#which is all this pseudo-science is conveying to me | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bigskydreaming · 3 years

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“I was human once. Where were you then?” I pretty thoroughly abandoned Teen Wolf after season 4, and even before then, I didn’t engage with the fandom much, but the voice that you give Scott is enough to keep me with one toe dipped in the pond. He’s funny and clever and kind. Even years since I’ve read anything else in TW, WTWTA continues to be a favourite. Do you feel like talking about where you were planning to go with it? I’ve seen you talk about Lightning Crashes plenty, but not WTWTA.

Thank you so much for this ask! Not gonna lie, Lightning Crashes consumes most of my remaining Teen Wolf attention just because its so freaking big and I've got so much written for it over the years that like, I will riot against myself if I don't finish it because like ugh I didn't write all that just to have it sit unread in my own damn files forever, y'know? So like, while I would love to return to Where Wild Things Are someday I'm not trying to make any claims about that one until LC is off my back. Tbh, I'm trying not to make any claims about fanfic or deadlines until I'm fully recovered from my surgery and whatnot because like......my day to day life is just not reliable and I hate not being able to keep my word on stuff.

BUT. That all said, I do still have a lot of fondness for WWTA and plenty of thoughts about it and willingness to talk about where it was headed for anyone who prefers to just hear about that on the assumption it won't ever really get returned to, cuz like, you are Valid.

And I actually have a lot of fondness for that part you quoted in particular, like, I've heard a lot of good things from people about that whole interaction being a standout for them, and its a personal fave because it pretty succintly got to the heart of some of my biggest issues with Teen Wolf's portrayal of hunters and specifically their ideology and self-justifications.

Anyway, some basics about where that fic was going below the cut, and I'm happy to go into more detail or provide snippets or excerpts from future parts as well.

So the very next chapter after what was posted is actually another Scott POV, and it has Peter showing up to his house at night while his mom's at work, Cora with her uncle as well, and 'summoning' Scott to be by his side as well while Peter goes to meet with another Alpha in a rival pack's territory. (Said Alpha being Ennis, in this case).

This chapter's actually a pretty interesting one IMO because I used it to play around with a personal headcanon I have for chemo-signals. There's actually been a fair amount of theorizing in the scientific (and pseudo scientific, lol) communities about what it might be like if humans could pick up on and interpret chemo-signals, because the science suggests that actually we DO.....just at such a tiny magnification so as to make it impossible to get any like, usable data from what little our noses do pick up.

But a popular theory is that picking up on chemo-signals would produce a physiological like, 'mirroring' of what's being picked up on, like....okay, so there's this thing in a lot of evolutionary traits that are linked to survival mechanisms. Where like, the body in the act of receiving various signals from another being about something being dangerous or threatening or to be avoided, it'll essentially mimic the very signs of distress or warning in the person or creature its picking up those signals from. Its kinda part of an automatic feedback loop, like going through a version of the same reaction a person is seeing in others is part of the body and brain's interpretative process, taking in certain stimuli and then processing it in ways that end up with the brain consciously cluing in that what its seeing is that it should be wary of danger.

I'm explaining it badly, but the basic idea is like.....you know that almost instinctive flinch of horror or fear you get almost in like....sympathy, when you see someone else in obvious distress or terror....even before or without seeing or experiencing whatever it is that's making them so distressed/afraid yourself? That's an example of what I'm talking about here. One creature or person transmits various signals - be they visual by way of stance or expression, or scent, or auditory like screams - and surrounding 'pack creatures' or basically any nearby beings likely to be part of that initial being's pack or herd or community.....they pick up these signals and the message of warning or whatever being conveyed via those signals....and in the process of translating that into some kind of actionable instinct, they ALREADY replicate and thus partially pass on those very same signals themselves.

So the thing about scents that we give off even as humans, is that there's actually a LOT of data and signals encoded into these scents or the various things our bodies produce in association with these scents, like sweat. Even though we can't discern these scents to any degree that allows us to meaningfully interpret the data encoded in them, because we didn't ever end up evolving down the evolutionary path that might have resulted in us being able to smell to that degree....like, the information is still THERE, packed into those scents and odor-producing body by-products.

And that has a lot to do with why we react the way we often do to smelling someone's sweat even to the degree that we DO pick it up.....because think of what bodily reactions tend to produce sweat. Its not just physical exertions, its also in a response to nervousness or discomfort or disgust or outright danger, etc.....and our instinctive responses to scenting the sweat someone produces is often to like....mirror those very same emotions. Just to a much more minor degree than if we were able to smell to the same degree that like, we can see.....and thus pick apart single scents and interpret the various distinct elements and emotions packed INTO those, much like how our eyes are evolved to pick apart visuals and interpret specific details about shapes we see in front of us and give a lot more nuance and specificity to what our eyes are picking up on.

So the theory is that if we WERE able to smell to this keen degree....we would be able to tell a LOT about people's emotional state just from the physiological byproducts they produce in various emotional states.....BUT there'd be a trade-off. We would also be prone to the same tendency to unconsciously mimic the signals we were picking up on.....so our own scent glands, our own expressions, would be likely to 'pass on' the indications of fear or arousal or anxiety that we're smelling.

What intrigued me about this idea, in terms of werewolves who are stated to be able to pick up and interpret chemo-signals......is that it carries with it the implication that actually, most werewolves - at least those in packs - would have EXCELLENT self-control, in contrast to what most hunters believe about werewolves and their lack thereof.

Because think about it......if werewolves are constantly being bombarded with the chemo-signals of those around them, and interpreting these smells and the signals contained within them with the same matter of fact ease most of us translate the visual signals our eyes convey to us......in actuality, werewolves would need to have exceptional control over their own reactions to external stimuli.......or else they'd constantly stand out by having facial expressions and stance cues that seem to change radically with seemingly very little reason for them to do so as far as normal humans around them can tell. And at the same time, the facial reactions they might instinctively flash to in response to picking up say, stark terror from someone who was trying their best to hide that VISUALLY due to the presence of someone they were afraid of like an abuser....the fact that werewolves seemed to often be reacting to things they were picking up on in ways that seemed completely contrary to what visual or auditory cues were evident to everyone else....this would also make them stand out even in a crowd.

So to my mind, the extent to which werewolves were shown deciphering information via chemo-signals on the show suggests that actually, werewolf packs would place a huge focus on teaching their children and their new bitten members both the importance of having firm self-control over their own reactions and emotional state - in order to counter their own instinctive tendencies upon smelling things like strong fear or arousal or anxiety in others - as well as the HOW of doing just that.

Which in turn would lead to the idea that its the LACK of a pack - and the grounding knowledge and presence of other experienced werewolves - which most often results in the existence of the 'out of control' omega werewolves that hunters use to justify the necessity of their existence.

Think how bewildering it would be to constantly be bombarded with signals and cues that suggest that the people around you are at any given moment in heightened states of panic and distress and discomfort. How much that would shred your own self-control if you weren't extremely practiced - and aided - in keeping a clear awareness of your OWN emotional state and feelings at all times, so you don't get swept away by the tide of emotional information you're picking up on all sides. I imagine it wouldn't be that much different walking down the hall of a school picking up the scent chemo-signals of a hundred teenagers in the throes of puberty, hormonal changes, and constant stress and intense feelings.....than say, if you or I were to walk down that same hall and instead of just seeing and hearing a hundred teenagers laughing and talking and going about their day, we saw and heard every one of those teenagers acting out visual and auditory cues of extreme intensity on all sides, from some of them screaming for dozens of different reasons to others being clear images of someone in pain or outright terror, etc.

Its a lot. Its easy to imagine that omega werewolves would not actually be any less 'capable' than any other werewolf, they're not wild or feral because they're lesser or whatever.....its simply for whatever reason, they never were taught the lesson of just how important it is to learn how to not just interpret scent cues, but block them out when necessary or at the very least maintain a conscious awareness of how to keep your own sense of self prioritized in your brain over just....instinctively reacting to everything being flung at you information wise.

Anyway. So a big component of what's to come there is how this might impact the world of Teen Wolf if explored in depth.....

Because on the one hand, this information would be the EXACT thing needed to really put things into clarity re: hunters and werewolves. The reality that actually, most werewolves are exceptional at self-control....that when they're a danger to others, its usually because they're that way with INTENT like Deucalion or Ennis. That most werewolves aren't the inches-from-being-mindless timebombs that hunters stress are the real reason for why they exist. The omegas are actually the odd ones out, and their lack of self-control is something that can actually be mitigated by integration into existing packs or just more avenues for educating themselves on what they are now and what differences that makes in their lives and just their very approaches to life.

But on the other hand, this information is exactly what werewolves like Scott CAN'T inform hunters of en masse.....because of the existence of hunters like Gerard and Kate who actually don't CARE about the code and the idea of just existing to protect humanity from the out of control dangerous 'monsters'....but rather just want to kill werewolves for other reasons. Because hunters who were fully in the know as to how much control the average werewolf has over their emotional state....as well as WHY its so important for them to learn and practice such exceptional self-control......because of how VULNERABLE to reacting to the emotional states of others werewolves are......they would no doubt be able to weaponize this against werewolves. After all, even exceptional self control is bound to waver if say, in the presence of large numbers of humans who are being deliberately influenced to give off certain scent cues in mass quantities......just so hunters can pick out at a distance who seems to be reacting to things none of the humans present seem to be aware of, etc.

So things like this are meant to become central to Scott and Allison's burgeoning relationship and the everpresent question they each have for how much they can really trust the other - and trust the other WITH - no matter how much they want to. Even as Scott starts to fall for Allison and believe the best of her, he's very aware of her still existant ties to her family, her own 'pack' - and despite being in possession of so much knowledge about werewolves that could most likely open Allison's eyes even further to how inaccurate most of the information she and others like her father are working off of is......Scott's equally keenly aware that giving her that information COULD still backfire and put his own pack in danger if it for whatever reason doesn't end up being enough to fully bring her over to his side.

Basically the big theme of the story has always been about who can you trust, even when you really WANT to trust them, because even people with similar moralities can have conflicting priorities and its not always enough to just be on the same page in one of those respects.

Anyway, the next chapter is big on introducing the importance of chemo-signals as Peter drives to his meeting with Ennis and tells Cora and Scott to settle between themselves who will accompany him inside (a clear position of prominence relevant to the ongoing power struggle between Cora and Scott for influence among their packmates). And most of that happens by way of the two of them 'scent-talking' to each other in the backseat. Because a side-effect of the idea that smelling chemo-signals prompts certain facial cues in response, as well as exceptional control over their own emotions and thus accompanying physiological cues, means that its possible for werewolves to have very involved silent discussions just by deliberately invoking various scents for the other, etc.

Cora of course wins that mini-battle between them, by way of the leverage she has over Scott now that she knows he's able to lie to Peter without betraying it with his scent or his heartbeat. Peter would never risk having someone capable of lying to him with no sign, so that's as good of a death sentence if he finds out. But at the same time, its something Cora knows she can't milk for too long, because the longer SHE has the information that Scott is capable of that, the less effective it becomes as leverage.....since hiding that from Peter could massively backfire and put her at risk too, meaning there's only so long she can use it as leverage against Scott before it becomes a case of mutually assured destruction and he says 'go ahead, tell Peter, and once he finds out how long you've kept that from him see what position that leaves you in.'

So Cora knows this information is best used sooner rather than later, so she leverages it off the bat, to get Scott to cave on this one and so she's the one to accompany Peter to his top secret meeting with Ennis and learn whatever they're talking about and what the basis of this alliance they seem to have formed is. Also, Peter comes out of the meeting carrying a mysterious box he got from Ennis, that seems to have been his goal all along, and has Cora troubled, but unwilling to divulge any information about what it might be.

Scott however gets something out of the meeting too, because even while left outside, he discovers some key information.....Ennis' pack includes Jiang and Tierney, two members of Brett's old pack that he thought were dead. Ennis had 'taken them in' though they really didn't have a ton of choice in the matter and were less than thrilled about it....which gives Scott the start of an actual plan. Which thickens once he learns Brett's sister Lorilee is alive as well, and a member of Kali's pack, along with refugees from another wiped out pack, the Primals.

Essentially, where this is all building towards is over time, Scott starts reaching out to the exploited and miserable teens stuck at the bottom of abusive packs they never asked to be a part of but are afraid to leave....and begins building an alliance of teens across multiple local packs. None of them are strong enough to overthrow their own Alphas on their own, but together, they could be strong enough to overthrow a single Alpha, and then consolidate as a pack of their own behind a single teen Alpha.

Of course, problem is Cora figures this out eventually as well, and begins building her own rival alliance among teens from Kali's pack and others, and it essentially becomes a race to get an alliance strong enough to topple Peter built first, before the other can make their move.

On Allison's side of things, she begins mentoring the younger teens that Scott picked out as being eyed by his Alpha as potential recruits. This involves teaching them archery at her house one weekend, only to then discover from Gerard's conversation with her parents that hunters recovered the arrow Allison had shot through Isaac's shoulder way back in the first chapter. They found blood on it, and are planning to use it to see if the person that blood belongs to is in the system at all. Which Isaac is, due to being in the foster care system, even if only nominally.

