#which ; if true; requires subtlety

[fideidefenswhore]

Anne Boleyn's personality was first remarked on after her return from France. In an apparent reference to the skills which she had mastered on the Continent, Wolsey's gentleman-usher, George Cavendish, speaks of 'her excellent gesture and behaviour', [which was] [...] a rare compliment to her, made in his Life of Wolsey, which centres on the catastrophe she was about to bring Wolsey.

Hunting the Falcon: Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn & the Marriage That Shook Europe, John Guy & Julia Fox

[saintsenara]

why do people portray walburga and her relationship with sirius in such an exaggerated way? like torture??? i get that we don't have a lot of information about what went down, but its such an extreme choice

thank you very much for the ask, anon!

unsurprisingly, the answer to this is under the cut, because it comes with a trigger warning for discussions of physical and sexual abuse.

my interpretation of things is that it's a really interesting bleed-through into fandom of two real-world views a lot of people have:

firstly, that it's uniquely horrifying when a woman who is also a mother is cruel to children [or, indeed, when she's anything other than completely self-sacrificing and nurturing].

grimmauld place is a dozen different gothic literature tropes in a trenchcoat, and the text hammers that home with absolutely no subtlety whatsoever. it is walburga in the portrait - haunting sirius, serving as a physical manifestation of the rot of blood purity, making grimmauld place seem as much of a prison as azkaban - rather than orion because the reader wouldn't find it anywhere near as disgusting or frightening to see a man in that role, and the narrative meaning intended by the portrait therefore wouldn't come over as clearly.

[the subtext to walburga's character - that the portrait and the house are liminal spaces between life and death, a hint at the extraordinary grief she carries which will be revealed in deathly hallows - would also be interpreted very differently by the reader if they belonged to orion. walburga's grief - for both sirius and regulus - is inextricable from what the series thinks is "true" about motherhood and womanhood.]

and this - i think - is why, even though sirius does talk about the emotional abuse he experienced coming from both of his parents, the fandom is laser-focused on walburga. she's a bigger presence textually and she's a bigger presence textually entirely because she exists in defiance of deep-rooted societal opinions about how mothers should act.

[which we also see in the fandom's responses to petunia versus vernon and molly versus arthur...]

the second real-world view which bleeds through into the fandom's treatment of sirius' childhood is one which lots of people hold and which therefore has major, major repercussions for people in abusive households and relationships: the idea that abuse which isn't physically extreme [or, in the case of children, but much less often adults, sexual] isn't "as bad" as abuse which is.

and part of this is that the social norms we live by treat extreme physical abuse [and child sexual abuse] as objectively wrong, but treat abuse which doesn't meet this threshold of extremity much more subjectively.

a parent who beats their child so badly that they almost die will inspire outrage from all quarters. a parent who hits their child with a belt once across the backs of the legs as punishment for misbehaviour, but claims this is a form of reasonable physical discipline which doesn't cause their child any lasting harm, will find plenty of people willing to defend them as well as plenty of people willing to condemn.

and - of course - societal prejudices connected to things like gender, race, class, and so on play a big part in these splitting of opinions. a man who rapes his five-year-old child will be - in public, at least - unambiguously regarded as a criminal by everyone in a community. a man who rapes his female partner will find plenty of people willing to argue that it's her duty to provide him with sex and he was merely requiring her to fulfil that duty. a man who rapes his male partner will find plenty of people willing to say that gay men are all hypersexual and the victim loved it.

this subjectivity of response is also one of the reasons why emotional abuse, financial abuse, coercive control, stalking, and other forms of non-physical abuse still aren't taken as seriously as they should be. there's a widespread perception - and not just among police - that they're not dangerous in and of themselves.

from the fandom perspective, then, it seems to me that the writing of abusive situations often focuses on extreme physical violence as a way of authors offering "proof" to their readers that they take the fact that the character was abused seriously.

there is a worry - i think - in many authors' minds that if they wrote walburga never laying a hand on sirius, they would be accused of claiming his childhood was normal, his experience was fine, his parents' treatment of him was justified, or that he shouldn't be thought of as someone who was abused.

but - of course - something it's crucial for us to do in real life is be alert to just how complex and individual abuse is, and how poor our pre-conceived notions about what it is and what it isn't tend to be. i think the same is true in fandom, and it's why i think portrayals of non-physical abuse which take that abuse as bad enough are so important.

[wordsaficionado]

Are you a writer constantly in need of cool, fancy sounding words to write about? Are you a person who just wants to expand your vocabulary? Do you just want words to use to make you sound smart? Well then, enjoy this list that took me a few months and tons of books and google searches to create of really good words.

All with the official spellings and definitions from the first result, alphabetically organized :)

Updated and featuring a word for every letter of the alphabet!

Abhor- regard with disgust and hatred

Abject- (of something bad) experienced or present to the maximum degree

Adumbrate/Adumbration- report or represent in outline

Adage- a proverb or short statement expressing a general truth

Aftak (Scottish)- An easing or lull in a storm

Alizarin- a red pigment present in madder root, used in dyeing

Amalgamation- the action, process, or result of combining or uniting

Anchorite- a religious recluse

Anhedonic- inability to feel pleasure

Apocryphal- (of a story or statement) of doubtful authenticity, although widely circulated as being true

Ardent- burning; glowing

Arduous- involving or requiring strenuous effort; difficult and tiring

Askance- with an attitude or look of suspicion or disapproval

Athirst- very eager to get something

Augur- (in ancient Rome) a religious official who observed natural signs, especially the behavior of birds, interpreting these as an indication of divine approval or disapproval of a proposed action

Axiom- a statement or proposition which is regarded as being established, accepted, or self-evidently true

Baroque- relating to or denoting a style of European architecture, music, and art of the 17th and 18th centuries that followed mannerism and is characterized by ornate detail. In architecture the period is exemplified by the palace of Versailles and by the work of Bernini in Italy

Basorexia- the overwhelming desire to kiss

Bawdy- dealing with sexual matters in a comical way; humorously indecent

Beguile- charm or enchant (someone), sometimes in a deceptive way

Benignant- kindly and benevolent

Bier- a movable frame on which a coffin or a corpse is placed before burial or cremation or on which it is carried to the grave

Blunderbuss- an action or way of doing something regarded as lacking in subtlety and precision

Boff- have sex with (someone)

Boudoir- a woman's bedroom or private room

Bovine- an animal of the cattle group, which also includes buffaloes and bisons

Bucolic- relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life

Calamitous- involving calamity; catastrophic or disastrous

Callow- (of a young person) inexperienced and immature

Celerity- swiftness of movement

Cenotaph- a monument to someone buried elsewhere, especially one commemorating people who died in a war

Claret- a deep purplish-red color

Conglomerate- a number of different things or parts that are put or grouped together to form a whole but remain distinct entities

Consternation- feelings of anxiety or dismay, typically at something unexpected

Coppice- an area of woodland in which the trees or shrubs are, or formerly were, periodically cut back to ground level to stimulate growth and provide firewood or timber

Crépuscule- twilight

Covetousness- the feeling of having a strong desire for the things that other people have

Dearth- a scarcity or lack of something

Debutante- an upper-class young woman making her first appearance in fashionable society

Declamation- the action or art of declaiming

Declaiming- utter or deliver words or a speech in a rhetorical or impassioned way, as if to an audience

Demarcated- set the boundaries or limits of

Dichotomy- a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different

Dilatory- slow to act

Diminution- a reduction in the size, extent, or importance of something

Diocese- a district under the pastoral care of a bishop in the Christian Church

Diaphanous- (especially of fabric) light, delicate, and translucent

Dolichocephalic- having a relatively long skull (typically with the breadth less than 80 [or 75] percent of the length)

Dogmatic- being certain that your beliefs are right and that others should accept them, without paying attention to evidence or other opinions

Dutch Crocus- type of flower I thought sounded pretty

Encroached- intrude on (a person's territory or a thing considered to be a right)

Eleutheromania- a mania or frantic zeal for freedom

Encumber- restrict or burden (someone or something) in such a way that free action or movement is difficult

Epigram- a pithy saying or remark expressing an idea in a clever or amusing way

Ephemeral- lasting for a very short time

Erotomania- a delusion in which a person (typically a woman) believes that another person (typically of higher social status) is in love with them

Espionage- the practice of spying or of using spies, typically by governments to obtain political and military information

Expostulate- express strong disapproval or disagreement

Falchion- a broad, slightly curved sword with the cutting edge on the convex side.

Fallacy- a mistaken belief, especially one based on unsound argument

Fervid- intensely enthusiastic or passionate, especially to an excessive degree

Floccinaucinihilipilification- the action or habit of estimating something as worthless

Foibles- a minor weakness or eccentricity in someone's character

Folichonne- (informal) slight, lightweight; mischievous

Forelsket (Norwegian)- The euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love

Fungible- (of a product or commodity) replaceable by another identical item; mutually interchangeable

Funambulist- a tightrope walker

Galvanic- relating to or involving electric currents produced by chemical action

Gant- a yawn

Garrulous- excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters

Gloaming- twilight; dusk

Hedonistic- engaged in the pursuit of pleasure; sensually self-indulgent

Hiraeth- (especially in the context of Wales or Welsh culture) deep longing for something, especially one's home

Idiosyncrasies- a mode of behavior or way of thought peculiar to an individual

Idyll- an extremely happy, peaceful, or picturesque episode or scene, typically an idealized or unsustainable one

Intaglio- a design incised or engraved into a material

Incandescent- soft glow

Irrevocably- not able to be changed, reversed, or recovered; final

Jettisoned- throw or drop (something) from an aircraft or ship

Kalopsia- The delusion of things being more beautiful than they are

Keening- the action of wailing in grief for a lost loved one

Ken- one's range of knowledge or sight

Lackadaisical- lacking enthusiasm and determination

Logophile- a lover of words

Loquacity- the quality of talking a great deal; talkativeness

Magnanimous- generous or forgiving, especially toward a rival or less powerful person

Magniloquent- using high-flown or bombastic language

Meandering- following a winding course

Meliorism- the belief that the world can be made better by human effort

Mellifluous- (of a voice or words) sweet or musical; pleasant to hear

Metonym- a word, name, or expression used as a substitute for something else with which it is closely associated

Midnightly- Taking place at midnight

Modicum- a small quantity of a particular thing, especially something considered desirable or valuable

Nihilistic- rejecting all religious and moral principles in the belief that life is meaningless

Obsequious- obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree.

