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alternamarian · 1 year

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19 — Going Back

retrace

Days have passed. I walked with the haze directly overhead, faltering frequently. I have had little food and drink since even before the Offering, which now to me felt like ages ago.

I knew little of the particulars of the ceremony. The Offering was not a subject of my liking, and I had been excluded from the preparations leading up to the event. With all my studying, I was ignorant of many things. Some of it was done to me, and some was of my own choosing.

But now I was learning for myself. I was myself not an Offering, nor even among the Companions. Nevertheless, I was finding out what it meant to return from the ceremony.

I had much to occupy myself with. Though it was no important expedition, my journey was not dull. And though I was quite solitary, I was not alone.

In these moments, with the haze beating down on me, I could feel the presence of the maiden, whether or not I gazed at her. And my lack of instruction on where I must go, and tools that might have pointed the direction I should take, I was quite able to do without them.

I had the maiden.

The pupil looked around the garden, asking where he was; to which the maiden replied that he was on his travels, and that they were alone.

“Good,” said the pupil, “for we must speak to one another, and no one else. We have wasted far too much time, maiden. You must tell me how you did all this.”

The maiden stifled a weary sigh. “You already know the answer to your question.”

“No, I do not,” said the pupil.

Road signs were not a common thing in and around the village. I suppose those from outside did not see any cause to point out the way to somewhere few people would go. I know many in the village loudly refused to have anything to do with the newfangled trivialities of city folk.

“I need not tell you about the Unrest,” the pupil was saying, “that it will not diminish, though fools will say otherwise. You have felt it yourself. You know it is gaining strength. And we cannot look to the elder ones for help. We need to gather all means and devices with which to defend ourselves.”

“But I have none of these devices,” said the maiden. “And what is this you say about the elder ones? Yes, there are those that have fallen away; but many have remained steadfast. They have always provided us with their help. Why should that change?”

“Maiden, you put me out of patience,” said the pupil. “You know quite well things are not the same, and never will be again. We must look to ourselves now.”

“Oh pupil,” said the maiden, “how your words fill me with alarm! This sounds like dissent.”

For a moment the pupil only looked at her steadily. Finally she said, “Because it is.”

I have no doubt that I have taken much longer in my journey, and not only because of my stupidity. But eventually the overgrowth that lined the path began to appear less strange.

The pupil advanced towards the maiden while she drew back in shock. “The War could never have gone as we had hoped, maiden. We have been misled. We have none to rely on but our own efforts.” And she glanced at their surroundings. “These mirrors have been made in ways that, as yet, are not only obscure, but indecipherable. No one else can grasp them, No one has been able to copy them. And that, maiden, makes your knowledge valuable beyond estimate. We have something that none of the elders know about.”

On the side of the road was a small, shabby house. It was built close to the ground, with a thatched roof and walls of unhewn stone, much like the temple. However, as I had never been even on the outer edges of the village, I could not tell whose house it was, or who stayed there.

But then the door opened. And I tilted my head in recognition: it was a little girl. Not, of course, my Companion, whose death still played out vividly in my mind. No. It was the little girl who had pointed at me when I caught up with the primary student at the school gates.

She was carrying a rather large bowl. Indeed, she had her arm wrapped around it, for her hands were too small to grasp it. She wobbled, too, so I guessed that was heavy as well.

Without seeing me, she began to pour out the contents onto the ground. The sludge was thick, with the faint smell of food that was close to spoiling.

Then the little girl saw me, and halted her actions.

“Hello, little girl,” I greeted her. “May I have some of that, please? I haven’t eaten in a while.”

The maiden shook her head. “Pupil, you suggest wicked things. Put such thoughts out of your head! I cannot tell you what you want to hear.”

The pupil stepped closer to her. “You cannot?” she said. “Or you won’t?”

The maiden gazed at her in sorrowful surprise. “I will not,” she said at last. “But that is also because I can’t.”

The little girl stared at me. And then she turned towards the house. “Mother!” she called out, “Mother!”

“Wait,” I began, but there was a sound of shuffling from within the house. An instant later, the door opened once again. “What are you yelling for now, child?” she scolded irritably.

And then she saw me, and stopped.

She made a loud cry. Then she ran to the little girl, scooping up a handful of dirt as she did, which she immediately threw at me.

“Stay away from us!” she shouted. “We want nothing to do with you!” She took the little girl by her arm and ran back inside the house.

“Oh, Mother!” cried the little girl. “Is that a ghoul, Mother?”

“Shush, child, you didn’t see anything!” said the woman, before she shut the door and bolted it from within.

I stood for a few moments in silence. There was no one else on the road. The bowl that the little girl was carrying had fallen, the contents spilling on the ground. In the intense haze, I could smell the stuff rapidly turning bad.

I was so hungry.

The woman only said for me to stay away, didn’t she?

I sat on the ground. Small critters and scavengers had started buzzing around it. I picked at the spoiled food with my fingers, brought the stuff to my mouth, and quietly ate it.

“Maiden,” the pupil was saying, “you must be reasonable about this!”

The maiden replied, “I am being reasonable about this. We have been told to wait in trust, and to that I will remain faithful. You, pupil, are the one who has lost her intellect, and other things besides.”

When I left, I was still hungry, but now my insides were in protest against the staleness of what I consumed. But I had to keep going: the temple was not too far away now. I could even hear voices, faintly, as I walked forward, hunched over; staggering on my wobbly legs and battered feet.

I have heard about people returning to their houses after long travels. I knew that many, even after a brief trip, are eager to return, and are rejuvenated by the sight of their abodes. I wondered about it; my own desire was to go out into the wider world. But now I was going back, and discovering what that meant for me. I found that the closer I got to the village, the weaker I became. I could feel what little strength remained draining away.

At last I fell on the ground, reeling. I was by that familiar sense of nausea, and I retched. The stuff I had eaten gurgled up my throat, and sprayed out of my nose and mouth. I vomited and vomited: I could not seem to stop, though I had eaten so little.

But eventually the convulsions ceased. The haze was relentless, and there was no breeze, no relief; not even that sense having been scoured within after throwing up. I swayed, and thought perhaps I would lose consciousness.

I heard a rusting nearby. Slowly I raised my head. Hovering in front of me were the gliding vines.

I endeavored to reach out to them, but my body could not support even that effort. I lurched: the branches caught me as I fell. I felt them wrap around me, lift me from the ground, and cradle me in their foliage.

I lay on my back, wanting so much to finally sleep, now that I knew I was among friends. But my body ached so much. I could do little more than look through the yellow branches.

The pupil sighed. “I am sorry,” she said, “sorry to find you so obstinate, maiden.” She surveyed the garden once again. The mirrors gleamed radiantly back at her. “Your hero,” she said, “can you call him?”

The maiden tilted her head. “What?”

“You have this bond with him, don’t you?” said the pupil. “That’s what they say, isn’t it? You have … a special bond: the maiden and her hero.” A slight hint of a different tone creeped into her voice. “So. Can you call him?”

The maiden smiled tentatively. “I didn’t know there was talk like that,” she said. “And no, I cannot call to him. I would very much like to, but I cannot. He is far away, far in the other side, where he is preparing a place for us.” And she turned towards the sky. “I will have to wait.”

“So we are quite alone then,” said the pupil. “Good.” She looked down, where a rock lay, almost inconspicuously.

The gliding vines stopped, I was jolted into some sort of awareness. I caught glimpses of the people approaching the foliage. They were trying to peer through branches, murmuring in tones of surprise and fear.

“What is all this?” came the voice of the oracle. “What have you scrounged up this time, you witless weeds?” There was a pause, after which she said, “What have you done?”

I drifted off to sleep then.

realize

#a preying sort of offering

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starlightshadowsworld · 3 years

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Jason was someone who knew the value and the importance of a good night sleep. And life on the Argo ll showed him that the others were lacking in that department.

And without quite fully realising it, he studied them and found solutions that maybe they hadn't even realised.

(Or, Jason is distressed team mum and wants to help everyone get some sleep)

He'd find Percy drifting off while sat on the sofa and would inquire that the other slept. Percy would give him a fond and amused grin "yeah, I will." But Jason can see the bags under his eyes and the way he's slower to react (not by much of course, it was Percy after all impulse was kinda his thing) and resists the urge to shake his head.

Instead Jason goes over to the window, and feels his power fill the air. A cool gust of wind and the trickling of rain start to appear, followed by the cool lapping waves of the sea (because of the wind) and Percy listens to them absentmindedly but only takes a few minutes for him to nod off on the sofa, lulled by the sounds around him. Jason had heard him fondly talk of Montauk, of a rainy cabin by the sea and Jason knew at once what to do.

A light swirl of wind picks up the blankets from his room and tuck him in, a pillow pet wedged in his arms.

Jason finds Leo tinkering in the engine room with Annabeth by his side. They've thrown themselves into another invention and happily explain it to him. And while most of its intricacies go over his head, he praises them regardless (and tries not to frown at how surprised they are, especially Leo to receive genuine praise. That he files away for later.)

His points of going to sleep fall on death ears of course, but he's caught them before they've started to consume any caffiene. Jason takes a deep breathe and mumbles some words in a language he's never truly used before. But Leo does, freezing in place and staring at Jason in open mouth surprise.

It's a song Reyna sings, has sung to Jason more times than he can count. On cloudless night skies full of stars, when all they have is each other to hold on to. Jason doesn't completely known the language but Reyna uses it when there alone, he wants to know because he knows just how important it is to her.

Tears well up in Leo's eyes, his body sags and his eyes flutter sleepily like Jason had hoped. It reminds Leo of his Madre, and warmth wells up in his heart. To seal the deal, Jason hands over a blanket with all the importance of a treaty and mimes for Leo to put it around him.

Leo raises an eyebrow, still reeling from the song and does so. He gasps in surprise, for this is a weighted blanket that seems to by magic dull the anxiety that wells up in his friend. (Jason is certain that weighted blankets are just magic). He gives Jason a grin but for once it reaches his eyes, eyes that shine witb gratitude "okay okay, I'm going to sleep Jase if you're gonna go through all this trouble."

Annabeth looks like she's about to protest for all of 3 seconds before shaking her head and bade Leo goodnight. She gives Jason a calculating look "I'm assuming you're doing this with everyone." Jason nods, open and honest because he has nothing to hide and knows how much that means to her. Annabeth stares at him for a few seconds, before nodding, accepting it.

"We have been... Running ourselves ragged I suppose...." To Jason that's an understatement, she can read them all but he can read her 2. He can see just how much she's struggling to keep herself together. Otherwise she'd probably have put up more of a fight to his plans. "So, care to tell me what you thought of for me?"

Jason smiles, taking out a book and pressing it into he'd hands, she raises an eyebrow and makes what's halfway between a snort and a chuckle. "You want me... To read till I sleep?" She asks, Jason nods absolutely serious. Annabeth isn't sure how to react that but finds no harm in it and does so. She's about 5 pages in when her head falls onto the pillow beneath her and softly snores.

Annabeth had been that exhausted that few things wouldn't have made her fall asleep. That is if she were anyone else, but she was Annabeth. She was someone who's guard was raised at all times, so he made his intentions clear and handed her a book to help her sleep. It wasn't that the book was magic or anything it was even what it contained though that was important.

It was on keystone arch way design, an architectural style that had been pioneered by Romans. This particular book was one of Jason's favourites, and by giving her a book important to him, about something he cared about he was able to gain her trust. Jason had relaxed Annabeth enough that her guard dropped momentarily so that her tired body was able to win out.

Jason had no doubt she would read the book the next day and bookmarked it for her, using the wind to gently send her to her room.

He found Frank polishing his bow and talking to Hazel. Jason strode over to them and told them that it was late and they should rest. That they had a big day ahead of them and he wouldn't want them to get hurt through their exhaustion.

And while the words were casual enough, they bore with them a certain edge. Not harshness or even cruelty but a certain form of confidence that spoke of authority. Now Jason didn't have authority, not here but he used to. Frank and Hazel has known him for a while personally but not as long as he'd been their Praetor and Jason knew instantly that they'd recognise his tone.

But he didn't leave it there, otherwise he'd have felt cruel and cold, and besides it wasn't the whole plan. Jason smiled warmly, and began to tell a story. Like so many he'd shared at a campfire after long days at Camp Jupiter. Hazel curled up beside Frank who stifled a yawn, the almost Prateor voice had got their attention yes.

But the story pulled them in, just like it always had. It was one they'd heard a thousand times of a mission a former Prateor had been on but Jason weaved words like magic and before he was finished they were out like lights.

He smiled fondly, just like than and wrapped a blanket around them and left once they were comfortable.

Piper was sat by one of the windows, staring into her blade in deep thought. Jason clears his throat to make his presence known and she jumps slightly, waving at him once she regains her composure. "Oh, hi Jason. What's up?" She tries and fails to hide her true feelings. Piper's afraid, and Jason knows it. He asks her if she can fall asleep and she shakes her head silently. Jason nods, expecting as much and sits beside her.

Instantly she rests her head on his shoulder, it takes a few seconds but she voices her worries. Her anxiety and fear about their mission, and he holds her close. Jason let's get it all out, even prompting her at times before consoling and comforting her. He addresses every one of her fears with a realistic but kind response, it reminds him of new campers still learning the ropes and asking a billion questions all at once.

He comforted them, answered their questions and made sure they knew he was always their to support them. Jason comforts Piper the same way, bringing up that she has improved, how far they've gotten and holding her close.

And it helps her relax, much like it did to them in the past and once she does she starts to yawn. He gives her a pointed look and she laughs tiredly "fine I'll get some rest, only if you do as well." Jason nods, watching her go back he'd to her room.

Of course he will, he fully intends to keep that promise like all the rest. The rain is more natural now, perhaps he'd initially caused it but oh well. Jason thinks of the seven, or rather the six and how they've worked their way into his heart. He thinks of Reyna and knows she'd have been amused of his efforts as she always is.

And now Jason finds himself able to sleep, now that he knows everyone else is well and truly resting. And that's what he feels as he drifts off to sleep curled up in a nest of blankets like the wolf he is.

When Nico joins them, and everyone notices him having trouble sleeping there is little surprise among the six when Jason quietly approaches him.

It's a lot less surprising when they see Nico drinking hot chocolate at night and discussing Mythomagic strategies with Jason, as his eyes begin to flutter, that remind him of so much of late night conversations with Reyna on days that have been so hard on them both.

Because every now and again Nico will drop in something serious in their friendly banter and Jason will not belittle, nor ignore nor make light of it or coddle him but listen and ensure he feels listened to. Because that he finds is what Nico needs... And if he manages to hug him at some point and get him to sleep that's a definite plus.

(Really wanted to hammer it home that Jason makes others feel comfortable by addressing who they are as people and uses himself to help.

With Percy he uses his powers to remind him of his safe place when he's in distress.

With Annabeth he uses his passion and being a literal open book because he knows she values and needs trust and safety.

With Leo and Nico it was his friendship with Reyna, of how they've both helped each other when there hurting and applied what he's learnt here.

With Frank and Hazel and Piper it was his role as Prateor, the knowledge of how to help tjise who are openly hurting and want that support and telling stories because that's what helped campers like Frank and Hazel are to feel better.

Because helping others is such a core part of who Jason is)

#jason grace #percy jackson #The seven #reyna avila ramirez arellano #nico di angelo #piper mclean #leo valdez #Frank zhang #Hazel levesque #annabeth chase #Mama Jason Grace #jason grace protection squad #jason grace appreciation squad

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rinharu-purple · 3 years

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Lucien: MLQC’s Mastermind

Yes, I said that Lucien is the creepiest LI in my opinion, and I wouldn’t choose him in a million, billion years. BUT, Lucien is by far the one person, who is pulling the strings and is the driving force of the MLQC universe. He is the only person who acquires all the information from all sides and is connected to every important actor in the story. Therefore, Lucien has become the second LI I’ve started to follow more attentively. Mind that the ranking ist 1) Gavin 2) Gavin 3) Gavin 4) Lucien ;)

In my manifesto, why Gavin is MC’s choice, I’ve already mentioned briefly, that Lucien has the strongest EVOL among all the characters but is also the strongest character (it’s not the MC or the Black Queen, let’s not fool ourselves)

The Machiavellian

Before we talk about Lucien’s part in the MLQC universe, we should first look at him as person and observe the elements that make up his personality.

In the game, all our guys have their personal priorities. Gavin and Kiro are on the front line, fighting for peace and prosperity, Victor, well...I don’t think that he cares for anything else besides MC, maybe his position. But with Lucien, his priority is not a person or a concept, but rather a philosophy. Lucien wants to see the next step in human evolution and is determined to take any measures necessary to see it to it’s end. Other guys can not stand oblivious to other things that come up their way in achieving their goals but Lucien only has his eyes on the prize and to him nothing else matters, no one else matters and no ethics matter.

Machiavellianism denotes cunningness and claims, that those dark triads use whatever means necessary to gain power. If we consider the choices Lucien has made throughout the story so far, we can clearly find his manipulative ways in getting other actors to the positions of his conjecture. He lies to MC and hides his personality as Ares, penetrates Black Swan to use their facilities, but also uses LFG’s resources for his R&D projects all the while concealing his true nature.