Feeling complicit and not ready to trust the werewolves yet but not willing to feel personally responsible for the death of someone she goes to school with, Allison alerts Scott to the danger. Which in turn leads to the pack under Peter's orders, like, breaking into the facility where the arrow and blood are being analyzed and destroy the sample before it can trace back to Isaac and from there, the rest of them by association.

Problem is, its Matt's first official 'outing' on a werewolf mission and he decides to revel in his newfound power by killing a guard. Welcome to Team Blue Eyes, Mattie. That didn't take long. Not that anyone is surprised, but Scott is a bit screwed by it. Because now Allison is furious and retreating from their slowly building alliance/relationship because she feels guilty that her information led to someone getting killed by a werewolf and thinks she never should have shared her intel even though Scott tries to stress that he had no control over Matt and could do nothing to stop it.

So that kinda puts a roadblock in the Scallison that takes time to work past, though it will of course get worked past.

Meanwhile elsewhere, Peter's plans for turning more freshmen are delayed when Cora and Scott both feel pressed to alert him of a surprising development at Beacon Hills High before the other tells Peter first. Suddenly there are two new werewolves at school - albeit very nervous, scared and confused werewolves - and they aren't transfer students. Someone turned two of their classmates, Tracy and Josh, and that someone was NOT Peter. So now Peter is outraged because someone is turning people in his territory which is a clear challenge from another Alpha, and he wants to know who. Which leads to Erica and Boyd being assigned to tail the new wolves and see who they lead back to.....as well as both Scott and Cora, by now accelerating their efforts to build up support for their positions both inside and outside of the pack, like both of them now make plays to get Erica and Boyd from the No Man's Land they've been residing in, and get them to finally pick a side between the two rivals for Peter's Alpha crown. With the information they glean from following the two new surprise werewolves being vital to both Scott and Cora's plans.

The Alpha in question turns out to be Deucalion, who is back in the area after years away where he seemed uninterested in werewolf politics, but now seems to be intent on building up a new pack for himself across multiple Alphas' territories in earnest.

Meanwhile meanwhile, Scott has started to worry about where Theo's loyalties actually lie, as Boyd informs him that part of what's kept him from throwing in with Scott is Boyd keeps his nose to the ground to stay very informed on what's what and keep abreast of what everyone else is doing at all times - Boyd is very big on the idea that knowledge and thus information is power - so Boyd has been paying more attention to Theo than even Scott has lately, given how much Scott's got going on at the moment. And Theo's been making some moves of his own that have Boyd distrustful of just how much Scott ACTUALLY has his loyalty, and thus Boyd is wary of hitching his wagon to the prospective Alpha who is perhaps not as well or thoroughly supported as he thinks he is, or is counting on being.

So Theo being Theo will complicate matters considerably. Note that I don't go with unnecessarily evil Theo ever, as that's boring, but I always fuck with absolutely and necessarily self-interested and amoral Theo because that's anti-boring. So Theo's not out to screw Scott just to screw him (well not THAT way at least), but Theo is big on covering his bases and he's contemplating making his own bid for power because he's not sure he trusts that Scott can pull this off and Cora's not an option given that he HAS until now been Team Scott in all visible ways, so he's seeking....other options. Just so he can have the most possible options and vet them thoroughly before deciding on a course of action, naturally.

The big tipping point to all of this will come when someone betrays Scott to some hunters and leads to him being captured and identified as a werewolf by some hunters loosely affiliated with Allison's family.....and Allison makes her choice here for good and risks everything to rescue Scott which might involve someone dying. Not a main character. But uh, there definitely is some dying and it makes Allison and Scott both feel things like guilt, regret, self-recrimination and also "I did what I did and that's that about that" with only like 60% of that being bravado to cover up omg I have no idea what I'm even doing anymore.

In order to find somewhere for Scott to recuperate that is not her house, because lol duh, and is not Scott's house, because Peter lol duh, a desperate Allison ends up looping in Lydia, Danny, Jackson and Stiles, and enlisting their help in hiding Scott at Lydia's lakehouse until he recovers. This leads to them all finally being in the know and uncomfortably allying with Isaac and some other werewolf members of Team Scott, who are of course furious at the betrayal of any werewolf giving up one of their own to hunters, let alone Scott.....which leads to the twins making a surprise shift in allegiance, because they think Cora was behind the hunters finding out and that's too far for them. It was NOT in fact Cora, but it might have been someone ON Team Cora who thought they were doing what Cora would have wanted them to do. And by might have I mean definitely and also they were Not Correct in their assumptions about what Cora would want. She and Scott are rivals and she's an antagonist here but she's not evil or even as bloodthirsty as she pretends to be for appearances, but she like Theo is looking out for number one and what she believes is best for what remains of a Hale pack, any Hale pack.

Other stuff happens, Liam does get turned, Mason gets his druidic knowledge on because that's a Trope that no Kalen story will ever be without, and the ultimate showdown between teens and asshole adult werewolves will end with Scott True Alpha level-upping but Peter definitely will still die as will several other Alphas and Scott is not the only teen who ends up an Alpha at the end of things though each teen Alpha will for now go their own way with their own pack made up of kids from the two teen wolf alliances. There will be confrontations with the hunters before the end too, beyond just rescuing Scott from the NPC hunters who are destined for Demiseville, population them, but the hunters will not be 'totally defeated' in as much as that's even a possibility, and the story was always meant to end with the McCall pack and some human allies taking to the road to find somewhere else to establish a territory and build their strength (and graduate high school) before making a full stand against hunters.

Backstory is meant to be filled in all the way through, with a focus on Scott and Derek's not-at-all-like-canon relationship as for the first year or so after Scott was turned, Derek was still around and did his best to help guide and teach Scott while acting as a buffer against his uncle which Scott greatly appreciated and his thoughts of 'fuck you Derek' should be taken as unreliable narration and mostly just cynical humor cuz he misses him. With said backstory reveals culminating in the eventual shocker of how Derek died (surprise, it was Peter in the parlor with the backstabbing and also candlestick), Cora finding out, cue Cora Not Being Very Pleased With Uncle Peter At The Moment, Actually, and like....other shenanigans are had.

Also also there may be a road trip involved at the veeeeeery end, that involves the mysterious box Peter traded something to Ennis for, which may or may not be magic and resurrection-oriented, but also definitely is both those things and aimed at a grand finale of teen Derek rising from mystical waters being like "who the fuck are you" at Scott who smiles and says "we're brothers."

And that's what you missed on Glee.

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johannstutt413 · 3 years

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“The longer you’re with us, the more impressive I find your results.” The Doctor was presenting Folinic with a promotion medal. “Your unique approach to offensive medicine is a testament to your in-depth understanding of biochemistry and pharmaceutical science, and I for one look forward to your continued excellence.”

“Thank you, Doctor. If you excuse me, I have some reports I need to write.” With a curt nod, the Feline turned to leave his office-

He set a hand on her shoulder, which was enough to stop her. “I’m afraid I need you to stay a bit longer.”

“Doctor, please-” Turning around, however, she saw the look on his face. “You removed your mask?”

“You need to see my eyes as I say this. Folinic, it’s time you took your own advice.”

She frowned at him. “In what way?”

“I’ve seen your time sheets,” he explained, “and the hours you work aren’t healthy. If you think I should work less, then you certainly should as well.”

“I...I can’t do that, Doctor.” Folinic didn’t let the pain show, but her anger was already starting to bleed through.

The Doctor nodded. “I know you can’t, and neither can I, but if you want me to, you’ll have to do the same.”

“What kind of ultimatum is this?” Her gaze sharpened to a glare. “I work myself as hard as I do so I can-”

“Sleep at night. I’ve seen the reports, which means you should understand why it’s a common issue between us.”

That got her dander up. “‘Common issue?’ Correct me if I’m wrong, Doctor, but one of us is an amnesiac, and I don’t believe I’ve forgotten anything from my past that mattered.”

“A low blow, but I’d expect nothing less from Rhodes’ third-most lethal healer.” It was hard to compete with Kal’tsit when she called upon Monst3r, or Gavial just...being Gavial. “How many faces do you see in your nightmares, Folinic?”

“Enough-” The look in his eye was enough to stop a student of the Kal’tsit School of Angry Eyes.

He was still looking at her. “A number, not an excuse.”

“...My entire family, and what few friends I had.” She stared back at him, daring him to respond. “Ten, if you absolutely must have a number.”

“Ten.” His voice cracked.

Folinic blinked. “Yes, ten. Doctor, what-”

“I see all of them.” If there had been anger in his voice, it was far too soft to convey it now. “People I could never name, could never tell you where I saw them or what they meant to me. Feline, Lupo, Sarkaz, Sankta, Aegir, Liberi; Rhodes Island, Reunion, Babel, Ursus, Leithanien, Kazimierz; agent, soldier, medic, mercenary...civilian. Hundreds of faces, strung together solely by the feeling of unknown tragedy. ‘What a waste of life,’ I sob, knowing it will do nothing for them, but unable to sleep until I’ve said as much. You at least know why you cry yourself to sleep at night after working yourself to the bone...I don’t my ghosts from Tallulah, and they haunt me all the same.”

“...I suppose you do understand, at some level.”

He nodded. “I know you do, too. That’s why I’m saying you have to follow your own advice.”

“But Doctor, I physically cannot go to sleep properly if I don’t work myself until I’m dead on my feet, and I refuse to take medication to induce that state.” The Feline sighed. “There’s simply no feasible solution.”

“...I’ve always admired you, Folinic.” The hand on her shoulder, without moving, suddenly felt much softer.

She saw a similar change in his eyes. “Doctor?”

“Sorry.” He removed his hand. “That was too fast.”

“Maybe, but I’m not sure I understand where you tried to take us just now. Unless- no, not me, certainly not me of all people.”

So the Feline had followed where he was going with this. The Doctor cleared his throat. “Yes, you, ‘of all people.’”

“I...My head hurts. I need to sit down.” Which she did; Folinic half-collapsed onto the couch a few feet away. “It’s impossible. The amount of time we’ve spent in each other’s company is far too small - I’ve never been your assistant, and frankly I’m sure the first time we ever spoke was during the Wolumonde affair. You aren’t attracted to my performance, because those numbers are just that - numbers, data, not something you can build a relationship on. When I have talked to you, I’ve been blunt, critical, even excessively cruel, including just a few moments ago-”

“You really are running the numbers on this.” By this point, he had sat down next to her, watching her exhaust herself with these spinning gears just as he’d expected she would.

Folinic just shook her head. “I just don’t understand...There’s not a single symptom of your being lovestruck you’ve come close to displaying until that moment, and here I am fighting a bout myself. Feelings aren’t supposed to be infectious like this.”

“Then it seems you already felt the same way I do. If you’re still having doubts, I can show you how you won me over.” He set a hand, palm facing the ceiling, on her thigh. “Just take my hand and a deep breath.”

“What are you doing?” More accurately, she was wondering what they were doing, as she took his hand without further question. She took a deep breath as instructed, inadvertently closed her eyes-

-and saw a void, empty and all-consuming. “What do you see?” The Doctor asked her, his voice seemingly echoing from everywhere.

“Nothing.” The Feline cracked a smile. “I see nothing. No faces, no emblems, no landmarks, just...nothing.”

“Despite us talking about what should have dredged up exactly those things, did you see any of them since coming to my office?”

She shook her head. “Not once.”

“Then we have two pieces of my evaluation - the two that tipped the scales irreversibly.” She could feel a pulse traveling from him to her. Not a heartbeat, but a steady pseudo-seismic wave. “When I’m with you, no matter how few those minutes together might have been, I’m not haunted by my past...but if I did, you would understand what I was experiencing and what I need to move past it. Does that make sense to you?”

“Of course. I feel the same.” Folinic’s fingers interlocked with his.

He smiled, though she couldn’t see it. “On a less relatable note, you remind me of someone I knew once: a medical professional who threw herself heart and soul into a mission, who gave up so much of herself that she’s now lost in the goal without another driving force to carry her. If we ever do achieve that, I wonder what she’ll do with herself...”

“Dr. Kal’tsit is rather driven,” the Feline noted, which elicited a chuckle. “What’s so funny?”

“I don’t think I ever thought I’d find ‘being like a young Dr. Kal’tsit’ an attractive quality, and yet here we are.”

She opened her eyes as she turned to face him. “Doctor-”

And he was there; and there were no more words.

#arknights #arknights fic #folinic (arknights)#there are still quite a few Doc x Op fics I haven't written yet #this was one of them #read her profile setting up another fic #saw this connection and ran with it

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dicecast · 4 years

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The Problem with Thanos Part 2

So the first video is basically about what is actually wrong with Thanos and by extension, Malthusian theory. Today I want to pivot to something a bit more complicated, Thanos as a character and why he is a less good character because he isn’t a racist.

I’ve said before that Thanos is a good character and I think that is basically true but I want to clarify. Thanos is a good character for you know…Superhero movies, where most of the characters at best are a list of consistent traits with a consistent voice and maybe one or two issues that define them . Thanos’s motivations make sense (they are morally and intellectually wrong but it makes sense), he has a general personality template, and he has more complexity than most marvel villains. But there is a larger issue with his attatchment to Malthusian economics, namely that it doesn’t make any sense he’d be so attracted to it.

