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suzuran777 · 1 year ago

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Review: Shingakkou -Noli me tangere- (PIL/SLASH)

This is a game I've been wanting to replay for a long time! It has been 10 years, so I had a fun time revisiting it.

The story focuses on protagonist Michael, who's enrolled into a seminary. Excited to finally reunite with his family, Michael and his twin brother Gabby return home during their Christmas holiday, only to find out that someone has killed their parents and sister. To make things even more strange, they find a mysterious mark on the wall, written in their father's blood. Upon returning to the seminary, Michael discovers that this mark belongs to a secret society that exists in his very own school.

It turns out that this secret society is a group of devil worshippers called "Akahebi no Tsuichi" (soil of the red snake). After receiving some hints about how to join, Michael joins their group to find out the true identity of its members. During their first meeting, some of the voices sound familiar to characters you meet earlier in the game... I will try to avoid mentioning any big spoilers in this review because it's more fun to experience it yourself!

The first three routes follow a kind of similar story, you can choose between Leonid, Cecil or Neil. I personally think it doesn't really matter, so I started with Leonid's route. I ended up really liking him. At first he seems like a very serious character who has a lot of responsibilities, but later you learn he also has a different side. Michael often has to help him clean his room because Leonid has a habit of not organizing anything (to put it lightly...). When he does try to organize his belongings, Michael ends up finding shoelaces in tea cans and shirts stuffed in drawers... He's voiced by Midorikawa Hikaru who is in a lot of older BL games, so maybe I'm biased.

I guess it's important to mention that it definitely feels more like a horror game than a mystery game, so after playing the first route you kinda know what to expect from the next routes already, but it's still interesting to see how each character reacts to everything that happens in the game imo! I played Neil's route next, followed by Cecil's route. I thought Neil's personality was really fun, he teases Michael a lot but he also has a serious and caring side. I must admit that Cecil wasn't really my type, but he's Michael's closest friend and I'm sure there's many people out there who do enjoy childhood friend characters.

After playing the first three routes... it was time for August's route. And oh boy this is where things get a lot worse for Michael! I like how you can still choose who tops and bottoms by the way, which you can do for every character in this game. I remember I somehow didn't expect August of all characters to bottom LOL... I actually quite liked the ending because it's so different than the previous three routes. Some very cool symbolism at the end of his route too which is hard not to appreciate! August's route unlocks Gabby's route, which is the final route of the game.

So, one thing you immediately notice in the first routes is that not many people seem to talk to Gabby, he mostly chats with Michael. When him and Michael get too close to the lake, which is kind of a prohibited area to visit, only Michael gets scolded for being there. One of the only exceptions is when August talks to them, who mentions both of them. I promise everything does make sense eventually and I actually really liked Gabby's route and ending... It was also fun to learn more about the side characters!

I think it was interesting to see how the game handled topics like religion. I remember I wasn't sure if I would like a game with these kind of themes, but it was actually quite good. Even though the seminary has very strict rules, many of the students have different interpretations of what religion should mean to someone. In the end it turns out Leonid is not very religious at all and wants to create a world in which same-sex marriage is accepted, and even Neil, who's revealed to be a pastor in his own route, thinks it's fine that people sometimes question if God really exists. At the end of the game Michael also mentions that maybe the god they believe in isn't the one that is literally described in the bible, but that he still believes that there is something out there.

I thought the horror in this game was pretty well done too, not super scary but it never failed to surprise me. As the route progresses, Michael starts having more and more nightmares and hallucinations. Demons, bugs, ghosts etc. Some scenes have these "jumpscares" but I wouldn't say they're too bad. What caught me off guard is whenever the faces of the other characters became weirdly distorted, which was quite creepy.

I guess my only "complaint" would be that it's one of these games in which every route doesn't really have a completely different story, therefore it can get a bit tedious when you have to complete Leonid, Cecil and Neil's route before you can play August's route, which unlocks Gabby's route. I always try to play every route though, so for me it was no big problem.

I was actually surprised there's a completed Shingakkou manga which focuses on Neil's route! I think it has also been fan-translated, so if you do want to get a feeling what the game is like before playing it, it might be an option to read that instead. Shingakkou hasn't been translated into English, but it's very easy nowadays to download a tool like Textractor and to play it using machine translation. I definitely recommend checking it out yourself!

#shingakkou #shingakkou noli me tangere #pil/slash #blvn #blvisualnovel #blvnreview #review

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khaire-traveler · 1 year ago

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hey, so im kinda new here but i was just scrolling and saw a post you made in like december of last year (im really late i know, im sorry) saying that the gods aren't going to harm you and won't toy with you, and um, i really mean no disrespect at all with this, this is a genuine question, and i in no way mean to bash you bc i love the greek gods too, but like don't the greek myths show the exact opposite of that? like zeus and poseidon legit flooding the whole ass earth just to get rid of humans? and so many different occasions where the gods smite humans bc of a tiny offense? or actually just toying with mortals because they find it funny? and just basically doing really questionable things to humans all the time? i love them and all, but isn't it a bit of a stretch to say that they wouldn't harm humans when they literally did for all of humanity's existance per the myths?

Hello, Nonny, thanks for the question! I appreciate that you were trying to be respectful. 🧡

Firstly, I would like to say that I made that post last year. My thoughts and opinions have shifted over time, and that post was mostly made with the intention of comforting those who needed it (including myself, at the time). Posts like that don't offer enough context to express what a person actually believes/practices. I still would like to believe that gods don't just fuck with people or harm them in really shitty ways, but this is due to personal experience, as are most things within this type of religion. It's very heavily based on each individual's experiences with the gods. I have never met two people with the same exact practice or even interpretation of the gods; something is always a little bit different, even if it's a very small difference.

Secondly, these are myths that you're referencing. Even in ancient times, they were not interpreted literally all the time. This isn't really the type of religion that I would suggest people interpret myths literally, and I don't mean that in a rude way. It simply doesn't make sense to me to do that, especially when the culture of the ancient Greeks was so vastly different from the modern day. In fact, many of the major "issues" people have with Greek myths can be explained by a difference in culture and ways of thinking. If you choose to interpret myths literally, go for it, but I personally find the gods to be VERY different from the myths people told of them.

You have to remember as well that it's not as if these myths were written by the gods themselves or something; some old ass white men were probably the ones writing that stuff down, and they lived in a culture where men had all the rights and privileges (this is all to say that many myths treat women like shit for a reason: the culture viewed women as being worth less than literal animals).

The Greek myths are not scripture. I feel that basing one's views of the gods solely on myths is extremely limiting and, in my experience, inaccurate. Zeus has treated me very kindly, even helping me escape from the worst abuser I've ever faced; Poseidon has been very respectful, gently approaching me and randomly just popping up for assistance throughout my life; Apollo has been a light in the darkness for me during many times of need, always willing to guide me when I've lost my way. The gods can be depicted in myths one way but act in an entirely different way in reality.

That said, however, the gods are complex beings, similarly to humans. They are capable of feeling any emotion - sadness, happiness, anger, disgust, etc. Of course they're bound to get upset at humans from time to time, but I don't believe they would act maliciously towards someone randomly or for a super petty reason. They can be kind, loving, and sweet, but being multifaceted, they can also be cruel, spiteful, and angry. I would argue that rarely does a worshipper experience the more "unpleasant" side of the gods, but it does happen, I'm sure. I just believe that the gods will not go out of their way to just "mess with people", if that makes sense. For example, I don't believe Aphrodite would ruin someone's life for making a one-off comment about how their partner is "as/more beautiful as/than Aphrodite". Like, why would she care? Especially if that person doesn't even worship her, why does it matter what that person says? It's just some random person, and she has much better things to do than spend her time ruining their life for a compliment to their lover. The gods simply have better things to do and/or are more mature than that. They're thousands upon thousands of years old; I'm sure they know how to handle someone who called them a mean name or said something "hubristic" in a respectful and disciplined way, especially if that person isn't a worshipper/doesn't believe in their existence.

Of course, there are people who would disagree with me, and that's perfectly fine. There is no right or wrong belief when it comes to these things. The beauty of this religion is that you're free to think whatever you want. If you want to believe that Hermes is the god of Monster Energy™, you're absolutely free to do so! If you want to believe that saying someone is as beautiful as Aphrodite is insanely disrespectful and not ok, then you're free to think that as well. There's nothing wrong with believing whatever feels right to you, but just remember that at the end of the day, religion should be a generally positive experience for you. It should make you feel good in some way, be that happiness or fulfillment or even comfort. Religion shouldn't make you feel uncomfortable, unhappy, and unsafe constantly. There are times where religion - especially this one imo - will test your limits or push boundaries, but it shouldn't make you feel like shit all the time.

Ok, anyway, I apologize for going into a tangent lol. I hope this gave a sufficient answer to your question. Believe whatever you feel is right, Nonny. I may believe that the gods are kind (although they certainly can behave otherwise, being multifaceted), but you're welcome to believe the opposite. There is no one single way to interpret the gods; it's different for everyone. The only recommendation/advice I have for you is to base your views of the gods on personal experience rather than myths. Myths are just that: myths. They are meant to teach lessons or explain the nature of the world. Sometimes they're even just meant to show examples of a god's wrath/why you should respect the gods. Point being here that they aren't usually meant to be taken literally, and I personally would not recommend doing so, but it's entirely your choice.

I hope this helped and gave you a good answer! Take care, and have an awesome day/night. 🧡☺️

#helpol #anon asks #answered asks #hope i worded this well #it's 1am and i am in greece atm so sorry if the wording is weird #I'm insanely tired and a little bit buzzed lol

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jimin-my-sunshine · 2 months ago

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hi! could you explain kinda what twin flames are? and how you're connected with jungkook and jimin? :)

Putting it simply, twin flames are the other half of you and your 'essence', 'spirit' or 'soul'- whatever term best suits your own beliefs when it comes to such things.

My apologies in advance, because this may be long, due to how it's not really something I can respond to in a short reply.

You can have one, or you can more than that, contrary to popular beliefs that are full of conditioning- where people try and speak for you- telling you how many you can have.

This is a very personal and unique journey for everyone and YES everyone has these connections, regardless of what some people may say.

