#global illumination
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MORE ON GENERATING LIGHT MAPS...
Q: What does the "generate light map uv" option do?
A: The "Generate Lightmap UVs" option in Unity is used to automatically generate a second set of UV coordinates for a mesh, specifically for lightmapping purposes. Lightmapping is the process of pre-calculating the brightness of surfaces in a scene and storing the result in a texture called a lightmap. This texture is later used for rendering the lighting on static objects in the scene :citation[2].
When you enable the "Generate Lightmap UVs" option in the Mesh import settings, Unity generates lightmap UVs for the mesh that follow specific rules, such as being within the [0,1] x [0,1] UV space, having a wide enough margin between individual charts, not having any overlapping faces, and maintaining a low difference between angles and relative scale of triangles in the UV and the original geometry :citation[3].
You can also create your own lightmap UVs in your preferred content creation software and provide them to Unity. For baked lightmaps, place UVs in Mesh.uv2 (also called "UV1"), and for real-time lightmaps, use Mesh.uv2 or Mesh.uv3 (also called "UV2") depending on whether you want to use the same UVs or provide different ones :citation[3].
Remember to ensure that any mesh you want to apply a lightmap to has proper UVs for lightmapping, either by enabling the "Generate Lightmap UVs" option or providing your own
Q: how does this relate to reflection probes and/or global illumination?
A: Reflection probes are used to capture the surrounding environment and provide information for real-time reflections on objects in the scene. They sample the visual environment at strategic points, allowing for more convincing reflections with an acceptable processing overhead :citation[1].
Global illumination is a lighting technique that simulates the way light bounces and interacts with surfaces in the real world, creating more realistic lighting in a scene :citation[5]. Lightmaps are used in conjunction with global illumination to store pre-calculated lighting information for static objects in a scene :citation[2].
When you enable the "Generate Lightmap UVs" option, Unity generates a second set of UV coordinates for a mesh that are specifically used for lightmapping purposes :citation[3]. This is important for both global illumination and reflection probes.
Reflection probes can also be used to capture information for real-time global illumination, allowing for more accurate lighting in dynamic scenes :citation[1]. By default, Unity generates lightmap UVs for reflection probes, but you can also provide your own UVs for more control over the lighting in your scene :citation[6].
In summary, the "Generate Lightmap UVs" option is related to reflection probes and global illumination in that it helps ensure proper UV coordinates for lightmapping, which is crucial for accurate lighting and reflections in your Unity scene.
Q: So, you have to have uv's generated. And these uv's can either be user created, or generated via the "generate light map uv" option?
A: Yes, that's correct! In order to use lightmapping in Unity, you need to have UV coordinates generated for your meshes. You can either create your own UVs in your preferred content creation software and provide them to Unity, or you can use the "Generate Lightmap UVs" option in the Mesh import settings to automatically generate UVs for lightmapping purposes.
The "Generate Lightmap UVs" option is a convenient way to quickly generate UVs for lightmapping, but the resulting UVs may not always be optimal for your specific mesh and scene :citation:citation[3]. If you need more control over the UVs for your mesh, it's recommended to create your own UVs in your content creation software and import them into Unity :citation:citation[7].
Regardless of how you generate your UVs, having proper UVs is crucial for accurate lighting and reflections in your Unity scene, especially when using global illumination and reflection probes :citation:citation[8].
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The "animals of India", from a late 15th-century manuscript of Le secret de l'histoire naturelle contenant les merveilles et choses mémorables du monde
Origin: France
Date: c. 1480-1485
Now Paris, BnF Fr 22971, f. 31r
#unicorn#unicorns#medieval unicorn#elephant#medieval elephant#global middle ages#manuscript#illuminated manuscript#15th century
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Remember, an elephant is not just for Christmas!
If you are a medieval ruler like Henry III who received an elephant from his brother-in-law (St) Louis IX of France in early December 1254, be prepared to spend:
£6 17 shillings 5 pence (refund to the sheriff of Kent for transporting the elephant from France to England)
£22 20 pence on a multi-purpose elephant house at the Tower of London
£24 14 shillings 3½ pence on food for the elephant every nine months
By comparison, a laborer might earn just 1-and-a-half pence per day, while a well-to-do knight might live on £15 per year. (For more, see Cassidy's and Clasby's article from the Fine Rolls of Henry III Project.) And don't forget, you will have to pay for the elephant's keeper, too! The monk-chronicler Matthew Paris helpfully depicted Henry III's elephants alongside one of its keepers for scale. The man is labelled as Henry de Flor, "mag[iste]r bestie" ("caretaker of the beast").
