#like do i think ultimately what you believe about the evolution is the end of the world. no

[soldier-poet-king]

Oh man I looked at the notes on that evolution & Christianity poll (a mistake, clearly), like, how can so many people be so fkin stupid. Yes thats mean of me to say but. Y'all are really out here being strict biblical literalists?? Not even most of the early christian theologians & church fathers were strict biblical literalists?? There is no historical basis to being an extreme literalist abt the bible?? Presumably you received SOME sort of education and can read and think critically?? You can't ALL have been raised in an information restrictive cult??

99% of the time im ready to throw hands with Catholicism because oh boy we have beef and I hate it here, but at least we're not Like That TM.

Oh Fr Georges Lemaître, father of the Big Bang Theory, we're really in it now.

[dgct2]

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR CRIMSON SKY

When Blackthorne stepped up to be her second as she was about to commit seppuku (suicide) in Shōgun‘s pivotal Episode 9, that was the “moment she realizes that what they share is much deeper than what she had anticipated,” Sawai tells TV Insider. “That’s the gesture that changes everything.”

Seconding her seppuku means striking the fatal blow. Mariko would first stab herself in the gut, and then Blackthorne would decapitate her as the tradition mandates. That he was ready to do this for Mariko was the ultimate symbol of Blackthorne’s evolution from the beginning of the series to now. It’s the highest sign of respect that he can give, as it prioritizes her cultural customs and loyalty over his own desires for her to keep living. And he begged her to keep living.

“He’s taking her over his own religion and beliefs,” Sawai explains of the powerful moment. “A couple scenes before that he’s asking her to keep living for him. And so I think that it just shows that he really, really cares, and that is the most romantic thing that you could ever do for someone that you love.”

They slept together once more after the thwarted seppuku. The energy between them in that moment was a defiant refusal to deny their feelings any longer, initiated by a yearning Blackthorne. But even if Buntaro had died, Sawai doesn’t see a world where Mariko and Blackthorne would have ended up together forever. “I don’t think it was realistic for that to happen,” she admits.

Mariko was never in denial about her love for Blackthorne, even if she hid it deep within herself. “Circumstances are not going to let her be with him, and so you can’t keep chasing something that you’re not going to be,” Sawai says. “It’s not healthy to keep wanting to chase it, but it’s undeniable what they share. That connection is truly just their own thing. It’s very, very intimate.”

Mariko never believed they would end up together, but Sawai reveals that her translator definitely “holds onto” their connection as a comfort in tough times. She doesn’t let her guard down again, however, until circumstances push her to let go of all restraint.

Mariko’s seppuku was stopped at the last moment by Lord Ishido (Takehiro Hira), but he sent a group of assassins to kill her later that night. When she, Blackthorne, Lord Yabushige (Tadanobu Asano), and other women were cornered and outnumbered, Blackthorne desperately tried to protect them from canon fire in a shed, whereas Mariko accepted death. “Anjin-sama, let it come,” she told her lover with tears in her eyes. You could see every ounce of love Mariko had for Blackthorne in this brief, tender moment before the blast killed her. Sawai played that scene as Mariko’s one chance to let all of her love for Blackthorne pour out.

“I remember just looking at Cosmo/Blackthorne and feeling like this is her goodbye. She’s not going to be able to come up to him and hold his hand and say this stuff,” Sawai shares. “It was wishful also to just accept your fate because that’s something that Blackthorne couldn’t do. He’s trying to control everything, and she’s just someone who’s like, we live and we die. We control nothing beyond that. She’s just looking at him like, I’m going to go, but thank you. And I hope you understand.”

[unoriginal-and-dumb]

Df ghuffehugefghugfueyguyefgyyfrgygryf?

Do you like dead space? The dead space franchise?? Do you want to hear about dead space?

Last year they released a remake for the first game! Anyway my favorite game from the series would have to be dead space 2, I love the new necromorphs and the added lore to unitology and the whole thing with convergence actually being a thing. In the first game released 2008 convergence actually wasn’t a thing yet. All we knew was the marker, the necromorphs, and unitology. Which is honestly why I like dead space 2 so much. I mean also the advanced suit which is literally the coolest fucking suit EVER. Anyway, did you know that the original dead space game was actually gonna be way different? As it is now it’s a survival sci-fi horror where you play as Isaac Clarke, an engineer who is trying to make sure the entire ship (USG Ishimura) doesn’t go under since everyone is either dead or now a necromorph. More importantly he is actually looking for his girlfriend who was a nurse on the ship. How the game was originally going to be was actually how Callisto protocol is. In other words, it was going to be that you were a prisoner, but some sort of infection is going around and turning people into horrible monsters that go and kill everyone else. I’m really glad they decided to not go with that idea, because the whole thing with unitology and convergence with the added PAIN of Nicole (Isaac’s girlfriend) really makes for a great game. Callisto protocol kinda fell flat for me, the weapons were kinda lame and the fighting was a bit jank but the designs were pretty cool. Nothing will ever beat necromorphs though. My favorite of the single body necromorphs would probably be the unitologist slasher, the puker, or the stalker. The unitologist slasher in specific areas doing the unitology hand symbol thing and the fact that their faces are completely obliterated is kind of poetic given what unitology is (it’s the belief that death, conversion to necromorphs, and convergence into a sentient meat planet essentially is the final steps of evolution for humanity when in all reality it is just the brethren moons way of reproducing). I like pukers because of how severely messed up they are, their faces are hollow and their flesh is melted due to the acid they hold their lungs. It’s twisted and malformed and the designs for the legs are absolutely so cool. Stalkers im biased for because I loved dinosaurs, I loved xenomorphs, I mean it’s a human contorted into basically a raptor and it screams at you and looks awesome ITS COOL! But god Isaac Clarke is such a great character. Like I said he’s just an engineer who in the end of it all wants to find and save his girlfriend because he was the one who encouraged her to take the job on the ishimura. Spoiler warning in case anyone was actually reading this and wanting to play the games. Anyway Nicole is dead, even before you start playing she was already dead and Isaac knew that. He received her last transmission, all she could really say is everything was falling apart and how scared she was, but she ultimately decided it was better if she did it herself instead of being turned into a necromorph. Isaac watched Nicole die, the one person in his life that was there for him, that tried to help him, that stayed with him and he loved her soooooooo much, so seeing that transmission kind of just broke him. He pushed it out of his head and refused to believe it. And it just gets so much worse because the marker, the thing that created necromorphs, is capable of creating hallucinations and delusions for people making them more susceptible to being killed, killing, or helping the marker reach the convergence event in order to create a brethren moon. Throughout the game Isaac experiences hallucinations, they get worse and worse until he finally finds what he thinks is Nicole and because he jsut wants her alive and well he chooses to believe it, in the end healing the marker get exactly what it wanted.

Convergence events are triggered by the markers when there is enough biomass. So these brethren moons, are moon sized living beings. They literally farm species. I’m dead space lore, the asteroid that hit the earth and killed the dinosaurs was the red marker. It was designed to take out the dinosaurs as the brethren moons know what they need in a species in order to reproduce a new moon. The marker sends out signals to the species, encouraging growth in intellect, and also creating the internal greed leading to over using the environment and being forced to find new ways to get materials such as going to the stars. This influence is key not only to create an intelligent species but for small cues in their genes to be easily triggered when they have reached their peak. This is when a necromorph outbreak will begin to occur. First, people have to be near the marker. It produces energy signals that are highly desired as it looks to be free energy, so obviously this draws attention and leads to people studying the marker extensively. Then it starts to hit those genetic cues. It depends on the person, but most will exhibit signs of heightened stress and anxiety, hallucinations as well. People who are unable to hold the knowledge of how to create more markers are driven insane, often times becoming extremely hostile as they hallucinate others to be monsters or believe that others are trying to harm them in some other way. It begins with a body, the marker also has something similar to a viral bacteria that it used to create the first few necromorphs. Once there is a dead body in proximity, it takes a bit of time but eventually it can “reanimate” it (necromorphs are NOT alive, they are simple a collection of muscles being moved around, they can’t be killed but dismemberment can stop them) the first few necromorphs are always slashers. They have large blades and strong legs, they can quickly crawl through vents and are quick and good at killing. Once there’s enough slashers around to protect the marker it moves on to creating infectors, those are severely mutilated human corpses, but their main purpose is to speed up the infection. They have a long proboscis that is designed to stab through human skulls and inject the bacteria. With infectors, the switch from human to necromorph only takes seconds. This allows for other forms of necromorphs to be created. It depends on a number of things for what determines what type of necromorph will come from a human, but the marker uses the materials to the best of its abilities. People with somethingike acid reflux may be more prone to becoming a puker, people who have been cut in half or just have a much stronger upper body may become a leaper (leg less torsos that can crawl and jump extreme distances) if the infection is along far enough the marker may begin to attack in other ways, such as creating wheezers (oo wee ooo) that cough up poisonous gasses to kill off any remain in survivors passively. Sometimes a corpse just becomes part of the corruption, which is often seen as meaty growth along the walls and floor of any areas. In the ishimura it blocks door ways, slows people down, grows tentacle like things that can grab and drag people down. It can also work a bit like the wheezers by relaeasing the poisonous gasses but it works much slower than the wheezers do, much more passive stuff. The most dangerous thing the corruption can do is create wall guardians. Humans can be absorbed into the corruption and have a stationary necromorph that can prevent survivors from traversing as easily. They are extremely dangerous and hard to kill without proper weapons. As mentioned necromorphs are dead, all you can do is dismember them to make it so they are unable to attack you so it’s not just an easy one and done shot.

