#value of critical analysis I guess

[garden-bug]

This post discusses the value of the application of moral values to stories not typically considered literature. Lit students and writers, enjoy (I can promise you it doesn’t go into much depth but hopefully it’s a little interesting).

Please only respond if you have read Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn. Do not respond based on the Ahsoka series or Filoni’s depiction of the character I don’t think Filoni understands this character either.

Just rbd somebody who thought the entire fandom was obsessed with good vs evil and applying certain moral values. Been thinking about this and can’t figure out what’s wrong with that in the slightest. Anyway, I need to know what we all think cause I’m curious now.

Some thoughts on the value of the application of moral values to stories below (read at your own risk oh my god sorry). Disclaimer: I am a literature student.

My experience of this fandom is positive overall. We like Thrawn but understand his moral ambiguity (unless… you don’t. In which case, what books have you been reading and do you understand what moral ambiguity is? It doesn’t mean he’s a ‘bad’ character. If anything it’s a good thing because it makes him more interesting. Compare morally ambiguous Zahn’s Thrawn to the much less ambiguous and more evil Filoni’s Thrawn. Which is a better character? See, we’re analysing morality here.)

Genuinely, if you picked one of the 100% options and have a good reason let me know why because that’s so interesting to me. You must have a very black and white world view.

For anyone who picked the last option, you’ve just undermined one of the major reasons we study literature and the value and intrigue of stories to society (and my uni degree lol). Interesting choice. You must have had some bad experiences in this fandom.

(Also DNI in that case. I’m not interested in a debate on whether critical analysis of morality is interesting you can read my final essay. Also BORING. CRINGE. Idk just DNI or do so I can block you I guess because interacting with someone when they said DNI is an interesting moral choice as well since we’re on the topic.)

As I said before, you can still enjoy a character and acknowledge (and appreciate) their moral flaws. ‘Good character’ and ‘good morals’ are not synonymous. Why does people talking about morality annoy you so much? I’m sure they appreciate the character more than you for it. (Unless they’re being 100% about it in which case fair enough that’s annoying BUT bear in mind it’s unrealistic to expect people to address the moral ambiguity of an entire story in a post about one specific aspect. Some people will tho they are cool.)

[baezdylan]

another day another book tainted by the presence of a screen adaptation and most of all: its male lead 🚬🚬🚬🚬🚬🚬🚬

[lucysweatslove]

I finished and submitted all my assignments from my rural thing. The last assignment was kind of hard; it was a reflection on the experience as a whole, the community, and also how we personally feel starting school after this. It’s not hard in the sense of actual cognitive difficulty with the material to cover and analyze, but rather, I wasn’t sure how to positively explain how I feel. WE all know here that I felt like shit most of the time, spent lunches crying in my car trying to nap and feeling alienated, spent evenings crying in the room overwhelmed and overstimulated and way too mf HOT, multiple times questioned if I made the right choice at all to enroll in this particular program. I don’t and never had doubted my love for medicine as a whole and my abilities to learn how to be a good doctor. But like, program specific fit? I doubted that.

So anyway since I didn’t have much room I tried to briefly state the concerns I have in a way that (hopefully) conveys my ownership of my role in this and what I learned I need to do / how I need to grow going forward. And then also focus on how I really did love the medicine side, and how (even though I question my “fit” with the culture at this one site) the experience has affirmed that rural care feels RIGHT for me. (Like I may be autistic and struggle assimilating into a mid-sized practice full of neurotypical extroverts, but the patient care aspect? The scope? The relationships you build? I know a lot of people view autism as “self focused” people who don’t care about those relationships, but that’s not MY autistic experience; my empathy and desire to care for the whole person, not just see them as a body, is one of my greatest strengths).

ANYWAY when I was finalizing and submitting that assignment, apparently my third assignment (the previous one, a patient interview + reflection) was graded. I didn’t know that my specific state’s track’s director (who I have a lot of contact with) would be the one to read and grade it. She had very positive feedback. But. Now I’m super super anxious about my last assignment. When I thought it was read and graded by somebody I’d never really interact with in person, it was easier to mention that I’m neurodivergent and yes, that lead to some problems that I need to address within myself. But now I feel… more open and raw. I didn’t tell my preceptors, I didn’t plan on telling anything who like, had any major dealings with me. Buuuut now it’s out there and fuck. 🙃

[xiaoshengnu]

𝕰𝖒𝖕𝖗𝖊𝖘𝖘𝖊𝖘 𝖎𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕻𝖆𝖑𝖆𝖈𝖊 - final review

overview : episode no - 76 episodes, genre - historical (gongdou)

a timeless classic, the slay to end all slays (and I mean literally and figuratively) empresses in the palace follows the story of zhen huan as she experiences life in the palace, hardening her from a sweet young girl to a stony empress dowager. 

l⃣e⃣ t⃣’ s⃣    b⃣e⃣g⃣i⃣n⃣

when I say you will never find a more iconic show ever in the whole of cdramaland, I mean never. empresses in the palace is an absolute juggernaut of a drama, it is absolutely insane, the writing, the drama, the characters, the absolute minute little details and its respect of the viewer’s intelligence- an A* and beyond. and it's internet and cultural presence in china? IN. SANE. 

o⃣u⃣t⃣     o⃣ f⃣     t⃣ e⃣ n⃣

𝖕𝖑𝖔𝖙 - 9/10

𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌 - 10/10

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖘 - 10/10

𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖉𝖚𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 - 10/10

𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕘𝕖 - 9.8

o⃣u⃣t⃣    o⃣ f⃣    f⃣ i⃣v⃣ e⃣

𝖍𝖎𝖉𝖉𝖊𝖓 𝖌𝖊𝖒 𝖛𝖆𝖑𝖚𝖊 - 💎💎💎💎💎

[ I know that when the drama first came out, it was considered pretty unique for how brutally it presented harem life, but even years later and amongst so many newer dramas which have borrowed tropes and ideas from it, I don’t think you’ll be able to find such an incredibly solid drama. a five gem.  ]

𝖗𝖊𝖜𝖆𝖙𝖈𝖍 𝖛𝖆𝖑𝖚𝖊 - ✨✨✨✨✨

[ it is so incredibly long and a pretty emotionally tolling drama - even longer than legend of haolan but it is just incredible, a full five star rewatch value ]

‘keep reading’ for detailed review

oh my god this drama.

oh my god.

where do I even begin? I remember watching my parents watch this drama when was I was still really young so I didn’t know what the show was called and what it was about, and although I didn’t remember the whole of this drama I could still remember some hazy snapshots pretty iconic scenes- like at the end where she does to sleep, or when she gets sent to the island- so when I finally decided to watch empresses in the palace a light bulb went off and I suddenly realised that THIS was the show that I'd remembered from my childhood. THIS was it. so it is quite nostalgic for me. 

it is honestly such a timeless classic, there’s nothing that will ever beat it. nothing. every fucking second of this thing has a purpose, and everything the characters say and do- and even the background of scenes have minute details which relate to the overall plot and trajectory of these characters. like the amount of YouTube videos analysing this one drama is insane. when critics praise a piece of visual art as a “living breathing organism”, “a masterpiece”- they mean this. 

𝖕𝖑𝖔𝖙 - 9

just. amazing. what can I say. there’s absolutely nothing that can beat this drama with how it wrote the plotting, the intrigue and the absolute cunning the women had to possess to stay alive in the palace. the ending of the drama is literally perfect. SO perfect. younger me thought legend of haolan was good- but compared to this? this is really truly another level. there’s so many instances in the drama where the drama never really tells you what exactly happened, but at the same time gives you just enough information to just guess what had gone on. equally, there are some times where there really doesn’t appear to be any scheming but with close analysis (and with the help of trusty youtubers) suddenly things become thrown into light. 

however, I had to knock down a few points because every plot has flaws and for this drama, I think it was mostly the use of tropes and the ‘female lead syndrome’ that sometimes quite clearly shows in the drama. There are also some areas in the drama where the plot does get shaky, but there is never not a reason why a scene is included in the drama. its just such a watertight drama. if you ever need to learn the art of show but don’t tell, this drama has it all. I love that sometimes it leaves it up to the viewer to work the plot out, which mirrors the way in which the concubines had to guess and predict in order to survive- which wasn’t always for certain or always accurate, almost literally pulling the viewer into the world of harem life.

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖘 - 10

I LOVE THE CHARACTERS UGH. I love them. they’re slays to end all slays. from zhen huan (the original girl boss, gatekeep, gaslight- FIGHT ME) to su peisheng- honestly so iconic. every single major character was well written, well developed and multi-dimensional, and no-one was evil purely for the sake of earning the drama cash. everyone in the drama gives you a reason to root for them, I found myself even feeling for the emperor in the end. 

𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖉𝖚𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 - 10

the production was beautiful- the lighting, costuming and makeup were literally so perfect it's unreal. so many iconic scenes came out of this drama- like the yimeiyuan (plum blossom garden) scene with it's beautiful moonlit set and plum blossom decked in snow.

 I love the designated colour palettes of the various concubines everything seemed very thought out to fit their personalities. consort hua was decked in bold colours and extravagant patterns, consort jing being calm and gentle was consistently dressed in soft blues and greens, while shen meizhuang is seen wearing mostly purples and pinks. one particular costume that lives in my mind rent free is zhen huan’s blue outfit with the white plum blossom embroidery in the episode 28- absolutely stunning.

𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌 - 10

honestly, if you took a shot for every time I've described this drama as perfect, you would definitely be on the floor by this point. The acting was absolutely now flawless. at no point in the drama did I ever feel drawn out of the story by the acting- sun li is jaw-dropping as zhen huan, her duality is absolutely insane and her crying scenes- ugh omg so good. 

.

.

𝖇𝖔𝖓𝖚𝖘!!

favourite character(s) :

zhen huan ( if your favourite character in this drama isn’t zhen huan, what are you doing???? she is an absolute icon in her own right. it’s literally impossible to not root for such a wonderful character- team zhen huan all the way )

consort hua / nian shilan ( ik ik, ik now she’s evil and everything, but I love her- she has a baseline which she will not cross and she does have a loyal heart. she loves the emperor almost unconditionally and while she would kill a concubine, she would never harm an unborn child. she seems to care for her servants, who are loyal in turn and I would argue that her being willing to employ a crippled eunuch is a sign of her more softer and caring side. and do I need even mention her snarky one liners?? slay. anyway that’s my essay in defence of consort hua )

ye lanyi ( a queen fr, she takes no-one’s shit )

.

𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖈𝖗𝖊𝖜 (source mydramalist)

lead actors : sun li, chen jianbin, cha silfun

director : zheng xiaolong 

screenwriter : wu xuelan

[hotdogdynamitezzz]

♧ Ignored Placements ♧

* We often talk about fixed signs and the angular houses the most in astrology due to their sexual reputations. But what about the placements with misunderstood reputations that aren't acknowledged by us at all?

* The most forgotten placements are mutable signs. Is it because they are more changeable than the rest or is it because we have failed to understand them and just ignore their importance? Let's talk about it.

♤ Taurus Moons - This exalted moon sign gets no credit or attention. They are sexy, have high values and morals, determined as hell, and quite reliable and practical people. A very intelligent placement actually as they're reasonable and factual individuals. They easily see through people and like to question phenomenons with their creative minds due to venus being the ruler. They tend to become lawyers and like political discussions a lot.

♧ Cancer/Pisces Mercury - Another ignored highly intelligent placement. Being water signs they absorb information quickly and retain it for a long time too. What seperates them from the rest is how strong their emotional IQ is. They can read a room and situation easily and pick up on underlying meanings. They are quite influential as they can control what people think to a certain extent making them a bit manipulative at times. But hey, a great placement for politicans as cancers can control the emotions in a room and pisces have higher knowledge being the spiritual sign.

♤ Gemini placements - They are not just chatterboxes, very rational and reasonable individuals who are naturally curious. Sometimes they act cold and detached but that's because they like to observe from a 3rd party standing. That way they can easily read people and question their motives and they're good at it to being ruled by mercury. They love puzzles and are great networkers. However a lot of Gemini placements aren't talkative and most are chill and understanding. They're incredibly logical and fun.

♧ Virgo placements - I only see people shit on virgos and they've got it all wrong. Virgo rules over the untouched and unreachable, purity, devotion, analysis and healing. It is represented by an angel and is tied to religion (virgin mary hi queen). Virgos aren't hypercritical or nags, they're picky and have necessary standards. But virgo rules over the maiden and was known for traditional beauty in old astrology. This makes them desirable and quite attractive, and explains why virgo rising is a common placement in models who are also seen as untouchable and represent high standards of traditional beauty. Another example is persephones mythology. She is ruled by virgo and made sacrifices to devote (virgo theme) her life to hades and purify him in a way. She was seen as desirable for her traditional beauty and faced a lot of jealousy but still remained faithful. She also has a light and dark side most virgo placements will experience in this life. So virgo placements (specifically the rising and venus) tend to be quite attractive and desirable yet they face traumatic sacrifices a lot of the time which originates their light and dark side. A virgo placement will often catch you off guard because you expect their mundane and perfected light persona. However, they can be dark too and go through an equal amount of trauma as scorpio due to them both being connected in mythology at a point. Honestly virgos can be batshit crazy and obssessive but it makes sense i guess, we just ignore it🤷‍♀️

♤ I often see people fail to mention how oversexualized virgo venus is. I only see people sympathizing with scorpio venuses but don't forget venus is at it's fall in virgo. Therefore the negative qualities of venus are felt with virgos nature. Usually this results in high amounts of jealousy shown towards them, the expectation to be ladylike and criticism of their looks, toxic relationships with other women, and a very low self esteem. The fact that kim kardashian and kylie jenner both have this placement shows how virgo venuses are forced to be sexual and are oversexualized in their persona but in reality they seem to feel restricted and have a disdain for sex a lot of the time. They are rejected for showing purity or provocation by the public, so sexuality has never been something they're comfortable with. I've met many who have this placement that tell me they feel restricted like they can't even explore sex or romance because OTHER people restrict and cticize them, wanting to keep them boxed in by their own standards of how a virgo venus should love or feel intimacy. There's a lot of unrecognized hurt that comes with this placement.

♧ Sagittarius placements - They are the adventurers meaning they seek and put their all into whatever they do. They aren't lucky they actually just work beyond what people think is possible. One of the most ambitious signs who can walk their talk. Most rappers actually have sagittarius placements because the sign that is a fiery and known as the philosopher would probably be a lyrical genius. They are good at connecting patterns and piecing things together. Gemini creates the puzzle and Sagittarius solves it. They are definitely the funniest placement but are in no way mean. They can be insensitive but most sagittarius are giving and understanding as they seek to understand. However they always think they're right and that can be annoying but whatever. There's always more than what meets the eye and sagittarius knows this, that's why although naive they are investigative and questioning. It's not just about fun here, it's about understanding people, facts, concepts, and anything they want.

♤ Pisces placements - There's a lot to uncover with this sign. They're the most sacrifical yet deceitful. Being ruled by neptune as a mutable water sign they have identity crisis often and take on others personalities or looks. A very common sign to look for in those obssessed with plastic surgery. They are also great actors because they can make you believe they are who YOU want them to be, or atleast they think you want from them. They manipulate people without realizing and get away with a lot because they are easily adored and almost worshipped by the public. In fact I actually see pisces placements that are stalked easily and attract obsessive and dark individuals. They are very intuitive and intelligent, often picking up concepts quickly and being one of the first to help create change. They are very accepting individuals as well, but their downfall lies in their ability to manipulate and decieve others without realizing. A pisces placement should never lie because it often blows up the most for some reason. Pisces feel misunderstood and as if no one tries to understand or figure them out and I think that's why they love virgos. It's the one sign that will analyze anything or anyone in sight so a cute love story I guess. They are easily drained too so take lots of rest.

"Chained to your 4th house"

♧ The 4th House - This rules the beginning and end cycle of your life, it correlates to life and death just as much as the 8th house. The 4th house rules over your families karmic cycle, ancestors, all family members, generational wealth, the home, your environment, and your deepest emotional point. There's a lot to unfold here as it plays a big role in your life. First of all placements here are not sunshine and rainbows, most of the time this house is turbulent in nature so people with placements here have mood swings and absorb other people's emotions like sponges. You can always tell someones background or life story just by this house alone as it represents the beginning and ending point. Most people who have placements here prefer solitude and alone time in order to recharge and their emotions run deep.

♤ The 7th House - This house is sadly crazy ignored because it is so misunderstood. It's not only about relationships, it rules over contracts, how other people see you, rumors, law, and plays an important part in your social standing. This house is actually a big role in fame indicators and points to success or failure in the public eye. The way people treat you is based on this house, the way you percieve the world and express yourself is based on the 1st house so let's get that straight. This means if you have pluto or sun in the 7th house that's already a massive fame indicator for extreme power in the public eye, but it also means a lot of rumors will be spread about you as it rules open enemies and sun/pluto are both known to attract immense power but also jealousy. If you find yourself talked about a lot, check the 7th house. It's also why leo risings get a lot of attention. Their 7th house is in Aquarius which rules over large communities so naturally society is both a leo risings enemy and a tool for fame like a contract.

