Scott Maybell
@haliphron.ink
Grad student in Oxford, researching the political demonology of octopuses and other cephalopods.
Formerly: Salt Lake City Public Service, Arizona Court Mediator, University of Utah, University of Edinburgh
Formerly: Salt Lake City Public Service, Arizona Court Mediator, University of Utah, University of Edinburgh
![Weakness
Despite his numerous forms and godlike power, Chaos has one consistent weakness: his brain [THIS TEXT IS HIGHLIGHTED]. This is a weak spot that, when hit, will cause Chaos' form to weaken and destabilize. He is also not well protected in most of his forms. Chaos is also noticeably slower than most other Sonic characters, even in his smallest form, Chaos 0.
Relationships
Tikal
Image: Chaos with Tikal and various Chao, from Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut.
Tikal was the only person that Chaos allowed to approach the Chao, as Chaos saw Tikal's caring nature towards them. When Pachacamac attacked the Chao and Tikal, Chaos attacked Pachacamac in revenge but became consumed by evil and rampaged across his empire. Tikal sealed him away until the Master Emerald shattered, causing Chaos](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wtnk7ro7xz6fblhdf6fduftf/bafkreiboszcomypelezb5ry7dwemlnbmupremoyn5ib7jwzihbwuzcpqzu@jpeg)
Coming soon! (I just wrote a chapter, but very excited about this project)
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/esoteric-...
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/esoteric-...
November 27, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Coming soon! (I just wrote a chapter, but very excited about this project)
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/esoteric-...
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/esoteric-...
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).
September 16, 2025 at 11:48 PM
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).
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:
September 1, 2025 at 1:34 PM
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:
Our greatest living philosopher <3
June 28, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Our greatest living philosopher <3
Next week our reading group on politics and demonization is covering a chapter from Ryan Duns's book on the theology of horror + screening George Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.
May 9, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Next week our reading group on politics and demonization is covering a chapter from Ryan Duns's book on the theology of horror + screening George Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.
Associationist Demonology: James Gilray’s 1798 etching "The Tree of Liberty."
Charles James Fox as the Edenic serpent tempting John Bull (personification of England). Amongst the rotten apples of the Tree are the fruit of "democracy" and the "Age of Reason," associated with "murder" and "treason."
Charles James Fox as the Edenic serpent tempting John Bull (personification of England). Amongst the rotten apples of the Tree are the fruit of "democracy" and the "Age of Reason," associated with "murder" and "treason."
May 5, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Associationist Demonology: James Gilray’s 1798 etching "The Tree of Liberty."
Charles James Fox as the Edenic serpent tempting John Bull (personification of England). Amongst the rotten apples of the Tree are the fruit of "democracy" and the "Age of Reason," associated with "murder" and "treason."
Charles James Fox as the Edenic serpent tempting John Bull (personification of England). Amongst the rotten apples of the Tree are the fruit of "democracy" and the "Age of Reason," associated with "murder" and "treason."
I'm super excited to look at this in more depth, great "game design as poetics" here.
May 4, 2025 at 5:13 PM
I'm super excited to look at this in more depth, great "game design as poetics" here.
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).
April 8, 2025 at 7:49 PM
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).
Oh, thanks for your interest! I'm looking at the ways demonic portrayals of cephalopods have been used to justify expressions of political power/movements. You may already be familiar with this type, but I've included an example of French anti-communist fascists in the 30s in the picture.
March 31, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Oh, thanks for your interest! I'm looking at the ways demonic portrayals of cephalopods have been used to justify expressions of political power/movements. You may already be familiar with this type, but I've included an example of French anti-communist fascists in the 30s in the picture.
Devilfish-style squid monster as featured in the game Dungeon World. It has the common tropes of dangerous tentacles and the demonized cephalopod somehow being unnatural or not part of the normal order of creation, but this one adds a disgust factor via the association with maggots.
March 19, 2025 at 2:51 AM
Devilfish-style squid monster as featured in the game Dungeon World. It has the common tropes of dangerous tentacles and the demonized cephalopod somehow being unnatural or not part of the normal order of creation, but this one adds a disgust factor via the association with maggots.
As many continental philosophers have pointed out, what we take as "morally real" is more about our ideology and less about being in touch with some metaphysical truth. Alenka Zupančič critiques positive psych this way in an interview with Jule Reshe's Negative Psychoanalysis (p. 128).
March 8, 2025 at 4:40 PM
As many continental philosophers have pointed out, what we take as "morally real" is more about our ideology and less about being in touch with some metaphysical truth. Alenka Zupančič critiques positive psych this way in an interview with Jule Reshe's Negative Psychoanalysis (p. 128).
Social psychologist Daniel Sullivan argues that societies with high degrees of visible social control (e.g. states with authoritarian tendencies and their populace) tend to exposit their norms in the form of moral injunctions (Cultural-Existential Psychology, p. 92).
March 8, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Social psychologist Daniel Sullivan argues that societies with high degrees of visible social control (e.g. states with authoritarian tendencies and their populace) tend to exposit their norms in the form of moral injunctions (Cultural-Existential Psychology, p. 92).
David Livingstone Smith discusses in his book *On Inhumanity* how genocidal violence is "almost always" justified using moral language (p. 91).
March 8, 2025 at 4:40 PM
David Livingstone Smith discusses in his book *On Inhumanity* how genocidal violence is "almost always" justified using moral language (p. 91).