#like sometimes its obvious but certain other ones r debatable

[ilynpilled]

Your asoiaf passages posts actually are super helpful for me because I'm personally kind of bad at linking subtle things in books because english is not my first language, and reading your posts always opens a whole new world or motif for me. (If you have any tips on how to do it myself pls give them ♡♡)

💜💜. i think it mostly comes down to rereads. not even the whole series like i just like to revisit certain chapters a lot bc i hyperfixate on these things so some quotes etc are verbatim etched into memory. so if i see something related to it my brain makes the connection. like when u read/reread u will see certain things over and over again and u just have to try to make ur brain take active note of it. and if something really pops out at you, u can always plug it into a search of ice and fire/search a word/phrase if you have the books digitally, and look for it and see how the motif actually evolves and what events it is surrounded by if it is a significant one.

[actualbird]

Omg I just started playing tears of themesis and its a lot of fun! I like that you actually have to find the clues, and actually solve the crime I think that's interesting. Any tips for a newbie lol

I'm so excited especially for the fact that I'm going to understand all the Luke posts on my dash because I love him already XD

wAAHH, hello and welcome to tot!! i hope you have a fun time playing :D (and yes, ur taste is Exquisite, luke is SO GOOD,,,I LOVE HIM SM,,,,,)

and i guess off the top of my head, i do have some tips!! feel free to take whichever u need and discard the ones that dont spark joy!

gameplay tips

do the daily and weekly tasks!: these give rewards each day/week that will help you in card leveling, overall player leveling, and collecting s-chips. sometimes events happen which add new tasks to do for certain rewards so like, basically whenever you see an Exclamation Point Icon anywhere, check it out! theres gonna be stuff to do and rewards to get from it

level up your cards!: if im remembering my own experience starting out, i recall that the debate power increase through the main story was a little bit steep in the beginning jHVKSJHDF. i used to get on by just fine with the EXP from debates itself leveling cards, but that quickly didnt give my deck enough juice. level em up with oracles so u can smoothly go thru the main story :D

take ur time exploring not just the story but also just the sheer amount of other stuff going on in the game: i was overwhelmed when i started, and i started on this game's Release. there was Less Stuff. idk how it must be for ppl coming in now, when theres More Stuff omg. but it's chill, take ur time, theres a bunch of neat stuff to discover

-

story tips

(idk how intuitive/already obvious these might already be, but when i started out i had no idea how these types of games worked so it took me a while to realize there were MORE STORIES JHSDJFH so i'll mention these tips too, aka tips i wish i knew in august of 2021, HAHA)

read card stories/content: every card you have that is not an R card (so the SSR, SR, and MR), has either a 6 part story in them to read or 2 audio messages for you to listen to and they are Wonderful. dont sweat it tho if u dont have a card and u wanna know its content, by this point, nearly everything is recorded on youtube so u can easily watch what u dont have!

play the boys' personal stories!: aside from the main story (which are the cases and investigations) each nxx boy has personal stories u can find by going to Ur Phone In The Game -> Click On Guy Of Choice -> Lower Right Corner.

if ur interested in nxx team plots outside of the main story, check out past events and their plots on yt!: the event plots are a Treasure Trove of interesting case stories And full ensemble cast interactions. i love this game the best tbh when i see the whole team interacting with each other, so i adore event plots. sadly, nearly all of the events that are done cannot be accessed anymore to newcomers in the game itself, but they can still be watched on yt. buuut thats just nearly all of the events which leads me to my next tip that rlly isnt a tip but simply just my personal recommendation as an intense enjoyer of this game---

download and play through the Mysteries of the Lost Gold event: the Lost Gold event originally ran through september of 2021, but it's been made available permanently as downloadable content in the game no matter when you start playing!! i highly recommend this event. it's by far still my favorite event in this whole game (everything from interesting plot/case to fun gameplay to delicious characterization, I REALLY LOVE LOST GOLD OK!! THIS IS A LOST GOLD STAN ZONE!!)

anyhoo, this event can be accessed by going to X-NOTE Story -> lower and rightmost button Event -> upper and rightmost button Past -> download Mysteries of the Lost Gold

really, i cannot recommend lost gold enough ajhfvjkahfa this is the One Thing i hope all players can experience it's just...I REALLY ADORE IT OKAY!!!

-

i hope some of these tips can help!! and i hope you enjoy playing this game :D

if ever uve got more questions, pls dont hesitate to shoot another ask hehe. it takes me a while to respond sometimes but i am Always down to be a tot-enabler thru sharing any info i can OwO

(also: jahsvfkjHVKJH SCREAM, have u been enduring my kilometric length luke posts prior to this with no context?? IM SO SORRY AJHVFKJAHSFASF HES JUST....I LOVE THAT GUY...)

[twentiethcenturymoviesandtv]

The Goonies: A Product of the Times

Released in 1985, The Goonies came along right smack in the middle of a decade well-known for its movies centered on youth.  While there are plenty of fond memories of the ‘teen oriented’ films like The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Adventures in Babysitting, Hollywood of the 1980s was focused on more than just the teenagers: it was also pretty heavily focused on what it was like to be a kid.

From Flight of the Navigator, The Explorers, and The Monster Squad to E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial, a lot of the films of the 1980s were about the adventures of people under the age of 14: children.  Ranging from sci-fi to comedy, to horror, to adventure, the movies about kids during this decade of the new and untested were getting as big as everything else: more and more impressive as an entire subgenre of children’s movies starring up-and-coming child stars (Drew Barrymore, Fred Savage, River Phoenix, Corey Haim, and plenty more) sprouted up out of the ground, playing the gambit of genres and allowing children to act in ways that hadn’t been deeply explored before.  These weren’t adult films with roles for children: a lot of these were movies about kids.  

Instead of movies like The Champ or Aliens, starring children in side roles, films like The Goonies, Return to Oz, Stand By Me, and Time Bandits starred kids in the main roles, carrying the stories themselves with incredible performances, broadening the horizons for adventure films about kids, for kids.

Such is The Goonies, a film that really could only have been made in the 1980s.

How do I know that?

Simple.

As we’ve discussed before, no film ever made is separate from the culture it was created in.  Every single movie, television show, radio broadcast, book, newspaper, comic or song ever made has been directly impacted by the culture and other pieces of media surrounding it.

This seems pretty obvious: after all, a product made by people living in a certain kind of culture is going to reflect that culture.  No film is an island, and while that seems pretty self-explanatory and without much need for discussion, in an era with more and more pieces of media debated as to their worth to a modern viewpoint, it leaves those of us who enjoy older movies with a very important question:

How ‘dated’ is too dated?

It’s not as easy a question to answer as it might seem.

See, ‘dated’ is an interesting term.

Typically, the word ‘dated’ is used to apply to anything discernibly created in a specific time period.  It’s synonymous with ‘old fashioned’, when applied to a film, it carries the implication that the movie is less understandable by those looking from outside that particular culture or time period, worsened by the cultural drift.  This would be a film that hasn’t ‘aged well’, most often describing contemporary films of the day.  By contrast, a film that’s considered ‘timeless’ is the exact opposite: a film that remains completely understandable following a change in the culture.  This is a film without a cultural footprint or identity, without any actual context, able to be enjoyed no matter how much time has passed.

These are words that get thrown around a lot in the film world.  There are plenty of arguments over which films are timeless, and which are dated, whether Die Hard shows its age too much to be enjoyed, or whether Commando is too ridiculously ‘80s to be watched in any other context, but the fact is, the argument is a lot more complicated than it seems to be boiled down into.

We’ve talked a lot about definitions, but the fact is, by strict definitions, no movie, or any piece of media ever made, is actually ‘timeless’.  Every film is a product of its times, but that does not mean necessarily that they are defined by their times.  With this in mind, films like The Terminator and Predator, while set and made in the 1980s, are not exactly dated, because they are not defined by the 1980s.  Anyone with the slightest understanding of the idea that times change can accept things like hairstyles, music changes, and special effects.  Like I said, a film is considered ‘dated’ if it is less understandable or enjoyable in hindsight, from a place outside of that specific culture, and things like the movie tips and tricks of decades past are fairly easily forgiven.  

Less easily overlooked are ideas.

If a ‘timeless’ film is a movie not defined by its own times, then a ‘dated’ one is a film that is defined by its culture, typically in a negative way.  

So, the question is: which is The Goonies?

Timeless iconic kid’s adventure film, or dated ‘80s flick?

Well, it’s kind of hard to say at first glance.

By externals, there’s no question.  The way the kids are dressed and Mouth’s use of the word ‘gnarly’ pretty clearly set this film in the mid 1980s, as does the fact that nobody has a cell phone to call their parents.  But as we’ve already established, there’s a bit more to it than that.

The cast is fairly typical of its day: all white except for Rosalita, the Spanish-speaking housekeeper, and mostly male.  The two female Goonies do allow for a little more range than is sometimes portrayed in kid adventure films, with a Tomboy and Girly Girl dynamic that normalizes more than a standard Token Female per group, and even Mama Fratelli (although by no means a role model for young girls) balances out by being a memorable villain, bringing the gender ratio a tiny bit closer to even than a lot of contemporary films.  With that said though, there isn’t really anything that I’d argue idea wise in this sense that dates the film terribly badly, aside from a series of fat jokes at Chunk’s expense and a moment where Andy is given the unfortunately expected treatment of having her date try to look up her skirt, which was considerably more shrugged off at the time (although she does get him for it later, offscreen).

And there are other elements too that indicate that this film is from a different time:

A PG in 1985 for a kid’s film was very different from a PG now, and it shows.  The language used by a lot of the kids, as well as the violence, drug jokes, and other material has proven to shock more than one fan who went back to watch The Goonies as an adult.  And that’s not all: the basic concept of kids banding together in this way, while making a resurgence in the form of Stranger Things, hasn’t really stuck around for very long.

After the 1980s, the ‘band of kids’ adventure story somewhat died out.  By the 1990s, the ‘kid’ adventure stories calmed down, with lower stakes and less danger, and while the trope still appears in ‘retro’ nostalgia pieces, for the most part, we simply don’t see it anymore, and the idea still tends to bring to mind stories like Stand By Me, The Monster Squad, and even It.

It’s just a statement of fact, and not nostalgia, to look at this film and remark: “They don’t make them like this anymore.”  Because they don’t.

In most movies today, kids don’t run around in tunnels, having a blast and looking for buried treasure without their parents or any adult supervision, with their lives in danger, all the while quirky, peppy music assures the audience that everything’s going to be okay.  That’s not necessarily good or bad, it just means times have changed, and that the way that The Goonies was made was directly influenced by the types of movies coming out at the time.

However, while that style may bring to mind the 1980s, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s specifically enjoyed in that era.

As a matter of fact, there’s a lot about The Goonies that’s like that.

The basic premise of the story, while not necessarily common anymore, is still understandable to people decades later.  Just because we no longer dress or talk like 1985 anymore doesn’t mean that the core essentials of the film are rendered completely unrelatable.  Kids still become friends and don’t want to move away from them, that much is understandable.  Even though the style of filmmaking has changed, the characters really haven’t: we all know a Data, or a Mouth, or a Chunk, or a Mikey, sometimes we even are one of them.  Kids understand the danger they’re in: not just losing their lives, but their homes, their friendships.  These characters and their story still ring true decades later, even if there are things about it that point to its creation being set in the mid ‘80s.

In short?

No, The Goonies probably couldn’t have been made today.  But that doesn’t mean it can’t still be enjoyed today.

There’s surprisingly little that actually harmfully dates the film itself, and the film is, in many ways, just as exciting and fun as it was when it was first released.  Honestly, there’s the possibility that due to the lack of movies like it made today, the film actually has a larger impact and is more unique and memorable now than it was in 1985.  

And while the quality of the film has not shifted, as the time around it does, I think we’ll find that as the film gets older, more audiences will continue to discover it, forty, fifty, sixty years later and find that the movie still tugs at a nostalgic part of them and makes them feel like children again.  

The Goonies is a fun, exciting, charming story that has remained beloved so long partially due to nostalgia, but also because people genuinely love the story and characters, proving that a film is ‘timeless’, not because you can tell what decade it was made in, but because it has endured, because people still enjoy it after the culture has changed.

If you can watch The Goonies and love these characters and enjoy their adventure, it doesn’t matter that Mouth is wearing parachute pants or that some of the character cliches haven’t been used in thirty years.  In the end, a film’s quality has little to do with how easily we can tell what time the film was made in, and a lot to do with what it’s about, and how well people remember it.  If that’s the criteria, then The Goonies is pretty timeless.

The Goonies has lasted this long as an ‘80s staple, and an adventure movie classic in general because no matter if it’s 1985 or 2085, people can understand it, enjoy it, and relate to the characters and themes.  And that’s the reason it will continue to endure.  

It’s been over thirty years since those kids first trekked into the caves to save the Goondocks, and the audience for this film has done nothing but grow since then.  The characters and the heart of the film have gone unchanged since then, still entertaining and even touching audience members who remember what it was like to be a kid and want ‘their time’, and they will continue to endure for decades.

