#organization vs mobilization | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

howtofightwrite · 10 months

Note

in a lot of zombie stories like The Walking Dead, the only way to kill a zombie is to destroy the brain. Given that the skull is designed to protect one of our most important organs, how hard would this be on average? Would it be easier with bladed weapons like a hatchet vs blunt weapons like a baseball bat? And while killing anything is easier with a gun, I’ve heard headshots can be quite hard to nail. Is this something that can get better with practice, or will it always be something of a crapshoot?

Honestly? Thinking about it, destroying the brain to put down the zombie doesn't make that much sense. The first problem is the brain itself. The skull is pretty good at protecting the brain most of the time, but that's more impressive when you consider just how fragile the brain is. It's very soft tissue, suspended in fluid. It's also one of the first organs to really suffer from decomposition.

Particularly, the brain is the organ you have to really worry about when someone flatlines. It will start suffering serious damage within 30 seconds of being deprived of oxygen. Within minutes of death, it undergoes irreversible chemical changes and starts to break down, so, it follows that, the brain isn't going to be in a usable state by the time the zombie virus tries to claw its way back to the living.

This is a different kind of problem with living “zombies,” such as the 28 Days series or REC. Though, in those cases, the zombies would have a very limited shelf life, as the strain of the virus would kill them long before the second film rolled around. But, in those cases, massive trauma should still kill the zombie, so you don't really need headshots, when a shotgun, center mass, will get the job done.

For clarity, you know there's no way to answer that comment about headshots without sounding like a psychopath, right? The short answer is that, yeah, if you' know what you're doing, and you know your gun, you can hit a small, semi-mobile target at medium range. A sapient being? That's harder, people don't tend to present their head for a convenient bullet, like a video game shooting gallery, but, with practice, you can reliably hit a head sized target at about 30m. Landing that shot against a live person running for cover or shooting back might be a bit tricky, but against a shambling, reanimated, corpse, it should be pretty doable. Obviously, I don't have a lot of first hand experience shooting reanimated corpses, so I'm having to make some educated guesses here.

However, having just said that, I'm immediately reminded of something the Resident Evil 2 remake pointed out: Shooting someone in the head doesn't mean you destroyed their brain. Surprisingly, shooting someone in the head will only kill them about 98% of the time, so I can see some logic in the thought process.

That said, shooting zombies tends to run up against a problem, that doesn't make a lot of sense when you step back and think about it. Generally you don't want to shoot zombies because the sound will attract more zombies, and there are inevitably more zombies than you have bullets. This the exact scenario that The Walking Dead works with. So, I have one small question: How did we get here?

Before we go any further, and spoilers for a comic book that published 15 years ago, but The Walking Dead did answer that. (The TV series and comic have different answers. In the TV series it's a virus from space that reanimates corpses, in the comic book it was a presumably supernatural force reanimating the dead. Though, it might have become a space virus now. I stopped reading the comic when it just got too goddamn depressing.)

When you're looking at a city like Atlanta (from The Walking Dead), and you're facing something north of six million zombies, yeah, that's a serious problem. You can't headshot six million zombies. But how did you get six million zombies? Six million zombies is a problem that can't be solved with brute force. Six-hundred-thousand zombies is a problem that can't be solved with brute force. But, sixty-thousand zombies? That can be contained. Six thousand zombies is an orderly riot. Six hundred zombies can be locked in a building and disposed of. Sixty zombies can be easily contained and neutralized. Six zombies? You can send out animal control and nip that problem in bud before there's an outbreak. And without higher brain function, there's basically no chance of patient zero avoiding detection.

But, I know the answer to this one, “well, they sent cops to catch patient zero, and the cops got bitten, then they turned in the hospital, and...” this would be a lot more plausible if rabies didn't exist. Actually, with the reputation of American police, there's basically no chance a zombie gets within biting distance. But, even if they did get closer, you know what else likes to bite cops? Meth heads. You know who has more higher brain function than a zombie? Meth heads.

Is there zero chance of a first responder getting bitten by a zombie? No, there's a chance. There's basically zero chance of that zombie biting anyone else, and on the slim possibility that the infected first responder turns and manages to chomp on one of their coworkers, there is no chance that the infection daisy chains out from there.

There's also a real likelihood that any growing outbreak will suffer, “a negative biomass shift,” as it tries to expand. That is to say, if someone sends twenty soldiers to contain 100 zombies, and those soldiers are overrun and infected, you're not going to have 120 zombies. You probably won't have 100 zombies, after they're infected and turned. So long as those soldiers drop more than two zombies, the horde will experience negative population growth. Incidentally, it doesn't matter if this is a modern or medical fantasy setting, in either case, the zombies aren't going to be able to put up much of a fight against armed and armored troops. Militaries train to fight against sapient foes, while zombies are going to be little more than training dummies. Even if they are eventually overwhelmed by the hoard, the hoard only gets a few corpses to replace all the zombies it lost. (Note: This doesn't apply if you have necromancers raising undead forces, in those cases, the actual loss of zombies will be minimal, as they reanimate zombies that were damaged enough to break their previous reanimation, but could still be used on the battlefield, so in this specific case, the goal would need to be more egregious destruction of the corpses.)

So how did we get to six million zombies? Any zombie outbreak will be at its most vulnerable when there are only a handful of infected. This even applies, to some extent, when you're looking at non-traditional zombie scenarios, such as fungal infections. Zombies are generally not very stealthy. (Ignoring The Walking Dead (TV)'s ninja zombies for the moment.) So, if you have a biohazard situation like that, unless there's a very long incubation period (which most zombies don't exhibit), then the danger of them going undetected and reaching critical mass is pretty limited.

Also, once you start looking at urban environments, that's not a great space for zombies to navigate. Things like storm drains and security barriers can effectively stop zombie advancement through an urban environment. Sure, zombies might be a threat to massive glass windows on the ground floor, but how are they going to operate the elevators, or the keycard reader to get into the stairs? Much less climb multiple flights of stairs to find the survivors? They might be able to chase them up the stairs, but getting there under their own initiative? Not so much. Same problem with any structure that puts steel bars on the windows. Zombies can't get in, or out.

After that, there's still the problem of decomposition. Dead bodies don't typically hold up particularly well. Maybe there's an embalmed zombie out there somewhere, shambling around, years after the outbreak, but most of the corpses will, quite literally, fall apart in a couple weeks. (Probably less, if they're chasing after survivors and slamming into walls.)

Having said all of that, I don't hate zombie fiction. Zombies can be a fantastic metaphor. You can even come up with compelling and interesting zombie scenarios. I know I just said it was implausible, but I don't hate The Last of Us's scenario, even if I do have some issues with some of the writing (specifically in the last few levels of the first game, before anyone asks.)

So, would it be hard to kill a zombie? Usually no. You might have some exceptions, such as magically reanimated corpses that really don't need to be intact to continue trying to kill you. Dead Space's necromorphs come to mind as an excellent example of creative zombie assembly.

The issue is usually the volume of zombies, just the sheer number threatening to pour out onto the street at any moment. Which requires that things went exceptionally wrong in ways that don't really make a lot of sense when you step back and think about it.

The issue wasn't shooting one zombie in the head, it was the next ten, and the next hundred, and the next thousand. Because, in those numbers, it doesn't really matter if they're easy to kill, there will always be more.

-Starke

This blog is supported through Patreon. Patrons get access to new posts three days early, and direct access to us through Discord. If you’re already a Patron, thank you. If you’d like to support us, please consider becoming a Patron.

#writing advice #writing reference #writing tips #how to fight write #starke answers #zombies

354 notes · View notes

platonic-pals-punchout · 10 months

Text

WELCOME TO PLANTONIC PALS PUNCHOUT!

If Saturday cartoons taught us anything it’s that The Power Of Friendship is the ultimate weapon that can defeat any obstacle! But can it defeat...other friendships!?

This tournament will pit Dynamic Duo vs Dynamic Duo to see who has the Ultimate Friendship. They will do this by punching other pairs in the face winning polls! The competition will be single-bracket-style (because that’s the only kind I know how to do lol)

[SUBMIT HERE!] but read the rules first :3 We have 100 fandoms represented by over 130 submissions! Thanks so much to everyone!! Preliminary polls are being organized NOW to limit the number of pairs to 1 per fandom.

