#the cheating only occured. in theory.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

For 40 years, Big Meat has openly colluded to rig prices

On October 7–8, I'm in Milan to keynote Wired Nextfest.

Noted socialist agitator Adam Smith once wrote, "People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the publick, or in some contrivance to raise prices."

Smith was articulating a basic truth: when an industry grows concentrated, it grows cozy. Cultural differences between dominant firms are homogenized as top executives move from company to company, cross-pollinating attitudes and approaches. Ambituous, firm-hopping workaholic top brass make all their friends at the office, and so their former colleagues from one or two jobs back remain in their social circles.

Once an industry consists of half a dozen firms, the people running those companies constitute an incestuous financial polycule. They are executors of one anothers' estates, best men and maids of honor at one anothers' weddings, godparents to each others' kids. They play on the same softball teams and take family vacations together.

It would be heartwarming if it wasn't so costly to the rest of us. Remember Smith's maxim: "the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the publick, or in some contrivance to raise prices." Class solidarity among corporate executives forms a united front to screw us in every conceivable way, from corrupting our politicians to maiming and cheating workers to gouging buyers.

That's the basis of American antitrust law. When Robert Sherman was stumping for the passage of the Sherman Act, America's first major antitrust law, he thundered "If we will not endure a King as a political power we should not endure a King over the production, transportation, and sale of the necessaries of life. If we would not submit to an emperor we should not submit to an autocrat of trade with power to prevent competition and to fix the price of any commodity":

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/20/we-should-not-endure-a-king/

Or rather, that was the basis of American antitrust law – until the Reagan era, when the fringe theories of the Nixonite criminal Robert Bork were elevated to a new orthodoxy. Under Bork's conception of antitrust, monopolies were evidence of excellence. If a company puts all its competitors out of business, that must mean that it is "efficient."

In Bork's fantasy world, the only way a company could attain dominance is by being so beloved by its customers that every competitor withers away. Governments that bust monopolies aren't protecting the public from "autocrats of trade"; they're overthrowing the winners of an election where you "vote with your wallet" to pick the best company.

But Bork and his co-fantasists couldn't quite manage all that with a straight face. They grudgingly admitted that a certain kind of bad monopolist could hypothetically exist, one that used its "market power" to raise prices or lower quality. Only when these offenses against our "consumer welfare" occurred should the state step in to protect its people.

This may sound good in theory, but in practice, it was a dead letter. The consumer welfare test isn't as simple as "If prices go up after a merger, punish the company." Instead, the government had to prove that the price raises came from "market power," and not from an increase in energy or labor costs, or some other "exogenous factor," like Mercury being in retrograde:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/10/you-had-one-job/#thats-just-the-as

And wouldn't you know it, it turns out that the mathematical models prescribed to distinguish greed from unavoidable circumstance inevitably "prove" that the monopolist wasn't at fault. Surely, it's just just a coincidence that the priesthood that understood how to make and interpret these models were Chicago School Economists who sold model-making as a service to companies that wanted to raise prices.

Pro-monopoly economists insist that this isn't true, and that their theory still has room to prosecute bad monopolies and cartels where they occur – more, they say this is already happening. In particular, they insist that "greedflation" can't be real, because it would require the kind of conspiracy that Smith warned of, and that their sickly antitrust enforcement is sufficient to prevent:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/11/price-over-volume/#pepsi-pricing-power

This strains credulity. After all, the CEOs of giant companies in concentrated industries openly boast to their shareholders about how they've used the covid and Ukraine invasion shocks to hike prices to increase their profit margins – not just cover their additional costs:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/23/cant-make-an-omelet/#keep-calm-and-crack-on

While excuseflation is new, open, naked price-fixing by industry cartels is not. Take the meat-packing industry, dominated by a tiny handful of giant corporations whose executives literally ran a betting pool on how many of their workers would get covid each week while working in their cramped, unventilated factories:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55009228

These companies have seen their margins soar – up 300% over the lockdown – while their payments to ranchers and growers cratered:

https://www.reuters.com/business/meat-packers-profit-margins-jumped-300-during-pandemic-white-house-economics-2021-12-10/

All this might leave one wondering whether there isn't something a little, you know, "conspiracy against the publick"-y going on in Big Meat?

Let me tell you about Agri Stats. Agri Stats has been around since 1985. Every large meat packer pays to be a "member" of Agri Stats, and they each submit weekly, detailed statistics about every aspect of their business: all their costs, all their margins, broken out by category. Agri Stats compiles this into phone-book-thick books that each member gets every week, telling them everything about how all of their competitors are running their businesses:

https://www.agristats.com/history

The companies whose data appears in this book are anonymized, but it's trivial to re-identify each supplier. Tyson execs hold regular "naming process" meetings where they go through new books and de-anonymize the data. A Butterball exec confirmed that he "can pick the companies for rankings with 100% certainty."

As David Dayen writes in The American Prospect, these books are incredibly detailed: "bird weights, freezer inventory, and 'head killed per operating hour.'" Within the cozy meat cartels, Agri Stats acts as a clearinghouse that allows every business in the industry to act in concert, running the entire meat-packing sector as a single company:

https://prospect.org/power/2023-10-03-lawsuit-highlights-why-meat-overpriced/

As interesting as the list of Agri Stats members is, the groups that don't get to see Agri Stats' "books" is just as important: "farmers, workers, or retailers." Agri Stats also offers consulting services to its members. As an exec at pork processor Smithfield put it, Agri Stats advice boils down to four words "Just raise your price."

Agri Stats ranks its members based on how high their prices are – they literally publish a league table with the highest prices at the top. Meat packers pay bonuses to their execs based on how high the company's rank is on that table. Agri Stats meets with its members throughout the year to discuss "price opportunities" and to advise them to "exercise restraint" by restricting supply to keep prices up. When one Agri Stats member considered leaving the cartel, Agri Stats wooed them back by telling them how to make an additional $100k by raising bacon prices.

The reason Dayen is writing about Agri Stats now is that the DoJ Antitrust Division has brought an antitrust suit against them. This is part of a wave of antitrust actions brought by Biden's DoJ and FTC, who, along with his NLRB, are shaping up to be the most pugnacious, public-interest force against corporate power since the Reagan administration:

https://www.meatpoultry.com/articles/29124-doj-sues-agri-stats-for-complicity-in-meat-market-manipulation

All this enforcement isn't a coincidence. It comes from an explicit rejection of neoliberalism's core tenets: inequality reflects merit, monopolies are efficient, and government can't do anything. In Biden's DoJ, FTC and NLRB, they're partying like it's 1979:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/party-its-1979-og-antitrust-back-baby

What's amazing about the Agri Stats conspiracy to raise prices is that it's been going since the Reagan administration. It's a smoking gun proof that "consumer welfare" never cared about price-fixing and robbing the public (can a gun still smoke after 40 years?). There was never a time when consumer welfare antitrust cared about consumer welfare. It was always and forever a front for "a conspiracy against the publick," a "contrivance to raise prices."

Big Meat has been robbing America for two generations. Some of those stolen funds were used to corrupt our political process. The meat sector gets $50 billion in public subsidies and still gouges us on prices and rips off its suppliers:

https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/2022/02/usda-livestock-subsidies-near-50-billion-ewg-analysis-finds

Which means that it's possible that we're simultaneously being ripped off with meat prices and that meat prices are artificially low. Try and wrap your head around that one!

The do-nothing, pro-monopoly neoliberal antitrust is a virus that spread around the world. The EU's antitrust laws were reshaped to mirror American laws after the war through the Marshall Plan, but since the late 1970s, European lawmakers and enforcers have ignored their own laws (just like their American counterparts) and encouraged monopolies as "efficient."

This Made-in-Europe oligopoly, combined with energy and grain shocks from Russian invasion of Ukraine, created the perfect storm for European greedflation. As food prices spiked across the EU, Austrian hacktivist Mario Zechner set out to investigate Austrian grocers' pricing. Using the grocers' own APIs, he was able to compile and analyze a dataset of prices at Austrian grocers:

https://www.wired.com/story/heisse-preise-food-prices/

When Zechner open-sourced his project, collaborators showed up to expand the project across other EU countries, and an anonymous party donated a huge database of prices stretching back to 2017. The data reveals clear collusion among the grocers, who raise prices in near-lockstep, and use gimmicks like cyclic price drops to hide their collusion:

https://github.com/badlogic/heissepreise

Not every grocer has an API, and even the ones that do have APIs could easily block Zechner and co from accessing their data. When that happens, they could – and should – turn to scraping to continue their project. They should also scrape grocers elsewhere, including in Canada, where grocers rigged the price of bread:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/25/deep-scrape/#steering-with-the-windshield-wipers

Because Big Meat's "conspiracy against the publick" isn't unique to meat. It's in all our food, it's in all our goods, it's in all our services. The fact that the meat industry was able to rob American buyers, ranchers and farmers for two generations under a 200' tall neon sign that blinked "AGRI STATS AGRI STATS AGRI STATS" night and day is frankly astonishing.

But there's never just one ant. If the meatheads running Big Meat were able to do this in broad daylight since the NES years, imagine what all the other industries were able to get up to in the shadows.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/04/dont-let-your-meat-loaf/#meaty-beaty-big-and-bouncy

My next novel is The Lost Cause, a hopeful novel of the climate emergency. Amazon won't sell the audiobook, so I made my own and I'm pre-selling it on Kickstarter!

#pluralistic #meat #monoopoly #price fixing #antitrust #austria #mario zechner #scraping #adversarial interoperability #greedflation #price inflation #market power #david dayen #agri stats #meat packers

[estrellami-1]

Writer prompt: Steve finding out about Murray getting Joncy together & rips into him for helping their relationship to end the way it did. Nancy & Jonathan realizing that their behavior was not only not acceptable but also cruel (esp Jon for taking the photos)

Hello my friend! I actually had part of this already written and I was trying to see if I was ever actually going to post it… and then you sent this prompt which actually (mostly) works! This focuses more on Steve ripping Murray a new one so I hope this is close enough to what you want! ❤️

They’re having dinner. It’s a once-a-week thing Joyce had decided on, back when everyone was still healing, when they all needed the reminder that they made it out. Maybe not unscathed, but they’re out.

It’s during one such dinner she invited Murray to. She’d leaned over to everyone else, whispering, “I asked him to be on his best behavior.”

Steve doesn’t know how they end up here. How they end up with Murray essentially patting himself on the back for getting Nancy and Jonathan together, then just as suddenly turning to Steve and Eddie with a wicked glint in his eye.

He’s talking, and Steve’s getting mad. He doesn’t care what wild theories Murray comes up with for him. But he’s targeting someone who’s clearly uncomfortable with the attention.

Eddie’s withdrawing. His hands are in his lap, his head’s bowed, his shoulders are hunched.

Steve is livid.

“That’s enough,” Steve says suddenly.

Murray pretends he doesn’t hear. “Of course, it’s not like any of you’d care about that,” he says, gaze lingering first on Robin, then Will.

Steve stands and slams his hands on the table. “That’s enough,” he says again, louder. He’s shaking. Eddie won’t look at him. He can’t feel his face, doesn’t know what expression he’s making, but he’s so, so angry. “Did it ever occur to you that the couple you were oh-so-happy to finally get together meant she cheated on me? Did it ever occur to you that you only knew one side of the story? That I was fucking sixteen years old and a girl died in my pool. I was sixteen and trying to contend with the fact that I was living in a goddamn haunted house. And I’m sorry I wasn’t enough,” he tells Nancy. “I tried, though. If you don’t believe a single thing I say, believe that. I tried.” He sighs, shakes his head, looks down at the table for a second before settling his gaze back on Murray. “Did it ever occur to you that people should get to make their own goddamned decisions? Regardless of someone’s sexuality, pushing people together is never okay. Regarding their sexuality, you don’t get to take that choice away from them. Regardless of who’d be okay with it. That is their choice and you stripped a basic human right away from them.” He leans over, looks Murray right in his eye. “I used to be like you. I used to think I had to be perfect, had to know everything, everyone. Had to have all the answers. But what happens when you don’t? What happens when you don’t know, Murray? What does that make you?” He pauses for a second; just enough time for Murray to open his mouth. “Human,” he continues. Murray’s mouth closes again. “It makes you fucking human. So let us be human, too. Just shut your goddamned mouth for once in your life before I do it for you. Permanently.” He narrows his eyes at Murray. “I took on a Demogorgon with a bat. I took on a Russian soldier with nothing. I’ve been to the Upside Down and back. Don’t fucking test me.”

