#what do the classifications mean. what is a catalyst. WHAT IS A CATALYST

[dansemacabre]

tmp fans listening to the cute dyhard office comedy banter scene right after hearing another celia teleportation, the magnus institute’s new system of classification, descriptions of jon and martin clones, the magnus institute as a mall chain, and celia maybe admitting that she’s a doppleganger and/or killed a man

[chrysalis-thestateofchange]

..─＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⋆Character Bio⋆˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*＊ ─..

🫧 Wren Chua, the Catalyst 🫧

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“I cling to everything — CDs that skip, rings that turn my fingers green, the dead ends of my hair, old love notes that turn my stomach over and over. 

And I’m not proud of it but there are still boxes under my bed. And I’m not proud of it but my closet is running out of space. And nostalgia is a fucking waste of time but my heart is full with it. 

Tell me I won’t hold this forever. Tell me there will be a day when I gloriously let go.” 

⟢⠀Fortes Latifi, "Hold This"  

..✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧..

✨⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ Basics ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆🌀

Name || Wren Chua

⁀➴༯ Name meaning || Wren is a gender neutral name with English origins. It means "small brown songbird". In Celtic folklore the wren became somewhat of a symbol for poets and songwriters. It was said that those people were blessed by the birds due to their lilting voices. In Singapore, the last name Chua is an alternate pronunciation of another surname, 蔡 (Cai). While it can carry many different meanings depending on the region, in Singapore it is most often associated with being "slow" or "gentle".

Nicknames || Chicklet - Used by parents

Age || 14 years old

Birthdate || February 13th, 897 (Aquarius)

Gender and Pronouns || Intersex, Agender (they/them)

Sexuality || Aromantic, asexual

Ethnicity || Singaporean, American

Classification || Magicus

Power || Illusions

Explanation of Power || They can create hallucinations, as well as warp the reality around them. When their power is activated their eyes glow silver.

Occupation || Unemployed

Role || Protagonist, hero

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✨⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ Personality ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆🌀

Wren spent the first part of their childhood bouncing from home to home in the foster care system.

They were never kind, always rude and untrusting. They were stubborn and determined not to form any sort of bond with any of their foster families.

They were a problem child to say the least. Uncooperative and independent.

They were difficult to get through to and even harder to be patient with. Whether they had no friends because they were like this or they were like this because they had no friends is difficult to assess. No family kept them around for long. That is, not until they were adopted by Maja and Pietro Anderson.

Life with loving parents brought out Wren's nicer qualities. Maja and Pietro discovered that their child was not only incredibly observant and artistic, but also that they had a sort of quiet ambition that they carried with them.

However, despite living in a healthy environment, school still proved difficult. Wren was never easy to motivate in subjects that they did not enjoy and their ability to befriend others was still severely lacking. To others they were an unmotivated, bratty, vulgar, weird kid.

And yet, at home, their parents saw Wren for the bright, witty, sweet little child that they were.

୧ ‧₊˚ 👾 ⋅ ☆

Wren is a middle school dropout that has been living in their van for almost a year now. They discovered they were a Magicus at twelve-years-old, and about a year later began to hear underground rumours about two mysterious Magicae organizations, Eden and The Congregation of the Chosen. The stories were unlike anything they had ever heard before (and frankly, horrific) so they left home, determined to bring to light the truth about what Eden and The Congregation are doing to Magicae — and have been doing, for several centuries now — and put an end to it.

୧ ‧₊˚ 👾 ⋅ ☆

Traits || Sarcastic, observant, vulgar, stubborn, creative, determined, has a habit of saying things without considering the other person's feelings

Alignment || Chaotic Good

Likes || Music, K-pop, their DS, comic books, drawing, their adopted parents, the color blue, alcohol markers

Dislikes || School, Eden Inc., The Congregation of the Chosen, inflexibility, bugs, the cold

Fears || Spiders, failure

Hobbies || Art (namely drawing), collecting comic books, playing video games, sitting and listening to songs while reading the lyrics along with them, crafts with their parents, hiking with their dad

..✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧..

✨⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ Appearance ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆🌀

Wren has the build of your typical unassuming, slightly late-blooming teenager. They're still awaiting a growth spurt (it'll come, they swear). Wren was never a terribly physically active child so they're on the lankier side but they have toned up a bit as they've gotten older due to hiking and such with Pietro.

They have choppy navy blue wolfcut with black roots that they cut themselves. After seeing the results, Maja insisted she help with the dying process. They have slightly rounded, upturned, hazel eyes with flecks of gray in them and pale skin. They have few freckles on their nose and a lip piercing that they did without Pietro and Maja's permission.

Height || 5'2"

Aesthetic || Wren has gone through plenty of clothing phases. They tried to be emo and then sleek and clean and those were both an awkward disaster. What they've most often gravitated towards are big jackets, baggy pants, lots of graphic t-shirts and random accessories. They essentially dress like Sonic the Hedgehog.

..✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧..

Close my eyes, fantasize / Three clicks and I'm home / When I get back I'll lay around / Then I'll get up and lay back down / Romanticize a quiet life / There's no place like my room

"I know the End" by Phoebe Bridgers

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✨⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ Extra Tidbits ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆🌀

Wren ran away in the dead of night when they were 13 years old. They took one of their father's credit cards and his van and has not been seen since. They've been on the run for about a year. They left home just shortly before their birthday.

Wren has no recollection of either of their biological parents. They both went missing a week apart from each other when Wren was still an infant.

For the first week living with their adoptive parents, Wren did not accept a single dish Maja or Pietro made. They insisted that they could do things themself and would make Maja and Pietro sit at the table and not help at all while they prepared meals for themself. Not a single meal they made could be considered edible.

After getting their lip piercing, Wren tried to do multiple other piercings by themself. Maja caught them every time except once. That one time, Wren ended up with a gaping wound on their nose that Pietro had to tend to.

Wren went through a phase where they would push everything in their room aside to make room and try to learn k-pop dances in the middle of the night. Pietro would usually wake up and go in to fuss at them and tell them to go to sleep but end up sitting on their bed while they did performances for him.

୧ ‧₊˚ 👾 ⋅ ☆

|| PLAYLIST

|| MOODBOARD

|| MASTERLIST

TAGLIST \\ @ohagiwrites @oros-ash3s @bloodinkandashes @corinneglass18 @icantthinkofablognameatm @vesanal @inky-anathemata @bioniclechronicles @seastarblue @gr3yhellh0und @aalinaaaaaa @shadow-of-tea-and-tea @robinshandhurts @ieppiq @sugaredparchment @lunaeuphternal @ifmasonbasonwasawriter @steh-lar-uh-nuhs @blackboxwarrior-mkultra @lancedoncrimsonwings @sharkblizzardblogs @nightmaricwriter @scoundrelwithboba @cepheusgalaxy @cacophonyofwords @theink-stainedfolk @silly-scroimblo-skrunkl @write-with-will

[alice-apparently]

I think Agent / Subject / Catalyst are the three categories [CAT 1-3] in the case numbers.

Bear with me.

So aside from the dates, the case numbers are split in 3 parts, right:

CAT 1-3 (rarely combination of 2 numbers) -> category

*R (-> rank) A/B/C (sometimes combination of 2 letters from ABC)

DPHW (4 digit number)

* the case numbers for episodes #3 and #4 don't have the R for some reason

This is very much taking into account/based on the stuff from the ARG klaus.xls document btw, which has these exact 3 columns & features some of the episodes' cases where these match up exactly with the case numbers. [if you're interested, it's #2 line 80; #3 line 64; #5 line 75; #7 line 77]

Both category and rank are divided into 3 options, with some exceptions of cases having 2 applied at the same time. So now episode 9 gave us another nice group of three. And I thought, hm, maybe those ideas, Agent, Subject, and Catalyst, could match up with one these as a classification of the cases. And I think it does.

Based on the cases we had so far, I think category 1 is Agent, category 2 Subject, and category 3 Catalyst.

In my tmagp paranoia document with all my notes, I made a table sorting the cases according to the categories for a better overview and to be able to maybe spot similarities:

Let me explain what I think the classifications mean.

1 - Agent.

That's the most self-explanatory one I think. I'm not the first to make the comparison between avatar and agent, and not the first to point out that Needles acts like a TMA avatar.

Agent then is an active purveyor of fear/terror. someone deliberatly acting in such a way to spread it, to scare people. It is the person themself directly and possibly willingly causing the 'unsettling experiences' and spreading fear. Needles is the prime example.

It doesn't work quite so well with #1A, but I'd say the "he" that she interacts with acts as an agent, with him luring her to the cemetary and the unsettling way he is described there, but more importantly, with the laughter that follows, that he seems to enjoy what's happening, her fear. Her fear that's caused by him.

2. Subject.

Subject I would describe with "being subjected to something" or that "something just happens". A subject to fear. Maybe as a victim of sorts, but that's not quite it. Anyway, I think the cases in category 2 group together easily:

What's interesting is that all of the cases feature in some way a person entering a space and being affected by it/by something in a certain space. Or at least it is centred on a certain space. they are subject(ed) to the space.

In #1B it's the TMI ruins, in #3 the garden, in #5 the cinema, in #7 the charity store, and in #8 the service station. The person in #8 himself blames it explicitly on the place, the architecture, on the space he entered.

3. Catalyst.

Catalyst, I would argue, means a moveable object that works to spread fear. That is, a person with a certain object--or artifact, if you will--working together: it's a person with the object as a catalyst, it's the object through a person spreading fear.

To put it more concisely, it's cases of a person carrying an artifact and through them, allowing the artifact to affect other people.

We have the violin and the dice in episodes #4 and #9. In both cases the people who pick them up spread harm/misfortune by using them. In both cases the person first harms themself before learning they can/how they can instead spread it to others.

In episode #1B, which was in both category 2 and 3, RedCanary takes that wooden box/old wooden thing home with them. And it's that box, taking that box, that's linked to what's happening to them. Or what they do afterwards. Because we don't actually know what happens to RedCanary or what RedCanary goes on to do afterwards. We've kinda assumed that they just die, but maybe not? Anyway, my point is, old wooden box thing = artefact/catalyst.

Episode #2 is the biggest hole in this theory I think. Without knowing I probably would've put it as category 1, agent, with Ink5oul as the agent. But instead it's rather that the tattoo acts as a catalyst, through the artist. So far it rather has seemed to affect the artist herself rather than other people through her, except for the confrontation with her roommate. But, as @amelie-isnt-french pointed out, we don't know what she moved on to do afterwards. Maybe it would go on to affect other people. Maybe she just hasn't learned how to do so yet.

Or maybe affecting other people is not even a criteria at all. Maybe it's enough that the artifact comes into contact with a person and affecting them.

I'm aware that this theory isn't without flaws; both cases in episode #1, and esp. #2 don't fit into this as well as the others. But I think it still works.

That being said, I can go even more crazy.

You know that other ARG document, the chdb.xlsx, with the list of the gifted children tested at the Magnus Institute, the one that features Sam and Gerry, the one that's possibly the one Sam mentions in episode #8 through which he found Gerry.

Now my question on looking at this document, or you know, one of my questions, was what does the chdb stand for. I figured db might probably be database. the c could be children, because that's who were tested and listed. but the h? I had the stray thought at some point that it might be host. which I found very unsettling, but also didn't really work as a whole, like "Children Host Data Base"? nah.

But what if the C is not for Children. What if it's for Catalyst. Because Catalyst Host Data Base suddenly makes a lot of sense. We know that the TMAGP Magnus Institute is interested in "supernaturally active items" as the episode 9 statement giver tells us. They have been collecting artefacts/catalysts. Cf. also that old wooden box RedCanary found in its ruins. So they might have in the children been looking for potential hosts for them.

