#antecedent action*

[cybershadow]

07/0[ERROR]

AEW37/ACC#998256

Battery City Warehouse and Storage, unit C-32

Assassin and killjoy known as PHANTOM GLITCH ([ERROR]) caught on security footage after months of failed attempts. The rest of this footage as been corroded. The known associate of this dangerous killjoy was never spotted. All zone personnel are required to [ERROR 504: FILE CORRUPTED] protocol for the capture of this individual.

Property of Battery City, do not copy without permission.

#(myedit) #antecedent action #Cyber_lore #kjrp

[phant0mspades]

Ice

It wasn't a pleasant fight. Never was when these two were on the court.

The two gave up on holding back after the first round of injuries and were throwing each other around. Or one was, the other thought he had a chance by being heavier, more muscle than height. But the other was strategic, using the opponent to their advantage. They knew more than the standard practices taught because of their time as a rebel and twisted their leg to trip their opponent to finish the fight. Both go down.

Despite hearing the buzzer to signal the last thirty seconds of the assessment, they kept going. Jumping around their opponent and taking hits while delivering their own. They were given an order, and that's all their mind processed. Not that they had a choice, perfectly compliant. They rolled around and placed the candidate in a choke-hold, gagging filled their hearing along with the people around them scribbling things on clipboards. They felt a sharp pain in their abdomen and growl, grabbing the knife out of the opponent's hand by twisting the elbow around. They wanted to retaliate the same way and for a moment they prepped the knife.

"Matthew, you've already done enough with that," their mentor's voice was clear and they put the knife down, rolling until they're on top of the other candidate. Both hands around the throat then, despite the kicking and thrashing. Their abdomen was sticky as sweat and blood mixed, trickling down and staining their unform. The thrashing eased and they smirked.

The buzzer, followed by four sets of hands dragging them off the court. They didn't fight it, no use. The hands would deal with whatever damage there is and they block out the others going towards the opponent. The talk is annoying, they won clearly.

A hiss involuntarily left their bloody lips when something cold met their side and their hand flew on top of it. One of the medics backed up as they gripped the ice pack. Cold. It felt good after that. Despite their blurry vision, they stared at the medic in silent thanks. Couldn't talk, not allowed until told.

They knew they needed to fight, but it was too much. No escape; not at school, not at home, not here. Poking, prodding, fighting...too much for their mind. So they zoned out, focusing solely on the cold on their side, ignoring the voices around them jotting down what just happened. The cold...it was better than nothing.

#antecedent action #ooc: For context this was the end of their fourth assessment

[seasonofprophecy]

It shouldn't be that serious but I haaate people summarizing Simon and his struggles in Fionna and Cake as the symptoms of one mental illness or another. Like, his struggle with being content now that he's Simon again echo depression and he very well may have it. The way I've seen some people examine his character and conflict through a pathological lens, though, just picks out what words and actions they can diagnose as some documented and studied condition. They divorce his character and conflict from his setting, his time as the Ice King, and how he fits in the extended narrative of Adventure Time.

Simon is a pre-mushroom bomb era human in a post-mushroom bomb world. The people he knew, the surroundings he's come to understand, and the life trajectory he had going are all long gone. He's come to in a new society where things function in much more fantastical, irrational, and advanced ways. He's been a part of this society- even shaping it- as the Ice King, and now he must continue playing into the happenings of Ooo as Simon Petrikov. The new civilizations are alien, the new Earth functions by new social and natural laws, and he has the remains of new life that disgusts, horrifies, and humiliates him.

Simon spent almost a thousand years as a man stripped of his former values, dignity, and cognisance. As the Ice King, he lost his ability to control himself, and inflicted what would accumulate to be significant harm unto others. He learned how to get along with others by the end of his time as the Ice King, but those years were a blip in the span of a near millennium, and the degree of self-control he learned was basic decency. Simon spent his life before the mushroom bomb developing to be a composed and academic man, and endured having his antecedent personal growth and his own autonomy regarding his identity nullified by the ice crown.

Adventure time is a fantasy show that explores the consequences of the endless possibilities inherent to a fantastical setting. Powerful magic and magical existences destroy and ruin lives, abundances of mystical organisms amount to exhausting effort to defend oneself from danger, and the lack of predictability of what the world has to offer someone next spells out a compromised sense of security and stability.

Simon/the Ice King's story is one example of the show's exploration of the undesirable side of fantasy, and one story that's been built on for over eight years now. It's a story with circumstances unique to the show, with numerous writers informing its contents, with some parts planned and some spontaneous. It's a charged story, and it's narratively reductive to effectively whittle Simon's character and conflict as the showing of a real world mental illness

#messages from mars #adventure time #fionna and cake #simon petrikov #the ice king #atimers #damn i did not mean to write an essay but his character means a lot to me #for the record i relate to him a lot from a real-world angle (i became disabled and lost a lot of myself) but i don't like the idea of #taking how i relate to him and making that my whole character interpretation of him #especially since I've been watching the show and following simon's story since before i became disabled

[max1461]

It's fine to cheat in school for the same reason it's fine not to vote or fine to eat meat (as long as you personally aren't the one killing the animal, and it's not being done at your request). The effects of actions are not summative. "But if everyone acted that way!" <- assuming a false antecedent. The free rider problem is a problem for systems; you personally being a free rider is fine, because the effect size of your actions is small.

