#Identity and Perception

[omegaphilosophia]

The Philosophy of The Uncanny

The uncanny is a concept that lingers at the intersection of familiarity and discomfort, making us question the nature of perception, identity, and reality itself. From eerie dolls and lifelike robots to déjà vu and ghostly apparitions, the uncanny provokes a sense of unease that has fascinated philosophers, psychologists, and artists alike. But what makes something uncanny? And what does this tell us about our understanding of the world?

Freud’s Uncanny: The Return of the Repressed

Sigmund Freud introduced the idea of Das Unheimliche (the uncanny) in his 1919 essay, defining it as something that is both familiar and foreign at the same time, creating cognitive and emotional dissonance. He argued that the uncanny often arises when something long-repressed returns to consciousness, such as childhood fears or hidden anxieties. Freud linked the uncanny to doppelgängers, automatons, and eerie repetitions—phenomena that blur the boundaries between real and unreal, self and other.

Heidegger and the Uncanny as Existential Displacement

Martin Heidegger expanded the uncanny beyond psychology into existential philosophy. For Heidegger, Unheimlichkeit (literally "un-homeliness") describes the fundamental anxiety of human existence. He saw the uncanny as an existential condition, where individuals realize that their sense of self and reality is fragile. This disruption forces them to confront the absurdity of existence and the limits of their own understanding.

The Uncanny in Aesthetics and Horror

The uncanny has played a central role in art, literature, and horror. Gothic fiction, surrealist art, and psychological thrillers often exploit uncanny themes to create tension and unsettle audiences. The concept of the "uncanny valley," proposed by roboticist Masahiro Mori, describes the discomfort humans feel when artificial beings closely resemble humans but fall just short of full realism—leading to an eerie, unsettling effect.

The Uncanny in Modern Society

In an age of deepfakes, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality, the uncanny is more relevant than ever. The increasing difficulty of distinguishing between real and artificial experiences challenges our perception of truth and identity. Social media filters, AI-generated images, and hyper-realistic simulations push the boundaries of the uncanny, forcing us to reconsider what is genuinely human.

Conclusion: Why the Uncanny Matters

The uncanny reveals deep truths about our cognitive and emotional landscape. It exposes the fragility of our perception, the constructed nature of our reality, and the unconscious fears that shape our responses to the world. Whether in philosophy, psychology, or aesthetics, the uncanny continues to challenge and captivate us, reminding us that sometimes, the most unsettling things are not the unknown—but the strangely familiar.

[lesbianjackies]

hold my hand and say it with me: jackie taylor is not a femme

[too0bsessedformyowngood]

I know that we think the Wayne would be recognizable/well known by the general public because they’re rich and the work that they do (like Wayne Industries etc), but I think that the way most people would know them is by the shit post of a family they portray themselves to be.

Like growing up Dick 100% had a Vine that heavily included the Titans, sometimes Jason, and on rare occasions Bruce and Alfred. There is an infamous vine of Jason recording from the ground floor, camera pointed toward Dick before he yells “Do it for the Vine!!!” as Dick takes a running dive to the chandelier as you hear Bruce yell, “RICHARD NO” as he releases what is happening.

Tim has an instagram that is just photos he has taken of the family where they a) didn’t see him take the photo, or even know he was in the general vicinity and b) catching them in an embarrassing moment. There are photos like Bruce on a corner holding an umbrella and a wave of water crashing into him caused by a car that had just driven past, or another photo of Damian in the park feeding the birds and you can see that he has accumulated an army of pigeons around him.

Steph has a tiktok and will drag each member of the family to do dances with her. Duke, Dick, and Cass always look excited to join in, Tim looks awkward doing most of the dance but tries, Damian with just stand there glaring at the camera, and on occasion Steph is even able to drag Bruce in to join. Before Jason is revealed to be alive to the public there is just sometime glimpses of him in the back of the videos. There are often comments like “GIRL WHO IS THAT” or “am I going crazy or is there someone in the background”. There is a whole tiktok niche that is just people theorizing on what is happening in the background of the videos. There was also a trend of when the Nepo baby song came out of their friends making edits of them to it, the first one was done by Bernard and the comment was just “love you babe <3”.

