have while still being able to grant divine magic. I speak of course of the Iblydan Hero-Gods!

To explain in brief, the mythic power that was introduced in the Mythic Adventures book grants something akin to minor divinity to those whom it is bestowed, making them larger than life heroes whose feats often actually match the stories. And where there is a spark of divinity, there is the capacity for worship.

The far-off nation of Iblydos, which borrows heavily from Ancient and Mycenaean Greece, is the biggest concentration of these so-called hero-gods, in part because of the tradition of using the oracular visions of cyclops seers to help prospective heroes find their path of greatness and unlocking that mythic power within. However, like all prophecy, these visions have become unreliable in the Age of Lost Omens. As such, many prospective heroes never return from quests to slay legendary monsters of mythic power or falter in other types of heroic deeds, leaving many wondering if the previous generation of hero-gods will be the last.

However, while they remain, the current hero gods, while not able answer prayers in the traditional sense, have their share of worshippers which they grant divine power to, though since they are the least among divinities, their selection of domains is somewhat limited.

In any case, let’s get right into it with the first of these Hero-Gods, Chinostes, The Fallen Blade!

Our first hero-god is unique in that they are technically already dead! When he was a young man, Chinostes achieved hero-god status when he singlehandedly distracted a raiding force from a foreign nation to protect his fellows and slew the leader of the invaders with nothing but a knife.

Afterwards, he became the protector of his home, the city-state of Reanpharos, until the time that his duties called for him to hunt down a killer in his streets. Too late did Chinostes realize the foe was a vampire, who managed to overpower and slay the hero-god.

But this was not the end, for his body arose from where it lay in his temple as a vampire. Now, he stalks the streets of his home at night, simultaneously protecting it from threats and also preying upon it’s citizens. Many of his people have accepted him as their dangerous protector, choosing to use folk magic and precautions to protect themselves rather than destroy their legendary protector and source of national pride.

Chinostes is stuck in an interesting position though, having become a predatory monster, but also seeking to use his power both mythic and monstrous to protect the people as well, and as such, has worshippers on both sides of the moral compass, and has become a deity of tragedy and sacrifice as a result.

No official description for The Fallen Blade is given, though it can be assumed that he appears as a Iblydan man with unnaturally pale skin and other features of vampirism, and most likely wields a dagger or wooden stake, possibly both.

While he doesn’t have a true divine realm, Chinostes lairs in the city he once ruled and protected, Reanpharos, a dark guardian to the city.

Chinostes’ faithful is a divided bunch. On the one hand, his evil worshippers claim that becoming a vampire was a tragic, but necessary step to protecting the city, and choose to look favorably upon acts of personal sacrifice in the name of protecting others. Meanwhile, his goodly followers view his transformation as a tragic step too far, and train to one day become strong enough to slay him and put him to rest, a final act to honor the hero that protected them for so long.

As a mortal hero-god, Chinostes doesn’t rate that highly on the radars of true gods and demigods. However, it can be assumed that the goodly consider him a tragic figure in need of being put down, while the morally ambiguous vary depending on their personal stance, while the outright evil likely wish to corrupt him into a monster. Meanwhile, the other hero-gods likely view him as a fallen figure, one that they themselves might seek to put down if they could spare the time from protecting their own domains.

Chinostes does count a number of vampires, most created during his initial spree upon coming back from death, as his servants.

As a hero-god, Chinostes grants access to only three domains, being Luck and Nobility, along with either Good of Evil depending on the worshipper, with the Curse and Martyr subdomains as options.

The hero-gods sadly haven’t been covered in 2E yet, so we have no idea how his domains are interpreted in that edition.

Similarly, his hero-god status is not strong enough to grant the greater powers associated with Obedience, though I shudder to think that rituals a vampire would invoke in his followers, even if he is struggling to contain that dark nature.

Chinostes is unique among the hero gods in that he is an undead being, and therefore would not need to seek out any form of immortality in order to last into the era of Starfinder. So in theory he might appear again in that era, though he has yet to have been mentioned.