I think this is my most controversial belief, but it's just like... obviously, physically true. All the arguments against my position are bad. I mean you can dispute the individual examples I gave if you claim the effects of individual action are different, like you could change my mind on these that way. But the general principle here is clearly correct.

#navel gazing

[thisnameisnotspokenfor]

Kingdom of the Stars Masterlist

((Note: This is more of an AU than a rewrite! So MANY and I mean MANY creative liberties were taken here! And it is still updating! I am not sure how many chapters it will have...))

((Synopsis: After her father's untimely death, 17-year-old astronomer/apprentice Asha has never wanted anything to do with magic or wishes again. So while trying to get time off for her grandfather's hundredth birthday, Asha unfortunately finds herself in the last place she wanted to be; at the heart of a magical conspiracy that could spell ruin for Rosas. Desperate to take action, Asha unknowingly calls upon a powerful force, which leads to far more trouble and adventure than she could have ever dreamed of.))

((Huge thanks to @wings-of-sapphire for giving me this idea))

The Prologue

Chapter 1: The Regrets

Chapter 2: The Market

Chapter 3: The Meeting

Chapter 4: The Proposition

Chapter 5: The Blackbird

Chapter 6: The Well

Chapter 7: The Star

Chapter 8: The Key

Chapter 9: The Prince

Chapter 10: The Starling

Chapter 11: The Dream

Chapter 12: The Return

Chapter 13: The Worry

Chapter 14: The Plan

Chapter 15: The Antecedent

Chapter 16: The Problem

Chapter 17: The Disaster

Chapter 18: The Solution

Chapter 19: The Reunion

Chapter 20: The Accommodation

Chapter 21: The King

Chapter 22: The Reception

Chapter 23: The Library

Chapter 24: The Clock

Chapter 25: The Spark

A03:

Character Design/Visuals: ((Bear with me because these updates will be SLOW))

Asha

I'll release character notes and stuff after

#wish 2023 #wish disney #wish asha #writers on tumblr #wish au #disney #fanfic #wish starboy

[tritoch]

the damsel and the hero: some thoughts on minfilia and elidibus

I get why many people have (understandable, justified, legitimate) gripes to this day about how Minfilia was handled, but I think you don't have to change anything about how she's presented in game to arrive at a reading that lets her feel like more than a sacrificial victim. Within the game as it exists, Minfilia is already a rich and layered heroic character. She is not a damsel or a tragic hero but a victorious figure whose very exit from the narrative affirmed her own ideals, and she controlled her own destiny to the end. All you have to do to see this more clearly is read her against one of her underexamined foils: Elidibus.

Spoilers through the end of Pandemonium (6.4) below.

After 5.3 dropped, the devs mentioned that because they basically had to develop and pay off Elidibus in the space of a patch or two, they drew conscious parallels between him and other characters. The game highlights the G'raha parallels in the scene just before Seat of Sacrifice. There's also the parallels to Alphinaud that people have noticed in both the broad strokes of their characterization (idealistic short kings who believe in the power of rhetoric and diplomacy to achieve true and lasting understanding between people, whose mission to save the world is forever held in balance with their duty to save those they love) and in specific lines of dialogue.

But a far more direct narrative parallel than either character is Minfilia. Like Elidibus and Zodiark, Minfilia offered herself to Hydaelyn, serving as the Word of the Mother, only to be called forth once more when an intractable conflict between her allies threatened the stability of the world. Both were messianic young figures who nonetheless lead their older allies by both example and command. Both, seeing an opportunity to save not just their close friends but everyone, offered themselves up to a higher power in an act not of desperation but of deliberate will. You can even poetically gloss both Antecedent and Emissary as "The One That Goes Before."

The difference between the two of them is that at every turn, where Elidibus failed, Minfilia succeeded.

Elidibus returned to broker peace between the Hydaelyn faction and the Convocation. He failed, and the result was the Sundering. Minfilia, entreated by Urianger, came back to resolve the conflict between the Warriors of Darkness (Hydaelyn's champions and Warriors of Light themselves) and the Scions, and succeeded in saving two worlds by her actions.

But more than that, Elidibus provided us a picture of what it actually looks like to lose your identity to a primal like Zodiark. He'd lived a thousand thousand lifetimes as himself and he was so broken he could scarcely remember anything more than his name and his duty. He is one of the most explicitly tragic figures in all of FFXIV, and his final sendoff in 5.3 was an image of him plagued by unanswerable grief, which for him was a consequence of his failure: "The rains have ceased, and we have been graced with another beautiful day. But you are not here to see it."

Meanwhile, in the preceding expansion, you actually had the chance to spend multiple scenes with Minfilia and they're all extremely clear: unlike Ardbert or Elidibus, after 100 years this was still Minfilia, she remained resolute in her mission to see the First saved, but she had not forgotten the woman she was or the people she loved. In both 3.4 and 5.0, she went out as herself, head held high.

Speaking to the Warrior of Light before she departs for the First: "So many times have I watched you depart, my heart filled with worry, and ever did you return to me in triumph. Someday, when I have found a way to free this star from Her sorrow, I promise you I shall repay the favor."

Her final words to Ryne: "No one, however powerful, is immune to the whisperings of doubt and despair. Do not give in to them, but do not deny them either. Look instead to the light within, that you may continue to serve as a beacon to others."

