#like I understand that is not the central purpose of government but I do feel like it should at least be on the radar

[tj-crochets]

Re the rabid skunk

I’m from a country town and while it’s not something I was taught in school, I was definitely taught by my parents and other adults in my life to report possibly rabid or sick animals. There is some worry about rabies and other diseases diseases rising in the wildlife population so the forest service try to stay on top of it.

It’s a little messed up that no one was taking your concern seriously. Even if it was just a weird skunk, rabies and other animal diseases are no joke and pose a threat to people and other animals.

Thank you! It's very...idk the word. Affirming? Good to know it's not just me that thinks it's like a responsibility to report potentially rabid animals, like it's just a thing you do

[unganseylike]

and now, for something completely random:

i think that in every field of study or work, there are things people in that field consider to be fundamental knowledge and are shocked to find out most don't know. as an aspiring biologist, sometimes i feel more affronted by this than i should, because i assume the study of life is relevant to humans as living things ourselves. for example, i was really surprised that a lot of people i asked had never heard of archaea. it's a whole domain of life! and there's only three domains! but i can accept that bacteria are discussed all the time in medicine and the news, while archaea are non-pathogenic so even though they are super cool (and also found in your guts) they're not that relevant to most people. a year ago, i was also surprised to find that my mom didn't know what RNA is. I was like, mom the life-altering pandemic we have all experienced is caused by an RNA based virus, so you must've heard it mentioned on the news. but also, RNA is like. how we work. this briefly awakened me to the fact that many people are not familiar with the central dogma (DNA-> mRNA -> protein) that basically governs all life.

But this realization was lost to my subconscious until recently. i was at a party and chatting with my friend's boyfriend, a computer programmer. i was trying to explain my work but we of course came to a common misunderstanding that all molecular biologists are familiar with: colloquial use of the word protein is so different than its use in molbio. people think of protein and they think of it as a nutrient, i think of a gene product that serves some specific purpose. so i'm explaining the idea that we can study specific proteins, and the context of my model organism and he goes "i didn't think a bacteria could have something as complicated as a protein." at the time i was like huh thats a weird misconception and told him about the four biomolecules (i was also drunk enough that i hesitated naming all four, which i think says something lol).

but now his offhand comment is haunting me because what does he think DNA is for? DNA encodes proteins! This brought me to the realization that while most people know we have DNA and likely know that all living things have DNA, they probably don't know what purpose it physically serves. sure, they know it gets inherited and determines your eye color or whatever, and they know there are genes with a specific sequence that can be mutated and that mutations change something. It even seems like most people have heard of CRISPR. but i don't know that it's as widespread knowledge that genes encode proteins (before it is said, yes i know the central dogma is not 100% true and 1 gene= 1 protein isnt necessarily correct, but let's not get into it). Like people absolutely know DNA is inheritable information, but do they understand what this "information" actually means? Cells don't care that DNA dictates eye color, they are making enzymes and structures and transporters. Idk why this is haunting me, but maybe it's because it has clicked this common miscommunication we have around proteins is probably because people don't know the physiological purpose of DNA. And also because of course bacteria have proteins. i literally don't mean this in a superiority complex way, it's just fascinating to me that there's a broad familiarity with some aspects of molecular biology but not widespread knowledge of how they actually work...and how all living things work!

Anyway. What are things in your field that you are surprised to find most people don't know?

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

Deathless Thoughts:

I only read this book in full once in 2017 and have only really paged through it a lot since. I definitely found it much more deliberate and thematically coherent this time around. I remember initially feeling like the surrealism and constant jumps ahead were disjointed but it reads very cohesively to me now. I’m very curious if that will continue past the latter 50% which I haven’t reread yet. I remember starkly disliking that portion and I have no idea if I’ll feel similarly this time around— because I already enjoyed the second act much more on reread and acknowledged its purpose, when up until now I did not lol

My initial thoughts were that the fantasy elements were too surreal to care about and that the relationship was too much of a nothing, with too little not unpleasant screen time to justify its centrality to the plot. But having read more classic surrealist Russian lit has familiarized me to the former and makes me actually understand what it’s going for. And for the latter I think I’m just more onboard with unpleasantness and abuse being the point. So currently, my perspective is almost wholly positive.

I enjoy the book’s use of its subject material— fairytales set in actual history— as many many metaphors. First folktales and fantasy specifically in the Soviet era, so rife with censorship, as a vehicle for allegory, their use and importance in literature itself being a motif. Then the metaphor for inexorable class hierarchies and unchangeable power structures before and after the revolution, the way only the branding changed, but the power structures remained. And also, most pervasively, as a way to examine gender roles and gendered loss of agency; the politics of a marriage.

I really liked the way the novel built up Koschei and how everything is about Marya’s relationship with Koschei (her relationship with agency and the lack thereof) even when he’s fairly infrequently on screen. From her sister’s bird husbands in the opening, and child Marya’s musing on the potential transformative nature of marriage— but also the inherently unequal power dynamic and resolving that she will do/be better because she knows more than they did. To the metaphor of her thinking that a secret will treat her well and then later the line where the personified secret is then likened to a husband who will be her ruin. Even that when Koschei finally shows up to take her away it’s compared to being taken away by the revolutionary government/the police.

Marya is herself highlighted for her knowledge and her desire for it. Specifically the ability to see discrepancies in the stories she is told whether that is the magical or ideological and political. The sisters in the opening marry into seemingly static unmoving snapshots of history. Meanwhile Marya’s singled out in her precociousness and open admittance of there being anything completely beyond the ideologies presented by each suitor in his human form [the power structure of the Tsarist state, and the Soviet Union]. She’s defined by wanting to see beyond dichotomies and limited scopes of propaganda. She sees it as a skill, and it is, but it’s also something that singles her out for misery, both by her peers (the scarf incident) and by the likes of Koschei who is specifically drawn to willfulness and a lack of adherence to a particular role with the intent of breaking that will.

The entire seduction segment that is turning all the food and her illness into an erotic power exchange is also just explicitly about breaking her will, and fostering perfect obedience and dependence on him. It’s also really interesting that, in going with him, she does somewhat lucidly give up and trade away her agency/ability to dictate a story/her own perspective in exchange for being physically well cared for. (But then even that is very thorny and with many strings attached)

So by part two, she is stuck in the dichotomy of “who is to rule” and either she can be a Yelena/Vasalisa or a soon-to-be Baba Yaga. Yet, either way, she is never good enough and it is still inevitably an exploitative and draining situation.

Marya being successful in her willingness to do degrading and cruel things to earn Baba Yaga’s blessing and Koschei’s favor being punctuated by all her friends— who without which she would never have succeeded at all— dying horribly illustrates that so well. In her success she is only further isolated. She will never repay their help, because being Tsaritsa of Buyan, and having any sort of power, is inherently antithetical to that.

The emphasis on Lebedeva’s girlboss magic makeup and the passage about Marya being told that girls must care only for vapid, pretty things, among other moments, might feel extremely dated. But I do think they’re intended to be employed in a way where traditional femininity presents a sort of deliberate and acknowledged safety? And it goes hand in hand with Marya, while never choosing to be a “Yelena” in traditional soft femininity, does end up choosing to try to leverage soft power and soft manipulation within deliberately gendered terms fairly often. But again it’s just presented from a very dated and particular context.

So far, the sheer dedication of the book to being an explicit Bluebeard tale and a story about abuse, and how there is no winning in that sort of relationship has been very fun for me.

I also enjoyed Koschei outright lying about the Yelenas and Vasalisas— and then later about the location of his death. I think that’s a character type you usually expect to deceive via omission but, no, he just outright lies a lot.

Another example is that Widow Likho’s book makes it clear that humans best enter into Buyan when ill, and meanwhile everything Koschei does is of course explicitly a repetition of previous stories. So it’s practically confirmed that he had taken every Yelena etc on that same long trip and made them ill on purpose. Even though in the moment he claims to be surprised by it, and spontaneous in caring for her through her illness.

Or the suggestion that he found a reason to put all the other girls in the stable when they got to Buyan as punishment for disobeying him. That the point is the punishment and breaking of the will rather than there being any sort of standard the bride could realistically meet where he would be happy with her and welcome her to her new home without that initial humiliation and fear.

It’s also incredibly funny and refreshing that this book buys into Koschei’s nonsense way less than any of its subsequent imitators. (The Grisha trilogy included!) I enjoyed Baba Yaga being like “Why is everything black, stop being dramatic 🙄”

He’s barely present in the book at all. His page count is truly negligible! And it’s great!

Like I mention earlier, that was actually something I was annoyed by on my first read, the relationship just seemed fairly thin, even though the snapshots of it that we get are fascinating. But after being inundated with so many books worshipping the ground love interests like him stand on, I love how much he doesn’t fucking matter and how little page time he has. How that itself allows Marya’s emotions and conflicted feelings to remain central. The narrative doesn’t care about him, it’s only what impact he has on her that’s relevant.

Anyway somewhat superficial but I really enjoy the goth love interest being the Tsar of Life, because authors typically go a more obvious and melodramatic route. Despite all of the goth mystique, him not being associated with death, darkness, night, etc was refreshing. But also I do generally just find the concept of life being equated with the lurid and demanding, the parasitical, something that is always in a personal sense at war with death— aka the mention of him always looking sickly or feeling skeletal initially when he kisses Marya— a compelling one. It’s death and the maiden wrapped up in a single person essentially.

Anyway I also appreciated the parallel of the Yelenas being trapped in eternity weaving soldiers while Marya’s first thought upon seeing Koschei is that if she had knitted herself a perfect lover he would look like that. There is the constant underpinning of Marya being wholly separate from them, the question of whether she is greater or more horrible than them, but at the heart of it she’s really not. She’s just another victim in a long string of them.

[sapphire-weapon]

It's an interesting point imo when you consider all three women that Leon mwt throughout his life and had to let them go for different reasons.

Some might be a genuine and affectionate relationship that was built and lasted till the end of the game while other was started from the initial meeting just to further pursue a personal objective and cemented it as something that's never gonna be. But that's literally the point isn't it? Even the ones that are built on trust, comradarie, emotional support and all even then just transpires into something that's not meant to be.

And i guess you could say that all those relationships serve a purpose for one thing or another, to teach us something or to make things worse. There's a contrast between Leon's relationship with Ashley and Ada that i particularly like but for one reason or another, it's just "going your own way/moving forward" in a different context.

I think Aeons should try and understand that there's qualities to Leon's relationship with Ada that has merit to be explored in a different way that's not gonna promise any HEA, it didn't do so with Eagleone either but there's more to characters relationships than "i wanna see them dating"

How many times did you have to remind them about Eagleone's situation and reality of it?

