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swiftlypoet · 8 months

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Preface & Disclaimer

I just wanted to talk about what recently came about in regards to her sending a cease and desist letter to the college boy (Jack Sweeney) who has been tracking her private jet location. The main intention is not to protect/defend Taylor, but rather to offer a wider perspective on this topic in relation to her.

(Note: Of course, there might be some bias, as I do like her as an artist. But I will try to do my best to put all of my opinions in the appropriate section.)

Brief Introduction to Climate Change and Global Warming

CO2 (carbon dioxide) is one of the various gasses that is naturally and artificially occurring in the atmosphere. These gasses are known as "greenhouse gasses". The name derives from a phenomenon called the "greenhouse effect", which was mentioned in various works as early as the 1800s by physicist and mathematician Joseph Fourier (Source).

The greenhouse effect is a natural process that warms the surface of a planet, namely, the Earth. (Source)

In simple terms, when the Sun's rays hit the surface of the Earth, part of this energy is converted into heat and remains trapped in the atmosphere keeping an average of 33 degrees Celsius. Whereas, part of it is reflected back into space. The gases responsible for this effect, are the greenhouse gases, which predominantly include carbon dioxide and methane among other gasses.

Therefore, it is logical to create an association between greenhouse gasses emitted by humans and rapid climate change.

(Note: We make a distinction when talking about "global warming" and "climate change". They are both natural processes that are accelerated by human contributions. The former refers to the increase of the global average temperature compared to 1880. The latter refers to the changing weather patterns made more extreme and frequent by human pollution. These two phenomena have been shown to be positively correlated.)

I will not be talking about this in any further detail, as it is out of the scope of this post. If you want to learn more, there are plenty of resources online that you can easily find.

Carbon Emissions & Taylor Swift

A lot of discourse has arisen from this topic association. It is no secret that a lot of celebrities travel by means of private jets or yachts. This practice has been scrutinised a lot by the public, especially in regards to the carbon footprint they leave on the climate. As reported in The Guardian, in 2022, Taylor Swift's private jet has emitted a total of around 8,300 MtCO2, the highest amount among all of the other celebrities. People who are also huge emitters are people such as Floyd Mayweather, Drake, the Kardashians, Travis Scott, etc. (Source). The yearly global average CO2 emissions is at around 37 billion MtCO2, that is, approximately 101,000,000 MtCO2 per day. This makes Taylor's highest yearly emission in 2022 part of the 0.008% of the global average daily emissions.

The scrutiny The scrutiny towards celebrities is definitely a valid argument. They represent a group of people with wealth that is above the average person. Thus, they have the privilege to make better choices that the average person may not have or cannot afford to make. Therefore, to put them at a higher standard, even as role models for current and future generations, is a reasonable thing to do. However, much of this scrutiny has been victim to opportunism and plain hate towards certain people, especially Taylor Swift, who has a very polarised image in the public eye (especially after 2019/20). We can try to find causes and perks that define an exact model to the level of hate and love that she receives from people. However, it is undeniable that some of it comes from misogyny and anti-capitalist feelings. As of 2024, Taylor has been officially labelled as a billionaire (based on her net worth), and one of the only people who have achieved this status from selling her own music, concerts, and merch.

Action & Counteraction Taylor Swift has disclosed to the public that she tries to offset her "carbon footprint" by buying what is called "carbon credits". Carbon credits are a sort of investment in green and sustainable projects that aim at slowing down global warming rates or actively trying to reduce the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.

It is not really certain whether offsetting carbon emissions by buying carbon credits really effectively works. It is definitely helpful to invest in these technologies, researches, and projects, as they are the future of sustainability and they do need the funds. However, these investments don't actively help balance out the emissions from a private jet. At least, not in the immediate future. Therefore, it is a "buffered counteraction". That is, the rate at which these green and sustainable technologies come out and get used widespread cannot keep up with the emissions increase. This has been used as additional scrutiny towards Taylor Swift.

The "carbon footprint" brainwash Where does the term "carbon footprint" even come from? Well, this concept has always been on people's minds but took off after the second industrial revolution, as the number of manufacturers increased and consumerism became rampant across the globe. This growth became a problem since it generated a lot of trash and waste that polluted indigenous lands. In fact, in the 70s various commercials, notably the "Crying Indian", were used to point out these issues. In a way to deter these criticisms, in a way to avoid being stopped from profiting off of their current ways, the response from these industries was to push the blame of pollution onto the consumers, off of the shoulders of the manufacturers themselves.

In particular, the most controversial brainwashing campaign was started by BP in 2004, by establishing an awareness on the consumer's carbon footprint by their usage of natural gasses and oil, rather than taking accountability on their own practices in the first place. Alongside BP, ExxonMobil was already attempting at projecting this responsibility on the public in the 70s. All of this led to "carbon footprint" being part of our daily lexicon even now. Companies still talk about being "carbon neutral" or disclose their "carbon footprint". However, an issue with this concept is that being carbon neutral does not do anything pertaining to the climate. You are not making less emissions, in the sense that, the energy is still distributed somewhere else. Therefore, the power plants that generate that energy still created those emissions. The goal in terms of carbon footprint would be to be carbon negative/positive. That is, actively trying to contribute positively to the climate, perhaps by converting CO2 into something more sustainable.

In regards to carbon credits and offset, we have evidence that they actually aid the climate at a very low percentage. Therefore, it may not be a desirable long-term solution. As the NYT puts it, we need "government regulation, effective carbon taxes, national standards for renewable energy and electrification, the elimination of legacy subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, strict auto emission standards and new national building codes.". However, all of these initiatives, decrease the dependency on the fossil fuel industry which makes a ton of money to global governments. Therefore, the only effective way to actually tackle global warming and climate change is to force the hand of governments, to care about its citizens and to change their ways.

(Source)

Conclusions – A weaponised nuanced global problem "Solving" climate change is not a simple task. It's not like fixing your lifestyle, or going to sleep at a regular hour every night. It's a systemic issue, which similarly to other systemic issues (such as racism), it is very hard to actually do something about it as average people. Often times, this topic among others is weaponised to bring other people down. In the face of anti-capitalist sentiments, the general public does not have any issue in dehumanising people who are contributing more than them on average to polluting the Earth. However, as we have explored today, it is a much more nuanced topic, and these nuances cannot be overlooked. The "carbon footprint" issue is not going to solve anything, unless we all become carbon negative/positive. However, these solutions can only gain momentum if the culprits at the source take accountability and action about it. That is, mainly the fossil fuel and food industry, as well as the travel industry. Taylor Swift flying her private jet is contributing to the emissions actively. By not travelling, she still wouldn't be carbon neutral or positive like the rest of us. Those big industries are still generating that amount of emissions. These slight individual choices do not affect the industry enough to actually make any significant changes (Source). Those industries overproduce energy and supplies in excess, so whether you use them or not, they still find a way to be part of the problem. Of course, a long-term global scale boycott against these industries would effectively halt their gains in a significant way. But this is also not really a feasible solution. Especially given that we have become so accustomed to all of our needs being provided by them in the first place, and this global scale dependency on them is the reason why a lot of products can sell at such low prices. This also means that it's the only way people in the lower income classes can afford to survive, whether it is about food, clothes, or electricity. Therefore, in conclusion, the only way that we can actually make any changes on this matter is by holding our governments and these industries responsible. While holding the consumer responsible is not going to benefit anyone whatsoever. They will just find another greedy client and the cycle goes on. The thing is not to break the dependency on these providers and manufacturers, but to change the way they are able to provide us these things. The role of the government is to take care of its people, and this is part of their responsibility.

Opinion Thus, from a broader perspective, the scrutiny that Taylor Swift faces is non-sensical and clearly used as a way to find something to complain about, in an attempt to make her look bad and bring her down. This has been the case for several years, especially after the whole period of time where people just collectively decided that they could not tolerate Taylor Swift anymore. We have seen a rise in popularity recently, as she started the eras tour in 2023, she released a Grammy winning album "Midnights" in 2022 which broke several records, she made a lot of TV appearances following her relationship with Travis Kelce, and she has also been nominated by notable magazine publishers as a very powerful and remarkable figure in the music industry. All of this, culminated with her success reaching an extreme that has never been reached before, and with this the amount of hate also increased by the same factor. This "hate" is a separate topic that can be explored, which relates to internal online conflicts, personal beliefs, social norms, misogyny, and the dehumanisation of celebrities which is sadly encouraged by a lot of them in the first place (directly or indirectly).

To address, the situation with Jack Sweeney briefly: Taylor Swift has sent a cease and desist letter to this college student (who is known for tracking private jets, e.g. Elon Musk's private jet), who has been tracking her private jet location and emissions for a few years now. The reasoning provided by the student is that this is to provide more awareness on the "carbon emissions" celebrities produce. However, Taylor Swift's spokesperson argued that sharing her location in real time is dangerous for her, as it has been the case in the past that she had stalkers and malicious people intrude in her house (e.g. recently in NYC). All of this also contributes to creating a dangerous environment for herself and the people crowding at her destinations. She has not commented too much on the emissions, justifying it by saying that her plane is actually loaned out by other people and that she is not the only one riding it (Source). However, the main reason for the C&D is in regards to her safety and privacy.

(I also find it ironic that this college boy, who is obsessed with planes and allegedly rides them himself privately, uses the "emissions" argument to appear morally superior).

I have already shared my view on all of this above. I do feel like it's not necessarily bad to track the carbon emissions of these jets. As I mentioned, it is a good thing to still hold them accountable in a way for them to also take initiatives in contributing to green projects (financially at the least). However, I do believe that sharing her location is a very dangerous thing, and the very reason that she cannot travel on public transportation. A lot of people try to make examples out of other celebrities, but the thing is that compared to Taylor Swift, their celebrity and popularity status is just not on the same level. I do not mean this as an offence to those celebrities, but you cannot compare Keanu Reeves taking the subway to Taylor Swift taking it. Her celebrity status is beyond what other celebrities have reached (in positive and negative light). Therefore, there aren't a lot of people who you can actually compare her to. Given also the rise of hate towards her in recent years, it has become even more clear that she is unable to do this, and she has also been open about being anxious in public spaces due to this. As we have witnessed recently with the deepfakes, she has a valid reason to find it troublesome to be around other people in public.

Lastly, the most superficial and obvious reasoning for her emissions is that, especially with the start of the eras tour, she has to travel around the world. So those emissions are business-related, I guess. But yeah, don't suddenly forget all of the above after reading this paragraph.

Carbon tracker: https://carbontracker.myclimate.org

#taylor swift #swifties #opinion #think piece

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greysfall · 3 years

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My 4444-word review of NEO TWEWY (with personal illustration + heavy spoilers)

My overall critical score for the game is 7.5/10, while my personal enjoyment score is 8.5/10. This review is posted as I have 80% completed the game, got the secret ending and achieved the Angel psychic rank. I’ll first start with the main pros and cons as follows.

PROS:

- Enjoyable as a whole, still upholding the first game’s spirit in world building and sharing the same backbone - which was mostly revealed in the Secret Reports, it’s impossible to grasp the story without reading them.

- The new cast and new game is charming in their own way

- The old cast’s return is one of the biggest highlights for sure, it was fun and impactful. Everyone stays true to themselves and also had their own stories wrapped up nicely.

- Boss designs are cool, new pins are fun to use and collect

- The connection between the old and new cast is well written and executed, including but are not limited to the tension between the old and new protagonist, the weird but fun interaction between the 2 Composers, the new friendships revealed and formed

- Sho being in the main cast is something so uniquely TWEWY and uniquely Sho

- Still good music

- Still many fun side quests, some of them really uphold the same quirky spirit of the old game and some are surprisingly touching

- Many new nice stores and yummy looking foods to explore

- The map is really easy to memorize for me, it’s fun to travel around the “current” Shibuya to see all the differences compared to the past

- The social network is crazy and interesting to read through

- Has an anti-frustration system to help 100% complete the game more easily and earn money faster, so post-game is relatively managable.

- Overall, I really feel the efforts the team poured into making this as their passion project, not just during the development process but for all the last 14 years. They showed the vision of what they wanted to make, at the same time giving something to both the old as well as new fans.

CONS:

- The biggest problem with the game is scenario writing. The story is so heavily back-loaded. The director himself thought it would be better to balance out the tension flow by adding more at the beginning but gave in to the scenario writer in the end, probably due to time pressure. This results in an underwhelming execution of characterization and lots of wasted potentials for the first half of the game.

- I struggle to view it as a stand-alone game, since the backstory and the old cast both play such an important role in the core of the game. If someone plays this game without having played the OG, they can only enjoy it on surface value at best.

- The new cast is nice but most of them aren’t quite as intriguing as the old cast, maybe it’s cuz they’re all too nice deep down that they lack a little bit of an edge, of that batshit craziness that everyone in the OG used to have? I think some characters (Fret, Nagi) ended up weaker in terms of characterization because the writer is too afraid of making them unlikeable – which kind of backlashed cuz they only became likable in the most expectable way to cater for a specific group of fans. I would have wished for the other team leaders to be more crazy too, had they not suffered 30+ loops of the Game…

- The CAMERAWORK IS HELL.

- Gameplay does get tedious at certain points with all the time travels.

- Shiba is so badly written as a villain, some Shinjuku characters should be given more screentime cutting into Shiba’s– like Hishima or Kaie or even, Hazuki (though his limited presence also solidified his importance).

- Some of the main character designs, for example Beat’s hairstyle and his food reactions are hilariously bad. What’s the point of covering up most of his unique facial features?

- Some of the minor/side characters’ design are too cool for them to have such a small role (eg: Ayano, Eiru). Ryoji did get much screentime but is nowhere as fun as Makoto was.

- Overall the scope of this game is made a little too big for the team to handle as perfectly as the last game that was very compact, it felt somewhat rushed in development too so the missing pieces are clearly there in the final picture

The entry fee versus paying for it all in the end

An important difference between the Neo game and the original Shibuya game was that the Shibuya rule asked for an entry fee that is the Player’s most important asset, stated as a chance the Composer gives them to reexamine themselves. Meanwhile, the Shinjuku rule neither encourages nor allows personal growth and ultimately aims to erase as many Players as possible. It’s a pity we were never introduced to the full Shinjuku rulebook, as it seems like the system there focuses more on building up power and a grand government to compare with the individuality-driven system of Shibuya.

When you have to compare the new game and the original game (OG), this is an important factor to consider. Also, the OG has a serious storyline running through and through, locked with a different partner/GM creating unique atmosphere for each week and you don’t get to see your old partners again until the end. NEO’s team system does not allow such deep insight and communication between the Players. All of your teammates are always there throughout, the dynamic does change with each new addition but it is not as prominent as a partner change.

Another important factor is how the OG was built from scratch for a new platform as “something no one has ever seen before”, while Neo recycled a lot of old unused ideas from the previous development (check out this interview for more details). The development team for NEO lacks 2 key members and had a change of writer so the final product is not as strongly bound together as the last game.

The new cast is definitely inspired by today’s teenagers (from the view of creators), compared to the old cast they’re more sociable and always seem to take whatever works for them despite feeling unstable inside. They are all innocent and genuinely nice kids, avoiding to hurt each other to a degree that they end up keeping some sort of distance. They’re also unable to communicate at deeper levels, always stagnant at this half-baked stage of equilibrium without any motivation to get to the core of things. That is the cost of entering the game without an entry fee, without even dying or having a reason to be there/to fight seriously. These kids were stolen from the RG into a Game that was decidedly the worst environment for them to change or develop, just wandering around cluelessly to find a way “out” until tragedies started to unfold one by one and they ended up being charged the total sum of the price for their actions – ultimately losing everything in the end.

That is, I believe, a story arc which can resonate more to the youth of today rather than of my generation. If the message of the old game was to “listen”, enjoy life to the fullest and accept to trust others, the message of the new game is to “speak up” from the inside, trying to understand yourself and take actions instead of just going with the flow and finally, to take responsibility for such actions.

If Neku was handpicked by the Composer for being the special one with an all-dense soul to ensure victory of the game then Rindo was just a normal kid chosen out of random by Kubo to be his back-up plan, who just happened to have a high enough imagination to awaken the incredible power from his pin. Rindo was then officially chosen by the Composer as Josh picked up and handed the pin to him again, this time not as Josh’s personal Proxy – but as the Proxy to represent the normal people of Shibuya and via whom he could gamble if humans can fight for their own fate.

The underworld heroine and the hero with little of his own

Shoka is for me a refreshing and layered heroine. She’s the kind of character that took at least 3 trials of creators to form as a complete individual – that included Nomura who gave her the base design and Reaper background, Gen who gave a more cunning touch and the writers who made her English dialogues more punchy. Dishonesty equals “tsundere” is such a cliché, so the English writers tried really hard to avoid that trope in my opinion, while still letting her good intention come through.

She serves as the character who is informed of everything the players should have known, and there was almost nothing she could do about it. Almost. Until she met Rindo.

They were drawn to each other by sharing a state of “not having anything of their own”. They both started out with not being able to truly know themselves, Shoka even hated her RG life but also managed to mature from that stage before Rindo. She must have vibed with Shiki’s love and passion in the Gatto Nero threads, initiating her connection with Shibuya and understanding herself more. With Shoka as Swallow, they were able to open up to each other and offer mental support… but was still not getting to the centre of their problems because for all this time, Shoka could not tell Rindo the most important things about herself.

How did Shoka feel when she met Rindo at the UG? She probably didn’t want to hope that he would live the day until she witnessed the Twisters’ potentials. From the very beginning, they were both incredibly conscious of each other and also constantly frustrated that the person they happened to “notice” was such a condescending bitch/a clueless loser. The Shinjuku Reapers are overall quite drunk in power and uncompassionate to Players, Shoka included. She is also a master of dissociation, which results in her constant boredom, tone swings, haughtiness and subconsciously distancing herself from the friend – the boy she cares about – from false hope, as she judged from facts that it was a hopeless situation where nothing could ever be. Maybe she is naturally a bit of a chameleon just like her name suggests (Shoka 紫陽花 = hydrangea, the color-changing flower), so putting on an act and always dissociating herself from what’s important was easy, while hiding her contradiction was impossible. It was the ex-Reaper Beat who broke it out to her, that she should decide whether she really cared and wanted to do something for a change. He knew how it felt like to cross that line, and knew she wanted to too.

Shoka is endeared by many of the Shinjuku Reapers and has shown independent acts of kindness (the Shinjuku ghost), proving that her kind and truthful side is as real as her harsh and dishonest side – which makes her a nice mirror to the previous heroine Shiki, who also embraced a dichotomy of self-complex and self-love within her character. In the end, she was the first of the new cast to ultimately accept all that is important to her and independently made the decision to help save Shibuya despite all costs.

She was jealous at Rindo’s interaction with Tsugumi and Kanon but remained silent cuz she wasn’t at a place to have any say about it. She also didn’t reveal about Swallow because that would only add an awkward irrelevance to their current situation, as she was too ready to face erasure at the end of the Game. She only wished to “play a game” with him, be it FanGo or the Reapers’ Game. The tension that the team could only feel at the end, she’s felt it the entire time. The song “DIVIDE” is applicable to not just one bond in the game, but it always makes me think of theirs. There is always a “divide” between her and Rindo throughout the course of their journey, as the living and the dead, as a Player and Reaper, as someone who has a place to return to and someone who doesn’t, someone who knows little but wields too much power and someone who knows a lot despite not being able to do much.

“If only I had the chance to connect with you on the other side

But time goes on, and without us realizing it

The battle is getting heated

Time goes on, and without us realiazing it

Divided again”

To be honest, maybe I didn’t grow any affection for the new main cast from Rindo’s perspective but from Shoka’s. Since I started to sympathize with Shoka, I started to see the boy in a more “real” way. The real Rindo, behind his peaceful façade with others, would lash out on Shoka for her unfairly harsh attitude while none of the others cared. He could also subtly feel that mantle of unspoken secrets from her, her own contradictions, the unresolved chemistry between themselves – and not knowing what to do with it rather than to feel angry with all the unfairness he could not process. (As a Libra too, he’s triggered the most by unfairness!)

It is actually a positive development as he’s at least “reacting” to something strongly now rather than to keep evading his problems. During my replay, I clearly saw the difficult situation Shoka was in, her remaining harshness after the Motoi incident was due to her internal struggle with a mission to save her own life, versus a chance to really be with the team. Her decision was to do both at the risk of losing favour from both sides. Rindo started to accept her layer by layer, as the person who resonated the most to her contradicting nature from the start and knew that via learning her resolve, he has learnt his too.

Later into the game, she even got too much of his attention. Maybe even without knowing she’s Swallow, he’s familiar with her thinking direction and Swallow had always been closer to him than any other friend. It was only after she had to betray her important ones twice that she could start being truly honest. The scene when she died a 2nd time left a strong impression in me, the little reveal let Rindo know that he is also losing Swallow as he’s losing Shoka – and that only death could drive the last secret out of her. Her final “Later, loser” echoed through Rindo as it was the final truth, with only him remaining to hear it: they had actually, already lost everything.