Rules:

👉Characters must be (or once were) canonically friends, which means they’ve had on-screen/in-text buddy time together, or have mentioned their friendship explicitly. Characters who start as friends but lose their friendship are allowed! 👉No real people, real people playing themselves (DSMP, etc), or country-fictions (Hetalia, etc). I may accept pets or OCs IF they get multiple submissions from different people and there’s room left in the bracket (I feel bad when they lose :( ) 👉No Harry Potter or Attack on Titan. 👉Pairs only. As fun as groups are, I worry that having more characters on their team may sway the votes. Characters with DID or who otherwise have alternate identities count as a single character. 👉Canonically romantic pairs must have significant on-screen/in-text platonic time, and/or emphasis placed on buddy-hood over romance throughout the story.* (a good example is Phoenix Wright & Miles Edgeworth) This is semi-subjective & somewhat controversial, so I’ll be prioritizing purely platonic friendships. Friends With Benefits™️ are totally fine as long as they are actually friends. 👉Familial pairs are fine as long as their buddy-hood is emphasized throughout the story. (a good example is Goofy & Max)

*Sometimes characters only get together late into the story, or use the Power of Friendship even after getting together, or their relationship is on the vague side, so these duos may be included ^^ Essentially, even if they get together romantically, you’re still submitting them as friends, and confirming that their relationship is portrayed as comfortably platonic more than romantic/pining.

As for me, my name is Murphy (he/him or she/her), I’m arospec, Autistic, and I’ve never run a tournament before. I can’t make polls on desktop for unknown reasons & barely know how to use mobile, so this blog might be a bit...scuffed, at first ^^; please be patient with me.

Shameless self-plug: if you like my me, please check out my [YouTube channel] where I do art & science education, or my [Warriors/art tumblr]. Thank you!!

#tournament #tumblr tournament #character tournament #bracket #friendship tournament #platonic tournament #pair tournament #duo tournament #team tournament #aromantic

169 notes · View notes

block-swing-perry · 10 months

Text

ATTENTION NEW TUMBLR USERS!!

a masterpost of tumblr features you may or may not know about!!

custom theme

archive

tagging

reblog vs repost

filtering

xkit

shortcuts

if you have any questions feel free to hit me up baby!!!!

Custom theme:

This is a relatively recent change. There is two ways to view a blog, in dashboard (which is automatically available to everyone) and on your custom theme. Custom theme gets you your own tumblr blog page that allows you to access the archive feature. In order to get a custom theme, you must toggle this option:

[Accessed through clicking on your little account settings icon>settings>your blog name under "Blogs"]

You will then see this second option on your blog:

It will bring you to your own tumblr blog page. Yours will not look like this. I have a custom theme that makes it look like a computer screen. You can make your own, even if all you change is blog colors instead of finding a fancy one. Additionally, if you wish you can also make a fucked up mouse like the one above. You will have to find the tutorials to make your own mouse, I recommend saving a copy of your blog's html in case you fuck this step up.

Archive:

You can only get this function through the custom theme option! If you have this enabled you can access it through the meatball menu on your blog and it will bring you to a page like this where you can sort through by month, post type, and tags.

Tagging:

Add tags through clicking this button v

You can add tags to both reblogs and original posts that help organize your interests. For example if you have a tag called "art", and you click on that while on your blog you will filter to only have "art" posts.

Additionally tagging can be commentary too! Some people prefer to comment on posts through the tags instead of adding to the reblog chain or in the replies.

WARNING: REBLOGGING IS DIFFERENT FROM REPOSTING. REBLOGGING SPREADS THE POST AROUND AND THE OP WILL STILL GET ALL THE NOTIFICATIONS ON THE POST. REPOSTING IS COPYING THE CONTENT AND MAKING YOUR OWN POST WITH THE CONTENT.

Filtering:

You can filter tags and keywords on tumblr if you go to settings and scroll down to "Content you see". Filter out things you don't want to see or are cluttering your dash and you are not particularly interested in.

If your post is getting very long, its a curtsy to add a "read more" button. You can also add one by typing :readmore: on the mobile app (?). Posts can get very long and its hard to scroll through the mobile app without the desktop's shortcuts to next post.

However, many people are mischievous and will make purposely long posts and reblog them many times in a row. This is also fine, but people will often tag these posts as "#long post" so it can be filtered.

Additionally, turn your following and likes page private. This prevents people from digging into your tumblr activity. Some people may use the likes page to see if you are a real person instead of a bot so MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A PROFILE PHOTO AND A BLURB SO THEY DON'T NEED TO.

Xkit is a useful add-on to chrome or firefox and allows you to customize tumblr even further. I use mine to get back the old way of looking at posts (it brings you to the specific post by clicking on the url) instead of the new hit boxes and the time and date button on the meatball menu. There's also a couple accessability features on here, like putting the alt text for images in the post, and volume and audio controls among many others.

And remember:

j-next post

k-previous post

shift+r-instant reblog

command+r-reload page

195 notes · View notes

thecreaturecodex · 2 months

Text

Siktempora, Triumph

Image © Paizo Publishing. Accessed at Archives of Nethys here

[The triumph siktempora might be my favorite of that flavor of outsider. Look at how smug he is! What a jerk.]

Siktempora, Triumph CR 14 LN Outsider (extraplanar) This creature resembles a small humanoid with four arms and too many joints in their legs. They wear a robe of gold and various medals and badges. Their face is locked into a triumphant grin, never adjusting or changing expression.

Triumph siktemporas are created on the Dimension of Time as reflections of great emotional satisfaction for a job well done. Anything from winning a war to successfully removing a particularly onerous splinter can theoretically spawn a triumph siktempora. They travel the planes in search of victories, as they see their sense of purpose in always striving to win or die trying. Athletics competitions and pitched battles are natural habitats for a triumph siktempora, but they may also intervene in legal battles or other contests of skill. Triumph siktemporas believe in following the rules of a competition very strictly, and go out of their way to punish cheaters and those who manipulate luck.

A triumph siktempora fights with their fists and feet rather than with teeth or claws or manufactured weapons (although they will engage in weapon duels if challenged). They are fond of combat maneuvers, especially against single targets, and are skilled wrestlers despite their small size. Although their facial expressions rarely change, they can add a thrust of emotional energy to their smug grins that literally harms their opponents psychically. Triumph siktemporas are somewhat disdainful of creatures without naturally rapid healing, like themselves, and often go out of their way to harass anyone healing themselves or others.

A triumph siktempora typically stands about three feet tall, and may be mistaken for halflings or gnomes. They rarely disguise themselves intentionally, unless entering a masquerade or other costume contest.

Triumph Siktempora CR 14 XP 38,400 LN Small outsider (extraplanar, lawful, siktempora) Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +25 Aura cheaters never prosper (50 ft., Will DC 23)

Defense AC 29, touch 20, flat-footed 24(+1 size, +1 dodge, +4 Dex, +4 insight, +9 natural) hp 189 (18d10+90); fast healing 15 Fort +16, Ref +15, Will +10 DR 10/good or orichalcum; Immune disease, mind-influencing effects, pain, poison

Offense Speed 60 ft., air walk Melee unarmed strike +27/+22/+17/+12 or +25/+25/+20/+20/+15/+15/+10 (2d6+8) Special Attacks burst of uncanny speed, clinch victory, pugilist training, winning smile Spell-like Abilities CL 14th, concentration +19 Constant—air walk At will—temporal jaunt 1/day—plane shift (self only)

Statistics Str 26, Dex 18, Con 20, Int 19, Wis 19, Cha 21 Base Atk +18; CMB +25 (+27 disarm, grapple, trip); CMD 40 (42 vs. disarm, grapple, trip) Feats Combat Reflexes,Dodge, Improved Disarm, Improved Grapple, Improved Trip, Improved Unarmed Strike (B), Mobility, Power Attack, Step Up, Spring Attack, Whirlwind Attack (B) Skills Acrobatics +21 (+33 when jumping), Climb +29, Diplomacy +23, Heal +22, Intimidate +23, Knowledge (planes) +25, Perception +25, Perform (any one) +26, Sense Motive +25, Swim +29 Languages Aklo (cannot speak); telepathy 300 ft.

