Have you written much on your “mind meld as a coping mechanism” idea. I’ve read a lot of your thoughts on Tuvok but haven’t run into that one

I'm warning you right now this got so out of hand. If you want a shorter answer you can uhh scroll down until you get to the part where I talk about Suder bc for some reason I spent a while (some might say, too long) talking about Vulcan bonds as I see them in general.

SO!

Humans, right? Humans are creatures who love fiercely and have a lot of strong emotions within that love. However, they always retain their separate identities. No matter how much Anne loves Lucy she can only know Lucy through what bits and pieces Lucy tells her. Even if theoretically Lucy told Anne every thought of hers as she said it, Anne wouldn’t know how she’d arrived at that thought (unless explained) and even in that explanation, Lucy as a person would not have arrived at that thought in a vacuum. 

A simplified example: Lucy says “I don’t like apples.” and when Anne asks why Lucy says she doesn’t like them because she ate one that had a worm in it. However, this still is not a full understanding of Lucy - it is an understanding of Lucy as Lucy sees herself/her history.

Using Tuvok and T’Pel as an example - Tuvok, pre-canon, is half of T’Pel. His thoughts make up her thoughts and vice versa. He did not originally come into the world as part of her but he has lived and grown the last six or so decades as part of her. 

If Tuvok says “I don’t like apples” T’Pel might ask why to see why he believes he doesn’t like apples but she also has access to something deeper than his words. She has access to his thoughts and feelings and ostensibly his entire life.

When Tuvok melds with Janeway, she is able to observe the events of his life. He can will her there to experience them if he only thinks about a specific moment. This implies to me that Vulcans who are bonded could do the same with one another. So they have access to far more information than a human would.

1 “I don’t like apples” information

2 “I don’t like apples because I ate one that had a worm in it” information

3 T’Pel can feel the emotions and is aware of the thoughts that the topic brings up

4 T’Pel could, if they both chose, go back and observe the moment he is describing to her

T’Pel can comment on/interact with Tuvok’s statement on many different levels, if she chooses. It’s a very deep connection and can lead to an intensely rich understanding of someone else which it obviously has in the case of Tuvok and T’Pel since he’s clearly deeply in love with her and wishes to be with her. (It’s shown as his greatest desire point blank on the show).

I say this to uhh justify my thought process which is that Tuvok is 

1 Missing his other half (literally)

2 Ostensibly on a ship for seventy years with people who could never understand him the same way he’s used to being understood

It’s as if a part of his brain was cut out. I wonder if he can feel the blank spaces where T’Pel would normally be when he thinks.

It’s a very different type of communication and though Tuvok is used to working with humans (and other aliens) he’s also used to at some point going home and being with his family. You’re not supposed to be understood intimately by your colleagues, it’s fine to just ‘chat’ with them - you have friends and family at home. What I’m saying is that while everyone else on Voyager might be able to make the switch to “Okay, these people are all I’m ever going to have so I’ll get to know them on a more intimate level” and like, talk about deeper things and thus forge stronger bonds - making them legitimate friends and family, Tuvok would not be able to. Both on a personal level (he seems to naturally be a more introverted person) and on an ‘Alien Communication’ level.

Tuvok can explain why he doesn’t like apples all damn day but it still won’t even come close to the intimacy that his bonds with T’Pel and the rest of his family provided him because it’s a fundamentally different and alien form of a communication which cannot be replicated through human speech/relationships.

However, a mind meld…

Mind Melding has been likened to sex by plenty of people and I can see why (‘becoming one’ in the human sense is closest to sex - bodies joined, and trust me I will liken it to sex before I’m done here today) but in this case for my argument I’m likening it to a general intimacy/bond. 

Again, Tuvok is

1 Missing his other half (literally)

2 On a ship for seventy years with people who could never understand him the same way he’s used to being understood

Mind Melding rectifies both of these. He becomes one mind, briefly, with another person and because he is of one mind with that other person he is also understood by them (again briefly). For the time he’s melded he’s made whole.

Mind Melding, interestingly, also seems to mimic a Vulcan bond in that it taps into emotions. In the show the highly gendered nature of Pon Farr is worrying to me so I’m going to tweak it a BIT in MY canon and say that every Vulcan can go through Pon Farr and it just depends on who goes through it first in a bonded pair.

So, say T’Pel is going through Pon Farr - Tuvok is not. Tuvok, while affected by T’Pel’s pon farr, is able to stabilize her emotions a bit through his retained control. This is why Vulcans seem to get married chiefly when their Pon Farrs dictate it. Before then there’s no need as they can regulate their emotions by themselves. Pon Farr introduces a need for a partner - not just to have sex with but to help balance them.

Vulcan Bonds:

Allow for a person to be intimately understood by those they are bonded to

Allow for other intimacies such as romantic affection (the Vulcan ‘kiss’ comes to mind) or comfort (When Tuvok is suffering from PTSD he says that the typical treatment for such a thing is a mind meld with a family member so they can help the person suffering to process their traumatic experience)

Allow for the regulation of emotions by the ‘balancing’ force of one’s partner

Tuvok is the only Vulcan to be ripped away from all his bonds and be unable to access any of this. This must leave him not only extremely lonely but also unbalanced. I wonder if he has the sensation of not being able to “think right” or as smoothly as he once could - or perhaps too smoothly even, since it’s just him. 

He is also a person who, notably, mind melds with others a lot. It’s a thing that a lot of people have picked up on! And yes on a base level this could be laziness on the writers’ part but I’M ALL ABOUT LOOKING TOO DEEP INTO THINGS. SO.

What I’M saying is that the reason he mind melds with others so much more than other Vulcans is BECAUSE he’s in the delta quadrant, stranded from others.

Mind Melds in this case are (and here we go!) akin to having a one night stand just because you can’t stand your bed being empty. It doesn’t matter who it is, you just need someone there.

(Yes this is OBLIGATORY)

Tuvok has an incredibly weak excuse for why he should mind meld with Suder. He says it's simply because he can’t accept that there’s no reason Suder killed someone.

It is, in fact, not at ALL important that he understand why Suder killed Darwin. Suder has been apprehended, he had no accomplices, the case is done. Logically there’s absolutely no reason for Tuvok to mind meld with Suder. He even acknowledges that it’s risky to do and yet he does it anyway. 

Perhaps this is because Tuvok has no ‘balancing’ influence to deter him from the idea or because his loneliness has turned into a desperation - where there is an opportunity to mind meld with another, his loneliness pushes him towards doing so even when it’s not logical to.

TLDR; Tuvok is lonely, craves intimacy and feels ‘off’ or like a part of him is missing. He is also intensely loyal to T’Pel and thus will not take another mate so instead he mind melds with random people at the drop of a hat. Even when it’s dangerous or illogical to do so. Microdosing on intimacy and feeling whole. So…um…I hope this was sort of interesting and not too incoherent. THANK YOU BYE!!!

Types of Witches

These are loose definitions of types of witches. You do not have to be any one type, these are simply ways to identify oneself if you feel that the type fits, and recommendations or thoughts are welcomed in the comments Green/Garden Witch

A Green witch is a witch whose practice surrounds the use of gardening, herbalism and generalized plant life, hence the title "Green". Green Witches will be meticulous when it comes to their gardens, will grow lots of plants including herbs, flowers, foods and even things we would consider "weeds". Each and every plant seen around the Green Witch's home would have some sort of use to that Witch (yes, even the grass!) Indoors you may see more plants, either being grown in pots, or being dried for use. A Green Witch will use plants in almost every aspect of their craft, from casting spells, to cooking their meals, and even cleaning their homes. They're practitioners who focus mostly on one aspect.

Sea Witch

A sea witch has strong ties to water and the ocean and uses that element often in her practice. Sea and ocean magic will often use sand, shells, driftwood, or other elements that come from that place. Sea witches feel connected to water and ancient folklore involving sirens, mermaids, selkie, etc.

Kitchen Witch

Kitchen witches are very home-based, often incredibly nurturing, and love to make their home a truly special and sacred space. They love to cook and brew and use herbs, sometimes gathered from their own garden. When practicing they combine their own personal and individual magical energy with essential oils, herbs, food, and everyday objects to create their spells, rituals, and magic.

Elemental Witch

Elemental witches study and practice based on the four elements: earth, air, wind, and fire. An elemental magic is craft based on honoring and working with each element. An elemental witch may have an altar for each specific element. Elemental witches call on the elements when casting spells and performing rituals, and may even have an element that they personally identify with and work towards finding.

Crystal Witch

A Crystal witch works most commonly with stones and crystals, this can be during spell work, rituals, or even storing energy in crystal they connect strongly with. Anything that involves crystal use may be used by a crystal witch. They often have an extensive knowledge of stones, including their metaphysical properties, and if they have any toxicities.

Eclectic Witch

An eclectic witch does not have one set religion, practice, tradition, or culture that they pull from. Their practice derives from many sources and, ultimately, becomes the witch’s own. They may worship a higher being, or their practice may be primarily secular, or it might be its own kind of spiritual. An eclectic witch ultimately makes their own “rules” with their practice—it is entirely unique based on the individual witch

Hedge Witch

Hedge witches have little to do with plant life (though plants may play some role in their craft). The term "Hedge" refers to the border that surrounds ones property. Hedge Witches work between two worlds; crossing the "hedge" between this world and the world beyond, or the "other-world". They spend a lot of time communing with either deities, ancestors or random spirits of whom they meet on this plane, while also working within this plane.

Draconian Witch

This refers to a witch who calls upon dragons, the power behind Arthurian myth, or uses dragon imagery as a focus in their craft. This can be in astral matters, or spells and rituals.

Cosmic/Star Witch

Cosmic witches are contemporary witches who look to the cosmos, astrology, and astronomy and work those elements and celestial energy into their practice. Also called “Star Witches”, these witches often follow the planets and the alignment of the stars and base their spells and rituals on the different placements.

Lunar Witch

A specialized version of a Cosmic witch, these witches focus solely on the energy of the moon as it waxes and wanes throughout the wheel of the year. They may feel a certain draw to moon phases or full moon during the year, sometimes leading to Seasonal Affective Depression during the brighter months of the year. Often they also work lunar deities or spirits, but this is not always the case.

Solar Witch

A specialized version of a Cosmic witch, these witches focus solely on the energy of the sun as the earth rotates around it and its energy fluctuates throughout the wheel of the year. They may feel a certain draw to warmth and sunlight, sometimes leading to Seasonal Affective Depression during the dark months of the year. Often they also work solar deities or spirits, but this is not always the case.

Chaos Witch

This is a witch who connects to storms and strong energy fields, and offensive magic. They believe that the ends justify the means, and thrive in chaos, often harnessing emotional energy to fuel their spell work. If they do work with a deity, it is likely to be a deity that in their pantheon is a trickster god, such as Loki in the Norse pantheon for example.

Animal Witch

Magick that is strongly tied to the animal kingdom, which includes a deep appreciation for all animals, and most often usage of animal materials in spell work. An animal witch will most likely be one who loves animals, a person who animals are immediately "drawn" to, and those who appreciate the natural world. Some animal witches might also use bones, wings, feathers, fur, skin, scales, etc. from deceased animals in their magick, if they choose to do so.

Dream Witch

These witches are more mindful and usually work with internal magick, mainly via interpreting dreams and/or engaging in lucid dreaming. They can “de-code” symbols and messages in the dream, similar to how others would use a divination technique. The dreams may not always be good or bad to them, but they always have meaning.

Music Witch

Magick that is worked with music, musical chimes, or rhythm. A Music witch might hum/sing, clap, sing chants during spells, play instruments (the kind doesn’t matter), or even simply play music during spell-work, magick, or rituals to channel focus or energy/power.

