#considering the theory they were created by the US government (I haven’t been up to date wihh th lore though) they should be genetically

[lordofthefeline]

I need someone to hear me out:

Domesticated Deathclaws

[subdee]

I posted 617 times in 2022

83 posts created (13%)

534 posts reblogged (87%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@subdee

@hxhhasmysoul

@ff7ogzine

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I tagged 614 of my posts in 2022

#hxh - 230 posts

#general lefty stuff - 88 posts

#hunter x hunter - 50 posts

#ff7 - 49 posts

#the internet - 29 posts

#ff7ogzine - 28 posts

#hxhbb - 26 posts

#hxh manga spoilers - 24 posts

#art - 24 posts

#hxhladieszine - 23 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#and if you had a more free society you might choose to organize it around gathering hazelnuts instead of farming to have a less stratified..

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Last Time on Hunter x Hunter

New HxH chapter is out but it’s been quiet at least among the fans I know... it seems because no one remembers what happened last time.  :P

Probably this would be a good time to go back to the HxH subreddit because I bet the redditors are loving this chapter dedicated to mafia flunkies fighting each other using absurd powers and are digging up their old reference charts and theories and putting them up on the wall like Pepe Silvia as we speak. 

(It’s Zhang Lei, BTW.  Zhang Lei will win the succession war.  And Sakata is the Silent Majority nen user, working directly for Zhang Lei or possibly for Onior on his behalf.  Although if 8th prince Lazurus won the succession war with the help of the Spiders that would be a pretty good plot twist.  You heard it here first!  )

Ahem.  Anyway here’s your recap of what’s going on in the manga currently... spoilers ahead!!!!

(All images from this reference chart, thank you nerds of reddit!) 

There are three mafia groups based on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th tier of the boat:

See the full post

77 notes - Posted October 23, 2022

#4

I’m trying to stay focused on the local battlefield as a way to stay semi-calm. Kansas voters are in a unique position in red states in that they get a direct say on whether or not to protect abortion. August 2nd will have a vote on an anti-abortion amendment to the KS constitution. If the amendment fails, abortion will remain legal here. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled abortion is protected under the KS Constitution. So it’s either the amendment or nothing for the forced birth assholes. They can’t simply pass a law like other states have. This vote isn’t just important for Kansas. It’ll have major ramifications for the region. Missouri will ban all abortions. But if choice stays legal in Kansas, then the Kansas City metro will still have clinics available. Plus, it’s not a bad drive from Oklahoma City to Wichita, or from Omaha to KC. Polls show a majority of Kansans want abortion to remain legal. There’s a good chance we’ll win this one. Enough of a chance that I’m allowing myself to hope. Kansans for Constitutional Freedom is the main group organizing the “Vote NO” fight in Kansas. They’re a coalition of Democrats and Republicans, Planned Parenthood, ACLU, and other groups. If you have a few bucks to spare, please consider them.

Via metafilter

90 notes - Posted June 24, 2022

#3

Phantom Troupe thoughts

SPOILERS FOR MANGA CHAPTERS 395 and 396!!!!!

...Ahem.  I haven’t checked the main tag or been on tumblr much in the last few weeks so forgive me if this is old news but... catching up on Hunter x Hunter and can’t believe that in the year of our lord 2022, we finally have canon confirmation that the Sheila conspiracy theorists were right all along!!! 

Sheila confirmed member of the OG phantom troupe!!  Also the book she gave little Kurapika and Pairo in the “Kurapika’s Memories” chapter, that inspired them to want to leave the tribe and attempt the Hunter exam, was probably “Dino Hunter” because it looks the same and Sheila only reads one book apparently.  

See the full post

129 notes - Posted November 27, 2022

#2

For US people: government is giving out another round of free COVID tests... This time we all get eight.

277 notes - Posted May 16, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

The 80,000 warnings about the ao3 spambots on here are making me realize... do people on tumblr not know what an SEO scam is??????

Everyone warning each other to not click on the links... I mean yes this is just good internet advice, don’t click random spammy links, but if the point was trick you into clicking they would be doing a better job of pretending not to be bots, don’t you think?

The purpose of these comments is SEO optimization... just trying to increase their pagerank in search results on Google or Bing by making a lot of different pages link to them.  

These aren’t a big deal if they hit the accounts of active writers, who have plenty of tools to get rid of them.  The game is to hit the accounts of writers who aren’t�� checking their emails, and won’t bother to log in / mark as spam.  Then the comments stay up and help with getting their links on early pages of search results or making them look more legitimate. 

Anyway here’s something for the AO3 engineering team to do - figure out where these bots are coming from and block the domain.  Since ao3 is mostly volunteer labor we just wait until someone’s free to work on it or the board votes to pay for it, though. 

912 notes - Posted December 7, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[froggysoup]

wowee

Alrighty I’m just gonna ramble on about my thoughts on the new quest (and things in general because I talk too much) and pray that at least some of it ends up coherent. Spoilers, by the way.

I’ve had this first theory since the last archon quest but got nervous and didn’t share, so here it is now. Maybe it’s an obvious thing that I’m just in the dark about, but I’m fairly sure that Dainsleif’s “Boughkeeper” title has a large part in explaining why he knows so much about things he really shouldn’t. From the newest quest, we learn that he is actually cursed with immortality, which could explain some it, but the guy still knows too much for it to simply be chalked up to his age. He’s literally the designated narrator for half of the official videos and knows a lot about what and who he talks about.

I suspect that the ley lines serve as an information network of some sort, and that Dainsleif’s position as Boughkeeper allows him access to it in one way or another. The only other places we really see the whole tree/branch thing is with the ley line branches, Irminsul trees, the Frostbearing Tree, and the tree who once had roots that spanned the whole continent (which we know the ley line branches were once directly a part of), all of which are connected in a way that I haven’t quite figured out yet. 

Now, from those screens that come up while the game is loading, we know that supposedly, the intertwined roots of the Irminsul trees far beneath the earth determine the pattern of the ley lines above, and we also know that ley lines are a “mysterious network that links the whole world together” and that they are said to remember everything that happens in the world. From this, I don’t think it’d be that much of a reach to say that Dainsleif can access that somehow.

Next. I do think there’s a pretty good chance that the Archons were involved in the destruction of Khaenri’ah. The Viridescent Venerer set actually tells us how the former Dendro Archon died during the cataclysm while in Khaenri’ah, which. Uh. That’s kind of really incriminating. 

However! Obviously, we’ve only heard this from Dainsleif’s point of view and he’s pretty biased considering his whole thing. We don’t know how much control Celestia has over the Archons’ actions, either, and I’m about 98% sure that some of them weren’t into it, and likely didn't even have a choice. Like, look at the Tsaritsa. Her whole thing is that sometime during the cataclysm, she witnessed something so view-shattering and unjust that her whole thing now is to “burn away the old world” and overthrow Celestia. 

I also can’t see Venti and Zhongli going along with the destruction of an entire nation with no hesitation. Like, obviously, again, Dainsleif is going to be biased, but from what we’ve been told Khaenri’ah didn’t even do anything divine-retribution-worthy. Celestia just seems be into dropping skyscraper-sized pillars and other things onto nations who get too good at being independent, for whatever reason. The new quest is definitely supposed to make us question the current systems of this world but I don’t think we’re meant to hate Venti or Zhongli, at least yet. I think they’re even kind of meant to be seen as the “best” out of the Archons, so to speak. (Not that I think they’re perfect, by any means.)

Like, just look at the way they’ve been presented to us, versus how some of the other Archons have been introduced (Storyline Trailer, my beloved). 

Raiden Shogun is made out to be some self-absorbed divine ass-kisser who doesn’t have humanity’s best interests at heart (which we know is supposed to be a thing you do as an Archon). She’s doing her whole confiscating visions and oppressive rule thing in an effort to be seen as more divine, but, as Dainsleif puts it, “what do mortals see of the eternity chased after by their god?”

The Dendro Archon/God of Wisdom is implied to not actually be as smart as somebody with that title is supposed to be, one way or another, and either has turned a blind eye to or blatantly encourages the “push for folly” in Sumeru. Can’t tell exactly what that would mean or entail (thanks, Dainsleif), but obviously. Doesn’t sound good.

Dainsleif says of the Hydro Archon that she “lives for the spectacle of the courtroom, seeking to judge all other gods. But even she knows not to make an enemy of the divine.” While the not making an enemy of the divine thing I get (I guess, coward), the whole “seeking to judge all other gods” bit seems very “remove the log from your own eye”-y. Like, you’re an Archon, too, what are you trying to prove here?

The Tsaritsa is- well, the Tsaritsa, as we know. While I do think we are meant to sympathize and agree with at least part of her core ideals and motives, she still is the one behind the Fatui and is, by extension, a war criminal. She also apparently has “no love left for her people”. It’s a bit of a complicated relationship that we have with her.

The only ones who Dainsleif does not directly slander in the trailer are Venti, Zhongli, and Murata. While I don’t think we have enough on her to come to any conclusions about her character yet, Venti does say of her that she is a “wayward, war-mongering wretch”. Now, he does also jab at Rex Lapis during this voiceline, but unlike with Murata we know that those two are buddy-buddy and it was very likely that it was “buffoon (affectionate)”.

Venti and Zhongli are also the first two Archons we encounter, which is important for multiple reasons.

Gonna derail for a bit because I don’t know where to start. But. The game very likely will (or at least should) end with no Archons.

Obviously, especially in light of the new quest (although this stuff has been floating around since the Dragonspine update and even before that), Celestia Bad. Like, cataclysmically bad (lmao). In fact, I’m highly certain that you could trace basically every problem in this game back to them, some way or another.

Even our main “villain” groups all seem to be gunning for Celestia. The Fatui obviously work for the Tsaritsa, who’s made it very clear that she plans to rebel against the divine. The Abyss Order, too, has their Deeply Upsetting plan of creating a mechanized god with the power to “topple the divine thrones of Celestia”.

Evidence points to an overthrow of Celestia at some point in the game, and considering how being an Archon or even a god is directly tied to Celestia, yeah. No more Celestia means no more Archons.

But even besides that, there’s a lot there to suggest that that’s where things are going.

I find it interesting how Mondstadt’s our prologue chapter, or that there’s even a prologue chapter of the game at all. Prologues are meant to set up ideas that will be present throughout the rest of the story, and Mondstadt does exactly that. Venti’s let the people of Mondstadt govern themselves and has almost completely been out of the equation for millennia, even if that means he is significantly weaker than his godly peers. When asked why he chose to do that instead of remain in charge and just give them freedom, Venti responds that “freedom, if demanded of you by an archon, is really no freedom at all.” This sentiment is also brought up in the Mondstadt portion of the storyline trailer, and the traveler even has a whole voiceline debating what Venti really meant when he said that.

This idea of freedom and that humanity is capable on its own is further reinforced in Chapter 1, in which Liyue learns to move on from the death of its Archon. Zhongli set up his plan with the intention of testing if his people could stand on their own legs without him there to guide them, and they do. He even expresses how pleasantly surprised he is that the Qixing were able to take advantage of the situation and seize control like they did. Keqing gives us this whole speech when we first meet her about how the adepti and gods underestimate humanity’s capability and how Liyue’s future is meant to be a godless one. This, in a way, extends to the rest of the continent as well.

In the storyline trailer (which I quote too often, I’m sorry. My favorite and only party trick is that I got bored one day and memorized the whole thing), Dainsleif spends the entire Khaenri’ah section musing about something similar. 

“In the perpetual meantime of a sheltered eternity, most are content to live and not to dream. But in the hidden corner where the gods’ gaze does not fall, there are those who dream of dreaming,” is obviously about the people of Teyvat vs. those in Khaenri’ah. While a future under the care of the Archons is a safe and reliable one, is it one that allows humanity to chase its potential to the fullest? Khaenri’ah was destroyed for flourishing like it did without gods, both as a punishment and a warning to everybody else.

“Some say a few are chosen and the rest are dregs, but I say we humans have our humanity.” This is in reference to visions. Throughout the game, this idea that, at least in the eyes of the gods, vision holders are more important than those without them, is constantly brought up.

In the commission “Leaves on the Wind”, Dr. Edith expresses how it often seems as if vision holders are the main characters of this world. From the notebooks we receive during the “Time and Wind” world quest, we learn that the Sumeru Academia actually discourages non-vision holders from conducting outdoor surveys, and how “these days... trying to be an academic when you don't have a Vision, it's really restricting...” Dainsleif even just straight up asks us what we think the gods think of vision holders and people in general during question time in that one quest.

In Lisa’s stories, we learn that the reason for her laziness is that a part of her is afraid of learning or doing too much, after witnessing what “uninhibited erudition” can do to people during her time in Sumeru. She also senses that something beneath the surface is happening regarding the distribution of visions. “For whatever reasons, the gods gave humans the key to changing everything, but they did not explain the cost involved. Lisa grew fearful of the truth.”

I forgot exactly where I was going with that last paragraph, but yeah. There’s definitely sketchy shit going on behind the scenes in regards to visions, possibly to keep people either quiet or complacent. I suspect it may even be to restrict access to certain knowledges or even the elements themselves. Anyways.

I lose track of my thoughts too often. Fuck. Right. Mondstadt and Liyue served as good examples of society under the rule of the Archons, and in Chapter 2 we will encounter our first bad example, showing us the pros and cons of the current situation. However, despite Zhongli and Venti seeming to genuinely care for their people, humanity’s wellbeing shouldn’t be reliant on how their god is feeling that day, and they shouldn’t have to look to the gods for a chance to become something greater than themselves, either.

Um. All that’s to say I’m just very excited to see where the story will go, and if Zhongli’s contract with the Tsaritsa is any indication then it’s gonna go somewhere good. Celestia bad, Archons bad but also not bad but also bad, I don’t know if what I just wrote actually even counts as understandable, thank you and good night.

[therealvinelle]

I agree that Aro definitely is not straight, but if he is gay and not bi, why window shop for a wife? If he wanted a partner for some reason, why not find a male one? It was a different era, yes, but are vampires really homophobic?

So, for this meta, we’ll have to get historical. Before we do, keep in mind that while I know Ancient Greece better than most, having studied it (introductory level classes only, mind), I don’t know it well enough to be any kind of authority on the matter. History, more than any other discipline I can think of, is not respected as an academic field, and people with poor to no understanding of historical hermeneutics will make very bold assumptions that they then have too poor understanding of history to realize are bullshit. This is a disclaimer because I don’t want to join in on the chorus of authoritative-sounding people on the internet with no verifiable credentials who spout things about history that are then taken to be gospel truth by readers because the author made it sound good.

More, I say this because your question is asking me to explain the morality and social norms surrounding a character from 14th century BC Greece. And this man would not, for the record have been Ancient Greek, he would have been Mycenaean Greek. Very quick history lesson: Mycenaean Greece was a flourishing society that suffered a downfall, Greek civilization fell into its very own dark ages, until around 800 BC when Greeks began forming what would become the Ancient Greece we know and love. This in turn means that I can’t very well read up on the marital and sexual norms of Ancient Greece when I’m researching for Aro, because he was five hundred years old already when Ancient Greece became a thing.

And your question concerns cultural history. And for that we’re going to have to look at how we know the things we know about history. How history is studied.

Historians have two kinds of sources: archeological findings and written records. (I’m aware that oral tradition, like the one carried by the Aborigine people, isn’t technically one of these, but to my understanding it’ll be treated to similar analysis as written records, which leaves us with the two types of sources standing strong.) These sources are analyzed, and we apply various theories and models onto them to make sense of the context they were written in. The more sources we have, the more we can refine or eliminate these theories or models.

More, history is an ever evolving field. There are movements and schools of thought that influence how history is written (marxism in history, that is, history as a class struggle, was heavy in the 60′s and I think until the 80′s), which means that how a certain culture will be perceived today is not the way it was perceived a few decades ago, nor will it be perceived the same way a few decades in the future.

You see why I am daunted by you asking me to give you an answer about sexual and marital norms for a guy who lived 3000 years ago, and I hope you’ll understand why I feel this word vomit is necessary.

Now, the danger with Mycenaean Greece is that it’s a society it’s easy to feel we know a lot about, because it was the precursor to Ancient Greece, and we know a lot about the latter. But, first of, the reason why we know as much as we do about the Ancient Greeks is the Romans. The Greeks wrote about their history, their philosophy, their government, and they wrote plays and told stories. However, that was two thousand years ago and their writings would have been lost to the sands of time if the Romans hadn’t idolized and sought to emulate their society. This meant preserving their written records. This tradition was carried on by the Christians, in part because Hellenistic philosophy was incorporated into Christian philosophy. We have neo-platonism to thank for Christian asceticism, the “mind over matter” cornerstone.

What I’m getting at with all of this is that we know the insane amount about Ancient Greece that we do because of some very unique circumstances, and so we can make very sophisticated theories about what the Hellenistic world was like. It’s still detective work, but not Pepe Silvia type of detective work. This is not the case for Mycenaean Greece. We know a comparative lot about Mycenaean Greece, considering how long ago it was, but there is very much we don’t know.

