#and I can see Ed having been an influence in that decision

[oceanblueeyes03]

May I make a counter-argument to the LUKE NEWTON IS NOT SUPERFICIAL, SHALLOW OR EGOTISTICAL!...? (Perhaps I should go back & actually read that entire treatise before I dive in but... sorry)

_____________________________________________________________

Luke's PR team have got to be burning through all these social media platforms with a frenzy only deserved for the frenetically desperate. It's gotta be a trial doing all this for only a C-list actor. To be fair, I'm sure it's panic inducing for Luke even if he just sees a skosh of what's put out there (but we know he lurks & sees more). 👀👀 I can't feel enormous sympathy though because a lot of this is of Luke's own making. And I don't mean to leave out Antonia or whatever influence she continues to have on the decisions that Luke makes, but in the end - the buck stops at Luke. Again, PR can only suggest moves. It is Luke Newton who decides & it's on him.

I believe this is a hard life lesson in the importance in taking charge of your future & what happens when you become lackadaisical or careless. I always saw Luke as passive. Things happen to him & others manage it for him. There's been no apparent wrangling of the reins on his part (until recently but I'll get to that in a second). We all agree Bridgerton & Nicola did a lot of the 'wrangling' during their season & WT. Luke showed up when told & kinda floated through the experience. The heavy lifting was left for others. You could argue he's shy, naive, or inexperienced. You COULD, but 32 years of age, having been in the business since a teen...... sure... 🙄🙄

But now onto his circle of friends... boy does fame & money bring out the worst in people. I realize this sounds insulting: that Luke was steered wrong by those closest to him, but I'm pretty sure he was. He let it happen. His entire entourage seem... immature. Like minds & all. Think of former frat boys who go back to their alma mater & who never mentally/emotionally matured. They still think & act like they're 22. You know the type I'm talking about. Luke doesn't give off ring-leader vibes. As stated above, he floats. Luke let his friends get in his ear rather than circle the wagons with professionals to capitalize or strategize on his career. BAD move. Weak sauce, man.

He f&#$ed off, gambled his own career, caught himself with his pants down (HBS), & blew through his earnings. Imbecile. You may ask, why didn't his family step in? He's a 32-year-old adult male surrounded by 'his bros'. Have YOU tried telling an immature 32-year-old male what to do? Hey, his family tried. In the end, it's up to Luke. This rude awakening has rocked his foundation & has continued to do so to this day. Pitfalls. Bad decisions. Missed opportunities. The allure of fame, ego, thirsting females, sex, & rockstar lifestyle. Insert every weak-willed male ingenue cautionary tale - it's textbook. 🥱🥱

I think what we're seeing now is Luke... trying to take charge. Is he being successful? Umm. Well, I'll let you answer that. I use the word 'trying' because I believe he's naturally passive. He does something dramatic then falls back then comes out again with another flurry of activity then retreats again. We get whiplash. We get mixed messages. There's no wonder why fans continue to lose their patience & vitriol grows. Fans see the prince charming persona isn't the entire real human at the end of the day. Luke's deeply flawed 🚩🚩 (as most of us are). "But he's pookey!" - enough with that rubbish! Luke isn't a baby. He is a 32-year-old adult. We're ALL ADULTS in this Fandom - you know the score - this isn't summer camp for the horny, dumb, & enabling. If we had made the same decisions to f&#S off from our responsibilities, gamble our career, go on a shagging spree, & join the yacht-influencer-jelly-of-the-month club, we'd all be unemployed, homeless, & possibly dead in a ditch. 🪦🪦☠️☠️ Luke is DEEPLY superficial, shallow, & egotistical. Stop giving him a pass.

🎤 drop

👏 yess anon perfectly said

Only thing I don’t agree, is I think Luke is the ring leader with his bros. His friends are his minions.

[mermaidlighthouse]

I want to talk for a moment (or a LONG few moments but…) about my special little angel face, honeysuckle, cuppie cake…Stede Bonnet

From the start of the season, Stede is desperately seeking a person who he’s afraid will think he’s not good enough, that he is somehow lacking. He’s afraid he blew his chance at real happiness because he was scared and panicked (as he explicitly tells Ed in Fun and Games) but there’s so much more going on here. He wasn’t just scared and panicked because they were moving so fast during all their time together- he DIDN’T KNOW what they were doing. He didn’t realize they were falling in love because he didn’t know what it meant to be in love.

He was scared that running away to China was just going to be a rash decision borne out of a need to escape - he didn’t understand his value in general but more importantly, in that scene, to Ed. He didn’t understand that the “You wear fine things well” moment was special for Ed - we see that he’s come to understand that NOW in the flashback in Red Flags. He didn’t realize that to Ed, Stede is special. In all the moments that we understand Ed has been vulnerable because he’s willing to open up to Stede, Stede doesn’t have our insight. Not because he’s emotionally unintelligent - I would argue he’s generally well aware of how people see him - the problem is that NO ONE has seen him as worthy before and therefore is very easy to undervalue his significance. 

If we look at all the scenes that we as an audience can tell are meaningful to Ed, from Stede’s perspective he’s either unaware of Ed’s motivations even though the audience is aware (the treasure scene) or can, through the dialogue or lack thereof, discount the importance because of his poor self-worth. For instance, in the bathtub scene, Ed specifically says he outsources the big job - Ed has told Stede he doesn’t kill people not personally - it implies Ed’s decision to NOT kill Stede isn’t all that big a deal or at least to a person who doesn’t see their value (Stede) it would be very easy to write off the idea that Ed specifically didn’t want to kill Stede. Stede is aware that the fuckery has been triggering for Ed - this doesn’t make Ed’s confession any less impactful but it does bring into question the reasons behind his decision to not kill Stede. For Stede, it can easily be explained by saying “Ed has just relived a traumatic moment, he’s currently dealing with a heavy emotional burden, Ed doesn’t kill people (he just said so) and so he doesn’t want to kill me because it would be further trauma. Ed didn’t even see me as his friend so I’m simply a random person who happens to be here.” There, a neat little box of reasons that has nothing to do with Stede - not in any meaningful way, he’s merely a prop in the story. 

On the cliff, that was the first time he was even aware he was having an impact on Ed in any sort of meaningful way. Ed had literally, just walked away, yeah he came back but it’s not that difficult to see how it seemed easy for Ed to leave. Ed opted not to be Blackbeard anymore ostensibly to save Stede but, Stede is aware that Ed’s been thinking about packing it all in for a while now. Stede doesn’t understand how big an influence he’s had on Ed. It would be easy to say that he did ruin history’s greatest pirate because he put Ed in a position where he felt obligated to save Stede. Stede knows that Ed knows that Izzy sold them out. Ultimately, Ed put Stede in the position of being found by Chauncey and his first mate made that possible. It’s not that much of a stretch to assume that Ed simply feels guilty for putting Stede in that position and is saving him from the firing squad because of that guilt. Stede doesn’t see his worth and can’t imagine that it’s him as a person that Ed is attracted to, that Ed adores. That Ed’s quasi- or Izzy’s direct involvement in bringing about the situation has nothing to do with Ed’s decision because that would mean giving himself more credit, giving himself more agency and Stede has routinely been told that he has none, he never earned his status and he never will. The things he enjoys are worthless and weak. 

Stede so undervalues himself that excuses for people NOT hurting him or saving him can’t be due to his appeal or importance. He’s unimportant, therefore Ed’s reactions and decisions have little if anything to do with him. 

This is the repressed trauma that he carries around with him, that he buries beneath the smiles and silliness. He has moments of working through that (“I am adequate”) but that doesn’t remove the deep-rooted insecurities. The fact that he gets up and smiles and allows himself to be silly speaks to his strength of character. The moments when the demons rear their heads are so impactful but the fact that they return below the surface doesn’t mean they go away, it doesn’t mean he’s defeated them. Is it healthy? No. Is it still so courageous? Abso-fucking-lutely. He’s simply one of the strongest, most capable, genuinely wonderful characters BECAUSE he does all he does, saving the crew, working against his selfishness (most of the time), trying to figure out who he is and where he fits in the world while carrying this burden of internalizing his worthlessness.

[bethanydelleman]

Your discussion with someone about Lady Russell reminded me of this great scholarly article analyzing her from the Jane Austen Journal: www(.)thefreelibrary(.)com/%22A+New+Set+of+Opinions+and+of+Hopes%22%3a+Lady+Russell%27s+Education.-a0595143486 . Recommended for all Persuasion and Jane Austen fans!

This is a fairly long article, here is the link:

I don't really agree with the author's premise, "Though she might not admit it to herself, Lady Russell's actions throughout the novel reflect a somewhat necromantic desire for Lady Elliot to be brought back to life through Anne... Lady Russell consequently desires two contradictory things: she wants Anne to remain exactly like Elizabeth Stevenson always (which really could be accomplished, she later thinks, if Anne were to marry Mr. Elliot), and she wants Anne as a copy to be wiser and happier than the original."

I think the author is too harsh here. Lady Russell has lost a beloved friend and she sees her friend in her friend's daughter. That's not weird necromantic wishes, that's a super normal human thing. Loving a child because you loved her mother is so human.

Secondly, Lady Russell doesn't just desire Anne to be a duplicate of Lady Elliot, she wants her to be married and happy (a normal goal)

Lady Russell, as satisfied as ever with her own discretion, never wished the past undone, she began now to have the anxiety which borders on hopelessness for Anne’s being tempted, by some man of talents and independence, to enter a state for which she held her to be peculiarly fitted by her warm affections and domestic habits.

