#“of course they have heads” “not in the hierarchal sense they don't"

[sexy-sapphic-sorcerer]

jesus fuck the BBC Radio 4 Sherlock Holmes audio dramas are gay

I mean, I heard Mary accuse Watson of marrying her "under false pretence" while his heart belongs to Holmes

I heard Holmes and Watson reciting Tristan and Isolde to each other about "existing only in each other, wrapped in love"

but Watson being so scared to tell Holmes that someone wrote a play about him where he's straight! "you're not angry? it's hardly in character"

insane. hilarious. iconic.

[queenofdragons12]

Frozen Bonds | Trolltider

In the dark and mysterious realm of your imagination, the concept of trolls had never been something you took seriously. Of course, there was always the possibility that they existed in the shadows, lurking somewhere in the periphery of your consciousness. Who really knew for sure? One thing, however, was crystal clear in your mind – humans had to be eradicated. They were just one of the five races, yes, but after being confined too often in cages, trust in any human was a luxury you could no longer afford.

Yet, fate has a way of playing tricks on even the most resolute minds. Your conviction was tested when a little girl came darting through the forest, her cries for help echoing through the trees. In that moment, you found yourself at a crossroads, torn between the ingrained fear of humans and the innate desire to extend a helping hand.

The air was thick with uncertainty as you grappled with conflicting emotions. Could you overcome the deep-seated mistrust that had taken root in your soul, or would you let the past dictate your actions? The girl's desperate pleas reverberated in the stillness of the woods, challenging the very essence of your beliefs.

Perhaps, in that pivotal moment, you realized that the boundaries between races weren't as rigid as you once thought. The line between predator and prey, human and troll, blurred in the face of shared vulnerability. As the girl approached, you felt the weight of a decision hanging heavy in the air, a decision that could redefine not only your perception of humanity but also the course of your own destiny.

"Help, please!" she cried, and you growled under your breath. "Snowfall, what are you waiting for?" your younger sister, Fanneløv, sputtered. "I don't want to attack, Fanneløv. You can't force me," you snarled back, swatting your tail in frustration. Your sister shook her head and leaped from the trees.

You jumped when a horde of other wolves followed. These weren't from your pack; they were larger, stronger, and all had sleek black fur that shimmered in the sunlight filtering through the trees.

"Take the human child!" one of them bellowed in a deep, guttural voice that reverberated through the entire forest. The child screamed and ran the other way, but the wolves from the woods were quicker. Soon, a large male pinned her down, growling low.

The tension in the air was palpable, a clash between loyalty to your own principles and the instinct to protect the helpless. Fanneløv shot you a glance, a silent plea to intervene. The moral dilemma gnawed at you as the scene unfolded before you.

In that critical moment, you had to decide whether to defy the instincts that had been ingrained in you or to stand firm against the encroaching threat. The girl's desperate cries echoed through the forest, painting a vivid picture of vulnerability and fear. The black-coated wolves seemed relentless in their pursuit, imposing a challenge that demanded either acquiescence or defiance.

As the drama played out, you found yourself at a crossroads, a moment that would define not only your identity but also the intricate balance between the wild and the humane within you.

"Let her be!" shouted another little child, hurling themselves toward the male wolf. However, he merely swatted them away with a paw, and one of his comrades pinned the child down. "Pateksuie troll, you have no right to come here and dictate to us," snarled a gray-toned she-wolf, her teeth bared. You sighed and approached calmly.

"Let them go," you said, and both wolves hesitated. "Snowfall," grumbled a smaller male, sneaking his head forward. You ignored him. "I said let them go." You growled again, meeting the gaze of the alpha wolf and his mate who just stared back at you.

"You may be the alpha's daughter, Snowfall, but you're not our leader. Go back to the ice," snarled the alpha. The tension hung in the air, a battle of wills between the hierarchical structure of the pack and the innate sense of justice within you. As you stood your ground, it became evident that the dynamics of power were shifting, and your actions would determine not only the fate of the human child and the little defender but also the delicate balance within the wolf pack.

