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indigo-scarf · 2 years

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What Draco's Hand of Glory represents

In Harry Potter, we are introduced to the Hand of Glory in Chamber of Secrets, when Draco visits Borgin & Burke's with his father. This is the exchange where we learn of Lucius's demanding expectations of his son, and the Hand is the plot device that triggers it:

“Can I have that?” interrupted Draco, pointing at the withered hand on its cushion. “Ah, the Hand of Glory!” said Mr Borgin, abandoning Mr Malfoy’s list and scurrying over to Draco. “Insert a candle and it gives light only to the holder! Best friend of thieves and plunderers! Your son has fine taste, sir.” “I hope my son will amount to more than a thief or a plunderer, Borgin,” said Mr Malfoy coldly, and Mr Borgin said quickly, “No offence, sir, no offence meant—” “Though if his grades don’t pick up,” said Mr Malfoy, more coldly still, “that may indeed be all he is fit for—” “It’s not my fault,” retorted Draco. “The teachers all have favourites, that Hermione Granger—” “I would have thought you’d be ashamed that a girl of no wizard family beat you in every exam,” snapped Mr Malfoy.

In European folklore, a Hand of Glory is the dried and pickled hand of a hanged criminal. The Hand was said to possess several different powers, including giving light only to its holder, and in many stories, it was indeed used by thieves.

But what Draco does with the Hand, in Half-Blood Prince, is sneak the Death Eaters into Hogwarts:

“Anyway,” Ginny went on, “[Malfoy] must have been checking whether the coast was clear to let the Death Eaters out, because the moment he saw us he threw something into the air and it all went pitch-black— [...] Obviously Malfoy could see because of that hand thing and was guiding them[.]”

So, in CoS, the Hand of Glory represents everything Lucius has contempt for — the riffraff, the low-lives, the disreputable, the losers, the failures, all that which a Malfoy will not be tolerated to be.

(It never occurs to Lucius, of course, that Death Eaters might be much worse than thieves and plunderers, because his morality is not based on the reduction of suffering, but on social prestige and pureblood supremacy).

Yet, in HBP, Draco uses the Hand to serve a purpose drilled into him by his Malfoy upbringing, while Death Eater activities are brought down to the same level as thieving and plundering.

As a statement from the text's perspective, the association of its main antagonists (basically a gang of racists) with petty thieves (a socially vulnerable group) to highlight their shadiness is a questionable choice — indeed, the books have no sympathy for thievery and considerable disdain for it, if the portrayal of Mundungus Fletcher is any indication.

Nonetheless, from the perspective of Lucius and his worldview, it's an interesting slap in his face: Death Eaters are, in fact, disreputable evildoers just as much as petty thieves, and thus Lucius set up his son to become precisely the type of failure Lucius himself deemed so abominable.

To Draco, meanwhile, in CoS the Hand symbolises the withheld approval of his father. First, the object Draco finds cool (stan this goth king) is derided by Lucius; then, Lucius refuses to indulge Draco's desire for it; and finally, it becomes a segway into Lucius' outright telling Draco that he's not good enough — in public, no less.

However, by HBP Draco has gone against his father's wishes and purchased the Hand at some point anyway. It's significant that Draco employs it in his Death Eater mission because, as I see it, Draco's becoming a Death Eather is an attempt to both finally prove himself to his father and to prove himself better than his father.

If Lucius's blunder at the DoM triggered the Malfoys' fall from grace, Draco's success will be what earns them even more honour than they had before. If Lucius underestimated the Hand of Glory, and by extension Draco himself, Draco's putting the Hand to important use for their "noble" cause will show how much smarter he is than his father.

That's why Draco is so preoccupied with Snape stealing his — wouldn't you know it — glory:

“I know what you’re up to! You want to steal my glory!” There was another pause, then Snape said coldly, “You are speaking like a child. I quite understand that your father’s capture and imprisonment has upset you, but—” […] Malfoy was striding away down the corridor, past the open door of Slughorn’s office, around the distant corner, and out of sight.

It's not that Draco is renouncing his father, though — in public Draco remains loyal to him, directing his anger exclusively at the Light side for daring to cross his family, and he is genuinely concerned for Lucius's well-being in Azkaban, as suggested by Draco's poorly disguised vulnerability in OotP:

“The dementors have left Azkaban,” said Malfoy quietly. “Dad and the others’ll be out in no time. . .”

And even Draco's audacious intent in HBP is nothing more than an angrily, bitterly desperate bid for Lucius's validation. Draco's actions are not truly emancipatory because his father is still the point of reference that determines his worth. And that's why Draco gets incensed when Snape calls him a child and brings up his father in order to patronise him: the whole Death Eater thing is meant to deny that he is a child emotionally subordinated to his father, but it is Draco who is in denial that that still is very much the case.

He even outwardly shifts the focus of his daddy issues to Voldemort:

“[Snape]’s been offering me plenty of help — wanting all the glory for himself— […] But I haven’t told him what I’ve been doing in the Room of Requirement, he’s going to wake up tomorrow and it’ll all be over and he won’t be the Dark Lord’s favourite anymore, he’ll be nothing compared to me, nothing!” “Very gratifying,” said Dumbledore mildly. “We all like appreciation for our own hard work, of course. […]"

But I'd say Draco's ultimate goal is to make his glory so undeniable that Lucius will be forced to recognise it — if the Dark Lord deems him worthy, how can Lucius disagree? If he's taken the place of "the Dark Lord's favourite", which, before Snape, was occupied by Lucius — although Draco won't verbally draw attention to that — how can Lucius not be satisfied?

Therefore, the presence of the Hand of Glory in HBP reflects the paradoxical nature of Draco's relationship with his father: it incarnates a crude attempt at defiance, but also links Draco's Death Eater present to the theme of the past CoS scene — craving his father's approval.

And in the end, what it sheds light upon is that all this impotent endeavour can accomplish is to lower Draco to the contemptible status of thieves, plunderers, and Death Eaters.

#harry potter #harry potter meta #hp meta #draco malfoy #lucius malfoy #death eaters #my stuff #daddy issues

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polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup · 7 months

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heyyy how many episodes of jjk would. in theory. i need to watch to read sea glass gardens and understand wtf is going on. i love your writing but idk this show and based on your descriptions if i try to go in blind i'm doomed. i have a bad habit of exclusively watching shows so i can read fics about them because my taste is fucking cursed, thanks

If you're looking to just understand at a baseline level what's going on in sea glass gardens, the answer is actually zero episodes.

sea glass gardens takes place before the main series, directly after the prequel movie Jujutsu Kaisen 0. And, good news, the fic takes place entirely from the perspective of the protagonist of JJK 0 (who is not the protagonist of the main series), who is also new to the sorcerer society of the JJK universe. So the movie does a good job of explaining the premise of the world and introducing most of the people who I use as the main characters of sea glass gardens as like, new people whose entire schtick needs to be explained. There are some characters in sea glass gardens who don't appear until the main series, but they're also strangers to the narrator of sea glass gardens, so I actually introduce them to the narrator and explain who they are.

I do not do that for the panda. I assume you also know why the panda is supposed to be there. The panda is in JJK 0.

Now, just watching JJK 0 and not the main series means you won't be confused and you'll be able to enjoy what's going on in sea glass gardens, but you admittedly won't have all the relevant context. But it shouldn't make you unable to follow the plot and what's going on, you'll just miss out on a few nods to the main series. Again, the narrator is also new to the world, so if you've watched JJK 0, you have pretty much all of the same context that he has. You'll just basically be getting a different introduction to some people or concepts than you otherwise would if you had met them in canon. So basically, like Yuuta (the narrator), you'll be meeting characters like Naobito for the very first time through sea glass, whereas people who have watched all the way through will have more background knowledge from what they know of him in canon, but you don't need any of his canon appearances to understand Naobito or his role in the fic.

And anyway if you want to have like, 100% of the same knowledge of canon that I had going into writing the fic, then you need to join me in hell with a total deep dive. Some of the characters mentioned in sea glass haven't shown up in the anime yet. Some of them haven't shown up in the anime or the manga, but the mangaka referenced them as a single bullet point in a character sheet and I decided to use them. You will be totally fine without this background knowledge. It is completely useless.

The thing about sea glass gardens is that it sort of exists in this niche part of canon that canon does not. actually. care about. Its primary conflict centers around the major clans of the Jujutsu Kaisen world and the tensions between them.

And the thing is. That canon. Doesn't. Really. Talk about that. It's just the tiny irrelevant part of canon that I cared passionately about. I don't know why I'm like this.

Like, one of the most important characters in the series, Gojo Satoru, is the head of the Gojo clan. He is also the only gojo clan member that we ever meet. Canon's just got other shit going on and the clan drama is mostly a background thing. I have built my little house of a few vague, scattered lines throughout the series and then wholesale made a lot of shit up.

That being said, that means sea glass gardens should actually be intelligible even if you're bypassing the main series, because it's a terrible representation of what this series is actually about. Whatever you think the plot of JJK is after reading sea glass gardens, it isn't that. The protagonist of the actual main series will never even appear in sea glass gardens. the primary antagonists of the main series will, for the most part, not be there at all. I am playing in my little sandbox of clan political intrigue because it enthralls me.

The prequel movie is actually really well done, and it only requires under two hours of investment. If you want a slightly more comprehensive introduction to the world before reading sea glass, I'd watch the first six episodes or so of the main series as well, but it isn't mandatory to understanding the fic.

I personally stream the prequel movie off of crunchyroll. I'm not sure where else, if anywhere, it's available, but it should be fairly easy to track down and watch if you're just looking to dip your toes into the JJK world.

#sea glass gardens #i'm soooo touched that you like my writing enough that you'd be willing to start a new series to understand it #y'all are the best

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acti-veg · 4 months

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i am a vegan, but i don't really know how to justify it, as i also think i'm a moral nihilist. i think morality is a social construct. so, although i hate cruelty to animals, i don't think it's actually wrong. it's just something i hate because i have empathy for animals and don't want them to suffer. but, if someone says to me that they think enjoying the taste of meat is worth an animal suffering and dying - i don't know how to respond to that. who is to say that i am right and they are wrong?

I’m not going to publish all of your asks as it’s quite a lot and some of them may be quite upsetting for some people, but suffice to say you are claiming to apply the same logic to human suffering, too.

I don’t think you are actually a moral nihilist. If you were then it’s unlikely you’d have arrived at veganism in the first place, or that you’d be struggling with a moral question to this extent. Believing that morality is subjective is not the same thing as believing that morality does not exist or that nothing is right or wrong. I don’t know why you find this belief to be appealing, but it doesn’t sound like you’re any more convinced by it than I am.

I too believe that morality is subjective, but that doesn’t mean I don’t make moral judgements for myself and therefore for others. ‘In deciding for myself, I decide for all.’ If you are convinced that eating animals is wrong, you argue it on the basis of what has convinced you that it is wrong. That it causes unnecessary suffering, environmental degradation, that it exploits humans, that it uses an unconscionable amount of land and resources - whatever you are convinced by.

Morality is a social construct yes, but that doesn’t make it redundant. Almost everything meaningful that humans are engaged in are social constructs. The idea that if we can’t point to something as some concrete, objective ‘thing’ in the world it therefore isn’t real or doesn’t matter is just a bit juvenile, and that’s part of why there is very little serious discussion of moral nihilism in modern academic philosophy.

Ethics are required for society to function on a fundamental level, you need people to act as if you morally matter and they need you to do the same thing for them. Whether you want to deny that ethics exist or claim that nothing is ‘actually’ right or wrong, the fact remains that we need to act in an ethical way and build a consensus on which behaviours are and are not acceptable. The problems with this viewpoint are clear in your own asks, somebody hurts someone you love and you are honestly going to claim that it’s not wrong for them to do so, so long as they derive sufficient pleasure from it? Come on.