Understanding the self: Sigmund Freud

“One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful”. This was one of the famous lines of Sigmund Freud. If you want to learn more about Sigmund Freud click this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPMFXtGtHEM&list=PLsYXzLZzJ4p87aNvzKIZuDHmw-JgXPPix&index=6  this link is the reference of this blog. So who is Sigmund Freud? Well this man is very interesting. Sigmund Freud, one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century. Freud developed his ideas about personality from his work with psychiatric patients. Freud was very genius that he found out that the personality has structures which he called the id, ego, and superego. So let’s talk about the first one id consists of unconscious drives and individual’s reservoir of psychic energy. The id works according to the pleasure principle: the id always seeks pleasure and avoids pain. According to Freud, the id is the source of all psychic energy, making it the primary component of personality. Let’s talk about the second one, so what is the ego?  According to Freud, The ego develops from the id and ensures that the impulses of the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world. The ego operates based on the reality principle, which strives to satisfy the id's desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways. The reality principle weighs the costs and benefits of an action before deciding to act upon or abandon impulses.In many cases, the id's impulses can be satisfied through a process of delayed gratification the ego will eventually allow the behavior, but only in the appropriate time and place. And lastly the superego. So what is superego? According to Freud, the superego begins to emerge at around age five. The superego holds the internalized moral standards and ideals that we acquire from our parents and society our sense of right and wrong. The superego has two parts the first one is the conscience It includes information about things that are viewed as bad by parents and society. These behaviors are often forbidden and lead to bad consequences, punishments, or feelings of guilt and remorse. The second one is the ego ideal It includes the rules and standards for behaviors that the ego aspires to.  The superego tries to perfect and civilize our behavior. It works to suppress all unacceptable urges of the id and struggles to make the ego act upon idealistic standards rather that upon realistic principles. The superego is present in the conscious, precociousness, and unconscious. Can you believe it? Freud was able to identify these things that we normal people cannot do. When talking about the id, the ego, and the superego, it is important to remember that these are not three separate entities with clearly defined boundaries. These aspects are dynamic and always interacting to influence an individual's overall personality and behavior.With many competing forces, it is easy to see how conflict might arise between the id, ego, and superego. Freud used the term ego strength to refer to the ego's ability to function despite these dueling forces. If there is imbalance, what will happen? According to Freud, the key to a healthy personality is a balance between the id, the ego, and the superego.  If the ego is able to adequately moderate between the demands of reality, the id, and the superego, a healthy and well-adjusted personality emerges. Freud believed that an imbalance between these elements would lead to a manipulative personality. Sigmund Freud’s pyschosexual stages of personality. So what is this theory about? This is about universal stages of personality development and that at each stage of development we experience pleasure in one part of the body more than in others. The first one is the oral stage(from birth-1 year)  During the oral stage, the infant's primary source of interaction occurs through the mouth, so the rooting and sucking reflex is especially important. The mouth is vital for eating, and the infant derives pleasure from oral stimulation through gratifying activities such as tasting and sucking, because the infant is entirely dependent upon caretakers (who are responsible for feeding the child), the child also develops a sense of trust and comfort through this oral stimulation. The second one is the Anal stage(age 1-3 yo) during the anal stage, Freud believed that the primary focus of the libido was on controlling bladder and bowel movements. The major conflict at this stage is toilet training the child has to learn to control their bodily needs. Developing this control leads to a sense of accomplishment and independence. Let’s go to the third one the Phallic stage(age 3-6 yo)  Freud suggested that during the phallic stage, the primary focus of the libido is on the genitals. At this age, children also begin to discover the differences between males and females.​ Freud also believed that boys begin to view their fathers as a rival for the mother’s affections. The Oedipus complex describes these feelings of wanting to possess the mother and the desire to replace the father. However, the child also fears that he will be punished by the father for these feelings, a fear Freud termed castration anxiety. The term Electra complex has been used to describe a similar set of feelings experienced by young girls. Freud, however, believed that girls instead experience penis envy. The fourth one is the latent period (6-puberty) during this stage, the superego continues to develop while the id's energies are suppressed. Children develop social skills, values and relationships with peers and adults outside of the family. The development of the ego and superego contribute to this period of calm. The stage begins around the time that children enter into school and become more concerned with peer relationships, hobbies, and other interests. The next one is the Genital stage (puberty-death) the onset of puberty causes the libido to become active once again. During the final stage of psycho sexual development, the individual develops a strong sexual interest in the opposite sex. This stage begins during puberty but last throughout the rest of a person's life. Where in earlier stages the focus was solely on individual needs, interest in the welfare of others grows during this stage. The goal of this stage is to establish a balance between the various life areas. So that’s it this is all about Sigmund Freud and his theories.

so this is something I've been mulling over for a while now - do you reckon it'd be possible to make a version of a/b/o that isn't fundamentally transphobic, or would it reach the point of "this is so different that you might as well not call it a/b/o" before that? off the top of my head you'd have to take out all elements of g!p, mpreg, and biological essentialism, and it'd probably be possible to write a version of a/b/o with that framework, but I don't know if I'm missing anything.

a/b/o is a reactionary trope that relies on cissexism-derived biological essentialism to function. Like, that’s the engine that powers the bdsm/power dynamics, cisheteronormative breeding/family building, “dub/non-con”, etc. elements that draw people to it, and led people to create it in the first place. 

Like, my best attempt at describing a non-transphobic, non-shitty typical a/b/o adjacent fic would include:

Werewolves (let’s face it, werewolves can be really cool if written well, and there’s a lot of really good ways to write them, a lot of ways to subvert tired subtropes within the trope)

Found Family-focused family/pack building (because wolves often adopt wolves from other packs into their own, blood lineage isn’t really a thing; much like vampires being created, newly turned werewolves of any age can be considered their sire’s child; if it needs to have a pregnancy arc between two men or two women, there’s IVF/IUI, or magically/spiritually-induced pregnancies, and of course writing a fully fledged complex trans character with their own non-pregnancy arc and virtues/flaws/goals/etc. and getting relevant trans beta writers who aren't your friends to keep it on track if you’re a cis writer)

A flexible, non-binary gendered society (rather than the rigidly structured biology-is-destiny a/b/o society) that’s trans inclusive either explicitly, or implicitly if it’s a new social universe with different rules. 

If mating seasons have to exist, they’re cultural more than biological, and no biological processes that could impede or trouble a person’s ability to properly consent. 

No inherent, glorified or reified power dynamics, certainly none rooted in or fostered through biology. 

That doesn’t seem very much at all like a/b/o to me. It’s a werewolf AU, which is the reason why a/b/o was created in the first place. It wasn’t enough. It needed something more than just a supernatural bent

I’ll continue on below for a bit on some simplified functions of a/b/o, but it’s mostly just some ramblings.

-

Like, to quote the originators of the genre/trope:

I'd like to see Alpha male Jared, and Bitch male Jensen. Jensen is a snotty prude (think Lady from lady and the tramp) he may be a bitch male but he's not just going to let anybody take a go at his sweet little ass...until he meets Jared...then prudey little Jensen turns cock slut for Jared. Bonus points for J2 being OTP, Jensen was a virgin before Jared, and now that they met each other, it's for life.

...

There are three types of men, alpha males, beta males, and omega males. Alpha males are like any ordinary guy with the exception of their cocks, they work just like canines (the knot, tons of cum, strong breeders, etc) The beta male, is an ordinary guy without the special cock. Omega males are capable of child bearing and often called bitch males.

Like, I want you to look at that real close and see what’s going on in there.

This was created to be a trope where there’s a world where women, as we explicitly know them, don’t exist, but where a subgroup of men take up the functional role of the woman in the heteronormative social structure of the world. It’s also not surprising that (assumedly cis) women created and initiated the spread of this trope.

Look at the language used. This is heavily, explicitly gendered for a reason. If you’ve read much of anything about how the male gaze impacts female sexuality, you’ll know a common response is for women to position themselves out of the proverbial frame entirely, so that no part of them can explicitly exist as an object, where they can take on the role of a subject. There’s no women whose experiences will directly link to her own and her own perceptions, comfort/discomfort/etc.

However, many of these women also have been heavily affected by the male gaze and heteronormativity, and that combined with not knowing what a real gay male relationship is like, what it looks like, what experiences might be unique to it...they fill in the blanks with their own conditioning. 

And maybe seeing a lot of that toxic masculinity in media content was unsettling because of how women get treated in that content, and how they in turn might feel in those shoes. But if a MAN, even if it’s a heavily female-coded man, were to undergo that...well, it’d be easier to appreciate those tropes and dynamics they’ve been force-fed to believe were arousing, hot, desirable. Especially if they can have two hot men in it. They can enjoy that self-created taboo, bypass their own discomfort and insecurity, and project it onto a type of person different enough to suspend their disbelief and maintain that difference, even if they’re pumping that guy full of all the typical misogynistic tropes and experiences they’re not comfortable having directed towards them and other women.

In short, it’s a way to get off on heteronormative norms/tropes, using another as a vehicle in order to keep up their cognitive dissonance.

Of course, this eventually spilled out into the Het fandom (makes perfect sense, since many of the a/b/o originators and proponents were het women), and then worked its way into Femslash fandom by piggybacking on g!p in order to meet the necessary criteria for PiV sex. 

Just, in this case, you necessarily shift some of the puzzle pieces around. Trans women take the place of the “alpha”, acting as an acceptable vehicle for a toxic masculine cis man, since lesbians aren’t into men. Even if the trans woman is generally written, in nearly every way aside from part of her body, as a toxic cis man. The original a/b/o’s “Bitch Male”/Omega Male is swapped out for the  Omega Female, usually a spunkier, more in your face version outside of romantic/sexual contexts in the media content, but let’s be real here, she’s still by and large submissive when it comes down to it. 

In a world where more wlw grew up feeling predatory for their attraction to other women, for feeling sinful, for being rejected from female intimacy het women enjoyed with each other after coming out, etc., it’s pretty common for a lot of lesbians to lack initiative, not be able to read or communicate romantic/sexual cues between each other...to essentially be “useless lesbians’ as the joke goes,and to feel isolated and undesirable. 

So writing a F/F fic where some hot woman modeled in the image of some hot cis woman pursues you? Takes the initiative sexually/romantically? Doesn’t beat around the bush, but is blatant? Who can’t control her lust around you? Who can give you the perfect nuclear family you’ve been conditioned to want in order to feel value in our heteronormative world, but were told you weren’t worthy of or could never feasibly attain? Who gives you a sexual encounter you have some education in and some emotional stake in due to common conditioning of PiV sex > all else? Who can give you plausible deniability for a number of contexts due to a lack of ability to explicitly consent? etc. etc.

Like, yeah, that’s going to feel comfortable for a lot out there. That’s going to seem pretty hot/arousing. It’s a way to get off on the norms and expectations thrown on women in society, but in a way that lets them distance themselves ever so slightly from men by shifting it from text to subtext, explicit to implicit.

Don’t just take my word for it, though. Here’s a few snippets from one of the most popular g!p/omegaverse femslash writers (if not the most popular) that help illustrate how/why this trope has found an audience

Why Do I Write G!P?The elephant in the room. It arouses me, but it’s also a form of self-comfort. I grew up in a very fundamentalist home. Women being with women was at first unspoken, and then derided, both by my church and at home. I felt insanely guilty for my attractions, so I developed ‘cheat codes’ to deal with it.

It was okay if the woman I had sex with in my dreams had a penis, for example. It was okay if she forced me to have sex with her. It was okay if we basically simulated heterosexual sex.

Because of my childhood (which included conversion therapy), I found myself falling into heterosexual roleplay patterns, at least sexually. It was a lingering thing from my childhood.

It’s still there, and I know I’ll never be rid of it.

...

I associate penetration with power. You know, being steeped in sexism from an early age turned some problematic thoughts into kinky lemonade. And since I’m a femme sub, taking power away from the top by ‘penetrating’ them can ruin the mood for me. I mean, I can write power bottom scenes with the best of them, and I enjoy them, but… *shrug* if I’m going to write omegaverse or g!p, someone’s getting fucked, and it’s not the top.

There are rules to a/b/o. There are specific reasons it’s sought out, read, and created, and that’s why it’s hard to imagine a version of it without those harmful elements, because the trope requires them for the audience to be satisfied.

It’s why all gay male a/b/o fits a pretty specific pattern. it’s why femslash a/b/o fits a very specific pattern. There’s nearly no deviation as a rule, because there are so many parts that have to be in play and functioning in a specific way in order to get the desired result. 

I could go on for hours about this, and the above is all a pretty damn simplified take of what’s going on in a/b/o for it to exist in the way it does and meet the needs of the audience, and I’ve already written a lot about this in the past, so I’ll try to cut it short here.

Part 2: Axel

Saïx: You have changed…Something at Castle Oblivion changed you. Does the past mean nothing to you now?

Unlike Isa’s scar, Axel’s tear mark tattoos disappeared when Lea was recompleted. It implies that he got them after he became a Nobody, while Isa received his scar as a human. In the concept art, Lea was shown with tear mark tattoos and without them. Isa was shown with green and gold Norted eyes. It suggests that there was backstory that was going to show these characters before and after.

A teenage Axel probably gave himself the tattoos. KH3′s explanation for the teardrops was lame and I doubt that was always the story behind them. Saïx told him they’d stop him from crying? Well, Nobodies don’t cry. So are we supposed to believe that Isa was mocking Lea for crying before they became Nobodies? Why on earth would he do that? And why is Lea crying all the time, anyways? I thought they were apprentices, not test subjects? It’s pretty dumb.

Hearing his old name, Axel glanced up to see Saïx watching him intently. He remembered being human. Memories surged inside him, crowding the space in his chest. For Nobodies, memory had all the weight of a heart.

I remember. I won’t forget. But those sunsets with Roxas and Xion were part of his memory.

KH3 apparently forgot, but Axel was an assassin. And since he wasn’t trained to kill the apprentices, I highly doubt that was a profession he chose for himself, lol. The teardrops were almost certainly associated with that history. Axel had them before the idea that he was old friends with Saïx even existed. The teardrop tattoo can mean that the wearer has committed murder. It can also mean that one of the wearer’s friends was murdered and that they are seeking revenge. In Axel’s case, both are probably true.

In order for Sora—no, for Roxas to live, and also for us to accomplish our own goal, Zexion is in the way. And, if it’s for the sake of our own goal, we already decided what to do, that time.

Since Axel’s tattoos are upside-down, I’d say they represent fact that Axel couldn’t cry anymore even if he wanted to. And since that ability was taken away from him after he lost his heart, the tattoos symbolize him embracing his lack of emotion. When he gets his revenge, he will show no mercy and have no remorse. I think Axel gave them to himself not long after losing his heart. They symbolize that he will never forget what happened to him, Isa and all the other innocent victims lost during the experiments.

Zero Gear: “A powerful weapon that draws forth its wielder’s true worth.”

Lea was able to create a Corridor of Darkness even as a human. The apprentices couldn’t even do this, nor Riku after “Ansem” left him. 

Nomura: While only those known as beings of darkness and beings of between are able to create entries and exits, in rare cases even other kinds of beings such as the Beast and DiZ, who held strong sentiment or hatred in their hearts, have been able to open a path themselves. However, this means being near the darkness.

