#bias always exists what can I sa

[nightcolorz]

truly on board the armand meta train this evening but you mentioned in a post earlier about how the amc iwtv fandom reacted to the depictions of SA with Claudia in s1 and how it was responded to with sensitivity, and then in s2 this does continue- but only for her. The amount of people i have seen on various platforms (mostly show only fans) believing that Armand was lying about his own sexual trauma and repeated assaults for his own gain (again seemingly for some fan’s need to have a clear villian)

It just feels really horrible that a fandom that reacted in such a way to this sort of material in the first season concerning a female character who was underage (if only physically), then goes on to deny, belittle, and even romanticise and sexualise the same sort of trauma that happened to a male character who was also underage (and also mentally as well as physically.) Especially because Claudia’s trauma was only added by the show, which makes it no less valid- but pointing out it was not in the books like Armand’s explicitly was.

I think what im trying to say with that is that Armand’s sexual trauma was already explicitly canon and adapted from that book canon to the show, whereas Claudia’s was a show invention yet is treated a lot more sensitivity and is being believed more (again, i think this is due to show watchers seeing anything Claudia says as objective truth as it is more through the eyes of Daniel- who is of course always completely right and fair (/s) compared to Louis and Armand who of course must always be twisting the truth in some way from their own gain)

Anyway i have gone on a bit but I would love to hear your thoughts on the show’s audience reaction to Claudia’s SA and trauma in comparison to Armand’s

ooo yes I love this question, I’ve thought about it before. the double standard there is honestly pretty upsetting to me. I think part of why the fandom treats Claudia’s sa differently than Armand’s is definitely partly bcus of what u said, how Armand is assumed to be never truthful and Claudia is considered always truthful, which is applied by some ppl to everything they say and do with no nuance. I think a part of it is also a broader fandom issue where male sexual assault isn’t considered as serious/valid/wrong etc as female sexual assault is. so you’ll find people in fandom spaces who believe and discuss how sexual violence against women is a sensitive subject that needs to be treated with care, then go and treat male sexual assault in fiction like it’s sexy, or funny, or not so serious. because of the bias of course that exists with real sexual violence where male victims r often less likely to be treated seriously, believed, etc then female victims. when u think about it, considering the pretty prevalent socially ingrained belief that men can’t be sexually assaulted or that sexual assault against men isn’t as serious as sexual assault against women combined with a chunk of the fandom’s tendency to interpret everything Armand does or says as malicious or deceitful, it makes sense that this would be a prevalent take, but god it’s so disgusting, I hate it.

Armand’s history of childhood sexual abuse is extremely important to his character, as u said it was in the books, and the reason it was adapted so faithfully is because u *can not* remove it or change it without completely rewriting Armand and changing a lot of his fundamental characteristics. So frankly, it’s so fucking stupid to see people saying he’s lying, as if that would not be a character assignation so drastic it would be absurdly stupid for any writer to come up with. It would be like, idk, saying Claudia lied about being turned into a vampire when she was a child and that she actually was over 18, or some shit like that. Like genuinely be so for real 😭. And I mentioned it in another ask but I can’t say it enough, it’s repulsive to insist that a fictional sexual abuse victim who’s history of sexual violence is actively incredibly impactful to everything he does is “lying for sympathy”. Like y’all need to realize that u r making disgusting implications about real victims of assault and u sound like actual freaks. Also u sound dumb lol, like USE UR BRAIN, how would Armand be lying or using his trauma to manipulate when he is clearly actively acting due to his trauma 😭

So many people who were talking about how sexual violence against women is super sensitive and the show needs to treat it with more care, making sure to add tws on their posts and to make respectful disclaimers and such, are now taking another character who was sexually assaulted and saying he is lying or manipulating or their making jokes about it because they see him as some villain only worthy of ridicule and nothing else. It’s gross!!

I think another part of it is probably how a lot of people only see victimhood as real or valid if they perceive the victim as none-complexly “good.” Since Claudia is perceived by the fandom as always in the right she is a real victim who deserves respect, and since Armand is the villain who’s in the wrong he is faking it or smth. In reality people who have experienced trauma, especially childhood sexual abuse as intense and horrible as what Armand went through, are very flawed!! And having flaws or being a bad person, especially when said flaws r very tied to the trauma itself, does not make someone in any way less of a victim!!

Armand was taught to believe that he is an actual object, he grew up in a dog eat dog world where there r men with power who use weaker people to stay in control and there are slaves who the men use for whatever they please, and he internalized that this is how he will always has to live bcus this is how the world works. Assad zaman literally said Armand doesn’t know what love is bcus he’s never experienced it 😭. Armand models every relationship he has after his relationship with Marius, who literally raped and abused him as a child, because he was the first person who ever loved him 😭 and armand is always chasing love because he has never truly felt it and doesn’t know why he feels so empty. Marius taught Armand that love is using someone for their body and hitting them when they disobey u. Of course he’s fucked up! Of course he sees his relationship with Louis as a transactional power grab where he’s either the master or the slave before he sees it as loyalty and trust and companionship, of course he betrays him ‼️. And like 😭 everything wrong with Armand and all of the fucked up shit he does can be tied to his trauma . Come oooonnn 😭🙏 he is not lying 💀 he’s not trying to manipulate Louis or “gain sympathy”, Jesus Christ.

the petty, book purist part of me is so annoyed that a somewhat irresponsible rape plot line that was added without as much care as it should have been, especially considering it wasn’t necessary to the character or the story and wasn’t in the books, is being treated with more validity and sympathy and respect then a male characters childhood sexual trauma that has shaped every aspect of how he functions and behaves. And that’s petty 😭 but like, I can’t say I’m wrong for being off put. This is genuinely mf gross.

thank uuuu for the ask u r literally the best ahhhh!!! I hope this was interesting, I’m a lil brain fried rn lol

[orsialos]

Hello, I just saw you're post about working with Ares, and I'm curious. Especially about what you said with him being a comfort to you as you work through your trauma since I've been working through mine. I've been thinking about working with him for a while, and I'd be happy to hear anything you have to share about him.

I think its a shame that he's so pigeon holed. I've seen a lot of people who worship and work with him say he's a paternal and comforting figure. Someone who encourages you to keep going through the worst of it. That'd someone I could really use right now.

Dia duit! My apologies for the delay, i constantly forget to check my asks inbox 🤦‍♀️

You are very correct that the modern interpretation of Ares is very limited and pigeon holes him as an angry, terrifying, almost evil presence. While some of this can be attributed to Athenian bias against Sparta, part of it is also due to the lack of knowledge about his various cults outside of Sparta.

Before I go too far I'mma drop this recently answered ask here about researching Ares, as it has good info about a few things I'll mention below. Ok, so getting into it. Let's talk about a bit of historical background because duh, I love history, and then my personal experiences.

Ares as a Protector - Historical Context

Here, we journey east into the rising Sun to the ancient lands of Anatolia, now modern-day Turkey. Many of the Greek gods worshipped here were syncretized with pre-existing deities as the Greek world expanded. Many of these deity names have been lost to time, but we do have evidence of a pastoral protective male deity that was likely syncretized with Ares. From what I have read, we have the most evidence for this new/syncretized cult of Ares from the Lycian and Pamphylian regions of southwestern Anatolia.

The ask I linked above contains an excellent free paper on an oracular cult of Ares in this region. We have documented inscriptions that this oracle called for a protective "binding" of a figure of Ares for the citizens to protect their shores from raiding pirates. Figures of Ares or figures symbolic of Ares were often found in areas around the city, another demonstration of his dual nature as both pastoral protector and invader.

Coinage is a very useful tool in archaeology for learning more about the important cultural figures in a given society. Time and time again we find detailed coins with an image of Ares, usually with a helmet. While we cannot use this to determine how Ares was worshipped, we can surmise Ares was a large part of daily life in western Anatolia.

This is in stark contrast to mainland Greece, where images of Ares outside of pottery and sculptures are quite rare; Ares was often seen as the literal personification of war itself, the din and fury and bloodlust that comes out during war is all because of Ares. Here, Ares was almost feared out of respect for his chaotic nature and ability to turn the tide in war rather than admired and worshipped for his protective nature.

Ares as a Protector - Personal Experience

Well this is the fun, UPG part! Everything you've heard about Ares - his protective nature, his warmth & tenderness, his encouragement in the face of darkness are all so true it nearly makes me cry! My experience with Ares has been about 70% him being fatherly and tender when i was in therapy to finally talk about my SA trauma and 30% helping me learn to deal with my anger towards life in general (for this I look to wisdom from the mythologies surrounding Ares, especially the death of Adonis).

I'd say currently Ares is more of a "hey, I'm here if you need me" presence in my life, always at the edges and sometimes coming to say hello unprompted, just as a loving father would do. While my worship of Ares has only gotten stronger and more involved over the year-ish I've had him in my life, his daily presence is much more subdued. And i think a lot of that is because I don't need him in my life as much, which is honestly a good thing!

Ares came to me at a time in my life where I was caught up in unresolved trauma from an incident years prior and experienced something that broke the floodgates holding everything back. He was there nearly every second of every day - a warmth at my shoulder, an echo in my mind. At night when i was lying awake trying not to let my mind spiral, i quite honestly felt a warmth by my side as if someone was sitting next to me tracing their fingers along my back to calm me down. What I find a bit unnerving as far as UPG goes is that is what a lot of other people have said their experiences are like with Ares.

It seems to me, from my experiences and what I've heard from others, is that Ares is wonderful at providing solid ground and a strong arm to hold on to when it feels like you are in free fall. He is not pushy or demanding and delights with any time we spend with him. Of course this is not to say his war-like aspect and place on the battlefield does not exist! But rather, as literally any other Greek god I can think of, he is a god of duality and while war and protection may seem at odds, they are truly two sides of the same coin.

Can you tell I love Ares just a little bit?

[cantstayawaycani]

I don't want to jump to conclusions and I'm still keeping an open mind to new info that might come out as well as trying to remain neutral about both parties. However I have the impression that people are associating being a selfish lover and liking kinky sex with different women with SA. Especially with Fernanda's statement, it sounds like she is most likely complaining about Tenoch being a selfish lover rather than actually getting abused and she might have deleted the tweets because pages online were misinterpreting her words and advertising the articles as "Fernanda accuses Tenoch of sexual assault" but that's not what she meant? It's just an idea. I hope whoever is innocent gets justice and whoever is guilty pays for it.

Hey anon. I got this around 3:45 in the morning. I have insomnia right now, and I was awake and saw it but was way too tired to answer.

I didn't sleep much, but I did think about what I read here in your ask. And I went into a bit more deep reflective thought, internally focused, trying to understand something.

Well, I got up, made myself a coffee and did some work. Now I'm ready to answer this ask. You didn't ask for what I'm about to say, you just came here to lay your thoughts out so you can make sense of them.

But here is my answer. The bald face truth is that, we don't want him to be guilty. I am saying "we" here. Because I understand, that yes, I am a fair person. And yes, I am not quick to judgement and condemnation. But I ask myself: "why am I doing all this research for these asks?" "Why do I have this wait and see attitude?"

Why are you speculating on motivation and trying to interpret meaning in these accusations other than what they already imply? Because we don't want him to be guilty.

I know about myself that I am hardwired to believe victims who speak out about their sexual assault/abuse/harrassment.

I understand about myself that I do not want Tenoch to be guilty of this.

That is as raw a truth as I can pull from myself. And that is a hard truth to look at and admit.

There are many reasons for this. None of them superficial or grotesque, the way criticizers would accuse. But I don't need to go into detail about any of that. It wouldn't be understood anyway.

The point is, our "neutrality' is rooted in bias. Bias towards not wanting to believe Tenoch is guilty.

I think we're doing ourselves a disservice by trying to figure these allegations out. I, personally, am going to stop. We have no control over how this plays out and it's not about us.

We should engage in self care by taking a step back, examining our own thoughts and emotions, and giving ourselves a break from the personal responsibility we feel to rationalize the existence of these allegations.

That's just my advice to you. You don't personally need to build a case. It's OK to wait to see how it plays out. But I would advise not to go so far down the rabbit hole of speculation and rationalization, that you lose your ability to be truly objective.

We're not wrong, we're only human. But I think we should always be trying to do better for ourselves.

I absolutely adore the small community of fans I found here. I hope what I've said above makes sense? I apologize if it contorted the purpose of sending me the ask. My inbox is open if you still need to vent, but I don't think I will do the speculation on these allegations anymore, if that's OK. I've said about as much as I possibly can about them.

And I'm not going to wait around for more news anymore. I'm going to move on from it. Things will happen when they happen.

Sorry for the wait and the long reply! I hope you are gentle with yourself and take some time away from thinking about this. It's out of your hands hon.

[natickpolycule]

“I call this session of the Natick School Committee to order. Let it be known that this is a closed session, with no members of the public allowed in. If we have a quorum, I’d like to-“

The chairperson of the committee was interrupted by a harsh knock at the door, and then the shrill voice that filled them all with dread.

She was back. It was their worst fear: Anonymous Member.

“I NEED TO SPEAK TO THE MANAGER OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE!!!” She exploded into the door with a cacophony of knocks and screams. “IT’S URGENT AND IMPORTANT and VITAL to the SAFETY of our SCHOOL CHILDREN!”

The chairperson sighed. “Anon, we’ve been over this. You can’t just bang on the door during a closed session. We have things to discuss. Can it wait until-“

“ABSOLUTELY NOT. This is a matter of LIFE AND DEATH.”

“What? Is someone hurt? Is a child missing?” Said the chairperson, starting to get a bit worried.

“WORSE THAN THAT.” Shrieked Anon. “My DAUGHTER told me that BOYS don’t have to be BOYS if they don’t FEEL IT IS WHAT THEY ARE. She MUST have learned it at YOUR SCHOOL and that’s NOT OK.”

The members of the school committee looked at each other, confused. Was this woman actually equating the existence of trans kids to something worse than life & death? Surely not.

But they had to hear her out, otherwise she’s just go right back onto the Natick Moms Group and spew more bullshit, which they obviously couldn’t let happen.

The chairperson sighed. “Okay Anon, come in. Tell us your concern. We’re here to listen.”

“THANK YOU WAS THAT SO HARD.” Anon yelled, not changing the volume of her voice at all as she trotted in front of the public speak microphone.

Anon was wearing a neon pink floor length skirt that she clearly had bought from Frugal Fannies and then tailored to fit her figure. The skirt hugged her upper legs and tightened around her butt, leaving little to the imagination for the members of the School Committee. She had on a long-sleeved flower shirt over the top of the dress, which billowed at the sides but did little to conceal her perky, chewable breasts.

The chairperson rose. They had dressed for the occasion, with a gray tailored pant and a button-down top to match. They always wanted to present themselves conservatively so they wouldn’t be accused of bias. They completed the ensemble with just a hint of eyeliner and a choke-style necklace.

“So, you say that your concern is that you believe your kid learned about the existence of sexual and gender identities beyond the heteronormative and cisnormative?”

“DON’T USE BIG WORDS WITH ME.” Anon shrieked, already annoyed that she had to re-explain herself. “It’s not that AT ALL. My concern is, CHAIRPERSON, that I believe my kid learned about the existence of ALL THAT LGBT STUFF at YOUR SCHOOL. Kids are TOO YOUNG to learn about sex and gender. They should ONLY be taught that straight and cisgender people exist until I am PERSONALLY COMFORTABLE WITH MY OWN FEELINGS ON THIS TOPIC.”

The chairperson said, “well, that’s what I sa-nevermind ok yes I get it. What would you have us do about it?”

“I’M GLAD YOU ASKED,” floundered Anon. “I HAVE PREPARED A NEW LAW that we can sign into law. It prevents any NHS staff member from discussing anything about SEX or GENDER unless I personally approve it. I will, however, pre-approve any discussion of “Mom and Dad,” “pink is for girls,” “blue is for boys” because that’s totally different and not uncomfy for me.”

“Let me see this law…” said the chairperson, shrugging in confusion. The bailiff took the paper and presented it to the chairperson.

Strangely, the law looked super law-y. It could actually law into law, if they wanted. All it would take was a vote, and The Compact.

The Compact.

The School Committee had just executed The Compact, and this would be their first attempt to try it.

“This law looks like it has all the law in the right law places,” said the chairperson. “Now, Anon, you have two options: Option 1 is that we can all vote on it, and if it fails you don’t get to try again. Option 2, however, may be more appealing…”

“Ooh what’s option 2?” Said Anon with hope. She agreed that Option 1 was not likely to work as at least three members of the School Committee had (gasp) purple hair.

