#but i didn’t get ANY of the religious allegory

[cassiopeialake]

why is no one on tumblr talking about Hot Sauce i love her so much :((( all the gang but especially their extremely traumatized badass 14 year old leader

[mr-president]

I have a question (To be perfectly clear this is not an ask trying to strum up controversy, but just my own curiosity of your views, and I love your analysis and how you say things. But if you have nothing to say on this matter feel free to delete this ask)

There’s some controversy in the funger fandom about the writing of the Bremen army, also in Pav. Some people think it’s too sympathetic or the choices that Miro made are in poor taste. Do you have any opinions on this?

CW: fascism, Nazism, antisemitism, and what have you. also, sorry if i get things wrong, again, it’s been a while.

Yes, I do think that portraying a historical, fascist, genocidal regime in Nazi Germany as the Bremen army was in poor taste. It’s one thing to just have a fantastical, fictional totalitarian government and another to use an actual historical allegory as stand in for history. The Bremen army is an allegory for Nazi Germany, there is absolutely no denying that, and Mr. Haverinen made that conscious, authorial choice to make that connection.

However, and this is my personal opinion, I don’t think he properly understood, articulated, or represented the impact that Nazi Germany had on Europe, the world, and especially for Jewish people. And this is a problem, because Nazi Germany still has lingering influences on society and culture today, and Mr. Haverinen’s choice to not only write Nazi Germany in the story but portray it in such a way is…in poor taste.

I understand why Mr. Haverinen likely used Nazi Germany as an allegorical tool—the same reason why he uses religious allegory throughout the story. Because we are all familiar with WW2 and Nazism, we have a general idea and basic understanding of this fictional totalitarian, colonialist regime. And that is perfectly fine and is a valid shorthand storytelling device.

Additionally, the Bremen Empire is still depicted as Not A Good Thing. Like, that’s very clear within the narrative—Mr. Haverinen is not a Nazi and clearly does not support that ideology. However, I do believe that he could have done better in understanding/depicting a sensitive historical subject beyond showing how they are bad. If that makes sense.

My problems with the Bremen Empire are that it:

fails to articulate a coherent ideology as to why their influence is so vast,

gives them a somewhat “good” motive that kind of validates their existence

does not empathize with or represent the minority group (Jewish people) who were most affected by this historical tragedy.

For 1), though there are references to the Bremen army’s horrific atrocities, it’s kind of hand-wavey as to why they’re really doing it, seemingly only because Le’garde’s general bloodlust and assholeness. I’ll discuss that more in the second point, but I just want to state that Nazi Germany had a legitimate, compelling, and actual ideology behind it that perpetuated the attitude of nonchalance and “justice” that came with the atrocities they committed.

It is not merely power, it was fascism. Fascism cleans up your neighborhood, gives you jobs and school and work, gives you what made you great, and gets rid of what put you down. Fascism creates a problem and posits that the solution is to exclude the…undesirables and raise yourself up to your truest potential.

And here, Bremen fails. Somewhat.

Point 2). Their motive. The ultimate goal of Le’garde’s bullshit is for him to usher in new era of humanity, where he becomes Logic, ascends to new-Old Godhood, and helps humanity overcome the rule of the Old Gods and truly live for themselves rather than their whims.

Ultimately, it’s uncertain if this will be a positive thing, but in Ending A it’s kind of a good thing, especially with Reina becoming Logic instead of Le’garde. Of course, much like Funger 1, it begs the question of “was this suffering all worth it,” but like many people have criticized with Reina’s usage at all, that question doesn’t hit as hard as Funger 1.

And Funger 1 didn’t even need a wholeass Nazi allegory to ask that question. Was the suffering of every innocent civilian worth it to get Logic? To usher in this new era of humanity?

The question seems more on the side of “Yeah” because unlike Funger 1, Logic’s existence is depicted as a good thing for humanity. Thus, Bremen is sort of a “good thing,” that at least it was towards something positive and for the betterment of people everywhere.

Which is…a really awful thing to say when, again, this was an actual fascist regime who discriminated against, subjugated, and had a system that enforced the oppression of numerous minority groups.

Point 3). Not really interacting with the minority groups subjugated. Termina’s cast is pretty much entirely made up of minorities, and many of them do have or would have tangible interactions that conflict with the Bremen army.

Levi and Pav are perhaps the best examples of characters who were genuinely traumatized by the Bremen army, and their actions and characterization are substantial for recognizing the psychological impact colonization has on people.

However…no character or even allegorical minority group is a stand in for Jewish people, who are one of the most affected groups of Nazism.

Ok, there didn’t need to be a Jewish character who actually went through the atrocities of Nazism in graphic, Funger-grade detail. That could be very triggering, and it could also spell problems of getting the story censored. And also, misrepresentation is a genuine thing to fear when depicting something like that.

But to scrub most if not all references of Antisemitism? Isn’t that kinda fucked? I think it’s fucked. Let me know if I’m wrong.

Anyways, I need you (audience) to understand something.

It is imperative to understand that this is Fear & Hunger. These are games which depict suffering, mass, unavoidable, tragic, yet wholly unnecessary suffering. You the player suffer and understand suffering. And then Mr. Haverinen has an allegory for a fascist regime which caused so much mass, tragic, colonialist, yet entirely unnecessary suffering and chose not to depict who were those sufferers.

It’s my own opinion, but if you make Nazi germany you can empathize with the people who suffered from it if your central theses revolve around suffering.

Additionally, I understand that this story is supposed to be a fantastical retelling of history, but girl, like. You could keep the historical allegory and the historical context and just have it be vaguely referenced. But you interact with the Bremen army in the game. Le’garde acts as a stand in for fucking Adolf Hitler.

Like, you could keep the historical allegory and the historical context and just have it be vaguely referenced. But to interact with that history in such a direct manner, on the side of the oppressor? Without much depiction of the oppressed?

In my opinion, Mr. Haverinen doesn’t really have an excuse for depicting what is essentially Nazi Germany in such a strange way. He didn’t need to make an allegory to Nazi Germany. He didn’t need the game to interact directly with Nazis and their leader. He didn’t need to even depict Nazism to begin with, or have it be such a dominant force in the narrative.

For that reason, it is fucking worthy to critique his authorial choices about a major historical tragedy in a game about tragedy.

Of course, you can say “it’s fictional, people shouldn’t be stupid and believe Nazi Germany was actually like this; there are penis gods, don’t be stupid,” but guess what?? People will be stupid. Fiction doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and though I doubt actual Nazis will come about from Funger, I think Mr. Haverinen isn’t absolved of criticism for portraying Nazi Germany in such a way. It still perpetuates harmful narratives about authoritarianism, minimizes the impact of fascism, and what have you.

We unfortunately exist in a society where people could take away that authoritarianism is maybe cool because you get the internet out of it and maybe sovereigns are trying to help society.

We exist in a society where the portrayal of suffering as perhaps a necessary evil for societal gain is the standard. And for a series that seems to want to say something meaningful in portraying suffering, shouldn’t it aim to critique oppression by sympathizing with the oppressed?

Plus, fuck you if you just tell people not to be stupid and to shut up. That has always been a tactic used by privileged individuals to…talk around the issue. But I’m getting off topic—a rant about alt-right or moralist tactics to end or control a conversation is for another day.

Basically, hey. I care enough about this series to write this critique. I care enough about it that I drew it every day in June, and here I am still thinking about it.

Your art can and will be criticized. This is the right of your audience, and you should listen to their critiques. You should be afraid of potential backlash but people will love your work still despite its grievances. And you should try and do better.

And you should talk about problems in representation. That’s like, how things get better. Be a bitch. Don’t let those with the privilege to ignore continued systemic oppression control the narrative and silence you.

On the subject of Pav, I think he’s…fine? He’s basically Russian, and I think the problems with his characters have more to do with the Bremen Empire being poorly written than his character conceptually. Because I think conceptually, he’s fine—illustrates the cycle of abuse, the trauma of war, whatever, whatever.

tldr; oh yeah, it was not a good representation and we should criticize it.

[kidflashimpulse]

this is a little random BUT: imo Ed having Catholic guilt/religious trauma is basically canon. he has lines in s2 that point in that direction anyway (wanting a "cure" for his powers, etc. being a meta-human isn't a one-to-one allegory for any irl minority but in ED'S case it def reads like a queer metaphor), but in s3 he outright states he used to pray to try and get rid of his powers. there's no way the guy doesn't have baggage tied to (canonically, according to Greg) growing up Catholic

this is such an overdue answer of mine especially because at the time it was crazy i was literally drafting up a post the same week before u sent in the ask so i was originally going to try to answer immediately lol here’s a SS within a SS of it 😭😭😭

both times i didn’t finish my sentence is cause DC took me out before i had the chance omg

okay LOL but fr apologies for the delayed answer! this sounds a bit silly but i genuinely rlly like to always answer asks especially these ones which i find so interesting properly and that ends up with me just taking forever

back to the actual topic though:

I entirely agree !!! I think it’s incredibly reasonable to characterise Ed with catholic guilt exactly because of the outlined reasons. Him explicitly stating in Outsiders that he used to try to pray his powers away was just a little too on the spot for it to NOT be interpreted as an extension of religious baggage and growing up Catholic.

also totally agree with ur understanding of his S2 attitude!! Especially with the whole “meta-gene being an extension of minority” aspect because I feel like it only really shines as an allegory when it’s used in combination with real-world minority identity exploration/issues. Because these r the exact people who r very familiar with those type of struggles and complexes.

Eduardo starting off by being steadfast on wanting to have a cure for it as his immediate reaction to something that is clearly inseparable from one’s being, it reads all too easily as like u said a queer metaphor only in combination with what we know of his background and being gay. It’s a very natural way of story telling that people can interpret it as, so it rlly does make sense.

It’s also rlly cool that by S3 he says that “he used to”, he’s clearly done a lot of growth since S2 and having that extend to his catholic guilt and how he has overcome it to an extent during the time skip and being more at peace with himself and be happy for a change, we love that for him.

thank u for sharing ur thoughts with us <3 i love these type of discussions and analysis so much, especially when it ties so nicely together with his development

[the-monkey-ruler]

Did bajie have 0 s*x the whole journey?

I mean…. Yeah.

Man did suggest to give up and him going back to Gao’s after every time Sanzang gets kidnap for about the first seven years of the journey. But he never does and always keeps going.

He explains when he first came out of his reincarnation as a pig he first ate his siblings and then his mother. From there he ran to the Cloudy Path Cave and lives with a woman he considered a sister, Second Elder Sister Egg until she died within a year and he inherited her cave. This suggests that there was a first sister as well but she is never mentioned nor do either of them really matter in the story.

There he mostly be eating humans until Gaunyin and Muzha stopped him to given him his religious name and he promised to wait for Sanzang… which he didn’t and rather spent about three years trying to good in the Gao family's good graces until he finally had his real form revealed. Wukong and Sanzang came around, kicked his ass, and had him join.

He did try to marry another family of a mother and three daughters… which turned out to be Gaunyin and three other bodhisattvas in disguise. Roped him in pearls and hung him in a tree until he promised not to act on his desire for romance and stay celibate. Which yeah he does keep for the rest of the journey. His only hope was that they would bis banned but even eventually he changed his tune about that too, wanting to see the mission to the end.

This was his closest thing to any actions of honesty... And that means zero smexy times.

Actually, Bajie is the one to usually fight and kill female demons, which I take it as an allegory to show him always fighting his sexual desires and winning through each battle. He has fought the Jade-Faced Princess, the Wansheng Princess, all the Tree Spirits that tried to force Sanzang into marriage, and the White-Faced Vixen Spiri for some good examples. He is usually the one to kill female demons that have used their looks and sexual charms to get their way, again showing he his battles with that kind of temptations is something he fights but ultimately overcomes.

[asherlockstudy]

I’m excited to read any thoughts you have about the new R&L video!

Thank you! 🥺 I was actually unsure whether I would make a post about it or not, but how can I say no now hehehe I also delayed the answer hoping Ear Biscuits would illuminate some darker, unclear parts, but they didn’t.

The new video is lighter on the symbolism (its premise is symbolic but the details are less so) because of the inclusion of other, almost certainly unaware people. These people inevitably make the video less precise in its intention to be an allegory, because they have their own way of reacting to the situation, particularly Brian the exorcist. For example, I believe the part where they meet Brian in his studio and everything that happens there bears no symbolism at all. They just found the situation too weird to not include it in the final edit of the video. Furthermore, the longest part of the video is a dice game based on luck which makes it certain that many parts could deviate significantly from the symbolic premise.

The symbolism is almost certainly their struggles in their romantic pursuits until their marriages, with the shadow of the religious preachings always inside their minds. The church and their involvement with it is Brian. Brian does not want them to play D&D (have sex) unless there are the right circumstances, no magic, no violence (no homoerotic, not before marriage).

It’s interesting how in order to get into this game, they stress the most fundamental thing they have to do is to change identities and roleplay, and they ask Brian to accept that they will be using other characters. This might symbolise some insincerity in the way they were getting involved romantically with people in their youth.