It’s rare to be able to do this and requires strong feelings like hatred in the person’s heart. I think because of their differing personalities, Lea was thought to be more capable of destruction, while Isa was seen as more submissive.

And so, Axel appeared in front of Sora. He threw a chakram at Vexen right then. It wasn’t that powerful, but it could kill in one hit if it got a vital point.

Lea seemed to be molded for his skills related to being an assassin, while they tried to turn Isa into an obedient robot with no ability to think for himself.

The members of the Organization each had their own distinctive weapons that didn’t exactly cooperate if someone else tried to use them, but Keyblades were even more particular. If someone else so much as tried to pick it up, a Keyblade would simply return to its wielder’s hand. Or so Xion had heard.

There’s a few interesting bits of info about Organization XIII’s weapons and abilities in the novels. This scene happens while Xion was trying to use Roxas’ Keyblade. First of all, the weapons of the Organization are formed by their memories. Second of all, the weapons cannot be used by just anybody.

Nobodies derived their personalities and abilities from memories of their human lives. But what exactly were those abilities? What gave rise to them?

The answer that came to mind was the presence of memory itself. They were chained by their memory, and in those bonds was power. So it was probably fair to say that Roxas and Xion were bound by the same memory.

And thirdly, Axel doesn’t even understand how he got his abilities. Just that they are related to “memory”.

There are also many things regarding Castle Oblivion that remain mysterious. Did Organisation XIII build that castle themselves, with Naminé the original subject of the experiments they conducted there? Please tell us the details of the experiments the Organization were carrying out. Also, was that pod that Sora entered something the Organisation built in relation to those experiments? Are they the same pods in Twilight Town?

The ultimate goal of the Organisation was to obtain a Kingdom Hearts of the hearts of people and become complete beings, and because Nobodies were a new kind of being beyond all expectations, said to be ‘nonexistent beings’, the lack of background knowledge made it necessary for them to collect information relating to their own condition. One major feature of the Nobodies is that they form personalities and feelings through memories without hearts. This means that ‘memory’ is a very important element to them. The creation of Castle Oblivion itself is still a mystery, but, as you can guess from the cutscenes added to this title, you may consider that the Organisation discovered the castle, which was there since before the Organisation was created, at quite an early stage.

And also, around the same time that Roxas woke up in Twilight Town, Naminé woke up in Castle Oblivion. This means that she was found by the Organisation after that. Just as each Organisation member has an attribute ability, Naminé possesses the power to manipulate ‘memory’, and they thought that this ability was the key to illuminating the truths of the condition of the Nobodies. This means that in that place that affected the ‘memory’ of those who entered they carried out experiments relating to memory. Above all, Xemnas, the leader of the Organisation, seemed to be searching for something important related to ‘memory’. Some of their experiments involved the breaking and rebirth of memories, and those pods were for that purpose indeed created by the Organisation. The pod that Sora woke up in in Twilight Town was the same one from Castle Oblivion. DiZ had moved everything as it was in order to escape pursuit by the Organisation. Also, as Xigbar says in a cutscene added to this title: when the time comes to reveal the details of ‘the true purpose of Castle Oblivion’, all the mysteries regarding Castle Oblivion will be solved.

These details are given legitimacy in one of Nomura’s interviews. Organization XIII carried out experiments in Castle Oblivion to understand themselves and their own abilities. Keyblades come from a person’s heart. You need a strong heart to wield one. So, it appears the weapons of the Nobodies come from their mind. You need a strong mind to form a Nobody. And their weapons are similar to Keyblades. So, the story of how each member got their signature weapons was apparently something that was planned to be revealed, especially if they are specifically tied to their memories. 

Many of the members had combat experience as humans which make it obvious how they got their abilities. Lea play fought with frisbees and his chakrams are based off of that. Others are not so obvious. Isa was not shown fighting, yet Saïx uses a berserker’s claymore. Berserkers fight in trance-like state with adrenaline coursing through them. Thus, I highly doubt this weapon had anything to do with Isa’s memories as a normal kid.

Mystery Gear: “A weapon that draws forth its wielder’s personality.”

In addition to their abilities, their personalities are said to be drawn from their memories. This is probably where the whole idea of the Mystery Gear came from. I was never really comfortable with Mystery Gear being labeled a “joke weapon” on the same level as the Casual Gear. Sure, some of the weapons seem silly, like Vexen’s Snowman or Xigbar’s Trumpet (and even those I believe are meaningful). But others are completely serious, like Xemnas’ Absolute or Roxas’s Aubade. So, my theory is that the Mystery Gear is the weapon that is created from the memories of the person the moment they lost their heart.

An aubade is a morning love song (as opposed to a serenade, which is in the evening), or a song or poem about lovers separating at dawn. It has also been defined as “a song or instrumental composition concerning, accompanying, or evoking daybreak”. In the strictest sense of the term, an aubade is a song from a door or window to a sleeping woman. Well, Sora chose to become a Heartless to awaken Kairi, who was sleeping. He did so out of love.  

The Heartless come from people’s hearts, as does the darkness. Is the core of the world’s heart the world of the Heartless? I will pursue the answer there and become all knowing. My path is set. I shall seek out the wielder of the Keyblade, and the princesses. My body is too frail for such a journey, but I must do this. I will cast it off and plunge into the depths of darkness.

Apprentice Xehanort wanted to become all-knowing. Xemnas’s Mystery Gear is “Absolute”. And trumpeters are harbingers of the apocalypse in the Bible. And that’s exactly what Braig signed up to be when he gave up his heart to Xehanort. Axel’s is called “Fuma Shuriken”, or Wind Demon Shuriken. It also has a Recusant’s Sigil on it. In the warring states period, the Fuma Clan were a group of outlaw ninjas, especially skilled at night raids and other sorts of sneaky surprise attacks. They were extremely strong, extremely deadly, and had a reputation for pretty much having no morals whatsoever. They would slash enemies in the back, set entire villages on fire, and resort to all sorts of violent and non-violent trickery. They were also said to be experts at the use of fire and smoke – including the smoke-shield practice known as Enton-no-jutsu.

“That Genie we met seemed really worried about his friend Al,” Xion remarked eventually. “But then he said he’d respect his friend’s wishes. I guess you can’t just jump in and do everything for them, even if you want to.” Xion bit her ice cream, swinging her feet.

Axel leaned his head to one side. “Your friend’s wishes, huh…” It feels like I have heard that before, a long time ago, when I was human.

“Inseparable” is the day Xion needs to rely on Roxas. Friends lean on each other. Axel says best friends can be together when they’re apart as long as they feel close. But he sadly said he didn’t have one. The description of this day says that Roxas learns about a friend’s resolve.

“He worries too much. Thinks he has to help Sora do everything…” Axel grimaced in irritation.

“But, Axel, aren’t you the one worrying about Riku and Sora?” Naminé giggled softly.

Axel said he’d heard that back when he was a human. Axel worries a lot about his friends, like Riku does.

“You have your own mission, Roxas,” Saïx told him before Xion could answer.

“I can’t trade with Xigbar or something?”

“What an extraordinarily childish notion. Do you need Axel to walk you everywhere now?”

Roxas bit his lip and looked at the floor. “That’s not it…”

Day 353 is called “Resolve”. Axel was worrying about how to save everyone and also respect their wishes. This is the day Xion left to sacrifice herself. Saïx said this on Day 353. He’s projecting. Lea probably always worried over Isa and tried to care of him, like Riku does with Sora. Saïx still has Isa’s “personality”---his memories, that is. He knows that he was clingy and dependent on Lea. And he can’t STAND it. It’s humiliating to him. He thinks Isa was a childish baby who needed Lea to coddle him.

“It’s the best thing for everyone,” said Xion.

Everyone? Everyone, who? For us? Or…for someone else?

“How do you know that?” Axel demanded. “Everyone thinks they’re right…”

“This is right,” Xion said firmly. “It’s better this way.” Axel hated that argument. Nothing was better any which way. All it came down to was what you wanted to do and what you didn’t. He’d learned that lesson back when he had a heart.

It’s heavily implied that Isa’s thoughts at the moment he lost his heart were related to love. In the story of the Moon Rabbit, the hare was a bodhisattva. The bodhisattva vow is the commitment to put others before oneself. It is a statement of willingness to give up one’s own well-being, even one’s own enlightenment, for the sake of others.

“Me, worry? You think I need to be worried about those two?” He stretched backward and rocked the chair back and forth, like a restless child.

Naminé returned to her sketchbook.

“Say, Naminé… Are you still going to try to meet Kairi?”

Her head snapped up at the unexpected question. Across from her, Axel met her gaze, grave and earnest.

“I have to help her,” she said with a sad smile.

He scowled. “Is that really the best thing?”

“The best thing…?” Naminé set her crayons down on the table, her gaze dropping as she thought for a moment, and then she smiled at him again. “It’s the right thing.”

In response, Axel only leaned back and rocked in the chair again. She took up her crayons.

No one could know what was right or wrong.

I think Lea’s last thoughts as a human were related to rage. The hare decided to offer himself up as food to a hungry stranger even though other food was available. It can be seen as foolish. And I think that’s how Lea felt when he realized Isa wanted to sacrifice himself for him. He was furious, like he was with Xion. He was mad at Isa for trying to destroy himself, when there HAD to be another way. He was mad at himself for being powerless to save Isa. And he was furious at the apprentices most of all for causing everything. 

He was probably waiting for me. Standing there against the wall with his arms folded was once my best friend—Saïx didn’t take his eyes off the ground to look at Axel.

“…You’re sure this is for the best?”

He HATES the idea that there is a set way that is “best”. And because of what happened, he’s perpetually stuck at the age of 15, unable to move on from his trauma. He’s actually compared to a child in the novels. He can’t control his anxiety and rocks back and forth like a child. He has severe abandonment issues.

“Everything is back to normal. Of course this is for the best, isn’t it?”

The reason I’m unable to answer Saïx is probably because I depend on him, thought Axel.

I enjoy seeing both the official localization and the fan translation translation of the novels. The fan translation can sound a little awkward sometimes, but it’s usually more literal which I appreciate. In the localized version, it says that Axel doesn’t want to alienate Saïx anymore. In the fan translation, it carries a heaver connotation and says that Axel depends on Saïx. And I think hearing him say that things were “for the best” is the exactly reason why. He remembers Isa as a selfless person. So even though Saïx is abusive to him, they are codependent. Axel totally relies on him to connect him to his past and we all saw how poorly Saïx handled Axel leaving him, even though he constantly pushed him away.

“Huh? Why am I a slap on the wrist?” Roxas asked.

“Well, they know how much I hate babysitting.” Axel let out an exaggerated sigh.

“Gee, thanks,” huffed Roxas.

Unlike Zexion, Axel had a very happy life as Lea. Then it was all taken from him relatively quickly. In the novels, the chapter titled “Inseparable” shows Axel’s playful and childish side. It gives you a better glimpse of what he was like as a teen and why he always longed to go back to the past.

“Watch this!” Axel threw a dart at the board.

“Hey! We have to investigate.”

“C’mon, it’s just a couple darts.”

Axel tossed one more, which neatly struck the bull’s-eye.

He hated babysitting because he would rather still be a kid. He had the most fun when he could act like a teenager.

“But what is all that stuff?” Axel leaned closer, examining the map.

“I guess we can’t just ask the one who hid it here… Pence, I think his name was,” said Roxas.

Axel shrugged. “As if. It’s probably the easiest way to find out.”

“As if. We still have to find him first.” Roxas imitated the gesture, albeit with considerably more drama.

“Ugh, okay, no more Xigbar impressions,” Axel said, cracking up.

“You started it!”

Roxas lost it, too, and it took a few minutes for them to recover from their fit of giggling.

He wanted to play darts and do Xigbar impressions.

“What should we do now, Naminé?” Riku asked as he reached for the little freezer under the computer. He removed a bar of ice cream and took a bite.

“…Aw, is it good?” Axel teased. “Seriously, you’re like a little kid. Even though you look like a mean old man.”

Riku made no response, keeping his gaze fixed on the computer screen. The comment did rub him the wrong way. But mentally, Axel was definitely older than him by at least a little. Not that you could tell from looking.

Riku said that Axel is mentally older…but only by a little.

As Riku sighed, Axel stole the ice cream out of his hand.

“There’s plenty in there. Just get your own. And you call me a little kid,” Riku grumbled.

At his irritation, Axel only shrugged and chuckled to himself.

Axel was definitely a case of arrested development. Socially and emotionally he was still stuck at the age of 15. It’s why he eats so much sea-salt ice cream.

Axel’s eyes crinkled as he remembered his own best friend—the only friend he’d ever had, in fact.

“If your best friend goes away, you’re sad, and if you get to be with them, you’re happy,” Naminé added. “Isn’t that how it is, Axel?”

“…That’s about the size of it.” Axel nodded and sat down on the remaining empty sofa, staring at the sea-salt ice cream he held.

“So you are capable of sincerity,” said Riku.

Axel only shrugged at the jab and finished his ice cream pop.

Axel took a particular liking to Sora and Riku, but became depressed by them, too. He acted like a kid, denying that Isa was ever his friend and eating tons of ice cream to make himself feel better.

In that world, Roxas was laughing.

Like he was having fun.

Like he’d always lived in that place.

It’s a place of lies Naminé made from his own memories, but, maybe, that’s the real Roxas. Not clad in a black coat, but playing with friends his own age, laughing, eating ice-cream, wandering around—like Sora.

He was jealous of Hayner, Pence, and Olette, especially when Roxas called their names when time froze during the Struggle.

“Then what did you wanna come with me for?” Axel flung his arms out angrily.

