#are an interesting example how having special genes does not

[anastaaaaaaasia]

The First Queen

Aegon II Targaryen x niece!Reader

Important notice: in this series reader has features of Ser Harwin, including Brown hair and tone of skin.

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First Chapter

Just like her mother, young Y/N was given the nickname, the Sunshine of the Castle. The girl was already 2 years old, by this time Princess Rhaenyra had another son, Luceris, Luke for his loved ones. The little prince also has dark curls, which are unusual for a Targaryen. Ser Laenor's three children do not look like him in appearance, it is too early to talk about the similarity of character, but despite all the gossip within the walls of the Red Castle, he spends all his time with all the children. Jayce teaches how to hold a sword and parry blows, walks with Y/N in the garden and helps catch butterflies, which are then carried to Helaena and the three of them look at them, and together with Luke watches the dragon egg, which is in the cradle.

Dragons. As one of the last houses to survive the Doom of Valyria, dragons became a family trait within House Targaryen, along with platinum hair and violet eyes. With the help of dragons, they captured Westeros, protected the dynasty, conquered new lands and connections, and conquered the skies. They say that the Targaryens are closer to gods than to people. But sometimes even the gods do terrible things, it all depends on the dragon riders.

Jace's egg has already hatched and a new resident, Vermax, has appeared in the Dragonpit. The dragon keepers say that even at his young age, Vermax avoids the cold in every possible way and tries to be close to other, older dragons. For example, Sunfyre.

The golden dragon belongs to Aegon and is similar in character to its rider. A nosy and nimble dragon cannot stay in one place for more than a day. The catacombs of the Dragon's Lair seem to be suffocating him, so his mood changes dramatically when the dragon is brought out to the prince. While the small dragon always approaches its owner with joy and excitement in its eyes. Dragon keepers would swear they've seen Aegon hugged his arms around a dragon's neck a couple of times.

  And his sister, young Helaena, during walks with her father in the dragon’s lair, shows a special interest in the Dreamfyre. The dragon also reacts calmly to her presence and even allowed herself to be touched.

The situation was different for peers, Aemond and Y/N. Their eggs did not hatch and the children were too young to understand what was happening. Some say that the year of their birth was cursed, others say that it is a punishment for the fact that the origin of Rhaenyra's children is called into question, but then what does Aemond have to do with it. The boy inherited all of his father's Valyrian features, Platinum hair and purple eyes.

Everyone thought. No, hoped that the eggs would hatch over time, but two years is already quite a long time. The firstborn of King Viserys 1 has already spoken to her father that if Syrax lays the clutch, then she is ready to give her daughter a new egg, she is even ready to give Aemond one, as a sign of goodwill for his mother.

Once old friends, now they meet only on certain occasions. The queen and princess, who once communicated warmly and cordially, now greet each other with cold glances and the proper courtesies that the royal court expects from them.

The relationship finally deteriorated when Lord Otto Hightower, the queen's father, was removed from his position as Hand. From that moment on, Alicent did not believe a single word of her former friend. There were a lot of lies, they flowed through the Red Castle like streams, flowing down the steps, parapets and entrevolts into the ears, penetrating into the common sense and hearts of all the inhabitants of the castle.

  Therefore, when the queen caustically noted that for some strange reason the Baratheon genes outplayed the strong genes of the Targaryens, Velaryons and even the Arryns three times, this only created another reason for new whispers in the dark corners of the castle.

Now the royal family will have to meet again and put on fake smiles for everyone around them. For the second time in a year, the king announced a royal hunt. Two moons ago they were dedicated to Prince Aemond, second son of King Viserys. The boy turned two years old and his curiosity about everything around him began to awaken. Especially to his father's model of ancient Valyria, he often walked around him, and Viserys sometimes helped him, lifting him into his arms and showing the figures closer. The prince especially liked miniatures of dragons, which he only had in toy format and could never emit real fire.

Today, the royal hunt was dedicated to the second anniversary of Princess Y/N, the king’s granddaughter from his beloved daughter. The girl was wearing a light blue dress. It reached to the ground, and there was a rectangular cutout under the neck to make the princess feel comfortable under the summer sun. The sleeves barely reached the elbows and their bottoms were framed by flowers made of silver fabric. The skirt of the dress was also inlaid with silver threads and small stones.

Despite the obvious colors of House Velaryon in the costume of the young heiress, the head was still adorned with now long brown hair, like the other offspring of Princess Rhaenyra. The hair shimmered brightly under the sun's rays and made it a warmer shade than it originally was.

In the clearing in the middle of the Royal Forest, tents were already erected, and the servants were urgently making final preparations. The united coat of arms of House Targaryen and Velaryon fluttered in the wind, and the standards fit tightly into the ground. The clearing gradually filled with guests, lords and ladies from different parts of Westeros. Any event in the royal family means the possibility of potential alliances, which is why many noble families were present today, despite other plans and assignments.

But all this did not worry the young Targaryen heirs. Three royal carriages were almost approaching the scene of the event. The first was the King and Queen's carriage. Alicent sat inside, heavily pregnant. The maesters said that in one moon the queen would give birth to another child for the king of the seven kingdoms.

On her lap sat the princess of Helaena. The girl played with her long platinum hair, some of which was braided. Her light green dress shone from the rays coming through the window.

Sitting on Viserys' lap was his second son, Aemond. The two-year-old prince was looking at pictures in a book about his ancestors, about Aegon and his two conquering sisters. He especially looked at the illustrations of dragons.

To their right sat Aegon, the prince was talking about something with his father, when the latter handed him a goblet of wine.

“Viserys,” Alicent shouted. "He is only six years old," the queen was unhappy with her son's affinity for wine.

“He is already six years old,” the king commented good-naturedly and with a smile. “Even more so, it’s diluted,” after these words, Viserys shook his head approvingly towards Aegon, mentally giving permission to try the drink. The prince took a sip and broke into a smile.

Suddenly the carriage hit a stone and the remaining wine from the goblet spilled onto Aemond’s book, covering Vhagar’s drawing with a dark red stain. Two-year-old Aemond was clearly unhappy with this and hit his brother with his small fist. The carriage suddenly filled with noise in an attempt to calm the dragon's offspring.

But this was not heard in the next cart. Princess Rhaenyra was stationed there with her husband Ser Laenor and two children, Jacaerys and Y/N. It was decided to leave the newborn Luke in the castle under the supervision of maesters and midwives. The little girl tried to fall asleep, burying herself in her father's side, while Jace, on the contrary, tried to start a conversation. For a three year old he was very active. And now he was trying to teach his sister to pronounce his full name.

“Come on, tell Jacaerys,” the prince had been trying for ten minutes.

“Jace,” the girl said and laughed, seeing her brother’s dejected face. Rhaenyra also grinned and turned to the first child, "Don't worry, she will say your full name someday, right now it's still hard for her, she's only two years old."

“I hope it will be easier with Luke,” Jace said and frowned. Y/N carefully approached him and carefully hugged her brother.

“Jace,” she said and smiled. Jacaerys was no longer dissatisfied and smiled, “Well, at least I’m her favorite relative.” Everyone grinned.

“Favourite relative,” Y/N said carefully and in syllables and hugged her brother tighter.

  The third carriage carried the rulers of Driftmark, Corlys Velaryon and Rhaenys Targaryen. They were discussing Laena, who had recently given birth. She gave birth to Damon's two daughters, Bail and Reyna. The babies were not even a year old. They now live in Pentos and due to the danger of travel for the girls, they were unable to come to King's Landing. Although before pregnancy, they visited Westeros and Leina became quite close friends with Rhaenyra. Eyewitnesses say that they often saw three dragons flying together. Caraxes, Vhagar and Syrax.

Now, when the clatter of the hooves of the royal horses can be heard from the clearing, the musicians line up holding the fanfare high. Golden chimneys shine and shimmer under the rays of the sun, and the coats of arms of the Targaryen and Velaryon houses hang proudly in a row. The sounds of music spread throughout all the tents, the invited guests head to the meeting place of the main persons of this holiday.

The carriages drove into the clearing and, to the deafening claps of the guests, the Royal Family went outside. The fanfare blew so loudly that six-year-old Aegon covered his ears in displeasure and there was some disgust on his face. But it soon disappeared, when he saw Rhaenyra’s only daughter, his niece.

It was unusual, but something attracted him to her. From the moment of her birth, Aegon made sure to spend time with her. He looked at her in the cradle and gave her small toys from his own collection. Hell, he even let her slobber all over him just to see her smile. And now, when the holiday was in full swing, he wanted to see her. But his mother distracted him.

The birthday girl of this celebration sat in her mother's arms as she spoke with the chief of the city guard, Harwin Strong.

“Princess, I also have a small gift for you,” Harwin said with a smile. He handed a small toy into the girl's hands. It was a white wooden horse whose mane was decorated with green, red and blue colors. Those colors that decorated the coat of arms of the House of Strong. The girl examined the gift and then poked it in Harwin’s chest, where that very coat of arms was and smiled.

“You have a bright child growing up, a rare combination of intelligence and beauty,” Harwin chuckled. Princess Rhaenyra also smiled and lightly patted the baby's head. Y/N and she really was smart, she often saw Ser Harwin and how he spoke to her mother. Therefore, the next phrase plunged the two adults into a slight stupor.

“Favorite relative,” Y/N squealed happily and stretched out her arms in an attempt to hug Harvin. Rhaenyra looked around sharply, trying to figure out if anyone had heard this phrase. Harvin was a little embarrassed, but in his heart he was pleased, although he understood that all this was wrong.

“No, Y/N, you can’t say that,” Rhaenyra said. The baby frowned and did not understand the reason. When she said this to Jace, her mother was pleased, but now she scolds her. Harwin asked her to cheer up the baby.

“How does the horse gallop?”

“Clunk clunk,” the girl imitated, picking up the toy, and then laughed with Harwin. After that, Rhaenyra smiled guiltily and went to the royal tent.

“I would like a niece like this,” said Laris, who suddenly appeared.

There was fun in the royal tent. Wine flowed in streams, and bards entertained the high-ranking guests. Y/N sat on the carpets next to other children and looked at the toy. The color red reminded her of her mother, grandfather and all the Targaryens. Blue was similar to the color of her father and relatives from Driftmark. And Green, who did green remind her of? His. Aegon.