Thank you guys so much for reading!  If you have something you’d like to add or say, don’t forget that the comment box is always open!  I hope to see you all in the next article.

[pokeshippingflashfic]

Prompt: Do you like me or something?

(I admit this one actually isn’t in order. I’m having some trouble with the first prompt in line so I’m skipping it for the time being… Sorry…!)

His question comes so suddenly without pretense that you’re not equipped to handle it, neck practically snapping as you turn a sharp, steely gaze on him.

“C - come again?!” you squeak, clearing your throat to suppress your near-hysterical initial response.

“You heard me, didn’t ya? You had to!” The teenage boy’s mouth gapes slightly open at the very idea that you somehow hadn’t been able to do just that when you were both standing only three or so feet apart before he caves with an exasperated sigh and repeats the question. “Okay, Mist, listen close this time. I asked you do you like me or something?”

The sky, the trees, the gravel below your feet; all of it is unexpectedly a lot more interesting to you. Drats! You should have come up with a different response. All you’d done was present him with the opportunity to repeat himself when you should have been distracting him from the topic altogether!

Practically hyperventilating (such a skilled starlet you turned out to be in your darkest hour), you stammer in response, “I - I dunno… That’s… You’re being crazy right now, Ash, absolutely ridiculous! A - as if I would ever f - fall for - or, uh, feel that kinda… What a load of… Wh - where do you even get off? What coulda possibly made you th - think something nuts like that, huh?” you finally finish ever-so eloquently.

Still, you can’t look at him, focusing intensely on the great oak behind him, its branches swaying loftily in the breeze. You have enough consciousness left after defending against such wild accusations and distracting yourself from the reactionary mortification for an internalized berating: How red is your face…? How obvious is your nervous sweating? What in the world could have given you away after so many years holding it all together inside you?!

“Yeah,” Ash agrees almost too quickly after staring you down for a few more seconds, Pikachu mimicking his trainer’s actions from over his shoulder, “Maybe you’re right. It doesn’t make much sense, I guess. And, y’know,” a distinct pause here as he sucks in a deep breath, pushing through his next statement, “it’s not like I’d like you either!”

Oh good. Well at least now you know it and the discussion is over and you two can merrily go about your trek back to Pallet Town together without this long-standing unresolved romantic tension (- what? Where? -) mutual misunderstanding ( - yeah, that’s better! -) between you.

“Except there’s this thing… this thing that’s bothering me.”

Oh. Oh no. This is not the time for Ash Ketchum to be having a mind-melding realization. Not here in this forest with you as the sole other human being around to coax him through it!

You’re mentally panicking so badly that he carries on without you taking the chance to reel him back in.

“See, I’m trying to be, uh… there’s this thing I’m doing. I’m - what’s it called? - ah, I’m perceptive now!”

What?! Since when?! You start screeching on the inside, hands balled into fists so tight that you can feel the pinching of your nails as they dig into your palms. Who would possibly tell Ash Ketchum to start paying attention to the micro-expressions and behaviors of people around him?! Who would doom you like this?!

But you’re frozen, lips clamped shut, eyes wide in frantic terror, imperceptible trembling in your limbs before you think to still them.

Of course, you consider briefly, he could be making it all up. This could be a new way to mess with you, as he’s prone to do on occasion (and, though you’d never admit it aloud, you tend to do the same). Maybe he’s just building up to showing off some new bug-type Pokemon and he doesn’t want you expecting that yet.

“I was thinkin’ how you always act weird around certain other girls who like to get close to me.”

Oh crap.

“That’s dumb,” you scoff.

What a completely innocent and bulletproof reply. Clearly you have the upper hand in this debate. (No but seriously, how is that all you can come up with in your most dire hour…?)

“… Is it?” He appears briefly as if he’s contemplating the possibility before shrugging and continuing on. “Well, I mean, you always get real mad or something, don’t you? Sometimes you start yellin’ a lot or you physically jump in between me and whoever. And it’s always when they do something lovey-dovey.

“So anyway I figure you gotta have a reason to do all that, right?”

He refuses to vocalize the findings of the rest of his investigation until you give a half-hearted affirmative.

“R… right… I guess.”

“So at first I thought, hey, you don’t want me goin’ somewhere or havin’ any fun with girls you don’t know.”

“Yeah, that’s it, you dummy! Took you long enough to realize it!” Gotta latch on to the quickest excuse you can, right…?

“But that still doesn’t make sense. I mean, I know at least that we’re friends, aren’t we?”

“Um…”

“Best friends?” he implores, doe-like eyes staring you down, waiting just long enough for your stiff nod before going on. “Right, so it’s not like you don’t want me making other friends or having fun with them even if they happen to be girls. It’s not like you hate me. And, I mean, you never minded May or Dawn or anyone, did ya? Of course not!” he ends with a hearty guffaw.

“And that’s ‘cause none of ‘em did anything mushy with me, isn’t it? That’s what I’ve been thinking anyway… So my next theory was - or really, it is ‘cause I still think it - that it’s not just about you not wanting me with those other girls,” he pauses dramatically, takes a breath, and you swear you feel the forest floor crumble out from under you, “it’s that you do want me with you, doin’ mushy lovey-dovey stuff with you.

“So yeah, that’s why I finally decided to ask you if you like me. Like love-like.”

Oh great. Now, after all that’s been said, you can’t keep yourself from looking at him! What are you supposed to do after all this? Do you deny it? What’s your excuse? More than that, what’s even the point?

A hollow feeling floods your heart. Two or three years ago when you two had gone your separate ways, you’d told yourself you knew how he felt and that you could be patient while he grew up and figured it out on his own. You didn’t want to force your feelings on him after all. Not to mention you’d had some independent growing to do as well, and running the gym had done you a lot of good since then… But still…

Your world ends with Ash Ketchum telling you he finally truly does understand your feelings… mere moments after divulging also that he can’t be bothered to reciprocate them. A significant piece of you begs the question: What’s changed in your three or so years apart… And the rest tells you to shrug off the rejection, move on, don’t bother wasting another thought.

“So now will ya tell me if I’m right?” he asks despite your tragic extended silence, and you think to slap him, push him away, punish him for putting you in this situation. Like he has the right to tell you to bear your soul after what he’s done!

Instead, you let out a long shallow breath in defeat, blinking away the burn at the corners of your eyes and folding your arms over your chest as if wrapping yourself up for comfort you’re in desperate need of.

“… Yeah, Ash. I… I’ve liked you for a long time now. I didn’t… well, I guess I’d hoped you would at some point… but I really didn’t think you’d ever figure it out really.” Leaving no opportunity for the conversation to wear on your nerves and worn heartstrings, you turn on your heel, “Now can we head back to Pallet Town?”

“Ah, wait a sec!” Ash responds, reaching out and grabbing you by the wrist. “S - so it’s really true? But then… well, I guess I’ll just say it.

“That’s cool, Mist. I romantic-like you too. Well…” he fumbles as you double-take, mouth slacking open and brows knitted in confusion, “I guess I can only say I think I do. I was thinking about it some, like, thinking of things that people might do when they like someone else like that and it… they were nice thoughts… Anyway, I’m open to trying it out with you and finding out for sure!”

“B - but you said you didn’t!”

“Didn’t… what?”

“Like me! That was only, like, five minutes ago, Mr. Pokemon Master!” you respond harshly, tugging your hand away and glaring in fury.

“Oh, that? Well,” he shrugs nonchalantly, “I was lying.”

What… what… what the heck! You think it so loudly, the start of an intense ache reverberates inside your head.

“I mean, what else was I gonna do when I wasn’t one hundred percent sure how you felt, huh?” he asks as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Besides, you couldn’t be honest with me… I thought it was only fair that I shouldn’t be honest with you either.”

[nightsky-wonderer]

The Curious Case of Comets

Comets.  Fascinating dirty snowballs in space.  The apparent symbol for the Dark Kingdom, suspected hidden power source of Varian’s, and possible origin of the Dark Kingdom’s opal.  Here, I share some cool info about why these celestial bodies are so interesting, as well as a fun, personal insight how our favourite alchemist may parallel them in some ways; possible support for the Comet!Varian Theory?

 (Whoever came up with this theory first, I wish to credit you!)

UPDATE 1.1 few fixes and new thoughts.  Probably more after tent-pole episode

Part 1: The Science (Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)

 - Comets are small celestial bodies composed of ice, dust and rock.  Also contains multiple forms of organic compounds and gasses (e.g. carbon dioxide, amino acids, methane, ammonia, etc.)

- Observational studies, such as the splitting of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 and 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann, and space missions (e.g. Deep Impact, Rosetta), help suggest that comets are very fragile objects!  Some of the suspected mechanisms behind splitting nuclei include tidal splitting, direct impact, thermal stress, and internal gas pressure (more about splitting mechanisms here).  The internal structure, however, is a topic still left up for debate. 

- Comets start out dark and frozen in deep space.  Upon reaching the inner solar system, they begin to heat up, outgas, and brighten.  The sublimated gasses form an ‘atmosphere’ around the nucleus called the Coma.  Eventually, the comet forms two tails.  The Ion (or Gas) Tail is a result of ionized (removal of electrons) molecules from the coma, and is pulled away by solar wind along magnetic field lines.  They appear narrow and blue in colour, and always point straight, away from the sun.  The Dust Tail appears long and curved, and also is influenced by solar wind.

- If the Coma is mostly composed of Cyanogen (CN) and/or Diatomic Carbon (C2), UV Radiation will cause these gasses in the Coma to glow green or teal (blue-green).  Examples of comets that appeared this way: Comet Hyakutake (1996), 109P/Swift-Tuttle, 2P/Encke, C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy.

- Some observers use the teal/green colour as an indicator that the comet is in an active phase, where experiencing outbursts are high, and that parts of its nucleus is more vulnerable to splitting apart!  Such events, however, are rare.

- There are currently 3,564 comets observed and named, but only a small fraction become naked eye visibility, with even less receiving the title of Great Comet (Those that become exceptionally bright!  e.g. Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997).  There are possibly trillions beyond the orbit of Neptune waiting to be discovered!

- Comets travel in highly elliptical orbits, each one varying in time to make one revolution.  Short Period comets (e.g. Halley’s Comet) originate from the Kuiper belt, and are guaranteed to return within 200 years.  Long Period comets (e.g. Hale-Bopp) take much longer and may not return for thousands of years!  They sometimes appear as the most spectacular to view, due to its abundance of volatiles from their minimal visits to the solar system.  Can be found in the Oort Cloud.  Sungrazers get very close to the sun upon perihelion (closest distance from sun).  They usually evaporate away if they have a small mass.  However, there are a rare few that actually survive the trip.

- More frequent visits to the solar system results in more of the comet’s volatiles and contents getting lost, eventually leaving a rocky core behind!

- Scientific theories portray comets as both the destroyers (e.g. younger dryas), and the creators of life (e.g. emergence of life billions of years ago).

Part 2: Legends and Superstitions (Sources: 1, 2)

- Due to their unpredictable natures and appearances, many ancient cultures saw comets as a message from their gods, and an omen for impending disasters and negative superstitions.

- Ancient legends also helped fuel this negative association with comets (e.g. The Babylonian “Epic of Gilgamesh” describing about floods and fire once a comet arrives).

- They were also blamed for some of history’s darkest moments (e.g. Julius Caesar’s death, the Black Death in England)

- Cause of scares: When Halley’s Comet returned in 1910, a rumour spread about a poisonous gas being emitted from the comet.  People rushed to grab gas masks and other innovative objects, such as ‘anti-comet’ umbrellas, to help them avoid the supposed danger.

- Natal chart superstition: If comets are present within a person’s natal chart at birth, the person “could be an innovative thinker, and could be associated with shocks, too.  These people may carry out actions to release or may have an overwhelming influence over large groups.  Their attitude and traits may be unpredictable.”(Rod Chang, 2014)

Fun Facts:

- The word, Comet, comes from the Greek word, komētēs, meaning “long-haired (star)”. The Icelandic word, halastjarna, translates as “tail star”, which the Chinese referring to them “long-tailed pheasant stars”, “broom stars,” and “vile stars”.

- Asteroid 2015 TB145, theorized to be an extinct comet, looks just like a skull!

- Just for fun - Colour Scheme: Black nucleus, Blue ion tail, Grey/Yellowish-White dust tail, sometimes Teal/Green Coma.

- Debris left behind by comets are responsible for some of Earth’s annual meteor showers! (e.g. Perseids, Orionids, Leonids)

Connections/Parallels with Varian

Now finally, for the fun part.  

First of all, the Moon theory, created by @ghosta-r , is great! Really well-analysed and has strong evidence (also, please read @nyxglitch ‘s post, it’s very well-done!).   However, there is still that feeling where Canon appears to be bringing lunar symbolism towards a different direction, or a different character. Assuming the hints from “Vigor the Visionary” are pointing towards the Dark Prince theory (created by @forever-tangledup), it may be the crew wish to present the sun/moon relationship in a more romantic direction. There is a chance, however, one or two theories end up being true, or none at all in the end, but it does not stop the fun of speculation before they’re officially debunked!

Keep note, these are just my opinions, and fun personal take on Varian’s potential comet parallels, and you are free to disagree with them.