[blessed-curse]

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A DESCENDANT & AN EMPOWERED.

The Difference Between a Descendant & an Empowered:

In the modern age of superhumans, there exist two dominant classifications of enhanced beings:

• Descendants – Individuals whose abilities stem from an awakened genetic lineage tracing back to the first superhumans, the so-called "gods" of myth and legend.

• Empowered – Humans who bargained for power, their abilities granted by the enigmatic entity known as The Contractor, but always at a cost.

Though both possess incredible abilities, the origins, mechanics, and implications of their powers differ vastly.

Descendants – The Legacy of the Gods

Origin & Awakening:

Descendants are born with latent superhuman potential, inherited from the ancient "gods"—the first superhumans, whose extraordinary abilities originated from the consumption of Ambrosia or genetic experimentation in civilizations like Atlantis.

For centuries, this dormant genetic code remained inactive, diluted through generations, but several factors led to its reawakening:

• The introduction of Extreme Pulse (EXP) in the late 21st century, which contained a diluted form of Ambrosia and triggered evolutionary changes in certain individuals.

• The natural resurgence of inherited abilities, passed down through the bloodlines of those whose ancestors were once considered divine.

A Descendant is either:

• Born with their abilities activated (a rare occurrence).

• Awakened later in life due to extreme stress, trauma, or external catalysts (such as exposure to EXP or other experimental triggers).

Characteristics & Abilities:

• Biologically Evolved – A Descendant’s power is intrinsic to their genetic makeup, meaning their bodies are naturally adapted to their abilities.

• Inherited Powers – Their abilities often resemble those of their ancestral "god", whether that be superhuman strength, elemental manipulation, or even divine-level control over reality.

• Ichor Instead of Blood – Upon full awakening, a Descendant’s blood changes into ichor, a supernatural fluid that can be lethal to normal humans or possess special properties (e.g., healing, immortality, or destructive effects).

• No Immediate Cost – Descendants do not pay a direct price for their abilities, but their powers are limited by their genetic potential—some bloodlines are weaker than others.

Notable Examples of Descendants:

• First-Generation Gods – The original superhumans from mythology (Zeus, Thor, Amaterasu, etc.).

• Modern-Day Heroes & Villains – Those who inherited these powers and fight as superhumans today.

Weaknesses:

• While powerful, Descendants are bound by biology—if their bloodline is weak, their powers will be weaker than those from a purer genetic line.

• Their abilities grow gradually, meaning they must train and refine them over time.

• They can still be killed if their bodies suffer enough damage.

Empowered – Deals with the Devil

Origin & Power Acquisition:

Unlike Descendants, the Empowered are not born with abilities—they receive them through a contract with the enigmatic being known as The Contractor.

The Contractor seeks out individuals in desperate situations, offering them power in exchange for a price. No one knows who or what The Contractor truly is—some believe it to be a fallen god, a devil, or an eldritch force beyond comprehension.

Contracts are absolute and must be fulfilled to the letter. If an Empowered breaks the terms of their deal, they are cursed with an unimaginable level of bad luck that inevitably leads to their death.

Characteristics & Abilities:

• Instant Power – Unlike Descendants, an Empowered gains their abilities immediately upon forming a contract.

• Cost of Power – Every Empowered must pay a price, which could be:

• A physical cost (e.g., losing a limb every time they use their power).

• A psychological cost (e.g., slowly losing their memories or emotions).

• A moral cost (e.g., being forced to kill someone after every use).

• A spiritualcost (e.g., losing their soul or bits of their lifespan).

• Unlimited Potential – Theoretically, an Empowered could become stronger than a Descendant, depending on the nature of their contract.

• No Genetic Limitations – Anyone can become an Empowered, regardless of lineage.

Notable Examples of Empowered:

• A blind man who traded his ability to see in daylight for the power to see the future in darkness.

• A mother who sacrificed her ability to feel love in exchange for immortality.

• A Mercenary who must kill someone every day or he will turn into stone.

Weaknesses:

• Every power comes with a price, and some prices are unbearable.

• They cannot undo their contracts unless The Contractor allows it.

• If they break the contract, they die.

The Power Struggle – Who is Stronger?

The question of who is stronger between a Descendant and an Empowered depends on the circumstances:

• A highly trained Descendant can surpass an Empowered in raw physical or mystical ability if their genetic line is strong.

• An Empowered with a powerful contract can outmatch a Descendant if their abilities come with a bearable cost and are more versatile.

However, Empowered individuals have an inherent risk factor—if their price becomes too much to bear, they can self-destruct.

Descendants, on the other hand, grow stronger over time and have the advantage of biological adaptation—meaning they don’t have to worry about breaking a contract.

The Mystery of The Contractor:

The true identity of The Contractor remains unknown. They seem to find people, not the other way around, and their goals are unclear.

• Are they simply testing humanity?

• Are they a fallen god seeking revenge?

• Or are they something far worse, playing a game beyond human comprehension?

One thing is certain—whenever The Contractor offers a deal, someone always pays the price.

Author Thoughts:

• Descendants are the rightful inheritors of power, shaped by evolution and ancestry.

• Empowered are those who take power by force, paying a price for their ambition.

• The world fears both—for in the clash between god-born legacies and cursed power-seekers, the fate of humanity hangs in the balance.

[redbuddi]

Would love to hear what you have in mind for Jazz Fenton. Also Vlad?? 👀👀👀

Jazz time, baby!

Jazz was always my favorite character, I think that she added a lot to the show, so she's more or less unchanged, apart from some tweaks to fit her into the slightly different dynamics of the series.

Kindhearted and emotionally intelligent, but sometimes a little self-important, Jazz is the only member of Danny's family who knows that he's a trans boy. However, she does not know about Danny's ghost half at the start of the series, because while Danny confides in her about his struggles in the closet, he has a pretty good reason to not trust her with his ghost identity.

See, while Jazz does everything she can to support her brother, she doesn't always support him in the way he needs, and can be a little pushy if she feels like she knows better. In particular, in the start of the series, she is nagging Danny about when he's going to come out to their parents. Counter-intuitively, Jazz's desire to help her brother has made her somewhat tunnel-visioned. The way she sees it, the stress he feels is because he doesn't know how his parents would react, so the obvious solution to her is for him to come out and then deal with whatever happens after. She doesn't understand that Danny just isn't ready yet, and that it's okay to not be ready, and Danny has reasonable paranoia that she's going to out him to their parents to get it over with. While Jazz would never do that, she hasn't made herself trustworthy enough for Danny to believe that.

Jazz: How long are you going to keep this secret from our parents??? Danny: Which one? Jazz: What? Danny: what

Jazz means well, but needs to learn that her perspective isn't always the right one. She also doesn't get along with Sam too well, as she's the sort of person who believes that you can still work within the system to make progress, while Sam wants to dismantle the system. A huge part of her arc in the story will be to learn that change doesn't come from playing by the rules, and that there are many things in the world she just won't see or experience due to her place of privilege, and that she needs to make a concerted effort to lift people up rather than try to "save" them. Like in the OG show she'll learn about Danny's ghost half by mistake, without Danny knowing she knows, and this will be the catalyst for her to start trying to see things from his point of view, as she wonders why he wouldn't tell her. Sam will also radicalize her, and the two will end up becoming good friends late in the story.

Also like in the show Jazz won't believe in ghosts at first and harbors a lot of resentment towards her parents for not pursuing a type of science she considers to be useful, especially after the accident. Eventually it'll be too obvious for her to ignore the existence of ghosts, but even when it turns out they were right, Jazz can't let go of how she feels about her parents right away.

The Fenton's have always been geniuses in one field or another, but Jazz is the only member in the family who isn't interested in science. She studies therapy and thinks of herself as good enough to basically be a therapist already (she is not correct,) but begins to develop a fascination with ghosts and how they work both biologically and psychologically. She is deeply embarrassed by this, worried that her parents have started to "rub off on her," and does her best to hide it, but secretly begins to journal and catalogue certain ghosts that she witnesses, trying to figure them out. She is off-the-mark with a lot of her classifications, but makes an equal amount of useful observations and theories, and once she joins Team Phantom proper her research will become extremely helpful.

As for Vlad... I have thoughts and ideas for him, but I wanna wait a bit before I share it all... 😉

[lazyvase]

TMNT LEGENDS: Class Fit Ranking 2

There are five classes in TMNT LEGENDS: cunning, might, tech, spirit, and swift. These classifications are largely inconsequential, for they don’t affect stats and abilities. All they determine is how much damage you do to an enemy, and how much damage an enemy does to you.

As such, I can rate the matchup between a character and a class purely superficially. All I need to consider is the character and the connotations of the word. We may also consider the characters they are weak and strong against (class wise) if need be.

The matches will be graded 1 through 5. 1 meaning that they should’ve been a different class. 5 meaning that they must be this class.

Today we go over:

TECH

Donatello: 5/5. Gee. I wonder if the class based specifically on this character will be the perfect fit.

Newtralizer: 5/5. With an assortment of gadgets and high-tech weaponry, Newtralizer easily fits into the Tech class.

Casey Jones: 4/5. While one could easily make a case for Casey Jones being in the might class due to his headstrong nature, Casey surprisingly fits better in the tech class. Time and time again, Casey had shown his ingenuity. Whether through simple things such as hockeypucks with dynamite taped on, or complex creations like his electric glove, Casey has proven himself to be quite crafty. Not to mention his jack-of all-trades bike shown in "The Deadly Venom" and the car he and Donnie supercharged together to race the Speed Demon.

Baxter Stockman: 5/5. The go to tech guy for the Foot Clan, Stockman easily fits the Tech class. Not to mention in the game he's always in his suit of robotic armor.

Metalhead: 5/5. Robot.

Zeck: 5/5. A plethora of gadgets and a highly advanced suit make him perfect for the Tech class.

Michelangelo (LARP): 2/5. Technically, in the pseudo-medieval times they're cosplaying in, a bow and arrow would be seen as rather advanced and high tech. Especially since Mikey is totally using special arrows, like the rope arrow. While the argument is flimsy, ultimately i think archer Mikey could only be tech or cunning.

B.U.N.N.I.E.S.: 5/5. A group of MOUSERS with rabbit ears. They're robots, so they fit the Tech class.

Donatello (Classic): 5/5. Gee. I wonder if the class based specifically on this character will be the perfect fit.

Donatello (Movie): 5/5. Gee. I wonder if the class based specifically on this character will be the perfect fit.

Donatello (Space): 4/5. I think Space Donnie is the most justified in staying the same class. He's the tech guy in the advanced spacesuit. His technical knowledge rapidly expanded due to his time with the Fugitoid. However, I believe rapidly is the key word here. I believe Donnie should've been in the swift class. Donnie adapts to life on the ship the best. Frequently he helps the professor with repairs and upgrades. Donnie's inventing doesn't take a break either. He keeps up the pace.

Dr. Rockwell: 4/5. One may think he should be in the spirit class due to his psychic powers. However, his psychic amplifier is vital to his abilities. This vital piece of technology is what puts him in the Tech class.

Krang (Classic): 5/5. An evil genius with an advanced robotic suit.

Raphael (Vision Quest): 5/5. The main catalyst for this match is that Raph's newest ability, shooting flames at his enemies, is a crafted piece of technology.

Rocksteady (Classic): 4/5. Not my first thought when I think of big rhino, but the game justifies this approach by having all of his moves rely on a wide array of lasers and ray guns. Other games such as Shredder's Revenge and Nick All Star Brawl 2 put more focus on Rocksteady's proficiency with advanced weaponry, such as big laser guns and grenades.