Rhett’s character is a human warlock. From D&D Beyond:

A warlock is defined by a pact with an otherworldly being. Sometimes the relationship between warlock and patron is like that of a cleric and a deity (…). Warlocks are driven by an insatiable need for knowledge and power, which compels them into their pacts and shapes their lives. This thirst drives warlocks into their pacts and shapes their later careers as well.

So, you see, this paints Rhett perfectly. This is about Rhett being an - once dedicated - missionary and driven by his intellectual and spiritual concerns. His character’s name, Dothan, means “law”, “custom”.

Link’s character is a half man - half elf rogue. There is a duality here. From D&D Beyond:

Walking in two worlds but truly belonging to neither (…) Some half-elves live among humans, set apart by their emotional and physical differences, watching friends and loved ones age while time barely touches them. Others live with the elves, growing restless as they reach adulthood in the timeless elven realms, while their peers continue to live as children. Many half-elves, unable to fit into either society, choose lives of solitary wandering or join with other misfits and outcasts in the adventuring life.

I see two ways this can relate to Link. He often describes himself as a man-child. And then it could also be that he is uncertain in his sexuality, neither here nor there. At this point Link constantly speaks about the importance of accepting and loving your unique self, even if you feel like a misfit.

As a rogue, according to D&D Beyond:

When it comes to combat, rogues prioritize cunning over brute strength. (…) Rogues have an almost supernatural knack for avoiding danger.

Interestingly, his character’s name, Anwir, means “liar”.

Link adds more to his backstory, making his character to actively seek his elvish father in order to take revenge from him. Link as Anwir also goes through a wild rage at which he screams he has to see this adventure to the end and not become like his father. For those who are relatively new to Rhett and Link, know that Link added this element to his character straight from his own experience. Charles seems like a lovely dude and he and Link get along very well and happily but this is a recent development. Charles was not a good father during Link’s childhood. He left his mother and saw Link rarely. Link went through severe feelings of paternal neglect and abandonment during his childhood and adolescence. Link and his mother were actually taken care of by Charles’ parents, if I am not mistaken, and yet Charles wasn’t there in Link’s everyday life. Link has spoken many times in the past about how terrified he was as a young man that he would become like his father and would not become a good husband and dad. A lot of his self-beating up in his youth was because he did not want to be like him, which might suggest that deep inside he had solid reasons to fear he could end up being an unreliable husband or father. Link speaks much less about this now that his relationship with his dad has warmed up more than ever. I believe Charles has softened with age too.

Their co-players symbolise Christy and Jessie. A tall blonde and a short brunette. The tall blonde being a Druid, AKA a magical priestess very close to nature. The Druids considered trees sacred. Christy is obsessed with plants. Her character’s name, Emaris, means “industrious”.

The Brunette, Xalia, is a Tiefling Paladin. Tieflings are creatures with a partly demonic ancestry which however are not evil themselves. A Paladin is a knight committed to some holy quest, to justice or to a pure deity. So we have a character who is fighting for the good and for justice even though they have questionable or dual origin. The real, historical Paladins were knights in Charlemagne’s court by the way. Jessie has some French ancestry, I think. The duality in this case is unclear to me (some pages on the internet say she was raised by her mother, which would make her similar to the duality of Link’s character) or, who knows, it could be a sexual implication as well, and anyway Rhett has said Jessie had her very own journey of processing herself after their alienation from the Church. But she is a very warm and friendly person, undoubtedly interested in justice and doing good, just like Xalia. Xalia is an invented name, probably meaning something like “follower”, “compromising” or “God’s messenger”.

It is clear by now that the characters were chosen neither randomly nor lightly. Rhett and Link clarified both women are seasoned and established players. What I do not know, as I also haven’t watched the MS extras, is whether those characters are genuine characters these women play or they were given to them for this video in specific. Rhett and Link however said that the players were informed beforehand about the peculiarities and what was expected of them and were ready for it.

There’s also Lemar who is there as a dungeon master. He’s a real dungeon master. I don’t think there is any underlying significance in him. He must have been useful in helping them making all the connections they wanted (finding suitable players, characters, challenges etc). BTW he seemed like a great dungeon master and person.

Dothan and Anwir are partners travelling on one horse. Lemar says only that they had visions - demonic according to Brian - before they enter a small town. They don’t talk about the visions again in the final edit of the game so I wonder what the point was. My guess is visions = fantasies. Dothan and Anwir reach the small town and go to the inn, ready to mingle, as maybe the visions have been piling up.

Rhett and Link are awkward in their initial interactions with the two women, mostly due to Brian, probably like their adherence to the preaching was making their romances harder.

The first challenge they have is confronting five guys who want to steal and eat their horse. I am not sure whether there is a symbolism in this. Link leads in the confront… and in the awkwardness. Rhett names his magic “chemistry” and then does a silly illusion trick on the guy. The blonde woman sprays poison at him. Link goes on a rage about how he must not be like his father, steals the man’s sword but then his hit falls flat. My bet is that there is a symbolism in all this though but for me it is clearer on Rhett’s part.

Game-Rhett: I have a confession to make to the group, okay? That is, I can do magic but it’s not technically magic, it’s chemistry. I mean it looks crazy, it’s all fire and things but -

The Brunette shows understanding and acceptance.

Commentator!Rhett: I thought it was pretty clever, coming up with a way to always explain magic as some natural process but… is this tricking the demons? Are the demons like “he’s about to cast a spell…? Oh no, it’s a chemical reaction. We’re cool, God.”

To me, this sounds very much like Rhett’s explanation of how in his very hormone-driven puberty he was trying to have sex without having actual sex in every way possible and he had ways to justify every time how it wasn’t “actual sex” without a particular toll in his mental and spiritual well-being. It is interesting though that the enemies are all men. We don’t see the brunette interacting with them (Jessie was underage when everyone else was an adult), the blonde repels them effectively (Christy was a tough cookie very determined in her Christian upbringing), Rhett of course calls his magic chemistry and does a trick (raging wanking, foreplay and just constant self-manipulation that everything is all right) and of course Link wants to full-on attack but struggles and fails. Again, this is a dice game so I don’t know how much of it was random or edited, but the first challenge could be their temptations before marriage.

The next challenge is the one in front of the 4 evergreen trees (as many as the players) where there is a portal, a breakthrough in other words. While Rhett and Link acknowledge the portal is enchanted or demonic, they all know at this point that they are definitely going through the portal and so do the two women. Rhett first sticks his arm in the hole, because of course he does, which produces a snake ring in his finger, and the two ladies follow without much concern. This is a challenging task, once more, for Link. He is afraid but, in his words, he does not want to be left behind alone and he doesn’t want to be like his father (initiating and then abandoning marriages and families). Once they are all through the portal they link arms in a friendship circle (or marriage circle, I would say).

The world beside the portal is hostile though. They fall deep and a giant demon appears. Rhett is compelled to use the ring and summon a snake. With his snake (with whose symbolism they can’t be entirely liberal because Brian restricted them) he manages to constrict and immobilise the demon. Then Link does his sneak attack and gives the demon a very big hit. While Link praises himself for this, Rhett reminds him that it wouldn’t have been so easy for Link if Rhett had not bound the demon first. They kept on fighting the demon until it is defeated. Link dangles from the demon’s nipples, shrieking his victory over the demon and his father, whom he has now proven to surpass. Once they are done with the demon, they all four hop on that one horse and go on about their lives together.

Rhett and Link congratulate each other over this exhilarating experience. The video ends with a sense of success for all four of them. Before the end though, Brian burns the dice with which Rhett and Link played the game, at the fear of demons lurking there. The end is very abrupt, with a final shot on the dice burning, without proper or gradual closure like in the Dig A Hole video, and to me it looked very intentional. It gives off a feeling that although the video ends in a good note, this all-is-well success won’t last forever.

PS: As a last note, because I can’t stick it anywhere else, in his solo ear biscuit Link had revealed that the video would be about “a year” but apparently he was actually talking about the next video, the upcoming one. Unless it was about the year of their marriage but there is no reference to any year whatsoever in this video so I guess the year is going to be the third one.

[therealmrrobinson]

THE MANDALORIAN Season 3 Premiere Review (Chapter 17: The Apostate)

Image via Lucasfilm

Note: there will be minor spoilers ahead for this episode of The Mandalorian.

After two great seasons of the first live-action Star Wars TV show, the lone Mandalorian Din Djarin is back; and after one less-than-stellar spin-off, little Baby Grogu is also back. Before I get into the meat of this review, I have to address my feelings going into this season. I loved the first two seasons of The Mandalorian. It was exactly what I wanted to see from the franchise after Lucasfilm was acquired by Disney over ten years ago, and it was the king of the Star Wars Disney+ shows until last year’s Andor.  

Click here for my video reviews for Season 1 and Season 2

The Book of Boba Fett however was an underwhelming mess and acted more like Season 2.5 of The Mandalorian. There were points where it felt like the show was more interested in catching up with Din Djarin after saying goodbye to Grogu and leaving him with Luke Skywalker at the end of Season 2. That whole concept might’ve been enough to cover Season 3 alone. So the decision to have the little one leave Luke to rejoin his Mandalorian father figure in the finale completely devalues that emotional goodbye and left me concerned about what Season 3 would actually be about.

Click here for my video review of The Book of Boba Fett

So jumping back into The Mandalorian proper, Chapter 17 titled The Apostate is probably the weakest of the Mando season premieres. Maybe it’s because of the bad taste that The Book of Boba Fett left me with, but it felt quite underwhelming, though not a bad episode at all.

THE GOOD

One thing that The Book of Boba Fett did reveal during Din Djarin’s time without Grogu was that he was no longer accepted as a Mandalorian by The Armorer after she learned that he removed his helmet in front of the child. This first episode is a good setup for Din’s journey to redeem himself and be admitted back into the creed. There are points however where I did want to grab Din Djarin by the shoulders and tell him that the way of the Mandalore that he believes is not worth it.

Image via Lucasfilm

Like the Jedi, the Mandalorians can be looked at as an allegory for many religious groups in the real world. However, unlike the Jedi code, the Mandalorian creed is different depending on what certain tribes choose to believe. The Children of the Watch, the tribe that Din Djarin was taken into as a foundling is presented as a radical group that will disavow you as soon as you break their most important rule. Bo-Katan straight-up refers to that group as a cult at the end of the episode when Din asks her to travel with him to Mandalore. She is clearly disenchanted that her group abandoned her after she failed to reclaim the Dark Saber from Moff Giddeon in Season 2 and her attitude at that moment is entirely understandable. Though she committed a lot of sins prior to her debut in The Mandalorian, I found myself siding with Bo-Katan on this issue. I questioned why Din even wants to seek redemption from a group that didn’t even thank him for saving their lives from a giant crocodile monster at the beginning of the episode. Knowing that Bo-Katan will play an important role in this season, (based on Katee Sackhoff’s credit as a starring role and not a co-starring role) it’ll be interesting to see how these two will play off each other. Will Din also be disenchanted with the Mandalorian beliefs that he’s known his whole life? It’s the hook that leaves me excited for the rest of the season.

Image via Lucasfilm

Of course, the show looks great thanks to Dean Cundey’s cinematography and the exciting action scenes. These live-action Star Wars shows have always impressed me with their movie-level production quality. Obviously shows like Game of Thrones have demonstrated that television can look as grand and cinematic as any blockbuster movie. For a franchise that originated from a film that changed the industry forever, it’s impressive that these shows look just as good as the movies that have come before them. That opening with the giant crocodilian creature gave me a big old grin on my face, especially as a fan of giant monsters and creature features. The space battle between Din Djarin and the pirates is also a lot of fun and introduces us to a fun group of villains that are probably going to pursue Din and Grogu across the galaxy.

THE BAD

Image via Lucasfilm

I am by no means a Grogu hater. The little guy is adorable, is responsible for a lot of the show’s humor, and is never annoying. However, as of writing this review, I do not believe that Grogu needed to be here. What made Grogu in those first two seasons work was that he was the central focus. Season 1 was about protecting him from other bounty hunters, and Season 2 was about finding a Jedi to take Grogu away for training. Since Din and Grogu were reunited so quickly (in a spin-off), it seems like the little one’s only purpose in this season will be for marketability. I know I’m giving off grumpy old man vibes with this criticism and maybe Jon Favreau has something special up his sleeve for Grogu and why he needs to be here. I did chuckle at the moment when Grogu hugs an Anzellan (Babu Frik’s species from The Rise of Skywalker) like it’s a pet, so it’s safe to assume that Grogu will once again provide much of the show's comic relief (and plenty more internet memes).

OVERALL

Image via Lucasfilm

While I went into this first episode with the bad taste of The Book of Boba Fett in my mouth, I finished it with optimism and interest in where the story will go. The next episode seems to be a side quest to fix IG-11, the droid that ended up being Grogu’s babysitter at the end of Season 1. It also took me back to the first season which feels more like a self-contained story and won’t feature other pre-established characters from other movies and shows the way Season 2 did. It’s nice to get back into the saddle or in this case the cockpit of an N1 Naboo Starfighter.

