#like. like i said - personal cost benefit analysis is important here

[ftmtftm]

Passing on advice I received growing up as someone who grew up around alternative adults of several flavors and heavily tattooed folks with "job killer" tattoos (and was raised by one such person!) that I have had to put into practice as someone who is alternative themself now:

If you are a young alternative person, it cannot be understated how important having a couple "normie" pieces of clothes in your closet "just in case" is.

Sometimes you will have a job interview, a doctor's appointment, a housing application, or some other kind of obligation where for your own safety and security you need to tone yourself down for a brief period of time.

It's not fair. It's bullshit. But sometimes you have to eat your vegetables you know? And it's a cost benefit analysis and it depends on the things you personally prioritize in your own life, but sometimes minor sacrifices have to be made in order to keep yourself safe and get yourself things you need to do so.

[lemonhemlock]

I didn't think about him being a knight and having endangered himself before, you're right!

I was mostly thinking along the lines of one of the kids being directly attacked and him probably not jumping at the opportunity to get between that (I feel like he would/could but he'd probably think about whether it's the smartest decision/in favour of his goals whereas Aemond would act rather rash).

Maybe he would protect Alicent without further thought tho (but I am not knowledgeable, I just base my opinions on vibes).

What do you think?

Hi there!

I think Otto gets a little bit of a bad rep in general. He doesn't talk the talk without walking the walk, if you think about it. As I've said, he has already put himself twice in harms' way on the same bridge on Dragonstone - once against Daemon, once against Daemon & Rhaenyra, both times facing dragons, both times ready to throw hands if necessary. He's not hiding somewhere in the background, he's the first to fall if things go awry. Tywin Lannister, another Hand of the King, would have simply sent an envoy, for example, and it's not for lack of courage, as he fights in battle himself to save his family from Stannis.

Which is why I think it's the more notable that Otto went himself, on behalf of the Crown. If he is willing to do that for the institution, to perform what essentially is a ceremonial, albeit (unnecessarily, for him) dangerous act, why wouldn't he protect Alicent and his grandchildren if they were in the way of direct harm?

It's also important to note that he never intentionally placed his daughter in harm's way. In his mind, Viserys is a good man who would never mistreat her (in a way he understands as being significant).

Similarly, I think a lot of this confusion stems from the political climate not being relayed properly to the viewers. Otto fully expects Viserys to change his heir once he has a son. Fandom likes to believe this is evil machination from his part, plotting Rhaenyra's murder years in advance, but most other noble lords think the same thing. Does anyone think Corlys and Rhaenys were trying to get Laena and her future children killed by putting her forward as a potential bride? Does anyone think Rhaenys was secretly plotting to defenestrate Rhaenyra while they were sassing off on that balcony? Jason Lannister shows up from way out west and fully expects Aegon to be named heir as well. People are very confused when Viserys doesn't budge.

Otto is not so unfeeling as to reduce his daughter and grandchildren to canon fodder for his personal ambition. He wasn't expecting this problem in the first place. He is taken aback and has to recalculate and re-calibrate his strategy. That is why he starts insisting to Alicent in private that she also join him in pushing for Aegon as heir. That is why he suggests betrothing Rhaenyra to Aegon. That is why he tells Alicent her children will be in danger if Viserys doesn't switch. He wasn't tricking or trapping her in a future bloody war over succession when he sent her to comfort/distract the king. Viserys is the rogue element here, someone that we in the field of international relations would say is not behaving like a rational actor.

Which is what I think Otto was doing in the eye-gouging trial as well. Taking in information and making a cost-benefit analysis. Aemond's eye was already lost by that point and perhaps he thought there was nothing to be gained politically by further antagonizing Rhaenyra. Alicent was also the one with the knife; she had the upper hand in that moment. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Otto is flawless here - he is not Westeros' no 1 hugger and comforter. For example, he could have interjected himself in support of his daughter, instead of her slowly losing her mind. To further the Tywin comparison, for all his faults, he would have been raging there at the King alongside Cersei. Otto has a different personality - he works more behind the scenes. Nevertheless, I don't think he would have stood idly by if Viserys suddenly decided to start removing the tongues of his family members.

[falseandrealultravival]

Severe winter on the Blog: Closing Words (Note: This is from blogs in Japan, not tumblr.)

black winter

Life has seasons of blue spring, red summer, white autumn, and black winter. It's been 19 years since I started this blog in 2005, and just as I turned 63, the season of "gento:玄冬" = "black winter" has arrived. When I first started blogging, there weren't many media outlets on the internet, and there was a time when I got 3,000 hits a day, but now, in an age of media overload, most of the days I get less than 100 hits a day.

I see some other bloggers of the same age who are still doing well. In my case, I'm pretty picky, and I have a history of getting rid of visitors I don't like, which, while self-deserving, I think has a lot to do with my current hits. There was nothing I could do about it, and I could only do what I could.

In addition, it is also important that many of the blogs currently published on "Hatena Blog" are "unbearable to read". The reason why I started blogging was because I read an article that said, "A certain politician's life as a politician was cut short by a certain blog." In exchange for that, if I were to say that the current "Hatena Blog" general article has a low spirit!

In the beginning of February 2023, when I conducted a so-called "cost-benefit analysis", I came to think that continuing "Hatena Blog" would have little merit for me. There is no profit in continuing a useless blog.

So, with this article, "Hatena Blog" will end. I personally hand over guidance to the ``Violation Reality--Ultravival'' of the ``Severe winter'' period. After that, I will visit the articles of two blog friends, although I will not reveal their names here. Hope you all are well!

(2023.04.10)

虚虚実実――ウルトラバイバル

(In Japanese)

Diamond cut Diamond—Ultra-Vival

(In English)

[assignmentimprobable]

Minority Report (2002) and The Deterrence State

Let me start with a disclaimer: These are 100% my personal impressions of the movie compared with the criminal system and my current understanding of it. That being said, you’re free to disagree! I’m not here to debate or make anyone feel bad, I’m just interested in blabbing and streamlining my thoughts during my watch. My framing device is the common law, not the model penal code, and my ramblings are long-winded. Be warned.

Analysis below the cut, for courtesy. 

General Deterrence: The idea that a particular consequence deters groups of people (here, murderers) from the comission of crimes. It’s utilitarian. Utilitarianism posits that no matter how egregious the wrongdoing, there should be no punishment unless they believe it will provide an overall social benefit, to protect society from dangerous people and to preserve or even increase social welfare. There are 2 questions utilitarians ask: 

 Should the behavior be considered criminal at all? Known as the cost-benefit analysis, and; 

Should this behavior be punished? Does it accomplish a goal and is the punishment effective? 

The behavior in Minority Report (2002) is murder, and it is criminal or we wouldn’t have a movie. PreCrime is a utilitarian framework, it advocates for the punishment of future murders solely for the greater social benefit of reducing epidemic homicide statistics. The consequence is full on incapacitation, getting put away.  It is legal to do all of this. The basis of legality is the need to give individuals fair warning or notice to conduct that subjects them to punishment. 

The citizens of DC have been warned, “We have this system that tracks premeditation and manslaughter. You will be arrested and put under for your presumptive crimes because we have unequivocal proof that it would have happened.” There is no statutory ambiguity to resolve because the entire litigation process has been bypassed by the system of Precrime. 

Symbolism plays an important role in both the restriction and deterrence contexts when choosing a proper criminal sentence. The society will also see that the defendant gets the type of punishment they deserve based upon the admitted crime. This passes across a very strong message that those who orchestrates this stuff  would be apprehended, prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the Law. 

The justifications are simple:  If some element of punishment is embarrassing or incredibly messed up, that’s okay because other purposes are served.

The purposes being to create consequences so colossal that people fear them and are deterred from otherwise committing crimes. It’s totally okay to put people in the hole in the movie because the purpose of increasing social welfare is met.

Minority Report has removed rehabilitation from the table entirely. It’s just a non-factor, you go in the hole and you stay there until they dig you out. Total isolation. I find it interesting that the prisoners- all future murderers are shaved bald. There’s the aspect of uniformity to them. There’s no reason for it, really. You could say that the machinery involves that, but honestly, in a system that so easily sees the precogs as inhuman for its own benefit? It seems more like an intentional choice. It mirrors back to the way that the precogs themselves are shaved bald, pale and devoid of distinctive trait. It’s because of this that it is easy to do what John Anderton does; cease seeing them as human. You see their function, not their form. Not who, but what they are. 

To see them that way institutionally means that the state cannot commit to keeping them for as long as their resources will allow them to. 

The state’s approach is again; utilitarian in nature, the social benefit is pure control over a population through their marked exclusion. There is a layer of predictability to the group that they have marked as undesirable and valuable all at once. 

The point of erosion in one’s rights that would charge them with an active crime instead of an inchoate offense like “attempt” is definitely something to think about. The institution’s ability to recontextualize murder to include definitions of events that haven’t even happened yet. 

The eye is a recurring imagery in this story. Lenses, the precogs, the oracle allusion, the invasive advertising. Someone’s probably said this before, but it invokes the image of the panopticon- the theoretical model of the surveillance state posited by Jeremy Bentham, who was pretty much one of the foremost scholars in the construction of criminal law. 

How the panopticon works is that “From the tower, a guard can see every cell and inmate but the inmates can't see into the tower. Prisoners will never know whether or not they are being watched.” 

Because of this certain uncertainty, people are deterred from acting in either the heat of passion or premeditating. 

That is the function of PreCrime. You are being watched by the PreCogs, who as John says; see not what you intend to do, but what you will do. 

How you know you have theoretically done it is when the PreCrime division smashes through the skylight and arrests you for future murder. The hyper-personalized ads are the result of statewide surveillance that use eye-dents to identify and mark a person so that their location is accessible at any time. Tough on crime policies that reduce crime on their face because they’re locking you up, innocent or not. 

I’ve just got to say that the idea of the Precrime unit is so fascinating as a concept because its simultaneously compatible and incompatible with criminal law’s functions: ie. To punish as an overarching principle in both major schools of thought (utilitarianism + retributivism) vs not punishing people for crimes that they’ve only thought about committing (the retributivist concern of proportionality) but haven’t committed yet. You see this conflict play out in John. He’s the Chief of PreCrime and he lost his son. His aim is to make sure it never happens to anyone again, that’s what he is out to deter, unaware of the alternate futures of those he would go on to lock away. It’s an ancient question, do the ends justify the means? The movie seems to lean into no, but with its own caveats. It all sounds SO compelling, with that ever so tiny margin of error. But a margin is a margin, a border. It’s not making the cut, and how far a system like this goes depends on how long characters like John are willing to look away. 

TLDR: It’s like, a total erosion of what we know as our privacy rights- and yet it’s something extremely familiar to us from the examples above. It’s a lot to think about. This movie was the precursor of uh, a lot. A lesser example being the widespread use of unnaturally blue lighting in action films to follow for many years to come.

[masterweaverx]

RWBY V8: On Sacrifice

So, having spent some time seeing a lot of discussion on how volume eight went down, I think it’s time to put my own view into the wild. Volume eight had a lot of themes, like many war stories, but one of the central themes--especially in the later half--was the exploration of the concept of sacrifice, its positive and its negative attributes, how it could be interpreted, reinterpreted, and misinterpreted. For the sake of discussion, let’s put up a basic definition of the word.

Sacrifice: The deliberate surrender or offering of one thing, physical or abstract, in order to achieve a set goal.

What’s being sacrificed doesn’t have to be much. It can be something as simple as ‘here, you’re hungry, take my sandwich.’ Or it could be a big sacrifice, like an entire platoon of soldiers. The point is that a sacrifice is meant to achieve a goal via the surrender of the sacrificed subject. Of course, exactly how people approach that especially when the subject is lives, can be very, very telling.

Sacrifice as Exchange

“I will sacrifice... whatever it takes... to stop her.” -James Ironwood

This view of sacrifice sees it as a numbers game. If you give up enough X, you’ll achieve Y. It’s a business proposition. A cost-benefit analysis. Which is fine when you’re talking about money, or resources, as long as those are yours to use. But if you’re talking about things that should belong to somebody else, resources that have been entrusted to you for one purpose which you intend to use for another...? That’s bad. And when you’re talking about lives, that’s worse.

