#(which btw meaning can be derived from both endings which like. no one seems to grasp at all. one is accepting that you can’t change realit

[pinkfey]

was going to say this yesterday but lord forgive me all of a sudden i think max and warren are cute ://

[power-chords]

Some Miami Vice Thots*:

Big Screen, I Notice More Stuff: That club is called MANSION. Linkin Park (from Agoura Hills, or what seems to me to be the Westchester, NY of the San Fernando Valley — Californians please correct me if I'm wrong), mashed up with Jay-Z (a Black billionaire from the mean streets of Bed-Stuy, the New New Gatsby/Big Joe Turner). Relevant to bullet point immediately below.

According to Michael Mann Miami in the mid-aughts is Age of Discovery (Digital Edition) meets Crime Family Feudalism in recursive recurrence, multiple timelines and identities inhabiting the same geographic vectors (everyone is always forever in motion). The very first interaction Sonny has with someone who is not a team member is a bartender who says she is from Lisboa, to which Sonny replies, "But you got your tan in Miami." This is what I read: She's the "reformed" Portuguese equivalent of the character in this Butch Walker song. She came from money, she lost it perhaps, but she's been since... repossessed? There's a more sinister interpretation under the surface, since she is under the roof of a powerful (and possibly related) employer whose business operations require unwavering loyalty + utmost discretion in exchange for protection (which in this case is also exploitation). Tan, in other words, as a form of Midas touch. Sacrifice to a sun(/SON!!!) god (or is Sonny more of a defecting Samson figure, speaking to an inert "Neon" Delilah who will only feign at seduction/betrayal, moving through the moves?). So already these two characters are speaking in code to each other, which is an amazing storytelling device on Mann's behalf, and you can shake so much out of that.

Derived from the above: "My Mommy and Daddy know me," hilarious line btw, becomes double-doublespeak, quadruple-speak! Not only is he pretending to tell the truth under a fabricated fundamental, the statement itself is yet another subtextual lie. His parents don't really know him, they just thought they did, which is why he's run off to become what he's become. Rico is the partner who acts out of duty first, love secondarily; Sonny is the Byronic inverse. Diaspora southern gothic. I like to think this is the mythic re-interpretation/inspiration Mann wishes a certain American population would draw from, in lieu of... current political/pop cultural figureheads.

Gina tenderly comforting the injured Zito... this shot is seconds long and yet captures my heart every time! Where is the backstory fic for these two!

Once again, the Rico/Trudy sex scene is a definite contender for the most affectionate, respectful, and sensual one in Hollywood history

Oh, Isabella. My girl Isabella. I overheard someone in the lobby call this film "such a guy movie." I don't know what drugs these people are on. Especially when counterpart to the hypermasculine satirical camp is the sensitivity and sympathy with which Mann portrays the situation of women, how we are exploited either way/anyway, deprived of romantic trust/human partnership by being put at risk by men and also by them denied the agency of taking risks for ourselves. There's both heartbreak and hypocrisy in how she attacks Sonny at the end, screaming "Who are you!" (The audience's heartbreak is: We have an instinctive uneasy sense of the systems that force her, and the rest of us, to live as hypocrites. Who are any of us, anymore, really!)

I was like MICHAEL DO THE GARMENTO CRIME DRAMA W/ ME and he was like "I made Miami Vice already, dummy! Pay attention!" Me: "OK!!!" [Pays a visit to Auerbach's Keller in Grand Central Terminal and then stays up until 5 AM playtesting West Village: Walpurgisnacht/watching the Chicago & Miami Postmodern Pseudepigrapha about Non-Recourse Factoring]

The "color coding" in this film is bonkers. More on that eventually, I'm still chewing on it.

The duality of Man(n)ager: the tragic pathos imbued to Alonzo vs. the vaudevillian coercion of Nicholas. "Why is this happening to me?!" cracks me the fuck up. This most powerful, literally biblical quandary of them all, the whole of Mann's filmography boiled down to its most singular and direct (I.E., truthful) expression, in the form of a persecuted exclamation, and it's played for laughs. Because what can you do except laugh! It's Job(/lowercase job) as circus performance, as a cabaret act. Job's poetry parodied into factional slogans and Shandyan-American dick jokes. I can't believe people think this is a stupid movie, it's pretending to be stupid!!!

*The appropriate spelling for this film in particular

[mrs-gauche]

While I know it’s generally bad for leaks to happen (unless they are intentionally encouraged by the developer, and yes this seems to be a thing, as Mark Darrah himself even mentioned in the past), and there’s no real point in overanalyzing something that is pre-Alpha footage from over a year ago (!!)... I’m just glad it didn’t contain some major spoilers story wise, because I wouldn’t know how to avoid them until whenever this game actually releases. 😂 I’d like to know as little as possible about the story and the characters going into it.......

........That being said.. I’m a hypocrite, I couldn’t resist and took a tiny little peek 😂(and if you don’t wanna know anything until there’s something official, I completely understand, just don’t read any further now!), so all I want to say is

HOLY SHIT GUYS This seems legit and we are probably looking at the very first glimpse of REAL (pre-Alpha) DA4 gameplay footage after EIGHT flippin years, which means this game is REAL, it’s actually happening, it’s a real game that’s playable and everything and ahhhh!!! Weisshaupt?? Davrin?? A dragon?? Darkspawn?? Purple stuff??? DID YOU SEE THAT HAIR ANIMATION THOUGH??

Ahem. Okay, so with the first wave of euphoria out of the way now, how are we feeling about THIS

Hmmmmm 👀👀👀

HMMMMM

OHHHHHHH

Seems like the spirit of Joplin lives on after all?? 👀👀👀

I’ve already seen plenty of people speculating and while we should take everything with a grain of salt here of course, there was a comment on a reddit post by another (supposed) playtester that confirmed “Rook” to be indeed the protagonist’s name/title! 👀 And while this could be of course just a placeholder name for whatever it’ll actually end up being, there could be a lot to derive from this!

- As people have pointed out, “Rook” does sound a lot like a code/spy name, much like Charter, Butler, Farrier or any of Leliana’s spies

- Rook being also a type of crow, fitting in perfectly with the bird themed names like Hawke

- In slang, it’s ALSO another word for “swindler” or “deceiver”, which also reminds me a lot of how there was a Lord of Fortune in Tevinter Nights who used the name “Hollix” as part of their disguise during a mission (which btw was actually the name of Dorian’s mother’s pet nug lol)

So all of this considered, and assuming that the leaked footage might have been part of the very beginning of the game (and how the leaker seemed to suggest that Grey Warden is just one of multiple factions you can choose from!), can I just say that my speculation about how DA4 might start off with an infiltration mission of one of four factions (Grey Warden/Antivan Crow/”Veil Jumper”/Tevinter.. something), while playing as a “spy” (/Lord of Fortune?? 👀) under the alias “Rook”, might actually turn out to be true after all??? (°ロ°)

I mean.. it could just end up being a simple “choose your class/faction” at the start and that’s it 😂, but either way, if we get something resembling different “origin stories”, like depending on which faction you choose, the game starts off with a different mission (similar to what Cyberpunk did?), I think that would be an awesome concept! (Not setting any expectations here though! 😌 The game might start off at Weisshaupt no matter which faction you choose!)

But back to topic, the rook being of course also a piece in a game of chess, which was depicted on the cover of Mark Darrah’s red “Joplin” book first seen in 2016!

Which in turn also of course immediately takes us back to the amazing mind chess game between Solas and Iron Bull, referencing a real game that happened in 1851 known as “The Immortal Game”. While people have been taking Solas sacrificing most of his pieces as well as his queen (Flemythal) only to then strike the final blow and win by moving the bishop (mage) as foreshadowing and also a perfect respresentation of how both Solas and Iron Bull think and strategize, what’s interesting to note, is that it’s the turn in which Bull takes Solas’ rook that ultimately seals Solas’ win in the end. 

Now, this could mean absolutely nothing of course, but with this new information from the leaks, maybe there’s more to it than we think. 👀

Then there’s also the link to Solas’ final Tower tarot card of course...

Other than that, I just think it’ll be really cool to have a chess themed aesthetic for DA4 following the tarot card theme of DAI! Or just the idea of having a “game of minds” like the Immortal Game rather than just relying on “brute force” with an antagonist like Solas, that requires a certain level of strategic thinking and consideration from us in how we act/make decisions to outwit him, would make a lot of sense to me!

(Or we might as well reference that one Simpsons episode with the “human chess board” and cover both brute force AND strategic thinking lmaoo)

Or, even better, let us do something like the flippin “logic chess” mechanic from that glorious Ace Attorney spin off game lmaooo

Let’s bombard Solas with some hard hitting arguments. lmao

I will say though that, if “Rook” does actually end up being the title/name of our next protagonist, I’m once again very curious how the hell they’re gonna make this work in the localized versions, if they do attempt to translate the name literally. Let us pray that they’ll just stick to English for this one, or else the multiple meanings of the term will be completely lost in translation. lol Can’t wait to play as flippin “Turm” in German or “Tour” in French. 😂

[agentravensong]

While I'm here, I wanted to say something else:

I'm pretty sure Tenna is going to be the main boss of chapter 3, not Mike - and I don't think Mike is going to be the secret boss either.

Between the damn_you_tenna page (btw, has anyone picked up on the url maybe being a utena reference? just me? cool) and the Twitter Q&A, it seems pretty clear that a) the TV (Tenna) and Mike are separate characters, and b) that Spamton hates the TV/Tenna, but cares about Mike. Perhaps even considers (considered?) him a friend.

The two things that make me think Tenna will be the main boss of the chapter are:

a) We've gotten multiple direct hints to their existence now, from both all this and in-game, with the smile appearing in the TV static as the last image we get from Chapter 2. An obvious cliffhanger - too obvious for their existence to be a surprise like with the other secret bosses. I mean, they're called "secret bosses" for a reason. Remember, Jevil gave no hints about Spamton, but he *did* give a hint about Queen.

b) The tweet makes a reference to "THAT [Cathode]'s CREW". If we assume this is referring to Tenna, which makes sense based on the use of cathodes in CRT televisions (and recall the line from Spamton's fight about turning "THOSE [Cathode Screens] INTO [Cathode Screams]"), then it makes me think there are multiple other characters working for Tenna. Miniboss-type characters that our crew will have to contend with over the course of Chapter 3. (This is also supported by Spamton saying "EVERYONE WILL PAY" except Mike, implying that there are multiple people at fault in his eyes, even if it all comes back to Tenna.) And, structure-wise, it makes a lot more sense for the main boss of the chapter to have a bunch of encounters with lackeys building up to their battle than the secret boss.

Now, as for Mike... my thinking with him is that, again, he's already been hinted at too much to be a proper secret boss. Though, it could start being a trend now that we're two of seven chapters in that secret bosses start getting hinted at, I suppose.

The other thing is that he seems to have been Spamton's friend, specifically during his Big Shot era, whom he lost contact with (likely, cut Spamton off). And yes, Spamton is a boss (in video game terms), but what elevated him to the level of climatic secret boss was his attempts to transcend his Darkner status by taking the NEO body and then Kris's SOUL... not just being a salesman who appeared on TV sometimes. Maybe Mike has gone off the deep end since then, but at current, for as little as we know about him, he just seems like... some guy.

My prediction for him right now is that he'll be more of a Sweet Cap'n Cakes type, where we fight him - perhaps because he initially thinks we're working with/for Tenna - but then he becomes our ally, whom we may actively try to protect from Tenna's crew.

That all being said, it's worth keeping in mind that Spamton is... an unreliable narrator. It's possible that Tenna and their crew aren't actually that devious; that they aren't the bad guys.

...then again...

...maybe not.

EDIT - I almost forgot one other thing that makes me think Mike won't be the secret boss:

Tenna as the main boss of Chapter 3 will put the focus on the entertainment side of this Dark World. I'm sure there will some personal ties back to the Dreemurr family with them being the TV that got unplugged by them some time ago and being the centerpiece of the living room (I can only imagine the things they've seen/heard), but, at the end of the day, they're a TV character in a TV world.

So, it would make sense to me if the secret boss is derived from a different element of the Dreemurr household more specifically focused on Dreemurr family backstory. Something like the discarded flowers in the trash can, or the missing green crayon, or any other number of forgotten, non-TV related items. Which, assuming Mike is a microphone or something similarly tied to the TV / its shows, would not include him.

