#One there would be a more dire feeling to preserve their culture

[bijoumikhawal]

I know not everyone even thinks about Hebitians this way at all but whenever I see a fic where there's like. A mass religious conversion of Cardassians to the Oralian Way (with no discussion of like. This being a minority culture Cardassians actively oppressed that is considered another "people"/nation) I feel so annoyed and baffled. That's not how cultures work, it's not how this dynamic plays out. I know that there's some basis for this in ASIT from Palandine, but Palandine is an aristocratic class Cardassian so when she says "wow I bet Hebitian culture could heal us" you should take that as her overstepping and pedestalizing Hebitians, not as something that makes sense- and Garak is not the best point of connection for good ideas either as he also pedestalizes Hebitians to the point of rejecting a sense of community with him because of his violent past even though no one else agrees with that.

[arachling2]

𝑨𝒄𝒕 𝒊. 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆,

Because it takes me the better part of a century to produce anything coherent, I'm just going to slap this up so that there's something for the brain to chew on while the pretty words evade me.

After leaving 𝖴𝗇𝖽𝖾𝗋𝖽𝖺𝗋𝗄, which happens in the beginning of the silence period amidst the anarchy, he becomes part of a small company that's primarily based in the Lower City. As the cult of the 𝖠𝖻𝗌𝗈𝗅𝗎𝗍𝖾 begins to crop up, the foremost leader of the company is willfully indoctrinated by the forces that be, which basically enables The Chosen Three to own a private, elite batch of soldiers that can be dispersed among their cultist settlements as needed.

Breaking apart the company removes any foreseeable threat of retaliation down the line. Just as well, it serves their best interest to bolster the forces at their True Soul's disposal by granting them an individual that can function with great versatility. ( Bodyguard, Lieutenant, disciplinarian & or enforcer, etc ).

This removes him from being a True Soul himself but nonetheless entangled in the cults mess. He is best suited to the encampment in the derelict temple, his cool headed demeanor was assumed to mesh most successfully with the True Soul trio because it is arguably the most contentious grouping among the other two ( that being under 𝖪𝖾𝗍𝗁𝗋𝗂𝖼 in the shadow lands or personal detail for 𝖡𝖺𝗇𝖾'𝗌 chosen. )

There are several angles this can be written from:

His arrival could be taken as a sign from the 𝖠𝖻𝗌𝗈𝗅𝗎𝗍𝖾, despite his blasphemous ways ( he will tread carefully, there ), he is still an adept soldier & leader, as is any 𝖣𝗋𝗈𝗐 worth his salt.

It could be seen as punitive, sending more forces because clearly the ones they have can't handle their workload on their own.

After the 𝖭𝖺𝗎𝗍𝗂𝗅𝗈𝗂𝖽 crashes, he is a potential guide into the 𝖴��𝗉𝖾𝗋𝖽𝖺𝗋𝗄 & would be familiar with its terrain, its creatures & the subterranean cultures. Its not like his loyalty can't be bought, that's the danger of retaining mercenaries, they can always abandon you for the next highest bidder.

In this particular circumstance, he is not infected with a Tadpole & is not a True soul. He does not subscribe to the cultist preaching, he finds the desperate fanaticism far too similar to the exact environment he tried to escape in the first place.

Companion specific angles:

𝖦𝗂𝗍𝗁𝗒𝖺𝗇𝗄𝗂 & 𝖣𝗋𝗈𝗐 are not so different from each other. Even though this won't be noted at the time, there's enough similarity in culture that he's relatively amiable to 𝖦𝗂𝗍𝗁. He's not bothered by militant personalities. If anything, he understands what's at the source of them from a personal perspective. He actually might enjoy the disparaging remarks more than he lets on, he'd find them quite funny.

He won't condemn 𝖲𝗁𝖺𝖽𝗈𝗐𝗁𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗍'𝗌 worship of 𝖲𝗁𝖺𝗋, but his feelings about it are exactly how he feels about this 𝖠𝖻𝗌𝗈𝗅𝗎𝗍𝖾 business. It's a whole lot of self sacrifice for someone that will never return your admiration. He's of the opinion it's not his place to say that, though, he believes some lessons need to be learned the hard way.

𝖶𝗒𝗅𝗅 is a surprising presence to him, his reputation proceeds him &, unfortunately, their moral compasses might grind against each other like sandpaper. A'byssel was raised to prioritize self preservation, not charity or acts of goodwill. He's skeptical of 𝖶𝗒𝗅𝗅's pointed ability to think of others over himself, but so long as you aren't volunteering his time without his consent, it's a harmless skepticism.

He doesn't trust 𝖠𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗋𝗂𝗈𝗇. He knows self preservation when he sees it, if push came to shove, they'd abandon each other in a dire situation & they both know it. He's content to trade witty banter on occasion, to pass the time, but he proceeds with a watchful eye over this one. ( He doesn't care that 𝖠𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗋𝗂𝗈𝗇 is undead )

𝖦𝖺𝗅𝖾 is a bit of an odd one, his well meant intentions & considerably warm disposition are just very strange to him. Near alien. 𝖣𝗋𝗈𝗐 are rarely met with displays of open hospitality, but the 𝖶𝗂𝗓𝖺𝗋𝖽'𝗌 lack of bias is actually well received. He won't blame him for being reasonably cautious in the beginning, he'd be right to have a little doubt, but so long as 𝖦𝖺𝗅𝖾 himself remains harmless, he'll reciprocate that.

In a rare display of empathy, he can understand what it means to be more weapon than person. 𝖪𝖺𝗋𝗅𝖺𝖼𝗁, despite her loud enthusiasm, has a better chance of understanding his upbringing than most in the party. While her heat will absolutely make him slick with sweat, as a pair of weapons who've regained mastery over themselves, he would enjoy the thrill of her recklessness in battle & is willing to fight alongside her at any time.

While not necessarily a companion in act 1, given the implied potential of a shared culture & former lifestyle, it would be a small injustice not to mention 𝖬𝗂𝗇𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖺. Being with her is not unlike being under the thumb of a 𝖬𝖺𝗍𝗋𝗈𝗇 once more, she's a natural commander, with all of the privilege & confidence that was allowed to grow because she was born in the right body. That's not to overlook the challenges that pushed her out of the 𝖴𝗇𝖽𝖾𝗋𝖽𝖺𝗋𝗄, they all have things they'd like to leave buried, but the fact remains that in act 1 he will not feel like her equal & that's apparent in his initial hesitation to show anything beyond his unreadable mask. Speak when spoken to sort of thing, with the caveat that, without the structure around her protecting the True Souls, he'd be less willing to be such an obedient solder. ( He likes the spiders, though. )

[undercityrezident]

Zonai Secret Stones and Their Will to Empower

So this is something I only lightly touched on in my fic, and there’s not much evidence to back up this headcanon, but I like the idea of the Zonai Secret Stones being difficult to control. Not only that, I feel like something as powerful as they are have a subtle will of their own, especially when in the presence of someone who has a great potential power within them to begin with.

Spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom below the cut:

As we know from Memory 5: Mineru’s Counsel, Zonai Secret Stones only amplify a person’s power, and don’t grant mastery or skill over one’s abilities. This leads me to believe that Secret Stones are pure expressions of power that acclimatize themselves to whatever power they can come into contact with.

This ability to adapt is clearly demonstrated every time a person, a sage or other being with latent power, comes into contact with a stone. I changes hue to reflect that power’s aspect (fire, water, wind, etc.) and a symbol representing that power etches itself through radiant light. Aside from maintaining its teardrop shape, the only consistency the stones retain between these different forms are the carvings of an eye that fit themselves somewhere within that symbol.

Adaptation on a timescale this short may indicate some level of consciousness within these stones. It’s not unheard of for items of great power in fiction to exert their own will or instinct, whether for simple preservation or for a greater level of intent. One need look no further than The One Ring in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings as an example.

Further, the fact that each of these stones always retains an open eye as part of its symbology may denote a connection a mind, identity, consciousness, or watchfulness. Especially in case of watchfulness, it may even connect to an opportunistic tendency. 

But what would they looking for in an opportunity?

To express their power in their fullest, raw, and untamed form: draconification.

Draconification, as we well know, has a history. I spoke in this post of how dragons are intricately tied to the Zonai through their architecture and culture. In addition to the depictions of dragons, we also know that draconification is a taboo, one likely tied to the origins of the three dragons Naydra, Dinraal, and Farosh. Already, that’s three stones that we know of that have likely been swallowed by beings that took on draconic form. Whether this happened one by one or all at once is not apparent, but it indicates that either a great need arose for them to consume their stones, or they may have been tempted into doing so by the allure of the power being a dragon offers. Or perhaps both.

What greater temptation is there to give into great power than desperation? We saw it first-hand with Zelda.

This is where the potentially opportunistic nature of the stones comes into play. Zelda swallows her stone in a bid to revitalize the Master Sword when no other options seem apparent. Ganondorf rips his off his own forehead to ensure he has the power to defeat Link during their final confrontation. Yes, these could be just two cases of people driven to desperate measures in two different cases. But then why do the Zonai urge such caution with the Secret Stones and the taboo of swallowing one? Why do they hide the stones from the other races until the most dire of circumstances and gift them to those who would become the ancient sages?

Because they tempt people to power by amplifying what power they have. Their ability to enhance their wielders are brief tastes of what they could have: an appetizer before the literal meal the stone itself becomes. And more than that, even before they are consumed, they may be difficult to control.

Take Memory 6: The Gerudo Assault as an potential example of this.