Rindo was the boy who never dared to face all that matters to him until he lost it all, fighting an unfair battle in the faith that they would somehow still win. Shoka was the girl who always knew what was dear to her, but never dared to think she could be together with them ever after and still threw her all into a battle she knew was losing. I think they stir each other on naturally to fill out their gaps, similar to what the Shibuya game partner systerm would have aimed for. The end reward was a little divine intervention to help close up the divide between them once and for all.

During the game there was not enough space to process anything personal so at the ending when they officially became “friends”, it was an important affirmation of their bond. Some people complained it was friendzoning but it’s not, they just have arrived at the perfect place to start something more. “From now on, we will truly be together” – I read it as that kind of message.

The heroine from a lost battle, with her story taken away

After reading the secret reports and playing the game to be surprised of how small a role Tsugumi had in the main game despite being the “Hype-chan” thought to be a major character of the next TWEWY installment, many fans would feel sad at a missed opportunity to see the Shinjuku arc in full depiction.

It was shown clearly that, a Shinjuku arc was very carefully planned out and is a vital part of the whole story, yet it could not be made due to various circumstances behind the development scene. I would assume, that the team were not able to make a TWEWY game that ended on a despairing note, but it already happened in their mind, thus becoming a mental burden that forced them to break away from it and started the game anew with NEO. A significant part of NEO became the healing arc for the Shinjuku characters, especially for Tsugumi though I really wished more emphasis should have been placed on her rather than Shiba. We didn’t even get to see her brother – Shinjuku’s Conductor who had a vital role and instead was given the clueless Shiba, who had absolutely no idea what’s going on all the way until the last day in NEO. It’s as if Tsugumi has had her story stolen away from her, because her own battle ended with a saddening loss.

I think every time the game creators look at Tsugumi, they would feel that sadness too. Maybe to them, she is a bigger character than what is seen by the fans, as despite their failed effort to depict her story, she’s lived in their mind for all these years through periods of destruction, healing and rebuild. Though it is a pity we could not get to experience the full scope of the Shinjuku story, the creators was clear about the place they wished for it to arrive at.

Individuality, connection and the social network

The team system adapted from Shinjuku rulebook does not allow much room for personal development, as the team dynamic is closer to a work relationship forced to bear results, than a spiritual bond to max out all corners of understanding as found in the partnership system. The old Shibuya system allowed only 1 winner and 1 week limit per game, while the new rule declares for a 1 winning team and only the team at last place will be erased – the other teams will enter another loop. Furthermore, whichever team to challenge the unwinnable Ruinbringers will face the risk of ending up dead last followed by erasure. As a result, the longest-standing teams are most likely not the strongest ever recorded, but the ones who have figured out a strategy to simply survive until something changes, enjoying their newly found social constructs while they are at it. Basically, it is a system to hypnotise players into the illusion that they are still “living”.

Therefore, we as players would not get to the core of each Player individually as fast and directly as we did in the last game. The Twisters were able to stand out not because they’re powerful, they only started to have a real chance after growing enough to each form a meaningful and personal connection to another teammate. It did not come as a team, nor did it intiate from the existing friendship between Rindo and Fret. In fact, I did not find much solidity or anything truly note-worthy about the main team and new characters within themselves until they started clashing with other team members, Reapers and new recruits from week 2 onwards. Rindo found his personal development with Shoka (via a clash with Motoi and pretty much a mini dating sim between them), then via the confrontation of his role with Neku; Fret found his with Kanon then Nagi, the team learned about the real Neku via Beat, Neku entered the UG via Coco’s wish to save Tsugumi… it was not the team but their personal links that empowered them to fight and solve each of their problems.

The other team leaders may have failed because they did not form such personal links, after 30+ hopeless loops Fuya’s team all fell apart to pursue their own interest even at the cost of erasure, Motoi quit his KOL façade to work like a dog for the Reapers (probably to save just his own ass not his team), while Kanon dropped her tricks to find changes via honest cooperation in acceptance of a fair loss. The despairing note in that is huge without making much of a scene because their failure didn’t happen at their best effort to “win”, but in their last attempt to find a way “out”. Even Shiba got his way “out” in the end thanked to his personal friendship with Hishima and Tsugumi.

Something has shifted in the mindset of the game creators in the last 14 years, as both games are about “connection vs individuality” but the last game focuses more on connection between just individuals and this one on the overall network that is formed out of those individual connections.

The introduction of Beat into the main cast was truly the bridge between old and new, they helped each other out in several turns before officially recruiting him. Beat is a character whom a lot of fans including myself have felt somewhat concerned about after Neku disappeared from the RG, so when the new kids welcomed Beat with warm and organic interaction and Beat seemed happy, I started to feel like I wanted to help them out too! I think the overall team chemistry is enjoyable enough for new players, but I could warm up to the new kids more from the pov of a returning character – whom I’m glad to be Beat, as the older brother figure who is genuinely kind, fun, serious and upbeat at the same time; who is needed and needs the kids in return.

The social network is a fun and refreshing feature. You can read all of the crazy tidbits about Shibuya and the links each character have formed with the town people, it’s also fun to visualize how the characters act off screen. Characters’ profiles provide extra insight into their background too, like how it reveals Tsugumi has been friend with Coco during her time in the RG. During the game when not all characters have showed up, you can sometimes guess which empty spot will belong to whom. For example there is a 1 character linking to Neky that is not linked to anyone else, so I could guess that was Joshua, and that another character linking only to Joshua was probably Hazuki, hinting that the 2 Composers are related before either of them even showed up.

Hazuki only showed up for 5 minutes, but his presence is so vital and true to the game that I think he is the most memorable out of the new cast. The two Composers have such an intriguing bond, with their yin/yang or phoenix/dragon themes, opposite color design, the sempai/kouhai tone and the way they keep some sort of distance/work relationship as if it’s mandatory between Higher beings, yet at the same time they can talk so casually because they are truly equal – and different from one another. I have written a separate meta on them here.

Some people pointed out, that all Shinjuku characters’ names and themes are based off Hanafuda cards and the Phoenix in Hanafuda belongs to the Paulownia suit – which is Joshua’s name flower. This is so interesting because it feels like the creators somehow saw it as a sign to interweave the Shibuya and Shinjuku storylines together. Though it doesn’t come out much on the surface, it’s fascinating nonetheless considering both Josh and Haz had at some point interfered with the other town’s affairs.

“Shibuya tour with Haz” was such a special scene, as it happened between 2 characters who do not/no longer have a reason to care about Shibuya, on the subject of what is worth saving about Shibuya. Hazuki carried out the purification of Shinjuku and stepped in to restore Shibuya just as part of his job and unlike Hanekoma or Joshua who both possess profound understanding of humanity, he really didn’t know humans at all. Rindo’s irrational wish invoked in him a sense of curiosity, to try gambling on something irrationally and learning a bit of what his senior have experienced. With all the pieces put together, it provides an overview on Higher beings as a whole, and that Joshua and Hanekoma are really the odd ones out with Hazuki being somewhere in between them and the rest.

The old friends

It’s easy to have returning characters overshadow the new cast as they have already matured out of their personal story arc and stayed in our hearts for all this time. In the end, I have managed to enjoy both the old and new cast separately and altogether, and they will both find their own place in our memory of this game for the long term.

Sho is truly as crazy as ever, the game wouldn’t be the same if Sho is any less of what he is. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like Neky or Beat is younger than Nagi at all, with moments when it seems like Neky has aged 14 years instead of 3 years. His friendship with Coco surprised me pleasantly, and their interaction together with Beat was fun to watch. Rhyme’s found a new dream and her friendship with Kaie is precious too, especially considering that she can still talk to him online after the game ended. Josh and Neku’s interaction suggested that they have resolved the past and are on equal terms now, they even parted ways in good spirit and I don’t feel any worry about them like I did before.

Neku and Shiki’s reunion scene was beautiful, theirs is such a special bond that it has grown and supported them even without being able to see each other. I am so happy to see them all again and that they stay true to who they are, albeit looking more grown up, cooler and happier than ever before.

Overall, NEO can’t become a classic on par with the OG, but is definitely a good sequel and a good game in its own rights. I’m happy with whether or not there will be a 3rd game to complete the 3 monkeys theme, but if there will be – I hope the creators can really find the time to learn from the last 2 games and start over with a fresh mindset and strong core.

#neotwewy #neotwewyspoilers #ntwewy #ntwewy spoilers #neo the world ends with you #twewy #review #meta #neo twewy #shoka sakurane #rindo kanade #tsugumi matsunae

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f1 · 2 years

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Mercedes announce 50% reduction in CO2 emissions and significant increase in female and ethnic minority workforce

Mercedes have revealed they have reduced their CO2 emissions by more than 50%, and increased female team members to 15% of their workforce, as part of their continuing sustainability and diversity efforts. The Silver Arrows have launched numerous programmes to improve their environmental impact and diversity and inclusion efforts in recent years, including Accelerate 25 which was announced in 2020 to increase the team's proportion of female employees to 25% within five years. READ MORE: Shovlin revels in 'satisfying' double podium in Hungary – and warns Mercedes have 'more coming' And the team announced on Thursday that Accelerate 25 has seen female team members rise from 12% to 15% of their workforce and employees from ethnic minority backgrounds increase from 3% to 7%, while up to June 2022, 32% of new team members had joined from under-represented groups. Furthermore, Mercedes are continuing to work with the Mulberry Schools Trust, the Stemettes, the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers and new partners the Sutton Trust and British Disability Forum – while Lewis Hamilton announced the formation of his charitable partnership, Ignite, last year. Mercedes have exceeded a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions The team’s sustainability report also states that Mercedes have exceeded their ambition to cut their CO2 emissions by 50% by 2022. They continue to target a net zero carbon footprint by 2030 including a 100% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions – emissions respectively caused directly or indirectly by the team – by 2026. READ MORE: Formula 1 on course to deliver 100% sustainable fuels for 2026 Mercedes recently invested in Sustainable Aviation Fuel to reduce Scope 3 emissions – a consequence of their activities, but not directly or indirectly emitted by the team. They also target a 75% reduction in Scope 3 emissions by 2030 and 25% carbon removal by 2030. Finally, Mercedes’s second annual Sustainability Report details their charitable and community impact. The Silver Arrows have supported their local community and local council through charitable initiatives, community events and school outreach, the team members having raised almost £75,000 towards their December 2022 target of £100,000 for Alzheimer’s Research UK. " I am very proud of our team for the achievements that we have made so far and the industry-leading strategies we have committed to in the years ahead," said Toto Wolff “Motor racing is fuelled by passion. We operate in the fastest, most dynamic sport in the world and we have a responsibility to use that global platform to be more than leaders; we want to be pioneers,” said Team Principal Toto Wolff. “Over the past few years, we have worked tirelessly to change and better understand the impact we have on the world. We’re fully committed to sustainable high-performance. This is the future for us all. READ MORE: F1 continues push to hit Net Zero Carbon by 2030 target “Whether deploying our resources to drive technological advances that will help society address the environmental challenges that we face, or committing to increase the diversity of our workforce, and supporting those in need in our local communities, our passion isn’t just in the cars you see on track, it’s across everything we do. “We are a team of problem solvers; and we’re setting ourselves ambitions on how to become more sustainable across all that we do. We are at the start of this journey but have committed to extremely challenging targets because we are all in on the race towards a sustainable tomorrow. I am very proud of our team for the achievements that we have made so far and the industry-leading strategies we have committed to in the years ahead. “What happens on the track is inextricably linked to what happens in the world outside, and that drives the entire team to continually go faster and further.” via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

#F1 #Mercedes announce 50%+ reduction in CO2 emissions and significant increase in female and ethnic minority workforce #Formula 1

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mybg3notebook · 3 years

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Lore: Well-known Characters in Faerûn

Here I'm going to explain some interesting characters worth knowing in detail that some groups in the fandom keep saying are Gale's true identity.

Disclaimer Game Version: All these analyses were written up to the game version v4.1.104.3536 (Early access). As long as new content is added, and as long as I have free time for that, I will try to keep updating this information. Written in June 2021.

Additional disclaimers about meta-knowledge and interpretations in this (post)while disclaimers about Context and the popularisation and misuses of professional words in "Context, persuasion, and manipulation".

Azuth

He is the Patron of Wizards, his personal preference is toward wizardry rather than sorcery, and his philosophy fits better with the studious life of a wizard than the more haphazard practices of a sorcerer. Wizards invoke Azuth when they scribe scrolls, inscribe magic circles, attempt to memorise spells, and even when they cast spells. Often this acknowledgement comes in the form of silently forming Azuth's holy symbol, pointing the index finger of the left hand to the sky.For many wizards, the gesture is so commonplace in their lives that it becomes an unconscious habit. Azuth is represented at such sites as a hooded and bearded figure with his left hand held high, finger pointed up. Sometimes he is represented by merely the hand.

When he was a mortal, he was a wizard who showed prowess with spells and magical lore that attracted Mystryl’s attention, and after completing several quests to prove his worth, she named him Magister (old title in 1e and 2e, different to Chosen, related to a more bureaucratic role of Magic). With the new title, he taught magic to many people across Faerûn.

Azuth came into conflict with a minor southern deity: Savras the All-Seeing. Both were powerful spellcasters and Mystryl favoured both. They began a battle that lasted several years, using agents, magic traps, and personal spell-battles. Azuth managed to defeat the young deity and imprison him. With this victory Azuth ascended to godhood, became Mystryl's lover, and pledged to serve her.

During the Spellplague, Azuth fell to the Hells and Asmodeus consumed his divine spark to achieve godhood. It was thought that this had destroyed Azuth, but instead he ended up inhabiting Asmodeus' body together. Most of the time Asmodeus had control over the dormant Azuth. In 1486, Azuth managed to have a Cormyrian war wizard as a Chosen, and began to struggle with Asmodeus for dominion over their shared body. As a consequence, the hierarchy of the Nine Hells is jeopardized due to the unbalanced Asmodeus. After a while, The Chosen of Azuth sacrifices his life to be a vessel for the god and let him escape from the Hells. After the Second Sundering, Azuth returned to the faerunian pantheon.

Where is he in 1492?

Now, he has returned to the Faerunian pantheon, and considering Ao's ban, he can't be walking around Faerûn.

Can Gale be Azuth? I certainly can't see it. Azuth has been trapped in the Hells for most of Gale's life, returning to the pantheon recently. And we can't forget Ao's ban of direct contact: no god can have direct contact with mortals anymore, with the strange exception of Mystra (see the post about "Mystra and her Chosen ones" for more details). Besides, if Gale were to be Azuth's avatar, we are usually talking about characters over lvl 40.

The only link we can agree with Gale is that Azuth also has storm motif concepts in his design. Gale tends to explain with his pointing finger extended, but as it's said in the lore books, this is basically an unconscious common body language in most wizards. I cannot see any resemblance to make us infer “Gale is Azuth”.

What we can see by reading Azuth's story is why the Hells are so convoluted at this point. The blood war is unbalanced, since powerful figures such as Asmodeus had been having weak periods of leadership due to the inner fight with Azuth in his own body. For this detail alone, it is so important to give context to BG3 I considered worthy to mention.

Sources: 3e : Magic of Faerûn 5e: Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, Novels: Fire in the Blood. The devil you Know

Myrkul

Myrkul had a cold, malignant intelligence, and spoke in a high whisper. He was always alert, never slept, and was never surprised. He was never known to lose his temper or be anything other than coldly amused when a mortal succeeded in avoiding his directives or chosen fates. His influence in Faerûn was imposed through fear, and he was a master of making mortals terrified of him through his words and deeds. He was the one deity that almost all human mortals could picture clearly.

As a mortal, Myrkul's full name and title is said to have been Myrkul Bey al-Kursi. He was a powerful adventuring necromancer who travelled with Bane and Bhaal in order to acquire divinity for themselves. In -375 DR, they slayed one of the Seven Lost Gods, gaining a bit of divine power. Using it to go further, they embarked to Jergal's realm with the intention to slay him as well.

However, Jergal—tired of his godhood—freely agreed to hand over his dominion of the underworld. As the three could not decide who among them would sit upon the throne of the dead, they left the decision to chance with a game. More details and stories of several deaths and coming backs can be briefly read in the wiki. It makes no sense to add them here since they provide nothing interesting related to Gale.

Most of Myrkul's “recent” story can be seen/read in the game Neverwinter Nights 2, the Mask of the Betrayer. The game explains how Myrkul created the Wall of the Faithless (non existent anymore in 5e and nobody knows how it was destroyed) where the souls of the faithless or those abandoned by their gods got stuck in eternal pain. The main goal of the Wall was to use all that energy to feed Myrkul. The main character of Neverwinter 2 can visit the agonising God in the Astral Plane and kill him or leave him in a slow death.

Myrkul, with Bane and Bhaal, tried to seize the Tablets of Fate from the overgod Ao and use them to rule over Faerûn and its gods. They failed and were slain during the Time of Troubles. Since then, a variety of contingency plans they had in place allowed them to be reborn afterwards.

A small group of followers across Faerûn kept Myrkul's worshipping alive despite the dire events of the Spellplague and the Second Sundering. In the 1400’s, he is considered to have returned with the three dead in a quasi-deity condition.

While the Sundering forced the other gods to withdraw their direct influence from the mortal world, the Dead Three remained behind in mortal form as quasi-divine beings. While their power has diminished, they remain a formidable trio and play a malevolent role in influencing events on Faerûn.

Where is he in 1492?

He is clearly somewhere in Faerûn, with Bhaal and Bane most probably (we have strong leads to assume that the Absolute is them, getting as many worshippers as they can to recover their deity status, since now they are only quasi-deities)

Can Gale be Myrkul? I honestly can't see anything that we can use to link him to Myrkul without making it look like an absurdity. The easiest argument to revoke that nonsense is that Gale clearly is not a quasi-deity.

A quasi-deity is immune to every attempt to tamper with their mind (which would nullify the tadpole effect, and would make Gale immune to any tadpole intrusion, which is not the case as we saw in the post of "The Tadpole"). A quasi-deity is also immune to sap its vitality, or to force it into a different form. It has a strong defence against magic and a limited defence against heat. Weapons not enchanted with magic of an epic scope could not hurt a quasi-deity without problems. These defences against magic, heat, and non-magical physical attacks grew stronger as a deity rose in rank. It is crystal clear that none of this applies to Gale, the squishy wizard of the group.

This comparison is nonsense, especially if we think that some people supported it because “Gale's robes have clasps in the shape of triangles”, which was considered an incomplete symbol of Myrkul. So... I really won't waste time in this comparison. I just did it because I wanted to offer a summary to compare Myrkul (the three dead more precisely) with The Absolute. This idea is very strong when we think that in 5e DM book is explaining that a quasi-deity can recover their godhood condition if they amassed a sufficiently high number of followers (which is what The Absolute is doing). But this should be done in another post related to the Absolute.

Source: 2e: Faith and pantheon, 5e: Descent to Avernus, Dungeon Master's guide

Karsus

Karsus was born in Netheril in -696 DR. He was able to cast his first spell at the age of two, and by the age of twenty-two created his own floating city. He also founded a magic school encouraging radical thinking to keep pushing magical discoveries. A seer warned Karsus that soon Mystryl would face the greatest challenge of her divine life, so worried about the consequences of this, Karsus created his spell Karsus' Avatar with the objective to protect the Netheril civilization. This spell would steal the power of a deity and transfer it to him, giving him divine power to protect his people from Mystryl's challenge and destroy the magical aberrations that had been attacking Netheril (phaerimms) for years. He was very aware that the feat could cost him his life, but he accepted it as a worthy sacrifice to protect his people as well as remain in the History as an iconic figure.

In -339 DR, Karsus chose Mystryl, the goddess of magic, as his target, feeling that she was the most powerful deity and the most appropriate choice for his purposes. However, this was a mistake. The responsibilities of the deity of magic are to regulate the flow of magic to and from all beings, spells, and magic items in the world. Unable to fulfil Mystryl's function with the Weave, Karsus causes a surge of magic and violent fluctuations.

In an attempt to save the Weave, Mystryl sacrificed herself to block Karsus's access to the Weave, causing all magic to cease for several minutes. The flying cities of Netheril (fuelled by magic) fell to the ground. The severing of the link also killed Karsus, who turned into stone and fell to the ground, seeing his entire civilisation being destroyed because of his actions. This is known as Karsus's Folly.

The stone form of Karsus eventually landed in a part of the High Forest, now called the Dire Wood. Karsus was never accepted as a petitioner by any god, nor did he go to the Fugue Plane when he died. Instead, his soul was bound to the Material Plane. Those with experience in pact magic could call up his vestige, where he appeared as a giant blood-red boulder, like the one found in the High Forest where his petrified form landed. Blood burbles up from the top of the stone, trickling down the side facing the summoner, pooling at the base. Karsus granted the summoner a boost in magical ability, though he also imparted some of the arrogance he was renowned for.