“Because… Because you seemed lonely.”

“What?” The irritated furrow between his brows deepened.

“You seemed lonely,” Naminé repeated, raising her eyes.

“Lonely? Me, a Nobody, lonely? That doesn’t even make sense!”

“You know, Axel… I wonder if we really do have hearts after all.”

“Yeah, well… That’s impossible.” He turned away from her.

I like that he wasn’t completely healed of all his issues as soon as he was recompleted. He still HATES showing vulnerability around people. And since he had lost the ability to cry for so many years, he cannot stand letting people see him cry. He formed his identity around being strong. He turned away from Roxas when he started tearing up and he ran away and dropped his ice cream when he cried in front of Kairi. He trusted her, but still wouldn’t talk about his past or why he still wore his black cloak with her.

THE ZODIAC: CANCER THE CRAB

Date of Rulership: 22nd June-23rd July; Polarity: Negative, female; Quality: Cardinal; Ruling planet: Moon; Element: Water; Body part: Heart, Lungs, and stomach; Colour: Silvery Grey; Gemstone: Pearl; Metal: Silver.

In the signs thus far examined, we have seen the formative energies of life achieve expression through different mediums: initially through the spontaneity and impulsive carnal drives of Aries; then through the aesthetic kaleidoscope of meandering Taurus; and finally the subdivision of vital force under the command of Gemini which enabled an innovative, evolutionary leap of consciousness. The latter’s propensity to concurrently exist in material and ethereal worlds also made sentient an intermediary realm in which the physical and spiritual mingled. Many would understand this intermediary plane to be the unrestrained world of imagination, intuition, thinking, memory, and emotion. It binds spirit to the body, and the emancipating dialogue that ensues between the two as a result engenders far-reaching repercussions for both. It invariably shapes the bundle of psychological habits and impulses that each of us calls self. It is the god Proteus and the nymph Thetis; a primordial ocean of acute shape-shifting awareness. Sometimes one might find themselves trapped in a kaleidoscopic labyrinth of geometrical contours or in shapeless clouds. At other times, one might see a sequence of rhythms or sounds, hear colourful objects, and taste backward or previously unseen locomotion. At other times still, one can be overwhelmed or possessed by anxiety, fear, titillation, love, or relaxation one minute, and riddled by a complete absence of emotion the next. At some point it might be apparent that everything in existence comprises the skin of a gargantuan cosmic animal and at other points all created matter might appear to be discarnate and autonomous entities that simply inhabit the same cosmic space. Polarities can coalesce under a singular experience and thinking processes are transposed to concentrated levels that elude comprehension on the physical plane. Nothing is ever controlled or mediated; there is just a perpetual waxing and waning of thoughts and ideas that explode onto the sands of consciousness one minute and dry up the next. Time becomes a helium balloon, expanding as to spur the perception that a plethora of daylong activities have been squeezed into the space of a few minutes and then shrinking as to flush out the space of a day in two seconds. In this realm, the personal can become impersonal very quickly and barriers deemed impenetrable in the physical world are breached at will.

Gemini’s severe allergies to the emotional faucet rendered it somewhat superficial, insensitive, and impotent to the depth of experience, an anomaly which is corrected with the inauguration of the Cancerian archetype. Because the formative energies of Cancer originate from this intermediary realm of being which connects the physical and spiritual, it acquaints humans with their individual souls but also with the anima mundi, the cosmic soul of Mother Nature which unites all creatures irrespective of size or complexity. A newborn inclination to look inward for nirvana underpins the fundamental Gnostic adage of this archetype, namely that the external environment, the mechanical world into which we are born, appears to be an exotic synthesis of indifferent and insensitive elements that cannot offer inner harmony or fulfilment to spiritually-orientated humanity. The only hope for the human condition, according to Cancer, is to turn on the emotional faucets of the psychic plane and let the cold and hot water form a sensitive current that incite a sense of meaning and purpose and drive the impersonal spirit or life force through the tumultuous waters of life until it is again time to reunite with the paradisal state of perfection in maternal unconsciousness.

“Folks, life’s all about being feelings,” says Cancer. “Feelings and sandcastles, my friends! I like to build mine with all sorts of implements, usually down by the seashore. If I don’t use sand and water its paint and pastels, and sometimes I even use pen and writing paper. I create them with my vivid imagination and decide who or what is going to be living inside. I decide upon fates and lifespans and transcribe the romantic events that will unravel within its high walls. Sadly, there comes a time when the incoming tide levels and sucks them back into the pit of the ocean’s stomach. I understand the tides, the coming and going of primordial energies, and the cycles of the cosmos like no other which is why I build my houses strong. Strength equals domestic stability and tranquillity, something everyone wants! I use the sturdiest things available–sticks, stones, metals, bits of detritus from the seabed–to insulate my soft and squishy parts from Mother Nature’s wrath and Man’s acidic and unbecoming temperament. As a humanitarian, I’m always willing to share my space with an appropriate other, especially if that other is a poor, helpless soul in need of smothering or mothering.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m tactile and love affection. I’ll also admit that I do have too much of the moon and the sea in me; my moods can go from black, to low, to white, to high, and to crescent shape in the space of about a microsecond. I can be volatile that way, but I more than make up for it with my talent for story-telling, my attention to detail, and my emotional rapport. I can also be timid and shy, but once you’ve gained my trust and extricated me from my crabby shell you’ll feel like you’ve known me for years! Once I’m out you’ll have to be rather gentle with me; I’m not particularly fond of prying eyes or confrontation, verbal or otherwise, so I will often sidestep around these. If this is not possible or plausible I’ll just thrust my big old pincers out and threaten to dice the adversary up into little pieces. You should also know that I’m a fiercely faithful friend, and my concern for the welfare of others can often be mistaken for clinginess and co-dependence. My soul is dark like rocks of obsidian, and deeper than the Mariana trench in the Pacific Ocean. Just like these qualities strike night terrors in those individuals not quite attuned to their inner selves, so too does it nurture my own worst nightmare–the fear that I might be deserted to my own devices and have to face life alone.”

Cancer is undoubtedly the first sign to actively work through the mimetic bank of the collective unconscious, drawing upon cosmic archetypes like the tribal brother or sister, love, the heroic journey, utopian societies like the legendary Atlantis, and the struggle between seemingly disembodied forces of good and evil to create its own narratives, real or imagined. Souls incarnating through the stars of this zodiacal constellation more often than not exhibit melancholia, sentimentalist romanticism, and a longing to recapture the locus classicus of Golden Ages bygone. The latter is most likely due to the fact that Cancerians retain prenatal memories of the paradisal perfection within the womb, and hence looking backward into the past is also examining a longwinded path that meanders further and further from union with the divine.  Their deep connection to the supranormal and creative powers of the greater subconscious mind and its intuitive faction, as well as a heartfelt obsession with the subtler and intimate details of our psychological makeup makes them the true hub of the arts. It is no coincidence that souls born under the aegis of Cancer tend to be artists, writers, musicians, and poets. The unconscious willpower or drive of a Cancerian soul is second to none.

Lamentably, Cancer’s derivation from an imaginative plane experienced through the electrical power of primordial ebbs and flows without the aid of a transistor isn’t all milk and honey. Cancerians are notorious for letting the intellectual throne of their personal kingdoms be usurped by emotion, and we all know what happens when unchecked emotions are given prominence over wisdom and intellect: problems and worries multiply and quickly distort our perceptions of the outside world so that everyone appears dishonest, deceptive, potentially threatening, and narcissistic. Emotionally disturbed Cancerians usually repress their feelings for prolonged periods, letting grievances and resentments simmer and become pressurised deep in the confines of their unconscious until these can no longer be contained. When the tempestuous eruption finally comes to pass, the rock-melting intensity of the sonic blast can be so potent as to incinerate, alter, or disfigure relationships permanently. This is one of just many reasons why Cancerians are introverts, choosing to traffic in relationships that are highly unlikely to balloon into melodramatic love affairs or force them into encounters with their own shadows.  

Like Aries, Taurus and Gemini, there are also two symbols associated with Cancer the Crab. The first of these, the animal totem, evokes the primary psychic composition of all beings born under this zodiacal sign; deriving from and dwelling in the element of water, crabs are tranquil, expressive and passive in their habits. The existence of a shell denotes a self-absorbed proclivity towards domestication, introversion, emotional vulnerability, and cultivation of the soul’s imaginative realm. In embarking in a cross-cultural and historical examination, we find that the ubiquitous expression of this archetype has altered in time. For some of the prehistoric cultures, Cancer was represented as a crayfish. Moving into historic times, the ancient Egyptians imagined the constellation as an embodiment of the morning sun–Khephera –whose totemic animal was the scarab beetle. The modern image associated with this archetype was inherited from Babylonian or Chaldean astrology, the latter also influencing the iconography used by the Persian and Hellenistic peoples. The fixed stars associated with this constellation were deemed of utmost importance given that they delineated the seat of an ethereal Great Mother Goddess from which all life in the cosmos had sprung forth. Two ancient calendars, the Egyptian and the Mayan, further illuminate Cancer’s importance as an archetypal indicator of cosmic beginnings and endings: the ancient Egyptians, ascribed prominence to it as the home in which almighty Sirius, the mediating star of the wheel of heaven, rose heliacally to herald the New Year; and the Mayans prophesized that an alignment of the planets within Cancer would spur an act of un-creation and spell the end of the universe. In Roman myth, the goddess Juno fashioned Cancer and placed her in the starry heavens to serve as a cosmic chronometer and reverse the forward-moving cycle of creation when she finally felt that the process of becoming would be of no further benefit to mortals and immortals alike.

The second symbol, an astrological shorthand for the zodiacal sign, shows two identical figures whose arrangement discloses polar opposition. In Gemini this image of duality symbolizes a conunctionis or marriage of opposites, but in Cancer it draws attention to the insuperable psychic tides that are inherent in the nature of this archetype and demonstrated by the gravitational forces and see-saw interfaces imposed upon the earth by its mediating planet, the moon. The two spirals pertaining to each figure may be interpreted in a variety of ways; either as a pair of breasts, symbols of fecundity and divine providence, or as two spermatozoa whose conjunction generates the miracle of life. Both are connected to creation and both recall the feminine element of water as the great cosmic womb through which evolutionary life processes take root. Naturally this sign is intimately connected to physical conception and birth, as well as the psychological dependence of the developing ego on the uroboric Self. Hence, the symbol also serves as a memory cue for those primordial moments of happiness, fundamental unity, oneness, and paradisal perfection experienced in the womb before birth, along with the sadness and loss that comes from being separated from the maternal realm of unconsciousness.

Dimension Wave   Chapter 29 — Dimension Wave: Conclusion

—?!

It wasn’t clear who landed the final blow, but Cerberus let out as if he had been torn apart. At the same time, a flash of white light blinded everybody in the instance as they braced themselves for the next attack. The light dissipated and revealed white clouds on a backdrop of blue… just as the skies had been before all of this happened. White petals blew across the battlefield; we were now in a field of flowers in full bloom.

“We did it!”

Everybody was in high spirits and some were crying out from our shared triumph.

“Good job, team.” “Well done!” “That was a doozy.” “Hell yeah.”

A victory fanfare played in the background—this is an MMO, so of course it did. I sat down on the bed of flower as both my—as both Kizuna†Exceed’s body and mind were exhausted. The tension and anxiety I was holding back crushed me all at once now. It was extremely stressful avoiding getting hit as a Spirit.

—The first wave of Dimension Wave has been defeated!

The game popped up a message in my vision. There was also a ranking of who contributed the most. Let’s see where I placed…

—Overall rank #77: Kizuna†Exceed

Looks like I’m 77th place among all other players. There were a few other rankings as well.

—Total damage given rank #1: Tsugumi†Exceed

No surprise there. That scythe was great for crowd control.

Oh, there’s a ranking for resources contribution as well. Alto and Romina were in the top 10. They did a lot to back us up, eh?

Another category was “Everyday”. I assume that’s for like activities, like cooking and other roleplaying elements? I’m at #542 for that.

“Holy! Look! There’s someone who took 80,000 points of damage!”

That guy was #2 for most damage received, but who’s #1?

—Total damage received rank #1: Kizuna†Exceed

… hey, that name looks familiar! I fell prostrate on the ground. Now that I look at myself, my clothes had been unequipped, leaving me in my underwear.

Name/ Kizuna†Exceed Race/ Spirit Energy/ 19,550 Mana/ 8,100 Serin/ 46,780

Skills/ Energy Production X, Mana Production VII, Fishing Mastery IV, Hate & Lure I, Gutting Mastery IV, Cleaver III, Speed Gutting III, Naval Combat IV, Transmutation I

… well, that makes sense.

“Required level to equip… Energy, in my case…”

I never knew there was a level requirement for my clothes. They got unequipped because I don’t have enough Energy now, I assumed. Guess I don’t have much of a choice but to use my old equipment. I’m glad I kept everything in my inventory. I clicked out of the rankings and looked through other information.

—Buffs and item usage

There were patch notes for new skills, equipment, and other changes as well. More weapon types were added too. Something I was just talking about is the new specialization for scythes, called war scythes; dual blades derived from one-handed swords; and katanas from two-handed swords. I can’t tell for sure unless I check with the next one, but I’m sure there are new items and skills that are affected by each Dimension Wave.

Oh, hey, it said that fishing rods can now be equipped with reels. I’ve gotta get me one of those. I kept scrolling through the notes.

“Racial powers unlocked?”

That line caught my attention while I was skimming. First off, lemme see what’s in store for Spirits.

