Danganronpa Ultimate Categorization
Welcome back to another episode of: Jade is a nerd about something absolutely useless! Today's topic: Talent classification in Danganronpa/Fangans.
In the process of making my own fangan/s, I've created a classification system for the types of talents you can give characters. These classifications are...
Arts: Talents that are involved in the visual arts, performing arts, or fashion. Encompasses performers of all types, any type of visual artist, or anyone involved in fashion. (Ex. Actor, Abstract Artist, Model)
Practical: Talents that focus on a specialized skill or work with your hands. Also includes any talents that are religious or spiritual in nature. (Ex. Mechanical Engineer, Detective, Shrine Maiden)
Academic: Talents that are recognized by how much knowledge or experience a character has in an academic field. Covers most science, literature, math, and research based talents. (Ex. Chemist, Theologian, Archaeologist)
Sports: Talents relating to athletic skill. (Ex. Footballer, Kickboxer, Bowler)
Novelty: Talents given to a person who is special simply by existing. Can also be given to characters who win a contest for their talent. Includes Lucky/Unlucky Students, royalty, and non-human characters. (Ex. Lucky Student, Student, Princess)
This system of classification was based on my experience in the community over about three or four years, seeing many other people's original characters as well as creating my own. I found many fell into these categories. My "perfect" ratio, which my friends and I used as a guideline for making our fangan casts, is 4 arts : 4 practical : 4 academic : 2 sports: 2 novelty. I felt this ratio kept things even and grounded.
A few months ago, I began to wonder if my "perfect" ratio was more of my own creation than an actual pattern I saw. I thought, in the event it was, that I would come up with a mathematically accurate ratio that better represented the talent distribution of Danganronpa and its fan projects. This was my attempt at doing just that.
Data Collection
For this, I tried to collect as varied of a sample as possible. I included the three mainline Danganronpa games and sixteen fangans, ranging from very popular ones to very obscure ones. The fangans sampled for this analysis were...
Danganronpa Another
Super Danganronpa Another 2
Danganronpa Despair Time
Brave Danganronpa Coward's Paradise
Project Eden's Garden
Danganronpa He(art)less Deceit
Danganronpa Hushed Whispers
Danganronpa Muave
Danganronpa Despair's Revival
Danganronpa Re:Birth
Danganronpa Twisted Truths
Danganronpa Survivor's Guilt
Danganronpa Despair's Flame (my fangan! also the one where the talent ratio originated)
Danganronpa Cyberspace
Danganronpa Akeda Amusements
Danganronpa Lost Paradise (my other fangan that isn't released anywhere but I'm counting anyway)
I figured out the talent ratio for each individual game by looking through their casts and sorting them with my classification system. Ultimate ???'s were thrown out if possible (such as in the case of Akeda Amusements, where Hanari was thrown out due to the fangan having seventeen participants) and if not, they were counted as novelty.
Also, shout out to Yuki Maeda and Teruya Ōtori for managing to count for two different data sets despite my best efforts at finagling a way to keep them confined to one.
Observations
The first thing I noticed in looking at the ratios for canon Danganronpa was that Academic ultimates are underrepresented compared to what I initially remembered. It had been a while since I revisited the mainline games, and it was a shock to be reminded of that. I was also reminded, but not quite as shocked by the greater emphasis on practical ultimates.
In fangans, the focus on practical ultimates continues to be heavy, with none having less than two. There was also less focus on sports ultimates, with the majority having only one or two compared to the three that the mainline games had a majority of the time. They also tend to have more academic ultimates.
I think that this could be explained by looking at the types of people who make fangans. The majority of people I know who make fangans have very particular knowledge about certain fields due to experience or heavy research, and more often than not these fields do not include sports. They are more likely to make characters based on their experiences and knowledge that they can then insert into the story to make it seem more authentic.
I also, unsurprisingly, found that my "perfect" ratio was not reflected in many of the fangans I looked at. There was only one besides my own that followed that ratio.
Now, if my "perfect" ratio is not the mathematically perfect ratio, then what is?
According to the data collected for the canon games, this is.
This just so happens to also be the ratio for Trigger Happy Havoc.
According to the data collected from the fangans, this is the perfect ratio.
The only fangan that followed this ratio exactly was Akeda Amusements. V3 also had this distribution.
When considering both mainline and fan made games, the perfect ratio was this.
Ironically, not a single mainline game or fan game followed this ratio.
Out of curiosity, I also calculated the standard deviation for each data set.
Canon Danganronpa has little to no variation, conveying that talent ratios are quite consistent between games. The biggest variation would be in the novelty category, making sense as V3 scaled down the amount of novelty ultimates compared to the other two games.
The fangans are shown to have a much larger variation. Though I can't be surprised by this, as perhaps it is an unfair comparison. The mainline Danganronpa games were written by mostly the same team and had less to sample from, while the fangans have not only a larger sample size in which to deviate, but many different writers that think differently about talent distribution.
Final Thoughts
In putting this all together, I found that my classification system, while not perfect in any sense of the word, has some validity to it. If I wanted to, I could definitely make some improvements to it (especially in distinguishing between certain academic and practical fields from novelty), but as of now it works perfectly fine as an aide in cast creation for me.
My ratio is also not perfect, which was an expected outcome. Really none of the ratios I found are perfect, with none of them representing more than one or two of any mainline or fan made game. While ratios like the ones I found can be good for making sure you have a balanced distribution of talents, they aren't required to make a good cast. Personally, I'll continue using my personal "perfect" ratio as a baseline for any cast I make in the future.
I also had a lot of fun making this, and hope I can find a way to make more posts like this in the future. Thank you for reading this.
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'Memento mori' watch in the form of a skull, known as the 'Mary Queen of Scots' watch.
Watch signed Moysant, Blois in the shape of a skull, with outer leather travel case. The large silver case is shaped like a human skull and is pierced and also engraved all over with religious and mythological scenes as well as quotations in Latin from Horace.