♧ Moon conjunct Pluto - It's like there's this unspoken rule on astroblr that we must mention every other pluto aspect and their troubles except for the moon conjunction because we magically think they're not struggling at all?!? Hello people wake up, this is not a positive aspect and probably the most intense moon aspect because the moon is MERGING with pluto the ruler of the underworld, life, death, and sex. This means you grew up in a home where your mom resented you, controlled you, your home was filled with chaos and uncertainty, you struggle to contain your own emotions and are self destructive, and probably experienced a lot of trauma growing up. It also indicates intimacy issues, menstrual problems, extreme jealousy and obssession both felt and projected onto you, high magnetism, but also manipulative and deceitful tendencies. The effects of this aspect are most similar to venus conjunct pluto. It's one of the biggest stalker and scandal indicators as obsession is a big theme here.

♤ Jupiter - This planet is beneficial but sometimes extremely toxic. Another planet that can point to alcoholism and overindulgence in toxic behaviors, it can lead to cheating and impulsivity as well with the moon/venus conjunct jupiter aspect too. However people with a lot of jupiter aspects make for very intelligent and wise individuals. They often excel at school or whatever they set their mind too. Their creative ideas are unmatched.

♧ Uranus - This is the most ignored planet and I don't understand why. This planet isn't cold or detached, it's actually very erratic and confused like neptune but on a conscious level. It brings destruction, awakening, and change. It rules over electricity, mutations, radiation, natural disasters, revolutions, technology, astrology & astronomy, and the collective society. There's a lot to take in here that is very unexplored. Those with uranian dominance or aspects tend to be polarizing and could find it really difficult or easy to connect with others, they are very loud and clumsy people who attract endless amounts of attention to themselves. They do weird or scare people out but that's a part of their rambunctious charm. Honestly they could be a "pick me" but they are genuinely different than most people and that's just how it is, for the better or worse. Lots of them tend to feel left out or dumb because they're not practical or chill, but they're ingenious and that's a fact. We misunderstand and judge the planet that hates being judged too much.

♤ Mercury Aspects - You can see someones humor, mannerisms, and tone of voice through this planet. It's actually very fun to observe each mercury placement and their aspects in real life because most people mistake someones mercury placement for their sun sign. If someone talks too much they most likely have gemini-sagittarius influence on their mercury, if someone is academically disciplined yet judgemental it seems to always be capricorn mercuries, if someone is analytical and perfectionistic with their mindset (grammar police too) they're probably a virgo mercury, if someone is comedic and hosts parties or get togethers frequently then they're probably a leo mercury. You get the point it plays a big role.

Btw if I make a grammatical error I simply do not care, have a good day.

[thewertsearch]

Trolls Made Our Universe: The Analysis

Let's talk about it.

Looking back, it's pretty clear that this was always our destination. The comic's scope has been on an upward trajectory for thousands of pages, and the Ultimate Alchemy hype has been building since midway through Act 4.

Hell, even I thought the planet I theorized about was just going to be a stepping stone to something bigger. Homestuck just keeps escalating - we might not even stop here, although I can't predict what the next step would be, since we're working with multiple varieties of multiverse already.

Anyway, this reveal confirms that Sburb's grandstanding about the Players' importance isn't just hot air - they really do serve a critical purpose. Assertions that this 'purpose' is more important than saving Earth are still dubious - but now, I can at least understand the coldly utilitarian place the game is coming from.

I still don't know why it has to work this way, but now I finally know what's happening. Earth's universe was born from the blood of Alternia, and the kids were created to perpetuate the cycle again, creating a new universe from the blood of Earth.

Close! It was less of a gasp, though, and more of an under-the-breath 'what the fuck'. I don't know why a universe surprised me as much as it did - like I said, I was already half-expecting a planet!

I think the real sticking point is the difference in scale - and, as a consequence, the difference in Grist cost.

It makes a certain intuitive sense that you could convert the Denizen Grist into a planet - comparable in size, presumably, to the planetoids that the Denizens call home. But a universe is an entirely different animal, one which would dwarf the Incipisphere by dozens of orders of magnitude.

Extrapolating from the typical volume of a Grist piece, four Land-sized vaults of the stuff wouldn't be nearly enough. Even if Denizen Grist is a million times more valuable than normal, and each Denizen released a million times the Incipisphere's volume in Grist, it still wouldn't be nearly enough.

I guess the game could just hardcode the Grist cost of a universe down to a manageable value, but that would break the game's own rules, and doesn't seem in spirit with how its progression system works.

No, I think something screwy must be going on with the Denizen hoards. Maybe they're full of special Grist, each piece of which is worth 1e70 normal pieces - or maybe picking them up actually multiplies the value of your grist cache, rather than adding to it.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the hoards are this comically large. After all, their value is beyond even Vriska's imagination.

The exact mechanics here are definitely worth speculating about. Let's talk about how, exactly, this universe may have come to be. The trolls obviously can't have crafted this thing atom-by-atom, or even planet-by-planet - not unless Aradia took them into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for a billion years of blueprinting.

A lot of Alternian culture is integrated into Earth, though, and it had to get there somehow. In keeping with what anon said, I think these ideas were sort of 'merged' into the universe when it was created.

After all, Sburb is all about merging ideas, and we've been working with idea-merging machines since day one!

The trolls alchemized their universe, even if they didn't use a traditional Alchemiter to do so. If they wanted their universe to exhibit certain traits, all they needed to do was feed it certain ingredients, merging them with whatever 'universe' object they presumably gained access to at the end of the game. I'm just going to call it the seed.

Maybe the reason humans look so much like trolls is because the trolls inserted their codes into their universe's alchemy recipe, perhaps attempting to revive the troll species without the Matriorb.

Wait, scratch that.

Maybe the reason humans look so much like trolls, and have red blood, is because one specific troll's code ended up in their recipe.

Come to think of it - since we're already doing large-scale alchemy, there's a pretty easy way for the trolls to ensure that every trait they want ends up in their new universe.

All they'd need is a fetch modus and a drawing tablet.

If you're being evicted into a new universe, you might as well make it feel like home.

Adding Alternia's code to the seed would, in one fell swoop, explain all the facets of troll culture observed on Earth. It would also, in a way, 'resurrect' the troll homeworld without truly reviving it - a bittersweet prize for our victorious Players.

As mentioned above, it would be weird if Earth was the only planet to inherit DNA from Old Man Alternia. It would make sense if each civilization exhibited different Alternian traits - like, maybe there's an exoplanet out there somewhere where lusi evolved, and another where everyone has the same necromantic powers as Aradia.

It also means the universe was probably full of space empires. If the meteors didn't get Earth, Neo-Alternia might have eventually come knocking...

I also think I was conflating the signs on the trolls' clothes with the signs of the Alternian Zodiac, without considering that those might be two entirely different sets of 'signs'. The trolls themselves never refer to Cancer or Aquarius as Zodiac signs, after all. Maybe the Extended Zodiac is a different thing entirely.

Anyway - yeah, that is interesting. The kids' universe was created by twelve Players, and now its stars bear their signature - so whose signature is embedded in the trolls' stars?

An implied 48-Player session sounds amazing. Doubly so, if Hussie's using Squiddles to imply a Horrorterror session. That's an absolutely fascinating idea, on so many levels, and I do hope we see the trolls speculating about their own creators at some point.

Of course, this 48-sign Squiddles stuff could also be a red herring. I'm getting used to how this comic works, and just so it's on record...

...this is what I suspect is actually going on.

In any case, I'm as hyped as you all are!

Hussie's hand has finally been shown, and Homestuck has been revealed as the creation myth that had been built up all along. I can't wait to see what's next.