Anyways I'm talking too much so I'll stop. Hope this all made sense, it's just how i view things to a certain degree.

i think you've touched on a broader point that i feel like merits further exploration, but i've been without my ADHD meds for three weeks because apparently it's fucking backordered and the pharmacy literally cannot get them in, so i can't make a super compelling post about it right now

but i would argue that leon's relationships with ashley, claire, and ada all serve to reinforce the central conflict of his character, which is his lack of personal agency

like it goes back to that anon who said that leon doesn't "seem" conflicted anymore in DI

he's surrendered to his circumstances in DI and has found a silver lining in them, but he still fundamentally lacks personal agency. the conflict surrounding his character is still there.

and this is something about his character that RE seems to have been hammering in ever since, arguably, damnation.

like, OG and remake are two alternate tellings of the same story, but hirabayashi has said that he doesn't intend to change the characters from who they are fundamentally, and so you see that same central conflict being showcased in leon's character.

like you see it in damnation when the government lies to leon about the situation on the ground and then basically undoes his work, and his reaction is basically "yeah i'm not shocked by this anymore" and he just starts drinking

you see it in RE6 when the truth about derek simmons comes out, and leon is forced to confront all the horrible shit he's done in that dude's name

you see it in vendetta when leon is lamenting over "is this what my life's supposed to be?"

you see it in ID when he feels beholden to run cover for the government against claire's wishes

you see it in RE4make when leon says he "didn't have a choice" to join the government and then is forced to turn down ashley's offer at the end

you see it in DI when dylan calls him out for his lack of agency explicitly and leon doesn't even try denying it

like... this is the central conflict driving his character, and ada, claire, and ashley all showcase it in different ways

[flownintothesun]

 ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───    ❛ 𝐊𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐞. 𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞. 𝐃𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. ❜  𝐅𝐢𝐬𝐡 @ 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐧𝐨𝐰 👀

                            ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ─── 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 & 𝐭𝐨𝐱𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬. .( @imprvdente )

       𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐒'𝐒 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐄𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐈����𝐔𝐒 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐀𝐅𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐑 hadn’t been with Fish at all. It almost brings a smile to his face to remember the first time he’d touched the thick old tome. Speakeasies are central hubs for parties, as well as information. People who know information want to forget the dangers of knowing information, and so while the party had raged on just on the other side of a dirt wall — Francis had pulled up an old vintage floral chair, curled up, and lost himself in trying to translate the works of Shakespeare — teaching himself a lost version of his own tongue, deciphering line by line and taking time to fully understand before moving on to the next. All the world is a stage, the bard had said, and all of the men and women merely players. And yes — yes — this is how Francis has felt for all of his life.

       In the end, from the moment he’s met her — there have been two choices — the two which she now hisses to him as the spotlight falls on them and all is hushed. The winter solstice celebration is one of the biggest events in the Capitol, outside of the games — and though that would have made a statement too, Francis thinks, it wouldn’t have been the right one. And it seems strange, how time seems to still — fake snowfall blushing their cheeks, gathering on her eyelashes. At a masquerade, only Capitol citizens don masks of anonymity — and he has just removed his — its silk ribbon still soft in his hand. In his other, he offers her a rose purer than the commercial snow that gathers, as the crowd parts, gasping.

       It had to be here — somewhere televised on a national scale. A seized celebration. Kiss me, kill me — the spotlight they’ve spent so long avoiding glaring like summer sun in the dead of winter forces an answer. The Capitol demands an answer. And in the end, really — what else was there to do but love her? He hadn’t had a choice in that. But now, his choices shape their fate — and perhaps the fate of Panem as well. Francis has never made outrageous waves. Being the mystery ‘prince’ of Panem has served its purpose in the years that have passed, though all of it had scarcely mattered then — before his eyes had been opened. He doesn’t want to govern the world — but he wants the kind of world he would govern. He wants her safe. He wants to unite, rather than divide. He wants to stop looking over his shoulder waiting for the phantom of his grandfather holding roses just like this one that double as a knife.

 ��     Cameras flash — more memories of a bygone era. A better time, perhaps. He turns, and, ever the prince, the most eligible bachelor in all of Panem smiles at the purple-haired reporter nearest, “May I borrow this?” he asks, taking the microphone gently from her hands before returning to Fish. “Tonight is the darkest night of the year,” he says softly, gently, as though he’s only speaking to her. And perhaps that’s for the better. “We celebrate that with each passing day, the darkness will recede, and make way for the light. You are my light.”

       With that, he reaches into his pocket, withdrawing a pristine black velvet box, sinking to his knees as it opens like a clam. The diamond glistens all of the colors of the rainbow in the light cast on them. He can almost feel the thrill run through the crowd — chattering with energy, on the edge of their proverbial seats.

       “All other words would fail. Fish Monet, will you marry me?”

[atiny-for-life]

Ateez's Full Storyline Explained

Masterlist

UPDATE TO THE HALAZIA POST:

I realized I never actually added my take on the name "Halazia" so here is the excerpt of the new section I just added to the OG post:

First: the name "Halazia" - it's just a combination of "Hala" from Hala Hala (which can be translated from Sanskrit to 'black mass' or 'time puzzle') and "zia" which refers to the sun -> "Be the light, oh Halazia"

looking it up, you'll find some information about the Pueblo of Zia where a very specific symbol has been used for hundreds of years among the indiginous people to represent the sun that looks like this:

You'll now also find this symbol on the flag of New Mexico but the actual indiginous people whose ancestors created and passed it down didn't consent to this and now there's a lot of (very justified) debate regarding intellectual property - this part has nothing to do with the Ateez lore, I just thought it was interesting and important to share in case anyone was thinking of getting this symbol tattooed or sth

Addressing the responses to the Halazia post:

Side-note: lmao I just got to the last reply and realized I did them from the bottom up for some reason - I'm so dumb sometimes...

Important parts/new theories are in green!

I have seen footage of the concerts where they're raising a fake moon inside the concert venues so I definitely do get where you're coming from! It would also give a nice contrast between Halazia/the sun and this orb/the moon but I can't think of a way to fit this into the general storyline.

I don't think the orb is necessarily actually an artificial moon since I wouldn't be able to explain why someone would want to create that. I mean, the only reason the moon affects the oceans is due to its general gravitational pull and water just so happens to be partially made up of Hydrogen which only has one electron and is thus more lightweight than our Carbon rich land masses so the moon's influence on the oceans is just more noticable, yada yada

What I mean by that is that raising a fake moon from within a building would really only put a ball with its own field of gravity up into the sky. Other than that, it wouldn't really help the central government control the masses or anything.

However, I do think maybe the idea is to completely put the city under a giant sunshield and disguise what is actually a giant transmitter for their propaganda-spiel as the moon, thus creating an eternal night for the masses. It would certainly be a big "fuck you" to the revolutionists who took down the previous window coverings to return sunlight to the people. And it would also make it far harder for them to hijack the transmission again.

I don't think the Black Pirates have died - we know they were working with Ateez last we've seen them, however, it currently only seems to be Ateez who are performing in the streets while the Black Pirates stick to working from inside the underground hideout. But to the population, it should be the same difference since they look identical and perform the same function.

It's also not just Wooyoung who burnt their clothes - the entire group did:

Because of that, I still think these guys might just feel abandoned, betrayed or disillusioned by the Black Pirates somehow and that this is their way of saying "Fuck you and your movement - we're doing our own thing now."

Hongjoong specifically said we'll understand the theme of "Thunder" come The World Episode 2 which will be released this year so I guess I'll be waiting for the Diary version of that album before I think about it too hard.

But I mean, we already know how Ateez and the Black Pirates can travel between dimensions. They use the Cromer - an ancient Mayan relic containing very unique energy that's been used for this exact purpose for centuries. In general, scientists already have theories about how time travel could be possible so it's not exactly an unnatural concept - it goes more into the realm of science fiction right now.

Since Hongjoong also specifically corrected the question from "Lightning" to "Thunder", we can't really draw parallels to Frankenstein as the Monster was specifically brought to life with the electricity of a lightning strike. The book also goes more into the depths of philosophy about what it means to be human, the ethics of science, the dangers of self-gratification and ignorance and such so I don't necessarily think I can reference it for my theorizing - at least not at this point in the story.

I can see that being the case since we know they're clearly highly aware of the Black Pirates' existence.

Though it could also be Mingi talking to himself since he's no longer being controlled by the chip and finally able to figure out who he himself is.

Either way, the line "Where do I stand among the next and future generations" really strikes a chord, doesn't it? It's a really weighted question.

There was certainly a hunt going on for the Black Pirates, yes. And I can definitely see the Central Government pulling a Vlad the Impaler to scare off others.

While I still don't think the Black Pirates have died, they did get captured for a while and I could see the government plastering that everywhere to show they can squash any attempts at a rebellion. In which case any newly awakened civilians who found signs of this and saw Ateez would either assume the Black Pirates have escaped, the government had lied about imprisoning them in the first place or they have been replaced by identical lookalikes.

It would really help if we knew more about who this group is since I'm still stuck between "they're regular civilians" and "they're from another dimension" or even "they're some failed attempts at creating Android Guardians".

The main reason why I think they might not be human is these moments in the MV:

This glow/sheen in Jongho's iris looks like it was added in post-production in two separate shots at different parts of the video so there must be some meaning to it.

Seonghwa is glitching and I think the reason for that could be any of the following:

he's a hologram in this shot

he's somehow experiencing some Into the Spider-Verse side-effects from traveling between dimensions. However, if that were the case, we'd have seen Ateez deal with the same thing. That is, unless these guys used a different method of travel or have lived in this universe for far longer and side-effects only become noticable later.

this dimension is starting to reject them as there are now three alternate versions of the same eight people moving around in it

the anti-gravity orb can detect dimension-travelers and its purpose is to send them back or otherwise eliminate them

The orb disappeared as it struck San at the end as if his existence somehow cancelled out the orb's. Though this is very likely to be a creative decision since no one wants to see this human embodiment of sunshine get crushed to death, it could also be that this group of people has some abilities that go beyond a regular human's.

In conclusion: I really hope we get to see more of these guys - be that in the Diary Version of a future album or in another music video.

[pattywagon2go]

Train Talk Tuesday

(Small preface)

FINALLY, a new post in weeks! I'm sorry for the delay, college and exams have been holding this one up for a while now, and for this, I wanted to make sure this stood up to a higher than usual level of quality than before. I do hope it was worth the wait. Alright, enough preface, on with the actual post!

Train Talk Tuesday: In recent times, I’ve been hearing a lot of stuff about Amtrak getting a ton of federal grants to improve service and modernize its current fleet. And that got me thinking about Amtrak. Specifically where Amtrak is going right now, and what could be different with it. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized, I had a fair bit to say about Amtrak. So for this week, join me as I discuss my thoughts on The Good, The Bad, and The Future, of Amtrak.

To understand how we got here to begin with, let’s take a step back to the year of 1971.

By this point, the East Coast rail operations were on the brink of total collapse. Penn Central, the mega railroad that was formed from the Pennsylvania Railroad, the New York Central, and the New Haven, on the brink of disintegrating entirely, chose to gut 34 of their passenger train services in the Northeast. But it wasn’t just Penn Central feeling the pinch. The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe had also discontinued 33 passenger rail services before. Things we're getting out of hand, and the Federal Government knew this. So on May 1st, 1971, Amtrak came into existence, the new national passenger rail company for the United States.

Amtrak right out of the gate was expected to fail. Not only did it not own any rail corridors of its own, but it chose to axe half of the ones it did inherit from previous companies. Mismatched rolling stock from a plethora of railroad companies would be a staple of Amtrak’s early years, known today as the “Rainbow Era”. Baffling schedules coupled with disputes with freight rail companies led to trains being either inconvenient for people to just downright being canceled. Yet, despite these setbacks, Amtrak persevered, and by the mid 70s had built an identity for itself, as the nation’s intercity rail carrier.

So now that we know how we got here, let’s actually dive into the meat of this post, starting with the good.