In both instances, we were given a Minfilia who had not merely accepted her fate, but who had chosen it of her own volition and rose confidently to meet it, even imparting to her successor some final hard-won words of wisdom. And unlike Elidibus, she met her friends again at duty's end; they live, and they are happy, and she is content. She's already heroic, but the contrast to Elidibus (and Ardbert, and Emet) underlines the extent to which we should see her as extraordinarily driven, self-possessed and ultimately victorious on her own terms.

And in making the connection between Elidibus and Minfilia, we can begin to let Elidibus's characterization inform hers in retrospect.

Elidibus as we see him in 5.3 and earlier more specifically paralleled Minfilia as the Word of the Mother. Prior to that point in her arc, Minfilia's parallel was Themis, the pre-Zodiark Elidibus we glimpse briefly in the 5.3 Echo flashbacks and would only meet properly an expansion later in Pandemonium. The important thing about Themis for our purposes is that he was not some naive or too-young figurehead tricked into serving as Zodiark's Emissary. This was not a Crystal Braves situation for him. In Pandemonium, you can see how the kind of man Themis was very clearly lead to him choosing to be offered up to Zodiark. He took seriously the principles and duties of the Convocation. He valued dearly the lives of all people generally and his friends and comrades in particular, but held those truths in balance rather than prizing one. He was rational, clear-sighted, and decisive.

All of these, obviously, were true of Minfilia. And unlike Elidibus, whose ascension into Zodiark was forever somewhat obscured by the narrative, we were quite close to Minfilia before she became the Word of the Mother. We were quite familiar with her grief and guilt over surviving where Louisoix did not, her fear that she could neither fill his shoes as a leader nor serve in action as others did. She confided in us about the difficulty of her task in serving as the pillar of strength and guiding light for the rest of the Scions. She despaired alongside the player character at both the death of Moenbryda and the disastrous events of the Banquet. We know what she believed, what she valued, what she feared, what frustrated her. When she chose to depart for the First, it paid off very directly everything else the game has said about her through 3.4. Her arc was one of trepidation and doubt, and it ended in her ultimate victory and an astonishingly clean win that compromises none of her values.

Both Urianger and some fans raised the question of whether it was wrong for Urianger to ever offer her the choice of sacrificing herself for the First at all. Minfilia, for her part, got a chance to speak to this directly: "Have we not walked together in the light of the Crystal, and at Her bidding borne witness to the joys and sorrows of this land? Each and every one of you knows my heart. If this be the price I must pay, I pay it gladly." It did not matter whether she was given this particular decision or not. You could have offered her this dilemma in a thousand different permutations in a thousand thousand different scenarios. This was the choice she made. This was her choice, forever and always: to save everyone she can, in honor of those she loves.

Candidly, I understand critiques of Minfilia's writing far better than any praise it could ever receive. Nothing I've written above answers the clear and obvious truths that she is underwritten, that she does not get much to do or much screentime for a putatively important character, that it is very easy and common to read her death as a fridging, that she is unfairly dismissed by many due to her role in the narrative and the way she leaves it. Her sacrifice plays into specific gendered tropes that are disappointingly common to see. Those things all remain true.

But I think as we remember those things we should also keep in mind that she does still get a complete arc that is interesting and thematically rich in itself, and which puts her in some senses on the same level in the narrative as characters like Elidibus, Emet-Selch, and Ardbert.

Her sacrifice continues to inform the game. Her literal ghost returns to affirm the truth and value of her beliefs and the choices she made. Her guiding words ("For those we have lost, for those we can yet save") remain a mantra not just for the Scions but specifically for the player character. They are not an empty slogan. The phrase succinctly conveys an ideal of all-encompassing humanism and compassion arising from grief. The ideal those words represent is one of many organizing principles and responses to grief that the game examines (because a lot of FFXIV is about grief and how we respond to tragedy and change), it is Minfilia who develops and articulates it, and it is the one the heroes continue to align themselves with. It is the same principle that leads her to the First, and G'raha, and us too. It is Minfilia's ideals--Minfilia's heroism--which continue to serve as the model to which the Warrior of Light aspires, in the game's text.

Truthfully, my gripe is this. I think it is very easy to imagine a male Minfilia--same lines, same screentime, same blocking, same ass cut-out--appearing in place of the Minfilia we have. And I feel quite sincerely, and quite frustratedly, that if we had Malefilia, both the fans and detractors of that character would ascribe to him more thoughtfulness and more thematic depth than the Minfilia we already have, even though their lines would be exactly the same. We are so ready to see the damsel we expect in Minfilia that we are unwilling to see her as the hero she is in the text, and my hope is that by holding her up to her mirror, Elidibus, we may see her as a rich character in her own right all the more clearly.

#minfilia #ffxiv #elidibus #and notice that i didn't have to mention the gunbreaker once! #it's kind of interesting actually; she's absolutely crucial to his arc and he's not at all critical to hers #I don't think that means she got fridged for him necessarily i just think they draw on different archetypes and have different arcs #louisoix is ultimately more important to minfilia's growth and feelings of guilt than thancred ever is #in some ways i feel how i do about minfilia how i do about ardbert #would i have liked more time and fan attention on them? sure #they both could be emet or g'raha levels of popular the bones are all there for that kind of popularity #but instead they both have really thematically resonant arcs that the game won't fuck around with anymore. that's worth a lot!

