#the ethics of inspiration is genuinely a pretty interesting topic
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curious as to your thoughts on the may december discourse (some spoilers i guess) - vili has come out and essentially said that he felt the film contributed to his victimization and hurt him. and the response from a lot of film twitter seems to be to yell ITS NOT A BIOPIC and to say he doesnt understand the film (gross). i feel like i dont really care if its a biopic or not, when the film literally quoted vili/mary kay, recreated the mary kay in prison photo exactly, and both charles melton and julianne moore studied vili/mary kay for their performances. to hand wave that all as "not a biopic" feels like a way of writing off any discomfort. i feel like the film should not have made those specific choices, but having done so they had a duty of care to vili. i dont think the film that ended up getting made is worth the continued trauma to vili even if it is art. there were other ways they could have told the story to minimize the harm and they chose not to - and i dont think that choice is a great commentary on tabloids or whatever, its just a ghoulish thing to do
I did see that, anon, and I do have thoughts on it as it's a real grey area in terms of creative license, art and storytelling, and it's a grey area that's been around really since storytelling existed, but before I get into that I just want to quickly clarify what Vili said, because I do think it's important.
Vili didn't say that the film contributed to his victimisation and hurt him, he said the film offended him because it was a ripoff:
“I’m still alive and well,” says Fualaau, now 40 and still living in the Seattle area, where the scandal unfolded. “If they had reached out to me, we could have worked together on a masterpiece. Instead, they chose to do a ripoff of my original story.
“I’m offended by the entire project and the lack of respect given to me — who lived through a real story and is still living it,” he adds.
“I love movies — good movies,” he says. “And I admire ones that capture the essence and complications of real-life events. You know, movies that allow you to see or realize something new every time you watch them.
“Those kinds of writers and directors — someone who can do that — would be perfect to work with, because my story is not nearly as simple as this movie [portrays],” Fualaau adds.
The reason I think this distinction is an important one to make is because in interviews since Mary Kay Letourneau passing, it's pretty clear that Vili - while absolutely being a victim-survivor - doesn't see himself that way, and even says pretty specifically in his Doctor Oz interview from 2020 that he doesn't see her as a predator or himself as having been preyed on ('there was no perversion...she was my wife and my best friend' are his exact words), and he's pretty clearly open to the idea of a film being made about his story.
I'm not saying this to diminish his feelings about May December at all (I strongly believe that Vili is entitled to feel any and every which way about the film) or to patronise his own understanding of what he experienced - I can't even begin to imagine the complexity of trying to unpack the life he shared with her - but I think it's important to reflect his feelings accurately and to provide a little context to those feelings.
With that said, do I think the creative team should've reached out to Vili before making the film?
Honestly, I don't know.
I think it's one of those questions in art where there's not really a right answer. If Vili's feelings towards Mary Kay are still lost in the silver linings of her grooming, any film that has his direct approval or involvement is going to run the risk of tacit endorsement. It also hamstrings the creative team and opens them up in terms of liability (I actually was a writers assistant on a TV show a million years ago that was sort of a bio pic and I can tell you for a fact that it was a disaster once the person it was based on got involved), and, of course, it runs the risk of shifting the focus of the story the writer is wanting to tell.
And that's the thing about art, right? By design, art is supposed to reflect us back to ourselves in ways that we might not always be comfortable with. Of course, that usually happens less literally than in how Todd Haynes has used Vili and Mary Kay's stories, but not always. Todd Haynes is certainly no stranger to the technique given Velvet Goldmine is pretty transparently inspired by David Bowie and I'm Not There is often confused as a Bob Dylan bio pic despite the fact that it's actually not.
Hell, everyone loves that Succession points a pretty clear finger to the Murdoch's, and while, of course, the Murdoch's - and Bowie and Dylan for that matter - have social, political and economic power that Vili doesn't which does impact the ethics of the decision, it's still made under the same creative ideology that aspects of a real story can render an artwork, a story, a film more emotionally authentic, can create greater resonance, can offer a sharper reflection of the world we live in and offer, perhaps, a message or a question that lingers.
All of this has actually kind of been funny timing as I just finished reading Sarah Weinman's The Real Lolita the other day which is a really excellent blend of true crime, literary history and critical commentary on this exact topic. The book explores the real life case of Sally Horner who was kidnapped by a pedophile in 1948 when she was 11 years old and was forced to roadtrip with him around America for two years. It's actually mentioned in passing in Nabokov's Lolita, but once you go a little deeper it's pretty clear how much of Horner and her story Nabokov used to create Dolores Haze / Lolita.
In the book, Weinnman asks the question as to why Lolita gets to be remembered when Sally's been left to obscurity, and of course, the answer is that there are other Sally's in the news cycle, but only one Lolita in art, and that hopefully in her writing Sally Horner's story she can write her back into bookshelves and place her back into this artwork but who knows if that's what Sally would've wanted (Sarah does, at least, talk to Sally's lone surviving family member, and makes a measure to show that it's very unlikely Nabokov ever did the same).
Was Nabokov wrong for not seeking out Sally's family for Lolita? Honestly, I doubt it even would've occured to him to do so, and the fact that we do now ask questions like this about the ethics of inspiration is, I think, a good thing. We should be critical of how stories are told and who is, and isn't, involved in the telling of them, but again, I don't actually think there are right or wrong answers here.
Fiction is always inspired by real people, real events, real life, it's a part of creation, it's a part of capturing a moment in time, it's about reflection and authenticity, but of course that's been rendered more complex in recent years by the fact that we live in a world that's ever shrinking and the people or the events that inspire new stories are inevitably brought into the public narrative in a way they just weren't back in 1955 when Lolita was first published.
So what does that mean for creativity and inspiration? I don't know, but personally I guess my thoughts would be that Vili is absolutely in his rights to be offended by the film, but I also don't think the filmmakers were wrong necessarily to not reach out. It's not the most ethical choice, but I also don't think it was an inherently bad one either. This isn't a Blonde situation where they write fiction and present it as fact, the creatives have been clear about it being inspried by what happened between Mary Kay and Vili, but they're also not saying Vili and Mary Kay are Joe and Gracie.
I appreciate you feeling like it's much of a muchness though given how they've apparently lifted entire scenes of dialogue. It's a murky question after all, and it's certainly one that's more complex when it comes to people like Vili and Sally than it is with the Murdoch's or even David Bowie, but yes, I'm not sure I see it as something inherently wrong, and I don't personally think it was ghoulish. I just think the specifics of this particular case just kind of shows how the sausage is made when it comes to storytelling.
#the ethics of inspiration is genuinely a pretty interesting topic#when i used to work at the writers centre there was this huge scandal about remix poetry#namely poets being inspired and riffing off other poetry#and oh man the DISCOURSE#anyway#sorry this is so long and rambling#i do recommend the real lolita btw#i finished it on the plane the other day and everyone in my row wanted to talk to me about it when they saw the cover lmao#may december#film asks#welcome to my ama#full disclaimer i still haven't seen the movie as it's not out in aus until 1 feb#but i am planning on seeing it
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Just to clarify a few things bc I mostly reblog stuff and don't make original posts about it and my stance is too nuanced to glean from reblogs of other people's posts:
I don't think AI is ontologically evil. It's just a type of computer program.
I don't think AI is an accurate term, but I'll still use it bc the marketing broadly worked and I want to be understood without having to write an essay about terminology every time the topic comes up
AI has genuinely interesting artistic applications (shoutout to @aholefilledwithtwigs and our beloved departed @nostalgebraist-autoresponder )
The vast majority of AI art (again, conceding to the marketing term for the sake of clarity) is not that.
The use of web scraping and mass processing of artwork without consent is self-evidently inethical. Machine processing is not comparable to a human artist taking inspiration from or referencing other artists. If you try to tell me it actually is the same and I just don't get how it works, then sorry, but I actually know more than you.
That said, I'm not in a hurry to litigate it. Ethical boundaries do not always translate well into legal boundaries, no matter how good the intentions of the lawyers. Copyright law is a fuck to begin with.
If you think AI art is fundamentally the same as photography, you've got a better head on your shoulders than a lot of AI artists, but you're still wrong. The neural network itself is indeed comparable to the mechanical function of a camera. The comparison between working out the right prompt to put in the generator and the artistic process of working out the right angle, lens, focus, and shutter speed is a bit shakier but still works. There is zero possible comparison between photography and the use of huge databases of training data.
I think images generated by AI should be public domain. Full stop. The legal precedent for that isn't actually all that convincing if I'm being honest, I'm just a huge copyleft advocate.
I think it would be great if everyone learned how to make neural networks and started creating their own, way more interesting, projects with training data that actually belongs to them. The results might not be as immediately impressive but it's pretty fucking elitist to put all the emphasis on visual fidelity and polish.
I don't like the gay sex cats because the cats themselves gross me out to look at for too long. Same with most AI art even if it's getting closer to looking right. This isn't, like, an actual ethical issue or anything, just personal squick. I think it would be cool if more people used it to make grotesque horror on purpose.
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What's spontaneous for you based on where's Aries in your birth chart
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If you’re an IG page and want to repost this, don’t forget to tag the creator: @sacerdotess4 on IG
Don’t plagiarize, you were born original, don’t die a copy.
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Aries rising/1st house: it's easy for you to express your personality, people perceive you as a spontaneous and authentic person with great leaderhip abilities. You're honest (sometimes also aggressive), energetic and it's easy for you to feel confident, you're proud of your personality and you don't care about other people opinions about you and your life in general. You're so inspiring and genuine, I love you.
Aries in 2nd house: you're passionate when it comes to support and defend your values, you really care about your lifestyle and your self care, unfortunately you could be that kind of person that spend too much on a lifestyle that's out of your budget. It's extremely important for you to live a nice life full of beautiful things all around you and you'll do whatever it takes to make your life the easiest as possible. You have strong ethical values and it's spontaneous for you to defend them at all costs, you tend to speak your mind a lot.
Aries in 3rd house: it's spontaneous for you to share your opinions, work on your mind, learn new things, be passionate about reading (you could be someone who read very fast or that has learned how to read and write at a very young age), you learn new things pretty fast, you have many hobbies and many interests. Your calligraphy is kinda messy, sharp and fast. You could be brutally honest and kinda aggressive when you speak up your mind, people get easily hurt by your words.
Aries in 4th house: you're a natural leader when it comes to nurture others, you're really protective with the ones that you love and care about. You're kinda conservator and tend to protect your memories and the past, you could be proud of your origins and you want to defend them at all costs. You could be interested in starting your own family at young age.
Aries in 5th house: it's natural for you to be a performer, to seduce other people, to be liked by children and to be gifted with any kind of artistic hobby. You have a charming and spontaneous personality, people love being around you. You need to have fun and to be the center of the attention, you're intolerant to boredom.
Aries in 6th house: it's natural for you to be passionate about your job and to protect your health, you could be naturally gifted for sports of any kind. You could also feel natural inclined towards animals and protecting their rights, you could be a vegan activist or something similar. You really care about your routines and planes and you'll do anything to protect them and to live your life with your own rules.
Aries in 7th house: you're spontaneous when it comes to deal with other people, you tend to protect your own social circle, your close friendships and your marriage. Probably you really like the idea of marriage and would love to marry at young age. You're naturally charismatic and friendly.
Aries in 8th house: it's easy for you to be interested in taboo topics, to have great psychological abilities and to spot a liar. Probably you're a Virgo rising, so it's easy for you to spot details and you have excellent analysis abilities. You're the first to discover a secret or the dark aspect in a situation. You're a passionate lover and you really care about your sexual life. You have a sharp intuition and probably spiritual gifts.
Aries in 9th house: you're spontaneous when it comes to try new things, learn new languages, visits new countries, travel and explore. You always need to know more about anything, expand your horizons, you have an independent and energetic mind. It's spontaneous for you to have faith in life, in God and to learn about religions, ethical themes and philosophy. It's spontaneous for you to have an optimistic view of life.
Aries in 10th house: you're spontaneous when it comes to try your best, to achieve your goals and to work hard. You're a competitive person always in need to be the first at everything. You're naturally driven for success and to plan and organize your career, your life is passionate when you work hard, your pride of your career and your social status. You could have the tendency of being too materialistic.
Aries in the 11th house: it's spontaneous for you to help others, to fight for your rights and for your community. You're probably kinda popular, people admire the way you fight for your ideals. You love to exchange opinions with other people and to create a sense of community between people with same ideals and goals. You have an humanitarian and altruistic personality. You're also naturally drawn to unconventional things and technology.
Aries in 12th house: you have a quiet personality and it's natural for you to hide in your own world when things outside gets too loud and messy. You're naturally gifted with artistic talents, good psychological abilities, emotional intelligence and intuition. You could also have spiritual gifts. You feel passionate about the invisible and metaphysical world.
#astrology#astrology tips#astrology community#astro notes#astro observations#aries#birth chart#spirituality#astroblr#astrotips#baby witch#witchcraft#witch#divination
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Thoughts on the new discourse? Warrior cats naming conventions and rank names being straight up stolen from native American people? So many people seem to be... Straight up leaving the Fandom or changing all of their fan content and it feels very performative and, people not actually thinking critically and just being scared of getting "cancelled"? I feel like your opinions on these matters are very informed and well written so I wanted to ask given that this blog main theme is, well, warrior cat naming system and that seems to be the main issue of the new discourse.
This is probably going to get long, since there's sort of a lot to say about it in order to talk about this whole thing fairly and constructively, because from what I’ve seen there’s a lot of hyperbole happening, and panicking, and disavowing this series and fandom, and so on, like you say, and also some people genuinely trying to have complex meaningful conversations about racism in xenofiction, and also probably some bad faith actors in the mix--as well as some just... stupid actors. Kind of inevitably what happens when two equally bad platforms for having nuanced discussions--i.e., twitter and tumblr--run headlong into each other, in a fandom space with a majority demographic of basically kids and highly anxious, pretty online teens. I don’t mean that as a criticism of fans or their desire to be liked by peers and “correct” about opinions, it’s just the social landscape of Warriors and I think it’s worth pointing out from the start.
If I’m totally honest with you, if not for this ask, I wouldn’t actually be commenting on it at all, because none of this is going to impact this blog or change how I run it in any way. But since you’ve asked and frankly I do feel some responsibility to try to disentangle things a little for everyone stressed and confused at the moment, because I know a lot of people look to this blog for guidance of all sorts, I’m going to talk about what I think has happened here, and how to navigate the situation in a reasonable way.
Quick recap for anyone blissfully unaware: from what I understand, this post (migrated over from a presumably bigger twitter thread) has got a lot of people very worried about Warriors being a racist and appropriative series, and now are trying to figure out what ethically to do about this revelation. The thing I found most interesting about this screenshotted conversation is that it makes a lot of bold claims, but misses some pretty surprising details (in my opinion). If you do look critically at what is being said, here’s a few things to notice--crucially, there are two people talking.
Person 1 says that a lot of animal fantasy fiction + xenofiction (fiction about non-human/”other” beings, such as animals) is frequently built upon stereotypes of First Nations and Indigenous people, and/or appropriates elements of Indigenous culture and tradition as basically set dressing for “strange” and “alien” races/species etc., and this is a racist, deeply othering, and inappropriate practice. This person is right.
I’ve spent years researching in this field specifically, so I feel pretty confident in vouching (for whatever that’s worth) that this person is absolutely right in making this point. Not only is it frequently in animal fiction/xenofiction, but it’s insidious, which means often it’s hard to notice when it’s happening--unless you know what you’re looking for, or you are personally familiar with the details or tropes that are being appropriated. Because of the nature of racism, white and other non-First Nations people don’t always recognise this trend within texts--even texts they’re creating--but it’s important for us all, and especially white people, to be more aware, because it’s not actually First Nations’ people’s responsibility to be the sole critics of this tradition of theft and misuse. Appropriation by non-Indigenous people is in fact the problem, which means non-Indigenous people learning and changing is the solution.
Person 1 offers Warriors as a popular example of a work that has this problem. Notably, this person hasn’t given an example of how Warriors is culpable (at least in this screenshot and I haven’t found the thread itself, because the screenshot is what’s causing this conversation), only that it’s an example of a work that has these problems. And once again, this person is correct. We’ll look at that more in a moment.
