#ownership is esoteric

[lleviathansoupsl]

Valiantly pursuing my goal of cementing my own immortality catalysing then ensuring the longevity of revolution

[astra-ravana]

Hi Astra, Sparrow here! I have a few questions:

1. One of the entities on my spirit team is Thanatos, and he says I'm not ready for shadow work and would prefer if I waited until I was done with college to start it. But I want to dive deeper into infernal magic, and I'm worried that I won't be successful if I don't start shadow work soon. Either way, I'm honestly not sure how to do shadow work - all I have is a workbook.

2. Magical names. I know the concept of "true names" is prevalent in Egyptian mythology, and I know that it's an open practice. But as a white person, I don't want to cross any boundaries, and I also don't want to seem pretentious.

3. I want to find a way to strengthen my magic, and fast. I want to attract money, but nothing seems to be working in a quick manner. I want to travel to the astral plane, but I can't seem to lie still. I want to be powerful and confident, but the process scares me. Do you have any advice?

I know this seems like a lot, and I'm sorry. But I'm honestly a little lost. Should I dabble in necromancy? Should I start shadow work over the summer? I'd like some answers, please. You're a seasoned witch, and I trust you.

Well hopefully, I can provide you with some answers! Or at least some advice. 🖤

1. I would definitely listen to Thanatos here. Shadow work can be a grueling, devastating, and an all-consuming process. Once you start it, you never really stop the journey. He wants you to wait so that you can get through school and become secure in your material life before you focus on your spiritual development. He is very wise.

2. Your name is a word of power. There is a reason otherworldly beings hide their names/full name and also, why they so desire ours. You have full ownership and lordship of yourself and can name yourself as a form of protection, influence, and glamour. This is in essence what a magickal name is. Many cultures may adopt this practice, but it has been common amongst the mystical, occult, and esoteric since ancient times, at least. I do plan to make a post about magickal or witch names. But, in essence, YES, name yourself! It can be a very empowering ritual.

3. This is what I would call spiritual longing. You recognize you are a spiritual creature and the physical world is beginning to bog you down. The material world is heavy and hard to carry at times. But once again, Thanatos' wisdom wins. Every being grows when it is ready, and I believe you are, but you have to prepare yourself beforehand. Get to a place where you are able to commit all the time and effort the task requires. The spirit world is your home and it will always be there for you.

I do also have some relevant guide posts.

The Advantage Of Dreamwork

Shamanism: Beliefs And Practice

Hedge-Riding

On Astral Travel

A Guide To Shape-Shifting

Death Witchcraft: An Exploration

Necromancer's Tool Kit

I probably have more information available, so if you have any more questions please ask away. I do get busy with life but I will always come back to Tumblr. 🖤

[girlactionfigure]

Druze and Judaism, a thread 🧵(remastered)

🟥The Druze venerate many Jewish figures as sages, including Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Reuben, Benjamin, David, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel... Solomon and Jethro are highlighted as manifestations of the Universal Mind.

🟥 The Hexagram or six pointed star is very significant to Druze as well, and is often portrayed in books of Exegesis. It is understood as the Seal of Solomon, but also for its pre-Judaic ancient symbolism, as a symbol of the Union of Opposites.

🟥Druze shrines in Carmel and Galilee echo the ancient Jewish shrine tradition, i.e. natural stone mound. Some are architecturally Jewish tombs, with descending staircases into caves.  A Sheikh's striped cloak and the multicolored flag are said to resemble the coat of Joseph.

🟥Esoteric Judaism, or Kabballah, is most similar to Druze esotericism. Especially in its Neoplatonism, Gematria, Belief in Reincarnation(gilgul), Ein Sof. The Hasidic sect also stresses on Ascetism. Their highest soul Yechidah is akin to Tawheed. Batin Al Batin, their Chassidut.

🟥Druze and Jews have lived relatively harmoniously with circumstantial conflicts like the Safed Rebellion being exceptions.  Jews in Druze areas were among the nobles in Prince Fakhreddin's entourage. Their Synagogues thrived in Bhamdoun and Aleyh without persecution.

🟥 Jewish communities in Deir al Qamar and Barouk were also rich land owners.  The "blood bond" between Jews and Druze of Israel is one of the strongest the Druze have done with any another sect. Has been strong for 80 years. Agreed to regardless if one is Zionist or not.

🟥 Druze Sheikh Daoud Bessis who was imprisoned with the British Army while fighting the Nazis and sent to Germany, would smuggle food to Jewish prisoners during the Holocaust with his fellow Druze Prisoners.

🟥 During the recent Anti-Jewish pogroms in Amsterdam. A Druze man tried his best to save the Jews and conceal them from their pursuers. Highlighting the willingness of both communities to protect each other.

🟥 Druze have no occupied territory in Israel, or any encroached on Holy Land or Site. Therefore enmity to the Jews is not justified except on Islamist grounds or leftist brainwashing. Israeli Druze are much better off socially and economically than their peers in Arab countries

🟥 Druze ultimately derive their idea of the Messiah from the Jews and also the Messianic Era. Psalm 37's "The meek will inherit the Earth". Therefore they've avoided belief in Heaven and Hell and Rapture, and taken a reward/punishment in this realm approach, similar to Jews.

🟥 Druze Founder Imam Hamza Ibn Ali, had written in the Epistle to the Israelites, that 2 and a half of the 12 Jewish tribes(Asbat Al Haq) had accepted the Druze faith. This explains the genetic similarity, as Druze tend to cluster next to Ashkenazi and Persian/Kurdish Jews.

🟥 The Return of the Jews is foretold in Druze Scripture as one of the first signs of the end times. Druze 15th century scholar Al Amir Al Sayyed Al Tanukhi expounds that ownership would return to the children of Israel. Thus the creation of Israel lies within Druze Prophecy.

🟥 In the Druze description of Judgment Day in the Epistles of Wisdom, it is said the Druze Five Bound Army will be joined by the lost tribes of Israel. The named tribes are the "Pure of Al Benjamin and Al Naphtali". 

🟥 Druze grievances with the State of Israel are bureaucratic, such as the Kaminitz law in civil development, or the nation state law which lacks a Druze exception. Which we hope are settled. Unlike with other central states, like Lebanon & Syria where grievances are existential.