"Please, we don't want to capture you," whimpered the little girl. "We just want to find my dad." You stared down at her and inquired, "And where is this father of yours?" She hesitated, then spoke, "He… he was captured by stone trolls and taken to the Black Mountain. Please, I need him." Tears welled up in her eyes, and a wave of empathy surged through you. You sighed and swished your tail.

"Let them go. I'll say it one more time," you declared. The alpha wolf snarled, but he lifted his paw, and the boy helped the girl back onto her feet. "Thank you, white wolf. We won't forget this," the child expressed gratitude.

"No need. Just don't enter the wolves' forest again," you said, dipping your head. With that, you and your pack, along with the black wolves from the north, swiftly retreated, leaving behind a tense encounter that had tested the boundaries of both compassion and dominance in the heart of the enchanted forest.

"Maybe, Dad, if we help them, we could improve our relations!" you suggested to your father, who sat proudly on the golden throne. "Snowfall, you know very well that Gorm of the trolls won't allow it. He despises wolves," your father, Blackmuzze, replied sternly. You sighed and flopped down. "For once, I just want peace," you grumbled, and your sister snorted, "You always want peace, dear sister. You're no true wolf; you're just a pacifist." She then ran out of the clearing, and a significant portion of your wolves followed her. You sighed again. Times were no longer at their best.

The scent in the air was as potent as that of a wounded deer unaware of its impending demise. You sighed, quickening your pace, and soon you stumbled upon Black Mountain, sending shivers down your spine. Now or never, you thought and trotted faster into the cavern. The air reeked of mildew and decaying fungi. Moss and various fungi clung to the stone walls, and you halted abruptly when you spotted a colossal troll, petrified in the midst of this eerie landscape. "Mountain troll," you muttered, scanning the surroundings. There were no stone trolls in sight, no servants either. Strange.

You ventured deeper into the heart of the mountain, and soon, you discovered a dark cavern. The scent of humans wafted from it like pus from a poisoned wound. Intrigued and cautious, you approached, the darkness swallowing you as you delved further into the mountain's bowels.

The human jumped when you entered, and you rested your head on your paws. "What is a human like you doing deep in the heart of the mountain?" you inquired, settling down with your tail draped over your front paws. "I-I have the formula that can break the amber," he said softly, and you hummed in acknowledgment. "A golden stone, huh? It seems there's more to this forest than we thought. I am Snowfall, and you must be the pungent human I've been tracking."

"Gustav," he introduced himself, and you nodded. "I know scents reveal more than you think," you remarked. Rising to your feet, you scratched at the lock, but it didn't budge. "Hmmm," you circled the cage twice before finally detecting metal amidst the decaying items within. Standing on your hind legs, you retrieved a small key from a hanging and inserted it into the lock.

"How can you use a key?" Gustav asked, clearly puzzled. "I've been among humans before. They captured me once and took me to a circus for entertainment or something. I don't know. I got tips from an elephant about turning a key in the hole, and the door opened," you explained matter-of-factly.

"I—I don't know what to say," stammered Gustav, and you snorted before opening the cage door. "Come on, I'm sure some stone trolls will notice me here soon," you said, ushering Gustav out, ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead.

[lesbiansforboromir]

@skeleton-gun Okay, are you absolutely certain on your ability to accurately identify people belonging to those groups? Is there no possibility you could make a mistake? Dehumanising someone within your psyche, placing them in a hierarchical position that is lower than your own, these things are hard to undo and, as I said previously, make people behave in ways that are completely thoughtless. If you have contempt for someone, you don't care about how your actions make them feel, you just want to be rid of them in whatever way that can happen, indeed people tend to WANT to cause physical or psychological harm to those they have contempt for, and it often feels good to do it. With all that in mind, is allowing yourself unscrutinised and uncritical contempt really the most socially responsible action?

And, in addition to that, contempt is not a necessary emotion to feel in order to pursue social justice. It is an emotion that serves you, not anyone else. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, as I said before, but it is also not a good thing. Honestly I think it is very harmful in allied priveledged social groups. When I was younger and I indulged in contempt for white people who were racist, I was othering them away from me, I made them into a seperate class that I could not be a part of and that created a false sense that I could not become them. I was 'better than they are' and therefore didn't have to worry or think about how I might be perpetuating racial injustice myself. Contempt makes white racists into a 'type of person' that you are not a part of, rather than a person who holds racist ideology that you could slip into.