Person 2 (three tweets below the first) offers, by comparison, several more specious insights. Firstly, it’s really, really not the only time anyone’s ever talked about this, academically + creatively or in the Warriors fandom specifically, and so that reveals somewhat this person’s previous engagement in the space they’re talking into re: this topic. In other words, this person doesn’t know what has already been said or what is being talked about. Secondly, this person explicitly states that they “[don’t know] much about warrior cats specifically but from what I see it just screams appropriation,” which as a statement I think says something crucial re: the critical lens this person has applied + the amount of forethought and depth of analysis of their criticism of this particular series.
I’m not saying that using twitter to talk about your personal feelings requires you to research everything you talk about before you shoot your mouth off. However, I personally don’t go into a conversation about a topic I don’t know anything about except a cursory glance to offer bold and scathing criticisms based on what it “just screams” to me. By their own admission, this person isn’t really offering good faith, thoughtful criticism of the series, in line with Person 1′s tweet. Instead, Person 2 is talking pretty condescendingly and emphatically about--as the kids say--the vibes they get from the series, and I’m afraid that just doesn’t hold up well in this court.
So now that there’s Person 1 (i.e., very reasonable, important, interesting criticism) and Person 2 (i.e., impassioned but completely vibes-based opinion from someone who hasn’t read the books) separated, we can see there’s actually several things happening in this brief snapshot, and some of them aren’t super congruent with each other.
Person 1 didn’t say “don’t read bad books,” or that you’re a bad person for being a fan of stories that are guilty of this. They suggested people should recognise the ways xenofiction uses Indigenous people and their culture inappropriately and often for profit. My understanding of this tweet is someone offering an insight that might not have occurred to many people, but that is valuable and important to consider going forward in how they view, engage with, and create xenofiction media.
Person 2 uses high modality, evocative language that appeals to the emotions. That’s not a criticism of this person: they’re allowed to talk in whatever tone they want, and to express their personal feelings and opinions. However, rhetorically, this person is using this specific language--consciously or subconsciously--to incense their audience--i.e., you. Are you feeling called to action? What action do you feel called to when you rea their words, despite the fact their claims are not based in their own actual analysis of or engagement with the text? It’s, by their own admission, not analysis at all. Everything they evoke is purely in the name of “not good” vibes.
Earlier I mentioned that Person 1 is correct that Warriors is absolutely guilty of appropriation of First Nations and Indigenous people and culture. I also mentioned that they didn’t specify how. That’s because I think the most egregious example is in fact the tribe, which in many ways plays into the exact kind of stereotyping and appropriation of First Nations Americans that Person 1 mentions, and not the clans, contrary to Person 2′s suggestion. For instance, in addition to the very loaded name of “tribe”, there’s a lot of racist tropes present in how that group of cats is introduced and how the clan cats interact with them, as well as the more North American-inspired scenery of their home. It’s very blatant as far as racism in this series.
When it comes to the clans themselves, though, I think it’s muddier and harder to draw clear distinctions of what is directly appropriative, what is coincidentally and superficially reminiscent, and what is not related at all. Part of this difficulty in drawing hard lines comes from the fact that, on a personal level, it actually doesn’t matter: if a First Nations person reads a story and feel it is appropriative or inappropriate, it’s not actually anyone’s place to “correct” them on their reading of the text. Our experiences are unique and informed by our perspectives and values, and no group of people are a monolith, which means within community, there will always be disagreement and differenting points of view. There is no one single truth or opinion, which means that First Nations people even in the same family might have very different feelings about the same text and very different perspectives on how respectful, or not, it might be.
I’m saying this because something that gets said very often when conversations of racism and similar oppressive systems present/perpetuated in texts comes up, people frequently say: “listen to x voices.” It is excellent advice. However, the less pithy but equally valuable follow-up advice is: “listen to the voices of many people of x group, gather information and perspective, and then ultimately use your own judgement to make an informed opinion for yourself.” It means that you are responsible for you. The insight you can gain by listening to people who know topics and experiences far better than you do is truly invaluable, but if your approach to the world is simply to parrot the first voice, or loudest voice, or angriest voice you come across, you will not really learn anything or be able to develop your own understanding and you certainly won’t be making well-informed judgements.
In other words, one incomplete tweet thread from two people who are each bringing quite different topics and modes of conversation (or perhaps gripes, in Person 2′s case) to the table is not really enough to go off re: making a decision to leave a fandom, in my opinion. In fact, I think in responding to anything difficult, complex, or problematic (which doesn’t mean what popular adage bandies it about to mean) by trying to distance yourself, or cleanse of it, will ultimately harm you and will not do you any good as a person. It is better, in my opinion, to enter into complex relationships with the world and media and other people in an informed, aware way and with a willingness to learn and sometimes to make mistakes and be wrong, rather than shy away from potential conflict or fear that interacting with a text will somehow taint you or define your morality in absolutes.
So. Does Warriors have racist and appropriative elements, tropes, and issues in the series? Yes, of course it does, it’s a book-packaged series produced by corporation HarperCollins and written by a handful of white British women and their myriad ghostwriters. Racism is just one part of the picture. The books are frequently also ableist, sexist, and homophobic (or heteronormative, depending how you want to slice it, I guess), just to name some of the most evident problems.
But does the presence of these issues mean it’s contaminated and shouldn’t be touched? Personally, I don’t think so. Given the nature of existing the world, it’s not possible to find perfect media that is free of any kind of bias, prejudice, or even just ideas or topics or concepts that are challenging or uncomfortable. I think it’s more meaningful to choose to engage with these elements, discuss them, criticise them, learn from them, and acknowledge also that imperfection is the ultimate destiny of all of us, especially creators.
I’m not saying that as a pass, like, “oh enjoy your media willy-nilly, nothing matters, do what you want, think about no-one else ever because we’re all flawed beings,” but rather that it’s important not to look away from the problems in the things we enjoy, rather than cut off all contact and enjoyment when we realise the problems. That doesn’t mean you have to only criticise and always be talking about how bad a thing you like is either, publicly admonishing yourself or the text, because that’s also not a constructive way to engage with media.
As I said, there’s a lot to say here, and believe it or not, this is honestly the shortest version I could manage. There’s always more to say and plenty I haven’t talked about, but pretty much tl;dr:
I don’t find Person 2′s commentary particularly compelling, personally, because I think it’s a little broad and a little specious in its conclusions and evidence, and I also suspect that this person is speaking more from their feelings than from a genuine desire to educate or meaningfully criticise, unlike Person 1. That’s not to say Warriors isn’t frequently racist and guilty of the issues Person 1 is discussing, because it is, but I don’t think this tweet thread is a great source of insight into the ongoing history of this problem in xenofiction, or Warriors specifically, on its own. I would recommend exploring further afield to learn more from a variety of sources and form your own opinions. I hope this helps.
#just in case anyone sees this post and gets the wrong idea: i'm not inviting debate on this.#i am saying that first nations people are allowed to have ANY relationship with texts because that's how subjectivity works.#they are allowed to have negative neutral or positive experiences of texts--even 'bad' ones that have a lot of problems.#the people in this tweet are just talking about their thoughts and it's their bad luck the world's a public forum and it's spiralled.#the other thing i am saying is that if your approach to media is exclusively to cut out any problematic text like it's a cancer#that's not a great strategy. just straight up. you're better off developing critical insight and your own opinions and confidence.#by most parameters i can think of warriors as a series pretty much sucks really bad and i've been saying that for nearly ten years.#despite being so phenomenally flawed it can still have value--and much of its value in my opinion is IN these conversations about it.#so yeah tl;dr 2: i'm not here to slap-fight with teens which is what much discourse devolves to after 5 mins on tumblr so don't try it.
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MLQC Boys With A Famous S/o
Here we go! Thank you anon for this request I hope its to your liking!! Apologies for typos as always!
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Kiro (YouTuber S/o)
How did you meet ?
You were a YouTuber that had over 500,000 subscribers. During a Mukbang Q&A video you received a question in regards to your celebrity crush.
“I think the big ass poster currently behind me kind of gives it away, but my ultimate crush is Kiro. I’d give anything to meet him at least once.” You went even as far as to give him a shout out. “Hey, super star! I heard you were a big foodie and since you like to eat and I like to eat, maybe we can eat together sometime? Okay, that was dumb, please ignore this!”
Little did you know, Kiro was a huge fan of your videos and just so happened to see your request. Next thing you knew a clip of you “shooting your shot” made its way to his social media page with a caption of “Its a date ;)” right above it. You just about died when you saw his post. You were only joking around! Well...not 100% joking, but you didn’t expect him to respond!
You spent weeks talking to each other through private messages soon after. Your messages filled with gushing over your similar interests, playful banters and light flirting. He offered to be a part of your next Mukbang stating that it was better to have two people eating themselves into a coma on camera than one. You couldn’t argue with facts and took him up on his offer! Kiro only had one condition...you let him take you out on a date afterwards.
And the rest was history.
Dating
The cutest couple to have ever existed!
Both of your social media pages are filled with couple photos.
You both get to dress up in disguise whenever you go on dates! A baseball cap, sunglasses, and face masks are your usual go to’s, but depending on where you’re going you might be required to get a little creative.
Dealing with overly excited fans and even more persistent paparazzi was a bit new for you, since your interactions with people is mostly through the internet, but you handle it pretty well.
Interviewers practically threw themselves onto every opportunity to get information about your love life. Kiro was more skilled than you about these things, so you tend to just laugh awkwardly and let him take care of it.
Kiro appears a little more in your videos whenever he’s free which the fans are grateful for. Of course, your channel doesn’t turn into all things Kiro and you never use him for your own personal gain.
Dating Kiro did open up some opportunities for you, like getting to experience award shows and networking with other celebrities and content creators. Again, you refused to throw Kiro’s name around just to get the things you wanted.
You both like to bounce ideas off of each other, whether its for his music or for your latest video. Having two creative minds come together does wonders!
You’re almost always somewhere in the background during his live streams.
Gavin (Actress S/o)
How did you meet?
High school. You were a part of the drama club and Gavin was...well...forced into being a part of the stagehand after being threatened with expulsion from his last brawl.
You were the first one to welcome him. You were kind, funny, and cute. And when you were on that stage? Mesmerizing was the best way to put how Gavin saw you. You were inspiring.
After graduation Gavin lost contact with most of his acquaintances, but he never once stopped thinking about you. Gavin wasn’t big on celebrity news, but he actually kept up with your progress once he got wind of a newcomer taking the entertainment world by storm.
Fast forward to a few years later and he was playing bodyguard for one of the most successful actresses in the world. You. This was just an undercover job that was going to last as long as his target was still out there.
There was definitely chemistry between you. And while Gavin wanted to act on his feelings, his work had to come first. You respected that, but that didn’t mean you weren’t going to let him know you were interested. How could you not be? You had a huge crush on him back in high school and now that he was by your side practically every day those feelings came back with a vengeance!
As soon as Gavin’s objective was complete he continues being your bodyguard stating, “Only I can keep you out of trouble.” Which you responded by kissing him.
Dating
Once word got out about you dating your “bodyguard”, it shocked many that you decided to be with someone that wasn’t a celebrity.
Even so, Gavin doesn’t look like your average Joe. He has the body and face of man who could easily be on the cover of Vogue or Vanity Fair, but you know your man isn’t about that life.
You’ve spent years being a private person, so when you and Gavin start dating not revealing much was easy. The public only knew what you wanted them to.
There are a lot of at home dates filled with takeout and movie night. Just being in each others company is more than enough for you!
You work out together a lot! He’s really good about motivating you especially when you have to prepare for an upcoming movie. You honestly don’t need a personal trainer when you have Gavin.
The paparazzi are afraid of Gavin. Like they won’t even get within six feet of you whenever he’s around. The last poor soul who got a little too close for your liking ate asphalt within seconds.
Gavin isn’t one for the limelight or the glitz and glam, which you appreciate. Its nice to be around someone that isn’t a part of the entertainment world.
You don’t have to hide a part of yourself, in fear of judgement, whenever you were with him. You appreciated Gavin’s genuine nature. He was always truthful with you and he never gave the impression that he was only with you because of your status.
Gavin does a great job with making you feel special. Whenever you feel like you don’t meet the standards of what the industry wants, he pulls you out of that dark hole and gives you the pep talk you need to get through the day.
You could walk around without an ounce of makeup on or trade in a Dior dress for sweatpants and a t-shirt, and Gavin still found you beautiful.
Victor ( Famous Pianist S/o)
How did you meet?
Victor was a fan of your work for quite some time. There was something about your raw talent that drew him to your work. He always made it a point to go to all your live shows whenever he was available, but has never met you personally.
It wasn’t until you waltzed right into his office out of the blue. When he saw you enter his office with Goldman and two security guards tailing right behind you, he didn’t even recognize you. You looked as if you had just rolled out of bed with a messy bun, ripped jeans, t-shirt with some random cartoon character and thick rimmed glasses. His first thought as you stared him down with a frown was, “Who let this homeless person into his office?”
When Goldman called your name as the two security guards grabbed your arms, Victor had to do a double take. The elegant and graceful woman, who commanded the stage with just pads of her fingertips, was...YOU?!
Victor allowed you to stay, curious to know why you were here. You business with Victor was simple. You wanted funding to create music schools for low income families. You had sent countless emails to LFG with hopes to do business with them, but after being ignored the first few times and receiving a rude rejection email that morning, you were ready to take the bull by the horns.
Surprisingly Victor found himself intrigued by you and thus started an interesting partnership.
The more Victor got to work with you the more he became attracted to the headstrong, smart, and talented person who seemingly enjoyed ruffling his feathers every chance they got.
You were also attracted to the blunt, detail-oriented man and it bothered you to no-end. What you saw in a man who probably would critique drawings from a toddler, you had no idea. But you appreciated his work ethic. He genuinely wanted you to succeed with this project and you couldn’t deny his heart was in the right place.
The day the first school opened was the day Victor decided to stop tiptoeing around the mutual attraction and asked you out.
“We can celebrate your accomplishments over dinner.”
Dating
The CEO of LFG and the child prodigy turned world famous pianist dating?!
CAN WE SAY POWER COUPLE?!
Whenever paparazzi get a picture of the two of you, you both look as if you just finished a professional photoshoot. You NEVER look bad in those photos. Never!
And when you do professional shoots? It leaves people SHOOK. Magazines like Forbes have never had such a beautiful couple grace their covers before. Just wait until people see your wedding photos.
You always ask him to visit you during your rehearsals which he almost always declines but shows up anyway, if he’s not too busy. He’ll also bring a box of his homemade pudding because knowing you, you probably were too busy with preparations for your upcoming concert to eat. He’ll take you out to eat afterwards, but the pudding should hold you over for a bit.
Victor will never admit this to you, but your music helps him de-stress after a long day at work, so whenever he isn’t with you, your music helps him fall asleep.
Victor also likes to watch you work. Seeing you so focused as you create your next piece was a sight to beheld. The pensive look in your eyes as you went over your music sheet, the slow nod of your head as your fingers danced across the keys as you intently listened to the melody, and the way your eyebrow twitched when you hit a key you didn’t like; all things oddly enjoyed seeing.
You’ll never catch him staring. He’ll pretend he’s working whenever you feel his eyes on you and if you try to call him out on it, he will most likely deny it.
Lucien ( Novelist S/o)
How did you meet?
You needed the help of someone knowledgeable with neuroscience for your next book. Someone recommended a Professor at Loveland University who specialized on the topic. That was how you met Professor Lucien.
You two worked closely together once you started your manuscript, going over various topics under the neuroscience category. It wasn’t surprising just how intelligent the man was on the subject, but you were in awe about how much you knew.
Your meetings would often start at the university which led to you going home together once you found out he lived in the same building as you. You leveled up from the lecture hall to aquariums, movie theaters, restaurants, and his apartment where you had lunch or dinner.
Your conversations never stayed on the topic of work. It often changed to your interests. You found that you and Lucien had a lot of similar interests like your taste in books and art. He also developed a love for teasing you.
Seeing the look on your flustered face turned into one of his favorite pastimes.
When it came to the topic of your books, you learned Lucien has read quite a few of them and was very intrigued with your work. He asked you numerous questions, questions no one thought to ask.