—Stone of Mediation implemented.

A crystal that allows its user to project their soul. Or, at least, that’s what this Spirit-exclusive rock claims to be able to do. Every Stone of Mediation has a different effect. Some may shorten the amount of time needed to produce Energy or reduce skills’ Energy usage.

Finally, it looks like we all get something from participating in Dimension Wave. Ranks 1-5, 6-100, 101-1,000, 1,001-5,000 all get different items.

And since I’m number 77, I should be getting something pretty decent. I clicked Yes on the dialog box asking me whether I’d like to receive my reward. Then, a slot machine with numbers and fruits on its reels popped up in my vision. After a quick spin, three icons of souls lined up in the center.

—Energy Blade obtained.

It looked so fitting for a Spirit like me, though the description looked far from normal.

Energy Blade Weapon type/ Not applicable Attack/ 0 Prerequisites/ Must be a Spirit User must have at least 2 Energy to equip this weapon. The user charges up the blade with Energy then unleashes all of it in one single blow. Beware that all charged Energy will be expended upon making an attack, regardless of its success.

All that’s there to the weapon is just its handle. It’s reminiscent of old movies and anime, like how the blade part would only appear if the sword chooses its wielder. It sounds cool and all, but I’ll hold off judgement until I try it out. Personally, I don’t have strong feelings either way. Since it’s a Spirit-exclusive weapon, it’s quite the oddball. I bet it’ll be tricky to use as well. At the very least, it’s not an option for me in my current state. It won’t be long until I’m back in business, so I’ll just keep it safe for now.

“Kizuna.”

Shouko showed up just as I had finished stowing away the Energy Blade into my inventory. Just like everybody else, I congratulated her with a “Well done out there”. But even though we’ve defeated the Dimension Wave, she looked less than happy. I couldn’t help but worry about her.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” “No, it’s just that… I overdid it out on the battlefield, causing you to suffer such terrible damage…” “Oh, that’s what’s bothering you? Don’t worry about it. The true winners in games are ones who enjoy themselves, isn’t that right?” “Still—”

Shouko seemed to be bothered about me losing my Energy. I had been swarmed by the mob, hurt myself in trying to protect Tsugumi, and nearly lost my life when I was drawing the boss’ aggro. Even if I had voluntarily done all that, she must be feeling guilty about all of the damage I faced. But I knew. I knew Shouko had tirelessly used her counterattack skill to protect me. Still, the fan-type weapon needs to be charged so, of course, she couldn’t block 100% of Cerberus’ attacks. Nevertheless, it was touching to hear that she had been thinking of me the entire time.

“More importantly, the sea! I mean, I’d love to head back out onto the water, but with the little Energy I have left, I’ll just be dead weight.” “Nonsense. I will help you reach… no, rather, I wish to be by your side and reach beyond the horizon together.” “I couldn’t ask for anybody better. I knew that before, but seeing you out there today, I’m even more sure of it.”

I can’t forget how graceful of an acrobatic Shouko was when facing Cerberus. And frighteningly, she’s as skilled as Tsugumi. Even though her prowess suits the frontlines much better, knowing her and her personality, I’m sure she’ll choose to stay with me. But I know better than to outright ask her to return to the frontlines.

“It’s been a long day. Let’s head back to the First and get some rest.” “Oh, but…” “Hmm?”

Shouko pressed her index finger to her lips, cueing me to stay quiet. Then, she looked over at Cerberus’ corpse. I get it now… gutting, eh? I was going to tell Roz and his party about the power of gutting-type weapons, but I didn’t get the chance to do so. I definitely had a hard time keeping cool back there. I mean, it’s only natural to get mad when someone insults you and your friends, right?

We made our way over to where Cerberus fell and eyed the other players. Many of them were already teleporting out of the instance since the raid was finished. The thriftier ones were walking home while the frontliners didn’t even bat an eye when they used their Tomes of Returning. Some of the braver ones were even saying how they’re headed off for the next battle. There were still too many people around for me to start gutting—that is if I still wanted to keep this a secret.

“Shall we stay here for a while? It’d be a waste to not enjoy the scenery.” “… yeah, why not?”

The bed of flowers was simply fantastic—both in the sense that it was beautiful but also unrealistically so. It’s almost as if the devs put it in here for us players to relax after the raid. Well, Cerberus’ corpse lying there kinda spoils the view though.

“Miss Kizuna!” “Oh, hey, Yamikage. Good work back there.” “I thank ye, but I bear exciting news.” “Ooh, what is it?” “I am now the highest ranked Spirit!” “Number one in the Energy rankings, eh?”

It’s no surprise for someone who has accumulated a total of more than a million Energy. I bet Circle Drain contributed a lot to her growth too.

“Where’s Sheryl anyway?” “… I have been here the whole time.” “Agh! Don’t scare me like that.”

Sheryl suddenly spoke up from behind me. I had no idea she was with us. It’s almost like she concealed herself or something. Well, I’m probably unperceptive because I’m just too tired.

Near the end of the raid, Sheryl was still fighting the mob to not get in our way. It’s boring, but someone’s gotta do it. Or rather, it shows exactly how considerate and attentive Sheryl is. Like that time with the bird-type monster who tried to run from us. She’s always there to back us up and to take care of loose ends. Anyway, it looks like we’re all back together now.

“I don’t think I need to explain much, but let’s enjoy the garden here while we’re waiting to do that thing I always do.” “‘Tis a splendid idea!” “‘kay.” “Yes, let’s.”

I’ll be honest. I’ve never sat around in a park to enjoy the cherry blossoms or anything like that in real life. But perhaps I’m still feeling the adrenaline rush from the fight, this was a little exciting. … I mean, as exciting as looking as flowers can be.

“It’s a little boring to sit around with nothing. I’ll make sure I take up cooking next time, so we can have a picnic or something.” “Will it not be straining your Energy reserves, Miss Kizuna?” “You’re right, but it’s something I should learn sooner or later. It’ll be useful for our voyage on the seas.” “That would not be a bad idea. We bring some food on board, but if we run out, we can rely on cooking.” “Since we have Shouko and Yamikage as specced purely for combat and Sheryl for crafting. I guess that leaves me as the team’s cook.” “… only if you’re okay with it.” “It’ll synergize well with my weapon type too.”

I’ll catch and cook our meals. Now that I think about it, I don’t do much with the fish after I catch them. Why didn’t I take up cooking sooner? The more I think about it, the more sense it makes. Hmm? It sounds like someone’s running up to us. It was Tsugumi and Roz’s party.

“Big brooooo!”

She barreled towards me and squeezed me tightly in her arms. Maybe because I’m low on Energy, but I didn’t have the strength to pry her off of me.

“That was some amazing support there, Kizuna.” “You too, Roz. Almost all of you are ranked in the top 100, right?” “Ah, we were just lucky.” “You guys wanna join us? We were just about to celebrate our victory.”

Roz looked like he thought about it for a quick second. Well, I don’t blame him for being hesitant in front of total strangers.

“I hate to say no, but we’ve got to get going.” “You guys heading out for more grinding?” “Nah, but we’ve gotta figure out our equipment and skills.” “Frontliners sure have it rough. Well, good luck with that then.”

They’re throwing themselves back out onto the battlefield right after a huge raid battle. Honestly, I’m ready to pass out already. Frontliners are just so impressive. Well, I mean, I’ve been in their position before too. I know just how addictive games can be. Roz didn’t look like he was here just to say hi.

“Anyways, I was hoping to talk to the girl with the fan.” “Yes? What is it?”

Shouko looked at him with suspicion. He’s gonna ask her to join their party, I bet. Well, after seeing Shouko perform like that during the raid, everybody should be begging her to join their parties.

“I was wondering if you’d like to join—” “No, thank you.”

She cut Roz off before he could even finish his sentence. Yamikage and Sheryl looked like they wanted to say something but judging by how quickly she rejected him, I don’t think anyone could change Shouko’s mind. It was a bit of a shock, frankly speaking. I wouldn’t have expected her to flatly reject him like that, given how considerate Shouko is. She was quick to understand what he wanted as well. But even for being such an upright and proper lady, Shouko has her brash moments too, I guess. To refuse him like that is not unimaginable. Rosette seemed a little taken aback as well.

“But with your skill, you’d be perfect for the frontlines.” “I will follow Kizuna no matter what.”

… I’ve knew from the get-go that Shouko is like that, but still, that’s super embarrassing for me. I can still remember how politely she bowed to me when we first met.

“I see… sorry for trying to poach your party member like that, Kizuna.” “No worries. That’s just how Shouko is.” “Yeah, I can tell… those bastards have no idea what they’re missing out on.”

I’m guessing he’s referring to Shouko’s previous party members. It’s easy to judge us Spirits by the rumors that surround us. A lot of people fall into a bad habit of blindly listening to whatever strategy sites or wiki pages instead of seeing it for themselves. It really is a shame for them. I’ve really hit it off with Shouko. Not only is she a great person, she’s real skilled at combat too.

“Alrighty, then we’ll be heading off.” “Gotcha. I can’t wait to fight alongside you guys again.”

Roz and his party waved goodbye before teleporting away. But my sister, Tsugumi, is still clung onto me like a koala.

“Listen…” “What’s good, bro?” “Your party’s gone already, y’know?”

Tsugumi looked over her shoulder to see no traces of her teammates anywhere. Then, she shook her head and looked at me.

“What’s up?” “… big bro, are you guys going to sit here and chill for a bit?” “That’s what we’re planning to do. What about it?” “…”

For some reason, Tsugumi was staring straight into my eyes. She only looks like this when she’s really concentrating at her games. She must be thinking long and hard about something. No one—not even Kanata—can break her concentration. It’s like Tsugumi gets into some sort of a trance. Shouko gets into a hyper-aware state like this sometimes too. But Tsugumi? She only gets like this when she’s doing something she likes… that is to say when only when she’s gaming. And seemingly as if she’s figured it all out, she beamed with a smile.

“Alright! I’ve made up my mind! See ya, big bro!”

Then, she disappears after using a Tome of Returning. What was that all about?

“Anyway. Let’s go enjoy the flowers, shall we?”

We sat around chatting until everyone around us had left.

contents: /prologue/ /ch001/ /ch002/ /ch003/ /ch004/ /ch005/ /ch006/ /ch007/ /ch008/ /ch009/ /ch010/ /ch011/ /ch012/ /ch013/ /ch014/ /ch015/ /ch016/ /ch017/ /ch018/ /ch019/ /ch020/ /ch021/ /ch022/ /ch023/ /ch024/ /ch025/ /ch026/ /ch027/ /ch028/ /ch029/ /next/

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Secular Renaissance Music

The effect completely different genres of music can have in your thoughts, body, and neighborhood. Then there is promoting. Bossa nova - Portuguese for "new wave" - gained forex, in line with Brazilian music historian Ruy Castro, when it appeared in an advert for a 1958 multi-artist live performance put on by Grupo Universitário Hebraico do Brasil. World music was hashed out in 1987 at an business meeting. It was meant only for www.goodreads.com a quick advertising and marketing campaign to pump non-Anglophone musicians in retail spaces they may not in any other case fit into, solely to remain an acknowledged, if unwieldy, category. Radio formats generally impose themselves on the music. AOR is a US abbreviation for "album-oriented radio" (later "rock") coined in 1972 by Lee Abrams and Kent Burkhart's consultancy agency for the FM rock radio stations that may outline extremely-slick center-American rock: Styx, Boston , Aerosmith. In practise, it often translates to "definitively pre-punk".

Hip-hop emerged in the Nineteen Seventies and ‘80s in response to conservative government insurance policies that created a poverty disaster within the interior metropolis. Hip-Hop eliminated the melodic and harmonic elements of earlier musical types and targeted instead on rhythm and vocals to create a totally new musical fashion. Though it was a singular new musical type, Hip-Hop nonetheless had a strong hyperlink to the African oral custom with its fast wordplay, complicated rhyming, and storytelling strategies. Rappers used this new musical fashion to call attention to the internal-metropolis plight, criticize political figures, categorical ambitions, and promote themselves (Sullivan, 2001)." Like older musical styles, Hip-Hop served to present African Americans a voice in a tradition of oppression, in addition to to create cultural ties between individuals inside the African American community. In the highlands of Tibet, for centuries, it was commonplace for farmers to sing a particular type of track to their yaks. The melodies had been intended to coax the yaks to supply extra milk, praising the sheen of their coats and the great thing about their horns. The actual combination of tones was mentioned to have particular powers to chill out the yaks and get the milk flowing. As we speak, solely a handful of outdated-timers nonetheless remember these songs; youthful herders merely don't be taught the music, distracted by the pop songs coming in over the radio. And when the previous-timers die, more than likely the songs will die as effectively.