It's an emotional get of of jail free card too. What will your psyche believe is acceptable behaviour towards a black woman whom you have decided is a queerphobe and therefore worthy of your contempt? You have already othered her away from you, she is no longer your 'social equal', what kinds of things would you say and do? The answer will be different for everyone, people are going to say 'of course I wouldnt do xyz' but the problem is you've already done it. She is lesser than you now, in your head, and that in itself is already a wrong step.

Essentially, contempt is for you. It is an emotional reaction that is enjoyable to have, it makes you think less critically, it makes you feel superior to someone, it happens quickly, and it gives you permission to treat people without the care you would show most others. And with all that in mind, you cannot inherently trust that it is well directed or unharmful. Therefore I believe it should be scrutinised more, even when it feels 'the most correct' because it's always feels correct!

I'm not saying this theoretically either, demonstrably I have been a better advocate for social justice and have actually felt better within myself since I started not trusting my contempt reactions.

I feel like people need to scrutinise their contempt more fastidiously and with a more critical eye. Contempt has a purpose, as all emotions do, but when you feel contempt for someone you are dehumanising them, it is a feeling that allows you a heady rush of superiority and societal power. It can feel reassuring to be contemptuous of someone else (especially if in broad society you are often looked down upon yourself) and that makes contempt a very desirable and tempting emotion to have. But it also makes you think less, you turn off your inhibitions in regards to the people you have contempt for, and even if you feel people 'deserve' your contempt, YOU and the people around you probably don't deserve the kinds of snowballed thought processes, mental states and real tangible issues that can arise from indulging in the relieving sensation of just not thinking. And that is not to mention how easy it is for contempt to draw you into dehumanising whole swaths of people whose only real crime is being or behaving in ways you find strange or 'foreign'. Scrutinise your contempt!!

[oidheadh-con-culainn]

What are the major details that confused you about the Hound blurb? The major one that stood put to me was the "way of the farmer opposed to the sword" thing which felt very...un-Cú Chulainn. Also, if you don't mind expanding further, which details didn't you question/be confused by?

and also for anon:

okay so it is like. 2am so there are not going to be any sources here but i can't sleep so here goes!! i will go through this blurb line by line and give youse my thoughts

In 50 BCE,

reasonable. this is roughly the right time period for when the ulster cycle is set. maybe marginally earlier than i'd place cú chulainn, but i'm talking a few years, nothing to get worked up about.

Morrigan, the goddess of war,

fine. normally i'm wary of pantheonising impulses with regard to irish characters (almost none of them can be identified as a god of anything in particular, it doesn't work like that) but tbh the morrigan is like, the most plausible exception to that, so whatever. normally her name has the definite article attached to it because it's kind of a species term as well but whatevs.

has become restless as a long-lasting peace settles over Ireland.

dubious. closest i can think of to peace being reference in any texts is togail bruidne da derga talking about conaire mor's reign being like, prosperous and peaceful and whatever, and even there you've got díberg (plundering/reaving) which is what eventually fucks him over and starts the otherworldly hell spiral situation. that's roughly the right period here but conaire's doom proves you don't have to do much to nudge peace into war, and connacht and ulster are at each other's throats for years before cú chulainn comes on the scene anyway

Deciding the time of peace must end, she chooses Setanta, the nephew of the king of the north, to become her ward.

hmm. i mean. like, this isn't the WEIRDEST choice they could have made. it's still completely made-up, don't get me wrong -- cú chulainn has a lot of different foster parents in different texts and they don't agree with each other but none of them ever mentions the morrígan. but like, they do have a connection of some sort, as evidenced by their conversations. and there's that one moment in the r1 boyhood deeds where little cú chulainn is out on the battlefield and hears her (not sure which name is used here) calling out to him and it like. motivates him to do some deeds or whatever, and i guess you could extrapolate that into some kind of teaching capacity.

so like. could be weirder. if you're gonna pick anyone, you could do worse. still seems weird to me! but not on its own a major issue, i could get past this and consider it a Fun But Unorthodox Creative Decision