Obstreperous- noisy and difficult to control

Occultation- An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden from the observer by another object that passes between them

Ochre- an earthy pigment containing ferric oxide, typically with clay, varying from light yellow to brown or red

Panoply- a complete or impressive collection of things

Pastiche- an artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist, or period

Petrichor- a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather

Pious- having or showing a deep respect for God and religion

Pithy- (of a language or style) concise and forcefully expressive

Portending- be a sign or warning that (something, especially something momentous or calamitous) is likely to happen

Portmanteau- a word blending the sounds and combining the meanings of two others, for example motel (from ‘motor’ and ‘hotel’) or brunch (from ‘breakfast’ and ‘lunch’)

Propinquity- the state of being close to someone or something; proximity or close kinship

Propitious- giving or indicating a good chance of success; favorable

Pulchritudinous- beautiful (yes, that’s the full definition)

Pusillanimous- showing a lack of courage or determination; timid

Qawwalis- a style of Sufi devotional music marked by rhythmic improvisatory repetition of a short phrase, intended to rouse participants to a state of mystical ecstasy

Rapport- a close and harmonious relationship in which the people or groups concerned understand each other's feelings or ideas and communicate well

Recalcitrant- having an obstinately uncooperative attitude toward authority or discipline

Repertoire- a stock of skills or types of behavior that a person habitually uses

Resplendent- attractive and impressive through being richly colorful or sumptuous

Reverberated- (of a loud noise) be repeated several times as an echo or (of a place) appear to vibrate or be disturbed

Reverie- a state of being pleasantly lost in one's thoughts; a daydream

Requisite- made necessary by particular circumstances or regulations

Ricocheted- rebound one or more times off a surface

Rivulet- a very small stream

Rhododendron- a shrub or small tree of the heath family, with large clusters of bell-shaped flowers and typically with large evergreen leaves, widely grown as an ornamental

Ruched- (of cloth, clothes, etc.) sewn so that they hang in folds

Sablions- French plural word for sand (I’m 90% sure)

Salacious- having or conveying undue or inappropriate interest in sexual matters

Salubrious- health-giving; healthy or a place that is pleasant; not run-down

Sarsen- a silicified sandstone boulder of a kind which occurs on the chalk downs of southern England. Such stones were used in constructing Stonehenge and other prehistoric monuments

Scagliola- imitation marble or other stone, made of plaster mixed with glue and dyes which is then painted or polished

Sceptred- invested with a scepter or sovereign authority

Scintillating- brilliantly and excitingly clever or skillful

Sepia- a reddish-brown color associated particularly with monochrome photographs of the 19th and early 20th centuries

Sepulchral- gloomy; dismal

Sonder- The profound feeling of realizing that everyone, including strangers passing in the street, has a life as complex as one's own, which they are constantly living despite one's personal lack of awareness of it

Soporific- tending to induce drowsiness or sleep

Sumptuous- splendid and expensive-looking

Sycophant- a person who acts obsequiously toward someone important in order to gain advantage

Synecdoche- a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa, as in Cleveland won by six runs (meaning “Cleveland's baseball team”)

Taciturn- (of a person) reserved or uncommunicative in speech; saying little

Tangentially- in a way that relates only slightly to a matter; peripherally

Tantamount- equivalent in seriousness to; virtually the same as

Tenacious- tending to keep a firm hold of something; clinging or adhering closely

Trepidation- a feeling of fear or agitation about something that may happen

Truculent- eager or quick to argue or fight; aggressively defiant

Ubiquitous- present, appearing, or found everywhere

Unequivocally- leaving no doubt

Valise- a small traveling bag or suitcase

Vaunted- praised or boasted about, especially in an excessive way

Venorexia- the feeling of romance that comes with the arrival of springtime

Verdant- (of countryside) green with grass or other rich vegetation

Wanton- (of a cruel or violent action) deliberate and unprovoked

Whelm- engulf, submerge, or bury

Xerically- of, pertaining to, or adapted to a dry environment

Yillen (Scottish)- shower of rain

Yoked- attack, especially by strangling

Yūgen- the beauty that we can feel sense into an object, even though the beauty doesn't exist in the literal sense of the word and cannot be seen directly

Zenith- the time at which something is most powerful or successful

I hope you enjoyed my little panoply of words!

Ily all, and ty for really amplifying the last post I made like this! I hope it helps someone out there and if there are any mistakes or inaccuracies PLEASE lmk!

[disturbingstar]

The last of us trivia

TV show

• Pedro Pascal agreed to play Joel within a day of being sent the script.

• Neil Druckmann (the writer and director of the games, and the co-creator of the HBO series) watched over 100 auditions for Ellie before seeing Bella Ramsey's audition, of which he said, “It didn't feel like I was watching someone acting like Ellie. I was watching Ellie.”

• The TV adaptation offered the opportunity to expand on characters' backstories like Marlene and Ellie's relationship - as they weren't limited to a first-person POV.

• Huge apocalyptic sets had to be made for the show that were only used once - like the interior of the Capitol Building, which was built on a soundstage from scratch. Matching the lushness of the game while making it more realistic was the end goal, and art books from Naughty Dog (the company that developed the video games) were used as a jumping off point.

• Tess is portrayed by Australian actress Anna Torv. She was aware of the games but had not played them and watched the cutscenes after her casting. Torv felt her performance required consistent truthfulness due to its subtlety.

• Anna Torv and Pedro Pascal who portrays Joel decided that Tess and Joel had been lovers for some time but, like in the game, were subtle about their relationship.

• Sarah is portrayed by English actress Nico Parker. Parker watched videos of the original game years before getting the role. She wanted to stay away from the game version and provide her own interpretation of the character.

• As the clickers were a “home run” in the games, prosthetic artists from Game of Thrones were brought on to make them look as close to the source material as possible.

• There was even a movement bootcamp to train extras how to move like infected.

• The art teams were given the direction to find the beauty in the fungus. As Neil Druckmann said, “When you see the beauty in these monsters, it somehow makes them creepier.”

• It was Bella Ramsey's suggestion to have Ellie sleep with a switchblade during her first night with Tess and Joel.

• Neil Druckmann always thought of Joel and Tess's relationship as romantic, and the TV show offered the opportunity to make that explicit.

• Neil Druckmann is open to a The Last of Us Part 3 game, but it depends on whether the team can “come up with a compelling story that has this universal message and statement about love.”

• Pedro Pascal was chosen to play Joel Miller because of his ability to portray a tough, tortured, and vulnerable character who suppresses his emotions until necessary.

• Pedro Pascal based Joel's voice on his own experiences growing up in San Antonio, Texas, paring it back from the Southern accent used in the games.

• Bella Ramsey was aware of the game before their audition, but was encouraged not to play it to avoid replicating Ashley Johnson's original performance, instead watching some gameplay on YouTube to get a sense of it. As of filming the series, they still hadn't played the game.Ramsey wanted their performance to be reminiscent of the games without copying them.

• Unlike his counterpart from the video game series, Joel is more vulnerable in the television series; he is hard of hearing on one side due to a gunshot, his knees ache when he stands and he also suffers from nightmares and panic attacks. Co-creator Craig Mazin felt Joel should be less resilient than in the game to show the toll that living in the post-outbreak world has taken.

• Tommy is portrayed by American actor and producer Gabriel Luna. About a month after the casting of Pascal and Ramsey as Joel and Ellie respectively, Luna was asked to submit an audition tape. He was familiar with the work of co-creator Craig Mazin and executive producer Carolyn Strauss, and had previously worked on HBO's True Detective. About a week after submitting his tape, he was offered the role and, according to Luna, they instantly knew he was the one. He was enthusiastic for the role, having lived in Austin, Texas—Joel and Tommy's hometown—around the same time as the show's setting. He was also given a PlayStation 5 during production to play the games as research.

[redlyriumidol]

My thoughts/headcanons about the different styles of magic across Thedas. I'm skipping avvar and elvhenan because... idk i don't feel like it (we also can't really comprehend the extent of elvhen magic yet. perhaps we never will.):

SOUTHERN CIRCLES: perhaps the one we've been most familiar with until now. Solas criticises Vivienne on a few counts with regards to her magic and I think this sums it up: "Your rigorous training lays a solid foundation, true. It also creates boundaries, limits, where none need exist." I think that's indicative of the Southern approach to magic in general. The Chantry needs to keep its mages under a tight leash, but it also has a vested interest in training them to be useful, especially in a military capacity. Within the Circles there is some room for experimentation and advancement, but it's always limited by fear and the harsh regulations imposed on their use of magic.