🟥 The current violent tapestry of the Middle East presents Druze and Jews as natural allies. With Political Armed Islam being the common enemy of both. To come out of manufactured Arabist identity, is to embrace the tribal nature of the Middle East. And the need to save oneself

Druze Founder Baha'ldeen Al Muqtana** 

Link

[strangelittlestories]

Elodie had spent months trying to gain the approval of the local Milliners’ Guild. If the Guild approved of you, they would make you a stylish wizard’s hat or a distinguished witch’s cap. If you wore such fancy headgear, then everyone would know that you were an arcanist in good standing and of respectable skill. And if people knew this, then you could charge Guild prices for your services.

This was why she took what the papers were calling ‘The Case of Penny the Dreadful’.

Penny herself was a bookseller. She sold the kind of salacious and gruesome penny-an-issue esoteric thrillers that had become known as ‘penny horribles’, ‘penny spells’, ‘penny hats’ and (of course) ‘penny dreadfuls’. They told you all the things you already knew about magic: that it was wild, gothic, untamable and dangerous. The Guild *hated* them.

The crux of the case was this: a string of supernatural attacks had occurred, leaving its victims comatose. Each was found alone, with no sign of violent intrusion. And each seemed to have been reading one of these penny dreadfuls.

An initial investigation found two things: one, that all the publications had been bought from Penny’s shop. Two, that none of the victims or their families had enough money to hire a Guild-sanctioned inquiry.

Thus, Elodie had taken the case on spec, hoping that if she found enough ammunition for the Guild to use against the booksellers, then their fall would be Elodie’s rise. Specifically, a two-foot rise of conical fabric on top of her head.

She had chased leads across the city. She had conducted seances, scrying and divinations. She had cashed in favours from a librarian, a mortician and a flock of pigeons (and as pigeons don’t usually reveal their secrets, she considered this something of a ‘coo’).

And after saving Penny from a spectre that leapt out of one of her own books, Elodie had joined forces with the bookseller. Penny turned out to have a sharp wit, an evil smile and a seemingly infinite supply of derringer pistols secreted about her person; all qualities that Elodie found extremely admirable.

Finally, the pair of them confronted their final veiled suspect in the attic of one of the city’s largest printing presses.

The machines below them rumbled. The wind coming in through the shattered windows screamed. Tendrils of haunted ink whipped out at them and where it touched them it painted injuries in jagged lines, which sunk into their skin and became *real*. Amidst the maelstrom, Elodie kept her wits about her enough to flick an enchanted penny into the living horror story. Thus, purchased, she gained sufficient ownership to exorcise that spirit of salacious imaginings.

The culprit, now undefended, tried to flee. And Penny shot him in the hamstring.

Unfortunately, when they brought him in, it turned out he *was* sanctioned by the Guild. And they were none too pleased to have Elodie air their dirty magical laundry.

“I’m sorry about the Milliners’ Guild.” said Penny, as the pair commiserated over tea and crumpets at her shop. “I know you had your heart set on getting them to make you some of that fancy magical headgear.”

“What are you gonna do?” replied Elodie, wryly. “Hatters gonna hat.”

[theamityelf]

Okay, so, for Valentine's Day.

I'm thinking Makoto gets Kyoko and Byakuya both stuffed animals (partially to make them blush; he knows they like cute things and refuse to admit it), plus a purple thermos for Kyoko (so her coffee/tea doesn't get cold while she works) and a box of candies for Byakuya (because Byakuya likes candy but refuses to buy it for himself).

Kyoko gets Makoto and Byakuya stuffed animals because she anticipates that Makoto will get her one and this is payback, and also now Byakuya has two. Haha! She also gives Byakuya a binder of archived case files (nothing top secret; just highly esoteric) and Makoto a CD of the current most popular album out and a cord organizer because she's noticed his earphones get tangled on things constantly.

Byakuya gets them both a Togami Corp wristwatch, and he gets Kyoko a new laptop (also Togami Corp) and Makoto a certificate of stock ownership and a bottle of cologne that is the same one he uses, because last week Toko said "Y-You smell of Master Byakuya's cologne!" and Byakuya liked that a lot.

[victusinveritas]

From the Wellcome Collection:

Books aren’t just texts, they have their own histories, being cherished, creased and stained by the hands of many owners as they move across nations and the centuries.

One way people have marked their ownership of books is with a bookplate, often designed to match their own identities and personalities. What would your bookplate include?

We have a collection of 1,000 removed bookplates: https://wellcome.info/bookplates

While thousands more are scattered throughout our historic book collections. Over the last few years our collections teams have identified over 800 unique bookplates in our early printed book collection.

[1: In a library before an oversized book, surreally stands an ostrich who seems to be admiring the bookshelf behind him. The bookplate of a Ralph Straus. EPB/B/30092

2: A yellow spotted snake slithers across an open book in this modernist bookplate of Vladimir Zapletal. EPB/B/37667

3: A beautiful wood panelled room with leaded windows and piles of books on the window sill. This is the bookplate of Fritz Ponsonby, veteran of the Boer and First World War. Below is inscribed his wise motto “Reading maketh a full man”. EPB/B/58946

4:. A nude man in a circle of light is labelled “Sol” and is orbited by the planetary symbols. This strange, esoteric bookplate is of chemistry historian Dr Ernst Darmstaedter, hundreds of whose books now live in our bookstacks.

5: Dragons flit around the crest ofThomas Philip Earl de Grey of Wrest Park (not that Early Grey). EPB/B/4572

6: Three men, one reads in a study, another looks to the heavens and another sows the fields. “Art is man’s nature, nature of God’s art”. EPB/B/58939

7: A cloaked figure, looking like they just stepped out of The Traitors, guards the bookplate of New York Congressman Jacob Sloat Fassett. EPB/F/2284

8: A library, orchids and plankton, there’s a lot going on on the bookplate of American marine zoologist Charles Atwood Kofoid. EPB/D/28525

9: A monk scribbles away and a printer operates the printing press in J Eliot Hodgkin’s bookprint inspired by the bookmakers of the past. EPB/B/31799

10: The complex bookplate of Fairfax of Cameron with lion and unicorn rearing up against an armourial crest. EPB/B/19921]

[misarem]

yapping about Kill the Past under the cut cuz im now free from the 25th ward finally

THE SILVER CASE

-it feels cliche to say the first game was my favorite but uhhh haha. knowing suda, The Silver Case probably didn't fully accomplish what it set out to do but to me, it's so self-contained and demonstrates such ownership of a style that mostly came out of necessity that i can't not admire it, and i'm also so fond of my playthrough of it which was so fresh and curious, compared to the other two games which were fun but I was thinking too much abt how it connects to TSC

--also just the way i played this game is so special, i was very committed to the darker aesthetic to the point where I only played past like 10pm for a while, which is funny cuz the opening of the game is straight up paranormal but by the 2nd chapter transmitter loses that edge until debatably lifecut. tokio is also haunted and paranormally but by that point i just started playing normally. it sorta reminds me of paranormasight which starts out so spooky and the curses are very present but a few hours in it sorta reverts to being a pretty normal feeling but still very good detective mystery. at one point a character does an escape room ala zero escape and its funny. but TSC doesn't stray from its initial vibe as much as paranormasight at all.