He admitted to you his favorite of yours was the first book he ever read titled, “The Boy Who Dreamed.” You jokingly offered to sign his book, but he declined with a smile.
“I’ll admit I do enjoy the book, but I’m more interested in the woman who wrote it.”
Dating
More dates at your favorite places.
Almost every other week, Lucien seemed to have tickets to art exhibits, festivals, or the movies.
His teasing intensifies by a hundred! That man loves to tease you and you hate it! You love it.
The closer you got to Lucien, the more you realized he didn’t enjoy talking about himself, so it takes a while to learn about him or his past. You never press him for information, but he does reveal things to you within time.
Lucien loves when you read to him. Its how he falls asleep and once you find out he has trouble sleeping, you always suggest what you call “story time.”
In truth, having you by his side is more than enough to get him to sleep, but if you aren’t there hearing your voice will do the trick. You could be reading anything and he’d be fine with it. From Dr. Seuss to H.G. Wells, Lucien was fine with it as long as he got hear your voice.
You like to ask for his opinion on your latest projects. He does a great job making you think outside of the box which will make things easier or challenging during your writing sessions.
Whenever you encounter writer’s block, Lucien will pull you away from your laptop and mountains of papers to enjoy a nice relaxing day with him.
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Doooone! Please comment if you enjoyed this! I’d love to know what you guys think!
Want to read more of my writing? Check out my MLQC masterlist here!
#mlqc#mlqc gavin#mlqc kiro#mlqc victor#mlqc lucien#mldd#mr. love#mr love queen's choice#mr love#mr love dream date
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Luciferian Challenge: Day 12+13 (And 22)
A few of these prompts ended up being very similar in theme, so I’ve combined them into a bit of a long reply.
Dogma is something we throw about…that we reject it. Where do you think we may fall short as Luciferians/Satanists when it comes to dogma? Do you think dogma has a certain value?
I don’t think dogma has any value really, no, as I don’t like the idea of rules or ideas that cannot be questioned on principle. Even as a child, I took issue with blind obedience. My mother once called me downstairs, and I asked why, and my father got angry and said that I shouldn’t bother to ask why and just do it, and that even if one of them told me to jump out of a window they probably had a good reason for it.
That memory is seared into my brain and still irks me.
I do think rules themselves can be important, but when we speak of rejecting dogma it’s typically in the sense of it being some authoritative status quo that cannot be discussed or challenged. I think my example above is a good example of that, as petty as it may seem: that parents should be obeyed without question and with the assumption they have our best interests at heart.
I do not believe there’s room for that sort of attitude in an empathetic and respectful society, even towards children. Respecting their natural curiosity and teaching them about bodily autonomy is something I think can only be a net good. The only thing growing up in a strict household taught me, where there was little room for negotiation or challenging of the way things were, was how to be a decent liar.
It harmed me in far more ways than it helped instill any positive values, and while I would not want to belittle the experiences of anyone in a similar boat, I consider myself one of the lucky ones. There are some families where a dogmatic stance, whether based in politics or religion, can lead to the alienation or outright abandonment of LGBT youth, of young women who wish control over their own bodies, of those with views that differ from their parents’, or any other black sheep.
I feel like this question and my thoughts on it really go hand in hand with the next one, so I’m going to actually combine them into one post and make up the difference later.
Do you think it’s dogma or silly to say what Luciferianism/Satanism is not?
I do not think it’s dogmatic to say what Luciferianism or Satanism is or isn’t. The reason I’ve kept both labels in these two prompts, when I’ve removed them in every other post, is because I spent a lot of time in a mixed Luciferian and Satanist community during the beginning of my religious journey. Despite our differences, especially in the case of Atheist Satanism versus Theistic Luciferianism, I saw a great deal of overlap in a lot of the values/ideals, inspirations, and talking points.
I think outlining those ideals and values is important to just… having a label. Words mean things. Religious affiliations and ideas mean things. Even saying you belong to or adhere to a school of thought typically has some manner of definition or parameters. While Luciferianism and Satanism can be incredibly diverse when it comes to the details of one’s ethics and morals, practices, views of the divinity or lack there of, and other suck points, there’s a good deal that does unite us that’s reflected in the archetypal figures our religions are named after. I also believe that certain aspects of what is seen as the Standard Luciferian should be weighed more or less heavily. For example, I don’t see my irritation with hostility towards Christianity as something that makes me less of a Luciferian.
However, I want to combine these two prompts with one more to round out my view of this topic.
What do you disagree with Luciferians/Satanists most?
In the goddamn dogma they cling to and perpetuate while claiming to be adversarial to or enlightened above such ideas. It’s become almost a meaningless buzzword. It barely still looks like a real word to me anymore. This is honestly where my post goes completely off the rails into a mini essay, so it’s under the cut.
The idea that all “Abrahamic” religions should be treated as inherently harmful and oppressive is a bad take.
That Christianity, Judaism, and Islam should even be lumped together when discussing such issues betrays a shallow understanding of these religions that’s been regurgitated from one person to another, typically through a culturally Christian lens.
The idea that “only LaVeyan Satanism should be called Satanism because nothing else that calls itself Satanism is actually Satanism” is exhausting, and I will fist fight Anton myself in hell.
The principles of Might Makes Right and Social Darwanism that some Satanists perpetuate is dumb and bad and wrong, sorry, that’s the only rebuttal I’m dignifying that school of thought with. Once again, I will be fist fighting Anton in hell.
And that’s to say nothing of the Satanists and Luciferians out there that regurgitate the same racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and other assorted bigotries that they’ll condemn religions like Christanity for while perpetuating it with a coat of black paint. Because I have absolutely seen this first hand, both as an observer and as the target of it.
Like... I can’t speak on Islam at all, because I have very very limited experience with it from both a research and real life experience point of view, and thus I’m not comfortable making any claims. On the other hand, I do know that to list all the ways that Judaism is not a dogmatic religion would deserve its own post written by someone far more knowledgeable than me, and it somehow still gets lumped into the Problematic n’ Dogmatic category of AbRaHaMiC ReLiGiOnS. For that reason, in the case of Islam, I can’t help but wonder if the assumption that it’s also dogmatic comes from the harmful assumption that it’s a religion that’s strict to the point of harshness that a lot of people have.
Even in the case of Christianity, which I would argue (as someone who I’d say was raised within the church) is hands down the most seemingly dogmatic of the three (particularly in North America), this is just not universally true. If it was, there probably wouldn’t be so many branches and denominations, many of which cannot stand each other and think the rest are misguided at best and heretical at worst. This is something that’s even brought up in the Satanic Bible; I’ve read the miserable thing. Have you ever seen someone say “Christians and Catholics”? That’s a pretty loaded example of how much disagreement exists within the religion when an entire core branch of it is considered tangentially related.
Not to mention, I was raised Lutheran. That came about because a German Catholic got incredibly steamed at his own religion so he made a more boring different version of it. While the existence of dogma has led to these schisms, historically speaking, the end result has been a religion so varied that it’s hard to say what is and isn’t treated as inarguable law. If you don’t believe me, try talking to a Protestant pastor about the Seven Deadly Sins and see how far you get. I tried during confirmation class and got shut down immediately... but on the flip side, my church was pretty accepting of LGBT folks, which I think some people would claim Christianity is dogmatically against by default.
Is there dogmatic thinking within specific churches or branches or communities? Absolutely, I wouldn’t argue that. I think it can arise in any community, religious or not, but that some religious communities seem to be particularly vulnerable to it. But the harm those specific cases could do should be where our focus goes, not the condemnation of these religions or the concept of religion as a whole, which I touched on in a previous prompt.
I’m not some glorious enlightened mind. I would not want to give the impression that I think I hold in my hands the One True Way to do Luciferianism, or that I think the majority of this religious community are uncritical edgelords. This is, after all, my answer to the thing I take issue with the most, not my thoughts on Luciferianism or Satanism as a whole. I just don’t think it should be a particularly hot take that Religious Discrimination Is Bad Actually, or that maybe you can be rebellious and adversarial and hedonistic and enlightened while still genuinely giving a shit about people. Because otherwise what’s the point?
If we are hostile and rebellious with no actual end goal, no greater cause or purpose, we are simply being contrarian for the sake of it. If we blame the idea of organized religion instead of those who manipulate and abuse faith and scripture for selfish and malicious ends, we’ve missed the point, as I said in the aforementioned previous post. Not all of us have the ability to become an activist, obviously, and I would not ask you to. But I think as those who would claim to reject dogmatic thinking and strive to embody either the ideals of enlightenment or the adversary would do well to be ever questioning their preconceptions of the world around them, of other religions, and of less obvious unjust structures of power.
I don’t know why a community that believes in illumination and free thinking sees the world in such black and white ways.
While I will always strive for a greater understanding of the world, and I hold the concept of enlightenment very dear to my heart, I think it’s something that one spends a lifetime working towards. Alongside my favourite quotes from Paradise Lost, I hold the Socratic Paradox of “I know that I know nothing” as a personal motto, and I wish more people who I share this label with would do the same.
#luciferianism#theistic luciferianism#satanism#theistic satanism#witchblr#left hand path#lhp#30 Day Luciferian Challenge#30dayluciferianchallenge#illumine
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I have a lot to say and not enough time to say it. It hurts, but ya’ll know what this is about so if you want my full fandom retrospective opinion thing guys, here.
I’ve been following Vivienne’s art and career since I found her on dA in 2009. I’ve basically grown up with her and have a wide range of opinions up and down her collective work. I must stress that I do not know her as a person and no matter how critical I get in my personal time if I somehow met her in real life or converse with her online again (like, back in the day we went back and forth. She was pretty nice to me), I’d be humble and congratulate her for her success.
Critique does not, EVER equate to attacking people.
But
the reason I don’t call myself a VivziePopVivzmind-fan is the exact same as to why I don’t like the proud use of ‘anti’. Let me try and explain -
The vast majority of Viv fans are just that: fans. Viv’s one of their favorite artists and they’re happy for her and obviously defensive when some mouth breather pops into their fan discussion calling her and all of them trash. Quite a lot of the Hazbin fans I know in my circle of friends are all pretty accepting and agree on the problematic notions and implications of her work.
HOWEVER, there’s a vocal minority in the VivziePop fandom that were and still are toxic. Their specific interest in Viv back in the day was toxic...and now that she’s moved on into a successful career I doubt they’ve gone away, considering the things I’ve heard. These people - they’d flood Viv’s comments sections and stuff with messages like they were talking to her when they weren’t and they’d unironically call her a god in a way that feels like gaslighting, ex: “I’ll NEVER be as good as you Viv! My art is just sooooo unpopular oh god you are incredible no one will ever like you as much as meeeee”. It made me uncomfortable. It made me not want to be around her because these people took Viv’s role in their lives so seriously and their demand for her attention...it struck a nerve.
These same fans have been around long enough to see actual shitlords - the likes of Kiwifarms and tapatalk wikis - come in and actually harass Viv. Viv’s been sent revenge porn by sick freaks who think they’re funny and believe she deserves it. No. In my non-name fan bystander opinion, Viv’s got some shit to work on, but no one deserves raperevenge porn. EVER. It was genuinely bad and yes Viv and her base have every reason to NOT TRUST these communities. Unfortunately, when these incidents happened, these particular fans took it upon themselves to gatekeep the fandom and act like Viv’s unofficial guard against any kind of decenting opinion of her, all without her say so.
((to the critics who will be all “but Viv or Faust said THIS to their fans-”, like I said, Viv’s far from perfect but regardless of how much she prolly wanted people to side with her I’m gonna guess that she didn’t want people sending transphobic death threats to DollCreep. Again, and this is coming from a bystander here, I have a feeling Viv knows about some of the toxicity but doesn’t know how/want to address it - which is a conversation all it’s own.))
This particular breed of VivziePop “fan” holds so much toxicity in her fandom(s). They aren’t the only cause, but they’re there. They feel entitled to her attention and her approval. They creep me out. Having spoken to other much-less critical admitted fans of Viv around me, these fans appear to creep everyone else out and put the rest of the fandom on edge. They’re gatekeepers. They’re creeps. Like the bronies and SU fans of yestertodayyears, they know harassment exists and that people have crossed the line - so they think any means is necessary to prevent that is automatically good. I could pile together all the incidents and folks who’ve had bad runs ins with this aftershock of Viv-obsession, but I do have a life of my own and this post is already stupid long so I’ll just list out the biggest examples and provide receipts when asked.
Critical blogs have gotten RAPE and death threats because they don’t like Viv’s art. HonestZoophobiaCriticisms, a blog I interracted with back in the day, def got one. Now Viv’s opinion of crit-blogs is that they’re “bad takes” but I can assure you she doesn’t want that shit being said on her behalf.
I’ve seen young artists get blacklisted from sites and forums cause they so much as post a redesign. Viv and co get told through the grapevine that someone’s making hatespeech and so preemptively block said person (prolly cause they’re in the middle of WORKING and can’t deal right now) only to find out after the fact that no, it was just a kid drawing their version of her characters. There’s serious miscommunication issues within the fandom about who’s ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and once you get the actual staff involved in this game of telephone you’re begging for trouble. The problem acknowledged, however, it’s souly from the “Viv never did anything wrong camp”. No word is said about how ugly the fandom is under the surface it’s all one type of person’s fault and not complicated’. Blah
I’ve only ever had ONE obsessive ‘fan’ who’d stalk me, mock me, and then redraw my art just to get attention from me. That shit fucked with my head. As a follower hundreds of miles away from Viv who’s agreed/disagreed with her through the years - I absolutely believe her when she says she hates ‘creeps’ and that she doesn’t want anyone in her fandom spreading hate on her behalf. It’s the one thing about her I’m POSITIVELY sure of. Whether she believes that said underlying harassment exists and/or is even a problem within her fandoms is anyone’s guess. That’s not what I’m here for. I’m here to write stupid blog entries like this, talk about fandoms and media and how they and the real world affect one another, and rb fan art I like. I’m cautiously optimistic fan with a side of salt.
Mixed opinions and critique within a fandom CAN and SHOULD exist. Hazbin Hotel has been greenlit by a studio! It has a product line of merchandise you buy. Helluva Boss is getting eight more episodes this coming year (yeeee:3yeeee). Two of Viv’s properties are now products. Nothing is immune from critique. And in critique you will find a lot of people who are not ‘nice’. Critique or analysis doesn’t have to be nice. There will be, in Viv’s words’ ‘bad takes’ on her writing. Maybe they will be actual CinemaSins-styled bad takes or maybe Viv is just mad that people don’t love and feel inspired by her characters the way she wants them to - it’s a fact she’s going to have to get used to.
((TBH, I’m pretty sure she’s already realized that criticism of all types need to exist. It’s just that, again, her and the SpindleHorse staff are kind of overwhelmed by all matter of takes and opinions coming their way they kinda can’t deal weeding out the fair ones from the assholes, so she lumps them all together.))
Shitposters, ironic fans, unironic fans, critical fans, just critics of Hazbin and Helluva CAN and WILL exist. They should exist and not feel threatened by the megafandom. There are people out there who are one step further and rightfully bothered by Hazbin/Helluva’s use of incorrect symbols, portrayal of certain topics, and the response by creators. These people have strong opinions and are actually disgusted by Viv. They deserve to exist too and should not be vilified because, like me, they’re commentary doesn’t consist of anything personal towards the people at Spindlehorse or the fans of her works. They can rant, they can be professional, they can be petty and they can be fair. But they will exist. You have to deal with it.
I am an ADD/OCD ridden autistic woman with serious anxiety issues who has no one to talk to half the time and so only HAS my fandom to communicate with. But that’s just it - it’s a fandom. A community. You have to learn to not think souly of yourself and of others in a community. A fandom doesn’t exist just for you or any one person. You have the right to be angry and defend or be offended. And it’s in the spirit of that that I ask, prrraaaaaay even, that I please
NOT BE CALLED AN “ANTI-ANTI” for not liking the moniker?!