Zelda was surprised by the swell of power emanating from her as she and Sonia supported Rauru against the oncoming Molduga swarm. While my initial conclusion had been that she has just that much more power than she realizes, one can wonder if she, an inexperienced user of the stone, is having trouble controlling it. Again, it could be a case of both, as Zelda does have potential in her blood from both Rauru and Sonia’s bloodlines combined.

And it’s worth mentioning that Sonia seems surprised, or maybe even alarmed, by this sudden development. Still, Zelda manages to wield this extraordinary power and aids Sonia and Rauru in defeating the invaders.

Then, in Memory 10: Birth of the Demon King, Ganondorf demonstrates a knowledge of the power the stones possess, even beyond what the trio of Sonia, Rauru, and Zelda demonstrated earlier.

He calls it “godlike power,” and, recognizing how much more it can do, criticizes Rauru for squandering it.

In fact, it does seem like the stones could be wielded to frightening effect based on Ganondorf’s first actions as a stone’s wielder. But Ganondorf is a man who revels in unrestrained power, being an incarnation of it through Demise’s curse.

Meanwhile, other beings that do not have that quality need to exercise discipline to not succumb to such power and temptation. Zonai history may very well have taught them that lesson with what may have happened with Naydra, Dinraal, and Farosh. Only in desperation did Rauru utilize that power again to seal Ganondorf and himself, condemning them both to ages-long entanglement beneath the castle. The cost to Rauru was dire, but necessary: the power required everything of him, including his life, and even his will beyond death.

For all that, the stone remained tied to Rauru, but outside his body for the duration of that long task. It didn’t fully consume his identity in the same way draconification does. But it waited until it found someone new. Someone powerful. Someone less disciplined in wielding a Secret Stone. 

Its patience was rewarded when Zelda and her noble swordsman found it in the deepest depths beneath Hyrule Castle.

That same stone adapted to Zelda’s new power. It may have tried to overwhelm her, though it failed, thanks perhaps to Mineru’s, Sonia’s, and Rauru’s guidance. But in the end, there’s no way to resist the stone’s ultimate gift once you let it slip past your lips. Inside of you, there’s no resisting its power because there’s no barrier between it and all your own power.

This is why the Secret Stones may very well be dangerous. This is why the Zonai may have been reticent to share them outside of times of greatest need. This is the Secret Stones’ will to empower.

[the-deviations]

Something’s getting lost in the retelling here. Keep in mind that I’m working entirely from memory, so I might also be off in some areas…but not as off as some people in the notes, like, damn.

Lowtax didn’t get chased away from his own forum for bad posting.

He was barely posting in the first place, mostly to encourage shopping on the forum store for access to more functions, all to save his crumbling spine and also crumbling dead gay forums (oh hey doesn’t Tumblr have a store with memeware? And the ability to pay for no ads, but also to buy ads (Blazes) that the no-ads people can still choose to see?)

If he could have been chased away for bad posting, it would have been when he attempted to shill for mangosteen juice and chucked a tantrum when the still-quite-alive-at-the-time gay forums did not take this well (I suppose the equivalent here would be the potential impending sale of our data to midjourney, but Lowtax - to the best of my knowledge - didn’t force people to drink the juice)

Scully, you’re never gonna believe this…

…but Lowtax was ousted because of his abuse of a select class of women; in his case, his ex-wives. What fueled the furore was that this wasn’t the first time the allegations had surfaced, but there were a few factors at play that made these last ones not get swept under the rug:

The culture of Something Awful had shifted as posters matured and stepped away from edgelord mentalities. Lowtax, abundant with both parental and forum-based funds, did not feel a pressing need to mature and thus did not grow with the community he’d founded.

The space under a rug is neither infinite nor oblivion.

It wasn’t just fuck off fuckstain, you’re an arsehole. It was fuck off fuckstein, you turned us into arseholes. We’d had his metaphorical back, and it turned out it had even less integrity than his real life one. The forums were almost assuredly doomed, until rare crypto success story Jeffery of YOSPOS threw money at Lowtax to take custody of the forums.

Yeah yeah, golden parachute, whatever. Lowtax would have taken the site down with him otherwise. Jeff liked the site, had the money to preserve it, and used it.

It turns out the financial state of Something Awful wasn’t as dire as Lowtax had made it out to be. Still not thriving, but able to chug along if it didn’t have an addict of various vices suckling at its teet hard enough to taste its silicon. The few new posters every time a big social media site has a now-familiar meltdown helps and is funny every time, and if you’ll kindly allow me a segue into suggesting a site to flee to if and when the Matt hits the fan - if it hasn’t already spoiler alert it’s Something Awful.

(Yeah, it’s a pay site, but it’s not subscription based. If you ask me, the best monetised feature is the ability to fuck with other people’s avatars if you think they deserve it. You can no longer say things like mods knew (drama topic for another time), faggot, or - outside of designated British and Australian threads - cunt.)

The first fundraising effort under Jeffery of YOSPOS was to reward whoever bought the most forum stuff in a certain time frame with a special temporary mod status. The winner’s sole task as a mod was to be the one to permaban Lowtax.

So, without his internet fiefdom and in the midst of a legal shitstorm as his ex-wives Voltron’d into a united front of ‘fuck that guy, I cannot stress this enough, figuratively’ Lowtax spiralled. If you bank the consequences of your actions, they’ll collect interest.

His Patreon for Gaming Garbage dropped over 80%. He streamed to the audience that remained, and I even caught a few of them. He’d screen shitty movies so obscure YouTube’s bot didn’t give a fuck, and he wasn’t a pretty sight. Spiritually speaking, I mean. His speech pattern was what I’d call (ahem) late-2010’s flavour of presidential, and the jokes he was trying to make were outshone by the chat’s quips, even with their time delay. There’s an infamous screencap of him from this era with a giant cured sausage in his mouth. Hadn’t even taken the casing off. Even after everything, he was still a human being, and it was a sad sight despite being one entirely of his own creation.

Anyway, it took Lowtax a contextually long time to eat his own gun. That sausage casing must have been really chewy.

I think he was still holding out hope that the courts would be in his favour because his mother’s like a lawyer or something, but they didn’t. His ex-wife that was stuck in the centre of the case with him had, at most, hours of the sensation of justice before finding out he’d gone ballistically, and then also finding out that he’d managed to practically zero his personal wealth via Goldbelly cookie subscriptions and other impermanent experiences for the purpose of leaving his daughters with fuck all. Class act.

So yeah, when another dude in charge of a community-based webbed site loses his shit when that community refuses to be his echo chamber, it’s a familiar song…but it’s not the whole album.

Matt. Matt this is the ghost of lowtax. Keep posting. You must keep posting

[tanoraqui]

Middle Earth Elvish Profanity Headcanons

“By the Valar!”

Yes it IS weird to take someone’s name in vain when you’ve literally met them. They usually don’t do it.

However, the line between invoking and cursing is blurred, and it’s normal to invoke/pray to a specific Valar for a relevant reason (eg, cursing recalcitrant rosebushes in Yavanna’s name, invoking Tulkas when threatening to smack your sibling upside the head). Sometimes the relevance is that this particular elf is devoted to this particular Valar, and so will invoke them for things outside their domain (eg, Mahtan says “Aulë help me” whenever any of his grandchildren get in new trouble).

There’s also a spectrum of how explicitly you’re referencing a Vala. Saying something like, “stars above” or “for the love of the tides�� is implicitly referencing Varda, Ulmo, etc, but it’s also plausibly just about the natural phenomena themselves. Stars especially - Elves were swearing by the stars and cursing by the darkness long before Oromë first found them, and many of the oldest still do.

The next level of intimacy/explicitness is to reference a specific Vala by title, eg, “Lord of the Skies preserve us”, “Smith curse this casting!”, “Dancer speed your feet, because when I catch you I will cut them off!” Something general like, “by the Valar” would also be on this level. 

(NB: while it was...not uncommon in Beleriand to curse by “the Chainer”, “Dark Hunter” or other names for Morgoth, it was regarded as more dire than to reference any other Vala by a similarly semi-personal title. You don’t want to risk drawing his attention.)

Highest, rarest level of cursing by the Valar is of course to name them directly. Especially to name them in Valarin. (No one really does that - though it’s not impossible that Fëanor did in his infamous Oath.) Generally believed (correctly?) to call the Vala’s attention, and thus only done with real intent, OR by those particularly favored by a particular Vala, who know even their frivolous call is welcome. (Eg, Círdan in the most tired voice possible, countless times over the Ages when faced with the latest Noldorin nonsense: “Lord Ulmo.”)

(NB: the Gwaith-y-Mirdain are infamous for expressions like, “[drops hammer on foot] Aulë’s fucking tits!” This is commonly mistaken for arrogance, but actually is because they picked it up from the dwarves of Moria. In general, dwarves are very respectful of their creator, but when you drop a hammer on your foot it HURTS, so they don’t hesitate to complain to him loudly and creatively.)

“Shit”

Cursing by messy bodily functions is always a strong option, though Elves tend to regard it as more juvenile than Men do

“Fuck!”

Elves curse by sex, but with different connotations than Men. Sex is (generally) indistinguishable from both the social contract of marriage and a literal spiritual bonding of fëa, cemented by an oath invoking Eru himself. Very sacred. There’s 1 word in Quenya, and in Sindarin, etc, which means all of this at once, though there’s also less-often-used words meaning individually the physical, social, and spiritual aspects.

“Fuck” is a very coarse way of referencing the physical act only, implicitly reducing the whole sacred thing to the basest part (the social part involving a great deal of community joy, joining of families, etc.)