Brethren moons are so super cool. They are the signs of previously powerful species, they are the reason we are alone. They harvest and kill in order to create life for themselves. A brethren moon requires an intelligent species in order to become what it is. They are hyper intelligent hive minds that are all connected. They share the same abilities of the markers but scaled to like times 100. In dead space, there is a level of intelligence that shows itself as the ability to read others minds, or if cultivated act as a hive mind. Every human has the ability to be born with it but it is rare and again one human could have that ability but it is such a low level it will likely never be noticed unless convergence occurs. Isaac Clarke does not have this ability, but he does have the other form of intelligence that makes him much more dangerous and thus more desired by the brethren moons. He is able to withstand the marker signal better than others (that doesn’t mean he can fully withstand it but yknow) which means he is able to have the instructions for HWO to create more markers implanted in his head. But that also means he can defeat the markers plans (if we are going by dead space 3 non dlc ending that means he can also defeat brethren moons but I don’t like dead space 3 very much so im not counting it) the entire idea is built around levels of intelligence, and there’s so many different levels of it. Humans as a whole are smart, but everyone has different intelligences in different areas and I’ve always been really interested in stuff like that

Anyway im gonna go now I have about 385828578385739 more words to say but I need to do other things

[tatiejosie]

Bella/Mandrake trauma processing comic

That one's a little older than most of my projects, but it was my first time approaching the sore, complicated topic of Earwig's disband! I have straight-up nothing sketched out for this one.

After a movie night, Bella wakes up on the sofa, stuck right between a still-sleeping Earwig and Mandrake. As they find themselves adjusting to this newfound family life, they reflect on the evolution of their relationship across the years.

CW: very tuned-out, implied nsfw content.

Bella wants to stretch, but she’s tangled with Mandrake, Earwig, and the cat - ultimately, she decides that it’s just not worth it to disturb them. She pauses awkwardly, not knowing what to say, and looks up at Mandrake.

B Seems like we didn’t make it through the whole movie last night, eh…? M I did. You didn’t miss a lot. B … Oh. Well, little miss girlie here will probably want to catch up on the rest of the movie anyway… M But she stayed until the end. You’re the first one who fell asleep.

Bella is dumbfounded.

B Huh…? B-but… … Wait, what are we doing here then? You two didn’t bother to wake me up at the end?!

Mandrake observes Earwig quietly.

M I think… Dearwig just liked it here. She preferred to stay on the couch for the night because she had the occasion to sleep with us.

Bella is visibly flustered, fumbling for words.

B …O-oh, um… M I believe her… when she claims that she loves me. Are you still struggling to see that this girl loves you too?

------

M were you seriously considering that I didn’t… love you anymore?

Bella scoffs. She’s searching for her words. She doesn’t want to hurt Mandrake, but she’s struggling to translate her feelings into tactful sentences.

M You can be honest with me. (you have to.)

Bella loses patience and promptly abandons the diplomatic route.

B … It’s not like you were prone to show it in the first place. Y’know, even before- before all that…

Bella stiffens a little when she mentions the “before” part. She ditches her sentence.

B [sighs] I’m not resentful of you for that, I promise.

Mandrake stays quiet, expressionless as usual.

B For what it’s worth, it’s probably my fault.

------

She thought about the miserable decade that they spent under the same roof, going through some sort of growing, excruciating estrangement. It was almost like a punishment for what happened in the past. Some sort of constant reminder that she might have screwed up. It kind of reinforced this feeling, in a way. She was distanced and isolated and miserable… and at her lowest point, she was even convinced that she deserved it. At best, she felt an abstract sense of freedom, safely out of his aim/sight as she obeyed him and maintained everything in order for him to be satisfied. At worst, she felt shackled with fear. The crippling fear that he could let go of her at any moment, for any reason. The gut-wrenching feeling of being scrutinised every minute of the day. How much it could hurt when he broke into another scorching meltdown.

----

They still shared some things, after all. A roof, a few carefully timed moments embedded by his routine, meals of his choice. An occasional touch. Touch that sometimes delved into more than just touch, initiated by nothing else than serendipity. Still under the strict, implicit rule that nothing other than primal responses were allowed. No words, no discussion. They ride out each other’s climax, they let go of each other, then they part ways and pretend that nothing happened.And Bella would hang on to these few shared moments as if her life depended on it.

—-

Bella is startled.

B … m… me?

Mandrake considers his words.

M Since we broke off the band…

Bella holds her breath. It might be too much.

M I know you were hurt. And I know you’re still hurting.

Bella shuts her eyes.

M Yet, you kept moving on. That… I just couldn’t do. I was so distraught, I think I’ve lost myself. And I was most definitely drifting away, but… your presence kept me anchored in reality. I think, In the end… I had you to look out for. But I just wasn’t ready… or brave enough… to come back to you.

Mandrake pauses for a bit. He sighs.

M I’m… still wondering why you kept holding on to m-

B Why would I ever want to let you go?!

[pokemonbiologyirlthetabletop]

Sylveon (#700)

Sylveon (#700)

Mutabellus fabulamor

General Information: Sylveon is able to produce a soothing aura through its ribbon-like feelers (yes, that’s what those things are on its body, feelers), which can be used to lower hostilities and even end conflicts. Sometimes, while trying to calm someone/something down, it will use its feelers to perform a dance. These feelers are also used to, for example, wrap around someone’s arm in order for Sylveon to understand the individual’s feelings. Alternatively, it may use its dancing feelers to distract its prey, then pounce. Sylveons are also known for being very brave Pokémon who will charge head-first at Pokémon far bigger than itself in an effort to protect others, especially dragon-type Pokémon. In lands where Dynamaxing/Gigantamaxing exists, the Sylveon’s bravery is often the subject of folkloric praise.

Some suspect a connection to a strong source of magic in the environment, like Leafeon or Glaceon, and others still think its evolution is in the same grouping as Umbreon and Espeon (an evolution based on love), but ultimately no one is entirely sure because wild Sylveon are very rare. It is hard to study Pokémon evolution if wild counterparts are hard to come by, after all.

Habitat: They live mostly in temperate forests, or in and around human settlements. Wild specimens are few and far between.

Diet: Omnivore, will eat just about anything you give them that is actually food. They do not have the same high energy needs as Jolteons and Flareons, but they are on average the largest of the Eeveelutions. Large creatures typically need to eat more than smaller ones. Don’t worry, your Sylveon will in fact probably try to use Baby-Doll Eyes on you to get you to share your pizza with it.

Conservation: Least Concern

Relationship to Humans: Sylveons are highly associated with human settlements by a wide margin greater than any other Eeveelution, either the ones known to science or the ones that remain undiscovered or exist primarily in folklore. In universe, this is not really understood why and it provides strong evidence for why many scientists believe that Sylveons are in the same evolutionary grouping as Umbreon and Espeon. On a meta level, we know this is because wild Eevees probably do not experience enough strong affection levels in time before they evolve into something else, so basically the same reason that Umbreons and Espeons are not terribly common either compared to Glaceons, Leafeons, Vaporeons, Flareons, and Jolteons.

Sylveons can be found in just about any job field under any type of person or trainer. They are difficult to raise an Eevee to evolve into, but any trainer with enough love, care, and determination can achieve a Sylveon evolution.

In order for someone to become a Great Rank-Certified Pokémon Breeder (the next rank above a Certified Breeder), that person must have a Sylveon that they raised from an Eevee, and it must be documented (unless another Pokémon that evolves with the Affection mechanic is introduced). This is a non-optionable requirement. As such, Sylveons are often seen as one of the many symbols/mascots of the Pokémon Breeder world, alongside Togepi.

Sylveons are common sights in healthcare settings because of their calming abilities and ability to read someone’s emotions. They are incredibly supportive Pokémon.