Therefore I think Southern Circle magic tends towards the practical, the utilitarian, somewhat of an inflexible, blunt approach. They likely favour elemental magic, though spirit healing seems to be reluctantly tolerated for its sheer usefulness. There's some variety, though, such as the Kirkwall Circle favouring Force Magic.

TEVINTER: obviously Tevinter mages enjoy a great deal more freedom in terms of magic, and can freely experiment and push the limits, in fact they're incentivised to do so. Leaving aside blood magic for now, magic is an intrinsic part of Tevinter culture, and Circles are regarded as prestigious academies-- I think magic there is viewed as an art, a science. Obviously from a banter between Solas and Dorian we know that Tevinter stole techniques from the ancient elves. There are likely some similarities although obviously Tevinter magic has evolved since then.

Imo Tevinter magic is about precision, skillfulness, refinement, elegance, subtlety. There's almost a certain poetry to it, though it is also showy, ostentatious. They appreciate magic for magic's sake, not just as a tool. I talked in a different post about how I don't like Necromancy for Dorian and I wish he'd had a specialisation that showcased an aspect of Tevene magic other than blood magic- like I said I think this could have been glyph-based magic, which is showy but also might require skill and dexterity.

DALISH: The Dalish mages we've met have been very capable and well-trained, so I think it's unfair to say their magic is inferior to anyone else's. I think it's simply different. Since they live so closely with nature I tend to think they have an intuitive, instinctual approach to magic, almost a natural ease. To Dalish mages, magic is like breathing, though there is a lot of study that goes into it as well.

Obviously we have direct examples of Keeper magic in both Velanna and Merrill, so apart from the typical thornblades-type spells I'd also say they favour primal magic (lightning, stonefist/petrify etc)- based somewhat on the fact that Merrill doesn't have access to the elemental tree in da2. Not that I don't think they can summon fire, but I think they view fire magic differently. This is my headcanon/inference but, like healers, Keepers follow Sylaise's Vir Atish'an, the way of peace. Sylaise represents healing, but also fire. For someone who lives in a forest, fire is useful, but can be destructive if it gets out of control. I believe they don't view fire as an offensive tool primarily, but as something healing.

QUNARI: again, Qunari magic is severely limited, even more so than in Southern Circles. I think the Qunari view their mages as basically walking rocket launchers, but magic is their blind spot. They're terrified of it, so they'll never get the most out of its possibilities. I mean, their mages can't even talk to each other, so what chance is there of exchanging ideas and advancing? This might be the reason why they haven't totally crushed Tevinter tbh. It does seem that Qunari/Vashoth likely make naturally powerful mages, it's just that their magic is unrefined, brutal, basic but destructive. I imagine they favour the most basic elemental or primal magic, hardly venturing into any other schools at all. The Saarebas seem to have lightning abilities in-game, which fits a society which is technologically advanced but limited when it comes to magic.

NEVARRA: so obviously we've got the Mortalitasi. Tbh I'm not as interested in the Mortalitasi as I could be, I think necromancy just doesn't appeal to me in terms of vibes lol. But anyway, it's clear that magic in Nevarra has a ritualistic importance, it's dark and secretive, subtle, and even though it can be used offensively that seems to be a secondary purpose. I think, like in Tevinter, magic is likely an intellectual or a scientific pursuit, but here it also has a religious significance. Obviously they favour spirit magic and necromancy. Unlike Rivain and the Avvar, though, they seem to view spirits as tools/slaves- in Tevinter Nights we see a Mortalitasi using a wisp to stir her tea for example.

RIVAIN: ugh my faves. There's a good chance we'll get to see this in the next game and I couldn't be more excited. We know that the women are trained as Seers and commune with spirits. The Circles there are really just a front to appease the Chantry, while the unique brand of Rivaini magic is a natural facet of life. I think it's probably witchy, obviously spiritual, intuitive, likely also ritualistic. Obviously a lot of it is spirit magic, probably spirit healing, but I like to think they also use Entropy magic (my beloved) because the idea of curses just kind of fits the witchy vibes of it all. Since their culture is so entwined with the sea, storm magic also might make sense.

[wanderinghedgehog]

The Confrontation in Les Mis (or Authority Gains Its Power as the chapter is called in the book) is such an interesting scene to me because so many adaptations present it in a way that I can’t decide if it’s wrong or just strange. Various adaptations add an element of physical aggression to it that is not present in the original scene. Essentially my problem with that is that I find it unnecessary. Exactly what any violence could communicate in this scene could easily be communicated without it. More specifically, it could be communicated more artfully without violence.

What’s intriguing about this scene is the power dynamic between Valjean and Javert and how it shifts throughout. It starts with Javert in complete control, not because he could physically overpower Valjean (which he couldn’t), but because he has the law on his side. It is fully within his rights to arrest a lawbreaker. He mostly maintains this control of the scene through the authority given to him by the government. But when control briefly shifts to Valjean, it isn’t gained through actual violence. True, he threatens Javert, but that’s the extent of it. We know he’s been able to fend off Javert because he is able to give himself a moment to address Fantine. Nothing else was required to communicate this. Additionally, a threat of violence from Valjean is intimidating enough on it���s own partially because he uses this tactic so sparingly.

Portrayals of violence in media have a very straightforward purpose, to show how an attacker gains power of someone else, even if that power is short lived. But that power is represented very plainly by physical strength, meaning that it doesn’t always effectively portray other implications and nuances of a situation. But whether this is the case for violence in Les Mis or not, I mostly don’t like it for its lack of subtlety. It often feels like action for the sake of action rather than because it would genuinely portray the themes of power and authority better. It ups the stakes to some extent, but not in a way that’s especially meaningful. The stakes of the scene were already high enough, in my opinion.

I’m gonna see if I can sum this is up succinctly. If you ask me, when a scene already effectively deals with themes of power, there is no reason to add an element that involves those themes but only in a more visceral and frustratingly straightforward way.

[ewrthings-race-repair-repeat]

The Rolls-Royce Black Badge Ghost Ékleipsis Private Collection is a limited edition (25 world wide) that has been inspired by the seldom-seen wonder of a solar eclipse (the awe-inspiring moment when the Moon completely obscures the Sun).  

EXTERIOR: GOLDEN DARKNESS The mysterious, ethereal light cast by a total solar eclipse is captured in the Lyrical Copper exterior colour of the motor car. This stunning Bespoke finish incorporates powdered copper pigment, which appears darker until it catches the light when it produces a rich and dramatic iridescence. Mandarin adorns the inserts below the Pantheon Grille and brake callipers, recalling the intense pulses of sunlight witnessed as the eclipse progresses. The same Mandarin hue is used for the hand-painted coachline, which includes a delicate abstract representation of the transition from sunlight to darkness as the Moon approaches to cover the Sun.

ANIMATED STARLIGHT HEADLINER The Rolls-Royce Black Badge Ghost Ékleipsis features a fully Bespoke Starlight Headliner with a special animation that, like the eclipse that inspires it, gives those inside a true sense of awe and wonder. As the coach doors close and the engine is started, the ‘stars’ in the Starlight Headliner darken and a mesmerising sequence begins, replicating the totality of the solar eclipse, when the dark silhouette of the Moon completely obscures the bright light of the Sun. A circle of 940 ‘stars’ is formed, representing the bright corona of light around the lunar silhouette. This is surrounded by a further 192 illuminating ‘stars’, recreating the otherworldly spectacle of stars visible in the sky during daylight, which occurs only during a total solar eclipse.

The animation remains visible for precisely seven minutes and 31 seconds – the longest possible duration of a total solar eclipse. Once this time has elapsed, the full constellation of ‘stars’ in the night sky is restored. This highly technical feature required a year of painstaking development, in which the Bespoke Collective produced three complete prototypes to perfect the design and sequencing of the ‘stars’.

ILLUMINATED FASCIA AND ‘DIAMOND RING’ TIMEPIECE The illuminated fascia of Rolls-Royce Black Badge Ghost Ékleipsis is adorned with 1,846 laser-etched ‘stars’ in a symbolic timeline of a total eclipse. A single Bespoke designer had sole responsibility for adjusting the individual size and position of each ‘star’ to create the mesmeric effect; a delicate and exacting process that took over 100 hours to complete.

The composition culminates in a Bespoke timepiece, which incorporates a brilliant-cut 0.5-carat diamond, recalling the ‘Diamond Ring’ effect, when a single, dazzling point of light can be seen on the Moon’s outline in the split seconds just before and immediately after it obscures the Sun. The bezel geometry has been modified to accommodate the precious gem, as this is the first time in Rolls-Royce history that a gemstone has been integrated into the clock’s bezel. The assembly underwent rigorous adhesion tests, which included climatic cell cycling from -30°C to +90°C, to ensure the diamond is robustly secured. The timepiece is finished with an etching on its dark aluminium surround, revealing the bright metal underneath. This beautiful piece of contemporary craftsmanship is the result of over 14 design iterations.

PANORAMIC SUNSET INTERIOR At totality of a solar eclipse, there is a moment when a golden twilight surrounds those viewing the eclipse, giving the illusion of a 360-degree sunset. In Rolls-Royce Black Badge Ghost Ékleipsis, the beauty of this rarely observed phenomenon is captured in bi-coloured seats with a unique perforated artwork, made of over 200,000 individual perforations.

The bold Mandarin leather is tinted in a black shade that is then perforated to reveal the brighter contrasting colour beneath, creating a visual effect with extraordinary depth and subtlety. Using computational design tools, the Bespoke Collective developed a unique pattern, which was then manually refined over seven trials and iterations.

Bespoke finishing touches include illuminated treadplates, umbrellas with Mandarin piping concealed in the coach doors, and a unique indoor motor car cover bearing the Private Collection’s wordmark.