Setting a different precedent, Friedrich Nietzsche's views on music are a byproduct of his basic philosophy of tradition. Nietzsche initially defends the prevalence of certain strains of European classical music. He praises composers whose irrational genius provides the Dionysian energy wanted to correct the rational excesses of European tradition. Nietzsche finally reverses himself. In an extended assault on Richard Wagner's operas, he rejects the continuing worth of the great" fashion that characterizes artwork music. In what quantities to a reversal of Kantian aesthetic priorities, Nietzsche praises Georges Bizet's broadly in style opera Carmen (1875) for its triviality and simplicity (see Sweeney-Turner). Nevertheless, most philosophers ignore Nietzsche's protection of sunshine" music. Usually, many people imagine musical preferences reflect characteristics such as age , character , and values A 2003 study published in the Journal of Persona and Social Psychology discovered people who find themselves open to new experiences tend to favor music from the blues, jazz, classical, and folks genres. Those who are extraverted and agreeable" are inclined to prefer music akin to pop, soundtrack, spiritual, soul, funk, digital, and www.audio-transcoder.com dance. While these studies prove personality does affect musical tastes, Rentfrow and his colleagues on the University of Cambridge within the UK are curious as to whether there are other psychological mechanisms that come into play with regards to musical desire. When information or an expertise includes a range of senses, it is firing off a variety of electrical and chemical brain triggers. The extra triggers fired, the stronger the quick notion is, and the more seemingly the knowledge or expertise will transfer from our sensory notion into our quick-term reminiscence. That is one cause why it is easier to remember the lyrics of a track than to recite a poem. And it is why we do better remembering music lyrics if we hear the music playing - even if just in our heads. Our mind is retrieving a wide range of sensory cues. There are many different types of jazz dance, every with its own traits and influences. On the whole though, jazz dance has at all times been associated with fashionable tradition and it has changed over time in parallel with the music and kinds of standard leisure. Presently, many alternative types coexist, as well as various degrees of fusion with other genres. Some important figures in the historical past of jazz dance are Katherine Dunham, who reinforced the connection between jazz dance and its African origins; Bob Fosse extremely influential determine within the growth of dance in films, and Matt Mattox , who developed his own technique based on ballet training. The L.A. beat scene never really gets sufficient shine for its affect on future bass — however scan the playlists of most future bass DJs and also you're more likely to discover more than a few tracks from Brainfeeder, New Los Angeles, WeDidIt and different Low Finish Idea-affiliated imprints. Among the artists on these labels, the one whose music provides the clearest hyperlink between the beat scene and future bass is WeDidIt's RL Grime, who found his own again door More suggestions into the scene by juxtaposing pretty, almost ethereal melodies and pitch-shifted vocals with hard-hitting, trap-influenced beats as far back as 2011, when he was known as Clockwork. At the moment, impeccably produced, anthemic tracks like his recent "Reims" point the best way toward future bass's, um, future. XXXTentacion​, 20 YouTube subscribers: 10.6 million ​ SoundCloud followers: 2.6 million Instagram followers: 14.3 million Launched his first tune on SoundCloud in 2013 after spending time in a Florida youth correction centre. Called rap's most controversial man" by Spin magazine, he was recognized for his downbeat lyrics and quite a few brushes with the regulation and feuds with other artists, together with Drake. After being murdered in a theft on June 18, 2018, his single Unhappy! went to primary on the Billboard Sizzling 100. Rolling Stone journal mentioned he left behind a huge music footprint".

However the recipe to your Discover Weekly playlist is much more sophisticated than that. Spotify also creates a profile of each user's individualized style in music, grouped into clusters of artists and micro-genres—not simply rock" and rap" but wonderful-grained distinctions like synthpop" and southern soul." These are derived utilizing know-how from Echo Nest, a music analytics agency that Spotify acquired in 2014, which learns about rising genres by having machines learn music sites and analyze how varied artists are described.

Jungian Theory & American Politics

We’re living through a crisis in our democracy. There’s a lot of upset, and we are needed. We are needed to be people who can endure this time, and we are needed to be people who can transform this time. And that transformation doesn’t come about by denying that there is upset happening. There’s a difference between transcendence and denial.~ Marianne Williamson, June 27, 2018

So far, the twenty-first century has been tumultuous for the United States in ways that many could not fathom even just a few years prior to it. In a quick succession of challenges, each more daunting than the one before, Americans faced uncertainty at the turn of this century. On its very eve, many were preoccupied with concerns of Y2K. Soon after the new year dawned without such disaster striking, the results of a presidential election came down to a verdict by the United States Supreme Court; something no twenty-first century American had ever before personally experienced. And of course, less than a year after that president took the oath of office, there was the unprecedented attack by terrorists on U.S. soil. This event left a deep mark on the soul of the nation, creating a demarcation within the psyche of society and leading us forward into a war on terrorism that is yet without end. As is expected in times of war, safety is compromised in mind and body creating fearful thinking, a sense of lack, and a need for protection.

In addition to soldiers, time has marched onwards, as have our daily lives. Such living now includes technology that has fundamentally shifted the way in which we produce, share, and interpret information. Never before has there been such ease in communication over vast geographical distances. The rise of social media has provided many ways of “staying connected” and engaged with others. Engaging more frequently over a wider variety of topics than ever before, we are currently dealing with the paradoxical results of unification and division of such engagement. During the most recent presidential election campaign, foreign enemies intentionally used social media to further such division among Americans. Enemies both foreign and domestic continue grow division, with great ease, in a society in which social media rules its foreground while it holds perpetual war in its background. These days, it seems most on social media have become soldiers in a political war of words while simultaneously begging for peace. Is it any wonder then why so many feel so much despair, even as their personal lives may hold many blessings?

Though times may be dark, all is not lost. Calling upon Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung as a trusted guide, it is possible to see such darkness as an instrument of healing, transformation, and enlightenment. Jung’s theory of personality provides a useful map in leading the individual and society away from a dichotomy of either/or thinking and into more expanded possibilities of “both and” in terms of personal growth and the greater good. Introspection that includes the examination of the archetype of the shadow provides opportunities to take personal responsibility individually and collectively for the sake of personal and political well-being.

The Human Psyche

Jung describes the human psyche, or mental functioning, as consisting of different levels of awareness (Vaughn, 2013). Jung envisions three levels of personality in such a way that first separates consciousness,or one’s field of awareness, from that of the unconscious using a line of division known as the “threshold of consciousness” (March 2018). The unconscious, or psychological functioning of which one is not aware, is further distinguished by Jung in the aspects of the personal and the collective. The personal unconscious is composed of elements from one’s individual experience while the collective unconscious is composed of elements which are believed to be inherited and shared by all humans (Jan. 2016).

Archetypes: Inherited Patterns

Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious derives from his work among the Pueblo Indian tribes residing in Arizona and New Mexico as well as among tribes that inhabited the islands of Oceania and inhabitants of Africa and Asia Oceania (Adamski, 2011). The collective unconscious is seen as the instincts (biologically conditioned response patterns) and archetypes (symbols, images, and patterns of thinking and behavior) inherited from our ancestors. Adamski (2011) builds upon Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious through quantum psychology, “which recognizes that quantum processes occur in the biological system and they are capable of recording information about the life of the individual in its ontogeny, but also save life process in the generational dimension.” Borrowing from Popp and Beloussoy (2003), Adamski explains that physical evidence suggests that “living matter has a ‘quantum logic’ which enables the optimal use of ‘information’ from the environment to its own stability and to escape from chaos…Biological material grows rapidly in the electromagnetic field, wherein a result of field coupling and coherent states of matter created in the process of life is required. This means that biological matter creates a system that absorbs electromagnetic impulses, and stores and uses them to create permanent psychobiological structures” (2011).

While archetypes (universal patterns) reside within the collective unconscious, they structure consciousness and “hold potential for human experience mediated in interactions with the environment across cultures and the ages” (Vaughn, 2013). In her lecture on archetypal affects, Anita Green Ph. D. reminds us of Jung’s understanding of the body-psyche connection (2015). Jung believes that our conscious is formed by the content received from the four mental functionsof perception, thinking, feeling, and intuition. Perception tells us that something exists while thinking tells us “what” exists; feeling allows us to judge whether something is pleasant or unpleasant, and intuition is the perception of the possibilities contained within a given situation (Adamski, 2011).

Jung explains, “When one reflects upon what consciousness really is, one is profoundly impressed by the extreme wonder of the fact that an event which takes place outside in the cosmos simultaneously produces an internal image, that it takes place, so to speak, inside as well, which is to say: become conscious” (1961, p. 382). Jung also states, “For indeed our consciousness does not create itself – it wells up from unknown depths. In childhood it awakens gradually, and all through life it wakes each morning out of the depths of sleep from an unconscious condition. It is like a child that is born daily out of the primordial womb of the unconscious” (1968, p. 935).

Ego and Persona

The most commonly understood aspects of Jung’s personality theory within the mainstream are that of the ego and the persona. The mechanism of self-identity, or ego, can be seen as the center of one’s awareness. Vaughn (2013) describes ego as “the focal point of consciousness manifest in the cognitive-sensory functions. The ego mediates between subjective and objective realms of experience with a focus on decoding cultural symbols and adapting to acceptable norms of behavior.” Vaughn then explains persona as the packaging of the ego or its “public relations firm” and that for Jung, this is a role a person plays, and is responsible for advertising to people how one wants to be seen and received” (2013). Jung describes the persona as a compromise between the individual and society, that creates a two-dimensional reality; the persona is often referred to as a mask worn during interactions with others in society (January 2016). Though it is not uncommon for people to suffer from an inflation of the persona, problems arise when people over-identify with this social mask, which can become obstacles in the process that Jung called individuation (Feb. 2016). 

The Self and Individuation

According to Jung, “I use the term ‘individuation’ to denote the process by which a person becomes a psychological ‘individual,’ that is, a separate, indivisible unity or ‘whole’” (Jung, 1968, p. 275). In other words, individuation is the path to self-knowledge or self-realization that is essential for healthy functioning of the personality (Feb. 2016). According to Vaughn (2013), the self can be viewed as the main archetype among the various archetypes and is responsible for “implementing the blueprint of life through each stage of the life cycle and bringing about the best adjustment that individual circumstances will allow…The goal of the self is wholeness or individuation.” Vaughn also explains that while the ego is “privy to purely conscious preoccupations,” the self has “access to a much wider realm of existential experience” (2013).

Complexes and the Shadow

Despite frequent mainstream references, less understood aspects of Jung’s theory of personality among the general population are that of complexesand the archetype of the shadow. Within the personal unconscious, contents may come together to form a cluster of constellation that Jung refers to as a complex (Jan. 2016). Vaughn (2013) describes a complex as a “group of associated ideas bound together by a shared emotional charge or feeling toned response,” and explains that complexes are “the means through which archetypes manifest themselves in personal psyche, the collective group psyche, and cultural environments.” Borrowing from Stevens (1991), Vaughn states that a complex exerts “a dynamic effect on conscious experience and on behavior” and also notes a “close functional relationship exists between archetypes and complexes, in that complexes are personifications of archetypes” (2013). While a strong complex is easily noticed by others, “the person himself may not be aware of it” since the root of such complexes reside in a deep level of the psyche within the collective unconsciousness. Therefore, complexes can be seen as “subpersonalities” which have potential to “exert powerful control over one’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviors” (March 2018).  

The mental function of feeling is an essential aspect in the formation of such complexes as well as other parts of the personal unconscious, since it is by way of the emotionally charged pieces of our personal history that elements of personal unconscious are formed. These aspects of our personal history unconsciously impact our perception and thinking in many areas until they are brought into awareness and integrated. Green (2015) refers her audience to the words of Daniel Stern (n.d.) as a reminder that “emotion serves as the central organizing process within the brain.” One cannot directly view the unconscious. The only way to see the unconscious is to see its aspects reflected in someone or something else (Feb. 2016). As we encounter such reflections, Green notes the importance of the body-psyche connection in that we will feel sensations in the body that point to emotionally charged pieces of our history stored within the unconscious (2015). Tuning into such physical sensations and emotional charges with curiosity allows opportunities to explore one’s personal unconscious when encountering its reflections.

For a firmer grasp of the personal unconscious archetype of the shadow, it may be helpful to see the ego functioning as a gatekeeper. As such, the ego determines which contents are brought into the awareness and which contents are repressed or ignored, thereby relegated to the unconscious realm of the shadow. The function of the shadow is to represent “qualities opposite to those manifested in the persona;” these two aspects of personality “complement and counterbalance each other” (Vaughn, 2013). Although this aspect of the psyche is unconscious, as Vaughn states, it “remains dynamically active” because it carries the rejected aspects of the ego, and “for the ego to own its contents is painful, if not terrifying” (2013). 

Since the shadow contains those emotions, qualities, and impulses denied by the ego of self-identify, it is often viewed by the mainstream as simply the negative aspects of self. However, the shadow compensates for the “pretension of the persona” just as the persona “compensates for the antisocial propensities of the shadow” (Vaughn, 2013). Additionally, during one’s formative years, the ego may have actually rejected the incorporation of qualities that could actually be viewed as positive. For example, if one’s family or culture operated in ways that did not include any discussion of emotion, that quality may then be repressed by the ego and relegated to one’s shadow. While the ability to discuss emotions could be seen by others as a positive and even healthy quality, in such a case, this positive quality would be contained within one’s shadow rather than integrated as part of the ego. Therefore, the shadow contains qualities that many would deem as “positive” as well as “negative” ones.

Hidden Treasure

Because the shadow contains positive qualities and acts as a counterbalance to the two-dimensional social mask of the persona, it could be considered in less negative and more neutral ways by the general population. In fact, it may be healthier and more effective in the individuation process for one to see the shadow in more neutral terms. While it may be more of a challenge to appreciate the shadow for the resources it provides, it would most likely serve us well to keep in mind that, as Jung put it, “your shadow contains gold” (March, 2018). 

For the majority of people to continue to view the shadow in simply negative terms is limiting in that it creates an even deeper aversion of the shadow. Aversion creates feelings of disgust and contempt, which are counterproductive to individuation when faced with reflections of one’s own shadow. These reflections are most often delivered to us in our dreams and through our projection of these qualities onto others. The greater the number of individuals engaging with the shadow in such negative ways, the greater amount of disgust and contempt are generated in personal exchanges.