(the fact that she tries to seduce him in the táin probably wouldn't get in the way of this considering sleeping with his teachers/foster-mothers is far from unheard of where cú chulainn is concerned)

After a young Setanta slays the demon-hound of Cullan, he becomes known as Cú Cullan—The Hound of Cullan.

weird spelling choices, they could have at least bothered to use the genitive properly. also the hound isn't a demon, it's a ferocious watchdog -- making it sound all Otherworldly and Hellish like this kinda confuses the issue of why he would need to take its place. he needs to take its place because the cattle and people still need protecting because it is a watchdog!! but whatevs, again, it's a brief summary so they can't exactly give us all the details and this is not actively objectionable

As Cú Cullan grows older, it is apparent that an extraordinary power lies within him … and a great darkness.

ugh boring. this makes it sound like he's going to be ~tortured~ and angsty about it. give me an unapologetic murder teen please. is the ríastrad dark? sure i guess, if you're going to be boring about it. it's more like, grotesque neon in my head

When he chooses the quiet life of a farmer over the sword,

this would fucking never happen on like five different levels. obviously like anyone who has ever read anything about cú chulainn can see that this is not in his nature. he is never going to choose a quiet life. this is the kid who tricked his way into taking arms before everyone thought he was ready. also juxtaposed with the "darkness" comment makes it sound like he would Angst his way into this quiet life which. again. have you seen this kid. he is an unapologetic murder teen

the only thing i can think of that might make him temporarily want to walk away is connla's death which... depends where you position that in the timeline really, he does seem a bit fucked up by it and maybe he'd want a holiday although i can see that lasting precisely 5 minutes before someone pissed him off enough for him to murder them. but if he's being raised by the morrígan i can't see him going to train with scáthach so then he'd never meet aífe and therefore connla would never be born so that wouldn't happen. so like. whatever.

but also like. he would not become a farmer. he just wouldn't! it doesn't work! the ireland of the stories is super hierarchical, right? and this blurb has already fucking told us that he's the king's nephew (canon) so we can tell that being a farmer is Not His Place. when we see upper class figures becoming menial labourers in texts, like in cath maige tuired, it's because Things Are Fucked, Shit's Gone Wrong. people don't just decide to change their entire social class on a whim lmfao

if cú chulainn really wanted to turn his back on being a warrior he could probably make recourse to certain other Suitable Professions ... his grandad's a druid so he might have a route into that, though his dad's not so that might fuck things up a bit bc it's one of those things that's usually inherited. he does give "wisdom" in at least one text though and we also know he can write (he carves riddles in ogham in the táin) and he composes verses on various occasions so idk, maybe something in a poetic direction, though again, usually requires two generations of inheritance to be a real poet and not just a lower-class bard. warrior's kinda the main thing he's got open to him tbh. but farming? i'm not a legal expert but as far as i'm aware based on what i have read, that would fuck shit up

more likely an upset cú chulainn would just go off in search of an adventure somewhere conveniently far away until he'd calmed down (alba, or the tyrrhenian sea, or -- if we're going to get early modern about it -- somewhere like india, which frequently gets thrown into the texts with absolutely no cultural context and it's always hilarious)

Morrigan, angry at the betrayal,

of the entire social order, yes,

instigates an invasion of his homeland

i mean. if they intend this to be the táin then.... táin bó regamna does kinda make the morrígan responsible for it? not in the sense of triggering the pillow talk argument that it's in the book of leinster -- it's her getting up to her usual cow-nicking behaviours for shits and giggles. [note to readers: it is probably for more than shits and giggles but did i mention it's 2am]

but all in all, not particularly out of character that she would be at least some way responsible for this so i can vibe with this. echtra nerai also supports the TBR explanation with her fucking around with otherworldly cows and pissing people off so, yeah, whatever. the morrígan engineered this. sure.

and Cú Cullan must challenge fate itself

this is probably a controversial stance but fate feels like a difficult concept to apply to medieval irish texts. like are people sometimes Doomed? yes. there are prophecies, there are gessi, there's all manner of otherworldly fuckery that can trip you up. is that the same thing as fate? no idea. considering cú chulainn comes out alive from the táin though and his doom prophecies don't catch up to him for like, at least another decade, maybe 16 years depending on who you listen to, hard to see how that would apply here

to keep the goddess at bay.