[aboveallarescuer]

Btw, I wonder if you ever thought about the Jaime/Cersei and Dany/Daario relationships paralleling eachother? I never see people talking about it but some of their quotes and scenes seem intentionally similar to me. + For example, how Daario and Jaime's (yes, Jaime Lannister is a toxic romantic partner, the fandom can stay mad) reaction to their respective marriage proposals are heavily linked with posession (more so than love).

First of all, Anon, I'm assuming you're the same person who sent me two asks, this one and another about Tyrion. Re: the latter ask, I basically agree with your comments and have nothing substantial to add, so I'm going to focus on answering this one.

So, yes, I had thought about similarities between Dany/Daario and Cersei/Jaime before, but I'm glad you sent me this ask because you made me think of more parallels and antiparallels. They are certainly worth discussing because they highlight different aspects of Dany's and Cersei's characters and make it clear, once again, that they are meant to be foils.

(I'm not going to add book quotes here because I'm tired, sorry... But you can ask for evidence in another ask if you find anything I say questionable)

Daario and Jaime are both hot-headed, arrogant warriors presented as alternatives to the husbands of the two queens (Hizdahr, Robert).

Both Dany and Cersei love these men instead of their husbands.

Both Daario and Jaime react angrily when they find out that Dany and Cersei are going to marry.

Both Daario and Jaime ask the queens to leave their husbands and to be with them instead, but they both deny their requests.

Both Daario and Jaime offer to kill their queens' husbands for them. Both Dany and Cersei imagine the two men following through with their threats at some point.

Dany ends her affair with Daario after she takes Hizdahr as her consort. Cersei doesn't end her affair with Jaime after marrying Robert (and she did nothing wrong in this particular situation).

Neither Dany nor Cersei hides their affairs well (though it's worth noting that Cersei is being more reckless in doing so because she was queen consort and her power derived from Robert, while Dany was queen regnant and, therefore, had power in her own right. Indeed, Dany taking Daario as her lover is compared to Lewyn Martell, a man, taking a paramour in Dorne. That certainly isn't how the Faith views Cersei's affair with Jaime. Also, as I said above, Dany's affair lasted while she was unmarried, while Cersei's happened while she was married).

Dany thinks she'll never have a child with Hizdahr because she believes she's infertile. Cersei thought she'd never have a child with Robert back when he was alive because she always took measures to prevent that from ever happening (and she definitely did nothing wrong here).

Dany idealizes her relationship with Daario way more than Cersei idealizes hers with Jaime. For instance, Dany says to herself that she would give up her crown for Daario if he ever asked her to do so, but she doubts he ever would because she assumes he loves her solely because of her power. Cersei never considers giving up her crown for Jaime (to be fair, I don't think Dany would've done that for Daario either). In this particular case, I actually think that Rhaegar is Cersei's Daario, because it's with Rhaegar that Cersei dreamed and still dreams of marrying and having his children and living a blissful life together (though, even in that fantasy, Cersei would still want to be queen, while Dany thinks she'd be content living a normal life alongside the man she loves without any power or luxury in the house with the red door). Daario and Rhaegar (rather than Jaime) are the men who bring out Dany's and Cersei's romantic sides (which makes sense because Cersei idealized Rhaegar back when she was a young girl like Dany). Rhaegar is the one that got away for Cersei, and I imagine Dany will have similar feelings about Daario in the future.

At some point during their reigns, both Dany and Cersei send Daario and Jaime away, but for opposite reasons: Dany does so because Daario advised her to kill her subjects and she's appaled by the suggestion; Cersei does so because Jaime advised her to cooperate with her subjects and she assumes that that means he is disrespecting her authority (which he does sometimes, but not always).

It's harder for Dany to be apart from Daario than it is for Cersei to be apart from Jaime. Dany immediately regrets her decision to send him away and even goes as far as to think that, because she had an indirect role in Hazzea's death for allowing Drogon to roam freely, she is a monster just like Daario (seriously, how can anyone think that book!Dany is arrogant???). Meanwhile, Cersei only comes to regret her decision to send Jaime away after she needs his help, specifically after the Faith arrests her and she has no reliable option to choose to fight for her life in a trial by combat.

Both Dany and Cersei spend most of their storylines away from these men. (I could be wrong, but I don't think GRRM had Daario out of the picture because he was supposedly bored with him like I've seen some BNFs or 'neutrals' argue... I do think that was a choice specifically made to strengthen the parallels between Dany and Cersei).

Both Daario and Jaime feel jealous of Dany's and Cersei's relationships with other men throughout AFFC/ADWD.

Daario returns with the Stormcrows when Dany recalls him even though it would have been beneficial to betray her and turn to Yunkai's side, especially since he already knew that the Second Sons had done that. Jaime doesn't return when Cersei asks him to go back... You could even say that he switches sides, in a way, by deciding to prioritize Brienne's request instead. This is part of a larger pattern: while most of Dany's people (including Daario) remain loyal to her by the end, almost all of Cersei's allies abandon her. While it's said that Dany managed to keep everyone (former slaves and former masters) together, Cersei destroyed the Lannister-Tyrell alliance due to her poor decisions.

ADWD Daenerys X ends with Dany thinking about how Daario wouldn't mind seeing her in such a messy state like how she is by the end of the chapter. AFFC Cersei X ends with Cersei hoping against hope that Jaime will return and win her trial by combat. Both expect to be reunited with and to be saved by their lovers at the end of these chapters.

Dany doesn't trust Daario, but she doesn't close herself off from him either, which is why she has the support of the Stormcrows. Cersei says she lost her trust in Jaime, but then, by the end, she is in such a dire situation that she desperately decides to put all her hope in him and trust him way too much (to a degree that even Qyburn finds concerning since he lost his hand). This is part of a larger pattern: while Dany is wary of some people, she knows that she should still take risks and make alliances. This attitude doesn't make her omniscient and she is not immune to making mistakes or to people (like Brown Ben) betraying her, sure. That being said, Dany still remains open-minded, cooperates with influential allies and makes a peace agreement that could have worked if the deal wasn't inherently false for prioritizing the privileges of the masters over the lives of the slaves and if her primary goal wasn't to protect the disenfranchised first and foremost. Meanwhile, Cersei thinks she should distrust everyone, which leads her to alienate potential allies that could have been useful and to be surrounded by people who claim to agree with her on everything, but who are neither experienced nor reliable. Then she creates plans that rely way too much on these very untrustworthy people, which is why they backfire: from the construction of the dromonds (which she relied on Aurane Waters, who turned his back on her) to the attempt on Bronn's life (which she relied on Balman Byrch, who turned his back on her) to the scheme to have Margaery and her cousins arrested (which she relied on Osney Kettleblack, who turned his back on her) to the decision to rearm the Faith Militant (which she relied on the High Sparrow, who turned his back on her) to her decision to trust that Jaime (who also turned his back on her) will return to fight for her life ... I'm sure there are more examples, but that's enough to illustrate my point. Cersei's thinking is too extreme, while Dany has a healthy distrust of others. As a result, Cersei makes hasty decisions and burns bridges unnecessarily, while Dany is able to make more carefully weighed decisions, as well as to create and maintain important alliances.

Finally, I think Dany and Daario's relationship is more positive than Cersei and Jaime's. Not only there's no verbal abuse or disrespect of sexual consent like how it happens with Cersei/Jaime, but Daario didn't switch sides to Yunkai, gave her good counsel (such as when he tells her to hold court and reminds her that her children need her) and genuinely cares about Dany, which we see from when he tells her not to get married time and again to when we contrast him with Osney. He is possessive and brags about sleeping with her on some occasions, yes, but I think it was @evilwomen who pointed out in one of our conversations that Dany doesn't feel bothered by any of that, which goes to show how much she loves him, since she's willing to forgive actions that would be considered insults for his sake.

So, once again, thanks for this ask, Anon, it encouraged me to think about connections that I hadn't considered before.

And you know, I said this before and will say it again... This is why I think Dany is the YMBQ... Not just because she clearly fits all the requirements, but because she and Cersei were way too carefully written to parallel and contrast each other (so much so that the author mentioned that in multiple interviews). You said you "never see people talking about" the parallels between Cersei/Jaime and Dany/Daario, but look at how much I managed to find off the top of my head (and I'm not even sure this is comprehensive, tbqh)??? Now imagine that happening to all of their casts of supporting characters and to all the political events and to pretty much every single aspect of their characterizations and storylines. Their parallels and antiparallels are really overwhelming, and it's why I decided to make gifs showing why they're foils.

[bloededhoine]

world building cause twn doesn't part 4: elves!

everyone loves elves! they're a fantasy genre mainstay, archery is so sexy, and they have those E A R S. plus, they play a pretty important part in the witcher universe!

series masterpost

colour code cause i fucking love colour codes - already happened/introduced, probably s2, important background info, stuff that might be in the prequel, extras

background

i'd recommend going through the last parts, or at least the tl;dr's first

elves arrived on the continent about 2000 years before humans, and are divided into 5 distinct cultures of varying importance: aen undod, aen elle, aen seidhe, black seidhe, and aen woedde

elves only came to the continent in one group, but not all of that group stayed. the different branches based on where they settled make up the different cultures

the main two languages in the witcher are common speech and elder speech (aka hen llinge), the former used by most humans and the latter used by the elder races

aen undod

the aen undod are the oldest elven culture, having existed years before the conjunction of spheres

their home world faced some huge catastrophe, so the aen undod left in search of new worlds, leaving their descendants to become all the future elven cultures.

the aen undod spoke the oldest dialect of elder speech, laith aen undod, or one speech

aen elle

the aen elle use a language derived from hen llinge called ellylon, in which their name means "of the alders"

they don't actually live on the continent, having abandoned it years ago for their own world.

however, when the aen elle arrived in this new world, it was already populated by humans and unicorns. unfortunately, these elves are notoriously ruthless and both the native species were eradicated.

the capital of the aen elle world is tir ná lia, and is described as stunningly beautiful, featuring open air buildings made of marble, alabaster, and malachite. here it is in the third witcher video game, by djkovrik on nexus. their screenshots are amazing btw.

[ID: screenshot from wild hunt showing tir ná lia. the city is built on cliffs above a sea, there are waterfalls falling from the cliffs and bridges connecting them. there are mountains in the background and the buildings are fairly small and out of focus, they seem to be in the gothic revival style with ornate windows and steeped roofs. end ID]

the ruler of the aen elle was auberon muircetach, king of the alders and aen saevherne (aen saevherne is the honorary title of an elven mage who has extensive knowledge of magic, geneology, history, and many other subjects). auberon was also ciri's 5 times great grandfather. this gwent card pretty much sums up his vibe: scary yet sexy.