RATING

GOOD, BUT NOT GREAT

[beatrice-otter]

I agree with you that Jesus didn’t hate sex workers, BUT to the best of our knowledge none of his female followers were sex workers, either current or former. In fact, I don’t think any woman in the Gospels is identified as a sex worker? I could be wrong about that one. The reason people think some of them were sex workers is that in the middle ages the (extremely misogynist) theologians and church leaders assumed that when the Bible said a woman was a “sinner” that meant she was a sex worker. Because obviously women can only either be a virgin or a whore, right? And what other sin could a woman commit that a man would care about?

Mary Magdalene is the one most definitively identified as a sex worker, to the extent that a “magdalen house” is a religious home to reform sex workers into “good women.” (Note: we do not know what “magdalene” means in the Bible! There are a number of speculations, of which the most probable is that it’s the name of the village she was from or possibly a family name of some sort.) But the Bible doesn’t even tell us she was a sinner! She had demons. Seven of them, which Jesus cast out.

How did people get from “this woman had demons” to “this woman is a sex worker”? Several different layers of misogyny, that’s how!

First, let’s talk about names. “Mary” is a very common name for women in the New Testament. There’s six or seven of them. Mary the mother of Jesus, aka “Virgin Mary,” is the only one who gets reliably identified correctly as a single person. The rest get confused and melded together as if they’re all a single person when they are very clearly not. For our purposes, the two we need to talk about are Mary of Bethany (also known as the sister of Martha and Lazarus) and Mary Magdalene.

Mary of Bethany is never identified as a sinner and she has no need to be healed. She’s mentioned by name in both the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John. In the Gospel of John, her brother Lazarus dies and Jesus brings him back from the dead. In gratitude, she washes Jesus’ feet with her tears, dries them with her hair, and anoints him with perfume. Now, in the other three Gospels, Jesus’ feet are also anointed. But not by Mary of Bethany! By an unnamed “sinful” woman! (And again, what her sin is is not specified. It could be anything. But to misogynists, well, a ‘sinful woman’--it’s gotta be sex, right?) And the circumstances are very different between John and the other Gospels. There’s no resurrection, the woman is anointing him because she’s grateful that he forgave her, and it’s a teaching moment about forgiveness. And especially in Luke where Mary of Bethany is a person who gets named in other circumstances, why would the Gospel writer not give her name? It’s likely that either this is a totally separate incident or that one story (Jesus’ feet being anointed) is being told in two different ways with two completely different messages. Assuming that the ‘sinful woman’ is meant to be Mary of Bethany is ... mm, a bit of a stretch. To say the least. But most people believe that they’re the same person.

And then we get to Mary Magdalene herself. She had seven demons, whom Jesus cast out of her. And then she was one of the women who funded Jesus and his followers’ travels, so she probably came from a wealthy family. This is what the Bible tells us about her. But in the Middle Ages, they were obsessed with the number seven. They had made up this schema of there being Seven Deadly Sins (it’s not in the Bible, it’s a complete creation of the medieval Catholic Church). And Mary Magdalene had had seven demons, so obviously the demons were an allegory for the Seven Deadly Sins! And one of the Seven Deadly Sins is lust! And she’s a woman, so that has to have been the worst one!

And she’s a Mary, and all the Marys are the same person (why would anyone ever bother keeping track of which woman is which), so she’s also the one who anointed Jesus, and the woman who anointed Jesus was a sinner, and a sinful woman means a sex worker, right? Of course! Makes perfect sense!

But only if you assume that all women with even vaguely similar names, actions, or traits are all the same person, and that “sinner”=“sex worker” when you’re talking about women.

So while I agree with you that Jesus doesn’t hate sex workers and that sex work should not be stigmatized (and I believe there is a Biblically-valid argument for that), “Jesus hung out with sex workers!” is actually just repeating a misogynistic interpretation and saying ‘but this time it’s fine because we’re pro-sex-work!’

I full understand that it is not appropriate as response to talking about the various roles of christianity in colonialism and Christofascism,

However as its own thing, I think its an interesting subject how the Bible is supposed to be the fundamental source of Christian doctrine, BUT most of the "traditional values" of christian conservatives and ideas that are powerfully associated with christianity...just Are Not In There, or are only mentioned as brief, isolated side notes amidst much longer and more detailed passages discussing something different

Whereas many ideas that are emphasized HUGELY in the Bible are just totally and completely ignored by these rightwing political folks 

Much of Christianity is not actually based on the Bible, but instead on a bunch of traditions and later writers, but protestants have problems with admitting that.

And as someone who was raised very "sola scriptura" i don't even get why church tradition matters for anyone. Who cares what Augustine thought about abortion. He was literally just a guy

[writingwithcolor]

Drawing inspiration for Magic from Disparate Sources: Hinduism, Māori culture, and Japanese Buddhism

@marinerofthestars​ asked:

I’m working on a series of fantasy books set on nine different worlds mirroring the Nine Realms of Norse cosmology, which are broadly inspired in terms of magic systems and themes by the Elder Futhark (the world with the rune for “justice” has a magic system that require you to abide by certain guidelines, the world with the rune for “death” has a magic system that lets you interact with spirits and the afterlife, and so forth). However, in terms of how these broad themes are expressed in individual worlds, as well as the minutiae of how magic systems operate, I plan to draw inspiration from various non-European sources, such as Hinduism, Māori culture, and Japanese Buddhism.

I’m going to do extensive research on these cultures beforehand to avoid handling these topics in a way that could be offensive to real-world minority groups (while Japanese people technically don’t exist in this universe, there are people on one world with similar cultural elements and physical features to Japanese people, and I’ll make sure to avoid writing them as characters from this ethnic groups as stereotypes) and I’m going to strictly avoid using specific elements from closed cultures. For instance, although one of my magic systems revolves around a series of focal points for energy throughout your body, these points aren’t called chakras, and they don’t have the same symbolism as chakras do in Hinduism. The only similarity is that there’s a network of energy nexuses in your body, but would even this similarity be acceptable for me to use? Or is even the broad concept without any of the specific elements forbidden to outsiders?

Also, I know that having a fantasy world inspired by elements of different cultures (ex: Avatar the Last Airbender) that portrays them respectfully is fine, but is doing the same thing with cultures that aren’t from the same geographic region (ex: merging aspects of Norse and Hindu magic) acceptable? I read an ask from 12/13 where you said having a Sikh protagonist fight Greek gods would make the story inherently Eurocentric, but I’m unsure whether the same standard applies here since I’m writing an original world inspired by IRL religion and magic rather than our world with those actual religious and magical systems. (Note that in the few instances where I do have POC protagonists interacting with more specific European-inspired supernatural entities, I do want to explicitly acknowledge how race and culture factors into things. For instance, one of my planned books has a character from a nation inspired by Bihar culture and Hinduism fighting European-inspired faeries, which is meant to parallel India’s history with colonialism.)

Is AtLA a Useful World-building Reference?

I should inform you that AtLA does not enjoy the unanimous acclaim here at WWC as assumed by many non-Asian writers. This post explains why. For the purposes of world-building with disparate cultures, I believe many of the problems described in the linked post will help you determine what world-building assumptions to avoid. Personally, as an Asian Buddhist who has done martial arts, I thought AtLA succeeded in its presentation of Chinese martial arts, but I didn’t find its portrayal of Buddhist philosophy or coding of Asian Buddhist cultures to be especially compelling.

- Marika

Christian Supremacy and Norse Mythology

I feel like it is very important to keep in mind that Norse mythology only exists in a Christianized form. We literally have no idea what pre-Christian Norse myths were, because it was only the Christians who wrote them down multiple hundreds of years after the Christianization of Scandinavia. 

As a result, a lot of myths were almost certainly shoehorned into being Biblical allegories of some sort. When you strip them down to their bare bones, you get a lot of Jesus stories. For example:

The old gods were painted as terrible people

The result of Ragnarok was the cleansing the earth of such old evils and replacing them with good, new gods.

Loki and Baldur as Jesus figures: Loki as the cleanser and Baldur as the perfectly good new head god.

There was a political agenda to writing this down — to unify all Viking-settled places under a single king, while appealing to their old heritage and new religious beliefs.

One does not need an advanced degree to see the inherent bias of this situation.

I’d suggest looking at any video Overly Sarcastic Productions has made on Norse mythology where Red yells very loudly about how we’ll never know what Norse mythology was like before the Norse became Christian, unless someone invents a time machine, because all the old oral records around what the myths used to be are long, long gone*. She has done videos on Loki and The Poetic Edda, along with a handful of others. The two I linked are the loudest on how Christianized and politically-motivated Norse mythology’s original written records were.

You can’t separate out Christianity from the Norse myths like you can with a lot of other ancient religions, because unlike those ancient religions, none of the original pagan traditions left records. There’s nothing pre-Christian to go back to. Thus, even if the setting is using Norse gods, the way those beliefs are structured is inextricably and irrevocably Christian.

Indirect Christian Colonialism

I bring up the above for an important reason: Norse mythology’s Christianization and Christian parallels mean that forcing other, non-Christian religions into a framework of what is, and always has been since its writing down, only a Christianized framework, is pagan-rebranded Christian colonialism.  By placing non-Christian beliefs within that framework, you reinforce Christian supremacy and recreate Christian colonialism.

This means the story doesn’t exactly play well with any culture that hasn’t been Christianized willingly. Which means it doesn’t play well with most cultures, especially religions that have experienced missionary trauma at the hands of Christians, like the Maori and most Indigenous peoples. You’re basically limited to Europe, some West African kingdoms like Ethiopia (so long as their historical Christianity isn’t too wildly different from European Christianity), as well as pockets of cultures dotted around the rest of the world with localized traditions that haven’t been soaked in blood in the past 200 years.

I would very strongly suggest reading the world-building tag as part of your research. Many concepts you’ve presented here are addressed in the pages of that tag, up to and including how far apart cultures have to be in order to safely influence each other (hint: it’s not very far, and is limited to direct trading partners/neighbours), and cautions against making Fae, an Indigenous-coded fantasy concept that comes from colonized cultures (Gaelic, primarily), as colonizers.

~Mod Lesya

*There’s some etymology breadcrumbs for Loki in particular, but they aren’t enough crumbs to know what the loaf used to be, just that it was probably made of this stuff.

Further Issues with Fae versus Hinduism as a Colonialism Allegory

Echoing Lesya, I think the biggest issue with your proposed conflict between fae and Hindu supernatural figures as an allegory for colonization is it doesn’t fit with what happened historically.

Firstly, elements of Gaelic culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and other parts of Europe were either co-opted or quashed by Christian forces, much like how Muslim and Christian forces, respectively, tried to eliminate aspects of Hindu culture in South Asia from the Delhi Sultanate through the Mughal Empire through British and Portuguese colonization to Christian evangelical groups in the present day. I can sort of see the logic of West versus East as the basis for a colonization narrative, but given the above histories, it feels erroneous when neither mythology is based on a monotheist religion.

Secondly, as Jaya has pointed out before (see here), conceptions of morality and capacity for morality differ for Hindu supernatural entities and the fae. The former play by the same rules as humans. The latter don’t. Colonization is an economic choice often backed by maximalist beliefs of superiority. I have difficulty believing creatures from two mythologies that don’t even view humans the same way would have any reasons to compete over resources. To that effect, here is an old post by me and Mod Lydie (see here) where we discuss why colonization is not often necessary to depict conflict between opposing groups in fantasy settings.

Concluding Thoughts

Overall, like Lesya, I anticipate problems in trying to adapt Norse cosmology to sources that are removed from each other. See this post on blending mythos successfully. You are better off coming back to us after you have done your initial research and have a sense of which mythologies work together and which don’t. As I’ve iterated before, WWC is better consulted towards the end of the research process rather than at the start as there are multiple ways one could go with this. You are telling us much of what you plan to do. I’d much rather hear your ideas when you are in a position to tell us what you have already done, how you’ve done it and why you made the choices you did.

- Marika.

[dearreader]

i was listening to wouldve couldve shouldve on my way to work and just thought about how it’s really taylor’s greatest song. like not even my favorite song it’s just THE BEST SONG SHES EVER WRITTEN.

like the lyrics are so good on their own and especially the religious allegories and imagery to demonstrate that he TOOK something from her that was truly precious and dear to her that she’ll never be able to get back. like she’s forever tied to this man because he took this thing from her and she hates it. she hates him. she wants him to suffer. she wants to get it back so much she’s screaming like a child who lost her doll! like she’s trying to paint this image of she was still basically a child and he wanted her, he teased her for drawing and coloring during breaks on music video shoots and yet still pursued her nonetheless when he was 32! she was 19 and he was 32! that’s disgusting!

and it’s also the slow domino affect he caused in her life. him saying he didn’t like having a song written about him started the whole “taylor only writes about her exs” and “she’s a serial dater” and “when will she realize she’s the problem”. and then that caused the red era backlash which lead to her taking a really long gap between dating harry and calcium hoebag. and that also forced her hand of staying with calcium because she realized how soon the relationship wasn’t good but couldn’t leave because the 1989 era was her “i’m what the media finally wants” era and she knew she’d be eaten alive if she broke up with him. taylor can’t keep a man, when’s the album coming? all of that would surface and so she stayed in this relationship and felt like she’d be trapped forever and would be “dragged down the aisle” because of it. and we know the rest (hiddleswift, k*mye, reputation era, etc.)

