#Nature Integration

[miamaimania]

"Entwined" at New Orleans Botanical Garden ☀ Lovers frozen in stone while plants plot their gentle takeover

[drsilasaslan]

Nature Meets Modernity A modern building blends seamlessly with a weathered rooftop, showcasing a unique balance between nature and urban architecture. The harmonious colors and textures evoke a serene city atmosphere. silasAslan.com

[rorydrawsandwrites]

HHE LOOKS SO FUCKING CUTE???? THE SILLY HAIR ohh he's adorable I love him

[anghraine]

Hi! Can you explain what really the power of foresight was with Faramir? I read the books earlier this year and I don't really quite understand it. He could predict the future? Like he would see it in his dreams? But how did he found out from Gollum that he was taking frodo and sam to cirith ungol and that he had committed murder before?

No problem, it's one of my favorite topics!

The concise explanation: I think Faramir's foresight/aftersight in terms of visions is a largely separate "power" from his ability to bring his strength of mind and will to bear on other people and animals, and to resist outside influence. The visions seem more a matter of broad sensitivity, something Faramir doesn't appear to have much if any control over. The second power is (in our terms) essentially a form of direct telepathy, limited in some ways but still very powerful, and I think this second ability is what Faramir is using with Gollum.

The really long version:

In my opinion, Faramir (or Denethor, Aragorn, etc) doesn't necessarily read thoughts like a book, particularly not with a mind as resistant as Gollum's. Faramir describes Gollum's mind in particular as dark and closed, it seems unusually so—

"There are locked doors and closed windows in your mind, and dark rooms behind them," said Faramir.

Still, Gollum is unable to entirely block Faramir's abilities. In LOTR, it does not seem that Gollum can fully block powerful mental abilities such as Faramir's, though his toughness and hostility does limit what Faramir can see. (Unfinished Tales, incidentally, suggests iirc that Denethor's combination of "great mental powers" and his right to use the Anor-stone allowed him to telepathically get the better of Saruman through their palantíri, a similar but greater feat.) I imagine that this is roughly similar to, but scaled down from, Galadriel's telepathic inquiries of even someone as reluctant to have her in his mind as Boromir, given that Faramir is able to still see some things in Gollum's mind, if with more difficulty than usual.

(WRT Boromir ... ngl, if I was the human buffer between Denethor and Faramir, I would also not be thrilled about sudden telepathic intrusions from basically anyone, much less someone I had little reason to trust.)

Disclaimer: a few years after LOTR's publication, Tolkien tried to systematize how this vague mystical telepathy stuff really works. One idea he had among many, iirc, was that no unwilling person's mind could be "read" the ways that Gollum's is throughout LOTR. IMO that can't really be reconciled w/ numerous significant interactions in LOTR where resistance to mental intrusion or domination is clearly variable between individuals and affected by personal qualities like strength of will, basic resilience, the effort put into opposition, supernatural powers, etc. And these attempts at resistance are unsuccessful or only partially successful on many occasions in LOTR (the Mouth of Sauron, for one example, is a Númenórean sorcerer in the book who can't really contend with Aragorn on a telepathic level). So I, personally, tend to avoid using the terminology and rationales from that later systematized explanation when discussing LOTR. And in general, I think Tolkien's later attempts to convert the mystical, mysterious wonder of Middle-earth into something more "hard magic" or even scientific was a failed idea on a par with Teleporno. Others differ!

In any case, when Gollum "unwillingly" looks at Faramir while being questioned, the creepy light drains from his eyes and he shrinks back while Faramir concludes he's being honest on that specific occasion. Gollum experiences physical pain when he does try to lie to Faramir—

"It is called Cirith Ungol." Gollum hissed sharply and began muttering to himself. "Is not that its name?" said Faramir turning to him. "No!" said Gollum, and then he squealed, as if something had stabbed him.

I don't think this is a deliberate punishment from Faramir—that wouldn't be like him at all—and I don't think it's the Ring, but simply a natural consequence of what Faramir is. Later, Gandalf says of Faramir's father:

"He can perceive, if he bends his will thither, much of what is passing in the minds of men ... It is difficult to deceive him, and dangerous to try."