The silence is palpable.

“Well,” Murray says finally. “Lovely meal as always, Joyce-”

“Just leave,” she says, quietly, but no less severely. He pauses, then nods and leaves.

The silence is unbearable.

Steve’s chair is loud as he scoots it back. “Excuse me,” he murmurs, making his way around the table to get to the stairs. “I’m not hungry.”

He doesn’t look up at anyone. He doesn’t see Robin, teary-eyed and proud. He doesn’t see Eddie, shell-shocked. He doesn’t see Nancy, crying.

He doesn’t see Will, terrified and grateful.

He sees his shoes as he walks up the stairs, making his way into one of the first rooms he finds. Thinks it’s Will’s, based on the decorations.

He numbly makes his way to the bed and slides down to sit on the floor, back against the comforter. He buries his head in his hands and tries to remember how to breathe.

He doesn’t know how much time passes before he hears careful footsteps. He knows he’s visible from the hallway. He can’t bring himself to care.

The footsteps enter the room he’s in. “Stevie?” Eddie asks cautiously. “Are you okay?”

Steve sniffs, even though his eyes are dry as ever. “Ask me again when I stop shaking,” he murmurs, giving an absent smile at Eddie’s huff of laughter.

“Mind if I sit?”

Steve lifts his head, looks at Eddie. He’s got his head cocked hopefully, glancing at the ground by Steve. Steve pats it, and Eddie’s smile grows. “Joyce is officially my favorite of the moms. And the scariest. She laid into Jonathan and Nancy. But, uh. I think everyone else is okay.”

There’s enough emphasis there to make Steve pause. He knows about Will, then.

He’s brought back to the present when Eddie sighs. “Y’know, that guy’s a real dick. Like, an absolute, grade-A douchebag. But, uh. He’s not wrong. About me.”

Steve glances at him. Watches him playing with his fingers. “Yeah?” Steve asks, almost not recognizing the hopeful tone in his voice. Eddie looks over, and Steve smiles. “Me too.”

Eddie moves a hand, tentatively intertwines it with one of Steve’s. Steve squeezes back. “I can’t- my brain, it’s too-” he waves a hand around his head- “to do anything else. But. This is good.”

“Yeah,” Eddie agrees, squeezes back.

A few minutes later Will pokes his head in. “Steve? Eddie?”

Steve turns a tired smile on Will. “Hey.”

Will blinks. “Um. Hey. Can I come in?” Steve pointedly looks around. Will snorts and walks in, settles criss-cross on the floor in front of them. “I, uh. Wanted to thank you, Steve. For. Um.” His breath hitches. “Just. I know nobody would care? But it’s. I feel like it would be a big deal. But anyways I care, and I’m just. Really grateful.” His breath hitches again, and a teardrop hits his hands where they’re clasped in his lap.

“Oh, Will,” Steve murmurs, squeezing Eddie’s hand once before dropping it and holding both arms out to Will.

Will crawls forward and collapses into Steve. “That was really scary,” he murmurs. Steve hums in agreement.

Suddenly Will looks up. “Are you okay? He- he just told everyone, and we don’t even know if it’s true or not, and then you- you completely shut him down, which was awesome, and you’re kinda my hero, but- are you okay?”

“I’ll be alright,” Steve promises, looking over at Eddie, asking wordlessly. Eddie nods. “He was right. About both of us. And all of that. Honestly, my comfort was the last thing on my mind downstairs. I know the words people use. Hell, I know the words I used, before your brother knocked some sense into me.” He widens his eyes exaggeratedly at Will, who giggles. “And I just thought… it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. Words can hurt, and I’m done with people I love being hurt. Especially when I can stop it. So… I did.”

“You did,” Eddie agrees, beginning to giggle. “You threatened him, Stevie. That was fucking metal.”

Steve laughs then, squeezes Will tighter to him and leans over to rest against Eddie, content. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Will agrees. “You’re okay, though?”

“I’m alright,” Steve promises him.

Will turns to Eddie. “Are you okay?”

Eddie smiles, ruffles Will’s hair. “I’m alright, Baby Byers. How’re you holding up?”

Will thinks, then nods. “I’m okay,” he says. “Um. Jon and Nancy are at the Wheelers’. Everyone else is still downstairs. Are you-”

“In a minute,” Steve answers wryly. “I’m still shaking.”

Will snorts, tucking his head into Steve’s chest. “I think I’ve been shaking ever since he looked at me.”

“It’s the eyes, right?” Eddie asks. “Like they’re looking into your very soul.”

“Yeah,” Will laughs. “They’re unsettling.”

Steve sighs, lets go of Will with one hand, lets it fall onto Eddie’s. He squeezes briefly, smiling when Eddie twines their fingers together.

Will watches silently. “Were you together before he said anything?”

“No,” Eddie admits. “But I don’t think it would’ve taken much longer. We were already most of the way there.”

Will nods. “And I guess I don’t have to ask if you know about me.”

“Why don’t you tell us?” Eddie gently suggests. “He hasn’t taken that choice away from you yet.”

Will nods, takes a breath. Whispers. “I’m gay.”

“Same,” Eddie grins, offering a high-five. Will looks at him, surprised, before clapping their hands together.

They both turn to Steve, who chuckles. “I’m bisexual. I like both.”

Eddie’s grin widens. “Like Bowie.”

Steve snorts. “That’s exactly what Robin said.”

Eddie waggles his brows. “Great minds, and all that jazz.”

Will and Steve both chuckle at that. Will leans back, and Steve lets him go. “Thank you,” he murmurs. “For what you said, earlier. And for just now. Um. I’m okay. And Mom bought ice cream and that sounds really good right now.”

Eddie snorts. “Go on,” he says. “We’ll be right down.”

Will smiles and walks out, and Eddie turns back to Steve. “Okay?”

“How many times are people gonna ask me that,” Steve faux-grumbles, leaning further into Eddie. He sighs. “I really think the best answer I can give is I’ll be okay. I really wasn’t thinking about myself at all.”

Eddie hums. “What were you thinking about?”

Steve huffs out a semblance of a laugh. “Honestly? You. You’d shut down, you were staring at the table, your shoulders were curled in, you wouldn’t look at me… and then he looked at Robin, and Will, and I just saw red. Like I said, I’m done with the ones I love being hurt. It’s- it was never about me. Not this.”

Eddie tilts his head. “It kinda is, though? It was about us, and you’re a part of us, Stevie.”

“Well,” Steve says, then sighs and gives up, tucking his head onto Eddie’s shoulder. “You said Joyce laid into Nance and Jon?”

“Mhm. Terrifying, I tell you. Like that mom look, y’know? But even worse because she’s been through all this shit and knows all your secrets.”

Steve snorts. “How’d they take it?”

“Nancy was crying before Joyce started. I don’t think Jonathan did at all, but who knows what happened once they left.”

“Crying?”

“Mhm. I wouldn’t be surprised if she comes around the next few days, looking to apologize.”

Steve snorts. “That’ll be the day.”

“I might hang around the next few days. I’d like to see it.”

“I want you to hang around.”

Eddie smiles down at him. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Anything more than this, tonight, I think wouldn’t be a good idea. But you could come over? We could sleep? Talk in the morning?”

“Sounds perfect,” Eddie says warmly. “But first, ice cream?”

Steve chuckles. “But first, ice cream,” he agrees, and together they walk downstairs.

So as I said I had (part of) this done before (the last hundred words or so I just added to help tie it all together), so it doesn’t end as nicely as I’d like. I think Nancy and Jonathan absolutely need to apologize, yes, but I also felt it was important for Steve to say that, to stick up for his friends, and to apologize to Nancy, even if he didn’t need to; it just felt very in-character, like he thinks everything’s his fault, so he’d apologize; but he’s also very loyal and protective, so Mama Bear Steve came out the second Murray looked at Eddie, Robin and Will. Eddie and Steve and Will for the win, I LOVE the dynamic we’ve cooked up for them (because the producers are too chickenshit to let them bond the way they absolutely would), and off-screen Robin and Steve have another bathroom moment with her ripping him a new one in the way of “you need to take care of yourself, dingus, we’re fine, thank you for protecting us but Jesus Christ protect yourself for once-” and then absolutely proceeding to smother him in a hug.

Anyway. I hope you liked it!! I may do a part 2 with Nancy and Jon’s apologies but it depends on if writers’ block keeps kicking my ass the way it has been.

#stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #murray bauman #robin buckley #will byers #joyce byers #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #the other kids are there too but they’re supporting characters in this one #(they support Steve. El messes with Murray just enough to make him think he’s losing it) #y’all don’t understand I’ve written the entire fic IN MY HEAD so ik how it ends but getting it on paper??? #nahhhh that don’t happen #anyways I hope you enjoy! #asks #requests #prompts #starambles

[waitmyturtles]

Hello,

Some of your Only Friends meta sparked a question for me: You've referred to the impact of purity culture on how the boys (particularly Boston) are viewed both within the show and by fans watching. I was raised evangelical Christian (don't worry, it went poorly), so my associations with purity culture are quite specific to promise rings, abstinence-only education, and that sort of thing. However, you seem to be working from a much more expansive view that includes purity culture's downstream effects such as slut-shaming, heteronormativity, pressure to perform monogamy, etc. (and in at least one case you also linked it to colonialism).

Since your definition of purity culture is so much broader than mine has traditionally been, I'm curious: What exactly do you mean when you use the term, and what are the parameters of purity culture from your perspective?

I've been kind of squinting interestedly at your usage and trying to reverse-engineer your definition from context and it finally occurred to me that I can just ask you lol

(also I know tone can be hard to gauge on the internet so just to be safe: I'm in no way trying to start a weird fight about the meaning of the term; I'm just interested in what you're saying and seeking to understand it better)

Thank you!

Bonebag

HELLO @sorry-bonebag! WHAT A QUESTION! I don't think this is weird at all -- I think it's the fascinating basis of a conversation.

I'm not sure that I'm going to have a central, singular answer for you regarding how I view and/or define "purity culture." I think, as I generalize (massive emphasis on my generalizations in this answer) society's lack of acceptance for open sexual conduct and engagement, that we're dealing with a lot of elements of how power is managed and distributed among humans. For example, if we roll back to, say, the creation of Christianity as a religion, we have to ask: WHY does the religion have what it says about sex? Controlling sex means controlling people -- it means controlling who gets born, and who gets to pair with each other. Controlling sex means controlling behavior, and creating submissiveness to a religion allows a smaller group of people massive power over larger groups. Christianity (as an example) is a modern expression of a primal biological urge that humans have to create groups and gain power for survival. So, first and foremost, to judge someone else for having sex in modern times gives that judge a sense of power over someone else.

In a judgement against sex, and people who have unabashed sex -- let's use Khai from Theory of Love and Boston as examples -- what assumptions/judgements/behaviors are leveraged as we condemn these men (and women, and non-binary individuals) for having lots of sex? From my lens, we have the following prejudices playing into this:

Misogyny Internalized homophobia (on the part of the person being judged) Externalized homophobia (on the part of the people doing the judging) Biases against nontheistic people Jealousy (for the ease in which some people can come into sex) Competition

and so many more. All of these prejudices can and ARE leveraged to judge people for having sex, because judging people for having sex gives the judges power in greater society, as greater society ultimately looks down on the practice of having lots of sex.

I think a fantastic example of this is when Sand was talking about Boston to Ray in this past weekend's episode. Why the hell would Sand even have any business talking about Boston to Ray? Because condemning Boston's "slutty" behavior will give Sand a sense of power for Ray to acknowledge.

By calling another person a "slut" -- a person like Sand gains an upper moralistic and ethical hand. All while Sand is the person that Ray is sleeping with as Ray cheats on Mew. Calling someone ELSE a slut allows Sand (and, let's be honest, Ray, too!) to escape accountability for his own questionable behavior.

