#system theory

[philosophiesde]

Guest article by Dr. Wolfgang Stegemann: Emergence of Consciousness

The essay published here is by my highly esteemed colleague in epistemology, Dr. Wolfgang Stegemann, with whom I have had the pleasure of exchanging some very inspiring and insightful discussions in real life and in my comments section. This resulted, for example, in a successful joint venture on the origin of life, evolutionary theories from a structural realist and systems theory perspective. I therefore also share Wolfgang's preference for topics relating to the theory of knowledge and science. However, what also separates us a little are our different approaches and concepts for describing the phenomenon of “consciousness”. In my view, Wolfgang always wants to link consciousness with the special cognitive abilities of the human brain and locate everything there. He therefore rejected my somewhat more basal interpretation of the phenomenon as a simple structural coupling of brains (nervous systems) with their bodies and the environment, which does not require an “inner representation”. For this reason, I was not surprised that Wolfgang now comes up with the “old hat magic trick” of “emergence” (please forgive my flippancy ;-), which he now tries to interpret physiologically. For the above reasons, you can perhaps understand why I am not an outspoken fan of “emergence theories”, as in my opinion they still fail to explain the change in the properties of the state and continue the “#body-#consciousness #dualism” in a new guise. But this is not a “concert of wishes” and since the philosophy and science blog “philosophies” stands for a plurality and liberality of opinions and concepts, I would prefer to leave the evaluation of Wolfgang's essays to the inclined readership. In any case, I am delighted with Wolfgang's very well-researched guest article and also with the numerous comments and discussions on his theses. But for now, he has the floor. More at: https://philosophies.de/index.php/2024/09/15/emergenz-des-bewusstseins/

[whos-the-seme]

Shen Qingqiu was doomed.

He stood still, fluttering his fan nervously and trying to avoid catching his counterpart's, the real Shen Qingqiu, glaring eyes from across the room. Instead, he idly observed the other Cang Qiong Mountain Peak Lords, trying to spot the differences between the ones he knew and their alternates.

Liu Qingge had brought back a strange artifact from one of his hunts to the monthly Peak Lord meeting. It was a mirror, rimmed an ugly tarnished gold, topped with a decoration that was shaped into an unidentifiable creature with ruby red eyes.

[Important Artifact Detected: Red-Eyed Sphinx's Mirror! Quest starting...]

Shen Qingqiu had been trying to remember where it might have appeared in PIDW when the surface of the mirror suddenly began to glow a dull yellow. It quickly brightened until it obscured everyone's vision.

And then, there stood another set of peak lords across the room, facing them down.

System, what on earth is going on???

[Quest started: Lost Long Spirit in My Reflection! Other characters have been transported to this universe. Host must find a way to send them back without revealing his identity as a transmigrator.]

WTF? I didn't agree to this!

[Good luck!]

System??? Get back here!

While the two Yue Qingyuans and Xu Qinglis conversed together to try to understand what had happened, the other peak lords had begun to mingle with each other, curious about their counterparts.

Shen Qingqiu tried to suppress his panic, sticking close to Shang Qinghua. His Yue Qingyuan occasionally flicked his softened gaze towards the alternate Shen Qingqiu, likely noticing that the other still acted as he used to before his qi deviation. In fact, several of the peak lords he had gotten to know over the years were sending some looks at the other Shen Qingqiu.

With the original goods right there, how long would it be before something exposed him as a fraud?? What if he was confronted about why he acted so differently?

[Host must avoid having his identity exposed. Being revealed as a transmigrator will result in Host being immediately sent back to his old body.]

Yeah, yeah, same shit as always!

Looking to his side, Shang Qinghua seemed to be experiencing the same threats, desperately looking away from the more dead-eyed Shang Qinghua across the room who, luckily, was barely paying him any attention.

Fuck, what do we do?

---

Shen Qingqiu continued to glare at the Other Shen Qingqiu in the room. The other Shen Qingqiu was so obviously a fraud, he could tell within minutes of being here. While his alternate seemed somewhat familiar, he didn't act like him at all, his mannerisms were all off, and despite the attempt at keeping a poker face, Shen Qingqiu could tell that he was nervous. Probably at being caught out.