[ID: illustration of elven man with long white hair on a brown horse. he has defined cheekbones and facial features and is wearing a gold crown and blue robes with a red sash, gold belt, and leather boots. he is holding a white unicorn head in one hand. the unicorn's horn is cut off, and is bloody around its neck and where its horn was. end ID]

auberon's consort was another aen elle named shiadhal, with whom he had one daughter, lara dorren. lara is so so so important for the witcher, as she is the beginning of the elder blood, or hen ichaer.

hen ichaer is a gene that carries incredibly powerful magic, and those who have it are usually sources. i talk more abt this in part 3.

for better or for worse, lara dorren fell in love with a human sorcerer, cregennan of lod, and left tir ná lia for him. auberon took this as cregennan "stealing" his daughter and therefore the hen ichaer, and developed a pretty hefty vengeance and dedication to "take back" what was his (yikes).

this also set a precedent of people "claiming" the lives of carriers of the hen ichaer

auberon also formed an elven cavalry known as the red riders or wild hunt (dearg ruadhri in ellylon) and he appointed eredin bréacc glas as their commander. the initial purpose of the wild hunt was to travel to different worlds and capture slaves for tir ná lia, although they later became auberon's tool to find and exploit carriers of hen ichaer.

the wild hunt also uses specially trained mages known as navigators to open portals to other worlds, the most notable of these navigators is caranthir ar-feiniel, who doubled as one of eredin's most trusted men.

the aen elle also live a pretty long time, average is around 650 years, so the timelines are kinda hard to keep track of.

notable aen elle include: auberon muircetach, shiadhal, lara dorren, eredin breácc glas, crevan espane aep caomhan macha (aka avallac'h, also an aen saevherne and lara dorren's ex), caranthir ar-feiniel (also avallac'h's foster son), ge'els (the viceroy of tir ná lia), and imlerith (general of the wild hunt)

aen seidhe

put simply, the aen seidhe are the elves that did not leave when the aen elle did

the aen seidhe don't really have a society like the aen elle, they're pretty dispersed across the world. but, there are certain areas the aen seidhe have claimed as their own.

one of these little civilizations is dol blathanna, also known as the valley of flowers. unfortunately, it's not an independent state, as it was conquered by aedirn in the 1150s. however, then-king baldwin thyssen did allow the elves to retain a lot of their cultural identity and live in peace.

dol blathanna includes the village posada and the capital silver towers, which is where filavandrel aén findháil is from. he's that sexy man right there

[ID: photo of white elf man with blonde hair going to his shoulders. he is wearing tattered green robes and is looking slightly to the side with his lips pursed. end ID]

not that anyone cares, but here's him in the hexer. it's not important to the lore or twn it's just fuckin funny

[ID: old man with white frizzy wig. he is wearing a headband that appears to be rocks on a string. he has what looks like a potato sack tied around his shoulders over a green tunic. he is scowling. end ID]

outside of dol blathanna, there aren't really any places where elves can live with minimal human interaction, although the blue mountains are home to a few incredibly powerful elves

side note: dol blathanna is technically part of the blue mountains, but is in the far southern foothills so they're usually treated as separate entities.

the blue mountains are also a natural border dividing the northern kingdoms from the far east, and where filavandrel went to live after he got fed up with dol blathanna.

they're also the home of ida emean aep sivney, who's also an aen saevherne and future member of the lodge of sorceresses.

next season, we're going to meet the beautiful elven sorceress francesca findabair, also known as enid an gleanna (hen llinge for daisy of the valley)

here she is with fringilla vigo (nilfgaardian sorceress) in twn season 2. note that enid is preggers! that's very odd and i will go into detail on it later

[ID: photo of two women walking side by side. the one on the left is black and has black hair in braids going over one shoulder. she is wearing a silver dress with a similarly coloured floor length coat. the one on the right is biracial and has strawberry blonde hair in a braided updo. she is wearing a floor length blue gown with gold embroidery and a metallic brown cloak. she is pregnant. end ID]

enid is crazy interesting and important for the story of the witcher (and confirmed for season two!), so i won't go too in depth about her now

as i mentioned in part 2, nilfgaard tends to favour elves, leading to a lot of militaristic forces allied with nilfgaard. most notably, the scoia'tael, or squirrels. the scoia'tael are an incredibly ruthless and effective nonhuman guerilla force, generally divided into commandos, units that patrol a given area and eliminate the northern (or simply human) threat.

there are a lot of scoia'tael, so i'll just give you the commanders for now: angus bri cri, coinneach dá reo, iorveth, isengrim faoiltiarna, riordain, and toruviel.

you might remember toruviel as this sexy angry lady from twn, and she is possibly going to get a much bigger role later... pay attention to toruviel.

[ID: young elf woman with white skin and red hair tied over her shoulder. she has a bloody nose and is wearing a light green top with a dark brown leather studded belt. her belt is also around an olive green coat. she looks quite angry. end ID]

the scoia'tael were very well organized, but also quite dispersed, so when nilfgaard needed more specific tasks done, they would assemble specific military units (usually led by some of our favourite squirrels)

the vrihedd brigade was the most important of these units. they were especially notorious for their cruelty in the second northern war, so i'm sure we'll meet at least a few members next season.

their leader was colonel isengrim faoiltiarna (aka the iron wolf), and his officers coinneach, iorveth, riordain, and angus.

francesca findabair is not directly involved with either the scoia'tael or the vrihedd brigade, but she does work quite closely with them very often.

also important to note that not all scoia'tael are aen seidhe elves, most (including all higher ranking commanders and officers) are, but there are a number of nonhumans including dwarves and halflings.

unfortunately, the aen seidhe are slowly going extinct, both from years of genocide from humans and their slow reproductive cycles (elves live a Long time, but can only have children towards the beginning of their lives)

that's why it's so surprising to me that enid is preggers! we don't exactly know her age, but by my calculations she was over 150 in twn (pretty far past the age elves can have children).

because of this, elves are pretty divided between fighting against human rule and seeking coexistence. there are arguments for both camps, mainly that humans are colonizers and should not be trusted for the former, and that elves are dying out already and need to live with humans to survive for the latter.

the most prominent stand for the fight was in the 1060s when an aen seidhe named aelireen led an uprising against humans. most of the elders told her that it wouldn't end well, but she didn't listen and led hundreds of young elves into battle. it was an utter massacre, and basically all elves who could have children died.

yikes

unfortunately, the movement for coexistence was just as unsuccessful. it was led by our man cregennan of lod, lara dorren's husband. the poor simp just wanted to live in peace with his wife, but a lot of humans thought he was a traitor because he married an elf, and he and lara were murdered in 1137 in redania.

the last real push for independence was with the formation of the scoia'tael in the 1260s. I say 1260s because the very beginnings of the scoia'tael were right around 1262-1236 (the start of ciri's timeline) but they became majorly important around 1267. although, even the scoia'tael realized they needed humans to survive and began working with nilfgaard.

however, some scoia'tael are less keen on being nilfgaard's attack dogs, leading to further division amongst the aen seidhe.

black seidhe

remember the elves i talked about in part 2 as being the ancestors of the albans? this is them!

the black seidhe are native to the south, more particularly the valley around the alba river. they are practically extinct, but the nilfgaardians carry a lot of their cultural identity in the nilfgaardian language, a variation of hen llinge.

aen woedde

the wood elves, or aen woedde, is the elven culture we know the least about, they primarily live in the areas around nilfgaardian forests and speak hen llinge.

the only notable wood elf is aenyeweddien, or iskra, a member of the rats, a gang of semi violent youths in the northern realms. we'll learn more about the rats in future seasons.

tl;dr: elves, especially the aen seidhe and aen elle cultures, make up a large part of witcher lore. they are most notable for their long lifespans, magical and historical knowledge, and militaristic alliances with nilfgaard.

[littleeyesofpallas]

SO.... HEROINE'S JOURNEY. YA?

There are a few approaches to the Heroine's Journey and they're all a little wonky as fuck.

is to look at old myths about Heroines and find patterns in them, the way Campbell found patterns in Hero myths. Problem here is that there's much less narrative consistency in those, and they're generally a little less common, and so there's not as much of a pattern to distill into a neat little diagram.

is to craft a psychological model for little girls coming of age, akin to the one the Hero's Journey provides for little boys, and work off that. This is nice, but tends to lack the weight and kind of viral catchiness of the mythologically derived formula

is just to genderswap the Hero's Journey, or to put a Heroine through the Hero's Journey as is. These most often fall apart on account of having zero critical assessment of what the plot being acted out is or how it functions. No one learns jack squat, no one grows, and as a shitty cherry on top the plot just looks derivative. (Looking right at you, Force Awakens.)

The old mythic approach is generally ignored for being far too loose. It also tends to revolve around awkward at times sexist narratives of purity and purification as a process, the role of healing, mending and forgiving flawed and often outright antagonistic individuals, preservation and protection of the home, and consequently a lack of real adventure. It very often ends in an ascension to goddess-hood by way of or for the ends of some kind of self sacrifice. I'm not super keen on this for a number of reasons, not the least of which being the narrative trend in which a woman's role is give herself up for the good of others... But worth pointing out here is that the myths that can be referenced that don't fit these themes are so wildly different both from the proposed core formula and even one another that they don't outline a new or alternative trend at all. Women that kick ass in myth absolutely exist, but they tend to be unique rather than formulaic, be that for better or for worse...

Funny enough Zelda: Skyward Sword utilized this in a fascinating way. As Link goes through a very conventional Hero's Journey, really beat for beat, in his pursuit of the missing Princess Zelda he continually gets to the end of a dungeon to find that Zelda was just there, but he missed her and she's moved on. And in fact each time this happens we learn that Zelda had her own reasons for visiting all these temples and sure enough this background plot that Zelda has been acting out is the mythic Heroine's Journey.

Seeing the two acted out in tandem, and showing how the two actually facilitate and serve one another in a bigger picture is actually a really brilliant way to tell these old stories. Zelda's quest has added urgency because we know that as she progresses, the encroaching evil is only barely being beaten back by Link. and Link's Hero's Journey is given new importance because his Meeting with the Goddess isn't just about shipping him with Zelda, it's about saving Zelda from the consequences of her self sacrifice.

The distantly Jungian derived model is actually only as old as 1990 and came about as a centerpiece in a women's self-help book. Maureen Murdock suggests this process:

Shift from feminine to masculine

Identification with the masculine

Road of trials

Experiencing the illusory boon of success

The descent/meeting with the goddess

Yearning for the reconnect

Reconciliation with the masculine

The union

In which the girl has to adopt masculine agency in order to act upon the world in the way man are expected to and girls are not. She adventures with these masculine skills/features at hand. She feels fulfilled by these conquests, but then must face the idea that masculine conquest is not a valid or meaningful kind of accomplishment. She has a conflict of self, dives deep into the self to meet with her own feminine side, now long repressed. She learns to want to be a woman. She confronts the flaws of the masculine pursuit she's been on. She learns to embrace both gendered identities and is at peace.

This thing has so many little bumps and hiccups and things to get caught up on. I'm really not fond of it. It's a product of its time and its writers' predecessors' biases and already kind of misaligned premises. (Btw this is a huge contributing factor to the plot of Revolutionary Girl Utena.)

The second version is generally exemplified in the Heroine's Journey formulated by Victoria Lynn Schmidt. I'll be totally honest, I'm not as familiar with that one. But it was written to more directly mirror Campbell's Hero's Journey in its cyclical nature and use as a writing template (where as Murdock's was decidedly less focused on story telling applications) and it's major pitfall is that it really doesn't seem to have any kind of "universal" mythic origin, and so kind of lacks the punch Campbell's implication of myth speaking to the innate human psyche in the universal familiarity of its trends.

Illusion of the perfect world

Betrayal/disillusionment

The awakening

The descent: passing through the gates of judgment

Eye of the storm

All is lost/death

Support

Rebirth/moment of truth

Return to a new world

Like I said, I'm just less familiar with this one in practice. It doesn't feel like a terrible plot or character arc, and there are aspects of it that I really like, even. But it doesn't really feel like it particularly "fixes" any of the problems at hand with its predecessors.

And the third one, I mentioned is typically just bad and stupid; a creative decision made in pure ignorance. When removed from any psychological context the motions of the plot become meaningless. But a fascinating case of sort of doing it was Disney's Moana. Not because it genderswapped the Campbellian Hero's Journey but because it chose to merge the myth Hero and Heroine's Journey together, and yeah, in which a little genderswapping happened to be involved.

Moana's role is to "stay" and be mother to her people, to protect and preserve, to purify and heal and forgive... BUT in a beautifully deft twist she discovered that preserving her people's way of life means heeding the call to adventure/call of the sea, means venturing into the unknown to learn new things and conquer trials... it means meeting with The God, Maui (instead of the Goddess) means confronting The Mother (Instead of the father) but instead of defeating her like a Hero, healing her like a Heroine. It really beautifully juggles the two cycles in a way that doesn't give either one supremacy over the other, in the truest Reconciliation/Union of proposed masculine and feminine. (Yes, the Te Ka/Te Fiti reveal was 100% a textbook Vader moment.)

But of course the big pitfall this, and the original Hero's Journey fall into is the assumption of some kind of deeply essential gendered aspect of psychology, and not separating elements of biological impulse as they relate to psychology from the heavy HEAVY filter of socialization. On the one hand, I still believe the Hero's Journey, and some variations of the Heroine's Journey(s) can absolutely be utilized in writing in a deeply meaningful and largely accurate and affecting way. But I'm also very much in favor of seeking out alternatives to these in ways that pursue more of that universal appeal that Campbell thought he'd tapped into. But that is yet another rant entirely...

