#while it tries to propagate the other'

[max1461]

My position on landlords and my position on gentrification derive from essentially the same principle, which is that getting forced to leave one's home (either in the literal sense of "house" or in the larger sense of "community") is a terrible human tragedy that basically never needs to happen. The problem with landlords is that they can evict you! And this is pretty much inextricable—if you take the concept of rent and unpack definitions a bit, "guy who can get the cops to come by and force you out of your home" is what a landlord is. Why does a guy like that need to exist? I think probably he should not.

Downstream of this, the problem with gentrification is that if you allow rents to rise in an area without income rising along with it, you can get a situation where a bunch of people are kicked out of their homes, and en masse this results in destroying their community as well. It's so obviously heinous when laid out in plain terms!

As a complete aside, unpacking definitions is a wonderful skill, a fundamental element of reasoning, and I gather that it is taught almost exclusively in math classes (and only then at the college level and above). All the more reason they should start teaching proof-based math in elementary school again. I think there are a lot of liberals and Libertarians who would actually find private ownership deeply appalling in a wide variety of cases if they actually unpacked the definition of it, but sadly they lack the instinct that this is something you must do.

Ok, returning from that tangent:

Both rent and gentrification will be justified by savvy proponents on the grounds of efficiency. It is efficient, they will argue, to charge the state with enforcing more-or-less arbitrary contracts between individuals (a power I suggest it should not have), and to use this as the governing principle of society. Thence, rent. And it is efficient to allocate housing in such a way as to prioritize the sorting of people into neighborhoods by economic interest, because there are network effects which make this desirable and so on, despite the fact that it this often deeply hostile to community ties.

Anyway, perhaps that is so. Perhaps these systems are more efficient. But that efficiency is difficult to fully characterize, while we know that being exiled is a terrible human tragedy. This human tragedy should, at the absolute minimum, be widely discussed and consciously weighed against the economic logic by which the current system of home allocation leads ostensibly to greater prosperity. And even if we're to accept the strongest form of the liberals' arguments for property, I think many people would still find the trade-offs that we're making here unfavorable.

[samwisefamgee]

hi I also live in a trailer filled with mold and haven’t seen your previous posts about it but uh. are you okay? am I also going to be okay? I keep trying to kill and dry out the mold but it doesn’t want to go away. sorry it’s ok if you don’t wanna talk about it but I don’t know anyone else who is living in a Rot Box

Hi! Pretty sure we’re boned until fate smiles on us and we get outta the boxes

[hazard-symbols-that-fuck-hard]

Fun fact: almost all of the apples you eat are clones!

You see, apples have extraordinary variety in their phenotypes. Just like dogs, their fruit can vary so much that it’s hard to believe that they even come from the same species.

Except unlike a dog (where if you breed two boxers together, you’ll get another boxer), apple genetics have so much variety that every single seed planted will sprout into something completely new (and likely foul-tasting).

Even if you pollinate an apple tree with its own pollen, enough genetic re-combining will happen so that the resulting tree will produce fruit that is absolutely nothing like the fruit of its singular parent.

This makes apples (and other tree fruits) extremely difficult to selectively breed, so almost every single apple variety simply… isn’t selectively bred! Almost all apples, save for GMOs, were basically spontaneously generated by nature and simply propagated by humans.

But how do you propagate a set of genetics that doesn’t grow “true to seed”? Easy.

You graft.

Plants, unlike animals, are eager to accept any marginally similar flesh as their own.

You can cut off a branch of a tree (or a stem of almost any plant), affix the branch of a different tree (called a scion) over top the newly-created wound, and the base tree (called the rootstock) will heal them together and incorporate the new branch into its vasculatory system.

Not only will a tree willingly incorporate tissue of any member of its species, many trees will also take on the tissue of other species!

If it’s done while the tree is young enough, you can get a tree with very sturdy roots AND nothing but perfect apples from the waist up.

Grafting is the oldest form of cloning. It’s an agricultural practice with evidence of practice as far back as 2,000 BCE

Could you imagine if animals were like that? You could just stick something on and it would just work?

(I can’t help but wonder if ancient people ever tried grafting livestock together after seeing that it works with crops)

[psshaw]

This idea — that who you are abides somehow outside of what you do — is the defining fantasy of our culture, and it appeals particularly to children. The world of the middle-schooler is a world of types. My son talks incessantly about VSCO girls and Karens and other categories of people he has learned about from YouTube. He described a classmate as “the kind of person who borrows your pencil and doesn’t give it back,” i.e. she borrowed his pencil and didn’t give it back. For a while he tried to propagate a type of his own invention, “the Suzan,” whose behavior was ill-defined but tracked closely with that of my mother of the same name. It did not catch on, and eventually he concluded that he was not the kind of person who could come up with memes. The Suzan thing was a real won-the-battle/lost-the-war moment for me, since one of my specific ambitions for my son is that he not try to make a career of saying stupid things on the internet, but my more general ambition is that he challenge himself to master new skills and try things of which he was not previously capable. His school calls this idea a “growth mindset.” A growth mindset encourages us to try new things and treat setbacks as an opportunity to grow, which is better than the “fixed mindset” that we’re either good at something or we’re not. I agree! Seeking to explain this concept, the school sent home a flyer divided into two columns. The left column was headed “People With Growth Mindsets” and listed traits like “sees setbacks as an opportunity to grow” and “welcomes criticism as part of the process.” The right column was headed “People With Fixed Mindsets” and listed things like “think they have predetermined limits.” Even when professional educators set out to tell the kids their qualities were not fixed, they explained it in terms of types of people.

[eldritch-spouse]

https://www.tumblr.com/eldritch-spouse/746604785112940545/how-would-the-tce-boys-hold-up-in-a-zombie

The Morell one unsettled me fr fr 💀

I like to imagine meeting Santi in a zombie apocalypse though. You aren’t sure of him at first but then you get cornered by some zombies and after he helps you out you accept his offer

Out of all the things you expected to find in the midst of a zombie apocalypse, an incubus is the last one.

Since their method of feeding involves being so close to others, and body fluids, they were a major factor in the propagation of the infection, and also some of the first to succumb to it.

So really, your poor brain is doing cartwheels in your skull trying to understand how not only did you spot a living high-ranking incubus, but said demon also saved you from a considerable horde of zombies.

Santi, he introduced himself as soon as the two of you aren't covered in rotten blood, and he was clearly malnourished. Dim eyes, bags under them and somewhat gaunt cheeks, a sickly sort of hue to his skin. His smile had too much teeth to it and his gaze was too predatory no matter how hard he tried to conceal it.

The demon would try to act charming, but the hunger merely being near you would induce had him snorting at the air and salivating as if you were seasoned steak on a platter. You knew what he wanted, just as you do now. Even if Santi had tried to be gentlemanly and claim that he helped you without expecting anything in return, it was no secret those words were only meant to endear him to you enough to consider sex.

He must be too weakened to be using pheromones, because you only ever experience small waves of arousal next to him. They last little and can be ignored with some effort. His mostly futile and tentative attempts to be subtle, to coax you, ruined by his instinctive anticipation.

You knew one day he could just decide to throw you to the ground and fuck the daylights out of you. That he was dangerous, less so than the zombies, but there was still the fear that he would savagely hurt you in his hunger.

Nights ago, you woke up with the sound of him tearing wildy into a group of zombies, frustrated by the inability to gain minimal energy from using their bodies. You think you might have heard him sob then, and in that moment, you could only imagine how such constant starvation must be driving him insane.

He can die soon.

Because, while you can find a can of beans somewhere and be satisfied for a while, Santi can only do the human equivalent of scraping the hints of sugar off candy wrapper.

And that thought scared you immensely. The incubus had been your most reliable source of protection thus far, losing him would mean going back to that permanent dread, that hopelessness, the slow madness of being alone for extended periods of time. But every single day, your hellish guardian grew weaker.

And a part of you thinks the incubus might be fond of you, to not just outright assault you and keep denying his survival drives.

More than merely fond, but that's a can of worms neither of you want to open.

Tonight, you've been awoken again.

The sensation of something wet trailing bare skin had you shivering to awareness, and now you're face to face with the demon. His tongue drooling across your inner thigh, eyes glazed, sweat glistening on his face and a fat cock throbbing between taught legs.

" Please... " He begged, long devoid of any attempt to charm. " Please... "

And it'd be selfish of you not to, right?

He saved your life.

You should save his.

[cripplecharacters]

Regarding fictional disabilities: since there is no way to research a disability that doesn’t exist, how do you go about writing it in a way that makes it good rep and not offensive? For some context specific to my story, magic based abilities are biological rather than learnt and can manifest at any age, though if it develops at a young age it can cause development issues or brain injuries. One of my characters experienced this and developed a power that was psychological in nature, but because he was so young and couldn’t cope with the actual power, it left him with memory and intellectual problems. I was originally looking into stuff like dissociative amnesia or maybe even alzheimers but since the symptoms don’t fully line up I can’t just rely on it completely. My overall point here is that if resources for a fictional disability don’t exist, how can you write it while still taking into consideration real life disabilities? My bad if this is worded weirdly, I tried to keep it as specific as possible without delving into the full on details of the story and character. Have a nice day!:3

Hi!

First rule would be to not do harm. So not propagating misinformation or nonsense about the real life disabilities that the fictional one resembles (here that would probably be pediatric brain injury and/or intellectual disability). I don't think anyone expects realistic representation from a made up condition that they don't have but if you're deciding to associate it with one that's real, you have to be mindful of it. Even if it's a fictionalized version of a developmental disability you can't just go (example, not trying to insinuate you want to do that) "this character is an adult but is mentally 4 because of this fictional disorder that is made up and totally not close to anything IRL so it's ok to say", it would just look pretentious to pretend that it's something completely unrelated to a real disability if the character has symptoms that strongly align with one.

