#fundamental to his worldview rather than let them go

[quietwingsinthesky]

of ten’s companions, if the doctor couldn’t handle losing them and crossed his own timeline to trick them into traveling with future!him instead of past!him so that he’d have a little more time with them:

rose would do it. first because bless her but she has the situational awareness of a rock, and legitimately would not realize this isn’t her doctor until his facade starts to break down and he starts bleeding grief-laced love for her at every turn. but once she does realize it, she’s both deeply sympathetic and a little scared that she could make him into this. it’s a lot to be confronted with having that much power over someone, to break them so thoroughly. rose would try to get back to her doctor, but while she’s with the future version, she tries to do what she can to ease his pain. (she also tries to figure out a way to subvert her fate. she fails.)

i think martha would be harder to trick. she can smell desperation on the doctor like a bloodhound. she is so tapped into the fact that this man wants to off himself so bad and that she’s 90% of his self-restraint, so present her with a doctor who is lacking that and she’s onto him immediately. however, assuming he gets her to come with him, explains why he’s doing this, there’s like. a minute where she’s kind of. not flattered exactly, but surprised, giddy with the realization that he’d come back for a little more time with her, especially if this is early season 3 martha. which would all come crashing down around the time that he reveals that he wasn’t pushed to this by losing her to some tragedy or her death or anything- but that she chose to leave. that is the point at which martha goes ‘oh i need to get the fuck off of this tardis right now’ and ghosts the past!doctor that she was also traveling with because holy shit, man.

donna, like rose, is easily bamboozled into following the wrong doctor home, provided that he shuffles her along into his tardis too fast for her to argue. but she catches on far quicker than rose does. like, three minutes tops of watching the doctor move through the tardis in a way that’s definitely not enthusiastic piloting and looks more like guilty panic. and then she yells at him for lying to her. and she yells at him for kidnapping her. and then she stops yelling because he’s gone sort of still and quiet and his eyes are just broken. and he doesn’t explain himself, he confesses. donna is going to try to stay with him after this btw. because how do you go back to looking your best friend in the eyes when you know he’d take everything you’ve become away from you, even to save your life? and this is still the doctor, he still did that to her, but he regrets it. regrets it so much that he can’t live with it, he’s breaking time and space just to hear her say his name again. and donna doesn’t want to lose him anymore than he wanted to lose her.

[symptomofgout]

the narrative of kaveh being an idiot is so baffling to me because he is, quite literally, canonically considered a genius…? why is the popular consensus “6000 IQ alhaitham and his lovably stupid roommate kaveh” when every npc commenting on kaveh refers to his intellect & talent, the literal god of wisdom says kaveh has an “almost-perfect grasp of what it truly means for sumeru to be a nation of wisdom” (whereas she questions alhaitham’s wisdom in her line about him), and alhaitham’s own story profile calls kaveh a genius multiple times??? like the whole point is that he’s alhaitham’s intellectual equal despite having entirely separate worldviews and demeanors, which frustrates alhaitham to no end — ‘how can someone so smart do all of these things that, to me, are so evidently stupid?’ the takeaway from their dynamic should NOT be kaveh is dumb, but rather that empathy and emotion aren’t actually the opposites of logic and intelligence, but sadly both alhaitham and the realm of academia as a whole are too blinded by their own definitions of logic to fully realize that.

tl;dr kaveh is not dumb by any standards and i will prove it

(under the cut: quotes/screenshots/etc proving this + more. please spread the gospel and dispel ignorance. amen)

some npc voicelines (there are more but i’m lazy):

these are pretty self-explanatory — kaveh is a widely-renowned scholar, architect, and engineer throughout sumeru. he graduated from the akademiya with flying colors, students were desperate to take his classes, etc.

nahida’s voicelines:

both are intelligent but only one is wise: kaveh. alhaitham is too restricted by his narrow definition of wisdom (read: what he deems ‘logical’) to look beyond himself and grasp that there’s more to intellect and knowledge than pure cold rationality. he can’t comprehend that empathy and intellect aren’t fundamentally incompatible — in fact, they’re best when put hand in hand. kaveh is one of the few scholars capable of valuing emotions, empathy, and artistic endeavors, while the rest of the akademiya closes themselves off to that entire realm of knowledge from the get-go. this is what makes kaveh uniquely wise, and what alhaitham lacks. until you understand that emotions and logic can and should coexist, you won’t be successful in the true pursuit of knowledge.

last but not least:

alhaitham’s profile (worth noting that profile stories are pretty much the most reliable source of information on characters’ true beliefs and opinions — their voicelines are still them putting on acts in front of the traveler, but these stories are told from the perspective of an omniscient narrator and are likely closer to the truth):

“two geniuses.” and even after their falling out, “neither of them will deny the other party’s exceptional brilliance” — meaning alhaitham considers kaveh to be exceptionally brilliant. point blank. in the text bro

hilarious line — it’s basically alhaitham saying he doesn’t understand how someone with kaveh’s talent and intellect could have a personality/worldview so different from haitham’s. ‘how can someone that smart be so annoying!!!!!’ and ofc by values we know it’s referring to kaveh’s idealism, empathy, and affinity for the arts

alhaitham considers kaveh to be “another genius,” someone who is so much his intellectual equal that he’s “an excellent mirror” for alhaitham. it’s like an experiment for him — the initial question is “how can someone as smart as me care about all of these things i’ve always believed to be worthless,” the subjects are kaveh and alhaitham, the controlled variable is their intellect. because their intellect is the same, alhaitham is able to study their differences (can’t attribute said differences to varying intellect). alhaitham would never say it out loud — and luckily he doesn’t need to bc his character story tells us — but he’s deeply fascinated by kaveh bc kaveh’s very existence is a threat to haitham’s worldview, & he’s letting kaveh stay with him bc through kaveh, alhaitham learns about not just himself but the outside world and humanity as a whole, and as a scholar, there’s nothing more valuable. (also because he feels comfortable with kaveh [“he’s a familiar face”] and they’re both lonely [“similarly lacks familial attachments”] lol these two are never beating the We Know You Don’t Actually Hate Each Other allegations but that’s a different point so i digress)

IN CONCLUSION:

this is all just the TEXTUAL evidence — people saying “kaveh is smart” — and doesn’t even include all of the obvious implicit signs of kaveh’s intellect (no one who graduates from the akademiya w honors and teaches classes there could be anything other than incredibly intelligent, al “i don’t do anything that i don’t want to do” “i’m not going to bother explaining it to you because you won’t understand” haitham not only puts up with but actively seeks out debates with kaveh which he absolutely would not do if he didn’t respect him or consider him to be of roughly equal intellect, look at the debates he has w alhaitham on sumeru messageboards and TELL ME those messages sound like they were written by an idiot or itto or something [you cant], etc etc etc).

and also this is all from 3.3 (+ 3.4 alhaitham leaks)! we don’t even know kaveh’s rarity yet, that’s how far he is from being playable, but there’s already this much information on just how smart he is! it’s the main thing we know about him — 1) he’s smart, 2) he’s passionate/driven by what he feels is right! why does that keep turning into “LOL HOTHEADED HIMBO”??!

okay look. this is all so extra i know. BUT. i must set the record straight now (god knows it’ll only get worse the closer we get to kaveh’s release) because this sudden-onset mass illiteracy within genshin players is going to send me to an early grave. feel free to use as a resource and educate the ignorant so kaveh does not end up reduced to a one-note meme dumb guy when literally that’s just… not even in the game. i mean at least other annoying OOC fandom interpretations have basis in the game but genshin literally tells u every time it gets the opportunity that Kaveh Is Just As Smart As Alhaitham Because Cold Rationality Does Not Equal Wisdom/Intelligence and losing that would be such a crime because it is by far the most interesting n promising thing hoyo has done with new characters in ages! like, not only are they funny and entertaining, not only are they fascinating incredible foils for one another, but they’re used to make a much-needed argument against the prevalent hegemony of mindless rationality and our “logical” society’s illogical fear of emotion/empathy. but yeah sure, theyre just itto & ayato 2.0, i guess. god. the lack of reading comprehension among genshin players is literally an epidemic

[he-is-lightning-in-a-bottle]

Top 5 Beloathed Tropes, in No Particular Order

Hi beloveds. Because of a recent certain episode of what had previously been a favorite drama, I feel compelled to share some hate. Hate for these godawful tropes!

Noble Idiocy - This is when one character sacrifices something dear to them (usually their relationship with another character) out of the mistaken idea that it's somehow better for everyone this way. LISTEN UP PEEPS! It's a lie. It's so disrespectful of others, especially if it's a breakup. It's assuming that you know what is best for them, that you know what they're thinking and feeling better than they do, that you know what they'll want. All without ASKING THEM or letting them make their own decisions. You know what this signals to me as a viewer? That your relationship is doomed to failure even if you eventually work through this stupidity. Why? Because if you're willing to do this once, what's to stop you from doing it again? Your worldview is inherently flawed in a deeply selfish way, particularly because you're passing off your selfishness as sacrificial "love" and "respect" when it is the opposite! I no longer trust you! In summary: don't sacrifice your relationship/work/happiness because of stupid reasons that you could easily work through with some decent communication!

