#spring drive

[watchilove]

Two faces of Grand Seiko's craftsmanship: Masterpiece Collection Hand-engraved Manual-winding Spring Drive Limited Edition Ref. SBGZ009 and Evolution 9 Collection Tentagraph Ref. SLGC001

Grand Seiko tends to be relatively unknown to the general public. Except for a relatively low number of collectors and enthusiasts, this magnificent Japanese brand is mainly associated with affordable Seiko watches and not with exceptional craftsmanship. The brand from the land of the rising Sun is known to have an austere aura with straight lines, simple dials and good movements. But the Nippon…

[janasojka]

Night drive, daffodils.

[snoopylovessoup]

[baizhu-big-naturals]

sweet divinity

[coolvintagecars]

Chevrolet El Camino (1977)

[bittsandpieces]

took some titty pics in the blooming apricot tree today. VERY romantic of me

[waterfallofspace]

the word 'hayfever' is currently driving me feral.

someone pausing, their eyes glossing over, mouth falling open, nose twitching, they spin away and sneeze- vocal and desperate, before turning back with an exasperated exhale, sniffling pathetically, and offering "hayfever" as an explanation, apology, and warning of what's still to come

[todayis-snowy]

touchstarved LIs and their matching alchemical processes

in attempting to achieve the magnum opus (creation of the philosopher's stone), alchemists devised a 12-step, and to each, a zodiac sign.

which is really good because i get to play theorist and attempt to link things together now :]

tldr: the alchemical processes give us a hint towards character motivations and very general guides for their routes i feel

Mhin - 1 - Calcination - Aries ♈︎

calcination is the thermal treatment of a solid chemical compound, raising it to high temperature without melting it under the restricted supply of oxygen to remove impurities or volatile substances

easy linkage to their desire to rid themself of their curse!

it is interesting how calcination is linked to very controlled fire (who else is linked to fire? kuras!) but more than that I like how it also stresses that the compound must not melt in order for calcination to be successful, could this hint at how carefully mhin (and by extension, the player) must tread in dealing with their curse?

Leander - 3 - Fixation - Gemini ♊︎

fixation is the process where a previously volatile substance is transformed into a form that is not affected by fire - this is done so by separating the substance and putting it back the same or in a different shape at a subatomic level

this honestly screams 'rebirth' to me which isn't surprising at all considering leander is also associated with ouroboros and the triple moon symbol which represent the same theme

it is interesting how fixation stresses the process of breaking something down to recreate it stronger, it's double interesting that making something stronger equals not being affected by fire

all in all leander's link to fixation is telling of his drive for power and knowledge, maybe even through self-destructive means. after all we still don't know where he got that scar from

Ais - 5 - Digestion - Leo ♌︎

digestion is the process where raw materials are transformed into a more purified or refined state - it's more symbolic than the biological digestion and refers more to how a substance undergoes a series of stages leading to its ultimate transformation

if anything, this process is a better link towards ocudeus than ais (who is acting as that fuckass octopus' agent, even if he doesn't know it yet) we know Ocudeus has consumed all challengers within the shroud and is now seeking to expand his domain into the real world after all

that means the raw materials can be seen as those who drink from the Seaspring and thus are transformed and join the groupmind as a big happy family!

it is interesting that many Monsters in the real world are simply bracing themselves for Ocudeus' inevitable onslaught, you'd think someone would warn the humans but at the moment everyone seems more willing to watch it all burn

Vere - 8 - Separation - Scorpio ♏︎

separation is the process where a previous mixture is separated into two or more distinct products in order to obtain purity

in more spiritual terms they highlight a need to distinguish the true self from acquired personality traits shaped by external influences

this one's also pretty obvious (for now...) as we know vere's gotten sick of the senobium and is viewing us, the player, as a new opportunity to get out from his chains

but this has also made me think, after a separation like that there is always waste and byproduct, how are we going to deal with the aftermath? and more importantly, after such a long time of being under the senobium's thumb, who is vere without them?

Kuras - 10 - Putrefaction/Fermentation - Capricorn ♑︎

putrefaction in the purely alchemical sense is linked to nigredo - in modern terms it's simply allowing something to rot undisturbed but I don't necessarily see the links between that and kuras' route unless of course we're supposed to think that kuras is the seed to rotting humanity (which is a bummer.) - putrefaction was necessary to cleanse and cook all alchemical ingredients necessary for the philosopher's stone into a uniform black matter

kuras' linkage to brimstone, sulfur, and divine fire/judgement also lend itself to this definition

cleansing fire and turning everything to ash seem just up kuras' alley in his journey to atonement, we just might get singed along the way

also interestingly nigredo in analytical psychology is also metaphorical for when an individual confronts the shadow within, which are very fitting for kuras' self-imposed guilt and turmoil

[toyastales]

Mercedes Benz

[exquisite-evans]

I think I’ll be crying about this forever actually!

[faaun]

what draws you back to your country what draws you back to your land when i was a kid i told myself if i ever left iran i'd never go back 2 years into living in the UK i started looking at news on iran again 10 years in and i visited it for the first time again and today i heard an iranian mother talk in farsi to her child on the train to london the way my mother used to and i wanted to cry i wanted to ask her whether they're still cutting the mountaintops whether the lakes are still drying today i showed the person i was with pictures of waterfalls and palaces and forests and snow-white north something odd pulls me back with increasing force i can't ignore it ever again

[janasojka]

NIGHT DRIVE, daffodils.

[moveslikekeithrichards]

i got a snow day today & i got to stay home yesterday bc the kids gave me strep (feeling p much 100% better now) and tomorrow is our valentimes/100th day of school shindig and friday we have a pd (no kids, free breakfast, leave at like 1:30, very chill day) and we have off monday and i get to go to art class tonight and watch a movie with my beloved friend this sunday and i should be so happy but i COULD not possibly feel more listless rn

[seabeck]

It’s raining sooo hard right now. The mushrooms must love this

[coolvintagecars]

Nash (1940)

[todayisafridaynight]