The mechanism, which includes a striking train, is hidden inside the skull. It has had considerable alteration and is now a conversion to lever escapement. The silver dial, which has two hands, is engraved with a scene of Saturn swallowing his children.
This watch has acquired an international reputation as the one given by Mary Queen of Scots to Mary Seaton, on her way to her execution. In fact it is one of three, first recorded in 1822.
The movement, revealed when the jaw is opened, is signed ‘Moysant, Blois’ but is probably 19th century. The case and engraved skull-shaped case is late 18th century or early 19th century. These fascinating watches were probably created as an early manifestation of the ‘Romantic Revival’.
Science Museum
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Okay cus I can here's little explanations for why each song in the Bill playlist is in the Bill playlist as of today (i change it a lot).
Razzle Dazzle- song about tricking people via showbiz. Specifically making them trust you. That's all he does.
Birdhouse in Your Soul- 'ahaha you can trust me ahahha :] or can you >:]'
Hip to Be Square- Patrick Bateman. Also it's about how cool it is to conform.
Dancing Queen- The ABBA songs are on here cus I think he'd like them. Dancing Queen is his favourite.
Winner Takes it All- Also an ABBA song but it's got some Bill themeing to it like you kinda gotta play dirty to get what you want cus the world is unfair.
Can't Decide- I remember.... 2014.....
I'm Gonna Win- Spiritual successor to Can't Decide in my head. All about how this guy's never gonna give up ever. Bill literally refuses to die out of spite multiple times.
Talking in Your Sleep- Movie song. It also goes hard.
My Way- Asshole anthem and another song he'd probably like irl.
Lifetime Achievement Award- This one is more Vanny singing AT him but yeh, get revived by an obsessive fan, idiot.
Run, Rabbit, Run- Bnunny :]
Science Fiction/Double Feature- He's a freaky sci-fi guy (this is kinda a compromise for Sweet Transvestite cus I don't have the BALLS to put that in the William Afton playlist sadly).
Feed My Ego- About relationships being for his benifit only. Wonderful.
Icicles- Mostly here cus Henry is the song that leads into this one on the album. It's got the whole motif of taking people out with you though which Bill totally does.
As Your Father I Expressly Forbid It- He's a suburban dad.
Do It All The Time- Mostly here cus of the robotic beep boops and general aura of world domination.
Ruler of Everything- DO YOU LIKE HOW I-
Kiss Me, Son of God- Bill has weird religious themeing and also he SUCKS.
dancing around in circles until my little feet fall off- CLOWN MUSIC.
We'll Meet Again- He... he always comes back....
Waterloo- About loving losing a fight. Brilliant.
It's Only A Paper Moon- Another song he'd like IRL but it's also about believing something so hard it becomes true. It's also an important part of A Streetcar Named Desire which is a play I think he enjoys.
The Snake- Literally that one Candy Cadet story in song form and it goes hard.
Variations On a Cloud- WHY DON'T WE KEEP IT COMING BACK AND COMING BACK AND
Make of This What You Will- Mostly just the vibes are correct with this one I think.
AD INFINITUM- He's not beating the Spampton allegations. It was either this or I straight up just put Big Shot in here.
Under My Skin- Makes me think of remnant and loss of identity.
well, better than the alternative...- He's a suburban mum. Next to Razzle Dazzle this is the most Bill song. There's even a rabbit reference in the first verse.
VIRUS- aaoaugh the bunny is malware in myyy commpurter..
Mx.Sinister- He's a little obsessive maybe a little.
2econd 2ight 2eer (that was fun, goodbye.)- Lots of lines in this one just scream Bill at me till I start dancing soz.
Noel's Lament- Bill would fantasise about being a 20s French sex-worker I think that's in character.
Something Something Lake- This is how I conseptualise UCN.
Fairytale of New York- His ex-wife calls him a fag.
Murder on the Dancefloor- Goes hard. Also he kills people.
I/Me/Myself- Fucking.... transgender.
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Here's a list of sapphic books I've enjoyed for Femslash February and Valentine's Day 🥰🏳️🌈
romance
A Little Light Mischief Former scoundrel turned lady's maid falls for her employer's companion. This was my first foray into wlw period romance. Absolutely loved it, it packs a lot of UST, steam and feels into a short novella!
The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics (Feminine Pursuits, #1) Olivia Waite's wlw historical fiction stole my heart. All of her books mention background queer characters too. This one is about a lady astronomer who falls in love with her widowed patron as they break down barriers in science and art. Smart and hot!
The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows (Feminine Pursuits, #2) The widowed owner of a printing business must call for the help of a beekeeper trapped in a fake marriage. Middle aged women falling in love!! Being gay!! Looking after bees!! Having sex!! Defying expectations!!
The Hellion's Waltz (Feminine Pursuits, #3) A pianist who hates swindlers tries to stop a swindler from swindling. Literally "be gay, do crimes"! Less UST and build-up than the other two, but still hot and sweet and socialist propaganda. There's poly rep too.
The Romance Recipe Restaurant owner hires reality star chef to help revive her restaurant (boss/employee), full of UST and good discussions of bisexuality. It has no less than five sex scenes.
Something to Talk About Celebrity romance with an age gap and boss/employee dynamic, deals with sexual harassment in Hollywood. Veeery slow burn with one smut scene.
The Falling in Love Montage YA, set in Ireland, our heartbroken protagonist doesn't want to fall in love so her new crush proposes a trope-filled summer fling. Plenty of making out but no smut. Very cute for anyone who enjoys the silliness of romcoms!
Perfect Rivalry Medical romance between rival overachievers who love gaming! Neurodivergent and multicultural rep, everybody is queer! Wholesome and hot.
