#* world within me that i cannot explain ( musing. )

[throw-down-enjoyer]

Organ donation, compassion fatigue, and Japanese perspectives on brain death

I don’t think Shidou’s sin was actually a crime (as in, it was perfectly legal) and I’m going to explain why. This is essentially a very long Kirisaki Shidou Is Not An Organ Harvester post

To start: Shidou’s sin was convincing the families of braindead patients to donate their relatives’ organs. He confirms doing this in his T2 voice drama, and the way he words it makes it clear he thinks of it as murder. (He does say that this is only half of his sin, but we’ll get to the other half later.)

You know, I… continuously tried to persuade the relatives of braindead patients who were against organ transplants.

“In order to save the life of someone you don’t know, please let me kill your family member,” I told them.

It doesn’t even take much thinking to realize how cruel that is, but… I didn’t realize that until the very end.

Translation used: https://youtu.be/9xmokVJ-6x4?si=VgcIp5LCdNnUwqUW

Brain death is the irreversible, complete loss of brain function, meaning there’s no chance for a braindead patient to ever come back. Because of this, some people may feel that removing life support from a braindead patient doesn’t constitute murder. It definitely doesn’t constitute murder from a legal perspective, but it makes sense why someone might think of it as murder— especially in Japan.

Japanese perspectives on brain death

In evaluating Shidou’s case, we have to consider the cultural context within which it was written. Many people in Japan do not consider brain death as human death, and brain death cannot be declared without consent from the family and the intention to donate organs. In fact, braindead patients are not removed from life support until their heart stops beating. Shidou isn’t being dramatic when he frames his words as basically saying, “please let me kill your family member.”

Brain death is a very contentious topic in Japan—Doctors are put under scrutiny for declaring brain death and performing organ transplants. It’s important to know that in Japan, brain death only exists in relation to organ transplants. And only certain designated hospitals will do this. Even more so, if a person writes an advance directive asking to be taken off of life support in the case of brain death, doctors are not required to follow it. And many of them don’t, out of fear of the patient’s family lashing out at them.

Only in 2010 was Japan’s Organ Transplant Law revised so that organ transplants could be performed without prior consent from the brain dead patient (now only requiring consent from the family).

Here’s a couple of scholarly articles on the topic if you’d like to read more about it.

https://doi.org/10.1186%2Fs12910-021-00626-2

https://doi.org/10.1353/nib.2022.0019

Another very important facet of this discussion is how low organ donation rates are in Japan. To give you an idea, here’s a chart showing the per million population of donations after brain death (DBD) and donations after cardiac death (DCD) in a few different countries.

Sourced from this article, which has some other interesting statistics as well: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tpr.2023.100131

As you can see, Japan’s rates are astronomically low in comparison to other countries. This helps to contextualize why Shidou had to try so hard to persuade families to donate, and why he later became extremely desperate when his wife’s life was on the line.

I’ve seen a lot of people confused about Shidou’s crime, and many speculations about him doing heinous things such as organ harvesting or purposefully botching surgeries—but I think this is because we’re approaching the case with a western perspective. As we know, many (if not all) of the Milgram prisoners represent a controversial social issue. Brain death is not nearly as divisive in western medicine as it is in Japan, so it’s easy to overlook the idea that all Shidou actually did was take organs from braindead patients. Perspectives on brain death in Japan have changed a lot in the past couple of decades, but it’s still quite controversial; because of this, I truly believe that this is the point of contention behind Shidou’s case, and there’s nothing more sinister secretly going on.

Compassion fatigue

Compassion fatigue is commonly thought to be the manifestation of secondary traumatic stress and burnout, caused by caring for others who are in stressful situations. This commonly affects people who work in healthcare.

I believe Shidou experienced compassion fatigue from working in the hospital, as he exhibits some of the symptoms—in particular, a reduced sense of empathy and a detachment from others.

I feel that Throw Down makes a lot of sense when you view it from this angle.

Lyrical analysis on Throw Down

Shidou expresses that he no longer remembers what it feels like to take away in order to give.

Pomegranates represent death in Greek mythology, and I believe that’s what they represent here too. Shidou has become desensitized to death; the pomegranate no longer has any flavor.

If it’s not needed, I’m not interested

Shidou only thought about what was physically necessary to keep a patient alive, and remained emotionally distant.

They’re dead either way, so it doesn’t really matter to him.

Now slowly close your eye, put your regret on display

Wish for being there for someone

With the same expression no matter who comes

This is the part that most makes me think of compassion fatigue—Shidou had difficulty expressing empathy for grieving families and had to fake it.

I don’t feel scared because I don’t know

Shidou didn’t understand what it was like to be in that situation. But now that it’s happened to him… he understands. And, looking back, he understands how unkind he had been about all of it. This is why he considers himself to be a murderer, why he truly believes that he has killed many people.

Ethics is a delusion

This is a line that definitely struck me as odd for awhile, but I think it makes sense in the context of his situation. His sin was not illegal—but is it ethical? That’s what all of this—whether you forgive him or not—hinges on.

The other half of Shidou’s sin

Going back to what I said earlier, Shidou’s sin wasn’t only convincing families to donate their relatives’ organs. His sin is also transplanting his son’s organs in an attempt to save his wife.

I believe that Shidou’s family got into a car accident, which resulted in his older child experiencing brain death and his wife being left in critical condition (and the younger child presumably died immediately). Considering the views surrounding brain death in Japan, it would have been difficult to find a donor, so Shidou became desperate enough to transplant his son’s organs. Since he’s the father, there wouldn’t have been any issues with receiving consent for the transplant.

Some people believe it’s the other way around—that he transplanted his wife’s organs into his son—but I believe otherwise, for multiple reasons.

In Shidou’s T1 voice drama, he expresses relief at the fact that his judgment is being determined by Es, who is a child. This makes sense if he feels that he killed his son.

Instead of being told by the law that I won’t be forgiven, I wanted a child like you, Es, to tell me that.

I feel sorry that you had to be given this role. And, I truly apologize for being so insistent about sentencing me to death as well… But, you’re perfect. You’ll give me the ending I’m most suited for.

Translation used: https://youtu.be/C4MiQ3V3YjQ?si=hPmlUkc6BfdcacNg

Additionally, a few scenes in Triage…

As stated before, I interpret the pomegranates to represent death. Shidou brings home three pomegranates, one for each of his family members. He later hands his son a price tag from the pomegranates—a representation of Shidou sentencing him to death.

And at the end of Throw Down, an organ tag falls out of the flower person. The name seems to read “Rei Kirisaki” and has XY marked, probably indicating that the donor is male.

Not to mention, it’s much more plausible for the flower person to represent Shidou’s wife rather than his son. When the person falls apart, there’s a shot of a red rose—the flower most known for representing romantic love—falling out of them.

Final thoughts and conclusion

To summarize: Shidou used to routinely try to persuade the families of braindead patients to donate their relatives’ organs. Despite that the prevailing thought in Japan is that brain death is not human death, Shidou did not think of it this way.

Shidou’s family later got into an accident; he transplanted his braindead son’s organs in an attempt to save his wife, but it was a failure, resulting in her death. This situation made him reflect on his past actions—he did not consider it murder before to discontinue life support on a patient, but now that he did it to his son, his perspective has changed. Everything he has done is within the confines of the law, but he is now burdened with immense guilt and thinks himself a murderer. Not just in regards to his son, but to all of the patients that he had pulled the plug on.

Side note: I don’t think having low empathy is inherently a bad thing (I have naturally low empathy), but in this context it would make sense for Shidou to feel bad about lacking empathy.

Side note 2: Shidou is a surgeon, so it is entirely possible he personally performed the transplant on his wife. Operating on family members isn’t illegal or anything, but is widely considered to be unethical and not really a good idea.