Where is he in 1492?

Even in death, Karsus' undying spirit persists in the chaotic magic of the Dire Wood. His essence is ensnared in a single point of time by the magic of the lich Wulgreth, and it manifests in three separate pieces. Each manifestation contains one portion of Karsus' tripartite spirit. It is believed that Karsus cannot depart from the Realms until his sundered spirit is reforged into one.

Karsus' mortal body survives as a tall butte of red stone embedded in the ground and eroded by the elements. This manifestation radiates heavy magic (read the post about the "Orb" for more details)

Karsus' gigantic, ever bleeding heart beats within the butte itself. This manifestation is essentially powerless, but it cannot be destroyed. Karsus' heart continuously radiates an enchantment similar to the sadness effect produced by the 4th level wizard spell Emotion.

The final third piece is inside an animated golem created by Wulgreth. This manifestation bleeds an ever-flowing stream of blood like liquid which mingles with the Heartblood River, giving it its characteristic colour.

So, can Gale be Karsus? Hardly. Karsus' spirit is not even complete. One could ask if Gale is a part of Karsus? I don't see it either: each of these parts are stuck in the different stones across the Dire Wood, and since it was a lich who made the binding I see little reason to suspect how a piece of Karsus' spirit stuck in the middle of the continent reached a baby in Waterdeep.

Sources: 2e: Magic of Faerun, Powers and Pantheons 3e: Lords of Darkness

Elminster

Elminster was born in 212 DR, son of a prince of Athalantar. His parents were killed by mages and at the age of 12 he became a brigand and thief. With a friend thief, Elminster committed many acts of thievery together and lived life fully, creating the gang the Velvet Hands after a number of adventures.

Elminster tried to desecrate a temple of Mystra as a gesture of vengeance for the goddess having not defended his parents when they were killed by mages. Mystra appeared before him, and despite Elminster's defiance, she offered him the power to take revenge for his dead parents. Elminster accepted, and Mystra turned him into a woman to see “the world with female eyes” and to strengthen his bond with magic before being a proper Chosen. This transformation also helped Elminster to pass unnoticed among his enemies. He spent a long time learning magic in this shape, taught by Mystra's avatar in disguise. When her disguise was uncovered, she and Elminster slept together and she offered him to become her Chosen. By that time, Elminster accepted any command from the Goddess, his defiance was completely gone.

In 241DR he travelled to the city of Cormanthor and continued his magical studies.

Somewhere around the mid–7th century DR, Elminster entered a tomb and became trapped there in stasis for roughly a century. He emerged from the dusty tomb in 759 DR. By that time Magic was unreliable (Mystra was possessing Elué's body to conceive her daughters). The god Azuth told him that he couldn't rely on Mystra or magic for aid. Soon he had to learn how to survive without magic. He later underwent further magical training under the tutelage of a wicked sorceress who sought to tempt him away from Mystra's path. During a fake ritual for Bane, she revealed herself to be the goddess Mystra herself, once again testing him.

In 767 DR, Elminster became a foster parent to three other of Mystra's Chosen: Laeral Silverhand, Storm Silverhand, and Dove Falconhand.

In 851 DR, Elminster mentored the newly-appointed Chosen of Mystra, Sammaster, in how to use his new powers.

During the Harpstar Wars in 1222 DR, Elminster defeated the Zulkir of Necromancy, Szass Tam, and earned himself (and the Harpers) the enmity of Thay.

In 1358 DR, just before the Time of Troubles, Mystra gained some foreknowledge and backed up her power into Midnight, the human wizard, so it would not be lost. During this time, Elminster, like most wizards who received his power from Mystra/the Weave, was left powerless once more.

In 1371 DR, the new Mystra stripped away many of Elminster's memories of her former incarnation's secrets. By the end of that year, he was called to Blackstaff Tower to discuss the phaerimm attack. The whole event ended up being related to a planificated attack from the Shadovars. Since shadovar were living shadow magic, and silver fire was raw magic, the collision between the two tore at the fabric of reality, creating a rift to the Nine Hells. Elminster realized that the only way to close the portal before legions of devils spilled forth into Toril was to close it from the other side. He did it, being trapped on the other side and at the expense of much of his magical strength.

Once in Hell, he was abducted and enslaved by an outcast archdevil known as Nergal, who wished to discover the secret of Mystra's silver fire. Elminster was subject to brutal tortures, surviving only because of his exceptional endurance and ability to heal himself with silver fire. Mystra tried to save him herself, but ended up sending several Chosen ones instead. Only The Simbul was successful in his rescue.

In 1373 DR, Elminster discovered a daughter he had never known, conceived against his will with a dragon thanks to Mystra's intervention.

Following the death of Mystra in 1385 DR and the collapse of the Weave during the Spellplague, Elminster was stripped of many of his abilities as one of the Chosen, though he still aged as slowly as he had for the previous millennium and was still quite powerful magically. However, every use of his magic drove him insane. When this happened, only Storm was able to bring his mind back, giving off her own essence to soothe Elminster's mind. Despite these setbacks, Elminster and Storm continued with their campaign to save Faerûn, battling evil and fixing the Weave where they could.

In 1479 DR, Elminster sought to gain access to artifacts known to contain the spirits of the Nine—objects powerful enough to permanently restore the Simbul's sanity.

During one of his excursions for these artefacts, Elminster's body was destroyed by Manshoon, who had secretly been peeling away the Old Mage's contingency spells over several years. However, Manshoon departed before he realized that Elminster had survived his body's destruction in a near-undead state. With the agreement of Amarune and the aid of Storm, Elminster's essence was placed in Amarune's body with the aid of a spell the ex-Chosen had discovered in a cache once belonging to Azuth. Later, thanks to the sacrifice of the Simbul, he regained his former body again and ruined for good Manshoon's claim to the throne of Suzail.

In 1487 DR, Elminster (with the help of the Srinshee, Alustriel, and Laeral Silverhand) stopped Shar as well as Larloch from becoming the new deity of magic. He killed Telamont Tanthul and let Thultanthar fall upon Myth Drannor. Along the way, Mystra was completely restored.

In 1491 DR, Elminster returned to the city of Waterdeep, aiding the newly appointed Open Lord of Waterdeep, Laeral Silverhand, to uncover the culprits behind a string of murders of Masked Lords.

Sincerely, there is a lot of content left outside this summary because Elminster’s material is a lot. A LOT.

Where is he in 1492?

The last time we know about Elminster’s whereabouts is during the book Dead Masks, a year before BG3. He has been working in Mystra’s name in Waterdeep when Hidden Lords have been assassinated. It’s very hard to conceive Gale as Elminster in disguise. Elminster has a different personality and a very obvious pattern of speech, sounding more like a mixture of a scholar and a farmer, and using expressions like Nay, aye, and so on. Elminster being abandoned by Mystra is also a strange concept because if there is something very clear from all the material we can read about his adventures is that Mystra loves him with a particular and exceptional love. He was the only Chosen that, when he was being tortured in the Hells, she attempted to save him by herself, risking her life (obviously, then she changed her mind and sent several Chosen ones that died in the process).

Also, if Gale were Elminster, he should sustain a spell of disguise constantly (many people know Elminster, an old man of white hair and beard), which is also very unlikely for a lvl1 wizard to do.

Source: 3e: Elminster: The Making of a Mage. The Temptation of Elminster. Dead Masks

Sammaster

He was born in 800 DR, probably in Sembia, the Dalelands, or the North. At age of 17, fascinated by the theory of the Arts and how magic works, Sammaster became a follower of Mystra. He was a gaunt man of poor health, full of eccentricities: he never remained in one place for too long, he skipped his meals and sleep in favour of learning, and it's suspected to have fathered a countless number of children.

Before being 40 y/o he acquired the skills of an archmage and he discovered, rediscovered, or improved numerous spells in the advanced theory of magic known as "metamagic". All this discovery of knowledge and magic (so favoured by Mystra as we can see in the post about "Mystra and her Chosen ones") granted him the attention of the Goddess, who appeared before him.

At his 50 y/o Sammaster saw his most fervent dream appear before his very eyes. He was both awestruck and smitten with passion as he fell to his knees and wept upon Mystra’s feet. Raising him to meet her gaze, Mystra responded to his unspoken question and swept him into her embrace. They spent a tenday together, and at the end of that period, Mystra asked him if he thought he was worthy and strong enough to carry a part of her divine power within him. Despite not knowing what she meant, Sammaster accepted anyway, becoming the first Chosen after she conceived her seven daughters. Mystra explained that she had chosen him for his development in metamagic but also because she had foreseen the death of an already Chosen one (Syluné) whose place she wanted immediately filled with Sammaster.

Sammaster was ordered to be in contact with Elminster to learn more about his new condition of Chosen. Sammaster and Elminster developed a tense situation mostly because Sammaster's obsessive love for the Goddess deepened while Elminster kept reminding him that her only consort was Azuth.

Dejected for the truth that he would never have a personal long-lasting relationship with Mystra, Sammaster focused on understanding the powers of the Chosen and the mysteries of the Lady in himself and in Toril. However, a seed of resentment started to grow.

In 855 Sammaster found a Zhentarin slave caravan resting in a camp. In it, he found three large cage carts full of peasants taken from the farmlands in the surrounding area. Enraged, Sammaster attacked the Zhentarin using his spells and Silver Fire, but in the process he killed many innocents he wanted to save. His mind snapped that day. Despite trying to convince himself that the Zhentarins were to blame, this episode was—without any doubt—the seminal event that irrevocably turned Sammaster down the path to madness and, eventually, evil.

Years later he started to develop his interest in necromancy in an attempt to return those innocents he had killed, trying to find a way to revive the dead. During this time his interest was focused on the undead, and forged relationships with some liches. How did Mystra allow this? At that time, Mystra was a much more neutral deity. Her primary interest was the use and development of magic; she cared little about how it was used or by whom. As long as Sammaster continued to advance the theories of magic and push forward its frontiers for all mortals, Mystra turned a blind eye to his necromancy interests.

In 861 DR Sammaster met Alustriel, Chosen of Mystra, and fell in love with her. His unbalanced mind seemed to finally find some peace and stability, but his obsession —at first focused on Mystra—now turned upon Alustriel, wanting to master her, to make her entirely his, and to make her world revolve around him. Disturbed with Sammaster's necromancy research and his increasing need for control over her, Alustriel broke up with him.

Afterwards, while deepening in his experiments with necromancy, Sammaster befriended Algashon Nathaire, a priest of Bane who had formerly been a mage. In the unstable Sammaster, Algashon saw the chance to create a formidable tyrant. Bane must also have seen the chance to rob one of his most powerful enemy’s Chosen of his last vestiges of sanity and perhaps his powers or even his life.

Presented as a friend, Algashon manipulated Sammaster into thinking that all his failures and problems were the fault of that uncaring goddess and her equally inconsiderate servants, her so-called "Chosen". Sammaster resisted this subtle indoctrination at first, only to be painfully reminded of the events at the slavers' camp (the Zhents' fault, of course), his uneasy relationship with Elminster, his failure to win the love of Mystra (Azuth's fault and Elminster's for pointing it out so hard-heartedly), and his failure to win Alustriel (her fault and that of her Goddess). As time went on, Sammaster argued against these superficial, easy excuses less and less, and Algashon's lies wove their way deeper into the unhappy and unstable mage's mind. The next step of Algashon was to steal the secrets of the power of the Chosen. To do that, he encouraged Sammaster to use his Chosen power at every opportunity.

Rather than risking their pawn's life (yet) by attempting to strip the silver fire from Sammaster outright, Bane and Algashon decided to try and arrange to steal another Chosen's silver fire: given her past with Sammaster, Algashon chose Alturiel. This way Sammster fought Alturiel, aiming silver fire against her. Losing the battle against a maniacal Sammaster, Alustriel called for help from Laeral Silverhand and Khelben Arunsun. The three of them won the combat against Sammaster.

Azuth presented himself on Mystra's behalf and removed Sammaster's Chosen condition. When the other Chosen left the place, Algashon helped Sammaster, affixing the immortality of the Chosen ones in his body despite having lost his powers. While he could be destroyed, Sammaster continued to remain ageless and to heal from wounds very quickly. However, as a side-effect of this spell, Sammaster lost his last vestige of sanity and morality that may have remained in his clouded mind.

In 887 DR Sammaster retranslated old texts of a prophecy, highlighting the importance of undead dragons and creating soon afterward his own Cult. In his insanity, he kept doing more necromancy research focused on turning dragons into draconlich to follow this prophecy. His first success in turning a dragon (Shargrailar) into an undead made his cult famous. In this way, Sammaster earned a powerful weapon with which threatened many across Faerun and obtained an enormous amount of money. Even the rich nobles paid tribute when the Cult threatened to send Shargrailar to burn their farmlands and villages to ash. Sammaster did not think to oppress the peasants for their coppers, but the noble powerful ones.

In 960 DR, his cult finally adopted the name “Cult of the Dragon”, even though “Cult of the Dracolich” could be more appropriate, even though Shargrailar still looked like a normal dragon. By that time the cult increased too much for Sammaster and Algoshon to control, so Sammaster wrote all his wisdom in a book called Tome of the Dragon that would turn into the core of the cult, helping them to spread Sammaster's ideas beyond their limitations.

The popularity of the cult was not missed by several groups. The Harpers tried to destroy it, but they failed. The Zhentarims are also against Sammaster's cult since their activities are limited with the constant threat of the Dragon Shargrailar. More groups were added to the cult's list of foes, but Sammaster ignored them or sent them a dragon to destroy them. Not merely mad now, Sammaster was becoming drunk with a level of power he had not felt since before he had been stripped of his powers as one of the Chosen. Algashor suggested that he keep a low profile in order to protect the cult, but his advice was ignored.

In 916 DR, The Harpers developed a plan to eliminate Sammaster and weaken the cult itself. The battle was brutal and Sammaster seemed to win by the end of it, commanding an army of undead and experimental creatures. Sammaster would have won had not Lathander sent a battle avatar, enraged by the undead abominations that Sammaster created. After an intense battle, Lathander incinerated Sammaster. However, Sammaster had planned ahead: he had sent his mind to a phylactery before being killed.

With the phylactery and a special book of the Tome of the Dragon, a loyal cultist called Zotulla had been ordered by Sammaster to create a new cell of the cult in the Northwest. However, Zotulla failed and died at the hands of an orc war party who discarded the phylactery and the book. Both items were lost for more than 300 years, until a shaman may have deciphered the instructions in the book and raised Sammaster as a lich.

In 1282 Sammaster rose as a lich and began to gather the remnants of his cult once more. Harpers and some countries began to plan to defend themselves from this danger again. In 1285 a group of adventuring paladins known as the Company of Twelve supported by the Harpers, attacked the lich and killed him at a great cost. However, neither the phylactery nor the book were found. The possibility for him to return is high.

In 1373DR Sammaster completed the transformation of the Dracorage Mythal. This was a Mythal created by elves around -25.000DR which had a maddening effect on dragons, making them lose their minds for several tendays. This effect used to be linked to the appearance of the comet King-Killer Star in the sky. When Sammaster transformed this mythal by binding his phylactery to it, its maddening effect was no longer constrained by the appearance of the comet but linked instead to his own life force. Only Dracoliches remained unaffected by Sammaster’s endless, ever-intensifying Dracorage effect. This fact forced wyrms to join his Cult and accept to be transformed into dracoliches or suffer permanent madness. By manipulating this effect, Sammaster tried to retake control over his Cult. However, a group of adventurers destroyed the mythal—thus Sammaster’s phylactery—and put an end to this effect.

Where is he in 1492?

So, is Gale Sammaster? Lore-wise, to destroy a lich for good you need to destroy their phylactery. This has been done in 1373DR, therefore, I hardly see any potential for Sammaster to raise again. And here is where any possible argument ends.

What Sammaster's story shows us is that Mystra's sudden abandonment is not uncommon once she gave them their Chosen powers. In the report of the Harpers that narrate Sammaster's life in the book Cult of the dragon (2e), there are some comments pointing out how Mystra, despite noticing Sammaster's madness, allowed him to follow his dark path. One may speculate that maybe Mystra uses the obsession that she may cause in some of her Chosen ones, in order to make them eager to explore beyond their limits so she can acquire knowledge or control of new magic.

Certainly, what Sammaster and Gale share in common is how they were favoured by Mystra, had a affair with her, and soon afterwards she stopped “whispering” in their ears. Their condition as Chosen had been kept intact, but their madness in one case, or their devotion in the other, made them go too far. Sammaster ended up being a toy of a priest of Bane, while Gale simply made the mistake of thinking himself capable of controlling an unknown magic to impress Mystra in order to have once more her attention on him. More than this is walking on the headcanon terrain since the game in EA can't provide more information.

Source book: Cult of the dragon (2e), Dragons of Faerun (3.5e)

Conclusion

The truth is that Gale is Kirby. He doesn't only eat artefacts but also Faerûn iconic characters as well (joke done by a reddit user)

In my personal interpretation, I hardly see Gale as the incarnation of anyone. First, it would be very, very lazy writing. Characters such as Sammaster, Elminster, or Azuth tend to be NPCs. We found some of them in games such as previous Baldur’s Gate games or Neverwinter nights.

But the main and strongest argument against secretly being any of these characters is that he is an origin character. All companions are potential players in their origins. Anyone who played DOS2 AND played an origin character would understand this: there is no plot twist of that magnitude in their personal backstories that would erase completely the essence and the personality of the character. All that sensitive information is previously stated.

All what we need to know about the origin char is basically said in the BG3 webpage. Those descriptions are the same ones found in the game, which changed after EA was released in Astarion’s and Gale’s case, showing—in my opinion—that Larian changed them a bit at the last stage of development. These descriptions spoil every secret that the characters have. This doesn’t mean their more complex background should not be part of a plot twist later in the game, but it would not have the impact of erasing completely the RPG characters you were playing for a while.

Every companion has a secret spoiled in their descriptions: Astarion, his vampire condition; Shadowheart, her Shar faith and he mission; Wyll, Mizora; Lae’zel, the tadpole (not for the group, but for her people); Gale, the “orb”. All these secrets are informed beforehand to the player for them to pick an Origin if they want to play it and make it their own. As companions, we learn these secrets early (act 1). This happens in act 1 of DOS2 too.

A player choosing an origin has to be informed of the character’s secrets and motivations at the moment they pick it. Otherwise, it would ruin their RPG experience, making the player unaware of their own character’s true nature. This doesn’t mean that deepening their backgrounds would not make us discover information we don’t know. My point is, it won't remove the character’s persona turning him into a character very well known in lore.

Gale, so far, seems to be a pretty fair standard wizard who had a young obsession over Mystra (quite common in terms of lore for those who stand before her), which brought him troubles and made him prone to mistakes (as, once more, we know it tends to happen in lore). The justification why he was Chosen is also clear from a lore point of view: we have a context post-Spellplague that made Gale's skills more than useful for Mystra. In my opinion, there is nothing else abysmally suspicious beyond these points, and if there are more secrets, it seems fair to think that not even Gale is aware of them.

This post was written in June2021. → For more Gale: Analysis Series Index

#gale of waterdeep #bg3 meta #bg3 early access #bg3 gale #azuth #myrkul #karsus #elminster #sammaster #lore #chosen of mystra #FR lore

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the-lightning-strikes-again · 3 years

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Hi, @pilotkinkade! No worries about a delay—real life and school are way more important than critical analysis of a cartoon, lol. I’m thankful you got back to me, though. I appreciate your response posted here—and no, it didn’t feel patronizing at all! I can see what you mean about things.

In terms of Wikipedia’s definition of white savior as a cinematic trope, I can see where that could be applied to the entirety of the VLD show as you mention, even in aspects to the Balmeran episode. In VLD, I do see how in every case, the largely unprepared MCs save a group of people and in doing so, usually learn something about themselves/achieve a power unlock that makes them personally stronger, especially compared to the people they assist/save, who remain without such power-ups. Or, in various other instances, Team Voltron is shown as “more enlightened” in ethics or willpower, etc. compared to the people groups they’re trying to save/convince to join their cause. That concern absolutely does make sense, and it’s definitely a problem that our paladins are placed on that kind of pedestal and that it’s...celebrated?

I also felt this line of yours in my soul, lol: “i think this is an issue with voltron: liberating a country, let alone a whole planet, is a long, tiring, bloody process. i guess voltron by its nature circumnavigates that, but. it is, to say the least, frustrating to watch.”

Yeahhh lol, I think in terms of how it handles war and heavy situations, VLD accepts a lot of “this isn’t realistic war/politics” moments by virtue of it being a Y7 cartoon? Its fantasy violence is targeted for, I guess, 7-year-old American boys... So, I think when we sensed those more adult themes and moments of realism, we wanted the show to naturally follow up on those struggles more, but I remember an interview where the dev team talked about having to cut politics because the stakeholders felt it was too adult for the target audience, RIP.