Some have it in their mind where only a 'chosen' select few are twin flames and that's ridiculous lol

The easiest way to know this is not true, is by looking at media in movies. They depict finding 'the one' ~

Which means many people are drawn to the aspect of twin flames, even without knowing it has a term.

I'm not one for labels and I find them to be very damaging, but they can also be useful as well, if used appropriately.

You are one with this person/people in every aspect and that's where the real meaning comes behind calling the connection 'twin flames'.

You share the same DNA, despite being born in a different nationality and you are the same person, but in another physical form.

You share the same life goals, your childhood's will have been remarkably similar and you mirror each other- being the same in several ways when it comes to your behavior, the mannerisms you use and even how you speak.

Jimin and Jungkook have known what they are to each other for a very long time now, since they have been saying their motto for years.

"You are me and I am you..."

This is what it means to be a twin flame and they have very openly told everyone from the beginning what they share.

It's true that these are lyrics are from Jimin's song 'Serendipity', but they could have chosen any line from the song- ergo, making it very obvious what their message is here.

As for my connections with them, I have known what I have with them since mid 2016 ~

As for in general, I've known of Jimin's existence since I was a small girl- and he was a mere little boy.

I just didn't know his identity ~

That's how long I have been on my journey, but I never knew it had a term and a name, until a few months before BTS came into my life.

At that point, it was obvious to me what Jimin was and it was almost like I felt like I had 'come home' somehow, because I just looked at him differently and recognized him as being the one who has been 'communicating' with me- since I was a little girl all this time.

I had a very difficult childhood and honestly, if Jimin hadn't of reached out intuitively to me like he had, I never would have survived.

I knew from the time I was a little girl- that I would meet someone who was just like me and we would love each other (unconditionally and just in general) and be together forever.

It didn't understand it at all and it seemed really strange to my six year old self, but I felt it as real as my own heartbeat and it became the only reason for me to continue living.

I would find this person, some how, some way and nothing would keep us a part.

As for Jungkook, I didn't recognize what he was to me for some time- due to those conditioning beliefs I told you about up above there.

I was confused, because Jungkook also stood out to me in ways that I couldn't explain and then I began to notice how him and Jimin started to say their motto "You are me and I am you". It all made sense to me by that point.

If he was Jimin's other half, then he was obviously mine as well and even though it took some getting used to- due to my own beliefs I grew up around- since my family was in a very strict religion- I needed to work on myself and let go of what I had grown up with.

Which is easier said then done, since from a small child, we are basically told what to think, how to feel and various other things that are programmed into us by our parents.

It took a few years, but I was able to let most of it go (We are human after all, so we DO hold onto some things, since we are naturally imperfect) and now I can say with confidence that I accept how I have two twins and not just one- because having two twin's really messed me up for a while. This is due to the conditioned beliefs of the religion I used to be a part of.

Considering how you are only supposed to give yourself to one man and one man only and how anything else is sinful- that's what I grew up with, so I had to reshape my entire mind pretty much and try to rewire it to think differently.

I thought it was wrong to love two men unconditionally like I did and I struggled through some really rough times, because of it- but I persevered through and I have now become so much more stronger, since I am in my own personal element now.

It's been about three years since things have settled down and I am so glad that I never gave up on it, because the twin flame journey is all about self love, unconditional love and helping you grow into becoming the best version of yourself that you can possibly be.

It's not about people coming to rescue you and save you- it's about people coming into your life and showing how YOU can save YOURSELF and helping you along the way with their assistance that they offer you.

We can't do anything in our lives without help and who better to give us the strength and courage, than our other half/halves?

Feel free to send me an 'ask' if you have any further questions, or if you have something else you wish to say ~

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sunset-peril · 6 months ago

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You know, sometimes I worry...

When I write about Ganondorf. Admittedly, part of it is due to me seeing him as attractive.

However, his association with Demise gives me pause.

I want to treat others' religions with a degree of respect. Not because they are true, nor because I think they are good. But more so, because I view them as expressions of a culture's values.

So, while I know in my heart that they are wrong, I see value in acknowledging their existence. Which is why I don't like it when people try to fit other religions into the shape of Christianity, because, simply put, they aren't Christianity.

And we shouldn't try to treat them as if they are. For one, it's an insult to God.

So, while I can definitely see the Christian overtones in LoZ, at its core, I see it as its own thing. A wonderful story, but still just a story.

At the same time, I suppose that, subconsciously, I want to portray Ganondorf as a person who as been raised astray. But, at the same time, someone who can still be saved. From Demise.

Perhaps, I see it as a symbol of how far redemption can reach? Or, at least, I think that's what I'm going for. Because I don't see Ganondorf as Demise. Not even really, as Demise's hatred reborn.

More so as a man unfortunate enough to act as Demise's pawn.

And maybe I use a tiny amount of elements from my own real-world beliefs, but I don't want this to be an outright... allusion.

Like, if it were, then I think that Ganondorf would already be doomed. Period. End of story.

I guess my problem is that I see the parallels & the implications. Like, even though the closest thing the games have to an actual devil allegory is Demise & I never intend to redeem him, I still sometimes worry that I'm playing a dangerous game.

Perhaps... perhaps I can make it an allegory for Jesus' victory? Subtextually, I mean.

I dunno, I'm struggling because the closer I get to Him, the more I want to live in a way that will do right by Him. But sometimes I look at the things I write & worry a bit about if the things I write are wrong.

Like, obviously, some of the subject matters are wrong, but like I said before, I try to acknowledge that such things are wrong.

Try being the key word, I'm afraid that I don't always succeed.

It's somewhat like the struggle you were having earlier, but with a much more important Judge.

Do you sometimes worry the same?

I'm sorry to put this on you, but I suppose that I've been thinking lately is all.

Or today, at least.

Hmm, that's a tricky one. I'd phone in C.S. Lewis if I could.

Allow my to ramble my rambles and pray they make any sense/are helpful.

Personally I feel like I'm always going to be more inclined to produce that more allegory-like material, so I tend to be real careful with religiously bound figures. Zelda's also an interesting one because the Book of Magic was literally the Bible in the Japanese version and Link to the Past has an official artwork of Link literally praying at a crucifix and it appears that Nintendo America's "no real religions" policy was what threw it into... whatever we have now. So I feel it definitely depends on which game you're directly spitting at. Personally, I've only played the Three "Breath" games, Skyward Sword, and a liiitttlleee of Twilight. And Skyward especially I feel is one of the closest we got to having an allegory like that, with Breath's Gerudo deviating from Hylia to the Heroines (as the old lady mentioned) reminding me of modern times. I've always kinda seen Nayru, Din and Farore/the Triforce as kind of a Holy Trinity reference that they had to split out from Hylia due to the No Real Religions thing, but that could be me being... optimistic might be the word? I know Japan is not a Christian country, but Miyamoto was obviously making a point with the first couple of Zelda games having those very overt themes and so a lot of me wants to believe he's continued to sneak those in.

I've been that way too, recently. I've noticed I've collected a lot of spirits that I'm... not sure if I want to keep in there. Saint-like characters? Sure. But I'm talking more like Egyptian gods kinda thing. Which I definitely don't want. Quite a bit of the Hateno Village stuff is loosely based or inspired off the big ol mess that's called my life so I think I'm more comfortable putting that in there because to me that is redemption. Link's story there, from the tragic story of his parents to him breaking that "curse" of inbreeding by marrying Zelda who is 100% not related to him because all of the 'worldly' ways Link, his family, his tribe, try to fix it just blow up even further, but the journey he (and later Zelda) takes through faith ends up being better than the solution they crafted with their own force (ah let's not cry here).

However, I think it's good to remember that we're sucky little humans who are really good at "Hey, don't do the thing!" *does the thing* (and I can laugh while saying that because my Xanax is still active haha.) That's literally the whole point of Jesus coming here in the first place and while definitely don't discount that or use it as an excuse, it's good to keep in mind.

What I also try to do is I try to always look for my 'why'. Do I want this because its trendy currently? Am I looking for shock value? Do I need to stick my face in cold water and come back to this concept in a week or two when I'm less hormonal? (This happens often when I'm fooling with those darn Wolfbred, I have to be really careful who I bounce ideas off of with them, because their story can very easily tumble into a dumpster fire of Bad if I'm not being very careful, which is why I currently don't permit myself to write any fics where an important part of the main premise is Wolfbred in the Spring because that's been a problem in the past). Usually I require myself to hold new lore for a week so I can take a good long look at it outside of whatever influence I may be under. I have done absolutely 0 holding of lore recently and I have been telling myself off about it for a while because I should be. Especially with those Wolfbred, who I am the worst about holding lore for!

And there's definitely different types of "putting God in the story".

