#apparently the guy who coined the term originally called it something else entirely but then landed on aluminum

[natjennie]

I can't even be mad at them for this. they're literally right.

[janiedean]

I feel bad for all the nice J*nsa shippers who like their ship for whatever reasons (tropes, pretty art, aesthetic appeal, whatever) and know it's not canon but get associated with the misogynistic Dany hating crowd who act like Jon being attracted to Ygritte is J*nsa foreshadowing because red hair (I guess Jon should fuck Edmure Tully too? Omg give me Dark!Jon getting revenge on Catelyn by seducing her brother!) Tell me something. I'm new to the fandom but was J*nsa popular before the show? And I've heard something about the OG J*nsa shippers being alienated by the new shippers who insisted it had to be canon and acted like the series is called, "A song of J*nsa #danysux." I don't find that hard to believe because I know people who are now ashamed of calling themselves J*nsa shippers. Like, at this point, it's not only rival shippers who hate it. Even Gendrya/Braime/Jon stans/etc have started disliking that ship. You know your fandom is a problem when people who have nothing to do with Jnsa have a problem with it.

me: reads this ask

me: iwastheregandalf.gif which I can't find now but

okay anon buckle up because I am sadly well-equipped to answer this ask but before I do lemme tell you dark jon seducing edmure to take revenge on cat is LITERALLY THE BEST THING I'VE EVER HEARD but *clears throat* ALL RIGHT THEN.

disclaimer: as anon says I have no issue with like the shippers mentioned by anon in the beginning and ngl I agree, I have ABSOLUTELY ZERO FUCKING STAKES in the j*nsa vs j*nerys war and the only het jon ship I gaf about is jon/ygritte and we all know where that ended up I just... have been here since 2011/adwd was over and all the fic around was just for the books under secret lj communities and asoiaf qualified for yuletide and I have... seen... things.... and I actually have like uh had... beef... with some people in there and I know things bc ppl who hated those others told me stuff so anyway *sigh* buckle up anon I'mma tell you the story of jon shipwars through the years

in order, the old gods help me here, under the cut bc this is long as fuck

when I got into fandom also given what numbers were on ao3 one ship was popular and it was sansan. no like sansan was lit. the only asoiaf ship on ao3 with more than 200 fics. jb had twenty when i checked first. jc had like around 100-ish because of the show but sansan dwarfed anything. I posted the first jon/ygritte fic on the ao3 tag and the fourth throbb fic and like the others were all reposts from lj kinkmemes. nothing was popular before the show except for sansan when it comes to huge numbers bc grrm doesn't like fic and it was all hush hush until the show made it impossible to control and that ship was the one with a huge enough fanbase it actually had numbers, so like... j*nsa wasn't popular in the way nothing else was popular until it got screentime on the show

now, that stated, j*nsa had a... fair amount of fic for a rareship which was mostly book-based and from og shippers that were there from before the show and liked it for what it was but literally none of them thought it was gonna be canon, like it wasn't huge or anything but it had a small but dedicated fanbase who did their own thing and thought it was fun/liked the idea but that was it

that fandom had their own niche of hcs that they cultivated and shit except that like... at the end of S5/beginning of S6 there was a surge in shipping for... well obvious reasons bc it was obv sansa was getting to the wall and that would have been all nice and good but a) it was the time puritanical shipping was starting to take root and the 'shipping sansa with sandor or tyrion is hella problematic' rhetoric had started to circle coming from sans*ery shippers mostly but I'mma not open that fucking can of worms here, b) while the ending of S5 had more of a theon/sansa spike, the j*nsa stuff started getting big

now here we have to mention my villain origin story ie: j*nsa fandom had this one stan whose name I won't make because honestly it's been years and if she's still around I don't want her to remember I exist who was a bnf, wrote for... the website that created the whole larry/carol thing etc who was really fixed on this thing that j*nsa was actually canon and started writing extremely popular meta about it. now you're gonna ask how do you know, I know because this person once wrote a meta named 'why robb stark is a dick' and I told her that it was really fucking bad meta and she took it so badly she kept on trash talking me on her blog/her podcast (I was apparently the insane robb stark fangirl l m a o good lord) and like that was when some sane ppl who argued with her informed me in pvt that she was basically harping on the CANON thing when they'd have been okay with like... it being crackshipping and that she was basically cultivating a hoarde of followers who were harping on them/the ogs and basically ostracizing them;