This is also, ironically, the view that tends to play up the value of Sacrifice For Sacrifice’s Sake. It’s easier to say ‘I’m sacrificing for the Greater Good’ then it is to say ‘I am sending men to their deaths in an attempt to buy a goal which I require.’ It’s less honest, but easier. That’s why Ironwood ultimately fell into the villainous role he did. As a wise old witch once said: “Evil begins when you treat people as things.”

Exchange as Sacrifice

“Please, Winter, give us a chance to try to rescue him first! We… We could be your test run. You don’t know what’ll be waiting for you inside, right? So we can go ahead to check it out, and look for Oscar while we’re inside.” -Jaune Arc

Sacrifice as Exchange says “All sacrifices are exchanges.” Exchange as Sacrifice says “some exchanges are sacrifices.” This is a case not of set value, but as haggling, asking what you can get for what you have. Instead of merely saying “Doing X will achieve Y!”, you ask “Will X achieve Y? What if X only achieves Z? Would I be okay with that?” It examines the value of what is being given, and the value of what wants to be achieved, and judges before making the final decision.

Sometimes it’s worth it all to risk the fall--or, maybe, the capture by an immortal witch--to fight for every life. But knowing when it’s worth it, when to make that decision, can be hard. Jaune’s had to struggle with what he’s willing to sacrifice ever since Pyrrha died, but he’s always gauged it by what he can achieve for his team, his friends. It’s what led him to make some tough, and painful, decisions.

Sacrifice as Salvation

“ I can… if it means saving all my friends.” -Vine Zeki

“No greater love hath man then to lay down their life for another.” Sacrifice is, first and foremost, about achieving a goal, and if that goal is to save those who are important to you, then some people will be willing to sacrifice themselves. Heck, even if they aren’t people you know, you can take jobs that come with great personal risk to save lives--this is the point of firefighters, who don’t necessarily die, but who accept it as a possibility.

Did Vine have to stay on that ship with the bomb? Well, it was designed to blow up a whale, Ironwood threatened to blow up a city with it, and it did disintegrate that airship even while contained, so... maybe. I legitimately don’t know the calculations of force, if he could have hopped onto the other ship and flown away. In the end, though, he decided it would be safer for his friends if he took the hit. He chose his own demise to save others.

Salvation as Sacrifice

“ I've always got your back, sis.” -Yang Xiao Long

Then again, if your goal is to save lives--or even a life--it’s possible to take it too far. There’s a certain mindset that takes ‘Supporting others’ to the extreme of ‘at cost to myself’ consistently. This is usually a bad thing; people are not meant to be simply resources, they are meant to have their own wants and needs. It also means ignoring options that don’t require sacrifice in favor of instinctively charging in yourself.

Yang Xiao Long has often been noted as somebody who doesn’t really have wants of her own. Or, rather, she puts her wants aside for others--after that horrible incident with Ruby as a child, and how much she has supported Blake, and how she charged into that whale for Oscar, she just has a streak of helping others instead of herself. Being fair, that’s something all RWBY heroes seem to do to an extent, but with Yang being contrasted against her teammates it’s especially prominent for her... and it led to her taking a blow she didn’t need to and paying dearly for it.

Sacrifice as Suicide

“No more Gretchens, boy.” -Hazel Rainart

When it comes to ending lives, suicide and sacrifice approach the same end result from opposite directions. Suicide comes from a place of saying “My life doesn’t matter,” self-loathing and a genuine if twisted belief that nobody would miss you if you were gone. Sacrifice comes from a place of saying “Your life matters,” being filled with love and willing to do anything to make sure the other lives. This doesn’t mean that a sacrifice can’t be a suicide--especially if the one doing it holds both beliefs at once, or if the sacrifice involves dealing with a lethal danger of some sort.

Hazel, in the end, was a broken man, desperately trying to sublimate the pain and anger he felt at the world. He couldn’t take what his life had thrown at him, what Salem and Ozpin had done to his sister. But, despite it all, he still had some care for others. When the option to save them presented itself, even at great risk to his own life, he followed through on it... to his death. Even knowing that Emerald would witness it...

Suicide as Sacrifice

“What are you doing!? My life doesn't matter!” -Winter Schnee

Of course a lot of people don’t find suicide ‘socially acceptable’--not to talk about, or to do, or to consider. But for somebody who’s been emotionally abused, finding a position where death is expected--even if only in small amounts, but it’s part of the job description--might seem like a good option. It lets them put themselves in dangerous situations, inviting a more socially acceptable form of death without having to confront their own lack of self-worth.

It’s assumed that people who take risky jobs do it so that others don’t have to. They’re praised for being brave enough to handle dangerous situations, which leads to them taking on more and more responsibility. The weight of the situation is not on them as a person, but as a tool for a goal. If they expend themselves, well, that’s just a sacrifice, isn’t it? Their life doesn’t matter in a vacuum, but here their death might save what they care about. They can say ‘my life doesn’t matter’ without anybody batting an eye... unless they’re good friends, or close family members.

Wasted Sacrifice

“Mom took a risk the day she left, and I don’t think. I don’t think it went the way she wanted it to. But she’s still my hero.” -Yang Xiao Long

A sacrifice is a gamble. You’re giving up something, up to and including lives, to achieve a goal. And sometimes... you just don’t achieve it. Maybe there are some wild unforeseen circumstances. Maybe what you thought would happen because of your sacrifice... doesn’t happen. Maybe you just don’t have enough of the right thing to give. A wasted sacrifice, one spent with the best of intent that doesn’t achieve what it set out to, is painful to contemplate.

What could have been achieved if what was spent still remained? Who is left behind to mourn, without even the comfort of knowing that which was lost was given for a commendable goal? This agony alone brings many to question why they should sacrifice anything--not just lives, but time, and effort. Why bother, when what has been given so far isn’t enough? Why try, when all that is left behind is sorrow and fear?

Senseless Sacrifice

“You call this saving Atlas? Doing Salem’s job for her? I believed in you! I thought we could work towards something better. But now you’re throwing it all away.” -Marrow Amin

A wasted sacrifice is made with the best of intent, and fails to achieve its goal. A senseless sacrifice, on the other hand, is one that isn’t at all necessary. The goal could so easily be achieved some other way; or perhaps the goal is nonsensical in its entirety. The fact that senseless sacrifice exists begs the question... why? Why toss all those resources, all those lives, into the void of potential, for no good reason?

The answer, of course, is that not all reasons are good. Sometimes it’s just an attempt to keep control of a situation. Other times it’s to spite your enemies. And there are times where it’s just... habit. Why bother looking for alternate solutions when throwing soldiers at the enemy has always worked before? When all you have is a hammer, the world starts looking like a lot of annoying nails.

The Worship of Sacrifice

“It's the principle, Vine! It's about loyalty. Clover understood that. Clover would see this through.” -Harriet Bree

Recontextualizing ‘I choose to die’ into ‘I will give my life’ makes the risk of death more... palatable. If you’re just a cog in the machine, of course you don’t expect anybody to see you as a person. That’s why a lot of organizations which put people into tough positions like to play up the value of Honor and Loyalty. Being a part of something bigger than yourself does a lot to make giving up your life--not dying, giving your life up--into something you can value.

This, though, runs the risk of choosing sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice, and thereby ironically not making it a sacrifice at all. A sacrifice is the surrender of one thing to achieve a goal, but if that goal is sacrifice, then you’ve essentially set yourself up for a divide by zero error. Which is why loyalty to those above you is important in an organization; once that loyalty wavers, and soldiers ask themselves what they’re doing, suddenly the worship of sacrifice doesn’t give them any answers.

The Value of Sacrifice

“I thought of you… and here we are.” -Penny Polendina

So, sacrifice has a lot of negative elements... which begs the question, why are we still so fascinated with it? Why do we still put it on a pedestal? Because, at its heart, it’s about giving. Sometimes time, sometimes money, sometimes resources, sometimes lives. It’s about putting something out, in hopes of making the world a better place. It shouldn’t be done lightly, and it can be done poorly, and it often results in giving too much and leaving behind pain... but fundamentally, the intent of sacrifice is to help, not to hurt.

Everything about sacrifice--both positive and negative--wound up reflected in Penny’s decision in the volume eight finale. For better or worse, she was quite effectively raised in the environment of the Atlas Military, witnessing the concept from multiple angles and understanding it on a deep level. She valued her own life, and the freedom to make choices... and she valued other people’s lives, willing to do anything to save them.

I don’t think Penny’s story is over. I do think, however, that she’s gotten to see and experience the full breadth of sacrifice, its good and its bad, its nobility and its horror. There’s a lot more to her story than just sacrifice, of course, but volume eight gave her the chance to realize its full meaning. I suspect volume nine will have her impart that wisdom to those around her.

[subscribe2technoblade]

The Syndicate/Butcher Army Parallels and Perpendiculars

Here's my thoughts on Technoblade's "First Meeting" stream and the discourse surrounding it. This is a long one. /rp for all of this. All names from here on out are in reference to characters, not content creators.

First: a list of similarities and differences between the Syndicate's visit to Snowchester and the Butcher Army's visit to Technoblade's retirement home.

Similarities

Four people in full netherite approach a snowy settlement currently populated by one individual

Said individual is alerted in advance to the approach by someone they trust, and therefore given enough time to prepare

Said individual has the potential to absolutely decimate their enemies if they choose to, and their decision not to is important

There is a pet that the individual cares about who could be threatened if things go south

Differences

The Syndicate’s visit to Snowchester was intended to be a stealth mission- failed very early on because Tubbo was right there

The Butcher Army broke into Phil’s house to find out where Techno was hiding. The Syndicate already knew the vague area of where Snowchester is.

The Butcher Army was always going to push Techno to violence, because they did not care that Techno was retired. The Syndicate recognized that Snowchester is not L’Manburg 2.0 and therefore left it alone.

The Butcher Army threatened Carl to force Techno to comply. Ranboo and Tubbo hid Michael before Techno got there. (Imo it was unnecessary considering Techno gave Jack Manifold’s fox a golden apple rather than threatening it, but I can understand their concern since pets in general have a short lifespan on the smp.)

Now: some analysis

Tubbo was the Technoblade in this stream. Here he is, surrounded by what he has built, showing people that could be his enemies around. The Syndicate means him no harm, but Tubbo doesn’t know that. He is outnumbered. If they wanted to hurt him, kill him, blow up everything he cares about, they could, and in his experience, if someone can do those things, they will. So he puts up a front of nonchalance and shows them the crater. The subtext seemingly goes right over Techno’s head that Tubbo is preparing for history to repeat itself.

Ranboo is doing the same thing. Ranboo was also part of the Butcher Army. He watched how they treated Techno and how they executed him without a real trial. New L’Manburg was a paranoid nation always looking for traitors. I can actually kind of understand why Ranboo didn’t immediately speak up that Snowchester was peaceful. If he had told the Butcher Army that Techno was peaceful, they would have gone ahead with their plans anyway and accused Ranboo of being in league with the enemy. Ranboo should probably know Phil and Techno better than that by now, but man’s got anxiety so I’ll cut him a little bit of slack. Ranboo could also see history repeating itself and wanted to protect his husband and adopted son.

The key difference here is the Syndicate’s reaction to Snowchester. They are wary, because of course they are. Phil, Techno, Niki, and Ranboo know better than anyone else how quickly a small nation can turn corrupt. (Niki especially had a visceral reaction to Tubbo wearing the black shield with the red x, which is understandable given her history under Schlatt.) So they don’t sugarcoat what they’re doing, but they don’t put words in Tubbo’s mouth when he describes what Snowchester is. They listen, they follow Tubbo without barging into any buildings or looking through chests, and when they understand what’s going on, that Tubbo has no intentions to institute a hierarchy or start conquering other people, they leave. This is where people slip up and start calling the Syndicate tyrannical or claim it’s policing the SMP. From the similarities, it could look like that, and let’s be real, people poking around your base on the Dream SMP is very rarely benign. However, the Syndicate is not the Butcher Army. They are looking to benefit everyone on the server by fighting tyranny. The Butcher Army did not care who they hurt or lied to if it was in the name of securing power.

Personally, I’m hoping this leads to better cooperation between people on the SMP. Ranboo and Tubbo might be able to see that Techno is not just a being of violence and chaos; he can be reasoned with. Ranboo might be able to gain more confidence as the Syndicate allows him to speak his piece without being accused of treachery. I haven’t even mentioned how happy I am that Niki is actually being listened to and involved in this arc. The Syndicate gives people freedom and is a vehicle for mutual aid and cooperation. The Butcher Army was a group of hitmen hell-bent on reinforcing government power at any cost.