Time skips for the ending. - Time skips can be a valuable narrative tool. They can give a character who just endured something dramatic or traumatic time to become stable again. They can provide a fluffy epilogue to a fluffy ending, demonstrating to the audience that a year later everyone is still happy. But time skips are evil if they come in the penultimate or final episode just to add drama, and they're particularly evil if they relegate character growth offscreen. THIS IS WEAK WRITING. This is wanting to correct a character flaw without doing the work to show me HOW it gets corrected. It's especially egregious if it's a character flaw called out by the narrative in prior episodes because then I have an emotional investment in seeing it resolved, and THE WRITERS JUST STOLE THAT FROM ME.

Intentional Miscommunication - Let's just call this what it is. Lying. It can be well done (and even humorous) if the main character is trapped in a lie by circumstances beyond their control and they must perpetuate that lie for Reasons. Think Unintentional Love Story and Business Proposal. These often begin as low-stakes lies of omission because a character doesn't know yet how involved they'll become in the other's life. But it gets dumb as fuck when it either drags on beyond a couple of episodes (think Twins) or involves an intentional outright lie (I'm looking at you, Last Twilight). Dear TV writers, as a good rule of thumb, please resolve all misunderstandings within the length of an episode. And if the entire plot happens to be built on a lie, at least make it accidental rather than intentional. Why? Because someone who intentionally lies to others, particularly someone they claim to love, is no longer trustworthy. If you throw this trope in at the end of the drama, I'm no longer going to believe these characters can have a Happily Ever After no matter how happy you show me they are on screen.

Mean/abusive tsunderes. - Everybody loves watching a cold or reserved or grumpy character come out of their shell and bloom. But stop making tsunderes who are downright mean or abusive! Particularly ones who miraculously fix fundamental character flaws as soon as they're loved by the right person. Do tsunderes right, please! They're supposed to begin the story coming off as harsh or severe, but it's supposed to be for a good reason that engenders sympathy once we (and the other main characters) understand them. They're not supposed to actually be abusers! And it's the worst kind of storytelling to show their abusive nature magically changing because they feel in love. All this tells me is that as soon as their fluffy in love feelings dissappear, their abusive nature will reappear. I actually fear for their romantic partner.

Amnesia. - I hate it when all the character growth gets undone by this magic trope. Not only is the amnesia portrayed on screen usually totally medically inaccurate, but it's just lazy and dumb to use this for drama instead of something more realistic or believable. I can only think of three stories that did this well -- Jack O'Frost, Naughty Babe, and Crazy Love. In those stories, the amnesia (if real) was momentary, but then they pretend it is still there for valid sympathetic Plot Reasons. I also don't mind if it's the literal setup of the plot, ie the whole story is about a character with some form of amnesia adapting to their new life (think: Momento, 50 First Dates, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). But please stop throwing it into the middle of stories just to be Dramatique™

@lurkingshan This is for you! Thanks for your Last Twilight rant spurring this on.

[greenhappyseed]

BnHA Ch.353 - Review, parallels & comparisons

Note: I made a post here that explains which characters are at each battleground.

This one had SO MUCH packed into 17 pages! Let’s start with Shoto and Toya, since the chapter opens with them and wraps back around to them towards the end. Clearly, this fight took a lot out of them both. Toya doesn’t say a word, and we don’t get any insight into his mental processes. He’s just…frozen. Pupils gone, mouth stuck in what could be either a smile or a cry for help (or both). His chest seems to be covered in ice compared to the blackened, exposed muscle we saw in the last chapter. Then we have the humming, glowing orb in his chest. I’m pretty sure it’s him healing rather than exploding, and here’s why….

When Nagant exploded, it didn’t start with an orb — it was cracks. Further, AFO had her burst because she had a change of heart. Likewise, when Star & Stripe caused quirks to explode out of Shigaraki, it was because New Order revolted against other quirks. There’s a fundamental mismatch between quirk and will. AFO even says as much in Ch.92 of Vigilantes; that villainy is an imbalance between quirk and will.

Toya was born with everything to become a hero. He wanted to be a hero too, or at least, he wanted to be like his father, whose whole identity is based around being a strong hero. For Toya, becoming Dabi was the mismatch. Putting on the cold, standoffish personality was an act. In reality, Toya is loving, caring, and passionate. We’ve seen him caring about Twice, Toga, and even Shoto (in between trying to kill him). We saw Toya run home after waking from a coma. We saw him turn down AFO multiple times, including this chapter.

I don’t think Toya is developing an imbalance for AFO to exploit — he’s closing the gap between what he wants/needs and his quirk’s power. Shoto didn’t really “defeat” Dabi; instead, Shoto acknowledged that he saw and heard Toya. Shoto validated Toya’s grief and rage, and now the cracks can close. [ETA: I see lots of speculation that Toya will do a Prominence Burn because the orb is making the same noise Endeavor makes when prepping that move. However, it could also be Toya warming back up. As Ujiko said in Ch.350, heat is energy born of living things as they move and THRIVE.]

This is the part Spinner doesn’t understand. He looks at Toya and sees the person who had it all, which is almost exactly how Toya looked at Shoto. Spinner is shocked that Toya’s convictions would “fail,” to the point that Spinner thinks Dabi’s defeat is fake news. But Toya’s convictions didn’t fail. I’m not convinced his worldview changed at all, because his worldview wasn’t wrong. Toya needed to be seen and heard and cared for. And that’s what Shoto did — Shoto agreed with Toya and extended empathy from a hero to a villain.

In the meantime, we see Spinner’s self-doubt and fatalism go into overdrive. He falls prey to AFO because he doesn’t have the inner drive or willpower to resist what AFO offers him. Spinner knows he’s not “a big messiah” and that the LOV is “past the point of no return,” and his only remaining loyalty is to Shigaraki. Spinner’s now fully on board with the mission to destroy it all and “demolish the system.” This is very different from Stain’s mission to establish a “more pure” hero system, so I think it’s (sadly) fair to say that AFO corrupted poor Spinner. I’m going to hold out hope that Shoji will reach him.

Speaking of reaching out, I really loved seeing Tsukauchi support All Might. It’s about time an adult was really truly there for him (although I’m still concerned AFO has his weird alien fingers clawed into Tsukauchi). Plus, the official translation makes their talk sound much more somber and less like a celebration, which sounded out of character, tonally. I also thought Tsukauchi turning the microphone over to All Might recalled Bakugo turning to Iida during 1A’s Deku retrieval.

The leaks really made it sound like the heroes were launching a premature celebration, but I’m glad that’s not the case. I was happy to see Present Mic (YEEEEEAHH!) and Shoji protecting Central Hospital, with Mt Lady and Mina protecting Jakku. Both of those are key locations that AFO would obviously plan to attack so he could reclaim Kurogiri and Gigantomachia. That said, Kirishima’s entrance is a bit weird. I get that he was part of the vanguard appearing through the portals to push the villains into their pods, so he was in the parking lot. But unlike Shoto, who warped with Toya, Kirishima must have stayed back and then warped (?) to Jakku (???). I know that Kirishima and Mina have unfinished business with Gigantomachia, but given the chapter title “Endeavor,” I’m getting Kamino vibes because Kirishima has interacted or been placed near Endeavor twice in Kamino.

Also, the new villain with Fatgum and Aoyama, Kunieda, mentioned Dictator, and Kirishima worked with Aoyama and Hagakure to secure Dictator in Kamino (after Momo and Shoto cuffed him).

Man, I really hope Aoyama gets to use his belly button laser to mow down those flowers. I don’t know what kind of flowers they are, but they look like some kind of lily or amaryllis, maybe even venus flytrap flowers? A variation on Kunieda’s name can mean “country” + “branch”, so something like a nationalist with a plant/branch quirk makes sense. The flower stems are impaling the other heroes/villains, and I’m not sure that Fatgum’s quirk helps a whole lot, so BELLY BUTTON LASER, IT’S YOUR TIME TO SHINE!!!! TWINKLE AND THOOOOM AWAY!!!!

As for “bat of Aesop,” it’s just an insult about how bats “play both sides” and don’t have convictions of their own. Here’s 2 fables involving the deceit of bats:

Alright, now let’s talk Endeavor, because AFO pulls out a classic villain line: Heroes will lose, because they have too much to protect. AFO said the same against All Might; Nagant said the same against Deku when she made him choose between her and Overhaul. With All Might and Deku, the answer was, of course, protect everything (except yourself). AFO came to Kamino to take All Might’s image, pride, and spirit, then to kill him. AFO managed all but the last.

Through Toya, AFO managed to take the same things from Endeavor — his facial scar, his public image, the joy of reaching #1. Interestingly, All Might countered AFO’s mind games like how Shoto neutralized Dabi. All Might agreed with AFO, saying yes, he had many things to protect. He told AFO to go ahead and expose his secret to the world. He admitted he wasn’t the best teacher. But then All Might used those “weaknesses” to explain that he can’t die here, because there’s still too much for him to do. Izuku, in particular, was All Might’s anchor encouraging him to live.

That’s the part that makes me worry a bit about Endeavor here. He had a front row seat to watch All Might in Kamino, and to see All Might struggle afterwards. I hope Endeavor can use AFO’s barbs to motivate himself to keep fighting, because I want AFO to die and I want Endeavor to see Toya and Shoto together. (We know Toya still wants his father to see him, so in this particular case I’m not concerned about a victim being made to face their abuser, as was the case with Eri and Overhaul — plus Eri is a minor).

Will Endeavor rally and realize there’s still so much for him to do to as a father? Is Endeavor aware of how Shoto brought “down” his other son? Does Endeavor know there’s a chance Toya is healing? Or does he think he caused one son to rip apart the other? And…are crazy hand quirks the only surprises AFO has in store for Endeavor?