So, IMO, Faramir's quick realization that Gollum is a murderer doesn't come from any vision of the future or past involving Gollum—that is, it's not a deduction from some event he's seen. Faramir does not literally foresee Gollum's trick at Cirith Ungol. His warning would be more specific in that case, I think. What he sees seems to be less detailed but more direct and, well, mystical. Faramir likely doesn't know who exactly Gollum murdered or why or what any of the circumstances were. Rather, Gollum's murderousness and malice are visible conditions of his soul to Faramir's sight. Faramir doesn't foresee the particulars of Gollum's betrayal—but he can see in Gollum's mind that he is keeping something back. Faramir says of Gollum:

"I do not think you are holden to go to Cirith Ungol, of which he has told you less than he knows. That much I perceived clearly in his mind."

Meanwhile, in a letter written shortly before the publication of LOTR, Tolkien said of Faramir's ancestors:

They became thus in appearance, and even in powers of mind, hardly distinguishable from the Elves

So these abilities aren't that strange in that context. Faramir by chance (or "chance") is, like his father, almost purely an ancient Númenórean type despite living millennia after the destruction of Númenor (that destruction is the main reason "Númenóreanness" is fading throughout the age Faramir lives in). Even less ultra-Númenórean members of Denethor's family are still consistently inheriting characteristics from their distant ancestor Elros, Elrond's brother, while Faramir and Denethor independently strike Sam and Pippin as peculiarly akin to Gandalf, a literal Maia like their ancestress Melian:

“Ah well, sir,” said Sam, “you [Faramir] said my master had an elvish air; and that was good and true. But I can say this: you have an air too, sir, that reminds me of, of—well, Gandalf, of wizards.”

He [Denethor] turned his dark eyes on Gandalf, and now Pippin saw a likeness between the two, and he felt the strain between them, almost as if he saw a line of smouldering fire drawn from eye to eye, that might suddenly burst into flame.

Meanwhile, Faramir's mother's family is believed to be part Elvish, a belief immediately confirmed when Legolas meets Faramir's maternal uncle:

At length they came to the Prince Imrahil, and Legolas looked at him and bowed low; for he saw that here indeed was one who had elven-blood in his veins. "Hail, lord!" he [Legolas] said. "It is long since the people of Nimrodel left the woodlands of Lórien, and yet still one may see that not all sailed from Amroth’s haven west over water."

In addition to that, Faramir's men believe he's under some specific personal blessing or charm as well as the Númenórean/Elvish/Maia throwback qualities. It's also mentioned by different groups of soldiers that Faramir can exercise some power of command over animals as well as people. Beregond describes Faramir getting his horse to run towards five Nazgûl in real time:

"They will make the Gate. No! the horses are running mad. Look! the men are thrown; they are running on foot. No, one is still up, but he rides back to the others. That will be the Captain [Faramir]: he can master both beasts and men."

Then, during the later retreat of Faramir's men across the Pelennor:

At last, less than a mile from the City, a more ordered mass of men came into view, marching not running, still holding together. The watchers held their breath. "Faramir must be there," they said. "He can govern man and beast."

Tolkien said of the ancient Númenóreans:

But nearly all women could ride horses, treating them honourably, and housing them more nobly than any other of their domestic animals. The stables of a great man were often as large and as fair to look upon as his own house. Both men and women rode horses for pleasure … and in ceremony of state both men and women of rank, even queens, would ride, on horseback amid their escorts or retinues … The Númenóreans trained their horses to hear and understand calls (by voice or whistling) from great distances; and also, where there was great love between men or women and their favorite steeds, they could (or so it is said in ancient tales) summon them at need by their thought alone. So it was also with their dogs.

Likely the same Númenórean abilities were used for evil by Queen Berúthiel against her cats. In an interview with Daphne Castell, Tolkien said:

She [Berúthiel] was one of these people who loathe cats, but cats will jump on them and follow them about—you know how sometimes they pursue people who hate them? I have a friend like that. I’m afraid she took to torturing them for amusement, but she kept some and used them—trained them to go on evil errands by night, to spy on her enemies or terrify them.

The more formal version of the Berúthiel lore recurs in Unfinished Tales:

She had nine black cats and one white, her slaves, with whom she conversed, or read their memories, setting them to discover all the dark secrets of Gondor, so that she knew those things "that men wish most to keep hidden," setting the white cat to spy upon the black, and tormenting them.