Sadly, Henry did not have these expenses for long: although many medieval legends emphasized elephants' longevity, this elephant only lived until 1257 in the inhospitable northern climate. When it died, it was initially buried in the tower, but Henry later had its bones transferred to Westminster Abbey.
Despite these difficulties and costs, elephants had a notable history as diplomatic gifts in the Middle Ages, even in regions where elephants did not naturally live. Charlemagne's elephant Abul Abbas is a very early example of the phenomenon, and by the eleventh century Byzantine emperors were receiving elephants in Constantinople. In 1228, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II received an elephant from al-Kamil, the ruler of Egypt, and King Louis IX probably also received his elephant from an Egyptian ruler before regifting it to Henry III.
Side note: although the "white elephant" gift exchange claims to be based on a southeast Asian ruler's practice of punishing courtiers with a gift that would cost them a lot of money, there is not much historical evidence for this before the story was shared in the Anglo-American world in modern era.
Some elephants fought back over being passed around as gifts, though. In the early 15th century an elephant and other rare animals arrived in Japan. (Martha Chaiklin has suggested that they were intended as a diplomatic gift for someone else, but were blown off course and ended up with the Ashikaga shogun.) The elephant was extremely grumpy and trampled some courtiers, so the shogun regifted it to Taejong, ruler of Korea. The elephant continued to trample courtiers in Korea and was expensive to feed, so Taejong exiled it to its own private island, where it continued to live.
Materials: parchment, ink, and pigments
Contents: Matthew Paris's Chronica Maiora
Origin: St Albans Abbey (made by the scribe-illuminator-chronicler-monk Matthew Paris)
Now Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 16 I, f. ii r
#elephant#elephants#medieval elephants#illuminated manuscript#13th century#medieval#elephants as gifts#unique gifts#medieval gifts#global middle ages#diplomacy
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Space, reflection - Midjourney
#this was the first time I experimented with the settings on promptomania#and I definitely went wild with it#I think I got ray tracing and global illumination in there somewhere#but it turned out pretty#even if I can barely see 'space' in it#midjourney#neural network art#my art
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The Angle Ruh Holding the Celestial Spheres, unknown artist, late 16th century, The Wonders of Creation and the Oddities of Existence by Al-Qazwini, Iran, The Ashmolean Museum
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Buckle Up Lost 2022 [VI] America!!!… My SUPER DARK [ULTRA BLACK = SUPERNATURAL] Interplanetary DEATH CARBON [iDC] MELANIN [I’M] DNA [I.D.] TECHNOLOGIES of Heavenly Archangel [HA = HARRELL] SATAN… Electrophysiologically [Spiritually] DECLARED A SUPER DARK [ULTRA BLACK = SUPERNATURAL] Interplanetary 1999 [X] GEOMAGNETIC ENERGY [G.E. = RADIOACTIVE] SUN PLANET [STAR] WAR on you in 2022 [VI] - 2030 [V]… I’M SIRIUS
JESUS RETURNED... NIBIRU HERE... 144000 ASCENSION IN 2022 [VI]
#quantumharrelltech#SATAN MORE ILLUMINATED THAN U#CHURCH AIN'T TAUGHT U SHIT#SATAN SATAN SATAN!!!#America is powerless#MU:13 Occult Tech Illuminati#WE Don't Play Games @ QHT#FEAR OF A BLACK PLANET#QHT CELEBRATE GLOBAL WARMING#I Smell War on American Soil#the real war is in america.... not Russia#DEATH DECLARES WAR#9 ETHER MEMORY MELANIN MORE ADVANCED THAN U#you cannot kill me#I LOVE MY AUTHENTIC 9 ETHER SATANIC SELF OF HARRELL [HERU]
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The Global Vein Illumination Devices Market To Grow At Highest Pace Owing To Increasing Adoption For Complex Surgeries
The global vein illumination devices market comprises of equipment that visualize subsurface veins and blood vessels. These devices use infrared light technology to illuminate veins without any pain or discomfort to patients. Vein illumination devices provide a clear view of veins in low visibility healthcare settings which can aid clinicians in starting IV lines, drawing blood and administering injections with fewer attempts.
The Global Vein Illumination Devices Market Size Is Estimated To Be Valued At US$ 608.8 Mn In 2024 And Is Expected To Exhibit A CAGR Of 10% Over The Forecast Period 2024-2031.