[castielcommunism]

you're my favorite spn blog anytime something happens i go to see what you have to say about it. anyway i have a question - what do you think about sammy's bloodfreak powers? do you think they should have kept that up after the first apocalypse? i think they had a narrative purpose that they fulfilled for the most part, but brushing them entirely under the rug like they did in the show does them a disservice especially since they are so important in early seasons

thank you!!!!

and yeah like sam has always been the guy messing up the monster/human binary in the show and tends to be the focal point in discussions of the morality of killing monsters, but the moral position of the show itself is ultimately “all monsters are bad and must be destroyed” with a couple asterisks thrown in for acceptable exceptions (ie garth, benny). and that binary is represented on a grand existential scale with the Michael/Lucifer Sword plot in s5 - Dean is supposed to embody the pure essence of humanity and Sam is supposed to embody the pure essence of monsterhood. The show consciously acknowledges that the truth is a lot more complicated, of course - some of Sam’s most human elements are about his own monstrousness, and Dean both outright rejects his own special place in humanity (“I don’t like getting singled out at birthday parties, much less by god”) and is often the one who voices the most monstrous parts of human belief in the show, which is the willingness to designate people as un-persons who are worthy of destruction.

but then like s5 ends with Sam dying and being doomed to hell for all eternity and Dean retires and moves into the suburbs so like narratively the show is like yeah lol monsters deserve punishment for being monsters and humans deserve reward for being humans. but THEN season 6 starts and we see that Dean is deeply unhappy and Sam comes back soulless (again another wrinkle to the monster/human divide) so it keeps going.

Sorry this is kind of rambly but like, spn wants to confront its own premise without actually interrogating it, if that makes sense. You have all these arcs that tackle what it “means” to be a monster or what it “means” to be human (demon blood powers, soulless sam, the trials, demon dean, human cas arc, the attempt to make crowley human, the existence of benny and garth, etc) but the show always falls back to baseline, which is that monsters need to be killed and humans are the good guys.

And I think that’s a product of the show always wanting to stay the same rather than a conscious ideological project. Like the show fundamentally doesn’t want to change its formula, but because part of that formula is an essentialistic worldview that posits that there are Inherently Good People (humans) and Inherently Bad People (monsters), there can never be any resolution to those arcs other than, damn I guess monsters are bad* (some terms and conditions may apply if you demonstrate your usefulness to the Winchesters).

Season 12 even gets at this with the BMOL, who are like why haven’t you guys industrialised and institutionalised hunting? All monsters are bad so why haven’t you killed all of them yet? This is a moral failing on your part so we’re gonna do it for you. But the conclusion to that arc isn’t Sam and Dean going man maybe we should rethink hunting if that is the logical conclusion of our own beliefs, they just do like, the hunter version of the American Revolution lol. Which would be hilarious if it were done with any sense of self-awareness but I have my doubts.

ANYWAY. I don’t think the show is ideologically capable of letting Sam be a blood drinking demon freak for a sustained period of time, because it demands that the text confront itself about its own foundational beliefs. Having seasonal arcs where the brothers are different kinds of Freak allows for you to eternally reboot the question “are all monsters bad?” and then not have to answer it. Again, I don’t think this is intentional - disconnected seasonal plots that all vaguely rhyme with one another is a product of network television and constant threats of cancellation. supernatural can’t be viewed as a single coherent text, because network demands and other external forces often supersede narrative. but Sam is like the eternal fly in the ointment that they refuse to either acknowledge OR get rid of. so while I would have very much liked for him to keep his powers and still remained a sympathetic main character, that alone would require more than the show is capable of giving the audience imo

[smallnetbusiness]

True Insights into Biocentrism Debunked

Go in-depth on the subject of biocentrism. Has it been refuted or does it still stand up? Discover the actual science of life and consider the consequences of this revolutionary idea. Recent years have seen a major increase in the popularity of biocentrism, the idea that life and awareness are essential to comprehending the nature of our cosmos. As with every novel hypothesis, some detractors highlight issues. The book "Biocentrism Debunked? True Science of Life" examines the main defences and refutations of this interesting idea.

Is Biocentrism Debunked? Truth in Life Science

Biocentrism questions our conventional, linear conception of the cosmos. Its fundamental tenet is based on the notion that life, rather than the cosmos, created life. It implies that our awareness is fundamentally shaped by the physical environment we live in. But is there strong evidence to support or refute it? Let's explore this further.

A Synopsis of Biocentrism's History

Biocentrism is not precisely a revolutionary concept. Whether you choose to believe it or not, these ideas have their roots in earlier civilizations. But let's define biocentrism first before we board our time machine. Fundamentally, the biocentrist view holds that life and awareness are intrinsic to the cosmos rather than just by-products of it. In other words, life and awareness do not cause the cosmos to exist; rather, the opposite is true. It's a little bit confusing, isn't it? Let's start the time machine now. Sources of the Concept People who played with the concept that life had a pivotal role in the world existed in ancient civilizations centuries ago. Though they didn't use the word "biocentrism," certain philosophical reflections suggested that they had life-centric conceptions of reality. These concepts, nevertheless, were undeveloped and dispersed. Dr Robert Lanza appears in the present day, in the twenty-first century. Lanza revived this antiquated notion and gave it a contemporary, methodical framework by fusing science, philosophy, and a dash of boldness. His work propelled biocentrism from philosophical musings to a hypothesis worthy of contemporary discussion. Changing Over Time: Now, as the decades passed, both philosophy and science had their glow-ups. Naturally, biocentrism's perception and comprehension have also changed throughout time. Here's the interesting part: the development of quantum physics and the complex study of consciousness interacted like two rivers meeting, enhancing biocentrism's landscape. Some of the most bizarre quantum mechanical phenomena, such as particles that behave differently when viewed, appeared to allude to the concept that awareness influences reality. Biocentrism became more scientifically sound as a result of this merging, turning it from a purely philosophical theory to a testable hypothesis. Principal Advocates: Dr Robert Lanza may be the face of contemporary biocentrism, but he's not the only one singing its praises. Many scientists, philosophers, and intellectuals have stated ideas that are consistent with the biocentric worldview throughout the years. These proponents contend that to comprehend the cosmos, we must prioritise life and awareness rather than ignore them. People also like: Akron Shooting Was Mistaken Identity, Not Racist In a word, the concept of biocentrism dates back to prehistoric times. However, its contemporary incarnation is steeped in both cutting-edge science and profound philosophy. This viewpoint promises to question and redefine our perception of the cosmos and our position in it as we speed towards the future. Buckle up, it's time!

Basic Principles of Biocentrism

The traditional view is that life was born into the cosmos. That viewpoint is flipped by biocentrism. Shaped by consciousness Reality: The course of events in the cosmos may be affected by our conscious perceptions. Space and Time are Tools: Our awareness employs them as tools to comprehend the world, not as independent entities. Rebuttals and Criticisms Critics assert that there is an impersonal reality that cannot be seen by humans. How can biocentrism explain this? Some people think that biocentrism misinterprets quantum physics, especially the observer effect. Problems with Causality: How can the mind, a byproduct of biological development, create the world that existed before it?

The Case for Biocentrism: Supporting Data

The Double Slit Experiment contends that the presence of awareness may cause particles to act differently while being seen. Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon in which nearby particles seem to be linked, suggesting the existence of a sentient world. The Anthropic Principle: What makes the constants of nature ideal for life? Could it be that life itself contributed to their setting? Consequences for Daily Life of Biocentrism Accepting biocentrism may cause our worldviews to change in terms of how we perceive life, death, and everything in between. Ethics: It could have an impact on how we feel about issues like the environment and animal rights. If awareness has a part in quantum physics, may we use that knowledge to develop technology?

Conclusion

One thing is clear despite the ongoing debate: biocentrism has sparked interesting conversations in the scientific and philosophical worlds. Whether the idea is shown to be false or true, it compels us to reevaluate how we see the cosmos, life, and our position in it. Hopefully, further research, open discussions, and time will help us get closer to the truth. FAQs What is the main defence of biocentrism? Sceptics primarily contend that biocentrism is insufficient to explain the existence of an objective world apart from human awareness. How do space and time seem to biocentrists? According to the biocentric viewpoint, time and space are only the tools human awareness employs to comprehend the cosmos, not actual physical objects. Is biocentrism debunked and supported by science? Some experiments, such as the Double Slit, may allude to biocentrism. However, there is no concrete evidence, and interpretations are arbitrary. Why does biocentrism need the Anthropic Principle? It begs the issue of why the universe's constants are just right for supporting life. According to biocentrism, life itself may have had an impact. What moral ramifications result from adopting biocentrism? It may have a big impact on how we feel about things like animal rights and the environment. How is biocentrism related to the observer effect? According to the observer effect, particles react differently while being viewed. This may point to consciousness's influence on reality, supporting biocentric theories. Read the full article

[the-one-true-nobody]

Every so often you'll run across people online who are certain that they know the precise legalistic combination of specific tiny actions and opinions that one needs to agree with in order to Truly and Officially be on the correct side of a controversial topic. Some of those people will vehemently berate or criticize anyone who disagrees with them on any single one of those points, claiming that you cannot be a [insert label here] if you do not agree with a specific detail.

It's a bit silly of such people to talk like that, because it's those little disagreements about the finer "mechanics" of a general worldview that, through discussion, will gradually enable the people who hold that worldview to really fine-tune what said worldview means.