And that's what I'm calling out in my posts, especially my Morning After meta from yesterday. If a meta writer is condemning Boston for having sex, or is interpreting that SandRay have only slept together once, to fulfill some kind of shipper fantasy -- I'm going to write about those judgements in my posts, because I don't think those judgements are fair to a show that was very open and honest, at its premiere, about its premise that it would be digging into issues regarding sex and toxicity. I think "purity culture," as we're calling it, is a means by which the fandom wants to control the sexual behavior of Asian queer men. Much of the fandom here on Tumblr is Western, and as an Asian-American, it also gives me the jibbles that a Western audience would want to control with power, the behavior of Asian queer males, a much smaller demographic than a wider Western audience. That's where I bring a colonialist accusation to the table. To me, all of this keeps coming back to power. (I write about this in that post that talks about colonialism. Shipping really worries me. To force two young Asian males into a relationship fantasy -- and then to push that fantasy towards monogamy and a restriction of sex. I mean. Whoa. I very much see colonialism and racism in there, as non-Asians push Asians to behave in prescribed ways.)

This conversation circles back in part to the exhortation I made at the start of OF's premiere, that as much of the fandom as possible should watch Gay OK Bangkok. Jojo Tichakorn's and Aof Noppharnach's GOKB depicted Asian queer males in sex, love, pain, and careers. In this show, there were no condemnations for slutty behavior. (I mean, Pom expected Arm to fall in and out of love, but Pom wasn't being judgmental about it -- he ended up being there for his friend in a hilar way. Anyway!) A specter of morality and ethics, the Greek chorus or peanut gallery of chirping about not having sex did NOT permeate the show. It was just -- Asian gay males living their lives.

Only Friends is bringing up sooooo much about how the characters within the show, and the fandom external to the show, think about, talk about, and judge sex. Having these conversations, for me, is lifeblood. As an Asian-American, I WISH I could have had these open conversations about sex when I was a growing teen. Alas. The culture in which I grew up -- one that valued virginity, purity, and one that condemned sexual experimentation -- prevented me from being open in conversation about sex. I'm thankful that I grew up more and more independently as I got older, and that I had the intellectual capacity to understand and process when I was being judged, myself, for having sex. Because we've all been there, those of us who have had and enjoyed sex. We've been condemned for it, judged for it, every single one of us. We've been made to feel guilty about it.

And even as someone like Boston gets JUDGED, in every episode of OF, for HAVING lots of sex -- I SO appreciate his existence as a character and a narrative device, that he exists as a mirror for OTHER characters, like Ray/Atom/Sand/even Mew/even Top -- who do not hold themselves accountable for either similar behaviors, and/or for behaviors that are far more questionable than simple having sex. Top violated Mew's boundaries in episode 8 -- flat out. And Top's not been held accountable for a second. Top still has power, he still has an upper hand.

This was a long answer, @sorry-bonebag, but TL;DR: POWER. Power and accountability are two elements of humanity that I am forever fascinated by, and I love that we have a brilliant showmaker in Jojo to help highlight this in his art.

I very much hope I touched upon a kind of answer for your question, but at least you got to read some of my deeper thoughts on this topic! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS CONVERSATION!

#thanks for the ask! #only friends the series #only friends #only friends meta #sex and power #sex and power in thai BLs #sex and power in asian dramas

[self-spaghettification]

thoughts on the tdp s6 leaks

aaravos is alone in a space with a galaxy sky, mountains, and a pool of water reflecting everything perfectly.

so theory 1 is that this place used to be a civilization before this star fell

and aaravos maybe befriended the people there. maybe they got out of line, out of what was supposed to be the natural order so the startouch elves in charge eradicated them all.

aaravos is devastated, and that wide shot is intending to show how painfully alone he now is, when the other startouch elf “beams in” to existence to comfort him with something he takes to heart.

but in this context saying something like that doesn’t really seem that comforting?

but he does take it to heart then, committing as many war crimes as the length of your amazon wishlist was justified because nothing is permanent and if other startouch elves can wipe out societies with so much as a side eye so can he but changing things for the better or cheating the rules of the system maybe.

theory 2: this place is the startouch dimension and only they can beam into there.

so maybe aaravos was caught in a really painful moment and had to step away and be alone for a moment and the merciful one approached to comfort the star of elarion.

so, when is this really painful moment, you might ask?

whats interesting again is that this takes place with aaravos’s star blacked out.

we see in the shot of aaravos during the half moon decision by luna tenebris that his hair is glowing, skin is brighter, eyes are pink, star is white, but not here. so either

a. something took place between luna tenebris half moon and present day, which i doubt because i can’t think of anything (but admittedly we don’t know much about that era, just that humans were cast out, etc, then aaravos decided to go after luna tenebris and all of xadia, so maybe it actually is plausible that some unknown event occurred to break him like this, or perhaps the dividing of xadia itself.)

b. the other possibility, which i favor, is that aaravos was just in power up form in the half moon decision shot, and he otherwise would have the black star etc. just like here

then the event breaking him is perhaps

1. losing leola (leola’s last wish implies she left for something, maybe she sacrificed herself so that humanity could have primal magic) who he had some sort of bond with

2. the fall of elarion & loss of ziard+etc (which i favor, benevolent prometheus angle) or

3. learning that all humanity would be sentenced to die (before luna tenebris was convinced to spare them)

4. becoming a fallen star

idkk lmk what you think if you feel like it and thanks for reading my braindump :)

#tdp s6 spoilers #tdp s6 leak #self spaghettification #aaravos #tdp #tdp theory #yap warning lmaoo #Tdp meta

[michverdun]

Well, In the few months since Hadi Choopan's Mr. Olympia win, there have been no signs of him, or explanations from any official about the odd growth that occurred directly after his win. However, new information has added more to the confusion, namely that Hadi wasn't the only one who was growing.

In the confusion surrounding his upset win and the growth that followed, nobody seemed to notice, but soon after it became clear that all of the competitors in the Men's Open category were growing at incredible rates. Some have kept their growths well documented, but almost all of them have declined to talk about the situation, for fear of being considered a cheater. That is, until I was able to interview one of the competitors, provided he is kept anonymous. The contents of that interview are transcribed here.

Q: Hello. First, I just wanted to thank you for letting me interview you about this, it's very much appreciated. When do you remember the growth first occurring?

A: Hey, no problem man, it's nice to explain what I know. It was right when they were announcing placements for the top guys. I didn't place, but I still wanted to support the guys who did, so I was out in the crowd. I felt this like... dull heat? I started sweating really badly, and next think I knew I had like... the best pump I've ever had, but it wouldn't go down.

Q: Did it ever go down? And did it feel painful in any way?

A: No to both of those. I feel just constantly pumped now, and it feels good. Almost too good.

Q: Many people have claimed to noticed the growth correlating to the placement of the competitors. Has this been the case for you?

A: Kinda? I mean, I'm not as big as the top guys, like Derek or Nick, or even close to whatever Hadi looks like by now, but I'm growing faster then some of the guys who placed, and there's some other guys who didn't place who are growing crazy fast.

(Image Description: Derek Lunsford posing a couple of months after Mr. Olympia 2022. While he has not disclosed his current weight, he has grown considerably since the contest.)

Q: Do you have any examples of non-placing competitors like that? that would really put a wrench in the leading theory.

A: I mean, if you look at Antoine right now, he fucking massive! He's almost 500 pounds now, which puts him above even some of the higher placing guys.

(Note: Antoine did not place during the 2022 Mr. Olympia competition. In a recent Instagram post he posted that he was "512 pounds and still growing.")

Q: Have there been any issues in your life because of all this?

A: Physically, my doctor says I'm the healthiest I've ever been. I've heard of some guys being accused of cheating, but I never got that, plus once it was clear everyone was growing that died down. I guess the biggest issues was buying new clothes. Not many places carry 6XL. Honestly, I kind of hope I never stop growing. I got into bodybuilding to get huge.

Q: Last question, do you have any ideas to why this might have happened?

A: I'm inclined to believe it was some weird coincidence. Like, I can't think of someone who would want all of the guys competing to get crazy huge, and I'm sure the IFBB is a shitshow right now trying to explain it. Yeah, it seems like it was something random, or something trying to be nice. Whatever did it though, I'd thank them for this.

Q:Well, thank you for your time, and I hope that this growth spurt works out well for you.

A: No problem man, and don't worry, even with everyone else growing crazy, I promise I'm gonna be the biggest. they're gonna be using my chest as a billboard when I'm done.

While my interview didn't illuminate much about the actual cause of this event, It did clue me in to the thoughts and feelings of someone who was affected by this. Hopefully we'll her more from the men who grew that night, including from Hadi himself when he finally posts again.

EDIT: Hadi just posted on his Instagram for the first time since the competition. The post consisted of a video in which Hadi slowly walks over to what seems to be a heavy-duty bathroom scale, and the scale quickly errors out and breaks underneath him, which he then gives a thumbs up to the camera he is holding. He keeps himself out of the camera for the most part, but the parts that can be seen clearly show that he is incredibly muscled, even compared to his hypermuscular counterparts. It is also important to mention that the specific kind of bathroom scale he stepped on maxes out at 650 pounds. Underneath his post he wrote a quick caption, and translated it reads "don't worry, I'll be getting much bigger."

It seems that no matter what happens, 2023's Mr Olympia competition is going to be incredibly big, in more ways than one.

#muscle fiction #muscle morph

[vavuska]

Most annoying issues I have met includes:

Vet clinic staff won't do anything for hours (EA says it has been fixed, but it's not): pets are ALWAYS sick and you have to take them at the vet hospital in the Brindleton and checked in, because regular cheats won't cure them. But vet wouldn't treat pets and they just stand there for over 5 hours!

Sims 4 Dine Out is still buggy as hell in 2022: common bugs include Sims not seating at the table, waiters not serving food, and Sims not eating their food;

Why is Prom happening every single week?? Prom occurs each week in High School Years;

Whole Sims 4 High School Years is completely buggy;

University Bug won't let me load Households and the only solution to fix it, is download MC Command Mod and delete all my sim's relationships, including the one with her own parents, that now are just two random strangers to her!

What do you think? Which is the most annoying bug you have experienced?

Meme comes from: Community (2009-2015), Season 3 Episode 4, “Remedial Chaos Theory”

#vavuskapakage #The sims 4 glitch #ts4 bug #The sims 4 bug #sims 4 bugs #ts4 infants #the sims 4 infants #sims 4 infants #ts4 dine out #ts4 university #ts4 high school years #sims 4 dine out #sims 4 university #sims 4 high school years #ts4 meme #sims 4 memes #The sims 4 meme #community memes

[themedicalstate]

Why do I cheat on my partner so easily in a dream?

Have you ever noticed in a dream you can cheat on your partner without having even a shadow of a doubt it’s the right decision? Well, it is definitely not your unfaithful nature; it is all about our brain’s workings, especially some parts of it which we are going to examine here.

The Frontal Cortex

The Frontal Cortex is located at the very front of the brain and is responsible for not only long-term planning, decision making, knowledge analysis and regulation of emotions, but also for social behavior control. This means that the frontal cortex prevents different types of inappropriate behavior, such as aggression, desires to steal, compulsivity and sexually assaultive behavior. As a result, damage to this lobe might cause, for example, a complete lack of interest in sex or, contrastively, more active sexual behavior. So why does this matter in terms of sleeping?

The Sleep Cycle

Our sleep cycle consists of two main stages: non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. During the latter stage, our body experiences temporal muscle paralysis and, more interestingly, — dreams (if you don’t have any brain damage that could lead to dream loss). The question about the purpose of dreams is still in dispute, but there is a clear answer at why they are ridiculously illogical sometimes:

during REM sleep, the frontal lobe is “turned-off” affecting our social behavior in a dream

There is also a range of research supporting this statement. For example, in one experiment, scientists activated the frontal lobe of the participants during REM sleep and noticed that such stimulation “induces self-reflective awareness in dreams”. In other words, you act more appropriately and logically as your frontal cortex is stimulated while sleeping:

Recent findings link fronto-temporal gamma electroencephalographic (EEG) activity to conscious awareness in dreams, but a causal relationship has not yet been established. We found that current stimulation in the lower gamma band during REM sleep influences ongoing brain activity and induces self-reflective awareness in dreams. Other stimulation frequencies were not effective, suggesting that higher order consciousness is indeed related to synchronous oscillations around 25 and 40 Hz.