If your fictional condition is made of symptoms that exist in real life (but maybe not for the same reasons/don't really exist together) try to research them one by one. If he has memory problems, research how this specifically affects people with it - Alzheimer's comes with a myriad of other things that might give you an incorrect idea on how just that one symptom presents. For brain injuries, check what parts of the brain do what - damage to different parts might cause very different symptoms. You can read about this here in the context of strokes. Having an actual symptom list of things that your character has will be more helpful than thinking of it as "condition x if it was condition b/ condition c if it didn't have [major part]", even if that's how it's explained in-universe to help the other characters/readers get it - you as the author should know the ins and outs so that you can actually keep track of how your character functions and not have continuity errors.

It'd also be interesting to figure out what other symptoms this kind of scenario could cause that didn't happen to this one character (unless he's the only person this happened to). Developmental disability is a really big spectrum, and so are memory problems. I imagine that there would be other people more and less disabled than him who would have the same condition - this could affect how his is seen in-universe. Is he a very mild case, and not receiving the kind of support he needs because it's "not that bad"? Or is he on the severe end, and other people pity him and send condolences to his family? Think about the grander scheme of things.

I hope this helps,

mod Sasza

[tatisources]

𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐓𝐒

𝐚 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐥𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭 - a group of friends wake up one morning after some particularly vivid nightmares only to find strange marks on their bodies and realizing they all saw the same killer in their nightmares. from then on, they became afraid to sleep, discovering that people were being killed in their sleep by some strange entity.

bonus: make one of them be able to walk in dream and team up with the dream to fight back the entity.

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐲𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫 - one year after the gruesome murders of all the residents of the house, a family move-in with their children. over the following weeks, their domestic life begins a sharp decline, family members being uncharacteristically volatile and abusive, strange incidents happening to the children, one of them having an imaginary friend who seems malevolent. incidents escalate and information about the house is found, revealing the long terrific history within its wall.

𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 - a group of friends rent a remote cabin in the woods. one of them ventures out to hunt and accidentally shoots a hermit that had been infected by a mystery illness and says nothing to his friends. when the hermit shows up at the cabin, he's refused help. one by one, they start to show signs of the illness and discover that their source of water has been contaminated.

alternative: two children take water from a source that has been contaminated and sell lemonade to town folks, propagating the illness further.

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 - it's the last operating week of a once grand hotel and only two employees remain, both fascinated by the haunting history of the hotel, particularly by one bride who hung herself in her room and the fact that her body was hidden in the basement by the owners. only a few guests remains, all of them stranger than the others. After an unexplained incident, one of them starts to record paranormal activity in the hotel, leading to a series of accidents and deaths among the remaining guests.

𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 - a couple has recently moved into a new house with their children. one day, one of the children ventures into the attic and where he mets a mysterious entity. the next day, the child slips into a coma. after months and still no explanation, the family brings back their child home and soon after, strange incidents start to happen, leading them to declare the house haunted and moving out. however, the paranormal activities follow them to their new home and a team of parapsychologists and mediums are called, leading them to discover a malevolent entity close to their comatose son. it's discovered that one of the parent once had such events happen to them and they use his abilities to bring back their son from the further, where he's being held by the malevolent entity.

𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨 - decades after a group of children defeat some evil in their small town, some disturbing event happen again. only one of them remained in their hometown and following the return of the entity that traumatized them years ago, the others are called back to honor the promise they once made to kill the entity if it ever came back.

bonus: one of them has visions of their deaths if they ever fail to fulfill the oath they swore as children.

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐬 - having recently moved to a small town, muse a becomes fascinated with a biker gangs and muse b, a member. muse a is being introduced to the gang and start to get tested by them in order to become trustworthy. muse a starts to undergo a transformation where the smell of food repulse them and starts to be attracted to blood and it becomes clear they are changing.

alternative: muse a and muse b are both humans and one of them wants to become part of the biker gang and the other tries to save them.

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭 - following a severe thunderstorm, muse a and muse b notice a thick fog slowly creeping over. while buying grocery, a neighbor quickly enter the shop and warns everyone that something is in the fog. they watch as someone else gets taken over by it and stay inside the store with others for a day. religious folks within the store takes this opportunity to recruit people to their belief and a cult slowly organize, deciding that sacrifices must be given to the fog to appease it.

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 - following the stillborn birth of their son, muse a is encouraged to adopt an orphan newborn while muse b is unconscious, replacing their stillborn child by this one. as the child grows, disturbing events start to happen around the family and they are eventually contacted by someone who had been involved in their adopted child birth, declaring them the antichrist. muse b start to think that their son is evil and fears them.

alternative: writing one of the parents and the outside person involved in the birth.

𝐨𝐩𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐧 - after their daughter is stillborn, the parents of two children decide to adopt an orphan. one of their children embraces her but the other is hesitant toward them. slowly, their adopted child starts to show disturbing behavior, scaring the children and making one of the parents doubt the other.

𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐢𝐬𝐭 - a family living in small community starts to experiences strange incidents following their youngest child issuing a warning that they are there. the incidents seems benign at first but soon grow in intensity leading to injuries. a parapsychologist is called to the house and reveal that it's under attack by many different entities, eventually discovering that they are drawn to one of the children's life force, even going as far as using her to stop other spirits from crossing over.

alternative: writing the parapsychologists and mediums investigating the house instead of writing the family.

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞 - following an economic collapse, a new political party is voted into place, and instated the purge, a yearly event where all crime is permitted by 12 hours. decades later, crime is practically gone and the purge night has become a a celebrated event by many. muse a and muse b are just trying to survive the night.

𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 - muse a, a true crime writer, moves into a new house with muse b and their children. unknown to everyone but muse a, the house was home to a tragedy that killed all family members decades ago, in the hope of writing a bestseller about the event. one night, muse a finds a box of gruesome family movies. muse a notices strange symbols and begins to research each event, discovering that a child went missing at each killing.

𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐧𝐞𝐝 - one day, ten women wake up pregnant despite none of them trying. all ten children are born at the same time, five boys and five girls, except one is stillborn, making his pair partner alone. all the other children act the same, as if ruled by one entity, and show no personality. as they age, they start to show signs of paranormal abilities that are being used only to harm others. muse a and muse b could be parents or one of them could be the lone child grown up.

[ddarker-dreams]

Do you think wanderer would be nicer to his darling now that he's "redeemed" or would he still be as bad as he was as a harbinger?

wanderer tempers his gremlin qualities by a fraction. it's not so much that he's turning a new leaf, it's more like he's poking said leaf with a stick to see what will happen. he's still jaded and sardonic as ever, but he's putting the whole murder thing on pause. so that's a solid improvement. he's still the least-liked person in any given room though. unless alhaitham happens to be around, then maybe it's a tie.

while in his harbinger phase, he'd think it below him to "woo" you, he's more willing to give it a shot in his wanderer era. his ungodly ego was deflated a decent amount. still, he isn't sure of the best approach. he's on edge at the mere prospect of rejection. his whole high and mighty demeanor can be traced back to his rampant insecurity — being discarded and treated like a tool had him keeping others at arm's length, so the mistakes of the past couldn't be repeated. the revelation that he wasn't betrayed by his first friend but that the doctor was the true mastermind helps alleviate this preconceived notion.

so, instead of spewing barbed words at you with the expectation of receiving unlimited affection in return, he tries a new tactic. he just goes along with whatever you want. if there's a scenic place you like to visit, or a restaurant, whatever your pretty little head can concoct, he'll be tagging along like a sulky kitten. he seems harmless enough, hence you allowing him to do as he pleases. he's honest, but not brutally so, at least when it comes to you. there are no pretenses around wanderer. it's oddly refreshing, in a way.

he also goes from placing the blame on you and any perceived rivals to solely condemning the rivals. as a harbinger, he worried endlessly that you were just itching for a chance to abandon him and find someone better. staring at another human being for a few seconds longer than he liked would be perceived as a purposeful slight. wanderer is more forgiving toward you and less prone to search frantically for faults that aren't there. all his ire is channeled toward the propagator of the problem, even if his definition of what's an acceptable way to interact with you vs what isn't is loose.

ultimately, it boils down to a few, easy (for him) to understand categories:

family — fine, whatever, you guys can talk. he'll even be nice to them if it makes you happy. be sure to compliment him afterward though.

children and the elderly — also fine, he supposes. he has a very secret soft spot for these two groups. finds it kinda cute when you entertain the whims of kids and play along with them.

literally everyone else — siren sounds. not a fan. will be looking for a way to swoop in and steal you away from the interaction.

[justjenah]

Latvia Mike: A Disconnected OverMike Hiding in Plain Sight

Of all the Mikes Walters (species) Latvia Mike is the one that seems to be most often taken at face value. He’s the responsible one, the one who likes to go into things with a clear plan. He prefers to abide by protocol if at all possible but will throw protocol aside if you give him a good enough reason

He’s the one true Mike, the only iteration that is allowed to use the name “Mike”, everyone else has to find something new. Michael makes this explicit when he tells MW that “‘Mike’ is taken” in episode 91 . 

More often than not, Latvia Mike has to do very little to earn his iterations' trust. His motivations are almost never questioned. This is likely in part because in addition to being older and more experienced than the "Mikey Generation," he has historically acted as a calming influence and a rational counterbalance to Michael's more inflammatory and reckless impulses. He is unafraid to challenge Michael or other "Michael Generation" iterations.

Not only that, Latvia Mike has often done his best to protect Mikey. For example he advises Mikey to lock his door after the Alaska Mikey incident and despite threatening to do otherwise, he ultimately tried to cover for Mikey when he was sneaking around with the calculator to investigate Edman's cure when he was supposed to be focused on helping the Texas posse break Base out of the Dome. And it's not just physically protection that Mike has offered but emotional protection as well. Mike offered to kill Innocent Hutner for Mikey, recognizing how difficult it might be for him.

