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staggeringsmite · 3 years

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HELLO! just finished properly listening to your (amazing!) corruption arc playlist! I have many thoughts, and so I wanted to ask you about specific moments and/or characters that you associate with songs (as mentioned in your tags), as I am simply SO intrigued. (did you have certain songs that were added for certain character(s)? were any songs for specific what if's? etc.) also, please consider this a free pass to ramble about anything related to the playlist that you wish. it is SO excellent!!

AHHHH!! thank you jade (both for the compliment and the free space to yell about my thoughts here because when i get playlist brainrot i get it Bad <3) // the playlist in question

i think i'm genuinely going to do a song-by-song thoughts below the cut, but here are some overview thoughts/associations if you don't wanna read all of that or don't have the time!

overall this started with athena by nova twins! i thought the sp*der imagery and overall vibe was great for a more sinister look at the wacky (mostly) chaotic neutral party as they are, just going full lolth. i wanted the pacing to be semi-slow and then drop into the more rock-heavy reckless villain-y section before moving into a (?) bittersweet? i guess? end that feels a bit more like a question mark of if it was worth it.

i think this party is full of extremely interesting motivations to side with an evil power for their own gain/the benefit of the people they care about, and each one of them has a very complex relationship with that so things spun wildly out of control as a thought about this.

for songs i associate with specific characters here's an overview, but you'll notice there aren't a lot for fy'ra rai or orym which i get into a bit more in the song-by-song:

all: i come with knives, into the spin, steady/steady, control, bad dreams / lolth: million years, athena, diggers / dariax: diggers, plenty, hollow / dorian: athena, grenadine, dangerous / fearne: plenty, you should see me in a crown, black wave / fy'ra rai: home / opal: home, grenadine, black wave, you should see me in a crown / orym: i'm not calling you a liar, dangerous

song-by-song >:)

1. i come with knives (acoustic) - this song, zoowee, so i went with the acoustic version because i think it's a nice slow but sinister start and it very much gave me the feeling of whenever you begin as a character to question taking this kind of power, that is a Source yes that you can do whatever with but is rooted in temptation and associated with evil, is there any real justification for that which is not in some part selfish. "i come with knives and agony to love you" if that isn't the chosen ones to a T in their overall reasoning for even considering a deal with lolth. and as much as that may be rooted in care, and wanting to be strong and powerful enough to protect the people they care about, it is a painful way to love when you really choose that path once and for all.

2. into the spin - this one is based on "slow climb but quick to descend" and i love the instrumentation as a part of the overall vibe, but it's about sowing the seed here. planting even a hint of consideration in accepting the power of the circlet and lolth's words is going to need time for the person to mull it over, but once it's on it is On baby.

3. million years - this is what i mean by All In Baby, and while it isn't the playlists narrative point of anyone actually accepting the power for good, it is a glimpse intended to shake things up after an 8 minute slow start with the first two songs, and this is all about lolth who is a Chaotic Evil entity, who is a reckless and hauntingly destructive force <3

4. home - "everything you made will end up broken" i think this song to fy'ra rai is more of an omen, of everything that she cannot fix but wants to, knowing that she cannot make choices for the group and seeing the potential path they could wind up on and knowing that fundamentally if they go that way it is their decision no matter how much it will hurt her - for opal there is SOMETHING about the tone of this song that feels very much like her, and the complete lack of care it seems to have to rattle off mundane things to the intimate drama of the place, to omens, to demands/declarations i think it shows her personality well and how that pairs with a chaotic neutral entity being offered something like the power of the circlet

5. steady, steady - idk if this is necessarily everyone but the mix of you know when you're ready and i am ready to be the one, this is the song about taking the leap and grabbing for power and/or fy'ra rai and orym's feelings of diving in with them or resisting/leaving them

6. diggers - for lolth this is just the consistent "i've been waiting for you" in the bg which i found fun and disconcering but also i think this is the perfect party and perfect storm for her to convince someone to use the circlets power >:) - for dariax! it seems with what we know he doesn't really know that he is a divine soul sorcerer? unless that is a show he is putting up. still, i feel like him carrying the circlet is Very interesting as someone with a divine bloodline who is in a way being given/chosen for that type of power holding onto this artifact born from evil and perhaps being tempted by it & i think this song works as an interesting back and forth for him with the strange double-entity grab for him in a way

7. athena - truly just a banger that fit the vibes wayyyy too well and started this whole thing, it's loud and reckless and out for blood babey <3 - i think i associate it with dorian mostly because i also associate it with lolth and he is the closest to really taking that leap in canon (and also probably the first one the go if we're following this playlist like a story with everyone/most everyone going corrupt, though it can be read truly infinite ways these are just compiled songs) i think it has a certain flair and appeal that just makes me Feel like it's the song that would play the second dorian puts the circlet on (which! fun fact! decreases your charisma by 2! have fun beloved bard!) - i think it's a very intense conversation

8. i’m not calling you a liar - okayokayokay it's orym thought time bc there are sooo many worlds and routes for orym here and i truly have no idea where he would even end up in this hypothetical. do i think that orym loves these guys and wants to protect them? yes. do i think that he may genuinely take the pain of loving them and keep his morals by walking away and/or turning on them if they all go evil? maybe. do i think he also might love them enough to throw that away? maybe. in a party of all chaotic neutrals besides him without fy'ra rai he is surprisingly the wild card here. while they have each other and no one else, he has the teachings and wisdom of the voice of the tempest and a moral compass that does not align with theirs at all. so, something has to give! dorian's slide into chaotic neutral was natural, but i think orym would be giving up Much More of himself to let himself slide from neutral good to chaotic neutral. i have no answers only sad, sad hypotehtical questions and scenarios so i will just, leave you with "and i love you so much, i'm gonna let you kill me." - this song also comes here before the storm of the 3-5 because whatever way he goes i think orym sees it all happen before anyone else does.

9. grenadine - Do Not Tell Me You Couldn't Hear villainous opal and dorian say the lines "what a big heart i have, i'll be your savior now. what a real catch i am, all the more to pull you down." - i see this song as playful but more genuine for dorian in terms of Truly Really believing any action he does to protect his friends is justified and good to him in his eyes whereas this is a very playful song for a villainous opal - they both give off this vibe strongly though (could see this one for fearne as well but don't have a good a justification)

10. black wave - helloooooo my favorite druid and warlock?? going apeshit with power? more so than they already are on a day-to-day basis (esp given episode 6 combat)? that's what this song is about. "stumbling down the street i swear to god you don't wanna test me" - i also think they both have an interesting question with "what do i believe?" with fearne being of the feywild which is a place of considerably different moral standing to exandria and opal being so young that she doesn't have the world figured out at all <3 terrifying and upsetting when you get into those questions on a corruption arc <3

11. you should see me in a crown - okay i knooooow this one is on the dorian playlist BUT vibes for my brutal babes <333 something about opal’s whole personality and fearne confronting the mirror self But eventually choosing/heading down the path anyway?? impeccable i love it there’s very few other thoughts here

12. control - OKAY not only does this song Fuck but i put it as party wide because i think it transitions nicely into the end of the mix which is more of the “questioning this decision after going all in but not being able to turn back/was it all worth it in the end?” part - i mostly love the “though i like the idea of providence... i’m in love with control” repeated because! i think the circlet is very interesting in that it has been iterated many times over that though it has connections to lolth and she has some claim/twisted abilities with it, it IS just a power source. so, the idea of going all in and accepting this power is an incredibly interesting dilemma of “who’s in charge here? did you really put it on/would you have without these dreams and lolth’s influence? are you really in control?” i think this song really represents that admission/delusion of control in this situation.

13. plenty - okay this song in any context is just my Feywild/Faerie Vibe song so i think this trails back to my feelings about fearne leaning into that different set of fey morals along a corruption arc, and as for dariax i think this is about abundance! following through that mixture of divine power source and chaotic evil god origin over dariax and his chaotic history of vast and varied experiences in emon, i think this very much befits a corrupt version of him.

14. dangerous - this song makes me insane, and the first reason i put it on the mix was the “the dead are true believers. rest assured. we are all believers” really just made me think of a terrible and cinematic moment of them discovering the circlet with the dead aboard the ship ESP in the context of this playlist’s narrative where that was the point they were destined to claim its power and go through their corruption arc - “how does it feel to be your own deceiver?” is the main reason and feeling as for why i made this a dorian song as well in line with “don’t worry i would do anything for my friends.” bc i personally find dorian’s corruption arc to be disillusioned with his own intentions and takes a lot of convincing himself that taking this power for his friends is noble in the scope of this group’s collective morals and self-interest in keeping each other safe and prosperous so <3

15. hollow - woowee dariax corruption, at least in this scope, i think is very frightening to me in that i think he’s going full maximalist, abundant, greedy, impulsive chaotic evil if we’re realllly leaning into a villain arc but still many of those things if we’re just going “this group is the only thing that matters and i’ll do anything for them no matter the cost” - i also think this song has a tone of resentment towards this? apprehension a bit? recognizing that this is how the person singing is but not entirely enjoying or feeling justified in it? as impulsive as dariax is, i think he cares A Lot, and is even a character i could see pulling a reverse dorian and going chaotic good in a different story than we’re in? “so simple when i was younger” and “i’d be a dancer of a different tune” really give me angsty dariax vibes in the height of his corruption arc

16. bad dreams - “don't you worry about your bad dreams cause I'm not in them. don't you worry about what change brings cause you can't stop it.” WOOF i don’t know that this one really needs to be explained but it’s the climax and the descent all in one of the party/corrupted individual being too far gone in their decision to step back or be saved. i think the tone of the song lends itself well to a mixture of uncaring but also giving some question to if they regret it or not based on the narration of the crowd against them.

#cheep cheep #ask #jadeandquartzes #this is ridiculously long i just <333 get so lost in the playlist sauce <333 all the time <333 #if you read all of this i am kissing you on the cheek <3 #spider ment #spider tw

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kapitaali · 3 years

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The New Hippies

THE NEW HIPPIES: The work abolition movement, anarcho-primitivism and biodynamism as ways to combat climate change

Essay for the course LOGS13b The Strategic Role of Responsibility in Business by Teppo Saari

Introduction

The course LOGS13b The Strategic Role of Responsibility in Business had the students think about and discuss the various ethical dimensions in business, moral dilemmas and choices to be made that a decision maker in business world come across every day.

This essay is motivated by our case study with a headline ’Investors urge European companies to include climate risks in accounts’ (Financial Times 2020). In this essay I will explore values and ethical principles that I see as the solutions to our case study and climate change in general. This is not to say that I could stand up for them in business world. Ironically, my main thread and leitmotif here is the untransformational nature of capitalism and business world. Thus, standing up to the values I will discuss here means doing less business, not more.

This essay is divided in three parts: problem – reaction – solution. These three parts will talk about the chosen values and ethical principles. They are by no means new: pragmatism – The Golden Rule – parsimony & naturality. They just seem to be in conflict with our modern way of living.

Thinking pragmatically about the problem

As part of our course assignment, we got to read about a group of investors managing trillions of dollars worth of assets who urged European companies to include climate risks in their accounts (Financial Times 2020). Scientists have warned us for decades, that pumping extreme amounts of CO2 into our atmosphere will result in melting of the polar ice caps (Mitchell 1989; Jones & Henderson-Sellers 1990), which will raise the sea level and drown some of the coastal cities (Peters & Darling 1985). Finally, capitalists are acting responsibly!

It would seem that capitalists actually cared for the planet and not just their profits. Or would it? Maybe they are scared of losing their future profits, and this kind of media escapade would bring back public trust and confidence in the system. It would be a sign that capitalists can act transparently, openly, accountably, respecting others (O’Leary 1993). But is changing the allocation in your investment portfolio really a sign of empathy? Would there be other ways to better express empathy in business?

Shareholders are interested in the risk their assets are facing, not necessarily in the welfare of the people. Investors acting virtuously can be just virtue-signaling or pleasing other elements in the society to take off media pressure and negative PR from them in a conformist way (Collinson 2003). Maybe they are just greenwashing their own conscience. Why is George Soros’ climate buzz astroturfing industrial complex (Morningstar 2019a) financing Greta Thunberg to do public PR campaigns targeting the youth? Maybe there is money in it. It is unlikely that it would have been dubbed ”A 100 trillion dollar storytelling campaign” without some particularly good reasons (Morningstar 2019b).

But there is something else in it too than just money: power and control. The person who gets to limit choices gets to dictate what kind of choices remain. And if a person has that kind of foreknowledge, then that person can be two steps ahead of us. And being two steps ahead of us means securing future profits. Including climate risks in accounts will imply controls. Controls are imposed on accounts, but ultimately it will mean controls imposed on people and their daily activities. Workers are the ones who will naturally suffer the consequences of management decisions. In this case management decisions are ’urged’ externally, from the owners’ part. After all, it is the corporations that are producing most of the climate change effects, in terms of pollution and greenhouse gases (Griffin 2017). People doing their jobs, working everyday, producing things but also at the same time producing climate effects. I would still love to hear politicians use more terms such as ”pollution” when talking about these issues. For it is unclear how reducing carbon emissions will reduce overall pollution that is also a contributor in the destruction of our environment (see eg. Bodo & Gimah 2020; Oelofse et al. 2007). Issues like microplastics, holes in the ozone layer, biodiversity loss, acid rains and soil degradation need to be talked about just as much, if not more so.

The problem is simple: too much economic activity producing too much climate impact, mostly pollution and greenhouse gases. Solving the Grand Challenge (Konstantinou & Muller 2020) of our time is harder if we wish to keep the fabric of our society intact. There’s a clear need for dialogue among stakeholders (Gardiner 1996), but how is it a dialogue if people are not actually listened to and don’t get to say how things will progress in society? What I am proposing is a meme-like solution that has the greater impact the more people adopt it. My solution is: stop working. Produce less. Stop supporting systems and mechanisms that produce climate effects. Stop supporting the mechanisms that don’t listen to your voice. Disconnect from the Matrix. Working a dayjob is one of these mechanisms. Although many people have realized the benefits of working from home (Kost 2020), a lot more needs to be done. Remote work is not available to everyone. Not all jobs are remote work.

Bob Black (2021) in his texts has advocated for the total and complete abolition of work. Stopping working naturally does not mean stopping doing things, it will merely mean stopping working a job, a concept which itself is a social construct. Black’s theses are simple but powerful. Working is the source of all ills, it is not compatible with ludic life (allthemore so in 2021), it is forced labour and compulsory production, it is replete with indignities called ”discipline”: ”surveillance, rotework, imposed work tempos, production quotas, punching -in and -out, etc”. Black does not only describe the negative ontological aspects of working, he goes deeper and invokes many familiar names of Greek philosophers:

Both Plato and Xenophon attribute to Socrates and obviously share with him an awareness of the destructive effects of work on the worker as a citizen and a human being. Herodotus identified contempt for work as an attribute of the classical Greeks at the zenith of their culture. To take only one Roman example, Cicero said that “whoever gives his labor for money sells himself and puts himself in the rank of slaves.” His candor is now rare, but contemporary primitive societies which we are wont to look down upon have provided spokesmen who have enlightened Western anthropologists. The Kapauku of West Irian, according to Posposil, have a conception of balance in life and accordingly work only every other day, the day of rest designed “to regain the lost power and health.” Our ancestors, even as late as the eighteenth century when they were far along the path to our present predicament, at least were aware of what we have forgotten, the underside of industrialization. Their religious devotion to “St. Monday” — thus establishing a de facto five-day week 150–200 years before its legal consecration — was the despair of the earliest factory owners. They took a long time in submitting to the tyranny of the bell, predecessor of the time clock. In fact it was necessary for a generation or two to replace adult males with women accustomed to obedience and children who could be molded to fit industrial needs. Even the exploited peasants of the ancient regime wrested substantial time back from their landlord’s work. According to Lafargue, a fourth of the French peasants’ calendar was devoted to Sundays and holidays, and Chayanov’s figures from villages in Czarist Russia — hardly a progressive society — likewise show a fourth or fifth of peasants’ days devoted to repose. Controlling for productivity, we are obviously far behind these backward societies. The exploited muzhiks would wonder why any of us are working at all. So should we.

Black notes that only ”a small and diminishing fraction of work serves any useful purpose independent of the defense and reproduction of the work-system and its political and legal appendages”. In similar vein, the late but great David Graeber saw the futility of most work. Calling this phenomenon ’bullshit jobs’ (Graeber 2018), Graeber sets out to describe what many of us are familiar with: we do useless things to make ourselves feel useful. Because modern society legitimizes itself with having people ’do’ stuff and not ’be’ a certain person. How can you (objectively) measure being? You can’t. But doing, that you can measure. This measurement then qualifies you as a member of society: productive, doing your part (an idiom that is a perfect example how you can’t escape the doing paradigm on a societal level). Graeber’s definition of a bullshit job is: if the position were eliminated, it would make no discernible difference in the world. In many cases these types of jobs are found to be supporting some kind of buraucracy, reporting, assisting decision makers, etc. Our current Matrix has its ways of creating more of these with the clever marketing concept called ’value’ (Petrescu 2019). They don’t make a difference, they create value.

Why would you want to overload the world by doing things that you nor most everyone else see no point in? Why would you waste your time doing pointless things? The easy answer to these questions is ’subsistence’. But there are many other ways to live on this planet. If you keep doing what the society tells you is acceptable or convenient, you will shut your eyes from the problem at hand: climate change.

Legitimizing anarcho-naturism as a solution with The Golden Rule

Our responsibility is to ourselves. We can not properly be held responsible for anything else. Yet the system of representational democracy does just this, holds us collectively responsible for many things, borrows money from creditors with our names on the loan collectively and then makes us pay for the loans. The way this Matrix works is yet another reason to disconnect from it. Or at least stop supporting it as much as possible.

The Golden Rule states: ”Treat others as you want to be treated” (Gensler 2013). From the perspective of climate change, it can first seem curious why you would quit your job and head for the hills. After all, we are facing a global issue here. There are people in need for help and I am running away? But I would see it as a way to get around our predicament. The Golden Rule can be also interpreted in Kantian way as the categorical imperative, particularly its first formulation: ”Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law”. This formulation is somewhat more proactive in nature. It talks about acting, doing things, and doing things is what is appreciated in our society, even when your goal is to exit the society.

Why exit the society? Is it enough to just quit your job and find something else to do, something that is more fulfilling and not bullshit? What an excellent question. Long before the advent of smart phones and 5G and DNA-vaccines, this question had been brought up to the table. In the 1800s, people were realizing the negative impact industrialization was having on society at large. People were rooted out from their family homes in the countryside, forced to move to a large city to look for a job, crammed into small apartments with dozens of other workers, coerced into working long and hard days at factories to make a living. The lowly misery of these people attracted the attention of a certain Friedrich Engels, who felt their situation was not adequate to make up for the suffering they had gone through. He meticulously described the working conditions of the English working class in his ”The Condition of the Working Class in England” (2003 [1845]), originally published in German. Sociology as a science was established by Karl Marx, Max Weber and Emile Durkheim to study these changes. Slowly but surely, the influx of people into cities started to cause issues, something that mayors and other municipal representatives had to start taking care of. Planning and zoning were given a lot more attention, since the earlier modus operandi of old European cities had been rather laissez faire (Sutcliffe 1980).

Against this backdrop of massive societal change, people started to question the changes and their direction. Are we really nothing more than slaves, just working in a different environment? Slavery might not be the right word or context here. Many people believe to be free, govern themselves and their property, and yet their daily actions and options to choose from seem to be eerily limited. They have only so many choices, most of which seem somehow related to running their errands. A more appropriate term, with all its connotations, here would be the Greek word ananke, ”force, constraint, necessity”. Like a force of nature, progress towards modernity necessitates that people leave their family homes and go work in large factories, compulsively manufacturing endless amounts of products, some of which are necessary, others merely decorations, and some just pointless.

Many names in 19th century New England worked upon a vision for the future society at a time when unprecedented changes were taking place and the standard of living was rising faster than ever before. The Transcendental Club was a group of New England authors, philosophers, socialists, politicians and intellectuals of the early-to-mid-19th century which gave rise to Transcendentalism, the first notable American intellectual movement. Transcendentalist believe in the inherent goodness of people and nature, but that society and its institutions — particularly organized religion and political parties — corrupt the purity of the individual. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2003; Sacks 2003.) Transcendentalism is a unique mix of European Romanticism, German (particularly Kantian) philosophy, and American Christianity. The impact of this movement can still be seen in the many flavours of American anarchist and radical Christian movements.

Out of the ranks of Transcendentalists rose a couple of names that can be viewed as the progenitors of modern anarcho-primitivism and natur(al)ist anarchy. Ralph Waldo Emerson was the central figure of the Transcendental Club, who together with Henry David Thoreau critiqued the contemporary society for its ”unthinking conformity” and advocated for “an original relation to the universe” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2003). Emerson’s Nature (2009 [1836]) poetically embellishes our view of the natural world, while Thoreau’s Walden; or, Life in the Woods (1995 [1854]) is a call for civil disobedience and revolt against the modern world. Another influential natur(al)ist writer has been Leo Tolstoi whose name is frequently mentioned by anarchists. Tolstoi himself was a Christian and pacifist, and his writings have inspired Christian anarcho-pacifism that views the state as ”immoral and unsupportable because of its connection with military power” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2017).

Before the Transcendentalist movement, Europe experienced similar trend in philosophy with Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s natural philosophy. Rousseau touched upon many subjects: freedom, free will, authority, nature, morality, societal inequality, representation and government. Like Transcendentalists, Rousseau held a belief that human beings are good by nature but are rendered corrupt by society. ”Rousseau clearly states that morality is not a natural feature of human life, so in whatever sense it is that human beings are good by nature, it is not the moral sense that the casual reader would ordinarily assume” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2010). Rousseau’s work is relevant to many of the social movements that currently fight against COVID restrictions, vaccination agenda, building of 5G antenna towers next to where people live, polluting the environment, systemic poverty and general disconnection from the natural world. Rousseau, although regarded as a philosopher, saw philosophy itself negatively, and to him philosophers were ”the post-hoc rationalizers of self-interest, as apologists for various forms of tyranny, and as playing a role in the alienation of the modern individual from humanity’s natural impulse to compassion” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2010).

Rousseau’s days did not see capitalism as we see it now. It was later Marx (influenced by Hegel, who in turn was influenced by Rousseau) that put together a treatise that considers the societal change we have seen ever since from industrialism and circulation of capital. But Rousseau’s thoughts about the social contract (1968 [1762]), “child-centered” education (Rousseau 2010), and inequality (Graeber & Wengrow 2018; Rousseau 2008) are still relevant today. Especially when we are faced with many societal forces that are contradictory in nature, each of them pushing us into certain direction, demanding our attention, wanting us to change our beliefs about that one particular aspect that connects with other aspects and forms the Matrix of our reality.

We are once again facing a similar situation as the people did back in the days of the first industrial revolution. Now the industrial revolution has reached its fourth cycle, unimaginatively called ”Industry 4.0” (Marr 2018; WEF 2021), where machines are starting to become autonomous and talk to each other. I used to think technology was cool, and went to work for Google. But at Google I learned that technology is not cool, after all. Not until technology becomes completely open source, it will be used by massive conglomerates to build autonomous weapons systems (Cassella 2018; Johnson 2018) and the industry will keep paying ethics researchers to keep writing arguments for them (Charters 2020). Even though I could work for an industry that, given the current trajectory, will be among the biggest producers of CO 2 in the future Vidal 2017), the idea that I would work for an industry that sees weaponizing their products as the grandest idea of mankind’s future is still gnawing.

Because, it is all just business (Huesemann & Huesemann 2011):

One of the functions of critical science is to create awareness of the underlying values, and the political and financial interests which are currently determining the course of science and technology in industrialized society. This exposure of the value-laden character of science and technology is done with the goal of emancipating both people and the environment from domination and exploitation by powerful interests. The ultimate objective is to redirect science and technology to support both ordinary people and the environment, instead of causing suffering through oppression and exploitation by dominant elites. Furthermore, by exposing the myth of the value-neutrality of science and technology, critical science attempts to awaken working scientists and engineers to the social, political, and ethical implications of their work, making it impossible or, at the very least, uncomfortable for them to ignore the wider context and corresponding responsibilities of their professional activities.