Ecology Environment any land (Dimension of Time) Organization solitary, pair or ceremony (3-6) Treasure incidental

Special Abilities Burst of Uncanny Speed (Su) On the first round of combat, a triumph siktempora moves as if it were affected by a haste spell. It can use Whirlwind Attack on this first round of combat as a standard action, making one melee attack or combat maneuver at its highest base attack bonus against each opponent within reach. Cheaters Never Prosper (Su) A creature gaining a luck bonus to any die rolls, or gaining a reroll from luck effects (such as the Luck domain or the fortune hex) within 50 feet of a triumph siktempora must make a DC 23 Will save or be staggered for 1 round. The save DC is Charisma based. Clinch Victory (Su) A triumph siktempora can make an attack of opportunity against any creature taking an action to heal itself, even if that action (like a channel energy or using a wand) does not normally provoke attacks of opportunity. Pugilist Training (Ex) A triumph siktempora gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. It deals damage with its unarmed strikes, and gains access to the flurry of blows ability, as if it were a monk with character levels equal to its Hit Dice. Temporal Jaunt (Sp) As a standard action, a triumph siktempora can vanish into the time stream, reappearing in another location. This ability functions as dimension door (so a typical triumph siktempora can jaunt up to 960 feet), but the siktempora can take other actions that round after reappearing, and the destination must be in a location the siktempora could reach normally by walking. Temporal jaunts are not true teleportation—the siktempora simply travels to a later point in the time stream—so the ability can be used in areas that bar teleportation effects; however, in such areas a siktempora can travel only a distance equal to its speed. Temporal Sense (Ex) A siktempora can sense all the possible futures of the coming seconds. This grants it an insight bonus on its Initiative checks and to its Armor Class equal to its Wisdom bonus (+5 for the typical triumph siktemporas). Winning Smile (Su) As a standard action, a triumph siktempora can flash a smile at an enemy within 15 feet. The creature targeted takes 10d6 points of damage, and all of its attacks deal nonlethal damage against the siktempora for the next round. A successful DC 23 Will save halves the damage and negates the nonlethal damage effect. This is a mind-influencing emotion effect, and the save DC is Charisma based.

#pathfinder 1e #pathfinder rpg #pathfinder 2e #siktempora #triumph siktempora #outsider

39 notes · View notes

writing-if · 2 years

Text

Masterlist for Coding

Don't mind me, just getting this coding master list ready ahead of time to make it easier to keep this blog organized! I've already got a few ideas on some things I want to share :) Come across something incorrect? Let me know, please!

Oh - if you got tagged in this list, just ignore me, and sorry for the bother!

Getting Started

Pros & Cons: ChoiceScript vs Twine - coming soon :)

Introduction to CScript

Introduction to ChoiceScript

Commands for ChoiceScript

Text Editor Recommendations - coming soon :)

How to Hide a Choice Based on a Variable

Variables

Setting up Variables for Character Creation (name, pronouns, hair, eyes, etc) - coming soon :)

Introduction to Twine

Twine Cookbook

Twine for Brower (Chromebook) or Desktop Download

Sugarcube Documenation

How to Approach Character Creation - coming soon :)

Templates (I believe all of these are for SugarCube)

Twine Template (mobile friendly) by Vahnya, @outoftheblue-if

Twine Template II by Vahnya, @outoftheblue-if

Sugarcube Template by @nyehilismwriting

Twine Sugarcube Template by @nyehilismwriting

A Quick Guide to Character Pages by @gamesbyalbie

Twine Sugarcube Template by @cerberus-writes

100% Good Twine Sugarcube Template @manonamora-if

Twine Sugarcube 2 Template by a.w. morgan

Variables and Choices

Setting up Variables - coming soon :)

Coding Cycling Choices (where the player clicks to change an option) - coming soon :)

UI, CSS, and Theme-Related Things

How to Add Images to Twine (local and online) - coming soon :)

CSS Chart and Keywords (great to reference when changing colors in your UI)

Google Fonts (download a free font to match your game's theme and/or for accessibility)

Canva - has free and paid assets that you can use

IF Authors / Writers / Coders (AKA Wizard Guru Extraordinaires)

Vahnya - @outoftheblue-if

Cerberus Writes - @cerberus-writes

Nyehilism- @nyehilismwriting

Albie - @gamesbyalbie

Manon - @manonamora-if

idrellegames - @idrellegames

#writing-if #masterlist #twine #cscript #twine sugarcube #choicescript #interactive fiction #if resources

605 notes · View notes

jigsaw-block · 4 months

Text

In all seriousness, it's really interesting seeing the parallels between the inventory clutter issue vs the ID system; back before The Flattening in 1.13, mojang had a serious issue with Minecraft where they were using Numeric IDs for all blocks/items/mobs/etc, so they had to seriously limit what they could add to the game. Now, there's a ton ov really obvious blocks and items that the game is missing only because they're running into issues with inventory space. This is, I think, why they're so opposed to a bandaid solution like just increasing the inventory space. All that would do is move the deadline before they need to do it again, obviously, but they've run into this issue before.

They need to effectively figure out a way to "flatten" the inventory, so that all future blocks & items can not necessarily fit in it at the same time, but be accessible and easy to organize. It isn't as straight-forward as backpacks, inventory expansion, or hotbar swapping mods make it seem. We need a full inventory rework, & I have (almost) no idea how they're going to accomplish that. Bundles, I think, were a step in the right direction, but they're too similar to shulker boxes in that players can't really access the items inside them easily. They're more like a mobile chest than a fix to any actual problem.

38 notes · View notes

just-late-roman-republic-things · 2 months

Text

Notes on Roman economics:

Rome, as a city, grew massively from 200 BCE to ~50 BCE, and most of this growth probably came from immigration (including slaves). The city's infrastructure struggled to keep up, and the inhabitants came to need more food than the rest of Italy could support.

Why so much growth? Part of it was people looking for work. The competitive building projects and public events of the elite created demand, more than anywhere else in Italy. Demand was further raised by the fact that Rome had outstripped its immediate natural resources, and thus needed more imports than most cities. Part of it was the slave trade and high manumission rate: captives brought back from wars, often freed later because keeping a slave was expensive. And part of it was imperialism: inhabitants of towns Rome had destroyed or impoverished would often move to Rome itself, looking for opportunities. Scholars, artisans, traders all gathered there, because Rome paid better and had more customers. In the 1st century, this may have also been increased by larger farms buying out smallholders. The money flowed one way, and people followed.

The number of poor and working-class inhabitants grew much faster than the aristocratic class, and overtook the traditional patron-client system, which had forged interclass alliances. But now, there were a lot more poor families who didn't have a patron to assist them in finding work, education, or food. And a lot of them, like Italians after the Social War, probably had well-founded resentment for how the city treated them.

This rapid growth may have made the collegia - those same groups mobilized by Clodius and Milo - both more powerful and more volatile. For immigrants who didn't already have a patron or nearby relatives, collegia provided community, professional connections, and a way to integrate into Rome. Not to mention you could take political action much more effectively as a group, and slaves and freedmen were welcome in most collegia, too. But from the aristocracy's perspective, these community networks were a threat. Even before Clodius organized mob violence, the collegia competed with the old patron-client system for gaining voters' support.

This aristocratic defensiveness may also explain some of the opposition to the grain dole: a state-sponsored public benefit competed with private nobles' ability to win support by handing out wealth. However, the aristocracy was too small as a class to effectively patronize Rome's poor on the same scale, and eventually ceded the issue for the sake of public order.

Extravagant public monuments, banquets, and gladiator shows served not only to get politicians prestige, but also recirculated money back into the middle and working classes. The Roman people were not simply fools who'd vote for whoever gave them a good show; politicians who were stingy could be seen as hoarding wealth and not serving the people. (This is also partly why identifying electoral bribery was so difficult - what counted as "bribery" vs. just "respecting the voters" was vague.)

(My comment - the patron-client system, monuments industry, and grain dole all seem to have acted as "vents." I think of a socioeconomic "vent" as a mechanism that grants limited benefit or opportunity to part of an underclass to induce them to cooperate with the system instead of reforming or overturning it. It prevents pressure from building up, promotes stability but not necessarily justice. There's probably a better word for this, maybe from Marxist theory? I don't know.)