[theaawalker]

Character tropes are a writer's bread and butter, for better or worse. Because of this, it can be easy for your characters to be mistaken, copied, and boxed in with others. Especially in this industry, it's important to stand out. What’s the difference between a flat character and a well-rounded character? How do writers bring a character to life on the page? When it comes to character development, these are central questions—especially when it comes to using character tropes...

[ ~ a world that's waiting up for me ~ ]

What Are Character Tropes?

The word “trope” refers to a common motif or pattern in a work of art. In the context of fiction, character tropes refer to common attributes or even entire stock characters. The word trope comes from the Greek word 'tropos' meaning “to turn.” Originally it referred to rhetorical devices that a writer uses to develop an argument. Character tropes can be useful in fiction, but when overused, they can detract from a story.

Common Character Tropes

Every genre of storytelling has its own stable of common character types, and as a storyteller it’s worth being aware of them. Here are nine of the most common:

1. The chosen one:

The chosen one is a common fantasy trope. Their identity typically revolves around a task that’s been set aside for them, which they typically pursue without much hesitation or complication. Like Frodo Baggins, Luke Skywalker, and Harry Potter, the chosen one is often, conveniently, an orphan.

2. The damsel in distress:

One of the most common and pernicious types of female character tropes, the damsel in distress, whatever form she takes, is a passive figure who exists mostly as an object for the hero to save. Even versions of the character who turn out to be a little more plucky than expected (think Princess Fiona from Shrek or Princess Leia from Star Wars) have become their own subset of this creaky old trope.

3. The femme fatale:

A mysterious and seductive woman who uses her sex appeal to seduce and entrap her enemies, the femme fatale is a popular character trope in hardboiled mysteries. In many ways, the femme fatale is an updated version of supernatural witches or sorceresses. It’s no spoiler to say that she nearly always leads men to destruction. Sharon Stone, Uma Thurman, and Eartha Kitt are the queens of this trope. <3

4. The girl next door:

The small-town girl with a heart of gold is, in many ways the opposite of the femme fatale. A common film and TV trope, the girl next door is innocent, kind, and wholesome. In other words, she’s the embodiment of domestic femininity and typically a candidate for the male protagonist’s love interest. Take Mary Jane Watson for instance.

5. The mad scientist:

Going back to Dr. Frankenstein (or any number of sorcerer antecedents), the mad scientist is usually a villain, driven by an eccentric, antisocial personality and unrestrained hubris or a desire to play god. The mad scientist’s benign counterpart is the nerdy “absent-minded professor” who’s so engrossed by their work that they struggle to relate to “normal people.”

6. The trusty sidekick:

Like the damsel in distress, the trusty sidekick typically has no life outside their relationship to the main character and their quest. Whether the sidekick is a loyal companion, like Samwise in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, a faithful butler, or a chatty best friend—as in any number of romance novels—their main quality is that they have no story of their own.

7. The wise old man:

Sometimes an actual wizard, sometimes just an old guy who’s seen his share, the wise old man is a long-enduring stock figure who usually imparts some special wisdom to the protagonist. Dumbledore, Master Oogway, Gandalf, and Master Miyagi.

8. The dumb muscle:

Based on the idea that it’s impossible to be smart and fit at the same time, the dumb muscle is an exceedingly common minor character, especially in action and adventure stories. As a bad guy the dumb muscle is easily outsmarted or otherwise bested by the main character. X-Men's Juggernaut is a prime example.

9. The antihero:

Antiheroes are typically cynical loners with major personality flaws, often darkly appealing bad boys. Like normal heroes, the antihero still drives the story, but often to a more amoral place. Tony Soprano, Red Arrow, Emma Frost, and the grittier versions of Batman are all prime examples of modern antiheroes. These days, antiheroes are almost as common as idealized heroes.

5 Tips for Avoiding Character Tropes

Character tropes aren’t good or bad in and of themselves. In some types of fiction, especially epics, satires, and more plot-driven forms of fiction, the use of stock characters can be expected and even desirable. The problem is when writers lean so heavily on these tropes that they’re no longer telling an original story. This is the point where archetypal characters can bleed into stereotypes. In order to avoid (or at least complicate) character tropes, you’ll need to develop a richer sense of your characters. Here are a few tips:

1. Figure out what your characters really want.

One reason writers lean on stereotypes is because they don’t know their characters well enough. Instead of playing to type, spend some time figuring out what really motivates your characters. Are they driven by a need to belong? By a thirst for knowledge? By a desire to be recognized? These super-objectives may lead your characters to buck their outward roles in interesting ways.

2. Look for opportunities to subvert tropes.

If you find yourself drawn to certain tropes, look for ways to undermine them. While this sort of self-conscious style may not be right for every story, it can be especially compelling in the context of genres that traditionally rely on tropes: think fantasy novels, horror movies, love stories, westerns, and other popular genres.

3. Get to know your characters outside the story.

A common writing exercise is to develop backstories for your major characters. Imagine them in real life. Ask yourself questions about your characters, like: What was this person like in high school? What objects are on their nightstand? How do they get along with their families? While seemingly inconsequential, these questions can help you get a sense of the individuality of your characters, rather than just thinking of them as adhering to a common type.