All 25 examples of the Rolls-Royce Black Badge Ghost Ékleipsis Private Collection have been allocated to clients around the world.

[onsomekindofstartrek]

Got my degree (German and Spanish with the capstone in Spanish) five years ago in December and in my head I’m still fighting the war over immersive second language instruction.

It doesn’t work, not as a holistic approach, and I think, but cannot verify, that this is a mostly-American folly.

You can’t learn a language without learning grammar, much as Americans in particular like to stomp their feet and whine about it. And most people cannot learn the subtleties of L2 without occasional or even fairly frequent use of L1 for clarification and explanations of difficult concepts.

Understand, I did five years of German with one professor who was in his seventies and eighties in that time span. English was the main language of instruction at first and he slowly transitioned the advanced classes to using German as the main language of instruction. It was NEVER 100%, because German grammar is actually really complicated and hard to grasp, especially in regards to the declensions of the adjectives and determiners. I learned the grammar by rote, but contrary to popular doctrine, I still learned it and can use it automatically and easily. The only reason I’m not well conversant in German now is because we never had enough students in the program to have conversation classes or clubs like with Spanish.

Whereas I did four years of Spanish and I’m decently conversant in it, improving all the time because I talk with Spanish speakers almost weekly. But that’s through no virtue of the immersive Spanish program. For one thing, they were under orders to have 100% pass rate, which is absurd, and for another thing, you still have to learn the grammar by rote, but hampered by the fact that you’re starting with people who do not speak the language at all, and instructing them entirely in the language! It’s not your first language! You’re not going to intuit the grammar! Of course it’s going to be by rote. Artificially adding a language barrier to that rote instruction is not a virtue. I learned Spanish grammar on my own time because I wanted to actually speak it and not just pass an un-failable class.

(Also L1 speakers of any language tend not to be effective at instructing speakers of other languages in the grammar, since it’s intuitive for them but not for the students. No, we can’t just “do what feels right,” we didn’t start when we were babies!)

And I think it gets into a lot of American hangups, like the idea that you should either be fluent in a language or not speak it at all, the way we treat L2 English speakers when they come here.

There’s no magic bullet for language and as my alma mater axes every language program except Spanish, and dilutes the Spanish program by requiring a guaranteed passing grade, that’s not going to get less true.

[capucapo]

Legendary Heroes: The Tutorial (part 1)

( chatlog from my discord RP with @nameless-brand, based on the alternate version of the Legendary Heroes VR game created by the Kaiba Corporation in Sato, Lev, and Chi's current universe. )

It doesn't feel good, keeping secrets from his brother. But while the subtleties of Kaiba Seto's emotions usually go unnoticed by most, Mokuba's noticed his brother's spirits seem brighter. Maybe it was destroying Alcatraz, maybe it was their overseas adventure, maybe it was the beach trip. But recently, Seto seemed happier. Maybe when he'd achieved his dream of destroying the past, Mokuba's dream of seeing his brother smile again had come true as well.

Which is exactly why he can't drag Seto back into that past again.

So instead, he finishes up some final tasks and logs out of his computer before retrieving the helmets that Sato had sent over from where he'd stashed them inside his filing cabinet. The devices would hardly fit into his messenger bag, but luckily he doesn't exactly need to use the front door. A few button presses on his watch, and the office around him is instantly replaced by his bedroom at home.

Now, he can finally get to work.

He locks the heavy double doors to his massive bedroom, not that his brother or any staff would dare to open them without knocking anyway. Then he moves to his desk. The large L-shaped desk is mostly occupied with a multi-monitor gaming setup. He unplugs one monitor, moving it to the floor to make room for dismantling the damaged helmet. Moves aside his keyboard to set up an older, cheaper laptop in front of his main monitor. Once the computer finishes its start up, he plops himself into his gaming chair.

First, he plugs the USB into the laptop. He keeps it around just for times like these, testing mystery thumb drives, viruses, and exploring less trustworthy websites. A familiar box pops up, indicating the program attempting to run requires administrator permission, and Mokuba clicks okay with only a little hesitation.

He can work on taking the helmet apart while the intaller runs, he figures.

>> Installing ALTIMIT OS. Please do not shut down your computer.

As the install begins, Mokuba turns to the helmet on the other half of his desk. A few minutes is a long time for this boy to sit still, after all. He clicks on a task light, adjusting the beam to shine directly upon the task at hand. Produces a set of small tools from a drawer in the desk, and starts the delicate task of disassembling the device, making careful mental note of where each piece goes.

It only takes a few minutes to install the new operating system, and it immediately booted up upon running.

He doesn't get very far before the laptop to his side reboots, marking the end of the new OS's installation. He swivels his chair back to that side of the desk to examine this new system.

The reason for the near instant boot-up and quick install became evident. The ALTIMIT OS design was almost pathetically simple to the modern day computers.

All there was was "The World", "Mailer" "News", "Accessory", "Audio", and "Data" on the left side of the screen, their icons spinning slowly - and nothing else.

He'll start by poking around the surface first. The World must be a euphemism for the Internet, he assumes as he moves his cursor to double tap the icon, only to be presented with an error message. He frowns, and moves on to the next two icons with similar, disappointing results.

The World, Mailer, and News icons do not work, simply displaying a "Failed To Connect. Please check if you have a KC@Home Account." Accessory seemed solely dedicated for desktop wallpapers and nothing else. Audio naturally had the music files in a list with multiple folders for sorting and grouping.

The next two icons at least work, opening their respective windows, but they're hardly helpful. He changes the desktop wallpaper to one of the defaults offered, clicks a few audio files, then quickly moves on.

Data however is where things get interesting. The interface is similar to Windows Explorer, and the files previously presented on the Computer are listed as normal. However, attempts to load an executable program that isn't standard Windows, Apple, or Linux suite will display an "Incompatibility Error." Running viruses and malware directly from Data will also immediately fail, though part of that may simply be that the virus / malware is incompatible with the OS.

Loading an anti-virus or anti-malware program will prompt the following: "ALTIMIT OS does not require anti-virus or anti-malware due to its secure design and is incompatible with such programs. It is recommended you seek a refund of your anti-virus program."

There he finds familiar files from the laptop's last experiments, as well as some select media he'd wanted to save with a bit more privacy. Everything seems normal there. He tries to open a couple programs, with mixed success. Beyond the standard programs, nothing previously installed seems to run. Not surprising, they weren't coded with this third-party OS in mind. This does, however, prevent him from utilizing the sandboxing program he would typically use when testing potentially harmful programs.

Which could have been a real issue when he decides to test a malicious string of code.

The attempt at running malicious code within the OS does trigger something. A small packet is silently sent to a server KCAltimit ***.**.***.*** containing the following code XH1930ACD-0 despite firewall protections. and only detectable if one was watching closely.

Oh, now that's interesting. This being Mokuba's natural environment, of course he notices that, if there's a way to. However, for now there's little he can do with the information.

He spends a few more minutes poking around, attempting to explore any hidden or administrative files or folders before returning his attention to the helmets.

The OS is incredibly simple for an operating system, though that can be seen from the desktop display. No hidden or administrative files could be found in the clean install. Even at a glance, it was a very tight OS - one could say there's no room to inject bad code into the core components. Though the OS does display its files openly in the Data Explorer under the ALTIMIT folder, they do not open.

The attempts at poking around in the core files does send another packet to the KCAltimit server, except now the content is XH1930ACD-1.

Hm.

He's still in the process of dismantling the broken one. But as for the intact one.... He picks it up from its spot on the carpet beside his desk. Even with the operating system, would it even work without a KC@Home Account? Either way, he's not exactly eager about putting this thing on. His experiences with Virtual Reality haven't exactly been positive.

He turns the helmet over in his hands, brows knit as he tries to figure out how to activate the device, how to connect it with the system.

Simply palming the functional egg-shaped helmet and putting it near the laptop would cause the laptop to display a new window.

>> Genuine KaibaCorp NetGear Deep Immersion device detected. Would you like to Sync the NetGear to the ALTIMIT OS and start Calibration? Please note that playing Legendary Heroes requires a KC@Home account, and you will be able to make an account after calibration.

Faint cyan lines on the egg-shaped helmet glow like a futuristic helmet as if inviting the user to wear it.

He notices the new pop-up that appears as he holds the helmet, taking a second to read the text-- and to ignore the way those cyan lights make his stomach turn. It quickly becomes clear that the process can't continue unworn, either, and Mokuba's stomach sinks further.

He stares at the glowing helmet apprehensively. Gives the half dismantled one a glance. Maybe he should wait. Maybe he should finish poking around, get a better understanding of the tech before he dives right in.

Maybe he's in over his head.

He remembers his last two Virtual Reality experiences. Remembers the illusory egg-shaped capsule that Other Yugi had trapped him within, and the aversion to compact places he'd been left with.

Maybe he should just get his brother.

He remembers the last text conversation with Seto. That he's not careful enough. That he couldn't have saved them from Noa without help.

He takes a deep breath. Then he and clicks okay to begin the calibration, and dons the helmet.

[tmarshconnors]

The Laws Of Court Politics

Avoid Ostentation.

It is never prudent to prattle on about yourself or call too much attention to your actions. The more you talk about your deeds the more suspicion you cause. You also stir up enough envy among your peers to induce treachery and backstabbing. Be careful, ever so careful, in trumpeting your own achievements, and always talk less about yourself than about other people. Modesty is generally preferable.

Practice Nonchalance.

