#inane ramblings

[flonautilus]

Thinking about the way vox positions his brand and his own image -- his company stands for perfection, for innovation, for trustworthiness and progress; how hard he probably works to maintain a respectable image while wangling Val's whims. This is a man who, in a hell that respects pure brute power over anything else, created an empire based in consumer trust and playing on the human instinct to follow the herd, don't fall behind, keep up.

We know that alastor made a name for himself by almost deliberately playing a provocateur, upturning the status quo, framing himself as an unpredictable threat, and it's fairly consistent in behaviour patterns as well -- Alastor relishes in disturbing other people's sense of comfort; he turns to fear and intimidation as his first weapon.

Both of them use reputation as a tool but in completely opposite ways, and even in their personal relationships as well (another interesting point -- Alastor is much more genuine with people he does consider friends, like Mimzy and Rosie, but Vox never seems to fully let down his persona even with Velvette and Valentino? He has that big fake smile on with Velvette in ep2, and with Val he drops the smile but still plays the charming, reasonable, logical business partner -- at least until Valentino gets under his skin by mentioning Alastor. There's technically ep8 but I'm almost certain that's an exceptional case?) And both of them know very well how to play to their audiences

Well there isn't really a conclusion here but I find it really funny that in one season we're sorta already seen both of them break their own image to an extent? Vox obviously showing a total lack of composure on live tv, but also, Alastor's loss to Adam. Like I've seen some people say it's not a big deal because Adam is so strong, but the problem is that Alastor's reputation relied on the mystery of his power ("no one knows where he came from; he just started toppling overlords one day, and not small ones either"), and losing to Adam puts a definite upper limit to his power.

Basically he went from unknowable eldritch monster to like, powerful overlord sinner, but still a sinner.

Thoughts about recent leaks under the cut

You know what else is interesting? Vox's biggest asset is not his personal power (though it's almost certainly not small either) but rather the trust the people of hell invests in his brand. It makes me think that actually the primary conflict of season 2 will not be a physical battle (Adam) but a battle over the narrative. And who's the people of hell going to trust more, the overlord that's been providing them with technology and protection(?) for decades, or the princess of hell who's not here visible in public eye for ages, and heaven, who's been trying to kill them since who knows when? (obviously charlie stopped the exterminations which is a big plus on her record but that wasn't exactly a show of redemptive power was it? The strength to resist and unite yes but also the power of having hell's big daddy on your side)

And okay I'm not super sure still what vox is planning to do with hypnotizing the whole of hell, but I wager rather than any aggressive action (not his style) it'll have to do with convincing people that they really are irredeemable, that hell is the status quo and come on, do you really think those angels believe in redemption? Do you really think you can be redeemed after everything you've done? Pentious was an exception; he wasn't all that bad to begin with, and you don't think the princess' silly hotel can actually help you, do you?

And y'know what putting it this way it's suddenly clear to me why the vees are designed that way (because obviously they were planned to be one of the main villains way ahead of time) -- they represent respectively mass entertainment/social media/porn and drugs, all possible means of addiction and soft control and getting people to basically surrender to their own vices (more than hell already does of course) (gambling is another addictive means and I'm hopeful but sceptical that they'll explore it through husk)

But anyway. The Vees have much to lose if redemption succeeds (technically all the overlords do but eh). It's why I'm sorta hopeful that S2 and maybe S3 will feature a much more in-depth discussion of the topic of redemption? Who can be redeemed, what does redemption involve (beyond literally sacrificing yourself?), are there any limits to redemption?

Though putting it this way makes me think none of the vees aren't going to meet good endings ahshdd or at least they'll have to fall very very far to even get a chance at it bc why tf would you even consider redemption if so much of your power depends on people just giving into hopelessness and dependency? Not that any of them would ever want to be redeemed but...idk. and really that's a huge conflict in the show right? Charlie doesn't fundamentally understand why some people wouldn't want to be redeemed not just bc of addiction or other reasons, but the ones who benefit from the status quo (Alastor, vees, the overlords to some extent or another). And heck like Rosie and cannibal town helped stop the extermination but how much do they actually care for redemption vs getting a chance to eat angel meat? The show makes it pretty clear it's the latter. Charlie struggles to understand even Angel and it's why it's husk who gets through to him, cuz they can understand each other (but it doesn't mean Charlie's efforts are insignificant, they created the space for redemption in the first place)

And that's I think the central conflict of the show? That heaven (at least the side represented by Emilie) and Charlie believes everyone will to some extent want to be redeemed, it's just the lack of opportunities; Adam and lute and sera's side, who disdain and fear that if provided any opportunity, hell will always rise up and overturn heaven (ngl heaven and hell in Hazbin always reminded me of gated communities?); the vees who want hell under their control and in extension to convince that redemption is too far out of reach to bother; and maybe like Lilith too who I sorta suspect doesn't actually care for redemption as much as overturning heaven's authority? (But all we know of her is like a few minutes/seconds so like...)