With Mycenaean Greece, we are dealing with a lot more uncertainty. We haven’t deciphered one of their two writing styles, and a lot of the text we do have is very fragmentary. Coming up with detailed societal models for Mycenaean Greece, and for the 14th century BC specifically, is... well I don’t know enough about what this society left behind to know what historians have to work with, but I imagine they have their work cut out.

More, I haven’t studied this at all, which means that any attempt on my end to research this would be stumbling around in the dark.

One example: the Illiad and the Odyssey, while composed around the 8th century BC, were set in the early 12th century BC, which is nearly Aro’s time period. The Illiad depicts a homoerotic relationship between Patroclus and Achilles, and both works depict a lot of matrimonies, so I wish I could use it as a source. However, not only would this time gap alone make these sources questionable, but there’s also the matter of the Illiad and the Odyssey being transmitted orally, from bard to bard. Changes were made over the years. For example, the technology described in the Illiad is from several eras, as the warriors will be using bronze weaponry in one book and then switch to iron in the next. This game of telephone is what happens when a story is transmitted orally from person to person. So, while it’s tempting to use these works as a sort of reference point, the possibility, likelihood even, that the bards made adjustments to keep the old story entertaining for their contemporary audience is strong.

For this reason, I can’t give you any kind of historically correct analysis on what the marital or sexual mores would have been like in Aro’s time. Even if the knowledge is out there, I don’t have it.

But I can say this, spouses have for the longest time been partners. Men and women got married, even in the gay, gay, Ancient Greece, not just to have children but because they complemented each other, they were partners. Men needs wives, and women needs husbands. And a partner was canonically exactly what Aro was looking for, feelings had nothing to do with it:

After Caius and Marcus had found their romantic attachments, Aro decided to find his own, although rather than finding his other half in another vampire Aro decided to create his own instead. Aro had a certain type of woman in mind and he found what he was looking for in Sulpicia. He successfully courted her and she came to fall in love with him.

As for vampires being homophobic, I think that is for another post about what culture they bring with them into their new life. But to be brief I’ll say that while the individual vampire can be homophobic, there can be no homophobia at an institutional level because vampires have no institutions. And it’s the institutional homophobia that gets ya. It’s what the whole fight for gay rights has been about: secure legislation against discrimination and that protects gay people. (The right to marry and protection from employees firing LGBT employees comes to mind as examples of this.)

So, no one could force Aro to marry a woman. 

And I’d go into a rant here about how the prospect of gay marriage, of even identifying as homosexual (the labels homosexual, bisexual, and heterosexual are very new and, to my recollection, were born off of the Western psychiatric discipline as men who slept with other men were diagnosed with homosexuality. I imagine a man from the Antiquity would be confused at the notion that just because he likes to sleep with dudes he shouldn’t get married to a woman), was unthinkable up until very recently, but I just made this obscenely long rant about how I can’t really make these kinds of guesses, so I’m not gonna.

I think being married to a woman and then banging hot dudes who came along suited Aro just fine.

Also, I can’t believe I’m doing this, but - I’m going to encourage history asks. Because this fandom has a bit of a history problem, as a lot of the characters are from different time periods and many feel unsatisfied with the way Meyer handled that. I am by no means a historian, but I know several of the historical periods the characters of Twilight are from well enough to make educated guesses.

So, hit me with your worst.

[afinepricklypear]

Two BSD Theories

I’m bored at the moment, so I decided to write out a couple theories I’ve had about Bungou Stray Dogs bouncing around in my head for awhile now. I don’t know if anyone else has put similar theories out there yet, and apologize if these things have already been said!

1) Atsushi’s ability was inherited from his parent

This thought came to me after watching Dead Apple (again) and while reading about Tsujimura’s ability. Tsujimura gained her ability from her mother with the same technique that Kyouka’s mother used to pass Demon Snow to Kyouka (it seems Tsujimura’s mother actually taught this technique to Kyouka’s mother). Tsujimura cannot fully control her ability, and it usually activates automatically following the final command from her mother to kill anyone that Tsujimura is trying to kill before she can do it. Likewise, when we first meet Kyouka, she cannot control Demon Snow, it’s activated by someone giving her instructions through the cell phone that her mother gave her. It’s only after joining the Armed Detective Agency and, thus, becoming subject to Fukuzawa’s ability (and then some therapy via learning what really happened the night her parents were killed) that she’s able to gain control. 

This is interesting because aside from Atsushi, these are the only two characters we’ve met that possess activatable abilities and cannot control them. Passive ability users like Q and Dazai don’t really count because their abilities are triggered by some form of physical contact and is, basically, always on. They can only control the ability by controlling their interactions with others (**Side note, I’ve seen it mentioned that people think Dazai is the only passive ability user in BSD, which is not true. We know from the incident where Q is kidnapped by the guild that Q cannot stop people from going insane if they’ve caused Q physical injury otherwise Q would’ve stopped the whole thing. It’s the same way as how Dazai can’t stop someone’s ability from being nullified if they touch him, there’s no OFF switch. I’m pretty sure, from what we know of All Men Are Created Equal, that Fukuzawa’s ability is also passive**). The other exception is Chuuya when he unleashed the true form of his ability, but he’s such a special case, we can’t consider him.

All of the other characters in the show seem capable of controlling their ability without much training or external assistance. It’s almost like a second nature to them, because they kind of act as extensions of the ability user’s self. But Atsushi seemed so disconnected from his ability that he didn’t even realize he had one when it activated and, like Kyouka, needed to be brought in under Fukuzawa’s ability in order to gain control of it. 

The other evidence of this is in Dead Apple, when it’s revealed that Atsushi was subject to experimentation by Shibusawa. It’s mentioned that the government is interested in Atsushi because they’ve heard rumors that his ability is super special, and they want Shibusawa to figure out his ability, what it is and how it works. This was far from being the most confusing moment in Dead Apple, but it did raise several questions for me. The most glaring being: if no one knows what Atsushi’s ability is, how do they know that it’s super special? Unless, he’s not the first person to have this ability. The other question I have is how he ended up at the orphanage after “killing” Shibusawa, when the government clearly had a keen interest in him? Did they think, “oh he’s just a tiger”, and dumped him on an unsuspecting home for children, like...wtf? BSD Japan’s government does some incredibly shady and stupid things. But that’s not important here.

Finally, Fyodor’s reason for being interested in Atsushi is because he states that the white tiger can be used to find the infamous Book. Similar to the government, how would Fyodor know this unless someone possessed the ability before Atsushi?

While there could be other explanations for how the government knew about Atsushi’s ability being special, there’s not much that can explain how Fyodor knows that it can be used to find the book (though, it’s possible he lied about that entirely just to get the Guild to target the ADA), and when we take into account what we know about Kyouka and Tsujimura, and that abilities can be passed to relatives, the simplest explanation would seem to be that Atsushi inherited his ability from one of his parents. We’ve also learned nothing about where Atsushi came from and how he came to be an orphan (though, you know, we haven’t really learned a lot about most of the BSD characters. Like, where are the Tanizaki siblings parents, and how did Kenji, only 14 years old and clearly from a happy home environment, end up with the ADA). Because so much has been made of Atsushi being special amongst ability users, I can’t help expecting that we’ll learn more about his past and that we’ll get the reveal that his ability was inherited from his parent.

2) Asagiri has already given us the ending to BSD

This one is less evidence based and more wishful thinking because it would make for a nice symmetry, bringing everything full circle...even though I really don’t want this ending. This also might be more of a crack theory than anything, but hear me out. Beast is not an Alternate Universe, it is, in fact, the ending of the Bungo Stray Dogs main story line, and the current canon is just the events leading up to Dazai getting his hands on the Book and using it to create the world of Beast. That’s it. That’s the theory. I’ve got nothing to back this up. I’m sorry not sorry for putting that dark thought out into the world.

The End.

Thank you for reading! I’m going back to work now.

[true-blue-megamind]

FAN THEORY THURSDAY: Megamind’s Connections Beyond the Film

Before we get started, it’s time for the obligatory SPOILER WARNING!  

In case this hasn’t been made sufficiently obvious by the fact that this is a post about Megamind written in a fan theory series about Megamind and published on a blog dedicated solely to Megamind, please let me just assure that this article is, in fact, about Megamind.  

If you haven’t seen the film yet yet, I have to question why you’re reading this in the first place.  As well as your taste in animated movies.  I’m definitely questioning that.

Over the years I’ve heard several fan theories concerning connections between the film Megamind and various other forms of media.  Today, let’s delve into just a few.

The first one is so obvious it’s almost painful, but it has to be mentioned.  Megamind is a Superman spoof.  Metro Man is clearly based on the Man of Steel himself, with a hefty dose of Elvis Presley and a larger range of character flaws thrown in for good measure.  (He also seems to contain quite a lot of the Popular Jock archetype.)  The character of Megamind is more complex still, combining elements of Alice Cooper and a nineties Goth theater kid with several comic book supervillains. The best known of the last include alien genius Brainiac and mad inventor Lexx Luthor, but they aren’t the only ones.  Some of Megamind’s engineering and technological inventions call to mind Spiderman villain Doctor Octopus even more than Lexx Luthor, and he also shares some parallels with the mad inventor Dr. Sivana in the SHAZAM comics.

Megamind’s most notable of the latter is the similarity of attitudes toward society.  Both Megamind and Dr. Sivana started off trying to use their inventions for good—the first in the classroom and the second for the betterment of mankind—but both became bitter when people mocked and shunned them.  For Dr. Sivana, this led to a desire to conquer all of Earth while for Megamind, in a sort of microcosm, it led to a similar drive to take over Metro City.  Both Lexx Luthor and Dr. Sivana have, perhaps, the strongest connections to Megamind as share, deep down, a desire to help or protect mankind, and as Lexx Luthor, like Megamind, harbors a secret love for the reporter damsel in their respective stories.  (This desire to do good, especially in the face of corrupt officials, ties into another Megamind fan theory that I will likely discuss in more detail in a later post.)

The connection between Megamind and Alice Cooper, by the way, was extremely intentional.  The creators stated in an interview that, like Alice Cooper, Megamind’s dark, evil self is, in fact, a stage persona.  (Even their clothing, consisting largely of black leather and spikes, is similar.)  That fact is illustrated in the film as we can see that Megamind’s behaviors on- and off-camera tend to be vastly different.  Even as a villain, he is merely playing a role, although in the case of Megamind that role has begun to merge with his self-identity.

There are, however, hints within the world of DreamWorks that Megamind has other connections as well.  The first is fairly recent and intensely interesting. In the Rise of the Guardians, Jamie Bennett, a young boy who still steadfastly believes in the seemingly impossible, mentions “aliens in Michigan,” only to be scoffed at by his friends.  Because Metro City is located in Michigan, (as can be seen briefly when the Death Ray is fired from space,) many fans theorize that the “aliens in Michigan” are none other than Megamind, Minion, and, perhaps, Metro Man. 

This would indicate that the two stories take place in the same world, and that Megamind’s adventures, while well-known in Metro City itself, have been covered up and kept secret from the rest of the world.  (Imagine moving to a moderately-sized city only to discover that—surprise!—there’s an extraterrestrial supervillain in residence and, oh, by the way, if you live downtown homeowners’ insurance is ridiculous!)

The second inter-film connection is less clear, but has spawned some interesting fan theories as well.  The idea is that, like Rise of the Guardians, Monsters VS. Aliens also takes place in the same reality as Megamind.  It’s not too far fetched—after all, both films involve extraterrestrials and amazing inventions—but there is one specific theory that really ties the two together.  Consider this for a moment: Megamind is a blue alien with incredible intelligence who hails from a destroyed planet.  Does that sound like any other DreamWorks character you know?  If you’ve seen Monster VS. Aliens, the antagonist, Gallaxhar, probably springs to mind.

According to Fandom.com, Gallaxhar’s official backstory is that he “destroyed his home planet” for the implied reason that “he experienced bad childhood and unhappy marriage.”  The fan theory is that that Gallaxhar’s planet was, in fact, Megamind’s home world, and that the former created or harnessed the black hole which destroyed it.  This would explain why Megamind’s people—as well as Metro Man’s—didn’t have time to escape despite being space-faring.  You see, black holes take millions of years to develop, and even a rogue black hole would take about a million to shift and swallow an entire solar system, so if the event had occurred naturally, there should have been plenty of time to build an entire fleet of spacecraft and leave for Earth or another safe planet.  (The fact that Megamind’s parents set his escape pod’s navigation system for Earth indicates that they knew of its existence.)

Of course, despite their large heads and blue skin tones, there are quite a few physical differences between Megamind and Gallaxhar.  The first is humanoid while the second has four eyes and tentacles instead of legs.  Fan theories have explanations for that, too, however.  

There appear to be two schools of thought on the subject.  The first is that Gallaxhar was another breed of alien living on the planet, possibly a servile race different from Minions, and the second is that part of Gallaxhar’s “bad childhood” involved being experimented upon, thus giving him his bizarre appearance and his seeming obsession with experimenting on others.  (There is some disagreement in the Megamind fandom about exactly why Gallaxhar was subjected to such treatment, ranging from falling into the hands of an unscrupulous scientist to being part of an experimental medical program.  The latter fan theory suggests that Gallaxhar was both blind and paraplegic, and that his additional eyes and tentacle “legs” were meant to rectify that, but that those physical differences made him an outsider, thus leading to his unhappy life and ultimate hatred for his own planet.)

If that were true, many may wonder what, exactly, Megamind might do if he ever found out about Gallaxhar.  Well, good news!  Just like there’s an app for everything, there’s a fan theory for that, too!  I will warn you, however, that this one is, frankly, build upon pretty thin evidence.  However, it’s interesting enough to be worth relating.

There is a character in Monsters VS. Aliens named General Warren R. Monger who, on the surface, is exactly what he appears to be: a high-ranking military man.  However, there are a few things that fans point to as possible evidence that Monger isn’t what he seems.  

The first is so simple that, alone, it would be inconsequential.  Monger rose through the ranks uncommonly fast, so much so that it caused some comment among others.  The second is significantly odder; Monger claims to be ninety years old despite looking like he is in his late forties.  Now, of course, this may have simply been the character exaggerating or messing with the “monsters” under his care, but some fans say it’s more than that, and claim that Monger chose that age because he was unfamiliar with human lifespans.  Next there is the fact that Monger is so intelligent that, despite one of the beings in his containment facility. Doctor Cockroach, being a super-genius, Monger outwits every escape attempt the monsters can make.  Then, of course, there is the fact that, despite his brusque manner, Monger seems to actually sympathize with the inhuman people he is charged with containing, and even pushes for them to be given a chance to prove themselves.  There is the oddity that, although he is assigned to the secret military base at “Area Fifty-Something,” Monger seems to disappear a lot, often for days at a time.  Finally, there are a few key physical and technological attributes: Monger has some odd and incredibly energetic facial expression—including a nearly maniacal smile and a dark scowl—as well as a jet pack that he appears to have constructed himself and green eyes.

I’m still not certain I see the resemblance, but maybe there are some similarities?  What do you think?

If you’re familiar with Metro City’s resident blue alien, you can probably see where this is going.  Although it’s not a popular theory, I’ve heard it suggested in the Megamind fandom that Monger is, in fact, Megamind disguised using his holowatch.  (This is why the green eyes are significant; Megamind’s eye color is the only aspect of his appearance that the holowatch doesn’t change.  However, I feel compelled to note that the shade of green appears to be different.) Fans insist that it would have been easy for someone as incredibly brilliant as Megamind to hack government systems and forge documents such as birth certificates thoroughly enough to dupe even U.S. Military Intelligence. The two jet packs, some have contested, look different either because of the disguise or because the one featured in Monster VS. Aliens is an older model. I’ve even seen the fact that both Megamind and Monger begin with M being pointed to as possible evidence that the latter is no more than an invention of the former.

The argument is as follows: as Monsters VS. Aliens takes place in 2009, one year before events in Megamind, it’s possible that Megamind, still being a villain, created an alter-ego which he could use to help him search for and deal with other alien life.  (He is shown to be painfully lonely, and the Megamind comics reveal his desperate desire to find other survivors from his home planet.)  Upon figuring out who Gallaxhar was, and more importantly what he had done, Megamind wanted to be part of taking him down.  But he couldn’t be too open about it; he was, after all, still a “Bad Guy.”  This theory explains Monger’s frequent long absences—during those time Megamind was back in Metro City taking care of his regular business— as well as why Monger had a secret soft spot for the “monsters.”  Megamind, having always been treated like a monster himself, would naturally want to give them a chance, but wouldn’t dare behave in too overtly friendly a manner as it would have aroused suspicion.