(I do not have time to go through all the streams to find timestamps for all the things I’m referencing, so feel free to add on to this post if you do have the time to gather textual evidence.)

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Facebook employees stalk users

In Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang’s “An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook’s Battle for Domination,” the authors recount the company’s long history of insider threats in which employees (mostly men) used the company’s tools to stalk people (mostly women).

https://www.harpercollins.com/products/an-ugly-truth-sheera-frenkelcecilia-kang

The stalking targets included both strangers and intimate partners — for example, an engineer used FB’s tools to locate his partner after she fled their shared vacation hotel room in order to “confront her.”

https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-fired-dozens-abusing-access-user-data-an-ugly-truth-2021-7

Another FB engineer stalked a woman who didn’t return his messages after a date, accessing years of private messages and photos, including photos that his target believed she had permanently deleted, but which Facebook had secretly retained.

All told, Facebook fired 52 employees for data abuses between Jan 2014 and Aug 2015, after a policy change eliminated many access safeguards in the name of eliminating “the red tape that slowed down engineers.”

In other words, Facebook was in a situation in which its users’ interests were at odds with its shareholders. By eliminating protections for its users, it allowed its engineers to work more efficiently, and increased its profits.

These kinds of conflicts — between shareholder and stakeholder interests — are the norm in business. Think of a busy retailer that cuts its cashiers: reducing payroll costs increases profits, at the expense of worker stress and longer waits for customers.

The question of how much value can be shifted from employees and customers to shareholders isn’t really an economic one — it’s really a policy question.

If we have strong labor laws — protecting cashiers from undue stress, extending unemployment benefits to workers who quit bad jobs, protecting workers from non-compete clauses, separating health-care from employment — then a business that screws its cashiers will lose them.

Meanwhile, the balance between customers’ interests and shareholders’ is likewise a creature of policy. If a retailer is the only game in town — if it’s a Walmart that used predatory pricing to create a retail desert — then they can force customers to wait in longer lines.

Or if the business has a regulated monopoly — a patent, a trademark or some other exclusive right that makes it the only game in town (say, the sole right to sell snacks in an airport), it can shift more value from customers to shareholders before the customers walk away.

Facebook — and other tech monopolists — have engineered a world where they get to side with shareholders over users, again and again, to the users’ great detriment, without losing those users.

Economic analysis of tech monopolies focuses on “network effects” — the way more users make Facebook more valuable (you join FB because your friends are there, more friends sign up because you’re there).

Taken on their own, network effects are cause for despair, predicting that tech will produce “natural monopolies” — an inevitable winner-take-all market. But that’s obviously not true — I’m not typing this on a Cray or using Altavista to look up facts while I do.

Far more important than network effects for antimonopoly analysis is switching costs — the things you give up when you quit a service. In FB’s case, quitting means leaving behind your friends, communities and customers.

Now, this needn’t be the case. You can switch phone companies or email providers without shattering your social connections. FB has engineered a high switching cost, blocking other services from connecting to it.

After all, the more you stand to lose by leaving FB, the worse FB can treat you before you’re willing to leave. Zuck didn’t abolish the safeguards that protected us from rogue FB employees because he’s nosy — he did it because it’s profitable.

He was betting (probably correctly) that no matter how unhappy the ensuring scandals made his users, it wouldn’t make so many of them unhappy enough to quit that the losses would outweigh the gains from exposing us to predatory Facebookers.

Which is why proposals like the ACCESS Act, currently working its way through Congress, are such a big deal. It’s a law that would force FB to let third parties plug into it, so you could leave FB but stay in touch with the people who stay behind.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/06/new-access-act-good-start-heres-how-make-sure-it-delivers

In response to this (and the EU’s Digital Markets and Digital Services Act), FB (and some lawmakers) warned that allowing third parties to connect to monopoly platforms would expose users to privacy risks, by reducing tech companies’ control over their services.

There’s an element of truth to this, but left unsaid is that reducing the switching costs for leaving Facebook will protect users from Facebook.

When FB says that it needs total control over its servers or Cambridge Analytica will steal our data, we have to remember that FB already let Cambridge Analytica steal our data.

When FB gutted its internal controls to increase profitability by decreasing user protections, senior employees went to Mark Zuckerberg to warn him against it. Alex Stamos, then FB’s then-CSO, reportedly strenuously objected, but was personally overruled by Zuck.

Like many sociopathic business-leaders Zuck is not swayed by arguments about the immorality of otherwise profitable conduct — but he is responsive to arguments about business-losses arising from his abusive behavior. Money talks, bullshit walks.

If the argument against loosening controls over employee access to user data had been, “We will lose ten million users per month to an upstart interoperator for so long as we do this,” THAT might have stayed Zuck’s hand. Unlike ethics, user-loss is a factor he cares about.

Contacted by Insider’s Sarah Jackson, an anonymous FB spokesperson (literally the only kind of person FB allows anonymity to!) said “We’ve always had zero tolerance for abuse and have fired every single employee ever found to be improperly accessing data.”

But that’s a dodge. “Zero tolerance” isn’t the same as “top priority.” If FB wants to prioritize preventing employees from stalking users, it would collect less data from users, delete data as quickly as possible, and put very strict barriers between employees and data.

If preventing stalking was FB’s top priority, it would collect no data, and/or never let employees access it. Obviously, FB won’t do that. it will always have to balance its users’ privacy and safety against its shareholders’ interests.

I am skeptical that FB will ever be a trustworthy guardian of its users’ safety and privacy. I don’t think the problem is that Mark Zuckerberg is the wrong self-appointed czar of 3B peoples’ lives — I think the problem is that no one should have that job.

But if you disagree — if you want to fix, rather than abolish, Facebook — then you need to figure out which policies will tip the balance in favor of the public interest.

Policies like interoperability impose immediate, meaningful, concrete costs on FB every time it sides against the public and with its shareholders. If you’re worried that interop will expose FB users to rogue companies or state actors, then regulate who can connect to FB.

But don’t leave that up to FB. FB will side with shareholders over users whenever it’s profitable to do so. Putting FB in charge of interoperability shifts that balance dramatically in favor of shareholders and against the public.

Image:

Cryteria (modified): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

John Lodder (modified): https://www.flickr.com/photos/denisdefreyne/863085355/

Denis Defreyne (modified): https://www.flickr.com/photos/denisdefreyne/863085355/

CC BY: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[lashistoriassonreales]

Theories Tatiana&Blackthorns

After the publication of Monday's Secrets of Blackthorn Hall post, a lot of doubts and questions about Tatiana and the Blackthorns were raised.

So, like last week, here are my theories and analysis.

1. Time of the story: possibly the end of 1877. We know that in July 1878 Gideon returns from Spain and had been there for a few months. And by that time Tatiana and Rupert had already married.

2. Tatiana's feelings: we have never been told much about them.

According to Lilian Hightsmith, Tatiana really suffered the death of her husband and from what she tells in her very secret diary she must have genuinely fallen in love with him, her feelings were real.

3. Rupert and Tatiana's marriage: this is the first time that Rupert is mentioned alive. We don't know if his interest in Tatiana is real or a family obligation. Although the shadowhunters are not used to arrange marriages like the mundane ones at this time and used to form alliances for love, we know that there were some agreements that benefited both parties, either for public image or economic issues.

With these considerations, I believe Benedict used his influence that his daughter would have a beneficial marriage, as she had been raised to only be the wife of some important member of the key. Hence being insistent that she go to the ball. But that Rupert really took a shine to Tatiana for her beauty (she's Lightwood, duh), though he wasn't pleased by her personality and eventually grew fond of her.

I'd like to think that they loved a little each other the short time they had as a couple and that Jesse has that charm from his father.

4. I have seen that there is speculation as to whether our Blackthorns are descendants of Jesse and Lucie.

CC said that there are currently more Blackthorns. That's at least two active lines. We know that by 1878 there are the Cornwall Blackthorns who are related to Annabel and the Leeds who are related to Jesse. With that, the Blackthorn lines are balanced.

As to the question of whether Jesse and Julian are related. I believe they are. CC said that the TLH , TDA and TWP stories will connect just like TMI and TID did . The fact that Lucie was doing with necromancy just like Ty does not seem like a minor fact to me, the Blackthorn medallion that Livvy wore is described as Lucie's medallion and that Jesse was a ghost just like Livvy. And as Magnus said in QoAD that type of magic has a cost and leaves a trail.

---

Después de la publicación del post de Los Secretos de Blackthorn Hall del lunes saltaron un montón de dudas y preguntas sobre Tatiana y los Blackthorn.

Asi que al igual que la semana pasada aquí van mis teorías y análisis.

1. Momento temporal de la historia: posiblemente fines de 1877. Sabemos que en julio de 1878 vuelve Gideon de España y llevaba unos meses ahí. Y para ese entonces Tatiana y Rupert ya se habían casado.

2. Los sentimientos de Tatiana: nunca se nos a contado mucho sobre ellos.

Según lo que cuenta Lilian Hightsmith, Tatiana realmente sufrió la muerte de su marido y por lo que cuenta en su diario muy secreto debió genuinamente enamorarse de él, sus sentimientos fueron reales.

3. El matrimonio de Rupert y Tatiana: es la primera vez que se habla de Rupert vivo. No sabemos si su interés por Tatiana es real o por una obligación familiar. Aunque los cazadores de sombras no acostumbran arreglar matrimonios como los mundanos en esta época y solían formar alianzas por amor sabemos que si habían algunos acuerdos que beneficiara a ambas partes, sea por imagen pública o cuestiones económicas.

Con estas consideraciones, creo que Benedict pudo mover sus hilos para que su hija tuviese un matrimonio beneficioso, ya que se le había criado a solo ser la esposa de algún miembro importante de la clave. De ahí ser insistete en que fuera al baile. Pero que Rupert realmente se fijó en Tatiana por su belleza (es Lightwood, dah), aunque no se encantó con su personalidad y con el tiempo le agarró cariño.

Me gustaría pensar que se quisieron el poco tiempo que tuvieron como pareja y que Jesse tiene ese encanto de su padre.

4. He visto que hay especulaciones sobre si nuestros Blackthorn son descendientes de Jesse y Lucie.

CC dijo que en la actualidad hay más Blackthorn. Con eso son mínimo dos líneas activas. Sabemos que para 1878 están los Blackthorn de Cornwall que son parientes de Annabel y los de Leeds que es familia de Jesse. Con eso cuadran las líneas Blackthorn.

En cuanto a la duda de si son parientes Jesse y Julian. Yo creo que sí. CC dijo que las historias de TLH , TDA y TWP se conectarán al igual que lo hicieron TMI y TID . El hecho de que Lucie esté jugando con nigromancia al igual que Ty no me parece un hecho menor, el medallón Blackthorn que usaba Livvy se describe como el medallón de Lucie y que Jesse fuese un fantasma al igual que Livvy. Y como Magnus dijo en QoAD ese tipo de magia tiene un costo y deja un rastro.

[catxsnow]

AFTER HOURS chapter two

Summary: Enemies to the public, friends to their close ones, friends with benefits between them. Rival companies and an attraction that can’t be ignored. 

Tim Drake x reader

Warnings: swearing, mature content, smut, 18+ only, mention death of parents, car crash mentions.  

A/N: Chapter twooooooo it shall be getting more interesting next chapter😏 

Word Count: 3.6k

It seemed that her life seemed revolve around business meetings. Nine in the morning, another at eleven, two at noon but there was no way to attend both, a final one at three. Meeting after meeting, and for what? To hear the same things over and over again? Some people choose to do this for the rest of their lives.

There was something about the busy Gotham streets that always caught her attention. Maybe it was the sound of the horns, or the people yelling within their cars. Gun shots or screams. There was always something to distract her from whatever meeting she was forced to listen to. Maybe it was because she didn't want to listen to it at all.

Of course, running this company was important. Without her parents, she had to take control of it. It was an important company too, just along side WE, they worked to make Gotham, and the world a better place. That didn't mean that she wanted to here about the statistical analysis of it all.

Not to mention that the weight of her parent's anniversary was heavy in her mind. Four years since they had been gone, four years of blaming herself. They went to Gotham to visit her, if they had just stayed home, they would still be home. Car accidents happen all the time, but that didn't make it any easier.

The second that the final meeting was over, she couldn't seem to get out of that room fast enough. She just wanted to be in the privacy of her own office. The door nearly slammed shut as she closed it. Back against the wall, heavy breathing as she tried to hold herself together. It was always hard on that day of the year.