[ijustdontlikepeople]

hi there 💛

could you pls explain in-depth the casting for you 5sos x greek gods edit? would love to hear how was that thought process, as a greek mythology enthusiastic ��

i really loved it btw !! 💜

Hi! I sure can! I’m glad you like them!! 💜

Apollo was the Greek god of music, healing, and prophecy. Overtime, he also took over the duty of driving the sun chariot that caused the sun to raise each day from Helios. He is associated with pythons because he slew the dragon, Python. He is also gave us, Laurel wreaths as a sign of victory. Apollo was in love with a nymph called Daphne; he chased her for a while until another god took pity on her and turned her into a tree. (Daphne means Laurel). Laurel wreaths became a sign of victory because they were presented to the winners at the Pythian and Ancient Olympic Games. He has many more facets and roles, but these are the ones displayed in the edit or which I see connecting Apollo and Luke.

So the edit has a sun background. Golden ichor (blood of the gods) coming from his eyes. A Laurel wreath on Luke’s head and a python in the upper right corner.

So I picked Apollo for Luke for a few reasons. One, I have a bit of synthestia and they are both gold. Moreover, Luke reminds me of sunshine. Additionally, the god of music makes sense for the frontman of the band. And I feel like healing is also adapt for him, because it’s pretty clear he has healed a lot in the last few years.

Hades was the Greek god of the underworld, of the dead, and riches (specifically under the Earth). (He was not the god of death). His most famous story is arguably kidnapping Persephone, who became his wife. This myth sets up the reason for seasons in the ancient worlds. Persephone is goddess, and the daughter of Demeter - goddess of agriculture- so when Hades takes her to the Underworld she is not dead. However, she eats 6 pomegranate seeds which causes her to have to stay in the Underworld 6 months of the year. Pomegranates and seeds are therefore highly associated with Persephone and Hades. He is also well known for his three-headed dog Cerberus, who guards the entrance to the Underworld. (Fun fact: Cerberus might derive from the Ancient Greek word for Spot! So his dog might be named Spot!) Again this not a full account, but the information important for this edit.

So the edit has dark eye makeup, and a dark dog in the upper right corner. The crown is made of Pomegranate seeds and the background circle is black marble. The border is a generic Laurel wreath because I wanted to find a Helm of Darkness (a helmet that Hades had that made him invisible and maybe incorporeal) but I couldn’t find a good image.

I know this might be a bit of a weird one. Again a bit of my synthestia, both are black in my brain. So how Hades got Persephone is not good (kidnapping is bad) but they end up being one of the most functional couples in all of Greek mythologies. He only has a handful of children and they are almost all with his wife (which is weird compared to Zeus and Poseidon). Michael and Crystal have the most visible and the longest running relationship of any of the 5sos guys. Hades love for his dog is also a connection I see between him and Michael. Also, of all of the guys, Michael seems to have the most side-hustles. He’s making the dough.

Dionysus was one of the “younger gods.” He became a god in a weird way which I won’t get into. He is the god of wine, partying, madness, and vegetation. Occasionally, he was given the epithet “Eleutherios” meaning liberator. His myths generally involve partying turning into wildness, like drunk women ripping a man to pieces. Dionysus is highly associated with grapes, ivy, vines, and drinking cups.

Calum in the edit has eyes of multiple colors. He is against a purple circle surrounding by vegetation. His crown is ivy. Grapes are in the upper right corner.

So these guys don’t match in my color brain. But, of the main 12 Olympians I feel like the partier is the right fit for Calum. He seems like he knows how to have a good time. I don’t think he is crazy (lol) but he does have a bit of temper (not saying a bad or unjustified one). Also, like he seems to spend a lot of time (when he’s livestream or people are posting pictures) outside. I associate him more with the outdoors than any of the other guys.

Last but not least, Hermes. Hermes is the god of travelers, orators, cunning, and commerce. He is the messenger of the gods and a psychopomp. Hermes’ main symbol is his caduceus, a staff with two snakes twisting around. He is also known for his winged sandals and helmet.

I associate Hermes with blue so that’s the running color scheme, though this is not a classics thing. The circle behind him is a night sky because he flys between the boundaries of the Heavens, the Earth, and the Underworld. The crown is blue gems, I wanted to find a winged helmet or even just a crown shaped liked wings to invoke the helmet, but I could find one that worked with Ashton’s head angle. The border is a common Greek motif on pottery.

Ashton is the one, especially in the beginning, who seemed to be in charge of a lot of the business side of things for the band. Or at the very least, in charge of relaying what the band wanted to their business people. Even now, he’s the one emailing the merch company about bad orders for fans. He also does a lot of the bands social media, being the messenger for the band to the fans. He is a “wordsmith of sorts” and the connects him to orators. Ashton is clearly a cunning business man to have had the success he had with his independent solo album. Additionally, in the tour diaries and instagrams he seems to be the one always looking to explore the places they travel to (Cal often being right there with him though).

So yeah. Sorry for this super long answer! I hope it’s okay! I love talking about this kind of thing! 💜

[intermundia]

Hello, I was reading your meta about how Darth Vader is a lich (it’s excellent btw) and I was wondering if you could expand more on the classical meaning and uses of the terms “phylactery” and “lich.” I know that phylactery has long refered to the boxes attached to tefilum used in jewish prayer (I’m jewish) and I know the root of the word is derived from Ancient Greek but prior to reading your meta I had heard that the modern use of the “phylactery”/“lich” mythology came from D&D in the 70s. Is there an earlier record of this mythology? Thank you.

The paired terminology lich and phylactery absolutely did enter the modern popular imagination through DnD and other fantasy literature in the middle of the 20th century. I think it’s modern mythology, using extant archetypes to create something new.

The pairing of an undead magician and an object containing their soul/anchor to life are both evocative of earlier mythological elements but not identical. It draws on the ancient idea of magic being a kind of binding and the very ancient concept of the soul. BUT, the words were not linked before the 20th century, and come from distinct heritages.

In DnD, a lich is corporeal, gaunt and skeletal, with points of light burning in place of decomposed eyes. Their soul (life-force? identity?) is stored in an object that binds the soul to the mortal world and prevents it from traveling to the Outer Planes after death. The phylactery itself is usually an amulet in the shape of a small box, but it can take the form of any object with an interior space in which arcane sigils of naming, binding, immortality, and dark magic are scribed in silver. The magician’s soul persists inside the box.

Since about the Middle Ages, the word phylactery’s meaning was specifically fixed to tefilum (small boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses of the Torah), but before that, back in antiquity, it meant something more general like amulet or charm—small objects worn for magical/supernatural protective power.

The word comes from the verb φῠλᾰ́σσω (phulássō, “to protect”), and meant a fortified garrison, and then over time the meaning was adopted and changed into a protective amulet. The Jewish usage is a specific continuation of a long-standing tradition, one that Christians (I think) moved away from as ‘superstition’ and a legacy of paganism.

In antiquity, phylacteries were created using binding spells, engraving, and inscription (spells/magic words, invocations of supernatural beings like minor gods, naming, etc). They were usually tied around the body, either strings/bands, or strips of metal/papyrus was inscribed and then rolled up or folded and carried in a pouch or tubular container. The container itself was not the φυλακτήριον, the inscribed/magical contents provided the power. They were thus not conceptually hollow and did not provide a vessel for a soul or anything like that.

There was no specific association between φυλακτήριον and preservation from death. They affected things like social relationships, brought prosperity, warded off the evil eye, that sort of thing. There was a great deal of paranoia in antiquity about binding spells/curses like defixiones cast by other people, and amulets/phylacteries were more about that and general protection from them and other misfortune than preservation of the life force.

I know that by the Middle Ages, Christians had phylacteries that contained relics (e.g. the finger of Marie of Oignies in the 13th century was placed in a phylactery). So, what was contained inside the phylactery and powered the protection was no longer something inscribed, but a magical token related to death. Christians, though, did not have any desire to keep their souls alive and away from God (based on my understanding of Christian doctrine, the idea of trying to bind the soul to keep it away from God is incredibly deeply sinful?). Those phylacteries then were also good luck charms within the context of having a good, safe, and happy life.

Why then did 20th century fantasy writers decide to use the word phylactery to describe a magic vessel protecting the soul? I hope the lingering Christian fingers-in-a-box and general magical-safekeeping-amulet meanings of phylactery were in the minds when they paired the term with lich, but it may very well have been a direct appropriation of the Jewish (common, modern, recognized) meaning of the word, I honestly do not know.

In terms of the vocabulary, lich (from Old English lic, corpse), is borrowing resonance from something called a ‘lich gate’ which stood at the lowest end of the cemetery where the coffin and funerary procession usually entered. Fantasy authors were probably trying to draw both on the corporeal/physical (i.e. not a ghost) undead figure, and the idea of transition and liminality that the lich exists inside, both dead and alive. Liches refuse the final transition, essentially, to go through the gate.

I think it’s a mash up of ancient ideas—by pairing these words, the writers in the 20th century created a modern sort of undead creature. There is no history of lich/phylactery before the 20th century, but both words are very evocative and conceptually related to magic (phylactery) and the narrative undead villains in stories (lich) through the ages, which is perfect for fantasy stories and games that tell stories in those worlds. I think the use of Old English too evokes Tolkien’s contributions to the fantasy genre. 

By making it specifically a magician (intellectual) who chooses this transformation for themselves, as opposed to a creature animated by something else’s power, it is reminiscent of the concept hubris, especially nerds who seek to know too much and have too much power through technology/human knowledge. Naming it after something Greek also seems to evoke that it is esoteric and something learned from study, while lich is very idk Anglo-Saxon and old in a primeval way.

The whole concept seems very modern to me also to externalize and concretize a soul into something that can be stored like an object (is it from external memory—computers?). It’s a very secular and materialist appropriation of a magic/sacred concept, aka the bread and butter of fantasy lit.

Corpses reanimated by supernatural forces are present in almost every belief system in the world, as well as the idea of souls (ghosts) that persist without bodies. What is interesting is the mechanics of how these creatures are reanimated, how they stay reanimated, and how they are destroyed. That is a whole other subject tbh, a whole book could be written about this.

Tl;dr—the combo of lich/phylactery is modern, but evocative of older things both through name and through mechanics.

[electrika]

zutara rant

ya know after rewatching atla as an ✨adult✨ (well i’m 19 so barely) i have to say i really don’t understand why aang and katara got together in the end...

just hear me out!!!! (btw this is very long, I apologize)

when i was younger i really disliked katara as a character for some reason. really I think it was just internalized misogyny. but ultimately, i didn’t want her and aang together because i thought he deserved better, meaning someone who liked him as much as he liked them.

now i think katara is such as badass and i love her so much. you can be a strong and be femenine at the same time, those traits can coexist and i totally see that now. but ya know, that was my childish reasoning behind being anti-kataang, because i hated katara and wanted better for aang.

as a child i was also anti-zutara, i genuinely liked the zuko and mai pairing, though i really just wanted zuko for myself lol. (and my peanut sized child brain never considered mlm, so zukka wasn’t even on the table, i’m sorry)

but now i think zutara makes the most sense and here’s why:

even from the beginning with book one there’s connections between zuko and katara

“you rise with the moon, i rise with the sun”

katara’s necklace in the water bending scroll episode and the one where zuko tracks them with june’s shirshu

there’s also so much red and blue symbolism with the blue spirit and the painted lady (opposite colors/nations helping what the hate most. for zuko its freeing aang from zhao, for katara its helping the fire nation people.)

zuko learning to redirect lightning which is a move derived directly from water bending

talking about losing their mother in the crystal catacombs

etc.

by book 3, katara has zero romantic interest in aang. sure they kissed at the invasion and it was cute, but when he tries to kiss her again (during the ember island players episode) she was not into it at all. she backs away immediately and said she was “confused” but i think she only said that to spare his feelings.  and in my opinion it’s also because of zuko. katara had JUST made up with zuko the episode before and it’s clear he really understood her. 

a lot of people have been pointing out how katara says to aang and sokka that they don’t understand why she wants revenge on the guy who killed her mother, and yeah its pretty messed up for her to say that to them. especially becuase her and sokka have the same mother and aang’s whole race was wiped off the face of the planet, BUT she grieves differently. sokka even says he doesn’t really remember their mom, he thinks of katara. so the void he may have had for their mom was filled by her. for aang, he had the teachings of the monks about peace and forgiveness, and he had sokka and katara to support him. 

katara didn’t have that experience. she was the last person to see her mother alive. i can imagine that she probably felt tremendous guilt for it and for the fact that her mother died protecting her. on top of that, her dad left to fight in the war, and she was left as caretaker at such a young age. katara was forced to grow up very quickly. 