Faramir, by contrast, has a strong aversion to harming/killing animals for any reason other than genuine need, but apparently quite similar basic abilities. He typically uses these abilities to try to compassionately understand other people or gather necessary information, rather than for domination or provoking fear. Even so, Faramir does seem to use his mental powers pretty much all the time with no attempt to conceal what he's doing—he says some pretty outlandish things to Frodo and Sam as if they're very ordinary, but it doesn't seem that most people he knows can do all these things. This stuff is ordinary to him because it flows out of his fundamental being, not because it's common.

It's not clear how much fine control he has, interestingly. This is more headcanon perhaps, but I don't feel like it's completely under his control, even while it's much more controlled than things like Faramir's vision of Boromir's funeral boat, his frequent, repeated dreams of Númenor's destruction, the Ring riddle dream he received multiple times, or even his suspiciously specific "guess" of what passed between Galadriel and Boromir in Lothlórien. Yet his more everyday mental powers do seem to involve some measure of deliberate effort in a lot of the instances we see, given the differing degrees of difficulty and strain we see with the powers he and Denethor exhibit more frequently and consistently.

This is is also interesting wrt Éowyn, because Tolkien describes Faramir's perception of her as "clear sight" (which I suspect is just Tolkien's preferred parlance for "clairvoyance"). Faramir perceives a lot more of what's going on with Éowyn than I think he had materially observable evidence for—but does not see everything that's going on with her by any means. He seems to understand basically everything about her feelings for Aragorn, more than Éowyn herself does, but does not know if she loves him [Faramir].

I'm guessing that it's more difficult to "see" this way when it's directly personal (one of the tragedies of his and Denethor's relationship is that their shared mental powers do not enable either to realize how much they love each other). But it also doesn't seem like he's trying to overcome Éowyn's mental resistance the way he was with Gollum, and possibly Frodo and Sam—he does handle it a bit differently when it's not a matter of critical military urgency. With Éowyn, he sees what his abilities make clear to him, is interested enough to seek out Merry (and also perceive more than Merry says, because Faramir has never been a normal person one day in his life) but doesn't seem to really push either of them.

So I tend to imagine that with someone like Faramir, Denethor, Aragorn etc, we're usually seeing a relatively passive, natural form of low-grade telepathy that simply derives from their fundamental nature and personalities (as we see in Faramir with Éowyn, possibly Faramir with Aragorn). That can be kicked up to more powerful, forceful telepathy via active exertion of the will (as described by Gandalf wrt Denethor's ability to "bend[] his will thither" to see what passes in others' minds, and seen with Faramir vs Gollum, Aragorn vs the Mouth of Sauron, more subtly Faramir vs Denethor). At a high point of strain this can be done very aggressively or defensively (Denethor vs Gandalf, Denethor vs Saruman, Denethor vs Sauron seriously is there a Maia that man won't fight, Faramir vs the Black Breath given his completely unique symptoms that Aragorn attributes to his "staunch will", possibly Aragorn vs the Black Breath in a healing capacity...).

Anyway, I hope these massive walls of text are helpful or interesting! Thanks for the ask :)

[dafpork]

the one part of the actor au where i get too sad if i think about it too hard :)c

[ganondoodle]

did you hear about that the zelda notes finally explained what happened to the sheikah tech in totk? a voice memory describes that after the events of botw and link defeating calamity ganon, all the sheikah technology and divine beasts started to crumble and turn to dust, and that the first one to break down was Vah Ruta as seen in the secret ending of botw, the only thing of sheikah tech that remains are replicas made by robbie and purah, it also implies the guardian on top of robbies lab is a replica.

im sure you mean well anon but, risking sounding like i am negativity in person and wont take any answer as an answer- i think that 1. doesnt change anything 2. was clearly an afterthought or ... them scrambling to try and sound like they totally planned it all from the start after, to them unexpectedly apparently, realizing people actually cared about things (its still bad even if they did plan that ..)