Let me jump back for a moment here. See, in real life, the Malthusian notions of population control and necessary brutality for the sake of preserving the world’s resources is an ideology that comes with a lot of baggage attached. From the start, Malthusians aren’t just saying we need mass purges to keep population in check, it always comes with a larger ideological view point about which people should be purged. Malthusianism in real life was directed at the Irish, Catholics, and the poor, and theories influenced by Malthus would be directed at African Americans, Slavs, and Jews, and today it tends to be used in the context of India, China, and Africans. While it would be a simplification to say that the Nazi concept of “Useless Mouths” is purely Malthusian, the ideas are linked. Eugenics, Social Darwinism, Imperialism, and Scrooge esc classicism have always been associated with Malthusian though, and that is why this doctrine is still around despite being debunked in the 19th century. Its less a factual ideology as much as a world view, one obsessed with “us vs. them” mentalities and beliefs in “Nature is a warzone” despite the fact that this is not how society works.

Now in theory you could have a debate about Malthusian population control without dipping into the ideologies always associated with it, but in real life…yeah good luck with that. Malthusian economics are like IQ, or Social Darwinism its some people get into to justify their existing racist prejudice, not an ideology that leads them to racism. That is why it always falls apart so easily when you apply real science to it, because it isn’t just a false scientific theory, its using scientific jargon to justify the same old prejudice.

But Thanos is that, he is a Malthusian without any of the baggage, he isn’t racist, classist, religiously intolerant, or a warmonger. Thanks to the power of the plot, his population control method is actually unbiased, unlike real life Malthusians he doesn’t target a specific group as deserving extermination. When Thomas Malthus spoke of necessary population control he wasn’t referring to his own group of middle class Englishmen, he meant the poor, the Irish, and the Catholic. Thanos is truly “Unbias” in this view of extermination, which is equally stupid but lacks the bigotry that comes with Malthusian theory.

Now let’s pretend Marvel actually understood the themes of their own movie and they genuinely wanted to talk about this world view, it is understandable they would want to desperate the idea from the baggage surrounding it, otherwise it is too easy to dismiss it. So while in real life Malthusianism is linked to a bunch of other horrific ideologies, for the purpose of fiction it might be worth debating it on its own merits rather than as part of something else. It’s not much of a debate because its objectively wrong, but I get the idea. Try to argue with the theory on its own terms rather than what it is associated with.

Here is the problem, I’m not sure if it is actually a good thing to separate these ideologies. Cause Malthusianism literally doesn’t make sense if it isn’t linked to a larger world view, and more importantly Thanos doesn’t make sense. What I meant by this is that Malthusianism is basically a rational that bigots come to in order to justify their existing bigots. You embrace Malthus if you already regard the Irish as subhuman, and you need a justification killing 1.5 million of them. Or if you already don’t want to pay taxes for social programs that help the poor, or if you already don’t want to send aid overseas or sell weapons to war zones. It’s not a true ideology so much as it’s a way to make standard selfish bigotry seem more reasonable and palatable. You don’t become a Malthusian because of the strengths of its argument, you become a Malthusian because you already wanted to dehumanize large groups of people and this is a method lets you not come to terms with your own actions. And this is why Malthusians aren’t convinced by evidence, cause its less a scientific theory so much has a psychological defense mechanism.

And that is the problem, Thanos isn’t a bigot, so his attachment to Malthus doesn’t make any sense. There is no reason why Thanos wouldn’t listen to anybody who suggests to him that “Hey this isn’t how like…anything works” or do some damn research on the subject. Which means that Marvel is either

Positing Malthusian theory is correct in the universe of Marvel which is basically saying “In this world, Eugenics is real, but we should do the right thing anyways

Thanos is actually a really dumb guy who fell for the pseudo science and never checked his assumptions. Which you know...isn’t impossible, but that isn’t how he is presented in the film, instead he is shown as a thoughtful if cruel man. If his main flaw is not his indifference but instead his stupidity, then the movie did a very bad job of conveying that

Now this entire time I’ve been giving Marvel the benefit of the doubt and assuming they were doing this on purpose in order to fight back against Malthusian economics, but lets be honest, they don’t deserve that much credit. Which goes back to the earlier post, which is that they keep mistaking Malthusian for Utilitarianism. So it is again presenting killing half the population as “Practical but evil’ vs. the protagonists “Moral but inefficient” but as I mentioned before, this simply isn’t the case. Malthusian theory of population isn’t just immoral, its actively incorrect. But that isn’t how the conflict is framed, when Thanos and Dr. Strange argue, Strange is like “This is wrong because Trillions will die” while what he, a scientist, should be saying is “This is wrong because....that would not fix the problem like...at all”. Because again, Thomas Malthus ideas were debunked in the mid 19th century, the only reason why they continue to be relevant today is that they provide a handy justification for racist practices, and as Thanos is not a racist, it doesn’t make sense that he would believe this.

This also leads to another uncomfortable bit, in his discussion with Dr. Strange, Thanos says ‘Titan was like most planets, too many mouths, not enough to go around. When we faced extinction I offered a solution” That is actually quite similar to the “Useless Mouths” rhetoric used in post WWI Germany. Historical context. During WWI, Britain placed German under a blockade which basically put the whole country under siege. Since Germany’s best chance of winning the war was a defensive conflict, slowly giving ground as the allies lost millions and hoping that the ally states would collapse, the steady lack of resources due to this blockade was devestating to the German War effort. While France and Britain could endlessly resupply thanks to their colonies and the Americas, Germany steadily ran out of oil, iron, lead, and food, and the civilian population of Germany, largely unexposed directly to the war, slowly starved, particularly in the “Turnip Winter” of 1916. While there was still food, most of it went to the army, leaving the civilians with nothing. About 763,000 German civilians*, the vast majority of German Civilian deaths during WWI, were due to the famine rather than Allied Weapons. This is not counting those who died of the Spanish Flue epidemic, and an additional 100,000 civilians who died during the negotiation period. This blockade would eventually lead to the fall of the Kaiserreich, as the civilian government eventually overthrew the Kaiser and negotiated the surrender of Germany.

Hitler, a soldier in the trenches and thus not starving, was among many of the German army who felt the civilians had betrayed them, leading to the “Stabbed in the Back” myth. One of the big right wing talking points after WWI was that “we could have won the war, if only we had killed all useless mouths, or “useless eaters”, Lebensunweertes Leben. Specifically the disabled, though this theory would also be applied to a lesser extent to Jews, Roma, Homosexuals, Slavs, and leftists. The term used was basically “Life unworthy of life” and the idea was that the weak Kaiser government should have killed all the ‘worthless” people so that Germany could have won the war, and Hitler’s government used this to justify their own extermination of the mentally ill, the idea was faced with starvation, Germany should have made the “difficult choice” to kill the weak for the strong to survive.

(I hate this fucking story.)

Now obviously this world view is immoral but its also....wrong. The fact is, even if Germany had killed all of the disabled, they would have lost the war anyways, its not like the disabled were using up oil and bullets that would have otherwise gone to the front, nor would it have fixed Germany’s manpower shortage or prevented the US from entering the war. The conspiracy, like most conspiracy theories, came about because German soldiers didn’t want to face an uncomfortable truth. That they had suffered, sacrificed, and fought heroically in a war they never had much chance of winning and all of their pain was in vain. The Useless Eater’s theory was just wrong, it was actively incorrect.

Now how does that relate to Thanos? See I am not calling Thanos a Nazi, unlike Hitler or Malthus, Thanos isn’t targeting any one group, he isn’t saying “We need to kill the Irish, Catholics, Jews or disabled to survive” he is applying that same sort of Life Boat morality in a way real life advocates of it never do, because he is including his own empire and family within the category of “those who can be disposed of” Thanos is looking at a whole vein of right wing thinking which has always existed as a cover for their real policies and taking it at face value and applying it to its own logical extreme, and there could be value in a character like that but...why is Thanos like this? Why is he mindlessly accepting stupid theories he really should be smart enough to just dismiss this nonsense.

And that lead to my larger issue with Infinity Wars, that I don’t think Disney realizes that Malthus was just morally wrong, but was factually wrong. The conflict is presented as if Thanos’ ideas have merit, and so Thanos is presented as a smart guy who lacks empathy, while the actual problem is that he is incorrect. And it fits the sort of “Status Que” feel of the MCU, where the Super Heroes are mostly preventing a worse future rather than building their own (Black Panther is the exception to this)

(cough)

*That number is actually really disputed, there are some that put the number as low as 300,000 so don’t take that as the final word. I tend to assume higher numbers because I don’t want to underscore the death of civilians, but this is not uncontested.

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soundsbiblical · 2 years

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Angel Numbers 222, 444, 1111, 777 ect…

Angel numbers is the thought that angels or the angelic are trying to communicate to you through numbers or numerology. Usually, this happens when we see a sequence of numbers like 222, 444, 1111, 777 ect…

This is NOT to be confused with Biblical numerology. I have a post on that which you can read here: Insight into the Biblical Meaning of Numbers.

What Do Angel Numbers Mean?

It is said that these numbers have different meanings that convey a message. Basically they can mean whatever you want… at least that is what I have gathered from websites on the matter.

The Origin Angel Numbers

If you have been reading through you probably know the answer is not the Bible.

It’s been actually very hard for me to find the origin or who invented angel numbers. So, I am sorry that I can’t give you an in-depth history of them,

But I can give you these two things which I believe says a LOT about angel numbers and where they stem from.

The first thing is when you research angel numbers you get a slew of different occult and sadly some faith-based sites as results. But the most common are sites with URLs or names with the words: tarot cards, goddess, magic, psychics…. and numerology.

And that’s where I personally believe the origin of angel numbers comes from: Numerology

What is Numerology?

In a nutshell numerology is the belief in divine, spiritual, or mystical connection or relationship between a number of series or pattern of numbers. They can be connected to an event or not. This has been linked with astrology, the paranormal, divination, and pseudo-science.

Are Angel Numbers Biblical? Should Christians follow them?

No, angel numbers are not in the Bible. We never see God’s angels speaking to individuals in numbers or sequences of numbers. When angels came to bring a message from the Lord they either spoke or ministered by vision/dream. You can read more about how angels communicate in Understanding the Work of God’s Angels.

And angels never draw attention to themselves. A true angel will always bring your attention to God. Any other spirit that doesn’t, belongs to the devil. (1 John 4:1-3) We don’t pray to angels or seek them out. We pray and seek God!

Angel numbers are a form of divination and should be treated as something that God detests. And if we practice or indulge in it…it is a sin.

The word divination comes from the Latin divinare, meaning “to foresee” or “to be inspired by a god.”

To practice divination is to uncover hidden knowledge by supernatural means. It is associated with the occult and involves fortune-telling or soothsaying, as it used to be called. (Source)

I want to end with some scripture on what God thinks of these kinds of practices and how as Christian we should steer FAR AWAY from them.

If we don’t we open up ourselves to demons to be tempted, harassed, and deceived. Remember what 1 Peter 5:8 says… “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

We must be wise and careful. If you have indulged in angel numbers or any other form of divination. Then repent, ask God to forgive you and to cleanse you. Renounce any relationship and connection with the occult.

Ok now for a few scripture verses.

Deuteronomy 18:9-12 NKJV – 9 “When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. 10 “There shall not be found among you [anyone] who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, [or one] who practices witchcraft, [or] a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 “or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 “For all who do these things [are] an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you.

Galatians 5:19-21 NKJV – 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told [you] in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Revelation 21:8 NKJV – 8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

I hope this article on angel numbers has brought you clarity and the answers you have been seeking.

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dchyperbomberman · 3 years

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Confession: My Early Mid-Life Crisis With Anime and Video Games

It's time I talk about this. As with any hobby, no matter how much passion we have for it, we may get tired or burnt out of it; discover something about it that makes us engage with it less. In my case, my low self-esteem and the American culture affected my love for these hobbies, however, I was able to overcome it and still engage with them today.

It started in October 2013 and I lived a great lifestyle of college, part-time work at Universal, great relationship with family, and having fun with my high school and college friends in-between it all. I still remember the highlight of that year of having gone to AFO for the weekend (in August) and even staying at the venue hotel with Joel, Rachael, Ryan, Gerardo, and JC. But that lifestyle came crashing down out of nowhere on a day where I had a day off from classes and work. Like any other day, I decided to engage in my usual Japanese media, which was reading a Sakura Taisen manga that day. As I reading, my subconscious came with the thought:

"Anime is fake storytelling; it doesn't reflect real life. Why are reading this fiction at your age? You're not going to become more mature and intelligent engaging in this media. Same with video games, you aren't learning anything from that. The mechanics are unreal and you're living in a fantasy."

This idea broke my heart to a point that it put me in tears almost every week and in a state of long-term depression. It had me carry around this bad perspective of the hobbies I love. I was obsessed with engaging in this topic everywhere I go, thinking less about the real world. And worse, I was having a difficult time playing games and watching anime through it all. If you noticed between 2013 and 2014 on this Tumblr of mine, I posted less prior to my October 2013 activity.