We can’t ’prove’ ethics, but that isn’t a good reason to reject morality entirely. There are enormous practical benefits to working from the assumption that morality exists and that we have the free will and rationality to consider and engage in ethics. Conversely, there is almost no benefit to moral or epistemic nihilism. That morality doesn’t ‘exist’ in the world as some sort of concrete object we can point to is not a good reason to reject its usefulness and importance.

It sounds to me like you’re actually just a moral subjectivist, which is completely compatible with ethics and advocacy. You can hold that all ethics are subjective, and simultaneously that behaving in an ethical way is important because of the impact that your behaviour has on other people. Basically, regardless of how you feel about it personally, ethics matter because they obviously deeply matter to other beings. What you do and the harm you cause objectively matters because it affects other beings, whether you believe that ethics behind those decisions are ‘real’ is ultimately just a bit irrelevant.

#ask #vegan #ethics

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squeiky · 1 year

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BEASTARS PARALLELS

Volumes used: 10-13 (with slight mentions of volumes before.)

WARNING: Images are edited to fit the book that I (myself) was reading. Since I've been reading the VIZ media books, Its come to my attention that the translations very are different online than it is here. Thus, I've concluded I must translate it all, in order for my points to come arose clearly.

Reminder: Click for better quality, or if you want to read it.

First parallel, is the "I love herbivores/I love carnivores" moment between Legoshi and Louis. Even funnier is that, it seem seems Legoshi is the reason, and Ibuki is the realization.

Also, in my book, When Ibuki ask if his freind is more important to him than the Shishigumi, Louis mentions that both the Shishigumi and Legoshi are both equally important to him. Which is a lot, considering that a parallel drawn within the manga itself is Louis comparing Ibuki to his father.

With the Shishigumi being basically family to him, its astonishing that Legoshi is on the exact same level of importance.

Another note, is that before this interaction and declaration about herbivores, Legoshi was thinking of Haru.

Unironically, Louis made a "eat me" joke to Legoshi, which (atleast in my book) is similar to the "how would I taste?" joke Haru made. This joke was duiring Louis's dream of Haru, before being waken up by Ibuki. This was after Legoshi thought of Haru, though.

Second parallel between the "dreams" and "nightmares" of Louis and Haru. Unsurprisingly both herbivores, that of which he keeps having repetitive dreams/nightmares about.

Weirdly enough, Legoshi agonizes about both of them. Unable to control what he's dreaming about, and slightly suffering because of it. Albeit, different levels of agony.

^goes with Juno and her realization, but eh

Third parallel with Riz vs Legoshi and Louis as the Moth.

In my book, during the fight with Riz (the last panel before he turned into a illusion of moths), Legoshi says "Isn't that right, Moth?", which was within the page that Legoshi was reminiscing over the Moth. Here, instead of a Moth, its Louis. Instead of Riz, its a bunch of drug dealers. Yet, its still the same concept of: for the sake of herbivores.

Of which both battles, he has the enemy surrender.

Also, Legoshi visualizes Louis similarly to how he did the Moth, which... weirdly enough, have both entered his body. Both the Moth and Louis visuals motivate him, and both Moth and Louis teach Legoshi something that he later carries on. (In my book, while conversing with Louis- before eating his leg- he tells him, "That's not all I remember. A lot has happened to us over the past year.//Louis, thanks to you I didn't become a monster.".

Moth and Louis both teach him, or help him in some way. They also motivate him during his fights for justice. They are also both were consumed by him (although Louis is still alive, of course.) Oh, and they were both dreamed about (as the Moth interaction took place when he was knocked out).

Forth parallel is this Louis and Legoshi scene with Juno and Haru's.

(My book for this scene is unavailable, so a direct translation cannot be made. That's why I don't have a picture.)

The scene at the gardening club where Juno calls Haru "cute" and interacts with Haru, realizing why carnivores can never "win" against herbivores

It's not an exact parallel between the two wolves, but its interesting that scenes like this take place in locations where hthe two are alone and simply enjoying anothers company.

The difference being while Juno rejects her emotions towards Haru in fear of ending up "wrapped around her finger" like Louis and Legoshi", Legoshi ends up admitting his emotions towards herbivores, fulling embracing them. (Louis does the whole, "I know." thing too, its great.)

One detail added are the soft hexagons and the dotty gradients that appear in the room. The soft geometric shapes only appear when he's thinking of Louis (see the soft triangles during his "reminiscing over getting high" scene), when he's admitting something deep/personal and when Louis sits next to him/ when they have a nice heart-to-heart.

It's not a parallel, but its a detail I noticed and wanted to bring up.

Thats all for now.

(I'm still learning about Yahya and Gosha, but I can see parallels between the two and Louis and Legoshi. The difference is that I don't think Louis has a grudge against Legohsi for wanting to date haru and stuff. They're not important to this post yet, but I'll bring it up.)

#beastars #analysis #squeiky talks #im tired #hmmm this was fun!#Legoshi #beastars louis #beastars legoshi #legoshi beastars #haru beastars #riz beastars #beastars analysis

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less-than-three-3 · 1 year

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octopath traveler 2 - a masterclass in developing a sequel and an instant classic

I think that in games, when developing a sequel, it’s not uncommon to see a team take feedback and make changes that try to make it more widely received. Often, I feel that in that endeavor it’s easy to lose sight of what made the original game uniquely tick or feel like it did. Don’t just take my word for it (though what games I feel fall into this category can be controversial), it’s something that Sakurai has often mentioned before, for example.

Octopath Traveler II is a master class in how not to fall into that pitfall, and not just one of the best sequels (most improved award), but I think one of the best turn based RPG’s to date, at least by modern standards. I think it’s probably not a game that’s for everyone’s taste, but if you go in without expectations, I think it’s hard to ever really be let down. Likely spoilers below (especially end-game spoilers), but I’ll try to leave them to the end.

Before digging into the sequel though, I just want to briefly touch on octopath 1 in 2023. Something that I think about a lot is Scott’s retrospective on 3D World (I ain’t timestamping this one sorry), specifically, that 3D World was given a good bit of flack on release because it felt like it was “taking 3D mario into a bad direction” when, in a post-Odyssey world, we can really look back and really appreciate 3D World for what it is, and not judge it for what it isn’t (watch the whole video, it’s a great retrospective).

All this to basically say, I think a lot of the flack that octopath 1 got was kind of in the same vein. People really wanted it to be what it wasn’t. It’s not a Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, where you get a ragtag team of misfits banded together on a big journey, maybe with small individual branches along the way. It’s 8 very differently motivated individuals who just kind of pick each other up and just happen to help each other do their thing. The exp sharing and party system I can get being annoying, but I don’t think it’s really more than just a minor annoyance at worst, and I can get behind it being good to push the player to experiment with team composition (your leader gets somewhat overleveled but I really never found it that much more broken than synergies you get by mid-game). In another game that I love, Ruined King, they do have full party exp share, and while I loved experimenting and moving parts around to make different comps, I definitely felt that is very self-motivated, and the game doesn’t have too much in place to force you to move people around besides required character segments. Random encounters... I get complaining about it, but again it feels like idiot-proofing the level curve, because so often I see people in games with “walking encounters” just never ever fight them and then complain about being underleveled and having to “grind”.

This might feel like an odd rant to go on, and yeah it is partially just me getting on my damn soapbox and saying “octopath 1 was good actually”, but it’s important as context for why I find octopath 2 to be such a brilliant game (and because octopath 2 gives a new appreciation for these elements). I love the RPGSite review because it sums up this angle really well:

“As I mentioned previously, Octopath Traveler is meant to be a structurally open game that values player freedom. The overall arrangement of eight individual characters with eight distinct storylines may not fit the more traditional and expected structure of a unified JRPG party and a unified goal, thus some concessions are made in order to fit that vision in terms of character dynamics. Maybe it took falling in love with the SaGa games - which share some common components - for me to begin to understand what Octopath was trying to do all along, but I think this was the right direction to take the sequel in. I'd rather not see Octopath change dramatically and risk its identity in order to conform to expectations it doesn’t try to meet. If you’re looking for linear, story-driven, party-centric RPGs, there are an abundance of them.”

Don’t get me wrong - I’m not saying the original is perfect. I found some of the stories not that interesting (or maybe I just never gave them a chance!), and certainly the character interactions were a little sparse and unimpactful. But that’s where octopath 2 really shines beyond its origins, because I think the entire cast is absolutely wonderful, and their interactions, both in their paired quests and side-banted, ooze character. There is certainly a disparity between characters because they are all such different people, but as you get through chapters you can definitely feel them warm up to each other and get to understand each other’s perspectives. It’s such a breath of fresh air because in the original I felt like a lot of them were kind of just, one character asking the other for advice, and then they give it? And the structure of the chapters is so varied in the sequel, including how and when to use path actions (the night/day system helps a lot), when in the original it definitely felt a bit cut and paste.

I don’t even know where to start with the characters and their stories. I guess, like with Live-a-Live, I’ll just list them from my least favorite to favorite, but just know that I loved all of them.

8. Agnea - her motivations really kind of felt the most octopath 1 out of everyone, and not necessarily in the best way? I mean, she’s pretty much like Tressa, who I love don’t get me wrong, but it is just strange to me that, throughout every single chapter, it never really, like, felt like there should really be conflict? It’s a weird way to put it, but she is pretty much just going to become a star, and that sure is the journey she goes on. I don’t even really think she has many foreshadowing moments, but I might have just missed those? She’s super adorable and lovable and brings everyone cheer, and her story is very much the lighthearted one, so I suppose it fits. I don’t know, it just didn’t fully click for me. Great member of the party, I just wasn’t the most invested. Part of it may also just be that it feels like so different from Prim, who was easily one of the best characters from 1.

I think that is literally the only vaguely negative one I have, and I didn’t even really dislike her story, I just was least invested in it lmao

7. Throne (I will be leaving out the accent sorry I’m lazy) - I think the premise and split path and internal and external qualms are interesting, but I just kinda felt like it was Therion-lite. The final twist... sure is a twist of all time. I’m not in love with her story in retrospect, but it was like good enough moment to moment. Kinda like Lycoris Recoil, thinking about it.

6. I guess Osvald is 6th? These rankings past 8 are definitely pretty wishy washy. His character and story and motivation is just. anguish. Everything sucks (for Osvald). Harvey sucks. At every step you think you cannot get more upset at the situation and it just keeps on getting worse. How. Incredible.

5. Ok I fucking love Partitio but I would be remiss to rank his story too highly, because he is just god’s gift to mercantilism. He can do no wrong. There is no growth. But he’s really fucking charismatic and funny so it totally makes sense. It’s also really funny that he is the most socialist merchant ever, and he takes down the chains of capitalism and their absurd contracts and loopholes and then that final boss fight is just so awesome. I love Partitio.

4. Hikari also goes in the middle for just being A Political War Drama (I love those). He’s pretty much simba. But like, a dark, fucked up version of simba. I don’t know if I have that much else to say about it, that pretty much is everything.

3. Castti is really really interesting. Piecing together lost memories felt a little cliche to start, but the story being put together and the final few turns of the story were absolutely gut wrenching and my god what an incredible story. She is the mom of the group, and I don’t know if she was really that much more.

2. Temenos is a really interesting cleric character, and a huge departure from Ophilia (for the better). He is pretty much just Sherlock, from Sherlock. He can really be an asshole, and it’s really interesting to see this kind of angle, and not in a “church bad” trope, but in a “church good? but we need to fix the church?”. I would probably be mobbed for not mentioning Crick. So I have. I cannot talk about Crick without massive spoilers. If you finished his story you know why. Great character, great story.