Final thoughts but I was admittedly disappointed in the presentation of episode 6; for redemption to be worthwhile you need to show why heaven is so good, not just why hell really sucks, and imo the welcome to heaven song isn't really that convincing? It's a clever mirror to like a happy day in hell, but you can't just tell me everyone is happy every day in heaven and call it a day, like what's life actually like in heaven, rlly it just looks like a metropolitan city but in pastels?? Do people in heaven ever have personal conflicts; how are those settled; what does social life look like; happiness isn't just the lack of like addiction, poverty, pain, etc tho that goes a long way.

[buddydacote]

Just imagine how much better the world would be if geocities never went out of business

[sneakymcsneakerson]

Pretty Much How I Envision the Halloween Moment Going:

Tamarack: I got five pieces of candy!

Qiu: I got a chocolate bar!

Emily: I got a quarter.

Ethan: I got a rock...

[fuckyeahdwarffortress]

I had exactly one person ask about my inane fantasy writing ramblings when it comes to dwarf currency, so I'm going to pen it. See more below!

In the novel I am penning (slowly, surely), coinage in the dwarven kingdom are dubbed Hands.

Theyr'e called this for the four-fingered, one-thumbed hand that is displayed. Each section of a Finger is worth 1 (totalling 3 for each fully-extended Finger), and each section of a Thumb is worth 4 (totalling 8 for a fully extended thumb).

In total, a fully-opened palm on a Hand is worth 20, meaning 5 Hands are worth 100.

Hands are made of stone, as metals are considered too precious to waste on a common occurrence such as currency. Any coins received from, say, Humans or Elves, are melted back into metals for reforging, though are received with equivalent metal value (meaning elven chips are worth less due to being made primarily of lacquered wood, and human coinage is worth more due to being made primarily of metals).

Each "tier" of stone makes the currency double in value:

Shale Open Hand = 20

Basalt Open Hand = 40

Gneiss Open Hand = 80

Granite Open Hand = 160

Marble Open Hand = 320

As these stones can be hard to identify, masons and stoneworkers oft double as accountants or bookkeepers. To ensure a healthy economy, there is a 10% tax on all income brackets; taxed Hands usually returning into public works or provided to aiding those who either cannot perform labour (whether unskilled or injured), or to public projects (bunkers for those without homes, farming initiatives, funding military strength, etc).

The current system of governance falls under what would be described as a technocracy, where the major dwarven heads of mining, agriculture, military, magic, economy, crafting, safety, and transit meet biweekly to balance affairs between each circle of dwarven society, though typically, the economic hold is the one with the final say, and previous heads have been happy to throw Hands around to get their way.

I hope you all enjoy this little snippet. It's not my best writing, persay, but it's something that's been in the back of my head for a while.

[unlovablecreatureofsin]

this body is a prison and brother i am not the warden

[cardworksartblog]

Was thinking abt batflies last night and thought abt a possible relative to them thats Much Bigger and also much more intelligent, and came up with this!

The Greater Batfly would be my ideal 3rd intelligent tool-using species in rainworld, mostly bc i wanna know how videocult would go abt some Intelligent Buges. Some ideas i thought up for them under the cut!

They often nest in large groups, like normal batflies- but now with a Twist. Since they're about as intelligent as your average scav, they're willing to trade items they may be keeping near their central nesting areas in exchange for food or Rocks. In the region they'd be found in, rocks would be abt as rare as a pearl due to the Greater Batflies picking the area clean for building supplies. Pearls, however, would be in abundance.

They'd be much less trigger happy with spears as well, and much easier to trade with and pass by without a fuss. However, this would be balanced with their reputation being very hard to rank up due to slugcats hunting their kind for actual centuries by now.

Greater batflies have lost most active flying ability due to their large size, but are still quite adept at gliding and using air currents to their advantage to get over large gaps or escape from predators, as well as short bouts of vertical flight to get up to high ledges and platforms.