Other sex-related cursing - “suck it!” “balls” - have connotations of...the things you might do for physical pleasure without diving fully into a fëa bond of marriage. Opinions on such acts range across time and cultures from “blasphemy” to “perfectly normal behavior for younger Elves, or older Elves who haven’t found their soulmate yet”, which affects how satisfyingly rebellious it feels to reference them as profanity.

Other Things to Take in Vain

It’s actually pretty common to swear by “Song”, “the Great Song”, etc. It’s swearing by the holy nature of all creation without bothering anyone specific.

Relatedly, “Arda Marred” is a common curse for petty things, like stubbed toe levels of petty. Connotation: The world is unfair and YES I’m whining about it.

It was common to swear by the Trees in when they were lit, either individually or “the Trees”, but that stopped abruptly in grief once they were destroyed. Swearing by the sun and moon never caught on, despite conscious attempts.

Swearing by individual Maiar is much less common than by individual Valar, but: while for most Elves, invoking “the Queen” in a profanity way means Varda, for Iathrim it usually means Melian.

“Flame Imperishable”...okay, I’m not saying the supporters of the House of Fëanor were a cult, I’m NOT. But it was a...genuinely minor trend, in Formenos, to replace the names/references to the Valar, in curses, with Fëanor’s name - like, a handful of people were doing this, okay? Two dozen at most. As an active political statement. 

But then Everything Happened, including Fëanor dying, and it snowballed (fireballed)...rather fast. The Valar had abandoned them but you know who was plausibly still watching over them as a houseless spirit? Fëanáro! (That was superstition, everyone knew it was superstition. But it was a kind of a comforting one, and anyway, fuck the Valar.)

But all Fëanor’s sons were (varying degrees of) Uncomfortable with both the idea of their father’s unquiet ghost and the idea of venerating their father to minor deitihood, so the general Fëanorian host started using the euphemism “Flame Imperishable.” Which was already something to take in vain, and rarely done so, because it was so very holy a concept! (Arguably it was even more Uncomfortable for Fëanor’s sons than equating their father to “mere” minor deitihood, but at least now there was plausible deniability what people were swearing by.) So this is a win/win, in terms of profaning that which has forsaken and Doomed them! Many Sindar probably picked it up without realizing that it was about anything but the Flame of Creation at all.

But if you know, then you know. And it became so common in East Beleriand that many people forgot the contentiousness of its origin and kept using “Flame Imperishable” as a casual curse phrase after their re-embodiment in Valinor.

...speaking of Fëanor: the Oath! References to the Oath were common curses in East Beleriand and perhaps even the rest of Beleriand. “Elda, Maia and Aftercomer” as an expression of surprise, “Everlasting Darkness” as a curse, etc. In later days, as opinions of the Oath grew darker, “Oath take you.”

References to the Doom were used similarly.

Swearing by the Silmarils was also common throughout the First Age and well into the Second, either as objects of veneration or incredible cursedness.

Swearing by Gil-Estel was quickly popular and never went out of fashion. At first people tried to avoid doing it where Elrond or Elros could hear, including in Númenor, and indeed Elros never did join in, though he didn’t really mind others doing it. At some point in the early-mid Second Age (a few centuries after Elros’s death), Elrond stopped trying to avoid letting it slip into his speech and instead started pulling the power move of just saying “Father” in contexts where anyone else would be swearing by the Star. It’s very analogous to people particularly beloved of a specific Vala casually naming them in oaths. All his children imitate this, “Grandfather”, and Celebrian even picks it up sometimes (”Father-in-law”). 

[bryte-eyed-athena]

Afrofuturism in the work of Janelle Monáe

Ashley Clarke, a curator for the Brooklyn Academy of Music, defined Afrofuturism as “the centering of the international black experience in alternate and imagined realities, whether fiction or documentary; past or present; science fiction or straight drama.”

Themes of Afrofuturism can be found throughout the works of Janelle Monáe. Her previous albums like The ArchAndroid and The Electric Lady showcase this through the exploration of androids as a new “other.” Today I want to talk about one of her most recent projects, Dirty Computer, and the way it contributes to the conversation on Afrofuturism. Janelle Monáe released Dirty Computer as an album and a 48 minute long Emotion Picture to draw her audience into a visual and auditory world of her own making. The dystopian future she presents to us is very similar to our own current reality, except that the voices being amplified are those that have historically been silenced. People of color and the LGBT+ community are central in this story rather than pushed off screen. Dirty Computer is so powerful because it focuses on joyful rebellion, love, and freedom in an oppressive dystopian setting.

The project, as Monáe has shared, can be split into three parts: Reckoning, Celebration, and Reclamation.

Part I: Reckoning

gif credit: scificinema

gif credit: scificinema

The Emotion Picture begins with Monáe’s character Jane 57821 laying out how her society has begun to capture people deemed dirty in order to “clean” them of their supposed filth against their will. This is meant to produce beings that are stripped of all individuality and ready to conform to societal norms and expectations. Jane tells the audience that, “You were dirty if you looked different, you were dirty if you refused to live the way they dictated, you were dirty if you showed any form of opposition at all. And if you were dirty it was only a matter of time.” The dichotomy between dirty and clean has created a system where an entire class of people can be demonized and oppressed. This foreboding tone at the beginning prepares the viewer for the grim implications of the cleaning process in this universe.

Dirty Computers are strapped to a table and forced to undergo the “Nevermind” which is a program that deletes memories. It is a process that is horrifying because of what it symbolizes to the individual and entire communities of people. To erase someone’s memories is to erase who a person is. The character of Mary Apple 53, Jane’s love interest, shows us just how alien a person can become once their memories are gone. The horror of erasure is also something that marginalized communities have faced for centuries and continue to face today.

In an interview on Dirty Computer, Janelle Monáe said “I felt a deeper responsibility to telling my story before it was erased. I think that there’s an erasure - of us, and if we don’t tell our stories they won’t get told. If we don’t show us we won’t get shown.” Afrofuturism is a response to this erasure of black people and people of color in culture, history, and art. Monáe has made a deliberate choice to tell her story even if it might get erased because if she doesn’t do it then no one else will. Remaining silent would be to assist in that erasure and Afrofuturism is all about refusing to be erased.

This first part of the Emotion Picture is all a reckoning with the Dirty Computers and how they are pushed to the margins. The lyrics in Crazy, Classic, Life speak about how the same mistake made by two people on different ends of the spectrum of social acceptability is punished unequally. Take A Byte follows it with a more upbeat tone, but even then the lyric “I’m not the kind of girl you take home to your mama” speaks to a feeling of being outside social norms.

There are moments of light and joy that are counterweights to the dire situation Jane is in. These come in the form of her memories which are played one final time before they are erased. Jane’s life before she was captured was filled with exploration, youth, love and celebration.

Part II: Celebration

Gif credit: normreedus

Gif credit: daisyjazzridley

Gif credit: nerd4music

Dirty Computers seem to recognize that they are living on borrowed time and that any day could be the day they are forcefully disappeared. This is why they fill each moment with as much fun, life, color, and joy as they can. There are many scenes at clandestine parties where Dirty Computers live freely and openly despite the threat of drones or police that could capture them at any moment. It is important to have these scenes of celebration though because Afrofuturism is also about providing hope.

The future must be a hopeful one if we are to strive for it and Afrofuturism allows us to be creative in crafting our visions of a hopeful future. Even though Monáe’s future is dystopian, there is still room for hope and joy because those are the things that make life worth living. These Dirty Computers have to live their lives joyfully because they don’t know when they’ll be sterilized.

In the interview mentioned previously, Monáe added that “I had to make a decision with who I was comfortable pissing off and who I wanted to celebrate. And I chose who I wanted to celebrate, and that was the Dirty Computers.” The LGBT+ community, people of color, black women, immigrants, and low income people have all been mentioned as people Monáe wished to celebrate. This celebration comes intertwined with images and themes of rebellion as expressed in Jane’s memories. Screwed, Django Jane, Pynk, Make me Feel, and I Like That are the songs that embody celebration the best. Whether it's a celebration of sexuality, femininity, unity, or of self love it is all encompassed in these songs. Jane is shown connecting with others and being unapologetically proud of herself. We also see her falling in love with two people, Zen and Ché, and we see them love her in return.

Gif credit: thelovelylights

Viewing these memories and interacting with Jane seems to encourage the questioning of authority. The employee utilizing the Nevermind process seems to question why he should be deleting Jane’s memories at all. Mary Apple 53, previously named Zen, also directly questions their matriarch after speaking with Jane and realizing that she’s connected to her. It all culminates in a nonviolent escape attempt where Jane, Zen, and Ché reclaim their names, bodies, and their lives.

Part III: Reclamation

Gif credit: thelovelylights

The Emotion Picture ends with Jane 57821 and Mary Apple 53 freeing themselves, and their recently arrived lover Ché, from the facility. They escape without harming others the way they themselves have been harmed. By leaving they are reclaiming their freedom and their right to be proud of being Dirty Computers. They refuse the new names that were forced upon them and leave to rediscover the memories of the life they lived before capture.

It is a hopeful ending that plays into the themes of Afrofuturism. Even though both Jane and Zen’s memories were erased they still have the ability to create new memories and stories. Their ability to recreate their past as well as create a new future was not taken away. As they escape the song Americans can be heard in the background. The lyrics subvert the typical American patriotism expressed by racist white southerners. The trope of preserving gender roles and being a gun carrying american are satirized in these lyrics. America as a whole is being reclaimed by Janelle as a place for the people who have been marginalized.