Another trait of a Machiavellian, is that he is charismatic and friendly, all the while displaying no emotions. I think, there can be two possible reasons as to why Lucien has limited display of emotions. The first possible explanation has something to do with his parents passing and the trauma he suffered afterwards. Among all LIs Lucien is the one with the most loveless childhood and teenage years, the most important years in developing one’s psychological traits and during those years Lucien received alongside with Kiro the most blows. That resulted in him losing the connection to his emotions as a defense mechanism.

Another possibility might be him losing the connection to his emotions as a result of a chemical reaction in his brain due to excessive testing Black Swan objected him to. Lucien’s EVOL was created in a lab and he was the first man-made Evolver. Lucien is called various times a psychopath, because he shows signs of psychopathy such as lack of remorse, empathy or compassion. It is said that that kind of behavior might occur due to a misconnection between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the amygdala. Considering the fact that Lucien’s parents were killed right in front of him and that he was both physically and psychologically abused for the coming years, this might have led him to experience an imbalance in his chemical balance. One might argue, that his altruistic actions in the orphanage are an evidence for his compassion, I think it is yet another disguise for his unethical ways of reaching his goals.

The Orchestrator

In all honesty no one is actively seeking alliances and keeps tabs on other’s actions for their agenda like Lucien does. Maybe Commander Leto but he mostly fails in drawing others to his side, because he is not able to speak in their pendants’ language or resonate with their perspective. Lucien, on the other hand, is gifted with an extraordinary ability to observe his surroundings and companions, making it very easy for him to talk to them in their terms and desires. Lucien doesn’t show much empathy, UNLESS, it contributes to his cause, in that case he can perfectly put himself in other’s shoes and plays them in such a meticulous way, that they join him willingly.

That is how Lucien directs MC successfully in entering the Black Cabin or in understanding the evolution core.

Lucien is not exactly a piece on a chess board, but is a player, who knows all the pieces very well, knows the rules of the game, has observed many games and took notes of how they all has turned out and therefore knows what kind of a game he is going to play. Just watch closely. how he co-operates with Kiro and the Black Queen. He knows that Kiro is using Black Swan for his goals, much like he does, so he uses his hacking abilities to access to information. The Black Queen is the initiator of everything in S1, so he makes sure to stay close to her. He knows that Victor is searching for MC and trying to understand the Evol gene, there he has an investor.

The Cool, Calm and Collected Type

in the MLQC universe, everyone loses their composure at one point or another, because...who wouldn’t? Time and space warps constantly and people are also changing their stances depending on the time-space constellation they find themselves in.

MC loses her cool almost on a daily basis, Gavin was in a constant haywire in the Daybreak era, Victor literally threw people into black holes in CH11 and freaked out as he saw the Black Queen for the first time and Kiro walks around in a bipolar state. So, everybody is pretty unstable due to understandable conditions but we never see Lucien lose his cool and this is one of his best qualities.

Here is the thing about Lucien. This guy is always at least one step ahead of everyone and he achieves this by two simple rules:

1) Acquire all possible information

2) Observe everyone and everything at all times

Why am I saying this? It lies in the basis of anxiety and angst. We humans tend to feel uncomfortable in the face of an uncertain situation, meaning in the wake of the unknown. MC is constantly anxious, because she doesn’t know what is going on, why is everyone after her, why is she blessed with the unconditional affection of 5 equally attractive men? (ehm, but not quite equally ehm *Gavin* hihi, sorry, Gavin-stan gotta Gavin-stan ^_^). Anyway you get the picture. Gavin went haywire in CH22 because he was pushed in a tight spot and therefore had angst. Same goes for Victor in CH11 his mind went blank as he saw history repeating itself and then in CH18 when he saw with his own eyes what could the girl of his dreams might become.

We don’t see Lucien in such deadlock situation though do we, and I think it is mainly because he is always prepared for every possibility and he can calculate them meticulously, because he possesses the largest chunk of information and also keeps tabs on everyone and everything that’s going on. So, when a crisis occurs he doesn’t freak out, sure he gets surprised at times, because the outcome of a a certain situation is the possibility, which he calculated to be no higher than 1% and yet there it is. But since he’s already took this into consideration, he has a plan. Combine this with his knowledge about the persons and organizations involved in the matter, then you have a calm Lucien, who is in control of the situation. Thus, he is calm. You can actually also bind this behavior of Lucien with that of a predator, whose movement are languid, is non-reactive and doesn’t mind turning his back to his opponents, since he doesn’t perceive them as a threat.

If this wasn’t enough, Lucien manages to joggle all of this without exposing himself. Even in the last stage of the play he never gets caught. Unless he willingly exposes himself, as in the case of revealing Ares to MC. MLQC actors can usually see through each other and use their weaknesses to meet their own ends. MC is obviously Gavin, Kiro and Victor’s weakness and their opponents can see this pretty easily. IT’s not quite the same with Lucien though and he doesn’t let himself be blackmailed or threatened by any weakness. He always keeps his cards close to his chest.

Considering the fact that Lucin is the least outstanding LI, this is pretty impressive. So I guess this makes him the embodiment of the phrase “still waters run deep”.

The Renaissance Man

Lucien is a man of science and aesthetics. Explaining phenomenons with associations and loading them with philosophical substance. He doesn’t necessarily perceive things bluntly as they are, but interprets them in a meaningful way. The way he associates MC with a butterfly, how he wants to entrap her in ajar, so she wouldn’t get away, alas taking the only resource of color in his life away. Not only that, but he can also break down the matters at hand to its fragments and can therefore work his way up from there. He is blessed with a strong deduction ability, so he can connect the dots easily, come to a conclusion and act accordingly. No doubt that the other guys have very good deduction abilities, but because Lucien always has a bit of an information more than them, he can find the solutions just a little bit faster in my opinion.

Reading is a necessity for his guy much like eating and drinking, Which is why we see him reframing events in the context of a certain story he’d read at some point in his life. With time, I will add here some of his quotes about certain situations to explain what I mean. Or even better, if you have some, that are evident in you opinion, you could add them in the comments. I really enjoy reading/hearing Lucien’s philosophical, scientific explanations to certain moments in MC’s life. They are always to the point and helpful.

-------------

So this is my very first analysis on Lucien and I have to admit, I still have so many material to check on him, so if anything is missing please bear with me here :)

I was watching Joe’s Twitch while I wrote this, so there are many spelling, grammar mistakes, which will be corrected gradually.

This post will get better and better, scout promise!

#mlqc #mlqc lucien #mlqc simon #mlqc xumo #mlqc xu mo #mr. love queen's choice #I had to rewrite a large part of this because my PC #broke down #so this post will be edited around a 100 times #Im sorry

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jonthethinker · 4 years

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I’m always delighted to read meta people write about moral complexity concerning the characters presented to us in Critical Role. It’s due in no small part to how beautifully and astutely written these pieces are, and with how much care and tenderness people treat the subjects of their analysis.

But it’s also interesting in another way, because it shows me how differently I view the fundamentals of morality from the characters, the cast, and majority of the fandom itself.

And since I’m feeling very self-indulgent today, I’ve decided to write about how and why under the cut.

To begin our discussion, let’s use a rather popular subject on the topic of moral ambiguity: Essek Thelyss. He’s a fascinating character for many reasons, but our interest is in his choices and the consequences there in.

It’s discovered by the Nein that Essek is responsible for the theft of the Luxon Beacons and their acquisition by the Cerberus Assembly, which is believed to be the main crux of the war between the Dynasty and the Empire. He admits to them he did this because he felt his people were blinded by a faith that prevented them truly understanding what the Beacons were and how they worked, and so an alliance was formed with the Assembly in order to finally gain that understanding.

The only thing that really made him doubt this decision was his budding friendship with the Mighty Nein, not the war he helped start or the people harmed in the process, but that the people he had grown to care for had been caught up in his machinations to acquire knowledge; again, it’s not the moral or social implications of his actions that bother him, it’s strictly the personal ones.

And this is where the distinctions between my moral understanding and that of others begins to display itself. Others see this as a moral development on Essek’s part, and a sign that he is growing in a more positive direction. I somewhat disagree. I see it as a sign that he can grow, but while the soil has become fertile ground, no buds have broke the surface yet.

Goodness, according to my own moral compass, comes from two basic notions; compassion and humility. Compassion to care for those you gain nothing from caring for, and humility to place yourself less and less at the center of importance in the grand scheme of things. This doesn’t mean devoting yourself so much to others that you don’t take care of yourself, but that you are okay with being intermittently uncomfortable and taking risks if it means others are taken care of. And humility doesn’t mean you think yourself unimportant, but that you are a part of something larger and grander that you are on your own.

Essek cares about the Mighty Nein. That shows that he can care about people outside of himself, but not very far outside of himself. They are his friends, and friends and family are, to our minds at least, extensions of ourselves; they rest against the bubble of self, and are often a huge part of how we even define and understand ourselves as individuals in the first place. Very selfish people can be very protective of the friends they have, because to a selfish person, there is very little difference between person and property; you are what you own, and your friends belong to you. Essek is, of his own admission, a very selfish person. So caring about his friends isn’t really some moral stride in the right direction, but more of an indication that he can care about others, but only in so far as they are of value to him directly.

But why is Essek the way he is? Many in the fandom say it’s because of his status as a prodigy, and the pressure that has placed on him over the course of his entire life. The expectations placed upon him are enormous, and he simply can not fail to meet them.

But that’s not really the full story. Because what most people seem to fail to include in their calculations is Essek’s class position; He is nobility, and unconsecuted nobility at that, and we’ll get to why that matters shortly.

Essek has been sheltered and protected from every hardship the average person of Xhorhas experiences. There has never been a single moment in Essek’s life where his material well-being has been in question. Not one time. While the pressures to succeed have been great, he’s also been given nearly every single tool he’s needed to do so. No doubt he received the sort of high quality education most folks couldn’t begin to comprehend, all while having the backing of his Den and the Dynasty at large to guarantee any actual failure has no real bite. When our goblin friend Zorth of Asarius fails at his job, a moorbounder snacks on one of his limbs. When Essek fails, maybe it causes some frustration and some momentary tension for his Den, but his relative social position and quality of life stays the same.

Seeing as he is unconsecuted, he’s never even had to start his life as someone with less than he has now. Skysibil Abrianna Mirimm started her current life as a goblin, and according to the Explorers Guide to Wildemount, has lead to many a whispered jest or cruel remark among the other members of the court, and because she’s had this experience, she’s grown a greater appreciation for the “beastfolk” as a broader sect of their society. Essek has had no such experience to open his eyes to the broader experiences of the public. He’s been insulated from the core features of many people’s daily realities in a way that virtually guarantees he feel nothing but disinterest at best and utter disgust at worst in regards to the trials of others.

This is not to take away from his agency, and to say it’s not his fault. His brother Verin by all indications experienced the same sort of life he did, but is an acclaimed leader and has very much humbled himself to a cause greater than his own ambitions, that being justice and honor for his people. So it would seem it is both his circumstances and his reaction to these circumstances that have affected who he has become, and what tools he has at his disposal to change that.

And to continue this thread for a moment, it would behoove me not to mention an incredible important aspect of Essek’s class position, and that is the power that comes with that. Anyone in Xhorhas could have had the same notions about the Luxon as he does. Anyone of them could have had the same grand sense of self-importance. For instance, Vendalla the housekeeper could secretly believe all the same things about how the Luxon religion is blinding the masses and holding back the Dynasty from realizing its true potential. The difference is she, unlike Essek, isn’t one of the handful of people that can act on that belief.

I feel this is where a rather stark divergence forms between my own sense of morality and that of others, and it’s my belief that systems and power structures are far more important in understanding the moral implications of a thing, and not individual belief, intent, or inclination.

To better explain where I’m headed, let’s use an analogy of sorts. When you think of yourself, if you’re like most people I know, “you” as an entity are independent from your body. You might think of yourself as a soul or maybe “you” are your brain or a consciousness piloting your body, but your body is ultimately seen as something “you” control.

But for me this isn’t the case at all. In fact, I don’t only believe you are also your body, I believe that yourself actually extends beyond you into the environment around you. You are not you without the many sensations and feed-backs, and sometimes lack there of, that your body produces, in response to the material reality around you. You would not be you with your brain in the body of nineteenth century Chinese peasant farmer or the body of a crusading knight in the twelfth century. You are defined by the context in which you exist.

And this extends further. I don’t believe people are independent ideological actors acting solely on their beliefs and feelings about the world. We are not independent of the context in which we exist. For the most part, your context does a lot more to shape your ideology than your ideology will ever shape your context. It’s quite the herculean task to think your way out of poverty. And it’s certainly a difficult proposition for a rich person to develop an ideology that doesn’t support them continuing to hold onto their wealth. These things can happen, for sure, but because of the broader systems and incentives at play, to expect people to just choose to swim up stream without also creating new systems and incentives to encourage that is bananas to me.

This is not to imply there is no such thing as agency, but your material conditions and social position are going to heavily influence the degree to which you can make decisions. The higher your class, the more choices you can make. The more hegemonic your ethnic group or race or gender or sexual orientation, the more options you will have, but also the weaker your incentives are to try and change that. That’s why social movements are generally comprised of the sufferers and not the sympathizers. The greatest allies don’t arise just because they believe something is right or wrong, but because they have humbled themselves before the size of the cause and have faith that their effort will support something much bigger and more important than their comfort and position.

These people are exceptionally rare for a reason; because it’s hard to do that. This isn’t a moral judgement on the people who don’t do that, quite the opposite; they are fish swimming down stream with the current instead of against it. If you want people to swim the other way, you don’t scold them into trying to swim harder; you make it easier. You change the current. And this is a task that you can’t do alone. You have to do it in a coordinated way, in disciplined unison with others. That’s why every major change the world has ever seen has largely been the result of pressure from movements not individual actors, and why the most successful movements are composed of the broadest base of sufferers, generally in the form of a broad working class struggle.

People in this fandom and many other fandoms try to be good. They try to believe the right things, and like the right things, and say the right things. But their power comes not from their individual beliefs, but through their combined action with others, joining together to change the current, and their faith that even though they may not get to personally feel the current shift, they were an integral part of that process. And it pains my heart that most of them can’t see that.

You see this in the Mighty Nein. They all struggle so much with their own sense of self-worth in comparison to their friends. They’re all worried they’re only worth as much as their latest contributions. The problem is that they define themselves as something separate from the Nein. Could someone who they see as contributing more than they have, have done so without the backbone of support they receive from all the others? No. None of them would have gotten far without the broader system of support they have developed for each other. They have shifted the current, changed the incentives. No person is exists in a vacuum. Our context shapes our possibilities. Want to change the available options? Change the context. And you can’t do it alone.

So if Essek is to truly get better, he needs more than just the Nein’s friendship. He needs the system they’ve developed. And that system is going to have to work hard against the many currents that flow through Essek’s life. They will have to change his incentives.

But the question is, do they want to? Most of the Nein weren’t mad about the war. If they were mad, it was because Essek lied to them personally. Only Beau seemed particularly interested in the consequences on the broader world, and her response was to try to scold that fish up stream. And it didn’t work. So really, it will be a question of if the Mighty Nein want to even try to push Essek onto a more positive, morally rewarding path, and what incentives they have to do so.

I really hope the small handful of people who read this can take something from all of this. I’m not alone in this outlook, as it has been something that has been contributed to by sufferers and sympathizers alike across history. If even one person walks away from reading this thinking about systems of power more than individual choices and beliefs, I’ll rest easy. Thanks for reading, regardless.

#Critical Role #The Mighty Nein #essek thelyss #cr meta #long post #squeezed my brain like a fresh orange for this one

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wisdomrays · 3 years

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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS: Why is Atheism So Widespread?

Atheism means denying God's existence, which of course involves rejecting His commandments, as well as religious reflection and seriousness, and believing in the possibility of total self-independence apart from God. As such beliefs negate the concept of sin, people imagine that they can live as they please. Therein lies in the corruption of people's hearts and minds. Atheism spreads because education is misused, young people are neglected, and schools actually defend and foster it.

Ignorance about the essentials of faith and religion is the primary reason why atheism starts to grow and develop. People whose minds, hearts, and souls have not been directed to the truth inevitably become vulnerable. Only God's help and grace can save them. If a community does not confront this trend decisively and successfully, its members' hearts and minds become open to other influences that lead to deviation.

Atheism first manifests itself as a lack of interest in the principles of faith. People with this attitude often claim that it is positive, for it represents a desire for the mind's independence and freedom of thought. As the demands of faith are strenuous, indifference turns toward what is easier. It seeks any pretext to excuse it from honest and serious reflection, and so falls easily into neglect, then heedlessness, atheism, and even contempt for religion.

In fact, atheism is neither grounded on sound reasoning nor supported by human intuition or experience. Still less is it based upon "scientific" truth. It is no more than a mood, typically lazy but sometimes active and militant, of not caring and of rebellion.