It all seems to be connected with state imperialism and the military-industrial(-intelligence) complex. Lenin’s statement (2008 [1916]) equating capitalism with imperialism still prevails this day: ”imperialist wars are absolutely inevitable under such an economic system, as long as private property in the means of production exists”. The conditions change, but the war machine keeps on churning (soon with autonomous weapons!), with wealthy but crooky investors financing projects that are even more dystopian (Byrne 2013). We may remember what president Dwight D. Eisenhower said about the military- industrial complex (NPR 2011):

”In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist.”

It is exactly these kinds of doomsday scenarios that inspire people like Theodore John ”The Unabomber” Kaczynski. Kaczynski, famous for sending mail bombs to various university professors around the US, holds a doctoral degree in mathematics. (Wikipedia 2021.) Kaczynski was bullied as a child, and it has been suggested that he was part of an MKULTRA experiment in college (The Week 2017). Kaczynski did not send his bombs haphazardly. He wrote long theoretical pieces to justify his actions, most of them being thematically anarcho-primitivist. In 1995, after sending several bombs to university personnel and business executives in 1978-1995, he said to ”desist from terrorism” if he got his text published in media outlets.

In his Industrial Society and Its Future (Kaczynski 1995), a 35 thousand word essay published in The Washington Post, which the FBI gave the name ”Unabomber manifesto”, Kaczynski attributes many our societal ills to ”leftism”. In the manifesto Kaczynski details how two psychological tendencies, “feelings of inferiority” and “oversocialization”, form the basis of ”the psychology of modern leftism”. Feelings of inferiority are taken to mean the whole spectrum of negative feelings about self: low self-esteem, feelings of powerlessness, guilt, self-hatred etc. Oversocialization is the process of socialization taken to extreme levels:

24. Psychologists use the term “socialization” to designate the process by which children are trained to think and act as society demands. A person is said to be well socialized if he believes in and obeys the moral code of his society and fits in well as a functioning part of that society. It may seem senseless to say that many leftists are over-socialized, since the leftist is perceived as a rebel. Nevertheless, the position can be defended. Many leftists are not such rebels as they seem.

25. The moral code of our society is so demanding that no one can think, feel and act in a completely moral way. For example, we are not supposed to hate anyone, yet almost everyone hates somebody at some time or other, whether he admits it to himself or not. Some people are so highly socialized that the attempt to think, feel and act morally imposes a severe burden on them. In order to avoid feelings of guilt, they continually have to deceive themselves about their own motives and find moral explanations for feelings and actions that in reality have a nonmoral origin. We use the term “oversocialized” to describe such people.

Kaczynski goes on to describe how this oversocialization causes a person to feel guilt and shame for their actions, especially in the context of performing as society expects them to perform. He writes how this concept of oversocialization is used to determine ”the direction of modern leftism”. Further on, Kaczynski describes how modern man needs goals to strive for, to not run the risk of developing serious psychological problems. This goalsetting activity he denotes ”power process”. But these goals can be real or artificial. Setting a goal is “surrogate activity” if the person devotes much time and energy to attaining it, does not attain it, and still feels seriously deprived. It is just a goal for goalsetting’s sake, the unfulfilled other side of the coin of power process. Kaczynski then connects these concepts to the many societal ills (excessive density of population, isolation of man from nature, excessive rapidity of social change and the breakdown of natural small-scale communities such as the extended family, the village or the tribe) by describing how modern society, with all its marketing and advertising creating artificial needs, disrupts the power process, mankind’s search for itself and meaning-making in life. He sees social hierarchies and the need to climb up them, the ”keeping up with the Joneses”, as surrogate activity.

”Because of the constant pressure that the system exerts to modify human behavior, there is a gradual increase in the number of people who cannot or will not adjust to society’s requirements: welfare leeches, youth gang members, cultists, anti-government rebels, radical environmentalist saboteurs, dropouts and resisters of various kinds”. This gradual increase, then, the system tries to ’solve’ by using propaganda, ”to make people WANT the decisions that have been made for them”. In regards to technology, the ”bad” parts cannot be separated from the ”good”, and thus we are constantly facing the dilemma between technology and freedom, new technology being introduced all the time, and new regulations being introduced to curb the negative effects of the technology and at the same time stripping us of our freedoms. Kaczynski concludes, that revolution is easier than reforming the system.

Later, Kaczynski released another of his anti-technological theses. In Anti-Tech Revolution: Why and How (2015) Kaczynski presents a ”comprehensive historical analysis explaining the futility of social control and the catastrophic influence of technological growth on human social and planetary ecological systems.” This time Kaczynski talks more about how to start an anti-tech movement and how to keep it going. The text reads like a mathemathical proof of sorts, it presents ”rules”, ”propositions” and ”postulates” why the technological system will destroy itself (eg. Russell’s Paradox resulting in chaos in a highly complex, tightly coupled system) and why a successful anti-tech movement needs clear goals to avoid some of the errors revolutionary movements have made, which are elaborated in the book. Violence is not offered as a solution in the book, it is seen more like a mishap of sorts, a suboptimal outcome of a revolutionary movement. But it talks about power. Kaczynski got to learn the hard way how the feeling of powerlessness breeds desperate actions that would have been otherwise unnecessary. The book also talks about climate change and related issues, from a mathematic systems theoretical point of view.

Institutions that are in the business of social engineering and behavioral modification, such as the Tavistock Institute in the UK or the CIA in the US, would have us believe that Kaczynski’s actions were ”defences against anxiety” that can be seen as ”withdrawal, informal organization, reactive individualism and scapegoating” (Hills et al. 2020), and to some extent this is true. But Kaczynski interprets the actions of these institutions stemming from technological progress in our society Kaczynski 1995):

117. In any technologically advanced society the individual’s fate MUST depend on decisions that he personally cannot influence to any great extent. A technological society cannot be broken down into small, autonomous communities, because production depends on the cooperation of very large numbers of people and machines. Such a society MUST be highly organized and decisions HAVE TO be made that affect very large numbers of people.

This uniformity of a large hierarchical modern society then forces its will on people (Kaczynski 1995):

119. The system does not and cannot exist to satisfy human needs. Instead, it is human behavior that has to be modified to fit the needs of the system. This has nothing to do with the political or social ideology that may pretend to guide the technological system. It is not the fault of capitalism and it is not the fault of socialism. It is the fault of technology, because the system is guided not by ideology but by technical necessity.

We have once again encountered ananke, necessity. Now, if we consider ourselves as the lonely decision makers in this society, what could we do? We can try and fight fire with fire, but such fights end up producing only pain and casualties (Taylor 2013). Anarcho-naturists and anarcho-pacifists understand that (unnecessary) fighting in most cases does not work. Sometimes fighting is warranted, but it is beyond the scope of this essay to examine those cases. Sending bombs to people’s offices may get you some attention and even make somebody quote your manifesto in an essay, but it is not solving the issue, something which the Unabomber addressed in his later texts. If working a job indirectly supports the military-industrial complex NewScientist 2011), what good does it do? The military-industrial complex is the biggest source of pollution in the world (The Conversation 2019; Acedo 2015), detaching yourself from this complex is imperative. Even if they would manage to convince us with their psyops that they are willing to change and that climate change is an important issue (Ahmed 2014), it would still be the biggest polluter that is controlling the conversation. It has even been suggested that they are behind this climate buzz (Light 2014). Is your job doing that much good in society that it outweighs the cons? If I need to act responsibly, but cannot fight the system nor conform, while at the same time keeping in mind our looming climate disaster, the only reasonable and peaceful response is to exit the system altogether.

Biodynamism’s naturality and parsimony

Owning responsibility and transforming the world implies taking some kind of action. We have already seen how feelings of powerlessness and lack of self-worth can lead to destructive actions. But there are an unlimited amount of actions that can be taken, that are not based in feelings of powerlessness but empowerment.

Exiting society might sound like a lonely project, and some people might rightfully feel lonely when all their peers still want to live in the illusion. But it does not have to be so. A lot of soul-searching needs to be done, and that is usually done in privacy, focusing upon oneself, but beyond that there are ways how to go off-grid and drastically reduce your carbon emissions.

One of the key concepts that will be our guiding principle here is degrowth (Paulson 2017), which ties into values such as organicity, naturality and parsimony. We will want to have less production of artificial things, and more organic and natural things. By artificial we mean long supply chains and many phases of production with modern high technology that produce a large amount of climate effects. By natural we mean using primitive technology, mostly all-natural or recycled materials and something that can be produced even alone, given enough time. Primitive technology does not exclude electricity, it just means producing it differently.

Rudolf Steiner, Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and theosophist, the founder of Anthroposophy and a great reformer of science in matters of spirit, started the first intentional form of organic farming, known as biodynamic agriculture, after he had given a series of lectures on the topic in the last year of his life. (Paull 2011.) Steiner had many spiritual experiences during his life, which lead him to start the Anthroposophy movement. He wanted to apply the scientific process into spiritual realm, inquiring it as it would be as real as our material world. Inquiring this spiritual world helped him access knowledge he claims to not have been access otherwise (Steiner 2011 [1918]). Anthroposophist self-inquiry can be seen as Foucauldian ”technology of the self” that ”provide an intervention mechanism on the part of active subjects, injecting an element of contingency to everyday encounters and alleviating the determinist effect that technologies of power would have otherwise” (Skinner 2012).

Steiner’s thoughts about agriculture are still relevant (Paull 2011):

In 1924 Steiner commented that, “Nowadays people simply think that a certain amount of nitrogen is needed for plant growth, and they imagine it makes no difference how it’s prepared or where it comes from” Steiner, 1924b, pp.9-10). He made the point that, “In the course of this materialistic age of ours, we’ve lost the knowledge of what it takes to continue to care for the natural world” (Steiner, 1924b, p.10).

Our current system seems to think exactly in this way, that if we just compensate our wreaked havoc by investing in ’green’ technology (Elegant 2019), it will all be ok and rainbows in the sky. But it will not. No one is even double checking if the companies that say that they are now carbon neutral actually proactively try to make our world greener. They can just buy a renewable energy company and say now we are green and do nothing else. Some would argue that going ’carbon neutral’ like these massive corporations are doing it is not the way to do it: “’green’ infrastructures are creating conflict and ecological degradation and are the material expression of climate catastrophe” (Dunlap 2020).

Steinerian biodynamism ”encompasses practices of composting, mixed farming systems with use of animal manures, crop rotations, care for animal welfare, looking at the farm as an organism/entity and local distribution systems, all of which contribute toward the protection of the environment, safeguard biodiversity and improve livelihoods of farmers” (Turinek et al. 2009). While modern biodynamic studies focus on agroecological factors such as nutrient cycles, soil characteristics, and nutritional quality (Reganold 1995; Droogers & Bouma 1996), Steiner himself was quite metaphysical in his lectures and paid attention to details such as kingdoms of nature, planetary influences, biorhythms, incarnated and environmental ethers, and the Zodiac (Steiner 2004 [1958]; Nastati 2009).

By shifting to more natural ways of living, we may help Gaia (Lovelock 1991; Singh 2007) heal in many other ways than just reduce our climate emissions. By realizing that we are actually living on the skin of a fairly large and complex organism, we will stop treating it as a plain source of material resources, and start bonding with it, tune into its consciousness and establish two-way communication, just like the natives have done in America.

The way of the natives ought to be our current way, since there is no reason why the natives could not guard the lands they have before. One of the greatest fears of people speaking for private property rights is that managing resources collectively would mean exhausting them. There is no Tragedy of Commons. Just because you are materially poor does not mean that you are any less competent steward of land and wealth, as proposed by Elinor Oström (2009). Acting for climate is not an investment allocation problem. The natives need their land back so that they could do their best to fight the destruction of our ecosystem. The Outokumpu supply chain in Brazilian rainforests, Elon Musk and Bolivian lithium mines, Papua New Guinea indigenous conflict, mining in Lapland in traditional Sami herding areas, Australian uranium mining in indigenous lands… these are all pointless conflicts.

There are also many other ways of staying grounded and in touch with nature, while at the same time cultivating sovereignty. Many of these things revolve around feeding the most immediate community next to you. They reflect ideas such as mutuality, solidarity, organicity, and naturality. Permaculture is a term coined by David Holmgren to describe ”an approach to land management and philosophy that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using whole systems thinking. It uses these principles in fields such as regenerative agriculture, rewilding, and community resilience” (Wikipedia: Permaculture 2021). Permaculture has many branches including ecological design, ecological engineering, regenerative design, environmental design, and construction. It also includes integrated water resources management that develops sustainable architecture, and regenerative and self-maintained habitat and agricultural systems modeled from natural ecosystems (Holmgren Desing Services 2007).

Earthships are 100% sustainable homes that are both energy efficient and modern. Earthsips are built with natural and repurposed (recycled) materials, they heat and cool themselves without electric heat, they use solar energy to power electric appliances, they collect all of their water from rain and snowmelt, they re-use their sewage water to fertilize plants, and there’s an indoor garden that grows food in vertical growing spaces (Reynolds 2021). Ecovillages are a ”human-scale, full-featured settlement, in which human activities are harmlessly integrated into the natural world in a way that is supportive of healthy human development and can be successfully continued into the indefinite future” (Gilman & Gilman 1991).

Clifford Harper had a set of drawings imagining an alternative in his book Radical Technology (Harper & Boyle 1976). In them, he shows many of the ideas that were themes in the German garden city movement in the beginning of 20th century (Bollerey & Hartmann 1980), such as collectivised gardens, autonomous housing estates, and community workshops. The book introduces us ’radical technology’, which spans basically all of the concepts we have discussed up to this point: organic agriculture, biodynamic agriculture, vegetarianism, hydroponics, soft energy, insulation, low-cost housing, tree houses, shanty houses, ’folk-built’ houses using traditional methods, houses built from subsoil, self-built houses, housing associations, solar dwellings, domestic paper-making, carpentry, scrap reclamation, printing, community & pirate radio, collectivised gardens, collective workshops for clothesmaking, shoe repair, pottery, household decoration and repairs, autonomous housing estates, autonomous rural villages, etc.

These concepts, while they seem simple, are still empowering, they are meant to let people enjoy they fruits of their labour. Last but certainly not least is the concept that all of these things fall under, alternative (or, appropriate) technology. Alternative technologies are those ”which offer genuine alternatives to the large-scale, complex, centralized, high-energy life forms which dominate the modern age” (Winner 1979). Alternative technologies seek to solve the problems technocentric thinking has caused in society: technical scale and economic concentration, level of complexity or simplicity best suited to technical operations of various kinds, division of labor and its alleged necessity, social and technical hierarchy as it relates to the design of technological systems, and self-sufficiency and interdependence regarding the lives of individuals and communities. Many of these solutions have been developed in Africa, where problems have had to be solved, but resources have been scarce in actuality.

Appropriate technology holds great promise in ways that are currently underappreciated in our society (Huesemann & Huesemann 2011):

As has been mentioned repeatedly throughout this book, the primary goal of technology in our current economic system is to increase material affluence and to generate profits for the wealthy by controlling and exploiting both people and the environment. In view of the reality of interconnectedness, this is neither environmentally sustainable nor socially desirable. In this chapter we discuss how to design technologies which reflect the values of environmental sustainability and social appropriateness. We also emphasize the importance of heeding the precautionary principle in order to prevent unintended consequences, as well as the need for participatory design in order to ensure greater democratic control of technology. Finally, as a specific example of an environmentally sustainable and socially appropriate technology, we discuss the positive contribution of local, organic, small-scale agriculture.

Conclusion

This essay has presented the reader with ramblings of a person who is familiar with Critical Theory, who would like to build a stronger connection to nature, and who is having a major identity crisis in life. I have expressed, albeit feebly, my will to emancipate myself, to exit the Matrix. In Finnish they would say ”Sota ei yhtä miestä kaipaa”, and in George S. Patton’s words this expression would be ”Hell, they won’t miss me, just one man in thousands.”

In this essay I seem to have extensively quoted the Unabomber manifesto. This is not to say that Kaczynski had exceptionally good motives or justifications for his actions. He killed many people and is in prison now. Kaczynski’s ideas are not unique. Quoting his manifesto serves merely to prove one point: he is the product of his environment. Mental illness is no longer a taboo and things have progressed somewhat since Kaczynski’s days. It could be argued that Kaczynski’s writings were just projection of his own feelings of shame and guilt he had gone through. But his mental condition, should he be diagnosed with one (Amador & Reshmi 2000), does not invalidate the things he’s written. In many ways his writings are now more relevant than ever. When we have tech billionaires talking about inserting neuralinks into your brain and downloading thoughts straight from the headquarters, we can really see the manifesto dots connecting.

I wish it would have been just the mental load caused by a ’surrogate activity’ of keeping up with the Joneses that was the cause of all this, but no, it’s the real deal now. When we have corporate executives and federal commissions defending autonomous weapons systems and saying building such systems is a ’moral imperative’ (Gershgorn 2021), you know we have reached peak civilization. It’s all downhill from now on. All participation in society will support this moral imperative, and I don’t want to have anything to do with it. While many would get back to nature for reasons of convenience, such as better health, Rousseau himself would have gotten back to nature ”to feel God in nature” (LaFreniere 1990). It is this kind of humanist transcendentalism (not transhumanism) that we will need again, to realize what we have done to our planet, to realize what needs to be done to abolish the war machine consuming it, and to make ourselves whole again.

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Wikipedia (2021) Ted Kaczynski. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kaczynski>, accessed 14.3.2021.

Winner, L. (1979) The Political Philosophy of Alternative Technology: Historical Roots and Present Prospects. Technology In Society, 1, 75-86.

https://kapitaali.com/the-new-hippies/

#anarcho-primitivism #Anti-technology #naturalism #parsimony #pragmatism #Ted Kaczynski #The Golden Rule #Unabomber #Sekalainen

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panharmonium · 4 years

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okay, honest question about 5.11 -

are we seriously supposed to watch this episode and still come down on arthur’s side?

i’m not saying that’s what the show wants us to do. on the contrary, i think they actually do a pretty good job this episode of NOT hammering us in the face with “you’re supposed to root for camelot,” which i appreciate, because there have definitely been other times when they’ve approached the moral dilemma of magical oppression and have kind of punked out at the end - most noticeably in ‘the sorcerer’s shadow,’ when they finally force us to look merlin’s cognitive dissonance in the eye by putting him in the position of saving uther from a magical youth fighting for freedom, and then they back off from that uncomfortable question by having kilgharrah say “you, like i, must hold hope that arthur will bring about a new age, an age where the likes of you and i are respected once again.”

they don’t quite do that in this episode, which i really appreciate, because i just cannot see how they would have been able to pull it off without sounding ridiculously disingenuous.

arthur is WRONG.

(i’ll get to merlin later, he’s...he’s got a whole different issue going on, but let’s just deal with arthur first.)

that whole conversation where he interrogates kara in front of the court - just look at it:

were you part of a cohort of saxons who attacked an arms shipment bound for camelot?

yes.

and were you acting under the orders of morgana pendragon?

what i did, i did for myself. for my people, and for our right to be free.

i have no quarrel with the druids.

i have spent my life on the run because of my beliefs, and seen those i have loved killed.

once, maybe. but i’m not my father.

you don’t kill those with magic? it is not i, arthur pendragon, who needs to answer for my crimes. it is you. you and your father have brutally and mercilessly heaped misery on my kind. it is you who has turned a peaceful people to war, and it is you and camelot that will pay the price.

are we supposed to look at this girl and condemn her? nothing she says is wrong.

whenever we encounter these magical rebel types, the show always tries to play it like ‘well uhhhhhh they’re a little extreme......i mean......they kill people 0.0,’ as if camelot’s regime hasn’t been killing magical people all along. like - kara stabs that soldier when she’s escaping from the cells, and the show kind of plays mordred’s reaction as...‘omg she killed someone oh no what a baddie,’ but dude! the soldiers are about to kill her!!!!! she’s running for her life! killing a guard is nothing merlin and arthur haven’t done a hundred times, when escaping from captivity on their own adventures, but it’s never been framed as some sort of evil thing, for them. why is kara the only one branded as a sinner? a knight’s life isn’t more valuable than any of the children uther drowned. a knight’s murder isn’t more deserving of reprisal.

the girl’s murdered innocent men in cold blood. we are at war. i must be resolute.

we hear arthur say that and we kind of just want to shake him like - CAMELOT has murdered innocent people in cold blood! if arthur can use “we are at war” to justify killing someone who has magic, then the same justification should apply to magic-users attempting to kill him. camelot declared war on magic-users decades ago. these people are fighting for their lives.

arthur is showing his father’s reasoning here. his own rules don’t apply to him. his rationale, his justifications, they only go one way. there is so much to pick apart in his response to this situation - he tries to make it sound like ‘the problem isn’t magic, it’s that you murdered some guys,’ (he tells kara “you stand before the court not because of an act of sorcery or sedition, but because of an act of murder”) but literally in the previous episode he sends out a squadron to hunt down finna (and merlin, unknowingly) just because gaius said finna practiced the old religion.

finna had killed no one. she’d done absolutely nothing wrong. but arthur went after her and said she ‘must be found and brought to trial.”

brought to trial? for WHAT???? she hadn’t DONE anything. nothing except be a follower of the old religion.

and his hypocrisy! ‘it is [people like morgana] that have terrorized camelot and forced us to outlaw such practices’ - really, arthur? literally two episodes ago, you went the cauldron of arianrhod and used magic to save your wife from an enchantment. at the beginning of season 5, you used magic to summon your father’s ghost. at the beginning of season 4, you used magic to try to save uther’s life.

arthur has always been willing to use magic for his own purposes, when it suits him. all while continuing to restrict others from doing the same.

this show is big on pushing the narrative that “arthur’s different from uther” - and he is - but how different, really? seriously. in the end, how different are they?

i feel like because we are fond of him - because we’ve gotten to know him personally, in settings where we can temporarily forget the impact of his policies - we’re sometimes asked to sort of look past the real harm that is constantly being done in his name. like - ‘it’s okay for us to let it slide when arthur persecutes people with magic, because he has valid reasons to think magic is a threat.’ but what, then it’s not okay for someone like kara to want him taken out?

she has valid reasons to think ARTHUR is a threat. he IS a threat!!! to people like her! that’s the reality. these people have every justified reason to want arthur off the throne. they have every rightful reason to riot. they have EVERY RATIONAL REASON TO REBEL AND REMOVE HIM FROM HIS SEAT OF POWER.

if this were star wars, they’d be the rebellion. we’d be rooting for them! it is not wrong for an oppressed population to rise up against their oppressor!!!!!!!!!! we all know this!!!!!!!! just because we like arthur on a personal level doesn’t make it less true. we CANNOT fault these people for refusing to just sit back and wait for arthur to someday wake up and give them their rights. that never happens. that is never how people become free. we can’t fault these people for not choosing to be like merlin, for not choosing to hover in a morally questionable limbo for years and years and years and become complicit in their own oppression.

