#not a rational or a logical thing but something deeply tied to identity in a way that can't be cleanly separated

[despair-tea]

one thing I dislike is the sophomoric idea that society should, naturally, move towards a completely genderless model. I get where it's coming from, but it assumes an impossible level of homogeneity rather than accepting that - in the infinity of genders that DO and WILL exist - there are some which will take familiar forms and patterns and names.

Like, look, I don't live in the androgynous future ze're imaging. But if I did I would still feel alienated and out-of-place in a slightly different way from the way I felt growing up under gendered capitalism. Because I'm not genderless, and I know damn well that I'd still feel some calling to change... something about myself. Even without words like "woman" or "witch."

It's a nice dream. it might be comforting to some. But it seems like an airy fantasy to me, and not one I can see myself living in.

Obviously I agree that the barriers between genders need to be broken down. Obviously I don't think the traditional gender roles as our society sells them to us are working. But the future I see has more kinds of people and not less.

[mirrinbelde-shitposts]

I think you’re mercury is in Capricorn?

It's *you're, but indeed I have a Capricorn Mercury.

Welcome to your reading. Please remember to send feedback.

First impressions when looking at your chart: even distribution of planets; lots of aspects; a grand trine

SUN IN LIBRA

The Sun has its fall in Libra. This is, therefore, the most difficult position for the Sun, theoretically speaking. Concretely, you may find it hard to know and express yourself or you may have trouble developing healthy self-esteem. You may achieve self-discovery through socializing and relationships, particularly romantic ones. Your indecisive personality may hinder your journey of self-knowledge, so beware of this. You have a big need for harmony in life and in relationships, but your partner should balance you, so a person who can take initiative and make decisions is ideal, someone who is dynamic and has a taste for adventure. You are quite sociable and loved by everyone. Venus lends you grace, elegance, good taste and a high sense of diplomacy, fairness and justice.

SUN IN THE 11TH HOUSE

Here, the Sun is in the house of Aquarius. Libra does well here, because the two signs share some traits: humanitarianism, great importance of friendships, fondness of socialization. With the Sun placed here, I think that your group of friends is absolutely crucial to you: you can blend in well and you're very much accepted and liked by them. You can lead without being dominating, which makes people naturally bend to your desires. The Libra and Aquarius mix make me think that you would do well as an activist, a spokesperson for an NPO or a civil rights lawyer. The discovery of your identity may be acquired whilst in one of these groups or associations. You place great importance on your social life and you work together in a team. However, you should take care not to become too much like those around you.

MOON IN SCORPIO

Once again, you have a planet in Fall. Scorpio is a sign known for its intensity, whilst the Moon is a sensitive, delicate luminary. This position probably means that your emotional life is intense and dramatic. Your relationships are quite deep when it comes to the bond, but they are also complex and you may struggle to maintain them. Nothing is ever good enough, you are always unsatisified. You can mess with other people's emotions, be it on purpose or not. This may be due to your high intuitiveness and ability to discern others' thoughts and secrets. I'd say people cannot be indifferent to you. You may attract a lot of bad wishes, but some desperately want to be you or be with you. You probably take a lot of time to trust someone, but when that happens, you become a deeply loyal and caring partner, revealing you inner fragility and insecurity. However, you strong façade can probably keep most people away. Changing your nature may be quite difficult, but an unexpected loss may cause you to rethink your approach to life.

MOON IN THE 1ST HOUSE

You embody some of the Moon's traits, for example, your highly accurate intuitiveness regarding other people's feelings. Also, a bit like Cancer Moon, you may become "infected" by the feelings of those around you. With the Moon placed here, you may feel more comfortable showing your emotions, which very much contrasts with your Scorpio Moon. This is even more so because your Moon conjuncts the Ascendant. The relationship with your mother could be extremely important to you, for the good or for the bad. This placement also gives you an almost motherly quality: you can be quite good at perceiving when and how people need emotional support.

MERCURY IN SCORPIO

In this sign, Mercury behaves in a controlled, secretive way. You may be very cautious with your words, preferring to listen and to think, rather than to speak. You are graced with a natural curiosity toward the secret and the hidden things. You may enjoy delving on the concealed intentions and thoughts of others. Being a fixed sign, you may fiercely defend your opinions, as well as have a hard time seeing the world though a different lens. I think this may be a good placement for someone who works with the human mind: a physcologist or a detective. Your mind is restless, always looking for answers as to how things happen. However, you can give off reserved and secretive vibes, which may not be the most welcoming. Nevertheless, your ability to discern what other people struggle to see may be a huge advantage for you.

MERCURY IN THE 12TH HOUSE

This is the most karmic house. Mercury placed here may cause difficulty in bridging your thoughts and your feelings. Nevertheless, as I mentioned in the section about Scorpio Mercury, you enjoy mental gifts that are out of the reach of most people. Your inner world is very important to you; a refuge, even. You often delve deep into the subconscious mind, attempting to find explanations for what happens in the real world. In your case, since it makes a lot of sqares and oppositions, this need of yours may cause you to get obsessed, paranoic, even, so be careful not to let the influence of the powerful 12th house overtake your mind. This placement may lead to thoughts that, in turn, cause problems. It is your mission in this lifetime to learn from past lives and use this energy to better know yourself and the world around you.

VENUS IN VIRGO

Venus falls in the sign of Virgo (3 planets Fall in your chart, are you ok?). Here, Venus is given the tools of Mercury, which differ so very much from her own. For one, you are way too logical and analytical in your relationships. Your emotions aren't felt that much; you prefer to rationalize them, perhaps because you don't know how to deal with them in the first place. You probably prefer platonic relationships over romantic ones, because the latter require those feelings of which you have little understanding, whilst the former can rely upon solely on the mind, your speciality. You are intelligent, determined, put together and goal-oriented. Acts of service is probably the way to win you. Nevetheless, you don't fall for just anyone. You have to think a lot before entering a relationship, weighing all the pros and cons. However, when you do commit, you are are quite loyal and cute with your partner.

VENUS IN THE 9TH HOUSE

This placement is one of the indicators of having a foreign spouse or someone from a different cultural background; perhaps you will meet them abroad. This is because of your desire to connect to people in your travels. You also wish for a relationship that will broaden your horizons and will bring lots of adventures. Additionally, your relationships may affect how you see the world. You have a thirst for adventure. This is also a good position for teachers because it allows them to connect their love (Venus) to their teachings (9H).

MARS IN SAGITTARIUS

Mars in this sign makes for a highly adventurous, spontaneous, fun-loving individual. You have that reckless optimism that defines Sagittarius so well. With Mars here, you act in a blunt way and you are not afraid to take risks. This placement also aids with that search for the truth that I mentioned in the two Mercury sections. Sagittarius is also quite concerned with the higher mysteries, so Mars here goes well with your Mercury. You may also take action through your ideals; Jupiter, which rules Sagittarius, is also an idealist planet. Morals are quite important to you. Also, like the other Fire Mars, this is an auspicious placement for people who do sports competitively.

MARS IN THE 2ND HOUSE

Here, Mars is tied in with the themes of Taurus. Since Taurus is a fixed sign, I'd say that you are very good at getting what you want because you are quite determined and perseverant. You may have a strong will to acquire material things that bring you comfort and security. In that sense, you may wish to have a high-paying job that allows you to buy the things that allow you to have that comfortable lifestyle. However, you may spend your money too generously, so beware of that. You are brave and dynamic, qualities that help you to achieve what you want.

JUPITER IN TAURUS

Jupiter here emphasizes the importance that your values and desires have to you: harmony, comfort, security are of utmost importance. Like I mentioned, if you feel safe, you will appreciate all of these things in life. Jupiter also grants you a high need for love and affection, which, if provided, will be more than enough to make you happy. However, if you do not feel that security, you may become possessive, be it with people or with material things. Also, you may lead a lifestyle too focused on your earthly possessions. Lastly, you may also be anxious about the future; you want to know what’s in store for you.

JUPITER IN THE 5TH HOUSE

This placement expands your creative abilities. As a means to find yourself (Libra Sun), you may make use of the arts to express your identity. This is a lighter placement, that may give you that fun-loving, extroverted, childlike outlook on life. Once again, a placement that favours sports. It may also be a good one to have in order to better bond with children. Take care not to get too vain, because, with Jupiter in the house of Leo, you may feel compelled to be the best at everything you do, to be the star. You probably have lots of hobbies and may like to be a little risky with them; perhaps gambling or something along those lines, something challenging.

SATURN IN TAURUS

Your insecurities are tied to your possessions. This placement is not a good one in terms of managing money; you could’ve had problems in this area in a past life. Your self-esteem is too connected to what you belong, instead of what you are. You are too attached, so you also fear losing those things you love. You’re also too afraid to change, perhaps because you are not one to take risks, preferring to choose what you know. You shouldn’t think this way. Change is a natural part of life, one you must accept. Your self-growth is achieved through the connection to your heart. Learn to feel, instead of owning. Learn how to connect to people.

SATURN IN THE 6TH HOUSE

You can feel responsible for other people, especially your coworkers, even if you struggle getting along with them. There’s a need to serve, to be of use to others; you may find it hard to relax. You are quite organized, so you’d do well to make use of it. You could also be the type to help others in the way to their goals. However, you should also understand that, sometimes, you should just let go and go with the flow. Not everything in life is about hard work, routines or responsibilities. Find something that excites you; try some meditation. There may also be some health issues, perhaps you had them in your childhood. ⬛

[stoplookingupforheaven]

Another Place

rewatched the channel aid gig about a month and a half ago with some friends, and this little oneshot grew out of it. for maximum effect i recommend playing another place (reorchestrated version).

warnings: this piece contains brief sexual content. there’s nothing too explicit but if that’s not your thing, this is a heads-up.