just vanishing and crumbling to dust are really the same thing if you ask me, its just like describing something exploding as an "unexpected rapid dismembering" (or however they called spacex rockets blowing up lol), vah ruta stopping to work after the end of botw was, imo, much more logical to mean, well their pilot is gone (as the champions spirit disappear supposedly permanently (though you cant be sure now about that either now i guess huh RAURU??HMM??? mister uuuh aaahh totoally goneeeee much tragiqué woops wait i need to deus ex machina your girlfriend and take back my arm)) and with them the one .. to pilot them plus possibly their power source as well (that 'theory' just makes too much sense)

if you think about it it still doesnt make it any better, the stuff in totk being replicas? welll ... obviously they were newly built stuff (off the little there is left...), and replica sounds like a copy when none of the stuff they have there is an actual copy aside from maybe the terminals to get into a tower? also how and when did they do that?? the knowledge about the tech was largely lost and i dont think alot of time passed between the end of botw and the extra scene- why wouldnt they copy guardians or anythign else more useful? the guardian on top of the hateno institute was extremely clearly a super old one, it was unfunctional and overgrown strapped to the roof in botw already- purahs stone thingy and all lanterns and sources of energy went poof too (WHERE DO THEY GET THE POWER FROM NOW?????????????????????????????????????????????), idk if the easter egg prototype titan is still there but that and cherry would be the only thing i can think of that they might have built during the 100 years they had to built stuff in botw (AND CHERRY IS GONE TOO instead a tiny version of her that what, is a shop to get your photos at????????? what?????), and now they just suddendly can built massive things? did they also find out what powers it and how and managed to built a secret replica of a fireborn (idk the english name, the flaming source) that you cant ever find (i cant check i dont have the game anymore but i dont remember a flame or otherwise sourcing thingy in the spypost- not that it would matter, its shiekah tech after all, bleurgh, we got sonau "tech" nowww) and then choose to built pretty useless stuff at that? wouldnt it have been more sensical to preserve the lasers and automations of guardians or something isntead of ... a tower that flings link, and only link mind you, into the air? to scan the ground in an very dangerous manner that is also just miles more stupid and inefficient than the previous towers????? like couldnt add to a tower to scan upwards also??????

the old problems remain! why the hell would everythign crumble or vanish? it lasted for over 10 thousand fucking years with no power either exposed to the elements or dug underground and now it just goes up in flames withtin what, a day? it remains a "woah didnt think anyone would care to ask that lol just uuuuh *makes up shit on the spot*" answer

the ooooh clamgan was defeated excuse doesnt work any better with this as it did before, if ganondorf was not connected to clamgan (which is stupid) and it 'crumbles to dust' when clamgan is defeated it should have done so in the og battle 10k years ago! if he IS connected to it why the fuck would it go away now?????? he is still there???????

and im also asking why would all of shiekah tech just crumble away into literally nothing when the stupid sonau(zonai) shit is like, largely in prime condition even though that is supposedly even OLDER (i guess the sonau are jsut that much cooler uwu their stuff lasts forever or until its timer runs out lmao and is much better anywayyyy)

this is not an attack against you anon, but i dont believe this bullshit, they are trying to stitch up holes they dug themselves and you cant get out of anymore no matter how much they roll around in it bc they didnt account for people to actually fukcing care, or, if they did plan this (which i do not believe) it STILL SUCKS and makes no sense and really .. jsut means that it really was this stupid and meaningless as it feels now from the start. they dont want you to think about it, they can say whatever they want and expect you to swallow it. they dont care.

i suppose the jokes on us, the shiekah were able to see the future and knew they would be replaced by a totally always there and also totally better version of all their stuff thats actually worse but with a totally no overused new paint job so they thoughtfully added a best before date on all botw relevant shiekah things and we all know that a day over it means it molds and dissolves in your very hands before you can even put it in the trashcan.

uwu.

[thatswhatsushesaid]

i think fandom spaces would become much more enjoyable across the board if people stopped flipping their pancakes over other fans enjoying characters that they don't like. or, god forbid, like them but in 'the wrong way.'

[thegoodmorningman]

Make it your BUSINESS to have a Good Morning no matter what!!!

[stillskelwtons]

Oh, Baggs, they could never make me forget how short you are

Megalosomnia and Baggs are by @/megalommi

[miamaimania]

"Outdoor Nude" (1937) by Remie Lohse ⌘ Where skin becomes landscape.

[silusvesuius]

calling pd2 dallas old is crazy AF if he was he wouldn't be doing somersaults robbing every single building on the surface of this planet well into his 50s he's on extraterrestrial steroids and an icon

[focsle]

I hate websites I hate managing websites so much. I'm always clenching my fists waiting for the day GTW completely breaks. I just wanna draw comics man.