Get more insights on this topic: https://www.pressreleasebulletin.com/global-vein-illumination-devices-market-trend-and-demand/
#Global Vein Illumination Devices Market Analysis#Global Vein Illumination Devices Market Growth#Global Vein Illumination Devices market Size#Global Vein Illumination Devices Trend
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so good news i have finally opened and am updating my laptop in time for college
bad news i had to reinstall a lot of my firefox extensions bcs it refreshed it (though saved history and log ins thankfully lol), and i hadnt. shut down the laptop properly so it ran out of battery and was probably not in great shape when i booted it up again. oops
#ah well.#currently updating genshin then gonna shut it down to cool for a bit until the new banners#mostly bcs i wanna check if my laptop can run the global illumination where my desktop cant#(given my laptop can update to windows 11 and again my desktop cant plus it also runs unity and stuff p well so)#i wont keeeep global illum on bcs fans go brrrrr but i wanna see the pretty underwater lighting haha#step right up! || 🪄.txt
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According to Coherent Market Insights, The global LED work light market is estimated to account for US$ 11,620.6 Mn in terms of value by the end of 2027. Read More: https://cmibloggers.blogspot.com/2023/06/the-future-of-illumination-intelligent.html
#coherent market insights#information and communication technology industry#global LED work light market#Work light#Illumination#Portable#Task lighting#Heavy-duty
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@baytal.fann
"Did you know that the art of stained glass originated in the Muslim world?
In the eighth century, skilled glassmakers in Egypt made a groundbreaking discovery—the technique of painting glass with metallic stain. This innovation led to the creation of transparent stains, colored with copper (producing red or brown) and silver (resulting in yellow), which became distinctive features of early Islamic glassware in Egypt and the Near East.
Fast forward to the 13th century, when decorators in the Syrian region achieved a significant milestone by applying enamels on glass on a large scale. Over the following two centuries, Syrian and Egyptian craftsmen crafted a diverse array of glass objects in various shapes and sizes, adorned with brilliant polychrome ornamentation. These items served practical purposes such as hanging lamps for illuminating mosque interiors, as well as functional vessels and other useful items, along with awe-inspiring display pieces.
In the later Middle Ages, European admiration for Islamic luxury glasses soared due to their exotic aesthetics and advanced technical craftsmanship. Some even believed these objects to be relics from the Holy Land. Fragments of Islamic glass, often adorned with gilding and enameling, have been discovered in archaeological excavations across Europe, while intact pieces grace cathedral treasuries. Notably, excavations have unveiled evidence of the exportation of Islamic glass vessels to China, highlighting the widespread influence and global trade connections of this innovative art form."
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[...] The Zionist Left in Israel is in a limbo.
On the one hand, it is ostracized by Jewish society as, at best, being naïve and, at worst, as being accused of betrayal. This is in reaction to their support for the two-state solution and the call to end the occupation. This alienation, of course, is now more acute after the events of October 7.
On the other hand, they are not considered, and rightly so, genuine allies of the Palestinian liberation struggle.
The Israeli Left’s biggest hope was that the Global Left, as they call it, would share the same language and attitude regarding the October 7 operation by Hamas; namely to be unconditionally behind Israel.
The Israeli Left was outraged that, in the eyes of the Global Left, the Hamas operation did not absolve Israel from its past criminal policies nor did it provide Israel with a green light for its genocidal policies in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
To their great surprise, the Global Left in its entirety was galvanized behind the call to “Stop the War” and “Free Palestine”, rather than echoing their government’s repeated response of “We support Israel’s right to defend itself”.
What is most illuminating – in the dialogue the liberal Zionists have with themselves on the pages of Haaretz – is their vicious attack on any one associating colonialism with Israel.
For some reason, they chose Judith Butler as the main culprit, which would leave many of us disappointed, as we devoted our careers to frame Zionism as settler colonialism, probably going back to the 1960s.
In fact, today, the framing of Zionism and Israel as a settler-colonial project is a consensual issue among all the leading scholars on the Middle East, and it is rejected as an accurate paradigm only among mainstream Israeli academia.
The Global Left is guilty of two ‘sins’, in the eyes of the liberal Zionists: one, it refers to Israel as a settler-colonial state and two, it provides a context for the Hamas attack on October 7.
. . . continues at Palestine Chronicles (16 Nov., 2023)
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Yoooo, so I just read your Birds of a Feather ask, and I LOVED it.
But now my need is itching for something, so, may I kindly request Adam, Lute and Sera/Emily (either or) with a reader who’s wings and magic that’s akin to a Phoenix?
Would love something with them cuddling and flying with their fiery bird lover.
˚✧₊⁎ Adam ⁎⁺˳✧༚
• There’s nothing in Heaven quite like you and he’s not sure what to do with that
• As The First Man, the first to experience everything, he can’t help but be drawn to originality
• He attempts to come off as casual but, as we know, when Adam is intimidated, he overcompensates
• You were responsible for teaching him how to use his magic but he was frustrated with how different yours was from his
• Purest light could beam from his palms but he envied the fire that illuminated from yours
• “Don’t focus on me,” You would say when he was about to give up
• (As if that was an option)
• “Kind of impossible when you’re so hot, you’re probably responsible for global warming,”
• He thinks he’s hilarious but he’s downright insufferable when one manages to make you smile
• “You’re incorrigible, Adam.”