again like she IS causing fuckery in the táin but also it's like... one time. really not the main character. but she or maybe just some crows, hard to say, do get implicated in the death tale so maybe they're doing what people often do and conflating the two? even though there's like 10-16 years in between them?

anyway as you can see i don’t think it’s wholly terrible / i’m not completely thinkshaming it. like, having cú chulainn raised by the morrígan is unorthodox but it could be a fun and creative direction so i don't object to it. making cú chulainn get sad about murder and choose to be a farmer is just fucking laughable tho, and makes me doubt their characterisations in general. so that's offputting and would probably make me think twice about buying it, if that had ever been on the cards.*

and of course sure, their cú chulainn can be a Sad Boy Who Likes Sheep, but that means he's not the cú chulainn of medieval irish lit / irish myth, because that cú chulainn is a feral murder teen who keeps killing his friends and also is way too high social status to ever be a farmer, and whose only relationship to livestock is as the watchdog who kills anyone trying to harm them (which is an important role on a farm! but like. not the same thing as Being A Farmer. mostly because it involves more murder and is essentially just an extension of his role as a warrior. or rather the other way around. he promises to protect mag muirthemne as a watchdog and this like. gets extended into him becoming its sole defender)

this has been my analysis of this blurb i hope you enjoyed it

it's now 2.30am i should try and sleep now that i've exorcised a few thoughts from my head

*as i mentioned in the tags of my other post, i don't tend to read graphic novels due to disability stuff. they're much harder for me to understand and follow than prose, to the point where some are incomprehensible, so i don't really enjoy them. there are a few i've read, but they tend to be short ones, and i'm usually not reading them in order, just admiring the art separately from the text. so it's unlikely i would read a graphic novel of this size anyway.

[bootlickerhawks]

Twice/Hawks Anon: That Shouto meta you reblogged is why I shake my head at people who say something like “Rei’s the one who suffered the most.” The moment you hierarchize people’s trauma, you make those who think they’re not high enough on the trauma meter dismiss their own pain and deter them from seeking help.

You're right. Sadly people have been playing trauma olympics with the todofam for years 😔 and, like in a lot of bnha discourse, people say vile and hurtful things

In regards to what was discussed in the Shouto meta I sincerely hope that Shouto learns to not blame himself for what happened to his family. I hope that Hori includes it in Shouto's character arc but I do have my doubts.

In chapter 302, Todofam talk abt shared responsibility and how it's all of their faults that Touya became Dabi. Natsuo blames himself for "not slugging" his father and for not forcing him to talk to Touya (bear in mind that Natsuo was 8-9 when Touya burned himself at Sekoto peak).

Is it realistic for Natsuo to blame himself? Yes ofc. Has his sense of culpability been refuted by the story? No, at least not yet. (Tho tbf out of all the characters that heard Natsuo blame himself for Touya's fate none of them would have refuted him. The Todofam all blame themselves and Hawks/BJ were focused on supporting Endeavor).

Shared responsibility is a theme that is brought up with the todofam plotline and with the civilians after the Deku Retrieval arc. With the civilians it made sense cuz it finally addressed the issue of bystander syndrome that was plaguing hero society but, idk if that theme is the most fitting when it comes to the todofam situation. Of course it all depends on how Hori executes it, I don't doubt that he'll deliver a satisfactory conclusion but idk if he'll deliver a quote-on-quote "perfect ending" to the todofam storyline.

[colubrina]

I've never known you to be anything but gracious about other people's writing. You encourage people to review other's work, to the point of asking for that for a gift if I remember correctly, and I know you don't encourage unfavourable comparisons of other's work with your own. If anyone even thinks of writing something you ask for a link when it's done. If something isn't your cup of tea you're still polite. This is my impression from stalking your blog!! 💚

Thank you. No one is perfect, of course, and I certainly have a sense of humor that can be snarky and sarcastic and if you don't know me it probably comes across as a little mean. But the idea that I would be openly spiteful to other writers, popular or not, is just really upsetting to me because I absolutely believe that fandom is a non-hierarchical space where we are all just a bunch of geeks sitting around a metaphorical fire telling stories (and sharing art and head canons and so on)to one another. It should be a space where everyone is welcome and no one is a jerk to anyone else.