THE GOOD

So for the purposes of this post, I want to talk about three good things about Amtrak, and then three bad things. Do keep in mind that this isn’t a comprehensive list, there are some things I did leave out, so if you’re curious, I highly recommend doing some research yourself on this topic. 

Amtrak from a public service perspective is pretty damn good for me. Yes, Amtrak does get shit on a lot (usually for good reason), but Amtrak does do stuff right. Easily their biggest thing they do right is the service. Amtrak service is pretty damn good. In areas where the top speed is 80 or 110 mph (~129 - 177 kph), that already makes the train a major competitor for driving. Plus, Amtrak trains can take you through beautiful landscapes that you wouldn’t normally be able to enjoy via driving. Examples of this would be the tour of the Rocky Mountains on the California Zephyr and the view of upstate New York on the Empire Corridor. When Amtrak is able to do what it does best, Amtrak is awesome.

Amtrak has also been making a commitment to improving their trains further as well. The new Siemens Venture passenger cars look to be a major step up from the old Budd Amfleets in almost every way (exception being the seats). At the same time, Amtrak has also ordered the new Acela trainsets from Alstom, which, despite the many delays at the hands of Alstom, do look to be a noticeable improvement over the previous generation Acelas. The fact that Amtrak is taking initiative to improve the riding quality of its services shouldn’t be brushed aside. Amtrak does deserve praise for stuff like this.

And finally, Amtrak staff are really awesome. The staff do their best to make sure things go right for you, and they try to make it right when it doesn’t. I think this mainly comes from how the staff care about what they do for people who rely on Amtrak. Staff on Amtrak do suffer from the same issues as you when it comes to being late, as the staff don’t want to be late to begin with since that means they clock off later. As a result, the staff do genuinely understand grievances you have regarding the train ride. You can’t say that with a lot of other public services.

THE BAD

Okay, time for the part you most likely clicked for!

Easily Amtrak's biggest folly is management. Amtrak’s management in recent years has left many people facepalming over some very bizarre and downright insane decisions by the company. A prime example was when Richard Anderson made his way to the top of Amtrak. (pictured here)

Anderson was a former airline executive who wanted to make Amtrak profitable, which is a really stupid goal to try to chase (post explaining why here). His tenure was marked by shit from not anticipating the surge in passengers after Covid to having many senior staff retire, which robbed Amtrak of valuable knowledge and experience. He left the company in April 2020. Good fucking riddance.

Amtrak’s management issues coincide with my next problem with Amtrak, being how Amtrak isn’t doing obvious projects that would easily improve the railroad, the biggest one being electrification projects. The last time Amtrak did an electrification project was in the 90s, when Amtrak electrified the New Haven-Boston route on the Northeast Corridor, and Amtrak has never done another electrification project since (at the time of this post).

“But Amtrak doesn’t own a lot of their tracks!”

That’s true, but Amtrak does own some tracks, and even then they refuse to electrify. Examples would be the Springfield Corridor from New Haven to Springfield, Connecticut and the Empire Corridor to Schenectady in upstate New York. Amtrak owns these right of ways, so they could easily electrify these lines if they wanted, but NOPE! Instead we’re getting super gimmicky battery electric locomotives to run the Empire Corridor, which is such an ass-backwards solution. Amtrak doesn’t even need to electrify the full corridor, all it needs to do is the section it owns and then it can run diesel for the remainder, since CSX owns the rest of the corridor.

Amtrak also needs to just run more damn trains. A major pain point with Amtrak ever since its inception was Amtrak’s baffling schedules. For most people, these schedules were just too inconvenient, and many just chose to drive a route instead of using Amtrak. And that only creates a negative feedback loop for ridership. This problem still persists to this day, even in the Northeast Corridor. Having it so literally only four trains will stop at a specific station on weekdays only is the quickest way to instantly kill ridership. Schedules are the lifeblood for a railroad, and very shitty ones result in ridership hitting the floor. In fairness to Amtrak, part of this is to blame on freight companies always getting in the way of Amtrak, but this is inexcusable in places like the Northeast Corridor and states like Vermont, where Amtrak either has a lot of control over the rails or the state itself has taken control of the rails and is very friendly to Amtrak with it.

THE FUTURE

So what does the future hold for Amtrak?

The new rolling stock in the form of the Siemens Venture passenger cars and new services like the Lincoln between St. Louis and Chicago are definitely stuff to look forward to. Federal grants awarded to Amtrak this year alone have opened the way for lots of new expansion and improvements across the entire network. But at the same time, I think some of those improvements should have been used for other things like electrification projects and track quality of life improvements. Should Amtrak continue to get financial backing from the government, I want Amtrak to work with the states on increasing service while doing meaningful improvements like actual electrification instead of stupid battery electrics. As of now, Amtrak’s future does look bright, but I wonder if it could have looked a little bit brighter.

[noctomania]

Community Communication

I think there should be a social platform developed for the explicit purpose of connecting constituents to one another and to their government officials. Sure twitter was kinda serving the purpose as a symptom but it wasn't built for that purpose, so then it could be abused and manipulated and bought and sold. If it were built by and for the people with the explicit and exclusive purpose of enabling community and conversations around political matters and persons in a mature and safe fashion, it could be unbiased enough to appeal to politicians to sign on like they did with twitter.

im high so im brainstorming

I was just thinking it would be nice if each senator and mayor and council website etc had chat rooms on their pages, but that would come with too much liability and maintenance for each of them and the people would never go to each one, so a 3rd party would make it much easier and would also make the power detached from governmental oversight. Imagine everyone's "website" were all in one website. Much like how there are pages for everyone on the congress website. It could take inspiration from government sites like that, as well as inspiration from non-gov websites like govtrack or opensecrets.

This sort of platform would enable people who do not have internet but do have data on a cellphone access (much more accessible though admittedly not flawless) to these straight forward conversations and education.

It would likely be best to be designed in a way that maybe the UI makes understanding the organization of our government easier, whether it is by city, state, or federal level. It would need to be developed with cybersecurity as a #1 priority for obvious reasons with 2fa, auto-log out, no saving passwords etc and everything. With the intent of the platform to enable factual information to be exchanged, then there should be enforcement around what content is posted public and what can be used to fact-check information. No doubt a lot of tools used by twitter and other platforms could be duped, but the entire thing would need to be reformatted. To simplify it there would be a hard rule of absolutely no banking information so there would be absolutely no commerce, consumerism, or exchange of wealth/goods/services of any sort on the platform. Even public conversations of it may be discouraged. This likely would be difficult in regards to if people wanted to share fundraisers etc, but i imagine it may be something that would be worked around with making that be one acceptable exclusions to the "no links" rule. Also if the fundraisers etc are centralized in a thread the rules can be customized for that thread. That way the convo is still enabled but the banking is done elsewhere.

This could serve so many purposes from being able to report a pothole to 311 via text chat, to being able to sign a petition to send to the governor, or even to be able to know what events are going on, and it would host ongoing conversations in an organized and static location rather than in 35 different twitter threads that were started by someone who didn't even intend to have a political conversation and has since muted the thread. In other words you would be talking to people who actually want to talk about solutions rather than drum up drama.

I am imagining UI inspired by like a mash up of discord and twitter and message boards (that's essentially what reddit is right?). Ideally there would be both live chat and forums. The live chat might be more for utility than for communal use, but it would kind of depend on how well it functions with the security end of things. I feel like media hosting should be a low priority, only really enabling the ability to send basic media as is necessary like photos of community concerns or appreciation. Being able to share things like that would enable members of other communities to see examples of things they should look into having in their community. "I didn't know about those kinds of pavements being used for cross walks i wonder if they could be used in my city". You don't know what to ask for until you know what your options are! We would not need to be able to post gifs or movie clips. Video might be a thought but not a priority.

Text editing would be nice, reactions would be nice. Links may be able to be posted but likely with prior permission and only used under absolute necessity, otherwise causing an immediate ban with potential to appeal barring any other complications.

Moderation would need to be a big deal. Moderators might need a certain level of training and background check. The platform would need to operate similar to our government in order for it to appeal to politicians and pursue its full potential.

With that in mind no political people would be allowed moderator status during or after their time serving. It would automatically disqualify them. It may even extend to people who work for the government in any capacity like cops or administrative assistants. At no point would politicians, nor anyone, have any capabilities beyond citizens besides having a gov title to their handle for identification (which would require proof of legitimacy). There are plenty of people to choose from besides those who would be DQ for those reasons.

There would be other DQ matters like if one were found guilty (maybe even if the verdict isnt guilty) of say storming the capitol or there being evidence of one being a shit mod elsewhere then the time wouldn't be wasted giving them another shot at whatever they were trying to do. Mods would have more capabilities than other citizens out of necessity of their role, but they would be capable of being voted out of their local or even state community through a proper process. I even imagine something of a mark on their handle following those who have been voted out of moderation by their community not unlike a scarlet letter. clicking on the mark would direct you to an archived thread of what events transpired for them to be voted out.

It would be an ultimate dream if this platform could even be used to either run simulation voting or even be used to enable encrypted secure remote voting for all elections on every level. That would be very difficult to bridge that gap due to fears around cybersecurity but as we speak and prior to there have been concerted efforts to improve cybersecurity from the ground up.

Ownership is a big convo also of course. How is it funded? How do we keep it democratic? How do we ensure transparency? How can we make it owned by the people but not by the government? How do you prevent foreign influence? How do you organize it in a way to make it easy to process but also very informative? How do you enable people recognizing each other or being able to notice someone speaking outside of their expertise? Would there be someone willing and able to do it all for zero profit? Would that be sustainable long term or only so long as their generosity or lifetime would allow? Is it government funded? How do you maintain the balance of government funded but not government overreach?

Building community isn't easy either and it would become very obvious very quickly which political leaders are putting effort into community vs those who neglect until they just need political points for elections. Ideally the platform would be so appealing in a wholesome way (both functionally and aesthetically) that politicians insistently NOT joining would be a red flag. However, to make that effect, the baseline functionality of the platform would have to be appealing enough and enable community to be built.

Accessibility would need to be a priority too so there would need to be a significant input for/from the disability community (including but not dominated by doctors and other professionals). I wonder if it could even be an extension of local libraries somehow. That would be tough since not all libraries are treated the same. It would be nice to have that cross over though for access to information in the library to reference in conversations.

So I want to try and make a list rn of priorities and ideas:

Priorities: Trustworthiness, Accessibility, Community

Oversight, moderation, and access by citizens only (the qualifier: currently physically live here based on idk tbh bc gps might be looped by vpn but you could disallow vpn access.)

Ownership neither private nor government

No consumerism, commerce, or exchange of goods/services, or any hosting/exchanging of any financial/banking/wealth information

Gov employees past and present dq'd from moderation or any sort of influence

Conversations ideally steered via moderation towards constructive rather than destructive or dramatic

Less priority on enabling excessive media hosting (affordability)

UI should be informed by needs and function first then aesthetic built around that. Balanced without being too reductive or too redundant. Built to encourage exploration and knowledge obtainment.

Conversations would ideally be focused on community, politics, education, and a true exchange of ideas to progress all communities big and small

People would be automatically organized into their local communities, identifiers used to differentiate between different communities so that people can engage in other convos while others can see in some respects how relevant their opinion may be to the convo.

Both live convo and threaded.