[inun4ki]

✾ Corpse Flower Symbolism

I've come to associate Kaede with spider lilies pretty heavily, recently, both aesthetically and symbolically. For a few reasons.

Funnily enough, about half the reason is that he's pretty and dangerous. The whole 'looks can be decieving' bit. More than that, he's a pretty flower in a field of dead ones, the only one still in bloom (considering his family). But I digress - this is just the reason that got things started.

The truth of it is, Kaede is overwhelmingly surrounded by death and made to be responsible for it - to herald it in. Moreover, his inability to protect Terin thereby resulting in his death weighs extraordinarily heavily on him, once more proving his inherent responsibility over death to himself. Proving Kurai and the rest of his clan right about him. It is his fault, it is his cross to bear, it is his blame to take. So there's a psychological reason for my association. They all blame him, and he believes it, just as well as he kills curse users without remorse and flippantly leads his brother to his death. Just as his inability to sense the curse lingering the Shikabane estate had led to a second massacre. His inaction, his mediocrity, his absence and inability to ignore his pain - it's why they're all dead. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't, but too rigidly determined to fulfill his duty that he can't help but blame himself too.

The flowers themselves only serve as signifiers of death, and the context needn't always be violent. Just as he is crushed under the weight of unnecessary expectation, blame, and the like, he is ever and constantly in a state of mourning, especially following Terin's death. He watched him die, avenged that death with prejudicial brutality, and he curses himself to this day about it, but the fact of the matter is - he is grieving, always. Grieving his brother. Grieving his lost childhood, pushed to become something he never wanted to be. Grieving his humanity, forced to sacrifice friendship and love for the sake of those who blame and blame and blame him. Grieving his mother, his uncles, cousins, aunts, grandparents, missing what too few memories he might still have of them. He saw it all, saw them away. Saw them die. Countless people, watched them all die. So many corpses laid at his feet. He survives as the spider lily, preventing the wild animals from further desecrating what remains of both his family and himself (in the greater scheme).

If we consider his technique set, and especially his relationship to Inugami, I'd think it's probably fair to say that reincarnation would also play into this a bit. Since Divine Retribution has the capacity to eviscerate a soul, remove it from the reincarnation cycle, it effectively goes against the whole ' greeting of the newly departed to the next cycle ' thing. It's a direct contradiction, yes, but I think that's probably what drives a lot of the above home. Inugami eats, absorbs, and forever halts souls in their cycles. There is no next life. There is no heaven. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Inugami is an extremely powerful curse, brought on by the love of Kaede's mother and unbridled hatred for their family, using him to achieve the ultimate goal of slaughtering every sorcerer involved with what happened to her and what they'd done to Kaede. Perhaps this means simply the ' next life ' is really just fuel for a viciously angry curse. She adds a bit of a hellish edge to Kaede's techniques as well, even moreso than before, so the ' hell flower ' thing...I'm just saying.

In a more, I guess, natural sense, the Shikabane estate was once completely overgrown with red spider lilies. So many of their own had died there, buried beneath the grounds, planting a brilliant field of spider lilies above them seemed as good a deterrent as any. Apt, feeding into their collective ego. Kaede, however, always hated them. He hated being reminded of just how much death their family had been responsible for, indulgent in, and how much they'd blamed him for. Likewise, Kurai understood this, so he tried his best to replace them with his favorites instead (as I said, he wasn't always garbage), i.e. hydrangeas. However, he didn't get them all, meaning death was still on the horizon for their family - which, yeah, definitely, if we consider the second massacre. But I also really think Kaede would probably, after having destroyed the Shikabane estate, have planted spider lilies there again. Prevent both animals and people from messing with it. One mass grave.

Hm, I dunno. I thought my thoughts were a bit better collected than this.

[lauranthalasah]

Probably unpopular opinions about Imogen, Relvin, and Liliana. This is what I interpreted of the characters with what we know so far, it might change in the future.