Allow me to quote from this video

There's the Complete Allegory (Aslan - Narnia)

Partial Allegory where some parts of God are represented, but not Him in His entirety (Gandalf's defeat of the Balrog - Lord of the Rings)

Different World/Different Name - Same God; where its very clear that characters worship God simply under a different name (God being named "The Maker" in Wingfeather Saga, and I've actually played with this one before in an original concept where He is called "The Protector" and the major village where His people are located is "Ecclesia" (Named after the Greek city from Ecclesiastes because apparently Past Me is clever)... I think it will work better as a children's book because I cannot think of any coherent young adult/new adult concepts for it. It would also help if I didn't leave myself SUCH CRYPTIC NOTES)

Ahem. Anyways

There's also the Biblical Retelling, self explanatory (a fantasy take on Ruth's story in A Bond of Briar's... or a massive chunk of VeggieTales)

Themes - Biblical messages and values are passed on without God's explicit mention (I throw this one around a lottttt)

Symbolism - Baby allegory. No one character symbolizes God, but objects or situations reflect Him

~~~

I don't think I've really gotten to the point. I think I've just run my mouth.

But yeah, I think maybe stopping yourself and really getting a look at why you include what you include/why you want to write that specific thing is a nice place to start! Maybe I'm too much of an old stickler for this one but I try not to let myself play with other religions. I've seen a lot of good people get stuck to Greek/Roman/Egyptian gods out of what was originally a good intention of cultural awareness or simply scholarly intrigue. Although I am a former furry/therian so I hold myself to very rigid standards about how I interact with non-Christian materials, especially ones without humans or with extremely humanized animals, and this probably isn't a necessary standard for everyone. (Don't get me started on my conspiracy regarding Warrior Cats and Wings of Fire being a pipeline to this. I'll never go to bed and I have to be awake in 6.5 hours.)

But ooh! Allegories and shenanigans! The Pride Wars is a good read while I'm thinking of Narnia/Lord of the Rings/etc. Anti-Religion-Only-Science Kingdom meets Very Religious Kingdom. Anti-Religion kingdom's heir turns out to be able to tell magic parables/fables. It's got a lot of Hebrew woven in as well, and follows that Different World, Same God setting. (God is named Alayah)

I'm fond of this proverb from the second book (which I still need to finish... I should really just buy them). I think it's a paraphrase of a Bible verse, but if so, the verse it paraphrases escapes me

#sunset's thought trading #unsolicited book recommendations #okay now I really gotta go to bed #oof this was long #sleep time #hope this helps!#if not i'll answer more questions tomorrow

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thestarsdiplomat · 8 months ago

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I can tell you that God and the devil sat down last night ... they showed up to hear 3 prayers ... 2 times they both present themselves. They were both listening , both made their presents known and both acknowledged.. The 1st prayer consisted of showing strength and kindness as well as knowledge . The 2nd prayer was made for everyone who needed help .. Prayed for my family, ME, my Angels and demons ( who prayers for thier demons ? Non the less they got prayer ) . Than helped someone in need just to get slapped in the face. Again offered advice that shouldn't have been offered but hey why not ... in those instances both GOD and Satan were told who I was . Didn't hide it ... I was Job in that lesson ... and a little bit of Jesus came out while I was giving advice .. but both of them understood. I can tell you that Neither of them believed me when I said who I was , but we met ALL in the same place , same time same surroundings , mind you I was Job and Satan was showing me how little my life was to him so of course it wasn't a pretty sight .. unfortunately I wasn't shown the same kindness that I show others actually my heart was broken 💔 purposely. By a man I respected , very successful man a Godly man ... so it was kinda like a slap in the face on both sides ... I can tell you that in my experience GOD and Satan can exist in the same relm together,, they do sit down and talk ... Both hear your cries , Both hear prayer 🙏.... they both will answer ... it's rare that they both answer the same prayer ... but when it happens it's because it's what NEEDS TO HAPPEN ... Both of them sat down with the universe and they ALL decided... this prayer needed to be answered .. it may not have been the answer I wanted but the answer was needed ... my last prayer was for bed time.. as you know I have been tested like Job for almost 3 years ... so of course we have free will and the right to choose , religion , who and how we worship , our spiritual job , our real job , our hobbies , our relationship, OUR life , we have our constitutional rights as humans . We have Freedom in the USA , and FREEDOM TO LIVE !! I can tell you that my rights have been deprived, and my life totally destroyed.. I mean this is shouldn't be allowed to happen to anyone like EVER .. and without actual justification. And honestly I see why the future spiritually is the way it is. So my prayer was for my nightmare to end , for the constant pain to stop, for the confusion to stop , for the abuse to stop , because a human can not constantly focus on spirituality alone. Human have to eat sleep go to work school and as for their spiritual job they make rules , regulations and boundaries and a human SPIRIT needs to be attached to that human vessel not without . Universal rules and regulations, time planes , relms ect.. so I prayed to take sickness away , I prayed to take confusion away , I prayed for Life , I prayed to have all this disrespect stop . And I mean come on . Do you really have to pray for the common sense? OBVIOUSLY RIGHT maybe GOD just isn't in the mood for helping ? Or maybe he isn't in the mood for common sense? And to be honest GOD and Satan are not respected anymore ... they aren't FEARED ... I can tell you I haven't lost my faith but sometimes I think that Satan would win in a fight just because of the lack of God's Presents, the lack of help , the lack of care , the lack of miracles , the lack of HELP .. because I use to think that God was All powerful and that one look from him would slaughter anything , but that miracles ... if anything miracles ... So I can tell you they both answered .. they both started moving, heaven and hell started to move ... I can tell you that hells gates are opened and armies are being deployed... I can tell you the first gate of heaven opened ... so again God hears my prayers... God bless America because I can tell you right now we aren't prepared for what's about to happen .

#heaven #hell #notpreparedforthiswar #America #who will win #Godvssatan #whoisinchargeinthewhitehouse #Bidenmadeittoheaven #Bidengotexercised #prayers #justbehappyandlive #smile #say i love you #trustmetheyknowthateverythingisgoingbacktothem #goddosntworkforyou

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deathwords334 · 11 months ago

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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...

#neil gaiman #good omens #good omens au #ineffable husbands #aziracrow #dogma #Should probably come up with a name right?#Good Dogma #future fanfic #idk what else to tag #idk what im doing #oh well

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singular-yike · 1 year ago

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JynX mentioned that Buddhism is important to the Devanagara Royal Family. What sort of assumptions would someone from Japan make about the Royal Family (the customs, operations, ect) based on that?

(I know you're not Japanese but you do know Japanese mythology stuff and religion is kinda close to that, right? Sorry in advance if this question is too tricky, I'm just really interested in what could potentially be some lost common sense assumptions.)

Buddhism and Devanagara Court Culture

This is quite the tricky question, and there's a lot of history to go through, ones that I'm not all too familiar with. So all I can promise is that I'll try to find what I can.

What We Have in Canon

On Buddhism's Relationship With the Devangaran Court

I assume you're drawing from this question in the 2021 interview with JynX (Q117), which, I should clarify actually states the reverse of what you've mentioned.

Q: How strong exactly is the dominance of Buddhism in Devanagara? Does it have a privileged position established in the law? Are other religions accepted by the capital's residents? A: Buddhism doesn't really hold anyone in a special position outside of the sovereign family (imperial family), although the Department of Divinities and such do exist. Other religions are accepted as well, rather similar to modern Japan.

It says that "Buddhism treats the Imperial family specially", rather than the other way around, that "the Imperial family treats Buddhism specially".

Still, it's absolutely not a stretch to say that it's likely for Buddhism to be intertwined with a lot of the court's proceeding either, especially considering the numerous references to Buddhism in Devanagara as a whole.

Buddhism and Devangara as a Whole

So, let's first take a quick look at what we already have regarding connections between the two, which are mainly twofold:

One, the Imperial family seems rather fond of using Sanskrit, which is largely tied to Buddhism in Japan, we have:

Devanagara (Unclear, possibly देवनगर): "Holy Capital", also found on the Fujiwara dynasty's crown

Rudhira (रुधिर): "Blood"

Dhanya Nakta (धन्यनक्त): "Fortunate/Blissful Night""

To be clear, we aren't sure if the Devanagarans actually named the Rudhira, though considering they named both their capital and state-run casino in Sanskrit, its safe to say that they're quite fond of the language.

Two, Buddhism and the architecture of Devangara are closely related.

For one, buildings of religious and historical significance are preserved despite the rapid modernisation, this no doubt includes the Buddhist buildings of Devanagara, most notable the Pagoda of the Heavenly Mirror.

And secondly, the capital's popular architectural style seems to be styled after the pagoda of Buddhist origins, said to imitate the building in which the Buddha's remains, called śarīra.

Below: The common Devanagaran skyscraper and the Hōryū Temple's five-story pagoda, the oldest one of its kind in the world.

What the Audience is Meant to Take Away

To close off the first section, let's take a look at what I think (and I do stress "think", I'm not Japanese after all) JynX intended for the audience to take away from all this.

Firstly, I think you can be at ease that there's not much the average audience is really intended to "get", outside of making the observation that Devangara is heavily inspired by Buddhism.

Buddhist practices are of course very well known and observed in Japan, though I don't think you could quite extend this to mean that they'd know the religion in a very in-depth sense.

In other words, everyone, Japanese or overseas, is gonna have to do (perhaps even copious) amounts of research to really get JynX's elaborate references, so no worries there, we're all in the same, very confusing boat.

Secondly though, as far as I can tell, Buddhism seems to inform the aesthetic undertones of the city and its culture, but it does not seem to inform the city's system of government.

Why is Buddhism Not a Clue?

So this is turning out to be rather sour, isn't it? I do apologise for that. Still, there is more to go, and we can start with how I came to this conclusion:

What we now know as "Japanese Buddhism" and "Shinto" used to be very closely intertwined, almost treated as one thing.

Buddhism was introduced during the late Kofun period (552 to 538), and by the Asuka period (592/593 to 710) it had already been widely accepted by both the people and the imperial court.

While the specific details may vary, the two belief systems came to linked together as one, this is referred to by scholars as shinbutsu-shuugo (神仏習合), the "syncretism of kami and buddhas".

This lasted from the Asuka period, all the way up to the Meiji period, during the Meiji restoration.

Specifically, the Meiji government issued the Kami and Buddhas Separation Order (神仏判然令) in 1868, leading to the shinbutsu-bunri (神仏分離), the "separation of kami and buddhas", ending almost 1300 years of the two religions being treated as one.

The point of this story, is to realise that we're trying to retroactively and anachronistically apply a modern category of "Japanese Buddhism" onto a court system clearly modelled after that of Asuka or Heian era Japan.