Just as a for-instance—I'm reaching for gender identity here, although this applies to almost every controversial issue on the planet—I've seen some people argue that everyone should just openly include their preferred pronouns in their introduction when they tell someone their name, even in-person. As in, like, "Hi, I'm Lewis. He/Him." The argument is that this would normalize both giving people your preferred pronouns as a step in general social interaction, and signal to people that you are excepting of nonbinary and trans individuals even if you aren't one yourself.

When I came across this argument, the counterpoint came from a trans person: they pointed out that they did not feel safe effectively telling every person they meet that they're trans, and would rather know a bit about a person before they take that step.

I'm not going to weigh in on which of the above two perspectives is the one you should agree with. The intended takeaway of the above example is just that well-meaning ideas are not absolute truths. Even the people you are trying to support may not wholly agree with your notions of how to support them; and that isn't even getting into disagreements within a given demographic itself (not every trans person would necessarily even respond to that idea in the same way).

So I guess, just leave a bit of wiggle-room in your own consciousness for the idea that someone might disagree with you about this detail or that detail without being against the "greater cause;" be willing to discuss those disagreements calmly. It's as much an exercise in making sure that your own understanding is complete and correct, after all, as it is an exercise in proving your point to the other person.

Above all, I think it's important for anyone who wishes to delve deep into serious and contentious social issues to both be aware of and be prepared to let go of the instinctive human resistance to uncertainty. Our first, knee-jerk emotional reflex in the face of our views being opposed or questioned is always going to be to kick our legs out at the opposition. We do that because we all have a fundamental anxiety about being unsure of our own views, so we're wired to try and be as sure about them as possible.

Learn to be comfortable living in the same room as a certain amount of healthy uncertainty: just enough uncertainty to be willing to question your own understanding of a thing when someone else's understanding clashes with your own. It's a delicate balance, of course, because too much uncertainty will eventually become indecisiveness. But as long as you're dedicated to always following truth and compassion wherever they lead you, a small, moderate dose of uncertainty will be far more of an asset than a hindrance.

It is far more important to make sure that you are correct than to reassure yourself that you are not wrong, after all.

[catboy-cyrus]

What do you think Cyrus and Lysandre would think of Volo?

I'm very glad you asked Anon! I think about this kind of thing a lot, and I love the differences in these three even though their goals are super similar. Note that some of this is interpretation on my part, and that I haven't played XY in a long time (although a friend is playing it rn so I'm experiencing it vicariously through them), so I may get a detail or two wrong.

that being said, lets go! (this got long, hence the readmore)

So first, lets think about their specific motivations, since they all wanna essentially kill everyone.

Cyrus wants to end the world and rebuild it in his own image because he thinks human spirit (aka: the ability to feel emotions) is a fundamental flaw and makes life unlivable. His issue is with the emotion and irrationality that is inherent to being a person, and he seems to genuinley believe that getting rid of that would make things better, because if you can't feel you can't feel bad, and if you dont act irrationally you won't make stupid mistakes (at least as far as I understand it), and in game its suggested this stems from him having kind of shitty parents, to whom he was never good enough. You can kind of see the progression there.

Volo wants to end the world and rebuild it in his own image because he finds life unfair, and also because he is destructivley curious. It's a mixture of thinking things just aren't how they should be and this inssesant need to know. His obsession with history has progressed to believing he deserves to meet Arceus, and his plan is just one way to get there. It's not really too clear why he's like this (as far as I know), but he is ready and willing to go to extreme lengths to get what he wants and to find out, and wants to use what he's found out about history to improve upon Arceus' creation.

Lysandre wants to end all (or most, depending on which game you play) life on earth because he believes humans are inherently destructive and ruining what he sees as a perfect beautiful world. He used to want to make positive change, but became dissillusioned when none of his efforts really seemed to alleviate the world's issues, and so decided that the issue stemmed from people. Which is certainly a decision to make, that's for sure lol.

There's certainly a degree of selfishness in all of their plans- Cyrus plans to be the only surviviour into the new world and is pushing his idea of an ideal world onto people who all disagree with him. Volo is, ultimatley, doing this all for himself. He wants to know, so he will do anything to find out, regardless of who is hurt in the process. Lysandre has just decided that everyone on the planet is unworthy of life, and plans only to spare Team Flare, which you need to buy into. Pay to win.

In short, their issues are with emotion, divinity, and humanity respectivley.

So, how would Cyrus and Lysandre feel about Volo? Well, I think they'd both fucking hate him.

Fist, Cyrus. Volo is pretty much everything Cyrus hates. He's emotional, irrational, and selfish. He lies constantly, pulling underhanded tricks, and is ultimatley doing this for his own benefit (rather than the broader benefit Cyrus sees from his own plans). They both come from a place of unhappiness in the world and personal hurt, but the difference in how they are doing it is too great. They both believe they are the one who can or must do what they are doing, and I don't think they have much room in their worldview for anyone else. Also, Volo doesn't plan to alleviate human suffering in the same way Cyrus does. He's very vauge about it (and personally I don't think he knows how he'd do it either, he's mostly in it to meet god), and I think Cyrus would fucking hate that. Plus their personalities would clash something awful. Differences in ideals aside, as people I just don't think they could get along. Volo is too friendly (even if its an act), and Cyrus would deflect that. (This is something I've thought about a lot since I'm writing a whole fic about Cyrus ending up in hisui, and Volo shows up a lot)

Volo and Lysandre would be less clear cut, but I do think they would also end up at odds. Lysandre thinks the world (minus humans) is perfect as is and should be preserved. Volo thinks the world as created by Arceus is flawed, and should be remade. Fundamental conflict of interests. I do think Lysandre, if presented with Volo, would see a guy from the past and start going on about how things must have been so perfect and beautiful back then, but upon finiding out what Volo wishes to do would definitley come around to him being someone he needs to oppose. In terms of their personalities, I think they would less directly clash, but that's mainly because they both are better at projecting a nicer version of themself to other people. They would ostensibly be amiable to each other and perhaps even look like they're getting on, but behind their veneers they would not be enjoying each other's company. There is also a chance that I think Volo could try and get chummy with Lysandre to exploit his resources and reach to get what he wants, but whether that would work is a whole other matter. Lysandre may be a little too guarded and self-assured for it to achieve anything.

Ultimatley, these three are all fucking trainwrecks of people and would definitley NOT get along in any way besides surface level similarities in their beliefs and perhaps fake kindess.

Also I know it wasn't in the question but for the record I think that if you put Lysandre and Cyrus in a room together you would have five minuites before they are trying to kill each other (/exag). They would fucking hate each other so much. Lysandre just wants to kill everyone, Cyrus feels like he knows how to fix everyone, and each's inability to understand and accept the other's veiwpoint would drive them both up the wall. (also the angle that lysandre is really fucking rich and isn't using it to do anything productive. Like in the anime cyrus is rich but fuck anime cyrus all my homies hate anime cyrus. I'm pretty sure in the games he's literally just some guy.)

Anyways, this was really fun to think about, and I hope that you find it interesting!

[tailjeans83]

Housebreaking Regression For Four Month Old Pet

Instead of adjusting the situation, you must enhance the variety of outings per day till your Yorkie stops having accidents. Also, improve the rewards and use loads of optimistic reinforcement to make the expertise nice. During a regression interval, you could additionally consider keeping tabs in your Yorkie’s toilet habits and writing down the time between potty breaks. Lots of homeowners think that their peeing in the home is a matter of burglary gone incorrect or a habits problem. If there's an accident in the house, clear it up instantly. Going along the same strains as the first bullet, if your pup smells urine in the rug he's going to be tempted to go in the same spot.

She lives with the spouse and I, each retired, and her older sister Riley, an 8-year old american bullie combine.

Older canine usually respond nicely to retraining when it comes to burglary, so attempt fundamental commands and coaching ways if reverse potty coaching turns into a difficulty.

Perhaps they wish to play, or maybe they wish to go out and monitor that fascinating odor they noticed earlier.

That might imply extra walks and/or limiting his access to meals and water later within the evening.

I'm potty training Perry the identical method I did my last canine (which in all probability isn't the 'proper' method however worked rather well for her). It's solely attainable because we've a fenced yard. Basically, I hold the door to the yard open most of the day (my housekeeper does the identical when she's home) and he knows to go exterior. He's received great control in his crate and when touring. If your vet guidelines out any medical purpose, then environmental reasons shall be your next consideration. You then need to just bear in mind to don’t go away them in there for a minute longer than essential, or when they might need a pee, for the subsequent few weeks. Unfortunately, if your puppy has peed in their crate more than when you may need to ditch this software for a while to break the habit. Build up the time between rest room breaks very gradually. If your dog was used to being set free straight after every meal, then you have to proceed to take action even if these mealtimes have modified. Once your pup has peed of their crate, it’s much more likely to take action once more. What if abruptly, for no apparent cause, completely housebroken Fido starts having “accidents” in your home? Every canine is entitled to an accident once in awhile . However, if Fido’s elimination habits abruptly change, it’s essential that you just take him to the vet for a check-up. Once any bodily issues have been ruled out, there are steps you can take to get Fido again on observe. But first, let’s understand the psychological elements that will trigger these burglary regressions. Dogs can hold their bladder from six to eight hours on common however ought to by no means go longer for greater than 10 hours. newfypoo adoption had a robust basis in socialization and training, which had resulted in her having a happy and optimistic worldview and good pet manners. Most importantly, Amber had mastered housetraining. At the time of her commencement, her mother and father proudly famous that Amber had not pottied in the home in weeks, and when she needed to go, she let her dad and mom know by whining at the door. While many individuals accept incontinence as an inevitable part of their dogs’ well being or aging, each western and japanese drugs provide cures, so a go to to your veterinarian is a must. The use of stomach bands, doggie panties, and potty pads in sleeping areas may help lessen the burdens of clean-up. Many dog owners report housebreaking regression in their otherwise disciplined dog after neutering. I followed Karen's advice and went again to confining him in my gated kitchen where I knew he could be successful. After a quantity of weeks, we gave him more freedom and he did properly for two or three weeks. Not to blame my husband however he was "watching him" but really watching t.v. But he has started peeing and pooping on the carpet, not just as soon as, however several occasions at night. I have not modified the rest about his routine, like his food plan or his supper time. So, you’ll need to be certain that your Chihuahua does not have a bladder an infection, urinary tract an infection, or other issues that may cause loss of bladder control. If you suspect this sort of health problem, this must be identified and handled by the veterinarian. A dog’s bladder muscles and potty training expertise develop over time as they age.