Keep in mind that the issue wasn't immigration per se, or the "Roman mob" only caring about handouts or being easily fooled by demagogues. The Roman people - including non-citizens - had plenty of legitimate needs and grievances that were not being addressed by the upper class.

The rising population likely inspired the colonization projects of Gaius Gracchus and others, as a way to export people and try to relieve pressure on the capital.

A high population, underserved by infrastructure, alienated from the elites, and galvanized by grain shortages and rising inequality, probably contributed to the political violence of the late republic, and made the government as a whole far less stable.

Based on "The City of Rome" by John R. Patterson, in A Companion to the Roman Republic, eds. Nathan Rosenstein and Robert Morstein-Marx

#jlrrt reads #jlrrt essays #john r patterson #a companion to the roman republic #roman economics

24 notes · View notes

autumnmobile12 · 9 months

Text

D. Gray Man: Morality vs Victory (and Survival)

D. Gray Man has a unique situation as far as conflict goes. The enemy is an army of millions of demon machines that are commanded by a race of humans that are virtually immortal from the perspective of ordinary people...and they can only be harmed/killed by a weapon that is so selective that only a handful of people in the world can use it. This isn’t a situation where anyone can just enlist and train to become an exorcist nor can the Black Order simply conscript new soldiers; this is a world where the chosen few and only the chosen few are physically capable of fighting the enemy.

This is the reality. This is the shit hand humanity in this world was dealt. So from from the perspective of ordinary folk who have no power against this fate other that to rely on the exorcists, many of whom are children, it's easy to see how and why they got desperate.

The other thing to consider is this isn't a normal war. The Black Order isn't the aggressor and the Earl and Noah Clan's ultimate aim is complete and total annihilation of humanity. So there is no hope of a ceasefire. There is no treaty the Order can sign, no way to negotiate, no way to appease the enemy. The only outcome that can happen is the destruction of one or the other.

In the grand scheme of things, the Order has nothing to lose. Lo Fwa recognizes the barbarity of the Third Exorcist Program and says what a ‘good person’ would say, “This is not how I want to win.” That is a noble thing to say, but for the above reasons, the unspoken (and even spoken) outlook of the Order's leaders seems to be, “Do we win or do we die?”

In spite of his photography 'hobby' and unhealthy obsession with Lenalee (cause that part of this character is really fucking creepy when you look past the fact it's supposed to be a joke,) Bak is actually one of the better leaders as far as morality goes.

When the Third Exorcist Program was unveiled, Bak was the only one verbally against it. He's the only one to called out Epstain for her part in the project.

Taking his background into account, this is understandable. His parents both martyred themselves in order to shut down the Second Exorcist Program and to hopefully prevent any similar experiments from taking place in the future. On top of that, when the scandal of what Lab 6 was doing got out, he probably took the brunt of the backlash in his parents' place.

Adding to this, when the Level 3 attacked the Asian Branch, his primary goal was keeping Allen safe. He acknowledged he couldn't fight and refused to throw him into the ring with a 'figure it out' mentality. So Fou took Allen's place. Even at the cost of her life, neither she nor Bak were willing to sacrifice a child. (He was even willing to risk blackmail with the aforementioned photos.)

We've already seen that Komui's the one who put an end to the human experimentation and he actively advocates on behalf of his sister and the other exorcists. He's also the odd one out as far as the other leaders of the Order go as he's the only one who doesn't have a generational obligation to be there, as both Lenalee and himself came from outside the Order and are the only surviving members of their family. Which in an organization where nepotism seems to be the commonality, that makes his position in the Order pretty impressive. He's the Alexander Hamilton of the Order.

During the attack on headquarters, Komui mobilizes the remaining exorcists to repel the akuma and made the practical decision to destroy the Egg in order to prevent the Earl from reclaiming it. But with the Level 4's appearance and the unknown status of their fighters, he chose to retreat. Like Bak during the Asian Branch crisis, he chooses not to endanger the lives of the exorcists who couldn't fight.

However, during the Third Exorcists arc, this standpoint of his starts to waver. Like Bak, it is to Komui's credit he didn't know about the Third Exorcist Program, but there is still the undeniable fact that he did not oppose the project when it came to light. He's uncomfortable about it, for sure. You can see he is not at all okay with any of this.

But he still says nothing.

The likely consolation in his mind is the Thirds were willing volunteers for the project and are honored to sacrifice themselves if need be, but this is still undeniably a slippery slope that can blow up in their faces. Which it does, resulting in the loss of the Thirds and four exorcists.

A silence of Komui's that speaks louder, though, is the treatment of Allen during his last days at the Order. Komui was in a bad spot here. On the one hand, he still views himself as an advocate for the exorcists. On the other, one wrong word and he might be the next one they lock up. So rather than speak out, he stays quiet in order to protect the others, which effectively means abandoning Allen. He doesn't even seem to be advocating for the Science Division's efforts to help.

There's already conflict between him and Lenalee over this. She's shown arguing with him in Night 204. We don't know what about, but given the context of the chapter, this probably isn't a petty sibling disagreement. Furthermore, where the current chapters stand, she and Marie are refusing to give him any information about Kanda and Johnny's whereabouts. This goes to show that while he does have good intentions, he no longer claims the same level of trust he used to, and that is likely killing everyone on the inside.

There is a distinct divide between 'Komui is Lenalee's brother' and 'Komui is Lenalee's commanding officer.' All the way back in the Fallen One arc, he is rather withdrawn in his instructions for her to recover Suman's Innocence and telling her point blank that he is beyond saving. There is also the post-Barcelona funeral where he strictly adheres to the Order's policy of cremating their dead and refusing to allow the finders to contact the families. Later on, he is even telling himself he can't afford to be sentimental even though we can clearly see how much the losses have affected him.

After the disaster of the Second Exorcist Program, Bak and Epstain both swore they would never be a part of any experiment like that again. They lost their parents, Epstain owes her life to the Changs for shielding her from Alma's rampage, and they were left picking up the pieces of the disaster. It was her testimony to Central that put an end to the program.

So why does she go and dredge up all that bad blood to create the Thirds?

Bak, Komui, and Epstain all definitely went through a period of recovering mentally from the attack on headquarters, the appearance of a heretofore unheard of Level 4 akuma, and had to contemplate what this would mean for their organization going forward. It's not entire clear exactly when Komui became the branch chief, but he was 23 when he and Lenalee reunited, so it was around that time. (Lenalee would have been eight when word of the Second Program got out, so he definitely would have heard about it.)

So these three made their promises when they were in their early 20s at the most. In Bak and Epstain's case, they were handed responsibilities that should have remained with their parents for a few more years. Komui was still a teenager when his parents died.

They weren't children, but they were barely adults. In the face of tragedy, they all said, "No. We can be better than this," and they upheld those ideals admirably.

However, after nine years, hundreds of casualties, and catastrophic loss of life later, the Level 4's attack called back everything into question. It's the brutal reminder of their situation and of the three, Epstain is left questioning the stance she took a decade earlier. In short, the appearance of the Level 4 and the prospect of near annihilation scared her.

It definitely scared Komui and Bak, too, but as stated above, only one of them verbally opposed the Third Program. And even Bak gave in eventually.

Fear fueled desperation and desperation blurs where the line should not be crossed, and all three of them are now grappling with the idea of surviving and hanging on to their morality.

And unfortunately, there are the members of the cast that say, “Victory no matter the cost.”

Which brings us to this guy.

Leverrier is definitely in the category of 'Characters you hated more than the villain' and his character design definitely didn't help things. From his first appearance in the series, he's callous and cold-hearted towards the exorcists, regarding them as less than people and more weapons and property of the Church. During the Level 4's attack, when Komui gave the order to retreat, Leverrier disagreed and said they should stand their ground in spite of the fact they had a one in a million chance of winning the battle.

However appalling as this decision was, though...it still worked. Sheer, dumb luck that it was, but we still have to acknowledge that Leverrier's decision and Lenalee's resolve were the main catalysts that, for better or worse, led to the discovery of the Crystal Innocence.