I like her dad far more than her mom, like her dad has problems, but he stayed, he was afraid, he didn't understand, but he stayed, and to be fair her powers ARE dangerous AND invasive and she can't control them completely, as horrible as it sounds he has reasons to fear her, but not only because of what her powers could do to him, but also because she is so much like her mother, the woman that leave them/him behind, and like a fucking greek tragedy it became a full circle in which the actions you take to not be hurt are directly related to creating the reaction that would end up hurting you anyway. He will not win father of the year anytime soon and yet I think he is a far better parent that Liliana is.

Even more, there was that moment right at the end of the interaction between Relvin and Imogen in which I completely understood what part of the problem with Imogen and him was and it wasn't her powers themselves but the way she uses them. She knows that her father doesn't like her powers, and I would have been completely fine with her showing sparks or breaking something to show that "we might have talked but I am still this way and proud of it". She didn't do that, she did the one thing that directly crosses over a boundary, she went right inside his mind WITHOUT CONSENT, and she can control it now, but still she tramped all over a boundary she knows her father has... with what purpose? She says something like "I never wanted you to be afraid of me" in words but in actions she seems to enjoy that she can actually scare him. The worst part is that she has the same boundary, she didn't like it at all when FGC went deeper inside her mind without her consent, but she does it to everyone without problem, only pulling out when she knows she is going to be discovered. At that last moment, when her father was doubtful of what to do, how to act, she did the one thing that would immediately put him in a defensive state and she did it knowingly, I don't understand her there. Now... about Liliana ¿What do we know of her and her reasons to leave? She did it to protect Imogen. Well, she left Imogen in a town full of people that Liliana knew didn't understand the kind of power she had, she hid her own for a reason, and yet she left her daughter there. She was supposedly searching for answers, but you don't need to leave forever to do that, you don't need to go incommunicado, she could come and go, but she didn't. She could even start sending messages once she learned how to do it but she didn't. Till the last episode she could had get involved in something she was scared of running away from, but now it seems she fully supports them, so she became part of a cult. I believe her to be the kind of parent that will give themselves the excuse that what they are doing is for the good of their children but really the children are an excuse for doing what they want to do without having to really feel guilty. Selfish parents that don't want to recognize they are selfish and bad parents. The more I know about Liliana the more I think Imogen will never be a true priority for her, but she will never admit it (I might be wrong in all accounts, we'll see). Apart from that, the way Imogen has been acting since she knew Ludinus and Liliana's intentions, all that shit about killing the gods... it's driving me crazy, like I understand the philosophical question (I might actually side on Ludinus part of the reasoning if it wasn't more than an idea), but I don't think it's a philosophical matter at that point, it's a very real thing that is soon to be put in practice and they have been killing people and doing horrible things to people to achieve that, some of those people weren't only Fearne and Orym (twice for him because of his family and his actual death), but also Laudna, Imogen says Laudna is her tether and yet she doesn't seem to register that this people killed Laudna like two weeks ago because she was Imogen's favorite, because killing Laudna could unleash Imogen's powers, this people don't care at all about collateral damage, and if they don't care about it at that small scale they will not care about it at a global scale neither. Then Imogen went to talk to Laudna, in a serious way for the first time since Laudna was resuscitated, to see if Laudna too was against liberating Predathos, like... this people killed Laudna, Otohan killed her like Laudna's only value in the world was the value Imogen gave her, like she didn't have her own value. It was clear that Laudna doesn't agree with them and yet, when she said that she would be with Imogen no matter what Imogen decided to do, Imogen never corrected her, she never reassure Laudna that she would never go with the people that killed her, that she will never go against the people that brought Laudna back, she was satisfied knowing that Laudna would side with her, not matter what Laudna would have to sacrifice if that ever came to happen. So... at the end of the last episode I don't like Imogen very much, I understand that she is confused, but her priorities are all around the place. I also think Laura is playing her masterfully, Imogen is acting like an amalgamation of her parents worst qualities at this moment, she is being obsessive and selfish like Liliana, she also has been standoffish with Laudna, the way Relvin was with her after Liliana leave him, and after Imogen's return... It's perfect!