Well, that’s all I had to say—Feel free to either add on to this theory or debate me on it. This post ended up quite long, so thank you for reading!

[eternallyaoleil]

𓉯 ྀ

𝒷e in touch with the wonders — 𝓉hey are

within us.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀┊

i’m eternal or etérea, i go by many different names across my travels of the universes. black shifter through and through, embracing my soulaan roots more and more each day. always surrounded by music and thoughts that include jellyfish, djing, and movies which are a huge part of my life..a huge inspiration! sag sun, libra moon, scorpio rising..my adventurous soul had led me here to the abyss while my mysterio created it and my love nurtured it, curating my own shifting experience being seventeen and all..the grounding years of teenhood.

my insides churn and bleed, yearning to be someplace that i can call home. very much a muse in my own life, all the while viewing many different aspects, concepts and people as muses of my own. embodiments of dragons, panthers, cheetahs..my soul is something of a world that is unknown, cannot be fathomed or forgotten..nor destroyed.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀┊

  ⠀ ᭄᭡⠀ ░ favorites

arca, fka twigs, ethel cain, video games!! (apex legends, overwatch, lis *biggest inspo*, detroit become human, god of war), the vampire diaries, teen wolf (in all of its terrible glory), dexter, the walking dead, kpop (certain occasions), the occult (duh, basically a witch), criminal minds, purple, green, brown, orange, soul food, game of thrones, house of the dragon, a song of ice and fire, slyvia plath, james baldwin, jazz music.

꯭⠀ 𓇼 ˚ embodiments

wild horses * the sundays, about her * arca, have you got it in you * imogen heap, jayme lawson, cheetahs, sinners (film), the quiet things that no one ever knows * brand new, love you to death * type o negative, here i am * dionne warwick, mutant * arca, mary magdalene * fka twigs, hyper-ballad (family tree version) * björk, saunter * arca, minerva * deftones, verona * muse, is it cold in the water? * sophie, candy apple red, myself * yeat, michonne * twd , korra * tlok , punish * ethel cain. (can you tell my favorite artist is arca?)

bathed in white light, escaping the binds of the mortal body. her blood, soul, mind, all as one..something to revel at curiously. being one with your body is one thing but separating from it to become one with something else is another..but it is all within us..within you.

my realities usually consist of magic, something that isn’t of this world which can probably be explained by my sun sign’s constant need for experience and adventure. but i am not above a regular, smegular realm either as there is beauty in all of them. usually shifting between NY 1998 to a Small Town in Maine during the late 2000’s to Winterfell within minutes which is insane if you think about it..

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀┊

this is a shifting blog, so don’t be stupid and come on here acting like it’s not. if you do not believe in such concepts, simply block me and other shiftblrs like a normal person would when seeing things they disagree with. i refuse to debate on things like race-changing, different shifting methods because it is a waste of time, do what you wish with your abilities as i will do but that doesn’t mean i have to agree with race-changing.

do not interact with me if you shift to realities that are immoral in the sense of the reality we are currently in, and obviously the usuals, racism, homophobia, any bigotry especially in today’s climate, i refuse to interact with people like that and you will be blocked!

see the beauty in shifting. —

[deathbydarkelves]

I went to the bookstore yesterday and spent some time picking out semi-random fantasy books to read their first few lines or pages. And I was baffled by how few attempted to describe a place. Any specific place. So many started with characters talking in a blank white room, or characters musing about their own backstories in a similarly blank white room.

These weren’t your dime-a-dozen “romantasy” books, I was actually looking for something to seriously read. It’s been sad ages since I found a fantasy book that really truly sucked me in and teleported me someplace else.

No, these were books describing themselves as adventure stories. Or just a story which heavily involved its world. And yet maybe two of the dozen or more books I looked at actually tried to describe a place.

I described this experience to a friend and he said it may be a side effect of fantasy becoming a more popular genre recently. More books means there’ll be more shitty books. Fine, that makes sense. But I just… I can’t fathom approaching a fantasy story with the mindset that the world and place is secondary. Fantasy is about being someplace else. And these are pieces of original fiction. The authors had to come up with names and borders and landmarks. And then they don’t want to explore any of it? They don’t want to describe in loving prose how the river just paces from the town's stockade flows from the western mountains and glints gold under the rising autumn sun? I guess not, because they just open with dialogue and two characters existing… somewhere, in a blank room, and halfway through the first conversation the narrator gets distracted and starts explaining the last hundred years of history. Which have no direct relation to whatever is supposed to be happening.

The books I read and loved as a kid — Deltora Quest, The Inheritance Cycle, How to Train Your Dragon — those all took time to describe their worlds and place me and the characters within them. That’s what fantasy is. Hell that’s what WRITING is.

You don’t need a degree in geography and meteorology and archaeology and linguistics to build your world. You don’t even necessarily need to write the past hundred years of history. I respect the desire to write a character-centric story. But for fuck’s sake, put us somewhere.

Genuinely I cannot imagine caring so little about your characters and your readers that you can’t be bothered to put soft, rain-damp soil under their feet. Or hard-packed dirt in the market square marked with hoof prints. Or snow crusted over from yesterday’s warmth.

The Lord of the Rings wasn’t and isn’t such a big deal just because it was set in a fantasy land with elves and dwarves. It’s because there were incomprehensible amounts of love and care put into the world, and then into describing it. It's a story not just about its characters but about its world. Even just watching the movies you can see how much love was put into the world and how badly the creators wanted to show it to us. Earthsea and, stepping away from books, Critical Role are so good because there was love put into their worlds, and then the creators did everything in their power to show us those worlds. Have you listened to some of Mercer's environmental descriptions?

It’s not enough to come up with place names and list them off when relevant (or when they’re not). It’s the difference between reading about another country in a tourism book and actually going there.

Why bother writing someplace else if you don’t at least attempt to take us there?

It’s a goddamn shame. All this time I've been book-less, I thought my standards were just unnecessarily high and that I was misremembering how good the books of my childhood were. But no. No I think there actually is an issue where people think fantasy is just the presence of elves and wizards and maybe dwarves or dragons. From the fucking start fantasy has been about other worlds. You don’t have to try and write the next Lord of the Rings or A Song of Ice and Fire but put some damn love into your work. Show your characters and your readers some damn love and put them somewhere.

Put us in a low-ceilinged tavern where shadows cling to the corners as thick as cobwebs. Describe the bounty hunter not just by her outfit, but by the way the fog is still clinging to her fur mantle as dew as she walks inside.

If you want to get better at writing it’s best to read, but at LEAST watch The Fellowship of the Ring or play Skyrim or something. Take a walk in your closest nature reserve/park. Put yourself somewhere else. Take in the sunlight filtering dappled through the whispering leaves, feel the earth under your feet and the air in your throat and lungs. Look up and watch wispy clouds float across the sky through a gap in the trees, birds darting from branch to branch below them. Stay there until that sweetens into an ache in your chest as you realize you will never bring anyone else into this exact place and moment. And then go home, open your manuscript, and try your absolute damnedest to do it anyway.

[starryseafo4m]

✩₊˚.☾⁺₊Cere's f/o list ⋆｡°✩

Heya this is my official f/o list I'm really excited because I put a lot of effort and I do hope that I'll find people within the same franchise my f/os are from and bond over it!

This post includes my main f/os and might do a secondary one because Tumblr does not allow more than 10 images per post sadly, anyways have fun witnessing a lesbian fawn over fictional women<33

⋆｡°✩Please do keep this in mind!⋆｡°✩

٭ {still not done Wip}٭

٠ ࣪⭑I'm not comfortable with sharing my romantic F/os but I'm alright with sharing platonic ones ٠ ࣪⭑

Anyways let's get on with my lovely f/os

☾- romantic

⭑- platonic

All characters I selfship with:

Reverse 1999: Tooth fairy, Isolde, Kakania, Argus

Genshin: Arlecchino

HonkaiSR: Black swan, The Herta

Hi3rd: Vita, Thelema

Cookie run: First choco cookie

Hollow knight: Hornet

Wuwa: Yinlin, Camelia

Zzz: Alexandrina Sebastiane

Okegom/the grey garden: Reficul

Tooth fairy! - Reverse 1999 - ☾

Tooth Fairy works for the Foundation, looking after young Arcanists, taking care of their teeth, and dealing with anything that requires the assistance of a doctor.