I would like to add that this person - before her tumblr got 'accidentally deleted' and remade it therefore deleted most receipts for, er, her so-called meta which included stuff like ned and cat raised sansa as a sexual object and only wanted to sell her like cattle - had at some point started a round robin fic thing where... some of the characters mocked openly said stuff that some of the og fans had said specifically targeting them and people in that side basically went harassing anyone who didn't agree with that specific notion

now never mind that this person basically coined an entire term to describe ppl who liked white guys and excused all their wrongdoings out of my conversation re robb basically lying about everything I said as if I didn't have the receipts and tried to sell shirts with it and it didn't work and like then she got kicked out of her own website because she was telling her commenters disagreeing pretty shitty insults (considering I was called psychotic for disagreeing with her that time I don't doubt it) I think at some point she stepped back from fandom bc idk wtf she's up to these days and I don't want to, but basically at that point the dam was broken and there was a bunch of puritanical shippers harping on anyone who didn't agree with j*nsa is canon endgame stuff

this also includes an incident when those ppl were like... passing themselves as throbb shippers and ended up trying to tell t*hramsay shippers off the theon tag based on moral reasons and I ended up arguing with all of them (and they were all from that crowd) which in turn landed me in contact with other og j*nsa shippers who were like detached from that fandom bc those same people harassed them away as well ssooooo fun

anyway when S6 happened everyone was high on it and whatnot but I wasn't gonna begrudge them that I mean... you shipped it for years, canon is delivering you, good for you, but then j*nerys happened

god j*nerys happened

aaand basically...... I mean personally I was there like are y'all seriously arguing about the best incest jon ship out there but like basically the j*nsa endgame side was like AH JON IS PLAYING DANY SEE IF IT DOESN'T HAPPEN, the j*nerys obv got defensive af and both sides were sort of alternatively shitting on jon/ygritte anyway and depicting any other romantic rship jon could have as abusive™ and during S8 it just got worse and like I tried to stay out of it but basically from what I'm seeing now idk how the j*neryses are doing but on the j*nsa one it's ah jon's gonna play dany anyway and she's going to go insane like in the show so SHOW TRUTHING EVERY OTHER WAY and like again denying that sandor exists or that tyrion exists and like I barely touch my corner (sansan) but I ended up arguing with j*nsa/th*nsa people on twitter who were antis and is2g it was white-hair inducing and I know for sure the sansa/tyrion shippers were harassed to hell and back throughout so FUN

and even if the show didn't go there now since everyone there banked on the jnsa endgame thing and admitting you're wrong is like... not a thing, they still haven't let go of it and attach to that ship any shred of evidence which honestly is grasping at straws half of the time (like... the sansa/alysanne parallels like guys please no) and which is why every other ship is starting to get fed up, attaching canon proof of stuff from other ships onto theirs see that batb argument and jb is platonic but jonsa is not nvm taking all the sansan stuff and throwing it on j*nsa but then denying that sansan has canon evidence (like guys I had to read sansa touching his shoulder when saying gregor wasn't a true knight wasn't meaningful and we were seeing things please) and blah blah blah

this also goes hand in hand with the fixation on like... villanizing dany at all costs and like is2g I have zero investment in dany or her storyline I don't even remember it and I don't particularly care abt her either way and sure af I'm not for j*nerys endgame but like.... some stuff I read is completely excessive esp when fixing on how she's a completely mad tyrant who's gonna have to be put down and like... guys no

(also there's some srs stannis hate in that corner which I honestly don't get why they even care abt stannis but I had to read stuff like ppl don't recognize that dany and stannis are the real villains in this saga and like........ idek)

I think most of the og shippers are gone or don't ship it openly bc they don't want to be attached to the drama but like I also think they're pissing off everyone else bc like... I mean a bunch of them also were down with sansa being paired with other ppl as long as it meant a good ending for her except those ppl were... like everyone but the ppl she has actual contact with in canon which meant that at some point sansa/gendry was a thing and like.... you can imagine why arya/gendry shippers & arya stans were fed up, and there's also this tendency to behave like sansa is the center of the entire saga which like these books is named a song of jon snow basically can we pls make peace with it and personally I've had it with both j*nsa and j*nerys people since they started with that dumbass JON/YGRITTE WAS AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP rhetoric but I'm also fed up with the total ignoring that sandor exists/depicting us as delusional and honestly I also was by proxy fed up from the harassing of the sansa/tyrion shippers soooooooooooo

there were also instances of 'well theon is an acceptable choice other than jon bc he can't threaten her' which... i mean we all know what that meant and I'm not even commenting it bc it's one AM and I have no force to but I don't have to explain why it's not a progressive take now do I

there were also metas about how cousin incest being legal in half of the world means that jondany is a worse incest and j*nsa doesn't count as such and I was basically there like guys please just fucking own up to it but honestly I chose to forgot where I read that and I couldn't find the link if I tried