[xplrstrology]

COLBY BROCK | CHIRON ANALYSIS.

in which, i dive deep into colby’s astrological placements and explain decently what they mean because his chart is so intriguing to me for some reason.

quick disclaimer - if you’ve sent a requested reading on one of sam or colby’s placements into my inbox, i’m not ignoring it aha i actually have a lot of them half-written in my notes but they’ll be done and posted at some point soon.

also i was listening to lana del rey whilst writing this because it felt fitting lmao

Chiron in Scorpio in the 8th house at 0°

chiron is one of the three most challenging planets of a person’s birth chart. even though chiron is actually a comet. it represents the pain and vulnerability that we can help others with, but can’t seem to heal within ourselves. this pain can be a constant theme in our lifetime that we must deal with. this can also be childhood trauma. this pain doesn’t last forever and it can help us to release our past and teach us valuable lessons.

the house that your chiron is in can tell you much more than the sign, since chiron is generational: meaning everyone born around the same time as you will most likely have the same chiron placement. for example: anyone born between december 29, 1996 and april 4, 1997 will share the same chiron sign as colby and etc.

everything that’s associated with the eighth house would be: secrets, privacy, mystery, money from others, clandestineness, confidentiality, danger, hate, jealousy, sex, competition, spirituality, debts, hostility, rebirth, death, transformations of oneself, inheritance, personal unconscious, what is hidden, spiritual values, vulnerabilities, masturbation, drugs, lack of purpose.

with this placement, colby either has a fear of death or he’s deathly afraid of losing his loved ones. he could also fear change or being close to people.

trust issues and issues that regard intimacy could be a blockage for him. any sort of betrayal, lying and trauma from his past won’t be forgotten. he’s had an unfortunate experience with life and it makes it hard for him to trust people.

it could’ve also made him incredibly independent and he gets upset if he has to rely on someone. i’m guessing he has a lone wolf mentality which could cause him to isolate himself now and again.

since this placement is at the 0° it often indicates that he’s at the beginning of his healing journey but in this particular area. he’s just starting to explore his wounds and seeking solutions to his deep emotional and psychological dilemmas. a strong desire for personal growth and eagerness to delve deep into the depths of his own psyche.

the zero degree; also known as the critical degree represents the starting point of a zodiac sign or house in a birth chart. it marks the beginning of a new cycle and signifies the energy and characteristics associated with the sign that the degree is in, if it’s at 0° it just means that traits of the sign that the planet is in will be strengthened.)

every degree is ruled by a sign and it goes up in order of the zodiac, it goes up to 29° (for example: aries rules 1°, 13°, 25° and so on.)

in his chart, his intercepted houses are his second and eighth house, an interception can highlight the challenges/obstacles that may arise in his life, an interception occurs when a sign is completely contained within a particular house in the birth chart, resulting in two signs being intercepted. the two signs that colby has in this interception are libra (8H) and aries (2H) but they don’t rule his houses, despite the libra-aries axis taking up these houses, virgo rules his eighth house and pisces rules his second house.

with colby’s second and eighth house being intercepted: it presents that the difficulties he will or already has faced are: limited self-worth, issues with personal values, resistance to change, fear of the unknown, difficulty in accessing hidden talents, spiritual growth, deep emotional complexities, issues with transformation.

with the second house intercepted in aries, this is where he may struggle with assertiveness and with his eighth in libra he may struggle with finding balance in his finances or relationships. also, i don’t know if you read my analysis on his fanbase with the fan asteroid in my last post but this kind of correlates with that, esp when it fits into his eighth house. with how i mentioned his fans having similar energy to the aries-libra axis and his fan asteroid having those energies. the interception shows that the energies of aries and libra aren’t accessible to him in these areas of life if unhealed.

onto the chiron persona chart, which is a deeper perception to his actual chiron sign which we know is in the sign of scorpio.

chiron is the protagonist in the persona chart system. throughout this chart, you will find out more about your healing process, how easily you heal, how you heal others, how you deal with pain, how you represent yourself after the pain and all the potential you have from the wounds you have have gone in your life. i honestly don’t know much about persona charts, i’m still learning myself haha but from what i know, i’ll write his placements down and the meaning of what a few planets would do in the chiron persona chart.

venus in sagittarius (12H) in here is the way colby takes care of himself, if he tries to treat himself + how. if he’s afraid of love or anything intimate: any traumas or wounds that make him wary of it. his problems with love and how it became that way. how he heals or try to comfort others about his experiences.

mercury in scorpio (10H) in here is how colby communicates what he’s going through. if he’s comfortable or not sharing his wounds in the first place. how he’ll use his words when trying to talk to others about what he is going through as well. can show if he has wounds related to communicating, if he has a hard time doing so.

moon in leo (7H) in here shows how colby’s emotions jump out, how he’ll react emotionally when faced with these wounds and when he experiences something traumatic it’ll show him how to deal with his emotional wellbeing in relation to the things that he needs to heal from.

like i said, i’m not an expert in the persona chart system myself, i know a few things and what each chart means but that’s pretty much it, maybe if i learn more i’ll edit this and add onto it :)

since i’m pretty much done, here’s some extra notes because i don’t know how to word them into paragraphs. (i’m an aqua mercury ok i have to be careful when it comes to wording things or it ends up coming out as gibberish lmao)

- very understanding, and he’ll help others heal their trauma. (if he wasn’t a social media influencer, i’d guess that he’d go for something to do with pyschology tbh)

- may attract controlling/toxic people to the point where he’s afraid to show vulnerability and often have problems with letting go of those toxic things or people.

- may have/had repressed these wounds or his emotions in general.

- north node in the 9th of his chiron persona could indicate him needing to travel to heal these wounds. or expanding his knowledge and understanding of the world, exploring different belief systems, philosophies and higher education.

that’s all for now! <3

[transmutationisms]

I picked up the funny Kuhn book on your rec, and noticed Karl Popper on the same shelf, framing himself in contrast. Do you have/know of any good critiques on Popper in general, or his indeterminism in particular? I'm guessing he didn't convince every Marxist and someone's bound to have responded by now.

yea popper sucks. i mean kuhn himself was responding to / critiquing popper; they very famously had a long ongoing dispute. but like i said before, kuhn is also not where it's at imo. like, not that academic citations are the be-all end-all of intellectual value, but there are reasons you don't typically see either of these guys cited by people working in history / philosophy of science these days lol.

anyway in regards to the marxism angle of this i will say: a major problem with hist/philsci is that these disciplines are pretty ensconced in universities (conservative institutionally & intellectually) and have also taken a long time to even start looking beyond the horizons of great man history, the 'western canon', &c. so the lack of marxists / communists in these fields is like, even more pronounced than in academic history more broadly. like it's insane that people like bob young and roger cooter and adrian desmond are still, like, standouts in this respect lol. so, although there are many many marxists who have responded to popper on those terms, and many many historians and philosophers of science who have responded on that side, the sliver of overlap here is a lot smaller than it should be.

i would definitely read with a critical eye and be on the lookout for places where these texts fail specifically because their authors are not engaging in materialist or properly historicised analysis, or are just blatantly reactionary themselves, in different ways to popper. but, a few places to start with political histsci and philsci critiques of him, or just useful accounts of his legacy and critics:

The Cambridge Companion to Popper (2016). Jeremy Shearmur and Geoffrey Stokes (eds.). <-usual disclaimer that cambridge edited vols. are methodologically, politically, and epistemologically playing it VERY safe. you often want to read them 'backwards', ie, read for what's not being said as much as for what's actually in there. consider this a document that shows what sorts of debates are being permitted, centred, and accepted as 'mainstream' and 'reasonable'.

Epistemological Battles on the Home Front: Early Neoliberals at War against the Social Relations of Science Movement (2021). Beddeleem, Martin. Journal of the History of Ideas Volume: 82 Issue: 4 Pages: 615-636. 10.1353/jhi.2021.0035

Relations between Karl Popper and Michael Polanyi (2011). Jacobs, Struan & Mullins, Phil. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Volume: 42 Pages: 426--435.

Thoughts on political sources of Karl Popper's philosophy of science (1999). Jacobs, Struan. Journal of Philosophical Research Volume: 24 Pages: 445-457

Popper and His Popular Critics: Thomas Kuhn, Paul Feyerabend and Imre Lakatos (2014). Agassi, Joseph. ISBN: 3319065866

Science and Politics in the Philosophy of Science: Popper, Kuhn, and Polanyi (2010). Mary Jo Nye. Chapter in: Epple, Moritz & Zittel, Claus (2010) Science as Cultural Practice. ISBN: 9783050044071

Karl Popper, the Vienna Circle, and Red Vienna (1998). Hacohen, Malachi Haim. Journal of the History of Ideas Volume: 59 Pages: 711-734.

Science, politics and social practice: Essays on Marxism and science, philosophy of culture and the social sciences in honor of Robert S. Cohen (1995) Gavroglu, Kostas; Stachel, John J.; & Wartofsky, Marx W. (Eds.). <-haven't read the popper chapter in this, can't promise it's good

[heinzpilsner]

Tadadada! Here's the epilogue to my 'Overanalyzing beach Maiko' series.

Firstly, let's list some main conclusion theses:

1) Mai became interested in Zuko's problems after he directly mentioned his scar and his relationship with Ozai for the first time, so her final change of attitude does make some sense.

2) The basis for Zuko's irrational jealousy was Mai's annoyed facial expression after he criticized Ruon-Jian.