In the Event of Love Second chance love / friends to lovers, Hallmark holiday movie vibes. Even planner heads back to her hometown after a PR disaster and reunites with her ex-turned-into-a-lumberjane childhood friend. Tooth-rottingly sweet and spicy.
For Her Consideration A heartbroken email ghostwriter is asked to meet with the cute celebrity she's writing for. Plus-size and multicultural rep, everybody is queer. It has a lovely found family theme and lots of spice.
Honeymoon for One The protagonist somehow forgets to cancel her honeymoon after calling off her wedding, goes on a solo adventure to Canada anyway and meets a cute ski instructor she does not get along with. Very sweet and with a couple of tender smut scenes.
drama
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo An aging Hollywood star hires a little known reporter to share the true story about her seven husbands - and her one true love. This one broke me.
Yerba Buena Follows the journeys of two girls whose families are impacted by addiction, and until their paths cross in LA. Deals with themes of identity, changes, growing up, grief, and healing with another person. Warnings for drug abuse, death, underage sex.
Milk Fed This one is a complicated story about a woman dealing with the fatphobia, body dysmorphia and eating disorders, and what happens when she falls for the Orthodox Jewish woman who sells her froyo. It's a tough and weird read - there's also homophobia, parental trauma, sexual fantasies, religious issues.
fantasy
Siren Queen A Chinese American girl willing to do anything to become a star in pre-Hays Code Hollywood. Really thoughtful urban fantasy novel about race and queerness and the Hollywood dream.
These Witches Don't Burn A teenage witch must work with her ex to find out who's working to destroy their coven, while trying to date the new cute girl in town. This one is way angstier that it seems!
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Largest Roman Griffin Weight Unearthed in Turkey
A 2,300-year-old lead weight was discovered during excavations conducted at the 2,200-year-old Roman fountain located in northwestern Türkiye, at the ancient site of Assos.
According to the initial determinations, the object is the largest weight ever discovered. The weight bears intricate depictions of a mythological creature known as the griffin, which held significant cultural significance and was even featured on the city's coinage. Intriguingly, some representations showcase the city's name abbreviated as "ASS."
The excavations continue under the guidance of Professor Nurettin Arslan from the Faculty of Science and Letters at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University's Archaeology Department.
Following the short-term excavations in 1881-1883 conducted by the U.S., the Turkish team initiated excavations in 1981, and Arslan stated this year marks the 42nd year of ongoing excavations. Beginning in 2022, the ongoing excavations in this region have a central focus on uncovering the historical remnants of various structures from distinct epochs. Among the prominent features being explored are the hostelry buildings, called "ksenedochion" from Byzantine, assembly chambers called "nymphaeum" from Romans, and "gymnasium" from Hellenistic periods.
Arslan, the lead archaeologist, has outlined a comprehensive vision for the future, indicating a transition into the implementation phase for approved restoration projects. Foremost among these projects is the revival of the ancient theater, which, once restored, is anticipated to evolve into a vibrant hub for festivals and concerts, thereby transforming Assos into a captivating cultural destination.
Our excavation work here is not yet complete. The space between this fountain and the bedrock, though not yet fully explored, has emerged as a compelling source of archaeological riches. Functioning as a repository during the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D., this area has bestowed upon us a wealth of data. The previous year saw us unveiling a selection of remarkable discoveries from this locale. Building upon that momentum, our efforts this year have yielded a diverse array of artifacts. Notable among these are utilitarian items such as pottery and vessels, shedding light on the daily life of late Roman Assos."
"Further enriching the narrative are small terracotta figurines, which are believed to have played a role in religious ceremonies. Also unearthed are remnants of tableware, alongside an abundance of animal bones, predominantly those of sizeable cattle. Our analysis has discerned evidence of the consumption of animals like pigs, goats, and sheep. While pigs appear to have been a staple, the presence of other species is also noteworthy. For a more comprehensive understanding, we eagerly await the detailed assessments of specialized researchers on this zoological assemblage," he said.
"The artifact that stands before us holds a distinct place in Assos's historical tapestry—a lead weighing unit. A tangible relic from the bygone era, these weights held city-specific significance, employed primarily for trade and the precise measurement of commodities. Comparable instances have been recovered from Hellenistic tombs, although those variants were characterized by lighter weights. This specific lead weight, however, surpasses its predecessors in heft, tipping the scales at approximately 320 grams. Originating from the late Roman Assos, its origins trace back to the 2nd century B.C., offering a link to the city's past. Hailing from a time when the Agora played a pivotal role, this artifact serves as a testament to the meticulous practices of trade and measurement that once thrived within Assos's bustling marketplace," elucidated the archaeologist.
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עם, am vs Naturwissenschaft
עם, am (Hebrew)
[am]
Translation: Tends to be translated as 'people (as a group like 'the jewish people')' but also its... so much stronger than that. It's like... group? Tribe? But like. Bigger. Not necessarily in size but in... feeling i guess? It's stronger.
Hebrew is an Afro-Asiatic language belonging to the Semitic branch and is the Jewish language in which the Tanakh was written down, originating in today’s Israel. Even after Hebrew stopped being spoken by Jews, it lived on as a literary medium and religious language. Using a modern version of Hebrew as a daily language was promoted principally by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda in the late 19th century. Reviving efforts went well and Hebrew is now the official language of Israel, where it's spoken by 8 million people. 1 million people outside Israel also speak Hebrew.
Motivation: I'm kinda sad it doesn't really have an equivalent in English because it means there's no way to really express what a lot of ethnic groups are on a deeper cultural level. Are Jewish people an ethnic group? A religious group? A culture? A 'people'? We're all of them at the same time. We're עם. It's a fairly simple word yet it carries so much power that I find most of the English equivalents (despite how precise they are at describing different types of groups) kind of lack.