Tiger Claw: 4/5. With his twin pistols and jetpack, Tiger Claw utilizes plenty of technology to hunt his foes. Though I could easily see an argument for him being in cunning.

Conclusion

Total score: 4.5/5. Tech has very clear fits. It’s fairly obvious when a character deserves to be in the tech class. It’s hard to argue that a character with a laser gun is might or spirit.

Next time we’ll be going over what Tech counters: Spirit. This one is gonna get a bit rough.

[therobertfrasergang]

Robert Fraser reviews Tantra Exhibition, 1971 (transcription)

Robert Fraser’s review of The Hayward Gallery’s Tantra exhibition, September 30-Nov. 7, 1971. Published in Studio International, vol. 182 no. 939, Dec. 1971

Originally posted here by @ljblueteak

Transcription below the cut

The exhibition of Tantra on show at the Hayward Gallery from 30 September to 14 November has been an event which could be a catalyst to the formation of new conceptions as to the purpose and direction of the art of the future. In this instance I mean art taken as a global entity, not as something divided up into Western art or Eastern art. The first thing that might strike the view was that the show taken as a whole revealed a vision of a very ancient and systematic culture whose symbols and myths are alive right up to the present day; a Hindu or Buddhist could walk through the show and constantly be made aware of things which are a part of his own consciousness and personality. It is this aspect of tantra as a living sign-language and a living mythology which gives it special significance to us now. The basis of all tantric iconography is function; although tantra is based in the expansion of consciousness (Sanskrit root TAN expand TRA) its purpose is to provide and explain methods by which the expansion is to be achieved. There have been many different schools of thought on this subject and the reason for the seemingly baffling complexity of tantra is that it touches upon so many different levels and approaches to sadhana; philosophy, science and ritual are all involved in what was originally one system of thought based in vedanta. In recent centuries cults have grown up which have advocated specialized approaches, of which tantra asana is one; it is this one approach that has in the present day been identified most closely with tantra, and its over-emphasis has given tantra a notoriety which is based upon misconception of its full range. Nevertheless in this show all this enormous variety of imagery and symbol has been brought together under the umbrella of tantra art, as being visualizations of various methods towards the pursuit of sadhana and man's relation to the universe.

In style and content these exhibits differ widely. Many of them are what are known as Indian classical art, others are 'folk' or primitive forms; on the other hand the diagrams and manuscripts of which there are many in the exhibition could be called 'yoga' art. However, nearly all bear a certain stamp or aura which we immediately recognize as tantric; and the reason we are able to do this is due entirely to the vision of one man, Ajit Mookerjee, from whose private collection about two-thirds of the exhibits have been borrowed. Ajit Mookerjee is already well known in India for his pioneer work in the classification and identification of Indian folk and primitive art and it is during the pursuit of these studies that he came to formulate the concept of tantra art, which had hitherto existed as unrelated art-forms in various parts of India. His name is now well known in Western countries as the author of two art books, "Tantra Art' (Ravi Kumar 1967) and 'Tantra Asana' (Ravi Kumar1971), and it is the wide circulation and enormous interest which the first of these books created which made the world aware of an art form which, although it had existed for centuries, had so far eluded classification. What caused this enormous interest, both in the books and the Hayward exhibition, is the fact that tantra art fulfills a function for Western man which his own contemporary art has lost sight of. Here is an art form which partakes of the potential of human energy and its relation to the universe. It is this inward direction of tantra art that people instinctively recognize and identify with, although after experiencing an initial attraction they can easily be put off by what seems to be an impenetrable jungle of symbols and myths demanding a knowledge so specialized as to be beyond reach. But many of these symbols have an abstract significance which is immediately recognizable. An example of this is catalogue no. 511, which illustrates in a series of gouaches of incredibly subtle coloration the processes of projective evolution of the universe; the balance between abstraction and description is so perfectly held on the aesthetic plane that the subject matter of expansion is self-evident.

Despite the organizers' inspired concept of presenting the exhibition as a journey without beginning or end and the sensitive groupings of the various classifications of objects and paintings, one is nevertheless conscious of a certain visual indigestion after concentrated viewing. This is perhaps due to the inclusion of the sections of Buddhist tantra and several series of Tibetan thanjkas, some of which are of indifferent quality. Tibetan Buddhist imagery has a very different visual aura which conjures up a totally different world of the imagination from its Hindu counterparts: it cries out for a setting of its own and should in all fairness be the subject of a separate exhibition.

A word must be said about the catalogue, which has been written by Philip Rawson and admirably designed by Hugh Shaw. Every item in the exhibition has been illustrated and informatively captioned; it is therefore a compendium of tantric imagery in itself, and immediately becomes a vital work of reference. Surely, though, the insistence of the catalogue's introduction upon the cultist aspect of tantra is a mistake? Tantra asana is one of the visually richest and most beautiful sources of tantric imagery but the philosophy of the male/female principle goes far beyond the sexual frame of reference. In advaita vedanta it has a much more abstract significance and the practical application of sexual asana as a means of union with the absolute has no serious philosophical basis. If the idea of tantra art can be freed from its cultist associations, it can emerge as the key to an art of the future that is not pursued for its own sake, but forms part of a philosophical system or thought.

All this is conjecture, but it is exciting to hear that a Tantra Museum is to be built on a site on the outskirts of New Delhi over the next few years which will collect and exhibit both Indian tantric forms and forms from other cultures ancient and contemporary, with Ajit Mookerjee's collection as a basis. It is by this approach to tantra art that a link may be established between all forms of art with an inward direction that speak of man's relation to the universe.

****

Interesting that Fraser was based in India at this time but familiar enough with a London show to be able to write a detailed review.

Vyner says: "Characteristically, though, his reappearances in London during the four or five years he was away shed little light on his actions and whereabouts other than conveying his increased enthusiasm for all things Indian."

[esgtrends]

Understanding the EU Taxonomy: A Game-Changer for ESG Reporting in 2025

As the landscape of sustainability reporting evolves, businesses across Europe are preparing for a significant shift—one led by the European Union’s Taxonomy Regulation. By 2025, this classification system will play a pivotal role in shaping how companies report their environmental performance, comply with ESG mandates, and appeal to sustainability-minded investors.

But what exactly is the EU Taxonomy, and why does it matter now more than ever?

What Is the EU Taxonomy?

The EU Taxonomy is a classification system introduced by the European Commission to define what economic activities can be considered environmentally sustainable. Its core aim is to provide a clear, science-based framework that prevents greenwashing, improves transparency, and aligns capital flows with the EU’s climate goals—especially the European Green Deal and the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

To qualify as sustainable under the Taxonomy, an activity must:

Make a substantial contribution to at least one of six environmental objectives (e.g., climate change mitigation, pollution prevention)

Do no significant harm (DNSH) to any of the other objectives

Comply with minimum social safeguards

Why It Matters for Companies in 2025

From January 2025 onward, thousands of European companies—particularly those subject to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)—will need to disclose their EU Taxonomy alignment. This includes quantitative metrics like turnover, CapEx, and OpEx related to sustainable activities.

In practical terms, that means companies must:

Map their business operations against the EU Taxonomy

Assess their eligibility and alignment

Report on environmental impacts, risks, and mitigation strategies

This will not only increase the compliance burden but also reshape how sustainability is embedded into core business strategies.

The Link to ESG Reporting

The EU Taxonomy does not exist in isolation. It’s a cornerstone of the broader ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) reporting framework in the EU. Together with the SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation) and CSRD, it pushes companies and financial institutions to disclose how sustainable their operations and investments truly are.

For asset managers and investors, EU Taxonomy data provides critical input for evaluating ESG-aligned funds. For corporates, it ensures accountability and enhances their reputation among stakeholders seeking authenticity in sustainability commitments.

Challenges & Solutions

Despite its ambition, implementing the EU Taxonomy is not without challenges. Many companies struggle with:

A lack of internal ESG data and expertise

The complexity of aligning operational activities with taxonomy criteria

Evolving guidance and uncertainty in technical screening standards

This is where ESG data providers like Inrate come in. By offering EU Taxonomy alignment data, impact metrics, and advisory support, they help companies streamline compliance and focus on their sustainability goals.

Read More: 👉 https://inrate.com/blogs/decoding-eu-taxonomy-esg-reporting-2025/

Conclusion

The EU Taxonomy is more than a compliance requirement—it’s a catalyst for meaningful ESG integration across sectors. For businesses, investors, and stakeholders alike, understanding and aligning with this framework will be essential in 2025 and beyond.

If you want to stay ahead in sustainable reporting and avoid the risks of greenwashing, now’s the time to start decoding the EU Taxonomy.

FAQs: EU Taxonomy and ESG Reporting

1. What is the EU Taxonomy and why is it important for ESG reporting? The EU Taxonomy is a classification system that defines environmentally sustainable economic activities. It's important for ESG reporting because it helps companies and investors determine whether their operations or portfolios are aligned with the EU’s climate and sustainability goals.

2. Who is required to report under the EU Taxonomy in 2025? From 2025, companies falling under the scope of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), including large public-interest entities and listed SMEs, must disclose their alignment with the EU Taxonomy.

3. How does the EU Taxonomy impact financial institutions and investors? Financial institutions and asset managers must use EU Taxonomy data to assess and report the sustainability of their portfolios under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). It affects ESG fund classification and capital allocation.

4. What are the six environmental objectives of the EU Taxonomy? The six objectives are:

Climate change mitigation

Climate change adaptation

Sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources

Transition to a circular economy

Pollution prevention and control

Protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems

[infcstissumam]

So, as some of you may know, I’ve recently gotten back onto discord with a ghost group, and, well, I’ve been dumping headcanons on there left and right. So, for posperity, I feel this calls for a Discord headcanon dump:

CHARACTER HEADCANONS

To sum up, the difference between Papa II and Papa I in one sentence. Papa I is sour, while Papa II is bitter. 

To elaborate a bit on this, Papa I is sour, not by nature, but because of the role he was given. Ever since he filled the role as Papa and undid a lot of changes, Nihil had done under his reign - he was branded as a monster, an asshole, the works. For a time, he tried to fight this, but eventually, he became what they described him as. Nowadays, he's a reclusive man, withdrawn and cold, with acidic wit and a sharper tongue. 

Meanwhile, Papa II is, well, I don't know how to describe him briefly. He's hurt, really hurt, he was robbed of a lot of what he was supposed to have, a childhood, adolescence, a loving family, etc. and he's become embittered because of it. Furthermore, he doesn't really let go of his pain, he holds on to it and his grudges... He's just a hot mess is what I'm saying.

A lot of Papa II's ridiculous and 'embarrassing' behaviour during infesstissumam was being driven by spite - I mean, the Ghost project was Nihil's - what greater revenge would it be to make it a complete joke, especially when you consider the Clergy gave him the shortest period possible as an 'opening act' for III.

This backfired, of course, and it helped the Ghost project immensely, casting a shadow III would never be able to overcome regardless of his efforts.

Papa I struggles a lot with his identity because of the labels thrust upon him and his sense of duty to his family and the Church

Papa I is the one who takes himself way too seriously, and this is canon. He's also super competitive.

Papa, I is one of those people that relate heavily to birds, and it's valid! He has a little, not perfect, pop-up aviary on the balcony of his papal apartment where he takes the time to rehabilitate abandoned or mistreated birds, before letting them be adopted out again.

I don't think Papa I had any kids, why? Because having a bloodline of his own would be considered a 'threat' against (Nihil) his brother's own. So, he was never allowed to. He does resent this quite a bit; not that he ever really wanted a family; it's just that he never had a choice either way.

In general, Papa I grinned and bared a lot of unfair treatment for the sake of keeping the peace between him and Nihil.