1. Ochette may not belong up here but she is by far my favorite character what a fucking idiot I love her dearly. Just too stupid to live. There are like, a maximum of two things on her mind, ever. Her arc is great. She is voiced by Yuffie Kisaragi, the best character in FF7R. I am biased. This is my write-up. What are you gonna do about it.

Speaking of Live-A-Live, I can’t help but think Team Asano working on that remake helped reinvigorate some notable improvements in this sequel. Obviously the Octopath games have a lot of flesh and blood from Live-A-Live to begin with. But the final chapter of the game felt very reminiscent of that of LAL, both in terms of literal story structure, but especially with the worldbuilding and foreshadowing dropped throughout the game. I will spare many of the details, but I really liked the way that the foreshadowing is much more apparently integrated into events, major and minor, in each character’s story.

The combat system being pretty much the same, but with an extra new gauge, is great, because the original combat system was already really great. I truly think that if you have complaints about the break/boost system, the game probably just is not for you. I vibe with it, I get it, I love it. Latent powers just add a new extra layer to how to approach turn planning and break timing. Such a small change that adds so much.

Class rebalancing/skill changes were also very noticeable for the better. I feel like a good amount of people must have complained about access to aoe because good aoe is pretty much a premium now, unless your name is ochette (and even then you really have to look for it) or osvald (scholar privilege, ig). Support skills shifting around makes for different dynamics in approaching battles, and I especially love the new hidden classes, specifically Inventor, though Arcanist and Conjurer are neat too (though Arcanist gets really broken... but it’s ok because merchant is a pretty weak class otherwise?). My only real complaint is that I wish you could refund/re-allocate JP in some way, and that’s just because I love experimenting with class combinations.

The day/night system giving pretty much 2 of every “ability” per time of day makes pretty much any comp good for just roaming around town stealing getting to know the townspeople. Having time-specific passive abilities is a neat function, but I think there is definitely a good amount of room to build upon this. A very great seed planted for a future game. There will be a future game, right?

Being up to level curve was only really a struggle for one level jump, I think it was right before chapter 3, but I think they make patching up those last couple levels really easy with all of the exp boosting tools they give you, and really early (I had not equipped them because I thought it was only for the equipping character - no, they’re bonuses for the whole active party - and that’s probably why I got a little behind). Otherwise just going through chapters, traveling from one place to another, exploring the side dungeons, the natural leveling pace felt, well mostly unnoticeable, which I think is the best place for a leveling curve to be?

Dungeon design strictly in terms of explorability is nothing mindblowing, but it more than makes it up with the visual and sound design. Even now 2DHD still looks fucking wonderful and I wish so badly for the DQ3 remake to come out and other 2DHD games to come out. And yes, the music is incredible. I feel like often people just mention the battle themes, and yes, they go hard, but with both Octopath 1 and 2 every single environment has such unique sonic character. I don’t necessarily know if the best town themes come close to my favorites from the original (Orewell my beloved), but just the sheer variety in character, instrumentation, and composition is very much still ever-present, and I wish Yasunori Nishiki many many more opportunities in the future because he is genuinely one of the greats. Even better, though, like in any good musical design, is when the sound just cuts out. There is nothing more unsettling, especially in a game with such a lush soundtrack, than silence. Every such moment is incredible. I could literally make an entire separate essay on the sound design of these games (I have), but I won’t gush on and on here.

Octopath Traveler II is a game that really really plays into its strengths, and even while it successfully patches up most of of its original’s actual weaknesses, it is very much its strengths that continue to really shine. It is an RPG experience unlike any other out there, and if it’s one you are keen to experience, you will have a wonderful time. This is one of my favorite turn-based RPG’s, followed closely by Team Asano’s own Triangle Strategy, and I think it still has incredibly high potential to continue to iterate on its niche. I absolutely think this will be one of the more influential games of the genre for the future - a modern classic, while still feeling solidly rooted in its inspirations from the SNES golden era.

#octopath ii #octopath traveler #jrpg #jrpg review #octopath spoilers

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elytrafemme · 1 year

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OKAY SO it was where do we go now/wa hala2 la wayn and its this lebanese movie i got assigned 2 watch for cinematography class for the chapter on international cinema and it made me very happy hehe however. i have Thoughts. first off positive ones do you know how nice it was to hear just Genuine Lebanese Arabic in a movie it was SO nice. thats how i talk!! i use those turns of phrases!!! the old ladies remind me of my grandmas!!! the humour is also on Point like it feels very Classic Lebanese humour yk? and theres a great balance between humour and the more serious parts in a way that feels very true to the culture itself? if that makes sense?

less positive points uhhh why did they burst into song out of Nowhere like 3 times its not a musical it felt so. Why Is This Here. the last song where the women are baking is fun though. my biggest gripe with it though is. okay a bit of context so!!! the main plot in the movie is that its about a village thats half muslim half christian and they coexist peacefully and then they start hearing news of skirmishes between the two religions elsewhere and tensions start to rise and each side starts blaming the other for Every Little Thing that goes wrong and it just keeps escalating and escalating. and so the movie focuses on the women of the village devising various schemes to keep the men from fighting each other. its very much denouncing religion wars (which like. Yeah its a thing. my grandpa almost got shot once)

anyways SO all of that to say. the movie ends with the men waking up one morning and all the muslim men find that their wives have taken off their hijab and are praying to the virgin mary while all the christian women are veiled etc. and theyre basically saying well if you want to go fight them for being christian/muslim you'll have to fight me too and it makes them see the error of their ways etc. i. did nawt like this. i feel like theres better ways to get this message accross than basically saying "yeah religion is surface level and you can just violate everything you believe in just to make a point" like its not that they went i Look like them now its straight up they switched yk. like "this is who i am now". idk. left a bad taste in my mouth but maybe thats just me!!

the ending ending scene is the village going to bury a kid that was killed on his way back to the village and . like at the beginning of the movie we see the cemetery and its divided in2 tombstones with crosses and ones without but now the tombstones all look the same. and the title of the movie comes from the men carrying the coffin asking that yk. where do we go now. and i feel like that was a Much better way to get the point accross than the whole switching debacle sobs. anyways yeah!! those are my thoughts . this is so long i am SO sorry

YAY LONG REVIEW TIME!!! omg omg nice! i absolutely adore that, both the language part because that's so important but also the fact that it nails the culture down because? i feel like that's so hard to do with any culture, matching the humor and the specific phrases/customs with the generational trauma / more serious aspects of it. i really want to reconnect with more iraqi media for that reason because i really want to see how a film reflects that kind of thing

God movies where they just do random song and musical segments will never not be funny to me. this is a little different as to my understanding this is more expected in the genre, but watching bollywood movies with my friends was like. okay so there's a dramatic scene going on Oh wait now they're dancing on a shoreline in iceland. for the next eight minutes. this is fine and normal. like its so ABRUPTSDHKFJ

that's honestly a really really really cool concept for the film but i agree in that that's a really weird way to resolve it? i feel like in something like a film talking about religion its important that the religion component isn't entirely lost if that wasn't what the whole point was, does that make sense? like in this context it shouldn't take a person dneoucning their religion when the entire point of the show isn't about losing your faith just about reconciling with other people, it feels irrelevant and like the religion is being centered in the religious wars and not the violence. side note glad your grandpa didn't actually get shot that's a major yikes

man that other ending scene you described though... like imaginably this would be much more impactful if i had the visuals as well and could see this unfold in the film but like. your description even now feels really really emotionally impactful and. yeah. glad it has a good actual ending to it that kind of rounds it out i guess? seems like a good film overall but with some weird quirks and bad parts definitely

ty for the movie review! sorry if my response is scatterbrained im mulittasking rn but this was very cool to read :DDD

#nightmare.ask #ppl into films and cinematography r so cool

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puyoginge · 1 year

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What's been going on with me.

3 years later I’ve decided to resurrect my Tumblr because it is my sanctuary and the social media ever. I disbanded twitter because it makes me angry all the time and for the sake of preserving my dwindling adult sanity. lol.

You may remember me from my few posts under the username yaboinate28. very 2018 lol. I posted a lot of trans / general mental health relatable stuff to manage my struggle with gender dysphoria and hopefully connect with others who felt the same as me. If you want to get a taste of what's been going on since then then please do read on below!! (TW mental health stuff)

WHY I LEFT

Some time in 2020 I purged all my trans posts, removing all my incentive to return to this new decade apocalypse of a site. I guess was feeling really insecure about the discordance between my Tumblr open-transness (??) and my irl extreme stealth thang. I was chronically worried about people from my real life finding my account basically.

Much of my stuff was very Tumblr cringe and probably stuff you’ve seen before but there were a couple of self help posts that were actually insanely good resources for coping with gender dysphoria (particularly in the early stages of social transition) which I seriously regret deleting. I remember a lot of my memes “blowing up” which made me feel really special and like I could contribute something to the world. As a young teenager struggling with self harm and severe depression as well as navigating my life within a home that outright rejected my trans identity, my Tumblr was my lifeline, the people I met made me feel hopeful for the future, and seeing people reblog with “I needed to hear this” or “thanks so much for posting” meant everything to me.

But its important for me to address that I’m not the person I was back then, !!and whilst I'll be attempting to find and repost some of those self help resources!!, I probably won’t be posting about my trans experience much anymore other than within this entry. But please please reach out if you need someone who’s been through it to talk to. I’d love to support you however i can!! I’m only a message away.

LIFE STUFF

Since 2019 my attitude on life has changed a lot and whilst coping with my mental health issues are still a daily hurdle, I’ve found myself a groove in which to sit and ride the wave. Essentially I’m managing and I’m happy and able to maintain a positive outlook on life, which is good. Additionally, with time my family have softened to my trans identity. Its not perfect, but I’m not at risk. I love my family and I don’t blame them for their actions, I’m just taking it slow.

Passed my GCSES with flying colours, passed my A-levels with regular colours, and I'm going to uni. Life has continued and its good. And whilst I would rather eat my own shit than go back and relive the days when my mum had to force me me out the door to get me to go to school, I made it through every last day. That's fucking badass, and tbh I'm pretty resilient now because of it lol.

I guess my point is (crass warning) see the joy in what you have. Take life day by day. Don’t let yourself take the easy route, because then you’ll learn how fucking strong you are. And you are stronger than you think even if all your cards are stacked against you.

TRANSITION STUFF

Since the last time we spoke I’ve legally transitioned, and am (at the time of writing) dealing with the initial admin of medical transition. I’ve been speaking regularly with a gender specialist therapist for 2 years. more recently I’ve been exploring my gender expression with my new found freedom. AND I’m in a relationship with someone who is beautiful and kind and couldn’t be more supportive of me (I adore them). And.... I’m still as stealth as ever. Just as resistant to say “yAYYyy i’m trAns!!!” as I’ve always been. I fucking love it. Some things never change lol. As I said family are being dragged by the tail along with me and have warmed to the whole thing. Support is not the word, but acceptance is pretty apt. They both realise it’s always been “me” at this point and that's enough for the time being.

WHO I AM NOW

I’m now an adult (wtf so surreal????) I have allowed my passion for retro gaming to flourish, recently got super fucking into rhythm games, developed a healthy collection of games and consoles which I may post about perhaps. Resurrected my love for anime, particularly dumb slice of life shows and Madoka Magica (all hail you beautiful broken masterpiece of infinite spinoff potential)

I found my interest in psychology (wowwww surprise!!) Got a job, found some friends, told some people a long overdue fuck off. And rounded myself into a much more open minded person than I used to be.

I couldn’t care less how many people read this, mainly I’m doing it for me. To provide myself a clean slate and stuff. But if you do read this, and you used to enjoy my silly little posts or find them helpful or whatever: I hope you’re well, I’m glad you stuck around and I hope you stay :)

#trans #transmasc #transfem #transgender #trans love #gay #pride #lgbt #life #non binary

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oscartwofoxtrot · 10 months

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[kicks down the door like the kool-aid man]: hi oscar talk to me about your favorite scene that you’ve written?