[askthechronoverse]

The first of four supplemental fics. This takes place prior to all three of my main fics, so please be aware of spoilers

The lab was barely lit as four figures gathered around a large machine. Their faces were solemn, eyes reflecting a deep heartbreak like a red wine stain. No one exchanged a word among them as the one closest to the machine, a fox in a lab coat, made adjustments on a brightly lit screen. She looked up from her work and turned to the other three.

"There is just enough time for us to do a final check. Are we sure we want to do this? We know how dangerous this machine is and that, once we finish the task, we can't go back." The fox's tail was limp and expressionless. "Let's go around the room, starting with Hawkodile."

"Not knowing if the Princess was safe was torture. Now that I know she is, I need to do my duty to protect her, even if it's from my own memories." The hawk crockodile stood at attention. "I will sacrifice what I can to make sure I achieve that goal. How about you, sport? How're you feeling?" He turned to Puppycorn, who seemed like he was the least haunted of the group of friends.

"I just... want my sister back. I don't care what I gotta do to do that." He started to tear up. "Will I remember her, Doc?"

"Your memories of her and your relationship will still be intact. You just won't remember the Old Unikingdom or the Fall." Doctor Fox knelt down and hugged the puppy comfortingly. The puppy nodded at this. She turned to the final figure, a floating brick. "Richard. I need your input most of all. My analysis of our memory mapping for this project showed that you have the most ties to the old kingdom and cannot use the machine without getting poo... no, let's be adults about this... without going into a coma. You will be all that remains of the Old Unikingdom and our time in purgatory together. Are you alright with this plan?"

"There isn't a choice. She can't remember what happened. She can't remember that she had seen her kingdom destroyed in the exact way the rest of the world almost did just a few days ago. I just... wish I could be with you in that machine. I don't want to remember seeing my princess cry out for us as we all fell into the void. Or how Puppycorn looked when he realized we were never going home. I..." Richard was barely breathing at this point, glancing over to the youngest member of the group. The puppy put his head down, remembering that moment as well. Richard's voice was uncharacteristically heavy with deep sadness and fear. "I'm not strong enough for this."

"You're stronger than me, Rick." Hawkodile rubbed his neck. "You tried to keep morale up down there in the pit and you did your job as an advisor for us better than I did as a bodyguard for her."

"I keep telling you: You did that job well. She was the only one who survived the Fall." Richard stated this in as monotone a voice as possible, but he was clearly breaking. "Your efforts were not wasted."

"Whatever ya say. I need to do better for her now." Hawkodile adjusted his sunglasses.

"Please answer the question. The rest of us are ready. Are you?" Doctor Fox folded her arms.

"I will do what I must for my Princess, just as Hawkodile will. I just... I don't know if I can stand pretending we never met. She was my..." Richard shook, tears now a full stream. "Why does it have to be me?!"

"I understand your position, my friend. However, you need to keep being the rock you have been all this time. You need to be strong, like I know you can be." She gestured for the others to lie down on the beds in the machine. "Now, the machine will do the work for you. I made modifications: there is a program that will do the extraction based on what we can safely remove. You are to lock the memories in the vault when they are extracted. Is that understood?"

The brick unenthusiastically bobbed. The doctor smiled and put a paw on her friend's back. "We couldn't have gotten this far without you. Please accept my apology for all the time we as a group took you for granted, my friend. Thank you for doing this. Please, stay strong. Things will be better for all of us in this new Unikingdom." She flashed a comforting smile and took her place between Puppycorn and Hawkodile.