tldr: no one wants to admit that it's not gonna be endgame which considering the amount of fic they have on ao3 is imvho useless bc they have more content than like.. anything I ship that's not jb or that's actually like canon *cries in joncon/rhaegar but I mean renly/loras is canon and has less fic than them* so idk what's the problem with enjoying that instead of insisting it's gonna be canon when not even the show validated it while show truthing anyway when the only show truthing that can be truthed is the small council made of minorities and possibly jon eventually fucking off with the wildlings but not like that but like most people who thought it wasn't gonna be endgame had left/were made to leave by the time S7 rolled by and at this point since wow isn't out yet everyone is fandom-grasping at straws to find stuff to discourse on and we're here beating dead horses *shrug*

so that's... how it is but I would again like to point out that I don't judge ppl on their shipping, I don't particularly care about this entire feud bc I only ship jon with ppl he's not related to in whichever way and I try to stay out of this mess bc I don't really care to argue with ppl who have already decided to bend canon to whatever they want and will have to realize that it's not what grrm wrote at some point but like I have a very good memory and the above rant is as objective as possible also bc again I don't literally have a stake in that race I just think romantic/endgame j*nsa is not a thing and that ppl should stay in their lane and not harping on other ppl who ship whatever in general but especially when their ship is the most popular thing in fandom in the first place /two cents

[aqueeraphale]

All right Ghost and Pals fans I've got a Honey I'm Home theory:

The moth represents Norman's mother, and the song as a whole is a metaphor for being abused by religion.

Let me explain:

[This post contains discussion of religion/cults, abuse, insects, and human torture/experimentation]

Ghost said straight up that there's five new OCs in Honey I'm Home right? Exactly five. It's emphasized a lot.

[Image ID: a screenshot from the description of Ghost's upload of Honey I'm Home that reads: "y'all get FIVE - not one, not two, not three, not four, not six, not forty-seven, but FIVE new ocs of mine so there's that". End ID]

That's *incredibly* specific, but it checks out. Mostly. Visually, there's five characters: Norman, their father the mantis, the moth, weird Redead god, Charon the spider, and the angel(s) we see a flash of in the outro instrumental. There's a sixth character mentioned in passing, though: Norman's mother. "The abandonment of scenery in the mind of mother," yeah? But that's such a minor reference, you're probably thinking. It's symbolic parallelism to the mentions of father in the first verse.

That's entirely possible, but with how deep Ghost's songs run I think it's more than that.

We can obviously say that Norman's mother isn't Norman, Norman's father, God, or Charon (seeing as Ghost confirms in the description that it's meant to be pronounced like the guy on the River Styx). Originally, I assumed that the disturbed angel we see in the end of the video was Mother, because of the parallel between the two "abandonment of scenery" lines (conflating Mother with the rearview mirror, ie the past). It would make sense, given the implied abusive situation Norman was in with his father, that his mother had passed, leaving him with no recourse or protection. The fact that the parallel to the rearview mirror is the **mind** of mother, though, is what throws a wrench in that.

On my first dozen or so watches I thought the moth was a corrupted symbol of Lucifer (the lightbringer as a creature that chases light regardless of consequence), like I read Charon as a corrupted symbol of Judas (instead of subtle and regretful betrayal with a kiss on the cheek, direct and presumably unrepentant sabotage with a kiss on the mouth). It makes sense with how a lot of interpretations of sympathetic Lucifer read: saying the exact same things as God, but demanding that right to be equal instead of paternalistic. Then I took a closer look at the visual symbolism:

[Image ID: a screenshot of Honey I'm Home's pv: a moth entrapped in a spider's web. It's quoted as saying "So, come to me, we can change night into day." End ID]

Lo and behold, spiderwebs. I actually can't believe I missed that on my first few watches--from the moment we meet the moth, it's entangled in webs, as if it's trapped in the influence of Charon, our dear God-allied spider. Its exact words are echoed by God in the next verse, where he has the moth trapped. With how we see Charon and God allied, this paints the moth in a new light--it doesn't have agency, or at least not total agency. It is, at least in part, parroting what God has taught it.

The thing is, a spider doesn't force webs on you. You walk into them and get tangled. Moths chase lights, like God's solar-eclipse halo. In just the same way, people chase security and safety as a survival method, and scores of people turn to religion when they need spiritual security.