#1 Perceive Potty Coaching Regression

This operates in individuals, too – which is why some folks rush to the ‘reading room’ after a meal – particularly breakfast. I love clicker coaching, but this could be carried out with out clickers. You simply want a approach to ‘mark’ the conduct you wish to reinforce. Big family changes are a standard catalyst for stress that may cause potty coaching regression in canines. Moving to a new house, adding a new pet, having a baby, working a job with a different shift, and so on. can all trigger potty coaching regression. If your housebroken canine has regressed to puppy conduct, try to not worry — there are easy solutions that always work to remedy the problem. The first step you'll find a way to take to get your dog again in the groove is to increase the variety of outings she will get in a day.

Housebreaking

Ever had a giddy canine signaling you that they're ready to exit solely to find that they don’t want to make use of the lavatory at all? A main reason for this might be that she or he merely wanted to play or to discover. If you do suspect there could be a health issue then positively consult your vet. We have a crate and he or she's awesome over evening in it. She can go in on her own, hang out and have the door closed however as quickly as we take one step away she goes into sheer panic. I tried crate training this weekend and it was complete catastrophe. You’ll also need to rule out territorial marking and it’s not all the time clear-cut. While many potty training problems related to conduct can be overcome with sufficient time and dedication, it can be extremely difficult in some instances. As with health-related issues, there are several experiences that your puppy may have gone by way of to have an effect on their habits associated to potty coaching. A urinary tract an infection should be suspected especially in cases where a dog reverts again in their training and starts having extra frequent accidents. He has by no means been really scolded or gotten in trouble for this, especially as a result of basically all of the accidents have been totally accomplished before I discovered them, so I know it is too late. I additionally know that if he finished pooping on the ground with out getting caught, he was not correctly supervised. However, yesterday, twice, whereas I was getting my sneakers on to take him out, he pee'd inside. He has his third spherical of puppy shots tomorrow, I might even see if I can acquire a urine pattern this night to take with us just to ensure he would not have a UTI. We've muddled through and I can say that I've seen a remarkable change in my pup once he made it through the speedy development and teething stage. He's an absolute cuddle bug, and while he has a quantity of rough edges and a long way to go together with superior coaching he is fairly a joy. Territorial marking – Urine is a vital technique of marking territory and passing along info to other canines. Unneutered males could also be replicating this conduct inside the house. Having your canine neutered might improve the situation. Urinating outside the litter field is a typical drawback amongst cats and is certainly one of the major causes cats are surrendered to shelters and even euthanized. There are so many various causes for the behavior, many of which are relatively simple to repair. What do you think about these 7 Yorkie potty train regression tips? Real grass pads are disposable boxes of real grass that sometimes must be changed each 1.5 weeks . Yet, the idea is basically neat and lots of dogs do very nicely in utilizing these; having grass helps house training lessons to stay in a dog’s mind. Maybe you mentioned ‘Good dog’ with less enthusiasm or typically even forgot to say it at all. And that is when your Chihuahua forgot those home training lessons, and to be truthful, there was little cause to try to keep in mind them. Avoid potty pads – These wee pads that owners layout will really delay the house-training process. It teaches them it’s OK to wee and poo in the house. If so begin engaged on steps to decrease separation anxiousness. The good news is older dogs often respond well to a fast refresher course on potty training. Clean up any space that they’ve dirty well, and get again into the behavior of praising them for going potty outside for a little while. Choose a location not too far from the door to be the bathroom spot. Always take your dog, on leash, on to the bathroom spot.

[cemeterything]

WE LOVE AMOS SO MUCH

amos is one of my favorite characters in anything ever honestly. i find his unconventional morality and low empathy due to his traumatic childhood very relatable (although his worldview is definitely more ruthless than mine lol) and i really enjoy how well written and complex his character is, and how his lack of empathy is treated very neutrally, like something that some people experience and that can be lived with while still being a part of your society with friends and family, rather than condemned.

i love truly amoral (or at least very morally ambiguous) characters who remain consistently that way without the writer/s getting squeamish about what that involves and refusing to let them go down dark, unsympathetic paths; or forcing them into a villain role because they struggle to write a character who sometimes does bad things or does things for very morally questionable reasons but isn't, overall, a Bad Person; or just making them an asshole because they don't know the difference between 'antihero' and 'jerk'. i think it's great when a character's moral development doesn't fundamentally change, but their personality and means of dealing with things does as they undergo experiences that force them to consider things they've never had to face before and factor those into their existing worldview. amos is one of my favorite examples to use when i try to explain why i enjoy antihero/amoral characters (when they're done right) so much. he's likable! he can be compassionate, helpful, and a good friend and ally. he's also very blunt, willing to resort to violence even when it might not be called for, and capable of making ruthless decisions and sacrifices that other people would consider unthinkable. he's so interesting.

[quietwingsinthesky]

something very tragic about how Dean’s worldview (ie that people are what they are rather than the product of what they do, that they cannot change being what they are, that what they do never matters if fundamentally, deep down, they are Bad because inevitably they will always backslide due to their nature) is one of the biggest things that prevents him from growing as a person. The infamous “I’m poison” speech is the obvious moment of it, where Dean doesn’t acknowledge that what he did to Sam was wrong, but instead decides that it’s what he is that’s wrong, that there’s no way for him to make good choices that will let the people around him love him and be safe.

This, like a lot of how he sees the world, is the product of hunting — it’s the only way he can keep doing his job without collapsing in on himself by considering that the monsters they’ve killed might have had a chance to become better if they’d had other options. They have to be Evil, they have to be the bad guys. (and Dean likes stories where the bad guy always loses at the end, there’s comfort in the simplicity of it.) Dean himself occupies a space of Good in relation to what he kills, but Bad in relation to other people. He’s carved out his own little space there so that he can alienate himself from everyone, put himself into a little box where he can never change and can only keep doing what he’s doing forever. Where he knows he will never be loved for long, so he can instead make the hard choices that keep other safe, and if they end up hating him for that, then they were always going to hate him anyway because he’s. poison. (ex. Sam & Gadreel situation, but also everything with Lisa & Ben.)

The problem is that people don’t actually work like this. He can rationalize away his own actions, he will always live in his box, but that’s a lot harder to do for other characters like Cas, Benny, Sam. How I wish they hadn’t deleted that scene where Benny confesses to Dean that he drank from a person because it would have made that whole situation infinitely more complex. Dean’s view of Benny is definitely that he’s Not Like Other Vampires: Benny doesn’t hurt people, Benny hunts vampires and the other monsters in Purgatory, Benny tries to assimilate into human life as best he can. That’s what allows Dean to move him from one category to the next, into someone who is Good, not a monster, not inherently evil, and therefore, someone Dean should be allowed to have a continuing relationship with no matter what Sam says and who Dean will not believe is killing people despite them having the bare minimum of evidence that he is that they’d normally use to hunt anything else. And then, if they’d just had that one scene proving to Dean that Benny’s not special, that when backed into a corner, yeah, he’ll do what he has to to survive, he needs to fucking eat. Idk. It would have been my favorite part of their whole arc tbh. Is remorse for his actions enough for Dean to keep him in his mind as a good person, or is it the willingness to sacrifice for Sam, or does having a close relationship with Benny give Dean the wiggle room to start questioning his worldview. Unfortunately, canonically, that scene doesn’t exist, so we don’t get to know lol.

I want to write out a whole thing for Cas, too, but honestly, it can mostly be summed up as Dean never really letting Cas into the category of Good, especially not post-s6, no matter what he does, because Dean always perceives himself on some level as needing to be able to shove Cas out in order to kill him if he goes bad again. He has. so many issues about that angel. Cas is on probationary good status with a caveat that says ‘Useful’ underneath, and the thing is that this is not something that stops Dean from seeing him as his best friend, either. He’s just Dean’s best friend that he might have to murder one day for everyone’s sakes. To me, anyway, and as the show goes on and Cas gets noticeably toothless regarding Dean’s decisions and judgement, I think he’s allowed further and further into that category.