I just think it is immensely funnier if people are able to recognize the Wayne because of the memes that come from their social media

[arcanewebs]

personal take on fem tsukasa

[disability-kitties]

Borderline Personality Disorder Kitty mock up design

Designer: @alexandraisyes

Flag Design: @ptsdsafe

This Kitty is part of our Personality Disorder and Neurodivergent series!

[harbingersecho]

are we the sins we have committed? are we the things we have endured? [...] who are we?

[ref]

[secretly-a-catamount]

tim drake would rather die than kill innocent people and tim drake killed hundreds of supervillain henchpeople with long-range detonation explosives that one time are two separate headcanons that, contrary to what the fandom discourse would have you believe, can actually coexist at the same time.

there’s even a psychologist term for it.

it’s called compartmentalization!

[fallofthecelestial]

Okay. Since we're going over all the takes on Mr. X at this point.. What if his powers really don't have a backside. What if (the state of) his normal life is the backside.

What if his normal life is akin to that of heroes where he has to pretend to be something he's not and follow rules that the people who control his life came up with to further their own goals. What if he can only be free of other people's beliefs and expectations when he's a hero.

What if in reality he truly is like everyone else. The other heroes. The ordinary people. All those who work themselves to the bone, who are tired and overworked and sick of all the exploitation...

What if when he's in the form of the number one hero.. when he becomes the most sought after product on the hero market..

Is when he gains the freedom to truly be himself

[cha1cedony]

Being both aroace and a huge nerd, it irks me a little that 99% of the asexual and/or aroace headcanons I see (and not aroallo headcanons interestingly, which could be its own post but I digress) are about characters who spend all their time working/studying/etc…. scientists, academics, introverts, shut-ins, even. I assume the common reasoning is that these characters only care about their work and don’t have time for things like relationships and sex. But like. You know that’s not what asexuality is… right 😀

Obviously it’s fine to headcanon these types of characters as ace, but I just always wonder about allo fans’ reasoning for it and what it implies about their opinions of asexual people. When the ONLY characters you can think of as ace are just nerdy, quiet/socially awkward characters with no other canon implications that they’d be ace, to me it just sounds like you think people are asexual because they can’t attract sexual partners? Or because they don’t have time for relationships??

Anyway it just annoys me a little that this is the VAST majority of the ace representation I see, both in canon and fandom. I’m an aroace academic, but I’m not aroace because I don’t have time for people or because I’m shy or awkward or lonely or whatever. I’m aroace because I’m aroace lol

Tl;dr, asexual/aroace people aren’t all innocent nerdy introverts (and aroallos aren’t all extroverts with a long history of one night stands, btw). Let ace characters be loud and stupid. Or try headcanoning a loud and stupid character as ace (you can do it, I promise)

[liyuviq]

shin [magikey user "veridic"] basic information #magikey au by @quartztwst (ft.shinii the magical girl hunter)

"can someone tell crowley to stop watching over me?? i didn’t even do anything! (lie)"

origin story

shin is a relatively new magical person, having been one for only seven months at the age of 16. unlike most people, they were never a fan of the magical people. they were either neutral or subtly critical, questioning the situation while others gushed over the heroes.

"does no one find it suspicious that these enemies keep showing up? or that some of them resemble the past magical people??"

convinced there was something sinister brewing beneath the surface, shin began investigating. though they looked like any other average high schooler, shin was already a well-known figure among the city's police officers, often assisting the law enforcement team (whether it wanted the help or not) with tricky cases.

but during one of these investigations, they got caught in a villain attack. injured and cornered, shin thought their time was up—until a glowing key appeared before them.

with no other choice, they used the key to transform and defeated the villain. becoming a magikey user, however, was a double-edged sword. on one hand, it granted shin a firsthand view of the magical society and its secrets. on the other, it placed them directly under the scrutiny of crowley, someone shin didn't fully trust.

now, seven months into their role as "veridic", shin walks a fine line, balancing their secret investigation with their newfound magical responsibilities.

status

mental/emotional strength: ★★★★☆ (veridic's experience growing up under pressure had taught them to stay calm and focused.)

physical strength: ★★★☆☆ (while slightly below average in strength as a civilian, the magikey boosts their strength when transformed.)

stamina: ★★☆☆☆ (long fights drain veridic quickly. they excel as a support and rely on allies for extended battles.)

strategy: ★★★★★ (veridic is brilliant at forming plans and adapting them on the fly, allowing them to stay several steps ahead.)

strengths: veridic's intelligence and adaptability make them invaluable in investigative work.

weaknesses: veridic struggles in direct combat, relying more on strategy than brute force. enemies who are both strong and intelligent present a major challenge.

a hunter’s pattern

it had been an ordinary tuesday when shin walked into the police station, expecting the usual exchange of banter and case updates.