Sorry this took so long to answer, I was, apparently, writing an entire thesis. You Have Been Warned.

Oh my god uhhh. My favourite scene…okay, if I had to go with one, it’d probably be the scene from The Valiant Never Taste of Death I unofficially refer to as ‘Everybody’s dying bitch, let’s get you some peanut butter’. This comes about a quarter of the way through the second (proper) chapter, Requiem (NB: if we’re going by AO3 numbers then it’s Chapter 3, since there’s a Prologue chapter as well, but I don’t tend to count that numerically), and it’s the bit where Nate gently bullies Brad into sitting down and having a snack. And then uno reverse-cards him into talking about his childhood trauma. [Slaps scene] This bad boy can fit so many emotions in it!

For those unfamiliar with Halo 4 (which in all likelihood is most if not all of you), you should know that for the most part, I tend to hew fairly closely to the story and plot structure of the game when writing Valiant. But linear first person shooters don’t offer the characters a lot of opportunities to sit down and talk about their feelings, so this scene is an oscartwofoxtrot original! Sure, the action scenes can be fun, but there’s nothing I love more than getting to write Brad and Nate in their quiet moments, and I crowbarred this one in here to really dig into that Deep Halo Lore and hopefully use it to get at some of the complexities of their dynamic in this AU.

Speaking of complexities, you ask me anything at all about Valiant and I am not so much going to unpack the suitcase as start pulling hat stands and potted plants out of it Mary Poppins-style, so…this shit’s gonna need an itemised list.

1. Nate: [Basically refuses to acknowledge his own mortality, but you better believe he makes sure Brad remembers to eat and take a break every once in a while]. Also, Brad displaying just how whipped he really is. They may not have the same relationship dynamic as canon, but Brad pretty much lets Nate tell him what to do most of the time. tbh I think he likes it.

2. We get another hint at the circumstances surrounding Nate’s capture by the Gravemind. I alluded to this event in the prologue but have thus far avoided going into too much detail about it, so you’d better believe it’s a Surprise Tool That Will Help Us Later. One of the biggest challenges of writing an AU based on the fourth game in a series is finding the Goldilocks Zone of exposition – too much and you lose the current plot thread as well as the attention of literally everyone reading; not enough and the whole thing is virtually incomprehensible to normal people who don’t spend all their time on Halopedia. Trying to get that balance right is, shall we say, an ongoing struggle.

That said, I have been having way too much fun throwing out passing references to stuff like this – and this particular occurrence is a Big Deal in the world of Brad and Nate, because I think it may be the only time they’d been apart for more than like 24 hours since they started working together. (The backstory of their first meeting is a whole other essay in its own right, so I’ll just slap a sticker on this that says ‘Ask Me About My Canon Timeline In The Very Unlikely Event That You Are Interested’). Nate had become such a permanent fixture in Brad’s life, I doubt Brad understood what it would even feel like to miss him until he was gone.

And now that Nate’s life is in danger again, Brad has a very clear understanding of the stakes involved. Almost losing him the first time…it wasn’t The Moment of Realisation (more on that later), but it certainly did crystallise some deeper level of awareness on just how important Nate is to him. Of course, last time, the problem was one of distance – Brad was light-years away and couldn’t immediately get back to Nate, but there was a fortress to storm and a dragon to slay so he could save him. This time, Brad is right there, and he can see Nate suffering, and there is absolutely nothing he can do about it.

3. Couldn’t resist throwing in a version of the Peanut Butter MRE Temper Tantrum lol. I am at heart a giant sap and I do love writing them joking around and just being incredibly fond of each other. Because there’s no officer-enlisted divide here, it gives them more room to develop the casual familiarity and vaguely flirtatious banter we see hints of in the show. The spectre of Nate’s Rampancy does cast a pall over the whole thing, but it wouldn’t be Generation Kill without some serious mood whiplash. Speaking of which…

4. Hello and welcome to my impromptu TED Talk on the Insane Fucking Lore behind the SPARTAN-II program! (On all levels except physical I am this Brian David Gilbert Unraveled video). That’s right: the Spartan-IIs were kidnapped from their families at the age of six and, to avoid suspicion, replaced by clones implanted with their memories who would die within months due to congenital health issues caused by the cloning process. And as Nate points out, the UNSC didn’t even have the justification of the Covenant War, because that hadn’t started yet! They did this shit because various colony worlds wanted independence from the United Earth Government – but that would negatively affect the economy, so apparently the only two options available were ‘bloody civil war costing billions of human lives’ or ‘covert military operations to quash nascent insurrectionist uprisings, carried out by fucking child soldiers who we put through brutal training and experimental bio-augmentations that killed or permanently maimed like half of them’.

So, uh. That’s fucked! And what’s wild is that even though this has been a feature of the expanded universe since the beginning, it’s something that’s barely ever touched on in the games. Nate only knows about it because he went snooping for Brad’s unredacted file not long after they met for the first time (based on Cortana doing the same in the Halo prequel novel The Fall of Reach). For what it’s worth, Brad’s stated mindset is pretty typical of how the Spartans themselves feel about the whole thing: it’s been normalised for them because it’s the only life they know.

Nate, meanwhile, is understandably horrified, and it’s clear they both recognise the parallels between their experiences – the UNSC took away Nate’s autonomy too, by the very act of his creation. In between the Gravemind and the Rampancy, it’s something he’s been increasingly struggling with: that he was brought into being as a fully-formed person to serve a specific purpose, with the knowledge that he’d only have an operational lifespan of seven years before his systems started to decay irreparably. I can’t put it better than the Gravemind did (courtesy of the Halo short story Human Weakness by Karen Traviss): “Your creators made you separate. They placed a barrier between you and the beings that you would be encouraged to protect, a wall you could never breach. They even gave you a human to centre your existence upon, a human to care about, yet never considered how you might feel at never being able to simply touch him. Or how he might feel about outliving you.”

Damn are you guys seeing this shit? This is fucking crazy! Anyway I’m Rod Serling

5. Rule number one of Valiant: Brad does not know that he’s in love with Nate. Ya boi is pining without even realising that he’s pining. This isn’t a reflection of how I most commonly interpret canon – I look at show!Brad and I’m like ‘yeah, there’s a guy who’s 100% self-aware that he’s simping for his platoon commander’ – but in this AU, the Spartans’ lack of normal human socialisation has left him without any practical life experience of things like romance, so he’s just not quite able to put a name to those feelings. Yet, anyway.

As for Nate? I’ve been writing under the assumption that he is aware of his own feelings, but isn’t totally sure of Brad’s. I reckon he probably has a good enough read on Brad to at least suspect that Brad might reciprocate if made aware of the situation, but without any way to be certain, Nate’s unlikely to bring it up. Even I’m not fully decided on when Nate’s Moment of Realisation was. I do have a few ideas, but it’s not a detail that’s ever specifically relevant to the fic, so feel free to speculate.

In conclusion: …idk man, it’s been a year since I wrote this and I don’t completely hate it yet so. that’s probably a good sign, right? sorry for rambling it will happen again

#me 🤝 jen -> answering these like four days late #on the other hand it’s taken so long that ao3 is back up now. meaning interested parties can actually refer back to the fic #and (maybe. hopefully) figure out wtf oscar’s rambling about this time #thanks for enabling me though! i appreciate any opportunity to be completely incoherent #asks #oscar writes fic #valiant tag

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cinnnam0nngir16 · 1 year

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Analysis of Lady Lazarus, by Sylvia Plath

A successful text is able to establish multiple layers of meanings, especially when the meanings develop further beyond the pre-existing understanding of society of the reader. These texts conceptualise big, abstract ideas by forming connections between each layer, gradually revealing the big message. An example of this is the compelling poem written by Sylvia Plath in 1962, a few months before her eventual suicide: Lady Lazarus. The poem discusses the speaker’s morbid desire to die and the darkness of gender oppression. Ultimately, she explores the voyeurism in society, entertainment and trauma, and the relationship between art, poetry and pain. Plath not only criticises society for its grisly fascination with trauma, but also casts a sarcastic remark towards herself, exploring and challenging the nature of art and torture. This poem contains vivid, graphic descriptions that are fascinating to read, bitter irony and confronting criticism of society. In this essay, I will be discussing how the poem expands to a wider context, and why it’s important to the reader’s engagement of learning.

When reading Plath’s literature, what strikes the readers into ruminations about female identity, death and society isn’t simply the depth of each leaping image, but the dark irony and cynicism that hides between the lines. It is fairly easy to get a grasp of the basic level of the understanding of society -- its voyeuristic interest in the speaker’s trauma and society’s exploitation of pain. A line that encapsulates this is:

“A peanut crunching crowd/shoves into see/them unwrap me hand and foot.”

The image of a loud, curious and unsatisfied crowd is immediately vivid in front of our eyes. Through “shoves in” and “peanut crunching” we can see that the crowd is not at all bothered by the speaker’s excruciating pain, but are rather eager to get a taste of her suffering. The crowd is hungry for entertainment, it is searching and yearning for something unusual, “fun” and exciting. The crowd symbolises society, naturally, which most times through sarcasm and criticism, the reader is likely to associate these subject matters together. The use of onomatopoeia, with “crunching” demonstrates an unpleasant and disturbing sound/image of chewing and munching. The purpose is to infuriate the reader, which establishes a connection between them and the speaker’s contempt and disgust towards these people. The technique is used to manipulate the readers to share the same emotions with the speaker, helping them to understand her pain: she feels objectified and dehumanised in a society where pain is perceived as a source of pleasure, a distraction for many to see, enjoy and have a laugh upon. Plath’s own experience and the speaker’s cynicism are interwoven throughout the poem -- the absurdity of making my pain your source of pleasure! The speaker criticises society’s exploitation of her trauma and her crippling depression, reinforcing the first layer of understanding where the readers are likely to unveil society’s voyeurism and the exploitation of pain, that people long for others misfortune just to feel better about themselves.

However, as the poem carries on, society’s voyeuristic interest in pain and drama develops into something more profound, bizarre and even sinister. The reader sees that the speaker falls through the hole of society’s voyeurism and becomes a part of it herself. This level of understanding is less conspicuous than the first, because it reflects upon the experiences and trauma of Plath herself. A line that shows this is:

“Dying is an art/just like everything else/I do it exceptionally well.”

Art and poetry are beautiful subject matters, when being compared to death through the use of metaphor, they seem rather morbid, and the speaker’s sarcasm leaps off the page. The speaker herself has become a performer, an actress, a director of her own sorrow: she crafts and stages her obsession with death as something dramatised, theatricalised, like a play, to appeal to a specific group of audience, to appeal to a society which she critiques about: a society which its atrocious need for entertainment, preferably something thrilling, dark and morbid. Lady Lazarus, the name itself sounds like a stage name. The speaker/Plath uses the metaphor to reveal the hidden criticism of herself, she directs a scathing self mockery towards her own occupation as a poet: she is inspired by her pain and trauma, and her poems and literature are strengthened by these striking and powerful elements. Does this make her a hypocrite, hiding in the peanut crunching crowd? This layer of meaning is deeper than the understanding of society, it forms a close association to Plath’s personal life. Her poems appeal to those she critiques about in her work: those who get entertainment out of her misery and depression. But what does that make her -- the very hypocrite that directs and stars all this mischief? To some extent, she enjoys the spotlight, the fame and the attention that the exploitation of her own pain and trauma brings her: to appeal to a society which she despises, whilst benefiting from the fame and status her poetry brings her. It is a cycle of abuse which she cannot escape. A sense of conflicting emotions are conveyed to the readers, they are able to feel her gripling hopelessness and despair. It is fascinating and controversial how the extension of her sarcasm is also cast towards all artists that exploitate themselves to get inspired and create art -- that pain and art are closely connected, that without a great deal of torture and suffering, their art cannot be extraordinary. From Van Gogh’s similar experiences with mental illness, to Beethoven’s stubbornness in the face of his fatal impairments. Artists, for centuries have suffered, thrived and succeeded, in a society that embraces their flaws, insanity and indifference, a society that feasts upon trauma and pain.