• The way you speak to him, even when you’re displeased, is coated in a summery tone he just loves to hear
˚✧₊⁎ Lute ⁎⁺˳✧༚
• It’s usually quite hard to impress her upon impact so color her overwhelmed that you managed to do so
• Lute’s poker face is immaculate but when provided with the opportunity to see you in action, she takes it
• Your wings may not be golden or pure white, but Heaven save her are they gorgeous
• Mortified by her own gawking, Lute immediately reverts back to feigning indifference
• You’re no better than anyone else here in Heaven— That’s not a diss, it’s a rule! Everyone is equal here!
• And yet
• You’re so uniquely resplendent she can’t help but be drawn to you and feel… special when you make time solely for her
• “You look happy today,” You comment with a beam, “Anything to report?”
• “No.” She replies bluntly, like always
• “Oh? Then could it be that you're finally relaxing?”
• “Doubtful.”
• You hum almost knowingly and it sets her entire body on edge, “There’s always tomorrow.”
˚✧₊⁎ Emily ⁎⁺˳✧༚
• Did you know you’re very warm? Like, super duper warm!?
• You give the best hugs, Emily makes you a ribbon that says so!
• (Maybe don’t wear it around others? Favoritism doesn’t look good around here but she just had to let you know!)
• Heaven is the perfect temperature all the time. Not too cold or too hot; everything is just right
• If you could keep a secret for her though? Wait, secrets aren’t really allowed so maybe it’s less of a secret and more of a compliment? She feels the most comfortable standing beside you
• “You’re like a campfire— but a person! You’re so cozy and nice to be around. I bet we could toast marshmallows on you!”
• “Wanna try?” You ask with a raised brow
• “Yes please!”
• So much of her time is spent making everyone else happy (which she’s grateful she can provide!) that she doesn’t realize how draining it is until she gets to sit next to you and relax
• Emily’s most favorite part is when your wing stretches out and drapes over her shoulders
~
╰(*´︶`*)╯♡ thank you so mochi for your kind words! sorry i could only fit cuddling for emily (who was very fun to write by the by!) the rest i wanted to try something with, i hope it calms your itch friend ehehe!
#hazbin hotel adam headcanon#hazbin hotel adam imagine#hazbin hotel adam x reader#lute imagine#lute headcanon#lute x reader#hazbin hotel emily x reader#hazbin hotel emily
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The Most Underrated Line In All Of ATLA/TLOK And Its Many Worldbuilding Implications - A Ramble
In S2E7 of TLOK we get this dialogue from Wan and The Aye-Aye Spirit: "There are other Lion Turtles?" "Of course there are - dozens of them!" [timestamp 3:38 in this video]
It's such a quick line it's easy to miss, but there's one thing about it that made a LOT of things click into place for me about the Avatar universe's worldbuilding; the fact that there are (or were) dozens of Lion Turtles. NOT four, with one for each element, like you would assume. Dozens.
What does this mean in terms of the Four Nations? What connections might this have with other previously established lore? Well uhm follow me on this journey. I guess.
Pre-Unifications - A Global Warring States Era?
A warring states era on a wouldn't be nearly as compelling if there were only four Lion Turtles. If this were the case, everything would be perfectly balanced; why would there be disarray, violence, cultural disparity and struggles for power within each elemental group if the world was already perfectly divided into four solid groups? Why would a national identity be in question at all?
But the fact that there are more than one Lion Turtle per element... that means different groups of people being isolated from one another for long periods of time. This means different bodies of identity, regardless of element. Different city states, regional Kings, Queens, fiefdoms, dynastic power struggle, etc etc, before any sort of inherent loyalty the ones element as a national and cultural identity was established.
We know the Avatar world was not always divided into Four Nations. In Chapter 21 of The Rise Of Kyoshi we learn that Guru Laghima - a name you'll recognize from TLOK S3 - was from an era when the Four Nations had not yet been formed. We also know from Zaheer that he lived about 4,000 years before the events of TLOK (for context, thats about 6,000 years after Wan became the first Avatar).
There's further confirmation of this in Smoke And Shadow, where we learn about the first Firelord and the Fire Nation's unification wars.