"yo! your favorite menace is back here yet again oof—"

but immediately, they were almost sent to the floor as an officer bumped into them. he muttered a quick apology and a "car accident” as he and others rushed out the door.

accidents weren’t part of shin's specialty (murder cases were). usually, they would leave it to the professionals, but this one happened near where they lived, so shin felt they should at least check it out (and honesty they were kinda bored). without asking for permission, they slipped into the police car, and by now, the officers knew better than to argue.

when they arrived at the scene, it looked like any other tragic car accident. nothing was out of the ordinary, except for the fact that shin recognized the victim: a magical girl they had once worked with as veridic. as shin scanned the area, their eyes landed on the victim's bag, items spilling out beside her, and immediately felt off.

only after approaching the bag and watching an officer carefully sifted through it, placing items aside to check for the victim's identification, did that feeling of unease suddenly clicked into place—the magikey was missing.

initially, shin didn't think much of it, writing it off with excuses like maybe it got lost during the crash (after the clean up, they asked the officers if a key had been found. they didn't.), or maybe the victim left it at home (unlikely, magical users usually keep their keys with them at all time).

but over the next few months, more similar cases unfolded—magical users shin recognized, all found dead, and each time, the magikey was gone.

by the fourth case, shin was confident. this was no coincidence. it was a pattern.

someone was targeting the magical people and stealing their magikeys.

[respite-in-god]

The more I think of it, the flimsier the idea of identity really is. There is this deep-seated uncertainty about who we each are; an uncomfortable vacuum that we seek to cover up with attributes we think we have, so that we have something to point to and say "That's what I am." Maybe it's our horoscope, or our ancestors, or our interestes, or our idiosyncrasies, our bodies, our beliefs, our actions, our pasts, our imagined futures -- all of it is vapor. It is vapor because it's impermanent and therefore does not provide the stable conception of identity that would ease our doubts. And we run around trying to do things to prove we exist, and to leave a "legacy," to leave evidence that we existed after our bodies end. There is a common fear of "being forgotten" ...but why? Like, approach this question as if you have no belief system and have not heard anyone else's ideas about it before. What is it like to experience being "you" in this moment? What about your experience is NOT a changing, fluctuating phenomena?

What are you?

[woman-respecter]

not to be mean or anything but every antisemite on here is like “(insert every race here) / marxist - leninist / maoist / commie / transfem / nonbinary / pro landback / black and brown people matter / indigenous rights matter / death to imperialism / arab nationalist / anti zionist / i hate jews)” and i’m not supposed to laugh???

smh u forgot the self-dx mental illnesses in bio 😤

[anotherartblock]

DIRK: Oh, y-

DIRK: Yeah.

DIRK: Man.

DIRK: This is some fucked up shit alright.

DAVE: i know

[otaku553]

Something funny for your spy x family ASL au

Luffy took ONE look at loid and internally went 'oh sweet. He's a spy like sabo' and never brings it up while anya just stares at him horrified and like with ace and sabo, he just never brings it up.

This also happens with yor and anya makes a funny noise

(As i am typing this my dog has the zoomies and is running around like a maniac)

HAHA YEAH THIS WOULD DEFINITELY HAPPEN

I think loid’s a good enough actor that luffy wouldn’t figure it out immeditely from like just a few seconds of meeting him but give him a minute or a few and he’ll figure it out on vibes alone

[disability-kitties]

Narcissistic Personality Disorder Kitty mock up design

Designer: @alexandraisyes

Flag Design: @npdsafe

Symbol Design: @isobug

This Kitty is part of our Personality Disorder and Neurodivergent series!

[qilingxiong]

i understand that the site full of hyperfixating internet users who are exhausted grad students/doctorates by day is not the most effective audience to help me with this, but there is a horrible little devil on my shoulder who keeps whispering "psssst you could write an academic thesis on this" about my current interests and i need to kill it with fire