Janelle sings “Don’t try to take my country/ I will defend my land/ I’m not crazy baby/ nah I’m American.” This sentiment is typically espoused by xenophobic americans, but when it is sung by Janelle she is saying that she won’t be forced out of America due to the bigoted beliefs of the people who hate her. She also pleads for the listener to love her for who she is which is something that has been denied to black women for centuries. The song ends with a powerful message of reclaiming America by Rev. Dr. Sean McMillan who said “Until Latinos and Latinas don't have to run from walls/ This is not my America/ But I tell you today that the devil is a liar/ Because it's gon' be my America before it's all over.”

This also shows themes of Afrofuturism since Monáe is reclaiming her history and is refusing to be excluded from it. She is asserting her presence and that of all the Dirty Computers by saying that they too have a claim to America. The Emotion Picture and the album are both a masterpiece of Afrofuturism art and music. Monáe masterfully weaves various musical genres and visual storytelling to show her pride in being a black queer woman. There is no other artist like Janelle Monáe, and I am excited to see what new worlds she will take us to next.

[par2n2]

Amorgos [Αμοργός]

This one has been one of the very few islands of the Aegean Archipelago that I had never properly visited and explored, up until the previous April. Amorgos, a long, mountainous, cliffy and rocky piece of land lies on the eastern edges of the Cyclades, facing the islands of Keros, Koufonisia, Schoinousa, Iraklia and Naxos to the northwest, and Astypalaia to the southeast. Quite far from Piraeus (at least 9 hours away by ship), with no airport, Amorgos is regularly connected solely to Naxos and Mikres Kyklades [Μικρές Κυκλάδες], through a daily itinerary carried out by the famous Skopelitis small car ferry.

Remote and isolated from mainland Greece, but also from the majority of the islands of the Aegean Archipelago, Amorgos has built a unique and intriguing character. Not only its landscapes and vistas are spectacular, mountainous, full of cliffs with breathtaking views to the fathomless blue sea, but also its folk is a fusion of locals and foreigners, altogether forming an amalgamation of cultures, visions, origins and ends. As one of the island’s most recent settlers discussed with me during my short stay: ‘Amorgos should not be mistaken, nor confused to be a female, or a consoling woman to travellers, and strangers reaching its shores after a long and tiring journey [*]. On the contrary, Amorgos is a man, the close and solacing friend so much needed in grave and dire times, that will stand by your shoulder and shelter you, being a newcomer and a local alike’. Largely contributing to the reputation of Amorgos has been the Big Blue [Grand Bleu], a motion picture that has established the island as a unique alternative, non touristic destination, still standing, since mass tourism has not yet encroached nor consummated the unique qualities and moments captured by Luc Besson in the late ‘80s.

One of these unique instances has been unwound in front of my own eyes during the night of the Good Friday and the procession of Epitaphios in the village of Katapola, the main port of Amorgos. After Epitaphios has left the Cathedral carried by the mourning worshippers, a ritual takes place choreographed by the small scale fishing community of the island, when fishers man their fishing caiques, stock them with fireworks and flares to be fired, and follow the procession by sea close behind, grieving the Crucifixion of Christ. The feelings and the rewards I received during this peculiar customary tradition were more than moving, filling me with captivating moments and images.

Amorgos is full of surprises, a true gem for travellers striving to avoid the swarms of mass tourism and enjoy the pristine nature, since the island is renowned for its very well preserved long hiking cobblestone paths, crystal clear blue waters, and unspoiled natural habitats. Marine and terrestrial areas of the island have been already designated as parts of the EU Natura 2000 network of Protected areas, both as Special Areas of Conservation for habitats and species of community interest, but also as Specially Protected Areas for wild birds.

*All islands in Greece are of feminine gender, thus we Greeks think of them as females

I would like to sincerely thank the small scale fishers of Amorgos and I should highlight here that over the last years their association, named Hozoviotissa [Χοζοβιώτισσα], after the famous monastery hanging on the southern cliffs of the island, has been a pioneer in an joint effort to establish Marine Protected Areas and No Take Zones surrounding its marine waters, to promote sustainable fisheries, and decrease fishing effort especially through a temporary cessation of all fishing activities during fish spawning periods in April and May each year. At the same time they have been using their fishing fleet to collect and dispose of marine litter from all inaccessible beaches of Amorgos. This important cause has been named Amorgorama [Amorgos’ vision], seeking our support to become a reality soon! The main objective behind this initiative is not only to protect and restore the seriously degraded and overfished marine ecosystems, but also to preserve the traditional and low impact small scale fisheries of the island, the small family-based fishing businesses and the ancient Mediterranean fishing tradition itself, since it constitutes an integral element of Greek insular communities that have been striving to survive and sustain their livelihoods the last decade.

[wol-blackthorne]

Some background from before Dawntrail:

Fiona had spent the better part of the last year working in Sharlayan on Project Ark (Ark 2 kinda, lol), which was her Archon thesis project. In short, after the loss of Hydaelyn, the Shards would eventually dry up and collapse into the Source with or without calamities. Project Ark had a few goals:

Preserve the history and cultures of Shards before they became inhospitable to life

Allow inhabitants of other Shards to immigrate to the Source preemptively, with some form of financial support to get them on their feet

There was a deal with Lolorito that he'd get first dibs on buying any trade goods unique to the Shards in exchange for funding, and the Cieldalaes settlement project would help immigrants set up homesteads (alternatively, there's also the moon). So it was a whole thing, but it all precipitated on Fiona (or anyone, really) finding a way to travel between Shards, and letting others travel between as well.

And then the dome happened.

Once it came to light that a Whole Ass City had yeeted itself into the Source, Fiona lost her gods damned mind. Yes, she was super excited (New place!! New people!! Shard travel!!), but there was a whole lot of just...it felt like the project she imagined spending the next ten or twenty years on was packaged up and delivered to her doorstep with a bow tie on.

Of course, it wasn't exactly the Project Ark situation she had imagined. For one, the deal with Lolorito hasn't triggered so he's not providing any funding yet, because technically the dome is on the Source. Fiona's currently mulling over exporting lightning-aspected fiber, which should theoretically make for higher quality cloth, but that's really more a Vow problem as they work out trade agreements with Alexandria and all that.

What really got Fiona was Living Memory.

That bit about preserving the history and culture of the Shards before they faded and got absorbed? Yeah. She was a bit dumbfounded. This was literally the sort of thing she was planning for. And here it was. The history of Shard 9 (as seen through Alexandria's eyes, to be fair), all packed up and ready to go.

At present, she's waiting on gleaners from Sharlayan to finish the summer work in Garlemald, but the goal is to migrate over as much from Living Memory as possible into the Source and turn it over to Alexandria as their heritage (with some shared with Sharlayan for archival purposes of course).

Project Ark aside, Fiona's feelings of Solution 9 are...well, mixed. The people of Alexandria barely survived a full-blown Flood of Lightning, so they've effectively been under siege for centuries, and folks do some weird and questionable shit to survive in dire circumstances. She reeled at the backup soul stuff at first, but she could understand the logic and mindset behind it. When you boil it down, a soul is just a bunch of aether, and if all parties consent to it, shrug?

Zoraal Ja's conquest changed that, of course, since the people of the Source didn't consent to their souls getting used as fuel or backups. And going forward, Fiona's made it clear that Alexandrians need to wean themselves off the system—not that they have a choice in the matter since Origenics is busted to hell now.

Otherwise, she's pretty excited for this new city and how it's going to integrate into the new world (kind of a great trial run for the other future Shard migrants hehe).

Lastly, she has determined Alexandria is in desperate need of fresh food, so she's planning on asking Jammingway about an Alexandrian branch of the Last Dregs.

What was your WoL's first reaction to Solution 9?

[emeraldspiral]

Just got out of The Lost City. Enjoyable film. Funny, with some heart. Pokes fun at the romance genre in a respectful way. It’s a satire, but it’s like the kind of satire that understands why the tropes it makes fun of work and how to use them unironically to reconstruct the deconstruction. I like that it makes a point of saying that romantic, sexual female power fantasies are not inherently vapid. Some authors put real thought into crafting compelling stories with imaginative language, extensive research, and genuine feelings that resonate with people and the genre, it’s writers, and it’s audience deserve respect.

That said, the story has one major glaring flaw. It was something I picked up on in the trailers and was hoping would be explained in the movie, but unfortunately never was.

There are no consequences for failure in the story. At one point Magic Mike straight up asks Miss Congeniality the exact question I was asking the entire time, “What happens if Harry Potter gets the MaGuffin?” and Miss Congeniality just says “Don’t worry, he won’t”. Except at the end, he does. And nothing comes of it. It’s like, vaguely implied maybe that opening the tomb at the end caused the volcano to go off because it angered the spirits or something. But this isn’t Raiders of the Lost Arc. It was already established at the beginning that a volcano was likely going to destroy the place anyway, which is why they were on such a time crunch. So in the absence of any evidence in the narrative that overtly points to the supernatural, I feel like you have to assume by default that the obvious mundane explanation is true instead.

So, the premise of the story is that Harry Potter wants a MaGuffin. But it’s not like the Arc of the Covenant or something with any kind of power that Harry can use to harm people, and it’s not like the big crystal from Atlantis the Lost Empire where it’s serving an important function to the local native community and removing it will destroy their society. If anything, letting Harry get it would’ve been a good thing because then that historical artifact would’ve been preserved instead of destroyed by lava.

In the beginning, when he asks Sandra Bullock to help him find the thing, she just says ‘no’, and doesn’t give any reason for it. Based on what was set-up with her character, it seems like she’s only rejecting Harry’s offer because she just doesn’t feel up to it because she’s depressed about her dead husband and doesn’t want to go out and experience life, not because helping Harry would make her an accomplice to some nefarious plot. Later, she decides she does want to find the MaGuffin after all, but instead of just agreeing to cooperate with Harry she’s willing to risk her death and the deaths of others to deny him basically just because he’s a dick and she doesn’t want him to get what he wants. It’s literally TROS 2.0.