This long-term state of depression lasted roughly two years. I got the matter (mostly) resolved by doing some honest self-reflection and coming up with rebuttals against the culture that crippled me to this state. But the process was very slow and I was healing little by little. Here are the main points I developed from my self-reflection and the anime/video games I experienced that helped me overcome this:

∙ Be true to yourself and your thoughts; don't force yourself to love video games or you'll be feeling fake and living with an identity crisis. What do you agree with and what you don't?

∙ While anime (and fiction, in general) does have its unrealistic, pseudo-science moments and concepts, at the end of the day it's a story by the author.

∙ Whenever you find something flawed in an idea or scene, accept what you see and think about how the author would've made said thing better.

∙ There are life lessons conveyed in these stories, despite it being in a fictional setting. The themes and character development constructed are proof in a lot of fictional stories. And if you aren't convinced, it's a story created by the author (that needs more work).

∙ For a genre, like, Japanese live-action tokusatsu shows (Power Rangers, Godzilla, Kamen Rider, etc), yeah, some of the production elements (costume and weapon, explosions, CGI) don't reflect real life, but it's a story and you're watching it because of its distinctive genre elements. These shows are, in general, for families; not just for kids.

∙ Regarding video games, you're playing and viewing the gaming perspective of said scene in a story through the game system. For example, with turn-based RPGs, you getting poked with spears and slashed with swords as if it were nothing, but that is the video game perspective and you can imagine how the real damage in a fight would be like of said story (a graze on the arm, getting hit with the hilt of a sword, absorbing the blows with your shield even though it's not present visually in the game; or for serious damage an actual stab on a non-vital area). The goal of an RPG game is to come up with the best strategy for defeating an opponent in its turn-based system.

∙ In a fighting game, like, Tekken, that game is about being flashy and we are entertained by the inhuman nature of the game and wish we can do cool, insane attacks like that - that's why we play the role of these characters. In the reality aspect of the fictional presentation, we're utilizing one-on-one strategies against our opponent and reading he/she's fighting style to overcome them in a fight.

When I was crushed by the subconscious thought I mentioned earlier, it was like I dropped a mirror (as me), and it was shattered into pieces. However, little by little, I picked up the pieces and glued them back together to make the mirror again. Sometimes the pieces fall off, I feel like crap for a brief period of time and feel better when I go back to my notes, thus, I glued it back to that mirror.

Perhaps I'm too obsessed with these hobbies of mine (and thought too hard about this)? Is it because I carry these as a status of myself? To a degree, yes, to be honest. However, it completely doesn't define me and it's just a part of what I like to engage in. I have to admit, I'm burnt out on video games these days and I noticed I go to them out of habit more than passion. And that's okay! I just don't want a terrible, untruthful perspective to end these hobbies of mine, like, what almost happened before. I don't watch a lot of anime these days and that's okay as well! You shouldn't be obsessed. Hobbies come and go just like feelings. I'll still enjoy and appreciate Japanese media with its animation and games, even though the passion is not as strong as before, and it's good to know I can accept that.

Thoughts out

06.11.21

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davidmann95 · 7 years

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Superman Starter Pack

First and most importantly, before we go into petty commercial concerns, let’s remember the meaning of the day I orginally posted this. Because friends, it was no ordinary day: it was Miracle Monday, the anniversary of Superman triumphing over no less than the biblical prince of darkness himself (or at least a respectable substitute), and it was so awesome that even though it was expunged from humanity’s collective consciousness, they still instinctively recognized the third Monday of May as a day of good cheer to be celebrated in Superman’s honor from now until the end of time.

I know I write plenty about Superman on here, but with as much as a pain as comics can be to get into, I’m sure at least some of those I’m lucky enough to have follow me haven’t been able to find an easy in for the character. Or maybe a follower-of-a-follower or friend-of-a-friend is looking for a reasonable place to start. So in the spirit of the season, I’ll toss on the (admittedly already pretty massive) pile of recommended starting points on Superman: ten stories in a recommended - but by no means strict - order that should, as a whole, give you a pretty decent idea of what Superman’s deal is and why you should care, all of which you should be able to find pretty easily on Comixology or a local bookstore/comic book shop.

1. Superman: Birthright

What it’s about: It’s his origin. He gets rocketed to Earth from the doomed planet Krypton, he gets raised by farmers, he puts on tights to fight crime, he meets Lois Lane and Lex Luthor, he deals with Kryptonite, all the standard-issue Superman business.

Why you should read it: It does all that stuff better than anyone else. He’s had a few different takes on his origins over the years due to a series of reboots, another of those tellings is even further down the list, but the first major modern one pretty much hit the nail on the head first try. It toes the tricky line of humanizing him without making you forget that hey, he’s Superman, it’s high-action fun without skimping on the character, and if there’s any one story that does the best job of conveying why you should look at an invincible man-god all but beyond sin or death with no major inciting incident in his background as a likable, relatable character, this is it. Add in some of the best Lane and Luthor material out there, and it’s a no-brainer.

Further recommendations if you liked it: About a decade before writing Birthright, its author Mark Waid worked with Alex Ross on what ended up one of DC’s biggest comics ever, Kingdom Come, the story of a brutal near-future of out-of-control superheroes that ultimately narrowed down to being about Superman above all else, and one of his most popular and influential stories of all time at that. Years after Birthright he created Irredeemable, the story of a Superman pastiche named Plutonian gone murderously rogue and how he reached his breaking point, illustrating a lot of what makes Superman special by way of contrast.

(Since Superman’s had so many notable homage/analogue/pastiche/rip-off/whatever-you-want-to-call-it characters compared to other superheroes, often in very good stories, there’ll be a number of those stories on this list.)

2. Superman: Up, Up and Away

What: Ever seen Superman Returns? That, but good. Clark Kent’s been living and loving a normal life as a reporter and husband after a cosmic dust-up in one of DC’s event comics took Superman off the board for a year, but mounting threats demand his return to save Metropolis again, if he still can.

Why: If you’d rather skip the origin, this is as a good a place as you’ll find to jump onboard. Clark and Lois both get some solid characterization, a number of classic villains have solid screentime, there’s some interesting Kryptonian mythology sticking its head in without being too intrusive, a great overarching threat to Metropolis, and it captures how Superman’s powers work in a visceral sense better than almost anything else. If you just want a classic, pick-it-up-and-go Fun Superman Story, this is where to go.

Recommendations: If you liked this, you’ll probably be inclined to enjoy the rest of co-writer Geoff Johns’ run on Action Comics, including most popularly Legion of Superheroes and Brainiac, both with artist Gary Frank. Another series tapping into that classic Superman feeling pretty well - regardless of whether you enjoyed the original show or not - is Smallville: Season 11, showing the adventures of that series’ young Clark Kent once he finally becomes Superman. Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason’s run on the main Superman title under the banner of DC Rebirth tried to maintain that feeling, properly introducing Jon Kent, Lois and Clark’s 10-year-old-son, as Superboy in what seems to be a permanent addition to the cast and mythology; your mileage on its success may vary, but Volume 2, Trials of the Super Sons, represents the best of it. And the current Superman work by Brian Bendis - beginning with his The Man Of Steel miniseries and spinning off into both Superman and Action Comics - while controversial, presents a very similar take on Superman to the one seen in Up, Up and Away and a similar sensibility, to very positive results.

3. Superman: Secret Identity

What: He’s Clark Kent, an aspiring writer from a farm town in Kansas. Problem is he’s only named after the other guy, an ordinary teenager who’s put up with crap his whole life for being named after a comic book character in an ordinary world. But when he suddenly finds himself far closer to his namesake than he ever would have imagined, it becomes the journey of his life to find how to really be a Superman.

Why: The best ‘realistic’ Superman story by a long shot, this doesn’t sideline its heart in favor of pseudo-science justifications for what he can do, or the sociopolitical impact of his existence. He has the powers, he wears the costume to save people (though he never directly reveals himself to the world), and in-between he lives his life and learns what it means to be a good man. It’s quiet and sweet and deeply human, and probably one of the two or three best Superman comics period.

Recommendations: If you like the low-key, pastoral aesthetic, you might enjoy Superman for All Seasons, or Supergirl: Being Super, and the one-shot Man and Superman by Marv Wolfman and Claudio Castellini has something of a similar down-to-Earth feel. I’d also recommend Jeff Loveness and Tom Grummet’s Glasses in Mysteries Of Love In Space. If you’d like more of writer Kurt Busiek’s work, his much-beloved series Astro City - focusing on a different perspective in the superhero-stuffed metropolis in every story - opens with A Dream of Flying, set from the point of view of the Superman-like Samaritan, telling of his quiet sorrow of never being to fly simply for its own sake in a world of dangers demanding his attention.

4. Of Thee I Sing

What: Gotham hitman Tommy Monaghan heads to the roof of Noonan’s bar for a smoke. Superman happens to be there at the time. They talk.

Why: A lot of people call this the best Superman story of the 90s, and they’re not wrong. Writer Garth Ennis doesn’t make any bones about hating the superhero genre in general (as evidenced by their treatment in the rest of Hitman), but he has a sincere soft spot for Superman as an ideal of what we - and specifically Americans - are supposed to be, and he pours it all out here in a story of what it means for Superman to fail, and why he remains Superman regardless. It sells the idea that an unrepentant killer - even one only targeting ‘bad guys’ like Tommy - would unabashedly consider Superman his hero, and that’s no small feat.

Recommendations: If you read Hitman #34 and love it but don’t intend to check out the rest of the series (why? It’s amazing), go ahead and read JLA/Hitman, a coda to the book showing the one time Tommy got caught up in the Justice League’s orbit, and what happens when Superman learns the truth about his profession, culminating in a scene that sums up What Superman Is All About better than maybe any other story. Tom King and Andy Kubert’s Superman: Up In The Sky, while not without blemish (there’s a rightly-controversial chapter involving Lois that precludes universal recommendation), is a similarly humane look at Superman and the clash of his iconic power and mortal limitations. If you appreciated the idea of a classically decent Superman in an indecent world, you might enjoy Al Ewing’s novel Gods of Manhattan (the middle of a loose pulp adventure trilogy with El Sombra and Pax Omega, which I’ve discussed in the past), starring Doc Savage and Superman analogue Doc Thunder warring with a fascistic new vigilante in a far different New York City.

5. Superman: Camelot Falls

What: On top of a number of other threats hitting Superman from all sides, he receives a prophecy from the wizard Arion, warning of a devastating future when mankind is faced with its ultimate threat; a threat it will be too weak to overcome due to Superman’s protection over the years, but will still only just barely survive without him. Will he abandon humanity to a new age of darkness, or try and fight fate to save them knowing it could lead to their ultimate extinction?

Why: From the writer of Secret Identity and co-writer of Up, Up and Away!, this is probably the best crack at the often-attempted “Would having Superman be around actually be a good thing for humanity in the long term?” story. Beyond having the courtesy of wrapping that idea up in a really solid adventure rather than having everyone solemnly ruminate for the better part of a year, it comes at it from an angle that doesn’t feel like cheating either logically or in terms of the characters, and it’s an extremely underrated gem.

Recommendations: For the same idea tackled in a very different way, there’s the much better-known Superman: Red Son, showing the hero he would have become growing up in the Soviet Union rather than the United States; going after similar ideas is the heartfelt Superman: Peace on Earth. The rest of Kurt Busiek’s time on the main Superman title was great too, even if this stood easily as the centerpiece; his other trades were Back In Action, Redemption, The Third Kryptonian, and Shadows Linger. Speaking of underrated gems, Gail Simone’s run on Action Comics from around the same time with John Byrne was also great, collected in Strange Attractors. And since the story opens with an excellent one-shot centered around his marriage to Lois, I have to recommend From Krypton With Love if you can track it down in Superman 80-Page Giant #2, and Thom Zahler’s fun Lois-and-Clark style webcomic Love and Capes.

6. Superman Adventures

What: A spinoff of Superman: The Animated Series, this quietly chugged along throughout the latter half of the 90s as the best of the Superman books at the time.

Why: Much as stories defining his character and world are important, the bread and butter of Superman is just regular old fun comics, and there’s no better place to go than here for fans of any and all ages. Almost all of its 66 issues were at least pretty fun, but by far most notable were two runs in particular - Scott McCloud, the guy who would go on to literally write the book on the entire medium in Understanding Comics, handled the first year, and Mark Millar prior to his breakout success wrote a number of incredibly charming and sincere Superman stories here, including arguably the best Luthor story in How Much Can One Man Hate?, and a full comic on every page in 22 Stories In A Single Bound.

Recommendations: Superman has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to runs of just plain fun comics. For the youngest in your family, Superman Family Adventures might just be what you’re looking for. Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the Eighth Grade would fit on your shelf very well next to Superman Adventures. Superman: Secret Origin, while not the absolute best take on his early days, has some real charm and would be an ideal introduction for younger readers that won’t talk down to them in the slightest, and that you’ll probably like yourself (especially since it seems to be the ‘canon’ Superman origin again). If you’re interested in something retro, The Superman Chronicles cover his earliest stories from the 30s and 40s, and Showcase Presents: Superman collects many of his most classic adventures from the height of his popularity in the 50s and 60s. Age of the Sentry and Alan Moore’s Supreme would also work well. For slightly older kids (i.e. middle school), they might get a kick out of Mark Millar and Lenil Yu’s Superior, or What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way? And finally, for just plain fun Superman runs, I can’t ignore the last year of Joe Casey’s much-overlooked time on The Adventures of Superman.