It's not just Mikey that benefit from Latvia Mike's instinct to protect either. Mike has gone out of his way to protect Michael and MW as well. The man spent 43 days attempting to break Michael out of the compound. And while it backfired horribly, Mike protected whom he thought was the Dome iteration of Michael and insisted that the Michael who escaped to Texas keep his word and consolidate. While that iteration turned out not to be the Dome iteration but Lieutenant, it was a still a protective action. When they brought back an injured OverMike, it was Mike who most vehemently opposed killing the iteration and hatched the plan to train him and consolidate him instead of allowing Michael to kill the runaway OverMikes.

It seems likely that this habit of caretaking has afforded Latvia Mike a image of trustworthiness. And while he's not without his missteps, that image has been well earned—or at the very least well cultivated—among the Council of Mikes.

And yet I am fairly certain that Mike is not what he seems to be. Namely, I think there is significant evidence that Latvia Mike is not connected to Mikey. In fact I am not sure he’s connected to any of the Mike Walters iterations we’ve met so far. I’d argue that as it stands, in order to find a Mike Walters iteration that Latvia Mike is connected to you would need to travel back to before the first iteration of Mike Walters (species) was made.

Looking at all the evidence (and there is a surprising amount of it) I’d argue that Latvia Mike is actually a disconnected OverMike whose time period of origin is five years in the future from Mikey. 

This theory goes way back to not long after we first meet Latvia Mike. The evidence begins with episode 50, the second episode in which Latvia Mike appears.

In Episode 50: Propagation & Consolidation Latvia Mike gives us our first ever mention of OverMike in the show: 

“One goal at a time, right. Wouldn’t want to Propagate,” [Mike] said. “I remember the time. It gets better, eventually. It’s not always going to be you taking Edgar and Anne’s word on what you should do. But it’s exciting, right? Everything is shiny and new and you’ve got that new Calculator to play with. Do you have an O.V.E.R. Mike yet?”

“I don’t know what that means,” I replied.

“Ah, I won’t propagate that information, then,” he said. 

On its own, this isn’t much in the way of evidence. The first time I listened to this episode I remember thinking it was strange but assumed it was merely an easter egg of things to come. 

It isn’t until the next episode, 51, Corrections, Corrections , that I questioned Latvia Mike’s iterative origins. In that episode Latvia Mike and Michael show up at the house in Rugby North Dakota to rescue Mikey who has just had the ever loving shit beat out of him. Michael shows up and the two have the following exchange: 

Michael: So uh, I assume your instructions didn’t say to kill him or to let him die?

Mike: No, but I can’t imagine that it matters too much. I don’t think he’s connected to us. Did yours?

Latvia Mike assuming that Mikey isn’t connected to him or Michael is such a WILD assumption based on what we know up until this point. Mikey himself assumes that one day he will “become” them. Michael even famously tells Mikey in episode 44 “You turn into me, remember that.” (it’s even the name of the episode!). I’ll talk a little bit later why I think they are incorrect about Mikey “becoming” Michael, but suffice to say at least up until this point Latvia Mike is the only iteration of the three of them to explicitly declare any sort of disconnectivity. In 51 Mike states quite plainly that he’s fairly confident that at this point, Mikey dying shouldn’t really affect him. 

Exactly when in the timeline Latvia Mike becomes disconnected is a little unclear to me (more on that later) and I question his assertion that Mikey dying at this specific point in time wouldn’t affect Latvia Mike. That said, the point remains the same that Latvia Mike seems confident that at some point there will be enough disconnectivity between himself and Mikey that Mikey could die and Mike wouldn’t be affected. This assumption on Latvia Mike’s part speaks to knowledge that he has about his own iterative origins. 

The clearest piece of evidence in support of my theory comes just a couple episodes later with episode 54, Connectivity . Mikey, Edgar, Marissa, and Anne are all working together at Base to troubleshoot the issue of Ravi having witnessed Mikey breaking into Tier Two. Anne suggests popping the tires of the golf cart that Marissa and Ravi both use on their patrol routes so that he doesn’t witness Mikey’s break-ins. 

And then Latvia Mike shows up looking like he “had been thoroughly chewed up and spat out”, with injuries including a clouded over right eye and a missing thumb that is long scarred and healed over. 

This is already pretty wild in that this tire popping correction that Anne, Edgar, and Marissa are planning has skipped right over Mikey. Mikey is unaffected by this plan to pop the tires. Even more interesting is that Michael is unaffected by the plan to pop the tires. 

But that is not the most damning evidence. Latvia Mike shows up angry, disoriented, and emotional. And in that state, in the middle of him issuing this correction to prevent his abduction, it seems like he let’s something pretty damn important slip: 

“I just have one minor correction here: did it never occur to any of you dolts that if the cart is out of commission on a certain night that SOMEONE might be captured and interrogated, imprisoned, tortured, used as a blackmail pawn and generally be a profound hindrance to Base for YEARS? All because the cart didn’t get fixed in time? That cart has to come crashing through the border of Tier 2 or Mike Walters is in trouble. So, if you’re going to go through with that, could you do O.V.E.R. Mike a big favor and make sure you drive one of those nails right through his brain stem while you’re at it and save us the trouble? ”

Let’s zero in on that for a second: “could you do O.V.E.R. Mike a big favor and make sure you drive one of those nails right through his brain stem while you’re at it and save us the trouble?”

Here, Latvia Mike strongly implies his connectivity to an OverMike. He essentially tells Mikey to kill OverMike, thus killing Latvia Mike, to prevent him from having to go through being “captured and interrogated, imprisoned, tortured, used as a blackmail pawn and generally be a profound hindrance to Base for YEARS”.  

Between the tire popping correction skipping over Mikey, and Latvia Mike himself implying connectivity to OverMike, it seems pretty likely that Mike is correct, he isn't connected to Mikey. He doesn’t even seem to be connected to Michael in the episode given that Michael was still a cowboy and seemingly unaffected by the correction but that feels less certain at this point (more evidence that Mike is not connected to Michael will come later though so hold your horses, pard). 

The next time it’s implied that there is not connectivity between Mikey and Mike is in episode 65, double knot . Mikey has recently escaped from the compound after his second imprisonment there (this is after Punished transported Mikey to the Latvian woods) and has been scooped up by Latvia Mike and Michael. On the ride back to Riga the following exchange takes place:

MIKEY: Oh! Oh, I have–I have notes from a mattress. Here–[paper crinkling] Here, read them it was definitely a Mikey but it wasn’t me. I found them in the mattress in my room at the compound. He must’ve put them there. Mike none of this happened to you? I was hoping you’d remember something. 

MIKE: No, can’t say that I do. 

Latvia Mike did not experience a second stay in the compound. This is not entirely surprising at this point given that we know from episode 55, The Surprise Field Trip, that Latvia Mike and Michael had no idea that the compound was based in Latvia until after the two of them came back to Mikey’s time period to establish Satellite Base. 

Latvia Mike and Michael never experienced a second stay in the compound (something Michael obliquely confirmed in his phone call to Ty Betteridge in episode 60, Ready to Die) or the Hunter’s destruction of Base. This is made even stranger by the fact that Mikey’s second stay in the compound is never corrected despite the fact that the Hunter’s attack on Base is corrected (Alaska Mikey makes this explicit when states that he knows nothing about the Hunter’s attack on Base or even what Base is yet was still transported to the Latvian woods by an unknown party when Mike goes to talk to him in episode 71, studies ). This implies that regardless of whether the Hunters destroy Base, Mikey’s second stay in the compound always happens. Which should mean that if Mike and Michael are connected to him, that those events should’ve theoretically propagated forward in time, much like what happened with the nails and the golf cart’s tire. 

The next bit of evidence isn’t so much proof that Mike is an OverMike but more that he and Michael are disconnected from Mikey. What I am referring to is the existence of Mustardseed and the runaway OvEdgars and OverMikes. 

When these two things are introduced Mike and Michael are just as in the dark as Mikey. They have no idea who Mustardseed is and the events of episode 78, Ax make that extremely clear. Furthermore it’s in episode 84, Panther , that Michael first learns about the existence of the runaway OverMike and OvEdgars. Which, again, their existence is never corrected. Instead the runaways are captured after their escape and consolidated. 

This implies that Latvia Mike and OverMike’s connectivity broke down at some point between the events of episode 48 (the event that the tire popping plan was meant to correct) and whenever it was that OverMike and OvEdgar made all those runaway iterations (which is implied to have have happened around episode 79, Mutiny). I’d argue the disconnection point is likely prior to episode 60 (Ready to Die) seeing as the OverTeam is executed along with everyone else at Base and Latvia Mike is totally fine (well as fine as one can be when lost at sea with your older cowboy iteration). 

This means that if someone wants to take out Latvia Mike specifically, they would need to kill OverMike sometime prior to the events of Ready to Die, or, like we see in 109, if you don’t care about preserving any Mike Walters iterations, you could simply kill Mikey prior to him iterating himself. 

The next time we see Latvia Mike possibly slipping up is in episode 100, Clipshow . It’s a blink and you miss it sort of exchange and on its own doesn’t seem like much but, taken together with everything that has come before, it reads like Mike speaking without thinking: 

MIKEY: Edgar said that he didn’t send anyone. What do we do?

MIKE: Take Bruno into Michael’s room and lock the door, Mikey.

MIKEY: W-What? Why?

MIKE: Because there’s an extra iteration of you out there and we don’t know what’s going on. 

MIKEY: I don’t see why that means that I have to go hide. He’s an iteration of you, too.