I agree that Papa II was bitter and envious over the treatment III was given (III was a spoiled, golden child, he had a loving mom, was a favourite in the Church, even as a child, etc.). Still, I don't think it's over money and fame, or so to say, that stuff is inconsequential to him. On a fundamental level, II's secret resentment of III all comes down to being treated as lesser when compared to him. Secondo would never show this to his face, however, because he loves his brother, but that bitter envy is there and always will be.

Papa II is the type to write his s/o love letters but not the kind to send them. He keeps them in a box in his office,

Ghoul's can't be killed on the mortal plane, not really. Yes, their vessels (or bodies) may be destroyed, but the Ghoul or demon itself is stored in the mask. So long as the mask is intact, that Ghoul is alive and ready to be bound to another host vessel. When a ghoul is 'killed', they are either banished back into the mask or into hell, based on where the specific damage occured. (vessel vs. mask)

There are two ways of summoning a ghoul: the first is by summoning them in spirit and binding them to their respective mask, which is then bound via a death ritual to a vessel. The other is by summoning and manifesting the Ghoul in body and spirit via a series of tedious and taxing rituals.

CHURCH HEADCANONS

The Church practises Flanderization when it comes to their ghouls. You see, there are many classifications of ghouls with differing temperaments, appearances, etc. Such as Magma, Ash and Spark. However, for the sake of convenience- or perhaps further dehumanization - the ghouls are grouped and given broad labels like Fire, Earth, Water, Air and Aether.

There's a bunch of geese and other waterfowl that make their home in a decorative pond in the Church's unholy-see. Everyone jokes that they're the real evil in the Church. --The geese cause troubles on purpose. They will chase siblings down the walkways and stand at the door, waiting for their next victim to exit. Unless you're Papa I, in which case they become full babies, much to everyone's horror and reverence 

The unholy-see has one central basilica, with adjoining monasteries segregated based on gender and species (the ghouls have their own pad for safety concerns) and other facilities related to being independent of the outside world, like farming and husbandry. Recreation and tourism (they thrive on folks wanting to come to see the quirky satan Vatican) 

The monasteries are named after the three Prime-mover's who birthed the Emeritus, Infinitus and Ambrosios line of cambions, although, in the present day, only the Emeritus and Ambrosios have living members. (the Infinitus line were wiped out in the Catholicism-based attacks that drove them from Italy to Sweden in the first place)

While the main basilica bears the name of the archdemon father who sired them.

All buildings present in the unholy-see, from monastary to the farm land and the like, are all connected by the mass of labyrinthian catacombs which hold all of the Church's dead.

the public or first level of the catacombs are internationally recognized because of how well the bodies are preserved, and many see it as a macabre must-have for their bucket list

I think Sister's and sibling's, in general, have the opportunity to rename themselves after they take their vows Some make titles out of it and some choose names from the doctrine or church history, for instance, Meridiana (my oc) chose her name as a tongue in cheek reference to her job.

The thing with the church catacombs is that they're dry and cold, leading to sort of mummies being formed of the corpses interred there, but well-preserved mummies given much of the ancient church architecture is untouched and old traditions for burial are continued!

For instance, the Church doesn't do coffins, when a body is put into their catacombs, it is given it's cubby, or so to speak and is wrapped with several layers of textiles and plant-based fabric, such as cotton.

There numerous notable individuals in the catacombs. Such as the last members of the Infinitus line, the mother's and non-papal serving family of the Papa's and descendants of the demon lines. As well as entirely unrelated celebrity and royal individuals who were followers of the Church and wanted their remains interred in the unholy-see's catacombs

An iconic corpse from the catacombs is: 

- Adalgisa Emeritus, Nihil's grand aunt who died as a young girl (~8) from complications related to an infection from a broken bone. Who, despite being laid to rest over 450 years ago, maintains many of her features from life. Including her nose, which has shrivelled up but is still there, her eyelids + lashes, brows and her hair. And provided an excellent window to understand how the deaths of papal-family members were treated at the time. 

Although the treatment of her corpse and funerary items has led to much debate in the Church, given she was displayed not as a result of her immediate family's wishes, but from Nihil and One's, who believed her remarkable condition and life should be showcased to those who wanted to learn about the papal family history.

Adalgisa was a catalyst for significant changes in the way the catacombs and dead were laid to rest in the Church.

You see, previously, they were organized by status and ranking with the Church. With the demonic families having their own lavish wing, as did upper Clergy, etc. however, after her death, her father, Cernunnos IV, couldn't palette the idea of his daughter being put away in an empty wing, waiting for her family. He couldn't stand it, and so committed to having a children's wing created so his daughter and other children wouldn't be abandoned in the cold dank waiting for the families they were stolen from, and so they could reunite in the depths, play and be merry. Just like in life

It's actually said in church texts that the Fourth was haunted by nightmares of his daughter's cries echoing in the hallowed walls. But this is 'hear-say' according to the Fourth's second prime-mover.

[robbyrobinson]

Villain Review: The Lich From: Adventure Time Voiced by: Ron Perlman Classification: Complete Monster

Biography

The Lich had apparently been around for thousands of years, potentially before time itself was established due to him describing a time where before there was anything, there were monsters. Whatever the case, the Lich describes himself as being the Last Scholar of GOLB. His past is...conflicting to say the least. Some believe he was created as a byproduct of the Great Mushroom War, but in another episode, the Lich is implicated to be an incarnation of the Catalyst Comet from Evergreen. 

Prior to the events of the series, the Lich's plot to destroy all life in Ooo was foiled by the hero Billy and he was imprisoned in amber. Of course in "Mortal Folly," the Lich escapes and resumes his goal of destroying all life. Finn and Jake confront him and seemingly destroy him. However, his soul then takes possession of Princess Bubblegum and he goes on a rampage through the Candy Kingdom. Defeated again, he continued to possess the Waving Snail. 

In his next appearance, he uses the Enchiridion to kill Billy and steal his skin to further manipulate Finn and Jake. The Lich anticipates that Finn would refuse his offer of conquest and destroy the Enchiridion which results in the creation of a wormhole. From there, the Lich tries to have Prismo grant his wish for the extinction of all life. This plan, however, is thwarted thanks to Jake's counter wish. 

The Lich is trapped in the Time Room patiently waiting for his next chance. When Finn learns that his human father Martin was in the interdimensional prison the Citadel and that he had to commit a cosmic crime in order to enter it, the Lich wakes up Prismo's aged form and then kills him for good measure. Arriving at the Citadel, the Lich explains that he would amass a great and terrible army that he would use to destroy life one planet at a time. Before he could kill Finn, Finn doses him with a regenerative property that transforms him into a gigantic baby who is then adopted by Tree Trunks and Mr. Pig.

Personality

This is where I would deduct some points. The Lich is evil, simply put. While the show did have some dark moments here and there, when he showed up, he completely changed the tone of the series paving the way to more dark elements later on. However, the Lich's main defining trait is his desire to end all life. It's a...single-minded goal. Unlike with say other villains like Bill Cipher who wanted to rule all of existence, and while that would lead to reality being destroyed, at least he had his fun, the Lich doesn't seem to have any additional goal aside from that one. If he succeeded at destroying all life, does that mean he ceases to be as well? What would he do after the extinction of all life? Cackle to himself for the rest of eternity? 

Funnily enough, Finn even points this out to him that he was "basic," and the Lich himself actually agrees with him, but notes that he at least knew what he was. Besides that, there is more to the Lich aside from this one goal. The Lich is wickedly cunning and actually learns from his mistakes: the gauntlet that belonged to Billy? Turns it into dust the moment he grabbed it. Billy himself? Kill him and steal his skin. He even anticipates that Finn would refuse his offer and destroy the Enchiridion...which is what he wanted anyway because that would lead to Prismo's dimension. While it is a single-minded goal, the Lich is cunning and formulates several gambits to work around any setbacks.

But what I feel works in the Lich's favor is his words. Voiced by Ron Perlman, while the Lich tends to not speak much, when he does, his words carry a lot of weight. Time itself seems to stop in its tracks. His words feel weighted, yet at the same time, enthralling my favorite being his "Fall" speech. 

Appearance

Given the cutesy style of the show, the Lich's design contrasts a lot from the typical design. His first appearance has him be a literal walking corpse with the skin on his face receding away to reveal his gums as if he has a perpetual smile on his face. He looks like your typical evil sorcerers with his robe but he also has a broken half of a horn. His form continually changes throughout the series especially after he murdered Billy and used his skin. In "Escape the Citadel," the Lich sheds the skin suit and becomes a full on skeleton with small pupils. 

Powers and Abilities

I already explained his strategist ways, the Lich can emit green flames and even use his mind to set things on fire. The Lich also has a deathly air around himself making it possible to kill whatever is in his path with little effort such as when he escaped into the ocean leaving dead fish in his wake. The Lich can control minds such as when he used the Waving Snail to escape from his amber prison, or in "Escape the Citadel," when he commands Finn and Jake to "fall." 

He does have a few weaknesses like how he was first defeated by Billy with his gauntlet. However, this only worked once on him as he reduced it to dust when Finn tried to use it on him. The sweater that Finn got from PB also seemed to have some effect on him, but when he attempted to use it a second time, the Lich swats him away. At most these instances are all temporary obstacles for the Lich and he is quick to learn from them so the next time he encounters the same stumbling block, it would not work. The only real time where the weakness seemed to stick was when he was transformed due to the regenerative substance Finn put on him.

Verdict

Ultimately I'll give the Lich a 6/10. While an boding figure, the Lich is held back slightly because of his single-minded goal and how he really has nothing else going for him should he achieve it. However, his design is awesome as well as some of his deadly magic. While he didn't speak much, his voice is chilling and his lines are very heavy-weighted and sometimes even make you feel the inner turmoil of his nihilistic words.

[yogaadvise]

Answering The Unanswered !

Preface: 

While on the spiritual trip, our mind or mind maintains on increasing different concerns or questions. For those, who regardless of all these distractions as well as play of mind continue to get on the path of Dhyan, many (otherwise all) of these uncertainties get removed on their own in due course. However, for many, these questions, these confusions and misconceptions elevated by the mind finish up being the reasons to drift or to totally turn back from meditation.

The very function of creating this blog site is to answer, based on my own experience, some of the standard questions/doubts which usually trouble the beginners. Further, by the title ' Answering the unanswered', what I suggest is that these inquiries were essentially unanswered or at best unconvincingly answered for me till couple of months back as I was mostly depending on what I had checked out in numerous spiritual books or what I had actually seen in YouTube videos.

The Matter

# Q 1. Many people continue saying that Meditation is terrific for peace of mind, it does marvels, all should do it etc. When one states begin practicing meditation, what precisely has to be done?

My View: See, the most significant trouble/ roadblock for novices in the path of Reflection is that they believe of Reflection as a procedure, a technique which will certainly help them achieve benefits - tranquility of mind, joy etc. and for this reason they want to discover it rapidly for fast outcomes as well as that's why they are bound to face failing. I remained in this classification when I started off as well.

Don't seek anything. Do not try to find results. Meditation is not a magic stick. We need to understand the reality that meditation is not a method, it is not a process. Rather, introspective state is our fundamental natural state to be in.

As for just what needs to be done for meditation, well the amusing component is that you do not need to do anything. Just sit and do nothing for couple of minutes, with your eyes shut or open whatever means it fits you (however originally I would certainly advise with closed eyes).

Stop attempting to concentrate at the centre of forehead or in between eyebrows or at the pointer of nose etc. Originally, simply sit quietly, allow itching on temple or the arm happen, allow there be a variety of sounds entering your ears, allow hundreds of thoughts jump and also dance, don't ever before try to stop them or suppress them. Simply observe every little thing with complete recognition for couple of mins. At some point you will discover every little thing settling. Ideas will never ever be absolutely no yet jugglery of mind progressively decreases. For the very first couple of days or months, it will take a little bit much longer for this clearing up to occur but as you progress on this path, ideas begin decreasing within few minutes.