Noticeable effects on dreams

As you can imagine, this temporal “shutdown” of the frontal cortex has a huge impact on our social behavior in a dream: from aggressive conversations to having sex with your partner’s best friend. Don’t feel guilty; it’s just your brain! What about moments when you act consciously in a dream and do things with full awareness of your actions?

Lucid Sleep

Lucid sleep is a sleep during which you are aware of dreaming while dreaming (apologies for the tautology). Recent studies suggest that this phenomenon occurs due to “increased brain activity over frontal regions during REM sleep”. However, other researchers analyze it through the states of consciousness theory. These two points of view are not interchangeable but complementary.

Now let’s look more closely at different states of consciousness:

- Primary states of consciousness — states in which dreams “are concerned with the immediate present, with only uncontrolled access to the past or the anticipated future”

- Secondary states of consciousness — states in which people are able to manipulate with “higher order cognitive functions such as self-reflective awareness, abstract thinking, volition and metacognition”. In the case of sleeping, this mode is “turned-on” after awaking

So, when both states coexist together, a person experiences a lucid dream. It is like being simultaneously asleep and awake! What is more, humans are most likely the only species able to experience such a thing.

Source: Anastasiia (Medium). Image: Katherine Streeter for NPR.

#science #medicine #medblr #neuroscience #academia #health

[hier--soir]

Theory for what happened at The Dinner: Rachel is gay; Joel has known forever so it doesn't even occur to him that reader might be jealous of her. Rachel has also had at least some suspicions about the two of them that were confirmed when he kept texting during dinner (because usually he has Manners™) and she gave him the kind of verbal asswhooping only a fem lesbian bestie gives you, followed by something along the lines of "go get'er, tiger"

Love, grave robbed nonny

“go get’er tiger” 😭😭😭LMAO

oooh okay more Rachel is Gay theories! curious👀 all i’ll say in response to that idea is: i’ve been known to find it frustrating when a Man in a story (book, film, tv, anything) can only be close friends with a woman if she is a lesbian…. i feel like it’s a somewhat overused trope implemented to make the female friend character “non-threatening” in a story because you know there’s no way Leading Man™️ could cheat on Leading Woman™️ with her. as a queer woman, it generally earns an eye roll from me, because…. if Leading Man™️ can only be friends with women who he has no chance of sleeping with… well he doesn’t sound that great. take this commentary as you will👀

BUT all that being said - i do love the theory! and i love your curiosity, thank you thank you for reading and being so intrigued! i can’t wait to share what happens with you

ilysm grave robbed non x

#i hope this doesn’t come across as passive aggressive oh god hahaha #just sharing my thoughts! #and thank you for sharing yours! #ask #anon #ALP #💌

[dragonsarecool]

Febwhump Day 5 - Rope Burns

A/N: Cheating with this one slightly and changing it to duct tape burns/markings. Marty is the unfortunate target of a practical joke. Set prior to Part I.

Although he’d been working for Doc for a few months by now, Marty was still bearing the constant brunt of jokes and teasing about it. While the accusations and conspiracy theories had gotten to him on a few occasions, he’d gradually grown accustomed to hearing them almost every day from various classmates. Some told him he was just as insane as Doc, others flat out insulted him for being ‘nerdy enough’ to work for a scientist.

His favourite story was from a ninth grader who ranted about how Doc was really a cannibal who enjoyed consuming young boys, and was going to eat his flesh as part of an experiment. While Doc hadn’t found the story as funny he did - if anything, Doc was visibly disturbed by it - they had grown close enough to simply joke about how immature and ignorant the townsfolk were before carrying on with whatever invention Doc was tinkering with.

Eventually, it occurred to Marty on the final day of the semester that he’d gone an entire week without hearing anyone else talking about Doc. Although he felt secretly relieved that it had stopped, he found himself gazing at his classmates with suspicion as they departed his final class. What’s their deal? Could they be planning anything? Am I being paranoid?

He tried to push those thoughts to the side as he finishing packing up the books he needed over the break. Popping in a Huey Lewis cassette in his walkman, he allowed the music to fill his mind as he pushed off on his board, ignoring the stares that a handful of people were giving. Bunch of dorks…

____

“Hey Doc!” Marty locked the door behind him, placing his skateboard on top of the shoe rack. “You still want me today?”

“Yes, please! Come in! I’ve got a few things I need your help with,” Doc came rushing towards the front door, wiping grease from his hands on a dirty rag. “Your school break starts today, doesn’t it?”

“Technically yes,” Marty removed his headphones and unplugged them from the walkman. “Not sure this break will be any different this time, though,”

Doc raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Well, at home I’m always putting up with a drunk-ass mom who loves to hurl abuse at me,” Marty ranted, “and Dave and Linda are no help ‘cause they’re always at work, and at school the kids won’t shut up and keep their damn thoughts to themselves-“

“They’re still teasing you? My God! I can’t believe the persistence of teenagers these days!” Doc shoved the oily rag into his pocket. “It’s been, what, seven or eight months and they’re still going on about it?”

“That’s the weird thing, Doc. No one’s done it this week,” Marty’s voice was quiet. He suddenly felt small, admitting his fears in front of Doc, but there was no one else who would care. “…I-I’ll be honest, I’m a little nervous. I don’t trust any of them.”

Although he’d only known the young man less than a year, Doc had quickly become fiercely protective of him. The constant rants and anecdotes he shared about his family and school life quickly made him concerned, but despite his prompting and subtle edging, Marty had refused to admit outright that anything bothered him. Today was definitely a sign of progress.

“I know it’s difficult, Marty,” Doc chose his words carefully, “but do your best to keep it all out of your mind, and I mean all of it. At least for the spring break, yes?”

Marty nodded slowly, suddenly realising how much better he felt. “Thanks, Doc.”

____

Neither the scientist nor assistant realised how many hours had flown by until they heard the collective growl of their stomachs while fiddling with a new gadget Doc wanted to attach to his truck. It hadn’t taken long for them to decide on their usual meals from the Burger King behind Doc’s house, which is how Marty found himself shivering into his puffer jacket as he made the trek over. Although the Burger King was technically only a five minute walk from Doc’s garage, Marty had quickly learnt it could take up to ten minutes to fight his way through the bushes and trees that separated the two properties.

Doc had lectured him when he first discovered Marty’s shortcut. “You should be taking the pathway around the block! God knows what’s in those bushes, because I certainly don’t know.”

Marty had laughed him off. “The monsters and goblins in there’ll never catch me, Doc.”

He felt the first few drops of rain fall into his hair as a loud clap of thunder rattled the air, and sighed heavily as water ran down his forehead. Dammit. Now I’m gonna get completely soaked!

He went to wipe his forehead when he felt his arms being twisted painfully behind his back. Marty swore loudly at the sharp pain in his wrists, twisting desperately to free himself. “What the hell!?”

Through the semi-darkness and increasingly heavy rain, Marty was able to get a glimpse of a group of black-clad figures. His heart sank as he realised they were all hiding their faces with balaclavas. Now I’m gonna have nothing to give the police-

He felt a cold sweat break out at the sound of something loud ripping, which he quickly worked out to be tape as it was tightly wound around his wrists. Shit shit shit!! Are they gonna murder me?! “Let me go!! HELP!!”

“You should’ve listened to us, McFly!” One of the figures spoke, revealing it to be a young man.

Marty found his head being pulled back as a thick piece of tape was pulled around his mouth. He frantically tried to wrestle out of his captors’ suffocating grip, only to have one man aggressively grab his chin. A second set of eyes blinked at him through the balaclava; Marty would’ve sworn it looked like the man was enjoying himself.

“Maybe that kook’ll use your dead body in his experiments, dickhead!”

Marty’s eyes widened in horror. Needles!! Son of a bitch!

Needles’s face quickly flew away from him as he found himself being pushed back into the bushes. His feet flew over his head as he somersaulted into an awkward position. Oh shit, that’s gonna make a bruise.

Groaning from the impact, he tried to roll onto his side to avoid accidentally inhaling some dirt. Leaves and twigs were poking into him at every angle, and the ground beneath him was quickly becoming a muddy puddle.

“Nice knowin’ ya, McFly!” One of the men taunted. “Come on, let’s get outta here before it starts pissing!”

Marty watched as his attackers took off into a sprint, leaving him alone in a soaking wet bush. A lightning bolt briefly illuminated the foliage around him, and he shook his head to dislodge the excess water settling in his hair. Great. Now I’m completely screwed.

He began wriggling around to test the strength of his bonds, only for any hope of potential escape to disappear as he realised his wrists and ankles were firmly glued together.

The temperature seemed to have taken a sharp drop since he was abandoned. He could feel the beginnings of goosebumps creeping across his skin.

Are they just gonna leave me here?!

Claps of thunder roared in his ears.

A shiver sharply wracked his body. Wonder if I’ll die of hypothermia first.

He fought the urge to cry.

Dammit Doc, where the hell are you?!

Time seemed to stand still, even though he knew it was passing. The ferocious winds seemed to be setting his ear canals on fire.

Why’d they do this to me?! I don’t make any trouble for them!

He scrunched his eyes shut as his chest heaved with a sob. He’d never been this uncomfortable in his whole life, but he was also surprised at the amount of rage that was bubbling inside. Why couldn’t these assholes just leave me ALONE!!

I’m just as bad as my dad-

“Marty?”

The voice was faint amongst the chorus of thunder and howling wind, but he still heard it. “Hmm!” Doc!! About time! Marty turned over as best as he could within the confines of the bush. He could barely open his eyes through the torrent of wind and rain, but managed to make out the silhouette of a familiar scientist. Does he actually

“Marty!! What the HELL happened?!” Doc’s voice carried a hint of fury as he bent over the young man, his eyes scanning the teenager for injuries.

Marty couldn’t help but feel that Doc’s anger was intentionally directed at him, even if it wasn’t. All he could do in the moment was squirm uncomfortably in the tape and try

“It’s too dangerous to fully untie you out here! I can barely see you through this rain!” Doc shouted through the wind. “I’ll do your feet first!”

Marty could only groan in frustration. Dammit Doc, why didn’t you bring an umbrella?!

He felt a pair of hands slide under his armpits as he was raised from his uncomfortable prison. The world instantly began spinning, and he found himself completely upright. Doc’s fingers were fiddling with the tape around his ankles. and it took an agonising few seconds before he was able to get a grip and start pulling the restraints away. “Hang on, Marty!”

As soon as his feet were freed, Marty found himself being pulled through the darkness, relying on Doc’s grip to keep him orientated. The forest around him was briefly illuminated by another flash of lightning, though it did nothing to assist with restoring his vision.

Being pulled through the doorway to the warmth of Doc’s lab provided instant relief. He found himself blinking furiously as his eyes readjusted to the welcome return of light. A quick glance down at his clothes allowed him to fully appreciate the disgusting state of his clothing. How the hell am I gonna wash all this shit out?

Doc took a second to wipe the rain from his forehead, panting as he gave his young friend a concerned look. “Are you alright?”

Marty nodded, thrusting his head back to dispel some loose water drops. He quickly turned around to present his wrists to Doc, and was grateful that the hint was understood. It took slightly longer to cut the tape around his wrists - he heard Doc make a quiet comment about how tightly they’d restrained him - but it wasn’t long before he was freed and could stretch his shoulders in relief.

Marty automatically went to ripe the tape off of his mouth when Doc’s hand stopped him. “Let me do it, Marty. We need to do it carefully so we don’t damage anything.”

The young man sighed before nodding. Can we hurry it up, though?!

He’d never expected removing duct tape from skin to be so painful. Although Doc was pulling the adhesive away as gently as possible, he couldn’t help but groan as the stinging grew more and more intense.