MICHAEL: Do what he says, Mikey.

Latvia Mike looks out the peephole of the door and sees a younger iteration and jumps to the natural conclusion that it is an iteration of Mikey. Note that he doesn’t think it’s an iteration of MW, which is a little odd. MW and Mikey are approximately the same age. A younger iteration is just as likely to be an iteration of MW as it is Mikey (if not more so given how iteration happy the OVER team was in Mikey’s iteration of the timeline). It’s made all the more ironic by the fact that it is OverMike (specifically Mustardseed’s husband) who is standing on the other side of the door. 

This episode also reintroduces the idea that Latvia Mike is disconnected from all of this time period’s OverMikes at this point in time because he seems completely unworried about Michael and MW executing the poor party crashing OverMike. It’s true we don’t see OverMike actually killed in the episode as it happens off screen but if Latvia Mike is connected to this specific OverMike, he is putting on a very good act and also seeming to take it on faith that Michael and MW won’t actually kill this OverMike, never mind the earlier evidence that Mike had no idea about Mustardseed’s identity or the existence of the runaways. 

If you’ve been sitting there screaming at the screen that I skipped right over one of the biggest pieces of physical evidence that Latvia Mike and Mikey aren’t connected, don’t worry, I’m getting to it. That’s right: Mikey’s brand. 

This brand has survived corrected timelines again and again and yet Latvia Mike and Michael are NEVER mentioned as having it and they are NEVER asked to show the brand as proof of their identity. On the contrary Latvia Mike seems to always check for Mikey’s brand. 

Notably when Mike shows up in episode 135, The Conundrum Of The Cowboy's Codex,  Mikey does not demand that Latvia Mike show the brand to prove himself, while Mikey DOES show the brand. In fact Mike’s “proof” that he is Latvia Mike is merely:  

MIKE: Wedding ring, cauliflower ear, a couple more wrinkles than you

And that’s it ! 

When it comes to Latvia Mike the brand is NEVER brought up as a means of proof and yet Latvia Mike uses Mikey’s brand as a baseline for proving Mikey’s identity time and again. Most recently, Latvia Mike does a brand check on Mikey in episode 153 when Mikey decides to do some futurescouting and drops by Mike’s house five years in the future. 

This next bit from episode 166: Lucid/Psychedelic may or may not be anything but I thought it worth noting because Mike has often made clear distinctions between himself and Mikey and yet he says the following to MW, who is notably 32 OverMikes in a skin suit: 

MIKE [addressing MW]: You're me and I drink almond milk all the time

The final hint that Latvia Mike’s iterative origins stem from an OverMike (as of this writing) is in episode 167: Contradiction/Connection. Michael, Mike, MDawg, and MW all show up at the Crust Punk House to talk with Old Man and they end up roping in Skinner. During their conversation Skinner brings up Skuzz being kidnapped and wants to know if any of these Mike Walters iterations had anything to do with it. 

MICHAEL: None of us cowboys knows no one by the name of Skuzz. SKINNER: Skuzz? Skinny, messy hair, too cool for school, might have tried to work Broken Social Scene into the conversation while you were killing them or kidnapping them or whatever it was you did to them…

MIKE: Wait, Skuzz Skuzz? Like the one who mows the lawn at O.V.E.R.

  SKINNER: No, dummy the other Skuzz. Yeah, of course that Skuzz.

Mike is the only iteration in the room who seems to know who Skuzz is. Which doesn’t have to mean anything but seems notable if he is in fact an OverMike. If Mike is an OverMike whose experience of this time period was never marred by the existence of Mustardseed, then Mike spent considerable more time working and living at OVER and therefore had greater opportunities to get to know the landscaping team at OVER. Skuzz doesn’t seem to even ring any bells for Michael, meanwhile Latvia Mike is able to correctly identify whom Skinner is talking about. 

So where does that leave us?

My theory is that in Latvia Mike’s experience of this time period, he was Future Base’s OverMike. But in Latvia Mike’s experience of this time period things shook out extremely differently. My theory is that the OVER team was much more involved in Future Base’s goings on than they are in Mikey’s iteration of the timeline. In Mikey’s iteration of the timeline, the OVER team is rarely included unless Base requires them to sneak into Tier Two. This is a huge point of friction between the OVER team and Mikey’s Base. Yet this friction does not seem to have existed in Latvia Mike's iteration of this time period (or at least not to the point that it exists for Mikey’s Base and Mikey’s OVER team seeing as Mustardseed and the runaway OVER iterations are unique to Mikey's experience). 

For Latvia Mike I think that, unlike in Mikey’s iteration of the timeline, the OVER team continued to exist as an extension of Future Base for years. After all in episode 82, Digging , when Latvia Mike’s attempt to correct Michael’s disappearance using a calculator fails, one of the things that Latvia Mike attempts is breaking into Tier Two with Edgar to see if using the security.exe program will overcome whatever barrier is preventing Latvia Mike from issuing his correction. Again this isn’t some major piece of evidence but it does suggest that Mike and his Edgar are still familiar with 116E, Tier Two, and the security.exe program, something that Michael mentions being a vague memory for him at this point. 

I think at some point Future Base transitioned Latvia Mike and his Edgar to some sort of Satellite Base within Latvia Mike’s own time period and is likely where they got the idea to establish a Satellite Base in Latvia in Mikey’s time period. 

I believe that more than likely in Latvia Mike’s experience of the timeline, his and his Edgar’s roles shifted from being the OVER team to becoming a “disconnected corrections team” much like the role that Mikey’s OVER team’s played in episode 72, Council , in which they act as a corrections team for the peace treaty meeting that Base holds with the Hunters. So while Future Base works on their projects and conducts recon and technology retrieval missions, the OVER team (made up of Latvia Mike and his Edgar) are disconnected from their iterations (much like Tex and Outlaw seem disconnected from theirs) and able to respond to any timeline disturbances and issue corrections to protect Future Base. 

When events start to diverge more drastically in Mikey’s time period, I think Base realized that they needed a team back there to stop the ground shifting from under Future Base’s feet and undoing all of Future Base’s progress. When Michael traveled to Latvia Mike’s time period to help out (and escape from living in a time period without an Edgar), they had the perfect opportunity to establish a remote Satellite Base in the past with Michael and Latvia Mike, both of whom were tethered to Future Base's time period by Latvia Mike’s Edgar who would run missions from five years in the future. 

So. If Latvia Mike is a disconnected OverMike, how the hell did he become disconnected? I don’t have one specific theory for this but let’s at least look at different ways it seems one could become disconnected.  

In 168: Anonymous Councils/Edible Bombs , we first learn about disconnectivity devices. They are rare and expensive. MDawg recognizes it for what it is but it’s not made clear who else is familiar with them other than Other Chris and Old Man. It’s possible that Future Base got their hands on some disconnectivity devices and used them on Latvia Mike and his Edgar but it feels unlikely. Then again, maybe five years in the future time travel technology has advanced such that disconnectivity devices are easier to come by.

 Another way you might become disconnected seems to be as result of an incomplete correction. In the 101 timeline when the Hunters completely take over via a major correction (or many many many corrections layered on top of one another, who knows), Tex and Outlaw somehow are unaffected by the new timeline. They retain memories from the previous iteration of the timeline and are unaffected by the Hunter’s changes despite the fact that those changes clearly go back before Mikey and Edgar got together since Mikey and Edgar are not even dating in as of 2023 in the 101 timeline. If that can happen accidentally, more than likely it is something that can be done intentionally though I imagine it would take quite a few attempts to achieve the desired results and would be incredibly risky. 

Another possible way to create disconnectivity might be for an iteration to somehow correct their own creation. We know that the calculators solve paradoxes and it seems to me that if an OverMike corrected their own creation, that iteration would still have to exist in order to have issued that correction. But without the iteration event, the iteration that issued the correction would exist as a disconnected individual. 

Finally, one of my favorite disconnectivity practices is one that I think we are actively watching play out between Mikey and Michael. That is, through prolonged and significant interaction with/exposure to a past version of yourself that you start out connected to. This method I think takes significant time and exposure and that connectivity likely degrades slowly over time as the two iterations continue to interact and influence one another’s experiences of the timeline. This is why I think that Mikey will never “become” Michael.

Which one do I think Latvia Mike and his Edgar used? No idea! 

Now I know what you’re thinking. If this is true and Latvia Mike is a disconnected OverMike, why on earth hasn’t he told anyone? Why is he keeping this a secret? 

The answer is simple. It’s just smart. It’s good infosec and a matter of self preservation. Look at Mystery Hunter and Punished Hunter (and H, if we are counting him separately from Mystery). The fact that we don’t know their iterative origins makes them much more difficult to kill. 

Mike keeping this secret doesn’t have to be nefarious. We’ve seen time and time again that limiting the spread of information is key to staying alive and controlling the timeline. Latvia Mike can trust Mikey, MW, and Michael all he wants but that doesn’t make it safe to propagate the information of his and his Edgar’s iterative origins. Latvia Mike himself makes this point to Mikey in episode 153, Futurescouting when. When Mikey is suspicious of Tex for not sharing information Latvia Mike makes this case: 

MIKE: I will admit that is odd, but I would be cautious about jumping to conclusions. You know as well as I do that there are lots of good reasons to not tell someone everything you know, even if you know and trust the person. 

In the WOEBEGONE universe, keeping one's iterative origins secret, even from the people you trust is just smart. Hiding that information isn’t even about distrust, it’s about propagation risk—something which can happen accidentally very easily. Mike not telling Mikey (and possibly Michael) his iterative origins isn’t a sign of disloyalty or even distrust among iterations, it’s merely a sign of self preservation (never mind the preservation of Latvia Mike’s Edgar) because once that information is entrusted to anyone other than yourself, your very existence is at risk should that information reach the wrong people.