I DON’T TO BE AN “ANTI”. Not ironically, not unironically. ‘Anti’ should be for politics and shit like pedophiles, necrophiles, nazis, serial killer stans, Trump, racists, antisemites, terfs, animal abusers, rapists, and antivaxxers. Anti should only come into critical media analysis when these ethical issues follow suit IN TO fandom discussion. ((EX: Anime and MLP proudly waving their cp and non-con into the public eye; Hazbin appropriating cultural symbols which are not satanic; Basically anything that concerns John K or Butch Hartman.))
If your DNI list unironically consists of the entirety of one fandom: CONGLATURATIONS! You have done the exact same thing these particular creepy Viv fans have done: monopolize the conversation. And yes, people I’m referring to, IT’S STILL A PROBLEM EVEN IF YOU’RE FIGHTING RACISM/SEXISM/HOMOTRANSPHOBIA.
There are hundreds of Vivziefans who ARE more critical, accepting of faults, interested in discussion and especially rewrite and redesign stuff who would LOVE to engage with you and give you a follow. There’s hundreds of people who no doubt agree with you!
But the thing I’ve seen these very proud AntiHazbinVivzieHelluvaWhatever blogs do is lash out at fans for continuing to like Viv and consume Viv’s art in a healthy way. What the actual fuck is your problem?
I get it. Say a crazy Hazbin fan gets on your case for even SUGGESTING Viv could be homophobic ((”SHE’SBIANDWORKSWITHGAYPPLblahablahblah”)). They get in your face, make some callouts, try to rile up support against you, leave disgusting harassment throughout your social media? Absolutely ban worthy. After that it’s perfectly understandable why you don’t want to engage with anything HHHBZPVivzierelated because you’re so fucking tired of being labeled an abuser or “just jealous” for having an opinion on a show you don’t like. I’m with you!
But,
A fan agrees that something in the canon is bad or that Viv did something they don’t like?
A fan likes your silly shitpost meme?
A fan asks if they can like Hazbin and follow you at the same time?
A fan does fan art of something you don’t like?
If your response to any of these ^^^ things is to get LOUD and accusatory, Vivsplain them about how they’re an absolutely awful person to ever question YOUR opinion, or just block them without a second thought? You’re a petty, vendictive shit and you also need to learn to let things go. I’m sorry but you do. As I already said, Viv’s work is a brand at this point, not just the work of a singular person. As such, there are gonna be mixed opinions and you can’t judge every single one of these people by what they like. You’re a shitty critic with a shitty attitude and yes that will demean the value of what you’re saying. This is bad because, if you’re trying to point out how Angel Dust’s abuse IS handled terribly; gay rep in Viv’s work is weak and terrible; the show appropriates closed practices; the fandom makes excuses for predatory artists and creepy behavior and individuals who have sketchy pasts - I’M WITH YOU. WE NEED TO BE TALKING ABOUT THIS SHIT. JUST BECAUSE THESE ARE ADULT CARTOONS SET IN HELL MEANS THERE SHOULD BE ANYTHING CLOSE TO 2013 PONY-TUMBLR. <<<---- this shit is as important to me as it is to you and I really don’t like being called an abuser or apologist for saying “hey maybe blowing up at ppl for the shows they like ISN’T the way to go about this”.
But I have, just like the good old days of 2015 Zoophobia of yore, been blocked because I admit to being tired of ‘Anti’ being equated to ‘critical’. Same with hater.
Critical DOES NOT = Anti+Hater. I’m fucking tired of people saying it does and I’m tired of people taking up the term as some weird form of fandom reappropriation. It’s stupid.
Tl;dr: Once upon a time, I was in a budding fandom for something I liked made by an indie artist I watched on dA. I wanted to be a bigger fan than I was already, but was told by toxic people within said fandom that I couldn’t be part of it for reasons they’d made up in their head about my ‘motives’ against Viv. My admiration for Viv or what I liked about Zoophobia didn’t matter because I thought the story was really rushed and people weren’t being truthful with how they really felt about it - ergo, I HAD TO GO.
Flash forward 8 years later- My opinion of Viv’s body of work has changed but I still find myself in love with her style and some of her characters. I want to be on a forum or service that gives a healthy look at the problems there are with this series and fandom...and I’m met repeatedly by petty bs where people are again at each other’s throats. And yes, I do think it’s causing more harm than good especially when you insist there’s a “x person shouldn’t be trusted” mentality when fighting actual fucking racist, xenophobic, predatory bullshit.
#vivziepop#vivziepop critical#vivziepop drama#hazbin hotel#hazbin critical#hazbin hotel critical#critical hazbin hotel#anti anti#antis#anti hazbin hotel#cause I want both sides of this debaucle to see this and I'm tired#K?
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It’s Summer And We’re Running Out Of Ice - Watchmen (TV Series) blog
(SPOILER WARNING: The following is an in-depth critical analysis. if you haven’t seen this episode yet, you may want to before reading this review)
I’m not going to lie. I was incredibly sceptical going into this. This isn’t the first TV adaptation of a classic novel to go beyond the source material and try to continue the story, and they nearly always suck (see The Handmaid’s Tale and The Man In The High Castle). There’s a reason why books end where they’re supposed to end. If the author intended to carry the story on, they would have done so. This is why I get angry when the TV industry arrogantly oversteps the mark and try to continue a plot that has already come to a satisfactory conclusion. Doing a sequel to Watchmen, a story that hinges on the ambiguity of its ending, is just utter madness to me, and allowing Damon Lindelof to write that sequel borders on moronic at first glance. This is the man behind the TV series Lost, a show that ran out of steam within the first couple of episodes due to the fact that the plot was complete and total bollocks and the fact that nobody could be bothered to come up with satisfying answers for these ludicrous mysteries and series arcs beforehand. They were just making that shit up as he went along. Now you’re handing Lindelof the keys to one of the most intricate and detailed comic book properties of all time?! Fuck, why don’t you just let JJ Abrams direct the next Star Wars mo- Oh yeah, I forgot, he already did that.
Thankfully, judging by this first episode anyway, HBO’s Watchmen is nowhere near as bad as Lost. It’s certainly far more engaging and coherent. Does that mean I’m looking forward to the rest of this season? Well... I don’t know if I’d go that far. I’m definitely intrigued though.
HBO’s Watchmen is a sequel to the graphic novel (Lindelof called it a remix, but come on. Grow a pair and call it what it is. A sequel). Superheroes are still illegal, Robert Redford is now the President, Rorschach’s death has inspired a white supremacist cult, and it’s raining squid.
Yeah, the raining squid thing feels like the only egregious bit of fanwank in here, to be fair. Maybe they’re going somewhere with this, but I have my doubts. Are we supposed to assume that Ozymandias has been making squid rain for the past thirty odd years in order to keep up the whole alien invasion ruse? Why squid rain? And why is everyone so nonchalant about it? Shouldn’t people be just a bit concerned by this, considering what happened in New York?
Speaking of Ozymandias, we see him riding a horse and writing plays for his butler and maid in some fancy mansion. Quite what the significance of The Watchmaker’s Son is, I don’t know. All I do know is I’m not going to be able to sleep at night without thinking about Jeremy Irons’ thighs from now on, so thanks for that.
Putting my cynicism aside for a moment, I do like what Lindelof is trying to do here. He’s not merely cashing in on the Watchmen brand. There is a genuine effort to do something fresh and different with this material, and I commend that. Watchmen’s central theme has always been about power, but whereas the source material focused mainly on its relation to sex (Comedian’s hedonism, Nite Owl’s impotence, Rorschach’s mummy issues and the sexual objectification of Silk Spectre), the TV series seems to be zeroing in on race as a topic. This I applaud. Expanding on certain areas that the graphic novel only ever really touched upon is a great idea. This doesn’t feel like a repeat of the graphic novel, but rather a clarification of it, exploring areas and themes that Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons may have overlooked. This helps set this series apart from the outset.
The opening scenes where we see the Tulsa Massacre of 1921 is a pretty harrowing way to start. I’m ashamed to say I had no idea about the Tulsa Massacre prior to this, and we could have a whole other discussion about why schools seem to have been avoiding teaching specific topics like this in favour of the broad strokes of the Jim Crow era, but now is not the time. The fact that it’s depicted here sets the stage for what’s to come. Some have criticised the show for the length of time the opening focuses on Tulsa, claiming that it sensationalises the pain of black people at that time. I personally don’t think it does. It’s not overly graphic or gratuitous, at least in my opinion, but it is a very shocking way to open a series. Some might say even upsetting, but I think it’s important that we saw this because it’s relevant in setting the tone for the episode and indeed the season as a whole, as well as letting the audience know that this show isn’t going to fuck around or shy away from more sensitive topics, and I can respect that. Unlike Zack Snyder’s overly stylised adaptation from 2009, Watchmen the HBO series is grounded very firmly in reality.
Let’s discuss characters. This episode mostly focuses on Angela Abar, also known as Sister Night. Regina King has given some terrific performances in the past and this is no exception. She’s simply phenomenal. The way she switches from light-hearted wife and baker to violent, no nonsense vigilante cop. The shift is noticeable and yet both personas feel like they’re aspects of the same character. It’s exceptionally good. It also helps that the character herself makes for a great protagonist. Having survived the ‘White Night’ four years prior, where the Seventh Kavalry attacked the families of forty Tulsa police officers in response to the government giving special reparations to the victims of racial injustice, Angela has become cynical and battle hardened. She has no sympathy for Kavlary members and is willing to skip due process by beating one of them to a pulp and bundling him in the back of her car. She’s angry and in pain, and yet retains the audience's sympathy. I’m interested to see what happens to her over the course of the season.
I also really liked her friendship with Don Johnson’s character Judd Crawford. Johnson is a charismatic performer and Crawford is a charismatic character. He really dives into the olde western sheriff persona and seems to be having a lot of fun with it. Crawford is the only other character, besides Angela, who stayed on as a police officer after the White Night, and the two characters seem to have a great relationship. They laugh and joke around and there’s clearly a mutual respect between the two. I genuinely like this character, which is what makes his murder at the end so much more heartbreaking. Not to mention all the little details that force us to realise he may not be what he seems. We see him sniff cocaine in private and there’s a photo on his desk featuring the kid from school who aggressively asked Angela why black people deserve reparations. It doesn’t necessarily mean that Crawford himself is racist, but there’s clearly more going on with him that we don’t know about.
The final character of interest at the moment is Tim Blake Nelson’s character Wade Tillman, aka Looking Glass. We don’t know anything about him yet other than he’s a human lie detector, which I find very intriguing and I hope will be explored further as the show goes on. There’s a lot to play around with there, and the moral implications are tantalising. A conviction based not on physical evidence, but rather on the observations of one man. Even Sherlock Holmes has to back his deductions up with evidence, and yet Looking Glass clearly doesn’t need to. That just raises so many ethical questions. What if he has a particular bias towards someone? What about burden of proof? What if forensic evidence contradicts him? If Looking Glass is supposedly that accurate, does that mean the police will side with him regardless? It’s a great premise for a character and I really like Nelson’s performance, giving him a cold and detached personality that contrasts beautifully with Angela’s.
The characters and ideas are solid, however where I feel the show is lacking is with the consistency of its world building. Let’s analyse. This is an alternate history where Nixon used superheroes to extend his term limits, but after the New York attack at the end of the graphic novel, he’s been kicked out in favour of Robert Redford (nice nod to the source material there by the way. lol). As a result, black people got reparations for the racial injustices their ancestors went through and police are now unable to openly carry firearms without special permission from Panda (literally a cop wearing a panda costume). However, after the events of White Night, the government agrees to allow cops to wear masks to protect their identities, hence why quote/unquote ‘superheroes’ like Sister Night and Looking Glass are around despite the existence of the Keene Act. These are, in effect, legal vigilantes. Except already there’s a problem with conflicting messages. I like the idea of masked cops. In the current age of Black Lives Matter and police accountability, it makes sense and could be interesting to explore. However this is hindered by the whole ‘no guns’ stuff. Again, not a bad idea. America’s current gun laws are, to put it mildly, woefully inadequate. What if we went the other way? What if not only was it near impossible to own a gun, cops couldn’t even use a taser without special permission. Both ideas could work... but not at the same time.
Cops being allowed to wear masks creates the effect of empowering them through anonymity, and runs the risk of officers overstepping the mark and normal citizens being unable to hold them to account. But on the other hand, we’ve also got cops whose lives are constantly at risk and who are hindered in their duties by an overprotective nanny state, which effectively depowers them. So... which is it? It can’t be both. I like the scene where Panda reads the law about how the use of firearms can only be permitted in extreme circumstances, and everyone just angrily shouts him down because it tells us how the police feel about this new system. The fact that they’ve made one cop the sole arbiter of these new restrictions and forced him to dress like some ridiculous furry demonstrates the sheer amount of disdain they have towards this policy. But having said that, with the masks on, they have the power and freedom to break into people’s caravans and basically kidnap and assault them without consequence anyway. So what the fuck are they complaining about? It just doesn’t gel together. Either have it that the rules and regulations of the police are the same as our world except that cops can wear masks now, which has led to an increasing problem of police brutality and corruption, or have it that the police are being too heavily restricted and so a few have chosen to turn toward more ‘unorthodox’ methods of crime fighting out of frustration. Pick one and go with it.
Then there’s the Seventh Kavalry. Again, not a bad idea. In fact I love it. A white supremacist cult that’s taken Rorschach’s journal as gospel and have banded together out of a fear of being sidelined in a more liberal world. Very relevant and very interesting. Except... well... there’s not an awful lot to it, is there? In the original graphic novel, there was no clear bad guy. Ozymandias believed he was doing the ultimate good by killing millions of people to save the world, and everyone reluctantly went along with it. It was morally complicated. This, not so much. They’re unambiguously evil. The end. So what? What is there to discuss? It just feels lacking compared to the graphic novel and it runs the risk of creating a conflict that’s too clear cut. Obviously we’re going to end up siding with the cops, regardless of what they do, because the alternative is objectively bad. Hopefully Lindelof is going somewhere with this, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t say I was slightly concerned.
So on the whole, would I say I enjoyed this first episode? Well... I’d say I did, but with reservations. There’s some good characters and ideas that could be interesting to explore and develop, but its execution feels a little shaky in places. Hopefully the episodes to come will offer further clarity.
#it's summer and we're running out of ice#watchmen#watchmen hbo#damon lindelof#dc#hbo#review#spoilers
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The Cool Side of My Pillow Interview: A Trip Inside the Mind of Bruce Campbell.
When you mention the name Bruce Campbell, the first thing that readily springs to most people’s minds is the boomstick toting, chainsaw-wielding final guy of the Evil Dead franchise, Ash Williams. However, for some of his fans, he will be forever linked with the Harvard educated, resourceful bounty hunter, Brisco County, Jr. Then, of course, there will be those devotees of Burn Notice that will be quick to let you know that Sam Axe, the ex-Navy Seal with a love of Mojitos and Tommy Bahama shirts is their guy because we all know, “Chuck Finley is forever.” For those of you that have never had the pleasure of watching the inventive spy show, Chuck was Sam’s alias that he would use as a cover on certain operations. The mere fact that Bruce Campbell is a part of three vastly different fandoms says quite a bit about his ability as an actor as well as his likeability quotient.
A headliner on the convention circuit for years, the minute he is announced as a guest, tickets go flying out the door and venues sell out. Campbell understands what the people want and he is more than willing to give it to them which is why most promoters clamor to book him. His Q & A sessions are legendary and audiences love the way he sarcastically banters with them. In addition to being an accomplished actor, director and producer, Bruce is also a New York Times bestselling author with four books under his belt. If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor, Hail to the Chin: Further Confessions of a B-Movie Actor, Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way and his soon to be released, The Cool Side of My Pillow.
His latest book is a collection of essays or as he would say, “rants.” This venture is unlike any of the previous mentioned titles and perhaps his most personal effort to date. In a sense, you get to take a trip inside Campbell’s mind. He expresses his feelings and opinions on a variety of topics from current events and social media to his code of ethics. I was fortunate enough to chat with Bruce about The Cool Side of My Pillow, and his future projects. After reading his book, you come away with the knowledge of how genuine and thoughtful he is which is refreshing in this day and age.
Diabolique: What I like so much about The Cool Side of My Pillow is your honesty. Your writing style makes the reader feel as if they are having an intimate conversation with you. You don’t hold anything back. There are certain aspects in the book which made me feel a tad uncomfortable because you shared some information that was deeply personal, in my mind. I don’t know if I would have included some of the things that you did.