Lady Russell also advocated strongly for Anne to go to London, which would take her away from Kellynch (which is against the whole, clone of Lady Elliot who stays near Lady Russell argument I sometimes hear)

She had been repeatedly very earnest in trying to get Anne included in the visit to London, sensibly open to all the injustice and all the discredit of the selfish arrangements which shut her out

I do like this paragraph:

Lady Russell's aversion to pain no doubt influenced her decision to interfere in Anne and Wentworth's relationship in 1806. She feared that Wentworth, in his professional uncertainty, would sink Anne "into a state of most wearing, anxious, youth-killing dependance!" (29). In Mansfield Park's Mrs. Price, Austen gives us a portrait of Lady Russell's fear, and we ought not to dismiss her very valid concerns. (9) But Mrs. Musgrove and Mrs. Croft, who are each, in their way, likewise mother-figures in the novel, offer a corrective. They agree that it is actually salutary to '"have young people settle on a small income at once, and have to struggle with a few difficulties together'" (251). If they '"marry at once, and make the best of it, as many others have done before them'" (250-51), they stand a chance of learning through experience how to thrive in spite of challenges and of drawing closer together in united endurance. Among the goods that can often emerge from this type of salutary suffering are commitment and maturity: though we will never know what might have been, it's possible that Commander Wentworth might have stopped "spending freely, what had come freely" if he had had '"an object,'" that is, if '"the woman'" he loved "'liv[ed], and liv[ed]"' for him (29, 256). Through Mrs. Musgrove and Mrs. Croft's conversation, Austen tacitly criticizes Lady Russell's wish to shield Anne from the kind of pain that comes from struggle.

Anyway, thank you for sharing!

[doumadono]

Hey hey so I hope it's okay if I send in an Emergency Request.

Recently I've been on a new antipsychotic and it's causing weight gain, so they put me on a diet medication and I'm STILL gaining weight.

As someone with a past of having anorex!a this is MAJORLY triggering as now I'm in the "Overwe!ght" BMI range and I'm freaking the fuck out and wanting to d!e every single day.

So can I get a comfort with Shinsou who reaffirms the reader( who also struggles with gender dysphoria at the same time, so this is doubly hard ) that he will love them no matter what gender they are and how much they weigh and that they can work on losing weight in a healthy way and he will help them recovery from their ED habits together?

Shinso & s/o with gender dysphoria and anxiety about gaining weight

EMERGENCY REQS MASTERLIST

Shinsou notices your struggle and decides to have a heart-to-heart conversation with you. "You've been going through a lot lately, haven't you? Wanna talk?"

You open up about your experiences with gender dysphoria, the weight of the words lifting as you share this intimate part of yourself. "I've been grappling with my gender identity, and it's been a real struggle. I trust you, Shinso..."

The words pour out as you recount the toxic environment at home, the pressure to conform to harmful beauty standards, and the history of your family promoting your eating disorder. "My family, they've always pushed me toward this destructive path. It's been a battle to break free from their influence."

He starts by expressing genuine concern, acknowledging the difficulties you're facing with both medication and family issues.

There's a moment of vulnerability as you worry about how Shinsou will react. "I'm afraid you'll see me differently, that this will be too much for you..."

Shinsou reassures you that he cares deeply for you, emphasizing that your worth isn't determined by your weight or gender. "I want you to know that I adore every part of you, regardless of what your family or society says. Your gender identity is valid, and your journey is uniquely yours, remember that, sweetpie."

Shinsou encourages you to focus on your health rather than conforming to societal standards, stressing that your well-being matters most.

He suggests finding positive outlets for stress relief and encourages you to explore activities that bring joy and fulfillment. "How about we make some tasty, nutritious snacks together? It's a small step, but a positive one, don't you think?"

Shinsou reminds you that your identity and body are yours to define, and he supports you in every decision you make.

He shares stories of his own struggles, highlighting that everyone faces challenges, and growth is possible through perseverance.

Shinsou proposes working together on setting achievable, healthy goals, whether related to weight or personal development.

He assures you that he's there for you every step of the way, offering support and understanding. "You're strong, you know? Facing everything head-on."

He uses his quirk to gently ease some of the emotional burden you're carrying, showing how he cares about your mental well-being.

Shinsou encourages open communication, emphasizing that your feelings and experiences are valid, and he's here to listen without judgment. "It's always better to talk to your trusted person, isn't it, sweetpie?"

The air hung heavy with a subdued tension as you found solace in the quiet corner of your shared living space with Shinso. The weight of unspoken burdens rested on your shoulders, and as the tears welled up in your eyes, you couldn't hold back the overwhelming tide of emotion any longer.

Shinso noticed the tremble in your voice and the shimmer of unshed tears. He approached you with a gentle concern etched across his face. "Hey, what's going on? You seem… distant."

A shaky breath escaped your lips as you attempted to articulate the complex emotions swirling within. "It's just… my family. They've never understood, and now with everything else… It feels like I'm drowning in their expectations. I'm also struggling with my gender... I feel like I'm drowning, Shinso..."

Shinso sat beside you, a silent gesture that spoke volumes. "You can talk to me. I'm here for you. Breathe. In and out, in and out. Calm down and pour it all out. It'll ease your stress. And no matter what, I'll stay by your side, always. You're perfect just the way you are. I love everything about you."

With a heavy exhale, you began to unravel the painful narrative of a family that had never truly been supportive. "They always had these expectations, these ideals of what they thought I should be. It's suffocating. They pushed me into this dark spiral of self-doubt, made me believe I was never enough. And thank you for your kind words, baby..."

The tears flowed freely now, a cathartic release of pent-up emotions.

Shinso, understanding the weight of your words, placed a comforting hand on your shoulder. "You are more than enough, and I'm here to help you break free from those chains. You don't have to carry their expectations anymore."

In the warmth of Shinso's reassurance, you continued to share the heart-wrenching details of a family that promoted destructive behaviors, exacerbating your struggles. "They encouraged my unhealthy habits, made me believe that I had to conform to their standards. It's been a never-ending battle."

Shinso's gaze never wavered, a silent pillar of support. "You're not alone anymore. We'll face this together, and I promise you, their expectations won't define your worth."

As you poured out your heart to Shinso, the weight on your shoulders began to lift, replaced by the gentle embrace of understanding and empathy coming from your beloved boyfriend.

[backgroundnoisewithaview]

What we should get....

Will thought through the conversation with Sabeena and it was like he immediately was pulled into an out of body experience. In front of him he could see two paths, one where he made the best of his current options, continuing with Verani and going into medical research and pharmaceutical panels and another where he cut his losses completely.

It was like he could see everything clearly. He was stood there in his shit shoe box of an apartment, but he could see the hospital. His friendship with Maggie had changed since she'd got with Ben, him and Natalie were over, she clearly had no problem with Crockett telling him to back off even though he was just there for Carol as nothing more than a family friend. And yeah he and April were becoming good friends whilst she worked with him but it wasn't enough.

His mind spun some more. Natalie no matter what always put him second, or third. He couldn't do right for doing wrong. Choi could have killed a patient whilst under the influence of post op drugs, collapsed in the ED and he doesn't even get a slap on the wrist. Will risks his career to save patients and he is always threatened with his medical licence.

Was this why he became a doctor? Was all of this really worth it? Was this what his life would be like for the next 20 years? Him being tarnished for his past poor decisions whilst everyone around him get theirs glossed over to save their reputation?

He came back to himself, in his shitty kitchen, in his shitty apartment he could barely afford. He was moving before he could really think. He picked up his phone, and didnt have to scroll too far down before he got to the name he wanted.

Hey Con, we've not spoken in a while, I hope you're okay. I'm leaving Chicago, mind if I come visit?

He then power walked to his laptop and booted it up. He opened his email as fast as he could and clicked to write a new one.

To Ms. Goodwin,

This email is to inform you that I am hereby resigning from my position as attending in the ED in Gaffney Chicago Med. I will carry out my month's notice if absolutely necessary however I hope to take my leave affective immediately, like many others before me have been allowed to do. I have realised how this job and place is not for me anymore. Thank you for your support through the years.

Regards,

Dr Will Halstead.

He sends the email without a second thought, and a few seconds later his phone pings with a reply from Connor.

Leaving leaving? Everything ok? And yeah man, come out whenever, you know where I live.

-

Thanks man, Will types, yeah. Long story short, I need a change. I'll tell you more when I get there and I'll let you know when I can leave.

-

Connor replies almost immediately Been there, done that, wearing the t-shirt. It'll be good to see you.

-

Will imagines a different future, with sunshine and a beach and maybe a friend at the end of the day not too far away. He has no idea if he'll remain a doctor, he has no idea how Jay will react when he tells him, but life like this couldn't continue and there was nothing really keeping him in Chicago anymore.

It'll be good to see you too. He replies back, and then sits down, phone thrown down onto the couch slouches against the back of it fully, and feels like he can breathe properly for the first time in a long time.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Bee Villain Audrey would be fun, especially given her previous interest in the temple. I agree she'd not be second fiddle, anytime Audrey lets others make decisions its cos of one of two reasons:

1: Its so unimportant that a plebian is tending to it. IE, she told them to. 2: She's indifferent enough to the situation that she doesn't care to handle it herself, IE most stuff she tells Andre to do.

Basically, yeah she's not gonna be second stringer, co conspirator at minimum.

Also, having a super powerful magical artifact, right after Gabriel and Ladybug humiliated her and Hawk Moth Akumatized her and- Wait a second! Gabriel was using Miraculous BS before, oh it is on! XD

Low key I have actually toyed with AUs built on similar premises and I think she'd be a very self motivated villain. Like maybe she wants a wish (If she knows about it) but she may just want other Miraculous, or to fuck over her rivals, or go on rampages. The line between Audrey & Style Queen is rather thin after all.

Also given the "Order & Subjugation" angle and how many write Miraculous powers as evolving or shifting based on the user. I could see Audrey's power being less Venom and more like, the power to command and control others perhaps?

Ultimately I'd say it comes down to how much one wants to do with her character. How much does she know, how much can she figure out, what does she even want out of life, ETC.

I know Audrey tends to get written off as just cruel and otherwise brainless. But I confess I always find that disappointing; there's nothing making Gabriel more inherently suited for supervillainy or competence than Audrey if you get my meaning?

As an amusing aside, her going out with a Miraculous power could lead to a very similar situation to Queen Wasp. Not identical, but in the sense that some Gabriel related event is disrupted by a Bee User. The heroes show up, Gabriel slinks away to try and Akumatize her, ETC.

Though in this case, maybe cos Audrey can re-use her powers, its instead him trying to AKumatize Ladybug or Chat as the fight turns against them?

(Oooh it could be Nathalie actually, like Gabriel is literally Veom-ed?)