Personal notes- I firstly fell in love with her when I was exposed to the game for the very first time around august of last year and she captured my eye in an instant! Her voice, her character design, her fascination with teeth reminded me of my fascination with skulls and I really saw myself in her. And once she was featured in the second update and got to understand her more I've came to appreciate her character and motives all that much more<3

I seriously cannot express how much I love and adore her she is such a personal comfort character for me to the point where her voice truly makes me relaxed

Song she reminds me of- 'Campbell'

Isolde - reverse 1999- ☾

Exhibited in the early 20th century for 18 years. Completed in autumn, on November 23. First exhibited in Vienna, Austria, within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and later the exhibit was sealed and kept by St. Pavlov Foundation.

Personal notes- after playing the 1.7 update I have been starstruck by her character, she's such an impactful character within the story and I was left in pure admiration. Overall she has been my muse long before I read her story but now I can feel myself falling even deeper in love with her.

Song she reminds me of - La Signora Battle theme

Arlecchino - genshin impact - ☾

She is the Fourth of the Eleven Fatui Harbingers and the current director of the House of the Hearth. She is addressed as "Father" by members of the House, who she calls her "children."

I still remember a year ago when Fontaines first trailer was released, and there she was, I was starstruck to say the least and promised myself to get her if she will even be released as a playable character (and I did get her<33). And my god she's such a complex character, morally grey and there's no way of explaining her in simple words, she deserves the world and I love her sm!

Song she reminds me of - Vore by sleep token (sound warning!/srs)

Black swan - honkai star rail - ☾

Bears a warm smile and is willing to patiently heed the words of another, and thus uses such means as a pretext to enter "memories" and gain a comprehension over the flow of all information.

Personal notes- Another one of my major muses, I remember how she captured my world in one of the earlier trailers of honkai star rail and my admiration for her still prevailed on to her release and got blessed by winning my 50/50 again even though I still don't know as much as I'd like I'm fine with my muse being a mystery, a enigma for me to understand and appreciate in all it's beauty and glory<33

Song she reminds me of - Telescope by starset (my favourite band!)

Thelema - Honkai impact 3rd - ☾

At the mad banquet, pleasure is supposed to last forever, as the chains she put on you rattle on...

Personal notes- in all honesty she alone got me into hi3rd, from what I remember my first introduction to her was when I was scrolling through tiktok and there was a edit of her and I could not get it out of my head for a solid week, I was lucky enough to obtain her in her first rerun tho! Atm I'm trying to get through the main hi3rd storyline before I get to meet her at part 2 of the story and in all honesty I can't wait to find out more about her<33333

Vita - Honkai impact 3rd - ☾

Vita is a secondary character of Honkai Impact 3rd. She is first encountered within the bubble universe known as Salt Snow Holy City, believed to be one of its native citizens.

Personal notes- ok as I said earlier I still haven't processed through the story enough to fully understand her character but omfg I fell in love with her at first sight and honestly once I understand her character YOU BET I'm going to go on hour long analysis and gushing about her, gosh she's so gorgeous<3333333

And here's an extra category of characters that I'm questioning if I like them platonically, romantically or I'm simply fascinated and have a temporary crush on them :') it's hard to understand my feelings

[ask-nurse-curly]

"A brain denser than the Sahara Desert" sounds like either a wicked insult or a major compliment haha

Stochastic events are difficult to explain but I'll try. I must admit, even I don't fully understand them.

Imagine you're at a green light at an intersection. You narrowly avoid a crash as another car runs the red - a second before you would have crossed their path. The necessary factor for the crash to occur is for you and the car to have make contact. That's a given. What isn't a given is how you avoided the crash: why there was a second of space between the two cars; why you were both at the same intersection at the same time; why the other car ran the lights, et cetera. With an infinite amount of time and access to facts, you could create a map of every single moment that ever occured to create the conditions necessary for the crash to happen. What you couldn't do is predict it.

Millions of people get into car accidents yearly. We know statistically know drink driving, texting, speeding, and otherwise reckless actions increase the probability of accidents. We know how many crashes happen each year because of these factors. What we don't know is when these crashes will occur - the variables are measurable, but the event isn't. A person could drink, text, and speed all at the same time and never collide with another car. Why some things don't happen is more questionable than why they do.

I started reading 'Being Alive' by Tim Ingold, after you mentioned him.

I'm not far in, but this quote hits hard:

"It is of the essence of life that it does not begin here or end there, or connect a point of origin with a final destination, but rather that it keeps on going, finding a way through the myriad of things that form, persist and break up in its currents. Life, in short, is a movement of opening, not of closure."

What beautiful and profound writing. And optimistic.

I've been thinking about this a lot - the forces of creation and destruction constantly spinning in the vast ocean of time, in constant motion and interacting as separate entities - whether from violent collisions or gentle ripples - yet never being apart from each others influence.

It is kind of scary, to believe we could be so close to another life by an imperceptible degree. A splinter, as you say. Small yet painful (and it takes forever to take the bloody things out -)

That brings me to your question about acceptance vs resignation. It's semantics, probsbly, but I believe acceptance is understanding what is and cannot change and accepting it, but resignation is being defeated by it.

Resignation parks all those negative emotions associated with powerlessness in the front of your mind and forms a barricade between you and hope. Acceptance is knowing those negative emotions are there and treating them as surpassable diversion within a greater journey rather than a destination. Acceptance has more positive connotations.

That's why I wonder if you've accepted your life to this moment or if you're resigned to it.

-xoxo, Pheobe

P.S. I messaged Anya! Please brace her for some scientific yapping

I see, so the inevitability of the event is either a retrospective conclusion or a statistical prediction, and the conditions factoring into that can be reverse engineered until the dawn of time. That makes sense. :-) Unless I'm misunderstanding, of course, which can never be eliminated. Thank you for taking the time to explain.

That's a good one, isn't it? Ingold really has a way with words that make you think not all is hopeless, or finite. The more you deconstruct a being, a life, a self, the more you become aware of just how continuous and unending everything is. In that sense, maybe, it matters less that there is a distance between worlds, however hairthin -- until, of course, you stop with the musings and slam back into your very mortal body.

I suppose I can see the difference, yeah. But I don't know the answer. If I ever figure it out, I'll tell you. :-)

I assure you, Anya is nothing if not down for scientific yapping, I'm sure you'll get on well! It would be impossible not to, you are both wonderful.

Stay safe,

--Curly

[local-idiotic-texan]

The Beginning of a Timeline

By TheWiseGuest

A Site-61 Tale on The Spiral Gestalt

With a simple post on 4Chan that I didn't even see. Someone's silly story about a statue. Scraping around and moving when you don't blink, acting as though it's an angel that weeps. The very entry that spun what we began to know and have known as The Foundation.

Enough people came together in 2008 to finally form a vessel. A host. These things, monsters and creatures, persons and entities, phenomena and things that just cannot be all but certainty present as is with any good story. Written and spoken for by all those who have put their time, their energy, and their effort. Some will live, and others will fade - as is fact with anything in life.

Come 2017, I knew of it, too. I had already made my start, but I didn't know it. I didn't know that I would soon weave together, like elseone, a universe of my own. A universe full of unique persons. Unique dates, unique events.. all done before, surely, but not unlike those who had come before me and who were certainly to come after me. The resulting action of being exposed to a simple location - a fictional secret organization’s Icelandic location in the mountains, ensuring escape as impossible - would be to weave together a universe for this all. One fit to my likings and writings. My musings and denominations.