But just thinking about this larger conversation about the unsettling images and implications of VLD Voltron’s power as savior…I keep wondering if “savior complex” is in some way inherent to the franchise as a whole by virtue of how it was fitted to a young American audience back in 1984? Like, not only did the original pilots from 1981’s Beast King GoLion get white-washed for an American audience, but it seems like the whole story structure got some pretty major adjustments, and some characters got altered for better (I’d argue 1984 did humanize Lotor and other antagonistic aliens) or worse in various ways (the Voltron pilots became “foreigners” to the war they grew to fight in as the most powerful warriors, instead of the GoLion storyline of the pilots being a band of escaped slaves)…And that’s all on top of the original story being rated much higher at TV-14, while Voltron: Defender of the Universe 1984 was sanitized to Y7.

I wonder if these decisions in 1984 feed into the tangles and weird power structures/savior narrative we see in VLD?

I feel like the only Voltron iteration that really reflects on and questions the “powerful savior” narrative is the one that was rated for older audiences (16+), which is the Dynamite Comics (2011), written by Brandon Thomas...

It was perhaps one of the most innovative versions of Voltron, even though its artwork is criticized for its quality. I say innovative because Team Voltron actually recognizes that they and their machine have been fighting in the name of a corrupted Earth just interested in further conquest and corporate control of its own, and that Earth is actually no better than Zarkon or other despots. It’s a really sticky mess. So we really see Team Voltron try to disavow themselves from that past and their leaders, at the same time that the team and Drule Empire both are realizing that a far darker force (sentient rift creatures, basically) has been instigating the entire war across the universe, using Voltrons to carry out its will, and poisoning people against each other. In this iteration, team Voltron is not the most powerful, nor are they even the only Voltron. And anyone in this iteration could learn powerful magic. So it’s a really complex backstory that tries to unite long-standing opposing groups together under fairly equal powers. And while it’s clearly still got some problems, I really appreciate what writer Brandon Thomas was trying to do here. It feels like a critique on DotU 1984’s mentality around Voltron, while also reaching back to Voltron’s 1981 Beast King GoLion origins—in which, in that version, the pilots were actively victims of the war and had intense, personal reasons for further involving themselves to stop Zarkon.

VLD seems to lift a lot of plot points from the previous Dynamite Comics, along with GoLion. But in doing so, VLD seems to strip out a lot of involved backstory and the past gray morality of Voltron itself. Which seems to reverse the reboot back to its 1984 “yay we’re here to the save the universe” fluff.

An anon recently joined in on our discussion here to suggest that maybe the trope we’re looking for regarding Allura specifically is called “xenos savior trope”? Which appears to be in reference to the larger genre concept of a foreigner of any kind outside the group being the only one who can actually save the day/that group. So it seems to be related without necessarily taking on some of the criteria I suppose I apply to white savior complex specifically….

About Allura’s sort of “Chosen One” hyper-abilities even as an Altean… You’re right that the show isn’t terribly explicit about it. Episode 1 prefaces some of Allura’s powers by referencing that they exist because her life force is tied to Voltron. I talk about it in an old meta here if you’re interested. (I also have this other meta too, where I try to argue that seasons 1-5 have details suggesting Alteans aren’t inherently a master race, but that world-building contradicts the latter half of the show which hinges on that master race concept. But the meta itself also gets into the screenshots about Allura’s life-force tie and her abilities vs. Alfor’s.)

Ultimately, the show certainly doesn’t take time after episode 1 to reiterate why Allura would be so special, but her tie to Voltron is the only thing I can think of for why she’s on such a different level even from Honerva or Alfor, both of whom also made it to Oriande.

I keep thinking about what it would mean to fully update VLD for modern audiences, and I wonder how things would have felt if every major race involved in the war’s scope were still represented by the paladins (reflecting the s3 OG paladin diversity, which did feel really cool). And if everyone had magical abilities but simply that different cultures had different understandings or uses of it—but that they weren’t inherently incapable of learning another’s way. I wonder how much that would have changed VLD as a show…

#Voltron #Voltron meta #Voltron critical #Allura #Alfor #VLD #DDP #Voltron Dynamite Comics #this is a really interesting discussion and thank you for continuing it with me #Lots of complex issues all happening at once

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captainofthetidesbreath · 4 years

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Insight Check! — A Look at Insight Checks Against Player Characters in Campaign 2

I often joke that someone calls an Insight check much more often against Fjord than against any other player character, particularly when he gets to talking biographical details. But I got to wondering: is that actually true? (Spoiler, because I take forever to get there: yes, it is.) It’s become much less common as the campaign moved forward, but what ARE the numbers on Insight checks against other players?

I’d like to thank the Critical Role Wiki for their repository of episode transcripts, without which this would’ve been a lot harder. I’d also like to thank @critrolestats for their work in general, but in terms of this project, their All Rolls record was deeply helpful in checking much of my work—too much of which, such as roll values, didn’t make it to this post—and also in making it possible to build the larger context of all Insight checks made so far. I could not imagine building that context without the immense aid of their All Rolls list.

On to the numbers, attempting to start with the broadest and most contextual numbers first and then moving into smaller and smaller scopes. Naturally, this is very image-heavy.

This is as of 2.99: “High Seas, High Stakes”.

Some Things To Keep In Mind

Unless otherwise stated, “Insight check” or “check” without additional qualifiers refer specifically to Insight checks made against another player character.

Certain graphs and charts include guest characters, certain others don’t, and still others represent them in specific ways, so watch out for that; if I haven’t specified otherwise, guests are represented in the numbers.

In reference to Taliesin’s rolls, unless otherwise stated, Molly’s and Caduceus’ rolls are always considered separate categories.

I’ve done the best I can to double-check my numbers, but it’s a lot of data and I’m fallible. (And my Excel workflow and methodology could be so much better.) Let me know if you spot a mistake, or if you have an alternate take on the reading, summarizing, or interpreting of the data here.

I’m trying to work out how to post the graphs in the most readable format. Clicking on them on desktop sidebar-thing off the dashboard does indeed expand them to a readable size. I can’t figure out how to make it work on my theme, so I may upload them elsewhere and link them! Stay tuned. ETA, May 22: I’ve added direct links to the images as hosted here on Tumblr. The links will open in a new tab or window.

Against Player Characters vs. Against Non-Player Characters

There were fifty-nine (59) Insight checks made against another player character so far, out of a total of one hundred and eighty-two (182) Insight checks in general. So, about thirty-two percent (32%) of Insight checks made, or one out of three, were against another player!

Not part of the charts, but Travis asked to make or declared an Insight check “on the DM” (as opposed to against an NPC) three times: 2.64 “A Dangerous Chase”, 2.78: “Between the Lines”, 2.88: “Unwanted Reunions”. Nobody else has tried.

The Insight checks each regular player character made divided into checks against PCs and checks against NPCs. Guest PCs are not represented by their own bars, but checks made against them are included in the totals. [Link to image]

Insight checks each regular player character made against PCs and against NPCs as percentages of their totals. Guest PCs are not represented by their own bars, but checks made against them are included in the totals. [Link to image]

Caleb, Veth, and Molly made more checks against player characters than they’ve made against non-player characters—though, Caleb barely squeaks into this category with sixteen (16) checks against players and fifteen (15) against non-players. Veth and Molly made over seventy percent (70%) of their Insight checks against another player, with Molly leading with 76.9% percent (nice).

A note: Molly rolling more often against PCs than NPCs is not unexpected. As detailed in the next section, rolls against PCs were much more common in first handful of arcs than in the rest of the campaign. By the time of his death in 2.26: “Found & Lost”, over 50% of the total checks against player characters were already made.

Beau runs in the opposite extreme and rolled three (3) checks against PCs and thirty-four (34) against NPCs, making her currently the only player character to have made less than 10% of their total Insight checks against another player.

You’ll notice I’ve left Yasha out. Personally, Ashley’s infamous schedule—having appeared in only 44 of the 99 episodes of Campaign 2 so far—makes it difficult for me to commit to describing the sorts of rolls she’d make. But, Yasha and her grand total of one (1) Insight check, made against Kiri, indeed puts her as having rolled more often against NPCs than against PCs at a perfect 100% against NPCs.

Over Time and Per Episode

Perhaps the most important context for these numbers is that the overwhelming majority of Insight checks against other player characters were made in the earliest arcs of the campaign.

The overall progression of total Insight checks made against another player. At the bottom, the number of such Insight checks made in each episode is displayed in bars. Guest player numbers are included. [Link to image]

By the time the group leaves Trostenwald at the end of 2.04: “Disparate Pieces”, nine (9, nein!) checks have been made, or 15.3% of the total 59 checks made so far. By the time they arrive in Zadash four episodes later at the end of 2.08: “The Gates of Zadash”, an additional ten checks for a total of nineteen (19) have been made—32.2% of the overall.

The fifty percent (50%) mark is hit in episode 2.18: “The Whispers of War” with 52.5% of checks made. Caleb’s Insight check against Caduceus in 2.28: “Within the Nest”, the episode Caduceus is introduced, pushes the total into 66.1% of the checks made.

Because it’s just Nice™, the group hits 69.5% of the total checks made in the episode where we meet Marion, 2.33: “The Ruby and the Sapphire”.

This sort of trend is expected—as the characters increasingly trust each other, and the players come to better understand the personalities and backstories of each character at the table, calls for an Insight check against each other become less common.

2.08: “The Gates of Zadash” had the highest number of Insight checks made against another player character with 5 checks. The fifteen episode stretch starting at 2.75: “Rime and Reason” and ending at 2.89: “Lingering Wounds”, inclusive, is the longest streak of episodes where no checks against another player were made.

Insight Checks Rolled

Total Insight checks made by each player character. [Link to image]

Caleb made the most checks against another player with sixteen (16) checks, 27% of the total. However, Taliesin ties Liam for player who had made the highest number of checks against other players because Molly’s (10) and Caduceus’ (6) totals add up to 16.

Molly and Veth tie for the second highest number of checks made with ten (10) each. However, Veth made one less roll than Molly, because Veth made a single roll against both Jester and Yasha, who were telling similar lies with individual Deception checks, in 2.18: “Whispers of War”.

Yasha is the only regular player character to not roll an Insight check against another player. Shakäste is the only guest so far to roll one.

Insight checks each player character made per episode. [Link to image]

The player character with the most checks made in a single episode is a tie between Caleb, Veth, and Molly. Each made two checks in a single episode in:

2.04: “Disparate Pieces” (Molly)

2.05: “The Open Road” (Caleb)

2.08: “The Gates of Zadash” (Caleb, Molly)

2.09: “Steam and Conversation” (Caleb)

2.16: “A Favor in Kind” (Caleb)

2.18: “Whispers of War” (Veth), though, again, she made only one roll

2.74: “Manifold Morals” (Veth)

Of the 10 checks Veth made, six of them were joke checks or for comedic effect. Arguably seven, depending if one wanted to count her check in 2.23: “Have Bird, Will Travel” to discern if Beau was lying about Hupperdook being a party town at night.

Total number of Insight checks made by each character, plotting the overall progression of the checks. Guests are not represented by their own line, but checks made against them are included in the numbers. [Link to image]

Player Characters Checks Were Made Against, Or Insight Checks Subject To

Of the 59 checks, 8 were not specifically to discern if a deception is going on, if the character is being honest, or if the character is hiding anything:

2.01: “Curious Beginnings” — by Molly against Jester to cold read her for a Tarot reading

2.07: “Hush” — by Veth against Shakäste as a general read, though an attempt to discern if he was being honest about taking people to safety was part of that

2.07: “Hush” — by Shakäste against Veth to discern if he notices her looking at him

2.11: “Zemnian Nights” — by Molly against Veth to discern what she’s whispering to Fjord

2.28: “Within the Nest” — by Caleb against Caduceus to discern if Caduceus is a threat to them

2.30: “The Journey Home” — by Veth against Fjord to discern if he’s different from before

2.55: “Beneath the Well” — by Veth against Yasha to notice if she was Charmed

2.60: “A Turtle By Any Other Name” — by Jester against Fjord to discern if he was acting strangely for any untoward reason (Matt: “Best you can tell, Travis is just being weird.” Travis was stuttering.)

Player characters Insight checks were made against. [Link to image]

Fjord has the greatest number of Insight checks rolled against him at thirteen (13) checks. Veth closely follows, however, with twelve (12) checks made against her. As a comparison, an Insight check was rolled against Essek fourteen (14) times.

Of the total 59 Insight checks, five (5) were against guests: Shakäste, Caliana, Twiggy, and Reani twice. Reani is the only guest to be subject to an Insight check more than once.

Three of these Insight checks resulted in a whisper. Two were from the player rolled against: Laura to Liam in 2.08: “The Gates of Zadash” (she whispers the whisper she got from Matt to Liam, who seems to have checked Jester just for that purpose) and Deborah to Taliesin in 2.45: “The Stowaway”. One was from Matt to Sam after Veth checks Fjord in 2.30: “The Journey Home”, though that check appears to have been rolled mostly for comedic purposes and the whisper was extremely short.

Regular player characters Insight checks were made against. [Link to image]

Insight checks made against each player character per episode. [Link to image]

Caleb has the highest number of checks made against him in a single episode, having been rolled against four times total in 2.04: “Disparate Pieces”.

That episode also sees him rolled against simultaneously by three people, a record among player characters. He said he and Veth were not going to sneak out of town while the rest of the party was confined to the inn due to house arrest; Fjord, Jester, and Molly didn’t initially believe him. If memory serves, the one time this was matched was when Jester, Beau, and Fjord simultaneously rolled checks against the Gentleman after Jester disguises herself as Marion and he claims to have only heard of the Ruby of the Sea in 2.85: “The Threads Converge”.

Fjord is the only player character to get checked more than once in a single conversation against distinct statements by two different people. This happened twice, both times involving Molly and Caleb:

2.05: “The Open Road” — by Caleb, against pretending he didn’t spit up seawater, and then by Molly and again Caleb, against saying he doesn’t understand much about his falchion

2.16: “A Favor in Kind” — by Caleb, against having started filing his tusks down as a child due to bullying, and by Molly, against there being blood on his mouth because he bit his lip

Technically, so has Caleb in 2.08: “The Gates of Zadash”, as Molly was discerning if he was truthful about not having kids and Beau was discerning if he had kids but the kids are no longer alive. However, I don’t personally consider these distinct statements.

Reani is the only other player character to get checked more than once in a single conversation against distinct statements, both times by Veth in 2.74: “Manifold Morals”.

Total Insight checks each regular player character was subject to, plotting the overall progression of the checks. Guests are not represented by their own line, but checks they made are included in the numbers. [Link to image]

Rolling Against Fjord’s Childhood Damage And Lies About Uk’otoa

One super interesting thing the charts don’t show is that of the thirteen (13) times an Insight check was rolled against Fjord, eleven (11) were specifically to discern if he was making a deceptive statement, and for eight (8) of those 11, he was honest and forthright. The remaining 3 checks, in which he was dishonest or deceptive, were all against moments where Fjord was attempting to lie about or hide a dream of Uk’otoa he’d just woken up from.

Also, he was checked against statements in which he openly and honestly divulged “childhood damage”, backstory details, or biographical information three (3) times—more than any other player character. (Really proving his reluctance to tell anyone a damn thing right!)

2.16: “A Favor in Kind” — by Caleb, regarding Fjord filing his tusks down due to relentless bullying over his orcish heritage (This is the check that prompted Marisha to exclaim, “My childhood damage— Insight check!”)

2.58: “Wood and Steel” — by Caduceus, regarding Fjord stating that he doesn’t know his family because he grew up an orphan (Sam: “Aggressive move.” // Taliesin: “I have been waiting for something.”)

2.91: “Stone to Clay” — by Caduceus, regarding “Stone” being the “shit last name” the orphanage gave him

The following are similar moments, though they don’t really feel comparable given that Fjord was attempting to be forthright about elements of his personal life that haunt him:

2.01: “Curious Beginnings” — Veth, checked by Fjord against her lying she’s not running from anyone

2.02: “A Show of Scrutiny” — Molly, checked by Fjord against his false story about his swords and family

2.04: “Disparate Pieces” — Caleb, checked by Molly against saying he and Nott escaped prison four or five months ago

2.08: “The Gates of Zadash” — Caleb, checked by Molly and Beau against saying he does not currently have nor ever had children

2.08: “The Gates of Zadash” — Jester, checked by Molly against saying she lost her cart and horse because she left them on the side of the road

2.09: “Steam and Conversation” — Yasha, checked by Caleb against saying nobody is chasing her

2.24: “The Hour of Honor” — Molly, checked by Jester against saying he’s done shady and illegal things in the circus, similar to what the Gentleman asked them to do

2.67: “Beyond the Eyes of Angels” — Yasha, checked by Nott against saying she’s never been to the King’s Cage before

When it comes to divulging personal damage, Fjord has been Insight checked for it most often and unlike any other player character.

Checks Made vs. Checks Subject To

Caleb, Molly, and Caduceus are the only characters to make more checks than there were checks made against them.

Total insight checks made against each player character and each player character rolled. Guests are not represented by their own bar, but checks they made and checks made against them are represented in these totals. [Link to image]

Who Rolled Against Whom?

Caleb rolled checks against seven (7) different characters, the highest number of unique targets. Liam is the only player to make a check against every regular member of the table; however, he missed every regular player character, because Caleb never made a check against Molly.

Caleb also holds the record for most checks made against a single player character with five (5) against Fjord, which is 31% of his total checks. All of Caleb’s checks against Fjord were made in the first sixteen episodes of the campaign, the last one being in 2.16: “A Favor In Kind” against why Fjord files his tusks.

Veth is the only one to make a check against more than one guest player and to make more than one check against guests in total, having rolled one against Shakäste and two against Reani.

Insight checks by character each character rolled against. Guests do not have their own bar, but rolls made against them by regular players are represented. [Link to image]

Insight checks organized by the character rolling, then the character they rolled against. Guests are not represented in this chart in any way. [Link to image]

Veth has the highest number of unique characters making a check against her, having been checked by six (6) people including Shakäste; counting only regular members of table, she ties Fjord and Jester at five (5). Veth is the only character to have a guest roll an Insight check against her.

Thirty-eight percent (38%) of the checks made against Fjord were by Caleb.

Insight checks by the character who rolled the check. [Link to image]

Insight checks organized by the character the check was made against, then the character rolling. Guests are not represented in this chart in any way. [Link to image]

Duos

Insight checks made between two pairs of player characters. Guests are not represented in this chart in any way. [Link to image]

Of the 27 possible pairs of regular characters at the table, there are six (6) of them where neither character has made a check against the other; all six of those duos involve Beau or Yasha.

Caleb and Veth are the only players to have seen an Insight check in all their possible duos at the table, either made by them or made against them.

Continuing on “the number of checks Caleb made against Fjord is sort of ridiculous” trend throughout all this, the number of checks Caleb made against Fjord is greater than the total checks any other duo exchanged between one another.

Some Favorite Insight Checks Against Players

This endeavor involved looking at all the Insight checks against players and why they were being made. Here’s a few of my favorites, just for fun:

2.11: “Zemnian Nights” — Veth is caught going through Fjord’s bag, and she lies to him that she was hungry and looking for seafood. Fjord’s Insight check is a Nat 20. Veth: “I was not looking for shrimp.”

2.16: “A Favor in Kind” — The group discovered the journal about the Crawling King. Matt asks for Religion checks from anyone who wants to make one. Travis rolls for fun. Caleb and Molly failed their checks, but Fjord rolls a dirty 20. Despite Travis saying he wasn’t intending to count it, Matt counts it and Fjord “esoterically” (through his warlock pact) recalls the face of the Crawling King. This prompts an Insight check from Caleb on whether or not Fjord’s telling the truth about the source of the information being as if from a dream he isn’t sure really happened.

2.18: “Whispers of War” — Veth’s single-roll, double-check against Jester and Yasha was about them lying about there being an orgy in their room last night and, as Yasha provides, Jester and Fjord were making out.

2.24: “The Hour of Honor” — Veth refuses to believe that Fjord has ever had sex before. When Sam declares he’s making the Insight check, Taliesin exclaims, out of character, “Thank you!!”

2.25: “Divergent Paths” — Beau fakes passing out in Yasha’s arms when Yasha picks her up after a difficult battle. Molly attempts to discern if she really did pass out. He fails.

2.33: “The Ruby and the Sapphire” — Fjord attempts to discern if Jester is lying about having seen a sea monster tentacle one time when Fjord claims sea monsters are not real. She is. He rolls a 14, and Travis determines Fjord believes her anyway.

2.74: “Manifold Morals” — Veth makes checks against Reani to discern if she’s REALLY enjoying that cupcake and does she REALLY have no milk in the house.