Additionally, Sylveons are often associated with the transgender community due to its colorations (both regular and shiny) being the same as the transgender pride flag. Sylveons and Azumarills are often paired together as Pokémon representations of transgender pride.

~~~~~~~~

Hey guess what, if you like my stuff, this is my website where you can find other Pokémon I've written on and more information about the game that I’m slowly making! Check it out! I write books sometimes too.

[devilgene]

What was Kaz's thought process with hiring Nina with their history? What was his aim when putting her into a cryogenic slumber all those years ago in the first place? 👀

► send me questions you have about my character!

If there is one thing Kazuya could admit to himself about Nina, it's that he generally views her as efficient and competent at her job. You give her a task she can likely see it through. But that's about it. I will also not deny that he doesn't trust her in any sense of the word, given she's attempted to kill him multiple times and then fact he very much prefers Anna (they are close despite anything he says).

From what I understand, as of T8 and after the death of Heihachi, Kazuya seized the chance to overthrow the opposing side, intensifying the attacks on the Zaibatsu until the remaining leadership was forced to surrender. It was a swift, decisive end. Kazuya has essentially assumed control of the Zaibatsu. I seems to have happened rather quickly - a month, maybe even within two weeks - so Nina may have still been the commander of the Tekken Force and been one of those said leadership positions. When it looked like she'd be unable to recover a still MIA Jin and Kazuya moving in to take over, this may be when she decided to cut her losses and become a freelance assassin.

So with all these factors in mind, I think... he's using Nina on a three fold scale. One, he needs someone to manage his forces as he escalates his push to take over the world. Nina has proved proficient enough in doing so with the Zaibatsu and already has experience with the Tekken forces he's probably integrated into his war effort. His normal pick is out of the picture so he'll make use of her instead. A threat he can effectively wield against enemies and make them think twice, and an asset ultimately expendable to him. Two, it removes Nina from the enemy pool temporarily and restricts her movements. She was a thorn in his side for a good while. She's very slippery and it can be hard to pin her down. If she's working for him as a direct subordinate, there's a much lower chance of someone else taking the plunge to hire her to assassinate him again. He gets to keep an eye on her and he's a position to deal with her himself if she gets any ideas. Three, Anna. I want believe this has something to do with her and until new material comes out I'll be making pure assumptions.

With my iteration of Kazuya there definitely is an Anna aspect to his decision to hire Nina. With Kazuya, Nina's... like a spare to use in the meantime? He's looking for Anna. Before T7, he allowed her to retire without any fuss in order to marry but clearly things have changed. There is no way he does not know about Anna's fiance being assassinated and he knows Anna well enough to know she will seek out revenge. I think she dropped off the grid after failing to get back at Nina in the heat of the moment, plotting on how to end her for good. It's hard to locate Nina even on your best day if she doesn't want to be found I imagine. With her current position, it's always hush hush about who's calling shots at the top brass but these things have a way of... leaking. With Nina kept in a very convenient position next to him in the event Anna does decide to return to G Corp, it sure saves the time of hunting her down, doesn't it? And if Anna wants to exact her revenge then and there? Well, Kazuya won't be the one to stop her. Unfortunately as of yet, Anna has yet to appear.

As for the cryogenic sleep, Kazuya was big on biological experimentation back then. While Lee leaned toward the cold and mechanical working of machinery, Kazuya drifted toward the understanding the heated evolution of living flesh. And he had a plan: create enhanced animal soldiers to utilize in his building army. Now what do we have here? An assassin fell into his hands? Sounds like a perfect test subject to try out these brand new very experimental machines on. I think Kazuya would have kept her in there for a few years to test the preservation efficacy of the machines before letting her out, maybe less since Anna decided to join her. So, he didn't have big plans for Nina per se. Didn't have time beyond testing out the pods. If he had… It started with animals, but I think he was on track to move onto humans after enough time (see Gigas a la T7). He was certainly willing subject himself to experimentation. With Nina still in his grasp he might have attempted to have Nina biologically altered in some way or another in his efforts to create a perfect weapon. Nothing that would kill her (probably), but she would be...changed. Maybe for the "better".

@muse-borealis

[allnightlongzine]

The Eternal March of the Black Parade

Twenty years after their debut album and more than a decade after the critics dismissed them, My Chemical Romance stands as one of the greatest rock bands of the 21st century. How did we end up here?

Rob Harvilla | Jul 26, 2022 | theringer.com

Illustration by Brent Schoonover

My Chemical Romance is touring again, Paramore and Jimmy Eat World are headlining a major festival this fall, and there’s a skinny, tattooed white dude with a guitar dominating the charts. In case you haven’t heard, emo is back, baby! In honor of its return to prominence—plus the 20th anniversary of the first MCR album—The Ringer is following Emo Wendy’s lead and tapping into that nostalgia. Welcome to Emo Week, where we’ll explore the scene’s roots, its evolution to the modern-day Fifth Wave, and some of the ephemera around the genre. Grab your Telecasters and Manic Panic and join us in the Black Parade.

Our story starts in New York City on September 11, 2001. It just does. Suspend your disbelief; respect his audacity. But is it really so hard to believe, and is it really so audacious, that Gerard Way—then a 24-year-old New Jersey native, NYC art school graduate, and creatively stifled Cartoon Network intern—would choose that awful, vulnerable, crushingly human moment to reimagine himself as something immortal, someone superheroic? “That felt like the end of the world,” he told Newsweek in 2019. “It felt like the apocalypse. I was surrounded by hundreds of people on a dock on the Hudson River, and we watched the buildings go down, and there was this wave of human anguish that I’ve never felt before. Since then, I’ve continued to think about what we would do at the end of the world if we knew we only had a little time left.”

Standing on that dock, what Gerard decided he would do was channel his shock and grief and newfound sense of immediacy into the ultimate rock-star origin story. “Something just clicked in my head that morning,” he told Spin magazine in 2005. “I literally said to myself, ‘Fuck art. I’ve gotta get out of the basement. I’ve gotta see the world. I’ve gotta make a difference!’” So he hooked up with a drummer friend from high school named Matt Pelissier (the first of several drummers, alas) and wrote an anguished, furious, and yet startlingly tender pop-punk song called “Skylines and Turnstiles.” It starts like this.

You’re not in this alone Let me break this awkward silence Let me go, go on record Be the first to say I’m sorry Hear me out

Gerard sang and played guitar, though he struggled to do both at once. (It’s harder than it looks.) Slowly, he found other bandmates: Ray Toro and Frank Iero on guitars, plus his own younger brother Mikey Way on bass. Thanks to his gig working at Barnes & Noble, Mikey also contributed a band name: My Chemical Romance, an improvement on the title of an Irvine Welsh book. The band signed with a tiny label called Eyeball Records and released, on July 23, 2002, their debut album, called I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, produced by New Jersey punk deity and Thursday frontman Geoff Rickly, who’d already mastered the dark art of combining the rawest possible materials into something impossibly gargantuan.

This broken city sky Like butane on my skin Stolen from my eyes Hello angel, tell me Where are you? Tell me where we go from here

“Skylines and Turnstiles” is not, by a long shot, the highlight of MCR’s least-great album. The raw materials are there, of course: the scabrous and shimmering guitars, the breathless downhill-sprint propulsion, the throat-shredding screams to bolster the chorus and punctuate Gerard’s unguarded and brutal horror-flick lyricism. But your first song is never your best. Here, the one called “Honey, This Mirror Isn’t Big Enough for the Two of Us” is better. And the one called “Vampires Will Never Hurt You,” and the one called “Demolition Lovers,” and the one called “Drowning Lessons,” and even the one called “Cubicles.” But as an opening salvo, as the gritty first panel in a dense and ludicrously ambitious comic-book-punk saga, as an achingly sincere attempt to break the awkward silence and roll back the wave of human anguish, as a macabre but heartfelt attempt at genuine connection, Gerard Way’s first song got him where he needed to go, which was firmly on the road to leading everyone where they needed to go.

And after seeing what we saw Can we still reclaim our innocence? And if the world needs something better Let’s give them one more reason, now

It’s the rousing, heartbreaking vocal harmony on the words the world needs something better that shows you what Gerard and his vampiric cohort is really about. Look beyond the eyeliner, the hair dye, the ghostly pallor, the extra-macabre marching band outfits, the wholesale mall-goth hijacking of this band’s whole look, its whole ethos. Don’t flinch at the lyrics no matter how gnarly and nihilistic they seem to get; don’t get too wrapped up in the surreal sensationalism of their flames-and-chaos music videos. Buy the album tie-in comic book or don’t. Just never forget that the closer we get to the end of the world, the tighter Gerard Way means to hold us, to make however much time we have left just that much more bearable.

I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love just celebrated its 20th birthday, and inspired some very excellent anniversary pieces despite being, well, MCR’s least-great album. Their next record was a gleaming and snarling major-label-debut colossus that crowned the fellas as Warped Tour royalty; the record after that was a hilariously overblown rock-opera funeral march and consensus masterpiece that now stands among the greatest emo albums ever born, any era, any wave; the record after that is my personal favorite. Then MCR broke up in 2013, to appropriately operatic dismay, going out as close to On Top as a youngish rock band possibly can.

There was no explicit tabloid-roiling catalyst, no real drama, except no drama is not exactly this band’s vibe. Gerard’s farewell letter, posted to Twitter three days after the news broke and titled A Vigil, On Birds and Glass, is my personal favorite Rock Band Breakup Explanation Letter, any subgenre, any era, precisely because it captures this band’s precise and fantastic combination of galactically overwrought and unabashedly intimate.