The countless manifestations of God within and outside ourselves testify that there is only One Creator and Governor who administers, directs, and sustains this universe. We may think of each manifestation as a letter or book from God to us, reflecting His Divine Attributes in a way that we can understand. These Attributes can be traced everywhere in creation, which is no more than a vast area for testing and teaching humanity. However, some people with incorrect concepts have erred greatly in their understanding and observation of these signs. As a result, they have presented nature, as well as it principles and relationships, it such a way that many people (especially the young) have abandoned true faith.

Much has been said and written about the natural world's delicate balance and innumerable subtle harmonies. Such an order can be attributed only to the All-Mighty. Planets and stars move within an interrelated complexity of drifts and orbits that are infinitely more precise than anything we could ever design or make. If what we make is accepted as evidence of intelligent design, why is the far more vast and complicated universe considered an exception to this rule?

Nature resembles a huge factory of enormous (actual and potential) generative power. Its working principles are astonishingly subtle and supple, yet firmly established in reassuring patterns and rhythms. From where does nature get these operating rules? Some say that nature is self-created, but how can that persuade anybody? Of course one of the operating rules is a measure of self-organizing power. But we want to know the origin of this rule.

Principles are non-essential attributes of a thing or being and, as such, are secondary and dependent on substance and essence. Attributes cannot exist before or independently of the compound or organism of which they are attributes. Thus, if a plant demonstrates a measure of self-organizing power by seeking light, moisture, and nutrients for its growth, it means that a measure of self-organizing power has been embedded in its seed. Similarly, the principle of attraction in physics operates in and through existent masses, distances, and forces. To claim that such principles are the origin or source of existent things or beings is untenable.

Just as untenable is the confidence with which such claims are asserted. To claim that this extraordinarily subtle and ordered universe is the outcome of haphazard coincidences is absurd, contradictory, and quite unscientific, for all the evidence points to the exact opposite.

As the result of long experiments and reflection, Muller declared that reason could not explain the origin of life. He established, on the behalf of science and scientists, the absurdity of "coincidence" as a possible explanation. Similarly, after a 22-year series of studies, the Soviet Institute of Chemistry, under the chairmanship of Oparin, proved that the laws of chemistry and chemical reactions shed no light on the origin of life, and that science still has no answer to this question.

When these scientists acknowledged the limitations to human inquiry, they did so on behalf of all science and scientists. Yet such work has not undone the damage done by earlier, less careful scientists, who offered only guesses as reliable scientific theory. Unfortunately, general attitudes and values continue to be shaped by such guesses and not by the realities established by better scientists.

For example, many textbooks and encyclopedias continue to present humanity's evolution from apes to human beings as fact instead of theory. In reality, a growing number of scientists, most particularly evolutionists, argue that Darwin's theory of evolution is not a truly scientific theory at all. Many critics of the highest intellectual caliber admit that we still have no idea of how this "evolution" took place. While there is a great deal of divergent opinion among the experts about probable causes and the actual process, the general public and less-informed scientists continue to believe in it.

Various research projects and published studies cast doubt on evolution and seek to give a truer picture of nature as creation and our place in it. Works like Why Do We Believe in God? help those who considered non-believers in evolution as rather odd people reconsider their opinion and reflect more wisely on the matter.

Given the fact that a sound, reliable understanding of the natural world leads to belief in a single, universal Creator, atheism has more to do with obstinacy, prejudice, and a refusal to give up illusions than with the mind's independence or freedom of thought. Young people remain vulnerable, for their understanding of their behavior's nature and consequences is incomplete, their awareness of their spiritual being and their resulting deep-seated spiritual needs is limited, and their grasp of the balance between material and non-material values that characterizes a total human existence is deficient. Thus they are easily deceived by outdated concepts presented as "scientific" truths, although scientists know (and have said) that they are no more than theories. This is why teaching and learning about the truth are more important today than other duties and obligations.

If this vital task is not taken up, we may be unable to rectify the worsening situation in the future. Some of those evil consequences are with us already. This may be the major reason for our suffering over the years. We are the unlucky generation that was deprived of good teachers—teachers who had attained inward unity and harmony of mind and heart, truly knew themselves in their deepest thoughts and feelings, desired to teach others, and were willing to suffer to promote others' happiness and welfare. We hope such noble-minded teachers will arise among us and undertake this truly humane mission to rescue people from them current moral and spiritual suffering.

If this can be done, present and future generations will acquire the necessary stability in their thinking and reasoning about life's great questions. They will be able to resist the lure of false beliefs and illusions, and thereby be saved from the anxiety of constantly doubting the nature and purpose of their lives. They will be immunized, at least partially, against atheism and its attendant self-centered and neurotic behaviors. Atheism is caused by a lack of knowledge and learning, an inability to synthesize one's inner and outer life, and is the result of an undernourished heart and soul. People cling to what they know, and resist what they do not know—or at least try to remain uninterested and unconcerned.

The mass media continually presents ideas, lifestyles, and character types that encourage self-indulgence and self-abandonment. Thus it is no surprise that many young people try to become hippies or punks or whatever the latest craze is; seek immediate gratification and pleasure; and do not bother to cultivate their minds or their tastes, but prefer triviality and banality, loudness and vulgarity.

People quickly adopt ways considered exciting and attractive. What they do not know becomes even more strange and alien, and eventually a matter of total indifference. Thus we have to find effective ways to introduce young people to the deeper ways of religious life, ways that lead away from anxiety and toward tranquillity, away from darkness and toward light.

Young people are excitable and susceptible. They crave limitless freedom and have an abundance of unsatisfied appetites and desires. Their overly generous hearts and minds cause imbalance and disharmony, which can lead them toward atheism. They prefer immediate pleasure, however slight or brief, to the misery and distress that come in the wake of indulgence. They jump at the pleasures and enjoyments that Satan displays to them, and so prepare their own calamity. They fly to the fire of atheism just as moths are drawn to light.

While ignorance and unfed hearts and souls increase, materialism and carnality gradually subvert the desire for truth and annul any nobility of purpose. This is what happened with Faust. This man, who desired extraordinary powers to do whatever he wished for a limited period, sold his soul for a very cheap price to Mephistopheles, Satan's agent. But when he received these powers, his noble aims of serving humanity left him and he wasted his years of power by pursuing trivial pleasures.

When the soul is dead, the heart dies, compassion disappears, and the mind and reason become so bewildered and confused that people become helpless victims of their own passing whims or the worst fads. Anyone who becomes obsessed with carnal passion and sensuality will suffer crises and change direction continually, applaud every new fashion in thought as if it were the truth, and swing from one ideology to another—from confusion to doubt and back again. They will find no attraction in faith, in a steady sense of duty, or in a patient, enduring heart.

Nor will they find any merit in moral education, self-discipline, contemplation, the soul's improvement, or in strengthening their morals and manners. Wholly addicted to triviality and self-indulgence, they will deny any achievement to our ancestors and remain willfully ignorant of what real culture and civilization can make possible: a balance between spirituality and sanity, between virtue and happiness.

Not everyone can be saved. Therefore, we should direct our efforts toward educating those young people in whom the worst habits have not become firmly established. They must be taught the fundamental principles of the system on which we depend and to which our existence belongs. They must be led to a systematic, straight, and honest way of thinking. Those who fail in this effort will see their community or nation continue to sink into moral and spiritual corruption until it can no longer be rescued.

An additional cause of atheism is the deliberate rejection of all constraints and prohibitions. Such undesirable and unrestrained indulgence has entered Muslim societies from western Europe via a degenerate form of existentialism (mainly French) that rejected traditional values and formal religious education in favor of absolute individual freedom. The theory was that the individual would (and could) mature and develop into a noble, moral being through personal experience.

This theory, regardless of where it has been applied, has never produced sane, caring, and compassionate human beings. Rather, it has intensified misery and selfishness by isolating individuals from their families, traditions, and even from themselves. Its adherents do not cultivate their morals or tastes, but rather live shallow, private lives and make no effort to find the truth. In short, they simply survive from moment to moment in the illusory hope that they may yet find happiness.

These few reflections do not cover the whole subject. Yet I hope that future guides, teachers, and leaders with discernment and foresight will consider them when trying to stop the spread of deviation and atheism. I have presented a brief insight into the problem, with the prayer that some people may be alerted to the truth, conquer the self, and regain the means to do what is good.

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meaningofmotorsport · 2 years

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Mid-Week Motorsport Headlines - 26th January 2022

Air displays have been banned from F1 races, on the ground of sustainability, due to the fuel they use and the way they pollute the atmosphere. This won’t be a major change for an F1 weekend, and probably won’t be missed too much, even though it does help build the excitement before a race. At the end of the day, it is a waste of money when you only see it for 5 seconds.

It has been strongly rumoured for a while that the first test of the season at Barcelona will be held behind close doors, not even with TV coverage. This was confirmed today, and is a shame for a sport which wants to promote the new era of the series. The original rumour said it was because Bahrain held an exclusivity clause on testing, which forced F1’s hand, but other people are saying it is to avoid too many issues being shown on TV. I doubt this though, as it isn’t like we are entering a new engine era, which is normally where the issues arise. At the end of the day, we should count ourselves lucky we get so much information of testing anyway, and I am sure they won’t be able to keep the test too secret.

IndyCar

Chevrolet believe that this will be the year when they stop the run of wins for Honda as manufacturer champions. Previously, the Detroit giant had won it six years in a row, but has not been able to match the Japanese company recently. It is important for them to fight back this year, and could make the title fight even closer.

Graham Rahal says he will likely take over the running of RLL Racing ‘some day’, as he gets aware of his age, and the pressure of the team on him. He has had a successful career, with 6 wins, but has never been able to really fight for a title, other than in 2015. He should be a great team boss if he does take over, as he is a clever and knowledgeable person.

MotoGP

Marc Marquez has been cleared to ride in pre-season testing at Malaysia and Indonesia, which takes place in February. He has tested on Honda bikes recently, without any issues, so this result was expected. It is crucial that he gets his year off to a smooth start, as he could well be in the thick of a title fight from the outset.

Other News

Hyundai have said they will double their efforts to solve the issues that plagued them in the opening round of the season in Monte Carlo. It was a humbling weekend for the team, who with the departure of Ogier from full time racing, should have seen this as an opportunity to capitalise on, and take control of the championship.

DTM has announced a complete ban on team orders for 2022, which is a pretty pointless move, as history shows that teams will always find a way around it, and it will end in a mess. The risk of exclusion from the championship though, could cause teams to think twice about elaborate code words. I just hope the series can come out of this crisis point them seem to be in, with a lack of manufacturers in the sport.

-M

#f1 #f12022 #indycar #indy500 #motogp #motogp2022 #wrc #wrc2022 #motorsport

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snarkywrites · 4 years

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Venus in Gemini: Tech Fever

Venus in Gemini will be an eye-opening experience for many Geminis and mutable signs. What makes this transit special is that this planet will be going retrograde. Venus enters Gemini on April 3rd, 2020. Goes retrograde on May 13th, 2020 and goes Direct on June 25th, 2020. The last time Venus was Retrograde was in 2018 in the sign of Scorpio. To those who were paired up at the time might have remembered the anxiety and tension surrounding us all. We dug deeper with Venus retrograde in Scorpio; we analyzed and discovered parts of ourselves that were tied to pain. Trust issues came to light and our own relationships were tested. The cracks in these relationships were magnified during the retrograde period. Relationships built on honesty and trust flourished, adding a dynamic passion that only Scorpio can grant. Now, the year is 2020 and most of the world is either practicing quarantine or isolation, which leaves many people left with communicating either through the phone, Skype, FaceTime, etc. Venus in Gemini thrives with communication, so this will be a new way to understand where you are in relationships, what you are looking for in a partner. It will push people outside of their comfort zones to speak their truth and be more adamant about what they want. Venus in Gemini will force us for changes to be made, the mysteries will be exposed and the anything built on a lie will fall apart immediately. Instead of paranoia, we will have the need to move on from what does not serve us without holding grudges. Real connections made now will be eye opening, showing us another side to ourselves. After the Retrograde period, we will see the magic in words which will create the foundation needed for honesty and trust to flow.

Aries – For many Aries, your birthday season will be jampacked with surprises and this Venus transit will be no different. You will be comfortable with this transit because you understand the value in communicating. This will prompt you to want to establish new connections and Venus here will rekindle some older ones that were lost. During the retrograde period, it might feel like Déjà vu when people from the past make their reappearance and you are able to engage with them through social media. You may even be more forgiving towards others, or your words will be stinging more than usual. Think before you speak or write. Remember to take a break because those Cardinal transits in Capricorn will persist in exhausting you for most of the year. Do not unleash the fury, but keep it contained and enjoy Venus for the most part.

Taurus – You are Venus ruled, so you will not have many qualms about this transit. You might appreciate the wonders of Venus when it enters Gemini and might be motivated to give yourself some love in the form of material things. Try to be mindful of how much you spend, especially when Venus goes Retrograde because this will be a period of reevaluating what you are worth. Take this transit as a lesson that the material is not forever and there is greater wealth in knowledge and faith. Learn to spark that faith in yourself, because you have the ability to manifest the happiness you desire.

Gemini – A big transit for Gemini Suns and Risings since it will shape how you view relationships. This will be a learning experience for the young and a karmic one for those who are in their 20s and beyond. You will understand what changes you need to make in order to improve how you relate to others. It will motivate you to create stronger ties and help to build a more concrete future (this applies to Geminis in relationships or who are currently dating). You and Sagittarius will reminisce about the ghosts from the past and some of them might make an appearance. Now you have the power to rekindle or cut the chord with someone that was a huge impact in your romantic life. Nevertheless, this is about finding your truth and learning to move on and break free.

Cancer – This Venus transit will be a double-edged sword for you; encouraging and exhausting. For the most part, you will feel the relaxing effects of Venus and the creative inspiration building. Here you will love the relaxing phase that it promises, the privacy of the love you hold and the comforts of your home. However, when Venus goes Retrograde, this can cause some paranoia to be unleashed. Lovers from the past might come to mind as you begin to fight suppressing those thoughts. You might reminisce and feel an array of emotions, from lust, joy, bitterness and anger. Make sure to ground yourself and go back to the pleasantries that Venus has to offer. Love yourself, Treat yourself and bring the love and focus back to you.

Leo – Like most fire signs, you might be ecstatic to deal with this transit. This is a mental reset, especially during these trying times when we ponder the condition of the world. Venus in Gemini will give you the escape with friends and loved ones. You will feel more connected thanks to social media. It will be a moment to learn who is there for you and who has your best interest at heart. However, you might also learn about those people who are not worth your energy. There will be people from the past who reappear, allowing you to close out any loopholes. You might even come to terms with forgiveness and reestablishing old bonds.

Virgo – Venus Retrograde might be a tough period for you as you dive deeper into your previous relationships and the recurring patterns you might see in them. Mutable signs will learn more about themselves during this transit. But this is a transit that will give you a sense of confidence that you might have been lacking. You will be put on the spotlight, but you will manage to fight through. There can be challenges when Venus goes Retrograde, but you can handle it. We will see your evolution during the retrograde period, as you apply what you have understood thus far and become the butterfly you have been longing to become.

Libra – Juno is currently retrograde in your sign and will go direct May 26th. You have learned or are learning what needs to be understood about love and connections. This Venus in Gemini transit builds upon what was learned but you might feel like you need to expound more. When Venus goes retrograde, this can become an obsessive quality where you might be focused on breaking free and letting go. But you are patient, so do not allow the impulsive side take over until everything is settled and Venus goes direct. With this transit, you can create magic because you know that there is hope for greater and better things in life that does not relate to just love. Here you find your strength and courage to make changes that will feel freeing and healthy for you.

Scorpio – Scorpios might reminisce about the hurts and pains from the past and this Venus transit will make you focus on a dear love while the Retrograde might bring up some old wounds. Many might still feel the sting from the last Venus Retrograde in your sign, but now, you have licked your wounds and have kept it moving. After all, Scorpios know how to bounce back stronger than before. For now, there can be an intensity building for someone in your life, but your own paranoia and fear will expose the flimsy foundation your current or potential relationship is built upon. Take this period to work on yourself, so that the future brings a more fluid connection not fueled by negativity and drama.

Sagittarius – This transit will create some conflicts for many Sagittarius risings because of the affinity that they have with Geminis. Like Geminis, you will learn a lot about yourself this transit and if you have been working on making changes in your life, even better. You will see parts of you mirrored and this retrograde period will force you to rework and relearn things. Some ghosts from the past might reappear, but these are just lessons that will help you grow. Sagittarius has gone through a lot of challenges in the last couple of years, but now will be a period of bringing you back to the basics of what makes you unique.

Capricorn – You are used to the energy that Gemini adds to your chart. Here it makes you the perfect worker, able to multitask and tackle on challenges. When Venus enters the sign of Gemini, doing double duty might be exciting for the short term, as you take on new projects that will add on to your work experience. However, the retrograde period might pose a bit of an obstacle for you as you rework some issues revolving projects that you need to refocus on. Your love for certain projects or jobs might end, you might be filled with doubt, but you should focus on taking it one day at a time. There can also be people from the past who you once worked with making their appearance in your life. Many will also want to expound on what their future looks like regarding their current workflow. Lots of questions will appear, but do not make any concrete decisions until Venus goes direct.