2.92: “Home is Where the Heart Is” — The infamous Jester lies to Caleb that Essek said in his message he loves Caleb.

#Critical Role #Critical Role things #long post for ts #This is a VERY long post. And has 16 charts.#cr meta

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imagines-for-the-fangirls-soul · 5 years

Text

Return to Me - Chapter Two

Chapter Two: Let Them Try

A/N: Thank you all for the love from chapter one! I’m so glad you’re all liking it. Here’s chapter two! The mission that Leia sent Poe on at the end of the last chapter is the one she sent him on in the Poe Dameron comic (which, god, you should all read) to find Lor San Tekka. Now we’re at the start of The Force Awakens. If you have any questions, let me know! Also, if you want to be tagged, or I missed you somehow, let me know!

Pairing: Poe Dameron x Reader Word Count: 4,784 Synopsis: After securing the map to Luke Skywalker from Lor San Tekka, Poe is captured by the First Order and tortured for what he knows. Meanwhile, the reader tries to find her place between the Resistance and the world of politics as she returns home to ask for aid to the Resistance.

Tag List: @xeniarocks, @too-many-baes, @araceli91103, @holybatflapexpert, @themihala, @idocarealot, @treblebeth, @treestarrrrrrrr, @thescarletknight2014, @charlottie2998, @ibikus, @mellow-f1, @mrsdaamneron, @trustme3-13 (Some links didn’t work, if this is you, make sure that your settings allow for you to be tagged by people who don’t follow you, so you can still get the tag.)

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“I had no idea we had the best pilot in the Resistance on board,” Kylo Ren said, stepping into the torture chamber Poe was now being held in.

“It has been a few years, but I haven’t aged that horribly,” Poe said, tasting blood from his pooling lip. Ren paced behind him, standing where Poe couldn’t see. “Have you had some work done? It’s alright, you never were that good looking, so a few plastic corrections—" Poe groaned as his metal restraints tightened.

“Comfortable?”

“Not really.”

“I’m impressed with you, Commander. No one has been able to get out of you what you have done with the map.”

“Might want to rethink your technique.” Ren appeared in front of him again, his facial expressions still impossible to read behind the mask, but Poe could sense his anger. He silently raised his hand in front of Poe’s face, and before Poe knew what was happening, Ren began to open his mind. Poe started to struggle, his head smacking into the back of the hard metal chair he was confined to. He was looking for the memory of what he did to the map, but somewhere in his subconscious, Ren took a turn into more personal matters.

Flashes of you began to appear. Sitting together under a tree a few hundred yards from the old base. Climbing up to his X-Wing to give him a kiss. Swimming in the lakes surrounding Naboo. Laying together in bed.

Poe jerked out of his control, breathing heavy. He looked up weakly at Ren. What must have been a laugh registered from his mask, making Poe feel sicker.

“What nice memories.”

“You’re a pathetic waste of life,” Poe spat, lifting his head up to face Kylo Ren just as he Force pushed Poe’s head back against the metal headrest.

“How do you think Y/N would feel knowing that you are giving away all of the deepest, most intimate details of your relationship?”

“I don’t know.” Poe strained as Ren started invading his mind again. “But I bet she still likes me better than you.”

“When I’m done, you won’t have reason to laugh anymore,” he said, opening Poe’s mind again.

“Where is the map?” he asked as Poe’s face began to redden, the pressure of trying to fight him off becoming too much.

“The Resistance will not be intimidated by you.”

Ren put his full effort into his trick, extracting a scream from the pilot as he searched for his needed information.

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After your trip to the Resistance base, returning home felt like returning to a prison cell. You had only been gone for little more than a day, but short lived freedom was still freedom. You arrived back to Naboo early in the day, and all you wanted to do was crawl in bed, but, as always, you had a full schedule.

“Y/N, please keep your head up,” Loré pleaded for the fourth time.

“Sorry,” you said, straightening yourself in your seat, “I’m just tired.”

“Do you want another cup of tea?” Sondé asked.

“No, I’ll be fine.” You looked into the mirror as Loré tied your hair up in an intricate ponytail and fought off the emotions that were threatening to destroy everything you had built up the last two years. The more time you spent away from the Resistance, the further you felt from who you were back then, and you were starting to wonder if you could ever truly get her back.

“Nové, you’re going down to the military base with Zaisa today, right?” you asked.

“Yes, my lady,” she said, glancing at you with worried eyes, sensing your stress.

“And you’re going to make sure—"

“I know my mission,” she said, nodding. Nové was going down to Naboo’s military base with Captain Zaisa in order to scope out any new recruits who would be a good fit for the Resistance. Nové’s commlink buzzed, and she sighed with a frustrated smile. “The Council is ready.”

“Okay,” you said, looking back at her for an understanding to her frustration.

“Along with Count Lin Ral who just got in from Serenno,” she said. You looked back into the mirror and steeled your demeanor.

“I’ll be right along. Loré, will you go announce my presence? I just need to put my earrings on, and I’ll be right down.”

“Of course, my lady.”

Everyone exited, with Nové bringing up the tail. She gave you a parting look, one last look of encouragement. You clipped on the gigantic earrings to compliment your dress and readied yourself for your council meeting. Although you had already transferred personal credits over to the Resistance, there was still a lot more you wanted to do, which could only be made possible with funds and supplies granted by Naboo’s council. Given that the Resistance wasn’t technically in existence, though, this was going to be a difficult task.

As you stepped into the Grand Council Room, everyone stood. The Royal Advisory Council consisted of five people: headed by Lord Sarsa Broden, with members, Lala Jrul, Rickan Gilkpasc, Sarin Sutaton, and the Gungan representative, Jobee Qod.

Occasionally, your father would sit in on these meetings as he was well versed in all things Naboo politics. Thankfully, though, he was off visiting your mother on Hosnian Prime. If he got wind that you were hoping to aid the Resistance, choosing a definitive side in the cold war between the Resistance and the First Order, when the Senate specifically forbade it, he would personally ask for your dethronement.

“Your Highness,” Broden said, taking your hands in his. “Naboo is once again blessed with your presence.”

“Thank you, Lord Broden,” you said, taking your seat.

“How went your trip to Bith, Your Highness?” Lala Jrul asked with a kind smile.

“Wonderfully well. We have worked out a trades deal that shall be beneficial to both of our planets.” You took a pause, looking at the rest of your council, trying to sense their reaction before they gave it. “My discussion with Bith gave me another idea as well,” you said carefully.

“An idea?” Jobee Qod asked.

“It has been a long time since the building of our Ion Pulse, since any real threat was attempted to our way of life. We have been lucky, but we are not the only ones in the galaxy. Our trades deal with Bith has given me the idea to draft new legislation.” Sondé stepped forward with your plans and projected them on the Holo table. “With our shared commitment to helping others, I have come up with a plan where we can share resources with endangered people and places all over the galaxy. This program would be run by a group of advisors who would decide what issues most need our help and choose the necessary supplies. We’ll make sure to get students and other bright minds from around Naboo to join the program, creating a group of young leaders ready to make a change.”

“Who would you suggest lead this program?” Broden asked after a moment’s thought.

“I don’t have an initial pick right now, but there are a handful of people I would trust as interim until one can be appointed by our council.”

“What about when we need help?” Rickan Gilkpasc asked.

“Of course, the Naboo are our first and most important priority, but with each and every act, we’d be gaining allies who would help us out if we run into trouble. If we ran into a course of action where we needed to step back, then our advisors would decide to do so.”

“Meesa thinks issa splendid idea,” Jobee said.

“Thank you, Councilor.”

“I second that,” Lala added.

“I agree,” Broden said, smiling at you. With his vote, your program would go into action, and you could help the Resistance.

“Thank you for your confidence, and I hope to earn the rest of yours as well once the time comes,” you said, looking to the other council members who looked less ecstatic about your proposed plan.

“You always do eventually,” Sarin said with a smile.

Each of the councilors had their own proposals to discuss, so your meeting lasted for another two hours. Once finished, you were the first to stand and leave. You went out a side exit and waited for everyone else to leave so you could have a word with Broden.

“Your Highness?” a voice asked, making you jump. You slowly stepped away from the pillar you were hiding behind and found Lin Ral standing in front of you. He bowed, making you reluctantly laugh.

“You’ve found me,” you said.

“What is a queen doing hiding in her own palace?”

“Palaces were made for hiding.”

“Is that so?” he asked as he extended his arm to you. With a nod of your head, you took it and allowed him to lead you away from the council chambers.

“When did you arrive?” you asked.

“This morning. A few hours after you did.”

“Yes, the people of Bith kept me for the night,” you said, lying easily. “How are things in Serenno?”

“Wonderful. I wish you would come see it for yourself.”

“Perhaps someday soon,” you said, making him sigh. “What are you doing back?”

“My family sent me to see if we couldn’t tie up the last few strings of our arrangement.”

“Are you here to ask me to marry you?” you asked, looking up at him.

“I am.” You stopped in the middle of the hallway, looking into his eyes to catch a trace of a lie. “But judging by your face, now wouldn’t be a great time.”

“No, I’m sorry, it wouldn’t. I’ve just proposed a lot of new legislation, I have many trips planned in the coming months, this isn’t the time for an engagement.”

“But if it were . . ."

“If you’re asking for an answer, I don’t have one for you. I’m sorry,” you said, unraveling your arm from his.

“Did you meet someone more charming?” he asked. You laughed and shook your head, continuing your walk down the hallway.

“No. I just . . ."

“Can’t marry someone you don’t love,” he finished. You looked back at him, smiling sadly as you carefully nodded. “I didn’t think I could either, but when duty calls—"

“Please, spare me. I’ve heard this from my parents a million times. I have a duty to my people still. I just started campaigning for my next term, if re-elected I will have two more years as queen.”

“Do you want me to wait that long?”

“I can’t tell you to do that.” He nodded and folded his hands behind his back, steeling his demeanor like you had done many times before.

“You’re a very hard person to crack, Your Highness.”

“Years of practice,” you said with a smirk. He bowed his head softly.

“Well, I’ve kept you from your secret rendezvous long enough.”

“Oh, I—"

“There you are, my lady,” Broden said, coming up the hall. Lin smiled at you once more before turning around. “I thought you wished to speak. Did I interrupt?” he asked, glancing down the hall.

“No,” you said, shaking your head to compose yourself. You turned your eyes from the hall and looked up at Broden. “You don’t think they—”

“Suspect anything? Of course not. And why should they? You’re not doing anything wrong. You’re trying to help the right people.”

“The people I think are right.”

“They are. And so are you. You shouldn’t doubt yourself.”

“I try not to,” you said, breathing in.

“Maybe if you delivered the news in person it would put a breath of fresh air in you,” Broden said simply. You looked into his eyes, a smile spreading across your face slowly.

“What?”

“I know you were just there, but I think it’d do you some good to go back to the Resistance base. Perhaps for longer than a night. Sondé can step in for another day or two, but that’s the longest you can stay away. And no more secret missions for quite some time.”

“Absolutely,” you said, quickly hugging him. “Thank you.”

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“Fuck,” Poe groaned, coming to in the torture chamber.

Kylo Ren had collected the information he needed, and once he was done, he pushed Poe’s head one last time against the metal headrest, knocking him out cold. Poe pulled on his restraints, knowing that he needed to warn the Resistance. Ren knew that the map to Luke Skywalker was in BB-8, which meant that everything he had fought for during the last few years was now in jeopardy.

The restraints weren’t budging, and the longer he sat there, the more his mind began to wander. The images that Kylo Ren had managed to salvage from his mind were playing over and over in his mind. He felt like he had betrayed you, showing all of your most intimate moments to that monster.

The doors slid open, taking him from his memories. Poe opened his eyes, unaware he had even shut them, to see another Stormtrooper walk into the room.

“Ren wants the prisoner,” the newcomer instructed. The guard watching over Poe nodded and released him from his restraints. Expecting that he was about to be led to his execution, Poe looked at his guide less than enthusiastically. The new Stormtrooper ripped him down from his shackles, only to handcuff him again

“Come on,” he said, pulling Poe into the hall. He marched him up and down corridors, so much so that Poe couldn’t have found his way back to his cell even if he wanted to. One more twist around a corner and the Stormtrooper commanded him to turn into an abandoned closet.

“Listen carefully. You do exactly as I say, I can get you out of here,” the Stormtrooper said quickly.

“Wh— what?” Poe asked. His mind was still reeling from Ren’s torture, but he thought he just heard the Stormtrooper say that he could help him escape. The Stormtrooper took off his helmet and Poe took him in for a moment.

“This is a rescue. I’m helping you escape. Can you fly a TIE fighter?” he asked.

“Are you with the Resistance?” Poe asked.

“What? No, no, no, I’m breaking you out. Can you fly a TIE fighter?” he asked again.

“I can fly anything,” Poe said confidently. “Why— why are you helping me?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do.” Poe fought the urge to roll his eyes.

“You need a pilot.”

“I need a pilot,” the other man conceded. Poe looked into his eyes, seeing that he was genuine and beamed.

“We’re gonna do this.”

“Yeah?”

They got back into position, the Stormtrooper with his helmet back on, Poe reshackled in his handcuffs. He marched Poe through the halls until reaching the hangar. Stormtroopers were everywhere, but the thought of getting BB-8 back and away from the First Order kept him smooth and steady. His accomplice, however, was anything but relaxed.

“Okay, stay calm, stay calm,” he muttered, glancing around.

“I am calm.”

“I was talking to myself,” the man said. Poe reminded himself that he needed to escape, no matter who with. He readied himself, and at the Stormtrooper’s command, turned to the left and boarded one of the TIE fighters lining the wall.

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You returned to the Resistance base with less decorum than the first time. Sondé was masquerading as you back on Naboo, which meant that you weren’t actually here. You sent Leia a transmission that you were coming, and she met you in the back of the base. There wasn’t a large welcoming committee waiting for you on the base, which was a relief. For the first time in a long time, you weren’t Queen Bhavisama, you were just Y/N.

“Y/N,” Leia said with a smile, taking your hands in hers. She took you in for a moment, your blue dress, and your hair in natural curls down your back.

“Thank you for having me back on such short notice.”

“You don’t need to thank me, this was your home once, too. We’re always glad to have you back. And you’ve come bringing good news, I hope?”

“Yes. The Naboo Royal Advisory Council approved my legislation, which means, through some handiwork of Broden’s, we can transfer credits to the Resistance without anyone taking notice.”

“I don’t know how you managed to pull that off, but all I can say is I’m glad you’re on our side,” Leia said. Smiling, you followed her into the base just as the dark clouds that had threatened to rain all day made good on their promise. You rung out some of the water from your dress and when you looked up, Leia was smiling at you.

“What?”

“It’s just really good to see you. You know, acting like yourself.”

“Well,” you hummed, “I still don’t feel much like myself. It’s been so long since I’ve been anywhere without a trail of people following behind me. I still feel so strange being back here,” you said with a sigh.

“I might have a way to fix that,” Leia said, opening the door to the main, bustling hallway of the base. You looked around the room and saw a group of orange jumpsuits gathered around a Holo table.

“Leia, I’m not sure I’m ready to—”

“Poe’s off on a mission right now,” she said, smiling back at you. “But I thought it would be good for you to see how your donation will be used in our fight.” She led you over to the table and each of the members of Black Squadron looked at her with admiration, and you with anything but.

“General,” Snap said, nodding his head. “Your H—”

“Uh, just Y/N, Snap,” you said with a smile. “Bhavisama is back on Naboo.” He nodded his understanding and even granted you a small smile.

“What brings you here, Y/N?” he asked.

“She comes bearing gifts,” Leia explained.

“My Royal Advisory Council has approved my program to give aid to lifeforms all around the galaxy. Our first donation will be to help the Resistance.”

“That’s wonderful,” Suralinda said. “Thank you.”

“You’re really welcome.”

“We’re supposed to have a strategy meeting about upcoming missions, why don’t you stick around and hear how your contribution will be put to use,” Leia offered.

“Oh, I shouldn’t.”

“I insist,” Leia said, motioning for you to take a seat.

Her debriefing only lasted for a few minutes. She explained to the group vague, but powerful plans for what to do when the credits and supplies started coming in. She spoke about which planets they would start on, where their strongest enemies were, and everything in between until there was nothing else to cover, except one thing.

“Of course,” Leia said, “This all relies on what information Poe is able to gather on his mission.”

“Are you going to tell us where you sent him, yet?” Karé asked. “Or when he’ll be back?”

“No need.” You all turned your head at the sound to see Commander D’Acy walk into the room. “Commander Dameron just returned,” she said. There was a clear look of worry on her face.

“Is he alright?” Suralinda asked, quickly standing. “Can we see him?”

“Of course. He’s in the Medical Wing.” The rest hung around for the rest of the story, but Suralinda took off immediately. As you watched her leave, you felt a twinge of jealousy.

“What happened?” Leia asked.

“He’s fine. Ran into The First Order,” D’Acy replied.

“Did he find the map to Luke?” Leia asked.

“Map to Luke?” you asked in shock. She seemed to remember that you were still here for the first time and immediately stood.

“Y/N, would you excuse us?” she asked, coming over to your side and pulling you up out of your chair.

“What? No. Why? I thought I was supposed to see how my donation was going to help—”

“Yes, but this information is confidential.”

“Are you kidding me? If Poe found information on—”

“Y/N, please understand, now is not the time,” Leia said firmly. You breathed out of your nose, hoping to calm your anger before it boiled over. It felt like you had just been scolded by one of your parents, in front of all of your old friends. You scoffed and looked to them for any needed assistance. They all averted their eyes, frowning sheepishly.

“Fine,” you said, “Let me know when you’d like more than just my money.”

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Leia sat down again after you had stormed out and explained to Black Squadron the mission on which she had sent Poe. They all agreed that with the severity of Poe’s mission, it was best to be careful about who knew what until they could secure the map to Luke.

All eager to see Poe, they went down to the Medical Wing together. As they walked in, they saw Suralinda’s hand wrapped around Poe’s bandaged bicep, smiling at him. He had a few bandages on the rest of his body and lots of cuts on his face and hands, but he had definitely looked worse. When he saw the rest of his friends, he sat forward and beckoned them forward.

“How are you feeling?” Snap asked, touching his shoulder.

“I’ve been worse. Glad to see you’re all worried about me, though.”

“Worried about you?” Snap asked with a grin, “Never.”

“Yeah, we were actually all hoping that Snap would get your job,” Karé said with a smile, wrapping her hands around her husband’s shoulder.

“Well, I’m not gone yet.”

“Not for a long time,” Snap said, taking his hand in a firm grip.

Poe smiled along with his friends until his eyes found Leia’s. For a moment he forgot the monumental fuck-up he had created by losing the map to Luke. He cleared his throat to keep from laughing at something Jessika said and looked at her seriously.

“I’m sorry, General, I don’t have the map to Luke.”

“Lor San Tekka didn’t have it?”

“No, he did, but I stowed the map inside of BB-8 before the First Order captured me.” They all looked anywhere from mildly surprised to downright outraged that he had been taken by the First Order.

“Alright, so let’s go get BB-8,” Jessika said. “Is he still down on Jakku?”

“I don’t know,” Poe said with a sigh. Leia looked at him curiously, sensing that there was something he was hiding. “When the First Order captured me, Kylo Ren took it upon himself to get the map’s location out of me. I wasn’t able to resist him. He used some kind of mind trick—”

“Did the First Order get to the map already?” Leia asked, cutting him off.

“I don’t know. BB-8 wasn’t on Jakku when we crash-landed.”

“Who’s we?” Suralinda asked.

Poe filled them in on his new friend, Finn. He explained what happened when they landed on Jakku, his rescue by Naka Iit and how he got back to base; the entire time, reading Leia’s face to gauge just how disappointed in him she was.

“Well, we must find BB-8 before the First Order does,” Leia said, standing, “Javos, reach out to your contacts in the Outer Rim and have Threepio do so as well. Black Squadron, suit up. Once we have confirmation of BB-8’s location, we’ll need an immediate rescue mission.”

“Yes, General,” they chorused, making their way towards the door. Poe began to sit up, hoping to join them, as Leia put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down.

“Not you,” she said firmly.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re not well, Poe.”

“I’m fine. Quick shower and I’ll be ready to go,” he said, once again trying to get out of bed.

“He was in your mind, Poe. It’s not something you can immediately snap back from.” He thought back to the memories that Ren had extracted from his mind, trying to piece them back together. Leia frowned at him, touching his arm softly.

“I have to do this,” he said softly, looking up at her with wide eyes.

“Why?”

“Because I’m the one who lost the map.” It was difficult for him to admit defeat, especially to his mentor. “He broke me, Leia.”

“Even the strongest person would succumb to his powers.”

“Yeah, not me. It wasn’t supposed to happen to me.”

“You’re not invincible, Poe. No matter what you try to convince yourself. It’s okay to be compromised,” she said. He dropped his head with a sigh. “We can get the map back.”

“I know.”