(and again, i’ll...i’ll deal with merlin later. he keeps fucking up and i hate to see it but i also have to remember that he is a victim of the same oppressive policies as kara and mordred so it’s like...his case is more complicated.)

but arthur. i honestly feel like the most telling moment is when he gives kara that opportunity to “repent,” which is supposed to be like ‘oh wow look how benevolent,’ only the thing is he’s completely missed the point. the point is not that she needs to apologize for her crimes. the point is that she hasn’t done anything wrong.

no.

it isn’t.

the way they cut to merlin at that particular line is devastating. it’s this...reminder of how far we have wandered, from who he used to be. he used to think this, too. he used to fight for himself, too; he used to come home to gaius angry and upset saying “i want to be seen; i want to be free.” and now he’s just...locked into this impossible place where he can either ignore the veritable chorus of dragons, seers, and literal gods who keep telling him he has an absolute responsibility to make sure arthur triumphs, or listen to their counsel and thus betray himself, and his own people along with him. and all this while still living under threat of execution himself - what is he supposed to do?

this episode calls back so strongly to ‘the sorcerer’s shadow,’ which is the first place where the show confronts this problem so directly, when merlin outs himself to gilli and gilli challenges him about his choices:

i know how it feels. i understand.

then you understand why i have to fight. if uther is killed, so what? how many of our kind have died at his hands? how many more will? it's time those with magic fought back.

gilli -

you can't tell me what to do!

you need to learn to use your magic for good. that is its true purpose; it's not meant for your own vanity.

i'm not going to apologise for who i am! you can be a servant and - and pretend you're less than them -

no, that is not what I do -

no?! you're defending the king! protecting a man that would have you dead!

i'm protecting you!

you've been pretending for so long now that you've actually forgotten who you are.

merlin gets so upset by this. he’s visibly shaken, and on the verge of tears, and he weakly protests, and then the next shot is of him lying awake in his bed, agonizedly stewing over it, because deep down he knows that gilli is right.

this conflict has never been resolved. i would add, as we move toward the spot where i am now in season 5, that it’s not so much that merlin has “forgotten” who he is, exactly, but that he’s been forced to abandon who he is, for the sake of his mission. and most of the time he tries not to think about that, because it’s the only way he can survive, but he feels deeply conflicted about it still.

watching 5.11, it is so easy for me to get frustrated at merlin, because i feel like he should do more, in this episode, and do the Right Thing, but honestly at this point the only way for him to do the right thing is to reveal himself. that’s it. there is no other option for him. we’ve exhausted all other avenues; there is no other step he can take. he is trapped, in his current situation, and his deception is not just hurting him, now, it’s...it’s an abdication of his responsibility to everyone like him.

i don’t like saying that. because in real life it’s never okay to just say like...’oh, you need to out yourself because you have a responsibility to the community.’ that’s never okay. a person’s primary responsibility is to their own safety, when they’re living as a marginalized, threatened person.

so in real life, i would never say that. but this is fiction, first of all, and it’s more complicated than that, for merlin, because he is already in a position of responsibility over these people, whether he wants to be or not. the decisions he makes are things that impact their lives.

and secondly - how threatened is he, really? he is supposedly the most powerful sorcerer who’s ever lived. do we really think arthur could successfully get merlin up on a platform and hang him? do we really think arthur could hold merlin in a cell? when merlin was newer to intentional magic and unstudied, absolutely, yes. but now?

the risk merlin faces now isn’t necessarily to his life. it’s to his lifestyle. he might have to leave camelot. he might lose all his friends. and these are valid fears and i UNDERSTAND, because merlin has never felt safe and he has so rarely felt loved and i UNDERSTAND how paralytically frightening it is for him to consider doing anything that would jeopardize even the tiniest bit of belonging that he has been able to scrape together for himself, but i do not see that he has another option - not one that doesn’t poison his soul, at least. he knows that what is happening to kara in this episode is wrong. he tells arthur “free them both.” he knows that’s what should have happened. but then arthur executes her, and merlin does nothing to stop it, and i hate to put one more burden on merlin’s young shoulders but the fact of the matter is that this cycle of violence will never end until merlin ends it himself. merlin cannot continue to stay trapped here between the dictates of destiny and his own sense of right and wrong. it is killing him, and now it’s killing other people, too.

it is not a crime to fight for the right to be who you are.

merlin desperately needs to remember that. he needs to remember it for his own sake, not just for the people around him. he is one of them. their struggle is his struggle. it is not the magical community’s fault that merlin has more information than they do - how are they supposed to know that arthur is supposed to be some kind of great saviour? without knowing that, why would they ever choose to bow to him? he has done nothing to earn their trust. they have no reason to approach this situation the way merlin has, with infinite patience and a willingness to suffer constant injustices.

merlin has to understand that. he has to know that. he can’t condemn them for fighting for their freedom. they haven’t done anything wrong. and i think he does know that, deep inside. but he is trapped, where he is now, and the only way out is for him to tell the truth.

the truth will set you free. it might upend your entire life, but it will set you free. and it is past time that merlin was free. from camelot’s oppression, and from the oppressive dictates of destiny, too - if destiny had shut up for two seconds about ‘don’t trust mordred,’ we wouldn’t necessarily be in this situation now.

i guess overall this episode leaves me feeling pretty grim. and sad, i guess, because honestly like - it’s hard to for me to even root for arthur, as we enter the finale. i can’t condemn mordred for running away to join the rebellion. i don’t think morgana’s ideals are exactly pure, obviously; we’ve already seen several seasons ago how her goals have slid from ‘liberation’ to ‘power’ - but mordred is only motivated by the fight against injustice. he’s in it for freedom. and i can’t fault him for that, because he isn’t wrong. i can’t fault him for giving up merlin’s identity, either, because merlin’s been treating him like crap from the very beginning (and again, yes, it’s more complicated than that - merlin is in an impossible position; he has reasons to trust all of the people who make prophecies at him - but still. that doesn’t make mordred less wronged.)

so it’s kind of like - i’m going into the finale feeling like i shouldn’t really be rooting for our heroes. which is kind of...depressing.

i mean. yeah.

he kind of does.

#the once and future slowburn #meta #merlin S5 #long post #this is such a...i don't know #it's just...a bummer #like i appreciate that the show is kind of allowing us to sit with the complexity #and for once not telling us that 'arthur's right no matter what'#they haven't quite gone the 'guess we were right not to trust mordred route!' yet #they had arthur say 'i shouldn't have trusted him' but i don't believe that's their endorsement of that position #and i'm glad #because that's just...demonstrably false; after this episode #but i also don't trust them not to take that tack later because they have a history of that sort of thing #so who knows?#right now i'm just in a place where i feel glum because i mean...how can i even root for the heroes?#like #mordred strides off to morgana's fortress and i was like 'good! you go! you march over there!'#he's been wronged! how can i justifiably ask him to just roll over and take it?#it's not fair to ask that of him #it's not fair to ask that of any of them #and that **includes** merlin #merlin should never have had to do all the things he's done for this regime #i know why he's done them; and he won't complain; but he's been wronged as well #he's made mistakes but he's also been victimized so it's just...it's a mess #i just can't envision a scenario where this turns out okay for anyone #even arthur and merlin 'winning' doesn't seem like a good ending to me #because like...why does camelot deserve to win right now?#i don't know #it's hard to explain #it's just...a disaster

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biostudyblog · 4 years

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Developmental Psychology

Research Methods

Studies involving human development are either cross-sectional (studies observing patients at different changes to see how different variables change over time) or longitudinal (studies observing one person over. a long period of time to precisely measure the effect of development on a specific group)

Prenatal Influences on Development

Two examples of prenatal influences are genetics (whose effect should be obvious; the chromosomes you’re born with influence the development of certain traits.) The amount of influence chromosomes have on development over environment can be observed in twin studies where the subjects have an identical genome. Another example is teratogens. Teratogens are chemicals or agents which can be inhaled, ingested, or contracted in some way by the mother. One of the most common is alcohol which can cause fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) caused by severe alcoholism during pregnancy. A less severe condition caused by moderate drinking is known as fetal alcohol effect. A natural example is the virus Zika which made the news a few years ago for its devastating effects on newborns whose mothers had contracted the illness.

Motor/Sensory Development

Reflexes

While in the past it was understood that babies were “blank slates” research has shown babies have a specific set of reflexes, or automatic responses to certain stimuli.

The Newborn’s Senses

Along with reflexes, humans are born with their sensory apparatus. Research has found that babies can hear before they are born, and have the same basic preferences in smell and taste that we do. The most different is sight. When we are born, hearing is the dominant sense due to baby’s poor vision (legally blind). Normally, by 12 months, sight becomes the dominant sense.

Motor Development

Assuming all goes according to plan, humans develop the same basic motor skills in the same sequence (commonly at different ages, however.) Our motor control develops when neurons in the brain connect with each other and become myelinated. Typically by 5 1/2 months, babies can roll over, stand at 8-9 months, and walk after 15 months.

Parenting

Attachment Theory

As important as nature is in development, nurture plays just as big a role in deciding how we develop. Biologist Konrad Lorenz found some infant animals imprint on individuals or even objects they see during a critical period after birth. While not so simple in humans or other complicated animals, attachment, or the relationship between child and caregiver has a profound impact on growth.

Harry Harlow- Harlow raised baby monkeys with two artificial mothers. One had a bottle for the baby to eat, and the other was wrapped in a soft blanket. The babies preferred the soft mother when scared despite not being where the food was. Without a real mother, the babies Harlow studied became stressed and frightened, giving insight into what the deprivation of attachment can do.

Mary Ainsworth- Ainsworth researched what happened when newborns were placed into a strange situation- the parents would leave them for a short while and return. There were 3 types of reactions.

Infants with secure attachments explored the environment with their parents, became distressed when they left, and went to them when they returned.

Infants with avoidant attachments resisted being held by the parents, preferring to explore. They didn’t seek comfort upon the parents return.

Infants with anxious/ambivalent attachments (resistant attachments) were ambivalent to the parents. They were extremely distressed when the parent left but resisted comfort when they came back.

Parenting Styles

There’s a lot of debate about the “right” way to raise your child. Psychologists have been looking into the scientific answer, and there doesn’t seem to be a conclusive right way, however psychological research can point parents in the right direction. Psychologist Diana Baumrind researched parenting styles and defined 3 main categories of styles.

Authoritarian parents: set strict standards for their children and provide harsh punishments. Obedience is more important than rationalisation- “Why am I in trouble?” “Because I said so.”

Permissive parents: set unclear guidelines- rules either don’t exist or often change. Punishments may not be followed through on, and rule-breaking goes ignored.

Authoritative parents: have set, consistent standards for their children that they explain thoroughly to their child. If a child breaks a rule, it often includes a discussion about why the rule was important and why they are being punished.

Authoritative parenting has shown to produce the most desirable home environment. Children in these kinds of homes are often more socially capable and perform much better academically

Stage Theories

Nature vs Nurture is certainly important, but there’s another important debate going on in psychology; continuity versus discontinuity. Do we develop continually or do we have periods of rapid development and periods with little change? Biologically, we develop discontinuously, but what about thought? Lev Vygotsky’s concept of the zone of proximal development is one answer to this question. The zone of proximal development is the range of tasks a child is able to complete on their own. Adults can provide scaffolds to help them reach the upper end of their range encouraging further development. Stage theories are discontinuous theories by their nature. Two; Erikson’s and Freud’s are studied not because of their scientific merit but for historical reasons.

Sigmund Freud

Freud proposed we go through 5 psychosexual theories (sexual being where we derive our pleasure as we grow up.) If we fail to resolve conflict in any stage, we may become fixated- (preoccupied with behaviours associated with that stage.)

Erik Erikson

Erikson was a neo-Freudian- he believed in the basics of Freud’s theory but adapted it. He felt our personality was most influenced by our experiences with other, so created the psychosocial stage theory.

Trust versus mistrust: Babies learn whether they can trust the world to provide for their needs

Autonomy versus shame and doubt: Toddlers begin to exert their will over their own body. Here, toddlers learn how to control themselves and their environment.

Initiative versus guilt: When children begin to question everything- if initiative is encouraged, children will be comfortable about being curious later on.

Industry versus inferiority: The beginning of formal education. This is where students learn to produce work that will be evaluated- children may develop what is known as an inferiority complex where they don’t feel competent that can carry on for the rest of their life.

Identity versus role confusion: At adolescence, the goal is to find what social identity we are most comfortable with. Failure to resolve this conflict may cause an identity crisis.

Intimacy versus isolation: Young adults need to try to figure out how to balance their life- how much time should go to themselves, to family, to friends and to a partner?

Generativity versus stagnation: This is where the famous midlife crisis tends to happen. Adults here question whether they are making the best life they want.

Integrity versus despair: At the end of their life, elders either look back on their life with fondness or regret.

Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget

Piaget worked for Alfred Binet, creator of the first intelligence test, and was curious about the behaviours of the children he was interviewing. He noticed that certain age groups made similar mistakes. Piaget used this information to explain how children view the world through schemata, (cognitive rules). We tend to incorporate new experience into existing schemata through assimilation. When information contradicts that schemata, it’s modified. A little girl who’s only ever seen girls wear skirts will have to adjust her schemata if she goes to a pride march and sees boys wearing skirts. Piaget described cognitive development in 4 stages.

Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to 2). Babies begin to explore the world through their senses. One of the challenges is developing object permanence- the understanding that an object exists when you can’t see it.

Pre-operational Stage (2 to 7). After developing object permanence, the child will begin to use language and can refer to the world using symbols. Children are egocentric during this stage and can’t understand other people’s perspectives.

Concrete operational (8 to 12). During this stage, children learn to think logically about complex relationships between different objects- children at this stage demonstrate knowledge of the concepts of conservation. The understanding that properties of objects don’t change when the shape does. These concepts are shown in the diagramme below.

Formal operational (12 to adulthood). Formal operational reasoning is abstract reasoning. It’s the ability to manipulate and study objects and ideas without physically seeing or holding them. An example of this type of reasoning is hypothesis testing- a child in this stage would be able to answer a question like “what would you do if you were born somewhere where language didn’t exist” despite not having a model to relate back to.

Criticism of Piaget: Information-Processing Model

Piaget’s model was imperfect- many children move through these stages at drastically different stages. His tests relied heavily on language which may have biased him towards the older children with a stronger grip on language. The information-processing model is a more continuous form of Piaget’s theory. It notes that our abilities to memorise, interpret, and perceive gradually develop as we grow up, instead of occurring at specific stages.

Moral Development

Lawrence Kohlberg

You can’t discuss moral development without discussing Kohlberg. His theory looked at how we reason about ethical situations and how that reasoning changes. His theory was built off of asking children a moral question (for example the Heinz dilemma- should Heinz steal medicine he can’t afford to save his wife’s life?)

Pre-conventional: People at this stage will make the best decision to avoid punishment. A pre-conventional answer to the Heinz dilemma is that he shouldn’t steal the medicine because he could go to jail.

Conventional: Moving past personal gain and loss, this stage focuses on how the choice a person makes will affect how others see them. A conventional answer to the Heinz dilemma is that Heinz should steal the drugs in order to be seen as a hero.

Post-conventional: People at this stage evaluate the rights and values involved with their decision. Self defined ethical principles can guide the decision someone makes (which can differ based on upbringing, culture, etc). A post-conventional answer to the Heinz dilemma is that he should steal the drug because his wife’s right to life outweighs the clerks right to property.

Criticisms of Kohlberg

Carol Gilligan was a notable critic of Kohlberg’s work, because in his research, he only looked at boys. When he did research girls, he tended to put their responses into lower categories, implying an intense amount of bias informing his work. Gilligan’s research showed that boys have a more absolute view on what is moral while girls are more attentive to situational factors.

Gender and Development

Biopsychological Theory

Biopsychologists concentrate on how nature influences gender. Children learn obvious differences between the sexes, however there are several more subtle ones. People assigned female at birth, for example have larger corpus callosums, theoretically affecting how the hemispheres coordinate and communicate.

Psychoanalytic Theory

Freud believed that gender identities begin to develop when children realise, unconsciously that they can’t compete with their same sex parent for the affections of the opposite sex parent (this theory is nearly impossible to study, which is why it has mostly been written off.)

Social Cognitive Theory

Social and cognitive psychologists prefer to observe how society and thoughts about gender can affect role development. Boys are more often encouraged to play rough, leading to more aggressive play. Gender-schema theory states that we internalise messages about gender to form cognitive rules about how different genders should behave. If all a child sees on the TV are girls wearing makeup and being interested in fashion, they’ll internalise the idea that women should be interested in makeup and fashion.

#developmental psychology #psychology #psych #AP Psych #Psychology study blog #Psychology studyblr #Psych study blog #Psych studyblr #biology #bio #biology study blog #biology studyblr #bio study blog #bio studyblr

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mediaevalmusereads · 3 years

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A Rogue By Any Other Name. By Sarah MacLean. New York: Avon, 2012.

Rating: 2/5 stars

Genre: historical romance

Part of a Series? Yes, The Rules of Scoundrels #1

Summary: A decade ago, the Marquess of Bourne was cast from society with nothing but his title. Now a partner in London’s most exclusive gaming hell, the cold, ruthless Bourne will do whatever it takes to regain his inheritance—including marrying perfect, proper Lady Penelope Marbury. A broken engagement and years of disappointing courtships have left Penelope with little interest in a quiet, comfortable marriage, and a longing for something more. How lucky that her new husband has access to such unexplored pleasures. Bourne may be a prince of London’s underworld, but he vows to keep Penelope untouched by its wickedness—a challenge indeed as the lady discovers her own desires, and her willingness to wager anything for them... even her heart.

***Full review under the cut.***

Content Warnings: explicit sexual content, gambling

Overview: I don’t know how to rate this book. On the one hand, MacLean has a knack for writing addictive romances, and I found the heroine to be fairly complex and the crux of the plot to be compelling; but on the other hand, there were a lot of tropes I personally do not care for in this book, so enjoying it fully was difficult. I ultimately settled on giving A Rogue by Any Other Name 2 stars because of my subjective experience, not necessarily because MacLean is bad at her craft.

Writing: I found MacLean’s prose to be fairly well-crafted; not only does it flow well, but it also balances showing and telling. Sentences and descriptions are lush and emotive when they need to be, and slow and sensual when appropriate. MacLean also paces her novel fairly well; on the whole, the story (and sentences) moves along at a quick pace that doesn’t feel rushed, and moments that were more emotionally weighty felt like they had room to breathe.

Perhaps the most interesting thing MacLean does with her book’s structure is insert small excerpts of letters in between scenes or between chapters. These letters are written primarily from the heroine’s point of view, showing her attempts to write to the hero from the time he goes away to Eton to almost the present day. In my opinion, these letters were a good way to show that the heroine had a long history of trying to reach the hero, and I think it worked better than MacLean simply telling the reader in some flashback or climatic scene.

Plot: The main plot of this book follows Michael (the Marquess of Bourne) as he seeks revenge on Viscount Langford, the man who took his entire inheritance in a game of cards. After nearly ten years, he finds that Langford has lost his lands to the Marquess of Needham and Dolby, who has added them to his eldest daughter’s dowry. Bourne thus traps the eldest daughter in a compromising situation which forces them to wed, and he must devise a way to get back at Langford while also dealing with the angst that his marriage stirs up. Not only is his wife, Penelope, one of his dearest childhood friends, but Langford’s son is the third part to their inseparable childhood trio. Bourne must thus figure out whether revenge or love for his childhood friends is more important.

On top of that, Bourne is notorious for not only losing his inheritance, but for building back his fortune by running one of London’s most dangerous gambling dens. His reputation, as well as the scandal should the circumstances of his marriage leak out, is sure to cause harm to Penelope’s family by making it impossible for her younger sisters to marry.

Honestly, I was pretty intrigued by this plot. The question of what matters more, revenge or love, was a really interesting promise with a lot of potential for angst and moral dilemma. I think in general, MacLean handled the plot well by making Penelope a formidable force and making the details of the drama feel real. The thing I really didn’t like, however, was how the initial “marriage trap” went down. Bourne puts Penelope in a compromising situation by having her spend the night alone with him. To her credit, she tries to escape, and Bourne was 100% a horrible person for making her stay with him. I honestly felt like that wasn’t the problem, since it created high stakes and a flaw that Bourne had to atone for. Where it went wrong for me was in Bourne’s character and his actions. I think if Bourne had just blocked the door and prevented Penelope from leaving their shared room, it would have been sufficiently bad, but Bourne also picks up Penelope and spanks her before ripping her dress so that even if she escapes, she’s well and truly ruined. To me, picking up a woman and spanking her feels infantilizing, and it’s a misogynistic flaw that I simply can’t get over. I also feel like ripping her dress and exposing her constitutes sexual assault, and I couldn’t get over that either.

Characters: Penelope, our heroine, is fairly likeable at the start. She’s the eldest in a line of daughters whose spinsterhood threatens to ruin her sisters’ chances at finding matches, and her dilemma between doing right by her family and doing something for her own happiness was a compelling one. I liked that she was sharp-tongued to the point where she would say or withhold things from Bourne to hurt him; it made her seem flawed without being overly petty, mainly because most of the things that hurt him were borne out of her frustration over her situation. The main thing I didn’t like about her was that she didn’t seem to have any female friends, and when she met another woman who was beautiful or who may have shown interest in Bourne, she got absurdly jealous. To MacLean’s credit, Penelope never acts in hostility towards other women and eventually develops a kind of friendship with Bourne’s gorgeous housekeeper, but I found this jealousy over a man who does nothing but hurt her disappointing.

Bourne, our hero, is an archetype that I really don’t like: self-hating, brooding, controlling, and violent. While I liked his revenge vs love dilemma, I hated that he was self-loathing to the point of destroying everything around him (when he could have easily just... not). I think more could have been done to make him a selfish, obsessive, manipulating character without making him so controlling of Penelope. His actions regarding their marriage are bad enough; I really didn’t need him to try to control Penelope’s life by giving her no control over the household, over where she goes, etc. and I really didn’t need him to be so violent and jealous that he thought about murdering anyone who so much looked at Penelope.

To be honest, I was hoping Penelope would run away from Bourne and end up with Tommy, a childhood friend who seems to treat her with genuine kindness and worries about her happiness. Tommy was interesting in that he loves Penelope as a brother would, not as a suitor, and respects her decisions even if they are obviously toxic or self-destructive.

Other characters were interesting for their potential to offer commentary. I liked Penelope’s sisters, who embody different personality types and have different views on marriage and scandal. Watching Penelope worry for them was honestly touching, and provided unique opportunities for reflecting on romantic expectations versus realities. Bourne’s colleagues at the gambling den were also pretty great in that they seemed to be more respectful of Penelope than Bourne was. I liked that they called Bourne out for his behavior and didn’t try to control Penelope on his behalf.

Langford, our primary antagonist, wasn’t present enough for me to have an opinion one way or the other. Honestly, I didn’t feel that much animosity towards him - he was an ass for taking the entire inheritance from a 21 year old, but I felt like the blame was more on Bourne. I only reveled in his eventual demise because he got pretty sexist in the final showdown.

Romance: I’m going to just say it: I wasn’t rooting for Penelope and Bourne to be together. Most of their “love story” involved a lot of manipulative, controlling behavior on Bourne’s part, which would have been something to atone for and could have been a good story had Penelope not forgotten about it the instant Bourne showed some basic human decency. A lot of their fights consisted of Bourne being manipulative, Penelope realizing that everything he does is for selfish reasons, then forgetting it because she finds him attractive or because he does something nice. There was no acknowledgment or atonement for him hurting her or using her, and Penelope decides she loves Bourne because he raised himself above his scandal by building back his fortune. For some reason, she finds that admirable, but because we see Bourne ruining people in the same way he was ruined at the beginning of the book, I couldn’t see him in the way Penelope did.

Bourne’s redemption also felt pretty empty. Throughout the whole book, there’s this constant lamentation that he’s not good enough for Penelope, that he will only cause her ruin, but he wants her anyway. He’s also so obsessed with revenge that everything he does hurts Penelope, whether it be ignoring her happiness or going after Langford by way of Tommy. Instead of a slow, steady process where he comes to value love over revenge and where he makes up for all the hurt he caused her, he seems to turn on a dime with maybe 25% left of the book. Honestly, I found their whole romance exhausting after the first hundred pages, and I wished there was more of a gradual ennobling of Bourne’s character, rather than the self-indulgent pity party he seems to exhibit.

TL;DR: Even though A Rogue By Any Other Name has quick, witty prose and an interesting crux at the heart of the plot, the self-loathing, controlling hero and exhausting romance ultimately prevented me from enjoying this book.