To them, I and the people akin to me, those who exist in a “reality above ours”, or whom “view us as a puppet show”, are so alien. Such power to wield - an entire universe at our hands, no, our fingertips and the second we feel it, they are subject to the manner of their fate, be it to fade into the background or to die a horrific death? That subject is left to the will of those who write of them.

For even their gods, their deities and the god created to explain to them are all merely more characters to the universe they exist within. To the world we have built for them, molded and shaped by us, sculpted to perfection and grace. Never are we to question our regret about them in entirety, but instead are we to cherish and appreciate them and the events we force them to experience. For regardless of the date, we are the only ones capable of giving them life. Of giving the variants of others characters the very ability to exist, if at all. We, the readers and writers, exist as The Spiral Gestalt to them then. A collective of entities who decree - it is not yet their time, and thus, their story has not yet ended, nor are we to end it soon.

… and so begins the creation of a timeline …

[weidaoduzun3]

Lectio Divina and How That Looks in My Praxis

Lectio Divina is a Christian meditative practice within the mystical circles of the faith. It is Latin for “divine reading.” These more esoteric interpretations and scriptural practices were believed to stretch as far back as the 3rd century CE by Origen of Alexandria (185CE—253CE). The four-step method we know today was formalized by the Christian monk Gugio II in the 12th century. Not sure when the fifth step was added, but given that Gugio was a monk, I guess it makes sense why he would stop just at four.

So, when diving into wordy, philosophical texts such as the Dao de Jing, or Corpus Hermeticum, one may obviously want to pursue these texts from an analytical and intellectual perspective. While that kind of point of view has its time and place, it indeed “misses the mark,” so to speak, on what and how these texts should be read and experienced.  Now Hanegraaff proposes that early academics viewed the Hermetic corpora as nothing more than a “literary phenomenon” with no actual practitioners. This was obviously due to how these texts didn’t seem to have canonical views and that the texts do not display a dogmatic structure resembling something like Christianity or Islam. He proposes that there was indeed a Hermetic Spirituality rather than some modern example of a “school of hermeticism” with many students diligently copying notes. This is evident in the only known “Hermetic practitioners” we can name today: Theosobia, Zosimus, and Iamblichus. We indeed see that Hermeticism was just as practical and involved much praxis as philosophical thought.  I can’t say much about the scholarship in Daoism, but we have more evidence of Daoist praxis of which is heavily tied to Chinese folk magic.

From the beginning of my journey, I knew Hermeticism was right for me, it took me about a year to really settle into it and solidify my praxis around a Hermetic framework, so I wish to keep it that way. One thing I know that I, and a lot of other people I converse with, sort of mirror traditions and faiths that really embody what a Hermetic praxis looks like, as the evidence for what I have, as a Hermeticist, is that of the teachings of Iamblichus and Zosimos to Theosobia. We know philosophy and reading was prerequisite for Iamblichus in his apology of Theurgy in his Response to Porphyry, but mere intellection alone cannot raise us up to the gods and ultimately to the Platonic Forms. “…for it is not pure thought that unites the theurgist to the gods.” (DM II.11).  For Iamblichus, intellectual pursuits were not the primary goal to us to return to the gods.

To put that off the way, what are the four steps to Lectio Divina as established by Gugio II? They are as follows (Latin on the left—English on the right).

Lectio—Reading

Mediatio—Meditation

Oratio—Prayer

Contemplatio—Contemplate

And the Fifth step is Actio- Action.

I will link another article explaining these steps in more detail, under a Hermetic understanding, as the purpose of this musing is just to reflect on what this practically looks like in my practice. (See my Twitter page for the link).

Before I begin my Lectio, my readings, I start with a prayer. This prayer was gifted to me by a friend many months ago, and I have edited it since then. My version of the prayer is as follows:

O God, teach me gnosis so I may know you in all your holy forms. Grant me the essence of the Prophets’ understanding, the eloquence of their memory, and the quick comprehension of your archangels. O God, bless me with your light of wisdom and quick experience, liberate me from the darkness of doubt, and open the fates of your light, O God of the Worlds.

Likewise, here is a Taoist mantra to recite before you begin a Lectio Divina, translated by a friend from a Taoist Discord Server:

誦經密咒

貪羅鬱羅，符無蘇陀。太沖太極，陰陽抱和。

出有入無，鬼神莫測。出生入死，變化自然。

元始混炁，玄中之玄。上干有頂，下洞太淵。

誦之一徧，沈痾自痊。鍊魂育魄，真陽自全。

齋戒禮誦，萬過飛仙。無上密咒，萬神綿綿。

心中心咒，重得宣傳。貪羅洞盟，與道合真。

玉清上極，梵炁氤氳。分靈布炁，降注臣身。

形神俱妙，變化飛昇。一如令格，統攝萬靈。急急如律令。

English:

"Recite the secret mantra, (the name of the mantra)

The entanglement of desire and sorrow, talismans offer no aid..

Supreme void, supreme polarity, yin and yang embrace harmony.

Outward is being, Inward is non-being, ghosts and deities can’t find or predict it.

Outward is life, Inward is death, it's natural transformations.

Primordial chaos energy, the mysterious center of the mysterious.

Above, reach the celestial peak; below, touch the deep abyss.

Recite it throughout; ailments self-heal.

Refine the Hun, nurture the Po, true yang becomes complete.

Abstinence, chanting, transcend the mundane.

Supreme secret mantra, myriad gods abound.

The mind that stays centered and be with the mantra, will attain the state of legend.

The net of desires has holes, united with the true Tao.

Jade purity ultimate ascent, Silence energy pervades.

Share spirit and give energy, descend it down to my body.

Form and spirit are both wonderous, transformations soaring.

Unified like the command, encompassing myriad spirits.

Please follow my orders."

These prayer are only said with the purpose that I will be “divinely reading” a chapter from the Corpus Hermeticum or Dao de Jing.

After reading a chapter from either text, I will meditate on them. The way it is described within the Christian tradition, this looks like after just basely reading the texts, you revisit the quotes and passages that didn’t make much sense or the passages that resonate with you, and the goal is to explore those feelings that are invoked in the reading. Here, I employ an act of pondus, Latin for pondering. This stage of the Lectio Divina in my praxis involves much emotion and self-reflection brought about by revisiting and further pondering those chapters and passages I have just read.  

After my meditation, we enter the Oratio (prayer) step. I repeat the same prayer from above and further pray; since today is Tuesday, and I honor Anpu on Tuesday, I will continue with prayers in accordance with the great god of the scales. I observe a deity every day of the week, as this helps me keep my praxis more organized than praying to many deities every day. These prayers will include pre-written and informal ones to the god to help me further understand the words I have just read and meditated on.

Next, we come into Contemplatio. The way this looks for me is after reading a chapter and further pondering the passages that struck me as odd or true, I equip my shroud and gown, sit in the dark with earplugs, close my eyes, and meditate and sit with those words. So if I finish reading chapter 37 of the Dao de Jing, the terms and phrases I have underlined, such as: “Listen, with this unvarnished simplicity without a name, there will be no desires. Without desires, there will be peace, and all under heaven will be settled independently.” I will meditate on these words, silently reciting them repeatedly for 10-20 minutes.