We were spectacular. Every show I knew this, every show I felt it with or without external confirmation. There were some clunkers, sometimes our secondhand gear broke, sometimes I had no voice- we were still great. It is this belief that made us who we were, but also many other things, all of them vital- And all of the things that made us great were the very things that were going to end us- Fiction. Friction. Creation. Destruction. Opposition. Aggression. Ambition. Heart. Hate. Courage. Spite. Beauty. Desperation. LOVE. Fear. Glamour. Weakness. Hope. Fatalism.

And then he expands on the fatalism part as a way of explaining why, exactly, this band broke up after only 11 years and four albums.

That last one is very important. My Chemical Romance had, built within its core, a fail-safe. A doomsday device, should certain events occur or cease occurring, would detonate. I shared knowledge of this “flaw” within weeks of its inception. Personally, I embraced it because, again, it made us perfect. A perfect machine, beautiful, yet self aware of its system. Under directive to terminate before it becomes compromised. To protect the idea- at all costs. This probably sounds like something ripped from the pages of a four-color comic book, and that’s the point. No compromise. No surrender. No fucking shit. To me that’s rock and roll. And I believe in rock and roll.

He goes on at great length. It’s wild, it’s lovely, it’s absurd, it’s genuinely moving. The fellas found stuff to keep them busy post-breakup, and Gerard most prominently, of course: the solo album, the ongoing and relentlessly off-kilter Netflix series based on his comic book. And then, inevitably, MCR reunited—tentatively in late 2019, and full-throatedly here in 2022, headlining giant festivals and packing arenas as what certainly feels like the first rock-band reunion that anybody’s actually given a shit about in years. Put it this way: If you are a remotely young person who, like Way himself, still believes in rock and roll, My Chemical Romance is very likely why, and it’s worth ruminating on how, exactly, this profoundly strange and desperately necessary band has inspired such belief. Anybody who listened to I Brought You My Bullets in 2002 couldn’t have predicted any of this. But the guys who made it did.

Emo is back, baby! In honor of its return to prominence—plus the 20th anniversary of the first MCR album—we’re diving deep into all things emo.

Grab your Telecasters and Manic Panic and join us for Emo Week.

The most striking song on I Brought You My Bullets—the most Gerard song, the most MCR song, The Most in general—is called “Early Sunsets Over Monroeville.” It begins as a woozy but deceptively gentle waltz but darkens by ominous degrees, and soon Gerard is wailing the line “If I had the guts / To put this to your head,” and maybe you worry for a second that this is the 200,000th uncouth and unnervingly violent post-breakup emo song. And then you find out that Monroeville is in Pennsylvania, and parts of George Romero’s 1978 zombie-flick classic Dawn of the Dead were shot there, and oh, wow, suddenly you realize this is actually a very grim, very romantic song about an inconsolable man realizing he has to kill his no-longer-human wife:

And there’s no room in this hell There’s no room in the next And our memories defeat us And I’ll end this duress

Not the best song, but the most. My Chemical Romance would get truly dangerous, and truly great, when their best and their most intertwined. They signed to a major label; all the coolest kids do. Deal with it. Deal with this, while you’re at it.

“You like D&D, Audrey Hepburn, Fangoria, Harry Houdini, and croquet,” Ray Toro informs Gerard Way at the onset of “I’m Not Okay (I Promise),” one of several monster singles from their 2004 Reprise Records debut, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. “You can’t swim, you can’t dance, and you don’t know karate. Face it: You’re never gonna make it.” Cue the high-school-outcast histrionics, the cuddly arena-punk viciousness, Gerard’s destabilizing magnetism as he practically screams in your face, the vintage airbrushed-van metalhead radness of Ray’s guitar solo, and, before the final bone-crushing chorus, a truly bonkers Gerard buildup/breakdown for the ages:

But you really need to listen to me Because I’m telling you the truth I mean this I’m okay (Trust me)

And, boom. There are days when this is the best song ever written. And there are other days when it’s not even the best song on Three Cheers: “Helena” has a majestic Mötley Crüe meets the Misfits chorus, the power chords ascending a stairway to hell, an infinite legion of demons pumping their fists along to every word: So long and good night / So long and good night. Or maybe the power-ballad pyrotechnics of “The Ghost of You” do it for you, the classic quiet-verse-loud-chorus dynamics, Gerard’s unapologetic controlled-screaming melodrama (“At the top of my lungs in my arms / SHE DIES”), the extra-luxe video that recreates D-Day down to the puking soldiers landing on the beach. Tell me these guys aren’t spectacular, and not driven by friction, ambition, LOVE, glamour, and fatalism.

By 2005 MCR are headlining the good ol’ Warped Tour alongside Fall Out Boy, and early-2000s third-wave emo—undaunted in its embrace of pop-punk, of the mall, of teenagers both actual and perpetual—has its very own Queen, and/or Led Zeppelin, and/or Pink Floyd. Suspend your disbelief; respect their audacity. “The main thing that we’ve always wanted to do was to save people’s lives,” Gerard informed the magazine Alternative Press in 2004. “That sounds Mother Teresa–ish and outlandish, but it really does happen. It does make a huge difference. We’ve seen it in action.”

Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, by the way, is a semi-derailed concept album involving two lovers, a man and a woman, who both seemingly die in a gunfight: The man goes to hell, is informed by the Devil that the woman is still alive, and agrees to kill 1,000 evil men in exchange for the chance to reunite with her. I say semi-derailed because during the writing process Gerard and Mikey’s beloved grandmother died—“Helena” is about her—and Gerard considered scrapping the whole thing. “When that happened, I was like, ‘Fuck. Oh, God. How am I going to deal with this story? Does it even matter anymore? Is it just fucking pretentious? Is it bullshit?’” he told Alternative Press. “And then I came to grips with it and said, ‘Fuck it. I’m going to write the songs that I want.’” Even the song called “You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison” has a certain funereal poignancy to it.

Even for a band already operating at this scale in terms of both ungodly rock-star bombast and naked emotional intimacy—Gerard has gotten increasingly forthright in interviews about his struggles with mental health and substance misuse in this era—My Chemical Romance’s third and biggest and most extravagantly beloved album, 2006’s The Black Parade, struck like a thunderbolt from a clear blue sky. There is an awful lot to absorb here; the marching-band outfits are as good a place to start as any.

The Black Parade is a classic leveling-up record, the fairly conventional tale of a young, ferocious rock band hitting its commercial peak (the album debuted at no. 2 on the Billboard album chart, behind a Hannah Montana soundtrack) with the help of some new big-shot collaborators. It was produced by Rob Cavallo, who probably also produced your favorite Green Day album; the screaming-and-fire video for “Famous Last Words” was directed by Samuel Bayer, who also directed your favorite Nirvana video. (I’m just assuming your favorite Nirvana video is “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”) Several members of the band got severely injured while shooting this, by the way, and somehow you can just tell.

The Black Parade is also an unprecedented and not-at-all-conventional narrative flex credibly described by The New York Times as “a stricken tour de force about coming of age in the post-9/11 era.” It’s a not-at-all-derailed concept album about a man (“The Patient”) dying of cancer while wracked by fear and regret; Gerard decided to add to the verisimilitude by cutting his hair short and dying it a stark silver. (“I wanted to appear white and deathlike and gaunt and sick-looking,” he cheerfully told the NYT.) Liza Minnelli (“I love those guys”) drops by to portray a grieving mother; musically, the klezmer parts somehow hit harder than the heavy metal parts. Influences range from David Bowie to KISS to the Beatles; there is also, as the marching-band uniforms might suggest, a marching band. The scale of this, in every sense, is nearly overwhelming, so if you’re new to it all maybe start out by just putting the caustically hilarious goth-blues anthem “Teenagers” on repeat for six hours.

They said, “All teenagers scare the livin’ shit out of me” They could care less as long as someone’ll bleed So darken your clothes, or strike a violent pose Maybe they’ll leave you alone, but not me

Even five years ago, this record was an easy fan favorite but not necessarily an agreed-upon, era-defining masterwork. “The Black Parade, though well-reviewed at the time, hasn’t accrued the same reputation as other classic albums,” the critic Jeremy Gordon wrote in 2016 in a 10th-anniversary piece for Spin. “It was almost entirely ignored in lists of the best albums of the ’00s run by tastemakers and canon-formers like Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Stereogum, Billboard, Paste, Complex, NME, and, yes, Spin.” By this record’s 20th anniversary, however, it might be universally hailed as the pop-punk Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band: In 2020, when Rolling Stone unveiled its updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, there was The Black Parade at no. 361, not quite as good as Funkadelic’s One Nation Under a Groove, but just a little better than Luther Vandross’s Never Too Much.

You could argue that rock critics ruin everything. You could regard The Black Parade’s steady ascent on lists like this as proof that something essential—a life-affirming secret shared only between MCR and their Day One fans—is being lost. As a Late Pass–holder myself, out of respect/trepidation, I have decided not to argue that the band’s fourth and last album, 2010’s Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, is actually their best album, even though I love it profoundly for both the reliable audacity of its concept (now MCR are Mad Max–esque rebels battling an evil corporation in postapocalyptic California, with the Gerard-penned comic book to prove it) and the chaotic scope of the songs themselves. Get acclimated by putting the song “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)” on repeat this time.

Danger Days probably includes one too many songs that blatantly reach for Coldplay-style arena-rock uplifting grandeur, but what I will say is that this record’s final attempt at volcanic sentimentality, “The Kids From Yesterday,” totally works, and the album ends with an extra-caustic and extra-hilarious trashing punk tirade called “Vampire Money,” in which Gerard politely declines to contribute a song to the soundtrack of a Twilight movie.

(Come on!) When you wanna be a movie star (Come on!) Play the game and take the band real far (Come on!) Play it right and drive a Volvo car Pick a fight at an airport bar The kids don’t care if you’re alright, honey Pills don’t help, but it sure is funny Give me give me some of that vampire money, come on!

“Originally, what we did was take goth and put it with punk and turn it into something dangerous and sexy,” Gerard explained to the NME. “Back then nobody in the normal punk world was wearing black clothes and eyeliner. We did it because we had one mission: to polarize, to irritate, to contaminate. But then that image gets romanticized and then it gets commoditized.”