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pumakaji64 · 4 years

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fuck im gonna watch the film theory on Ratatouille even though it’ll make me mad

part 1.

preface: It’ll probably look like im taking this way more seriously then I actually am ( I mean I love the movie so on some level yes I am ) but I tend to come across way more aggressive then I mean too in my writing oops. Like I don’t mind people having different takes on a piece of media, you can respect and authors intent while still having your own thoughts about a work even if they don’t line up because sometimes what a creator tries to convey and what they really do aren’t exactly the same. But if you’re gonna have such a wild take you better be able to back it up with some real good evidence. Overall tho I’m mostly just doing this cuz im bored lol ( also I haven’t seen the movie in awhile so my memory is a little foggy )

So going in I already know what the argument is gonna be “ good guy bad, bad guy good” whatever, so I’m just gonna comment on the argument and presentation itself as I watch the video

Ah I see we’re going with the good ol’ “ not technically lying but intentionally omitting and/or wording things in a manner that benefits my argument “ technique, I’ve used that before.

Nitpick: As someone on twitter brought up: Protagonist doesn’t mean “good guy” it’s the leading character that the story if focused on, so even if Remy is a bad guy he’s still the protagonist.

I get it’s probably a joke but Remy’s whole deal isn’t that he wants to be famous. He just genuinely loves cooking but can’t do with without fear of being murdered since he’s y’know a rat.

He doesn’t willingly leave his colony, he’s separated from them after he blew their cover by getting caught while cooking and for prioritizing taking the cookbook over escaping.

I’ll just say it now since i’m sure it’ll be brought up later, yeah Remy is kind of selfish, and thats actually a good thing. Him being a flawed character makes him more interesting and this also swiftly sets up his character arc early into the film.

“ If this sounds like an inspirational story about overcoming obstacles and achieving your destiny... you missed the point.” bruh the arc words of the film are literally “Anyone can cook”, it’s about overcoming prejudice to achieve your dreams in spite of everyone telling you not to because of the identity you are born with ( this is not just seen with Remy but also Colette, a female chef )

“Narcissist” As I said before yes Remy is selfish and at times this makes him unlikable but he genuinely cares about his family but he struggles to connect with them since they can’t understand why he’s so passionate about cooking.

Calling it now, the crux of this argument is going to be the scene where Remy gets mad about Linguini taking all the credit for Remy’s work during an interview. Which yeah I’ll agree that Remy was being unrealistic but Linguini had been ignoring Remy’s advice and had grown a bit of an ego which of course eventually leading to Remy having a heated gamer moment and doing abusing Linguini’s trust which the story punishes him for. It’s not a simple right or wrong situation but more of a two wrongs don’t make a right type.

“Jerk of a creature” Newsflash! Not all protagonists are nice, even the ones that aren’t villain protagonists!

First point: Remy is a thief and a hypocrite. I’ll admit I was agreeing that Remy is a hypocrite until he gets to the point of Remy letting his family steal from the kitchen. 1.) This was when him and Linguini were starting to have a falling out, he was angry at him and starting letting that affect his judgement. Was this wrong of him? Yes and he regrets his actions. 2.) Remy cares for his family even if they don’t always get along and his anger at Linguini makes it easier for them to pressure him into letting them steal.

“Remy never learns his lesson” maybe not explicitly but he does face punishment throughout the story. Stealing the book and food from the old lady costs his family their home and gets him separated from them. Allowing his family to steal from the kitchen leads to Linguini calling off their partnership. I don’t remember him stealing again after that.

Also is he implying that Remy is bad for stealing the will that proves that Linguini is the rightful heir to the Gustaeu that Skinner was trying to hide so he could keep profiting off of a dead mans work?

Remy is aware that what he’s doing is wrong, we are shown this through the figment of Gustaeu which represents his conscience reprimanding it but Remy continues to justify himself until it’s too late. He is a flawed character.

“In a realistic context.” Good thing this is a Disney kids film

Fraud!? You’re gonna grill Remy for fraud when Skinner is the one intentionally keeping Linguini from learning about his birth right?!?!?

“Poor Linguini. The sap that Remy controls like a puppet.” here we go again with the manipulative wording hooray

I see where he’s going with this one and it’s really funny to me that’s interpreting Gustaeu’s “Anyone can cook” line the same way Ego does for most of the film. Ego takes the opposite stance MatPat does by mocking the line because to the critic not everyone has what it takes to be a great chef. It’s by the end of the film he changes his perspective on the line to the idea that a great cook can come from anywhere even in the most unexpected of forms like Remy.

Gotta love the clip he added of pre-character development Remy being a jerk to Linguini before to two even met. It really ads to the manipulative wording he uses to make Remy look underhanded and shifty.

Is he really gonna gloss over Remy attempting and failing to teach Linguini how to cook? Remy is a fucking rat who can’t talk directly to Linguini attempting so teaching him would be really damn hard. Not only that but they are on a time crunch and don’t have the time necessary to teach Linguini how to cook like Remy can.

Also whose to say that by watching what Remy is making him do Linguini hasn’t picked up any cooking techniques by the end of the film.

It’s not like Remy freaking forced Linguini into being his man-puppet. Remy is a small animal who can’t talk to people so honestly Linguini has most of the power in their dynamic. Linguini can call of their partnership anytime he wants and even does so after Remy is caught letting his family steal.

“And whats it for? Just so Remy can cook! Just for his own benefit!” BRUH, DID HE NOT SEE THE PART WHERE SKINNER THREATENS LINGUINI’S JOB IF HE CAN’T RECREATE THE SOUP!??!? (Also skinner only wants to keep Linguini around if he can make money off of him )

God damn he really is taking advantage over the fact that most of his viewers either have never seen the film or only watched it when they were young to straight up ignore elements of the fucking plot lmao

“Who hasn’t forced un-consenting adults to kiss “ I can’t believe MatPat is trying to #cancel Remy for being #problematic, #remyisoverparty. The stretch is real my dudes.

LMAO HE LITERALLY MAKES A CANCELLE ON TWITTER JOKE BRUH FUCK OFF

Jesus I feel most of what I have to say will just be me restating what I already said. Ugh lemme just summarize it: Remy is a flawed and selfish rat who often prioritizes following his dreams over his responsibilities putting not just himself but his family at risk. But guess what? He faces consequences for that! His actions get him separated from his family and lost in a giant city, the only reason he doesn’t die is because he got lucky and found Linguini ( also because it’s a film and it ending at the start would be lame )

Also so is he arguing that Remy should just accept his lot in life and give up on his dreams because he can’t change the fact that he’s a rat ( which MatPat often reminds us by calling him unhygienic a lot so far ) as if that’s not the crux of his character dilemma.

I agree it’s wrong of him to put his family at risk but that only applies to the opening of the movie. How is he the only one in the wrong later in the film when both him and Linguini acknowledge to risk of their teamwork?

Here we go with the disease thing again. This is anti-rodent propaganda and I will not stand for it! >:(

Also bruh it’s a fucking kids movie.

??? how the fuck would Remy be aware of rats carrying diseases??? does he work for the fucking CDC????????

“Remy is bad because he kidnaps the pest inspector” Because it would get the restraunt shut down if word got out about the rats!!! And the only reason there are so many rats in the kitchen during this part is because the staff except for Colette all walked out!!!!!!!!! Which, guess what MatPat, wouldn’t just fuck over Remy but Linguini too!

“Oh sure they wash themselves but only after they walked into the kitchen!!!!” and I thought I was bad with nitpicking!

No need to bring up that The Jungle is a fictional story, nope! I guess it’s only fitting to use a fictional book as evidence for an argument covering the logistics of a fictional movie!!!!!!

Remy didn’t fucking “quit” his “job” as a rat poison sniffer, he still does it but he also cooks in secret. When he’s caught he’s separated from his colony ( which MatPat still hasn’t brought up ) so of fucking course he can’t keep sniffing for a clan when he is literally not there!!!!

Also if he’s talking about later in the film when Remy refuses to rejoin the colony when he reunites with Emile then we get the moral dilemma of Remy rejoining his family while fucking over Linguini who can’t cook because Remy is a small rodent and can’t adequately teach him do to a language barrier.

lmao this dramatic emotional music he’s playing bruh

He really is taking the kiss thing that seriously

“I’m not saying Remy shouldn’t follow his dreams” Thats literally what you are saying

“Chef Skinner does nothing wrong” Okay you law-loving bootlicker lol

I’m not ready for the second half of this so im gonna take a break and make a part 2 later

#Ratatouille #long post #vent #GT critcal #g/a//me th//e/o//y

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5-falsehoods-phonated · 4 years

Text

@heavy-metal-papillon I'm really sorry this request took so long, but I really hope you like it!

Let Me Through

Summary: A requested songfic, featuring Thomas and Janus singing Let Me Through by Cg5 with Janus trying to get closer and Thomas backing away, almost like a dance.

Ships: none, platonic (?) Janus and Patton

Warnings: rejection, if there are any others please let me know

WC: 1, 614

The final notes of You're A Cad faded out as Janus leaned back with a sigh the did little to fill the silence now ringing his ears. Of all the nonsensical things that could possibly be done with time Thomas had requested they each put playlists together that tbey felt best matched them to give to not only him but the fans that watched their videos as well. A novel idea that has Janus wondering idly just how on the nose he could get away with being with his choices without raising concern or suspicion from the others. Music had a way of swaying people, literally and figuratively, and he wanted things to of course sway in his favor...but how to do so subtly was where he was having difficulties.

It would so much easier if any of them, Thomas included, had a speck of communication skills under all of their dramatics and fanfare. Granted he was just as much one to play up certain things for the sake of a show as any of the other sides; Remus and Virgil has teased him recently when he conjured a fainting couch to catch him as he swooned many years ago, but theatrics had a time and a place. With Thomas' near constant stream of dilemmas that could be solved with little more than forethought and a healthy conversation it was clear they were all well past lighthearted dramatics.

Sighing heavily, Janus gathered up his list and rose up carefully, blinking into reality in front of the couch. Thomas bobbed his head along to whatever he was listening to through his headphones with his face scrunched in concentration. He watched as he glanced up and caught sight of him, a hint of fear flashing in his eyes before it was quickly covered with a half hearted smile. Rolling his eyes Janus tossed the list onto the table and turned away.

"Deciet wait!"

Janus cringed as his function was called out even though he knew it was his own fault for not just telling them all his name. Unfortunately, until Thomas began to see him as he actually was there wouldnt be any point in it. "Yes?" He hissed out instead.

"I want you to stay. It'll be easier to finalize everything if you're here."

The truthful statement warmed his chest, though it was quickly cooled as he realized Thomas wanted him there out of necessity rather than by any choice. It was a step he supposed, even if it was for a project and not an actual matter of importance.

"Besides I've had a song stuck in my head and I wondered if you wanted to listen to it with me while I work?"

The urge to turn away, to fully allow himself to be consumed in cowardly wallowing was a strong thing to resist, but the too wide smile he recieved as the edge of the couch dipped with his weight made it almost worth it. Sitting at the far end, on the very edge of the cushion as straight backed as he was was hardly a comfortable position but it was one he felt matched the building tension in the air nicely. Glancing towards the stairs he was mildly surprised Virgil hadnt appeared yet with his glares and disdainful quips to drive him away from Thomas. His chest constricted painfully as he glanced over at his manifestor, steadily typing in lyrics to google and trying to match them with the song marching through his head. He knew he shouldn't have let Remus help choose songs.

Clearing his throat to gain attention he muttered out "Let me through."

"What?" Thomas half turned to him, startled at whatever he figured Janus has meant.

"Let Me Through. Cg5. I believe that's the song that's been steadily driving us both insane."

Eyes lighting in realization Thomas was quick to type it in, removing his headphones from the jack so they could both enjoy the music. "I wouldn't say that. I havent listened to this in a while; it'll be nice to play it again."

The opening cords were quick and before Janus could quite register what he was doing the words were pulled from his mouth as smooth as silk from a clothesline, ensnaring him in a way that let him know he was in too deep now, no use turning back if this could prove to be advantageous in any way.

"I want you to know,

The ebb and flow of my own show.

From head to toe,

You will be scared,

And not prepared,

For what I have in store for you."

Thomas glanced over in confusion as Janus stood up, his eyes still trained to the floor. He almost cringed as he was given full attention, as this was quite possibly the most overdramatic thing he had ever done but all of them processed that certain flare, why not indulge?

"I'm waiting for,

My curtain call.

Before I storm right through the hall.

Knock knock, who's there?

Are you prepared,

To finally meet your doom?"

He delivered the last line with a chuckle and a low bow, holding out a semi confident hand for Thomas to take. Pulling him in Janus quickly hid his burning face in his shoulder, leading them to awkwardly sway as he swallowed around a lump forming in his throat.

"Why do you close the door? Come to me with open arms." He squeezed his eyes shut and gripped Thomas' hand slightly tighter, taking a steadying breath as he did so. "There's so much we need to explore.

I mean no harm."

The music swelled with Janus' growing desperation. As frustrating as this and every other situation was he loved Thomas with everything he had. The urge to hold and protect and shield had been there since day one, driving him to twist words and hide feelings and shun away in the darkness to protect him the only way he knew how. And he didnt understand. Nearly refused to, all in the name of proper moral standing.

Their walzing steps while Janus bit out the next lines more harshly than he meant to.

"I sing my song all night long just for you.

Please oh please, I'm on my knees, let me through." He swung Thomas out and away, finally making eye contact to search desperately for even a hint of understanding.

"I sing my song all night long just for you.

Please oh please, I'm on my knees, let me through."

His heart sank as the other worked his fingers out of his gloved ones, taking a step back as he held his hands to his chest protectively. Biting his lip he held Janus' gaze as he began to sing back albeit somewhat hesitantly.

"I, I understand,

You want to play,

But this is what I have to say.

Your presence here,

Fills me with fear.

That's the extent of my career."

Each line was delivered with more conviction as Thomas straightened himself out, staring down at Deciet with an unreadable expression.

"I don't know why,

You even try,

To sing me your dumb lullaby.

No I can't flee, calamity.

Is everywhere I turn."

Janus flinched as the words were hurled at him and though he knew this was a song, and knew these words were coming, it still hurt almost as much as if they were originally spoken from Thomas himself. From the look on his face Jnaus knew he meant every word and his chest tightened even as he forced himself to reach out again, nearly whispering the next line.

"Why do you close the door?

Come to me with open arms.

There's so much we need to explore.

I mean no harm."

He watched as Thomas shook his head, stepping back and away from his self preservation. Realizing that with this move it was abundantly clear that, at least metaphorically, his manifestor would rather take a blind step backwards than towards something he already knew. His felt as if his chest couldn't possibly tighten any further until it felt like it finally snapped, ribs breaking toward in a breath he nearly couldn't catch as a wind of fury filled his lungs and rose to light his eyes. It only worsened as Thomas took yet another step backwards as Janus gripped his chest with one fist, the other swinging back behind him in pure frustration.

"I sang my song all these years just for you!

Please oh please, I'm on my knees, let me through! And I'll sing my song all night long just for you! Please oh please, I'm on my knees, let me through." He delivered his last line brokenly as Thomas turned away, effectively dismissing him even as the music continued. His eyes shone while his hands fell limp to his sides, staring in defeat at the back of the only one he cared to be acknowledged by. The beats wrung out as he sunk down, echoing words following him as he summoned his staff as he stalked down the hallway, pausing only a moment to glare at a pale blue door, shut tight to the events playing outside of it, ignorant in its moralistic bliss.

'I will not let you through my door.

I will not let you settle the score.'

Janus snorted at the irony as he continued on, starting in surprise hearing a soft question directed at him.

"Should this one be added to the list?" Thomas inquired from outside.

'The power, the power, the power.

Oh no.'

"Don't bother." He hissed out, his door slamming behind him with a finality that shook Thomas to his core.

This work and others are also available on AO3!

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #character thomas #sanders sides fic #ao3 #false writes #deciet sanders #janus sanders #cg5 #let me through

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damagedsmile · 4 years

Text

Info regarding how J operates his criminal activities within his gang; I take much influence here from both the Arkham City game & the fundamentals of real-life organised crime while hoping I give no disrespect to that sort of business & the individuals whom work within it.

Background: J operates his business mainly out of his home, the Steel Mill (formerly owned by Roman Sionis). This is where his Boys congregate before work, generally hang out, & it is mainly dedicated to work with a small part of it actually kept private & made in to a home of sorts for J. J also works with devising chemical weapons of chaos / torturing foes within the basement. The other place he uses as a board room of sorts is his private booth within the luxury lap-dancing club he owns, called the Smile & Grin. His actual business dealings - when he’s not causing chaos - involve protection rackets around his turf, drug selling/smuggling, &; bomb or arms selling/smuggling. On occasion he dabbles within the Black market through established connections.

J looks for four things in his potential employees as follows:

1. A history of mental illness, preferably with violent leanings

2. A criminal record, petty crime is okay but 1st/2nd degree major crimes are desirable

3. Possible skills &/or connections pertaining to the world of organised crime, or previous knowledge of working in organised crime

4. A penis

The mental illness is a necessity as J is more than aware that only the ‘craziest’ thugs would have the guts to do as he bids & obey him but aside from that there are more personal reasons, such as believing he is helping those he employs as it is highly unlikely they will be considered employable by others.

A criminal record is pretty self-explanatory; he doesn’t want to hire on somebody green who turns out to be a pacifist or who has a moral compass pointing due north.

The third criteria is simply a matter of value. Do you have any particular skills to bring to the table or are you just a thug who knows how to shoot? Is your cousin a notable Falcone or perhaps a drug-dealer who sells good shit? Have you done anything like this before & if so, how experienced are you?

And the final criteria may sound overly anti-feminist but in truth, that has nothing to do with it. J is an equalist – meaning he believes everyone regardless of gender (or non-gender), sexuality, etc etc deserve to all be treated exactly the same – but professionally, his opinions are obviously left at the door, for good reason.

J is a business-man at the end of the day & he means to run a tight ship. As such he looks to employ only the most eligible people he comes across & he will frequent himself with these people’s records: he is fully aware there are those among his crew who have a history of sexual assault or rape exclusively towards women. Would it really be wise then to employ a woman?

Second to this fact is that as a man, J is obviously aware how distracting women can be. He himself does not mix business with pleasure, as he sees it as an inflammatory accident waiting to happen: no one wants to get shot because they were busy oogling the woman at their side. Hence why J rarely has Harley around when he is planning offences or speaking with his crew.

Not saying J would never employ a woman to work for him – he has no problem outsourcing female “help” for some jobs – but it would take some thought.

Also, it is an unspoken rule within the ranks that a mask should be worn, even when just hanging around the Steel Mill, but particularly when outside; this mask is chosen by the wearer & often designed with paint etc etc, perhaps chosen specifically as a reflection of their personality. Main reason for wearing a mask is that when operating around Gotham, anonymity is the best policy & a mask helps with intimidation. Of course if a crew member did not care for remaining unknown, a mask does not have to be worn at all.

Let us be frank here because you all know me to carry an amount of realism in my threads: working in organised crime is not a game. It’s a job at the end of the day & a very dangerous one at which I do not condone. Working in a gang is not simply a matter of ‘I like to kill people so I should be with you guys’. You get in based on your trustworthiness, capability, & achievements. It’s not all glamour & respect unless you happen to be a ‘made man’ like J, in which case you’re the boss and you reap all the rewards.

Depending how far along you are in the gang hierarchy, you will be expected to kill & torture people from all walks of life. One day it may be another underling from a rival gang, it could be a pimp who has useful information, it could be one of your best friends who’s become a snitch, or it could even be an innocent citizen who is simply mixed up with the wrong crowd. Working with J guarantees these things and it also guarantees you will also be dipping your feet in to the world of terrorism. You can expect the rest of your duties will be similar to police work in that you will be chasing down leads or suspicious persons, defending your territory & those within it (who pay you for protection), hiding/recovering evidence, & you will be reporting to someone above your station who will put you in your place if you get out of line – namely J.

You will not receive thanks. You may receive bonuses but never thanks. You will not be coddled. You will not be waited on. You have to be tough & you must represent J well. You’re expected to live up to a certain standard & there are rules to follow. Remember you are working for the Joker: one false move, you’re dead. Even if J just has a bad day & you happen to smile at him, you’re dead. Let us not forget either you are risking your life & the lives of those you love. You are risking imprisonment.

Why am I mentioning these things? You can guarantee that if your character were to thread with mine in a crew scenario (a popular idea), you would be faced with some potentially harsh stuff along the lines of what I’ve just written – they are examples of what you can expect within a crew thread or what you can expect to be mentioned in passing paragraphs. I don’t want anybody thinking J or I are being jerks for no reason or anything: there are reasons, which have been outlined. Of course these examples may never be completely explored in a thread (or even multiples of threads) yet you can guarantee at least one aspect will come along for plot purposes & if your character is the type who would balk at such details or possibly suffer with a moral dilemma, it’s better we don’t waste time then with this sort of plot. If you seek to forge a relationship through this sort of plot, please don’t. It has only ever worked out that way once & it was not planned by me nor the other mun involved.

Do not expect J to care if your character can shoot fireballs out their ass while singing the national anthem (I would be impressed with this but I am not my character). Do not expect him to run up to your character & demand they join his crew without first assessing the situation. Do not expect him to fall in love with yours just because they love to kill. Do not expect him to tolerate your character disrespecting him specifically in a boss-employee situation. Do not expect your character to automatically be made J’s right-hand man (like Jonny Frost).

#hc #these sorta plots happened in the past & never went well #bare the once but it was unplanned #too many peeps seem to think their muse is entitled to a place beside J while at the same time thinking they can work for him #& disrespect him constantly #i mean do you walk into work & treat your boss like shit & actually believe this is ok?#hey boss hey employee today i need you to do x y z #fuck you boss i wont do what you tell me #ok youre fired then bye

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justaramblingromantic · 5 years

Note

“This blanket is freaking thin!” ft EiRin 😙

50 Random Writing Prompts

Characters/Pairing: Kobayashi Rindou and Tsukasa Eishi/EiRin

Type: Fantasy/Medieval!AU, Worthy of a Namet!verse, Freestyle

Word Count: 2841

A/N: Oh man, I think I drank a bit too much nonsense juice when I wrote this, wahaha! Hope you like, friendo~! Thanks for the ask!! <33

XxXxXxXxXx

He did not have to open his eyes to sense that she was up to mischief, again.

To be more precise, she was trying to sneak up on him, again.

Eishi sighed inwardly. He did not move, lying on the bed with his back still turned to the source of disturbance, the latter trying her best to be as stealthy as possible.

“…Rindou.”

The surreptitious movements paused.

“Yes?” she sounded so innocent, as if she wasn’t doing anything shady at all.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in!” she chirped in reply. Since she had already been found out, the redhead abandoned all pretense at subtlety and dove straight at her master.

Eishi rolled over and jackknifed before she could pin him with her pounce. He still ended up with an armful of warm, soft, sweet smelling woman…who was also very happy to nuzzle into the side of his neck and brush herself up against him like an overly affectionate vixen.

At least this time she was clothed, he thought. He still could not help but flush all the same.

“…Rindou,” he chided as sternly as he could. “We’ve already discussed this. You’re being improper.”

This partner of his had always been unruly and mischievous for as long as he knew her. And ever since she took on a living form, his life had only grown even more complicated.

And exciting…in a completely outrageous way.

“Go back to your own bed, please,” he uttered in a strangled tone when she slithered under his covers and cozied up to him even more. She was very distracting. His pulse quickened.

“But it’s warmer here with you,” she protested as he tried to peel her off. “This blanket is freaking thin, so we should share our body heat~”

That sounded like a logical conclusion to make…only he was starting to suspect that she was only using it as an excuse. That suspicion was further compounded by her happily running her hands down his torso, the brush of her lips along the side of his throat, the flick of her tongue darting against his skin where his pulse beat strongly-

“I’m cold,” she purred, wiggling ever closer. “Warm me.”