The poem of Lady Lazarus has helped the reader understand very important ideas. The build up of each layer is able to assist the reader to look further beyond what they already knew -- anything about society, but to challenge and reflect these messages upon themselves. Sylvia Plath was not the first person to criticise society for its cruelty, but the reflections she painted in the poem aids the reader to look further into her personal life and its relationship with art and poetry. The text challenges and questions the occupation of artists, and source of inspiration and creativity behind art. Ultimately, she reveals the abusive cycle of which many artists cannot escape, the exploitation of themselves and a society that feeds off people’s pain and trauma as a source of entertainment. Analysing the poem from a different perspective and reading beyond the primary level of understanding has helped me shed new light on the poem, and Plath as an artist.

#sylvia plath #poetry #literature #tortured artist #lady lazarus #poems and poetry

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voudeer · 18 days

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General thoughts.

Okay so this is going to be the big official Alastor info post covering portrayal notes and other little bits and pieces about the muse in an effort to give myself and others a reference on how i plan to write him and a little bit of info that i think is important to cover for good faith and transparency reasons. Due to some of the sensitive nature of this post please read on with caution. This post contains mentions of creatures in native Americana folklore and mythology. Out of respect these creatures names will be censored and will be mentioned as little as possible, however I believe it is necessary to cover them in some way as they are canonlogically stated to be sources of heavy inspo for the character which is very obvious to the text. The post also contains mentions of real life bigotry and religion, so please read on with caution !

Lets get the messy stuff out of the way first. I know its been admitted that Alastor takes heavy inpso from W*ndigo but I actually personally think Alastor is infinitely more similar to the slightly less popular mythology of Sk*n W*lk*rs and I am pointing this out souly because of how many similarities there is in Alastor’s design / history and these creatures as opposed to the fandoms silly obsession with him literally being a W*ndigo which he's actually literally not and which is very disrespectful all around so no, I will not be portraying Alastor as actually either of these creatures and anyone in the fandom trying to say this is what he literally is, is factually wrong on multiple levels. He’s a demon. Folks really have no reason not to leave it at that, god.

Anyway, in the same vein I am not Navajo and I don��t want to be disrespectful to Navajo culture so I’ll always do my best to keep things tasteful and vague, which is why I am also censoring the names of both the creatures in question here and this will be the last time I actually mention either of them if I can help it. However, that being said, Sk*n W*lk*rs, or their basic concepts, are not entirely unique to Navajo culture. There are extremely similar beings found in the folklore of various indigenous and even African cultures, which I know because I am both lmao.

So yeah, another inpso stated for the character was Dr. Facilier, and this actually furthers the fact that there is almost infinite similarities between Alastor and Sk*n W*lk*r myths, while the same can’t be said about the W*ndigo. The only similarities Alastor has with W*ndigo are the bastardisations of W*ndigo in popular horror media which came about due to frequently being mixed with and confused with Sk*n W*lk*rs. In fact almost all popular media’s take on W*ndigo’s freaky traits aside from the cannibalism are actually attributed more to Sk*n W*lk*rs and are not traditional to W*ndigo themselves. For example, W*ndigo actually have nothing to do with deer or stags and do not resemble them in any way. These likeness are traced back to a very old movie where inspo for the appearance of the creature was taken from werewolves, but anyway, moving on and back to Dr. Facillier

The other thing I want to mention is that its been made pretty clear that Alastor is, in fact, a “witch doctor” type of character. He is a bokor. He is more so than anything heavily linked to vodou / “voodoo” which is actually another complication with the character as the “voodoo” we see with Alastor is what we call “hollywood voodoo” which is pretty much a racist parody and demonization of voodoo sensationalized by white folks for media. If not obvious the problem here is vodou / voodoo is an African religion. Its an actual legitimate religion and popular portrayals of it being evil, scary dark magic is both totally false and also extremely racist and disrespectful. Vodou / voodoo practitioners are still victims of hate crimes to this very day.

So, again, without trying to be insane and going too far into all the bad parts of all this and being overly critical of everything, I want to state up front that while I cannot remove these things from the character entirely I’ll do my best to handle them in a way that hopes to minimize any offence. To start with I wont be portraying Alastor’s magic as “voodoo” as such. I’ll be placing it down to hoodoo which is more general occult and less associated to the actual religion. That being said given these things will always be related in someway, what does draw from voodoo I will try to handle in a more empowering way as opposed to a demonizing way, although I realize that may seem contradictory when Alastor is a literal demon.

But I feel like I can kinda lessen the negative parts of this with the fact that, imo, Alastor is a poc. For me he is very much mixed race but its not exactly a perfect secret that Alastor’s not white. In my personal headcanon his mother was of African decent and most likely practised voodoo in its true form as a religion, where Alastor learned what he did to use in his own personal way, removed from the actual religion. This makes the most sense to me given voodoo is an exclusive religion and you don’t just sign up and you’re in. Its usually passed down.

I also wanna just share a quote from an anthropologist that studied this stuff named ira lowenthal. This is in regards to the origin of voodoo and its practise among African slaves.

““they were treated as cattle. As animals to be bought and sold; worth nothing more than a cow. Often less. Vodou is the response to that. Vodou says ‘no, i’m not a cow. Cows cannot dance, cows do not sing. Cows cannot become god. Not only am i a human being - i’m considerably more human than you. Watch me create divinity in this world you have given me that is so ugly and so hard. Watch me become god in front of your eyes.”“

This is kind of where my head is at when I say I come at the strong influence and direct display of voodoo in Alastor’s entire existence with a more empowering approach as opposed to something innately bad / scary / evil. Because I know while Alastor is a demon he is using his powers to navigate hell in a comfortable way, taking down powerful demon overlords as opposed to being downtrodden and treated as a lowly human soul. I think as a poc who lived in the 1910s-1930s Alastor is very used to tackling and navigating oppression and having others think they can push him around as a result, only for him to continually subvert this via his own cunning and merit.

Also to put it out there I made another post wondering if/how this stuff will be addressed in canon ( deleted it I guess, smh ) cause the fact of the matter is Alastor’s “voodoo” is displayed in canon with literal veves ( These are real veves. Some of them are broken or drawn slightly differently to irl but they are the real thing, none of them are fictional or ‘made up’ veves. )

so what Alastor is suppose to be doing when his powers come up is “”voodoo””. As a result Alastor’s powers are, obviously imo, not drawing from hell. They seem to draw from within himself / he's accessing another realm. Which explains a lot about his powers and how powerful he is and was able to become rapidly despite being a “human soul” and the canon having noted the kind of power Alastor was able to wield from day one being unheard of for a human soul. But yeah, not sure how or if this is gonna get addressed but I’ll be interested to see if it does.

So now that thats all out of the way I’m gonna go back over my other more general notes for him. I don’t claim to know all the Alastor trivia or anything so I might be missing some things but its fine, I like to just make stuff up in the meantime so until canon starts giving me some more solid content for Alastor, these are just some thoughts in various states of development:

A lot of this was mentioned on my old multi but I’m gonna use this post cover some stuff I’ve already mentioned, to update some things and to add some new things :

I like to view Alastor in life as having some relationship with medicine but I think the decision I’ve come to is that Alastor was less a legitimate physician and more an unlicensed surgeon. I think Alastor may have perhaps aspired to be more of a real physician but never actually made it to being a legitimate medical practitioner, despite his talent. That being said, it wouldn’t have been unusual to find Alastor preforming “back ally” procedures for the rich and the criminally inclined alike. Alastor was perhaps best described as a jack of all trades, with vaguely con-man tendencies. He knows the hustle. This ability to do a “little bit of everything” meant Alastor would occasionally “preform” in small time theatre. This was actually where he was picked up by a radio station and employed as a host as this was a fairly common occurrence at the time.

As its also been stated that he was a serial killer with a twisted moral code but I’ll touch on this in a little bit. Its been said Alastor is a man of duality and I think him presenting himself as clean cut, well bread radio host by day with some secretive sketchy hobbies that lead to him being a somewhat “” satanic ”” butcher by night as his demeanor fits in well with this theme. Duality is also a common theme in voodoo and the beliefs and spirits therein.

In my mind one of Alastor’s good qualities is that he is fiercely anti-misogyny which brings me to Alastor’s odd moral code. He has a deep seated hatred for men who treat women badly. Despite all the underhanded and bad things Alastor has done and is capable of doing, Alastor was very against abuse toward women. In my portrayal none of Alastor’s victims were / are women, they are all men and violence / disrespect toward women was a big factor in Alastor’s choice of victim. Alastor was noted to have a very close / fond relationship with his mother which is a factor in where his deep respect of women stems from.

In my eyes Alastor’s father was possibly French and white, though I’m not sure if he knew him very well or if he was in Alastor’s life at all. Alastor himself is white passing or ‘racially ambiguous’, something which he was able to use to his advantage in the white man’s world but that being said, given Alastor is not actually white, his fairer skin and more European eccentric features could only take him so far. Therefore he is very understanding of and sympathetic toward the struggles of “less fortunate”, poc and women alike and he is very anti-racism as well as quite keyed in to classism during his time as he is intimately familiar with these struggles. One of the reasons Alastor was successful on and chosen for radio was because no one could actually see him, meaning his racial ambiguity was further pronounced and many would assume Alastor was white or by hearing his voice would have no reason to imagine him as anything else. Again, quite common at the time.

As mentioned in another post, Alastor’s the kind of guy women feel safe around, which has translated to his demon form and life, which probably feels a little odd to start with because most know him as the terrifying radio demon, which there is literal warnings about all over hell, yet he def doesn’t exert any real aura of danger toward female / fem identifying folks, aside from knowing his reputation, they don't feel any reason to be afraid of him, which only gets better with time but none really know how to categorize him. He doesn’t really fit the gay bestie category and he's not exactly a boyfriend, although some of them might want to think that way in the end, no one has ever been able to actually tie him down. ( I have a whole other headcanon about this to post later tbh )

Another something to add to this is that while Alastor is very anti violence and disrespect toward women he is a mischievous trickster type creature. He will torment women, playfully and he will manipulate them to achieve his own goals ( see Charlie and Vaggie, respectfully ). He doesn’t mean them real harm, of course. Further, given Alastor lived roughly through the late 1910s and died in the early 30s, yes he does so some things that might be considered a little sexist. He puts women in dresses and he tends to refer to them with lots of pet names “darling, dear, doll, belle, sweetheart etc”. He means this in an endearing way and not in a degrading way however, despite the fact it can and probably does come off as such. I’m also not going to say he would correct it immediately if told about it, not because he’s trying to be an ass but more because of habit. Its been noted that Alastor’s a little “stuck” in his ways.

On to the next thing I’m not here to erase peoples sexualities so ofc he's asexual and grey aromatic. He can have queer platonic relationships and all but he's not at all interested in sex ( He’s kind of touch adverse + a bit sex repulsed, actually ) his stance on romance is less repulsed and more just vague disinterest. He’s preferential to women in all ways but i’m not gonna say that's an inflexible preference given his general disinterest either way. On that note, Alastor doesn’t label himself as ace/aro or aspec because he just doesn’t know that exists and even if he did he’d probably reject it. It wasn’t a part of his time and Alastor can be a little bit snooty about things that didn’t exist as he knew them. Again, hes a bit stuck in his ways.

