Author | Lightnews

🐙Scott Maybell🐙

@cartesiandream.bsky.social

51 followers 150 following 120 posts

Grad student at Oxford researching the political demonology of octopuses and other cephalopods. Brandom | Science & Religion Trained mediator, happy to facilitate conciliation processes as a form of mutual aid. Just ask!

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

🐙Scott Maybell🐙 @cartesiandream.bsky.social · Apr 8

If you ever see a depiction of Satan, the Devil, or a demon as an octopus or other cephalopod, please send it my way. The attached screenshot is from a Latter-day Saint magazine and depicts Satan's temptations like an octopus's "tentacles" (octopuses actually do not have tentacles).

Tentacles of the Adversary
Now I share some danger signals that precede some of the sins I have mentioned. In some regards, Satan is like an octopus trying to capture us. If one tentacle does not work, he will try another and another until he finds one that takes hold. Following are some of the tentacles the evil one designed to causes us to break God's standard of morality.

1 2

Reposted by 🐙Scott Maybell🐙

Rii Abrego @riibrego.bsky.social · 10h

had an idea (wallpapers are below!)

A phone wallpaper set of Reze from Chainsaw Man

5 110 440

🐙Scott Maybell🐙 @cartesiandream.bsky.social · 6h

The Chainsaw Man film was wonderful, but it shared the weakness of the Reze arc in the manga: the fight sequence is too long and one note. I wrote up some of my thoughts on how the sequence could have been altered with dynamic stakes and more Reze characterization.

haliphron.ink/2025/11/05/c...

Chainsaw Man Reze Arc: Lean Into the Diabology!

Chainsaw Man is perhaps my favorite anime and manga, so I was anticipating last month’s release of the Reze Arc film. Technically, Reze’s arc in the manga is a relative low-point, and t…

haliphron.ink

🐙Scott Maybell🐙 @cartesiandream.bsky.social · Oct 3

One of problem with using internal dissent as a way to argue against collective intentions is that the intentions of humans *also* face internal dissent: cognitive ambivalence, competing drives, the structure of some body parts hindering an activity, having to "push through" negative emotion, etc.

Kevin Zollman @kevinzollman.com · Oct 3

Even then, though, I think there are a lot of hard cases. Does the DoJ intend to prosecute Comey? The evidence suggests a lot of internal dissent.

Did the army intend to commit war crimes when they captured that town? Some commanders sure did, but did *the* *army*?

🐙Scott Maybell🐙 @cartesiandream.bsky.social · Oct 1

Slight context if you're not familiar: the book and the review are a continuation/development of a conversation on Jacobin back in 2023. Besides Nick French, Ben Burgis describes himself as an analytic Marxist.

jacobin.com/2023/01/anal...

jacobin.com/2023/01/anal...

The Birth of Analytic Philosophy Out of the Spirit of McCarthyism

Analytic philosophy, the hegemonic branch of the discipline in the US, often thinks of itself as above history and politics. But its rise, and its enduring influence, are owed to McCarthyism, which pu...

jacobin.com

🐙Scott Maybell🐙 @cartesiandream.bsky.social · Sep 16

Found an interesting chapter which details an anti-colonial Sri Lankan folk tale which describes Jesus as an avatar of Mara ("the Buddhist devil" in oversimplifying terms), sent to trick the world to trap people in samsara (citation in alt-text).

Citation:
Schmidt-Leukel, Perry. "The Demonisation of the Other through the Narrative of Māra’s Defeat (Māravijaya)." In Buddhism and Its Religious Others: Historical Encounters and Representations, edited by C.V. Jones London: British Academy, 2022.

Text reads:
While all three colonial powers had primarily economic interests, they were nevertheless experienced by Sri Lankan Buddhists also as a religious threat manifesting itself by forced conversions and temple destructions (and the purported destruction of the holy tooth relic) under the Portuguese, by discriminating legislation under the Dutch and increased missionary efforts under the British. A Sri Lankan folktale about the ‘Carpenter Heretic Demon’ (tirtthaka pretaya), written down in 1762 but apparently with a longer preceding history of oral transmission, presents Jesus as a ‘Son of the Evil One’, i.e. a ‘son of Māra’ (mā raput). Māra sends him to earth in order to revive all non-Buddhist ‘heresies’, by which Māra keeps the world under his control. Jesus is conceived by a carpenter girl living in ‘Sāgala’. When grown up, he rst settles in Portugal, where he falsely declares himself to be the son and incarnation (avatā raya) of a god and the saviour of humanity. When expelled from Portugal, he and his disciples travel through many countries spreading the same message before they nally return to Sāgala. His followers pretend to be awakened saints (arahats) but are actually a gang of thieves. Dressed in black robes, they steal cattle at night, eat meat and drink liquor. After being betrayed by a follower, Jesus is caught and subsequently executed. Yet Māra and other demons fake his resurrection in order to achieve their final goal and re-establish the heresies.

🐙Scott Maybell🐙 @cartesiandream.bsky.social · Sep 16

If you ever get the chance to try Algerian food... It's one of the most underlooked cuisines 😵

🐙Scott Maybell🐙 @cartesiandream.bsky.social · Sep 9

A screenshot from GoodReads which shows To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, 1984 by Orwell, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling. The caption, which links to a GoodReads list, says: "Books That Everyone Should Read At Least Once." Below it the number of books on the list: 23,101.

🐙Scott Maybell🐙 @cartesiandream.bsky.social · Sep 7

Thomas goes to check the wound on Christ's hand, sees that He has six fingers that are all the same length.

🐙Scott Maybell🐙 @cartesiandream.bsky.social · Sep 3

"Under the Dome: Hygenoparasocial Relational Dynamics in the Stephen King Fandom Community"

🐙Scott Maybell🐙 @cartesiandream.bsky.social · Sep 2

Once the carnists are finished at the reeducation camp there'll be no need for illiberal enforcement!