3) The context of Zuko's jealousy rampage actually leaves a loophole for not-possessive interpretation (yay).

4) Despite how badly Zuko screwed up, Mai somehow managed to screw up even more (yep, still sounds contr-intuitive).

5) Mai actually expresses herself all the time and her "childhood trauma" is a big bullshit.

6) Apart from his inner crisis, Zuko has to fix many problematic attitudes and personality settings before he'll become a decent romantic partner for anyone.

7) So does Mai.

Something like this.

And now, a bit of old good boring and inaccurate psychology lecture mistake correction.

I think that I misinterpreted Zuko's side of "bring me food" scene, actually. You see, I saw it as conscious submission in order to avoid conflict with Mai, but...

It actually looks more like Zuko genuinely didn't realize that Mai's demand was not okay. He wasn't exactly eager to please her*, but he also didn't see her attitude towards him as problematic.

(*Not catching Mai's "I'm hungry" initial hint is kind of an indicator of Zuko's cool-off towards her. I mean, acts of service is his typical way of showing affection, which makes his sudden cluelesness pretty notable.)

Basically, Mai and Zuko in this scene demonstrate opposite facets of locus of control problem. Simply put, they both believe that Zuko is responsible for something he really isn't - in this case, satisfying Mai's hunger.

Later, though, it's Zuko who believes Mai owes him something - namely, to give him affection and meet his emotional needs. In his head, he gives responsibility for his emotional well-being to Mai and scolds her when she "ignores her duty" by not being "passionate" enough.

(But while Mai doesn't owe Zuko anything formally, she made a mistake of severely underestimating Zuko's contribution into relationship and his real value for her. This resulted in her coldness and lack of gratitude in response to his affection, which is quite a big relationship screw-up.)

Okaaay, and with that part out of the way, it's time for my final personal reflections.

In general, I have no doubts I made lots of other mistakes during my analysis. I tried my best, but to dissect relationship conflicts correctly, you need to have good feeling of personal boundaries and empathy of your own. And... Well. It's not exactly my forte.

I compensate for some things with theoretical knowledge, but my mind is a mess, so... Yep.

I feel like I have to go and read more psychological theory after this.

Also, I kinda tried to do an entertainment out of this, and roasting format doesn't exactly mix good with being objective. So, yep. It seems I got some kind of useless Frankenstein monster in the end, lol.

And finally... Perhaps I had to make it clear much earlier, but...

I have nothing against Maiko shippers or Mai fans. Ta-da!

I'm sure they have a lot against me now though, pffft.

I realize what I wasn't exactly restrained in my roasting, so it's natural for you to dislike me. But my goal wasn't to tell you what your preferences are inadequate or something. I mean, I myself ship much more toxic problematic shit (and have a weak spot for all sorts of flawed characters). It isn't supposed to be about being rational. You like it, I don't, it's ok.

Dunno, maybe someone needed to hear this.

That's all, I guess. If you were reading this series - thanks for your attention. Despite everything, it was a rather interesting experience for me, and I hope you found something useful for yourself too.

I wonder what I should analyse next >:D

I ignore all notifications, but maybe I'll make an exception soon. Ta-da! What a cliffhanger.

[coldresolve]

boiling any discussion of media analysis down to "fiction isn't reality" or "depiction isnt endorsement" and treating it like that's the end of the discussion means that you can no longer criticise any piece of media for the ideas and arguments that are presented in it, implicit or explicit. i don't know if you realize that, but you should.

you know how the harry potter series had those hook-nosed greedy goblins controlling the banks that were, like, a little tiny bit antisimetic? but depiction isn't endorsement, so i guess we just leave it at that.

or how DC's batman has, among other things, a classism issue which it just vaguely gestures at sometimes but never actually engages with. or the torture apologia in 1984 - a book i love, by the way, but it does feature torture apologia. or the blatant racism that occasionally pops up when you're reading lovecraft - you just have to remember that fiction isn't real, so we don't have to talk about it.

and one thing that irks me about your argument isn't just that you're watering down media analysis to its absolute bare-bones zero-thought entry level point of discussion - it's that i don't even think that you yourself believe in this argument. i think you use it as a way to avoid engaging with media critically, but only when it's about media you like. media you created. you'd love to just like it without thinking about all the bad stuff it might contain, because that's more comforting. because it makes you not feel guilty.

i contend that there's a lot of value in digging a bit deeper than "fiction isn't reality". media criticism is a great tool to learn how to spot the arguments behind bigotry and apologia, even if those arguments aren't being made explicitly. you start to unlearn all the shit you've been fed by propaganda throughout your life. you learn how to spot bias. and that's just the big stuff - you learn how to think about interpersonal dynamics in a different way, too. what is the author trying to tell me about the choice this character made here, and do i think it's reasonable. its discussions like that which are very much applicable to the real world. you get to challenge your own worldview and ethics through fiction. you grow, you learn new things. that's what makes it so worthwhile, in my opinion. it's what makes fiction art instead of mere entertainment.

food for thought

[lunyzare]

Hi there! I just wanted to tell you that your analysis of Izuna not accepting Hashirama's offer of 'peace' was really good and made so much more sense than some of the arguments I have seen in the fandom complaining about Izuna not placing his trust in the Senju even though he was completely justified in his suspicions. It was detailed and helped me a lot in understanding Izuna's choice back there and how this fandom forgets that Hashirama can only heal himself and not others.

If you don't mind can I ask to hear your thoughts on what would have happened if Tobirama and Izuna switched roles that day. Do you think Hashirama would have gone berserk at losing his last brother? How do you headcanon his reaction to be?

Hi there! First of all, This ask has been sitting in my drafts for way too long, my apologies. I hope my answer will at least a little bit satisfying for you, anon.

Thank you so much for your kind words, I am so glad you liked my analysis!

I agree with you, Izuna was justified in his mistrust. I think that Hashirama being able to heal others is nothing but a headcanon that for some reason is – by some people – accepted as canon, even though it's not.

Now, I'll try my best to answer your question, but before I do that, I have to say this post is sligthly critical of Hashirama's character (although I am analysing canon here), so be warned.

Do you think Hashirama would have gone berserk at losing his last brother?

I'll start with this question if you don't mind, because I feel like answering this question is crucial in order to answer the rest.

Short answer: No, I don't think he would have gone berserk. It would certainly hurt him a lot (he did want to protect his siblings like Madara, at least as child), but I personally don't think he would have gone berserk.

Long answer:

We saw Hashirama reacting to two of his brothers dying (Itama and Kawarama) and I wouldn't say Hashirama went berserk in either case. He cried and he mourned their loss, of course, but in both cases, his reaction was still relatively calm (look at Madara's reaction, when Hashirama tells him he lost Itama, Madara looks perplexed, shocked, perhaps sad and emphatetic, but other than that his reaction is very calm as well).

Shinobis are thought to hide all their emotions on the battlefield. Look again at Madara's reaction, this time to losing Izuna – given the fact his last brother was literally bleeding out in his arms, he still relatively managed to remain his calm and focused nature. The only sign of distress and/or lack of calm and focus could be the fact he left the battlefield while the members of his clan were still there.

Now, this was when Hashirama was still a child. Let's look at him as an adult:

Hashirama as an adult was given two options by Madara (although he still had the third option of actually killing Madara). And he chose to sacrifice himself. This means he valued Tobirama's and Madara's life (but also his dream) and chose to – instead of them – sacrifice himself. What's interesting about that scene though, is that Tobirama seemed unsure what will be Hashirama's choice. Tobirama had no problem telling Hashirama to "shut up", but here he's asking him what Hashirama will do? I find that a bit strange. Did Tobirama in some way believe Hashirama might actually sacrifice him there? I do not know the answer, it would be more of a guess, but given the fact that later on Hashirama sweared he would dispose anyone for the sake of the village, I wouldn't be surprised if Tobirama in some way...actually wasn't sure Hashirama wouldn't sacrifice him.

So, let's summrize my points so far: Hashirama grew in a times where shinobi weren't allowed to mourn, were thought to hide their emotions and at the end oh his journey, he was willing to sacrifice anyone who dared to oppose Konoha. All of these lead me to believe that while losing Tobirama would definitely hurt him (it probably hurt him to lose Madara too), he wouldn't have gone berserk.

Now, do I think Hashirama would still want to create the village? Yes, I kind of do – he still wanted to create the village after both Kawarama and Itama dying, Madara was the one who chose Izuna and his clan over their "pipe" dream, so I honestly think that losing Tobirama, while it would be horrible, wouldn't sway Hashirama from his dream.