For Alastor himself he describes himself as having other engagements and this might change if he finds the “right” one, but he also takes some type of comfort in the idea in the back of his mind that the ‘right one’ doesn’t / cant exist for him. Though his logic for that is because he’s a demon and all that kind of stuff has passed him / the others by. He hasn’t had any “real” relationships in his demon life but Alastor does kind of “preform” romance or behave in a way that suggests he's open to it but he never really leaves the ‘courtship’ stage into a real relationship with anyone, which has so far been the case. Strangely enough he does have an ‘ideal’ relationship in his mind but he doesn’t find anyone will ever measure up to it.

Its unclear if Alastor is actually open to romance in some way or if this exists for him due to heavy societal pressure ( Thankfully lessened by hell ) and a vague desire to conform. Personally i’m just going to see where / how this develops before i decide which one is most true for alastor. I know Alastor does at least experience some kind of sensual attraction and behaves as such given, contrary to his own dislike of being touched, he does seem to like to be a bit touchy with others. This is however mostly reserved for people he likes or initiates with.

Other things to note for Alastor is he is indeed very duplicitous as previously mentioned. Despite his well put together and dandy outward demeanour he is actually very feral for lack of a better way to put it. He may dress well and speak / act gentlemanly but this is mostly a façade Alastor puts on as during his time period this behaviour was accorded to the wealthy and the powerful and Alastor was a very fake it till you make it type personality. Indeed, a majority of Alastor’s outward demeanour is fake. Its a show intended to fool others on all levels, again, because Alastor relates speaking, dressing and behaving pleasantly as reflective of high power and status. His near constant smile exists for exactly the same reason. It displays power and dominance to him.

Alastor’s reality is that he is very bloodthirsty, deceitful and violent. His true self is mischievous and he frankly seems to enjoy causing harm as he finds it amusing, though he has fully convinced himself that his victims are completely deserving, which just makes it even more fun to torment them. In complete contrast to Alastor’s polite exterior he is ready and willing to throw down at a moments notice. Related are his yellow teeth, that are like that not for a demonic aesthetic per-se but actually because his oral hygiene sucks, he’s got yellowed teeth and bad breath, another canon fact. He has no problem taring his victims apart and eating them right on the spot. Indeed, Alastor eats mostly meat which he prefers to eat raw, and while Alastor may not have been a “cannibal” in life ( I actually think this bit of trivia maaaybe on the debatable side ) he’s 100% cannibalistic as a demon.

I have a vague idea of how Alastor’s death went down based on the little trivia notes given, although I don’t think i’m going to follow canon to the letter but we’ll see. Rather, i’m toying with the idea of him being “ hunted ” , perhaps by a mob of townsfolk who suspected him of his crimes, given the other titbit of information about him being a serial killer -- I have vague ideas of him attempting to escape through the wilderness which might have worked out if not for the dogs that tracked him. -- which could potentially be where his deer-like attributes as a demon stem from, as Alastor wouldn’t have looked like a deer in life ( unsure if he had shapeshifting abilities in life, however, i don’t think so, though.).

I’m going for it to be symbolic of the hunter becoming the hunted and more broadly of Alastor’s polite, friendly demeanour in life having hidden the monster he truly was. Also kind of a sick hell-brand irony given Alastor’s favorite meal / meat as a human was ( and still is ) venison.

Aside from this, alator’s beef with dogs for me stems from them being harder for him to fool. Humans were easy, but dogs always seemed to know exactly what he really was and tended to act frightened / aggressive toward him, meaning they could alert their owners / others to the danger of alastor, which they otherwise might not have picked up on till it was too late. Its noted he’s not afraid of dogs, he simply dislikes them so this is how i’m thinking i’ll explain that aspect of him as well.

And heres another messy hc drop of a bunch of thoughts on Alastor added to this post for convivence sake.

Alastor was never really interested in medicine for the purpose of helping people. He might have liked to think that but really Alastor’s interest in medicine was more to fuel his morbid fascination with death and dismemberment, hence his stint as a back ally surgeon. Alastor had genuine talent and he was damn efficient in his work, his skill, precision and overall good rapport made others think Alastor had a lot of care and passion toward helping his patients but rather it was the opposite that gave Alastor a lot of talent in this field. It was his hidden callous disregard for his penitents and this his ability work with very little stress or concern that made Alastor a “skilled surgeon.” this was never an official job of his though. It was something he dabbled in when he was younger, again, more to slate a morbid fasciation than to genuinely help people and to make a quick buck.

Nextly, Alastor doesn't appear on camera + tv. I mean, he does, but he doesn't. He tends to translate in a very distorted manner. If you were to take a picture of Alastor or try to record a video of him he will be a distorted figure, looking like a static glitch as oppose to his “true” self. “”modern”” technology doesn’t register alastor. Its another part of his demonic affliction and he does have a lot of resentment for it which, imo, ties into his dislike of Vox and of modern technology in general.

Alastor has a type of influence over sound however and can essentially manifest / project his voice wherever he wants. His voice is not necessarily attached to him, meaning, he can speak while seemingly not being physically present. Alastor’s voice is a supernatural manifestation and works independently of his body. Though he is used to moving his mouth to speak he doesn’t have to and sometimes his mouth movements can be off in contrast to what he’s saying. Its a very strange and off putting thing to witness.

The little deer hoof prints at the bottom of his “shoes” are the demonic representation of Alastor’s tap dancing skill from his human life. Tap dancers have little metal plates on the soul and heel of their shoes, Alastor’s are simply shaped like the hooves of a deer because demon aesthetics really go hard in the hazbin universe. This gives Alastor the ability to tap-dance whenever and otherwise further likens him to a deer as he makes a little tapping sound when he walks, invoking the impression of a deer's hard hooves moving over a solid surface.

Alastor was born in the late 1800s. His popular fan given age is early 30s but i think Alastor was more mid 30s personally, ( maybe like 33 or 34 ) either way, for him to have died in his 30s in 1933 he would have been born in somewhere in the late 1800s, like about 1898 at least, which is actually very important because i’ve seen people say Alastor is from the 30s which isn’t entirely true. The peek of his life would have been the 20s and his most formative years would have been the late 1900s. He died in the early 30s so he only actually experienced 3 years of “the 30s”.

Alastor has a lot of resentment for his death. He was, in my headcanon, essentially lynched. Not only does Alastor not like the manner of his death but doesn’t like the fact that he thinks it was premature, purely for the fact he really had a lot more murders he’d like to have committed ! Which to him meant there was more life he wanted to experience. That being said, Alastor doesn’t dislike his time in hell. He quite enjoyed it at first. His only problem is that he’s become bored and honestly after decades of balling too hard most of the other demons in hell are deathly afraid of him, going as far as to hang warning about him all over hells streets, which makes entertaining himself hard as very few have the balls to actively engage him.

Alastor’s patron sin, if not obvious, is the sin of wrath.

Wrath often reveals itself in the wish to seek vengeance in its purest form, wrath presents with injury, violence, and hate that may provoke feuds that can go on for centuries. Wrath may persist long after the person who did another grievous wrong dies. "if anger reaches the point of a deliberate desire to kill or seriously wound a neighbour, it is gravely against charity; it is a mortal sin." hatred is the sin of desiring that someone else may suffer misfortune or evil and is a mortal sin when one desires grave harm

Alastor’s name translates to avenger / vengeful spirit. Its a name that has been given to spirits, typically of the demonic kind sent to avenge / attack / destroy those who invoke the ire of others after doing them harm. In origin and meaning the name Alastor is considered on par with the greek goodness nemesis, a deity who enacts retribution upon others. This is incredibly on point for Alastor as it was heavily implied if not confirmed that Alastor’s motive as a serial killer was to kill those he deemed wicked / corrupt / villainous toward those he deemed innocent / oppressed.

Again, we’ve seen in canon that Alastor largely considers violence / abuse toward women as a grave misdeed and will actively murder and cannibalise other demons if he catches them participating in harming / assaulting women. There has been lots of other canon indicators that Alastor protects women and has a much better / stronger rapport with them than with men who he conversely doesn’t respect at all.

We’re unsure its only displays of misogyny that set Alastor off or if Alastor in general defends those he views as oppressed / victims. I like to think the latter as tbh Alastor enjoys murdering and if he can find a “good reason” to kill he’s more than happy to indulge himself, its not exclusively restricted to witnessing acts of misogynistic violence or assult.

All this being said, Alastor doesn’t view himself as a good person. He’s aware of what sin he repeatedly commits, the sin that got him dammed to hell, he enjoys it and he actively chose it knowing the “ consequences ” it has on his own soul. He’s basically at peace with his actions and doesn’t / never expected not to go to hell or to have a ‘lesser’ punishment due to the fact he was technically murdering ‘bad’ people or people who “deserved” it. This is also why he's completely uninterested in redemption because Alastor can’t look at his own actions, feel regret, feel remorse, or promise he has any intentions to never do it again. And this is also why Alastor tends to look so far down his nose at most other sinners.

Lastly i like to think while Alastor was cut down in “his prime”, again, something he resents, he did get a few good murders to his name and some small infamy as a human / in the human world for them (though nothing compared to what he planned or would have wanted). I haven't decided on Alastor’s serial killer moniker yet or too many details other than i think Alastor was a simultaneously calculated and opportunistic killer and was incredibly savage in the sense that he didn’t have one special method of murder and it wasn’t a ‘clean’ thing for him.

He preferred bladed weapons like knives, hatchets, axes and so on in comparison to guns though. Even just a nice blunt object was favored. Some of Alastor’s killings were more contained / ritualistic, while others were just frenzied and characterized by their extreme violence / gore. As a result while Alastor didn’t have a huge kill count to his name the killings that were attributed to him were ghoulish and inspired much fear and revolution. I also like to think there is some debate as to whether or not Alastor was the killer given Alastor’s outward demeanor vs the murders he committed didn’t seem to line up and some like to speculate that well put together gentleman like himself couldn’t have been responsible.

#headcanons

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erinhime83 · 9 months

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Its that time again for some Division designs! I sort of go derailed from doing these thanks to the WfS rewrites, but I am determined not to wait another year to do the Cataclysm sequel, so here we are. Three months out and me freaking out about the last couple of design pictures I need to do, lol. These are simple and easy to do once I start on them, and they look neat, but it’s just the getting started that gets me, lol.

So these two are the first minor characters that I’ve done. They sort of straddle the line – they’re not important enough for me to consider being major characters, but they’re not shoved to the back burner, so to speak. But the fact that they are minor characters is probably why I was dragging my feet, since I had to figure out their style and all.

So first we have Felix, whose the second in command of the Lolita team, so he’s featured quite a bit. When I first created him, he was supposed to be someone who simply did not like Nova for whatever reason. He was supposed to be pretentious and an ass, thinking her newbie status was going to get in the way. He’s still a bit pretentious, but as soon as I started writing him, all aspects of him being an ass disappeared and he somehow gained respect for Nova and I started to like him. I mean, considering he’s on a lower tier team by choice would sort of suggest that he’s not completely full of himself.

He’s supposed to serve as the more grounded team leader, the one who understands their situation rather than be mad about their status. They should be a top tier team, none of them truly want that, because they have seem how pretentious and annoying those teams can be. Felix was drafted to the same team Astrid was on when they first started, and he’s like the only person who doesn’t view her powers as creepy and villain material, which is why he agreed to join her when she started her team.

I do see Felix as being a bit fashionable – he and Astrid have similar tastes – so I sort of slapped something hipster-y on him and I sort of like it? It suits him, in any case. The rest of him’s so dark that the green just pops, lol.

As for his Storm King uniform, I didn’t design it, sadly, but it looks so much cooler than anything I would have come up with. Granted, being as self-important that he is, you’d think he’d have a more complicated and expensive uniform, but I guess he just figures to stay on the level’s he’s at, and hey, what works, works. He looks cool, and that’s all that matters.