BC: Oh, sure. You always have to decide where you stop. Where is the line? For me, it depends on the type of book. It depends on the type of subject matter. Every project is different.
Diabolique: Were some of the subjects you tackled cathartic for you?
BC: I don’t normally do that sort of stuff. I’m happy to share if I feel something is useful. In the chapter, “What Are You On?” I’m not ragging on people who have habits. I have habits that was the point. There are very few people that just go through their daily life without jacking themselves up, knocking themselves down, knocking themselves out, you know? So, its kind of amazing. The human condition fascinates me.
Diabolique: “A Little Effort Goes a Long Way” is one of my favorite segments. A tale of hard work, ingenuity and perseverance. Which is key to succeeding in the entertainment industry. Where does your drive come from? Some people can pinpoint it to relatives, a mentor…
BC: I do attribute some of it to the Detroit metro area. A lot of my buddies worked on the line, they worked in the factories, it was a great summer job that paid really good money. In Detroit, it was weird. There weren’t a lot of discussions about hopes and dreams. But I could see things happen incrementally that encouraged us. My grandfather worked for ALCOA Aluminum for over 40 years. Would he want to do that job? Was it his favorite job? He wouldn’t even know; it was his only job. He had that job for his whole adult life. My dad wanted to be a painter. I call him a “go betweener” because he didn’t do exactly what he wanted to do but he didn’t do what he didn’t want to do. He got into advertising because it was sort of creative but it wasn’t creative enough so he got into community theater which was more creative. That filled a very strong niche for him and so he kind of straddled the line and then I came along. He allowed me to pretty much do whatever the hell I wanted to do in whatever industry I wanted. He was the first investor in Evil Dead. So, I benefited from the transition of ONLY having drive. Meaning, you just go to work, it doesn’t matter what the job is. The next generation is, “Well, the job kinda matters.” My generation is, “The job matters a hundred percent,” because it determines what you’ve decided to do with your life. So, I am grateful for having enough drive but grateful for being injected with enough freedom of thought to then do my own thing. Partly the drive is the Midwest because you put a tie on, put your sport coat on and you go to work. Get your briefcase, shine your shoes and off you go.
Diabolique: Do you think it is important if you want to be in the arts to have a benefactor? Not necessarily monetarily but someone who encourages you like your dad?
BC: Well, my mom did sort of amateur writing so she was sympathetic at least to that side of the arts. She liked that creative side. My dad was way more interested in acting. So, I saw him in plays and stuff. I definitely benefitted because I had a sensibility that was similar to my dad. My two older brothers could give a shit about acting. They never touched it. I think my dad saw, “Hey, the young guy likes acting just like me.” That was probably an advantage.
Diabolique: Another thing about that particular section that is fascinating to note is your resourcefulness. The anecdote that you recount about having to come up with a way to deliver newspapers in a horrendous snowstorm and the lengths that you went to just to do your job is inspiring. I feel like that isn’t something that would be done by the younger generation, these days.
BC: We were pre-slackers and again, this isn’t to sound like a crabby, old guy on a hill shouting down about the great old days, at that time there were no other options. Our boss dropped off these papers at the top of a hill. That was as far as his van could go. He dumped the whole thing on me and my brother. We delivered them together (the resolution involved Bruce donning hockey skates and a toboggan). So, we thought okay. There was no option of saying, “Dude, I can’t do it. They’re just not going to get their papers today.” That would be the current response. You would wait until the roads were plowed, like that night, and then you would get your damn paper the next day and you’d end up getting two papers. It wasn’t an option. There was nothing in my upbringing that said, you can tell your boss, no. Now, if I thought it would have been very dangerous or life threatening, I probably would have said, no but short of that, there was a slightly different mentality in the air. You did what you were fucking told, for the most part which is a little bit different now.
Diabolique: “The Princess Di Factor” was a thought-provoking chapter because you talk about the click-baiting, disinformation and too much information that occurs on social media. Some of your peers have their PR reps handle their feeds but you are very present in yours. Do you think someone who is interested in getting into show business has to obtain “influencer” status?
BC: I think there is certainly pressure to do it. The old actors when they were doing a film could get away with telling the local studio, “By the way, I don’t do social media.” They say, “I’ve never done it. I don’t have a Twitter feed. I’m not starting now.” They can get away with it. But a younger thespian has a website and at least two or three social media platforms. I think its important to get a distinction of what are using them for? Facebook is all mercenary. Whenever I post, its just for a link to get tickets. I just do that to keep the account warm but I won’t add to it. That one is really inflammatory. They are finally starting to take the misinformation down. It should just be illegal. The stats are mind boggling. Something like 65% of the people who refuse to do social distancing and stuff like that get their information from YouTube. Its not news sources. Its like the Wild West. I think it needs to be settled. I would introduce journalistic standards and practices where by if you tell a little white lie, you get yanked and if you get fact checked and the facts say you’re wrong, that gets yanked.
Diabolique: At the beginning of your book, you discuss the toll of COVID-19 isolation and changes to the convention and motion picture industries. After presenting the Ashland Independent Film Festival awards virtually, do you think conventions might go that route in the future? San Diego Comic Con has gone entirely online which is surprising. Galaxy Con is another.
BC: If we don’t straighten this out, yeah. Sports are going to be weird for a while. Large venues are just going to be strange. How are you going to figure out the San Diego Comic Con? How are they going to make people feel comfortable jamming 125,000 people over a four-day period into that convention center which is already elbow to elbow and unhealthy? I don’t know. I’ve talked to promoters about a bunch of different things. I’m doing a Drive-In tour. Also, some theaters have opened up again so I am going to encourage and reward that so I have added five theater dates for later this summer: Austin, Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City and San Antonio. I’m getting back out on the road. This is not a tour year at all but when I heard that drive-ins were making a comeback, I thought let me be part of that. Some of them are struggling to open and I want to help. I’m tired of being on the sidelines. I want to get back into it. Drive-ins are perfect. You’ve got your distance. I can go up to cars and hassle them and there’s no problem. I can shine my flashlight in the cars, see if people are having sex, there’s a lot of fun stuff we can do. I want to be the first guy they meet when they come into the place to park. I want to be the guy that parks everybody. It’s time. Everyone wants to feel normal again. Eat the meatloaf sandwich. Going to the drive-in is the oldest meatloaf sandwich you could ever eat. Bring the hooch. Hide it under the seat. Bring a cooler, bring your reefer…
Diabolique: In The Cool Side of My Pillow, you mentioned that you were going to attend San Diego Comic Con, New York Comic Con and the 2020 Electronics Expo which were all canceled due to the pandemic. Were you going to promote the Evil Dead game?
BC: That’s what I was going to do. That’s what I was going to those conventions for.
Diabolique: What’s the status on it?
BC: I have been looking at and approving a bunch of new stuff. They are full-fledged, full bore into it. I think they are talking 2021 for an actual release. Its rolling along, looking great. It got delayed because of the nightmare of video games. Platforms change and evolve. You look at somebody else’s games and go, “Shit! We have to change everything now.” We have to stay current. I have to finish doing the voice work.
Diabolique: I know you are aware of all the rumors surrounding potential work in the future. You even mentioned in your book that you had a few offers. Is there a possibility that you might show up in Doctor Strange 2 and Mall Rats 2?
BC: The Kevin Smith thing could happen if it all winds up together but we haven’t had serious conversations about it. For Dr. Strange, everyone is at the mercy of what Marvel is going to do and this backlog of movies they’re going to do now. So, I think it won’t be until 2021. Marvel has to figure this all out. They have to figure out what movies they are going to do next, what movies they are going to delay, what movies they are going to shit can, what movies they are going to advance and speed up…the marketplace is ever fluid.
Diabolique: Do you have a release date in mind for The Cool Side of My Pillow?
BC: I have to say summer. We’re blasting away. We’re finishing graphics and photos and all that. We’re doing some legal crap. I’m starting a publishing company too. Tartan Media is going to release it. It will be my Campbell clan logo. It will be just to put things out. Movies, TV shows, whatever. That’s the new shingle.
Diabolique: Is there anything else on the horizon?
BC: Because the book isn’t going through Simon & Schuster, they’ll kind of have to find it where they find it. I’ll tweet about it. It will hopefully be available later this summer through Audible. I am going to do the audio book myself within the next two weeks because I want the e-book and the audiobook to come out at the same time. That way it gives you a choice. I want this to be a summer read.
Diabolique: Any updates on Bruce vs Frankenstein?
BC: With Bruce vs Frankenstein, I talked with Mike Richardson, who is my partner on this and we’re going to start with a graphic novel. So, I am going to adapt the screenplay. We’re going to put that out first so people in the industry can get a better sense of it. Mike has been selling a lot of projects to Netflix and he said that’s kind of the way to go with his material and fantasy stuff so he suggested we do that first. We’ll get a great artist, sell it in comic book form, people can totally see it and as a director, its kind of like doing storyboards. It’s a tremendous amount of extra prep that I can do just by going through it because I actually have to think about pages, panels and descriptions. It’s a format that’s not my normal format. Screenplay format, I can fart, I got that down. This is different with the way it looks on the page so it will be a very interesting translation process.
Diabolique: Are you doing any projects outside of Tartan Media?
BC: There’s this movie, 18 ½. It’s directed by Dan Mirvish. He’s with Slamdance. The story is about the missing minutes of the Nixon tapes and what happened to those minutes. Originally, I got hired to play a character in the movie and I couldn’t do it for a number of reasons and then the guy came back and asked if I would play Nixon.
Diabolique: So, the audience will just hear you?
BC: Yes. Apparently, it’s this 18-minute-long fight scene where you will hear Nixon in the background. Ted Raimi comes into play Alexander Haig and Jon Cryer is playing Haldeman. We did all these sessions over Zoom and we each recorded them separately (saying this in Nixon’s voice) having our conversations. They will put it all together and put it in the background.
Diabolique: Anything new to report on Evil Dead?
BC: The official name is Evil Dead Rise. We’re getting a new draft in. I don’t think anything will happen until 2021. Full bore ahead, we’re very excited about it. A whole, new ballgame. No more cabin in the woods.
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hilda/lorenz
c-a support + paired ending
c (i)
Hilda: Ah, Lorenz. At it again.
Lorenz: Hello, Hilda. Are you training too? If that's the case, I may have to revise my opinion of you.
L: Increased strength and skill would serve as perfect complements to your beauty and esteemed lineage.
H: Um, no. I just left something here. I don't share your tireless work ethic.
H: You’re quite something. I don't think I've ever seen you take a break.
L: When the fate of all the Alliance rests on your shoulders, the rigors of training seem paltry by comparison! (golden deer route)
L: When the fate of all Fódlan rests on your shoulders, the rigors of training seem paltry by comparison. (other)
L: Besides, when my admirers see that even an individual of my talent possesses a diligent work ethic, it is sure to inspire them.
H: I see. But I was wondering... Ah, never mind. You're clearly busy.
L: Oh! Is there something you require? What do you need? There is nothing I cannot handle!
H: The trouble is I'm no good at fighting. I'm a fragile young lady, not a fearsome warrior.
H: I didn't even want to join the academy, honestly. My brother made me.
L: Of course. For a delicate flower such as yourself, no doubt battle must present a terrible hardship.
H: It does, it truly does. So I was wondering if, in the next training session, you'd do my fighting for me? (pre-skip)
H: It does, it truly does. So I was wondering if, in the next battle, you'd do my fighting for me? (post-skip)
H: I mean, I can put on a tough, "I'm actually fighting" kind of air, but...that's not quite enough on its own.
L: Please, leave all of the difficulty to me. I shall permit no harm to befall you!
H: Ah, I'm so happy! In that case, I'll focus on giving a convincingly soldierly performance.
H: You know, Lorenz, you're a good guy. Not that I'd have expected anything less from a noble.
L: With each of your foes that I vanquish, I shall only become ever stronger!
L: Yes, leave it all to me!
H: What a guy! And all I had to do was ask.
H: Mm, maybe I'll have a snack.
——————————————————————————————
c (ii)
H: Thank you, Lorenz! You've done so much for me. You've been a tremendous help.
L: It was but a trifle. Surely there was no small amount of danger, but in the interest of experience, I was happy to endure.
H: You're so strong that I can't help but feel safe in your presence.
L: Yes, of course. Although no matter how much brute strength we bring to bear, it is important that there be a leader on the field as well.
L: Without someone possessed of my sound judgment and adaptability, we would surely be lost.
H: Surely, yes. My thoughts exactly. But, um...
L: Hm? What is it?
H: I'm going to keep providing support from the back. You wouldn't mind doing more fighting for me, would you?
L: Oh. Well, uh...physically, I can certainly, but if you mean on an everyday basis...
H: I knew you would! You have the generous soul of a true noble. I'll have to write back home and sing your praises!
L: Really? You mean, to your father and brother?
H: Oh yes. I have to write my big brother pretty often, as a matter of fact. He gets upset if I don't.
H: And yet, I never have much to write about. I've been really straining for topics.
H: That must strike you as a terrible nuisance—the idea of me blabbing about you in my letters.
L: Nuisance? Hardly! Your brother is one of the foremost commanders of the Alliance. (pre-skip)
L: Nuisance? Hardly! Your brother has won great honor as a commander of the Alliance. (post-skip)
L: I can think of no higher accolade than to have my name passed on to his noble ear.
H: And I'll tell him about all your thrilling exploits! Although, if you can't help, that's OK too. I'll find something else to write about.
L: Oh, fear not! I shall show you exploits of a nature more thrilling than you could ever dream!
L: Incidentally, when you write to him, please do not refer to me merely as Lorenz.
L: Please use my full name... Lorenz Hellman Gloucester!
L: This will be an excellent opportunity to advance the status of the Gloucester name!
H: What a funny boy.
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b
L: Ah! There's yet another option.
H: Lorenz? What are you doing?
L: Oh. Hello, Hilda. I'm using these pieces to represent soldiers on the battlefield. This will allow me to better visualize concepts of strategy.
H: Very good! Is it fun?
L: It is utterly engrossing. Look—swap out just certain pieces for others, and the board completely changes.
L: Then, even considering the same types of units, employing different individuals calls for a new set of plans.
H: Oh, I see! Or, I kinda see? It's hard for me to grasp really complex things like this.
L: Nonsense! It's thanks to your many requests that I have been adapting my fighting style of late.
L: Working to accommodate you has convincingly shown me how essential it is to rethink tactics on a continual basis.
L: After all, the risk of getting hurt is greatly reduced if you are prepared for any situation.
L: So, now I will be ready for anything.
H: ...
H: Lorenz, you're so wonderful, I'm at a loss for words. I'm not just saying that to flatter you either. Honestly!
L: Tell me something, Hilda. Did you make all of these ludicrous requests of me purely so that I might have the opportunity to develop myself?
L: Because if so, I am deeply moved. Thank you for caring so thoughtfully and passionately for my personal growth.
H: Um, you're welcome!
L: If you will permit me to return the favor, I do have one request to make of you. Will you hear me out?
H: Ah, I'm not usually one for fielding requests, but I can make an exception in your case, I suppose.
L: I would be so pleased to have the opportunity to observe you in action, in the heat of battle. Would you be so kind as to oblige me?
H: Oh, very well... You've convinced me. But if it gets too intense...you'll help me out, right?
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a
H: Lorenz! Lorenz! Look!
L: What is it, Hilda? Ah, a letter. From your brother?
H: That's right. Though part of me thinks it's some stranger imitating my brother's handwriting. He's never given me this much praise.
H: "Hilda, you've learnt the value of persistence." "You're really maturing." Stuff like that.
H: Usually his letters are like, "I'm worried about you," and, "Stop being so lazy."
L: Since I have fought by your side, I can assure you that his praise is genuine and entirely deserved.
H: I've written about fighting in plenty of letters. Why's he so gushy this time around?
L: I would venture to guess that your depictions of battle are more passionate than before.
L: It’s no surprise that such authenticity would resonate with a veteran warrior like your brother.
H: If that's true, I have you to thank. You've inspired me to throw myself into battle.