Ultimately, Sandra fails. Harry recaptures her, forces her to lead him to the place and open up the tomb to get the thing, and the thing turns out to be nothing. But even if it were the thing Harry thought it would be, it still wouldn’t have ultimately had consequences that would justify all the death and destruction caused by him trying to recapture Sandra and force her cooperation. Nothing would’ve changed if she’d just cooperated from the beginning, except a bunch of people would still be alive.

It could’ve made sense if they leaned more into the angle of Harry being a colonist plunderer, tearing up the native land and stealing pieces of their culture to put on display in a foreign museum or his own private collection, but there’s just not enough detail about Harry’s operation to make it clear how him getting what he wants would have such dire consequences it’s worth risking death to prevent him from succeeding. It’s not made clear whether the excavation is causing destruction to the environment, or pushing native people out of their homes or farmland, if he’s profiting from exploiting the natives and giving nothing back to them, or if precious artifacts are being destroyed because he doesn’t value anything except the one he’s after. There’s just the general idea that the fact that he bought an inhabited island is pretty sketchy and a single reference to a local calling him disrespectful but working for him anyway because he doesn’t have other options.

[galadhremmin]

For the character clothing ask: Elwing, Earendil or Caranthir?

Elwing! So I think she would wear outfits that strongly recall not Luthien but Thingol. Why? Well she is called the fair, but I unlike her father and grandmother don't remember her beauty ever being remarked on as exceptional, so I'm not sure if reminding people of a lesser Luthien would be to her advantage if so. Her epiteth is 'the white'-- you can take that as reflecting her bird form, but I like to think she took after Nimloth! She is a very young ruler, and a young woman in what appears to be a culture not accustomed to women ruling; Luthien didn't, and Melian was very powerful but in dialogue seems to step back. Of course the conditions are exceptional for Elwing, but I feel like that could play a part in sartorial choices being modelled after Thingol to a degree. The Sindar are heavily associated with the colour grey in the books, and twilight. So I think a lot of soft, misty greys, and pearls from the shore. She is of course a refugee princess, and I think conditions were dire enough for her clothes often to have been more practical than those of Thingol ever were. I can see her stomping around in boots sometimes, maybe modelled on those the Edain wore. Sirion is in a land of reeds, so reed capes for the rain, maybe even woven reed sandals too if it was warm, like these Ancient Egyptian ones.

Because of Melian, she might have have felt a connection to the birds before Ulmo ever turned her into one, though it's a bit on the nose so I’m reluctant to have her wear feathers... I feel like they would incorporate a lot of sea materials into things at Sirion, but I can't imagine the Iathren doing it fondly. Sick of eating fish! They're a forest people. Maybe those who can afford it dress in homesick forest-like shades of green, with the few weavings and embroidery made by Melian and her handmaidens carefully preserved and worn by Elwing on special occasions. Maybe those of the Edain as well! I can see her wearing ancient jewelry from before the Beorians crossed the mountains right next to her Doriath finery.

[neednothavehappenedtobetrue]

hello friends this is a post about Food Issues, having a body, and wearing clothes. I would actually like some advice, if you have any ideas for how to circumvent this problem.

tl:dr: all of my clothes are too big. like, to a ludicrous, untenable point. I need to wear clothes, as one does, but how?

I have lost an amount of weight recently, because of the Not Eating Problem. I do not own a scale and am not interested in one, for compulsion-minimization reasons, so I do not know how much weight.

the problem, however, is that absolutely none of my pants fit! I don't have a lot of summer pants, like three pairs, and all of the ones I have are much too big now. very too big.

I am not super invested in how clothes look on me, but I generally like to own at least some clothes that support the standard modesty requirements for leaving one's home. significantly too-big pants just don't want to stay on your body, because of how gravity is.

I don't own a belt. I could get one, which might fix the problem for the pair of pants I wear most often, so I should do that, but I don't think the other two pairs of pants have belt loops. I should dig them out of the laundry (or, like, wash the laundry) so I can check. is there a way to belt pants that don't come with loops?

belt acquisition would bring my wearable wardrobe to at least one pair of pants, no skirts, and I think three dresses, but I'd have to try the third one on. dresses tend to work better because they just look sort of awkwardly large on me, rather than literally trying to migrate off my body whenever gravity happens.

oh, plus my new dress, which I haven't unboxed yet, but also did buy with the assumption that I was approximately the size my body was in April, and I am some distance from that size, so we'll see how that goes.

so four dresses, one of them theoretically a bit fancy for casual wear, but also clothes is clothes, and one pair of pants if I can figure out belts.

that's not completely dire, but it's also Not Great, right? how many clothes items should one have? that doesn't seem like enough. I feel like I should have maybe two pairs of pants, in theory. also, I'm quite bad at laundry, which would be a problem even if I could wear all the clothes I have.

I am hesitant to buy pants that fit my current body size, for several reasons

(a I don't know how long I'm going to be here. I'm eating slightly better. I'm certainly not out of the woods, but I'm cautiously optimistic. my understanding of how this works is that once you start eating reliably, you bounce back up to somewhere that I am hoping is roughly around where I started out, so I can wear my clothes again and not have to buy a whole-ass wardrobe. if I do end up in a very different place long-term, I will burn that bridge when I come to it.

the place I currently am in seems temporary, is my point.

(b I do not actually spend a lot of time actively thinking about my weight, even when my food issues are as bad as they get, but I do have a history of having big negative feelings when I discover that clothes that used to fit me are now too small, because of Cultural Messaging and also being neurotic. I am feeling a bit fragile and the idea of giving myself a ticket for Future Bad Feelings About Your Body To Be Redeemed Once You Start Taking Care Of Yourself Again seems like a bad ticket to get.

(c being more mentally ill is already costing somewhat more money than being less mentally ill does, which is making me a bit scrupulous about the idea of buying clothes that will only be useful to me for... what, like a month? who knows! I do actually have the money, but it feels like Bad Choices money and I'm already spending my Bad Choices money on "making my life easier so I can focus on trying not to die."

(d this problem doesn't feel as insurmountable as the others, but usually my clothes acquisition process involves "talking to my mom or aunts about different clothes items" and I 3000% can't do that here,

all of those people would hear "lost weight due to literally starving to the point of physical sickness" and go either "great!" or, at best "maybe figure out how to eat enough that your body works without gaining any of the weight back" and NOPE.

I'm theoretically supposed to see my parents in October, but I may have to cancel for allegedly COVID reasons but actually like 40% insecurity about being exposed to my parents' COVID choices and 60% the knowledge that if they see me like this they will say something complimentary about my ED-related significant weight loss and that would be... a very bad experience! I do not want to have it! so I should table "convincing my parents not to be here" for right after "being able to dress myself"

also (e I kind of don't want to know how much I weigh now, or any current size measurements of how small I am. it seems like information I would prefer not to have for compulsiveness reasons. they feel like numbers I could get attached to.

okay! time for the solutions I have thought of

(a suck it up! get a BuildingFriend to measure me so I have some numbers that correspond to my body size and just don't be fucking insane about them! use those numbers to buy some clothes, probably cheap ones, as they will be temporary! spend some amount of money! tell my parents nothing and convince them not to come here! eventually donate the clothes when they no longer fit you! just don't be fucking insane about it!

the pros of this plan are "will own clothes I can leave the house in." the cons are that this does hinge to a certain extent on "just don't be insane in the future about things" which seems like writing a check I cannot cash.

(b just figure out how to do laundry, like, once a week. wear your dresses. get a belt. just don't wear pants when you're alone in your apartment, for maximum longevity of your few clothes options.

the pros here are "minimal expenditure of money, less to be insane about in future." the cons are both "laundry is so hard, though" and also, this feels like it will end with my five options getting worn out pretty quickly. how many times can you wear a dress before it ceases to dress? what if one or more of these things gets totally destroyed during its tenure as an essential clothing item and then I have to figure out how to do even MORE laundry?

option A feels like it relies on a major expenditure of current and future Mental Health, which, do I have that? any of that? it's daunting. not impossible, but scary.

option B feels not implausible, but also somewhat tenuous? I would prefer to have more redundancy than that in my "being able to wear clothes" systems. it also relies on Magic Laundry Spoons and I feel like this will result in even more time in objectively very dirty clothes.

I have already considered and discarded "asking my mother for help with the thing she is most literally insane and damaging about" and also "just ceasing to wear clothes" mostly because I have been explicitly told by my therapist that I need to go outside and socialize more and both of those things typically require clothes.

if anyone has an option (c, or a suggestion for either "doing more laundry/preserving longevity of clothes" or sort of "being less insane generally about clothes" please do share!

[vuldak-juneau]

Her peer's criticism of her did not particularly impassion Juneau. Maybe a month ago, she would have felt shame for hiding her head in the sand and failing to rise to the occasion. Not now. The events of the Last Night were not a battleground for Juneau, they were something meant to be survived. And she had. She didn’t come to Nornwatch to preserve Iskaldrik–she came to preserve herself long enough to ultimately make it to Lysara. She didn’t plan to mince words regarding that objective for the sake of other’s feelings. 

Unbeknownst to her conversation partner, her particular skill for finding hiding places had enabled her to deliver dozens of unfairly persecuted souls to the haven of Lysara’s borders. If Juneau cared about this woman’s opinion of her, she might have explained, but she didn’t feel beholden to qualify much of anything to her. “Perhaps if your precious Iskarans hadn’t taken such relish in trying to kill me a few weeks back, I’d be a little more inclined to give a shit,” Juneau mused vaguely. At this point, the threat of the mines felt intangible and empty. Alluding to being something other than human held far less weight than it used to.