Never seem to be working too hard. Your talent must appear to flow naturally, with an ease that makes people take you for a genius rather than a workaholic. Even when something demands a lot of sweat, make it look effortless—people prefer to not see your blood and toil, which is another form of ostentation. It is better for them to marvel at how gracefully you have achieved your accomplishment than to wonder why it took so much work.

Be Frugal with Flattery.

It may seem that your superiors cannot get enough flattery, but too much of even a good thing loses its value. It also stirs up suspicion among your peers. Learn to flatter indirectly—by downplaying your own contribution, for example, to make your master look better.

Arrange to Be Noticed.

There is a paradox: You cannot display yourself too brazenly, yet you must also get yourself noticed. In the court of Louis XIV, whoever the king decided to look at rose instantly in the court hierarchy. You stand no chance of rising if the ruler does not notice you in the swamp of courtiers. This task requires much art. It is often initially a matter of being seen, in the literal sense. Pay attention to your physical appearance, then, and find a way to create a distinctive—a subtly distinctive—style and image.

Alter Your Style and Language According to the Person You Are Dealing With.

The pseudo-belief inequality—the idea that talking and acting the same way with everyone, regardless of their rank, makes you somehow a paragon of civilization—is a terrible mistake. Those below you will take it as condescension, which it is, and those above you will be offended, although they may not admit it. You must change your style and way of speaking to suit each person. This is not lying, it is acting, and acting is an art, not a gift from God. Learn the art. This is also true for the great variety of cultures found in the modern court: Never assume that your criteria of behaviour and judgment are universal. Not only is an inability to adapt to another culture the height of barbarism, but it also puts you at a disadvantage.

Never Be the Bearer of Bad News.

The king kills the messenger who brings bad news: This is a cliché but there is truth to it. You must struggle and if necessary lie and cheat to be sure that the lot of the bearer of bad news falls on a colleague, never on you. Bring only good news and your approach will gladden your master.

Never Affect Friendliness and Intimacy with Your Master.

He does not want a friend for a subordinate, he wants an assistant. Never approach him in an easy, friendly way, or act as if you are on the best of terms—that is his prerogative. If he chooses to deal with you on this level, assume a wary chumminess. Otherwise, err in the opposite direction, and clear the distance between you.

Never Criticize Those Above You Directly.

This may seem obvious, but sometimes some sort of criticism is necessary—to say nothing or to give no advice, would open you to another kind of risk. However, you must learn to coach your advice and criticism as indirectly and politely as possible. Think twice, or three times, before deciding you have made them sufficiently circuitous. Err on the side of subtlety and gentleness.

Be Frugal in Asking Those Above You for Favors.

Nothing irritates a master more than having to reject someone’s request. It stirs up guilt and resentment. Ask for favours as rarely as possible, and know when to stop. Rather than making yourself the supplicant, it is always better to earn your favours, so that the ruler bestows them willingly. Most important: Do not ask for favours on another person’s behalf, least of all a friend’s.

Never Joke About Appearances or Taste.

A lively wit and a humorous disposition are essential qualities for a good courtier, and there are times when vulgarity is appropriate and engaging. But avoid any kind of joke about appearance or taste, two highly sensitive areas, especially with those above you. Do not even try it when you are away from them. You will dig your own grave.

Do Not Be the Court Cynic.

Express admiration for the good work of others. If you constantly criticize your equals or subordinates some of that criticism will rub off on you, hovering over you like a gray cloud wherever you go. People will groan at each new cynical comment, and you will irritate them. By expressing modest admiration for other people’s achievements, you paradoxically call attention to your own. The ability to express wonder and amazement, and seem like you mean it, is a rare and dying talent, but one still greatly valued.

Be Self-observant.

The mirror is a miraculous invention; without it, you would commit great sins against beauty and decorum. You also need a mirror for your actions. This can sometimes come from other people telling you what they see in you, but that is not the most trustworthy method: You must be the mirror, training your mind to try to see yourself as others see you. Are you acting too obsequious? Are you trying too hard to please? Do you seem desperate for attention, giving the impression that you are on the decline? Be observant about yourself and you will avoid a mountain of blunders.

Master Your Emotions.

As an actor in a great play, you must learn to cry and laugh on command and when it is appropriate. You must be able both to disguise your anger and frustration and to fake your contentment and agreement. You must be the master of your own face. Call it lying if you like; but if you prefer to not play the game and to always be honest and upfront, do not complain when others call you obnoxious and arrogant.

Fit the Spirit of the Times.

A slight affectation of a past era can be charming, as long as you choose a period at least twenty years back; wearing the fashions of ten years ago is ludicrous unless you enjoy the role of court jester. Your spirit and way of thinking must keep up with the times, even if the times offend your sensibilities. Be too forward-thinking, however, and no one will understand you. It is never a good idea to stand out too much in this area; you are best off at least being able to mimic the spirit of the times.

Be a Source of Pleasure.

This is critical. It is an obvious law of human nature that we will flee what is unpleasant and distasteful, while charm and the promise of delight will draw us like moths to a flame. Make yourself the flame and you will rise to the top. Since life is otherwise so full of unpleasantness and pleasure so scarce, you will be as indispensable as food and drink. This may seem obvious, but what is obvious is often ignored or unappreciated. There are degrees to this: Not everyone can play the role of favourite, for not everyone is blessed with charm and wit. But we can all control our unpleasant qualities and obscure them when necessary.

“A man who knows the court is master of his gestures, of his eyes and of his face; he is profound, impenetrable; he dissimulates bad offices, smiles at his enemies, controls his irritation, disguises his passions, belies his heart, speaks and acts against his feelings."

Jean de La Bruyère was a French philosopher and moralist

Born: 16 August 1645, Paris, France

Died: 11 May 1696, Versailles, France

[tricksheart]

Send “⚔” and I will list some tropes from TVTropes.org that describe our muses relationship.

( accepting )

@gloryseized said: ⚔ ( for Link )

Adoption Angst: Link was raised by a family of talking persona users after Akira's parents found Link as a baby. Though he loves his adoptive parents, Maya and Katsuya, Link also angsts over not knowing where he came from or who his birth parents are, all the more punctuated by the fact that he's never met any blondes like him until he meets Zelda later on.

Angst? What Angst?: Invoked. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean that Link is able to face the trauma of everything that a seasoned veteran hero has faced, especially at his age. Joker: You just went through some outrageous beeswax with losing your favorite arm and etcetera. You can't just expect to bounce back to normal. Link (genuinely surprised): I can't?

Big Brother Instinct: He is fiercely protective over Joker, despite being the younger brother. In "Evicted", Ganon kind of killed Joker for a minute. Link's reaction was… not pretty. In "To Cut a Woman's Hair", the witch merely uses Joker as a piece of furniture (albeit in the context of Links requiring someone to be in "danger" in order to help her), and Link charges.

Colorblind Confusion: In "Red Starved", Link's shown to be red-green colorblind after he mistakes a green emerald for a red ruby. Strangely, Joker (a persona user) CAN tell the difference, and is the one to correct him.

The Conscience: Good grief yes. Link's heroic nature counterbalances his closest's friends amoral tendencies. While it tends to be played for laughs with Joker, it's played more seriously (and more subtlety) with Ganon and Princess Zelda.

Death Seeker: Downplayed as he's not exactly trying to get himself killed, but after Joker passed away, Link admits that part of him is waiting for his own death just so he can reunite with Joker again.

Evil Laugh: Non-evil example; in "What is Life?", Link mischievously does this, while thinking to prank Joker after he pranked Link himself, as a type of revenge.

For Happiness: When he and Joker aren't busy fighting evil, they're just trying to have a good time.

Idiot Hero: Why is Link missing so many teeth? The nintendos' answer: He bites trees and rocks and stuff. He's stupid. Which makes it that much more interesting when his brain works perfectly, like in "Morituri te Salutamus". As shown in "The New Frontier", Link occasionally forgets how the sun works, and is seemingly floored when Joker re-explains it to him. In "The Real You", Link himself says that he's "full of stupid." This is more of an early season character trait as he becomes more intelligent as the series goes on, especially emotionally.

Morality Chain: Link may be the protagonist, but it becomes increasingly clear that he's also the Morality Chain to… damn near everyone else. He consciously takes on the role of turning Midna good, but it's also strongly implied that without him Joker would still be a thief and conman, Princess Zelda might be much more of a not great ruler, Ganon would be the psychopathic troll he likes to see himself as.

Samaritan Syndrome: In "Memories of Boom-Boom Mountain", Link reveals his underlying drive to help everyone and everything with their problems because when he was a baby, he once sat on a leaf and got stuck to it, and went unaided for hours until Joker's parents found him (and eventually adopted him). Link helps people because someone helped him once.

Singing Voice Dissonance: Throughout the series, Link sings with an auto-tuned voice that supposedly comes from a tiny computer he swallowed at some earlier point. Subverted in 'What Was Missing', where he sings a heartfelt song to (and about) his True Companions Joker, Zelda and Midna. The Auto-tune singing returns in the Season 6 finale, though it appears to be a mix of this and his normal singing.

True Companions: With Joker, emphasized by both family bonds and loyalty, and with Zelda to a slightly lesser extent. As characterization has developed, he may possibly also have this with Midna, given how highly she regards friendship. All of them take some steps towards becoming True Companions in "What Was Missing", though with Joker being the Wild Card, and Midna and Zelda not getting along very well, it takes some considerable effort on Link's part.

[textual-deviant-blog]

How often does anyone do something with 'meaning'?

Ai generated work by me, titled: "The hands that feed you."