This is where Norman and his family come in. Picture this: you're stuck in a tense, harmful relationship, with someone who has the audacity to tell your child that the world "isn't for them," who feels the need to cut off your rapport to them (the umbilical cord is a link between child and mother, after all). When you look for help, there the church is, and you inch a little closer to the light, and a little closer--

And then you're ensnared, so much so the horrors of your memories are little more than scenery in your rearview mirror. It's wonderful enough you repeat your doctrine to everyone who listens, even if you don't fully analyze what it all means. It helped you after all, so why can't it help others?

There's even visual confirmation that the moth is an intrinsic part of Norman:

[Image IDs: three seperate screenshots of Honey I'm Home's PV. One shows Norman normally, one shows Norman with his chest sliced open for vivisection, and one shows Norman in a different outfit with scars from where he was cut open. All three images feature prominent patterns of concentric circles of moth wings. End ID]

We see Norman prominently surrounded by moth wings, even after he's been vivisected and transformed. Nearly everything what visually significant about Norman changes: he's gained a halo, lost his bandages and any scars that were underneath, is showing way more skin, and has black scleras and no glasses. His posture is even inverted--in each shot he's lifting a different hand, and the early Norman is confident or vindictive while the second is meek or remorseful. And yet, the moth wings remain. They're in *identical* places in the two shots that have Norman at the center of the frame. The moth is a part of Norman, even after God's scooped him out.

Also worth noting is that Norman's transformation makes him more visually similar not to the angels, but to God himself.

[Image ID: God as he appears in the Honey I'm Home pv. He is a gaunt figure with an eerie grin and dark circles instead of eyes. Black lines run down his cheeks like tears, and he wears loose, flowing robes that expose one shoulder. End ID]

[Image ID: the angel from the Honey I'm Home pv. They have the same dark eyes and tear lines as God and Norman post-transformation, but they instead wear a tight turtleneck. End ID]

Everyone allied with God, and Norman after his transformation--they all have the same eyes, with black scleras. Everyone except Charon has tear tracks. But Norman dresses like God more than anyone else-- his outfit appears to be made of the same material, and also exposes skin.

One last note before I tie this all together: vivisection is an INCREDIBLY loaded word. Scientifically, it's the act of making a v-shaped cut through a living organism's torso to view its innards--think a dissection on something living or a highly invasive biopsy. But just Google the word, and the connotation becomes immediately apparent: vivisection, as a term, is chiefly used in biomedical trials on animals...or to refer to illegal organ harvesting and medical torture in humans. The word is specifically used when referring to several different kinds of unethical human experimentation, which I'm not going to go into because I would rather not be triggered this late at night. Needless to say, Norman is straight up not having a good time with whatever's been done to him, even if you ignore the shot of post-vivisection Norman looking something awful.

So what does this all mean? Literally, we see the tale of a boy running from an abusive home life into the arms of a God and a spider who transform him for their own purposes against his will. Metaphorically, it's how many religious organizations and cults treat the disenfranchised. They lure victims in with promises of safety and light that are impossible or too good to be true. But if a person is desperate enough for help, they can be made to believe anything--that your abusive father can be knocked aside with enough prayer, that your God can turn night into day. A normal church gives you shelter and lets you out at your leisure. An abusive church or a cult blackmails you into staying, by threatening your eternal soul, or your possessions, or by giving you the kiss of death from a poisonous spider named after the man who ferries you to Hades. So, if you're trapped, you stay, and cave to more and more demands, until you're hollowed out and made into the image of what they want you to be. And many people extracting themselves from this kind of abuse report gaslighting--that they were convinced by their spiritual leader that the world was against them, and that the only place it's safe to be is in the fold, away from the world and from retaliation by the people who say they love you. It's just that much easier to be drawn in if you're following in your family's footsteps.

I can't wait for the next song in this series, solely because of the angel we see at the end. They're clearly aware enough to be disturbed by what they're seeing--there's a good chance we'll see the other side of the coin, of how terrifying God and Charon can be.

But when it comes down to it, everything Norman does makes perfect sense. He looks for sanctuary, and he finds it. From his point of view, it probably didn't seem like that big of a sacrifice just to have somewhere he could call home. A twisted home it may be, but it's a home.

[mashitandsmashit]

America’s Got Talent: Season 15 - Auditions 1

Hello, and welcome to my reviews/countdowns for “America's Got Talent”, Season 15! I'm Mashitandsmashit, but you can call me Mash or Mashit for short...

So with AGT turning a decade-and-a-half old, some changes are bound to be made...I guess I'll just get them out of the way real quick...

1: Heidi Klum has officially returned to the AGT judges' desk, and yes, I will admit that after the boredom I endured from What's Her Name and That Other Chick last year, her quirkiness was sorely missed...