H: Does everyone think I'm a tough warrior now? I don't want to be stuck with their high expectations.
L: Would that be so terrible? You are gifted, you know.
L: Not to say that your lackadaisical nature has failed to endear itself to me.
H: I'll choose to take that as a compliment.
L: Speaking of letters...did you keep your promise?
L: Did you, uh, mention me?
H: I did! I told my brother all about you.
H: I said you were a uniquely gifted leader, who could inspire people to be their best selves. And I said that you'll be a real asset to the Alliance. (golden deer route)
H: I said you were a uniquely gifted leader, who could inspire people to be their best selves. And I said that you'll be a real asset in this new era. (other)
H: I also told him how I wished you could join our family. He responded that he'd be honored to call you his brother.
L: Truly?! To have such a valiant brother would be beyond my wildest expectations!
H: Um—Lorenz. You know what I mean about you joining our family, right?
L: I believe I do. And I confess, if I am correct, that the same thought has preoccupied me as well.
L: But you must forgive me. Now is not the time.
L: Before we can consider our own future, we must first end this war. We must secure a peaceful world.
H: And if we do attain a peaceful world, then what? Come on! Just say it.
L: As much as I'd like to grant that request, I cannot. This is something that will deeply affect our lives.
L: It must be said at the proper time and place, with the most artfully chosen words, and the perfect offering.
L: I am Lorenz Hellman Gloucester, after all!
H: I'm not usually one for waiting around... But maybe I'll make an exception in his case.
——————————————————————————————
paired ending
As the new head of House Gloucester, Lorenz first worked to restore his own territory, and then expanded his vision to include reforms for all Fódlan. At the height of his storied political career, he announced his marriage to Hilda, the only daughter of Duke Goneril. After the recovery effort, at Hilda's behest, the pair established artisan academies all over Fódlan. The schools quickly flourished, invigorating interest in the arts as well as trade with foreign lands. After many years of success and prosperity, the students of the first of these academies crafted a bronze statue of the founding couple to honor their achievement. The statue stands to this day.
#fire emblem three houses spoilers#fe16 spoilers#fe3h spoilers#hilda x lorenz#lorenz x hilda#romantic
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Daredevil Countdown: 3 Days
D.A. Foggy Nelson
As depressing as Matt and Foggy’s break-up was in Season 2, it has set up some really neat stories for Foggy. In the comics, as in the MCU, it is important for him to step out of Matt’s shadow, because this allows him the freedom to build his career and self-confidence. One plot point I’ve been dying for since last season-- which, it seems, is actually happening-- is Foggy running for District Attorney! This is a really interesting plotline as far as Foggy’s character arc is concerned, and as a bonus, it’s a reference to a period of Daredevil comics that doesn’t generally get much attention.
Matt and Foggy have been friends for a long time, and as with most long-term relationships, their dynamic has evolved over the years. When discussing their law partnership, 616 Foggy once referred to Matt as the inspiration and himself as the perspiration. And this seems like a pretty accurate assessment. While Matt is a naturally brilliant lawyer, a charismatic speaker, and is also neglectful of his day job thanks to his superheroing, Foggy works hard to build up his reputation. He’s not a great public speaker. He lacks Matt’s flair. But he is devoted to his career and is, in a quieter way, a brilliant lawyer in his own right.
But when he is first introduced in the comics, he exists very much in Matt’s shadow. When discussing the newly-formed Nelson & Murdock in the very first issue, he attributes the firm’s future success to Matt brains and his (Foggy’s) father’s money. And in the early issues, this fits with his narrative role. He is there to hold down the fort, to run the firm and be the boring, less talented partner against whom Matt’s awesomeness can be compared. The possibility of his becoming the D.A. is teased very early-on, in issue #10-11... but it turns out to be a supervillain’s ruse and nothing more.
Foggy: “Well, that makes me the prize chump of the year! He sure had me fooled!”
Matt: “Chump nothing! You were the first to suspect that the picture of the Organizer on TV was a phony... taken in advance to throw suspicion on Monroe! You’ve proven you do have what it takes to make a fighting D.A., mister!”
Daredevil vol. 1 #11 by Stan Lee, Bobby Powell, Wally Wood, and Sam Rosen
As gullible as this makes Foggy look, it introduces an important character element for him at this early point: his aspirations. Poor Foggy may be treated as a loser by the narrative, he may not have Matt’s talents and main character advantages, but he still has big dreams. It’s thus satisfying that forty issues later, he runs again for real... and wins!
Foggy: “Me and Daniel Webster! --What a laugh! It’s Matt who should have this job-- not me! He was the real brains of ‘Nelson and Murdock’! I was just-- the work horse! But, they say a man can sometimes grow into a job-- maybe this will be my chance to prove myself! My chance to finally get out-- from under the shadow of Matt Murdock!”
Daredevil vol. 1 #50 by Stan Lee, Gene Colan, and George Klein
At this point he is conflicted-- both excited by this boost to his career and nervous about stepping out of his comfort zone. He and Matt had a huge fight during the campaign and so they are no longer speaking at this point... but they get over it, and Foggy decides to fix his nerves by bringing Matt on board has his special assistant.
Reporter: “Howzabout a shot of you two together, Mr. Nelson? It’ll go great with our story of your declared war on Crime-Wave!”
Foggy: “Even better than you think, friend! ‘Cause I’ve got a surprise announcement to make...! Namely, I’ve just invited Matthew Murdock to become my special assistant... for the duration of the current investigation!”
Matt: “It’s true all right, newshound! I’ve joined the team!”
Daredevil vol. 1 #58 by Roy Thomas and Gene Colan
(How great is this page? Love that Gene Colan art.)
But even this, with Matt working as Foggy’s subordinate rather than partner, is a huge shift in the balance of their dynamic. For once, Foggy gets to take the lead, with Matt dropping by the office when he has time to consult on cases. As District Attorney, Foggy is directly interacting with politicians and the press, and he is the first person people come to for help. And then Matt runs off to San Francisco with Natasha Romanov and leaves Foggy all on his own.
Since this is Matt’s comic, this separation means that we don’t see much of Foggy during this period. But when he does appear, he is notably changed. He is extra serious, extra busy. His wardrobe gets snazzier.
Daredevil vol. 1 #114 by Steve Gerber, Bob Brown, and Stan Goldberg
And he becomes more deeply embedded in The Establishment. He is forced to handle tough ethics cases: corruption, student protests, and the ever-present NYC topic of superheroes, about whom he has always had mixed feelings. (This is 200+ issues before he finds out about his best friend’s double life.)
Matt: “Great! Competence lives in Fun City! Sorry about the mess, friend, but I’m sure our crackerjack sanitation department can make it all tidy again-- or at least as tidy as the rest of New York. Which isn’t saying much.”
Foggy: “Not so quick with the flippancy, Hornhead. I think it’s time the police questioned you about a few matters. I’m getting a bit sick and tired of you long underwear types swinging up and down Fifth Avenue like you owned it.”
Matt: “I never thought I’d say this, ‘Mr.’ Nelson, but methinks you’re more interested in your re-election than you are in justice. But I think it’s a little bit too late to begin a crusading D.A. image now.”
Daredevil vol. 1 #127 by Marv Wolfman, Bob Brown, and Petra Goldberg
And Foggy matures, becoming a more jaded and world-weary version of himself. After getting shot while on the job, he starts rethinking his career. This is a neat mental shift when placed next to Matt’s own superhero philosophy. Foggy has now had a taste of doing what Matt does as Daredevil-- protecting the city-- and it is wearing him down. If only he and Matt could actually speak candidly about this shared experience...
Matt: “You sound a little bitter, Foggy. Are you still upset about the shooting?”
Foggy: “Frankly, Matt... I am. You spend a chunk of your life trying to help this city-- trying to make it safer, a decent place for people to live-- you put up with the crackpots, the bad cops, the crooks-- and then WHAM you get the city’s thanks-- a crummy bullet from a third-hand Saturday Night Special. So sure-- I’m bitter, Matt, this has been building up in me since it happened. I’m bitter as hell.”
Matt: “You’re forgetting good things, Foggy, the good cops... the good people... Don’t do yourself and them an injustice. Have a little faith.”
Daredevil vol. 1 #118 by Gerry Conway, Don Heck, and Petra Goldberg
When his re-election campaign rolls around, Foggy fights hard. His opponent is the charming, charismatic Blake Tower, who Foggy ends up liking and respecting in spite of himself. In the end, and thanks to some supervillain intervention by expert media manipulator the Jester...
TV Foggy: “Fellow citizens, as much as this pains me to say, I am forced to admit that I consider myself unworthy of being re-elected. Please bear with me as I give my explanations.”
Foggy: “What? It’s a lie! I never said that!”
Daredevil vol. 1 #130 by Marv Wolfman, Bob Brown, and Michele Wolfman
...Foggy loses. Tower, a genuinely good guy and superhero supporter, goes on to have a long and successful career as the new D.A. And Foggy, as hard as he fought for re-election, discovers that he is glad to have escaped from such a stressful job. Matt invites him to join his new private practice, and he gratefully accepts.
Foggy: Once the vote became apparent, I just couldn’t stick around any longer. I had to get away--to be by myself to think. But I’ve come to some conclusions, Matt. The first is that I’m happy I lost, and the second-- Matt, I’ve never begged before, but Matt-- I need a job now... do you need a rather tubby loser hanging around here?”
Matt: “Do you still have that business card I gave you, Foggy?”
Foggy: “Sure, I was too busy to look at it. Why?”
Matt: Just read it. Whether you won the election or not, Foggy, you always were, and you’ll always be-- my partner. Welcome back, buddy. It’s been awhile.”
Daredevil vol. 1 #130 by Marv Wolfman, Bob Brown, and Michele Wolfman
Many writers since have written Foggy back into Matt’s shadow-- and that’s tough to avoid, since Matt is the main character. But this story arc first introduced the idea of Foggy as a force in his own right, someone who can succeed without Matt around, which is an attitude that has largely stuck around to this day. It presented a welcome and permanent shift in the way writers, and thus Daredevil readers, viewed his character and role in the comic.
While MCU Matt doubled down on his DD activities in Season 2, prioritizing that side of his life over his legal work, Foggy plunged headfirst into his career-- mostly because he had no other choice. With Matt neglecting the firm, Foggy picked up the slack. He spent the entirely of Season 1 putting himself down, emphasizing Matt’s skills over his own, and showing an intense lack of self-confidence regarding his abilities as a lawyer. But Season 2 showed him, in ways that he could not ignore, that he was actually damn good at him job. He realized that he could still achieve his law school (or possibly undergrad...) dream of having a high-powered legal career... even without Matt by his side. And so when the chance to make that dream happen was presented, he leapt at it.
It has been an absolute treat to see Foggy hop around to the other shows, further developing his career, getting used to hanging out with superheroes, and generally demonstrating a level of confidence in himself that is new and wonderful. His life isn’t perfect-- there’s no question that he would rather be doing this with Matt-- but it’s still a big deal for his character development. From here, there are several ways his D.A. aspirations could go. It could be a great thing-- further boosting his career, giving him a new set of challenges, and showing us a side of Foggy we’ve never seen before: a Foggy in a position of power, trying to cope. Or it could end terribly. He could lose. He could win, but end up butting heads with Wilson Fisk. Since Fisk named Foggy in Season 2 as someone he was aiming to take down, that confrontation is going to happen no matter what-- but if Foggy were the D.A., this takedown might involve bribery and blackmail as part of Fisk’s bid for power. I’m really excited to see how this plotline is handled, and feel confident that-- just like in the comics-- this separation will be a good thing for him, and will end with the recreation of a new, better, stronger Nelson and Murdock.
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*chinhands* Tell me your thoughts about Nirvana on Fire! Orrrrr, if that is two broad a topic (since it's FIFTY FOUR DAMN EPISODES), tell me your thoughts onnnnnn...your favorite lady from the show!
Oh maaaaaan, okay :D I have just finished my WIP draft for my NIF fanfic (170k what the fuck), so this is a GREAT TIME to answer this! Thank you for such an inspiring topic!
It is such a good show. The costuming is often exquisite and obviously very carefully planned out, and the sets are also wonderful. Visually, it’s fucking stunning and just gorgeous to watch, minus some Not Great CGI here and there. The casting is also fantastic, and the actors are all so good - there’s so much subtlety and attention to detail. Even the minor characters are consistent and complex, and there’re a bunch of veeeeery small characterization details that are nevertheless continually incorporated, and I was so delighted when I started to pick up on them. Even the antagonists are well developed and make sense coming out of their contexts (for the most part, at least), and though they can be sympathetic to an extent, that doesn’t negate or minimize the genuine harm they’ve done or the way they’ve created their own downfalls.
Narratively and structurally, the show is a masterpiece as well. The political plots are very cleverly woven and intertwined, and characters’ motivations and ideologies are consistent and well developed. The amount of detailed foreshadowing is stunning, and every time I watch a scene or a section, I feel like I pick up new nuances. It’s just very tightly written. The last episode has some rather rushed pacing, and I have some issues with some things (there’s some fridging that I am Not About, for example), but overall, honestly, the writing and structure are fucking solid, and I enjoyed figuring things out as the story unfolded.
I also really like that, even though it’s a Magical Wuxia Illness, Mei Changsu’s illness and limitations are actually pretty fucking realistic. It resonated with me a lot, and it is, again, consistent throughout. He’s not well, and he makes things worse by pushing too hard, but overall, there are things he can do to mitigate the effects. There are consequences to things, and it comes through. Even secondary characters: Fei Liu is always treated with agency and like he’s actually his age, and Yujin’s eyesight is consistently shitty. Small things, but I really do appreciate it.
The major draw of this show, though, is its ethical and moral stance. It picks apart a lot of assumptions of power, and is very blunt and honest about living under a ruler who grinds down all dissent and promotes people based on his own emotional state. It’s a theme that’s developed throughout, and is critical of such self-serving paranoia. It’s also ruthless in its critique of privilege and the people who take advantage of it - that unthinking cruelty is the downfall of so many people who don’t think those beneath them are people.
It’s also a show about truth and justice and taking down a terrible government. There are so many characters who decide to contribute in what ways they can, and about the fear of what happens to those who push back, and about continuing when things are exhausting and seem to get you nowhere. It’s about making an impossible situation better, and about exposing convenient lies and giving justice to the dead. It’s about honesty and loyalty and actively making choices. It makes no bones about how hard and exhausting it is to fight back, but it’s also about hope. Hope, and seeing others clearly, and doing better even when you think you have nothing left to give. It is... in a lot of ways, it’s a story about people we thought were lost returning to us - literally or metaphorically. “What do we do with the time that is given us?”, y’know?
When good people band together and confront evil, we can go from surviving to thriving. I think that’s a message I really need right now, and it’s fundamentally a hopeful one.
It also has amazing friendships and the Only Redeemed Dad I will allow in media, so that’s a plus too. Please watch this show, because even though it’s a big time investment, it’s a really good one.
So, let’s finish off with some of my favorite ladies, because I cannot pick one, I love them all.
Nihuang: very badass and also gorgeous, sharp as her sword, that one. I love that she’s much more observant and politically aware than anyone ever gives her credit for, because she is so fucking smart, she is terrifying. I love her. It’s so cool to have a character who is a badass general and who can be just as underhanded and snarky as the main protagonist, but who is uncompromising about her emotions, too. She isn’t afraid of being sad, or of obviously loving her little brother, or of admitting that she’s upset about something Mei Changsu did. Also has many A+ looks.
Xia Dong: ALSO super badass and incredibly driven and loyal. I started the series all “but can I really love this essentially a private-FBI-agent?” and the answer is yes, yes I can. Loyalty is virtue #1 to her and everything else kind of derives from that, and the complexities of that become so much more clear through the course of the show. She’s smart, and clever, and she cares a lot about her people. She also loves her husband so much, she’s still grieving over a decade later, and she’s still so upset about the betrayal. I love her.
Consort Jing: quiet and wise and clever and beautiful. God, she’s so fucking cunning, and so very unassuming. Watching the way that she manipulates the situations in the court, and the way that she is so genuinely goodhearted and yet so ruthlessly intelligent is such a blast. A Good Mom and a Good Aunt, deserves every good thing in the world.