However there's implications of this even in the original series; it's not some sloppy ret-con from the books and comics, it fits. Think Omashu:
In S2E2 of ATLA we get the story of Oma and Shu - and we learn that they come from "warring villages." Now why exactly would their villages be warring if The Earth Kingdom already existed? Why the need for a power struggle? Why is it not presented as a civil insurrection or civil war, but as a conflict between two distinct groups of people? The answer is that the "Earth Kingdom" as we conceptualize it did not exist. I'd go further and say that we can assume that after Omashu was established it became a powerful regional kingdom, and created strong sphere of cultural influence. Think about it - Bumi is King Of Omashu. King. NOT the Earth King, King Of The Earth Kingdom, but still King Of Omashu.
[Now there's some debate about where Omashu's founding sits on the timeline but to me it HAS to be post-Wan, probably very nearly immediately post-Wan. The line that calls them the "first earthbenders" and that they "learned earthbending from the badger moles" has caused some to question if they fit in with the "Lion Turtles bestowed bending" lore, but to me it fits pretty easily. The Lion Turtles may have bestowed the power but the actual technique was learned from the badger moles and dragons and blah blah blah.]
I also find this line from Jianzhu in The Rise Of Kyoshi very illuminating:
VINDICATION !! And Jianzhu's moaning over the cultural diversity within his country brings me to the second part of this post...
FC Yee And Gene Luen Yang Accidentally (?) Make Avatar's Cultural Mish Mash Make More Sense
Avatar's cultural gumbo of visuals has always been a little hard to parse. If you follow @atlaculture then you know it'd be kind of fruitless to try and apply any one single ethnicity/culture to one nation. A common, and very valid, criticism of Avatar is the pan-asian approach it takes to worldbuilding. I'm not here to defend that lol. I think people who dislike Avatar on that basis are well within their rights to do so, and I also think it's important to enjoy things critically.
HOWEVER, from a worldbuilding perspective, the mish mash becomes easier to swallow when you think of it in terms of multiple groups of people being unified into different nation states over a very long period of time and slowly intertwining their cultures into a single(ish) identity.
Take the Fire Nation for example: in FC Yee's The Shadow Of Kyoshi we learn that the government was much more decentralized and the country was controlled by different clans, like the Saowon and Keosho, who had individual spheres of influence and strong senses of identity. It makes me think about Mai and Ty Lee
They're both Fire Nation nobles and they both live in the Fire Nation capital - but their styles/clothes are completely different. Now, obviously that can be boiled down to personality-based character design but. There's a wide discrepancy between Mai's Edo Japan inspired hair and Ty Lee's Thai inspired performance outfit, and a little retroactive canon about them being part of different but powerful clans .. ? Yeah. That'd be fun, at the very least.
I could go on about this... was there a Water Lion Turtle at the north AND the south? How did the airbenders transition from relatively sedentary life on a Lion Turtle to nomadism? etc etc etc BUT in conclusion: TLOK and the comics have some very fun worldbuilding implications snuck in there !! Which makes up for a lot in my opinion. Personally I'd KILL for an Avatar series set in the warring states/unification period... I think that could be insanely cool...idk. The End. For Now.
#atla#tlok#shadow of kyoshi#rise of kyoshi#this post may get even more added onto it after I read the Yangchen novels...#worldbuilding#like. I REALLY could go on and on but I'm tired and bound to make less and less sense to longer I type#FC Yee#gene luen yang
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Idk if this really fits ur blog (its not technically TRANSandrophobia) but i saw a post about how approximately 1/3 men have hpv and people in the notes are being, like, super radfem-ish and bioessentialist? Like, someone said that the reason this is the case is that “men generally don’t like getting vaxxed”, another person said “sex with men will kill you in some form” and lots more people were saying shit like “kill all men” (which, even ironically, makes me a little sick) and idk, it just felt very… weird? And wrong? And like, definitely morally questionable, if not outright wrong?
So I looked into this: apparently a study recently came out on HPV in men, and found that 1 in 3 cis men globally have HPV. The study itself brings up that most research has been done on cis women, concerning cervical cancer. Because that's a big concern, its why people need regular pap smears- but since there isn't an equivalent to that for those with penises, they are less likely to know they have HPV, especially since many cases are asymptomatic. This study is actually very important since its encouraging more effort be put into making sure everyone is given medical advice on HPV. Despite it being able to cause cancer in any sex, if its seen as a "female" disease, then everyone else is going to assume its not something they need to worry about. The CDC found that children AFAB started being recommended vaccinations in 2006 while children AMAB only started getting recommended them in 2011. Here's an academic paper on "the feminization of HPV" that dives into this issue, which I do recommend people check out, since it really illuminates just how much sexism has affected men's health in this regard.