Now, why do I think that Latvia Mike isn’t connected to Michael? There are many little hints at this scattered throughout the show but I’ll just highlight a couple of them including a pretty major one from the most recent episode as of this writing.

First, even if they were connected at the start of the Latvian Sat Base’s creation, I think Michael has changed Mike’s trajectory such that Mike can never become Michael. Michael pulled Mike out of a deep depression and has repeatedly tried to guide Mike to make better, healthier choices than Michael has. 

A more specific moment that points to Michael not having connectivity with Latvia Mike is back in Episode 51. Michael asks Mike what his experience of Rugby was, something Michael would presumably know if he were connected to Mike.

Indeed most recently in episode 172, Ghostfire, Latvia Mike says pretty specifically that he will not turn into Michael/Old Man and that in five years he won’t be doing the things that Michael/Old Man is currently doing: 

MIKE: You’ve seen me and Old Man in a room together. That's me from the future—kind of. He’s not necessarily me, but he is, but that doesn't mean that like five years from now that I’m going to be doing all the things that he’s doing now.

In the same episode Latvia Mike goes on to explain connectivity and gives the following example: 

MIKE: If you killed me, Old Man wouldn’t die even though I keep saying that he’s quote, ‘me from the future’.

Given that killing Mikey on his first day at OVER in 109 successfully eliminated all other Mike Walters iterations, thus preventing Mike and Michael from existing, this statement from Mike (that his death would not kill Old Man/Michael) seems like an especially important claim because Latvia Mike is indicating that there isn’t connectivity between himself and Old Man/Michael, who as of that episode is the closest Michael iteration we have. 

Now, if Latvia Mike and his Edgar are not connected to Mikey and Mikey’s Edgar, what does that mean? There are likely many ramifications of this being true but the one that leaps to my mind is the cure for Edgar. 

Mikey floats the possibility that since his Edgar has consolidated with Edman—who supposedly was cured by OI—that Mikey’s Edgar might also be cured. If Mikey’s Edgar is cured, that cure should propagate forward to all the other future Edgars that have connectivity to Mikey’s Edgar. 

Of course, if Latvia Mike’s Edgar is a disconnected OvEdgar, that would mean he did not receive the cure . While disconnectivity is, in many ways, protective and a tool that can be used to shield iterations from potential timeline meddling from hostile parties, in this instance it spells Latvia Mike’s Edgar’s doom. Mikey’s Edgar, Michael’s Edgar, MDawg’s Edgar all would benefit from this cure (so long as Michael’s Edgar is indeed still connected to Mikey’s) but Latvia Mike’s Edgar is still slated to die before October 2025. 

Worse, because Latvia Mike is hiding the fact that he’s a disconnected OverMike, his own Edgar’s death is misleading to Mikey and Michael. It would give Mikey and Michael the impression that their Edgars didn’t receive the cure and that they are still slated to die even though they very well may not be.

Only time will tell if this theory will bear any fruit but I’ll tell you right now, I’ve gone looking for evidence that specifically disproves it and it doesn’t exist. At least not yet. Of course, as with all things, only time will tell. 

[fruity-pontmercy]

Les Mis adaptations and apolitical appropriation

I think it's no secret on this blog that I love the original Les Mis 1980 concept album in French, and that I also love comparing different versions of the stage musical. I've noticed that Les Mis seems to get progressively more vaguely apolitical as time goes on, not only in the way it's viewed in our culture, but in the actual text as well.

It's natural for specifics to be lost in adaptation. It's easier to get people to care about 'the people vs. the king' in a relatively short musical rather than actually facing the audience with the absolute mess that were 19th century french politics (monarchist orleanists vs monarchist legitimists vs imperialist vs bonapartist democrats vs every flavour of republican imaginable). Still, I feel that as time goes on, as more revivals and adaptations of the stage musical come out, the more watered down its politics become. Like, Les Mis at it's core is just meant to be a fancily written, drawn out political essay, right?

In a way I feel that the 1980 concept album almost tried to modernise it with its symbols of progress. Yes, through Enjolras' infamous disco segment (and other similar allusions to the ideals of social change), but perhaps most interestingly to me, through one short line that threw me off when I first heard it, because it seems so insignificant, but might actually be the most explicitly leftist line of all of Les Mis.

"Son coeur vibrait à gauche et il le proclama" (roughly "His heart beat to the left and he proclaimed it" i.e: he was a leftist) Feuilly says, while speaking of the now dead général Lamarque in Les Amis de L'ABC.

What's that? An actual mention of leftism??? in MY vaguely progressive yet apolitical musical??? More seriously, this mention of leftism, clashing with the rest of the musical due to it's seeming anachronism, is interesting not because it's actually more political than anything else in Les Mis, rather, because it's not scared to explicitly name what it's trying to do.

But we've come a long way from the Concept Album days, it's been 43 years, and Les Misérables is now one of the most famous and beloved musicals in the entire world. It's been revived and reimagined and adapted in a million ways, in different mediums, in different languages and countries, and it's clear that it's changed along with it's audience.

On top of pointing out a cool line in my favourite version of the musical, I wanted to write this post to reflect on the perception of the political message of this work. We as a Les Mis fandom on Tumblr are very political, I don't need to tell you that, however, I feel that because this very left leaning space has sprung out of a work we all love so much, we oftentimes forget to revisit it from a more objective point of view.

Les Misérables has a history of being misrepresented, this has been true since it's publication, since american confederate soldiers became entranced with their censored translation Lee's Miserables. However, with it's musical adaptation, this misinterpretation has been made not only more accessible but also easier. As much as I love musical theatre and I think it is at it's best an incredible art form able to communicate complex themes visulally by the masses for the masses, I think it'd be idealistic to ignore the fact that the people who can afford to go see musicals regularly are, usually, not the common folk. Broadway and the West End are industries which, like most, need money to keep them afloat, and are loved people of all political backgrounds (and unfortunately, often older conservatives) not just communists on tumblr. We've seen the way Les Miz UK's social media team constantly misses the mark regarding different social issues, and the way Cameron Makintosh has used the musical to propagate his transphobia, and most of us can agree that these actions are in complete antithesis with the message of Les Misérables as a novel.

But I must ask, how does Les Mis ,as a West End musical in it's current form, actually drive a leftist message, and how are we as a community helping if every time someone relating to the musical messes up if we just claim they "don't get it"?

I'm thinking in particular of incidents like last october, where Just Stop Oil crashed Les Mis at the West End. Whether you think it's good activism or not is not the question I think, this instance is interesting particularly because it shows that, outside of Les Misérables analysis circles and fandom spaces, it is not recognised as an inherently leftist, political or activist work, and instead of just saying they completely missed the point of the musical, I think it'd be interesting to take a step back and look at what the musical as it stands actually represents in our culture today.

I don't pretend to have all the answers, so I won't try to give one, but I do hope we can reflect on this a bit.

[brandwhorestarscream]

Are we talking about transformers and xenomorphs? Cause I have thoughts on Megatron aligning himself with a queen and using Starscream as a breeder for xeno-cybertronian hybrids. Though he's more uhh traditionally impregnated. Idk the thought of a face hugger coiled around his thighs, fucking him with its ovipositor is so fucking hot

Ohohohoho honey. You're new here, aren't you?

Congratulations, you have unlocked the Power of Autism. Prepare to be ranted at lmfao

ANYWAY YES!! My beloved cybermorphs AU is smthn we've been building for months: beautiful terrifying cosmic horrors in the form of cybertronian-xenomorph hybrids, a techno-organic species we call cybermorphs. Megatron doesn't align himself with a queen, he is a queen! The very first one, in fact 😌 he and 4 others make up the very first generation of morphs, springing from 5 unfortunate warframe mecha that were exposed to and infected with xenomorph embryos

Xenomorphs and cybertronians are some of the most adaptive species in existence, both on polar opposite ends of the spectrum: one streamlined to be the ultimate, perfectly evolved killing machine that can thrive without oxygen or food, and the other a nearly-invulnerable inorganic species with the ability to rewrite their physical form at the drop of a hat. Put together they make the most dangerous, invasive, and voracious species the universe has ever seen. All of the xenomorphs killer instinct and capability to rapidly propagate blended perfectly with cybertronian invincibility and next-level processing power. They're damn near unstoppable

To address the other character you mentioned tho 👀 Starscream usually takes one of two roles in this AU: most commonly, he's one of the first mecha Megatron mutated into a morph (as a queen caste, he has transmutative royal jelly + venom), and Starscream serves at his side not only as one of his praetorians (a caste of xenomorph that essentially act as an immobile queen's royal guard), but also as one of his favored sires. In some universes, he serves as Megatron's King, a field military commander that commands the drones + warriors while the queen is immobilized in the hive. Starscream and Megatron's offspring are what we refer to as Vosimorphs, incredibly fast flight capable morphs that spit venom and can cloak very efficiently.

NSFW under the cut 🤭

As far as facehugger valve-fucking someone with their ovipositor 👀 see I hadn't really considered that! We've once discussed some crazy SOB (Shockwave. It was Shockwave) offering himself to a morphling egg and doing a handstand so the "highest orifice" instinct made them go for the valve instead, but 🤤 now I'm just imagining someone all strung up and immobilized by the secreted resin, the facehugger nestled up against their valve and sucking at the lips, thoroughly penetrating them for the implant while the poor incubator moans and thrashes and tries to get away. Be still my beating heart 🥰

[velvees-archive]

Tags: Love Confessions, Getting Together, Found Family, Miles POV, Insecurity

and more!

this is my day 16 submission for @fictober-event, and my late contribution to unnecessary feelings day…which passed two days ago. woops!