Had every Iskaran in these walls been the one to torment her beyond the veil that separated life and death? No. Were the ones who did here taking refuge? Juneau didn’t know. But it was an underlying culture that led to their acts of violence, a pervasive culture that from her perspective every filthy human on the continent contributed to. Since the humans insisted on believing she was something to fear, she would be. Since they had already decided she was monstrous, she might as well be. Perhaps it would be fun, being a self-fulfilling prophecy and all. 

“Which is it?” Juneau asked, her brows knitting together. “If I go out there and I freeze to death? Are you going to eat me, or are you going to try and fight me? Seems like an awful big waste of energy, putting your precious skills to waste trying to fight a frozen corpse and leaving your very brave Isarkats to their own devices.” 

Mouthy as she was, she wasn’t interested in picking a fight. Keen to grift what she could, especially in present circumstances where so many were so distracted, the quality of the woman’s weapons, those more and less apparent on her person, and her armor weren’t lost on Juneau. Nor was the threat of the dire wolf at her side. These were not potential marks. Juneau kept her loose body language, the only thing sharp about her was her too-loose tongue. She was perhaps still learning that just because she refrained from throwing a fist herself didn’t mean she was immune from (or undeserving of) being on the receiving end of a blow from someone else.

Juneau didn’t know much about how she could die in this new form of being, what she might be immune to versus what she was as vulnerable to as ever. But she’d known cold and she had known hunger and exposure to the elements. Real danger was not much of a stranger to her. She had stuck her neck out for others more times than she could count, and in the current moment, all she saw that had earned her was abandonment and anger. The last person she cared to take advice from was someone interested in defending the sniveling humans pushed to the edge of this wretched corner of the world.

"I see," Thora deadpans, intending to leave it at that. However, heat welled in her throat and she found herself continuing on. To what end? That was unclear even to her. "The cowards approach, hide like a babe in a drawer while civilians weaker than you stand their ground as Iskaran's do." Thora fought for more than just her vows now. If Iskaldrik was to be reclaimed then the survivors would need to remember their roots.

They were the descendants of vikings and warriors, brave forebearers who faced war with firm resolves. Surviving these times would only make them stronger, and when they could regroup to march on their conquerors again they'd do so with the ice cold fierceness that flowed through their veins. Thora had lost so much already, but the fire of revenge burned even more intensely in her heart than the pyre.

Kari bore teeth in a snarl, a reflection of Thora's inner turmoil despite the composure she presented. "You may as well go ahead then. Actually be of use and trek the Wastelands ahead of us. If we're lucky, we'll stumble upon your frozen corpse and might get a meal out of it. I'm personally sick of vermin, I think I could stomach you," she says, her own snarl matching her dire wolf's. "It's your best option really. The sight of cowards makes me sick. Who knows how that will impact my swordstrokes during the next calamity. You might find yourself in real danger then."

[fae-fucker]

Review: Death Wind by Tara Grayce

Essie should be planning her happily ever after, not planning a war. Although they once were enemies, the humans of Escarland and the elves of Tarenhiel have allied to fight the trolls from the far north. But alliances are tricky things even in the best of times, and with Farrendel, the elves’ foremost warrior and Essie’s husband, captured by the trolls, the circumstances appear dire indeed. But Essie won’t give up, and she will make her two peoples work together to fight this war if it’s the last thing she does. One way or another, she will get Farrendel back, no matter what it takes.

Gonna be honest, didn't expect much given my lukewarm reaction to the previous two books, but this one? This one actually held my attention for genuine reasons rather than just being a light read. Because the plot involves a lot of conflict (arguably the biggest conflict possible, war), the pacing is steady, and two of the three POV characters are mostly suffering and/or being tortured, there's actually tension for once. It's a welcome change, and proves that the author is very much capable of writing it but just chooses not to in favor of boring and conflict-free family interactions.

With Melantha introduced as a POV character, we're offered a pretty buckwild concept for this series: a character that makes mistakes and has to live with the consequences. I actually found myself liking Melantha, not because I thought she was a compelling character (she wasn't) or because I felt bad for her (I didn't), but because she had what Essie didn't: flaws. There's even a point in the book where Melantha thinks about how much she dislikes Essie because Essie is so sugary perfect and everything Melantha wishes she could be, and I think it's supposed to show us how bitter and insecure Melantha is? Except she's 100% correct, Essie is literally too perfect to be a real person and I just sat there going "yeah, you're right, and don't feel bad for being shitty because literally nobody can actually be like Essie."

However, Melantha suffers from Stupid Bitch Syndrome, which doesn't exactly make for a good protagonist/POV character. She's not intended to be dumb, the book expects us to think she was simply misguided and bitter and not, like, a complete idiot who should've known better. But her instant remorse feels less like character development and more like her suddenly realizing she’s actually a huge idiot who fell for the enemy’s nonsense, which she is. She's supposed to be an older elf, a grown woman, yet she makes such an obvious mistake and immediately regrets it and folds like a wet blanket the moment shit hits the fan. It's honestly a bit pathetic. The only reason I preferred her over Essie was because she introduced some much-needed depth to the character roster, but that depth was still about the size of a teacup, compared to Farrendel's thimble and Essie's singular water molecule. Her relationship with the troll prince was actually ... interesting? It was all mostly unspoken, which I think made it stronger than the overly telegraphed thing Essie and Farrendel have going on, and I’m sure it’ll be flattened out and become boring in the next book, so enjoy this potential before it’s wasted.

Farrendel spends the entire book being tortured and thinking about how he's being tortured. I can't blame him, but it doesn't make for good reading. I honestly think his POV could've been left out altogether and it wouldn't have changed much. Melantha is already there with him letting the reader know he’s suffering, we don’t need two POVs telling us the same thing. Oh uh, except for the part where he ... puts his magic in a soul-bond pocket. I'd mark this as spoilers but it's literally on the cover. I guess if his POV was removed then we'd never know how Essie learned to blast his power in battle at that one convenient moment, but it barely affects the plot afterward so um, yeah. I'm having a hard time justifying his POV at all. I'm still not over that part btw, how Farrendel just ... makes a "mental fist" (no, really), grabs his magic in one and his soul bond with Essie in the other and just puts them together like he's connecting two cables to an adapter. And he knew to do this ... how? It's not like we've seen him experiment with his magic before, in fact he's been shown to hate it and only use it when necessary, but apparently this tortured and exhausted man has the presence of mind to try something as vague and theoretical as ... putting his magic in a soul pocket. He spends a few pages going “I wonder if I can do this” and then it works on the first try. He does consider whether it’ll hurt Essie and decides not to try it, but as I said, he does it soon after anyway so like ... I don’t think it’s supposed to be funny or show how little of a shit he gives about Essie, but that’s sort of the implication and I thought it was funny as hell. 

Anyway, the magic pocket is about as much worldbuilding/lore as we get from this series entry, aside from the trolls having their own political intricacies and tensions, which I’m assuming the next book will expand upon. The writing itself in this book was pretty bad at times. The repetition of certain words and names was really glaring in some parts and felt amateurish. Take a shot every time the word “magic” appears and you’ll be in the grave before the book ends. Prince Rharreth and King Charvod are almost always referred to with their full titles and names for some reason? A few editing rounds would’ve helped this a lot, methinks.

The plot is mostly moved along in Essie’s POV, which is slightly less insufferable than usual because she’s the one observing the movement of the two armies and there are actually action scenes in there that, while don’t exactly made me worried about her (there’s no way this perfect idiot will ever die), still provided some tension. But it’s honestly not much, the “war” lasted two entire weeks (and that’s including the strategy, logistics, and mobilizing) and with how fast the armies travel and how little resistance they face (and how Deus Ex Farrendel-d the final battle was, the guy is apparently full of godlike destructive power despite being starved and tortured, go off king), it all felt very unrealistic and easy. Like, we have two armies marching in the middle of a mountain chain during magical snow storms, all while being regularly assaulted by the defending army, and they still get there no problem, without a single mention of soldiers struggling not to die of exposure. Aight. I guess these elves and humans are just very resistant to the cold, for some reason.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the reason it goes over so fast in-universe is because the author wanted Farrendel to be horribly tortured throughout his captivity, but also knew that if that lasts too long, the damage will be too severe to easily resolve in the next book. But instead of easing off the hardcore torture, because then we’d lose out on that drama and those High Stakes, she decided to speed up the whole war thing, because hey, who cares about that, anyway? We just want Farrendel back, right? Riiiight? Better hurry up guys! Don’t want Farrendel to be too tortured to fix with some strawberry-flavored medicine and vague counseling in the next book!

So yeah, the plot moves on speedily, but at what cost? Mainly depth. Again. And once again, Essie suffers the most from being a bland caricature of a person and dragging the whole thing down. The author’s GR bio says she writes “spunky and tough” leading ladies, and I guess having no other things in your brain except sparkly kitten gifs is a certain kind of toughness in an “immovable object” sort of way, but “spunk” implies a of counter-culture edge that sweet widdle Essie simply does not have.