It has to be fun, and i think that should be prioritized on some level too otherwise it might just feel like labor to login.

i think its possible but what do i know.

[revddan]

Disruption & Peacemaking

Recently, I spoke about reconciliation (paying particular attention to Paul's writings). I talked about how reconciliation is central to the gospel. How it is a lens through which we can see and understand God's purpose and work in the world. And how it is work that we are called to as Jesus people (in our homes, workplaces, community, and in our church). I said that maybe, as Mennonite peacemaker John Paul Leaderach asserts, reconciliation is the gospel. 

In this week's gospel reading, Jesus talks about the cost of discipleship, points out that he hasn't come to bring peace but a sword, and talks about disruption and division, even amongst family (Matthew 10:24-39). What do we do with that? It feels like the opposite of unity, togetherness, and the reconciliation of all things, through Jesus, back to God.

Here are my thoughts. Firstly, when we read this passage, we must not weaponise it. Far too often, Christians have been guilty of using this passage (and other passages like it) to create unnecessary conflict, double down on their particular ideology or theological viewpoint, and push people to the side or out. This passage isn't a call to intentionally create unhealthy conflict or to abandon the call to embody unity in diversity; it is an unflinching reminder that conflict is an inevitable by-product when people and communities of people follow the way of Jesus. 

Matthew's community, the people to whom this letter was addressed, knew this; they knew the danger. In Matthew's time, "it was well know that Christians - including Simon Peter, who was important to the Matthean community - had been crucified in Rome under Nero" (Belief Commentary Series: Matthew, Anna Case-Winters). Matthew's community knew the "cost of discipleship," the cost of following Jesus. 

In this passage, Jesus reminds his followers (and us) that following him is costly. It's costly because the way of Jesus ultimately upsets the Powers That Be. The ways of the kin-dom: non-violence, justice, forgiveness, generosity, and love stand in stark contrast to the way of the world, the way of war and violence, white supremacy, patriarchy, greed, self-sufficiency, and individualism. Jesus' way confronts and insults the death-dealing logic of the world. "Although God's reign inaugurates a true shalom (Hebrew peace, wholeness, well-being, and safety), the announcement of God's reign comes as a genuine threat to those who reign now, and they will respond with violence" (Matthew at the Margins: A Socio-Political Reading of Matthew, Warren Carter). Walter Wink says, "When the Powers That Be catch the merest whiff of God's new order, they automatically mobilize all their might to crush it" (The Powers That Be, Walter Wink). Here are some examples: The Roman Empire and the religious elite's response to Jesus (they executed him), the British Empire's violent response to Gandhi's non-violent emancipation movement in India, the New Zealand Government's violent response to Tohu, Te Whiti, and the community at Parihaka, and, in a much smaller way, the community's response to our Advent sign (the sign depicted Mary, fist in the air, wearing combat boots, and surrounded by the words of the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-56)). The Powers That Be fight back in the face of Christ's kin-dom of justice and peace. It's as simple as that.

And yet I have a question (or I have a slight niggle when I think about all this): if reconciliation, love of neighbour, and non-violence are central to Christ's kin-dom, what's our response to the inevitable division and/or backlash that we create when we live the Jesus way? Amid our critique of the Powers That Be (and those who prop up the powers), how do we create space for transformation, healing, and reconciliation and not create further unnecessary alienation and division? Rather than seeing division as destructive, or understanding it negatively, maybe we need to think of the disruptive way of Jesus (the disruptions that occur when we follow the way of Jesus) in positive terms, perhaps as an opportunity for transformation, for God to enter, challenge (all involved), and create space for new life to emerge (or at least the possibility for it). Randy Woodley says, "Conflict is the path to shalom [peace]" (Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision, Randy Woodley). The kin-dom of Christ illuminates that which is at odds with the ways of God (which is challenging but good); it disrupts the status quo, but it also should be an invitation to step into the life-giving ways of God and God's kin-dom (a double-edged sword of sorts). The disruptive "sword" of Christ is not a sword that brings death but one that makes way for life (for those who choose it). Disruption can bring peace. Disruption is OK. Disruption often means God is at work. 

This is challenging and risky work, no doubt, and as we contemplate all this, we should remember Jesus' other words in our reading. "Don't be afraid," Jesus says. God is with you/us. Jesus has gone before us. Jesus upset the Powers That Be. The Powers That Be attempted to silence Jesus (they thought they had). But, no, Jesus was vindicated. Resurrection happened. New life burst forth from death. God's reign was inaugurated. Amid the ups and downs of following Jesus, embodying his reign of justice and peace, we have to know that God is always with us, no matter what, and that God is a God who makes a way out of no way. 

Be encouraged! May our life together point to a different world. May our life together shake the world around us (in a good way), and may it lead us and others to more healing, hope, and life. May we be disrupted; may we be gentle disrupters, purveyors of a quiet revolution that challenges the death-dealing logic of the world, invites people into new life, healing, and wholeness, and makes God's reign visible in our families, church, community, and on this whenua (land).

Amen.

[inezdlsujournal]

Nov 9 (9th session)

This session Miss Pia discussed corporate social responsibility and how people see it, and how it is evolving in this day and age. For many years, corporations were only concerned about making money since that was the ultimate goal for every business or human to live a quality life, to make a living. Now companies are also concerned about society’s welfare which is essentially what corporate social responsibility is. This means that these managers and business owners are interested in long term corporate interest and also society’s health. A new trend in corporate responsibility is sustainability. Some managers believe that if a company helps society through their business as a main goal, then they will reap success. Companies can look to solve society’s problems by creating a product or service to fulfill a need and they will profit and help the world. Other examples of companies that follow Corporate social responsibility is for example make up creams that are made from ingredients that are imported from developing companies to help their country’s growth. Or for example companies that pride themselves in supporting charities or having a partner organization. Ben and Jerry’s, an ice cream company has been donating a full seven and a half percent of their pretax profits to different charitable institutions. Sustainability is really forward thinking revolving around creating new products that in the long run will improve society’s issues. Another way that companies can approach corporate social responsibility is through a different approach being stakeholder theory. The central focus is giving attention to every stakeholder in the entire company, whether that’s the employees, customers, owners, suppliers, management, or the community. Each of these players have their own role and responsibility to live up to. Employees want to have a good secure job and excellent wages while management wants happy workers and profits. Customers expect excellent customer service and high quality products. While a community wants a corporation to pay their taxes, offer their citizens good wages, and help support the government by not polluting. Suppliers want their business to remain plentiful and owners of course want financial return for an excellent profit. The most common reason against corporate responsibility is that critics feel the main purpose of a corporation is just to make a profit for their stakeholders. And that non profits should be the only institutions concerned about society and not a for profit business. Critics says that most corporations that participate in corporate social responsibility they need to spend more of their firms money and in the end costing their shareholders more profit. I do agree that this is true and it is easy to see this from a close minded approach that it is more costly on the people in the business and that it should be the other way around. But I also understand that there are so many companies out there that can sell a good or service but not all have sustainable ethics or a greater vision plan for not only their company, but for the community they are apart of and slowly the world as a whole. I would like to be represented by a company that upholds their corporate social responsibility and does more than what is required of them. It is a good indication that they will treat you well should you decide to buy a product or service from them or work for them. You will instantly know that they are forward thinking and have a greater plan and goal for their business and the community they are part of. Working for or supporting their business would mean that you are taking an active role in making society better one purchase at a time.

[mottlemoth]

I'm not sure if you answer these, but I thought I'd give it a go! I'm new to Mystrade and really want to write it, but I'm struggling massively.

I'm not from the UK, so the police ranks confuse me a little, and I'm really struggling with just... getting started. I notice with your stories you always have an excellent understanding of police, detectives etc. Is this just from living in the UK, or researching? (P.s. I'm not lazy, I swear I've tried to research but I cant find any reliable resources).

I want to write an AU where Greg and Mycroft meet in different circumstances, mainly work, but I cant think of how to crowbar them together without understanding Scotland Yard hierarchy. It's so damn hard to write about a detective - I'm too used to writing about vampires and werewolves, lol.

Thank you in advance if you do read this - and I absolutely adore your writing, it is just wonderful and the perfect introduction to Mystrade ♥️

You're 100% right that it's hard to research police ranks in the UK, so don't feel bad if you've struggled ❤️ The police are constantly reorganising and renaming things, which means resources end up out of date very quickly. The Metropolitan Police Service (i.e., Scotland Yard) also has a slightly different system to the rest of the UK, which doesn't help.

If I tried to do a short guide to the whole of the British police force, firstly it wouldn't be short, and secondly I'd constantly be saying "but this doesn't apply to Greg" or "it's different in London so don't actually use this" - instead I'll focus on London for purposes of Mystrade.

I'll also keep it quite general and basic because this is for fanfic writers, not historians/experts.

*all details as correct as I can make them at the time of writing - February 2022*

(1) What is the Metropolitan Police?

Sometimes known as the MPS, the Met, Scotland Yard or (more historically) the Old Bill or the Yard, the Metropolitan Police Service are responsible for policing Greater London... except one tiny area. The central financial district have their own separate force, the City of London Police, who largely specialise in financial crimes like fraud. Ignore these guys for purposes of Mystrade. Greg belongs to the Metropolitan Police, who are also responsible for (1) UK-wide counter-terrorism initiatives (*sparkly Mycroft link stars*) and (2) protection of the Royal Family and members of the UK Government (*further sparkle*).

(2) Who is in charge of the Metropolitan Police?

Riiiight at the top of the tree sits the Mayor of London. She or he appoints a Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, who runs the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC).

These people are politicians rather than police officers, and they don't hold any rank in the police. They distantly supervise and make broader political decisions. You don't really have to know much about these folks.

(The Home Secretary will occasionally be involved with the Metropolitan Police over nationwide security issues, like terrorism. Mycroft probably went to school with any given Home Secretary.)

The actual head of the Metropolitan Police is known as the Commissioner. Our current commissioner is Cressida Dick. She has a Deputy Commissioner, who is her second in command. Both of these people are appointed by the Queen, in consultation with the Mayor of London and the Home Secretary. The Commissioner answers to the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), the Mayor, the Home Secretary, and more broadly to the people of London.

After the Deputy Commissioner come four Assistant Commissioners, appointed by the Mayor of London and the Home Secretary, who each govern one of the following areas ('directorates'):

Specialist Operations

Frontline Policing

Professionalism

Met Operations

These six people (Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner and 4 x Assistant Commissioners) make up the management board of Scotland Yard.

Now I'm going to be frank with you here. There's a lot of overlap between the four directorates and they're always swapping responsibilities, so just forget about three of them for now.

Hold onto Frontline Policing - that's where Greg will be.

The Assistant Commissioner has a Deputy Assistant Commissioner, then there are commanders, who are... basically deputy Deputy Assistant Commissioners... they were going to phase this rank out in 2018, but eventually decided against it. Who knows? I kinda just ignore commanders. I imagine their job is mostly emails and golf.

Next, we need to chop Greater London up into smaller, more manageable chunks. These geographic areas are today known as Basic Command Units - so for example, Central South BCU covers Lambeth and Southwark. Before 2000, big areas of London used to be called divisions (hence 'not our division'). There were also 32 of them. In 2018, they merged those 32 geographic areas into just 12. (We can assume Greg's use of 'division' means he's been a part of the London police force since before the Millennium.)