Doc cringed as he finally removed the last section of tape, ignoring the loud swearing that followed as soon as the teenager’s lips were freed. “My God, that’s left a mark-“

“What?! What has?” Marty raised his hand to touch his face, only to see the ugly red lines around his wrists from where the duct tape had sat. “Oh my God!! My face-”

Without waiting for a reply from Doc, Marty ran to the closest bathroom, thrusting the door open as he got a glimpse of himself in the mirror. His clothes were completely saturated with water and a thin layer of mud, allowing him to see his skin through the dripping fabric. Strands of his hair dripped onto the bathroom floor, with some drops running down the enormous red stain that now decorated the lower half of his face. “How the hell did that happen?!”

“Duct tape isn’t designed to be used on human skin, Marty,” Doc said grimly. “I did the best I could, but removing it has probably taken a couple of layers of your skin off, and I suspect the chemicals in the adhesive aren’t helping with that redness.”

“It’s not permanent, is it?!”

“No no no. It will fade,” Doc answered, “but I think you might want to stay over tonight.”

Marty raised an eyebrow. “I’m fine, Doc, really! They didn’t beat me up or anything-“

“I’m assuming, though, you don’t want to have to explain that to your parents?” Doc pointed to Marty’s mouth.

The teenager thought for a moment before nodding hurriedly. He couldn’t - or wouldn’t - look at Doc directly, and the older man chose his words carefully to avoid upsetting Marty any further. “I know you couldn’t answer me before when I asked, so I’ll ask again. What happened?”

Marty’s eyes started darting around the room nervously. He couldn’t understand why he was such a whirlwind of emotions in that moment; he was relieved to have been saved from his predicament, but also ashamed that he had to be rescued in the first place. The anger at Needles and his gang tormenting on him yet again suddenly resurfaced, and he looked up at Doc as he let out a sob. “I’m…I’m so sorry, Doc, I tried, a-and I know I shouldn’t have g-gone, but I couldn’t…t-they wouldn’t…why can’t they just leave me alone?!”

The scientist’s heart panged as he cautiously extended an arm out to Marty, to which the teenager took him by surprise as he wrapped himself around Doc’s torso. A small whine escaped his lips as he began to shake uncontrollably.

Doc was stunned for a few seconds before he returned the gesture, doing his best to provide comfort to the young man - no, the boy - sobbing and shivering in his arms. “It’s alright, Marty. It’s alright.”

But neither was sure if it would be.

#bttf #back to the future #fanfiction #whump #febwhump #febwhump24 #febwhump2024

[swiggity-swexual-i-am-asexual]

The way I see the Dan thing is that CW saw many timelines where Danny slowly slips into bad habbits by loosing his integrity, not talking to Jazz, drifting from his family and other stuff. But he's too Bound to Rules to interfere directly so he engeneers a sacrificial timeline that lets him steer things to the better by influencing Danny, Jazz and Lancer. So he meddles to make Dan something Danny would strongly want to avoid becoming but could still defeat.

^^^

It’s something that’s only really occurred to me kinda recently. But yeah, Clockwork is probably more involved with Dan existing than we see.

I’ve mentioned it in tags, but a theory I have is that Clockwork more or less created Dan so that the Danny we follow ends up being, well, more heroic! I’m not saying the events that would lead up to Dan’s existence wouldn’t happen without interference, but it makes more sense if they only got that escalated because there WAS time shenanigans.

It’s been a bit since I’ve seen TUE, so I might get some details wrong, but. In basics—Dan (Dark Danny, but for sake of ease we’re calling him Dan) exists because of the following factors: he cheats on a Very Importanf Test; Lancer organizes a meeting with Maddie and Jack at, of all places, the Nasty Burger; Jazz, Sam, and Tucker are also there, I think to defend him?; there’s an explosion caused by sauce vat getting too hot; they literally all die, deader than Danny; Danny goes into Vlad’s custody; Danny convinces Vlad to take out his emotions or kill them down by taking out his ghost half (which is my best interpretation of how exactly they thought it would works-fun fact, this is probably why there’s so many theories and headcanons about ghosts feeling things more strongly in fanon, cause I honestly don’t know what else they expected would happen if they WEREN’T aiming to separate his ghost half); the ghost, now called Dan, kills off the human half, takes out VLAD’S ghost half, and absorbs it, not necessarily in that exact order but yeah; Dan devastates the world in a little under ten years.

Now, cheating on the CAT? Requires the answer sheet that Danny only gets because he’s fighting one of the villains Clockwork sent back. It could’ve happened anyways—but it didn’t. We don’t see how else he could have gotten them. We also don’t see how else that explosive vat gets that close to a heat source.

I don’t know WHY Lancer would choose a fast food chain restaurant. Maybe it’s because he wants to help and see if he can get Danny a retest, or help, or what have you, rather than, idk, expelled, and so meeting officially at school wouldn’t work. Point is, he chooses there. If I recall, I think that bit of exposition came from Vlad? Who wasn’t even THERE. And Danny? He’s used to lying. We can’t actually say if that’s the full truth. I’m not sure why Vlad wouldn’t be told the truth, later, even if Danny gave a different story to the police—or it’s close enough that Danny wouldn’t feel like bothering.

Keep in mind, all those major parts? Danny getting the answers, the meeting, the explosion? All happen. The only reason they don’t die is because Clockwork saves them.

An interesting thing is that Dan takes Danny’s place to ensure he cheats, to ensure this happens.

Which… why? Even if Danny now knows, thanks to inexplicably alive Vlad in the future, why is Dan so persistent that it HAS to go like this? To ensure he exists?

I think it’s cause THAT’S what happened the first time. Dan does what he does, knows who Clockwork is, recognizes the time medallions, because this is LITERALLY what happens. Dan believes he’s inevitable, that he’s in a stable time loop, because Clockwork was interfering the FIRST time. It’s possible that Dan, back when he was Danny, knew he became a villain. And maybe, in some timelines, he becomes a tragic hero. There’s a whole bunch of fanfic where this happens. Particularly crossovers. But in Dan’s, he decides to stop fighting it. Fighting it caused the mess, right? Might as WELL embrace it.

So he convinces Vlad, doesn’t tell him the whole truth, gets separated into parts, kills his human half, absorbs Vlad’s ghost half, and leaves Vlad alone. Because he knows that he meets Vlad in the future. And so he needs to be left alone, so that the loop continues. He knows he needs to develop that ability to warp into other versions of himself, so he does it. He knows he gets a ghostly wail—possibly already developed it, but lost it when he first got separated into a full ghost—eventually, so he’ll be patient. He knows he’ll get a round two, and better yet, he’s seen the script. He knows what to say, what to do, and knows what Danny is going to say and going to do.

And it all goes… pretty much according to plan. Even Danny getting the wail early can be brushed aside or accounted for—Dan might’ve forgotten, between all the murders and destruction, lost some ability when he lost his human half. Maybe it’s just a slight variation, but everything else is still happening.

The major difference? For Danny, Clockwork saved everyone.

For Dan, he didn’t.

It’s a story about timelines. We’ve seen alternate timelines, things effected by time travel, how even if it’s sucks there IS a way things are supposed to go. It’s entirely possible that Dan IS from a stable time loop. He might even have his OWN version of a Dan stuck in a thermos that Clockwork takes.

This explains Dan’s motives, more or less. These qualities, of being sure he’s a villain because he’s seen it, would also make him good at being a sort of… time enforcer? Danny did a couple of time travel stints, but didn’t seem to care much for it. Dan would understand necessary things might be unpleasant for a stable future.

But why would Clockwork even BOTHER? Because in Dan’s timeline, the timeline I propose above, then Clockwork is the whole REASON this happens. Heck, Dan might even be trying to destroy Earth, cause that would destroy the Ghost Zone, which would probably destroy Clockwork.

Simply put? Basically, your idea above, anon. Danny is a heroic character, but as much as fanon likes to push aside some of his… less desirable traits, some of which CAN be attributed to canon bad/weird writing as well as the time in came out at, Danny does have faults. He has flaws. And those can be pushed. Danny hears constantly that he was a villain, especially at the start. His grades suffer, his goals suffer, his relationships with EVERYONE suffer. That has to take a toll. There’s probably quite a few timelines where he turns bad all on his own. There’s probably even more where something or someone does take him out. There’s some where him never facing himself caused him to not develop more heroic qualities or abilities or something. Despite everything, he’s an optimist of sorts. It might not be perfect, but if he tries, it’ll work out for him, something that’s kinda developed and proven because he’s a protagonist in a kid’s cartoon. A true loss would effect him greatly.

Dan is the epitome of all the ways Danny’s stress would elevate any loss that shattered his optimist that he ended up with.

Danny is the epitome of having to LITERALLY face the worst version of yourself, and somehow both lose AND still win. He’s a hero who literally defeated himself at his worst and most powerful.

And that, THAT is the kind of hero Clockwork wants…. For whatever reason Clockwork wants a hero like that. We don’t even know if this is their ‘prime’ timeline. It’s just the one we see. This could very well be the ONLY timeline where Danny stays a full hero character. We do not know.

TLDR; I like Clockwork, but he’s a little sus and probably engineered Dan’s entire existence to the point that DAN HIMSELF is compliant in his own ruining of his younger self, and there’s now at least a split timeline between Timeline Where Clockwork Saved Danny’s Support Network and the timeline where he DIDN’T.

#danny phantom #ask me anything #I probably got a theory breaking detail wrong due to not wanting to rewatch the episode #so feel free to tear me to shreds #I can stitch it back together if I did lol #the ultimate enemy #clockwork #dan phantom

[heliosoll]

ik anything is possible with shifting but do u think it’s “right” to shift into a reality where you’re immortal? i always thought that once i’m done with shifting ill permanently shift into a reality where i can’t die and just live out my days having endless fun but i also believe in reincarnation and i don’t know if that would be seen as cheating life or disrespectful to the natural order of things ya know? like at some point reincarnation is “supposed” to occur and shifting to be immortal is wrong because of that? i’ve never seen anyone talk about this before so maybe it’s a dumb concern but it still worries me a little.

- 🌧 anon

Hi!

You mean like "morally" right? Personally, I don't see an issue with it! That's kind of how my WR works anyway since I can't die there and I never age.

I don't think it would be cheating life or disrespectful! I don't know if you believe in the law, but Neville Goddard often posited the theory that we constantly reincarnate until we reach a state of enlightenment and become our "godself". Tons of other philosophies include similar beliefs!

Reincarnation is just one belief. Some people who shift believe in the afterlife. Others believe that your soul gets zapped and your energy goes back to a collective consciousness. Others believe reincarnation only happens if you completed something specific! There are sooo many beliefs and none of them are wrong or right!

If you want to shift to a reality where you're immortal and just chill there, go ahead! There's nothing wrong with that, trust me 🥰

#🌧 anon #letters 🎀 #you certainly can reincarnate if its a really big concern but personally i dont see anything wrong with it

[niche-drama]

Chess Drama: The PIPI Saga

Part 1: Setting the Stage

It’s September of 2020, half a year into the pandemic. It’ll be months before there’ll be vaccines for COVID-19, and all the “normal”, “respectable” chess tournaments have been on hiatus, because they dare not meet IRL and they’re too set in their ways to go virtual.

Online chess events with less clout but bigger prize pools have stepped forward to fill this gap, including the “PRO Chess League” (PRO being an acronym for Professional Rapid Online), a team-format championship where teams from different places compete against each other for a title.

This year, the winners of the tournament are a shock: the Armenia Eagles, a lesser-known team even in this lesser-known format for pro-level chess. Their all-star for the tournament is GM Tigran Petrosian (no, not the former World Chess Champion by that name, but another guy whose dad named him after the former champion), who won three of the four games he played and tied the fourth - an almost unbelievably good result at the top level of chess.

In fact, it was so unbelievable that even one of the other players in the tournament started to imply that he didn’t believe it.

GM Wesley So (a top-10-in-the-world grandmaster who was playing for the St Louis Archbishops in this tournament, who won 2nd place) commented on the chess.com article announcing the Eagles’ win with this:

The “secret gin” was a reaction to Petrosian’s joking interview comment that he’d achieved his results in this tournament because he’d had a glass of gin to drink as he played.