His alternate self had likely been replaced with a bodysnatcher or some sort of spirt, if they truly were supposed to be the same person. Was everyone else stupid, or had they had their brains sucked out by a Heart Mouthed Lobster-Squid?

Or maybe they simply like the bodysnatcher better and didn't bother to investigate.

Shen Qingqiu's face became stormier, turning his glare to the Other Yue Qingyuan, wondering if he had felt happier once his precious Xiao-Jiu had vanished. The other Yue Qingyuan's face grew even more pathetic. Tch. Typical.

"That stupid System--" Shen Qingqiu nearly snapped his neck in looking at the bodysnatcher upon hearing his murmur. The fraud, upon noticing his sudden attention, clammed back up and looked away. But Shen Qingqiu knew what he heard.

Xi Tong.

He hadn't heard those words in years, not since--

He stepped forward, scanning the other once more. Upon a second, more thorough look, Shen Qingqiu realized that he grew more familiar. He wore his hair in the way that Shen Qingqiu wore it, but looser and less severe. His eyes were clearer and lighter, with hints of a smile, despite his nerves. He occasionally quickly glanced up and to his left, as if seeing something there, before bringing his attention back to the room at large.

No. It couldn't be. He was long dead, despite Shen Qingqiu's best efforts. Even if the fake had some similar things about him, that doesn't mean--

Shen Jiu had once had a brother, besides Qi-ge. Slightly smaller than him, despite the fact that Shen Jiu passed him along as much food as he could when on the streets. He smiled so much despite their circumstances, and was so kind despite Shen Jiu constantly telling him that he was making himself a target. But he looked so, so similar to Shen Jiu himself. They could have switched their clothes and looked exactly the same, if one didn't notice the difference in their demeanors.

His brother has also always been a little odd, talking to himself and arguing with an imaginary friend that only he could see named Xi Tong. One of the reasons that they survived as long as they did on the streets was due to the inexplicable knowledge that his brother seemed to have. Somehow, his brother knew about the various plants or small animals that they could hunt and sell for a pretty coin in the markets. Shen Jiu never asked, not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

But his brother was dead. He had died years ago, in the time during when they were in Qiu's manor. During a punishment for Shen Jiu's attempt to get them both to join Wu Yanzi; he had switched their clothes and taken Shen Jiu's place and died for it. That had been the final catalyst that made him set the manor ablaze and escape, mourning his brother's death as his fault for daring to be free. Cursing Qi-ge for not coming back for them.

Dazed and his vision dim, Shen Jiu took another step forward, and another. Hope, something he thought he had killed off long ago, slowly rose in his chest.

Had his brother survived in this world? Had he managed to escape alongside Shen Jiu? Or had Shen Jiu died in his place? Dimly, he can't help but think that the world would be far kinder if that were the case. If his brother had made it to Cang Qiong Mountain and became a peak lord all on his own and still managed to keep his smile. If he didn't have Shen Jiu dragging him down with him.

The other Shen Qingqiu, not having noticed his approach, laughed at something the other Shang Qinghua said ("Wonder if Shang Qinghua is a traitor here, too," Shen Jiu thought dimly). His laugh was the same. He rose his fan to hide his face, but Shen Jiu noticed how his nose crinkled, and his eyes nearly closed in delight, exactly like--

"A-Yuan?"

[haedia]

Regarding the color choices of the Venatori and those that oppose them:

Not sure many people know this, but when you look at blood red for a long time, then look away, the afterimage "color" is a blue-green (a color theory/color history side note: this reaction is in part why in the Munsell color system, red is the opposite of blue-green and not green).

Venatori are black and red. Neve Gallus' colors are primarily white and teal as a one-to-one contrast to them. Same goes for Dorian. Red will always be part of Tevinter and Minrathous but the blue-green and teals are a deliberate choice for contrast.

In real life, staring at a single color for a long time can strain the eyes and that strain compounds when you look away and your eyes get to stare at something else. But, if you're surrounded by that color's afterimage "color", the eye strain ends up being less impactful. It helps you keep going. It's for this reason that surgeons and surgeries often use blue green, blues, and greens in the operating space. It helps reduce eye strain and makes it possible for operations to resume for longer with less fatigue (at least in regards to the eyes).

From the blood red rises the opposite, for those that want change. It's such a poetic color choice for Neve and Dorian.