But this gives a sense of how powerful a Akumatized Miraculous Holder would be (Even if it fails to take over Audrey or one of the heroes, the effort gives a sense of power), along with Ladybug losing the Bee, a signal to Gabriel not to quit. Or allow Nathalie to step up and take the role maybe?

Also, if/when Audrey is beaten (If she's a one episode wonder over a recurring problem) One could have Chloe snag Pollen up in the chaos (She was helping perhaps even jumped on her mothers back and grabbed the comb during the fight?) So now she's Queen Been, but no one knows she has it?

Sorry, rambling.

Honestly the only reason I haven't written Audrey as a villain is because she often has no genuine power over the rest of the cast.

Like.

The worst she could do herself is tank Marinette's career, but even then in a universe where Gabriel favors Marinette and her talents he could counteract Audrey's influence

Her influence over Chloé is limited and dependent on other factors. Is Chloé still vying for her attention? Is Chloé still a child or a legal adult? Does Chloé have a support network or not?

A lot of Audrey's other power would be dependent on Andre and what he's doing. Is he still willing to do things for her or has he kicked her to the curb yet? Even if he /is/ still under her spell, is this an AU where he'd break any rules for her? Or, though he is a man who wishes to grant his wife's every whim, does he put his foot down on things that would cause major problems?

But yeah in most of my AUs, Audrey has no genuine power over any of the rest of the cast. So she often is more of an annoyance or a short-term problem rather than a major player.

If I give her some kind of power though.....

[himehikoshrine]

Jack Jeanne Explainers: Takarazuka Revue

This post is a quick and probably incomplete overview of Takarazuka Revue specifically for the context of its inspiration on Jack Jeanne, for reference. It's a basic overview but it's not intended as a guide to the form and fandom.

Takarazuka Revue (JP: 宝塚歌劇団) is likely the most direct influence on the game. It also has a very dedicated fan base that maintains robust English Language resources, so if this aspect of things intrigues you, it is quite accessible to dive further into.

Takarazuka Revue is an all-female musical theater company founded in 1913 and based out of the city of Takarazuka. All roles, male and female, are played by women. It also has an associated training school, the Takarazuka Music School.

The original pitch for the game was an All Boys Revue School, so the reference starts at the very beginning, as a kind of gender swap of Takarazuka.

You may notice that the term used here for "Revue" 『歌劇』 is the same one that the game uses. It gets translated sometimes as "opera" sometimes as "theater" - in general the term does mean "opera" but it's pretty clearly not opera that they're training - it's being used as "Revue" the same way that Takarazuka uses it. Which is, loosely speaking, musical theater.

Continued below the cut --

(I suspect that the similarities in first sound and also first character between 宝塚 - Takarazuka and 玉阪 - Tamasaka are intentional as well)

Takarazuka was founded by a businessman looking for an attraction to draw people to the city and settled on the idea of an All Female Musical Revue and a focus on more western style musical, mostly, as far as I know, as a business decision and a feeling that traditional styles of Kabuki were falling out of favor with most people. It drew heavily from French Musical Revue. The full history of the company, like I said, is well documented in English, and is longer than I can get into, here.

Compare and contrast this to the information we get about the 13th Himehiko, the current principal's great-grandfather, Chuza Dairi. He's said to have been born during the Meiji era and lived into the Showa era, and was fascinated by western style musicals. He's credited with the name Univeil, and starting to use the Jack and Jeanne terms.

Takarazuka stands in contrast to a long line of male exclusive theater forms in Japan. Japan, of course, also puts on co-ed musicals, both originals and adaptations, like the rest of the world, but Takarazuka is very much, to use the phrase the game uses, the "pinnacle of all-female revues."

This image is of a showcase from 1930, where you can see the lavish, european revue style inspiration clearly.

In Takarazuka, male roles are called otokoyaku (男役) - which just means 'men's roles' and is the term Jack Jeanne uses for what "Jack" roles are. Female roles are called musumeyaku (娘役) - which translates to 'girl/maiden/daughter roles'. The game actually uses onnayaku (女役) or women's roles when introducing Jeannes.

(Worth noting that the character Kisa plays in the Newcomers' Performance is translated as Maiden but is 娘 (musume) in Japanese which means occasionally when she or other characters are talking about "playing the role of the maiden" they are saying "musumeyaku" which I think is probably an intentional reference.)

Takarazuka puts on Musicals as well as both song and dance revues. It adapts many things, from extant musicals to manga to film, as well as history and classic stories. It has a reputation for being bright, sparkly, and lavish in costuming and set design and dramatic in style.

The voice actor for Tancho, the singing teacher and head of Rhodonite, is a former Takarazuka Otokoyaku. Tancho's outfits and style of speech are directly taken from Takarazuka. The feathers Tancho wears are part of the standard Revue portion of Takarazuka shows.

Right - Tancho's image, from the website, Left - Tancho's voice actor, Nanami Hiroki, from the Asashi article announcing her retirement from Takarazuka, showing her wearing one of the typical feather backed outfits that leads appear in parades after performances.

Otokoyaku are the stars of Takarazuka and tend to draw the biggest crowd and they get top billing, though each troupe tends to have a top Otokoyaku and top Musumeyaku, decided by a complex mix of seniority (especially for otokoyaku) and gradings. I will stop short of saying these are kind of like Jack Ace and Al Jeannes of a class, though. The Musumeyaku is expected to support her Otokoyaku. Using the terms Jack Jeanne uses, for Takarazuka, the Otokoyaku is essentially always the Flower, the Musumeyaku the Vessel, which is more standardized than the point of view of characters at Univeil.

The top Otokoyaku and top Musumeyaku are called the Top Combi (コンビ). Takarazuka and its fandom use that, rather than Partner (パートナー) that Jack Jeanne is fond of, which carries a potentially romantic connotation.

Takarazuka expects its actresses to maintain a more masculine or very feminine (depending on their role) persona on and off stage, and the expectations for behavior and appearance are quite strict even off stage. For example, much like Idols, they are expected to not date, let alone marry and have kids, until they retire.

EDIT: Someone who knows more than me let me know that the rules for dating are slightly more lax now, and relationships are tolerated so long as they are kept strictly out of the public eye - though still no marriage.

Jack Jeanne remains frustratingly vague on the rules for this during school -- No one seems to think dating itself is an issue, but Ao does say that it would 'cause trouble' if people saw them holding hands. So perhaps we're supposed to imagine something similar? But back to the post.

Takarazuka is divided into several different Troupes (組, kumi, read as gumi when used after the name of a troupe). They currently have five.

They break down as follows

Flower Troupe (Hanagumi 花組) - 1921 Moon Troupe (Tsukigumi 月組) - 1921 Snow Troupe (Yukigumi 雪組) - 1924 Star Troupe (Hoshigumi 星組) -1933-1939, reestablished 1948 Cosmos Troupe (Soragumi 宙組) - 1998

Each troupe has a reputation, though they are fairly loosely followed, and many performances get performed by different troupes for different runs. However, I suspect this was a strong influence on the way the classes were divided in Jack Jeanne. For example, Moon Troupe is known for singing. The newest troupe, the Cosmos Troupe is written with a character in Chui's name, and their stereotype is 'experimental and tall'. Snow troupe, interestingly, is known for more traditionally Japanese works (loosely) which is a conspicuous absence from Univeil, especially considering Tamasakaza's style is said to be more traditional than Takarazuka's -- closer to kabuki, even.

In Takarazuka, stars are sorted into these upon graduation. The Music School is probably better as a whole separate post.

The term "Newcomer's Performance" used in the game to refer to the first show of the year is also used in Takarazuka -- shinjin kouen (新人公演), where it has the meaning of a different casting of a play with all newer Takarasiennes (a term used for the actresses of Takarazuka).

The specific announcement that Tsuki makes in the intro is almost exactly, in both wording and tone, the announcement made before each Takarazuka play. His outfit in that scene is a version of a very famous style of Takarazuka Costume, inspired by fancy French dress and specifically the manga Rose of Versaille, whose adaptation is one of Takarazuka's most iconic plays.

I would strongly encourage you to browse their official English Language site (or Japanese one, if you can read it), which can be found here : Takarazuka Revue

While you're there, if you're there for Jack Jeanne reasons, it may be interesting to pay attention to the use of the word "dream" which is one of the theme/motif words of Jack Jeanne, and is use heavily in Takarazuka's official material as well as writings on the subject.

Had to throw this in because these? These are the Takarazuka words right there. Well, their official Motto is "Modesty, Fairness, Grace" or "Be Modest, Be Proper, Be Graceful" (which is a whole lot to unpack elsewhere) but unofficially it could be "So Dreamy and Sparkly."

You'll probably get a more thorough history on the website, too, than I provided.

Rather than make this even longer, I'm going to make a separate post on Takarazuka Music School, the path into Takarazuka, and it's similarities and difference with what we know about Univeil.

I'm by no means an expert of Takarazuka, and I should probably defer to people more involved in the fandom for that, but if anyone has anything to add that I missed in this brief post, please please reblog and add! If you have any questions, I can try to answer, asks should be open!

[thegoldenhoof]

Exploring Death of the Mentor trope in Izzy's death scene

Izzy's death has been described as the death of a mentor by Jenkins and whether Izzy and Ed ever had a mentor mentee relationship aside, I wanted to explore the death of the mentor trope a bit and how it applies here.

(Heads up this is close to 2000 words)

(If someone knowledgeable at media studies help me out here. Actual references/essays for me to read would be great. For now I am hoping my google fu is enough.)

Where is the death of a mentor trope used?

In trying to understand how the death of a mentor works in OFMD the first obstacle I ran into was the fact that the mentor archetype and the death of the mentor as a trope belongs to what has been called the hero's journey and do not directly translate to romances, much less romantic comedies.

Mentor adjacent roles in romantic comedies are not strictly mentors in the traditional sense but avulcular characters, the older neighbour/friend who drop by to share their wisdom to to nudge our protagonists onto the right path of love. If this is the role Jenkins envisioned for Izzy in Episode 7 I must say it makes Izzy rather a failure at this mentorship gig.

2. What are the functions of the death of a mentor trope?

Off the top of my head, the ones I can think of are

Character growth from student to hero. 