In the end, the village, the dream was what Hashirama valued/wanted the most over anything (even his own life).

The thing is: I have a feeling that if Izuna didn't die, the village would never be created, because I don't think Madara would go against Izuna's wishes – as we've seen he clearly respected Izuna and tried to fullfill the promise he gave him.

My apologies, anon, if you've expected a more detailed headcanon on how things would go, but I fear I am not very good at pinpoiting how exactly the story would unfold.

[autogyne-redacted]

hi! i saw your post abt race primacy and was wondering if you'd be able to expand on that a bit more if you feel like it. i am i guess kind of new to the idea that it's possible to talk about racism without doing what the example you posted does.

Yeah, absolutely.

As far as race primacy goes, the basic, short answer is that you can avoid it by not positioning race as fundentally, across the board more important or more fundamental than other characteristics. The "if you're white you're white before anything else" part of my example post.

Prioritizing race is an analytic approach, and it's certainly an important one, but if it's your only one you're going to miss a lot of what's going on.

To give a more thorough answer means getting into a lot of background and exploring the messy entanglements that lead towards race primacy and race reductionism, so buckle up it's gonna be a Long Post.

Most of the patterns I want to criticize here are (imo) the result of taking useful analysis and loosing the nuance, generalizing sloppily, slipping between different definitions of words, being overly dogmatic, or otherwise taking it in less than helpful directions. I'm not saying to throw out these frameworks, just to recognize that they don't represent absolutely and universal truths.

I'm also not opposing any specific language here. Sometimes ppl are casual and say things that communicate perfectly well but would make shitty philosophic positions if you took them literally and held to them rigidly. That's life.

.

Whether you're looking at how demographic categories correlate with individual actions or they affect how other ppl treat you, race is significant but saying it is always the most significant factor is a wild position.

To give a clear example, and show one path to race primacy, lots of the conservative Christianity is structured and defined first in terms of religion (obviously), and then around lines of Christian / family values and gender.

The Southern Baptist Convention has had a Black president. Women are still explicitly barred from even being pastors. Out gay and trans ppl are excluded pretty completely.

.

A common approach, to maintain a focus on race is to say that Christianity (or at least the SBC) is a fundamentally white religion and value system. PoC may participate in it, but that as a political and historical force it is solidly on the side of The West, Europe, Colonialism, etc.

I tend to talk about this as abstracting whiteness.

Whiteness often (even if not in our circles here) gets abstracted to talk about shit like cop calling, assimilationism, middle class values, etc.

"White feminism" is a great example of this, where the term can 100% refer to race, or point to middle class, carceral, cis, imperialist, or other shitty tendencies.

If we talk about the shifting boundaries of whiteness, especially looking back to when whiteness was necessary for full legal rights / personhood, whiteness was very directed the thing you assimilated into thru patriotism, middle class achievement, gender conformity, etc. (This is an explicit note that my knowledge is about a US context and I'm sure this shit varies)

There's a bunch of research that shows lots of minority and immigrant groups having initial disadvantages compared to white ppl (measured thru wealth, income, segregation, education, etc) that shrink over time. And a distinct lack of this gap narrowing by most measures looking at Black Americans. Related (at least in part) to this you get some theory abstracting Blackness as that which is unassimilable (some of which is really powerful).

From this and other angles I think it makes a lot of sense why ppl are drawn to abstract whiteness.

However, the second you do that you're no longer talking about race (in a way that can be mapped to individuals). And I (as a white person) am not necessarily any more a part of this abstracted whiteness than any PoC.

And since race (in the individual, traditional sense) does matter, loosening the terms to this point has significant downsides.

.

You can see similar dynamics at work when ppl constantly fall back on referring to Far Right groups like the Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer as white nationalist / white supremacist groups.

They're very much not. Both have had PoC leaders, and they're centered around Western Male Chauvinism and Christian Nationalism respectively.

But, if you see The West, right wing Christianity and American Nationalism thru the lens of abstracted whiteness, than these are all white supremacist groups.

And like ..... there's clearly something to that. Having PoC leaders by no means makes these groups less racist. But there's also a clear distinction between them and what you're gonna see in a hardine white supremacist group like, say, the Klan.

If you caught the mess a few years ago when a bunch of ppl decided that Chelsea Manning had joined the far right because whiteness is ultimately all that matters, that's a great example of mixing up abstract and concrete definitions of whiteness to reach completely ridiculous conclusions.

.

I don't wanna go deep in this point because I haven't seen it since I got off of fb years ago, but I want to briefly mention the argument that the gender binary is inherently European, and thus PoC are inherently non-binary. This is another argument where there lots of individual statements that make sense on their own, and then thru some shifting definitions you reach a wild conclusion.

There's tons to talk about in terms of the imposition of binary gender and specific European norms as part of colonialism. (The Coloniality of Gender is what I think of as the classic piece making this argument).

And there's plenty to say in terms of PoC being held to different standards and negatively framed as too masculine or not masculine enough.

But this argument then acts as if no assimilation to gender whatsoever has happened, and as if there are no differences in levels of gender conformity and the social positions these produce. It's extremely weird and imo the kind of position that imo could only be produced thru a tremendous amount of ppl setting aside their critical thinking due to not having the right identities to see these issues as in their lane.

.

A lot of this comes down to the question of how we name That Which We Oppose. Identity politics really pushed us to frame it in terms of identity, but the world of hardline identity-based structures is largely gone.

Part of what I love about the language of Civilization and Leviathan is that it provides an answer for this question that recognizes the slippery relationship between both individuals and identity-defined groups of ppl and the structures of hierarchy we want to dismantle.

[mourninglamby]

Are you like, still ok with dsmp lore/character analysis asks? Cause i want your thoughts around sam real bad but don't wanna be rude.

If you're still ok w those kinda asks but dont wanna write a bunch just saying where on the spectrum between vilifier and apologist you are would be really cool too! (Gonna take a wild guess that you're somewhere near a critical sympathizer? Like you understand why he did stuff n dont think hes evil but still think he made very immoral choices or something)

brah ur good. i dont mind dsmp asks at all!! also im glad u asked.

this is gonna be long oops

c!sam is one of the only characters where i have nearly full faith in regarding authorial intent, for starters. Sam The Dude (bringing that back) is obviously very self aware of his characters morally ambiguous and sometimes straight up ethically bankrupt actions, and everything he does with consideration for his character and the plot makes sense to me up until. Well.. c!sam's prison arc. But all of the consequences of that arc are still up in the air and I still stand by sam's understanding of the metatextual implications of his characters actions. Because oh boy does sam GET CONSEQUENCES. However for now I'm keeping my distance from that until we get some more c!hotelduo shit.

I think Sam The Guy is an expert at writing his character's hypocrisy compared to, say, c!techno's. C!Techno does things selfishly and impulsively, and doubles down on the decisions he makes regardless of how destructive or hurtful they are to anyone who isn't him or his friends. This is largely in part perpetuated by his character never reaping the consequences of those actions. That's a fact, not an opinion. So his hypocrisy in relation to his principles (his hatred for any form of government) feels antagonistic and almost goofy when you realize that makes him the defacto government, if he is to be the judge jury and executioner of the smp's organized communities. See the syndicate and snowchester or literally any ctechno stream post bedrockbros arc.

Now look at C!Sam. Sam does everything to follow HIS principles, but has extremely little regard for himself and other people, aside from C!Tommy. While attempting to make things more safe, his downfall lies in that code becoming an obsession, leading to him to justify mutilating his ex and stopping tommy from killing dream in C!wilburs revival stream for the sake of containing the real threat. And most notably, we figure out that sam somehow found out about c!ranboo's association with c!dream, which is a concept that explains a myriad of fatal errors with pandora's vault security and some experiences inside it. C!Sam killing c!ranboo is awful, sure, but there's this thing called DRAMATIC IRONY, where we know it wasn't truly c!Ranboo (debatable, given how ranboo The Guy abandoned his damn character) who carried out the plan with the explosives that lead to c!tommy's death and subsequent revival, but c!sam doesn't. And once again, the cycle of violence is repeated. However, for all these things, C!Sam faces dire punishments. Probably more than any character on the server.

C!Ponk and c!sam will probably never heal their relationship. As much as C!sam may regret it or feel remorse for hurting them, c!ponk has every right to be scornful and hold resentment towards him for the rest of their lives. C!tommy, someone c!sam has held dear throughout the entire show and arguably values the most, HATES him and never wants to see him again after his incidents. C!tubbo and his murder squad put him in the prison HE OVERSAW SECURITY FOR.... punishments left and right at this point.