The prince appeared in her field of vision and the girl smiled at him, stood up and hugged him. Aegon chuckled and sat down next to her.

“You,” Y/N exclaimed and first pointed to the green line on the horse, and then to his green tunic.

“Yes, Green,” said Aegon

“Gween,” Y/N repeated incorrectly.

“Gween,” the prince assured with a grin and thought for a couple of seconds. Suddenly an idea popped into his head and he tried to implement it. "Do you know my name?"

The girl thought and blinked her eyes a couple of times in confusion. Y/N frowned and shook her head in denial.

“I am Aegon. Can you repeat that? Ae-Gon,” the prince pronounced his name syllable by syllable and looked at her expectantly. After a couple of attempts the girl exclaimed

“Aegon,” Y/N started laughing and Aegon smiled from ear to ear. Jace, who was sitting next to him at the time, frowned and became indignant.

“Why can you say his name, but not mine,” the prince exclaimed displeasedly.

“It’s obvious, nephew, I’m her favorite relative,” Aegon said and Y/N smiled

“Aegon, Beloved Relative,” said the princess and buried herself in Aegon’s chest, hugging him with her small arms. The prince blushed.

“At least I still have Luke,” Jace muttered dissatisfied and continued to play.

[clonehub]

there's surprisingly very little about clones that is determined by genetics. height, weight, fat/muscle distribution, stamina, and some aspects of mental fortitude definitely are, but a common flaw is for one to believe that anything a clone does or doesn't do, or thinks or doesn't think, is the direct result of genetic tampering. little to nothing is credited to the powerful force of upbringing. nurture. culture. ideology.

as a general rule of thumb, clones don't like fish. this isn't because there's a set of taste bud genes that the Kaminoans played around with, and it doesn't stem from Jango in particular. the clones don't like fish because they didn't grow up eating it, and they didn't grow up eating it (it is theorized, at least) because the Kaminoans themselves are vegetarian and eat a lot of seaweed. THIS is because the catastrophic event that wiped out most of their species also destroyed many of the prey they naturally fed on, forcing the remaining Kaminoans to subsist on more plant matter than they used to.

this is an example of unintended Kaminoan lifestyle influence on the clone's lives and interests. While the Kaminoan scientists most certainly brought in expert nutritionists, whoever was primarily in charge of building the menu would not have thought to add fish or fish products to the menu. this is the same reason why the majority of older generations of clones are lactose intolerant to some degree. Not only was Jango lacking the crucial gene, the Kaminoans would not have thought to supplement the clones' diet with dairy products because they themselves cannot digest it and the human species, while mammalian, gets weaned at about one and a half years old. That is the plan the Kaminoans followed. There are other, stronger sources of calcium that the Kaminoans put into the clones' diet to ensure proper bone development.

(in fact, the majority of clones' food was supplemented with nutritional additives rather than the nutrients being part of the meal itself, initially. Their diets are so strictly controlled that the Kaminoans would rather give the clones dried fruit flavored fiber sticks than fresh fruit. Fresh fruit was rare.)

Multiple things got more dairy and a wider variety of foods in general into the clones' diet:

Bounty Hunter and Drill Sergeant influence.

They brought parts of their cultures or personal influences to Kamino. They had special orders of the things they enjoyed, including icecreams, snacks, cheeses, etc. The "nicer" instructors would sometimes let a clone they liked sample a piece of food. This is also how it was discovered that every single clone was deathly allergic to the space version of a cashew nut (a flaw swiftly handled by the scientists via both allergen therapy shots for already-born clones and a change to the standard clone template).

2. Returning clone influence.

Clones coming back from deployment brought a plethora of goodies (illicit and not) with them. Foods, snacks, candies, miscellaneous ingredients, stories of what amazing meals could be had if you were savvy enough or adventurous enough lucky enough. There are rumors of a GAR galactic candy trading system that stretches all the way back to Kamino, though evidence of it is sparse. Even Captain Rex is reported to have brought back gummy worms when called to Kamino to give a training lecture to rising CCs. Though the bag was allegedly "family sized", it is unclear if the goods were actually shared.

3. Experimentation.

[This is actually canon lol] The Kaminoans found that clones were more enthusiastic about mealtimes and getting their calories in when the food actually tasted good and had more variety. Taking the previous two influences, the clones' diet on Kamino improved in both taste and texture -- but there's still no fish.

[xxavengingangelxx]

Graves Defragged 1/?

As promised, here is the first part of deconstructing Graves. This part touches on the first half of the psychopath traits I want to discuss. Below is my take! I am NOT licensed to make these decisions. This is just for fun. It also touches on why I write Graves like a heartless mf'er in my longer fics. Because Graves is a heartless motherfucker.

Not proofread. I'm posting this before going to bed cause it's the only time I got between working 60+ hours a week, house chores, keeping hubby fed, etc.

To touch on my sociopath vs. psychopath post earlier, there are some in the field who argue that a sociopath is made and a psychopath is born. We don’t have enough information on Graves’s background to see whether or not he’s shown the same callous disregard for human life, disregard for rules, and narcissism earlier on. But he certainly shows those traits now.

And we do have this:

Graves: "That uniform was a limitation. I shed that skin..." Soap: "Like a fuckin' snake-" Graves: "Like a fucking soldier, son." — Soap confronts Graves about his past.

Let’s assume Graves was born a psychopath. It’s certainly possible. And if Adler is his father, then he’s got the genes for killing, anyway. Yes there are theories that say there are genes for criminality but I can post more on that later if y’all are interested.

How many traits of a psychopath does he actually have? Based on the behavior, we’ve seen, quite a bit!

Robert Hare, a Canadian psychologist, created the Hare Psychopathy Checklist (known today as the Hare Psychopathy Checklist Revised). Let’s go through the items with our crush man Graves in mind. Each of these items is rated a 0 if it does not apply, a 1 if it kind of applies, and a 2 if it definitely applies. They are added up at the end. Max score is a 40.

Item 1: Glibness and superficial charm = 2

You’re kidding me, right? Graves is the man of charm and glib. His good fuckin’ looks certainly help him out.

Image credit: @Vault21 on Tumblr

Remember Dark Water? Yeah…they trusted each other like brothers. Soap even hugged Graves! Graves had them  (and us) fooled because not much later he betrayed them like they were enemies.

Item 2: Grandiose sense of self-worth = 1

Graves is narcissistic. We can all agree on that, right? He thought he was too good for the Marines, that the Marines were not good enough for such a special person like himself. And I could be wrong here, but he is massively successful, likely a billionaire so doesn’t he get to be a little narcissistic?

Item 3: Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom = 2

Graves was so bored in the Marines, one of the toughest branches of the military, that he saw his uniform as a limitation and sought out to make his own company of mercenaries who don’t really answer to anyone. Also, how many CEOs do you see in the field like Graves is? Close to none. He lives for getting shot at and chased. He has a scar on his face to prove it!

Item 4: Pathological lying = 2

Is this even a question? Graves lied so well to 141 that they trusted him and saw him as a brother in arms. Also, remember the scene from Congress?

Image credit: BabyZone on YouTube.

Which leads me to…

Item 5: Conning/manipulative = 2

Phillip Graves is a conman. If you look up conman in the dictionary there’d be a picture of Graves or there should…it’d make the dictionary less boring. According to Google’s dictionary, the definition of conman is, “a man who cheats or tricks someone by gaining their trust and persuading them to believe something that is not true.” I can think of a few examples. Again, Dark Water

Image credit: Wallpaper Cave

Also, the Congress scene where he lies (about WAR CRIMES) like he’s talking about the weather.

And when he pulled the rug out from under 141 in Las Almas.

Which in turn takes us to…

Item 6: Lack of remorse/guilt = 2

Graves betrayed 141, the men he had fought next to, defended, befriended all while gaining their trust.

All while smiling about it!

Image credit: halgalvv on TikTok

Look!

Image credit: Call of Duty Wiki

Which also reminds me of the war crimes Graves committed in Las Almas. Some argue that Graves cleaned house by killing off people who were supporting the cartels but based on what I’ve been told there were children in this town as well.

This also brings me to the topic of Graves’s Shadows. These men are okay with war crimes. Shadows are okay with killing people just because Graves said to. In one (or more?) of my fics I portray Shadows as I see them: callous and even sadistic with how they agree to torture a prisoner of war (POW), going so far as using rape as a weapon if Graves gives the word.

Are there some Shadows who can’t engage in this kind of behavior? Perhaps. So Graves knows which men to pick to carry out war crimes. At least that’s how I see it.

Psychopaths have physical differences in the make up of their brain that make them UNABLE to feel guilty, remorse, or fear. So when I hear people asking how serial killers and other criminals deal with their guilt, I say they do not because it doesn't exist to them. They have no idea what guilt is.

Remember: It’s not that psychopaths choose not to feel/ignore guilt. It’s that their brain is completely INCAPABLE of this emotion.

You might be asking why/how: Psychopaths think the same thing about you…how can you feel guilt? Why would you want to?

Item 7: Shallow affect = 1

Only because we are unable to see how Graves functions emotionally away from the battlefield. My forensic psychology professor said that psychopaths have 2 emotions: rage and joy. Have you seen Graves portray anything else, really? In another fic, Graves supposedly says he loves OC. Like he even knows what that means. He doesn’t. He loves controlling her and abusing her, yes.

If Graves had a kid like he does in the same fic, he doesn’t feel much affection towards him. He just likely sees him as an extension of his partner. A future soldier, someone Graves can start training from young. Something he can use to control and keep his partner in line.  That child, from the moment he was born is seen as an asset by Graves. Plus, there are some good chances that kiddo might have inherited Graves’s genes that pass on his psychopathy. And even if that child does not, there’s a good chance he could develop as a sociopath because he’s not likely to see much more other than Graves continuing to abuse and control his partner and battlefield conditions.

Item 8: Callousness/lack of empathy = 2

This relates to a lack of remorse. You might ask how can Graves not feel empathy for how 141 must feel after he betrayed them? Because, like the shallow emotions and lack of remorse, Graves’s brain cannot do it. He doesn’t have the neurons for it. He doesn’t have the brain structure for it. It’s not that Graves chooses not to feel or ignore empathy. He CANNOT. It’s almost like asking someone with very low math ability to do a PhD in physics. It’s not that they’re lazy. They do not have the aptitude for it.