Earlier today, I was listening to the upbeat, lifting, somber, yet sometimes just plain depressing album BURN PYGAMALION!!! by The Scary Jokes. I somehow found myself comparing the music to another, much better known song, Rules of Nature by Jamie Christopherson- you know, the one from MGS?

I compared their depth- as in, the true meaning behind the song- and found Rules of Nature to be rather shallow. Even though, it's one of my favorite songs. Analyzing it more, it makes sense. Sure, not every lyric contributes something to the overarching 'narrative' it might be compelling, but it has emotion, and it has a beat. Both catch. Music doesn't need a real 'meaning' besides the one our ears attribute to it.

Even so, it makes you wonder. What if music artists as a whole began to give as much thought to the theme or narrative that The Scary Jokes does, despite their chaotic style? What if we applied this to other mediums?

Movies and TV shows are right out. Not because they don't, but because they already do to a major extent- I mean, story writing makes up a tiny sliver of the production budget, so it would make sense to get that right whenever possible as it's still something critical to the movie.

Art, meanwhile, is so individualistic it would be difficult to try to make a case for applying narrative to everything. There are subtleties, additions- always more to add, to give the piece it's own sort of environmental storytelling, but not every piece necessarily benefits from that. And that doesn't even touch how each piece of artwork could be interpreted in so many ways that gives it it's own depth by default.

So, with Novels being the default, I suppose this means that Music happens to be the only medium with this dilemma? It's perhaps to do with the reduction in the popularity of dance clubs and bars, which, as a result, reduced the amount of songs whose focus happened to be on making people dance, and instead just writing music that sounded good. Today's more 'zoomer' music can be considered almost unrecognizable if you compare them to songs from the 70's, even the 90's, such as FNF's soundtrack. Imagine attempting to dance on beat to music like that.

Another reason also comes to mind; the classic 'video stars vs. audio stars' conundrum. From Netflix to Steam, we've massively streamlined the process of watching movies and playing games, while, for much longer, we could listen to music on those same devices. The audio star is now much more inclined to make something marketable; usable in games, movies, and tv shows. That sometimes can be considered to be a song without vocals. Songs with an underlying 'meaning' become vastly harder to make without vocals, so far fewer even try. Due to the same reasons music artists have declined in net worth, software has become far easier to use than it is to actually sing.

'meaning' has lost focus in music because it's something that requires intent, when many just ride along. Focus has shifted from being interesting and steady enough to dance, into something far easier; just something that sounds good.

Music artists that continue to push narrative has become the minority rather than the majority, and we'll likely continue to see this trend as the years pass by. Perhaps another trend will join it, perhaps it will devolve, but most evidently, songs with 'meaning' will reduce in popularity as the older and older generations cease to be.

[autumnalwalker]

Empty Names Side Story - Once Upon A Time…

Author's Note: Leaving the main story dangling on a cliffhanger for an extra week to post a side story I actually finished up several weeks back. Or perhaps "side story" is less accurate than "backstory." Depends on how much you trust the narrator, I suppose. Empty Names Mastepost here. Word Count: 4,219 Content Warnings: Low-key gender dysphoria. Brief mention of dead bodies but nothing graphic.

“Su?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you tell me the story of how we met?”

“Always.”

“Thanks.”

“It was back when we were both just kids - ”

“No, not that one.”

“You’re right.  What was I thinking?  Once upon a time…”

*******

Once upon a time there was a Spoiled Princess who lived in a grand castle with nearly every luxury and indulgence the child asked for.  Silks, toys, sweets, pets, servants all were granted at whim for the mere price of performing the duties required of a princess to perfection.

In this land, it was the role of young noblewomen to be symbols, prizes, and tools for political maneuvering.  They were fair maidens whom knights and adventurers would swear their honor by and fight for their favor.  They were delicate flowers shown off by great houses to demonstrate their wealth by displays of cultivated luxury and beauty to be envied by the masses.  They were financial investments to be bargained over, tempted by, and traded as tokens to seal deals of politics and coin to keep power and money flowing along lines of blood.  And to be Princess was to be the pinnacle of these ideals.

Of course, this in turn led to the nasty and booming business of kidnappings, ransoms, and assassinations.  When so much was invested in a single asset, surely one would be willing to pay a fraction of that amount to have it returned once stolen?  And what better way to deprive a rival of clout than to remove the face of his influence, so to speak?

Most families responded to such plots by hiding their daughters away under lock and key and guard when not on display.  And while the Princess’s family made a show of doing the same, they had their own tricks that kept them as the winners of The Game.  After all, there was a reason they were the ones sitting on thrones with crowns on their heads.  

Foremost among these tricks was to train their daughters in secret, not only to protect themselves from such villainy as oft befalls their lesser peers but to enact such wicked deeds themselves.

And so when the Princess was not being amused by the newest plaything or indulging a sweet tooth, the child’s hours were filled with tutoring and training.  The seventeen proper curtseys by rank and relation and the twenty-nine ways a lady may hide a blade on her person by subtlety and ease of draw.  The ninety-seven steps of the season’s popular dance by which to win a courtier’s heart and the seven soft spots of the body’s weakness by which to stop a courtier’s heart.  The eleven powders with which to further draw out one’s own beauty and the thirteen with which to forever mar another’s. 

To all others the Princess appeared to take to this role - both the open and the secret aspects - as finely as any daughter of the house before, if not even better.  But in private the Princess hated it all.  Well, perhaps the parts about knives and sneaking were fun enough, but the rest of it galled.  There was the obvious part about ultimately being a tool and an asset with no true say in one’s own future that would be disagreeable no matter the trappings, yes.  But even if the Princess had freedom and had a say, even if the Princess had real power, there still would have been something about those trappings of femininity and assumptions of the role regarding who and what the Princess was that never felt quite right.  Not that those things were inherently wrong like the lack of freedom seemed to be at times, just that they never seemed to properly fit.  

But the Princess never could find the words to properly express those feelings and they were so often overshadowed by the greater displeasures of the role that they mostly went ignored.

*******

Once upon a time, there was an Incorrigible Rogue who lived wherever they could find a dry spot in town with a minimum of people shouting at the child.  Some called them Thief but they really preferred Rogue.  The way they saw it, a Thief is a bad guy who hurts normal people by knocking them down in the street and taking their coin pouch so they can’t buy dinner or breaking into their home in the middle of the night to empty their entire pantries.  But a Rogue is an adventurer who takes things that their owners don’t really need and gives them to someone who does.  What’s a dragon need all that gold for anyway?  And who’s going to miss a bit of unsold bread and fruit that was just going to go stale and rotten?

And sure, sometimes they gave the things they took to themself, but they were a person in need too.  They figured they shared with the other street kids and street old folks plenty enough to keep a bit for themself now and then. Just enough to stay strong enough for more adventuring.  And maybe a little extra treat too if an adventure was real good. 

Now, the Rogue’s two favorite adventures to go on were “Steal the hat” and “Spy.”  “Steal the hat” was fun because there was no shortage of rich folks and nobles coming through the city who could afford to lose a fancy hat or three and they were usually guarded well enough to make getting close enough to swipe the hat a challenge.  Even better, unlike most things that they took, the only ones who shouted at them were the now-hatless rich folks.  And the guards, but shouting at people was their job, so they didn’t count.  But the normal folks that saw the Rogue running around with a hat too big for them embroidered with gold and silver threads with a feather sticking out the top would smile and cheer at the trick.  So long as the rich folks’ guards weren’t around, of course.  If the hat belonged to someone mean enough, the Rogue might even get an apple tossed their way while they ran past, and a fresh one at that. 

Keeping the hat was never a good idea though, so the Rogue always made sure to leave it somewhere where it was sure to be seen in case someone else wanted it.  Usually hanging from atop a sign halfway up a building or perched jauntily on a horse’s head.  They’d tried putting the hat on a goat once, but the goat just ate it, which they worried might have been bad for the goat. 

“Spy” on the other hand was less about sneaking around and running away quickly and more about blending in and listening carefully.  Their favorite places for “Spy” were the various inns and taverns scattered around the city where they’d learned that if they just walked in like they belonged and started washing dishes then no one would tell them to leave.  It made for a good opportunity to wash their face and hands too while they were at it; people shouted at them less when their face was clean.  After dishwashing for long enough for the tavern staff to get used to their presence - and getting their fill of the staff’s gossip, which made for good stories in its own way - they’d quietly grab a tray that was meant for a server and slip out into the dining room to listen to the adventurers.  It was in those taverns, cleaning tables and delivering food and drink, that they drank in the stories of dragon hoards, daring rescues, deep dungeons, and all manner of feats of heroism.  It was in those stories that they’d first heard the word “Rogue” and decided it fit them better than “Thief”.

And then when the nights wore down and the stories ran on toward their ends, the Rogue would slip back out of the tavern before anyone could either shout at them or try to pay them.  Sometimes one of the adventurers would toss them a coin as they took a tray away from a table or brought over a drink, but they always left those on the trays for the tavern staff to find.  They’d already had all the payment they needed in the form of stories, table scraps, and practice.

That’s really what all this was about: practice.  Fun too, but also practice.  All the pickpocketing and pranks and hat stealing and tavern infiltrating, it was all with an eye toward building up the skills they’d need to be a proper heroic adventuring sort of Rogue, and not the sort of Rogue who’s just a parentless child playing pretend in the streets.  The sort of adventurer with their own stories to tell and to have stories told about them.

Yes, that would be a fine thing indeed, to have a story.  To be someone.