-i also played the parallel stories of TSC separate from each other rather than alternating, which made placebo such a slog but i almost feel like I appreciated both stories more that way, even though i would have loved to experience how placebo compliments transmitter

--despite not clicking with placebo at first, tokio is like one of my favorite characters this year hes such a fucking Guy. and you experience him so intimately in placebo in a way i can't even describe but is effective by the end.

---theres a bizarre and esoteric mental link in my brain between tokio, ange from umineko and fucking flynn moore from the furry visual novel Echo because of them being like surprise deurotagonists (sp?) that get fucked up from having to search for the truth about the past and how theyre all chained by it. do you think they would put happy colors in my padded cell or would it just be all white.

-I also feel like I came out of TSC a lot clearer than I did FSR or 25W, I'm sure I missed several details at first but the shelter kids stuff and kamui as more of a role and a criminal influence than as a person wasn't that hard to wrap my head around even though I thought the silver eye stuff was so whatever. i kind of wonder if part of the reason i clicked with it faster was because I'm such an mgs2head, and the whole kamui thing is sorta like what the solid snake simulation appears to be at first

-also the mackerel phones video about Kusabi is so good and feels like a must watch for how well researched it is and how accurately it nails the feeling and message of transmitter.

-TSC also uses film window a lot better than 25W and it might be worth researching how the latter being a phone game affects things but i just got off that game

-also would kinda love a translated version of the PSX version someday just to feel how different it is. idk if certain ppl hate the official translation so much maybe they should do it themselves ooooh

-i havent read 4.5 and i meant to do so before 25W to have that context about sumio and sakura and i kindaaa didnt so lol i have to do that eventually.

FLOWER, SUN AND RAIN

-"flower, sun and rain" is like a speech tick to me in the way of like, rupaul on the weakest link immediately defaulting to chaka khan when he doesnt know the answer to a question

-i wish i felt flower, sun and rain the way I felt TSC. i had a decent time with it and even had a good sense of humor about the more obviously tedious parts and the OST, and I get how mundane it's supposed to be, what it's saying about living in peace and the lie of paradise, but it didn't click with me as much. maybe a pitfall was being so attached to TSC when i played, i was probably looking for something i shouldn't have instead of just enjoying the game for what it was altho i didn't hate it or anything.

--ideally this also gets a translation on its original console cuz I like some parts of the PS2 soundtrack and id love to experience all the art assets and music in PS2 quality.

---sorta tangent. i love the opening tracks for all of these games but Anata no Tameni might be my favorite, beyond just being amazing its so dramatic and unlike the rest of the series and it really stands out. the ds opening in comparison might actually be my least favorite because of that lol

-i think that the mondo/kodai revelation is so funny just because it's an idea you'd either keep in the back of your mind or just wave off because of how dumb it seemed but regardless it's constantly staring you in the face. assuming you even played TSC before this

--sumio was never super proper or anything, i don't think, but his personality here compared to TSC is so funny, he can spend 20 years with bottled up rage and fake his way into an incompetent police force without slipping thaaat much but here he has enough small inconveniences to hit a kid over it. kind of an interesting play on like the salient thing about personality and the self being buried and it feels like an early version of like a shiroyabu situation. not the last time i will compare sumio and shiro.

--i also think its funny that the model of sumio mondo looks pretty similar to kodai compared to the key art of mondo and we should explore that one day

-i wanted more out of toriko kusabi, she was a fun diversion and i didn't expect her to be a tokioesque second protag or anything but idk. she was fun when she went against sundance and at the end and her being like a subliminal kinda suggestion to sumio's buried memories of her father i think is cool. in a less meta sense it's also cute that shes working for her dad i wonder if tetsu has to like try not to step on christine everytime he comes home from the bathhouse at like 2am. actually i dont remember what their family situation even is

-speaking of kusabi i think him like being the guardian/ferryman for sumio's journey is so so beautiful and true and i like that he gets to pull him back from the depths the way sumio sorta inadvertently did in parade/kamuidrome.

--its also really funny to me kusabi just disguises as a chubby white guy. it was probably a fatsuit but i feel like kusabi could be like 50lb away from being a bear anyways. its like the grocery store deli scene in bobs burgers.

---i also appreciated parade from transmitter way more playing this and thinking about sumio. when i played parade the first time i loved connecting the dots on everything but then it kinda got buried by kamuidrome and lifecut. and now im such a shooter for sumio kodai. look at me talking about the previous game wooo.

-i think the character designs in this are funny for how little of them you can actually see. everyone loves yayoi and yayoi is such a serve but my other fav is ken. all the punk details are completely lost in the actual game. the models also super undersell stephen carbione's look, cuz in-game he sorta looks like tokio but then you see his key art and its like yea he would look like that.

-tokio was in this game

-i think edo macallister should be a bellhop in every video game with a hotel ever. im going to the other side of the country soon and if the guy behind the desk at the hotel isn't edo i will be severely disappointed.

-i love that its hyenas. i think there should be like tokio morishima as an anthro hyena and he still has his domesticated turtle or at least like hyena sundance or yotaro or something. i think ppl would be quick to anthropomorphize tokio as a literal turtle guy.

-the eleven children stuff is whatever, i do like that theres a bunch of sumios running around but idc for all the other implications and like step and remy and koshimizu and whoever else. is sumio mondo still deaf and mostly relying on lip reading? cuz i dont think that gets brought up again. i mean he wakes up to a phone ringing every morning but i guess those are the clones. if the hearing is referenced early in fsr and i just missed it then that would be very cool. maybe thats why the voices for the characters are abstract and illegible. maybe flower sun and rain is the best game ever.

THE 25TH WARD

-what if we were all protagonists.

-i dont think this game uses film window as well as TSC but i do like the art and how much of it there is in correctness and matchmaker, also the different styles.

-i love yotaro osato sadly hes so funny and fluffy. hes osato in my notes and in normal convo but i want to call him yotaro affectionately. i do love tsuki too hes such a sufferer.

--i think theyre a teeeeny bit like like p4 adachi and dojima if they were both murderous.