But Sam is the really interesting one, cause I think Sam, in Dean’s head, is paradoxically in both. We can talk about Dean’s Sam-related Madonna-Whore complex another day, but what it comes down to is that Sam is always, will always, be capable of going bad and can easily be seduced into doing so and never makes the right decisions on his own, which would, for anything Dean hunts, be reason enough to put them down. But Sam is also Dean’s little brother and something to be protected, or maybe more accurately, preserved, like a butterfly pinned down with its wings spread and kept behind glass. Preserved at all costs, against Sam’s wishes and despite his protests, specifically when the cost of preserving him is something Sam has to pay. (A lot of the time when Sam does the same thing, sacrifices something to save Dean in the same way, the price isn’t something to Dean personally. It’s usually larger. It’s world-ending. Which is v interesting to me, narratively. Sam’s survival is at the cost of his autonomy where Dean’s survival reinforces his idea that he’s poisonous to the world around him, that his own life is what keeps causing all this horrible shit to keep happening to the world and to them.) So, in occupying both, the only thing Dean can do is try to keep as much control over Sam as possible to make sure he does not backslide into his inherently evil nature, and he does this because Sam will always be good, deep down, to him.

Does any of this make any fucking sense alsjdkfjfk. tl;dr: Everyone in Dean’s world has to be static on the scale of good and evil because if they weren’t, he’d be even more fucked up about all the monsters/people he has killed.

[filipinoizukuu]

hello mr simp do you have any thoughts on the leeks 👀

FIRST OF ALL. THEY CAME SO FUCKING EARLY??? BRO I WAS ASLEEP

SECOND OF ALL

holy SHIT YALL

Okay, it's no secret that I'm an All Might stan. I LOVE All Might. Very very much. Not just as a simp, but genuinely, I enjoy his character SO MUCH.

--And unlike what some people may think, I'm not totally blind to his flaws. I know he sucks as a mentor and that he's done way more harm to Deku than good. He's.... not perfect. in every sense of the word. The whole point of AM's character is that he is a DEEPLY FLAWED individual— but at the end of the day, still good.

This new chapter gave me SOOO many new feelings. I'm not gonna lie to y'all and say I was a Stain apologist beforehand because I wasn't. I disliked Stain to a certain degree, but I also knew he was morally grey enough that I was able to still quite appreciate him as a character. This chapter was about EVERYTHING to me because I honestly did NOT expect Hori to go in this direction and for things to happen the way they did. It was too good to be true! Too fanfic-y! The disbelief I felt when I read what happened was on par with when Bakugou and Deku had that apology and kinda-hug in the rain!

But this disbelief is not because it was a bad thing.

I think the writing in Chapter 326 is phenomenal. The moment that All Might was really beginning to lose hope in not just himself as a hero, but himself as a PERSON... we finally hear the opinion of someone who would abso-fucking-LUTELY make or break the last of his spirit.

Stain is, as much as his views are pretty agreeable and his label is that of a vigilante, still a pretty shitty guy. He's tried to kill literal kids who got in his way, even if said kids made pretty dumb decisions. AM hearing what he has to say is absolutely mind-boggling to him because he knows all of that. He knows Stain is a shitty person and that his worldview is perhaps terribly skewed. He knows Stain has spent a hot minute frying his brains down in Tartarus and isn't good at making judgment calls. Knows that for all intents and purposes, Stain's opinions are not to be trusted.

But the thing is... Toshinori also knows that Stain, regardless of the soundness of his mind, is telling the truth.

Regardless of how fucked-in-the-head Stain is, we as readers are able to acknowledge that he isn't blinded by hero worship. Sure, he's bitter, cynical, and quite the absolutist--but Stain is still clear-headed enough to be able to see AM's flaws for what they are and accept them, ultimately proving to Toshinori that the power of All Might was never his own but rather the legacy that he inspired.

The society MHA takes place in is flawed. We all know this. Heroes, as a concept, had been corrupted into being purely about good and evil. Purely winning fights for money or fame or the abstract concept of victory (coughs Endeavor and the no.1 spot coughs), making heroism as we know it about flashiness and power instead of mercy and the desire to help others.

All Might symbolizes the ideal version of the Hero Society. He represents doing the best you can. Being a hero until you reach your limits, and then going even past that. He symbolizes pure intention and the desire to be a hero not for material gains but because of the pure want to make society a better and safer place. Stain refers to Kamino Ward and the statue as a "holy land" because he believes that through and through, AM's only had the purest of intentions and morals. To him, Toshinori was like a deity that had no fault in making society what it was in the present because that accountability fell on the generations of heroes that failed to fulfill his legacy.

The point being, Stain understood that All Might was fundamentally not about 'being there' for everyone 24/7, but rather the message his presence had sent.

All Might's monologue at the beginning of the chapter essentially boiled down to the ideas that:

A. He regrets not being there properly for Deku

B. His image was a delusion that ultimately led to the downfall of hero society.

To break this down, his problem with Deku is his inability to be a competent mentor. It shows that he has led him down dangerous and horrible paths (Deku's stubbornness to do things by himself and his 'dark' arc post-war), and is unable to bring him back into the light even if he tries. It was only when Class 1-A had intervened that they were able to get Deku to rest and let people tag along, after all, which is why Toshinori was far too embarrassed to follow him into UA's walls even after everyone had come out with umbrellas.

Stain disproves this in two ways.

First, he says that it was never about All Might's ability to actually be there for people. The whole point of what inspired Deku to be the inherently good-hearted "true hero" he is today is because of the values that AM's brand had instilled in him as a child. AM's biggest positive impacts came from behind the screen where he was used as the proof that true heroes can and do exist. Deku does want to be exactly like All Might, yes, which is why we see Toshinori leading him down the same path that he walked--but the underlying message of this is that the very first thing All Might gave him even before OfA was the courage to help fix society.

I do believe Deku is an innately compassionate person. Most people in the series are. However, what makes All Might's smile so uniquely impactful to what it did to Hero Society is the way it gave people courage to help people. Less hesitation. Less bystander syndromes. The ability to move without thinking. Because you can feel the want to help a person, but the courage to be nosey and actually do it? That's portrayed as something AM's image teaches people.

The second way he disproves AM's insecurity of dragging Deku down is that he makes it clear that this pain is somewhat of a necessity in reforming society. He says, interestingly enough, that this is but the 'middle process' in reforming society. This spills over to how he addresses Problem B, but what Stain is essentially saying here is that this sort of brutality and isolation that Izuku faces is impermanent. A phase. It implies that even if Deku is struggling and Toshinori is unable to help him, it is something that needs to happen before they re-realize the ideal heroes All Might's image is meant to create.

The second problem in regards to how All Might feels about current society (how it's collapsing because of him, etc. etc.) is more interestingly addressed. There are many things that Stain says--like how Toshinori doesn't need to actually be the one to fix society with his bare hands. The current society is not his fault because of the fact that it is not finished developing. I'm not sure if I can go so far as to say that Stain means this in the sense of the Scorched Earth method of tearing everything down to build it back up better-- but I can say that Stain still has faith in society to rebuild after this period of chaos.

This rebuilding starts with the old generation of heroes correcting what they messed up (i.e. Endeavor v Dabi) and more importantly, paving the way for a better generation of heroes that was inspired by All Might's image. Heroes that are led by people like Deku, who is defined by his proclivity to help without thinking. The violent deconstruction of society is about exposing society to the raw truth of All Might's image that not everybody can be as strong as him-- which is why we have to take care of each other.

When the lady comes in to remove the sign and start cleaning the statue, it's symbolic. It's a clear metaphor that the past few chapters are the turning point for society as a whole, and how people are starting to remember what real heroism is. From the distrust that was seeded in society ever since LoV had surfaced, we are seeing that trust being returned TEN-FOLD now that people can see not only the mask of a hero's smile, but also the person underneath.

I think it's some really neat symbolism here too about how Deku, who's metal mouth guard was literally all about representing All Might's smile, is shed.

This is hero society dropping their masks. Letting people see them for as they are. Toshinori revisiting the statue in this form makes all the more impact because he shed his mask ages ago during the Kamino Bust, so this is him coming face to face with the image he's created and seeing the differences between them, and how his image continues to live on even after he's almost completely Quirkless. The lady cleaning the All Might statue shows off the fact that things can be repaired again--that society can be clean (hehe stain pun) again.

It's interesting to me here how Stain offers the information from Tartarus.

He doesn't care anymore about his life. It's evident. He disagrees with what the LoV is doing, but believes enough in Deku to think that it's time for him to retire the mantle of 'Stain'. Unless this is another test, it's very odd for me to hear that Stain is offering a blade and his life to someone he isn't even sure is All Might.

But the impact of this action reads loud and clear.

This is Stain taking pity on All Might. This is him realizing that All Might too is a person behind the hero. That Toshinori Yagi is incapable of doing anything past the image he had already created. By offering that knife and information on Tartarus, Stain is giving control back to Toshinori. He is giving AM the chance to do something big again to help society's reconstruction. To be a part of the revolution that he so badly deserves to see. That knife is essentially an exit ticket from the sidelines, and one last chance for All Might to be able to see what his image has done for people.

I personally think that the main reason Stain is willing to die then and there by Toshinori's hand, despite not being sure that he is All Might to begin with, is because of the final impact it creates that it isn't about Toshinori Yagi's true power as a person, but the image of All Might. It is because he looks like the symbol of peace, that Stain (the literal HERO KILLER) feels comfortable laying his life in his hands and giving away valuable information.

If that isn't a great testament to the power of AM's image, I don't know WHAT is.