*******

Once upon a time, a Rogue climbed a castle wall and slipped in through the window of a Princess’s bedroom.  It was the Princess’s twelfth nameday, and all throughout the day celebrations had abounded within the castle and surrounding town, as was the Princess’s request.  Now night had fallen and the Rogue was taking advantage of the guards’ exhaustion after the partying.  

The Rogue had one particular item in the castle they were looking for.  They had always heard of cake, and had often even gotten as close as smelling its sweet aroma from a bakery’s window, but they had never had it themself.  But by all accounts it was a treat, this “cake,” and surely the Princess’s nameday cake must be the finest of them all.  And besides, they’d been looking for an excuse to break into the castle for some time.  They would have done so eventually, just to see if they could, but if there was cake to be had, all the sweeter.

What the Rogue could not have known was that the way in they had found was intentionally left only lightly guarded at all times as a lure for would-be thieves, kidnappers, and assassins.  Such nerdowells would think to find a stroke of luck or easy mark, only to meet their end the moment they slipped through the window.

Having been told of this plan every night before bed for the past seven years, the Princess had grown to be a light sleeper indeed.

Imagine the Rogue’s surprise when the moment their feet touched the bedchamber floor a speed-blurred figure shot out from behind the lacy curtains of the four-poster bed and pinned them to the plush carpet with a blade at their neck. 

Imagine the Princess’s surprise at finding the intruder was not a hardened assassin sent by a rival house but a child in ragged clothes who soon began laughing with joy at the situation as if this was all some brilliant game and asking for a slice of cake. 

It was the Rogue’s naivete that soon won the Princess over.  Surely no one dumb enough to treat breaking into the castle as a fun lark to be done on a whim could possibly pose a credible threat.  And certainly no competent assassin or self-respecting thief would have such an odd fixation on cake.  This Rogue of a child hadn’t even known whose room this was or recognized the Princess until they were told by the other child threatening to slit their throat.

But most of all, it was the fact that the Rogue truly, genuinely seemed to have no ulterior motive or interest in the schemes of the great houses or status in the royal court.  Such an attitude was strange to the Princess, and yet, somehow refreshing.  Here suddenly was another child of similar age who viewed the world so simply that it was nothing to them to propose that the two of them be friends despite the knife and difference of station between them.

And in that moment of simple friendship freely given, the Princess finally recognized a deep loneliness that had been ignored for a lifetime.

The Princess lowered the knife, stepped back off the Rogue, told them to hide, and called out into the hall for servants to fetch two slices of cake.  No matter that it was the middle of the night; one simply did not question the Princess’s requests.  Some minutes later a dainty plate with two slices of cake and a single silver spoon arrived and the Princess brought it inside, closed and locked the door, and sat down to share a meal with a friend for the first time.

The Princess gave the silver spoon to the Rogue to eat with, choosing instead to eat with the small but wickedly sharp knife that had been brandished as a weapon not long before.

For the Rogue’s part, the Princess’s nameday cake was everything they had imagined and more.  Firm on the plate and spoon yet moist and softly crumbling in their mouth.  Icing sweeter than anything they’d ever tasted balance out by tart fruit and not-quite-bitter spices that they had no name for.  And that rich smell, even cold, that they half hoped would stay in their nose and linger about long after like a rich lady’s perfume.

They savored every bite, drawing out the meal as long as they could so that they might etch the moment into themself forever, deeper than any mere memory.

The sight of such joy and such a simple thing long taken for granted got the Princess asking questions.  It was like the urchin child had never had a nameday cake before.

Of course they hadn’t.  You had to have a nameday for that.

Nonsense, the Princess said, everyone had a nameday.

Not the Rogue, no one had ever given them a name.

But what about their parents?

Didn’t have any.

Well that wouldn’t do at all to have a friend so shabby that they didn’t even have a name.  The Princess decided to give the Rogue a name then and there so that the two of them might share a nameday from that night forward.

Cake and a name?!  If the Rogue had known the Princess was this nice they would have broken into the castle ages ago.

The Princess laughed a laugh at that which carried a note of pain beneath the melody of amusement.

But before a name could be decided the Princess needed to know if the Rogue was a boy or a girl.  It was, afterall, important information for finding a name that fits and it was strangely hard to tell which one they were.

The Rogue only shrugged at that question and said they were neither.  Or a girl.  Or a boy.  Or both.  Whatever suited them most from one moment to the next, really.

Was the Princess’s new friend some sort of shapeshifting faerie?  That would explain the lack of a name.  Is that why they really broke in, to steal the Princess’s name for their own?

This time it was the Rogue’s turn to laugh again.  Nothing so tricksy or magical as that, as fun as it would be.  No, boy, girl, whatever, these were just ways of being, of acting.  Of moving, of speaking, of dressing.  Just roles that people told you to play, and made assumptions about which one you had to be and judged you on your performance.  And personally, they didn’t see much point in constraining themself to just being one thing or the other when it was so much more fun to switch it up when one stopped suiting them.  

And he considered himself very good and flowing between, as she demonstrated for the Princess.  A small change in his voice and a slight adjustment to how she walked and wore her clothes was all he needed to subtly tip the scales one way or the other and dance back and forth across the thin line that most thought was a wall.

This performance thrilled and delighted the Princess, who told the Rogue they would be perfect for the theatre stage, but was truly thinking of more personal implications that had long since been pushed to the side.

Ah, but no stage would do for the Rogue, for they had their heart set on being an adventurer.

Well, said the Princess, all the more important that they have a good and fitting name for people to remember when telling the stories of their adventures.  And it would need to be one that rang clear and true no matter what role they played.

The two of them spent the rest of the night together with the Princess suggesting names and the Rogue judging them and rejecting them or saving for later consideration.  The Rogue counted themself quite lucky in this regard; most folks had their names foisted on them as babies with no say in the matter, but they actually got to choose.  And their new friend knew oh so many interesting names that they never would have thought of themself.

The hours passed and just as the first of the stars were beginning to fade from the night’s sky to give way to morning, at last they found it, the name that the Rogue could happily call their own.  Noticing the approaching dawn, the Princess hastily grabbed a candle, stuck it in the middle of what little remained of the Rogue’s cake, lit it, and told them to make a silent wish and blow out the candle now.  Now, before the sunrise so the two of them could still share a nameday.

The Rogue never said what they wished for, as is proper for wishes on nameday cakes, but the Princess would eventually come to have a good idea and was certain it had come true.

And with the candle’s light extinguished, the Rogue gobbled down the last few crumbs of cake and disappeared with the last stars before morning.

*******

Once upon a time, a Princess had a secret friend, a Rogue who would climb in through the window at night with a bundle of boy’s clothes for their best friend so that the two of them could sneak out of the castle and go on adventures together.  Or sit together on the floor of the Princess’s bedchamber, whiling away the hours with snacks and tea.  Whatever best suited the feel of the night.

On those first few adventures the Rogue was quickly impressed by the Princess, who was even better at sneaking, running, and climbing than they were.  Almost as good at blending in too, even if he did always choose to be a boy every time.  And if the Princess was maybe a little bit more wicked than they were in the pranks he thought up to play on mean rich folks and thieves (the Rogue was not a Thief), at least it was people who deserved it and they were there to talk him back if it looked like the prank was going to go too far.

Yes, they had many fine times, the two youngsters with the run of the kingdom’s nighttime capital.  And if from time to time their adventures ran into complications that kept the Princess until morning, well, the Rogue may have been the better actor but the Princess was the better liar by far and kept the royal tutors and minders from suspecting aught was amiss.

And then one night after a year of such fun, someone recognized the Princess; an actual Thief who had been kicked out of the castle guard for one missed shift too many and turned to bullying poor folks in rougher parts of the city for money they barely had.  This Thief saw a chance for a fortune in ransom and followed the duo to an old house full of other thieves and their Boss whom the two of them were planning to burgle and return the stolen wealth to those who needed it.

And then, at just the wrong time, the Thief alerted the Boss who was able to catch the Rogue and Princess by surprise.  The Rogue valiantly threw themself in between the Princess, the thieves, and the thieves’ mountain of Boss who was twice the size of both of them put together.  Alas, for all the Rogue’s talents they were not yet much of a fighter and were quickly struck down.

The morning came and went and the Princess was nowhere to be found in the castle.

Search parties were discreetly sent throughout the city and the lands beyond.

On the noon of the Princess’s thirteenth nameday an Agent of the King broke down the door of an old house in the poorest part of the city.  Inside the Agent found thirteen dead men, the Princess, and an unknown child barely aware of what was going on as they wearily leaned on their best friend for support and reflexively gripped the knife that had been pressed into their hand moments before.

The Princes spun a tale of how the Thief, with knowledge of the castle’s defenses and the help of an unknown wizard (who now also lay dead on the floor of the old house) had kidnapped her in the night and planned a ransom.  The Princess told of how this exceptional child had happened to witness the crime and came to the rescue and now bore the wounds to show for it.

For a nameday present, the Princess demanded that the Agent see to it that the child’s wounds were tended to and that the King should know to reward such heroism properly.

That night, injuries mended by the castle’s healers and dressed in the least ragged clothes they had ever worn, the Rogue stood before the King.

The King believed he knew the Princess well enough to suspect much of the truth, but family secrets and appearances must needs be kept.  And so, in a booming voice he asked the child before him what they most desired as a reward for rescuing the Princess.

The Rogue may have still been overwhelmed by all that had happened in the past day, but they hardly had to think on the question before answering.

To have the honor of being by the Princess’s side for the rest of their days.

The King was offended by this request.  A commoner, asking for his daughter’s hand?

No, not that, the Rogue said.  Merely to be together.  To be a friend.