7. Superman vs. Lex Luthor

What: Exactly what it says on the tin: a collection of 12 Luthor stories from his first appearance to the early 21st century.

Why: Well, he’s Superman’s biggest enemy, that’s why, and even on his own is one of the best villains of all time. Thankfully, this is an exceptionally well-curated collection of his greatest hits; pouring through this should give you more than a good idea of what makes him tick.

Recommendations: While he has a number of great showings in Superman-centric comics, his two biggest solo acts outside of this would be Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo’s Luthor (originally titled Lex Luthor: Man of Steel) and Paul Cornell’s run on Action Comics, where Lex took over the book for about a year. Also, one of Superman’s best writers, Elliot S! Maggin, contributed a few stories here - he’s best known for his brilliant Superman novels Last Son of Krypton and the aforementioned Miracle Monday, and he wrote a number of other great tales I picked some highlights from in another article.

8. Grant Morrison’s Action Comics

What: Spanning years, it begins in a different version of Superman’s early days, where an as-yet-flightless Clark Kent in a t-shirt and jeans challenged corrupt politicians, grappling with the public’s reaction to its first superhero even as his first true menace approaches from the stars. Showing his growth over time into the hero he becomes, he slowly realizes that his life has been subtly influenced by an unseen but all-powerful threat, one that in the climax will set Superman’s greatest enemies’ against him in a battle not just for his life, but for all of reality.

Why: The New 52 period for Superman was a controversial one at best, and I’d be the last to deny it went down ill-advised roads and made outright bone-stupid decisions. But I hope if nothing else this run is evaluated in the long run the way it deserves; while the first arc is framed as something of a Superman origin story, it becomes clear quickly that this is about his life as a whole, and his journey from a cocksure young champion of the oppressed in way over his head, to a self-questioning godling unsure of the limits of his responsibilities as his powers increase, and finally an assured, unstoppable Superman fighting on the grandest cosmic scale possible against the same old bullies. It gives him a true character arc without undermining his essential Superman-ness, and by the end it’s a contender for the title of the biggest Superman story of all.

Recommendations: Most directly, Morrison did a one-off mini-sequel to this run in Sideways Annual #1, where he gets to give his creation of t-shirt Superman a proper sendoff after he was quickly retconned out of the main line. Outside of this, Greg Pak’s runs on Action Comics and Batman/Superman, and Tom Taylor/Robson Rocha’s 3-issue Batman/Superman stint, as well as Scott Snyder, Jim Lee and Dustin Nguyen’s blockbuster mini Superman Unchained, are the best of the New 52 era. If you’re looking for more wild cosmic Superman adventure stories, Grant Morrison’s Superman Beyond is a beautiful two-part adventure (it ties in to his event comic Final Crisis but largely works standalone), and Joe Casey’s Mr. Majestic was a largely great set of often trippy cosmic-scale adventure comics with its Superman-esque lead. For something a little more gonzo, maybe try the hilariously bizarre Coming of the Supermen by Neal Adams. And while his role in it is relatively minor, if we’re talking cosmic Superman-related epics, Jack Kirby’s Fourth World has to be mentioned - it’s soon being reisssued once again in omnibus format.

9. Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?

What: More than just the title story, DC issued a collection of all three of Watchmen writer Alan Moore’s Superman stories: For The Man Who Has Everything, where Superman finds himself trapped in his idea of his ideal life while Batman, Wonder Woman and Robin are in deadly danger in the real world, Jungle Line, where a deliriously ill and seemingly terminal Superman finds help in the most unexpected place, and Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, Moore’s version of the final Superman story.

Why: Dark Superman stories are a tricky tightrope to walk - go too far and you invalidate the core his world is built around - but Moore’s pretty dang good at his job. Whatever Happened you should wait to read until you’ve checked out some Superman stories from the 1960s first since it’s very much meant as a contrast to those, but For The Man Who Has Everything is an interesting look at Superman’s basic alienation (especially in regards to his characterization in that period of his publication history) with a gangbuster final fight, and Jungle Line is a phenomenal Superman horror story that uncovers some of his rawest, most deeply buried fears.

Recommendations: There are precious few other dark Superman stories that can be considered any real successes outside a few mentioned among other recommendations; the closest I can think of is Superman: For Tomorrow, which poses some interesting questions framed by gorgeous art, but has a reach tremendously exceeding its grasp. Among similar characters though, there are some real winners; Moore’s own time on Miracleman was one of the first and still one of the most effective looks at what it would mean for a Superman-like being to exist in the real world, and the seminal novel Superfolks, while in many ways of its time, was tremendously and deservedly influential on generations of creators. Moore had another crack at the end of a Superman-like figure in his Majestic one-shot, and the Change or Die arc of Warren Ellis’ run on Stormwatch (all of which is worth reading) presented a powerful, bittersweet look at a superman’s attempt at truly changing the world for the better.

10. All-Star Superman

What: Superman rescues the first manned mission to the sun, sabotaged by Lex Luthor. His powers have reached greater heights than ever from the solar overexposure, but it’s more than his cells can handle: he’s dying, and Lex has won at last. This is what Superman does with his last year of life.

Why: I put this at the bottom since it works better the more you like Superman, but if you’re only going to read one story on this list, this one has to be it. It’s one of the best superhero stories period, and it’s everything that’s wistful and playful and sad and magical and wonderful about Superman in one book.

Recommendations: If you’re interested in the other great “Death of Superman” story, skip the 90s book and go to co-creator Jerry Siegel and Curt Swan’s 60s ‘Imaginary Story’, also one of the best Superman stories ever, and particularly one of Luthor’s best showings. If you got a kick out of the utopian ‘Superman fixes everything’ feel of a lot of it, try The Amazing Story of Superman-Red and Superman-Blue! The Supergirl run of Steve Orlando tries to operate on a pretty similar wavelength, and was definitely the best thing coming out of the Superman family of books at the time. The recent Adventures of Superman anthology series has a number of creators try and do their own ‘definitive’ Superman stories, often to great results. Help, ostensibly a Lex Luthor story by Jeff Loveness and David Williams in DC’s Beach Blanket Bad Guy’s Special, is in fact as feel-good a take on Superman’s relevancy as there is. And Avengers 34.1 starring Hyperion by Al Ewing and Dale Keown taps into All-Star’s sense of an elevated alien perspective paired with a deep well of humanity to different but still moving results.

#Superman #Opinion

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mineofilms · 5 years

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...SheePeople, People, People SheePeople...

So since people are now jumping on the climate change issue(s). This comes from a friend of mine who is an environmental consultant in the UK.

"GLOBAL WARMING and CLIMATE CHANGE are two different things and are not INTERCHANGEABLE...

[Global warming] is the long-term heating of Earth’s climate system observed since the pre-industrial period (between 1850 and 1900) due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere.

The term is frequently used interchangeably with the term climate change, though the latter refers to both human and naturally produced warming and the effects it has on our planet. It is most commonly measured as the average increase in Earth’s global surface temperature.

[Climate change] is a long-term change in the average weather patterns that have come to define Earth’s local, regional and global climates.

These changes have a broad range of observed effects that are synonymous with the term.

Changes observed in Earth’s climate since the early 20th century are primarily driven by human activities..." IG @tanknancy

The fact the CNN and/or the whole Goddamn Sheepeople population that believe in this shit, shit being that humans cause 100% of the damage to our planet should give ya some insight right there. Think about this for a second...

The difference between using common sense, logic, critical thinking and science, combined, as an ideology...

OVER...

Separating the 4, and calling everyone stupid that doesn't follow your Leftist or Rightist lazy thinking approach.

The caption in the graphic is much more accurate than saying humans are the "majority" cause. Do not be part of the sheepeople clan or generation asshole.

I can easily; make videos of pollution cut in with poor industrial methods and rants from children about "stealing their future" and make it sound like humans caused, cause 100% of all this.

You cannot learn science in a few hours of YouTube videos. You learn it over a life of learning REAL science and how REAL facts are obtained. Not opinions or "pseudo" science, pseudo literally means "made up."

Being into video production for 20 years, one learns how to manipulate this to have a "certain point of view." It's called the documentary and not all are created equal or even based on truth.

It's all about perspective. Like I said here...

Use common sense, logic, critical thinking and science, not politics or left side and right side.

Do not be sooooo naive...

I am not saying its wrong or any of the sort, but one has to understand when a doc is produced it is trying to convey a message.

Not in ALL cases is said message true/honest.

The point I am trying to make here is just that not all data is based on fact.

Sometimes facts get skewed just a little to deliver the point of view of the producers/creators of the content.

With going to film school and learning the craft of how things get done for TV/Movies/Docs to get made, a lot of the time things in the plot take twists for entertainment value, even in documentary filmmaking.

If you are going to have a stance on something that charges people up or down. Do your damn research. Argue your point with facts and when you do throw in an opinion just say that is what that is.

I just find it crazy that people on social media look for fights. They pick a new topic every few weeks and just go after people. When chatting was a black screen with literally white text and there were no pics just avatar pics you could bully and name-call till the end of time and it didn't really do any harm besides ruffle feathers for a few minutes.

When social media turned into a fuck-fest of personal information, dating sites, FB, IG, TW and now you literally knew the person you were talking to, it actually meant something. That you could tear someone apart online and then you would bump into them at a bar or on a date at a restaurant and then have to deal with that... It put the whole world on edge.

Anxiety where it never was there before and such. Of course it would be just easier if people could disagree about something and it not turn into a full-on fight.

At 41 no one's opinion of me or what I stand for is going to change the way I think. If you are a person who literally thinks you have that sort of gift or power, by all means, put some money on it and I will gladly give you my PayPal and accept your donations.

Now, if your argument is compelling and you can show me actual, real, fact/data that makes me think more on it. You should quit your job and go be a car salesman because you would probably make a killing.

This blog wasn't about me or global warming or filmmaking. It was about the approach of opinion and fact and how one should look at things.

If you go through life constantly getting pissy with people because they do not share your version of the matrix/reality then the problem isn't those people, it's you... Just let that sit in for a little bit.

If every time you walk through a red door you get hit in the face very very hard, but every other door that isn't red you have no issues with. What can you gather about that data, that ALL RED DOORS bring you nothing but pain and misery so logic would dictate that you avoid said red doors, yet you keep wanting/doing/walking through them, again let that settle in.

...SheePeople, People, People SheePeople...

David-Angelo Mineo (quotes from IG @tanknancy) 10/24/2019

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shortend · 7 years

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Comic Script Prompt: Batgirl of Burnside

My Overwatch script got at least one artist working on it from what I can tell. One is more than the zero that I was expecting, so after what I consider to be a successful first attempt at this I’m gonna give it another go. I only read a few volumes of Batgirl from Stewart, Fletcher, and Tarr, and while I understand there were some controversies regarding certain villains, it was still stylish and entertaining. That being said, I only read a few volumes and have NO IDEA what’s going on in current continuity, other than what I hear about Frankie Charles apparently being dropped which is what inspired me to write this script... last year. I forgot it was even here. But I’m not worried about this script fitting into any sort of canon, are you? Good. We’re here for fun. You know what’s fun? Batgirl. Let’s have fun. THE RULES: For those who are new to illustrating comics: the rules are simple. Read the whole ten-page script. Outline and illustrate based on how you feel the story is best told. The panel counts and even the descriptions of the panels are only suggestions. The writer’s job is to give you the story to tell. Therefore you are the story teller. It’s only polite to stick to the dialog as closely as possible, but most writers can’t even draw stick figures, so the layout of the actual comic falls to your expertise. Go get ‘em. I would love to see as many takes on this script as possible, so I would be grateful to those who are willing to share this script in order for it to be seen by artists far and wide. I would appreciate writing credits, of course, but the rest of your work is yours to do with as you please. I also ask that you PLEASE TAG ME if you post your illustrations on tumblr so that I can ooh and awe. If you’re looking to get into comic book illustration, or are just bored and need something to mess around with before your own inspiration takes over and leads you to make your own art: this is as good a place as any to start. This goes to writers too. Do not be afraid to post fan scripts online. Everyone needs practice, and it could lead to exciting collaborations. Feel free to share any questions or comments. Thank you. PAGE ONE (Six Panels) Panel 1. Interior warehouse. Batgirl, clad in her ever-stylish bat-themed ensemble, and Operator, clad in a hoodie and several multi-purpose cybernetic enhancements including bulky gauntlets, backpack that converts into a small robot, and ever-important leg braces, lurk in the foreground behind some industrial barrels as they watch Killer Frost command her henchmen. I know Frost's kind of an independent homicidal maniac nutjob who don't need no hench-man, but this is only a comic prompt so mind your biscuits. BATGIRL: I think we finally found Killer Frost's lair. OPERATOR: What gave it away? The freezing cold or the fact that she's literally right in front of us? BATGIRL: Don't question the super sleuth.

Panel 2. Operator wraps her arms around herself to stay warm and restrain her shivering from drawing unwanted attention. Batgirl pulls a stick of lip balm out of her utility belt.