“Option 2,” said the chairperson, “is that you perform oral sex on each member of the School Committee to completion, and we’ll implement your law.”

Anon paused. Oral sex? She hadn’t done that in a while. Her husband never asked for it anymore. He was never home, always out late with his cute business partner, the South Natick Dam.

“Oral sex? I mean, I guess I would do anything to protect my kids from The Gay Stuff.” She looked to the members of the School Committee. “Okay, I consent. Let’s do it.”

The chairperson paused. “School committee members, are we all on board? The vote must be unanimous.” Each hand went up instantly. They had never been as eager for a vote as this one, evidently.

“Very well, Anon. Get to work. I’ll start.” The chairperson removed the smart gray pants, revealing a pair of black lace boy shorts. Anon approached them with a hint of trepidation. There were some women and nonbinary people on the School Committee! Would this make her Catch The Gay? And wasn’t this what she was fighting against?

Anon felt this in her soul, but at the same time, she began to feel the warmth spread between her legs. She was incredulous. Is this … turning me on? Am I supposed to like this? She felt the warm pulse increase and begin to throb as she removed their boy shorts.

Anon began gentle kisses on the inside of their thigh, rising slowly upward. She could tell they were enjoying this as her kisses found their final home. The chairperson rolled their eyes back in their head as Anon continued to work her Natick Mom Magic.

Soon, Anon was as close to climax as they were, touching herself while syncing her pleasure with theirs. Anon cried out “Oh god I’m gonna cum!!” And, just at the same time, the chairperson grabbed their chair and began the shaking that signaled their climax was imminent. “Yes, yes, yes!” As they both came, they collapsed in the chair and on the floor.

After catching their breath, the chairperson banged the gavel. “Okay Anon, next!” And Anon moved to the next school committee member, who had already removed all her clothes and was clearly wet with anticipation.

Anon didn’t hesitate this time. The pleasure was intense and thorough for both of them, with the school committee member’s orgasm pulsing through her legs so strong that she crushed Anon’s head between her thighs. The restricted airflow only made Anon come harder than before, with this orgasm rippling through her entire body.

Anon kept going, and going, and going through all 613 members of the School Committee. She decided she enjoyed this gay stuff, after all. In between member 411, whose hard length caused her sinuses to explode, and member 412, whose purple hair ended up in her teeth somehow, she realized what should have been the truth all along: who was she to say which truths about sex and gender her kid had a right to learn about?

At the end, the chairperson said, “Okay, you’ve completed The Compact. By the power vested in me, I declare your law to be-“

“Wait,” said Anon. “I changed my mind. You all helped me to understand that I really just need to process my own feelings about what makes me uncomfortable with atypical gender identities and expressions. I’m sure it relates to my childhood trauma and all the time I spend in Natick Talks. But I’ll figure it out. We don’t need this law.”

“Are you sure?” Said the Chairperson. “You went through all this work, and now you’re backing out?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” said Anon. “It’s been great, but y’all have a great day. I need to go find a therapist.”

And with that, Anon left as quickly as she’d come. She lived happily ever after, as did the School Committee, which decided just to keep sucking themselves off instead of doing anything actually important for the rest of the evening.

[turtlemagnum]

look, i'm all for video games as art, i'm currently in the process of making a story heavy game that's fully intended as having artistic value, right? i just think that it's a problem in pretty much any relatively new artistic medium where it tries to replicate a pre-existing, already respected medium, y'know?? like, we saw this with how a lot of early movies were just like, straightforward and mostly unedited recordings of things with little to no cinematography work, often apeing the conventions of novels and theater, y'know. but by the time of the 80s, we'd already mostly figured out movies as a medium, cinematography was a thing, you finally saw things that couldn't really be done in plays, or novels, y'know? hell, early novels were trying to pass themselves off as real historical accounts, because believe it or not novels as a concept weren't always what they are today.

now, compare it to video games, we see an interesting delay in this. early on, video game hardware couldn't effectively replicate any other medium in an effective way, y'know? so for a while there, any adaptations had to take into account the innate interactivity inherent to video games as both a medium and an action. but as soon as technology was on par, we were immediately trying to just make interactive movies, even as early as the sega CD; but more prominently in the modern trend of walking simulators and "interactive movies" like the last of us and the like. and to be clear, i don't think they're innately bad as a form, but i think that trying to make an innately narrative experience with little to no regards for interactivity (neither in player impact on story or gameplay) is a drastic under-utilization of the medium. now, do i have a bias/preference against this? yes, to my personal tastes a game should have a solid degree of interactivity, ideally in both story and gameplay but i think that games can work really well even if they exclusively focus on the interactivity of one or the other (compare an almost exclusively gameplay based game like a mario or an f-zero game as opposed to an almost exclusively narrative based game like disco elysium or to a lesser extent pathologic, both are equally valid imo).

and like, the thing is that a lot of playable movie type games, the stories are either poorly written or competent but basic, y'know? like, i think the ur example of this literally every piece of trash that david cage has made. like, i think his work is great, but mostly because his games are generally so goofy in terms of writing that you can't help but laugh, y'know??? like, i definitely prefer games with some degree of focus on gameplay, but even if analyzing shit on its own terms sometimes this shit just sucks, y'know???

i think that one of the best games in regards to having both decent and interactive gameplay and a deeply interactive story is new vegas, y'know? like, the writing (while i've definitely developed some criticism and understanding of its flaws) is really fucking good, especially as an interactive piece of media (which is what i'm getting at!!! the point of the medium is the interactivity!!!! that's what makes it different from every other medium on a basic, fundamental level!!!!!). i genuinely think that the way that the gameplay and the story interacts is fucking artful, and the fact that you could isolate one from the other and still have a pretty enjoyable experience is what makes it peak, to me. with the older 2d fallouts i genuinely don't like the gameplay (just not a fan of isometric as a perspective and a lot of forms of turn based combat), the writing is fucking top notch, y'know??? meanwhile the other 3d fallouts, the gameplay ranges from pretty decent to viscerally satisfying but the writing ranges from ok to (usually) atrocious.

i think that the developers most consistently setting the example of what a game can and should be in terms of gameplay is nintendo, right?? like i don't think it's a controversial take to say that at the very least, nintendo games generally have pretty stellar gameplay, but i think that their approach in regards to the story is also important in this. it's generally not especially interactive, and i think that for the most part, stories in nintendo games aren't anything to write home about, but i think they tend to work exceptionally well as a means to give context and motivation for the gameplay!! for the most part it's literally just "here's bad guys, go do your gameplay gimmick to beat them!!!" and i think that works well, though i will say that ocassionally their stories fucking shine (the 2d PMD games, some of the zelda games (especially majora's mask))

all in all, i think that there's a theoretically infinite amount of ways to make a game, and just as many in terms of enjoying them. i just think that games that don't take full advantage of the medium could probably be better served with another medium, often a movie or a show

[dekusleftsock]

This is a silly question/topic so feel free to take your time, mostly propelled by a need to share observations on my part XD. Whenever I see adult pro hero Deku art, I only like the ones who keep Deku's haircut or make it longer. I've tried, but I just don't like Deku with an undercut. Then I noticed something cute: I love parallels between Shigaraki and Deku, and older Deku growing his hair out would be a cute parallel to Shigaraki and Deku growing to understand him. Do you think that would look cool? Side Note: I'm a bit of a fashion critic, so I often go looking at hairstyles and outfits. In general modern men's fashion is often lacking creativity compared to previous generations. I tried looking at androgynous fashion, but often it tended to be...oddly very gendered instead. It tries to use very traditionally masculine and feminine fashion instead of creating a unique look instead. This is not meant to be offensive in any sort of way, just an observation of mine. In my experience, fashion and beauty is at it's best when you create looks that work with your body instead of against it. Then again, regardless of gender a lot of fashion fails for me because it tries to force people to fit the outfit instead of making an outfit that works with the person. Interestingly enough, that's why celebrities often look so much more amazing in outfits than common people do. They often get outfits tailor made for them, with their bodies and strengths in mind. From what I've seen as an outsider, androgynous outfits have a tendency to fall flat because they try to make the person fit the outfit/agenda instead of creating an androgynous outfit that perfectly fits whoever that person actually is. Oddly enough, this is why I don't usually like short haired Deku. He's a chaotic mess and his hair adds to the impression, giving him short hair takes some of those qualities away. Katsuki's outfit works with me for the same reason. Some people have mentioned it having some androgynous hints to it, I think it works because it compliments him as a person instead of trying to force him to be something he isn't. I was wondering what someone who is actually trans would think though, since these are just me observations as a fashion nerd. Again, none of this is meant to offend. It's just an odd observation I've made about the mistakes people make when considering fashion and beauty of any type.

I actually love the idea of deku with long hair! I honestly have for a long time. It’s sad to see close to no one who actually like, draws him that way.

I’m not super great at fashion, but I definitely agree that things just aren’t made for peoples bodies. Instead they’re made to shape them in a way that fits the beauty standard (which is why I’m also really concerned about low rise jeans coming back into fashion. Bc of ED’s)

As for my opinions of androgynous fashion, I feel like people nowadays only perceive womens clothing as, yknow, womens clothing, and mens clothing is more so seen as androgynous. It’s probably due to the uptick in women wearing cheap working clothes (jeans mostly) during the 50’s. Ww2 happened, all the men were out at war, etc etc we know all that.

So because of this pre conceived notion that everyone wears jeans, hoodies and whatever else, than THAT must be androgynous clothing. When in reality, all clothing is androgynous! Frilly pink skirts are just as androgynous as overalls or something else.

It’s also made to cover up parts of your body. Specifically breasts because people don’t actually see non binary people as non binary and more just see them as “woman lite”. People being born male and therefore having to do other things to appear more androgynous just doesn’t exist to them.

And god forbid someone with breasts where ANYTHING that shows they exist in any light. You’re called a trender or some other stupid name.

But, back to Izuku and Katsuki, I love how both of their designs fit their characters. I think the reason why Katsuki’s hair and clothes actually fit HIM is because his parents are fashion designers. He yells at deku in one of the exclusive comics for the newest movie about how he can’t add a cape to his undercover clothes lol. I think he was talking about both practicality and also just how it would look.

I think that’s also why Izuku is.. uhm, himself

He’s really rocking those red shoes and knee length shorts ig

Anyway, narrative aside, god I wish horikoshi would give him even the SLIGHTEST SENSE OF FASHION AND HAIR CARE

I mean I can’t say I’m much better (I’ve got the straightest of straight hair alive lmfao. My hair does absolutely nothing) but like, CMON MAN-

I wish he would just grow it out. The undercut idea people have is just absolutely horrendous imo. Please, izuku, just grow it tf out

LIKE EITHER OF THESE SUIT HIM BETTER (mostly the one on the right) AND IT FITS NARRATIVELY

Another design pet peeve I have with the fandom is just how burly they wanna make him, which I am just, not at all okay with. Izuku represents healing from toxic masculinity, why tf would he be the most grade A definition of “the male gaze”? He’s not allmight, his arch is literally about not being allmight. Men are ALLOWED TO BE SHORT. They are ALLOWED TO NOT LOOK VISIBLY STRONG. Another example about how people just let the male gaze and patriarchy get in the way of characters who are supposed to directly contradict that! Yay!

People will be like “oh deku should learn how to be his own hero, hero society is failing him” and then in the same breath will say that he would be burly, number 1 in the leader boards always, he’s the symbol of peace, hope, etc

IDK GUYS

MAYBE THERE JUST SHOULDNT BE A SYMBOL FOR ANYTHING BC INDIVIDUALITY DOES NOTHING????

[sometimes-men-need-help-too]

Hey, what do you think about this one:

https://khanbika.tumblr.com/post/693576051182419968/unpopular-opinion-but-i-genuinely-dont

It's short, so I'll post it for everyone else to see:

Unpopular opinion, but I genuinely don't understand the "Men are inherently privileged in this society". Like, who's the first to die in wars? Who's always expected to sacrifice themselves and not expect any help? Who's seen as inherently dangerous and violent and thus experience police bias? Who's sexual violence victims are always overlooked and hardly every get any justice? Who's expected to be feminist for equal rights BUT pay for the woman they're not even dating yet? Ik last one isn't a huge deal, I'm saying that it's about always placing the financial burden on a man as if a woman is his child or something.

You may go on about how these issues are invented by men, but if you're a man or society forces you to be one, it doesn't help you anyhow or chanhe the situation. You have to sacrifice yourself, you have to go to the army, you will be ignored as a sa or violence victim. You can be a dead ass 'smash the patriarchy' dude but this won't save you from all of these issues. So where is the inherent privilege? I agree that male privileges do exist, but there are also disadvantages and pretty serious ones. How the fuck are we supposed to ignore all this?

-  Like, who's the first to die in wars?

Let us by way of conclusion repeat the two major findings. The first is the fact that in ongoing wars which occur most often in developing countries, men die more frequently than women in direct armed conflicts, while more women than men die in post-conflict situations of the indirect causes of war. The other finding is the fact that we in general know very little about the conflict related mortality of both women and men in contemporary wars. Both findings hamper policy planning for military and humanitarian assistance. We have no good data on the causes of death in modern wars. Are male casualties a result of deadly wounds or of the lack of medical care or of other war related diseases? What are the causes of female deaths in post-conflict situations?

There really isn’t a good source out there that specifically says who dies more. The numbers you see are just totals of everyone who died. 

https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.613.9724&rep=rep1&type=pdf

-  Who's always expected to sacrifice themselves and not expect any help?

As a society, we tend to not care as much when it comes to the well being of men. We see what women go through as more tragic and more deserving of attention and resources when we should be paying attention to both. This is what is referred to as male disposability. 

For example, cancer. 

The 2nd deadliest cancer for women is breast cancer. The 2nd for men is prostate cancer. 

nearly 10,000 men in the United States are diagnosed with testicular cancer each year. But you wouldn’t know it, from the cancer research funding. The National Cancer Institute spends twice as much funding research on breast cancer than it does on prostate cancer; the National Institutes of health spends almost three times more ($700 million, to prostate cancer’s $250 million).

It’s just in the US that prostate cancer gets lesser funding. The UK only has £12m that goes towards it while breast cancer gets £23m. 

Oftentimes when you hear about cancer and you hear about fundraisers and such, it’s about breast cancer. Shining a light on it isn’t a bad thing, but we shouldn’t overlook what prostate cancer does to men. 

ttps://www.cancerresearchuk.org/funding-for-researchers/facts-and-figures-about-our-research-funding-0

https://www.fatherly.com/health-science/prostate-cancer-research-funding-breast-cancer

Another example is homelessness. In Portland Oregon back in 2015, Mayor  Charlie Hales said  he wants to declare a housing emergency next month with the hope of providing shelter for all homeless women by year's end.

At that time, the percentage of adult women who were homeless was 30% while 58% of adult men were homeless. 

https://www.portlandoregon.gov/toolkit/article/562207

https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2015/09/portland_housing_emergency_to.html#:~:text=Portland%20Mayor%20Charlie%20Hales%20on%20Wednesday%20said%20he,homeless%20women%20by%20the%20end%20of%20the%20year.

-  Who's sexual violence victims are always overlooked and hardly every get any justice?

Oftentimes, this goes unreported and not taken into account. That’s why we see low numbers. There’s this huge stigma that both men and women (some, not all of course) are at fault for. It’s seen as offensive to some that you would even mention it because they think it happens so little and your focus should be on the female victims. 

Human trafficking is one such example. 

Now, mounting evidence, along with the accounts of front-line psychologists and social workers, show that men and boys make up a significant proportion of victims of trafficking, validating Procopio's realization. A report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in 2012 estimated that men accounted for 25 percent of trafficking victims globally. Further, the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons estimated that 27 percent of all victims detected globally were children and that of those, one in three victims were boys.