Another Place

I am bound to you

With a tie that we cannot break

With a night that we can’t replace

He does not know the person who’s laced their fingers through his. It’s dark in the hallway, flashing red and blue and green lights filtering through the doorway. Out here, the bass is a gentle pulse, and his companion is a mere silhouette, their identity completely unattainable. Foreign lips gently press against his own, and the feeling catches him off guard, sending him stumbling back against the wall. His hands twist through locks of hair, soft and smooth, and he thinks they might be red. Or brown.

He shuts his eyes, accepting that he’s already tied to this person for the night, and he might as well go with it. After all, he is here to forget. He is here to erase the horrors of daylight, to banish them far, far away, to a place where the lights are meant to help you see and the noise is not so loud as to drown out reality.

“You wanna get out of here?” Their voice is low, and he breathes a “Yes” without a second thought, taking their hand again. The pair escape the hallway, escape the building, escape one step further towards somewhere else.

-

I'm lost but found with you

In a bed that we'll never make

It's a feeling we always chase

Someone calls an Uber. The pair does their best to keep their hands to themselves in the back, but it’s impossible to be good, not with the drinks he’s had and the joint that’s been passed around and the contact high that’s a result of being in a packed space with hundreds of people and their e-cigarettes. After a while, they give up trying to stay apart and just try to stay quiet.

He’s never been to this part of the city, he thinks vaguely as they make their way through a door and up a flight of stairs. The voice in the back of his head tells him that he needs to at least try to figure it out so he can get home, but that’s a problem for later. Oddly enough, he does not feel lost - he feels only a sense of relief. This is the last stop of the night. The road has ended. Here, he can stay for a while, wherever “here” might be.

This settled feeling isn’t one he manages to find often - he’s constantly in pursuit of it, but it slips like water through a sieve, and he swears sometimes that he’ll spend the rest of his goddamn life in pursuit of just a sliver of what having a home feels like. And no, his flat doesn’t fucking count.

-

I could write a book about the things that you said to me on the pillow

And the way you think, and how you make me feel

You can feel my mind and move my body with the fiction, fantasies

Just call this what it is, we don't pretend it's real

He listens to the gentle clink of keys in the lock, the sound winding around his skull. The door closes behind them, and he gets pushed against the wall, just as frantic as in the cab. It’s a battle to stay upright, what with the swirling haze in his brain from whatever cocktail of substances he’s consumed and the little sparks exploding every time their lips meet.

“Bed,” he manages, and his partner steers him to it in response. Clothes are quickly discarded, the world collapsing down to wandering hands and quiet sighs and smooth skin, and there’s not much rational thought after that. They move with each other, exploring this version of tonight until pleasure spins his head around, enough to pull them both over the edge, far away from the weight of the world.

It’s a trip of its own, surreal, to know that he is affecting them like this, that he’s the reason they keep swearing under their breath and shivering at every touch. It is real like the club was - a distorted, artificial kind of reality, the kind that separates his mind from his body and wonder how he got here, and how he’s going to go. Because surely the events preceding and following this moment could not exist.

-

So lie to me tonight

And pretend 'til the morning light

And imagine that you are mine

Sometime in the haunting hours between late night and early morning, they lie together, legs tangled under the sheets, the buzz of the air conditioner going in the background, endorphins still racing through his body. He lays his head on their chest for a moment, relishing in the grounding feeling of a heartbeat under his ear. The steady rise and fall of their breathing reminds him that he is not alone, at least not for now.

The alcohol, the drugs, they’ve mostly made their way out of his system. Logic is beginning to make its way back into his brain, and with it, the aching reminder that he’ll have to leave in a matter of hours. But he chooses to ignore it for now. He builds a world where the person sleeping next to him will be there the next night, and the one after that. This world has orange juice, burnt omelettes on the stove, fleeting kisses and a promise to be home for movie night. He knows better than to utter the word “forever” - even in his mind, it’s too addictive, too enticing. But he allows himself something in between “forever” and “for now”. 

-

'Cause when the sun will rise

With the truth coming out your eyes

We'll be good in another life

But he can’t stop the passage of time.

He blinks, and the rosy light of day filters through the room. It’s too soft and beautiful for the pain he feels as his partner stirs next to him, a sigh escaping their lips. He wants it to be harsher, more glaring. He thinks that would fit better.

The only words spoken between them come as he’s got his hand on the doorknob, and it’s a simple, if hollow, “See you around.” A smile that says it all - last night was fun, but that’s all it was. He is not stupid - he can see it in their gaze. Polite, kind, but ready for him to leave. Ready to move on.

He nods once and exits, pushing the dull ache away. They are not to blame for the pain.

He opts to walk home in hopes that the exercise will clear his mind a bit. The sun is brighter now, and he feels the beginnings of a headache coming on. But the air is clear and he inhales deeply, savoring the way it feels in his lungs after last night’s cocktail of smoke and sweat and escape.

-

Feels like something's special but it never felt like love

Wonder what we could be living in another life

Catch us in the mirror and it looks a lot like love

Then you stop me talking as you kiss me from above

He wonders who their best friend is, whether they call home when things go south. He wants to know if they like their coffee iced or hot, if they double-knot their shoes, whether they sleep with the windows open in the summer. He doesn’t know why this person is sticking with him - he barely saw their face, has no idea who they might be. But he wonders all the same, if perhaps in another lifetime, they might have been something more.

Last night was something. He doesn’t have a word for it in any language he knows, but it was something. The ghost of a love that might have been, had just one or two things been different. He tries to hold the idea in his mind, wonders vaguely if he should go back and beg for a change, ask to get to know them.

It’s an exercise in futility, but he seriously considers it, going so far as to walk half a block in the other direction before coming to his senses.

Some boxes are best left unopened, after all.

-

So don't make promises to me that you're gonna break

We only ever wanted one thing from this

Don't paint wonderful lies on me that wash away

We only ever wanted one thing from this

Oh, in another place

In another time, what could we have been?

Oh, in another place

In another time, what could we have been?

In another time

And in another place

[beloved-judged]

The inexpressible

This is going to be a bit... fragmented.

I should say, up front, that one of my degrees is an MFA--poetry and creative non-fiction. I have a license to poet, to be abstract and playful with language, and training in recognizing the internal structure of meaning as it is presented in language use.

I also took an absolute ass load of rhetoric courses, eventually taking Greek coursework (in addition to the mandatory Latin) in order to read the texts left us by various rhetors and their historians side-by-side with their translations.

I do language. It’s a different brain than I use on the daily in programming (and in fact, they’re oppositional for some subsets of use), but I’ve proved to the satisfaction of an academic committee that I can language just fine, even convincingly.

A confluence of events today: my papa releasing a blizzard of podcasts in the last two days, re-reading Snow Crash, and a bunch of random events have lead me to spend the last few days contemplating language.

It’s going to be here because it applies to the things my papa has been talking about.

When you choose to speak, take for granted you have already lost a lot of meaning--to render a situation into language is to make decisions about what it is, how it is, and how others may understand it, all of which are bound to your individual understanding (as well as whatever social rules, ideas, etc you have absorbed, because we’re not islands.) To make those decisions is to decide what is important and relevant, what others may understand, and what you want others to understand.

And to make those decisions is to decide not just what’s included, but what is omitted. This starts the second words come into play and before it, in the language we are inculcated with.

The latest podcast my papa released is a parable about one of the founding fathers of Sufism, which I will spoil and say the moral of the story is that the presence of someone who has achieved enlightenment is just as important as any attention they might give you (and in some cases, to not give attention at all, so as not to feed the ego.)

The presence, without language--to exist within eyesight and hearing, without direct interaction.

In Snow Crash, the author plays with an old, old dichotomy: religions of the book (that is, legalistic religions which base their principles on a written text which is required to take a form which does not permit as much individual interpretation) versus cultic religions, in which enlightenment is achieved through individual experience and is not subject to being ruled or shaped by the contents of a text.

Christianity is, at best, a mixed bag by that criteria, but tends toward a religion of the book rather than a cultic religion--as it is practiced in many places, it has elements of personal enlightenment, but is checked (at least in theory) against the text of the Bible, which is considered the authority on what it is and means to be a Christian. Again, in theory. This may not be true of individual Christian groups, churches, or Christians and it does not matter if it is true. Christianity bases itself on the Bible as a general rule.

A religion of a central text, against which all things are (supposed to be) checked.

One of the most haunting reads in my rhetorical studies was The Phadreus--a dialog on the nature of rhetoric (the art of persuasion). In the book, which is arranged as a long dialog, Socrates is talking to Phadreus about the nature of language, persuasion, and what makes a good versus a bad rhetor. There is a whole section where he talks about the relationship between writing and speech in rhetoric, remarking that he does not trust writing to do what it is supposed to do (to serve as an aid to memory, to make the idea immortal). He remarks that to read and write a thing is inadequate to produce experts, and that expertise requires something more in terms of experience and inspiration.

Or to put it a slightly different way: you might be able to write down instructions on how to do a complex thing, but the instructions by themselves are not going to make someone capable of performing the task well.

And, as he remarked, all too often when we commit something to writing, we promptly cease to make the effort to remember it--remembering becomes a problem of the medium we write in.

We wrote it down, now it’s the paper’s job to remember it.

This can, as he points out in The Phadreus and elsewhere in the texts produced by Plato during that period, lead to the state where people can take their speech--that is, the things produced from their mouth--and treat it as if it does not belong to them, as if, because they are quoting, they no longer ‘own’ the words they speak, and thus are not bound to the consequence of them.

You can see an awful lot of this in white, academic, and main cultures: if I’m quoting someone else, it’s not my fault. If I am sufficiently careful to quote, I can get away with saying all kinds of things and have a reasonable expectation that I won’t be held accountable for it.

In primarily oral cultures, as a quick side note and by contrast, what you say (the promises you make) is a profound reflection of you as a person, and you will be held accountable for it. Everything that comes out of your mouth, you own, and there is no shield of ‘just quoting’ or ‘just saying’ to save you from suffering the consequences of your speech.