This is all delightfully but decidedly rude: There’s an excellent argument that the Twilight universe is every bit as vital and inclusive and life-affirming as any of the rock bands it attempted to romanticize and/or commoditize. But I will laugh at the line Pick a fight at an airport bar forever.

As for MCR’s breakup, and the failsafe doomsday device that triggered it, within a few years Gerard was opening up about it: In 2014 he told the NME that he’d relapsed into alcoholism after Danger Days, and worried that his daughter would grow up without a father; the choice, he concluded, was “Break the band or break me.”

The band first reunited for a single show in 2019 in Los Angeles: “That was definitely the most fun I’ve ever had playing on stage with My Chemical Romance, for sure,” Gerard told the NME, adding that “to me, the new version of My Chemical Romance and the way I want to go about it is exercising less control.” (The NME loves this guy.) The band’s festival-headliner status now is in part a reflection of pop-punk’s bizarrely ascending reputation in the past five years as both a commercial and critical proposition, from Olivia Rodrigo to Machine Gun Kelly to Juice WRLD. But however many sonic and stylistic precedents there might be, there has never been a rock band quite this courageous, spiteful, beautiful, desperate, glamorous, hopeful.

I believe Gerard when he says that this band’s original mission was “to polarize, to irritate, to contaminate,” but that was never their only mission. MCR was born in an apocalypse, and designed to help us all survive it. Us meaning actual teenagers, not critics, but we caught on eventually. We are all bandwagoners on the Black Parade now. Meanwhile, the apocalypse is closer than ever, but at least we can all huddle together in the glow. 

[witchberries]

i have Megan Zane's "Sekhmet's Servant" devotional book!

Sekhmet's Servant: Kemetic Daily Devotional. The author, Megan, is a friend of mine whose art I love. I knew her even before I decided to leave behind my Christianity. It arrived earlier today; I ordered it from Amazon yesterday. It...has a lot of typos, lol, but then again, it was self-published via Lulu, so I can't be too critical. It took Megan 2 years to finish! All the images in it are pretty gorgeous. I told her I'd do the writing prompts throughout the book on both this side-blog and on my Wordpress blog.

So here is the first prompt!

What has drawn you to the Egyptian gods?

I've always liked the goddess Bast. Initially it was pretty shallow -- She is a deity closely associated with domestic cats, and I was always strongly the designated cat-child in elementary school. I don't quite remember when or where I first heard of Her. It just somehow feels like I've always vaguely known about Her? As I was in the transition of abandoning Christianity in favor of paganism, I was highly intrigued by Her, and it prompted a friend of mine from the TDF community, named Lore to ask me if I would like to join the House of Netjer AKA Kemetic Orthodoxy beginner's class. I was supposed to attend it with them during early 2023, but Lore had some mental distress to deal with around then, so I ended up doing the class by myself. I told everyone in KO that Bast had also led me there because well, I think in some sense, She had, to be honest. (KO's former Nisut, Tamara Siuda, had received an ironclad promise from Bast and Anubis that They'd personally guide people to her organized religion, and I believe that's what Bast did with me.) I might've sent a resignation letter to HoN/KO not too long ago, but it was definitely my stepping stone, and I am not entirely bitter about the experience. I learned a lot there, but it ultimately wasn't where I belonged.

Anubis, Anpu, Yinepu, whatever you wanna call Him, is another one I sort of have the sense I've always known about? It's so odd. I guess it's just that He and Bast are pretty popular in the modern day throughout media? Bast has quickly become a "comfort deity" of mine, the one I, by default, turn to when I don't know Who else I should. On a more general level, though, I am currently drawn to Kemeticism due to how much sense it makes to me, so much more than the Jesus fandom (yes, I'm calling it that) ever did. It blends well with science, and even with evolution, just ALL the things that always niggled in my mind as being more sensible than Christianity's harmful and literal creationism. I have always needed religion; you get me? I have that sort of mind. I tried identifying as an atheist to mimic my father for a time growing up; it always felt hollow and pointless. There is a supernatural/paranormal spark in my life that I cannot deny, especially after specific experiences I had as a teen and, most significantly, the painful demonic haunting I went through at age 22 in 2018.

[data-is-my-favorite-android]

You know, having finally watched Dollhouse, I can’t help but notice some similarities between BtVS’s Spike and Dollhouse’s Alpha:

They’re both pretty unrepentant murderers (Spike because he’s a vampire, Alpha because he’s like 50 people and all of them have been fucked up by what they’ve been through)

They’re both hopeless romantics albeit in a totally twisted way and would do anything--and I mean ANYTHING--for the one they love including truly heinous acts

They both love super-strong women and literally worship the ground they walk on

though they also both oscillate wildly between proclaiming their love (usually in wildly inappropriate ways) and wanting the object of their obsession dead (but not really, because god fucking damn it they love them and they’re both suckers for love it’s like literally their reason for existing)

Since everyone’s superhuman here, they have no problem throwing down with their prospective honey if that’s how it’s gonna be

They both know instantly that something is genuinely special about The Girl

They both develop an obsession with the main character (Buffy/Echo) as soon as they clap eyes on them. Is it creepy? Kinda. But they get better, so... *shrug?* look, this is fiction, it’s not real, we can have this here okay

They both begin as Big Bads but canonically end up as Good Guys (even though we sadly didn’t really get to see the evolution from A to B in Alpha’s case)

They’re both really insightful and actually have some pretty valid points, however difficult or uncomfortable those points may be. But they’ve also got some pretty skewed logic mucking up the works, too

They both get an idea in their head and won’t stop until they’ve achieved their goal

They both show the ability to evolve. Like, they both realize at some point that they’re missing something critically important for them to be with the object of their affection and try various ways to fill that gap. Unfortunately, they both get it wrong a few times before getting it right (again, Alpha was on this road, but the show got cancelled before we got to see the whole transformation. We really only got to see the beginning and end :( which sucks, but we know it happens somewhere in the vaguery between S2 and the Epitaphs timeline)

There are so many opportunities for the main characters of both shows to just kill the Big Bad Evil son of a bitch and end things then and there, but they just... don’t? and then Spike/Alpha just get up and walk away lol

Some of the developing themes around their characters revolve around similar questions of identity and nature vs. nurture: how much does your original self remain when you become a demon/Doll? Which is stronger, your original self or what you were made to be? Are you shackled to your “nature” or can you change to become someone better? Someone you want to be? How can you do that when you’ve done so much wrong (and you’re low-key kinda not sorry about a lot of it)?

They both can switch between being comedy gold and genuinely menacing on a dime

And **MORE SIGNIFICANT SPOILERS AHEAD**

honestly? I think they both ultimately end up in love with the reality of The Girl than the idealized version of her. At first Spike is attracted to Buffy as The Slayer. As he evolves and they grow closer, he tries to convince Buffy to become a creature of darkness like him because he thinks that’s the only way they can be together. But he does love the human parts of her, and in the end accepts the complexity of who she is and loves all of her without reservation or expectation. Angel, on the other hand, loved the idea of Buffy more than the reality of her and never really moved past that. He insisted he knew who she was and what was best for her. By the same token, Alpha believes Echo will love him the moment he frees her by recreating his Composite Event. He tries to convince her that they are the same kind of new being, that they are gods/ubermensch, but she rejects his worldview and him. That doesn’t stop Alpha from trying to understand why she did that and attempt to bridge the gap between himself and her. He initially rejects Caroline and "loves" Echo (the Doll and all her many personalities). He’s frustrated by her rejection, but seeks to understand it. After he imprints himself with Paul Ballard’s personality, I think he would have gone on to a) actually understand love beyond obsession, and b) love Caroline AND Echo. Additionally, like Spike when he got his soul, I think he would also have better understood his own deficits and felt more remorse for his past sins. He would have vacillated between doubling down and seeking atonement, at turns hindering and aiding the main characters before eventually committing to a heel-face turn. He was on the same road to reformation and redemption as Spike was and likely would have loved Echo completely without asking for anything in return (as seems to be implied by their interactions in Epitaphs II). Paul, on the other hand, is attracted to Echo but in love with the idea of Caroline (without having ever actually met her until much later, and that didn't really work out too hot for him because, like he did with Echo, she holds him at arms length emotionally). Despite realizing that Echo is becoming a person in her own right with her own desires and feelings, he shuts Echo down every time she tries to get closer to him, presumably because he feels like any relationship beyond a professional or platonic one would be a violation of Caroline’s being. Basically, he sees Echo as only and forever a vessel, an empty shell to someday be filled back up by Caroline--and when that day comes he is hoping that she will love him back when he “rescues” her (and, unlike Alpha, seems more stubborn about sticking to his guns and waiting for the “real” girl to come back instead of realizing shit’s a lot more complicated than that now). 

Idk, I'm just saying from what I see there's a lot of common ground here. Don't get me wrong, there are some significant differences between Spike and Alpha, too (as well as Buffy and Echo's respective situations), but I found some of the parallels intriguing. A lot of this is conjecture for Dollhouse/Alpha because the show got canceled before they could really explore Alpha's character arc. And look, I know this is personal taste, but just like with Spike vs. Angel, Alpha was way more intriguing than Paul imo.

(also, like, there are THREE gifs of Alpha that I can find. THREE. How? Is? This? POSSIBLE??? How am I supposed to work in these conditions?!?)

Anybody else see any other parallels between Spike and Alpha? Or maybe between Buffy and Echo/Caroline? and are any of my fellow spuffy shippers also on this ship? if anyone out there loves spike but hasn't seen dollhouse, I'd recommend it, also please talk to me, I need people to talk to about my new hyperfixation/problematic blorbo...