Naturwissenschaft (German)
[naˈtʰuːɐ̯ˌvɪsn̩ʃaft]
Translation: Natural Sciences
German is an Indo-European language belonging to the Germanic branch and spoken in Germany by 80 600 000 people and 133 250 000 people worldwide. Or is it? That is true for Standard German, which is part of the Continental West Germanic dialect continuum stretching from the Netherlands to Austria, and including High, Middle and Low German dialects as well as Dutch. Standard German is a High German variety (High German refers to dialects and languages in southern Germany, Switzerland and Austria). Parts of the continuum aren’t mutually intelligible, but sinch Standard German has been the writing norm for centuries and used in education, media and administration, people can understand each other anyway since some regional differences have mellowed in the last generations, although some Low German dialects in the north are closer to Dutch than High German dialects in southern Germany.
Motivation: Because this is the most viscerally satisfying word to say I have ever heard of and I love it
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I got so busy with checking other posts on your blog that I forgot to send the ask. The anoon who said they were helped by the advice the people you speak against on here helped them, really made me think about my own journey related to coming back to Christian beliefs.
I used to hate people who preached about anything related to god or Jesus because I grew up with dogmatic people around me, but after trying so many paths, nothing really made me feel at peace with myself, relieved, and happy than approaching Christianity through a less dogmatic and strict view. The person I do listen to from time to time might be considered new age by you or others, but just as the anon mentioned nothing actually made me feel "at home" like going back. No deity, no spirit guide, nothing that these people worship.
I have nothing against their beliefs, but I noticed a pattern in the communities I was part of ... no matter how many deities they were communicating with and dedicating their lives to... they were still looking for more and seemed to struggle a lot with their faith. Not to mention those who work with demonic entities, who most of the time display huge amounts of internalised shame, hatred, anger and are displeased with everything.
Imo there is a reason why old religious practices are forgotten and should not be revived. They are no longer suitable for our time or age.
I fortunately didn't have any issues with whatever I was interacting to and presented themselves as athena and aphrodite it was part of the journey, but yeah dead practices are dead for a reason.
To be certain, my objections with New Age lie in how it promotes colonialism and genocide through pseudohistory and conspiracy theories, and how the movement pushes people away from evidence-based medicine and turns them toward ineffective or even dangerous forms of pseudomedicine. If you're being unorthodox with your approach to Christianity, I certainly don't mind. All I hope is that you try to be informed on actual history and science so you don't get caught in something nasty.
Also your observation with demonolators is something I hadn't really thought of before, but now that you mention it, I've definitely seen that going on with a lot of these folks. I'm now kinda curious why that seems to be such a strong current.
Also I consider myself pagan and have no interest in going back to Christianity, but I also find it very healing to listen to Christianity from a different perspective. I'm into academic historical stuff on it, since there's so much fascinating info there, and I love hearing people actually explore incongruences in the Bible rather than try to skirt them with apologetics.
Regarding there being "a reason" why dead practices are dead - I think it's a bit more complicated than you seem to be saying here. Like I agree that there's many things that should stay in the past (human sacrifice, for one), but sometimes, the reason a practice is gone, is because is somebody just decided to suppress 'em for reasons of being a dick. I think it's important to critically examine these practices and ask them if it's really for the best that they were left behind, or whether it might be of use now.
And glad to hear about your success on your spiritual journey, and I wish you the best in the future!
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My brain's been chewing on a weird, small worldbuilding-tidbit that I was thinking of having a passing mention of in a '98 based fanfic. The idea applies to all, though.
So, I've been seeing some youtube videos and arguments regarding religion and the usual rhetoric that "as societies modernize, religion goes away" and the old idea that "one day, religion will be nothing more than a curious relic." I disagree with this. I'm a little freak who retains spirituality even though I reject most of the dogma I used to adhere to. I think there are more people like this than advertised. It also annoys me because, historically, how many CENTURIES have people been saying this? Philosophers in the 1800s, I think even some in the 1700's were so utterly SURE that in the future nobody would be religious anymore - yet, here we are. Like it or not, it's still...a thing.
Anyway, people have been waiting for and assuming the Pure Secularist Future for frickin' ever and making assumptions about sci-fi universes. "What does God need with a starship?" and all that.
Meanwhile, in TRIGUN, which does things differently, one of the main-catalyst characters, the protagonist's beloved mommy openly talks about believing that her dead boyfriend is in Heaven and refers to her birthed-from-a-human-created species children as "angels" or being "like angels." Plant-engineers in the manga refer to Plants as "having the appearance of the messengers of God." Anyway, the main thing is, here is Rem, a scientist who lives on a spaceship occasionally throws out Christianese in everyday speech. (I don't remember her doing such in the manga), but in '98 and Stampede, it's there when I'm pretty sure that some of the youtubers I've watched recently would think she probably shouldn't be on a space-science team because "300 years from now, people like her won't exist." Or if they do, they should be barred from science due to "being crazy."
It got me thinking, what if there's a social turn-around in the Trigun universe? What if the creation of the Plants and the discovery that they pull things from "a higher dimension" actually revives spiritual impulse in human society? Maybe there's not any particular controlling dogma that anyone adheres to anymore during the spacefaring age, but maybe it is not uncommon at all for people to believe in "God," or in "Heaven" or the concept of angelic beings because, well, here are creatures that contact a mysterious, unknowable dimension and essentially do supernatural feats. I mean, it's RIGHT THERE, so maybe it's not considered "unscientific" to have a spiritual lean anymore.
Just food for thought... because Rem likes talking about angels and ISN'T looked at strangely for it or told to "be more rational." Maybe at that point in time, viewpoints like hers are considered the most rational thing in the universe.
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"Gideon the Ninth"
25/11/2023
Reading progress: 46/443 (10%)
Read through today: 46
It's finally time to start this book properly. Most of my friends adore it and I've heard very good things about it, so I was excited to get my hands on it.
Since I've heard it's quite a... How should I phrase it? A difficult read? Confusing? I've decided to follow up my progress though a reading journal. Furthermore, it's a hefty book, so I'm going to be reading it for a while. Might as well comment on it along the way.