“Then what’s bothering you?” she asked.

“He didn’t just look for the secrets to the map,” he admitted.

“Y/N?” she asked, already expecting his answer.

“Yeah. He decided to take a detour through our personal memories just to fuck with my mind.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. Poe shook his head, looking across the room at nothing in particular. “It’s not your fault.”

“I shouldn’t have let him in,” he said, looking back at her seriously.

“Well, there’s nothing you can do about that now,” she said with a frown. “Except get the map before he does.”

“I thought you said I couldn’t go—”

“I’m not stupid enough to think that you won’t tag along anyways once I leave this room. So, I might as well tell you what you’ve missed before you dash off to save the day.”

“Alright,” Poe said with a laugh.

“Y/N was able to get us the funds we need to keep our fight going.”

“That’s great. Right?” Poe asked, looking at her worried face.

“It is. I just wanted to warn you that she’s here.”

“Here? As in here here?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” he asked.

“She wanted to deliver the good news in person.”

“And?”

“And she misses it here just as much as we miss her. She was just giving Black Squadron the good news when Commander D’Acy said you were back. I sent her away when the discussion turned to Luke.”

“Why?”

“Because Y/N isn’t just a member of the Resistance anymore, she’s the queen of a planet. We won’t always be her top priority. I want you leading Black Squadron when we locate BB-8’s location, but only if you’re up for it. I am worried about you, Poe. You’re only to go on this mission if you’re well enough.”

“I am. I won’t let you down again.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” she said, standing. “You’ll be ready soon?”

“Yes, General.”

“Good.” She smiled as she walked to the door and stopped with her hand on the handle as Poe called her name.

“Leia, is Y/N still here?” he asked.

“For the time being. Why?”

“It’s nothing. I’d just like to apologize,” he said weakly. Leia frowned and walked back to him.

“I’m sure you both have a lot to apologize for, but if you’re going to apologize for what Kylo Ren did, save your breath. Y/N knows the power of his control. She wouldn’t hold it against you.”

“It’s not just that,” he said, taking a deep breath, looking at his bandaged arm.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he said with a sigh.

“I meant what I said, Poe. I only want you out there if you’re ready.”

“I am ready, General.”

“Good. Get the map.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Poe said with his most charming grin.

#poe dameron #poe dameron imagine #poe dameron fanfic #poe dameron fanfiction #poe dameron x reader #poe dameron x you #star wars #star wars imagine #star wars fanfic #star wars fanfiction #sw #sw imagine #sw fanfic #sw fanfiction #the rise of skywalker

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sendnotes · 3 years

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books i read in april.

this is going to be my thing from now on. i'll compile a list of all the books i read in a month and share my thoughts on each one every end of the month.

just so you know, i'm a little forgetful, and i have a tendency to forget names, plots, and other details. i'm hoping that writing these will aid my memory in recalling how i felt about each novel.

you can also find me on goodreads

so, let’s begin, shall we?

101 essays that will change the way you think (wiest, brianna)

self-help book

this book got off to a good start! some of the essays written (or should i say a collection of articles originally published on the thoughtcatalog website) made me think and consider my outlook on life, love, and so on.

the title overstates the case though. when i think of an essay, i picture something more argumentative and philosophical. not to mention that the majority of the ideas in this book are redundant. it made it difficult to get through. nonetheless, i was able to get past it because there were so many fantastic concepts and topics discussed.

overall, it's an interesting & worthwhile read for those who enjoy thinking outside the box.i lost count of how many times this book gave me aha moments. i swear, most of the entries soothed my mind and provided a great pick-me-up when life seemed to be frustrating.

the midnight library (haig, matt)

science fiction, fantasy fiction, psychological fiction

regrets, self-remorse, what ifs, family approval, drugs, dreams, love, passion, hatred, death, afterlife, multiverses, quantum physics, and a plethora of possibilities packed into a 304-page book.

i'll be honest: this book is already on my list of favorites. i'm simply blown away by how well-crafted and diverse the entire story unfolded.

a sci-fi novel with a dash of fantasy and a smidgeon of philosophy. if that's your thing, you should give this book a shot.

the first few pages of the book gave me an impression and led me to surmise it was going to be a cheesy ass chick lit novel that i'd only read and find enjoyable in high school. i was completely off base. it proved to be very mature, full of lessons, but delivered in a fun and entertaining manner— exactly my cup of tea.

it reminded me of a disney pixar film called soul, in which the afterlife is depicted in vivid detail. they differ on so many levels, but they both imagine life after death for people who are unsure of their path, purpose, and passion.

every chapter served a significant concept, so this book is well-deserved of a 5-star rating!

norwegian wood (murakami, haruki)

fiction, romance novel, bildungsroman

as i read the book and neared the end, all i could think about was how this book became one of murakami's most popular and influential works.

murakami offers a sprawling glimpse into the lives of a group of severely damaged youths grappling with the realities of what emptiness entails. take what you will from it.

i know a lot of people like it, which is fine. but please keep in mind that this book hit me square in the gut. it alternated between making me angry, sad, annoyed, and disgusted almost constantly. there isn't much else.

this book should come with a warning: "this is not a good place to start if you're new to murakami's works. this is not a representative of murakami's brilliance."

fist and foremost, the characters in this book are all repulsive.

toru watanabe was a fuckboy and a softboy rolled into one. what could possibly be worse than that? he'd have as many casual sexual partners as he could while also buttering a girl up by appealing to her emotions and displaying a "sensitive" and "vulnerable" side.

this book was made even more depressing by the fact that each female character was needy, weak, dysfunctional, and dependent. since they're all the same, i'm not going to go over each of these female characters one by one. you already get the idea.

reiko ishida, imo, was one of the best rendered sections of the novel. most likely because she had a better grasp on her emotions and goals than the still seeking youths... until, *spoiler alert* she wanted to do it with toru as well. a big disappointment.

to summarize, this book is primarily concerned with two topics: sex and death.

hidden meanings are everywhere, but when you get to the core, that's all that remains.

the four agreements: a practical guide to personal freedom (ruiz, miguel)

self-help book

first agreement ⏤ be impeccable with your word

this essentially means that you should not spew gossip or use words to harm others. because words have tremendous power and can cause significant harm. you are not only negatively affecting others with your hateful and thoughtless words, but you are also hurting yourself. this is something with which i generally agree. how i see it, when people are unhappy with themselves, they turn to others to make themselves feel better. as a result, they gossip about others in order to divert attention away from themselves.

second agreement ⏤don't take anything personally

alright. sure. don't let what others say about you bother you. it has everything to do with them and nothing to do with you. well, i don't entirely agree, but i think it's a fantastic idea in general. however, achieving this goal will be extremely difficult. i believe it would take a lot of practice to reach this level of zen. plus, i honestly believe that other people's opinions still matter because they keep you in check. the best advice is to not be swayed by these opinions, but to consider why they were expressed in the first place. see what you can do to improve yourself from there. sure, it can be difficult to deal with; after all, no one likes being told they're wrong or whatnot. but it's not all bad news because you can sometimes use criticism and judgment to give you a competitive edge. i mean- don't you think hearing someone else's point of view is also an opportunity to learn and progress? ruiz should have stressed that it's not just about "not taking it personally because you know you're not that person," but also about not retaliating with an extreme knee-jerk reaction even if you believe you're being unfairly criticized.

third agreement ⏤ don't make assumptions

this is a real eye-opener for me. i've noticed that whenever i become enraged by someone's words, it's usually due to my tendency to assume. personally, i can't help but make assumptions. i don't know what other people's motivations are, and i can't help but draw conclusions based on the information i have. even if the other person had no intention of causing me harm, it's too late. the thought has become ingrained in my mind, and i never ask for clarification out of pride or fear of appearing overly sensitive.

fourth agreement ⏤ always do your best

this section did not seem particularly useful to me. i mean, aren't we all reminded of this all the time? this section is filled with sloppy writing, in my opinion. as if he badly wanted to finish the book and impulsively thought: "okay, fourth agreement: always do your best. that should suffice. lmao"

overall opinion: the third agreement was my favorite, but the rest were a no-go. don't get me wrong, i appreciated his ideas, but i've heard them all a hundred times before. basically, the book's sole takeaway is that we are all suffering in some way in our daily lives, and we are all dealing with different issues. regardless, we all need to be kinder and gentler to ourselves and others.

the song of achilles (miller, madeline)

romance novel, historical Fiction, war story

i'll keep it short and sweet:

i really wouldn't have had this book any other way. miller's writing is breathtaking, so rich and full of lovely detail. it's incredibly a unique concept to me that authors are rewriting such ancient history and stories to make them lgbt+!

some suggest it's tedious, but i disagree. it isn't slow; rather, it is just right.

'cause at the end of the day, it's not about war, tragedy, or heroes - it's a slow-burning, organic love tale between two young men and their inevitable connection.

it's sad, tender, and painful, but in the best way possible.

circe (miller, madeline)

novel, historical fiction, fantasy fiction

"greek mythology, but with a feminist twist"?! sign me the hell up! this piqued my interest... only to leave me feeling completely let down. seriously now. circe was described as a "badass empowered woman," which was the single most compelling selling point for me, and thus the most wrenching disappointment, i must say.

sure, it demonstrated the value of feminine power, but it also did represent how this power can be a force of good or evil.

not to mention the fact that circe fucked a married man or two in this book- i mean- how is that an ~empowered woman~?

let's be clear right off the bat: madeline miller's follow-up to the song of achilles is epic in scope but not necessarily in execution. to me, this read more like a tedious island tale. regardless of how many five-star reviews this book has received... i just don't think it's well-deserved. don't get me wrong here. miller is a fantastic author with a lush writing! istg- i'm blown away by how beautifully she wrote and carefully chose her words. even the most mundane phrases were written poetically. after-all, it’s greek mythology. but how did she manage to make circe seem so... bland?

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mbti-notes · 4 years

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Hi mbti-notes, I hope you're doing well. I am an INFP young black American and the past few weeks have been such a nightmare. I obviously support the protests that have been taking place but I feel so hopeless at the same time. I've never been a fan of this country but the past few weeks have at least provided me with more clarity and conviction that there is nothing to be salvaged here. I have a friend who's also black but lives in europe and even we're at a loss for what to say to each (con't)

[con’t: other. I feel so angry and disgusted. I remember learning that as a part of anti-US propaganda during the Cold War, they’d show how black people have been treated in America and be like “this is how they treat their own people”. I’m not saying I support the USSR of course but it surprised me to hear that in the eyes of other countries, we’re as American as anyone else. It never felt that way. People can’t even protest police brutality without being faced with more police brutality. I’ve donated to bail funds, signed petitions, contacted my representatives about a piece of legislation that would help combat the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women but...I think the closest thing there is to a solution is for another Great Migration but this time, we just leave America. I feel bad saying that because obviously so many people don’t have the means to do so and it shouldn’t have to come to this but nobody wants us here. If the black panthers...]

It seems that tumblr disappeared the rest of your message, but I've read enough to detect some problematic thinking. It’s not about whether you’re “wanted”, it’s about the fact that you have a right to exist and be treated as human, equal to every other human under the law. It is beyond the scope of this blog to address politics and write political commentary. This blog primarily addresses individuals and how they cope with their circumstances. I won’t be able to understand all the experiences that you’ve had as a black American given such a short message from you. All I can do is bring to light your attitude and beliefs and how they affect your ability to cope and thrive in life.

Developmentally, irrational pessimism is always something that INFPs should be vigilant about due to Fi-Si loop and the struggle to develop Ne big-picture thinking skills. There is certainly lots of injustice in the world, but this doesn't mean that there isn't also a lot of good in the world. There are many good people out there doing good things, otherwise, you’d have nothing to donate money to. There are also a lot of decent people who understand that racism is a big problem but don’t know what to do about it. Yet your mind is only ever trained on the pain and suffering - this indicates Fi extremes. I have a longstanding habit of observing how different people respond to challenges in life. For example, I see some black Americans out there protesting, some are educating people, some are attacking people, some are sowing anarchy, some are running for office, some are giving up, some are hiding, some are writing, some are leading legislative initiatives. Black Americans as a group share the burden of racism, but each person handles it in their own way. What is your response and why?

You focus on the problems, drowning in negative feelings, and perhaps even look for evidence to reinforce the belief that everything is irredeemable (misuse of Si), which means that you lack a big picture perspective. For your own well-being, perhaps you need to make wiser decisions about how you spend your time, where you focus your energy, and with whom you associate. Otherwise, you are only ever a victim of circumstance, bending and breaking with every gust of wind. If there are things/people in your life that exacerbate your tendency to be negative, it's up to you to adjust your decision making so that you are not always surrounded by the negative. Just as you keep physically healthy by not eating crap food, you should keep mentally healthy by not feeding yourself a constant diet of emotional negativity. For example, people tend to be much more pessimistic when they spend too much time on social media or consuming political commentary that is designed to be emotionally provocative. Perhaps there are healthier ways to spend your time. Whether you followed this or that tweet is of little significance if it only ends up with you feeling miserable.

With respect to moving: There are a variety of methods to measure the health and well-being of a society, and it's natural to think about how your country stacks up against others. Different societies have their own character and excel at different things. However, it's important to remember that there is no society without problems. Some countries are better at hiding their problems than others. Europe is no paradise, as there have been long running problems with colonialist and xenophobic attitudes. American society tends to be very extraverted and media driven, so its problems are often hanging out there for all to see, which might make them seem a lot worse than they really are.

Each aspect of society, whether you think it is positive or negative, is the result of a trade-off. For example, people often respect the U.S. for its staunch commitment to free speech, which allows for marginalized voices to be heard. But the trade-off is that you may get a more noisy and toxic social environment, as all voices get elevated and amplified. The question for you, as an individual, is whether the trade-offs are worth it for the kind of life that you would like to live. With the example of free speech, I’d rather have free speech, so I’m willing to tolerate all the noise and accept it as the cost of doing business. Nobody can make these sorts of judgments for you, as you are the best person to decide what's best for you. Thus, I'm not sure what to tell you. I only remind people that the decision making process works best when you give proper consideration to EVERY side of an issue, as opposed to being myopic, extreme, or one-sided.

Right now, there is a lot of frustration and anger floating around. Being so emotional basically means being myopic, as you are hyperfocused on the things that make you sad or angry. This will blind you to everything else. When you lose sight of the positive, Ne might start to believe that the grass is greener elsewhere. There's no denying that the problem of racism against black people runs very deep in American society, all the way back to the founding of the nation on the backs of slaves. But are you denying that progress has been made?

When people use the word "progress" in relation to history, they mainly refer to how things changed for the better. I think people too often forget that progress almost always comes at a steep COST. Society doesn’t change because people miraculously get “enlightened” en mass. No. People suffer, things get mangled, blood is shed, and there is a period of intense pain and sacrifice - these details tend to get glossed over in history classes as hindsight and nostalgia take over. Creation and destruction are two sides of the same coin. Thinking that you can create something new and better without destroying what is old and obsolete is wishful thinking. To be clear, I'm not advocating destruction; I'm only saying that, in reality, you cannot escape destruction, as it is a necessary stage in the process of creation. If you are unlucky, you get to live during "interesting" times. But, viewed from a bigger perspective, it also means that you get to live during a time when you have a chance to make a difference and what you do matters. From this perspective, being alive right now is better than living during a time of being forced into accepting the status quo, is it not?

What is society other than the people comprising it? Societal problems are analogous to psychological problems in that they are deep-seated, long-running, festering, recurring, and difficult to resolve. I believe that there is a qualitative shift in attitude right now. It doesn't mean that racism will suddenly get fixed once and for all, but I've not seen such widespread attention and commitment to the problem in a long time. It actually gives me hope. I have older friends who've remarked that they suddenly feel transported back to the unrest of the 1960s. IMO, it means that another period of progress is on the horizon, but it also means that a time of intense turmoil is here. It seems that you focus on the turmoil and miss seeing the openings and opportunities for change.

Another thing that INFPs should always be vigilant about is a shaky relationship to reality and/or being unable to tackle problems in a realistic way (i.e. poor Ne and Te development). Reality contains everything, including the good and the bad, so it’s no use to try to pretend that one or the other doesn’t exist. You will always make better decisions by taking BOTH the good and the bad into consideration. Some INFPs get stuck in trying to wish away the bad, and some drown in the bad and disconnect from everything good.

Just as a child picks up a mix of psychological issues from their parents, as a member of society, your identity is forged through your relationship to your society's (problematic) history. I don't see how a "great migration" is any solution. Don’t forget that technology has made our world significantly smaller, so it’s a lot harder to distance from these problems. As long as you carry the scars of your home, no matter where you go, unresolved pain will continue to haunt you and hurt you. There is historical evidence that utopian thinking never leads to anything resembling a utopia. Utopian thinking is what people resort to when they are incapable of confronting the problems of reality. When it comes to human psychology, there is no way to wipe the slate completely clean without confronting and addressing the mistakes and sins of the past - this is what social unrest is meant to achieve. To believe that you can/should “start from scratch” is often a sign of Te grip in INFPs, as they want to violently wipe out the accumulated burdens of Si loop.

Perhaps there are benefits for you, as an individual, to move away, as you might find happiness in a different sort of life. But what happens when the advocates give up and walk off? At the societal level, good people moving away only leaves the bad actors to wreak havoc on the poor and innocent. Certainly, some individuals do move away and successfully build a better life for themselves. However, some people move away only to discover that they miss home dearly, and they end up roaming aimlessly, lonely, miserable, bitter, or disappointed. What separates the two groups? You will find a better life when you know exactly what you're looking for and you're realistic about whether the new place will meet those terms and conditions. You will NOT find a better life if you're merely running away from unhappiness, fueled by wishful thinking that the grass is greener "anywhere but here". It's up to you to be honest about what's happening with you.

#infp #si loop #te grip #politics #activism #pessimism #ask

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therodrigator6 · 4 years

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Hey there, I'm the recent anon who talked about whether C is unredeemable, and I just want to thank you for your detailed response! This isn't a rebuttal but just to add on to what you said - if they indeed made this show for the average C, then isn't it a little sad that they seemed to have forgotten about the average A and wound up glossing over C's abuse? I mean, if we replace C with a man, wouldn't C//A skirt too close to the "love the violent man away" trope..? Sorry if I don't make sense!

Oh my god, I’m so SO sorry for such a delayed response. I’ve been obsenely busy these past few days.

I think I do get what you’re trying to say, yes.

OOF, it’s a bit of a tough thing for me to say or give some kind of... determinant answer on the matter.

Here’s what I think, though. She-Ra was a generally ambitious show in what it tried to represent and regard, onscreen and within it’s overall storyline.

And on many ways, the way in which all of these things are tackled, is lacking or is bare minimum. Themes of War, Abuse, The Cycle of Abuse, Morality, ROMANCE, Toxicity, Trauma, Friendship, etc. A lot of it is face value, it’s THERE, its mentioned, but its not explored or challenged.

She-Ra is a difficult show, or atleast it is for me, to critique or judge in a negative way because, the importance of what it managed to do, of what it managed to put onscreen is FAR transcendant of whatever it tried to tell, and I believe the writers knew of this, and was at the forefront of their minds and goals.

I believe She-Ra as a show, with shortcommings or not in it’s writing, would do it’s best to PUT THAT KISS, ONSCREEN, no matter what was necessary to sacrifice, narratively. It was also very easy, and very personal to make a character like Catra HAVE a happy, uplifting ending.

To ME, or you, well yeah, it’s extremely disheartening to see a story that dealt with all of these things, specially abuse and toxicity take such a one-sided, black and white stance on it. It’s VERY comfortable for Catra.

Some people have been asked WHY it is that one could possibly not... sympathize or empathize fully with Catra, for example. My answer has always been that writing wise, the show focused TOO MUCH on the pain Catra was feeling for herself? And how she’d inflict it back on others. But it seldom gave itself the chance to make Catra think about the pain other people feel for HER actions, not JUST what the REaction to her actions would mean, FOR HERSELF, which is what the show did, In my opinion. Specially since, from the get go, it’s established that Catra KNOWS what she does HURTS, she wants it to HURT. She does not ENTIRELY have an askewed view of the world, she has a cynical one, one that excuses her vitriol and is self-serving. And she never changes that.

THAT, Very personally, makes it hard for me to see this character as a realized, growing and conflict ridden individual, SPECIALLY, when the narrative TELLS you she WAS conflicted by around season 5, when we NEED her to just “always have been inherently good” to make the romance work, but never actually shows it, you just have to think she goes through all this, in a subtext that is never hinted at.

The way in which the show moved some things around and worked this narrative around Catra’s actions to make the romantic relationship work, well it takes dangerous shortcuts, because it never gives itself the time to adress all of these things BEFORE this relationship can go ahead.

IN THE END, it does skirt TOO CLOSE to those tropes of old: “Unconditional, passionate and promised Love WILL be enough to MAKE us tolerate the pain, and the sorrow, and accept and FIX the shortcomings, and PULL OUT this goodness that’s always been inside of us”.

