#GUESS WHO YOU SOUND LIKE BECAUSE YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND CULTURAL SHIFT AND THINK YOU HAVE AN ARCHITECTURE DEGREE STEVE

[rynnaaurelius]

Yeah, most of y'all aren't on twitter so this may fly past your heads, but twitter accounts with profile pics of statues who spend their time bitching about the loss of AestheticsTM and CultureTM and coincidentally are only posting pictures of white European architecture are a whole fun genre of online Nazis trying to radicalize you

This whole '"Modern architecture sucks" thing is in the exact vein as the "Reject modernity, embrace tradition" meme (Which was a Nazi meme that they worked very hard to make mainstream so normal people would unthinkingly spew their ideology! And guess what! It worked!)

EDIT: Checked the dude's twitter account and he posts nothing but glowing reviews of the Greek/Roman Classics, the European Renaissance, and white Western European art, he is totally a fascist in disguise lmao

Perhaps minimalist design is so prevalent because we no longer have anything to say.

The Cultural Tutor

[ananke-xiii]

for @slutsons-blog 💖

I'll explain the genesis of this post in case anyone else is interested!

The frame of reference of the post is basically the way I see Cas from s6 unitl 15x18 which I guess you haven't watched yet? But you're on this website so I must presume you know what happens in that episode, right? It's the episode where Cas says this:

I always wondered, ever since I took that burden, that curse, I wondered what it could be? What my true happiness could even look like. I never found an answer because the one thing I want… It's something I know I can't have. But I think I know… I think I know now. Happiness isn't in the having, it's in just being. It's in just saying it.

I'm not denying the pathos of the moment and its poetry and I understand its importance in the wrapping up of Castiel's arc for s15. However, I personally have huge problems with this way of thinking about happiness. If I put my thinking cap on I'm very suspicious of that equivalence where happiness = not having = just being = just saying. I find it profoundly false and purposely vague which makes it more interesting to analyze.

Then there's the notion of "true happiness" which always makes my ears perk up because, you know, "truth" is a super loaded topic and combined with that of "happiness" you might as well have the recipe for a philosophical bomb in your hands.

What this little declaration sounds to me is very dangerously close to the famous "happiness real only when shared", the annotation that Christopher McCandless wrote next to a passage from the novel "Doctor Zhivago", a story also about a difficult love between two people that ultimately ends in death. The passage was the following:

And so it turned out that only a life similar to the life of those around us, merging with it without a ripple, is genuine life, and that an unshared happiness is not happiness, so that duck and vodka, when they seem to be the only ones in town, are not even duck and vodka. And this was most vexing of all.

I haven't read the novel so I couldn't really speak about it but it seems to me that its political aspect shouldn't be ignored given that Boris Pasternak was faced with the threat of exile by the Communist Party (among other things) upon news of being the recipient of the Nobel Prize for that specific novel.

In this light the collectivist dream of "merging without a ripple" has some serious ominous undertones, therefore "happiness" in that passage might (or might not, again I haven't read the book, I just know of its context) as well be equivalent to omologation and comformity.

Now, of course, while I don't know and forever won't know what McCandless took from that passage that made him write the "happiness real only when shared" famous annotation, I do know that in mainstream culture this has come to mean, that is that the only real, or I might just say "true", happiness is when you share life with other people or when, I might just say, you reveal your feelings to other people. Which still hasn't solved my issue: what does true/real happiness mean? what do "real" and "true" mean and how do these adjectives affect "happiness" and decide when it's real/true and when it's not? And, finally, who dictates what reality and truth are? It seems to me that the answer to the question has just been shifted but not resolved.

And I think it's not resolved because we keep imagining our society as based on lack, on the things we can't have and never will which is a phallogocentric view of the world.

This is where the "lacanian supernatural" idea of my post comes from. If you wanna explore the inner workings of my brain, more below.

I'll try to be brief which means I'll have to oversimplifly lots of stuff which means this stuff will not be properly contextualized but these French philosophers/psychoanalysts talked.and.wrote.A.LOT. and then they modified their views during the years and also it's been 7 years since I'm done with them so it is what it is, that is I hope it'll make sense.

Basically Lacan revisited Freud's works and posited that the real trauma for people is not literally related to sex but, more symbolically, to language. He used Freud's Oedipal complex to express that the paternal function doesn't mean an actual fear of castration but it's the function that imposes the Law and defines what can be desired and attained and what cannot. For Lacan, it's not about the anatomical penis, but about the "phallus" which is a symbolic signifier of lack and sexual difference. To put it bluntly, the lacanian father(s, there are actually three fathers but let's not go there for now) is what comes between the child and the mother and tells the child: you are not your mother (but "I am your father" hahahah lol little joke), in this way he makes the child desire to go back to being one with the mother and makes the child enter the world of language which is the world of the "Law" (life like it is established to be lived: norms, social relations, kinship relations etc).

Now we have a problem Houston 'cause yes, castration is not literal, cool, but it's still something that happens. According to Lacan what gets castrated is the "jouissance": the lack of jouissance is what constitutes the subject. Now, what is this jouissance, you may ask? Well, it can't be translated into English. It can be translated as "enjoyment" altough you might want to bear in mind that "jouir" in French also means "to have an orgasm", just fyi.

Here Lacan expanded on Freud's "pleasure principle" because he differentiated between "plaisir" (pleasure) and "jouissance". "Plaisir" still obeys Freud's "pleasure principle" (everything we do, we do it to obtain pleasure and avoid unpleasure) while "jouissance" is trangressive because it goes "beyond the pleasure principle". According to Freud beyond this fucking principle there's only death: in other words humans tend towards death (the death drives). "Jouissance" is therefore both enjoyment and the road to death.

In Lacan's view "jouissance" cannot be experienced because the world is ruled by the symbolic signifier of the phallus which dictates a life based on lack as per above. For Lacan jouissance cannot be reached even by sex, the jouissance in sex is just a fantasy related to body parts. Now don't ask me why but later in life Lacan started to rethink some of the stuff he said and basically he started saying that there is an "other jouissance*", which is a "feminine jouissance" that can be experienced because it's a jouissance of the body that his "beyond the phallus" (which to me seems a total contradiction of his other points but okay, I guess), but which is nevertheless an "étrange" meaning "strange" jouissance. From this "étrange" stuff he went on to play on the word as "être-ange", meaning to be an angel, to talk about asexual jouissance.

*This concept of the "other jouissance" was then used by some French feminists, notably Cixous, to describe women's sexual pleasure and, more broadly, women's ability to create and be creative (as I said I'm oversimplifying so don't come at me tumblr academics). So no more death drive talks people, this is about creation and joy and pleasure beyond the phallus.

Finally, I want to say that I don't agree with almost anything of the above, but it's still interesting to read stuff through lacanian lenses cause some of his takes are like a trip or something hahahah. Quite a few philosophers have criticized Lacan, namely Derrida because they were like: dude, even if it's not the real thing you're basing everything on the phallus, are you okay? 'Cause, like, as you can see Lacan's central idea is the "phallus" that, anatomical or not, still gives meaning to everything. This is what Derrida calls "phallogocentrism" (the centering on the phallus + logos) i.e. the Western tendency to privilege language and the masculine point of view to create and shape discourses. Other philosophers like Deleuze and Guattari in "Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia" have criticized Lacan because his theories were based on a concept of desire as lack while for them desire is very much active, present and an affirmative vital force. They have also criticized the idea of the Other (which in Lacan is the mother but, again, there technically are three mothers but, as I've said, we won't go there) as the negative difference through which the norm (the Law) is established and have advanced the notion of positive difference, aka an Other that's not a minus compared to the Law.

And this is what I meant when I wrote in the tag that Berens is my enemy because saying that happiness is in "just saying it" means that what's important is the language and the word and that's it's okay to want and not having because desire is lack and like, no dude, not at all.

Sooooooooooooo. Are you still there?

I will proceed to translate my post now LOL.

in the lacanian (= a world founded on the phallus, therefore on lack and where desire is unattainable) supernatural that damingingly lives in my head (as you can see) the one thing castiel wants and he knows he can't have is the other jouissance (women's sexual pleasure and ability to create) but he can't have it because the narrative forces him back into his incorporeal être-ange role (an angel who has no sex and no body and cannot therefore experience other jouissance) while he pretty much wants to have a body and, dare i say, suffers from a little bit of womb envy (just my headcanon that does have some solid proof because Castiel is very closely associated with mothers, births, portals, rifts and children) because that angel doesn't have a death drive but a birth drive (as I said, he doesn't want to die, he actually wants to give birth and create but the narrative, which is lacanian, says no, you can't have that so RIP, see you in your next resurrection and, btw, from s6 you're obvi also gonna be a neurotic, good luck babe!)

Wow, this was a very, very convoluted way of saying transmasc cas rights but yeah.

[beardedmrbean]

I don't mean for this to sound rude, but I don't understand the negativity towards Thanksgiving in recent years. Growing up I was always taught that Thanksgiving was about the Native Americans and pilgrims getting together and having a large feast. I always thought that it was generally seen as a positive thing that these two groups of people, who had very different cultures and couldn't even really speak the same language, put aside their differences and enjoyed the year's harvest. Of course, I'm not going to deny all the atrocities that happened to Native Americans, but it seems a bit odd to me personally to say that Thanksgiving is related to those horrible events when to me, it appeared to be about celebrating two cultures coming together. In my mind, it's like saying the 4th of July is bad because America used to have slavery. Or that Veteran's Day is bad because people didn't approve of the Vietnam war. I hope I don't come across as mean spirited, but I guess I just want to understand why people have this sentiment about Thanksgiving.