As Buddhism and Shinto freely mixed back then, practices are rarely able to be traced back to either one specifically, or rather, it is because of this very mix that Japan's many unique customs and observances emerged.

In other words, JynX is able to be really creative and selective with what he wants Devanagara to be like. He could apply what has nowadays been extracted out of the old syncretistic system as Japanese Buddhism and simply apply that onto Devanagara.

Alternatively, he could get creative and mix in other elements as well. We actually already have one such example of this, the writing of Sanskrit in Devanagari.

Japan never adopted the writing of Sanskrit in its native script(s) (various Brahmi scrips back then), but rather, they either transliterated Sanskrit terms into kanji characters or simply translated the terms based on meaning (more often than not by borrowing their Chinese counterparts).

Yet we see, on the Fujiwaran crown for example, that Devangara in fact uses modern day Devanagari to write Sanskrit. How widespread this is in Devanagara is of course unknown, but its certainly something that you wouldn't find with Japan.

Why Buddhism is a Clue

I know I just did a whole thing explaining why Buddhism doesn't really work as a clue for us to figure out more about Devangara, let alone its court, but that's not entirely true either.

The information we have in canon about Buddhism and Devangara indeed doesn't tell us much, but we can use Buddhism's major presence in Devanagara as a small piece of a much bigger puzzle, and through it figure out what Devangara's imperial court could be mirrored after.

Ending

However, I do think that this answers the original questions.

"What is the average Japanese audience supposed to glean about the imperial family from the Buddhism's heavy presence in Devanagara?"

Honestly, nothing special. It doesn't tell us much about the imperial family at all, perhaps other than that they likely hold Buddhist beliefs as well.

Rather, it could tell us, if only a small bit, about the general culture surrounding Buddhism in Devangara. It's the main religion of the city, informing much of the city's culture and aesthetics, and it's highly respected by even the ruling class.

I think I'll also make a companion post to this one, explaining what one might be able to glean about Devangara's government using its ties to Buddhism as a clue.

I do apologise for ending it on a sour note, that this line of thinking just goes nowhere, but that is the conclusion I came to, and I'd like to be honest about it.

On a brighter note though, I must thank you for the ask regardless! It is precisely during my research for this post that I realised that the capital's ties to Buddhism can be used to further learn about its basis as a whole!

I hope the follow up will kinda make up for this one being a downer.

I do admit that even then it won't bring us much about the day-to-day culture of the imperial family though, since so much of court culture was dependant on religion and influence from China, Devangara is rather hard to apply it all to.

But until then, I hope you enjoyed this one all the same~! :)

#len'en #len'en project #len'en lore #devanagara

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gb-patch · 2 years ago

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I hope this doesn't come across as rudeor accusatory because that's not what I'm intending. I just don't understand.

How would letting us choose for Opal to wear a hijab be giving the player too much control over the world? There wouldn't have to be any mention of religion. Not even throw away lines about it.

Christians and Jewish people and atheists all get to view her as a member of their faith or as having no religion, but Muslims can't. it just feels kinda like being snubbed, like we're prevented from having the same level of connection that other people get.

All it would be is an optional haircut basically. I mean it would be nice to be able to have minor references to a picked religion but I completely understand why there won't be and how it wouldn't really fit in with the game. But just that one piece of artwork of a hijab or shayla would give us the option of seeing her the same way most other religious people can.

The only way it would make sense to me as having too much control is if she had a canon religion/lack of religion. Otherwise it just feels kinda bad to be unable to relate to the mom in the same way so many other people can.

It’s not rude, people can disagree with the things I decide to do with the game. And I’m sorry my response was disappointing.

For all intents and purposes Opal is irreligious. Nothing in the game will denote a specific belief. The MC has tons of choices, so it's easy to make them do things that follow certain religions, but for Opal there's no illusions of that. So while some people can still headcanon her as loosely or more casually religious, depending on the religion, that’s something out of my control rather than something I’ve made part of the game. Adding a hijab option is making your mom’s religion a choice. That’s an important distinction.

To try to better explain why that makes things different, I’ll pose the question; what are most players really gonna think if we add in the option to have a hijab and call it a day? Most won’t have seen this conversation or understand any backstory/context for the choice, it’ll be merely another feature. This is what I imagine the reaction will be-

There will be those who never wanted or expected to be able to control their mother’s religion thinking that it’s breaking with the premise of the MC just being a normal person in the world because they somehow can control their mother's beliefs, they’ll be those who would want to canonize their mom’s religion as something else feeling totally left out because the only one that can be noted is Muslim and she has no shown religion otherwise, and then there will be Muslim players who see the feature and initially think it’s nice and use it to then only have the dismissive experience of the game putting a hijab on the mom and doing nothing else to have her be a practicing Muslim. For a majority of players, I believe it will hurt the experience and our company will have released something that flat out did a poor job in creating a quality, cohesive addition to the game.

Where I'm coming from as a developer is that it’s not about going for 1% because that’s at least more than 0%; it’s about having something that isn’t an element in an experience vs. it being a factor. 0 to 1 is tiny, that's true, but non-existence being changed to an actual part of the project is something that has a major impact on what you've created. Once something is a feature, it’s a feature and you have to do it right. If you can’t do it right then you don’t add that feature, and OL: N&F just can’t do customizing the religion of an NPC right. Because it’s not how the game choices were intended to function on a design level and because it’d be a huge amount of work to have Opal properly follow every religion anyone might want her to have, which is the only way I'd be comfortable having that be an acknowledged and customizable element of her character.

However, none of that means you’re wrong in wanting it or if your stance remains that a little is better than nothing. This is all just my reasoning for not making it a feature. If you decide you don’t want to play because the lack of that feature means you can’t relate to the parental figure, I don’t blame you and I'm sorry it worked out like this.

#our life #our life: now & forever #ask #gb patch games #gb patch

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miammey · 3 years ago

Text

(Some) BSD Poly-Ships I like and Why + Headcanons I think

I say “some” because these are just the ones I can think of rn, I’m doing this out of boredom

Minor Manga Spoilers!! Characters, basically

Dazai x Chuuya x Kunikida

⁃ I don’t think this one’s that uncommon

⁃ Dazai x Chuuya and Dazai x Kunikida are obvious, but you can’t tell me Chuuya and Kunikida wouldn’t get along personality wise

⁃ Seriously, they’d complain about their coworkers and work and stuff over lunch. I just think they’d vibe

⁃ My idea for how they start this relationship is so oddly specific

⁃ Basically, Dazai and Chuuya dated in the mafia, not the best relationship, broke up when Dazai left, yada yada

⁃ Dazai started dating Kunikida after a few years in the Agency, because Dazai’s apparently into men who can beat the shit out of him

⁃ Later, Dazai and Chuuya reunite as Double Black, want to maybe try with their relationship again and make it work now that Dazai’s trying to grow as a person

⁃ Thing is Dazai and Kunikida are together so uh oh

⁃ While Dazai is trying to figure out how to relationship again, Kunikida and Chuuya meet, and get along well

⁃ Really well

⁃ Shenanigans happen, and boom, they’re all dating. That solves all of Dazai’s relationship problems

⁃ It’s so stereotypical but I think it’s cute, and it works

Ranpo x Poe x Mushitarou

⁃ A classic

⁃ Mushitarou gets dragged into ranpoe’s lovey-dovey murder mystery relationship and can’t process it properly

⁃ Like, they invite him to cuddle and stuff and he just bluescreens

⁃ Seriously, I doubt he was ever in a serious relationship before

⁃ Then bam! Two loving boyfriends that adamantly refuse to leave him out

⁃ I don’t have too much to say, I just this they’d be soft and kinda awkward, and also very cute

⁃ Also, we need canon interactions between Mushitarou and Karl, it’s a sin we don’t have any that I can think of

⁃ This one is so short compared to the other two, I just really don’t know what else to add (if you have an headcanons please tell me)

Dazai x Chuuya x Jouno x Tecchou

⁃ First quartet and it was created in my head out of spite

⁃ No seriously, I started thinking of this after I saw some stuff saying “suegiku is better than soukoku blah blah blah” and I’m prone to getting angry for no reason

⁃ Seriously! Both pairs can exist at the same time without any interference, ship wars are so stupid I can’t (and this is coming from someone who ships suegiku practically like a religion, I seriously need to draw more pairings)

⁃ But I also like every possible combination of pairings in this so that’s a bonus

⁃ Poor Chuuya and his tall ass BFs, he climbs them all like trees /hj

⁃ There is so much bickering, Tecchou mostly acting as mediator but he isn’t afraid to butt in

⁃ They TRY and stay organized when sleeping in one bed, but most of the time they end up on some weird pile and at least one of them is on the floor

⁃ Dazai is blessed with strong boyfriends to pick him up and not topple over when he tackles them

⁃ Also other things like Dazai canceling Jouno’s Ability so his senses don’t overwhelm him (if his senses are connected to his Ability at all), I need to mention that every time they are in any relationship together (romantic, platonic, forced in the same room for some reason)

⁃ Dazai would probably eat Tecchou’s weird food combinations, I don’t know why I have this feeling

⁃ Chuuya and Tecchou keeping their sadistic BFs in line. I don’t know why, I feel like they’d just get along, Tecchou’s so chill when he’s not trying to cut someone up with a sword

⁃ I think this is the only pairing here with no fan content at all, I wanna do something about it but that means trying to figure out Dazai and Chuuya’s characterization and story so I can properly get their personalities right

I want to mention Fyodor x Nikolai x Sigma, but at the same time my brain’s like “Sigma’s like 3, he’s their son”, and both can coexist in my mind (not at the same time, ew), but I also just don’t know what to say?? My brain juice has run dry for today, what a relief for many, I can shut up!

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vickyvicarious · 3 years ago

Text

Leverage Redemption Pros/Cons List

Okay! Now that I've finally finished watching the first half of Leverage: Redemption, I thought I'd kind of sum up my overall impression. Sort of a pro/con list, except a little more just loosely structured rambles on each bullet point rather than a simple list.

This got way out of hand from what I expected so I'm going to put it all under a cut. If you want the actual bulletpoint list, here it is:

PROS

References

Continuity

Nate

Representation

Themes

New Characters

General Vibe

CONS

'Maker and Fixer'

Episode Twins

Sophie's Stagefright

Thiefsome

You might notice the pros list is longer, and that's because I do love the show! I really like most of what it does, and my gripes are fewer in number and mostly smaller in size. But they do exist and I felt like talking about them as well as the stuff I loved.

PROS

References