zuko’s path is kinda similar. his mom left, sacrificed herself for him, and then his father banished him and gave him an impossible task to complete, forcing him to grow up almost instantly. that’s a pretty similar arc in my opinion. so in the souther raiders episode zuko totally understands katara’s need for revenge. i think thats why they understand each other very well.

in the episodes after the souther raiders zuko and katara are so close. he makes a point to sit next to her during the play, they're also very close in proximity when looking for aang before the comet. she’s there to support him when he seen his uncle again, and when he challenges azula to the agni kai for the throne. why did the strongest water bender on earth go with zuko to reclaim the fire nation throne when aang and the rest of the gaang went to fight the fire lord and his army?! (for plot reasons it’s so katara can heal him from the lightning when he essentially took a bullet for her. but wouldn't she be more helpful destroying a navy fleet or their ground troops???) but even so, just being there with zuko instead of aang is a big deal!

another point i have, is that aang HAD to let katara go in order to go into the avatar state. there was a whole episode on it and that’s WHY he died! so him letting her go forces the story to move along. it doesn’t mean they no longer have a connection, but i think with all the mothering and mentoring katara did for him that a romantic relationship between them doesn’t make sense in the end.

also maiko is just not a very healthy relationship. in the fire nation it seemed like they were each others “safe place” away from azul and their respective families. but in the end zuko didn’t trust mai (i think because of her apathy) and she didn’t like his temper which they argued about in the beach episode. she did save him at the boiling rock and while i don’t doubt they care for each other, i don’t think it’s in a romantic type of way. i don’t think either of them knew what love was in their childhood so they assumed it must have been romantic when in reality they just cared deeply for each other (and also i think mai and tylee are gay for each other soooo...)

another similarity between zuko and katara is how they are treated as benders. zuko was always being compared to azula who was quite literally a prodigy. he wasn’t necessarily bad at fire bending but since azula was so amazing he looked weak in comparison but he totally could hold his own with zhao during their agni kai (just like when katara fought master paku). katara was also considered weak. the whole first season until the north pole, she struggles to bend her element. but all she needed was a good teacher. and especially after she met hama and seemed to unlock something in herself, her skills were unmatched. similarly, once zuko found the correct “fuel” for his fire bending and learned to bend it using techniques from other elements, he was definitely a force to be reckoned with. (not to mention he also completely masters wielding dual swords too.) by the end of the show they are both masters of their element. zuko learned from the sun warriors and katara learned from the northern masters (but i’d say it had more to do with hama).

katara and zuko are just too similar and mirror each other too much for their characters to not have a romantic relationship.

i truly think that making kataang canon was a last minute decision because zutara makes the most sense for the sake of the story.

[boopypastaissalty]

Here sre some of my Sanders Sides theories. Long post btw so yee

Roman and Remus were originally one all-encompassing creativity, then they split and become the two different sides of creativity, or the "Creativitwins". Their names seem to follow a theme: Ancient Rome, specifically the legend surrounding the creation/beginning of Rome. I think that the original creativity's name was Romulus. Here's why: Remus killed Romulus over a land dispute and then started the city of Rome in his brother's name. Citizens of Rome are called Romans. Though it could be argued that Thomas's moral sense as a concept, not necessarily Patton, separated the two, thus "killing" the original creativity.

Patton may have suffered from anxiety and could have created Virgil as a way to relieve some of his stress, therefore making him Virgil's "dad" in a sense, in Patton's mind warranting him calling Virgil "kiddo" all the time.

We all know that Patton is allergic to cats, but what about the others? What are their weaknesses? My speculations are that Virgil is iron deficient, as he doesn't like to rise up because it makes him dizzy, he is also described by Roman to be the "fairest of them all" and then admitting it was a pale joke in Virgil's expense. Roman is lactose intolerant, as when Patton is feeding him cream of broccoli soup, Logan says that it will "upset Princey's stomach". Logan is OCD: Always planning and organizing things. He gets upset when things don't go exactly as he plans it. He also feels the need to always be right and to make sure everyone else is kept in line. Also: Patton seems to suffer from depression. Oftentimes depressed people crack jokes and give people the general idea that they are happy. They also try to make other people happy. Patton also sometimes gets into these sad funks and even says "I had this problem where I'd hide my less than awesome feelings, so when I would feel like sobbing I'd just smile and crack jokes. I thought that was coping, only joking, never showing sadness, hoping it would just go away".

The thumbnail for "Putting Others First - Selfishness v. Selflessness Redux" has a character selection screen telling the viewer to "select a side", but one thing I noticed is that there is a blank box, indicating a locked character or a character who hasn't been revealed yet. Another thing I noticed is that the sides have a rainbow theme going on. Thomas even says that he is "full rainbow all the time" as an allusion to his sexuality, and possibly even the sides in general. Roman is red, there is no known orange side, Janus is yellow, Remus is green, Patton is light blue, Logan is indigo, and Virgil is violet/purple. Red is the color of physical strength, power, confidence, and passion, which suits Roman's personality. Yellow can be happiness and joy, but also directly means cowardice and deceit, which is self explanatory. Green is a color of healing, life, and vitality, but the flip side being greed, jealousy, pessimism, and superficially. Blue is the color of trust, loyalty, faith, wisdom, truth, patience, and understanding, which sums Patton up pretty well. Indigo resembles wisdom, integrity, fairness, impartiality, and justice, which is all right up Logan's alley. Violet is the color of ambition, dignity, devotion, pride, mystery, independence, magic, being cynical, and mourning, which all makes sense in Virgil's case. Now to orange, which resembles joy, sunshine, risk taking, adventure, enthusiasm, creativity, attraction, success, rudeness, frivolity, and untrustworthiness, which is a balance of traits that both Roman and Remus have and directly resembles creativity, so orange could be a fusion of Roman and Remus, the original creativity before they split. Another possibility for the next side is someone who resembles ethos, as we have pathos and logos (Patton and Logan).

All the sides have an ancient Rome theme going on. Roman and Remus, after the legend surrounding the beginning of Rome. Virgil, after the Roman poet Publius Vergilius Maro, who is often called Virgil. Janus (formerly known as Deceit) after the Roman god of the same name (Janus is the god of new beginnings and transitions, often depicted with two faces facing in opposite directions, one for the past and one for the future). All of the sides except for Patton and Logan, whose names are derived from pathos and logos, an ancient Greek concept proposed by Aristotle. And have you noticed that they mirror each other in almost every way, suggesting that, much like Roman and Remus, they are brothers, possibly even twins?

Dukes tend to not be a part of the royal family, but if so they are princes who have gotten married. Does this mean that Remus is married?!?!? If so to whoooo?

Welcome to me overthinking things again! What if Roman has control over the other sides? Like he's creativity and the sides are figments of Thomas' imagination, so like what if one day he was just done with Logan's nonstop fact train he just (this is extreme) went: "Fuck you, Logan, you're dead now" and Logan straight up dies? Like where would his power end if he could do that? Overthinking things can be scary kids, let me do it for you.

If you overthink it: Patton basically just was like "Nah" in POF SvSR. So he said in SvS that going to the wedding would make Thomas feel good, something that he basically controls because he is Thomas' moral sense and at the center of most of his feelings. Basically Thomas went to the wedding and Patton was like: "This is nice and all and you did the right thing, but uhmmm about those happy feelings. No." And then got all sorts of frustrated about being wrong. So yee. I am just doing the overthinking things thing again.

What if creativity split solely as a big "Fuck you, Logan"? Like I just imagine: C: "Hey Logan, I'm performing mitosis"

L: "Yes, your cells- *he looks up* Whaaaaa?"

R&R: "Cha cha real smooth, Logan"

And thus the twins were "born"

Logan thinks feelings are bad and claims to not have feelings, even though he clearly does (cough, cough, Crofters the Musical? Getting angry in some episodes? Logan, you're a bad liar, bud). So he bottles up most of his feelings, for all practical purposes making him a ticking time bomb. Something's probably going to happen and he won't be able to hold it all in and he'll have an emotional breakdown of sorts. Another thing is he will not duck out. He knows he's too important to Thomas' mental wellbeing for that. He is also getting progressively more angry as the others listen to him less, so he's probably going to overwork himself trying to get everyone to listen to the point where he physically can't be there for Thomas. Cuz like I suspect Logan leaving would have the same effect as Thomas having a massive stroke: The right side of his body wouldn't work, he wouldn't be able to talk/communicate, and his reasoning skills would be gone.

Janus just loves philosophy. Every episode in the main timeline, he makes references to famous philosophers to get his point across.

Patton is always the first of the light sides to accept the dark sides. First with Virgil and then with Janus. He may be taking them in as his troubled but lovable children who he will defend under almost any circumstance.

Virgil's name is not Virgil. People think his full name is Virgilius, though Thomas and Joan have previously stated that it isn’t. Bc of that, some people have theorized that Virgil was lying about his name, or that when he moved to the “light sides” he changed/used a different name, and maybe they’re going to reveal that sometime. Like the scene with Remus and Vee where Re goes, “I would never hide anything from you” looks pointedly at Virgil, and you assume it’s bc he took forever to tell Thomas, but what if it’s bc he was lying about his name from the moment he told Thomas??? And also the moment when Janus says "It takes a liar to know a liar" and Virgil says "Don't" and the response was "What? I'm only talking about your name" I think his name could be Acanthus

Ya know, Patton probably has an indirect role in how the other sides look. Not like "But you're anxiety, you wear the hoodie" but closer to Thomas beliefs of stuff like lying is bad and the fact that Janus often plays devils advocate, so he has a snake face

Random thoughts:

Virgil has the most ace/demi aesthetic and I love that

SvS: Multi part episode, "bad/evil/dark" side gets accepted, the FEELS, angst. Hmmm…

The twins getting along and just like sitting at a table causing minor chaos.

Patton randomly hugs everyone. He just does.

Janus and Patton: animal bros

[illusion-reality-steve]

asd;lkewto9eufh43 (Reaction to Violet Steves)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHsowpUGKFQ

ngl, I’m so excited and so terrified, omg

Finally, we meet the Violet Steves!!!

Also...I got a headache from this episode...bleh. The Violet Steves broke my aromantic mind.

Setting: pink, cake, hearts, purple houses, romantic lighting, pink trees

Me: I LOVE IT ALREADY

***

"Does it make you uncomfortable that people are surrounding us and there are flowers in their hands?”

Sabre: I think this place is gonna be awesome because they’re all about love!

Also Sabre: I’m getting cult vibes

***

Leader: They aren’t the brightest.

Then we later learn that they have a deep philosophy.

Violet Steves don’t always get their turn with the brain cell. But when it is their turn, they smart as heck.

***

omg, what if Gerald is evil and Jerald is a actually assigned-pink-sheep-at-birth?

And Gerald asked Jerald to take him to the Violet Steves to recruit pigs? That’s why the pigs went missing.

***

“love potion”

...This is the kid-friendly way to said either the Kool-Aid or alcohol or a spiked drink

***

PORTAL REFERENCE

***

The more I see Sabre done with pufferfish and other fish, the more he seems like a vegetarian in this series

***

This village and the Violet Steves are bringing out a fusion between the Illusion Steve voice and the crazy Sabre persona out of Sabre, and I love it

***

*mental image of Violet Steves climbing walls like geckos or parachuting from the ceiling to get to the roof*

***

Orange Steve at the Violet Steve spying at them at the bottom of the stairs:

(language warning)

***

Alright...the Violet Steves remind me of the Orange Steves.

They’re like...the more wild side of creative people, while Orange Steves represent the more sophisticated side.

I think this really affects the main Orange Steve.

The Violet Steves village reminds him of the Orange Steve village. And visiting that place...it should feel familiar to him, but it’s not.

Things have changed so much for Orange that things that used to be familiar are changing. Things will never be the same for Orange as more and more people know about his power and his heroic role in the story.

I wonder if Orange Steve feels overwhelmed by all of the expectations and visiting the Violet Steves was his breaking point.

***

Violet Steve: Love is the strongest force, and the reason why wisdom, creativity, health, spirit, and connection

Me: *starts getting a headache*

*DEEP INHALE*

*DEEP EXHALE*

Ok, basically, they’re saying that every motivation is “Love for _____.” Which means they believe that if you have motivation, you have love.