The second part of the comment, though, is a deeper cut. On chess.com, often instead of publicly banning titled players who’ve been found to cheat, they’ll just contact those players and ban them privately.  Basically “your account won’t show that you’re banned, but never log in again if you want it to stay that way”. In other words, Wesley was implying that:

Andriasian and Sargsyan had been cheating in a previous event and were quietly told to leave town, and

Petrosian had possibly achieved this result by committing the same sin.

Part 2: Wait, cheating at chess?

Yes, it’s possible. To oversimplify... it’s like copying the answer to a hard test question off your genius deskmate, except the “deskmate” is your desktop computer. Chess programs have been better at chess than humans for decades now; in theory, all you need to do to beat a human is enter the game into Stockfish and see what it thinks is the best move.

In practice, it’s much harder than that. Try logging into a chess website and rocketing up the ranks by copying the computer’s homework, and you’ll be banned pretty quickly. It turns out that computer moves don’t look like human moves, and people playing computer moves don’t behave like people playing their own moves either; the big chess websites all have secret sauce to try to detect cheaters, or to investigate games where they think cheating has occurred.

Of course, in an officially organized, professional event, the most straightforward way is just for the players to be watched while playing, so that it’s clear whether or not they have Droidfish open on their phones - whether by a live tournament rep in the player’s house, or just by setting up enough cameras that the judges can see what’s going on. That’s the “proctoring” that Wesley mentions in his followup comment to the thread:

The PRO Chess League finals, despite being an online-native event, only requires the players to set up a single facecam - not the multi-camera setup that would be necessary to see what the contestants are actually doing. And the “single facecam” video from the event does show Petrosian repeatedly glancing down at... something... during the tensest moments of his games.

Part 3: Classics of Post

Early the next morning, Tigran Petrosian catches wind of the conversation going on in the article comments, and decides to reply to Wesley’s accusations. But the way he chooses to do it, well... take a look for yourself.

This pretty much instantly ascended to copypasta status in the chess fandom. The /r/chess subreddit had to install an automod to remove reposts of it. Meanwhile, /r/AnarchyChess installed a bot to automatically post it whenever any of the main characters or catchphrases of this story were mentioned.

Wesley accepts the offer for an IRL money match, with a final snide remark: “You are clearly the king of online chess, man. But I will dare fight you over-the-board.”

Unfortunately, the “PIPI Invitational”, as GM Hikaru Nakamura called it in a Twitch stream, ends up not happening. Later that day, chess.com and the Pro Chess League make a joint announcement that, after conducting an investigation, they determined that Tigran Petrosian was, in fact, cheating in the semifinals and finals of the tournament. Petrosian is banned from the PCL for life, the Eagles get tempbanned, and the prizes get redistributed... thereby proving Petrosian right that, one way or another, “liers will kicked off”.

#chess #pro chess league #anarchychess #blitz chess #blitz #tigran petrosian #wesley so

[kathyprior4200]

Ten Afterlife Theories I Think Are Most Likely True

I.                    God-Source: God-Source is the universal benevolent genderless energy force that is the sum total of every spirit/soul in existence, often appearing as a healing white light. (God, Allah, Adonai, Jehovah, Yahweh, Atum, El, Brahman, Tao, Great Spirit, etc. all describe the same energy.) God-Source created everything and split into thousands of sparks during the Big Bang. (like how cells split apart and create a body or water molecules create an ocean). Although God-Source has always existed, God-Source created living and nonliving things to be able to experience existence through them. God-Source is us and we are all God-Source. No experience is lesser than another because God-Source loves everyone and everything equally. We exist in order to grow, love, and experience earthly life. Learning and suffering and experiencing the contrast of love and joy are only parts of our whole experience and not our main reason for incarnation, unlike New Age teaching says. (The main reason is to learn love in action and to experience life as a mortal for any species). The more we love ourselves and others, the more God-Source and the universes grow and expand. It is God-Source’s power that enables spirits to endure the cycles of birth, death, and rebirth in any world. Everyone, even the darkest of entities are part of God-Source. Once every soul has evolved to their best selves, they will merge again with God-Source. The universes will end at the end of time and God-Source will rest, before another Big Bang cycle occurs again. God-Source is happy when we love ourselves and other living things, but does not judge us for our mistakes, even the bad ones we all make such as rape, murder, cheating, abuse, war, etc. Even Ascended Masters like Jesus and Buddha have led evil previous lives because no soul is perfect in mortal form.

 II.                 Entities and Spirits: Jesus Christ, Buddha, Ascended Masters, Mother Earth being, the deities, nature spirits, angels, demons, light beings, elementals, aliens good and bad, tar/trickster spirits/shadows, the Anunnaki, mythical creatures, spirits of stars, plants, rivers, animals, humans, aliens, objects, etc. all exist…but to our mortal eyes and to the physical world, they do not exist. They reside in other dimensions alongside our own, including the Timeless Realm of Love and Light where all souls are created. Nothing and nowhere is separate. God-Source allows all creations free will, even the evil ones, because every soul is immortal and always improving. The evil aliens (Greys, Reptilians, Anunnaki) who enslaved early human ancestors did what many human colonizers do: fight over land and manipulate the denizens for their own agendas. The good aliens, Ascended Masters, angels, guides etc. focus on helping humanity evolve as a whole because humanity’s evolution will create a more stable galaxy and allow God-Source to evolve more easily. (Despite God-Source having infinite patience). Every living thing has spirit guides and loved ones in spirit from earth life and loved ones from past lives who watch over them. Higher evolved beings are revered as great teachers and have a higher vibration/power level, being able to better understand God-Source and the universe, but they help other souls reach that point at their own pace. Ascended Masters, deities, aliens, animal guides, and other entities see who we are as souls, beyond our race, gender, and culture and will communicate when they feel the time is right.

 III.              Time and Past Lives: Time is non-linear in the spirit world. Spirits can travel to any time period because time does not exist, or rather, all time exists for them. A person’s past lives on Earth, future lives on Earth and lives on other planets all are happening at the same time, the experiences helping their Oversoul grow. (Oversoul is the soul’s true form/self, the combination of all the soul’s past life selves and parallel selves.) As Oversouls, every crossed over soul has infinite knowledge about the universe and everything, provided by their natural connection to God-Source. Since Oversouls/Higher Selves/MegaSouls/SuperSpirits cannot communicate with mortals directly, the persona soul that the living loved ones knew will come down to communicate through psychic mediums, dreams, trance, meditation, ritual, etc. without the infinite knowledge. Souls often stay with their soul families; beings of light who have incarnated with them over many lifetimes…but have the option to meet a variety of other souls. (It is like how we stay with our families on Earth). Souls are ageless because time does not exist, and their only "age" is based on incarnation experience; it does not determine "superiority". It is impossible for humans to determine anyone’s exact “soul age.” Some "young" human souls with not as many lifetimes are not always reckless and immature and some "old" human souls who’ve lived hundreds/thousands of lives can be selfish and careless, based on their current life environment and genetics. Quality of lives matter more than quantity, although souls generally have an easier time with more experience. The number of lifetimes we have does not matter in the long run, as long as we learn what we need to learn.

 For most humans, we assume we will live a new life in the future for our next incarnation, but since time doesn’t exist in the spirit world, there is also a good chance we will reincarnate into a past era on Earth or on a different planet, depending on what our soul wants to do. This could also mean internally to us that our future lives have already happened, since we are now focused on our current lifetime and not focusing on all the others. We have all been good, evil, male, female, all races, all genders, all cultures, and a variety of human and nonhuman species in our soul journeys. No species is better than another, just different and allowing for a difference existence experience. (Humans have abstract thought and technology, but animals have smell, instincts, and psychic senses.). Spirit guides communicate to their mortal counterparts in dreams, gut feelings, and instincts, but deities only communicate with humans, since humans have senses of rituals, right and wrong, etc. We can reincarnate as humans, animals, plants, aliens, rocks, etc. in any place at any time, with the help of our spirit guides, soul families, and God-Source. We become earth parents, children, siblings, teachers, lovers, etc.; changing roles within our soul families in each new life. It is our soul and God-Source who makes the final decision. The bonds and connections between our parallel universe selves, “past life” and “future life” selves from our Oversoul are second only to our connection to God-Source, even stronger than our soul families, which is slightly lower than our bond with our various selves. (We know ourselves best). No matter where we go, our Oversoul is always connected to us. Our Oversoul has a unique soul signature/light language chant “name” (like “om”) that identifies us.

  IV.              Hell and Troubled Souls: No one knows exactly how many dimensions/levels there are. But souls can manifest and manipulate their surroundings by thought. Some people have good Near-Death Experiences and some create their own Hells based on their human fears and beliefs. After the distressed souls create their own Hells and realize there is only love and non-judgment, they have the choice to go with their spirit guides and cross over to the light. Some souls become Earthbound due to dying traumatic violent deaths, feeling strong attachments to people or possessions or not being sure they are dead. Troubled souls can attach themselves to some mortals who are vulnerable to drinking and addictions and abuse. This is due to holes in their auras. The dark souls can briefly experience the cravings of alcohol, drugs, emotions, etc. through the mortal soul, causing weakness and fatigue. In addition, trickster “tar” spirits feed on human fear. It is the responsibility of spirit guides and guardian angels to make sure events like this, plus unforeseen accidents do not happen, but free will makes things tricky. (Not everything is predetermined.) Souls must be able to cross over to the Timeless Realm of Love and Light and complete their Life Reviews in order to reconnect with their true selves and become a full Light Being spirit. Like birth transitions, death transitions are hard for many souls. Only the individual souls stuck on Earth or in illusionary dark realms can make the choice to cross over and thus reincarnate/become their true form. Once souls cross over, they can fully reunite with all their loved ones from all lives, their spirit guides, their pets, their soul families, and also create their own heavens/paradise worlds. Souls first transitioning will experience guides and environments most relevant to their species (oceans for marine souls, fields, towns, parks etc. for humans) for adjustment. Once the soul remembers their powers and identity, they can literally make their own energy worlds. Although every soul knows each other beyond language and species, each soul will experience their own paradise. That’s why no two NDEs or alternate states are alike.  

 V.                 Reincarnation: Souls who have unfinished business, died early deaths, or left behind children or important people will often get the chance to reincarnate sooner than other souls to try again at their missions. Walk-in souls are un-common but they do happen. It is when one soul cannot handle physical life, so it leaves. Another soul is guided by a spirit guide to the left-over body before the silver cord connecting the body and soul can be naturally severed. The soul will carefully enter the body with the help of the guides/angel, retaining their previous life memories at the soul’s request. The majority of souls will have their memories of their “past” and “future” lives, and lives in spirit erased by the veil, in order to focus on their new lifetime and not bring conflict and confusion to the roles of their soul family members. Some souls will retain their memories and psychic powers if it will serve their goals and help change the world.

 Souls do not choose to be abused, to have disabilities/diseases, or to kill or be killed by anyone before birth, although they are aware of certain events most likely happening in many life possibilities. Some body marks/troubles come from past life trauma beyond the soul/human’s control but can be amended in the next life. Souls of aborted babies are not harmed by abortion and can try again with other parents. Souls of those who committed suicide are not judged either, although they feel the grief of those left behind on Earth and are encouraged to try again for another life. Also, not all souls can choose when they die or know when it’s the right time to go…all souls knowing when they will die is a human myth because tragic unplanned deaths do happen.