[max1461]

Head size as measured with calipers really does correlate with human intelligence, human intelligence really is correlated with the ability to produce technological innovations that make human life better for everyone. Insofar as this is a right-wing belief, it means that the right-wing is consistent with reality.

Irrelevant. In fact, half the point of my response was to emphasize that my opposition to calipers enthusiasm has very little to do with the truth or untruth of claims of this nature.

I don't take the liberal critique that this view is inconsistent with individual liberty seriously, or the leftist critique that it requires an inherently-immoral hierarchy seriously.

Believing in an inborn hierarchy of intelligence may not contradict the liberal critique, but I think that a society that intentionally slots people into roles according to their various metrics (which, recall, is what I am critiquing) is necessarily hostile to individual autonomy.

Of course this could be because I have a different notion of coercion than you: I think that if there are five companies in town and they all offer grueling factory jobs, and your choices in practice are to work at one of them or starve, you are functionally being coerced into working at a grueling factory job. Just because there's no individual guy you can point to as the coercer does not change the fact that such a society is antithetical to the exercise of individual liberty in a large swathe of domains. But various right-wingers don't see it this way; to these people, since you can pick which grueling factory to work at, you are "free". I think this view is impoverished and we can do better. Obviously there is no society yet achievable in which no one has to work at all; without automation, we will perhaps always be forced to work some job we might not prefer. But it's a question of degree. Society can be structured in ways more or less conducive to freedom even if there is no specific legal coercion in the less-free case. I claim that those who care about individual liberty should favor the more-free cases, the cases where the decentralized mechanisms of the economy force us less so to spend our limited time on earth working long and grueling hours.

Mutatis mutandis for a society that is explicitly designed, however decentralized the mechanism, to slot people into roles by inborn nature. To whatever degree it emerges as a necessary consequence of individual freedom so be it, but such conditions are (clearly, explicitly) not what I am criticizing.

Individual liberty entails that people not only have the right to direct their own life in the world, but to make judgements about whether other people have created value for them, and reward or not reward them. Integrated over the entire population, some people become well-known for creating value for a large number of other people, and most people do not, which creates a de-facto hierarchy; but this hierarchy is an emergent result of the entire population exercising their individual liberty, and so leftist attempts to undo hierarchies require interfering with population-wide individual liberty, which is the main reason they are morally wrong.

This argument is reminds me of Nozick's. Like Nozick's, it is far too all-or-nothing. Individual liberty can, I think, plainly coexist with mechanisms that mitigate hierarchy; for various suggestions on how to do this, read my posts. Of course if you want to eliminate hierarchy completely, that would require stamping out liberty. But not only do I not endorse that, it's probably impossible.

But history abounds with cases where hierarchical power was weakened without reducing individual liberty, and indeed in many cases while extending it. The end of divine right monarchy is one such example. Others are trivially easy to generate. I contend that we are nowhere near the Pareto frontier; society abounds with hierarchies created and maintained through oppressive force that in no sense emerge as a necessary consequence of individual freedom. And I contend that hierarchies of the form which Scott seems to lust for are too often of this type. Talk to me about trade-offs between the equality and liberty when we get anywhere close to having to make them.

Of course, examples of policies which mitigate hierarchy while minimally impinging on liberty may be harder to come by if you consider all extant forms of property rights to be necessary for individual liberty. Again I think this is plainly untrue, and in fact that many property rights contradict more fundamental individual rights: consider for instance consider IP, which I take to violate any reasonable formulation of freedom of speech. There are other, subtler examples. Anyway, Nozick's acceptance of property rights as more-or-less universally things which increase individual liberty is the other (and far deeper) flaw in his argument. Although I don't know the full scope of the rest of your positions, I suspect it may be a flaw in yours too.

Main vibe I get from Scott is that he's afraid the masses are going to hold back the visionary genius of the cognitive elite who are the only ones who matter and are the ones we need to save the world, in the 00s it was pretty clear those masses were those voting the republicans, now it's easy to make that seem like those voting democrat, but regardless I'm gonna argue that's a right-wing belief man.