Each BCU/division/unit of the Metropolitan Police Service has a chief superintendent in charge of it.

And finally, we've reached a rank seen in Sherlock.

So... this guy is a chief superintendent. He's the most senior person Greg will encounter on a week to week basis. They're all terrified of him in the show because within his division, his word is law. Above the rank of Chief Superintendent (so Assistant Commissioners, etc) the job is often more politician than police officer - they'll be concerned with policy, strategy and so on. The chief superintendent is the one shouting at you, asking why you haven't solved the murder yet. And yes, it is against the law to chin them.

Below the chief superintendent come his deputies, superintendents. Then below those come the ranks you're more likely to have heard of (and more likely to be writing):

Chief inspector

Inspector

Sergeant

Constable

A division/unit will typically have loads of constables, plenty of sergeants, a nice handful of inspectors, and then just a few chief inspectors. For reference, London as a whole has about 25,000 constables, 4500 sergeants, 1200 inspectors and 300 chief inspectors, spread across all units.

(Are the GIFs helping? I hope they're helping xDD)

You have to take a special exam to advance from being a constable to a sergeant, then another one to become an inspector.

In the show, Greg probably ranks as inspector, though there's a newspaper glimpsed at one point which seems to name him as a chief inspector. I've bumped him up to chief inspector in a few fics, for reasons which I'll move into soon.

(3) How does 'detective inspector' come into it?

So, what's the difference between an inspector and a detective inspector?

Very broadly, 'ordinary' police officers (who focus on preventing crimes and responding to them) are known as constable, sergeant, inspector, etc.

Once someone has been in uniform for at least two years, they might decide they want to specialise their career around solving more complex crimes. They'll apply to join the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). It takes about two years to train, in which time they'd be known as Trainee Detective Constable Whoever - then after passing an exam, they become known as Detective Constable.

If they do well, they'll hopefully be promoted in time to Detective Sergeant, Detective Inspector and then Detective Chief Inspector.

Detectives might work at solving crimes on their own, or they might work in teams. You might have seen other British crime dramas where there's one detective inspector followed everywhere by his trusty sergeant. It's not always like that, especially for more serious crimes. (Sometimes, if a crime seems to be very straightforward, they might even just send a detective constable out to clear it up. It all depends how messy things appear to be at first glance.)

At the rank of Detective Chief Inspector, you'd be leading teams in solving more serious or more complicated crimes. Every crime in British policing is assigned an SIO, a Senior Investigating Officer, whose job it is to manage the crime-solving team and push things towards a conclusion. They usually hold the rank of at least chief inspector, though often they're superintendents. Sometimes the SIO sits behind his desk the whole time, just reading the reports sent in by his team. Sometimes they get more hands on. It depends on the resources of the unit and the scale of the crime.

I'll often promote Greg to Detective Chief Inspector Lestrade because it gives him the opportunity to be a Senior Investigating Officer. He'll have more freedom to make command decisions, and he's more likely to be called on to give testimony in court.

(4) Which division/BCU does Greg belong to?

This isn't fully specified in the show, so I'm just going to lay out my best guess. You guys are very welcome to borrow my thinking.

I don't think Greg is assigned to a BCU (a particular geographic area). He's seen solving police work all over London, and he's clearly based at Scotland Yard itself, so I think it's more likely that he belongs to a central specialised unit dealing with a specific type of crime.

As of February 2019, the best fit for Greg is Homicide and Major Crimes Command. Sally Donovan is right that a break-in at the Tower of London really isn't Greg's division but he'll want it.

Earlier in his career, he might have spent a few years working in an area of London with a high rate of murders, gained a lot of experience in investigating them, then applied to join the specialist unit.

The joy of using 'major crimes' as Greg's division is that it can flex to fit all sorts of things. Great news for fic writers.

It also explains why his chief superintendent is hella scary. You'd have to be tough as nails to become head of the murder division at Scotland Yard.

(5) How can Mycroft get involved?

It's a fun challenge if you're sticking to canon, because Greg is clearly very specialised in CID. He's also one of the ground troops who answer to a chief superintendent. If Mycroft ever has dealings with the Metropolitan Police, he's probably going to be dealing with the more-politician-than-police-officer ranks like Assistant Commissioner, who occupy the very highest branches of the tree. He might even go directly to the Home Secretary and tell them just to pass his orders downward.

Mycroft's most obvious connections to Scotland Yard are through things like counter-terrorism or protection command - sadly these fall under Specialist Operations rather than Frontline Policing, where Greg is.

But here are some ideas off the top of my head for how the two directorates could overlap.

An ordinary-looking murder investigated by Greg turns out to involve international terrorism.

An ordinary-looking murder turns out to be part of a threat against a government minister or a member of the royal family.

An important political figure (or a member of the royal family, etc) is murdered. Importantly, Greg is nearby when it happens and becomes the first officer on the scene. This makes him what's known as the Initial Responding Officer, responsible for preserving the integrity of the scene and recording his initial observations. He'd be in charge until someone more senior can get there and his first thoughts would be considered vital evidence. This could happen at the Diogenes maybe, or even at Baker Street.

Mycroft already knows and trusts Greg through Greg's friendship with Sherlock. He might request that Greg is assigned to investigate a particularly sensitive crime - this request is likely to have come 'through the Mayor's Office', filtered down anonymously via commissioner, assistant commissioner and then Greg's boss, the chief superintendent. You might want to promote Greg to Detective Chief Inspector if you're using this idea, so he can act as an SIO (Senior Investigating Officer).

If you're heading into AU territory, Mycroft might make an excellent Assistant Commissioner. He would work primarily at Scotland Yard and could well encounter Greg in the hallway. If Mycroft is Assistant Commissioner of Frontline Policing, he would be Greg's boss's boss, senior to the chief superintendent who commands Greg's unit. Or if he's Assistant Commissioner of Special Operations, he'd be linked to things like national security, counter-terrorism and Protection Command (protecting important figures like the Royal Family). If you want to know a bit more about Assistant Commissioners and their career backgrounds, here are Wikipedia biographies on the current four ( 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 ).

If you don't want Mycroft to be a ranked police officer, he could also work in (or consult for) one of the admin directorates at Scotland Yard, staffed by civilians. They are:

Digital and Technology (currently led by a Chief Digital and Technology Officer)

Corporate Services (led by a Chief of Corporate Services, with sub-directors overseeing Media and Communication, Legal Services, Human Resources, Strategy & Governance, Transformation, Property Services, Finance and Commercial)

This post has gone on for some time now, so it's probably best if I draw things to a close xDD I hope it's been at least partly helpful.

I'm more than happy to try and answer further queries - just drop me a message. Don't worry if it takes me a few days to get back to you. I don't have as much free time on my hands as I used to ❤️

[yeobloom]

🌕⏳ GUIDE TO ATEEZVERSE 🪐✨

Part 1. { fever series - masterpost }

Hello! Welcome to a short guide for ateez cinematic universe ~ or how I call it: ateezverse. You may be new to the fandom or just genuinely interested in ateez storyline. That’s fine! It’s a little bit confusing not gonna lie, but! I can try my best for you to understand the basic background 🌿

Let me introduce you the plot:

Our world is fragmented in multiple dimensions and realities. You can travel through them with a cromer (⌛️) which can also send messages through dreams depending on the moon phase.

Okay! That’s the plot line of this multiverse. Now let’s introduce the main characters:

CHARACTERS

ATEEZ | BLACK PIRATES

CENTRAL GOVERMENT | AI GUARDIANS

There are more secondary characters, but the names listed above are the main characters you should know first.

ATEEZ: here ateez are a group of young boys who meet at a warehouse where they hang out and forget about their personal problems for a moment.

CENTRAL GOVERNMENT: this government rules in an utopian world that takes place somewhere in the future after an industrial revolution. Because of it they create an IA system to make everything in this world predictable and monitored, the only thing they found unpredictable were human feelings. To stop this variable they forbid all kind of entertainment (music, dance etc) so they can oppress human emotions and make them controlled living machines.

BLACK PIRATES: we knew them as hala halas at the beginning but they actually have a name. They are a group of rebels against the tyrant central government that try to irrupt the utopian world by introducing music and entertainment to the city. They are considered an anomaly and are put on a wanted list, however they are hard to catch since they own a cromer⏳ and can travel through dimensions with it. They were previously called the “black fedora men” too.

AI GUARDIANS: These creatures are android humanoids built by the central government to capture the black pirates and the cromer. They don’t have a face and previously got named “white-masked man” or “masked-clad giant”

DIARY ENTRIES

During Fever series, in the diary version of each album, we get to see notes from ATEEZ and the situation they are living.

Fever part.1 - Every member struggles with own insecurities and personal problems. We know there is an intense fight involving Jongho and Mingi, and later the warehouse is closed causing the group to distance themselves.

Meanwhile, in what seems to be a dream, Hongjoong meets a “black fedora man” who tends him an hourglass ⌛️ and tells him that this item “connects the world”. A little dazed by the sudden intrusion Hongjoong asks for explanation, but “the black fedora man” disappears and the cromer starts shining. In that moment the rest of Ateez enters the room and they all travel to another dimension.

Fever part.2 - Because of them having the cromer now, the guardians find them and go after them.

While running away they meet other characters along the journey that confronted the central government and were punished instead (Left eye + Grimes Siblings, whom we never see in their MVs). Now more than ever ATEEZ are willing to destroy the utopian dimension.

However, the ai guardians find them while they are resting and steal the cromer from them. At the same time, the black pirates are captured too so they seem to have all under their control. After some discussions and collecting information, ATEEZ are told to go to ia guardian’s bunker to get the cromer back. This place is in the middle of an island, and when they arrive they see ai guardians drunk by the smoke from burning memories of people, their “energy”.

- Fever part.3: they finally meet the “black fedora men” in the bunker, they are trapped in what looks like a glass prison. They succeed to free them and get the cromer back thanks to Yeosang who separates from the group to look after it. He gives the cromer ⏳ to Hongjoong but is suddenly caught by one of the ai guardians.

The guardian wants to exchange Yeosang’s life for the cromer. Hongjoong agrees but when the exchange is about to take place, Yeosang grabs the cromer and turns it the other side while the guardians chase him. He breaks it on purpose as he sees himself being dragged to another dimension with the guardians while ateez are dragged back to their dimension.

GREAT! This is what we know from the diary notes during Fever series. But on the other side, this is the easiest part of the story as it is just the beginning.

I think knowing this part is really important to know the dynamic between ateez/black pirates and who the real enemy is here. The rest is still to be connected, although we now know that the reason Yeosang is trapped in the glass prison is probably because the guardians put him there. And in say my name ATEEZ ask help to themselves as Black Pirates to save Yeosang.

I’ll update and change things as soon as the plot also gets updated. And I’m thinking on doing a master post analyzing kingdom performances too, so I’m sorry if this takes longer 🥺🧡 and if I got something wrong I’m sorry, I had to resume a lot of information so maybe I missed something.

other parts for this guide

[stellocchia]

I really liked Wilbur's lore stream from yesterday, so you guys are getting a short stream analysis from me

As always dialogue is color-coded: Wilbur, Tubbo, Ranboo

And since I'm the least concise person ever everything is under the cut

The stream is (DSMP LORE) A Year Later

The stream starts with Wilbur singing the L'Manburg anthem to Ranboo. It is interesting to notice that, just like all the streams since he's been back he doesn't start off the stream by addressing chat in any way but already taking with someone in-universe.