And this is why his character and his hypocrisy are more tragic to me. All of this comes to a head when C!dream, someone he shouldn't even feel remorse towards, kills him after he wakes him up to his own cruelty and murders him for the keycards. C!Sam is constantly hurting himself and others and being brutally punished afterwards, without learning much, because he feels like his principles justify his actions. But now he has no need for these principles, since the prison has been rendered obsolete and he's lost everyone he wants to protect.

Which is why I feel his redemption arc would be the most rewarding at this point in the story. He seems to finally be recognizing his errors. sam feels like the type of character to not want this guilt to destroy him more than it already has, and if I had control over this story, or even the room with sam The Guy, I'd ask him to start with c!tommy. His redemption starts back at the beginning: protecting this kid from a monster. Except this time, he does it right, and he does it because he not only cares for him, but he owes it to him, as both the adult and as someone who is distinctly aware of c!tommy's suffering at the hands of c!dream.

[fataldrum]

More thoughts on the Rusty Quill call-out post

I found myself typing a more detailed response to the Rusty Quill call-out post, but it's just such a poorly argued mess that I can't take it seriously. There are just so many statements that just aren't supported in the post itself. There's a lot of ominous-sounding fluff.

They claim RQ is aggressive, but the most aggressive example they give is a third-hand account of one person yelling at another on the phone. They allegedly threatened to sue people--okay, who, and over what? How far did it get? I guess it's not important, because they don't bother elaborating.

They claim the average rate for sound designers is $60, apparently based on one of the editors polling people on Tumblr, without bothering to account for salary differences in the UK. Or bothering to convert currencies.

They also didn't know how the GDPR worked. The part where they complain about not having contact info for actors? It was literally illegal for them to hold onto that info without permission.

Probably the silliest argument is this one: "Instead of putting in the work with their original shows, shows full of stories and characters fans have already become attached to, they’re pulling back and returning to what is profitable and nostalgic." What is TMA if not "a show full of stories and characters fans have already become attached to" ?

With this level of research and analysis, it's extremely difficult for me to trust what they're saying, especially when they're going on Twitter claiming anyone who disagrees with them doesn't care about workers. That's a pretty handy way to shut down criticism, isn't it?

I don't know what RQ's employees would be paid to work for other podcast companies. I don't know how creators in their network feel about the cut RQ takes of ad revenue--clearly it seemed worth it at the time they signed up, and I'm assuming none of them are so stupid they didn't bother to compare rates from other networks. What I do know is that the post fails basic principles of journalism, makes shoddy arguments, and uses cheap tactics to persuade readers.

Some people have complained that skeptics of the call-out post are nitpicking. However, if I'm going to trust someone whose main sources are all anonymous, I need to know they're credible. Very little in the post strikes me as credible.

My hope is that more people in the industry will discuss their pay and ad revenue deals, especially UK based workers. If RQ is that much worse than other companies, I'm happy to hear about it. But when a post shows so much evidence of bias and so little evidence of credibility, I'm not going to take it at face value.

[floareadeaur]

Ferid's ideal and his scale of morality - Character Analysis

Ferid says in "The story of the Vampire Michaela", that he too lost his God a long time ago. The author mentions that this is one of the few moments when Ferid tells the truth, his smile being one of "genuine sadness".

What God could a prince of an Early Middle Ages European kingdom have?

A Christian God, obviously. And who is this Christian God?

In Christianity, God created the world out of his boundless love, He also created humans out of an infinite love, and this God made them all in a perfect order with a clear purpose.

I can say this from a very personal perspective, as I am a practicing Orthodox Christian who believes in this God and relates my whole system of thinking to this God.

And Ferid also once believed in this God, with all his heart.

This was his highest ideal.

His thinking, his moral scale were related to this ideal of a universal father who created everything out of love: the world, including Ferid's soul.

But we know how the OnS universe is actually created: from the hatred of a suffering and destroyed god, where people are made out of darkness, condemned to continually reincarnate for this god's plans.

The OnS universe, in reality, is a dark one, born of abandonment, loss and mourning.

Ferid realized from a very young age, in fact, how he was created and what kind of world he lives in.

He was confronted with a cruel reality, where his ideal, that loving god who would have created him out of love, with meaning, is a lie.

And at that moment, Ferid's whole value system, his whole moral scale collapsed, no longer having the ideal to refer to, the example, the certainty of the idea that he is created out of love and that the universe has a good purpose.

Ferid saw himself alone, abandoned, lost, in a cruel world, born of darkness.

In a world where he is born second to the throne and repressed as a child with everything he is.

"How scary. But, ever since I was born, I have never been silent. As Papa and Mama have said. Ever since I came out of the womb, I had an incorrigible mouth. Even so, they were still my parents. What was it again. What were we talking about~ Anyways──" ( Wrat19, volume 1, chapter 1 )

Considered "incorrigible", meaning uncontrollable, broken.

Forced by his parents into a clear role, subjected to a strict, repressive upbringing, one meant for a second-born to the throne.

"I've always been perfectly normal. Especially for someone who was second in line for a royal throne.

I had such a strict upbringing. They were teaching me to be a saint."

( Ferid in chapter 91 to Rígr Stafford )

Raised in the shadow of an older brother in front of whom it became a habit to humiliate himself, to consider himself less talented, less loved by people, although his brother also recognizes how Ferid is smarter than him and if Ferid would not have helped him, the royal court was entering civil war.

An older brother who is happy to hear that Ferid sees no point in living so his throne will not be usurped, he takes all the power and Ferid is his controllable pawn.

Ferid realizes that on a human level, there is no love for him.

His parents criticized who he really is, forced him into a role of obedient servant, repressed and raised in the shadow of the heir. His own elder brother grins in satisfaction as he hears how his younger brother sees no point in living, but forces Ferid into an alliance nonetheless.

For he is the king, and Ferid knows it.

"Well... I guess if you order me to, I'll do it."

For his purpose is to carry out the king's orders, and that is all.

In this context, Ferid finds no love in his family, for whom he is just a controllable pawn.

And his ideal of God who created him out of love and who can listen to him, accept him, does not exist.

His disappointments are major.

On the divine plane, there is no love in the creation of his soul.

On a human level, there is no love from those who were supposed to raise him like this, loving him and seeing him for who he is.

Because of this, Ferid's moral scale collapses, because he has nothing to relate to, no Truth, no order, no purpose, no meaning, no bit of genuine love.

" As my supporters, I'll let you kill anyone you consider an impediment.

Be as tyrannical as you please!

None of that matters. Reincarnation is the issue.

That circle needs to be broken. We have to make sure no one is ever reborn again...

Into this stupid, boring, putrid world. "

These words of his spoken with such deep sadness in his eyes show the collapse of Ferid's ideal.

Because the good god does not exist, Ferid no longer has a model to follow, an example of love, of balance. The world is a rotten, dark place, and he is surrounded by people who do not see, listen to, love him for who he is.

Thus, his ideal cannot be replaced even by the love of people, because this does not exist for him.

And his moral scale becomes a gray one, where nothing matters anymore. For anyway, the world is born of darkness, putrid, souls have no purpose, reincarnating in infinite lives.

For a child who believed that there was an ideal of love, of life, of purpose, and realized that he lives in a miserable world on the divine level, but also on the human level, such a disappointment is extremely painful.

That threw Ferid off balance and showed him the ugliness in which he lives. It turned his morality related to the good god into the instinct of a wild animal that must survive.

In this context, Ferid leaves all his frustrations outside and sees the lack of love from those who were supposed to give it to him, from his family.

And he frees himself from them, from those who repressed him and treated him as a pawn, by killing them.

But, like this, Ferid is not calm, peaceful, happy. That is not his purpose. His sensitive soul, which can feel such deep despair, wants the same high, meaningful ideal.

Even as he kills his brother, Ferid still cries out to the sky, as if there is still someone there to listen.

And in the end, he goes precisely in search of a solution to change the origin of his rotten world.

Ferid will meet Rígr, who will fuel his ideal, lying to him that he is the "chosen one", "Michaela", maybe, the one who can change that putrid world.

Perhaps Rígr was the only one who gave him the feeling that he understood his need for such a high ideal, that he sees Ferid as a soul.

But the ending is the same for Ferid: he ends up abandoned and only to realize that he was also a pawn to his new adoptive father, one who has become useless.

Ferid, however, continues to desire his ideal, to change the rotten origin from which the world was created. And from which he, as a soul, was created too.

Because he did not find genuine love from those who were supposed to show it to him, he grew up learning to lock everything he feels inside him.

He grew up learning to shut up his pain and try to survive in the cruel reality in which he exists.

To get revenge in a toxic way that brings him no happiness, because he is, in fact, terrified of death.