Aquarius – You will enjoy Venus in Gemini because it will spark some fun and it will have you bursting with creative energy. Many Aquarius are receptive to this energy which will be full of thrills until the planet goes Retrograde. This is when you might muster the energy to rework some projects you have. The retrograde period can also inspire some doubts in your abilities, and you might become frustrated as things do not pan out the way they have been expected. Learn to handle the criticisms with confidence and avoid adding additional pressures to yourself. Soon things will go back to normal when Venus goes direct.

Pisces – A Venus transit for you will mean lots of love, hope and joy as you get in touch with your roots. Those relationships from the past that have ended might reappear or you might dream back to a time when you thought things were good. During this transit, reconnect to what brought you happiness in the past and apply that for the future. If you have already built on your experiences and have created a more stable, encouraging and healthy environment for yourself, feel proud of what you have accomplished. The lessons learned now continue to inspire and motivate you for better. You are an optimist and after this transit, you will see the value of joy and make you hopeful for changes that are inspirational for the future.

#Venus in Gemini #Transits #Aries #Taurus #Gemini #Cancer #Leo #Virgo #Libra #Scorpio #Sagittarius #Capricorn #Aquarius #Pisces #Horoscopes #Astrology

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houseisekai · 3 years

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House Isekai: Shadowbringers - Finale (Part 1): The Heroes’ Gauntlet

House Isekai Shadowbringers AU Masterlist Here

—

With the deaths of Rhea and Thales, the merging of the worlds has been brought to an even worse condition instead of bringing peace.

Lahabrea and Sothis are left with no option, but to enact Plan B...

[Tears in the Rain - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers]

The world continued to shake violently as everyone tried to gain a footing.

None of this made any sense.

They had stopped Rhea and Thales.

What was missing?!

The School-Living Club helped up Class VII while Doomguy grabbed Ainz’s arm and pulled him up.

(Ainz) “...M-My thanks.”

Doomguy nodded in affirmation and turned to the others, shrugging.

(Byleth) “Sothis, can you hear me?! SOTHIS!”

“...”

(Sitri) “She keeps saying...stop them...what did she mean?”

(Lahabrea) “She meant Rhea and Thales right, did we not kill them?!”

He turned around and saw Thale’s body, but the Immaculate One was slowly starting to fade away, in the same manner Megumi, Minato, and Minako.

Before anyone could make a move, she shattered into light particles, the shaking finally stopping.

(Rean) “That...That tower is in our worlds! They’ll get killed if we don’t do something!”

(Yu) “The shadows attacking our world weren’t powerful enough to cause a major threat, but if the towers keep forming...”

(Yuuri) “We have to do something! The infection can’t reach your worlds too!”

(Kazuma) “Well what the fuck do we do, Wakasa?! No, LAHABREA! TELL US, WHAT’S THE NEXT BEST IDEA, HUH?!”

(Lahabrea) “...”

(Sothis) “...”

Byleth was about to say something before he was brought to his knees again, coughing out blood.

Everyone stopped when they saw what was happening.

Byleth was coughing white blood.

(Sitri) “B...Byleth?!”

(Akira) “The angel infection!”

(Edelgard) “We need healers, NOW!”

Several people ran up to Byleth and began casting physic, and it seemed to ease his coughing a little.

(Dimitri) “What’s the plan?”

(Claude) “You...You guys don’t even have one for this scenario, do you?”

(Lahabrea) “We do.”

(Yuri) “Well, we’re waiting!”

(Sothis) “You won’t like it.”

(Aigis) “Anything would be better than standing around doing nothing-”

(Lahabrea) “We reverse time while you all get the hell out of here.”

(Aqua) “...Okay that’s DEFINITELY NOT BETTER, YOU WANT TO WHAT?!”

(Rean) “Didn’t you say that using your...Divine Pulse or whatever was the thing causing all of this? Why would you-”

(Lahabrea) “OUR ONLY OPTION IS TO TRY THAT, OR HAVE ALL OF US GET KILLED, REAN! IF ANY OF YOU HAVE ANY BETTER IDEA, PLEASE TELL ME!”

“...”

(Lahabrea) “...That’s what I thought.”

(Sothis) “I’m preparing the portal now.”

(Yuuri) “What?”

(Lahabrea) “If we can use the energy from the Tower in Zanado, we can give you guys a way home.”

(Kazuma) “And the towers in their worlds?”

(Lahabrea) “...We’ll figure something out.”

(Byleth) “Hell no. That’s too big of a risk to gamble for everyone! What about the people left in Fodlan?! What’ll happen to us?!”

(Sitri) “There’s got to be some other way than just-”

The world began to shake again as Sothis opened up a portal back to Garreg Mach.

(Sothis) “Everyone, inside now.”

(Aigis) “Please, listen to us!-”

(Lahabrea) “This is for your own good everyone...Goodbye. Sothis-.”

She nodded and closed her eyes.

A glowing phantom of Valimar appeared behind them and shoved them into the portal.

Lahabrea and Sothis heard short screams and cursing, but they tried to ignore it as the portal shut behind them.

(Lahabrea) “...How long do you think it’ll take us?”

(Sothis) “Don’t know. We need to see the state of the tower, assuming it doesn’t collapse on us.”

(Lahabrea) sigh “Right...”

They teleported away to the Tower in Zanado...

...

Everyone landed in the courtyard in Garreg Mach Monastery.

(Albedo) “That damn...!”

(Yuki) “Ow...!”

(Akechi) “Quit you’re bitching, we’re alive. Though, if those idiots succeed in what they’re doing-”

(Teddie) “Everyone, look...!”

Teddie pointed ahead of them and they saw multiple portals near the dorms.

Each of them opened up to a specific area that each group recognized.

The Persona Users and Kazuma’s group had their homes, Ainz had the Tomb of Nazarick, Class VII had Thor’s Military Academy, the School-Living Club had the school, and Doomguy had his base.

(Kazuma) “That’s...That’s our ticket home...?”

It had been such a long time since any of them saw any part of their original worlds. Some had been in Fodlan longer than others.

(Byleth) “...It would seem that way.”

Yu was the first to approach his portal. It was a portal back into the Dojima residence. He poked his head around inside, and it didn’t feel like it would close. At least not yet.

He put his hand onto the nearest object to the portal and grabbed it, going out of the portal and squeezing it. It was just the TV remote, yet it felt like it had ages since he saw anything familiar that brought him comfort.

(Yuri) “So...it seems like he wasn’t playing you for fools.”

(Dimitri) “That’s something I’ve been thinking about...All this time, he’s been looking out for you all, even if it has been in a gruff manner. Even us, to some extent.”

(Edelgard) “If what he said about our past is true-”

(Claude) “Hang on now, we seriously can’t be considering just following what he says! Even if it does work out fine for them, what will happen to us?!”

(Byleth) “We could get caught in an infinite loop just like he was...Or rather, is.”

(Ainz) “And there’s no garuntee that we wouldn’t caught in it ourselves. After all, our memories are scrambled at the moment.”

(Aigis) “Data indicates we are in the same year as Yu and Akira, although we are in our past appearances.”

(Rean) “And, we forgot each time we were in the loop...What happens if we forget all of this? About the tower, about each other?”

[Rally - Red vs Blue OST]

“...”

(Sitri) “He...He has been the one with you this entire time, going by what he says.”

(Byleth) “What does that make me? A failed imitation?”

(Yuuri) “And...he said everything you know is because of him, right?”

Doomguy shrugged as the others similarly struggled for the right answer.

(Kazuma) “Wait a sec, Sitri. That voice we all heard was Sothis right, she was just saying “Stop them”. What if that meant...Lahabrea and Sothis?”

(Everyone) !!!

(Ainz) “What? Why wouldn’t she have said it sooner?”

(Sharon) “Perhaps the tower had something to do with it? The more violent it was, the more we were able to hear her, after all.”

(Towa) “I-I’m not sure if we COULD stop him. If he knows inside and out, wouldn’t he know how we fight and what our weaknesses are?”

(Crow) “Plus, he could summon those Phantom things, right? We’d get overwhelmed pretty quickly.”

(Yu) “Seems like the odds are stacked against us. That’s never stopped us before-”

(Dimitri) “But his aim is not to kill us. It’s to save us. I don’t think killing Lahabrea is the right answer-”

(Edelgard) “I sincerely doubt he will listen to reason.”

(Yuri) “And plus if we do wanna stop him, we gotta get to that tower! We’re all the way in Garreg Mach. If we use Rean’s golem thing to teleport, we could be lacking some serious heavy hitters!”

Doomguy checked the ammunition on his guns. It was low, and he shook his head.

(Sara) “Byleth...what IS our plan?”

(Byleth) “I...I don’t know.”

“...”

No one said anything for what seemed like an eternity. All of them faced each other or the ground, unsure of what to do.

None of this felt right. If they got it wrong, then it could mean the end of ALL their worlds, and not just Fodlan.

If they fought back, then they would no doubt get completely overwhelmed.

And if by some miracle they did reach Lahabrea, could they even stop him with both Sothis and his knowledge of them.

Yuki came back to the group, wielding a sword she grabbed from the armory.

(Yuuri) “Y-Yuki?”

(Yuki) “If you do go back...Thank you for being my friend.”

She had a relatively large bag on her as she moved towards the gate.

(Kazuma) “Hey, where the hell do you think you’re going?!”

Kazuma and his group ran over to block Yuki’s path.

(Darkness) “Are you-”

(Yuki) “I’m going to the Tower, with or without everyone.”

(Megumin) “What?! But you’d get killed, not even mentioning the journey there!”

(Yuki) “I know, but we have to try something!”

(Miki) “Yuki-senpai, maybe you should-”

(Yuki) “Think about it? Don’t worry, I have.”

Everyone turned to Yuki. She could feel the pressure of all their gazes on her, but she stood her ground.

(Yuki) “There was a promise I made to Megu-nee before all of this happened. Even if I’m scared, and which I really am, I won’t stop. I’m sad Megumi, Minato and Minako are...gone. But even if that’s the case, I have to keep going. For them, and the people still here.”

She blinked away tears she felt forming and straightened her posture.

(Yuki) “And for this case...we all have each other. Lahabrea may have called our meeting a mistake, Byleth an accident, and that we don’t remember everything, but I don’t care! Even if these feelings I have aren’t real, they’re real to me! I don’t care if our meeting was a mistake, you’re all still my friends.”

She awkwardly held the sword in her hands. In all honesty, she could barely hold it, but she refused to back down now.

(Yuki) “And if I can fight or scream or cry about it to change something, then I’ll do it. If I go into that portal now, I could never bring myself to tell Megumi I ran away. I ran away from the problems I’m facing, and that I ran away from all of you.”

“...”

(Yuki) “If you don’t want to go with me, I understand. But I’m going, and that’s final.”

(Kurumi) “Not without us you aren’t.”

[High Treason - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers OST]

Kurumi put her shovel onto her shoulders and nodded.

(Kurumi) “We’re the School-Living Club, we stick together!”

Yuuri and Miki stepped forward as well.

(Miki) “I can’t leave either, not now, not any of you.”

(Yuuri) “You have us, Yuki-chan.”

Doomguy stepped forward activating his wristblade and hitting his chest with his fist.

(Kazuma) grumbling “Fine. FINE. Just...ugh, be careful.”

(Aqua) “Hah...You know what? The Goddess of water can spare this kindness for you. With me, you won’t fail!”

(Darkness) “You have my sword.”

(Megumin) “AND MY EXPLOSIONS!”

Doomguy, the School-Living Club, and Kazuma’s group stepped behind Yuki.

(Akira) “There were many times when the Phantom Thieves faced similar odds and risks. And we never backed down from them. This time, not any different.”

(Aigis) “Minato and Minako gave their lives originally for us to continue living our lives, facing whatever may come our way head on. It would be a disgrace to abandon that chance.”

(S.E.E.S) “Yeah!” Bark!

(Yu) “We’ve faced down gods before, this isn’t too different. We’ll find the truth here, as we always have!”

The Persona users stood behind Yuki.

(Ainz) “...I decreed at our first meeting you were to be under the protection of Ainz Ooal Gown. I don’t break promises.”

Ainz slammed his staff onto the floor, the Denizens of Nazarick bowing.

(Rean) “I think I can safely speak for Class VII when I say, we will never leave a classmate behind, and we won’t run away from any challenges thrown our way, especially if it means saving our friends.”

House Isekai stood united, with Yuki looking at Byleth.

(Yuki) “No matter what he tells us...You’ll always be our one and only Byleth. And you all, our friends. Edelgard, Yuri, Claude, Dimitri...All of you. We won’t leave you to your fates.”

(Edelgard) “...Hah, amazing speech, Takeya. The Adrestian Empire thanks you all for your service.”

(Yuri) “Shame you guys didn’t work for us. Would’ve been one hell of a PR.”

(Dimitri) “I do not have the words to thank you all...Instead, I can only offer you my strength.”

(Claude) “So, we got the sappy stuff outta ‘em. What say you, Teach?”

Byleth was shocked by the sheer loyalty they had. That everyone still had.

It made his chest swell with pride for the class he had the privilege of teaching. Letting this go to waste would be a crime in of itself.

(Sitri) “...I do not think we are ones to run from our troubles, are we?”

Byleth smiled and held his sword tightly.

(Byleth) “Students of Garreg Mach...We have our mission.”

(Byleth) “Our mission is to stop Lahabrea and Sothis from using the tower to rewind time. Above all else, you WILL survive together, and graduate from Garreg Mach as proper students.”

(Kazuma) “...Wow, that was really lame-”

(Kurumi) “KAZUMA!”

(Kazuma) “What? We’re about to go stop universes from colliding and all he can do is bring up school? Psh. Even Schwarzer can come up with better cheesy speeches.”

(Sara) “...He kinda has a point-”

(Rean) “Instructor Sara you are not making things better.”

Byleth rolled his eyes and cleared his throat.

(Byleth) “When he sees us there, prepare for the most extreme resistance on the way.”

(Claude) “The Investigation Team and my group have been inside the tower once. We can lead the way.”

(Byleth) “Understood.”

(Yuki) “Um...Actually, Megumin did have a good point earlier. How are we gonna get there in time?”

(Yuri) “Something tells me you got something planned other than the golem?”

Byleth nodded and turned to Sitri.

(Byleth) “They said to us before they resurrected Sitri for her connection to Sothis. What if we tried to teleport like they did?”

(Sitri) “Can...Can I do that?”

(Dimitri) “Suppose there’s only one way to find out.”

Everyone took a step back from Sitri as she raised her hand and concentrated.

She took a deep breath and clenched her hand.

“...”

(Aqua) “Nothing’s happening-”

(Akechi) “No shit.”

KAFOOOM!

The world began to shake as a portal opened in front of the group.

(Dedue) “Huh. She did it.”

(Hilda) “WOOOH, GO MOMMA BYLETH!”

(Hubert) “Please refrain from calling her that-”

(Byleth) “I second that-”

(Sitri) “Um...”

Sitri examined herself and turned back to them in confusion.

(Sitri) “...That wasn’t me.”

(Akira) “...W-What now?”

[The Heroes’ Gauntlet - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers OST]

From the portal stepped out the Velvet Attendees.

(Marie) “Yu, why are you guys just standing around?!”

(Yu) “What the-What are you doing out of the Velvet Room?!”

(Elizabeth) “Worlds are being...how do you say?”

(Theodore) “Excuse the crude language, BUT ROYALLY SCREWED!”

(Aigis) “What?!”

(Lavenza) “Please stop asking questions, we are barely holding off the shadows in your respective worlds as it is!”

(Margaret) “Time is of the essence, go now. Do NOT stop.”

All 5 attendees pointed towards the portal, which led into Inaba.

(Byleth) “You heard the ladies, GARREG MACH, MOVE IT!”

As everyone jumped through the portal, the world began to shake.

The streets of Inaba had soldiers and police officers taking down Shadows, one of the officers being Dojima. The skies were the same pale white color they had seen everywhere.

(Officer) “D-Dojima, sir! Isn’t that-”

(Dojima) “What in the hell, Yu?!”

(Yu) “Dojima!”

(Soldier) “HERE THEY COME!”

Before the soldiers could open fire, Margaret brought out a tarot card and summoned a Persona with two large katanas which split them in half.

(Soldier) “What the hell did that Lady just?”

(Margaret) “Apologies for distracting you despite what I said, this is one of the only safe passages.”

She snapped her fingers and another portal opened up, this time leading into what seemed like an empty field.

Before Byleth went in, a massive robot similar to Valimar flew past, blasting apart what appeared to be glowing orange phantoms.

(Rean) “Isn’t that...?”

(Juna) “Instructor?!”

The group jumped through the portal and saw a massive tower in the field, the giant suits engaging the targets as students ran around with their weapons opening fire. The skies were the same pale white color.

(Kurt) “Instructor Rean? Why...are you so young looking?”

(Altina) “This is not an appropiate time to be asking.”

(Musse) “Oooh, he was so handsome when he was our age~”

(Ash) “Knock it off will ya?!”

Ash used his scythe to slice apart a Phantom that got too close to the group.

(Ash) “You gonna sit there or get your ass moving?!”