A bright bouquet of flowers was on her desk. With a shaky breath, she headed over to see who they were from. It wasn't rare for her to receive flowers. Gotham's greatest bachelorette - more like people wanted her for sex and money. Without that company, she wouldn't have been idolized like that.

The bouquet was grand: flowers of every color and kind poked out from it. Whoever this was, they had spent a lot of money on it. (Y/N) picked up the small card and read what it said.

For your parents. I know days like these aren't easy, I'm sorry. - T.D.

"Those are pretty."

"Ms. Vale," her jaw clenched at the sound of the voice behind here. Great, this was the last thing that she needed to deal with today. Vicki Vale had a tendency to show up on her worst days. "What do I owe the pleasure of today and who let you into my office?"

"I let myself in," she said. Vicki Vale stood tall and proud. She had a large purse over her shoulder which surely held a plethora of notebooks and pens. Always ready to catch a story and always eager to stir up drama within the city. "Hope you don't mind. Just wanted to ask you a few questions about this new business deal that you're about to make. But, now I'm curious about the flowers, who're they from?"

"Why don't you tell me?" She sat in her chair as Vicky sat in the one across from her. "You do enjoy making headlines about me and my, as you say 'promiscuous life'." There had been many titles about (Y/N) - between her risky clothing, the second that she were talking with a man outside of business, or her attempts for normal dates - she was there.

Vicki casually reached her perfectly manicured finger tips towards the card from the flowers. Before she could even come near, (Y/N)'s palm slammed down on the desk. She pulled the card towards herself and out of the reach of Vicki. The last thing she needed was for the reporter to put two and two together to realize T.D. was Tim Drake-Wayne.

"Another hopeless lover of yours?" She raised an eyebrow. There was no answer. "I just wanted to ask you what you thought about Wayne Enterprise's attempt to stop the progress of your new development? Mr. Drake - sorry, Mr. Wayne, had lots to say on the matter, I hope you do as well."

"As a matter of fact, I don't." WE's attempt to stop the development was futile. Even Tim had told her that. There was no reason for them to try and stop it when in the end it would benefit both companies. They just wanted their name on it rather than hers. Everyone in both companies knew that.

It was for namesake that there was disagreements about the development. She was lucky enough to have beaten Tim to it first. This was going to a be a massive break for the company, one that would sky rocket sales and put you neck and neck with Wayne Enterprises once again.

"Mr. Wayne is your biggest competitor, aren't you worried?" She continued to pry. (Y/N) had gotten skilled over the years of not letting the curiosity of others get to her. She was able to keep her face straight and her mouth shut - even when she had lots she wanted to say. 

"Mr. Wayne has always, and will always be my biggest competitor. Unfortunately for him, I was the one to give the statement first about this new addition to the city. I will become Gotham's biggest economic resources, just as I have always tried to do in the past - and just as Mr. Wayne has always done in the past."

"So, you're saying that you public enemies?" Vicki pressed. She had always known about (Y/N)'s vendetta against the WE, but there had never been a statement that she tried to take the company down so hers could thrive. That was never her intention, they could co-exist always.

"I'm saying, Ms. Vale, that Timothy Drake-Wayne is a smart man. He knows when to push through fights, and he knows when he is losing. This time, he's lost. The next time, I won't be so lucky. Those who are fighting for the same cost are never enemies," she firmly stated.

"Will you be attending the Wayne Gala?" Vicki continued. Of course, there always had to be questions that weren't related to the company. She wanted anything to see (Y/N) with a man, just to make a headline for the decade. In all these years, not once had she been caught in the dating scene.

"No. I've made a donation, but I will not be attending," She answered. The tag from the flowers seemed to burn the skin of her hands. Tim sent those flowers because he worried, not because he wished to impress her. "Don't you have some better reporting to do rather than finding strings to cling onto of my personal life, Ms. Vale?"

"That'll be all for today."

><

Tim's bouquet of flowers felt heavy in her hands. The weight of having to visit her parent's graves was always a hard task to do alone. As time passed, it seemed easier to go visit them. Years of working hard to make them proud, years of showing them how much the business they started thrived.

There was nothing more that she wanted than to make them proud. Even as a child - working hard in school, playing sports, everything that would have brought a smile to their faces. In death, it felt like she needed to work even harder. Then again, as time passed, she forgot the sound of their voices, the crinkle by their eyes as they smiled, she forgot the warmth of their hugs.

As time passed, she forgot that she could be happy.

Work consumed her in the past four years. Late nights at the office, early mornings, weekends even. She lost friends, disconnected from family, deterred everyone away. Running this company had changed her life, and not necessarily for the better. The responsibility of it all was almost too much to handle on her own.

"Mr. Wayne's son bought these for you," she spoke to her parents graves. Tim's flowers sat on the grass, bringing some brightness to that gloomy day. "Surprising, I know. He's very kind, I think you guys would like him if he wasn't running Wayne Enterprises. At this point though I think you would like any man that I talked to.

"I miss you both, a lot. I'm securing a new development in the company, it's really going to pull us ahead this time. Dad would have thought it would have been a risky move, but I did it. I beat them for once. I hope you guys are proud of me up there, I'm really trying to make this city a better place in your name.

"Happy anniversary mom and dad, I love you," she sighed once more before heading back to her car. The walk back seemed long. Her shoulders hung low and she furiously wiped away the hot tears that threatened to spill down her eyes.

To her surprise, Tim was there, leaning against his own car right next to hers. He was reading something on his phone, but as he heard her footsteps, he looked up. "Mr. Wayne, thank you for those flowers, they were beautiful. What are you doing here?"

It wasn't often that they met up in public without there being some sort of business meeting along with it. Tim shoved his phone in his pocket and gave her a smile filled with sympathy. To be honest, he was visiting his own parents. Their chat the previous night had edged him to go visit their graves.

It just happened to be lucky timing that she was there as well. Tim didn't want to disturb her, but he did wish to speak to her. He always wished to talk with her - not just about business. He liked being with her, she was refreshing in his life of darkness. Without evening knowing much about it, it seemed she understood him more than anyone.

"I was in the area," Tim vaguely answered. He knew that he could tell her that he was visiting his parents just like she were but he felt deterred from doing so. Besides, upon seeing the redness in her eyes, he didn't want to worry about anything besides her. She had been crying, it was evident for someone like him. "I'm glad you liked the flowers, they used to be mother's favourites."

"They stirred up quite the fuss with Vicki Vale today," she tried to joke. Tim rolled his eyes at the sound of her name. He wasn't her biggest fan, in fact he was far from it. Vicki had single-handedly meddled into his life and forced him to live an entire year with a fake spinal injury and crutches. He had gotten off of them just before meeting (Y/N).

"She came to see you too, huh?" Tim shuddered at their meeting that afternoon. Question after question about his involvement with Ms. (L/N). Vicki was sure that there was something going on between the two of them - and for once she was right. "The new development or your latest hot date?"

"Considering my latest hot date is non-existent, it was the development. But, she was pretty eager for me to say something about you," She half-smiled. Tim shook his head, of course. Vicki was always trying to start a turf war or make the two of them fall in love. "I know you just came over last night... but I could really use a distraction from today."

A distraction. That seemed that was all he was to her. Nothing more than something to get her mind of the life she was thrown into. Of course, that was what it was all about at the start. Fucking to forget. He knew it, he went into their benefit relationship knowing it but as time grew...

"There's nothing wrong with taking a break from work," Tim changed the subject a little too quickly. In the four years he had known her, she had aged. Worried creases were around her eyes and scattered on her forehead. Dark circles always under her eyes. It worried him. "I'm not saying leave or anything, but you can have fun every once in a while. It's a Friday night, why not go to the bar with your friends? Let loose and live a little."

Tim was right. She wasn't the young eighteen year old anymore that would have been chastised for having a drink. It was legal for her to go out and have fun, maybe tonight was the kind of night that she deserved. Her parents wouldn't want her to sulk over their deaths, they would have wanted her to live her best life.

Going out was exactly what she needed. Not a distraction, not something that would keep her mind busy for a couple hours just to fall back in her pit of despair. She needed a genuine change in her life, and maybe that started with connecting with old friends and making some new ones.

As no words came out of her mouth, Tim took the time to realize that it was his moment to leave. She was obviously deep in thought with his words. He placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it before getting into his car. "I hate when you call me Mr. Wayne," he told her.

It was true, not only did it make him feel old, but it also made him feel like they didn't know each other at all. That was far from the truth, they both were far closer to each other than they would like to admit. Tim knew of her desire to keep their relationship business - and emotionless sex. They were after all, public enemies.

><

For the first time in years she woke up with a hangover. Pounding head, upset stomach - it was a feeling that she didn't miss. It wasn't rare for her to sleep naked in her own home, but it was to feel a heavy arm across her waist. Dark hair, muscular back - for a second she swore it to be Tim, but this man wasn't nearly as broad as he was.

Aside from the thumping in her head, memories of what happened the night before started to resurface. She had taken Tim's advice and called up her friends to go get a drink. One drink turned to two, which turned to shots and getting plastered. It had been so long since she had seen them all that letting loose was almost too easy.

She knew that she shouldn't have gotten that drunk, but having fun like that for the first time since she started working at that company was exhilarating. Unlike she had thought - her friends accepted her right back in. They knew that she was under a lot of pressure and that making time wasn't easy. They were just thankful for that night.

So, with a small reunion at the front of the bar, they headed in and got hammered. She treated her friends round after round - partially because she easily could and partially for an apology. It didn't take long for them to become a laughing mess while catching up and remembering the old days.

By the time the night was coming to an end, her friend pointed out the man that had been eyeing her up for hours. Whether it was the alcohol, the need to continue her good night, or to show her friends that she was just as fun as ever, she went to the man. Minutes later, they were walking out of the club and into a taxi.

Now, he was asleep in her bed and she had no idea whether or not anyone outside of her friend group knew what had happened. The man stirred. He pulled himself closer towards her as he woke. Warm brown eyes met hers, a genuine smile. What was his name? Jacob.

"Good morning beautiful," his voice was hoarse, sexy. Her mind raced between the option of soaking up some more moments of fun or getting back to her usual self and kicking him out. She went with the first one as he glided his hands along the curves of her side before placing his hand at her jaw.

It made her falter. This man... as good looking and as sexy as he was, he wasn't Tim. He didn't please her like Tim did. He didn't make her feel as good as Tim did. Even the sound of his voice didn't bring her the same amount of excitement. Why did she feel like she betrayed him? They were allowed to sleep with who they wanted.

She pushed away the feeling. Tim was the one to tell her to go out and have fun. Let loose from the burden of running a company and just the kid that she was. Sleeping with men, getting drunk, that was all part of her teen years that she missed out on. Tim wanted her to have this.

"Coffee?" She asked. Maybe that would stop the ridiculous headache she had. Or maybe she was using it as an excuse to get out of bed with him. Jacob nodded. He pulled her in for a long kiss, lingering against her for just a moment too long. The two of them grabbed whatever scattered clothes they could before going to her kitchen.

As the smell of coffee beans filled the air, she checked her phone for the first time that morning. Unlike the endless abundance of emails that she had gotten - there was a plethora of missed calls and texts. This was far from usual. Her eyebrows furrowed as she opened up the one from her closet advisor.

A picture of her and Jacob leaving the club, pictures of them kissing, her taking shots and drinking with her friends. Is she really mature enough to run this company? Black bold letters stared back at her. This was exactly what she was trying to avoid. The media had taken her one night of fun and turned the city against her.

"Fuck," she breathed out.

"What's wrong?" Jacob asked. Genuine concern was in his eyes for why she was suddenly upset. She was frozen in her spot, unable to tear her eyes away from the screen. Jacob stood behind her, hands on her shoulders as he glanced over the article itself. "Oh." He never assumed that the media would do this.

In the bar, he knew who she was. Everyone in Gotham knew who she was, however he never expected her to be that beautiful in person. His friends had been hyping him up all night to go talk to her, but he knew it would never be a success. So, when she came to him, he couldn't say no.

Now, he worried that in one fowl swoop, he had tainted everything that she had worked so hard for.

"I think you should go," she told him, not trying to be rude. This wasn't his fault, none of this was. It was her fault for agreeing to her friends to go after him, it was her fault for agreeing to Tim's idea. Tim. This wouldn't have happened if he hadn't offered. Was this a ploy to get her company to fall so he could come out on top?