OPERATOR: Man, it's so friggin' cold my lips are chapped. BATGIRL: Here, I have something for that. Panel 3. Close up. Operator holds the closed stick of lip balm in front of her face and scowls at it and its patented bat motif. Panel 4. Batgirl looks concerned. BATGIRL: What? Panel 5. Close up. Operator continues to scowl, only this time it's directed forward at the camera. Panel 6. Batgirl lowers her head and fidgets nervously. BATGIRL: Never mind. Your eyes say it all. PAGE TWO (Five Panels) Panel 1. Operator applies the balm and raises an eyebrow to Batgirl, who simply shrugs. OPERATOR: Does Bat-MAN carry around a tube of lip balm too, or just Bat-GIRL? BATGIRL: Presumably? I guess? Why not? Panel 2. Imagined scenario. Exterior. Gotham City. The Batman looms atop a gargoyle and surveys his city with a brooding scowl. Such is the severity of his brooding scowl that it can easily be conveyed through his brooding cowl, which is itself designed to convey both brooding and scowling because it is a mask and the whole point of a mask is to hide your face regardless of its expression. BATMAN (Caption): “Somewhere, even now, Scarecrow is preparing his most recent batch of fear toxin.” BATMAN (Caption): “Any slip up on my part could cost thousands of lives.” BATMAN (Caption): “No time to be distracted by trivial aches and pains.” Panel 3. Extreme close-up profile view of Batman's gritted teeth as he juts his jaw forward and applies lip balm to his lower lip. BATMAN (Caption): “Thankfully...” BATMAN (Caption): “I came prepared.” Panel 4. Low angle of Batman leaping from the gargoyle with his cape flared out dramatically behind him as lightning strikes in the distance. His lips have a distinctly glossy sheen. BATMAN (Caption): “I am the night.” BATMAN (Caption): “Woosh!” Panel 5. Back to Batgirl stroking her chin in thought. OPERATOR: Really? The Batman says, “Woosh?” BATGIRL: I think? But only in his head. PAGE THREE (Four Panels) Panel 1. Batgirl and Operator turn face to face with their backs to the camera. Between them, in the background, Killer Frost looks over her shoulders and is surprised to see two figures lurking in the shadows. Wow, ladies, it's time to step up your lurking game. BATGIRL: Point is: You're not questioning the lip balm anymore. OPERATOR: I assume his sparkles too. BATGIRL: We all have our vices. OPERATOR: Superman doesn't have vices. He's Superman. BATGIRL: Uh, duh-hoy. Yeah, he does. Panel 2. Imagined scenario. Exterior. Batman crouches atop a building, ever the picture of disgruntled vigilantism, as Superman hovers in the air beside him with his arms folded. They both look out over the city. SUPERMAN: Hi there, Bruce. BATMAN: Clark. SUPERMAN: Chilly tonight, isn't it? Panel 3. Batman hands Superman his lip balm from off panel. BATMAN (OP): Here. SUPERMAN: Thank you. Panel 4. Same angle as Panel 2, except Superman hovers with one arm akimbo, as the hip Metropolisian likes to call having one hand on his hip, which is hip, and the other applying lip balm to his perfectly honed alien lips, which might be less hip. SUPERMAN: You know, my Kryptonian blood and Earth's yellow sun grant me resistance to chapped lips. SUPERMAN: I do, however, appreciate the cherry flavor and glossy sheen. BATMAN: Totes. PAGE FOUR (Four Panels) Panel 1. Operator gives a skeptical look. OPERATOR: Hold up. Batman's name is “Bruce?” Panel 2. Batgirl nervously rubs the back of her head with one hand and waves dismissively with the other at the easily dismissed notion of The Batman having a perfectly normal civilian name. BATGIRL: No! What!? Ha ha! No! BATGIRL: I just thought it would be funny to give them funny normal funny civilian names. Panel 3. Killer Frost strikes a dramatic pointing pose as she orders her hench-peeps to advance on the intruders. BATGIRL (OP): His name would obviously be “Battholomew Manchild” anyway. I mean, get real. KILLER FROST: Intruders! Get them! Panel 4. Batgirl and Operator bound over the barrels to bop some bad-guy noggins. Operator's gauntlets slide over her hands and form something along the lines of metal boxing gloves. BATGIRL: Wow. Really? OPERATOR: “Get them?” Uhh, cliché much?” PAGE FIVE (Five Panels) Panel 1. Batgirl and Operator bop and ka-pow the various hench-folk with ease and flair while Killer Frost gets angry and defensive. KILLER FROST: Hey! It's not my fault! It's a hench-people thing! KILLER FROST: They're trained to follow certain key phrases, like “Don't let them escape!” and “Take her to my chambers!” Panel 2. Wide angle of the skirmish as Batgirl and Operator dispatch the minions of darkness through the use of fisticuffs. One hench-individual comes up behind Operator, seemingly unnoticed. BATGIRL: I guess their handbook hasn't been updated in a while. BATGIRL: You can still order them to get you an “Iced Tea”, right? Huh? OPERATOR: Don't make puns. Don't be that girl. Panel 3. Batgirl notices Operator's encroaching assailant preparing to grab her from behind and gets ready to throw a batarang to intercept. BATGIRL: Who are you who are so adverse to base comedy? Panel 4. Operator raises her fist without looking and strikes the hench-being behind her in the nose with what has come to be known as the “Batman Punch,” seemingly validating her coming claim. OPERATOR: I'm Batman. Panel 5. Killer Frost prepares to engage in an assault of her own. KILLER FROST: You're not Batman... PAGE SIX (Five Panels) Panel 1. Killer Frost unleashes a freeze blast that Batgirl and Operator narrowly dodge. I say narrowly because that incites tension. Tension is important to action scenes. I can action scene. I can action scene real good. You don't know me. You don't know what I've been through. KILLER FROST (Burst): You're a dork! Panel 2. Operator takes a knee and fires off a small projectile. OPERATOR: Body Snatcher. SFX: Ptunk! Panel 3. Shot of the projectile streaking through the air. Panel 4. Same angle as the projectile expands into a net, or whatever sort of binding contraption you deem to be more “creative” as you kids like to say. You with your newfangled “Stylizes” and your “Welcome Tablettes.” In my day we had rock walls and our own blood. That was how we made comics. Panel 5. Killer Frost shoots the “body snatcher” out of the air. That's what she thinks of your imagination. What're you gonna do about it? KILLER FROST: Nope! Boring! PAGE SEVEN (Three Panels)

Panel 1. Operator's gauntlets take on a decidedly more “energy canon” appearance as matter-sucking vortexes begin to manifest. OPERATOR: H.G. Wells!* SFX: Voormvoormvoorm! CAPTION: *Hyper Gravity Wells. Not to be confused with iconic sci-fi writers. Panel 2. Killer Frost loses her balance as she struggles against the powerful current of pseudo-science pulling at her from off-panel. SFX:Voormvoormvoormvoorm! KILLER FROST: What the $#&%? Panel 3. Batgirl delivers a leaping kick to Killer Frost's noggin BATGIRL: Calling out my attack!* SFX: Boot! CAPTION: *Not to be confused with a good idea. PAGE EIGHT (Five Panels) Panel 1. Batgirl and Operator stand side-by side. Batgirl playfully jabs Operator in the shoulder as Operator adjusts her equipment. BATGIRL: Way to suck, Operator. OPERATOR: I'm serious about the puns. End them, or I will. Panel 2. Killer Frost nurses her aching head as she tries to prop herself up on the floor. KILLER FROST: You really think a kick to the head is gonna stop Killer Frost? Panel 3. Batgirl and Operator exchange knowing looks.

BATGIRL: Sedation? OPERATOR: Sedation. Panel 4. Close up from behind. Operator turns her head over her shoulder and talks to the device on her back, causing it to boot up. OPERATOR: Sic her, Rossum. ROSSUM: *Berp* *Wrrr* Panel 5. Operator’s backpack, now Rossum the Universal Robot, springs into the air above Operator. ROSSUM: *Keerp* *Zzzzt* PAGE NINE (Four Panels) Panel 1. Rossum drops like a sack of robot on top of Killer Frost and pins her to the ground. KILLER FROST: Ooph! Get off me! KILLER FROST: Don't you touch me! Panel 2. Close up on Rossum as a little nozzle comes into view. KILLER FROST (OP): What're you doing? Don't you do it! Panel 3. Rossum emits a colorful fog into Killer Frost's face, causing her to blink sleepily. KILLER FROST: Don't you--! ROSSUM: Blorp! Panel 4. Same angle as Killer Frost loses consciousness and drops her head to the ground. PAGE TEN (Six Panels) Panel 1.

BATGIRL: I had no idea you were such a sci-fi dork. OPERATOR: I, like many a prolific genius before me, have been burdened with an overabundance of time to sit on my butt. OPERATOR: Fiction helps. Panel 2. Operator starts to lose balance as her legs give out. BATGIRL: I'd call that a pretty satisfying field test though. Good work. OPERATOR: They're Qadir's designs. They just need my signature programming to work. Panel 3. Operator falls to her hands and knees in pain. OPERATOR: Aaaaaaand, maybe a better power supply. BATGIRL: Oh no! Are you okay!? Panel 4. Operator stares at the ground in front of her in frustration over her apparent weakness as Rossum scurries back up her back. OPERATOR: I can reroute Rossum's power to the braces. This is too much gear to carry on my own in my... OPERATOR: You know... condition. OPERATOR (Whisper): I swear I'm not a liability. Panel 5. Batgirl leans over and places her hand on her friend's shoulder to comfort her. BATGIRL: I never said you were. We'll get you home and figure out an energy solution. Panel 6. Batgirl stands up and looks over the mess of the warehouse. BATGIRL: Right after we figure out what Killer Frost was up to. CAPTION: To never be concluded!

#Batgirl #batgirl of burnside #comics #comic scripts #art prompt #art #illustration #webcomics #art challenge #DC comics #comic prompt #Operator #Frankie Charles #Battholomew Manchild #Batman #Superman #fanfic #fan fiction

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anuananya-blog · 7 years

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Ondu motteya kathe

Finally a movie that lives up to the expectation! Though it was a bit disheartening to see that there were so few people in the theatre.... It is a little slow paced and devoid of any masala but a brilliant piece of work! Raj B shetty is a revelation, a brilliant story and an equally amazing execution. For true Dr. Rajkumar fans this is such a lovely treat... Dr. Raj kumar is always an inspiration, the way he is portrayed and the way his songs are interspersed is beautiful. I am so impressed with the entire movie, would love to talk about all the subtle things in every scene that make this movie class apart but would not want to give away the essence of the story... I really wish more and more people would watch it in the theatre to understand what a good movie is all about. Just a couple of days ago I was reading about all the destructive acts of the so called kannada activists and the way some pseudo people were defending it....as someone who loves the language this movie touches the right chords. I am so disappointed that schools have made the language so difficult for children to learn, I say that because I feel so hurt that it has become so difficult to inspire children to learn the language...everything is about the marks now unlike in our days...to be very honest my flair for writing started with kannada and all those prizes and recognition in school and college was what gave me the confidence to be able to express myself..... I still remember Mr. Ravindra Reshme suggesting to my dad when I won a prize for my write up on Mahatma Gandhi in college that may be I should consider getting into arts stream and pursue the language...I still feel bad that I let my self drift away from writing in kannada...but my love for it is so genuine that I really get annoyed with the atrocities of the so called activists who only want to create unpleasantness for political mileage....recently saw a friend's post about his mother tongue, Tamil....how a language remains so dear to your heart no matter in which part of the world you live or how little you use it in your day to day life....A true proponent of the language will always uphold its dignity.... Dr. Rajkumar again was truly legendary and having grown up watching most of his movies and being in awe of his charisma, this movie is such a fitting tribute to the legend! Honestly his movies made such an impact and his dialogues really were so inspirational.... The beauty of the movie lies in it's simplicity and the genuine performances of each and every character....the fine details which even the biggest productions miss out on are all so well taken care of....it is not about big names, big budgets but having a bunch of talented artists putting together a master piece.... when Janardhan takes a student to the principal's office and the principal is reprimanding the student.... the simple fidgeting of the hands of Janardhan, the way camera focuses on it.... You get so much understanding of the character, his insecurities....the Facebook DPs of the hero and heroine, again, all so subtle yet so profound....each and every character is aptly cast and though it is a completely new comers crew no where you feel that they are novices! For any average person who is not academically brilliant or breathtakingingly beautiful, people can make life seem so difficult...the comparisons, the unrealistic expectations..... And then our own expectations from life....something that we get easily is never fascinating enough and probably the value of some people in life....which you never realise till you lose them....how we end up not noticing genuineness while pursuing tangibles...how ego, misplaced anger sometimes let's one lose out on exploring or understanding the value of a relationship...and so rightly conveyed, how important it is to accept a person as a whole package with all the finesse and the nuances....see the real beauty beyond the physicality..... relationships are never about perfection or right matching but how willing one is, to experience it .... each relationship is only about communication, once one opens up that channel of communication it doesn't matter if one needs words for it at all..... And the reference to astrology, as someone who is learning the true basis and understanding the misuse of an invaluable ancient art and science and condemning the commercialisation of it....it is so heartening to see this movie highlight the perils of it's misuse, so subtly. I really want more and more people to go watch this movie which is a complete original and such a brilliant piece of work. This is what kannada film industry needs, not the inspired or remakes of other languages, the mindless hero worship or goondaism movies or the so called cheap, vulgar comedies and the most idiotic song and dance love stories starring politicians or yesterday years actors sons who are so low on talent and high on money! Thank you pawan kumar for backing and promoting such a great talent! #ondumotteyakathe #rajbshetty #pawankumar #drrajkumar #kannada

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readymade-journal-en · 7 years

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Adonian Chan / Designer Type is the New Fashion

“Type is the clothing a word wears”, said the legendary Swiss Typeface designer Adrian Frutiger.

