your bare minimum isn’t actually that bare or minimum. my dad once told me that there’s nothing in this world that’s easy and that’s true tbh. everything we do takes energy, time, and effort. even the little things. if you feel like you’re not doing enough please try to think about your circumstances and what’s currently available to you: chances are, there’s something that’s diverting or otherwise draining you. and to pull away from that and get something done regardless? well, i think that’s really admirable! please try to take pride in the things you do accomplish in a day, no matter how small or trifling you perceive them to be. you can’t be proud of your growth if you don’t notice where you already are!
no offense but this conversation was literally a major turning point in my life
As none of you know, because I have not talked about it, I love chess. Because I love chess, and I love chess analogies, I thought about the M9 as different types of pieces on a chess board, and here’s what I got:
Yasha & Fjord:Rooks. Moving straight forward without being able to jump over other pieces, those two follow the path their deities have laid out for them while still being able to “cross colors” on the board. Especially together they make a powerful battle couple that can bring down Kings. Another important thing to note is that they are involved in a move called castling, in which the King can not only move himself, but also move a Rook, which makes me think of a certain blood pact.
Caleb: The King. The most important, yet the most vulnerable piece on the board. All other pieces move to protect the King, while he himself is only ever able to move one field in any direction. The goal is to set the King checkmate, rendering him unable to move. The King is able to pull the only two-piece move in chess to protect himself, called castling. Caleb counts on Fjord to return a favor and I’m sure he’ll cash it in eventually.
Nott & Caduceus: Bishops. Bishops are able to move any number of squares diagonally but they cannot jump over other pieces and cannot change color tiles. Both of these characters have specific worldviews and make the world fit their worldview, not the other way around. Nott hardly ever changes her mind after forming an opinion and Caduceus makes everything that happens to him boil down to following his faith.
Jester & Mollymauk: Knights. The only pieces who are able to jump over other pieces, the Knights are flexible and often times unpredictable. Instead of following colors straight or diagonally, they jump in “L”-shape and as such are able to actually jump to every tile on the chess piece without making the same move twice.
Beau: The Queen. The most powerful piece on the board, the Queen combines the moves of Rooks and Bishops and can move any number of squares on the board. She is the most versatile, often tipping the favor of a game if she’s lost to a player. Beau is not only able to move in criminal spaces because of her background, she is also a member of the Cobalt Soul, a prestigious Institution whose name Beau has used multiple times to help the M9 further their goals.
I’m both pro herbal medicine and pro vaccination because you can treat burns with aloe vera juice and sore throats with lavender infused honey but you can’t rid a country of polio with plants.
THIS.
Don’t forget kids, jewelweed is a natural counteragent to poison ivy rashes but it won’t do shit against whooping cough
Mint for nausea, valerian and chamomile for sleep, antibiotics for fucking infections.
educational and salty. i like it.
And remember, humans have been selectively breeding plants since the dawn of agriculture. Herbal remedies aren’t some divinely given cure, we made them what they are today by cultivating the properties that benefited us
Pharmaceuticals are just the next step in this process. We cultivated plants then took them into labs to find new ways to make them work for us