Graves does not have the aptitude for remorse or empathy because he doesn’t have the brain structure that makes that happen.

He think's it's funny.

Image credit: Einstein Ibraheem on YouTube

Item 9: Parasitic lifestyle = 0

Finally, one that does NOT apply to Graves. This man refuses to depend on anyone. He’s a fucking billionare that can get whatever the hell he wants whenever he wants it.

Item 10: Poor behavioral controls = 0

Hear me out! Graves is not impulsive. Lots of psychopaths are due to limitations in a part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex as well as other parts to include the limbic system. Graves is not limited in that manner. He plans, he’s meticulous, he’s detailed, and he gets away with a lot of shit because of it. Graves is not impulsive. Get him mad and he might smack the shit out of you (more than once if you make him mad enough) but when it comes to important decisions, he takes his painstaking time.

So fear we are up to the score of 14! He has scored positive on 14/20 possible points.

More to come!

[i-heart-hxh]

I often hear people call Gon selfish, but I highly doubt he is. Personally, I can see this side of him only vaguely, so I have mixed feelings about this.

Do you think that's true? And if so, does he realise it or does he act this way unconsciously?

I do think he is, to a certain degree! But it's also one of the attributes that make him special and unique as a character, and I definitely don't think it makes him a terrible person or anything. It's also situational, as he can also be incredibly kind and helpful as well, even to strangers where he doesn't have much to gain in return from helping them.

Going back to one of the things I bring up frequently, HxH often plays with shounen tropes, and Gon's character is partly a twist on a typical shounen hero, but with some of those typical attributes magnified until they also become flaws. Gon is tremendously single-minded, determined, and stubborn, to the point where at times it becomes self-destructive and/or goes against reason entirely. These attributes go hand-in-hand with his selfishness.

Just a few examples of him being selfish include:

His fight against Hanzo and how he insisted on getting his way no matter what, even when what he wanted was unreasonable

Deviating from the plan when fighting Genthru when it wasn't necessary (and could have screwed up everything potentially), but he did this just for his own pride and satisfaction in the fight, and got his hand blown off in the process

What he said about knowing he can get his way with Killua if he doesn't give in

I feel like the selfishness partly comes from his personality, and it partly comes from his age and maturity level as well. He's right at an age where it makes sense for him to mostly focus on himself and his own desires, and not always be able to consider and incorporate the feelings of others as easily as someone who is more mature. He has a certain naiveté to him that is charming, but his views of the world can be overly simplified and strongly conform to his own priorities, which is partly why he struggles badly when confronted with the complex reality in the situation with Pitou healing Komugi. I personally think he'll mature out of some of the selfish tendencies he has due to immaturity, but a lesser degree of it will probably continue to be an aspect of his personality, because it's part of what makes him who he is.

I think him being somewhat selfish makes sense with his background, too--he was barely around any other children through his childhood, and he spent a lot of time in nature/around animals instead, so his socialization wasn't exactly normal in that regard. He likely didn't have to share and compromise nearly as much as children raised around many of their peers. He was around adults of various sorts as they came and went from Whale Island (hence why he does have good social skills in the first place), but that's different than sustained friendship with and exposure to peers. He also does have Ging's genes, haha--while obviously Gon isn't exactly the same as Ging in multiple ways, think of the kind of life Ging leads.

I think his selfishness is mostly harmless and just a character quirk...under "normal" conditions. The problem is that as the series goes on, he ends up in progressively more and more abnormal situations (i.e. Chimera Ant Arc) that he's not emotionally prepared for or equipped to handle as a young teenager, so he deals with them how he deals with everything--by viewing the world through his own personal, self-centered lens (not meant as a judgment), and prioritizing his own goals and interests even if it means disregarding those around him. And in a morally complex, painful, terrible situation like that, that kind of outlook leads to tragic outcomes.

I think he has some awareness of it, after all it's something Killua and others in his life comment on at times. That said, because it comes from a combination of his personality and maturity level, it's not always under his conscious control. It's just part of his default state of existence.

So, yes, I do think he has aspects of selfishness to his personality, but he can often be a kind/helpful/considerate and even at times selfless boy as well (in too many ways to easily list), and I do think he'll grow out of some of the selfishness at least--but keep just enough for it to still be an aspect of his personality to a certain degree. I think what happened in Chimera Ant Arc is something he's going to learn from deeply, and his selfishness was a part of what stoked that whole situation, though there were certainly plenty of other factors involved so it's not fair to simplify it down to only that.

[biblioflyer]

X-Men: Trust is Cheap When You Have a Trust Fund

Personal experiences can bestow a fundamentally sunny disposition about Mutant assimilation in Human society. They can also inspire the bleakest despair and a level of skepticism about unilateral disarmament.

Previously I discussed why X-Men as a setting is fundamentally pessimistic as a necessity according to the creative choices made. It is an essay in 5 parts:

1,2,3,4,5

This is a new series analyzing how experience and social status influences Mutant outlooks on the assimilation vs separatism/supremacy question.

It should not surprise us at all that the Morlocks and Magneto have very different opinions from Xavier about who should regulate their behavior and how. Once he’s confronted with how little protection his wealth affords him, even Sunspot becomes a convert to Magneto’s way of thinking.

When you’ve had a bad experience with someone claiming to be on your side and then contradicting literally every value you thought you shared, it makes a person calloused against appeals to a shared set of values or the innate goodness of humanity. 

For a real life example, George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” is a repudiation of the Soviet Union under Stalin, even though Orwell was no fan of extreme inequality and the violence used by elites to protect that inequality in market driven societies. Orwell was motivated to revisit the idea of whether the USSR was a true reflection of his values due to his personal sense of betrayal when the Soviet Union declined to intervene in the Spanish civil war against the Nazi allied regime.

We ought not to be surprised when impoverished visible Mutants find it difficult to imagine having a seat at the table when they can’t even get a seat at the table masquerading as Sapiens. 

Xavier’s access to power is always depicted as somewhat tenuous and his relationships with Presidents are transactional. Regardless of their personal feelings and long term visions, the leaders Charles interacts with are primarily focused on day to day crisis management. These leaders are ultimately accountable to the overwhelming majority of the population that does not have special abilities and those who are fearful of Mutants and those who are supportive of Mutants vote and contribute to political campaigns.

Xavier isn’t even visibly mutated. The tendency for Humans to perceive Morlocks as hideously disfigured denies them any comfort in mainstream society. Their very appearance reminds Humans that something has gone amiss in the gene pool and that something may not bode well for baselines in the long run.

Magneto’s experiences as a Sapien minority on the wrong side of the boot has made him deeply skeptical of power beyond his own. A Holocaust survivor, Magneto doesn’t need to imagine what the worst case scenario is for Human - Mutant relations.

Like Orwell, he is not easily swayed by appeals to common values or shared interest. For Magneto, trust is earned and the tests to earn it are not easy. As a consequence of his experiences, Magneto has adopted an attitude that only the people that are imminently facing the same type of threats can truly understand each other and be relied upon. 

To the extent that this is a fair and accurate sentiment, taken to an extreme it can be very isolating and leave one with few allies and even fewer people whose insights might be trusted when they contradict Magneto’s own instincts. This becomes a serious problem when Cortez worms his way into Magneto’s inner circle or Magneto rationalizes the fate of Mutants trapped on an Earth incapable of using modern technology as expediting evolution.

Yet, cynic that he is, life as an island is hard and even Magneto is not immune to the occasional savvy operator figuring out how to earn and abuse his trust, like Cortez.

Next up: Power level as privilege. What happens when a cranky Omega isn’t trapped in here with you, you are trapped with them….

[highlyentropicmind]

Here is why I think Bob is autistic

There more I think about this, the more sense it makes

1.- Bob has very intense special interests, like burgers, thanksgiving, or cooking in general. Coming up with a new burger every single day sounds very autistic when you think about it

2.- Most of the time Bob doesn't express his emotions with his voice, or even with his facial expression, those stay mostly constant. Instead Bob is constantly telling people how he feels and what he thinks of the situation. This is very similar to what Tina does, although with her its more prominent

3.- Autism has a genetic component, if Tina is autistic it's very likely one of her parents would be too

4.- Bob has terrible people skills. He thought all those people in the forum were his friends but they actually hated him, that's the autistic experience right there. He also doesn't have many friends, he hates parties, hates double dates…

5.- Bob has a strong sense of justice, and believe it or not this a well known autistic trait which Bob exemplifies perfectly. How many times has Bob taken a situation too far because he just couldn't accept some perceived injustice or mistake?

6.- More about special interests: He has other special interests besides cooking, like the cowboy movies he watches with Gene or the Samurai movies he watches with Louise

7.- He was able to absorb the Equestranauts fandom in like a day. For a neurotypical person this would be extremely hard, but for someone with autism who can hyperfixate, this is still hard, but doable

In conclusion. Bob is a good example of a person with high functioning autism, and he could serve as an example of how autistic people can thrive in society

Also, the fact that he insists Tina is not autistic, but he himself is without knowing it, could make for a killer episode if the writers ever went there, I can almost picture it

Bob: For the last time, Tina you are not autistic. You just speak in a monotone voice, have a few intense interests, have trouble socializing and can become a little obsessed sometimes. Everyone does that

Linda: Uhm, no Bob, most people don't have trouble socializing

Bob: They don't?

Linda: Most people don't do any of the things you said

Bob: But I do all of those things... Oh

[weeb-polls-with-pip]

Autistic Anime Boys Prelims - Propaganda Division - Group 4

Propaganda:

Natsuki -

"He has a flat affect, especially towards the start of the series, and a strong special interest in fishing. He does not get along with Haru and Yuki at first because he doesn't think they are taking fishing seriously, but after seeing Yuki's drive to improve and growing appreciation for his interest, he warms up to them and develops, what seems to be, the first close friendships he 's had. As the boys learn to fish, he is the source of most of the very specific fishing knowledge in the series, and after the show is finished we see that he has moved overseas to continue pursuing his special interest."