When the rain noises on my phone alert me to return to my senses and close out the Cotemplatio stage, Gugio II would have me stop here. But like I said, there is a 5th step to this Lectio Divina Process, and I’m not sure when this 5th step was added. Regardless, I now enter the Actio phase. How does one put these words that we have effectively eaten, chewed, sat with, and digested into action?  This four-step process brings about a great humility of the heart and soul. So when one effectively participates in a “Divine Reading” as prescribed with the guidelines proposed by Gugio II, this great humbling leads to greater and more discoveries of the Self, I purpose. As I’m struck with a great sense of humility, I am called to act for myself and better myself. Let’s return to chapter 37 of the Dao de Jing, how to be “without desire” in the mundane, everyday world?  Whenever I’m struck with great passions and desires, whether positive or negative, I refer to the simplicity of reciting surahs and Hermetic maxims to help me return to a “desireless” state of mind. To what degree do I come “desireless”? Well… it’s not much. But the purpose here is to actively take our readings and intellects and apply them for something greater than ourselves, something ineffable and so transcendent it can’t be spoken of; for even the one who has come to understand The Great, i.e., God cannot speak on it. (SH 1)

[witchcraftandburialdirt]

👫 robibi~ <3

✧ ━━ 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐃 "👫" 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝚁𝙾𝙱𝙸𝙽 𝙰. 𝙱𝙰𝚄𝙳𝙴𝙻𝙰𝙸𝚁𝙴 ; 𝙳𝙴𝙰𝙳 𝙱𝚈 𝙳𝙰𝚈𝙻𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃 𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙴

DON'T GO WHERE I CAN'T FOLLOW ━ Ugh Vicious these two make me sick and unwell on levels I can't explain, we've discussed this before briefly ( can I just say how hilariously organic our threads have been bc we're like "here's this meme that made me cry" "ok ty" LOL ｡：ﾟﾟ(´∀｀)･｡ ) but I seriously cannot see a future for either of them where they aren't together. Whether that mean that they escape the Fog and live, or if they end up buried in a grave together ━ they're stuck with one another now. Danny and Ghostface have such a fierce determination, and we can see the shift happening actively in Robin to show that he doesn't want to be alone either. Trauma bonding at the max between them frankly, somehow it makes them better. In a funnier, more literal way, this also means that Robin will follow Grace Walker even if he doubts his actual directional and then will bitch and moan the entire time about it.

SO ... NOW WHAT DO WE DO? ━ That being said, if they do manage to get out of the Fog alive ━ which is a guilty desire I know we both want wah ━ I think they're going to have an incredibly difficult time adjusting to the world after. I imagine it would bleed straight into your tertiary verse of Danny becoming a horror novelist ( which I will be unashamed and say is so fun to imagine Robin reading his copies and finished novels since he adores reading so much ) and traveling to take photography ( which is also like nnnn the digital camera mfer I'm sick ). I think Robin's going to have an exceptionally hard time adjusting to just being around people again. Look I know they don't deserve any sort of happy ending, I'm aware of it, they deserve to be miserable but I just ━ (ಥ﹏ಥ) man I don't know sue me I want them to live out in a cabin in the woods where they can heal in peace before trying to figure out the world and accepting the changes that have occured. Maybe they can be happy, finally. Kind of crazy thinking about Danny taking Robin to see the ocean, which is the place he always wanted to see but was never able to. Don't look at me

OH THE THINGS YOU'RE SOON TO KNOW ━ Something I really adore about their relationship, regardless of how it is read, is that they're both very intelligent and thirsty for more knowledge ━ and they actively encourage it within the other whether or not they mean to. As Robin slowly regains what it means to be a human, its really sweet to think of them trading what they know with eachother. Robin feeling powerful as he leads Danny in a proper waltz only to be flustered when Danny grabs his waist or Danny teaching Robin how to play Dragon's Lair and Mario Kart. Domestic, simple day to day actions and how characters behave through them has got to be one of my favorite things to muse and mull over; it says so much in so little, y'know? Granted some things can only be learned outside of the Fog, but its just nice to think about with all of the active insanity that goes on in that place. I need them sitting side by side while Ghostface shares shitty headphones and shows Robin the beauty of divorced dad rock, or how Robin melts when he listens to string music through them etc. Danny showing Robin how to cook meals that he had growing up and exploring the different holidays they both celebrated in their lives - this is so long I need to move onto the last one before I lose my mind haha

WHY DO YOU SHOW ME SUCH MERCY? ━ Holy moly these two have such a complicated relationship, one in which "poetry could not describe" ━ there is affection, wariness, hatred, and so much want. I often think about how they are so vividly alike, and maybe that is why they're both so merciful and so brutal with the other ━ they see themselves. I've always found it so curious about how they both obsess over sin, retribution, what is means to be a person ( because they don't know themselves ). It's horrible too because they see themselves so heavily within the other and know that there is no betrayal more cruel than when a man enslaves himself to the past, and loses what he might have had to the familiarity of grief: and they are so desperately trying to save the other from their own self destructive behavior. Two monsters trying to remind the other that they're human while denying themselves that gift, and they are both too far in their delusions ( Robin much more than Danny shockingly ) to realize the reason why they're being so ... gentle, with the other.

[nerdsandqueens]

Musing on some thoughts on Solas. When I get home, I have some screenshots saved from the AMA that really gave me a better picture with what they were going for.

I think the intended characterization of Solas vs how fans have come to interpret him, highlights a problem I've seen often in writing.

I've roleplayed egoic characters in the past, and my trick to writing them was one thing: keep him simple. Keep him straightforward in his themes.

What I believe is the issue with many who write this character type, is that they go for a straightforward motivation for him, but make the mistake of over-explaining. This character at its base is about a boy who simultaneously feels he is one thing, but believes he is not. He fights the world desperately to get it to tell him he is that thing. Could be anything from being a leader or a hero, but inside, he is deeply insecure.

One who is full on ego does not have complex motivations other than the ego he's created in place of an identity.

If the point of showing he has friends is to inevitably show that he is willing to betray them when they ideologically oppose his view of the world, then it requires the narrative to downplay the relationships just as much as the character is willing to downplay them. These moments should not be a surprise to the reader. We should feel a ticking on the clock for anyone who is in this character's vicinity. An expiration date for the day they will be used in their plans. And even if this is present, it should NEVER be overshadowed by the relationships. We should feel that he cares, but cannot be one that cares. Because caring does not further his goals.

I know writers long to show how great the betrayal is - by showing how deep the relationship was. But you MUST express the creed of an egoic character as their defining trait. Within the narrative itself, you can describe anything about the character, but you must make their beliefs supercede all else.

Egoic characters do not have nuance. They willingly abandon all shades of grey precisely to make the world black and white. This is something they actively do to conform the "untamed", "chaotic", or "uncivilized" world to their ego.

If the reader does not leave a scene feeling like this character will sacrifice everything to uphold their view of themselves and the world that should exist to support that, then you have failed in writing an egoic character. You will end up misleading readers to excuse all he's done.

[alpaca-clouds]

Orpheus and the Katabasis

Another topic for mythologic geekery. Let me today talk about a topic that folks within comparative mythology actually do not really quite agree on. Orpheus and the Katabasis.

As you may know: Orpheus is not a god. He is a dude. At times a half-god, to be fair (though speaking from the perspective of Greek mythology: Who isn't really?) Actually, to be very exact for the Stray Gods fans: In some versions of the mythology he is in fact the son of Calliope and a mortal man. But given that he was actually no god and thus not venerated the basis for the story of Orpheus and Eurydice did not change that much. Within the versions we have records of the basic outline of the story shifts. Again, in some Orpheus is a half-god. In some the nature of Eurydice shifts, too. But it always is: "Orpheus is a musician who finds his muse in Eurydice. Eurydice dies. Orpheus goes to the underworld to reclaim her. He does some music. Hades likes it and lets her go. But Orpheus cannot turn around. He does. Eurydice gone. Orpheus sad." Often the myth even ends there, never explaining what becomes of Orpheus after failing.

Something that makes this myth so fascinating to me is the discussion of it was part of the Katabasis. A "trope" shall we say within comparative mythology.