"I'm a big big fan of the song (...) (Wilbur notices that Ranboo was muted) so sorry, let's try again: have you heard that song before?" "Yeah I have, I have. I have- I've had a friend that sings it quite a lot" “Good, good, and I was gonna say, it’s obviously based on Hallelujah right? But the thing is, the thing is Ranboo, right? But the thing is- the thing is Ranboo, right? Is that the reason we did it is because Tommy used to sing Hallelujah to the plants" "Oh, to the plants?" "Yeah! In- in the- around the- around the uhm... around the thing! You know the- the caravan? (...) so, my man, Tommy used to sing to the plants to make them grow better and that was the song he used to sing and so I thought what a way to honour Tommy, you know, one of the most- one of the most loyal members or of our fair nation than by naming the song after him, you know? And singing it based on his little- his little Muse. Tommy is a- Tommy is all of our Muse really I'd say"

I cut as much of this quote as I could while still leaving it well understandable and leaving in everything I wanted to talk about, but man is it long... So let's break it down a bit at a time:

1) The friend that Ranboo referenced that sings the anthem a lot is most likely Tubbo considering that they met him later on in this stream while he was singing that very song

2) The memory of the song seems to still be a particularly pleasant one for Wilbur, which probably explains why Ghostbur as well was so fond of it. He speaks about it positively throughout and it generally seems like an overall positive moment of reminiscence, probably because it's a callback to a simpler time when Wilbur too was, you know, happier overall. It's a reminder of a time before the worsening of his spiral.

3) Also interesting that they kept it in canon that Tommy singing to the plants was what inspired the anthem. Especially because I'm not entirely sure if that's the case considering that the actual anthem wasn't written by cc!Wilbur but by a fan upon his request (obviously this is outside the story).

4) Last thing I wanted to mention was Wilbur describing Tommy as a Muse. Muses in mythology are the inspirational goddesses of the arts, music, and science, Tommy aside from the anthem obviously isn't that. But it is interesting that Tommy does take a central role when it comes to motivating people. We could say that Techno's speech on the 16th was inspired by him since it was directed at him. Similarly, Niki and Jack had their arcs revolving around him. Tommy was able to rally the troops with ease multiple times. And Dream's obsession with him itself is the main motivator for, like, 90% of his actions. So, while he may not cover the role of a muse literally it's not a comparison that is too far off...

They headed to the museum afterward and took notice of the Ranboo poster being missing. And then they headed off to L'Manburg (which, by the way, looks amazing, thank you cc!Phil for that one).

"It goes by L'Manhole now apparently" "I- yeah it's kinda- ugh- I'm not a fan. It's kinda rude to L'Manburg's history, you know? It- it's called L'Manburg. It's called L'Manburg. NOT Manberg, not L'Crater or whatever. L'Manhole, I don't care, it's now L'Manburg, it's always L'Manburg, okay?"

It's interesting that not too long ago he was saying that even L'Manburg itself (with an emphasis on the name) wasn't what was actually important, the purpose of it was. He admits later on that he lied in that conversation, but it's impressive how quickly he trusted Ranboo enough to let him see how much he still cared about L'Manburg when he was so intent on lying about it not too long ago.

Wilbur's enthusiasm about seeing the flag is another nice confirmation about him still caring deeply for his old nation.

"Damn, I really went down to bedrock, didn't I? Holy shit I did- I did a number on this place" (I wonder why Ranboo didn't correct him on this, because Ranboo knows that Techno, Phil, and Dream are the ones who actually exploded the country down to bedrock...)

They end up seeing Tubbo on the other side of the crater and head over to him. While they're heading there Tubbo is singing the anthem himself in a very mournful tone.

One interesting thing that I noticed it's that it's Wilbur that heads towards Tubbo's location instead of having Tubbo go to him like he mostly did with Tommy for example. I suppose it could be because Tubbo having been a president himself is in less of a subordinate position to Wilbur than Tommy who's always been a simple soldier.

"It's like looking in a little mirror, look you're wearing my suit still? How long have you been wearing that?" "Oh I just put it on, just for today" (in a similar fashion to Jack bringing out the L'Manburg uniform to reminisce, Tubbo also brought out clothes he strongly attaches the memory of L'Manburg to)

"Ranboo have you met Tubbo?" "Yeah, yeah. I've- I've met him, I mean we've, uhm... we've been around" (Ranboo still minimizing his relationship with Tubbo to Wilbur. Of course, this is because he doesn't trust him but it's interesting that he isn't even honest about that)

After a bit of back and forth, Wilbur starts apologizing to Tubbo. At first, like most other times he's having a serious discussion he puts himself in an elevated position to tower over Tubbo. It's a neat way to show how his own desire for control affects him, having Wilbur literally elevate himself over others when speaking to them. Literally putting Tubbo down in this situation. Which does make the beginning of his apology very obviously feel insincere.

"I'm sorry for making you president specifically before blowing it up and I'm sorry for when I did this *pointing at the crater* and blew all this up and making this whole. I'm sorry that I uh- that I said that you were the president of a crater"

This is that first part of the apology I mentioned. Just to clarify, I don't actually think that it was entirely insincere. It just feels less impactful due to Wilbur putting himself in a position of superiority over Tubbo, especially because it's something we've seen him do before. It's also to be noted that this time, like others before, he seems to be apologizing less out of actual guilt and more out of a desire to earn forgiveness. Which is not a critique by the way. I just feel like that's a misconception Wilbur has, that apologies serve the purpose of confirming to him that he's doing a good job at changing more than to actually make amends for what he's done. The reason why I think that's the case for the beginning part of this apology as well it's because of how fast he went to ask tubbo if he forgave him, which did put a certain level of pressure on Tubbo in this situation.

"I mean it wasn't- this wasn't all you Wilbur" (thank you tubbo for finally dispelling some of those misunderstandings)

"Yeah so me and mainly Ghostbur honestly, like-" "Ghostbur" (some more of Wilbur not being too fond of Ghostbur)

"Right is he [Ghostbur] this obsidian crap then I take it and these- these fucking dumb lanterns up here" (a bit more)

To correct Wilbur's misconceptions Tubbo starts off asking if the other knew Dream, to which Wilbur responds with how much he appreciates Dream and how he's his hero, which makes Tubbo backtrack and blames most of Doomsday on Techno and Phil. Which, as we know, isn't actually accurate and I have a feeling that this misinformation will be harmful later on once Dream is out of prison (though I don't blame Tubbo for backtracking with how enthusiastic Wilbur is, that was the basic conflict-avoidant approach that Tubbo seems to prefer).

"They rained tnt for days" (if this is actually canon then Doomsday was even more of a tragedy than we previously saw it as. It was days filled with fighting and destruction. Then again, Tubbo has misremembered traumatizing events before)

"Techno and Phil, they hated the government. I mean it was partially my fault as well" "But you didn't blow it up" "No I didn't. I would never have wished or anything like this to happen" "So it was just Techno and Phil?" *long pause* "Y-yeees"

Two things to say here:

1) I appreciate someone in canon recognizing that it's not Tubbo's fault for what happened to L'Manburg and blaming the people who actually blew it up, similarly to how I appreciate Wilbur bringing up with Tommy that it was clearly Dream pulling the strings with his exile with Tubbo. It's nice having it stated plainly for people to hear

2) This is the misconception I mentioned. This is most certainly gonna backfire at some point.

After that Wilbur commends Tubbo quite a lot for rebuilding New L'Manburg (once again being dismissive towards Ghostbur) and is clearly enthusiastic about it, even going as far as to say that that mattered more to him than them building him a grave.

"I just, I feel lost without L'Manburg. All my core beliefs, everything died with it" "You feel lost without a nation..." "I have no purpose anymore" "I guess that's where anarchy fails" (I think this may be the first time someone admits it to someone else, even though that lack of purpose and feeling disoriented is very obviously a shared sentiment amongst the ex-citizens)

After that, it's when Wilbur invites Tubbo to join Paradise, the, supposedly burger van with a small house attached to it that wasn't supposed to become a nation. I have a feeling that the proposition coming right after that exchange may imply that Wilbur changed his mind on it. He does purposefully put himself again in an elevated position when making the proposition.

"Would you like to come join me in Paradise? Literally" "Hmmm, I'm not sure Wilbur. I'm not sure I trust you man, I need to- in order to follow someone I need to trust them" "Wait, wait but you- I thought you forgave me! I thought it was, you know it-" "Wilbur I forgive you because I like to hang on to the hope that people can change, but-"

This is what I mean when I say that Wilbur's apologies come with expectations for the person he's apologizing to. By asking Tubbo first if he forgave him when he originally apologized, he already made it harder for Tubbo to refute that. And now we learn that he expected trust to come along with forgiveness. He's not doing this maliciously of course, but he does seem to have some misconceptions on this.

"I know you had that- that at the festival? With Technoblade? I never spoke to you properly about this. I- I could have saved you" "But you didn't" (other people brought this up, but this is a neat little parallel to the one scene in exile where Ranboo was lamenting about how he should have gone with Tommy and Tommy shut him down pointing out that anyone could have gone but no one actually did)

There is a second round of apologies and Wilbur is still standing higher than Tubbo, BUT he does put himself on his same level after he did a bit more pushing and found that Tubbo was standing his ground. He finally puts himself on the same level as Tubbo and openly acknowledges his boundaries which is the first actual real effort to change that we've seen from Wilbur. Which I'd say is a pretty important step for him.

"Wilbur in order for you to gain my trust back you have to prove it, I can't just give it out anymore. I used to be able to but I just- I just can't" (acknowledgement of how Tubbo's trauma also affected him deeply)

"You know I still have dreams, right? Of the explosion. And- and of the fireworks. And- and all of it. I- I still- I vividly see all of it. Every day. It hurts. It hurts a lot Wilbur"

I want to commend Tubbo here for being able to open up like this, especially considering how much he generally leans into denial and how much he usually suppress. And on top of that this is Tubbo acknowledging that both Wilbur's actions (the explosion) and Techno's actions (the fireworks) have hurt him and STILL hurt him and affect him deeply. It's quite a big admission especially for him.

"Sorry feels like such a weak word. I feel like there's nothing stronger that I can say" (first time that he's standing on the same level of Tubbo while apologizing)

"You're so strong man. Genuinely. You just- just the fact that you proved to me just there that you have this memories, that you have this nightmares and you still find it in your heart to forgive me. That's... you're a fucking champion man. You- you're a hero"

It's interesting that the reason why he claims Tubbo to be strong here is because he forgave him. It's not something that's inherently about Tubbo, like the fact that he still found the strength to go on and rebuild after the events he mentioned, for example, no. What Wilbur brought up is the one thing that Tubbo did for him. Which tells me that he still clearly has a bit of way to go to learn how to make amends and how redemption actually works, but, you know, that's to be expected honestly.

Wilbur moves on by inviting Tubbo to at least come and see Paradise, just to see what they'd made and Tubbo refuses because he wanted to spend more time reminiscing. Wilbur this time respect Tubbo's boundaries with no pushing which is yet another step forward for him honestly. Wilbur also gives Tubbo a "lucky rabbit's foot" that Tommy gave him to cheer him up and assure him that he had no problems with him not going.