So, bear in mind the thumb guideline for meditation - daily just rest and also do nothing for couple of minutes - morning, mid-day, evening and even in the evening. It is typically said that early morning or nights are the ideal time to practice meditation.

# 2. I have been attempting to do meditation however nothing is occurring in spite of my genuine efforts.

My View : Nothing will certainly occur. No magic is going to take place. The extremely purpose of meditation is to merge towards this nothingness (Shunya/ No). Do not anticipate anything.

Always remember the standard rule of meditation - Don't look for anything, just be! Simply keep meditating, approving it as an obligatory routine like brushing the teeth etc., without thinking about what you will obtain in return.

Besides quit 'attempting' to meditate, daily simply sit as well as do nothing for few minutes, reflection will automatically begin happening when over a time period you on your own begin understanding what all this is about!

# 3. I rest silently in the lotus pose for long period of time still I am not getting the tranquility of mind.

My View :  

Well that's due to the fact that you are doing a type of profession here by looking for the peace in return of doing meditation. It resembles you are making a mindful initiative to attain something while making believe to be seated and also not doing anything. It doesn't work like that. This subconscious and desperate desire to be peaceful is specifically what is quiting you from being one.

Keep on resting in Dhyan, as the self-enlightenment slowly permeates in, the sensation of tranquility, pleasure and blissfulness will certainly prevail.But don't make this tranquility or happy state as your goal.

# 4. I meditate consistently yet I am unable to handle my anger.

My View :  

It made use of to be my favorite concern considering that I was (or possibly I still am) labelled as a brief tempered and spontaneous person.

I would say, initially of all, stop managing your temper as all the same. It's simply difficult to handle it from outside. You may reduce your rage for 20 days by specifying to yourself that 'oh, because I am doing meditation so I don't have the right to be mad any longer', yet it will eventually appear as a volcano on the 21st day for certain. In the last couple of years I have directly experienced that on greater than one celebration, before I lastly recognized that the only escape is in as well as not otherwise.

Also, you will certainly be continuously evaluated by people around that will certainly maintain poking you claiming that 'hi there, you do meditation yet you simply lost your temper, you just over reacted, you appear to be under anxiousness strike' and so on. Never mind. These points will certainly occur, however simply neglect them. You don't require a certification from anybody after all.

So simply keep meditating. In due training course of time, as your inner world start making you understand the reality, all these strong feelings of disgust, anger, anxiousness, severe add-on and so on will instantly disappear.

# 5. Do we actually need a Guru on the course of Meditation?

My View :  

That's a private choice. Some find that being under the darkness of a Guru works as catalyst in elevating their spiritual energy. It could be true for them and I appreciate their devotion, nevertheless I personally don't have a particular Expert, though originally I was affected or say influenced by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Osho as well as Ramana Maharshi.

Even currently, on days when I don't feel like practicing meditation, I check out a book or watch You tube videos of these informed people nevertheless none of them is or will be my Expert. That's because as you advance on this course, you start realizing the power of the Master that's staying inside you. Those who enjoy reflection will quickly comprehend why I am claiming what I am saying. After a few months, you recognize one fact. Plainly, paying attention to or checking out an informed individual can at ideal inspire you to commence your spiritual journey.

# 6 Some great publications to review/ persons to follow to get started?

My View : ' To get going' is the crucial word below as once you start realizing things you no much longer need any kind of publication or person to inspire you.

Having stated that, there is no refuting the reality that a great spiritual publication can surely obtain you began or obtain you back on track if you go crazy on the way.

So here are a couple of individuals whose publications/ videos have actually assisted me up until now in my spiritual trip: Osho, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Ramana Maharshi, Thich nhat hanh, BK Shivani, Sandeep Maheswari, Rumi and also ofcourse, Jiddu Krishnamurti.

If I were to highly advise a solitary certain reference, then that would certainly be Ashtavakra Gita as well as hence an attractive book on the mystic Ashtavakra -Enlightenment- The Only Revolution ! 

P.S. - I would happily call myself a candidate, a novice on the spiritual course, that has (by divine's grace) most likely found out as well as experienced a thing or 2. That's it. Nothing more than that.

Would love to hear your ideas as well as feedback.

Namaste and also goodbye till my next create up!

Rahul is a civil designer by career however a traveling fanatic, an ardent wanderer, a family traveler and a blogger!!

[howtofightwrite]

Q&A: A Death in the Story

I’m going to break this question into two pieces. I don’t normally like doing that here, but the example really drifts into a separate topic, and I don’t want to simply cull that out.

Do you think, instead of killing parents off for books, they could allow their kids to go on adventure or take the kids with them on adventures?

Yeah. You’re asking about a specific sub-genre and then asking, “but what about stepping out of the sub-genre?” Those stories already exist, in a number of forms.

Not every story about kids adventuring on their own comes from dead parents. As much as you can joke about Pokemon being a, “child neglect simulator,” there is a narrative there about children simply going out and playing. The series was inspired by, Satoshi Tajiri’s childhood hobby of collecting insects, and his experiences in rural Japan. (With a healthy dose of imaginative fancy.)

I’m going to break this into three groups. The parents are dead, the parents are alive but disinterested, and the parents are alive and active participants.

These are all different kinds of stories, and I’m being a little reductive with these classifications because we’re tracking a specific element across all the kinds of stories that use that.

Live long enough, and you will bury your parents. It’s inevitable. At some point, growing up, everyone realizes this. There’s no escape, we will all die someday. Realizing that is one of those critical moments in your growth from child to adult. How you deal with that knowledge is deeply personal to you as an individual. However, it also means losing a parent does force you to grow as a person.

So, there’s two separate versions of this: the parent dies a catalyst for character growth. I’ll be honest, there’s an entire genre of this, in many different forms of media, where a child or teen escapes the trauma of dealing with a parent’s death either into fantasy, or by running away. In cases like this, the parent needs to die for the child to experience and learn from that. These will usually be coming of age stories.

In some cases, you can even see variations of this genre with adults dealing with the death of their adult parent. There’s also a related genre with parents dealing with the loss of their child or spouse. Again the focus is confronting death and grief (or retreating into fantasy to avoid that) so if there’s no death, the story’s beats aren’t going to work.

So, in these cases, the crux of the story is leaning to deal with the loss of a parent, so yes, they do need to be dead for these to work. (As a quick aside, I can’t really cite any of these off the top of my head. I find this genre deeply depressing and tend to avoid it.) There is a related sub-genre of children dealing with a parent’s illness (terminal or otherwise), and all of the above permutations also exist, though ultimately, that is a different kind of story, and trying to transition from dealing with death to only dealing with the fear of death seriously alters the context, and the kind of story you’re telling.

The other side of this is, you can have stories kill off the parent in a cheap attempt to raise the stakes. I’m looking at Batman here.

To be clear, I don’t have anything against the idea of an orphan protagonist, when their parent’s death is just backstory to where they are, however I do dislike the practice of executing characters to cheaply manufacture drama.

The orphan child hunting down the individual who killed their parent is cliche, but, as character motivation for a revenge story goes, it works.

Does the parent need to be dead? Well, in this case, not really. They need to be “gone,” but that’s not necessarily the same as dead. An, “orphan,” child hunting down the people who took their family doesn’t require their family to be dead, simply off-stage.

Similarly, an “orphan,” who’s family is gone and is accidentally on an adventure doesn’t require the family to be dead. It’s been a while since I read C. S. Lewis, but as I recall the kids in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, aren’t coping with dead parents, even if they were sent to the countryside to avoid a very real risk of death.

I’m trying to keep things general here, but pretty much any portal fantasy that removes the child will start to get into this territory without needing to kill anyone.

I suppose, Harry Potter is a similar, though distinct variant here. Ignoring that Harry is an orphan, he is surrounded by the teachers who are, more or less, tasked with functioning as parents. While this is an awkward example, it’s worth remembering that sometimes there are other characters who take up a guardian role for a child, even if their actual family isn’t there. So, if I was being really serious about having a consistent continuity to examples, this should probably be further down the list.

One of the more disturbing transitions here is the idea that the child’s parents are there, but they don’t care. That may be a little harsh, because there is still some gradation between the protagonists of something like the Pokemon games, where the characters are set loose and assumed to be, “staying safe,” and examples like the film version of Buffy (1992), where her parents really don’t notice, or care, the condition Buffy comes home in. Though, as with Harry Potter above, Merrick (Donald Sutherland) does end up acting as a (slightly unhinged) parent to her.

There is a theme here I’m trying to ignore, but we should probably address. At some point, in the process of becoming an adult, you need to grow past the limitations your parents imposed, or can impose. Freud called this “killing,” them, and many writers seem to take that advice literally. Mentors (whether they’re your character’s actual parents or not) don’t need to die in service of the story. It’s an easy way to catalyze that transition, but, it is not necessary, and can be cheap through overuse.

I’m thinking of how a lot of fantasy stories have dead parents and I’m looking for a way to circumvent that for my own story without having the parents seem neglectful.

There’s a lot of stages in growing up, and stories can explore any of those experiences. This means: Yes, there’s room for stories about children adventuring either with their parents present and assisting, or absent for any number of reasons.

In normal circumstances, parents fill in as ad-hoc teachers for their children and their interests. This could overlap with their actual area of expertise, or it could be they’re trying to keep up with their kid’s interests. (Granted, the latter is less common in fiction.)

If you look back a second, there is an edge case where your character’s “parents” could be their actual teachers. It also fits with boarding school scenarios (like the Harry Potter example above.) It’s a slightly different dynamic, but you’re not chained to their adult oversight being blood relations.

So, you can have an adventure where the kids are going along with their parents, who are doing what they can to keep them safe. (So, they’re not going to intentionally put the children in harm’s way, or ask them to do something too dangerous.) They can still perform safe tasks, based on their age and aptitude, and start learning about that field.

Also, with older teens you can afford to give them significantly more autonomy. They’re not adults yet, but they are capable of operating on their own. Something their parents may rely on if necessary.

There’s a continuity here: as the child ages, they’re going to be able to take on more responsibility, be better able to actively participate in events, and they’ll gradually develop more autonomy. The exact age of your characters will determine where they end up, and on a longer timeline of events, that progress will form the core of their arc.

I know Steve Irwin brought his daughter with him (I distinctly remember him and a few others holding an alligator and him asking her to hold down the tip of the tail to help.) Thoughts?

I’m a little hesitant to use real world examples, especially since Steve Irwin did die doing what he loved. However, that anecdote about Bindi Irwin does illustrate what I was talking about a second ago. The alligator isn’t going to eat her with its tail, and he wasn’t asking her to just go grab an unrestrained, predatory reptile.

With that in mind, there’s plenty of stories about kids going off and working with their parents. The Amelia Peabody Mysteries by the late Elizabeth Peters comes to mind, where over the course of the novels, Amelia’s son eventually takes over as the primary narrator. (The books also transition from first person limited to an epistolary format when the in-fiction “author” changes.)

The important thing to remember is what their death means in a larger context to the characters. Killing a character (or “characters,” if it’s a package deal) should always have significant importance on the characters or plot.

This isn’t a, “sanctity of human life,” argument. As the author your job is tell the story, no matter how unpleasant it may be for the characters. The issue is simpler: You don’t want to waste your audience’s time and attention.

As a writer, you’re asking your audience to read your story. You’re asking them to pay attention to each detail. The unspoken promise is that this will somehow improve the experience. It can move the plot forward, it can offer important context, or it can build the texture of the world and its inhabitants.