As I said, support for that particular theory is, perhaps, a little thin, especially given the fact the Monsters VS. Aliens preceded Megamind, so character designs from the former are unlikely to have been influenced by the latter.  Nonetheless, I admit to appreciating the complexity and creativity of it.  It’s an undeniably fun theory. If they haven’t already, maybe someone will write a fan fiction about it one day.

Those are only a few of the theories out there connecting Megamind with other fandoms.  One could go on and on about the subject, but I won’t torture readers by doing that.  Nonetheless, it illustrates once again the immense love and original thought that Megamind fans put into developing their theories!  I dare say that few other animated movies have earned a following so dedicated and inventive…  But, then, any of us who love the film Megamind will tell you that it has more than earned the consideration!

[rayofsunas]

Hey so regarding inazuma and Baal I have some head cannons and your my favorite writer so I thought I’d just dump them all here.

Insazuma is the nation of eternity right? And Baal is basically the second archon after the original one died off somewhere presumably 500 years ago during the destruction of khaenri'ah.

The vision hunt decree was created for the Perdue of “eternity” and subsequently the people who’s visions were taken lost all their ambition. You get where I’m going here? Maybe Baal isn’t acting out of greed, but are justificing her actions to protect her people? The people of khaenri'ah had ambitions greater than anyone in that world could comprehend; they lived withought the guidance of a God, sought knowledge well beyond their limits and created destructive machines capable of “tilling” an enter battle field. Already we can see a shift in the archons perspective towards celestial- venti stated outright that he doesn’t like celestial, and Zhongli not only retired from his role as an archon but placed several meticulously planned tests to gouge his nations strength and stability in the face of a destructive god. Both nations, in a way, are becoming more similar to khaenri'ah in that they are both Godless, independent, and free from omnipotent influences.

Here’s my theory; The Goddess Baal, before inheriting the title of Archon, had witnessed the massacre and destruction of the khaenri'ah people and in order to prevent her nation from suffering the same fate she had launched the vision hunt decree to remove the people’s ambitions before it consumes them. She has witnessed the power of celestia, and in order to avoid the same fate she has made it her goal to separate Inazume from khaenri'ah in all forms and that’s why she continues on her role as archon instead of watching from the sides like venti or Zhongli.

Another thing, a small spoiler warning for those who haven’t finished the quest

I think people who are emotionless used to be the most emotional and heartfelt kind of individuals. Ayaka describes the Raiden Shogun as a cold and emotionless being, akin to a manager or something (I can’t remember her exact words) and I think that’s because Baal had been planning the decree for a long time now and had to steel her resolve knowing the impact it would have on the common folk. In her mind, what she is doing is better for the lo run and is necessary for the survival of her people.

This is just a theory, I haven’t finished the quest myself but it’s been weighing on me for quite sometime now. Anyways, I hope you have a wonderful day!

SPOILERS + be prepared for my declarations rambles.

YOU’RE SO SMART, AND YOU'VE SPURRED ON MY LOCKED AWAY THEORIES THANKS. and I thought similarly, though now that you mention it, baal behaving selfishly seems like she could be protecting her people. after all, the vision hunt decree only happened recently (I think months to a year before the traveler’s arrival in mondstadt), so something shifted dramatically between the archons and celestial for baal to do that in the first place.

me and my friends chat about theories like this all the time on discord and everything you said makes so much sense! I also thought zhongli stepping away from his role as an archon was not just his way of freeing himself, but his way of seeing how his people would fair without a god (this is legit confirmed i think); and they’ve done just fine, proving to celestia that they’re wrong in believing nations and people need a ruling governing body, like an archon. but I feel like baal is still just selfish, even if she’s doing this to protect her citizens, my gut is just telling me she could be both selfish and also be doing this to protect her people.

but about the archons; my friends and I have tied the archons to tons of real life lore and myths, and something that keeps popping up with all the archons is different types of religion and beliefs; we found out that they each represent or are similar to the seven princes of hell (and there’s something about them coming up in demonology a crap ton too, and the similarities are a bit too similar... PAIMON IS MENTIONED TOO AS A KING OF HELL IN DEMONOLOGY LORE AND THAT'S NOT VERY CUTE.... I HAVE SO MANY THEORIES FOR PAIMON YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW!). but I think the archons are like 50/50 bad and good (like they’ve done bad things willingly or not before the travelers arrival aka destruction of khaenri’ah) but celestia is the main antagonist, I’m 100% positive of that.

the hydro archon is said to know not to make an enemy of celestia/the divine, so I feel if any of the gods were to back celestia, it would be the hydro archon. but, this leads me to my first question; what in the world does celestia think about the gnosis’ being taken? I’m gonna assume they may care a little less about venti and zhongli because they’ve basically retired, but the other archons? they’re still active and actively represent celestia, so I’m curious to know what celestia would do when baal’s is taken (we know that she’s the next target, because one of the tsaritsa’s goals is to take them all). will baal be punished since she’s still an active ruling archon, or not? something is telling me she will, but who knows...

and this may sound obvious, but i think the archons represent celestia’s own ideals, although over time with the change of archons and maybe shifted opinions in celestia, said archons have changed and now their actions contradict what their title is, I think the reason behind that is because they’re the original and last reigning archons over their respective nations, but the others? they represent ideals, and some of their actions or just people interfering (harbingers talking the gnosis') have contradicted what they stand for entirely.

for example,

venti (ideal is freedom): his is so ironically obvious, but his gnosis was taken from him, against his will; there's nothing free about that. and he also retired from being an archon, and because of that went into hiding, also nothing free about that either; yet he represents freedom. you see what i'm trying to say? lol.

zhongli (ideal is contracts): nothing for him because i don't know much, but i think it's funny how he represents contracts, which are usually very tedious and there's a lot of depth in them, and he just gave his gnosis up so easily and willlingly (even if he has his reasons) by creating a contract like ???? it's funny to me.

baal (ideal is eternity): I haven’t started the archon quest yet for her, but I know she says she is the most eternal of all and sees herself as everlasting, but she’s legit younger than a good few of the archons (venti and zhongli so far!). I also think the original archons ideal was eternity and that’s what they had hoped for their people, but after the fall of khaenri’ah, war, and their death, baal came into power and realized it would be a threat to celestia if the people believe in eternity (like I said, something shifted severely after the war, because a lot of the original archons died or disappeared and their ideals almost became shrewd and a thing of the past with the new ones who took their places) therefore creating the vision hunt decree to get rid of visions; with more people coming into contact with visions, or maybe even when they realized humanity would be fine without an archon ruling over them, war would break out again and this time celestia would be the target. speaking of targets, this is random, but there’s an overwhelming presence of military surrounding/in inazuma and maybe that’s not just to collect visions and because war broke out amongst the people there, but it’s for protection against celestia and the harbingers (I think the other archons know about venti and zhongli's gnosis' being taken, so they're all weary). if baal were to overthrow celestia or betray them somehow, I’m sure since she’s an active archon they would retaliate.

the dendro archon (ideal is wisdom): the dendro archon is way more obvious, as dainsleif says he’s less than wise, but that’s his ideal... he’s also the youngest, so that’s another contradicting fact; young people are often called unwise.

the hydro archon (ideal is justice): I know nothing about her, but she represents justice. I don’t have a solid explanation for her, but based off of theories and if for a moment we assume celestia is the main antagonist, she is said to be afraid of celestia but seemingly backs them by not leaving like venti and zhongli... considering what they’ve done, I’d say she can’t possibly represent the ideal of justice correctly if what had happened to khaenri’ah was far from just, especially since the archons and celestia were behind it but her ideal is justice?

murata (ideal is war): I have no idea about her at all either, there's not much... but considering vanessa was able to pass into celestia when she died and she's considered the children of murata, I think we'll get more info on celestia then too, and more about khaenri'ah, since she's the god of war. she's gonna have the DEETS I tell you!!

the tsaritsa (ideal is unknown): nothing contradicting for now! she is a bit confusing because of how little info we have, but I have reason to believe she's against celestia, hence her taking the gnosis'. for now, until confirmed, I think her ideal or rather goal is to get rid of celestia. i don't think she has a gnosis or vision tbh, maybe the archon before her did and she's assumed to have one as well or maybe it even got taken away... but, i think that's one of the reasons she's created delusions, they're said to be a lot more dangerous and powerful (i think) than visions too. there's also this thing I found out about the gnosis' being designed after chess pieces, and how although there are 7 archons, there are only 6 chess pieces (pawn, rook, bishop, knight, queen, and king)... meaning one of the archons (not venti or zhongli, because we know what their gnosis' look like) has a gnosis that isn't designed after a chess piece... or in my words, doesn't have one at all. aka the tsaritsa... I think the tsaritsa not having a gnosis fits too snugly with her actions so far. and don't get me wrong! if we assume she doesn't have a gnosis, I don't think she's retaliating because of that, i think she just wants to change or get rid of celestia entirely. like this makes perfect sense because the tsaritsa is the only active archon seemingly and openly going against celestia's ideals, whatever they may be...

and about me saying the archons are "evil" or in the wrong for what happened to khaenri'ah (even if they were forced by celestia), in the archaic petra set, ZHONGLI IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN AN EMOTIONLESS AND MERCILESS GOD WHEN HE SLAUGHTERED COUNTLESS OTHER GODS DURING THE ARCON WAR, in order to fulfill a contract of sorts. this is why I think there were ulterior motives during the war and although yes, for now, it seems the archons were forced into complying during the war, I really think they had some willingness too.

at the end of my ted talk I have come to the conclusion that we can't trust the archons until we know more or celestia like... ever AND I STAND WITH THE REGULAR DEGULAR PEOPLE!!!

[writingwithcolor]

Mixing North America with Old World Cultures in Fantasy: What Are The Issues?

So I sent in an ask several years ago that, due in no small part to your response, I have grown from and eventually led to a complete restructuring of my story. I included a measure of context in this, so if you need to skip it, my main three questions are at the bottom. I think this mostly applies to Mod Lesya.

The new setting is both inspired by and based on North America in the late 1400s where the indigenous cultures thrive and are major powers on the continent. Since there is no “Europe” in this setting the colonization and plague events never happened. Within the continent itself (since it is a fantasy setting) there are also analogous cultures that resemble Norse, Central European, Persian, Arabic, Indian, and Bengali. Although not native to the fantasy continent, there is also a high population of ‘African’ and ‘Oceanic’ peoples of many cultures, the latter usually limited to coastal cities as traders and sailors. Elves are entirely not-human, or at least evolved parallel to humans ala Neanderthals/Denisovans; they have green blood, black sclera, and skin tones that run from pale to dark. 

The main national setting of the story takes great inspiration from a Byzantine/Turkish/Mississippian background, and the neighboring nations are based on the Haudenosee (Iriquois Confederacy), Numunuu (Comancheria), and the Hopi and Zuni (as the descendants of the Ancestral Puebloans) (I also know that 2 of these 3 occur much later than the 1400s, but I love the government systems and they provide excellent narrative foils for the more ‘traditional’ fantasy government that takes place in the story). The Maya inhabit the role analogous to Ancient Greece in that most writing systems on the continent descend from Maya script and all the Great Philosophers were Maya (and nobility from across the continent spend lots of money to send their children to schools in the Maya City-States or in the Triple Alliance (Aztec Empire)). There is magic with varying traditions, practices, and methods spread across the continent, some of which are kept secret from outsiders, so I would hope that this avoids the “Magical Native” trope. 

Beyond the setting, I have three main questions:

When it comes to foodstuffs, I was originally planning to limit myself to Pre-Columbian cuisine from the Americas (eg the Three Sisters and potatoes) but in doing my research, Navajo fry-bread seems to be a fairly integral part of the food culture and that does require flour, which originated in the Old World. Would it be better to incorporate some of the Old World stuff that has since become traditional to indigenous groups?

For place names used in the setting and writing systems would it be better to use existing languages or writing systems or ones inspired by them? EG should I make a language that is very similar to Cherokee, complete with its own syllabary, or should I use IRL Cherokee and its extant syllabary? I ask because I feel like using the real language might step on some toes, but using the conlang might seem like erasure.

One of the main themes of this story is the harm that even a ‘benevolent’ Empire can wreak on people. The Byzantine/Turkish/Mississippian culture is the main Empire on the continent, taking cues from both western and American monarchical systems (eg the Triple Alliance (Aztec) and The Four Regions (the Inca Empire)), but when I think about it having any kind of even vaguely western ‘Empire’ spring up from the soil of a North American inspired setting might be troubling.

Thank you for your time and consideration! Do you guys have a kofi or something so I can compensate you for time spent?

I actually do remember you, and I am going to 99% disregard your questions here because you went from glaringly obvious racism to covert racism, and none of your questions ask if your basic strings of logic for assumptions you built into the setting are okay. 

Since there is some extremely flawed basic logic in here, I’m going to tackle that first.

Question 1: Why did you originally title this “Pre Colombian North American Fantasy World” when you have more old world cultures than new world cultures?

A very simple, straightforward question. The actual content of the setting is what made me retitle it.

If you want to write a North American fantasy setting… why are there so many old world cultures represented here? 

Old world: - Greece (as a societal myth; see next point) - Byzantine - Turkey - Norse - Central European - Persian - Arabic - Indian - Bengali - African (which, let’s be honest, should be heavily broken up into multiple peoples) - Oceana (which, again, should be heavily broken up into multiple peoples)

New world: - Mississippian - Iroquois  - Numunuu - Hopi - Zuni - Maya - Aztec - Inca (maybe? not mentioned as having their own place on the continent, but one of your questions mentions them) - Navajo (maybe? See above)

To account for respecting Africa and Oceana, I’m going to make African cultures count as 3 and Oceanic cultures count as 5, and this is a purposeful lowball.

Old World: 17 New World: 9

It’s a giant discrepancy, especially if your attempt is writing an exclusively New World fantasy. And this is bare minimum old world, considering the fact I tried to limit myself to peoples who would be more likely to interact with the heavy Mediterranean/Alexander the Great’s Empire centricity. 

Question 2: Why does there have to be a Greece analogue?

I haven’t spoken about this topic at length on this blog, but Greek worship in the Western world is a very carefully crafted white supremacy based mythos that was created to prop up European “Excellence” and actually erases the reality of Greece as a peoples.

Cultural evolutionism is a theory that states the (assumed-white-European) Greeks were superior because of their philosophy, their abstract art, and their mathematics. When many of these concepts were refined in Egypt (African, aka Black), or the Arab world (aka brown), but white Europeans did not want to admit any of this so they instead painted everything as coming out of their ideas of Greece lock stock and barrel. 

The theory also ignored Iroquois science, Plains and Southwestern abstract art, and generally everything about North America, because the theory was designed to move the goalposts and paint North America as something it wasn’t, just to make Europeans feel okay taking it over and “bringing it to civilization.”

This theory was still taught in force up until the 1970s, and is still a major school of anthropological thought to this day (and still taught in some universities), so it is still very much influencing the Western world.

While the theory itself is only from the 1800s, it had long-growing roots in white/ noble Europe’s attempt to prop up European “Excellence” during its multiple periods of colonization, from the Crusades, onwards. You can see it in the copious amount of art produced during the Renaissance.

Europeans ignored the sheer amount of settling and travel that happened within Greece and Rome, and you’ll notice how many Renaissance paintings depict Greek philosophers as white, teaching other white people. In reality, we have no idea what their skin tone was, and they could have taught a huge variety of different skin tones. But it was appealing to European nobility to have people like them be the founders of all things great and “advanced”, so they invested huge amounts of time and money in creating this myth.

(Note: I said their nobility, not their population. People of colour existed en masse in Europe, but the nobility has been downplaying that for an exceptionally long time)

Greece took over most of the old world. It borrowed and stole from hundreds of cultures, brought it all back, and was assigned credit for it. White Europeans didn’t want to admit that the concept of 0 came from the Arabs, the pythagorean theorem came from Egypt, etc, and since Greece won, detailed records of how they were perceived and what they stole are long lost. It’s only glaring when they took from other global powers.

Question 3: Why would you pick totally different biomes to mix in here?

Turkey and the Mississippi are very, very different places when it comes to what can grow and what sort of housing is required, which makes them on the difficult side to merge together. They relied on different methods of trade, as well (boats vs roads), and generally just don’t line up.

The fact you pick such a specific European powerhouse—the Byzantine Empire—to mix into your “not European” fantasy world is… coming back to my above point about Greek (and Roman) worship in the West. Why can’t a fantasy world set in North America be enough on its own? Why does it need Europe copycats?

Question 4: Why are you missing a variety of nomads and Plains peoples?

Nomadic plains peoples were a thing across the globe, from the Cree to the Blackfoot to the Mongols. You have hyperfocused on settled peoples (with only one nomadic group named in both new and old world), which… comes across as very odd to me, because it is, again, very European sounding. That continent was about the only one without major populations that were nomadic, and if you look at European history, nomadic peoples were very highly demonized because of the aforementioned Mongols. 