[bixels]

As cameras becomes more normalized (Sarah Bernhardt encouraging it, grifters on the rise, young artists using it), I wanna express how I will never turn to it because it fundamentally bores me to my core. There is no reason for me to want to use cameras because I will never want to give up my autonomy in creating art. I never want to become reliant on an inhuman object for expression, least of all if that object is created and controlled by manufacturing companies. I paint not because I want a painting but because I love the process of painting. So even in a future where everyone’s accepted it, I’m never gonna sway on this.

if i have to explain to you that using a camera to take a picture is not the same as using generative ai to generate an image then you are a fucking moron.

[cosmicportal]

Our solar system.

[spoonie-girl-next-door]

[wandixx]

GIW made a lot of mistakes and the biggest one was going against Young Justice part 2

part one is here

@whimsicalchaosgarden you asked to be tagged, sorry it took so long

Trigger warnings: mentions of experimentation and dehumanization (tell me if there is more appropriate way of phrasing it)

“So,” Robin started, taking the voice recorder out of his utility belt. “It'll probably be best if we get an explanation while making an accident report. This way we get it all over sooner”

Everyone agreed with this idea, standing in the loose circle in the debriefing area to make it all feel more serious. They had limited time before the next batch of cookies needed to be taken out of the oven and there was no way they all wouldn't devolve into chaos when it happened. M’gann knew from experience. 

To make sure they wouldn't take too long and cookies wouldn't turn on the fire alarm (again) both she and Danny set a timer.

In the meantime they had to learn who actually attacked them earlier.

“Phantom do the honors”

Danny froze for a moment, looking like deer caught in the headlight before he asked in a bit squeaky voice:

“How do I make an accident report?”

“Just say what happened but make it sound fancy,” Artemis explained. 

“Make a mission report and we'll fix it along the way,” Kaldur proposed.

“Answer ‘When? Where? Who was involved? What happened? What have you done about it?’ without excessive use of puns to avoid Bat-lecture” Robin helped, already in handstand.

“Bat-lecture? Really Rob?”

“So it's like lab report lite” Danny said before Robin did anything more than squawk indignantly “Alright, I can do it. Do you have any set phrase to start? And which accident report is it, in the database?"

“44th… How about ‘[Hero name], report’? Sounds serious enough.”

Everyone agreed, so after a moment of silence Kaldur did the honors.

“Phantom, report”

Danny straightened, rolling his shoulders back and locked his eyes in the middle distance. It was a bit eerie how fast he went from relaxed and goofy to almost emotionless statue. M’gann wished to never encounter it again, thank you very much.

“Incident report no. 45 made by Young Justice member Phantom, regarding an attack from earlier today, 26th April 20XX. The Young Justice Team, later referred to as the Team, went on a trip to an amusement park staying currently in the city of Happy Harbour. It was an activity meant to strengthen interpersonal relationships within the Team, previously green-lit by Red Tornado. Every member was in civilian attire as per protocol. Around 3:15 PM, after two and a half hours, the Team were disturbed by a group of ten armed people, recognized by member Phantom as belonging to Ghost Investigation Ward, colloquially known as GIW or Guys In White because of their uniforms. Later in the report the organization will be referred to as the GIW. Two shots were fired by the assailants, targeting but not reaching member Phantom. Members of the GIW were hostile but with use of humor and threat of legal actions, the Team managed to diffuse the situation before it endangered passerbys. Despite direct attack, none of the Team members’ identities were compromised. Assailants left the confrontation with belief that Phantom left his ectoplasmic signature on an unrelated civilian. Agents refused to admit they were working for the GIW since its operations break a couple of laws of the state Rhode Island. Because of that, their appearance was reported to local law enforcement and taken care of. No injuries or damage to the city infrastructure were sustained other than two burns in the asphalt in the place of confrontation. Required follow-up with local law enforcement in civilian attire as victims of assault. End of report” Danny sighed, easing back into a more natural position. “This good?” he asked, with a sheepish smile.

“Perfect”

“How are you so good at reporting? You didn’t even know what to do a second ago? That’s just unfair”

“I used to write my parent’s lab reports. It’s pretty similar in form”

“Lab-”

“Follow-up to the report only, Kid-Flash,” Robin interrupted “Phantom. elaborate on who were the assailants”

Danny stepped back from himself again.