Not rude at all, polite inquiry is never a issue.

Wasn't as quaint as the simple story you get in 2nd grade or watching the Peanuts special, it did happen and it was a friendly gathering that likely saved the lives of the pilgrims who weren't really prepared for what they'd gotten themselves into.

As for the current year hate, it's not current year folks have been throwing fits about it forever. On of my theories about why it's gotten to the level it has is that the 'activists™' are seeking to out do the people that they've taken the mantle from.

Biggest change is availability of information, which includes false information or shifted narratives.

That and it's popular these days to both shit on white people and infantilize minority groups, that 2nd one is nothing new but it's had a shiny new coat of paint tossed on it that makes it ok for leftists to treat them like helpless little babies.

When in actuality they probably could have held off colonization for a good while if they'd wanted to at the time and they were absolutely better equipped to survive and thrive up there.

Oh they were also really good at killing each other too, did not need the colonists to get that done. Colonists just made it easier since both north and south America, to the best of my knowledge, were still basically in the stone age, don't think they'd managed bronze or copper let alone iron before we showed up. The whole wheel thing is totally different since as the terrain goes there was not really much use for the things.

But ya folks showed up from across the big water with the boom sticks and Algonquins trade whatever for those so the can kill the Iroquois easier, right up till they stopped killing each other and formed a confederacy aimed at killing the various colonists.

Noble Savage shit is so damn racist, they were just as good at killin each other as the folks from Europe, Asia, and Africa were and often for many of the same reasons.

Resources or religion.

[stellardeer]

Actually, I had this in the tags at first, but in the spirit of this post, I'm adding it in the main text for better formatting and visibility.

Adding commentary to reblogs used to be a cornerstone of posting here, and it was weird to watch it become much the opposite.

People didn't used to react to reblogs of their posts as if the person was coming into their blog to make commentary, it was understood that if you reblog a post then that is essentially your post now - you are showcasing it on your blog and adding commentary relevant to you/your blog, not necessarily responding to OP or expecting them to see your commentary.

But then at some point i started seeing people react to reblogs as if they were the same as like.. a comments section under and instagram post or something. Like yeah, sure, on a site like Instagram it is kinda weird if someone comments something unrelated under your post where only you and your followers will see it. But that's not what a reblog is, reblogging something is taking someone's else's content and showing it to your own followers, and sometimes you might want to add something to describe to your followers how it is relevant to you. It's more like a quote retweet I guess, I'm not a twitter person, I know those have a culture of being used to mock the OP and "ratio" them or whatever, reblogs are not that harsh but the concept is similar, you are sharing the post with your followers and adding your own opinion/story/reaction whatever for your followers to see, not necessarily for OP to see, even though they can see that obviously.

I feel like it really started around when they added reblog previews to notifications so people could more directly see what is being said on their posts, and people who stay checking their notifs for whatever reason felt like every comment was directed at them. Not sure if they were new users who didn't understand the culture or just got tired of it because it became more visible, who knows. But this attitude became widespread and the culture shifted to okay now we will just use the tags of the post for our unnecessary commentary. But then tumblr added a way to view tags on reblogs and people started getting mad about seeing that, too! I started seeing so many posts where people were calling out commentators in the tags like "you know I can see this, right?" Dude, it is not FOR YOU. Like if you don't want people sharing your posts use a different platform! Like at some point yall gotta understand that this is the taking and sharing website and that's what people do here.

Key point here, too, is "harmless" commentary, like obviously if someone is directly insulting OP or misrepresenting their words or trying to be funny but in a too-familiar way, that's worth calling out. But if I see someone reblog something and then add like "oh man this sounds like my ex haha fuck you Sheila!" and then OP goes out of their way to reblog their commentary and be like "why did you add this to my post" like no offense but I think OP is the one that looks rude in this scenario. Obviously that was not directed at you or intended for you, a reblog is not the same a comment or a direct message - it is possible to just ignore it and/or turn off notifications. That's the argument i always see, too "ummm its in my notifs" like okay?? and?? turn them off or accept that tumblr is not twitter or facebook or ig or whatever.

i think tumblr is too harsh on "unfunny reblogs" and that people should feel more willing and be more free to add harmless commentary to their reblogs. it's good for the posting ecosystem, and sometimes they will be winners. simultaneously, i do remove unfunny reblog additions from posts when reblogging them, yes. these can coexist. i simply ignore things online that i don't like

[castlebyersafterdark]

I guess I've never really referred to a courthouse marriage the same way as a wedding ceremony. But that could just be ignorance on my part, since I've never been involved in that? I've always understood that to be eloping, and then maybe later they have an actual wedding. Getting married without the wedding. Like you don't have to "run away together" to elope. Could be colloquial differences.

im about to ramble cos this is really interesting and youre phrasing it so sweetly!!! i can see what you mean by you dont have to actually run away together to elope, but thats not true; its kind of the definition of eloping lol. usually people elope if theyre forbidden to marry, and so they would go somewhere like another country where its legal to marry (gretna green in scotland is famous for it, just over the scottish border). courthouses arent always for eloping nowadays.

i only know more about 'courthouse weddings' as you call them, because my sibling had one! i also remember seeing pics of my aunt and uncle getting married when i was a child, and wondering why she didnt have a big dress on, and its because it was her second marriage so she wasnt allowed to get married in a church. so she dressed a little less flouncy and it was at a registry office.

but for my sibling, they didn't want a big ceremony with vows, mainly because of the expense, and like i mentioned, not religious. in a church you have to say what they tell you to say lol.

there are actually a few places here licensed to marry outside of a church where you can write your own vows (they both gave a speech at their party instead which was vow equivalent), but my sibling didnt want this either. they said they just wanted to be married to each other and didn't want to show it off to people, for them it wasnt about flaunting wealth or even their love to others.

its all so personal and im honestly fascinated by weddings. i dont think for one second yours is going to be about flaunting, but for many, it really is. and that always makes me cringe.

i also think there's a thing where people feel anti-traditional and don't want to do the whole nine yards because it feels unoriginal. that sounds unromantic but its more like... i dont want to be just another woman who thinks she is a princess for a day, y'know? i'd want it to be about our love, and if you as a couple aren't flashy, sometimes a big ceremonial wedding doesn't feel like you. even if it's small and low key.

i am a romantic like you, so would hope to have a lovely wedding, but seeing the reality of close friends get married, i was honestly surprised by just how much the stress almost outweighed the joy. typically in het relationships, the groom just sits back and lets the bride choose everything because theyre less bothered about how it goes, but the downside of this is the bride carries like 90% of the stress and organisation. ofc this is not always true but culturally women are so conditioned to think of their wedding day since childhood, that even if youre not into flaunting yourself (like me), you get sucked into the fantasy lol.

i for one am terrified of who i might become if i was planning a wedding. i know myself too well lol! probably not the best reason to avoid getting married but i understand my sister for not wanting a year's worth of sleepless nights and overthinking. i think she just thought the money could be better spent on something else, like building a life with her partner, instead of all splashed on one party lol.

to each their own!

See, not that the traditional definition of eloping is incorrect - but definitely a difference in colloquialism. Maybe it's a shift in societal standards, culture, etc? Depends on the people around you. Because elope the way I know it kind of catch all means what I was talking about that prompted my confusion into calling it first wedding/second wedding. Like its kind of lost the connotation. For example, a coworker had engagement photos done recently and we were looking at them and they're gorgeous, asked if she'd use the same photographer for the wedding, other details etc. She said nah, they're just eloping at the courthouse, skipping a wedding all together. I know she's not running away or doing it in secret. They have a date set and everything. Elope at courthouse, out to a nice dinner with the fam, using the money saved on the wedding for a house down-payment. So... I might call not having a ceremony/reception eloping. Again. Semantics!

I've always always fantasized about being married, being someone's husband one day. I know that about myself. And the wedding... it's more the idea that's its a celebration of that, a party for a new chapter where we formally get to commit to each other for life. So I know our wedding is going to be very untraditional. For sure, I mean, that rings true for most gay couples, I think. Though, I've been to some weddings where they're near indistinguishable from any other except it's two men. That wedding planning stress to make it fit into so many boxes. To each their own. But I kinda had it in my head my whole life that no one would ever really want to marry me so this... I'm just really happy. So when you break it down, a wedding is such a funny concept. "Hey friends and family - we're really happy and in love so we want to chill with you for a few hours because the two of us really want to tell each other that while several dozen people listen." 🤣

At least, that's what I've joked about in our case. And I think that's kinda what it should be! Traditions are traditions but shouldn't be rules. People should truly do what they want. Courthouse and done. Actually run away and return married. Big traditional wedding if that is what you really want. Or fuck it, have the two weddings in the exact way that confused me! Or, friends and family gathered in the backyard or a lovely park. All good ❤️

[theoutletonmychest]

Found my initial live thoughts on watching the mess that is Book of Boba Fett from a year ago.

A show that would have been fine with any other character.