[hyperfashionist]

A Spoiltastic Journey

through the Entire Space: 1999 Canon

up to “Odysseus Wept”

Story 1: Eternity Unleashed

Return to Series Preface

Forth to Eternity Unleashed, Chapter 1

Skip to Story 2: The Touch of Venus

WHAT?

"Eternity Unleashed" is the first story in the Powysverse canon of Space: 1999, which unifies and continues the timeline of the 1970s TV series, novels, and novelizations. 

It is the first part of William Latham's original novel, "Eternity Unbound". It is the backstory to the filmed episode "End of Eternity", which I won't link because I'm keeping call forwards to a minimum as I work through the storyline.

According to the author, it's "a brand new novella at the beginning that tells you all about Balor’s rise and fall on Progron".

"He saw a future without pain, without suffering, without end.

​"He unlocked the mysteries of life and death, and united a world, launching a new age.

"Only to find that death was sacred. That life without death led to damnation.

"And salvation would be found in pain and suffering.

​"From the depths of madness, he will change a world, forging a new path leading ultimately to exile in the far reaches of space.

​"Where he will face eternity...alone."

All this is fully consistent with the cheerful tone of Space: 1999 Y1, so we're starting as we mean to go on.

WHEN?

Chronologically, "Eternity Unleashed" takes place "centuries before 'End of Eternity'."

Sequentially, "Eternity Unleashed" is the first story in the Powysverse and the backstory to "End of Eternity" 23 stories later.

"Eternity Unleashed" is the first part of the book "Eternity Unbound", published in February 2005, the joint-third Space: 1999 book published by Powys Media.

WHO?

The novel is written by William Latham. 

Its central character is a guy by the name of Balor, who we'll meet in person when his episode comes up for discussion.

According to Powys: "ETERNITY UNLEASHED chronicles his ascent from outsider to honored scientist, from ruthless despot to imprisoned exile." 

According to the author "There’s a little bit of Napoleon in Balor’s story, I suppose.  A little bit of Hitler."

WHERE?

Balor hails from the planet Progron. Hi to all my Progron readers out there. Represent!

Powys Media are in the USA. I don't know if there are any copyright libraries in the USA that might have it. I searched the Library of Congress and didn't find it there.

As for public libraries, I swear I did a search that turned up one (1) copy in one library somewhere in Florida. However, I can't find it in my history. It's very unlikely that many public libraries will have copies. I assume it turned up in Florida because of proximity to the Space Coast.

The only way to buy the book is on the second-hand market because it is permanently out of print. It is extremely rare because Powys used a print-on-demand service and did not publish ebooks.

WHY?

According to the author: "He’s a fun character to play with, first of all. […] I convinced Mateo [Latosa, head of Powys Media] that it made sense to at least try looking into Balor’s past a little, and those flashbacks were just way more intense than I think we’d been expecting them to be.  There was more of a story there than just the little glimpses we got in 'Resurrection'. Back-story, I mean." 

Also according to the author: "[Mateo Latosa] was interested in seeing the novella from me because I’d never really written any science fiction about a whole new culture or anything like that, and he was curious to see what I might do with it."

And: "I think by the end of The Balor Saga, we’ll know why Balor acts the way he acts, or at least we’ll see the evolution of his particular brand of evil."

HOW?

The author says: "The first story has elements of 'Frankenstein' in it, I suppose, but not really as many as you’d think. There’s something of a love story in there, believe it or not."

About the process, the author says: "Stepping back, I had to take Balor in 'End of Eternity', subtract the influence of a thousand years of isolation from him, and then figure out who he was.  So he needed flavors of who he is in the later stories, but he obviously couldn’t be the same guy.  Then, I needed to map out a beginning, a middle, and an end for the novella, that basically shows Balor coming to power and then losing it so he can be exiled."

The Story So Far

"Eternity Unleashed", book section from original novel "Eternity Unbound", 2005 (Y1)

Spoiler-Filled Analysis

The Bad News

I haven't really got any spoilers, because I don't have the book UPDATE: I got it! Read the chapter-by-chapter commentary, starting here.

The only information I have about the book is what's on the open web. Most of the reviews I could find online give little or nothing away.

Amazon UK has no reviews, but I did find some in other countries, where it is rated 5 out of 5 stars and accompanied by three reviews that praise it highly.

According to this review: "First, a brand new account of Balor of how Balor became who he became - from his childhood on Progron, through adulthood and his progression into a psychopath. And all possibly sparked by being spurned in love…..!"

BUFFY: Every maladjust has a reason.

I generally assume that the Powys books are for an audience of existing Space: 1999 fans who are very familiar with the material. However, this review says "Eternity Unbound" is a standalone novel that can be enjoyed by anyone.

Up Next: The Touch of Venus (story of past events)

I hope to do one post a day, but that isn't always going to be possible.

Hopefully tomorrow, though, we'll move on to the next "story of past events", the portion (pp. 2-42) of John Kenneth Muir's original short story "The Touch of Venus" that takes place before Breakaway was even thought of.

UPDATE: or go to my commentary on Chapter 1 of Eternity Unleashed!

Return to Series Preface

Forth to Eternity Unleashed, Chapter 1

Skip to Story 2: The Touch of Venus

[stillness-in-green]

Why are fans mad about second war asspulls when we’ve got deku’s extra quirks and lady nagant surviving a face explosion as prime examples in the final act. Heck just looking at the todoroki family: shouto perfecting his ultimate move in 1 month, endeavor’s never before seen eye beams, and now dabi copying a quirk in a handful of seconds. At this point let’s just enjoy the ride.

That is an admirably, even enviably mature view, anon, and I suppose we would all be more content that way.  However, I’m afraid that, at least where this series is concerned, it’s just not how I tick.  But as to why, at least some of it is tonal, I think, and rooted in a conflict between how the series operated up to the tail end of the first war and how it’s operating now.

I could try to go into all that, but actually, some while back, a friend pointed me in the direction of a YouTube video that really broke it down perfectly.  I’d recommend this to pretty much any BNHA fan, but especially those who want some bittersweet validation or those who don’t understand what the big deal is.

I don’t agree with every single detail of this,(1) but my quibbles are extremely minute compared to the number of times I was ready to literally raise a glass to the points he makes.  I particularly like the parts where he talks about how a narrative needs more than bare functionality to make it work—that just because you can construct a solid enough thematic spine on AFO’s refusal to cede the narrative to the next generation, that doesn’t make said theme less of a disappointment compared to the much more interesting theme we could have had with a more interesting and challenging lead villain.

I would add also that, strictly speaking, the complaining isn’t new-new.  There were 100% people complaining about the SIX QUIRKS!!1 reveal—I was just a reader at the time, not active in the fandom, but I certainly didn’t much care for it, and I saw plenty of other commentary around with the same view.  Back then, though, people could and did still tell themselves, “No, it’s cool, see, because think about how much Deku struggled to get a handle on just the base power of OFA!  Now he’ll have to do that six more times!  It gives him more power but also gives him more work to do!  It’s cool!”

And that looked like it might prove true when it was just Black Whip.(2)  Like so much else, though, it went straight down the shitter towards the end of the war when Float and Danger Sense kicking in proved no detriment. It got even worse during the Edgy Deku arc, when Deku proved to have a better handle on what Smoke Screen and Fa Jin could do than their own original bearers despite assurances from the narrative that he was totes struggling, we swear.

Or how about the whole matter of quirk evolution introduced during MVA?  You’d better believe people complained about that, even as other people said, “No, it’s fine; this is just the power-scaling kicking in; shounen manga always does stuff like this.”

BNHA has always had some things you could call asspulls.  I think the reason people are complaining so much now is that, previously, people could tell themselves that asspulls were just newly introduced elements that would be used to further the drama.  There’d be fallout; there’d be time to decompress.  Because there was before!  See again the six quirks stuff, where it really did take Deku a full (if short) arc and then some timeskip afterward to master Black Whip.  But since the end of the war, the pacing has been so fast that we’ve entirely lost that kind of breathing room, and the asspulls have only been getting worse: more frequent, less foreshadowed, and with ever less time before the end to even pretend there might be reasonable space to decompress or deal with fallout.

Thanks for the ask, anon!  I hope you continue to enjoy the ride, because WOW, that Edgeshot nonsense was like getting thrown off a mechanical bull.

---

1:  For example, I can make just as good an argument for Ochaco being involved in the Stain fight as this guy does for Shouto, so I don’t think, “It could only ever have been Shouto and Iida, no one else,” holds.

2:  Though for what it’s worth, even mastering Black Whip mostly got handled off-screen, during all that time with Endeavor that the readers didn’t see because the offscreen villain fights weren’t advancing the plot.  But at least the story had the decency to give us a timeskip and highlight the fact that Deku had been focusing his training on parallel processing the whole time.  

I actually don’t have any real problem with Shouto mastering his Phosphor move in a month for the same reason: we had hints that he was working on it and we know he had time to be training it in.  I don’t expect as much attention for a side character’s training as I do the protagonists.  Anyway, just because he calls it his ultimate move doesn’t mean it’s actually the ultimate, final expression of his experience and training; “ultimate moves” are just what heroes call their flashy named signature tricks.  Endeavor has like sixteen of them.

[professor-doc-emeritus]

I was recently reminded of an odd fact of religious life: atheists have a theology too. What I mean is that they have a particular interpretation of Christianity, or Judaism, or Islam, or Hinduism, or Buddhism, or any other religion that, be it shallow or deep, they think of as 'correct.' It tends to be that particular interpretation of their targeted religion of choice they address when arguing against it. On a small scale example, I remember in high school, around when i first converted, an atheist friend of mine said I wasn't a "real christian" when I said I still believed in evolution. It seemed odd to me that someone who dismissed my religion entirely would give a damn about the nuances of my particular understanding of biblical interpretation.