“GIW is a ghost hunting organization supported and accredited by the state government in Illinois, legally operating also in states Wisconsin and Ohio. Their goal is to catch and examine ecto-entities to learn more about their biology and ways to obliterate them. Obviously their plans for experimentation don’t include consideration of ghosts’ well-being”

“Damn, that’s messed up”

“They wouldn't catch a blob ghost if they tried,” Danny shrugged, though something was wrong with the gesture. She wasn't sure though, so she moved on.

“Then why were you scared?” M’gann pressed on instead.

“My parents… are, you know, prominent ghost hunters so when GIW opened we all got a tour around the whole building. The lab was… it made me imagine things I wished I had never thought about”

“They have labs? Like evil labs?” Robin perked up like a kid who just heard that Christmas came early. “How could you hide it from us?!” he added, falling to hang on Danny's shoulder. He twirled a bit to catch the left one even though before he stood on halfa’s right side. Dramatic as always “Conner, we have a birthday gift for you!”

“What does GIW’s lab have to do with my birthday?”

“The potential!” Robin yelled, straightening for a better effect.

Everyone started laughing. Well, everyone other than Conner who just looked at them confused.

“He probably wants to storm another lab, bring up nostalgia of our first meeting,” Kaldur calmed down just enough to explain.

“Tell me you wouldn't like to punch an evil scientist,” Wally added, almost dropping to the floor. 

“This does sound nice”

“And THIS is exactly the reason why I haven't told you all. Thanks for spoiling my surprise Rob,” Danny lied, though he did his best to sound truthful. He even projected some false mirth.

It would take much more to trick M’gann though. She abruptly stopped laughing.

“You're lying. Why actually haven't you told us?” she demanded maybe a little too harshly, but she was worried. Everyone froze for a moment, before turning to look at Danny.

“They're all bark no bite, and aim worse than Stormtroopers’, so I haven't considered them important enough to report”

Other's didn’t know, of course, but M’gann knew just how terrified Danny was during the confrontation and how echoes of that fear soured air around him even hours later.

Everyone did realize this explanation was a tone of bullshit though. 

Apparently incredulous stares were enough of the response.

“You and the Justice League have more important things to deal with than some shitty local laws”

“Bullshit again,” Artemis burst her lips “This is exactly what Justice League is for”

“I already found people to help me lobby against them”

“And why aren't we on the list?” 

Danny fell silent, not looking anyone in the eyes, which was quite a feat considering they had him in a half circle. M’gann considered moving to his side to show her support. Stare down like that had to be quite stressful.

Why not actually. She stepped closer, and drew him in the loose side hug. Danny tensed, which wasn't abnormal for him. He usually relaxed in about thirty seconds, if he didn't, she'd let go.

“I didn't expect them to breach the containment…”

“Each of these lies is worse, you know? Like, insulting our intelligence level of worse,” Artemis interrupted once more, pinning him with her eyes alone “Give us truth or stop talking”

Danny raised his head to look back at Artemis and mimed zipping his mouth shut and throwing the key away. 

“Really?”

Boy just shrugged, not breaking eye contact.

“Alright, let's move on to the next question, how did it get approved in the first place?” Wally interrupted, waving his hand between them. They both shook off like dogs fresh out of water.

“Couldn't you wait five more seconds until I won?” 

“Ha! You wish Artemis. Though you could give us a moment”

“I gave you literal ages”

Danny snorted “Sorry, I keep forgetting how impatient you are”

“Oh shut up, my brain is just faster than yours, you slowpokes”

“Sure, sure”

“He made a good point,” Kaldur said “This shouldn’t even pass. And even if, you’re legally a Meta”

“Normal ghosts aren’t and halfas being a thing is not exactly common knowledge among the living”

“I’ll never get used to this distinction”

“I believe in you, Rob”

“What about ‘Extraterrestrial, extradimensional and otherwise previously unincluded’ Optional Protocol to the ‘International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights’?”

“Oh my god Conner, you’re the only person to say the whole name ever”

“Hey!”

“It all comes down to the definition of the ghost and the fact that Alien addition uses sentience and sapience as a ground to give anyone said rights. And also, US signed it but didn’t ratify it so…”

“Isn’t it same thing?”