But they did him so dirty, along with other issues that I have not seen a lot of people talking about in favor of celebrating the found family part of the show.

What the actual fuck, show? So, first, you white savior Boba fuckin' Fett, [I know he's not white. But the trope of the outsider from a "more civilized society" coming in and fixing everything is exactly the same.] a bounty hunter best known for working with Darth Vader and disintegrating people. I understand choosing Tusken Raiders as a stand-in for Clone Troopers. No problem. So, they take him prisoner. For slave labor. I guess. Then he kills a big dumb monster. Suddenly he is not a slave. How progressive. Then he learns their ways. And brings them technology. Hey, is this sounding like a 1950s western yet? Then, he and the natives take down a train trespassing on the Tusken's ancestral lands. He goes on a vision quest. He wears their clothes. He is of the tribe. Disney invents a new tribal dance for the kids to imitate and everyone forgets they're slavers. And all the murders are written off with a single line, "Other tribes have chosen violence!" Perfection. Beautiful. And then, the very next episode, all the totally-not-evil-slavers-who-never-murdered-anyone-because-we-know-them are murdered off-screen. Before we can remember their actual past actions. Including the child with the toy gaffi stick. Who, I remind you, literally held two people as slaves and directly led to the death of one of them. Angelic choir music plays over the scene. Because they're angels. What the actual fuck, Disney. What the fuck? How did this get made in 2022? It's just the same old bullshit from 70 years ago mixed in with the cultural shifts of the 90s and early 00s and dressed up in a Star Wars outfit. What am I watching? Also. We know nothing about our main character. And all his decisions have been quests assigned by other people. He is so flat I wouldn't be able to see him if he turned sideways. But maybe that's a slow burn. They have done some setup there. But geez. People have been praising tf out of this. I wasn't expecting so much oof. HE WAS LITERALLY IN A JESUS BLESSING POSE WHILE BEING WRAPPED IN NATIVE GARB.

--------

Like. They somehow portrayed the natives as savages and helpless angels who need a savior from the "modern world" simultaneously. And then killed them all while the savior was away. It is almost funny how oof it is.

--------

He just said, "That was a bit heavy-handed, don't you think?" over a simple threat of violence towards a repeatedly stonewalling character. This is the big scary bounty hunter everyone's dreamt about for 45 years.

--------

"And remember. No disintegrations. They're a bit heavy handed." - 2022 Darth Vader, I guess.

--------

Star Wars just did a car chase scene where they plow through two people carrying a plate-glass window. In 2022. I'm so glad it's out of George Lucas's hands. He would have done something silly. What am I watching?

--------

WE HAVE FRUIT STANDS. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. I REPEAT. WE HAVE FRUIT STANDS.

--------

I'm going to be honest. None of this is what I expected from a spin-off of The Mandalorian. I can't handle another episode right now. Woof.

That's how far I got the first day. I really wasn't expecting much from the show, but the problematic shit, then the Looney Tunes shit, then the complete erasure of Boba Fett's soul as they replaced him with someone who looks like him, but isn't him...

Oh my gods they cloned the Fett.

I wish the transhuman stuff was more explored and they had more personality. They were basically just an aesthetic for Boba to wear and it really didn't work for me.

He also spent the entire season being the town's gopher which, again, is not what I expected from a Boba Fett at the end of his life, even with the supposed rebirth. You don't actually lose your past when you go through something like that.

You make a decision.

Boba Fett from the show doesn't make decisions.

I really did not enjoy this. And it's 100% because they Teen Titans Go'd it. Used a visible name people care about to do whatever they wanted.

Mandalorian worked. If this was the show you wanted to make, do it with a new character that fits better. Have an ounce of respect for fans of the universe. Star Wars is huge and has room for all kinds of stories.

It doesn't have to be the same characters pasted into scripts that don't work for them.

Blah.

[fireemblems24]

I am so glad you pointed out the imperialist vibes Edelgard has sometimes. As someone who lives in a country who was basically occupied ahem conquered because they said "we have better ideas that will improve your lives" and had our culture absolutely shattered, one of the main reasons why I disagree with Edelgard so much is because of that. She thinks her point of view is superior and the most morally right and I really don't like it whenever she sounds so confused about people defending their homeland. Especially that one line she has with Dimitri in Chapter 17 ffffff—

Like, girl, they have the fucking right to disagree with you please stop sounding so confused as to why they can't see eye to eye with you gahhhhh

I would be more tolerant with the war if she had say, did diplomacy before it? But she tried to had Dimitri and Claude killed in Part I (the prologue). I would also understand her better if the war was a last resort and the other leaders were corrupt and all that. But they're not. Many of the students (who have power because many are noble heirs) outside her house are heavily affected by the nobility and Crests (Sylvain, Ingrid, Mercedes, Lysithea, etc.) or at least understanding of the problems caused by them (Dimitri). It's so frustrating how so much of this can be prevented if she just talked about it.

Also, to those who said she wants the change to be quick, even with war it won't be. The fucking war basically caused continent-wide damage. It's going to be so hard to actually fix this. Hell, there's definitely going to be an eventual rebellion by former Kingdom / Alliance people or sympathisers. It's not going to be as clean cut as the game or some pro-Edelgard people make it to be. Not everyone is going to agree with her, whether she takes over or not. She just destroyed the stability of the continent and while yes, she can rebuild it again, it will still take time and who's to say future leaders won't be corrupt? Also, a hierarchy will always exist, whether she likes it or not. Especially if she plans to set up a meritocracy. Meritocracy is going to usually end up giving power and privilege to those with already pre-existing privilege as they the opportunity to show off their merits or develop those skills. Poor and disabled people are going to have difficulty as they don't have equal opportunity to develop skills and accomplish stuff. I'm generalising, but it just ends up as a hierarchy, again. Not only that, it also has ways to enforce discrimination.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is, she needs to long term plan out her systems. I apologise since I have bad memory but as far as I remember, the game doesn't give us too many details on how she wants to establish her system. All I remember is she does the war > Church / Rhea out of power > Establish her government > ???. Someone please clear this up for me because I'm confused.

...and again really, diplomatic reforms are an option. Yes, they're much more tedious. Yes, they take so much more longer. Yes, sometimes it feels impossible to accomplish. But did she not even consider it as an option?

All in all, I do like Edelgard. But I really wish the game let us go against her while we're with her? I wish it wasn't just general "agree with Edelgard" for CF. I remember someone pointing it out to me before that it would've been really great if she had someone in her house who does the same role Felix does in AM... which is basically disagree and call out the lord's shit. And they pointed out Ferdinand could've probably been that character for CF. And I kinda agree? I really think CF would immensely improve if Edelgard had a challenger / foil to her beliefs similar to how Felix does that for Dimitri.

Anyway, sorry for the very long ask lol. I like Edelgard and I agree with some of her morals and ideals such as the crest system being bad but....she's done so dirty asdfghjkl. I do think she's written well enough to incite these emotions in me, and she makes for a good antagonist. As a protagonist lord however.... yeah.

First off, sorry it took so long to respond, but I wanted to give an equally throughout response. 

While I haven’t gotten to chapter 17 yet, I can attest to the notion that Edelgard’s rhetoric is eerily similar to Imperialist propaganda. I do understand this is fiction, and that it’s okay to hand-wave/enjoy things in fiction that you shouldn’t or wouldn’t in real life. Crimson Flower has its charms and parts I enjoy. Edelgard is an interesting character more hampered by things that plague Three Houses as a whole than anything else, but it’s still worth examining how dangerous her rhetoric is. Because, unlike you, my country sits at the opposite end - the Imperialist nation selling that rhetoric to its citizens, and, unfortunately, at the time I bought it - which makes me really sensitive to this. 

I’m from the US and I’m specifically speaking about the US’s invasion of the Middle East. I was in middle or high school, just barely a teenager, and naive and ignorant enough to believe what my leaders said. Because guess what? I bought into it out of misplaced and ignorant (and racist) compassion. I was horrified at the idea these people were suffering unfairly just because of where they were born whereas I got all these promised privileges just because of where I was born. I really thought the US would go in there and give them democracy and everything would be great. Looking back, I realize they were lying, that we’ve only made things worse, that it’s horribly racist to assume the US was just inherently better, and I’ve sense then gained access to fast-speed internet, traveled, matured, etc . . . and thankfully this all happened before I had any actual power to do anything like vote. But to this day I’m beyond pissed off they used my own compassion against me to line their own pockets. It was ignorant and racist, but it was all based in concern that others didn’t have the same quality of life I had and a growing realization of my own privilege. And that’s what I hate so much. It didn’t sound evil. It sounded good. It used people’s good will and compassion against them and twisted it into evil for their own causes. 

I don’t think Edelgard is after Faerghus and the Alliance because she wants oil. I think she honestly thinks she’s doing good. And, if this were real life, I think that makes her rhetoric even more dangerous than a corrupt politicians’.  Because everything else is still the same. She’s being ignorant, nationalist instead of racist in this case, and honestly thinks her moral superiority will improve everyone’s lives even if it means ravaging the entire content in war. She is dangerously naive and ignorant. 

Maybe I’d support her more morally if I believed for an instant the general populace welcomed the changes she wants to bring, if the leaders she fought against weren’t open and wanting change themselves, ect . . . But the dialogue indicated her presence inspires people running and screaming in terror, not welcoming her presence (see the chapter where you kill Claude). The Kingdom is still fighting tooth and nail against her. She’s not supported. Her changes aren’t wanted. And she hasn’t bothered to learn a single thing about the cultures she’s determined to squash under her heal nor the leaders heading them. 