Magic, where it concerns speech, often appears to me to inherit from that understanding of the word. That which issues out of your mouth is a spike, affixing you to consequence, that you cannot wriggle out of.

Trusting in the written word also, as Socrates points out, tends to lead to the state where the writer thinks they have been clear, and the reader thinks they have understood, but neither are right: the written word does not lend itself to clarity, but to deceptive equivocation. The appearance of clarity, but only if both parties do not think deeply or ask much of the interaction, and part of the inability of the book to produce experts has to do with the absence of expertise and inspiration to enforce clarity.

I find that is much on my mind--where we find clarity. I have about twenty years of training in academia, in finding clarity in books. I would be hard-pressed to count how many books I’ve read, even by genre. It is where my mind is ... comfortable. A confluence of training and natural inclinations.

The experts with whom I might study to understand rhetoric, say, are dead and dust in the ground, in some cases for thousands of years. They cannot be present with me, and while there are plenty of modern scholars with whom I might study, I am unlikely to ever have the chance to do so.

There is something tied to presence, something which governs learning. In Snow Crash, which is very much propaganda for literate societies, the idea that there is a pre-verbal experience of understanding or something that defies the ability to be verbalized within literature structures, is a virus analogous to herpes: something that represents an invader of the ordered, literate body, which subverts it and irreparably harms the health of the body and the mind.

Without the book to govern thought, all is madness, and those who are trained in specific kinds of literacy (in the case of Snow Crash, technical literacy) are susceptible to a madness which burns out their ability to think and their identity, their ability to appear rational to the literate society around them. They become as individualized as an insect, which is to say that they have no individual identity.

That is where I am going--to that non-verbal place. It’s a thought that fills me with anxiety, but also with relief. I cannot touch rationality but to notice irrationality in it, the vital absences which compose the underpinning of rationality, both in language and in concept.

Language is a slippery bastard.

Vodou is a cult, by the definition of the majority religion (Christianity), and by definition in general, in that it has no centralized authority (no pope), no central dogma (a Bible, say), and relies on individual experience with the divine (in possession, inspiration, or through witnessing a possession.) It is also a community-driven religion: mutual support, mutual aid, mutual living. It has authority figures (the priests), but the authority structure is very localized. A priest is the priest for his or her temple, not for every vodouizant everywhere. Authority is recognized, but not universal.

Atop that, it is also very much an oral culture: you are absolutely responsible for your words.

In my experiences with possession so far, both partial (someone else was using my body and I could witness but not interfere) and complete (black out), it has been a place where all my literacy, all my rationality (and I used to teach logic), all the things I would call my identity, were pointless. Either gently but firmly pushed aside, or gone altogether with the rest of me. And I have never, in my experience of being partially possessed, spoken.

Moved? Sure. Expressed something? Yes. Performed feats? Yep.

Fully possessed, however, I’m told my body has done a lot of speaking.

But the literate qualities of myself, the parts writing this entry, were either absent or entirely beside the point. It is not an easy thing to flirt with the destruction of these parts of myself. It’s deeply, deeply discomforting to recognize that where I am going, I am not. Where I am going, all that I am now will be beside the point.

Existential panic, I think, is about right.

What am I, without language? What remains in those spaces?

I cannot enjoy the wine of oblivion without reaping it--I cannot enter the waters of the void in meditation and not expect to have to perform the work necessary to come back and swim it.

What words, what shapes, what law is written on me in such places?

I hope the lwa will forgive me for being afraid.

The more I see of what I will be losing, the more... frightening the cost becomes. The fear of becoming a babbling adept, the fear of losing my ability to appear rational in rational society, the loss of those years building expertise.

The loss of myself, those endlessly reflecting mirrors of structure so painstakingly cultivated, and I know my papa would say “no, not yourself. What you think you are” but it is not entirely comforting.

And if I lose this, this speaking self writing these words...

And if I lose...

I struggle at this price. Does it seem dramatic? Only because this is the bastion I have spent my life defending against the attacks of family, colleagues, and a world determined to tell me that women cannot be rational.

I have been beaten for knowledge. Repeatedly. For daring to ask questions. I have been forcibly excised from academia, because I could not find enough support to defend myself against harassment. I have given up relationships and exposed myself to constant, crippling criticism and the many cruelties of people who found my presence intolerable. I have given up meals, a bed under my head, clothes, love, children, and the acquisition of wealth to know. There has been no easy path to knowledge for me, no family poised to encourage and protect, no social matrix to provide support.

This is the next price I will have to pay. Just a pound of flesh from nearest my heart.

What will be left of me, this babbling self ironic in the drive to cage in language what ultimately dissolves it?

I do not know if I can pay it. I can only... make myself try because I will keep my word.

And because anything else will never be enough.

My love, my love, the crown of my soul, papa, patron, master--you scare me.

[iti-moved]

Rational Feelers: Where Many MBTI Typings Fail

To many, particularly those interested in MBTI typings, the term "rational feeler" may seem like a juxtaposition, but I am here to challenge that thought.

Too often, when a person or character doesn't seem to understand the feelings of others around them, they are generally typed in MBTI communities as a Thinking personality. Even though this seems reasonable on the surface, it is a deeply flawed deduction, rooted in a misunderstanding of the cognitive functions and a lack of consideration for outside influences.

While it is true that the Feeling types are inherently more humanitarian in nature and are highly attuned to their own values/the values of society, empathy itself is not limited to one type or the other. Thinking types may be very empathetic, and Feeling types may be very callous; to assume one or the other about a person or character based on whether they are a Feeling or Thinking type is to have a flawed understanding of high Fe/Fi and high Te/Ti.

An example of this fallacy can be seen in the typings of Obi-Wan Kenobi from the Star Wars universe. Over the years, I have seen many typings of this character, most notably ISTJ. People assume that because Obi-Wan thinks very rationally and that his most noticeable flaw is failing to understand Anakin's feelings and personal struggles, he must be a Thinking type--however, being rational is not the same as valuing Te. An ENFP may be just as capable of logical deduction as an INTJ; to assume otherwise it to participate in the stereotypical caricatures of the 16 personalities. The capability for rational thought is not rooted in any particular type, just as any type can be more intelligent than the another. Measuring things such as intelligence (which is already a difficult concept to define and systemize) based on whether a person is a Thinking or Feeling type has no ground in accuracy. Differences in intelligence are rooted in individual people and their complex life experiences, not to mention that there are many different ways intelligence is defined.

Obi-Wan failing to understand Anakin's emotions has everything to do with how he was raised as a Jedi and the subsequent values he was taught to uphold, not him being a Thinking type. Frankly, none of the Jedi understand emotion because they are taught to suppress it. The Jedi were not meant to have emotional attachments, nor were they allowed to feel strong emotions, for it was insinuated that unbridled feeling such as that would lead to the Dark Side; it is because of this that we cannot assume a Jedi is a Thinking type based only on their ability to healthily understand and express emotion.

A similar mistake is people equating Yoda being a very skilled Force-user to being an iNtuitive, when in actuality, using the Force is a skill separate from iNtuition. Anakin/Darth Vader was an excellent Force-user: he could manipulate the physics of objects around him with ease, read peoples' thoughts and emotions, and had multiple premonitions of the future--but he is certainly an ESFP, a Sensing type. Using the Force is not iNtuition; it is a skill that any Force-sensitive being can tap into under the right guidance, and therefore can not be used to distinguish a Sensor from an Intuitive in a typing.

People too often forget to include outside factors such as these into their type analyses; often, typings are done under the assumption that the person or character in question are perfectly healthy, developed versions of their type, raised in an environment fit for them to thrive, when this is only rarely the case. From here, I must move on to assert my typing of Obi-Wan: ISFJ. Yes, he is rational, yes, he was not a mentor suitable for fostering Anakin's troubled emotional state, but this is not indicative of being a Thinking type, as previously explained. Obi-Wan's Fe is clear to me by just how diplomatic he can be--this is not to say that a Thinking type can't also be diplomatic, but that Obi-Wan can talk his way out of situations by appealing to the general social norms of the species he is speaking to, which is something he picks up on naturally, with ease. Understanding and placing significance on social values is indicative of higher Fe, and Obi-Wan's level of rationality does not refute this fact: Rationality is not linked solely to a singular cognitive function or type, but rather varies from individual to individual.

Obi-Wan's high Fe can also be seen in the value he places on the general social roles and ranks within the Jedi. He doesn't understand why Qui-Gon won't simply suck it up and agree with the Jedi Council: "If you would just follow the code, you would be on the Council," he says to Qui-Gon in The Phantom Menace. Furthermore, Obi-Wan has little understanding of himself outside of his role of being a Jedi. High Fe is all about social roles and how the user fits into these social roles, which can also be an element of their immature understanding of emotions if that is what the role calls for. Similarly, ISFJs can have trouble with emotions, especially if it runs in their family or the environment they find themselves in: For example, if a high Fe user is a part of a family or environment that believes excessive emotions and being touchy-feely is a sign of emasculation or weakness, the appropriate role for the ISFJ in that family or environment is to take on that belief, for it is part of their identity in the system. This is just like Obi-Wan in the Jedi and has everything to do with how he was taught to define his role in their system.

When Obi-Wan loses being a Jedi after everything collapses in Revenge of the Sith, I believe that he lost a huge part of himself. His identity was strongly placed in not just being on the Council or just being a member of the Jedi, but also in being exceptional in these roles, which indicates someone who values Fe.

People don't necessarily think of Fe manifesting in this way, but it is certainly influenced by the social expectations of a family, job, or society as a whole. Fe allows Obi-Wan to connect and utilize the general social norms around him. His tertiary Ti allows him to internally and rationally justify his distrust of Palpatine. What separates this from Fi is that even though Obi-wan had his personal suspicions, he was still very bound to the opinions of the council and trusted their judgement above all else, therefore respecting the societal and hierarchical roles established in his society.