-i feel bad for the lady that gets murked immediately in correctness i had a funny voice for her in my head

-shiro and kuro god bless them are funny and parallel sumio and tetsu to me. both sumio and shiro grapple with their criminal power, although sumio goes against the hc unit while shiro attempts to but finds himself back with them at the end, and while kusabi over time softens quite a bit and learns from sumio in a more overt way than kuro being literally the "japanese dirty harry" and not having as much of an arc, they both are compelled enough by their partner to rein them back in. just the surface level so i dont have to write a whole essay in a stream of consciousness type of post

--what even happens to them bc as far as i can tell, shiro just continues to be a tool of the state and kuro maybe? shoots her superior and then the 25th ward blows up.. with them on it? like okay at least tsuki got outta there.

--on the shiroverse timeline. theres conflicting sources on if his immortality is a kamui thing or a sumio mondo thing or something else and thats funny. the sources all being fan wikis and tvtropes because fuck this game that zero people played and negative people have documented.

-i need to like hold myself back from analysing meru as trans because its so clearly done for shock value but it somehow aged really hilariously now with how prevalent trans egirls are. liek theres a strange almost unearned truth to how meru exists online versus irl.

--kind of all of the gay/trans mentions in these games are like this although kusabi you can at least take in sorta good faith?

-i need to think abt what i thought abt tokio here. its increasingly funny how online he is for being a normal dude in the late 90's early 2000s.

--his portrait in yumi is kind of a hear me out but all the cgs of older tokio look crazy. tokio in general looks a mess in this game and its funny. look at him try to be masc

-i mentioned mgs2 above and the 05 chapters of these games are so reminiscent of the s3 plan and the patriots with the frontier etc using the city to collect data and the protags having to figure out where they fit into it. during TSC, i was paying a lot of attention to the story as it related to the advent of technology. it felt really relevant to kamuidrome and all of placebo but mostly ended up as background/context to the story. it was used a lot more here and i really liked it. chat logs are a great framing device in all the routes since they add so much flavor and emphasize the loneliness of life in the 25th ward (semi-related: in both TSC and 25W, the environments are devoid of people in film window, and i think this works way better for 25W than it did for TSC). placebo is yet again a good example of this with tokio only really interfacing with the world through his computer most of the time

--in terms of twists, i might actually like "the city is just a means of data collection ready to be wiped at any moment/it resembles a computer more than an actual city and life there is so impermanent that its hard to tell how real it all is" better than the end point of tsc which was "they were trying to mass process children to find a means of immortality" which i was so whatever on even though the game is trying to be crazy and also say something about like life and aging in society, but in tsc i like "they were mass grooming perfect civilians and inadvertently making them susceptible to crime" as a conclusion a bit more. but i mean 25W also poses so many more questions than it does give answers so.

---despite everything i think it was an interesting idea for suda and masahiro yuki and masahi ooka to create the 25th ward almost as a sandbox to explore more of the ideas of the first game like how the internet affects human connection, communication, sharing of information, and how people are affected by criminal power/kamui. it was a cool idea in the original but i love actually getting to see shiroyabu steadily become more unhinged (death filing), kurumizawas pervasiveness, tsuki and osato coming to grips with their own (esp osato's immense) criminal power, etc. in spite of all of the loose ends and craziness, sometimes you really need a space to work out your ideas and express yourself and i commend grasshopper for doing that so i could have played this on a nokia in 2005. in japan

overall these were video games. very excited to forget everything about them when i fixate on something else. tsc might actually be one of my fav things i played this year. would love more analysis of the 25th ward, theres some essays/interpretations floating around and ghenryperez will get to his video on it eventually. maybe i need to be the change i wish to see but also boo putting effort into writing and analysis sux.

i started sudas works with nmh, then 2 before stopping until i played killer7 a year ago and really liked its style and sense of humor. i think this happens to a lot of people, and then a year after that i started tsc. i wasnt originally that interested in nmh tsa but now that i know theres hello 25th ward characters in it i might have to try. and then nmh3 after that. and then i also wanna play twilight syndrome/moonlight syndrome when that gets a translation because of lunatics. and i also got killer is dead when it was on sale for like 2 bucks. we can enter the greater sudaverse.. together

[simmingwormly]

Wormville: Rotation 10: Hanson

The last household in the roster! Clan Hanson is a rising rich family who - unlike the Elaho-Inipps and the Beldines - only became wealthy thanks to the work (...and luck) of the Sims of generation 0. The current heir is Regina, the town's main healer.

Fun fact: It's harder for me to write about this family than about the others, since the Sim named Terry features heavily in there. I made Wormville, played it for a while (Terry was born), then went on a hiatus, and in the meantime, I have in real life decided to transition and chose Terry as my future legal name, forgetting about the Sim entirely. And now I'm back, and have to fight the anxiety-inducing intrusive thought that people will somehow get confused and will think I'm talking about myself, when I talk about Terry (the Sim)...? (and that they'll accuse me of blackface, since the Sim has dark skin?) OCD is funny sometimes.

Abigail Hanson is a woman that would never jump into anything unprepared. Pictured: Abigail rehearsing for her upcoming death, ft. Squee (mother to Mirp).

I interrupt the present with posting the past. This is one of the most valuable possesions of the Hanson clan: Childhood pictures of tragically departed Josephine.

Meanwhile in the world of the living, her baby sister is having a wedding!

Welcome to the clan, Terry Hanson! (formerly Anora)

(Abigail is trying to pass on some store-related perks. She gave him the ownership of the family business in the next interaction. Why him and not her daughter? As the town healer, Regina already has a lot on her plate and wasn't interested in running the car dealership on top of that.)

Given their friendship, Regina's wedding was one of the few this generation Victor Beldine was allowed to attend. Pictured: Regina playing with fire.

Unfortunately, the Beldines ended up sorta stealing the show.

It was a peaceful day in Wormville when Abigail rolled the Want to woohoo with somebody. Um, sure! Go girl, follow your heart!

Nevermind, girl, stop.

"Why, it's the head of the Beldine clan himself, and as handsome as ever! You honor us with your visit, Mister Victor."

"The honor is all mine, Missis Abigail. Our clan appreciates your friendship, and admires your accomplishments."

"Please, it's Miss Abigail. I'm no longer married. And you don't have to be this formal in the first place. Call me Abby, Victor."

"Um... alright, if that is what you want... I trust business is going well?"

"It's booming. And I've heard you'll be opening your own store soon."

"Correct. It is going to be an esoteric goods outlet."

"You know what? I can give you some tips for starters. But not here in this ruckus. We can have a drink in my room, and talk about business..."

"You're too kind, M- Abby. But I must decline. I am here mainly to celebrate their union with Regina and Terry."