The thing was, she wasn’t trying to seduce him. Unfortunately, he was seduced all the same. There was something she craved from him, and she was never ashamed or shy to beg it boldly from him. Her tongue tickled his skin. Her warm breath flustered him.

“I need your heat,” she demanded silkily against his neck. “Please, Master, may I~?”

He swallowed. This was the contract that he shared with her, that bound her to him and vice versa.

“Yes,” he mumbled in consent, his arms instinctively coming up around her, even as she smiled and parted her lips, sinking pearly white fangs into his flesh.

That sharp prickle of pain was the familiar prelude to the near blinding flood of pleasure that filled his mind shortly after. He gasped and bit his lip, keeping perfectly still as she settled happily unto him and hungrily lapped at the mark, coaxing more of those crimson, rich drops of blood welling to the surface. Her pleasure, almost hedonistic and pagan-like in its sheer, unfiltered, delight, washed over him as well, effectively doubling his own enjoyment of the act.

Lavender pupils silently dilated. Eishi bit down harder on his lower lip, swallowing the groan that threatened to rise from his throat. His ears buzzed. He turned his face towards her crimson hair, losing himself in the heady perfume of her scent. His fingers dug subtly into her waist, holding her tighter, pulling her closer…

She was much less restrained in expressing her euphoria. His blood sang inside of her, and she reveled in the throb and swell of its sweet, rapturous power. She squirmed on her master’s lap, moaning as his taste became all that she knew, his warmth spreading in her like wildfire. It had always been like that; his light chasing away the constant, cursed cold that lurked in her, and she was hopelessly addicted to this exhilarating feeling of life.

A few minutes later, she forcibly reined in her voracious appetite, careful not to take more than he could give. It was so tempting, though. She brushed her lips eagerly against his neck, lavishing happy, affectionate kisses now that he wasn’t being a starchy prude and trying to peel her off, red as a tomato the whole time. Well, he was still red as a tomato, but-

She pulled back slightly, a little punch-drunk giggle escaping her as she cupped his flushed face and peppered even more playful kisses on his chin and jaw and mouth. He could taste the copper of his own blood on her lips, and shuddered at the sharp spike of arousal that elicited in him.

“Rindou,” he groaned, breathless. She had that effect on him. “Stop. Stop.”

His hands came up to her shoulders, slowly but firmly easing her off of him. She growled softly at being denied, and curled her own limbs around him stubbornly like a little monkey. Much to his consternation.

His voice, still husky and lust-addled, was now injected with a thread of familiar exasperation. “What are you doing.”

“Not doin’ anythin’,” she uttered. “M’not lettin’ go for nothin’ either.”

Her petulance was not unfamiliar to him. She was already like that, even back when he only knew her in her sword form. This was also partially his fault, for indulging her as he always did.

Which left him with a dilemma.

“…How do you propose we retire to bed like this?” he asked in consternation over her head.

Rindou brightened and pulled back slightly to look at him again, glad that he had asked. Before she could open her mouth to share her opinion, he also had a sudden epiphany and quickly added. “Separate beds, please.”

The redhead frowned at him.

“You used to keep me close with you all the time,” she accused crossly. Even during bedtime, he laid her beside him every single night. Granted, it was customary for most knights to keep their weapons close by in the event of a sudden attack or a night raid, but he guarded her too, to keep her out of the hands of those who desired to harm her or take her.

As such, Rindou really did not understand what was so different now and was increasingly aggravated by his constant rejection. She didn’t like being pushed away by him. It made her feel cold and discontent and violently unhappy.

“…Yes. That’s because you were a sword,” he pointed out warily. Not a siren-like, alluring, impossibly beautiful young woman who seemed to possess no inhibition whatsoever and was also completely oblivious to the difficult position that she was putting him in…quite literally.

Her limbs tightened around him in her annoyance. “I’m still a sword! Just in a different shape now!”

Eishi had to remind himself to close his eyes as her fair bosom swelled with indignation…inches from his face.

She didn’t have to speak the obvious; he was acutely aware of her shape. Especially when it was pressed against him like now, barely concealed in a paper thin, chemise shift. He was not a stranger to her magnificent curves, which was why he was so desperately trying to put some much needed distance between the both of them before he ended up inadvertently doing something gravely improper to her.

Furthermore, this was exploiting the innocent, wasn’t it? Through a series of stressful, dire events, he had bound her to him and now he was also harboring some distinctly ungallant thoughts towards her. Never mind the sacred knightly vows he took of valor, chivalry and protecting those who could not protect themselves, he already felt like a cad as it was.

Rindou could hardly care less about his moral dilemma.

“Am I still yours or not?” she demanded to know, wanting to hear the confirmation that he wasn’t planning to toss her aside and depart like all the others who had come and gone before him. Not that she would let him, but still-

“Say it. Say that I’m yours.”

He opened his eyes, that distant lavender hue sharpening on her face. He just stared at her for the longest time, as if finally finding an answer to a very difficult problem.

“Yes,” he replied at last, so quietly it was almost a sigh. “You’re mine.”

She beamed at his admission, spoken so slowly and carefully, as if he was tasting the words on his tongue, testing and accepting the full weight of his claim for the very first time.

“Good! Your sword wants to lie with you.”

He had the strangest look on his face at her expectant request. That sounded wrong.

“…You mean ‘sleep,’” he corrected.

She sent him an odd look of her own. “Of course I meant ‘sleep!’ What else is there to do?”

While Eishi was muttering to himself (perhaps he was praying for patience and deliverance), Rindou finally clambered off him and dove under the sheets, settling in for bed, now finally content after having her way. He took longer to follow suit, gingerly lying back down and feeling very jumpy.

She clicked her tongue at his hesitation. “Why are you so scared? I’m not gonna eat ya!”

“You already ‘ate’ me,” he muttered, finally easing in beside her. He was still rather stiff and ill at ease. She snickered and petted him.

“And you’re absolutely delicious~” the redhead sang, turning her head to grin at him. His ears were starting to turn red again. “Fine. I won’t eat you anymore tonight. Promise.”

She did, however, wiggle closer to him and throw her leg over his. She also snuggled into his side so comfortably, like she had always belonged.

“Can you just lie still and not move. Please.” He sounded faintly distressed. The more she rubbed up against him inadvertently, the more his body reacted to her unintentional stimulation. Eishi was very close to cursing the base urges of his disobedient self. Funny; how it always went haywire whenever she was around – he usually had much better control than this.

“I’m trying to get comfortable,” she huffed back at him. She was frowning a little too, as she squirmed. “There’s something hard poking me down there-”

She gasped loudly, as if all the dots had finally connected in her mind and she abruptly realized what that ‘something’ was. She lifted her head so quickly she nailed him right in the chin before he could react and explain himself. That collision hurt her, but since she was of the rather hardheaded sort, Eishi came out worse from the encounter. The poor man saw stars. He clapped one hand over his aching jaw, groaning.

Rindou was too outraged to sympathize with her master’s pain. No wonder he had been pushing her away all this time! She had finally discovered the real reason! She knew why now!

The flames of righteous fury engulfed her. She scowled.

“You! You’ve been hiding another sword on your person all this time!” she accused, sounding thoroughly indignant. “How can you do that to me – we agreed that I’m your only!”

The redhead was very determined to get rid of the usurper. Her hand dove beneath the sheets and fumbled clumsily with the hem of his nightshirt before finally, blindly, finding the offending item that he had cleverly concealed there, nestled right between his legs. Her fingers wrapped firmly around the hilt and she tugged with all her might, like a farmer doing her best to dislodge a long, fat daikon out of the stubborn earth.

Eishi blanched.

“Rindou.” His strangled squeak were an entire three octaves higher than usual. It was a miracle he could still speak when the woman was still going at it with all the vigor of one attempting to extract the Excalibur from the sacred stone.

He hastily grabbed her wrist to stop her, lest she actually succeeded in her endeavor and uproot his entire bloodline right there and then. He gritted his teeth, ears ringing from the brief but excruciating experience. Maybe that was the sound of his yet unborn descendants screaming for mercy, ten generations down the Tsukasa family tree. His eyes met hers grimly, as she stared back at him with wide, surprised eyes.

“That’s. NOT. A. Sword.”

XxXxXxXxXx

Omake

He hadn’t been very happy with her that morning, for rather obvious reasons, even though she had shown an appropriate amount of contriteness for the misunderstanding last night. Rindou was sincerely sorry, though that had not stopped her from biting back snickers whenever he stood up and hobbled around gingerly due to the soreness between his legs, no thanks to her. He had glowered wearily at her muffled mirth, but otherwise had largely ignored her.

It was a good thing that they weren’t scheduled for patrol duty that day; surely Eishi would have been even grumpier than he already was. Instead, they were sequestered in his office where he was somehow buried in paperwork. Again. Rindou was meek and obedient as could be up until mid-noon, and then she got tired of being boring.

“How long are you going to be mad at me?” she asked him point blank. In her mind, she had already prepared a list to argue her innocence “In my defense, I didn’t know; I’ve never seen a naked body before except my own! And I don’t have that strange little stump you have; nobody ever told me that men have little extra bits of meat hanging between their legs!”

Eishi twitched at her passionate entreaty, and he seemed especially triggered every time the word ‘little’ was mentioned in reference to his…bits.

“You called it a sword last night,” he muttered, offended by her change in opinion. She squinted at him, not understanding his pique.

“What’s it for, anyway?” she asked, immensely curious. It was a curiosity that he was quickly beginning to recognize could be extremely destructive whenever left unchecked. He hadn’t exactly been in the mood to answer her questions last night, too busy curled up in a fetal position in bed. That was after they had made that really awkward trip to the healer’s quarters and the latter had laughed until he was rolling on the floor after he heard what happened.

“That healer said that all men have one. Really? Do they all look the same?? Can I see yours?”

Eishi turned a dark red at her barrage of questions. He stopped what he was doing and stared at her like she was crazy.

“…No. You can’t see mine.” He paused as another worrying thought occurred to him. He frowned. “Also, you’re explicitly forbidden from looking at other people’s swords, am I clear?”

“Huh?” Rindou was confused and getting a bit annoyed herself by his unreasonable restrictions. He wouldn’t show her his and he wouldn’t let her peek at others’ too, how unfair. “Then how am I ever gonna know what it looks like?”

“You don’t need to know what it looks like,” he retorted with an unusual amount of forcefulness, getting more and more flustered by the second. Why were they even discussing this? He was silently dying of mortification and the woman before him had absolutely no idea, as usual. “We won’t speak of this topic any further, so forget all of it.”

But Rindou did not understand what the whole fuss was about. A weapon that only men had and nobody was supposed to talk about…? This sure was one big mystery, and all over something that didn’t seem very useful to her. Perhaps it was like a holy artifact? Something symbolic and only decorative in purpose? Then why hide it away? Shouldn’t he be parading it around everywhere?

She was also quite sure she had overheard the healer mention something about ‘family jewels,’ though Eishi had spluttered and waved him off before more could be said. …A jeweled sword? Definitely decorative, then, she concluded decisively. Her desire to see it grew.

Unfortunately, he was weirdly agitated so maybe she should try her luck again another time. With reluctance, the redhead dropped the topic. At least he wasn’t ignoring her anymore.

“Tsukasa?”

“…Yes?” He was almost dreading to hear what outrageous things she was about to say next. Rindou widened her eyes and projected all the sincerity she could muster.

“M’very sorry I broke your secret holy sword.”

…

…secret…holy-

The white-haired knight emitted a…croak that was almost part bewildered incredulity, part laugh of despair. It was either that or cry. He gave up. He started to massage his temple.

“…It’s not broken.”

She perked up at the good news. It’s not broken! “Then, can I see-”

He groaned, loudly. She was going to be trying her hardest to get into his breeches for the next few days, wasn’t she? Just the very thought of it made him break out in cold sweat.

“…No. Just no.”

XxXxXxXxXx

#Shokugeki no Soma #Food Wars: Shokugeki no Souma #EiRin #Tsukasa Eishi #Kobayashi Rindou #otakinu #EiRin: Worthy of a Name AU #my fics #freestyle #[ still got a couple more asks to get to - promise I will get to them too 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 ]

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dr-awo · 5 years

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Scarlet Thread and Colorless Skein || Satoshi || Trial 1.3 || RE: moral dilemma || ATTN: nao

He’s been satisfied to let others lead in this particular dance. After all, he was quite confident that the individual he held his suspicions towards was the culprit -- and, as a wise detective once said: it’s easier to know it than to explain why he knows it.

So he sits back, lets things take their course, and hopes that the others reach the logical conclusion without him having to add his input. Just as things seem to be wrapping up, however, it seems like he’s remembered that he likes to talk.

“Aw, Nagai-san, I’m sorry about this -- or maybe I should be apologizing to Fujita-san? In any case, I think I’m gonna have to agree with Kizaki-kun and Shikabane-san! I mean...”

And here he gives a rather pointed, but not totally unfriendly glance towards Nao.

“If Fujita-san really had any intent to help us get out of here, wouldn’t she have coordinated such a thing with the rest of the class in the first place? And Sensei clearly wasn’t a willing participant in any of this either, I mean, teachers are supposed to help their students, but I’d say this type of thing is a little out of his jurisdiction. Nope, I don’t think Fujita-san was really acting in our best interest -- or if she was, then she wasn’t quite sure how to go about it the right way... ... but I’m getting ahead of myself again.”

He claps his hands together and gives Ua and Megumi an apologetic smile.

"Don’t get me wrong, though, it’s something to consider, buuut... well, I’m law enforcement, too, so maybe that’s why I’m so adamant about the whole ‘the innocent should never take responsibility for the actions of the guilty!’ stance.”

He then turns towards Nao.

“And you -- now that I’ve said all that, don’t even think about trying to make an appeal along the lines of ‘Oh, I promise once I’m out I’ll go call for help!’ I don’t want to make any assumptions about your character, buuuut... well, you can see where I’d have difficulty trusting you considering you acted as one with full intent to get away with this.”

And with that, he casts his vote.

#ch1 #satoshi #submission

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drink-n-watch · 5 years

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Welcome back one and all. Have you been looking forward to this week’s Demon Slayer? We were right in the middle of a deadly fight after all. Sort of an awkward place to leave things. I know I wanted to see the conclusion. How about you Crow?

Absolutely (I say in bold print)! And — I don’t think is a spoiler or anything — we even get a brief replay of the final moments of the battle. In case we forgot. True to form!

Where are my manners… As always, I will be having the pleasure of discussing this episode with my friend Crow of Crow’s World of Anime and of course all of you! Not that there’s all that much to spoil, but we’re going to go into the episode in some detail, so if you haven’t seen it yet and don’t want to be spoiled, I suggest you tab out for half an hour or so and go watch it, Crow and I will wait. Also, I’m in plain text this week!

Are you proud of me Crow? I finally learned how to put all the proper disclaimers at the beginning of posts!

You can’t hear, but I’m clapping in appreciation. I knew you could do it!

I can hear it in my heart

Episode 9 wasted no time, we were brought straight back to Tanjiro and Yahaba

desperately trying to murder each other. I thought Yahaba was an interesting character, or at least potentially interesting. You know — interesting design, interesting power the creepy calm cryptic type. Triple C! But well, it turns out he was already done for! Were you hoping to see more of him, Crow?

Perceptive question! Yes, I was. There were hints of character richness there, to the point where I expected him to not be dead. It was only when his skull began to actually disintegrate that I figured yep, he’s dying.

awww man, that’s gonna leave a mark

I’m not sure exactly how it works but I’m assuming the water that Tanjiro summons is considered an extension of his blade since it could kill a demon. Did we get an explanation?

Not that I saw, but I agree with your theory. His sword’s water effects must be an extension of the blade, at least insofar as it affects demons. Back in episode 7, we saw his water powers rip the two under water (well, under swamp) demons apart, and they stayed dead. So I guess it’s the same thing?

I thought it was because they were shades maybe?

Despite get summarily dispatched, Yahaba actually managed to put up quite a fight for the few seconds he was still standing (well, less standing and more lying about evaporating…). I quite liked the aftermath. Like isn’t the right word. Seeing Tanjiro barely able to move from exhaustion and injury after his fight, just laying on the ground wheezing, went a long way to drive the impact of the confrontation home. I could almost feel it along with Tanjiro and what I felt was a great deal of relief with a sprinkle of pity and melancholy.

Wasn’t that great? So often, heroes walk away from a battle with a cut or a scrape. Tanjiro got pummeled, and he looked it. Were you impressed by how dedicated he was to getting to the other side of the compound where his sister and new friends were fighting? He took the sword in his teeth because his arms were too tired. Kinda reminded me of Violet Evergarden!

ok!

But of course, that was just half the story. Over on the other side of the grounds, the rest of them were trying to deal with Susamaru. I was a bit confused as to why Tanjiro was so panicked about this. Sure, Susamaru is very strong, but hadn’t they determined that she was weaker than Yahaba? And these were 3 demons she was dealing with. Then I remembered that Neuko was seriously injured, Tamayo seems to be a non-combatant, and my favourite Yushiro just grew back his head. Yeah…there may be some trouble there.

As happy as I was to see Nezuko alive and kicking(ha!) again, I have to say completely healing her off camera like that felt like a cop-out. Not only does it seem that she instantly recovered, but she can now kick those tamari without losing a foot, for… reasons. That’s a bit convenient wouldn’t you say, Crow?

If I had to point to one serious disappointment in this episode, it was that moment. You’re right! And as evidence, remember how Yushiro freaked out in the previous episode when Nezuko even looked like she was going to try to kick the ball? Sure, Tamayo said her serum gave Nezuko a power boost without human blood, but it seemed pretty dang convenient.

Though you’re also right about something else: Their soccer footwork!

just try to get one past me!

I liked that lightening of the mood by turning a battle for survival into soccer practice, it was a cute scene.

It was interesting seeing Susamaru gaining respect for Nezuko’s footwork!

Despite the fact that things seemed to be going quite well, Tamayo was worried. We learned two important facts. 1) Nezuko is gaining strength at a prodigious rate, especially considering she’s never eaten human flesh (allegedly) and 2) Susamaru was quite literally toying with them and Neuko wouldn’t stand a chance against her real strength. And so it was time for a grown-up to step in.

that hir is so perfect

Tamayo has been playing it coy. Standing back and acting very delicate. But she hasn’t survived all this time in defiance of Kibutsuji because she’s anything resembling weak. Her poise, power and words ripped through the unfortunate demon before she could realize what was happening. And those words struck a chord with me as well. Crow, do you think Tamayo was just trying to get under her opponent’s skin or was there some truth to that story of Kibutsuji living in fear? If so, it makes the character even more interesting!

There’s a lot to decompress from that moment, isn’t there? First, Tamayo has really impressed me. What a tragic character who chooses not to wallow in that tragedy but decides instead of fight in her own way to rid the world of a terrible evil. That’s noble stuff! Yes, I think she was trying to get under Susamaru’s skin (and doing an admirable job of it!), but I think there’s some truth to what she was saying. Remember in episode 8 where Kibutsuji was able to shrug off plain rudeness, but lost his temper completely when the poor drunk dude quested his unhealthy appearance? There was something driving that reaction, and I think it might have been an almost paranoid level of fear.

Good point…he did hate being called sick… hhmmm…

he’s afraid of responsibility!

Turns out the blood spell Tamayo was casting activated the Kibutsuji demon cells in Susamaru’s body and essentially destroyed her from within. Visually it was a visceral scene and possibly the most gruesome to date. It’s going to stick with me. And Tamayo calmly explaining that she had never been one of the 12 demon moons because she didn’t have a number on her eyeball, while pointing to sais stray eyeball on the floor, certainly didn’t make it any less gruesome!

[ A question: Was it merely Tamayo’s spell, or was there actually a curse from Kibutuji, where if a demon speaks his name, his cells within them rip them apart? Wasn’t Tamayo’s goal to goad her into speaking the name? I think that’s what I got from Tamayo’s description…]

I do know Kibutsuji’s curse gives him control over those who have his blood ad his cells eventually kill them. Didn’t they mention something about him keeping his identity secret and therefore making it impossible for other demons to give him away. That’s why the teeth grinding guy was so panicked a few episodes ago. I’m guessing that basically extends to speaking his name out loud. That’s how I’m taking it… I guess he is very paranoid!

Crow thought we should take his questions out but it’s good

Was that horrifying and pitiable all at the same time or what? The two demons had been deluded into thinking they were powerful and on the inside with the demon they revered, but nope.

In the end, Susamaru went like all the major demons have gone so far. Small, scared and pathetic. A lost child who ended up and a very wrong path. I understand why they are setting up this moral dilemma, trying to build up sympathy for the demons, but can’t we just have one of them that’s an actual bad guy? At this rate, I’m going to end up having a really difficult time cheering for the Demon Slayer Army.

Tanjiro’s parting words here were the final nail in the coffin (um sorry, poor choice of expression). There is no salvation to be had for demons. Their sins are too great, the burdens upon their souls cannot be lifted. A tragic realization that is sure to make Tanjiro even more eager to find a cure for Nezuko.

how?

I continue to like Tanjiro’s reactions. His push to understand puts him at odds with most of the other demon slayers we’ve met. At odds with the demons, too. He’s doing his own thing and he’s trying to maintain his core humanity at the same time. Tough balancing act.

You’d think that with those intense battles out of the way and all the useful exposition we got, the episode would be basically over. Nothing left but a quick, sweet wrap up to tie everything together in a nice little bow and send the audience away with a smile on their faces, ready for episode 11. In a way, it did exactly that! But it also did much more.

It was my favourite part of the episode.

Oh! Oh! I’m looking forward to this, because it was my favorite part, too! Go on!

all the cuteness

My two favourite characters are Yoshiro (because I love comedy relief and a proper foil character) and Nezuko (because I’m predictable). They both played important roles in this part. Yoshiro’s various intensely exasperated faces at getting patted on the head by Neuko, or at the horror of potentially taking Nezuko with them, were so much fun to watch. By contrast, the mundanely painful sight of seeing him wasting away from disease brought all the death we’ve been seeing back down to a terrifyingly relatable level.

What Irina didn’t tell you is that Tanjiro joined the other three in the basement after he’d finished with his vigil to watch Susamaru finally turn to ash. As soon as he entered, Nezujo ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. A perfect “awwwww!” moment. Then, she ran back down the hall and did the same thing to Tamayo! Even better, she patted Yushiro on the head! There was almost too much adorable in the room at that point!

awwwww indeed

For her part, Nezuko seems to almost be taking advantage of the suggestion she’s under. Relishing in seeing her family again. Overflowing with love for everyone in the room. Of course, the interesting part is that Tamayo and Yoshiro are not in fact human at all. But she’s decided to see them as such and therefore as part of the family. Which begs the question, how much is imposed suggestion, how much is willful self-delusion?

I really liked that Tanjiro finally addressed the question directly and acknowledged that he was uncomfortable with the situation as well, but that he’s accepted it because it seems that Nezuko has retained her free will. Thank You! That makes me feel so much better for some reason. Now we can all move on!

That free will bit? That was everything. It seemed to me that Nezuko is capapulting her mind off delusion into a greater truth: that Tamayo and Yushiro, by virtue of their choices, are in fact part of her family. It makes them human in the sense of members of the human community. I love that message!

when the lies are so sweet….

Tamayo and Yoshiro will be leaving town out of precaution, and Tamayo invites Neuko to join them, as they will know how to take care of her. Yoshiro is the one to watch in this scene. Despite acknowledging the wisdom of the offer, the siblings decide to stick together and Neuko runs out the door. Just as Tanjiro s about to run after her, Yoshiro calls him back and staying with his back to Tanjiro the entire time, admits that his little sister is a real beauty.

How adorable was that moment?

Very, very adorable! And did you see who drove the decision for them to stay together? Tanjiro wavered. He wants her to be safe as desperately as he wants her to stay beside him! But Nezuko took his hand and gave him a look that spoke volumes. It’s as articulate as I’ve seen her be so far!

that face!