Hmm, as someone who’s been in the aromantic community for years and read a lot about the (harmful) implication of loves...I’m ok with this. This message is true. Steves are like humans. And humans use love and community to survive. We do things because we love someone or something. However, I think “hope” or “passion” is more accurate than “love.”

Here, love is used to describe one’s motivation, not one’s humanity. As long as they don’t equate motivation with humanity, this is good and won’t harm anyone imo.

I was worried that the Violet Steves would send a message about love that excludes a lot of people. But overall, I’m ok with this as long as Rainbow Quest doesn’t pull an arophobic card and say that Nightmare, Darkness, and Dark Steve are horrible because they don’t love. The leader already said that “ Even those who choose the path of evil did it for their love of power and control,” which is nice. They just need to keep it up, and never create a loveless villain. If they do create a loveless villain, they should introduce a hero who doesn’t feel love (or two heroes) to balance it out (or maybe confirm that Light Steve is loveless without dehumanizing him).

***

Anyways, it’s good that they portray love as a powerful, but wild force. Not purely good or purely evil. Just neutral.

However, I’m a bit worried that the Violet Steves used love to test Orange Steve’s heroism. They’re lowkey saying that the more you love, the more heroic you are. That kinda contradicts what they said about love driving both good and bad people.

It is a good, timeless moral lesson to love all people, but there are always exceptions.

What if more villains come? Technically, Dark Steve is a Steve and Violet Steve told Orange Steve to love all Steves. Is Orange Steve supposed to love his abusers or the ones who tormented his friends? Because that is yiiiiikes.

Eh, guess we’ll figure it out as the plot continues.

***

I think Violet Steve’s power is charisma and being a wild card.

Violet Steves are all about love, and they said all other things are derived from love. So I think they’re a wild card that can imitate other Steves to make connections.

They acted like Orange Steves (quirky and creative) in this episode. They already know about Sabre and Orange, so they’re omnipresent like Blue Steves. They also act like philosphers, like Red Steves. What’s the difference between being wise and knowing that love is the meaning behind all of this?

***

...Alright, that episode wasn’t so bad! The love theme didn’t bother me too much!

That poem at the end: *exists and is read outloud*

...nvm. I didn’t like that poem for personal reasons

*mind breaks again*

***

You know what I would love to see?

I want to see more villains introduced that the Violet Steves have to fight.

What if we get more villains who are pessimistic and believe that people aren’t driven by love, but out of selfishness (like if they’re nice, it’s always for a selfish reason)? I think it would be epic to see the Violet Steves fighting to prove that their belief is better than the villains’ belief. It would be deeper than the Illusion/Reality Steve arc and the Elemental arc combined.

***

btw...Violet Steve are based around a belief, not a personality type or a skill like the other Steves.

And people aren’t born with their beliefs.

So...they might actually be a cult

***

Gah, I’m SO lightheaded after this episode. I’m gonna faint soon.

[onisionisacanceronthisearth]

The Swamp Chronicles: The Appeal (Department of Engineering)

Ok, both appeals are a fucking riot. Like I am so surprised his lawyer was even remotely involved with it but her additions were also marvelous. It is riddled with lies, misunderstanding of facts and the law, irrelevant facts, and stupidity. It’s glorious and so damn obvious as to why they ended up settling because they would have lost and gotten a much worse deal. If it’s in italics it’s a direct quote, if not it’s a paraphrase or my thoughts + government rebuttals. Please enjoy everything wrong with this appeal from choice phrases to every argument they made

“Factual” Background

1.3 Pierce County claimed that the Avaroes had cleared a wetland area with a bobcat. In actuality, the Avaroes were clearing-off noxious weeds - blackberry, devil’s club, and nettles in their garden

So this starts their argument that work was only done in a very specific area that was a pre-established garden on their property. We know this is a lie because work was done much more than in a garden given the video and photographic proof but also, either way Greg needed a permit to use a bobcat to remove anything off his property and only himalayan blackberries are considered to be noxious weeds in his area so he’d need permission for the others as well even if taking them out by hand. By mentioning the other two as weeds being pulled up Greg has accidentally incriminated himself. Glad to know his lawyer gives a shit. Also their garden would have to be in their already landscaped front yard because everything behind their house is classified as a wetland. And regardless you’d need permits to use a bobcat on your yard

1.5 Such noxious weeds endangered the safety and health of Mr. and Mrs. Avaroes’ children

This contradicts Greg telling the government worker that he was giving himself a view of the water which was in the initial reports. This argument comes up over and over in different phrases. Honestly this is such a redundantly-written appeal. Also, cool, let’s say this was their true intentions and the plants they pulled, they still illegally used a bobcat on the property and pulled plants they shouldn’t have. Who assumes they can bring a bobcat on their property? Why didn’t Greg google this? Pulling weeds accidentally without permission? Yeah, understandable, and the county is lenient on this letting people off with warning about this all the time.

1.7 Pierce County has issued an Order to Correct without having the slightest idea about the area in which alleged wetlands are located - Avaroes’ front, rear, or backyard

Um, yeah they do, it’s literally their job and they included an aerial photo of their property showing their property lines and where the wetland is (most of their backyard). This is also followed by 3 more points making the claim that by ~definition~ they don’t live on a wetland and acting like the county is saying all the non-wetland plants on their property was what they planted and making arguments based on that (They have an unequivocal right to maintain such existing landscaping). Again, this is irrelevant because they still got no permits, this is not the argument they are making (this is about their clearing the property and nothing about planting and clearing isn’t maintaining), and legally most of their backyard is a wetland.

1.12 Apparently, Pierce County officials sent Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife to search Avaroes’  property and see if their gardening activities had impaired fish and wildlife habitats. 1.13 Without Mr. or Mrs. Avaroes’ permission, two WDFW officers went to their home and conducted a search of their front and back yards. The Fish and Wildlife officers found no violation. But, they passed-on information derived from their illegal search to County officials. Mr. Avaroe had denied County officials permission to search his property

Ok, so here Greg doesn’t seem to understand that he was under investigation initially by two departments (ecology and engineering) and the engineering department reffered his case to other agencies who might find violations like the Fish and Wildlife one and that agencies talk with each other. Greg denied the Ecology department’s head to check out his yard when she visited in August, that doesn’t mean he denied everyone from other agencies. The Fish and Wildlife officers knocked on his door on a totally different date independent of her, no one answered the door so they did a quick look around back and obviously they saw his front yard as they walked up to his door. Greg released a Patreon video showing this from what I assume is a security camera. Besides that this is legal (it’s in his property agreement that government workers can visit the house without permission, they’ve just asked out of politeness), they were there for all of a few minutes to see if he was working in the pond. They saw he hadn’t so they were not involved in the legal action taken against Greg. Nothing in either Notice of Order to Correct involved what these people did or didn’t find so these points are totally moot

“Illegal” search

All this says is that the county can’t use any “illegally-seized materials or information”. Besides actually admitting earlier in the appeal that the Fish and Wildlife people found nothing (and therefore had nothing to do with this appeal), they still say the nothing that was found by these people must be thrown out. I feel like they think that following this trainwreck of thought will cause everything to get thrown out. Not sure why the lawyer didn’t take out the part where they admit nothing was found or used from that department but ok. Btw, choice quote: ”All of the evidence derived from WDFW’s illegal search of Avaroes’ property is tainted and must be suppressed”

“Vague” as Applied

This is my second favourite part of the appeal, here they say the two notices were vague while listing all the codes the notices actually included!

I’m sorry but no, the first part of both notices start with a “violation” section and even I could read the notices and understand what they meant when they specifically list their violations. I included links to both previous posts on this if you don’t believe me or need a refresher.

3.4 The Order to Correct indicates that the Avaroes must obtain wetland approval, fish and wildlife habitat approval, and “obtain permits and approvals in accord with Title 18E or other Pierce County Codes” to authorize their garden maintenance activities (3.5,3.6,3.7 are varriations of this too)

Um, yeah. Certain activities on your property require approval because you live on sensitive land and right on the wetland. And you get those approvals or permits from the appropriate department... What do you not get about that? This is simple to understand, and again, most people wouldn’t think they could just rent a massive machine to work on their yard. Also, adding in the knowledge we have that Greg has cut down trees (the proof is literally on his channel and the aerial shots I’ll add below), who here thinks you can just casually cut down a tree on your own without proffesional help or a permit? Also 18E is all about living on sensitive land, so yeah, it’s the most applicable to yard work in your yard. Take note of the law Greg, then you’ll know when and how to get the approvals and permits you need for any further destruction yard work

3.8 The Order to Correct specifies that if the Avaroes fail to comply with the Order to Correct, that penalties will be imposed in the amount of $1,000, $4,000, and $10,000. It does not specify what acts will trigger the above penalties (note, they did forget the quotation mark after $10,000, that’s not me) 3.9 In addition, noncompliance with the Order to Correct will trigger misdemeanor charges

Another point where I’m convinced the lawyer didn’t read any of the information on the case because even I understood this point. Also because the lawyer would understand that Greg got two notices not one. If Greg does not comply with the requests from the Dep of Eng and Eco then he is fined a a total of 15k for each day of non-compliance. This could be anything from continuing to work (look on his youtube and leaked patreon videos and you’ll see that he did) to every day he is late in doing any of the tasks he was asked to like hiring a specialist. Also 3.9 seems weirdly tacked on afterwards

Correction notice violates Avaroes’ right to use nonconforming property

This is just lying that all the work done on his property was not Greg but the previous owners and that they are punishing them for it (except they admit that Greg did illegally remove plants with a bobcat earlier...). They are saying that because the previous owners did some landscaping Greg can do anything he likes on the nonconforming land. They also say that their house and lot were created before the regulated area was created. Again, they’re not being targetted for things they didn’t do, and not being targetted for owning the damn house. But at least here they admit that their property is on regulated land but they’re claiming the fact that the regulations were created after the property means they should be exempt from any yard work after the fact as well. At one point it wasn’t illegal not to talk on the phone while driving, so can I continue if I used to talk on the phone before it was illegal? No, of course not

4.9 Mr. and Mrs. Avaroe should not be obligated to spend thousands of dollars on permits and studies to authorize them to weed their yard

Dumbass, if you were just pulling the legally noxious weeds that wouldn’t require any permits. If you pulled some fucking dandilions no one would give a shit. You cleared the fuck out of your property with a bobcat! And, the stuff you admitted to was illegal anyways. Also the studies you are being asked to do would not have been necessary for the permit in most cases. It’s called for now because they need to assess the exact damage you’ve done. Of course if you’re doing total landscaping of your property (like you actually did), they will likely call for a specialist to oversee the development to make sure you don’t fuck up (the previous owners had to do)

The rest cries that they should be allowed to maintain their yard and the law allows them to do this. Again, that’s not what they were doing and they already admitted to removing plants not considered noxious or weeds. They also claim that aparently the county regulations are infringing on their right to due process and fairness... in their legal appeal they were permitted to start if they felt the county got the facts wrong. Also ignoring that one of the things they have to do is hire a third party to do impartial judgement on the damage to their property. They also finish off claiming the county didn’t tell them they live on wetland (the contract they signed when they bought the house did though) and again that their nonconforming rights have been violated (when they don’t fall under that ruling)

Additional “defenses”

6.2 Mr. and Mrs. Avaroe were innocent purchasers for value; they had no idea that they were prohibited from weeding their backyard

In both the Notices of Order to Correct the definition of what qualifies as innocent purchasers is explained. It means if you innocently buy a house where the previous owners have broken the law you are not to blame. It does not mean that if you are ignorant of the law you are exempt from it. WTF? Again, did his lawyer not give a shit?