I think, in fact, that this was one of the first myths where I as a kid had the "Oh, this is actually like very similar" moment. Because I read another myth and was like: "Hey, that is like with the Greek singer dude! But how can that be? They are so far apart?!"

And the myth in question is Izanagi and Izanami in the Japanese mythology. A myth that involves many of the same tropes we know from both Hades and Persephone and Orpheus and Eurydice. Woman dies. Man goes down. She cannot return to the living. Either because she has consumed part of the underworld. Or because he turns around.

And when I first read that myth with like 12 years I was like: "Huh?!"

Here is the thing why this is a topic that folks will argue about a lot in Comparative Mythology. There is the idea of the Katabasis. Aka, that one of those myths - some go even as far as speculating whether it is like even pre-proto-indo-european - that shows up again and again. Not quite as similar as it is when we compare Izanagi and Orpheus, but still the same idea.

The idea being that: Someone goes to hell/the underworld for a quest. This quest usually involves either rescuing a loved one (though this does not need to be romantic, it might also involve family members or dear friends) or obtaining knowledge of some sort (like the knowledge how to make fire). Some tropes show up again and again within that. Like loosing the ability of returning due to consuming something. Or the god/ruler of the underworld testing the respective hero, often resulting on the short term or long term death of said hero.

Now, would it show up only in myths of the Indu-European family and in a lot of them, this would not get argued about. But it doesn't. It also shows up in Pacifica mythology, in South American mytholgy and Eastern African mythology. Meanwhile it does not show up in all the myths or in some is argued whether this really is comparative (like Ra's journey through the underworld or the liberation of Ushas).

Which basically leads to two different interpretations:

This is a concept that has been around since the days of very early humans, leading the myth to be kinda passed along and adapted throughout the world.

Most humans do in fact burry their dead, making the idea of an underworld as a world of the dead very logical - and it is just a human need and want to either get a loved one back or optain knowledge. For the later it could be argued that the believe of someone who died and came back having mythic knowledge being kinda logical, given that death is the one thing we still know surprisingly little about.

Obviously I do not know the answer to which of those things is the real answer.

But I find it endlessly fascinating.

Also... just the amount of adaptions of Orpheus specifically is super interesting as well. xD

[queenharumiura]

What's your thoughts/opinions on the human box weapons?

[Neo's game time] ||Accepting||

Mmnnn this was a game for canon things in regards to the series itself but- I didn't say that it couldn't be fanon or rp related- so you got me on a loophole! Kudos! kekek

Some thoughts, questions, and theoretical thinking/suggestions under readmore.

Let's see... my opinions on the human box weapons that I see in the RPC a lot. I think they're an interesting premise? I don't write with many of them and the reason isn't that I dislike them. I do think they're cute a fun idea [trivia! I wrote humanoid box weapons in a fanfiction back in 2011, so ye, I don't dislike the idea lol] Anyways, I do find it a bit hard for me to interact with some of the humanoid box weapons on the mere premise that I wish there was more information on their background? For me, background information is incredibly important for me to understand how to work with a muse. It is important as world-building.

What do I mean?

Like, when did they suddenly become humanoid? Is the setting that they always were humanoid (Ie an AU)? What is the reason for them becoming humanoid? Experimentation? A freak accident? Some Arcobaleno mishaps? Is this a permanent thing or can they sometimes turn back into their regular forms?

The box animals are a part of the Vongola gear in canon, so in that regard, they should be dwelling within the gear themselves, but I never really see any mentioning of that- so then my next question (mentally) always became, 'do they not need outer sources of dying will flames to stay materialized?' 'Is it the fact that they cannot return to the vongola gear because they are a different from than the original?' 'Do they still have their abilities?'

For the abilities section, things HAVE to have changed in my mind. Like, a humanoid Uri doesn't have a tail, how is her 'tail' going to be used as a detonation source? A humanoid Roll probably doesn't have any spikes, so how is a 'needle form' even done in a human form?

I do find it interesting that i've seen that many people have it thus that the humanoid box animals age, but there are strong indications that this isn't the case. They don't age. They're simply beings that exist as is. To age is to suggest that they have life that is continually morphing and changing, there has to be metabolic processes. Cells are dying and being born to create new cells and 'growth'. If they are alive in that sense, then that means there should also be true death.

That is not the case. We've seen Byakuran's dragon be beheaded and then be okay in a future chapter. We've seen Uri go through the ringer and then still be okay in later chapters.

Is Neo saying this to be like: Y'all are so wrong for that.

No, I respect people's creativity and their settings. I think it's quite interesting to give them more human elements. I bring up this fact to suggest some thoughts/theories on how this came to be. Regardless of what happened to make this the case, when the box animals became humanoid, something changed within them to give them 'true life,' and therefore they can now age. They can eat and do other things like one would expect from actual living being. As beings of 'true life,' they can then self-sustain themselves and not be entirely reliant on their masters to provide them with dying will flames.

From my understanding, every single person possesses within them all of the dying will flames as this is the mere 'essence' of life. Does this mean every single person is able to ignite all flame types? No! You have to have enough of the flame energy within your veins for one, and you need to be able to harmonize with the energy for two. Not everyone is able to even do the harmonization part. This was kinda vaguely explained in the TYL arc by Yamamoto. It was only explained once and then neglected.

Think of it this way, each living being has a different amount of the dying will flames coursing through their body. It's a unique mixture, like how everyone has their own fingerprints. Without the fact that everyone has all the dying will flames in their body, you cannot explain:

How Xanxus' pure sky flame can get 'corrupted' by storm to create the rage flame.

How Hibari was stated IN CANON to have been able to ignite the mist flame because he studied so hard to understand it, that he was able to harmonize with it.

How Gokudera is able to ignite 5 different flame types.

How by all means a PRINCE, who by logic should've been a 'ruling class' doesn't have the Sky flame. Instead, Bel has the Storm. He don't give a rats ass about being a ruler of Varia or otherwise. He just wants carnage-- which the storm more closely resembles his desires.

Why do I bring up this fact? As beings with 'true life' and having the ability to self-sustain themselves, the box animals may be able to ignite other flame types as well.

We know for a FACT that the box animals are able to change their typing, or be able to be affected by other flame types. Look at Uri being able to grow as a feature when exposed to sun flames. Look at the way Bester can go from a Lion to a Liger when exposed to the rage flame. Big example is Mukurou who was ORIGINALLY a rain box animal but then gets turned into a mist type.

From this, you could argue that the humanoid box animals have way more potential now than they did before as lil beans.

All of this to be summarized with: I wish people had a bit more background information on the humanoid box weapons. That way I have a better idea of how Haru is to interact with them. Does she think that they can morph back to their original forms? Has she accepted the fact that they're here to stay? Do the box animals just simply live with their masters? Some of them will have a harder time to explain that to their parents, I'd assume.

Do they just return back to the vongola gear when tired, or no? Just examples of things that are important for me to know to better form how Haru interacts with the muses.

TLDR: I like the humanoid box weapons as a premise, and I think it's quite fun. I just want more information on the history of how they came to be humanoid, and what their lifestyle is like with their masters. Do they always exist outside the vongola gear or do they return? I just don't want to mess up by assuming something in the backstory of a humanoid box weapon and then get someone upset with me for being wrong. =w=

Give me more info, folks! I could ask, yes, but I get nervous. I don't want to ask because then maybe the other person feels pressured to have to interact with my muses. Maybe they don't want that. I don't want to be a bother.