1. Omens for disaster: 

A.) This one, I felt, was pretty obvious.  Varian has been labeled “a dangerous wizard” in “What the hair”, and in the second half of season 1, was being labelled as “dangerous” in general.  It seems that both Varian and comets are the go-to things to place blame for negative superstition.  However, Varian did rightfully earn his first title for his unpredictable experiments-gone-wrong. 

B.) Interestingly, this negative reputation shares a similar parallel with opals being associated with “bad luck” and other superstitions.

2. Colour palette:  

A.)  From the colours identified, I feel that a majority, more specifically, ¾ colours match up with Varian (Blue, Black, Teal). I do admit, however, that the colours of his shirt and hair stripe can be very tricky to the eyes sometimes.  In some scenes, it appears blue, while in others, it appears greener; I even had trouble deciding which colours to use while making my cosplay.  On the other hand, I think it may be safe to say that the colours are more in the blue-green region.

B.)  The yellowish-white colours appear more prominently when the comet has released enough gas and dust to reflect the sun’s light, usually when it is getting close to perihelion.  This tends to dull out the teal colours of the coma most times.  

C.)  Most of us would probably not be familiar with green comets; Most of the Great Comets talked about in the news are white and bright, and this is due to its close approach to the sun and/or the size of its nucleus (with the exception of Hyakutake, which was small, but made a very close approach to earth). A majority of comets are much fainter, and barely make it to impressive naked eye visibility, thus don’t make the headlines as much.

3. Messenger of the gods: Ok, deities are not really presented, nor do they play much of a role in the series, so this may be a weak point.  However, the first thing that came into my mind was Varian’s appearances in Rapunzel’s nightmares.  More specifically, the one where Varian delivers the message to “face [her] destiny” or all will be lost.  I suppose in a metaphorical sense, the rocks (the gods) send Varian (the messenger/comet) to deliver Rapunzel an important message.

4. Elliptical orbits (one that will be difficult to explain :p):  

A.)  @mycove has mentioned in a recent post that the comet’s elliptical orbit describes Varian’s relationship with Rapunzel and her friends: sometimes far, sometimes close.  Everyone started out as friends in the beginning, but as season 1 came to an end, Varian became very cold and distant from the group.

B.)  Comets remain dark and invisible until they reach a certain distance within the inner solar system, where they increasingly receive solar energy to finally shine.  This is similar to what @nyxglitch described Varian and the Moon in their post: “small and insignificant… also cold and duels in the night, yet needs the sun in order to shine, otherwise it is eclipsed and left in the dark.”  Almost every object in the solar system needs the sun to shine light on them in order to make a noticeable appearance in the night sky.  In terms of plot, Varian’s biggest relevance and actions, being a plot device, occur when he is more involved with Rapunzel (the sun).

C.)  Assuming the comet’s brightness can also symbolize Varian’s actions and influence, the more he interacted with Rapunzel, the more said actions and influence became more noticeable and felt in Corona.  Just like how as a comet became brighter, the more noticeable it became to display both its beauty and its horrors upon mankind. 

D.)  As comets lose more of themselves with each return to the inner solar system, Varian appears to be losing more of himself (his sanity) with each progressing encounter with Rapunzel, notably in the second half of season 1.

5. Fragile Nucleus

A.)   It’s no surprise that Varian is fragile, being presented to be very prone to accidents and injuries. He even suffered a mental breakdown by SOTSD.

B.)  Comets release more gas and dust, and become brighter as it approaches the sun.  But at what cost? Comets experience outbursts that may contribute to self-fragmentation; some end up evaporating completely if they get too close to the sun, and all sorts of other things happen to them that result in the comet losing its volatiles, weakening its structure, and even end up being destroyed completely.  Similar to point D for Elliptical Orbit, Varian’s actions in Corona progressively became very noticeable and felt as he continued to react to Rapunzel’s light, but at the same time, the price of doing so results in his own self-destruction.

6. Natal Chart Superstition: I feel as if these words described Varian very well. Even though natal charts have no involvement in the series, it’s fun to think if his personality is playing along the lines or referencing this superstition.

7. What the hair?! *Literally*

A.) In the Moon Theory, Varian’s hair stripe can be seen as a crescent moon on one side.  In terms of this theory, it could also be seen as a teal-coloured comet streaming across the night sky.  The pointiest part of the stripe is the nucleus, then the rest left/upward from it curves and streams out like it’s tail!

B.) Comets appear to have their longest and curviest tails around perihelion, aka the point they’re most vulnerable to evaporate.  This could be visual foreshadowing (get too close to the sun, and you’ll burn!). 

Overall, I am excited to see how the series concludes regardless of whatever theory is confirmed; I’m sure whatever the crew has up their sleeves, it will be satisfying.

[buffythecomicslayer]

Excerpt from Slayer, book 2: Chosen, by Kiersten White

The world is quiet now.

It used to be so loud. So much chatter, beating, drumming, buzzing buzzing buzzing. The buzzing of it all. It used to keep him awake at night, inescapable, like mites crawling through his veins. Sometimes he would scratch at his arms until they bled, but even the bleeding never dampened the buzzing.

Until it stopped. All the lines to and from the world, all the hungry beings clawing and sucking and pawing at it, everything cut off.

But not him. He is still here. And with everything quiet, he can finally focus. He’s powerless, which is unfortunate but temporary. Everything here is temporary. He will not be.

He strokes his arms, smooth and unscarred, so deceptively human-looking. But he is no human. And this world, this quiet world, this cut-off and free-floating world, this magic-less and empty world, this unprotected and uncontested world, this waiting world—

He will be its god, and everyone will buzz with him beneath their veins, they will breathe and bleed and live and die for him, and it will be good.

Amen.

1

The demon appears out of nowhere. Claws and fangs fill my sight, and every instinct screams kill. My blood sings with it, my fists clench, my vision narrows. The vulnerable points on the demon’s body practically flash like neon signs.

“Foul!” Rhys shouts. “No teleportation, Tsip! You know that.” Even while playing, Rhys can’t help but be a Watcher, shouting out both advice and corrections. He’s not wearing his glasses, which makes his face look vague and undefined. Cillian passes him, mussing Rhys’s carefully parted hair into wild curls and laughing at Rhys’s frustration.

I take a deep breath, trying to clear my head of the impulse to kill this demon I invited into our home and swore to protect. “It’s just soccer,” I whisper. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t even like soccer.”

“Football, bloody American,” Cillian sings, neatly stealing the ball from me. His shorts are far shorter than the January afternoon should permit, but he seems impervious to cold. Unlike those of us who are translucently pale at this point in winter, his skin is rich and lovely. He passes to Tsip. Tsip is a vaguely opalescent pink, shimmering in the sunlight. She paints her claws fun colors when we do manicure nights and I try desperately not to miss Artemis.

I stay rooted to the ground where I’m standing. Tsip caught me off guard, but that shouldn’t matter. I like her. And the fact that I went from trying to score a goal to plotting a dozen ways to kill my opponent in a single heartbeat is frankly terrifying. I can’t get my heart under control, can’t shake the adrenaline screaming through my veins.

“Gotta take over for the Littles. I’m out.” I wave and jog from the field. No one pays me much attention. Jade is lying on the ground in front of the goal, the worst goalkeeper ever. Rhys and Cillian are body-checking each other in increasingly flirty ways. Tsip keeps shimmering and then resolidifying as she remembers the no-teleportation rule. They’re all happy to keep going without me, unaware of my internal freak-out.

I’ve deliberately kept them unaware. Things here are going so well. I’m in charge. I can’t be the problem. So none of them know how I can’t sleep at night, how my anger is hair-trigger fast, how when I do manage to sleep, my dreams are...

Well. Bad.

They don’t need to know and I don’t let them. Except for Doug, his bright yellow skin almost nineties Day-Glo levels in the thin winter sun. Annoying emotion-sniffing demon. He watches me from our goal, his nostrils flared. I can’t lie to him the way I can to everyone else. I shake my head preemptively. I don’t want to talk about it. Not with him. Not with anyone. There’s only one person I want to talk to about it, but Leo Silvera’s not exactly available.

I do a quick sweep of the perimeter of the castle. Leo loved me. Check the woods. Leo betrayed me. Check the locks on the outbuildings. Leo saved me. Pause and just listen and look, feeling for anything pushing against my instincts. I let Leo die.

I keep walking. Leo loved me, betrayed us, saved us, and then died, and I can’t be sad without being mad or mad without feeling guilty or guilty without feeling exhausted.

Past the meadow, the tiny purple demons are taking turns pushing each other on the tree swing. That, or they’re trying to push each other off. It’s hard to tell with them. With nothing else needing my attention outside, I end up at the front stairs to the castle.

“Hey, Jessi.” I wave halfheartedly to our resident vengeance demon. She’s leading the Littles through an elaborate game of hopscotch. George Smythe, bundled up and barely able to see under a floppy knit hat, is shouting each letter as he lands on it. “G!”

“What?” Jessi snaps at me.

“E!”

“I can take over for you.” I find the Littles soothing. They might be three incredibly hyper children constantly needing snacks, entertainment, and education, but at least none of them ever randomly triggers a kill reflex in me.

“A!”

“No,” Jessi says, her voice as sweet as summer fruit. “G-E-what-comes-next...”

“O!” George course corrects, wobbling on one short leg before jumping to the required O.

“Good! Oh, you’re so clever. Priya, how are your letters coming?” Priya, a tiny moppet with shiny black hair, is crouched over her own chalk work, which looks more like Klingon than any alphabet I’m familiar with. “Very good, darling! You’re really working hard. Hold the chalk with one hand, like we talked about. Thea, love, fingers out of noses, please — that’s a dear.”

And to think, we once considered these children the entire future of the Watchers. I watch as Thea spins until she falls flat on her bottom. Actually, the future of the Watchers is pretty accurately captured here. I pat Jessi on the arm. “So, you can take the afternoon off.”

Everything sweet in Jessi’s voice turns to ice. “I said no. I don’t trust you with these three precious wonders. We have an entire day’s curriculum to get through, and we haven’t even done story time yet or finished our art projects. Are you going to do any of that with them?”

“I— I could?”

“You were going to turn on a cartoon and read while their fertile minds were filled with weeds.”

Jessi doesn’t have her powers anymore, but I’m pretty certain if she did, I would have been vengeance-demoned right into something oozing and seeping. She’s already turned away from me and back to her three charges. Her whole face is full of gentle warmth and absolute love.

“R!” George declares, hopping emphatically down on it. Jessi claps like he’s cured the common cold.

Thoroughly dismissed, I skulk up the stairs and into the castle. Jessi could at least pretend to be nice. She’s got a lot of enemies out there — vengeance is a nasty cycle — and without her powers she’s vulnerable. We took her in despite her obvious hatred for everyone over the age of ten. There was some debate, given her history, but my mom argued in her favor. It’s a little easier to forgive a vengeance demon who made it her immortal life’s work to avenge children than a vengeance demon who specialized in, say, fantasy league sports rivalries.

But Jessi’s dismissal leaves me with nothing to do. I used to have my medical center and my studies, all my little Watcher duties. Even with so few of us, the castle ran as near to Watcher traditions as we could manage. Which in retrospect was absurd, since we didn’t have a Slayer and weren’t actually doing anything Watchers should.

But now everything has changed. We lost Watchers — Wanda Wyndam-Pryce, sulking off into the sunset, good riddance. Bradford Smythe, murdered. Eve Silvera, secretly a succubus demon and murderer, smushed thanks to my actions. Artemis, off to find herself with her awful girlfriend, the thought of whom makes my jaw ache as I grind my teeth. And Leo, who didn’t warn us what his mother was (and what he was) but fought her to give us enough time to stop her from opening a new hellmouth.

And now we have a Slayer, again some more, thanks to Leo somehow returning the powers his mother stole from me. I don’t know how he did it, and it hurts too much to think about, like everything else. I spend so much of my days trying not to think, and it’s harder than it should be. I used to believe that all Slayers did was act without thinking. I was wrong, but I wish it were true. There’s so little acting and so much thinking these days.

It’s good. It’s all good. It’s good, I remind myself, over and over like a chant. Sanctuary, what we decided to turn our castle into, is just starting out, but it’s exactly what we dreamed it could be. We’ve taken in demons who had nowhere else to go. We’re keeping them safe, and ourselves safe, and we’ll keep looking for those who could benefit from the generations of knowledge and abilities we have. We’re protecting, not attacking or destroying.

Between our new demonic additions and existing Watchers, everyone has tasks and times to do them. It’s more work than anyone anticipated, keeping everyone taken care of and fed, making sure the castle runs like it should. But so far everyone is happy. Everyone is safe.

I sink down against the wall, feeling the cold of the stone radiating outward. The unpellis demon, all four gentle eyes soft and brown and hopeful, snuggles up to my side like a dog. It’s more animal than human in nature, nonverbal, and still recovering from its frequent de-skinning treatment in Sean’s demon-drug manufacturing scheme. I saved Pelly from that cellar.

I didn’t save everyone, though.