There is clearly so much love and respect for the original show here. Quite aside from the general situation, there's a lot of references to individual episodes or character traits from the first show. For example, Parker's comments on disliking clowns, liking puppets, disliking horses, stabbing vs. tasing people. The tasing was an ongoing thing in the original, the stabbing happened once (S1) but was referenced later in the original show, the clown thing only had a few mentions scattered across the entire original show. The puppet thing was mentioned once in S5, and the horses thing in particular was only brought up in S1 once. But they didn't miss the chance to put the nod to it in there; in fact with those alone we see a good mix of common/ongoing jokes and smaller details.

We got "dammit Hardison" and "it's a very distinctive..." but also Eliot and Parker arguing about him catering a mob wedding, and Eliot being delighted by lemon as a secret ingredient in a dish in that same episode (another reference to the mob episode). Hardison and Eliot banter about "plan M", an ongoing joke starting from the very first episode of the original show. We see Sophie bring up Hardison's accent in the Ice Job, Parker also makes reference to an early episode when describing "backlash effect" to Breanna, in an episode that also references her brother slightly if you look for it.

Heck, the last episode of these first eight makes a big deal out of nearly reproducing the iconic opening lines of the original show with Fake Nate's "we provide... an advantage." And I mean, all the "let's go steal a ___" with Harry being confused about how to use them.

Some of the lines are more obviously references to the original show, but they strike a decent balance with smaller or unspoken stuff as well, and also mix in some references between the team to events we the audience have never seen. If someone was coming into this show for the first time, they wouldn't get all the easter egg joy but most of the references would stand on their own as dialogue anyway. In general, I think they struck a good balance of restating needed context for new viewers while still having enough standalone good lines and more-fun-if-you-get-it callbacks.

Continuity

Similar to the last point, but slightly different. The characters' development from the original to now is shown so well. I'm not going to go on about this too long, but the writers clearly didn't want to let the original characters stagnate during the offscreen years. There was a lot of real thought put into how they would change or not.

It's really written well. We can see just how cohesive a team Parker, Hardison, and Eliot became. We get a sense of how they've spent their time, and there's plenty of evidence that they remained incredibly close with Sophie and Nate until this past year. The way everyone defers to Parker is different from the original show and clearly demonstrates how she's been well established as the leader for years now - they show this well even as Parker is stepping back to let Sophie take point in these episodes. Eventually that is actually called out by Sophie in the eighth episode, so we might see more mastermind Parker in the back half of the show, maybe. But even with her leading, it's clear how collaborative the team has become, with everyone bouncing ideas off one another and adding their input freely. Sometimes they even get so caught up they leave the newbies completely in the dust. But for the most part we get a good sense of how the Parker/Hardison/Eliot team worked with her having final say on plans but the others discussing everything together. A little bit more collaborative than it was with Nate at the helm.

Meanwhile Sophie has built a home and is deeply attached to it. She and Nate really did retire, at least for the most part, and she was living her happy ending until he died. She's out of practice but still as skilled as ever, and we're shown how much her grief has changed her and how concerned the others are for her.

There's a lot of emphasis on how they all look after one another and the found family is clearer than ever. Sophie even calls Hardison "his father's son" - clearly referring to Nate.

Nate

Speaking of Nate! They handled his loss so, so well. His story was the most complete at the end of the last show, and just from a narrative point, losing him makes the most sense of all the characters. But the way he dies and his impact on the show and the characters continues. It's very respectful to who he was - who he truly was.

Nate was someone they all loved, but he was a deeply flawed individual. Sophie talks about how he burned too hot, but at least he burned - possibly implying to me that his drinking was related to his death. In any case, there's no mystery to it. We don't know how he died but that's not what's most important about his death. This isn't a quest for revenge or anything... it's just a study of grief and trying to heal.

Back to who he really was real quick - the show doesn't eulogize him as better than he was. They're honest about him. From the first episode's toast they raise in his memory, to the final episode where Sophie and Eliot are deeply confused by Fake Nate singing his praises, the team knows who he was. They don't erase his flaws... but at the same time he was so clearly theirs. He was family, he was the man they trusted and loved and followed into incredibly dangerous situations, and whose loss they all still feel deeply.

That said, the show doesn't harp on this point. They reference him, but they don't overwhelm new viewers with a constant barrage of Nate talk. It always serves a purpose, primarily for Sophie's storyline of moving through her grief. Anyway, @robinasnyder said all of this way better than me here, so go read that as well.

Representation

Or should I say, Jewish Hardison, Autistic Parker, Queer Breanna!

Granted, Hardison's religion isn't quite explicitly stated to be Jewish so much as he mentions that his "Nana runs a multi-denominational household", but nonetheless. He gets the shows big thesis statement moment, he gets a beautiful speech about redemption that is the emotional cornerstone of that episode and probably Harry's entire arc throughout the show. And while I'm not Jewish myself, most of what I've seen from Jewish fans is saying that Hardison's words here were excellent representation of their beliefs. (@featherquillpen does a great job in that meta of contextualizing this with his depiction in the original show as well.)

Autistic Parker, however, is shown pretty dang blatantly. She already was very much coded as autistic in the original show, but the reboot has if anything gone further. She sees a child psychologist because she likes using puppets to represent emotions, she stims, she uses cue cards and pre-written scripts for social interactions, there's mention of possible texture sensitivity and her clothes are generally more loose and comfortable. She's gotten better at performing empathy and understanding how people typically work, but it's specifically described as something she learned how to do and she views her brain as being different from ones that work that way (same link). Again, not autistic myself but from what I've seen autistic fans find a lot to relate to in her portrayal. And best of all, this well-rounded and respectful depiction does not show any of these qualities as a lack on her part. There's no more of those kinda ableist comments or "what's wrong with you" jokes that were in the original show. Parker is the way she is, and that allows her to do things differently. She's loved for who she is, and any effort made to fit in is more just to know how so that she can use it to her advantage when she wants to on the job - for her convenience, not others' comfort.

Speaking of loved for who you are.... okay, again, queer Breanna isn't confirmed onscreen yet, and I don't count Word of God as true canon. But I can definitely believe we're building there. Breanna dresses in a very GNC way, and just her dialogue and, I dunno, vibes seem very queer to me. She has a beautiful speech in the Card Game Job about not belonging or being accepted and specifically mentions "the way they love" as one of those things that made her feel like she didn't belong. And that scene is given so much weight and respect. (Not to mention other hints throughout the episode about how much finding her own space meant to her.) Also, the whole theme of feeling rejected and the key for her to begin really flourishing is acceptance for who she is, not any desire for her to be anyone else, is made into another big moment. Yeah, textually that moment is about her feeling like she has to fill Hardison's shoes and worrying about her past, but the themes are there, man.

Themes

I talked a bit about this yesterday, so I'm mostly just going to link to that post, but... this series so far is doing a really good job in my opinion of giving people arcs and having some good themes. Namely the redemption one, from Hardison's speech (which I'm gonna talk a little more about in the next point), and this overall theme of growing up and looking to the future (from above the linked post).

New Characters

Harry and Breanna are fantastic characters. I was kind of worried about Harry being a replacement Nate, but... he really isn't. Sure, he's the older white guy who has an angsty past but it's in a very different way and his personality and relationships with the rest of the crew are correspondingly different. I think the dynamic of a very friendly, cheerful, kind, but still bad guy (as @soundsfaebutokay points out) is a great one to show, and he's got a really cool arc I think of learning to be a better person, and truly understanding Hardison's point about redemption being a process not a goal. His role on the team also has some interesting applications and drawbacks, as @allegorymetaphor talked about. I've kind of grown to think that the show is gradually building up to an eventual Sophie/Harry romance a ways down the line, and I'm actually here for it. Regardless, his relationships with everyone are really interesting.

As for Breanna, first of all and most importantly I love her. Secondly, I think she's got a really interesting story. She's a link to Hardison's past, and provides a really interesting perspective for us as someone younger who has grown up a) looking up to Leverage and b) in a bleaker and more hopeless world. Breanna's not an optimist, and she's not someone who was self-sufficient and unconcerned with the rest of the world at the start, like everyone else. She believes that the world sucks and she wants it to be better, but she doesn't know how to make that happen. She outright says she's desperate and that's why she's working with Leverage. At the same time, Breanna is pretty down on herself and wants to prove herself but gets easily shaken by mistakes or being scolded, which is a stark contrast to Hardison's general self-confidence. There are several times when she starts to have an idea then hesitates to share it, or expects her emotions to be dismissed, or gets really disheartened when she's corrected or rejected, or dwells on her mistakes, or when she is accepted or praised she usually takes a surprised beat and is shy about it (she almost always looks down and away from the person, and her smile is often small or startled). Breanna looks up to the team so much (Parker especially, then probably Eliot) and she wants to prove herself. It's going to be so good to see her grow.

General Vibe

A brief note, but it seems a fitting one to end on. The show keeps it's overall tone and feeling from the original show. The fun, the competency porn, the bad guys and clever plans and happy endings. It's got differences for sure, but the characters are recognizably themselves and the show as a whole is recognizably still Leverage. For the most part they just got the feeling right, and it's really nice.

CONS (no, not that kind)

'Maker and Fixer'

So when I started writing this meta earlier today, I was actually a lot more annoyed by the lack of unique 'maker' skills being shown by Breanna. Basically the only time she tries to use a drone, the very thing she introduced herself as being good at, it breaks instantly. I was concerned about her being relegated into just doing what Hardison did, instead of bringing her own stuff to the table. But the seventh episode eased some of those fears, and the meta I just wrote for someone else asking about Breanna's 'maker' skills as shown this season made me realize there's more nuance than that. I'd still like to have seen more of that from her, but for now the fact that we don't see a lot of 'maker' from her so far seems more like a character decision based in Breanna's insecurities.