Grand Princess Liyang: Liyaaaaaang, she is amazing. Her story is SO FUCKING SAD but she’s so good. Her perseverance and her doubt and her bravery just reduce me to a puddle every time. She never gets a fucking break, and she has so much trauma and fear, but she is always brave, when it comes down to the wire. She also deserves every good thing in the world.
All the women in this show are good? They’re all interesting, and I wish we got to see more of them doing more things. I am keeping this list to just four, because otherwise I will be here all day, but man. This show has so many things to say about women and power and surviving in a sexist society, and it’s pretty fucking great.
#long post#nirvana in fire#it's a good show#a really good one#i cried a lot and then had a lot of emotions#also all the characters are great#even if the women are sometimes given the short shrift#answer memes#samyazaz
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I’m asking this because I’m legitimately curious and I don’t mean to offend and if I do then sorry. I saw some of the things you’ve written about gay people and the LGBT community, and it makes me wonder why you think that they’re doing something wrong? In an ask I read by you, you said “They embrace the roads to spiritual destruction.” Have you ever considered they feel that expressing themselves and how they love is spiritually enlightening for them? (1\2)
And I want to ask this: without considering your religion, what is wrong with people who are not straight or cis-gendered? Also, if you discover someone you’re close to is gay or a lesbian or asexual, what would you do? I’m not meaning to offend by asking this, but I am legitimately curious because I’ve never understood why people have their prejudices against LGBT. It just seems weird, because we’re all human, we’re all different, why can’t we love and let love? (2\2)
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Hello,
Don’t worry, I am not offended by your questions.. I appreciate you asking your questions about this sensitive topic in a way that is respectful and tells me that you are genuinely interested in hearing my point of view.
I’m a Christian, so I follow God’s Word (the Bible) - it guides my beliefs and values, and it serves as my lens to determine what is true and what isn’t. I believe that the Bible is directly inspired by God - that it is literally His own words conveyed by those He chose to use to write them down.
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” - 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Because of this, I trust and follow His definitions of what constitutes a sin. Since He has deemed engaging in homosexuality as a sin, I respect that definition of sin He put in place, just like I do for everything else He has deemed as a sin. God set the design for romantic love and sex to be between a husband and wife, limited only to the context of a marital relationship. That is His will for this and deviation from that design is a sin.. That is why heterosexual premarital sex and adultery are also sins. I talked in more detail regarding where Biblical scripture talks about homosexuality in this ask, if you wanted to read it:
http://strawberry-milktea.tumblr.com/post/174046127603/hey-so-uh-ive-seen-a-lot-of-people-talk-about-you
As a Christian, I believe that accepting Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sin and being born again as a result is the only way to have eternal life. Without Him, each and every one of us is on the road to destruction. Jesus said this Himself:
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” - Matthew 7:13-14
We know that Jesus is referring to Himself as the narrow gate that leads to life because He refers to Himself as the gate (or door, depending on the translation) to enter in order to be saved:
“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” - John 10:9
“Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.” - John 10:9
Scripture also tells us that all sin leads to death and destruction:
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Romans 6:23
So if a person embraces their sin and does not accept Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, they will face spiritual destruction if they continue this way and never make the decision to turn to Christ.. this doesn’t just apply to engaging in homosexuality, but every type of sin. And as I explained in the ask I provided the link to above, if a person claims to know Christ but continues embracing sin without any sense of conviction or remorse, scripture tells us that people who behave this way are lying about their faith in Christ and are walking in darkness. Therefore, these individuals will also face spiritual destruction if they continue this way because behavior like this suggests a person who has not truly encountered Christ and does not follow His Word.
“If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” - 1 John 1:6
A person may choose to believe their sin is somehow bringing them spiritual enlightenment. I’ve received messages from people on the topic of homosexuality making this claim. I’ve also seen those who choose to engage in mind-altering drugs and witchcraft make similar claims. However, using the Bible as my foundation, I can say with certainty that these claims are heretical and a lie straight from the enemy meant to confuse and mislead people. Scripture doesn’t support anywhere that something deemed a sin by God can somehow be spiritually enlightening to a person. On the contrary, scripture repeatedly says sin will lead to a person’s spiritual destruction and death. If a person makes the claim that there’s spiritual enlightenment achieved from engaging in sin of any type, it’s not Christ that they are following. And this is deeply saddening to witness because Christ is the only way to eternal life.
I can’t consider this topic from a point of view outside of my faith because my identity lies in Christ. If I were to address this without considering Christ and what His Word says, then what would my point of view be based on? The opinions of others I may have encountered in life? The general popular opinion of the world? I can’t remove myself from the One who made me and saved me from my own sin and destruction. He completely changed me and the way I think when He saved me.
To address the next part of your question, I want to start by saying that I don’t believe a person being asexual/not desiring sex is a sin. You can read these asks for more discussion about that if you are interested:
http://strawberry-milktea.tumblr.com/tagged/asexuality
If someone I am close to told me they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc I would handle it with a loving and truthful approach. I wouldn’t turn them away, feel repulsed/disgusted with them, or hold anger toward them. I would still remain their family member or friend. I would listen for His guiding as I always do on spiritual matters as to when I should speak and wait for Him to give me the right words. When I’m lead to speak, I would explain that experiencing same sex attraction isn’t a sin but acting on/engaging in it is - and that Christ can give them the strength they need when it seems impossible to resist this. I would also explain that no sin in this life is worth being separated from Him, and that He knows every pain experienced and every sacrifice made as a result of removing sin from one’s life.
And of course, I would say what I’m lead to say and leave the decision up to that person. All I can do is warn someone if He puts me in a situation where He wants me to warn, and hope that He used me to plant seeds. The person ultimately has to make the decision to accept Him and allow Him to work in their heart. Sometimes hearing a warning can serve as a spark to make that decision, sometimes not. The details of that aren’t in my control, but His.
I’m not prejudiced against LGBT individuals. I approach the sin of engaging in homosexuality the same way I do any other sin. If I’m asked about the topic of homosexuality, I answer honestly based on what scripture says - just as I do on any other topic. Prejudice suggests having a blind or irrational outlook on something without any basis or reasoning (for example, actual prejudice against LGBT people would be treating them differently or hating them simply because they are LGBT). My belief that acting on homosexuality is a sin is based on my faith in Christ and what He defined as sin. It’s not coming from a place of blindness, anger, dislike, or hatred. Rather, speaking honestly about this comes from a place of love. If I believe someone who embraces sin without any sense of conviction/remorse and hasn’t turned to Christ is in danger, how is it loving not to speak honestly about it? Wouldn’t that make me a pretty ethically lousy person to genuinely believe this but tell people a different story when asked about it? Lying about something like this is the opposite of love.
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Treat Everyone as the Buddha
by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
As a Buddhist teacher, I am often asked questions about meditation and profound Buddhist principles, like interdependence and emptiness. I am happy to share what I know on these topics. But I have noticed that people rarely ask me about ethics and how to live a virtuous life.
It is true that meditation is important in the Buddhist tradition. There’s no question about that. The same can be said about studying Buddhist ideas and philosophies. But in many ways, ethics and virtue are the foundation of the Buddhist path.
The Buddha himself lived a life of kindness, humility, and compassion. He fully embodied the teachings he gave, and the sangha that grew around him followed his example. There were many times when the students got off track and acted inappropriately — sometimes hilariously so — but these incidents were used as opportunities to clarify important values and to show the community how to live a life of virtue. From the early days of Buddhism, ethical conduct was as central to the path as meditation, study, and contemplation.
These days, the one time people do ask me about ethics is when scandals or controversies happen in Buddhist communities. Despite the clear importance of nonviolence and compassion in the Buddhist tradition, many students are not sure how to deal with these situations. I can see why they get confused. There are many different Buddhist lineages and schools, and it is hard to keep track of all their different teachings, practices, and ethical frameworks.
This is especially true in the Tibetan tradition, where we have three different approaches — which we call yanas or “vehicles” — that are woven together into one path of Buddhist practice. These are the Foundational vehicle of individual liberation, the Mahayana vehicle of great compassion, and the Vajrayana vehicle of indestructible wakefulness. This combination is one of the unique and beautiful aspects of Tibetan Buddhism, but it doesn’t always make things simple.
ETHICS IN TIBETAN BUDDHISM
In Tibetan Buddhism we practice the three yanas together, and that includes the practice of ethics. Let me clarify.
The most basic ethical principle in the yana of individual liberation is nonviolence, the commitment to avoid harming others at all costs.
When we add in the Mahayana, we do not forget about nonviolence, but take it one step further with the practice of bodhichitta. This is the commitment to help all beings become fully enlightened.
Finally, Vajrayana brings in the notion of pure perception. In practicing the Vajrayana, we remain firmly grounded in nonviolence and the altruistic motivation of bodhichitta, but take the fruitional view. We treat everyone and everything as the embodiment of awakening. We commit ourselves to seeing ourselves, others, and the world around us as fundamentally pure, complete, and perfect.
This ideal of pure perception is embodied in the principle of samaya, the formal commitments that a Vajrayana practitioner adheres to. There many details about samaya, but simply put the essence of samaya is to practice pure perception to the best of one’s ability.
Many people misunderstand samaya and think it refers only to seeing the teacher as a buddha, a fully awakened being. That is part of samaya, but it misses the key point. Samaya is about seeing everyone and everything through the lens of pure perception. The sole purpose of viewing the teacher as a buddha is so we can see these same awakened qualities in ourselves, in others, and in the world around us. It is a tool that helps us to gain confidence in the purity of our true nature.
Vajrayana practice is rooted in the ideals of nonviolence and great compassion. There is no Vajrayana without them. So how do we use these principles to guide us on important issues like finding an authentic teacher and working with the inevitable challenges that arise in the life of a community?
THE POINT OF PRACTICE
The first point I’d like to make is probably an obvious one. Our practice should bring out the best in us as human beings. It should call forth our inner wisdom, our basic sanity, and the moral compass that we all have (whether we pay attention to it or not).
The most basic way to measure our practice, therefore, is the degree to which we are moving closer to the simple ideals of kindness, humility, honesty, and wisdom. If — as individuals or as communities — we find ourselves moving in the other direction, something is off track. None of us will act perfectly in every situation, but over time there should be a clear movement toward these basic and universal human values.
This is especially true of spiritual teachers. Buddhist teachers are role models and guides for the communities they lead, and they represent the Buddhist tradition to the non-Buddhist world. If, as students of the Buddha’s teachings, we strive to be kind, humble, and devoted to practice, then it only makes sense that our guides should embody these qualities. They should inspire us with their kindness and devotion. They should instill trust by the care and concern they show for others. Of course, we should not expect perfection, but it should go without saying that people who are guiding others should practice what they preach.
FINDING A GENUINE TEACHER
When it comes to finding a genuine teacher, there are four things that are especially important.
The first is that the teacher should be part of an authentic lineage. Genuine teachers do not promote themselves; they promote their lineage. If a teacher brags about their qualities and realisation and makes a show of their practice, that is probably an indication that something is not quite right. But if a teacher has studied and practiced under the guidance of other respected teachers, and honours their lineage by upholding its values and traditions, that is a good sign. Lineage alone does not make a teacher genuine, but it is important.
The second quality to look for is commitment to study and practice. This one is pretty obvious. You would not take piano lessons from someone who’s not a good player themselves, would you? Of course not. The same is true here. If you are trusting someone with your spiritual well-being, you should be sure that this person knows the path first-hand. In order to do this, they should have a clear commitment to their own practice and training.
The third essential quality is compassion. As students, we need to feel confident that our teacher is on our side — that they have our best interests at heart and deeply care about us and our progress on the path.
Trust is critical here. A genuine teacher is trustworthy and puts the needs of the student first. The sign of a teacher who has this quality is that students feel safe and protected in their care. They know that no matter what is going on in their life, their teacher will always be there to guide and support them.
The fourth and final quality is the one that relates the most directly to ethics. A genuine teacher should uphold their vows and precepts. In the Tibetan tradition, that means they maintain whatever monastic or lay vows they have taken, adhere to the bodhisattva vows of the Mahayana, and keep the samaya vows of the Vajrayana.
This is no small feat, but it is very important. There are lots of details included in this one, and as students we may not know exactly what vows a person holds. But we can ask around and check to see if there are any questions about a teacher’s behaviour or conduct. That is a good place to start.
In this day and age, it is not easy to find a perfect teacher. The time of the Buddha, when people seemed to get enlightened just by showing up, is long gone. We may not find a teacher who perfectly embodies all four of these qualities, but they should have all of them to some degree. If a teacher is completely lacking one or more of these qualities, it is probably best to move on.
LEAVING A TEACHER
These four qualities are a good general guideline to follow when looking for a teacher. But even when we do our best to research a teacher first, often we only really get to know the teacher after becoming their student. In the modern world, most of us do not have a monastery or Buddhist expert down the street. We do not necessarily know all the details about a teacher, or even have someone we can ask. So what do we do when we discover that a teacher is not quite what we hoped?
Many students of Tibetan Buddhism mistakenly think that they cannot, or should not, leave a teacher once they’ve made a commitment to them. This is not the case. The whole point of the teacher–student relationship is that it should benefit the student. It is not for the teacher’s gain or profit. If you have tried your best and have found that it is not a good fit, you can look for another teacher. This is not a problem or personal failing. It is good judgment.
The best way to leave is to do so without bad-mouthing the teacher or creating difficulties for those who may be benefiting from the teacher and the community. Leave on good terms, or at the very least, do not leave on bad terms. Simply move on with humility and do not feel bad about the fact that it did not work out.
The one caveat I would add here is that it is important to be honest with yourself. Leaving a teacher or community that does not seem to be a good fit is understandable, but if you find every teacher unworthy of your time, then you may want to look deeper into your own patterns to see what is going on. It may be difficult to make any progress on the path if you are looking for perfection.
SERIOUS ETHICAL VIOLATIONS
However, it is another matter altogether when a teacher is committing serious ethical violations. Leaving a teacher on good terms makes sense when the issue is just a matter of fit between teacher and student. When the issue is people being hurt or laws being broken, the situation is different.
In that case, the violation of ethical norms needs to be addressed. If physical or sexual abuse has occurred, or there is financial impropriety or other breaches of ethics, it is in the best interest of the students, the community, and ultimately the teacher, to address the issues. Above all, if someone is being harmed, the safety of the victim comes first. This is not a Buddhist principle. This is a basic human value and should never be violated.
The appropriate response depends on the situation. In some cases, if a teacher has acted inappropriately or harmfully but acknowledges the wrongdoing and commits to avoiding it in the future, then dealing with the matter internally may be adequate. But if there is a long-standing pattern of ethical violations, or if the abuse is extreme, or if the teacher is unwilling to take responsibility, it is appropriate to bring the behaviour out into the open.
In these circumstances, it is not a breach of samaya to bring painful information to light. Naming destructive behaviours is a necessary step to protect those who are being harmed or who are in danger of being harmed in the future, and to safeguard the health of the community.
CRAZY WISDOM
The Vajrayana tradition has a history of eccentric yogis and yoginis and teachers who used extreme methods to guide their students. The story of Marpa asking Milarepa to build and then dismantle a series of stone towers is perhaps the most famous example of this. This tradition of “crazy wisdom” can be authentic, but unfortunately it is often invoked as a rationalisation for unethical behaviour that has nothing to do with wisdom or compassion.
The most important thing to know about these unusual teaching styles is that they are meant to benefit the student. If they are not rooted in compassion and wisdom, they are not genuine. Actions that are rooted in compassion and wisdom — even when they appear odd, eccentric, or even wrathful — do not instill fear or anxiety. They bring about a flowering of compassion and wisdom in the student.
In other words, the results of genuine “crazy wisdom” are always positive and visible. When a teacher uses an extreme approach that is rooted in compassion, the result is spiritual growth, not trauma. Trauma is a sure sign that the “crazy wisdom” behavior was missing the wisdom to see what would truly benefit the student, the compassion that puts the student’s interest first, or both.
It is also worth noting that these extreme teaching styles we see in Vajrayana history took place in the context of a very mature spiritual bond between teacher and student. They were not all that common. Marpa didn’t make all of his students build stone towers. In fact, he treated his other students very differently from how he treated Milarepa. But he saw Milarepa’s potential and the approach that would benefit him most. The rest is history. Milarepa became enlightened and one of Tibet’s greatest adepts.