Unlike Komui, Bak, and Epstain, we don't have much in the way of backstory for Leverrier's character. There is definitely an element of family pride behind his motives. That is apparent by the vague storyline of the 'daughter that was offered up as a saint' as well as his rant to Link in Night 213 about using Allen and the 14th to win the war and that it's his victory, not Central's.

But there are two moments for this character that I think are telling. One is Link's statement in Night 247. "I have someone whom I wish to save...someone who lives his life restrained and filled with nothing but hatred." Link is pretty biased, so it's hard to gauge exactly what is genuine loyalty vs blind brainwashing, but the point is Link still has some reason to stand in his employer's corner. However, the other key moment is the very brief flashback we get in Night 150 where Leverrier, as a child, is calling out Hevlaska for her part in the human sacrifices, telling her she is murdering her own people.

This is a really odd stance for an otherwise harsh character, which does maybe indicate there was a time where even Leverrier thought the extreme actions of the Order were wrong? If this is true, what happened? If he used to be like the others and did once regard the exorcists as people instead of weapons, why the change?

There's a bittersweetness to the events of Lab 6 and the perpetrators of the Second Exorcist Program.

What's important to keep in mind is that even though Alma and Yuu were lab experiments, the scientists didn't treat them that way at all. They didn't keep them locked up in cages, the pair had free range of the lab as we can see them wandering all over the place unsupervised. The scientists gave them gifts. Alma knew what winter was despite having never been outside, so that means someone had to have told him about snow. When they had to 'dispose of' Yu, Tui and Epstain are openly weeping, and even Sahlins looks affected.

It's not a stretch to say the scientists loved those two, and so the entire lab did not hesitate to say, "No more." They put an end to the project and martyred themselves.

I think there also was an element of fear in this decision. Tui and Edgar Chang also probably had a line they thought they would never cross, and then they did. Once you commit something you previously thought was unthinkable, the question then becomes, "Where is the line now? How far are we going to go?"

Were they afraid of what they could become?

Finally, we come to the last character we're going to examine:

On his deathbed, Zhu Mei Chang confesses he is the one who began the human experimentation, that he was 'proud and cruel' and sought only the glory of his clan as he trampled on the lives of hundreds. This was an unexpected point of development for a character who's first appearance was a joke. When he first shows up, he's humbly chopping cabbage in the kitchens completely oblivious to Fou yelling directly at him through a megaphone. This introduction is hardly indicative of a heartless man who possibly tortured and killed many innocent people to have the 'honor of winning the war.' So the humor of him working as a lowly cook in the kitchens takes on a quality of possibly him trying to repent for everything he'd done.

So I'd like to acknowledge the age gap again:

Komui, Bak, and Epstain are still young adults. In their early twenties, they drew a line and stayed firmly behind it. Now they are 29-30 years old and they are toeing the line they themselves drew. That's a nine year difference. Nine years of hardship and a hopeless war that's been going on for a century already. As the audience, we have the benefit of assuming this war is going to end within their lifetime; they don't have that luxury. If nine years, and the prospect of carrying on through this the rest of their lives, did that to them, what did twenty or more years do to Zhu Mei Chang and Leverrier. Tui and Edgar were 39 and 43 years old respectively when they were killed, so their sacrifice may also have been viewed as an escape from a lifetime of warfare.

Allen and company have lost Suman, Daisya, the other Barcelona casualties, Tapp, countless members of the Science Division, General Yeegar, and many others through the course of one year.

With that kind of odds, it's tragically understandable how characters like Zhu Mei Chang and Leverrier may have ended up where they did. I don't like the idea that a character is inherently evil. D. Gray Man is a series full of many characters who are complex and nuanced, so writing off some of them as 'just cruel for no reason' is kinda out of place. Especially when the main villains are just as detailed. With the way things are going for Komui, Bak, and Epstain, I do genuinely wonder if Zhu Mei Chang and Leverrier once drew their own line of morality (as the Night 150 flashback may imply) and then decades of losses led them both to ask, "Survive as sinners or die as saints?"

Personally, I think every last one of the characters listed above who are still alive are headed for a Thanos-esque, "What did it cost? Everything..." tragedy.

Further tragedy has the potential to push even Komui, Bak, and Epstain, further down an ever darkening path. D. Gray Man is not a normal war. Whether they fight for vengeance or pride or to protect those who are left or they feel winning the war no matter the cost is owed to the countless people who have already died, it's still victory or death in the most literal sense for the Order.

That said, for the characters who have already gone too far and crossed the line, there's no redemption nor should there be redemption.

Castlevania Dracula says it best:

There comes a point where even the most determined of soldiers have to ask, "Does the victory justify the atrocities?" and "If this is what it takes to win the war, then maybe we deserve extinction."

Honestly, I really hope Leverrier's character arc ends with him getting yeeted out a window like it's a Prague regime change.

So where's it all going for the younger generation of the Order?

While they don't have the audience's benefit of knowing the war could end within their lifetime and there is in fact a light at the end of the tunnel, they do have the hindsight of knowing what the Order has done, all the mistakes that have led them to this point. Similar to Komui and the other branch heads, they doubly have the stance, "Our predecessors fucked up. In spite of the odds, we can be better. We can break this chain of generational trauma and win the war without the abhorrent methods."

Wanting to be destroyers that save people.

Hanging on to hope.

#d gray man #komui lee #allen walker #lenalee lee #yu kanda #howard link #lavi #bak chang #renny epstain #zhu mei chang #tui chang #edgar chang #d gray man analysis #character analysis #character development #speculation #victory vs morality #akuma #millenium earl

61 notes · View notes

grey-sorcery · 1 year

Text

Here’s an organized list of my planned and published content. If you’d like to see a list of exclusive content for my supporters on Patreon, click here. My patrons of Mystic tier ($10/mo) and higher have access to all articles at least a week before Tumblr.

I put a lot of time and spoons into research and writing these articles, any tips would be greatly appreciated!

71 out of 171 published.

Articles in Queue: 0 (Available on Patreon)

NEW ✨ Articles:

Under Introduction

Under Psychicism

Under Spirit Work

Under Spirit work

Under Spirit Work

Under Sigilcraft

All categories are in alphabetical order with the exception of info for beginners, my experiences, & miscellaneous.

Articles that I highly recommend will be separated at the top of each category.

Orange: Published

White/Black: Planned

(Only published articles have descriptions)

This list is optimized for the mobile app!

Find me on other platforms!

Suggest Content

Have a question?

Category: Introduction to Witchcraft

-What is Witchcraft?

An extremely large article that covers all the basics for getting into witchcraft. I am regularly updating it as more related articles are published and/or I have come across new information that is relevant.

-A.I. & Witchcraft: Using ChatGPT in Research

An interview with ChatGPT about how to properly utilize it to research responsibly. I also added notes that I find crucial to this end.

-Altars: Use & Design

A description of Altars and how they can be used in various witchcraft applications.

-Beginner Witch Tips

Tips for those just starting to get into witchcraft and the occult.

-Creating a Spell Log

A guide on how to create and utilize spell logs in order to hone your craft.

-Conceptualization Vs. Visualization

An explanation of why visualization is widely improperly utilized and how Conceptualization is a significantly more useful skill.

-Correspondences: Research, Creation, & Use

A guide on how to research correspondences, how to create them, and how to use them for effective spellwork. Goes over things to avoid when working with correspondences as well as the metaphysics and magical theory of their operation.

-Finding Balance: Spirituality & Critical Thought

An article exploring the complexities of having spiritual experiences and maintaining critical thought.

-Herbology: Correspondences & Medicinal Properties

An extensive guide on how to approach herbology, herbal correspondence, and herbal medicine. Be sure to read the disclaimer at the beginning!

-Intermediate Witch Tips

-List of Closed & Semi-Closed Cultures

An ongoing project to help give beginner witches a frame of reference in order to research and practice respectfully and responsibly.

-Nature Vs. Nature

An exposition on the metaphysical, and practical magic applications of the juxtaposition between two perspectives of nature.

-Personal Narratives

An article about the dangers of people who try to pull others into their UPG. Please read the disclaimer at the beginning.

-Personal Narratives Part II

IN PROGRESS

-Personal Narratives Part III

-Researching Witchcraft

Defining some aspects of typical discussion points in witchcraft.