I also think I’d support her better if we had a clearer idea of what her plans were. But CF has shifted from Edelgard speaking about interesting ideas and classism to evil dragon overlords and chastising Byleth for making her blush. The decision to side with her or Rhea is not choosing between two ideals, but an emotional, spur of the moment thing. Edelgard’s early supports with Byleth attempt to convince the player to side with her not based on political ideals, but on feeling sorry for her. 

CF gives you no choice but to agree with everything Edelgard says (as you said, there’s no “Felix” or a “Lorenz”). It wants you to support her war without question, and therefore you don’t get any answers to questions like - if this is really just about Rhea, why are we invading the Alliance? Because they won’t hand power over to you? Why didn’t you just stick to the Empire to enact your changes? In the end, you’re left with what sounds more and more like an entitled Imperialistic princess with absolutely no idea how ignorant she is hell bent on conquering what she thinks belongs to her based on a conspiracy theory. 

All that said, I do think Edelgard has interesting ideas and isn’t wholly wrong, just how she goes about it is horribly wrong. And I fully believe the core issue is how CF has dropped the ball big time writing wise, because diving deeper into her ideas and not her crush on you would go a long way. So would shifting the narrative away from evil boogey dragon lady must die and everyone else is wrong and I am superior and right and more towards a clashing of ideals, this route could’ve been a lot more and seemed a lot less ignorant, naive, entitled, and Imperialistic. 

[zalrb]

Stop acting like your boy is innocent.

There is a 1864 flashback in 2x15 where Stefan is feeding on several women (three or four) in lingerie (people in 1864 don't wear modern underwear like bras, what they were wearing was lingerie at the time, it was highly indecent to be dressed like this in the 19h century, especially around a man), it's implied he compelled them to undress and to be okay with him feeding on them and taking pleasure in it because they were really happy about it. There's even one of them lying on the sofa. We can understand what Damon and Katherine did based on context (this situation is similar to Damon and Andi or Isobel and her assistants, this is a pattern in TVD, vampires with human people in underwear are all implied to be their rapist), so can we for Stefan. Ironically it's newbie vampire Damon who compelled these women to leave, and Stefan was aware of what he was doing, because when Damon said it was too much and he was going to leave Stefan begged him to stay. I also remembered that when Damon arrived, Stefan threw a woman at him and she caressed him. Women don't need to be in lingerie for a vampire to feed on them (ex :1912 flashback in 3x16, the women were not in lingerie), there is an intended message. When Stefan explained it to Elena, she told him "sounds like you were Damon", and Stefan said "I was worse than Damon. »

Case 2 : the women in the 1920s : There is a dodgy line in his diary in S3 which mentions his days in the 1920s when he says he wakes up in strangers’ blood with women he doesn't recognize. The mention of "women" isn't innocent, because it's canon that rippers don't feed only on women, we have seen Stefan feed on little kids too. The show also made it a point that he chose to have an apartment in Chicago next to an all-girls high school, which shut down for attendance issues, I think you can guess why...

I'd like to add that absolutely no one really took accountability in the show, every rape case was swept under the rug :

This is the last post I’m making about this.

Stefan without humanity is sadistic and he’s a murderer I’ve been very upfront with that, he toys with people - including women - before killing them but there is a separation between TVD being like, what would look sexy and erotic and disturbing onscreen

a la

(trying to go for this kinda thing which was an endorsement someone did for the Dracula trailer: The vegetarian vampire is dead, long live his non-sparkling counterpart! Yes, let our vampire stories have some bite. Let us get back some of that danger, some of that seduction of evil, and dare I say it? Let us have blood. Rivers of Hammer Horror technicolor blood. Blood, blood, everywhere, and all the drops to drink.)

and what Stefan as a character does, especially considering that Julie was going for a certain aesthetic:

“There was a sensuality and a seduction to the vampire genre that now, [nearly] 10 years later, isn’t necessarily as sexy, right?” she says, alluding to the fact that vampires can be compelling or glamorous to humans (depending on whether you’re watching TVD or True Blood) and have overpowering strength and speed.

Stefan gorges on blood, the woman on the couch is dead.

Her being in lingerie is for aesthetic, when he goes to his next victim, he bites her immediately, because even if he is playing games, Stefan’s desire is always about this:

like the twister game, it’s about feeding

so him choosing to stay across the street from an all girls school means that he played the same type of games or that he has preferences

but even in this, it’s about the feed although it’s made to look like it could be a makeout until closer examination:

The show in general did have a tendency to skew towards female victims when they wanted to illicit a certain image of disturbing eroticism:

whereas male victims were always rage or functional:

(which isn’t to say female victims were always used to illicit eroticism). The diary entry is easy to split hairs about

Stefan is the one who doesn’t recognize the women he’s with, there’s nothing to suggest that anything was coerced, particularly since in the same entry, he refers to Rebekah as a ‘woman’ so who’s to say that they aren’t other vampires he doesn’t recognize

There’s also the way it was written, which can suggest that each sentence is a different occurrence i.e. there were days he woke up in strangers’ bloods[period] in places he doesn’t recognize [period] with women he doesn’t remember [period].

This really just depends on how you want to interpret it.

I do agree that the show in general did have a problem with rape culture, which JP admitted:

“And you could look at it back through the lens of say the #MeToo movement and object to what may be a little bit of a glorification of a rape culture, but what we were working with at the time was a gothic romance with a fine line — a very fine line — separating it,” she says with a laugh. “And I used to get in arguments about it being a gothic romance and not wanting to censor the sexuality of the characters, even if it felt a little questionable at times, like specifically Damon and Caroline in the first couple of episodes [when he used her as a plaything and drank from her against her will]. Because that’s what vampires represented, and that’s what vampires were. And the culture has just shifted enough that you’d have to think twice before you dove in that boldly now, I think.”

But in this context, the issue with Stefan would then be the framing of his murders and how they were made to look erotic and not Stefan as a character being a rapist.

Not to mention, considering that at the time, JP doubled down on what Damon and Katherine did, if there was “sex” involved with Stefan’s feeding then we would just get a scene like this

or this

or even this

There would be no reason not to.

Anyway, I’ve written about this more than I care to at this point, so.

[otakween]

I'm Standing on a Million Lives - Volume 10

A nice "bridging" volume. We get the end of the Rainbow Stair arc, some downtime and then straight into the Black Work arc! That last arc felt pretty long but I also took a mini reading hiatus that could have contributed to that. Wonder how many volumes this new arc will stretch across...

Ch. 45

-It seems we're going to wrap up the Rainbow Stair arc soon. Again, I kinda wish they just did that in the previous volume but oh well.

-Kusue and Yusuke debate whether it's worth it to stop murdering people after you start to "save your soul." Kusue is a catholic confirmed!

Ch. 46

-So we get a chapter mainly from Cantil's perspective. We learn that he (and Fatina) are older than they look due to creature magic. Malita then becomes Cantil/Fatina's apprentice because she wants a new start. Cantil muses about the time skip mechanic and how he might not even be alive the next time the heroes come around.

-I think it was a good idea to give Cantil's POV. He emphasizes how Yusuke's a kid and still very malleable. Since he's not going to be around he asks Glenda to keep an eye on Yusuke for him. Some of the writing in this part was a little too "all hail Yusuke" for my tastes, but at least there was some healthy skepticism thrown in there.

-We get a very unsatisfying Q&A segment with the Game Master. Learned nothing.

-The players plan for improving the Ihar-Nemore society was interesting, but it all seemed to go a little too smoothly and quickly towards the end. I feel like realistically there would be more push back and these kinds of changes would take years, not months. Also, it was a little too convenient how everything in this fantasy world was an exact parallel to real world crises. Well, I guess there's only so many ways humans can interact/mess up, no matter where you are.

-Was that a Fortnite reference at the end there? Another reminder that Yusuke's a child.

Ch. 47

-We get a nice, in-between arcs, beach episode. Definitely nice to have these "real world" chapters for balance. We also get to see how the characters dynamics shift from world to world.

-While I think Yusuke and Yuka's inner monologues about how they're not used to the "IRL" world are exaggerated, I can kind of relate. Especially during the pandemic, I'm in isolation for the majority of the year, so I'm also the stereotypical, under-socialized geek.

-We see some other players in the USA and the host of the gathering reveals that the fantasy world and the real world are already connected via a small portal. It will be interesting to see how the players pool their knowledge.

-Seeing all these players together makes me wonder how many players died and didn't make it to the gathering. Considering how rigorous the quests have been so far, presumably some people couldn't cut it.

-You can tell this series doesn't prioritize ecchi based on how modestly dressed all the girls were at the beach. That's kind of refreshing.

Ch. 48

-Yaaay new guy! I really like his design/personality. Plus, we get a more balanced group with another adult and male. Funny to see an isekai lover get isekai'd.

-I totally related to Habaki's job struggles. His reasons for not quitting and his thoughts on how his job sapped all his energy and prevented him from reading any challenging books. Too real. (Of course, my job is way cushier than his, but I think these are universal struggles for any full-time employee).