If I remember correctly, Zenitsu was your favourite right Crow? Want to tell us about the closing scene?

Cool — thanks! Zenitsu is among my favorite characters in this series — and the list is growing! But, poor Zenitsu! Tanjiro’s on his way to his next assignment — his Crow being a real pest like only we Crows can be — when both of them stop because they hear this tearful voice. It’s Zenitsu! He’s begging this bewildered and disgusted girl to marry him because he could die at any time!

Zenitsu needs to work on his communication skills…

Where was his birdy?

Few away in embarrassment?

good guess

And another great episode down. Demon slayer has been consistently entertaining and does not seem to be losing momentum at all. I wish Tamayo and Yushiro could have stuck around a bit longer but I bet we’ll see them again. Any closing thoughts?

Isn’t Tanjiro supposed to gather tissue samples for Tamayo? Shouldn’t he have her forwarded address or something? Other than that, I’m still thinking of Tamayo’s tears as Nezuko hugged her!

Previous episode reviews

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 01: Cruelty

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 02: Crow will protect me

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 03: Sabito and Makomo

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 04: Final Selection

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 05: My Own Steel

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 06: A Friend fo All Humans

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 07: Muzan Kibutsuji

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 08: The Smell of Enchanting Blood

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 09: It’s a Whole New Ballgame

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Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Episode 10 – A Friendly Game of Kickball Welcome back one and all. Have you been looking forward to this week’s Demon Slayer? We were right in the middle of a deadly fight after all.

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Gita is Krishnas Gift to Humanity

“Bhagavad Gita, also called the ‘holy song of the Lord’, is a gift given to the human society from Lord Sri Krishna to direct them towards seeking the higher goals of life...Bhagavad Gita can be compared to an intelligence agency. The word ‘intelligence’ means ‘inside information’. Any agency which has inside information about certain facts is an intelligence agency. Every country in this world has some intelligence agencies...All these agencies have access to information which common people do not have. Similarly, Bhagavad Gita gives us access to a range of inside information.

When Bhagavad Gita was spoken...Arjuna was a prince warrior, a householder with wife and children, having responsibilities of ruling the kingdom. However, Lord Krishna chose Arjuna to speak Bhagavad Gita...was spoken in the midst of the most gruesome impending war. Lord Krishna, however, chose to speak Bhagavad Gita in that situation by postponing the war.”

”[A] great warrior like Arjuna couldn’t tolerate even the insinuation of desertion and the cowardice it implied. Discouragement and internal state of mind had the power to take such a great hero to such a terrible state. Whether it is depression, dejection, or disheartenment—discouragement is one of our extremely dangerous enemies. For Arjuna even the thought of deserting and leaving the war was unconscionable.

Ralph Waldo Emerson says, “I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad Gita. It was the first of books; it was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us.”

(via Gita is krishna’s gift to humanity- The New Indian Express)

Bhagavad Gita

“The Bhagavad Gita often referred to as the Gita...is set in a narrative framework of a dialogue between Pandava prince Arjuna and his guide and charioteer Krishna...Arjuna is filled with moral dilemma and despair about the violence and death the war will cause. He wonders if he should renounce and seeks Krishna's counsel, whose answers and discourse constitute the Bhagadvad Gita... The setting of the Gita in a battlefield has been interpreted as an allegory for the ethical and moral struggles of the human life.

The Gita in the title of the text "Bhagavad Gita" means "song"...the title has been interpreted as "the Song of God"..."the Song of the Lord", "the Divine Song", and "the Celestial Song"...the Bhagavad Gita suggests that it was composed in an era when the ethics of war were being questioned and renunciation to monastic life was becoming popular. Such an era emerged after the rise of Buddhism and Jainism in the 5th-century BCE...the first version of the Bhagavad Gita may have been composed in or after the 3rd-century BCE.”

Greco-Buddhism

“Greco-Buddhism, or Graeco-Buddhism, is the cultural syncretism between Hellenistic culture and Buddhism, which developed between the 4th century BC and the 5th century AD in Bactria and the Indian subcontinent. It was a cultural consequence of a long chain of interactions begun by Greek forays into India from the time of Alexander the Great...Greco-Buddhism continued to flourish under the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, Indo-Greek Kingdoms, and Kushan Empire. Buddhism was adopted in Central and Northeastern Asia from the 1st century AD, ultimately spreading to China, Korea, Japan, Siberia, and Vietnam.

Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (250–125 BC)...were followed by the Indo-Greek Kingdom (180 BC – AD 10). Even though the region was conquered by the Indo-Scythians and the Kushan Empire (1st–3rd centuries AD), Buddhism continued to thrive.Buddhism in India was a major religion for centuries until a major Hindu revival from around the 5th century, with remaining strongholds such as Bengal largely ended during the Islamic invasions of India. The length of the Greek presence in Central Asia and northern India provided opportunities for interaction, not only on the artistic, but also on the religious plane.”

“According to Ptolemy, Greek cities were founded by the Greco-Bactrians in northern India...A large Greek city built by Demetrius...at the archaeological site of Sirkap...where Buddhist stupas were standing side-by-side with Hindu and Greek temples, indicating religious tolerance and syncretism...In many parts of the Ancient World, the Greeks did develop syncretic divinities, that could become a common religious focus for populations with different traditions...Many of the stylistic elements in the representations of the Buddha point to Greek influence...Greek artists were most probably the authors of these early representations of the Buddha, in particular the standing statues, which display "a realistic treatment of the folds and on some even a hint of modelled volume that characterizes the best Greek work.

Intense westward physical exchange at that time along the Silk Road is confirmed by the Roman craze for silk from the 1st century BC to the point that the Senate issued, in vain, several edicts to prohibit the wearing of silk, on economic and moral grounds...also wrote about Indo-Greek Buddhist king Menander, confirming that information about the Indo-Greek Buddhists was circulating throughout the Hellenistic world.”

“Although the philosophical systems of Buddhism and Christianity have evolved in rather different ways, the moral precepts advocated by Buddhism from the time of Ashoka through his edicts do have some similarities with the Christian moral precepts developed more than two centuries later: respect for life, respect for the weak, rejection of violence, pardon to sinners, tolerance.One theory is that these similarities may indicate the propagation of Buddhist ideals into the Western World, with the Greeks acting as intermediaries and religious syncretists.”

Hinduism

“Hinduism is the world’s oldest religion, according to many scholars, with roots and customs dating back more than 4,000 years. Today, with about 900 million followers, Hinduism is the third-largest religion behind Christianity and Islam. Roughly 95 percent of the world’s Hindus live in India...Hindus revere all living creatures and consider the cow a sacred animal.Food is an important part of life for Hindus. Most don’t eat beef or pork, and many are vegetarians.Hinduism is closely related to other Indian religions, including Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism.

Around 1500 B.C., the Indo-Aryan people migrated to the Indus Valley, and their language and culture blended with that of the indigenous people living in the region...The concept of dharma was introduced in new texts, and other faiths, such as Buddhism and Jainism, spread rapidly...In the 7th century, Muslim Arabs began invading areas in India. During parts of the Muslim Period, which lasted from about 1200 to 1757, Hindus were restricted from worshipping their deities, and some temples were destroyed. Saints expressed their devotion through poetry and songs.”

(via Hinduism | History Channel)

Ariana

“Ariana, the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek Ἀρ(ε)ιανή Ar(e)ianē (inhabitants: Ariani; Ἀρ(ε)ιανοί Ar(e)ianoi), was a general geographical term used by some Greek and Roman authors of the ancient period for a district of wide extent between Central Asia and the Indus River, comprising the eastern provinces of the Achaemenid Empire that covered the whole of modern-day Afghanistan, as well as the easternmost part of Iran and up to the Indus River in Pakistan (former Northern India).

The Greek term Arianē (Latin: Ariana), a term found in Iranian Avestan Airiiana- (especially in Airyanem Vaejah, the name of the Iranian peoples' mother country). The modern name Iran represents a different form of the ancient name Ariana which derived from Airyanem Vaejah and implies that Iran is “the” Ariana itself – a word found in Old Persian – a view supported by the traditions of the country preserved in the Muslim writers of the ninth and tenth centuries. The Greeks also referred to Haroyum/Haraiva (Herat) as 'Aria', which is one of the many provinces found in Ariana.

The names Ariana and Aria, and many other ancient titles of which Aria is a component element, are connected with the Avestan term Airya-, and the Old Persian term Ariya-, a self designation of the peoples of Ancient India and Ancient Iran, meaning "noble", "excellent" and "honourable".”

Aria (region)

“Aria is an Achaemenid region centered on the city of Herat in present-day western Afghanistan. In classical sources, Aria has been several times confused with the greater region of ancient Ariana, of which Aria formed a part. Aria was an Old Persian satrapy, which enclosed chiefly the valley of the Hari River... which in antiquity was considered as particularly fertile and, above all, rich in wine. The region of Aria was separated by mountain ranges...in the east...west...north... while a desert separated it...in the south...Its original capital was Artacoana or Articaudna according to Ptolemy. In its vicinity, a new capital was built, either by Alexander the Great himself or by his successors, Alexandria Ariana, modern Herat in northwest Afghanistan.”

Arya (Buddhism)

“Arya is a term frequently used in Buddhism that can be translated as "noble", "not ordinary", "valuable", "precious", "pure", etc. Arya in the sense of "noble" or "exalted" is frequently used in Buddhist texts to designate a spiritual warrior or hero.

The word "noble," or ariya, is used by the Buddha to designate a particular type of person, the type of person which it is the aim of his teaching to create. In the discourses the Buddha classifies human beings into two broad categories. On one side there are the puthujjanas, the worldlings, those belonging to the multitude...On the other side there are the ariyans, the noble ones, the spiritual elite, who obtain this status not from birth, social station or ecclesiastical authority but from their inward nobility of character....In Chinese Buddhist texts, ārya is translated as 聖 approximately, "holy, sacred"

Getes – the story to be told – Quotes

“The Spanish Chronicles...“The Daco-Getes are considered to be the founders of the Spaniards.”...The Chronicle of the Dukes of Normandy...“The Daco-Getes are considered to be the founders of the nordic nations.”...Collectanea Etymologica...“The Daco-Getes are considered to be the founders of the Teutons and Frisians, of the Dutch and Anglians.”...Cavasius (The Administration of the Kingdom of Transylvania): “In Italy, Spain and Galia, the peoples used to spoke an idiom of an older formation under the name of Rumanian language, as in the time of Cicero. The Rumanian language has more latinity than Italian.”

Bonaventura Vulcannius of Bruges, 1597: “The Getes had their own alphabet long before the Latin one was born. The Getes sang, using the flute, the deeds of their heroes, composing songs even before the foundation of Rome, that of which Cato says – the Romans started to do much later.”...Carolus Lundius...“It has to be clear for everyone, the ones who antiquity named them with a distinguished admiration Getes, the writers named them afterwards, through a unanimous agreement, Goths. The Greeks and other nations took letters from the Getes. We find with Herodotus and Diodorus, direct opinions about the spreading of these letters.”

“GET (pronounced ‘Jet’) = Earth-born. In Rumanian, the word ‘gețuitor’ (viețuitor) means ‘living man’. Earth = Geea/Gaia (Geb/Gebeleizis)...Djed = The forefathers of the first pharaohs of Egypt. Egyptians use this word Djed (pronounced ‘Jet’) when they speak of the ‘old ones’ that lived before them. Therefore this term has to do, not only with the Greeks. In Croatian the word ‘đed’ (pronounced ‘Jed’) means ‘grandfather’, which is another proof that the word ‘Get’ bears the meaning of ‘Old/Ancient’.

[T]he term ‘Gitia’ we have as a reconfirmation of the sacrality of its name, the Vedic opera Bhagavad Gītā (pronounced ‘Geeta’) which means ‘Song of the Lord’ or ‘Divine Song’ that speaks about the noble Aryans (‘Deva’ or ‘Devi’ meaning ‘The Divine’) which invaded the rich land of India...GETO = ‘The Brilliant’ or ‘The Divine’ or ‘The Wolves’, but they also have the meaning of ‘inhabitants of Davas’, where ‘Dava’ = ‘Fortress’. All these terms are in fact epithets that describe the Getes...The exonyms ‘Dac’/’Daki’ were used by the Romans to describe the Getes.”

(via Getes – the story to be told – Quotes | Vieille Europe blog)

Getae

“The Getae, or Gets (Ancient Greek: Γέται, singular Γέτης) were several Thracian tribes that once inhabited the regions to either side of the Lower Danube, in what is today northern Bulgaria and southern Romania. Both the singular form Get and plural Getae may be derived from a Greek exonym: the area was the hinterland of Greek colonies on the Black Sea coast, bringing the Getae into contact with the ancient Greeks from an early date. Several scholars, especially in the Romanian historiography, posit the identity between the Getae and their westward neighbours, the Dacians.

There is a dispute among scholars about the relations between the Getae and Dacians, and this dispute also covers the interpretation of ancient sources. Some historians such as Ronald Arthur Crossland state that even Ancient Greeks used the two designations "interchangeable or with some confusion". Thus, it is generally considered that the two groups were related to a certain degree, the exact relation is a matter of controversy.”

Geats

“The Geats (/ˈɡiːts/, /ˈɡeɪəts/ or /ˈjæts/) (Old English: gēatas)...sometimes called Goths, were a North Germanic tribe who inhabited Götaland ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden during the Middle Ages...Beowulf and the Norse sagas name several Geatish kings, but only Hygelac finds confirmation in Liber Monstrorum where he is referred to as "Rex Getarum"...Some decades after the events related in this epic...described the Geats as a nation which was "bold, and quick to engage in war"...The Hervarar saga is believed to contain such traditions handed down from the 4th century. According to that work, when the Hunnish Horde invaded the land of the Goths and the Gothic king Angantyr desperately tried to marshal the defenses, it was the Geatish king Gizur who answered his call, though there is no actual evidence of a successful invasion.

There is a hypothesis that the Jutes also were Geats, and which was proposed by Pontus Fahlbeck in 1884. According to this hypothesis the Geats would have not only resided in southern Sweden but also in Jutland, where Beowulf would have lived...Gēatas is the Old English form of Old Norse Gautar and modern Swedish Götar...in Beowulf, the Gēatas live east of the Dani (across the sea) and in close contact with the Sweon, which fits the historical position of the Geats between the Danes/Daci and the Swedes. Moreover, the story of Beowulf, who leaves Geatland and arrives at the Danish court after a naval voyage, where he kills a beast, finds a parallel in Hrólf Kraki's saga. In this saga, Bödvar Bjarki leaves Gautland and arrives at the Danish court after a naval voyage and kills a beast that has been terrorizing the Danes for two years (see also Origins for Beowulf and Hrólf Kraki)...As for the origins of the ethnonym Jute, it may be a secondary formation of the toponym Jutland, where jut is derived from a Proto-Indo-European root *eud meaning "water".

Bactria

“Bactria (/ˈbæktriə/); or Bactriana was a historical region in Central Asia. Bactria proper was north of the Hindu Kush mountain range and south of the Amu Darya river, covering the flat region that straddles modern-day Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and parts of Northern Pakistan. More broadly Bactria was the area north of the Hindu Kush.

After two years of war and a strong insurgency campaign, Alexander managed to establish little control over Bactria. After Alexander's death...Alexander's empire was divided up among the generals in Alexander's army. Bactria became a part of the Seleucid Empire, named after its founder, Seleucus I. The Macedonians, especially Seleucus I and his son Antiochus I, established the Seleucid Empire and founded a great many Greek towns. The Greek language became dominant for some time there.

The Greco-Bactrians were so powerful that they were able to expand their territory as far as India: As for Bactria, a part of it lies alongside Aria towards the north, though most of it lies above Aria and to the east of it. And much of it produces everything except oil. The Greeks who caused Bactria to revolt grew so powerful on account of the fertility of the country that they became masters, not only of Bactria and beyond, but also of India.”

“Bactrians were the inhabitants of Bactria. Several important trade routes from India and China (including the Silk Road) passed through Bactria and, as early as the Bronze Age, this had allowed the accumulation of vast amounts of wealth by the mostly nomadic population. The first proto-urban civilization in the area arose during the 2nd millennium BC.

Control of these lucrative trade routes, however, attracted foreign interest, and in the 6th century BC the Bactrians were conquered by the Persians, and in the 4th century BC by Alexander the Great. These conquests marked the end of Bactrian independence. From around 304 BC the area formed part of the Seleucid Empire, and from around 250 BC it was the centre of a Greco-Bactrian kingdom, ruled by the descendants of Greeks who had settled there following the conquest of Alexander the Great.

The Greco-Bactrians, also known in Sanskrit as Yavanas, worked in cooperation with the native Bactrian aristocracy. By the early 2nd century BC the Greco-Bactrians had created an impressive empire that stretched southwards to include northwest India. By about 135 BC, however, this kingdom had been overrun by invading Yuezhi tribes, an invasion that later brought about the rise of the powerful Kushan Empire.”

Grand Trunk Road

“The Grand Trunk Road is one of Asia's oldest and longest major roads — founded around 3rd century BCE by the Mauryan Empire of ancient India. For more than two millennia, it has linked the Indian subcontinent with Central Asia.”

History of India

“[T]he White Huns were Turks, whose capital was ‘Organj or Khiva...The people called Yue-chi by the Chinese, Jits by the Tartars, and Getes or Getae by some of our writers, were a considerable nation in the centre of Tartary as late as the time of Tamerlane”

(via The History of India: The Hindu and Mahometan Periods p. 252)

Yuezhi

“The Yuezhi were an ancient Indo-European people first described in Chinese histories as nomadic pastoralists living in an arid grassland area in the western part of the modern Chinese province of Gansu, during the 1st millennium BC. After a major defeat by the Xiongnu in 176 BC, the Yuezhi split into two groups migrating in different directions: The Greater Yuezhi...later settled in Bactria, where they then defeated the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom.

The subsequent Kushan Empire, at its peak in the 3rd century CE, stretched from...the Tarim Basin, in the north to...the Gangetic plain of India in the south. The Kushanas played an important role in the development of trade on the Silk Road and the introduction of Buddhism to China...some scholars have associated the Yuezhi with artifacts of extinct cultures in the Tarim Basin, such as the Tarim mummies and texts recording the Tocharian languages.

[N]omadic pastoralists known as the Yúzhī...supplied jade to the Chinese...The export of jade from the Tarim Basin, since at least the late 2nd millennium BC...the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) bought jade and highly valued military horses from a people that Sima Qian called the Wūzhī...traded these goods for Chinese silk, which they then sold on to other neighbours. This is probably the first reference to the Yuezhi as a lynchpin in trade on the Silk Road, which in the 3rd century BC began to link Chinese states to Central Asia and, eventually, the Middle East, the Mediterranean and Europe...The Lesser or Little Yuezhi moved to the "southern mountains", believed to be the Qilian Mountains on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau, to live with the Qiang... Chinese sources continued to use the name Yuezhi and seldom used the Kushan as a generic term.”

“The central Asian people who called themselves Kushana, who were among the conquerors of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom during the 2nd century BC, are widely believed to have originated as a dynastic clan or tribe of the Yuezhi. Because some inhabitants of Bactria became known as Tukhāra (Sanskrit) or Tókharoi (Τοχάριοι; Greek), these names later became associated with the Yuezhi. The Kushana were a Caucasoid people...They spoke Bactrian, an Eastern Iranian language.

The Kushanas integrated Buddhism into a pantheon of many deities and became great promoters of Mahayana Buddhism, and their interactions with Greek civilization helped the Gandharan culture and Greco-Buddhism flourish. During the 1st and 2nd centuries, the Kushan Empire expanded militarily to the north and occupied parts of the Tarim Basin, putting them at the center of the lucrative Central Asian commerce with the Roman Empire...Following this territorial expansion, the Kushanas introduced Buddhism to northern and northeastern Asia, by both direct missionary efforts and the translation of Buddhist scriptures into Chinese...and established translation bureaus, thereby being at the center of the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism.

"Tocharian"...became the common name for both the languages of the Tarim manuscripts and the people who produced them. Most historians now reject the identification of the Tocharians of the Tarim with the Tókharoi of Bactria, who are not known to have spoken any languages other than Bactrian. Other scholars suggest that the Kushanas may previously have spoken Tocharian before shifting to Bactrian on their arrival in Bactria.”

Kushan Empire

“The Kushan dynasty had diplomatic contacts with the Roman Empire, Sasanian Persia, the Aksumite Empire and Han Dynasty of China...the last of the Kushan and Kushano-Sasanian kingdoms were eventually overwhelmed by invaders from the north, known as the Kidarites.

The Kushans inherited the Greco-Buddhist traditions of the Indo-Greek Kingdom they replaced, and their patronage of Buddhist institutions allowed them to grow as a commercial power. Between the mid-1st century and the mid-3rd century, Buddhism, patronized by the Kushans, extended to China and other Asian countries through the Silk Road.

In 360 a Kidarite Hun named Kidara overthrew the Indo-Sasanians and remnants of the old Kushan dynasty, and established the Kidarite Kingdom. The Kushan style of Kidarite coins indicates they claimed Kushan heritage. The Kidarite seem to have been rather prosperous, although on a smaller scale than their Kushan predecessors. These remnants of the Kushan empire were ultimately wiped out in the 5th century by the invasions of the Hephthalites.”

Kidarites

“The Kidarites were a dynasty that ruled Bactria and adjoining parts of Central Asia and South Asia in the 4th and 5th centuries CE. The Kidarites belonged to a complex of peoples known collectively in India as the Huna and/or in Europe as the Xionites...Named after Kidara, their founding ruler and purported membership of a clan named Ki, the Kidarites appear to have been a part of a Huna horde known in Latin sources as the Kermichiones (from the Iranian Karmir Xyon) or "Red Huna"...Indian records note that the Hūna had established themselves in modern Afghanistan and [north India]...The Kidarites are the last dynasty to regard themselves (on the legend of their coins) as the inheritors of the Kushan empire, which had disappeared as an independent entity two centuries earlier.”

Ghilji

“The Ghilji also called Khaljī, Khiljī, Ghilzai, or Gharzai (ghar means "mountain" and zai "born of"), are the largest Pashtun tribal confederacy...The Ghilji at various times became rulers of present Afghanistan region and were the most dominant Pashtun confederacy from c. 1000 AD until 1747 AD.”

Gilgit

“Gilgit, known locally as Gileet, is the capital city of the Gilgit-Baltistan region, an administrative territory of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, but claimed by India as its territory. The city is located in a broad valley near the confluence of the Gilgit River and Hunza River...It was an important stop on the ancient Silk Road, and today serves as a major junction along the Karakoram Highway with road connections to China, Skardu, Chitral, Peshawar, and Islamabad.”

“The city's ancient name was Sargin, later to be known as Gilit, and it is still referred to as Gilit or Sargin-Gilit by local people. In Brushaski, it is named Geeltand in Wakhi and Khowar it is called Gilt.

Gilgit was an important city on the Silk Road, along which Buddhism was spread from South Asia to the rest of Asia. It is considered as a Buddhism corridor from which many Chinese monks came to Kashmir to learn and preach Buddhism. Two famous Chinese Buddhist pilgrims, Faxian and Xuanzang, traversed Gilgit according to their accounts. According to Chinese records, between the 600s and the 700s, the city was governed by a Buddhist dynasty referred to as Little Balur or Lesser Bolü.

In mid-600s, Gilgit came under Chinese suzerainty after the fall of Western Turkic Khaganate due to Tang military campaigns in the region. In late 600s CE, the rising Tibetan Empire wrestled control of the region from the Chinese. However, faced with growing influence of the Umayyad Caliphate and then the Abbasid Caliphate to the west, the Tibetans were forced to ally themselves with the Islamic caliphates.”

“Gilgit manuscripts...containing many Buddhist texts such as four sutras from the Buddhist canon, including the famous Lotus Sutra. The manuscripts were written on birch bark...They cover a wide range of themes such as iconometry, folk tales, philosophy, medicine and several related areas of life and general knowledge.

