Downtown Khazan: Ice Cold Utopia

[Vakanai]

Pretty good. Came back from Comic-Con last month, that was cool. Currently hanging out with family and actually got to continue one of our D&D campaigns last night (after six month hiatus), so pretty solid.

D&D is good, I should get back into it one day.
Comic-Con sounds like fun, but super crowded.

[BitVyper]

Holy crap, I just discovered Thermae Romae, a 2012 movie about a depressed ancient Roman architect who starts time travelling back and forth between the empire and modern Japan and getting inspired to recreate like Flintstones versions of all these modern conveniences for the emperor. It's amazing. Man just has like dozens of dudes hidden in the walls to make something like a modern Japanese bathroom.

[Vakanai]

Holy crap, I just discovered Thermae Romae, a 2012 movie about a depressed ancient Roman architect who starts time travelling back and forth between the empire and modern Japan and getting inspired to recreate like Flintstones versions of all these modern conveniences for the emperor. It's amazing. Man just has like dozens of dudes hidden in the walls to make something like a modern Japanese bathroom.

Didn't the Romans have running water/plumbing?

[BitVyper]

Didn't the Romans have running water/plumbing?

I don't know the extent of it, but yeah they definitely had plumbing. They did not have bidets and water jets and automated toilet seats.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Holy crap, I just discovered Thermae Romae, a 2012 movie about a depressed ancient Roman architect who starts time travelling back and forth between the empire and modern Japan and getting inspired to recreate like Flintstones versions of all these modern conveniences for the emperor. It's amazing. Man just has like dozens of dudes hidden in the walls to make something like a modern Japanese bathroom.

So there's a movie that predates the anime. I watched the anime and it's pretty much sounds exactly like this.

[Vakanai]

I don't know the extent of it, but yeah they definitely had plumbing. They did not have bidets and water jets and automated toilet seats.

True.
I wonder how the Romans would've tried to replicate heated seats and bidets. Like even with guys hidden in walls it's like how?

[Postmania]

Forbidden jajamgmyeon

[Vakanai]

God Sundays are slow...

[Sharpandpointies]

So, my life is being...uncomfortable right now, like a lot - so I'd like to know how you guys are doing. Normal things? Good things?
(Yeah sorry, for the weirdness, been a while, but just need some place old and familiar to chat)

Hey, man - sorry to hear. Hope it's not too awful, but it's sounding that way.

Life is up and down for me. Back issues are looking like a constant bad thing, but are somewhat under control. Work is...bleah, but I'm maybe getting promoted (to the level of what I'm already doing, so it's not like I'm taking on anything more). Getting my fourth dose of anti-covid this week, so there's that.

I cannot really complain - the world is a rough place right now, and I have a lot of security, so I'm okay.

[Sharpandpointies]

Kill Six Billion Demons

I think either the immortal is missing the point, or there's some manipulation happening here..

spoilers:

Like...yeah, okay, everything is predetermined and we can only walk the path that is already written. 1. Mortals cannot perceive the universe in that way, thanks to how our minds work (blame entropy) - we cannot see that everything is predetermined and 'already laid out'. For us, we still see choices. We need to 'make' those choices. We need to LIVE with what we perceive as choices. Predetermined or not, we exist in a granular illusion of 'Time', and as such we need to continue to live based on that. 2. If we sit down and give up, that's also part of 'what is'. If it's not a choice we make - because choices are an illusion - then it's not a choice and...whatever? Same deal with struggling - if it's not a choice, it's just whatever, us...doing what we would have always done anyway, because from the perspective of 'Time is an illusion' all of that just 'is'. Here's the immortal saying 'Why have you CHOSEN the path of suffering?' My dude, you just said Allison didn't choose it. And then you say it again: 'A fate you neither chose, nor was chosen for you.' Contradictory, much? Why keep bugging Allison about her choice, if she never actually had a choice, if this is already written? And then 'And yet you continue forwards...for what? A sense of moral duty? Exhaustion? Impatience? If you continue, you will become shattered on the anvil of endless conflict.' What is this 'If you continue?' Why this discussion? If this immortal can see everything written, they already know which way things will go. If nothing can be changed, and it's just an illusion of choice, talking to Allison about this will change nothing (of course, this also is part of the whole plan, so maybe that's the only reason to talk to her about this?). So I feel either one of two things about this is important: 1. This anti-pep talk with Allison is part of the plan, and the immortal is just carrying out their role, and everything is 'proceeding' (from the perspective of beings existing in time) as it should or however we want to put it; 2. The immortal is lying about stuff, changes could be made, and this talk actually serves a purpose one way or another (outside of 'I'm just fulfilling my purpose in the tapestry of time, yo', which actually sounds like 'choice' and stuff happening as time passes, so maybe it's better to say 'this is what I do, I just know 'ahead of time' because I 'see everything').