ALL OF THAT STARTED BECAUSE JOHN MAYOR DIDNT LIKE HAVING DEAR JOHN BE ABOUT HIM. it hurt the feelings of a 32 year old grown man. he caused all the domino affects in her life because he was upset.

and the song just shows this so well, you can hear the anger. the bitterness. the way she wishes things were different but knowing it’s pointless. she wants nothing more then to destroy him and she knows it’s pointless she knows it won’t do anything but she doesn’t care.

and it’s all just said so clearly in this one song. it’s just the greatest thing she’s ever written and any time i listen to it i just get blown away because oh my god.

[lioncunt]

any way the wind blows review!!!

gonna put it under a cut but tl;dr i really really loved it and even the things that i was on the fence about i’ve decided i love as well lmfao

so i kind of knew going into both this and wayward son that the plot wouldn’t really EVER be as narratively satisfying as carry on’s. it would definitely be interesting and have a lot of cool thematic elements, but in terms of being a grand deconstruction of the “chosen one” genre, it couldn’t ever get better than carry on. and i’m so happy rainbow didn’t try to MAKE it that. she didn’t pull a supernatural and up the stakes to impossible, outlandish degrees. both wayward son and awtwb had realistic, fascinating plots that served as a metaphor for the internal struggles of the characters.

the reason i’m beginning this review by talking about the plot is because it’s what i’ve seen the most criticism directed towards. and like i DO get it, i also was taken aback at first at how the actual plot is kind of background noise for the first couple hundred pages. but like...i think it WORKS. again, this whole trilogy is a deconstruction. that’s its PURPOSE. obviously it’s doing other things as well, but it started by taking this well-worn and well-loved trope and completely turning it on its head, giving us permission to acknowledge all the damage it causes and how our love of this type of story is honestly kind of harmful. we turn off that part of our brains when we read harry potter or something else with traumatized child protagonists, in order for us to actually enjoy it, but the simon snow trilogy has always said, “hey, this is kind of fucked up, huh? you’re allowed to think that.”

anyway, the way that translates to the plot here is that there’s not always some huge mystical big bad, or obviously evil antagonist. the horror can be going on in the world around you, in the background of your day-to-day life dealing with your own shit, creeping up on you until suddenly your loved ones are spouting off nonsense that is an absolutely CHILLING allegory for eugenics, by the way, which i’ve seen NOBODY talk about. the clear political parallels were so well done, but not heavy-handed, and they worked wonderfully as an ending to this story. simon at the end being a target for an angry mob, who are victims of intense ableism themselves (the metaphor of being a weak mage = having a disability), how these religious extremists will point at what they deem abnormal and use them as a scapegoat, the disgusting “survival of the fittest” mentality leading to “i can make this society great again” - it was all just incredibly well written, in my opinion. and the fact that it happened so slowly, in the background, made it all the better. you don’t really notice how bad it’s getting until it’s BAD.

it also, again, works so well as a manifestation of the characters’ inner strife. others have put it better than me already, so i won’t talk about it too much, but the fact that the book is saying you don’t need to be like everyone else in order to accomplish great things and have a good life, you don't need to have magic, you don’t need to be human, you don’t need to be neurotypical or able-bodied or straight or white or ANYTHING these people will have you believe in order to make you obedient to them and hateful to others -- it’s fantastic. 

this kind of segues into the other big criticism i’m seeing, which is simon and baz’s one-day breakup. again, this has already been analyzed well, so i won't ramble about it, but wayward son was their breakup. metaphorically speaking. and i’m glad that it didn’t take some big, grand moment for them to get back together, even though it would have been narratively cathartic. that’s not how life works - it was so much better and realistic to have simon face the harsh difficulties of TRYING than dragging out a separation plot line that would have added NOTHING to his character. or baz’s. the only thing about their entire relationship that i would have done a bit differently is shorten the timeline, because a year and a half is a very long and honestly unrealistic time to go in a relationship without talking about sexual history or going on dates, even if there’s a lot of baggage. but that’s not that big a deal and i’m easily able to look past it.

(as a side note I'm getting annoyed at seeing all these takes that there’s too much sexual content. like i get it because the first two books are solidly YA and this is being marketed as YA even though it’s definitely NA, but like....sex is important. sex scenes and sexual content are an extremely important part of depicting the human experience. and lack of sex as well!! every single intimate scene between them was NOT super graphic and had such incredibly important significance narratively and character-wise - and yeah that includes any kinks that were brought up, like jesus they’re in their 20s and have been in a non-sexual relationship for a year and a half i think it’s pretty fucking relevant that there are intimate scenes!!! anyway moving on.)

i really loved penny and shepard’s plot - their relationship was so wonderful and charming and excellent for their characters, and i only wish we could have gotten their demon plot threaded into the larger picture, because after shepard was cured it felt like they were just standing there. that’s one of my very few complaints about the book. but they’re such good characters and i love them SO MUCH.

AND THANK GOD FOR AGATHA AND NIAMH. like i cannot put into words how fucking happy i was when i realized where that was headed. the cinematic nature of agatha and niamh helping the goat give birth while simon’s flying in the chapel and being targeted by a mob was just. so cool like i can’t even describe it it was so coooooool and then agatha and niamh KISSING and agatha found her PLACE and I'm so happy for her.

just in general the characters and relationships were fucking exquisite. i can’t help but love the way RR writes, especially her dialogue. it’s so real and three dimensional and her characters truly come alive and i care about them and love them so much. i’m so happy they’re happy, i wouldn’t have been able to stand it if they weren’t.

and everything got wrapped up so well in my opinion!! i don’t know what the hell people are talking about when they say they still have questions, like girl what about??? simon found his family, simon got a sword that isn’t tied to trauma, baz found out that he’ll get to grow old with simon, all their families are okay, penny and shepard are in love, agatha’s herding goats and a lesbian, there will probably be new threats and antagonists but they'll be able to handle them, life will continue to be difficult but they’ll get through it like WHAT do you not understand what’s not clicking i genuinely want to know. 

ok actually i have ONE single question and that’s. did baz pick up the sword at the end. because the way it’s written it sounds like he did and i like do not understand that at all. someone answer please.

anyway that’s my review 10/10 would recommend

[sw124]

MLC: Josie and Viper

[Symbiote Boyfriend]

She hadn’t moved all day, she barely ate anything all week, she didn’t speak to anyone for almost a month; her phone muted. She tossed and turned on her couch from time to time but mostly to keep a cramp in her leg at bay. The only time she moved from the couch was to use the restroom, if it wasn’t for Viper she probably would have trouble even moving a single finger.

“Babe, honey you need to eat.”

Josie tilted her head towards the voice, no one was in the room. Her stomach complied with the tone, it growled like a ticked off bear. With a heavy sigh she walked into the kitchen, she went to the fridge and pulled out a gallon of milk. From her back a large ocean-black tendril extended and pulled out a box of cereal and a large bowl. Josie picked up two spoons and went back to the couch, once the cereal was made the tendril picked up the remote and turned on the TV; from her shoulder a larger mass formed a head and turned to her. Large milky eyes curved upwards before leaning and gently placing a soft kiss on her cheek.

“….Thanks sweetie…….sorry about all this-“ she was silenced with a smaller tendril touching her lips.

“Babe you got nothing to be sorry about, come on lets watch some dumbass commercials and classic cartoons. We’ll deal with what happened later…ok?”

Viper nearly melted seeing her smile, he could feel that little spark of joy in her…but then get smothered by guilt again…he had to help her but problem was how.

After the seventh spoonful of chocolate cereal came a rather interesting commercial. It was an ad for the Meta Clinic and…Monster/Human couples therapy? This made the couple pause, this was…well this was new! Sure there were dating sites, clubs, cafes and speed dating for people looking for monster boy/girlfriends but now offering couples therapy?

Viper wanted so badly to grab the phone and call for an appointment but…he didn’t wanna force Josie into something like that. He’d be doing more damage then good…he’d start by talking about it.

[Two weeks later]

“Viper and Josie?” The secretary called out. Josie looked up from her phone and stood up.

“Thats us…” Viper extended his head from her back giving a nod.

“Dr. Fortune will see you now, please head back down the hall to room 7 please.”

With a nervous smile she proceeded down the hall, Vipers head gently tucked beside her..whispering soothing nonsense. This was enough to at least quell the rising panic in her chest, finally they came to a door with the number 7 on it. With a hard gulp Josie pushed opened the door…

The room was massive! It almost looked like the lobby of a hotel, hell it even had a pool in the corner of the room and a tank! The room was painted in shades of two-toned moss, the air smelled of perpetual rainfall…and lemon. It was there but didn’t overpower…the temperature was perfect.

In the center of the room were two chairs, a large love-seat sofa and a dark grey armchair. Between them was a white round table with a pitcher of water and three glasses. In the grey armchair….was the doctor they came to see.

“Ah, you must be Josie and Viper. Please come in, have a seat.”

She hesitated but…Josie complied, the love-seat felt like if jelly and clouds got married and had a baby. It was so soft and cool to the touch, best part she didn’t sink it like some other chairs. Viper loved the feeling, hell he could just imagine cuddling up with his girl on this couch watching old sci-fi movies.

“Lets get started, first can you tell me how you met an how long have you two been together?”

Josie paused…then spoke. “Well…Viper an I met via collage..we had the same class, we got paired up and it sorta started from there. We’ve been together for about…two years now.”

“What kind of class were you in?”

“It was a philosophy class, I took it cause I was curious on what made philosophy so damn interesting.” Said Viper.

“I personally took it cause I’ve loved things that sorta question the norm of society. Our project was to listen to one of the stories of Plato, we got ‘The allegory of the cave’ and write our thoughts on the meaning and reasons behind it….those were some of the best nights I ever had.”

Josie never noticed the subtle blush on her cheeks, but that smile she had told the Doctor everything they needed to know, even Viper couldn’t hide his smile.

“You and Viper have a very close relationship I can tell…however the reason why you’re here is not really about the two of you. Its the people around you, mainly family.”

You could almost make out Josie’s heart in her throat, Viper; if he had one, would have been in his as well. Dr.Fortune took a sip of water and…with a sniper-gaze they fixed on Josies eyes.

“I’m going to take a guess, stop me at any time. The problem isn’t with either of you two but from Josie’s family.”

Josie began to chew on her thumbnail, Viper was quick to pull it away as the Doctor continued.

“Your parents I will take are very strict people, perhaps even falling in line with deep religious practices but yet despite saying their ‘devout’ they continue to say and do things that go against the basic principles of their religion. Growing up they saw you as either property or a tool to get what they wanted. If you ever raised your voice in defense of yourself…you were either met with Verbal or Physical violence…”

The Doctor paused, fat tears were cascading down Josie’s face. Her breathing was labor, almost choking on some of her deeper breaths. Viper already had his tendrils wrapping around her in a tight embrace, gently whispering into her ear.

[Klink!]

Josie jumped, looking down she found one of the glasses had been filled with water…with a lemon slice in it. She looked up at the Doctor who was pouring a glass for themself.

“Take a sip, it’ll help.”

She…did feel a little parched, Viper handed her the glass, she took a few small gulps. Blinking she looked into the glass…the water tasted sweet, with the lemon slice it almost had the taste of lemonade but without the sharp zing. She noted how the water almost was coating her throat, soothing the burn forming.

“Like it? Its something I made myself for my patients, I boil distilled water and honey together an let it sit overnight in the fridge then add lemon slices to it. The honey and lemon help soothe your throat while the cold water rehydrates you.”

“Its…really good.” Josie smiled taking another sip. “Everything you said…was right, even the religion part. My parents always treated me like I was some show pony at every gathering, they never listened to me an always thought my problems were just…not worth their time.” Josie rubbed a tear away.

Viper remained quiet but nodded when she was done speaking, Dr. Fortune turned to Viper then.

“An the first meeting with her parents they referred to you as a ‘parasite’ and even went so far as to disown Josie from her own family if she didn’t breakup with you.”

Vipers eyes went wide for a moment before slowly closing…his lips curling back, showing off his razor teeth.

He hissed. “Yes, the moment she finished telling them they started calling her all sorts of nasty things and…even went so far as to say they picked out a husband for her to marry. To be honest I actually knew the guy and he…he’s rich but also a huge dick, he was the biggest bully at my high-school back in the day. When Josie refused…they disowned her and kicked us out on the streets…this was around a month ago…”

Dr.Fortune set their glass down, leaned back in the gray chair with their elbows resting on the armrests…fingers pushed together in a pyramid fashion.