In A New Hope, when Obi-Wan (or should I say Old Ben?) convenes with Luke, he slips back into the typical ISFJ role of being a protector, but also, he immediately wants to teach Luke to know about the Jedi teachings of the past. Even after everything has collapsed and shifted, Obi-Wan instinctively reaches for the systems of old, the systems he put great faith in and believed worked perfectly before Palptaine. Placing high value on a trusted system in such manner is indicative of Si-Fe.

Thus, I confidently type Obi-Wan as ISFJ, but that is not the sole purpose of this article. I mean to blatantly reject shallow typings that rely on stereotype alone or on statements such as "he is very rational in almost all situations." I also reject the idea that one type may be more intelligent than the other, or that one Feeling function is more morally correct than the other. Each personality type has its own flaws; the purpose of identifying as a particular type is to become more self-aware of your own weak points and places of struggle, not to assert yourself as 'better' than someone of a different type.

[xoruffitup]

Burn This First Preview: 3/15 Show Report

OKAY it’s 3 AM and I’m writing this on my phone so the format might be weird, but I have SO MANY thoughts and feels from tonight I’ve got to let the tidal wave out!! 

First off - Yes, he looked gorgeous at stage door and he was so kind trying to sign for everyone he could! (The line was longggg.) I GOT HIS AUTOGRAPH AND THANKED HIM FOR SUCH A MOVING PERFORMANCE AND HE SAID “OH THANK YOU VERY MUCH” AND LOOKED UP AT ME WITH HIS GORGEOUS EYES AND GORGEOUS FACE AND THERE IS A PIC OF THIS MOMENT THAT WILL FOREVER LIVE IN MY HEART:

This is my new OTP, folks: Adam/The back of my head!

I attempted to ask for a pic but was hesitant and security had already half pulled him away so he was like “I don’t know if I’ll have time” sounding so nervous about getting to the whole line. BABY <333

Aksjsknsm I can’t believe I was this close to him - It hasn’t fully set in and omg I better just keep writing before it does set in and I lose my shit completely!

Play Highlights! (This list is Plot-Spoiler free.)

Alas, sadly there is not that much nakedness. He takes his pants off in Act 1 but has underwear and a long shirt on. The BEST is when he comes on wearing one of Keri/Anna’s kimono-style purple silk robes in Act 2 - I nearly DIED and cannot believe I saw that with my own eyes!! When he first steps onstage the robe’s open and he’s only wearing underwear so you get a nice chest glimpse, but then he sadly ties it. (Then proceeds to hilariously struggle with getting one of his arms through the complicated sleeves.) Oh, and did I mention the robe was paired with knee-high socks?

Adam is HYSTERICAL. He doesn’t come on stage for about the first twenty minutes, but when he did, it took all of 5 minutes for the audience to be in the palm of his hand, laughing at every other word he said. His delivery of all of Pale’s curse-laden, barely-logical rants and complaints is just masterful in comedic timing and effect. He’s a literal hurricane when he enters the show, flooding the stage with this frenetic, chaotic energy so intense he’s practically vibrating. He keeps everything at break neck pace, through 0-100 highs and lows where he’s bitching about parking one second, then animal-wail crying the next.

His character’s not likeable. Really, this is a testament and praise to Adam’s acting. After his first couple minutes on stage, there were stretches when I literally forgot it was him. When I was so taken in and then repulsed by this character in turns, his acting prowess overcame even my instinct to love him and everything he does on sight. I’m about to get deeper into the weeds on his character in the next section, but suffice it to say Adam’s performance is stellar and completely, convincingly transformative.

How heated does it get? The only intimate scene that happens in front of the audience includes some slow kissing, a bit down Keri/Anna’s neck, and wandering hands. The rest is implied off stage.

The play is set in the 80s, so while Keri looks KILLER in every single outfit, Adam’s suits are all big and baggy as was the style then and they’re not exactly flattering. His costume look is just a bit weird, not nearly as smolderingly hot as how they styled him in the promo pics. But even with that said.... The scene where they’re both close on the couch, talking softly before kissing happens? I would have still gone for him too. ;_;

The rest of this report is going to dive into and attempt to untangle some of the deeper elements and themes of the play. Stop reading here if you’re avoiding spoilers!

To my perspective, this wasn’t really a play about a smoldering, ill-advised love affair. Yes, that’s the main event, but this play is about so much more.

Anna and Pale are star-crossed lovers. No, not in the Disney or destined interpretation - I mean the proper, tragic meaning. Whatever is between them should not exist. Whatever is between them threatens and harms them both. Whatever is between them is not long for this world, and doesn’t belong in it.

But why doesn’t it belong? Sure, there are the technical, superficial reasons: Anna has a boyfriend; Pale is married with kids (though technically separated); They are polar opposite people - Sharing no visible common interests and with temperaments that couldn’t be more opposite.

What is the one thing stronger than all of that, which first brings them together? Their grief; Their shared (yet deeply personal and divergently different) senses of grief; The solace and understanding they can only find for that grief with each other. The loss they’ve both experienced is life-changing, and has no place to fit into or even exist at all in their normal lives.

And so, they hurtle into an affair that also has no place existing in their normal lives. By the end of the play, they both assert “I don’t want this.” To a certain degree, it’s the truth. It’s unlikely either of them would have willfully chosen to pursue the other, had they met under different circumstances. They would likely never have opened or even tapped at the floodgates of their attraction, unless they had both gravitated towards this dark, abnormal part of life outside the realm of everyday lives, jobs, rational behavior, and decisions.

To me, this play was really about confronting that abnormal, primal, and sometimes unfathomable level of being that exists below the everyday. Pale has a memorable remark about all the little lies people live with and show to the world each day. Sometimes - when it is cut open and its value or sense thrown into question by some great tragedy such as a loss like this - you lose touch with that everyday life and the person you think you are within that everyday world. It becomes painfully juxtaposed and shrunk tiny, in the face of something all-encompassing and all-powerful, like grief. It becomes exposed as paper thin; Everything within it questionable and perhaps useless.

There is something of the profound in an emotion like grief. When it’s shared with someone, it’s no wonder that that also unlocks some profound connection. Anna and Pale don’t like each other as people, and they certainly take no enjoyment in the grief that brought them together. Yet, the relationship that blooms from it contains a compulsion and truth neither of them can deny. Even though they “don’t want this” (the rational, everyday side of their minds talking), they both admit they’ve never felt anything like it before, and they keep finding themselves drawn together. They don’t want to want each other - It’s painful and frightening for both of them, and yet their attraction wraps them both just as completely as their grief.

Anna’s boyfriend Burton is the epitome of the everyday. He earns a lot of money, he’s a well-dressed gentleman. He’s a writer, and fancies he can capture and portray the entire spectrum of human emotion. Even “great love,” as he fumblingly attempts to describe towards the play’s beginning. Yet all his talk is vapid and empty; As is his relationship with Anna. Theirs is one of the everyday, rational variety. It belongs with the small lies we live with and put on and speak and perform each day - To keep our lives square and tidy and comprehensible.

Then - There’s the chaotic, unpredictable, bordering violent being of Pale. He is every sincere, larger-than-life emotion and base instinct most people tamp down and deny voice to. He represents the terrible, uncontrollable, threatening Truth of everyday masks, dark desires, and empty identities of performativity.

Their attraction is not something Anna can bear to look in the face. She throws Pale out and ends the relationship because that deeper truth of true emotion unlocked by her grief cannot coexist with her reality. Her ability to continue dancing, to continue the everyday life she’s trying so hard to believe in and trust the purpose of - It cannot contain Pale. He represents and unlocks profound, unknown feeling that casts the waking world as a shadow.

And yet for all that discomfort, she has an artistic breakthrough after the affair with Pale. She is inspired to finally choreograph Robbie’s final send-off piece. And with Anna, Pale unlocked a part of himself that was calm, gentle, and soothed - A version of himself totally incongruous with his own reality and the identity he wears. Both of them are changed through their journey together through the Profound. It is a deeply uncomfortable, destabilizing place that neither of them wish to remain in. And yet its power is undeniable; Its impact unforgettable. The very experience of it is something they seek comfort for and can only find from each other.

Is it better to tell little lies each day so the world will make sense? So you can understand exactly who’s looking back at you in the mirror, and the quotidian will shade your perception of the invisible and unfathomable depths of human experience? So everything will remain neat and in control?

Or - Does it give meaning to abandon control? To surrender to grief and undesired passion, for the sake of a reality that is uncompromisingly, viscerally, heartbreakingly genuine? The harsh, infinite light all the rest of life seems to be constructed to blot from our eyes?

I really hope that as more people see the play, people will start posting their interpretations as well! I would love some good analysis dialogues! In the meantime, I will now slide right back into flaily, trash fangirl mode.... Thank you for reading all this, if you got this far! Go see this marvelous, haunting play if you’re able!!

All the love to my fangirl besties!!! @reylonly Thanks for making it an amazing night! :’)))

[funkymbtifiction]

MBTI-ENNEAGRAM PORTRAITS: IMAGE CENTER TYPE 4

AUTHORED BY ENTP MOD.