Harry definitely gets more 'inside man' usage. His knowledge as a 'fixer' comes in handy several times. Nonetheless, I'm really curious if there are any bigger ways to use it, aside from him just adding in some exposition/insight from time to time. I'm not even entirely sure how much more they can pull from this premise in terms of relevant skills, but I hope there's more and I'd like to see it. Maybe a con built more around him playing a longer role playing his old self, like they tried in the Tower Job? Maybe it's more a matter of him needed distance from that part of his past, being unable to face it without lashing out - in that case it could be a good character growth moment possibly for him to succeed in being Scummy Lawyer again down the line? I dunno.

Episode Twins

This was something small that kind of bothered me a little earlier in the season. It's kind of the negative side to the references, I guess? And I'm not even sure how much it annoys me really, but I just kinda noticed and felt sort of weird about it.

Rollin' on the River has a lot of references/callbacks to the The Wedding Job.

The Tower Job has a lot of references/callbacks to The White Rabbit Job.

The Paranormal Hacktivity Job has a lot of references/callbacks to the Future Job.

I guess I was getting a little concerned that there would be a 'match this episode' situation where almost every new Redemption episode is very reminiscent of an old one. I love the callbacks, but I don't want to see a lack of creativity in this new show, and this worried me for a minute. Especially when it was combined with all three of those episodes dealing with housing issues of some kind. Now, that's a huge concern for a lot of people, and each episode has its own take on a different problem within that huge umbrella, but it still got me worried about a lack of variety in topics/cases.

The rest of the episodes failing to line up so neatly in my head with older episodes helped a lot to ease this one, though. Still, this is my complaining section so I figured I'd express my concerns as they were at the time. Even if I no longer really worry about it much.

Sophie's Stagefright

Yeah, I know this is just a small moment in a single episode, but it annoyed me! Eliot made a bit of a face at Sophie going onstage, but I thought it was just him being annoyed at the general situation. However, they started out with her being awful up there until she realized the poem was relevant to the con - at which point her reading got so much better.

This felt like a complete betrayal of Sophie's beautiful moment at the end of the original show where she got over her trouble with regular acting and played Lady Macbeth beautifully in front of a full theater of audience members. This was part of the con, but only in the sense that it gave her an alibi/place to hide, and I always interpreted it as her genuinely getting over her stagefright problems. It felt like such a beautiful place to end her arc for that show, especially after all her time spent directing.

Now, her difficulty onstage in the Card Game Job was brief and at the very beginning of being up on stage. @rinahale suggested to me that maybe it was a deliberate tactic to draw the guy's attention, and the later skill was simply her shifting focus to make the sonnet easier for Breanna to listen to and interpret, but he seemed more enraptured when she was doing well than otherwise in my opinion and it just doesn't quite sit well with me. My other theory was that maybe she just hasn't been up on stage in a long time, and much like she complaining about being rusty at grifting before the team pushed her into trying, she got nervous for a moment at the very beginning. The problem there is that I think she'd definitely still get involved in theater even when she and Nate were retired. I guess she could've quit after he died, and a year might be long enough to make her doubt herself again, but... still.

I just resent that they even left it ambiguous at all. Sophie's skills should be solid on stage at this point in my opinion.

Thiefsome

...And now we come to my main complaint. This is, by far, the biggest issue I have with the show.

I feel like I should put a disclaimer here that I had my doubts from the beginning about the thiefsome becoming canon onscreen. I thought the famous "the OT3 is safe" tweet could easily just mean that they are all still alive and well, or all still working together, without giving us confirmation of a romantic relationship. Despite this, the general fandom expectations/hopes really got to me, especially with the whole "lock/pick/key" thing. I tried to temper my expectations again when the character descriptions came out and only mentioned Hardison loving Parker, not Eliot, but I still got my hopes up.

The thing is, I was disappointed pretty quickly.

The very first episode told me that in all likelihood we would never see Hardison and Parker and Eliot together in a romantic sense. Oh, there was so much coding. So much hinting. So much in the way of conversations that were about Parker/Hardison's relationship but then Eliot kept getting brought into them. They were portrayed as a unit of three.

But then there was this.

I love all of those scenes of Parker and Hardison being intimate and loving and comfortable with one another and their relationship. I really do. But it didn't escape my notice that there's nothing of the sort with Eliot. If they wanted a canon onscreen thiefsome, it would by far make the most sense to just have it established from the start. But there aren't any scenes where Eliot shares the same kind of physical closeness with either of them like they do each other. Parker and Hardison kiss; he doesn't kiss anyone. They have several clearly romantic conversations when alone; he gets important conversations with both but the sense of it being romantic isn't there.

Establishing Eliot as part of the relationship after Hardison is gone just... doesn't make any sense. It would be more likely to confuse new viewers, to make them wonder if Parker is cheating on Hardison with Eliot, or if they have a Y shaped relationship rather that a triangle. It would be so much clumsier.

Still, up until the Double-Edged-Sword Job I believed the writers might keep it at this level of 'plausible hinting but not quite saying'. There's a lot of great stuff with all of them, and I never expecting making out or whatever anyway; a cheek-kiss was about the height of my hopes to be honest. I mostly just hoped for outright confirmation and, failing that, I was happy enough to have the many hints and implications.

But then Marshal Maria Shipp came along. And I don't really have anything against her as a character - in fact, I think she has interesting story potential and will definitely come back. But the episode framed her fight with Eliot as a sexyfight TM, much like his fight with Mikel back in the day. And then his flirting with her rode the line a little of "he's playing her for the con" and "he's genuinely flirting." The scene where he tells her his real name is particularly iffy, but actually was the one that convinced me he was playing her. Because he seems to be watching her really closely, and to be very concerned about her figuring out who he really is. I am very aware though that I'm doing a lot of work to interpret it the way I want. On surface appearance, Eliot's just flirting with an attractive woman, like he did on the last show. And that's probably the intention, too.

But the real nail in the coffin for me was when Sophie compared herself and Nate to Eliot and Maria. That was a genuine scene, not the continuation of the teasing from before. And Sophie is the one whose insight into people is always, always trustworthy. She is family to the thiefsome. For this to make any sense, either Eliot/Parker/Hardison isn't a thing, or they are and Sophie doesn't know - and I can't imagine why in the hell she wouldn't know.

Any argument to make them still canon leaves me unsatisfied. If she knows and they haven't admitted it to her - why wouldn't they, after all this time? Why would she not have picked up on it even without an outright announcement? Some people suggested they wouldn't admit it because they thought Nate would be weird about it, but that doesn't seem any more in character to me than the other possibilities. In fact, the only option that doesn't go against my understanding of these people and their observational abilities/the close relationship they share.... is that the thiefsome is not a thing.

And furthermore, the implication of this conversation - especially the way it ended, with Eliot stomping off looking embarrassed while Sophie smiled knowingly - is that Eliot will get into another relationship onscreen. Maybe not a full-blown romantic relationship. But the Maria Shipp tension is going to be resolved somehow, and at this point I'm half-expecting a hook-up simply because of Sophie's reaction and how much I trust her judgement of such things. Even if she's letting her grief cloud her usual perceptiveness... it feels iffy.

It just kinda feels like I wasn't even allowed to keep my "interpret these hints/maybe they are" thiefsome that I expected after the first couple episodes convinced me we wouldn't get outright confirmation. (I mean, I will anyway, and I love the hints and allusions regardless.) And while I'm definitely not the kind of fan who is dependent on canon for my ships, and still enjoy all their interactions/will keep right on headcanoning them all in a relationship, it's just.... a bummer.

Feels like a real cop-out. Like the hints of Breanna being queer are enough to meet their quota and they won't try anything 'risky' like a poly relationship. I dunno. It's annoying.

That's the end of the list! Again, overall I love the new show a lot and have few complaints.

#leverage #leverage redemption #leverage spoilers #leverage meta #my meta #this turned into a BIG ol ramble #i planned to write like a couple of sentences for each point but noooo

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snellyfish · 3 years ago

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May I ask..... what is in your post game V3? I dunno how to ask this without sounding weird.

HM!!!!!!!!! GOOD QUESTION;;

I mostly only have braincells for Kiyo and Angie so not a lot of my thoughts are straying from that unfortunately LMAO, I was able to branch off a bit answering this though so thank you for indirectly helping me develop more!!

But I like to think it's the same scenario as the second game where it was all just a simulation. I know what I fantasize about is a VR AU and that "postgame" tends to refer to the survivors but literally none of my favorites survived so reality can be whatever I want: postgame Shinnaga is so canon it's unreal!! I'm sure there's probably a VR fic for them somewhere out there in the world, I wouldn't know because I suck at reading fhdjfk, but I would love to write my own someday HEH

-------------------------

They'd all wake up one by one as they die and end up all in the same facility where they're taken care of by the Danganronpa team, unable to leave until they’re well again due to the contracts they signed prior to playing-- Meaning Angie wakes up, Tenko wakes up a few hours later, Kiyo another few hours later, etc. Angie jumps back pretty quick from things so she'd be already VERY excited to see Kiyo* after watching the trial, mostly because Angie like immediately caught onto what his sister really was to him (HINT: CONTROLLING AND AWFUL) and yelling at her screen saying "GOD WILL SMITE YOU ALL FOR PICKING ON THE WEAK" at everyone just calling him some incestuous freak during the trial. Angie does have genuinely incredible intuition (thanks god!) so she looks past the fact he murdered her Scarily Fast. Everyone would definitely mistrust and hate Angie even more as she tries to preach to them afterwards about Kiyo and how they need to forgive him since he’s a victim and God (most important opinion) already forgave him, but no one ever listened to her anyway especially postgame so it’s all in vain 😔

*whom might take a bit to wake up and fully acclimate again because...idk this man was boiled alive that's kinda Fucked I think all the executed would take longer to wake up because they went through more lengthy + traumatic deaths I guess? This just means even more time for Angie to sit on her thoughts about what happened to her+Kiyo yuh yuh

Everyone becomes a mix of their pregame selves and the identities they were given, they'd end up being mediocre/average (sometimes bad) at what their handpicked talent was but a lot of them still keep up doing it until they DO become good again. A very small amount of them try to replicate their killing game outfits and kinda live off the high of being what they once were and accomplished in their fake memories, like Miu and Himiko. (this also makes me think about Irumeno a bit more 👀) Pretty much every single one of them in pregame saw themselves as nothing, being disposable enough to be in a killing game (even if it turns out to be virtual), so the new identities would overpower the mix for the most part since they’re the more intensified and dramaticized personality--IF THAT MAKES ANY SENSE LOL.