“An since then Josie has received texts and phone calls demanding she breakup with you and marry this ‘dick’ all for the sake of money. I’ve seen this before and its a classic case of narcissism but also a show of parental neglect and abuse.” Doctor Fortuned leaned forward, their gaze turning sharp.

“Josie….for starters you are not the problem, your parents are stuck in a mindset that is outdated and unacceptable. You are not to blame for their disappointment, no you never were. Your parents refused to change their ways and therefore are stuck in the past. However that doesn’t mean you have to, in order to help yourself you need to first cut ties with the ‘parasite’ that is your family. Go completely no contact with them, then once thats done I want you to focus on your relationship with Viper.”

Josie blinked, eyes widening. Cut ties with her family?! How could she do that, this was her family!

“Yes I’m aware your not keen on the idea but…let me ask you something. When has your family ever done anything for ‘you’ out of love an ask for nothing in return?” Josie opened her mouth but….nothing came out…she looked through all her memories…but couldn’t find anything.

“Now…I want you to think about what Viper has done for you, who do you think is more deserving of your time an energy? A family that wants you to marry a jerk for money or the symbiote who from the moment he met you has treated you like the human you are?”

Josie sniffled….they were right, ever since they met; Viper had shown her nothing but compassion, patients and love. Sometimes she felt so guilty about putting him through her crap but…he never complained about it. She rubbed her eyes again, it was time to stop waistline her hard earned time and effort on people who didn’t love her! It was time she spent her energy on Viper and school!

Doctor Fortune smiled, the match was struck and the fire was starting to burn. Now it was time to slowly stoke the coals and make sure they never went cold.

“Your right Doctor….I need to stop waiting my time with those people…I’m thankful they gave birth to me but thats no reason to hold it over my head. I’m…I’m done with them!” Josie slapped her knee, it…it felt really good to say that.

Viper could feel the adrenaline pumping in her, yes there it was, the spunky spitfire he fell for was back an with a vengeance!

“Thats good to hear, but thats just the first step in your road to recovery. I want you to take this a step at a time, in time you may learn to ‘forgive’ your family but don’t you ever, EVER forget what they’ve done to you. If you forget then your just gonna end up falling into their grasp again. On another note as a way to help you cope and give you a extra bit of therapy I suggest taking up a type of hobby. Hobbies can help you gain a sense of control over your life.”

The Doctor paused and looked down at their watch. “Oh, it seems we’re just about done with our session. If you’d like to set up another appointment please see the secretary up at the front desk, before you go is there anything you’d like to ask me?”

Viper looked at Josie, she looked right back at him before turning to the Doctor.

“What kind of hobby should I get?”

Doctor Fortune handed them a small brochure. “Try flipping through this and see if any catch your fancy, my suggestion is find a hobby you two can do together or by yourself; its really all up to you an there are no wrong choices.”

An with that…Josie and Viper left, scheduling another appointment two weeks in advance. As they walk outside Josie looked through the brochure, there were so many hobbies to choose from..

At least she and Viper can choose together.

[I plan to do more couples, I did a Symbiote/human couple to start cause everyone is familiar on what they look like thanks to Venom. I’ll be working on more monster like boyfriends in the future. I hope you like this, I’ll be doing more of this in the future including Yandere couples. This was inspired by @semisolidmind artwork, I also wanna thank @sarabat85 for helping me out as well. My next couple will hopefully be posted very soon and was put together by my closest and dearest friend @eomlotanis who has always helped me with story ideas and character development.]

[armageddon-generation]

Articulating Why His Dark Materials is Badly Written

A long essay-thing with lots of specific examples and explanations of why I feel this way. Hopefully I’ve kept fanboy bitching to a minimum.

This isn’t an attack on fans of the show, nor a personal attack on Jack Thorne. I’m not looking to ruin anyone’s enjoyment of the show, I just needed to properly articulate, with examples, why I struggle with it. I read and love the books and that colours my view, but I believe that HDM isn’t just a clumsy, at-best-functional, sometimes incompetent adaptation, it’s a bad TV show separate from its source material. The show is the blandest, least interesting and least engaging version of itself it could be.

His Dark Materials has gorgeous production design and phenomenal visual effects. It's well-acted. The score is great. But my god is it badly written. Jack Thorne writing the entire first season damned the show. There was no-one to balance out his flaws and biases. Thorne is checking off a list of plot-points, so concerned with manoeuvring the audience through the story he forgets to invest us in it. The scripts are mechanical, empty, flat.

Watching HDM feels like an impassioned fan earnestly lecturing you on why the books are so good- (Look! It's got other worlds and religious allegory and this character Lyra is really, really important I swear. Isn't Mrs Coulter crazy? The Gyptians are my favourites.) rather than someone telling the story naturally.

My problems fall into 5 main categories:

Exposition- An unwillingness to meaningfully expand the source material for a visual medium means Thorne tells and doesn't show crucial plot-points. He then repeats the same thing multiple times because he doesn't trust his audience

Pacing- By stretching out the books and not trusting his audience Thorne dedicates entire scenes to one piece of information and repeats himself constantly (see: the Witches' repetition of the prophecy in S2).

Narrative priorities- Thorne prioritises human drama over fantasy. This makes sense budgetarily, but leads to barely-present Daemons, the Gyptians taking up too much screentime, rushed/badly written Witches (superpowers, exposition) and Bears (armourless bear fight), and a Lyra more focused on familial angst than the joy of discovery

Tension and Mystery- because HDM is in such a hurry to set up its endgame it gives you the answers to S1's biggest mysteries immediately- other worlds, Lyra's parents, what happens to the kids etc. This makes the show less engaging and feel like it's playing catch-up to the audience, not the other way around.

Tonal Inconsistency- HDM tries to be a slow-paced, grounded, adult drama, but its blunt, simplistic dialogue and storytelling methods treat the audience like children that need to be lectured.

MYSTERY, SUSPENSE AND INTRIGUE

The show undercuts all the books’ biggest mysteries. Mrs Coulter is set up as a villain before we meet her, other worlds are revealed in 1x2, Lyra's parents by 1x3, what the Magesterium do to kids is spelled out long before Lyra finds Billy (1x2). I understand not wanting to lose new viewers, but neutering every mystery kills momentum and makes the show much less engaging.

This extends to worldbuilding. The text before 1x1 explains both Daemons and Lyra's destiny before we meet her. Instead of encouraging us to engage with the world and ask questions, we're given all the answers up front and told to sit back and let ourselves be spoon-fed. The viewer is never an active participant, never encouraged to theorise or wonder

 Intrigue motivated you to engage with Pullman's philosophical themes and concepts. Without it, HDM feels like a lecture, a theme park ride and not a journey.

The only one of S1's mysteries left undiminished is 'what is Dust?', which won't be properly answered until S3, and that answer is super conceptual and therefore hard to make dramatically satisfying

TONAL INCONSISTENCY

HDM billed itself as a HBO-level drama, and was advertised as a GoT inheritor. It takes itself very seriously- the few attempts at humour are stilted and out of place

The production design is deliberately subdued, most notably choosing a mid-twentieth century aesthetic for Lyra’s world over the late-Victorian of the books or steampunk of the movie. The colour grading would be appropriate for a serious adult drama. 

Reviewers have said this stops the show feeling as fantastical as it should. It also makes Lyra’s world less distinct from our own. 

Most importantly, minimising the wondrous fantasy of S1 neuters its contrast with the escalating thematic darkness of the finale (from 1x5 onwards), and the impact of Roger’s death. Pullman's books are an adult story told through the eyes of a child. Lyra’s innocence and naivety in the first book is the most important journey of the trilogy. Instead, the show starts serious and thematically heavy (we’re told Lyra has world-saving importance before we even meet her) and stays that way.

Contrasting the serious tone, grounded design and poe-faced characters, the dialogue is written to cater to children. It’s horrendously blunt and pulls you out of scenes. Subtext is obliterated at every opportunity. Even in the most recent episode, 2x7, Pan asks Lyra ‘do you think you’re changing because of Will?’

I cannot understate how on the nose this line is, and how much it undercuts the themes of the final book. Instead of even a meaningful shot of Lyra looking at Will, the show treats the audience like complete idiots. 

So, HDM looks and advertises itself like an adult drama and is desperate to be taken seriously by wearing its big themes on its sleeve from the start instead of letting them evolve naturally out of subtext like the books, and dedicating lots of scenes to Mrs Coulter's self-abuse 

At the same time its dialogue and character writing is comparable to the Star Wars prequels, more childish than media aimed at a similar audience - Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Avatar the Last Airbender etc

DAEMONS

The show gives itself a safety net by explaining Daemons in an opening text-crawl, and so spends less time showing the mechanics of the Daemon-human bond. On the HDM subreddit, I’ve seen multiple people get to 1x5 or 6, and then come to reddit asking basic questions like ‘why do only some people have Daemons?’ or ‘Why are Daemons so important?’.

It’s not that the show didn’t answer these questions; it was in the opening text-crawl. It’s just the show thinks telling you is enough and never shows evidence to back that up. Watching a TV show you remember what you’re shown much easier than what you’re told 

The emotional core of Northern Lights is the relationship between Lyra and Pan. The emotional core of HDM S1 is the relationship between Lyra and Mrs Coulter. This wouldn't be bad- it's a fascinating dynamic Ruth plays wonderfully- if it didn't override the Daemons

Daemons are only onscreen when they serve a narrative purpose. Thorne justifies this because the books only describe Daemons when they tell us about their human. On the page your brain fills the Daemons in. This doesn't work on-screen; you cannot suspend your disbelief when their absence is staring you in the face

Thorne clarified the number of Daemons as not just budgetary, but a conscious creative choice to avoid onscreen clutter. This improved in S2 after vocal criticism.

Mrs Coulter/the Golden Monkey and Lee/Hester have well-drawn relationships in S1, but Pan and Lyra hug more in the 2-hour Golden Compass movie than they do in the 8-hour S1 of HDM. There's barely any physical contact with Daemons at all.

They even cut Pan and Lyra's hug after escaping the Cut in Bolvangar. In the book they can't let go of each other. The show skips it completely because Thorne wants to focus on Mrs Coulter and Lyra.

They cut Pan and Lyra testing how far apart they can be. They cut Lyra freeing the Cut Daemons in Bolvangar with the help of Kaisa. We spent extra time with both Roger and Billy Costa, but didn't develop their bonds with their Daemons- the perfect way to make the Cut more impactful

I don't need every single book scene in the show, but notice that all these cut scenes reinforced how important Daemons are. For how plodding the show is. you'd think they could spare time for these moments instead of inventing new conversations that tell us the information they show

Daemons are treated as separate beings and thus come across more like talking pets than part of a character

The show sets the rules of Daemons up poorly. In 1x2, Lyra is terrified by the Monkey being so far from Coulter, but the viewer has nothing to compare it to. We’re retroactively told in that this is unnatural when the show has yet to establish what ‘natural’ is.

The guillotine blueprint in 1x2 (‘Is that a human and his Daemon, Pan? It looks like it.’ / ‘A blade. To cut what?’) is idiotic. It deflates S1’s main mystery and makes the characters look stupid for not figuring out what they aren’t allowed to until they did in the source material, it also interferes with how the audience sees Daemons. In the book, Cutting isn’t revealed until two-thirds of the way in (1x5). By then we’ve spent a lot of time with Daemons, they’ve become a background part of the world, their ‘rules’ have been established, and we’re endeared to them.

By showing the Guillotine and putting Daemons under threat in the second episode, the show never lets us grow attached. This, combined with their selective presence in scenes, draws attention to Daemons as a plot gimmick and not a natural extension of characters. Like Lyra, the show tells us why Daemons are important before we understand them.

Billy Costa's fate falls flat. It's missing the dried fish/ fake Daemon Tony Markos clings to in the book. Thorne said this 'didn't work' on the day, but it worked in the film. Everyone yelling about Billy not having a Daemon is laughable when most of the background extras in the same scene don't have Daemons themselves

WITCHES

The Witches are the most common complaint about the show. Thorne changed Serafina Pekkala in clever, logical ways (her short hair, wrist-knives and cloud pine in the skin)

The problem is how Serafina is written. The Witches are purely exposition machines. We get no impression of their culture, their deep connection to nature, their understanding of the world. We are told it. It is never shown, never incorporated into the dramatic action of the show.

Thorne emphasises Serafina's warrior side, most obviously changing Kaisa from a goose into a gyrfalcon (apparently a goose didn't work on-screen)

Serafina single-handedly slaughtering the Tartars is bad in a few ways. It paints her as bloodthirsty and ruthless. Overpowering the Witches weakens the logic of the world (If they can do that, why do they let the Magesterium bomb them unchallenged in 2x2?). It strips the Witches of their subtlety and ambiguity for the sake of cinematic action.