4w3: To someone who is unaware of the internal tussle between the Four and the Three traits of a 4w3 person, it may seem like they blow hot and cold, or don't know their own mind. This produces an emotionally deep, attention seeking introverted individual who ponders over their identity while straying from it in the pursuit of success. They want to explore emotional intensity, but only as much as Three will allow them to. Can resort to tantrum throwing, and diva like behavior if they feel they go unacknowledged. 4w3s like Jeff Goldblum have their own unique affectations, or idiosyncrasies that they pride themselves on. There seems to be a starry consciousness about them, like they know they are destined for greater things. When they suffer great setbacks or aren't rewarded by life, their Four can spiral into intense envy, anger and jealousy. Three disintegrates to Nine, completely robbing them of all purpose and passion, often driving these types at their unhealthiest levels to commit suicide. The life of 4w3s is characterized by a longing, to soar free in the limelight, be true to themselves and be adored widely. They do not recognize the importance of being loved deeply and truly. Their entire life is the pursuit of goals and adoration. When they finish their magnum opus, it feels like life might well be over for them. Often they can produce great artistic works of tremendous value, but are easily susceptible to flattery and emotional manipulation. This is the Artist‌, and the Muse. They prize recognition and popularity for their works over complete originality. They possess fear of success, and fear of failure equally in spades. So while they are shy about sharing their artistic talents with the world, they do crave the adulation that comes with it. When they evolve healthily, they are able to use their creativity to devise unique solutions that help people around them, and think in terms of collective welfare than their individual emotions.

4w5: “Alone is what I have. Alone is what protects me” might as well be the mantra of these types. These make for the purest intuitives. Their line of thinking is so far removed from the “normies,” it provides unconventional perspectives and brilliant new insights into existing systems. Extremely awkward, introverted types who prize their privacy and individuality above all else. As creators, it is their own satisfaction they seek and not to please anybody else. Elitists to the extreme, will shun the society of those who they do not think worthy. This produces a bizarre fascination with all things macabre, including their love of Death. They relish the dark side of life and unabashedly plunge into the exploration of emotional intensity and their own darker urges. If they aren't careful they can fall into reckless sensory pursuits to substitute the approval and love they crave. They will, however, never allow themselves to admit that because their Five wing makes them emotionally detached. They reject society preemptively out of a fear of being rejected, or having their deficiencies exposed publicly. As they integrate, they grow into decisive leaders who are able to take the right path.

Fours and the Perceiving Function Axis:

NeSi, SiNe: Tones down the natural optimism Ne possesses. Makes it deeper and lends it shades of melancholy. Results in identity seeking through chronic comparison to others (Four + Ne). Tend to romanticize the past due to low Si not reflecting accurate factual past details. Low Si + Four could produce a unique fashion sense especially if impacted by a Five wing and/or so blind spot. Si/Ne would be more pessimistic about the future in anticipation. Inferior Ne + Four means they are unable to envision new possibilities, stuck firmly in a self-defeating loop of “Things will never change.”

SeNi, NiSe: Ni + Four produces a fantasizing individual, who is idealistic and re-frames experiences to fit their subjective frame of reality. Often negatively. Strengthens Ni's elitism with a heavy emphasis on differences from others based on creative output. They will pride themselves on exquisite taste. They will learn more towards indie artists and movies, revel in it like they are privy to some secret society of distinguished individuals. Four dampens the influence of Se, and cramps Se’s style. Se + Four equals a great eye for beauty and aesthetics. With a four wing, it produces very offbeat taste in fashion, but the Five wing produces an “until they invent a darker color than black” kind of wardrobe with dramatic emphasis on portraying themselves as outsiders. A great example of a 4w5’s sense of dressing can be seen on Jughead Jones in CW’s Riverdale.

Fours and the Judging Function Axis:

FiTe, TeFi: Reinforces all the Four stereotypes. Moody. Melancholy. Dramatic. Creative. Strong emphasis on identity being unique from everyone else. Can throw blunt Te smack downs while lashing out at unmet Four needs. Otherwise, Te is quite weak over all because the Four submerges itself in its emotional states and productivity comes to a halt. This runs quite counter to the nature of Te, which is coldly rational, blunt and focused on efficiency. A Three wing might slightly improve follow-through with creative endeavors.

FeTi, TiFe: Weak Ti unless bolstered by a Five wing. Produces shades of fake Fi, however their emotional expression is still something they struggle with. They wouldn't vocalize emotions like a regular Fe user who doesn't have a Four in their wing/fix/tritype because they deem these emotions extremely unique and personal to them. Also they would feel these so intensely, the intensity of it wouldn't be able to be adequately expressed. In a TiFe user, Four may manifest as intellectual snobbery, while also making them extremely sensitive to any perceived attacks on their intelligence, logical reasoning etc. That is when TiFe users look to their social circles for affirmation about their intellectual capabilities. It produces great thinkers with an aesthetic bent of mind.

[astral-obscura]

Aspects of Lilith

Both descriptions may apply to conjunctions.

Sextile, trine, or quintile Sun: The native has a well-defined sense of self & remarkable inner security. They thrive when in conflict with an oppressive force or structure & feed on all kinds of attention, positive or negative. They take pride in their radical traits; they are liberated by unapologetic self-expression. Shame is not part of their vocabulary. Social discord is entertaining. The identity relies on breaking stereotypes, standing out, or rebelling somehow. Hedonism can become a severe self-sabotaging issue if the enjoyment of freedom goes too far or inflates the ego to the point of unhealthy confidence. These people typically find trouble wherever they go, and are easily bored by rules & standards. Square, opposite, or quincunx Sun: The native is constantly met with criticism, rejection, or exclusion for their individuality, and this causes them to hide or repress the most unique parts of themselves. They despise expectations, and when others have any measure of control over them they can become hostile or deeply troubled. They have a painful yearning for freedom but fear the reactions they are used to receiving. A significant amount of their energy will be spent learning how to express themselves openly & shamelessly. Social stigma or stifling of the identity in whatever form will be the primary catalyst for discovery and realization of self. They will be forced to accept themselves.

Sextile, trine, or quintile Moon: The native is comfortable exploring the darker & more unconventional parts of who they are. They instinctually understand their aberrant or taboo qualities, and they are not afraid of them; they’re naturally introspective when it comes to rejection or exclusion and intuitively realize what separates them from others. They use their emotions & imagination to highlight their individuality; they also find freedom in emotional expression. They are not tied down to the person they were raised to be, and do not limit themselves to a personal standard any more than a societal standard -- they are able to break away from habitual conformity or self-stifling habits in general. Square, opposite, or quincunx Moon: The native is emotionally upset by rejection and may cling to tradition or other metaphorical “safety blankets” developed in childhood in order to avoid social discord. They habitually repress their dark, taboo, or aberrant qualities out of discomfort & insecurity. They’re afraid of fully expressing themselves, and being free in their individuality is a frighteningly foreign concept; they shy away from situations that prompt them to stand out or rebel and will retreat into a shell of reservations when faced with the opportunity to break or bend a standard. The emotional equilibrium is ravaged by criticism, exclusion, and alienation. They feel painfully isolated.

Sextile, trine, or quintile Mercury: The native is able to logically analyze social stigmas & standards, and intellectually deconstruct the power those have over individual lives (especially their own). Reason consistently prevails over peer pressure. Their ideas and the way they communicate them are radical in some way and receive much attention, good or bad. Criticism is easily combated with the mind; they are able to see through others’ opinions and separate themselves from judgement, and are thus free to think the way they want to -- free thought defines their mindscape, and they are lost without it. Mental/verbal exchanges shape their understanding of society. Controversy deeply intrigues them. Square, opposite, or quincunx Mercury: The native has little faith in their ability to accurately comprehend themselves, others, or society as a whole, and therefore may place monumental importance on other people’s opinions. They are easily stressed by having to explain themselves or their actions; judgement and criticism easily shut them down. They are quick to label their ideas or their interpersonal & communicative mannerisms as strange and unwanted, so they may choose to be quiet and reserved rather than put their mind on display. They have a very difficult time defending themselves or rationalizing their place in a group. They can’t use their logical mind to escape twisted social structures.

Sextile, trine, or quintile Venus: The native easily merges personal freedom & social graces to create a naturally appealing individuality which gains positive attention & reactions from others, no matter how taboo or radical. Controversy is a part of the unique style; in other words, this person wears ignominy well, and may use it to their advantage in an attractive way. Others admire or romanticize their aberrant qualities. The native’s personal tastes and preferences support a happily outcast identity; criticism & judgement serve as signs of being socially relevant, and they make being different fashionable. Extreme hedonism is tied to this aspect, especially in relationships that aren’t widely acceptable. Square, opposite, or quincunx Venus: The native is torn in a heightened conflict between individuality and conformity, particularly in the context of relationships or style. The vacillation between radical subversion of social standards and passive adherence to them is a matter of choosing between happiness and harmony, both of which are crucially important. The native may lose relationships or general popularity for their stigmatized qualities, which deeply harms their self-esteem. They wish to fully be themselves but cannot reconcile that with the risks that come with it -- they are unsure of its worth, which subsequently leads to uncertain self-worth as a whole.

Sextile, trine, or quintile Mars: The native possesses an unconquerable willpower which seldom bends for anyone else, and there is little care for others’ disapproval of it. If something is desired, it is achieved; the expectations and opinions of other people have little to no influence. No social stigma, criticism, or oppressive standard can get in the way of the native’s drive. They regularly break rules and disregard structures that don’t serve their initiatives, and charge forward without waiting for anyone to forgive, accept, or get used to them. Their sexuality is openly expressed; they are proud of their taboo desires. Going against popular belief fuels their inner fire, impassions and excites them. Square, opposite, or quincunx Mars: The native is easily infuriated by notions, structures, or actions which they perceive as threatening of their autonomy, and they typically react with hostility when others criticize or attempt to control them in any way. They are unable to handle judgement, often reject the opinions of others before they’ve even heard them, and thus usually have a narrow view of most things, lacking the capacity to see other perspectives. Their one-track mind can cause them to lack foresight & create immense social conflict/discord where it is not necessary or appropriate. All of this stems from a deep fear of of others defining them, so they invert it into aggressive opposition of others & abrasively assume the role of “outcast” before others can force them into it.