Cultural evolutionism also absolutely hated nomadic peoples, which is where we get the term “savage” (hunter-gatherers, nomads) and “barbarian” (horticulturalists and pastoralists, the latter nomadic); these were “lesser cultures” that needed to settle down and be brought to “civilization” (European agriculture), and nothing good could ever come out of them.

Meanwhile, in North America, nomadic peoples took up a very large portion of landmass, produced a huge amount of culture and cultural diffusion, and mostly ignoring them while trying to create a “fantasy North America” is, well, like I said: odd. 

General Discussion Points

My suggestion for you is to write a fantasy Mediterranean region. Completely serious, here.

With the kinds of dynamics you are attracted to—the empires, the continental powers, the fact you keep trying to make Europe analogues in North America—you will do a much, much more respectful job by going into a really richly researched Mediterranean fantasy world than attempting to mix Europe and North America together in ways that show European traits (settled peoples, agriculture, a single empire dominating the whole culture and being viewed as superior) as the default.

I legitimately cannot see anything in here that feels like it comes from North America, or at the very least, treats non-sensationalized peoples (aka, those outside the Maya and Mississippian region) with respect. 

It falls into Maya worship, which is a very sensationalized topic and is fuelled by racist fascination, assuming no Indigenous peoples could be that smart. 

It falls into settled peoples worship, which is something that has cultural evolutionism roots because under such a model only settled peoples with agriculture are “civilized.”

It falls into placing Western concepts (public schools, large cities, the ilk) as the ideal, better solution, compared to methods better suited to horticulturalists, pastoralists, and hunter-gatherers and letting those teaching methods be respected.

There is no shame in writing inside Europe

The Mediterranean region contains Indigenous peoples, contains a huge diversity of skin tones, contains empires, contains democracy/a variety of governments, and in general contains every aspect of what you’re trying to create without playing god with a continent that did not evolve the way you’re trying to make it. 

A Mediterranean fantasy world would still be a departure from��“fantasy world 35″ as I like to call it, because it would be different from the vaguely Germanic/ French/ Norse fantasy worlds that are Tolkien ripoffs. You can dig beyond the whitewashed historical revisions and write something that actually reflects the region, and get all the fun conflicts you want.

You don’t need to go creating a European/North American blend to “be diverse.” You can perfectly respectfully write inside Europe and have as much variety in peoples as you can write in a non-European setting. Europe is not the antithesis to diversity.

North America developed a certain way for a reason. It had the required fauna, space, resources, and climate to produce what it created. The old world developed a certain way for its own reasons, based off its own factors in the same categories.

You’re not really going to get them to blend very easily, and if you did, the fact there is such a strong European way-of-life preference (by picking places that mirror European society on the surface) makes me raise an eyebrow. It’s subtle, but very much there, and the fact you are ignorant to it shows me you still need to do more work before you go writing North American Indigenous Peoples.

Writing in Europe isn’t the problem, here. Writing a whitewashed, mythologized, everyone-not-white-is-a-caricature, ahistorical “Europe” is the problem. And you cannot fix this problem by simply painting European ways of life a different skin tone when the setting isn’t European. In fact, you’re perpetuating harm by doing that, because you are recreating the cultural evolutionism that calls anything you can find in Europe “better.” Indigenous cultures were vastly different from Europe, even if they shared similar trappings. 

Let North America exist without trying to shoehorn its most famous peoples into European analogues.

~ Mod Lesya

[radramblog]

What happened to Dirk in Homestuck^2?

Why am I doing this to myself.

I memed a little yesterday when I was posting that article around social medias about Homestuck jokes, because once again we are in lockdown and I am therefore Stuck at Home. Canned laughter goes here. But there’s a topic related to the comic- or more specifically, its aborted sequel, Homestuck^2, that I’m interested in delving into a little bit. I’m going to avoid talking about spoilers as much as possible, but considering said comic takes place not only after the events of the massive sprawl that is Homestuck but also the more linear but still messy Epilogues, some amount of sus shit is inevitable.

Anyway. Much maligned is what the Epilogues and 2 did to everyone’s favourite decapitation target, Dirk Strider, and I have a theory as to why it happened this way.

To begin with, let’s summarise what and who Dirk is through the course of the comics. Fair warning from me, though, it’s been a while since I read through this.

Dirk Strider is a teenager who grew up in a post-apocalyptic future Earth, completely devoid of physical contact with other people and only really ever gets to talk to 3 other people, only one of whom is in anything remotely resembling a relatable situation. He struggles with self-identity, having created numerous robots including an artificial intelligence based on his own brain, aka Lil’ Hal. He’s somewhat of a control freak, and a bit of a cold aloof asshole, but means well, and is pretty gay. NBD. The kinda guy to set up a plan meticulously and thoroughly, not informing any of the moving parts even if said parts are his friends, and often involving some form of self-sacrifice.

Throughout the comic he further reckons with self-identity problems and his own self-loathing including entering a relationship with Jake which doesn’t go well and he eventually breaks off since he knows his overbearing and manipulative behaviour is Not Cool and Pretty Toxic but doesn’t know how to shut it off. Eventually he reaches the God Tier as a Prince of Heart, gaining the power to literally annihilate souls, which he never actually uses since he gets yeeted into deep (Paradox) space and then everything goes to shit. Except none of that happens because of the Retcon (aside from the God Tier bit) and we don’t actually see how that shit progressed in the canon timeline. I think. Dirk’s arc, as it were, doesn’t really come full circle- while he does assist in Dave’s character…growth? he really isn’t the focus of that conversation. This immediately precedes the action climax and there isn’t literally any dialogue after that so that’s what we’re left with.

I like Dirk in Homestuck a lot. It’s hard not to, considering the flashes heavily featuring him (Unite/Synchronise and Prince of Heart: Rise Up) are genuinely excellent, along with many of his music themes being absolute bangers. He gets to interact with Caliborn a lot, with a pretty great banter, there, and the whole splintered personality thing is a really interesting hook for a character. I think he’s my favourite of the Alpha kids, a controversial pick considering I know everyone loves Roxy so much. I think, I’m not as in tune with the fandom as that statement implies I am.

And then the Epilogues/Homestuck 2 came.

Now I read the Meat half of the epilogues first, but that’s more interesting, so we’ll tackle Candy first (this is going to get real confusing for those who haven’t read this comic, huh).

In Candy, Dirk almost immediately kills himself, citing the irrelevance of the timeline as cause, an act considered by whatever mechanism governs God Tier deaths to be Just because he hates himself (and also bc of things we’ll get into), so it actually sticks. This isn’t super relevant for the discussion, but that’s just kinda so unbelievably fucked up? Entirely? I’d imagine if you read Candy first you might get entirely turned off by this, which I’m sure a lot of people did.

Meat is where the, well, meat of post-canon Dirk is. You see, a concept very quickly introduced in the tail end of the original comic is the Ultimate Self, an idea where you somehow encompass every different timeline iteration or alternate version of yourself. This was pretty clearly tacked on to make it so characters whose arcs all happened in the retcon timeline could have their not getting an actual arc explained away, but it didn’t land then and it sure doesn’t land for me now. Anyway, in Meat, Dirk becomes his ultimate self, making him near-omniscient and able to control the fabric of the story himself- for much of this story, he is the narrator. And he uses this power to fuck with all his friends really distressingly without their knowledge (or consent), including breaking up a marriage, in order to further his own goals which largely appear to be just keep the story going so to not fade out of relevance. It’s a plot that makes no sense with his previous characterisation, but I guess now that he’s the Ultimate Self he’s a different person? But I liked old Dirk, and I don’t like New Dirk. He’s a villain now, but he made a much better anti-hero.

But this would be fine if he (or the epilogues, or Homestuck^2) were written well. But they aren’t. Dirk’s dialogue is long, painfully drawn out, with tangents that tend to amount to pure wank, misused literary references and pointless metaphors that go on and on, filling the screen with a bright orange screed that hurts to look at as much as it does to comprehend. It’s not fun. And we’ve seen Dirk communicate before, obviously, the story of Homestuck is built around chatlogs, but it wasn’t like this. He was sarcastic, dryly witty, blunt at times. Even when he was literally talking to a different version of himself it didn’t get that masturbatory.

I was so confused about what the hell happened to Dirk, because I had no idea what the hell someone writing this character was thinking when they turned him into this. And then, the 21st page of Homestuck^2 dropped.

And it all came together.

What Ultimate Dirk and Terezi are referring to is Pony Pals: Detective Pony, a children’s book about some girls who hang out with ponies and solve a mystery. It’s a real book, buy it for your 5-year-old.

Except they’re not referring to that, they’re referring to the Homestuck Canon version of Detective Pony- a birthday gift from Dirk to Jane, heavily edited and to be much more obscene and eventually developing into it’s own story, stated to be “tough, emotionally draining, but cathartic in all the worst ways possible”.

Except the quote “Remember Longcat, Jane?” and references to philosophy, dead languages, and ancient earth culture aren’t referring to the three pages of the Dirk-edited Detective Pony we see in the actual comic itself. That quote doesn’t appear there.

That image is from Detective Pony, by Sonnetstuck- the 40,000 word fanfiction from 2014 that serves as a completed version of Jane’s copy of the book. An expansion of what we see in canon. And it’s a tough, emotionally draining read, but cathartic in all the worst ways possible.

It’s a very good fanfiction.

In the later bits of Detective Pony, we can start to see the origins of what would become Ultimate Dirk’s signature style of writing. Long blocks of rambling text, orange dripping down the page, references to philosophy and history and language that go on and on. And it probably does look familiar to those who read the Epilogues and ^2. 

But there are a couple of key differences here. First of all, it’s just better written? The way these rambles circle back on themselves is so excellent, the absolute absurdity of this being written on top of a pony book for little girls, the humour (beyond some of the more immature stuff), it’s just a really well-written piece of fiction. Hell, you don’t even need to be familiar with the character of Dirk to enjoy it. It’s a harrowing piece, but it’s also self-aware- because it’s not supposed to be tough, draining, cathartic etc. just for Jane- it’s clearly that for Dirk himself.

The second part is, of course, that this is a fanfiction. It’s not canon, it’s not official, this is by someone who really likes Dirk for people who really like Dirk. It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, so if you bounce off it (and I’m sure a lot did), then you don’t have to keep reading it, it’s fine, thanks for playing. As much as Homestuck^2 tried to doll itself up as “dubiously canon” it’s still the official continuation of the story, and that means if it’s as difficult to get into as Detective Pony, that’s going to be a problem for a lot of people.

The other part of it is that Detective Pony’s exploration of Dirk’s character is, well, in character. When the man himself steps in as a character in his own book, the explorations of what he is as an author, who he is as a person, make perfect sense for what we see of him at the start of the comic. He is that manipulative, blunt person, and he is aware of his faults. He’s the kind of person to hide a lamentation on his own failings inside an impenetrable maze of a story layered on top of a book about fucking ponies. Ultimate Dirk does not act like Dirk, outside of the “manipulator” angle, something that Dirk was aware of and trying to improve in the comic. But I guess people don’t have arcs, right?

It’s so interesting to see the seeds of Homestuck^2 laden within Detective Pony- because the meta angle that and the epilogues take is also represented in said fanfiction. While the nature of canon is a facet of the work, the idea of authors and narrators fighting for control of a story, different ideas in mind for the characters, one being more personally connected to them than the other, it’s all there. When I wrote about Fallout 4 in the past, I mentioned being worried that Bethesda took the wrong lessons from Skyrim- seeing something successful and trying to recapture that lightning in a bottle. I think Homestuck^2 is an extreme example of this- the writers of the comic saw Sonnetstuck’s masterwork and thought, yeah that’s great, we can do that. But they just can’t. And with the comic crashed and burning, the probably won’t ever get a chance to. Dirk is forever stuck as this amalgamation of himself that looks nothing like any individual version of him ever did.

At least we will still have Detective Pony, and many other excellent fanworks, for actually good Dirk content. I admittedly haven’t looked into much fanfic written during/post-epilogues, and I’m kind of afraid of what I’ll see- I can only hope the fanbase didn’t take the same wrong lessons as the official team did.

[pkmn-conspiracies]

MISSINGNO AND THE "GLITCH" POKÉMON

this’ll be a very long post, and i feel bad for clogging your dashboard, so the full post is under the cut!

hoo boy, this is going to get weird. if you thought that mythical pokémon were stretches of the imagination, you definitely haven't heard of this strange, reality shattering group of cryptids.

ORIGINS OF GLITCH POKÉMON

it's not really known when rumors of these pokémon actually started, but, from personal experience, they've been around for a good while– enough for them to be popular elementaire school ghost stories. there have been an extremely low amount of reported sightings of these pokémon, if you could even call them that, which, we'll get to later. for some reason, most sightings occur within the kantonese island of guren, or cinnabar island– but the mainland is also a notable hotspot for these occurrences.

from most eye witness accounts, the physicality of glitch pokémon are.. strange, to say the least. most are completely unable to provide any sort of description, citing no possible human word that could be even remotely accurate to what they had seen. for those that are able to say something, they are described as extremely large– allegedly ranging all the way from 3m - 26.7m (10' - 81'80"). their appearances are said to be hidden in a static-like fog, although there are a couple of people who claim to have seen them, unobscured, and that they looked similar to complete fossilized specimens of kabutops or aerodactyl. in kalos, many of these pokémon are reported to look somewhat like a shiny bulbasaur.

WHAT CAN THEY DO?

in an unsurprising twist, there were a few of these witnesses who attempted to battle glitch pokémon. for some reason, some of them have reported that their battles have ranged on for days at a time– even though no sudden disappearances of them have been documented. some of these glitch pokémon will spontaneously burst into flames, while others seem to be inflicted with poison of unknown origin; every single trainer reported strange effects upon their own pokémon during battle, but, once their battles have concluded, these injuries miraculously healed as though nothing had happened.

it's important to note that these "pokémon" likely aren't actual pokémon. based on these trainers' accounts, they don't actually have any traditional offensive attacks that other pokémon have. this could suggest that they don't possess the element-channeling organelles that are signature for the domain pokémonica, which means that they aren't actually pokémon– at least not under the current definition of a pokémon.

POSSIBLE THEORIES

so– what the actual fuck? no, like, seriously, what the fuck? why are dozens of people reporting these sightings, and why are all of them somehow consistent in their stories– even when they have never spoken with one another personally?

HALLUCINATIONS

POSSIBLE SIGHTINGS OF LEGENDARY/MYTHICAL POKÉMON

the first and most widely accepted theory is that these people are suffering from a mass sociogenic illness, which causes them to vividly hallucinate for prolonged periods of time. and honestly? i really don't think that's the case. it's basically impossible for so many people, scattered around the world with no contact between each other, to all hallucinate very similar experiences independently of each other. could some of them have been hallucinating, sure, but i just can't really believe that every single account can be waved off like this.

one subset of this theory is that this was caused by the consumption of hallucinogenic drugs, but that can easily be disproved by the fact that each witness, when interrogated further, had passed drug tests– even if they had used in the past. all of these people were stone cold sober when they saw what they'd seen.

due to their extremely strange, cryptic nature, some people believe that these so-called glitch pokémon are either entirely new legendaries, or illusions caused by legendaries. for this theory, people often point to the pokémon known as hoopa, which, in its mythos, was a trickster god who had the ability to create illusions and transport objects through space through its rings. however, this doesn't really explain the time distortion reported by many of the people who encountered glitch pokémon– unless hoopa is working alongside dialga, i wouldn't really consider this to be factual. as for the theory that these glitch pokémon are actually new legendary pokémon.. yeah, i honestly just find that to be a little too much stretching of the imagination to justify that. that's all i, personally, can really say about that.

SIMULATION THEORY

oh god do i really have to talk about this? okay, so some people, including some witnesses themselves, believe that this phenomenon is proof that the entire world is a simulation inside of a supercomputer or whatever. because of how weird that shit is, they just don't think they can logically explain this in any sort of biological way. this group is also where the term "glitch pokémon" comes from, as it was extremely popular when the idea spread through cultural osmosis.

GOVERNMENT EXPERIMENTS

honestly, this take is very conspiratorial, even for me. just.. why? how would any sort of government or massive organization manage to create anything like what was described? the only known man-made pokémon that comes even close is type: null and silvally, but, even then, the two concepts are hundreds of kilometers apart. i'm just going to mark this one down as straight up impossible.

honestly, i would have liked to come out of this with a full opinion, but i really don't have one, even after my research. i want to believe that not everyone is lying about these so-called pokémon but.. it really just doesn't feel real? at the same time though, what would be the motivation behind that? i literally just do not know what to think about this, because it's just so plainly bizarre and unnatural– even for conspiracy standards.

[girllovesromance]

The Absolon Kingdom: General information

I uploaded the picture of Idris’s face because he’s the King of the Absolon King, not because he’s totally my favorite character. 

I think it’s where the Absolon Kingdom (AK) is located.