A side-effect of Serafina not being with her clan at Bolvangar is limiting our exposure to the Witches. Serafina is the only one invested in the main plot, we only hear about them from what she tells us. This poor set-up weakens the Witch subplot in S2

Lyra doesn’t speak to Serafina until 2x6. She laid eyes on her once in S1.

The dialogue in the S2’s Witch subplot is comparable to the Courasant section of The Phantom Menace. 

Two named characters, neither with any depth (Serafina and Coram's dead son developed him far more than her). The costumes look ostentatious and hokey- the opposite of what the Witches should be. They do nothing but repeat the same exposition at each other, even in 2x7.

We feel nothing when the Witches are bombed because the show never invests us in what is being destroyed- with the amount of time wasted on long establishing shots, there’s not one when Lee Scoresby is talking to the Council.

BEARS

Like the Witches; Thorne misunderstands and rushes the fantasy elements of the story. The 2007 movie executed both Iofur's character and the Bear Fight much better than the show- bloodless jaw-swipe and all

Iofur's court was not the parody of human court in the books. He didn't have his fake-Daemon (hi, Billy)

An armourless bear fight is like not including Pan in the cutting scene. After equating Iorek's armour to a Daemon (Lee does this- we don’t even learn how important it is from Iorek himself, and the comparison meant less because of how badly the show set up Daemons) the show then cuts the plotpoint that makes the armour plot-relevant. This diminishes all of Bear society. Like Daemons, we're told Iorek's armour is important but it's never shown to be more than a cool accessory

GYPTIANS

Gyptians suffer from Hermoine syndrome. Harry Potter screenwriter Steve Kloves' favourite character was Hermione, and so Film!Hermoine lost most of Book!Hermoine's flaws and gained several of Book!Ron's best moments. The Gyptians are Jack Thorne's favourite group in HDM and so they got the extra screentime and development that the more complicated groups/concepts like Witches, Bears, and Daemons (which, unlike the Gyptians, carry over to other seasons amd are more important to the overall story) needed

At the same time, he changes them from a private people into an Isle of Misfit Toys. TV!Ma Costa promises they'll ‘make a Gyptian woman out of Lyra yet’, but in the book Ma specifically calls Lyra out for pretending to be Gyptian, and reminds her she never can be.

This small moment indicates how, while trying to make the show more grounded and 'adult', Thorne simultaneously made it more saccharine and sentimental. He neuters the tragedy of the Cut kids when Ma Costa says they’ll become Gyptians. Pullman's books feel like an adult story told through the eyes of a child. The TV show feels like a child's story masquerading as a serious drama.

LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA

Let me preface this by saying I genuinely really enjoy the performances in the show. It was shot in the foot by The Golden Compass' perfect casting.

The most contentious/'miscast' actor among readers is LMM. Thorne ditched the books' wise Texan for a budget Han Solo. LMM isn't a great dramatic actor (even in Hamilton he was the weak link performance-wise) but he makes up for it in marketability- lots of people tried the show because of him

Readers dislike that LMM's Lee is a thief and a scoundrel, when book-Lee is so moral he and Hester argue about stealing. Personally, I like the change in concept. Book!Lee's parental love for Lyra just appears. It's sweet, but not tied to a character arc. Done right, Lyra out-hustling Lee at his own game and giving him a noble cause to fight for (thus inspiring the moral compass of the books) is a more compelling arc.

DAFNE KEENE AND LYRA

I thought Dafne would be perfect casting. Her feral energy in Logan seemed a match made in heaven. Then Jack Thorne gave her little to do with it.

Compare how The Golden Compass introduced Lyra, playing Kids and Gobblers with a group of Gyptian kids, including Billy Costa. Lyra and Roger are chased to Jordan by the Gyptians and she makes up a lie about a curse to scare the Gyptians away.

In one scene the movie set up: 1) the Gobblers (the first we hear of them in the show is in retrospect, Roger worrying AFTER Billy is taken) 2) Lyra’s pre-existing relationship with the Gyptians (not in the show), 3) Friendship with Billy Costa (not in the book or show) 4) Lyra’s ability to befriend and lead groups of people, especially kids, and 5) Lyra’s ability to lie impressively

By comparison, it takes until midway through 1x2 for TV!Lyra to tell her first lie, and even then it’s a paper-thin attempt. 

The show made Roger Lyra’s only friend. This artificially heightens the impact of Roger's death, but strips Lyra of her leadership qualities and ability to befriend anyone. 

Harry Potter fans talk about how Book!Harry is funnier and smarter than Film!Harry. They cut his best lines ('There's no need to call me sir, Professor') and made him blander and more passive. The same happened to Lyra.

Most importantly, Lyra is not allowed to lie for fun. She can't do anything 'naughty' without being scolded. This colours the few times Lyra does lie (e.g. to Mrs Coulter in 1x2) negatively and thus makes Lyra out to be more of a brat than a hero.

This is a problem with telling Northern Lights from an outside, 'adult' perspective- to most adults Lyra is a brat. Because we’re introduced to her from inside her head, we think she's great. It's only when we meet her through Will's eyes in The Subtle Knife and she's filthy, rude and half-starved that we realise Lyra bluffs her way through life and is actually pretty non-functional

Thorne prioritises grounded human drama over fantasy, and so his Lyra has her love of bears and witches swapped for familial angst. (and, in S2. angst over Roger). By exposing Mrs Coulter as her mother early, Thorne distracts TV!Lyra from Book!Lyra’s love of the North. The contrast between wonder and reality made NL's ending a definitive threshold between innocence and knowledge. Thorne showed his hand too early.

Similarly, TV!Lyra doesn’t have anywhere near as strong an admiration for Lord Asriel. She calls him out in 1x8 (‘call yourself a Father’), which Book!Lyra never would because she’s proud to be his child. From her perspective, at this point Asriel is the good parent.

TV!Lyra’s critique of Asriel feels like Thorne using her as a mouthpiece to voice his own, adult perspective on the situation. Because Lyra is already disappointed in Asriel, his betrayal in the finale isn’t as effective. Pullman saves the ‘you’re a terrible Father’ call-out for the 3rd book for a reason; Lyra’s naive hero-worship of Asriel in Northern Lights makes the fall from Innocence into Knowledge that Roger’s death represents more effective.  

So, on TV Lyra is tamer, angstier, more introverted, less intelligent, less fun and more serious. We're just constantly told she's important, even before we meet her.

MRS COULTER (AND LORD ASRIEL)

Mrs Coulter is the main character of the show. Not Lyra. Mrs Coulter was cast first, and Lyra was cast based on a chemistry test with Ruth Wilson. Coulter’s character is given lots of extra development, where the show actively strips Lyra of her layers.

To be clear, I have no problem with developing Mrs Coulter. She is a great character Ruth Wilson plays phenomenally. I do have a problem with the show fixating on her at the expense of other characters.

Lyra's feral-ness is given to her parents. Wilson and McAvoy are more passionate than in the books. This is fun to watch, but strips them of subtlety- you never get Book!Coulter's hypnotic allure from Wilson, she's openly nasty, even to random strangers (in 2x3 her dismissal of the woman at the hotel desk felt like a Disney villain). 

Compare how The Golden Compass (2007) introduced Mrs Coulter through Lyra’s eyes, with light, twinkling music and a sparkling dress. By contrast, before the show introduces Coulter it tells us she’s associated with the evil Magisterium plotting Asriel’s death- “Not a word to any of our mutual friends. Including her.” Then she’s introduced striding down a corridor to imposing ‘Bad Guy’ strings.

Making Mrs Coulter’s villainy so obvious so early makes Lyra look dumber for falling for it. It also wastes an interesting phase of her character arc. Coulter is rushed into being a ’conflicted evil mother’ in 2 episodes, and stays in that phase for the rest of the show so far. Character progression is minimised because she circles the same place.

It makes her one-note. It's a good note (so much of the positive online chatter is saphiccs worshiping Ruth Wilson) but the show also worships her to the point of hindrance- e.g. take a shot every time Coulter walks slow-motion down a corridor in 2x2

The problem isn’t the performances, but how prematurely they give the game away. Just like the mysteries around Bolvangar and Lyra’s parentage. Neither Coulter or Asriel have much chance to use their 'public' faces. 

This is part of a bigger pacing problem- instead of rolling plot points out gradually, Thorne will stick the solution in front of you early and then stall for time until it becomes relevant. Instead of building tension this builds frustration and makes the show feel like it's catching up to the audience. This also makes the characters less engaging. You've already shown Mrs Coulter is evil/Boreal is in our world/Asriel wants Roger. Why are you taking so long getting to the point?

PACING AND EDITING

This show takes forever to make its point badly.

Scenes in HDM tend to operate on one level- either 'Character Building,' 'Exposition,' or 'Plot Progression'.

E.g. Mary's introduction in 2x2. Book!Mary only listens to Lyra because she’s sleep and caffeine-deprived and desperate because her funding is being cut. But the show stripped that subtext out and created an extra scene of a colleague talking to Mary about funding. They removed emotional subtext to focus on exposition, and so the scene felt empty and flat.

In later episodes characters Mary’s sister and colleagues do treat her like a sleep-deprived wreck. But, just like Lyra’s lying, the show doesn’t establish these characteristics in her debut episode. It waits until later to retroactively tell us they were there. Mary’s colleague saying ‘What we’re dealing with here is the fact that you haven’t slept in weeks’ is as flimsy as Pan joking not lying to Mary will be hard for Lyra.

Rarely does a scene work on multiple levels, and if it does it's clunky- see the exposition dump about Daemon Separation in the middle of 2x2's Witch Trial.

He also splits plot progression into tiny doses, which destroys pacing. It's more satisfying to focus on one subplot advancing multiple stages than all of them shuffling forward half a step each episode.

Subplots would be more effective if all the scenes played in sequence. As it is, plotlines can’t build momentum and literal minutes are wasted using the same establishing shots every time we switch location.

The best-structured episodes of S1 are 1x4, 1x6, and 1x8. This is because they have the fewest subplots (incidentally these episodes have least Boreal in them) and so the main plot isn’t diluted by constantly cutting away to Mrs Coulter sniffing Lyra’s coat or Will watching a man in a car through his window, before cutting back again. 

The best-written episode so far is 2x5. The Scholar. Tellingly, it’s the only episode Thorne doesn’t have even a co-writing credit on. 2x5 is well-paced, its dialogue is more naturalistic, it’s more focused, it even has time for moments of whimsy (Monkey with a seatbelt, Mrs Coulter with jeans, Lyra and Will whispering) that don’t detract from the story.

Structurally, 2x5  works because A) it benches Lee’s plotline. B) The Witches and Magisterium are relegated to a scene each. And C) the Coulter/Boreal and Lyra/Will subplots move towards the same goal. Not only that, but when we check in on Mary’s subplot it’s through Mrs Coulter’s eyes and directly dovetails into the  main action of the episode.

2x5 has a lovely sense of narrative cohesion because it has the confidence to sit with one set of characters for longer than two scenes at a time.

HDM also does this thing where it will have a scene with plot A where characters do or talk about something, cut away to plot B for a scene, then cut back to plot A where the characters talk about what happened in their last scene and painstakingly explain how they feel about it and why

Example: Pan talking to Will in 2x7 while Lyra pretends to be asleep. This scene is from the 3rd book, and is left to breathe for many chapters before Lyra brings it up. In the show after the Will/Pan scene they cut away to another scene, then cut back and Lyra instantly talks about it.

There’s the same problem in 2x5: After escaping Mrs Coulter, Lyra spells out how she feels about acting like her

The show never leaves room for implication, never lets us draw our own conclusions before explaining what it meant and how the characters feel about it immediately afterwards. The audience are made passive in their engagement with the characters as well as the world    

LORD BOREAL, JOHN PARRY AND DIMINISHING RETURNS

At first, Boreal’s subplot in S1 felt bold and inspired. The twist of his identity in The Subtle Knife would've been hard to pull off onscreen anyway. As a kid I struggled to get past Will's opening chapter of TSK and I have friends who were the same. Introducing Will in S1 and developing him alongside Lyra was a great idea.

I loved developing Elaine Parry and Boreal into present, active characters. But the subplot was introduced too early and moved too slowly, bogging down the season.

In 1x2 Boreal crosses. In 1x3 we learn who he's looking for. In 1x5 we meet Will. In 1x7 the burglary. 1 episode worth of plot is chopped up and fed to us piecemeal across many. Boreal literally stalls for two episodes before the burglary- there are random 30 second shots of him sitting in a car watching John Parry on YouTube (videos we’d already seen) completely isolated from any other scenes in the episode

By the time we get to S2 we've had 2 seasons of extended material building up Boreal, so when he just dies like in the books it's anticlimactic. The show frontloads his subplot with meaning without expanding on its payoff, so the whole thing fizzles out. 