I wrap my arms around Pelly and close my eyes. Everything is exactly what we dreamed it could be. Except I feel Leo’s loss everywhere, and I miss my twin, Artemis, with a constant, physical ache.

And, worst of all, with enough time after Tsip surprised me to calm down and remind my body there’s no danger...

I still feel like killing something.

[erlenmeyertrash]

Once you get this, you have to say five things you like about yourself, publicly. Then you have to send this to ten of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool).

positivity IS cool my dude. and i’m going to extremely challenge myself by finding the time i did this MONTHS ago (e o n s) and making myself do five OTHER things. because self positivity is hella cool. oh queso

…now i’m mad because i already used two of the ones i thought of uGH

alsO get ready for the ramblies under the cut because :) i :) like :) to :) talk :) it’s just me fleshing out each one for literally no other reason that the aforementioned/extremely obvious love of the ramblies

the shortened version is: 1. i like that i want to fill spaces; 2. i like that i have an independent self from other people or ideas; 3. i like that i can both talk and listen; 4. i like that i’m not afraid to speak in public; and 5. i like that i have a life plan

1. i like that i want to fill spaces. i like that i have this section of my bedroom wall covered in sticky notes and notecards of quotes that i like; i like that i have this burning desire to decorate my new bedroom/living room when i move (in august i caNT WAIT) with a tapestry and pretty curtains and throw pillows and little plant bowls. i like that when i get my first house i already know i want nice-smelling candles in like every room and shelves full of books and mementos and pictures lining a hall or a shelf or two. i love designing or rearranging or making a space feel clean yet lived-in, and i love that i love it. 

2. i like that i have an independent self from other people. in the past, i’ve been the type of person to mold my personality to certain groups- from like second or third grade all the way up to last year, i remember doing it. it’s happened in past relationships, too. it’s like ‘oh, this person seems to like when i showcase X aspect of my personality, better Do That All The Time Forever Around Them.’ it’s negatively affected me at times, whether it’s been changing my personality/viewpoint on things to something i now regret (the whole Being Mean And Eternally Sarcastic/Aloof Is Cool in middle/early high school deal) or simply exhausting me from trying to be something that i am, but not totally am (pretending to always be happy when that’s physically impossible to do, thereby ignoring negative emotions and never properly dealing with them). i’m forever clingy and an incessant people-pleaser, but it morphed into attempting to change or hide parts of who i was in order to keep people around. i’ve only recently been strongly attempting to change this part of me by forcing myself first to realize it’s okay to be who i am, even if parts can seem contradictory (being social one day and wanting to be a recluse the next). i’m in a relationship rn (for those of you who remember That God-Awful Drama With Snow White, yes, it’s still the jo bro, he’s p darn cool), and i decided right off the bat to throw caution to the wind and totally be my weird self around him with changing moods and steadfast ideas. sometimes it makes me uncomfortable when our opinions clash, or self-conscious when my brain tells me “oh, he’s going to get tired of you being like X, you need to not do that/not tell him when you feel like this,” but i think it’s helped me grow as a person and made us closer. i’ve realized people who care about you will understand you can’t always or never be/feel a certain way and they’re totally fine with it. b a s i c a l l y i like that i ‘found’ who i was and have learned to be more accepting of it. and yes i could keep going with this :)))))

3. i like that i can talk (woahhh never woulda guessed right) and listen. i used to always feel like (and was told by some people) i talked Too Much™ and never listened to people. it made me feel ridiculously self-centered and try and shut myself up or exclude myself from conversations for fear of shutting others out. the issue was that i did enjoy listening to people; i think, looking back, part of it was just my age/maturity level!! and wanting to say the Perfect thing to be accepted and fit in to whatever group. now, i think i’ve found a more healthy balance. i’m more aware of when it is and isn’t a good time to have a longer discussion; i’m more capable of not interrupting (or if i do, apologizing and holding my tongue, and knowing they’re not crucifying me for it). i’m also able (and love) to sit back and listen to someone ramble about something they feel strongly about or have a unique opinion on. i think i like this about me because i like being heard- so much to where i realize others probably also like it, and i appreciate that i’m able to accommodate it from both perspectives.

4. (a continuation of 3 but still its own thing) i like that i’m not afraid (or. well. no longer completely terrified) to speak in public. sure it can freak me out sometimes; but i was in a high school organization (mock trail anyone? yeah r i p) that forced you to basically perform an hour-long improv show that combined acting with wits and being able to think on the fly (all while wearing a gross suit. like. cmon.). i was in charge of freak fracking closing arguments, which- if you’ve ever watched a Lawyer Show- is the one at the end where they have to make a persuasive speech to the jury entirely based on what transpired in the case. since the events of the case always changed based on your opponent/judge/etc., i had to prepare this five-minute speech as the case was going (while being involved in the case itself as an attorney) and then, once the case was over, immediately present it to the jury of (Real Actual Adult) attorneys. the first few times i did it, i was so scared. but when you’re forced to do something outside of your comfort zone enough times, your comfort zone can morph to accept it (note!!! that this is not me telling you to force yourself far outside of your comfort zone. you don’t see me signing up for Cliff Diving Camp here). it helped me learn how to better carry myself; i can tell it helped my conversational and debating skills, especially with superiors or adults who are More Adultish than me. it helped me learn how to cope better with the jumble of nerves i (still) get before speaking to multiple people or crowds. 

5. i like that i have a life plan. i especially like that i can modify parts of said plan and still believe that i can reach my goals and be happy and content with my life. the current plan is survive these next two years of college, apply to pharmacy school, get into pharmacy school, kick pharmacy school’s butt, and then get a rockin, well-paying permanent job with decent hours so i can play with Oggo and buy him Every Single Toy That Exists In The Universe.

3 and 4 combined have helped me learn how to be more assertive with my thoughts and self(™) and know how to get what i want- which in turn forced me to learn what the heck i wanted, therefore leading into 2 and 5 and discovering 1. and writing all this has made me realize that while i do still have issues with self-confidence, i actually really do like parts of who i am. so thank you anon for this lil burst of confidence on this fine saturday morning ily ♡♡♡

[ourinnergalaxy-blog]

well this has basically become my diary blog because its gotten to the point that i feel like i can’t talk about my problems on any platform that people might actually fucking see them on

But anyway, today’s random stress rant is about being trans masc/trans male and the way that makes me feel like I can’t voice my fears, frustrations, and concerns. This is actually compounded by the fact that I’m white passing, thin, and can sometimes actually pass as male. 

There’s so many positivity posts about how being trans, being non-binary, etc isn’t just “thin/white/masculine”. And I’m here for it. I really am. I don’t want a world where only people who look similar to me are taken seriously about their identity. I make sure to take time to recognize the struggles of those less privileged than me and recognize their triumphs (especially by liking a thousand selfies because OH GOSH ARE YOU PEOPLE ABSOLUTELY KILLING IT OUT THERE I LOVE YOU)! 

But then every time something goes wrong within the trans community, I see it blamed on passing/white/transmasc folk. I’ve seen it several times now, with varying degrees of vitriol. I don’t... blame anyone really... Maybe it really is our fault (”our” used loosely because, despite my general passing as white, my father is black). I don’t really know because, while I do consider myself to be somewhat connected with the trans community, I don’t go out of my way to be a fan of other trans people by the virtue of them being trans (in large part because I spent a few years deeply ingrained in fandom of certain Youtubers and ended up meeting them in person and finding out they were all either racist, apathetic, or abusive (or all three)). So who knows. Maybe it is only the white and passing trans men who turn truscum. I guess I personally would not know (and perhaps that in itself is a privilege).

I guess what I’m kind of trying to get to here is that I still don’t know how to come to terms with being part of an oppressive group within an oppressed group. It’s always been like this where... things absolutely do hurt and affect me, but I’m instructed not to say anything about it because I’m still less hurt than others. 

As half black, half white but white passing... racism directly affects me and my family whom I love. But I can’t say anything because I look too white to be offended by this stuff. I’m not allowed to explore my black identity because I’m too white and would be an invasive pest. I sometimes hate that my parents didn’t just marry within their own races so I’d at least know where the fuck I stood with all this rather than exist in this eternal racial limbo of “too privileged for this but too affected by that”.

As trans masc, there’s obviously the constant debate over if I have male privilege/how far that extends (to the point that I don’t honestly know and I’m so new to existing fully as male that I haven’t been able to make the determination myself as it doesn’t feel like I’m being treated differently yet). I’m not allowed to mention bathrooms. If I do, I get met with this overwhelming positivity that makes me want to fucking vomit (yOu CaN dO iT HuNnY JuSt Be CoNfIdEnT!!!) or I’m rebuked saying that trans women have it worse. WHICH THEY DO AND I AM NOT TRYING TO DEBATE THAT AT ALL. However, the result is that I can’t talk about how much I fear making eye contact with other men in the bathroom. I can’t talk about how I pray to the fucking gods that there’s no reason at all that I would have to open my mouth and say something out loud while in the bathroom. I can’t talk about how I fear going to the bathroom with my male friends and family members because I don’t want them to speak to me while other men are present. I can’t talk about how much I fucking dread the day someone finds out I’m not cis in a public bathroom. Being called out for it isn’t necessarily the issue. It’s the fact that cis men are fucking dangerous. They’re violent and cruel and dangerous and any one of them could be the one who wants to hurt me or r//pe me for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. With the wrong body. But, oh no, I can’t talk about that because I do pass pretty well. And I’m not as obvious an “intrusion” as other people might feel. And I’m not the right gender. 

As a thin person, I can’t speak on body positivity. Despite how the bullying I experienced for most of my school years revolved completely around my appearance (including the fact that I am so deathly thin). I can’t talk about how shameful it felt to be told by my friends (friends used loosely) that they were going to tie me down and feed me unhealthy foods. I can’t talk about how constantly aware I am of how very small and very VERY vulnerable I am. My body makes me a target, and this isn’t just a distant fear or guess. I’ve been assaulted because my small form makes me an easy target for violence. I can’t talk about how, now as a man, I feel shame over my tiny frame and the way it makes it impossible for me to shop for men’s clothing. I can’t talk about the embarrassment of shopping in the “boys” section and praying to god they have a shirt I can wear that doesn’t have fucking dinosaurs on it (I like dinosaurs as much as the next guy, if not more, but I want a dress shirt that makes me look like an adult thanks). 

I JUST FEEL LIKE EVERY ASPECT OF MY LIFE HAS SET ME UP TO BE IN A SITUATION WHERE I’M NOT ALLOWED TO COMPLAIN BECAUSE I DON’T HAVE IT AS BAD AS OTHERS!

This doesn’t even touch on mental illness yet, but I don’t want to get into that because I’m still trying to figure out this whole fucking thing and I just don’t want to dig myself a deeper hole right now because it’s a constant stress and FUCK do i just wish i knew what was going on for sure already

I’m really trying my best not to end off this rant by saying “but it’s okay” or some other variant. Because I do that all the time. I’ve internalized all of this and now I silence myself on important matters. Or I make light of them. Or end off my complaints by saying “well someone else has it worse”. Yes, that’s true, but sometimes I need to own my own pain. I need to make that the subject, not the billions of other people who are, yes, also suffering. Sometimes I should be the focus, right? At least to one person? At least to myself...

[ramon-salamander]

Ok, now tell me everything that I didn't learn from the serial *lays on floor* shower me with your headcanons

OOC:

OOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WITH PLEASURE!!!!!~ I’ma put this under a read more because I’ve got A LOT. But I know they’re are some that I’ve forgotten, so if anyone wants to remind us of any, feel free!

I’ll also just say: there ARE implications of abuse in the last one. I’ve put it between warnings, but please still tread carefully if you decide to read on.

((I should point out to begin with that this blog, if it isn’t already obvious, is V E R Y canon-divergent, to the point it’s its own AU I guess????))

-Motherfucker loves butterflies. Has a giant book on them. (You can blame this one on the Target novelization.)

-The Doctor’s comments about him being ‘a sort of Jekyll and Hyde character’ hits closer than one may think: Ramon and Salamander are two different consciousness who share a body. Whether Salamander is a lost soul who happened to attach themselves to Ramon or a split personality is up for debate. (Nemesio shares a different but similar idea to the first, but I’m still working on the other parts for that.)

-It’s Salamander who is in control for the majority of The Enemy of the World. No one knows for sure when he takes over and suppresses Ramon’s consciousness to a restrained but still aware degree. Certain moments that seem odd (his facial expression right after Benik turns to leave him in episode 4, for example) are really Ramon fighting back.

-Hides a really old stuffed animal in one of his pockets at all times. His name is Senor Stuffy and Ramon has had him so long that’s the poor thing is nothing more than a small pile of rags with buttons held together by stitches and love.

-Hilariously, Salamander’s spiel to Fedorin about volcanos in episode 2 is an echo of something his father Efrain had told Ramon when he was a kid.

-On the subject of parents (and a much lighter note), his mother Yesenia was a kind woman who only wanted the best for her son, but ultimately agreed with her husband that Salamander was nothing but the product of an overactive imagination. (I don’t remember who sent this one, but I love it a lot still.)

-Do not talk to this man about cats. You will never hear the end of it.