Not only are these extreme teaching methods used only with very mature students and in the context of a relationship of stable trust and devotion, they are also a last resort. There are said to be four kinds of enlightened activity: peaceful, magnetising, enriching, and wrathful. Wrathful activity is only used for those who are not receptive to more subtle approaches. So again, this style is not a norm, but something that is only employed in certain circumstances.
Thus we must distinguish teachers who are eccentric or provocative — but ultimately compassionate and skilful — from those who are actually harming students and causing trauma. These are two very different things, and it is important that we do not lump them together. There are plenty of teachers who push and provoke students to help them learn about their minds, but that is not abuse. Physical, sexual, and psychological abuse are not teaching tools.
VAJRAYANA IN THE MODERN WORLD
Now that the world is so interconnected, ethics are more important than ever. In a sense, we Buddhist practitioners are all representing the Buddha’s teachings to the world. Anyone can learn about this teacher or that sangha with a few mouse clicks and a quick Google search. This is a good thing, because it makes the entire tradition more transparent. Ethical behaviour — and ethical violations — are more visible than they were in previous times.
It should go without saying that when schools, businesses, and other public institutions are expected to adhere to a code of conduct and the laws of the land, then spiritual organisations should be role models of ethical behaviour And teachers even more so. Throughout history, one of the most important roles of Buddhist teachers and the Buddhist sangha was exactly this. They modelled ethical behaviour to the communities that they served.
Vajrayana Buddhism is thought of as a precious treasure by Tibetans. It is our spiritual heritage and our gift to the world. Now that the teachings and practices of this tradition are spreading across the globe, it is important that we understand the tradition and how to work with its powerful teachings.
As I’ve said, the core of the Vajrayana tradition is that we strive to embody pure perception. We view our thoughts and emotions — even the difficult ones — as manifestations of timeless awareness. We see every person as a buddha, and we treat them as such. We view the world that we live in as a pure realm, enlightened just as it is.
This tradition of treating everything and everyone as though we are meeting the Buddha face-to-face is our main practice in the Vajrayana. It is the life blood of our tradition and the very highest ethical standard we could aspire to. In this day and age, with confusion and conflict all around us, the world needs this more than ever.
#buddha#buddhism#buddhist#bodhi#bodhicitta#bodhisattva#compassion#dharma#dhamma#enlightenment#guru#khenpo#lama#mahayana#mahasiddha#mindfulness#monastics#monastery#monks#path#quotes#rinpoche#sayings#spiritual#teachings#tibet#tibetan#tulku#vajrayana#venerable
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Transforming Your Business and Industry Image, Right Now!
A & C Septic Services, LLC, has been building its upstate New Jersey family business since mid-2011. Cheri Errico runs the business office, does the creative marketing, including much of the branding design, processes receivables and payables, does all special event management, and handles much of A & C’s customer relations. We spent some time with this extraordinarily busy business owner recently, talking about typical industry topics, when it became clear that we were talking to an unique individual in the industry, in any industry—a legitimate change agent.
After 20 years with the Municipal Utilities Authority (where A & C currently dumps its septic), Jon Errico gave up his job. He and his wife Cheri then embarked on full-time management of their own business. Jon’s public works job had started his thought process toward the prospect of operating a septic services business in the area.
Inspiration — We Can Do That!
Cheri reflects on how it all started, “Jon had observed that a lot of trucks outside our area were traveling a pretty long distance to service customers’ locations near us. He realized that there must be a need, since they were coming from far away to provide service here. He was already well versed on the industry, and the whole process of waste management.
Jon had acquired a lot of knowledge in the industry and had developed a strong skill set over the years that applies well to septic business operations. Together with Cheri’s impressive range of business and administrative management skills, the move to independent business ownership in the industry certainly made sense for Jon and Cheri.
Service — We’re Doing It Best!
Cheri modestly accounts for what distinguishes A & C, “It’s just that old fashioned customer service. You get me when you call. There’s no answering machine—no push this button or push that number. And, that’s something we take a lot of pride in.” (A & C answers the business phone 24 hours per day.) “We do more for our customers than they can get elsewhere in our market. When there’s a need or a problem, we respond more quickly.”
Out on customers’ sites, she proudly reflects her husband’s quality ethic, “He leaves the tank and area in such pristine condition that customers can’t tell that the service has been performed. He takes his time with tarps—so no waste is left on anyone’s yard. No dirt from digging is ever left over. He takes a lot of pride, and he’s dependable. He’s not a 9 to 5 guy. He says his day is done when the work is done.”
In her relaxed and succinct manner, Cheri wraps up her thought on this point, “We just genuinely care about our customers’ satisfaction. And, we get a lot of feedback from customers who let us know that they notice that.”
Successfully Nurturing a Home-Based Septic Business
A & C is still a small business right now, though it has been moving forward. The company currently has 140 portable toilet units, constituting a division that Jon’s step-son now helps manage. They’ve also invested in their first luxury toilet trailer, and plan to add inventory of those units. Jon continues to do all the septic pumping. And, now A & C is looking to hire an employee to help with the septic. Cheri assess this as the business’s best year so far.
Wow! Something Actually Different!
Just take a look through the A & C Septic Services website photo gallery to see the fine touches Cheri Errico adds to the company’s portable restrooms for birthday parties and other special events. Cheri and Jon are working to remove the impression of a portable restroom as the kind of space that users have experienced in the past.
Cheri has proven that the exteriors can be presented more attractively, with little awnings, and the interiors can be made surprisingly light and charming. She adds little vases of fresh flowers and other quaint accents, to brighten up the spaces and add a surprise pop of color and interest. It’s such a refreshing change of image, exceeding all of customers’ expectations, and enhancing their events with such upgrades from the usual strictly necessary utility that people dreaded using.
Who Needs Branding?!
The special service model described in the section above has been serving A & C very well, in terms of a branding vehicle. Cheri notes that the company doesn’t spend much time on traditional physical branding approaches. They focus much more on social branding, and enhancing services, which cultivates positive word of mouth from satisfied customers. She explains, “Uniforms would be nice, and they’re less expense on the employees, but we have financial priorities in other areas at this point.” And, because the business is located on the family’s farm, they prefer not to have signage at the location, of course.
But, Cheri emphasizes, “We do maintain signage on the trucks; we feel strong about having the constant billboard effect of our advertisements on the trucks. We update those. And, I just updated the A & C logo. We want to keep it fresh, modifying it every few years or so, to keep the image looking new. I don’t want it to look too different, to keep it recognizable as ours.”
Sharing Common Industry Woes
But, “finding the right fit in hiring is not easy,” Cheri reports. Not a lot of people can handle the waste part. We’re very passionate about changing the old cliché about what we do.
And, as for the customers, many see it as a very rough job, but they want to pay peanuts. We set a rate for what we do, and we don’t really provide much wiggle room on it.”
Cheri also discussed a problem we rarely hear much about in the way of solutions, “We service Cape May, Stone Harbor, Avalon, Ocean City, and other areas along the southern New Jersey coast, where a lot of construction goes on, as well as inland throughout the Egg Harbor Township. Contractors need the units, but don’t want to pay for them and don’t require their workers to respect them. We’ve had a hard time building respect, but we’re getting there.”
Educating Customers — We’re Getting There!
And, this is where A & C are proving themselves to be legitimate industry change agents. It’s hard to state anything more concisely than Cheri does, so we just listened, “We have made progress in building respect for the units and the company, by reinforcing what we expect from the customers. We have a necessary motto: There’s no humorous aspect to “portable restrooms”. We’ve found that sharing it opens the way to helping customers understand the financial challenges for this kind of company.”
Jon and Cheri have learned that the simple adjustment in communicating about the units as portable restrooms can help in making a difference in the way the users of the units on customers’ sites perceive and treat them.
Cheri continues, and we eagerly digest her professional wisdom, “The trucks are hundreds of thousands of dollars. It’s no joke what we have to do to provide the service. A lot of my friends on social networks are fighting for this respect, and we deserve it.
Kids want to tip the units. It’s been almost like the units have a stamp on them,” she jokes (proving that she, in fact, does keep a healthy sense of humor about herself and her business’s problems). But we’re getting it done. After a while, if you don’t require and demand respect, you’re not going to get it.” But, she points out that they have removed units in some cases, after numbers of conversations without results.
Cheri says that most, if not all of the contractors A & C works with now do understand the kind of relationship of mutual respect that the company needs to be able to maintain with customers in order to sustain its success in the market. One contractor even fired an employee for repeatedly defying instructions on the job site not to vandalize the portable toilets. “It’s been encouraging to see that we have more and more people backing us,” Cheri noted.
And, A & C provides its customers with the highest standards of service, “You’ll never see a unit of ours in disrepair. If they don’t meet our high standards for a job site, they’re brought back and replaced.”
So, this is how it’s done by portable restroom business owners in New Jersey who know how to change the game for service providers in the portable restroom industry in their area. We’re more than a little in awe.
Where To Go From Here
We really have little interest in adding services at this point. Our future goals are currently focused on expanding in the area of expanding in luxury toilets. We do offer grease trap cleaning, clearing lines, being so small, trying to keep up with we have.
We hope to hire one or two employees over next year, and get a new and larger truck. We did get a new toilet truck at the start of the year. However, we won’t take a big leap until we see a high demand, and that, for us, has been in the portable restroom business. That service has been in very high demand in our area, so it’s the natural direction for us to grow.
Advice for Fellow Businesses in the Industry
“Be fair to yourself — Get Paid!” Cheri adds the sage words we’ve heard from other seasoned business owners in the industry, “I’d suggest to people to maintain their own personal value. Time is precious to all of us. When you’re an entrepreneur and putting your life on hold to build your business, don’t devalue yourself. Set a rate that you can grow with.
And, she jokes, “The customer is always right—but not always.” And, finally, she offers, “Customers can put some high demands on you. It’s okay to say, “No.” She says it’s one of the things she and her husband have become more confident in. “Don’t undercut yourself. If you’re willing to do anything and everything customers want, that’s one thing. But, if you’re going to do it, charge for it.”
Business owners like Cheri and Jon Errico are true industry change agents. By educating customers, they’re transforming the very nature of the way their services are perceived and used in their market, and by extension, in other markets. They’re also giving users something truly fresh and new in the experience of using the portable restroom facility in the northeast. In that process, they’re affording the users a new level of expectation of what the industry can offer and, commensurately, a new level of respect for it.
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from Septic Tank Pumping Pros https://septictankpumpingpros.wordpress.com/2018/09/12/transforming-your-business-and-industry-image-right-now/
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Speaking as someone who grew up in a homeschooling family, I'm very grateful that I did.
Speaking as someone who grew up in a homeschooling family, I'm very grateful that I did.
Someone referred me to this subreddit a few days ago, and I've been lurking here since. It's been very interesting reading all of the experiences on here, albeit many of them are more from the vantage point of the parent rather than the student. It is still very obvious that many of you are deeply invested in your children's futures, and that's something that makes me very happy. My siblings and I were all homeschooled, all eight of us actually.
We grew up in an area with a lot of other homeschoolers as well, and overall there was a strong current of self sufficiency, heritage, and simplicity that ran through our entire community. We didn't grow up with a TV or internet or a lot of modern accessories, but I think that even if we did, they would have likely remained untouched anyway, there was always a lot of ways we could entertain ourselves or pursue our interests.
Now that we're grown up, our parents are now grandparents, and we all have our own families to take care of. Homeschooling is a big part of who I am today in terms of knowledge, skills, and character. I want to extend the same sort of gift to all of my children as well, and so far, I have. My parents were motivated to homeschool us because they were disillusioned with the educational system back then and mainstream society in general.
It wasn't really particular religious, but we were raised to value our heritage, have self awareness, have self control, and behave morally. The overall method they used I'd say was largely a hybrid between classical education and unschooling. It wasn't very rigid at all, each of us advanced at our own pace. You could describe it as focusing on building a strong foundation for each child when they're young, but then after that, let them immerse themselves in what they're passionate about.
We each were taught the 6 Rs, in no particular order, each are considered vital, like an organ of the body:
Reading: Pretty self explanatory, we were each taught how to read, starting at 3-4 years of age and building up on that. Fortunately each of us quickly gained a strong passion for reading. We all were ahead of our grade level quite quickly.
wRiting: This doesn't need much explanation either. We each had to learn how to write. A lot of it was penmanship, spelling, grammar, etc. It didn't have to be perfect, but the goal was to be competent. A lot of it was intertwined with reading.
aRithmetic: You have to know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide, don't you? This also extended to other basic concepts in math that are useful in everyday life. Personally, I love math, and I quickly got pushed ahead to more complex topics such as Algebra, Calculus, Game theory etc.
Roots: Our family, particularly on mother's side, has a very extensive and vivid oral and material history. My maternal ancestors have kept tons of documents, photographs, artwork, journals, etc. over the centuries. My parents considered passing on our family's heritage to be very important.
Rhetoric: My dad loved to teach us this topic, The Art of Discourse. Logical fallacies, critical thinking, persuasion, and cognitive biases were among the many things we were taught to recognize and use from as early an age as possible. Socratic dialogues were a big part of this, I loved this topic just like my father does.
masteRy: This, "R" would be the most nebulous. Think of it as the self awareness and self control I mentioned earlier. We were taught to cultivate compassion, restraint, industriousness, and humility. My parents didn't have a lot of rules, rather they focused on helping us build up our moral compass so we wouldn't need rules to act ethically.
Despite how it might sound, the way we were taught was far from rigorous or demanding. We each advanced in each of the "Rs" at our own pace, as long as we were making a genuine effort to advance. This worked out very well, mom had an amazing talent for motivating children to want to succeed. It wasn't one of the 6 Rs, but we all naturally were multilingual children just by sheer exposure. In our household, Swedish, Icelandic, Norwegian, German, and Danish were thrown around as easily as English as a part of honoring our Northwestern European heritage.
After we became competent in each of those areas, we could fully immerse ourselves in whatever interested us. My parents kept tons of books in our house on a wide variety of topics to choose from. I'm talking a lot of books, ranging from things like linguistics, literature, biographies, mathematics, history, sociology, philosophy, physics, astronomy, geology, chemistry, medicine, psychology, neurology, engineering, you name it there was likely a book that was at least tangentially related to it. Both of my parents were avid readers who loved to collect all sorts of tomes, the majority of them weren't even in English.
I mentioned this a bit before, but I loved mathematics as a child. So by the time I was beginning to hit puberty I was delving into things like dynamical systems, topology, game theory, statistics, and harmonic analysis. I probably wouldn't have had the opportunity to advance at the pace I wanted to if I was in public school. However, I also really liked studying linguistics, biology, history, spirituality, and philosophy. Although really, I liked to read anything I could get my hands on. My siblings had their own interests as well and they got to dive as deeply as they wanted to as well.
One passion I clearly got from my father was his love of ancient languages and literature. He was absolutely enthralled by ancient languages and their poetry, especially Indian epics like the Mahabharata. I quickly gained an interest in Sanskrit among other things quite early as well. Later on, I'd begin to study Avestan, Pali, Aramaic, Biblical Hebrew, Latin, Old Norse, etc. later on. I would continue to dabble in tons of languages over the course of my life. I'd consider it one of my hobbies that I try to spend some time everyday on.
The languages I mentioned earlier are the ones I'd be roughly on the level of a native speaker in, mainly because I began picking them up at a really young age. Fast forward 25 years later, and I'm pretty good when it comes to Romance languages, not quite as fluent as a native, but I can keep up very well. My Balto-Slavic languages are also pretty good if the conversation isn't too intense. My Semitic languages could be a lot better, it helped that I had a good foundation in Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic, but in terms of speaking them naturally, I'm only so-so.
I think that this entire homeschooling experience is what really helped me to become successful later in life, moreso than if I was educated in the public school system. I could talk about this kind of thing all day, I mainly just wanted to share my experiences. I hope that it strikes a chord with some of you, or, if you're new to the topic of homeschooling, perhaps it will even inspire you. I'd be happy to answer any questions that you have as well. Keep up the good work you guys.
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