@lunanelfeah suggested that creating a separate post to explain about the Absolon Kingdom might be a good idea, I have to admit it’s an incredible idea. And @dynastiasimss​ also suggested me this website https://www.notebook.ai/ , I love this site, thank you. Brace yourself for long af essay, forgive me if some political things just don’t make sense, lol. 

The beginning of the Absolon Kingdom dates back to the 16th century, when witch-hunt was a prevalent practice. That was God’s intention to gift ordinary people special superpower, so he could encourage the Gatekeepers to start treating people reasonably. The Gatekeepers’ duty is giving moral assessment and advice to human beings, so they can improve themselves and become a better person. But the Gatekeepers haven’t even thought about developing any sort of guidance or regulation regarding this matter, they only give people points based on their feelings. If the Gatekeepers have bad mood, or just don’t like someone’s appearance, they may give a person extremely low moral score that later affects their chance of reincarnation without any single reason. 

So God wanted the Gatekeepers to understand human better, but their ego got in the way. They found it offensive that angels and demons had been granted the Heaven and Hell respectively from the very beginning, yet the Gatekeepers had to build their own territory. They refused to accept they have equal position as the Human Beings, refused to be restricted to one country on Earth. Therefore, the Gatekeeper’s great ancestor, King Park V, had to gather people with special ability on his own and found an island following God’s prophecy.

HISTORY

First King: Park Byung Ho (Park I (Park V to the Gatekeepers, he's the 5th King of the Gatekeepers)) Second King: Idris Bennett (Idris I)

During the reign of Park Byung Ho:

He managed to establish the Absolon Kingdom, to build cities in an empty, deserted island. But he is a highly conservative man, who had been living for 1000 years. Due to the Gatekeepers' inability to accept the Absolon Kingdom as their territory, he had been sitting on the throne for approximately 500 years.

By the 1800s the Absolon Kingdom was already flourishing, but that was when a long period of stagnation started in the country. Some people began to have problem with his reign, they claimed he was too power-hungry to step down from the position and his long reign could lead to detrimental effects in the future. According to the political analysts, King Park V had become overly content with the Absolon Kingdom's current stage of development, that his conservativeness could only hinder the country's further progress. Due to these articles, censorship was tightened, significant human right concerns were observed in the AK. A great number of books, which were claimed to contain "harmful" ideologies, weren't allowed to be published (including The Realm of Magic book, that was mentioned in Lizzy's Issue).

In the beginning of the 21st century, the AK's economy still relied heavily on agriculture and magic, poverty and starvation were prevalent in the rural areas. As the country is located in a small island, the residents in disaster prone areas didn't receive neither prior warnings to evacuate nor helps from the government. Some of these areas were claimed to be abandoned by the King, but the residents were too impoverished to settle somewhere else. But the press wasn’t free to report such topics. By the end of King Park I reign the Absolon Kingdom had become severely underdeveloped. Literacy rate of the country was only 61.5%.

King Idris I reign:

(Unlimited opportunity to post pictures of my favorite boy)

During 16 years of the reign of King Idris I the Absolon Kingdom has experienced more changes compared to the last 100 years of King Park I ruling. Idris took Tran's family political ideas into account and sent groups of expedition to report on the outside world's level of development. Idris acknowledged that the current AK's agrarian society needed changes, that the country will only progress if the Absolonians find a way to combine magic and technology.

After 16 years of reign the Absolon Kingdom's farming, fishing, mining, manufacturing, textile..... industries shift to automated works. The services sector of economy grows in importance, accounting for a large percentage of employment in the AK. Many new private banks, business companies are established during Idris's ruling. The country's appearance has also been transformed significantly:

Capital city: Bloomingdon 2004 (world credit: https://thesimscatalog.com/sims3/downloads/worlds/large/wild-wild-west/)

Bloomingdon 2020 (credit: North Bloomingdon @descargassims​)

Censorship rules have been eased, for the first time people start obtaining the freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and association. Even if the fear to express their political views still exists within the country, many controversial publications (such as the Realm of Magic book that promotes the idea of connecting with the outside world) are allowed to be released to the public. A great number of broadcasting and news companies have been established in the span of 16 years, the Absolonians have the opportunity to gather information from other non-governmental news sources than the NNN (National News Network) chanel.

Many disaster prone villages have been rebuilt thanks to Idris, early warning systems have also been set up in these areas to avoid the severe impact of hazards. If storms or earthquakes do occur, Idris will offer relief and humanitarian aid to these areas, he even takes time to personally visit and use his healing power to treat injured locals. Hence, that's how he's called The Angel of the Kingdom.

Despite all the changes, the practice of public and cruel executions is still prevalent in the AK. The term “Minimum wage” has never been determined in the country, in order to achieve the current level of development the subjects of the Kingdom sometimes are required to work 20 hours a day without additional pay. Prisoners are treated as subjects of torture and human experimentation. The AK is still “underdeveloped” from a legal standpoint.

Regarding the connection of the Absolon Kingdom to the God Helpers and the territory of Hadesiallania (northern part of the AK).

During 1750s the Demons and the Gatekeepers had conflicts regarding their authority as the God Helpers. Eventually, their conflicts led to war (the demons attacked first), the Reapers just silently watched the bloodshed and remained neutral. The Gatekeepers realized they were losing, so they asked for the Reapers’ help. 

The Reapers had always been considered as the sinners, the unluckiest God Helpers. They had to witness death every day, God never granted them any sovereign territory. There was a theory that the Reapers committed grave sins in their past life, so they had to live this life to pay for their mistakes. Some people rumored that the Reapers were the humans with 0 moral score, so God couldn’t decide whether to send them to hell or let them reincarnate.

So the Reapers made a deal, they agreed to support the Gatekeepers, as long as they were given part of the Absolon Kingdom territory. Hadesiallania is still a part of the Absolon Kingdom, but it’s an autonomous area. They have their own legal system, government (parliament and local executive authority), taxation system.

Edit:

The aftermath of the Tran family’s insurrection: 

During a national survey, which was conducted in 2003, 80% of Absolonians voted against the idea of introducing the Absolon Kingdom to the global world due to the fear of witch-hunt. In October 2020 (after the rebel of Chi’s family) one unofficial online poll indicated that 90% of Absolonians would prefer staying hidden from the international community. But this data might be unreliable, since after the Tran family’s execution people with similar political views are discriminated against, so they’re afraid to speak out

[classified-bluerose]

WANDAVISION S1E5 SPOILERS ( & COMICS SPOILERS TOO ) !!!

—

here we go. this is very long, so. buckle up.

my original theory had wanda trapped within westview unknowingly - later episodes disproved that. however! i believe now that parts of my original theory are true. wanda is not in control. someone else is. she can alter certain aspects of her reality, and probably believes she’s in total control. she isn’t.

she notes that she can’t remember how it all began. she seemed taken aback during some of the episodes when the sitcom faltered and allowed reality to blink through. she didn’t summon pietro/peter - so who did?

behind every show is a writer, a director. wanda may be starring in her perfect sitcom, but who is directing it?

- agnes? is she mephisto? or perhaps she’s agatha, married to mephisto. her husband is mentioned several times but never shown.

- pietro/peter himself is mephisto in disguise. though why he would choose this particular iteration of pietro is uncertain.

- dottie is mephisto.

1. the sword director is shady a.f. why not share the information about wanda’s break in when he first sent monica out into the field? and, if part of vision’s will was to not be ressurected OR made into a weapon, then what the hell was sword doing with his corpse in the first place?

consider: the security footage from wanda’s break-in. vision’s body was disassembled. sword director immediately labelled wanda a terrorist. which was always going to happen - i mean, pre-endgame/infinity war, wanda was a wanted felon on the run from the government. which gives sword exactly the right ammunition to use against her. of course, monica was having none of it, and stepped up to defend her. hayword decided to use monica’s drone to launch an attack on wanda. he had no qualms about killing her - and potentially her children. he also chose to keep this information from monica, because he knew she would never have agreed. he is not to be trusted; and i think monica knows that now.

2. onto vision’s enlightening moment with norm. now, norm doesn’t ever name wanda as the one inside his head. instead, he refers to this person as ‘’her’’. not naming her has to be intentional. which means he may not be talking about wanda. of course, vision is going to assume it is wanda, having noticed how strange his life with her is. monica was shaken when she began to remember her life before westview. herb, when trying to tell vision about why monica was there, is visibly terrified. norm grows agitated and upset when vision lifts the manipulation. even dottie becomes freaked out when woo’s voice comes over the radio. who in the town doesn’t act disturbed or scared when the sitcom falters? agnes. she acts like a professional actor on a soap or sitcom. she looks to wanda for direction; but could it be she is the director of this whole thing? or perhaps she is an agent of mephisto, (or master pandemonium) who could very well be her unseen husband, ralph. that is, if she’s not mephisto herself.

3. now. the twins. the twins, whom i do not trust. they know too much. their powers and wanda’s powers combined could explain the aging up process. but i believe the twins are a product of the same thing as the comics: fragments of mephisto’s soul. while this storyline was rewritten to swap out mephisto for master pandemonium, it’s more likely that it’s mephisto behind this. regardless of mephisto’s identity within the show, it the twins were created using fragments of mephisto’s soul, they may be more like him than wanda or vision. i know in the comics they get reabsorbed into mephisto/pandemonium. i lowkey want that to happen because i don’t like them lmao. sorry wanda! but, we know that wanda is using whatever is around her to rewrite reality. so if mephisto is nearby, his soul would be powerful enough (even fragmented) to create two (semi) human children. agnes says you can’t control kids. maybe that’s why there’s no other children in westview?

4. and finally, the big moment. the introduction of evan peter’s peter maximoff. she calls him pietro, of course, as this is the name he used in this universe. there are plenty of theories to explain his sudden appearance. if mephisto is a resident of the town, and controlling wanda, they may be using her desires to keep wanda in westview. her mentioning him in the past 2 episodes would have had him in the forefront of her mind. mephisto may be aware that vision is beginning to fight the reality he’s in, that he’s ‘’waking up’’. so he/she/they bring in her brother to solidfy wanda’s fight to remain in her new home. what good does this do for vision, though? how will it convince him to stop fighting? he doesn’t even remember his own universes’ pietro. perhaps mephisto is hoping that with wanda now having her family complete will urge her to fully control vision. perhaps mephisto had to bring this version of pietro over from the x-men universe due to an inability to revive the mcu’s pietro? and another big question; is vision alive? if wanda was reanimating his corpse and making it seem as though he was alive, wouldn’t he just be whatever she made him be? surely he would have no independant thought, no capability to question the world around him. if he is alive - how?

working theory: wanda discovered that sword had taken vision’s body. heartbroken that the man she loves won’t get to rest in peace, she breaks into sword and ‘’rescues’’ his corpse. whatever her plan was following that, something happened that we haven’t seen yet. mephisto appeared, drawn to wanda by her pure grief, rage, and loneliness - and made her a deal she couldn’t refuse. bring vision back to life, place her in a familiar, comforting world where nothing changes (ex. a sitcom) and they can live a normal, happy life together. mephisto does not go into detail about wanda’s new reality; when she agrees, she isn’t entirely aware of what she’s signing up for. mephisto wipes her memory (and visions?) of the deal, and sits back in wait. the more wanda starts to realise that she can control aspects of her reality, she does what she can to protect it, not fully understanding what’s going on. only knowing that she isn’t willing to let go of her home. sword are panicking, because they’ve lost vision to a woman with exceptional abilities (who happens to be labelled, unfairly, a terrorist). hayward uses this to turn all heads in wanda’s direction, desperate to vilify her and keep the attention off of sword’s vision project. back to the deal - what would mephisto get in return for this exchange? my best bet is the children. although why he would want that, to lose 2 fragments of his soul for their creation. unless his soul was already in fragments and lost, and wanda’s creating her kids was one way for him to retrieve them? agnes is there to either help wanda, to take care of her, or to keep her in line.

the parts in italics and bold are linked to the evidence in the first paragraphs.

THE COMMERCIALS:

each commercial seems to link to wanda’s past; essentially retelling her path through the mcu.

1. first up, the toaster by stark industries. it was stark weapons that destroyed wanda’s childhood home and left her and her brother orphans. this is the inciting incident in wanda’s story.

2. the vonstrucker watch. following her parents demise, she is radicalised and volunteers for hydra, alongside pietro. she is experimented on by a hydra scientist named von strucker.

3. hydra soak soap. this could be another reference to her history with hydra. it could always be a hint that hydra is somehow involved in wanda’s current situation.

4. lagos paper towels. with no commercial in episode 4, episode 5 advertises paper towels by the brand name of lagos, the tagline is ‘’for when you make a mess you didn’t mean to.’’ at the beginning of civil war, wanda is part of an avengers mission in lagos. the mission goes wrong when wanda accidentally redirects a bomb and kills civillians. this incident is partially responsible for the sokovia accords - and we should also remember that wanda’s intentions with ultron were not the same as his. she didn’t mean for sokovia to be destroyed, or for her brother to die. she most likely blames herself for all of that.

the commercials are, essentially, a shortened walkthrough of her trauma, and there is plenty of it.

note: wanda is the defintion of traumatised. she has lost everything. she is alone. she has had no time to process the death of vision; those five years post IW never happened for her. she blinked, and five years had passed. she was then immediately thrown into a battle against thanos. for her it’s been about five minutes since she witnessed thanos crushing vision’s head for the mind stone. she then finds out natasha and tony have died, and that steve is out of commission for good. everything has been ripped away from her. there’s no avengers. no family. no boyfriend. no one. i want to see what happened in the three weeks between endgame returning the dusted and the beginning of wandavision.

[uraharashouten]

so jinta and ururu being children-- is that by choice or is that just the reality/constraint/natural process of creating artificial souls?

How to Raise Children at Home in Your Spare Time

There’s a bit to unpack here. First off, there are artificial souls, and then there are artificial souls, and it depends on the purpose and expectations around your artificial soul. There’s a difference between artificial souls like Chappy, or even mod souls like Kon and Nozomi, and souls like Nemu, Jinta, and Ururu. I think, actually, that I’ll let Kisuke’s words to Shuuhei in volume II of Can’t Fear Your Own World address this.

     As though he had seen right through the young man’s stern resolve, Urahara said, “So? What do you think those two are?”      So that’s how he wants to do this.      Hisagi was bewildered when Urahara said that, as though the shopkeep were testing him instead of the other way around, but he offered the first reply he could think of. “Gikongan...I guess they wouldn’t be, though.”      “Well, the temporary souls in Gikongan generally don’t grow. Though they will ‘learn’ to a certain extent from the user’s position and commands, there are limits as far as that’s concerned.”      “You said they’re generally like that, so that means there are exceptions.”      At that moment, Hisagi recalled the stuffed lion toy that made frequent appearances in the Soul Society and looked serious as he said, “For example, a mod soul.      “Oh my, you’re sharper than you seem, Mr. Hisagi. But that doesn’t mean you’re right.”      “Well, other than that... the only thing I can think of is that they’re something like Miss Nemu from Captain Kurotsuchi’s...”      Urahara opened his folding fan in front of Hisagi’s mouth to stop him from continuing.      “Whoa there. If you say something like that, Mr. Kurotsuchi will use them for his experiments. Their insides are quite different from Nemu’s. I’m sure that Mr. Kurosuchi already knows that and is imagining my bitter expression as he dances for joy about Nemu’s growth, thinking, ‘I’ve surpassed Urahara.’”

Their insides are quite different from Nemu’s  I should think so. For one thing, they have physical kishi bodies to inhabit the World of the Living. To review, Nemu is an artificial soul capable of growth, and this is a remarkable achievement, but her body would be something closer to reigai... or something altogether different from anything else we see in the series, since she’s capable of converting it bit-by-bit into energy that may be directed toward attacks. I don’t believe that’s how Jinta’s and Ururu’s bodies work. They seem for all intents and purposes to go through the stages of normal human development, including social and emotional development, as Kisuke also observed to Shuuhei prior to the quoted section above. Furthermore, their souls seem bonded to their physical bodies in a similar manner as any human’s is. I can’t vouch that they actually are bound to them by a chain of fate, and I rather think they aren’t, but we never see them forego any part of their physical selves when accessing their spiritual powers. In any case... Nemu isn’t human. She’s closer to a pure soul. Ururu and Jinta are super-human.

So, let’s suppose your goal is to create a super-human, not out of an existing human body like Kon inhabiting Ichigo, but from scratch. You could create a machine that will surpass the constraints of a human, but that wouldn’t be super-human, now would it? At base, you’d want to create a perfect human facsimile, then layer that with additional skills and abilities. So, step one: build a perfect human facsimile...