2. Motivation of hero - Specifically when the hero is facing a dilemma regarding their actions, the death motivates them to make a decision.

3. Revaluation of the hero's ideals - The opposite of the above is of course that the death may itself push the protagonist to reconsider and debate his decisions/ideals taking him in a new direction.

4. Reconciliation- The hero (maybe hotheaded) has a fall out with the mentor over a difference of ideology or something returns to the fold and tries to live according to the mentor's ideals

5. Inheritance of responsibilities/knowledge/wisdom - Where the influence of the mentor extends beyond just the protagonist and his death passes on the burden of his responsibilities/knowledge forcing the hero to grow up.

6. Sacrifice to save the hero as a fulfilment of his role ensuring the hero lives to fight another day

7. The evil Mentor - The Mentor is responsible for actions for which no redemption is possible so his death is the only thing that can serve. This usually has the protagonist unambiguously morally superior and standing in ideological opposition to the hero. The mentor is either killed by the hero or has a last-minute change of heart and dies protecting the hero.

8. End of an era / Passing of the old guard- The protagonist heralds the coming generation whose ideals stand in opposition to the mentor. Unlike the evil mentor, their ideological opposition does not place them on opposite moral sides but still creates enough conflict that they are unable to see them as coexisting with each other, and the death of the mentor's ideals is framed as progress. As stated for this universalization of this interpersonal difference in ideology both the mentor and protagonist have the power to influence the larger social structure of their community.

In applying these roles to Izzy and Ed, I think 1,3,4,5,6 can be thrown out of consideration automatically. Ed and Izzy don't fit into any of these tropes.

2. Motivation of a hero in dilemma - I would have liked this actually. If Izzy's death had in any way influenced or finalized Ed and Stede's retirement plans, put them on the same page, and consolidated Ed's wavering character development I would have considered the plot well served by Izzy's death. It also has the advantage that this is the form of the trope that is best adapted to a romantic comedy where the mentor’s death makes the protagonist to understand the value of life and the regret of lost chances and pushes the protagonist to pursue their love. 

  As it stands however we have no indication that this is in any way true in the show. And sadly so because I feel it would have worked so much better with Izzy’s role as Stede’s mentor. 

6. Villain Mentor- As much as I thing this would be rather loved among some fans, this stands in opposition to the entire arc of the season. But more than that, death of the evil mentor works for me only when the harm caused by the mentor is 1) to a society at large and 2) of a greater magnitude than the protagonist. Ed does not stand as a moral better than Izzy. If anything they are emotionally contradictory and not ideologically. Even then, perhaps this trope maybe could have been stretched to apply in Episode 1 but not anytime later. But honorary mention for that.

7. End of an era/Passing of the old guard- 

As I understand this to be the most commonly accepted trope in play in OMFD, supported by Jenkin’s comments, I wanted to break down the application and expectations from this trope.

The episode attempts to elevate Izzy to this symbolic role by having Ricky describe Izzy as the “Brains behind Blackbeard,” a notion utterly laughable for anyone who remembers season 1. The fact that Izzy does not in fact laugh Ricky out of the room is the first point of dissonance in the episode. The second reinforcement of this elevation is by placing Izzy as the half of Blackbeard that is still active as opposed to Ed’s half of dormant Blackbeard. 

In this trope, the mentor’s death can be either a catalyst or a signifier of a larger social change. In OMFD this larger change, we are told is meant to be the passing of the old age of piracy- the culture of abuse. But it is also the passing of the golden age of piracy and the looming threat of the empire. For Izzy’s death to be a signifier of this, Izzy needs to be more than Firstmate Hand and become the the symbolic representative of piracy of both the culture of abuse and this glorified golden age. and already the cracks are showing.

There is a major problem with the use of this. Jenkins mentions death of the mentor at the end of th second act as the trope he was mimicking. But this version of the trope is better applied in the third act, often after the resolution of the crisis for emotional closure and a short hand for the future fate of the characters. That is the only place it can exist.

To exists at the end of the Second Act, the death of the mentor has to impact the character and thus the direction of the story in a significant way and a romanticized farewell to a passing age does not do that.

HOW DOES THE TROPE FIT IZZY?

I am stepping away from the larger role of Izzy as the representative of the old guard (in both its roles) as a part of Blackbeard to explore the implications of Izzy being part of Blackbeard, 

Izzy as half of Blackbeard always made sense for me in that I saw Izzy as the brute execution of Blackbeard’s plans. However, by canonizing this relationship, the narrative runs into the problem that it casts Izzy’s actions in season 1 in a much more sympathetic light. He is suddenly not the angry jealous second in command trying to separate the lovebirds but a man desperately trying to hold on to his life’s work because that is all he has. The narrative then tries to counter this by *telling* us that Izzy regrets “feeding Blackbeard’s darkness for years even after he knew Ed outgrew it.” At this point, not jumping to either extreme (of Izzy love and hate)  we can draw couple of conclusions. 

The darkness was not something Izzy introduced to Ed. 

Izzy fed the darkness and encouraged it because that was the only way he could have something that was them.  “Blackbeard was us”. Even in this apology, there is something heartbreakingly lonely about this confession. (Con O’Neill is magic and deserves all the awards on the planet). 

He regrets it now.  

We leave the scene with Izzy permitting Ed to be “Just Ed.” 

Here Izzy’s role as the supposed mentor reaches its conclusion, resolving the ideological  (or emotional in this case ) conflict with the protagonist by surrendering to his better ways. Except when we pull back to look at the entire season we realize that this ideological conflict is a few episodes out of date. We know that by Episode 7 they have reached a resolution if not catharsis and as many others have pointed out, they had reached a place where that catharsis was possible without the dramatic catalyst of death. Again, death as the only place this conversation could happen would have worked for E3 Izzy at best but not any time after. One death and rebirth each later they are not the same people anymore.

Secondly, this dramatic catharsis has no impact on our protagonist Ed. As I mentioned before this is not the trope of the mentor’s death pushing the protagonist to pursue his love. He is already on route to getting the love and life that he wants and Izzy’s death, his “permission” even the supposed catharsis has no discernable impact on it. (If there is any, we are yet to see the signs of it.) 

On the other hand, here Izzy, in his other role as the old guard has passed, allowing for the emergency of the new age of piracy. Except, stepping back again, to the larger reality, we know that it is not true. There is no new age of piracy to herald. There is no better pirate society emerging yet. Izzy’s Ideal of Piracy, which he so passionately advocated for, which was the beginning of elevating his character simply does not exist beyond the Revenge. For the simple reason that if it already did, there would be no reason for a new type of piracy in the first place.

We are again running into the old problem that Izzy is playing two roles, contradicting each other in two different scenes where one scene is meant to add to the allegorical understanding of the other. Is he the passionate defender of the new piracy or the stubborn remnant of the old? In trying to give Izzy both the glorifying speech of the martyr and make him the representative of the toxic old guard, in attempting to elevate him from an individual to a figurehead, Izzy’s role becomes too large to be contained by one character and starts to crumble.

On a larger scale I idea of an old piracy vs a new piracy simply doesn't work because the Revenge is just one ship. In spite of Stede’s newfound fame, he does not hold the kind of influence to change the shape of piracy, and Blackbeard, according to the story is dead and simply unable to effect any change. Without taking up the mantle of Blackbeard Ed has even lesser influence than Stede. Stede’s brand of softer piracy is uniquely ill-suited to survive the ruthlessness of the Empire looming large on the horizon. One can hope that these are issues that will be addressed in the third season if we ever have one. But at this point the allegory is incomplete and the catharsis we are meant to feel is dependent on a future we may never see. 

 And once consider the whole season, Izzy as the representation of Blackbeard itself starts to loose strength. Everything Izzy has grown to become, all the ways he has been embraced by and has embraced the ethos of the show and the spirit of the Revenge, simply outweighs his half of Blackbeard in the past. To refuse to acknowledge this change is to say that he never had a hope of being a better person because no matter who he became, the weight of who he was will always tilt the balance against him. The grace extended to Ed by Stede’s love, to discover who he could be, is denied to Izzy in the last moments. Ed can shed Blackbeard with Izzy's blessings but no one lets Izzy do the same.

OFMD’s strength has always been its personal narratives, of growth, of healing, of kindness. In trying to expand the scale of the show in the last episode of the season it has chosen to sacrifice one of the most dramatic triumphs of its ethos to ask us to slide back to view Izzy only by his past in order to turn him into the allegorical stand in- a strawman of a the toxic culture he had left far behind by this point. 

[alchemicaldesignquery]

Playing the Hero vs Playing the Role

Something I've noticed in the stretch of conversations that pop up around 6v6 / 5v5 (Overwatch 1 vs. Overwatch 2) is the specific way folks (don't) talk about Tank.

Those players who enjoy(ed) it can get dismissed by large portions of the playerbase, because at some point it was decided that

No one wants to play the role

and you'd be forgiven for believing that? Because Queue times are almost always brought up. They were touted (developer's said as much) as the reason for why the game shifted to a 5v5 format for the sequel. Which...also kinda explains why the design and balance decisions feel a lot like throwing wet paper at a wall to see what sticks. Experimentation and all.

I'd argue though, that Tank, unlike the other Roles in the game, has not had very good decisions made at the design level. I would even go as far as to say, that, after the original cast, there has not been a well designed Tank released into either the original Overwatch 1 or Overwatch 2.

Which isn't to say the heroes released who happen to be Tanks are all bad? But there's a firm demarcation between-

A well designed Hero; engaging, fun, interactive and encouraging of any player willing to give them a try.

and

A well designed Tank: a Role/Job within the game with a certain responsibilities that caters to specific players with particular wants.

There's evidence of this demarcation found in other Roles. The Support Role, for instance, has seen a drastic uptick in "DPS"centric heroes throughout the last few years of Overwatch.

Illari, Kiriko, and, Baptiste all saw very swiftly delivered, widely useful, and borderline, automated mechanics introduced with their kits that performed their Support duties for them, while their Damage outputs and options became the core elements of engagement and interaction.