[son-of-avraham]

Can you talk more about how you decided to convert through conservative judaism over reform and what the process was like for you? I've been going to a reform shul for a while, to the point where I know everyone who regularly comes and I also love our rabbi. It almost feels like a second home, but I realized recently that I think I agree more with Conservative views on halacha and would prefer converting through that stream, but I also don't wanna leave all the nice people I've met so far, and also the nearest conservative shul is over an hour drive away :( I thought I'd just convert through reform anyways but maybe talk about keeping a conservative level of observance for my conversion, but I feel like it would be dishonest to convert reform if I don't agree with their fundamental views on halacha and such. It's hard thinking about leaving the community I love, but I also feel that I'd get more of what I personally want out of Judaism from a conservative conversion. Would really love some advice on navigating this if you're willing!!

I'll preface this by saying that this is included in my FAQ, so if you want to check that out, you might get more information that I might have forgotten to include here.

What I fundamentally believe people should do in the conversion process is to do what is accessible to them. If reform is accessible to you, I don't see why you would have to upend yourself and leave behind your pre-established community.

To me, movement means very little. If you've converted halachically (which reform absolutely can do and does), you've converted. You can be a reform jew who follows or believes in a myriad of things - I doubt a rabbi is going to say, "now, I want to convert you, but you don't believe only in the Reform Positions, so it looks like you can't be converted." If anything, a rabbi would be thrilled to hear what your positions are and why. It reminds me of my ITJ class where the presenting rabbi asked if we believed in g-d or not. She literally balked about how none of us voted "no." She was amazed.

I only decided to convert through the conservative movement because it was the most accessible to me. Nothing about the conversion process changed because I chose conservative - I'm still working with a rabbi, I'm still engaged with my community, and I will stand before a beit din and immerse in the mikvah. If I could let you in on a secret... If movement didn't matter to others, I wouldn't even put which movement I'm affiliated with on this blog.One of the most important things in jewish conversion and jewish life in general is having a community. It sounds like you've found that - it isn't dishonest to be in community and to just be yourself (yes, even if you disagree with some aspects of different practices - two jews, three opinions, anyone?). Plenty of people in my conservative shul are more frum than others, and some are less frum. Even within your own movement, your practices will look wildly different than other jews of the same movement. In actuality, we're all starting from more or less the same starting point which is judaism. You have a lifetime to explore the mitzvot and see how you will practice. Nothing about that is inherently dishonest or disingenuous.

[gorotic]

really love what sinners did with Remmick because among all the other things he represents and does, he really drew my focus towards the thing with some white people where im sure theyve got their own ethnic backgrounds n shit and still it seems to be so rare for them make efforts to actively practice customs related to those backgrounds and instead go around culture vulturing in the name of acceptance which rests upon the belief that they alone are capable of making those judgements. they genuinely do believe themselves to be so far removed from their cultures and community that they dont make any genuine effort to study n engage with it, making themselves out to be neutral blank slates. major component of remmicks character in this movie is that he sees the community that Black Americans create for themselves and how theyre simueltaneously able to strengthen connections to historic culture and create a culture in the present that is foundational to continue being able to do so and sees it as something he cant do as a result of colonization in Ireland after which hes become a blank slate. and on top of that he thinks that to be able to maintain cultural connections as they do he needs to ursurp their culture because to him his own culture cant function like that even tho he doesnt really try to. see that in the difference between the music because he uses his performance of rocky road to dublin as a way to subdue and lure other people as opposed to using it to connect to them much less to reconnect to his own heritage. hes goes into this accepting that his ties to his Irish heritage/ancestors are gone so he doesnt even bother trying to create anything. majorly, where we see Black Americans progress their culture ( shown through Music in this movie) through multiple centuries into the 20th century and beyond, Remmicks cultural progression is stagnanted, seen in his singing of an early-mid 19th century folk song in the early 20th century. no new music. he understands the importance of culture here but has no idea of how to utilize or evolve it to create community. Other cultures evolve and progress so that theyre able to maintain themselves but Remmick believes hes been uniquely affected, uniquely stripped and stagnanted and doesnt engage in any of that. would be surprised to see the culture that could be created instead of lost and/or stolen had he ever even tried but his white ass couldnt be bothered.

[brackenferns]

i dont think I’ve seen anyone talk about the fact that vivi isn’t just half-fae—she’s half-redcap