They build their nests with a thick sap-like secretion from their mouths that hardens into a mix between amber and beeswax. This stuff often has a cousin of the sporepuff's spores or other mushroom-like plants that can dissuade threats growing in it to dissuade centipedes from chowing down on the batflies' house, akin to Macrotermes in the real world.

If they live near an area with scavs the nest will also have learnt that using this secretion to give spears a sharper edge that has an easier time getting centipedes to piss off is a good way of trading with the colonies, and will trade a slugcat some of these 'Amberwax Spears'.

They can come in different morphs!! Some can be iridescent, clear wings like the coffee clearwing moth, maybe even something more like a traditional moth with eyespots that they use for intimidation. They're like irl moths and butterflies, with how different many of them appear. Often a nest will have a 'theme', basically being a dominant gene that makes the whole colony have similar colours, markings, or even wing types.

For those who read all that btw, a little treat for you all since i dont post often. I may have an Idea for a conceptual region >:) you might be able to guess what the idea is from some of the wording in this since greater batflies would be one of the staple creatures in the region!

[skylertheminish]

So I did a dumb ... again

I don't want to look at my bank account. But at the same time sod it! My birthday is next month so I'm allowed to get myself early birthday gifts

[citrus-woman]

can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars.........

[homosexual-fast-dancer]

I live!!! Also I'm gonna go back to using this as my selfship blog! Mostly because selfshipping is more fun when you have more mutuals...

[aadrawings]

The End of The Beginning

My main issue with the Unicorn: Warriors Eternal finale is really an issue I have with the entire show:

It needed more time to breathe.

I feel like Genndy wanted to get every idea he had for this series right out of the gate, and the result of that is a show with some serious pacing issues and a lot of loose ends. The finale is especially egregious of this. No questions are ever really answered and like only TWO plot threads out of the thousands are ever given proper resolution.

If/when this show gets a second season, I seriously hope it gets more than 10 episodes so that Genndy can tighten up the plot because I wanna love this show. I REALLY wanna love this show. But I can’t. I can only kinda like it.

[Copernicus noises]

[hypabeast]

somehow it took all the way until now for me to work with a function that's f(y)=x instead of f(x)=y and. i may sound insane but theres something very transgender about this

[river-taxbird]

I am becoming dangerously obsessed with The Moomins.

In which I explore my deeply ingrained weakness for furry media, and why a weird kids series that comes from a queer, poly, anti fascist place speaks to me deeply.

The moomins were always something I was aware of. I saw a couple of episodes of the 90s show when I was a kid, and we had one of the books in the house when I was a kid, but I never read it. Not sure why, but discussing it with my mum she said she never liked the moomins much.

A while ago my roomate introduced me to Comet in Moominland, the 90s movie that is a prequel to the TV series, and based on the first full length moomin book. It was a beautiful and harrowing movie about the moomins dealing with the knowledge that a comet is going to hit the earth, and having to deal with an apocalypse of biblical proportions.

After that, my partner and I decided to watch the 90s anime that follows on from the movie. It's cute and charming, it's wholesome and positive. It is depicting the childhood you maybe wish you had, with good friends and positive role models. I also picked up some of the books, those are my own copies in the picture.

Now throughout my life, I have always been a sucker for furry media. Being a furry is essentially my favorite thing and defines a lot of my identity. Most of my favourite media is furry media, be it core fandom, or wider furry adjacent media. On the surface, Moomin is obviously furry media, it deals with creatures having adventures, but I believe the furry connection goes deeper.

I found this video from youtube channel Culturally F'd, that gives a queer, poly, anti fascist reading of the moomins.

The video basically alleges that the Moomin's creator, Tove Jasson, was queer and for much of her life was in what we would now call a poly relationship with a man and a woman at the same time. It also notes how the moomins first appeared in a left wing magazine, hence the anti fascist element. If you want an example of cottagecore media without a hint of fascism, the moomins is probably a good place to look. It's not apolitical of course. There is that one post that is doing the rounds like "I only want apolitical media, like studio ghibli and the moomins" which is very funny and has never left my head.

While the text may not be explicitly queer, you could call Moomintroll textually "In love" with Snufkin, as well as his girlfriend, it's not like they openly date, but I have verified the things that video says about the author with other sources and it seems to be true. It does seem like the moomins comes from a queer, poly worldview, and now I have realised that, I think that is when I crossed the line from interest to obsession. That is how my life works, I tend to become obsessed with a specific piece of furry media for a year or so, hyperfixate on it as much as I can, then I move on but can always engage with furry fan work for it.