4. Allow your characters’ personalities to change.

Again, there are types of stories where characters may remain static, but in general, it’s important for readers to feel like your character changes (or at least has the potential to change) over the course of the story. Remember, the change need not always be positive, but there should be some sense that the experience they’ve had has marked them in some way.

5. Avoid clichéd situations.

Sometimes the issue isn’t with the characters you’ve developed but the scenario in which you’ve placed them. If you’ve created a pair of star-crossed lovers who are meant to fall for one another at first sight, it’ll be hard not to make the situation feel hackneyed—no matter how well-drawn your lovers are. If you’re only thinking in terms of common plot tropes, it may be hard to get your characters out of them. If you’re working in a science fiction or fantasy setting, this is where worldbuilding might help you find more interesting angles to explore.

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#booklr #artists on tumblr #college #academia #nostalgia #writing tips #writeblr #writers on tumblr #writer #creative writing #on writing #writing tropes #writing advice #aspiring author #writerscommunity #writer things #writers life #general advice

[pattern-recognition]

If Western societies consist of a climate which is of only average receptivity to notions related to the Arab-Israeli struggle, this is so by force of their origins, their interests and the antecedent notions which they have inherited. Israeli society consists of a soil unreceptive to quick results. This is not because it is fundamentally unreceptive to such cultivation only, but because of the effects Israeli propaganda which has gone on unopposed for a long period of time, and which has been reinforced by deceptions and confessional, chauvinist matters. All this has contributed to the emergence of an Israeli inferiority complex, to fear, and to a feeling of danger. Then the 5th of June came along to upset their conceptions, and to fill them with feelings of arrogance and insolence. These things have rendered even the Israeli, proletariat that class whose interest lies in the termination of the Israeli entity, of little efficacy. It thus engages only in passive resistance, and plays a twofold role: it exploits the Arabs and oppresses them, while it, itself, is exploited by imperialism, capitalism and Zionism, even more severely. It is like the German working and peasant classes during World War II who served expansionist German capitalism, while grinding underfoot members of their own classes belonging to other nationalities. It may be that this Israeli class, in the last analysis, has no intention of resisting Zionism. This does not mean, however, that it is a hopeless case. For through the continuation of the resistance movement, its escalation and its presentation of a draft for a democratic Palestinian state, meaning the mutual co-existence of the members of all creeds in a socialist, democratic state, then hopes in this sphere will grow. Even though the continued presentation of this plan has not yet led to fruitful results, nevertheless, after the progressive nature of the resistance movement has seeped in, and after having convinced certain sectors that it is not at all fascist or chauvinistic, it is possible for it to reach deep pockets within Israeli society, not to mention the Arab pockets in those territories occupied before June 5, 1967. Some of those sectors will then act positively, while some others will continue to wait it out. And when the time comes for the counter-offensive of the revolutionary forces to begin, these pockets will go into action and work behind enemy lines, helping to fragment this hostile society, thereby dissipating its power. The formation of those pockets is proceeding satisfactorily. Moreover, the counter-offensive has not yet begun, which thus makes them appear to be smaller than their actual size.

Military Strategy of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, 1970

#the most difficult thing about reading old communist party pamphlets is how optimistic they were #and how little has changed.. #PFLP

[lithiumghostkilljoy]

gender is a performance, and i plan on getting booed off the stage. - Spades (flashback/antecedent action because I miss doing them)

//Flashback.

Lithium giggles at the comment, wrapping their jacket tight around them. They pull their hair out from the loose hanging bun they had up for working on the car which was slowly nearing its end.

“I’ll join you with that.”

@phant0mspades

[autumnslance]

WIP ask meme: gimme dat Lahabrea's Memories hit

Oh this one was a long time ago; before it was clear how Hydaelyn's origin worked, or that the soul sight was specific to Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus, not necessarily shared with all the Ascians. The first section is Lahabrea in Thancred's body, noting the Scion Echo-users and fighting the reminders of who their souls had once belonged to, versus who they were now, and how Thancred himself saw them.

The second part began to segue into something that has been posted before, and I think this is the draft that eventually became the "Responsibility" and "Bisect" prompts from FFXIV Write 2019.

So I split off and rewrote those 2 prompts into their original and then revised for Ao3 forms, and kept the draft of Lahabrea's angry internal ranting in a folder, if I ever need to come back to it. It would need some heavy revision, given what we know of the Unsundered now, but it's still a good jumping off point.

Excerpt under the cut. And honestly rereading this it sounds to me too similar to Emet-Selch, but now we also know more of who Lahabrea was back then and how that would shape his modern self.

It’s not her, he reminded himself, fighting back bile and rage. This is a broken abomination, a memory of… He couldn’t make himself think of her name. The pain hit him more sharply than expected, after so long. It wasn’t the first time he had felt this; he had seen fragments scattered across the Shards, especially here on the Source. It had been difficult to discern at first, especially bolstered as they had been by their wretched Mother’s own Crystals of Light. The Crystals’ powers faded with her Her own diminishment with each Ardor, but the very souls of the Source were strengthened by the Rejoinings as all else was. A conundrum they had long since decided to ignore; these children were not their brethren, lost so long ago in the catastrophe that had made their actions necessary. Even Rejoined, they would not be the same as those lost, they still would not comprehend what had been. And so they would be sacrificed to regain that glory. He briefly wondered if that was the wisest course after all. No. Put it out of mind; the woman in the room now was not the same as the former colleague who had defied them, had made the counter-summoning possible. No more than the Antecedent was the same person who had conspired with his lost peer. No more than that Ala Mhigan boy in the common room was another he recognized. The metaphorical children of his lost brethren, and opposed to all he believed in, as they had been. Damn them.