"I know it doesn't really mean much from someone like me, but... No matter what Gotham has to say about you, I think you’re the only one keeping this city somewhat sane," Jacob told her. He genuinely thought her to be a good person - not just some chick with a nice ass and easy access. There were people in Gotham that wanted to see her succeed, regardless of her age.

It was a hard idea to get through her head - people believing in her for her brain, not her body. So many articles, just like the one she read this morning, forced her to a life that made her weary of trusting people. She wanted to be seen as powerful, influential - not as a little girl who ran around sleeping with people.

"Thank you," she smiled. "If it means anything, I did have a great time last night." Jacob chuckled, but agreed. He waved a final time and left her home. Reluctantly, she went through the rest of the texts that she had gotten over the night. All of them were the same - reminding her that she was still an immature kid.

The board of directors, her friends, advisors - everyone seemed to have seen it before she had. It was the text from Tim that stood out to her the most. I see you took my advise, hope you had fun last night. Don't worry to much about the paps.

Don't worry? Don't worry? The great Tim Wayne had nothing to worry about, ever. Her on the other hand? She was constantly under scrutiny. In the eyes of society, Tim was the perfect candidate to take over WE. He was smart, cunning, he had a way with the people. It seemed that there was never anything bad for someone to say about him.

Her life on the other hand? She fell under Gotham's microscope and was picked apart until there was nothing left beside the mistakes she had made. This was another mistake, another mishap that would push her back and make her fall under the hand of Wayne Enterprises. The same man that tried to convince her that this was the best thing that she could do for herself.

This was Tim's fault, and she was furious.

@julia-and-comics @unknowntoanyone @willieoo @kindashittywriter @subtleappreciation @yandereforyou @pricetagofficial @because-icanhide @magicisabluewish @hyp-oh-critical @littleredwing89 @boy-georgina @sparkleofpizza @craptainlou @timtimmersdrake @hauntingsonofrobin​ @anothertimdrakestan​ @idkmanicantenglish​ @vvipgot7be​

[scribbly-dee]

I’m gonna speculate that at least a fraction of the reason Melanie wanted to leave Jon on the surface was linked to her relationship insecurities. Not because Jon was competition as Georgie’s ex, but because Georgie’s reexamination of her moral judgement on Jon’s fear god situation means a reexamination of her moral judgement on Melanie’s fear god situation. This is not to say that Melanie is unworthy of love or kindness but that she feels worried over said worth--remember, the season five landscape is not a reflection of reality, but a reflection of how fear distorts our perception of reality.

(This is not intended as hate, it's a take on Melanie's growth direction. But I am critical of her from ep 190 below the cut, so pick your criticism tolerance levels here and now.)

When Melanie stopped whatever Martin was going to say with "DON'T. Don't say it. I've actually put in a lot of work on my anger." That to me wasn't Melanie enforcing teasing boundaries, it was Martin giving as good as he got with that "snoop god's favorite kid" line and Melanie showing she can dish it but she can't take it. That she considers the subjects of her "I'm here aren't I? I never said anything about being nice about it... so let me moan" grievances fair game, but rejects any rebuttal when she herself crosses a line and it all left a bad taste in my mouth. Because if someone tried to take a passive aggressive dig at my SO over something like being groomed into a mind possession catalyst for atrocities, I, too, would shut them down. So to that end, I assumed Martin intended to argue how Melanie's penchant for stirring the pot predated the apocalypse, not make fun of her. But who knows.

At any rate, this is an expression of her core fear: rejection by Georgie like she saw happen to Jon in s4. So what does she do? Emphasize what she feels is the most important difference between her (messy eye divorce, worked on self improvement) and Jon (eldrich fucker).

I predict that her insistence on taking these specific kinds of shots at Jon will culminate a boiling point with Melanie's relationship insecurities. Georgie (has a type, get it girl, but also) developed feelings based on the assumption that Melanie was more self driven in leaving the slaughter than she actually was. Melanie has absolutely put in work, don't get me wrong, but she also admitted that given the choice at the time, she wouldn't have removed the bullet.

Melanie’s fear plays out like this:

Will Georgie reject her based on that circumstantial Slaughter connection in the fear economy? Will Georgie’s criticism and eventual rejection of Jon carryover as criticism toward Melanie’s past inability to control her downward spiral, which occurred right before Georgie dug in her heals over what Jon was or wasn't doing to improve his situation.

Or! Will Georgie feel like Melanie lied about the reality of her fear god addiction? A lie that led to Georgie shutting out her oldest friend at his most vulnerable? Will they have joint custody of the cult after the break up? Will Melanie have to commit entire custody weekends to Arun’s poetry??

Or worse, will Georgie realize the foundation of Melanie and Georgie's emotional bond (Melanie's recovery) wasn't the righteous-anger-fueled-moral-high-ground that Georgie believed it to be. That Melanie inadvertently misled Georgie into abandoning the world to an evil that Melanie knew the full scope of and either couldn't or wouldn't correct Georgie's perception of; when Melanie cut ties with the institutes, it was because she decided that the fear gods misery loop was insurmountable, so she seized a once in a lifetime chance to escape, but still knew the cosmic stakes of that loop. Georgie cut ties because she thought that the fear gods were the same ghost stories she investigated for a living, which just so happened to fail her cost benefit analysis because she thought that the players chose to recklessly escalate the stakes. Did Melanie, out of fear or indifference or ignorance, rob action-driven-Georgie's agency when deciding on a course of action?

Obviously the answer is beautifully complicated and intended to have multiple takes. Now that Georgie is more sympathetic to the fear gods issue, I hope that she and Melanie have a healthy argument so their relationship splinters a bit to regrow into something stronger. Because right now they're stuck in the phase where Melanie has Georgie on a pedestal, and Georgie spends so much time managing Melanie's anger that she thus far hasn't expressed much of her own stress. Melanie engineers her anger to fill up a room -- to cope with ongoing stress, Georgie might hyperfixate on the emotional state of the person next to her. It sounds like Georgie is at least feeling burnt out and stuck if her solution oriented personality considers the tunnels "enough."

[jade-doodles-questionmark]

On Alexander, Angelica and Eliza

Heres some long-ass personal interpretation based on the musical that nobody following this blog signed up for lol. Not gonna be touching on history coz i’m no expert and there’re ppl way more qualified for that. and it’s good to keep things separated.

there’re obviously many similarities between the two A’s. Both are witty, outspoken, center of attention, and a bit of a flirt. To me, the most interesting trait shared by both is their awareness: They know exactly where they stand socially, and subsequently, how to play by the rules to climb up. This clear awareness is where I got the idea for the staircase drawings. “i’m a girl in a world in which my only job is to marry rich/ my father has no sons so i’m the one who has to social climb for one” is a demonstration of Angelica’s awareness, just as “As a kid in the Caribbean I wished for a war/ I knew that I was poor/ I knew it was the only way to rise up” shows Alexander’s.

it’s different for Eliza - i know as the show proceeds, she gradually becomes more ambitious and active, but in Who Lives Who Dies Who Tells Your Story, what she asks, instead of how to rise up, is: “Have I done enough?” this quiet insistence is why i always see her as someone who does things because she thinks it’s a right thing to do, no matter whether that thing in question would benefit her personally or not. sure, she gives off "cinnamon roll" vibes, but girl’s no less strong or badass than Alexander or Angelica.

More under cut coz I’m incapable of being concise:

Angelica:

what always strikes me as interesting about Angelica is the contrast of what she says vs. what she does.

In The Schuyler Sisters, the majority of her lines are about empowering women, which, I think, is where the depiction of Angelica as an angry feminist comes from in some fanfics. But in Satisfied, we see she plays squarely by the rules of patriarchy and social classes (the three fundamental truths part). 

Similarly, in TSS, she says "so men say I'm intense or I'm insane", seemingly unbothered, if not lowkey proud, by these comments, but in Satisfied, she talks about the resulting gossip if she were to marry Alexander. 

I saw a post which expressed that Angelica thinks like Alexander but acts like Burr, and I agree. She has a sharp mind and is unafraid to speak out, like Alexander, but she’s also got things to lose, like Burr. Having family responsibilities means that she does not, and cannot, act without restrictions and hesitations like Hamilton. She doesn't necessarily wait it out like Burr, but she does think things thru, because the important decisions she makes carry enough weight to not only affect the future of herself but also of her family.

I had mentioned in an old post that Satisfied is basically Angelica assessing cost & gain for each of the options she has, for all the parties involved. even though that song's ending has mixed feelings and it's DEFINITELY a heartbreaking song, Angelica's choice did maximize the gain for everyone at the time: She was able to maintain her bond with Alexander and married rich to ensure her material comfort. Alexander was able to marry a Schuyler and elevate his status. Eliza got the boy she loved and was happily married. She even foresaw some possible challenges the newly wed Hamiltons were likely to face (“He’ll never be satisfied”).

She knows she lives in a world of patriarchy; she isn't happy with it, but she knows how to take advantage of the system as much as she can. She knows how to be the center of attention, be charming, and appeal to ppl. She knows what kind of husband is beneficial to have. She knows how to influence politics in her own way (take a break). Part of why I found Satisfied so sad is that her mind and her heart wish for two different things. Angelica is a realist, over everything else. She can be a feminist, but definitely not an angry one.

Alexander:

I talked a bit abt him in an older post on Maria - and a lot of what I said abt Maria applies to him. If the challenge Angelica was facing is invisible societal restrictions on women, what Alexander faces is purely regarding survival. Having needed to fight and compete for resources, I imagine he's at least somewhat influenced by the philosophy of social darwinism. I also said, in the same post, that I don't think he'd be really inclined to help ppl in the same difficulty he used to be in, for the same reason. If he could make it this far with his own hard work, how would it be fair to make things easier for others now? Would those ppl even deserve their success now the bar has been lowered? It's not exactly a right way of thinking, but it's also hard to blame him. after having to compete for resource w others in order to climb up, it’s hard to change the mentality.

I've seen a music analysis (by Howard Ho on YouTube) on Hurricane, and it concludes that when Hamilton was singing that song, he wasn't exactly recalling the past - he's been mentally living in that reality and never truly left. (There's similar remarks that Hamilton's past in the Caribbean had always plagued him despite his power and position in Chernow's biography, but we're only analyzing the musical here.) He never fully turned off his survival mode.

To clarify: by survival mode, I don't literally mean he fights to survive. He didn't exactly show a strong will to survive and was quite willing to give up his life for noble causes, up until he met Eliza. What I meant is, he remembers being destitute and helpless, he remembers seeing deaths of trivial importance, so he fights to be as far away from destitution and helplessness as possible, he fights to have the opportunity to die a glorious and noble death. Because to be able to die for something matters is still a privilege. No matter how high up he rose to position, his insecurity that he may end up losing those never faded away. This raw energy, I guess, is what gradually turned the others in the musical to be more like him.

Eliza:

Eliza seems to be the one who's the most content abt their situations out of the three. After all, one of her motifs in the musical is "look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now", and the other one is “that would be enough”. 

ppl usually say Helpless and Satisfied should be listened back to back (and nothing wrong with that), but comparing these two songs, Helpless doesn’t explore as much of Eliza’s character as Satisfied does Angelica. Throughout Helpless, she’s spent most of the song narrating what happened and falling head over heels for Alexander. As for her first appearance in TSS, she doesn’t have as much of a voice and show of character in comparison to Angelica, Burr, other Peggy either. 

The first moment we truly see her thoughts is in That Would Be Enough. It’s also in this song, her two other motifs (”that would be enough” and “narrative”) are introduced. Unlike Alexander and Angelica at that point of story, she’s happy with her life, wants it to remain that way, and doesn’t ask for more. 

i dont mean she’s not ambitious like the other two - she’s driven, but by other things. she doesn’t think of legacy, material comfort, status, position, etc. as important as Angelica and Alexander, as we can see in Burn. it’s not that she doesn’t know the rules - girl’s not playing the game at all. 

unlike the two A’s, Eliza’s growth happens in the second act. Angelica’s barely in the second act, and in the same act we see Alexander’s most trusted weapon, writing, contributing to his downfall. but for Eliza, she turns from the observer in Helpless, the supporter in That Would Be Enough, to the only one on stage in Burn, and to being the center of stage in Who Lives Who Dies Who Tells Your Story. in the second act we see her going thru the series of most crushing heartaches: Reynolds Pamphlet, death of Phillip, and death of Alexander, but we also see her strength. she’s a good person, but ppl usually forget that being nice takes energy and strength too. it takes strength to support, to forgive, to mourn the passing of your loved ones, and to preserve their memories and legacy. she shines and grows after overcoming the loss and heartbreaks. Angelica says in Satisfied “she’d say 'i’m fine' but she’d be lying”, i don’t think she’s giving Eliza enough credit for her mental strength there lol. 

side note: this is where i got idea for the eliza art from a few days ago - kintsugi represents the idea that your wound becomes your history and forms part of who you are, rather than something ugly to be ashamed of. I think it fits well with Eliza’s development.