Luca -

*okay I screwed up, this submission didn't have propaganda. It WAS marked 'yes' for propaganda use though, which is where the confusion came from. At this point I'm too tired to move the bracket around though, so Luca's just gonna stay here.

Adrian -

"Not a full time boy (but a boy nonetheless, bigender icon fr) but working autism overtime."

Rui -

"aside from being an adorable piano genius with the voice of an angel? he grew up sheltered and doesn't have a lot of physical stamina but he does his best to become an idol (rescuing his own black kitten along the way) and is officially considered the most cat-like in his unit. he will eat your pudding. also he grows up! he used to be like fifteen and now he's 26?!"

Hikaru -

"He's shown to have difficulty emoting since childhood. In a particular episode, a mother comes to him to alter her child's brain and remove the parts of him that make him difficult to handle. It is heavily implied that the things she wants removed is autism and Hikaru is more upset about this than most other things in the series but seems to understand that acceptance for people like him and the kid is few and far between. He also says things that could be considered rude when it comes to situations where people ask him to alter who they are as people, such as when a friend asks him to change her sexuality so that she's straight and doesn't have to suffer heartbreak anymore."

Rei -

"AUTISTIC ICON!!!!! just like. look at him. look at that one face he makes all the time. it's hard for me to name specific examples other than the obvious fixation on shoji and like general lack of social skills because i haven't gone through the whole thing in so long but there's soooo much there. i might be talking out of my ass but it's also like? such a sensorily focused story (both the anime and manga). he could even be considered a sports anime boy if you just believed ❤️ or something ‼️"

Vayne -

"Relies on his pet cat for social cues, because the cat is better at them. The saddest, most gentle boy to ever wield a cat-sword-gauntlet. Absolutely listens to all of his friends' infodumps with infinite love and interest. Completely oblivious to how everyone in his workshop adores him by the end of the game."

Ganta -

"he has insomnia (frequently comorbid with autism). once he gains an interest in astrophotography it becomes a special interest very quickly. he's sweet and kind but also gets annoyed easily and he rides a bike and works at an arcade and wants to be a nurse and he loves his girlfriend isaki so so much"

Aoi -

"He has a very devoted special interest in the idol Takada-chan, which he frequently imagines in fights and other situations… the moment someone (Itadori) expresses equal interest in something he is passionate about, he immediately declares them besties and brothers and creates a whole elaborate shared history for them that doesn’t actually exist. He’s not really interested in connecting with people who don’t share his interests. He’s seen as somewhat strange and eccentric. Though in the present he is respected because of his strength as a sorcerer, as a child he was very isolated."

Ray -

"Due to his extremely strong memory, Ray is forced to grow up faster than his best friends and gives himself up as a lost cause in hopes of saving them. He is very sharp and smart but has massive blind spots when it comes to trusting and considering others."

[randomfoggytiger]

Psychics Developed Their Abilities Through Alien DNA

I found it fascinating that all the characters in The X-Files with psychic ability developed it because of their existential brushes with death (post here.) But how does the existence of Luther Lee Boggs and Clyde Bruckman and John Lee Roche (and Dana Scully) correlate with their antithesis Gibson Praise? Yea, further, what does it mean for someone like Mulder-- a man with an incredibly low threshold for psychic abilities (ironic, I know) to be given and stripped of that ability because of an alien artifact and hacksawed brain surgery?

In short, the answer connecting all these dots is, simply, the alien genome existing, dormant, in every single human being on that planet.

Alien DNA and Psychic Ability

The show went out of its way to hammer home that humans have been inoculated with and against the alien virus since the first spaceship touchdown; but it also decided (halfway through the show) that all the inhabitants of the planet were-- and had been, and would be-- born with alien DNA. Because the original inhabitants were alien in nature, their genomes trickled down to humans; and that alien-human gene is what the alien overlords planned to exploit when they invaded and colonized Earth.

The Consortium, it seems, decided that the key to their species' survival was in the creation of apex humanity, taking in mad scientists post WWII to graft men with bugs (Travellers), rip the ability to sleep from soldiers' brains (Sleepless), and create different types of clones from alien fetal tissue with differing levels of success (Eve, Colony-Endgame, Memento Mori, etc.) Those experiments having largely failed, they theorized it would be easiest to start from the ground up: extracting and experimenting with ova before adding sperm and "allowing" them to grow into functioning clones or more, sadly, malfunctioning humans.

Then, a discovery: Gibson Praise, born with abilities far beyond what had been created or developed and completely without interference, was lauded as the breakthrough they needed; and coveted, captured, and traded by every faction, good or evil, under the sun.

Gibson Praise and the Keys to Everything

Gibson was now established as the undeniable link between mankind, psychic ability, and the alien genome. Born "flawless" and functioning independently and autonomously without the need for special medications to keep his system afloat, the Syndicate considered him the lucky culmination of what they had been working to achieve, unsuccessfully, for decades-- the backbone upon which they could rest their future research and projects. Knowing this, the powers-that-be captured him and cut his brain open in an attempt to replicate his genius. Without luck.

Why did the Consortium capture and study Gibson Praise instead of the countless other psychics running amok around their world? The Syndicate has been shown to capture and study new advances in science; and that allows the viewers to infer psychics are either a dime-a-dozen or old hat; and, either way, are of no current interest or use to the Organization. It would probably have been a waste of time and resources to pursue and test every single one; and, besides, the link between their abilities and their sleeper DNA hadn't been proven before. Gibson, meanwhile, was a unicorn-- the direct link they'd been seeking-- and imperative to their research and ambitions.

But: Gibson Praise, the first key to everything, failed them.

On the tail end of that disappointment, Cassandra Spender popped back down from a UFO completely and miraculously healed. The Syndicate saw this as their new key to everything-- she'd been grafted with alien DNA, enough to correct whatever physical and neurological damage had been done to her body; and was a walking, talking example of different side project that had, also, not gotten off the ground. Perhaps no one could be bred and born like Gibson; but they could-- as the Consortium hoped-- be grafted in.

But: Cassandra Spender, the second key to everything, went up with the Consortium like a puff of smoke.

However, fate had not run out of keys to everything; and threw one last insane (almost literally) trick at the wall to see if it would stick.

Biogenesis, the Lynch Pin

When Biogenesis Mulder touched the literal key to everything-- an alien artifact-- it unlocked psychic potential so vast that his brain lit on fire and his body shut down. (It should also have infected Scully as well, see post here.) Mulder's catatonic state demonstrated how powerful the alien genome could potentially be if activated in the human body-- too powerful for the human body--and proved, once and for all, that psychic ability was caused by alien DNA: not only was he able to read the cue cards from Skinner's mind, but also predict them, divining peoples' actions and motives before they'd unfolded in the present. Not even Gibson Praise was this powerful, having only the ability to telepathically read minds. Mulder, meanwhile, had a mixture of everyone's psychic ability-- telepathy (Biogenesis) and psychic prediction (The Sixth Extinction) and mental projection (also The Sixth Extinction, but implied rather than overtly stated in Scully's poetic monologues.)

When CSM cut that section out of Mulder's brain (I know, I know) and put it into his own (I know, I know), Mulder was freed from the advanced development and destabilization of his mind... and also, his alien DNA was, theoretically, removed from his brain.

Which had huge implications for the series... and was never touched on again.

But what was touched on, and is of vast importance? Even after Mulder's "psychic sector" was removed, he was still caught up in psychic projections, a reoccurring pattern between he and his partner since S2's Ascension (and culminating in This Is Not Happening.) This leads us to one conclusion: throughout the series, it was not Mulder who was creating or projecting these psychic scenarios; leaving only one other person as the culprit-- Scully.

Dana Scully, the Psychic

How do we know Mulder isn't the more psychically inclined one in his and Scully's partnership? Well, the experiences he shares with her are only remembered by one party-- Scully-- and begin during her capture in Ascension. In Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose, Mulder asked layman questions in an attempt to navigate the parameters of psychic ability; and furthermore, Paper Hearts left him confused, discombobulated, and unnerved in the face of John Lee Roche's psychic projections. He is an incredibly intelligent, bright man with insane profiling abilities far beyond his peers and teachers and superiors; but psychic, Mulder seems not to be.

How does this prove that she, not Mulder, is the psychic in the X-Files partnership? In each and every supernatural situation shared between them, Scully was the only one who remembered the incidences: Mulder either wrote them off as his tortured imaginings (Ascension) or didn't recall them at all (The Blessing Way, Within, This Is Not Happening, etc.) Not only that, but she often brushed up against paranormal or supernatural spirits or angels with personal please and warnings as far back as Season 1 (post here and here.)

As touched on in an aforementioned post, she, like Luthor Lee Boggs and Clyde Bruckman and Harold Spuller, sees dead people; and like Boggs, Bruckman, and Spuller, Scully developed that ability through a close connection with death (or the death of someone close to her): specifically, her father's in Beyond the Sea.

An important note: it's not a surprise that psychic phenomenon is awakened around or in the aftermath of death: human history records how death has so touched and punctuated the human spirit that it drives humanity to seek answers or presences or enlightenment or anything "greater" than themselves with cyclical regularity; but it's interesting that-- without meaning to, I'm certain-- this show taps into that shared experience and transforms it into a gateway to human consciousness, an ability to bring forth something greater from the deep recesses of an unconscious or subconscious mind and into the reality of the tangible world.

Scully is not the only member of her family to be psychically in-tune, either: Maggie's dream predated her daughter's gnarly abduction and death (Ascension); and Melissa's sixth sense tried to buoy Mulder's (One Breath) and her sister's spirit (The Blessing Way deleted scene, post here) during dark, hopeless hours.

But Scully is not your ordinary Scully, or even an ordinary psychic: her abduction played a significant role not only in her life but also in the mytharc; and, more imperatively, in connection with Gibson Praise.

Mytharc Tie-Ins: Alien Spaceships, Healing, and William

The Consortium, as we established, wanted to create a superior race to combat the impending alien invasion. Their previous experiments on fully developed humans having failed, they decided to start from the ground up: ova. Thus, they started capturing women-- who would later create MUFON and its European chapters, kept in check by the Syndicate via Diana Fowley-- to experiment on; extract and store their ova; and return them, chipped for further use. Most ova experiments created more clones without any extra enhancements; and most women were returned infertile but largely unharmed. The only woman we know of who was returned on the brink of death (and survived) was Scully, meaning her testing was so severe that, without CSM's interference, she would have died in a government lab and been discarded as medical waste.