[finalism]

so like, no longer human is kinda weird, right? (very long post below)

by this point i have consumed almost all canon bsd media (the whole manga, anime 6/8 light novels etc) and i have noticed that there are some interesting inconsistencies with how dazai's ability works. now, i know that all abilities are basically mcguffins for plot points in some way or another but i don't think there is an ability used in this capacity as much as no longer human is.

and really, the average reader should just leave it there and enjoy the media for what it is. but i'm crazy and i love overanalyzing the muses i write so i'm going to try and break down no longer human and write out the true succinct rules of this ability.

let's start with the concrete rules we know about no longer human first:

it can nullify any and all abilities, no exceptions

dazai cannot turn off his ability

he nullifies through touch

so the first point is pretty strict but this allows us to glean some information about other characters through this.

when kyouka first appears, she is able to grab dazai and use her ability to capture him. now, we don't know how kyouka took him to the port mafia. she could have simply threatened him with demon snow and he followed along with her (hence how he let himself get captured). but how did kyouka even summon her ability in the first place if she had grabbed onto him? you can explain this by the fact that demon snow was still controlled by the phone and therefore kyouka was not the source of the ability.

guivre became something more than an ability. if he were something like corruption, dazai could have just nullified it and stopping the rampaging gravity godzilla from destroying all of japan. this is definitely one of those moments where the answer is 'because plot' since this was chuuya's story and chuuya had to overcome verlaine on both a physical and emotional level. but realistically, guivre is a big, slow moving monster that dazai has said multiple times in storm bringer could kill him (pages 278, 293).

could it be that singularities affect no longer human differently? it would explain how creating a singularity in beast allows dazai to connect the fragmented worlds in the book. but why can he still nullify corruption? maybe this is because the singularity is contained within a physical body, whereas guivre was a being of pure gravitational force created by verlaine's singularity. these are the only instances in which dazai has come in contact with a singularity so there is nothing yet to refute that no longer human works differently with singularities.

that brings us to the second point. this one has not been broken but i would like to bring up something about this rule that i just love to remind people. dazai is not part of all men are equal because he cannot turn off his ability to allow himself to be connected to it.

now this brings us to the third point where most of the inconsistencies come from. because it is shown that the concept of touch is defined with whatever asagiri feels like at the time.

let me give you some contradicting examples:

in the day i picked up dazai (side a), oda is able to use flawless in order to see when pursuers shoot dazai in the chest in order protect him from the oncoming attack. for now, this is a fan translation so take this with a grain of salt but it does mention how oda sees the blood bloom on dazai's chest from the bullet to confirm that he was using his ability on dazai and not the bullet. okay, that's fine because oda was not touching dazai. however, earlier dazai notes that he wasn't worried about oda cheating in cards because abilities don't work on him even though he wasn't making physical contact with oda then (oda was using his ability on the cards, not on dazai).

he didn't need to touch the number ability user in dazai's entrance exam; it simply did not work on him.

dazai was not affected by draconia / can nullify rashomon simply by coming in contact with the cloth / was not affected by the gun created by the matchless poet. this means that dazai does not need to touch the ability user in order to nullify tangible abilities.

in meursault, chuuya was able to use his ability to stop the elevator dazai was in so he wouldn't fall to his death. in addition, gogol was able to use the overcoat to bust dazai out of prison by surrounding dazai with his ability but not allowing it to touch him. so this means that if there is a material between dazai and the ability, then he cannot nullify it.

however, he could still nullify the grapes of wrath while touching steinbeck on his clothed shoulder.

okay, but here is the kicker and the reason i'm writing this whole thing.

in the dazai, chuuya, age fifteen light novel, the way chuuya is able to defeat rimbaud is by wrapping himself in garland that dazai is holding the other end of. because dazai was touching the garland, that cloth carried his ability to nullify and essentially created armor for chuuya against the onslaught of illuminations. like, HUH??? this flies in the face of everything we know about dazai's ability.

i have a feeling asagiri retconned this, which is why the 15 arc in the anime is so different and we know that asagiri is consulted on the anime. this would also explain why the anime-only hand holding scene is shown in the manga during chapter 101. but what if i don't retcon this? would that break how dazai's ability works irrevocably? i don't think it would.

here are the real rules of no longer human

it can nullify any and all abilities, no exceptions

singularities interact different with no longer human

dazai cannot turn off his ability

all abilities are nullified immediately upon contact with the ability user

touching tangible abilities like rashomon or the matchless poet is enough to nullify it

materials like doors, elevators, etc do not carry his ability through them

cloth carries his ability. this includes clothes and bandages

abilities meant to affect other people do not affect him; abilities meant to affect the user still work on him. this is why flawless works on dazai but something like the number ability does not.

so that's it! these are all the findings i know of where dazai's ability doesn't work precisely how it's described as. but i think with these rules, we have a more cohesive understanding of how no longer human actually works and the rules it follows.

[deathwords334]

Good Omens AU idea?

Ok, hear me out here. What if the events of Kevin Smith's Dogma happened in the world of Good Omens? It kinda started as a creative experiment, but it just kept growing. Now I just need to get it out before I explode.

Should probably explain Dogma before I do anything. It's not Smith's best known movie, but it's definitely beloved. So essentially, Dogma is an end of the world story following a descendant of Jesus, two not so holy prophets, an apostle, and a muse trying to stop a couple angels from ending existence. All with Smith's sense of humor. There's a poop demon, Alan Rickman is the Metatron, and God is a woman. And of course Jay and Silent Bob are the prophets because why not? You can find it on Youtube easily and I don't think it's on streaming.

Anyway, the AU. So Crowley and Aziraphale end up joining the group in their trip after happening upon them during a tour of America, and they have to deal with the personalities within the group. Jay alone would get on their nerves so fast... But I think what really got me excited by the idea was the potential lore/world building. It's something of a spoiler, but in the movie it's revealed there were angels that didn't side with Heaven or Hell in the Great War. Naturally in Good Omens, the idea hasn't come up yet but you'd think something like that would happen right? So what if some of them tried to stop the war through peaceful means, only for them to be 'punished' as a result? Neither angels nor demons acknowledge them but they play such an important role in the human existence that they cannot be ignored. Also no one wants to do the dirty work. And so they must play the scapegoat for the sake of the little game the two sides play. They're fully aware of all this, so they play the system to their benefit. Sure they're still walking zombies but at least they can indulge in what humanity has to offer.

And now more lighthearted ideas

Other religions and deities exist. I mean Gaiman already confirmed werewolves and vampires probably exist in the Good Omens world, why not pull an American Gods? Of course it's the same logic with the idea of 'the power of imagination' thrown in for the sake of it. In the Dogma movie, muses are essentially angels that specifically focus on creative facets. Dunno, I kinda like the idea of Crowley boozing it up with a Greek muse better

Speaking of! When it comes to the muse in the movie, the idea of her and Crowley bouncing off 'sinful' or cringy ideas sounds loads of fun. Sadly, a lot of their older work was lost to the ages but the muse kept some of it at least. He probably talked a bunch about Aziraphale, so when the muse finally meets the angel, she's super curious and eager

Aziraphale gets to be a teacher for a bit, teaching the descendant of Jesus how to bless stuff. He'd need to make sure Crowley doesn't try drinking the holy wine (who knows what that shit can do to a demon right?). But he probably would be giddy about the concept, someone looking to him for guidance

Again Aziraphale will need to 'keep him in line', but Crowley would probably have a field day tormenting Jay. The two are fine with Silent Bob, but given how much of an ass Jay is... They wouldn't hurt him. But he definitely would make him lose his mind a little

Should probably add I'm gonna try and write this out. Put too much time into thinking about this to throw it out completely... Wish me luck...

[tierra-paldeana]

REFLECT

send REFLECT for me to explain a traumatic event in my muses’s past and talk about their perception of events,  which parts have stayed with them longest and how it affects them now.  (  sender can request specific scenes/backstory  )

// while a lot of people wouldn't consider this 'traumatic' in the same sense you'd define a lot of other things, it really impacted rika's way of seeing life up to a point.

her parents' marriage was doomed from the start. they didn't fight physically, they didn't scream or anything. they just very clearly didn't stand each other. to this day, rika doesn't know how and why the fuck did they even get together in the first place if they didn't like each other that much, but all she knows is that they only gave her basic necessities and minimal attention, and when she grew up to elementary school age, a certain event really cemented the fact that she couldn't trust them anymore.

one day, coming back home from school, she found they hadn't come back yet for lunch.

so she waited.

and waited.

and waited...