In Hong Kong, while people crave fashion and spend a fortune on the clothing they put on, type, the outfits of words, remains unnoticed and is one of the last things people’ d be willing to pay for. If appearances can say things about us, then we could perhaps find out something about the designer and founder of design studio Trilingua, Adonian Chan, from his vintage pencil moustache. His ardour for the past is not just shown by his taste of tash, but also by his occasional mentioning of Chinese history, and above all, his persistent efforts to research Beiwei type design. But what distinguishes Adonian from a dinosaur is that he does not trace the past out of pure nostalgia— he wants people to learn to admire our own culture, picking the cultural essence both critically and meticulously. To Adonian, type itself is the vector of our past and present cultures. Only when people realise the treasures in typeface could they truly love type design as much as they love fashion.

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How are Hong Kong’s cultural features manifested in typography and calligraphy?

Right from the start Hong Kong hands down an enduring tradition of writing culture that diffuses into daily applications of different society strata. Maybe the Chinese culture has a fancy for characters, which explains their ubiquitous appearances in everyday life, from a-building-tall shop sign to smaller things like food containers, chopsticks, tissue paper and so on.

A type design style can reflect the national psychology or aesthetics of a period, for example, the fierce, masculine Beiwei style demonstrates Xianbei nomads’ boldness, and its razor-edged strokes remind us of the ferocious warfare around the Northern Wei period.

Shaped by Hong Kong’s culture, the evolved Beiwei style is round, genuine and forceful. Perhaps doing business in a crammed city needs reliability and standing out?

On the contrary, Japan’s type design style tends to be graceful and reserved, which reveals their meticulous trait.

What is the biggest hurdle to make people understand the value of typography?

Typography is significant, but it is not as overriding as other design fields such as architecture. Because the most dreadful type design only results in an incorrect pronunciation or looking terribly unpleasant, yet an appalling building can threaten people’s lives. Therefore, the importance of typography is more implicit.

There are three aspects of value in typography.

Firstly, the practical value. Writing is invented to transform conceptual thoughts in our mind into comprehensible forms. (In reverse we hinge on languages to organise our ideas.) Words are the visual expressions of this type of communication, so that we can convey messages more accurately. So, legibility and readability are the standards to assess this area.

Secondly, the aesthetic value. Words’ visual quality comprises a more indirect, or the second level of a communication form, in addition to its function as a message-transmitting tool. This form can articulate abstract feelings.

Thirdly, the cultural value. Writing constitutes the core of a culture, for the entire culture is based on this form as a major mode of communication. Its extensive use gradually produces various commonalities in type aesthetics, breeding a kind of aesthetic notions. The most gripping part of typography is that its design spirit is very similar to a relay race, and both are never-ending. The “runner” is handed down the fruits of his predecessors, adding some thoughts of himself and a new work is created. Typography does not only reflect the present culture, but also it expresses the past cultures.

Have you come across a thing which completely subverted your perceptions when you were conducting your type design research project?

I used to participate in social movements fervently, spending a fair amount of time in reading political news or articles every day. But it was also this absorption which made me feel rather gloomy, because every time I heard some vexing information (basically there isn’t a day without bad news). Yet from the time when I started to delve into Hong Kong’s Beiwei style, bit by bit I saw a more holistic vision— although politics could in fact impact all aspects of our life, it was always the cultural influence which continued to shape life for a few decades, or even for centuries. Wei Bei (a model calligraphy inscripted in Northern Dynasty’s monuments) has existed in a thousand and five hundred years ago, and its artistic legacy is still altering today’s Hong Kong city landscapes. In contrast, last week’s political incidents might have been forgotten now. It makes me focus on type research and design, and less on politics. The thought is not far from political apathy, but I am quite determined as the decision is taken, stemming from the understanding of my career and the social needs. I put my mind to it when the “battlefield” is clearly chosen.

Independent Film — Pseudo Secular《風景》Poster Design

You are a designer, one-half of the design studio Trilingua, as well as the member of the band tfvsjs and cafe SYUT. Do you view yourself a slash? (or a career juggler, who pursues a life with multiple jobs and identities)

Life has a great deal of dimensions, and if these dimensions thrive they would become careers. Quite a lot of ancient people have in fact got on well with their many jobs, just like Northern Song Dynasty’s Su Shi, who was a minister/ poet/ painter/ calligrapher/ gourmet. This phenomenon has never disappeared really.

In the farewell statement of your cafe SYUT you’ve mentioned being a hazy, “grey” person, someone who cannot be defined. So, as a “grey” person, what do you face in Hong Kong? And how do you manage your time and work?

Hong Kong is a uniform society. Starting from secondary education, people are taught following either an arts stream or a science stream. But people are born with different interests and identities, and roles in essence are ambiguous. We relish having these vague identities. Time is certainly scanty, and that’s why we have to allocate our work efficiently, and discipline ourselves for a balanced development.

Trilingua Design Facebook Page

tfvsjs Facebook Page

Video Interview by Sabrina Li

Text by Sabrina Li

#readymade journal #hong kong #young #talents #creativity #people #interview #adonian chan #trilingua #design #font design #typography #hkyt #rmj #readymade people #love hong kong #hktalents #2017

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makingscipub · 5 years

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Epigenetics: A blogging retrospective

Looking back over my blog posts, I realised that I have written 15 posts on epigenetics between 2013 and now (some with Aleksandra Stelmach). It’s time to take stock.

Epigenetics is the latest in a long line of developments in genetics and genomics that I have studied through the lens of metaphor analysis, from cloning to stem cells, from the human genome to the human microbiome, from bionanotechnology to synthetic biology and beyond.

In 2013 I wrote my first blog post about this field, entitled “Epigenetics: Switching the power and responsibility from genes to us”, a title that played with one of the main epigenetic metaphors, namely that of ‘switching genes on and off’.

The term ‘epigenetics’ was first used by Conrad Waddington around 75 years ago, at a time when he tried to reconcile genetics with embryology. Since then it has been absorbed into molecular biology and deals with mechanisms of gene expression and gene regulation (including ‘switching genes on and off’), mechanisms that do not change the DNA sequence but have important implications for how genes work and function. Things are obviously much more complicated than that, but this will do for the moment.

At the time that I got into epigenetics, I still bought into some of the emerging hype swirling around this field (Deichmann, 2016) and thought insights into gene regulation and gene expression would shift people’s beliefs in the power of genes to define ‘who we are’ towards looking more closely at how our lives and life styles shape our genes and potentially those of future generations.

While I was reflecting on this supposed shift in perspective, marketing forces took hold of epigenetics and turned epigenetics into the next health and well-being fad. The myth of the power of genes (sometimes called ‘genetic determinism’) was replaced by the myth of the power of epigenetic mechanisms, which, it was believed, we as individuals could control ourselves through choices we make in eating and thinking. Genes were no longer seen as making us who we are. Instead epigenetic mechanisms could be used to make ‘me’ who I am, but beyond that shape the future of my offspring and the future of future generations.

The slogan ‘genes are not your destiny’ became a rallying cry. This meant that “[p]opular misconceptions of epigenetics have in some cases led to pseudo-scientific speculations of nurture shaping nature, Lamarckian evolution, and even how meditation can cause biological transformations through epigenetic mechanisms.” (Henikoff and Greally, 2016: R641)

The trope of ‘control’ even extended to other factors that could potentially affect epigenetic mechanisms but are not under individuals’ control, such as environmental toxins, poverty, trauma etc. Such influences were, in turn, positioned as being ‘reversible’, that is, again, as being under our control.

All this happened against a background of a field that was still in the making and hadn’t actually quite settled, was grappling with its past, and didn’t quite know what the future held.

Over the years, I began to blog about four topics in particular: the muddle around definitions of epigenetics; the metaphors emerging to talk about epigenetics; the hype emerging around epigenetics in the market place of goods and services; and the hype emerging around epigenetics in the market place of social science ideas and theories; and what all this meant for social scientists interested in epigenetics.

Definitions and metaphors

Many scientists have been struggling to put some order into definitions of epigenetics which have been emerging and changing since the 1940s. John Greally is writing a textbook on this matter (see also here), and I can’t wait for it to come out. In the meantime, the muddle with definitions can be used for a lot of mischief, but more importantly it can lead to confusion in thinking through what the social, ethical and political consequences of purported epigenetic (inheritance) mechanisms.

Steven Henifkoff and John Greally have pointed out that: “The field described as ‘epigenetics’ has captured the imagination of scientists and the lay public […] fueling excitement […] about the prospects of applying this knowledge to address health issues. However, when describing these scientific advances as ‘epigenetic’, we encounter the problem that this term means different things to different people, starting within the scientific community and amplified in the popular press.”

One thing that exercises specialists like these is the wide-spread definition of epigenetics as ‘epi-genetics’, as studying only those phenomena that are over or above genetics. However, as Greally has recently pointed out: “The original definition [Waddington] of #epigenetics was based on DNA variation, not on anything-but-DNA-variation as it is today.”

This unsettledness in definitions has also been reflected in the metaphors used to construct the field of epigenetics and to communicate its achievements. There are some ‘small’ metaphors which seem to stick in popular culture (switch, marker, tag, annotation), but we found nothing like the ‘big’ overarching metaphors that are used to talk about genomics (the book, map, recipe etc. of life). And while in the case of the book metaphor we can map, sort of, what we know about books onto what we know about life (and about DNA), in the case of tag metaphor it’s much harder to carry out that mapping or to quite imagine what it means.

Recently, a study using focus groups found that the “genome as musical score, epigenome as musician’s annotation and interpretation” metaphor was the preferred way to think about epigenetics.

Most of these metaphors are explanatory, used to convey the complexities of this emerging field. But in some instances, such metaphors can also be used for selling products. Here is an article on skin care products from Vogue, for example, which uses the switch metaphor:

“Environmental factors such as diet, stress, and sun exposure can affect the epigenome. As can time: A gene that plays an active role in producing a crucial protein for skin elasticity at age 20 may have powered down by age 40. ‘It’s like a light switch,’ says Sabita Saldanha, Ph.D., a researcher at Alabama State University. ‘If something is blocking that switch, you cannot turn the light on.’”

And here is a headline in the Financial Times under the section ‘How to spend it’: “Epigenetic skincare: the creams switching off ageing genes“. And there is much much more, all based on hype.

Hype and anti-hype

Hype was not only used by those advertising health products. There was also something akin to what Tim Cauldfield has called ethics hype. Some social scientists and political analysts took epigenetic speculations about transgenerational epigenetic inheritance observed in plants, worms and some mice, but still contested in mammals, for real and began to build ethical castles in the air about the nefarious ways that epigenetics might be used in the future, even speculating about its eugenic tendencies.

On the other hand, epigenetics was also hyped up as a remedy to all sorts of theoretical ills in social science and as a means to rejuvenate theories of what came to be known as the ‘biosocial’. Here the metaphor of ‘how the cultural or social gets under the skin’ became a hook on to which to hang theoretical speculations. Epigenetics was seen as a way to replacing ‘gene-centrism’ with a focus on plasticity and flexibility, and also as a means to overcoming dichotomies between nature and nurture, body and environment, individual health and population health, as well as ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ heredity.

What was strange to me and others was that on the one hand social scientists dealing with epigenetics warn readers against hype (blamed mainly on scientific popularisers and on advertisers), while on the other hand they themselves engage in overhyping the contribution that (what they regard as) epigenetics can make to revolutionising the sociological enterprise.

I also observed something positive though. As with neuroscience, which had given rise to a movement that one can call the neurobollocks movement, I found more and more scientists beginning to engage in what one might call an epi-bollocks movement.

Kevin Mitchell in particular has shone a sceptical light on speculations around transgenerational epigenetic inheritance and especially on speculations regarding supposed ‘social implications’ of epigenetics. In fact, he tweeted “There are no social implications of epigenetics. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.” There are however potential social implications of over-hyping unfounded social implications.

And, of course we should not forget the twitter account called EpigeneticsBS which has great stuff like this to offer: “chant this 11x a day – the spiritual work you do clears the epigenetics in your family 7 generations forward & back”. Epigenetic control hype in a nutshell!

Other researchers, Jerry Coyne in particular, have thrown cold water on claims made by some philosophers and social theorists that epigenetics is in the process of over-throwing traditional genetics and traditional theories of evolution. As Ute Deichmann (and many others) have pointed out “[r]esearch labelled epigenetics has not replaced the centrality of genomic information” (Deichmann, 2016: 249).

Epigenetics and social science

Epigenetics is a field with enormous potential but surrounded by a penumbra of vague promises, where fantasies are crowding out facts, whatever they may be. This was noticed quite early on by one of the giants in the field, Edith Heard, who has recently talked about this disjunction between fundamental science and fantastic expectations yet again.