end of spoilers

Or maybe it's neither of those things, and there's either an error in the logic of the writing or there's even more going on than is apparent <-- this is certainly possible given the series and the writing thus far.

It's just...smelling a little funny, the contradictory stuff.

[Dark Soul # 7]

[Vakanai]

Hey, man - sorry to hear. Hope it's not too awful, but it's sounding that way.

It definitely feels pretty awful. It's nothing in the actual environment around me sort of thing, like nothing's actually occurred, but more in the mental health arena.
So recently I made this horrible mistake of looking into my horrible self body image about a month ago now I think, and discovered just horrible waves of gender dysphoria...
So yeah, I'm just trying to get my mind off of that and praying it just goes away because, I honestly don't even know how to finish this thought. It's just bad.

Life is up and down for me. Back issues are looking like a constant bad thing, but are somewhat under control. Work is...bleah, but I'm maybe getting promoted (to the level of what I'm already doing, so it's not like I'm taking on anything more). Getting my fourth dose of anti-covid this week, so there's that.

I cannot really complain - the world is a rough place right now, and I have a lot of security, so I'm okay.

Sorry for your back problems and work stuff, although hopefully you get that promotion and it comes with a healthy pay increase. And getting boosted is good! I got my second booster a couple months ago (third shot in all, not fourth because my first was that jj one shot - it was the first available back then and we didn't know it was the worst of the shots).

Yeah, the world is pretty...yikes right now, so glad you're secured.

[Sharpandpointies]

It definitely feels pretty awful. It's nothing in the actual environment around me sort of thing, like nothing's actually occurred, but more in the mental health arena.
So recently I made this horrible mistake of looking into my horrible self body image about a month ago now I think, and discovered just horrible waves of gender dysphoria...
So yeah, I'm just trying to get my mind off of that and praying it just goes away because, I honestly don't even know how to finish this thought. It's just bad.

Augh, jeez. That sounds incredibly terrible. Sorry. And apologies if anything I've said hasn't helped, I'll keep things neutral.

But it does sound like you're in a very rough place.

Sorry for your back problems and work stuff, although hopefully you get that promotion and it comes with a healthy pay increase. And getting boosted is good! I got my second booster a couple months ago (third shot in all, not fourth because my first was that jj one shot - it was the first available back then and we didn't know it was the worst of the shots).

Yeah, the world is pretty...yikes right now, so glad you're secured.

Sorry you had the worst of the shots, but at least you've had a couple of boosters, so congrats on that.

Yeah, I'm secure as about I can be without being ginormously rich, so I cannot complain. But whoo, I'm worried for everyone.

[Nik Hasta]

Kill Six Billion Demons

I think either the immortal is missing the point, or there's some manipulation happening here..

spoilers:

Like...yeah, okay, everything is predetermined and we can only walk the path that is already written. 1. Mortals cannot perceive the universe in that way, thanks to how our minds work (blame entropy) - we cannot see that everything is predetermined and 'already laid out'. For us, we still see choices. We need to 'make' those choices. We need to LIVE with what we perceive as choices. Predetermined or not, we exist in a granular illusion of 'Time', and as such we need to continue to live based on that. 2. If we sit down and give up, that's also part of 'what is'. If it's not a choice we make - because choices are an illusion - then it's not a choice and...whatever? Same deal with struggling - if it's not a choice, it's just whatever, us...doing what we would have always done anyway, because from the perspective of 'Time is an illusion' all of that just 'is'. Here's the immortal saying 'Why have you CHOSEN the path of suffering?' My dude, you just said Allison didn't choose it. And then you say it again: 'A fate you neither chose, nor was chosen for you.' Contradictory, much? Why keep bugging Allison about her choice, if she never actually had a choice, if this is already written? And then 'And yet you continue forwards...for what? A sense of moral duty? Exhaustion? Impatience? If you continue, you will become shattered on the anvil of endless conflict.' What is this 'If you continue?' Why this discussion? If this immortal can see everything written, they already know which way things will go. If nothing can be changed, and it's just an illusion of choice, talking to Allison about this will change nothing (of course, this also is part of the whole plan, so maybe that's the only reason to talk to her about this?). So I feel either one of two things about this is important: 1. This anti-pep talk with Allison is part of the plan, and the immortal is just carrying out their role, and everything is 'proceeding' (from the perspective of beings existing in time) as it should or however we want to put it; 2. The immortal is lying about stuff, changes could be made, and this talk actually serves a purpose one way or another (outside of 'I'm just fulfilling my purpose in the tapestry of time, yo', which actually sounds like 'choice' and stuff happening as time passes, so maybe it's better to say 'this is what I do, I just know 'ahead of time' because I 'see everything').