Prompt: “No, I’m not okay”

inspired by my tumblr post here!

An errant strand of jet black hair bobs to and fro as he pores over Miles’ face. "Edgeworth? You with me?" He’s surrounded by an emulsified blurb of noises: easy laughs, accompanying shouts, a beat. Miles isn’t feeling quite up to a lengthy conversation about his rationale, not when he’s insisting to himself that Wright is happy, he is happy, that the fire brewing inside of him is a fluke, and that perhaps it was time for him to move forward with his therapy sessions— “I was asking why you did it.” If he were to tell Wright that he already knew the answer: that he'd been spurred into action due to his creed and his pursuit of justice, he knows he’d only be propagating a half-truth—a secret by omission. In other words, a lie. “I wanted to help you,” he says, earnestly. Wright's shoulders rise and fall, an even rhythm. He takes a deep breath in, and the silence scatters. “Why?” - Miles Edgeworth does not long for more than he’s already been given. Sometimes, though, he thinks about it.

a few days ago, i proposed that narumitsu hits even harder when miles is the one hopelessly pining over phoenix following his disbarment. i also happened to want to explore phoenix working through the “prosecutor miles edgeworth chooses death” fiasco in jfa.

hence, this fic.

fic screenshots:

misc commentary/musings under the cut! :)

one day, i’ll stick a fic landing. it won’t be today, but one day...

very fun idea that became more convoluted as i tried to parse through dialogue, leaving me with 3 pages of unused scenes and dialogue exchanges. i can’t tell if i really hate this fic or really really hate this fic. regardless, it’s out there now, so no takebacksies :)

i’m happy with how the setting came out though! purposefully isolating miles from the rest of the group while they were in the karaoke bar was dirty work on my part but necessary for setting the tone of the story. phoenix is a bit mean here but i think that smarminess is integral to phoenix wright, especially when he’s confronted with his repressed abandonment/dependence issues.

did i sacrifice characterization for liberal dialogue choices though? absolutely!

about the title. it was originally supposed to be called “kill the lights” but i switched it to save me a seat because i think it gets the point across better!

i still don't think i've gotten the angst worms out, mostly because this fic doesn't follow my narumitsu getting together hc + the way i feel their characters are in canon. miles is a bit too self aware and eloquent w his feelings, while phoenix is too nice and too mean at the same time. there's always the next fic tho, thankfully! and maybe once i’ve gotten characterization down, i can share my actual hc

i have a few other fics i want to pump out before i start playing the great ace attorney and my lack of object permanence catches up on me. i’m thinking of making a low stress fic (lie, writing is never low stress for me) from an outsider’s pov. you’ll never guess who the outsider is tho, i promise

[theblackfemininesociety]

Why 'Hoe Culture' is a Detriment to Our Society, Particularly the Black Community.

Hey Besties,

Welcome to The Black Feminine Society! We pride ourselves on creating a safe space for Black Women to heal, grow, and embrace their femininity. Our mission goes beyond just creating a supportive environment. We believe it is our duty to have open and honest discussions about the challenges that can be detrimental to our culture, while also shining a light on the right paths for Black women to take.

At The Black Feminine Society, we are committed to holding ourselves and each other accountable. Our goal is not to tear down another Black woman, but rather to empower and uplift one another. We firmly believe that by addressing the issues within our community, we can drive positive change for the greater good.

So let's talk about it…

As 'Hoe Culture' is gaining increasing momentum, particularly within the Black community. It is a matter of grave concern that such a culture is being propagated, especially considering its adverse impacts on the perception of Black women and young girls.

The music industry, a formidable influencer of society, plays a significant role in this degradation. Many lyrics and music videos often depict women as objects of desire, thereby demeaning their worth. This portrayal of Black women is not only disrespectful but also aids in perpetuating stereotypes that have haunted the community for centuries.

The lack of genuinely empowering role models for young girls is distressing. Our society seems to drown out voices that advocate for respect and dignity, while those who succumb to the pressures of being overly sexualized for relevance are amplified. It is heartbreaking to witness the precious innocence of young minds being corrupted by such destructive ideologies.

The propagation of 'Hoe Culture' also distorts the perception of what healthy relationships should look like. It fuels lust over love, leading to superficial connections devoid of real affection or respect. This is not what relationships should represent. Relationships should be about mutual respect, understanding, and love, not superficial attractions.

Also, the media tends to glamorize 'Hoe Culture', conveniently ignoring the trauma associated with it. It is not all fun and games, as they would have us believe. The reality is much harsher, filled with emotional turmoil and personal distress.

This brings us to the concept of trauma bonding, a situation where individuals develop a strong emotional attachment to those who hurt them. It is a cycle of abuse and reconciliation that can lead to severe psychological effects, including low self-esteem and chronic mental health issues.

In the world of social media, especially on platforms like Instagram, young girls often feel pressured to participate in 'Hoe Culture', fearing that they might be ostracized otherwise. Behind the glamorous pictures and seemingly perfect lives of IG models lies a sad reality of mistreatment and deception. It is vital to remember that these are curated images, not reflecting the reality of their lives.

Before I conclude, I want to leave you with a motivating message:

To all the beautiful Black women out there, remember that you are so much more than what society tries to label you as. You are strong, beautiful, and worthy. Your body is your temple, a sacred sanctuary that deserves respect and honor. Protect your heart, keep it exclusive for those who genuinely deserve it. There is no rush to fit into societal norms; remember, it's okay to be selective. Your worth is not defined by the number of likes or followers, but by the strength of your character and the depth of your spirit. Be proud of who you are and never let anyone dim your light.

[oneknightstand-if]

How do ROs feel about having children? Or if it's too spoilery do they like them?

Merlin: Can't have normal children for biological incubus reasons. MC can have them if they like, as Merlin well knows how humans like to propagate their race with the yelling, crying, squirming things.

Since kids aren't suitable food sources, Merlin is overall pretty 'meh' on them unless they're children of fate. They're well used to having to deal with those.

Adrian: No children... for reasons. (Apocalyptic reasons)

Arthur: Is kind of traumatized by Merlin's prophecy that he'll outlive all his children. (Aaaaall those dead children in various versions of official lore)

While he tried to have official heirs as is the responsibility of a monarch, this is one of the reasons he was so chill about Guinevere potentially being barren.

Since he's gone full-blown ageless now, it's pretty much a given that he'll outlive any children he has with a mortal... but it'll still take awhile before he gets used to that idea.

Percy: He's more the type to suddenly come home with two random orphans one day then to have biological children of his own.

4̸0̵4̵ ̴E̷r̴r̷o̴r̴ ̷N̵o̵t̵ ̵F̸o̴u̵n̷d̴: REALLY?!

Cassandra: She's totally up for having children. At the right moment, which is not in the middle of the actual apocalypse. Whether the idea of this has ever come up before... well, we'll just see.

Gwen: Unlike all others, she's totally up for having children... even in the middle of the apocalypse if she finds the right person. Love will find a way!

Vivian: Hmmm... well, if you really want to. And actually survive to the point that you're a long-term lover and not a short fling. But any kids of hers are going to be mari-morgans, you know?

Lorelei: She supposes that she's always had the thought in the back of her head that she'd have kids one day... because that's what's expected, right? Just not in the middle of her Olympic career. (Or the literal apocalypse).

There may be some buried latent issues here.

Broderick: Two kids, a dog, and a white picket fence. Normal enough dream that seems to grow ever more impossible as time goes on (because y'know APOCALYPSE).

[howellatme-writes]

Tomb Buster

Steven Grant x gn!reader, hints of Marc Spector gn!reader

Summary:

You returned from a trip abroad and are trying to get the spare key back to the apartment from Steven. However, you are unable to catch either of the boys due to their busy schedule, and you start to wonder if they are ignoring you.

Themes and warnings: Neighbors, Neighbors to lovers, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Hints of abuse, not beta-read, no use of y/n, gender-neutral reader (If I missed any warnings pls, let me know, and I'll add!)

Made for Moon Knight-cember Day 17/18: Rainy Day and/or VHS tape

Word Count: 3.4k

Author's Notes: First fic on my new writer's blog! I probably won't post very often, but I thought it would be nice to have a spot for my fics on Tumblr! Also, the first time I tried to specifically stay gender neutral with the reader, if I missed any pronouns, feel free to let me know!

It had been a few days since you returned from the trip abroad, and you still couldn’t catch Steven to get the spare key back to your apartment. His schedule was often the opposite of yours, and every time, you just continued to miss each other by mere minutes to and from the system’s various jobs. The responses to your texts to meet up the past few days were from Marc. They were short and avoidant, unlike the flirty, flowery texts Steven would send you featuring selfies with the plants he had watered for that day. 

One night, Steven initiated a late-night video chat, trying to cheer you up after a difficult night with your parents and co-workers. Then you realized the neighbor across the hall might have liked you more than you thought. His tired smile while he lay in bed at 2 in the morning, the freshly showered curls he brushed out of his face while he consoled you and let you vent about your issues made you realize you liked him back just as much. He told you about his boss, Donna, while you told him about your equally horrible boss while you’re stationed across the pond for work. Towards the end of your trip, you were starting to miss your home away from home more than you enjoyed being in your hometown, and it desperately showed in another Facetime call.

Marc started fronting the last few nights before you flew home, and the conversations were short. There were no selfies with your plants. He would just text, “Watering is done.” or “This cat’s shits are the worst thing I ever smelled.” Steven didn’t front as much, but his presence was still there. He even added googly eyes to the potted plants just to make you smile and laugh. Marc had sent you a phone with the caption, “I guess Steven snuck in when I thought I was asleep.” By the time you boarded your flight back to London, you were yearning to talk to Steven again, but it didn’t seem like you had that connection with Mark.