 VI.              Life Reviews and Karma: All souls of all species go through a Life Review of their previous life after death before becoming their true spirit self. It is the purgatory-like rite of passage to spirit godhood and a completion of the crossing over beyond time. The Life Review can appear like a book or a scroll in the Akashic Records, a theater, a movie screen, or other ways for the individual soul’s preferences. True Life Reviews are neutral, just like karma. Any Life Review that is judgmental and only shows bad actions is a fear-induced illusion. Karma means “action” and helps the soul in self-discovery and natural feedback. (Though there are consequences on Earth and consequences via feelings in Life Reviews, not necessarily past life actions coming back.) Souls can play different roles to make amends (ex. estranged spouses can try again as friends in the next life.) The soul sees the results of all their good, bad, and neutral actions on other living things in life. They become the other person and experience their emotions through them. They are able to see their birth all the way to their death all at once. They are not punished for wrongdoings, but often feel guilty of their mistakes and negative actions toward others. All backstories and perspectives are shared with all souls in the Life Reviews (predator, prey, victim, perpetrators, drug addicts, leaders etc.) Contrary to human thought, the Life Review is not just about the individual soul and its wrongdoings…it involves everyone and everything in a larger picture. The souls also re-experience all their sensations on Earth, good and bad, in fast succession. As the Life Review continues, the soul gains an understanding of their purpose in life and learns the backstories of all their family and those around them. When the Life Review is over, the soul will have gathered all knowledge about all events in their previous life and how accidents and predetermined events alike impacted their lives. The soul also uses their Life Reviews of their “past” and “future” and nonhuman lives to determine their goals and amends for their next incarnation. Although souls have the option to re-merge with God-Source, the majority of them will want to continue to evolve through the natural Reincarnation Cycle (not a punishment) until they feel their learning/karma is finished. Many human souls will most likely continue to be humans for a while, like many animal souls reincarnating as the same type of animal, but not always. Other souls will re-experience happy memories, reunite with all families, create universes, travel through the cosmos and time and watch over the living to further their evolution and love. Life Reviews are mostly hard for human souls only.

 VII.            Life-Planning:

 Souls carefully plan their next lives with the help of their soul families, spirit guides and God-Source. They choose their birth race, birth gender, birth parents, and birth location. They are aware of certain events more likely to happen, but also know that things can change. With their soul families and spirit council, they discuss the roles they will play (parent, child, sibling, spouse, lover, teacher, opponent, pet, etc.)

 The soul goes through various stations to prepare them for mortal life:

 Incarnation Station (what Michael Newton calls the Ring of Destiny.) This is where souls and their guides go to plan their future lives, animal, human, male, female, good, evil etc. They can go through time and experience immersive trailers/scenes of many appropriate future lives. The new life is chosen by the soul based on 1: their goals and mission 2: their soul family incarnating with them 3: Curiosity/diversity 4: Advice from guides. The soul and guides and God-Source review millions of life possibilities at the same time. From this, a life-plan blueprint is made for the soul and the spirit guides watching over the soul. The soul accepts greater likelihoods of certain challenges, diseases, traumas etc. but knows that anything can change. (Thus, contrary to New Age, the soul does not fully choose disabilities or certain karma events “just to learn.” And they do not agree to be a victim/villain with someone else because they are a pure being) Past lives are also reviewed for the soul to integrate into the next life. All past life personalities, some more prominent than others, are integrated into the new incarnating soul persona.

 No soul ever chooses to be evil/abusive but are aware of the risks and greater chances of harming others in certain time periods and environments. Souls are not judged, they only judge themselves and figure out what needs to be done.

 Creature Crossover Center: This station is for souls preparing to incarnate from nonhuman to human and vice versa or animal to plant to alien etc. Human thoughts and worries are dulled down, replaced by sensations of instincts to make it easier for souls wanting to become animals. Animal/plant souls wanting to become human go through extra training due to human free will, fear of death, abstract thought and our many anxieties.

 Emotions And Instincts Integration: Here souls experience the vast emotions and instincts of the species they will incarnate as. They will feel human grief, joy, ecstasy, anger, and many other emotions. They also learn how to control their feelings and thoughts.

 Spirit Guide Station: Souls who have evolved much on Earth, will choose which mortals to watch and go over how to review the soul’s life plan. They are instructed how to help the soul with opportunities, communicating with other spirit guides and further protecting the mortals from dark entities. (Animals and plants also have their own spirit guides that watch over them, but the spirit guides of humans check on their humans more frequently due to human free will and their immense evolution.) Humans have the advantages of abstract thought, ability to communicate with spirits/entities, understand their actions while on Earth, technology and concepts but animals have no fear of death, instincts, sensing spirits, and a greater spiritual evolution/attunement/understanding of God-Source natural law and unconditional love.

 Sensation Swirl: Souls, before going through the Pain And Pleasure Simulator, souls will go beyond time through the Swirl. They experience at the same time (to numb the effects), all the pleasures and pains of the universe from all time periods. Since the soul absorbs knowledge and sensations, this ensures they are more prepared for all kinds of deaths and experiences before incarnating.

 Pleasure and Pain Simulator: After choosing their new life, souls either in groups or privately with their guide will go through a simulator that stimulates pleasures and pains on their planet. They experience, at random, 100 pleasures and 10 fatal pains (10 pleasures and 2 pains per session), based on the most likely death scenarios for their lives. They can experience anything from burning to freezing to diseases, heart attacks, to being eaten, but also experience sex, food, drink, love and the many joys that mortals take for granted to help them get used to them.

 Mentor Meeting: Souls will finish their conversations with their soul families, reviewing the roles they will play in the future life. (Mothers, fathers, lovers, children, friends etc.). Guides and divine council members will give the soul helpful constructive advice and send them strength and courage.

 Veil Simulator: All incarnating souls about to leave the timeless realm, go through the veil simulator, knowing the crushing feeling of shrinking, losing its powers and its memories. This ensures they are more prepared for the real thing.

  VIII.         Spirit Natural Powers/Abilities and Pros and Cons of Mortality:

 Spirit Advantages And Powers:

 Telepathic Communication: Souls can communicate mind to mind, without the use of words. This ability is shared by all souls: animal, human, plant, alien, deva, etc.

 Teleportation by Thought: just by thinking about a person or location, the soul can find themselves there.

 Soul Merging: any soul can share memories/Life Reviews with each other and briefly become the other soul. This can be done with multiple souls at once.

 Self Switch: At any time, the soul or the Oversoul/Megasoul can shapeshift into any past life self/persona.

 Thought/Feeling Blocking: Advanced souls or souls wishing to be in privacy can block the thoughts and feelings of other souls around them. Karma is neutral feedback system, not punishment.

 Heightened Emotions and Thoughts: Souls can feel happiness, sadness, and emotions more intensely than their mortal counterparts. They can feel the grief of those left behind and the perspectives of all individuals around them. It is only by completing their Life Reviews and accepting their mistakes can souls fully crossover into the Timeless Realm of Love and Light where God-Source and their homeland is.

 Telekinesis: Souls can move substances in their world and, depending on power and advancement, can manipulate physical matter and objects. Objects are easier to manipulate with many stronger souls.

 Immortality: Souls and spirits are immortal, on a constant journey of love, wisdom, and self-discovery. The soul knows whether it still needs to incarnate and what activities are best for them. This also means they can handle death and re-experiencing traumatic past life memories. No pain, no hunger, no thirst and no body and mind restrictions!

Energy Sensing: Souls can see and sense energy and molecules and atoms in everything. They also have access to the origins and auras of matter, energy and living things from the Akashic Records.

 Time Travel: All souls can visit any time period since time is not linear. They can re-experience their past lives and see future life possibilities. They can even reincarnate into the past but they have to discuss the matter with God-Source.

 Infinite Knowledge: As Megasouls/Oversouls, spirits have infinite knowledge of the universe thanks to God-Source. They can share this with other souls but not with mortals. They can only appear as the same soul/persona that the mortal knew them as, due to the fact that mortals cannot perceive the Oversoul and that infinite knowledge could alter the timelines. Thus, the limited knowledge/beliefs of the spirit is shared with the mortal family members/friends. This is why discrimination must be done with any spirit advice.

 Oversoul name: The soul’s true huge self is comprised of all it’s past life incarnations together (like God-Source is comprised of everyone and everything). Our true name is a Light Language harmonic sound/song chant and unique symbol/color, (ex. “Om, na, ki, sey”) giving us uniqueness and joy). The tone followed by an Earth name or sound will call the associated soul/persona. Soul families also have their own unique symbols and frequencies for identification.

 Environment Manifestation: Souls and the afterlife world of energy can manifest various environments appropriate for the souls’ comfort level and evolution. This is why the afterlife looks different to everyone. Some souls will experience dark astral environments with like-minded souls after a hard life until they are ready to move onto higher spheres. For regular souls, they can journey into any sphere and visit anyone since nothing is separate and there is no limiting hierarchy and souls aren’t limited to only staying with their soul group or like-minded souls in contrast to many New Age views.

 God-Source Merging: Souls can temporarily merge with God-Source at any time, feeling whole and complete. This is because God-Source is in everyone and everything. Contrary to New Age belief, God-Source is not a near impossible state to reach only after becoming an Ascended Master. The main goal is for all souls to complete their incarnations together and merge completely with God-Source after their times on Earth are finished/after the end of time. Eventually after this immense healing, God-Source will encourage the soul or the soul will encourage itself to complete their next mission. (Though it’s incredibly hard to leave the love of God-Source again.) It also explains the feelings of knowing/oneness/seeing white light in some NDEs.

 Dream Entering: Some souls can enter and change dreams of mortals.

 Soul Attachment: For the darker entities, some can attach onto mortals, drain their energy, alter their thoughts or even get an energy high from substances, drugs, alcohol etc.

 Healing: Souls have the natural ability to heal the various etheric bodies/soul bodies, some souls can do this easier than others.

 Although quality of incarnations matter more than quantity, many souls have an easier time and are “older” with more incarnation experiences. Many “older” souls will become human/aliens in comparison to other species, but any soul can become anything with enough training and preparation. But all souls are equal and ageless.

 Love: Crossed over spirits are made from light, energy, and love. They can send immense love and joy to anyone, providing clarity and instant healing.  

 Spirit Disadvantages:

 Inability To Eat And Drink: Since spirits aren’t living mortals, they cannot enjoy food and drink like mortals can. They can, however, get good feelings by consuming the energy of their favorite foods. That is why many people leave offerings to deities and ancestors to show respect. The spirits can also present themselves eating and enjoying activities to comfort their mortal families.

 Inability to Have Sex: Although souls can merge with each other and know each other’s thoughts in divine bliss, they cannot experience the bodily pleasures of sex, drugs, drinks etc. like mortals (unless they are a bad soul attaching to a vulnerable mortal).

 Communication Misunderstanding: Spirits can’t communicate with mortals with words and via regular means. Instead, they have to resort to manipulating light objects and using the energy of dreams and altered states to present clues to mortals. Oftentimes, many souls at once will work to communicate with a mortal.

 No Private Thoughts: Crossed over spirits are one with everyone and everything, including objects. While this brings divinity, it offers almost no privacy for thoughts and feelings. By experiencing incarnation, the soul can have an individual experience with no one to read their thoughts and feelings. The soul can briefly live the illusion of separation and feel truly unique, if not lonely at times.

 Slower Evolution: While spirits can evolve just fine in the spirit world helping mortals and creating new worlds, evolving in a physical form allows for faster growth and an adventure experience. Even negative short lives are valuable to the soul.

 IX.         Guides and Protectors: All mortals and living things have guides in spirit that watch over them. Family members in spirit will visit their mortal loved ones every day. The guides will go in shifts and won’t watch 24/7 since they have their own afterlives and evolution. Spirit guides can be anything and anyone: people previously on Earth who volunteer to watch a mortal, guardian angels, loved ones from a current life or past life, ancestors, aliens, nature spirits, deities, ascended masters, demons, animal guides, and many others. Guardian angels will assist the soul in birth and death and some spirit guides stay with the soul for life, while others come and go. Spirit guides know our souls and do not judge us based on our culture, race, gender, or even our mistakes and actions.

 X.          The Purpose Of All Souls:

Our purpose is not to experience contrast and suffering for growth; that is only one part of our life.

 “Our purpose here is to discover unconditional love within ourselves and offer it to others. We are all on the path. What differs is the road we take, the experiences we choose, and how much we have learned about love. No road is better or more important than another. It is all a matter of what speaks to your heart and feels like home within. We are here to explore, experience, and find joy in the process of living an earthly existence. Our evolution and ascension as a spiritual being happens organically at a time when we are ready to receive it. We are all constantly growing, evolving, and changing. But this is not anything we have to force or for which we need a certain skill set. We are all spiritual beings having the human experience. All these experiences are a little different than the person standing next to us.” – NDE report

#spirituality #afterlifetheory

[ladylooch]

Happy New Year - I hope 2024 is going to be an amazing year for you!