#final fantasy xiv #lyn prompts #lyn writing #WIPs #drafting #Lahabrea

[cybershadow]

February, 2016. Escape

- Perspective Two of Four - 

Little noise. Controlled breathing. And running. That’s all I could tell was happening. I was trying to bury my eyes into Madi’s shoulder to stop the fog. Everything was so foggy, making it harder and harder to think. Mom...all nine weren’t supposed to be taken at once, they weren’t a Nine-way vaccine...motherfucker, she was trying to kill me. I knew that for sure. 

“Are we at the checkpoint yet?” I mumbled into Madi’s shoulder, afraid to lift my head and get overwhelmed by the visuals. We were breaking the rules...but we always did that. Dad wasn’t aligned with the city...but why was Madi carrying me then?

I took the risk, I looked up. Flames. Flames staring small and growing around and in our house...I could hear mom inside, screaming for dad and Madi...swearing at me. I held onto their shoulders tighter and buried my face again, trying to block out the images and sounds. Madi kept running, the house getting smaller and smaller, blacker and blacker.

Too much, too much. Head and house on fire. Wait, no. My body wouldn’t stop shaking, as if burning off the drugs through tremors. “M’ head isn’t on fire.”

“We’ll get that fixed up,” Madi whispered while running. I could hear them controlling their breathing, speaking between breaths. “Gotta get to Beta first.”

“...it’s a left at the Avenue...”

“Thanks.”

Madi was a quiet sprinter. It was habit by now and they were smooth, taking long strides through the nighttime. I had the route memorized, going through it in my head, each turn just a reflected image of the map in my mind as Madi ran. Leaping over fences and obstructions as if they were nothing. The biggest noise they make is when they slide into a stop, I could hear their shoes skid despite the spray to minimize noise. 

“Th’ ‘ells’ wit’ her?” I heard dad’s gravelly voice against the night as Madi set me down, helping me rest my back against a wall, already chugging a water bottle as fast as I could manage with the shaking. 

“Mum overwhelmed her wit’ it all,” Madi’s accent thickened in response. The air became tense as they stared at each other. One spy and one stuck between city and rebels. Madi’s gaze hardened, even in the night their eyes were cold. For a moment I wondered if dad would even let them try, or if he would kill them. 

“There’s nah goin’ back from ‘ere,” dad looked around a corner and handed Madi a rifle...my rifle. I held my hands out for it in response and they handed it over as he looked at them. “Are ya comin’ wit’ us then?”

“I am.”

Madi’s gaze grew shocked when dad pressed it further. “If ya do, y’know what’s gonna happen. Ya can’t continue doin’ whacha do.”

“I’m not staying here!” They hushed their voice but kept its firmness. They crouched next to me and felt my forehead. “What they’re doin’ to me, it’s not right.”

Dad said nothing, just nodded and peered around the corner again. The grip on his pistol tightened as he returned to the dark alley. His usually messy hair was contained for once, meaning he was probably undercover before meeting us here. That would explain the clothes too. Madi helped me stand as dad gestured for us to move. 

He stepped into the light as we heard voices.

#antecedent action #Spy Siblings Escape

[phant0mspades]

February, 2016. Escape

- Perspective Three of Four - 

I recognized those voices right away. They had watched the assessments, I knew they would recognize me, I grabbed Ally by her shoulder holster and dragged her back into the shadow-filled alleyway. With my body against the dark wall, I pressed a hand over my nose and mouth, copying my sister. Despite looking like she was in mental hell, I could see the instinct taking over, reflex placing her on auto-pilot. 

Dad cursed in Irish and jumped back into the alley. We all knew he was spotted but he lowered his head to speak into his ear piece. We were on ground level, we should’ve been higher. “Come in, this’s SSA Walsh...011 do ya copy?”

I turned mine on too. Nothing but static from the channel. Dad repeated, “011, I’m wit’ 021 an’ 022, we need an extra hand ‘ere, copy?”

Static. Not a good sign. Against protocol for the agency. So either they went AWOL or...the city. Latter didn’t shock me, I would learn that’s what happened.

Dad groaned and glanced around the corner again, taking the safety off his pistol. I saw lights from the approaching voices. Fuck, not good. Masks, we needed masks once we entered the zones if we were going to do this. Not just goggles. 

A small hand took mine and I looked at my sister, who silently gestured to move further down the alley. I glanced over my shoulder and saw dad frozen in his tracks. Caught in action, spies caught in action never have a good ending. Ally knew that as well as I did, hence why she dragged me down the alley, her tiny body leaned forward as her heels dug into the concrete for grip.

“What’re you doing?”

She didn’t look behind her, “stick to the shadows, I’m not leaving without you. Get higher get to darkness fast.”

I looked behind me when I heard dad grunt. Forced onto his knees by draculoids, I knew what would happen and I dragged Ally into a new alley behind a dumpster. I covered her ears only for her to brush my hands away. Not that dad was loud, but neither of us enjoyed knowing what happened. Ally wiped her eyes despite them being dry while I rested my arms against a wall. No time to grieve, grieving distracts from acting. It wasn’t the time for emotions.