With this their conversation comes to a close and Wilbur and Ranboo head over to Paradise (though not before Ranboo has confirmed with Tubbo that he actually does want to be left alone).

"You know I was gonna say 'this is hard' but obviously it's hard. I mean, you know, I've..." (a bit of reflection on his actions for Wilbur, you love to see it!)

"It's gonna get better! It's gonna get better! And it's gonna be worth it when I see them smiling. All of them. Tubbo, Jack, Niki, Tommy, anyone!" (I'm pretty sure that this is a genuine sentiment right here. It really does seem that wilbur's Big Plan right now is just to make amends and change)

"Do you know who the original L'Manburg group were? Do you know who we were?" "I- I think most of them yeah... I think it was like: you, Jack, Niki, Fundy I believe as well" "Fundy was a bit after. Fundy was after we'd gotten independence"

I wonder if that's an actual misrememberance on Wilbur's part (c!Wilbur, not cc!Wilbur, I'm sure cc!Wilbur remembers this) or just him wanting to put some distance between his good memories of L'Manburg and Fundy. Because Jack and Niki weren't there for the independence war either and yet he singled out Fundy who was. And I doubt that he'd forget about his son being one of the people who lost their first life in the final control room. In addition to that Wilbur didn't mention Fundy before among those he wanted to make smile.

I really think that this was intentional and that it was because, well, Wilbur felt deeply betrayed by Fundy. And we as the audience know that Fundy only ever publicly stopped acknowledging him as his father to be able to stay undercover as a spy, but he doesn't. It wouldn't be so weird that he wanted to erase Fundy from his memories of the time when he was supposed to be happy.

"I try and keep this on the low because I don't want uh- I don't want people to use it against me is the main problem. I do wa- I didn't even tell Tommy, I lied to Tommy" "Yeah?" "I'll be honest I'm gonna tell him soon that I lied to him because if it- it kinda eats away at me. But I told- I told tommy that I didn't actually care about L'Manburg and that it was just like a tool for me to use to gain, you know, power and stuff, but it's not- it's not true. L'Manburg is- was really important to me. And it is still to this day"

Once again I'm surprised how little it took Wilbur to trust Ranboo with stuff he hasn't really told anyone else. Makes you really understand how low of an opinion of himself he has that when the first person that calls him "alright" out loud just gets his undying trust. Especially considering that Ranboo doesn't trust him back and hasn't been the most honset with him so far. It's also a nice spelled out admission for anyone who didn't get how much Wilbur cares about L'Manburg from the longing look he gave to the camaravan's replica in the stream where he said he never cared.

"I wanted history to live on, not as a stain caused by me, you know. I basically took a big shit on the history books it feels like" (just another interesting little insight on Wilbur's view of the situation)

"I've heard about what's Tommy's, you know, moved on... and how jack's moved on, and how Niki's moved on and everyone's moved on from L'Manburg at least partially, but Tubbo man, he's still..." (he only thinks the rest of them moved on because he hasn't spoken almost at all with two of them and he never really listened to Tommy. Also, again, Fundy is not mentioned)

"I don't know where I'd be without you [Ranboo] here right now man, I mean T-Tommy's great and all and he's here but I- I feel like, you know, I don't wanna- I don't wanna string him along too much because he's- I- when I look at him. When I look at him when he's helping me out building things with me I see the same eyes that looked at me when... when... There were some- there weren't some fun times in the ravine of Pogtopia. I wasn't a very well man and I can just see Tommy from that day"

This one was one heck of a confession!

I don't know if this is me misremembering, but I'm fairly sure that this is the first time he's admitted to not being great to Tommy specifically. Again, Tommy is the one person he met with so far that he hasn't apologized to. Heck! He told Tommy to his face that him being sorry for his actions didn't mean he wouldn't do them again. It's a pretty damn big admission to acknowledge that that behaviour (which is the same now, if not worse when only related to Tommy) wasn't good. It also shows that he's at least a bit aware of Tommy's emotions which is rarely shown honestly. Though whether he cares because of Tommy or because being around Tommy makes him feel guilty (which is what you'd expect him to feel) and he doesn't like that is to be determined still, mostly just because the phrasing was a bit uncertain at the moment.

"I know what it's like to have no one- or at least feel like no one trusts you. Uhm, and I- I've realized that if- if no one's with you then how can anyone really know when you've redeemed yourself? So that's why I'm here I guess" (Ranboo's answer to why he trusts Wilbur. Which he doesn't, but still)

And the stream ends with Wilbur saying he hopes Tubbo comes around to try out one of the burgers (though he does repeat that he doesn't want Ranboo to pressure him to join) and complimenting Ranboo a bit more.

[tanadrin]

I want to expand briefly on something in the tags in that last ask, because I think this point informs how I think about the whole question in a way that be different from anon.

The whole idea of an empty, natural, trackless wilderness suitable for building an autarkic community is a fiction. By the time humans finished spreading out into the Americas, most of the surface of the Earth was inhabited to some extent by human beings who developed a suite of technologies appropriate to the climate, and further innovation took place within that framework. In short, the whole world was peopled in 1492, except for some remote islands and Antarctica. The density of that population varied a lot, and the kinds of social organization, and the cultural institutions around law and territory and property, but there was really very little wilderness that was also suitable to human habitation. And much land not at all suitable to human habitation that humans stubbornly decided to live in anyway.

Part of the self-mythologizing of North American (and later Australian) settlers, because of the lower population density of many of the areas they settled (though at least in the Eastern Woodlands in the US, this may have been a very recent change caused by smallpox), and because conflict with expanding settler states drove the natives out so that their own farmers could move in. Since “we tamed a virgin wilderness” is more appealing as a national mythology than “we drove out and exterminated the savages” (although there was plenty of romanticizing of that part, too, back in the 19th century!), that view of American history is the culturally preferred version. It’s the sort of thing I would point out as settler-colonial ideology, if the phrase settler-colonial hadn’t been driven into the ground by overuse. The natives are treated as a footnote, which is easy because they’ve been demographically swamped by higher settler population densities and by centuries of immigration. I’m sure apartheid South Africa would have tried to take the same tack with regard to its own history, if the native population hadn’t stubbornly insisted on being much more numerous and sticking around.

This national mythology was developing while at the same time new theories of government were being articulated; the American revolution (anger at the British crown was motivated in part by settlers being forbidden from crossing the Appalachians, remember!) not only occasioned but may have been necessary to the great push west, and so a lot of thinking and writing on liberty, on the origins and purpose of government, and the ideal nature of government was being done in a period of time when, it just so happened, a lot of people found themselves in a position to set up big family farms in frontier “wilderness,” and had occasion to justify and celebrate as ideal a form of economic organization that is actually historically very anomalous. Patterns of land use and property distribution in the colonial Americas looked nothing like patterns of land use and property distribution in Europe, and though they used approximately the same principles of land tenure, the actual situation on the ground was a lot different. Small family land holdings for a European peasant would have been distributed among other small family land holdings of neighbors within the same community. Tenant farming by small farmers working the land of a local bigshot were still common. This system worked given the conditions on the frontier at the time, but it was never going to be stable long-term. It’s not very efficient, and it’s not always environmentally sustainable either.

But the fallout of all this is that a really unusual episode of history has provided an abstract template for thinking about economics and politics for generations! When we imagine building a utopian community ex nihilo, we imagine doing it in some nonexistent but fecund wilderness that really hasn’t existed anywhere on Earth since humans made it to Tierra del Fuego. I think this hampers our understanding a lot of the time. It blinds us to how dependent current institutions are on the shape of past institutions (we can build institutions from nothing!), it emphasizes an unrealistically individualist and autonomous approach to society (we can live far enough away from our neighbors we never have to interact!), and it handwaves away a central problem of land and wealth distribution, which is how often acquiring those things necessarily comes at someone else’s expense. It seems to me that a lot of people of anarcho-capitalist inclinations live in a world where that frontier-possibility exists as a self-evident, perennial feature of the world. Whereas to me, it feels like a mirage: something that has never existed in recorded history, and which has no actual relevance (at least until we colonize other planets, I guess).

[spasmsofthought]

fractures. (zuko x reader)

This is totally a free for all because I haven’t read any of the comics or watched Legend of Korra at all. Part 2 maybe, if you all think it’s worth it?? 

Kinda angsty, and mostly political - but y’all, I think Zuko learned how to be a politican as Fire Lord. This is me trying to explore that a little bit. 

Like, comment, reblog! Thank you for your support, as always! xo 

+ + + 

The first time you see him, he is touring the Earth kingdom as the Fire Lord. 

It’s been at least two years since he’s been crowned. It’s been two years since a Fire Nation flag last hung over the arches of every town entrance in the Earth kingdom. It’s been two years since a lot of things. 

Peace is a hard custom to keep when all you have known is war. Peace is a foreign language when all people know how to communicate is its opposite. 

The Fire Nation colonies are no longer known as such. Instead, villages and previous colonies outside of the former Earth Kingdom walls have formed into clans of their own. With the Earth King travelling during the latter part of the war, leadership has been thrown up in the air. There was no one to trust; especially after the Fire Nation invasion of Ba Sing Se. In all the chaos of the war, though, the de facto mantle of leadership among the small number of people in your village fell onto your family. You aren’t aware of the reason why, but being raised in a Fire Nation colony by a mother from the Northern Water Tribe and a father from the edges of the Earth Kingdom makes people feel something like safety in a land subjugated by an unrelenting and ever-growing superpower.

When the crowning of Zuko the Fire Lord happens, with Avatar Aang right by his side, the news spreads rapidly, even across the broken networks of communication established among the clan leaders. But even in the middle of developing a new world, there is still brokenness. There is still pain. There is still suffering. 

The world does not seem to heal the way people want it to: very slowly, in pieces rather than in a whole. There is still prejudice and hatred. Very little is still solved with words. 

It is the first time a foreigner has walked the land your people call home in two years.

It is the first time people see the color red on someone in two years; before, during the Invasion, red was what everyone saw on every passerby. Travel was severely limited and people mostly kept to their homes in fear of what Fire Nation guards would do to them on top of the restrictions and heavily imposed taxes. 

When he is directed to your doorstep by everyone in the village, the only one out of your family able to host him is you. Your father died in a skirmish near Ba Sing Se’s walls on his yearly pilgrimage to trade in a way that would have helped support your village during a time of scarcity two and a half years ago, right before the conquering of Ba Sing Se. Your mother is a figure made up only of stories. A figure who passed soon after your entrance into the world. 

For such an imposing figure, he wears very little ceremonial garb. It seems that he understands there is little need for formal ceremonial clothing in this community of people simply trying to survive in a world clawing back from the brink of total destruction. 

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” He begins with, bowing with hands formed in a traditional Fire Nation greeting. 

You bow back similarly, using a specific form of ceremonial bow used by formal authority figures here in the Earth Kingdom. Your hands move in a sweeping motion, directing the Fire Lord to a low table in the middle of the small living room your house has. The table settings are sparse and there is no fancy silverware, but there seems to be something in his countenance that relaxes slightly for some reason. 

“Please make yourself at home,” You try to make yourself seem soft. Yielding. Compliant. “Would you like any tea?” 