(Rean) “R-Right!”

They all moved past, engaging phantoms as they tried to find the next portal.

(Elliot) “Rean, we’ll stay and help these students out!”

(Angelica) “Need our strongest in that tower, we’d just slow you down!”

(Crow) “Meet ya when we’re done here, yeah?”

Rean nodded and disbanded with the rest of Class VII.

Through the next portal, Kazuma’s group was the first ones in, slamming straight into another girl.

(Megumin) “H-Hey, watch-!!!”

(Yunyun) “MEGUMIN, WHAT THE HECKS GOING ON?! THERE’S THIS TOWER THAT SHOWED UP AND-”

Megumin hit her with her staff and yelled.

(Megumin) “PORTAL, NOW!”

(Yunyun) “OW, W-WHAT?!”

Kazuma hit Megumin on the back of the head.

(Kazuma) “She doesn’t make the portals YOU FUCKING MORON! Sorry Yunyun, hold out as long as you can! Get Wiz ASAP!”

She nodded, obviously confused.

As they were trying to find the next exit, they saw several spellcasters wiping out more orange phantoms. They appeared to resemble soldiers, but upon closer inspection-

(Dimitri) “Are those Kingdom soldiers?!”

(Claude) “N-No, some of them are Alliance-”

(Edelgard) “Imperials too!”

(Yuri) “Think Lahabrea is trying to stop us?”

(Byleth) “No, he wouldn’t send soldiers to attack all of their homeworlds indiscriminately if he was trying to save us, I think the towers are just going out of control.”

(Aqua) “At least they’re in worlds we know, right?”

They stepped through the next portal and were immediately confronted by 8 foot tall soldiers heavily clad in armor with massive rifles thundering in their ears.

(Ainz) “Aqua do you ever know when to shut the hell up?”

The environment they were in was clearly a different planet, yet there was the tower and the pale white skies.

One of the soldiers turned around and spoke through his helmet.

(Yuuri) “Y-Yes?”

The soldier stepped in front of the School-Living Members as arrows failed to pierce through his armor.

(Massive Armored Soldier) “The Librarians spoke of your arrival. Head through the ruins ahead for safe passage. We shall guard you all with our lives, professor.”

(Byleth) “T-Thank you?”

(Massive Armored Soldier) “SPACE MARINES, ADVANCE! SHOW THEM NO MERCY!”

More soldiers clad in the same armor moved forward, their rifles almost deafening everyone as several accompanied them into a ruined building. Countless dead aliens littered the floor as they moved into the portal.

(Soldier) “May the Emperor watch over you.”

(Edelgard) “Uh-”

(Soldier) “Not you.”

The next portal they stepped into was resembled a tomb of some sort, luckily it was a wide enough area for them to enter.

(Giant Cockroach) “LORD AINZ, IS THAT YOU?”

Almost everyone had a kneejerk reaction upon seeing it.

A giant cockroach wielding a crown, cape, and cane ran up to him, hundreds of cockroaches skittering behind him as they tried to halt more orange phantoms.

(Ainz) “Kyouhukou! Everyone is to be on max alert until I get back! We’ll explain everything later! Floor Guardians, you are to defend Nazarick with your lives”

(Kyouhukou) “U-Understood milord!”

(Floor Guardians) “Yes, Lord Ainz!”

The Floor Guardians and Pleiades reluctantly followed the giant cockroach as they drew their weapons.

(Kyouhukou) “Milord, one of my children will lead the way to a portal from which they spawn!”

(Ainz) “Appreciated!”

(Yuri) “That...was traumatizing.”

(Byleth) “Keep moving!”

The cockroach on the floor led them to the portal as promised and everyone hopped through.

(Claude) “Ya know, why are we just hopping through other worlds JUST to get to the tower, we couldn’t have just chosen a place right outside the tower?”

(Yuki) “Like that?”

Everyone looked to where Yuki was pointing out.

The portal indeed led into Fodlan.

It was also being swarmed with orange phantoms and catastrophic shaking.

(Claude) “...Other worlds it is! Speaking of where are-”

CRUNCH!

Everyone turned to Dimitri, who had stepped on a crop. Or, rather several.

(Dimitri) “What in the-”

CLANG!

An orange phantom fell behind Dimitri, exploding into light particles. And where the phantom was, a young farmer was there, holding a claymore.

(Young Farmer) “Professor, move towards the Airship landing, oh and someone else who knows you will have something for you!”

(Hilda) “How do these people know who we are if we’ve never met them!?”

(Hubert) “Did you not hear what he said, GET MOVING!”

As everyone ran off, a sword dropped off near Miki’s foot, which she turned to face who threw it.

A small fairy floated next to the girl, and both of them ran from their stall over to the guards.

(Miki) “T-Thank you...?!”

Another portal opened up in front of them as they were moving and were almost crushed by several armored colored soldiers. All of them were firing their weapons behind the groups as they were running forward.

(Red colored soldier) “COME ON DIRTBAGS, HURRY IT UP!”

(Aqua Colored Soldier) “SWISH!”

The aqua colored one moved forward and sliced a Phantom in half with some sort of energy sword.

(Aqua Colored Soldier) “HOHO DUDE, THAT WAS TOTALLY FUCKING AWESOME-”

(Gray and Yellow accented soldier) “Shut up and focus Tucker. Hey! Portals at the end of the pier get moving! Everyone, onto the next portal!”

(Dark Blue Colored Soldier) “GOODBYE GARREG MACH FRIENDS!”

(Aqua Colored Soldier) “Caboose, shut the fuck up and get moving!”

The group thought it best to ignore...whatever that was and kept moving. Though they did appreciate the fire support.

The portal at the airship showed the Zanado Tower at long last.

(Kazuma) “Thank god, LET’S GO!”

Everyone hopped through it, only to plummet down from a cliff.

As everyone screamed in terror, giant winged creatures resembling pterodactyls picked them up with wire, flying them towards the tower.

(Sitri) “W-Wha?!”

As they looked around, they noticed a man in red armor flying next to them.

The armored man waved enthusiastically to them, and it was only then they noticed a cat in armor holding a small club was dangling off his leg, flying back into another portal.

As they landed in front of the tower, they saw orange phantoms appear in front of the gate with weapons drawn.

(Rean) “Alright, LET’S GET THEM-”

Another portal opened next to them, and from it, what appeared to be a child came running out, expertly cutting all of them down with a sword.

When the child finished and sheathed his sword, it looked a lot like Byleth’s.

In fact, it looked exactly the same, including the child.

(Edelgard) “Uh-”

(Child resembling Byleth) “Not a word. Don’t bring up the age, and do NOT get distracted. I have no idea what you guys caused, just fix it.”

An arrow flew out of the portal, almost hitting him as he ducked down. He reached for his hilt and turned to the older Byleth.

(Child resembling Byleth) “Oh, and tell Sothis I said hi.”

With that, he ran back into the portal, which closed immediately after.

(Aigis) “Beginning door breach!”

Everyone nodded and drew their weapons out.

(Hubert) “Your majesty, enemies approaching!”

(Darkness) “Haha...that’s a LOT of them!”

(Constance) “Do NOT MAKE THAT NOISE-”

(Ann) “Final stand?”

(Yosuke) “Yeah, you guys go kick ass!”

(Mitsuru) “Leave command to us, Aigis. Go.”

(Yuri) “Think this is more of your business than mine, honestly.”

(Sitri) “Yuuri, you and the others are with me!”

(Yuki, Kurumi, Miki, Yuuri) “Right!” “Got it!” “Feel a LOT safer that way.”

When the tower doors opened there were only a handful of people entering.

The fate of all their worlds lay in the hands of Byleth, Sitri, Edelgard, Claude, Dimitri, Rean, Doomguy, Ainz, Aigis, Kazuma, the School-Living Club, Yu and Akira.

TO BE CONCLUDED IN:

#House Isekai Shadowbringers #House Isekai #sitri eisner #byleth eisner #Edelgard von Hresvelg #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #Claude von Riegan #Rean Schwarzer #sothis #doomguy #yuki takeya #satou kazuma #akira kurusu #yu narukami #aigis #ainz ooal gown

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stones-x-bones · 3 years

Text

Classic Blunder || Ben and Bex

TIMING: Current PARTIES: @professorbcampbell and @inbextween SUMMARY: Ben finds Bex reading alone in the hallway and decides she’s quite a remarkable find. CONTENT: Brief Domestic Abuse mention

Being back at school was a strange feeling. Bex was eager to be back, she did love learning after all, but the strangeness of it came from sitting through hour long lectures about modern law and criminal justice systems, because despite trying to convince herself that she could still do this, she really didn’t want to be doing this. There was a meager acceptance as she sulked through her mandatory classes of the day, only to give herself the gifts of her electives-- A Timeline Of History Before Humans and, of course, Professor Beck’s class, Our Monsters, Ourselves: Recognizing the Other in Speculative Literature-- after them. She always came away feeling refreshed from them, especially now more so that she was living at Morgan’s. Going home to a place that didn’t feel...suffocating was nicer than Bex had ever imagined. But, that still left a lingering fear in her-- because, ultimately, she’d have to go home one day. And it was probably going to have to be someday soon. So perhaps the strangeness was more a feeling of bittersweet, because despite the bruises now fading on her skin, and the cuts closing up, the things that brought her joy also reminded her of the fact that they would not last. They simply could not.

Morgan’s class had ended a while ago, but Bex still lingered in the hallway. She was reading one of the books she’d borrowed from Morgan’s library, about Ancient History and how the stories of the past influence modern literature. There was only one bench in the hallway and she’d curled up on it, letting the masses of students wander by, not paying much attention to them and they paid little attention to her. But she remained even after the halls had cleared and more classes had started, lost in her book. She didn’t even notice the footsteps in the hallway, or the man approaching her.

Shutting his attache case with a final sigh, Ben stood up from his desk and shut the door to his office. It had been a long day of grading, office hours, and a department meeting, but it was worth it in the end. Making the right appearances, maintaining a good work flow, ensuring that his end of semester feedback responses were just where they needed to be-- it was all a balancing act. And it was an act he excelled at. Locking the door behind him, Ben made his way through the winding hallways of his building towards the exit. As he made his way through the halls, his forehead creased as caught sight of a young woman lost in a book. “I hope you don’t have a class to be going to,” Ben commented loudly, slowing to a halt in front of the girl. “Not that I’d tell on you-- this isn’t high school, after all.” He said with a conspiratorial grin. “What are you reading?”

Bex nearly jumped out of her skin when the man spoke, snapping her book shut out of reflex. She looked up at him, trying to shake off the jitters that had suddenly crawled into her hands. “O-oh, no! I don’t! I just got out of class, I pro--” she stopped herself mid sentence and shook her head, “I just got done with my last class of the day, I just like, you know, the atmosphere here sometimes cause it gets real quiet and there’s usually no one around in the halls, so reading is easy, but I--” she needed to take a breath, to calm down-- “sorry. Sometimes I talk a lot when I get nervous. Not that I’m nervous! You just kind of...caught me off guard.” But he didn’t seem too perturbed by her frantic rambling and he looked like one of the nicer professors, unlike most of the ones who had permanent furrows in their brows. She looked down at the book in her hands. “Oh, um…” held it up to him, “it’s something Professor Beck lent to me. A-about the history of storytelling and how it influences modern literature and media. Do you, um, know her? Professor Beck? Are you in the lit department, too?”

Slipping his hand into the pocket of his trousers, Ben listened to her ramble with a patient smile on his face. She was one of those students. The anxious, over-eager, not yet self-assured children. Ripe for the picking. And his little gatherings, they were long overdue for a fresh face, for fresh blood. “I was only joking, I’m sorry for making you nervous.” He said with a laugh and apologetic shrug that he didn’t mean. “Or rather-- not nervous.” Ben corrected himself. Watching as she held up the book, his eyes flicked across the cover. It seemed… exactly like the kind of drivel Bitchy Fucking Beck would have in her personal collection. Modern literature and media-- what sort of study was that? Were her students analyzing movies? Or, he shuddered to think, TikToks? Disgusting. But, his expression remained politely intrigued, “Ah yes, Morgan and I are well acquainted. And no, I’m not a member of the literature department, but we work within the same college. I’m a professor of the Classics and not,” Ben let out a wry chuckle, “Literary classics. I teach Greek and Roman classics. I’m sure your book includes some references to the old mythologies and tales from back then.”

“Oh, no, it’s okay! Really! It was mostly my fault. I’m really bad at paying attention, sometimes. Especially when I’m reading a book.” Bex gave her best attempt at a reassuring smile, finding that innate part of her that needed to please adults surfacing again. She perked up a bit when he mentioned knowing Professor Beck. “You are? She’s great, don’t you think? I mean, I’m kind of struggling in her class, but it’s because I’m really bad at creative writing and critical analysis of literature, but I enjoy it! It’s interesting and I like learning new things.” She watched him eye the book before setting it down in her lap again, fiddling with the cover. “Oh, you teach the classics? That’s so cool. I’ve always been interested in studying them academically. I’ve read a lot of books on them-- like, a lot-- but I’ve never taken a class for it! And um, it sort of does, obviously! Story-telling was often used as the only means to pass on history and culture and it was such a large part of both the Greek’s and Roman’s society. I know it’s kind of typical, for people to enjoy Greek mythology, but there’s a reason it’s so popular. But, um, I don’t really have to tell you that, do I?” She chewed her lip anxiously. “Sorry, uh-- I’m Bexley, by the way.” Stood up, holding her hand out. “Professional rambler.”

“Nothing wrong with getting lost in a good book,” Ben said with a nod, “I’m guilty of that particular crime myself.” Among other, actual crimes. But, that was neither here nor there. Watching the way her eyes seemed to light up at the mention of Beck, Ben offered a reassuring smile. She was one of these foolish children who preferred fiction to fact, hm? But, as the girl continued to speak, perhaps, he thought, not. “Ah, regardless of performance, the pursuit of knowledge is a wonderful thing. That’s why we’re all here, right?” He said. Listening patiently as the girl’s words took on a meandering, if anxious, quality, Ben regarded her with a practiced eye. She was young, she hardly looked old enough to order a drink. There was a nervous anxiety that practically bubbled over from within her-- he could see it in the way she played with her book, how she bit her lip, the skittish way she moved. Interesting, very interesting. “Oh no, I’m always happy to hear what fellow lovers of the classics have to say.” He said and shook her hand firmly, a broad smile on his face. “Ben Campbell. Professional Rambler of the Classics. If you ever have the misfortune of attending one of my classes, I can assure you, I have you beat in the rambling department.”

“Oh, do you like reading books, too? What kind? Do you have your own library? Professor Beck has a huge library at her place. She lets me pick whatever I want to read.” Bex gave the professor a genuine grin as he took her hand to shake. He had a firm grip, and she remembered all the times her father told her a man could be judged by how firm his handshake was. She still didn’t understand what that meant. “I’m trying my best, and, really, that’s all I can do right now, right?” Even if that fact still made her feel poorly. She hoped her inability to keep the waver from her voice wasn’t a dead giveaway. She shook it off and readjusted. “Nice to meet you, Professor Campbell! And, well, I mean-- who wouldn’t ramble about the Classics? There’s a lot to say about them, and a lot to, you know-- know.” She wasn’t sure she was making too much sense anymore, but the lack of sleep was getting to her. She really needed to sleep. Rubbing her eyes, she looked around the empty hallway. “Have you taught here long? This is my first year at UMWC so I don’t know a lot of the professors. Or a lot of the staff. Or...students.” She knew Mina, and she knew some of the weird kids in Morgan’s class, and she knew Frank. But that was about it. She really needed more friends. “Sorry! If I’m keeping you, you can go. You probably don’t wanna be stuck talking to some awkward student who’s not even in your class.”

With an amused smile, Ben replied, “Yes, I do. I have a rather large collection of books at my home, as well as in my office. Most of the ones I keep here are related to my classes, but my personal library at home is a bit more diverse. Still, I’m rapidly running out of room in my collection. A pretty common struggle for your average bookworm, I suppose.” He said with a chuckle. “Of course! And I’m sure your professors understand that. What are you majoring, if you don’t mind me asking?” He asked. She knew Beck-- quite closely too, it seemed. But, she’d also said she wasn’t the creative sort. Hm. So how did she know her? “It’s nice to meet as well, Bexley.” He beamed. “I’ve taught here for the past ten years. First as an adjunct but I’m now an associate. Though I doubt you wanted to know that-- suffice to say, I’ve been here for some time. How are you finding your classes? I’m always interested in hearing what students think of the matriculation process.” He said before waving off her concern. “Ah, no, I’m done for the day. Like I said. I value what our student body has to say about the university.”