The three closed their eyes and waited for the process to begin. Richard shook, struggling to float toward the controls. This had to be done. Hawkodile, Puppycorn, and Doctor Fox went through too much in that void. Being forgotten changed them, made them hurt in different ways. But the fact they did it together was the only saving grace. They could have each easily snapped under the weight of all they saw. Now, they have a second chance at life. He didn't understand why he was given this chance as well, but it was something Queen Wa'nabi insisted on. He was tired. Tired of being strong. Tired of being the rock. Why was that his job? Why did they rely on the one who they used to cast aside? He pushed the button with invisible hands and turned as the process began. Time for the Splendorous Rick to put on a different show, one closer to the cons he ran in his youth. He could hear music outside as a party to celebrate the arrival of Queen Wa'nabi and their princess began. He just kept crying, the tears falling like rain to the floor under him. They had timed this perfectly: the princess would be at the castle after the machine finished its task and the others adjusted to the changes.

Richard turned to see the machine was already bottling the memories, represented by almost chibi versions of the users. The faces were in anguish, miserable and pained. He floated lower, scared to touch them and remember. His breath was labored as he waited. Soon, he heard footsteps. He turned around and floated toward the entrance of the lab slowly to face one of the Queen's guards.

"Unikitty will arrive soon. Is everything prepared for her arrival?" The brick glanced behind him, unsure of what the guard knew and what he saw.

"It should be. Please let me know when Her Majesty arrives so I can wait for the princess in the throne room." Richard's monotone returned, his expression neutral. The guard left and a beep could be heard.

"Extraction complete. Long live the Unikingdom." A robotic voice chirped. Richard floated to the machine and picked up the jar. He couldn't help but smile a little at the final message of the Doctor Fox he spent what felt like eternities with. The bottle shook as he floated to a vault in the lab, hidden behind a false wall. He pushed a button on the door.

"Please say the security phrase." A similar robotic voice commanded.

"Paperclip." It was one word, but it was what was needed to open the door. He put the jar in and watched his friends stir back to life while he did his best to not break down and ruin the whole thing. No one spoke for a while, not until the guard returned and announced Unikitty and Queen Wa'nabi's arrival. Hawkodile and Puppycorn flanked Richard as they were escorted to the throne room to re-meet an old and dear friend.

Queen Wa'nabi and Unikitty were talking animatedly about the gift the royal cat was given as they entered the throne room. In front of the throne were a hawk crocodile, a floating brick, and a dog that had a horn like hers, only his was yellow and chipped.

"Every princess needs a court, Unikitty, and these guys are more than capable. Say hello, fellas!" Queen Wa'nabi beamed, gesturing to the three.

"I'm Hawkodile, Princess. I'm gonna be your bodyguard, something I have been training all my life to do." Hawkodile bowed to her stoically, "It is an honor to meet you."

"I'm Puppycorn! I'm your brother! I can't wait to play with you, big sis!" The puppy's ball tail wagged, the words spoken making Richard bite his lip. That was all the pup wanted for years, after all.

"I am Richard. Queen Wa'nabi has hired me to be your advisor." There was no emotion in his words, not joy, sadness, or fear. He knew he couldn't afford to show emotion. Not now. Not this early in the proceedings.

"I have... questions. But the most important one is: Are you OK, Richard? You look so sad." God, Unikitty's concern stabbed through his heart like a knife. How did she possibly see through his act? He thought he was so careful. She always did have a way of being able to tell when someone was miserable.

"It's OK. I'm OK. " He attempted to regain control over his emotions.

"He is, Unikitty. He always looks like that." Puppycorn chimed in, almost in defense of this being he barely remembered.

"OK! It's great to meet you all! I hope we can be best friends in no time!" The pink cat clapped her paws and did a little spin in the air. Richard's heart broke while watching this. She really hadn't changed it all.