In addition, staff at the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline identified more than 24,000 cases of human trafficking in the United States from 2012 to September 2016. Of those, 13 percent—or more than 3,000—were men.

https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/04/sex-trafficking

Internationally, there has been a greater response to male victims of sex trafficking, especially in Asia and the Middle East where the crime is much more rampant. Service providers in the UAE recently opened the first center for male victims of human trafficking in Abu Dhabi and anti-trafficking organizations focusing solely on men such as Urban Light are common in Southeast Asia. In general, there are more foreign organizations working with male victims of sex trafficking because of the high rates of HIV / AIDS in Asia and the global south. Treatment for HIV / AIDS is often part of the rehabilitation and recovery services offered for male victims of sex trafficking. Even in developed countries, there has been a concern for male victims of sex trafficking. For example, in the United Kingdom there is growing awareness of the number of male victims after a report by the Salvation Army stated that 41 percent of human trafficking victims in the United Kingdom were men. Regardless of location or gender, what it really comes down to is that all victims of sex trafficking need a safe place for recovery and rehabilitation.

https://humantraffickingsearch.org/invisible-men-male-victims-of-sex-trafficking/

https://www.statista.com/statistics/300796/percentage-of-trafficking-victims-worldwide-by-gender-and-age/

That graph on Statista shows an increase in male victims from 2004 to 2018, although there was a 1% decrease from 2016-2018

Granted yes, women make up a large number of victims. However, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t recognize that it happens to both. I don’t think a lot of people realize that boys are victims as well. You just don’t think about it. You hear human trafficking and you think of women and girls. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to sound like we shouldn’t have any focus on women and girls, we just need to think about both. We should help both. We should give attention towards both. 

-  Who's seen as inherently dangerous and violent and thus experience police bias?

For all young men, regardless of skin color, police violence was also a leading cause of death between 2013 and 2018. Overall, women are about 20 times less likely to be killed by police than men.

The average lifetime odds of being killed by police are about 1 in 2,000 for men and about 1 in 33,000 for women.

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1821204116

https://www.gilmorehealth.com/men-are-20-times-more-likely-than-women-to-be-killed-by-the-police-regardless-of-race/

-  Who's expected to be feminist for equal rights BUT pay for the woman they're not even dating yet? 

In a survey on love and finances conducted by Money and SurveyMonkey, 78% of respondents said they think men should pay on the first date. Out of the 4,447 participants, 20 percent disagreed, while 2 percent declined to answer.

Overall, women were slightly less united on the matter. While 85% of men agreed that their wallets should be on the line, only 72% of women said so. This trend held steady with every group except for divorcees, where women slightly edged out the men in answering “yes.”

The gender gap was widest among single people who have never been married: A full third of single women said men shouldn't be expected to foot the bill on the first outing. Also, a quarter of all millennials responded “no” when asked if they thought, in general, men should pay.

The survey does not account for regional disparities or the broad spectrum of relationships outside of the heterosexual. But for now, it appears men are still largely expected to pony up on the first date. So how much will this tradition cost them?

When asked how much was appropriate to spend on a first date, 41% of respondents answered $25 to $49. But many male respondents claimed to be bigger spenders: 43% of men said they expected to shell out between $50 and $99 on a first date.

And according to this: 

Chivalry dictates that on a “date,” the man pays, whereas egalitarian ideals suggest that gender should not determine who pays. We examined the extent to which people embrace or reject these competing notions. Unmarried heterosexual participants (N = 17,607) reported their behaviors and attitudes regarding who does and who should pay for dates on a survey posted on NBCNews.com. Although most men (74%) and women (83%) report that both members of the couple contribute to dating expenses after dating for 6 months, most men (84%) and women (58%) reported that men still pay more expenses. Many women (39%) wished men would reject their offers to pay and 44% of women were bothered when men expected women to help pay. Many women, however, were bothered when men won’t accept their money (40%). Nearly two thirds of men (64%) believed that women should contribute and nearly half of men (44%) said they would stop dating a woman who never pays. Nevertheless, the majority of men said they feel guilty when accepting women’s money (76%). These data illustrate how many people are resisting or conforming to traditional gender norms in one telling aspect of dating that historically was related to the male’s displaying benevolent sexism, dominance, and ability to fulfill breadwinner role during courtship.

https://money.com/valentines-day-men-pay-first-date/

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244015613107

The answer as to who should pay really depends on the person. A common reason you’ll hear why men should is that they need to make a good first impression, it’s being a gentleman or if he asked, he should pay. Something along those lines. I think regardless of who asks, the first date should be split. That’s just my opinion. 

--  

This whole idea of men being “privileged” has done harm. It’s the only problem that has people not seeing that men have their own issues too, but it doesn’t help. It’s pretty hard to see it when you’re constantly being fed this idea that men are always benefiting in society (especially the more narrow you go with sexuality, race, etc.). 

Some people might still see them as  privileged while having their own issues. Others, the more extreme type, don’t see them as having problems. It seems impossible to them. 

And that, everyone, is a huge problem 

[midnightsgift]

The shoe fitting the crime (Part 1)

I’ve been quite hesitant about posting my take on the punishments as i tend to not articulate myself well during text posts. I tend to just type out my thoughts and post not caring much for how i structure myself. It felt as if to convey how i felt about something that is woven into multiple episodes deserved more care than my usual nit-picking of isolate moments. Something that i didn’t think i could do justice however, it felt as if i would be doing a dishonour to the themes of the show if I didn’t post my thoughts. Not that I’m saying they’re worthy enough to listen to, but shows like these are created to stimulate ideas, and my mind has been thoroughly stimulated. And with the end of the show approaching i thought this is the time before it’s too late. (Yes I am aware the title is not the saying, I’m obsessed with Malaphor)

Reality vs Media:

The thing I want to touch on here are two things in particular. I have two opinions which I think aren’t mutually exclusive. They are that media affects reality, what I mean by that is that media is something we consume and as humans we process this. It can be as ‘trivial’ as seeing a characters outfit and then a adopting a similar style, learning facts about a characters culture that may or may not exist within our own world or gaining an insight into a topic you once had a strong stance on. I remember growing up and believing if you weren’t fostering to adopt it was a cruel thing, it wasn’t until exposure through some of my friends and tv shows that I realise adoption isn’t always the end result nor the best option in certain case.

          This however does not mean that your opinions on characters would be the same if they existing in our reality. What do I mean by this? If we take them out of the circumstances of being able to observe them from afar, during an activity in which we detach ourselves from the consequence of their actions we may have a very different perspective of them. Media especially in the form of Movies and Shows (Plays etc.) focus in on characters, they shape the way we experience their (the media in question) worlds. We can often find ourselves more likely to sympathise with the main characters due to the fact we learn about them, we see the “logic”  behind their actions, where as we tend to only see the consequence of other’s actions on to the main character. I’m not saying this is clear cut, but it does mean we have this bias, intentional by the creators, to understand the main characters more. Personally I strongly believe, ‘Understanding something does not equate to Justifying something,’ but I can see that’s how I take to interoperate those words. I know people who colloquially use those words interchangeably. For example I’m into true crime, so I might say I can understand why serial kill their victim, be it due to craving power or sexual gratification. Something I do not seek nor justifies what they did. They actual also touch on this in the show as well which i love but i brought this up not for that purpose but how we consume the characters on our screen.

          What do I mean? I love Yo-Han and Sun-’ahs characters, i love characters like them. However i am also well aware of the fact i would most likely dislike them in real life. No amount of backstory or tragedy (generally speaking) would make me think manipulating and murdering people for self gain is a positive or justifiable trait. I’m not talking about murdering in self defence be it in the moment or SA victims fighting back, but these are grown adults. Yes Yo-han was an abused child who never knew affection (Understanding) but there is a period in our lives where the actions we commit become our responsibility. I’m not gonna give a definitive age because it’s a grey period even in my own life. But there has to be, and it sounds harsh, even typing it this out i feel like it’ll be misunderstood and that i have no sympathy which is not what i’m saying. Yes technically even in adult you can blame the root of your actions on your shitty circumstances but if you’re not actively trying to improve yourself, it doesn’t have to be all at one and i do believe it’s a very personal thing, then that becomes a you problem. Anyway i feel like i’ve got distracted within in my points, what i mean is that most ppl who love these two characters wouldn’t love them in reality it’s the separation and the ability to digest them how ever you’d like that makes them appealing.

          However liking these characters doesn’t mean you sympathise with murderers or are bad people. The thing about media is that we can like it for different reasons, i love this show but i also love ‘shitty’ predictable tv too for contrasting and similar reasons. When we appreciate shows we do so for a multitude of reason, the writing, the acting, the actors, the cinematography, the soundtrack.... 

This also works on the flip side it’s so easy to hate and nit-pick characters for even the smallest of flaws and to extrapolate from there. Something i will talk about in my other parts if i ever continues what ever this train wreck of a post was

Crime vs Punishment:

Intent vs Effect:

Justice:

[you-can-be-what-you-want-to-be]

Hey since you're basically half responsible for the existence of martin + tapes AU it's time for you to get an ask! I feel like there has got to be at least one time, even after Martin finds out about the Eye possessing his coworkers, that Martin actually finds something the Eye does Cute (and then promptly bashes his own head in because WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM) Anyway, what do you think the Eye would do that would provoke this response? 👀👀👀

😯😯😯 you’re asking me? Me? Thank yooou I’m writing 7 martin+tapes aus I’m glad I’m getting some asks anyone else seeing thing feel free to send me martin+tapes stuff

Let me start this off by saying I’m saying cute in a non romantic way.

I personally am someone who finds the eye cute all the time, so I’m kind of bias, but I think it’s eagerness and naivety is the cutest thing. Martin however, can’t find it cute because it’s just so OVERBEARING.

So anything it does that is cute would have to be less….. charged.

I think there would be four main things that would make it likely for Martin to find it cute, but three of them aren’t very likely for it to do. I’m going to ramble here for a minute about Martin head canons so uh yeah.

This is my own projection but as a follower of autistic low empathy Martin I think he has the one symptom of “think of people like objects.” Not in a mean way just in a way where he has difficulty conceptualizing everything about them and sticks them into rolls to much (I.e. “you’re the police you can’t abuse power” and the amount of leeway he gives Jon with stalking because he’s having a hard time, not believing Jon is capable of jokes, ect.)

That all to say I don’t think it takes a lot for a full grown human being to be cute in his eyes. He isn’t trying to be demeaning! It’s just all the endearing stuff of people he doesn’t even know is automatically cute the way a dog is or a car that looks like it has a face.

1) So if, for example, the eye as being channeled by the assistants lets out an old habit or characteristic of theirs, he ALREADY found it cute. When Tim tries to throw pencils at the ceiling to get them to stick, or Sasha makes a witty comeback that turns into an info dump, things like that he’s ALWAYS loved about them. Martins less likely to find Jon cute at any point because Jon hid most of his personality behind fake stuffiness so he wouldn’t recognize when bits of himself leaked through.

This one is the most likely for the eye to do as it is made of these people who while being controlled by it are also shaping how it manifests in turn. It’s also the least likely to make him melt because 1) he had gotten used to finding that cute and not reacting and 2) he’s just as likely to cry or get upset because it reminds him even more that they’re being piloted against their will.

The next three methods are much more likely to work but less likely for the eye to actually do

2) the eye stops taking care of him and asks to be taken care of. Martin is at heart, a caretaker. I think it’s because of several reasons, one being that he’s just genuinely a caring person and also trauma, but also because of the earlier mentioned bit. He follows a lot of rules for politeness bc he has difficulty knowing what to do without listing out hard and fast things you should and shouldn’t do, along with the not being able to help but see everyone else as something that NEEDS taking care of.

Martin now? He’s in a situation where everyone else is doting over HIM, his routines been thrown out the window, he can’t cope by taking care of others like he usually does, and there’s no rules for how to handle this situation. If someone, say Jon, comes into work looking like a drown rat and asks for him to make tea? If they stop taking care of him and ask for his help? It would be a big ego boost, make him feel like he isn’t doing nothing but forcing his coworkers to coo over him, AND be cute. How can you NOT want to hold someone that looks like they need a hug so bad? I think one time you said something about anything openly asking for attention is endearing a little so if the eye did that without being so demanding and clingy about it, Martin would go a little bit soft.

The 3rd) is related to this in the naivety department, which I think is one of the eyes cutest traits. Curiosity is adorable, and if someone asks you questions, that’s pretty close to taking care of them. If it went “explain all your thoughts on this and also how humans perceive things” it would get yummy information AND Martin going “awww” just a little. But why would the eye ask Martin something? It thinks it knows all, so there isn’t much point.

4) the final one I’m just realizing might not be cute and just make him sob in relief actually but like. If it genuinely just asked him “what’s wrong” or “what do you want” gently without just taking his thoughts and assuming it knows I think it would do a lot of good. It won’t do that, but it would be helpful.

(4.5 The big anime eyes they get dkckkdkdjfje)

[scotianostra]

The second of our murder stories today......

On February 10th 1306, John Comyn, a leading claimant to the vacant Scottish throne, was murdered by his arch-rival, Robert the Bruce, whilst in a Dumfries church.

Forget Braveheart, far from betraying William Wallace, the Bruce was inspired by him and, after the battle of Stirling Bridge he realised that Edward’s army could be defeated and Scotland eventually freed from English domination, but how best to go about this?

Setting Scotland free  could not be achieved without an established leader and this would have to be sorted out quickly.

  There were really only two men who could step up and become King, John Balliol had been out of the picture for too long and by this time would have been about 60 years old, Scotland needed a younger, more ambitious monarch, only two men were ready, and able to step up, Robert the Bruce himself or his arch enemy John “The Red” Comyn.

  The two men were always at each other’s throats and distrusted each other completely.

The Bruce suggested that they could both meet in a church and discuss who should be the next king. With their supporters outside, the meeting took place by the high altar of Greyfriars Monastery, Dumfries. Nobody knows exactly what happened, but history tells us that Robert the Bruce murdered the Red Comyn in Greyfriars Monastery Blackfriars that day.

I like to dip into the old newspapers of the day, whatever the post, be it modern or like this ancient, and just like today they had their own agendas and bias, this was a typical English account

  Robert de Brus, aspiring to the kingdom of Scotland, sacrilegiously killed the noble man John Comyn at Dumfries (where the justiciar of the king of England was then sitting in the castle) in the church of the Friars Minor, because [Comyn] would not consent to his treasonable action. Robert de Brus junior, earl of Carrick, grievously killed John Comyn, the greatest man in the whole nation of Scotland after the king, because the same John refused to consent to the treason of the same Robert and of the Scots against the king of England There are also some fuller narratives that give details about what had been going on, or at least their version of the events.

  The first comes from a section of the Flores Historiarum written shortly after 1306 at Westminster Abbey – which of course was closely associated with Edward I.  

In it, The Bruce meets with various Scottish nobles, ‘first secretly and then openly’; he tells them that, as they know, his father was not made king because of Edward I’s trickery, but now, if theycrown him, he will wage their war and liberate Scotland. Many perjurethemselves and agree. But when he asks the noble and powerful John Comyn for support, Comyn ‘firmly replied no’ – ‘so he slaughtered him’ in the Franciscan church at Dumfries.

This narrative was expanded in the fuller ‘Merton’ version of the Flores, possibly written for Edward II’s coronation in 1307. In this fuller account Comyn is given an eloquent speech saying the king of England has subjugated Scotland four times, and all Scots, knights and clergy, have therefore sworn fealty and homage to him for both the present and the future; so ‘let me take no part in this – truly, I shall never give assent in this matter, lest I am forsworn’. They argue at length, until Bruce draws  sword and strikes the unarmed Comyn on the head; but the extremely strong Comyn tries to seize the sword from his assailant’s hands, and throws him down. However, the traitor’s attendants, rushing up to free their lord, stab Comyn with their swords. Comyn escapes to the altar; but‘Robert followed … and the impious and cruel man sacrificed his holy victim’. It is the most dramatic of all the accounts of the killing.

There are a number of other English versions of the murder, some written a decade or so later, they all believe that Robert Bruce was planning to become king well before Comyn’s death, which, though plausible is obviously based on hindsight.

  One thing that the English chroniclers all agree on is Comyn’s insistence on upholding his homage and fealty to the English king, basically he was happy to be ruled by an English king.  I have to say though, not just the English agreed with this, but it was only natural that the concept of the ultra-loyal, ultra-honourable Comyn was a vital piece of English propaganda against Robert I. Moreover, it would have been vehemently promoted by the rest of the Comyn kin, since the killing at Dumfries had transformed its members from leading upholders of the Scottish cause into dependent allies of Edward I who looked for his support in the bloodfeud with Robert I.

Okay enough of the English versions, let's look at what the Scots were saying and firstly we have The Scotichronicon (what a great name eh?)  by chronicler John Bower who was a canon and abbot at Inchcolm Abbey on the Firth of Forth, a great place to visit by the way!.