“Nope. I thought so too, but apparently signing anything means nothing unless it’s also ratified, so I’m kinda fucked. Can’t even get the UN to frown at them disapprovingly, because officially, nothing was agreed to. And you know, even if they ratified it, ecto-scientists conducted enough research to prove we aren’t sapient enough to have these rights anyway. Just most of the states didn’t need to make a law out of it”

“That’s rough buddy”

“Are you really quoting Avatar at me right now? Really Artemis?”

“Yes”

“Wasn’t Avatar this movie with blue people? I don’t think they said that there”

M’gann wasn’t quite sure why human members seemed to be appalled by the question.

“We’re going to fix that later-”

“What exactly is there to be fixed, because I feel like we’re talking about to different things”

“- but for now can we go back to the whole ‘ghosts have no rights in Illinois’ thing” Robin continued, completely ignoring Conner’s questions.

“Illinois, Wisconsin and Ohio. There are portals to the Zone in two of these states. GIW already tried to send nuke through one of them”

“How Americana of them,” Kaldur muttered.

“If you have another insane tidbit about them, please share it all now. My mind can’t utilize any more revelations like that”

“I handled it, don’t worry”

“Someone tried to nuke literal Afterlife…”

“Yup, get on the schedule Kid Flash. You’re supposed to be fast”

M’gann knocked her arm into his, kinda as a ‘don’t be mean’ message. Danny kinda tensed, but soon relaxed back and moved his head as if he wanted to lay it on her shoulder. Excitement of the day was clearly catching up to him.

M’gann wouldn’t be mad if he did laid his head there.

“Why do we learn about it just now?”

“I wrote the report, not my fault you haven’t read it”

“Can’t fault us for assuming we’d know every important thing from your endless bitching!”

Danny straightened and laughed, in this horrible humorless way that made M’gann want to claw at her brain until she couldn’t hear or sense any of it.

Instead, she brought her other hand up and just held him tighter.

Thankfully the whole spectacle didn’t last long.

“It’s cute that you think I bitch about anything important”

“Phantom…”

“Don’t Phantom me right now. Even if by some miracle they managed to send the missile to the Zone, it most likely wouldn’t have worked. They’re mostly just a joke.”

“They managed to shot you. Right upper arm or shoulder”

“Don’t deny it, we’ve seen you wince when I leaned on you and when M’gann hugged you”

Martian tried to let go hearing that, but Danny held her in place. She stayed where she was but carefully moved her hand away from the slightly damp area on his shirt. She suddenly caught on everything that was wrong with him, now that she knew to look for it.

“I got worse from the hand of my house’s security system”

“You… understand that it’s… like… way worse, right?”

“You don’t know life until you hear threats of dissection against your alter ego after stopping death ray with bowl of cereal,” he said, relaxing more into her side again. He sounded absolutely exhausted.

“Do you want to move in here? Until we deal with this whole GIW and assorted mess?” she said instead. Conner nodded, surprisingly eager to share the space that he considered somewhat sacred.

“Nope, I’m good, I’m needed there”

“You could Zeta- yeah, no, nevermind, it wasn’t good idea. But we could make it work”

“You still should-”

“It’s fine. I mean, I have it handled and it doesn’t affect that many people. And we’re working on it. It’s fine”

“It really is not,” Conner growled.

“You need your arm patched up” M’gann demanded, ignoring previous conversation, with eyes still fixed on the blood that stained her forearm. She should’ve destroyed at least Operative K.

“I bandaged it up”

“It soaked through then. Let’s go to med–”

Loud shrill interrupted her, because of course it did.

“Oh, look, convenient distraction! Let’s take the cookies out before they get burned!”

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow,” M’gann stated in a way that allowed no argument “You’re getting away for now only because I’m holding most of your weight right now”

“Sure we will. And I can stand on my own, thank you very much”

“I’ve heard many lies today and this might be the worst of them. We’re going to Medbay as soon as the cookies are out”

“You’ve got it boss”

[amutamika]

"We've been dating for 6 years."

No one can convince me that Mobei Jun wasn't sure that he is dating Shang Qinghua, while the latter never even caught on to Mobei Jun's feelings for him.