So people with penises are a very under-researched group with regards to HPV, and that is killing people because they don't realize that they can get cancer and they aren't getting an equivalent to pap smears to check for it. This study is genuinely important! So people seeing the statistic "1 in 3 men have HPV" and jumping to "it must be because they hate getting vaccinated! this is proof men are disgusting and penises will kill you!" is absolutely some gross gross shit. Very radfem-flavored misandry. You are right to feel sick about this!
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My specific read on John is not that he's a nice guy, either. It's that, like any good character (specifically a tragic character, which, TM has said that he is modeled on a mythical tragic hero, so) he has a flaw that dooms him. And what that means is, when he has the choice to change what he's doing, that flaw either prevents him from taking the option he's aware of, or prevents him from being aware that there is another option altogether.
And so as a writer, what I look for are moments where either:
something good about a character becomes an excess that harms themselves or others
we receive information that shows a persistent blind spot a character has
we look for times when a character gives their view of the world/a situation and it Does Not Match Up with reality, or is hinted that it doesn't
we look for evidence of something simmering under the surface that clashes with their outward, agreeable presentation
What fills that role for John?
Yep.
When this first pops up, it's pretty easily dismissed as yet another layer on the falsehood he's propped up. Admittedly, he's been doing it for ten thousand years, so it's probably got a few layers to it.
However:
This one, to me, gives us a hint about what John is blind to: That his friends see his vindictiveness and his failings and that they could still love him. This is where it crosses into tragedy, for me; where his own inability to forgive blinds him to the capacity that other people have for generosity--and so, to a world where "justice" means more than "vengeance for the dead".
And this illuminates the whole chain of events that leads him to that climactic scene in Harrow the Ninth, telling Mercy that she never would have forgiven him anyways:
John is, at heart, deeply angry--like most characters in the series, and like a lot of people who grew up in poverty, especially if they managed to escape it. He also has some deep sense of justice, and deep sense of judgment.
So we have this cycle of related emotions and ideas: Justice, judgment, outrage. And a human measure of selfishness, amorality, double standards, etc.
In one situation, this allows him to throw himself completely into the cryo project, something that (if it hadn't been sabotaged politically) could have made a difference to humanity. He brings in people who work to make it even better, who demonstrably want to make the outcome as just and humane as possible. It's also implied that this is part of why he received those powers; "I chose you to change."
(And, I'll be honest, one of the other things that I see that chafes me is the implication that there was nothing about John to recommend him to the Earth. I'm actually of the opinion that there was; she chose him, and I don't think she just rolled a d100 or drew a card off a tarot deck and called him up. John is also still a human, flawed person.)
Then, the situation changes. It's no longer an issue of dedicating expertise to solve a problem; this is a political issue, and specifically of rich people using their resources to shift outcomes towards the one they think will benefit them the most, that will secure their survival, explicitly at the expense of everyone else.
And their strategy is, profoundly: short-sighted and unnecessary (pooling resources would help create a better outcome for everyone, including the rich, by reducing global trauma and preserving more of the systems that already structure their world); bigoted and uninformed (many rich people think that the world has to be a certain way, generally that the world is violent, competitive, dog-eat-dog, etc., and someone has to be "on top", and there will always have to be a loser, or lots of losers); and utterly cruel, unjust, and pointless.
And John--John, who grew up poor, who grew up aware of the despair around him and the injustice of his position and more than likely made use of that anger to achieve what he had up to this point--John is so angry.
Because they're all the same. They're all the same. It's the same song, over and over again, no matter how stupid and pointless and unnecessary. He is certain, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it doesn't have to be this way. He passes judgment.
But John is losing to them, because he doesn't have the resources they do. He can hate them and fight them all he wants, and it doesn't matter, because he's nowhere near in the same league as they are politically.
And then, after the cryo project is cancelled, he gains his powers.
The thing about anger and judgment is that the deeper it runs, often, the more invested the person who holds that anger in themselves is in not seeing what they hate in themselves. E.g: John has conceptualized the people he's resisting as fundamentally unjust, cruel, amoral, and bigoted. There's a very good chance--to different degrees, depending on the person--that becoming aware of similar traits in himself might wake up those feelings he has towards those other people--aimed at himself (that is, cognitive dissonance). He can't see the things he's passed judgment on in himself and function. He's not like them; he's trying to fix things, to bring about justice.
Of course, there's justice as in "living in a just society", and justice as in "justice for the dead". But that's a later realization, because right now, everyone is still alive.
So John hides those parts of himself; from himself, from other people. So thoroughly he can exclude it from his consciousness and pretend it doesn't exist. He thinks no one sees the real depth of his own rage, his own cutthroat pursuit of a solution. And then, when he can't pretend it doesn't exist, he can still pretend to be the man he thinks they need him to be. He can "fool" them. He can say--he's trying. He screwed up. He doesn't know what he's doing.