Consider the problems of creating an artificial adult human with a mental blank slate: all the authentic adult human responses, without a lifetime of memories and experience. We’ve all seen Blade Runner, haven’t we? The replicants handle their existential nihilism and awareness of their artificiality about as well as four-year-olds, because they are four-year-olds. One solution to this problem is to give your artificial human artificial memories, a la Rachel, so that they develop human emotions. It does seem to help, though Rachel is still arguably socially underdeveloped, and further development doesn’t really happen until she enters into a new (and authentic) relationship. Another direction to take it is to give your artificial construct governing ethics (e.g. Asimov’s Laws of Robotics) without trying to emulate an emotional response. ST:TNG’s Commander Data is a good example of this. Anyone who’s familiar enough with the series to know his evil twin brother Lore knows what happens when you impart emotions and don’t have governing ethics, and again, anyone who’s seen Star Trek: First Contact will realize the problems with imparting emotions to an artificial construct who lacks adequate experience in handling them.  And I don’t even need to get into the perils of creating artificial intelligence with neither emotion nor ethical framework; science fiction is fraught with such perils, from David 8 in Prometheus to Facebook’s algorithm. Oh right -- that one’s not science fiction...

As someone who’s been raising children at home in my spare time for nineteen years, I feel somewhat qualified to say that humans need at least that long to grow a healthy ethical framework and emotional response such that they’re able successfully to navigate human society. You can’t really cheat the system there. And much of this is related not only to physical development and growing into oneself, but to family life. Humans don’t grow in isolation. Think of how much we’re shaped by our families, for good or for ill.  We learn to bond and resolve conflicts. We learn to trust others, or not; to get along, or not. Interactions with those we live with during our formative years leave a lasting imprint on our psyches. It turns out that in order to flourish, developing human souls need a consistent sense of relational security over time. So if your end goal is to create a super-human facsimile, and if your intermediate goal is to study the progress of soul development, I think it makes sense to start your experiment off where all human experiments start off, in infancy, or as close to that as possible. 

Of the two children, Ururu is supposedly older, but does not act like the oldest child. She’s always struck me as a bit less mature, being both dispassionate when it comes to other people’s discomfort, and blindly, happily obedient toward Kisuke and Tessai. In these characteristics, she’s strikingly similar to Nemu. It’s hard to say whether this is an artifact of being artificial and having less time to develop, or of basic personality type. It may also be the case that her deferential, insecure nature comes of being raised female in a strongly gendered culture. She’s easily cowed by her younger brother, and exhibits a great deal of genuine emotional vulnerability.

 Very early in the series, she’s so meek and unsure of herself after making a mistake that she actually flinches when Kisuke reaches out to her.

Now, I’ve read a theory that suggested she hasn’t been with Urahara long enough to trust him. Perhaps he created the two at the ages we meet them in canon, and they’re still learning expected behavior, getting to know Kisuke and Tessai. Or perhaps he’s been raising them from infancy, and what we’re seeing there is just a shy little girl’s insecurity. I’ve known enough insecure little girls to find her behavior natural enough; it needs no rationale. In any case, Kisuke seems to have learned something from his failure as a parent during the Hōgyoku’s formative stages, because he knows precisely what he needs to do to compensate.

And by the time we catch up with Ururu a few years later, she seems to have benefited from his reassurance and Tessai’s protection. She’s grown into a self-possessed, polite-yet-subversive young lady, and Jinta into a belligerent teenager subject to the mild retaliatory humiliation perpetrated by his older sister. In other words, development! Have a little Before-And-After:

tl;dr: It seems these two are simply undergoing the inimitable, time-honored, time-consuming, and very human experience of Siblings Growing up in a Family.

[ishkah]

On The Far-Left, Effective Activism & Violence

Introduction to what it means to be on the far-left

So first off, as socialists & anarchists, we know we are far outside the Overton window. We know even if left-wing policy positions are more popular than right-wing, most people are still going to be biased to what they’ve grown up with and what’s familiar to them.

But, we also know we can shift the Overton window from the radical fringe: [1]

The most important thing about the Overton window, however, is that it can be shifted to the left or the right, with the once merely “acceptable” becoming “popular” or even imminent policy, and formerly “unthinkable” positions becoming the open position of a partisan base. The challenge for activists and advocates is to move the window in the direction of their preferred outcomes, so their desired outcome moves closer and closer to “common sense.”

There are two ways to do this: the long, hard way and the short, easy way. The long, hard way is to continue making your actual case persistently and persuasively until your position becomes more politically mainstream, whether it be due to the strength of your rhetoric or a long-term shift in societal values. By contrast, the short, easy way is to amplify and echo the voices of those who take a position a few notches more radical than what you really want.

For example, if what you actually want is a public health care option in the United States, coordinate with and promote those pushing for single-payer, universal health care. If the single-payer approach constitutes the “acceptable left” flank of the discourse, then the public option looks, by comparison, like the conservative option it was once considered back when it was first proposed by Orrin Hatch in 1994.

This is Negotiating 101.

So our hope is that our ideals and passion can be admired by some, like risking prison to sabotage the draft for Vietnam, so some peoples sons aren't conscripted into fighting an evil war. [2] Then any moderate left policies might look reasonable in comparison which makes them the tried and tested policies of the future.

We should also openly acknowledge that the ideal future we would like to see is empirically extremely unlikely to come about in our own lifetimes in the west, as there are still so many hills to climb first in pressuring workplaces over to a more co-operative flattened hierarchy of workplace democracy.

To quickly summarise, the direction the far-left would like to head in, is going from; a two party system, to... a multi-party coalition through preferential voting, to... some local government positions being elected by sortition, to… the majority of society being so content with worker-co-ops and syndicalist unions that we transition from representative democracy to direct democracy. So, a chamber of ministers to federated spokes councils.

Now I might be the minority in the far-left on this, but I would want people to have the option of going back a step if people aren't ready for that level of direct democracy, where the choice is disorganization and suffering or slightly less suffering under a repressive system of governance again. You could relate this to the position Rosa Luxemburg was in in lending support and hoping some good would come of the Spartacist uprising, whilst also wishing they could have been convinced to hold off until they were more prepared.

This is why it’s so important to build the governance model slowly enough to match expertise, so as not to falter with people pushing for ideals before having adequately put them to the test. So as not to cause a whiplash effect, where people desire a reactionary politics of conformity, under more rigid hierarchy of just the few.

-

As anarchists & socialists who desire a more directly democratic society, what tactics should we use if we want to be effective at moving society in that direction?

Electoral politics - We need to get really well educated on how even the baby step policies toward the left would be an improvement on where we are now, we need to learn the internal politicking of government and get good at having friendly arguments with comedy to appeal to friends and acquaintances basic intuitions.

The goal being that we can talk the latest news and (1) Win over conservatives to obvious empirically better policies on the left, and (2) Win over liberals when centre-left parties are in power to feel dismayed at the slow pace of change, and so acknowlege how much better it would be if there was a market socialist in the position willing to rally people to demonstrate and strike to push through bills.

Mutual aid – We should put the time into helping our neighbours and volunteering, for example on a food not bombs stall, to get people to see the positive benefits of a communalist caring society.

Theory – We should be educating ourselves and helping others know what work and rent union to join, what to keep a record of at work, how to defend yourself from rapists and fascists, how to crack a squat and how to write a press release, etc.

Campaigning – We should look for the easiest squeeze points to rack up small wins, like the picketing of a cafe to reclaim lost wages, so that word spreads and it creates a domino effect.

-

What tactics should we or shouldn’t we generally avoid in our political campaigns?

Civility as an end in itself

They’re not lies, they’re “falsehoods”; it’s not racism, it’s “racially charged comments”; it’s not torture, it’s “enhanced interrogation.” For years, U.S. media has prioritized, above all else, norms and civility.

Mean words or questioning motives are signs of declining civility and the subject of much lament from our media class. However, op-eds explicitly advocating war, invasion, sanctions, sabotage, bombing and occupation or cutting vital programs and lifelines for the poor are just the cost of doing business. What’s rhetorically out of bounds - and what isn’t - is far more a product of power than any objective sense of "civility" or “decency.”

Where did these so-called norms come from, who do they benefit, and why is their maintenance–-even in the face of overt white nationalism––still the highest priority for many liberals and centrists in U.S. media? [3]

This is so important to challenge, and yet incredibly nuanced. So, it is obviously a great success that the rate at which people would go around hurling racist insults looks to have dropped in favour of more political correctness.

It is also true that in pursuit of political correctness and an ethic of care, we can look for simplistic niceness, to the detriment of being able to identify systems of oppression.  We need to be able to refuse the emotional labor of treating our bosses as friends when we have no desire to be friends with them. [4]

Similarly in our everyday interactions, we need to encourage our friends to accept us for who we are or not to accept us at all, so as to create deeper connections which builds stronger communities: [5]

It can be annoying or hurtful when others presume they know everything about you. But rather than assert their wrongness and make them defensive, you can acknowledge it as a common human failing and find creative ways to hold a mirror up to what life experiences they’ve had that lead them to jump to those conclusions.

One way is a kind of playful authenticity, telling a lie about a lie, to get back closer to the truth. So don’t outright challenge the idea, but don’t live up to it either, in fact live down to it. Playfully undermine the idea by failing to live up to the glamour of what it would mean to be that person, then find a way of revealing that it was a misunderstanding all along, so they needn’t worry about it applying to you.

Media Chasing – We shouldn’t chose our actions for the primary purpose of provoking conversations because it is insincere to ones own desires to materially affect change and it’s recognised as such by those who hear about it.

Transparency – We should be transparent with our supporters in all we hope to achieve and how successful we are being at achieving that task, so as not to attract funds for labor we haven’t and aren’t likely to be able to do.

Civil Disobedience – Whether it be breaking the law without causing any damage or economic sabotage and political violence which we’ll talk about later, anarchists hope to chose the right actions to provoke conversations and materially challenge unethical industries and actors, so as to push electoral politics towards direct democracy and eventually consolidate our gains in a revolution.

Fascists will also use tactics from civil disobedience to political violence, and tend toward violence against people for people holding ideas as the things they hate, rather than the lefts systemic critique of material conditions. All in the hopes of pushing society towards a more authoritarian constitutional republic, before seizing power in a palace coup and attempting to rule as a sequence of dictators for life.

It is up to the left to try and counter this violence by doxxing, making their rallies miserable, etc. And it is up to everyone to decide which government to vote in, to enact what degree of punishment to bring down on people breaking the law on either side.

Any direction the society goes in for either not controlling or bowing to which protesters demands is still the moral culpability of the government and those who participated in the party political process.

There simply is an obvious legal and moral difference between for example victimless civil disobedience on the left aimed at all people being treated equally in society like collecting salt from the sea or staying seated on the bus, to the type of violence you see on the right, like Israeli settlers throwing people off their land with arson attacks, stealing another country’s resources against international law.

But again, it is true that to whatever degree anarchists chose bad targets optically, we do to some degree bring the slow pace of change on ourselves by handing the right an advocacy win.

Graffiti & Culture Jamming – Whether it be an artistic masterpiece that no one asked for or altering a billboard to say something funny and political, instead of the advert that was there before pressuring you to consume more and more, most people can be won over by this as a good form of advocacy. Just don’t practice tagging your name a million times over every building in town.

Hacking – Obviously most people agree whistle-blowing war crimes is a yay. Selectively releasing documents to help conservatives win elections however, is a nay.

Sabotage – We should chose targets which have caused people the most amount of misery, for which people can sympathise most, like the sabotaging of draft cards I wrote about at the beginning. So causing economic damage to affect material conditions and make a statement.

We also need to carefully consider the difference between property which is personal, luxury, private, government owned and co-operatively worker owned.

So, it could be seen as ethical to chose material targets of evil actors in order to cause economic damage and make a statement, so long as in the case of personal property, the item has no sentimental value and can be replaced because the person is wealthy. Or is a luxury item that was paid for through the exploitation of others labor. Or is private property, meaning the means of production which should be owned collectively anyway.

It’s an expression of wanting to find an outlet for legitimate anger against that which causes us suffering. For example, if taking the risk to slash slaughterhouse trucks’ tires in the dead of night is how you develop stronger bonds with a group of people and gain the confidence to do amazing things like travel the world and learn from other liberation struggles.

Fighting – First off, I think propaganda by the deed, physically hurting people for the purpose of making a political statement is evil, as it runs counter to our philosophy on the left that material conditions create the person and so we should make every peaceful effort to rehabilitate people.

However, to the extent that some current institutions fail to rehabilitate people and the process of seeking justice through these institutions can cause more trauma, then personal violence to get to resolve feelings of helplessness in the face of evil acts can be an ethical act.

For example survivor-led vigilantism: [4]

“I wanted revenge. I wanted to make him feel as out of control, scared and vulnerable as he had made me feel. There is no safety really after a sexual assault, but there can be consequences.” -Angustia Celeste, “Safety is an Illusion: Reflections on Accountability”

Two situations in which prominent anarchist men were confronted and attacked by groups of women in New York and Santa Cruz made waves in anarchist circles in 2010. The debates that unfolded across our scenes in response to the actions revealed a widespread sense of frustration with existing methods of addressing sexual assault in anarchist scenes. Physical confrontation isn’t a new strategy; it was one of the ways survivors responded to their abusers before community accountability discourse became widespread in anarchist circles. As accountability strategies developed, many rejected physical confrontation because it hadn’t worked to stop rape or keep people safe. The trend of survivor-led vigilantism accompanied by communiqués critiquing accountability process models reflects the powerlessness and desperation felt by survivors, who are searching for alternatives in the face of the futility of the other available options.

However, survivor-led vigilantism can be a valid response to sexual assault regardless of the existence of alternatives. One doesn’t need to feel powerless or sense the futility of other options to take decisive physical action against one’s abuser. This approach offers several advantages. For one, in stark contrast to many accountability processes, it sets realistic goals and succeeds at them. It can feel more empowering and fulfilling than a long, frequently triggering, overly abstract process. Women can use confrontations to build collective power towards other concerted anti-patriarchal action. Physical confrontation sends an unambiguous message that sexual assault is unacceptable. If sexual violence imprints patriarchy on the bodies of women, taking revenge embodies female resistance.

Other examples we can think of are personally desiring to fight fascists in the street to block them from marching through immigrant communities. To pushing your way through huntsman to save a fox from getting mauled to death by dogs.

-

Political killing

I’ll work through hypotheticals from circumstances relevant to the past, present and future, then talk through the ethics of each.

-

Past possibilities

Most people agree anyone who took it upon themselves to assassinate Hitler a day before the break out of WW2 would be seen as committing an ethical act, no matter who follows, because throwing a wrench into the cult of personality spell built around Hitler would be a significant set back for the fascist state’s grip over the people. And given all the evidence pointing to the inevitability of war, such an act could easily be seen as a necessary pre-emptive act.

-

Present possibilities

Most can sympathise with quick revolutions against dictatorships where the result is a freer society, like the Kurdish uprising in Northern Syria which took power from a regime who had rolled tanks on demonstrators and outlawed teaching of their native language.

But, even there, there are key foundations you need to work from, like the probability you won’t just give an excuse for the oppressor committing even worse horrors as was the case with the Rohingya militants who ambushed a police checkpoint, resulting in army & citizen campaign to burn down many villages, plus murder and rape those that couldn’t get away.

As well as a responsibility to put down arms after winning political freedoms and a majority are in favour of diplomacy through electoral politics, like in Northern Ireland today.

Under representative parliamentary systems, the sentiment of most is that even if it could be argued that a war of terror against the ruling class was the easiest route to produce a better society, that it would still be ethically wrong to be the person who takes another’s life just because it’s the easiest way. Since regardless of manufactured consent or anything else you still could have worked to build a coalition to overcome those obstacles and change the system slowly from within.

And I agree, it would be an act of self-harm to treat life with such disregard when you could have been that same deluded person shrouded in the justificatory trappings of society treating your behaviour normally. I don’t think the way we win today is treating a cold bureaucratic system with equally cold disregard in whose life we had the resources to be able to intimidate this week. Time on earth is the greatest gift people have, to make mistakes and learn from them.

So then, an easy statement to make on life under representative parliamentary systems is; outside of absurdly unrealistic hypotheticals, I could never condone purposefully killing others when campaigning against such monoliths as state and corporate repression today.

Breaking that down though; what do I mean by an unrealistic hypothetical? For example the philosophical thought experiment called the trolley problem, where you have a runaway trolley hurtling towards 5 people tied to a track, and you can pull a leaver so the train changes tracks and only kills 1 person tied to a track. Or you can change it to 7 billion to 1 even. Or 7 billion of your average citizens vs. 1 million unethical politicians, police and bosses, to make it political.

Now what do I mean by purposeful, well we can think of for example the most extreme cases of post-partum psychosis which has mothers killing their babies. But more nuanced than that, the rape victim who gets worn down by their abuser for years until they have a psychological break and kill.