Congrats! you’ve made it till the end! don’t know why u’d do that, but thanks! 

if u’re reading this feel free to send me a simple art request to compensate the time u took reading my bullshit

[gamesception]

So, the Infinity Train is bad, right? Not the show, the show is great, but the train itself within the show.

Spoilers, below.

Including spoilers for the end of season 3.

Like, ok, it's trying to help people work through emotional problems and maladjusted/antisocial personality traits.  Benevolent intentions, at least when humans are concerned, seem sincere enough.  And sure, it worked for Tulip & Jesse.  But while maybe not deliberately malicious, the train is trying to serve a moral function with an automated, amoral system that doesn’t work and is fundamentally inhumane.

Especially to the denizens it creates.  However artificial they may be, seasons 2 and 3 especially make clear that they are fully realized actual people, and the train just makes them up on a whim and suborns their entire existence to the passenger's personal growth. Life for a lot of denizens is pretty horrific. Not just Lake being hunted, but kick-me toad, the wind guy, several denizens seem created to suffer an existentially nightmarish existence so that their suffering can teach some passenger a moral. Even the ones that aren't created to suffer still face perpetual risk from ghoms, passengers, & other dangers of the train, and are still trapped in a single car, or risk being forever separated from that home by the movement of cars if they ever leave it. Even if the system works to help humans, creating an entire subordinate class of fully sapient creatures and then treating them as expendable tools in furtherance of that goal is kind of horrific & bad?

And that's before you consider that therapy train isn't even very good at what it does. Like, looking at the memory tapes we've seen, the things that land people on the train aren't that bad? Like, they're bad and all, but they're still things that people can and do work through and overcome in the plain old regular ass world. None of that shit seems like stuff that would be easier to work through with the help of isolation from human contact and regular mortal peril. The success rate among characters we've met isn't especially high, and one one himself has admitted that, statistically, passengers are more likely to die than they are to get their numbers to zero and get off the train.

Which would be bad enough if the passengers were adults, but most of them are little children! Which, like, of course. Because whatever inhuman system is choosing the passengers seems to key in on self centered behavior and uncontrolled emotional outbursts as criteria for passengers, and sure those are signs of maladjustment in adults, but they're also just normal conditions of children and young teens who are still developing socially and emotionally?

In season one, it could be readily imagined that the train only picked up people who were otherwise going to die. Tulip ran off into the snowy night in Wisconsin & easily could have frozen if not picked up by the train. Amelia, standing next to the tracks before the train even appeared, seemed like she could have been contemplating suicide. And based on that reading, the risk of death is slightly more forgivable. But implied in season 2 and explicitly in season 3, the train can pick up anyone at any time, so yeah, you could easily imagine a kid lashing out from some traumatic abuse they can’t process ending up on the train to become monster food when without the train some teacher or counselor could have intervened to actually help them.

We don't get to see Simon's backstory before the train, but according to the numbers, it wasn't as bad as what happened to Grace, and wasn't all that far removed from Tulip's issues with her parents. Could any bad thing he did before entering the train have justified the traumas he was subjected to from the moment he got there?  Did he really have a better chance on the train than he would have had off of it? Yeah, he made his choices, I'm not saying he "didn't deserve" his fate, but how did any of the stuff he went through constitute helping him?  Not all of this can be blamed on Amelia’s usurpation of the train.  Even without One One, Tulip shows that the train was more or less working as normal outside of the cars Amelia directly tampered with, and even after One One was back as conductor, the dangers of the train - from flecs to ghoms to laval moles - were still very real.

And if the train wasn’t helping Simon, that only makes all the suffering that it allowed various denizens to experience at his hands by abducting him in the first place all the more unforgivable, since there was never a point to him being on the train at all. Unless he was only there to serve Grace's growth?  There’s not a lot of reason to think that, but it is a possibility since without Simon reflecting her worst actions back to her, Grace might never have grown in the way she did.  Was that an accident, or intentional on the train’s part, with Simon’s fate an acceptable cost of Grace’s redemption?  If it was that would only be worse, since then the train then wouldn’t just be failing to recognize that it's own creations matter as much as humans that exist apart from it, it's also actively choosing to damn some humans to save others.  Either the train is dangerously incompetent, or actively malicious here.

Or consider the flecs, the ‘mirror police’ antagonists for most of season 2. I doubt many felt bad for them when they died. After all, they chose to become flecs, and chose to repeatedly try to murder Lake just for wanting her own life.  Unlike Simon we don't see a string of humanizing traumas driving them towards those choices. But did they actually choose any of that?

In s2e8, Mace questions not just Lake's existence, but the entire existence of the mirror world, implying that their memories and personalities are as artificial as their bodies, constructs created by the train to teach a passenger a lesson. He drives the questions at Lake, but the same reasoning could be applied to him. Did Mace become a flec after his prime died, or are those memories fake, and he was always a flec, created by the train to be a villain in a little morality play for Tulip's & later Jesse's benefit? Did Mace ever really have the choice to be anything other than the monster he was? And even if he did, would that absolve the train of a measure of guilt in creating Mace to be that monster in the first place? Did the train intend for him to catch and kill Lake after Tulip & Jesse had returned home, cleaning up loose ends? One One seemed to jump at the chance to let Lake off the train once her trick of reflecting Jesse's number provided an adequate excuse, but before that he also seemed perfectly willing to go with Sieve's suggestion of resolving the conflict by just killing her.

Again, that’s not to say the flecs didn’t deserve their fates, or that it was wrong of Lake to kill them.  Mace in particular questioned the entire purpose and reality of the mirror world, which means he had the self awareness and philosophical insight needed to question and reject the role the train had created him for, and even while dying he instead chooses to use that insight as just another way to vindictively deny Lake’s person-hood. He chooses to be every bit the monster he was created to be, and Sieve makes the same choice even seeing the fate that it led Mace to.  They didn’t “deserve better”, but them choosing to embrace their predetermined villainous roles doesn’t reduce the train’s accountability for creating them to fill those roles in the first place.

So yeah, Trauma Train is a fantastic show - imo s2 is still the best, but s1 and s3 are both very solid. But within that show the train itself is a dangerously negligent therapist and a willfully unjust deity, and if Infinity Train does get future seasons I hope that aspect gets further explored and deconstructed.  And I think it will be.  Like, I don’t think any of this analysis is an unintended edgy dark reading for the heck of it.  Season one could have left you with a neutral or positive impression of the train, but the fundamental systemic injustice of the train is, like, the explicit text of season 2, and while Lake managed to trick her way free, the underlying system she fought to free herself from is still in place in season 3.

That said, I kind of hope one way or the other that the show is done with grizzly on-screen deaths. There's a lot of good lessons for kids in the show, important stuff about handling life changes, dealing with grief, the importance of self identity & self determination. And much like the train is a bad therapist for trying to traumatize its victims into self improvement, the show becomes a bad vehicle for the lessons it's trying to teach if the scenes of shocking violence are what stick most firmly in younger viewers memories.

[life-rewritten]

Psycho but it’s okay analysis: Episode 9- Fairy tales and their foreshadowing Part 1/2 (The King With Donkey Ears)

The next episode of Psycho but it’s okay is called The King with donkey ears (Episode 9). This is based on an old Greek myth about King Midas that is narrated all around the world to children. 

Here is the summary of the tale; 

‘Basically there was a king with donkey ears, who was scared of the world finding out and making fun of him. So he hid his ears in various disguises and the only person who saw them was his barber. He warned his barber not to tell the secret of his ears. The barber held onto this secret for many ears but felt a desperate need to say it out. So he dug a hole and whispered it to the hole. A school was built on this hole/ground and children later dug up the hole and the sound was heard as an echo that the king had donkey ears. The king furious about everyone knowing this arrests the barber telling him he would stay in prison forever  and taunts him for not keeping his secret and breaking his promise. The Barber ends up being sad and guilty for not keeping the promise of the King.’

“You will learn that it is always important to keep your promises to others and not to share secrets.”

The Hairdresser’s Burden

 Episode 8 ended with Gang Tae asking Moon Young to run away with him because he had been suspended from his work after protecting her. In Episode 9 Gang Tae and Moon Young do run away for a bit  as shown in the promo and leave Sang Tae worried alone and  wanting to know what happened to his brother. It’s obvious to me that Sang Tae will be the character that represents the king. He is already showing annoyance and frustration at feeling left out by our main couple. And he has made it clear, that he doesn’t want Gang Tae to abandon him. The premise or moral of the fairy tale is sharing secrets and not keeping promises will get you in trouble. 

The Secret

Gang Tae is unfortunately keeping it a secret that he has feelings for Moon Young from his brother. He’s has been hiding his emotions as well for many years so that he does not to trigger him. This is why we are told by his friends that he has a joker smile. A smile that does not reflect reality. Slowly as Moon Young enters into his life, Sang Tae sees Gang Tae lose control of his emotions for example in episode 8 where he  sees him become violent and angry with no control  because of Moon Young being hit. His façade is slowly falling apart, because we can see that secrets has being building up leading to him feeling suffocated by them, This is just like the hair dresser who feels this desperate need to be free from the truth he was holding. The need to break free from the secrets was so much he had to whisper it to hole in the ground. He had to break it even though he knew the consequences of his actions. For Gang Tae, Moon Young is the trigger for his need to break down his walls and façade. As he falls for her,  It is difficult to run away and hide his heart. It will end up coming out anyway but there will be a consequence for them being released and that’s Sang Tae. 

The Promise

Gang Tae makes a lot of promises to Sang Tae as a way to calm his brother down. He promises to never leave him, he promises to help make their life easier to escape the butterflies and his nightmares, he even promised to get Moon Young’s signature in episode 2. And we saw the results of him breaking the promise and trying to fake her signature. There was another promise made in episode 8. This was focused on the relationship between the two brothers. Sang Tae like the king warns Gang Tae, that Moon Young can have his doll made by Gang Tae, but Moon Young can’t have him because Gang Tae is for Sang Tae. Gang Tae nods and makes the promise. We also see in episode 9 promo that Moon Young’s goal for Gang Tae is to cut the leash that’s stopping him from being free which is connected to his dependency on taking care of his brother. She wants to be the reason for why he unwinds, and she knows that his need to stay by Sang Tae’s side is the reason why he has to hold a façade that he’s okay. However this means that  Moon Young is a problem because being with her means breaking his promise to Sang Tae. Being with her means soon her goals will come to fruition but it also includes the fact that the world is slowly revolving around her in his mind, he’s starting craving her warmth even when his brother is there, he’s starting to want his freedom to let his feelings out. This is all happening with the cost of Sang Tae on the other end, being pushed away instead. And it’s going to cause problems just like the hair dresser stays in prison regretting his decision and his choice to break the promise.

Another thing to notice the hair dresser, breaks the promise intentionally he chooses a day to go dig the hole and do that. It’s in his control. Just like Gang Tae also starts to intentionally choose Moon Young as he sees and falls for her even more, just as  he realises that he needs her  and chooses to run to her in episode 8 and get away from society constraints.

An Unfortunate Tether

Remember how I said there would  be a consequence for these two meeting that is foreshadowed in the fairy tale in episode 2 (Red shoes). Sooner or later the obsession of Moon Young and Gang Tae for each other now becoming love and the freedom they have, will end up causing more hurt and pain when Moon Young will be forced to severe the connection in order for both of them to conform to society and get peace. Similar to Karen, who when wearing and obsessing about the red shoes was seen as selfish and being linked to vanity and ego. However in reality it’s because she saw them as hope and a way to improve. In a way Gang Tae’s actions in breaking his promise and leaving his brother in episode 8 is also seen as selfish. He’s only thinking of himself and his need to breath and become unburdened. Sadly because of her obsession, Karen gets punished and cursed to forever be tormented by the consequences of dancing in the red shoes, and so Gang Tae and Moon Young will also end up going through the same. 