Giving Boreal, the secondary villain in literally every episode, the same death as a background character in about 5 scenes in the novels feels cheap. It doesn’t help that, after 2x5 built the tension between Coulter and Boreal so well, as soon as Thorne is passed the baton in 2x6 he does little to maintain that momentum. Again, because the subplot is crosscut with everything else the characters hang in limbo until Coulter decides to kill him.

I’ve been watching non-book readers react to the show, and several were underwhelmed by Boreal’s quick, unceremonious end. 

Similarly, the show builds up John Parry from 1x3 instead of just the second book. Book!John’s death is an anticlimax but feels narratively justified. In the show, we’ve spent so much extra time talking about him and then being with him (without developing his character beyond what’s in the novels- Pullman even outlined John’s backstory in The Subtle Knife’s appendix. How hard would it be to add a flashback or two?) that when John does nothing in the show and then dies (he doesn’t even heal Will’s fingers like in the book- only tell him to find Asriel, which the angels Baruch and Balthamos do anyway) it doesn’t feel like a clever, tragic subversion of our expectations, it feels like a waste that actively cheapens the audience’s investment.

TL;DR giving supporting characters way more screentime than they need only, to give their deaths the same weight the books did after far less build up makes huge chunks of the show feel less important than they were presented to be. 

FRUSTRATINGLY LIMITED EXPANSION AND NOVELLISTIC STORYTELLING

Thorne is unwilling to meaningfully develop or expand characters and subplots to fit a visual medium. He introduces a plot-point, invents unnecessary padding around it, circles it for an hour, then moves on.

Pullman’s books are driven by internal monologue and big, complex theological concepts like Daemons and Dust. Instead of finding engaging, dynamic ways to dramatise these concepts through the actions of characters or additions to the plot, Thorne turns Pullman’s internal monologue into dialogue and has the characters explain them to the audience

The novels’ perspective on its characters is narrow, first because Northern Lights is told only from Lyra’s POV, and second because Pullman’s writing is plot-driven, not character-driven. Characters are vessels for the plot and themes he wants to explore.

This is a fine way of writing novels. When adapting the books into a longform drama, Thorne decentralised Lyra’s perspective from the start, and HDM S1 uses the same multi-perspective structure that The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass do, following not only Lyra but the Gyptians, Mrs Coulter, Boreal, Will and Elaine etc

However, these other perspectives are limited. We never get any impression of backstory or motivation beyond the present moment. Many times I’ve seen non-book readers confused or frustrated by vague or non-existent character motivations.

For example, S1 spends a lot of time focused on Ma Costa’s grief over Billy’s disappearance, but we never see why she’s sad, because we never saw her interact with Billy.

Compare this to another show about a frantic mother and older brother looking for a missing boy. Stranger Things uses only two flashbacks to show us Will Byers’ relationships with his family: 1) When Joyce Byers looks in his Fort she remembers visiting Will there. 2) The Clash playing on the radio reminds Jonathan Byers of introducing Will to the song.

In His Dark Materials we never see the Costas as a happy family- 1x1’s Gyptian ceremony focuses on Tony and Daemon-exposition. Billy never speaks to his mum or brother in the show 

Instead we have Ma Costa’s empty grief. The audience has to do the work (the bad kind) imagining what she’s lost. Instead of seeing Billy, it’s just repeated again and again that they will get the children back.

If we’re being derivative, HDM had the chance to segway into a Billy flashback when John Faa brings one of his belongings back from a Gobbler safehouse in 1x2. This is a perfect The Clash/Fort Byers-type trigger. It doesn’t have to be long- the Clash flashback lasted 1:27, the Fort Byers one 55 seconds. Just do something.

1x3 beats into us that Mrs Coulter is nuts without explaining why. Lots of build-up for a single plot-point. Then we're told Mrs Coulter's origin, not shown. This is a TV show. Swap Boreal's scenes for flashbacks of Coulter and Asriel's affair. Then, when Ma Costa tells Lyra the truth, show the fight between Edward Coulter and Asriel.

To be clear, Thorne's additions aren’t fundamentally bad. For example, Will boxing sets up his struggle with violence. But it's wasted. The burglary/murder in 1x7 fell flat because of bad editing, but the show never uses its visual medium to show Will's 'violent side'- no change in camera angle, focus, or sound design, nothing. It’s just a thing that’s there, unsupported by the visual language of the show

The Magisterium scenes in 2x2 were interesting. We just didn't need 5 of them; their point could be made far more succinctly.

In 2x6 there is a minute-long scene of Mary reading the I Ching. Later, there is another scene of Angelica watching Mary sitting somewhere different, doing the SAME THING, and she sees an Angel. Why split these up? It’s not like either the I Ching or the Angels are being introduced here. Give the scene multiple layers.

Thorne either takes good character moments from the books (Lyra/Will in 2x1) or uses heavy-handed exposition that reiterates the same point multiple times. This hobbles the Witches (their dialogue in 2x1, 2 and 3 literally rephrases the same sentiment about protecting Lyra without doing anything). Even character development- see Lee monologuing his and Mrs Coulter's childhood trauma in specific detail in 2x3

This is another example of Thorne adding something, but instead of integrating it into the dramatic action and showing us, it’s just talked about. What’s the point of adding big plot points if you don’t dramatise them in your dramatic, visual medium? In 2x8, Lee offhandedly mentions playing Alamo Gulch as a kid.

I’m literally screaming, Jack, why the flying fuck wasn’t there a flashback of young Lee and Hester playing Alamo Gulch and being stopped by his abusive dad? It’s not like you care about pacing with the amount of dead air in these episodes, even when S2’s run 10 minutes shorter than S1’s. Lee was even asleep at the beginning of 2x3, Jack! He could’ve woken from a nightmare about his childhood! It’s a little lazy, but better than nothing.

There’s a similar missed opportunity making Dr Lanselius a Witchling. If this idea had been introduced with the character in 1x4, it would’ve opened up so many storytelling possibilities. Linking to Fader Coram’s own dead witchling son. It could’ve given us that much-needed perspective on Witch culture. Imagine Lanselius’ bittersweet meeting with his ageless mother, who gave him up when he reached manhood. Then, when the Magisterium bombs the Witches in 2x2, Lanselius’ mother dies so it means something.

Instead it’s only used to facilitate an awkward exposition dump in the middle of a trial.

The point of this fanfic-y ramble is to illustrate my frustration with the additions; If Thorne had committed and meaningfully expanded and interwoven them with the source material, they could’ve strengthened its weakest aspect (the characters). But instead he stays committed to novelistic storytelling techniques of monologue and two people standing in a room talking at each other

(Seriously, count the number of scenes that are just two people standing in a room or corridor talking to each other. No interesting staging, the characters aren’t doing anything else while talking. They. Just. Stand.) 

SEASON 2 IMPROVEMENTS

S2 improved some things- Lyra's characterisation was more book-accurate, her dynamic with Will was wonderful. Citigazze looked incredible. LMM won lots of book fans over as Lee. Mary was brilliantly cast. Now there are less Daemons, they're better characterised- Pan gets way more to do now and Hester had some lovely moments. 

I genuinely believe 2x1, 2x3, 2x4 and 2x5 are the best HDM has been. 

But new problems arose. The Subtle Knife lost the central, easy to understand drive of Northern Lights (finding the missing kids) for lots of smaller quests. As a result, everyone spends the first two episodes of S2 waiting for the plot to arrive. The big inciting incident of Lyra’s plotline is the theft of the alethiometer, which doesn’t happen until 2x3. Similarly, Lee doesn’t search for John until 2x3. Mrs Coulter doesn’t go looking for Lyra until 2x3. 

On top of missing a unifying dramatic drive, the characters now being split across 3 worlds, instead of the 1+a bit of ours in S1, means the pacing/crosscutting problems (long establishing shots, repetition of information, undercutting momentum) are even worse. The narrative feels scattered and incohesive.   

These flaws are inherent to the source  material and are not the show’s fault, but neither does it do much to counterbalance or address them, and the flaws of the show combine with the difficulties of TSK as source material and make each other worse.

A lot of this has been entitled fanboy bitching, but you can't deny the show is in a bad place ratings-wise. It’s gone from the most watched new British show in 5 years to the S2 premiere having a smaller audience than the lowest-rated episode of Doctor Who Series 12. For comparison, DW's current cast and showrunner are the most unpopular since the 80s, some are actively boycotting it, it took a year-long break between series 11 and 12, had its second-worst average ratings since 2005, and costs a fifth of what HDM does to make. And it's still being watched by more people.

Critical consensus fluctuates wildly. Most laymen call the show slow and boring. The show is simultaneously too niche and self-absorbed to attract a wide audience and gets just enough wrong to aggravate lots of fans.

I’m honestly unsure if S3 will get the same budget. I want it to, if only because of my investment in the books. Considering S2 started filming immediately after S1 aired, I think they've had a lot more time to process and apply critique for S3. On the plus side, there's so much plot in The Amber Spyglass it would be hard to have the same pacing problems. But also so many new concepts that I dread the exposition dumps.

[legendary-defender-of-fandoms]

Worldbuilding Earth in Steven Universe

Random thought, but I was watching the Overly Sarcastic deep dive of Hades & Persephone for the hundredth time and suddenly realized the Diamonds perfectly correspond to four of the highest-ranking deities in the Greek Pantheon:

White to the Olympian Queen Hera

Yellow to the Wise Warrior Athena

Blue to the Underworld Queen Persephone

Pink to the Love Goddess Aphrodite

And that got me thinking about Greek mythology in Steven Universe & wondering if the Diamonds inspired the goddesses that arguably inspired them IRL? Which led to more wondering about if they inspired any OTHER major religious icons, or how cultures & religions on Earth would’ve been affected by the confirmed presence of ancient aliens. Which led me to the following query:

Is anyone else kind of sad that we never got to know how Earth’s cultures were affected by the Diamond Invasion & the Gem War? I know that wasn’t the point of the series, and after CN made Rebecca cut the OG show short they REALLY didn’t have time for anything but the main story. But it still kinda bugs me that we have no idea how the HUMANS felt about the Gem War, or how they interpreted the events & the relics left behind.

Pink Diamond began Colonizing the Earth 6,000 years prior to the show’s main story. Approximately around 4,000 BCE. And while her Colonization was focused primarily in North America (with both Kindergartens somewhere in the continental United States of America), there was Gem activity all over the planet. What did humans think of these immortal superpowered beings from the stars? How many world religions are based on the Diamonds? Which myths are allegories for historical Gem events? We saw on several occasions that Gem iconography was integrated into modern human society (Pink’s Gem on the currency, pink diamonds used as logos) - did any other aspects of Gem culture get adopted by humans? The Diamond Salute? Certain caste systems? Are all SU cryptid myths based on sightings of Corrupted Gems or Gem Mutants? Could Steven have figured out his mom was Pink Diamond by reading a book of fairytales or studying ancient mythologies? WHAT DOES EVERYONE THINK HAPPENED TO RUSSIA?!?

[mysticmachmir]

Tarot Through a Jewish Lens (Part I)

Is Tarot Jewish?

No. Tarot was not a Jewish creation and nor does it come from Kabbalah. When Waite made his famous RWS deck, he was a Christian occultist/magician and part of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and also formed his own Fellowship of the Rosy Cross. He was a Catholic involved in 'western esotericism' and fell under the learnings of Eliphas Levi. Eliphas Levi was not a Jewish man. He was a French gentile occultist who changed his name from Alphonse Louis Constant to Éliphas Lévi Zahed -- why? He wanted his magical works to sound more authentically exotic (aka, Jewish) because he appropriated from Jewish mysticism and skewed it for his own wants. He believed that Kabbalah was the "linking factor between the Old Testament and the New Testament", and that is rooted in Christian supersessionism, a violent ideology that has resulted in many murders of the Jewish people. Another example is the french occultist, Court de Gébelin, who claimed that the Major Arcana were numbered to correspond to the 22 letters in both the Egyptian and Hebrew alphabets. It didn’t seem to trouble him that at the time different versions of the deck that was in circulation sometimes had more than and sometimes less than 22 Major Arcana cards. Or that ancient Egyptians didn’t use an alphabet. 

So no. Tarot was created as a playing card game, sprung up in Italy, Germany, and France. It was not intended for 'occult' use until much later. And still, in no way shape or form, was it ever Jewish in origin. In the Torah, besides certain kinds of divination/tools, divination is forbidden and Tarot is considered avodah zarah (idolatry) because it is a non-Jewish practice.

Now I'm sure you're asking: Well you read tarot, why are you telling me this? Aren't you incriminating yourself? I'm telling you because I want to stress and push back against cultural appropriation and Christian supersessionism that is rooted in these beliefs, and I want to make it clear that the relationship between a Jew, halacha, and G!d is on them - but to not fool oneself claiming a non-Jewish practice is actually Jewish. That, I think, is more ludicrous than just using tarot.

Alright, now onto the fun parts and what you are here for.