Thoughts for now:
English is my second language, but I'm more than well versed at it. Still, the style and the language is definitely harder to understand than most other books. I suppose it'll become easier as I read on, which is usually the case with science fiction books.
I love the humor! And I love the puns. I know I'm just at the beginning, but I've already decided it suits me just fine.
Throw her a bone... hehehe
I didn't expect Harrow was going to appear so early on. I thought she joined the story much later, so that was a pleasant surprise. I also love her personality. Not much about her is revealed just yet, of course, but I like how she revived her dead parents. And how she's so malicious towards Gideon.
Speaking of her relationship with Gideon, I already see quite a promise in their dynamic. I like how their personalities clash against each other.
Love the religious imagery. And I adore the way Muir approached the prayers of the Ninth. The way the whole temple is engulfed with silence, except from the clacking of bones on the rosaries is incredibly portrayed. I could imagine it so clearly in my mind. Beautiful and gothic, if I may say so.
Ok, that's it for now. I have to get back to writing. See ya. <3
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Here are some of the books that were laying around in Steven’s flat. [part 1]
“Adventures of the Soul: Journeys Through the Physical and Spiritual Dimensions” by James Van Praagh
"Adventures of the Soul is a manual for anyone who has ever questioned where they come from, why they are here, and where they go after they die. Sharing his intuitive experiences of communicating with the Spirit World for the past 30 years, internationally renowned medium James Van Praagh takes you on a spiritual sojourn to discover the unique design of your very own soul and explore its various adventures as it travels between worlds. You’ll learn to open up your mind to your soul’s unbounded wisdom and gain a bigger perspective of life and a better grasp of your significant part in it. "
"The Man in the Ice" by Kondrad Spindler
"Intervention" by Alan Butler
"As Alan Butler demonstrates in this extraordinary book, many key events in the history of our world--from the creation of the Moon to the evolution of human beings--came about through the intervention of humans from the future. Based on rigorous science, Butler's theory reveals the changes made by these time travellers, as well as the markers they left behind to prepare us for the most spectacular revelation of all: our first contact with our future selves, an event that will occur within the lifetime of most people alive today."
"Revealer of Secrets" by Joseph Perl
"The dawning of the nineteenth century found the Jews of Eastern Europe torn between the forces of progress and reaction as they took their first tentative steps toward the modern world. In a war of words and of books, Haskala—the Jewish Enlightenment—did battle with the religious revival movement known as Hasidism. Perl, an ardent advocate of Enlightenment, unleashed the opening salvo with the publication in 1819 of Revealer of Secrets."
"Bad Laws" by Philip Johnston
"Mr Foreigner" by Matthew Kneale
"Daniel Thayne, a young Englishman, finds himself trapped in Tokyo: working illegally in a ramshackle language school, his passport lost, he is hustled towards marriage with Keiko, his Japanese girlfriend.
In MR FOREIGNER Matthew Kneale brilliantly illustrates the profound differences between Western and Eastern cultures. The problems encountered by Daniel when dealing with the Japanese are at the same time both comic and deeply disturbing. Set in a Japan unfamiliar to most of us, this is a marvellous novel from one of our finest contemporary writers."
"Love and Louis XIV" by Antonia Fraser
"The Women in the Life of the Sun King. The book centres around the Sun King and his relationship with numerous and fascinating women"
a subtle reference to the Sun King from the comics surely
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I seriously dislike the "if you are anti-religion, that just means you grew up around Christianity and are equating all of religion with Christianity" and the "it's only okay to be anti-religion if you have religious trauma" philosophizing I've been seeing more often on Tumblr these days.
I know atheists get a bad rep (and if you know me, you've heard me criticize the movement atheism plenty of times), but there's one thing we are, in fact, right about - religion IS, by and large, bad.
That doesn't mean a religious person is automatically bad, but what you end up realizing after observing a variety of religious groups is that the concept of religion is, by its very nature, a breeding ground for abuse, bigotry, and anti-intellectualism like no other.
Half my family are Muslims, the other half are Eastern Orthodox Christians, and I've grown up around those groups + Catholics, Jews, and Seventh Day Adventists (and yes, three of those five groups fall under the Christianity umbrella, but trust me, cultural differences between them can be staggering). I've also studied these religions, as well as Judaism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, Unitarianism, Mormonism, Scientology, Happy Science, the Unification Church, Wicca, and a variety of neopagan revivals, mostly through books written by authors of those religious groups.
I've read histories of those religious groups and followed them in the news, less so after entering the work force in full capacity, but I really did have an obsession of learning about different religions and what makes them tick for about ten or so years. And I didn't study them from the point of view of an atheist/nonbeliever. Hell, I didn't even subscribe to atheism until about five years ago (I am currently 40yo).
Again - a religious person is not automatically a bad person. Plenty of people I love are religious and almost everyone I know is religious too. Being religious in never going to be the reason why I dislike, don't trust, or won't engage with someone.
But a religious person does automatically support a lot of incredibly unsavoury things by the simple act of actively taking part in a religion, and especially if that includes monetary support. The easiest, most obvious example of this is, of course, Catholicism - you going to church services, giving to the collection plate, taking part in church-organized activities, it all shows tacit support for an organization that not only historically has oceans of blood on their hands, but to this very day actively supports, protects, and finances fascists, rapists, murderers, abusers, paedophiles, the anti-LGBTQIAP+ movement, the anti-abortion movement, and subjugation of women, indigenous people, and pretty much anyone who isn't a rich cishet white Catholic man, not only in their religious capacity but also by influencing lawmakers in every country they have even the tiniest modicum of power.
Whether you like it or not, whether you personally subscribe to those parts of your belief system or not, bigotry, subjugation, exploitation, and abuse are baked into the principles of religion as a concept.