The devs have gone on to suggest this was done to entice more DPS players into the Role and Supports, for the last year, did enjoy a very promising and popular (read: broken) status.

The question of whether this is a good philosophy, let alone a fair one, is another discussion.

The argument I'd make is that these might be well designed Heroes? But the veracity of them being well designed Supports, is pretty loose and unstable.

Switching over to the Tank Role, the demarcation becomes even more stark; Tanks with heavy DPS influence (Mauga, Junkerqueen, Rammattra, Roadhog) tend to deliver a minimal Tank experience in favour of an oversimplified

Lots of Health + Sustain with unique Damage applications.

which, again, brings up the value of the design and how it heavily leans toward the Hero aspect while leaving the Role, largely unconsidered, if not outright minimized.

And this goes back further than the newer releases/re-works, into Overwatch 1. Of all the Tanks that have been released, after the original cast, how many can actually be considered well designed?

Sigma's kit remains a bloated 'omni-answer' with no weaknesses and little variability.

Orisa's kit went from a delay-bot with little agency, to a "Press 1-button every 5s" playstyle between the two games.

Doomfist's Tank expression oscillates between delivering every known type of CC available in such short intervals that few options exist for responding

to

Interrupting his interesting movement for a poorly disguised "window of opportunity" that sees him standstill and let the enemy waste time/resources on a ridiculous damage reduction %, that neither side can garner any satisfaction from.

Zarya's bubbles are now unlocked and, most often, executed purely on a selfish level, especially when combined with the singular Tank format that demands maximum survival when playing the front line. A minimal change of her design that has drastically increased the pendulum of her gameplay, swinging from extreme to extreme depending on the numbers.

Only Wrecking Ball, seems to provide a semblance of unique Tank Design that demands particular skillsets and learning, but even then, how much of that is the Uniqueness of the Hero and how much is that he is an effective Tank?

The argument that Tank is an unpopular role has been carried around from original to sequel for quite some time and is a very well-recognized refrain within the community.

Where it comes into deep question, is just how the design has gone from Winstons, Dvas, Reinhardts, and (old) Zaryas to a dumbed down philosophy on what makes a Tank and what sort of interest there is to be found with designs that are only really just...more health, more damage, and less thought?

And many of the older designs have become not just outdated, but difficult to execute against newer models who carry all their power in their stats and high-value, minimal execution mechanics.

Who wants to play a Role that hasn't had any creativity since the Devs thought about putting a Hamster in a Ball, into the game?

[areyoudoingthis]

Saying this fully as a lover of s2 and ride or die fan

It would have been a cool option to open s3 with the lucius/pete matelotage. Maybe it would have lessened the whiplash after Izzy's death. Provide a reason for Stede and Ed to reunite with the crew in s3 (not that there's any shortage of possibilities there). Something to bring full circle at the end of s3 if they do an Ed/Stede matelotage. I do totally get why they put it in s2 especially not knowing if there will be a s3. This is probably just my brain not letting go of thinking we'd see a Lucius/Pete wedding bash lol.

I'm being 100% serious here, I don't think there's anything they could have done to make the reactions any less feral than they were. Even if they'd had the whole 10 episodes they needed, even if Lucius and Pete's wedding had happened on a completely separate episode from Izzy's death and funeral instead of like two minutes later, even if they'd gotten married five episodes earlier, the Izzy stans would still be raging about it as much as they are. They don't care about actual reasons, they're just grasping at any straw they can find to bitch about their blorbo's death because they were watching a whole other show where he was for racist reasons a main character and his death is an unforgivable crime against humanity and queer people everywhere (you have my empathy if you're a sane fan and you're sad about your blorbo's death without harassing anyone about it, I've shed a tear or two for Izzy myself.)

I think it was tonally perfect to close the season on a wedding, showing everyone moving on from the loss of their friend and all the hardships they all (including and especially Lucius) went through during it. It's the promise that no matter how bleak things get, how much you suffer or how much you lose, there's always something good to hold onto, something brighter in your future (the way Ed looks at Stede during the ceremony tells us clearly he's decided to marry Stede at some point, which is such a lovely thing to include there given where he was like two episodes ago. He knows he's loved and capable of love now and he's allowing himself to dream of a future with Stede and I, for one, am still dying about it.)

Everyone deserved a sweet, quiet sendoff after being put through the wringer this season, and I think the wedding followed by Ed and Stede deciding to retire and stay behind watching the crew sail off into the sunset together while they reaffirm their commitment to each other was absolutely perfect.

You cannot write a tv show around the fandom's expectations and potential reactions. Ofmd is incredibly kind in the way they take into account how much the queer community has suffered and try to be mindful of that in their writing (David has said this influenced their decision to end the season on a hopeful note in case we don't get s3, even though Ed and Stede still have a ways to go to get to a place where they can finally settle down together in a truly stable way.) But they are still writing a tv show, creating a story they want to tell in the way they want to tell it, and it's not fair to ask them to take into consideration that there's a whole subsection of the fandom that has been refusing to see the show for what it really is for a year and a half and harassing everyone else about it, or predict how they were going to react to the very necessary and well executed narrative beat of Izzy's death, or, god forbid, change the story to prevent their temper tantrum.

I'd have loved to see more of Lucius and Pete's wedding, finally get to see Ed and Stede dance, maybe, discuss retirement. I firmly blame HBO for slashing their fucking budget for s2 tho, I'm sure they would have loved to write us a lovely wedding party if they'd been given the chance. We did get Calypso's birthday, so I can't really complain. And I have absolute faith we're gonna get to see Ed and Stede's wedding in s3, and hopefully then they'll finally be allowed to dance.

[megabuild]

Sending a long explanation on c!Martyn I reblogged and written and added in ask after the first round poll. (May fix/add and put what I wrote here there too later.) Even if I voted and wanted c!Aimsey to go forward and didn’t want these two to compete so early. Liked what explanation was given thought to add more. Spoilers for Evo, and Martyn’s traffic life smp series. Implied vtuber lore spoilers. Apologies for c!Martyn brainrot, been a lurker for a long time and the c!Martyn and traffic smp brainrot hit. Mentions of Grian and Jimmy. (because i have both of them, mostly grian but still brainrot too.) Didn’t dive into the guilt fully, (can but long rn for me already, though asked can get into it) but the guy has it. Bad. Also with trauma and rage and knowing the consequences and decisions that reshaped him to be like how we see him in Limited Life.

Like. I love Martyn. I sorta hate the not totally great explanation given for him. Because there’s so much to explain. Of Evo Smp, Grian as both Admin and Player making the Watchers as ingame Viewers and as deific Minecraft code and system powers to move Minecraft versions. c!Martyn, another player with the rest of the server seeing and realizing the Watchers taking Grian and making him the Third. Mostly because cc!Grian made the decision to do so - to make his finale of Evo, and because of other important decision months in the making as well that just coinciding with him leaving Evo of joining Hermitcraft. Then Grian 2ish years later making and becoming admin and player of 3rd life, inviting multiple players to play and compete including Martyn. Though 3rd life and all others are improv-ed and real, Martyn slowly adding voices and shadows and lore to egg him on to possibly betray Ren, playing into it more and writing more as both improv and lore were played out. Martyn as any of the others didn’t know how every Smp would end. Yet, eventually in Last Life, sequel server to Third, cc!Martyn decided to truly say or implywho the voices are: the Watchers, in his finale dropping both how he is more of a Listener (same diefic entity to Watchers, but now opposed to them and their cause, was brought more into Evo after Grian left to update the game and flee and fight and stop from the Watcher’s influence) pawn and agent. Also these important big lines to tell or imply who they are, Martyn: “Why were you so set on Grian?” Watchers: “Hmph. He was never meant to be there, he was only ever meant to /watch./” c!Martyn being their only special guy who knows of them. Though c!Jimmy knows of them too – Watchers and Listeners, was reached out to be a Listener from Evo, though very not totally participating into the 3rd Life Smps lore. Though uh, via improv and choices dying first every time. Viewer speculation and momental coincidences of the Watchers vehemently hating Jimmy for being a Listener, a canary of warning of death and dying first every time, etc reasons. It wasn’t in Double Life much or at all, was in Limited Life, those voices, the influence. The series he won. By betrayal, and survival. By being pushed to betray, to survive, to win. But, every time, at the end, being stuck in a purgatory Limbo. Forever falling in wait for the next series to begin, and for whatever Smp or escape or protection is open and given.

.

[just-some-guy-at-shiz]

When I read the novel for the first time, I was surprised that Boq and Nessa didn’t have a thing to do with each other. Fortunate for him, of course, but unexpected.

I sort of felt as though it was a missed opportunity. Mostly I agreed with the decisions made in both versions as necessary to their respective narratives. But I was bit let down that Glinda wasn’t a larger presence in the original, and I was let down that the tin man and scarecrow have absolutely no connections to Elphaba. That they’re as random as one would assume initially. We spend a good deal of time in Boq’s mind at Shiz, but then he suddenly leaves the narrative, only to return briefly, as a coincidence that could have been anyone. Glinda is quite similar. I felt like something was lost. But I know this has some intentional meaning.

The foreshadowing in the musical almost implies destiny. The way that every character appearance, every interaction, drives the plot and leads to their eventual fates. This is the way of musicals. The novel, despite Yackle’s talk early on, discards the notion of any sort of predetermination. So much happenstance. So many occurrences that just happen and then have no influence whatsoever later on. More like real life, I suppose. Not everything and everyone has some huge meaning. Sometimes things happen just to happen. Sometimes you forge bonds with people close to you and think you’ll always be connected, and then you don’t see each other, and if you ever meet again, you’re essentially strangers. You don’t have any connection, save a knowledge that you used to, and a sort of guilty obligation to revive it despite the lack of the friendship to do so in any way that matters. Just like Boq first telling Elphaba how they knew each other when they were kids. That’s the only foreshadowing in this book, hinting at the way all of these friends will be to each other with time. Sure, we may have known each other. What does it matter now? What does it matter now? What does it even mean anymore?