He nods, holding the simple cup up off the wooden structure slightly as you lift the tea pot and fill it halfway with the steaming liquid. You set it back down and it is then that Zuko surprises you for the first time. He nods his head towards your own cup. There is a pause, your mind trying to process the simple action, before you are moving your cup up off the table as well, watching the jasmine tea slowly fill up space that was previously empty. 

He gestures a toast to you, holding his cup close to yours while nodding, before he takes a sip. Out of respect, you take a swallow as well before you set your cup back down on the small coaster you were told your mother knit while pregnant with you. Blue and green repeat each other in a circular pattern, reminding you of how beautiful the two colors look together. Reminding you of your own roots face-to-face with someone who carries a vast and rich legacy of his own.

“If it’s alright, I would like to skip the formality of small talk and get to the real conversation. What is the purpose of your visit here?” For such an abrupt change in tone, he doesn’t seem surprised. He sets his cup down, too. 

“We would like to begin discussions with your clan about officially coming under the government of the Earth kingdom again.” 

You have to take a deep breath in. 

When you were little, your father always told you tales of his land’s history; of its vastness and proud strength. As you grew older, however, the tales turned into lessons of caution. He taught you to not trust the central government of the Earth kingdom for a reason. A reason you had soon found out had little to do with his own faith in the people he belonged to and more to do with the fact that the governing body had been crumbling for a long time. There had been a reason there was local autonomy among so many cities and villages, especially during the War. Despite the belief shared among many that the Earth kingdom remained a single political entity, the vastness of land kept that belief more of an idea than something that was practically applied. 

“I would love to see the Earth kingdom become the nation it was before the War, but there is a reason my people remain wary of allying ourselves under a central government again. We know about the details of the Coup of Ba Sing Se; we know the corruption that spread vast and wide among politicians, generals, and other administrators.” 

“I have been working with the Earth king very closely these past two years. It is our plan to host a gathering at the palace in Ba Sing Se with all local clan and tribe leaders to truly take your input into account while we finalize the development of the Earth kingdom’s government after this long period of strife. That is why I am here, to formally invite you...” 

You stop him before he can go any further, “Thank you, but my place is with my people.” 

“The Earth king desires that his nation once again be strong and united and at peace once again.” You want to know if he has always been an apt politican, or if this has something he has had to learn in these past two years. You wonder how he mediates both the needs of his own people and those of the world without faltering. 

“My experiences have taught me many lessons, as I am sure yours have taught you specific lessons as well. I have very little trust in a central government that before has previously become so easily fractured by whispers of greed and silent grabs for power, and can become so again.” 

“There are specific checks and balances in place so that never happens again. I have personally seen to these assurances in the formal writing of the government documents that have been extensively drawn up.” 

“How can I even trust you?” 

“I-” His mouth opens but more words from your mouth stop him before he can even begin. So much for being compliant. 

“I know the legacy of your family. I have witnessed the destruction your family has caused on this land; on the entire world. I do not know you personally. I only know that you have come to ask me to join a government I have little interest in letting rule my people once more when I am right here to make sure they are provided for and kept safe. There is very little about the world I can trust right now.” 

You begin to wonder, in the seconds of silence that linger afterward, if you have officially screwed up any chance at the peace people have been so longing for: here and abroad. You want to seem strong, but there always seems to be the chance to second-guess yourself. To back-up and take a new route. 

“I only know what it is like to be a new leader. I cannot offer you trust you are unwilling to take, but I can offer you the assurance that the Earth king, the Avatar and I will do whatever it takes to make sure the world is whole again.” 

You know he means it. Despite the solemnness of his face and his scar as a reminder to you of the stories of his own life that have yet to be told, there is a fire in his amber eyes that contains no violence, only the longing for the same thing you want: peace.

“My uncle would praise your tea-making skills,” A small corner of his mouth lifts up. Your eyes track the movement for a small second before you are staring down at his cup, too. 

“I could give you a bag to take to him to give the next time you see him,” An olive branch, maybe, in light of your previous words. 

War has its own effects on everyone, including yourself. Trusting others has not been a virtue of yours for quite some time. 

“I’m sure he would love that.” It is a brief glimpse into something about himself, you are sure, that he smiles slightly. A genuine smile. Despite the title he holds, there is nothing but humility. You tuck that observation into you heart to ponder on later.

How can the Fire Lord be so at home in this run-down mill of a home? How can he be so comfortable in the presence of a stranger; a stranger who opposes him in his objective to make peace in a way that he seeks but you do not want? 

You find yourself reaching for a stored bag of tea leaves before you can think about it.

As you hold the bag out in the palm of your right hand, your left resting in your lap, his fingers brush yours. He takes the bag and tucks it into what you assume is a pocket on the inside of his simple cloak. The warmth fades as quickly as it came, and for a moment you want to reach out for more of it. 

You stop yourself before you actually do such a ridiculous thing as reach out for the hand of the Fire Lord. 

But the feeling stays with you long after you tentatively promise to keep in touch with him as he graciously exits for the day. It stays with you for a long, long time. 

[lokiondisneyplus]

SPOILER WARNING: Do not read if you haven’t seen Season 1, Episode 5 of “Loki,” now streaming on Disney Plus.

I think it’s when Alligator Loki ate President Loki’s hand that I realized I was in love.

To be sure, I was always into “Loki,” Marvel Studios’ third Disney Plus series and the first devoted to exploring a single character: the god of mischief as played by Tom Hiddleston. From the first episode, I dug the absurdist deadpan humor imbued by head writer Michael Waldron, and I was immediately smitten with how director Kate Herron employed ’70s sci-fi brutalism and a particularly British affinity for bureaucracy to build out the world of the Time Variance Authority.

“Loki” looked unlike anything I’d ever seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, an increasingly difficult prospect given there are now 26 discrete iterations of the MCU — soon to be 27 with the impending debut of “Black Widow.” As the show has progressed, that feeling has only grown more acute as “Loki,” in its exploration of its title character’s identity, managed to carve out its own unique personality not just in the MCU, but also in the grander landscape of sci-fi storytelling.

To put it as simply as I can, “Loki” is a cosmic-yet-intimate time-traveling romantic action comedy about how Hiddleston’s sexually fluid narcissist finally learns how to fall in love with himself — or, rather, the female version of himself who has lived a whole lifetime of harrowing experiences apart from his own. In doing so, the show has proven that not only can the MCU work on television, it can thrive on it.

Marvel Studios’ first Disney Plus series, “WandaVision,” was a fabulous first step onto TV, proving that the MCU, itself an experiment in creating an episodic series of blockbuster feature films, could shrink itself down to the scope of an American sitcom. Its exploration of grief and the restorative power of comfort TV could not have been more relevant to an audience enduring a devastating pandemic. But as it unfolded, the escalating mystery of what was actually happening on “WandaVision” — Evan Peters showing up as Pietro-but-not-actually-Pietro, Kathryn Hahn hiding in plain sight as Agatha, Elizabeth Olsen unwittingly responsible for almost everything on the show as Wanda — began to overwhelm it. Fans and major entertainment news outlets alike began wildly theorizing each week — it’s Mephisto! it’s Magneto! — and the pressure to achieve a Marvel-sized scale, service a wide ensemble of MCU characters, and resolve all its narrative strands made the final episodes of “WandaVision” feel, to some, misshapen.

Marvel’s follow-up series, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” meanwhile, was at once more conventional and more ungainly, with five separate antagonists (John Walker, Karli Morgenthau, Helmut Zemo, Sharon Carter and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine) operating at cross-purposes and overshadowing the two title characters meant to be at the heart of the show and the exploration of being a Black man in America meant to drive it.

“Loki” avoids all of that, because it’s the first MCU show that understands to its bones that the best television is about its characters first, and its story second. The lasting pleasure of longform storytelling is allowing the audience a far deeper understanding of who is on screen than a two-hour movie can allow. That sensibility is already woven into the MCU: Watching Tony Stark, Thor, and Steve Rogers grow and changed over multiple features has been central to the franchise’s unprecedented success. But while Marvel’s conviction to make their shows the same way they’ve made their movies makes sense, it’s also had the paradoxical effect of making “WandaVision” and “FAWS” feel too overloaded with their characters doing stuff than just letting them be.

Each episode of “Loki” does just that. In Episode 1, Loki and Mobius (Owen Wilson, never better?) sit and talk about why Loki does what he does; in Episode 2, they ruminate on the nature of accepted reality while trying to solve the mystery of the variant Loki’s whereabouts. In Episode 3, Loki and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino, an instant star) spend the entire hour walking through a doomed planet getting to know each other, and casually coming out in the process. Episode 4 is when the story shifts into a higher gear, with Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s Ravonna Renslayer emerging as its true antagonist, but even that episode allowed for several extended scenes of human connection, between Ravonna and Mobius, Loki and Mobius, and Sylvie and Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku, richer with each episode).

This week’s penultimate episode, “Journey Into Mystery,” introduces several new Loki variants, a critical new location in the Void (the purgatory at the end of time into which all pruned entities are dumped) and a blockbuster movie sized enemy in the monstrous, timeline devouring Alioth (re-imagined somewhat from the comic books). And yet, there’s still time for Loki and Sylvie to sit on a hill, share a conjured blanket and quietly express how much they mean to each other, and there’s also time for Classic Loki (the great Richard E. Grant) to get a deeply satisfying character arc. After explaining how his own existential despair at his lot in life allowed him to live well past his encounter with Thanos, Classic Loki’s encounter with Loki and Sylvie reinvigorates his sense of glorious purpose — and helps Loki to understand he’s more powerful than he’s ever allowed himself to be. It’s a full meal in miniature, and Grant makes the most of it.

All the while, Herron and writer Tom Kauffman work in all manner of delightful alternate reality Easter eggs, from the USS Eldridge (purported to have been part of an experimental cloaking and teleportation device in 1943) to the Polybius video game (purported to be a government psy-ops scheme). More notably, there are also some MCU Easter eggs, including the Thanos helicopter and the Living Tribunal that flit by quickly and appear designed to tickle Marvel die-hards and pleasantly mystify everyone else. And then there’s Alligator Loki, a flawless creature who should be protected at all costs.

There is one blink-and-you-missed-it moment, though, that could be something more, when the Qeng Enterprises logo shows up on the Avengers tower. In the comics, Tony Stark sells that tower to Qeng, which is secretly connected to the same Marvel boogeyman that’s haunted “Loki” from its premiere: Kang the Conqueror. The decrepit house Loki and Sylvie are stepping towards at the end of the episode also looks like it could — could — be Chronopolis, Kang’s HQ in the comics, although the TVA itself could be that as well. In any event, it’s been well documented, here and elsewhere, that Kang could be the entity who is really behind the TVA, especially since “Lovecraft Country” star Jonathan Majors has already been cast in the role and will appear in 2023’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”

If “Loki” does introduce Kang in its finale, however, then the show is stepping onto its highest, thinnest tightrope yet. This is supposed to be a show about Loki, not about a villain that, within the world of the MCU, remains a total unknown. It’s a massive risk for any series to bring in a brand new character — let alone the Big Bad! — in the final episode, so this could be another example of an MCU series serving the larger franchise at the expense of its own story. That would be a shame. Sticking the landing, after all, has always been troublesome for TV because TV is so much more about the shared journey than the ultimate destination. And yet, if anyone in the MCU knows how to alight onto safe ground despite impossible odds, it is the god of outcasts, who lives to survive.

“Loki” streams new episodes Wednesdays on Disney Plus.