Plenty of religious people simply choose to ignore those parts of their religion. They do not practice them, do not teach them, and consider them a vestigial part of the religion they belong to that is simply no longer applicable to them as they have moved on with the times and do not subscribe to those moral principles.
But they're still there, and plenty of people who belong to your religion still practice them, and use the same texts and teachings you do to justify them as morally just and correct. Where you had the fortune to be taught by progressive religious leaders, many others have not. You may share a religion and have radically different view on what it is while using the same words to describe it, and theirs is just as valid a reading of it as yours.
And then, of course, is the matter of the corrupting influence of power. Even the cursory look at the headlines surrounding any religion will tell you that, while individual religious people and even groups who belong to a certain religion can be the most wonderful, accepting, generous people, their religion is but a stone toss away from using its teachings, principles, and beliefs as an excuse to commit unspeakable atrocities. The most infamous example of this is Buddhism, a religion which has radical anti-violence as a core component of their teachings... which has not stopped Buddhists from committing genocides as recently as the late 2010s. Buddhism sells itself as the most enlightened, accepting, and kindest of belief systems, but in those countries where it has power and influence, it is often a willing tool of oppression of its believers and weaponized othering of outgroup people.
Being religious also leaves people vulnerable to various trappings of anti-intellectualism. A religious person is, on average, less likely to trust experts, less likely to be intellectually curious and seek out new knowledge, and more prone to adopting bigoted views and conspiracy theories. Religion has historically had moments when it has been at the center of scientific discovery and development of new thought and knowledge. Medieval Islam is a great example of this, having made incredible strides in the exploration and development of medicine, mathematics, and astronomy, as well as the amazing job it did preserving the scientific and philosophical legacy of Ancient Greece. But it is far more common to see religion as the active suppressor of scientific explorations of reality and free thought, and it is such a common occurrence that I genuinely do not think I need to list the myriad examples of this happening, both historically and in the modern day.
Now, there are people who would reply to everything I've written here by, for example, citing studies that contradict my statements, such as the ones that show being a part of a religious community is good for people's physical, emotional, and mental health, or the fact that there are religious groups that put great importance on pursuing science and arts, such as Orthodox Judaism.
To that, I would reply with - yes, but studies also show same health benefits people get from taking active part in a religious community happen if a person is a member of any actively social community (that is, that the benefits come from socializing with people you have things in common with and taking part of community activities with them, not from religion itself), and that, without exception, the religious groups that put an emphasis on study and creativity will just as often actively discourage their female members from being anything but docile submissive broodmares without ever considering themselves hypocritical or wrong for doing so. Trust me, it wouldn't take too much effort to find similar counters for any other argument against what I've written in this post.
I can appreciate that religion plays an important role in your life and that it is a positive influence for you. Life is awful, unfair, and cruel, and you will never hear me begrudge you any ray of sunshine you can catch or any coping mechanism that gets you through life's horrors. I will also not go around telling people that they should abandon their religion - it is neither my place nor my job to tell you how to manage your life.
But don't expect me to indulge the position that religion is a net-positive as a whole or that anyone who isn't blind to the fact that this is demonstrably not true is just a victim of Christianity.
Yes, absolutely, educate yourself on other religions, it will do you a world of good, just like most other honest intellectual pursuits, and you will learn a lot of fascinating and fun things, and broaden your cultural horizons.
But go into it with open eyes, study the history behind those religions too, and try to do so from as objective sources as you can find.
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I’m displaying Genesis behavior having a lot of thoughts about Loveless and how objectively it’s such an interesting part of ff7 lore
First of all we know it’s immensely popular. There’s theatrical adaptations, and an entire road in Midgar is named after it, it’s not just Genesis’s weird obsession. Maybe Genesis as a First Class contributed to reviving its popularity, but it had to already be well known. It’s like some kind of Shakespearean play, it’s old but everyone knows it and it keeps getting adaptations
Except maybe more than a Shakespearean play it’s more like the Iliad, because Loveless is also described as ancient, and I’ve never heard anyone call Shakespeare ancient. Everyone has their own metric of what ancient means, but to me for a work of art to be ancient it has to be like at least more than a thousand years old. That being said, with Loveless we have no idea how old it actually is - might be like 1000 years ancient, 2000 years ancient, 3000 years ancient, who even knows
It doesn’t help that we don’t know anything about ff7 history outside of the fact that the Ancients existed and then got wiped out by Jenova. We can’t make an educated guess about what civilization might have originally wrote it down, because we don’t know any civilization other than the Ancients
And of course, it could very well be an Ancient piece of literature. That would make it more than 2000 years old, and also add validity to the fifth act being lost. Media can disappear without being old, but it’s not at all surprising for a work that old by a civilization that was completely wiped out to have missing pieces. Also, Hojo states he had read Loveless in the hopes of finding some interesting fact in it, and given Hojo’s obsession with the Ancients it would make sense
But regardless of who wrote it, what was this book meant to represent exactly? Was it purely fiction? Was it a religious text? Was it a mixture of real if heavily dramatized historical events and myth, like a good number of ancient texts are? The story itself doesn’t help place it historically, because the themes are very universal. With all the references to the Goddess, are we supposed to take it as tales that feature gods because that’s just how old tales are or do we consider it somehow relevant to the religious traditions of the people who wrote it?
And I’m going to assume it didn’t really have an author in the modern sense of the word, that what is written in it might have been part of an oral tradition that was at some point put down on page. After all, it’s a poem. Poems are good for memorization. Genesis only recites us parts of it, maybe the whole text included stuff like repeated lines that would help remembering what came next
This leads me to the fact that being an ancient text, Loveless as we know it also has to be a translation. Maybe the original version had a rhyme scheme that became lost. Maybe there are lines that are actually meant to have a different meaning than what we hear, because nuance is always lost in translation and sometimes translations are just plain wrong or carry biases. It means there’s a good chance Genesis either knew or was studying the language Loveless was originally written in, because I don’t think he would ever be satisfied with translation alone
Also. It’s stated Genesis believes Loveless has some key to the answer of many mysteries in many areas of knowledge. Given someone like Hojo too thought the text might be useful, we can assume Genesis wasn’t some kind of weird conspirationist his whole life but there is some basis to it. Which might not be wrong, the story might hold some reliable information regarding ancient historical event. Although Genesis apparently believes it can solve mysteries in “history, science, art, and astronomy” which. History and art, ok, but science and astronomy? Really?