That memory bubbled up to the surface of my mind a few weeks ago, when I found an old blogger who was an atheist biblical scholar (a much more common combo than the layman might realize). He would spend his time arguing over which texts and translations were most historically accurate, and how those verses were interpreted at different points throughout history. He would always stop just short of outright stating what particular interpretation he thought was correct, but there was definitely an overarching theme of painting christian texts as being generally bigoted, contradictory, morally degenerate, and anti-scientific. Whenever there was an opportunity to interpret a text in an even vaguely negative light, that was the interpretation he went to bat for.

I was so confused as to why an ostensible atheist would even care so much about the micro nuances of these texts, much less why he would approach them from the perspective of a westboro baptist church member. It wasn't like he was just skimming wikipedia to win a reddit argument. These were very well written blog posts, he couldn't have made them without a lifetimes worth of research and passion for the subject. Why work so hard for an analytical framework that is utterly anathema to your personal beliefs?

Eventually I realized that he must reject Christianity less on scientific grounds and more on moral grounds. So any christian whos morality system strayed too close to his was ultimately a challenge to his atheism. He was so dependent on both his atheism and his disdain for practicing Christians for his identity that he would spend his days researching a book he didn't care about, arguing for a framework to a belief system he hated. All so he could dismiss any Christian whos morality he would find palatable as a fake Christian, in a bizzare inverse no true scotsman fallacy.

What I want you, dear reader, to take away from this post is a question: what group are you clinging onto the worst possible version of? it's easy to do a version of what this guy did for Christianity to a political movement, or a nation, or a race, or even just a clique in your community. It's easy to find evidence of people being awful when that's all you'll allow yourself to see. In fact, if you were paying attention, i ended up doing exactly that to the very writer this post is about! I took a handful of bad examples, ignored or dismissed any evidence of him just being a normal atheist with a hobby, and painted an image in my head of an obsessed sisyphus, doomed to eternal torment fighting for a belief system he hated.

Christ calls us to judge others how we wish to be judged. In the hopes that you all won't judge me too harshly, i ask you not judge the anonymous subject of this post too harshly either. All I ask is that we all try to look inward and let go of our stereotypes of one another. it's a lot easier to see without the log in your eye, and you're the only one that can take it out

[frostysfrenzy]

One Of The Hardest Things I’ve Ever Been Through

AKA Sam and Daniel, Season 7

They find Daniel lost, alone, no memory of who he is or who they are. Sam’s the first to approach, and you can see how much it hurts her to have him back away from her touch. Then he’s off again, sadly turning away from these strangers. Jack has limited success in getting through to him, leaving the next attempt to Sam, and oh boy, she gets through.

“(You’re) one of the most caring, passionate… You’re the type of person that would give his own life to save someone he doesn’t even know.” It’s essentially a continuation of her speech at his deathbed, just revised. And still completely from the heart. 

“Let us show you who you are instead of just telling you.” 

He promised to think about it, but the way she was talking, he himself almost had a hard time believing there was never anything between them. But he trusted her, ultimately deciding to go home, see who he really was, as much as it kind of scared him. 

His memory slowly returns, and they’re back, just like old times. They have that sam playful nature, the same always have each other’s back dynamic. 

She’s the first to catch his distant nature in Orpheus, bringing him back to reality and helping him try to fully recover the memory haunting him. (This all right after she was bickering about the lack of reality in sci fi movies, normal nerdy things). Suddenly they’re teaming up to take over the ship, saving everyone on the planet. 

She’s requested to help with the space race, and he’s having fun with her being so giddy. He knows it's worth it, but he’s still concerned about the actual mission here, but hey, what’s a girl to do if the race turns out to be a little fun. Nobody is gonna keep her from having some fun, least of all Daniel. Then of course he’s got that same light at the end of the ep, asking what she’s gonna do, knowing she’s sore she lost. 

Then he goes missing again in evolution, and while the search for him doesn’t fall into her court, it doesn’t stop her from immediately checking his status when she returns to SGC. 

Then she’s missing in Grace, and he’s the one making a list of planets she could be on, convincing Jack it’s their best shot. Meanwhile, she’s having hallucinations, but it’s the one of Daniel that leads places initially. After she finishes bickering with him (We love to see silly little scenes), he’s clear in the fact that he’s not real, and she resigns to the fact that she could use the help. He, just as Daniel typically would, wants her to check it out, it’s important, trust him, and that in any other situation she’d be excited to be where she was in that moment. And he’s not wrong. He knows her well and her subconscious clearly knew that. He later suggests the cloud is sentient, which eventually leads her to the answer she needed, saving her. 

Back to the bond Daniel has with her father, we see him visit Jacob in the infirmary, making small talk but Jacob sees right through it, his main concern also being Sam. That being said, his little joke about Jacob healing in like a day, love to see it. 

Sam briefly thinks Daniel is messing with her when he’s yawning away to her sciencey speech until she realizes he’s not at 100%, then she instantly jumps to concern. She suggests he talk to someone (About his dreams and other issues) And she does what she can to comfort and help him (little backstroke my beloved). She wants to take care of him but more importantly for him to take care of himself. (Who needs Pete? She's got this lovely right here. And other lovelies for that matter. I digress). 

He’s back they’re back defending each other, defending the galaxy, sticking up for each other’s opinions of how certain things should be handled. Nothing’s changed, really, except that they’re closer than ever.

[mbti-notes]

Anon wrote: I wanted to ask about a nagging concern that I've been dealing with. I am an INFJ; I don't know what type my mother is. Lately she's been making a few offhanded comments about what she'd say about me to my (hypothetical) children. I've already told her that I don't want to get married and I don't want to have children. We've had multiple discussions about this, and I've explained my reasons and evolution in thought on this matter…

I used to think I wanted children, but after reflecting on my parental experiences with my father, who's a person who never should have had a child, but did anyway much like many adults (thankfully, I have no siblings; my mother's at least showed love and a willingness to grow), my own personality and life goals, and the factors necessary to raise a child well, I've decided that it's not for me, though I love kids… I've also realized that I don't desire sex or marriage, and that I really want to spend time building community in other ways (I already plan to be actively involved in civic life, both as a part of my career and for fun).

I've explained this to my mother, who I share a close relationship with, and she alternates between being grudgingly accepting, saying I "can't decide when or if it's going to happen" (she believes in fate) and saying that I "need a companion" after she dies (I have also told her that having a spouse and children is no guarantee of having companionship, as seen by the relationship between my father and I). She's said that I can get married when I find someone I like, & not to say that I wouldn't get married like she did (saying that she said that, & then she got married to my father, who was awful to her, rather than thinking about who she would want).

I have experience dating (though she doesn't know that, and I don't think I want to tell her yet) & now I know I don't want to be "in a relationship" because I know myself better, which she's struggled to do her whole life, and she's always admired the fact that I know what I want. I think she always says what's on her mind, not thinking about what we discussed before.

Knowing this, whenever she says these things, I am inclined to ignore her, because I feel like she's not intentionally trying to steamroll my perspective. I am not sure whether I should be calling her out in the moment when she says these things, because sometimes I feel like it sets a bad precedent that I'm agreeing with her, through silence (even if I know what we've spoken about, I can't help but worry she's forgotten what I think).

I'm 24, I know that as an adult, I have control over what I want to do. I may have also scared myself by reading about how other women have been forced or pressured into marriage, & although my mother has told me that this won't happen to me, it's still one of my possibly irrational fears, given that I've already witnessed violence in my home once, & I don't want to be on the other end. I'm trying to do well in school and learn how to drive so I can acquire more independence.

I guess my ultimate question to you is how to deal with this anxiety in a healthy way when my mother says these offhanded hypothetical comments that trigger those anxieties. Should I respond to it, or just ignore it?

***********************

Although you've legally been an adult for quite some time, it seems you still haven't achieved true independence of mind. You still struggle with the teenage mentality of "child vs parent". You seem to think the only two options in life are to either stick with your own viewpoint or lose yourself to someone else's.

What does it mean to be "independent"? In the teenage mind, it means one should have the freedom to be oneself. However, what most teenagers don't realize is that they don't know themselves very well at all. When you don't really know who you are, having "the freedom to be yourself" is often translated as an invitation to be egotistical and self-serving. Blithely ignoring the input of others is one common form of egotism. Teenagers define independence very narrowly as "freedom from the control of others" because all they really want is to have the control, to usurp the power of the adults.

You have to stand firmly in truth in order to assert yourself confidently. When you're not being truthful, deep down, you know you don't have a leg to stand on, and then you are easily threatened and knocked down by anything. To reach important truths, you have to approach learning with humility and impartiality:

be open to hearing all of the relevant information

give fair consideration to every different viewpoint

see beyond attempts to influence and focus solely on the content

construct well-reasoned arguments and draw logical conclusions

make well-informed and rational decisions