"As you wish. But if you ever wanted to hang out with someone experienced, you know where to find me."

Victor will realize that Abigail was trying to proposition him about half a day later.

Letting the Beldines attend truly didn't turn out to be a good idea. Aranni II. heard from her sister about Nico's flirtation with the stranger by the lake, and running into him at the wedding, she wasn't shy to show him what she thought about it.

"Seriously? This is the first wedding I was not blacklisted from, and you get us kicked out."

"We saw the ceremony, we had some cake, you talked to the Hansons. There was nothing else for us to do anyway."

"It is not about that! Do you realize that what you have just done might have consequences?"

"Yeah. Bruises on Nico's ugly mug."

"Our family falling into disfavor with the priest!"

"The priest fell into disfavor with me first. I hate, hate cheaters!"

"You could have tried controlling yourself."

"What does it matter? Nico's a tool. He's gonna forgive us if you tell him we're really sorry and buy him some... holy kibble, or whatever he eats."

"It's not the only thing. The embarrassment..."

"Sounds like a you problem."

In the Fiera report, I joked about nannies dying at weddings, but I'm beginning to suspect I jinxed it into existence. RIP Vanessa Fong, whoever you were.

Other than that, married life was treating Regina and Terry well...

...despite Terry occasionally missing someone dear to him...

...and having to handle much of the childcare, given his wife's much busier career. That part he genuinely seemed to enjoy, though. He is a Family Sim, after all.

Regina spending most of her time out being a doctor did not stop her from paying attention to her loved ones completely, though. Here she is on her way home from work, placing flowers by the door for her husband to find next morning.

It also didn't mean Terry wasn't leaving the house at all. He had a very important task; learn how to run Abigail's his car dealership, and renovate its interiors to make it work as a functional dance club on top of that. Car-themed, of course.

Abigail would be proud. (and perhaps mildly confused)

Friendship between Regina and Oliver Devir started blooming. Good, as they are her nurse.

When Regina was giving birth, a wild Lester appeared. Nobody invited them, nobody let them in, they just spawned in the bathroom and got stuck. Witch behavior.

Speaking of births, it's children time! This is Quinn Hanson, born in the 9th rotation, explicitly NOT named after Quincy Fiera. His personality is 8/7/4/7/6 and his 3t2 traits are Evil, Perceptive and Bookworm.

And this is little Demetria Hanson, born this rotation. Fun fact! That ginger hair is not from Regina. Regina's actually naturally blond, her red hair is dyed. Her daughter has her hair color probably from her grandma Adora, Terry's mother. And she aged up with the same hairstyle Terry's other mother, Aileen, used to have!

Demetria's personality is 8/8/5/6/7 and she's Eccentric and Musical.

And last but not least, younglings of a slightly different kind! Just like a generation before, the Hansons will again distribute kittens to the whole neighborhood.

And... that would be the end of the regular gameplay highlights. But! Not the end of this round!

...for the Hansons went on a winter vacation!

Not alone, though. Being currently the wealthiest clan, they could very easily afford to take the Anoras (almost all of them, except for little Trevor the infant) with them. (Mina Anora being Terry's sister) Demetria was too young to go, and so grandma Abigail stayed home with her.

They went camping to Three Lakes. Let me give you a short montage of family moments:

Um, Mina?

Mother-son time. (wet)

Siblings catching up!

Quinn getting to meet and befriend his numerous cousins.

And, of course, everyone getting chased by bees.

That would be all for the Hansons! I hope you've enjoyed this easy going round. They were truly the last household in the rotation 10, so the only thing that remains is to write a little summary of the entire thing, and we can move onto the 11th! (Not really. Between the two rotations, there will also be a new chapter of #wormwritings for you to dread.)

[dailyanarchistposts]

FIGHTING FUTURORITY

1. Futurority is the promise of civilization that the human species will continue.

2. Moreover, it is the promise that the 'right' human species will continue.

3. Beyond the promise, it is also the force that it MUST continue.

4. It is white, cis, and hetro; it is the nuclear family and 2.5 children- the house in the suburbs, and the promise of university educated grandchildren to blast into space.

5. Futurority is another way in which we are forced to live forever.

6. It is the legacy of humanity, but also it is the legacy of individual beings, therefore it involves applying force not only to societies reproduction but also to the reproductive capacities of individuals.

7. The force to reproduce civilization and its disciples is applied differently to different individuals but wherever it exists, it is always forced.

8. Sometimes reproducing civilization implies sterilization (for undesirables such as drug addicts, trans people etc), and other times it implies forced reproduction (denial of abortion, heterosexual indoctrination in schools, assimilation of queer sexualities into reproductive logics etc).

9. Historically and currently, this force is disproportionately applied to women and gender non conforming people; placing responsibility of reproduction and maintenance of life squarely in their hands, or wombs.

10. The program of severing women from the knowledge of herbal abortives[6], the rape and forced impregnation of black women during chattel slavery[7] (in order to produce more slaves), and the extraction of genetic materials and then sterilization of trans "patients" are all examples of this force.

11. Abortion is still illegal in many countries worldwide, and even when it is accessible rigid state guidelines are applied and the possibility to abort outside of the medical industrial complex is almost universally illegal; likewise infanticide is universally criminalized.

12. Individuals are separated from their own bodies, from the right to self determine their reproduction (or especially their non reproduction). Sexual organs capable of reproducing, are ultimately the property of the state- whether or not it chooses to exercise its ownership in a given moment.

13. The negative connotations imbued in such desperate characters as the lonely childless old women, the evil solitary gay men, and the pathetic street transsexual are all folklore troupes which (re)enforce the psychic pressure to reproduce rather than die alone or in shame.

14. A perhaps esoteric though none the less real example of the application of this force can be seen in the numerous Reddit threads and National Geographic 'exposes' on "natures worst mothers". Panda infanticide, for example, occurs in an extremely high number of pregnancies (Panda mothers regularly produce 2 infants during a pregnancy and in this case will kill or abandon at least one[8]), yet we are constantly bombarded with the idea that conserving Panda life is a worthwhile cause- the 'cute' panda bastion of conservationists worldwide, bestower of great revenue to domesticators and zoo keepers alike may also provide a shining light in exposing the application of force inherent in futurority; after all whoever heard of a forced breeding program for the Lichen Weevil[9]?

15. Civilization reproduces that which is of value to it and destroys all life which is not.

16. The continuum of futurority always implies the absorption of each new life into the horrors of domination, every new individual born is the property and product of domination, the new recipient of safety, the next candidate for immortality- the latest lamb to the slaughter.