-I guess the Game Master can help Yusuke commit real-world crimes so long as it helps with the mission. Until they revealed that I was like "uh...why is he doing something so risky??"

-It's pretty ridiculous that the Game Master has to drive Yusuke to save Habaki. Can't he just teleport him? lol. Also, another Seaman reference.

-We see the I'm Standing on a Million Lives manga in the background at the bookstore which hurts my brain

-When the people at Habaki's company were like "EVERYTHING'S RUINED!" I was kinda laughing because I work in systems and if everyone busted up our PCs it wouldn't be that big of a deal and we could recover pretty quickly. Luckily, they do acknowledge cloud storage which made it more believable.

Ch. 49

-We get another non-fiction section, this time about the WHO's recommendations for presenting suicide in fiction. Very interesting and mature of the author to acknowledge the problematic nature of his own text. It kind of felt like the disclaimer you see before some shows these days in streaming.

-After the blurb about suicide we get another one about "black" companies and "invincible" people. I had never heard the term "invincible people" in this context before, so that was fascinating. I feel like we don't categorize people the same way in the US. If someone does something dangerous because their life's falling apart, I think we would probably just pull out the psychology terms (narcissistic, personality disorder, sociopath etc.). In Japan they have all these archetypes (NEET, Hikkikomori, Invincible Person). I guess we probably have some, but you don't hear about them as much.

-So, the previous quest was completely pointless because the cities they saved were almost immediately destroyed. Womp wommmmp.

-The fact that "black" = corrupt in Japan is definitely awkward, but I understand it's just a cultural difference...

-The new storyline of a policy being put in place that no longer makes sense but a lot of people have died so there's no turning back, sounds very familiar. I'm sure you can compare it to a lot of things but it reminds me of the Afghanistan war...

-I guess it's a good thing that Malita left Ihar-Nemore when she did! I expect we'll see her again in the near future.

[starship-imzadi]

S5 E21 The Perfect Mate

I hate Ferengi.... They always seem to be a stand-in for the worst qualities for the sake of contrast. They act as the most greedy, sexist, and uncouth, people in the room so Starfleet looks sophisticated and progressive in comparison.

Sounds like Brent has a head cold

"not too close to mine" damn. Riker makes it clear he hates the Ferengi too.

Ferengi are never as stupid as they act but they're so annoying no one cares to pretend otherwise.

How did they learn about this cargo?

"have you had chance to see the dolphins yet? This is something you really don't want to miss" Dolphins? Quantum dolphins perhaps??

It's a really odd line....

It's Famke Janssen! You might know her as Jean Grey or the Phoenix in the X-Men film trilogy, in which Patrick Stewart was also cast as professor Charles Xavier.

Riker in the background is checking her out.

prevarication: to deviate from the truth

"I'm a gift" slight red flag. At least Picard and Riker see it.

So they have male metamorphs...but this story is about a female one, why? Don't we already have enough women who change to be what a man wants, without the man reciprocating the same ability to change?

"oh, think you're more empathic than you admit, at least when it comes to women"

"i think you have me at a disadvantage"

Okay, hold, stop for a moment and appreciate the restraint Riker shows here. This woman becomes the most arousing and attractive she can possibly be for whatever man she is with, and Riker turns her down.

"Riker to bridge. If you need me I'll be in holodeck 4" so clearly this is meant as a joke. How dirty that is, is up to your mind. Maybe he's going to a jazz club, maybe he's going fishing. Why the holodeck instead of his quarters?....

Yasss Beverly!! Call out that misogyny! But also, I freaking love that Beverly and Jean Luc share breakfast.

Aww, poor Picard. That might have been a little harsh. But he takes it well. It makes me glad Beverly is in his life. (That scene makes me want a croissant 🥐)

Her Dutch accent is surprising soft considering this was her first TV role and second role as an actor.

"And now, to this day, I’m not comfortable with how fast television and the writing of it changes. So every night or morning before we’d start shooting they’d have new pages for me. And my English wasn’t that good at the time… and I had all these strange things to say (laughs). It was strange for me, and very difficult for me to memorize, but it was probably normal in the world of Star Trek. So I was very nervous about the entire experience, but it was good."

- Famke Janssen startrek.com

"I'm independent, forceful, brilliant, and adventurous. Exactly as you would have me be, captain." This is interesting because Picard's sexuality always seems to be overshadowed by Riker's, and while Riker certainly seems more comfortable with his sexuality, Picard, in equal measure, has his own, different preferences in a companion. The difference is Riker has explained what he wants to a few different people (for example in "The Vengeance Factor" and "The Outcast") but no one asks Picard his preferences, and he is most likely less forthcoming. So here we learn what Picard really wants, but from someone else who can read him, proverbially, like one of his beloved books.

Star Trek's other cultures....have such a distinct flair. They kind of all look the same but I'm not sure which elements are cause for that stylistic consistency.

"every man on the ship will be fighting over her"...so, aside from the obvious message about women conforming to men's desires, there's a fair amount sexism in the depiction of the male reaction to her. Every man might find her attractive but in declaring that every man will be fighting over her suggests men have too little control over their sexual desires. Riker's previous reaction to some extent would seem intended to display just how alluring she is, but he also shows restraint. Plus, "fighting" over her suggests there's a prise to be won, her. So all of these men think "winning" a fight against his peers would be enough to claim her as his own?

Data reaffirming his android-ness

I understand that this scene in ten-forward is meant to display Kamala's ability to adapt to the men around her, but the growling at Worf cracks me up. Also, in the midst of her adapting to the men around her, and their enthusiasm for her, she's an absolute flirt. Does she have no control over her own behavior either? She can read the men around her but are her subsequent actions involuntary?

"a man of deep passion and conviction. So controlled, so disciplined."

From this performance I wouldn't guess that Picard would go on to play the flute...

Fact I forgot about Picard: he took piano lessons as a child

"do you find me unattractive?" surely she would know if he did.

Woah....so the music as Kamala walks towards Picard right before she says "in a day I will bond with a man I've never met" is a variation on the theme played in "The Host" as Beverly looks across ten forward at Odan/Riker.

When she says "please don't leave" it's so heart-wrentchingly earnest.

Their relationship seems very genuine and tender.

I've seen some fans ask if Picard and Kamala slept together and I see no reason to think so, in fact I have reason to think the opposite. They're relationship, though they are attracted to each other, is not about sex. The intimacy they develop is specifically non sexual and that's what makes it important. For so many other men she is a sexual object of desire, and because Picard refuses to see her this way or treat her this way, he is who she wants to be with; not as an emotional, passion driven decision, but as an active, conscious choice. The one event her entire life as been prepared for, her "destiny" is undone because for the first time she has been afforded agency. (Also, until the next morning Picard is oblivious to the fact that she has bonded with him)

There is a sort of parallel between Picard and Beverly with Riker and Troi. Regardless of the shifting winds of romance, they are each good and supportive friends to each other.

I really wish Troi had been in this episode. An interaction between her and Kamala could have been really interesting.

"I like myself when I'm with him." This is actually some of the best advise for relationships: find people that being with, encourages you to be the person you want to be. (Not people who will fix you, people who naturally bring out the qualities you want in yourself.)

[tomakeitbeautifultolive]

Hey I was just wondering on your interpretation of Jonerys in the books? Because according to the bad leaks we will get Jon killing Dany, but in the book version its pretty clear that these two will marry and I don't necessarily see how those two things jive with each other, unless we get a literal repeat of the Azor Ahai/Nissa Nissa bs with them🤷🏼‍♀️ Thoughts? Because I have given up hope for the show and need some reassurance on the books after reading all of them plus the history books,,

Look, anon. Even in the fucking show these two have been paralleled to death - in a way that inextricably links their lives together, as seen here and here and here. When you learn that when Ian McElhinney (Barristan Selmy) confronted D&D about how he thought it was too early to kill off his character, it made them want to kill him more, out of spite… it makes it pretty clear what D&D are doing.

In their effort to adhere to shock and subversion… they’ve left mounds of unused foreshadowing all over the place (I’m still working on a master post of unused foreshadowing and plot elements). As you might’ve guessed, Jonerys foreshadowing is among those casualties - such as Dany mentioning she may have to enter in a political marriage at the end of season 6 before setting sail for Westeros, or the four different instances that challenge Dany’s belief that she can’t have children, that her family hasn’t seen its end, and that Longclaw will go to Jon’s children after him. As of right now, none of the leaks indicate that any of this meant anything other than dialogue filler. If it was never intended to amount to anything, then the writers should not have included these lines at all, especially in a show that was cut down from ten episodes to seven. Way, way too much emphasis was put on challenging the notion Daenerys can’t have children. It’s what a good writer might call ‘trimming the fat’ from the story, otherwise, it does nothing but muddy up the story unnecessarily.

Jonerys aside, D&D have killed so much foreshadowing in the series just to make a shocking ending (which by the way, makes no sense at all). I was flabbergasted when I read this quote from 2013:

When I asked Benioff and Weiss if it was possible to infer any overall intentionality to the upcoming 10 episodes, they sneered. “Themes are for eighth-grade book reports,” Benioff told me.

Uh, what?

As you may have seen, I already recently covered why Jon shouldn’t care so much about the incest aspect - in the comments I received, there was a great point about how Jon has borderline romantic feelings toward his cousin Arya (who he believes is his half-sister), tending to think of her when he wonders what his love interest’s (Ygritte) body looks like under all those clothes. In the original outline for the series, Jon and Arya were supposed to end up together or at least be involved in a love triangle with Tyrion.