[hurgablurg]

And my argument is that by the time you'd have been in that situation, you've likely either

a) already been destroyed by circumstance or entropy

ex. the sun boils the surface of the earth before you can leave and your cells denature faster than your immortality mechanism can regenerate them

b) already found a way to persist through to the next universe or even through the eternal void safely and happily, perhaps even with other immortals (why are you so special as to be alone in the immortality scenario?) in a self-sustaining vessel hanging in the void

c) have found and secured a method of euthenising yourself through the immortality once things get unpleasant

d) were never in any danger of such as the mechanism preserving you has the ability to warp reality more than it already has and preserve you past the Close

e) achieved a higher state of consciousness, leaving your body behind either in death or ascendance.

Immortality, properly wielded, essentially gives you billions of years to prepare.

Because we're talking about something that is wholly unproven and impossible - we don't have any form of immortality, so any thought experiment regarding it and the parameters within are just as valid as any other.

Trying to introduce purposefully apocalyptic variables to lead to a specific conclusion (ex. you alone have immortality and no one else in the entirety of time and space can get it as well, your body breaks physics and is completely indestructible, etc.) takes the thought experiment and turns it into "If there were two guys on the moon and one killed the other with a rock would that be fucked up or what."

"immortality sucks because all your friends die" all your friends die anyway. those we do not mourn are those who mourn us.

"immortality sucks because you forget who you are" we always forget who we are. do you remember who you were at four years of age? who you were at fourteen? "who i am" is a shadow cast on the wall.

"immortality sucks because" skill issue. skill issue. skill issue. give me your liver

[nickgerlich]

Nuke This

It is no secret that packaging has become the bane of our existence. Aside from fresh fruits and vegetables at the grocery, nearly everything we purchase has some level of packaging. And that packaging is there to protect the product, preserve freshness, and promote the brand. It is a necessary evil.

The problem, though, is all that trash left behind after we consume the product. Take a look at your local landfill, and you can see what I mean. It is quite literally—and sadly—a growing issue.

There is no lack of talk about sustainability, recycling, and all those noble pursuits. But putting those into practice has proven to be a non-starter at worst, or a lukewarm effort at best. In order to achieve the desired result, which is reducing waste and being environmentally responsible, it is going to take buy-in at all levels, and, I hate to say it, probably some governmental intervention.

Still, there are occasional efforts to effect change. Last summer whilst in Saskatchewan I had occasion to stop by a Starbucks for coffee and a bagel with avocado spread. The knife they included in the bag was made of bamboo, the result of federal legislation there banning certain single-use plastics. I rather liked it, because bamboo knives are not going to snap like plastic ones can.

And then there are straws, which some companies—once again, Starbucks—have vowed to replace with paper versions, not to mention an entire state, as in California. Still, such efforts are often met with snickers and ridicule from those who just aren’t having any of this. They couldn’t be bothered.

But here we are, and now one of the most popular food products of college students and the otherwise budget-challenged is making a major packaging change. Cup Noodles, the familiar serving of ramen in a variety of flavors, is replacing its styrofoam cup with one made of paper. The new cup will also be microwavable.

At this point you are probably thinking: “Whaaaaat? I’ve been microwaving these things for years.”

Yeah, it turns out that microwaving polystyrene, which is the technical name for Styrofoam, the trademarked brand of extruded polystyrene foam, or XPS, should never be microwaved. They can leach nasty chemicals that might cause cancer. You were living dangerously and didn’t even know it.

Reactions have been mixed. Hard-core packaging critics concede that, while this is a step in the right direction, we need to do so much more of this across the board. And then the usual court of cranky naysayers respond with their go-to emoji. You know. The laughing face. Because they really don’t have any words to add to the conversation.

The maker of Cup Noodles reports the change is the result of consumer demand, which may very well be true. Given that current college students are Gen-Zers and highly likely to have adopted an environmental mindset, this is believable.

It’s just that, industry-wide, sustainable food packaging has been very slow to gain traction, and equally slow to be adopted by consumers. Coca-Cola may boldly print “Recycle Me” on its cans, but in the end, it is up to us to do so.

And so it goes. Instead of waiting for companies to get on the sustainability train, we should be driving the locomotive. If we—meaning all of us—cared a little more, companies would respond. When it comes at us from the companies, some folks will feel like they are being forced to change. As we know all too well, change is a hard pill to swallow for many.