end of spoilers

Or maybe it's neither of those things, and there's either an error in the logic of the writing or there's even more going on than is apparent <-- this is certainly possible given the series and the writing thus far.

It's just...smelling a little funny, the contradictory stuff.

An observant reader is thee. If we look at this interaction from the perspective of Allison's [potential] progression toward Royalty, then it kind of makes sense. I'm going to spoiler tag this but if you're not reasonably deep in the sauce for KSBD it's not going to make much sense either way.

spoilers:

The concept of Royalty is to reckon the true name of god, not the seven-part falsehood held by the demiurges. This allows you to be a part of the system but also stand outside of it, so it would allow for you to exist in a universe that has no concept of free will and still have free will. By achieving Royalty, you can become a kind of master of the universe. But, according to the proverbs that Abbadon has written about it, ambition is kind of anathema to Royalty in some respects, you have to give up or truly recognise the struggle in order to achieve this form of enlightenment. Thus far, only two on-screen beings are meant to have achieved it - Zoss and Meti [Maya's teacher] - and the latter only exists in flashback. If Jadis is trying to drive Allison toward Royalty and enlightenment [or is destined to do so], then her contradictory arguments make sense. It's also worth noting that Jaganoth, who has been around the cycle of the universe more times than can be counted, noted that this iteration of the universe is strange not least because of Alison and her existence. She is specifically not the true heir, despite everything that has happened, destiny says that Zaid is the true heir. Zoss, intentionally or unintentionally - he has achieved Royalty so he can (presumably) defy destiny - selected her instead of Zaid by putting the key into her head. Jaga even says in their battle "Even by attempting to break the bars of our carceral existence, I remain fully aware that I risk destabilising its rank predictability," alluding perhaps to the idea that destiny and predestination are not as ironclad concepts as they could be. So, we could be witnessing a pre-determined universe attempting to cope with the impact of a true expression of free will at a pivotal moment.

end of spoilers

I feel that the strangeness and contradictions in the conversation are very intentional. Abbadon is very skilled writer and he's definitely thought about this shit a lot.

It's worth listening to this podcast from last year wherein Abbadon spoke about the sequence we're currently in (Timestamp of 47:55 if my link-fu doesn't work.) The whole podcast is actually very interesting, worth listening to for sure.

He also talks about Royalty as a concept as well in the rapid-fire lore section.

See also, the plot of the Soul Reaver series and its many timeline flowcharts.

[Vakanai]

Augh, jeez. That sounds incredibly terrible. Sorry. And apologies if anything I've said hasn't helped, I'll keep things neutral.

But it does sound like you're in a very rough place.

I've...had some pretty dark moments with it. But I seem to be over the panic attacks where I want to rip my own skin off it seems and into much milder discomforts.
And you've never said anything mean Sharp, you're cool.

Sorry you had the worst of the shots, but at least you've had a couple of boosters, so congrats on that.

Yeah, I'm secure as about I can be without being ginormously rich, so I cannot complain. But whoo, I'm worried for everyone.

Yep - and somehow I've dodged the virus so far despite being exposed to a few family members when they had it but were still asymptomatic. I still wear masks on occasions (not out to eat, got to take them off anyways for that, but for general shopping), still fairly social distancing, but definitely feels like it's mostly been pure luck at this point.

God I wish I were ginormously rich. Or any kind of rich really. And yeah, people are struggling these days. Just the weather this summer alone has been fairly disastrous world wide, never mind everything else.