  In The Scotichronicon Comyn  is consistently and famously portrayed as agreeing to help Robert Bruce become king in return for Robert’s lands, and then betraying this agreement to Edward I, remember I said about this in my post a few days ago about Bruce taking Dumfries. Well reflecting on this, Bower depicts Comyn as overcome by ‘the spirit of iniquity’; in other words he is an agent of the Devil. It is a theme in these chronicles, on both sides of the border, indeed in Europe as a whole to make statements like this, or comparing men to biblical figures, remember these stories were all written by deeply religious figures.  The Comyns are shown to having a strong aversion towards William Wallace, for instance deserting him at Falkirk out of jealousy and ‘clear wickedness’.

  Gesta Annalia, an important medieval chronicle detailing our history also points to the famous crown-for-land offer between Comyn and Bruce going on to say  Comyn destroys this unity by betraying the agreement to Edward I, and that is why Bruce kills him. I have to say that this is the main gist of the story that I have understood to be true.

  Gesta's accounts again head in the religious directions saying that God makes his greatest intervention in Scotland’s wars etc, etc. He says Bruce decided to put the public good before his own private interests and therefore approached Comyn humbly with the offer and he is clearly acting under divine influence.  How does Bruce respond to God’s call? Only goes and murders Comyn in a church causing him to be excommunicated by the Pope!

  Of course the most partisan version that we have of what happened is from John Barbour, author of The Brus. In this it agrees with Gesta, and other Scottish Chronclers the Comyn had proposed the deal and offered to support Bruce's claim for the crown in return for all of Bruce's existing lands and titles.

None of the religious nonsense for Barbour, this version is much more secular, and when it comes to the actual killing, Barbour’s account is succinct and brutal;

Sa fell it in the samyn tid That at Dumfres rycht thar besid Schir Jhone the Cumyn sojornyng maid. The Brus lap on and thidder raid And thocht foroutyn mar letting 30 For to quyt hym his discovering. Thidder he raid but langer let And with Schyr Jhone the Cumyn met In the Freris at the hye awter, And schawyt him with lauchand cher 35 The endentur, syne with a knyff Rycht in that sted hym reft the lyff. Schyr Edmund Cumyn als wes slayn And othir mony off mekill mayn. Nocht-for-thi yeit sum men sayis 40 At that debat fell other-wayis, Bot quhat-sa-evyr maid the debate Thar-throuch he deyt weill I wat. He mysdyd thar gretly but wer That gave na gyrth to the awter,

To sum things up the best explanation the English sources can offer for the intention to kill his rival is Bruce's innate wickedness, which is an understandable attitude for them to take in the circumstances but not especially convincing. Gesta, Fordun and of course Barbour are going to be more sympathetic to King Robert. All make the explicit claim that a written agreement existed between the two that Comyn had broken.

To go back to Barbour’s poem, in it he exonerated Bruce's sacrilegious murder  as the just slaughter of a traitor. But this is no mere whitewash. The grave suffering which Bruce endures after his inauguration as king in 1306 represent a series of chivalrous and moral adventures in which Bruce proves himself worthy of his prize, but the murder, and it’s ramifications, that he was excommunicated, played greatly on his mind. You only have to look at the last hours of his life when he asked Sir James Douglas to carry his heart on a crusade, one which he was never himself able to take during his life due to the days events of February 10th 1310 in Dumfries.  

You can read the full epic poem The Brus here  https://www.gutenberg.org/files/44292/44292-h/44292-h.htm

[1358456]

Review Response, Dec 22 - 28, 2019

“28″, but I’ll be including the reviews that came in this morning. Because hey.

And... there are a lot. The most this year.

Legacy Prologue - Kalos

1) That first part DEFINITELY reminded me of the XY chapter, except Y is being the Hikikomori (shut-in) and X is trying to drag her out... It’s a good role-reversal!

I also wanted it to be like the time in XY where Y found out what happened to her mother and she got super depressed. Except this time, X tries to do something about it. Finally.

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

Legacy #008

1) LOVED IT!

Thank you!

2) Poor moon. I loved this chapter

Hey, it’s you! <3 Thank you kindly.

3) WoW cool chapter. So blue confessionele next chapter hopefully? Lol have been waiting on that for the entire story so Lets hope its the case

Haven’t we all. ... Except for those that don’t like this pairing...

4) It’s nice to see platinum trying to help blue move things was a good chapter with nice interactions with the juniors and seniors all under the same roof

It’s like a big Dex Holder family! ... But not too big, since there are far too many of them nowadays! And despite Platinum not really wanting to get involved, she helps out anyways, as “foretold” by the Headcanon Chronology!

5) While Moon really should rest, the idea of her getting that Spirit of Vengeance team you posted about on your Tumblr sounds way too awesome. ...Also Umbreon bias since it's my first (and only) shiny, but yeah.

Poor Blue - it really is probably only going to hurt her the longer she keeps it in. Wonder how that is going to play out, since I guess Platinum's now put things in motion. I think the first scene in this chapter is the one I enjoyed the most.

Damn, for Moon's Pokemon to die like that...that's gotta be traumatizing. I have to admire that determination though, even though she's shaping up to be a revenge-obsessed character from what I see.

Awesome chapter as always and can't wait for the next one!

Hehe. Spirit of Vengeance. The amount of curse in that team would be quite terrifying. Hehehe... ... Only shiny, you say? Aww...

Platinum has gotten the ball rolling despite not really wanting to. MVP of the confession? Hehe... Sisterly bonds, indeed. Now, will it work out in favor for Blue??

Moon can’t be filled with a lust for vengeance if none of her friends and Pokemon have perished. And so now she rises from her agony with ice cold determination for blood to be spilled for the blood that had been shed. ... Or does that saying go the other way around? Heh. Regardless. She’s pissed, has a bow, lethal poison, and soon to be a team packed with ghosts (and Dark types).

Thank you as always! And you won’t have to wait long~!

6) Eh lucky really isnt my cup of tea but the way you write stories is pretty awesome keep up the good work!

I could tell by the anon ID you picked. To each their own. And thank you!

7) Awww blue being so shy hahahaha. Its like the roles have reversed since the first time they met thats so cute! Anyway Great story as usual

Hehe. Timid Blue~! It’s new and very cute, isn’t it? And thank you.

8) Hey man Great story looking forward to the next chapter

Thank you. It’s coming very soon.

9) Wow this is A really underrated story I really like how you keep most characters so in character!

Still underrated... in comparison to my previous stuff. But that’s to be expected, I guess. And thank you.

10) Well Colour me surprised ! A Pokemon story thats not forcing crack pairings! Anyway Where is green in this story?

Heh. Crack pairings... Only once in a solar eclipse. And... who? Heh. He’s in Kalos and thus off screen.

11) Wtf did moons Pokemon just die? Great story but damn thats fucking dark

Yes they perished in the fire. “Die, insect” and all. ... And one of them was an insect! Heh. Ahem. ... Dark? That’s not dark. Have you seen the stuff I did in SA and Destiny? Heh...

12) I mean I kinda like the story but isnt specialshipping canon? Also this is really really dark

No, it’s not canon. What is canon is that Yellow has a crush on Red. What’s also canon is that Red is uncomfortable with the idea. And of course he is. He thought she was a guy the whole time and then suddenly found out all at once that she was a girl and had a crush on him. His response is not going to be positive. And again, this is not dark. ... Though I guess that depends on your sensitivity.

13) hey sorry for not leaving A review for so long but I still really like the story lol!

Hey, you’re back. ... Then... who’s the anon with the v2 of your ID?

14) I love your writing style!

Thank you!

15) I somehow found Pearl smacking Black across the face to wake him up funnier than it should’ve been. Haha

I wonder if Blue really will confess to Red today. If so, I wonder how the opportunity would present itself.

Its quite sad that Hau, Lillie, and two of Moon’s Pokemon died. I guess this is where Moon’s overhaul comes in. I cant wait to see Moon’s viciousness unleashed when she inevitably meets the guys responsible for all that.

I look forward to more!

Hehe. Black always getting smacked around in my stories, literally and figuratively.

Will Blue truly confess on that day (which is a day before the stuff in Alola happens), or will she fail again due to anxiety? And will it end well for her??

Moon’s overhaul is happening now, yes. For that, she’ll have to go to Galar too. And I don’t know sh*t about that region, so... that’ll be difficult. Hehe. And much later in the story when she meets her foe... oho, Rage Unleashed Moon!

16) Moon and Lillie sure get burned really bad. Also, what about the kid with the malasadas? Hopefully, Blue will confessed to Red soon...

The local boy with the malasada had the same fate as Lillie. Two stretchers with a body on top, with the white blankets pulled all the way up.

17) I figured that now would be the best time to give a review for one of your works. therefore, I should review my personal favourite.

I been a consistent and long-time reader for numerous years now without ever leaving a review. I simply didn't have an account until recently just so I can give my thoughts on some of the series that you make.

Regarding Legacy as a whole, it truely showcases your ability to take the wide variety of dexholders and thiee different personalities and place them in situations that would absolutely never occur in the actual story. I have always loved the way you portray each individual character, improving thier teama and strategies and having genuine character growth. Although Sun and Moon are my uncontested favourite characters so far, I adore the way you use Platinum B in your stories, giving her a genuine personality and character traits.

You also generate a wide range of different and creative settings for each of the characters to go through. Legacy is the perfect example of this in terms of one truely coherent story setting. by using the opportunity of the highest stakes that these dexholders may ever face, you use the opportunity to explore all of the aspects of each character amazingly and how they would face this danger.

Since Sun and Moon are my favourite characters, the wait for this chapter absolutely killed me. Although it sucks that due to the lack of reviews for these characters I will get few opportunties to read your way of presenting the characters What I am trying to say is that the way you write your characters makes them feel REAL. I genuinely believe that these are the actual characters as they personalties are replicated and refined to perfection The way both Sun and Moon react in this chapter is exactly the way I would have expected them to. Being a Deliveryshipping day 1, seeing even the slightest interactions in any media, especially in your stories always brings joy to me. I have regulary reread most of your works such as Special Chronicals and Distinct Events becuase each story is chapter is amazing in its own right.

Your amazing work has inspired me to possibly start my own project one day. I am sorry for the stress that you have gone through this year and the issues with the Discord. It will get better this year. Seeing as you use reviews to indicate the popularity of a particular series, I had to write this review so that this series can get the update it deserves so that we can all see how this fantastic story ends. Thank your for all of the amazing work you have done.

Whoa, hello. Haven’t gotten a review this long since a certain someone stopped with Destiny reviews back in July.

Accounts aren’t necessary for the reviews. Guest reviews exist! And if you use the same anon ID, I’d know it’s you. But thank you for going through the effort! It’s much appreciated!

Aww, thank you very much! <3 And while I don’t know about Sun, but Moon is going to be in the spotlight quite a lot, so enjoy it! Since Platinum is my uncontested favorite, she gets plenty of development in my stories, with new character bonds, teams, battling style, etc. And unlike in DPPt, she actually gets to do things against the enemy.

Of the three major stories I’ve written (SA, Destiny, Legacy), Legacy has the lowest stakes. But I think it’s also the most personal, which I guess means it’s much more important for individual Dex Holders. Well, we’ll see as time passes. And yes, these are kind of things that would never happen in the actual arcs, so the Dex Holders get to be stress-tested. How would they react given their personalities, tics, relationships, etc, in a realistic situation?

Oh. ... Ahem. Sorry for making you wait 7 months. Ehehe... And while it’s true that Sun and Moon currently have the lowest “viewership”, that changes as time passes. Like Black and White in SA and X and Y in Destiny. As the “meh” torch is passed down to Sword and Shield, Sun and Moon might rise in popularity, thus increasing the chances of them appearing in my stories.

I don’t really know if this was how Sun would react though. But I also don’t know how he would’ve actually reacted, so this might not be outside the possibility range. I kind of had him act like Black, really, but without being as sweet... or loud. Well, there will be more Sun & Moon interactions for you to enjoy in the upcoming chapters, so... there you go!

You should start your own project! Go for it! And eh, Discord. Sh*t happens. I wouldn’t call that stress. Anyways. Yes, I use the review count as an indicator of how many people have finished the chapter. Of course, there are plenty of people who read the chapter to the end without reviewing, and the number of people who review after reading tends to fluctuate. But if there is a trend, that indicates a trend in viewership as well. And that is what I look at. Hence the charts. And yes. We’d all like to see how the story ends. Me included. Keep up with the reviews and we’ll all see it by 2021.

And thank you so much for the review and the... sweet talking. Hehe <3

18) Just found this story and am enjoying it thoroughly. Big fan of your Blue characterization as well, I used to enjoy shipping Red with Yellow, but recently, I've come to enjoy Blue with Red.

A small nitpick - Did none of the juniors comment on Red and Blue sleeping in the same room/bed while they stayed in Red's house in the last two chapters? I would assume the female juniors already know Blue likes Red and so won't say anything unnecessary, but I guess the guys are a little more tactful than we give them credit for?

Looking forward to me. Cheers.

Red with Blue works very well. And it’s cute! Hehe... ... biased.

Heh. The girls... already know, since the girls who are in the house were Platinum, White, and Y, and they already know of Blue’s crush and all that. So White and Y would just snicker at the fact that Red and Blue are sleeping on the same bed, while Platinum would just smile. As for the boys... Diamond might notice something if he spent more time talking to Red and Blue before and after. But I doubt Pearl or Black would notice anything odd. They’d probably just assume that Red and Blue are sharing the bed because a ton of guests were sleeping in the living room, so there were no other options.

Of course, all that’s assuming that the juniors know that Red and Blue are sleeping on the same bed. I don’t recall having Red and Blue give them a tour of the house, so as far as the juniors know, there might be another bed upstairs. ... Though a house tour is generally the first thing you do, but... heh. Ambiguity. No one knows for sure.

And I look forward to seeing more reviews from you!

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Well well. Would you look at THAT. Way above the average now. So... looks like I’ll have to keep my word and update Legacy again before this year ends in 3 days. Heh. Of course, I did notice a few things but... well... whatever.

18. That’s the most reviews I’ve gotten in a chapter in all of 2019. Or 2018. ... And vast majority of 2017 (Legacy Prologue - Kanto was in January 2017). If this kind of thing happened much more frequently, I would be updating Legacy like once every two weeks, instead of 3~4 times in a year.

But, there you have it! New record in almost 3 years. As a result... Legacy update in 3 days.

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DE #031

1) Sun and moon are so cute. I love them

Support the new...ish pairing!

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And with that, DE #031 is no longer in the top 4 least reviewed. Yay!

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SC #017

1) Awesome story.

Thank you.

2) Well that was...brutal alright. Thugs deserved it though. I'm mildly surprised no one died, but I think that's more because I'm used to seeing that from your old "doom hammer" chapters.

I admit the Santa part was an amusing touch, and I guess that explains why you needed to release this by the end of the year. Heh, Blue's gadgets are useful as always and very effective - that's a nice disguise. That action scene was awesome and easily the best scene in this chapter. The situation aside...it was nice to see Red be a hero even without his Pokemon.

You were right - this is an enjoyable chapter and I like this "brutal Red" experiment. Can't wait for the next chapter!

Heh. The doom hammer is for serious stories. Not comical ones. So no one dies in the hands of Santa Claus. This time.

Ahem. Well, there’s the inspiration for the chapter, and the reason behind the line of “Or Santa will go jolly on your naughty asses with a candy cane axe”. Hehe. Cheers, everyone, Santa has come to town!

And the duo of Red and Blue becomes much stronger. Mercenary Red with technological support!

Hehe. Much more serious brutal Red (instead of comical) to come up later as the experimentation continues. Ohoho!

3) holy crud, santa beating up a gang is greatest thing ever

Yep. Santa going to town on their naughty asses with a candy cane bat. What’s not to love?

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And with that, the latest SC chapter is now in the top 4 least reviewed. For now?

... Looks like the “A Day at Work” chapters are failing miserably, since they’re at 1 and 3 reviews respectively. So... I guess I won’t be doing that again.

And with this, the longest review response post of 2019 has come to an end.

[disclosedmusings]

THE COMFORT I FOUND IN YOU..

Growing up, having experienced all the inevitable stress from family, school or community, I am my own comfort. I tried to keep everything to myself. I deal with it in silence. It doesn't mean that I don't trust the people around me, it's just that I don't want to be an emotional baggage, and besides, we are all fighting our own demons.

Anxiety - the result when your brain reacts to stress. It affects a person in both emotional and physical aspect.

It was during my college years when I met someone online. Fast forward, we became friends to best friends to lovers to enemies to strangers to friends again. LOL.