The next one is Ethan, who is a fun character to think of scenarios with. Too bad I couldn’t put them all in the first book, lol. I’m not sure where the idea came from originally, but I loved the idea of the rest of his team claiming that his superpower was ‘laziness’ because he didn’t want to do anything, and also that he was forced to join by his parents. And the idea that Blake is basically his keeper, frustratingly trying to get him to do anything.

But the thing is his power is super cool and useful and unusual. Blake feels he has potential, which is why he keeps pushing him, and Ethan isn’t completely disinterested in the idea of being a hero, or else he wouldn’t listen. It’s mostly that Ethan is a bit of a loner who would rather be doing anything else, but he’s slowly warming up to the team and the idea of being a hero.

And then the fight at the gala happened, and he had his first real taste of being a hero, and, well, Cosmic Star herself complimented his powers, so now he’s making more of an effort. (Blake is a little worried that Ethan might be scooped up by a better team now that he’s Making An Effort, but he doesn’t need to worry, since Ethan wouldn’t want to acclimate to a new team.)

His style seemed easy enough – I ended up aging him down from what I originally had him at so he was younger than Nova, and sticking him in skater teen fashion just made sense. It works well with him and his personality!

AND THEN there’s his redesigned uniform. I had always planned on Ethan getting a little more serious after Cosmic Star complimented him, and I realized last year that it should mean he has a new uniform, so I had to go and actually think about what he’s wear. I’d imagine his parents were still the ones who designed it for him, lol. It’s simple, but he looks really cool now. Definitely more like a hero than some dude who threw something together. I really like it.

So yeah, the first of the minor characters. So more should be coming soonish, just so I can get all this done and over with.

#my art #designs #cataclysm #felix #storm king #ethan #vine guy

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search-and-rescue · 10 months

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What is a firefighter

What is a firefighter? To often people see that big red truck and think of how cool it is and that they are hero’s. But nobody sees the other side of what it means to be a hero. When you think about a firefighter you think of a group of guys sitting around the firehouse eating and cracking jokes, but it is so much more than that. Early in my career when I started off as a volunteer, I searched for that part of the job and saw that there is so much more to it. As i progressed on to become a career firefighter, i learned the ins and outs of what it takes to be a firefighter or as some call it, a hero. Being looked on as a hero is not an easy title to hold and its a hard thing to feel. Sure you sit around the firehouse but its not always that way. Some days we are running all day and sometimes we have nothing to do.

When people find out that we did nothing all day it upsets them that we are getting paid to just sit around all day. What people do not understand is that when you don’t see a firetruck running down the street with its lights and sirens going, thats a good thing. The firehouse is our second home and we treat it that way. Cooking and cleaning is something we do all day just as if we were at home. But when the bells ring we have to shut the oven off or drop the mop and get out the door to answer that emergency. To many times an emergency comes and the first thing the public thinks is to call the fire department. But why is that the first thought? In the fire academy you have to take three important classes. Firefighter one and two along with driver operator. Put the wet stuff on the red stuff is something that an old school instructor would say to my academy class. That is not the way of the firefighter anymore. We are looked on as jacks of all trades and we are expected to be masters of them all. Firefighters are men and woman that learn the basics of put the wet stuff on the red stuff until we are put out on the streets. That is when the real training can begin. At one time a firefighter was just that, but over the years we have been introduced into the world of EMS. Some places only require you to be an EMT but others look to have their crew certified as a Paramedic.

A paramedic in just an advanced level provider from an EMT. Sometimes when the tones go off for a medical call it is just a simple run of the mill call. But at times we are faced with something we have never seen before other than in the movies. From a simple fall and needing help back into bed, to a cardiac arrest. But when that call comes out we never know what exactly we are walking into. Shortness of breath is a very common call for ems. When you think about it, sure someone is having trouble breathing, Just give them oxygen. My first year on the job I was in the middle of checking my truck off so i could eat breakfast when a call came in for shortness of breath. My Captain at the time was on the truck with me. EMS was not something he enjoyed doing but it was the nature of the beast. He said ill drive for the day and make dinner tonight if you ride in all the calls. If you ever tasted his cooking you would understand why i agreed to this. On our way to the call I asked the captain if he could just set up the stretcher for me and I will go inside and see what is going on. The Dispatcher told us that the woman had pressed her life alert button and said she couldn't breath. Run of the mill call. Someone can’t breath so when we get there we will fix it. When we pulled on scene i got out of the truck and the captain said ill be in after i get the stretcher set up for you. At that same time the engine was pullin up. In most small departments an engine will go with the ambulance on medical calls in the event that we any assistance. I told the backstep firefighter to help the captain get the stretcher and the lieutenant on the engine to come with me inside. When i walked into the house the woman who called us for help was slumped back in the couch and was a flushed blue color. I didn’t hear any breath sounds and when i checked for a pulse, i felt nothing. At this point i advised dispatch of a working cardiac arrest. The back step guy helped me get the patient onto the floor so CPR could be started. The rest of the crew walked into the room and began helping me with what i needed to do. The captain took a step back so he could get some information for me when the patients daughter arrived on scene. She was coming into town to visit ssith her mother and had two coffees in a drink tray and a bag with food in it from a local coffee shop. WHen she came around the corner she belted out a yelp that will forever be stuck in my memory. A child seeing her parent being worked on by the firefighters and paramedics is something that could never be easy to see. The captain did his best to comfort her and keep her out of the room while we got her mother packaged for transport. We transported the patient to a local hospital but she succumbed to her cardiac event. The moral of me telling you this is that you never know what you are going to be walking into.

When we get out of the fire academy and put on shift, you are expected to show up no less than a half hour early to work so that you can relieve the crew that worked the night before. You are also expected to keep your mouth shut and do the tedious things that need to be done like make coffee. If you are a probationary firefighter or as we call them a proby, and you see a chief or another officer making coffee then you better move your ass and make the coffee. At night time you are expected to do all the chores and some places like to see you make dinner also. What most new guys have a hard time understanding the point behind this. The short of it is to see how much you care about being here. If you can’t be bothered to pick up a mop or refill the coffee pot, then how am I supposed to trust you with my life. This sounds like it may be harsh but its not meant to be that way. During your first week if you are taking the initiative to do these things, then the other guys in the firehouse will notice and will start helping you with the daily duties.

So many times an emergency comes in that we have never seen before but we are expected to make sense of it and mitigate the issue. Jack of all trades. Firefighters come from all different backgrounds. Some carpenters and electricians, plumbing and landscapers, hell some are even cops prior to getting on the job. We are called for service and if we don’t know how to fix the problem then we are going to figure it out. Most firefighters have an overwhelming need to figure something out or try to fix it, even if we know nothing about it. That's what makes the difference between a firefighter and a great firefighter. Someone I trained with early on in my career would always ask me, Are you on the job or are you into the job? I didn't understand what that meant at first because what is the difference? It wasn't long before I learned that there is a huge difference in that statement. Some guys are on this job because it has good benefits and a stable pay check, while others do this job because helping people and needing to fix the issue is what fuels them. Learning every aspect of this job not only so that you can fix things, but so you can help the new men and woman that come into this job become great.

I said before that you are taught three basic things in the academy, because that is what is needed so you can get on the job. But when you step through those doors of the firehouse on your first day the real training begins. Some departments have specialty teams that firefighters join because they like a certain topic. Rope rescues and Hazmat are two big ones that firefighters enjoy and most places have teams for that. Some firefighters are swimmers and some enjoy all the aspects of the technical rescue side of the job. Their is an endless supply of knowledge to take in during your short time in this career. Take as much of it in while you can. Whenever i get a new guy that comes in i tell them to listen and take it all in, ask questions and find someone to stick to. When it comes to your first structure fire dont rush into the scene. Take a minute and look at the building, what is it doing? What are the other guys on the fireground doing. Everyone gets this stigma that you get on scene and need to rush around, but when you rush you forget the basics of the job. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. I always tell them when you get on scene and see the Chiefs and other firefighters running around, look for the guy who is dressed out with his tools, the guy who isnt saying anything but is looking at the building. That is the guy you want with you. The firefighter on scene who is ready to go and is keeping his cool is the guy that is taking in every aspect of the structure taking the time to read the building. That firefighter is the one who is going to keep you level headed if something goes bad and already has a plan A,B,C and D in place. If you have been on this job long enough you know that plan A never works and plan B maybe.

A firefighters instinct is their best asset. Let me give you a scenario. You are called to a working structure fire and you and your partner are assigned to search. When you arrive on scene you see a room that is well off on the second floor on the alpha bravo corner. You make your entry into the first floor and start your search. As your walking to the back of the house you see that there is heavy fire that is spreading rapidly. As you turn around to back out you see that the fire has spread to the front of the house. You have to make a decision that is going to effect your following decision. How much fire is in front of you? Can you make it through without injury? Or do you make your way to the second floor and find a room that you can get out from? Obviously your not going to walk out of the house on the first floor. When you make your way to the second floor you see heavy fire on one side of the hall way and the smoke is banked down to the floor. Did you study your building construction? When you arrived on scene did you take a moment to read the building and make your back up for your back up plans? How far has the fire gone through the floor while it was spreading. As you make your way down the hall way you have to take into account that the fire has grown and when you walked into the house it lit off. When you make your decision to take shelter in a room are you going to fall through the floor because you chose the wrong one? You make the decision to go into the first room but you cant get the door open so you decide to go to the farthest room in the hallway because that is your best chance of survival. No way the fire made it this far through the house. You get into the room and get the door shut and make a search for a window so you can evacuate. Its hot and you feel like you are burning up. You finally remember that you have a radio and that you should call a mayday so that the outside crews know you need help getting out of this building. After making a loop around the room you find a window and take your axe and start banging on it. After the first blow on the window you hear that solid thud. Hurricane glass. If you know anything about hurricane glass its thick and designed to withstand damage. You cant get through this glass, absolutely no way with an axe. But what else are you going to do. You call again on the radio, MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MADAY, with no response. Your outside crew has no idea what is happening to you inside. The door is starting to glow because the fire is growing and taking over the hallway you were just in and soon will take this room with you and your partner inside. What is your plan?

A hero is defined as a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements or noble qualities. Is a firefighter a hero? We dont go to war and fight for our country or keep the peace like the police. But still we are idealized as a hero.