What should be the role of social scientists in this situation? Especially when calls are being made for interdisciplinary collaboration? An article entitled “Epigenetics: Core misconcept” by Mark Ptashne ends by saying: “The important point is to attend to how things actually work.” (Ptashne, 2013: 7103) This should be an indispensable foundation for interdisciplinary work between sociologists and life scientists.

Such interdisciplinary work cannot be founded on hype, extrapolation, exaggeration, and speculation. It should be based on a mutual “appreciation of the conceptual and methodological foundations of modern experimental biology” (Deichmann, 2017: 291).

Posts about epigenetics

Epigenetics: Switching the power and responsibility from genes to us

Making epigenetics public: A problem with metaphors (with Aleksandra Stelmach)

Epigenetics, hype and harm

The epigenetic muddle and the trouble with science writing

When epigenetics gets under your skin

Making sense of plasticity

Epigenetic hype and woo

Biology and sociology: Estrangement and entanglement

Epigenetics and sociology: A critical note

Epigenetics: Grappling with definitions (with Aleksandra Stelmach)

The exposome – the what?

From epigenetic landscapes to epigenetic pancakes

Epigenetics: Between fundamental science and fantastic expectations

Epigenetics in popular culture: The case of turkey dinosaurs

Witness marks: On the trail of an epigenetic metaphor (by Aleksandra Stelmach)

Image: Pixabay: DNA

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dmyear3 · 6 years

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Originally, I wanted to present documentation of my first Testing Grounds evening performance, alongside myself in-costume and readable elements providing context and commentary on the event. I decided to make these pieces of the work downloadable via QR code, and got interested in the interactive viewer-technology implication of this. My focus began to shift to this aspect, and I ended up ditching the documentation side and create a new work based around this form of interaction, while also incorporating my own bodily presence. I wear a new set of wearable pieces, but unlike my previous performance much of my body is visible. These pieces were made to resemble vaguely medical prosthetics, and connect me to a screen via a plastic tube as I sit unspeaking on the floor. The wearables are made entirely from clear plastic in order to resonate aesthetically with the Clear Cube space, and include a 3D-printed mask that resembles a carapace as well as an organ-like orifice made from glue affixed to my chest.

On the screen, QR codes appear within designs that suggest microbiology, over a green-white gradient virtual environment. There are 11 different codes, each linking to a unique digital artwork that resembles some kind of fleshy growth or organism. These images are paired with small pieces of prose that speak in ambiguous narratives on the merging of biology, selfhood and technology. I had actually been writing these over the course of the semester in response to the work I had been producing.

...

First, everyone tried scanning the codes and compared what they downloaded, and they began to realise that there were multiple different works. For this presentation I was typing my notes onto my phone (connected by its charger to my chest-piece), and it was thought that I might be sending the written pieces through in real-time. Without knowing how many works there are, it opened up the possibility of there being an endless amount. My use of my phone in this context also became a performative action in itself.

The connection between the screen and the body was noticed, in both physical connection and in the implicated connection between my phone screen and the TV screen. The physical connection seen in the plastic tubing began to be seen as more like a prop, standing in for or representing the actual technological network connection. In presenting the work with a pseudo-scientific and science-fiction aesthetic in low-fi materials my lack of a real synthesis with the technology is made obvious, but it also makes the viewer aware of the connotations of this merging and encourages a further imagination of it. It also made the viewer aware that the technology I was implementing was not at all sci-fi, but totally every-day and otherwise mundane. It was suggested however that I try making the fake-functional attachments on my body actually serve some kind of purpose, even if it was just the pumping of liquid through the clear plastic pipes. This work was compared to that by the cyborg artist Stelarc, but mine was understood to be more to do with emulation and viewer imagination.

Science-fiction became a large topic when discussing my work. It reminded people of movies about artificial intelligence such as Her: a movie about a smartphone AI that grows consciousness and begins to feel emotional connections. The Matrix was also brought up, specifically the idea of a living person being grown and raised within technology.

As my mask covered my face, only my eyes were visible and emphasised by makeup. A feeling of being watched was seen here, and a further tie to the idea of scanning and observing screens. My facial expressions were hidden, and that fed into the perception that I was seen now as an object rather than “myself”. A huge difference was noted between just before this presentation, when I was chatting with everyone and acting social, and during the tutorial as I became some kind of inanimate art object. I even seemed to give off an impression of being more like a “creature” than human, a new lifeform that was joined to technology by an umbilical cord. My presence was also seen as being theatrical, in the way I was fully costumed as a sort of character to be observed.

The downloads were discussed as being like an attempt to connect with the viewer – like I’m trying to reach through but only have a limited amount of messages. From this perspective, and considering my emotionless and masked appearance, this piece was interpreted as like a simultaneous action of communication and of shutting off. I became neutral, only reflecting the viewer’s gaze with my own exaggerated eyes (this was compared to reflections of selves seen on social media).

In terms of taking this project further, I would like to expand on the role of the body itself a bit more as a way of conveying ideas through performance. I want to start thinking about movements and characterisation linked to theatrics, as well as continuing my interest in connectivity through interaction. All of the sci-fi talk when discussing my work also made me realise that I was starting to miss my own point in a way. I had begun to focus on the aesthetics of the cyborg rather than any kind of emotional or personal connection I wanted to express through interactive performance. Moving into new work I would like to keep an interest in the links between human and technology but mostly ditch the elements of speculative science fiction and futurism which seemed to somewhat take over the reading of this piece. I need to start investigating how the idea of communicative connectivity (which is also expressed in connection between artist/performer and viewer) can be portrayed in more grounded and personal/emotive ways.

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rudarastroro-blog · 6 years

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The Pros and Cons of Vashikaran Specialist in India

Astrology is the strategy of pinpointing the character and future of a person in the alignment of The celebrities and planets. Astrology will not function and cannot forecast upcoming events or personalities. The Japanese astrology is event oriented, Vashikaran Mantra Specialist they are going to inform you what transpired prior to now and what is going to come about in the future with Substantially grater precision. Quite possibly the most widespread application of horoscopic astrology is to make use of it to research the delivery charts of people in an effort to browse character, psychological characteristics, and to some extent destiny.

Arab period astrology is definitely the fast ancestor with the Western astrology of right now. Our astrology can be in truth the successor to that 3rd stream of historic astrologies. Created from the Greeks and based on a number of the fundamental ideas created in Babylon, this type of astrology is generally known as 'judicial' or 'genethlialic'. Here is the type of astrology that Many of us are knowledgeable about today, whether we have been believers or skeptics. The problem of why persons have confidence in astrology is much more intriguing than the details with the horoscope. Psychologists have shown that shoppers are pleased with astrological predictions assuming that the methods are individualized in a few instead imprecise way.

Astrology is ideal understood by Discovering the way it started. Astrology is unquestionably the oldest and at the same time now the most well-liked of all pseudosciences. Astrology can be utilized to deepen knowledge of our have character. This psychological solution has developed considerably up to now 30 years as A lot more astrologers establish their counseling abilities. Astrology is Magical Thinking, which has offered us creationism and most sorts of different medication. It truly is at odds with scientific reasoning and it places the practitioner squarely in opposition on the custom of The Enlightenment.

Astrology is pseudoscience mainly because folks generally have confidence in it for illegitimate reasons. He offers no illustrations right here. Astrology is, set basically, the analyze of the correlation in between the astronomical positions from the planets and events on the planet. Astrologers think that the positions of the Sunlight, Moon, and planets at time of anyone's beginning have a immediate influence on that human being's character. Astrology is a wonderful mix of science, art and craft. The best part of it is the fact It doesn't matter how much 1 learns he can by no means embrace all its understanding.

The perception in astrology is that the positions of certain celestial bodies both impact or correlate by using a individuals individuality trait. Prior to now, those studying Astrology utilised observation of celestial objects as well as the charting in their actions. Prior expertise in astrology isn't required. The four levels of research include all essential astrological knowledge in the quite beginning to acquiring your own private, effective practice. Astrology is so termed mainly because it ariseth from The celebrities; as Theology is so identified as since it flows from God. To live astrologically is, with a satisfying concupiscence, to consume from the Tree of your understanding of great and evil, and to convey Demise to himself.

An extensive bibliography of astrology is past the scope of this FAQ, but some guides are already involved. The interested reader is encouraged to go to a very well stocked bookstore. However, as the heavens had been in no way meant for these needs, astrology is often a dangerous and wrongful practice. Stars were designed for calendar trying to keep and for declaring God?s glory . The lessons Allow me to share for everybody who wants to learn the way astrology is finished and how to do astrology. They are really specifically for skeptics for the reason that science needs that familiarity with a issue ought to occur right before analysis.

For if astronomy will be the analyze of the movements of the heavenly bodies, then astrology will be the research of the results of those actions. The astronomers of the ancient earth assumed a division of the universe whereby the exceptional, immutable bodies with the celestial worlds ruled more than the terrestrial or sublunary sphere, exactly where all was mortality and change. But astrology is no longer about just adore and revenue. Astrology solutions a number of other thoughts. Vocational Astrology is definitely the art of aiding Other folks in supporting them come across whatever they are identified as to accomplish .

The practitioner of Shamanic Astrology is properly trained inside the unaided eye expertise and expertise of the evening sky, along with the sacred rhythms, cycles and motions on the cosmos. Astrology is likewise an art-variety--one that lends alone to speedy sketches and complicated portraits of people, partners, businesses, nations and even more. Astrology might also Obviously have spiritual and religious undertones as evidenced by scientific studies of historical Egypt. Astrology is unscientific because of the reality of the precession or perhaps the shifting of constellations. The early astronomers were not mindful of precession and therefore didn't take it under consideration within their method.

Even though entertaining, Solar sign astrology is a relatively superficial, and marginally valuable application of a complex and historical science that dates again thousands of a long time. Learn the way astrology can be used to tell your decisions and augment your own private knowledge. Astrology is The traditional observe and study of the stars and planets. Its heritage goes back again to Babylonian situations. Astrology is this type of model.

Wholistic Astrology is a method of interpreting a horoscope so that all aspects are deemed. We are able to see tendencies in external parts this sort of are profession, finance and social requirements. This is certainly why astrology is generally known as the "Science of Indications". Without an effort and hard work to overcome the momentum of any given pressure or thrust of motion, the indications suggest what will most likely be, and in almost any occasion, astrology reveals the timing of trends and selected influences. Currently, some astrology is offered by doing this, but this is simply not correct "classic astrology". Do you realize that Astrology was considered science in guy's early background?

Astrology isn't some foolish old detail, a superstition or pseudo-science, but an actual science of human working experience. Its symbols leave area for the vagaries of human habits, that which may never ever be minimized to straightforward and complete formulae. Probably the hostility exists due to the fact astrology is still a residing apply, a real competitor for popular regard and patronage. I hope that the standard hostility can be dying among the historians and social experts and that a true comprehension of this influential follow and perception. It doesn't signify that astrology is precise in predicting human habits or events to the degree significantly increased than mere likelihood. There are many pleased buyers who believe that their horoscope correctly describes them Which their astrologer has presented them fantastic advice.

Astrology is harmless, it can be an enjoyment. Whichever its former glories, it seems now a 5-and-dime glimpse with the cosmos. Astrology is perhaps the most historic subject in addition to in a means essentially the most dismissed. It is among the most historic for the reason that astrology has actually been in existence as far back as we are already ready to analyze the historical past of mankind. As a substitute, they like to offer anecdotal proof --stories persons notify about how exact they Consider astrology is. Anecdotal evidence is just not suitable in a real science mainly because it's way too simple to go away out each of the detrimental activities folks have, and other people not Great at recalling and correctly reporting experiences.

Astrology is based on birth charts for someone. The position from the Sun, Moon and planets is plotted within the zodiac at this time of delivery. Furthermore, astrology will not be a quick examine. Traditionalists utilized to say it requires a pupil 1 transit of Saturn , about 30 years, to be proficient. Vedic Astrology is a component of a holistic, built-in information technique and its outcomes may be bolstered by interoperating with its "sister" sciences. The Vedic Astrology procedure is type in that not merely is anyone instructed what may occur, but These are offered a listing of probable treatments or corrective actions to offset the quantity and high-quality of karmas which are returning to them, as viewed during the delivery chart.

In 2001, 53% of Europeans surveyed imagined astrology is "instead scientific" and only a Vashikaran Specialist in India minority (39%) claimed it truly is under no circumstances scientific. During the 2005 study, Europeans were being asked whether or not they regarded specified topics for being scientific, utilizing a 5-stage scale (with bigger values indicating that a subject is much more scientific). This really is why astrology is so unique, getting used given that the start of historic data, and can even be located in each Innovative society. MB Pet Astrology is a straightforward and 'person-helpful' software program that assist you to know your Animals far better. It truly is an entire freeware and the better part is, the studying is often administered in 5 to eight minutes.

#Vashikaran Specialist in India #Vashikaran Specialist #Love Vashikaran Specialist #Best Astrologer in India #Famous Astrologer in India #Get love back #Lost Love Back #Control Husband by Vashikaran #Vashikaran for Husband #Vashikaran mantra for love

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