[sunderedandundone]

*Jumping on the skekTek example first off... let me just say their relationship was one of my favorite parts of AOR, it was perfectly codependent. I think skekTek’s mind is one of Chamberlain’s favorite to manipulate.* Definitely C. expends some of their finest craftsmanship on Tek, but you know? They don't mind-fuck poor Tek in the relentless way the Emperor and/or SkekVar do, those two take the prize. (I have a theory that the Skeksis in collective and SkekSo in particular bully Tek so badly *because* they sense how dependent they are on Tek's work, so they crush what's left of Tek's shriveled spirit in order to keep them working hard in their basement, terrified of punishment and constantly seeking the others' approval -- that way, they literally get no time to think through how fucked up the general situation is.) Sil, to their credit, at least doesn't light *that* gaslight -- they understand and happily admit how important the Scientist is. Of course, if there is only one Skeksis that Tek ever gets a word of praise from -- only *one* Skeksis that Tek knows is overall on their side (a peeper beetle or two notwithstanding...), then Tek has one and *only* one Skeksis to be grateful to or confide in, right? Never a bad situation to cultivate, especially when your whole trade as a bureaucrat/politician revolves around information. ^^ <!--more--> *I swear the hierarchical outlines were brilliant in this show, you could seriously write a paper.* Hahahaha! If you have a uni library card, I will bet you a shiny dolla coin that somebody *already has*. This is exactly the sort of thing that excitable young master's and doctoral candidates in the humanities do their theses and dissertations on. If they've done Firefly (and they have), if they've done fandom anti culture (and they have), then SOMEBODY's done the Skeksis somewhere. ^^

*if skekVar hadn’t come in and just fucked all the shit up I could seriously see this happening,* Seriously, fuck you Var...I have several beefs with that...beef. ;-) *with the Chamberlain being the one to spread the “good news! Gelfling who sacrifice themselves will ascend!”* Ooh, I like that one! Yep, you'll be brought into a *very special and close* relationship with the Great Crystal, after all, right? Yeah, ignoring Seladon's offer is but one of 'So's many moves of profound self-sabotage, to the point where one almost suspects a subconscious death wish or at least subconscious masochism (not the fun kind). ::head shaky:: *in my utopia (again, where there are multiple seasons) Seladon and skekSo would enter into a... political marriage. And they’re both disgusted by the other and sleep in separate chambers but damn if it doesn’t ease the species tension XD* Ohhhhhhhhhhh.........deeeeeeear. Well, I mean, she wouldn't even sort of be the *first* royal to be politically forced into a loveless marriage, or even into marriage with a God, this is a classic monarchical peace strategy, so I can def see it from that position. :-D What about the all-Maudra succession, though? Does it then fall to Brea to have an heir? Or will a baby gelfling be produced and claimed to *somehow miraculously* be SkekSo's daughter? Are we perhaps eliminating the Maudraship entirely or subsuming it into the 'divine marriage' or whatever? Or is succession moot because the plan is to keep Seladon alive forever on some of that good ol' essence from her own species? We wonders, precious!