Bex’s eyes lit up at his words. “You have a library here?” she couldn’t help but ask, not thinking much of it, really. She wanted to see it. Books were her only escape for the longest time. It sounded stupid and cliche, but when you were locked up in a room for most of your life, adventure was where you made it. In hallways, in blanket forts, in books under the bed. She couldn’t help the curious glow in her eyes. “Oh, yeah, I totally get that. Most of the books I have at home are stuffed in my closet, but my dad’s library is pretty big. Though, he really only has law texts and old books on, like, world wars and stuff. I never understood the appeal of them, but I guess some people just like different things. I, uh-- I’m majoring in law. Well, pre-law, but, you know.” She shrugged. “Ten years? Wow, that’s a really long time. You must know this place well.” She wondered if he knew about all the hidden secrets White Crest had. He seemed so normal. But, then again, she seemed normal, too, didn’t she? Sometimes? “Oh, no worries! I don’t mind! Tell me whatever you want, I’ve been told I’m a good listener and I never mind learning more about people. But, uh-- classes are fine! They’re-- I was out for a bit, cause I was um...sick,” she scratched at the back of her neck, “but I’m catching back up, I think. It’s nice to know a lot of the professors here care so much about the students. Penn State felt very...different.” And yet she missed it. Missed the freedom. “That’s where I transferred from. I actually grew up here, but I don’t ever really feel like I did, since my parents sent me to private school.” And there she went, oversharing again. She bit her lip. “Sorry, that was probably more information than you wanted from someone who’s not even in your class.”

“Library is a strong word to describe my office, it’s just a wall with some shelves. But, it’s rather comprehensive, if I do say so myself.” Ben said with faux modesty. Always better to play the bashful professor than to yammer on about how much time and money and effort he had put into his collection. Particularly the money. There were first editions in his collection that librarians dreamed of. “I can’t say I understand the interest in the world wars either, but again. I’m a professor of antiquity. Anything beyond 6th century AD is too new for my tastes. It’s a wonder I can even use a smartphone.” He smiled at his own little joke. “Pre-law, that’s got quite the courseload. How are you finding it compared to Penn state?” He asked, shifting his weight so he could stand more comfortably, his body language relaxed and open as he listened to her ramble. “No, no, it’s quite alright. I grew up in town as well, but I went to college elsewhere, so I can understand that sentiment.”

“Wow,” Bex breathed, “I’m a bit jealous. I think it’s my dream one day to just have an entire room full of books. I...guess that’s really just a library, but they wouldn’t even need to be shelved. Stacks on stacks would be nice. I would shelve the nice ones, though. I’m not a heathen, I take care of my books!” In a way, Professor Campbell almost reminded Bex of Morgan. Less wiccan, though, and more scholarly. “Oh, really? What’s your favorite period? And, well, smartphones can be confusing, but really they’re just small computers. If you ever need help, I can probably show you. I had to show someone else recently how to use her smart phone cause she couldn’t figure out how to change the background wallpaper.” She swallowed, nodding maybe a little too eagerly. “Yeah, yep-- heavy course load. Lots of reading and citing and making sure everything is exactly word for word. My whole family is lawyers and they’ve all got degrees from Harvard, so you’d think it’d come naturally to me, but I guess I didn’t get the right genes. I’m trying my best, though, you know? And UMWC is...smaller than Penn, but I guess it feels...cozier? I liked the freedom I had at Penn state, but it was really high pressure. A lot of the kids in my program here just seem really bored, though. This isn’t a top school for pre-law so you have to get really high scores in order to even think about getting into Yale or Harvard or Princeton, so I think a lot of them are resigned to just going to second rate grad schools. Where’d you go to college?”

“Sounds like the dream of a fellow scholar,” Ben said, voice kind and understanding. She seemed young, impressionable. Eager to learn, eager to please. Interesting. How very interesting. “I’ve gone through the stacks of books phase myself, I know how that is. But, having shelves just really ties a room together. There’s nothing quite like seeing all the spines laid out, the titles staring back at you. It’s a wonderful thing.” He said with a nod. “I’m quite a fan of the first century of the Roman Empire. Marcus Aurelius, his works still hold to this day.” At the girl’s offer, he let out a small laugh, though internally he wanted to roll his eyes. He wasn’t inept. “I appreciate the gesture, but I think I’ll be fine. Thank you for the offer, though!” He said. As she continued to speak-- on and on, about her family, about her inane observations of what the campuses were like-- Ben continued to mentally measure and weigh her. This Bexley girl, she was new to the university, still trying to find her footing. She didn’t know many people, students or staff, she’d admitted that herself. She seemed as though she was struggling with that critical jump that all students experienced when they entered college. And who was he to withhold aid from a student in need? “Ah, I went to Princeton actually. For both undergrad and my doctorate. But, UMWC is still an upstanding school-- it’s no Ivy League, but I can assure you, faculty here are providing just as rigorous of an academic experience.”

“Well, I mean, that would be nice,” Bex sighed, “I don’t think I’d mind teaching all too much, but I’ve already got my future career all planned out.” Not that she was all too excited about it, and she was more than sure that it was getting harder and harder for her to hide that fact. SHe laughed it off and gave a smile. “I can’t wait to have my own library, it really does sound like a dream come true.” Her eyes perked up. “Oh, that’s a good one! The rise of the Roman Empire really is one of the most incredible things to read about. I’ve always wanted to go to Rome and see the remains of the old empire. Have you been?” She smiled up at him again, shifting in her spot. :Ah, right, of course. I just kinda-- like to offer to help. I like feeling like I can help, you know? And, wow, Princeton! That’s a pretty prestigious school. I think my parents really want me to go to Harvard. Did you like Princeton? And yeah, totally! I-I know this school is pretty great and there are a lot of wonderful professors, it just usually helps being at an Ivy League if you wanna get in somewhere like Harvard. Or Princeton. So I’ll just have to, you know, try harder. Which is fine! I can do that.” And hopefully not run herself too ragged in the process.

“As cliche as it is, I can’t help but quote John Lennon-- Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” Ben said, shamelessly using the quote. It was very “motivational poster-esque” but it resonated in students, for one reason or another. “So who’s to say what the future holds? I never thought I’d be a professor either, but I fell in love with academics during my undergraduate degree. Once I figured out that I wanted to teach the coming generations, who all shared my passion? I never looked back.” He replied. “Oh yes, I spent the third year of my doctoral program across Europe, assisting in archeological digs. I must say, I was jealous when I heard they uncovered the tomb of Romulus last February. I would have given anything to see that.” Ben let out a sigh and gave a shrug. As she continued on, babbling away, Ben was beginning to put together a nice little picture of her life. Overbearing parents, who wanted her to be something that-- well, he couldn’t quite tell if she wanted to be that. But, there was a hesitation to her that seemed quite promising. “I enjoyed my experience there quite a bit-- the environment, my peers, the professors… All of them were incredibly influential on my professional journey. And I owe my success to the university.” He smiled, though it faded as she mentioned trying harder. Eyebrows knitting together, he replied, “You know, rest is a very critical part of growth. It never hurts to take a break from time to time.”

Bex felt her immediate reaction bubbling up her throat-- John Lennon was such a problematic man, but of course a white cis man would think his quotes were profound-- but she swallowed it back down, smiling sweetly. “Sometimes cliche is true, though. They’re cliche for a reason, right?” She didn’t like the implication of it, though. Was she so transparent? That she didn’t want the life her parents had laid out for her? She rubbed her arm absently. “I know that, though. That I should stop and enjoy life. But what I want is kind of irrelevant. My family has been lawyers for centuries and every daughter has always taken over the business. So even if I don’t wanna do that, I don’t really have a choice.” But her grievance was immediately dismissed. “Wait-- you’ve been on digs? Like real, actual, digs!? Where you found stuff and you got to-- you got to see it first hand? Which digs? Where were they? What did you find? Oh, god, I nearly cried when they found Romulus’ tomb! What an amazing discovery! Can you even imagine being there for that? Or the new tomb they found in the Valley of King’s? It always feels like we’ve discovered so much, but then we just keep finding more and it’s amazing.” She couldn’t help the sparkle in her eye or the shine in her voice-- this was her true passion and the worst part about being a lawyer was that it made it impossible to chase. “Wow, Princeton sounds amazing. I haven’t done a campus visit yet, but I’ve heard good things about Harvard. If I make it in.” She withdrew a little at that. “I-- I know. And I did! Take a break. Sort of. It was an unintended break, but a break all the same.” If being in a nightmarish dreamscape counted as a break.

“Indeed.” Ben said affably, eyes still analyzing her every move. The way she shifted in place, the way she rubbed her arm, the way her smile seemed a fraction less genuine than it had before. It seemed she wasn’t one for John Lennon. Suited him just fine, the Beatles were vastly overrated and John Lennon was a musician, what bearing did he have on anything that mattered? “I’m just a professor, so… please, you don’t need to take this to heart. But, life is meant to be lived, is it not? And what’s more important to life than choice? The freedom to live as you please and to live without wondering how things might have been different, it’s incredibly important.” He said with a firm nod before easing back slightly, his eyes losing some of their intensity. It seemed as though his mention of his field work had piqued her interest though, which was something else he made note of. If they met again-- and he would make a point of meeting her again-- he would have to bring that up. “I did. Truly incredible, the discovery they made there was absolutely groundbreaking. Literally, given how the dig went.” Ben joked. “History is absolutely like that. Just when we think we know it all, our ancestors surprise us.” Glancing down at his watch, Ben raised his eyebrows, as though startled by how much time had passed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you. It’s not everyday I meet such a remarkable student like yourself, though.” Reaching into his jacket, he withdrew one of his cards and handed it to Bex. “If you’re ever interested in talking more-- about archeology or the Ivy Leagues, please feel free to contact me. I also have office hours on Thursday and Fridays, my door is open to you.” He said with a bright, toothy smile.

Bex went still when he started explaining. It was the same things Morgan always told her, that her choice mattered, her wants mattered-- but it wasn’t as easy as all that. She had duties, she had responsibilities. Leaving that life just wasn’t an option. Her parents had made sure to drill that into her from a young age. This was her life, this would always be her life. She had no choice. Her eyes sank to the floor, she no longer felt brave enough to look him in the eye, even as he described his incredible experience of being part of a dig, being a part of history itself. It should have made her heart flutter to hear about it, but something inside of her told her to stop letting herself believe that one day she might get to have something like that, too. She nodded slowly. “No, it’s fine! You didn’t keep me,” she said, trying to keep the smile plastered to her face as she glanced up enough to take the card he was offering her. She stared at the neatly typed words pressed onto the paper. Benjamin Campbell. Professor of the Classics. His information was included below the title. “Remarkable?” she repeated, unsure if she’d heard that word right. “But I’m not even--” in any of his classes. But as she looked at him, she knew the offer was genuine. Her smile came a little easier this time. “Thank you. Really. For-- for this.” She pocketed the card. “It was really great to meet you, Professor. I’ll um-- I’ll see you around. I usually tend to read here most days so, you know.” She chewed her lip before grabbing her bag. “Thanks. A-again.” She needed to stop saying thanks, Mina would kill her if she knew. “I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me.” And then with that, she scurried off, the business card, and a million questions, burning a hole in her pocket. She couldn’t wait to talk to him again-- maybe things really weren’t as bad as they felt. Maybe she could have a good life here.

#chatzy #chatzy: ben #wickedswriting #classic blunder #ben #domestic abuse mention tw #//the mention is in the very first paragraph if people wanna skip

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atheistforhumanity · 3 years

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Hi. Sorry if this is a bit long, I would totally understand if you don't want to respond to this. So, I live in a very religious country, questions are immoral and we must follow said religion dearly or else. I have only recently begun reading about atheism and so far I feel my beliefs in religion are falling apart. I am no longer convinced of the religion, I am not sure sure if there is a god but i no longer care. However, there is one argument for religion that I just can't seem to respond to that is how do we get a sense of purpose and have a (objective) value system without religion. Without religion, we start lacking purpose because life doesn't matter and when we die nothing happens, so what's the point? With religion however, there is a sense that we were created by a god, who created us for an important reason and it's our purpose to discover that destiny and fulfill it. And without religion, we have no objective set of values, we merely rely on a subject ever changing world view. Like say with lgbt rights. I could say that everyone should do what they want as long as they are not harming others or themselves and that's why I believe that lgbt people should do whatever they want. But, someone might view it as harmful to others or the people in said relationships. So our values are subjective. With religion however, we can just refer to the rule book and that's it. While multiple religions have different set of values, they can still help communities agree on their values. So my question, in a world that lacks religion, how can we have consistent morals and identify our sense of purpose and reason for existence. Thank you.

Anon, thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts with me. I appreciate when anyone seeks my opinion. Thank you.

You’ve brought up some important topics that many people struggle with. As you have said, I’ve heard many people say that confusion in these areas are most responsible for them being unsure of what they believe. Hopefully after this post you’ll gain some clarity and be able to make a new assessment.

What is Our Purpose?

I often hear from people that a sense of purpose is their main reason for sticking with religion, even when they have doubts. The religious often flaunt their idea of purpose as an unmatched quality only they can provide. So here is a different way of approaching this question.

When a religious person asks me how to know their purpose, I first point out that they are assuming that we are meant to have a purpose or that an objective purpose is a requirement of life. Many people try to figure out life through the lens of what is meant to happen, but I believe this is misguided. We think this way because our minds seek order and finite understanding of the world around us. Therefore, we assume that we must be meant to do something.

However, I submit the cold reality of our existence. We are the results of millions of years of evolutionary change on 1 planet out of many, many trillions. Our form of life does not have any objective purpose, because our creation was not planned or orchestrated. This is an idea religious people have a hard time grasping. That what exists was not crafted, constructed, or produced from a greater mind. All evidence points the fact that we are the result of trillions of random occurrences over billions of years.

If you let go of the assumption that we were purposefully created, then you can let go of the idea that we require an objective purpose. After all, the idea that were created by an intelligent force has no evidence to support that view. There is no evidence to support the existence of a god. There is no evidence to support the idea that we innately have purpose.

This is not a bad thing. Many people often dive immediately into the lake of hopelessness, saying that nothing matters without purpose. I reject this idea entirely. It is short sighted to say that if my life is not eternal then nothing I do matters. A nihilist says this while existing in a world wide society of billions of people where we see, feel, and know pain and happiness by our actions and the actions of others. We are all aware of well documented history where single figures have had profound world changing effects for good and evil. To put it simply, every action has a consequence, and regardless of how you feel about that consequence, since it undeniably miniscule to profound effects on others that live, it cannot be said that it does not matter. Not when we are creatures of wants, needs, and desires. No, to say that our actions don’t matter is an absurdity.

Where Do We Get Our Values?

I say that your actions matter for the fact that they have consequence. But how do we know what is right and wrong, or what those terms even mean without an objective guide?

I have a few things to say on this topic. The first is that the Bible or Quran do not actually set objective morals. Without getting into too much detail, we must recognize major contradictions in the holy books. Rules are set, such as thou shall not kill, but the rules are also broken very quickly and without remorse. Both God/Allah kills and murders on a whim, and on a mass scale. Both God/Allah instruct their followers to kill and slaughter. The morals given by these holy books are purely subjective because they only apply when they say they apply. For instance, rules against not enslaving your neighbors meant exactly that, don’t enslave other Jews, but you can enslave others.

More importantly, these morals change and progress over time as society challenges the old ideas and ushers in new thinking. No Christians or Muslims live under the exact moral law as set down at the dawn of the religions. ISIS is an example of an attempt to do so. So these religious morals are not actually accepted as objective by the people.

Second, religion only claims that their morals are object and cannot prove this claim. It takes very little critical thinking to know that one would rather live in America under secular law than any location in 12th Century Europe when religion controlled laws and morals virtually 100%. Every religion has a different set of morals that they claim is objective, yet none can show themselves to be better than another. More importantly, none can show themselves to be as moral as what secular philosophy has produced, which gives the Western world freedom and liberty like the world has never seen.

As for the idea that it would be easier to follow a “rule book” whether that be the Bible, the Quran, or the teaching of Buddha the same could be said for any other moral philosophy. Society would be simple if we committed ourselves to Utilitarianism completely, but we cannot say it would be better. Our experience across the globe has bore out the simple truth that adopting eclectic laws in an environment where they can always be challenged and improved on is the best model the world has ever seen. There are still theocracies in the world and millions of people from around the globe do not flood to immigrate there.

Not All Opinions Are Equal

Once we remove the idea of objective morality, people often go straight to the idea that nothing can be determined because there will always be differences of opinion. They think that without objectivity set by a higher power that no idea can be proven wrong. This is just not true. There is a universal prohibition against murder. Regardless of the fact that some people find it acceptable, by virtue of intellect and practical application it is undeniable that forbidding murder is the best choice for all societies.

Here we take our first steps toward a new idea of objectivity. Ideas are not objective because of their source, but rather by their merit and application. Universal agreement is not required for an idea to be objectively true. For instance, many people believe the world is flat, but this is objectively false. Morals work the same way. Murder is objectively wrong, but there are still criminals that take it up for sport or work. The fact that someone is too ignorant to see a truth does not mean it is not true.

Let’s look at the issue of lgbtq people specifically. I wrote another post explaining why the American medical community ended its stance that homosexuality was a mental illness. For much of the 20th century in America, homosexuality was considered to be an illness and a moral wrong. This changed when the American Psychological Association actually started researching homosexuality and could not show any evidence that it caused harm of any kind.

What if someone says that being gay is harmful to the person? Well, since we’ve found no justification for this, such a person is left with this argument. Homosexuality is bad, and therefore homosexuality is harmful because it’s bad, and it’s bad because it’s harmful. This is a perfect example of circular reasoning.