-Ramon is falsely accused of murder around a year before the SunStore is scheduled to launch. Nothing ever comes of it, and his success strikes it from his record.

-This blog’s Ramon comes from a timeline where TEotW takes place in the book’s timeline.

-I’m still trying to figure out how Hispanic naming customs work but from what I can gather I would like you to meet my muse Ramon Cassiel Salamander Reyes. (I know the second first name isn’t supposed to be a middle name in the traditional sense shhhhhh. There’s also some sick sort of symbolism in the maternal last name.)

-Grew up with only one true friend only to later learn that same kid is actually his half-brother.

-The only reason he escapes the Vortex with his mind intact is because he technically dies within minutes of entering it. The next thing he knows, Father Kreiner is standing over what he thinks is a cadaver, but has actually been revived upon being taken into the Horror. He remains Kreiner’s guinea pig for a year, and has horrible nightmares because of it. (On this blog, he hates the anons who bring up the Vortex and Kreiner the most.)

-The Vortex actually had a strange impact on his body: sometimes small tears will appear in time, allowing him to travel unguarded through the Vortex. This is all done unwillingly, and has strangely never happened while he’s inside a TARDIS. No one is exactly sure why.

-Met Giles Kent in a pub in Sussex.

-Literally 0 pain medication tolerance. Give this man an advil and he’s DOWN.

-I’ma pin the blame on @rose-of-pollux for this one, but he’s a closet Zelda fan. Ask him which is his favorite, I dare you.

-Hair is at maximum fluff after’s he’s just gotten up for the day.

-Probably beat the tar out of his fair share of tormentors in his childhood with a book. His parents were never pleased with this.

-Once managed to get a piece of fruit off the top branch of a tree with nothing but a piece of paper. Raul still isn’t sure how.

-His birthday is March 25, placing him at around 47/48 years old during the events of TEotW.

-Ramon/Salamander has also been wearing the same boots since then; the former because they’re comfortable, the latter because they’re stylish (and the style won’t be made for another 15+ years).

-He’s got a birthmark in the crease between his waist and thigh (and I blame @leda74 for this one as it was originally her idea).

(TRIGGER WARNING)

- I’ve spent the last ten minutes trying to figure out how to word what a piece of garbage his father Efrain, who ironically is the same person that gave him Stuffy, was and honestly the fact that Ramon is actually thankful Salamander suppresses most of his memories of the man should be enough, I think.

(WARNING OVER)

[d33-alex]

A Game for Our Time

The eerily contemporary morality of HBO’s Game of Thrones

In 2011, HBO gambled. It launched a massive, sprawling fantasy franchise around a story — George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire book series — that was popularly known mainly in the nerd circles that read epic fantasy. Sure, the books were hits, but they were also difficult to adapt for any screen, big or small. And if HBO wanted to capitalize on the recent, runaway box-office success of the film adaptations of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series, one could think of any number of books better suited for television.

But HBO rolled the dice anyway. Backing then–relatively unknown creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, it went anti-Tolkien. Indeed, if you dared to call their creation “Tolkienesque,” the esteemed deceased English author might well rise from the grave in protest.

No, HBO’s show — called “Game of Thrones” after the first book in Martin’s series — bears little resemblance to Tolkien’s fantastic tales. Tolkien launched an entire literary genre of world-building fantasy, and after decades of thinly veiled copycats, fans had grown used to its customs. Plucky heroes in magic-filled worlds would take on the forces of darkness — often with the indispensable aid of powerful artifacts and talismans. The books and stories were fun, and I devoured more than my share of similar novels, but after almost 60 years of the same thing, it all seemed just a little bit tired.

Enter Martin. Like Tolkien, Martin is a master at creating vivid fictional worlds, complete with their own extensive backstories, religions, languages, and customs. But there the similarity ends. In Tolkien’s tales, magic is of paramount importance, the good is very, very good, and the evil is obvious and horrifying. Tolkien was a veteran of World War I, and he’d seen his own Mordor. The descriptions of the Black Land have eerie echoes in the blasted earth and industrial destruction in the trenches of the Western Front. In Tolkien’s time, great good faced great evil (often against seemingly overwhelming odds), and great good triumphed.

Martin, by contrast, was born after the world wars. His work instead calls back to an earlier time, to the struggles for dynastic succession in old England. Loosely based — very loosely — on the Wars of the Roses, his books pit warring families against each other in a vaguely Britain-shaped land called Westeros. Seven great houses rule seven regions, which are united under the rule of a single king who sits on an iron throne in a capital called King’s Landing. The fundamental question is deceptively simple: Who will rule? Early in the first book (and early in the first season), the king dies, setting off the war for succession and dominance that is the “game of thrones.”

This game has but one rule, “You win or you die.” The politics are gritty, good men are hard to find, and honor and virtue are often rewarded with swift death. While magic exists and terrible enemies lurk, the story centers on the politics and personalities of the great houses. In fact, the brilliant first three books of Martin’s series often read more like Renaissance political thrillers than fantasy novels. Alliances are made and broken, palace intrigue trumps battlefield results, and even magical creatures are shockingly vulnerable to the most mundane of defenses. In other words, don’t look for magic artifacts to save the day. In Martin’s world, people rule, people fight, and people make the decisive difference.

I’ll be honest. I didn’t think it would work as a television show. The world was too big and complicated. The politics were too intricate. And for the first few weeks, I didn’t watch — for good reason. Perhaps fearing that the show would flop without a little extra help, HBO used its full premium-cable powers to lard it up with graphic sex and violence. Martin’s books aren’t for the squeamish, but HBO took the lewd elements to the next level. Comedians and critics even coined a term, “sexposition,” to describe the show’s habit of using extended sex scenes as a mechanism for explaining plot points and developing characters. In family-friendly social-conservative circles, the word went out: HBO once again was using sex to sell, and Christians especially shouldn’t be buying.

Yet as the show progressed, people I trust kept saying — no, demanding — that I should watch. Ignore the sex, they said. Focus on the story. So I gave it a chance, and, like tens of millions of my fellow citizens, once I started watching I never stopped.

HBO’s gamble was a success, and then success turned into sensation. The first season’s finale drew a respectable 3 million viewers. But by the end of season six, the show was an unstoppable ratings juggernaut, watched by upwards of 25 million Americans each week. It’s arguably the most watched show on television today. In the blue-state coastal enclaves — where Game of Thrones is most popular — it’s a true water-cooler show in the old style. Everyone is talking about it, everyone is debating it, and entire recapping and podcasting empires have sprung up around it.

But why? Why all the fuss? In the so-called platinum age of television, when dozens of outstanding shows are available at the click of a mouse, why has this one resonated so strongly? Season seven (out of eight) starts on July 16, and its ratings will likely surpass everything but the NFL playoffs. A true cultural moment is at hand.

The short explanation of the success is that the show’s creators have accomplished what few television or film producers have ever achieved — they have improved upon classic books and have, quite simply, mastered the art of storytelling. They tightened the sprawling tale while keeping Martin’s sense of scope and grandeur, they cast the multiple important roles perfectly, and they have shown a knack for delivering during the big moments. The plot twists, betrayals, and epic battles aren’t just watchable, they’re rewatchable. In fact, classic clips garner millions of views on YouTube as fans go relive the highlights in much the same way that Patriots fans no doubt relive the last five minutes of Tom Brady’s epic comeback in Super Bowl LI.

But the storytelling is only part of the appeal. The story itself matters too, and in many ways it is the right story at the right time, holding up a mirror to modern American sensibilities and showing the consequences of modern American morality. To understand how, let’s once again contrast Tolkien and Martin. In Tolkien’s world the stakes are immense, the moral battle lines are clear, and victory actually means victory, the end of a distinct evil force. In this respect, as noted above, Tolkien was a man of his age. He published Fellowship of the Ring in 1954 — after the Allies vanquished the great evil Adolf Hitler. When Tolkien wrote of the triumph of good over evil, it all felt real. Victory didn’t usher in utopia, but victory meant something substantial. Sauron was real, and when Sauron died, the world revived.

Tolkien’s world isn’t Martin’s world. Whereas Tolkien’s work represented a literal journey with a fixed destination, Martin’s can feel like a treadmill of conflict where squabbling lords and ladies ignore looming threats and greater dangers for the sake of momentary advantage in a seemingly never-ending battle for control. The stakes can seem small — what’s the real difference for humanity between Lannister or Targaryen rule? — but the conflicts are still intense.

Whereas the typical high-fantasy novel might end after a hero defeats her enemies and frees entire cities’ worth of slaves, in Game of Thrones, Martin (and the show’s creators) ask, “What comes next?” And the answer, instead of a glorious celebration of freedom and liberty, is a period of chaos and vengeance.

And where the typical high-fantasy novel centers on the most honorable of heroes and writes him to victory against insurmountable odds, in Game of Thrones, the honorable hero loses his head unless he’s honorable and shrewd or honorable and violent. And whereas the typical high-fantasy novel casts its heroes and villains in clear and unmistakable terms, in Game of Thrones you sometimes find that your rooting interests evolve in interesting ways. Just as in life, people change — especially in response to shocking events.

What results is a moral universe of surprising complexity and nuance, one that is true to life in a way that conservatives especially should understand. Think of it as Calvinism without Christ — natural human depravity unleashed. The realities of human nature mean that evil is very, very evil, and good is also touched with the weight of sin. You see the reality of the Paul’s Epistle to the Romans unfold on screen. Time and again, characters don’t do the good they want to do. Instead, they achieve the very evil they sought to avoid.

Certain timely themes emerge, perhaps most salient among them the constant, vivid reminders that the ends do not justify the means. When a lord named Theon Greyjoy launches a surprise attack to restore the glory of his house — and in so doing betrays his deepest friendships — he transforms himself first into a murderous fiend and then into a cowardly husk of a man. When one of the great houses ends a vicious war by violating the most sacred rules of honor in the land, it creates undying enmity and sows the seeds of vicious retribution.

Indeed, Martin has revealed a key truth — that pursuing virtuous ends by vicious means can so transform a person that the ends themselves change. Virtue is redefined, and ultimately virtue is lost.

Game of Thrones, moreover, is dominated by a very human, overwhelming sense of entitlement. The sense of victimization feels modern, yet it also taps into ancient truth. The characters are obsessed with settling scores and vindicating their honor. If there is a guiding ethic, it is “I have a right to what’s mine.” The sense of entitlement drips from the worst of the characters, and even the best sometimes struggle to see beyond their own rights.

The great heroine of the story — at least so far — is Daenerys Targaryen (wonderfully played by Emilia Clarke), the last surviving child of the deposed Targaryen dynasty, and her seasons-long quest is simple: to take back what the “usurpers” stole from her. She wants to rule justly. She desires a better world. But that’s in many ways secondary to a single animating reality: The Iron Throne is hers. She wants it back. In fact, even the evilest of characters have their own tales of woe. They can always find a murder or a conflict or an act of defiance that justifies the next vengeful act. Just as in real life, evil has a reason for its rage.

As a direct consequence, the show also demonstrates the truth that in a world dominated by evil, virtue is hard. There are good characters in the show. Daenerys, for all her flaws, is the show’s great liberator. Jon Snow has grown into a leader of men, but he had to (literally) die to learn how to lead. Tyrion Lannister, perhaps the fan favorite, is a master of realpolitik who’s made more than his share of compromises to survive. These are flawed people, possessing partial information and confronting perilous enemies. While watching, one can’t help but be reminded of Christ’s admonition that even his followers should be “wise as serpents.” Good and evil alike play the game of thrones, and forsaking the game entirely can mean not just losing your life but also unleashing the hell of evil triumphant.

A conservative can’t watch the show without understanding that it is, at times, almost shamelessly Burkean: Disrupt the established order at your peril. In the backstory to the series, several of the great houses launched a rebellion (“Robert’s Rebellion”) to depose a mad king. By any measure, it was a just war against a homicidal maniac, but one does not cast away a 300-year-old dynasty without consequence, and the consequence here was to throw the entire established order into chaos. The questions are endless. Everything is in doubt. Why must there be but a single king? Can’t different regions govern themselves? Can’t any great house lay equal claim to the Iron Throne?

The thrill of disruption is replaced by a feeling of dread. The old order existed for a reason. The old customs sustained life. And chaos brings with it the search for the political savior, the person who can once and for all set things right.

Perhaps we’ll get that kind of classic fantasy ending, but somehow I doubt it will be that neat, that clean. I could be wrong, but I suspect we won’t see anything like the collapse of Mount Doom in Return of the King. Maybe we’ll get justice, but it will likely be angry justice, and when the series ends, the last person on the Iron Throne will wear the crown uneasily, knowing that she (or he) left a trail of bodies on the path to power and that those souls not only cry out for vengeance but have living descendants who hear their call.

There’s always a temptation to read too much into fiction, to draw too-neat comparisons to our times. Sometimes a good story is just a good story and there are no larger lessons. But Game of Thrones feels different. It has its dragons and its magic, but it also feels real. It feels relevant.