I wish Boq had stayed a character character in the way he was in the chapters at Shiz. Even if it does mean a tragic metallic fate for the poor guy. But I suppose with the kind of themes the novel has, he had to go on and have an unrelated life. People like Boq and Avaric, with their respective futures, are symbols of… something. Different views on evil, I suppose. Two different sides of the same coin when it comes to indifference. Boq’s indifference on the state of the world at large as long as those close to him are safe. Avaric’s indifference to morality as long as he’s entertained. Avaric’s an a-hole and he claims it proudly, but are we supposed to see Boq’s life too as evil by inaction?

Honestly, I’m happy for him. He seems to have gotten a really good ending compared to his counterpart, and escaped the unhappiness or tragedy of nearly all of his peers (moment of silence for poor Tibbett please). He’s got a family, a nice domestic life. It seems okay to me. He’s not a hero, but is it really evil not to be actively trying to do big things to make a difference? Not everyone can be a revolutionary… but is this simply my lazy, cowardly excuse-making? My projecting?

Elphaba seems to look down on him, the twice they interact in later years. She seems to look down on the fact that he’s content with his life even when the world is still f—ed up.

Is he wrong? What is he in this story?

At Shiz, he wasn’t all that morally lofty. I cite his rooftop escapade, even before he’s pressured into the philosophy club. On the whole though, he’s not a bad person, and he even helps with the whole library books thing. He makes a difference—when doing so is convenient, of course, and (far as I remember) low risk for him, and gives him something exciting to share with his friends. But better than no action at all? He had good intentions, and a better conscience than a lot of people in that friend group. He just didn’t do much with that conscience. He did a few unusually good things. He did a few rather questionable things too, honestly, and didn’t always need peer pressure for it. In his adult life, he cares about Elphaba’s causes, but takes no direct action, only passive following.

Once again he’s the Everyman. Normal life, normal future. Not a hero or a villain or even some lesser position like whatever office Avaric holds (I don’t remember). Just another average anonymous citizen. His college years the most exciting years of his life. Not remembered by history, just by those who knew him. But happy, I think.

Making a difference in the world has a price, and he chose not to pay it. It’s as simple as that.

Does this make him evil? Tell me, tell me, tell me, does this make him evil too? I need to know.

[sekhisadventures]

Infinite Problems

The Legerdemain Lounge, Dalaran. Two Months After the Defeat of Fyrakk

Nelen sat at the long table, along with his other allies. Grimo was drinking down a large bottle of Kaja Cola as Nitika fidgeted in her seat next to him, the tauren’s eyes showing deep bags through her fur. Galdia was over at the bar trying to find anything that could even hope to give the ale-guzzling mag’har a buzz, and both Mola’raum and Ed were watching the exits as this conversation didn’t really concern them… at least, there was little they could contribute to it.

Seated alongside the others was Savage United’s newest member, the dracthyr Laurelgosa. She was currently in her humanoid guise of Laura Brightflame and she too looked as if she hadn’t been sleeping well. Sekhi was the worst out of them all though, the vulpera shamaness practically falling over in her chair from sheer exhaustion. Of all of them, she was the most sensitive to certain things, and what was happening was affecting her the worst.

On the other side were the members of Avalon. Jaie was doing well enough, but Zhan-min seemed rather more tired than he should be. Shalandrae was clearly troubled by something, though Aziguni seemed perfectly well other than her concern for her kal’dorei paramour. Dareley, however, looked exhausted. He could barely sit up, and he seemed on edge, which was worrying them all. During their decisive battle with Dissonantia, the Paladin had almost met his end… and while he claimed he was fine, others suspected that he was hiding something from them.

Well, others suspected… but Samantha knew damn well he was. Rather, Annulus knew he was… and the void being had told Sam. The rogue had kept quiet though, it wasn’t life threatening yet but should it turn for the worse she’d blab and let Dareley be angry with her.

Nelen was rather worn out as well… though he hadn’t realized it wasn’t simply a mage thing until his last teaching session with his apprentice, Sekhi’s sister Leza, who had mentioned that both she and her sister had been having vivid dreams lately.

A huge endless cavern, a massive glowing presence, and a voice.

“Hear me.”

As it turns out, they weren’t the only ones. Far from it.

“So… everyone knows why I’ve called a meeting today.” began Nelen. “Those of us who are magically or spiritually sensitive…” he glanced at the warlock and Death Knight at the doors, “… and who sleep… have been having strange dreams. I’ve looked into it back in Stormwind and its not just us. It seems that something is reaching out to, well, everyone it can… but nobody is really sure what it is.” he nodded.

Sekhi blinked slowly, nodding, “Mmm… ‘s ‘oth…” she mumbled sleepily, the vulpera swaying in her seat.

Nelen looked up at her as she almost fell over before Nitika caught her and straightened her up. “Sekhi?” he asked.

Sekhi snorted, then rubbed at her eyes, “Mnnnhhhhahhhhh…” she yawned hugely, her muzzle stretching out and her tongue curling, “S-sorry… but… pretty sure its Azeroth…” she clarified. “It… um… it definitely feels th' same...” she nodded.

Nelen frowned, “… that would explain why so many people are hearing it. If there’s one thing that could reach that many people across the world, well, it’s the world’s soul.” he nodded.

“Um… Nelen?” said Nitika, looking up at him, “That’s… um… not all of us have been having that dream.” said the Taureness, fidgeting a bit as she rested her hands on the table, her fingers running over her knuckles anxiously. “Darkhoof and I… we’ve been seeing something else.”

The others all looked at her, though Sam raised her eyebrow. She knew what Nitika was about to say, but thankfully Annulus was as territorial as ever and kept any malign influences out of ‘her territory.’

Nitika took a deep breath, “… I… remember those rumors we heard before we left Valdrakken? About how Iridikron was trying to get something to this person called ‘the harbinger?’ I think… I think we’ve been dreaming of them instead. They’re…” she shuddered, “I… I think I might recognize them.”

The others looked at the Tauren curiously, Dareley looking anxious as his hand went to his chest through his armor. “Go on, please.” asked Nelen.

“It… they… during the Legion’s invasion I was working with Velen at Netherlight Temple, and one of the priests there had this strange dagger. Everyone around it kept hearing whispers, a voice talking and urging us to…” she shook her head, “It doesn’t matter… the dagger vanished after that, until… well… when we all gathered against the Black Empire to drive back N’zoth, do you remember how Wrathion used a dagger on him to drain his power and force him into a form we could fight?” she asked.

The magus nodded, “Yeah, I heard about that.” he replied.

Nitika swallowed, “… I got a glimpse of it… and I would swear upon An’she’s name that it’s the same dagger… but the one he had was empty. I think…” she took a breath to steady herself, “I think the harbinger is whatever was inside it. The voice I hear in my dreams is the exact same one. I… I could never forget that voice.” she nodded.

Nelen frowned, sitting back down. “Hm… that’s bad… what in all the worlds could that thing be?” he murmured. “Everyone, I think we shou-…” he began, and then he stopped… and so did everything else.

The rest of Avalon and Savage United froze in place, Ed and Mola stood still as statues at the doors, Galdia was stuck mid-quaff of her ale, it was as if someone had hit the pause button on the entire bar!

Into the Lounge strode a tall shal’dorei man. Bald headed with a thin-cut black goatee and silver jewelry, a nobleman of Suramar in all his purple finery. Sheathed at his hip was a sword of draconic design and held in his hand was a small hourglass.

“Well well, Magus Fullmoon and company…” he murmured, “Pity we have to meet again under such circumstances, your revelations regarding the threat on the Dragon Isles were very accurate. You spotted Raszageth even before I did, very commendable.”

The man moved towards Nelen’s frozen form, drawing his blade. It was a long copper-colored sword, and motes of sand seemed to fall from it. “However, after what I’ve discovered I’m afraid you and your allies are due to become a thorn in my side. We can’t be having that. My apologies…” he said, raising the sword… then freezing as he felt a blade against his throat.

“Lower your weapon, now.” hissed a feminine voice from behind him.

He carefully lowered the sword, daring a glance over his shoulder and saw Laura standing there. Sand swirled around her form, her body glowing with bronze magic. As soon as she’d recognized the feel of the spell affecting them her own powers had activated, drawing upon her ties to the Bronze Dragonflight and creating a shell of real time around her, protecting her from being frozen!

“Who are you and what do you want with my allies?” she demanded, narrowing her eyes as she bared her teeth, even in her visage form they were sharp all across her jaw.

“… an evoker… they didn’t have one of you last time.” he frowned, then he did the only option he had. He let go of the hourglass.

It tumbled out of his hand and smashed against the floor with a loud crash, and just like that the spell broke! Nelen unfroze, saw the blade next to him, and immediately blinked several feet in the opposite direction as the rest of his allies leapt out of their seats, all exhaustion forgotten!

Nelen raised his hands in a spellcasting gesture, then paused as he saw the man’s face. “Hey… wait, I know you! You’re that Nightborne I met back when we first arrived on the Dragon Isles! What are you playing at?!” he shouted as the bartender snapped out of her own time stop, saw the situation, and ducked down behind the counter to wait out the chaos.

The shal’dorei growled… then flexed his fingers as Laura’s skin tingled and she shouted, “RETREAT!” at the top of her lungs.

They needed no more warning. Laura was a dracthyr, one of the elite soldiers of Neltharion, she knew a threat when she saw one! The members of Avalon and Savage United all sprinted away from the nightborne man as the air around him suddenly turned grey, forming a massive orb that seemed to leech all color from the world around him, and soon he was standing on a pile of crumbled sand and dust where was once the floor of the Lounge. The table near him was missing a chunk out of it, cut away as cleanly as if by a blade, and one of the chairs was on it’s side as it now lacked two legs. Where those should have been was a pile of rotted ancient wood!

Nelen stared, then grimaced, “I know that kind of magic! That’s the same sort of spells that Ellisande used! You’re a Chronomancer!” he nodded firmly, readying a blast of arcane energy as the others prepared their own weapons and spells.

The elf smirked, “Messier than I would have liked… but if we must then so be it.” he nodded, raising his hand and preparing to channel a blast of entropy towards his foes… then he and Laurelgosa both felt something.

A strange attack, coming not from where, but from when!