EXCEPT, we can go back to the idea that Loveless could be an Ancient text. Now Ancients are known, for example, to have been able to create materia from mako, something that is only possible now with Shinra’s technological advantages. It’s not entirely impossible to think there may be some hints in Loveless of some mako manipulation practice or whatever the Ancients did
And. The Ancients. Who were wiped out by Jenova. Who came raining down on an asteroid. I’m not saying Loveless can let you find dark matter but I am saying that when you think about it there may be some connection to astronomy, if we assume Loveless was written by the surviving Ancients after Jenova arrived
Which is making me spiral into the real conspiracies here because. Because. The Goddess descends from the sky. Like Jenova. Wings. Like those of people who have Jenova cells. The war of the beasts and the world’s end. Like if mutated alien monsters were ravaging the land. And Genesis’s fifth act at the end of CC may just be his own interpretation, but it does talk of sacrifice for the Planet and for others. Like if a bunch of Ancients were dying to seal Jenova away
So what if instead of it being a purely Ancient text, it’s like some kind of dramatization of Jenova’s coming? Except, maybe it was put together by humans rather than Ancients, so they had some idea of what had happened and ended up confusing a lot of concepts so the Goddess ended up taking both the positive traits associated with the Planet and some striking details that were instead associated with Jenova
Which would it turn make it incredibly ironical that Genesis would decide to hyperfixate on this specific book out of all the available
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Helena (Madam) Blavatsky - Russian Mystic
Female figures in witchcraft, paganism, spiritualism, and occultism are often erased in history. This is my second post detailing a woman who had an undoubtable impact on the world so many of us dip our toes into.
Life’s History
(August 12, 1831 - May 8, 1891)
Born into an aristocratic family, Blavatsky traveled around the Russian Empire as a child. Largely self-educated, she grew an interest in Western esotericism during her time as a teenager. She later claimed, after traveling the Americas and India, that she encountered a group of spiritual adepts (”the Master of the Ancient Wisdom) who sent her to Tibet. She claimed it was here that she was trained to develop a deeper understanding of the synthesis of science, religion, and philosophy. While later biographers and critics have argued that at least some, if not all, of these visits were fictitious, claims are unable to necessarily be proven either way.
Her life ended in 1891, when she died of influenza. Blavatsky was an intensely controversial figure during her time, held in reverence by supporters as an enlightened Sage and disregarded by critics as a conman.
Spiritual and Occultism Influence
By the early 1870s, Blavatsky was involved in the Spiritualist movement (a social religious movement where the idea of a consciousness persists after death and can be contacted by the living). While she genuinely defended the exist of Spiritualist phenomena, Blavatsky argued against the mainstream Spiritualist idea that the entities contacted were the spirits of the dead.
In 1877, Blavatsky published Isis Unveiled, a book that outlined her Theosophical worldly perspective. Describing Theosophy as “the synthesis of science, religion and philosophy”, she proclaimed that it was reviving an “Ancient Wisdom” that underlay all the world’s religions. The Society became allied to the Arya Samaj (a Hindu reform movement) in 1880, in the same year also becoming the first recorded instance of someone from the United States to formally convert to Buddhism.
Theosophy spread rapidly in India, however it began to experience internal issues after Blavatsky herself was accused of creating fraudulent paranormal phenomena.
Experiencing ailing health, Blavatsky returned to Europe (London, England). It was there she published The Secret Doctrine, which was a commentary on what she claimed were ancient Tibetan manuscripts.
Her Theosophical doctrines heavily influenced the spread of Buddhist and Hindu ideas in the West, and additionally aided in the development of Western esoteric shifts such as the New Age Movement and Anthroposophy.
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how would you bring back sister lilhy?
oh boy i thought you’d never ask!
i’ve mentioned my “connective tissue” that bridges the azrael preboot-reboot gap before but have never gone into much detail. it does involve lilhy continuing where she left off at the end of agent of the bat attempting to rebuild the Order under her leadership. at the very base level, i say we have it succeed. re-introduce a new, more (relatively) “progressive” iteration of the Order with her at the head. an Order for the modern era that still holds to medieval aesthetics and sensibilities in some respects. like before, it caters to rich and influential christofascists and retains its doctrine, but it’s more “open” now to allow it to flourish. as jp & az’s new status quo is to take out the Order’s last vestiges along with destroying the remainder of the Knights Templar, we could set up a sort of 3-way antagonism deal where it’s jp/az/karl/vengeance/their allies v. the templars v. the growing modern Order, who are enemies of the templars as well. it’d make for good drama and be a good avenue to dig into some dumas lore and religious-political intrigue between two related groups very different than they were in their “heyday” with azrael throwing himself into the mix to bring them both down. establish the Order as an actual formidable threat as its now trying to appeal to more and more, giving it a solid base of membership.
getting specific with my ideas for bridging the gap, i think lilhy shouldve retrieved jp’s body after he dies. the Order holds onto it, owning him even in death, reviving him with their own form of experimental Lazarus Pit technology. performing a “miracle”, bringing their hereditary Azrael back to life through application of their vast knowledge of science and alchemy. this would also connect them to DC’s use of the Templars, with their agent, the Poor Fellow, sent to eradicate Lazarus Pits/Lazarus Resin/etc. after all, lilhy had a lot of conflicting feelings about jean-paul dying, but still saw him as a faulty tool to the very end. we could explore their strange dynamic more after so many years they’ve changed and after her group was the one who brought him back as well as flesh her out more as a complex antagonist that revives some old elements of tragedy in the Azrael narrative.