Not long ago I was at dinner when yet one more moral debate broke out about our own political ends and means — including the high moral cost of “winning.” At issue was the question of political tactics. Did the “high road” work anymore? Don’t the nice guys always lose, and when they lose don’t the virtues they believe in ultimately lose as well? In that moment, the nerd in me was transported to Westeros, to an increasingly amoral society, unmoored from its traditions and full of entitled and ambitious men and women who compete for power with unrestrained viciousness. Does that sound at least vaguely familiar? Is it any wonder that Game of Thrones resonates in the modern American heart?

When season seven launches, it will still be violent. It will still have too much sex (though HBO has limited the lewdness as the series has grown more popular). And it will still tell a fantastic and engrossing story. But it will give us something else as well — a lesson that entitlement and rage have a price, and that justice gets lost when victory is the only goal. Perhaps the true rule of the game of thrones isn’t “Win or die” but rather “Win and die.” The quest for power, unmoored from virtue, is the doom of us all.

 — David French is a senior writer for National Review, a senior fellow at the National Review Institute, and an attorney. This article originally appeared in the July 31, 2017, issue of National Review magazine: https://goo.gl/kTxP3p

[compartmentalisinghmpf]

TLTL review, now with fewer redundancies, more coherence. 2040 words.

I just finished my second read of this, the first half of what I can only think of as the first book of the Terra Ignota duology/trilogy. (Actually it's going to be a quartet, but these first two volumes constitute one novel, and nobody can tell me otherwise.)

It's a different book on the second read. For one thing, it is infinitely more disturbing. As it's already fairly disturbing on the first read, that increase is quite an achievement...

Too Like the Lightning comes with a front page full of warnings, which somewhat understate things, even, and these are both a clever element of the worldbuilding, and to be taken absolutely seriously if you have any pre-existing issues in the listed areas. If in doubt, contact someone who has read the book and ask for specific, yet minimal spoilers. But, really, only if you think it may be necessary! Take it from someone who usually doesn't mind spoilers: you don't want them, here. Unless you really need them, that is.

I want to stress that the book's increasing creepiness is really just one aspect of the whole, though, although a fascinating one. There's more going on here than that, much more. This book made me think a lot on the first go, and it's made me think a lot on the second, and I'm still not sure I've figured out even ten percent of it, nor whether I agree with very much of what I think it may be saying. I get the distinct impression agreeing isn't the point: thinking is. Rarely have I encountered a book that trusts its readers so completely to make up their own minds. This is a book that wants you to argue with it.

Too Like the Lightning is set in the 25th century – a 25th century in which humankind is still mostly Earthbound, only taking slow steps towards terraforming Mars. Earth, made small by incredibly fast global transit, has seen three hundred years of peace. It is politically unrecognisable, ruled by seven great “Hives“, which people can join or leave voluntarily, independent of geography. The “nuclear family“ of our day no longer exists. Work takes up a very small amount of most people's time.

For reasons that become clearer eventually, our narrator, Mycroft (this is, by future-historical coincidence, a common name in his time; a nice, subtle touch of worldbuilding), chooses an 18th century style for his narrative - complete with constant 4th-wall-breaking of the “gentle reader“ variety. Also, complete with old-fashioned pronouns like “thee“ and “thou“ -- and “he“ and “she“, for which the narrator apologises frequently, because gender, in Mycroft's 25th century, is as taboo as openly practiced religion. The books are in large part about how both of these ideas return to disrupt a world that seems in many ways utopian.

Mycroft, we soon find out, is a convict, and in his world that means, by and large, a slave, albeit a somewhat humanely treated one. Despite or because of this, our narrator is in high demand with the world's mighty and powerful, and thus gets a front-row seat at the beginning disruption – or rather, would get a front-row seat, if he were ever allowed to sit down for more than a minute. He works hard for his pre-packaged sandwich – variously as a spy, as a statistical analyst, as a translator (he speaks seven languages, which is apparently borderline illegal), or even simply serving drinks while the mighty conspire. How he happens to know and matter to all the powerful becomes both more understandable, and much, much more bizarre to contemplate as we find out more about him.

(Beyond a certain point you realise that pretty much every single relationship in these books is deeply strange, and that together they all form a mind-bogglingly complex cat's cradle of dependencies, rivalries, attractions, animosities, alliances.... Yet nobody, but nobody has stranger relationships than Mycroft, who shifts social roles a dozen times a day, or even a dozen times in the same conversation, from slave to trusted specialist/advisor to … things I cannot mention here, because this is a book where surprise really is vital. It is a social rol(l)ercoaster ride, and sort of exhilarating, if you enjoy that kind of thing. (I do. A lot.))

There is another claim on Mycroft's time, however - an even more important one – and this is where things gets strange[r]: Mycroft has, for eight years, been raising a foundling child, in greatest secrecy. This child can bring inanimate objects to life.

And this is – perhaps, probably – not the only divine influence in Mycroft's life.

So, all of a sudden we're contemplating questions that hardly anyone, outside of Gene Wolfe, would think to put into SF.

Rather like Wolfe's Solar Cycle, Terra Ignota feels like a complex clockwork machine made out of interlocking and interacting bits of philosophy and metaphysics – a smidgen heavier on the philosophy, perhaps, and rather a lot more heretical than your average Wolfe. Unlike most philosophy-themed sf, the sources here are 18th century Enlightenment ones, as well as older ones, seen through an imaginary 25th century's view of the 18th century's view of the even more distant past (are you dizzy yet?) And, of course, seen also through the lens of our very particular and unusual narrator's point of view...

Let's focus on that narrator for a moment, even though I can't talk about him here, not properly, not without spoiling things. Mycroft addresses the reader directly, from the very first sentence, and even has recurring arguments with them, explaining why he makes certain narrative or word choices, defending them or, sometimes, caving to his imaginary reader's objections. Almost without noticing, you are pulled into a close embrace by the text, by its narrator. It quickly begins to feel intensely personal. What Palmer is doing here, with our relationship with Mycroft (again, I can't be more specific without serious, serious SPOILERS), must be deliberate and instrumental to the book's/series' workings. (Or rather: it better be...) Two books in, I can see some of the moving parts and how they interconnect, but I'm still not sure what the final shape will be.

This is an unsettling book in many respects. Some things are troublingly absent in it, or present in a troubling way. For instance: the book's world is very Eurocentric, despite perfunctory nods to Asian cultures. Africa – excepting Alexandria and Casablanca – is only present in the form of the rarely mentioned “Great African Reservation”. In context, it is clear that this is not just a nature reserve, but rather a space in which older forms of cultural/political/social/religious organisation are preserved - other reservations mentioned are Tibet, the Vatican, and a Pennsylvania Mennonite one. In 2016, this relegation of Africa to, essentially, the past feels so out of step with current debates that I suspect it must be deliberate, and part of a Point About to Be Made sometime later in the projected series – a comment on our collective blind spots rather than the author's own blind spot in action. (Though, of course, I may be extending too much credit here. Time, and the sequels, will tell.)

Gender is the most obvious thing to be disturbed by here, though, and inevitably the most discussed, because it's constantly front and centre.  Gender, in Mycroft's 25th century, is not a Done Thing anymore – literally. Gender – officially - isn't being performed any longer, or rather: people consciously perform gender-neutrality. The default pronoun is “they”. Our narrator, however – a self-described pervert - insists on gendering (nearly) every character we encounter. Mycroft assigns gender partly due to archetypical ideas of what is “feminine” and “masculine” - roughly: caring/nurturing denotes femininity, physical dominance denotes masculinity. Yet unlike most people would in our day, he applies these simplistic standards across sexes. In addition to this, he also uses gender situationally. For instance: he genders a young, physiologically female character male because they are the apprentice/assistant of a powerful, physiologically male character - but later, when they are interacting with their mother, he genders them female for one paragraph...

What is disturbing about Too Like the Lightning's approach to gender is not so much what Mycroft does with it, though – that is mostly destabilising in a productive way. And Mycroft's opinions on many things, as he himself admits, are easy to discount; he is, as he says, “easy to call mad”. The book as a whole – the larger structure of meaning being built here - seems to imply some uncomfortable things about gender, too, however, which aren't quite so easily ascribed to a somewhat deranged point of view. I say “seems”, because at this point I'm really not sure what the final tally on any of the themes introduced here will be. It is entirely possible that the first two volumes of the series take such great care to set up elaborate ideological structures so they can then proceed to knock them down, further down the road.

Another area in which I suspect I may be disagreeing with what the book(s) is/are saying so far is ideas of violence and war, and their role in human nature and human history, but that is not something I can touch on very much without spoiling things in a serious way. I suspect that here as in other areas Palmer doesn't so much want to convince us of a particular proposition but rather give us a fully realised image of a particular worldview, not to endorse nor to denounce it, but rather to demonstrate the sheer alienness of another historical period. The future is every bit as strange a country as the past.

Ada Palmer does not grant us the relief of even a single character we can fully understand, whose opinions we can comfortably agree with, to contrast with her 25th century's mores and ideas, and to guide our sympathies and opinions in reacting to the book's world. Instead, she fully immerses us in the worldview of another culture, and it is very easy to (mis)read that as the book endorsing that worldview. This makes for uncomfortable, but also, I think, mentally stimulating reading. We are expected to read critically, to always be aware of the distortions of perspective; we are supposed to read like historians.

I'm actually not sure these books are entirely successful in every aspect of what they attempt – though it's always hard to judge an unfinished work. There are some pacing issues, and large (really: LARGE) parts of the plot are either nearly impenetrable on the first read (and still pretty obscure on the second), and/or feel kind of implausible. For that matter, a fair bit of the worldbuilding is... implausible is too strong a word. It feels convincing while you're in the story (or rather, the lacunae feel like the sort you inevitably experience when you get to see a world through the filter of just one particular point of view), but when you stop to think about it for too long, some of the holes feel very hard to fill.

And then there's the miracles... Those require a different kind of suspension of disbelief, which, I think, not every reader of SF will be willing to extend the book.

There is also a sense of the books' world being built entirely to accommodate a number of interlocking philosophical thought experiments. In a recent post, Ada Palmer herself described Too Like the Lightning as setting up a Rube Goldberg machine. This gives the whole proceedings an overarching feel of artificiality, which is only increased by the fact that these thought experiments are mostly based in 18th century thought, and feel somewhat removed from many present-day concerns, if not always in subject then at least in their approach.

Despite all quibbles and reservations, however, this is not just an impressive debut but one of the best – one of the most alien, one of the most thought-provoking – science fiction novels I have read. It's also, despite all the philosophy, the theology, despite the artificiality, and despite the fact that large parts of the plot consist of people having long, involved conversations about the theft of, essentially, some notes for an unpublished newspaper article, an unexpectedly gripping one.

Read this book. Then argue with it.

[rxmusjxhn]

REMUS LUPIN: A C L O S E R LOOK [the wizard]

Name: Remus John Lupin. While many have seen the obvious connection with wolves in Remus’ first name and surname (horribly ironic, in his mind), it is interesting to see the other truths that can be drawn from an etymological viewpoint. The name Remus means “oar”, and the man often tends to steer people in the direction that is right and just. He is also a quiet leader, not nearly as outspoken as James and Sirius may have proved themselves to be, but in certain situations, more effective. According to numerous sources, people with the name John tend to be quiet, cooperative, considerate, sympathetic to others, adaptable, balanced and sometimes shy. They are trustworthy, respecting the confidences of others, and make excellent diplomats, mediators and partners. They are often very intuitive. They like detail and order, and often find change worrisome. They may sometimes feel insecure or restless. He also has a deep inner desire for a stable, loving family or community, and a need to work with others and to be appreciated. The name Lupin is derived from its Latin root lupus, which commonly means wolf. However, lupin can also refer to plants of the genus Lupinus; they are named so from the belief that the plant ravenously exhausts the soil in which it resides. This can be a signifier of Remus’ passion, for although he is more quiet than he is loud, when he truly believes in a cause or a person, he will pour every bit of his being into its support.

Age and Birthday: Remus was born on the 10th of March, 1960, making him just 18. Being a Pisces, Remus’ personality is defined by sensitivity, intuition and a self-sacrificing nature. He has an innate sensitivity to the emotions of others. His initiation seems to reach the level of psychic ability at times, as he knows exactly when a loved one is troubled or bothered. Instead of using his emotional receptivity to his own advantage, Remus chooses to help others, no matter what the cost. Water is his sign's paired element and as a Pisces, Remus has the only mutable connection with the element. His special relationship with water allows his personality to share in the adaptable and fluid qualities of water. While this makes Remus an effective communicator, it also puts him at ease in the depths of emotions. When others experience strong waves of emotions, he relates to them with compassion. However the negative signs of a water element include moodiness and overly emotional attitudes, both of which Remus can easily fall into.

Preferred Pronouns: He/His/Him

Character alignment: Neutral Good. Here are some quotes from research that I felt applied especially to Remus:

A neutral good character will keep his word to those who are not evil and will lie only to evil-doers. He will never attack an unarmed foe and will never harm an innocent. He will not use torture to extract information or for pleasure. He will never kill for pleasure, only in self-defense or in the defense of others.

He will help those in need and works well alone or in a group. He responds well to higher authority until that authority attempts to use the law to hamper his ability to do good.