And, ironically, coincidentally, indubitably, the very women the Consortium kept trying to kill over and over-- via capture, cancer, or alien incubation virus-- was the same woman who restored her own fertility via an alien spaceship; and (post Season 7) gave birth to a son who (post Season 8) was born with powers even stronger than Gibson Praise's.

How do we know Scully's fertility was restored by the alien spaceship and not by CSM machinations or any other miraculous intervention?

Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz admitted they liberally hinted at Scully's pregnancy throughout Season 7: the family planning book in The Sixth Extinction and the boy on the beach (post here and here.) Though the latter fit as Mulder's reconnection with his inner child, it also served as the writers' jumping off point for more (however badly executed or ill-advised.)

And when does the boy on the beach start appearing to Mulder? After Scully touched the hull of the spaceship in Biogenesis.

Furthermore, En Ami was written by William B. Davis after CC and Spotnitz had laid down their grand plans for the finale. Carter saw this as another opportunity to obscure Wiliam's paternity-- setting up another mystery to tease as long as possible-- and changed up Davis's script accordingly (post here and here.)

If you choose to pursue canon after Season 8-- which I don't-- then William is the next "organically" born Gibson Praise but with far greater abilities. Is this because of an extra "oomph" from the spaceship, or because of Scully and Mulder's genetic tampering via sundry Consortium experiments?

The most likely explanation is the spaceship, since many other abductees have been experimented on, returned, and created families of their own without any noteworthy changes to their offspring. Realistically, William was created by the showrunners to be a completely ordinary miracle for Scully and Mulder-- Mulder's lines in Existence ("...maybe he isn't what they thought he was. That doesn't make him any less of a miracle, does it?") served as the period to the sentence of the series; and was written before there was definitive confirmation for Season 9 and without the "magic child" plotline put into place-- but, canonically, he is a wee baby with incredibly advanced, out-of-this-world powers that will eventually grow into a psychopathic-- excuse me, floundering-- teenager. This draws us back to the alien ship as the origin of life: healing not only that dead fish but also Scully's reproductive inability; and laying the groundwork for little William's enhanced abilities.

How the Syndicate Shot Themselves in the Foot (Again)

An interesting note on the shadow project and genetic tampering: I believe the Syndicate hindered the ova's viability because of the tests they put the women through before extraction, changing both mother and child's DNA so much so that the eggs and resulting fetus could not-- barring medical assistance-- successfully thrive if grown outside of their mothers' bodies.

How can I back up this theory? With Season 8's Per Manum and Essence.

Dr. Parenti and his narrowed cohorts found that he could grow alien-human fetuses to full term in a woman's womb with better results; and began using his clients as hosts, swapping the alien fetus at birth with their own (test-tube grown) "normal" baby. He then ruthlessly harvested or killed them in various developmental stages, preserving their remains in jars for future testing; and, of course, carefully disguised his unethical practice as above-board research into fetal deformities.

Why does this matter? It means Parenti and his merry men of Syndicate leftovers are the only ones-- that we know of-- who could bring alien-human or strictly alien fetuses to term without genetic "padding", cloning, or lifelong medical intervention to keep them from destabilizing. Furthermore, the women he selected for IVF treatments were former abductees who had a history of infertility; meaning, he specialized in creating babies for and out of women with tampered genetics that the Consortium cast aside as useless garbage.

The Consortium had unwittingly created the perfect hosts for their enhanced ova but failed to recognize this; and, instead, used their abductees as chattel, or killed them off when they were deemed no longer useful.

In short, they failed. Again.

In Conclusion

The mytharc may be a mess; but at least it stirs together psychic ability and alien DNA in a sort-of edible hodgepodge.

For canon deniers post Season 7, psychic ability is still tied to Gibson Praise and humanity's inherent alien DNA; for canon deniers post Season 8, Scully's fertility is still "fixed" by the alien spaceship; and for all-canon viewers, William's powers are still enhanced because the alien spaceship intensified his preexisting alien DNA.

Was any of this intended by the writers? No, probably not.

Does it make sense in the grand scheme of things? Perhaps.

At any rate, this is the most coherent the mytharc has been in a while; and I'll take it.

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!

[eeclare]

Hot take (not really)

Gene and Tina are most definitely autistic. They’re the two characters in the show that show the most obvious autistic traits; Gene does have meltdowns on occasion (best example of this is season 7 episode 8 “The Laser-inth”) and has a major special interest in music, as well as his general lack of understanding in social situations (like when he talks about his bodily functions at inappropriate moments). Tina vocal stims CONSTANTLY. Like. It’s one of the things her character is known for! I’ve heard people say that she’s not stimming because she only does it when things are going wrong or when she’s stressed/anxious but stimming is often a self-soothing method. So yeah, she stims. She has a major special interest in horses and idk her erotic friend-fiction does not strike me as neurotypical lol. And of course there’s her general social awkwardness lol how could I forget that

Louise, Bob, and Linda are neurodivergent for sure!! And I think that a great argument can be made for Bob being autistic! In fact, i do headcannon him as being autistic, just as an autistic person that is masking almost constantly. The only time he lets himself unmask is when he’s doing something that pertains to his special interests (burgers, cooking, Thanksgiving) or when he’s doing something he’s invested in! There’s also the fact that he humanizes inanimate objects like cooking utensils and food (among many, many other things) but that’s not necessarily an autistic trait in Bob, I honestly think it’s more of a trauma response to him having a really rough childhood. He’s also shown to have a really hard time in social situations and he often feels like something is wrong with him, or that he’s too different from everyone else to really fit in. This is actually something that all the Belchers are shown to experience throughout the series. Back to Bob though, while I think that this feeling of being too different and not fitting is likely due to autism AND his rough upbringing all in one.

Onto Linda and Louise. To me, they’re the most ambiguous out of all the Belchers. There are some episodes that I watch where I think that they totally could be Autistic and then in other episodes I think “meh, not so much”. There’s for sure some ADHD in there though (same could be said for Gene). They do both show that they have an issue with authority figures though, which is an Autistic trait, but it could also just be that they’re generally rebellious characters lol

All this being said, I want to state right here and now that I totally accept that not everyone thinks the Belchers are autistic. That’s completely valid! I recognize that neurotypical people often project themselves onto TV show characters that they relate to. What I’m saying though, is that there are a lot of signs that most (if not all) the Belchers are autistic/neurodivergent. I really love Bob’s burgers discourse, and if anyone wants to help me out with Linda and Louise then please do :) I find that I have a harder time with them because they’re just not characters that I am able to relate my own experiences to

I hope that this post is coherent, I don’t really post all that much, but I’ve been thinking about this for a while and I just wanted to share my thoughts with everyone

[undergoing-mitosis]

I FUCKING LOVE BLOOD TYPES!!!!!;!!.:;!! (does zoomies)

we had a bio class today where we were talking about when there are more than two variants of gene that code for a particular characteristic, using the specific example of blood types. little autistic me was going feral.

a question came on the board like "if one parent has blood type AB and the other blood type O, what are the combinations and probabilities of the child's possible blood genotypes?" and i was instantly like "oh it's 50% A and 50% B, with both being heterozygous." and the teacher was like "damn alr then. smartypants. /lh" then the person behind me was like wait what? and the teacher was like well yeah she's right! and i was like YIPPEE then everyone else was drawing punnet squares for like 3 minutes trying to work it out and i was sitting there all smug in my smartassery :3

then i was telling my teacher about how i spent an afternoon once trying to work out my blood type using my parents' and grandparents', and she was like damn that's so cool. and while waiting for everyone else i recalculated it and figured out i have a 37.5% chance of either being AB or B, and a 12.5% chance of being A or O. t'was fun!!!

god the random ass special interests do be special interesting.

anyways now im very happi cause blood is cool and biology is cool and this made my shitty day a bit less shitty so i wanted to share it with you guys :3 thank you for listening to my silly little ramble

[cobwebcorner]

Had a lore question about Wesker I was hoping you could answer,

Like how does the T virus or whatever childhood virus he got from experimentation work as virus resistance? Is he immune like Jake to C? If he somehow got bit by a T virus or T variant infected, would the version he have neutralize it or would mutate?

Idk I’ve been looking at a lot of “what T virus gave Wesker superpowers” discussion and it’s interesting seeing pre and post re5 retcon discussion.

Ahhh, I do remember the pre-RE5 days, when we all thought his pal Birkin had given Wesker some special unique virus that gave him all the superpowers with none of the brain-melting.

If I recall correctly, current lore is that what Wesker was given was a version of the Progenitor virus, which is the precursor they made all other T family viruses out of. So presumably, because he's been exposed to that so much, he has built up antibodies to any closely related viruses. Antibodies can be passed along to your children, so that's the reason Jake has the C virus immunity (lore says C virus was based on T-Veronica, so it's in the same family).

The final selection virus that Wesker took before dying was also progenitor-based I think? Obviously, that one did do some mutating, because Wesker has snake eyes and superpowers now. I have my own theories on how that worked out, but canon lore doesn't give any details.

The T viruses canonically react differently based on someone's genetics--for example, only like 1% of the population have the genes to turn into Tyrants instead of zombies. Basically on top of having progenitor antibodies, Wesker's a very lucky bastard who mostly got beneficial mutations.

Then there's Uroboros, which was made by cobbling together a bunch of different T variants that Wesker stole from everyone else plus a dose of Jill's T antibodies. We all know what happened when Wesker infected himself with that! (Tentacles. So, so many tentacles.)

So I think the answer is, if he got bitten by a garden variety zombie it wouldn't do much to him. His immune system has got plenty of experience fighting T virus already. However, there's a chance that if he was exposed to a different enough variant, it would still affect him. And since T Virus is a science fantasy 'turn you into monster' virus instead of your usual 'just makes you sick' virus, all sorts of fun mutations could happen from that.