...

they didn't come back for at least 2 days. and this would be bad enough, but she'll never forget the first day, after she came back, she felt compelled to sit down at the table of the dining room to wait.

she didn't know what pushed her to do such a thing, but she did it. she sat at the dining room and waited. observed as the hours passed by, the way the sunlight changed, the quiet stillness of a house where the only heart present was hers.

the loneliness. the indomitable passage of time. the realization that her existence was just a speck of dust within the nothingness of the universe.

her parents didn't care about her. she got in the way for them the moment she was born, even if they didn't particularly like each other before that...

but what was she to do within such opressive walls? she didn't understand.

is this what growing up means?

and so, by the night of the first day... she just went out into the wilderness.

if this house won't welcome me, maybe the world outside will.

even after her parents came back, they never told each other anything. she never asked, they never said anything to her.

oh, she went out to find food in the wilderness while we were outside? who cares? she can come in and out as she pleases, i guess.

up until meeting geeta, she had always seen herself as a lone wolf because of such a simple but view-changing event.

they don't need me? well... i guess that means i don't need anybody, either. i can fend off for myself.

little did rika know this resulted in a lot of insecurities that she to this day does her best to mask. thankfully, geeta's friendship and appreciation mended a lot of those insecurities, but the one big thing she cannot fully shake off is the trauma of finding herself alone like that again.

which is precisely why she sometimes has nightmares of everyone turning away from her, berating her, thinking of her as a fraud and abandoning her, finding herself alone again, in that empty dining room, watching the hours go by, the clock ticking, the weight of the world and the acknowledgement of her own disposability crushing her.

[necrostar]

@eternalxloyalxspirits asked:

send me " secret files " and i'll post a headcanon about my muse I've never talked about before ???

send me " secret files " and i'll post a headcanon about my muse I've never talked about before

my neurons have been activated

Hi hello welcome to my TedTalk. Today we're going to be talking about how Bakura's merger operates. We're in for a long ride, the rest is under the cut.

As I've stated previously, Bakura is the result of both Zorc and Thief King being forced into one entity. How this happened ties back into a post I made many, many years ago about the Millennium Ring's multiple main character powers that get mentioned about once and then never again.

For the purposes of headcanon, we're going to focus on one. The very first power the Ring is shown with, in both the manga and Season 0, is the ability to transfer souls from one container to another. Yami Bakura's choice of container is Monster World figurines, as exemplified in the Monster World arc (there are technically two if we count Millennium World). The ability to do this suggests that Zorc and Thief King either do not take up the entire capacity of the Ring, or it is truly a limitless space. After all, it houses approximately 101-102 souls at any given time. But also consider the fact that all but two are spread out amongst the seven items. It cost 100 people to make these items, and they had to be spread across them. Whether these are soul fragments or entire people per item, we will never know. This soul transfer ability was confirmed in Volume 7 of the original Yu-Gi-Oh, Duel 56.

But because the Ring has the unique capability of moving one to the other, it suggests that it is, in itself, capable of housing a soul in the short term. However, I do not believe it is capable of housing souls in the long term. The space that is allotted for soul transfers is not very large, considering it (as far as we know) is only capable of transferring one soul at a time. A vast majority of Zorc, alongside the Thief King, were trapped together inside of the Millennium Ring, which was confirmed in the Millennium World series. So, allow me to propose this to you:

They wound up in the space allotted for soul transfer. The Millennium Ring cannot hold more than one soul at a time, never mind for long periods of time. And because the two of them were stuck together in a space that could not accommodate them, they were forced together in order to fit in that limited space.

However, excess material needs to go somewhere. This excess material more than likely (in my uneducated opinion), became fuel for the merger (and the ring as a whole) and became assimilated into the ring (which would also likely explain the Ring's behavior in DSOD).

But we're here to talk about Bakura. Where does he fit into all this?

Well, let me tell you!

Zorc and the Thief King's merger was forced inside of a tight compartment with multiple other souls around. The magic of the ring interfered with this process, which ended up creating a "new" being. An extension of the unforeseen merger. Born to fit within the Ring. He is Zorc and the Thief King. They are him. They are the same, yet they are not. They are, loosely speaking, one fluid entity. They cannot live without one another. He is a byproduct of an unnatural process. They don't want him. They despise him. They would snuff him out if they could. But without him, they cannot exist. Just as he cannot exist without them.

Because of this, Bakura can and does operate as much more than just a merger of the Thief King and Zorc. He is much more than just the unwanted result of a being forced to fit into a tiny box.

But I'd prefer if you all fucked around and found out ;)

[lightcreators]

@skywalker-sister // send me   “ you’re here…?”   for your muse to wake up in a hospital bed and find my muse holding their hand. 

It could have been recurring instance actually, it should be recurring emotional deterioration he should have feel more often considering his background --- that short infinite minute in which everything around him, in which even the outside world in which he was searching happiness, safety and acceptance, turned out to becoming an endless nightmare … where he could sense all around the Force that slightly discrete feeling something was terribly wrong … when he could sense all around his entire being there was something higher, something that cannot be explained, something who exceeded his understanding within him … these rare moments of complete anguish, these rare instants of entire anxiety, these rare sensations of feeling his entire universe failing apart, he had been searching to taming them correctly --- responding with anger as an measure of disagreement, showing disagreement over circumstances, doing something, as yeah, there was something he horribly disliked over the simple perception of Death inside people of loved, or even to sensing Destiny around him … Honestly, he simply considering him only over thinking impressions he had. Nothing was going to happens to this universe. He wasn’t fighting in vain --- He will not lose people, not today …

At the current moment, hopefully distracted by how he was handling her hand and could sensing the warmth around him, it forced him not to emotionally reacting over that thought. Why? Why he was scared someday everything might be gone? Why he sensed the embrace of Death so much around him when he wanted it far away? Where was coming impression he experienced foreshadowing without his knowledge … sensing too much inside the Force. She was fine. Well --- it won’t have remarks he would have received if he would have exploded one bolt down there … He protecting her of the battlefield, in which he could remember the ending, how circumstances had been. Ah, he overheard something about how his stare had been such volcanic and sensation of earth trembling, but well … his mind had decided to disconnect. She was alright. Apparently, he fixed the issue. Apparently, he scared people. Great. Now he would love focusing over how his little sister was fine and everything had been a short nightmare …

He couldn’t handle whispers of Death around him …

❝ Hey tiny … ❞ He welcomed as suddenly, he even pretending be the soldier he always forced himself to became. Right in the moment, he was just a big brother who wanted his little sister to be fine --- and he could feel across the Force how someday it will be so important somewhere, as there were signals all around that simple room over what could happening in the future, and yet, inside current present, each moment of this conversation will be valuable. Discomposure inside his expression betrayed emotions he had been searched to swallowed back. Marks of red eyes proved his strong appearance had fallen apart, and anxiety he was going though hadn’t calmed down … and there was heaviness despair within his eyes. Something who eating him alive, and yet, somewhere, a fatality he was facing. He couldn’t handle Death anymore … and yet sensed he would become Death someday … Ah, mysteries ways of the Force, what a pleasure! If only people who dreamed about how magnificent it would be to have such powers knew the actual pressure it was to experiencing it …  He wanted prove his visions wrong. He wanted prove the outside world wrong. ❝ You’ve had been hurt …❞ He loses his ways, he could have admitted, but no, he wasn’t able to confessing right away. He didn’t even remember exactly how he did losing himself. All he understood was he brought fear along the way … ❝ I reacted fasted I could … ❞