Sextile, trine, or quintile Jupiter: The native’s mind is filled with grand philosophies of the truth about society and why stigmas & standards must be broken for spiritual growth. They find enlightenment through liberation; freedom is more important to them than anything else because it fulfills them in every way and allows them to expand their intellect. Likewise, they use their intellect to expand their freedom, as well as the freedom of others. They may become something of a social pioneer or modern guru, teaching about the detrimental nature of the status quo and encouraging others to go against the norm. They don’t believe in conformity. Their beliefs separate them from the majority. Square, opposite, or quincunx Jupiter: The native may attach to philosophies solely for the sake of controversy. They may become so invested in being different that they no longer care if they are right. Their morality is selfish; their beliefs & personal code revolve around a set of faux rules which permit them to be hedonistic or destructive for the sake of “liberation.” Unhealthy, harmful habits are proudly paraded around under the guise of self-empowered notions. Self-control feels unbearably limiting and stifling, even if it’s for their own good. They can become “special snowflake” types, and attempt to preach their flawed ideas so that others follow them in their “enlightened” lifestyle and thus validate it.

Sextile, trine, or quintile Saturn: Much of the native’s power comes from the innate ability to rework social limitations into structures that serve their purpose and growth. They are incredibly wise when it comes to the sensitivity of culture and know their place in society, as well as how to change it. They understand that freedom comes with responsibility and it does not come free; they possess the self-discipline necessary to cultivate true self-liberation and they aren’t afraid of putting in the effort to create the individuality they want to be known for. They handle stigma with grace, and rationally deconstruct the paradigms of others so that they begin to question why they believe in certain standards & “norms.” Square, opposite, or quincunx Saturn: The native easily becomes consumed by the “process” of “becoming themselves” -- they get caught up in the changes that need to be made within themselves or in their environment before they can allow themselves to be fully self-expressive. They limit themselves with their own expectations, can become hindered by tradition, and place too much importance on the judgement & disapproval of authority figures. They care about the structural integrity of society, and don’t wish to compromise its strength, so they tend to repress all that is aberrant, controversial, or radical about themselves; they see self-liberation as selfish, non-productive, and unnecessarily dissonant.

Sextile, trine, or quintile Uranus: The native possesses very extreme views and opinions on society which others either love or hate them for. They often behave outrageously for the fun of it, and do or say things that may cause discord because gives them an electric, purposeful feeling. They disregard all social limitations and couldn’t care less about acceptance. They are the bona fide rebel. Nothing & no one can prevent them from being the person they want to be. Liberation runs in their blood. They don’t believe in any social order which hinders individual autonomy, and they have a desire to change society to make room for "the atypicals” like them. They use their freedom to free others. Square, opposite, or quincunx Uranus: Much of the traits for harmonious Lilith-Uranus aspects apply here as well, but in a harsher, more desperate sense. The native knows the pain and isolation of being rejected, humiliated, alienated, and ostracized, so they devote a lot of their energy to radically changing the social climate for the better. They have an ironic moral code; while they reject the morality of others, they follow their own rules. Their rebellion is decisive and purposeful rather than hedonistic or self-congratulating; they have a vision, a grand and noble goal of collective freedom which begins with them. They wish to change society almost as punishment for their oppressors.

Sextile, trine, or quintile Neptune: The native effortlessly, unconsciously evades social boundaries; cultural restrictions can’t contain them, because they slip away from rules and judgement non-violently, mysteriously. They live almost independent of social structure, outside of the realm of conformity. Others often romanticize their aberrant qualities & paint them as figures of graceful rebellion & unapologetic individuality, even though they may not intend to come across as such -- they are just existing, but they do so with a gentle limitlessness envied by others. They draw inspiration and spiritual fulfillment from liberation, and feel most free when their soul (or subconscious mind) is uninhibited. Square, opposite, or quincunx Neptune: The native is easily confused or lost within social boundaries; they can’t comprehend others’ judgements or the rules placed upon them, and this creates deep interpersonal discomfort which invades the subconscious mind and the soul, surfacing through dreams, art, & emotions (which are the only places they feel free). They may cling to religion/spirituality to find their individuality. They can’t differentiate external standards from interior goals/desires and often chase ideals that aren’t their own. Others demonize their aberrant qualities and label them inaccurately. They liberate themselves through deceit, illusion, and escapism, as it is the only way they know how to.

Sextile, trine, or quintile Pluto: The native is intimately connected to their individuality, possessing a raw, resilient relationship to the darkest parts of who they are which separate them from others. They are immensely courageous when it comes to experiencing the taboo & controversial parts of society, entirely unafraid of things others try to ignore. They transform through unapologetic self-expression, and find rebirth through liberation. Their sexuality is deep and powerful, extreme and different, and they are proud of this; it is part of their identity, part of the way they rebel from society’s control over ego. They never allow society or other people to control them in any way. They own themselves. Square, opposite, or quincunx Pluto: The native is terrified of being controlled, and has extremely adverse emotional reactions to anything they perceive as having the potential to limit their freedom. They are paranoid of society’s power to erase individuality. They go to severe measures to protect their identity and autonomy, resorting to secrecy, manipulation, lies, and hostility to defend what they are afraid will be taken from them or exposed. They are fundamentally ashamed, guilty, and fearful; criticism and judgement harms their self-image. Their dark, taboo, aberrant traits are out of control, particularly their “unacceptable” sexual desires. They’re ruled by an obsession with individuality & liberation, which ironically damages or decreases their individual freedom.

[echodrops]

Voltron or Final Fantasy 7?

In my last Voltron post I mentioned that Voltron Legendary Defender is really just Final Fantasy 7 with robot lions, so I wanted to elaborate on some of the comparisons.

Obviously this is mostly facetious; there are still several note-worthy differences between the two series, and if you want to get technical, Voltron certainly existed before Final Fantasy 7. However, it’s pretty obvious that someone on the writing team for Voltron Legendary Defender has been influenced by the plot and characters of Final Fantasy 7.

I mean...

We start out our story with the world in the clutches of an evil dictator, who by all rights, has no logical claim to the parts of the universe he controls, except that he has consolidated access to a seemingly unlimited supply of energy, which gives him military and utilitarian power over the hapless masses. (Also, bonus for their outfit color schemes matching almost exactly.)

The energy that these two scumbags are powering their military forces with is not just any energy, no sir: it’s actually the lifeblood of planets, the force that keeps worlds and everything on them alive.

In one of the most blatant cinematic parallels of all time, they forcefully draw out and refine this energy, using it for various purposes from powering their cities, building massive weapons, to creating armies of typically monstrous super soldiers, usually hopped up hard on the energy drug.

Meanwhile, our evil dictators rule from the thrones of their conspicuously ring-shaped dark fortresses that continue to slowly drain the life and peace from everything in reach.

But everyone knows that any villain worth his salt is backed up by an even more morally bankrupt and terrifying Mad Scientist:

Whose preoccupation with a calamity from another world

and penchant for creating horrific chimeras of flesh and machine

is about to cause everyone to have a very, very, bad day. Now where else have we seen pink glowing eyes, hm...

Of course, evil never reigns without opposition, so we have to have the consistently-out-of-focus-for-the-rest-of-the-series band of well-intentioned extremist rebels:

Although they talk a big game, their biggest accomplishment seems to mostly be getting themselves blown up.

They certainly aren’t responsible for killing their respective evil dictators, for example. Nope, that honor goes to:

The mysterious light-haired pretty boy with weird bangs, cat eyes, a sword, and a big ass chip on his shoulder over his parentage. He seems calm and rational, even sophisticated and princely--but it’s a thin veneer hiding a life-time of trauma and horror, and one wrong reveal about the identity of his mother could tip him over the edge into no-holds-barred madness. A dangerous free agent whose loyalties are questionable and whose existence is inextricably tied to the calamity from another world. He thinks He is among the last of the ancient mystical race of Cetra Alteans, who were eradicated by the creature from the other world, who infiltrated their society by possessing some of their closest allies.

Lotor also has shades of Rufus Shinra: seizes command after his father’s death, possibly still evil but everyone loves him anyway, commands a Quirky Mini Boss Squad:

Featuring in order: the One Who Rushes Into Everything, the Most Competent Right-Hand, the Quiet One, and the Plucky Redhead.

Of course, when the world needs saving from certain doom, a most beloved band of bizarre heroes will arise to answer destiny’s call:

The Stringy Inherited-Sword-Wielding Hero With Wack Hair

It’s a running gag to refer to him as a lone wolf and disinterested in other people, but under his prickly facade is a much softer, confused boy who is struggling hard with identity issues. He’s forced into a leadership role for which he is particularly ill-suited, and even though most people will leave the game/the show with the impression that he really grew into his leadership, the sum total of his accomplishments is actually causing far more trouble than would have occurred if he had just stayed home.

His obsession with finding and defeating light-haired pretty boy causes everyone no small amount of grief and then he ends up siding with said light-haired pretty boy anyway...

Can’t overcome the fact that he is deeply connected to the very thing he must defeat; he has Jenova Galra genes that lead him to question his role in the universe and whether or not he is a monster.

Incurably socially awkward country boy. Let’s mosey!

He learned everything he knows from:

The Black-Haired Best Friend with a Scar on His Face

Older, wiser, and in every way more competent than the stringy hero, this guy, complete with noticeable black and purple color scheme, is REAL hero material. He’s been through it all: held captive for year(s) by the mad scientist, “upgraded” and experimented upon with intentions of creating a true Super Soldier, something-something clones everywhere something-something... He has the good attitude and the powerful loyalty necessary to be a shining example of a white knight for the princess and is the standard which stringy hero knows he will never exceed. Stringy hero looks up to this guy more than anyone in the entire world, and this guy would give it all--even his life--to protect the people who mean the most to him. Complete with dramatic mid-series meaningful haircut!

Despite being a fan favorite, the creators spend more time writing this guy out of the series than they do actually using him to his best potential...

Shiro also has some shades of Vincent Valentine: atoner who fears he has become a monstrous tool for the enemy, despite his deep-down incredibly good heart. Some people like to pair him with the Genki Girl.