2: Sofia Vergara will be taking the other seat, and while she can be likable and entertaining, they probably just hired her because they wanted a chick with an even funnier accent than Mel B.

3: Due to a certain virus flying around, some of the auditions will be held remotely, like every other “live” show on TV right now...In fact, a handful of them have already been uploaded to Youtube, but I'm not sure whether or not they'll air these auditions on TV, so I'll hold off on reviewing them for now...

Anyway, it's not like we have anywhere to be these days, so let's get right down to tonight's premiere...

Here's my first act ranking for Season 15!

10: Archie Williams. The act that felt more like a Golden Buzzer than the ACTUAL Golden Buzzer, and the act most likely to win the whole season so far...And he's at the bottom of my list...Not that I don't see the value in him, his singing was very nice and all...BUT it was far from the best singing I've heard, including from old brothas like him...Indeed, when Simon said he will never forget this audition, it's pretty obvious what the reason is, and raw talent is not it...That being said...this is one case where I might be willing to throw the act a bone specifically BECAUSE of the sob story! In fact, I don't think I'm even gonna complain about this guy making it all the way to the Finals! Because you know what, as rubbish as the results on this show can be a lot of the time, even the worst results in the show's history don't even hold a candle to the injustice that this man had to suffer for all of these years! I'm at a point in my life where my mortality has hit me hard, giving me an existential crisis over not having accomplished anything significant that I would have liked to in life, and feeling trapped in my current situation, unable to improve it! I can only imagine what THIS guy went through, having the prime years of his life stripped away from him and thrown in a cage over something he didn't do! A LOT is owed to this man, not the least of which are those 37 FREAKING YEARS of his life back! But since that is a tragic impossibility, I guess the LEAST we can give him is his time in the sun on this show! And we won't let that sun go down on him! ...Even if he's by no means the best...Will he win? Probably not...But he'll probably go far either way...And maybe he can even legitimately earn some of it by improving his voice or performing an original song...Who knows...? (HOO, boy...That's a HELL of a review to open this season with!)

9: Double Dragon. I didn't know the Lee Brothers had successors! Where's the coin slot? I wanna beat up some Black Warriors with these ladies' singing and choreography! Anyway, this was entertaining, if rather gimmicky...We'll see if these ladies can pick a song choice I can take a little more seriously next time, or if they go all out on the silliness! ...Honestly, I'm kinda rooting on the latter!

8: Voices of Our City Choir. A choir getting the Golden Buzzer? STOP THE PRESSES! But seriously, I do see potential in this group...There were a few aspects to this act that we haven't seen in previous choirs, like the (very catchy and enjoyable) original song, the instruments and the choir leader actually singing with them (in a very unique singing voice, no less). I'd rather avoid another Detroit Youth Choir situation, but seeing that this IS Terry's Golden Buzzer, and the hosts' GB picks have consistently made the Top 3 AT LEAST every time...again, save for that old burlesque dancer lady...I'd say these people have the potential to keep that streak going...Then again, Angel City Chorale had similar draws to them, and they never did that well in the votes...The whole numbers factor usually only works for kids, because parents are more likely to vote than OTHER relatives...So between that and the comparisons made between this act and Archie, it's a tough one to call...We'll just see what develops as the season goes on...But if nothing else, maybe it's time to break that streak...

7: The Pork Chop Revue. We've seen dog acts, bird acts, cat acts and even a rat act, so who's to say we can't add pigs to the animal trick collective? I guess when you get down to it, it's pretty much another dog act but with pigs...And I probably wouldn't even say that pigs are the most difficult animals to train, as they're actually quite intelligent...But this was unique and different enough for the time being, and both the gigantic mother and the little baby pig stole the show...and everyone's hearts! That'll do, pigs...That'll do...

6: Ryan Tricks. I would like to take this moment to coin a new AGT term: The Shin Lim Effect! Basically, it refers to the shadow that has been cast over all magicians on this show by a certain other magician, hence the name...Because of it, all magicians that compete on this show will inevitably be compared to You-Know-Who...It's not exactly a fair comparison, but it does set the standard for what is expected of all magicians from here on out...This man, for instance, did a trick that was far from the most mesmerizing or head-scratching...BUT, he still made me wonder what made this trick possible, and as mundane as that sounds, it IS the highest of compliments you can give a magician! The only answer that could hurt his credibility is if Howie and Simon were plants...But I've long since stopped assuming that they do those things...I'm not ENTIRELY sold on him yet, but he is likable enough that I'm willing to give him a chance...

5: Broken Roots. These guys were easily the most interesting singers for me tonight! I look forward to seeing how they improve with a little more practice...