This type of trope... or way of thinking? HAS been challenged before, and continues to be so, on relationships in media in which heteronormative couples depict it. We know it DISREGARDS many things about an individual’s growth, their safety and their agency.

And SOME Shippers or stans WILL tell you, “Yes, if Catra were a man, I wouldn’t ship it, and I wouldn’t be ok with it”. Some other’s don’t, other people trully see Catra’s growth within the show as a good depiction.

Ultimately, and to string all these thought together.

As a piece of Media, yes, the achievement of putting a lesbian couple at the forefront, who kiss, and who’s love saves the universe, is transcendat in itself. It sets a precedent of marketability and opens the door for more lgbtq+ voices to be heard.

HOWEVER, there are SHORTCOMINGS in the show, SOME OF WHICH are a sign of many problems WITHIN the industry, and the writing team.

It has writing issues, it has narrative issues.

It also has problems with dealing with ableism, it has problems dealing with a lack of conscience or disregard of racism. Many of its efforts in representation are honorable and considerate, but are ultimately mute and face value, when the voices behind it, are all white and open WAY TOO MANY chances of claimship for different groups, without thinking about it

There’s a problematic in judging She-Ra as media through a scope that is TOO PERSONAL and comforting to a person. Whether or not you see she-ra as perfect, or maybe see and understand its issues. Glorifying it and gatekeeping its critique serves no benefit for the betterment of media in itself, because you close the door on finding mistakes, and BETTERING them, or CHALLENGING different ideas, and actually SUBVERTING a status quo.

We CAN and we SHOULD discuss the things we think this show got wrong, or got right, for SOME people, but then hurt others. No one is inherently in the wrong or in the write about stuff like that. We all want better stories, better rep, better comfort, or challenging narratives.

My stance on Catra does not rest SOLELY on if I think she’s “Irredemable”, personally. I think its incredibly DULL and boring to be so black and white.

My personal issue with the show is that, it allow Catra to BE on a black and white scale, “Evil”, and then TRIED to nuance her actions, by making her QUESTION this, by thinking “Is this really what I want?” And her answer at first SEEMED to be “NO, I just want to not hate myself, to be STRONG by myself, to not be afraid, or dependant! To show this horrid world which is wrong on BOTH sides that I WILL stand, in the end, trauma or no trauma”. Catra wasn’t inherently EVIL, she was a product of her circumstance, she hurt other people and herself and she could’ve subverted this “EVIL VS GOOD” Ideal that both Adora, the Princess Alliance, Hordak and the Horde, had which btw, was a part of her self hatred.

BUT THEY DIDN’T, Instead Catra ended up saying:

“No, I want Adora’s love and acceptance back that she promised me and for her to TAKE my love!, I wanna NOT BE EVIL!”, to which the narrative said, NO you were NEVER evil! your inherent goodness had always been incapacitated by trauma and indocrination! And not only that, Adora NEEDS you! And you need her, so go! Love and kiss.

Again, this is Comfortable, potentially damaging? I say yes. Catra’s character is boiled down to needing Adora sdjkrthbdrkth

But again, this is a narrative shortcoming that makes ME unable to enjoy the story as is. Again I’ll say, She-Ra has already served its usefulness, it’s a stepping stone, it CAN do good for many people by setting a precedent for the future? It won’t manage it, if we as audiences CAN’T think critically of it.

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rushingheadlong · 4 years

Text

A review of Queen: The Early Years

Well I have finally finished reading Queen: The Early Years, and now that I have read all 198 pages of this book I feel very confident in saying:

Yall I don’t think this is a good book. Like I really, really do not think this is a good book.

I’ve talked about some of this once or twice before, but I wanted to get all my thoughts about this in one place so, here we go. Brace yourselves, this is going to get wordy (as all my posts invariably do).

The Sources (or lack thereof)

The author wrote this book based on interviews with “over 60 friends and colleagues” of the band. Contrary to an earlier post of mine, he does provide a full list of the people he spoke with, however a lot of these connections are... dubious at best.

He does interview former band members of the groups they were each with before Queen, which might be the only good bits of this book. But a lot of the people he talked to fall under “friends of friends” or “casual acquaintances” or “knew them for a few months decades ago” and not really people who had deep insights into Queen as people, which is fine but he’s presenting their information as if they did.

He also doesn’t give any qualifiers for the information presented - and unless it’s a direct quote from someone, he doesn’t even tell you where he’s getting 90% of the “facts” in his book from. There are no in-text citations, apart from those sporadic quotes, and no bibliography list anywhere in this book.

Instead, he just presents everything he’s writing as the absolute truth with next to nothing to back up what he’s saying, apart from cherry-picked quotes from people who have their own biases in these conversations to begin with. He writes about how many of these people fell out of touch with Queen for 30+ years, and there are several moments during reading where I was wondering whether these stories that were being quoted were true or if it’s the sort of thing that these people made up for the purpose of getting their name in print (especially stories about Freddie).

In the interest of fairness, he does admit in the two-page epilogue that he knows the people he talks to will have their own slant to their stories but he claims that all biographies are “a random assembly of thoughts and recollections” as if to absolve himself of the work of verifying anything being told to him, or at least putting in the effort to let the reader know that things cannot be verified rather than simply presenting everything as pure objective fact.

Authorial Bias and Band Portrayal

The author very much comes across as writing about the band to fit his preconceived ideas of who they are. There are definitely points in the book where he presents images of the band that almost seem like caricatures - Freddie made out to be the deeply self-loathing gay who everyone knew wasn’t actually straight, Brian to be the aloof controlling perfectionist - with little to no nuance given to their actions or stories.

But there are also a lot of moments when it seems like the author doesn’t like the band at all and that he’s writing this book in an attempt to tarnish their image?

Like I wrote in one of my earlier posts, he literally says that Freddie and Brian had the power in the band and that Roger and John had “token” roles. He also implies that Queen only started attributing songwriting credit to the band as a whole beginning with The Miracle to prevent singles royalties from going to Freddie’s estate when he died. The author also often feels the need to put the blame for failed friendships solely on the band, and on several occasions implies that they “betrayed” the people who helped them out in their early career.

Because of this, and because he conveniently doesn’t provide sources for anything he says, it makes me call into question basically everything he writes in this book. Are these stories and facts all accurate, or is he spinning the truth to fit the story he wants to tell?

It’s worth noting also that he apparently asked Brian, Roger, and John for their input, and they and all their official representatives declined. It’s always a red flag for me when someone writes about Queen without the band’s involvement, but the author presents this situation as if he had been deeply wronged by this and implies that any bias in the book was because he didn’t have “their” side of the story - and not because he simply failed to do any work to validate what 60+ strangers were telling him.

I also want to give a warning that how he writes about Freddie’s sexuality is painful in a lot of places. It’s a combination of ideas that don’t hold up well in the 25 years since publication (for example, he says in one place that since Freddie went to an all-boys boarding school it was obvious that he would end up being queer) as well as loose anecdotes shared by people who didn’t know him well, but all felt that they had to give input about his sexuality.

It feels like every time this author interviewed someone about Freddie, he felt obligated to include their “opinion” on whether it was obvious that Freddie was gay in the early 70s or not. It’s a heavy and strange focus that gets really uncomfortable to read about after a while, and one that I don’t think is really appropriate to have been included to the degree that it was.

Misinformation

The author flat-out puts wrong information into this book. I will admit that most of what I picked up on during my read is trivial, but it’s the sort of trivial that makes me question his authority to write anything accurately and also (I believe) has led to misinformation being spread in other Queen writings.

He says that Brian’s parents could have afforded to buy him a guitar, and that the building of the Red Special was essentially an act of ego. This is directly contrary to everything that Brian has ever said on the topic, which is that his family was too poor to afford to buy him a guitar and that the Red Special was built out of an act of necessity. (This also ties into the author’s biased writing of Brian as a controlling perfectionist.)

He gives incorrect dates for concerts and tour information, as can be proven by other first-hand sources like ticket stubs and tour posters. (For example, he says that Queen played six shows in New York’s Uris Theatre in 1974, when we know they only played five.) Again, this is a minor thing but if he’s getting details like this wrong why should I trust his broader stories or conclusions that have no other verifying sources to be correct?

I also think his book is the origination for the story about Brian getting gangrene due to a dirty vaccine needle in 1974. I have a problem with this claim in that I don’t think it’s actually true, but this book is now the earliest source of the story that I’ve seen by over a decade. However since the author doesn’t cite anything in this book, I have no idea how he found this information (or whether he made it up himself).

I also suspect that this is the book that Mick Rock copied information from when compiling the timeline in his book Classic Queen, which was published 12 years later in 2007. Mick Rock not only copies the gangrene story (again, with no further information or citations given) but also includes a very specific reference to Brian complaining about not feeling well while on tour on April 21st, 1974 - a date which is also specifically referenced in The Early Years, again without any citation for where this information came from.

No one takes Mick Rock seriously as a good source for Queen information (beyond info about the photo sessions themselves, which is about the only thing within his scope of expertise). Now it seems like he might have copied those “facts” from this book, which means we might very well have a situation of one questionable book being copied by another until misinformation and lies get assumed to be true just because they’re in more than one place now, never mind that none of this is getting backed up by anything concrete.

Tiny details because I’m big mad about this book just in general

Maybe this is just my copy (which is a physical book, not a digital copy) but there are a lot of typos in this book. Mike Grose becomes Mike Crouse from one paragraph to the next. Words are misspelled, punctuation is missing... It’s a little jarring to see in a book that was actually physically printed up, and makes me wonder if this went through any sort of editing process whatsoever.

Conclusions, or something of the sort?

I need to admit here that I am very angry about this book, because particularly in the later chapters I think the author starts speculating about band dynamics and things from later in their career in a way that is entirely wrong and inappropriate.

However, for the most part, I did enjoy the first part of this book. Roger’s and John’s early chapters seemed to be fine (and from what I’ve been told, the information in Roger’s chapters is backed up in other, better researched, sources). The book started falling apart for me around Brian’s and Freddie’s chapters, though, and as it progressed it just kept going off the rails.

I’m actually really frustrated and disappointed by this, because there’s a lot in this book that reads like it could be true. There’s a lot here that sounds very believable, that seems to align with what others have said about the band, and that I didn’t blink twice at until the cracks started showing up and everything got called into question.

There’s nothing exactly wrong with writing a “biography” based solely on loose anecdotes, especially given that this was written in 1995 shortly after Freddie’s death and before a lot of the more contemporary sources had come out (like Brian’s books and the things him and Roger have said in more recent years).

But I do think that the author has a responsibility for doing some vetting of these stories, either by trying to verify what’s been said or making it apparent to the reader that some of the information is hearsay or has to be taken with a grain of salt. The Early Years doesn’t do that, though. This book is presenting itself as a labor of love from a tired, dedicated author who has toiled over tracking down these stories while being rebuffed by the band itself, and at no point does anything come with a caveat about what’s being said.

The author wants you read this book and assume everything in it is true. The author wants you to feel sorry for him that he couldn’t interview Queen directly, and frankly it seems like he wants you to side-eye the official Queen story (or at least question their morals and motives) in favor of agreeing with the narrative that he presents.

And that’s the big issue that I have with this book. Most of the information in here could very well be true - but as a reader, you aren’t given the tools you need to judge that for yourself and instead are encouraged to sympathize with the author and his work, and to take what he says as objective fact and not look at any of it too deeply.

And because of that, the entire book falls apart for me. If I know that the author is printing small details of misinformation, and I don’t have any way of verifying what is being printed here, and the author starts presenting conclusions and narratives that run counter to everything else that has been said about Queen... how can I trust that anything in this book is accurate on it’s own?

#text #long post //#ramblings

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tonyglowheart · 4 years

Note

I genuinely don’t understand people who say aspecs are queer BUT NOT kinky people. If you’re into BDSM, if you’re polyamorous, if you’re celibate, if you’re hypersexual, if you’re in an interracial relationship. It’s all related. These are sexuality/relationship/lifestyles that don’t meet our society’s standards and are underrepresented or represented negatively and so i think they are all queer

Anon I am having thinky thoughts but also I lowkey don’t want to get into this too majorly bc I got into this several years back during said campaign I mentioned in the tags on that rb post lmfao and it resulted in a whole Thing and I like... don’t have the energy to get into internet arguments with people anymore because I’m old and tired and can’t deal with the back and forth of me making points, them ignoring the majority of my points in favor of some strawmen or appeal to extremes, me addressing that and also some points including maybe where they DO have a point about some facet I failed to consider but have now, them ignoring that and repeating their same talking points, me addressing their points again & pointing out their ad hominems that usually have come out at this point and other logical fallacies, them ignoring that to repeat- and ultimately, we’re kind of talking past each other and I’m mostly appealing to whatever audience might be around. (I think I might have priv’ed or deleted a bunch of posts from back then but some may still be up somewhere in my archive lmao.....).

So on that kind of note I don’t... necessarily want to get into an argument or debate (not necessarily with you, possibly by some other anon passing through who is much more inclined to picking a fight with me about the Affront to Them Personally as well as the sanctity of the movement) on whether or not being kinky itself constitutes being “queer” per se bc I think the terminology is a sticking point and I do kind of see the perspective of “kink doesn’t make you automatically queer” **HOWEVER** yes I do also agree with that post I rbed that like kink/fur do rather constitute “queer subcultures” even though not every single person in there is LGBT+ in a more “traditional” sense - such as speaking more towards like sexual orientation & gender identity - and that these kinds of “alternative” lifestyles do present a “queering” (*a* queering) of ^ sexuality/relationships/lifestyles or whatever we might term that. And maybe that’s what I was struggling to articulate all those yrs ago lmao, when I was young and full of the energy of the Youthe and could get into internet arguments with ppl. The like respectability politics of trying to be sanitized enough to be “acceptable” to a hostile and rigid mainstream while alienating queer subcultures, which just results in the queer community at large cutting off parts of itself to try to be/remain “acceptable” but that just leads to self-harm to the community at large vs addressing more global/bigger picture issues.

Hrmmm okay I think what this whole issue of terminology and what gets to be called “queer” kind of gets to: they’re related, as you say, but that being varying shades or scopes of marginalized, but that doesn’t necessarily make it all “queer”? Because.... tbh I can see why the full-stop is a sticking point for people, and I do kind of think operationalized terms have more value when they ARE applied with scope instead of trying to generalize it too broadly, and queer does mean something quite specific (or.. maybe not specific, but rather that “queer” DOES have parameters, tho they may be more of like a soft-shaded parameter as opposed to some kind of hard fence)?

But I do agree that usually a lot of the language people against various other kinds of marginalized identity aspects uses, mirrors, & parallels language used against other things, like language against queer people/queer relationships & interracial relationships, and that communities would be served better with solidarity rather than trying to excise or disavow other communities - ESPECIALLY communities which have a lot of overlap with the queer community and also are historical and current allies - in a futile attempt to be “respectable” enough for the hostile mainstream and its evermoving goalposts.

..But maybe I’m just quibbling a point here, because while I don’t know if I’d call kink/fur/etc “queer” and the term “queer subcultures” seems to fit better for me, this does point to “these subcultures have room within queer spaces and in fact were there at the inception of ‘queer spaces’ as we kind of conceive of it today in USmerica” (idk fur but the kink community was definitely there). And then this gets into a more philosophical question of “well if it belongs in queer spaces is it not then ‘queer.’” This may be a “this topic is complicated and multifaceted an these different arguments based on different needs and with different axes of foci can coexist.” Ultimately, I think it does come down to “exclusionary rhetoric against a marginalized identity/community - especially one that is aligned, if not overlapping or otherwise part of the “core community” at the heart of this issue - is more harmful than helpful because the goalposts of respectability will never stay put and the language used by the hegemony against one group often is reused/paralleled/mirrored in language against another marginalized group, and can very easily be turned again back against you.”

Speaking more towards the arguments re: the 'coming out' campaign backlash, like back then I was fairly active in the m/m romance GR community & more in touch with ppl who were part of kink communities who were part of the m/m GR comm, and like based on what they told me/we talked abt following the whole backlash against “coming out kinky,” is that ppl DO in fact lose their jobs get disowned get evicted etc if they're 'outed' as kinky. Which then directly parallels the vanilla queer experience. I think a sticking point back then was that 'born this way' rhetoric was more prevalent back then, and ppl see kink as more of a 'lifestyle choice' and less about something 'inherent', and also some ppl were just flat-out like 'um ew it's sexual harassment'. But I think if you look at various dynamics of kink there's like lifestyle kink which isn't necessarily inherently or always sexual so like I don't think it's automatically a sexual harassment thing, ig for me it's like... ppl reacting with SUCH backlash against the idea that kink could/should be allowed within the concept of queer spaces and that echoes that post about assassination of queer subcultures, and like coming out isn’t always “I fuck xx” or “I fuck in xx way,” like if you come out as gay you’re not necessarily describing in explicit detail to your mother the ways fuck, you know? I think for me the “coming out” thing also was kind of like... is it safe for you for people to find out x aspect about you? And I do rather think there’s greater hostility towards these kinds of subcultures, which would then perhaps elicit or illustrate a reason why we might want to normalize or educate people better on what exactly constitutes the precepts of the subculture, vs whatever popular idea of it is prevailing at the time?

..I think ultimately we go back again to “this topic is complicated because there’s many intersectional issues as well as competing needs so there’s not a one-size-fits-all ‘answer’ to the questions/issues brought up”

#queer tag #Anonymous #asks answered #long post

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statementends · 5 years

Text

Deep Breath

Characters: Martin and Jon

Pairings: Jon/Martin

Warnings: Buried, Vast but not detailed.

Rating: G

Summary: The Buried and the Vast weren’t enemies. Or if they were no one had bothered to tell Martin and Jon.

AO3: Link

They probably never should have met.

Martin was tightly packed dirt, choking, surrounding, clinging. Jon empty space, terrifying heights, instability, open air.

And maybe they were supposed to be enemies. They were opposites. Jon said as much. He was clever. His research had gotten much further than Martin’s who had mastered his own powers, but knew little of the Others, as Jon called them.

“Twelve?” Martin asked.

They’re on the roof, the sky above them covered in endless stars. Jon was against him, Martin practically clinging. Perhaps he was worried he’d fall into the endless sky, or maybe he wanted to. All the fresh air filling his dirt laden lungs was an exciting prospect.

“Give or take. There are a few that might have subcategories. There’s us of course.”

“What do you call us?” Martin liked hearing Jon talk. His voice could go so deep and reach and never end.

“Claustrophobia and Agoraphobia.”

Martin hummed.

“You don’t agree?”

“Oh! No--no it wasn’t--well… I mean… I think we’re a bit more than textbook definitions.”

He shifted and pulled more blankets over Jon, maybe worried he’d float away. Jon only shifted for a more comfortable angle.

“That may be…” He admitted.

“Something… cooler,” Martin winced, but continued on, “Like… the Hidden and the Free.”

Jon’s face twisted, pained by the suggestion.

“Okay so maybe bad examples.”

“It makes us sound… I think it’s too uplifting,” Jon admitted.

Well.. yeah, that was true. He was. He did… trap people. Still he sort of liked it.

“And… freedom… that’s not… that doesn’t quite work.”

“Can you fly?”

“What?”

“I’ve always wondered.”

“Well… sort of…” Jon frowned thinking about it now himself. “I just... Fall. Or sometimes I float? It depends.”

“I don’t need to breathe much either,” Martin said. “I mean… not a lot of air under the dirt.”

“Sounds cozy.”

“It isn’t.”

“No. I guess it wouldn’t be.”

“I like it though… even though I still… I’m afraid it will swallow me, there would be nothing worse than that, but I still… It feels so right to be buried.”

“The buried. That works better.”

“Huh? Oh--...yeah… no I think you’re right. The Buried. You were going to tell me the other ones.”

“The Buried then, and the limitless?”

“The Vast,” Martin suggested somewhat dreamily. The stars made him feel poetic… Jon didn’t seem the type for poetry though.

“I… yes.” Jon agreed. “The Vast. And then there’s Fire, or maybe Malicious Cruelty. There’s more than one of them. A whole cult.”

“Really?” Martin perked up. It had just been him so far. Jon had been the closest and they were opposites on this … spectrum. Even Jon said he had met others like him, although they didn’t group together.

“I think they can recruit, or perhaps they’re good at finding others like that. Maybe Cruelty is just common.”

Martin’s grip was probably bruising, but Jon didn’t try to pull away, still content wrapped up, slowly sinking into the roof’s concrete.

“Did … the old man try to recruit you to a cult?” Martin asked.

“No. Only gave me a black credit card and free rein. There’s so much space for all of us to cover. That’s probably how we like it. He was… old though… not just his face but… something about him.” Jon shook his head. “I’m not really sure. The Watchers seem to group together too, although I’m not sure if they’re even aware of it.”

“Watchers?”