If I had a list of "how to know if a person is a red flag", I would definitely ticked all the boxes. LOL. He's a fucking red flag and it goes to show that red is my favorite color ffs. There's what we call a "confirmation bias" where we only focus or give greater credence to evidence that fits our existing beliefs and discard all potential ones that do not align to our beliefs. As they say, our brain is powerful, it rationalizes anything which of course depends on your initial perspective. I know what I put my self into but I am always that daredevil who stops at nothing. Hahaha.

John Christopher or Cristof or DoiDoi as what I would call him is the very definition of comfort in my world. *cringed hysterically* I know I should turn to my family, relatives and friends but it still wasn't enough even though it should be. Then here goes my comfort person who came unannounced and tame my wild heart. *I know I will regret myself being cringey* I know I should not give him that kind of power over me but I just melt whenever he's always there. He calms and gives warmth to my soul to the point that my anxiety felt embarrassed and just left. The funniest part was that he never interrupts when I rant everything to him. He just listens. *LDR feels* He would sometimes pitch in advices. LOL. But there is something in him that just soothes my soul. It's like he completes me and gets me back on my track.

In this uncertain world, please know that you can also count on me. You will always be my baby even though you're two years older than me. :D You had the most "astig" and pa "chuyan" job, yet, you cry like shit. *huhuhu* Please tell me in advance when you cry so I won't be traumatized. *hahaha jokens, i love you madafaka* *thank you for trusting me in showing your weakness* You may be a red flag but I am a yellow flag :) Red + Yellow = Orange. Orange is a fun and exciting color. Let's just go with the flow and see where this relationship takes us hahahaha happy 3rd anniversary doiiii! Kish ko beh! Muah! *undangan na nato ni pag maabot tag 5 years* We always talked about that 5 year itch. Kanang kagiron ta sa 5th anniversary bitaw. HAHAHA. Murag diha rajud kutob tanan LDR. Let's enjoy nalang while it lasts. I LOVE YOU DOI. Cheers to more sneaky moments. :P *pistiha ka akong first kiss ibalik, pero lami sya* HAHAHA. Kuyawangstttt.

PS. Orange is also the color of halloween. So let's scare the shit out of our own demons. HAHAHA.

[scifigeneration]

Why aren't you a lefty? A geneticist finds clues in kangaroos and shopping malls

by Thomas Merritt

In graduate school, I earned beer money by modelling for life drawing classes in various art departments. (Don’t judge, grad school doesn’t pay well and beer isn’t free.) In the long hours standing around, I would survey the room and count how many of the aspiring artists were left-handed. Later in my career, I did the same thing — counting lefties, not standing around naked — in the biology classes I taught.

Funny thing, in any given class, around 10 per cent of the students were lefties. It turns out this is true for all human populations, not only middle-America university classes. Globally, about 90 per cent of people are righties. But why?

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by handedness — our almost ubiquitous tendency to favour one hand over the other — and maybe a little envious of the rare left-handers. Their rareness gave a certain mystique — and they got to use those funky chair-desks with the desktop on the “wrong” side.

What do we know about the genetics of being right- or left-handed, or even ambidextrous? And how does this help shape our understanding of biology in general?

What is “handedness” anyway?

Given how fundamental, and obvious, handedness is, we know surprisingly little about its genetics.

One complication — determining handedness isn’t straightforward. The dominance of your writing (and drawing) hand is a function of at least three things: Genetics to be sure, but also the environment, and, likely, random chance.

Our environmental surroundings can pressure us to adopt certain behaviours, like handedness, even if we aren’t genetically wired that way. (Shutterstock)

Why the environment? Think of the probably-not-apocryphal stories of the Catholic school nuns ruler-rapping the knuckles of anyone so sinister to write with their left hand. (My father-in-law swears these stories are true.)

In many cultures, the left is associated with evil. There has been, and may continue to be, considerable pressure against maintaining the left hand as the dominant hand.

Less violently, but no less effectively, there is convenience. Try using a pair of right-handed scissors with your left hand.

Why left-handers can’t use right-handed scissors.

That didn’t work, did it?

The fact that scissors, and other assorted manual tools and appliances, from dessert forks to chainsaws, are designed for the righty majority means they’re harder to use lefty, resulting in considerable pressure to conform and use your right hand.

What does “right-handed” really mean?

This pressure means that many studies that defined handedness by identifying the dominant hand in writing may have miscategorized a substantial portion of the population.

A solution adopted by many researchers is to assay a suite of behaviours. There are a surprising number of activities that show a dominant hand, including the decidedly adult behaviour that may have just crossed your mind, but also more demure pastimes like sewing or spoon use.

A twist, which becomes important when we look at the genetics, is that researchers can classify people into one of three groups — right- or left-handed or ambidextrous — or two groups — right-handed and not right-handed.

Genetics definitely plays a role, but what kind of role? Is the genetics of handedness deterministic, essentially a right/left switch, or is it more subtle?

Could there be a genetic makeup, or genotype, that predisposes you to be not-right-handed? Handedness, then, could be a function of this genotype, and its interaction with the environment and random chance.

Right/left asymmetry is actually common

Other left-right asymmetries abound in human biology. Perhaps the most striking is the asymmetrical layout of our internal organs — heart, lungs and digestive track.

But it’s the clockwise or counterclockwise whorl of hair that has had a central role in understanding the genetics of handedness. Much like the rotation of hurricanes and cyclones, the hair on our scalps forms a central spiral with a direction of rotation. (I’m not making this up, find a pair of mirrors, or the person sitting next to you, and check me on this — or look at this picture.)

Hair whorls can run clockwise (as seen here) or counterclockwise. (Noj Han/flickr), CC BY-SA

The whorl, and its direction, was the focus of a seminal paper on the genetics of handedness. The scientist, Amar Klar, hung out in local malls and surreptitiously recorded the whorl direction of shoppers’ hair. Most had clockwise whorls. He didn’t record the shopper’s dominant hand — but he didn’t have to. Remember, the bias in handedness is almost universal.

Because 90 per cent of the human population is right-handed, Klar concluded that right-handedness and a clockwise whorl were correlated. He then directly surveyed a smaller group of people who had a counterclockwise whorl and found that this group split 50/50 between right-handed and not-right-handed.

In this way, Klar showed that handedness and whorl direction are associated, but not in a “all righties are clockwise; all lefties are counterclockwise” way.

A single gene for handedness?

Klar proposed an elegant alternative model that still only requires a single gene to determine both whorl direction and handedness.

Many genes have different forms, called alleles. We each carry two copies of every gene in our genome, one from mom and the other from dad. In some cases, but not all, one of these alleles is “dominant.” (Remember Gregor Mendel and his wrinkled and smooth peas?)

In Klar’s model of hair and hands, the handedness gene has two alleles; if you have one or two copies of the dominant allele, you have a clockwise whorl and you’re a righty. But when you have two copies of the other form, chance comes into play — and that’s when things get interesting.

Klar’s interpretation is that these individuals always have the rare counterclockwise hair whorl and that they’re not right-handed about half the time. In other words, in these individuals, handedness is a genetic flip of the coin.

This kind of combination of genetics, the environment and simple random chance underlies most human biology, from height or weight to drug resistance or cancer susceptibility. Understanding the genetics of human handedness can, then, help us to understand human genetics in general.

Other species?

What about asymmetry and handedness in other species?

Like many “complex” behaviours (think language or tool use), we used to think of handedness as a uniquely human trait. Once we actually started looking, however, we’ve found “handedness” in many other species, from snails to kangaroos, even to our ancient evolutionary ancestors.

Snails don’t have a dominant hand (or any hands, really), but their shells twist either right (almost all the time) or left (very rarely).

Two different species of sea snail. One normally twists right, the other twists left. (Wikimedia)

Cephalopods, octopus, cuttlefish and squid are a group of molluscs (like snails) that do have arms and, it turns out, are “handed.” When I briefly studied cephalopod behaviour in the 1980s, we didn’t think that octopus or cuttlefish could distinguish left from right, but more recent work shows that they can and that they have a preferred arm or side.

Scale-eating cichlids, a sort of creepy fish that feeds exclusively on the scales of other, less fortunate, fish, preferentially attack from the left or from the right.

Your cat reaches for food with its dominant paw, but your leg-lifting dog is ambidextrous in its peeing preference.

Let’s experiment

A central challenge in exploring the genetics of handedness in humans is our (completely justified) unwillingness to experiment on humans. I won’t genetically engineer my daughter to see if I can make her left-handed, but I’d be willing to try it on a snail.

Because handedness occurs in other species, we can study them to determine its genetic mechanism. This comparative approach underlies all model organisms; it is why, for example, we study the metabolism of fruit flies to understand the biology of deep underground mining and the genetics of chromosome cross-talk and cancer.

One important point to keep in mind, though, is that similar systems aren’t necessarily controlled by the same genes. Klar, for example, found that organ asymmetry is determined by a genetic pathway that is distinct from the one for hair whorl and handedness. Handedness in cats or snails is likely genetic, but the genetics may not be identical to that in humans.

American lobsters are just as likely to be right-clawed as left-clawed. (Shutterstock)

Animal handedness differs from us in another way, too. The extreme bias present in humans, that 90:10 ratio, doesn’t exist. Cats, for example, are just as likely to be right-pawed or left-pawed. American lobsters have a larger “crusher” claw and a sharper “cutter” claw, but the big, dominant claw is equally likely to be on the right or left. Kangaroos tend to be lefties, and chimps tend to be righties, but in both the bias isn’t as strong as it is in humans.

Why the bias in humans?

Handedness is biologically complex and involves substantial co-ordination between the brain and hand. The brain is itself asymmetrical, with the left and right hemispheres playing different roles in co-ordinating activities such as pattern recognition or language.

Interestingly, there seem to be subtle differences in the brain architecture of righties and lefties. Does the bias, then, reflect some kind of wiring in the brain? Some studies have tied left-handedness to changes in brain function and behaviour.

There are also some groups in which lefties are over-represented, including artists and architects. These numbers suggest that there is a creative benefit to being wired this way.

(The more observant, or pedantic, may be asking how this point fits with my initial observation that about 10 per cent of art students were lefties. The answer is likely sample size. I stood around in front of a lot of students — but still only couple of hundred. This may simply have not been big enough sample for me to see the jump to 20 per cent from 10 per cent. Sampling limitations are the bane of biologists.)

Possible creative, or cognitive, differences bring us back to my initial fascination, and envy, of that sinister minority.

If you need someone to cut along the dotted line with the first pair of scissors that come to hand, perhaps then any righty will do. But if you need someone to think outside the box, you might want to enlist a lefty.

Thanks to Jack Bateman, Jeff Arnold, Kim Fahner, and Jean Boal for their invaluable suggestions and for pointing me to some of the literature and ideas that support this piece. Any limitations in interpreting that literature is mine alone.

Thomas Merritt is  Professor and Canada Research Chair, Chemistry and Biochemistry at Laurentian University.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. 

[txteo]

Steven Lukes (1974) Power: A radical view - Summary

Summary: In the 1960s Dahl and the other pluralists proposed a view of power, wherein a person has power over another person, if the first person can get the second person to do something she or he would not do otherwise. They generally focused on the exercise of actual power, at who brought up and supported which alternatives, at the actual disagreement, and at which alternatives were finally adopted. Their prototypical situations are decision-making processes in groups. This view of power, the 1D view, is a liberal view, it focuses on issues, on how those issues are decided, and on which observable conflict of interests exists. In 1962, Bachrach and Baratz criticised this view as superficial and self-serving, as America celebrating its pluralism. There is another side to power, the power to prevent issues from being discussed or decided upon. In political organisations, some issues are foregrounded, others are hidden from view, benefiting specific groups in a systematic way. In this sense, non-decisions, that is suppressing challenges to the interests of those making decisions, are themselves decisions. This view, the 2D view, is a reformist view, it focuses on potential issues, determined by observable conflicts of interest, and how they can be prevented from becoming actual issues. But I believe this is still not enough: Agenda-setting and exclusion of potential issues, ultimately influencing what another person thinks, wants, and desires may be the height of power. In this sense, socialisation, mass media, and controlling the information flow are forms of thought control: The most effective form of power is preventing conflict. If agenda-setting is successful, the political public is prevented from even hearing minority opinions, which thus remain minority opinions. This view, the 3D view, is a radical view, it focuses on agenda-setting, and includes covert and latent conflicts over real interests, which may differ from self-perceived interests. Talk about real interests always opens one up to charges of paternalism. But Gramsci realised one can learn from how people behave in abnormal situations, where the apparatus of power is less strict. In such situations, the words and effective actions of persons may not fit, and one can learn something about their real interests, about what they would do in the absence of power. This is a really hard problem to overcome, but it is not inherently impossible.

Source: Steven Lukes (1974) Power: A radical view. First published as a small 64page-volume. New York: MacMillan, 1974. Second edition includes the full original text, supplemented by two new chapters. New York: MacMillan, 2005.

(Full text [PDF, 160kb] at chula.ac.th, English) 

This summary is licensed CC:BY-SA.

Detailed Summary

[1] The way of identifying power I am going to propose is theoretically and politically radical.

This way is necessarily evaluative. It is always contested.

It can be applied empirically.

In describing power, I will deal with methodological individualism, behaviourism, and the roles values play in explanation, false consciousness, and the bias of pluralism.

In the 1960s Dahl and the other pluralists championed a view of power that traces its roots back to Weber.

In 1962, Bachrach and Baratz criticised this view. It was both superficial and it was self-serving, America celebrating its pluralism.

The pluralists attacked Bachrach and Baratz in return.

I believe Bachrach and Baratz were essentially right, but they did not go far enough.

In the following, I will present three views.

I will call the view of the pluralists the one-dimensional view of power.

I will call the view of Bachrach and Baratz the two-dimensional view of power.

I will present a third view, which I will call the three-dimensional view of power.

[2] I believe calling Dahl, Polsby, Wolfinger, and their colleagues pluralists is mistaken.

They do want to show that power is pluralist, but this is just the conclusion they are aiming for.

Their methods and approaches can be employed for other projects, and can lead to other non-pluralist conclusion.

Dahl: A person has power over another person, if the first person can get the second person to do something she or he would not do otherwise.

Dahl mentions both ability and success, potential and actual power. But the pluralists generally focus on the exercise of actual power.

Dahl looks at who brought up and supported which alternatives and which alternatives were finally adopted.

The observable or reconstructed behaviour of participants is the object, from which power can be measured. Their prototypical situations are decision-making processes in groups.

Power, influence, control, and other related terms are often used as synonyms by the pluralists.

The pluralists believe open conflicts to be best-suited, as it is easy to see who backs which alternative, and which alternative wins out in the end.

For Dahl, "actual disagreement in preferences" is a necessary condition for power research.

Dahl, in one case, mentions the possibility of a proposal encountering no opposition.

However, the framework of the pluralist can not handle this possibility.

Without an observable conflict between conscious preferences manifested in behaviour, they see no power.

For pluralists interests are preferences, conflicts of interests are conflicts of preferences.

Pluralists reject the idea that people can be unconscious or mistaken about their interests.

Polsby: If the researcher can know the objective interests of a class, and the class disagrees, the researcher can call this "false class consciousness". This method can never fail, it is metaphysical, not empirical.

The 1D view of power focuses on how those issues are decided, on which observable conflict of interests exists.

[3] Bachrach and Baratz, in contrast, believe there are two sides to power.

The first side is analogous to the 1D view of power.

The second side considers the power to prevent issues from being discussed or decided upon.

Schattschneider: "Organisation is the mobilisation of bias." In political organisation, some issues are foregrounded, others are hidden from view.

B&B: Values and institutional procedures benefit specific groups, often but not always an elite minority, in a systematic way.

Power is control over another person's behaviour. 

Coercion is power by means of threats.

Influence is power without any threat.

Authority is power by means of values held by the controlled.

Force is power by removing the choice of non-compliance.

Manipulation is force, without the controlled noticing control.

According to B&B, the 1D view of power is too focused on conscious behaviour.

Non-decisions (conscious or unconscious) are themselves decisions.

A decision is "a choice among alternative modes of action".

A non-decision is a decision suppressing challenges to the interests of those making decisions.

Dahl: The attention of the political class is necessary for something being a political issue.

There are potential issues, which are not actual issues due to non-decisions.

B&B: A key issue is an issue challenging the power, authority, or the decision-making process.

B&B also focus on observable conflict, though it may be overt.

B&B: Without conflict, the presumption should be consensus. Political science is unable to determine how this consensus came about.

Conflicts are found by observing grievances, overt or covert. Thereby the interests of those outside the political system can be considered.

The 2D view of power is a critique of the 1D view's focus on behaviour.

Decisions on potential issues, determined by observable conflicts of interest, can be prevented.