[trans-leek-cookie]

I just saw your tags on the unreliable narrator post and I really want to know what character you’re talking about now

Geto Suguru from JJK. I came for the hot Asian guy with long hair and a cool outfit stayed bc I'm interested in how cults and eugenics hurt ppl irl and also how they're explored in fiction. But between heaven and earth I alone am trying to find a fic that actually treats him being a cult leader as the problem it is and also gets fucking Nanako and Mimiko out of their. Uhhh fuck idk if u know JJK so spoilery ranting under the read more that assumes familiarity (so not like. Explaining specific plot shit bc my brain will explode)

so basically ppl have called out the eugenics shit with like "kill everyone who isn't a sorcerer" and generally they're like yeah that sucks but whatever not important lol. And I've seen like 0 shit actually about how he's a cult leader + how cults are Abusive. And some ppl are like "actually he has a point bc blah blah blah" like okay. If sorcerers were a stand in/comparable to real life marginalized groups. WE DONT NEED MORE "MARGINALIZED EUGENICIST" PLOTS. But even within the story they don't seem marginalized? Like, there are Marginalized Sorcerers, but being a Sorcerer isn't something that's consistently oppressed? The closest thing is either misdirected ableism/sanism ("they see things that aren't there and are assumed to be psychotic" which is its own can of worms) or like accusations of witchcraft which... I guess that's sorcerery based on this universe but irl those were usually used either along with or as cover for other shit (racism, misogyny, land grabs, etc). So hes not necessarily marginalized on that level- tho growing up in a family without other sorcerers mightve caused problems for him that's a LOT different from systemic oppression. And, also? In a lot of cases it seems like sorcerers are relatively privileged with a lot of economic, social and maybe political power? Like the big three families are obv examples bc they're fucking Rich and control the sorcery world so. Y'know. Also it's stated at one point sorcerers receive some like exceptions to the law but aren't allowed to hurt ppl who aren't sorcerers so. Yeag

anyways going more in depth on eugenics- okay real quick terms: negative and positive eugenics. That's not in reference to the quality, "positive" doesn't mean "good" But Rather in reference to wether the action is meant to Reduce "bad genes" or Increase "good genes". And obv negative eugenics includes shit like forced sterilization and murder which I don't want to downplay, but positive eugenics is also coercive and fucked up. For example, forcing ppl to have children they don't want. Which isn't Discussed in the series, but the fact is sorcerers a SMALL minority of the population, and they're already having trouble with curses, so. Theoretically sorcerers would be coerced to have more children to bring the population numbers up. Personally I think that's Not Something Suguru Believes In (I'll get into that but main thing is his eugenics isn't an actual strategy but rather lashing out and ego) but like. There's abuse on both sides of the equation no matter what. Eugenics isn't fucking redeemable.

Now onto the cult shit. It's not super expanded on besides needing money and curses to like. Kill ppl or whatever. But my interpretation of Suguru is that he started a cult, and believes in eugenics, because his ego was damaged. Like the trauma impacted him and influenced his actions ofc bc trauma Does That but also I straight up think his ego was bruised and he wants revenge.

Like first of all, the wider context- he's a kid who is alienated from his parents and probably most of the ppl he interacted with due to his abilities, which is understandably damaging esp at a young age.

He is then scouted and labeled as a special grade- he is one of three in Japan and I believe the world, if I'm not misremembering. He is on par with Gojo Satoru (category wise) who. Literally "Gojo Satoru's birth changed the world" like that's a NUTS ego boost to get

Anyway Gojo called the two of them "the strongest" literally pairing them up and positioning them as equals so like. Whoo boy. Also special grade sorcerer is defined as "a sorcerer who could single-handedly take down a nation" which okay! Labeling children as essentially weapons of mass destruction. Normal behavior

Then Toji happens and this random fucking guy beats you up. He kills your best friend and the girl you were escorting. But he doesn't kill you- because of your cursed technique being risky to deal with, but also. Obvious subtext of "you aren't important enough to kill"

Then your friend comes back from the fucking dead. Kills the man who tried to kill him. Discovers entirely me abilities and becomes even more powerful. And you are stagnating, with a technique you fucking hate. Your entire power is the power of Other Things.

So like. Understandly, thought maybe not justifiably, your ego is fucked.

So you start creating a new dichotomy: sorcerers and everyone else. If everyone else is lesser, you still have worth because you're Better than them by virtue of existing.

And then you discover 2 children being abused for the thing you have a victim complex over (<- this is also it's own thing I'll talk about) and you murder a bunch of ppl about it (okay this is a little questionable of My Opinions maybe but I could. Not forgive but understand the mass murder bc there's a lot of shit building up and clearly if 2 young girls being badly abused in a small village that implies the majority of people were either okay with it or unwilling to try and help at all. Anyway it's still Bad but like. Understandble mental breakdown trauma kinda bad for me? Also bc most ppl irl recognize murder as being Bad but are Weirdly Forgiving of bigotry yknow)

Anyway you take over the cult that was doing some other shit and my personal interpretation of this is also an ego thing. Bc lots of cult leaders do it for the money, but a lot of them also do it bc they like the feeling of controlling ppl. And there's essentially 2 levels of the cult- everyday people and the people he considers Family (which includes Mimiko and Nanako, the 2 children from the paragraph above).

On the "everyday people" level, there's a feeling of being a revered religious leader, knowing something they don't (curses exist), and the satisfaction of taking advantage of the people you don't like.

On the Family level, you position yourself as a savior and as The Only One Brave Enough To Do What Must Be Done (eugenics genocide) so even if you aren't the strongest you're still Special.

So that's my main analysis of why he became a cult leader, and now I'm gonna make more comments about why I think his shit is "Ego" rather than a (fucked up) desire to actually help ppl

If you wanted to help sorcerers survive: THE CLANS ARE A MASSIVE FUCKING PROBLEM. They hoard techniques tools and knowledge and the Zen'in clan literally cast out Toji who could've been a fuckin BEAST at dealing with curses. The clans reliance of tradition also generally hinders sorcerers ability to grow and improve in ways that aren't Traditional

When he dies the cult falls apart (which: good) but also the members have different ideals like some of them wanna keep doing eugenics, some of them just wanted Suguru to be powerful, and two of them were basically his adopted kids. If you actually had good intentions: CREATE A PLAN FOR WHEN YOU DIE SO YOUR FOLLOWERS CAN ACTUALLY CARRY OUT YOUR WILL AND HELP PEOPLE INSTEAD OF LETTING THEM INFIGHT

And idk if this is totally Ego or starting to move into a separate thing so I just decided to split it up: even when he was "righteous" his beliefs kinda Sucked

Like "the strong must protect the weak". There are inherent sort of... values being placed there, because weak is negative, not neutral. It's relatively minor, but I think it's important to note with how his beliefs evolve.

It's not like "we need to protect the people who can't protect themselves" it's really reductive. There's weak people and strong people and basically Noblisse Oblige but for strength or whatever which isn't really actual kindness or equality but rather pretty much. Pity.

Also he sorts jujutsu sorcerers into "strong" and everyone else into "weak" for the most part so that's... great worldview my guy. Definitely not going to just worsen your alienation from other ppl

so when he goes to "why should the strong protect the weak?" He jumps to "the strong don't owe anything to the weak, and actually the weak should be Punished For Being Weak" instead of. Just doing something else. Just get a fucking job, my guy

Anyway his plan is just garbage top to bottom total mess morally and logistically and he's a traumatized teen who grew into an abuser and like. The trauma influenced that but there were always fucking problems so it isn't "oh he got hurt and is evil :(" it's "he has some worrying beliefs and his trauma is likely making his emotions and ability to reason unstable, and then he finds an excuse to turn that instability into Violence" like. He's not necessarily abusive bc he's mentally ill or traumatized marginalized he's abusive bc he got to a point in his life where he could justify it to himself and it felt Good

And I just remembered this part: for the characters who interact with him I do enjoy that they still like and love him, even though he fucking sucks, because that's very human. You'll love imperfect people, you'll love horrible ppl who hurt you and/or others, and that isn't irredeemable it's just Human because being a Human and Connecting With Humans is complicated like that

I even like it when they excuse his bad behavior! Bc that's a realistic character flaw, to value the person u consider your friend over the people they hurt! It's not ethical, but it's natural and interesting to explore in fiction.

THE PROBLEM. IS WHEN THE AUTHORS DO NOT TREAT OR ACKNOWLEDGE IT AS A PROBLEM.

Like... listen. Love a relationship where one character sucks and the other character forgives them for the ppl they hurt and just wants their loved one back. The problem is when the writers are like "aww this is so sweet/romantic/beautiful" WHATEVER. Because it's not??

Someone defending their fucking abusive partner/friend/family member, especially when they aren't victims themselves, isn't fucking sweet it's scary, either for them or others!!!! And I want either to see the characters grapple with the way they excuse their loved ones' abuses and how that reflects on them and their morals, or, if the characters don't do that, for the author to acknowledge it as A Flaw!!!! I'd that too much to fucking ask

Especially with cult abuse, I don't want to say it's necessarily treated worse than any other type of abuse, but it feels really hard to find things related to fictional cults that actually acknowledge the Real Life Damage and Abuse cults do instead of having the cult be 1. Faceless evil 2. A joke 3. Fetishized/romanticized. And like all forms of abuse are similarly distorted in media + fiction, but I feel like ive almost never seen cult abuse portrayed respectfully/accurately, especially in fan works

Anyways for the wild TL;DR I think Geto Suguru's personality is comparable to an anti-sjw trans guy who is getting scarily close to Actual Fascist beliefs and is hurting all the people around him and his ex mutuals are like "he's not that bad" when he is That Bad and I'm so fucking mad about what happened to Nanako and Mimiko. If I think about their canon treatment I get so upset I start to have a headache

[germanshepherddoginfo]

Full Grown Dwarf German Shepherd: In-Depth Information and Facts

Full Grown Dwarf German Shepherd may be very rare but for the people who love puppies, these dogs are a super choice. What is Dwarf German Shepherd or dwarfism in German Shepherds, and how do dogs get it? Effects: How does dwarfism impact a German Shepherd? Having a Dwarf German Shepherd as a family pet Exercise needs of a dwarf German Shepherd Special challenges with grooming and shedding with a dwarf german shepherd dog Facing the challenge of owning a Dwarf German Shepherd FAQs on Dwarf German ShepherdWhat are the causes of dwarfism in German Shepherds? What are the health problems associated with Dwarf German Shepherds? How much do Dwarf German Shepherds cost? Where can I find a Dwarf German Shepherd? Most people are dog lovers, but we definitely can't resist puppies! Unfortunately, they don't stay as little fidos for long. Like everyone else, they'd have to grow up, which is very true for a large breed like German Shepherds (GSD). But did you know that GSDs can stay small due to a condition called Pituitary Dwarfism? It may make dogs look like cute puppies because of their size, but it's actually a severe and incurable disease that can cause devastating health consequences. For some, it can even cause death. If you've seen pictures of adorable-looking adult German Shepherds that look like perpetual puppies and you're interested in having one, or maybe you already have a GSD who has dwarfism, and you want to know more about it, then we got you covered. Stay with us and keep scrolling.