Prayer for relief

7.1 The Tribunal should exclude all evidence procured from the unauthorized search of the Avaroe property

That search found nothing as you yourself said, if nothing is found it means no evidence of wrongdoing, unless there is a blank space on the notices I didn’t notice that aparently represents the fish and wildlife’s search, IT’S NOT PART OF EITHER NOTICE

7.2 The Tribunal should declare that the Order to Correct violates Mr. and Mrs. Avaroe’s right to due process

I have yet to see any reason why, no argument was presented

7.3 The Tribunal should declare that Mr. and Mrs. Avaroe have a right to maintain their existing yard

Even if you were dumb enough to think that removing trees is a normal part of maintaining your yard, 1. why did you tell the government worker you were giving yourself a view of the water, and 2. both notices explain that what you did wasn’t normal maintenance (which they themselves include a definition for in the appeal). Normal maintenance includes mowing lawns, removal of noxious and invasive species (not two of the three plants mentioned and the only permitted removal of natural plants), harvesting and replanting of garden crops, pruning (not removal) and planting of vegetation (must be indigenous native species). Also they need to provide proof that the work was all done before they moved in and they were just upkeeping what they thought was legal work. One way they could have done that is emailing this claim to the biologist of their area who can, with permission, go through the records for aerial photos of their property before and after purchase

7.4 The Tribunal should declare that Mr. and Mrs. Avaroe are innocent purchasers for value

Again, an incompetent lie

7.5 This Tribunal should accord Mr. and Mrs. Avaroe any other relief which is just and equitable

You would have gotten it if you didn’t lie, didn’t keep working past the don’t work order, didn’t send multiple emails of bullshit to both departments, were compliant, and accepted your mistakes

My conclusion

I think you can see why Greg and his lawyer gave up trying to push this bullshit. But we have the other appeal to deal with next up, and from it, I can’t say that Greg has never made me laugh in recent years. Too bad it wasn’t a joke

[prudencepaccard]

truly bizarre interaction that was like the intellectual equivalent of that thing at the karaoke bar

where this one guy who was part of a friend group I ended up hanging out with at a bar became progressively more deadpan hostile and competitive with me to the point that I finally returned his (explicit) challenges with a lighthearted plea for solidarity and then he claimed there was no competition but he’d LITERALLY SAID THERE WAS

it started with him asking me what my diss was on. I said “the imaginary of the bagnes metropolitains in the nineteenth century” and then used some synonyms in case he didn’t know what I meant because that happens sometimes, people only know one term so I was like “i.e., the bagnes metropolitains and the bagnes portuaires“ and he still seemed not to get it so I was like “travaux forces [hard labor]” and he was like “in what era?” and I repeated “the nineteenth century” and he seemed confused so I thought I’d address the most common source of confusion and said “not Guyana, not the colonies d’outre-mer, the bagnes metropolitains” and he was like “you mean Cayenne?” and I was like “not, precisely not that, the thing that preceded that” and he was like “Ah but that’s not travaux forces, that’s the bagne”

and I was like first of all, what, second of all I said “the bagne” first thing already but seriously what

and he was like “it’s not the same thing, travaux forces is anachronistic, we still have that today”

and I was like “but that was also a specific term used back then, a contemporary descriptive term. Along with the peine des fers. It’s in the code penal and it was used popularly. LIke you’re right that it’s not as specific as bagne but it’s not incorrect to use it interchangeably, they’re part of the same repertoire. Also I said bagne already”

and he’s like “well I didn’t hear you, sorry. And this isn’t an insult or anythiing but I’m just saying it’s wrong, French is very nuanced”

and I’m like “yes but it’s actually a very specific and correct term in this particular context. I get that there could be ambiguity potentially but since I’ve already estavlished that I’m talking about the bagne then travaux forces is a precise and apt term”

and he’s like “prisoners and bagnards aren’t the same thign”

and I’m like “yes but the word travaux forces can describe both. There’s overlap in some of the vocabulary and that’s one of the words in the middle of the Venn diagram. I get what you’re trying to say but you’re going too far”

“no, I don’t agree, you can’t use that term, it’s wrong”

“listen let me find an analogous example in English...so like, we use the term hard labor to describe actual practices today, right? but it’s still correct to say Oscar Wilde was sentenced to hard labor in the Victorian era”

“well how about the word slavery? would you use that interchangeably with travaux forces?”

“no, because it’s not juridique”

“aha see they’re three different things!”

“no they’re not that’s my point, there are two categories, travaux forces and the bagne have things in common with each other whereas slavery is in its own category”

“but they used the word slavery back then for the bagne too! [implying, I guess, that if it’s incorrect to say slavery for the bagne it’s incorrect to say travaux forces too]”

“only ona  metaphorical level, the bagne was never characterized as slavery in legal documents etc. Travaux forces is a technical term”

“hey sorry I need a smoke” and then he just ended it there

and then later he asked me how many languages I knew. I’d already complimented him on his English and been genuinely impressed that he knows/dabbles in four languages which is more than I study seriously

but he was still just...like this. I told him I was only fluent in French and English but that I’d studied Russian in college and Mandarin as a middle schooler. I was very clear I suck at Russian and have forgotten all my Mandarin. Nonetheless later he made a reference to me speaking four languages and I said I didn’t and he kind of rolled his eyes and shrugged

and eventually he just...started quizzing me on words. Like do I know what this means, do I know what this means, it was super weird and confrontaitonal. And if you know me you know I have a SERIOUS complex about Getting Credit For PRecisely What I Know No More No Less. You also know that I am quite intellectually generous and will never be the first to start a competition but I also don’t like to lose so if I’m challenged I’ll be extremely petty and not my best self. While meanwhile trying to remain as collegial and kind and generous as possible under the circumstances. it’s weird like that

so there was this mix of me desperate to prove I knew a word when I did and ALSO being super chill and genuinely not insecure if I didn’t because I’m Happy to Learn. And BOTH these reactions seemed to spur him on. I think if anything the latter annoyed him more...like punching a too-yielding surface

That second act, btw, seems to have started when he said something slangy to his friend and then said “I ebt you don’t know what that means” and I said “yes I do!” (but like in a cheerful relaxed way because I didn’t know how weird this was going to get) and it turns out that I’d misheard what they’d said, like it was a good guess. But also he misunderstood what I’d misheard and said no I actually said XYZ which as another thing I didn’t hear him say at all (let alone mishear) and which had I heard it I actually WOULD have known what it meant becuase unlike the expression I’d (actually) misheard I knew what it meant. It was “entraver que dalle” which means “understand nothing” and it’s an expression I know from the title song of the movie “Rififi” (which I love so much I bought a lead sheet of it from the 1950s off French eBay and brought it to Marie’s Crisis. Unfortunately the key’s a bit high for me though). It goes “Vous avez l’air d’entraver qu’dalle, a mon histoire quand je vous parle, du rififi...” etc. Ironically about explaining slang. Anyway I like that phrase because it’s delightfully old slang but I’d never heard it said IRL for precisely that reason. So obviously I was kinda eager to show that I knew the expression and how etc. But he was just not returning the ball at all. Like I tried to do some wordplay like “I’ve always wondered wtf the origin of that expression is, it’s so weird, like [*”translates” it laterally in French by substituting synonyms for “entraver” and “dalle”--”enchainer que pave”] it’s a strange combination of words” and he shurgged and was like “yeah but it doesn’t work like that. It’s idiosyncratic. Like “bagne”

BRO

but fellas hands down the worst part was when I was right about someting and he made me doubt myself/concede part of the point because I didn’t want to be both wrong and arrogant (you know how much I hate that). So anything I was less than 100-percent-sure-I-can-cite-sources (i.e., anything intuitive or inferential or built on a foundation of knowledge that yielded a conclusion greater than the sum of its parts) was forfeited and UGH

like at one point he used the word “decortiquer” and asked me “do you know what THAT means” and yes I absolutely do, it’s not even slang/langage courant

and he was like “WHAT”

and I was like “explain, analyze”

and he was like “no”

and I was...confused ebcause...what do you mean “no”? So I thought hm maybe I’m missing some nuance and somehow that made me totally wrong? so I continued like “well like--reduce to its elements--”

and he’s like “omg guys look I can’t even define it in French and she’s doing it in a non-native language fuck”

and it’s liek WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM I DIDN”T WANT TO EVEN PLAY THIS GAME YOU STARTED IT

like who challenges someone to a contest and then pouts because they other person won

(not that you can “win” a conversation!!! irjfiejrdfi FUCK THIS)

and possibly-showing-off-but-also-trying-to-overcompensate-because-I-don’t-know-what-he’s-doing-here I continued like “it’s from Latin ‘cortex’ which means bark [ecorce in French] so when you decortiquer something you’re stripping off the bark and exposing the heart of the tree/matter”

and he just flatly goes “no I don’t think that’s the derivation”

and I’m like “maybe not, I might be saying nonsense”

“that’s not the derivation”

“what is it? if you know, I’m curious about what the etymology really is”

“I don’t know but it’s definitely not that”

(I’m home now. googled it. and

welp.jpg)

then it just kept getting worse like he used the word “branlee” to describe what I was doing to him and then asked me if I knew what it meat and I neede dmore info so I was like “yes--wait” and he was leike “DO YOU OR DON’T KNOW” and I was like “well is it like ‘se branler’ or ‘ebranler’? same root?” and he was like “NO��� and in hindsight it definitely is but whatever I DON’T MIND BEING WRONG OR LEARNING THINGS

and after he gave me a definition which made it clear he felt we were in competiton and he was losing--plus some EXTREMELY passive-aggressive “it’s a really common expression, it’s frankly surprising you don’t know it, blah blah” which I responded to with a cheerful “yeah I have a lot of lacunae then that! thanks for helping me!” and he with “yeah it’s really weird you didn’t know that” and me with “I know lol” and him with “I’m glad I could help you learn some French at least”--I finally was like “this branlee thing though, that’s really not what I’m doing! can we be solidaire instead?” (but like as nonconfrontationally as possible) and he was like “oh it’s not a competiton I’m just saying French people are like that”

well either way KNOCK IT OFF

[itstimetowatch]

Welcome Wagon

Season Three! At long last!

This better be better than Season Two.

And the first thing we see is a Take Back the Night banner, just in case anyone thought this season wasn’t going to be all about rape. *sigh* This may be hard to get through. At least the show takes the subject matter seriously.

Veronica’s Criminology professor is played by Patrick Fabian who is renowned for playing creeps and scumbags. Is it too soon to say that he’s the Hearst Rapist? Probably. Maybe he’s just the scumbag of the week.

Um, that TA is definitely the same actor who played Lucky last season, wearing a, frankly, terrible wig and some quintessentially 00’s facial scruff. Which, I mean, other than the unfortunate hair things going on is good overall since he was good as Lucky. The reuse of an actor is awfully blatant.

Okay, so fuck this Tim guy! Sexist shithead! Your smug ass wouldn’t be here to be smart mouthing Veronica without Elementary Education majors, fuckstick!

BURN, TIMOTHY, BURN!

Yeah, I don’t like the remixed opening them. Lame.

Sooooo… Wasn’t Hearst meant to be a fairly exclusive college? And yet nearly the entire cast of last season (that are still alive and in Neptune) got in? Veronica, Wallace, and Mac I get, but Logan has never been shown to be academically minded even in the slightest. Dick gets in because of family connections, fair enough, but Logan has no family left (aside from Trina and no one has ever considered her a positive association) and what he did have was accused of murder shortly before being mysteriously murdered himself. (Which, btw, is that going to be followed up on? I assume not since we, the audience, already know who done it.)

VINNIE!

Oh, Veronica and Keith, I’ve missed these two!

Sorry, Veronica, Keith’s right on this one. That is The Chrysler Building, as notable by the street number visible behind them, 405. As in 405 Lexington Avenue, the address of The Chrysler Building, whereas The Empire State Building is located at 350 5th Avenue. “Fun” facts.

BACKUP! And he’s in charge? Great call Keith!

What? Veronica, first of all, how can you put Backup’s business out there like that? Secondly, if Backup has a lady friend, I need to know all about her. You can’t just drop that sort of nugget and cut to the next scene like that. This is cruel.

Stosh? What kind of white nonsense is that name? Also, Piz is not a name that a person would choose to go by. I mean, be honest, a person that chooses to go by the name Piz is gonna get called “piss” and “puss” and all related derivations thereof. That is just not something someone would subject themselves to willingly.

And here we finally have the mystery of the week. (Also, Piz is Bash on GLOW, so apparently this guy has a thing for characters with stupid names.)

And, holy crap, Veronica is actually getting paid for one of these things? It’s about time. As noted in the past she has been out a lot of money on a fair few of these cases with little or no potential of return. I’m glad she’s turned this into an actual business deal.

Jason Beghe, yet another actor who has a history of playing scumbags. He can’t be Keith’s bail jumper since he literally just walked out of a prison… unless he jumped bail in Mexico or something.

Mac’s back! And as predicted, Beaver seems to have successfully passed on his sexual dysfunction. And her roommate is the opposite. I’m guessing the new name in the credits to be this free-spirited lady. Does she have a ridiculous name too? Mulva?