As you see, in the books, Daenerys has already been groomed for the reality of being wedded to her brother, so her nephew won’t be some grand depature from this. She’s a dragonrider, and if the shows are to be believed, Jon will be, too - and if the majority of fans are to be believed, then there might be something magical about Targaryen blood that makes them different or unique or magical, hence the incest.

When you look at just how finely crafted this book series by GRRM is… it makes it really hard to believe that he’d throw out all of his foreshadowing for shock value.

“It’s easy to do things that are shocking or unexpected, but they have to grow out of characters. They have to grow out of situations. Otherwise, it’s just being shocking for being shocking.”—George R. R. Martin

I think we can all agree that season eight of Game of Thrones is all about futility, shock, nihilism. So, check out this quote:

Q: Early on, one critic described the TV series as bleak and embodying a nihilistic worldview, another bemoaned its “lack of moral signposts.” Have you ever worried that there’s some validity to that criticism?

A: No. That particular criticism is completely invalid. Actually, I think it’s moronic. My worldview is anything but nihilistic.—George R. R. Martin

It was George who said we’d get a bittersweet ending, not D&D. It was George who said he wanted a LotR-style ending, not D&D.

While there are many conflicting quotes out there about GRRM’s ending vs. D&D’s… This recent article published right after episode 3 had some interesting lines:

“Of course you have an emotional reaction. I mean, would I prefer they do it exactly the way I did it? Sure. It can also be… traumatic. Because sometimes their creative vision and your creative vision don’t match, and you get the famous creative differences thing — that leads to a lot of conflict.”—George R. R. Martin

My interpretation currently is that yes, Jonerys is real in the books…

(just as it was in the fucking show until they decided to abandon all preestablished groundwork and foundation) …and has been thoroughly foreshadowed - and not in a tragic way.

First of all, the series is called ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ - while this stands for many things from literal to metaphorical, I’d say it absolutely encompasses Jon and Dany. I have some very unpopular ideas that ice actually represents Daenerys and fire, Jon. Whether or not I’m right about that, we have some hints that Jon will ultimately accept his Targaryen identity…

Subtle clue about who he is, in one of his true house’s colors:

“The next time I see you, you’ll be all in black.”Jon forced himself to smile back. “It was always my color.”

He idolizes historical Targaryens:

“Daeren Targaryen was only fourteen when he conquered Dorne,” Jon said. The Young Dragon was one of his heroes.

He’d pretend to be Targaryens while playing as a child:

“I’m Prince Aemon the Dragonknight,” Jon would call out.

For Daenerys, we get this curious line:

“Mother of dragons, bride of fire…”

Bride could also be metaphorical in some way, sure, but let’s just say it’s literal. Jon is the dragon, the fire.

Okay, so for the books, I’ll try to hit the bullet points:

First and foremost, the pair are incredibly similar, both stepping into positions of rule after immersing themselves into a foreign culture, adapting to their way of life before making allies. Both Jon and Daenerys make grave mistakes while wielding power, and they learn from their mistakes. They’re being shaped into rulers.

Both fall in love, yet still feel alone:

“Her captain slept beside her, yet she was alone.” / "Even with Ygritte sleeping beside him, he felt alone.“

Daenerys dreams of her lover:

“It was never Jorah Mormont she dreamed of; her lover was always younger and more comely, though his face remained a shifting shadow.”

Jon is described as a shadow:

“A shadow half-seen behind a fluttering curtain.” / “He would be condemned to be an outsider, the silent man standing in the shadows”

Daenerys also dreams of life as a wife and mother:

“In her dream they had been man and wife, simple folk who lived a simple life in a tall stone house with a red door.”

Both dream of children they will never have:

“I might someday hold a son of my own blood in my arms.” / "I will never have a little girl.“

From Jon’s first chapter, there are hints that Benjen knows his identity and that family might someday be important to Jon:

"You don’t know what you’re asking, Jon. The Night’s Watch is a sworn brotherhood. We have no families. None of us will ever father sons. Our wife is duty. Our mistress is honor. You are a boy of fourteen, not a man, not yet. Until you have known a woman, you cannot understand what you would be giving up.”

“I don’t care about that!” Jon said hotly.

“You might, if you knew what it meant,” Benjen said. “If you knew what the oath would cost you, you might be less eager to pay the price, son.”

We have those quotes from Maester Aemon, that hint that Jon might choose love or a child over duty:

“What is honor compared to a woman’s love? What is duty against the feel of a newborn son in your arms … or the memory of a brother’s smile? Wind and words. Wind and words. We are only human, and the gods have fashioned us for love. That is our great glory, and our great tragedy.”

While yes, Aemon hints that it is both glory and tragedy, we’re coming off a long, long line of tragic Targaryen love stories - the difference here being that one of these Targaryens is out to break the wheel that destroyed so many of these star-crossed, doomed Targaryens loves (Rhaegar/Lyanna, Duncan/Jenny, Daemon/Daenerys, Aemon/Naerys, etc).

Blue roses are linked to Lyanna Stark or even House Stark in general. In a vision, Daenerys sees:

“A blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness.”

Meanwhile, there is foreshadowing that Dany will help Jon’s effort against the white walkers with lines like these:

“He might as well wish for another thousand men, and maybe a dragon or three.”

Daenerys, herself, has a weird moment with some ants while she wakes in the Dothraki Sea, brushing them off of her body as they swarm over a wall:

“To them these tumbledown stones must loom as huge as the Wall of Westeros. The biggest wall in all the world, her brother Viserys used to say, as proud as if he’d built it himself.”

Around the same time, Jon is killed, whispering to his wolf:

“Ghost,” he whispered. Pain washed over him. He gave a grunt and fell face-first into the snow. He never felt the fourth knife. Only the cold…

Meanwhile, after ‘opening her third eye’ with some berries, Daenerys hears the call of a wolf all the way over in Essos:

“Off in the distance, a wolf howled. The sound made her feel sad and lonely.”

We can extrapolate that this is, in fact, Ghost… as first, there don’t seem to be wolves in the Dothraki Sea, but also this line from Bran also provides context:

“Here in the chill damp darkness of the tomb his third eye had finally opened. He could reach Summer whenever he wanted, and once he had even touched Ghost and talked to Jon.”

Now that we know Jon’s true name (at least according to the show), this curious line from Daenerys also hints she might marry Jon:

“A crown should not sit easy on the head. One of her royal forebears had said that, once. Some Aegon, but which one? Five Aegons had ruled the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. There would have been a sixth, but the Usurper’s dogs had murdered her brother’s son when he was still a babe at the breast. If he had lived, I might have married him.”

Meanwhile, Jon is infatuated with Val, a woman who sounds an awful lot like a precursor to Daenerys, who is a warrior woman with silver-pale hair… Jon is also reminded of Val’s hips and breasts and that she’s 'well made for whelping children’…

“The light of the half-moon turned Vals honey-blond hair a pale silver and left her cheeks as white as snow. She took a deep breath. The air tastes sweet.”

“Lonely and lovely and lethal, Jon Snow reflected, and I might have had her.”

“A warrior princess, he decided, not some willowy creature who sits up in a tower, brushing her hair and waiting for some knight to rescue her.”

As for GRRM, he told a helpful clue to director Alan Taylor circa season one of Game of Thrones:

“Anyways, he alluded to the fact that Jon and Dany were the point, kind of. That, at the time, there was a huge, vast array of characters, and Jon was a lowly, you know, bastard son. So it wasn’t clear to us at the time, but he did sort of say things that made it clear that the meeting and the convergence of Jon and Dany were sort of the point of the series. So, I was happy that a big step forward was taken in the episode I got to do this season is where he has fallen for her both, you know, emotionally and politically I think.”

But that’s not all. I did write a meta about the mother goddess Danu and her parallels with Dany - and this, to me, rings much more true to who Daenerys is in the books rather than whatever impostor is parading around in Dany’s skin on screen in season eight.

There is a lot of proof that GRRM puts a LOT of thought and detail into his books - even down to the Starks ‘howling’ and ‘growling’ and the Lannisters ‘roaring’. I’ve uncovered a cool trend where many of the names he assigns to characters reflect their numerological gemstone house colors - and the names he chooses all shed some light on the characters they are given to, such as Bran meaning ‘raven’ or Sandor meaning ‘defender of man’ or Gendry meaning ‘son-in-law’.

I’ve done a lot of thinking about these things, and I just cannot see GRRM throwing out all of his foreshadowing or all of the clever little things he’s been hinting at since book once, all for the sake of shock value or subverting expectations… That’s not his style and he speaks out against it.

Bearing that in mind, the clear mad queen is Cersei, who shares virtually every parallel to Aerys Targaryen - the way she tortures parent and child chained just out of reach from one another, the way torture sexually excites her, the way she was tortured into madness, and straight down to her wildfire use. Daenerys better fits the archetype of an anti-hero rather than a straight villain. With only two books left and still no signs of madness… I just don’t see it going down this way in the books.

As for whatever just happened with Daenerys, I’ve been given a compelling argument that in the books, as she squares off with (f)Aegon Targaryen, or, Young Griff, in an effort to expose the Mummer’s Dragon, she might accidentally set off these wildfire traps that make her look just like her father, and perhaps she even goes a little mad with grief.