It was a rainy day, and you had just taken some of your propagated spider plants and potted them in some small terracotta pots when you checked your phone once again to see when you could meet up with Steven or Marc to get your spare key back. Nothing. You sat on the couch, placed the little spider plants on the coffee table, and leaned your elbows on your knees, your hand holding your chin as you huffed out a sigh, looking aimlessly around your apartment. If they weren’t interested, they would at least give you your key back, right? Hell, even just slide it under your door and never speak to you again. That was an option, too, right? Why are the boys stalling?

You reached to the sheet of googly eyes left by Steven and placed two eyes on each side of the plants’ pots. You couldn’t help but chuckle, and you decided to take it to the next level by reaching to grab a Sharpie to draw mouths to accompany each pair of eyes. On one side of the pot, a sad face with a tear, the other a smiley face. You did that with two of the pots, turning the sad faces towards you. You study them and pull out your phone, taking a picture of the tragic little spider plants, turn the pots, and repeat with the other side. Feeling mischievous and opening the texts, scrolling down to find their number, you attach the picture of the sad pots with the caption: “The plants miss you.” and hit send, waiting for his reaction.

After a few hours of sound sleep, you gradually become aware of a faint buzzing sound. As you start to stir and open your eyes, you realize your phone is on the table next to you, vibrating with incoming messages. You stretch your arms and legs, feeling your cat's weight on your chest and the warmth of its fur against your skin. Slowly, you sit up on the couch, blinking and yawning before picking up your phone. You squint at the screen, adjusting to the brightness, and see that two new texts are waiting for you. Your heart skips a beat as you realize they're from Steven, the person you've been waiting to hear back from. As you unlock your phone, your cat moves to the opposite end of the couch and curls up, seemingly undisturbed by your sudden movement.

“We should turn those plants' frowns upside down! -S” sent the text at 6:00 pm.

“???”- Was the last text sent at 9:00 pm.

The clock on the wall showed 9:52 PM, and you let out a deep sigh. You walked up to the window and glanced outside, only to see that it was pitch black and raining heavily. You couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment, as you knew that you had probably missed meeting up with the boys again. You knew that Marc often picked up late-night shifts, but he never told you what he did.

With a tiny sliver of hope, you slide your phone into your pocket and pick up the two plants you had meant to give Steven. You stepped into some comfy slippers, went to his apartment across the hall, and knocked on the door, hoping he was home.

“Just a moment!” Steven calls, and you smile, feeling your heart start to race. After weeks of texting back and forth, you finally get to see him in person. After hearing several locks hurriedly being undone, Steven swings the door open to greet you, “Evenin’ Looking to get your spare key back?” breathing heavily, messy, damp curls in his face with an awkward smile and wrinkled brow. “Oh, you brought plants over?” he looked down at the two small plants with sad faces facing him.

“To be fair, they missed you. Look at them!” You try and smile. “I thought you might like them. A little extra thank you for caring for my cat and plants..”

“Oh. Oh! Thank you!” Steven said wide-eyed, “You can come on in if you like. I think Marc left your key by the fridge.” he gestured, letting you inside.

You step inside and kick your slippers off, looking around in awe at the sheer number of books. You could tell he had a lot of books from the video chats, but the amount of books covering the bookcases and every surface in his flat was beyond your imagination, “Wow… you have your books, I have my plants.” ​​

“I’m not bothering you boys or anything, am I?” you ask distantly. Despite the clutter, the flat just had this cozy feel, like you’d want to sit on a couch and curl up with Steven, blankets, tea, and a book.

“Ahhh yeah. Usually, I do a lot of reading when I can’t sleep.” Steven confessed sheepishly, rubbing his neck, “Would you like a cuppa or anything?” He asked from his tiny kitchen, already grabbing two cups from the cupboard.

“Yeah, sure,” you say, studying the makeshift furniture before you. A wooden top balancing upon half an end table and a sawhorse, with a small desk lamp on the left side, formed the kitchen table. Papers, maps, dirty dishes, and a magnifying glass lay on the table with other small tchotchkes. You walked past it to take in the rest of Marc and Steven’s flat, realizing it probably wasn’t the safest, sturdiest place for his first two plants.

“No. No!” Steven said quickly, “Not sure what Marc was doing before, but judging from the wet hair, probably a shower or somethin’.” Steven suggested offhandly as he put the kettle on.

Steven comes after you and grabs the plants from you, not noticing the hat or gloves. “Sorry about the mess. I’d blame Marc, but he’s always nagging at me to clean. Just never thought we’d have company.” He scurries around as if trying to find a spot to put them. Eventually, he settles, puts the plants on a small coffee table, and rushes to clear the couch of cardboard boxes before gesturing for you to sit down.

You walk further into the flat to see his desk against the skylight. It was still just as cluttered as the makeshift table, but at least the desk didn’t look like it would break with adding a plant or two, but space would have to be made for them. You shuffled around, and your foot bumped into something wet, a newsboy hat and leather gloves tucked under the desk, presumably damp from the rain.

You sit down on the worn leather couch and smile at him, moving one of the open boxes into your lap, just happy he was shifting all this stuff around to make space for you in the apartment, “It’s no problem, really. I was the one that just knocked on your door, no warning.”

“To be fair, Marc should’ve spent the last little bit sorting the place out instead of doing whatever he was doin'. Taking a shower, maybe; everything feels a little damp’,” Steven murmured as he sat on the couch. “ I-I was hoping you would come over, though,” he said, interlocking his own fingers together, not sure what to do with them, before just setting them down on his thighs.

“It’s fine. Really.” you try to reassure Steven, scooting closer to him on the couch, holding the box to your chest. “My apartment was totally deep-cleaned before I left. It’s usually not that clean, a little more cluttered.”

“Oh, yeah? Feel a bit better ‘bout this then.” Steven gestured to his organized chaos of the hastily moved boxes around the both of you.

You move a bit closer to him again under the guise of setting the box by your feet, “How was the flight? Still got any jet lag?” he quietly asks as you set the box down, and a well-worn VHS cover catches your eye, not even recognizing he was trying to make small talk.

You lean forward and pick the VHS up, “What's this relic of the past doing here?” I flip it over and read the title out loud, trying to tease him light-heartedly. “Tomb Buster? Huh. What sort of Off-brand Indiana Jones, B- movie, is this?” you chuckle, holding it up to Steven to show him without looking at the cover.

Steven froze like you had just found something extremely private and personal. “Well…uh-um-” his mouth open and shut, repeatedly struggling to find the words to say. Your brow furrows in confusion, wondering why the movie created such a reaction. He looks at his reflection on the TV in shock.

You turn the VHS tape around and look at the cover more closely. Moving your thumb, you  quietly read the wording at the bottom of the VHS tape, “When danger is near, Steven Grant has no fear?”

Steven darted nervously from the TV fearfully back to you, and he gulped audibly, speaking in a bit of a shaky voice “It’s one of Marc’s all-time favorite movies as a kid. It’s important to him, and he says he’s offended you called it ‘off-brand Indiana Jones.’”

“Oh.” You look back at the TV but don’t see what Steven sees. You spy the VHS player next to the Blu-ray, both covered in a thin layer of dust. “Have you ever seen it?” you ponder curiously.

Steven heaves a heavy sigh and takes the VHS tape from your hands, his warm fingers lingering on top of your own before placing the tape aside, “No. I haven’t.” he confessed quietly, looking up at you with sorrowful eyes. “Don’t think I’ll live up to my namesake.”

“Steven?” your hands reach out to grasp his again, feeling them tremble slightly. You rub the back of his hands with your thumbs, hoping to ease his anxiety.

“I’m not- I’m just something that Marc made up,” he whispered, ashamed, looking down at the VHS tape, “I found out when I saw- the movie poster one day. In his childhood bedroom.” He seemed to zone out for a moment, but when the kettle started whistling, it was like he had jumped out of his skin. He got up without a word, walking quickly to the stove as if thankful for the out in the conversation.

Steven sniffed as he grabbed a tin of tea bags from the cupboard trying to change the subject, “English Breakfast? Chamomile? I have lots. Take your pic.”

You felt awful as you stared down at the VHS tape. Dr. Steven Grant looked back at you as if judging you harshly. The plants' faces that felt comical mimicked the sadness of the heavy topic in the air. It never crossed your mind to ask who was the original and who was the alter. Part of you assumed it was Steven because you saw him the most between the two boys.

You slowly get up from the couch, follow him into the kitchen, and boldly wrap your arms around his waist, hugging him from behind. Steven freezes again, avoiding your gaze, “Chai. I don’t care which one of you is original.” you murmur, resting your head against his shoulder as he slowly prepares his tea. You sighed, your breath on his neck making his hair stand on end, your lips almost brushing against his neck. “Our texts, the late-night Facetime, they were real, right? I always looked forward to your texts. There was something real between us, right?”

Steven nodded as he reached out to pick up the chai tea packet and tore it open. He then dunked the tea bag into the water for you. You tried to catch his gaze as you leaned against the counter to gauge his reaction. He seemed lost in thought, rocking against the countertop and staring straight into space. Finally, he looked at you and began pouring out his emotions. "But I'm not real!" he exclaimed, his voice cracking. "How could you be happy with us? Marc said you'd be daft to care about someone as bonkers as us. He doesn't know why I told you about us in the first place. He thinks we should keep our distance..."