I'm coming to you in a bit of (well, almost but not quite) crisis mode to see if you have any suggestions with turning something around in my head.

I've been in the throes of writing some fics for my beloved player and in doing some light "research" here on other Tumblr blogs and reddit, my opinion has shifted about said hockey player.

I knew these things in theory about professional athletes in general (rampant cheating, general douchey behavior, etc.) but to see string after string about his own shady behavior in relationships, it's kind of derailed my thinking and taken my original plots on a detour.

Has this ever happened to you when in the middle of writing about a player?

Lately, all I can think about is the reader/OC, making him rethink his "decision-making skills" (😆), teaching him a lesson, making him suffer at the hands of his own making, that sort of thing.

Just wanted to pick your amazing mind on this one and see how you might tackle this side-circus going on in my brain...

First of all, WOOF! I am sorry, bby! That sucks! Let’s just allow that feeling to exist for a sec.

I'm very honored you're asking for my advice! Hope what I have for you helps 💜

I have had this happen to me with a player before. For me, it was an instant- I’m done writing about this person. We all have boundaries and lines we aren’t okay with crossing. Sometimes, real life makes it difficult to see beyond, even in a fictional world. It’s important to listen to our inner thoughts when those moments happen, otherwise it can be a HUGE creative block. Now could it all be drama and rumors? Sure, but sometimes we can't forget the things we have heard, even if there isn't firm proof of anything.

Also, we can totally normalize changing your mind! You are allowed to change your opinions about people, even those you never thought you would “fall out of love” with. This is natural as we grow and evolve as people. Sometimes we start out creating for specific characters to find our groove and then something happens IRL and we want to stop creating about them. For example, some writers won’t write about people in committed relationships or who are married. Or they wont write about people with kids. These are natural milestones in life that may mean change is necessary when they occur. So writers keep the mems, stick to their boundaries, and move on to other characters.

My biggest advice would be not to force anything forward and consider putting any fics/requests/AUs about the player on hiatus while you sort out your feelings. Although these are works of fiction, if you’re getting the ick from a player IRL, it will show up in your writing. Or you may start to think negatively of your work because of the mixed feeling you have about your main character.

Ultimately, it is your blog/creative space. Only you can decide how you want to move forward!

Best of luck! MY DMs are open too if you want to chat more offline too 😘

#b answers #writer advice

[m-r-levine]

Unspoken : a wip that shouldn’t be

It occurs to me I should probably explain the og/elf brainrot premise of Unspoken since basically I’ve not talked about anything #Dark Tapestry outside of asks in literally years due to mi hijo maldito stealing the spotlight becoming the focus of my writing attention for the last four years or so.

Especially since searching my own blog is turning up almost nothing. 🤦 I swear I feel like I froth at the mouth about these characters all the time and yet my blog shows no evidence of this?? What strange unsearchable vortex have they fallen into this time?

Ahem.

The context…

Under the Weaver's hand, all patterns move in harmony.

Where chaos moves, all theory becomes meaningless.

Daidel is a world of darkness and light, in possession of magic and technology, science and divine power, often at war with itself. Terrible things happen in this world under two moons, and wonderful things as well. The stories in this world span the globe and a massive stretch of time — but the first thread written belongs to a mortal chosen to become a Fury.

The cast

Although the supporting cast is as usual a sprawling mess of multiple cities and factions, the brainrot thin excuse for a plot centers on just two characters: Keris and Davri.

Neither a hero nor a villain nor yet a world power, Praetor Brynrinkeris Z’equidai Chath il Rex do’Xiphos is merely an arrow aimed at one particular offense to the gods (not the Weaver, merely some number of little gods) who is also no one of any particular or weighty consequence except to the gods offended by his existence. Although still mortal, fallible, vulnerable, and utterly killable, Keris was given a certain… conditional permanence in order to facilitate her mission. (Not that she has any idea what it is or that she even has this drive at all. It’s not terribly important to this particular plot or even half of them, it’s just… there. A little narrative land mine that may or may not ever trip.) She has led the Trinae for several centuries now - but this is not remarkable either. Even moonborn with no magic at all can live a thousand years if they set their formidable Wills to it, evade the ravages of wild magic and pestilence, and no one finds the motivation to pay the hefty bills arranging a permanent death would incur.

She will neither save nor destroy the world at any point in the Dark Tapestry. She is sometimes the narrative focus and sometimes she is just a stranger neglecting to pay a gate fee in someone else’s bad day. She is not particularly unique - even when she cheats Death the Scalekeeper, especially after the formation of the Ravens* in the aftermath of the Forge Moon explosion. She is merely a red thread.

…And Davri’s commanding officer. (Whoops)

The little mercenary company Trinae Amicae is not so little anymore - hasn’t been since they seized the wild heartstone in the deadlands of Molniya and built the hidden fortress of Xiphos atop it. Half village, half command center and training ground, Xiphos is hidden by the landscape itself and the wild magic rampant throughout that part of the world… and maybe a little help from the mages of the Amicae who have made their home there for many daystar generations. Although the Trinae is known in many citystates for their professionalism and efficiency and their ruthless policies should a promised paychest dare to be late, little else is known outside their organization beyond their red and gold banner and the frigid reputation of the Praetor who leads them: not only is she a moonborn grand adept who lives apart from other ekete, she owes allegiance to no city at all, and neither does anyone else under the Trinae banner. Centuries ago this was regarded as an amusing and temporary (read: doomed) quirk by administrators of the major cities — in the contemporary era, most civil and military functionaries tacitly agree it’s not worth their lives or livelihoods to question their paperwork too closely. Especially as the Trinae are one of the few Companies willing and able to field any measurable resistance to the violent ambitions of the Ragestorm Empire of Mor’chagh.

Davrush mej Nakun was born among the oggish clans of the Amicae, and follows the wide path forged by his foremothers to train in the arts of war and serve the banner in his turn. Unfortunately, the distant, abstract, and imposing Praetor became a tangible and distressingly mortal reality for him when he was still a child. He has carried a more-or-less secret flame for her ever since, despite six years in voluntary exile attempting to obey her order to overcome what she believed to be a starry-eyed sort of hero-worship infatuation common to the young of every kind. He is acknowledged a master weaponsmith, and on his return to Xiphos and refusal to accept a commission into the Elite Three Hundred** until the Trinae could be (mostly) self-sufficient in the matter of their armaments, he was elevated to Legate (the second-highest rank - there were two Legates previously, East and West, and he was made a third, Artifex) and charged with authority over the craftspersons and armory among the Trinae, both in Xiphos itself and support staff in the field.

Working so closely with the love of his life, burdened with both the privilege and responsibility to advise and argue with her is a torment he embraces with stoic determination and absolute discretion. He is widely respected as a warrior, artisan, educator, and leader. He embodies the highest virtues of the Trinae, regards his rank as a vocation, and more than a few whispers around the Company speculate that the spirit of their First Praetor (a human knight of the early fourth kiya, Cieramos the Bright) may have been reborn as a chaste og - and what a pity, since unbonded oggish rarely live past seventy-five.

The plot

And now we get to the heart of the brainrot the Excuse to wallow in pining the surface plot.

Three foreigners defy the landscape and magical protections around Xiphos to approach the Trinae with a delicate job offer. They negotiate a deal for an advance party to discreetly evaluate the scope of the work they want: the Company to protect their walled city from multiple external threats and also to mediate between political factions within their city.

Keris has Doubts™️ but at the same time she needs to solve the problem of how these envoys found Xiphos to begin with, how they came to possess artifacts once owned by Cieramos, and how to position a successor for a stable transition when she can no longer lead the Trinae. A campaign past the edges of the charted world would make such a convenient circumstance to force the succession one way or another, if only she can subtly guide the Council to acknowledge the best and most natural choice in their midst. (She is of course certain that when they offer Davri the mantle of Praetor he will finally see reason and secure a platonic bond of convenience to extend his life.***)

Davri attaches himself to the campaign in no small part to prevent her from seeking Death despite Keris’ initial refusal by implying he will seek a bond and establish a family after they return. No one would deny him the right to one last glorious campaign — and to sweeten the deal the foreigners carry better steel than they can make, and armaments of a different style than anyone else. He is the expert on both - and he is more than enough of a warrior and tactician in his own right to command the Three Hundred in the event the Praetor cannot — or if circumstances require a division of their forces.

Naturally, reconnaissance and peacekeeping in Udea does not go easily. Month after month of work uncovers only more tangled politics and personal vendettas and pockets of wild and malicious magics both. Nothing in the desert is simple - and by the Writ the Company is no longer free to walk away from the problem of the modern citystate as inconveniently active magical artifacts predating the Rending of the Forge Moon keep surfacing from various conflicts and expeditions into the trackless sands.

Every day spent in close company on this delicate, dangerous campaign increases the pressure to forge some kind of victory from the chaos, and doubles the challenge of pretending to continued faith in their mutual fiction of indifference.

The Writ that governs the Trinae is sacred and good and right — and the officers of the Company are held to an even higher standard of faithfulness to their laws. Anything less would destroy the foundations of the strength that protects the freedom of the Amicae. No one clear of mind and heart would disagree, much less the highest authorities among them.

Abuse of a subordinate carries the same grave and final penalty as treason and sabotage. No one knows this better than Keris, who bears the silent grief of enforcing the Writ herself.

Control is paramount for a mage, passion is dangerous. Keris is a grand adept with many centuries of field experience behind her. Control is as much her field of expertise as magic and war.

And yet, and yet.

Every “remedy” she leverages against temptation fails to slay the desire to embrace the forbidden beloved at her side.

You see the problem, of course.

The delightful, sticky, overheated pressure cooker of a star-crossed mutual-pining friends-to-lovers slow burn idiots-in-love size-difference monsterfuckery-adjacent secondearth military fantasy adventure kinky romance.

Why is my brain like this.

Send help.

- - -

* The Ravens are an apolitical, secretive, and vaguely occult necromantic organization common on several continents. They offer essential support and recovery services to the city-states at negotiated contract rates lower than any independent necro or dolovai can offer in exchange for a vertically-unbounded but horizontally modest plot of land within the city walls… and tax-exempt status

** The Three Hundred is a company-within-a-company of warriors under the direct command of the Praetor herself

*** Dear Reader, Keris is wrong.

#dark tapestry #writeblr #studiorat rambles #long post #unspoken #writeblr wip summary #spicy fantasy romance wip #long reads

[just-late-roman-republic-things]

Today in The Last Generation of the Roman Republic: courtroom shenanigans!

Trials usually served a political purpose: either a failed electoral candidate trying to prove his opponents had cheated, or an attempt by one faction to humiliate or weaken another faction.

The outcome of a trial depended a lot on the current balance of power. Jurors considered not only the evidence, or their personal feelings toward the defendant, but also about how conviction would affect the power of the Pompeians, the first triumvirate, the Clodians, Lucullus' allies, and other groups. If one group seemed to be getting too powerful, many jurors would vote in the opposite direction just because.

This could result in bizarre temporary alliances like Cato and Clodius both going after Milo, because Milo was an agent of Pompey; Cato hated Pompey and Clodius hated Milo.

It could also create about-faces in priorities, such as Cicero first executing the Catilinarians, then defending Publius Sulla, who was likely among the conspirators but also brother-in-law to Pompey.

Although bribery occurred, it probably wasn't much of a factor compared to current political sentiments.

Prosecutors often weren't expecting to win. The goal of a trial might be propaganda, not a conviction. The abortive attempt to prosecute Caesar in 58 falls into this category: everybody knew Caesar couldn't be prosecuted while proconsul of Gaul; it was more of a publicity stunt from the Catonians than anything else.

I am very, very curious what Gruen has to say about the "prosecution theory" which claims Caesar's fear of prosecution was a motivating factor for his invasion of Italy in 49. Gruen has noted that political trials were extremely common, but also that conviction for "big players" was very rare. Based on the "balance of power" principle, it's likely that if Caesar had gone to trial he would've been acquitted by senators fearing a Pompeian hegemony - assuming Caesar's immense popularity with the citizens didn't make a trial politically unfeasible in the first place.

#roman trials #the prosecution theory #ancient rome #erich gruen #last generation of the roman republic #jlrrt reads #jlrrt essays