He is trustful of organizations as long as they serve his utilitarian purpose. He will follow the law unless more good can come from breaking the law.

He will never betray a family member, comrade, or friend. Neutral good characters are indifferent to the concepts of self-discipline and honor, finding them useful only if they promote goodness.

To a neutral good being, life and the assurance of other creatures' rights take precedence over all else. Neutral good characters sometimes find themselves forced to work beyond the law, yet for the law, and the greater good of the people. They are not vicious or vindictive, but are people driven to right injustice. Neutral good characters always attempt to work within the law whenever possible, however.

Order is not good unless it brings this to all; neither is randomness and total freedom desirable if it does not bring such good

Blood Status: Lyall was a wizard and Hope was a witch, leaving Remus with the relatively safe title of half-blood. Half-bloods were generally middle ground and on decent terms with all magical folk, but with Remus’ past, he felt anything but. He admired his father, a determined and proud man who was well-deserving of his commendable status as a world-renowned auror, but insulting a man as utterly horrid as Fenrir Greyback has its consequences, whether they be tangible or not. In this case, those consequences found Remus in both forms. During this time of war, Remus and his family found themselves as targets, as Fenrir decided to join the Dark Lord’s crusade. If Remus’ lycanthropy were to be common knowledge, he knew he would be regarded as a creature, not a human. The status half-blood meant nothing to Remus.

Affiliation: The Order of the Phoenix. Remus was burdened with a strange sort of guilt for his hesitation in joining the Order straight out of Hogwarts. At eighteen, he had rationalized that his lycanthropy would be more of a hinderance than a benefit, and was convinced that his presence would be less than an asset. Nevertheless,  he felt as if those who had died in his moments of hesitation had lost their lives because he wasn’t there, and if he had been, they somehow would have lived to see another day. It was an irrational mindset, he knew, but hardly anything seemed rational or calculated to him now. He often is recluse even in the company of the friends he missed so much during his time away, for solitude offers him a clear headspace in which to debate the issue at hand. Remus has also grown into a premature nostalgia, partially out of the permanent fear this war has instilled in him. He finds himself missing time that has yet to pass, feeling grateful for each moment of peace he spends in Grimmauld Place and wary that it might not last for much longer. Despite joining the Order with a professed desire to fight to remedy those injustices he deemed unacceptable, Remus abstains from taking roles in any major restorative efforts. Perhaps it is indicative of his dimming faith in their movement, but Remus tends to think of himself as a quiet observer, blending into the background as other more vocal members hash it out. He does a lot of watching these days, almost absorbing and internalizing the emotions of others as they fall apart and restore themselves, balling them up into a single, analyzed thought. Remus finds himself taking on the night patrols as he finds the isolation refreshing (the constant company that comes with living in the Order’s headquarters is often overwhelming). With many of the Order members noticeably passionate about diving back into the thick of the war as soon as they are able to, Remus feels as if he doesn’t necessarily belong, though deep down he knows he would rather be part of something than nothing at all.

Occupation: Unemployed, though it’s not for lack of luck. Though few people know of Remus’ condition, the concept of potentially disclosing that information to an employer — or having that information leaked — petrifies him. Instead, he throws himself into the Order, dedicating all of his waking hours to war efforts. Strategizing, planning, coordinating and forecasting; though his passion is evident, his fixation can be slightly worrying to others.

[anyanaumovicart-blog]

Material Culture and The Object

Humanity has always surrounded themselves with material objects. Whilst some are more practical , for example , clothing or tools , others more for their aesthetic and decorative value. Society in modern times has become obsessed with the material object , so much so that it is effecting our sustainability of the planet. People acquire objects for many reasons , whether it be a memory of a time or place in history, or for its practical value. Others for its ornamental appearance or sentimentality. The object itself can have significance and meaning despite its outward appearance. The object might hold symbolic or historical reminders , and can hold great power within a family. Sometimes the value of the object isn’t considered due to its ‘priceless’ value. Instead its memory or emotions that are evoked from it , gains its price tag. However objects can also serve as a painful , reminder or a ‘Memento Mori’. Being able to touch and hold objects creates an intimacy and a bond to the object. Rather than those in exhibitions behind glass. Our identity and personality are formed by the objects around us, from our favourite band tea shirt, to brand of drink. The object forms part of our consciousness , individually and collectively. 

The actual study of material items is a relatively new field. It’s the studying of material items to understand past and present society. This is especially beneficial to historical study , with little to no ancient , manuscripts, objects allow us to understand the culture better. Historically objects have different meanings for different people. Whilst our predescednants may have worshipped something, now we culturally distain. Our more ‘relativist’ approach to society is the understanding of the multicultural society we are now in, obvious of the cultural significance. We can study material objects with an interdisciplinary fashion, gaining insight from many different perspectives of study. Taking an object centred approach to the object , Bernard Herman stated ‘ the study of things broadly speaking can be allocated to two distinct but overlapping approaches. ( Herman 1992) This approach is understanding how the object was made and with what materials. Its physical qualities and description, and its subsequent purpose. Robert Friedel noted that ‘everything is made from something , there are reasons for using the particular materials’ ( Friedel 1993 pp41-50). This method is particularly useful for categorising and defining the objects place within history. Helping people like historians or archeologists , to define singular eras or artistic movements. Another avenue of studying the object is the ‘object driven approach’. This is the understanding of  the objects relevance to society and culture and its usage within said placements. Allowing for information of the objects to  change its meaning throughout time and the society that the object was made within. However the object is not merely passive but takes on the active role in creating meaning and significant value. The object transcends its material weight. And becomes wealthier in meaning. Despite this as previously said the object holds a great power, the destruction of the object can be used to harness this , in relation to politics , and civil disputes, such as the government bombing of religious buildings. 

Our relationship with the objects develops and changes over time. Unprepossessing items suddenly gain value past their parallel economic weight. This then spawns into societal rituals such as family heirlooms, where once an item may of been of significant value, now this has been surpassed by its emotional and sentimentality. The objects much like us pass through a life cycle. The object is firstly conceived and then manufactured , continuing to be purchased and used , and appreciated, then it finally passes into its disintegration and death. Considerably the museum could be considered an ‘afterlife’ for these objects finding requiem in tourism and appreciation from new generations , perhaps less personally as it once found its purpose. The objects themselves throughout their life cycle are subjected to outer forces that manipulate their fate . In their travels they gain new identities and meanings , significant to the owner. Our subsequent network of objects that surround us , create our own personal identities too. Yet mostly go unappreciated , or unnoticed. Many of our daily objects allow us to function, and aid us in our daily lives. Other objects also help to mediate our lives. The significance of giving another object to another is often a gesture of care and compassion , creating emotional connections. The importance of certain objects to the individual , has both its mutable and physical representations to the owner, something that shouldn’t be undervalued in personal possessions.  Objects can be defining to our beings, with one persons belongings differing greatly to the next. Despite this we often find ourselves stereotyping the possible owner of said belongings , due to built up social stigma and negatives stereotypes. People create assumptions by ‘gendering’ objects , such as the pink vs blue debate. It also creates a negative assumption of wealth too , perhaps the rise of designer labels , leads the majority of the population in lust and jealousy , of coveted material objects. Also if an object is particularly noteworthy in design or function assumptions are generated about the owner , despite just getting visual outward information.

Overall objects are used differently by different , people throughout time. People haven’t always been defined by objects , this developed seemingly from archaeological and anthropological investigative studies in western Europe and America in the eighteenth and nineteenth century , succeeded by the opening of the modern museum.  Objects testify to the study of material culture, the significance of the man made object in society and its creator, and then its continual owners throughout time. The study of the object ultimately allows us to interpret past cultures and access history.

Herman, B.L. (1992) The Stolen House, Charlottesville, University

Friedel, R. (1993) ‘Some matters of substance’ in Lubar, S. and Kingery, W.D. (eds) History from Things: Essays on Material Culture, Washington DC and London, Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 41–50.

[robertkstone]

Volkswagen of America CEO: We Need to Win Back True Believers

Volkswagen of America CEO Scott Keogh comes to the position at a nervy time. The brand is still reeling from Dieselgate, the automaker just hired new ad agency WPP, and a slew of new models are on the horizon. In a roundtable interview at the Detroit auto show, Keogh outlined his plans for the future.

How does VW stand strategically?

We need to make Volkswagen matter again in America. We made some strategic choices. We missed out on SUVs, obviously the TDI fiasco, we made VW un-matter to people. When companies get into crisis mode, they climb into a bunker, and they lose their mojo and confidence. Everything starts with there. Strategically, historically, VW sat on one product, but now we have a decent balance between Tiguan, Jetta, and Atlas. From 2010 to 2016, 9 percent of our sales were SUVs. Last year it was 47 percent. Next year, the first electric car will come from Germany. Then we localize starting in 2023, maybe 2022.

How do you see VW in America in the wake of Dieselgate?

The Portland and Seattle [customer] group, who took a risk on this technology that was kind of unknown, bought into it and felt pride in their communities of having bought into this new technology. Then of course, to have the ultimate betrayal. I believe in redemptive powers, but it doesn’t happen on the cheap. We’re not going to get them back with a press release and a direct mail campaign saying, “Come drive a Tiguan.” We want to get the trust back and kick the door in so they think they’ll give us another chance. I am not going to say we can be successful without them.

Was chasing volume a mistake? (VW had targeted volumes of 800,000 U.S. sales by 2018 but never came close …)

When you want to be a volume brand, it leads to behavior where you are like everyone else. You need to have a proposition that is unique to the brand. You have to meet the market opportunity. We have the best success when we have brand relevance. Jetta fits, Golf R and GTI fit there, our philosophies fit there. EVs will fit there. And EVs are not as big as SUVs, but you don’t want to be 10 or 20 years too late, because catching up is a bitch.

What has changed with the new ad agency?

We see some different things there. We spent too much time telling consumers how inexpensive you could get a VW rather than how great a VW is. We have to get the dealers back. We’ll have no success in America without them. They took the brunt of [Dieselgate]. We’ve done a bunch, but we could do more. Relying on market research is dangerous, because it says [the crisis] has passed and it doesn’t matter, but [our former customers] all go to church and school and green markets …

How does VW’s global business compare to the U.S. market?

Making Volkswagen matter is a North America strategy. We have 20 points of share in China and 15 points in Europe. We have 2 points here. We’re going to operate as a company that matters and is ethical, and we’re moving into EVs, and hopefully we’ll get that redemption.

Our German uniqueness and quirkiness, depending on its application, is 100 percent good and necessary because it’s a distinguishing factor. It plays into how you engineer your car and cultural references, so soccer is obvious. (VW will be the presenting sponsor of the U.S. Men’s, Women’s, and Youth national teams.) Being in Tennessee is obvious. In trying to be American, there are other places to go when you’ve lost your soul and distinguishing characteristic.

The 2020 Volkswagen Passat at the Detroit auto show

How come China gets a new Passat on a new platform, but ours is carryover?

China notwithstanding, yes, let’s be blunt, the sedan segment is shrinking, more competitive, tighter. We have certain resources, and we need to examine what’s the best way to maximize those resources. We could have gotten into a new platform. But then we’d be spending maximum money in areas the customer won’t see or interact with. By keeping the PQ35 platform, we could emphasize design, aesthetics, the look and feel of ‘the hat,’ and some technology. The strength of the car is that people like the car and package and drivability. If you have $10, we didn’t see any need to put $9 into the platform and $1 into the things people see. There might be a different answer in a different segment and market. But the car is competitive, 100 percent, and people like it 100 percent. Do customers know this MQB from that MQB? Our resources are not unlimited, and you have to put them where they will do the most good.

Do you see VW having an SUV beneath Tiguan?

We call that segment “A-zero,” and that space is growing. There are some opportunities there. I see a two-SUV strategy in each segment, so the Atlas five-seat comes in ’20, then in ’21 we’ll have something smaller than a Tiguan. A small A or A-zero. The Tiguan with three rows sits relatively big.

When you look at VW Credit, are you seeing a softening of the market, or moving toward less qualified buyers to keep up volumes?

The total consolidated book has remained relatively steady. The mix within that has peeled off, so there’s slightly less lease volume. When the mix shifts toward more SUVs, you lease less. In terms of how deep we are going (into near-prime and subprime) and default numbers, there’s very little evidence. We are matching industry standards. I don’t see anything there. I don’t want to be cynical, but when there was the last housing implosion, we saw a limited collapse in our portfolio. Customers tend to stay and pay in their cars, whereas when your home had a gut-wrenching collapse in values, from $1 million to $350,000, how do you convince people to pay that? But we haven’t seen these in cars in terms of falloff in portfolio.

Are alternative mobility and subscriber services affecting sales?

When you look at the total car market, there are projections that ride-share and alternatives will peel off 3 to 4 million cars. We’re not seeing that. Car-sharing has had a huge impact on taxis and medallions but no impact on purchases. As a brand, there are huge opportunities. We have an honest product at an honest price, and transparency. That’s why we’re looking at third-party mobility and retail solutions. All-inclusive leases are something we’re looking at.

The 2018 Volkswagen ID Vizzion concept

How do you see China versus North America in the EV market?