While it is not always easy to tell who is right or wrong in a debate, we have developed knowledge of faulty arguments such as circular reasoning, and we know objectively that they are not valid. No matter how many people do not understand this or refuse to accept this is irrelevant. Circular reasoning will never prove anything, no matter how emotionally charge people are over the issue.

Conclusion

I hope that you take some time to think about these ideas and apply them to the questions you’re wondering about. In short, I believe that religion attempts to create a false need in the mind of society to confirm itself as the answer. We are fully capable of living full, productive, and moral lives without religion in our life or society in anyway.

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padawanlost · 4 years

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So I'm confused about what powers from the force that belong to the dark side? Like I always got the impression that using something such as force lighting meant that a certain character was on the dark side? Do you think that someone could use certain dark force powers for good? I mean because some of the powers the Jedi used, like the mind trick I think that could get dark. So what qualifies certain abilities as light/dark?

The best way I can think of to explain this is Harry Potter. The force is like magic and the force powers are like spells. All the spells are magic but some spells require a different sort of magic, a type of magic that depends on the person’s emotional state. Like a patronus or a Cruciatus Curse. In theory, anyone should be able to do magic but in practice it takes more than just knowing the right spell.

The other problem is knowledge and how it was passed. The Jedi banned their members from learning any kind power or skill they considered part of the dark side (their library only allowed members of the Jedi council inside their Sith section) because so much of those power were considered dangerous and evil. So it’s not exactly a matter of being able to use the power, it’s a matter of knowing the power exists and learning how to use it.

I mean, if you are a good person you wouldn’t be interested in learning a special ability to torture people and evil, selfish people usually don’t go out of way to learn new ways to help people.

Popularly regarded as supernatural powers, some of these abilities—including fast reflexes and telepathy—are naturally possessed by various species, but only Force-sensitive beings are known to have mastered such a wide array of paranormal talents. […] Some Jedi are more adept than others at specific Force-related abilities. While such proficiency is often the result of intensive study and practice, genetics and heredity can be a crucial factor in either enhancing or limiting certain abilities. For example, members of the Halcyon Jedi bloodline lack telekinetic powers but excel in other areas of the Force to easily compensate for their “weakness.” [Ryder’s Windham’s Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force]

Any force-sensitive can learn any force related skill – light or dark – if they want. What might stop them in their own desire to learn (most Jedi wouldn’t want to learn powers used by the Sith to hurt people), access to learning material and talent/affinity to perform it.

The Jedi Council (and common sense) qualified a skill as good or evil. Take force-lightning as an example: it’s something usually associated with the dark side but one member of the Jedi Council as used it on Jedi business and was reprimanded by his peers.

Force lightning causes excruciating pain as it weakens an individual’s life, and is nearly impossible to deflect. Because of the power’s obvious negative aspects, it is no wonder various Jedi Orders forbade its use. However, some Jedi peacekeepers have refused to dismiss or suppress what they considered to be a natural asset to their arsenal of powers. Before his appointment to the Jedi Council, the Jedi Master Plo Koon left the following record on the Great Holocron:

“At the request of the Jedi Council, I submit this report of my actions on the mission to Metellos, specifically my use of Force lightning. I’d been tracking Dreed Pommel for five days across space before I found him on Metellos. Pommel had taken refuge in an executive suite within the floating city of Ektra. Despite my efforts at stealth, Pommel was somehow alerted to my approach, for when I entered the suite he was already clutching a female human child and holding a blaster to her head. The suite was spacious, and I was separated from Pommel by a distance of fifteen meters. Keeping his eyes on me, Pommel began pulling the crying girl—I estimated her to be five years old—out through a wide doorway, beyond which I could see a small ship that rested on the suite’s private landing pad. Obviously, his intent was to escape, and he considered the child his insurance. I had no reason to doubt that he would ultimately kill her, even if I allowed them to board the escape vessel, for I could see what he’d done to the girl’s parents and two siblings, whose bodies lay upon the floor of the inner suite. In hindsight, there were many possible tactics I might have employed to apprehend Pommel and rescue the child, but I did not consider any options or calculate angles of attack as I watched him drag her toward the ship. I believe I acted entirely instinctively when I extended my right arm toward Pommel and released a barrage of lightning. I know that the Jedi Council was hesitant to send me on any assignment so soon after the death of Master Tyvokka, but I did not let loose with Force lightning the way undisciplined beings might release stress. Like other Jedi, I learned of Force lightning at the Jedi Temple, and I am well aware that it is regarded as a dark side power. I never had any special interest in Force lightning, or felt compelled to experiment with it, but I knew it was—at least in me—an innate ability. I did not feel anger as I directed the lightning at Pommel’s head, nor did I fear for the girl’s safety. I was calm and in control of my faculties. I merely acted to end the situation before any more innocents died. Upon being struck by the first bolt, Pommel reacted as anticipated as the shock seized his system. His arms flew out and away from his body, releasing both the blaster and the child, who fell to the landing pad. A second bolt ensured that Pommel would remain unconscious until the local authorities arrived. I was never tempted to deal a killing blow. Upon my return from Metellos, my use of Force lightning was included in my report to the Council. I maintained that I did not embrace the dark side when I used this ability, and that I acted by the will of the Force. I appreciate the Council’s concern with my report. I have not forgotten that it was Master Tyvokka’s last wish that I join the Council. I also acknowledge the Council’s observation that the Force runs strong in my family. My uncle was a Jedi Knight, as is my niece Sha Koon. While Kel Dors like ourselves have a reputation for seeing moral issues in black and white, I urge the Council to disregard my family in this situation, for I alone am responsible for my actions. The Council asked me to contemplate whether I would hesitate to use Force lightning again, and whether I was wrong to employ it on Metellos. After much meditation, I believe it would be wrong of me to ignore this power that I might develop into a useful technique for combat. As for whether I was wrong to use it, I believe the only person who can rightfully answer that question is a five-year-old girl. Her name is Claria Labreezle, and she has been placed with relatives at Stratablock 7 on Metellos. May the Force be with us all.”

Plo Koon was not only appointed to the Jedi Council but apparently succeeded in perfecting the technique that he called Electric Judgment. [Ryder’s Windham’s Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force]

#ask #anon #the force #jedi order #jedi culture #sw meta #plo koon #txt #meta: plo koon

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all-of-the-above · 3 years

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COVID-19 and You

The Pandemic, the one and only COVID-19, it’s affected each and every one of us in a number of ways. We have all undoubtably lost something…

a) A loved one or friend

b) A job

c) A friendship

d) A relationship

e) Our motivation

f) Our hope

g) Maybe even all of the above? (If you have, my heart goes out to you)

This life changing event has had so much impact on people of all ages, and for myself it greatly affected what I thought would be an exciting time in my life. I was supposed to finish sixth form, have fun, go to May ball (I’ve never even been to prom so was definitely looking forward to this- but yeah not the biggest issue in the world I know), sit my a-levels, have my 18th birthday and go out, enjoy summer and prepare for uni. Instead, it all got cancelled. My birthday spent at home with my family, no goodbyes at school, most of my summer spent at home, and planning for uni…online. These ‘problems’ may see ridiculous to some of you, however I lost out on this time in my life I think so many of us look forward to. This loss, whilst still struggling with my mental health after the loss of my mum took a huge toll on me. My motivation left entirely, and I didn’t want to do anything, let alone help myself. I was in a state of depression and bad mental health, but for some time I didn’t even realise it. I didn’t care for myself, and since then I’ve learnt to recognise when my mood changes, when I need a little extra love for myself, and when I need to keep an eye on how I’m doing in order to prevent slipping back down that spiral (I still have bad days of course this is normal! Just not to the extreme of bad months). As I wrote about in my blog on keeping on the upwards spiral, it’s all about mindset and recognising your needs and emotions and acknowledging them to help yourself. However, back then it wasn’t so simple, I held onto the hope of seeing people and although it was crushed by news so many times, a small glint of hope was still there, a small light in a place full of darkness. Holding onto hope in times like this is something so crucial, if you can’t care for yourself in any other way, just have hope, no matter how small, because that will get you through. If you don’t think you even have that communicate it with somebody, anybody. Ask for help. Don’t feel guilty, we all need help at points and lockdown has proven to be such an isolating experience, so don’t fear reaching out. Do that small thing for yourself and you will benefit. I believed I wasn’t helping myself at all, yet that hope I had was a small portion of help. There was more I could’ve and should’ve done, but its all about learning and growing from our experiences, realising our priorities, and then learning how to care for them. Our number one priority is ourselves and often we realise this after going through bad time, commonly because we don’t want it to happen again and we want to do anything to prevent it, which means caring and looking out for ourselves. So, if you’ve struggled in lockdown, 1, 2, 3 or all of them, you’re okay, you’re here, and you’re learning, and you will get there. You are never alone, and don’t judge yourself if it’s taken time for you to learn you need to have more self-care, and more self-love. The fact is you have realised or are realising and that is such important, brilliant progress.

This pandemic has enforced an abundance of things as well as causing losses. It’s forced more alone time, less freedom, delayed plans, serious relationships and all-round new ways of life. More alone time can have serious effects on mental health like I just shared, however I have come to learn what a great opportunity it has been and will continue to be (just because were not in lockdown forever doesn’t mean you can’t continue spending some serious time with yourself!). Being alone enforces us to be more reliant on nobody but ourselves, more independence is gained, and even new skills are formed. It took me to become really down and lost to see I needed and wanted help, I reached for it and tried my upmost not to let go, I worked on myself and slowly found new methods of healing myself to become a better me. I’m not all the way there yet either, I’m still learning and understanding myself more and more every day. This is an ever-changing process with infinite goals, and by having the knowledge and ability to critically view ourselves we are able to continue this growth. Alone time now is less daunting, but do not worry if it still is for you, it’s a case of understanding what you want and realising that your mental health is important, and only you can care for it. Once you have that mindset you can begin a number of things to help, you can read books if you’re into that, especially self-help ones (trust me and give it a go, even if it’s an audio book, they really can inspire!), you can pick up new hobbies like drawing or sewing or baking, you can exercise, you can become mindful and practise meditation, you can take time to understand you. In changing my mindset and learning more about self-love, self-care and positivity, I myself have picked up new hobbies; I’m enjoying reading a lot more, especially these motivational self-help books like ‘Good vibes Goof life’ by Vex King, I love cross-stitch, it’s so relaxing and I’m a very creative person, I practice mindfulness, and most importantly to come out of this is my writing and starting this blog. I was inspired by others, but I also inspired myself. So, my advice is to you is to become your own inspiration, strive for your goals and have confidence in yourself.

As well as enforcing alone time, the lockdowns have also caused many people to have very serious relationships when possibly that would’ve been further down the line. This will of course lead to tensions and possibly even a loss of the relationship entirely. But its key to remember although you and your partner may have had to make serious decisions like moving in together or staying apart, putting a label on it or not due to covid, all of it was still your choice. It’s important to be there for one another and if you’re having doubts or feel an argument boiling up, communicate it, its not an easy situation but if you want it to work you have to find ways around it. Having alone time is key, that’s important for any relationship, but especially if it seems as though you’ve had to dive in the deep end because of the pandemic. What’s also important is spending quality time together, making date nights at home or on facetime, whatever you can do to feel a bit connected again, a bit normal. Sadly, the pandemic has also forced a lot of losses of relationships, both romantically and platonically. This may be from being in too-close-a-quarters or simply being too far away. Both scenarios are difficult, and it takes maturity and knowledge in yourself to tackle the situation as which is best. If you’ve lost people because of covid, I understand it is hard, its isolating enough never mind losing the people closet to you. However, we need to remain optimistic and look at the positives; if you tried your best to keep that relationship going, you made sacrifices, you communicated, then it is simple enough to see it was not you, and that person was not right for your life. Don’t put out energy if you don’t receive the same back. This isn’t always easy to recognise or understand but overtime you will notice a drag on your own mental and even physical state, and that’s when you can see your energy is depleting whilst you haven’t received anything in return for your hard efforts. In other cases, you may be the one not rewarding the other person with the same energy, this is ok too, it’s all about understanding where you are on your own journey. The best thing you can do is assess all your relationships whilst you have the time to do so. Think about what either person is putting in, and then what is being taken out, if its not even, assess on who’s side and then bring it up (tell that person and try to get them to understand how its making you feel and even suggest, if there is, ways of preventing it, or tell yourself, assess your actions, make your friend/partner aware that you know your mistakes, so to speak, and chose to act on them). The final key is deciding if that relationship is right for you, whether you’re putting in more or less effort than the other, take time to see why and try to come to an understanding on if your unhappy or need something to change, whatever it may be, assess that relationship and act on what is right for you. And don’t fret, seeing whether its right or not doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time and effort, just like the relationship. If you’re unsure, don’t rush a decision, and always keep in mind what has happened to thus allow you to come to a better decision after some time.

Whatever may have happened to you in the course of this pandemic there is no doubt it will have impacted your mental health, and this why I talk about self-love and self-care in such an extensive way. Although there’s been a lack of freedom, we can still do things, we can still expand our minds, expand our capabilities and ensure we care for ourselves along the way. Needing a bit more down time than usual in these circumstances is ok, it is understandable and the fact you recognise that for yourself is proof of your progress. If you haven’t been doing this then go do it now, take some reflective time and think about your needs and act on them.

I’m sure we are all now feeling much more optimistic as of the news and it truly is fantastic! We have so much to look forward to but remember not to get ahead of yourself, yet also don’t panic that it will take time to get there, it may not be back to normal tomorrow or the next day, but small steps of progress are better than none. The same goes for your mental health. Just stay optimistic, change those negatives to positives, keep occupied and learn something new, and most importantly hold onto your hope. Never feel alone, there are hundreds of millions of people who feel just as you do, reach out to friends, family, even strangers, even me, we are all here to remind you of how wonderfully you are doing and will continue to do.

If there’s anything I haven’t touched on well enough or anyone has anything to say, leave a comment or send me a message. I’m here as a friend and thank you to all of you that are a part of this growing community.

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irispublishersmedicaljournals · 3 years

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Iris Publishers - Current Trends in Clinical & Medical Sciences (CTCMS)

Can Emergency Medicine Become Redundant?

Authored by Andrew Hague

Injury and illness

Injury and illness are the two medical problems. Injury can be sudden and requires emergency treatment. Illness is incremental and treated progressively.

Doctors are role models

Much work is done to prevent illness. We see this in better hygiene, personal and social; washing hands and sanitation. Lifestyle affects health and people are advised on diet and exercise. The equivalent advice from doctors about emergencies and injuries is missing. In all societies, doctors are role models. We all grew up thankful for the attention of a doctor at some stage. They brought us into this life and will see us out. Seldom do they pronounce on politics and although they have a good income are never seen as having more than their fair share of wealth. People respect doctors and this status should be used by doctors to influence behaviour. Doctors, whether they like it or not, are role models. What they say, is influential.

Causes of injury

There are four classes of causes of injury:

4. Misfortune

From the first of carelessness to the last of misfortune, the chance of avoiding disaster gets less which means that a doctor has less influence. Nevertheless, statements by doctors will be heeded and when it is understood that the doctor invites redundancy this advice will be respected. We wish for the same from the police and fire brigades. Indeed, the fire service devotes a lot of effort to inspecting buildings for fire safety. Do the police invest time preventing crime or is that left to the deterrent effect of sentencing and punishment? In many cases, it is hoped that people will be careful to avoid injury but still they turn up at the A&E in pain and talking about accidents. Investigators admit that the truth is there are no accidents, only mistakes that were avoidable.

Consequences

A child has no concept of consequences. Over time, by trial and error coupled to imitation, the process of conditioning adds to the memory bank and the child becomes an adult aware of the consequences of their actions. People who have not acquired this knowledge should be recognized by doctors for their ignorance which will become evident in frequent visits to the clinic. Their teachers will have already identified these people at school as slow learners. It is in these encounters that doctors have a role to play. Interestingly, the accident prone are not always those scoring low in education. There are many explanations for mistakes. The person who does nothing may stay safe but achieve nothing and the ambitious may push the boundaries of sense to explore beyond. This is the consequence of having the brain we acquired when we mutated into homo sapiens.

Carelessness

There is an assumption that tidiness is safer than a mess. Do more accidents happen in a messy or tidy workplace? I do not know but from my own experience and this includes owning a factory for many years, a mess is not the cause of mistakes and tripping over wires. Where there are obvious dangers, people are alert and avoid them. When there is deceptive safety, one’s attention can wander letting the day dreamer trip or walk into a half open door. Our brains are not born to cope with neatness. The cave and the jungle floor are always a tangle and walking depend on watching where to put your feet for every step. Only since manufacturing required orderliness has a clear path become essential. This allows carelessness.

There is the often-quoted story of two mountaineers trying to find their way to the Royal Geographical Society through the back streets of London. These men had climbed the world’s mountains and then one of them tripped over the kerb when crossing the road in London and broke his leg. As a doctor, what can you advise to prevent such mishaps? Obviously, the fellow was safer on Mount Everest than the paved streets of London.