It can be tempting to simply throw the kitchen sink at your story; you may have a grand idea of a massive world filled with people and their history, but you’re better served culling that down to the important details. There’s a piece of writing advice from Elements of Style, “omit unnecessary words.” Usually, we think about this at a sentence level, but apply it to your writing as a whole. Ask yourself, “does the story need this character?” If the answer is, “no,” you can’t simply kill them off, you need to remove them completely.

A truth about death is, it’s not the end. I don’t mean in some metaphysical sense; death does not end the influence of a person; their absence lingers and the consequences of their actions persist.

If you’re going to kill someone, you need to remember they’re still a part of the story, even after they’re gone.

-Starke

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Q&A: A Death in the Story was originally published on How to Fight Write.

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Space Orcs “Venomous Saliva?”

From the Intergalactic Journal of Biology and Mechanics

During the solar cycle of 14456 a replication study was conducted by our scientists on the Intergalactic Congress Laboratory. The study attempted to replicate an experiment from a previously published human study. The results were a conclusive replication indicating that the human mouth contains up to 200 species of microorganisms at a concentration of 1,000 to 1 billion on each dental protrusion (tooth).

Despite their out world classification as a class A-1 predator, on their own planet they meet a low classification of a D-8 predator or a B-2 when factoring in their intelligence. For this reason, on their own planet, the humans are not considered to be venomous despite the need for immediate hospitalization upon receiving a bite from their own species.

Off planet their nature as an A-1 apex predator gives them a subclass of a G-6 venom predator. Though their saliva is not dangerous when in contact with open skin or carapace, immediate medical attention is required if bitten or spit on. Areas of danger include the eyes nose mouth, or any other orifice that allows access to the nervous system.

Additional literature on the subject indicates that bacterial presence is used as a catalyst for breaking down food in the mouth. Other bacteria exists within the gut to help with food processing. Without bacterial assistance, food processing would be almost impossible for a human. The nature of this mutualism inoculates the human against most off-world diseases.

A cautionary note: Species from the Gamma four sector are advised to keep clear of humans all together as they are particularly susceptible to human venom*.

*All non-human species are advised to avoid calling humans “Venomous” as it may be seen as an insult. Humans do not see themselves as a particular danger to others in this way.

 At any other time, Krill might have been worried about their present predicament, but after months of shenanigans with the humans including almost dying more than once, the situation they were in now was almost laughable.

Once again human reckless stupidity had brought them to their knees before an angry group of Burg. Perhaps they would have made it out alive if the “sass” of the Captain hadn’t inadvertently offended the leader of the ship; an offence, which punishment was immediate execution.

On their knees, the humans were almost as tall as the Burg, though of course the Burg were Octapeds, and would likely tower over the humans if they stood on their back-most set of legs.

“Ready yourself for your demise, Human.” The Burg commander clicked through his quadra-segment mouth a sheen of base slime glittering over his body

The Captain raised an eyebrow, “Come on, I didn’t mean it like that. In fact ugly scorpion is a term of endearment on my planet.”

With a roar, the Burg commander scuttled closer pincers clicking right in front of the humans face shining points ominously close to his one remaining eye. The human blinked and leaned back in a very unsettled sort of way. Despite this, Krill still saw the reaction as understated. He had death literally two inches from his face and he seemed more disturbed by the thing’s segmented mouth than his own eminent doom.

“Ready the weapons!” the Burg called out. Beneath him a light dusting of slime glistened in the low lighting. The entire ship smelled painfully sterile. Out of the corner of his eye, Krill could see the humans wincing as the smell assaulted their noses.

“I don’t think you want to do that.” The captain interjected as plasma rays were aimed towards his head.

The Burg gave a clicking laugh, “You are hardly in a place to be making threats.”

“Oh really,” Krill had spent enough time with the humans to know when they were bluffing, and the Captain was getting ready for a big whopper of a lie. Why he thought that would work mystified Krill, but he said nothing content with watching the horror unfold from a distance.

“Do you even know what a human is?” The man asked ominously

The commander laughed, “I do not care.”

“Well you should.” The human shot back, “If you knew what we were capable of you would run screaming from this place.”

“And why is that?” The creature asked in amusement

“Because, if I chose to, I could snap these chains with my bare hands and throttle you with them.”

The creature laughed, but Krill kept silent. He sort of doubted that claim, but it honestly wouldn’t surprise him if that was true.

“Than do it. If you can break the chains than do it, and take your freedom.” When nothing happened, the creature gave a chuckle mandibles clicking in amusement.

“I am going to enjoy this, and once you’re dead, I’m going to take my time with the rest of your crew. I am going to rip them to pieces bit by bit and sing along with their screams of agony.

Mistake.

Krill winced shrinking back as he watched the human’s eyes narrow in rage.

The creature let off another clicking laugh, and then a terrible scream. Krill yelped in horror unsure what was happening as the group of creatures rushed in to help their commander who was on the ground underneath the captain’s knees.

The man’s teeth had torn a piece of carapace from the creature’s shoulder.

As he was pulled away saliva and slime coated his chin and neck.

Where the saliva and slime made contact steam fizzed into the air.

The Commander once silent was now crying out in pain scratching at his torn carapace with terrified fervor. Steam blasted from the slime-producing pours under his carapace as the slightly acidic human saliva met the base slime of the creature.

“IT BURNS!” He screamed. The steam was fading away now, and the spot was beginning to turn red.

Even the captain seemed surprised as the creature thrashed around on the floor its pinkish flesh growing redder and redder by the moment.

Whatever it was, it was spreading.

Even the Captain looked slightly surprised as the creature thrashed before him.

In acts of anger, the rest of the crew turned to face them weapons leveled. They kept at a distance. Whatever the human had done, it couldn’t reach them here.

In an act of what must have been defiance or sheer dumb luck, one of the humans spit at the closest soldiers. Whatever it was, it happened to be a pretty good shot striking the creature in the face who immediately reared back roaring in pain as steam rolled off his carapace.

Looking back down at the commander, the redness had spread under his other plates which were even now beginning to wilt and blacken. Steam rose from his skin.

The captain backed away in shock eyes wide.

One of the other humans had appropriated a plasma weapon from the thrashing commander and shot the chains loose releasing the humans who, made a point of growling at anyone who got to close retreating from the ship quickly.

 The virulent reaction of the saliva was enough of a concern that, once the Intergalactic Assembly had caught wind, they demanded the humans be placed into quarantine as the ICDC examined the site. While conclusions were still being formed about what had happened, the running theory was that, the slightly acidic nature of the human’s saliva had reacted with the basic nature of the protective slime rendering it functionless as a protective agent. The bacteria were then able to slip in through the pores under the creature’s armor and spread rapidly through its nervous system. It was unknown at this point why the bacteria had been so fast acting, but it was theorized the structures of the humans verses the Burg somehow accommodated the spread of bacterial infection.

The eyes, requiring the basic slime to function had had their functioning burned away and allowed infections to set straight into the brain.

The Intergalactic council ruled the incident self-defense, and mitigated other charges as the human had not known what the reaction would be.

However, from that day on, a law was set in place determining that a human spitting at someone to be a class one Felony charge, or in certain cases, attempted murder, while other precautions were put in place forcing human inmates to wear spit shields when placed into custody.

Despite themselves, the humans found the entire thing funny, never had they assumed another species would consider them venomous.

It was only bacteria after all, and venom and bacteria aren’t the same thing.

[bestcbdwater]

What is Hemp?