“GOT YOU NOW YOU NASTY THIEF!” shouted a high pitched girl’s voice as a swirling vortex of sand appeared above him and and a gnomish girl with blonde hair and white robes burst out of it, aiming her staff at his head as sand swirled around the weapon's tip!

The chronomancer scowled, then darted away and slammed his hand against the wall of the bar. Cracks began to form almost immediately as the mortar and timbers aged thousands of years in a span of a few seconds, creating a gaping hole for the elf to flee through!

“Oh shoot!” huffed the gnome, “C’mon everyone! We gotta catch him before the Infinites help him escape!” she shouted as she leapt through the hole he’d left, racing away through the streets of Dalaran in pursuit!

Nelen stared, “Wait… what just…” he began, but Laura cut him off.

“Nelen! I know of this one! That is no gnome! Quickly!” she called out as she ran after her, the others all looking between themselves before rushing out of the inn as well!

The city was in a state of alarm. It seemed that the chronomancer didn’t care about upsetting the Council of… well… Five for Now (Khadgar hadn’t found a replacement for Kalecgos yet.) They rushed past several fossilized skeletons and mummified corpses bearing what was the finery of Dalaran’s guards, as well as signs of accelerated aging on various walls and obstacles, leaving a trail of destruction towards Krasus' Landing outside the city proper.

Nelen snarled and fell to all fours as fur erupted along his body, the magus transforming into a worgen to keep up with this unexpected assassin, Nitika’s longer stride allowing the tauren to easily match his pace, and Grimo had downed enough Kaja Cola to wire himself awake for a week so he had no issues there either. Sekhi was running quickly, but she was the most exhausted of all… she almost fell, but Nitika reached down and grabbed her, scooping the vulpera into her arms as she kept up the pursuit.

Samantha brought up their rear, the void elf easily sprinting after them as they made their way up the stairs to the landing to find the elf standing at the edge, a group of guardsmen and several adventurers having cornered him there.

“Stop! In the name of Nozdormu!” shouted the gnome as she reached the crowd, but the elf sneered and drew the strange sandy blade once more, slashing out and cutting two of the defenders across their arms.

They gasped at the pain, then suddenly their faces became expressions of horror as they stumbled back, clutching their heads. The others were momentarily taken aback at their reactions, and he wasted no time exploiting this, lashing out with his own power as bursts of pure entropy erupted from his fingertips. Wherever they hit, the defenders withered, arms becoming near skeletal, legs crumbling out from under them, and if it hit a vital spot it was as good as death. He blasted out again, but the gnome quickly raised her hands and slammed them together and a swirling barrier of sand appeared over the defenders, the entropic blasts shattering harmlessly against it.

“You can age things all you want Nyloc, but you can’t age away a whole millennium’s worth of energy that easily!” she taunted, “Now return what you stole!” she demanded.

The elf frowned, then paused as his ears twitched. He smirked, then stepped back and fell backwards off the landing! The gnome gasped in shock, then suddenly a long dark shape shot up over the edge! It was a dragon, a slitherdrake, but it’s scales were jet black and broken through by lines of pure white, its claws and underbelly glowing a pale glow. There was no mistaking it for those who knew, this dragon was of the Infinite Dragonflight, and seated on it’s back was the elven sorcerer!

“Your master wants his trinkets back Chromazdormu?” he sneered, “Come and take them then, if you dare!” he nodded, then he turned and shot away into the sky as the very air was rent open, a portal appearing. Not a normal one between places, but a swirling mass of sand and temporal energy! He was escaping through time itself!

“No! Get back here!” shouted the gnome, looking around, “Oh oh… um…” she hesitated, then she saw Nelen, Sam, Nitika, Grimo, and Sekhi reach the scene. “You! You’ll do!” she nodded before crouching down and leaping into the air. In a swirl of sand and light the gnome resumed her true form, becoming a massive bronze dragon! She swooped down and grabbed the members of Avalon and Savage United in her claws, then turned and raced towards the portal that Nyloc had ripped open. “Hang on everyone!” she shouted, flapping her wings.

Before Nelen and the others could even protest she was already in motion, aiming towards the chronomancer's escape route… but as she did something happened behind them.

“Hey! Where are you taking our friends?!” came Jaie’s voice, the Pandaren girl speeding after them on her flying disc as Laurelgosa raced along through the skies next to her, the dracthyr having changed back into her draconic form as well. Edwood was there as well, astride a steed made of felfire and rocks, like a horse shaped infernal, and Galdia was tearing along below them on Nightpelt.

“Jaie! This must be urgent! One such as Chromazdormu would not take them unless the situation was dire! Follow her!” shouted Laurelgosa as she angled her flight towards the portal.

Galdia snarled, then jumped off Nightpelt and shouted, “HEY! LAURELGOSA! HELP ME OUT HERE!” before crouching and leaping as mightily as she could. She was a warrior, and a warsong, and blindingly pissed that her drinking had been interrupted. She could leap rather impressive heights because of that.

The dracthyr swooped down and grabbed her outstretched arm, flapping her wings frantically to lift the heavy orc woman up as the dragon looked back, then at the portal, “W-wait, hang on! That’s too many!” she shouted, trying to turn around… but stopping in midair is difficult at best, and Laurelgosa was unbalanced!

“Uh oh… LOOK OUT!” shouted Jaie as she tried to angle her flying disc to slow her down, but she was going full tilt already. Edwood swore and pulled on his mount’s reigns, but it only reared and panicked!

With a tremendous crash the other members of Savage United and Avalon collided with Chromazdormu in midair, and all of them went crashing into Nyloc’s escape portal!

There was a massive shattering sound as the portal’s size ripped twice as wide, and the energies inside erupted into chaos! The world seemed to invert around them, and suddenly, with an echoing thunderclap, all of them vanished into the timeways of Azeroth!

Next Story

Previous Story

[lmfaohader]

Here is an edit for Chapter 12 of “Disnia” all chapters are available on Wattpad (by: stfumendes) & AO3 (by: stfuskywalker)

My small arms could only cover so much of myself as the cold got harsher since the sun set. Edmund, had made the decision to sneak out of the cabin, just as Mufasa had predicted, and was making his way towards Elsa's ice castle. I followed behind, struggling to keep up with the weather around us.

"So, you're a seer? What does that mean? You can read people's minds?" Edmund asked, making small talk as we trudged through the snow.

"No, I can see visions. Most of the time it is things that will happen in the future, other times it's of Mufasa or other people of Disnia. It's like they're guiding me or navigating or something like that. I'm not sure I fully understand the power it holds yet." I say, looking at the ground to avoid eye contact.

"Did someone guide you to follow me?" Edmund asked, stopping for a brief moment to look at me fully. I stopped and turned to look at him more,

"Did someone influence you to go to the castle Ed?" He shrugged his shoulders, and I returned the gesture towards his own question and kept walking forward. He stood for a moment before jogging to catch up.

"You don't have to come with me Jo. I can do this on my own."

"You shouldn't do it at all Ed." I looked at him again, allowing him to see my emotions more so. I know Mufasa wanted me to follow Edmund to the castle, but I still don't understand why he wants to go at all.

"She believes in me Jo. You lot cannot say the same."

"I cannot believe in something I don't know. Edmund you've been closed off since the moment I laid eyes on you. I don't know your character or judgement in the world. I don't know you Edmund." I said, a little more harshly than I had intended. I guess I allowed my emotions to become too vulnerable. Edmund poised himself more,

"Yet you expected Lacey to believe in something she didn't know, and she did for you too." I could feel my own face fall flat at his comment. He was right, I had anticipated everyone believing in a world that seemed so sure of being make believe, and Lacey was the one who supported my fictional dreams until they were proven to be reality. I placed a hand on his shoulder while we walked,

"I'm sorry Ed. If it helps, I'm only here with you because I believe in you. I believe there is greater good for you than Elsa the witch." He looked at my hand, then to me, and gave a small smile. Then he focused in on something behind me, and his face dropped again. I turned around to see what had caught his attention, worried it was one of Elsa's minions. Instead, down the hill was a giant frozen castle. It was Queen Elsa's castle.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked him one more time, hoping he would tell me we should turn back.

"I could ask you the same." He said, looking down at the castle. He had almost a look of determination, and I knew I couldn't be the one to change his mind.

"Let's go then." I said, making my way towards the castle without him.

The doors to the castle were taller than any human could imagine. I can't understand why the doors needed to be so big, and despite her being the white witch, I was still slightly disappointed in the lack of heat in her home. I could see my breath in front of me and chills ran down my back. I couldn't decide if the chills came from my nerves of confronting the white witch, or the cold air that hung in the castle. We turned a corner and it lead to a more open room. Snow still covered the ground, but it wasn't as deep as the outside. Statues surrounded the entire space, different kinds of statues. Some were animals, some were what appeared to be soldiers, and others were creatures I've never seen before. Edmund, had found a stick and was tracing a mustache and round eye glasses on what I believed was a big cat of some sorts. The chills covered me again, so aggressive I felt my hands shaking out of control. The sensation was new, and quite honestly alarming.

"Edmund." I said in a quiet but concerned tone, thankfully the open space made my voice appear larger then it was, and Edmund turned to look at me, but before I could speak again I had slipped into a vision.

This one, was different than others. It was almost as if I was watching a slide show. Creatures and warriors battling what I believe was Elsa's minions. Then she appeared, gracefully and slowly, almost entrancing the soldiers around her. She reached her fingertips out, and with the smallest touch to each soldier would send ice from head to toe, completely encapsulating them and their souls. Then I realized why I was being shown before me. These statues that Edmund and I were surrounded by, are victims to Elsa's powers.

"Jo, are you alright Jo? You're scaring me-" he had his hands on both of my shoulders, shaking them just enough to wake me, but not to hurt me.

"Edmund, these are soldiers. Elsa froze them. They were real creatures with lives and they're gone-" I say in a slight panicked voice but a sound across the room silenced us both. Edmund turns to face the sound, and slightly pushes me behind him. Suddenly, we both get knocked to the ground, with a wild animal over our heads. It looked similar to a wild African dog.

"Be still stranger, or you'll never move again!" A deep feminine voice barked down to us. I covered my face with my hands in fear of what this animal could do.

"Who are you?" They growled at us.