“Have you heard of the Magnus Institute?”

Martin snorted. “Wasn’t that a meme awhile ago?”

“They seem to have a lot of people that… watch others. In a … creepy way.”

“They have a … vibe?”

“Yes.”

“Watchers. Hm.”

“The Puppets. They’re…” Jon shuddered. “I met one and I was glad to be parted. I’m really not sure what they represent. Fear of clowns? Fear of the strange? One encounter and I can’t look at shop mannequins the same way again.”

“What happened?” Martin held his hand tightly.

“It said how wonderful it would be to wear my skin. I didn’t stay for the offer.”

Martin shivered. “Ugh. Moving on?”

“Disease, Pestilence, and Spiders. They overlap in some ways and don’t in others. Right now I’ve separated them. The Spiders I think are entirely different, but they have enough similarities with Pestilence. I think they’re about… control though. There’s the Kill. Animals, humans, mindless slaughter for meat. There’s… death. Unsurprising that it would have its own category.”

“It’s not with the Kill?”

“The kill is … fear of the violence of death. Death is the fear of the nothing that’s after… if that makes sense.”

“Yeah, a bit too much. I … thought of that sort of stuff a lot before… well…”

“Yes… so did I…”

“Two more?”

“The Lukas’”

“Oh… I know them.”

“Do you? I don’t know what they represent, but I know they’re something. I can never get close.”

“You shouldn’t.” He wanted to bury Jon in the dirt for protection, or in the concrete. Jon’s form wouldn’t allow it though. Martin’s legs were in, but Jon only made an impression like on wet beach sand.

“I won’t.” Jon promised. Or sounded like he promised. He was too quick to rush into things. Expose himself to danger. Maybe that was part of his nature.

“They feed off… loneliness.”

“The… entire family? That doesn’t seem…”

“Trust me.”

“Right… that’s… that is interesting though.”

“What’s the last one?” He wanted to stop talking about the scope outside their own. Those beyond deep earth and endless sky.

“Madness… or Deceit. That one is hard to pin down. If you ever notice doors that weren’t there before steer clear, it’s one of them. He’s--it’s? ...Pesky.”

Martin snorted. “Pesky?”

“I think it’s trying to be playful. I’d rather not be trapped in what’s behind the door.”

“Hm, maybe it’s one of my people?”

“I don’t think so. It’s… he doesn’t feel the same as you.”

“How do I feel to you?”

Martin expected the word clingy even as he tried to loosen his grip.

“Secure,” Jon said. “Stable. I feel like I’m rushing to meet the ground most of the time now. Exposed. With you I feel… safe? Perhaps that isn’t a word I should attribute to people like us… I’m sure you could do terrible things to me if you felt like it, but I just… I feel comfortable. I can catch my breath with you.”

“Oh,” Martin said softly. He had thought… that maybe he was being silly, or even defective...but Jon… “I… when I’m with you. I can breathe. I feel… sunkissed and… free.” He blushed, running his mouth with bad poetry wasn’t impressive. Jon was smiling anyway like it was, bless him.

Jon stood with massive effort, Martin and blankets and concrete holding him down. But light as air he managed and held a hand out. The stars were fading.

Martin let himself be pulled. He wanted to retreat into the dirt. He wanted to hold his arms out and feel the wind. Maybe the Buried and the Vast weren’t enemies. Just… opposites or… complementary fears? The grass is always greener? Dirt is always softer? No that wasn’t a metaphor…

Well, whatever, he liked spending time in Jon’s company.

“I could help… with your research if you wanted.” He didn’t mention not finishing school. They weren’t quite… there yet. Jon perked up though. Jon probably went to University. Not only that, Jon probably liked his time at University.

“You would do that?”

“If you want, and we could meet and… exchange information.” Martin suggested. “I mean. Not that we don’t meet now, but just… maybe more often?”

“Oh. Right. Yes. Like a--”

Don’t say date. Don’t say date. “Study group--”

“Date.”

They stared at one another. The dawn didn’t reveal Jon’s flush, but Martin sensed his embarrassment.

“Date,” Martin squeaked trying to sound like he agreed, but just managing to sound flustered himself.

“I--maybe I didn’t--”

“No! No! I mean--I would like. Yes. I would like to date you… is that allowed? Are there… rules about this sort of thing?”

“I think we can make our own rules. No one’s bothered to keep either of us informed.”

“No weird fire cults for us.”

“Right.” Jon nodded.

“Yay team…”

There was lots of space between them now. Maybe Jon had done that out of instinct. Maybe it was Martin’s own anxiety that even being a monster hadn’t fixed. Martin never thought of Monsters being scared of things, but apparently it was what fueled them. Go figure.

“Well I should… ah…” Jon gestured to the ledge. He had almost given Martin a heart attack the first time he had made his exit by stepping off a five story building without hesitation.

“Right… I… yep.”

Jon smiled at him awkwardly. Moved closer to escape.

“Jon? I… I had a good time.”

Jon’s flush was apparent now, the sun peaking up in the sky.

“Me too.” He mumbled and was gone.

Martin sunk into the cement of the building. Butterflies swarming his stomach. He needed to feel the deep compression. He would be cooler next time.

He took a deep breath though, before sinking all the way in, thinking of Jon’s smile. Jon’s flushed cheeks. Jon not pulling away.

Jon calling it a date.

A few seconds later the rooftop was empty. No one had used the door.

#jonmartin #tma #the magnus archives #fanfiction #martin blackwood #jonathan sims #just an excuse to write vastburied I think

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clarasimone · 5 years

Text

A perspective on the forewarning fascist iconography in GoT

Was it yesterday ? I reacted to a mind-provoking aesthetic analysis of GoT reblogged by @felixthemudnescat ... which basically no one reacted to (LOL) but... chatting with @scratchybeardsweetmouth and @ser-jorah-the-andal, I felt like revisiting it to add observations to my initial reaction. Even if it’s too heavy-meta for such a beautiful summer day. @felixthemudnescat pardon me for not using the reblog button cause I want to do this under the dot-dot-dot so as not to weigh down the usual degree of levity in our tumblr group ;-)

Also I only realized today that you actually reblogged without commenting and I assumed, maybe wrongly, that you adhered completely to what you reblogged. And that might not be the case, so I’ll alter my text accordingly...

So here we go... (my input comes at the end)

Anonymous asked:

Girl. Gurl. Who the fuck is Leni Riefenstahl? Y'all Sansa stans pulling the most elaborate nonsense out of your asses to justify shitty writing. Or you twist everything and make D&D sound as if they're the most brilliant minds the world has ever seen LOL

fedonciadale answered:

Hi there!

If you would have taken one moment to look up Leni Riefenstahl - and I assure you that it is not difficult to look her up - you would not have combined your question with a comment about the writing…. Look her up and learn a lesson about how tyrants manipulate.

The visuals of the show are alluding to famous/ notorious shots of Leni Riefenstahl. You would agree that the visuals are something that gives us hints? In addition to the dialogue?

Sansa stans have complained about the writing since season 5…. You all - I’m just assuming you are a Dany fan, correct me if I’m wrong - had no complaints about shitty writing in season 7?

Look I am not saying that the way D&D got to DarkDany this season was well executed, but the foreshadowing and the character development are there. And actually from all the things the show did Daenerys is one of the better from book to screen. The hiding of her path to ruthlessness by filming from her POV is well done in season 1 to 6, and the triumphant visuals are part of that.

Visuals are part of the foreshadowing. It did not come out of nowhere and it was always a major plot point - as has been argued by book readers for ages. That Dany blew up King’s Landing was always to be the culmination of her arc. And it was always meant to hit you in the gut. So, as you do nicely put it : get your head out of your ass as and realise that you have been duped. And ponder about why? Was it because Dany is beautiful? Was it because she had the occasional bouts of benevolence? Was it because you thought she was entitled to an ugly chair because she suffered? Was it because she was set up against people coded as villains, so that you don’t care about how she defeated them? Was it because she is a woman and woman can’t be evil?

Take your pick and learn something about yourself and your own bias, how we can be duped by a tyrant! If you do that you are doing exactly what GRRM intended his readers to do by writing Dany like he did.

une-nuit-pour-se-souvenir

(in fiction, all these logos meant to reference the nazi flag)

fedonciadale

Reblogging for @une-nuit-pour-se-souvenir ’s excellent additions. I could not have done that because that film is actually forbidden in Germany.

justacynicalromantic

Ohhhohohoho the last one - I am😏 at people who half a year ago threw stones at me when I argued that Dany has always had parallels with Hitler.

felixthemudnescat

Found this shared on Quora, had to re-blog!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi @felixthemudnescat long time no see !

I had not seen the original posting of this. My first instinctual reaction to this iconographic/aesthetics research is to object to the simple equation of Daenerys with Hitler. No fiction character will ever match the scope of evil (for lack of a better word) this man and his ideology represented. By ricochet and association, it makes every fan who was moved by Daenerys a potential Nazi sympathizer and that makes no sense. It’s also unnecessarily hurtful and insulting both to these fans and the real World (those who suffered and still suffer from The Holocaust). This said, the iconographic evidence you provided through your reblog has weight and is exactly what I referred to in some of my posts as the visual clues given in the show as to Dany’s *possible* arc, its *possible* finality (more on the *possible* further down); clues which scream at you if you have the cultural baggage to recognize them, and when you binge-watch the series 3 times in one month instead of watching it an ep at the time over 8-9 years. The middle seasons are especially ripe with these visual signs because they’re tagged unto somewhat repetitious narrative (Dany freeing/conquering one city at a time with little intimate character dev scenes). And @fedonciadale is right in wanting fans to look more closely into themselves; we shouldn’t close ours eyes on the shady ideological and moral symbols casting shadows on Daenerys throughout the seasons. But they were shadows. I don’t think they were meant to be the beginning and end to all things explaining the character.

@felixthemudnescat or @fedonciadale don’t you think D&D were building something much more subtle than the end result they opted for and which gives weight to your comparative iconographic essay ? For many seasons, the fascist references or foreboding reminders of Targaryen madness never outweighed the characterizations of Daenerys as a young woman who, regardless (or because ?) of her thwarted and abusive upbringing was trying to conjugate her own suffering and road to affirmation with the conquerer’s path given her. She might not have questioned the necessity/validity for her to conquer her way back to Westeros, as the only way she could get home, but she didn’t do it through simple rampage either. She did care to free the people she needed to build her armies. She did have a heart. This she did spontaneously; it came from a deep source within her, not a calculated one. Even if, of course, it turned out to be an astute strategy. And that sets her apart from the Nazis and its leader. At their best, D&D conjugated the two: giving us a rounded character build-up and evolution with ominous symbolic shadows lurking about her. @scratchybeardsweetmouth also made me realize, I who have not read the novels, that this humane aspect of Daenerys is brought even more to the foreground in the books. I quote @scratchybeardsweetmouth: “In the books (...) she repeatedly communicates firsthand with her freed people. She hears their opinions, is not afraid to mingle with them, always finds a way to protect them, even went out of her way to help heal some when a disease was about...” Without getting as much detailed info on her compassionate stance and actions in the show, it’s certainly the impression she indeed left us with, and it’s what her most faithful and steadfast companion, ser Jorah, sees in her and repeatedly says out loud, lest we forget it ;-) (“You have a gentle heart,” etc.)

So I thought it was IMMENSELY daring of D&D (or the novelist I’ve not read yet) to give us that scene where Daenerys is called Mhysa/Mother by the slaves she freed because the scene was inhabited with so many conflictual signs: I was all at once moved and sooooo worried as to where this could lead. Moved because, bottom line, these slaves are freed, actually freed, it’s the start of something. Dany has always given those she freed a choice to leave if they so wished… Moved because it’s a woman effecting the freeing, not a man… Moved because it’s Dany, the girl who suffered, who was a slave of sorts, that does the freeing, not her mentors…. Moved to see a culture refer to their freer as “Mother” (what a great homage to mothers, to women in general) / buuuuut also worried to see a culture refer to their freer as “Mother” because it seems to infantilize them on screen.

Here we could also open up a whole debate about the malaise one can feel in seeing an Aristocratic White Woman free Third World People but I urge you to go read @khaleesirin‘s meta writings on the subject. She makes a great case for us NOT to see Daenerys in this fashion. Regardless of her looks and lineage, the novels (and GoT, I insist in my chats with @khaleesirin ;-) shows her to be like the people she frees: an Other. She like then is homeless, uprooted, migrant, disenfranchised. If we fail to see it in Essos, the show really drives this home once Daenerys sets foot in Westeros where NO ONE welcomes, understands or appreciates her. (Which suddenly complexifies our rapport to Sansa and the Northerners we grew to love and respect since they seem not to be above xenophobia, and racism.)

But to get back to the Mhysa scene. Once the worrying starts, I can’t seem to stop it, even as I am moved to tears. Literally. Because of the above-mentioned qualities of it, and also possibly because of the Christ-like iconography it uses to celebrate Dany (”Let the little children come unto me” - if I may paraphrase the New Testament -- and thanks to @ser-jorah-the-andal for the reminder). And I’m always partial to feminizations of Christ; I love it, I think it’s sublimely subversive :-) But I’m also kicking myself for liking this because I fundamentally don’t want a Messiah saving the Third World, I want the Third World to save itself... and I’m worried. I’m really worried as I watch Daenerys triumph in this scene because we know she’s lacking important elements in her “psycho-affective and socio-political tool kit” (regardless of the quality and loving care of advisers now on hand, *cough* Jorah -- in the books @scratchybeardsweetmouth tells me she needs no advisor to keep her moral compass straight) and, so, will this get to her head ? Will she get drunk on her Messiah complex (and of course she does at the end of season 8) ? And what will happen if those she freed disappoint her (again flashforward to the end of season 8) ? And how will she rule them exactly (ditto) ? And, finally, yes, worried because, the fascist iconography is there and I’m going: omg where are they going with this ?

Here I want to open another parenthesis, also brought on by something @ser-jorah-the-andal wrote me: “if this is what they meant in the first place, they sure as hell didn’t bother to tell anyone in the cast so they could act accordingly, tho a case could be made that Dany never saw herself as the villain so that’s why they didn’t tell Emilia.” Indeed I’m sure the cast, or at the very least Emilia Clarke, were never told about the endgame, or never cued to the quoting of fascist iconography in some of Daenerys’ triumphant scenes. Clarke’s shocked reaction upon reading the last screenplays is a testament to her profound surprise... and this raises ethical questions, doesn’t it ? I mean in the ethics of creative partnership. It’s a recent debate possibly because there are so many tales of directors manipulating actors into giving them the performance needed to embody and communicate the discourse they want to leave us with. But the professional in me cringes here a bit. You’d hope they would trust actors enough to let them into what it is exactly they’re supposed to be creating...

This said, up to the moment before “the bells” scene in season 8, I had nonetheless seen D+D and EC give us a woman struggling morally with her choices. That’s important to state. And to get back to the above demonstration of fascist parallels, well, please, let’s point out that the Nazis and their leader never did struggle morally with what they were doing (or if they did, History bears no markers -- I’m talking about the Nazis here, not the German people as a whole). And I was prepared to see Daenerys fail because she never healed, she never achieved psycho-affective soundness (shall we get into the chapter of her misconstruing what love is ? Her relationship arc with Jorah speaks volumes) but I was expecting her to feel remorse if she did succumb to true fascism; remorse to the point of self-execution if you will, because that’s the kind of moral person D+D had been building for 7 years. But after D&D sent her over the edge, they erased all the previous nuances they had built into her, and I believe, tried to explained it away with a broken heart, megalomania and madness….

So if their plan was truly to make us see her as a fascist leader of the scope we’re talking about here, the way the above visual essay seems to suggest, they would have fleshed out her character’s arc accordingly throughout the seasons, and they didn’t. There were clues as to the possibilities -- yes, Dany stepping out for her final speech is absolutely shot like Triumph of the Will by Riefenstahl… but it’s also infused with other iconographic references. That image of her merging with Drogon’s wings belongs to the fantastic, and makes her into a formidable and powerful Id, which can be construed as a positive subversive marker. And some of us do celebrate WrathfulDany for this reason....

The reality of GoT is that there were no actual scenes developing her fascist ideology. So let’s not confuse allusions to fascism with actual fascism. With all D+D’s failings towards the end, Daenerys remained a more nuanced and contradictory character than that. She is NOT Hitler, please......

The iconographic research you provided in your reblog @felixthemudnescat show us one important aspect of Dany’s subtextual arc but not the full picture. It’s missing the heart and the suffering behind the soul who fell from grace.

I hope you don’t construe this long winding reaction as a slam. I know you come from a very specific place in regards to Daenerys. I just thought the excellent research you provided deserved to be reblogged, but with an added perspective ;-)

#got meta #got analysis #daenerys targaryen #Ser Jorah Mormont #fascism

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lovehaswonangelnumbers · 4 years

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New Post has been published on https://lovehaswonangelnumbers.org/intuitive-astrology-jupiter-retrograde-2020/

Intuitive Astrology: Jupiter Retrograde 2020

By Forever Conscious

Jupiter enters its annual retrograde on May 10th to September 13th in the sign of Capricorn.

Jupiter spends a good portion of the year in retrograde, so this is a natural and normal rhythm that we are used to experiencing. Jupiter however, has not been retrograde in the sign of Capricorn in over 12 years, so this is what makes the energy fresh and different.

Jupiter is the planet of abundance. It brings opportunities and helps to expand things so we can see with greater clarity.

Jupiter gives us the gift of being able to see the bigger picture and within that bigger picture, it becomes easier for us to see the how and why of our journey.

When Jupiter enters retrograde, it is not as easy for us to access this bigger picture. Our focus becomes smaller, and we are asked to narrow in on a particular theme or topic of our lives.

Instead of looking at things from a birdseye perspective, we are now being drawn to focus on the smaller details.

Under this energy, we don’t want to spread ourselves too thin or lose sight of what is really important to us.

Think of a beautiful painting for a moment. When we look at the whole painting, it allows us to understand the totality of the work. We can see the entire image and what it represents.

When we take a small section of the painting however, and really study and look at it, we don’t have the whole context. We can only imagine what this small part of the whole may turn out to be.

While our scope to see is limited, our imagination can run wild. We can notice the smallest of things and stretch our minds to visualize what this small section of the painting may represent or be a part of.

When we can finally see the whole painting revealed to us, that small section will make greater sense to us, but it would have also helped to shift and change how we see the picture in its entirety too.

It’s almost like by focusing on this small section of the painting, we develop a special relationship with it. Whether we consciously realize it or not, focusing in on that small piece shifts and changes our understanding of the bigger picture.

By focusing on the smaller details, we have greater awareness and appreciation of the whole.

This is what Jupiter Retrograde energy is like. It encourages us to focus on the smaller details for there is something we can learn and take away from this when we do.

By focusing on the smaller details, we can create a deeper understanding and appreciation for the bigger picture when it is finally revealed to us.

As Jupiter goes retrograde in Capricorn, we may see this play out in areas relating to our ambition, drive, and what it is that we would like to “build” and create in this life.

What do you wish to expand in your life?

Jupiter Retrograde in Capricorn will be helping you to lay the groundwork and to create a solid and firm foundation for the expansion to occur.

How can you create space for this expansion? What practical, methodical steps can you take?

Capricorn is an earth sign and it wants us to put integrity and deliberate thought behind each action we take. It wants us to create a solid, stable foundation so we can climb high.

When Jupiter goes direct again come September, the larger, expanded picture will be revealed and a greater clarity will follow. New opportunities will open up and we will feel like we can spread our focus comfortably.

During this Jupiter Retrograde, we may find ourselves feeling extra tired and lethargic. We may also feel like we have lost our motivation.

This is all part of the process, and a reminder that like all retrograde energy, this is a time to go within.

While our motivation for output may be reduced, it’s important to remember that we are still doing a lot of inner growth during this time.

Inner growth is still work! So be gentle with your moods and try not to allow the voice of shame to creep in.

While you may not be able to make leaps and strides under this energy, know that any effort you put in during this retrograde has potential to blossom in full once Jupiter goes direct again in September.

You may not see the progress for you are only concentrating on the smaller picture, but by appreciating and working with what is in front of you, it will help you to reach further when things expand once again.

Diving Deeper Exercises

1.) Jupiter entered Capricorn back in December 2019. Think back to this time of your life. What themes were coming up for you, specifically around your career, money, or what you felt called to build in your life? Write down whatever stands out to you and know this may be up for a revisit during this retrograde period.

2.) What area of your life would you like to see expand? Under this retrograde, think about the smaller details that can help create a solid ground for expansion. What little things can you focus on in this area of your life? How can you create space for this expansion to occur? What small practical steps can you take right now?

3.) Use the following journal prompts to spark inspiration:

I feel most abundant when…

I can expand my life by…

I feel called to focus on…

I am grateful for…

4.) Think of 3 ways that you can better manage your energy levels. You may also wish to look into what current habits are depleting your energy.

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