Especially considering that ASOIAF is so heavily based on Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, which share countless parallels, such as:

Norn (White foxes)  → The Others (White walkers)

Sithi (Dawn children) → Singers (Children of the forest)

Witchwood  → Weirwood

The Storm King → Night’s King

Ineluki → Azor Ahai

Sorrow → Lightbringer

Black iron → Dragonglass

Nisse → Nissa Nissa

Hayholt Castle → Winterfell Castle

Green Angel Tower → Winterfell Crypts

Simon Snowlock (secret heritage) → Jon Snow

Princess Miriamele (disguised as a boy) → Arya Stark

Warring brothers King Elias/Josua → Stannis/Renly

Tailed star → Red comet

Black priest Pryrates → Red priest Melisandre

Daenerys is suspected to be the Princess Maegwin figure, a woman who “is forced to watch as forces conquer her people and is eventually driven to madness in her desperation to save them.”

You make a good point about Fire & Blood and ASOIAF prehistory, too. Aside from the doomed Targaryen love stories I mentioned earlier, we get another history book that basically gives us a rundown of various Targaryen ladies who never got to be queen. I’d say this book has a strong feminist message - and might even hint that the last vestige of House Targaryen just might accomplish what her foremothers could not - finally becoming the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.

Lastly, I’ll leave you with a clip from the man, himself, about Dany:

“From my mother’s stories, I always had this kind of sense that I was like disinherited royalty. Here was this dock that my great-grandfather built - it wasn’t ours anymore. Here was this house that my mother had been born in - we didn’t own this house anymore. We didn’t own any house, we had an apartment. So it was like, ugh, I came from greatness - like Dany! And I will take back what is mine with Fire and Blood! I think on some level, that must’ve gotten to me.”—George R. R. Martin

I could be wrong about all of this, of course… but that’s my current take. 🤷

[unchronology]

Alright fuckeroos, let's all take a big long swig of Calm Down Juice here. While cultural bias in white, western archaeologists is absolutely a real thing it ain't what you're looking at here.

So first off there isn't an archeologist worth their salt that digs up something they don't understand and immediately goes "WOW CURSES COOL". That honour has traditionally gone to hack journalists making sensationalist bullshit pieces to try and make this sort of thing sound extra-spicy to the reader, whether that's in filling up empty column inches in the Times in the 1930s or writing dumb-as-rocks clickbait arsegravy nowadays. And you know what is even more guilty of over-sensationalising this sort of fucky-ducky? Social media, bitches.

(Yes, there's all sorts of pseudo-historian crapstains out there in the wacky world of pop-Egyptology, but crucially they're usually the sort of people who get politely laughed out of the country while reputable universities get actual excavation rights from the Egyptian government)

Second, we're more easily lead down speculation and guesswork with ancient Egyptian archaeology than medieval European stuff because, and I know this is mind-blowing so hold on to your butts, it was longer ago and we don't know as much. Ancient Egyptian culture hasn't existed for the last 2000 years, while French catholicism has a textual, artistic, architectural and even musical record that we can trace pretty exactly right back to the foundation of France. And more importantly, it still exists today. We don't need to guess much about Christian burial rites because... *gestures around*. Meanwhile we haven't got much to go on with ancient Egypt because ancient Egypt was wiped out by Christianity and then Islam. Good work, lads!

So yeah, when I hear about a lead sarcophagus in a medieval graveyard, I don't think "OH SHIT CURSE COOL" and neither should you, because we know exactly why they did it. There's no mystery. Lead-lined coffins are super normal because they seal the corpse better against the elements, which is way more important in damp, temperate Europe than the dry Sahara Desert. It preserves the body longer. Also, don't know if you knew this lads, but lead is kind of heavy? So the coffin is weighed down better and is less likely to accidentally move around if the soil shifts or water gets into the ground. Best way to keep your dead grandma under the ground, if you can afford it.

Finally, why would you think it's more spooky when it has been buried outside the Catacombs? You want a proper curse, go to the Romans. They loved cursing each other! They even used lead! You'd write your curse on a bit of lead, chuck it into a river or a pond and go about your day.

"...he may be accursed in (his) blood, and eyes and every limb and even have all (his) intestines quite eaten away if he has stolen the ring or been privy (to the theft)."

The romans knew how to party, bitches.

Tired: finding a sealed tomb from Egypt or some other non white culture and declaring it cursed

Wired: doing the same for the catholics

[pristinepastel]

yay! finally updated again, sheesh. in this i gain some sidekicks! and we learn that in the fade, there is no language.

Chapter 9: A Brief Intensity Surrounded by Repose

As soon as I notice the fact I haven’t dreamed yet since I got here, I poof into the fade. Not like how most people dream in the fade- No, this looks more like how the fade shows up in origins with the Sloth demon. Basically, I’m in the remains of half of my bedroom back in my dorm. Very uncanny valley. Very fallout-like, even. Wonder what ohio looks like in that series? Maybe it’s an area you can travel to in fallout 76. I mean, West Virginia is pretty close, right? I think.

I see a glimmer out of the corner of my eye. I turn, and see a small sparkly cloud. Ooh, is that a wisp? It’s a purple one! Very nice. Hello friend!

It shifts into a slightly different shape, I think that’s how it waves at people! Cute! It zips around a bit, then stops, hovering in front of one of the plushies on my bed.

“Curious? That’s Cayde holding Colonel the chicken. they’re good people.” It floats around over my be, settling on top of a cat plushie. Awww. Adorable, but I kind of miss Molly now-

There’s a rubbing sensation around my leg. I look down-

Oh my goddess it’s a cat-shaped spirit. Oh goddess I could cry. This place is amazing.

Ok ok, calm down. Don’t get too excited. Don’t want to draw too much attention. I pick up the cat-spirit, and sit on my bed with them on my lap. Alright, so I can dream here, That’s good! Some people come here without the ability to enter the fade. This gives me a place where I can sit and actually think without any interruptions. Wonder if I can walk between dreams..? Eh, I’m alright where I am actually. I don’t really want to risk that sort of thing. I mean, sure that’d be cool, but I’m not really good at... exploring in unfamiliar places without getting really anxious and panicky. And on the fade, that hurts more than just me. I pet the cat-spirit friend, whose name I don’t know yet.

Hmmm... I wonder. I get the feeling it was my inner voice that drew the wisp and cat spirit here, but I wonder if I can give them other cool things too, like... music maybe? Hm. What should it be? Don’t want to go too intense or morbid with the first one, and it should be one I know pretty well already. I don’t want to sing actual foreign lyrics that I can’t remember correctly without having the information on my phone. So. Hearse song, Walk On Water, and Yoi Yoi Kokon at off the table for now. Last one is a bit too fast for me anyway. Maybe... Hallelujah? But which one? I can go with the Leanord Cohen one, or the one Brendon Urie wrote. To be honest when I saw that title for a Panic! At the Disco song I assumed it was another cover of the first one, but no it just has the same name. ... If someone I know actually walks in on this, I think it’s better if it’s the first one. I really don’t want him to get the wrong idea about me.

How does it start again? Oh right.

“Now I've heard there was a secret chord

That David played, and it pleased the Lord

But you don't really care for music, do you?” The wisp seems interested, and Cat starts purring. Approval! Good.

“It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth

The minor fall, the major lift

The baffled king composing Hallelujah~” I make sure to keep my eyes part way open during the chorus. I don’t want to get startled if more people show up.

“Your faith was strong but you needed proof

You saw her bathing on the roof

Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you

She tied you to a kitchen chair

She broke your throne, and she cut your hair

And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah~”

No Solas yet, but there are a few silhouettes creeping in around the edge of my room near my desktop.

“You say I took the name in vain

I don't even know the name

But if I did—well, really—what's it to you?

There's a blaze of light in every word

It doesn't matter which you heard

The holy or the broken Hallelujah~”

Cat is really calming to pet. Like a chinchilla, with more fur than a cat actually has in real life but I don’t mind, they’re trying their best to be a cat.

This next part is probably the most important one, so it’s good that I can kind of sense the spirits reacting to him being nearby. I’m pretty sure that’s who they see, anyway. They’re kind of parting to make room, and looking back.

“I did my best, it wasn't much

I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch

I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you

And even though it all went wrong

I'll stand before the Lord of Song

With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah...”

Yep, there he is. I finish up the final chorus, then wave.

“Solas!”

“Making friends, I see.” Woah, I can understand him! This is great! I was worried about how I could talk to him without making Shiloh involved.

“Yeah, these two showed up when I first got here! They’re adorable, right?”

He seems a little surprised by my response, but recovers quickly with a raised eyebrow. I can’t tell if he’s surprised I could understand him, or by my... unique personality.

“Most wouldn’t describe them as such. You aren’t suspicious of them?”

“No, not really. They’re just curious after all- As far as I’m aware, they haven’t seen anything like me or my room before. I don’t blame them, if I’d never seen a computer before I’d be confused too.”

“... I’ll admit to some curiosity myself. A... computer?”

“The black square thing on that desk over there.” I point to the other side of the room, across from where I’m sitting on the bed. Huh. “You’re not asking about how I know they’ve never seen anyone like me before?”