There was one small section where Essie felt bad over how the human and elven warriors were going to die, how many mothers and sisters and daughters would suffer just so she didn’t have to, but then we don’t find out the death count, the casualties are never even mentioned, and Essie moves on from this without even a single thought questioning the morality of a monarchy or her own position of power. Now, I get that that’s not the focus of this series, but it just adds to how Essie’s worries are always surface-level and never justified by the plot, how she never has to do any introspection and is never allowed to not always be annoyingly positive. Whenever she even begins to think something negative, she instantly, almost compulsively changes trajectory and just decides not to worry about it, and then it never comes up again anyway. This would’ve been like, an interesting take on toxic positivity and how Essie represses her own emotions, but no, the book never goes there, she’s just that perfect and wee and optimistic, even during a war and when her husband’s being tortured to near-death. It’s kind of insulting to read, honestly.

Oh yeah, that’s another thing that annoyed me. Even when she loses Farrendel, she takes it surprisingly well and focuses mostly on keeping a positive attitude for his sake, so he doesn’t feel her sadness through their “heart bond.” I never really felt her loss, her love for him, when she so easily could just decide not to feel bad “for his sake.” I want her to feel bad, I want her to miss him and to ache at his absence and to fear for what they’re doing to him. But no. That would just upset him more and hurt him more. So Essie doesn’t get to experience any negative feelings because it might upset her husband. Essie doesn’t get angry and determined to fight, she just keeps being her cheery little Stepford Wife self because being nice will keep everyone’s spirits up and make them hope and fight harder to preserve that hope!! :)

It just comes off as really flat and moralistic yet dishonest at the same time, because nobody would fucking react like this IRL. Essie might be a good person in-universe, but she drags the entire series down just by being perfect, cheery, and never, ever challenged or even allowed to challenge anything herself. Essie isn’t allowed to have any negative feelings because it might affect her husband, and yet we’re supposed to find this empowering somehow? We’re supposed to believe she’s spunky and confident and a sweet little firecracker of a redhead?

Eugh.

At least Melantha is an idiot, I guess. One whole female character gets to have a flaw, and she’s the almost-villain who needs to be fixed with love.

Idk man. The sexism in this series is like a constant undercurrent that grows stronger with each installment as our “understanding” of this world expands. All of Essie’s brothers, including the king, are at the front lines because they are manly men “have to” be there, while the women who aren’t Essie or Jalissa stay behind to be mothers and caretakers. It’s never expanded upon and just sort of accepted as part of both human and elven society and the narrative treats it like this obvious thing that even Essie doesn’t really bother noting how unfair and/or weird it is. There’s not even a single comment on it. Essie is in the war not because she can fight but because Farrendel needs her, and Jalissa is there because ... Um. Because ... she. Uh. She needs to be there when they confront Melantha? She’s Farrendel’s sister? Idk. Jalissa’s main point in this series so far seems to be the ship tease between her and Edmund that feels awkward and one-sided as fuck.

So yeah. The pacing and plot flowed along really well, but the characters and the writing and worldbuilding are all just really undercooked, which, at three books into the series, feels more glaring than ever.

But hey, at least it was a quick read!

[thekillerssluts]

Win Butler Of Arcade Fire On Working With Preservation Hall To Establish A New Mardi Gras Tradition In Krewe Du Kanaval

Each year on January 6, King Day in New Orleans, Carnival season begins, featuring numerous parade krewes marching throughout Mardi Gras in the run up to Fat Tuesday (also known as Shrove Tuesday), wrapping up each year the day before Ash Wednesday (February 26, 2020).

General knowledge of Mardi Gras outside New Orleans often begins and ends with the drunken revelry and Bourbon Street bead tossing most prominently featured in the media each year, lending a negative connotation to what, for locals, is an otherwise festive season steeped in tradition, music, culture and cuisine.

Win Butler and Régine Chassagne of Canadian indie rock group Arcade Fire moved to New Orleans in 2015. Like Talking Heads before them, Arcade Fire is an outfit impossible to pigeonhole, featuring in its musical stew everything from alternative and rock to baroque pop, punk, soul and more - which makes them a terrific fit in The Big Easy.

The musical heritage of New Orleans is defined by its inclusive nature, one which has always evolved as new people of all types come and go.

One of the single most important, and often overlooked, elements of New Orleans culture is its Haitian roots, influencing everything from music to food, even Creole language.

“It’s a historical fact that the population of New Orleans doubled in the early 1800s as a result of the Haitian revolution,” New Orleans native, Preservation Hall Creative Director and Preservation Hall Jazz Band multi-instrumentalist Ben Jaffe told Forbes last year. “10,000 people of Haitian and African heritage ended up finding their way to New Orleans - whether it was through Santiago de Cuba or directly to New Orleans. Honestly you can see and taste and feel Haiti in New Orleans.”

Chassagne was born in Canada to Haitian immigrants who fled the country in the 60s during the Francois Duvalier regime. Upon their arrival in New Orleans in 2015, Butler and Chassagne began a series of collaborations with Jaffe, eventually taking him on a trip to Haiti.

“New Orleans is sort of the source of huge cultural contributions to American society. Just from jazz to music, food and architecture - all of these things that are so unique within America. The first time I went to Haiti, I was like, ‘Wait a minute, this all looks familiar…,’” said Butler. “In the context of what Preservation Hall does, which has been to kind of perpetuate and preserve the legacy of jazz, I thought it would be cool for Ben to see sort of the motherland in a lot of ways. The first time he went to rural Haiti, and you’re just in the mountains and hearing these kids play - basically second lining through the mountains with brass instruments - you feel like you’ve found a time machine and went to pre-jazz New Orleans.”

That trip led to further work together and in 2018 Krewe du Kanaval was born, a joint effort between Jaffe, Butler and Chassagne on a series of events which make the connection between New Orleans and Haiti, celebrating both. The events have taken place annually since 2018 in what’s become a new part of the Mardi Gras tradition, embracing culture with the goal of giving back.

Kanaval Ball is an annual Krewe du Kanaval highlight. This year the concert features Arcade Fire’s first performance since wrapping up their “Everything Now” tour as the group headlines the Ball for the first time on Friday, February 14, 2020 at Mahalia Jackson Theater in Louis Armstrong Park.

It’s a set Butler referred to as Arcade Fire’s “only show for a while” and, with a theme of “Merci Haiti,” will also feature Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Haitian DJ Michael Brun, Trinidadian electronic artist Jillionaire of Major Lazer, the uplifting sounds of Haitian collective Lakou Mizik, Congolese-Canadian pop musician Pierre Kwenders and more.

Proceeds from the Krewe du Kanaval events benefit Jaffe’s Preservation Hall Foundation and Chassagne’s KANPE Foundation. Preservation Hall Foundation works to preserve New Orleans heritage while KANPE targets helping Haiti’s most vulnerable. For Butler, Krewe du Kanaval’s philanthropic efforts were key.

“That was sort of the whole concept. We’re sort of plugging into a way of participating in Carnival that goes back a hundred years with Mardi Grew krewes. I think it was important for us to have something that was altruistic and entirely not for profit,” he said. “There’s sort of the cultural piece at the event but then there’s also the money actually getting back to the charity. And that’s sort of the concept of the whole thing: to kind of have a sustainable, annual event that, over time, raises significant money.”

In addition to the sales of concert tickets and merch, Krewe du Kanaval is largely membership driven. Following the Friday night concert, both Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Krewe du Kanaval are set to join the Krewe Freret parade on Saturday, February 15. Krewe du Kanaval members can join in the fun by marching along or riding on a pair of parade floats.

“I feel like before I moved to New Orleans, my conception of Mardi Gras was very limited. It was sort of this spring break, bacchanalia, French Quarter sort of caricature. Which I would say is maybe 10 or 15% of what’s actually going on at Mardi Gras. The actual, overwhelming culture of the city is this whole other thing. Carnival is ultimately sort of a spiritual event,” said Butler. “I feel like this is a good window into more of the real Mardi Gras. Even outside of our events, just in the city, there’s so much amazing stuff going on that’s not your typical plastic beads and Bourbon Street stuff. There’s a lot of really profound things going on. And I feel like Kanaval could be a jumping off point for people to discover that there’s a lot to discover.”

Even fifteen years later, New Orleans still hasn’t fully recovered from Hurricane Katrina. The situation in Haiti is even more dire following an earthquake in 2010 and Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

Once stories like that fall out of today’s quick news cycle, they have a tendency to be forgotten. As a result, the work being done by Jaffe’s Preservation Hall Foundation and Chassagne’s KANPE Foundation takes on increased importance.

“The area we’re working in is one of the most rural or remote areas in Haiti. We work with women who’ve never handled money. There’s really different levels of need,” said Butler, noting KANPE’s work in Haiti. “In Haiti, the brass band that we’ve kind of helped to support, ends up playing a lot of weddings and funerals and it just sort of provides structure and inspiration. It’s just a piece of it. I’ve been to places with no music but the same level of poverty and it just feels like a totally different place. It just tells you that there’s life. Music is the sound of life really,” he continued. “Haiti contributed all of this to the world kind of for free without asking anything. Because of the situation of the revolution, Haiti just brought all of this brainpower and culture and music and food - taught people how to grow coffee and sugarcane and make rum - and there’s this kind of incredible spreading of culture. A lot of these connections have been lost in time and I just think it’s a beautiful thing to pay tribute to it.”

Arcade Fire recorded their fifth studio album Everything Now in New Orleans. And as he gears up for this weekend’s Krewe du Kanaval events, Butler is clear on the profound impact his new home has had.

“I just feel like, a lot of places, if you tell people you’re a musician, there’s a lot of follow up questions. In New Orleans, it’s kind of the most normal thing you can do. There’s just a level of artistry that’s really inspiring. New Orleans offers a window into music as a way of life as opposed to music as a commodity,” he said. “My heroes are The Clash and bands that just weren’t really f—-king around - this music thing is life or death and it matters. And I feel like I’ve found in New Orleans a city that agrees with that basic premise. This is song and this is life but this sh-t is also life and death. It matters. It’s not an accident that some of the craziest music I’ve heard in New Orleans is at funerals. This is a step of life. It’s something that I’ve always sort of felt. I was raised to believe that. So it’s nice to be living in a city that knows that to be true.”