Mostly seen in the company of:

Princess Last of Her Kind

Don’t let her soft looks and pink color motif fool you! The “princess” is a strong, independent girl who does what she wants, when she wants, up to and including sacrificing herself to save the day when all the other heroes fail at life. As the last of her mystical and mysterious race, she possesses strange magics that allow her to feel the life force of all living beings and tap into the very energy that Shinra the Galra Empire are harvesting. Capable of wielding a staff, her actual greatest strength is her healing magic, which has the power to bring an entire planet back from the brink of death.

Her people were destroyed from within by betrayal at the hands of the calamity, and their sole remaining Plot MacGuffin, the white materia Voltron is the only thing left that can save the world. Despite being technologically advanced beyond all reason, her people were ancient peacekeepers who still, inexplicably, built stone temples.

The Promised Land Oriande is not a faerie tale.

Strongly flower-themed:

Then we have:

The Brilliant Young Rascal

As a character, Pidge isn’t actually a one-for-one to anyone in FF7. Yuffie’s acrobatic stunts and mischievous Genki Girl personality embody one obvious part of Pidge, but Yuffie lacks Pidge’s tech-ish brilliance and competent follow-through. In that regard, Pidge is actually somewhat closer to Red XIII: smart, inquisitive, and usually mature, their deep inner-conflicts, especially regarding the fate of their fathers, reveal their weaknesses and the truth that they’re still young, uncertain people who fear for the future of their world and sometimes feel helpless in the face of the staggering tasks put before them. They are deeply attuned to nature but also raised by someone whose technology is capable of revealing incredible truths about the universe. Both of them are also fish out of water when it comes to befriending new people, and they often feel like they do better on their own than trying to rely on people who aren’t part of their trusted family.

Courage the Cowardly Cat

Although it’s certainly tempting to compare Hunk to Barret, based somewhat on appearance and even, to a certain extent, on personality--Barret is a huge softy underneath who just loves his family and wants to do right in the world--Hunk has much more in common with Cait Sith, the robotic cat/moogle combo who is secretly an alter ego for the brilliant architect Reeve Tuesti. Cowardly and often the butt of jokes from teammates and enemies alike, Cait Sith is frequently underestimated and flies under the radar, allowing him to keep his own secrets even while sticking his nose in just about everyone else’s business. Although he’s not initially sold on the heroes’ goal of saving the world, he soon has a change of heart that makes him into a fast and loyal ally. Despite the fact that he’s made of “fluff,” in the hour of greatest need, it’s Cait Sith who steps up to rescue everyone, essentially single-handedly saving the world.

His creator is an incredible and genius engineer who longs to use his creations to better the lives of common people, but he’s also sarcastic and unafraid to tell it like it is, even if that means he’s telling his own allies where they’ve messed up badly.

His predictions about the future always seem to come true...

The Emotional Backbone of the Party

Don’t get me wrong, both Lance and Tifa are formidable fighters on their own, whose talents shine in different areas of combat than the traditional sword-wielding heroes. But their greatest strengths actually seem to lie in their ability to support their allies. When stringy hero falls into despair and falters in his leadership, it’s this right-hand role who steps up to bear the weight and get the party back on track. The voice of reason and drive, Lance and Tifa are go-getters who won’t let anyone settle for giving less than their best, and they definitely aren’t willing to sit around listening to tired old excuses when they could be out saving the world. Razzle Dazzle time!

They are both influenced strongly by their families and tend to listen to the feelings and struggles of others much more than they are willing to share their own feelings and fears. The others come to rely on them as an emotional crutch, whose central job it is to reassure, validate, and empower the team, sometimes at the cost of their own happiness.

But they weren’t always this way, and in fact, in the past, they happened to be a bit shallow and excitable, with a penchant for throwing themselves into situations which were way, way too far out their league and for rarely, if ever, listening to good advice. Head-strong and romantic, they started out as dreamers before the war took its toll.

They definitely had a rocky beginning with their stringy hero--they were not friends--but, by the middle end of the series, have grown and matured as characters into a strong person who not only helps guide the hero but also holds up better in the face of all the trauma and suffering the party experienced.

Even being such a central character, they get a bare minimum amount of dialogue, leading many fans to interpret the character however they see fit, causing both Lance and Tifa to become common stand-ins for the fans themselves.

(Despite both losing their place as the “heart of the party” to the “Princess,” they never become jealous of her.)

And finally:

Coranic The Mechanic

Coran and Cid Highwind don’t have that much in common in terms of personality, except both being extreme dorks with notable accents, but I wonder how much of that is because Voltron is a kids’ show and Cid’s chain-smoking, curse-laden, women-abusing attitude just wouldn’t fly in a place like that. In terms of story role, they fill the exact same niche: the older male mechanic who advises and leads when needed to, despite his advice often seeming eccentric at best to those he’s trying to lead. He’s in charge of flying the ship while the others race off into danger, and if you lay one dirty finger on his baby, he will probably throw you overboard.

Tough as nails, despite all appearances, but also tried, true, and loyal to a fault. Won’t give up, even in the face of insurmountable danger, and gets a big kick out of killing bad guys. Impeccable timing for dramatic last second saves.

PHEW, got ‘em all!

In case you need anything else to convince you that you’re watching an at least partially repackaged story, don’t forget the:

Bizarre Egyptian-themed ancient stone temple where the mystical race of the Cetra Alteans kept the deepest secrets of their magic.

Really unlucky magic rock from space.

Gigantic killer robot beasts.

An overly-drawn-out and somewhat poorly explained clone plot line that just leaves the fans even more confused.

And OF COURSE:  infamously long unskippable summoning sequences.

tl;dr:

If you’re in the game of predicting where Voltron’s future plot might go, you would not be misguided to go play FF7 as fuel for your predictions. And if you’re a Voltron fan who still hasn’t played FF7... What are you even doing with your life? Get out of here!

[a-reocurring-dream]

“The only question is: HOW?” part 2

(The first part can be found here.)

A ridiculously high amount of new cases

In the beginning of TST, we are introduced to a ridiculously high amount of new cases. It is really hard to catch up on every one of them and figure out what they are about in detail, because, sometimes, they literally flash away, before one has even been able to read the excerpts showing up on screen. Two questions occurred to me:

What is the significance of all those new cases to the new season?

Why are they showing up so fast that the casual viewer is not really able to catch up on everything if they do not take the time to pause the episode?

So, I will be listing the transcripts of all cases mentioned in TST here at first:

FEMALE CLIENT: He drowned, Mr Holmes. (While the client sits on a dining chair, John’s later blog entry drifts across the screen reading:

Dusty Death  I won’t name the client out of respect but she came to us because of her late husband. His body was recovered from the sea near Falmouth...

Sherlock is pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace, looking at his phone. John sits in his chair with Mary perched on the arm.) FEMALE CLIENT: That’s what we thought but when they opened up his lungs ... MARY: Yes? FEMALE CLIENT: Sand. SHERLOCK (looking at her for a moment): Superficial. 

On another occasion Sherlock sits in his chair holding a pair of Mars binoculars to his eyes while he peers at a small plastic bag containing a dark pink item held in pieces of ice.  [More details about the Mars binoculars here.] John’s blog entry drifts across the screen:

Mr Hatherley came straight round to Baker  Street in a terrible state. He was white as a  sheet and bleeding from an awful wound in his hand. Exactly how he came by this wound was at first confusing...

Still holding the binoculars in place over his eyes, Sherlock calls out. SHERLOCK: Come back! It’s the wrong thumb! (He lowers the binoculars and looks up but there’s nobody in the room, and now the downstairs front door slams shut.) 

On another occasion photographs are scattered over the dining room table and the Mars binoculars lie on top of some of them. John’s blog entry reads:

The Duplicate Man  How could Dennis Parkinson be in two places at the same time? And murdered in one of them? JOHN (standing at the table looking at the evidence): Sherlock ... SHERLOCK (rapidly typing on his phone): It’s never twins. 

On another occasion Sherlock sits in his chair with his laptop open on his knees. He’s busy on his phone at the same time. Mary is sitting in John’s chair holding a mug and rubbing her tummy while John stands at the fireplace. SHERLOCK (quick fire): Hopkins, arrest Wilson. Dimmock, look in the lymph nodes. HOPKINS (offscreen, from the laptop speaker): Wilson?! DIMMOCK (offscreen, from the laptop speaker): Lymph nodes?! MARY: Sherlock ... (Sherlock is simultaneously Skypeing with Detective Inspectors Dimmock and Hopkins, who are separately looking into their mobile phone’s camera as they talk with him. The windows showing them are side by side on Sherlock’s laptop screen. Dimmock is walking along a road while Hopkins is indoors, possibly in her office.) SHERLOCK (quick fire, looking at Dimmock): Yes. You may have nothing but a limbless torso but there’ll still be traces of ink left in the lymph nodes under the armpits. If your mystery corpse had tattoos, the signs’ll be there. (John’s later blog entry appears under Dimmock’s Skype window and reads:

The Circus Torso  A limbless body found decomposing inside a trunk in left luggage office in Waterloo station couldn’t be identified...

A second blog entry under Hopkins’ Skype window reads:

The Canary Trainer

Andrew Wilson was an unusual

man with an unusual hobby.

He seemed to have no connection

with the man whose life was so

abruptly ended one freezing night

in November...

DIMMOCK: Bloody hell! Is that a guess? SHERLOCK: I never guess. (He closes Dimmock’s screen.) MARY: Sherlock ... HOPKINS: So he’s the killer? The canary trainer? SHERLOCK: ’Course he’s the killer. HOPKINS: Didn’t see that coming. SHERLOCK: Hm, naturally. 

On another occasion Sherlock walks across the room checking his phone while he talks to a man sitting on a dining room chair. SHERLOCK: The heart medication you are taking is known to cause bouts of amnesia. (John’s blog entry reads:

The Cardiac Arrest  Joel Fentiman was found strangled in the bedsit he shared with his brother. They had always got on well and there was no sign that this situation had changed...