He turns back to me after inspecting my desk. “I didn’t expect you to answer.”

“Why not? I don’t mind. I already told the others- or... tried to tell them I had information to share. Go ahead and ask!”

He looks at me perplexed. “You’re certain? Why share personal information with someone you know so little?”

Time to store the pot a bit, I guess. “First of all, that’s how meeting people goes, isn’t it? Everyone’s a stranger at first. Then you exchange tidbits about each other to get to know people. Then those tidbits get bigger and more important until you can say you really know someone. Second, I already know quite a bit about you guys, so. It’s only fair, right?”

He narrows his eyes. He took the hint, I think. “... Is that so? How, exactly, do you know me- us- so well?”

“I have some prior knowledge about what’s going to happen. I kind of want to wait until everyone’s in the loop to share it all though, if that’s ok. It’s only fair, if it involves everyone, right? Suffice to say, I like you guys and I want to make sure everything ends up in a good way.”

“How do you classify ‘a good way’ in this case? There’s a hole in the sky. Is the best case for you the closing of the breach?”

“It doesn’t end there, but that’s definitely part of it.” I snort. “I know you’re trying to find out how much I know. I don’t intend to share secrets without the express permission of the person who they’re owned by, unless that person is an irredeemable ass waffle, in which case I really couldn’t give less of a shit what the striped stockings corpse man thinks.”

He raises an eyebrow. “... Striped stockings corpse man?”

“The Elder One. The guy who probably brought me here in the first place. And before you ask if I think I’m here through some divine will slash ‘providence’ as Cassandra puts it, I don’t know. I’m keeping my options open, I guess. Just because Corypheus brought me here directly doesn’t mean no one guided that to happen indirectly, you know?”

I can’t read that expression. “You aren’t andrastian, I take it?”

Snrk. “Hells, no. I’m not a member of any organized religion to be honest. At least, I’m not part of any widely recognized group or church. You could say I’m agnostic. I believe figures did or do exist, but I have no reason to believe any of them are solely in charge, or that any of them aren’t the same people.” I pause to take a breath. I probably don’t need to though, this is a dream. “But... I am a witch. I do have one entity I kind of... ‘follow’, I guess. It’s more of a partnership than a worship thing though.”

“And what entity is that?” At this point, he sits on my desk chair. He gets a little startled when the chair moves a bit more than he expected, and I giggle. No one here has experienced chairs with wheels, I guess.

“Where I’m from, she’s called Baba Yaga. She’s more of a mythical creature than a goddess, a lot of people call her a witch of the wilds. She shows up in a lot of old legends and tales as a character with various names, who either tries to trick or teach the hero lessons, kind of a trickster. It’s not just in one culture either, a lot of places have similar stories just with different names.”

“Speaking of culture, you seem rather out of place here. Where are you from, beyond the sea?”

“To be honest, I have no clue if that’s true or not. Where I’m from, people have already found at least 90% of the land of the world. The only places we haven’t looked are under the oceans and past the stars.”

“That far? Your people sound well travelled.” He sounds intrigued.

“I guess? But to be honest, it’s not really a ‘my people’ sort of accomplishment. We have various cultures back home who discovered places mine hadn’t. And it’s not exactly... the process wasn’t exactly peaceful.”

“Oh?”

“I’d assume war is a pretty common thread in many worlds. And empires.” I pet Cat a bit more. “And bigotry. And manifest destiny. Do you guys have a word for manifest destiny?”

“That depends on its definition.”

“People saying they have the right to take whatever they want because their god- who they also claim has ‘chosen them’- says they can.”

“Ah. Yes, that’s happened before.”

“Yeah.” I sigh. What a long and exhausting conversation to have after not being able to have one for a while, sheesh. “That got... a bit heavy. Sorry, I went on a tangent.”

“No worries. The conversation was quite enlightening, in fact.” He stands up from the chair.

Hells, I’m sure it was. Oof. “Hey, before you go- I know the little one next to me is a wisp, but do you have any idea what this one’s name is? I’ve just been calling them Cat and it feels a bit rude.”

“Oh?” He inspects the spirit currently purring on my lap. “It seems to be a young spirit, perhaps recently formed. If I had to guess, I believe it’s a spirit of Repose.”

“Repose? That means calm, right? Fitting!” Hmm. “That’s a pretty formal sounding name for such a young one though. A nickname might be nice. Oooh! Posey! That’s perfect!”

Solas chuckles. “Varric was right. It’s hard to tell your age- you seem older than you should be one moment, then have a moment of childlike innocence the next.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know, I look more like a weird, sick-looking child. My eyebags could hold barrels. But I swear, I am 21. I just have some... mental and physical issues that make me uniquely weird.”

“Such as?”

“Where would I even begin? Besides, I don’t know how long we’ve been here, but I have a feeling it’s almost time to... ‘wake up’?” Wiggle brows.

His expression becomes more serious for a moment, then he sighs. “You’re certainly an odd person, Pristine. Though I suppose you’re right, I will need to wait to learn what you know.” He gives me a narrow-eyed look. “Understand, however. I will learn what you know eventually. And if you intend to endanger-“

“Solas. Dude. You’re getting a little intense here. I literally just said I’ll be telling everyone what I know- so long as I have the permission of the individual it belongs to, unless they’re an asshole like Corypheus. I’m not going around blackmailing people here.”

He’s silent for a moment, as he holds his look. Then he raises an eyebrow. “... You are very sure about this, aren’t you.”

I laugh. “Hells, no! I have some inkling of what I’m doing but specifics of each bit of the plan? Fuck no. Now, is there anything else you wanna ask before I wake up? Cus. If I sleep in, my sleep schedule is going to go back to nocturnal mode and that won’t end well.”

He chuckles, as he stands up. “No. I will leave you be, I’ve intruded in your space long enough tonight. Though, I do have a request.”

“Hm?” I start petting Posey again.

“Tell me more of your world in the future. It makes for an interesting conversation topic.”

I snort again. “Sure. I have no doubt it’s going to be a very popular one in the coming days. Especially from Varric and some others- Oy vey he and Josie are going to be insatiable.”

He nods, and disappears. For a while longer, I relax with Posey and the wisp, humming in relative silence. Other than a few curious spirits who watch from a distance, no one else visits. It’s a pretty satisfying night.

And then I wake up.

———

While I wait for the rest of the inquisition to finish setting everything up, I have time to think about how I’m going to explain myself. Because a lot of other people would, in my place, hold off telling anyone what they know until much later when they think it’s safe, or when the information is forced out of them. In another world, like Naruto for instance, I’d probably do just that. In that world it wouldn’t be safe to share what I know until I’d be sure no one would spread the information around willy-nilly, too many people behind the scenes would eavesdrop, kill me for knowing too much, or try to kidnap me for their own agenda.

Here though, it’s different. I have a filter through Shiloh, who I trust with my entire being, as well as a position of some importance to the inquisition and therefore protection. I trust it’s safe to tell them because they can’t risk losing my mark, and they’ll have to work with me until the breach is sealed at least. There’s also the whole “Herald” thing- while I’m not sure Andraste is the direct reason I’m here, a lot of people here do. It lends some credence to my other-worldly story. If I was sent here by the Maker, who’s to say they didn’t give me prior knowledge of what’s going to happen? And even if they don’t believe me, the events coming up will definitely help me convince them somewhat.

That isn’t to say I’m going to reveal everything I know- I’m not showing what I know about some people to everyone else. I fully believe they should be the ones to tell people themselves, it’s not my place. Also, I want to at least talk to everyone individually at some point- hopefully convincing some of them to change their minds about certain things. Looking at you, Solas.

Of course, there’s also the other inner circle. The characters only I really know back in my world. They’re going to be a bit... tricky. I’ve met Shiloh and Osiria, they’ll be very helpful, and they have similar goals to me. The others- I’ve seen one or two of them around Haven, but I haven’t approached them yet. I know I’ll meet at least two or three of them soon, the Trevelyans usually stick together after all, and Jaimie is going to be important to the Inquisition with her mages. Haven’t seen the Lavellans yet, but they should be ok. In my story, they evacuated the Conclave before it blew up after being warned by Shiloh and set up camp further down the mountain with Cadash. And since Jaimie and her group got the same warning from Shiloh and they made it out, I know Sahrel and Olivia are safe and with Elisa.

Then there’s the Valo-kas. Osiria had left the group before the conclave was even arranged and kept in touch. They weren’t even in the temple before it blew, and they left after rightfully assuming it was too dangerous to stay. We might be able to recruit their help later. I hope so, my Shokrakar and Cassandra are so cute together.

The game’s inner circle will be recruited as normal, of course. I plan to reveal the knowledge I have multiple times as we take them in, repeating what I know is better than keeping some out of the loop, or worse making everyone wait until after the breach is sealed the first time.

Thinking about everyone we’ll be bringing in brings up another point- no not the mage vs templar thing that’s a different point altogether. An important point, but still. I wonder if the fact I have multiple Hawkes and Wardens will change the story at all? I know Gerard would never leave Anders and Fenris behind. And Aahil isn’t one to let Morrigan and their son go so easily. Then there’s Abeera as queen... Oof, my head. This is emotionally tiring me.

The point is moot for now, anyway. I watched Cullen put up the sign on the Chantry door today. I’m going to have to pull my social skills together soon. Time to explain myself.