Holding Others in Contempt

Even the most cursory examination of today’s media demonstrates how prolific such contempt for “the other” is expressed within our public sphere. During a recent forum, American Enterprise Institute president Arthur Brooks states, “We don’t have an anger problem in American politics, we have a contempt problem in American politics.”  Supporting his claim using a definition of contempt by social psychologists as “the utter conviction of the worthlessness of another human being,” Brooks also shares insight provided to him by the Dalai Lama as to a remedy for contempt:  the practice of ‘warm-heartedness’ (2017).

In recounting two recent examples of political commentary created by people to whom she is connected on social media, Hess (2018) states “I begin with a fairly large assumption that…(a) supermajority of persons in the United States is suffering from a perceptual malady: we do not know what we do not know, besieged in our quests for certainty. We seem to be less and less able to perceive others accurately, in our multimedia-driven fear and habits of blame. We struggle to allow anyone’s suffering to be legitimate in its own terms, held with compassion. “Shadowdancing” is a three-dimensional key to this malady that…invites a vulnerability to what many call shadow– or our greatest hidden potentials/passions and our greatest fears/sacred wounds…shadowdancing leans into a natural perceptual process called projection….But we can learn to reverse this outward process and withdraw our attention back to the sensation of fear and its refusal in our own sub- or unconscious. Shadow and projection name the dynamic two-dimensional movement human beings have made toward deeper understanding for ages. A third dimension can hold them in a transformative way.” Hess offers readers an invitation to consider shadowdancing within a “container/contained ecology” as a way to enter vulnerability and withdraw projections “back into the Self toward wholeness, connection, and transformation” (2018).

Ignoring Complications and the Ugly Bits

In a recent TEDTalk, historian Yuval Noah Harari discusses fascism as well as what he sees as the greatest danger to liberal democracy. Harari notes how our different identities and loyalties create internal conflicts and complications, and explains, “Fascism is what happens when people try to ignore the complications and to make life too easy for themselves. Fascism denies all identities except the national identity” insisting that the individual has obligations only to the nation. “Fascism makes people see themselves as belonging to the most beautiful and most important thing in the world -- the nation. And then people think, ‘Well, they taught us that fascism is ugly. But when I look in the mirror, I see something very beautiful, so I can't be a fascist, right?’ Wrong. That's the problem with fascism. When you look in the fascist mirror, you see yourself as far more beautiful than you really are” (2018).

Know Thyself, Heal Thyself

To prevent a twenty-first century rise of fascism, Harari advises us not to allow ourselves to be manipulated by those who control the data. He explains that the enemies of liberal democracy have a method in doing so. “They hack our feelings – they hack our feelings of fear and hate and vanity, and then use these feelings to polarize and destroy democracy from within...but they cannot create these feelings out of nothing. So they get to know our own preexisting weaknesses. And then use them against us. And it is therefore the responsibility of all of us to get to know our weaknesses and make sure that they do not become a weapon in the hands of the enemies of democracy” (2018). Getting to know our individual and collective shadow allows us to integrate and transmute the qualities held within these shadows.

The Antidote: Compassion, Integration, and Transmutation

Application of Jung’s theory of personality along with practices such as shadowdancing and warm-heartedness offer us an antidote to the epidemic of contempt we’re currently experiencing in American politics and everyday conversations. Such practices allow us to hold ourselves and others in ways that allow us to raise the level of conversations beyond the limited dichotomy of “either/or” and into greater possibilities of “both and.” The greater the number of individuals taking personal responsibility in their own psycho-spiritual growth and individuation process, the greater it will benefit society as a whole. Through the effective use of Jung’s map, we can become miners of the gold contained within our shadows and enjoy the wealth it provides us individually as well as collectively as we march onwards within and beyond the twenty-first century.

References

Academy of Ideas (2016, January 09). Introduction to Carl Jung - The Psyche, Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Retrieved fromhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0KzUS0b_uc

Academy of Ideas (2016, February 13). Introduction to Carl Jung - Individuation, the Persona, the Shadow, and the Self. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhAeXyVDDTc

Adamski, A. G. (2011). Archetypes and Collective Unconscious Compared to Development Quantum Psychology. NeuroQuantology, 9(3). doi:10.14704/nq.2011.9.3.413

Brooks, Arthur (2017, May 6). American Enterprise Institute Forum. Harvard Kennedy School.Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/harvardkennedyschool/videos/the-real-problem-with-american/10154251688431403/

Green, A. Ph.D. (2015, March 01). Lecture Archetypal Affects: Shame / Contempt. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXp9k8pLzgk

Harari, Y. (2018, April). Why fascism is so tempting -- and how your data could power it. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/yuval_noah_harari_why_fascism_is_so_tempting_and_how_your_data_could_power_it

Hess, L. M. (2018). Shadowdancing: Fear as a pathway to transformation. Review & Expositor,115(1), 76-86. doi:10.1177/0034637317752935

Jung, C.G. (1961). Memories, dreams, reflections.New York, NY: Pantheon Books

Jung, C.G. (1968). The archetypes of the collective unconscious. (R.F.C. Hull, Trans.) In The collected works of C.G. Jung.(Vol. 9, Part 1, 2nded.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Jungian Psychology, The Self Archetype. (2018, March 18). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV0AEbACPrM

Vaughan, A. G. (2013). Jung, Analytical Psychology, and Transpersonal Psychology. The Wiley-

Blackwell Handbook of Transpersonal Psychology, 141-154. doi:10.1002/9781118591277.ch7

What is Nasa's giant SLS rocket?

SLS leaves the launchpad

Nasa has been creating an enormous rocket referred to as the House Launch System (SLS) to launch astronauts to the Moon – and ultimately Mars. Set to make its debut in November 2021, the SLS is essentially the most highly effective launch car constructed because the 1960s.

Nasa has plans to ship a person and lady to the lunar floor by 2024, within the first touchdown with people since Apollo 17 in 1972.

Within the final 20 years, astronauts have been making routine journeys to and from the Worldwide House Station (ISS).

However the Moon is sort of 1,000 instances additional than the ISS; getting astronauts there requires a monster rocket.

The SLS is the trendy equal of the Saturn V, the massive launcher constructed in the course of the Apollo period. Just like the Saturn, it’s break up into segments, or phases, stacked on high of one another. However the rocket additionally incorporates know-how from the area shuttle.

The primary model of the SLS might be referred to as Block 1. It can endure a collection of upgrades in coming years in order that it could possibly launch heavier payloads to locations past low-Earth orbit.

The Block 1 SLS will tower 23 storeys above the launch pad – making it taller than the Statue of Liberty.

“It’s really an immense rocket. It’s simply jaw-droppingly massive,” mentioned John Shannon, vp and program supervisor for the SLS at Boeing, the rocket’s prime contractor. He instructed BBC Information in 2019: “Once you see the SLS put collectively, you simply have not seen something prefer it because the Saturn V.”

The rocket will launch astronauts in Nasa’s next-generation crew car – Orion, boosting it to the speeds essential to interrupt out of low-Earth orbit and journey onwards to the Moon.

SLS graphic

How the rocket works

The SLS consists of a large core stage flanked by two strong rocket boosters (SRBs). The core homes two giant storage tanks: one for liquid hydrogen, the gasoline, and one other for liquid oxygen, an “oxidiser”, which makes the gasoline burn.

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Collectively, these are often called propellants.

On the base of the core stage are 4 RS-25 engines, the identical ones that powered the spaceplane-like shuttle orbiter, retired in 2011.

Employees inside the massive SLS hydrogen tank use a method referred to as friction stir welding to plug holes

When liquid hydrogen and oxygen are fed into the engine chambers and ignited with a spark, the chemical response produces huge quantities of vitality and steam.

The steam exits engine nozzles at speeds of 16,000 km/h (10,000 mph) to generate thrust – the power that propels a rocket by way of the air.

The SRBs give the rocket additional energy to flee gravity’s clutches. These twin boosters stand greater than 17 storeys tall and burn six tonnes of strong propellant every second. They supply 75% of whole thrust in the course of the first two minutes of flight.

Probably the most highly effective rocket ever?

If we use thrust as a measure, the SLS would be the strongest rocket ever when it flies to area in 2021. The Block 1 SLS will generate 8.Eight million kilos (39.1 Meganewtons) of thrust at launch, 15% greater than the Saturn V.

Within the 1960s, the Soviet Union constructed a rocket referred to as the N1, in a bid to succeed in the Moon. Its first stage may produce 10.2 million kilos (45.four Meganewtons) of thrust. However all 4 check flights led to failure.

A future model of the SLS – referred to as Block 2 cargo – ought to strategy the N1’s thrust ranges. However a car referred to as Starship, being developed by Elon Musk’s firm SpaceX, ought to exceed each – producing as a lot as 15 million kilos (66.7 Meganewtons) of thrust. Starship is presently underneath growth, though there isn’t any agency date for its first flight.

The SLS in numbers

The rocket will stand 98m (322ft) tall in its preliminary, or Block 1, configuration

The Block 1 SLS can ship greater than 27 tonnes (59,500 kilos) to lunar orbits – the equal of 11 giant sports activities utility autos (SUVs)

A future model of the SLS, referred to as Block 2 Cargo, will launch 46 tonnes (101,400 kilos) to the Moon. That is 18 giant SUVs.

The SLS will produce 8.Eight million kilos (39.1 Meganewtons) of thrust in its Block 1 configuration

4 RS-25 engines sit on the base of the core stage; they’re the identical ones used within the area shuttle

How shuttle know-how was re-used

The SLS core stage relies on the area shuttle’s foam-covered exterior tank. This tank fed propellant to a few RS-25 engines on the rear of the shuttle orbiter. The strong rocket boosters play a lot the identical function in each autos.

However the SLS is a really completely different beast. A variety of elements and constructions derived from the shuttle underwent vital design modifications due to the completely different ranges of stress positioned on them by the SLS.

For instance of those completely different stresses, within the area shuttle, the RS-25 engines have been canted up and away from the strong rocket boosters. Shifting them subsequent to the SRBs exposes them to extra shaking. Because of this, each system within the advanced SLS engine part needed to be rigorously examined to make sure it may stand up to the vibrations.

Why the SLS was constructed

In February 2010, the Obama administration cancelled Constellation – George W Bush’s plan to return to the Moon by 2020. The information got here as a devastating blow to staff in 5 southern states – Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas – the place Nasa’s human spaceflight programme funded tens of hundreds of jobs.

Some legislators in Congress have been livid. Richard Shelby, a republican senator from Alabama, mentioned Congress wouldn’t “sit again and watch the reckless abandonment of sound rules, a confirmed observe report, a gradual path to success, and the destruction of our human spaceflight programme”.

As a compromise, lawmakers from affected states insisted on a single tremendous heavy-lift rocket to interchange the Constellation launchers cancelled by President Obama.

The SLS design, which was primarily based on Nasa technical research, was unveiled in 2011. After work began, delays and value overruns gave ammunition to critics, who thought Nasa ought to depend on rockets operated by industrial suppliers.

A current oversight report says Nasa may have spent greater than $17bn on the SLS by the top of the 2020 fiscal 12 months.

However with the rocket’s growth part now over, success in a collection of eight “Inexperienced Run” assessments being carried out on the core stage ought to clear the best way for launch in 2021.

Are there alternate options?

Critics of the SLS argue that Nasa may launch to the Moon on industrial rockets as an alternative. However with out vital modifications, none of those boosters has enough energy to ship Orion and astronauts to lunar orbits in a single go. Solely the SLS has this functionality.

At one stage, SLS delays compelled Nasa to contemplate launching the primary Artemis mission on a industrial booster, after which getting it to dock in Earth orbit with a rocket stage despatched up individually. This rocket stage would have contained enough propellant to lob Orion to the Moon.

The area company ultimately determined in opposition to the concept. Nasa administrator Jim Bridenstine mentioned launching two rockets to get Orion to the Moon was “not optimum or sustainable”. He added that docking autos in Earth orbit “provides complexity and threat that’s undesirable”.

John Shannon, who has been in command of the SLS at Boeing since 2015, defined: “I think that after SLS is within the nationwide functionality there will not be a necessity for an additional heavy-lift car prefer it for a few years. So that is actually a once-in-a-generation alternative.”

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from Growth News https://growthnews.in/what-is-nasas-giant-sls-rocket/ via https://growthnews.in

The Exorcist Season 2 Review

I came into Season 2 wary of the show’s direction—in Season 1, I loved the Rance family plotline but found the papal conspiracy boring—so I was glad the show shifted focus almost completely to the “possession of the season.” Not only is a family in peril easier for me to relate to and invest in, but the conspiracy element has never felt very “Exorcist” to me and I’m glad it all but disappeared by the end of the season (even if the homage to Exorcist III’s famous hospital hallway scene was well done). In Season 2, a family was once again under siege by a demon and only Fathers Ortega (Alfonso Herrera) and Keane (Ben Daniels) could help them. This time, the family consisted of Andy Kim (John Cho) and the several foster children under his care (Brianna Hildebrand, Cyrus Arnold, Hunter Dillon, Alex Barmia, Amelie Eve, and eventually Beatrice Kitsos). I liked that the kids’ diversities—be they blindness, homosexuality, developmental issues, etc.—were utilized for characterization, but those were never the kids’ sole defining characteristics. I really hope fans didn’t take issue with the kids, Andy, and Rose (Li Jun Li) all representing some facet of diversity; this is what the world looks like and I’m glad the show fully embraced it. It’s also cool that a foster home run by a single dad was treated as just as viable a family as a traditional nuclear family.