But he kept his ideal.

Because, regardless of whether Ferid was created as a pawn by the dark god of the OnS world, and was a pawn in the eyes of all the people who were supposed to help him grow healthy into who he is, this ideal in him cannot disappear.

And Ferid tries to repair directly the rotten origin of the world, hoping that then he, a soul born from that rot, will be able to have meaning and love.

That is why his story is truly fascinating.

To believe in such a high ideal as the creation of the world out of something good, then to realize the true reality that surrounds you.

To lose the idea of ​​divine support and understand that you do not have it from the people around you either.

And yet, to try to change the very cruel reality from which you were born.

Ferid's journey, his questions, his suffering and his desire, all raise deep questions about humanity and the world at large.

About faith, values ​​and identity.

Even though he makes mistakes and is an imperfect character, lost in trying to survive, the fact that he still wants to change the dark origin that gave birth to him, to stop the cycle of reincarnation, of generational trauma, shows that he has not given up and that his soul desires so much.

And this is exactly what makes him such a deeply thought-out character. Because when you try to understand Ferid, fundamental questions come up about what it really means to be human and what can define you.

What is your will, freedom, where do you get love if you never received it?

I really thank the author of OnS for creating such a complex character and raising such important questions.

And thanks to you, the one who reads what I write and tries to understand this character's message too!

We grow more by understanding it.

Kind feedback is welcome and do not forget to fight for your own ideal!

[kavehvision]

hello! i hope this isn't weird uhhh... i like your analysis and i had some thoughts... so im a huge fan of kaveh but i don't ship kvhtm (but i respect it); but im really curious what people find in this ship. like i totally get it why ppl ship it: the parallels, the shared past, the roommate trope, etc etc. ofc you don't have to need a reason to ship smth but i like to think about how certain characters end up together and i think it's safe to say that canon-wise kvhtm is in a vague state now. they obvs care for each other, we saw it, but they have an unresolved conflict from the past. reading character stories i realized alhaitham doesn't really hold anything against kaveh, in fact kaveh is the one who can't move on from their akademiya project situation. it's like... one-sided conflict ahaha, alhaitham isn't mad at kaveh but kaveh is mad at alhaitham (or himself; or both). and kaveh is really sensitive to criticism that's why everytime alhaitham says something that's not meant to be even a tease kaveh believes it's an insult or disagreement. (i have LOTS of thoughts about their bickering but i don't want to make this too long). so, (in my opinion) in order for these two to have a honest dialog kaveh needs (therapy, yes, but also) to somehow accept the fact that despite their differences alhaitham doesn't try to change kaveh and they can be at least friends. (i feel like kaveh to alhaitham is like a puzzle that helps his brain to be more open to the things he never thinks of). the question is... how do you think they resolve this situation? what kaveh and alhaitham need to do in canon to become more close like in the akademiya days (or do they even need that). maybe that's just my perspective but i think kaveh needs a lot of work to truly start accepting alhaitham who he is;;; i would be really happy to read your thoughts on this! have a nice day <3

Not weird at all!

I guess first I'll say that I'm not too concerned with whether a relationship could be canon, I'm more interested in how the dynamic is while in the relationship. Which I mean, I do care about canon to an extent of course, but I just more enjoy character relationships (general, not romantic necessarily) and exploring them without getting too bogged down in the details.

But I do love to talk about Kaveh of course, and his dynamic with Alhaitham, in a shippy way or not.

It's interesting, because looking through Alhaitham's character stories again, when it comes to rebutting somebody or making comments, he won't really bother unless it aligns with a personal interest of his or is offensively foolish. But he and Kaveh have gone back and forth in essays (of which Kaveh literally saved clips of them in his sketchbook, showing that Kaveh values them on some level, whether positive or negative), and Alhaitham will consistently challenge Kaveh. It sort of seems like Kaveh is often the escalator of their arguments, but Alhaitham is repeatedly stated to be someone who just won't bother with these things if he's not interested in it. He doesn't even care about negative rumors about himself, unless it'll cause more trouble for him than if he simply corrected them.

Alhaitham also considers Kaveh to be his mirror (huge shippy point, if someone was inclined, we love our parallels and mirrors). So you can really learn a lot about one through the other.

Kaveh notes that Alhaitham can be friendly and likeable towards others if he wants to--but he just doesn't, and I think the ability-but-refusal-to is something that irks Kaveh much more than if Alhaitham just had like no social ability. As someone who cares a lot about other people, the fact that Alhaitham knows that his comments can be painful but specifically just doesn't bother with trying to soften them, is naturally something that will upset Kaveh. That's not even to mention his own experiences.

But the arguing isn't all negative. At the end of the event, in the scene between Alhaitham and Kaveh, Kaveh states that there's nothing that could be more sacred than two scholars of differing philosophies exploring that between each other. When they clash, there's probably satisfaction of butting heads with someone who is incredibly intelligent and insightful, even if you hate their views. I've gotten into some pretty passionate arguments with my friend before, honestly, mostly when our media takes are pretty much opposites. It's pretty fun, though obviously mine and my friend's relationship is a lot more positive and less complicated than Kaveh's and Alhaitham's.

A lot of the issue between them is that Kaveh isn't really ready to face reality, in that he's using his empathy towards others as a bludgeon on himself. During the second round of the championships, he gave all his food to the desert foxes and spent so much time trying to help them that he ended up passing out (which is VERY dangerous!!! He could've died! Heat stroke is no joke, and fainting is one of those immediate signs of "you need to get out of the heat and cool down IMMEDIATELY"). But it was just a temporary issue that they were facing, and would have been solved if he focused instead on his task, but it was his guilt that drove him to try and help them instead at risk of himself. His empathy towards the foxes wasn't so much the issue as the unnecessary amount of risk he put himself through because of his emotional anguish.

But Alhaitham also doesn't help all that much, because he really doesn't bother with softening his commentary, knowing that it'll cause Kaveh to dig in his heels and butt heads with him. Yet the fact that Alhaitham won't coddle him in any way makes him the only person that Kaveh will accept help from.

Also with their project they had a falling out over, Kaveh ripped his copy up out of anger, but later pieced it back together and saved it. This and then saving clips of their essay-fights I think does show how much Kaveh does value Alhaitham's input. It's probably really simple for Alhaitham, but like Kaveh says, for him it's just complicated.

All of this isn't really a response to what you asked for, I was mostly getting some off-the-top-of-the-head thoughts down for what I think of their relationship. But as to what will need to happen for their relationship to improve in canon, I don't think it's necessarily as bad as Kaveh claims it to be. Not all the arguing is fun or productive, but I think if their relationship improves they will still argue about things. Many things. Often. But they won't be fights. They have opposing views on the world, after all, and Kaveh finds egoism to be disgusting, and that won't change, but that on its own isn't friendship-breaking. Kaveh needs to deal with how he copes with his own trauma. It affects every part of his life. He'll work himself to the bone, staying up late nights to please a client, when Alhaitham (I think) notes that Kaveh is renowned and talented enough as an architect to be able to assert his own vision more. Even after reading his mother's journal, where she wants him to rely on companions when he's feeling down, he probably wouldn't have taken Tighnari's dinner invitation if not for the Traveler, because he's still so self-conscious of never wanting to bring others down with his own feeling down, even if it would be beneficial to him (just like during his childhood, he never wanted to be an emotional burden on his mother, and that hurt him).

Like I guess I want to stress that his empathy for others isn't the problem but more like, he takes it and uses it to punish himself more because he thinks he deserves that. Finding better balance in that will probably lessen the more sensitive things that Alhaitham brings up that especially anger Kaveh.

Though I think generally he does actually accept Alhaitham as he is. Alhaitham was always blunt and didn't care about how other people thought of him even in Akademiya days, but the breaking point of their friendship had been working closely together and Alhaitham's blunt comments that just cut straight through to Kaveh's soul were the breaking point (though they argued frequently during the project itself), and Kaveh wasn't ready to accept such things, that his altruism stemmed from his inescapable guilt rather than pure idealistic views. The project probably would have still broken down because of their squabbling, but idk if their friendship would have ended over it. Because Kaveh considered Alhaitham his best friend (as he is called in Kaveh's character story) and those comments did seriously hurt him.

But Kaveh doesn't say that Alhaitham should change completely, but that he should "rein in some of the worst excesses of his personality". That's why I think Kaveh does accept Alhaitham as he is, but even if butting heads with others is inevitable, living in a society and being the social creatures that humans are, having more consideration for others is sort of an important aspect of such interactions. Except Alhaitham actively rejects such rules and norms, unfortunately.