Like... Mobei Jun always suspected something. And it became abundantly clear to him when Shang Qinghua explained that someone acts pathetic and weak to get the attention of a 'straight man'. Like, he even asked again to be sure. Shang Qinghua though never thought about the implications this would bring. That guy has been crawling before Mobei Jun since the beginning. Nevermind all the crying and begging. So no wonder Mobei Jun - knowing jack shit about human courting or courting in general for that matter - just assumes that Shang Qinghua must have been flirting all the time. ALL THE FUCKING TIME!

His hypothesis even gets proven when Mister double agent saves Mobei Jun from falling at the boss battle. That's the reason Mobei Jun takes this idiot with him when his father died. Just to hear that Shang Qinghua wants to leave?! Like, he brought him to meet his (dead) dad and that guy breaks up with him. Just to come back and save him again? Shang Qinghua almost gets killed here.

All the while Shang Qinghua is not an ounce wiser. Yes, Mister Ice Prince has gotten nicer. But what's there to it? He saves him, even after cursing him out. But that's just because he wants his loyal servant back, right? It doesn't help that Master Airplane shooting towards the Sky hasn't had any dating experience either. Especially not with someone so emotionally stunned like Mobei Jun.

And so Mobei thinks they are definitely a thing. He even celebrates their anniversary. Never kisses Shang Qinghua because he always looks annoyed when Luo Binghe talks about how good of a kisser Shen Qingqiu is. So he just assumes that his idiot doesn't like kisses. Meanwhile Shang Qinghua is seething because how has he been isekaid into his own novel without even getting laid??

The whole thing comes out when Luo Binghe finally asks when those two will finally marry each other. Following Shang Qinghua denying that they even are in a relationship and Mobei Jun stating that he is unsure if 6 years (random number, don't come for me) of a relationship is enough to get married.

[localtheorycorner]

Little Shen Jiu theory

I know that the fandom likes to the joke that Shen Jiu hates men and is noted to have feminine traits, but I think his feminine traits go deeper than just him having those traits. Have you ever noticed that no woman in PIDW has ever been truly punished by Bingge? Sure, he might get angry with them, but he doesn't ever actually harm them/intend to punish them because Bingge finds comfort in women, like how Shen Jiu does. Although in different ways (Bingge uses them for sex and for love, but Shen Jiu just feels more comfortable within the presence of a woman.)

Yet, Bingge is the most gruesome towards Shen Jiu, aka the only person who has feminine traits to ever be harshly punished/tortured by Bingge in PIDW. While Shen Jiu did do horrible things to Bingge, I feel as if he wasn't the only one who did extremely horrible things against him. For example, the people who beat Bingge when he was a child for trying to take some food for his sick mother before she died. Yet, there is no explicit punishment for those people, aka people who may or may not have indirectly killed Bingge's adoptive mother. Which is weird because this is the type of slight that Bingge would never let slide, yet he does. Even Qin Wanyue takes advantage of Bingge because she coerces him into having sex with her.

There's been a lot of people who have definitely wronged him, but the focus of revenge is put so much on Shen Jiu. And I think I know why; it's because all the women in PIDW are supposed to love Bingge/ be a comforting towards him. They're supposed to be submissive, find him attractive, and unconditionally support them no matter their background. Human, demon, cultivator, etc. It's one of the universal laws of PIDW. But Shen Jiu is not submissive, caring, or loving towards the protagonist despite some of the traits he shares with women. (The distrust of men, his reliance on his intelligence and focuses less on brute strength, his damaged spiritual veins, him waiting for Yue Qi to come back aka yearning, him being able to be empathetic towards courtesans without looking at them in lust, the way he dresses, his fans, etc.) All these traits sound like the traits one of Bingge's harem members.

You could imagine it too; an intelligent and powerful cultivator cold towards the protagonist because of their distrust of men, but uh oh, their poor spiritual veins are damaged and now need to dual cultivate with a heavenly demon. Shen Jiu is the perfect mold for a female character like this. But, he lacks the most important trait, he doesn't love the protagonist. Women in PIDW are allowed to be a little mean towards Bingge, but they never hate him. Shen Jiu does hate him though, he'll never love him.

So, the PIDW universe punishes this error in the universe because women are supposed to love Bingge, including Shen Jiu because of his characteristics he may share with love interests. Shen Jiu defies this rule so he gets punished the harshest. Women bring comfort to Bingge but Shen Jiu would rather die than even give Luo Binghe a glimpse of hope. And that's why Shen Jiu gets the worst punishment. Not because he was a horrible person to Bingge, no, it was because he broke the rules of the universe and had to be punished.