That does still leave a lot of lee way for people knowingly taking risks with others lives, not intending to kill, but who are reckless in their actions, such as with some forms of economic sabotage. And I agree such a reckless act would bring up feelings of revulsion for all kinds of reasons like questioning whether the person was really doing it to help people or for their own ego-aggrandizement. All that can be hoped is a person makes a careful accounting of their ability for human error and weighs it against the outcomes of doing nothing.

-

Future possibilities

We can hypothesise the unrealistic case of 99% of society desiring a referendum on a shift from parliamentary representative system to a federated spokes council system and the MPs dragging their feet, the same way both parties gerrymander the boundaries to make it easier to win despite it being the one issue most everyone agrees is bad, and people needing to storm the halls of power to force a vote to happen.

More likely though, an opportunity for revolution might arise from such a confluence of events as climate refugees and worker gains forcing the state and corporations into trying to crack down on freedoms in order to preserve their power and enough people resisting that move, who are then able take power and usher in radical policy change, with either the army deciding to stand down or splitting into factions.

-

References

1. Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution - Use your radical fringe to shift the Overton window P. 215.

2. The Camden 28 - The Camden 28 were a group of Catholic left anti-Vietnam War activists who in 1971 planned and executed a raid on a Camden, New Jersey draft board. The raid resulted in a high-profile criminal trial of the activists that was seen by many as a referendum on the Vietnam War and as an example of jury nullification.

3. Citations Needed Podcast - Civility Politics

4. Slavoj Žižek: Political Correctness is a More Dangerous Form of Totalitarianism | Big Think

5. A Love Letter To Failing Upward

6. Accounting for Ourselves - Breaking the Impasse Around Assault and Abuse in Anarchist Scenes.

-

[kiapet2]

Aperture Sides Facility, Chapter 14: If We’re Going to Explode, Let’s At Least Explode With Some Dignity!

Masterpost

Chapter Summary: In which Thomas has a heart-to-heart speedrun

Chapter Warnings: Death Mention, Unethical Experimentation Mention

With a bit of searching you’re able to find a map of the facility in Cave Johnson’s office. The map is wildly out of date, naturally, but you’re still able to use it to orient yourself enough to find an exit, and hopefully with it the meeting place you suggested.

As confident as you can be with where you’re going, you head out of the offices and back into the back corridors of the old facility. Getting to the exit involves climbing up a heavily inclined passage, using old pipes leaking Conversion Gel to make portal-conductive surfaces. Finally, you reach the top, where a massive vault lid opens in the ceiling, letting down a rickety old excuse for an elevator which you promptly climb onto and let take you up, through the vault hole, to a faster elevator which takes you up, up, up to the newer facility floors.

And just like that, you’re back in familiar territory. You start walking, ducking through back rooms and looking for the route back to Remus’ old chamber.

“You’re going the wrong way.”

You jump at the voice right behind you, before turning around with a huge grin. “Virgil!”

“Uh, hey, Thomas,” he says awkwardly.

“Hey,” you say. “Been a little while.”

“Not that long,” he says. There’s an awkward silence where you debate whether you should try talking to him now or later, until he decides the question for you by saying gruffly, “Well, follow me then.”

You’re not surprised to see everyone has made it before you; you did have to climb out of the depths of the facility, after all. You are a bit surprised, and considerably relieved, to see that all five of the others have actually come.

“Greetings, Thomas,” Roman says. “I am glad to see you are alright.”

You give a little wave. “Hey, guys.”

“Well?” Janus says sharply, still speared on Remus’ handle. “You told us you have things to tell us. So talk.”

You wince a little internally; of all the people here, Janus has the most reasons to resent you right now. And really, you can’t blame him.

“Let’s start with this,” you say, reaching into the folds of your jumpsuit and carefully pulling out the files you took from the old Aperture office.

Setting the portal gun down, you open the file folder, turning to the first page and holding it out to the others.

“I found this down below, at the original Aperture Science Facility. Look at the names on the top and bottom.”

There’s a pause as the others all strain to see from their positions.

“Project JANUS,” Logan reads. “Subject Name… Oh dear Newton.”

“What?” Roman says. “I’m too far away to see!”

Janus lets out a gasp, so slight he might have passed it off as nothing if you hadn’t been paying so much attention.

“I was made… from you?” he says, voice uncertain and devoid of the anger it previously had.

You nod. “All of you were.”

“Of course,” Logan says, almost to himself. “The singing, the annoyingly upbeat attitude, even the acuity at puzzle solving… I should have seen it all along.”

Roman doesn’t say anything, instead squealing so loud and high-pitched that you’re afraid he’ll burst an eardrum. Beside him, Remus is cackling and listing all the “fun” things you should do together.

“Apparently, the CEO wanted to use me to test AI creation,” you explain. “And, I guess I just sort of stuck as the test subject.”

“Thomas,” Janus says desperately, “I didn’t know. I swear to you on the facility itself, I didn’t know. If I had…”

“I know,” you say softly. “I didn’t either. I thought that I had to pick one person to put in charge, and I couldn’t trust you not to turn on me. But you were right. You were meant to be running things here.”

You hold up a hand at the others’ protests. “You all were.”

“We… all were?” Roman says hesitantly.

You nod. “Take a look at this.”

You go back to the beginning of the blueprints and begin flipping through, narrating as you go.

“In 1986 they started work on Project JANUS, based on the centers of my brain that govern self-interest and social maneuvering. It was originally supposed to be just a precursor to Cave Johnson’s AI, but after he died a year or so later it was made the main project. Janus was fully created and began running the facility about a decade later.”

You flip to the next page. “They started Project PATHOS a few months later, in response to, uh. ‘The Neurotoxin Incident’?”

“If they didn’t want me using it, they shouldn’t have given me access to it,” Janus says imperiously.

You decide not to ask. “Right, so they made a Morality Core to reign you in, and it seems to have worked out. There’s all this stuff here about how well you two worked well together.”

Patton spoke to you about that, what seems like a year ago but was likely only a few days. We made a good team, he’d said in that wistful voice. You should have listened.

“Okay, so you’re saying we need our old dic-tater to join Patton, and then we’ll be good?” Roman says skeptically.

“Heh, he said dick,” Remus says.

“Not quite,” you say to Roman, ignoring Remus and flipping to the next page. “They liked how things were functioning with the two of you, but it wasn’t enough. They wanted to start testing which went beyond simple self-interest and morality. So they started Projects LOGOS and REMUS. Logic and Creativity.”

You flip the page again, and grimace at what you see. “And then…”

“And then they replaced him with me,” Roman says quietly.

“Yeah,” you say, equally subdued. “And made a Threat Assessment Sphere for good measure.” You nod to Virgil.

“Not that I don’t enjoy the trip down memory lane,” Janus says, “but is there a point to all this?”

“You told me once that you used to all run this place together,” you say to the others, “before something went wrong and you were split apart.”

“That is correct,” Logan says.

You gesture to the files. “Don’t you see? That’s our problem! We’ve been trying to come up with one Core who can run this place all by himself, when you were all created to run it together! We need self-interest, moral guidance, knowledge, creativity of all kinds, and caution to keep this place on the right track! That’s why you guys keep not being able to handle the compulsions and corruption, because it’s too much for any one aspect of a personality.”

“So to clarify, you want to put us back the way we were?” Logan says.

“Yeah,” you say. “I want to restore the balance.”

You sigh and rub your head, feeling the nervousness kick in. “And to do that, there’s some things I have to say to you guys.”

“Logan,” you say, turning to face the Core directly, “I owe you an apology. All this time, you’ve been so important to getting us connected to the system, but we never once considered putting you in charge, or even thanked you for what you’d already done. And we haven’t been listening to you much since putting Patton in charge.”

“While I certainly appreciate the sentiment,” Logan says, “it is unnecessary. If your theory is correct I likely would have fared no better than Patton.

“I know,” you say, “but we still took you for granted, and we shouldn’t have. I think your input is really important, and I’m going to do my best to listen to it going forward.”

Logan nods. “I owe you an apology as well. I withheld my support when you most needed it. I was… upset… but that is no valid excuse.”

“Let’s just agree to both do better in the future, all right?” you say, smiling softly, and Logan nods.

With that settled, you turn to the next Core in front of you. “Virgil.”

The Core startles. “What?”

“I know I wasn’t clear enough on this before,” you say, ”but I don’t care if you’re corrupted or not.”

“Thomas-” Virgil says, pained.

“I know, I know,” you say, holding a hand out, “you don’t act the way you were designed to.”

You come forward and take one of Virgil’s hands in your own. He jumps, but doesn’t pull away.

“But Virge, I don’t care what you’re ‘supposed’ to do. Sure, you can be a bit over-zealous at times, but you’ve saved my life more times than I can count on one hand, accurate threat assessments or not. Maybe you’re not exactly how you were designed to be, but you are exactly what you need to be. You’re an important part of this family, and that is never going to change.”

“Yeah sure, whatever,” Virgil mumbles, looking down self-consciously.

You lean down to catch Virgil’s eye again. “And I know this is going to be hard for you to accept, but Janus and Remus are a part of this too.”

“But Thomas-”

“This isn’t something I’m willing to compromise on, Virge,” you say firmly. “You’ve helped me so much since I met you- but so has Janus, even if you weren’t around to see it. And both of you have jobs that are incredibly important for keeping this facility afloat. Whatever happened between you in the past, I’m asking both of you to put it aside now. For all of us.”

“Of course,” Janus says, voice dripping with exaggerated sweetness. “I’ll happily put things to rest, if certain parties would do the same.”

Not the most sincere of olive branches, but it’s enough for now. Virgil glowers, looking from you to Janus and back again, and for a few heart-stopping moments you’re afraid he’s going to refuse.

“Fine,” Virgil spits finally. “I’ll do it for you, Thomas, and because I don’t want this place to blow up. Not for him.”

“I’ll take it,” you say, doing your best not to visibly slump in relief. You really don’t know what you would have done if he hadn’t agreed.

You turn to Roman. “Ro-”

“No need, Tommy-salami,” Roman says. “I am already ready to enact your daring plan, and need no further convincing.”

“That’s not what I was going to say,” you respond.

Roman freezes mid-gesture. “It isn’t?”

“No, it isn’t,” you say. “Roman, I know that you’ve been worried about living up to me calling you my hero.”

“I... Yes, I have,” Roman says.

You take a deep breath. “I was wrong to say that to you, Roman. Yes, I was grateful when you helped me- and I still am- but I shouldn’t have labeled you as my hero.”

Roman flinches back as if struck, and your heart twinges in sympathy, but you push on. This needs to be said.

“You’re not my hero, because you’re so much more than that, Roman. You’re the best at figuring out tests and puzzles and then giving hints that I can understand. You have so many great ideas- including finding Remus, because it was what we needed at the time. But even more than that- you’re a wonderful singing partner. You make even the hardest challenges into an adventure, and get us all swept up with you. Your nicknames and jokes are hilarious, and you’ve been working so hard at making them more kind.”

You look Roman dead in the eye. “You don’t need to save me in some huge, dramatic way to be helpful or important, Roman. And you don’t have to be my hero to be my friend. You’re our Creativity. You’re Roman, and that has always been enough.”

“I-” Roman’s voice cracks. “Thomas, I, uh... thanks.”

“Trust Princey to be the one who needs an entire speech,” Virgil says, teasing and fond.

“Excuse you, Emo-Bot, I am most speech-worthy!” Roman declares, and if his voice is still a little thick, no one calls him on it.

That leaves just one more Core. You turn to Remus, then hesitate.

“Ooh,” Remus says, sidling closer with a little shimmy. “Is it my turn to be praised like a good little boy? Lay it on me, Daddy!”

You grimace, cheeks heating despite yourself.

“I… don’t really know what to think of you, honestly,” you say. “Most of the time I’ve known you, you were trying to kill me.”

“That’s fair,” Remus says cheerfully.

You sigh. “But we know that being at the head of the facility impacts your thinking, and you were only there in the first place because I asked you to be. Because you were helping me. And I don’t think what was done to you in the first place- discarding you like that- was right.”

You hold your hand out to him, as if to shake. “So, I’m willing to give things another chance. If you are.”

Remus moves forward and holds his good handle out towards you. You grab it and immediately pull back as something disgusting squishes in your hand.

“How did you even-” you say, frantically rubbing it off on your pant leg.

“I find smelly things. It’s a gift.”

“Alright, so you’ve had your little heart-to-heart with each of us,” Virgil says. “What now?”

“I guess now we start planning,” you say.

“Right,” Roman says. “I take it our first priority is to stop the self-destruct sequence, right?”

You nod. “I know the bomb is in the control room; can we diffuse that somehow?”

“This little thing?” Remus says dramatically, “I’d hardly call this a bomb. This is just to trigger the packs of thermals upstairs in the gym. Those are the bombs.”

You give him a look. “What?”

“I dunno, just came to me!”

“Odd phrasing aside,” Logan says, “Remus is correct. What we saw earlier was not a bomb itself but rather a detonator connected to various bombs at different points in the facility. When it reaches zero it will begin detonating them in a sequence designed to collapse the facility in a controlled manner. Trying to defuse each bomb individually would be a fool’s errand.”

Roman hums in thought. “So then we just have to stop it from signaling to the bombs, right? No detonator, no bombs.”

“In theory. In practice you would need to either destroy it or remove it from the facility completely to sever the connection. Considering that we currently lack the means to do either, our best option is to shut it down from the administrative position of the facility.”

You sigh. “So it’s back to replacing the facility head, then. Is there any way we can add you guys back in without having to go through that whole process?”

“No,” Janus says. “There’s a reason I was able to lock everyone else out after we were separated. Patton would need to grant any new Cores added administrative access for us to share equal power. If he doesn’t, we’re left as advisors; we could influence him, but not override any of his decisions.”

“So, we replace him now, and then add him back in afterwards,” you say. “Not ideal, but-”

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple,” Logan says. “The replacement process is for corrupted cores. It will not trigger if it scans him as normal.”

“Are we sure that Patton isn’t corrupted at this point?” you say.

Virgil snorts out a laugh, then says, “Oh, sorry, were you serious? Yeah, no.”

Roman says, “Maybe if we add Janus, Remus and Virgil to the system, their corruption will influence the reading enough that-”

Janus scoffs. “That it will register the Morality Core as corrupt? Please. The little guy doesn’t have a corrupt bone in his body; we’d have a better chance painting ‘corrupted core’ on his chassis.”

“So let me get this straight,” you say. “The only way we can stop this place from self-destructing is to get someone else in charge of this facility. But we can’t put someone else in charge without Patton scanning as corrupt, which will never happen.”

“Yup, we’re screwed,” Virgil says helpfully.

“Not necessarily,” Logan says, thoughtful.

“Oh?” you say, “Is there another way to stop it?”

“No,” Logan says, “But there is another way to replace Patton. If Patton himself initiates the process, he can be replaced regardless of his corruption status.”

Janus laughs. “Really? That’s your plan? I’m sure that the Core who tried to imprison Thomas rather than be replaced will be completely willing to give up his power once we ask really nicely.”

“You’re one to talk,” Virgil mutters.

You give him a warning look, then turn to Janus. “I think I might have an idea of how to help him make that choice- but we have to actually go face him to do it. I think we owe it to him- and to ourselves- to try.”

Roman throws his handles out dramatically. “Indeed! If there is any hope of rescuing our beloved companion, we must take it! No matter the peril-”

“We get it, Princey,” Virgil says dryly. “But yeah, I’m in or whatever. Might as well go down fighting.”

“Logically, as the facility is imminently going to self-destruct, we have nothing to lose,” Logan says. “So I agree as well.”

“Deadly peril? Sounds like fun!” Remus says.

You turn to Janus. “Janus, if things work out the way I’m thinking, you’ll be an important part of this. Are you in?”

Janus hesitates for a moment, as if trying to decide whether he can trust you again. Finally he says, “Alright, Thomas. I’ll follow your lead in this. Don’t make me regret it.”

You look around at the circle of faces of your friends. Even after everything you’ve been through, after all the times you messed up, they’re still behind you, still trusting you. Your grip tightens on your portal gun as a new wave of resolve rolls through you. You’re not going to let them down; not this time.

“Alright guys,” you say. “Here’s what we’re gonna do…”

[worryinglyinnocent]

Fic: Forged Through Fire (7/13)

Summary: Amestris. Once democratic, now a military dictatorship. Prohibition is strict; personal freedoms curtailed. All alchemists must be state-licensed or face imprisonment. Foreigners are met with suspicion. It’s a grim place and a grim time, but there are some people able to bring a little light to the world. Behind an innocent-looking bookshop, speakeasy proprietor Chris Mustang has formed an unlikely alliance with unlicensed alchemist Van Hohenheim to provide alcohol to those who want it and medical care to those who need it. When Riza’s newly complete tattoo becomes infected, Roy brings her into this underworld, little knowing the way it will change their lives in the future – uncovering the secrets of the mythical Philosopher’s Stone and the schemes of a Fuhrer hell-bent on achieving immortality, all whilst navigating what they mean to each other.