That, the King agreed, could be arranged.

The King asked the Rogue their name and the Rogue proudly spoke the name the Princess had given them in secret one year ago.

The King still could not figure out if it was a boy or girl that stood before him, which was an obstacle to finding what he believed was a suitable role.  It was all the Princess could do to keep from laughing aloud at his father’s visible confusion.

The Rogue indulged the King’s idea that she was a girl and became the Princess’s lady in waiting.  Together the two of them would go on to encourage one another to scheme ever greater feats of mischief.

The Rogue indulged the King’s idea that he was a boy and became the Princess’s personal bodyguard.  Henceforth whenever the Princess used his protection as an excuse to run headlong into another, ever greater, misadventure he would roll his eyes and laugh while chasing after.

The Rogue insisted that they were neither boy nor girl until they turned the King’s frustration to amusement and he declared them the Princess’s private jester.  He would come to regret the decision one day as their sanctioned mockery of the court sparked the Princess to ever greater acts of rebellion.

The Rogue’s wish was granted and they no longer had to keep their friendship with the Princess secret.  In the Princess’s room that night, they cried on his shoulder.  They cried for the men who had died.  She cried for her barely hidden terror before the king.  He cried for having put his best friend in terrible danger.  They cried for the joy at a wish granted which they could barely reconcile with their sorrow and fear.

The Princess dried his friend's tears and told them that they had nothing to grieve, nothing to fear, nothing to apologize for.  They had saved him, maybe not from the thieves, but from a life he hadn’t realized how much he hated.  A loneliness that he could never admit to.  A him that would never have truly been him.

That night, in the final hours of their shared thirteenth nameday the Princess made his friend a promise.  He would do whatever it took to make his friend’s dreams come true and save them from tears.  And on the nights when the tears came anyway, he would be there to listen and help dry them.

*******

Once upon a time, an Incorrigible Rogue and a Spoiled Princess ran away together to have an adventure and never came back.  They in fact had many fine adventures together with all manner of excitement and treasure and heroism, all the way to this very day where they have them still.  And although the Rogue is no longer a rogue and the Princess is no longer a princess, they are both still Friends and always will be.  For happily ever after.

[morganne1313]

Ok, so absolute agreement on how the European action & inherited by the US action of describing a place as dangerous & scary has been a justification steal, dehumanize, & more recently pave their way across places that were not theirs & shouldn’t have and shouldn’t be touched is/was/ and continues to go forward as being really fucked up & harmful…

But saying it is just a joke or silly meme ignores the fact that there are places in the world where the wildlife is weird & scary & caution is required & humor is a coping mechanism to deal with real fears & phobias…

And also to acknowledge that those of us who have grown up at a distance from weird and scary creatures because of the fucked up colonialist culture that still holds a standard in the US that a proper fucking home has a useless grass yard rather than cultivating food or native plants wherein we are visibly participating in an ecosystem with risk but caution & benefits we don’t even have the insight to quantify… which is at times treated as a criminal infraction enforced by fines & enforcement from HOAs to even local government like city and/ or county…

we are also victims of colonialism in different ways that are less deadly & directly & consistently terrible but more pervasive & continually self enforced & unchallenged because of that subtlety which also lends to being unquestioning enforcers of other colonialist based patterns which are deadly & terrible but align at larger levels with the smaller impact mindsets we are punitively trained to follow and consider as reasonable & normal…

Basically, it isn’t as simple as “stop making a joke”… true solutions mean going deeper & understanding why the joke is more than a joke & why if you just attack the joke you will attack valid & real feelings & get nowhere….

Attack the acceptance of lawns as normal, reasonable, & “civilized”…. Support gardens & wilds as neighborhood norms… buy houses based on the “variety of the ecosystem” & “percentage of native plant growth per square mile” as adding increased value to communities rather than the current trend of tidy suburban & urban homogeny… if successful in wiping out the wide trend of “civilized” grass lawns…. the problematic side of the joke which is only a minor symptom compared to larger trends like this in the first place would mostly slip away on its own….

okay I’ll say it nicer:

australia was colonised according to the myth of terra nullius (or empty land). ever since the very early days of colonialism, the land has been framed as something untameable and unliveable. this has justified acts of violence against the first peoples here, in that they are seen as non-people. it has justified the destruction of sacred land in the goal of making australia look more european. (an example: our capital city contains a man-made lake that is now nothing better than a fetid carp pond. it’s disgusting and unnatural). basically, the idea of “taming australia’ has justified endless harm

“everything in australia is weird and dangerous” is not just some silly meme phrase, it is something that arcs back to the very beginning of white settlers laying claim to ‘australia’. and personally I am very sick of seeing it thrown around like it means nothing

[detaia]

gonna start writing down my progress on here so I feel better about doing it.

today's main goal was establishing how persuasion works in Scrappers. I originally had a dedicated Convince skill, but I was inspired by Mothership's approach of removing skills to make the game better.

In Mothership, there are no dedicated Stealth or Persuasion skills - which have 2 very different effects on the game. For Stealth, players have to improvise methods to hide using other skills, This keeps the player engaged when trying to be stealthy - rather than simply making the check, they actually have to assess the situation and come up with an appropriate method to avoid the big bad.

Persuasion is different. You don't make checks at all. If the premise of ttrpgs is conversation, isn't it logical to just talk instead of making a check? This introduces a lack of certainty. You never know how much you can trust an NPC, and securing that trust requires you to engage with their motivations. NPCs thus feel more like real people.

With this inspiration, I set out a couple of things I wanted my convince system to have:

no certainty - you have no guarantee of someone's loyalty or motives

2. you have to engage with the character - players have to ask what kind of person an NPC is and what arguments they respond to

3. there is a tangible mechanical benefit that makes players feel good about 2.

These goals have some conflict between em. A true lack of certainty would involve no rules at all, but I wanted to have mechanical benefits to reward players for engaging with the NPC

Current System:

Convince check = Player Skill Mod. + Appeal bonus (+2 if you choose a suitable angle) + Trust mod.

Succeeds on a 4+

1. Player makes their argument/speaks in-character

2. GM determines what skill their approach reflects: e.g. appealing to subtlety is stealth, appealing to strength is fight

3. GM secretly determine if the check succeeds

The GM narrates the NPC's reaction, but does not need to state if the check succeeds. The NPC can be truthful or dishonest about agreeing to help the PCs.

Failing the check means players will often have to try a new angle/offer something in exchange: a favour, information. etc

[milatovar]

Te: (5) The Essence of Virtue in Alignment with the Tao

In Taoist philosophy, Te (or De) is the concept of virtue, often translated as "moral character" or "inner power." Unlike Western notions of virtue based on rigid ethics or social codes, Te refers to an innate quality, a natural alignment with the Tao, or the Way. It arises not from following rules but from embodying one’s true nature and allowing actions to flow authentically from that inner harmony. In this sense, Te is less about forced morality and more about an effortless alignment that brings forth genuine goodness.

Te is fundamentally inseparable from the Tao, as it represents the Tao's manifestation in each being. To cultivate Te is to live in accord with the Tao, whereby actions reflect wisdom, compassion, and humility. Unlike socially prescribed virtues, Te emerges naturally and uniquely in each individual when they align themselves with the flow of life. Thus, Te honours diversity, recognising that true virtue manifests differently in each person, shaped by their unique nature, talents, and circumstances.

Central to Taoist virtue is the concept of wu-wei, or “non-action,” which is often misunderstood. Wu-wei does not imply passivity but rather effortless action that aligns with the natural order. In the context of Te, this means that virtuous actions are those unforced and uncontrived, emerging spontaneously from the inner wisdom attuned to the Tao. Through wu-wei, Te becomes a dynamic expression of virtue that requires no justification or external validation, as it arises directly from one’s attunement to life’s rhythm.

In Taoism, Te is also understood as an inner strength that comes from self-mastery and integrity. A person with Te does not seek power over others but radiates an inner authority that inspires respect without demanding it. This type of virtue, rooted in humility and self-awareness, allows one to lead by example, embodying the qualities of kindness, patience, and understanding. Taoist sages suggest that true strength lies in gentleness and flexibility, attributes of Te that allow for adaptability and resilience.

Te is often associated with the qualities of compassion, simplicity, and humility, virtues that flow naturally from a life aligned with the Tao. Rather than striving for perfection or moral superiority, Te is cultivated through simplicity in thought and action. In daily life, this means letting go of unnecessary desires and ambitions, which often cloud one's authentic nature. By embracing simplicity, one cultivates compassion for others, recognising that true virtue is not about personal gain but about harmony with others and with nature.

One of the most profound aspects of Te is its subtlety. Taoist philosophy suggests that the highest form of virtue is one that goes unnoticed, almost invisible in its simplicity. Laozi, the legendary sage, states in the Tao Te Ching that “superior virtue is not virtuous, and thus it has virtue.” This paradoxical statement reveals that true Te does not seek recognition; it is humble, unassuming, and arises from a quiet place within. In this way, Te embodies a wisdom that acts for the good of all, without attachment to outcome or acknowledgement.

In modern terms, Te can be seen as a pathway to personal fulfilment and peace. By living in accordance with one’s true nature and the natural flow of life, one experiences a sense of wholeness and harmony that transcends conventional achievements or accolades. Te provides a sense of satisfaction that comes not from external success but from a life lived with authenticity, humility, and respect for the interconnectedness of all things. It is this quiet fulfilment that Taoists see as the truest form of happiness.

How might embracing the qualities of Te—authenticity, compassion, and simplicity—lead you to a more harmonious way of being, both with yourself and the world around you?