I jumped into the dumpster. Surely there was something one of us could use. There had to be, my hands started shaking as I rummaged through everything, squinting my eyes as I felt around. Then I felt something metal and smooth. Folded in half with a cracked glass screen. Cord still attached to it too, someone must have cracked the screen and thrown it out. I jumped out and handed it to Ally, who for the first time in three days smiled at me. 

We started running, at a slower but constant pace. I guided her while she got to work. I told her the street names, she turned off the lights. My blaster was at the ready, the brightest thing around us with the white on it. I’d need a new one soon. At least Ally had the pistols. When we stopped to avoid a patrol I swung the rifle over my shoulder before moving again, I would need to help her with her hand-to-hand once we got out but shooting for now would have to do. “Compromise only if needed,” the training told us.

“We need a car,” Ally muttered to me while we moved, “we’ll get nowhere without one. Do you know how to steal one?”

I smirked despite her not being able to see my face. “Course I do. Take a patrol car, they won’t expect us, gotta exit in mind?”

“Yeah, but gotta be fast.”

I swung her onto my back and picked up speed, “I’ll run, you hack. T’gether?”

Ally whimpered and I felt her look behind us before settling again. “T’gether.”

#antecedent action #Spy Siblings Escape #Me: It shouldn't take me all day to write this #Me that night: whoops

[zwoelffarben]

Photomatt said:

"Some are saying I called her 'it' which is completely untrue, my use of the word 'it' was referring to a post, which is an it, not a person."

and turned off reblogs at some point. But I'd already made the sentence diagram before I noticed reblogs were turned off.

Let me zoom in on the relevant part.

The sentence diagram is mostly irrelevant, except that highlights that there are two its, and demonstrates that claiming the second it's antecedent is structurally awkward because it_2 begins a subclause under the verb that it_1 is performing.

What's an antecedent you didn't ask?

Well, let me explain like I'm the narrator for a hyper-exciteable and badly written but completely accurate piece of childrens' edutainment software and you're the target audience.

Antecedents

An Antecedent is the noun which a pronoun replaces.

Take for example the statement:

"...post where [it] says [it] hopes..."

This statement has two pronouns. Both of them are [it], but they might not have the same antecedent. Let's focus on the first [it] to try and figure out its antecedent is.

First, look for nouns. Can you find any?

Yes! [Post] is a noun! Let's see if [Post] is the antecedent to the first [it].

"...post where [the post] says [it] hopes..."

It works! Good job! We've figured out that the antecedent of the first [it] is [post].

Let's see if [post] also works as the antecedent to the second [it].

"...post where [the post] says [the post] hopes..."

Uh oh! We've run into a disagreement. The noun [post] cannot perform the action which the pronoun [it] is performing. A [post] cannot hope!

That means that [post] cannot be the second [it]'s antecedent, and the antecedent must be something else. Let's look for another noun.

"...post where [the post] says [it] hopes..."

There aren't any other visible nouns. Let's try looking for hidden nouns.

What is a [post]?

Well, [post] is an bundle of information on an online platform that communicates an idea from its [poster] to its readers. Informally, people say "a post says" to mean, the post communicates on behalf of its [poster]! So:

"[The post] says"

really means

"[The post] communicates on behalf of its [poster]."

Wow! We found another noun: [poster]! Let's see if that noun can be our antecedent.

"...post where [the post] says [the poster] hopes..."

It can! A [poster] can hope! Good job everyone! We now know all the antecedents so when we return to the original statement's pronouns, we'll be able know what the statement means as a whole.

What's that, we're not done? [Poster] is a noun that uses specific pronouns depending on the poster's gender?

That means we need to know a poster's specific before we can postcede [poster]. Otherwise, we might use the wrong pronoun and misgender the poster?

By golly, you're right! Let's make sure we don't misgender anybody. What are the poster's pronouns?

[She]/[her].

[She]/[her]? Okay! Then we now know that, we know that postceding

"...post where [the post] says [the poster] hopes..."

should get us

"...post where [it] says [she] hopes..."

Uh oh! That wasn't the statement we started with. What went wrong?

The original statement misgendered the poster?

Wow! That's rude.

[journeytothewestresearch]

Sun Wukong and the Buddha Victorious in Strife

I have improved a previous article from 2020 which discusses how Sun Wukong's Buddha title is borrowed from an existing deity. Below, I present the newly-written conclusion.

At the end of Journey to the West, the Buddha promotes Sun Wukong to the “Buddha Victorious in Strife” or “Victorious Fighting Buddha” (Dou zhansheng fo, 鬥戰勝佛). This is the Chinese name of Yuddhajaya, the 31st of the 35 Confession Buddhas called upon during a confessional prayer to absolve oneself of sins. He is generally portrayed as a robe-wearing Buddha holding a sword and suit of armor. This is not a reference to the deity’s fighting prowess, however. Instead, his name and accoutrements symbolize the means by which he subjugates the negative emotions or actions that would otherwise keep man trapped in the illusory world of Saṃsāra.