17. Perhaps dominations cleverest tactic, has been to deny simultaneously self determination, and selectively prevent the reproduction of specific communities/groups- making reproduction appear (and in some cases genuinely be) an act of resistance- this paradigm continues to provide civilization with all the bio and necro political material it needs for its own manifestation.

18. When standing on the edge of a precipice between the seeming certainty of the collapse of the current epochs form and the horrific new world which may rise in its ashes- it is sometimes incomprehensible as to why individuals reproduce at all.

19. In the spiraling collapse, the decomposition, the apocalypse (however you choose to name the moment humanity currently finds itself at the center of) the potential for lines of fractious conflictuality to appear in the sphere of reproductive futurority seem infinite and alluring.

20. Yet thus far, the discursive and practical possibilities contained within world ending are ignored in favor of clinging to the idea of survival (and by extension reproduction).

21. The technophiles and modern day prophets of climate change denial dream of emergent colonies on mars, humanist expansion with technological aid, new life born off planet but inside the same civilization[10]; whilst a haphazard brigade of similarly dreamy ideologues on the so called left[11] fight an increasingly meaningless discursive battle against extinction- preaching moderation and 'ecology' in the name of continuing the species.

22. In the end both sides, though they may posture and present themselves endlessly in conflict are merely two sides of the same civilized coin.

23. Whether Eco-fascism or Techno-fascism will rule the next phase of decomposition changes little, the force of reproduction will inevitably remain under either condition though perhaps with mildly different parameters (the co-facists for example will likely place restrictions on the number of beings one can (re)produce especially on those inhabiting the 'global south'[12], whilst the Techno-fascists will likely see greater benefit in having those same persons (re)produce an endless supply of workers for Martian extractivism or other dangerous and brutal off planet projects[13]).

24. Though these realties may sound far off, extreme, or polarized, signs of there becoming already appear in the here and now and are far from 'extreme' when one considers the whole history of civilization in all its horror.

25. These gruesome yet moderate/modest continuations of 'business as usual' under new flags or ideologies will prove little more meaningful than rearranging chairs on the titanic- and ultimately both exist within the same sinking ship of 'civilized' humanity.

26. Of course, reducing all the future possibilities of domination to a dichotomy between Eco and Techno fascism is a somewhat reductive and lazy analysis- there are perhaps myriad other ways futurority may choose to articulate itself in the order of the civilized, though in this moment the two aforementioned incarnations of terror seem the most dominant of those vying for a position in or after the ashes.

27. The desire to analyse the future trajectories of terror, does not negate the fact that the present is also terrifying and horrific.

28. Even if it were possible to imagine that the future could be better, freer, or without domination; the terror of the present still presents adequate reason to reject futurority, to reject (re)production where and when possible.

29. To knowingly inflict the suffering of the now onto new life is a choice, a choice to domesticate another life inside the furnaces of civilization, a choice for which on must ultimately take responsibility if he is in a position to choose it.

30. At the same time, and paradoxically; the (re)production of those lives undesirable to futurority may be a form of resistance to domination- a resistance which carries great violence, pain, and suffering, but a resistance none the less.

31. When faced with this brutal double bind one is forced to choose between a resistance and an ending.

32. The unspoken blasphemy for those wishing to live beyond the walls lies in the total refusal of futurority (personal or societical).

33. The (re)production of society at large may be inescapable (since it is also non consensual) except in moments of direct conflict with it (society), but the personal refusal of futurority is perhaps, in moments, more likely achievable.

34. Staring extinction squarely in the face, perhaps even welcoming it; refusing reproductive futurority, accepting that there is No Future.

35. A mass 'die off' is likely approaching the human species; the task for radicals in this epoch lies in communizing this die off to include the insides of western civilization instead of merely allowing its unchecked continuation outside of it- to communize the 'die off' is to deny futurority.

36. To face and embrace a reality in which one is amongst the final generations of 'humanity' may be the closest thing to hope those struggling against the existent can expect.

37. If futurority falls civilization may crumble.

38. The end of futurority is the end of humanity, but not necessarily the end of individual projectualities.

39. The human being and it's reproduction are the social constructs and material realities of civilization, but the existence of wild beings and their proliferation outside the walls are something yet to be known.

40. Against ideologues who claim the future.

41. And tyrants who enforce tomorrows.

42. Against state ownership of reproductive capacity.

43. And the brutal taming of wild life.

44. Towards the fall of civilization.

45. And the death of futurority.

[allthelittlecreepycrawlies]

Whoops, got caught up in unpacking and almost forgot.

Anyway, you voted for it, you built it!

SangYao

Horror -> Isolation -> An Empty Mansion in the Snowy Mountains

Hallucinations/Being Drugged with a side of Gaslighting/Brainwashing

Captive Escapes, But Captor Wins, But Also Esoteric Happy Ending (phew!)

Both Were Held Captive By Someone Else

There is a purportedly fancy-schmancy event being held at a truly swanky mansion that's supposed to finish being renovated into an inn soon. Jin Guangshan has been invited (read: is being blackmailed) by the owner to attend, and sends Jin Guangyao in his stead.

If he succeeds in getting the owner off his father's case, then great, Jin Guangshan will undoubtedly have more dirty work for him again soon. If he winds up getting killed or something, one less bastard to be an annoyance. Win-win for the old man.

(Jin Guangyao is aware of the precariousness of his mission and is not happy about it, but he doesn't have much say in the matter.)

At the party, he meets Nie Huaisang, who is responsible for the elaborate murals in all the main rooms that the guests are oohing and aahing over, but seems deeply uncomfortable with the whole thing and keeps playing up the eccentric artist by hiding behind a folding fan or his phone for most of the party.

All the guests are given rooms for the night, but when Jin Guangyao and Nie Huaisang wake up and get ready to check out, they find all the other guests are already gone.

And so is the staff.

They can't get a phone to work, and even though they both had full bars and Nie Huaisang was able to text easily the night before, neither of them can get enough signal to get a call through.

It is a long, long walk down to the closest town, and the snow that had been piling up most of the night has now made it so they can't see the road.

Even if none of the phones work, the power still seems to be fine, and the kitchens are stocked, so they decide to hunker down and wait.

When they start seeing and hearing things that might not be real, they discover almost everything in the kitchens has been spiked with... they're not even sure what. But they can't just not eat, so they try to stick with tap water and just fight through the hallucinations by sticking together.

Even as they're hunted from room to room by someone out for revenge by proxy on one of them and permanent ownership of the other.