Hashish is a genus of flowering crops in the Cannabaceae members of the family, which is made up of 3 principal species: Hashish sativa, Hashish indica, and Hashish ruderalis. Click Here Even though hemp and pot are frequently referred to as species or strains of Hashish, many in fact do not qualify as either one. In simple fact, some people couldn’t technically be deemed as crops at all… Hemp and cannabis are basically broad classifications involving Hashish that have been adopted into our tradition nevertheless, they've been not legitimate nomenclature for the Hashish plant. To make transparent the big difference among Hemp and Cannabis and totally obvious the smoke on this regularly misinformed topic, let us look into what each and every of these conditions in fact implies and the direction they relate to Hashish. What is Hemp? Hemp is a expression useful to classify types of Hashish that include. three% or much less THC articles (by dry weight). Even though the legal distinction described previously mentioned had not been legitimized until the Agricultural Act associated with 2018 had passed, hemp has typically been employed to explain non-intoxicating Hashish that is harvested for the industrial using its derived goods. With proof of its use noted down during history, which includes the discovery of content produced from hemp in excess of 10, 000 many years ago, numerous reckon that hemp was the initial crop at any time cultivated by man. With the capabilities to generate essential assets this sort of as meals, rope, clothes, paper, housing content, and far more, hemp has been the catalyst for man’s earliest improvements. What exactly is Cannabis? Cannabis is a expression utilized to classify types of Hashish that include far more than. three% THC (by dry weight) and can induce psychotropic or euphoric outcomes on the visitor. Even though the use of this expression is popular during Usa tradition, it offers a grossly inadequate misrepresentation of Hashish. Most educated individuals and businesses in the Hashish internet business refuse to use the expression and some think about it to be racist. Around early American history, the expression cannabis was nonexistent and hashish was the principal expression utilized to classify the actual plant. Amongst 1910 and 1920, practically a , 000, 000 Mexicans migrated into the United States in search of refuge from the Mexican Revolution. For the duration of this time, anti-Mexican sentiment had started to difficult and the expression cannabis arose as a adverse correlation from its use by Mexican immigrants. Shortly following, rumours started to area, warning People in america of the harmful and homicidal tendencies caused by using Mexican hashish or locoweed, that guide to an even better rise in anti-Mexican sentiment. For the adverse perception of hashish intensified, the federal government started regulatory hashish far more aggressively. By 1927, eleven states obtained passed anti-cannabis rules and by the 1930s anti-cannabis propaganda and the worry of Reefer Insanity was in complete shot. Following the passing of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, which imposed weighty, unrealistic taxes on the possession, deal, and transportation of the plant, the federal federal government found effectively banned cannabis, paving the way for the subsequent 90 many years of hashish prohibition. The Confusion Presented simply by Hemp vs Cannabis Based on the context utilized to explain Hemp and Cannabis, the defining attribute among the two might be primarily based on a one factor––the sum of THC in the plant––or rather regardless of whether it will get the user high. Even though any intoxicating homes of each and every plant is an critical element considering, categorizing Hashish as either hemp or cannabis structured on a one attribute offers a skewed portrayal of Hashish which stops users from entirely comprehending its spectrum. To give you a comparison, think about the taxonomic hierarchy of fruits during the citrus species: Categorizing Hashish as either Hemp or perhaps Cannabis is akin to classifying all fruits in the citrus genus as either sweet or bitter, without having acknowledging the varied attributes of each and every fruit. In addition , hemp and weed can typically appear indistinguishable from one another. This has witout a doubt led to many troubles of regulation enforcement officers getting arrests and seizing hemp that is 100% legal mainly because seems exactly like cannabis. The classification of hemp or cannabis absent of a accurate comprehending of Hashish supplies a obvious concern of purpose. The obvious resolution is for most of these phrases to have never ever existed nevertheless, now that these disorders have become deeply ingrained in our society, this difficulty can be challenging to reverse. The only realistic resolution is to re-teach our society in excess of time. In the meantime, it is almost certainly most suitable to continue to be educated about what hemp and cannabis necessarily mean and how they are utilized in our society and legal method to know your rights and steer clear of any issues when using hemp or CBD goods. four Important Variances Amongst Hemp and Cannabis As types of the same plant species, hemp and cannabis share numerous similarities and can even look exactly alike. With contrasting legal laws and extremely various outcomes and usages, you certainly do not want to get both of these confused. To comprehend just how various these two are, think about these kinds of four key differences among hemp and cannabis. Hemp vs Cannabis: Composition The defining attribute among hemp and cannabis is the chemical composition contained within each individual plant. Both hemp and cannabis can generate superior quantities of CBD, the nonintoxicating hashish compound nonetheless, THC is made at quite various ranges. Even though hemp can include no far more than. three% THC by waterless weight, cannabis can include up to thirty% THC articles. Hemp vs Cannabis: Legality Owing to the big difference among your ranges of THC, hemp and cannabis are governed quite otherwise underneath the regulation. Even though hemp was previously regulated as an unlawful material underneath the Managed Compound Act about 1970, it was removed as an unlawful material underneath the Farming Enhancement Act of 2018, which federally legalized hemp and hemp-derived goods that include no far more than. three% THC. Cannabis, on the other hand, is nevertheless dealt with as a been able material and is federally unlawful underneath the Managed Compound Action. Hemp and cannabis are harvested for various arguments so , normally, they require various increasing situations. Cannabis varieties are selectively bred in managed environments which are designed to improve the breed’s attributes and generate woman crops this generate budding bouquets. To appropriately cultivate a cannabis or hashish plant, a grower must spend shut down attention to the plant at each and every stage of the daily life cycle and preserve actual situations in its atmosphere, this sort of as suitable temperature, lighting, and water. In contrast, hemp is developed to maximize its size plus generate. To attain this, hemp is normally developed outdoors as well as does not require the degree of management and attention that is definitely needed to grow cannabis. Hemp vs Cannabis: Utilization Hemp and cannabis each and every offer a assortment of usages which are different to their composition. As a effective psychoactive agent, THC might immediately bind to the CB1 and CB2 receptors while in the Endocannabinoid Program, which induces the brain-altering, euphoric successes referred to as currently being high. Even though cannabis is typically regarded because of its leisure utilizes, scientific studies have unveiled its prospective in a very vast assortment of therapeutic apps. In comparison, hemp is collected to generate a vast assortment of goods which includes, but not limited to: Conventional goods this sort of as paper, clothes, building components, and plastic Foods goods this sort of as cooking oil, hemp flour, and hemp seed-primarily based goods Medicinal commodities this sort of as Cannabidiol (CBD), which is then utilized to yield a assortment of things which includes CBD vape juice, CBD tinctures, CBD topicals, and other CBD-infused goods. Hemp-Derived CBD vs Cannabis Derived CBD When it comes to CBD and the position of hemp and cannabis, we are confronted with but some other critical topic that must be resolved. CBD can be derived from possibly hemp or cannabis, nevertheless, given the distinctive features of each and every plant, one would believe that the CBD derived from any plant is various in some way. Astonishingly, they are not. Jeremy Riggle, Ph. D., and Chief Scientist at Mary’s Nutritionals claims that the CBD molecule and its connected pharmacology are the same, regardless of whether it was extracted from hemp and from cannabis. CBD is CBD, no matter of where by it was initially derived from, So if CBD is the legitimate same at a molecular degree, CBD need to be legal no matter whether it is derived from hemp or cannabis, as prolonged considering that it is beneath. three% correct? Not exactly… This is exactly the spot where the regulation can get a minor perplexing, but enable me express. Below the Agricultural Act of 2018, typically labeled as the 2018 Farm Invoice, hemp and hemp-derived products, which includes hemp-derived CBD, have been legalized. A widespread belief about the 2018 Farm Invoice is that it legalized CBD no matter of if it was derived from hemp or hashish. This is not accurate. Based on the guidance of the DEA, CBD is certainly nevertheless deemed a Routine I managed material. In the event that, nevertheless, the CBD is derived from hemp which contains zero far more than. three% THC, it would not be licensed as a managed material and is federally legal. The keyword and key phrase here is derived from hemp. The 2018 Farm Invoice clearly applies to hemp and hemp-derived goods. It does not include cannabis-derived CBD, which continues to be underneath the regulation of the Foods together with Drug Administration (Food and drug administration) as a handled material. Even if the CBD contains. % THC, if derived from cannabis, it is not legalized underneath the 2018 Farm Payment. To summarize and re-make clear: Hemp-derived CBD is 100 % legal if it contains. three% THC or much less underneath the Agricultural Act of 2018 Cannabis-derived CBD is unlawful which is nevertheless categorized as a managed material no matter of it's share of THC. Hemp vs Cannabis: Final Thoughts Despite the fact the topic can be a little bit intricate and quite perplexing, Lets hope to have drop some mild on this critical topic and additionally appropriately defined the big difference among hemp vs marijuana. Despite the dysfunctional use of the conditions hemp and pot, these conditions have become deeply ingrained in our tradition in addition to society. There is certainly a want to re-teach The us about Hemp and Cannabis, but to reverse this concern, it has to get time. Because these conditions are utilized in a appropriate context, it is critical to comprehend what they imply, how they’re various, and how they relate to hashish to comprehend your legal rights and steer clear of prospective legal issues when using CBD goods.

[geejaysmith]

Wolf 359 Classpects, pt. 1

Soooo, while I was still busy with the last few weeks of my summer internship, I did keep thinking about classpecting the Wolf 359 cast. Possibly too much, because it wouldn't leave me alone until I'd solved my own God Tier riddle. Unfortunately, it got really long in the solving because I have many Thoughts and want to share all of them, always, so uh, a complete Classpect Analysis of Wolf 359 will be in parts? This first one covers Eiffel's, Hera's, Lovelace's and Minkowski's aspects.

DOUG EIFFEL: An utter no-brainer; ya boi Dougie Fresh is a Breath player if I ever saw one. For Chrissakes, he's the communications officer, and the first one to start complaining about the monotony of being stuck in a deep space sardine can. Breath is associated with communication, freedom, openness, and change - "free as the breeze", you might think of it, but that also leads to Breath players having trouble pinning themselves down to anything. They get skittish if they feel pinned down, and frustrated when stuck in place. Doug's noncommittal aloofness, the way he's off in his own little world (partially to hide from the fact he really does not like himself very much at all), and the way he's incorporated media into his self-perception all match pretty well with John and the Nitrams. But at the same time, he's the one playing mediator even as early as The Sound And The Fury. Being largely outside of the War Industrial Complex the other characters are so familiar with and thus mostly free from its dogmatic worldview of hierarchy and order, he's becomes the One Sane Man when he's the one to shout "what is WRONG with you people?" when "murder" shows up in the top 3 potential solutions to a problem, and he has no hesitation in saying what's on his mind. And it's not all complaints and bad ideas, either; he's got whole speeches telling the others how amazing he thinks they are and how in awe he is of their skills. A key catalyst in the plot of Wolf 359 is the reaching effects of his radio broadcasts. Also, there's something hilarious to the fact that for the aspect associated with communication, Doug *literally* cannot lie to save his life. I kept my ears open for the infamous Breath Hex on my second listen - that is, the strange little way in which things Breath players say tend to come to pass in reality. Cigarette Candy is basically 20 straight minutes of the Decima virus being Breath Hexed into existence, and he guessed Lovelace's situation in one - "Maybe she's a clone, or like a *really* good robot replica."

HERA: Another easy one. Although Hera is resistant to splintering as we've come to recognize it, Heart players are nothing if not determined to be an individual. They have a firm idea of themselves as a person and defend it fiercely, including compartmentalizing away pieces that don't fit their self-image. Maybe less actively putting them down like Jade Harley did to Jadesprite (the manifestation of the negative feelings she repressed out of fear they'd make her less useful) - that would mean attacking or denying a part of themselves - and more... "why yes, I put this part of myself in this box, and I may look at the box on occasion, the box definitely exists, but I don't go near the box and I definitely do not touch or open or interact with the box. And then one day, I will die." So that piece finds other avenues to express itself because it can't not do that. Hera's programming dictates she be "chipper and non-confrontational and always ready to help", but she actively resists being a mere utility and always has - her earliest know action was to attempt a jailbreak of the manufacturing facility she was made in, born rebel that she is. She will insist upon her name over her serial number unless you force her not to, and gets passive-aggressive at people treating her like a machine. And yet, even as she teaches herself to ignore commands literally written into the base of her personality, she doesn't reject her directive to be helpful, nor does she express a wish to be a flesh-and-blood human, or even really to have a physical form? She has a human self-image in mental spaces (we presume, I will semi-seriously point out there's nothing definitively stating she doesn't see herself as like, her fursona or something), but when she has to limit herself to a human-like view of the ship, her immediate reaction is "this is weird, I don't like it."  This is honestly something about Hera that I think may be unique among non-villainous AI characters; she seems to be content with being what she is in general, and she just wishes for people to treat her as a person and not a piece of equipment they can do with as they please.  

ISABEL LOVELACE: Arm-wrestled Hera for the Heart aspect and lost, despite Hera not actually having any arms, but that's okay because there's two aspects that fit her much better: Blood and Time. I ultimately went with Blood.

This is the part where you notice I'm onto the third of four characters in an aspects-only meta post, yet there is still a lot of post to go. This is because These Kinds Of Characters, the sort that're constantly on emotional lockdown, are a Challenge Mode, and for me to truly be satisfied with my classification I have to start drilling into the bedrock of what it even means to have an aspect in general, what it means to have a specific aspect, and what each aspect is really about. When you're on that level you tend to find yourself throwing out explicit expositional statements as incomplete, oversimplified, or unreliable, and looking at the text directly with a subtextual electron microscope. Brace yourselves. I have thrown the author out of the airlock, and I am about to get verbose.  

Lovelace's character sheet describes her in contradictions, and we get to see two different sides to her that resolve into the complete picture by the time Lovelace Mk. III wakes up. There's Captain Isabel Lovelace, goofing around in her earlier logs, and The Terminator. She does things Her Way and is very much prepared to fight you if you object - the whole reason she was picked for the Hephaestus mission was her willingness to go against (in her words) "stupid orders" and do what she thought was right. She's also fiercely loyal; The Terminator is the end result of her anger and grief for her lost crew and at her failure to get them home alive. Her backstory episode has her summing up her complicated relationship to the Air Force with "I owe a lot of who I am to them." And even before she and Minkowski have completely stopped butting heads, Lovelace shoves her out of the way of an exploding wall panel that would've killed her, and takes a near-fatal bit of shrapnel to the gut in the process. At her best, Lovelace is a fearless, boundlessly determined, dedicated firebrand of a leader. At worst, she can be impatient, stubborn, shortsighted, and ruthless. I dunno about you but that reminds me of a certain... angry crab that I know.

"Time" was what a few people chimed in with for Lovelace and while I see some of the connections (her awareness of the time loop, "Variations on a Theme", her multiple selves and multiple deaths, the repeated motif of clocks and pocketwatches) I don't think she quite fits in with the other Time players. Unlike most Time players, she doesn't have a fixation with historic context, the "Why Things Are The Way That They Are." This manifests in Dave's paleontology and his taking of source material for ironic twisting, Aradia's archaeology and knowledge of The Nature Of The Game, Damara's... /noises and vague gestures bc I don't want to go back through Meenahbound but her role as The Handmaid fits the pattern, and Caliborn's own warped, thoughtless replication of narrative archetypes. Context. Decisions. What came before and how it shapes the now, where your decisions will take it from here. The consequences those decisions will have. The details versus the larger picture. Even failure has its place in that scheme - that's the Time aspect. Lovelace doesn't like to dwell, she's a very "barrelling forward momentum" kind of person.