The Gilgit manuscripts are included in the UNESCO Memory of the World register. They are among the oldest manuscripts in the world, and the oldest manuscript collection surviving in Pakistan, having major significance in the areas of Buddhist studies and the evolution of Asian and Sanskrit literature. The manuscripts are believed to have been written in the 5th to 6th centuries AD.

The former rulers had the title of Ra, and there is a reason to suppose that they were at one time Hindus, but for the last five centuries and a half they have been Moslems. The names of the Hindu Ras have been lost, with the exception of the last of their number, Shri Ba'dut...Gilgit was ruled for centuries by the local Trakhàn Dynasty, which ended about 1810 with the death of Raja Abas, the last Trakhàn Raja.”

Gilan Province

Gilan Province...lies along the Caspian Sea, in Iran... It seems that the Gelae (Gilites) entered the region south of the Caspian coast and west of the Amardos River (later Safidrud) in the second or first century B.C.E....the native inhabitants of Gilan have originating roots in the Caucasus is supported by genetics and language, as Gilaks are genetically closer to ethnic peoples of the Caucasus (such as the Georgians) than they are towards other ethnic groups in Iran. Their languages shares typologic features with Caucasian languages. It was the place of origin of the Buyid dynasty.”

“Gilan is mostly inhabited by Gilaks, a Gilaki Iranian culture is present in the province that is not much different from other Iranian traditions. The biggest differences are seen in foods, traditional songs, traditional clothes, rural areas and their every-day life, and other traditions such as the Gilaki Calendar and the Gilaki New Year called "Nouruz Bel" which is during the summer. This new year is distinct from the more popular Iranian New Year as it relates to the people of Gilan and their mostly agricultural life.”

Epic of Gilgamesh

“The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia that is often regarded as the earliest surviving great work of literature. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian poems about Bilgamesh (Sumerian for "Gilgamesh"), king of Uruk, dating from the Third Dynasty of Ur(c. 2100 BC)."

“The first half of the story discusses Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, and Enkidu, a wild man created by the gods to stop Gilgamesh from oppressing the people of Uruk. After Enkidu becomes civilized through sexual initiation with a prostitute, he travels to Uruk, where he challenges Gilgamesh to a test of strength. Gilgamesh wins the contest; nonetheless, the two become friends. Together, they make a six-day journey to the legendary Cedar Forest, where they plan to slay the Guardian, Humbaba the Terrible, and cut down the sacred Cedar. The goddess Ishtar sends the Bull of Heaven to punish Gilgamesh for spurning her advances. Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill the Bull of Heaven after which the gods decide to sentence Enkidu to death and kill him.

In the second half of the epic, distress over Enkidu's death causes Gilgamesh to undertake a long and perilous journey to discover the secret of eternal life. He eventually learns that "Life, which you look for, you will never find. For when the gods created man, they let death be his share, and life withheld in their own hands". However, because of his great building projects...Gilgamesh's fame survived well after his death with expanding interest in the Gilgamesh story which has been translated into many languages and is featured in works of popular fiction.”

The Origins Of Pearl Diving In The Persian Gulf

“Life in the Persian Gulf revolved around the natural pearl for centuries, according to archaeological evidence dating back to the Late Stone Age in 6000–5000 BC.

The Epic of Gilgamesh, a poem from 700 BC Mesopotamia that is among the first recorded examples of literary fiction, describes how the hero dived to the depths with weights tied to his feet for the “flower of immortality”, a well-known early allusion to pearling. By 100 AD, Pliny the Younger had declared that pearls were the most prized goods in Roman society, with those from the Gulf reigning as the most esteemed.

Pearl grounds originally stretched on the Arabian side from Kuwait along the coast of Saudi Arabia to Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman. They also ran along nearly the whole coast of the Persian side of the gulf, from near Bandar-e Bushehr (Kharg island) to Bandar-e Lengeh (Kish island) in the south and even further south into the Strait of Hormuz. The Phoenicians, who likely held the first monopoly on the pearl trade.”

Kish Island

“Kish Island has been mentioned in history variously as Kamtina, Arakia (Ancient Greek: Αρακία), Arakata, and Ghiss.Kish Island's strategic geographic location served as a way-station and link for the ancient Assyrian and Elamite civilizations when their primitive sailboats navigated from Susa through the Karun River into the Persian Gulf along the southern coastline, passing Kish, Qeshm, and Hormoz islands.

In 325 BC, Alexander the Great commissioned Nearchus to set off on an expeditionary voyage to the Sea of Oman and the Persian Gulf. Nearchus's writings on Arakata contain the first-known mention of Kish Island in antiquity. When Marco Polo visited the Imperial court in China, he commented on the Emperor's wife's pearls; he was told that they were from Kish.”

Silk Road transmission of Buddhism

“From the 4th century onward, Chinese pilgrims also started to travel on the Silk Road to India, the origin of Buddhism, by themselves in order to get improved access to the original scriptures...from the 4th century CE that Chinese Buddhist monks started to travel to India to discover Buddhism first-hand. Faxian's pilgrimage to India (395–414)...Xuanzang (629–644) and Hyecho traveled from Korea to India.”

“Buddhism in Central Asia began to decline in the 7th century in the course of the Muslim conquest of Transoxiana. A turning point was the Battle of Talas of 751. This development also resulted in the extinction of the local Tocharian Buddhist culture in the Tarim Basin during the 8th century. The Silk Road transmission between Eastern and Indian Buddhism thus came to an end in the 8th century...From the 9th century onward, therefore, the various schools of Buddhism which survived began to evolve independently of one another....In the eastern Tarim Basin, Central Asian Buddhism survived into the later medieval period as the religion of the Uyghur Kara-Khoja Kingdom...and Buddhism became one of the religions in the Mongol Empire...Central Asian Buddhism survived mostly in Tibet and in Mongolia.”

Key Monastery

“Kye Gompa (also spelled Ki, Key or Kee - pronounced like English key) is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery located on top of a hill...in the Spiti Valley of...India... Kye Gompa is said to have been founded by Dromtön (Brom-ston, 1008-1064 CE), a pupil of the famous teacher, Atisha, in the 11th century.”

Spiti Valley

“Spiti Valley is a cold desert mountain valley located high in the Himalayas...The name "Spiti" means "The Middle Land", i.e. the land between Tibet and India...Spiti valley is a research and cultural centre for Buddhists. Highlights include Key Monastery and Tabo Monastery, one of the oldest monasteries in the world and a favourite of the Dalai Lama...Spiti valley is accessible throughout year via Kinnaur...Due to high elevation one is likely to feel altitude sickness in Spiti.”

Epic of King Gesar

“The Epic of King Gesar, ("King Gesar" Mongolian: Гэсэр Хаан, Geser Khagan) also spelled Geser (especially in Mongolian contexts) or Kesar is an epic cycle, believed to date from the 12th century, that relates the heroic deeds of the culture hero Gesar...Its classic version is to be found in central Tibet.”

“Some 100 bards of this epic are still active today in the Gesar belt of China: Tibetan, Mongolian, Buryat, Balti, Ladakhi and Monguor singers maintain the oral tradition and the epic has attracted intense scholarly curiosity as one of the few oral epic traditions to survive as a performing art...versions of the epic are also recorded among the Balti of Baltistan, the Burusho people of Hunzaand Gilgit, and the Kalmyk and Ladakhi peoples, in Sikkim, Bhutan, Nepal, and among various Tibeto-Burmese, Turkish, and Tunghus tribes.”

”It has been proposed on the basis of phonetic similarities that the name Gesar reflects the Roman title Caesar, and that the intermediary for the transmission of this imperial title from Rome to Tibet may have been a Turkic language, since kaiser (emperor) entered Turkish through contact with the Byzantine Empire, where Caesar (Καῖσαρ) was an imperial title. Some think the medium for this transmission may have been via Mongolian Kesar. The Mongols were allied with the Byzantines, whose emperor still used the title. Numismatic evidence and some accounts speak of a Bactrian ruler Phrom-kesar, specifically the Kabul Shahi of Gandhara, which was ruled by a Turkish From Kesar ("Caesar of Rome")... the Tibetan name Gesar derived from Sanskrit...the Ladakh variant of Kesar, Kyesar, in Classical Tibetan Skye-gsar meant 'reborn/newly born', and that Gesar/Kesar in Tibetan, as in Sanskrit signify the 'anther or pistil of a flower', corresponding to Sanskrit kēsara, whose root 'kēsa' (hair) is Indo-European.

King Ge-sar has a miraculous birth, a despised and neglected childhood, and then becomes ruler and wins his (first) wife 'Brug-mo through a series of marvellous feats. In subsequent episodes he defends his people against various external aggressors, human and superhuman. Instead of dying a normal death he departs into a hidden realm from which he may return at some time in the future to save his people from their enemies.”

#bhagvadgita #grecobuddhism #hinduism #silkroad #ariana #aria #arya #getes #geats #getae #syncretism #bactrian #yuezhi #keemonastary #kidarites #beowulf #gilgit #gilgamesh #kinggeser

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basket-of-radiants · 6 years

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(Opinions on jasnah and if she's like.... a good person)

Whether she’s a good person or not is up to you my friend! Jasnah follows a much more utilitarianist set of ethics than most of the other characters. I usually tend to think that’s a good trait for authority figures, so long as they’re genuine about their beliefs. Sometimes the moral implications of the action itself are less important than the impact of said action.

Typically it is the more antagonist-ish characters who follow “greater good” policies, such as Amaram and Taravangian (although I still have no idea what he’s doing,) but I would be wary of dismissing that line of thinking altogether. There’s honestly nothing wrong with focusing on the wider scope and consequences of one’s decisions, and in fact, I would consider that admirable. After all, Jasnah is a reigning monarch who does have to consider sacrifice and what that means. Wartime ethics are a bitch and tough calls are going to have to be made. I’m not defending it outright; this line of thinking becomes very dangerous when you give yourself license to do anything and commit whatever atrocities you like in the name of the greater good. There’s no objective way to determine at what point you’re doing more harm than good, though.

For me, the question of Jasnah isn’t whether I agree with her values or not, it’s about whether or not I trust her to recognize when she’s going too far.

There are a lot of reasons not to trust her. She’s not the most empathetic person ever (although I do think she’s more emotionally driven than she or anyone else would care to admit) and I wouldn’t exactly call her kind. She’s a goal-oriented person, very driven and focused, so I could see her caring less about what’s right along the way than about getting her results. (She did swear “journey before destination” though, so I should probably believe in her more there.) Her stubbornness is also an issue; I don’t think she’s the type to ignore new evidence because it doesn’t fit her worldview perse, but she is definitely resistant.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Yes, she suggested that all the parshmen be destroyed. If that upset you or made you uncomfortable, you’re not wrong to feel that way. If that pissed you off and made you dislike Jasnah as a person, you’re not wrong to feel that way. I personally don’t find hers a defensible position. I obviously feel very different about all this, but as long as I’m writing this as a focus on Jasnah’s character, I guess I should do my best to explain. I always feel like I have to note that Alethi values are very very different from mine, and Dalinar and the others had already been waging genocide war on the parshendi for years. Compared to vengeance, I would call survival of humanity a somewhat more worthy cause. And Jasnah did have reasons for her opinions. Whether or not Jasnah cared at all about the common singers, her view was that were they to engage the Fused, all of the others would end up just becoming bodies for them. If that’s the case then there’s nothing that could be done for the common singers anyway, unless they were willing to just let the Fused win and not fight back. (Side note, the Fused provide a lot of other interesting dilemmas in of themselves about tactics and morals.) The only solution other than fighting back is negotiating. While I do expect to see more of that in the future, I can understand why at the time Jasnah was skeptical about that as an option. After all of her research, after having seen Dalinar’s visions, she had a particular idea of what Voidbringers were.

I want to address the singers first and just say that I really don’t believe that Jasnah is still interested in killing them. Yes, advocating for that at that meeting was a really shitty thing, but going forward I expect different from her. She seemed just as shaken as anyone to learn that the singers had been the original natives of Roshar, and while there was probably too much going on at the time for us to watch fully how she reacted, I assume she took a lot of time afterwards to reexamine her worldviews. If you’ll remember from Way of Kings, philosophy and the study of ethics is deeply important to Jasnah. Given all the information she has now, I don’t think she would be able to justify throwing away the singers for the sake of the humans anymore.

If she can view the singers as people as well and accept them into her bigger picture, I’d think I’d be able to trust her. She’s painstakingly careful and analytical, and I would like to think she would never make a major decision without fully thinking it through. In the past, from what I can tell, she hasn’t especially prioritized any one group over others (except for her immediate family,) she’s mostly been interested in understanding and furthering society and scholarship overall, and as such is respected everywhere. If the singers can be part of that, who knows?

More broadly than that, there’s a reason I have faith in Jasnah’s utilitarianism significantly more than I’d have for someone else’s, such as Amaram’s. I’ve mentioned “the greater good” a lot in this post, but Jasnah genuinely seems less concerned with that than she seems concerned with “doing the right thing.” She doesn’t take actions and justify them with her philosophy, she deeply examines her philosophy and then lets it inform her actions. I’m not as worried that she’ll get so caught up in her own workings she’ll lose sight of the right thing.

Just some more stuff on her as a person, people talk a lot about the scene with her and Renarin, and I haven’t. I don’t think it singlehandedly redeems her, nor do I think that if she had killed Renarin it would have singlehandedly condemned her. The scene is a demonstration, however, that she does allow her humanity to inform her actions. Not just in that scene, throughout the series she has shown that she cares about other people more than she’s willing to show. She’s shown to be forgiving, to welcome legitimate arguments against her, and to have faith that people will do what’s right of their own accords.

So! Still not going to answer if she’s a good person or not, but I’m definitely willing to give her a chance. I predict that she’ll make a lot of hard calls along the way that will leave a bad taste in my mouth. I can tell you with certainty that other characters have already done the same. Whatever happens, I do believe she’s trying to do good. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

#jasnah #oathbringer spoilers #oathbringer #stormlight archive #asks #i'm not as hard on utilitarian ethics as a lot of people would be #ideologically speaking i'm not much of an individualist #as long as it's not like...bullshit? i'll give her the benefit of the doubt #hmm she's kind of an interesting look at the difference between ''good'' as an adjective applied to someone and as an action someone takes #thank you for asking!#hope that's somewhat satisfying #she's a very controversial character so i'm down for reading discussion on her #long post #i just tag all my rambles with that i never actually scroll up to see how long they are #Anonymous

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munchix-home-cooking · 3 years

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RP Log: Munchix and Rayena begin a long journey through Coerthas, starting from Gridania and ending at the Dravanian Hinterlands! In this, they simply get ready and hike through the North Shroud.

(Munchix Bogbelly) True to his word, though late by several moons, Munchix had sent Rayena a letter. ‘Meet me in Gridania, if you want to join my journey of culinary discovery through Coerthas!’ And such a day had come. Munchix, a large backpack resting by his side, leaned on the fence posting while he waited for any familiar faces by the aetheryte.

(Rayena Corsano) Rayena did indeed get his letter, packing her back and teleporting to the aetheryte crystal in gridania. She looked around before spotting Munchix and giving him a wave before walking over. "Hello, Munchix. I am here for adventure." she grinned.

(Munchix Bogbelly) He was impressed by how Rayena had teleported here with such ease. Due to pitifully small reserves of magical talent, Munchix had never been able to use aetherytes, instead opting to travel by land or sea. “Ah! Gobbed ta’ see ya! Do you have everything you need? It’s going to be quite cold where we’re going...Got a set of warm clothes? Tent? Extra tea cup?”

(Rayena Corsano) She smiled and nodded. "I have warm clothing, some food, a tent, but no extra tea cup as I didn't bring any tea. I don't even know if we could heat water in the snow. Though, I do have magic so, I can heat just about anything." she grinned. "Did 'ye have everything 'ye need is 'yer bag secure?"

(Munchix Bogbelly) With a big grin on his face, he fondly patted his backpack. “It’s alright, you can use my spare. Never know when you’re gonna need a nice, hot cup of leafjuice. And I’m good! Last time there was a hole in my pack, but that’s been patched up! Ready and rearin’ to go, if you are.”

(Munchix Bogbelly) A messily cut piece of burlap has been sewn onto Munchix’s backpack. It’s one of many similar fixes...

(Rayena Corsano) "Hey Munchix, 'ye know. I am a seamstress by trade, if 'ye need anything fixed or made, 'ye can just let me know and I can put something together. I specialize in fancy wear but, I think I can work with survival gear for 'ye." she beamed.

(Munchix Bogbelly) His eyes light up. “Really? I’d be mighty grateful. Should...Should I get this looked at before we leave then? Or do you think it’ll hold...” Munchix pokes one of the patches on his backpack, curious.

(Rayena Corsano) She beamed. "Let me take a look." she said before inspecting his pack, moving around to check all the patches sewn in. "I believe it'll hold but, if by chance it opens again, I've got me kit on me and can fix it for 'ye." she grinned.

(Munchix Bogbelly) He nodded, feeling assured by her expert opinion. “Got it. Now, let’s be off! Times a tickin’, and if there’s anything I know about Gridania...it’s that you don’t want to be caught out in the dark.”

(Munchix Bogbelly) we can start in the north shroud. yellow serpent gate :3 ))

(Munchix Bogbelly) ...and the moment Munchix steps foot out of Gridania, he’s attacked by a small gang of ‘forest friends’. Thankfully, the guard is nearby to help defend the gobcat...against ladybugs.

(Rayena Corsano) "Everything alright? Did 'ye get hurt?" she asked before sitting down next to Munchix, she looked concerned though a ladybug couldn't be that powerful compared to a tiger.

(Munchix Bogbelly) He lifts one of his arms and gives it a good shake - a pebble-sized ladybug tumbles out. “Ah no, I’m fine! It’ll take much more than that to send me to the lifestream!” For a second, he wonders why the wildlife in the Black Shroud are so keen on following him around? Perhaps his eating habits are upsetting the Elementals, or whatever they are? Munchix shrugs. A question for another time.

(Munchix Bogbelly) “Alright, so our first destination is a camp in Alder Springs. It’s a bit of a walk, but we just got to head west and follow the sound of water. And hopefully, we find some interesting critters ‘long the way!”

(Rayena Corsano) Rayena nodded. "Good." she said, giving him a smile before raising to her feet, her chakrams hung along her hips. "Well, 'ye lead the way and I will follow, as long as we're not threatening looking we should be fine!" she beamed.

(Munchix Bogbelly) Munchix isn’t a threatening looking guy to begin with, but he does his best to try to look even more meek. With Rayena’s okay, he dashes ahead, finally stopping at a crossroads.

(Munchix Bogbelly) “Er, left, I think. OH look, there!” He excitedly points at the Treant Sapling as it lumbers about in the distance. “Something I’ve always been curious about...is how such saplings reproduce? My first guess would be through fruit and flower, which leads me to my next thought. How would such a fruit taste?”

(Rayena Corsano) Rayena looked over at the sapling once Munchix pointed it out, tilting her head. "I don't really know, maybe when it's time they produce seeds which they shake off and they grow. Though, they could always reproduce like animals do since they are a bit sentient." she giggled.

(Munchix Bogbelly) A gasp escapes from Munchix, and it’s quickly followed by a blush. “This is an aspect of Treants that I have not considered. There is so much we don’t know yet. But...I wonder.”

(Munchix Bogbelly) He inches a little closer to the Treant, eyeing the ground around it in search of seeds. Every so often, he looks up to check the branches of the creature. The Treant, so far, simply regards Munchix as an annoying fly.

(Rayena Corsano) "Or maybe when one dies, it sustains the earth and a new one grows from it, just like how other things grow if we decompose in the ground. Shame they don't talk though..."

(Munchix Bogbelly) “All interesting theories! Oh, waitwait. Let me write this all down.” He pulls out a beaten up tome from his pack, frantically flips to a page, and starts scribbling madly. The Treant saddles up behind him, as if reading what he’s putting down on paper.

(Munchix Bogbelly) Once he’s done writing, he puts the book away. In that motion, his foot slips on a round object. Munchix goes down with a nonchalant “oof,” and when he gets up, he holds the object up in his hand - a seed the size of a golf ball. He raises a brow at Rayena.

(Rayena Corsano) Rayena watches him scribble down before looking towards the Treant that settled behind him. She then gives the sentient tree and wave before looking over at Munchix as he fell. "Oh no! 'Ye alright?" she asked before eyeing the seed. "Maybe that is one of the babies..."

(Munchix Bogbelly) “Could be...” He examines the seed. It looks identical to an avocado pit. It might even just BE an avocado pit. But...what if it wasn’t? Munchix offers the seed to Rayena if she wants to take a look.

(Rayena Corsano) Ray takes the seed, inspecting it. "Kind of looks like an avocado pit but, if it is one of the babies, we should probably leave it here unless 'ye want an overgrown sentient tree following 'ye around. Though, 'ye always have a shady spot once it's full grown." she giggled.

(Munchix Bogbelly) Munchix takes back the seed and without hesitation, tries to take a bite out of it. He fails to leave a mark. “Ooouwshh, thish thing’s hard! Thought it might be shoft, like a peanut...” He complains, rubbing at his jaw.

(Munchix Bogbelly) Rayena: it could be a baby! Munchix: *immediately tries to eat* xD )) (Rayena Corsano) munchix is a baby eater...confirmed)

(Rayena Corsano) She gaps than grimaces once he takes a bite of the seed. "Course it is hard, silly! It's a seed but, why did you bite it if we think it's a baby, you nearly killed a baby, Munchix."

(Munchix Bogbelly) He tucks the seed away in a side pocket. “Would you say that if I was eating a walnut? Hm, though...walnut trees aren’t the type to be walkin’ around like this one...” Munchix looks at the Treant again. He had never considered the moral dilemmas of his monster eating habits. Too much to unpack here. Gobbrain hurt.

(Munchix Bogbelly) “I don’t have the name ‘Bogbelly’ for no reason. But, if I’m about to eat something that you oppose to, just say the word. Sorry ‘bout that.” He tilts his head slightly to the left in apology.

(Rayena Corsano) She watches him place the seed into his pocket. "'Ye keeping it? Does that mean 'ye gunna see ut grow?" she asks, than shrugs. "Most things 'ye can eat. I am just unsure about babies, since they need to grow and experience life, and stuff that'll make 'ye sick or even kill 'ye but, other than that, eat anything 'ye want." she grinned.

(Munchix Bogbelly) “A souvenir!” He grins. “Though our main purpose for journeying is lookin’ for new flora and fauna...I’ll admit, I have a personal motive as well. Our final destination, the Dravanian Hinterlands, is where my family lives. It’d be cool to show them this later.”

(Munchix Bogbelly) “Let’s keep going. We’re still a little ways off from Alder Springs.”

(Rayena Corsano) She nodded. "Oh! I can't wait to meet 'em. Let's go!" she grinned.

(Munchix Bogbelly) He led the way again, following the road to settlement.

(Munchix Bogbelly) The light of the Alder Springs settlement glowed gently against the calm, dark night. It wasn’t too far now, though...Munchix has stopped in his steps, eyes affixed on the humongous insects nearby.

(Rayena Corsano) Rayena stopped a step or so behind Munchix before following his gaze. "Oh. Becareful of those, they look rather big, than stinger looks painful." she shuddered.

(Munchix Bogbelly) “The stingers the size of a horsebird! Why’s it gotta be so big? Hunting...big prey, perhaps? Like us?” Despite what he’s saying, Munchix’s voice remains awfully chipper.

(Rayena Corsano) "Probably. They're predator bugs, big bugs. And the stinger probably has venom in it, either to paralyze them so the kill is easier or it outright kills 'ye. Though, me sister said someone told her the stinger is how they, uh, reproduce but, I could be wrong and it is venomous. Eitherway, I'd be careful." she nodded.