(great read, frustratingly honest about how practically tough the problem is)

🐙Scott Maybell🐙 @cartesiandream.bsky.social · Sep 1

lol there's a special joy in spite reading.

🐙Scott Maybell🐙 @cartesiandream.bsky.social · Sep 1

Yes! People are usually happy to hear the rant during the reading group meeting :)

1 2

🐙Scott Maybell🐙 @cartesiandream.bsky.social · Sep 1

Big fan of having these conversations, but it was funny to read the book's description re: liberalism as "under siege." Critics have noted liberalism requires a fantasy enemy of subversives to define itself against, the political scientist Michael Rogin used "under siege" to describe the mentality:

The picture-less cover of Michael Rogin's book, Ronald Reagan: The Movie, and Other Episodes in Political Demonology.

Page 267 from Rogin's book:

"Hollywood both responded to and encouraged the retreat to private
life, the depoliticization of America encouraged by the Red scare. But
in the Hollywood films of private life, the promised family sanctuary is
problematic; it is threatened by invasion from without and seduction
from within. Families under siege generated anxieties about who was to
blame, anxieties that could take the form of anti-Communism. But anti-
Communist films, in spite of their conscious intentions, exposed the
connections between an endangered private life and a fear of political
subversion."

🐙Scott Maybell🐙 @cartesiandream.bsky.social · Aug 27

"Not caring about the things I care about" is not nihilism. With few exceptions, authoritarians and techno-capitalists are immersed in a world of meaning, moralism, and narratives. Islamophobes don't believe in *nothing*, they believe they are *at war with the Devil* or *defenders of The Occident*.

onion person @junlper.beer · Aug 27

the complete embrace of nihilism and the rejection of being genuine is the greatest danger to humanity right now

4 9

Reposted by 🐙Scott Maybell🐙

James Wragg @lovelyhellplace.bsky.social · Aug 27

Contrary to what you might think, we've actually 𝑛𝑜𝑡 been sleeping and / or dead since launching Dread Delusion...

...we've been making a dying earth JRPG called

🍄 ⚔️ 💀 𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐘 💀 ⚔️ 🍄

& you can wishlist it on Steam rn!
store.steampowered.com/app/3940340/...

59 580 1.8K

🐙Scott Maybell🐙 @cartesiandream.bsky.social · Aug 20

!!!

Endless Mode @endlessmode.bsky.social · Aug 20

Today, Streumon Studio (E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy) announced Daimon Blades, a co-op first-person slasher about slicing through hellspawn. www.endlessmode.com/video-games/...

First-Person Slasher Daimon Blades Announced, Out In Early Access This September

Today, Streumon Studio (E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy) announced Daimon Blades, a co-op first-person slasher about slicing through hellspawn.

www.endlessmode.com

Reposted by 🐙Scott Maybell🐙

Letterboxd @letterboxd.social · Aug 19

Wes Craven's Red Eye was released in theaters on this day 20 years ago 🛩

7 38 260

Reposted by 🐙Scott Maybell🐙

『Unpaid NCFNR(?) Intern』 @woz-action.bsky.social · Jul 29

Spoilers for #CSM210 what a wild chapter
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

1 3 13

🐙Scott Maybell🐙 @cartesiandream.bsky.social · Jul 25

It's been fun! We're using the Purgatory High "Small Town" setting that comes with the book, I've used it a few times for one shots and 2-3 session runs. Have you played before?

🐙Scott Maybell🐙 @cartesiandream.bsky.social · Jul 19

It was my entry into the hobby :)

1 2

🐙Scott Maybell🐙 @cartesiandream.bsky.social · Jul 18

A couple of flashbacks to ipodcastmagicmissile here.

1 1

🐙Scott Maybell🐙 @cartesiandream.bsky.social · Jul 18

1. First #TTRPG played: Fiasco
2. First ever ran: Call of Cthulhu
3. Played most: Kingdom
4. Run most: Godbound
5. Favorite: Blades in the Dark
6. Most recently played: Dungeon World
7. Most recently run: Monsterhearts 2

Avery Alder, Buried Without Ceremony @lackingceremony.bsky.social · Jul 18

1. First #TTRPG played: D&D 3.5
2. First ever ran: D&D 3.5
3. Played most: Apocalypse World
4. Run most: The Quiet Year
5. Favorite: Blades in the Dark, Dog Eat Dog, Dialect, Apocalypse World, Star Crossed
6. Most recently played: Going For Broke
7. Most recently run: Red Carnations on a Black Grave

Craig aka Tezrak ➡️ Con Zero @tezrak.bsky.social · Jul 18

1. First #TTRPG played: D&D red box basic
2. First ever ran: WEG Star Wars 2e
3. Played most: D&D 3.x
4. Run most: WEG SWRPG 2e, #ShadowlightAndPersonaeRPG
5. Favorite: 3-way-tie between Adventure!, Fate Core & Dungeon World
6. Most recently played: Omega Horizon
7. Most recently run: Daggerheart

1 2

🐙Scott Maybell🐙 @cartesiandream.bsky.social · Jul 17

The book's great! Personally, its got me thinking about my experiences in/around the New Age and how it has some strong parallels to the anti-Spiritualist paradigm (despite opposition, some sort of mimesis?). Professionally, it will be helpful as I try and put together this damn dissertation :)

1 1

🐙Scott Maybell🐙 @cartesiandream.bsky.social · Jul 14

This reminded me that I've been intending to read Demons in the USA, I just downloaded it :)

1 2

🐙Scott Maybell🐙 @cartesiandream.bsky.social · Jul 14

Mormon leadership didn't officially reverse their position against interracial marriage until 2013!

1 1 17