--Angie absolutely never stopped her art and has a less intense view on Religion, since garnering more experiences in life she’s just be less intense in general I'd think; more open with her emotions in that she'd actually cry, but still very manic and bubbly and optimistic nonetheless. After getting help (mostly from Kiyo who deals with the same thing), Angie is able to differentiate her thoughts and desires from “God”’s thoughts and desires, YEA she still has a funky little friend in her head. She's not AS pushy especially not with her equally traumatized fellow killing game participants but she still absolutely gets her moments of intensity and assertiveness now and then if she thinks something God is telling her is absolute truth and for the betterment of everyone: she is still Angie afterall, truly believing everyone would be much happier with her God in their lives but having enough self-restraint to know everyone will just push her away further if she tries to help them in that regard. She has her moments of desperation but most everyone’s too far gone from her already.

--Korekiyo is such a complicated one--I do like to think of pregame Kiyo as transfem/nonbinary and that would partially stick into his postgame identity in some way...killing game Kiyo was Just A Dude but after becoming the mix of the two identities he'd be VERY confused, especially with the influence of his (simulated) sister's influence. (genderfluid time? :)) He'd have varying degrees of when his...sister...alter...thing...comes out, or is present in his head in any regard, she'd be gone or slowly disappearing from his mind for months at a time and he'd initially be extremely unstable about it because he feels extremely isolated and lost when he can’t talk to her, but he's got Angie by his side so he becomes significantly less stressed about it over time, learning to cope with it. Eventually he finds himself no longer dependent on sister and...has to learn a SECOND time to not be unhealthily dependent; on Angie this time. (funky little idea I’ve been wanting to draw/write about sometime...hnnrngm) They’re both miracle workers when it comes to each other’s mental health it’s kinda insane. Of course, after realizing that Sister never really existed, he harbors near-immediate guilt for having murdered Angie and Tenko once he’s alone with his thoughts, not being puppeteered by sister, realizing everything he ever did he did for HER and realizing how fucked it all was pretty quickly--he does crave interacting with his victims in a positive and healing light but he’s sort of traumatized by it all to the point he is TERRIFIED when they’re around him at first.

--Tenko ends up EVEN MORE protective and grudgeful after she wakes up, trying to shield everyone and everything from most of the blackened, absolutely makes Kiyo manage to feel like even worse shit when he's got 1 extremely supportive and loving woman he killed and 1 extremely spiteful woman he killed who might legitimately murder him in return if he’s not careful. Tenko never makes amends with Angie and becomes close with Himiko (who's close with Gonta despite Tenko's wishes (she hates him for killing Miu, local woman)), managing to keep Himiko far far away from Angie, not only for "stealing" Himiko in the Student Council but also for the fact Angie's glued to Kiyo's side--making her the second least trustworthy person to Tenko..

--Himiko is very traumatized after the game due to surviving all the way til the end, likely making her (along with Shuichi+Maki) very disillusioned and lost--unable to decipher anything from fiction or reality--it takes a long time for Himiko to really “accept” anything; tried to cling to both Tenko and Angie but ends up just stuck on Tenko, mourning the loss of her friendship with Angie while doing so. Himiko would probably be shoved away from Gonta at first as well, but Tenko felt a lot more confident in Gonta so after a long while of her aggressively trying to teach him manners and keeping an emotional deathgrip on him whenever he wants to interact with Himiko, they’d end up close friends again. Still thinking about Irumeno-- Also with the whole ~~Survivor Delusions~~ thing, I think that helps play into Himiko’s attachment and insistence to keep up her old magician identity, because she has a very hard time trying to tell what’s real n fake ykno, and it takes her a while to realize she doesn’t have her talent anymore; absolutely ending in tearful breakdowns and unending determination to find herself again by forcibly trying to improve and push herself to her limits.

For the most part Kiyo and Angie are outcasted from everyone else, a lot of that being due to Tenko's preaching but...also everyone just doesn't understand what actually happened to Kiyo and they are all deathly worried about Angie, but not enough to get themselves involved; they're scared of Angie too, afterall, not as much as they're scared of Kiyo but ykno-- They think her naivety and determination to “fix him” is going to get her murdered again, every day they’re just counting down the minutes until it happens again. (spoiler alert: it doesn’t)

I could ABSOLUTELY go off more but I really have to end this at some point so fhdsjkfds--

TLDR;; Angie (and God alter) forgive Kiyo almost immediately. Sister alter likes to disappear sometimes making Kiyo sad and unfortunately dependent on Angie. Both Kiyo + Angie help each other heal and recover from their issues. Tenko hates both Kiyo + Angie with a passion and protectively forbids Himiko from seeing either of them. Himiko is close friends with Tenko and Gonta and Maybe More with Miu.

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dirk-has-rabies · 4 years ago

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Gender variance and it's link with neurodivergency

Okay so this is it going to be another long one

All quotes will be sourced with a link to the scientific journal I took it from

Okay Tumblr, let's talk gender (I know, your favorite topic) my preface on why this topic matters to me is: I'm autistic ( diagnosed moderate to severe autism) I'm nonbinary trans ( in a way that most non-autistic people don't understand and actually look down on) and I went to college for gender study ( Mostly for intersex studies but a lot of my research was around non-binary and trans identities) I will be using the term autism as pants when I have experience with however when ADHD is part of the study I will use ND which stands for neurodivergent and yes this is going to be about xenogenders and neopronouns.

autism can affect gender the same way autism can affect literally every part of an identity. a big thing about having autism is the fact that it completely can change how you view personhood and time and object permanence and gender and literally all types of socially constructed ideas. let me also say hear that just because Society creates and enforces an idea does it mean that it doesn't exist to all people it just me that there is no nature law saying that it's real and the “rules” for these ideas can change and delete and create as time and Society evolves and changes. gender is one of those constructs.

Now I'll take it by you reading this you know what transgender people are (if you don't understand what a trans person is send me an ask and I'll type you up a pretty little essay lmao, or Google it but that's a scary thought sense literally any Source or website can come up on Google including biased websites so be careful I guess LOL) anyway to be super basic trans people are anyone who doesn't identify as the gender they were assigned at Birth (yes that includes non-binary people I could do a whole nother essay about that shit how y'all keep spreading trying to separate non-binary people from the trans umbrella) some people don't like to use the label and that is totally fine by the way.

now autistic people to view the world in a way differently than allistic (neurotypical) ppl do. we don't take everything people teach us at 100% fact and we tend to question everything and demand proof and evidence for things before we can set it as a fact in our brains. This leads to why a lot of autistic people are atheist (although a lot of religions and this is not bashing on religious people at all I am actually a Jewish convert) this questioning leads to a lot of social constructs being ignored or not understood At All by a lot of autistic people and personally I think that's a good thing. allistics take everything their parents and teachers and schools teach them as fact until someone else says something and then they pick which ones to believe. autistic people study and research and learn about a topic before forming an opinion and while this may lead to them studying and believing very biased material and spitting it out as fact it can also lead them to try and Discover it is real by themselves.

because of this autistic people are more question their gender or not fall in a binary way at all as the concept of gender makes no sense to a lot of us. “ if gender is a construct then autistic people who are less aware of social norms are less likely to develop a typical gender identity”

no really look: “ children and teens with autism spectrum disorder ASD or Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder ADHD are much more likely to express a wish to be the opposite sex compared with their typical developing peers” That was posted in 2014. we have been saying this stuff forever but no one wants to listen. the thing is gender variance (being not cisgender or at least questioning it) has always been closely hand-in-hand with autistic and ADHD people I'm even the doctor who did that study understood right away that it all made sense the whole time: “ Dr. Strang said they were initially surprised to find an overrepresentation of gender variance among children with ADHD. However, they later realized that prior studies have shown increased levels of disruptive behavior and other behavioral problems among young people with gender variance” SEE YOURE NOT WEIRD YOURE JUST YOU AND YOURE NOT ALONE IN THIS!!

5% autistic people who did the study were trans or questioning. it was also equal between the Sexes fun fact. that may not seem like a lot till you realize that the national average is only .7% that's literally over 700% higher than the national average. That's so many! and that's just in America.

in Holland there was a study in 2010 “ nearly 8% of the more than 200 Children and adolescents referred to a clinic for gender dysphoria also came up positive on a assessment for ASD” they weren't even testing for ADHD so the numbers could be even higher!

now I want to talk about a certain section of the trans umbrella that a lot of autistic people fall under called the non-binary umbrella. non-binary means anything that isn't just male or just female. it is not one third gender and non-binary doesn't mean that you don't have a gender. just clearing that up since cis people keep spreading that. non-binary is an umbrella term for any of the infinite genders you could use or create. now this is where I'm going to lose a bunch of you and that's okay because you don't have to understand our brains or emotions To respect us as real people. not many allistics can understand how we see and think and relate to things and that's okay you don't have to understand everything but just reading about this could be so much closer to respecting us for Who We Are from you've ever been and that's better than being against us just for existing.

now you might have heard of my Mutual Lars who was harassed by transmeds for using the term Autigender (I was going to link them but if it gets traction I don't want them to get any hate) since a lot of people roll their eyes at that and treated them disgustingly for using a term that 100% applied correctly. Autigender is described as " a neurogender which can only be understood in the context of being autistic or when one's autism greatly affects one's gender or how one experiences gender. Autigender is not autism as a gender, but rather is a gender that is so heavily influenced by autism that one's autism and one's experience of gender cannot be unlinked.” Now tell me that doesn't sound a lot like this entire essay I've been working on with full sources…..

xenogenders and neopronouns are a big argument point on whether or not people “believe” in non binary genders but a big part of those genders is that they originated from ND communities and are ways that we can try to describe what gender means us in a way that cis or even allistic trans people just can't comprehend or ever understand. Same with MOGAI genders or sexualities. A lot of these are created as a way to somehow describe an indescribable relationship with gender that is so personal you really cant explain it to anyone who isnt literally the same as you.