[timeforelfnonsense]

Elderwood Forest

Climate: Taiga forests ("boreal forest")

Elderwood Forest is a large Taiga forest that is home to the wood elves of Lastfrost and a number of fey and woodland creatures. The Elderwood is an otherworldly and beautiful place. Aside from the Wood elf village of Lastfrost the forest is wild and untouched. Their winters are long, dark, and cold. Their Summers are warm and short. The wood elves and dryads are quick to deal with any outsiders that mean the Elderwood harm.

Pantheon:

Rillifane Rallathil: The Great Oak the elven god of protection of woodlands and the guardian of the harmony of nature

Silvanus: Forest Father, Wild nature, His worshipers protected places of nature from the encroachment of civilization with vigor and were implacable foes of industrious peoples

Eldath: Mother Guardian of Groves, Peace, waterfalls, springs, pools, stillness, quiet glades

Mielikki: The Forest Queen, goddess of autumn, druids, dryads, forests, forest creatures, and rangers.

Fauna & Flora

Fana:

Wood elves

Sprites

Korred

Will-o'-wisp*

Quicklings*

Dryads

Forest animals

Direwolves

Giant owls

Treeants

Fey of all sorts

Unicorns

Blink Foxes

Feyote

Grove Guardians

Flora:

oak, maple, elm, pine trees, blue spruce

Catmint: Catnip is associated with animal magic, beauty, happiness, love. It can be brewed into a mild tranquilizer and sedative.

Primrose: Associated with Fairies, Protection, Love Small Fae are thought to take shelter under primrose leaves during a rainstorm.

Lavender: Sleep, long life, peace, wishes, protection, love, purification, visions, attracting men, clarity of thought.

Valerian: useful in animal magic, especially cat magic and evoking animal spirits. Also, for turning bad situations around to one’s advantage and finding the positive in a seemingly negative situation.

Elven Clove: Aphrodisiac

Pipe Annie: A mildly hallucinogenic and calming herb native to the elderwood forest. It can be used with a pot of miraculous steam or cooked into baked goods.

 Alliances: 

Emerald Enclave 

The village of Lastfrost:

Lastfrost is a bit off the beaten path for most travelers, tucked away in the vast flora of the Elderwood. The dwellings of the wood elves built into the lofty trees of the forests. The elves of Lastfrost are amicable to non-elven rases, trading and offering aid with those who seek help navigating and surviving the wilderness. 

The Gods’ Grove:

Said to be the site of the Meeting of the Oaks, the standing stones are a place of worship a nexus of druidic power. The stones are positioned around a large oak tree. It is said the Elder Oak, the first tree to have grown in the Elderwood, Springing from a drop of divine blood from both Silvanus & Rillifane Rallathil. Outsiders are not welcome here. The stones served as the portal between the Elderwood and the Feywilds. It is through this portal the first elves of the elderwood come to the forest. Magic hangs heavy on the air and tickles your skin. Each of the four stone is engraved with the mark of each god the gods

Witchleaf Pines:

Witchleaf Pines is the most dangerous and deep part of the forest. Home to will-o'-wisps, quicklings, and The witch Faevara Myr, a Winter  Eladrin, warlock pledged to  The Queen of Air and Darkness. The Pines are vailed in a thick, icy fog that gets denser and more frigid as you approach. No matter the season the Pines are bitter cold and covered in snow and frost. Thick brambles block the path to the pines. The elves of Lastfrost have placed warnings in the forest to keep travelers from stumbling into the witch’s den. Faevara is unspeakably old, some think she is even older than the Elderwood itself. Her flesh is craked ice, her hair the color of cornflower. She is always covered in freshly fallen snow. Faevara and her creatures keep to themselves for the most part. However, there are whispers of desperate folk seeking her Assitance. Assitance she is happy to give for a price. 

The Wood elves:

A hardy, proud, level-headed people. They view themselves as keepers of their forest and defend it fervently. More so then most elves, they identify as fey and feel a strong kinship with other creatures of fey blood. Many of the elves are members of the emerald enclave and the values of the guild are much the same as. Believing the natural order must be respected and preserved and an understanding of the harshness of the wilds and a commitment to aid those who could not survive it otherwise. The Elderwood elves are much more sardonic and gruff then their high elf counterparts. They are very upfront and honest folk, meaning they can sometimes come off as rude despite good intentions. They have no taste for the politics or the squabbling of nobility. Despite their sometimes prickly demeanor, the wood elves are quite compassionate towards the nonfey races. They tend to lack the superiority complex of the high elves. Yet another factor separating them from many other elven cultures in the material plane is the deep cultural ties they feel to their fey ancestry. Many of the Elves of Lastfrost are skilled druids, rangers, hunters, and craftsmen. They do not keep pets as they would see it as disrespectful to the animal, rather they might have an animal they are closely bonded to but they view it as a form of kinship. The dire wolf and giant owl are the mounts of choice for Lastfrost rangers and scouts.

[2ofswords]

gonna be predictable and ask your Eva Yan takes

For this meme:

I love talking about Eva! ^^ Thank you so much!

How I feel about this character: I love her so much! Especially in Patho Classic and the Bachelor Route she is so amazing! I love how they manage to subvert tropes with her and she is such a nice and compelling character while not being only nice girl and having her own motives and worldview and I live for it! 

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Eva/Andrey: I mean this one is kind of a no-brainer: I still love the “We need someone who is deaf and dumb but don’t worry, I know a man!” It’s just so funny and affectionate and they are a really nice and lively combination. Andrey sure could use someone who appreciates people and can talk him out of things, but Andrey is also very lively and headstrong and caring. It’s cute! Eva/Yulia: I talked already about this one right here. But they are so tender and loving and also tragic as hell. The way they can benefit from each others worldview is nice and their whole idea on the self and self-sacrifice specifically really intriguing. Also Eva’s description of Yulia is the cutest thing ever and I adore them! Eva/Lara: They are both very selfless and caring but so different in their approach. It feels even more like two different worlds clashing than with Yulia, because Lara is less theoretical and more about practical care, while Eva kind of represents the opposite. But they’re both looking for their own path in life and haven’t found it yet and I think that could lead to some really interesting development. Also both could use someone caring about them in a way they’re not used to.  Eva/Aspity: Oh yes, this one would need some fucking work in both games! But that’s exactly what make it appealing for me, it could be an amazing slowburn with a lot of communication, changing worldviews and subtle interaction. Eva/Maria: Okay, for this one we really need to think, that Maria definitely didn’t convince Eva to commit suicide. (Or invent a really convoluted, tragic and sympathetic reason, like genuinely thinking that it would preserve her soul while her odds of dying are really huge or something. But mainly... yeah, let’s cut that one out.) This time they share their worldview and differ in action and it could be a really interesting couple by dynamic alone. Having someone nice and dear to Maria is cool and contrasting Eva’s worldview with her love for the also more sketchy side is fun (and definitely accurate.) And there is some really nice atmosphere to be found here. 

My non-romantic OTP for this character: I would have to go With Eva+Daniil. Sorry, Daniil is absolutely gay in my book, but they still have an interesting dynamic and I do believe that they care about each other. Also it’s just very tragic, which makes it extra fun by default. I love that Eva is kind of projecting and also caring about the Bachelor but also doing her own thing? And I also love the mix of caring and not really getting Eva and dismissing a lot of her thoughts. It’s a struggle between them but an interesting one and one, that I think could clearly be sorted out, if times wouldn’t be this dire and stressful. They would make for really cute best friends and I can see them trusting and talking openly with each other.

My unpopular opinion about this character: Sometimes Eva is portrayed either only as nice girl or afraid girl in the canon and I find that a bit bothersome. But I wouldn’t call that exactly unpopular and I only see it in fic specifically and not that often in discussion. I sometimes feel like people play up her being lost a lot? Like, she still has her own ideas about the world and can be pretty headstrong and scheming and I love that about her! She is the one who considers fleeing the town for example and is pretty adamant about it. She’s not really a passive character, at least in the Bachelor route of Patho Classic. But that too I wouldn’t call unpopular. Just some small thoughts that I don’t see a lot and I’m actually not sure how people think about that.   

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I am one of the few people who think it’s really cool, that we cannot prevent her suicide. I am still a bit confused why it doesn’t happen in any other route though. (To have another bound member to potentially be ill?), but maybe I missed something there. (Here is an idiot playing the game blind and not getting all of the side quests.)  I mean, in Patho 2 I would just love to have more interactions with her at all! The way she is in there is not very defined and... a bit sketchy to say the least and I while being a bit anxious I really would love to learn more about Eva’s concept in Patho 2, because I think we only caught glimpses and not all of them are bad (I love the dream sequence and how she explains the most detail). I hope we will get a bit closer to her depiction in Patho Classic in the sense, that we do not only see her afraid and/or appropriating other cultures... Not the best look and I hope they add more to her or work something out there. 

My OTP: That’s a hard decision between Eva/Yulia and Eva/Andrey. Both are very different and very compelling... I guess Eva/Andrey takes it for me, but only because I need something more fluffy once in a while, but it’s a really close one.

My OT3: I don’t have a lot of OT3... But polyamorous relationships sure fit Eva.. I could see Eva/Lara/Yulia and I’m trying to sort out if Eva/Andrey/Maria could work out. Sadly I think poor Andrey would just get thrown around by the ladies, so Eva/Lara/Yulia it is!