Instead of being universally revered as the Buddha Victorious in Strife, the Monkey King is far more widely worshiped in East and Southeast Asia as the “Great Sage Equaling Heaven” (Qitian dasheng, 齊天大聖) or a variant like “Great Sage Buddha Patriarch” (Dasheng fozu, 大聖佛祖). This discrepancy is probably due to the original Yuddhajaya already having a long-established following. There’s no way that he could ever be subsumed under Sun Wukong’s late-blooming cult. 

Wu Cheng’en likely connected Monkey to the Buddha Victorious in Strife because both have martial iconography. Sun is commonly depicted wearing armor and wielding an iron staff, while Yuddhajaya is shown holding a sword and armor. But the concept of Sun receiving an elevation in spiritual rank goes back centuries. The Monkey Pilgrim, his literary antecedent from The Story of How Tripitaka of the Great Tang Procures the Scriptures (late-13th-century), is deified by the Tang emperor as “Great Sage Steel Muscles and Iron Bones” (Gangjin tiegu dasheng, 鋼筋鐵骨大聖).

#Sun Wukong #Monkey King #Buddha Victorious in Strife #Victorious Fighting Buddha #Journey to the West #JTTW #Lego Monkie Kid #Buddha

[aboutanancientenquiry]

Telling Wonders: Ethnographic and Political Discourse in the Work of Herodotus

Rosaria Vignolo Munson Telling Wonders: Ethnographic and Political Discourse in the Work of Herodotus, University of Michigan Press

"As he explores the causes of the East-West conflict from its most remote antecedents, Herodotus includes conflicting traditions about different historical periods as well as apparently tangential descriptions of the customs of faraway peoples. What was his aim in combining such diverse material? Rosaria Vignolo Munson argues that Herodotus' aim was two-fold: to use historical narrative to illuminate the present and to describe barbarian customs so that the Greeks might understand themselves. Herodotus assumes the role of advisor to his audience, acting as a master of metaphor and oracular speech and as an intellectual fully aware of new philosophical and political trends. By comparing, interpreting, and evaluating facts through time and space or simply by pointing them out as objects of "wonder," he teaches that correct political action is linked to an appropriate approach to foreigners and additional "others." Munson relies on traditional scholarship and modern studies in narratology and related critical fields to distinguish between narrative and metanarrative, providing a framework for analyzing the construction of Herodotus' discourse and his presentation of himself through it. Munson's work will be useful to classicists and ancient historians and will also engage anthropologists interested in cultural interaction and notions of ethnicity and literary critics interested in narrative constructions."

Rosaria Munson is the J. Archer and Helen C. Turner Professor of Classics, Swarthmore College

#herodotus #the histories #ancient greek classics #rosaria munson

[sadlynotthevoid]

I had once this weird dream (but that I really liked tbh) where TBOAH world was going to end but, like, not for the White Star nor anything.

It was just going to die spontaneously and everyone there was going there was just going to join the flow of souls (think of it like the rukh in Magi, because my unconscious likes to add Magi hints to everything. Love that anime tho).

But due bad timing synchronization, the flow was already too filled and if it happened, souls would collide against each others and the sequels would cause massive amounts of chaos and stuff in the other worlds from the sane section.

Which was obviously bad.

So the gods in charge of that section decide that the best action course (and the only plausible one) is getting a conductor to direct the energy and souls of this world smoothly into the flow. Of course, the conductor has to be a living being with a strong will to be able to drive a whole ass world's living essence into a single path.

Ideally, the conductor also had to have a connection with Time. After all, time and space were linked and redirecting life into the flow was separating it from a time-space and releasing it into a river where time and space worked different (if it did. Work, that is.)

A regressor, they decided. The conductor has to be a regressor.

Then, the God of Death— because of it was him— nominated a human child. A god from a different section, but who also was responsible for a world in this one, seconded it.

After inspecting said human, the gods agreed he would be a good choice.

So, Eruhaben went on a trip— his last one in this life— to Rain City, because the world tree requested him to find a person.

A child that was supposed to bring an end and a new start to this world and its people.

Well, the world tree had said that this human was technically an adult. But for Eruhaben who had lived for thousands of years, a human who wasn't even on his second decade was practically a little kid.

Cale Henituse.

What was special about him, that the gods believed him capable of accomplish such a task?

——————————

It went longer but I'm stoping there now. It was a Naruto crossover btw. And that Cale is Og!Cale. He did succeeded leading the world into the cycle, then everyone got reincarnated in Naruto.

Cale was born as his mom's son again and they were both Uzumakis because my brain said that it fits them (my brain it's not wrong, tho). Eruhaben was his dad this time and Karin was his little sister. I don't know if biologic or if she was Cale's relative that they adopted.

I'm pretty sure that the Soo's appeared and CJS was a Hyuuha or an Uchiha (but that could be because I would like him and Shisui to be friends and my brain went with it), KRS was a Nara (no surprises there), I don't remember what about LSH antecedents, and I think they were planning on opening a store together.

#the cale being the conductor scene in my dream was painful #also had a lot of lights and golden brightness #eruhaben stayed with him until the end #because he couldn't nor wanted to leave this young human alone suffering #that's why whoever is in charge of birth and rebirth duty decided to make them a family this time #lcf crossover #lcfxnaruto crossover #og!cale henituse #og cale was only eighteen there #eruhaben #krs this time has good and living parents #cheers #cjs and shisui should be friends