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Rated: T

[One] [Two] [Three] [Four] [Five] [Six] AO3]

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Note: So, just in case you read the previous chapter before I edited it, a note on timing. I managed to  mix up centuries and millennia because… wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff. To clarify, Xerxes was destroyed about 450-500 years prior, like in canon. Not 50 years prior, like my brain decided to originally write…

Also, Atticus was picked as a random Ancient Greek name, there’s no deeper reasoning behind it.

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Forged Through Fire

Seven

Riza looked up from the counter as the bell over the shop door tinkled and Gracia entered. 

“Hey Riza. How’s he doing today?”

Riza laughed. “He’s stopped rambling and he’s now annoying everyone, so I think he’s getting better. I know that Chris can’t wait to get him off her hands, but we’re a bit concerned that someone might try to shoot him again if we let him out of our sight.” She went and flipped the closed sign, locking the door. The speakeasy was still doing limited trade in order to keep the money coming in, but it was only open to trusted regulars who had forewarned that they would be coming in advance. 

Gracia followed her down into the bar. For all she could joke about it, Riza could feel the tension in the place. Hughes had stumbled upon something so big and so secret that it would affect all of them in the long run. 

As suspected, it now appeared irrefutable that Bradley had the military alchemists working on creating the Philosopher’s Stone. So far, they’d had several failed attempts, but a recent covert expedition to the ruins of Xerxes had uncovered some interesting documentation. Barely anyone could read it, but it was nevertheless causing a lot of excitement among the upper echelons of the military. 

Or, to put it simply, Fuhrer Bradley was trying to make himself immortal. 

“Can you think of anything worse than an immortal Bradley?” Hughes was saying as they entered his sick room. Roy was in there too, sitting in the office chair with his feet up on the end of the bed. There were papers scattered everywhere. 

“No, right now I don’t think that there’s anything worse than an immortal Bradley. Hi Gracia, hi Riza.”

“Hello Roy. Shouldn’t you be at work?”

“I’m very hard at work attempting to bring down a conspiracy in the military!” Roy protested, gesturing around at all the papers. “And no. Officially I am taking a leave of absence to care for my sick aunt.”

Madam Christmas, who had entered the room behind them, gave a pathetic cough. 

“See, my sick aunt. I’ve got Havoc and Breda running interference and Fuery’s been sending all kinds of mixed message telegrams. The top brass are so concerned with trying to work out whether or not Hughes is dead that they shouldn’t be paying too much attention to my whereabouts.”

“Right.” Riza shook her head in despair as Roy swung his feet up off the bed, leaving the room with her and Madam Christmas to give Gracia and Hughes some time alone together. 

She waited until he had poured himself some coffee from the large pot that had been left on the bar and they’d settled down at their usual table before she spoke again. “Have you found out anything new?”

“Bradley nearly declared war on Xing as an excuse to get in there and try to find the Philosopher’s Stone, but even his closest allies decided that would be a bit much and it would be better to try and create their own.” Roy took a long sip of his coffee. “You know, I wouldn’t put it past him to just lead a one-man charge on the place, he’s certainly bonkers enough.”

“Is it even the kind of thing that can be created twice? I mean, I know we should all take myths and legends with a pinch of salt, but at the same time, all the bits and pieces I’ve read about it talk about it as The Philosopher’s Stone, as if there is and can only ever be one.”

“Well, I think the military are certainly testing that theory.” Roy sighed. “The worst thing about it is that I have no idea what kind of unethical experiments they’re getting up to and as an alchemist I could be dragged into them at any time. I mean, my specialism sort of keeps me safe unless they need to burn a bunch of stuff but considering the lengths they seem willing to go to in order to both keep the secret and try to succeed, I don’t want to rule it out.” 

Riza inched a little closer to him, chancing to put an arm around his back, and he leaned into her side, head drooping onto her shoulder. 

“I’m so glad you’re here,” he mumbled to her. “Thank you.”

“Any time.”

He gave a little huff of laughter. “That’s my line.”

“Well, maybe it’s time for me to take care of you for a little while. You’ve taken care of me enough in the past.”

“Thanks for following us out the other night, as well. I was so frantic; I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been there being calm and wonderful.”

Riza laughed. “I’m sure you would have survived somehow.” She held him a little tighter, and he burrowed in closer. 

“It feels like everything’s been turned upside down. Except you.”

He looked up at her then, his dark eyes so sad and tired, and Riza’s heart went out to him. 

“We never got to finish our conversation from yesterday,” he said. 

“The ‘What happens between us now?’ conversation.”

“Yeah. That one.” Roy sighed. “I know that we’ve just ended up in a potentially really dangerous situation, and I know that this is the worst time ever to be talking about it, and thinking about it, and God forbid thinking about the future. But I also know that you’re the only person I would ever want by my side throughout this whole thing, and if we all end up skewered through with one of Bradley’s not-at-all ceremonial swords tomorrow, then I know that not taking a chance with you would be my only regret.”

“Oh, Roy.” Riza leaned in to kiss him softly. “There’s nothing like people being shot to put things in perspective, is there?”

“Nope.” His hand came up to cup her cheek and he returned the kiss, gently and a little hesitantly, but with definite hope and want behind it. “Perhaps I’m starting to see that sometimes the universe just really wants to screw us over, and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“Exactly. It’s time to let go of the guilt, Roy. There’s nothing anyone can do about it.” She found herself stroking his hair as he resettled against her shoulder. 

“We make quite the pair, don’t you think? Both broken up in our own ways.” 

“Perhaps.” Riza kissed the top of his head. “But we’ll stick ourselves back together. I think that’s the one thing that I’ve learned the most since leaving home and coming here. The sticking myself back together part. Because I haven’t been sticking myself back together, not really. I’ve had you and Rebecca and Madam and Hughes and Trisha and Hohenheim and all the rest of the crew helping me stick myself back together. And when you get broken, I’ll help you stick yourself back together as well.”

“Thank you, Riza.”

They stayed like that for a long time, and although her arm was going numb, Riza didn’t mind at all. She was enjoying this easy closeness. They had been so close back when he had first known her – perhaps they had never been this physically close, but they’d been so close as people. A part of her had always known that they would end up like this somehow. Maybe not as romantic partners, but definitely as friends. 

It was only when Madam Christmas came out into the bar to take over serving and gave them a knowing look that Riza realised Roy had fallen asleep on her, and she just smiled. They’d had a fraught couple of days of it, what with everything Hughes had found out and the aftermath of that; she wasn’t really surprised that it had taken it out of him so much. She was just glad that he trusted her enough to be this vulnerable around her. Well, she trusted him that much, and she guessed that it went both ways. 

Madam Christmas came over with a glass of wine; Riza took it with her free hand. It was her favourite, and she savoured the rich taste. 

“On the house.” Madam Christmas winked. “I think we could all use a little pick-me-up right now. It’s been a day. I had Rebecca on the phone earlier, she’s been picking up all kinds of stories at the paper.”

Over the last few months or so, Rebecca had become a great friend to them in giving inside information as to what kinds of propaganda were about to be sent out to the general population. Of course, most of what she wrote herself ended up cut and censored by the government-employed editors by the time it appeared in print, but the unredacted versions were always circulated through the speakeasy to great interest. Riza had been happy to set her up with Havoc.

“Good stories or bad stories?”

“A bit of both. Everything’s being swept under the rug, though. As far as Central City’s citizens are concerned, absolutely nothing out of the ordinary happened in the park two nights ago.”

“Huh.” Riza felt the uneasiness beginning to creep back in. “I don’t like how that implies that people do know that something out of the ordinary happened in the park two nights ago.” She thought back to Hohenheim and the frighteningly powerful alchemy that he’d performed on Hughes, something unlike anything she’d ever known before, and in turn she found herself thinking back to the day she’d burned her back, and his warning that removing her tattoo completely would be too traumatic. 

If that was what he would have had to do, she could well see why. Hughes had been unconscious and on his last breaths; she wouldn’t have wanted anything like that to happen if she was anything other than at death’s door. 

“No,” Madam Christmas agreed. “It’s worrying. I’m just hoping that there’s nothing that can tie it all back to this place. Rebecca doesn’t think that there is, and she’s running as much interference as she can. Still, I think keeping a low profile for a couple of weeks will be a good idea.” She glanced at Roy. “Are you comfortable like that?”

“Not really. My shoulder’s gone dead. But I don’t mind.”

“Oh, to be young and in love once more. Don’t deny it, Miss Hawkeye. I’ve known you long enough.”

Riza shook her head, but she didn’t respond. Something good would come of it all. It had to.

X

“Do you really think that Bradley would risk wiping out the entire population of Amestris in order to gain immortality? I mean, surely the whole point of him gaining immortality is so that he can remain Fuhrer and rule over us forever. It wouldn’t be much fun being immortal if he was literally the only person in the country.”

Two more days had passed, and the rag-tag bunch of investigators had become a full-on research force, although they weren’t any closer to finding out what was going on in Central Command than they had been before. Every new piece of information they uncovered just seemed to be adding to the confusion without clearing anything up. 

“I mean, if the legends of Xerxes are anything to go by, then he’d get wiped out too.” Hughes brushed some peanut shells off the table and slammed down another piece of paper. “Take a look at that.”

Riza looked up at the clock; it was almost eleven but none of them showed any signs of stopping. The entire crew of Roy’s friends from Central Command were gathered in the bar, and Madam Christmas had closed up shop temporarily to allow them more space to spread out in the main area rather than everyone being cramped in the office that had been Hughes’s recovery room. Hohenheim had given him the all-clear earlier in the day, but he still hadn’t actually left the speakeasy and gone home. Gracia and Rebecca had joined the party as well, and although Madam Christmas was trying to remain as aloof from it all as she could, more concerned with keeping them all safe in the bar than with the military conspiracies going on, she was offering insights wherever she could. 

Hohenheim and Trisha had gone home. Riza hadn’t seen all that much of them since the night Hughes had been shot, and she got the impression that Hohenheim was trying to avoid everyone in the wake of what he’d had to do. Not that anyone who had been there and who knew what had happened held his strangeness against him, quite the opposite in fact; they were all extremely grateful that he’d managed to save Hughes’ life. Still, if he wanted space then they would give it to him. 

Riza craned over the others to take a read of the paper that Hughes had put down, but the writing was too small for her to make it out. 

“What is it?”

“It attributes the creation of the Philosopher’s Stone to an alchemist named Atticus, who was the King of Xerxes’ personal alchemist. But it also says that Atticus died in whatever catastrophe wiped out the rest of Xerxes, so even if Bradley does succeed in creating the Philosopher’s Stone again, it won’t leave him any better off than when he started.”

“Just another hunk of rock in an empty country waiting for some Xingese merchants to take it home to Tim Marcoh,” Roy mused, and Riza couldn’t stop herself from bursting into laughter.

“Sorry, sorry. I know it’s really not that funny. I think I need more coffee.” She extricated herself from the gaggle around the table and went over to the coffee pot. Considering the vast array of alcohol that was available behind the bar and the fact that the coffee pot had never seen all that much use before the night Hughes had been shot, it was certainly earning its keep now. They’d been refilling it almost constantly all day. 

“Hey.” 

She looked up to find that Roy had followed her over. They hadn’t really had the chance to spend all that much time together since they’d had their talk. Well, that wasn’t strictly true since they’d spent most of the intervening two days in each other’s pockets whilst trying to work out what on earth was going on in the country, but they’d always been surrounded by other people. This moment leaning on the bar was as close as they had come to having a moment to themselves. 

“Hey yourself.” She smiled at the memory of the other night. Roy had been so embarrassed when he’d woken up, and it had been sweet to see him so flustered. Naturally, she’d had to kiss him to stop his litany of apologies for falling asleep on her. 

He helped himself to another cup, draining the pot. “How are you holding up?”

“All right, I guess. It’s just so surreal that I’m having trouble believing that it’s all happening and I’m not in some kind of crazy dream. More like a nightmare, actually. How come none of this has ever come to light before? Something this big and all-encompassing, surely someone would have found something out.”

“Someone probably did,” Roy said grimly. “And that someone, and all the someones who came before and after them, probably met the same fate as Hughes would have met if he hadn’t had a handy Hohenheim around.”

“It just boggles the mind. Who would even want to be immortal in the first place? Can you imagine having to live on and watch everyone around you grow old and die?”

“I don’t think psychopaths like Bradley really see it in that way.”

“But what about his wife? Their child?”

Roy shrugged. “I don’t think he sees it that way. If you want something badly enough, then everything else falls by the wayside.” He paused. “I… No. Sorry. That’s not an appropriate train of thought.”

Riza raised an eyebrow. “Well, now you have to tell me.”

“It’s about your father. Are you sure you want to hear it?”

Riza nodded. Although her feelings for her father remained complicated, the time and space between them made it easier to look at things through a more neutral lens. She didn’t think that she was ever going to forgive him for what he had done to her, but at the same time, she was no longer wasting her energy being angry at either him or herself. He simply wasn’t worth the emotional investment she had given him for so long. 

“I was thinking that I can see certain similarities between Bradley and your father.” Roy glanced at her, but she nodded for him to continue. “There’s something about them both, that single-mindedness and that disregard for others. Your father’s desire to protect his complex array above all else, his willingness to completely destroy your life in order to achieve his own ends… I can see that same drive in Bradley, and I dread to think what would have happened to you if Hawkeye’s goal had been immortality instead of anything else.”

Riza shuddered. “Yes. When you put it like that, I can see why Mrs Bradley and Selim wouldn’t cross his mind at all. I don’t even want to think about my father being immortal. He did enough damage in the fifty-three years he had.”

Roy reached across and took her hand. He didn’t apologise; perhaps he knew better than that now. After so many years of carrying guilt around, Riza had hoped she’d made it clear that he didn’t have to anymore. 

“At least it’s over now.”

Riza nodded. “Yes. It’s over now. And in the end, I don’t think my life has been completely destroyed. I mean, it might be if Bradley does something drastic, but I can’t lay that one at my father’s door. I think that I’ve still found something good in spite of him and his disregard for everything.”

Roy smiled, and Riza could see the colour coming up in his cheeks. It was sweet to see it; the persona he wore within the military and when he was around the rest of the customers in the bar was always confident and self-assured, an easy-going ladies’ man, but Riza had known him long enough to know that the real Roy was just as flustered around her as she had been about him when she had first realised that she liked him as far more than a friend. 

They were settling now, having put the cards on the table the other night, and Riza knew that, if the circumstances in the outside world had been easier, they would have been moving ahead with the relationship without any concerns. But the circumstances were what they were, and with danger lurking in every corner, it felt premature to be making any kind of long-term plans beyond the fact that they wanted to be together right now in case they never got the chance in the future. 

Roy’s fingertips brushed her face, touching the frown line between her brows. 

“It’ll be all right.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Somehow, it’ll be all right.”

It wasn’t the firmest or most confident of statements, but it gave Riza some hope, and she smiled, knocking her coffee mug against his in a toast before they went back to join the others. Breda and Fuery were pouring over a book so old it was practically falling apart, and Riza wondered if it was stock from the shop upstairs. 

“Can you make out this transmutation circle?” Fuery thrust the book at him. “Armstrong doesn’t recognise it, but he thinks it’s a forbidden one.”

Roy grabbed the book and turned it this way and that, before his eyes widened.

“I think that’s for human transmutation.”

“Ah.” Breda and Fuery exchanged a worried look. Even the layman most ignorant of all things alchemic knew that human transmutation was the ultimate taboo, not just in Amestris but in general. 

“So, once we get our hands on someone who can read Ancient Xerxian, that one could prove to be a game changer,” Breda muttered. He shoved it on the ‘keep’ pile of documents, and Riza went to sit beside him and take a look at what they had so far. 

She had only just settled down when she jumped out of her skin as a pounding against the door began. It was the back door that led out into the alley with the garbage, the door that Madam Christmas brought all the booze in through; the door that would serve as their emergency exit if the speakeasy ever got raided. 

No one used that door on a regular basis, and Riza felt her blood going cold. She looked over at Madam Christmas, who, although as guarded as ever, looked genuinely concerned. She gave Riza a nod and reached under the bar, grabbing the rifle that was always kept there in case of problems and tossing it to her, and the two of them made their way through the bar towards the door. Roy followed them, pulling on his gloves and getting ready to strike. The pounding was not letting up, a steady and frantic hammering, and as tense as the noise was making her, Riza thought that the fact it wasn’t being punctuated with ‘open up in the name of the law’ and threats of the door being blown in meant that they weren’t being raided. 

“Please!” The voice was muffled through the thick wood and obscured by the constant pounding, but Riza could recognise it in an instant, and ice ran through her veins afresh. “Please let me in! Please!”

Madam Christmas unbolted the door and threw it open, catching Trisha as she fell in through the doorway. 

“Trisha? What’s going on?” Riza rushed to help her back on her feet.

“They’ve got Hohenheim!”