-Research Tips

Some helpful tips for those who want to delve deep into witchcraft research.

-The Spiritual Aspects of Witchcraft

-Tools for Witchcraft & Their Functions

-Visualization, Reiki, & Fascism

An article about how the trend of visualization is influenced by and can lead into fascist thinking and antisemitism.

-Visualization: Effective Implementation

An articles about how to use visualization to its fullest potential and how to avoid using it improperly. Also a list of some alternatives to Visualization for those who have aphantasia or struggle with visualization.

Category: Community Commentary

-Author Blacklist

A list of authors to avoid until you’ve obtained a solid foundation and understanding of the applications, methods of magic, and sociopolitical movements and morals behind various traditions and schools of magical thought.

-Bias in Witchcraft

A guide on how to identify and manage biases that are common to witchcraft in order to have a more effective craft.

-Content Creation Vs. Personal Practice

An opinion piece about the differences between having a personal practice and how to responsibly discuss it online, as well as how to responsibly frame witchcraft guides.

-Community Interactions

Reblog replies to other content creators on Tumblr.

-Consumerism & Witchcraft

-Content Critiques

Various critiques on witchcraft posts I have found on this platform.

-Examples of Ineffective Witchcraft Guides

Critiques on problematic, inaccurate, misleading, and vague witchcraft guides.

-Gatekeeping: When it is Appropriate and When it is Not

-Inspiration Vs. Appropriation

-Learning to Adapt: New Information & Modifying Practices

-Theosophy: The Heart of New Age Fascism

-The One True Way

-Three Fold Law & Other Magical Conventions

-Wicca, Ceremonial Magic, & Trad Craft: Problematic Practices & History

IN PROGRESS

-Witchcraft Vs. Superstition

An exploration of the differences between witchcraft and superstition.

Category: Divination

-Introduction to Divination

An article about the basic types of divination and the different ways to do them.

-Aeromancy: Divination via Wind

-Cartomancy: Tarot & Oracle Divination

-Cleromancy: Bone & Dice Divination

-Divination Tips

-Inventing Divination Systems

-Oracle Divination & Spreads

-Pendulum Divination & Dowsing

-Scrying: Divination Through Gazing

-Tarot & Tarot Spreads

-Tasseomancy & Palm Reading

Category: Energy Work

-Basics of Energy Work

The foundations needed to practice actual energy work, rather than pseudo energy work that is entirely dependent of imagination.

-Intermediate Energy Work

Covers a basic run down of the subtle body, energetic constructs, and energetic senses. Explains how to control the density and precision of energy.

-Advanced Energy Work Part I

Covers aspects of the subtle body, properties of energy, and how to control multiple energetic constructs simultaneously with acute control.

-Axioms of Energy Work

An explanation of the thought model behind energy work and how energy relates to itself and the world around it.

-Energetic Constructs

An overview of how to design, build, and maintain constructs as well as some possible methods of application in spellwork.

-Energetic Senses

The inherent, non-visual, senses that are the most effective way of energetic awareness

-Energy Work & Spoon Theory

An explanation of how, if done properly and after accurate practice, energy work requires no spoons to perform.

-Introduction to Grounding ✨NEW

An introduction to grounding exorcizes and their applications.

-The Energetic Model & Why it is Redundant

-The Subtle Body

A thorough description of the energetic body.

-The Wellsource

An article about the endless well of energy we all contain. Similar to the idea of The Seat of The Soul.

-Types of Projection

-Wands & Energetic Technique

IN PROGRESS

Category: Magical Theory

- What is Magical Theory?

IN PROGRESS

-Alternative Models of Magic: Why the Classical Models are Obsolete

-Benefits of Modular Witchcraft

-Correspondences & Energetic Properties

-Classical Models of Magic

-Engram Theory

-Magical Experimentation

The current magical experiment. I’m always looking for volunteers!

-Magical Potency

IN PROGRESS

-Magical Theory & My UPG

-Pop-Culture Magic

-Properties of Magical Design

-Surveys

A list of all the surveys and quizes I have made that I publish the statistics of at intervals of 100 responses.

-Threshold Theory

A unifying theory behind all spell work.

Category: Metaphysics & Philosophy

- Witchcraft & Philosophy: Metaphysics

IN PROGRESS

-Art & Media Within Witchcraft

-Chaos Theory & Game Theory in Witchcraft

-Concepts in STEM That Apply to Witchcraft

-Conceptualizing Sacrifice in Witchcraft

-Gradation & Ethics

-How White Supremacy Has Influenced Contemporary Witchcraft

-Intersectionality & Witchcraft

-Mental Illness & Neurodivergency in Witchcraft

IN PROGRESS

-On Dualities in Witchcraft

An examination of dualities within witchcraft and how their negative impacts on our community. Also goes over some solutions as well.

-Queerness & Witchcraft

IN PROGRESS

-Spectrums of Mystic & Magical Practice

-Witchcraft & Gender

Category: Psychicism

-Introduction to Psychic Abilities

An introductory guide to psychic abilities. This article focuses more on the abilities that are possible.

-Astral Projection, Dreamwalking, & Psychic Abilities

-Energetic Awareness in Psychic Applications

-Psychic Abilities & Their Applications to Spiritwork

-Psychic Abilities, Mental Illness, Personal Narratives, & Reality

A look at the intersections between mental illness and psychic abilities.

-Statistical Probability, Deja Vu, & Future Sight

Category: Safety

-Introductory Safety Practices

IN PROGRESS

-Basics of Warding

An introduction to warding

-Blood Magic: Purpose & Safety

-Crystals & Their Chemical Properties

-Dispelling Myths About Witchcraft

-Riding The Hedge, Poisons, & Entheogenic Practices in Witchcraft

-Intermediate Warding

-Fire Safety

-List of Cleansing Methods in Order of Effectiveness

-Practicing Safe & Consensual Sex Magic

Category: Sigilcraft

-Animated Sigils Project

Animated Sigils designed specifically for tech witches.

-Hypersigils & Sigilchains

-Metasigils

IN PROGRESS

-My Sigils

Sigils made using sigilcrafting methods of my own creation.

-Sigils: How-To

An introduction and overview of sigil magic.

-Spell Circles

An introduction to spell circles, how they can be constructed and used.

-The Mechanics of Sigils; Conceptualizations of Sigilwork and its applications ✨NEW

A comprehensive look at the mechanics of hypersigils and metasigils.

-My Spell Circles

Spell circles from my grimoires.

Category: Spellcraft & Spellcasting

-Basics of Spellcasting

An introduction to effective spell casting.

-How to Cast a Spell

An infographic about the basic principles behind spellcraft.

-A.I. & Tech-Magic

-Anchors

Covering how to most effectively cast lasting spell and work with spiritual entities that have been bound.

-Basics of Binding

How to bind energies, spells, and entities. I recommended reading the article about Anchors after this article.

-Ceremony & Ritual

IN PROGRESS

-Creating a Magical Conlang

-Curses & Consequences

-Designing Spells

Covers how to design a spell for any level of experience.

-Fate Magic

An introduction to the concept of fate magic and how it can be conceptualized and visualized.

-Fate Magic: Binding, Manipulation, & Safety

IN PROGRESS

-Glamours & Enchantments

-Intermediate Binding

-Intermediate Gnosis

Covers phases and types of gnosis and their applications.

-Intermediate Spellcasting

-Introduction to Gesture Magic

-Introduction to Gnosis

Introduces important concepts for entering a state of Gnosis.

-Path of Least Resistance

An introduction on how to cast spells with a higher success rate.

-Sex Magic

-Snap Magic

A guide to a unique energetic casting method.

-Spell Dictation

Covers why spells you find online aren’t reproducible and how that can be changed.

-The Elements: Air

-The Elements: Earth

-The Elements: Fire

An article about a lot of the way fire is utilized and conceptualized writhing witchcraft.

-The Elements: Water

Category: Spells

-A Look at My Grimoire

-A Raven’s Breath

A method of Spellcasting and cleansing.

-Aid in Gender Dysphoria

-Aid in Self-Love

-Curse of Self Doubt

IN PROGRESS

-Invisibility Spell

-Lessen Internalized Homophobia

-Lessen Racist Indoctrination & Increase Self-Awareness

Category: Spirit Work

-First Steps

A guide for just starting out in Spiritwork.