Good on Cup Noodles for making this change, and also saving future generations from possible cancer after nuking their dormitory dinner. But the impetus needs to come from us. I just can’t figure out how to convince the folks on the other side of the aisle. Apparently their short-term convenience is more important.

Dr “Feel Free To Microwave That Thought” Gerlich

Audio Blog

[ear-worthy]

Red Bull Podcast "Mind Set Win" Releases Longer Versions Of Its First Season called "Uncut"

New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra once famously said, "Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical."

 Despite the humor aspect, Yogi may have been on to something. The mental aspect in any game, competition, or sport can be the deciding factor.

In January 2023, Red Bull released a sports podcast called Mind Set Win. Red Bull sponsors a wide variety of sports, from base jumping to auto racing, soccer to skiing. I can understand why. For some of these dangerous sports like cliff diving, you'd probably need to pound a lot of Red Bull before you leap off a rock cliff into a body of water with little knowledge of depth or topography.

Give credit where credit is due. Unlike 95 percent of all sports podcasts where sports teams are worshiped like deities, or the hosts argue at jet engine decibel level about everything, Mind Set Win has a worthier and more useful objective. The podcast unlocks the mental tactics used by leading sports professionals and shows how we can apply the same techniques to our daily lives.

  Red Bull has just announced the new release of UNCUT, an uninterrupted, nonstop version of Mind Set Win. Don't get alarmed. This newer version is not about men who are not circumcised. Uncut is the listener's chance to hear the rawness and unfiltered accounts from people like soccer's Mario Gómez on the highs and lows of competitive environments; tennis's Matteo Berrettini on using defeats as stepping stones; and triathlete Lucy Charles-Barclay on the importance of rekindling passion and drive to overcome endurance blocks, and more.

Episodes of Mind Set Win’s first season were short, tight, and tactical. Hosts Cédric Dumont and Kate Courtney left a lot on the cutting room floor to keep episodes under 15 minutes.  

I loved the idea of the two people alternating as hosts, and Dumont and Courtney both excelled at their hosting duties. 

One aspect of the podcast I admired was its commitment to actionable steps. Too often, these sports podcasts that focus on the "mental game" offer trite and generalized advice such as stay focused, think positively, and visualize your actions.

Mind Set Win is better than that. The podcast pivots off the Angela Duckworth 2016 bestseller Grit. In the superb Lindsey Vonn episode, Dumont explains how talent plus effort equals skill, and Vonn details how she fought through adversity like injuries. Vonn then declares that, "Skill plus effort equals achievement."

In the Mario Gomez episode, the German footballer talks to Kate Courtney about how to manage the outsized expectations of rabid fans and developing a mindset that the next opportunity to score will come.

All sports have strong mental components, yet golf and tennis may offer particularly difficult challenges due to the length of the competition. In a January episode with high-ranked Greek tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas, Dumont focuses on the tennis star's ability to focus and achieve that sense of flow, which is being completely absorbed in the activity. 

Tsitsipas acknowledges that flow can only be achieved after you've practiced and are well-rehearsed. 

There's no doubt that what distinguishes the athletes that fans watch on TV or at a sporting event may not be just talent, but the mental discipline, toughness, and "grit" to win. 

Mind Set Win is a useful tool for aspiring athletes and hopeful weekend warriors. The show is well-produced, and achieves its own flow state of helping people find the right mindset to enjoy a sport, work hard at improving, and achieve a measure of success.

The longer versions that are being released as of June 5 called Uncut offer listeners more depth of knowledge with the longer interviews. 

Check out Uncut. You never know what you can achieve when your mind and body are on the same wavelength.

For me, I am attempting to reach a state of flow in my golf game. Is throwing your club, cursing loudly, and stomping your feet in the sand bunker you can't get out of what you call flow?

No. I'll listen to Mind Set Win again.