4: Muy Moi Show. Just when you thought you'd never see a more insane sideshow act than Bir Khalsa...This guy did everything short of hanging something off of his eyelids! He even put his shirt back on! That's almost a cardinal sin in the eyes of the female judges! All I have to say is, I look forward to seeing what he does with a bigger budget!

3: BAD Salsa. Is it wrong that I almost wondered if they were former V.Unbeatable members? I mean, they certainly had the acrobatic abilities! This takes the whole dance duo genre to a new level, so I guess it's no surprise that it's from India!

2: Vincent Marcus. I wish I had Eminem and Jay-Z singing my nursery rhymes back when I was little! I never watched Vine, so I'm not aware of this guy's earlier work, but he seems like a pretty funny guy! Question is, will he make good progress like Greg Morton, or will he be taken out prematurely like several other acts of this nature...? Who knows? But I hope he does well, because this was certainly one of the more memorable acts so far...

1: Malik DOPE. Looks like my dream band consisting of Tokio Myers, Brian King Joseph and Marcin Patrzalek finally has a drummer! I'm not sure if this guy blew me away to the same degree that those other guys did (yet), but I do love his moves! I see a lot of potential in this act, especially when he gets enough of a budget to add some special effects or something...(PS, I'd probably pick Courtney Hadwin to be the lead singer...I'll call them the Sounds of Chaos!)

Overall, a pretty solid opener to the season! Even the weakest acts (not counting the rejects) had something to admire, and that's always good!

Next week, Simon's apparently got the Golden Buzzer...And I figure that it's only a matter of time before his GB wins the show, so we'll see if this is the year...I just hope that WHATEVER kind of act it is, it's deserving enough to go all the way to the Finals as I'm sure it will inevitably either way...

So I guess I'll see you then...Assuming anyone else will be posting here with me, after the total silence I got at Champions a few months back...

Still looking into that podcast...

[doomelemental]

SWTOR: a rant about update 5.2

    1. This is probably very spoilery.

    2. Gaaaah, I can't believe we're all the way back to Imps vs. Pubs all over again... I'm so tired of this. Can't we have just a moment of peace and focus on rebuilding or discovering some secrets of the Force or something instead of WAR WAR WAR all day long? I mean, I know this is called Star WARS, but still... how aren't they tired of it? FFS. Really, what's the point of continuing this war? I don't get it.

I mean, even if you choose to be a "Peacekeeper", apparently you'll still have to pick a side and start warring -_- Just... ugh.

    3. It looks like we'll be able to side with any faction regardless of our original one. This has forced me to sit my ass down and really think about it. I have chosen to approach it from the viewpoint of my main character, a Sith Warrior with a mostly benevolent nature, who's trying to end this stupid continuous war. He has chosen to look beyond his own petty personal ambitions and to strive towards improving living conditions for the galaxy as a whole.

Well, let's see... 

To betray or not to betray the Empire. That is the question.

From the beginning, it has been clear that we've all been bred to consider the Empire as the bad people, the antagonists, evil incarnate, something that needs to be abolished, an enemy for the brave dashing heroes to fight, a horrifying image of what our own world could have looked like had the Nazis won the war. This has been achieved especially through the movie franchise, which has established a clear good guys/bad guys dichotomy.

However, I believe that SWTOR, though its inclusion of the Zakuul Empire, has presented us with an alternative point of view, and perhaps even an alternative course of action. You see, for all his abominable flaws, Valkorion did something right: he managed to create a near-utopia. Zakuul is a highly advanced society. They are highly educated, they have an advanced culture and superior technology, and pretty much all citizens live happy, comfortable lives without a care in the world.

All this came as a stark contrast to the level of civilization we were already accustomed with. We had two continuously warring factions, the Republic and the Empire, both apparently struggling to make ends meet. But, is one really better than the other? Are they not just sides of the same flawed coin, both bad/inefficient in their own way?

First, let's take a look at the Galactic Republic. I was left with the impression that its leadership is deeply corrupt. This seems to be a largely-known fact, even though everyone is very "hush-hush" about it. It has reached a level of stagnation and decadence that prevents it from progressing. I feel like it is too scattered, too decentralized, at times even inactive. Because of this, I see little opportunity for growth here.

Second, let's take a look at the Sith Empire. Truly, in its current state you'd have to be insane to actually want to live here (unless, of course, if you're a powerful force-sensitive human, which would make you highly privileged).