(Munchix Bogbelly) Munchix’s takeaway from Rayena’s words of wisdom...will always be of questionable priority. Be careful? What’s that? “The stinger is how they reproduce?! But ALSO to kill?! That’s brutal! Hah, think of all the bedroom accidents these fellas get in!”

(Munchix Bogbelly) “Anyway, these sorts of creatures tend to be mostly shell and little substance. 3 out of 10 edibility. Of course, I’m still curious...Maybe the guard wouldn’t mind me picking through their kill sometime.” He eyes the sentry, who has presently been defending the bridge against any threats. Banemites, Ixali, whatever gets too close.

(Rayena Corsano) She makes a grimace face. "I can't imagine they'd taste good at all. Bleck." she said, sticking out her tongue, than looked over at the kill. "I don't see why not, it doesn't seem like they are too interested in it."

(Munchix Bogbelly) Munchix steps over to a Banemite corpse and uses a survival knife to slice a bit of pincer off. “Won’t know till’ you try! I’ll cook this up tonight...and don’t worry. I’ll take the first bite.” Thumbs up!

(Munchix Bogbelly) The pincer sticks out from his pack. Munchix follows the road to its end, to Alder Springs.

(Rayena Corsano) She blinked. "'Ye mean I have to eat it? What if I don't like it?" she asked before shrugging. "Good thing I brought extra food." she smiled.

(Munchix Bogbelly) “You don’t hafta eat it. We’re still in civilization, plenty of local chow to enjoy. And! If you don’t like it, then I probably won’t like it, and we can ‘don’t like it’ together!” Munchix is incredibly chipper about this.

(Munchix Bogbelly) “The Babbling Cork is a nice place to spend the night. Let’s head over there and enjoy the sights, shall we?”

(Munchix Bogbelly) munchix would try to eat a rock if not for Rayena xD ))

(Rayena Corsano) She giggled at his comment before nodding. "Ye! Let's!" she beamed and started to head over.

(Munchix Bogbelly) theres more ppl than I thought here! It's a nice place to be sure :D )) (Munchix Bogbelly) woah wait this place is way bigger than I thought ))

(Munchix Bogbelly) The moment Munchix steps in, he lets out a relieved sigh. “Ah! It’s nice to be off the road...Ever been here? It’s pretty swanky. Nice rooms, tastymuch food, and to top it all off...if you go on the deck behind the place, you’ve got front row seats to a huge waterfall!”

(Rayena Corsano) Rayena looked around. "No, I don't think I've been this far out from Gridania and I really don't go to Gridania very much." she nodded than beamed. "I really want to see this deck before we leave here. Would be nice over supper or breakfast." she grinned.

(Munchix Bogbelly) “As I always say, the best time to see the world is now! Happy to show you ‘round.” Munchix puffs up his chest proudly. “Let’s go over and take a look then. I bet others have had the same idea, and we could even order food while lookin’ at the falls.”

(Rayena Corsano) "Yes! Lets!" she beamed, seemingly excited and before he could respond she was off.

(Munchix Bogbelly) OH WAIT HM am i mistaken... )) (Munchix Bogbelly) OH IT's the other side hahah ))

(Munchix Bogbelly) Munchix followed Rayena out, so pumped that he accidentally ran to the wrong side. For a second his heart drops when he’s met with a disappointing view of a cliffside...but he thinks to check the other side. Phew! There’s the view he remembers.

(Rayena Corsano) Rayena seemed to have gone the right way, curious where Munchix had gone, maybe he was getting food. Her thoughts seemed to vanish once she saw the waterfall. "Well, this is just perfect." she beamed and turned to look at Munchix once he arrived. "This looks so beautiful!" she beamed.

(Munchix Bogbelly) Munchix nods in agreement while enjoying the mist that rose out from the falls. “Can’t beat Nophica when it comes to spectacles in nature, huh?”

(Munchix Bogbelly) He settles down on one of the benches with a content sigh. And then, it’s back to work. He pulls out a small cutting board and starts to clean the Banemite stinger he hacked off earlier. It's a weird sight. The calming falls, juxtaposed with...butchering.

(Rayena Corsano) Rayena moved to sit down next to the gobcat watching him butcher the stinger, her head tilted, curious. She'd never seen anyone do this before though, she had never seen anyone eat the singer before either. "'Ye reckon it's safe? If there is venom..." she frowned.

(Munchix Bogbelly) “We’re exploring the great unknown! How wondrous!” With the way Munchix handles the knife, it’s obvious that he’s highly skilled at this sort of handiwork. “I’ve never cleaned a stinger of this size, but that makes it a little easier, actually. Usually, there’ll be parts around it that you can eat. And for everything else, boiling can hamper the effects of venom to an extent...”

(Munchix Bogbelly) “Rule number one. When trying something new, always start with a small bite, and only when you’re sure. And I’m not too sure about this.” Munchix picked away at the stinger, organizing it into neat piles. “Maybe just a little...lick.”

(Rayena Corsano) Ray looked outright concerned the more Munchix talked. "Okay. I think I am going to pass on the stinger cause it's no good if we both get sick, at least if one of us gets sick, the other can get help and cure them. So, if 'ye are truly curious, 'ye can eat it and just...tell me how it tastes." she beamed.

(Munchix Bogbelly) “Smart thinking!” Emboldened by Rayena’s promise of healing, he took a small nibble from a hopefully safe piece of stinger. His smile fell into a frown, and then back to a smile, and then...to a look of confusion. “.....................”

(Munchix Bogbelly) “It’s numbed my tongue, but in a pleasant sort of way? Er, well, enough for now. I don’t feel bad otherwise.”

(Munchix Bogbelly) I gotta head out soonish, so next posts we can wrap things up, and leave stuff for next time :D ))

(Rayena Corsano) Rayena watched his face as it transformed, looking at the stinger, than back at the gob cat. "Well, how does it taste? 'Ye look confused."

(Munchix Bogbelly) “Like an incredibly tough piece of raw scallop, I guess. Could use some salt to bring out its flavor a bit more. Something like this might go well if cut thinly and served with peppers...” Munchix shrugged. “But it’s not the best. Kind of has this weird...sharp taste that lingers after. Ah! This is all good to know...and pass on, in case of any. Unfortunate events.”

(Munchix Bogbelly) He pulls out the tome again and writes everything down in an entry dedicated to the Banemite. Perhaps this was Rayena’s first taste of Munchix’s true eccentricities, but it certainly wouldn’t be her last. The pair continued to chat until the night got too dark to stay out any longer. The journey would continue another day.

#ff14 rp logs #munchix bogbelly #rayena corsano

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boschlingtumbles · 3 years

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Chapter 41

“Beric, get out of bed,” Thoros cajoled, tugging a foot. Beric grabbed a bed post and made what Thoros assumed was supposed to be a growling noise. Mostly he just sounded disgruntled. “I cannot face your parents over breakfast alone dressed like this,” Thoros said plaintively. “Melisandre left ages ago and I’m starving and I need somebody to talk to your parents while I eat so I don’t have to explain what I’m wearing and how much it cost.” Beric cracked an eye and looked him over. “The suit is nice,” Beric said mildly. Thoros knew that was Beric-speak for the tie is hideously pink. “Nobody will be looking at the suit, the tie blinds anybody who gazes directly at it,” Thoros rolled his eyes. “I look like I’m rolling up for the Spring Service. Now c’mon, I can smell your Mom’s cooking and if Melisandre ate all the cinnamon rolls before she left, I will do terrible things to her.” “Do you think Robert will really care if I don’t go?” Beric asked glumly. “No,” Thoros frowned. “But I will care. Who will I talk to?!” “You’re a groomsman. You don’t get to talk,” Beric said wryly. “And I will be sitting alone in a pew trying to pretend like half the female population isn’t staring at me.” Thoros sighed. In a perfect world, Beric would have taken this experience in stride and maybe used it as a growing opportunity to become less self-conscious and more comfortable in his own skin. But he supposed that was the kind of journey that took years and lots of therapy, not two months as a viral phenomenon. Which left Thoros no choice. “I hate to burst your bubble, but they won’t be,” Thoros grinned, sitting down on the edge of the bed next to Beric. “That’s what you said about Dorne,” Beric began doubtfully. “Yes but this time’s different,” Thoros started trying to peel the bedsheet off him (a process made more difficult by the fact that Beric appeared to have rolled himself in it). “Why?” Beric huffed as Thoros managed to get the first layer free. “This time I have empirical evidence that your three minutes of fame are over,” Thoros said cheerfully, setting to work on the second layer. “Oh?” Beric raised an eyebrow. “Yup,” Thoros smirked. “Are you ready? As of four days ago,” he took a dramatic pause, “Jenny Oldstones has a boyfriend.” He was expecting some applause honestly. Or a gasp. Beric only rolled over. “Hey!” Thoros poked his shoulder. “This is good stuff! Do you have any idea how much high school gossip I had to listen to for this?! He’s from some fancy prep school and she’s at public. It’s all very scandalous.” “Great, I have ONE fewer admirer. She wasn’t going to be at the wedding anyway!” “You aren’t seeing the bigger picture,” Thoros attempted to tug Beric back toward him. “It’s not just Jenny and this Duncan kid. Once Cersei got Vogue, she pulled the commercial. Your fan base has an attention span of approximately ten seconds. They’re moving on and Jenny is indicative of that fact.” Beric grudgingly rolled onto his back, meeting Thoros’ gaze. “Well I certainly hope you’re right,” he mumbled. “And I wasn’t entirely serious about not coming to the wedding. It would be rude to not show up after I RSVPed.” “So rude,” Thoros agreed, smiling. “And I suppose I can come down to breakfast with you.” “Great, I think my stomach has started to devour my other organs.” “But I’m not coming with you to the sept early,” Beric said sternly. Or as sternly as he could manage with bedhead. “There will be no waiting around to be ogled at by wedding guests.” “I TOLD you, your five minutes of fame are over...” Thoros tried again, but Beric’s expression was unmoved. “Fine,” Thoros sulked. “But if there’s only one cinnamon roll left, it’s mine.” As it turned out, there were many cinnamon rolls left over. And Beric’s presence WAS the perfect buffer for his parents’ well-meaning but occasionally claustrophobic interest.

“No I’m still working at the bar,” magically became “Would you pass those scones?” and “Yes it is an ugly shade of pink” became “More honey please.”

So although the car ride was boring and quiet and he was stuck in traffic the entire time, he actually arrived at the sept in a fairly good mood.

That was until he saw Ned, standing with Mace Tyrell. Mace was holding his son Loras and looking like he was having a bout of indigestion. Which was an improvement on Ned, who was looking like someone had just killed his dog. Not that Ned was naturally the super cheerful type. Thoros sometimes wondered if he didn’t need a hug and a good slug of whiskey.

“Okay, the pocket squares are terrible but you two look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Thoros tried to joke. Mace at least attempted a smile. Ned just turned, face taut with dismay.

“Mace... forgot... the ring,” Ned ground out with a positively venomous glare at Mace.

Hmm okay, well a hug probably wasn’t going to fix this. A slug of whiskey might not either, but you never knew until you tried. Thoros took a swig from his flask as Mace and Ned proceeded to freak out about Robert’s whereabouts, and then another sip or two as they dragged him along in their search of the sept. Honestly, Thoros wasn’t sure how helpful Robert would actually be in this situation. What they needed to do was find a ring.

“We need to find a substitute ring,” he said, when it became apparent that neither Ned nor Mace were reaching that conclusion on their own. “One that’s nice enough that Cersei won’t freak out.”

“It’s going to have to be REALLY nice,” Ned frowned. Well yeah. Didn’t he just say that? Fortunately for these slowpokes, this was not Thoros’ first time coming up short one really expensive ring. Or even his second.

“Let’s see,” he said, staring at Mace pointedly and waiting for him to get the hint. “Who on earth might possibly have an incredibly expensive ring that we can substitute?”

Mace shrugged and shifted Loras in his arms. Thoros might be waiting a while. “Like a SIXTY THOUSAND dragon ring?” Thoros said the number loudly, willing him to remember.

“I mean we can look around the wedding guests, but that’s super high end,” Mace scratched his head. “And we can’t ask anyone who might tell other guests.”

Seriously with this guy?

“Oh we should definitely borrow it without asking,” Thoros crossed his arms. Ned said something about ethics and morality, Thoros wasn’t really paying attention, he was too focused on trying to get Mace with the program.

“Mace, who could we steal a very expensive ring from that you would be in a very good position to return it to after the wedding?” He ground out as slowly as possible.

There was a start of recognition and then a tremor of terror. Ah, there it was. “You don’t mean...” Mace stammered.

“Gam Gam!” Loras shouted.

“You can’t be serious,” Mace hissed, and then she was on them.

“Who’s my favorite boy?” Olenna Tyrell demanded, whisking Loras away from Mace.

She was much as Thoros remembered her from his lackluster tenure at King’s Landing Prep. Elegant in a rather cold and sharp kind of way. Every third word was a barb, and Thoros, who did not consider himself particularly easily intimidated, was nonetheless relieved when she departed, Loras in tow.

“Do NOT steal my mother’s ring,” Mace growled, still shaken from the encounter.

“Of course not,” Thoros patted him on the back. That would be ridiculous. Think how much trouble he could get in. “YOU’ll steal the ring.”

Mace tried to protest, but Thoros raised his voice to talk over him.

“Ned, tell Robert he’ll have a lovely ring. It’s taken care of,” Thoros said firmly. Ned shot him a relieved look and hurried off, probably to continue the hunt for Robert.

Thoros looked over at Mace.

“You can’t make me do it,” Mace sulked. “I won’t.”

Thoros took another swig from his flask and considered his dilemma. How to get a guy whose primary character trait was a groveling fear of his mother cross his mother?

What Mace really needed, Thoros decided, was a hug and a slug of whiskey. Metaphorical hug. Literal whiskey.

He put on his best ‘I’m a bartender and that’s basically a therapist’ face. “So how have you been Mace?”

“Well Loras got into a fight with another boy at daycare, and Alerie thinks they don’t provide enough supervision. She thinks we should take my mother up on an offer of a full time nanny, but I think it’s important for Loras to get socialization with other children his own age and mother says—“

“Wait,” Thoros stopped him. “That’s how Loras is. I want to know how you are.”

“Me?” Mace stared at him, genuinely baffled.

“Did your mother find out about the tattoo?” Thoros prodded, looking for some kind of resentment that he could turn into a grand gesture of defiance like say stealing Olenna Tyrell’s wedding ring.

“Oh almost immediately,” Mace swallowed. “She knew before I even landed in Highgarden. She goes over her credit card statements like a hawk.”

“Was she upset?”

“It really doesn’t bear dwelling on,” Mace shuddered. “Certain things were said that I really couldn’t bring myself to repeat.”

“It’s just a stupid tattoo, hasn’t she ever made a mistake?” Thoros waved his hand.

“Not ever I don’t think,” Mace said seriously.

“Doesn’t she know you’ll get it removed?”

“She considers it indicative of one of my primary personal failings, which is that I’m too easily pushed around,” Mace explained.

“Ridiculous!”

“I know!”

“And the worst part is, it’s hypocritical! She complains about you being too easy to push around AS she pushes you around!”

“She’s always been like this,” Mace huffed. “Nothing was good enough unless it was her idea done her way.”

“It’s sad seeing somebody lacking such total self-awareness,” Thoros shook his head.

“But she’ll never change.”

“Unless...” Thoros trailed off, pretending to hesitate.

“Unless what?”

“Well what if she had concrete proof that she was dead wrong about something? Like wouldn’t that at the very least give her a moment of reflection?”

“She’s never wrong about anything,” Mace sighed deeply. “It’s intolerable.”

“But she’s wrong about you,” Thoros elbowed him. “Obviously you’re not some spineless wimp who gets pushed around by his own mother.”

“I most certainly am not,” Mace puffed out his chest.

“What if you stood up to her? Said once and for all how you feel and get it off your chest? She would respect you for it, she would reconsider all these preconceived ideas, and think how great it would feel!”

Mace was slowly nodding along.

“It would feel great!”

“The most important thing is to make sure you have her attention though. You need to take her hands in your hands. You need to maintain eye contact. And when you apply pressure for emphasis, you need to slide her ring over the first knuckle and palm it.”

“Wait what?”

“Mace,” Thoros grabbed his hands. “Look at me.” Mace’s gaze skittered toward the floor but finally, reluctantly he looked up. “You need to do this. For Robert. For yourself. For your mother,” Thoros squeezed.

“I’ll mess it up, I mess everything up,” Mace fretted.

“You won’t,” Thoros let go and tossed Mace’s ring in the air before catching it. “It’s remarkably easy.”

“Hey!” Mace stared at Thoros then down at his hand then back up. “That’s mine!”

“So it is,” Thoros slipped the ring onto his own finger. “Let’s practice.”

It took a solid twenty minutes before Mace was passable. Thoros was gambling on Olenna’s rather bony fingers and the fact that she would be so flabbergasted by Mace standing up to her.

“Time to find your mother,” Thoros said, conceding that this was probably as good as they were going to get in one lesson. He spotted Olenna Tyrell through a window mingling in the garden.

“Are you sure this will work?” Maced asked nervously as Thoros towed him along.

Not even slightly.

“Absolutely.”

They covertly watched from behind a tree as she embraced a middle-aged woman within ample bosom and golden curls who was obviously a Lannister. Now she moved on, like an angular bird of prey toward Tywin Lannister, insinuating herself between him and Steffon Baratheon. They drifted after, trying to keep several wedding guests away at all times. At one point, Thoros could have sworn she was glaring directly at them, and his throat felt unaccountably dry.

“I don’t have to tell her off in front of Tywin Lannister do I?” Mace had gone very sweaty.

“Of course not,” Thoros assured him. He wasn’t that heartless. “We’ll just wait this out.”

So they waited.

“It’s just.. what do I say?” Mace fretted.

“You are an adult. You are capable of making your own decisions. Her constant interventions in your life do neither of you any favors,” Thoros said firmly.

Mace repeated this to himself, nodding along.

“And then?” He asked expectantly.

“Look, at some point this needs to come from you. It can’t sound rehearsed. And this is about you standing up for yourself, remember? Just start with that and then let the rest come from here,” Thoros poked Mace in the heart.

Mace’s stomach growled and Mace looked down doubtfully.

“Just one more thing,” Thoros slung his arms around Mace’s broad frame. “The secret weapon,” he passed him the flask.

“It’s a wedding,” Mace whispered, looking around furtively.

“Do people not drink at weddings?” Thoros asked bemusedly.

“Well usually not before the ceremony!”

“I mean if you don’t want it...”

“No, wait,” Mace took a long swig. He straightened and smacked his lips. His face was flushed, his eyes were bright. A new man.

Olenna meanwhile had leaned over to embrace Tywin, murmuring something in his ear, and then turning to kiss Steffon on the cheek. Steffon guffawed, Tywin harrumphed, Olenna floated back toward the entry courtyard.

“This is it,” Mace squared his shoulders. “Let’s go.”

Olenna had picked up speed, so in their haste to keep up, some of the stealth necessarily fell by the wayside.

Mace was puffing slightly when they reached the valet stand, only for Thoros to spot Olenna slipping in the main sept.

“There!”

They hurried after, barely catching a glimpse of her leaving the reception hall, then another sighting as she rounded a bend.

Thoros was so focused on not losing her ahead of him and not losing Mace behind him, that he barely had time to ponder where on earth she was going.

She was well into the administrative side now, messy offices, outdated computers abounding. Had Thoros had any modicum of nostalgia for the Red Temple, he might have felt it now. As it was he didn’t, if anything it annoyed him, and he took the stairs she’d walked up two at a time, only speeding up as he turned a corner at the top, pausing briefly to stick his head in an open door and—

Olenna Tyrell stood waiting in what appeared to be a library, arms crossed.

“Do I know you?” She said in a voice that might have cut glass.

“Doubtful,” Thoros said, never having been so relieved of that fact.

“Can we just stop for half a second,” Mace panted as he puffed into the room. Then he saw his mother and gasped.

“Mace, thank the gods, I was worried I’d have to deal with your scruffy friend. Just like you to be following me around all morning and then the second I want you you’ve evaporated,” Olenna tsked.

Mace blinked at her, utterly befuddled.

“Here take this,” she handed him her handbag.

“Mother I need to talk to you,” Mace protested, trying to regain momentum, even as he took the bag.

“Not a good time,” Olenna studied her reflection in an antique mirror and fluffed her hair.

“No, Mother, it really can’t wait! I—“

“Oh and take this,” Olenna took off her wedding ring and dropped it in the purse.

Mace stopped, mouth open.

“You’ll catch flies dear. Now off you go,” Olenna waved an imperious hand.

Seeing as Mace appeared frozen in place, Thoros hastily grabbed him by the elbow and towed him out into the hall, shutting the door to the library behind them.

“I don’t understand,” Mace stared at the ring in his hand.

“Do we need to?” Thoros shrugged, plucking it from Mace’s grasp and depositing it in his pocket. “It’s for Robert after all. Things always have a way of working out for him.”

“But I didn’t get to stand up for myself! I didn’t get to tell my mother what I really thought!” Mace protested.

“Maybe it’s for the best,” Thoros patted him on the shoulder, then heard the familiar creak of footsteps coming up the same staircase they had just used.

“Hide,” Thoros said immediately, a lifetime spent prowling parts of the temple he wasn’t allowed to access kicking in. He shoved Mace into a coat closet and followed after, frantically trying to drag the sliding door shut before the creaking stopped. As it was, they still had about half an inch of daylight, and Thoros braced for a scolding from some arthritic septon.

Instead, they had half an inch of daylight to watch Tywin Lannister round the bend, look in both directions, and knock on the library door twice.

Half an inch of daylight to watch the door swing open and a slightly bony and definitely ringless hand grab Tywin’s lapels and pull him in.

Half an inch of daylight to watch the door click quietly shut.

There was a brief pause.

“...Mommy?” Mace said in a shaky uncertain voice.

Thoros pushed the sliding closet door back open.

“Well now that we’ve gotten the ring we can go back to the party and find Ned,” Thoros said briskly.

Mace sat down on the carpet, staring at the library door.

“I mean there’s really no point to linger here,” Thoros tried again, nudging him with his foot.

Mace looked at the door unblinking.

“In fact I would definitely leave before they finish um whatever it is they’re doing in there,” Thoros coughed. “Which could obviously be anything.”

No reply.

Thoros shrugged, and started down the steps.

You can’t just leave him there! A voice that sounded eerily like Beric interjected. Thoros ground his teeth.

“I thought you weren’t coming early,” he snarked to nobody in particular as he headed back up, grabbed Mace’s arm and twisted it behind him.

He found Ned with Robert, who had FINALLY made an appearance.

“Ned!” Thoros released Mace from his forced march through the sept and pulled Ned in a hearty handshake.

“Great to see you again!” He slipped him the ring.

If Robert found this behavior odd, he gave no sign. He gave them all a beatific smile.

“It’s my wedding!”

“Hells yeah it is!” Thoros said cheerfully. Mace sat back down on the carpet. Ned continued to look twitchy.

“Thoros, can I talk to you... over here?” Ned jerked toward a side hall. Neither Robert nor Mace paid them the slightest attention.

“No thanks necessary, but if you want to leave a tip the next time you stop by,” Thoros started smugly as they departed.

“Thanks?” Ned look confused.

“For the ring?” Thoros raised his eyebrows. Because he didn’t like to brag but he had kind of saved the day and was the most amazingly awesome dude ever.

“Right! Thank you,” Ned recovered. “I just need one more thing. There’s been a um... hiccup? On the bride’s side. And I was hoping you could keep Robert distracted while I deal with it.”

“You just want me to hang out with Robert until the ceremony starts?” Thoros repeated back, confused.

“Yes,” Ned wrung his hands. “Just so he doesn’t worry about anything unnecessarily.”

“Yeah sure,” Thoros shrugged. He’d just spent an hour with Mace Tyrell. This would be easy compared to that.

He already had some ideas about how they could spend the time.

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