I visit many countries and complain when I cannot drink the tap water and walk at ease in the towns because of the holes in the pavements. However, I do admit that the locals never seem to fall on those pavements and neither did I; I had to watch where I was going. Carelessness is thus a response to a deceptively safe situation. Add some dangers, as our cavemen-forebears expected, and there should be fewer accidents. Modern manufacturing which is as automated as possible has reduced the chances of injury. Earlier methods often allowed the operator to injure themselves.

Working a fly press involves placing the component under the press tool and swinging the handle to bring the tool down with a load of anything from 5 to 50 tons. Repeating this cycle ten times a minute creates a rhythm of complacency. When the left hand moves before the right hand instead of the other way around, the hand can be under the press with disastrous consequences. Later improvements were to install guards; the guard came down before the press. That resulted in some cases of the guard trapping the hand preventing it being withdrawn from danger. The operator had to wait a second, which can be a long time in these circumstances, for their hand to be amputated in one blow.

Eventually, designers arranged for the descent of the press to be controlled by two buttons, one a shoulder’s width away from the other so that both hands had to be on a button before and whilst the press came down. The release of one button would stop the descent of the press and interrupt the cycle. Automatic pick and place machines have mostly replaced human press loading and it is only where labour costs are so low that investment in automation cannot be justified that workers are exposed to dangers. Automation is criticized for creating unemployment.

It increases productivity and safety. Only the setter, the person setting the tools under the press, is in danger when preparing a new tool in the production process. As the setting task is not repetitive with each step having to be thought about, the injuries are fewer. Setters were in danger if someone switched on the machine not realizing there was a person at the back or inside. These calamities not only resulted in death but led to claims of manslaughter incriminating the person who switched on the machine and the employer. The answer was for the setter to isolate the machine and withdraw a key to the control box, lock it and keep the key in his pocket so that the machine remained inactive until the setter switched on again.

Recklessness

This is where we remember the story of the boy cycling around the house and as he takes his hands off the handlebars he shouts, “Look Mummy, no hands”. A few minutes later he reappears and shouts, “Look Mummy, no teeth”. Due to his bravado, he had crashed. The same happens driving cars at speed, playing with knives or generally showing off. The need to be reckless, seen more in youth than maturity, is shuffling into pecking order to find a place in the hierarchy of society. Less skill means more crashes and you slip down the scale of ability. Balance a football on your nose and the crowd will cheer. Humans play these games because they position each person where they can best support the tribe.

Modern society does not depend on physical skills. The computer nerd is today’s leader. When a doctor explains to the children at the local school that fooling about is dangerous, some sense may prevail and lead to fewer injuries. Recklessness will persist because the desire to show physical prowess is innate. With education essential for survival today, the clever ones are revered, and this will influence our species as physical strength and agility is less desirable in the gene pool compared to mental ability. All species adapt to the environment or become extinct.

The human environment is changed by our own behaviour and we are these days in the midst of an evolutionary shift. The damage we inflict on the environment causing climate change is expected to lead to our extinction. It certainly will but only if it kills us before we kill ourselves by preventing deaths through extended longevity so that adaptive mutations cease. This is a medical emergency beyond the ability of emergency doctors.

Aggression

Lack of fear and aggression goes together. When a wild dog approaches a group, it will sense the meek one who is afraid and attack. This is enabled by the electrical circuits and magnetic fields by which brains operate and is how humans and animals can relate to each other. As a doctor, you will have learned little about this at medical school and yet it is fundamental to behavioural studies and cancer [1]. Aggression is useful in primitive society when dealing with predators, less so in a civilised society. The military employs soldiers trained as commandos, to operate behind enemy lines and, where necessary, kill with their bare hands. Such a person, who can emerge from an assignment and look unperturbed is almost unknown. When the fictional James Bond peals off his diving suit and walks nonchalantly into the bar for a drink shaken and not stirred, he is nothing more than entertainment. The brain does not work that way. An actor can play the role to the cameras but in real life, the adrenalin and tension involved dominates the soldier and, for many of these people, rehabilitation is difficult.

As a doctor, dealing with the effects of aggression, especially when coupled with alcohol and drugs, is a nightmare. To stop it would amount to eliminating those people programmed to be aggressive. Either they find a role in the security forces and we hope they obey the law, or they become useful to organized crime. The doctor will sense these attributes in a young person. I doubt they can be ameliorated. The only way is to direct that person into a role where they can be useful, and the military is an opportunity.

Misfortune

This is being in the wrong place at the wrong time. There is little a doctor can do to prevent victims being struck by misfortune. Awareness of danger is everywhere. Entertainment media dwells on buildings exploding, cars flying off the road and rolling down the mountain, jumping out of a plane and landing safely in a haystack. I feel that this awareness diminishes the sense of danger rather than creating risk avoidance.

News programs refer to natural disasters. They are not disasters. Avalanches, earthquakes, floods and forest fires are natural phenomena that have occurred since the earth was formed and will continue after our species is extinct. In many cases, they are predictable and thereby avoidable. Modern weather forecasting can give two days’ notice of a cyclone or hurricane, time enough to move people to shelter. Living on the side of a volcano where the soil is fertile is always tempting but the gases rolling down from the crater can be poisonous and when the volcano erupts the lava is destructive. You don’t need to be a doctor or a geologist to warn of such dangers.

This is where the sober, thoughtful advice of a doctor carries a lot of weight. Every community has its danger areas. It may be the high cliffs, a motorway, a mosquito ridden swamp, places where the unsuspecting can get into trouble. Tell the community leaders. They will listen to you. Fences can be erected at the edges of the cliffs and busy road and the swamp can be sprayed to control the mosquitos. Always present a solution to the problem and be sure you have no relationship with the contractor who will carry out the work.

Psychology

Preventing injuries involves more psychology than physical medicine. Psychology still falls within the skills of a doctor. There is little scope for direct action. The best a doctor can do is influence and advise and it is by being a doctor that notice will be taken of your advice. The inevitable conclusion will be that humans are accident prone and seek rather than avoid trouble. The doctor is then expected to repair the injuries just as a garage would fix a car damaged in a crash.

I have left their hyperlinks in place. The extent that the injuries can be traced back to psychological causes differs. Certainly, a disturbed mind leads to suicide and violence and very likely to road crashes. Many years ago, when I was teaching sociology to an adult college class in which we were studying criminology, I proposed a cure that I still believe is the only cure and is in most cases impossible; the cure for criminality is to sentence the criminal to a good home. Here is a murderer. Please love him. The explanations were made by John Bowlby in the 1960s and earlier. His best-read book is Child Care and the Growth of Love [3]. Only by parental love can a child acquire empathy and be able to pass love on to others. These bonds are essential in human groups and exist in all animals. Recent botanical research adds to this insight by finding electrical relationships between plants. A person who grew up unloved can be expected to not fit into society. They will not accept the common rules of behaviour and be unaware of others’ feelings. Without empathy, cruelty is easy. Should this individual become a parent, the children will also lack bonds.

Doctors will recognize these people and their disruptive, often temporary, families. They are crimes and injuries in the making. What can a doctor do to prevent future mishaps? On the face of it, very little. Most doctors work inside a bureaucracy and there will be no scope for interfering in a patient’s private life, for that it is how it will be perceived. In earlier times, religious leaders would step in, but their leadership has given way to the smart phone screen which cannot love, only excite and provoke. Sociologists call it alienation and anomie; being cut off from society and having no feeling of belonging. If this were the lack of vitamins or a virus infecting the blood, a doctor could and would do something. The affected (instead of infected) patient is equally in need of help but seldom is a doctor seen as the person to turn to. Eventually, it will be the police and their aim are to pass to the courts, then prison. Society offers no cure despite knowing the cause and suffering the consequences. If what cures is medicine, then here we need social medicine. I contend that doctors apply medicine. If it is not the police to become involved, at least it will be the emergency doctor stitching up knife wounds.

Even amongst well brought up people there is a range of temperaments from placid to impetuous. Impatience can cause injury. Think of bad driving or pushing in a queue. Does such an irritable person need a tranquilizer? Theoretically, extreme behaviours could be chemically restricted, a technique sure to cause ethical arguments. People self-administer their personality shift with alcohol in one direction and caffeine in the other. I advise against both drugs, but they are popular. Medically there is no safe upper limit for alcohol. Coffee is fully accepted, approved and big business. Politicians create laws, companies lobby politicians and consumers accept laws. I love coffee, its taste and smell, but I read my own senses, and something tells me to be wary; minimize on coffee. Look after the brain for a healthy body. Anything that affects the brain is dangerous. This does not include listening to Beethoven.

I have little sympathy with addiction because I see it as selfinflicted. More compassionate souls feel sorry for those who cannot stop doing something. In the context of injuries, think of speed and racing. The winner is the one who placed their life most at risk. That is stupid but the audience loves it and next time greater risks will be taken. Confined to a racetrack, only the participants get hurt. On the open road, you and I can be hit. I remember a doctor assigned to a Formula One racing team explaining that every bone in their star driver had been broken at least once. Didn’t that put him off? No, he is addicted, and nothing will stop him. At the end of the line, the publicity was increasing the sales of something.

Trauma Infection

The first action on a trauma patient brought into Accident and Emergency on a stretcher, assuming the bleeding has been staunched by the medics, is to treat with a CellSonic VIPP machine to kill all and any infection. The intense pulses will penetrate to catch germs thrust into the wound. Importantly, stem cells of the right type in the right quantity will be delivered in the blood to exactly the right place by the immune system responding to the pulses. The blood will automatically have more oxygen and growth factors to aid healing. All this can be done before the doctor arrives to inspect the patient.

Professor Richard Coombes, an orthopedic surgeon of Charing Cross Hospital in London always said that CellSonic VIPP machines should be standard equipment in all emergency units. After the wounds and bones have been set, use the CellSonic again to kill any infection. This can be instead of antibiotics or allow a much lower dose of antibiotic. The benefit is saving the patient from developing antibacterial resistance and reducing the contamination of local rivers whereby antibiotics travel through the patient and the sewage system to rivers where fish and surrounding land are contaminated.

Conclusion

Doctors can help to reduce the demand for emergency medicine. It requires an extension of their usual skills into the therapy of psychology and social manipulation. Humans have brains which search for change. In the process, they hurt themselves and each other and call upon doctors in an emergency. If a more placid life is desirable, emergencies will be rare but that is not the current trend. Expect more horrors. To read more about this article: https://irispublishers.com/ctcms/fulltext/can-emergency-medicine-become-redundant.ID.000503.php

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komaeda161 · 4 years

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Now I realize we’ve been at this for some time already, but at the risk of derailing the dialogue you initiated, and may I just say how thrilled I am that you did, Karkat, I would just like qualify my entire analysis of your “Alternian culture” by saying that in contrast with life on Beforus, while your people may have been engaged in violent, lethal class struggle for millions of sweeps, by no means does this imply that the Beforan way of life was entirely without problematic elements, perhaps even more disturbing and insidious for their lack of acknowledgement and open discussion, particularly as a consequence of what in my view were widely and dismayingly unexamined systemic social injustices resulting from the entrenched power dynamics in play, dynamics strikingly similar to those of your planet’s markedly more bellicose iteration, which has only served to fully vindicate my hypothesis that such a hierarchy is really predicated on intrinsic dysfunction, and failure to shift all the usual narratives and undiagnosed problems into an open, judgment-free discourse through which problematic issues are constructively channeled into more intelligently problematized avenues of discussion. Now before I continue, it is only decent of me to warn you about certain triggers that are surely ahead in this essay. I mean conversation. Triggers include but likely will not be limited to class oppression, culling culture and violence against grubs, lusus abuse, complementary and analogous hate speech, pail filling, slurries and other concupiscent fluids, lifespan shaming, ableist slurs, prolix dissertation… Actually, maybe it would be easier for you to list your triggers, and I’ll do my best to avoid those topics, or navigate them more delicately, if at all possible? Great. It sounds like you don’t have any triggers, at least none that you know about. I’ll proceed with caution nevertheless. Just please let me know if you start feeling triggered by anything I’m saying, and we can take a brief time-out while you summon your moirail to help pacify you, assuming you have one. Not that I’m presuming you do, But I heard that you did, is that correct? If not, I apologize. I further apologize if your orientation precludes the possibility, as a pale aromantic, panquadrant demiromantic, something in the gray palesexual department or such, and hopefully you are not triggered by such presumptuous concillianormative language. It wouldn’t be the first time I was guilty of such an inexcusable microaggression, and I am not so oblivious to my own romantic privilege to believe it will be the last time either. I’m glad I brought up the subject of unexamined privilege, because it dovetails beautifully with the point I was about to make regarding beforan society and its savage umbral potentiality which later manifested through the kind of Alternian brutality you are all too familiar with. Those in the higher echelons of the hemospectrum such as the ceruleans, or “blue bloods” (careful, being loose with such terminology is opening the floodgates to a whole host of toxic signist language and hemophobic slurs), when addressing the challenges faced by those lower on the spectrum, such as the midhues or in particular warm castes like umbers, ochres, or “rust bloods” (another slur, highly problematic, deeply offensive and triggering terminology, strongly imploring you steer clear of this term), they would be well advised to check their cerulean privilege, particularly before dismissing hardships or marginalizing claims of oppression, which can be difficult for them to identify or empathize with from their advantageous position within the beforan//Alternian power structures. And some may argue that in our peaceful “utopian” culture that we have freed ourselves from injustice and disparities in privilege in a post-scarcity economy, largely equal rights distributed across the hemospectrum, and therefore exist in a “post-spectral world” (laugh out loud), and therefore there is no need to champion important social causes and there is nothing left to debate, but really nothing could be further from the truth. You just need to educate yourself and carefully investigate the longstanding power dynamics in play. For instance, a seemingly “harmless” remark from a cisblooded cerulean toward an umber or God forbid a burgundy or yes even a warm-identifying physically-cooler caste, about their very long term future plans such as on the order of centuries, then this may prove to be a very hurtful microagression due to the fact that lowhues cannot possibly live that long themselves, and the more priviliged caste could easily outlive dozens of generations of midhues or hundreds of generations of BUOYs (burgundy-umber-ochre-yellowgreens, note please avoid describing the lattermost as “lime bloods” as it has historically been used as an especially vicious epithet). Such remarks can further trigger painful reminders of how cooler castes, to some extent OJAs, but CIPs and Royal-Vs in particular, have been able to use their tremendous lifespans over the millenia to gain a stranglehold over the social order, have been able to completely dictate our societal evolution by ensuring only their cultural agendas and narratives receive the dialogue’s air supply, assuring the codification of those resultant ideals and deciding what “normalcy” entails, and sadly these absolutes become internalized across the full spectral range, even within those of most compromised privilege, and so you begin to see the cyclical nature of the dysfunction and the resulting inertia against positive change and raising awareness of the most underproblematized issues, which I think we can agree, is pretty problematic. And really, it’s everyone’s business to examine their privilege, even burgundies, who may be subject to the pitfall of believing incorrectly there are none on the scale beneath them whom they enjoy certain privileges over, which off-spectrum trolls will never know, such as those identifying as otherbloods or caste-multiples, “polyblooded”, any who hemoglobically ID as having a caste which manifests nowhere (as yet known) in anyone physically, or for that matter offspecs who physically do possess such a blood type, or “mutants” (VERY problematic term, highly triggering to some, be warned), such as you and I, Karkat. but this puts us both in a situation which to our knowledge uniquely allows us to understand and empathize with tragically underprivileged and unempowered groups across all scuttles of life, thus affording us both what I like to call a “uniquely underprivileged privilege”, which, yes, is a kind of privilege we should both strive to check as well, whenever we can. This same uniquely underprivileged perspective as I’m sure you know was disadvantaged upon my post-scratch iteration as well, and while I have no doubt you justifiably came to revere that figure of your planet’s rich history and your personal lineage, and while his goals of peace, equality, and a truly spectrablind society, I’m afraid I personally have trouble condoning his methods. I don’t like to use the term “problematic” lightly, but, well, his tactics were nothing if not massively problematic, to say the least, employing violent uprising to effect change, and emblazoning his mark upon history and his faithful followers with the salty flourish of a single rude, shouted swear word, it’s not to my taste even though he is who I would have grown up to be in another life. but no, I prefer to effect social change through rational, honest discourse and contributing to ongoing dialogues, focusing on what should be the real goals, through keen adherence to the discipline of Problematics, ensuring that we stay focused on successfully problematizing a wide range of direly undercomplicated social dilemmas. It’s nice to see we agree on so much. Maybe we are not so unalike, despite our drastically different upbringings. Anyway, as I was saying, the story of your ancestor, and more importantly my exhaustive list of misgivings with his approach to social change, is quite a long and elaborate one, but it actually fits brilliantly within the larger mosaic which captures the broad strokes of my post. I mean our discussion. Trigger warnings for the following content include: ancestor bashing, faith shaming, loud swearing, torture, burn wounds, ship sinking… again, seriously, just let me know if you begin to feel triggered by anything, even slightly. We’ll pause and see if we can really explore those issues, and identify exactly how I may have invalidated your struggles. Without further ado, the story is as follows:

#copypasta #kankri vantas #homestuck #long post

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