My Jewish Theology with Tarot

So, this is all my personal theology which obviously you do not have to share. I am Jewish and practice religious Judaism. I believe that there is only one G!d, Hashem, and that They are everywhere and in everything. In academic terms, I am a monotheistic panentheist. This aligns with a lot of Jewish mysticism, especially Chassidus, and consider myself a crossover between the Conservative Jewish denomination and Renewal, with a solid base in the American Neo-Hasidic movement . (Conservative =/= political right-wing in the Jewish movements). I deeply respect Jewish traditions, halacha, and have put a lot of thought in what I believe and how it relates to tarot. There will be of course Jews who disagree with me, but I'm not here to dwell on that. When I read tarot, I am not asking the cards to tell me the answer I am seeking - the cards are a tool, an object, and do not possess spirits of their own. I am asking G!d. Now, angels won't interfere, but sheydim (demons) can. I will talk about protections/rituals one can use to avoid sheydim meddling later. As for questions like: How does one ethically divine? How much power do interpreters have? Does G!d plan everything? Do we have free will when it comes to our future? Let’s look to source texts. “All is foreseen, but free will is given.”  —Rabbi Akiva, Pirke Avot 3:15 "Rabbi Bena’a: There were twenty-four interpreters of dreams in Jerusalem. One time, I dreamed a dream and went to each of them to interpret it. What one interpreted for me the other did not interpret for me, and, nevertheless, all of the interpretations were realized in me, to fulfill that which is stated: All dreams follow the mouth of the interpreter." —Berakhot 55b "The Gemara asks: But doesn’t Rav say that any divination that is not like the divination of Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, when he went to seek a bride for Isaac (see Genesis 24:14), or like the divination of Jonathan, son of Saul, who sought an omen as to whether he and his arms bearer would defeat the Philistines (see I Samuel 14:8–12), is not divination? Since Rav did not rely on the omen in his decision making, he did not violate the prohibition against divination, and there was no reason for him to penalize himself." —Chullin 95b "What is a diviner? One who takes his stick in hand and says, (as though he were consulting it), “Shall I go, or shall I not go?” So does it state, (Hoshea 4:12) “My people ask counsel of their stick, and their staff declareth unto them” (Sifrei Devarim 171:6). (3) מעונן — Rabbi Akiba said, Such are people who assign times (עונות plural of עונה “period”, “time”) — who say, “This time is auspicious to begin some work”; the Sages, however, say, It refers to those “who hold your eyes under control” (who delude by optical deception; they connect מעונן with עין “eye”) (Sifrei Devarim 171:9)." —Rashi on Devarim 18:10-12 "... here he does not rely on the אות which he had stipulated, but where he asked G’d in prayer for help, saying that if certain things were to happen he would regard this as a sign that his prayer had been answered favorably (compare Ibn Ezra there). When the Talmud Chulin 95 כל נחש שאינו כאליעזר עבד אברהם ויהונתן בן שאול אינו נחש, the meaning is that “any divination which is not like that of Eliezer or that of Yonatan ben Sha-ul is not a divination,” i.e. is not permissible, but is akin to relying on witchcraft [Unless the person requesting a sign does so as a prayer directed to G’d it is forbidden. Ed.]" —Sforno on Beresheit 24:14 “The true power of the tarot lies in its ability to channel a clear path for our deep intuition to shine through. Consulting the tarot can help clear creativity blockages, clarify ambitions, work through complex decisions, and make sense of emotions and relationships.” —Holistic Tarot, Benebell Wen

In my interpretation of these quotes, I gather a few things:

1. In Jewish thought, dreams are 1/60th prophecy. However, dreams follow the mouth, i.e. interpretations. Multiple interpretations can be true. Being a confident and learned interpreter is important. While I did not quote it, the sages also advise the one should pay your interpreters fairly. 

2. Hashem has given humans free will, so we can make our own choices. That is unique to us as beings, unlike angels. G!d already knows the possible outcomes.

3. It is not divination to notice and realize patterns or answers as long as you do not use it as an omen to change immediate course - examples the sages mention in specific are "a piece of bread falls from your mouth, so you decide not to walk to the lake", i.e, seeking 'signs' and omens randomly to direct your life.

4. Rashi's explanation of what a diviner and sorcerer are, compiled from different Jewish texts. Now, I am not here to say "and this is proof Judaism and halacha are actually fine with divination!" Nope, in Bamidbar 23:23, it is very clear that Jews are told to get what they need from prophets or G!d themself, and do not need augury. What I am arguing here is that by these specifications, and connecting to my final point of what tarot actually is, tarot may not fall under that category depending on how you use it.

5. I wanted to highlight Sforno's commentary here because the way I read tarot is via prayer. Tarot is a tool, and when I begin a reading, I am not asking the cards, I am asking Hashem to use these cards as a sign and communication.

6. Finally, I quoted Benebell Wen because of her poignant understanding of how tarot is less about "fortune-telling" and more about a creative psycho-spiritual exercise for intuition and is more like a mirror to our subconscious telling us what is true. Fusing this with the ideas above, this is my short rundown of how I see and view Tarot: Tarot is a prayerful, spiritual tool as a way I can interpret and communicate from G!d, and I understand the cards themselves are not going to tell the future. Tarot is a mirror for the subconscious and a way for us to work through things we do not feel we can do on our own, be'ezrat Hashem (with the help of G!d).

Jewish Tarot Spreads

As I don't want to just post photos, I am instead going to include links to the tarot spreads I have found, to their origins so you can know the creator!The Archangel Spread The Divine Threads Spread Wisdom of the Hebrew Priestess Spread Vessel, Offering, Ally Spread Do Not Play It Small Spread Rooting and Releasing Spread

Jewish Tarot and Oracle Decks

Eht/Aht Netivot Oracle Deck

Tu B’shevat Oracle Deck

Moon Angels Oracle Deck

Malakhim Meditative Cards

Raziel Tarot Deck (Out of Print)

Jewish Tarot (Never Printed, Can See All Cards Virtually)

72 Names Deck

Tokens of Light Deck

King Solomon Deck

Revealed by the Letters Deck

Cleansing and Protection

So, of course, this is so dependent on what you think is most important for you, as it is your practice. However, I will share what I do.

When it comes to doing readings, I have a very specific ritual. First, I light incense or a candle depending on what I feel like doing at the time. This is something I am still working on and trying what fits best for me and my cards. I will use incense smoke to cleanse cards or the "knocking" card trick. Then, I say two prayers - I recite the blessing:

"Blessed are you G!d, Ruler of the Universe, who opens the eyes of the blind. The reason is because of the allegory that intuition and divination are connecting to a special type of sight. Then, in the case of the concern with sheydim messing with the reading, I have decided to use the protective angel prayer: 

"In the name of the Lord, G!d of Israel: 

May the angel Michael be at my right side, 

and at my left side, Gabriel,

before me Uriel, behind me Raphael,

and above my head, Shekhinat El, G!d's presence." This is traditionally recited at night, but I felt it was just as appropriate to call on these angels for protection. Plus, Uriel is associated with illumination and is a useful presence to have during these readings. In Jewish gemology, lapis lazuli is good for bringing understanding and grounding intuition, so I use that gemstone as well while I read. Eventually, I'd like to also get an onyx as it is associated with enlightenment and wisdom in Jewish gemology. I also use a tarot cloth with a hamsa and have a protective amulet pendant.

Finally, when I shuffle my cards, I sing a very specific phrase - the "ein od milvado" from Kohelet 1:2, in a tune that puts me into a meditative headspace - and I shuffle with my eyes closed, only stopping when I feel it is right to do so. I also use a kabbalistic meditation technique to allow the divine flow (shefa) from G!d's light flow through the crown of my head. 

If you liked this work and information, consider tipping me at: https://ko-fi.com/ezrasaville!

Sources (I will post this in every post of this series): Sefaria Chabad Tarot and the Gates of Light by Mark Horn Torah, Tarot, and Tantra by William Blank The Jewish Dream Book by Vanessa Ochs Magic of the Ordinary by R. Gershon Winkler Tarot Wisdom by Rachel Pollack The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet by R. Michael Munk The Encyclopedia of Jewish Magic, Myth, and Mysticism by R. Geoffrey Dennis https://www.telshemesh.org/ https://hsastrology.weebly.com/hebrew-zodiac-signs.html https://ohr.edu/this_week/ask_the_rabbi/2394 https://www.gatesoflighttarot.com/ http://www.devotaj.com/ http://www.peelapom.com/

[abysslarchiving]

alright, so it’s been heavily implied by lore multiple times that khaenri’ah is in the abyss or at the very least intimately tied to it ( bloodstained chivalry set, the pale princess ) and that kaeya was born in khaenri’ah. the thing is, abyssal creatures such as abyss mages, samachurls, and now, abyss heralds don’t need the blessings of celestia to wield the elements. it made me think that, for a khaenri’ahn ( confirmed to be a very prosperous and advanced civilisation ) born in the abyss, someone who isn’t entirely human — i think technically that kaeya should have the ability to wield his element without his vision. and so, because idc what canon thinks, i’m making that true.

much like magic is focused through a wand, the ability to wield an element is focused through a vision. when kaeya was found near a secluded nook along the path of the dawn winery, drenched from the storm around them, he was covered in ice particles. not only that, but the worker that he’d assaulted out of sheer panic at being approached by a stranger, had been stabbed by an icicle. although, kaeya barely remembers that night, had intentionally blocked it out of his mind actually. kaeya is unaware that he’s used cryo prior to his vision, but, not detailing them yet as i want to sit on this idea more, he has been in dangerous situations where he has unintentionally coaxed forth a cryo shield ( you might be familiar with this, it’s the same one you have to break down to get to the squishy abyss mage inside ) otherwise known as “ frozen kiss “ which is kaeya’s fourth constellation. kaeya has applied cryo to his enemies before, numbing them, slowing down their stamina, making their blood freeze, just by touching them before, also without noticing. he’s also left ice particles behind from things he’s touched before, often when he is trying very hard to keep his composure. kaeya’s resistance to the cold, also, has been a natural part of him since birth, although he attributed that to living in khaenri’ah for his early childhood, a sunless land.

kaeya has had multiple instances of using his cryo abilities accidentally throughout his upbringing, but chalked any weird happenstance up to coincidence because of his conditioning during his assimilation into mond / teyvat culture that everything coming from the abyss is bad and evil. and so, when these abilities started to manifest, a part of him wanted to remain ignorant ( after all, according to mond’s psuedo christian religious aspects, if we put this in the allegory of the apple, then to be ignorant is to be blissful, and to understand the truth of the world, that makes you a sinner, yes ? kaeya has said that khaenri’ah is full of sinners due the to the nation’s thirst for power and knowledge, y’know, in addition to his own self hatred coaxed by being raised in a foreign land that damns his own. ) a part of kaeya didn’t want to believe that he could wield cryo until he’d been “ gifted “ his vision, and even then it angered him, especially the way he received it.

kaeya views his vision as a means for the gods, for the tsaritsa, for celestia to control him. but, it’s a lot more complicated than that. when he stopped trying to destroy his own vision, out of rage first ( rage that the vision had appeared, symbolically aligned him with the fatui that had indirectly killed his father ) and then out of curiosity, he decided to use the ability as a means to an end, to reach his own goals faster. yes, he uses the vision and the privilege afforded a vision user in the world of teyvat, but he leaves it behind when he goes to domains on his own. why ? because it’s an insult to the khaenri’ahns and abyssal creatures down there ... he can still wield cryo without it, but he still mentally attributes this to having a vision, no matter how far away it is. that’s not the truth.

kaeya is abyssal, he was born in the abyss, even if he’s still human. and he’s still coming to terms with it.

tldr ; there’s a reason that kaeya’s vision is visibly different from other mondstadt users, he doesn’t need it to use cryo. abyssal creatures don’t need permission from celestia to use their powers.

[dearreader]

okay but can we talk about how would’ve could’ve should’ve is taylor’s best song ever. like not MY favorite song but her best song.

like lyrically, sonically, emotionally, just everything feels perfect. like her entire life and career has all been preparation for this one song. like the religious allegory’s to highlight taylor’s connection to her religion that she feels is now forever tainted no matter what she does because she danced with the devil? and even though she acknowledges that it was on him with “promising grown man” she still is like “i regret you” “i miss who i used to be” because she still blames herself and can’t let it go. the tomb won’t close

and even references to her tearing down banners in her mind of him to the great war indicating she holds those whom she loves to a high almost worshipping standard as banners can be connected to monarchy’s and viewing those in power as something to behold and feel honored almost. and even after she’s destroyed any part of herself that idolizes or cared for him she can’t deny that she still didn’t enjoy it, “the pain was heaven”.

or “now that i’m grown i’m scared of ghosts, memories feel like weapons” how she views her old self as dead and fears it because the memory of that naïve young girl feels like a weapon. that he completely ruined and shattered her so much that now even looking back at her old self is dangerous because she can get cut on it

it’s just her best song ever and the fact that i can’t ring this to my old professor and talk to him about it like fucking poem is driving me insane becayse ITS HER BEST FUCKING SONG.