-Advanced Astral Projection

Covers how to create and maintain multiple projections, dreamwalking, and dimensional concepts.

-Basics of Astral Projection

Practice techniques and introduction to astral concepts.

-Basics of Banishing

An introduction on how to banish spellwork, entities, and energy.

-Benevolent Entities

-Communication & Godphoning

-Creating Thoughtforms

-Deities & Pantheons

-Dimensions & Planes: A Comprehensive Look ✨NEW

An in-depth look at the difference between spatial dimensions and spiritual planes and how each are useful in witchcraft.

-Dreamwalking

-Exorcisms: With & Without Christian Influences

-Intermediate Banishing

-Intuitional Spirit Work

-Mediumship & Possession

-Mirrors: Portals & Other Uses ✨NEW

An article about how mirrors are used in witchcraft.

-Ofrendas & Offerings to ancestors & Deities

-Shadow Work Concepts

Prompts for in depth shadow work, inspired by a dark night of the soul.

-Shadow Work: First Steps ✨NEW

A thorough introduction to shadow work in both mundane and magical practices.

-The Fae

Discusses the Fae, the spiritual entities not the cryptids.

-Types of Spiritual Entities

-Spiritual Emanations of The Emotions & The Subconscious

Jungian archetypes and how they can be used for shadow work. Also covers how thoughtforms can accidentally be created through emotions.

-The Veil & The Spirit Plane

-UPG & Verification

Category: My Craft & Experiences

-About Me

My pinned message.

-Exorcism Experiences Part I

My first experience.

-Exorcism Experiences Part II

-Exorcism Experiences Part III

-Experiences With Dreamwalking

-Interesting Spiritual Experiences

-Limpia Experiences Part I

-Limpia Experiences Part II

-Limpia Experiences Part III

-Limpia Experiences Part IV

-My First Experiences With Witchcraft

-My Introduction to Energy Work

-Why Grey? My Personal Philosophy

An explanation of why I consider myself to be a grey witch.

Category: Miscellaneous

-Asks

-Glossary of Terms

IN PROGRESS

-My Art & Graphic Designs

Digital art and graphics

-My Discord Server: The Reliquary of Unique Magics & Their Inventors

My tumblr post that explains our mission and requirements for membership.

-Oil, Corn, & Wine: A Witchcord Server

A discord server for witchcraft that is easier to gain entry to than The Reliquary

-My Services

Divination, sigilcraft, script design, and conlangs.

-My Tiktok

-Digital Templates & Inspiration

From spells logs to ideas.

Last Updated: Oct. 30th, ‘23

See Updated List

If the last update date is two weeks or more, I’d recommended checking out the updated list.

#witchcraft masterpost #masterlist #masterpost #witchcraft resources #witchcraft for beginners

242 notes · View notes

soylent-crocodile · 8 days

Text

Negator (Monster)

(Phyrexian Negator by John Zeleznik)

CR16 NE Medium Aberration (Phyrexian)

(The negator is another iconic creature, although one whose card is simply not up to snuff nowadays- the balance of power has tipped so that its astronomical drawback is not worth the creature you get. Still, the obliterator is clearly a riff on it- and got its own, incredibly aesthetically boring riff later- and even then it's simply too fabulous a design not to use. Can you say "xenomorph"?

Lorewise, these explicitly saw most usage in the leadup to full invasion- perhaps, in a hypothetical Phyrexia campaign, this could be the final boss of the second act, before the REAL invasion force finally arrives.)

Negators are perfected assassins of Phyrexia, designed to eliminate key targets with compleat efficiency. They are singleminded in this pursuit- one infamous document stated simply "It exists to cease." Indeed, a negator's heart is terribly stilled- they are not known to experience any emotion but the satisfaction of a job well done and the desire to achieve so.

Negators, being stealth operatives and assassins, are rarely used once a full-scale invasion begins, although they are often deployed just in the leadup to it. Each negator is given all Phyrexia knows of its target, and is simply placed as close as Phyrexia can get it without garnering attention and sent to kill. Negators are surprisingly skilled at stealth and disguise, able to walk as a hunched figure through whatever streets it may need to to reach its target, and are surprisingly eloquent and skilled actors when they need to lie. Once it makes its kill, however, a negator rarely makes time for stealth. Such negators will begin a return to Phyrexia (such that they might possibly be reset, reprogrammed, and reused), but generally lack the precautions of one who has yet to make a kill. These assassinations are its purpose; it seems some higher part of it shuts off once it is done.

This wicked creature stands humanoid, with razor sharp claws and a smooth nubby head lined with tiny triangular teeth. Its body is dotted with glasslike hemispheres and wires arcing between body parts.

Misc- CR16 NE Medium Aberration (Phyrexian) HD24 Init:+11 Senses: Blindsight 120ft Perception: +26, Detect Magic, Detect Good Stats- Str:27(+8) Dex:33(+11) Con:20(+5) Int:30(+10) Wis:8(-1) Cha:24(+6) BAB:+18/+13/+8/+3 Space:5ft Reach:5ft Defense- HP:228(24d8+120) AC:30(+11 Dex, +4 Armor, +5 Natural) Fort:+14 Ref:+19 Will:+15 (+4 Racial bonus vs Emotion) CMD:47 Resist: Cold 20, Fire 20, Electricity 20 Immunity: Acid, Fear, Curse, Polymorph, Petrification, Death effects, Disease, Poison Weakness: Special Defenses: Evasion, Negative Energy Affinity, DR10/Adamantine, SR27, Uncanny Dodge, Mycosynth Flesh Offense- Bite +24(1d6+8), 2 Claw +25(2d6+8/19-20x2) or Negation +29(90ft ranged, 10d8 plus Negation) CMB:+26 Speed:40ft Special Attacks: Coronous Ambush, Sneak Attack +5d6 Feats- Iron Will, Multiattack, Power Attack (-5/+10), Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, Wind Stance, Vital Strike, Improved Vital Strike, Improved Iron Will, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (Bestow Curse), Weapon Focus (Claw) Skills- Acrobatics +38, Bluff +31, Climb +29, Disable Device +35, Disguise +31, Escape Artist +38, Knowledge (Arcana, Planes, Religion) +34, Knowledge (Dungeoneering)* +37, Linguistics +15, Perception +26, Sense Motive +23, Spellcraft +17, Stealth +38, Survival +26, Swim +29, Use Magic Device +31 Spell-like Abilities- Detect Magic, Detect Good, Mage Armor, Deathwatch /constant Bestow Curse (DC19), Fog Cloud, Silence (DC18) /at-will Quickened Bestow Curse (DC19) 3/day Special Qualities- Compression Ecology- Environment- Any Languages- Necril, Draconic, Elven, Aklo, Abyssal, Infernal Organization- Solitary Treasure- Incidental Special Abilities- Coronous Ambush (Ex)- A negator’s erratic, jerky movements and mastery of anatomy give it the opening to strike at its enemies weakest points. A negator may make a sneak attack against any creature vulnerable to precision damage as long as it has moved at least 10ft since the end of its last turn. Negation (Su)- As a standard action, a negator can fire a beam of oblivion energy. This is a 90ft ranged attack that deals 10d8 untyped damage. Additionally, a negator may immediately make a dispel check as with the spell Greater Dispel Magic at +18 against all magical effects the target is under.

#soylent original #monsters and races #homebrew #pathfinder #phyrexia project #old phyrexia #urza #oldwalkers #magic: the gathering #mtg

15 notes · View notes

sleeplesssmoll · 5 months

Note

Honestly, I’m starting to wonder if Sonetto rejecting Vertin’s gifts didn’t affect her a ton. Like, obviously it did, but I mean in a lasting way. Their dynamic changed completely, from Vertin constantly seeking out Sonetto to Sonetto constantly wanting to spend more time with Vertin.

Obviously, Vertin doesn’t reject her, but she doesn’t actively reach out anymore… Could she still be hurt by Sonetto’s rejection, and too scared of it happening again to try again? Or worried that despite Sonetto’s change of attitude, she would still choose her loyalty to the Foundation over everything else?