"I'm Edmund, this is Joanna. I meet the Queen in the woods. She told me to bring Jo back here. I am the son of Adam!" He pleaded with the animal. We heard two more cackles in the shadows,

"The son of Adam! The son of Adam!" Two more creatures lurked out, mocking and unison tones.

"Would you two shut up!" The animal hovering us shouted out.

"My apologies, fortunate favorite of the Queen." The dog got off of us and Ed quickly stood up to help me get up and away from the dog.

"Or else, not so fortunate." The dog walked along.

"Yeah that's a good one Shenzi! Not so fortunate!" The two dogs cackled loudly again, echoing in the room. The dog, I assume Shenzi, barked back their way, and silence echoed quickly.

We followed Shenzi up a frozen staircase, and to a new room that was more empty than the previous one. Inside was nothing but at the back a throne, still sitting in it was a giant fur cape.

"Wait here." Shenzi instructed, and motioned for the other dogs to follow her way. Ed watched as they exited the room before curiously looking around.

"Ed what are you doing?" I pleaded him to stay put as instructed to do so.

"I just want to see what it is like to sit a throne." He slowly crept up the steps to the chair.

"This isn't a throne you want." I tried reasoning. It was no use, Edmund had found himself sitting in the throne of the white witch. Looking around like childlike wonder.

"Edmund, someone will catch you." I begged, but it was too late, behind Edmund was Elsa and her little companion stitch, walking towards the throne where Edmund had been sat. I looked down in fear of what would happen next.

"Like it?" Elsa asked, and Edmund jumped from the seat.

"Yes your majesty." Edmund stuttered out, and Elsa glanced between him and I.

"I thought you might, tell me Edmund." The queen started as she sat in her throne.

"Are your sisters deaf?"

"No." Edmund had a confused smile on his lips.

"And your brother, is he unintelligent?" She asked again.

"Well I think so, but mum says-" Edmund starts but was interrupted by Elsa practically leaping out of her chair,

"Then how dare you come alone!"

"I tried-" Edmund pleaded in fear, backing away towards me.

"Edmund I asked so little of you." She said so disappointed.

"I brought Jo!" He tried bargaining. I looked at him ashamed he would sell me out so quick. I am worried I have set myself up for danger thanks to him.

"Joanna knows I'm not the one she's after." Elsa tells him sternly, and he looks at me with confusion.

"It's you Edmund. You and your siblings are the ones to complete the prophecy."

"But what about Jo she can see-" he almost outed my gift, which I am for certain could've left me in great danger.

"You couldn't even do what I ask." Elsa said, using the biggest guilt trip in the book. She was disappointed, and Edmund wanted to make her proud so desperately.

"I brought them halfway. They're at the burrow with the Mice. Next to the dam!" I sighed, disappointment filling me up as well.

"These mice always putting their noses where it doesn't belong." Elsa stated to Stitch. He growled lowly in return to her comment.

"As for you Ed, I suppose you're not a total loss then are you?" Elsa turns to walk away but Edmund stops her by speaking out,

"By the way, could I maybe get more of those Turkish delights?" I shake my head in disappointment again. Is this who Mufasa trust to one day run his country? He can't be serious.

"Our guest is hungry." Elsa says to Stitch, she goes back to sitting on her throne. Stitch walks over to me, but looks Edmund in the eyes.

"This way for your num nums." He says in a groggy, raspy tone. I feel the cold of an object pressed against my back, and Edmund's eyes widen at the object. I can imagine it being some weapon to force us moving, and I was not the one to bargain with that. As we were walking away Elsa called out to Shenzi,

"You know what to do." She said confidently, and Shenzi howl echoed through the castle. Out came more animals like her and wolves amongst many numbers. I look at Edmund and see worry overflow his face. We both knew where they would be heading.

They are going to the burrow under the tree.

[sidewalk-scrawls]

I do actually think Ed was feeling fear in the last episode prior to going into Kraken mode, but I feel like people often misunderstand what he was afraid of. He wasn’t afraid of violence from Izzy, and Izzy wasn’t threatening it. What Ed *was* afraid of, I think, was a mixture of two things -- The loss of the respect of the crew, and the idea of Izzy leaving.  His fear was primarily related to the emotional context he found himself in, rather than a fear of physical harm (although I think the fear of Izzy leaving could fall a bit into both categories, considering Ed would be left with an incompetent crew and no right hand guy).

When Izzy confronts him, Ed was obviously already emotionally fragile. Like, that guy was balanced on a razor’s edge, trying to cope but doing it very badly through a heavy, heavy layer of denial. He was not dealing well with Stede not showing up at the dock, and it was not going to take much to push him over the edge. And then, during the confrontation, Izzy pretty clearly implies that he’d be leaving next if Ed didn’t get his shit together. I think that is actually Ed’s breaking point.

Because if Izzy *had* left, what then? Ed would’ve been stuck with a crew who didn’t actually know him, and who he clearly didn’t care about. He would’ve lost the respect and fear that he’d built up as Blackbeard, when that fear and respect provide him with a physical and emotional shield. *And* he’d have lost his first mate, who’s been with him for who knows how long. Plus, being abandoned again, right after being abandoned by Stede? That would fucking hurt.

From a practical perspective, too, there could be problems for Ed if Izzy leaves the ship. When Izzy confronts him, Ed is still firmly in denial mode, but I think that scene breaks him out of it -- Ed starts to acknowledge that, yeah, this thing that he’s doing with the crew can’t last. The idea that they can stop being pirates and become performers, and that the world will just let them... It’s just not realistic. And if Izzy leaves, well... Izzy plays the more rigid, methodical role on the ship in response to Ed’s creativity and impulsiveness. Their skills compliment each other well, which likely influences how Ed chooses to run his ship. So if Izzy leaves, not only is Ed taking an emotional punch, he’s also left with an incompetent crew and potentially the need to invent an entirely new leadership style.

Alright, so how do you protect yourself when you’re afraid you’ve lost the respect of your crew, and you’re also afraid of your first mate leaving? Well, if you’re Ed, you just make a series of incredibly destructive decisions! He pushes Lucius off the ship to prove to *himself* that he can still be scary and violent, and then he cuts off Izzy’s toe to prove to *Izzy* that he can be scary and violent. If Izzy thinks he’s scary and violent again, then he’ll stay. And then, to get rid of those last glimpses of weakness, he throws all his ex-boyfriend’s stuff off the ship and leaves his crew marooned on an island to die of dehydration.

And I mean, it does work. Technically. Ed’s regained the fear of his crew, and Izzy stays. But I think his choice of how he did that is going to have a *lot* of rippling consequences in season 2 -- I'd wager we’ll see Ed and Izzy’s relationship get worse as a direct result of this, far before anything starts to get better.

[numinous-scribe]

hi so this isn't meant to be mean at all! but um, pit madness isn't...a thing. like, at all. the only cases that can be made for it is characters like ra's, who had prolonged exposure to it, but characters that have been dipped just once (jason, cass, damian, etc) aren't mentally affected by the pit in canon at all. at least during post-crisis, jason didn't Have a rule about not hurting kids—that was not his version of bruce's no-kill rule, it wasn't a hard rule of any sorts. he was an asshole. that was his whole character after he came back during post-crisis, until the n52 reinvented him (and the n52 decanonized all he did after he came back. so it didn't change what he did and why he did it, and since we're now in a hellscape where everything is canon, his motivations (is an asshole that chose to take out his daddy issues on a kid) are still the same they were back then, nothing changed.) he also mocked, kidnapped and blew up the school of a teenage csa survivor BECAUSE he was an asshole, so if he had any sort of "rule", it was one he made many exceptions for.

also, ra's had no interest in tim until red robin, he didn't gaf about tim back then past him being another one of bruce's robins. talia didn't influence jason's decisions; she was struggling to keep that guy in line during lost days.

this isn't saying you can't like jason—hell, i love him. but he did all that shit because he wanted to. he chose to do it, and sure he wouldn't have made them if he hadn't died and come back angry and hurt and struggling, but he did. and pit madness or saying talia made him/manipulated him to do it (which i think plays into the racist stereotype surrounding talia, but i digress) feels like absolving him of all wrongdoing for his own actions.

once again, saying all this in good faith, but it gets sort of annoying watching people make it seem lile jason didn't CHOOSE to be an asshole. for a while, he was just an asshole.

Fam. I get you're saying that you came here with good intentions, but all I'm seeing is you jumping in my inbox to "um, actually" me, which is, quite frankly, rude and unappreciated. No one likes to get "um, actually"ed. Especially over personal interpretations of things.

What all this really tells me is that you put on some selective reading glasses and chose to take offense to my tags in particular on a post that *checks notes* was initially about Tim having no obligation to forgive and forget Jason being an asshole to him. Which, fair. Point to that. But then the addition to the post was about *checks notes again* how the writing for Jason's comeback was all over the place, skewed, and completely dissonant with how his character was before. But the add on also offered some nice perspective on why people liked to use pit madness as a plot device (which, frankly, there has been other instances outside of Ra's displaying it. i.e. the first person dunked in the pits literally came out made and killed Ra's wife. It's just DC can never expand on the little bits of lore they drop surrounding this without either completely forgetting it or retconning it.)

But back to the point. Which was that people like the concept that pit madness brings to the table. They like using it as a means of explaining the shitty writing of "canon". Do some people over do it and use it to absolve him of all his sins without consequences? Yeah, and it's not great, but it's whatever. And I never said that I want it to absolve him of being an asshole. I said I liked it being A factor to skew his thoughts. The can also apply to other concepts that I toyed with in my tags.

Can Jason still be an ass just to be an ass? Yeah. He can. But I'm not here to explore canon's desperate fixation on toxic grimdark bullshit. And you can't say in one breath that something is canon, but then in the next say that canon is a hellscape where nothing makes sense. That's contradictory. You get how that's contradictory, right? Canon doesn't even know what's canon, plan and simple, that's why so many people disregard it in the first place!

I could go out and pull up receipts to counter a bunch of other things, but frankly, I don't need to keep justifying how and why I play around with ideas and concepts. So please, next time you feel the need to come into someone's inbox to "correct" them. Don't. You just make an ass of yourself.