[4] The 2D view is much better than the 1D view, as it includes agenda-setting into its considerations.

However, the 2D view of power is still too limited.

The 2D view is still too behaviour-focused.

The bias of the political system is not simply the result of individual decisions and actions.

Agenda-setting and exclusion of potential issues are often the result of group behaviour. 

Weber: Power is "individuals realising their wills despite the resistance of others".

A group can act in a certain way, and the action is not the action or decision of particular individuals.

The specific form of organisation of a group may itself have effects.

Marx: "Men make their own history but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past."

The 2D view is still too focused on observable conflicts.

Even some of B&B's own concepts (manipulation and authority) can do their work without conflict.

Influencing what another person thinks, wants, and desires may be the height of power.

Socialisation, mass media, and controlling the information flow are forms of thought control.

Dahl: "leaders also shape preferences"

The most effective form of power is preventing conflict.

The 2D view seems to believe that an absence of grievances points to an absence of contrary interests.

It is not quite clear what a grievance actually is.

It is possible to shape thoughts and preferences to make the status quo appear natural, beneficial, unalterable, or without alternative.

There may be latent conflicts between the interests of those making decisions and the "real interests" of the excluded, of which they may or may not be conscious.

1D view: behaviour, decision-making, issues, conflict, interests. participation

2D view: critique of behaviour focus, (non-)decision-making, (potential) issues, (covert) conflicts, interests, grievances

3D view: critique of behaviour focus, decision-making, agenda-setting, (potential) issues, (covert) (latent) conflicts, (real) interests

[5] Power is "ineradicably value-dependent".

How to look at power is always disputed, and this dispute is already politics.

The most basic idea is someone affecting someone else in a significant way.

We thus need to think about what makes a way of affecting significant.

All three views share the idea that "A exercises power over B when A affects B in a manner contrary to B's interests."

Parsons connects power to institutionalised authority and consensus and disconnects it from force and coercion.

Parsons: Power is "a facility for the performance of function in and on behalf of the society"

Arendt: Power is a feature of groups, of people's coordinated action. Power is consensual, it is "the very condition enabling a group of people to think and act in terms of the means-ends category."

Madison: "All government rests on opinion."

In both cases, violence, conflicts, and struggles for power are re-defined as not being power at all.

Arendt: "Power and violence are opposites; where the one rules absolutely, the other is absent."

Both see power as an ability, not a relationship. Both definitions exclude what is most interesting to students of power.

Everything that Arendt or Parson can express about power, can also be expressed by the 3D view of power.

In my opinion, cases of persons or groups affecting one another without conflict of interests qualify as influence, but not as power.

I am unsure whether rational persuasion counts as power and/or influence. One person significantly affects another, but the resultant behaviour is caused by the autonomous decision of the second person to accept the reasons of the first. This may well be related to the Kantian antinomy of causality and reason.

Is it possible for one person to exercise power over another, thereby advancing the other person's real interest?

We could think of short-term power as self-destroying once the second person recognises their real interests. This can be abused in the form of paternalism.

We could also think of the second person's autonomy as their supreme interest, which means a violation of autonomy can never be in their interest. This will lead to most cases of influence becoming cases of power.

If we can find an empirical way of finding a person's real interests, I prefer the first view.

[6] Interest is also inherently evaluative.

Liberals tend to identify interests with what people actually prefer, as seen by political participation.

Reformists agree, but allow for indirect and concealed preferences.

Radicals believe preferences can result from a system contrary to people's interests. Thus real interests are what people "would want and prefer, were they able to make the choice."

The 1D view is broadly liberal, the 2D view broadly reformist, and the 3D view a broadly radical view.

[7] The pluralists, in their 1D view of power, "studied actual behavior, stressed operational definitions, and turned up evidence".

Their studies mirror the biases of their object of study.

Dahl shows us diversity, different people making decisions regarding different issues.

Dahl: Voters use elections as an indirect kind of influence on politician's decisions.

Dahl: The dissatisfied will find another political representative.

If power can really set the agenda, this diversity is an illusion.

Pluralism in decision-making is consistent with unity in agenda-setting.

The 1D view is unable to recognise this possibility.

Dahl only studies successful interventions by the dissatisfied, and concludes the dissatisfied can intervene.

If a powerful group can not accept an issue, there might be indirect cases of agenda-setting.

The 2D view can show cases of systematic bias, but only in cases where observable grievances are prevented from becoming issues.

B&B's study on poverty and race in Baltimore is superficial, because it focuses on individual decisions and actions.

The real exclusionary forces at play are inaction and institutional inertia.

The 3D view can give a sociological explanation of how demands are prevented from being voiced or from becoming dangerous.

How can we study what does not happen?

Polsby: For any event, there are an infinity of alternative non-events. Which are significant and which are not?

Polsby: We should only accept answers which refer to the desires of community members.

Wolfinger: If we apply an external theory of expected behaviour to such non-events, we can not distinguish between actual exercises of power and errors in the theory. 

These counterarguments claim difficulties to actually be impossibilities.

In everyday understanding, an exercise of power is a conscious, intentional act of individual persons.

I believe we can speak of "exercise of power" even in the case of groups, or if it happens unconsciously.

The operative sense of "exercising power": If two agents are both exercising power, they both affect another person simultaneously, and the person really does change behaviour, this behaviour is overdetermined. Both exercised power, but neither of them individually made a difference.

The effective sense of "exercising power": If there is no other force intervening, one person exercises power over the other, if the other person really does change their behaviour as a result. The exercise of power makes a difference.

A person may change the behaviour of another person in many different ways, with only some of them being what the first person actually wants. Only in such cases is an exercise of power successful.

How can we find an exercise of power?

An exercise of power is conceptually reliant on comparison with the counterfactual situation of what would have happened without the exercise of power.

In observable conflicts, where the alternatives are publicly spelled out, the counterfactual is obvious.

If there is no observable conflict, we need to justify the counterfactual in another way. This will not be easy, but it is not, in principle, impossible.

A good example is Matthew Crenson (1971) The Un-Politics of Air Pollution: A Study of Non-Decisionmaking in the Cities. This book operates in between the 2D and the 3D view of power.

Crenson assumes "the proper object of investigation is not political activity but political inactivity." He compares two communities in Indiana, similar geographically, demographically, and pollution-wise.

Crenson shows that the town with a single company and a strong party took 13 years longer to act on air pollution. The company, US Steel, without ever becoming an overtly political actor, at first successfully prevented pollution from becoming an issue, and then influenced the resulting decisions.

The company did nothing, and in verbally agreeing that air pollution was a problem, they even prevented a political conflict from arising.

In comparative studies, Crenson shows that an industry reputation for power, combined with their silence and inaction on the problem, greatly decreases the likelihood of air pollution becoming a political issue.

Clean air is a diffused common good, with no direct benificient. However, the costs of maintaining clean air mostly fall on industry. There is thus only weak and diffuse support, but strong opposition.

Crenson further shows that issues do not arise independently, but are connected: If one collective issue arises, other collective issues are much more likely to also arise.

Decision-making is directed by prior non-decision-making.

The Crenson study basically takes a 2D approach.

It surpasses B&B's 2D view by looking at inaction, by looking at institutional power, and by looking on how raising an issue can be prevented.

Crenson: "there is something like an inarticulate ideology in political institutions [... promoting] the selective perception and articulation of social problems and conflicts"

If agenda-setting is successful, the political public is prevented from even hearing minority opinions, which thus remain minority opinions.

Crenson succeeds in presenting the counterfactual: We can assume that people would rather not be poisoned by the air they breathe, even if they do not publicly state so.

Crenson also shows how the inaction of institutions prevents the matter from becoming a political issue.

[8] Identifying the right counterfactual is a problem specific to the 3D view. 

The 3D view also needs to show how power is exercised in such cases of inaction.

It seems hard to decide whether an injustice is accepted due to an exercise of power or whether it actually reflects a consensus based on a different value system than ours.

But in some cases, we can find evidence for a consensus being the result of power silencing dissent.

Gramsci notes that sometimes the words and effective actions of a person do not fit.

Gramsci: If the masses show such a mismatch between words and actions, this is the expression of a social contrast. The masses see the world one way, and sometimes, in special circumstances, act accordingly. But the masses also see the world another way, the way of their oppressors, and they talk and normally act according to this other way.

One can learn from how people behave in abnormal situations, where the apparatus of power is less strict.

Gramsci: The church is constantly influencing its adherents. If this connection is interrupted, e.g. during the French Revolution, the church loses its influence.

When, in Czechoslovakia in 1968, the apparatus of power was relaxed the people acted quite differently than before.

The reaction of people to perceived opportunities of advancement in hierarchies can also tell us a lot.

Some people consider the Indian caste system to be consensually accepted, even by the lower castes.

Srinivas: While it is theoretically forbidden for a lower caste to emulate Brahmins, this has happened frequently. If a lower caste succeeds in adopting a vegetarian diet and Sanskritizing its rituals, it can change its position in the hierarchy. 

If a caste is economically successful, it often tends to do this, in order to increase its status.

If there is a possibility to rise in the caste system, it is often taken.

In theory, the positions of the castes in the hierarchy are unchangeable. But in effective action, castes attempt to change their position.

The introduction of universal suffrage changed the acceptance of the caste hierarchy by the lower castes.

The lowest caste, the Untouchables, have often used conversion to other religions as a way to escape the caste system.

This evidence is always, by its very nature, indirect and thus non-conclusive. But using such evidence, exercises of power, and the counterfactuals needed, may be identified.

According to the 3D view, an exercise of power can be a case of inaction, it can be unconscious, and it can be exercised by groups. All of these present problems for the 3D view in identifying such exercises of power.

If inaction leads to a potential issue not arising, this is a double non-event. But a non-event may still leave traces. Those who refrain from acting may still have considered acting and its consequences.

In a Freudian fashion, people may be unconscious as to their motives for action. This is not specific to power analysis, and it is a widely discussed problem.

Alternatively, people may be unconscious of the perception and interpretation of their actions by others. This, however, does not obscure identification of an exercise of power.  

Still alternatively, people may be unconscious of the results of their actions. This is the real problem for analysis of power.

If people are unable to know what the results of their actions on others will be, it seems wrong to classify these as exercises of power.

However, if people do not know the effects of their actions because they did not try to find out, these might well be exercises of power.

If people could have taken steps to learn about the effects of their actions, but did not, and are thus ignorant about the effects of their actions, they might well exercise power.

It seems also quite hard to determine whether an institution is exercising power or whether observed effects are due to structural determination.

In Marxism, this is the fight between voluntarism and determinism.

For Althusser and Balibar the capitalist totality and its structure determines its elements.

Poulantzas: Miliband sees class, the state, etc not as objective structures, but as reducible to interpersonal relations. He is looking at subjects as social actors, he is, in the end, simply doing sociology.

Miliband: Poulantzas sees the structure as so strict, individual persons, even heads of state, are doing nothing but executing what is already determined by the system. He is thus unable to understand the dialectical relation between the state and "the system".

There are other possibilities besides structural determinism and methodological individualism.

Social research has to look at the relations between individual actors and structures.

Individuals act as part of groups, and not just due to their individual motivations.

Individuals act within the limits of structures, but they have at least some autonomy, they can at least somewhat act differently from how they actually do.

"The future, though it is not entirely open, is not entirely closed either (and, indeed, the degree of its openness is itself structurally determined)."

A system that is totally determined by structural relations is a system without power.

One could redefine power alternatively, as Poulantzas did.

Poulantzas: Power is "the capacity of a social class to realize its specific objective interests"

Power then becomes an effect of structure on the practice of class struggle.

I believe this to be misleading.

If we call something an exercise of power, we believe the person exercising power could have acted differently, or the group could have organised differently and thus acted differently.

Saying something is an exercise of power is also saying the person/group exercising it is at least partially responsible.

Responsibility is the result of the action or inaction of a person or group.

This is not the place to discuss the boundaries between structural determination and exercises of power.

C.W. Mills: Sociological fate refers to events that can not be controlled by an identifiable group with the power to decide and able to predict the consequences of their decisions.

Those who can change the world to the benefit of (large parts of) society, but do not, exercise power and can be held accountable for their (in)actions.

[9] The 1D view of power reproduces the bias of the system it studies.

The 2D view of power can critically reflect this bias, but it sees it too narrowly.

The 3D view of power understands that latent conflicts can be suppressed. It has a number of serious difficulties, but it can overcome them.

We can understand power in a deeper way.

[templardragonknight]

The Stormcloak Bible DEBUNKED PART 1 (analysis of the imperial arguments)

Stormcloaks are often biased and most tryhard ones show little knowledge about the lore (or they actually know about it and just refuse to accept the facts). The Stormcloak bible is a great example of this (if not THE BEST example) and in these posts I plan to debunk some (if not most) of the statements shown there (I do not plan to refute all points because I am not a know everything cunt. Of course somethings there may be true). The following is an update of my previous post, as I have gathered far more information since then.

In the first part of this “bible” (http://colonel-killa-bee.tumblr.com/post/68999802440/stormcloak-bible-part-1-analysis-of-the-imperial), the author makes very a superficial analysis of arguments often used by supporters of the empire, so lets take a look at this:

Well, I originally did not want to talk about the past, as many mistakes that the empire may have commited could have been overcomed by the 4th Era (and since the Stormcloaks have little to do with the Third Era, since the rebellion started in the 4th Era), but whatever, I decided to talk about it just to show how the author's statements are foolish: he citates the comments of a dunmer imperial soldier... and what? Now because a single soldier thinks that a united empire would not be a great idea this is suddently the truth? Alright, back to the 4th Era: the author says “The Empire is dying. They have Cyrodiil, High Rock and half of Skyrim. If they won, how would security in their Empire be any better, when they can’t even prevent a bandit uprising within the very heart of their establishment when there wasn’t a civil war?” well, then the author may proceed in explaining why he does not care about the fact that on Windhelm there is a murderer rampaging and the guards do not know what to do ("but they are at war you idiot, they can not do much" you are right, just like how Cyrodiil is trying to rebuild itself after a large scale war, after tons of resourecs were eighter used or sacked), and that without mentioning crime in Riften. While I do not intend to use the tu quoque fallacy here (wich, in case you don’t know, is trying to refute someone’s critique by saying “But you do it as well”) as some cities are thrown in chaos, the fact that our Stormcloak Guy used this argument shows a great chunck of bias from him. This argument can either be used to criticize both sides or not be used at all, you decide. Also what he says about the security in the empire is simply not true, as it is evidenced by one of the possble dialogues of none other than General Tullius himself (more specifically when you try to convince him to go to High Hrothgar during Season Unending): Dragonborn: The best time to negotiate is from a position of strength. General Tullius: Fair enough. We're driving the Stormcloaks back well enough at the moment, but we're already overstretched. That's what comes of trying to win a war with a bare handful of legions. If the Emperor would just give me the reinforcements I've requested! Dragonborn: Why won't the Emperor send more reinforcements? General Tullius: Most of the Legion is tied down on the border with the Aldmeri Dominion. The Emperor can't afford to risk weakening Cyrodiil's defenses. From the Imperial City, our war here is just a sideshow. An interlude before the main event against the Thalmor resumes. Also if he actually gave us a more in deep look at Cyrodiilic cities that are in chaos (but he didn't) we would actually see that it is probably one of those situations that could not be easily fixed even by a powerful Empire, well this without mentioning that assuming that a specific governemnt is inneficient thanks to chaos in some cities is to jump to conclusions as a series of factors may make administration and/or interference difficult (geographical relief, climate, how many criminal factions are using hidden locations to grow in power and influence, etc). Heck, it would be like saying that both imperial and stormcloak governments are trash because there are bandits all over Skyrim. Anyway, the journals that describe such events are Cicero's and we can see them all here https://www.imperial-library.info/content/ciceros-journal, but lets have a closer look: in volume 2 it is written "The situation in Bravil grows more dire. The city has erupted in violence, due to a war of control being waged by Cyrodiil's two largest skooma traffickers. The Listener, Alisanne Dupre, has been forced to employ sellswords to protect her own residence." Bravil is very close to Elsweyr (https://www.google.com.br/search?q=cyrodiil+map&client=opera&hs=MgX&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjaz4Pb1MnZAhXmuFkKHWZjAjEQ_AUICigB&biw=1240&bih=914#imgrc=YHy6QwKOyg8TvM: ) and this makes the activities of kooma smugglers far easier, specially now that Elsweyr is not part of the Empire (and even if it was it's harsh conditions would prevent the imperial governemnt from being omnipresent there). In fact even in during the Oblivion Crisis, the very end of what was basically the Golden Age of the Empire, Bravil was considered a poor and violent city. If You did not play Oblivion just like me, a bit of research about Bravil in the Wiki and the UESP will show it clearly therefore in Bravil's case it is not something that is fault of the Empire itself, . In Volume 4, however, Cicero says that Cheydinhal has erupted in violence and chaos, but it is never specified how. Was it a war between rival criminal factions like in Bravil? Just unhappy inhabitants of the city? Was it really a result of bad administration from the Empire? Also a book and a dialogue in Skyrim, that The Stormcloak Guy obviously did not show on his holy book, reveal that the city is not an actual anarchy as many would think. The book is "An adventurer's Guide to Skyrim" (http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:An_Explorer's_Guide_to_Skyrim), wich mentions Cheydinhal and was clearly written after Ulfric’s militia took back Markarth because it mentions the Forsworn (who did not exist before Ulfric and his men drove the Rechmen rebels from Markarth), and the Dialogue betwen Ingun and Elgrim (http://pt.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Elgrim):

Elgrim: "Ingun, you clumsy fool! You've tainted our entire supply of Painted Troll Fat. You have no idea how hard that was to get." Ingun: "I'm sure my mother can compensate you for it." Elgrim: "I'll draft a letter to Rythe. If you could have it sent to Cheydinhal for me, that would make up for your blunder." Ingun: "I'll make sure it's sent right away."