And I wonder how much of this is an organic development, VS the writers working within the specific constraints of a mobile game story. They can’t do anything that would change their dynamic too drastically for a ton of reasons: it could make Sonetto’s voicelines obsolete, confuse new players checking out new events without past context, upset the playerbase (if they prefer other Vertin ships)… It’s possible they’re saving any major developments for future main story chapters too, leaving Vertin and Sonetto in a status quo for the moment. Or maybe Sonetto’s crush is truly one-sided and I’m coping hard.

Aaah I’m just starving for Vertin and Sonetto content that focuses more on Vertin’s perspective. Sonetto’s side is so obvious, but Vertin’s is kind of a mystery to me. Sorry for rambling in your ask box, I hope this gives you some food for thought at least.

I won't turn down a free meal so no need to be sorry 😎

When it comes to shipping culture, shippers are going to sail no matter how strong the current is. Unless the fans get toxic and we have another Voltron on our hands (it's better if you don't know).

I understand your frustration. It's really the large gaps in their childhood that make this so hard to figure out. Why is Sonetto suffering from puppy love? We see Vertin is comfortable teasing her too so they are closer but how did we get here?

Something is missing.

Also, I wouldn't say that Vertin isn't reaching out to her, but rather she changed the way she interacts with everyone.

Smoltin: Look at what I found!

Vertin: Are you interested in___?

Vertin treats most of the people she meets like this. What are your motives? Dreams? Wishes? What do you want to do? And then she acts accordingly.

With Regulus, it was freedom.

With Druvis, it was a moving forward to a new future.

With Schneieder it was a shelter.

Even when fighting her enemies, she reaches out offering what she can and tells them she can be what they need if they come with her. Vertin isn't lying either, unlike Manus or the Foundation. She reveals her limitations as well as what she can do for you. If you played through Green Lake, you'd have the perfect example of this but the previous chapters do a great job establishing this too.

Present day Sonetto expressed a desire to see the world. (Also she likes riding stuff like trains and buses. Vertin should take her on a hayride during pumpkin season. She'd love it. ) ANYWAY, Vertin spends more time asking what other people want to do than bringing up her own story.

And that could be because she's seen the end of so many stories cut short by the Storm. She has changed.

This is also why it's hard to pinpoint what love is for Vertin. She's the one giving most of the time but we don't know what she wants aside from the truth and peace. You could say she needs a place to belong, but that could extend to everyone in her Suitcase living under her protection and protecting her in return (found family is best family).

So what can a “lover” give Vertin anyway? What is it that Vertin wants? What does she need? (No one say milf if I hear one more mother joke I'll eat my phone.)

I have a hot take. If nothing about this girl I is conventional, then I don't think her love life would be either if she had one. But…I have no idea what that would look like.

Notice how you asked about wanting to see into Vertin’s head and I made it more confusing. This ended up with more questions. 😅

But if can find Vertin's "void", we can figure out how she works in a dynamic with other characters and what they provide to fill it. In this case, what is it Sonetto does for Vertin?

#anon ask #reverse: 1999 #vertin #sonetto

21 notes · View notes

storyofmychoices · 8 months

Text

Okay... with only one chapter in, I'm already having a lot of thoughts and feelings about Blades 2. I'm hesitant to add any of my Blades 2 posts to either my Mal x Daenarya (Blades 1 + Extended Universe) Masterlist or Mal's Orphanage Masterlist because it doesn't seem like things will work out timeline wise. So for now I'm dumping EVERYTHING Blades 2 related here. As we get more info from the book, I'll try to organize things better in relation to my other Masterlists [My Timelines + Universes explained]

In my original timeline, all fics that take place during Book 1 ("Beyond Riverbend" to "A Rose by Any Other Name") exist in this AU as well.

🖤 Shadows of Hope: She was there, and then she was gone. Mal would move heaven and earth to bring her back, but what happens when he can't? [Blades 2, Chapter 1] Mal's 5 stages of grief

🖤 Her Legacy: She may be gone, but she could never be forgotten. She lives on in the stories he tells and the hope he inspires. [Blades 2, Chapter 2] HC for why Mal is smiling

🖤 A Quest for Daenarya: After hearing her stories, Thalassa, Ovisa, and Lysander decide it is their quest to bring Daenarya back to Mal, they just never imagined it would be so easy. [Blades 2, Chapter 3] Reimagining Mal's reunion with Daenarya

🖤 The Promise of Today: Mal and Daenarya share a moment together the morning after her return. [This follows The Quest for Daenarya] [Blades 2, Chapter 3]

🖤 Torn: Daenarya is back and trying to process what happened. [Blades 2, Chapter 4/5ish]

🖤 Sculpting Desires: Daenarya considers a possible future as a sculptor with a very willing model. [Blades 2, Chapter 5] Also featuring Tyril x Maiele and Mal x Tyril

🖤 The Rogue's Embrace + Art 🎨 (Mal x Tyril): Mal loves talking. Tyril is tired of listening and has found a good way to shut him up, even if just for a moment. [Blades 2, Chapter 7ish]

🖤 The Princess of Parnassus and The Trophy Husband + Art 🎨: Daenarya and Mal enjoy a much needed relaxing afternoon while contemplating what comes next. [Blades 2, several months post book]

Book 2 Prequel: The Adventures of a Young Mal Volari

🖤 Mal the Magnificent: Young Mal Volari gets a bucket stuck on his head.

Book 2 Inspired Stories written before its release so I don't know how they fit into the timeline right now

🖤 Old Hair, New Look: Daenarya has a few thoughts about Mal’s new armor

🖤 The Cutest Goof: Daenarya has some thoughts on Mal’s new armor.

🖤 Go On, Feel It: Mal makes an offer Daenarya can't refuse.

Daenarya is pregnant and was in book one

Iliana Maria Volari: Mal and Daenarya's realm walker daughter

A year without her: Mal + the five stages of grief

Mal seeing Daenarya for the first time

Saving Rayden and Lydo in this AU /The Orphanage

"Mine" + love bites

Mal's hair: the lice conundrum

Daenarya's flirting (chapter 2)

Mal smiling (chapter 2)

Imtura, the pirate queen, deserves a mermaid queen

Mal would use the linked minds magic in Chapter 5 to make Tyril and Nia blush

Mal : new armor, old hair [Edit]

Party Together Edit with Mal's old hair [Edit]

Mal + Daenarya Orphanage CG Edit [Edit]

Daenarya enjoying Mal's new armor I [Art]

Daenarya enjoying Mal's new armor II [Art]

Mal x Daenarya x Nia art [Art]

Mal x Daenarya fae/goblin forest [Edit]

Mal x Daenarya neck kisses [Art]

Mal x Daenarya head kiss [Art]

Mal x Daenarya flower crowns [Art]

Mal x Tyril Kiss [Art]

Group CG from promo video

Blades 2 Recap of Book 1 video

Blades 2 Promo Video [Mobile Video]

Mentions of our orphanage in the dream state

It's been a year?!?!

Shadow Threep + Loola cuteness

Deadwood vs Whimseywood Maps

Chapter Two: Threep wanting Daenarya to bring him souvenirs aka snacks

Chapter Two: Mal's Cameo

Chapter Four: the best of Mal teasing Tyril

Chapter Four: Mal wanting Daeny

Chapter Five: Daenarya's "Insight" Inspiration Speech

Chapter Five: Mal + Tyril moment

Chapter Five: Handsome Sculpture

Chapter Five: Mal x Daeny play with magic wolves

Chapter Five: Kiss all the mermaids

Chapter Six: the gang reacts to Daenarya's new outfit

Chapter Six: Daenarya's reaction to the shadow court

Chapter Seven: "not living" moment rewrite

Chapter Seven: Mal x Daenarya moment alone

Chapter Eight: Mal reminisces about mazes as a kid + Lydo and Rayden adoption idea

Chapter Eight: Mal doesn't beg

Chapter Eight: Mal x Tyril (aka boyfriends)

Chapter One Reaction

The Missing Year for other LIs

How does Daenarya feel about using magic as a human

MC's new dress inspiration/fashion

Choices Irony

Realm Time Difference Question

Blades 2 Insider Blog

[Mal Volari x Daenarya:Masterlist : Book One + Beyond] [Mal’s Orphanage (the original /precanon orphanage)]

23 notes · View notes