Welkin Tales: Angels

 Angel means messenger.

 The old lore says demons can't hide their chicken feet. They can change shape but there's always a massive, obvious tell. Likewise, discerning a true angel is trivial

 The angel looks like you. Sounds like you. Uses your own mannerisms. The scene will be you talking to yourself. However, they know things you don't know.

 For example, in most cases if you need to worship, you should worship your ancestors. Alchemically, your ancestors are you. That's why they share your interests and would reply to any of your requests. As such, speaking to your ancestors will appear, spiritually, as if you're talking to yourself (but again).

Droit du Seigneur

 Black legend: local lord forcibly takes everyone's virginity

 Reality: a particularly degenerate but pretty lord's son results in no virgins to marry. "He forced me!" Yeah the problem with telling a story as old as time is that everyone has heard it before... 

 "But don't tell anyone, he, uh, he threatened me yeah that's it." Did he also threaten you into drawing water at his well every day instead of the one at your house?

Motorbikes Are Cool And All

 ...but if you have autism you get to worry about a nerve tremor instantly killing you through no fault of your own. 

 There is exactly one car that's worth driving.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaWoo82zNUA

 The exact opposite of an SUV. Not only is the chassis efficiently priced, consider the lack of fuel you'll be paying for.

Pity and Stupidity

 It is normal to feel pity for the stupid. This doesn't mean you should treat them like a woman and coddle them. This means you should put them out of our misery. Along with their misery. The [pity] feeling is mislabelled. Points you in a direction it does not intend for you to go.

Immunity to Manipulation, Step 2

 Think logically instead of solely using emotion. 

 React to what the words mean rather than how the words make you feel. 

 Assess statements by whether they are consistent, not by whether they make you feel jangly. 

 Be capable of thinking strategically, which, banally, means thinking about later emotional states. Thinking about how the consequences will feel in the future, rather than how actions feel in the present. 

 Nearly all mortals are immune to logic, rather than immune to manipulation.

 I suspect this ability is born, not learned. Usually the only feasible way to avoid manipulation is to be strict with ingroup/outgroup. Never listen to the outgroup. Unless you're a spy, and your job is espionage, it's not your job. This in turn means getting lucky with your pope. If you avoid manipulation this way, what do you do if your priest tries to manipulate you? You get pwned, that's what you do.

Restitution When the Process is the Punishment

 Since the process is now the punishment, if found innocent, the defendant is owed restitution by the courts.

 E.g. Kyle Rittenhouse can justly sue the United States Government for cruel and unusual prosecution. Rittens deserves to be reimbursed for having to stand trial. He was wronged, and it needs to be righted.

 If they don't like that, they need to rescind the [process=punishment] policy.

Escapism Real Quick

 Narratives are escapist when they have unrealistic psychology.

 Narratives aren't escapist if the characters have verisimilitude.

 I have enjoyed many harem comedies. However, the idea that these girls are attracted to that (using the term loosely) man is laughable in all but one case. This is escapist fantasy.

 Of course, stuff like Ergo Proxy and Aeon Flux is also escapist fantasy, albeit depressing instead of cute and fuzzy. "A bit of the worst of both worlds for ya."

 Dark Souls is way further down the scale on escapism. "If the giant dragon bites you, you probably can't just cast healall and fix it. Usually you die."

Presumption of Innocence Very Short Ver.

 We presume innocence in murder trials because we have assumed the State is corrupt. We assume it is prosecuting an innocent man so as to protect the guilty. It must prove to us that, in this case, it is at least prosecuting someone who deserves persecution.

 The proper uses of presumption of innocence are merely special cases of the presumption of guilt. 

 Always presume guilt.

 Always presume guilt until you have specific and substantive evidence to the contrary.
 E.g. if you ask me for more evidence I will provide it. If you don't ask, I will presume bad faith, as per the above.