What is Dwarf German Shepherd or dwarfism in German Shepherds, and how do dogs get it?

A German Shepherd with dwarfism can look like this their whole life German shepherds with dwarfism is a genetic disorder that causes dogs to stay small. They are totally proportionate, which means that their legs and head are in proportion to their bodies. This gives them the appearance of being a puppy, even when they are fully grown. Physically, canines have fox-like facial features, but GSDs with dwarfism stay much lighter in weight and shorter than a typical example of the breed. Some people call these dogs miniature German Shepherds. Also Read: What is German shepherd double coat: Single Coat vs Double Coat When do German shepherd ears go up naturally? White German shepherd from Puppy to Pal: The Complete Guide. The only way for a dog to get Pituitary Dwarfism is for two carriers of the genes that cause the disorder are bred together. If one parent has the gene and the other doesn’t, the offspring won’t have the disease, though they can be carriers. While it’s relatively uncommon to see a dwarf dog, the gene for Pituitary Dwarfism is thought to be carried by between 10 and up to 33 percent of German Shepherds. It’s a recessive gene, which means that two parents must be carriers in order for any offspring to inherit the condition. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkSfGSP-2tg German shepherd puppies playing with Dwarf German Shepherd If two positive carriers are bred together, about half of the offspring will be carriers, and a fourth of the pups could be dwarfs. This autosomal condition is inherited in other breeds, too, not just German Shepherds. It can impact Australian Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, Spitz, Miniature Pinschers, Dachshunds, Weimaraners, Basset Hounds, Corgis, and wolfhound breeds like the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog, the Saarloos Wolfdog, and the Karelian Bear Dog.

Effects: How does dwarfism impact a German Shepherd?

As puppies, it’s difficult to tell the difference between a dog that is affected by the disease and one that isn’t. Only as they grow and develop does dwarfism become apparent. Most often, vets notice this Pituitary Dwarfism in canines when they’re around 3 to 5 months because of skin and hair abnormalities, and of course, growth deficiency. And the effects aren’t just physical. They also have problems with their liver and kidneys, which can cause lifelong health concerns. They can also have neurological issues that impact the spinal cord and can cause paralysis, or worse, death. In dogs with this disorder, the pituitary gland is affected, reducing the hormones that it produces. This has an impact on thyroid function, hair growth, reproduction, and pain receptors in the brain. When breeds who have dwarfism are not treated, it can mean a shortened life span, which is around four or five years. They also tend to have a less robust immune system, which makes them prone to getting sick from other illnesses. Carriers who have the gene but aren’t impacted by the disease look just like any other German Shepherd, which is why conducting a blood test before breeding two dogs together is so important.

Having a Dwarf German Shepherd as a family pet

German Shepherds with Pituitary Dwarfism can still make excellent companions, but you’ll definitely face some challenges that you might not have with other GSDs. Due to the way the condition impacts the pituitary gland, dogs can have personality issues like aggression or anxiety. Some pups may also be slow or dull because of the reduced hormones in their bodies. Miniature German Shepherds will usually need lifelong supplements with things like fish oil, and perhaps hormone supplementation as well. If your GSD friend experiences pain when they play or move too much, you may need to limit their activity and install things like ramps and rugs to help them get around your home comfortably.

Exercise needs of a dwarf German Shepherd

A little German Shepherd ready to play Because every dog is affected differently, it’s impossible to say what kind of physical activities your dog will have. You should always chat with your vet to know what your pup can handle and what they should avoid. Your vet will likely need to do a thorough assessment to get a better idea of the specific do’s and don’ts for your pooch so they can give you guidelines. That said, since many dogs have health issues that impact their spine, any exercise should be conservative until you know what your pup can handle. Swimming can be a good way to exercise dogs that suffer from spinal issues, though you’ll need to keep them in shallow areas until you know how they handle swimming. After that, you should always keep an eye on your dog to make sure they’re not overdoing it. Any limping or favoring a part of their body could be a sign that they’re in pain. If that’s the case, they’ll need to take it easy and maybe even be treated with ice for a little while to keep them comfortable.

Special challenges with grooming and shedding with a dwarf german shepherd dog

German Shepherds with Pituitary Dwarfism keep their puppy coat longer than other dogs. But within their first year, it will begin to fall out, and the dog will become bald except for their head and lower legs. Their skin can turn dark and scaly, as well. Treatment for the disease can help with hair loss and skin issues, but their coat will never be as thick as a healthy German Shepherd. For those dogs who struggle with hair loss, you can provide a sweater in the winter to keep them warm, and sunscreen in the summer to protect their exposed skin. Because they have lower immunity, they can be prone to skin infections that can be deep and difficult to address.

Facing the challenge of owning a Dwarf German Shepherd

Full-grown German Shepherd with puppies Caring for a German Shepherd or any dog with a health condition like Pituitary Dwarfism is never easy, but it’s possible. With the right treatment plan, medications, and care, you can give your furry buddy a happy life. The good news is that dwarfism is totally preventable. It only requires that the parents or breeding stocks go through genetic testing before the mating process to make sure that the disorder or any other illness isn’t being passed along from generation to generation. Do you have a Miniature German Shepherd or another breed with dwarfism? Anything else to share with fellow paw parents about pets with this kind of health problem? Share your stories by commenting below.

FAQs on Dwarf German Shepherd

What are the causes of dwarfism in German Shepherds?There are two main causes of dwarfism in German Shepherds: Pituitary dwarfism: This is the most common type of dwarfism in German Shepherds. It is caused by a defect in the pituitary gland, which is responsible for producing growth hormones. Achondroplasia: This is a less common type of dwarfism in German Shepherds. It is caused by a defect in the growth plates in the bones, which prevents the bones from growing to their full length.What are the health problems associated with Dwarf German Shepherds?Dwarf German Shepherds are more prone to certain health problems than standard German Shepherds. These problems include: Joint problems: Dwarf German Shepherds are more likely to develop joint problems, such as hip dysplasia and elbow dysplasia. Breed-specific health problems: Dwarf German Shepherds are also more likely to develop some of the breed-specific health problems that affect standard German Shepherds, such as allergies, diabetes, and heart disease. Shorter lifespan: Dwarf German Shepherds typically have a shorter lifespan than standard German Shepherds. They typically live for 8-10 years, compared to 10-13 years for standard German Shepherds.How much do Dwarf German Shepherds cost?The cost of a Dwarf German Shepherd can vary depending on the breeder and the dog's pedigree. However, they typically cost more than standard German Shepherds.Where can I find a Dwarf German Shepherd?Dwarf German Shepherds are not as common as standard German Shepherds, so they may be more difficult to find. However, there are some breeders who specialize in breeding Dwarf German Shepherds. You can also find Dwarf German Shepherds for adoption through some rescue organizations. Read the full article

[avengernomore]

That's such an interesting idea and I really wish we got to see more examples of it... Kabuto and Yamato are the only ones we've seen Bloodline Limits get transferred to, and even with that, I'm not sure if the blood solution was modified beforehand or not!

It would've been so cool to see ninja like Orochimaru go more in-depth with why they couldn't replicate Kekkei Genkai through blood fusions alone-- especially when his own underling Kabuto managed to do it... seemingly using that exact method.

Like, does your chakra network have it's own specialized immune system in addition to your ol' run-of-the-mill lymphatic system? Does it attack and reject anything that doesn't fit your natural chakra affinity? When you learn new natures, are you forcefully changing the very genes in your chakra pathway system through epigenetics? Is the compatibility of your chakra network in particular what leads to it developing at all? If yes, can't you grow the cells able to accommodate the Limit using stem cells, and implant them in the chakra system? How would that work if the pathway doesn't work properly...

People like Rock Lee can barely use chakra at all, but is that because their pathway cells don't have the receptors capable of turning that energy into something tangible, like say, fire?

Or are the cells in the tenketsu points just not sensitive enough to the chemicals that produce the chakra to begin with, like in Type 2 Diabetes-- keeping most of it locked in the pathway system, unable to leave because the cells are too desensitized?

This so long, and it kinda goes off topic a bit, I hope you don't mind! I also think this concept is super interesting, and I couldn't help yammering about it lol :b

Well, of all of my rambling, I didn’t expect this one to get such a long ask. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, not at all! Just unexpected. Let’s see if I can provide some answers.

I don’t recall Kabuto having a Kekkei Genkai at all, but with Yamato, I think it was being implanted with Hashirama Senju's cells rather than blood. There were a lot of cases of that, it’d be a wonder if any of his corpse is actually left, really. But some did it to try and get Wood Style, some did it to extend their life… somehow… But it would also be a question of whether or not the body would attack those foreign cells and kill them off, or if they have some sort of medical ninjutsu or drugs to suppress their immune system, like a transplant patient.

Again, I do not remember Kabuto having a bloodline limit. He did have a sage mode, which might be what you’re thinking of, especially since Orochimaru does not seem to have a sage mode himself.

There is the way Orochimaru takes over his vessels, which definitely seems to have something to do with chakra, considering Sasuke managed to seal him in his curse mark, and Orochimaru managed to take over Kabuto to an extent through the remains Kabuto implanted into himself. I don’t know if learning new chakra natures is necessarily a huge change, but I am basing that off of Sasuke having learnt a jutsu that didn’t match his natural chakra nature when he was an academy student. In fact, most, if not all, the Jonin in Naruto tend to be able to use two or three chakra natures. So I doubt it's anything as drastic as changing their own genes.