So the Take Back the Night crew wants to shut down the fraternities? Has this been shown to help the campus sexual assault problems at various universities? Serious question. Like I understand the line of reasoning, that frats engender and compound attitudes and behaviors associated with toxic masculinity but has shutting them down helped?

Ski mask and Union Jack Speedo is Little Dick, right? Seems like a thing he’d do… actually, he’d probably do it without the ski mask... or the speedo.

So Jason Beghe is a Fitzpatrick? He seems kind of a lot older than Liam. Also, Liam is out to get Kendall now? Why? Because she couldn’t get the life insurance for both Casablancas boys? Or is it that she didn’t want to share? And if Liam is after her, wouldn’t it stand to reason that Cormac, here, could be as well?

Okay, well… that makes a certain amount of sense, I guess.

So Cormac saying that Kendall knows who she can and can’t trust means that she can’t trust him, right? Keith is unknowingly delivering Kendall’s would-be murderer to her hiding spot.

Parker, okay, not a terrible name.

So this kid with the info on the thieves who supposedly a townie from Neptune? Has this crazy thick Boston accent. It’s really weird since most actors on American TV have this trained, generic, bland Midwestern accent and now a kid who’s supposedly from Southern California is very obviously from Southie.

So the fat blonde girl isn’t actually fat, so she’s the sophomore Veronica was talking to when interviewing the other victims.

“The Needs Hosed Down,” is perhaps the aptest description of Little Dick Casablancas.

Donald Fagen? As in the lead singer of Steely Dan? That reference was too old for this show when it was new, much less Tumblr.

Yeah, I’m not sure what to think of Cormac’s quiet calm. Could honestly be that he’s learned patience in prison, that doing something is not always better than doing nothing… or it could be that Keith is the only person who knows where Kendall is and doesn’t want him to risk the desert for all the reasons he said.

So is Veronica honestly interested in the mentoring program or was this just a ploy to get into the files? Because she seems rather flush with extra-curriculars already, what with needing to help her father keep them fed and having a social life and all. But if she’s not, what’s the connection between this scene and the conversation with the other victim?

So Logan only barely got into this school and he’s chronically ditching class? Why go to all the effort to get in if you have no plans on actually doing anything?

Oh, Piz is wearing Duncan’s sweater! Okay. I was confused, because he clearly wasn’t, like, upset that Veronica was talking to another dude or whatever, but it took me a minute to work out what that look was.

AH! The Southie kid and his bros were a false lead! Okay. Veronica was not interested in the mentorship program. That was a misdirect to get this dude to admit that he knew and had access to juvenile offenders and their records.

Too soon, Piz! You are not a high enough level friend to unlock her tragic backstory! You know beyond a certainty that she has a boyfriend so fucking chill, my dude! Not even a little bit, huh? Not even a tiny drop of chill, eh? You should go to the store and get some, then, friend-o, because this is just coming on way too strong.

Yep. Cormac’s trying to kill her.

Scratch that. Killed her.

And now Keith is stranded in the desert. And Dick “messed up bad”… like Hearst Rapist Bad?

And Parker is the next victim… so not Dick then. That would be way too obvious. Serial rapists don’t knock on doors and linger far too long in hallways leaving themselves to be easily identified by a plethora of witnesses.

Again with the cliffhangers. This does not need to become a thing again this season. It gets old.

So this was a much better opener than was Season Two’s but then that’s hardly surprising, given that “Normal is the Watchword” was just a huge mess. Obviously, it’s benefitted by the Hearst Rapist story having already been set up last season, but the reintroduction of it here would have been a perfectly good introduction even if it hadn’t. The standalone mystery was a little thin, but that’s not surprising considering the show has to introduce two new main characters in the form of Parker and Boring Boy #4 (because Piz is a stupid name), as well as the professor, his TA, and the Take Back the Night team, all of whom are almost certainly going to be important as the season rolls on.

I’m not sure how I feel about Dick being turned into an actual character with actual depth. Like, on the one hand, all of last season he basically existed to show us the audience how much worse he is than Logan to make Logan more palatable a match for Veronica, now the show wants us to actually care about him. It didn’t work when they rebooted Jackie’s character, not sure this is going to come out any better. On the other hand, if he’s going to stick around past the end of last season, then I guess they should at least do something to justify the screen time he’s taking up.

Weevil’s still in the credits despite him being arrested for… they didn’t say, but conspiracy to commit murder is what he’s guilty of. Though I don’t think they could make that stick without also arresting and convicting the actual killers, The Fitzpatricks. So I guess it was just an assault charge, in which case, he could be out in time to still be part of the story… so where is he?

[inhumansforever]

Royals #7 review

spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers

The Royals find themselves embroiled in the deadly Snarkwar and Maximus gets unleashed.  All from the creative team of Al Ewing, Kevin Libranda and Jose Villarrubia.  Full recap and review following the jump.

The Snarks are a warlike alien race who first appeared int he pages of Power Pack.  These half-insect/half-reptilian creatures possess the technology to harvest the special abilities from super powered beings.  Their world is enmeshed in a planet-wide civil war and Prince Hyinar, Snarkworld’s would-be leader has taken to the stars to collect and amass new powers so that he and his forces may return and conquer their world.  Hyena's forces have already defeated a Kymellian Sorceress, thus gaining the same abilities of the siblings who made up the Power Pack; and now they look to invade NovaHala, whose population is rich with Universal Inhumans possessing all manner of powers for them to plunder.  Last issue saw the Snarks capture Gorgon and kill Kal Blackbane (which is a g0ddam tragedy btw).  

Shackled, Gorgon can only growl and spit insults as he is forced to listen to Hyinar monologue his plans to capture the rest oft he Royals and steal their gifts.  Except for Medusa, whom the Snarks see as an invalid due to her sickness and the loss of her Inhuman powers.  Medusa the Snarks simply plan to kill and Gorgon seethe with rage at the thought of it.  

Elsewhere, Flint, Crystal and Swain are made comfortable as the guests of the Universal Inhumans.  Flint spares with the Centurian Inhuman known as Metallic Titanwhile Crystal makes small talk with the others.  Swain sits alone, afraid to commingle with others without Maximus there to mute her empathic abilities.  The vision of guilt that Ronan The Accuser had forced Swain to endure has shaken her confidence something terrible.  

Dara Ko Eke, the Universal Inhuman of the Badoon, notices how Swain has sequestered herself away from the others.  Dara goes to see what is troubling Swain and at first Swain mistake the gesture as a romantic ovation.  It’s emblematic of just how lost she feels.  She doesn’t trust her own powers and lives in constant fear that she might unwittingly coerce others into feeling what she wants them to feel (either on a conscious or unconscious level).  Panacea, Swain’s girlfriend back on earth, does not feel emotion in the same conventional way and this has made her immune to Swain’s influence.  Yet it is not without its drawbacks and a part of Swain wishes that Pan could reciprocate Swain’s love in a more mainstream/traditional fashion.  The encounter with Ronan has caused Swain to believe that a part of the reason why she accepted this mission tot he stars was to run away from her fears over her relationship with Pan.  

Meanwhile, Medusa, Maximus and Noh-Varr confer with the Queens of the Universal Inhumans.  These queens still do not fully trust their former sister-wife, Medusa, blaming her for turning her back on their king, Black Bolt.  Yet thew promise of learning more about the mysterious Sky Spears has superseded their suspicions.  One of these Sky Spears has come to NovaHalla, planting itself in the plains outside the city.  Its mystery continues to bedevil the Universal Inhumans.  One of their psychics had attempted to breach its secrets and it augmented his powers and took over his mind.  It held him, controlling his will to fend off others until he died of starvation.  Now only his skeleton remains behind.  

A series of glyphs line the structure of the spheres.  The writing is of a language that none have thus far been able to decipher or translate.  Yet there are a number of specific words that are familiar to the various races that compose the Universal Inhumans.  These are ancient terms from the origins of each species’ languages.   One such term beckons back to the older language of the Badoon and means ‘to look and find through experiment.’  There is another word from ancient Kymellian that means ‘seed’ or possibly ‘fruit.’  Medusa adds that there is also a word on the Spear that is ancient Tilan… a word that translates to ‘genocide.’  

With this, Medusa decides that she no longer has the time to play nice with the queens.  She presses a button on the chain that has kept Maximus leashed.  This seems to disengage a power dampener, offering Maximus full control over his psychic abilities.  

Maximus seizes the opportunity and exerts his will over the gathered Universal Inhumans.  At first he is unsure as to why Medusa has freed him, but it quickly becomes evident that their goals are aligned and Medusa can trust Maximus as long as they both want the same thing… namely, to decode the mystery of the Sky Spears and their connection to the Progenitors.    

While Maximus is indeed willing to do Medusa’s bidding, it doesn’t mean he is going to be nice about it.  He chooses to conduct a cruel experiment to further examine the parameters of the Sky Spear.  

Borrowing the telekinetic abilities of the Centurion queen, Oola, Maximus seizes Noh-Varr in a vice-like telekinetic grip.  Maximus notes that the sky spears have all been sent to places where there are Inhumans.  Plus they have recently learned that The Inhumans and The Kree share a commonality in that both races were artificially evolved by way of derivatives of Primagen.  Therefore, The Kree are also Inhuman of a kind.  Maximus tests this theory by throwing Noh-Varr against the spear.   Upon striking it, Noh-Varr’s body crackles with energy and he is riddles with agony… it would appear that Maximus’ hypothesis is correct.  Intriguing as it may be, Medusa is unamused by Maximus’ actions and it remains unclear if Noh-Varr has even survived.

The seven switches back to the amphitheater where the other members of the team are waiting.  Crystal has grown concerned over Gorgon’s prolonged absence.  Before she can investigate the matter, however, they are attacked by the Snarks and both the Royals and the members of the Light Brigade are quickly defeated and captured.  

They awaken imprisoned within crystal-like cells.  These crystals appear to have to do with the Snarks’ technology to steal superpowers.  They are like batteries in which the original hosts must be kept alive so that the various Snarks who wild the powers can periodically return to recharge.  This is all explained by Gorgon whose power has been taken from him.  It has left Gorgon devolved into a more human-like state, his goat-like legs replaced with regular human legs.  

And it is on this cliffhanger that the issue comes to an end.  

This issue was much more build up than I had expected it to be.  I’m so curious to learn the secrets of the Sky Spears that I found myself a bit irritated by meddling actions of the Snarks.  Plus the Royals and their comrades fell so quickly to the Snarks attack, it didn’t offer illustrator, Kevin Libranda a lot of space to show off his skills for depicting action.  Still, what the issue lacked in action it made up for in some pretty good character development, specifically for the two newest Inhumans, Swain and Flint.  

Swain’s situation is particularly intriguing and I’m very much enjoying the places Ewing’s script is going with her.  The story with Flint is still just getting started, but it’s interesting nonetheless.  Flint is pretty lost and looking for a place where he feels that he belongs.  He lost his adopted parents and his biological family was not what he had hoped for.  He had found something of a new family among the Inhumans, but it’s possible that the events of IvX has shaken his belief.  It would seem Flint has joined The Royals on this mission for reasons of his own, a hope to possibly find the sense of be longing that has so far evaded him.  I’m very much looking forward to seeing where this leads.  

There continue to be more questions than answers when it comes to The Sky Spears.  The mystery of it has been percolating ever since the Free Comic Book Day issue of Uncanny Inhumans.  Based on The Ultimates2, Ewing is not shy about going big in providing a resolution to long-building mysteries and I’m quite excited to learn whatever answers are providing in issue number nine.  Unfortunately, it also leaves me a bit impatient.  I sort of want all this Snarkwar business to hurry up and get out of the way so we can get to finding out more about The Progenitors.  

Libranda’s illustration and Jose Villarrubia’s colors continue to be a great match for the tenor of the story.  The art is asked to juggle a rather large number of characters and it manages it quite nicely, composing it all in a fashion that makes it come across as smooth, detailed while not overly-busy.  

All and all another fun issue. I might feel a bit impatient over wanting the plot to move forward, but focusing on character development is likely a wise decision.  The narrative has been so large in scope that it can inadvertently dwarf the characters so slowing down to more intently focus on the players is understandable move.  

Definitely recommended.  Three and half out of five Lockjaws.