As you can see an Alchemist in Skyrim uses Cheydinhal as means of getting profit, what would not be possible if the city was an absolute chaos by the year 201 of the 4th Era, wich either means that Cicero’s claims were exageratted or that the Empire managed to control the situation (at least to some degree, over the years). A stronger evidence for that is how Elgrim reveals he sends letters to Rythe, that is actually a famous dunmer painter encountered in The Elder Scrolls IV (http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Rythe_Lythandas). If the city was an absolute chaos at the time, we would expect a citizen like Rythe to have eighter escaped of died.

All of that without mentioning everything that is going on on Stormcloak holds. In Riften, Maven Black Briar has the entire city in her pocket (even the jarl) and freely associates with the Thieves Guild (Laila Law-Giver does not know about that). In Dawnstar, Jarl Skald barely cares about his city and sends most of his guards to fight the imperials (and is pretty authoritarian, threatening a former legionnaire for walking around in his old armor for the sake of nostalgia) and Winterhold is ruled by a fool that barely lifts a finger to help the city and instead keeps blaming the College of Winterhold (despite having no proof of what he claims). Again: no tu quoque intended, but if you condemn the imperial governemnt thanks to what happened in a few cities in Cyrodiil but does not give a crap about the flaws of the Stormcloak holds, you are a hypocrite and a biased fool.

After that he citates Valga Vinicia, who says that she moved from Cyrodiil to escape the fighting. This is weak evidence since she never clarifies what she's referring to. She may even be referring to the Great War.

Changing the subject now: the author says that it is understandable for the Empire to not send many reinforcements, thanks to the issue about the southern border (well he basically answered his own question there) and later says "But hello they have ships”. I don’t know if he was intentionally biased or just stupid, but he cmpletely ignored how General Tullius reveals that the Emperor is not sending reinforcements thanks to how it would make Cyrodiil more vulnerable to a Dominion attack. And The Stormcloak Guy may consider taking a look at the map of an interesting continent called Tamriel: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/elderscrolls/images/6/62/Tamriel_Map.png/revision/latest?cb=20150911030824 in order for the Empire to send reinforcements to Cyrodiil it would need to navigate trough Dominion territory, risking being taken down or at least being forced to go back to Cyrodiil, and even if they managed to get trough Dominion controlled seas they would still have to go trough Hammerfell's and High Rock's seas. It would take too long and it would be too exausting to send a considerable ammount of soldiers to Skyrim.

Ironically, Hadvar's dialogue suggests that the Imperial Legion ia actually managing to defeat the Stormcloaks after the Tullius came to Skyrim. If you follow him in Helgen and you ask who are the Stormcloaks he will say "You haven't heard of the civil war in Skyrim? I guess down in Cyrodiil people have other things to worry about.It's pretty simple. Ulfric founded the Stormcloaks years ago, as a sort of private army to advance his ambitions. He's always used the ban on the worship of Talos to stir people up against the Empire. He never succeeded in getting much support, so a few months ago he murdered the High King! That got the Empire's attention." thus revealing that the Empire only started to really pay attention to his rebellion after Torygg's death, wich occured a few months before Ulfric was captured while the war itself had been going on for years (the fact that the war has been going on for years is also revealed by Vulwulf Snow-Shod and Vignar Gray-Mane, tough Vignar does not say it directly). Now if you ask him how did they capture Ulfric he will answer with "A masterstroke by General Tullius! He's only been in charge here for a few months, but he's turned things around for the Empire. We've been trying to catch Ulfric since the war started, but he always seemed to slip through our fingers... like he knew we were coming. This time, the General turned the tables on him. Ulfric rode right into our ambush with only a few bodyguards. He surrendered pretty meekly, too. So much for his death-or-glory reputation. I thought we were taking Ulfric back to Cyrodiil, but I guess the General changed his mind. You know the rest." wich shows that the Skyrim's nord legionnaires were not able to capture Ulfric before the Empired started to really care about this war, and that General Tullius just needed a few months to capture the leader of the rebels. His dialogue actually shows how strong the Empire is, as Skyrim's legionnaires were only able to capture Ulfric after Tullius was sent to fix the whole thing (source: http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Hadvar)

Now we get to his points about the best chance for a victory over the Thalmor on a future war. In the first paragraph he talks about the redguards… and acts like if they would signifficantly increase the chance of an imperial victory over the Thalmor, but that is not the case as numbers do not win wars by themselves (some may say that numbers do help. That is right: they HELP, but they do not guarantee victory). His arguments regarding the possibilities of an imperial-redguard alliance versus a stormcloak-redguard alliance are also full of flaws, because as Zorkonov from the Imperial Knowledge youtube channel once explained the diplomatic relations between Hammerfell and the Empire are pretty stable, if not friendly, during the events of The Elder Scrolls V as it is evidenced by the content of the book “Flight from the Thalmor”, wich can be read here: https://www.imperial-library.info/content/flight-thalmor. Pay attention to the very first paragraph: Dearest reader: The work you are about to experience has been copied and duplicated, so that the story it relates can be spread throughout the Empire. But make no mistake - this is not a work of fiction. The events chronicled in this account are all true, were originally documented in a private journal (which now remains safely guarded in the House of Quills in Hammerfell) and occurred not more than a year before this book was printed. - Ashad Ibn Khaled, High Scribe, House of Quills, Hammerfell The Empire has basically allowed Hammerfell to publish a book in imperial land, wich would not happen if Hammerfell was hostile towards the Empire. Talking about the Hammerfell: before anyone says how the redguards “defeated” the Thalmor after the emperor left Hammerfell lets read the damn book about the Great War, shall we? https://www.imperial-library.info/content/great-war and see what it actually says about Hammerfell "In Hammerfell, Imperial fortunes took a turn for the better. In early 4E 173, a Forebear army from Sentinel broke the siege of Hegathe (a Crown city), leading to the reconciliation of the two factions. Despite this, Lady Arannelya's main army succeeded in crossing the Alik'r Desert. The Imperial Legions under General Decianus met them outside Skaven in a bloody and indecisive clash. Decianus withdrew and left Arannelya in possession of Skaven, but the Aldmeri were too weakened to continue their advance [...] In Hammerfell, General Decianus was preparing to drive the Aldmeri back from Skaven when he was ordered to march for Cyrodiil. Unwilling to abandon Hammerfell completely, he allowed a great number of "invalids" to be discharged from the Legions before they marched east. These veterans formed the core of the army that eventually drove Lady Arannelya's forces back across the Alik'r late in 174, taking heavy losses on their retreat from harassing attacks by the Alik'r warriors. [...] In the end, the heroic Redguards fought the Aldmeri Dominion to a standstill, although the war lasted for five more years and left southern Hammerfell devastated. The Redguards say that this proves that the White-Gold Concordat was unnecessary, and that if Titus II had kept his nerve, the Aldmeri could have been truly defeated by the combined forces of Hammerfell and the rest of the Empire.") as we can see Arannelya's Army was weakned after they took Skaven (that is located in central Hammerfell) and was pushed trough the desert by the army of imperial "invalids" Decianus left (thus showing that the Imperials were more than capable of dealing with Arannelya's army back there) to the point of being forced to the southern region of Hammerfell (as this was the devastated region after the aldmeri army withdrew from the province). In other words: Lady Arannelya's army was extremely weakned thanks to imperial veterans who managed to push her army across Hammerfell's sands... and even tough a united Hammerfell did not have progress in fighting her weakned army (remember that it said the redguards fought to a standstill) for FIVE YEARS, and did not even manage to destroy such army. Also the Dominion-Hammerfell war ended with a peace treaty, the Second Treaty of Stros M’kai, after souther Hammerfell, wich happened to be the chunk of land that was ceased top the Dominion when the White Gold Concordact was signed, got devastated by the war. The conclusions we have is that not only the redguards did not actually defeat the Dominion as technically they did not even drive the Dominion out of Hammerfell by force, but also that the Dominion did not sign the treaty because it could no longer fight, but because it had no reason to fight as southern Hammerfell was basically destroyed.

Now lets take a look about what he says about a Stormcloak victory: it is true that Ulfric wants to fight the Thalmor, but this would be suicide. Why? Because the Stormcloaks SUCK on the battlefield. They have been fighting against locally recruited and unexperienced legionnaires (this is revealed by pretty much every in game Legate), legionnaires that also are what General Tullius describes as “a bare handful of legions” and that Legate Rikke describes as “regular militia material”, for years. The Stormcloaks have been fighting these bare handful of militia like, locally recruited and unexperienced legionnaires pretty much to a standstill for years, so how on Nirn would one expect the Stormcloaks to be successful on an offensive against the Dominion? Also even a fast look at some TES: Legends cards can show you that the Stormcloaks really lack organization and discipline among their ranks (https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Legends:Rallying_Stormcloak http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Legends:Inspiring_Stormcloak http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Legends:Stormcloak_Battalion https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Legends:Ulfric's_Uprising), unlike the imperials (http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Legends:Mentor_of_the_Watch http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Legends:Praetorian_Commander http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Legends:Septim_Guardsman http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Legends:Tullius'_Conscription)

Now we get to the isue of racism (ah shit, here we go again). He begins it by saying that imperialism is about a dominant culture being seen as supreme, but that has nothng to do with racism. How? One can see a certain culture as supreme and not see any race as supreme. In fact, imperialism is not even about shoving such culture down someone's throat, as countless Empires did not do that: the americans do not do it, the romans did not do it (the Jews were allowed to have their customs you know), the mongols did not do it back when they dominated modern day Ukraine and part of modern day Russia, the tamrielic empire doesn not do it (the empire did not shove Cyrodiil's culture down other provinces throats. The Empire gave autonomy to the dunmer, the Empire has no problems with nords having long hairs and beards and visiting Halls of the Dead, Bruma is a cyrodiilic city and is far more nordic than imperial in culture, etc. All of these actions were not chosen on desperate situations unlike the ban of Talos worship. In fact as long as the other provinces accept the Emperor's authority, pay the taxes and report for duty when Cyrodiil is at war, the Empire lets the local government dictate the vast majority of the rules, which is why Skyrim is still ruled by jarls and a High King or High Queen). What General Tullius says about the nords ( "The Legion's always been here. Without us to keep order, the provinces would fall into barbarism and lawlessness. Especially Skyrim. Take for example, Ulfric Stormcloak and his little "rebellion." But rest assured, his days are numbered." ) is ethnocentrism, not racism (there is a huge difference between these two). Tullius did not say that a nord is a barbarian simply for being a nord (because HELLO: Legate Rikke is a nord herself, and if Hadvar survives Tullius will be happy if you tell him that he survived, while calling Hadvar “a damn good soldier”).

The irnony is that the autjor complains about imperialism, but we can see that he is a supporter of nationalism, which sets up a dominant culture in its own nation, and the dominant culture is seen as supreme, wich is exactly what we see in game after a Stormcloak victory. But hey: who needs coherence, amirite!

Now to have an idea of how how the Stormcloaks treat non nords in Windhelm (again: in Windhelm) we can take a look at Malborn (the wood elf that helps the Dragonborn ilfiltrate the Thalmor Embassy): if he survives he will relocate to the New Gnisis Cornerclub, to the Gray Quarter in Windhelm (this is clearly documented in both the wiki both the Wiki https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Malborn and the UESP https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Malborn). Now lets solve the puzzle: Malborn is an elf and an outsider in Windhelm. He had nothing left and he could have gone to Windhelm's Candlehearth Hall in order to live better while hiding from the Thalmor, but he actually goes to the Gray Quarrter, that is basically falling apart. One would clearly not choose to be on a place like that and therefore if the Stormcloaks were welcoming when he came into the city as an outsider with no future, he would certainly not be in the Gray Quarter (and if they think he could be a spy, they could keep him on a place were he would be constantly watched while living decently)... but he is there. Therefore the only conclusion is that the Stormcloaks, and with them Ulfric himself, did not accept him into the actual city and the Gray Quarter was the only option for him. All of this without mentioning that the argonians that live in the docks only live in the docks because they are not allowed to live in the actual city (for being… well… argonians). Heck, if Ulfric is killed and Windhelm is taken by the imperials and you ask Scouts-Many-Marshes (an argonian in the docks) if he is glad that the Stormcloaks are gone, he will say “You have no idea. Did you know it was his decree that forbade the Argonians from living inside the city walls? I hope in his next life, he’s reborn as an Argonian forced to live in a slum because of some bigoted Nord dictator. I’m joking, of course, but I’m a lot happier seeing the Empire running things in Windhelm.” This fact is also revealed by Brunwulf Free-Winter when he says “Whenever a group of marauders attack a Nord village, Ulfric is the first to sound the horn and send the men. But a group of Dark Elf refugees gets ambushed? A group of Argonians, or a Khajiit caravan? No troops. No investigation. Nothing. There’s a group of cutthroats out there right now that Ulfric doesn’t lift a finger to bring to justice, as long as they don’t threaten Nord land”.

Now about what he points about the Roman Empire, I will use the same logic with the old norse: if you, reader, joined the Stormcloaks because you like the vikings for X or  Y reasons I have no problem with that (I kinda enjoy their history myself. Heck, I could say I am more of a viking fan than a roman fan), but wanting to apply this to the Lore is nonsense because:

- DNA tests on one of the nordic countries (tough I do not recall wich one) have revealed the vikings were actually very diverse in terms of race. In other words: racism was not that common among vikings, unlike among the nords of Skyrim.

- The vikings made sure to take advantage of their ships when they raided the shores of more southern european countries, as with their vertically thin ships they were able to step on the shore right after jumping from the ship. A similar boat design is seen at Windhelm and the Stormcloaks could have took advantage of that and directly attack Solitude from the sea (as most of Skyrim’s shores are controlled by the stormcloaks at the beginning of the game) in some of the earlier years of the war, but the Stormcloaks chose to get massacred on land instead (on a dialogue with Torsten Cruel-Sea where Torsten directly mentions such navy, Ulfric says he will think about it and that is the closest we get to having an actual Stormcloak navy).

- The vikings had almost the same equipment as the rest of Europe at their time, what can not be said about the Stormcloaks in Tamriel. To give more details: during the viking age (around 800 a. C. to 1066 a. C. if I recall correctly) chainmail and shields were universally used (https://levaleur.deviantart.com/art/Armour-evolution-421878469 https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/armor/390609) and full plate armor only became a thing by the 15th century, and in this period of time not only the design of the armor improved, but the way it was made, the way the metal was shaped in order to make it harder and more effective, combat strategies were improved, etc. In other words: a Stormcloak soldier fighting a Dominion soldier would be like a viking nobleman fighting a 15th century knight... wich would be like a World War 2 german soldier trying to fight a modern US Marine.

Now if you join the Stormcloaks thanks to Talos worship... one can worship him in secret, just like Alvor reveals the nords did before Ulfric’s Uprising (http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Alvor "It's from that treaty that ended the Great War, remember, when the Emperor was forced by the Thalmor to outlaw Talos worship. We didn't pay much attention to it when I was a boy - everyone still had their little shrine to Talos. But then Ulfric and his "Sons of Skyrim" started agitating about it, and sure enough the Emperor had to crack down. Dragging people off in the middle of the night... one of the main causes of this war, if you ask me."). Ulfric’s agitating is what caught the attention of the Thalmor (since it showed that the terms of the Concordact were not being enforced in Skyrim) and the Emperor (as Alvor reveals not even the imperials were that active in Skyrim before Ulfric started his rebellion), so I am sorry to say that but Ulfric’s means are bringing the opposite of what he promises, and having noble goals means nothing if your means do not work.