I guess all I have to say is I absolutely love what Stain did in this chapter. Everything felt so incredibly symbolic and emotional and as someone who absolutely ADORES All Might and what he stands for in the story, this felt like a cool balm after seeing Deku tragically reject his bento box a good few chapters ago. I have a few more opinions about symbolism, and how I think Deku's generation of heroes is going to stray from the old gen, but I think that's a discussion for another time.

Thanks for reading 'til the end!

[lordelmelloi2]

Reines uses her unsavory jokes to cope with her history of being abused/almost killed at the hands of mage society

While we’re on the topic of Reines’ being absorbed in the Clock Tower’s politics and it shaping her entire worldview, this joke (one of many incestuous jokes she makes) is another big view into the way that she copes with it. 

Reines, who from a young age has had literally no choice but to participate in the Clock Tower politics because of Kayneth’s death, has been enmeshed in these issues from the start. The conservative notion of magic circuit distribution and treating people like simply a womb or a sire in order to better magic circuit distribution is something she’s well aware of, even more so because female mages are regularly treated like simply wombs that will help create even greater mages further in time. It is not uncommon for young mages, teenagers and adults, to be in arranged marriages to ensure political gain or for greater magic circuit count. 

I’ve spoken about it before, but Reines believes that mages are supposed to behave in a way that’s more beneficial to political gain rather than try to walk the boundary of humanity and magus. 

What this means for her, who considers herself more mage than human, is that she will readily joke from a political point of view - but more specifically joke about incestuously eloping with Waver. 

Waver, who considers all mages to be fundamentally human, is absolutely disgusted by it. And it should be noted as well that Waver also routinely teaches mages to consider their humanity a bit more as a fundamental of his practice in Modern Magecraft instruction. Waver may identify himself as a mage, but he is well-known for trying to balance what it is to be “human” with being a “mage”. He is more concerned with being effective because those he teaches are secure in themselves as people, rather than suffering under mage society’s ideologies that require one to basically consider themselves second to their pursuit of the Root or anything else. 

The issue with Reines is this, though. Why does she keep specifically joking about incest with Waver? 

Well, for a girl whose life is entirely dictated by political workings in the Clock Tower, who has exactly one person in a position of authority in her life who doesn’t believe in said politics and yet considers himself a mage, he’s an easy target. But more importantly, she wants to prove something. 

For Reines, who was almost assassinated at a young age, the notion of being protected by others on the basis of her being a human ... was basically nonexistent. She is 15. There is nobody who is stretching themselves thin to try and rescue her or even comfort her from the torment of the political workings of the Clock Tower. Her life is constantly at risk. There is no other option for her, she believes, than to consider herself a mage. 

But Waver is different. Waver, who calls himself a mage, acts so completely un-mage-like that he’s labelled a heretic. Not only that, he doesn’t hold any of the political ideology that denotes a “true mage” at all, and on top of that, he actively rebels against it, teaching the opposite in his classes. 

Reines wants a justification for the suffering that she went through. 

If she can somehow suggest that Waver is Just Like The Other Mages, she will be right, and the suffering she endured as a young girl at the hands of the politics of the Clock Tower would be justified. It would mean she could skip the work of having to ask why she had to go through any of it in the first place. It means that she doesn’t have to weep or mourn or get angry that she was almost killed, that she’s regularly almost killed, and she doesn’t have to think about how fucked up the place that she’s forced to exist in is. Reines does not have an out from mage society. She is next in line to be a Lord. For her to give that up would mean throwing the El Melloi house into even further disarray, and it might truly disintegrate the family and destabilize them enough to let them be totally wiped out again. 

She has an immense burden on her shoulders and she’s coping with it by suggesting to the only person in her life who would say “this isn’t right, and they shouldn’t do this to you” that in actuality, the people who want this Are right, and that what happened to her was simply a matter of course. 

It is very common for traumatized people to normalize the abuse that happened to them as a coping mechanism. It’s easier to normalize it than to fight against it, sometimes, because fighting against it means processing a lot of pain and having to face that the world was cruel to you. 

Waver, to her, is a figure who is in her own words “blindingly bright”. He represents a future and an existence that says that the world is not naturally that cruel, and that kindness should be the base standard of how one acts and carries oneself. 

She does not actually want to be hurt by him. But she feels, at this time, that she has no other choice than to suggest that he, too, would hurt her. Would drag her deeper into the abyss that is the political ideology that mages have - especially of the Aristocratic faction, the right-wing faction that the El Melloi family belongs to, the faction that 10 years ago told Waver that a mage’s bloodline is everything and that nothing else matters. 

One day she might find out that she’s wrong, and one day she might learn that she's suffering, and that she didn’t deserve to go through what she went through as a child, as a teen, and what she might go through in the future. 

Quite frankly, she just needs the right support, is all. And to know that she’ll be protected in the future. That’s all she really wants. It’s a very simple wish. But it would mean a lot to her, who was not protected in the past, and has to fend for herself as well. It would do her good to have the idea that a mage isn’t just a bundle of circuits reinforced to her. And it would also do her good to know that she is allowed to act like a teen girl at times, having girl’s talks with others, talking about nonsense, having fun. Gray provides her with a bit of an outlet, which is good, but really, she needs much more than this. Ideally she should be outside of mage society as a whole. But I suppose there’s a lot more work that has to be done before she can hope to be freed from any of that. 

[funkymbtifiction]

Hi! I recently got into MBTI again, and I was wondering if you could help me with my type. I’m quite sure I’m a Ne-dom, and I initially typed as ENFP when I first learned about the cognitive functions. I was only 14 years old back then, and my understanding of the judging functions was rather poor – I just always assumed I was a feeler, since the stereotypical thinker descriptions seemed far too cold to apply to me. I have been reading your book over the holidays (it’s really insightful and the explanations in it are very clear and helpful, by the way!) and it suddenly struck me that I can’t come up with any concrete evidence of using Fi-Te in my daily life. This led me to think I might use Ti-Fe as my judging axis, after all, and I think I could use an outside perspective....

ENTP sounds correct. Your argument for Ne/Si is very good, and the following does seem more TiFe than FiTe.

[...] My internal world is quite organized and systematic. I have a need for categorizing everything I learn, so that the result is a neat, logically sound worldview where each of the puzzles seamlessly fits into the other ones, constituting towards a consistent structure where everything makes sense to me. Everything I learn relates back to the other aspects of reality, forming a logical whole – I love the moment when I’m researching a new topic of interest and suddenly everything clicks together perfectly. The principles I consider to be fundamentally true about our reality can’t contradict each other, and I need to evaluate every new concept I learn to see if it fits with them or if I need to reconsider something. [...] I want to understand how something works, but on a theoretical level – it's more likely to be the human nervous system or the economy than a car. If I’m solving a math problem, I need to understand every component of the equation to be satisfied with the final answer – I don’t usually bother with learning formulas by heart, because I prefer to come up with them myself based on the things I already know and remember. I’ll happily turn in an assignment a little late to make sure everything is consistent and neatly fits together. When arguing, it’s hard for me to just let go of trying to convince the other person that my viewpoint is correct – if I’m right, they should be able to understand the logic of it, too. I have a tendency to nit-pick the arguments of others (often down to their word choices and basic definitions of concepts) and this particularly irritates my Te-dom father.

I understand the concept of emotions and feelings to some extent psychologically, but I really have no idea how to deal with them on an everyday, human level. I get quite uncomfortable with emotional people, since I have no idea how to comfort them or how I’m supposed to react and just end up standing there awkwardly and wishing they would feel better again. [...] it’s easier to navigate social situations if you just match the vibe of the person you’re talking to and sort of play off of their energy [...] Most of the time, I don’t really pay attention to the way I’m feeling, and I usually experience short outbursts of emotion that are over as quickly as they began. [...] I’m very comfortable with wearing masks and showing people what they want to see to make my life easier. I don’t really have solid moral views I refuse to debate: I could technically argue morals are just a myth (collective or individual) that humans have constructed in their heads. Morals being kind of an illusion doesn’t mean we could do exactly what we want at all times, but to me everything is relative and depends on the situation. One of my biggest weaknesses is the annoyingly irrational need for external validation, though. I’ve sometimes completed assignments in a particular way just because I knew it would get me praise and the approval of my peers or teachers. I need other people to tell me my work is good and valuable, and if they don’t, I easily conclude that I’m incompetent.

[obirains-archive]

Hello! I've just read your post about the TERF, and I just wanted to ask, what do you mean by withholding support socially as well? Not tagging or hashtagging anything related to the franchise? Not buying fanmade items nor crating content about it? I think I sort of get all of those. But, what about fanfiction, for example? Is writing/reading enough of a "private enjoyment"? I remember she used to be against fanfiction in the beginning (early 2000s) and that would be a good enough reason to read/write, but does that also give her trackable engagement points nowadays? I'm sorry, I know these are a lot of questions, it's just that I've been at war with myself for quite sometime and yours is, I think, the first post I've seen that acknowledges the very real emotional connection many fans have with the franchise and how difficult it is to just condemn the whole thing. I'm good with painting/creating/knitting my own merchandise, from me to me, for the rest of my life, but what about still reading about beloved characters in a beloved magical world, if it was masterfully written by someone thankfully not her...? Thank you.

Hi, Anon! I’m gonna try to be as empathetic and articulate as I can; forgive me if some of my thoughts are still tangled. 