And then, Casseiopeia says, No, actually, we know you, and we know you're horribly vindictive. And we're on your side--we're on the same side--our fight is your fight--and we love you. But your drive for revenge is seriously limiting your ability to imagine and create a living, just world, and that's what we're fighting for. Remember? That's what we set out to create.
And John's brain can't quite handle this; he can't imagine that they could actually see him and still be on his side. Because he couldn't see that and still be on his side. He can't forgive; he can't imagine forgiveness.
He can't see the things he's passed judgment on in himself and function.
And, by this stage, in some ways, it's already too late to change course. But this is one of several "come to Jesus" (no pun intended) moments where John could become aware of alternatives, or could change his behavior--and doesn't.
And I think this is where we get that self-awareness from, the thing that makes him creepy and tragic but also infuriating: He is aware, but apparently that's not enough to stop him from being his worst self--so is he just pretending to be moral? Capable of making different choices but choosing not to? And the weird statements he makes later:
This is, imo, not a power-hungry dictator who genuinely doesn't care about the cost of his throne, or a gleefully predatory abuser. This is a dude who's committed to a course of action and doesn't feel great about it. This is a guy who has violated his own sense of justice and has to live with it.
This is a guy who set out to save the world, killed it, and now the only thing that's left to him is to avenge it.
And like, from a mythology standpoint, that is exactly what the Erinyes are, like the Furies and Alecto. They are not the justice of Apollo or Athena. They are screaming for blood. They are hunting their quarry to the ends of the universe. They are chthonic.
Again: This isn't what Cassieopeia or Christabel said to him. This is what John has said to himself. This came from him. This is a reflection of what he believes.
And it encapsulates, exactly, why he erased their memories. Why he took away their agency.
The difference between him and many, many people is he had the power of a god and no one to check him when he was struggling with his own worst impulses. And then, he created a world where no one could, not just because then he could do what he wanted and pretend to be kind and loving and moral, but so that he would never have to lose the love of the people he needed.
Because, unfortunately, he still needed them.
It just took ten thousand years for the lie to unravel.
#the locked tomb#john gaius#tlt meta#i'm not a john gaius apologist. i just think about cognitive dissonance a lot#and frankly tumblr and twitter are the home of cognitive dissonance
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Experimental Pedagogy (18+)
cw: reader is a college student, oral fem receiving, mentions of economy concepts
A/N: I wrote this as a gift for our adorable @cassiemartzz , i hope this can get you going through the semester and i'm also very sorry i wrote it like a month before it ends lksjskf ily
The night had fallen earlier than you expected. You weren’t sure at what moment all that time had gone by, and it wasn’t the first time you had that sensation. Whenever you tried to study, specifically when it came to your international economy class, the minutes just seemed to slip through your fingers away from your grasp, and the information did the exact same thing away from your brain. The topic was so boring, not even a reward system was keeping you focused, nothing was motivation to swallow down endless concepts of useless themes.
Spencer, being the boy genius that he was, had long figured out perhaps mental stimuli was not enough; he made it his little project to find a way you could feel yourself getting compensated for your hard work. And he tried, and tried: money, food, baked goods, objects, trips, they all worked for a limited period of time until you lost interest. He wondered if you were simply doomed to struggle with concentration, but it pained him to see you so frustrated, so tired, he couldn’t just give up. And he didn’t. After a million tries, Spencer finally found the way to keep your brain engaged.
Physical stimuli was the answer.
“Who’s considered the father of the modern day global economy?” he asked, his face not moving to look at you.
He was settled in between your legs while you sat on your desk, a completely dark room barely illuminated by your computer screen. Your underwear had been gone for about an hour, and he had yet to reach your exposed core. He had gotten frustratingly close, though.
This is how the game went: You had two hours to study as much as you could, he would read alongside you, albeit constantly finish way faster than you, and whenever you finished a paragraph he removed a piece of clothing, or caressed a specific spot, or kissed a well-liked area. Once you were ready for a test, he would kneel before your desk to press kisses to your inner thigh as he asked questions. For every right answer, you got a kiss closer to your slit, and if you were good enough, you could have his tongue.
You only got to cum once you aced it.
“Adam Smith.” you muttered, your tongue tracing over your lips as you watched his lips get closer to your needy cunt.
“That’s my girl.” he grinned.
His hands were spreading your legs open, since once you had dared to almost crush his skull and use his tongue without completing the test. He enjoyed so, very much, but academic integrity was crucial, and he was not about to let you take advantage once again.
His lips attached to the remaining gap of skin next to your outer lips, his kiss was more of a bite, a rough suck that you were sure was going to be sore the next morning. Your back arched at the feeling, and you let out a wince.