It is my firm belief that ~90% of the Sith in this game are psychopathic, sociopathic, irresponsible and egomaniacal children who have been given too much power. They seem to be evil just for the sake of being evil. They don't seem to have depth, they don't seem to look beyond their petty power grabs and selfish ambitions. No, it's just the same old "I'm so awesome I will muRDER ALL THE THINGS, MUHAHAHA! BOW BEFORE ME, SCUM!"

Sure, there are some who aspire towards greater goals, to "mold the galaxy according to their vision". But still, that "vision" usually revolves around spreading hate / fear / war / death / destruction / whatever-the-fuck-else-they-come-up-with across the entire galaxy. And I think we can all agree that this is simply a very unsustainable, very deluded, and very stupid idea for obvious reasons, and definitely no way to run an Empire.

No living being in any Universe, no matter how "dark-side", wants to live in a constant state of fear, hate, and suffering, and any organization based upon these things is bound to self-destruct.

Besides, it is my understanding that the Sith code aims and guides its adherents towards personal success and freedom. At what point was that equated with blind murder, treason, and complete disregard of the long-term consequences of one's actions? (read: killing your own subordinates for no reason on a regular basis, like SOME Sith >_> I mean, FFS, soon you'll end up with no subordinates whatsoever).

I refuse to believe that this is the true nature of most Sith, and instead I will blame their murderous and insufferable tendencies on the horrible education they have received since childhood. Thus, a simple fix would be to correct the Academy's teachings.

Aaaand here comes the Sith Warrior (light-side-leaning™) to the rescue, with a burning desire to change the Empire for the better, from within. From what I've seen, Empress Acina seems to be the perfect ally for that goal. She's ruthless when she needs to be, she's smart and competent, and she GETS it. If the Empire is to succeed, it needs to change, it needs to become an organization that people everywhere will be proud to be a part of. It needs to become a symbol of unity. A symbol of prosperity, of security and success resulting from that unity, as opposed to the corrupt, decentralized Republic. It needs to open up and become something that people everywhere will WANT to join, not just be forced to join. It needs to stop being closed-minded and insular, and its leadership needs to provide safety, purpose, comfort, and opportunity to grow and advance for all citizens, regardless of race.

And here's where Valkorion's Zakuulan model of society comes in. You are now in control of his Zakuul Empire, and as such you have the power to shape the future of the galaxy. I believe in progressively modelling the Sith Empire after Zakuul, or maybe somehow allying or merging the two together. Instead of sticking with a stagnant Republic system, we could build a united, just, strong, and prosperous Empire, one with the potential to come just as close to an utopia as Zakuul was under Valkorion's rule (except, of course, without his nasty side-projects).

That's why I'd chose to make my light-side warrior stay loyal to the Empire instead of defecting to the Republic. The light-side Jedi will, I guess, remain allied to the Republic because he has a different outlook. The Jedi were modelled after our Buddhist monks, they're not really fit to be leaders/emperors, but more like humble, detached peacekeepers and defenders. The Sith, however, are naturally driven and ambitious, which makes leadership roles fit them like a glove.

But I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how it all turns out...

There. I needed to get that out.

[nntodayblog]

The Guy Who Coined The Term ‘Easter Egg’ Just Realized It Was A Thing

There’s one man out there who’s done more for Easter eggs than the Bunny itself. But don’t worry if you were unaware of his influence. Apparently, he was, too.

Odds are you haven’t heard his name, but Steve Wright has had a sweeping impact on pop culture that’s lasted for nearly four decades. Back in 1980, during his days at Atari, he coined the term “Easter egg” for messages and jokes that creators intentionally hide in various forms of entertainment media.

Today, those types of eggs are ubiquitous. You can find them in TV shows, movies, music, video games and just about anywhere else they can be hidden. If you can’t spot them yourself, you can just read the countless Easter egg analyses or watch YouTubers like Mr. Sunday Movies, who are busy picking apart footage to reveal the tributes everyone else missed.

Even Steven Spielberg’s latest movie, an adaptation of Ernest Cline’s novel Ready Player One, is devoted almost entirely to the fanatic culture surrounding Easter eggs.

I’ve been writing about Easter eggs at HuffPost for years now, but Wright, like my mom, apparently hasn’t been reading my work. In an interview last month, he revealed to HuffPost that, until recently, he had no idea Easter eggs had become such a pop culture phenomenon. His epiphany only came after the release of “Black Panther.”

“I just happened to trip over an article that was talking about the Easter eggs in the ‘Black Panther’ movie,” the Denver-based Wright said over Skype, adding, “So I go, ’Oh, wow. There are Easter eggs in movies. Now, that’s great.’”

Uh, what? That’s all you have to say?