Mr FENTIMAN: Yes, um ... I think so. Why?

SHERLOCK (sitting down in his chair, still looking at his phone): Because the fingerprints on your brother’s neck are your own.

... we could never have known there was a potential assassin lurking close by. An assassin who turned out to be... 

John giggles as he leads Sherlock up the stairs at Baker Street towards the living room. JOHN: A jellyfish?! SHERLOCK: I know. JOHN: You can’t arrest a jellyfish! SHERLOCK (looking at his phone as he climbs the stairs): Well, you could try. JOHN: We did try.

Much? Yes, when I first collected all of the cases, I was quite overwhelmed by the amount, too. And I wondered why there were so much. To show us that Sherlock, John and Mary are working together as a crime solving trio now? Well, in this case, one or two cases would have totally ensured that. But these are 8 new cases! This is by no means a clever way to make a statement about a relationship/potential love triangle whatsoever; the audience feels overchallenged to phrase it lightly, if not annoyed and confused. Personally, I was deeply concerned seeing Sherlock’s behaviour mirroring this:

a) always looking into his phone (heart) as if he is searching for a way to be distracted from everyone around him (especially John, it seems to me).

b) always multitasking and being totally restless.

Watching and knowing how he was acting throughout all the other seasons was kind of painful. He reminded me of a lost child that does not know how to act and therefore wants to distract from his flaws (”All hearts are broken. Caring is not an advantage.”). I remembered that TAB was the trigger of Sherlock’s humanisation. And I wondered at once: Is Sherlock trying to cope with his emotions, rushing below the surface in order to finally be spoken out, by intermixing everything with cases?

Anyway, I think that everyone will agree with me: This overdose of information thrown at the audience without any mercy does not indicate things to be healthy and balanced. It’s neither a clever move by the creators if not intended nor feeling anything but uncomfortable. We are left to the only logical conclusion: It is utterly done on purpose, and we should feel that things are on the verge of “out of control”.

Now, leaving the emotional effect aside and looking at it from an analytic point of view: What is the purpose of mentioning all of these cases? Mirroring. Sometimes it is quite vague, but I tried to figure out possible allusions:

“Dusty Death”: “Falmouth” may be reference to Ajay’s attitude towards Mary as a liar – “false mouth”. Death meaning heart-break; who broke someone’s heart that episode by using “so many lies”? Right: Mary. And John is the victim. The fact that the cause of death is not what it seems to be could be a hint that it is not really Mary’s lies and death that breaks John’s heart at the end of this episode.

Mr Hatherley’s case: This is direct reference to ACD’s The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb (summary here). It’s important to note that Holmes fails to bring the criminals to justice in this case. Mr Hatherley is an engineer who gets injured (cut off thumb) and is under threat, because he knows too much about a press he is hired to examine. One might also say: He did not just see, but observe, too, and that caused him to be in danger. Since “Hatherley” is presumably a mirror for Sherlock Holmes and - in TST - it is not Hatherley’s thumb Sherlock gets to see, it is a twisted way of the canon story and therefore an indicator that something is wrong with Sherlock as well; it also alludes to the way Sherlock is always troubled by his extraordinary observation skills, “causing” Mary’s “death” at the end of TST.

“The Duplicate Man”: “It’s never twins.” AGAIN. I am so bothered by this one. Why put it in there if there is no point in considering this option? Except it is the only plausible solution. I have been thinking about a twin series 4 for a while now, to be honest. It may be improbable, but I am willing to believe it, because it is not impossible. Another interpretation leads to EMP theory co-existing with John’s Bungalow and allusions to reality bleeding into dreams/the unreliable narrator.

“The Circus Torso” and “The Canary Trainer”: Because they are solved and popping up at the same time and sharing an acronym (TCT), I assumed that they are mirrors for one another. This one ties to the unreliable narrator and John’s Alibi theory: It may be far-fetched, but I think Andrew Wilson (TCaT) is a mirror for John Watson, because their last names share the first letter and are almost identical. When deciphered, it means this: John is unusual, because his “hobbies” are solving crimes and blogging about it. He is the one who kills Mary, though does not seem to have any connection to it. Nobody would have guessed it, because it appears to be improbable. Only Sherlock knows the truth. Additional information from TCiT: Since we know that Mary has a tattoo and the unidentified victim has one, too, we come to the conclusion that they are mirrors (meaning that Mary is actually dead). “Waterloo station” ties to the heavy water symbolism of series 4 (water represents calculation and lack of emotion), meaning it was a rational choice - by whomever committing the murder - to kill Mary off.

“The Cardiac Arrest”: Though short, this one will get quite long: This mirroring is appearing very often in “Sherlock”: one sibling killing/strangling the other (in TBB, Sherlock gets nearly strangled to death by a Mycroft-mirror; in TBB, Soo Lin, a Sherlock-mirror, is shot by her older brother Zha Zhu, said Mycroft-mirror; in TGG, Westy gets pushed to death by his brother-in-law; in TST, Ajay tries to shoot his so called “family” blood sister Mary). It could refer to  future events as well as events that happened in the past. It is interesting that the killing brother is hinted to be unaware of his crime, because  he cannot remember it (memory alteration by TD-12?). I am almost  certain that this mirroring can only allude to two scenarios: a) Back in Sherlock’s past, Mycroft did something to Sherlock, which was so traumatising for him that his brain made him forget about it – like amnesia does. b) While Sherlock will be drugged and unaware of reality, he will kill Mycroft. “Families fall out.” (Ugh, that is not a nice thought.) There is another thought that crossed my mind: “Joel” is similar to “John” which could make him a John-mirror. Considering the fact that Joel was living with someone he always seemed to get along with well, but was murdered by without the murderer being aware of it, it could mean that Mr Fentiman is a mirror for Sherlock for he was Joel’s flatmate. This is foreshadowing for their heartbreakingly shattered relationship in series 4 (especially TLD): Without being aware of and culpable for it, Sherlock hurt John to the extent of a divide.

case about “a potential assassin lurking by”: Undoubtedly,  this is reference to A.G.R.A. It could either refer to Mary having lied to John (maybe she is still alive, “lurking by” without being noticed by John and Sherlock? Like some people theorise about her being actually around Sherlock and John after faking her death in order to manipulate them by the use of TD-12 and by repeatedly stating that she is not actually there, although, sometimes, she is indeed present?) or Ajay who is after Mary.

“The Lion’s Mane”: “You can’t arrest a jellyfish!” And another canon story adapted in a weird and twisted way: Knowing ACD’s “The Lion’s Mane”, one is alarmed hearing John say this line. Why? Because: He was not present when the case took place. Throughout this particular case, Watson is absent and Holmes states that he misses his companionship. We do not get a real reason for his absence, but well, who knows. Anyway, Holmes walks on the beach, as he discovers a body. At first, everybody assumes it was murder, but Holmes figures out that it was a jellyfish that killed the man. More important, this case includes a sad mirror for Holmes: a complicated, unsociable, strange but highly intelligent man called Murdoc whose only friend was the victim of the jellyfish. Because nobody liked him, everybody assumed that he was the murderer at first. After the case is solved, Murdoc expresses his deep pain and bitterness over the loss of his friend, a Watson-mirror. The whole case is about Sherlock Holmes missing John Watson and being lost without him. Accordingly, it is impossible for John to be the one to talk about that case. Decoded: We should be alarmed; things are twisted and totally messed up here.

But not only in TST we get new cases; there is an additional one at the end of TLD:

SHERLOCK (offscreen, angrily): Get out! (In the living room of 221B Sherlock – now clean-shaven, with his hair back into the proper SherCurls and wearing his usual suit – grabs the door handle and angrily pulls it open.) MALE CLIENT: She’s possessed by the Devil! (The angle changes to look at the middle-aged man. Beyond him, the horns of the skull on the wall above the dining table look as if they’re coming out of either side of his head.) MALE CLIENT: I swear my wife is channeling Satan! SHERLOCK (crossly): Yes, boring. (He gestures towards the landing.) Go away! (Making an exasperated sound, the man storms out of the room. His wife follows, turning to Sherlock as she passes him.) WIFE (exasperated): I’m not channelling Satan! SHERLOCK: Why not, given your immediate alternative? (He slams the door shut, then turns and walks towards the kitchen but stops when he sees a piece of paper lying on the floor in front of the small table in the corner. It had been blocked from his view by a cabinet behind John’s chair. Frowning, he goes down onto one knee to pick it up. His eyes widen when he realises that it’s Faith’s note.)

(transcript taken from here)

At first glance, this whole thing appears to be a weird decision for a case important enough to be mentioned, I know. But this one is actually quite telling: The husband is accusing his wife of being the devil, though, in reality, he is the one being framed with devil horns a.k.a. evil; even Sherlock picks up on the reversed roles (”given your immediate alternative”).

(Note: a) Moriarty is referenced to being the devil many times throughout the show. b) Mary has been framed with devil horns in TSoT the same way this client is.)

Thus, it is actually the husband Mary being the problem in the relationship evil. But, does this mean that she is the real Moriarty?

No: “She can’t be the devil and the antichrist.”

John is referencing Rosie here; but, we get to know that Rosie and Mary share a name, so they might be well-constructed mirrors. We know that Moriarty is the devil. Therefore, the only option that is left for Rosamund Mary is being the antichrist. And, in case you do not know what the antichrist is: He is a figure framing himself as the messiah and sort of claiming that Jesus is not the messiah, though the antichrist is actually an egoistic, manipulative psychopath (hello, Mary, that sounds quite a bit like you!). We clearly know: Mary is not the messiah, because it is already Sherlock taking that role.

In the end, it is Sherlock fighting Mary, then? And does John’s line mean that Mary and Moriarty are in cahoots and have created this mess together?

(More following in the next days.)