Side note: Aradia, Dave, and Damara all face hesitation to take action they had to learn to overcome. Also, all of them had to be pushed to use violence except in self-defense; Aradia let Vriska cross a series of lines before beating the everloving shit out of her, and Damara snapped after what, years? Of Meenah's abuse. Dave, on the other hand, never raises a hand to another person except as a complete necessity. Caliborn is, if anything, an aberration here in that he's outright homocidal and self-doubt is something that happens to other people. Caliborn is an outright aberration to a lot of Time player patterns, and to SBURB in general, because it's SBURB, so the rules are made up and the points don't fucking matter, except when they do, because Fuck You, The Author Said So.

No, Lovelace's approach to decision-making is that regrets are for afterwards, and "if I fail I deserve to be out of this picture; also, this situation has gone entirely pear-shaped, time to fling myself into the sun." (and that sounds an awful lot like someone that I know very well, but I'll deal with that royal mess when I get to the crazy whamma-jamma that is Classes). Impatience and railroading of other people can be her undoing just the same as assertiveness and decisiveness are her gifts.

...aaand then I went ahead and watched the live episode and yeah, major Karkat vibes there. However, I note that I don't believe we have ever hit hard evidence in Homestuck that Blood players are capable of Chilling The Fuck Out - this is part of the limitations of classpecting characters who weren't made for this system, you really have to dig into how much of their behavior is situational and where you see the kernel of individual perception shine through, the Rosetta Stone by which you begin to see the constants. "Where the object becomes the subject", to quote Memoria.

Finally, I think it's also worth noting that while Lovelace has a lot of connections to Time motifs, she also has connections to a lot of Blood motifs that arguably become more important to her story. Personal bonds and social justice are two of the Blood aspects strongest associations - see Lovelace's loyalty to her crew, and extending her desire to avenge them out to everyone Goddard Futuristics has ever used and tossed aside. The physical body and literal blood are other strong associations, and gee, how many times does the O-negative Cure-All Alien Juice in Lovelace's veins become a critical plot point? Not to mention the implication that her new friends all pulled through the finale because all of them now have her blood in their system. I'll accept that she's closer to the line between Blood and Time than some, but I'm holding by ground here: 

(Also, here's some irony for you, she may share an aspect with the Cancer trolls, but her birthday is August 11th, making her a Leo.)

RENEE MINKOWSKI: Minkowski was the hardest of these 4 to come to a decision on. My first inclination was Mind. Her general disposition put me in mind of a Life player. But then, I sat down and thought my way past the Commander's layers of emotional armor and ultimately settled on Light.

First off, by being a stickler for protocol and procedure as well as an Actual Responsible Adult, Minkowski is a kind of character that Homestuck straight-up just does not have, so snap judgements aren't gonna cut it here.  This is, again, another limitation of the classpecting system - all the examples we have to draw from are teenage disasters stuck in a lawless hellscape of some description or another, and written by an author allergic to boxing himself in with hard conclusions. But I digress.

Commander Minkowski is also stubborn. When she sets her mind to something, she digs in her heels, cranks the dial to 11, and then breaks off the knob and pockets it so you can't turn it back down. We see this as soon as episode 2, and at it's most hyperbolic when she Captain Ahabs the plant monster. Her's is iron-willed, bloody-minded, unstoppable, Determi-fucking-nation - when she sets her mind to it.

The submarine thought exercise is what had me initially lock her down as a hero of Mind before I mulled it over. The exercise is meant to provoke thought about priorities - what you think your role's purpose is in that situation will determine your priorities, and thus, your decisions. Mind heroes' most prominent skills are in riding the flow of causality, watching decisions, their causes and their consequences, and directing that path. They know people, and how to direct people. But the need for this means that they can get a little co-dependent. Other people are understandable - it's themselves that Mind heroes have the greatest struggle with. Without that vehicle of another person, Mind heroes may find themselves adrift and struggling to define themselves. This is fitting, given Mind is the most direct counterpart to the Heart aspect.

However, upon further examination, I found that this framework of priorities setting your decisions can also be extended to the Light aspect. What is "lucky" in a given situation? What do you define as a fortunate outcome? Rose arguably gets Grimdark'd by something like this, she asks the cue ball "are the horrorterrors evil?" and in doing so attempts to pry into the motivations and intent of *indescribable eldritch beings existing on a nigh-incomprehensible plane* and wedge it down into a relative human understanding of morality, which is sort of like trying to fit the Pacific Ocean into a water bottle. She was trying to deduce what impact the horrorterrors would have upon her and her friends, but asked the wrong question and got an answer she couldn't handle. She didn't recognize Doc Scratch was baiting her into this by leading her into a specific framework through which to ask the question. Vriska died because of her failure to recognize she was in a situation where luck didn't matter. Aranea got trounced because of her inability to recognize that reshuffling reality to prioritize herself and her preferred outcomes still didn't overcome the fundamental nature of timelines - you try to take over the alpha timeline with an insubordinate branch? That's a doomed timeline no matter how you slice it, and we know what happens to those. Luck and knowledge are both used by the Light-bound to give themselves power, whether in showing themselves off as The Smart One or the The Helpful One or The Unstoppable One, but their limited viewpoint often leads them to overlook the limitations of their own framework, or in other words, missing the bigger picture. I'll point out here also how Minkowski has the entire DSSPPM memorized and is the one who wants to get to the bottom of whatever the hell is really going on up at Wolf 359. Additionally, one of her other ambitions, at least once upon a time, was writing musicals. The verbal arts are one of the domains of Light players.

So while on the surface, Minkowski bears the most resemblance to a Life player, Life players tend to have an element of conformity to them. Unquestioned assumptions they've internalized have about the context in which they exist. Light heroes, on the other hand, need conformity so they have something to defy when they jump up and down screaming LOOK AT ME!  

So after much pontificating, I came to a decision. In the end, what Minkowski wanted more than anything else was a stage. Maybe to direct rather than hold the spotlight, but still; that's a Light hero if ever I saw one.

[thecloserkin]

book review: K Webster, Hale (2018)

Genre: Romance

Is it the main pairing: Yes

Is it canon: Yes

Is it explicit: Yes, extremely explicit. In fact if this had been published on literotica i would have accounted it a well-above-average story.

Is it endgame: Yes

Is it shippable: Yes

Bottom line: This is the most vanilla thing I have read in a LONG time and if i hadn’t paid $3.99 for it i doubt I would have bothered to finish it

I picked up this title because shipcestuous added it to her to-read shelf on goodreads, and while it’s clear from the editorial copy (“This book is an epic, emotional, raw love story”) that they think something groundbreaking is going on here, I would like to direct these amateurs to the Sibling Incest tag on Ao3. Or the Incest Shipping Yay page on TVtropes. Or Astrid’s now-defunct blog, if tumblr ever sees fit to restore it. Trust me, you do not have to be doing anything experimental or original for me to enjoy your tropetastic incest story. You don’t even have to be good with words. Stephenie Meyer, for instance, is not what anybody would call a first-rate stylist, and yet I’ve never had any trouble finishing any of her books (none of which feature incest, but the point was about writing generally).

Hudson and Rylie Hale lose their parents in a tragic car accident. Their shared grief is the catalyst for the affair that blooms between them, and I will give them this much: these kids at least know better than to leave any incriminating texts or pictures lying around on their phones. Their vigilance in the digital realm is then completely nullified by the way they conduct themselves irl—they’re walked in on by (1) their aunt aka Rylie’s guardian and (2) Hudson’s roommate at college, all within a week of getting together. I know the risk of being caught is part of the allure of incestuous relationships, but these clowns need to learn to keep it in their pants at least until they can find a closet.

In my opinion this story would have benefitted from an Outsider POV or two. Not every story needs one—Cathy Dollanganger’s first-person POV is more than adequate to carry Flowers in the Attic, and speaking of authors who are shoddy stylists, look at how bad V.C. Andrews was, and how little it mattered—but there’s not enough substance to either Hudson or Rylie’s characters for their alternating POVs to keep the reader invested. In brief, Rylie’s clinically depressed, and Hudson’s attending college on a baseball scholarship. There’s a scene where they watch a movie together and end up fucking on the couch, which would usually be my jam (standard sibling interaction leads to white-hot sex), except I was boooooored. There’s a scene where she visits him at school and they go skinny-dipping in a lake with some of his friends, and they both have to fight off the attentions of prospective romantic partners, and it ends with him carrying her to his truck and fucking her in the back off it. Which again in theory sounds amazing. In practice I think the jealousy trope works better if you’re threatened by your partner’s emotional intimacy with somebody else. And what is Rylie worried about? That this girl has porn star tits, where Rylie is much more modestly endowed. Ok you know who else has small tits? Natalie Portman. Keira Knightley. Emma Watson. Physically unprepossessing women the whole lot of them, amirite? Rylie is overcome by the same unwarranted insecurity when it comes to Hudson’s on-again-off-again ex-girlfriend, who is described as having humongous knockers. I understand how this can make Rylie feel inadequate—women are taught to hate their bodies from day one—but this chick also clearly has nothing going on upstairs, and her emotional connection with Hudson is nowhere in Rylie’s league. So Rylie’s jealousy strikes me as unearned and unrealistic.

Hudson and Rylie spend a good chunk of this book struggling against their feelings, berating themselves for being sick and twisted, all of which would normally be my kryptonite since i am on record gushing about the taboo/forbidden angle of incest and how I’m into sneaking around!! And none of it did damn thing for me in this case. The more reviews I read that contain the word “raw” the more I start to wonder if we all read the same book.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

As far as canon incest happy ending goes, the “run away together to where nobody knows you guys” strategy has its drawbacks, namely that it means leaving loved ones behind. I have discussed my preference for Option B before, but that option isn’t on the table for Hudson and Rylie because THEY GOT THEMSELVES CAUGHT IN THE ACT and exposed their relationship to multiple people so they can’t plausibly carry on denying it. Especially when Rylie starts popping out kids. Look, I’m into pregnancy kink as much as the next person but it just seems unearned. As is the fact that Hudson found a good-paying steady job even without the college degree their parents worked so hard to push him to get (he was kicked off the baseball team + lost his scholarship due to a combination of grieving for parents & obsessive infatuation for sister). This is America, where good jobs don’t just fall into high school graduates’ laps (unless you have family connections, which the Hale kids don’t, bc they had to move a thousand miles away to live amongst strangers!). And I can’t write these lapses off to the influence of the genre because I know there can be coherent class discourse in a romance novel.

A professor of mine once gave me a copy of Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy and Popular Literature (1984) by Janice Radway, and it remains to this day one of the most transformative nonfiction reading experiences of my entire life. Janice Radway conducts interviews with dozens of mostly-married, mostly-middle-aged women in a midsize midwestern American city, and finds that for them reading romance novels is a form of self-care. They spend the rest of their time supporting and nurturing their families & extended social networks, but with a Harlequin romance in hand, husbands are much less likely to bother them. They can carve out time and space for themselves, they can draw from these escapist fantasies the emotional sustenance that their marriages/children are not providing. They can form friendships with like-minded women who also read a lot of romance. It resonated deeply with me even if I’m not a middle-aged white homemaker in middle America in 1984, because ever since, I’ve been very clear-eyed about why I read romance: To meet my own emotional needs that are for some reason not being met by my existing meatspace relationships. That, to me, is the point of the romance genre, and to hell with character and plot. And that’s why I say Hale let me down, because it didn’t succeed in making me feel anything.

There’s a post floating around that contrasts the way we categorize published fiction (by genre, ie. what happens—wizards or starships? corsets or lawyers?) with fanfiction, which is organized based on how it makes us feel: fluff, angst, hurt/comfort, etc. And fic has never let me down in that department, so I guess that’s why romance and fanfic fall under the same mental classification in my head. In this essay I will