When I professed my love of Easter eggs ― describing in detail how I’ve been searching for and writing about them for years ― he simply said, “How about that. What fun.”

Perhaps part of the reason Wright is so alarmingly chill about the whole Easter egg thing is because, well, he’s had a storied career otherwise.

While working at Atari, Wright taught himself how to program in order to become a game designer. During our interview, he explained that he was the person who first suggested that his company bring in actual musicians to provide the soundtracks for games ― and actual artists to do the art. He rose up through the Atari ranks, managing various game developments and special projects. Later, he ended up producing visual effects for movies, literally writing the handbook on it.

In Spielberg’s “Ready Player One,” a movie that centers on protagonist Wade Watts’ (Tye Sheridan) mission to find Easter eggs, you get a CliffsNotes version of the real-life story of their origin.

The film notes that a game designer named Warren Robinett, tired of programmers not getting credit for their work, hid his name in a secret chamber tucked inside a 1979 Atari video game, “Adventure.” After completing a specific sequence of moves, an “Adventure” player would stumble upon his name, in a message stating, “Created By Warren Robinett.” This is known as the first Easter egg.

What the movie doesn’t explain is that the first Easter egg arrived during a big moment in video game history. In the late 1970s, Atari was in the midst of switching from a seasonal business to a year-round production company, Wright told me. It was hiring and expanding, and programmers were becoming industry celebrities.

“It was a transition in the early days,” Wright said. “The programmers were programmers. They wrote games. Atari sold games. But then in [the late ’70s], when I joined, we were no longer programmers. We were ‘game designers.’ OK, rock and roll. Interviews with Time magazine, and I did a lot of television appearances for Atari.”

Robinett, the man who planted the first Easter egg, said in a 2017 interview with Forbes that the employee culture at Atari was crap. In addition to claiming that upper management generally mistreated game designers, he said that while the game he designed sold more than one million copies, he was only making $20,000 a year ― and not receiving any credit for his work.

“I was not clever enough to think of a way to get a piece of those profits, but I did think of a way to get public recognition,” Robinett told Forbes, “which was to hide my name in the game in the secret room in a place that’s really hard to get to. That’s what I did.”

“I didn’t call it an Easter egg,” Robinett added, “but that name was bestowed on it by someone else.”

That someone else was Wright.

The official coinage happened after a kid found Robinett’s signature and wrote an effusive letter to Atari explaining how much he enjoyed it.

Atari was not amused. Wright was manager of the company’s home video game department at the time, and he said the “bigwigs” freaked out about the discovery, calling an emergency meeting about it.

Wright, eternally relaxed, suggested everyone slow down and recognize the value in Robinett’s hidden treasure. According to him, he immediately compared the discovery to finding an Easter egg.

“I said, ’Didn’t you read the letter? The kid loved it. In fact, not only should I not punish Warren Robinett, but we should make it policy that every video game has an Easter egg in it.’”

Robinett had already left Atari at this point, so there was no reprimanding to be done anyway. But Wright did convince the rest of the management staff that the egg was a virtue, and hiding more of them became a company-wide mandate.

“We didn’t at the time appreciate what a landmark event it was,” Wright said. But he said he “wrote a memo to all concerned [that] going forward it is the policy that we will bury Easter eggs in the video games for the kids to find.”

There were other messages hidden in games before 1979. In fact, a recently unearthed egg in the arcade game “Starship 1″ predates “Adventure” by about two years. But before Robinett and Wright, no one was calling them Easter eggs.

Robinett told Forbes he believes the term’s popularity also spread because hiding the egg served as a “subversive political maneuver.”

ReadyPlayerOne/Warner Bros

Looking back on the Easter eggs, Wright told us, “It’s just one of those serendipitous moments. I’m pleased that something I said took off and became fun for everybody, but I don’t get a royalty every time somebody says that.”

Wright joked about having “Father of Easter egg” on his business card, but he’s relatively blasé about the whole thing, despite of our efforts to convince him otherwise.

“I’m delighted that it became a thing, but I don’t have fans swarming around me or anything like that, so it’s sort of an abstract concept,” he said. “People dug it and ran with the ball, and they put it into movies, too. That’s cool, especially since I’m in the movie industry. It sort of followed me.”

Sadly, the Easter egg pioneer wasn’t invited to the “Ready Player One” premiere. But for the record, he was “not interested” in going either way. As far as being part of the inspiration for the movie, he’s unfazed by that, too.

“That’s nice. It makes me feel good, but, again, that was the reason they put me in charge of game development, because I’m a fun dude.”

The Easter Bunny’s got nothing on the Father of Easter egg.

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