Even in studies done with trans autistic people a large amount of them dont even fall on a yes or no of having a gender at all and fall in some weird inbetween where you KINDA have a gender but its not a gender in the sense that others say it is but its also too much of a gender so say youre agender. And this is the kind of stuff that confuses allistic trans people and makes them think nonbinary genders are making stuff up for attention, which isnt true at all we just cant explain what it feels like to BE a trans autistic person to anyone who doesnt ALREADY know how it feels.

In this study out of the ppl questioned almost HALF of the autistic trans individuals had a “Sense of identity revolving around interests” meaning their gender and identity was more based off what they liked rather than boy or girl. That makes ppl with stuff like vampgender or pupgender make a lot more sense now doesnt it? We see that even in the study: “My sense of identity is fluid, just as my sense of gender is fluid […] The only constant identity that runs through my life as a thread is ‘dancer.’ This is more important to me than gender, name or any other identifying features… even more important than mother. I wouldn't admit that in the NT world as when I have, I have been corrected (after all Mother is supposed to be my primary identification, right?!) but I feel that I can admit that here. (Taylor)” and an agreement from another saying “Mine is Artist. Thank you, Taylor. (Jessie)” now dont you think if they grew up with terms like artistgender or dancergender they would just YOINK those up right away????

In fact “An absence of a sense of gender or being unsure of how their gender should “feel” was another common report” because as ive said before in this post AUTISTIC PEOPLE DONT SEE GENDER THE WAY ALLISTIC PEOPLE SEE IT. therefore we wont use the same terms or have the same identities nor could we explain it to anyone who doesnt already understand or question the same way! Participants even offered up quotes such as “As a child and even now, I don't ‘feel’ like a gender, I feel like myself and for the most part I am constantly trying to figure out what that means for me (Betty)” and also “I don't feel like a particular gender I'm not even sure what a gender should feel like (Helen)”

Now i know this isnt going to change everyones minds on this stuff but i can only hope that it at least helped people feel like theyre not broken and not alone in their feelings about this. You dont have to follow allistic rules. You dont have to stop searching inside for who you really wanna be. And you dont have to pick or choose terms forever because just as you grow and evolve so may your terms. Its okay to not know what or who you are and its okay to identify as nonhuman things or as your interests because what you love and what you do is a big part of who you are and shapes you everyday. Its not a bad thing! Just please everyone, treat ppl with respect and if you dont understand something that doesnt make it bad or wrong it just means its not for you. And thats okay.

#autism #actuallyautistic #trans #nonbinary #xenogenders #neopronouns #lgbtq #adhd #nuerodivergent #gender identity

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grailfinders · 3 years ago

Text

Fate and Phantasms #203

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we've only got one goal in mind: Golems! Thanks to Avicebron, we'll make just that; lots and lots of golems! Avicebron is a Battle Smith Artificer, so you'll always have at least one on standby.

Check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: I did naht kill him, I did naht. Oh hi Mark.

Race and Background

Avvy might not look it, but he's still a Variant Human, giving him +1 Intelligence and Wisdom, plus proficiency with Deception to keep your mentees close and your golem ingredients just as close, plus you get the Servo Crafting feat! You can cast Find Familiar as a ritual, but instead of getting an animal, you build a small golem called a Servo. You can speak with and through the servo, plus sense through it, as long as you share a plane of existence. You can also attack with the servo instead of your wimpy noodlearms once per attack action.

You're also a Cloistered Scholar, which gives you History and Religion proficiency. You are nerd! No duh!

Ability Scores

Your Intelligence should be pretty high, you make golems and you don't afraid of anything, that's what you do. After that is Dexterity, you're better off not getting hit than anything else, and also having 4 arms means you're pretty good at sleight of hand. Wisdom is also pretty good, you're a religious man, and while you don't get power from that you're still wise. Unfortunately we gotta make Strength the next highest stat. I mean, two of your arms are robots, so I guess it kinda works? Your Charisma is pretty low, you just don't care about people that much, but we're dumping Constitution. Trust me, it'll make sense in a bit. (Don't do this in-game, this is a flavor thing, you WILL DIE)

Class Levels

You're 100% artificer, so you start off with Magical Tinkering, letting you stuff minor magical effects into tiny items. I don't know why you'd make a fart sound producing golem out of a pen, but I'm not Avicebron. You also learn Spells. They use your Intelligence score for prep and casting. Grab Mage Hand to build a little drone to carry stuff for you, and Message for a messenger golem. Really you can take whatever spells you like as long as you call them golems, but the most golemy are Alarm golem and Catapult golem. Why throw stuff when you can just make it throw itself? You also get proficiency in a buncha stuff, like Constitution and Intelligence saves, plus Nature to figure out good materials for golems and Arcana to build them!

Second level artificers can Infuse Items, adding cool effects to up to two items per long rest from a list of four options. Grab Armor of Tools so you'll always have your golem-making kit on ya, Enhanced Arcane Focus for stronger golems, Homunculus Servant for a golem, and Mind Sharpener to help keep track of your golems. I can already tell golem isn't even gonna look like a word by the end of this build.

Your artificer subclass is the Battle Smith, which makes you Battle Ready, so your golems can use martial weapons. Of course you're not swinging them yourself, so you can use your intelligence instead of strength when attacking with magical weapons. You also get a second permanent golem, the Steel Defender! You gotta use your bonus action to make it do stuff, but it'll hit people, repair stuff, and protect its allies! Also, you can cast Mending on it to heal it. You don't have that yet, but you will! You can also make The Right Tool for the Job over a long rest, and you also get subclass spells for free. Heroism makes a very pretty golem that inspires all your allies to not get scared and get temporary HP. Shield makes a golem that'll stand in front of someone as a reaction, adding 5 to their AC and blocking magic missiles for a round.

Use your first Ability Score Improvement to bump up your Intelligence. You use it for pretty much everything, so your brain's gotta be good!

Fifth level battlesmiths get an Extra Attack, so your servo, your steel defender, and your sword-holding golem can all attack at the same time. You also get second level spells, like Branding Smite and Warding Bond. Neither of those are golems tho. Grab Rope Trick for the first of many rope golems, and Enlarge/Reduce for later. Adam's a big boy, so you've gotta make a big golem.

Sixth level artificers get Tool Expertise, doubling your proficiency bonus with all tools. Golem making is complicated, the DCs are gonna be high. You also get two more blueprints and one more infused item, like a Spell-Refueling Ring for extra spell slots and a Rope of Climbing for another rope-based golem to help your bad climbing skills.

At seventh level you get so smart you have Flashes of Genius, adding your intelligence modifier to checks and saves near you intelligence modifier times per long rest. Yeah, it's actually just weirdly specific golems.

Bump up your Intelligence this ASI for more of everything you like. Smrt.

Ninth level battle smiths add an Arcane Jolt to their steel defender and magical weapons. Once per turn, intelligence modifier times per long rest, you can either add extra force damage to the hit, or heal a nearby creature. Still not sure how to make those golems, but you'll figure something out, you've got 20 Intelligence! You also get third level spells, like an Aura of Vitality golem and a Conjure Barrage golem. You can also can Create Food and Water golems for gathering, or turn just about anything into a Tiny Servant. For up to 8 hours after casting, you can turn a tiny object into a tiny creature, commanding it as a bonus action. Finally, a spell that makes golems! You can also use Glyph of Warding now, though it won't be that useful for the build until you get fourth level spells. The idea is, you can keep a bunch of these bad boys in your base, all set to trigger against a creature that knocks you down to 0 HP. All of them summon constructs, beating up the guy after you're already unconscious. This is the closest we could get to Avicebron's third skill, D&D doesn't really plan for character death that well. Also, just a correction. I just found out you can't carry glyphs around without them breaking :(

Tenth level artificers are Magic Item Adepts, giving you an extra attunement slot and you can create uncommon magic items for cheaper. You also get the Mending cantrip for golems, and two more blueprints for an extra infused item. The Helm of Awareness will help you stay out of trouble, and the Periapt of Wound Closure makes it easier to not die. Your master strategy is all about getting knocked out, so it would be nice if you automatically stabilize.

Eleventh level artificers can create Spell-Storing Items, stuffing weapons or focii full of first/second level magical goodness. It's like you're casting the spell, but it uses the other guy's concentration.

Another ASI! Bump up your Dexterity for less dying.

With fourth level spells, you can cast all sorts of golems. You're stuck with Aura of Purity and Fire Shield, but you also get an Arcane Eye for a drone golem, plus Mordenkainen's Faithful Hound and Summon Construct for fighting golems.

As a Magic Item Savant you get another attunement slot, and you can ignore requirements when attuning magic items. You also get the Prestidigitation cantrip to make whatever small tools you need for a second, and two more blueprints for one more infusion. Bracers of Defense will help you not die if you don't think Avicebron's outfit is armor, and the Ring of Protection will also do that regardless.

At fifteenth level you get your last subclass improvement, the Improved Defender. Your arcane jolt gets bigger, and your golem gets tougher and can reflect damage, not just deflect it.

Use the rest of your ASI to bump up your Wisdom. Making yourself better isn't in character, so just be wise.

You've got fifth level spells! Banishing smite isn't a golem, but I guess Mass Cure Wounds could be Adam's feet? Idk. You can also use Bigby's Hand for Adam's hand, and Animate Objects for more item-based golems. Now you can turn your trusty frying pan into a-golem. Everything turns into a golem.

Eighteenth level artificers are Magic Item Masters, letting you attune to six items at the same time. You also get two more blueprints, so grab two copies of Arcane Propulsion Arm for the four arms of your third ascension. Arms are cool.

One last ASI, grab more Wisdom.

Your capstone ability grants you a Soul of Artifice, giving you a +1 bonus to all your saves for each magic item you're attuned to, and you can destroy an infusion to drop to 1 HP instead of 0. Remember, getting KOd only helps if you're near one of your glyphs.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Between your Steel Defender, servo, tiny servants, and animated objects, you don't have to do much. Plus you can just rope trick away and let them take care of everything!

If your DM ever tries to spook the party by fighting you in your own base, you can spook him right back by taking a fall and filling your study with angry golems.

With expertise and flashes to help your repairs along plus mending, you're a great repairman. If the DM tries to block your path with a broken bridge, it won't stay broken for long. Plus, your warforged allies will love you.

Cons:

DONT DUMP CON. You have less than 100 HP at level 20, and your constitution save is really bad (for an artificer). Don't do it. Look me in the eyes, don't. do it!

Having any part of your battle plan being getting knocked out is not going to make you popular with your party members. Maybe you should help out yourself? Nah, golems are better.

All of your infusions and spells are focused on helping yourself, a stark contrast to most of our artificer builds. Keeping all your toys to yourself will not help your party like you, especially with a +0 charisma.

#fgo #fate grand order #D&D 5e #DND #Artificer #Avicebron

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