I think a lot of the appeal of furry stuff is explored in this awesome video from Patricia Taxxon. It argues that a lot of the appeal of being a furry lies in "The symbolic, the sensory, and the autistic" and that a lot of furries also have other intersecting identities that may have made you feel simultaneously human and inhuman. I guess what I am trying to say here is that I feel the moomins are very deeply furry media in a way that a lot of mainstream "furry" media isn't. Don't get me wrong, I still love a lot of mainstream furry stuff, but I think the true appeal for me is using symbolism effectively. Using your funny little animal creatures to explore things about the world and your life.

The moomins come from a genuinely weird, non corporate place. I would maybe even say if the author were still around today, we would probably consider her a furry. It may be a pleasant, pastoral, almost childish setting, but it deals with all aspects of childhood, from scary or dangerous events you don't understand, to interpersonal conflict, to even stuff as simple as getting sick. It's speaking to me on a level that not many things have before, with its depiction of subtextual, yet healthy and real feeling poly relationships, and real classical feeling adventures and family dynamics. This isn't a word I use much but it's wholesome, yet deep. I know I am only scratching the surface of the moomins and I can't believe it has taken me this long to get into them. I know this is probably fairly incoherent and it is mainly just my initial thoughts on what I have been getting into for the past month or so. I will probably post about it more going forward but just wanted to say something.

[buddydacote]

[sneakymcsneakerson]

I Did A Thing

So, I've been following Our Life: Now and Forever's development lately and these two have occupied my mind for a good while now. I finally figured out something to write for the little bio feature and felt like sharing!

[nesisamess]

thinking about akane/sora.

sigh that whole thing along with her (their? both of their?) dynamics with utsuro, and how that kind of bleeds over into yuki.

i was gonna put some shit in the tags but my brain just kept writing so ahem here we go (sorry as always for the nonsensical rambling if you can’t tell i just use tumblr as a place to word vomit about the things that are Taking Up My Brain)

The main reason I’m not a huge fan of Sora/Yuki is because how much of it is just Sora’s programming? But at the same time that just makes everything 1000x more interesting because where does Sora begin and the programming stop, yknow? Sora is so vastly different from Akane imo that it feels weird to call Sora nothing but an imitation of Akane, but… canonically, i mean, that’s all she really is

I’m definitely a big believer in your own interpretations of media (and especially with some of Kodaka’s choices that i don’t personally agree with) and in Sora’s case I kind of don’t believe she’s just this really simple ai. I definitely think that her relationship with Akane and the melding of them is v. v. interesting and could lead to a lot of emotional development but it becomes a lot less interesting to me when it’s just like “oh yeah sora isn’t even like. anywhere close to real she can never be real whatsoever” like is the questioning of her own reality not enough? cuz her emotions feel pretty fucking real and it feels ridiculous to say otherwise

In my own fanfiction & writing for a post sdra2 what-if-sora-survives a lot of her struggle is with figuring out how much of akane is still in her. like. that’s almost a seperate person, but wait, no it’s not. i have her memories. i have her face. i stare in the mirror and she looks back and am i her? am i the one who did all those horrible things? or was it someone else? and sora’s struggle with that could be so so interesting

and how yuki/utsuro plays into it too ughhhh

did sora ever really love yuki, or was it all just the programming? and is that programming her or is it akane? and who is she, if she’s not just akane? utsuro and akane are 100% an unhealthy ass relationship and that always will kinda poison any variation of sora/akane x yuki/utsuro ships for me.

but utsuro and akane at the same time are so fucking interestinggggg in their toxic mess like she fucking worships him. he is a god to her but to him? akanes just another follower. a particularly loyal one but at the end of the day he. does. not. care. about. her. whatsoeverrrrrr!!! he doesn’t care about anything, not even himself

and i think she kinda knows that, or is aware but she doesn’t even care because to her utsuro is a god and she’s thankful he even lets her worship him. because he saved her. and how fucked up must akane’s situation must have been? i mean, i can’t imagine. and now, post sdra2, sora has all these memories. she remembers all this shit, all the reasons why she worships and loves utsuro but also. she has other stuff. she has yuki, and yoruko, and all these new memories that she had made. but, but… but she would still pick him.

and doesn’t that prove it?

that after all this time that sora didn’t even get to experience, she is the same.

the same girl that did all these horrific things in the name of worship.

is she also, then, the person she was before those memories came back? the person who flirted with yoruko and created bonds and made sarcastic comments.

is she…

is she both? neither?

well, we’ll never get an answer.

because at the end, she did what she always did.

she sacrificed herself for him.