You’re right that fanfiction is a little murkier than hashtags, fan merch, and other kinds of engagement. To my knowledge (anyone please correct me if I’m wrong), there’s much less of a corporate presence with most fanfiction websites (with the exception of Wattpad and maybe a few others). By “corporate” I don’t just mean advertisers; I mean people judging the extent to which JKR/HP is still a global phenomenon: the extent, therefore, of the demand for more content, which is basically equivalent to demand for Rowling as a public figure with a public platform. I’m sure archives like AO3 aren’t completely clean either, but I do think there’s a subtle difference.

(And let’s establish too that on Tumblr there’s virtually no difference between tagging fanfiction and tagging other content for the franchise, given that tags are fundamental to people seeing your writing. Reading fanfiction rather than writing it is still participating in and benefiting from that overall tag.)

The problem as I see it is that Rowling explicitly considers her fans both supporters of and participants in her TERF ideology - she’s the martyr giving a voice to the voiceless, sacrificing herself to the hoards of internet activists. “Fans” includes both people who monetarily support her and people who still engage in the Harry Potter fandom. To contribute to that fandom, even through content from which Rowling reaps no direct revenue, is to implicitly confirm her assessment and therefore her worldview. Even if most HP fans don’t consider themselves to be TERFs, they’re telling her that the series is more important to them than the ideology is heinous. So, surely, her worldview can’t be that bad. 

Tumblr both complicates and amplifies this issue. Unlike AO3, content creation on Tumblr is inseparable from content circulation. The reblog system spreads your content to as many people as possible, people who share your interests, by design. Unless you can go through the whole Tumblr HP fandom and individually block all Rowling sympathizers, your content (fanfiction, fanart, fan videos, etc) will almost certainly yield interaction from not just TERFs but people who don’t think Rowling’s so bad, people who might disagree with what she says but surely it’s not as harmful as people are making out, people willing to pay for movie tickets and new books, people willing to make her content trend. Even if you personally denounce her, there’s no way to ensure you’re not fueling the demand for Rowling as a writer and public figure, and contributing to her vast social influence. 

As a reader, rather than a writer - maybe you’re not actively providing content to potentially unsavory individuals, but you’re almost certainly going to be somewhere in their circles. If not within, then never too far away. 

I empathize with your struggle, Anon. Harry Potter was a huge part of my childhood; I used to read and write fanfiction for it, too. At the end of the day, I think it’s something everyone needs to check with their own consciences. If you’re publically denouncing Rowling (and also!!! publically supporting trans people and especially trans women!!!!!!), and can say in good faith that the fanfiction writers you’re interacting with are doing the same - I can’t stop you. But for me, personally, my conscience will not permit me to engage in the franchise, whether that’s through pirating the new films, buying fan-made merch through third-party sites, or reading/reblogging free fan content. In addition to some soul-searching, I’d recommend seeking perspectives of trans people from all platforms and backgrounds, and then going to other fans you trust and know are in the same boat. 

I know this was maybe longer than it needed to be; I hope it made sense. And I truly do wish you the best of luck. 

[rotworld]

Voice and Style

an anon asked:

Do you have any tips for learning how to write in a different writing style?

and honestly i just went off the rails lmfao this is a long post, but hopefully it's useful. i wasn't 100% sure what you meant by style, but i assume you mean more along the lines of "voice" than the difference between like narrative, persuasive, etc. but let me know if you meant something else! what i'm going to do is 1) talk about voice in writing, 2) author voice vs character voice and examples, and 3) actually answer the question. i promise 1 and 2 are relevant to get to 3!

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to start we need to break down what "voice" is. this is a term that gets thrown around a lot when people talk about writing, and i've heard people get a little heated about it lol but i'll give my take at least. there are actually two kinds of voice: the writer's voice, and character voice. we'll start by focusing on the former.

describing an author's voice is tricky, because it's largely subjective. some parts of it are concrete and easy to analyze, while others are down to the author's personality, perspective, and life experience. while it is something that you continue to hone as you gain experience, it isn't something you can measure or "rank" comparatively. so...what the hell is it lol

if we boil it down to the simplest components, here's what i think goes into voice: tone, syntax, word choice, and perspective. this isn't all that voice is, but these are the fundamental building blocks, and the way you use them is a mix of personal preference/affinity, your level of experience as a writer, and who you are outside of writing.

->tone is often described as the "attitude" of your writing, the mood you evoke with a combination of the other components. in "twelve moments in the life of an artist," david sedaris recounts his struggles with an attempt at an art career and a meth addiction, simultaneously. the subject matter is difficult and emotionally distressing, but because it's sedaris writing it, it's fucking hilarious. it's funny because of the tone, the ridiculous statements he makes, the witty observations and the flippant way he describes things. someone else could write the same story and make it a dramatic tragedy, but sedaris' tone is one of humor.

->syntax is the way a writer constructs their sentences. i know this sounds boring lol but it can play a huge role in a writer's voice. when do you use long and complex sentences versus short and simple ones? do you use repetition, and for what purpose? when do you use active or passive voice? for example, "the monster bit him" vs "he was bitten by the monster." these sentences mean the same thing but have a subtle difference in where the focus is. these might seem like small, insignificant details, but they can drastically change how a work sounds. the rhythm of your writing also ties into syntax.

->word choice is just how it sounds: what words do you use when you write? are you more of a "purple prose" type who likes flowery, detailed descriptions, or are you more sparse and "beige?" do you use certain phrases of colloquialisms?

->perspective is straightforward, too. do you like or have a tendency for 1st, 2nd or 3rd person? there's some variation in 3rd person, too, like omniscient 3rd or close 3rd. i think a writer's strength and preference in this, as well as when they deviate, also contributes to their voice.

but what about character voice? this is kind of similar, but limited to specific characters and how you portray them. it includes their dialogue and word choice but also their perspective or worldview, their opinions, and their personality expressed by their interactions. it's the kind of thing that differentiates characters speaking even without a speech tag to label them. there might be really extreme differences between character voices and the author's voice, depending on the character.

i always feel kind of narcissistic using my own work as an example lmao but i think changeling is a good example, since each passage is super focused on a particular character and their perspective. in first person, or close 3rd like this, a character voice can come out in narration. huntress sounds like this:

The hunt ends. Her catch, meager. Still, she will not waste it. Wolf Mother travels far to see the meat put to good use.

She walks the crossroads, strange paths through the strange world. Sniffs out the road she needs and steps through thick fog. Darkness gives way to orange autumn haze. Eternal harvest season. Blackened corn rots on the stalk. Machinery rusts in the fields. Bloated animal bodies decay in old barns. It is sad and stifling, the stench of forgotten things. And there—the farmer’s son. Lopsided boy. He stands on his porch, wiping blood and grime from his hammer. Distrustful, he watches Wolf Mother. Above, a slow-turning weathervane creaks.

her sentences are often short and choppy. the unusual syntax (the hunt ends. her catch, meager) gives it a feeling like a feral stream of consciousness. rotten corn, machine rust and bodies decaying are visceral, smelly descriptions because her sense of smell is especially strong and she relies on it to interact with the world. in contrast, ghostface sounds like this:

He’s hanging around Haddonfield when She comes calling, because he doesn’t have a realm of his own. Oh, no, no, no, of course it’s not a problem. He doesn’t mind at all, honest! It’s just, you know, he’s real good at this whole ritualistic murder thing. Got a knack for it, you might say. He was something of a professional before he ever got brought on board with an impressive résumé spanning most of the continental United States—not that he’s bragging, of course. He’s just experienced, motivated, highly-organized, versatile, and frankly, overqualified.

this is almost conversational. he's "hanging around," he's "got a knack for it," like the way you talk to a friend. his narration has a very informal and emotive vocabulary. he talks about his skill at murdering people like he's at a job interview, and he's extremely arrogant. my hope, as the author, is that all of this comes across and you get a strong sense of these characters just from brief passages.

finally, we can go back to the original question lol how do you write in a different "style?" i think you have to analyze different styles and voices, and figure out what you're going for. do you want to write something dreamy and surreal, or more dry and sarcastic? what tone are you going for, and how can your usage of word choice, syntax and perspective help you attain it?

i'm giving you homework lmao track down your favorite book and try analyzing the author's voice. take some notes on the tone, and if it contrasts the subject matter or genre (is it cynical? is it nostalgic? is it a lighthearted, fairy tale-esque fantasy or a more somber, gothic one?). also pay attention to the word choice. how vivid or descriptive is the prose? does it evoke certain imagery or themes? (in kraken by china mieville, a story about a giant squid that goes missing from a museum and the chaos that follows, he uses a lot of water and squid metaphors.) use the elements of voice listed above as a checklist of things to look for. if there's a certain writer you want to emulate or take inspiration from, studying their work like this could help a lot.

one last thing: since we talked so much about voice, i want to ask why you want to change your style. you can ignore this part if you want lol this is just a pep talk and something i think is good to mention. if you want to focus on differentiating character voices, or trying out a new style for fun, that's awesome! you can and should experiment with style, but remember that your voice as a writer is something unique to you. it's not something that you have to fundamentally change. we can all learn from other writers and hone or refine our style, but i think who we are on a personal level affects our affinity for certain stylistic choices that form our voice.

for example, on a scale of purple to beige, i lean pretty lavender lmao but i'm not ashamed of that! i was influenced a lot by writers who have a (capital R) Romantic flair to their prose, so i like flowery language and descriptions of nature. if it gets too purple and "in the way" of the story, then sure, i might need to trim down certain passages. but my affinity and tendencies aren't something i'm going to get rid of altogether, rather something i'll practice so they're super polished. once you identify your voice, i think you should embrace it and roll with it.