We still need to see episode 9 first but my heart hurts for all the characters and their need to be free and in control. Gang Tae is now the one who desperately wants to be in control of his life, who wants the warmth he was refused but it seems like life refuses to give him that benefit. 

This brings me to the themes of episode 7 and 8 and the their fairy tales and how they help understand the depth of these two characters. See you in Part 2.

To be continued.

[qoreprojects]

The Party Whip, or Lilith in the 11th House

Not long ago, I paid a visit to my 11th house to speak with Lilith. She lives there, along with my South Node - a tiny golden compass that points toward the past. It was the past that I wanted. Lilith had lived in this house alongside it for so long that I believed she’d be able to help me understand what it meant. 

“You thought that I would be angrier?” she laughed sharply. 

Lilith was perched on a window seat, half her face bathed in the single stream of light in an otherwise shadow-filled room. She wore a simple red shift dress. Her hair was loc’d and tumbled towards her leather-belted waist on one side of her head, exposing a shaved opposite side to the dappled sun. She held an orange and a pocket knife in her hands. 

I nodded slightly. Every movement in this room could be felt in ways that did not exist in the material realm. Palpable waves rippled away from the tiniest gestures. Shadows danced in the corners. The air was possessed, and every shift had meaning.   

“That’s funny,” she said, flicking a peel onto the floor, “I don’t know why people only recognize Lady Regret when I am in my war clothes.” She used her own title with a touch of irony. 

Several crows called to one another outside, and a light breeze stirred the distant treetops. This movement agitated the shadows in the room. All was as it should be - in flux. 

“You are here because you want to know about your greatest regret,” Lilith stated presently. 

“I suppose so, yes,” my breath rippled away from me in the cool, dark air. “At this point, I’ve run out of reasons not to know.” 

Lilith smiled a lop-sided smile and continued peeling, one foot on the sill and one on the floor. “Are you familiar with the term ‘true believer’?”

“Yes,” I said quietly, knowing where this was going. I could feel the conversation as a tangible thing, like a strong westerly wind. The shadows and the dust particles organized themselves accordingly. Lilith tilted her face to look me directly in the eye. “What about the term ‘party whip’?”

The wind of conversation changed directions, and the shift was slight but sudden. I marveled at the subtle switch, and a sense of dread overcame me. The life inside the room absorbed my response as an addition to its moving chorus of shadows. 

She paused to eat one section of orange, and then began peeling again. “The party whip is a different thing, isn’t it? Let’s examine the two…”

The True Believer and the Party Whip

The life of a True Believer can easily be confused with personal sacrifice on behalf of others. This is because, from the outside, it looks as if the True Believer is willing to give up a great deal for their party. They may give up relationships, time, effort, money, or freedom to make certain lifestyle choices. Observers who consider the party a worthy cause call the True Believer “self-sacrificing” and “a saint”; people who dislike the cause say the True Believer is silly and “voting against their own interests”.

In truth, the True Believer sacrifices little for the party because the party’s goals and the True Believer’s goals are almost exactly the same. If a True Believer does sacrifice anything for the party, it is minor and without much pain or hesitation. There is no real conflict between their motivations and that of the party. The True Believer may recognize some problems or contradictions within the party, or they may lack the critical perspective to do so. In either case, the flaws of the party and the flaws of the True Believer are largely the same. There can be a kind of innocence in that.   

A Party Whip is not the same thing as a True Believer. (A Party Whip can also be a True Believer - but for the purposes of this conversation we will consider them separately.) Unlike the True Believer, the Party Whip does not necessarily align with everything the party says and does on a personal level. They may notice glaring flaws and issues within the party. They may believe that the party’s words and deeds do not match. They may long for previous versions of the party, or hope for future ones, while considering the present party to be a mere shadow of itself. They may think of the party’s goals as good general rules that will benefit the world, but that should not be applied in every situation without nuance. 

The only things necessary for the role of a successful Party Whip are a sincere belief that the party is the best way to get things done - to have a hand in the creation of the world, to make things happen - and that the ends of this goal justify the means. For the sake of those two beliefs, the Party Whip can modify their own behavior and offer themselves up to be ‘borrowed’ by the party, in the hope that they can ‘borrow’ the party’s collective power for themselves at a later date. 

Say, the leaders and vanguards of the party have decided that its collective goals will be best served by oranges. Under no circumstances can there be apples. Other fruits are fine, though less than ideal - but absolutely no apples. The Party Whip shows up to work and receives the party line: everyone in the party is to vote for oranges, and it is the Whip’s job to ensure this outcome.

The intelligent Whip has their finger on the collective pulse and can understand exactly why the party agenda is supported by oranges. They also know that competing parties are out there voting for other fruits - sometimes even apples. This is unacceptable. The party must win, which means that oranges must win and apples must lose.  

The skilled Party Whip may not personally enjoy the taste or texture of oranges. They may even feel sympathetic to apples. However, the Whip is quite accustomed to viewing their own tastes and desires as a secondary concern to more important matters: the party line. They know how to either conceal or surgically remove the parts of themselves that are not convenient to the party and its goals - unlike the True Believer, who has never had to change very much about themselves in exchange for membership.

Therefore the Party Whip is assigned a role: to go out among members of the party, keep track of everyone who might vote for another fruit, and get them to vote for oranges instead. To accomplish this, the Party Whip is going to use whatever tools they already use to keep themselves in line with the party’s interests. 

These tools vary, and may include: 

Shame and guilt

Reasoned arguments

Coercion

Information

Misinformation

Bribery

Cost-benefit analysis

Promises of future reward for current sacrifice

Appeals to duty, loyalty and obligation

Not all of these methods are equally ethical. A Party Whip is only able to be as ethical when whipping the rest of the party to consensus as they are when whipping themselves in private. 

Lady Regret in the 11th House

Your biggest regret is being a very skilled Party Whip. 

You were good at living your life according to the party line. This earned you such compliments as ‘inspiration’ and ‘example’, which made you feel safe and valued. You were gifted at being able to distance yourself from your own instincts so thoroughly that parties rewarded you with protection and support in exchange for your skill at keeping their dissenting or individualistic members in line. This was not questionable for you - you participated in this exchange because you believed it was good and righteous, and that the party’s ends justified the means.

You privately exulted in your own savvy. You believed your differences from the True Believer - your ability to perceive the group’s flaws and issues with a bit more perspective - made you more ethical. In reality, it made you more culpable. Your clarity was a gift meant to inspire you to take risks and speak up, valuing the truth over any attachment to the party’s reaction.

You did not speak up. 

You chose to improve the party by sacrificing your unique perspective in exchange for access to the collective’s power; you were shocked when improvement never came. When push came to shove and the party’s power was threatened, for one reason or another, they abandoned you. Perhaps the abandonment was purposeful. Perhaps they simply no longer had enough clout to protect you. In any case, the party name was no longer able to get you into the rooms you wanted to enter. Your persuasiveness on others’ behalf was no longer in demand. The recognition in strangers’ eyes when you flaunted your membership card dwindled. Circumstances may have even become so drastic that mentioning the party put you in danger rather than keeping you safe.    

A lone, displaced ruler must rely on personal power and instinct. They cannot rely on an ever-present council or party membership to get things done. You were suddenly alone - the sole authority of your life. You were not prepared for this. The years, or even lifetimes, you spent living outside of your own will have taken a toll. You don’t even know how to have a thought or emotion without examining it for its usefulness to some group, even when there is none present. You walk around barefoot and in rags with panic behind your eyes. You roam the streets waving a saw and rasping through dry lips, “I will saw off anything for friends in high places! Fingers, feet! I will cut off anything for friends in high places! Eyes, face! I have experience, will work for connections!”

Most people are horrified and cross the street when they see this display. Some see you as a temporary tool and take advantage of you until you have nothing left to give. Some people see your true heart better than you do and try to connect with it, but by this time you are jaded and assume that all anyone could want from you is your skill as Party Whip. They try to love you, but you are too preoccupied with trying to dutifully serve their interests in exchange for power and validation.

Dreams shrivel and die like old fruit under these conditions - again, again, and again. This is the loop, the hoop that must be mended. 

Resolution

Lilith rose from the windowsill. Her full height compelled the room’s darkness to rearrange itself. Dead orange peels lie on the floor at her feet, glowing in the patch of sunlight that streamed through the window. 

“Who are you when you are alone?”

I sat down on the dusty floorboards and stared into the shadows. 

“What are you capable of creating - or destroying - when you only do so from your heart?”

The shadows gave me nothing but constant shifting in return. 

“As long as you sacrifice your dreams for others’ out of fear that you cannot accomplish them alone, your efforts will go to waste. Parties are not forever; empires fall and agendas shift like the wind. Learn to build true alliances based on raw love - which can only happen when you are clear and unashamed of your own desire.”

I looked up just in time to see her toss me the last slice of orange. My hand shot up to catch it, and I carefully considered its juicy ripeness against my fingers. 

It felt delicious. 

[peachdoxie]

I'm really happy for your three way fight analysis post for HTTYD 3, because I see a lot of people be like "oh, Hiccup just gave up on peace" when it's not that? It's that keeping the dragons and fighting every threat that comes until there is peace isn't what's best for the dragons, at least not in this moment. Maybe it will be someday, but for now Hiccup needs to let the dragons go because that's what's best for them NOW.

For reference, that's this post anon is referring to.

The end of How to Train Your Dragon centers on a concept that I rarely see in the fiction I consume but is one I really like, and that's the concept of the hero yielding the fight to someone better able to win it.

Hiccup realized that he and the Berkians were fighting a losing battle. The warlords were far more powerful and had more resources to enslave dragons that the Berkians had to rescue them, even with the help of Toothless the Alpha. Hiccup had already been thinking along these lines during the meeting after Grimmel's attack:

Grimmel is just a sign of the times. Our enemies are getting smarter, more determined. We're not just overcrowded. We are exposed, and vulnerable. Short of full-blown war and risking everyone we love, I don't... I don't see a way of staying here any longer.

In particular: "Short of full-blown war and risking everyone we love...."

What Hiccup wanted most was to avoid a war with other humans. He grew up in the middle of a war between dragons and humans, and that was one of survival, not domination: "They raid us because they have to! If they don't bring enough food back, they'll be eaten themselves." The Berkians' response was primarily defensive, with Stoick's attempts at offense literally blowing up in his face. Even then, Stoick's offensive attacks were more about driving the dragons away than annihilating them. (I wrote about this more here.)

But Hiccup learned first-hand how devastating a war with a person who wants war is when Drago used Toothless to try and kill him and Stoick pushed Hiccup out of the way. There was no good outcome for any of the Berkians. Stoick died. Toothless was forced to kill him. Hiccup watched both happen and was powerless to stop it. Not to mention how much of Berk was destroyed when Drago attacked it.

And a year later, things haven't improved. In fact, they've gotten worse. Grimmel shows that, as Hiccup explained. He was able to get past their scouts and install a large trap for Toothless, leaving the Light Fury there as bait. He broke into Hiccup's house to threaten him, and even if Hiccup anticipated that, he didn't anticipate the Deathgrippers on the roof and how much they'd damage Berk (an attack eerily similar to Drago's attack on the gathering of Chieftains from Stoick's flashback).

The only solution Hiccup had was to leave:

Hiccup: If we want to live in peace with our dragons, we need a better plan.

Gobber: So, what are you saying, Chief?

Hiccup: I'm saying we have to disappear. Off the map. Take the dragons to a place where no one will find them.

That's it. Leave Berk and hope they can find the Hidden World. Staying and fighting would risk war.

But even before Hiccup saw how inhospitable the Hidden World would be to humans, it wasn't shaping out to be a feasible idea to move everyone there. The Vikings liked New Berk a lot, as evidenced by the party they threw:

Gobber: Don't say I thought you were a little off your raw for this but it isn't half bad.

Hiccup: This is supposed to be a temporary solution.

Eret: It's unanimous. Everyone agrees we've definitely traded up. Well done, Chief.

Hiccup, really, was the only person convinced that moving everyone to the Hidden World was the best solution. Very few Berkian Vikings had heard of the place, let alone believed it existed. Even Astrid, Hiccup's most staunch supporter, doubted his plan.

And as he learned, they were right. The Hidden World isn't a place that humans can easily live in. It's a world of dragons.