something like that.
also i think she should engage in some NUCLEAR yuri. with who? well…
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actually i have something more important to bring up: damian is not muslim. nor is ra's. nor does the league follow islam. the more i dig through just where and when historically ra's & his origins are, the less it makes sense for them. ra's was raised by nomads, sometime before the turn of the first millenia. since dc doesn't do their research, this should actually place him in a nomad tribe around 500-600 BC/CE, not around 1000. the majority of the pre-islam tribes that wandered the arabian peninsula ( like his origin states: "he was raised by nomads but was fascinated by science since a young age" ) were predominately christian or non-religious. in the case of the al ghuls, i highly suspect they were part of a christian one given ra's naming the life-giving waters a lazarus pit.
ra's ( and his mother who he revived then locked away for thousands of years and his father that he kept alive until the 1980s-90s~ ) was born and raised before the rise of islam. i haven't pinpointed the right tribe for him but the majority of them initially opposed islam and even fought against the early adopters.
to assume ra's is willing to follow an organized religion or dedicate his literal cult of followers to it is a little blind to his very character. especially considering he sees himself as an immortal god thanks to his literal resource to bring the dead back to life. he has conquered death. he has power, wealth, followers: in his own eyes, ra's is a god himself.
for his family to be raised under this atmosphere, it is exuberantly ignorant to just see them and go ' hehe dami is muslim :) ' just bc he's arab. arab =/= muslim. given his upbringing, his family, the cult he grew up in: he's not.
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Tailteann Games 1924 & 32 programme covers
"The Tailteann Games, Tailtin Fair, Áenach Tailteann, Aonach Tailteann, Assembly of Talti, Fair of Taltiu or Festival of Taltii were funeral games associated with the semi-legendary history of Pre-Christian Ireland.
There is a complex of ancient earthworks dating to the Iron Age in the area of Teltown where the festival was historically known to be celebrated off and on from medieval times into the modern era.
The games were founded, according to the Book of Invasions, by Lugh Lámhfhada, the Ollamh Érenn (master craftsman or doctor of the sciences), as a mourning ceremony for the death of his foster-mother Tailtiu. Lugh buried Tailtiu underneath a mound in an area that took her name and was later called Tailteann in County Meath.
The event was held during the last fortnight of July and culminated with the celebration of Lughnasadh, or Lammas Eve (1 August). Modern folklore claims that the Tailteann Games started around 1600 BC, with some sources claiming as far back as 829 BC. Promotional literature for the Gaelic Athletic Association revival of the games in 1924 claimed a later date of their foundation in 632 BC. The games were known to have been held between the 6th and 9th centuries AD. The games were held until 1169-1171 AD when they died out after the Norman invasion.
The ancient Aonach had three functions: honoring the dead, proclaiming laws, and funeral games and festivities to entertain. The first function took between one and three days depending on the importance of the deceased. Guests would sing mourning chants called the Guba, after which druids would improvise Cepógs, songs in memory of the dead. The dead would then be burnt on a funeral pyre. The second function would then be carried out during a universal truce by the Ollamh Érenn, giving out laws to the people via bards and druids and culminating in the igniting of another massive fire. The custom of rejoicing after a funeral was then enshrined in the Cuiteach Fuait, games of mental and physical ability.
Games included the long jump, high jump, running, hurling, spear throwing, boxing, contests in swordfighting, archery, wrestling, swimming, and chariot and horse racing. They also included competitions in strategy, singing, dancing and story-telling, along with crafts competitions for goldsmiths, jewellers, weavers and armourers. Along with ensuring a meritocracy, the games would also feature a mass arranged marriage, where couples met for the first time and were given up to a year and a day to divorce on the hills of separation.
In later medieval times, the games were revived and called the Tailten Fair, consisting of contests of strength and skill, horse races, religious celebrations, and a traditional time for couples to contract "Handfasting" trial marriages. "Taillten marriages" were legal up until the 13th century. This trial marriage practice is documented in the fourth and fifth volumes of the Brehon law texts, which are compilations of the opinions and judgements of the Brehon class of Druids (in this case, Irish). The texts as a whole deal with copious detail for the Insular Celts.
From the late nineteenth century, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and others in the Gaelic revival contemplated reviving the Tailteann Games. The GAA's 1888 championships of football and of hurling were unfinished owing to the American Invasion Tour, an unsuccessful attempt to raise funds for a revival.
The Second Dáil approved a scheme in 1922, and after a delay caused by the Irish Civil War the first was held in 1924. Open to foreigners of Irish heritage, the first games of 1924 and 1928 attracted some competitors fresh from the Olympics in Paris and Amsterdam. The Games' main backer, minister J. J. Walsh, lost office when Fianna Fáil took power after the 1932 election, and public funding was cut. The 1932 games were on a smaller scale against a background of the Great Depression and the Anglo-Irish Trade War, and no further games were held.
Jack Fitzsimons suggested reviving the Tailteann Games in a 1985 Seanad Éireann debate on tourism in Ireland.
The Rás Tailteann ("Tailteann race") cycling race was founded in 1953 by the National Cycling Association (NCA), in opposition to the Tour of Ireland organised by the rival Cumann Rothaíochta na hÉireann (CRÉ). Cycling Ireland, the merged successor to both the NCA and CRÉ, still organises the Rás Tailteann annually, but it is usually known as "the [sponsor] Rás", or simply "the Rás".
The Irish Secondary Schools Athletic Association organised annual national championships from 1963 under the name "Junior Tailteann Games". Athletics Ireland continues to use the name "Tailteann Games" for its annual schools inter-provincial championships. also independently the tailteann games are an inter-gaeltacht event that includes other activities."
-taken from wikipedia
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