Full spoilers…

I liked what all the kids brought to the family, particularly when their differences collided with each other, like Shelby’s religious beliefs and Verity’s torture at the hands of “pray out the gay” conditioning. However, it did seem like there might’ve been one too many children to fully dig into in terms of screentime. It felt like they all had solid, distinct personalities; they just didn’t have much to do. Early on it seemed like Caleb might have a bigger role to play, but outside of his initial adventure on the old well and a few moments of his blindness being used to create tension when he couldn’t see the possessed Andy, it felt like his story was a little thinner than it could’ve been. Ditto for Truck, who was sent away midway through the season. I definitely expected Shelby to become something of a junior exorcist when Marcus and Tomas arrived at the Kim household, but not doing so didn’t feel unfinished (particularly when you take into account what we learned of Marcus’ past with eager exorcists). I liked that he was identifying the unholy signs early on, though, and perhaps they could’ve nodded at him wanting to become an exorcist one day in the future. Harper didn’t get much time at the Kim house before things went crazy, but I did like that we got to see how the family adjusted to a new kid through her introduction. Verity got the most mileage out of the writing and Hildebrand crafted a compelling teen who didn’t always get along with her new family, but clearly loved them despite the front she sometimes put up. Going back for a book Andy had given her was a touching moment and I was happy she was the one to stick by Andy longest. I totally fell for the trick that “agoraphobic” Grace wasn’t real, though her “brave face”—the creepiest pillow case-turned-mask ever—should’ve been a major clue.

John Cho brilliantly balanced Andy’s grief over his wife Nicole’s (Alicia Witt) suicide, guilt for not seeing the signs of her depression, care for the kids, affection for Rose, and the demonic side that overtook him as the series progressed. I loved the layers of hallucinations the demon inflicted on him as it attempted to bond with him permanently by enticing him with a “fairy tale” life with his wife. Witt did a great job playing both the caring and troubled Nicole and the maliciously tempting demon trying to entrap him. I’m a fan of puns, so “the kids are in the garden” was a particularly fun bit of dark and ominous humor from her. The battle for Andy’s soul was intense and I liked that Andy had moments of lucidity where he was able to keep the demon from harming Verity, despite the demon’s attempts to convince him the kids distracted him from seeing Nicole’s depression and that Verity might’ve had a hand in driving Nicole to suicide by mocking her issues. Andy’s final act—keeping the demon tethered to his soul so it couldn’t possess anyone else, even if killing it meant dying with it—was tragically perfect. I wanted him to survive, but Verity was right: once he started killing people, no one would believe him. It wouldn’t have been much of a life for him to be arrested for murders he didn’t commit, but maybe he could’ve gone on the run with the priests or something. As things turned out, Andy’s sacrifice worked on an emotional level and the final battle with the demon was tense, touching, and scary in all the right ways; Andy’s goodbye to his kids almost made me cry. I liked that the kids got to start a new family with Rose, who Li Jun Li had made into a solid, supportive, and strong presence the entire season. I also liked that Rose was so open to inviting exorcists into the home to examine Andy; usually there’s a lot more skepticism to break through before the people around the possessed open themselves up to that possibility.

The tests of Tomas’ resolve when it came to saving Andy this season worked very well. I had a hard time knowing when he was in reality and when he wasn’t, making for some great twists and putting me in his confused mindset perfectly, particularly when the demon turned the exorcism around on Tomas. The demon dangling a vision of Tomas as a bishop was great, especially when it included Casey Rance (Hannah Kasulka) to try and guilt him for leaving his parishioners in Chicago to become an exorcist. I was a little surprised they didn’t have the demon play up Tomas’ temptation to stray from the strict celibacy commanded by the church, as we saw in Season 1, but I suppose we’ve already seen that and Tomas has grown. His apology on behalf of the church officials who tried to force Verity to be straight was a great moment and a nice recognition that not everyone in the church—even priests—is opposed to homosexuality. It was good getting to know Ben Marcus’ past more this year. Both his tragic family history and his past with Mouse (Zuleikha Robinson) worked well to illuminate him. I was surprised he left Mouse behind after her possession and I liked that his inaction then was juxtaposed with his resolution to stay and kill the demon possessing Andy in the present. Not wanting to repeat that mistake has probably driven much of his dedication to exorcising demons, even after falling from grace within the church. Marcus’ father killing his mother was also a clever tie to the island’s history of parents killing their families. Finding a bit of romance with Peter (Christopher Cousins) rather than continuing to drown in sadness was another nice touch. I wonder if Marcus actually did get a message from God at the end. If so—and if they can do something different than what Supernatural and Constantine have done—bringing in angels and God could be an interesting, fresh spin on The Exorcist mythos. Mouse joining Tomas as his new partner should make for a cool change in the exorcist dynamic, given she’s much quicker to jump to killing whoever needs to be killed as long as the demons are vanquished. That should play off Tomas’ relative pacifistic nature very well, unless he’s been changed by the experience with Andy. Mouse having been possessed herself and Tomas’ mental link with the demon here—opening him up to being possessed as well—should also give them a unique background to bond over. Since Tomas’ true desire was to see the demon die moreso than an eventual shot at the papacy, I wonder if Mouse will propel him along a more violent path or if she’ll recognize her own past eagerness to be an exorcist in him and council him against it. Either way, the two of them are going to have some very interesting discussions about a lot of things, including being mentored by Ben! And if Marcus has a new directive that’s different from anything we’ve seen from exorcists or the church, it should throw the three of them into an even more interesting dynamic. What if he shows up saying that demons possessing people is somehow part of God’s plan and they should stop exorcising demons altogether?

I really enjoyed the evil history of the island and the season’s shift to a self-contained demon after revisiting Captain Howdy (Robert Emmet Lunney) and Reagan MacNeil (Geena Davis) in Season 1 proved the series doesn’t need to rely on direct connections to The Exorcist to create compelling monsters. The demon forcing multiple parents to kill their children was scary, particularly played against a found family like this one, where the foster kids depended on Andy to keep them together. The series once again found a polished yet creepy aesthetic that didn’t avoid gore, but also never reveled in it. That worked very well to set the tone and setting things on a remote island gave the season a totally different feel than Season 1’s Chicago. Making everything more remote worked to establish classic horror tropes, but the season never felt derivative. If the show gets another season, I wonder where they’ll take it to create an entirely different feel this fall.

Like last season, I'm content with where the story ended with the priests and the Kim family, so if they end up not getting a third season, I would accept it. I like that it's mostly contained each year; focusing on a single family in danger makes for smart insurance against cancellation. It would be a shame to lose characters like Tomas, Marcus, and Mouse, though. Even if I’m not a fan of the papal conspiracy, seeing them grow with each new case and the threat of each new demon makes for a strong series arc for them. A message from God does seem like it holds more promise than whatever the demons are planning with the papacy, so it would be a shame to see this always solid show end here.

Amazing Contemporary Society Restrictions Centered Surrounding Mobile Phones

Determine a new direction in friendships happening inside our society thanks partly to the huge usage of smart phones. So how are we transforming in our public connections with other people? If you want to take the best in our conduct we must start researching the modest alterations taking place each and every day. Although phones have already been innovative in assisting online social connections, they experienced detrimental effects offline. Face-to-face interactions have been split up and we are writing less real-life experiences, now more than ever. The location is the personal sensitive location we each inhabit, fashioned by our interactions with the environment around us. The significant overlap is a term used to describe the shared open area between a few individuals formed by their shared emotions. It really is these overlaps that type the basis of our interactions. The result smartphones have upon this overlap is clear. Our mobile phones essentially draw us out of our environment, resulting in less shared experiences during social connections and for that reason a smaller sized overlap. The structure of our social relationships are also changing. During on-line socializing, we are completely blind to the response and real-life feelings of your partner. In face-to-face relationships we use cosmetic expressions and various other non-verbal cues as reviews to help us understand more about the additional individuals internal monologue With out these physical cues, we should infer hints from just about any digital response we obtain. This may lead to misjudgment of others feelings and less shared experience as we have a smaller knowledge of the others very own experience. Phone use can also lead to long-lasting problems with offline human relationships. A brand-new research discovered that cell phone usage during an connection was frequently interpreted as a kind of rejection. Rejection can cause feelings of hurt, anger and resentment - decreasing self-esteem and mood. These feelings were related to lower relationship satisfaction and increased turmoil. Although cellphones can boost interaction, it really is evident they are interfering with this offline cultural interactions and decreasing the grade of our human relationships. Rejection within interpersonal interactions leads to lower self-esteem and signals of depression. Extreme cellphone usage during social interactions, therefore, could be destructive to your mental wellbeing by lowering the grade of associations. Not merely are cellphones affecting our relationships, the constant using these devices is causing identification problems. Modern smart phones possess loads of applications available to users with app use creating 81% of cellular time. Study conducted on social media marketing usage found that 65% of your time spent on social media is via phone applications. This implies that mobile phones are facilitating the usage of social media applications, which can be damaging to our social identities. Excessive social media usage is normally causing people to derive their self-worth using their social media following and likes. In todays world, people correlate a minimal social media pursuing and less loves with that person being relatively boring and unpopular. This way of thinking puts pressure on people to maintain an internet social media presence by remaining active on the phone and spending excessive time on social media marketing, a vicious cycle. The unlucky thing about the existing climate is usually that those who do not make use of their phone as much are being appeared down upon. Thoughts of belonging is a strong and expected facet of human being nature. Relating to social identity theory, we normally seek belonging within groups. People are progressively equating a minimal social media following with a lack of belonging, causing them to feel disconnected.

A problem arises when folks are consumed by their social media marketing activity but usually do not receive the identification or appreciation that they expect. Another issue presents itself when those individuals cannot gain access to their social media marketing platforms. For instance, a video of a social media marketing influencer not long ago went viral just after her Instagram account was terminated. This member, who boasted over 100,000 fans, claimed that she is nothing without her pursuing and that it experienced like murder when her account was shut off. A Moderate post explored how mobile phones are taking advantage of an evolutionary dependence on acceptance. The author shows that smart phones contain various variable prize schedules, such as for example messages and social media likes that constantly draw us in. We are steadily seeking rewards from our smartphones, in the form of social media attention. A brand-new research supported the idea that excessive social media use can lead to emotional and mental medical issues. Self-conflict theory may describe this effect. Our online presence is supposed to be always a representation of our real self. Nevertheless, given the fact that we mostly display only our positive characteristics online, our profiles are actually an improved representation of our ideal self. Therefore, those that tend to promote themselves more positively through their social networking channels may merely be displaying their high levels of self-discrepancy. So presently there you have it. Regular cellphone use may damage our relationships and cause us to feel as though we dont belong - triggering feelings of low self-esteem and despair. They also facilitate excessive social media use, which can often result in discrepancies between our ideal and real self. These feelings also result in a lower self-esteem, feeling and opinion of ourselves and in addition increasing our likelihood of feeling depressed. This blog post isn't an attack on smartphones, as I am among the many who are guilty of the excessive usage of my mobile phone. Consider this a warning of the problems of excessive smartphone use. In future, when you are conversing with somebody in person, place the smart phone down! In spite of what is usually on your display can wait. We must treasure our face-to-face interactions and be pleased with who we are actually rather than seeking acceptance through the over-use of our mobile phones. As I mentioned before, I do not want this post to be considered an attack on smartphones. Digital society has simply educated me about the prevalence of technology within our everyday lives. Not merely regarding smartphones, but especially learning about the web of Issues and Smart Metropolitan areas, I now have a better knowledge of the direction where the globe is headed. It really is quite obvious to see, we are destined towards another whereby technology is used in nearly every aspect of lifestyle, from self-service checkouts to driverless vehicles. Whilst these technological innovations are resolving everyday problems for all of us and producing existence more convenient, I wish to know how the use of technology is affecting the way we work as individuals in culture. As a Mindset student, becoming even more educated about how the globe is using technology has led myself to ask queries about the result that is having on our mental health. With the whole planet being controlled by technical devices, that is bound to have an effect on the dynamics of society. Given the fact that wise technology is a comparatively new phenomenon, we do not yet know much about how exactly it is impacting our lives. For instance, the Digital Engagement subject taught me about how exactly businesses are more and more using our online activity to advertise and advertise new products to us. This is unquestionably a implication of technical use, even as we are becoming brain-washed into spending money. Whilst that is a threat of smartphones, I needed to breach additional into the mental ramifications of technology on people. Smart phones, for me, encapsulate the digital culture we reside in. We are linked with one another in society through a small handheld device that can be taken with us wherever we move in our pockets. Though the problem is, that most of that time period these cell phones are not kept inside our wallets and we are spending additional time looking into our cell phones. Consequently, if cell phones represent the digital society, then the risks of phones might tell us more about the implications of living in a digital culture. Reading through several articles, I have been subjected to different opinions and viewpoints. Content articles and personal blogs have got helped increase my knowledge about technology, that i have been in a position to apply to different psychological ideas and concepts. Digital Society has allowed me to modernize my knowledge of environmental elements on emotional wellbeing. After all, if the environment around us can be changing - the way in which we are influenced by our environment will change too. The primary challenge for me was fine-tuning my academic writing method right into a blog post format. As a person who is used to writing in an average university assignment style, this has opened my eyes to a new way of writing. Although tough to adjust to in the beginning, I now enjoy composing blogs and have discovered that I feel much more in a position to express my personal opinions when composing them. referencia In fact, I look forward to composing more blog posts in the foreseeable future.