[brick3621]

Okay, so I've had a sort of passive interest in the Tekken series ever since Kazuya joined Smash Ultimate, and though I've never seized the opportunity to actually play a Tekken game before (except for the Nintendo 3DS version, which sucks), I'd seen/read enough recaps of the series storyline to consider myself familiar with its core lore and themes. Oh, how wrong I was.

For those unfamiliar, it's about a blood feud that kicks off when Heihachi (the guy from Soulcalibur II) tosses his 5-year old son Kazuya (the "DORYAH" guy from aforementioned Smash (not that one)) off of a cliff because he's a dick and because other reasons. Kaz survives due to an esoteric superhuman power within him, swears to get revenge against his father (and to take over the world while he's at it, I guess), trains for the next twenty years, enters the inaugural King of Iron Fist Tournament, thrashes his dad, dumps him off the same cliff from all those years ago, smiles creepily at the camera in all his mid-90s 3D in-engine cutscene glory, and thus ends the first Tekken game.

But see, up until recently, I had been under the impression that Heihachi just left Kazuya for dead. That he set up the tournament with the prize being ownership of the Mishima Zaibatsu because he supposedly no longer had an heir, and was completely blindsided once Kazuya showed up to face him in the finals like "I lived, bitch." Revenge is, after all, best served cold.

Not true, it turns out.

“After this, Kazuya was raised by Heihachi.”

Dude tried to kill his son, failed, went ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, and kept raising him as normal.

And not only that, but he adopted another kid just to piss Kazuya off even more?? Like, I knew the character Lee existed, but I never looked up his story because I assumed he was ancillary to the whole Mishima feud. You’re telling me that Heihachi committed an unforgivable act guaranteed to make his son hate him, discovered Kazuya had demonic superpowers, and his response to this was to take him back in, get another son to play favorites with, and continue training them both to be world-class martial artists?

This whole tidbit is revelatory of the depths of Heihachi’s arrogance, but more importantly, it’s now the funniest, most ridiculous part of Tekken canon to me. Move aside, playable flatulent bear, we’ve got unbearably tense rich-kid birthday parties.

[cats-are-grey]

send 💼 for a work headcanon

Ley owns a bookstore, technically, though she would most likely not consider "bookstore owner" her occupation. Her store, Spell Bound, is located in a small apartment in Gridania, and unless you know it is there, you are not likely to stumble upon it.

Ley grew up in a nomadic Keeper clan, always traveling through the forests. As she grew, she discovered a deep fondness for books, especially old and esoteric texts, but found that her nomadic lifestyle made it hard to keep more than a few books at time. As a result, she got a small place in Gridania, the intent honestly being mostly for storing the tomes and books she comes across. She does however not have a strong sense of ownership either, and occasionally, someone would come to her looking for something specific. She needed money to keep the place where she was storing her books, so she began selling some of them. And eventually, she just had a bookstore, in a way, that doubled as her personal collection.

She also does book-binding and restoration, and mixed in with the old, dangerous, or powerful tomes and texts she has gathered over the years is a somewhat random collection of fiction, adventure and romance novels, poetry, and anything else that has caught her fancy..

She spends as much time traveling as she does at her book-store, and would-be patrons regularly find themselves disappointed if they show up without an appointment, but the caretaker of the apartment building generally agrees to take her messages when she is out.

Thank you for the ask!

[qqchurch]

apropos of nothing, it'd be funny to imagine that the two (or perhaps 3) main jumping off points for G-Witch's Ad Stella timeline versus the Universal Century timeline after watching Gundam Unicorn is that:

Spacenoid/Spacian rights were ratified at the start of the new calendar

Which leads to expansion to space and all major capital moving there (which leads to spacian domination due to ownership of excess resources and the current status quo of corporate feudalism)

"Permet" as it's known in Ad Stella is actually Universal Century's "Psychoframe" tech discovered and implemented earlier; with the logical conclusion of no natural Newtypes present at that point of time leading to the creation of the GUND-Format and the Enhanced Humans (aka Cyber-Newtypes) to take advantage of it; Eri is very likely the first Actual Newtype of Ad Stella (circa G-Witch plot), but her young age and the harshness of space would prove too much for her

all that to say is:

Should G-Witch and Universal Century have a crossover, all the Permet abilities will more or less still work against Psychoframe tech and might even advance to the even more esoteric stuff related to Psychoframes given enough time

The UC tech pre-psychoframe stuff would be "museum pieces" like the NTDS used in the last few episodes, since they would lack Permet/Psychoframes to operate and subsume

==

just some silly thoughts in regards to AU timelines and how they might intersect with UC :)

[dawn-of-worlds]

The Tolinakka at the Dawn of Days

The Tolinakka, firstborn of the mortal races, are beetle-like creatures with four legs arranged around a horizontal lower body, and two arms (ending in six-fingered hands) and an antlered head emerging from a vertical upper body that is connected to one end of the lower body. At full extension they stand almost seven feet in height; they possess both internal bone-like cores and an external chitinous exoskeleton of hues ranging from light blue to black; they feed primarily on fruits, with nectars, flowers and honey providing key delicacies. They are also possessed of a certain lack of fear of death and surety of will that makes them both courageous and bold but also independent-minded and quarrelsome; yet they also have a tendency towards patience and deep contemplation of the world around them.

Traditional Tolinakka society, as founded in the Cradle of Kirrik soon after the Dawn, was focused around small communities of agroforesters, who tended their own patches of fruit-bearing trees and used the surplus to support specialised craftspeople – coppersmiths, carpenters, potters and the like. These Ancient Tolinakka were monogamous and raised their young (often twins) as couples, organised themselves in a semi-democratic fashion around local elders and chiefs, and frequently went to war either over practical matters of land ownership and resources, or over esoteric matters of philosophy.

The Tolinakka were of a philosophical bent from their first creation, and while they revered most of the gods to some degree (with Kirrik and Zoreinak being the most prominent) they did not entirely devote themselves to any of them. They pondered the mysteries of the cosmos, communing with spirits where that offered them knowledge, utilised deep meditations in the hope of gaining insight into the Paths of the Dead, or went on pilgrimages north to the Thunderous Inlet, in the hope of being struck by lightning and gaining enlightenment.

And they argued, constantly, about everything imaginable.

The Tolinakka respected many things, but none more so that being able to make persuasive arguments; particularly favoured were those able to synthesise multiple contradictory arguments into a single thesis. The Tolinakka themselves invented writing early in their history, so as to better record and teach their various philosophical treaties, and soon enough teaching became a respected profession amongst the Tolinakka, and different philosophical schools were founded, expounded on their ideas and developed feuds.