“Name of the international trade treaty held between the US, Canada, and Mexico.” his breath hitting your skin was driving you crazy, honestly, you had never wanted him to shut up more.
“NAFTA.” you said with resolution.
Spencer's head tilted to be facing your sex, and just when you thought he was going to give you what you needed, he simply blew hot air against the area of your clit.
“That’s the old name.” he said, and you could feel absolute rage boil within you.
“USMCA!” you yelled, anger plastered all over your tone.
That emotion, however, dissipated in a blink once you finally felt the relief of his tongue. He wasn’t going to let you go that easy, though, so his muscle just trailed over your outer labia, not going into your slit or clit just yet. However, he thought you deserved your reward, and he purposely let his nose brush, although barely, against the sensitive nub.
You did try to buck your hips forward, mind you, but his hands stopped you. Once he had licked enough, leaving your skin as wet as your insides were, he spoke up again.
“This concept refers to the ability of a country to naturally produce goods for a cheaper price.” he asked against your core.
Regardless of Spencer’s stoic demeanor as a teacher, he was just a man, and the passion he felt for teaching was often overtaken by the passion he felt for your body. While you scrambled through your mind in an attempt to find the answer, his lips kept pressing soft kisses around the area, still not allowing his tongue to insert anywhere.
“Come on,” he stopped his movements to raise his gaze at you “I know you know this, say it.”
Your eyes locked with his, ever big and shiny like a puppy’s; there was a certain desperation in his eyes, and your eyebrows raised in question, after all he was supposed to be there to support you.
“Don’t look at me like that.” he rolled his eyes lightly at your judging expression “I’m dying to taste you.”
The praise disguised as a complaint gave you the final encouragement you needed, and it was like your brain sparkled with knowledge all of a sudden.
“Comparative advantage.” you said.
His face disappeared as soon as his brain fact-checked your answer; his eyes no longer locked with yours, since his tongue was entangled in your insides. You could feel him prod inside and out, taking his time to coat his tongue in your taste. Your legs threatened to close on his face again, a tight grip stopping you from it. Your hands locked on his messy hair, trying to keep him in place.
You were already overstimulated as it was, having had him down there for over an hour, teasing and caressing like you were senseless, like he didn’t have any effect on you, even though he was well aware it was the opposite. Your back was arched against your study chair, and the only sounds in the entire place were your moans mixed by the erotic slurps of his mouth.
“One last question.” once he felt you clench around him, dangerously close to your climax, he stopped his movements “What’s the main economic indicator of a country regarding the production of goods and services?”
His tongue didn’t truly leave you unattended, instead, it just moved in painfully slow circles around your clit, keeping you on edge. Your breath was awfully rushed, making it unable for you to respond right away regardless of your clear knowledge of the answer. He took a long, slow lap at your core, trailing up every inch of it, all while having his big honey-like eyes fixed on your hot face.
“GDP or Gross Domestic Product.” you answered when your eyes met hiss.
Without breaking eye contact, his lips wrapped around your nup, and his tongue moved side to side at a rapid pace. You let out a pleasured, high-pitched noise as your climax took over you, your fluids spilling all over his face. Once you stopped trembling from the pleasure, he took his time to clean up any moisture left on your skin, sending light bolts through your veins whenever he touched an over-sensitive spot.
“Jesus, Spencer.” you said, defeatedly laying against your seat “I still don’t understand how I can retain any information when you eat me out like that.”
“Actually,” he began, standing up from the floor “the basis for this technique relies on unconscious rewarding instead of conscious rewarding. While you’re taking the test you will remember the sensations instead of the concepts directly, and eventually your unconscious will just make the connection between the two. Similar to how we sometimes use smells to help people remember facts about a case.”
He moved behind you as he explained, laying his hands on your shoulders; you had only covered half the material for the final, so there was plenty left to go. You were listening intently to his ramble, and you couldn’t lie to yourself, it was a little bit so you had an excuse to not continue studying.
“So, you’re telling me I’m going to be horny in the middle of the test if they ask me about GDP?” you asked in a half joke, however, he actually took his time to consider the possibility.
“There’s a 30% chance that will happen. Don’t worry, though, I can be there to take care of you right after it.” from behind, he grabbed at your chin and tilted your head back to press a gentle kiss to your lips, almost spiderman-like. Immediately, he dragged a chair closer to your desk, ready to go back to studying with you “Come on, we still have two more blocks to go.”
#spencer reid#spencer reid x reader#spencer reid x you#spencer reid/reader#spencer reid x reader smut#spencer reid x you smut#blurb: mine#blurb: spencer#blurb: smut#blurb: criminal minds#spencer reid blurb#criminal minds smut#criminal minds blurb
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