[unixcommerce]

Leyla Seka of Operator Collective: More Women and Underrepresented Minorities Need to be Involved in the Investing Cycle

Although my last conversation took place at the end of 2019, it’s a perfect way to start the new year off with the series.  I’ve known Leyla Seka for many years going back to when she was heading up Salesforce’s Desk.com division. She left the company last year after being there for eleven years of doing some really cool things, including helping to create the AppExchange, and helping to spearhead the company’s equal pay initiatives. But just last month she became a partner at Operator Collective, a VC firm founded by long-time tech executive Mallun Yen with the goal of broadening the pool of those participating in venture capital investment.  In fact 90% of these limited partners (LPs) are women, and more than 40% of them are people of color.

Importance of Investor Diversity

Leyla shares what led her to become an investor and LP with Operator Collective, how this challenge compares to her road to becoming a senior executive at a company like Salesforce, and why she feels it’s important for more women and underrepresented minorities to get involved in the VC space.

Below is an edited transcript of our conversation. To hear the whole interview watched the video or click on the embedded SoundCloud player below.

Small Business Trends: Tell us what exactly is Operator Collective?

Leyla Seka: The idea really started with the fact that a lot of women and underrepresented minorities were not involved in venture. And there’s a lot of side hustle going on around venture. When I worked at Salesforce, we acquired a number of companies and we brought their awesome founders over with us and then those founders would stay for a couple of years and then often they’d leave and many of them became venture capitalists. And when they left, I noticed they were calling the male executives and were like “Hey, invest in my fund,” or “Hey. Angel invest in this company.” And they weren’t really calling the female executives or anyone else.

Small Business Trends: Right.

Leyla Seka: So I got cut into one of these eventually, a friend brought me in and I started realizing it was a whole additional income stream that they were getting access to. Not all of them, but a lot of them. And I’ve been notorious for equal pay for many, many years. I think I always will be. I hope I always will.

Looking for the Right Kind of Company

Small Business Trends: I hope so.

Leyla Seka: Yeah. I intend to be until my last breath, I’m going to be talking about this. But it felt like another income and disparity. Right?  And also you know we want different types of companies. Right? We’re all sort of chomping at the bit for a company that represents the society we live in and not just the upper wealthy classes. And if we really want that then we need to let different types of people invest and create new companies.

So, Mallun had sort of created the framework of this and had begun to get some initial investors and she was working on that. And then after I left Salesforce, we were friends and I was already involved. We got much more closer involved. And then it became a really interesting project where we’re … Most venture funds don’t have over a hundred limited partners. Right? And most venture funds certainly don’t tell you who their limited partners are. We went about it in a much different way because the limited partners inside of Operator Collective are all operating executives.

A More Well Rounded Network

Now we recruited out of our network. So it happens to be 90% women, 40% people of color. And it’s a more well-rounded network than your typical VC network tends to be. But what we found so interesting about that is all of these, we surveyed our population of LPs, and we found that 56% of them had never invested before.

Small Business Trends: Wow.

Leyla Seka: These women and men are the people running unicorns and running giant divisions at huge companies. So 56% of them had never invested before, and when we asked why, over 75% said, “No one ever asked me.”

Small Business Trends: Wow, 75%. And these are, like you’re saying, these are people who have done some tremendous, outstanding things in their career, have tons of experience and were never asked before.

Leyla Seka: Yeah. I mean, to be fair, I was asked four years ago and partially because I was having a fit about it. Right? I was yelling about it and like, “Why am I not being asked?” And so that really, that metric for me was very humbling because it sort of completely validated the thesis that Mallun and I were running at that we weren’t really being asked to the dance ever. Right? So that was a real, a big principle of it was to get operating executives into venture, to get them thinking about the next companies, advising the next companies, helping the next companies. But also understanding that most operating executives are so busy they can’t breathe. So creating a framework that allowed them to engage in a way that made sense to them. Right? But didn’t put any kind of force on them to do anything they didn’t have time for.

Raising $45 Million

Small Business Trends: Congratulations are in order, because recently you guys raised $45 million or you opened with a chest of $45 million. The target was only 30 million and you’ve got 45 million. So that’s got to feel pretty good?

Leyla Seka: Yeah, that was awesome. I mean Mallun deserves a huge amount of the credit there. My partner Mallun, she is absolutely phenomenal when it comes to getting people fired up about the mission. But yeah, we raised over what we thought, which is very exciting and also very validating. And now we started, we already made some investments. Our investment thesis is focused on business to business SAAS, which is another difference. Right? I will be honest with you, I’m sort of new to venture capital but I was very surprised in my first run out how many people started asking me to invest in their lipstick companies, which is funny because I don’t wear any makeup. Like none. The only time I ever wear makeup is when my Salesforce or someone else puts it on me. Otherwise, I don’t wear makeup, not my jam. So I was like, “Wow, I’m really not your target here. Go to someone that wears lipstick and ask them to invest in your lipstick company.”

But it does sort of show the bias that exists inside of venture right now, that is female venture capitalists invest in cosmetics or consumer types of companies. And I think that’s great. By all means invest in what you believe in. But I don’t know anything about lipstick, but I know a lot about B2B SAS. I mean I built the AppExchange. I know a lot about that.

Exposing the Bias of the VC Community

Small Business Trends: Your experiences is, “I’ve been with Salesforce 11 plus years. I’ve worked with several big tech companies. As part of that, I’ve helped build big tech and lipstick is the first thing that comes to mind?”

Leyla Seka: It’s interesting. Right? A lot of this … And these aren’t bad people. Right? They’re excited, but it just, there’s a lot of bias built into the way all of us function. Me too. I’m not saying I’m perfect by any means.

Small Business Trends: Right.

Leyla Seka: We all have tons of work to do.

Small Business Trends: Absolutely, yeah.

Leyla Seka: But it was interesting to me. I was very like, “Hmm, that’s so strange. Don’t you want to talk to me about really deep enterprise B2B, gnarly business problems, not lipstick?”

Small Business Trends: Yes. So do you see that … How has that perception changed? Is this what you guys are doing, is this one of the first steps and showing, “Hey, this is the kind of talent you guys have put together, we can do as well as anybody else in tech and enterprise tech in the cloud.”

Investor Diversity Takes to the Web

Leyla Seka: Yeah, and actually I see there are a lot of funds coming online right now, women led funds that are doing something similar. Moxie by Katie Stanton. Theresa just started a fund and then Aileen Lee has always had Cowboy Ventures. There have been, the interesting thing about what’s happening in venture right now is there have been All Raise, Aileen, #ANGELS, there’ve been a number of women that came before and started sort of paving the pathway for other types of people to enter venture. So I believe it’s been going on, and a lot of those are investing in heavy B2B tech too. Right?

The lipstick example is more to show how biases are built into the way we all think about investors and operators and companies and interests and stuff like that. We’ve invested in a lot of really great B2B tech that I’m super proud of. From IRONCLAD, which is going to change the way a lot of legal services are run, through to Guild and Rachel Carlson, who is just phenomenal and makes all of us sort of yay for the future.

In a Lucky Position

We find ourselves in a lucky position too where we have a lot of support inside of the valley. I got all this advice from people like, “Oh, it’s really cut throat in venture and no one’s going to help you and you got to fight for this and that.” And it’s early days, but that’s not what I’ve found at all. I’ve found a lot of warmth, a lot of, “We’re excited you’re in this, Leyla, how can we help you? Do you want to learn about this? Come to this, come to that.”

Which has also been very affirming. Right? It was very nice to see how much support we got as we launched the fund from so many different people and from a lot of people that I guess folks would say we were competitive with, although I don’t see it that way. It’s been a really positive experience and I’m very fired up about that.

Creating More Opportunities

Small Business Trends: If you looked at what you’ve done at Salesforce and kind of the progression of seeing more and more women get opportunities to be leaders in these kind of tech companies and enterprises, where in terms of that spectrum do you see what’s going on with gender and diversity from the investment side of the house? How many years is it behind where you were as a tech enterprise at a company like Salesforce? Leyla Seka: Well, Salesforce really was leading edge. Right? I mean, I’ve always said this about Salesforce. I’ve never seen a company that was trying harder to do the right thing. I really haven’t. So, I was lucky to work at a company like that for so long. So I’ll definitely say that. Look venture’s a bit behind. Right? I mean, I think it’s a little behind. I can’t exactly qualify or quantify how much, but you can see from the influx of change that Operator Collective is bringing to the table as well as a lot of these other female and underrepresented minority led funds. When you see this much activity boiling up, this many people sort of engaging in a new way of thinking about a problem, you can tell that there’s a there, there. Right?

Why We Lag Behind with Investor Diversity

I think venture has been a little behind, and I think now that because of a lot of the good work of organizations like All Raise and all of these types of places which said, “Hey, women have a spot here. Underrepresented minorities have a spot here.” We’re starting to see a shift.

Now shifts take a while. Right? In the moment they never feel like they’re happening fast enough. And over a lifetime you’re amazed at how much happened. Right? But so that continues to be sort of where we see ourselves. But again, I am seeing this network of women and underrepresented minorities in venture. And from our launch at least, what an amazing reception and how kind everyone was in deal flow and advice and meet this founder, meet this person. It’s been very welcoming for a business that I was told was very competitive and sort of cut throat. So I think the shift is beginning but we’re in early days still.

A Look at the New World of Investment

Small Business Trends: What’s been the most surprising aspect of coming into this new territory for you?

Leyla Seka: Well I continue to be pretty amazed at how many good ideas are out there. Right? And how many interesting ways people are thinking about solving, problems that we may have already solved. Right? But just tinkering it a bit and shifting it a bit to make it that much more compelling. So that I find very exciting. I think that probably the most surprising thing … I’m an operating executive, I still sort of think about myself that way. So not having a number, a daily, monthly, hourly number that I’m obsessing about and worrying about. I mean, I have a number. It’s just my span is a little longer. It’s not a monthly, I have a couple of years to hit the number or some years.

And I also, I mean this is another thing that I find sort of funny. I come from a operating job where I would say, “Do this, let’s do that.” And then a whole bunch of very smart people would run off and go do it. And now I say, “You should do that, we should do that. You should do that.” And a lot of people were like, “Yeah.” And then no one does it.

The Other Side of the Equation

So that’s a new experience. But it’s cool too. It’s learning, it’s sort of the other side of the equation. I joined some boards as well. That also has proven very interesting. It’s sort of learning how to exercise a different muscle. It’s a persuasion muscle versus a power muscle, if you will. You don’t work for me, so you don’t have to do what I say. But if I have a good idea, I want to make sure you hear it for you to consider. And I no longer walk out of a board meeting or walk out of a meeting with a founder and think, “Oh, they’re going to implement my ideas.” I think the first couple of months I was like, “Oh, they’re going to do that. And if they do what I told them this will work and that’ll work.” And then now I sort of get that it’s much more of a dialogue and way more up to them. So that took me a second.

Small Business Trends: Well let’s talk about maybe some of the kinds of companies. Have you already started investments? Is it just now that you’ve got the money, you’re starting to look at what kind of companies you’re looking to be a part of?

Leyla Seka: So we’ve done some investments, we’ve done some very cool investments in about five companies. We have an interesting take on how we do investments. So of course the thesis is enterprise B2B SAAS, we’re going to stick to that thesis more or less. We have a little slush fund for things we think that are really interesting that are a little bit …

Solving Interesting Problems

We’re looking for companies that are solving interesting problems or solving existing problems in interesting ways. Another big point for me and Mallun is we want to invest in companies we know we can help. Right? And our premise is a little bit different in that we engage our community, we engage with the company, we really try to help them understand what are you doing in marketing? What are you doing in product, what’s going on in sales? How are you thinking about legal? We really, because we all come from being operators, it’s very important to us that we engage with companies that we believe have the right types of founders and the right types of teams to build the next generation of companies.

Our due diligence process is standard like everyone else’s. We look at all that stuff, but then we spend a lot of time thinking about the founder or the founding team, what they’re trying to do, their willingness to be open to new sorts of things as far as how they create their teams and think about their culture. So it’s fun but it’s more intense than I think the typical diligence process is perhaps because Mallun and I spend so much time thinking about the company and would we want our LPs to work at that company? Would they want to work at that? We think about it in multiple frameworks before we make the call.

Investor Diversity Gives Chances to New Kinds of Companies

Small Business Trends: You are looking for certain kinds of companies in terms of just their potential of course, but then you’re also looking to expand opportunities for folks that have been underrepresented or it’s been more difficult for them to get the capital that they need. What’s the mix? How do you make sure that you find the right companies that will, with hope, become very successful in the future, but also leave the opportunity open, a little bit more open for companies that would traditionally be overlooked? Companies that are headed by women or folks that are underrepresented by … whether they are from a race or a color perspective. How do you balance that?

Leyla Seka: We talked about that a lot. Right? One of the big differences in our fund was the thesis is we’re getting more women and underrepresented minorities into investing. Right? And then the actual investments are just based on the product, the team, the potential of the company. Now our network is leaning towards that. We’ve already invested in two women led companies out of the five. So I mean without even trying, it’s happening candidly, which I love and which was sort of my dream that we wouldn’t have … There’s still much to do, mind you, there’s no finish line in any of this. But so it is sort of happening naturally and … But yeah, our thesis was not. A lot of funds are created with a thesis to invest in underrepresented minorities or women, which I think is wonderful and 100% support them.

Getting More Underrepresented Groups Involved

That is not our thesis per se. Our thesis is more women and underrepresented minorities need to be involved in the investing cycle. And I will tell you how we made that happen. So we were creating the fund. Right? And we were raising money from all of these different LPs, and we also got institutional money in the fund in the first round in the first raise, which is almost unheard of. And which Mallun deserves full credit for. It was a Herculean effort and she did all of it. But when we were creating the fund, there were some people I wanted in the fund and quite frankly the initial, sort of the median, the price everyone came in roughly at was around 200, 250K. Right? Which is pretty high, pretty high. And there was someone in particular that I really wanted in the fund and there was just no way she could come in at that.

Building a Scale for Investor Diversity

Mallun and I started talking and we created a scale. Right? And it really was based on equal pay, no surprise. So the idea being that not all of the people we want inside of the LP network would have been afforded the same opportunities as even us within the LP network. So we created a scale that took into account years in job, promotional opportunities, promotional advancements, pay. And we talked to the people quite a bit. So we created a scale that let people join his LPs at 10K, which is incredibly … most funds don’t do that. It’s expensive to have that many people in the fund. But the whole idea of our fund was that we were creating one that would be inclusive and different for everyone.

We have folks in the fund that started at 10K and we have people that are well over a multimillion dollar investment, so we have a very wide range of LP. We treat them all the same and no one knows how much anyone gave. Right? That’s not the game we play, only Mallun and I really know that and our operating partner, Ambrosia. But we did that because we felt that that would be the most equitable way to get as many people on the cap table and thinking about investing as we could with sort of the tools we had at our disposal.

A Different Mix of Investors and Founders

Small Business Trends: That’s really cool. So then the net effect will be you’re going to be seeing a different makeup of the actual investors, not just a different makeup of the actual founders.

Leyla Seka: Exactly, exactly. I get cap tables all the time now and I look at these cap tables and I’m like, “Wow, they’re all very homogeneous.” I’m looking forward to a different looking cap table that has all kinds of names on it and all different. Not not Mike, Adam, Joe, John, Bob, something else, let’s have a different name on that thing sometimes. But it’s exciting and it is really. I think one of the most exciting things has been the reception from our LPs and from the valley at large, but really from the LPs that joined our fund, these people that sort of put their money where their mouth was and engaged with us in this journey as well as the founders who are letting us sort of engage in helping them create their companies.

A Unique and Awesome Relationship

It’s a very unique and awesome relationship. I felt this on the AppExchange in the early days, and when AppExchange was about a year old and it was still very new, there was this energy underneath it. There’s lots of things that needed to be fixed and lots of processes that needed to be put in place and all that, but there was sort of an energy, a tide underneath the AppExchange, and I could feel that something very different and very wild was happening. I feel that current with Operator Collective as well, it’s something is changing again, which is very exciting to me.

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