*Did you mention at all if you think C is the evilest of the skeksis? Cause I thought that was the biggest argument, not whether he was only in it for himself. I still say yes... mainly for the fact that if the entire empire was based on his words and ideas* I hadn't mentioned it directly. ;-) I did directly say that Sil was almost the only Skeksis with a genuine interest in the species' and Empire's well-being, but that's not *necessarily* the same as being less evil, hmm? I don't really have a clear ranking for Skeksis evilness but I do have 'So and 'Sil in the top two. Which is *worse*? Well...depends on definition? Sil as you said does come up with the evillest innovations especially of the later era, the draining and the Garthim, so there's def a case for #1 there. OTOH, I suspect 'So was more the driver of evil in the earlier era (in the later era, their own increasing ill health, and the paranoia and desperation that creates, definitely has eroded a lot of their gifts, so that might explain 'Sil coming to the fore more, evil-wise!) -- and they are DEFINITELY the one who is most to blame for the Darkening. Not just for its worsening to planet-threatening proportions, and for its being right there as a pool of radioactive waste under the Skeksis' feet -- but *probably* its coming into existence in the first place. I HC that the dream of Empire came out of 'So's mind originally too. For me, So/Su is very much the guru/cult of personality/inspirer of things, for better or for worse. So the most likely arc is, *they* envision an Empire, and then *'Sil* starts their creative mind clicking on what that Empire should looks like and how to build it and protect it, etc etc. Overall, I HC very much a mutual-enabling scenario among all the Skeksis and to some extent among all the UrRu and UrSkeks as well, particularly between So/Su and their disciples. As there would be in most cults of personality. So again, hard to ascribe exact ranks, but definitely 'Sil is up there. 'Sil does, again, though, retain some more positive traits right up to the very end (relative to an *extremely low bar*, mind you :-P ) -- they *always* remain a rational actor, and they remain the only person who seems to think beyond themselves...even if they themselves ultimately OF COURSE come first! (Especially once their once-beloved guru is dead. I really do think that when 'So was in their glory, 'Sil was probably almost as bespelled as everybody else by their charisma. ^^ ) While 'So is unfortunately robbed of any lingering vestige of their concern for Empire and Skeksis by their final days -- because of some combination of epic thanatophobia, the very legit existential/body horror of their later existence, and Darkening-accelerated dementia. (Which btw I see all the Castle Skeksis as having by the time the movie plot arc rolls around.) Whereas almost the only positive thing I can say in SkekSo's favor is that they were the one who decided the Skeksis needed some kind of *meaning and purpose* beyond raw instant gratification. Without them there to inspire an ambition beyond, I think even 'Sil might have just fallen to mindless predation from the very beginning. And I think there was in that some subconscious remnant of SoSu's old conscience and love? That what was left of SoSu's personal drive of guilt, responsibility, and indomitability, i.e. "I got my faithful disciples into this mess, so I'm going to get them out," was alchemically transmuted in their Skeksis half to "I am going to gift my disciples this incredible vision of glory and also make it happen in real life somehow, and make all their pain worth it in the end, and *I will be their savior after all*." One can admire the sheer grit of "welp our old civilization is gone, I guess we'd better get cracking on making a new AND MUCH BETTER one." Sounds like you have 'Sil at #1 on the Evil List for sure, but I'm curious to know who's your #2? 'So? :-D #AllHCAreValid

Possibly unpopular HC (Dark Crystal, Chamberlain)

SkekSil actually *does*...*mostly* want what's best for Skeksis.

[Because it apparently can never be posted enough: #allHCsarevalid. I don't invest any but the most minimal ego in my HCs and even your strong disagreement with them does not hurt me. Long as you're not an asshole about it and can distinguish reality from fiction. ^^]

[And because it tends to come up in discussions of antagonists: mentally walking in a character's POV shoes is not endorsement of that character's actions. It is in fact...writing. Convincing characterization of villains/terrible peoples absolutely requires the ability to reframe the story from their perspective, regardless of whether you ever actually write in their narrative voice or show a visible authorial attitude toward them, or not.]

[spoilers; CW for canon-depicted violence and general awfulness, etc]

Okay, so hear me out. Obviously Chamberlain's also an arrogant little shit who was driven to murderous rage when another Skeksis claimed their official spot at court as royal vizier, so I'm certainly not saying there's no individual ambition there.

But a Skeksis who *only* cared about *personal* glory would've taken credit for coming up with the essence-draining idea. (Chamberlain IS smart like Scientist!) Whereas SkekSil let not only SkekSo but Beloved Scientist think that Beloved Scientist had come up with it. The only selfish motive I can think of is if they were seriously worried the experiment would fail? But that seems unlikely. Seems much more probable that the C. wanted SkekTek to get credit, so that the Scientist never got SO high on the Emperor's shitlist as to end up actually incapacitated -- imprisoned, replaced with some numbskull, extreme maiming, exile, who TF knows. Which IS a valid worry, given that as calm and confident as 'So pretended to be at the Ceremony, SkekSil witnessed the Emperor completely and violently freaking out all over SkekTek about it just a few moments later (when they thought they were unobserved).

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