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kristoffersenhoover25 · 1 year

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virtual dj 32 bit windows 10

Is not release of the iPad, exercise routines, meal inevitable that there would soon be a glut of iPad DJ apps being released. After all, the iPad is regarding the same size as a vinyl record or a CDJ head unit. There have been iPad DJ apps released for the iPhone, however the small size of the screen didn't really make them viable as anything much more compared toy. In this article I am going to look at several best iPad DJ apps I have seen to date. When seeking reliable equipment as a Mobile DJ, it's important to look for "name" brand names. Even with name brands, a DJ has possible between lower quality-lower prices, higher-quality, higher-prices. For MP3 and CD Players, names like Gemini and American Audio are cheaper "name" brands but yet lower in quality than Denon or Pioneer. Numark, previously a mid-level quality company may be reaching new technology (check out Newmarks, NS7FX) that is beginning to compete the actual use of big bed room. virtual dj Crack 2023 is difficult to say which are planning to be right games for 3DS, will the very same names top the lists, such as Mario Cart, Super Mario Bros, along with the Resident Evil series? Or will certain games get a new lease of life in 3D? virtual dj Activation Code Free reckon that we will just have to wait and see, as well as the enjoy discovering this. Mario Cart 3DS is tipped to be fairly elevated in the charts, in fact, it is odds on favorite to advance to straight to number a good. That's also why music is the preferred format for radio. Or even rock, pop, folk, classical or country. Or mixed. Most of this modern radio is music. Yes, there is talk radio. Yes, there is sports submitting. Yes, there is news flash. But the vast most of the airwaves -- literal, satellite or virtual -- is adopted with entertainment. Whether or not you stick however purely digital route, it is not difficult to get an idea of methods DJing prepares food by downloading some free (or trial) a software program. virtual dj and Mixxx are different types of free and completely functional DJ software, and more professional-grade software such as Traktor Pro can be tested via free trial offer. Winamp and also the shoutcast DSP plugin "which I'm not going promote how to begin because can be a million websites telling you how as well as all just how to use a search engine right?" Because! This is a great bit of free software and works as a terrific general media player a bit too. I started out my Internet Radio life using winamp and loved the application! Its simple to use and all you do is drag and drop your media and away you decide to! But again the lack of enough be clunky if getting into to live voiceover your songs! 2)Catering - This is really a great place where 100 % possible get creative. Try to incorporate foods that represent the Bar Mitzvah. If his name is Joshua, try serving food that starts off with a J, or food shaped much like J. You will original the grub, much better. Just don't sacrifice taste for ingenuity. Always sample before buying and apart from from allergy causing food. However, there are particular things that you need to keep under consideration while finding a mobile Disc-jockey. First things first, make sure that you've got a first class sound system, computer and internet link with get inquiries. It will be very embarrassing when the music suddenly stops gets disrupted amongst a party or dance session. If you achieve these basics right about mobile DJ, you help to make your party or event the talk of city.

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How To Explain Tulsi Green Tea To Your Boss

Do you want to get constantly mindful of the latest news from the planet of tea? If that is so, you'll like to are aware that the latest scientific reports have discovered that some compounds of white tea may become quite effective for the digestive program.

Although white tea just isn't of the exact same level of popularity as environmentally friendly tea or black tea, little by little, it's been ready to get the public who appreciates its superb medicinal Homes and its delicate taste.

As you should know, this assortment of Camellia sinensis would be the least elaboration system possesses. For that reason, their Homes.

The ancient Chinese Medical doctors currently knew their therapeutic effects on health and fitness, principally to treat unique digestive disorders. This is why they employed it often within their remedies.

How white tea can help in digestion

Has The nice anti-inflammatory ability

White tea includes anti-inflammatory properties to some extent. If your gastrointestinal complications are brought on by swelling due to Crohn's ailment or other persistent ailment, schedule use of the tea could possibly minimize indications.

A analyze carried out inside the yr 2006, revealed while in the journal ¨ Everyday living Sciences ¨ discovered which the white tea extract prevented the event of pancreatitis in rodents. It acted by calming the creation of amylase and lipase.

These two enzymes Perform an essential function in digestion, and their regulation might lower indications in a few disorders. Other than, It will likely be effective in case you are afflicted with flatulence and constipation.

It is a prosperous source of antioxidants

Tea leaves also have antioxidants. The more youthful the sheet, the upper the content of antioxidants. These organic compounds aid avert oxidative destruction that happens within the cells, basically halt the inflammation in advance of it commences.

As tea circulates by your digestive system, it is going to shield the lining of your abdomen and little intestine. This motion is of paramount importance because of the anxiety, while in the organism, large quantities of free of charge radicals originate.

These have as among the list of primary triggers of numerous diseases. Equally physical and emotional tension can be extremely detrimental to digestion, and ailments for example intestinal inflammation and abdomen ulcers can be a immediate consequence of the.

It has a large caffeine material

Its written content existing in white tea can encourage the secretion of gastric juice, Therefore expanding the motion of digestion of foodstuff. Even though this range of tea incorporates a least amount of caffeine, it also contributes to this reward.

However, white tea also possesses in its composition, folic acid, nutritional vitamins and amino acids for instance methionine, cystine, and lecithin, that are incredibly helpful in Excess fat metabolism.

Exactly how much white tea you'll be able to drink each day

Although this tea is rather comfortable, it really is advisable generally to drink tea and herbal infusions sparsely. Take in three to four cups each day of this delightful drink to help you enjoy its Rewards.

Now you might have to think about what tea you're going to just take after meals: white tea of course, right?

Other overall health advantages of Bai Hao Yin Zhen Tea

It stimulates hair development. You will learn the way this healing beverage might help your hair grow wholesome and active in a short time. Also, it might also support reduce some scalp situations.

Combat bags and dim circles. You'll uncover The key this prodigious tea hides, which gives it the ability to eradicate the darkish circles and forestall packets from forming across the eyes. You will also know how to eat it and use it topically to obtain its therapeutic benefits.

It decreases and retards the signs and symptoms of menopause. You'll find out exactly what the factors on the Camellia sinensis tea assortment are that induce this benefit, and simply how much tea you need to consume every day to Obtain your enable.

It helps prevent cardiovascular disease. You are going to know the healing Attributes of the beverage, which can assist you to keep the heart wholesome.

Even by far the most informal customer to Hong Kong simply cannot help but see what a uniquely lively Asian metropolis it really is. Hong Kong is interesting, unique, exotic and welcoming - all rolled into a single. It is essentially Chinese (the vast majority of the people are Cantonese) but many people talk English and Nearly all are engaged in certain form of commerce.

For most people, Hong Kong is a location of attractiveness and pleasure and marvel from your time they get there until finally enough time they leave.

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Hong Kong is made of three parts: Victoria Island and surrounding islands, Kowloon, Positioned over the tip in the peninsula main around mainland China and the remainder of the peninsula referred to as the New Territories. Among Victoria Island and Kowloon was a globe course harbor that put Hong Kong over the map being an entry issue into China.

The principle beverage of option is tea in one kind or A different and all foods are frequently accompanied by pots of steaming very hot black, green or pu-erh tea. Hong Kong has around thirteen,000 restaurants and tea is the most crucial beverage in nearly every one of them.

Tea is greater than a beverage in Hong Kong - It's a method of lifestyle ingrained inside the really essence of your society. But it surely has to be famous that Hong Kong is not really a producer of tea, nor is it simply a purchaser of high-quality Chinese tea.

Hong Kong on the other hand, performed one among An important roles while in the introduction of Chinese tea to the west on the whole and Britain particularly, but this purpose was gained at an incredibly higher price.

Chinese Tea, Hong Kong as well as the British Empire

Over the 17th century Dutch and Portuguese traders launched Chinese tea to the ecu mainland and British traders before long adopted this pattern.

Tea imports grew slowly and gradually in Britain due to substantial taxes on what was viewed as a luxury item and monopolistic trading methods of a little variety of importers just like the John and East India businesses. Tea was so well-liked and demand was so higher, nevertheless that smuggling and adulteration of tea materials turned rampant.

Ultimately, enlightened tax procedures and opening of the channels of distribution transpired, smuggling evaporated and all lessons of your English populace amplified the need for tea, Materials elevated drastically and tea drinking continues to be A part of English tradition until current day.

During the 19th century, China was the leading provider to the British and by 1830 once-a-year imports of Chinese tea into Britain amounted to 30 million lbs of tea or an average of two lbs of tea For each citizen.

In combination with its position in British society as the preferred beverage, tea was critical to British wealth because of the tax revenues it produced along with the wealth offer to impressive British merchant companies.

British Trade

By the center in the nineteenth century Britain was considered the Leading mercantile empire and British manufactured products were bought and traded all through the planet. As a leader in the economic Revolution, Britain developed high-quality client products that served as trading items via outposts strategically located all through the environment.

A lot of of these outposts had been established and supplied through the pretty formidable British army and navy in what would develop into the key element of British Imperialism.

Due to the imbalance of trade due to the ever increasing level of tea imports, Britain was anxious to extend trade with China to equalize trade and clear up its balance of trade deficit. China was viewed by most trade specialists as the world's biggest untapped market place.

Cultural Distinctions, the Demand for Bullion as well as the Opium Wars

Whilst Britain was nervous to trade utilizing its source of manufactured items, China was not. Centered upon a differing cultural perspective whereby merchants and traders ended up considered as Portion of a decreased caste and with distrust. Overseas traders ended up particularly suspect. These traders had been restricted in what products they may offer and exactly where they might market them. Higher duties were imposed by China and traders were being incredibly confined within their enterprise things to do.

Increase to this incontrovertible fact that China was fundamentally a closed society and the result was a Chinese demand that tea profits needed payment in silver bullion in lieu of trade goods. Since Britain did not have ample silver to meet the calls for, a conflict arose. To beat this problem, Britain devised an intense system that integrated the importation of opium and eventually outright warfare.

Within an try to reverse the trade harmony, the British imported growing amounts of opium into China. Opium, a really addictive drug developed while in the Bengal area of India, was controlled by Britain because of the British annexation of Bengal in 1757.

As An increasing number of Chinese turned addicts, the balance of trade reversed. To purchase the climbing volume of opium imports, silver began flowing from China into British coffers. Britain was nonetheless in danger nonetheless, since trade was nonetheless done in mainland China underneath the control of the Chinese Emperor and bureaucracy.

Inside the late 1830s, to suppress the hurt due to opium within the Chinese populace, Chinese officers confiscated and ruined Many chests of opium saved during the English retailers' warehouses in Canton China. Because of these events to the mainland, Britain necessary an offshore foundation of functions less than British Regulate and Hong Kong, then a sleepy fishing village whose most important tulsi green tea benefits export was salt, was an ideal prospect.

Under the directives place forth by Queen Victoria, Britain despatched a naval expeditionary squadron to China. This motion resulted in the primary Opium War (1839-forty two), which China, faced with overpowering armed forces power and troops bolstered from India, lost.

The Treaty of Nanking, which finished the war, compelled the Chinese to open up 5 ports to overseas commerce, abolish the cohong (state trading monopoly program that limited imports), sharply limit the amount of customs duty they could demand, pay an indemnity of 21 million silver bucks, cede the island of Hong Kong to Wonderful Britain and grant not only Great Britain, but also its allies, extraterritoriality, which produced Westerners resistant to Chinese legislation.

On account of the main Opium War, Britain not simply opened trade with China, but established a base of functions in Hong Kong that could continue being right up until the island was returned to China in 1997.

These terms afflicted the common men and women adversely. Unemployment increased significantly, significantly in Canton the place tea investing was A serious company. Smaller, regionally owned industries, unable to contend versus the imported manufacturing facility-produced piece products, declined, depriving numerous peasant households of a very important supply of supplementary cash flow. Taxes soared as The federal government made an effort to raise sufficient resources to pay for the indemnity. And as opium continued to pour into the region, the quantity of addicts multiplied. Millions of lives ended up influenced and sometimes ruined.

Given that the British foothold on Victoria Island and Kowloon was consolidated, the British sought to expand their beneficial place and fought the next Opium War in 1856. Supplied the overwhelming technological benefit of the British the Chinese ended up defeated and were pressured to simply accept a humiliating peace.

With the terms from the Treaty of Tientsin (1858) the Chinese opened new ports to buying and selling and permitted foreigners with passports to travel in the inside. The remainder in the Hong Kong peninsula (The brand new Territories) was ceded to Britain and Christian's attained the best to spread their faith and hold residence, Consequently opening up another implies of western penetration. The United States and Russia attained a similar privileges in different treaties.

Notwithstanding the dislocation and tragedy on the mainland, Hong Kong grew and prospered in a very capitalistic entire world. China continued to put up with below various war lords and revolution and remained a third world place right until a short while ago. Hong Kong having said that became a globe Heart for trade and finance and its citizens prospered. Hong Kong remained under British rule until 1997 when it had been returned as A part of mainland China.

Hong Kong's prosperity continues till existing day nevertheless it acquired its begin with http://edition.cnn.com/search/?text=tulsi green tea the import and export of tea.

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