When you have policies, and particularly (China’s) policies, it can stimulate consumers to follow those policies. There is no debate China will be the explosive EV market. And they need a lot of EVs due to congestion, smog, and autonomy. They missed 20th century auto. They want to win ‘new auto’—EV, autonomous, connected. The situation for the U.S., from chips to sensors, for the most part, they are developed here. We need policies that build off that tech, that push innovation and change. As an American in America, it would be a shame to lose that opportunity. It’s within our hands, the innovation is there. Sometimes policy needs to give innovation a leg up. The American consumer gets it, and that will drive a lot of the push. We don’t want to do EVs as though the government will put us out of business if we don’t do this. We need to do it where the car is cool as shit. Yes, 100 percent, the incentives are needed. And I’ll tell anyone who listens.

How does VW stand with its EV strategy?

We are arriving with a proper VW at a VW price, at a time when market sentiment and reaction and consumer sentiment is building. We’re at equal footing. We have scale advantage. It won’t just be the one product. It will be a host of products. We have a good cadence. Right now market share is 50 percent Tesla and 50 percent everyone else. Who is going to win the other 50 percent? That breakthrough product has not arrived yet.

The post Volkswagen of America CEO: We Need to Win Back True Believers appeared first on Motortrend.

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[mariaaklnthony]

Five Ways An Accelerator Can Propel Your Startup To Success

Accelerators have appeared across the country and around the world. Their goal is to push startups further along — to help them grow into their potential and start benefiting the economy. Accelerators also want to share in developing disruptive new technology. In a Harvard Business Review article titled “What Startup Accelerators Really Do,” Booking Institution Nonresident Senior Fellow Ian Hathaway explains:

“Startup accelerators support early-stage, growth-driven companies through education, mentorship, and financing. Startups enter accelerators for a fixed period of time and as part of a cohort of companies. The accelerator experience is a process of intense, rapid, and immersive education aimed at accelerating the life cycle of young innovative companies, compressing years’ worth of learning-by-doing into just a few months.”

The same article notes just how fast accelerators have grown. Hathaway identified 172 U.S.-based accelerators between 2005 and 2015 that together invested in over 5,000 U.S. startups. In that time, the companies involved raised $19.5 billion in funding. If you are debating whether you should apply to an accelerator program, consider these real-world ways that accelerators have enabled startups to succeed:

Building A Team and Setting Up Shop

Accelerators can help startups meet new people who have the potential to become members of their teams. They can also help founders find a location their growing businesses can call home.

This benefit is illustrated by at least one member of the Ameren Accelerator, which is powered by the University of Missouri System and UMSL Accelerate and focuses on energy technology startups. Rebate Bus, which participated in the accelerator’s first cohort, has hired four full-time staff members and two interns from the Ameren Accelerator program. Rebate Bus CEO Joe Pater says, “UMSL Accelerate has given Rebate Bus a huge boost in development, marketing, and with the growth of our team.”

The company, which is headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, is now establishing its operations team in St. Louis. To do so, it set up shop in the UMSL Accelerate office space at the conclusion of the Ameren Accelerator program. Rebate Bus found this an ideal way to help bridge the gap while it locates a permanent office in St. Louis. It plans to move from the accelerator’s space sometime during 2018.

Now Ameren Accelerator wants to offer the same kinds of support to other startups. It’s currently accepting applications for members to participate in its second cohort.

Learning At A Faster Rate

Accelerators aren’t just for startups. Even companies that have been around for a while can transform themselves for the digital age. Consider how ManageHub Accelerator assisted L&R Lawn Equipment and Repair. While the company had been founded many decades earlier, the owner recognized that he needed to make his business sustainable for a new environment.

Working with an accelerator, L&R learned quickly about the new economy and technology and was able to improve its processes. According to Steve Seder, L&R’s director of operations:

“Before using ManageHub, our business was chaotic at best. We had no idea what others were doing, and we had people doing the same jobs at the same time. Our operations were so out of line that it was costing us thousands of dollars without even knowing it. Now we are more organized, more creative, more efficient, and have a process to handle every situation that arises, making training easier and profits soar.”

The program helped L&R learn how to change what it did and take advantage of the new business realities. Its ManageHub experience marked a true transformation for the company.

Making More Connections Faster

Startup SpotHero worked with the Techstars Chicago accelerator in 2012. During their participation in the program, the startup’s founders realized just how much the company benefited from all the connections the accelerator provided. SpotHero co-founder and CEO Mark Lawrence notes:

“Mentorship might seem like an obvious part of an accelerator, but we were surprised by how many incredibly talented mentors we had access to during the program. From the founders of OpenTable, GrubHub and CDW to the CEOs of publicly traded companies, we spent time learning from some of the most successful people in the world. We met with about 100 mentors 1:1 so we could really get to know them better, pick their brains, and learn from their experiences. Whether it was entrepreneurs, marketers, salespeople, or lawyers, each one forced us to start thinking about how these different specialties come together to form a profitable business. We developed strong relationships, and suddenly we had people, besides our families, who were invested in our success.”

SpotHero’s founders might eventually have made such connections on their own. However, they wouldn’t have had such a large group within their reach to help them so quickly. That proximity and number of connections sped the startup’s development.

Getting A Different Perspective

As a startup founder, you live and breathe your business idea and tiny company. That passion is great. However, it can also blind you to certain things that a second pair of unbiased eyes can see. This might include limiting your audience, product, or service or finding a better price point for your offering. Maybe you are even going in the wrong direction. An accelerator can point you in the right direction even if that means pivoting.

In 2013, the Digital Greenwich accelerator worked with Student Tutors to help the startup look at its business idea differently. According to the accelerator’s case study on the startup, Digital Greenwich was able to advise the startup on areas where it had previously been struggling. Student Tutor CEO Abrar Akhtar explains, “It’s definitely been beneficial to participate in the program and go over strategies with the business advisor. We’ve been trying to work out how we can get as many new customers on board, and working with the business advisor has led us to develop a clear plan that allows us to target this potential clientele.”

Practicing Until Perfect

When you are working on your own in a vacuum, you don’t make the time to do things that can help you succeed. One of those is honing your pitch to investors or crafting the best messages for your marketing campaigns.

Working with an accelerator, you can both practice your pitches and get feedback that can help you improve them. Credential Cabinet participated in the JFE Accelerator, which provided this benefit among many others. Co-founder Ely Greenberg explains:

“Because we were in an accelerator, we also got to pitch in front of ‘mock’ investors before the pitch event. These were investors who could provide unbiased feedback. There is no ‘correct’ way to pitch. There are many articles about what to say and what not to say, but basically it boils down to telling a captivating story, demonstrating that you have a great team and product, and that you’re serious about building a great company. You should know the material on your slides, as well as the supporting facts.”

As a result of their accelerator experience, Credential Cabinet’s founders believe they improved their pitching skills due to the advice and feedback they received. They also learned about what didn’t work so that they could avoid those mistakes in future pitches. Overall, their confidence about pitching to investors increased.

An accelerator program can offer the perfect combination of mentoring, learning, access to funding, and strategic guidance. This environment allows founders to get the support they need to take their companies in the right direction for success.

The post Five Ways An Accelerator Can Propel Your Startup To Success appeared first on ReadWrite.

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[waltercostellone]

Five Ways An Accelerator Can Propel Your Startup To Success

Accelerators have appeared across the country and around the world. Their goal is to push startups further along — to help them grow into their potential and start benefiting the economy. Accelerators also want to share in developing disruptive new technology. In a Harvard Business Review article titled “What Startup Accelerators Really Do,” Booking Institution Nonresident Senior Fellow Ian Hathaway explains:

“Startup accelerators support early-stage, growth-driven companies through education, mentorship, and financing. Startups enter accelerators for a fixed period of time and as part of a cohort of companies. The accelerator experience is a process of intense, rapid, and immersive education aimed at accelerating the life cycle of young innovative companies, compressing years’ worth of learning-by-doing into just a few months.”

The same article notes just how fast accelerators have grown. Hathaway identified 172 U.S.-based accelerators between 2005 and 2015 that together invested in over 5,000 U.S. startups. In that time, the companies involved raised $19.5 billion in funding. If you are debating whether you should apply to an accelerator program, consider these real-world ways that accelerators have enabled startups to succeed:

Building A Team and Setting Up Shop

Accelerators can help startups meet new people who have the potential to become members of their teams. They can also help founders find a location their growing businesses can call home.

This benefit is illustrated by at least one member of the Ameren Accelerator, which is powered by the University of Missouri System and UMSL Accelerate and focuses on energy technology startups. Rebate Bus, which participated in the accelerator’s first cohort, has hired four full-time staff members and two interns from the Ameren Accelerator program. Rebate Bus CEO Joe Pater says, “UMSL Accelerate has given Rebate Bus a huge boost in development, marketing, and with the growth of our team.”

The company, which is headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, is now establishing its operations team in St. Louis. To do so, it set up shop in the UMSL Accelerate office space at the conclusion of the Ameren Accelerator program. Rebate Bus found this an ideal way to help bridge the gap while it locates a permanent office in St. Louis. It plans to move from the accelerator’s space sometime during 2018.

Now Ameren Accelerator wants to offer the same kinds of support to other startups. It’s currently accepting applications for members to participate in its second cohort.

Learning At A Faster Rate

Accelerators aren’t just for startups. Even companies that have been around for a while can transform themselves for the digital age. Consider how ManageHub Accelerator assisted L&R Lawn Equipment and Repair. While the company had been founded many decades earlier, the owner recognized that he needed to make his business sustainable for a new environment.

Working with an accelerator, L&R learned quickly about the new economy and technology and was able to improve its processes. According to Steve Seder, L&R’s director of operations:

“Before using ManageHub, our business was chaotic at best. We had no idea what others were doing, and we had people doing the same jobs at the same time. Our operations were so out of line that it was costing us thousands of dollars without even knowing it. Now we are more organized, more creative, more efficient, and have a process to handle every situation that arises, making training easier and profits soar.”

The program helped L&R learn how to change what it did and take advantage of the new business realities. Its ManageHub experience marked a true transformation for the company.

Making More Connections Faster

Startup SpotHero worked with the Techstars Chicago accelerator in 2012. During their participation in the program, the startup’s founders realized just how much the company benefited from all the connections the accelerator provided. SpotHero co-founder and CEO Mark Lawrence notes:

“Mentorship might seem like an obvious part of an accelerator, but we were surprised by how many incredibly talented mentors we had access to during the program. From the founders of OpenTable, GrubHub and CDW to the CEOs of publicly traded companies, we spent time learning from some of the most successful people in the world. We met with about 100 mentors 1:1 so we could really get to know them better, pick their brains, and learn from their experiences. Whether it was entrepreneurs, marketers, salespeople, or lawyers, each one forced us to start thinking about how these different specialties come together to form a profitable business. We developed strong relationships, and suddenly we had people, besides our families, who were invested in our success.”

SpotHero’s founders might eventually have made such connections on their own. However, they wouldn’t have had such a large group within their reach to help them so quickly. That proximity and number of connections sped the startup’s development.

Getting A Different Perspective

As a startup founder, you live and breathe your business idea and tiny company. That passion is great. However, it can also blind you to certain things that a second pair of unbiased eyes can see. This might include limiting your audience, product, or service or finding a better price point for your offering. Maybe you are even going in the wrong direction. An accelerator can point you in the right direction even if that means pivoting.

In 2013, the Digital Greenwich accelerator worked with Student Tutors to help the startup look at its business idea differently. According to the accelerator’s case study on the startup, Digital Greenwich was able to advise the startup on areas where it had previously been struggling. Student Tutor CEO Abrar Akhtar explains, “It’s definitely been beneficial to participate in the program and go over strategies with the business advisor. We’ve been trying to work out how we can get as many new customers on board, and working with the business advisor has led us to develop a clear plan that allows us to target this potential clientele.”

Practicing Until Perfect

When you are working on your own in a vacuum, you don’t make the time to do things that can help you succeed. One of those is honing your pitch to investors or crafting the best messages for your marketing campaigns.

Working with an accelerator, you can both practice your pitches and get feedback that can help you improve them. Credential Cabinet participated in the JFE Accelerator, which provided this benefit among many others. Co-founder Ely Greenberg explains:

“Because we were in an accelerator, we also got to pitch in front of ‘mock’ investors before the pitch event. These were investors who could provide unbiased feedback. There is no ‘correct’ way to pitch. There are many articles about what to say and what not to say, but basically it boils down to telling a captivating story, demonstrating that you have a great team and product, and that you’re serious about building a great company. You should know the material on your slides, as well as the supporting facts.”

As a result of their accelerator experience, Credential Cabinet’s founders believe they improved their pitching skills due to the advice and feedback they received. They also learned about what didn’t work so that they could avoid those mistakes in future pitches. Overall, their confidence about pitching to investors increased.

An accelerator program can offer the perfect combination of mentoring, learning, access to funding, and strategic guidance. This environment allows founders to get the support they need to take their companies in the right direction for success.

The post Five Ways An Accelerator Can Propel Your Startup To Success appeared first on ReadWrite.

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