“Steven! Marc!” you exclaim, trying to break his downward spiral, physically turning him into you, your hands grabbing his arms, almost wanting to shake some sense into him “I don’t care! I do care! I mean-”

His lips crash on yours, and before you know it, your hands find his curls, still a little wet from earlier, and he’s leaning against you, his hands on either side of you on the counter. As your cheeks touch, you can feel the tears that spilled down his, dampening your own. As you feel him suck your lower lip, he moves his hands to your hips. After a second, he pulls back, his face tinted with blush, apologizing profusely, “Sorry-I-shouldn’t have- I never- Not like this-”

“It’s okay. It’s more than okay.” I smile, caressing his cheek before kissing him again softly, trying to convey how much you care while your lips move against his.

“We should have a sit-down, yeah?” Steven asked quietly after a minute. You grabbed your mugs and moved back to the couch to sit. Steven takes a bit sip of his tea before setting it down on the coffee table. “I didn’t realize I was created to help Marc until very recently-” he began, and you reached out and rested your hand over his. “The way I found out wasn’t ideal. It was actually pretty traumatic.” He looked over at his reflection on the TV, pausing the conversation as your heart raced.

“Is Marc saying something?” you question

“It’s like we can see and hear each other in reflections sometimes. I don’t know how it works, but it does.” Steven comments, still looking at the black TV screen, before turning to meet your gaze again, “You know we have D.I.D, but I never told you why-”

“Oh Steven, it’s okay, I don’t need to…,” you try to say, squeezing his hand as you set my mug of tea down by the VHS tape. Steven’s guard came down with a small sigh of relief. “Steven, you or Marc can tell me when you’re ready. It doesn’t need to be tonight. We can just hang out or something.”

“Thank you.” Steven smiled earnestly. He looked back down at Tomb Busters and grabbed the tape, “Marc says we need to watch this ‘cinematic masterpiece’ before we trash talk it.” 

He looked at the back of the VHS, reading the synopsis. “Here, you’ll find archaeologist Grant up to his neck in danger and -spiders- up to his kneecaps in crawling arachnids. Steven hates spiders!!” he hums and nods in agreement. “He hates Nazis, too, and he’ll stop at nothing to keep those goose-stepping goons from obtaining the mystical statue of Coyolxauhqui.”

“Sounds like Indiana, but he hates snakes.”

It takes a minute to set it up, but Tomb Buster is playing on the TV as you snuggle into Steven under a blanket. It was almost like Marc and Steven were watching the movie with you. Steven repeated Marc’s commentary as the film went on, and much to your enjoyment, Marc even confessed that the movie was indeed a lot cheesier now that he was watching it as an adult. You were surprised Marc didn’t front to watch it himself, but it seemed like he wanted Steven to have some sort of positive experience with his namesake on the tv.

It was easy to pick up on some of the mannerisms that belonged to both the Steven on screen, and the Steven that gradually shifted to holding you as the movie continued. You would give his hand a slight squeeze or kiss his cheek when something was recognized, hoping it wasn’t too much of a challenging experience to see Marc’s muse for Steven on screen, but if it was, he never lot on. The movie concluded with a hint of a sequel, but after a quick internet search, you find the sequel never made it past the writer’s room.

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a Bee. My name is Steven with a V.” Steven sighed, disappointed when the movie finished. “I thought I came up with that.”

“When did you say that?” you ask, looking up at him.

“A while ago.” he spoke, gazing at you tenderly, “Watching Dr. Grant was odd, but it wasn’t as weird as I thought it would be. Thank you for watching it with us.”

You smile at him and sit up, glancing at the clock on your phone. It was nearly midnight. “Do you have work in the morning?” I asked quietly

Steven shrugs it off, “Yeah, but I don’t sleep much, remember? I’d Facetime you until 2 am at least.”

“I remember. Seeing you lay in bed, I couldn’t help but think your chest would make a good pillow.” you admit, feeling your cheeks heat up at the confession, “and I was right.”

Steven's face flushed with a tinge of pink as he leaned forward and whispered in your ear, his lips brushing against your skin. "Can I kiss you again?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. You couldn't help but feel a flutter of excitement in your chest. You nodded, leaning towards him, but he suddenly shifted his position, reaching for the spider plants nearby and hiding their googly-eyed expressions. "Don't need the spider plants watching us, do we?" he quipped, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

You couldn't help but laugh at his comment, burying your head in his neck before your lips met again in another slow, passionate kiss. Steven seemed a little unsure of what to do with his hands, but he eventually rested them on your hips, his fingers trailing up and down your sides in a soft caress.

As you leaned your head against Steven's, you whispered breathlessly, "Maybe I don't need that spare key back after all."

You could feel his chest rumble with a soft chuckle as he responded, "Nah." He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you close as your lips met once more, the world around you fading away as Steven held you in a sweet embrace.

[whencyclopedia]

Interview: Bodies in the Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages, attitudes to the human body were rife with contradictions: Glorified, oppressed, cared for, and chastised. A new temporary exhibition at the Swiss National Museum in Zürich – coveted. cared for. martyred. Bodies in the Middle Ages – re-evaluates the ways in which medieval Europeans saw, conceived, and imagined the human body. In this interview, James Blake Wiener questions Curator Christine Keller about the exhibition's finer points.

JBW: Dr. Keller, many thanks for speaking to me on behalf of World History Encyclopedia (WHE).

We tend to think of the Middle Ages as an era dominated by faith. However, we should remember that those living in medieval Europe also participated in secular society and non-religious activities. With that in mind, how did you decide to showcase the rich interplay between physical presence and secular interests and pursuits?

CK: In selecting the themes and exhibits, we have tried to show not only the medieval Church's view but also the secular attitude to the body by means of excerpts from medieval literature – such as erotic novels – profane art, and themes such as sport. We try to show that although the Church propagated certain ideas about physicality (in particular the Christian concept of human sexuality as sin), many testimonies from this period, such as popular erotic literature, reports by secular doctors, and obscene badges in the form of personified genitals, speak a language contrary to church morality.

JBW: While the Catholic Church posited the body as the seat of desire and sin, visual representations of the body of Jesus Christ and the femininity of the Virgin Mary were omnipresent. So too were those body parts that believers worshipped as holy relics, which could heal the sick, bring victory in battle, and cure infertility. What can you tell us about the reliquaries and other objects of devotion on display? What secrets do they reveal about medieval body image?

CK: The exhibition includes a reliquary from Limoges from the late 12th century as well as figurative reliquaries such as busts and arm reliquaries from the 14th and 15th centuries. They bear witness to the great veneration and power of the relics of saints. Figurative reliquaries such as busts, arms, legs or feet bring to life or embody the bones or secondary relics stored in them (such as hair, contact relics, etc.). As so-called 'speaking reliquaries', they thus make the abstract, sacred powers more visible. It is relevant for the medieval image of the body that the relics simultaneously reflect death and life and that the saints venerated in the relics were regarded as mediators between this world and the afterlife. The wooden bust reliquaries from the 14th century (for example the Ursula reliquary) were painted in such a way that the surface appears flesh-like, the eyes animated and alive. In these busts, the saints met the viewer as the 'living dead'.

JBW: Death was an immediate and looming concern to our medieval predecessors. Average lifespans were lower than they are today and disease was rampant. How did the concern of death and the belief in everlasting life – on the day of resurrection – shape conceptions of the body during this era?

CK: Death and mortality were omnipresent and a major topic in the Middle Ages. In view of the resurrection, care was taken during one's lifetime to ensure that one's own life remained as free as possible from sins and vices or that these could be redeemed during one's lifetime. In terms of the body, this meant among other things: no gluttony (gula), no lust (luxuria), no vanity (superbia), no indolence (acedia). The concept of bodily resurrection was characterised by the statements of one of the early Church Fathers, Augustine of Hippo (354-430): according to his interpretation, the physical condition at the time of death was irrelevant for the resurrection. For example, if a dead body was mauled by animals or burned, it still emerged from the grave on the day of resurrection intact and at the age of 30 or 33, the age at which Jesus died. In this sense, depictions of the resurrected show them with their intact, naked bodies.

JBW: It was during the Middle Ages that a number of first steps in public health were undertaken: the practice of quarantine; the establishment of hospitals; and the provisioning of medical care and social assistance. There was, as a consequence, an interest in health, hygiene, and hospice, which is delineated throughout the exhibition. I wondered if you might share with us some details about bathing and cupping during the Middle Ages. I suspect many readers would be surprised to learn how commonplace these and other practices were in actuality.

CK: The medieval theory of health is based on the 'theory of the four humours' and the four elements. If the humours (blood, phlegm, black and yellow bile) are not in balance, the person becomes ill. In order to maintain this balance, an excess of substances must be equalised. Bathing parlours (with sweat baths), cupping, and bloodletting – or the application of leeches – were used for this purpose. Numerous health guides, which were particularly widespread in the late Middle Ages, describe the appropriate time for these methods and use illustrations – the so-called Vein Man – to point out the suitable body parts and the appropriate time for bloodletting. Health care was a major topic throughout the Middle Ages and was widespread.

JBW: Bodies in the Middle Ages underscores that while medieval attitudes to the human form and body were contradictory, much has remained the same across the centuries. Whether through the quest for physical perfection or a preoccupation with health or illness, we are not all that different from our medieval predecessors. What do you hope visitors gain from a visit to the exhibition? Moreover, what would you like the public to learn about the Middle Ages as a result of your work?

CK: A survey in the exhibition revealed that the exhibition on the body in the Middle Ages inspired the majority of our visitors to think about the body in the present day. We hope that with this exhibition we can show a somewhat different view of the Middle Ages and that we can break down the often still prevalent stereotypes of a rigid and anti-body era.

JBW: Dr. Keller, thanks so much for sharing your expertise with our audience. On behalf of World History Encyclopedia, I wish you many happy adventures in research.

coveted. cared for. martyred. Bodies in the Middle Ages runs at the Swiss National Museum in Zürich, Switzerland until July 14, 2024.

Christine Keller is an art historian and curator at the Swiss National Museum.

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