Teenagers often have trouble seeing the bigger picture, so they don't realize that impartiality is necessary for making truly independent decisions. In your debates with your mom, you display arrogance rather than humility. You sometimes pretend at impartiality but you're not truly capable of it - a common sign of Ti loop. As soon as her viewpoint differs from yours, you treat it as an attack and immediately launch a counteroffensive. Most significantly, your viewpoint is very much shaped by your past traumas surrounding her decisions, which renders you unable to approach your own decisions objectively.

I have spoken at length before about the boundary problems between parent and child, I suggest you read through those posts. You claim to have a close relationship with her but the "closeness" you describe seems of the unhealthy variety. You don't tell her the things that matter (e.g. your dating experience) and then turn around and expect her to understand you. You don't recognize her right to her own views and opinions, otherwise you wouldn't feel so easily threatened by them. You don't respect her feedback because you desperately want to believe that you really know yourself.

You're not asking the right question. IMO, a better question to ask is: Why do you feel the need to make such hard and firm decisions about your life, to define who you are so narrowly? Do you really think that, at 24, you know everything you need to know about yourself? Do you believe that your view of yourself will never change or evolve with more experience? And even if your view doesn't end up changing, what good reason is there to completely close yourself off to any possibility of change?

A viewpoint is, by definition, just one way of seeing things. A "viewpoint" is not the same thing as an unassailable "fact" - you seem to confuse the two, which is one of the most common critical reasoning errors. The more you shove yourself into a fixed and narrow viewpoint, the more threatened you will feel by any challenge to that viewpoint. You seem to believe that your mom is the cause of your anxiety, but the anxiety is actually a byproduct of your own obstinance.

[reds-burrow]

Good evening! I was hoping to hear your thoughts on something, if thats alright? I am working on figuring out my secondary at the moment and need a person to bounce off of. So... here goes. I invest in the people around me. But i am very aware that i am doing so. It is very consciously done. I understand the benefits that come with being a good, nice person and so i do it. I'll bring you food i make from scratch. I'll help you when you're in a tight spot. I'll be the shoulder you can cry on. I really do enjoy helping others but there is usually an underlying reason why i invest in those around me besides me simply being a nice person. Now, most all people like me. But the couple that don't, really REALLY don't. I always ask them why they don't out of sheer curiosity. I wonder what i did wrong. What could i possibly have done to make you disdain me? Each of them said to me basically, "I can see through you. I know who you really are." That scared the shit out of me. Instantly, my defenses went up. It was like i barricaded myself from them, even though i had no real reason to do so. I cut contact with them. Then, later on i start questioning myself and my actions. I get filled with self doubt. Am i the good person i thought i was? I brought my neighbors homemade cookies, but did i REALLY care about them at the time? I lend a helping hand whenever i can, but do these people actually mean anything to me? Or did i just do it because i am some sort of narcissistic psychopath? Am i only nice as a means to an end? I freak right out. I suddenly dont know who i am. I dont understand myself. It really screws with my brain because, you know, being a really nice psychopath seems a bit oxymoronic. Is this indicative of any specific secondary? Or am i just crazy? I dont know my primary either, btw. I think ive narrowed it down to bird or badger but im not sure yet. Thank you for your time!

Okay, first and foremost: you were doing good. And in my book, in this random stranger on the internet's book, consistently doing good is all that matters. I'm not as interested in what you think in your head as I am in your actions. If you bring me a cookie because you think it makes you look kind, I will happily take the cookie and think you're kind because that was a kind action. And maybe this is an overly simplistic, overly pragmatic point of view, but this world is way too complicated to judge people on anything but their consistent actions. Many people have "bad" thoughts; it's what we do and the words we choose to share that shape who we are out here in reality. In your personal, internal reality? Whether or not that internal you is good is up to you and you alone. But I believe that simply recognizing that doing good things affords you benefits (people may reciprocate, people give you positive attention, you feel the ease of a clear conscious, etc.) doesn't automatically invalidate your efforts or disqualify you as a good person. None of what you wrote sounds crazy. In fact, it sounds incredibly human. Evolution has wired us to be community-minded creatures, meaning we feel good when we help others. There's nothing wrong with enjoying it. And seeing you worry about being a good person tells me that you most likely are.

Okay, I better quit the philosophy talk while I'm still making a modicum of sense. Onto your sorting.

The entire question of whether you can be a good person because you are consciously choosing to act like one is dancing the line between being a Secondary or a Primary discussion. You said you might be a Bird Primary, and I'd definitely lean that way since you've heavily implied that you consciously choose what is "good" as well. But ultimately that was just the implication. I suggest you examine how you came to the conclusion that investing in people is "good" as a starting place for determining your Primary. If any part of it is a subconscious instinct to help people, I'd say there's a good chance you're a Badger instead.

As far as your Secondary, feeling like you have a part of yourself that you don't usually show others, this second motive idea, all sounds like a Bird or Snake. The way you describe barricading yourself from others when you were scared also sounds like the social armor Circumventing Secondaries use. And then you keep using the word "invest" which is one of those key Built Secondary words. I'm not about to suggest cooking from scratch is a Built Secondary hobby only (anyone can enjoy that), but it does sound like you're using food as one of the tools in your repertoire to put people at ease. So, I suspect you're a Bird Secondary. You don't give any information on how you solve problems with no social element, however, so I suggest also examining how you solve these Single-Player problems to confirm or refute my impression. For instance, you can look at how you cook, especially when tackling a new recipe. Or if you discover you are missing an ingredient while cooking, how do you handle it? Or can you not relate to that at all because you always keep your pantry full and prepared? While all you've given me here reads like a Bird, I still see a possibility of you being a Snake Secondary, so you should try to examine how often, if at all, you find yourself trusting and acting on your gut reaction alone. Snakes will be comfortable with this, but Birds won't be.

[neorukixart]

Thank you for the answer to my questions. I do throughly enjoy your art.

My other odd thought, more based on in universe stuff, would bio-merging be possible at lower evolution level is it automatically a Ultimate/Mega level thing? I just have an odd mental image of a 28 year old very buff Ruki-Renamon in her usual outfit wondering how she’ll do her motorcross race coming up.

Thank you for your support!! ;w;

About the Matrix Evolution, not sure if you are referring if a Child level can evolve into Adult/Perfect via Matrix Evolution with their partner or if the evolution only happens with Child level which is partially true.

Regular Matrix Evolution via Blue Card allows the Adult to evolve into Perfect while Matrix Evolution via "fusion" with the Tamer can be performed as a Warp Evolution since in most of the scenes from Tamers, the Digimon is always a Child who evolves into an Ultimate but also, I recall the episode where Alice and Dobermon grants the Tamers the Holy Beasts powers to evolve freely in the Real World; there the Digis are all in Perfect level while there ends the episode, the next one begins with the same scene of the Tamers calling for their partners and then their inner monologues happen and they evolve. Obviously (for production issues) the evolution scene includes the Child Warp Evolving but the thing is that, we never saw them devolve into Child and even when they were fighting (and most likely tired) for a fact, we've seen how is always hard for the Tamers Digimons to immediately devolve so, I believe that this evolution was performed as a Perfect Matrix Evolving into an Ultimate which yes, at the end the Matrix Evolution will lead to the Ultimate level, even considering that the Adult Matrix Evolved into a Perfect, at the end that same Perfect Matrix Evolves into Ultimate... don't know if I'm making myself clear OTL

So, I consider that trying to perform a Matrix Evolution of a Child to evolve into an Adult is not very convenient and basically (my thoughts) impossible or unstable: every Digimon is able to contain an amount of data (and maybe a little bit of free space) which are shaped as their current appearance/level so, considering that in this Matrix Evolution they must contain not just their own "evolved" data but also the data of the human in question must be quite difficult for a mere Adult or Perfect, even less for a Child, like when you want to download more videos but your computer/phone does not longer have storage and it will simply won't allow you to continue the download. But, being an Ultimate, who obviously can hold more amount of data is easier to adapt/combine their data with the human. That's almost technically speaking what I think happens.

Now, in Digimon is a very important concept for the evolution to happen when the human emotions are intense enough to affect the Digimon and as they get to new levels, their bonds will increase as well so, why are they able to evolve into Ultimate? Literally it's their "ultimate" bond so of course they will get the strongest powers when their bond is stronger and in Tamers is no exception, the proof of their bond is being able to evolve together to achieve the Ultimate level.

And about Ruki... the thing is that even after all this years, I have yet to know how Freestyle Motocross works but I'm pretty sure that those are not races but the acrobatics with the bike. My first contact with motocross was Sailor Moon with Tenou Haruka and that was just a race.

I can picture her doing image training tho (because I have no idea how people trains for this xD) and some warm-ups, maybe even Renamon lending a hand on that.

The closest you can get to your Ruki and Renamon "fusion" is Sakuyamon trying to ride a bike but I believe that would be cheating xD

The reason I think Ruki has muscles is because I believe you need to have some kind of endurance and stamina to make all those things in the air (are there movements where you carry your bike?) plus doing bouldering also needs some strength in the arms... I think... but that's just me pushing my biases on her, so far no one has told us how they look as adults so, all of the content I do for adult Ruki is just me being gay ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I explained more about Ruki on another ask :3c