Rock Lee is actually explained, in that he has an underdeveloped chakra circulatory system, which is why he cannot use ninjutsu or genjutsu. He does have SOME chakra usage though, he can walk up walls and on water, after all.

[prententiousjackal]

Sayings, ramblings, monologues or dialogue I made or planned on quoting, that didn't make it the final video.

Pretentious philosophy brainstorming that contributed to my Paper Puppets video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN4ExNIlAMc

Precise definitions are necessary for scientific discussion. But just because something has an imprecise definition right now, doesn’t mean we can’t create a family of sub-definitions to work with and differentiate between. For example, with increasing understanding of intersex conditions, defining male and female has become harder. But scientists created sub-definitions that they can use adjectives to distinguish. It’s not male and female, it’s phenotypically male or female, chromosomally male or female, gonadally male or female. Male or female in respect to the presence or absence of the SRY gene. Male or female in respect to whether the individual has a uterus or not.

Whether the concept of the soul is preposterous depends on how you define the soul. We could make it a scientific term if we were to precisely define it. But so many people lay claim to it that it’d be rude to give one precise definition precedence. Which is why we must create multiple precise definitions and use adjectives to differentiate between them.

What is the soul? Perhaps there are some missing electrical, ionic or chemical pathways in the brains that have gone unnoticed by our detectors so far. Does that make them any more special than what we’ve seen so far?

The ancient Egyptians had nine different categories for the human soul. Maybe they were ahead of their time. Finding the complexity. And they knew the connection between the soul and our body. However they didn’t pin it down to the right organ. They thought the heart did the thinking and that the brain was useless.

What’s the difference between sensations and thoughts? Aren’t thoughts just the process of sensing abstractions, and sensing ourselves.

Many physical things were once considered spiritual before we had a better understanding of them and then they were considered physical. They lost their novelty, their spark. What is spiritual but something that’s vaguely relatable but just out of reach. Once things become too familiar they’re not special anymore. And since humans want to feel special they don’t let it define themselves anymore. But just because our thoughts are electricity and we’re descended from monkeys, doesn’t make us any less amazing.

People grow helplessly attached to labels that they have to protect.

It hurts when we feel like our identity is attacked. We make choices based on our identity. When someone says we’re not who we thought we are, we question whether we made the best choices. We question whether or not we were acting in our best interests. Whether we were actually free. And that’s scary.

“You can’t let other people control your identity.” “Maybe they are a part of my identity. It is only me controlling myself.”

How we can be free depends on how we define the self. If our upbringing is not a part of ourselves then a man of his culture is not free. But if it is a part of ourselves, then a man of his culture is exercising self determination. If genes are not a part of ourselves then an instinctual man is a slave. If genes are a part of the self, then only the instinctual man is free. Whether we are free depends on how we define ourselves. Leave it up to each individual to define what’s a part of themselves or not. What is “we” or “individual”. Aren’t we presupposing a definition of self, to begin with. Perhaps genes are controlling us so that we care too much about them. Perhaps our culture is controlling us so we care about our culture. We can have a culture, that demands we make the culture into our identity.

The way to maximize free will depends on our definition of ourselves. Our identity. But how does one freely choose their identity? How does one define that freewill and where it comes from? Who it is working for. It’s a never ending cycle. A circular definition.

Maybe I don’t need a concrete definition of myself. I can just learn to navigate the different labels.

We roll our identity through a landscape of labels. We roll our identity up a hill that seems close to where we want to be. It’s a landmark but not the final destination. We let it roll back down and roll it toward a new hill. Eventually we’ll find ourselves moving in circles. "The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."

If we discovered the soul would we even recognize it as the soul, or know that we understood it, would we just rationalize it as something merely correlated with the soul.

The divide between mind and body is artificial. Created by a system of aggressive division of labor. We are divided between manual and intellectual labor. Manual workers must give up decision making to their bosses and let them control their bodies. Office workers must suppress their need to get off their seats and take a walk, only able to enact their orders through other people's bodies. We are alienated from our own bodies.

We’re so stuck looking for outside entertainment but our bodies can be our own entertainment.

Our bodies have been made into alien objects. With confusing names that don’t resonate with us.

“The Loch Ness monster’s not real. It’s just an old dinosaur living in the scotland caves.” “That’s what the Loch Ness monster is! That’s what I’ve been saying this whole time!”

“The most liberating identity you can have is being a child of God. No one can take from you.” “Identity is meaningless if it includes everyone. On the other hand, ‘Child of God’ excludes people who don’t believe in your particular definition of God, people who don’t like being infantilized, etcetera. And how do we know what God’s like? From those who claim to speak for God. Identity as a Child of God can bend you to the will of religious bigots. Now to defend your identity as a Child of God you must do all you can to be a hard working, obedient monogamous allo-cis-het automaton. Or at least that sums up the expectations of being a Child of God in my culture. What does being a Child of God mean to you?” “Well, being a good honest kind person.” “Then just say that.”

Just because we are ignorant of our predestination doesn’t mean we aren’t predestined. Being ignorant of our strings doesn’t mean we aren’t controlled by strings. But at least it holds hope that other people with malicious intentions don’t know how to control our strings. But what if the universe is malicious, whether it tries to or not. If an evil god or a collective evil is holding our strings.

Sometimes precise language isn’t possible, because what’s coming at us is vague. And sometimes even if we do have precise language, we don’t want to get into details because it feels uncomfortable. Vague language helps us test the waters, tread the fine line between privacy and openness.

The soul is created from promises. The brain’s confidence in being able to rearrange its neurons around something. I can’t make promises. I can’t be someone’s soulmate.

We can’t help but control each other. Words have an impact. We rearrange other people’s neurons, when we emit sound for them to hear and they listen and encode it so they can remember our words.

You can’t always just say “love”. There are many types of love. Platonic, romantic or sexual — sensual or rational — committed or fleeting — sacrificial or of mutual respect of each other's independence — emotional or intellectual — empathetic or utilitarian — exclusive love or love for all humanity — love of peers or love between master and pupil.

That’s why it’s hard to say if I’m in love. What kinds of love am I feeling right now? It’s hard to say what love I really want when I’m bombarded with media telling me how to love. What love is genuine. What love is forced.

“I claim you as part of my soul. Without your input, I am not free.”

“To put it simply, freewill is being able to do what we want.” “I got to disagree. People can do things they don’t want, and being a slave to yourself isn’t the same as being free.” “Ignore that for now. Freewill is doing what the self wants. But self is hard to define as well. What is the self? Is it the primal instincts handed down through genetics? Is it our upbringing? Is it our brain? Any specific part of the brain? Is it our neurology? Any specific function of our neurology? I think you’ll find that our minds are chock full of competing wills. The problem is picking a percent combination of each of them and calling that combination the most free will. But some people want to be ruled by their instincts. Some people want to be ruled by their upbringing. Is there an indivisible decision maker, a dictator? Or is our brain prone to condorcet paradoxes?”

Two billion years ago, our ancestor cells formed an endosymbiotic relationship with the proteobacteria that are now mitochondria. For thousands of years our species has had a symbiotic relationship with bacteria in our gut. It’s hard to say when individual lives begin, whether conception or birth, development of the brain. Which part of the brain? Which function of the brain? Where does one life end and another begin? Is there a crossover?

If something is determined by something else, then it is controlled. It doesn't have freewill. If something is not controlled by something else, then it is random, a first cause, a constant of the universe. It doesn't have free will either. Everything in the universe must belong to either of these categories. Neither category has free will. P or not P. If P then Q, if not P then Q. Therefore Q. It’s the law of the excluded middle, and Modus Ponens. The notion of freewill is an intentionally vague rebellion against what is, a tautology.

Fate and chance are a false dichotomy. We have no freedom in either of them.

At least if something is random we have hope that malicious forces can’t control it. But what if the universe, what if the randomness is malicious whether it tries to or not.

All this time we’ve been looking for the soul. But it’s been in front of us this whole time. The soul is matter. Our religion and culture has demonized this matter because it allows them to control us. Set themselves up as spiritual when they were no more spiritual than us. They become dictators of our identity and thus our free will.

We refuse to admit that we’ve actually discovered the soul. It’s an ever changing goal post. Some say the definition of magic is undiscovered technology. Therefore we will never discover magic by definition. We’ve made it the same for the soul.

[academicelephant]

Empathy form the perspective of evolution

Empathy allows us to understand the experiences of others even when we do not have direct knowledge of their feelings. The system works because our brain automatically assumes that others are experiencing things the way we are.

Empathy is good at overriding the rules of fair play and equality: we are more empathetic towards our loved ones, and our in-group in general, than towards our out-group because it has increased the likelyhood of passing our genes on (helping our loved ones has contributed to their survival, which has either directly or indirectly contributed to our own survival; our non-kin have in turn helped us when we need it while our kin have survived thanks to our willingness to help, thus passing on our shared alleles).

The selectivity of empathy makes us more interested in accidents and other misfortunes that happen to people in our own country or to people we perceive as part of our in-group, while psychological distance from the victims reduces the experience of empathy. Behind this phenomenon is the fact that our brain is adapted to maintaining a relatively small social circle (in traditional cultures people live in groups of 100-200 individuals): if we were empathic towards everyone, we would constantly feel miserable and eventually lose our ability to function, which has effectively prevented such a trait from becoming widespread in the population.

While the selectivity and asymmetry of empathy may seem like a bad thing, it is highly important because it forms the basis of close relationships. It is how we know that we are special to our partner or friends and that they care about us and are willing to help us; being happy for the happiness of the other and experiencing sorrow for the sadness of the other makes the relationship emotionally close and therefore more enduring. The selectivity of empathy also ensures our willingness to nurture our offspring, which in turn helps pass on our genes to the next generations.

It is necessary to acknowledge that a lack of empathy does not predict violence, and that empathy can lead to violence. For example, people with autism are generally not violent, although they are not able to understand the emotions of others in the same way as neurotypical people. On the other hand, our loved ones or our own group being treated unfairly or unacceptably can lead us to violently attack the individual or entity responsible in order to defend our in-group members. This is because it benefits not only our in-group but also ourselves, either by bringing us closer to others or by raising our status in our social group.