The Tolinakka spread throughout the Cradle mostly through the splitting of communities; as quarrelsome as they were, Tolinakka communities did not get very large before they separated, because the Ancient Tolinakka far preferred to dwell with a small community of those with similar views that a larger community of mixed views. As they spread, the infuence of CHI A ASH brought forth the Cults of Ecstatic Unity. These early cults were organised religion only compared to the “religion” of traditional Tolinakka society; they were not particularly organised groups.

Yet their message of unity and oneness nonetheless made sure they grew larger than other Tolinakka settlements, held together by the influence of the Blackroot plant. This size meant other communities, even if they found the practices of the Cult disturbing or immoral (Zoreinak-primarists in particular took offense to their horn-dulling and opposition to debating), were reluctant to make war upon them. The Cults did not take over Tolinakka society, but became undoubtedly the most powerful single force within it.

Such were the Tolinakka in the time that would one day be referred to as their Golden Age.

[etruatcaelum]

📂

send 📂 for excessively granular hcs

The mainstream, modern practice of auralerie taught in the BASH curriculum follows a five-step process known as the AEGIS model.

Amplification, sometimes alternately referred to as awakening, is the first stage. It involves the conscious release of aura from the soul, and aside from the final stage it is widely considered to be the most difficult: many would-be auralerists never progress beyond the basics here. It takes incredible focus to draw aura out of one’s soul. Traumatic amplification, or in lay terms the spontaneous ‘unlocking’ of aura in response to acute trauma, is almost always dissociative in nature: auralerists who learn to amplify this way are often more powerful than their trained counterparts, but they are also prone to entering altered states of consciousness while amplifying. In extreme cases, traumatic amplification can result in the auralerist experiencing dissociative fugues, mania, or hallucinations whenever they work with aura.

The second stage, extension, focuses on controlling the motion of aura through the body and tools. Once mastery of the first stage is achieved, auralerists generally find extension to be markedly more intuitive and less mentally and physically taxing, although those who experienced traumatic awakenings often struggle to to master the steadiness of control that is desirable here.

Third comes gathering. This is the development of deeper ‘reserves’ by bringing aura up to pool or build up under the surface of the skin—in lay terms, this may be referred to as engaging one’s aura or as raising ‘defensive aura’ or an ‘aura shield.’ In contrast to the continual flow of extension, gathered aura is held still. Its defensive utility is derived from the accumulation of potential energy in the form of trapped aura, which is released when a blow lands and serves to disperse or absorb the incoming force.

Ignition, the fourth stage, takes gathered aura on the offensive. Instead of relying on gathered aura as a mostly passive defensive measure, the auralerist can gather and then release large amounts of aura to propel themself forward or augment their natural strength with auraleric force. These techniques have quite a lot in common with dust-based arts, which likewise require aura to be projected outward.

Within the Vytal League, the third and fourth stages are exclusively taught in combat schools and the huntsmen academies for the same reason that weapons ownership is restricted among civilians: they are, the thinking goes, only of use in battle. (In the sporting realm, ignition is a frequent source of controversy that has led to bans on auralerie in most major sports leagues, comparable to bans on performance-enhancing drugs. Conversely, part of the public appeal of BASH tournaments lies in watching highly-trained auralerists pummel the shit out of each other.)

The fifth stage is simulation, and it concerns the manifestation and cultivation of one’s semblance. Because semblances are unique and intensely personal, little standardized guidance exists for this stage; the BASH curriculum mainly incorporates a variety of meditation exercises. Outside of that curriculum, there exists an enormous array of mystical and esoteric approaches—which has a direct influence on the sheer range and versatility of semblances, as the discovery and development of an auralerist’s semblance will be guided by their understanding of what a semblance is: for example, in cultures where semblances are regarded as expressions of one’s fate, erratic or unpredictable semblances are more common; strong belief and pride in family legacy or community history can produce hereditary semblances; and so forth.

[longlistshort]

"I won't let love destroy me again", 2022, "Maybe I'm not so alone anymore", 2023, "I wish i could erase the memories we made together", 2021

"Past life" 2021, NFT

Above is work by Yosnier Miranda for the 2023 Florida Prize in Contemporary Art at the Orlando Museum of Art. Their work uses digital media as a tool to create the very personal work on view. The works in the exhibition are NFTs (explained below).

The museum's information on the artist and their work-

Yosnier Miranda is the first Generation Z (born after 1996) artist to be included in the Florida Prize exhibition. This generation is characterized by being digital natives, having grown up with the internet and social media as a part of daily life. They are comfortable using those technologies to establish a wide range of virtual relationships and to create or enhance technologies to establish a wide range of virtual relationships and to create or enhance identities in a world where surveillance of self and others is ubiquitous. Miranda was developing their artistic vision in the late 20-teens just as new technologies and platforms became available to help digital artists reach larger audiences and find markets for their work.

A significant catalyst that took place beginnings in 2017 was the emergence of NFTs and platforms that showcased them. NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are unique digital identifiers that cannot be copied. Embedded in a digital art file, an NFT is used to certify the file’s ownership and authenticity. With this technology, digital art, graphics, animations, and videos can be sold and collected like physical artworks. This has given digital artists new opportunities to support their careers and be productive. As NFTs have gained an audience and interest by art collectors, platforms such as OpenSea and SuperRare (on which Miranda is represented) have come online, offering a curated selection of digital artists for collectors to acquire, serving a role similar to that of a traditional art gallery.

Miranda produces their art exclusively in digital media from initial concepts to finished work. Instead of making preparatory sketches, they typically begin with writing notes that focus their thinking about the emotional tone and content they would like to express. Miranda considers their work to be therapeutic, allowing them to delve deeply into their most intimate and heartfelt emotions. Often these emotions involve personal trauma. Miranda feels that there is a certain beauty in the pain they experience, and revealing that in their work is a kind of healing.

Each of Miranda’s graphics presents a heroic figure which is a self-portrait or manifestation of some aspect of their identity. Set in an ethereal realm of pale light and clouds, the hero interacts with a complex array of symbolic forms, creating narratives which are at once both esoteric and universal in their meaning. Miranda’s symbolic language comprises elements of their own invention and iconography drawn from age-old spiritual traditions. Hearts burning, arrows and swords piercing flesh, blood and tears falling, butterflies and flowers proliferating, and providential eyes watching over all are only a few of the symbols the artist uses to express ideas of suffering, sacrifice, redemption, and resurrection. Each work reflects an episode in the hero’s journey and invites us to think of our own quest for recovery and fulfillment.