[scumvillainess]

while i don’t really believe in the ‘shen yuan is shen jiu reincarnated’ theory, the concept of shen yuan insulting the person who’s body he’s currently possessing only to find out that was him later on in the novel would’ve been the funniest thing ever because damn you’ve really been insulting yourself this entire time

[probablyasocialecologist]

Everything we think we know about the world is a model. Every word and every language is a model. All maps and statistics, books and databases, equations and computer programs are models. So are the ways I picture the world in my head—my mental models. None of these is or ever will be the real world.

Donella H. Meadows, Thinking in Systems: A Primer

[fins0up]

"unpopular opinion" (that should be popular): i think public schools should start teaching ab intersex people.

[snortslaxatives]

Not to be really annoying and go ‘well actually’ to the joke about how silcos a twink who probably didn’t do shit in the mines and that miners all look like vander and are these big buff burly dudes is very much some propaganda in ur brain and not the reality of what conditions are like for miners from impoverished communities. You know they use children in mines bc they’re small right. If you’ve consumed any footage showing messed up mining communities that exists irl, like people who work in cobalt mines in Congo, they’re muscular, but at a glance, they’re not jacked and look pretty average. I think a lot of people are surprised seeing that they tend to be small and lanky for people doing hard manual labor all day, but that comes from not being able to afford enough quality food. You have to eat a ton of calories to get built, and that isn’t something many people who work in mines have.

[bitchesgetriches]

✨NEW POST!✨

Anti-Goblin Mode: The Game I Play Every Day to Reprogram My Disorganized Brain 

It’s finally time to talk about Anti-Goblin Mode: my secret holy grail technique for conquering executive dysfunction in my home, my work, and my life in general.

I’ve never written about it before. It seemed too personal and too silly to share. But since I discovered it, I’ve used it nearly every day of my life—and the transformation has been permanent and incredible. And as our patrons demanded an article on becoming organized, its time has come!

One of the best pieces of general life advice I’ve ever received is this: never ask a natural talent to be your teacher. If they came out of the womb composing piano sonatas, don’t ask them to teach you piano! They literally don’t understand the experience of not knowing what they know! This holds true in organization, too. I find that most “organizational systems” were written by people with a natural talent for organization. Y’know—monsters who can keep a white rug clean. Their advice shouldn’t be trusted. Instead, the best teachers are people who struggled and persevered in the face of mediocrity.

On this point, I’m happy to attest that neither nature nor nurture set me up to be an organized person. I grew up the undiagnosed ADHD child of an undiagnosed ADHD parent who was also a hoarder! That means I’ve earned my organized life valiantly, on the battlefield.

So how? How did I become an organized person? I’m happy to tell you it’s not rigid, or complicated, or super philosophical, or time-consuming. I developed a game to help me do it. It’s very simple, but it’s transformed my life for the better. And I hope it might help you too.

KEEP READING.

Did we just help you out? Say thanks on Patreon!

[solarsapphos]

// blood / injury, alcohol use, minor nudity, and soyona kicking a puppy in hell

More assorted brokerlynn doodles eek

Cough go follow @/monoem @/swagmaster47 and @/patchodraws they inspired most of these and they're all peak

People in my asks im coming for you next none of you are safe....

[fluffywing-e-tarot]

Cang Qiong Moutan sect world building

So had a wild thought. While researching for some color meaning for Twins of Separate Paths. I came across this:

And my brain got thinking. What if Cian Qion's specific colors were in a cardinal direction?

So any of the peaks that are in the dominant direction would have those as their colors.

And Narratively, this also makes sense.

Bai Zhan and Qing Jing are close neighbors.

While Qiong Ding Peak is important to the sect. It was able to be infiltrated, isolated, and attacked. By Sha Hualing, they did so with a decent-sized force without raising the alarm. Sha Hualing did so with a hit-and-run tactic in mind for afterward.

Ah Ding is the center point financially and physically. The fanon color is also Yellow. Even if yellow also has connections to imperial meanings.

So in conclusion, however you want to have the layout of the Cian Qion Mountain sect to be. We could change the entire meaning of the story just with color representation alone in this theoretical world-building