Hiccup knew this even before Grimmel kidnapped Toothless and the Light Fury from New Berk: "You belong there, with her. We don't." It's important to note that, before he says this to Toothless, he glances up at the buildings the Berkians had started to put up. They're happy there and are already getting settled. Uprooting them again would be immensely unpopular, even if the Hidden World could support humans.

Of course, Grimmel finds them. The warlords bring an armada. Even though New Berk is "defensible" and "hidden," the Berkians aren't safe there. They're not safe anywhere.

This brings me back to the concept of yielding the fight to someone else better able to win it. Hiccup realized that he and the Vikings were fighting a losing battle. Continuing to fight risks a new war that would be even more deadly than the one between Berkian Vikings and dragons. I think that Toothless falling from the sky, unconscious from Grimmel's dart, was when it really hit Hiccup that this wasn't something he could continue to fight. It was the first time in the entire trilogy when Hiccup was completely powerless to save Toothless. 

Even in HTTYD 2, during Toothless Lost and Stoick Saves Hiccup, Hiccup wasn't nearly as powerless as he was during As Long As He's Safe. Yes, Toothless fell from the sky into the ice, but he was conscious, and Hiccup could at least yell at Valka about going back for Toothless (even though he'd already been rescued). When Drago takes Toothless, even though the dragon is being mind controlled, he's at least not at risk of dying immediately. But when Toothless is falling from the sky, unconscious, he would die if he hit the water.

In the context I'm talking about, yielding is not the same as giving up, or conceding defeat, or fighting on until you're at your last breath and letting someone else save you. It's making an active choice to yield the fight to someone else because you know it's the only way to succeed as best you can. Hiccup's only option to save Toothless was to yield the rescue to the Light Fury. And as I wrote about in my three-way fight analysis, it's mirrored a short while later, when Hiccup's only option to save the dragons is to yield their safety to the seclusion of the Hidden World. 

Personally, I find this immensely satisfying, though I'm aware not everyone does. So often, I'm bombarded with stories about characters never giving up and fighting on until they either win or are forced to give up. There's something to be said for perseverance, but I think it is also an incredibly dangerous way to think and act. Knowing when to yield and realize that continuing towards a certain goal or dream is an incredibly valuable skill to have. I've watched too many people I know, and read/watched too many stories in fiction, continue on a path when it's damaging them more than the end goal will benefit them.

Quite frankly, the only time I've seen this concept of learning when to yield a battle to someone/something else explicitly part of a character's arc is in the Last Olympian, the final book in the original Percy Jackson series, and coincidentally the book-equivalent of the HTTYD films in how much it impacted my life (which is a lot). Percy was advised to yield Pandora's Box to someone better equipped to protect it instead of fighting for it (and against the temptation to open it) himself. And at the conclusion, the "single choice [to] end his days" that Percy was prophesied to make was about choosing to let Luke end the fight with Kronos instead of making it his fight, as you'd expect the hero to do. 

I've been enamored with this concept since 2009 and wished for more of it in my media, and found it lacking. And yet, in the artistry of fate, I found it in the conclusion of the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy. It's a very similar execution of the concept, though less explicit than in PJO. Despite it being Hiccup's goal to live in peace with the dragons, and despite the fact that he's the hero of the story and thus expected by common narrative conventions to win at all costs, he chooses not to continue the fight because he knows he can't win it. (I talk about this more at length in this post.)

The end of HTTYD 3 is laden with irony. We expect Hiccup to fight until he wins or die trying, as part of common narrative expectations. And it's set up in the repeated emphasis of how stubborn Hiccup is, throughout all three films:

"We're Vikings. We have stubbornness issues." (Hiccup, HTTYD)

"Every bit the boar-headed, stubborn Viking you ever were!" (Gobber, HTTYD)

"Boar-headed! Just like his mother!" (Stoick, HTTYD 2)

"You know what he's like. He won't give up, Gobber. And if Hiccup finds Drago, before we find him…" (Stoick, HTTYD 2. Stoick's tone greatly contrasts that of the previous line, here expressing serious concern about Hiccup's stubbornness, for the first time showing that stubbornness can go too far.)

"You are the bravest, most stubborn, most determined... knucklehead I know. Toothless didn't give you that, Hiccup." (Astrid, HTTYD 3)

So the end of HTTYD 3, with Hiccup not continuing with his stubborn determination to bring peace between Vikings and dragons, is heavily ironic, and I think a lot of people dislike that, either because they wanted to have a happy ending (not unreasonable) or because they see it as Hiccup being out of character instead of Hiccup undergoing character development in an unexpected way.

In addition to personally really liking the concept of yielding and knowing when to stop following a certain path because it's how you started, I also agree entirely with you that it's not Hiccup "giving up" on peace (if I hadn't already made that very clear). And ultimately, while "peace" is what Hiccup has been fighting for, especially in HTTYD 2, "peace" isn't really what matters to Hiccup. I talk about this at length in this post, but to summarize: what matters the most to Hiccup is that Toothless and the other dragons are safe and free. He mentions both of these things in his goodbye to Toothless:

Go on, bud. Lead them to the Hidden World. You'll be safe there. Safer than you could ever be with me. It's okay. I love you too. And I want you to be free. Our world doesn't deserve you... yet.

The title of the music track at this moment, "As Long As He's Safe," emphasizes this, as does Hiccup's willingness to literally die in order to let Toothless live. The cinematography of the scene really enforces that Hiccup's primary concern was about making sure Toothless was safe, which I've written about here. By being okay with letting the dragons go to the Hidden World, even if it meant leaving the Vikings behind, it shows that Hiccup ultimately didn't care about peace between the Vikings and dragons. He cared most about letting the dragons live in safety and freedom, without threat to their lives or autonomy.

It's for this reason that I don't like to say that Hiccup didn't "win" at the end of HTTYD 3. Sure, he didn't achieve his goal of peace between Vikings and dragons, and so in that way he lost to Grimmel and the warlords (even though they didn't win either). Instead, Hiccup and the Berkians won in the way that they were able to succeed in what matters most to them, and that's the well-being of the dragons. And because this is what matters most to Hiccup, I don't see his actions at the end of the film as out of character.

It makes me think of the line in the original film, when Hiccup says to Stoick,

Dad. It's not what you think you're up against. It's like nothing you've ever seen. Dad, please! I promise you that you can't win this one! For once in your life would you please just listen to me?!

I don't count this as foreshadowing, nor am I sure of how much of a parallel it's meant to be, but the same thing happened to Hiccup as he told his dad. He learned he couldn't win this fight. Luckily, he listened to that fact and didn't engage in a futile battle from which there would be no way to win. No Hiccup ex machina to save them. The only way to come close to winning was to not continue the fight.

All in all, do I think that HTTYD 2 and HTTYD 3 are a little too subtle in how they show these themes? Perhaps. Do I think that people went into the final film anticipating a different ending, though a combination of conventional Hollywood narratives and an expectation of how an animated "kids" movie is "supposed" to end? Absolutely. Will I be talking about this in my PhD dissertation? Almost certainly. 

Am I aware that not everyone agrees with my views in HTTYD 3? Yes. Do I think that I'm biased in my opinion about HTTYD 3 because of my own personal preferences, my skill in literary and cinematic analysis, and the fact that I've watched all of these films multiple times and have spent years analyzing them so I know these films more in depth than the vast majority of the world? Certainly. 

Do I also think that the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy is an incredibly well-crafted masterpiece of literature of the highest degree? Yes. And do I think that Dean DeBlois should have been nominated for and won all the major awards for best screenplay for HTTYD 3? Also yes, and I will be forever pissed off that he wasn't.

[prettycottonmouthlamia]

Mata Hari Analysis: Because I LOVE HER

By god if there’s any of my analyses that get numbers please let it be this one, I’m very passionate about my appeals that Mata Hari is actually a very usable Servant, especially comparatively to other 1-stars.

Mata Hari Assassin Max HP: 6,565 Max ATK: 5,377 (Effective ATK: 4,839) Attribute: Man Star Absorption: 98 Star Generation: 24.6% NP Charge ATK: 2.1% NP Charge DEF: 4% Death Rate: 55% Traits: Female, Humanoid, Servant, Weak to Enuma Elish

QQQAB Quick = 2 hits, Arts = 1 hit, Buster = 1 hit, Extra = 3 hits Quick: 4.2%, Arts: 2.1%, Extra: 6.3%

Espionage A++: Increases own critical star generation rate for 3 turns. (10 -> 30%) Cooldown: 7 -> 5 turns

Pheromone B: Chance to Charm all Male enemies for 1 turn. (30 -> 60%) Reduces all enemies' defense for 3 turns. (10 -> 20%) Cooldown: 8 -> 6 turns

Double Cross B: Seals one enemy's skills for 1 turn. Reduces their defense for 3 turns. (10 -> 20%) Cooldown: 8 -> 6 turns

Mata Hari Arts Chance to Charm All enemies (40 -> 60%, NP Level) Reduces their attack for 1 turn. (20 -> 40%, OC) Reduces their defense for 1 turn. (20 -> 40%, OC)

Primary Role: DPS Support, Debuffer Secondary Role: Disabler

Mata Hari is one of my favorite Servants in the entire game, and not just because she's beautiful and I love her, but because she's a pretty competent Servant when used correctly. The key word there is correctly, and a lot of new players will end up overlooking Mata Hari because she doesn't play as simply as other Assassins do. She's not going to be as effortless to use as your Sasaki Kojirou and your Cursed Arm Hassans, but to a certain extent, it is understandable because DW has given her very little love. But that's okay, that's what we're here for.

Starting with her fundamentals, the first thing that will probably standout is her stats, which are pretty atrocious. Her HP is OK for a 1-star Servant, but she's not going to function as a tank any time soon, and her ATK is so low, especially with the Assassin ATK modifier, that she will struggle to deal any damage. Fortunately, Mata Hari is not really suited to tanking or attacking, and so largely her stats are mostly irrelevant. Her NP generation is actually quite standout, however, because of her very high base NP gain per hit. Her AQQ chain will generate on average about 44% of her NP gauge, which is quite standout, especially for a launch Servant. Even her QQQ chain has rather decent NP gain at 25%, especially since there are no Arts cards involved. However, when it comes to star generation, Mata Hari has a ton of problems. Her Quicks only have 2 hits which drastically limits her star generation potential. Her QQQ chain will generate 15 stars on average, and 25 with the Quick bonus, and with her 1st skill, she'll generate...18 stars on average. Without any star bombs like Sasaki Kojirou or Cursed Arm Hassan, she has no way to patch up her star generation. Even with maximum star generation though, she only has a potential maximum of 27 crit stars (6 + 6 + 6 + 9), or 37 with the Quick bonus. Low hit counts really suck kids.

Moving onto her skills, we first have Espionage, which is a borderline garbage skill. Star Generation buffs are nice, but 30% hardly moves the needle. All it does is give an extra 30% chance for a crit star. This is why the actually good star generation bonuses are much more often 50% or 100%. For Mata Hari's best chain this results in just a measly 3 extra crit stars, so this skill is only worth leveling if having a Servant at 1/10/10 gives you anxiety. Pheromones however is actually a pretty decent skill, having a moderate chance to Charm any Male enemies as well as reducing the defense of all enemies by 20%. The Charm chance is more of an added bonus, but the Defense down is what you're looking for the most here. This can be combined with Double Cross, which inflicts Skill Seal for 1 turn and reduces their defense by an additional 20%, and the gameplay strategy of Mata Hari might start to become clear. She's a Defense debuff stacker, and really more of a support Servant over anything else.

Mata Hari's NP is largely an optional bonus. It presents another moderate chance to charm, but this time its not gender locked, and she'll inflict an Attack and Defense down debuff to all enemies. This can be as strong as 40% with maximum OC, but it is extremely rare to get to that point or make it worthwhile, since the debuffs only last for 1 turn. Mata Hari doesn't need to use her NP to make an impact, but incorporating it into your strategies can be pretty helpful.

Mata Hari's role is to boost the damage of the team, and do largely little else. Due to this, her low stats don't really impact her, and in some cases, can be even beneficial. Since she's not going to do any DPS or real damage and she's not really meant to stick around for a long time, low HP and ATK will end up being okay. Of course, this also means that Mata Hari is a fairly inflexible Servant since she only does one thing really well.

Grails: Grails for a 1 star can be really important to cementing them amongnst competition. For Mata Hari however, this is largely just for love. It'll put her Max HP to 10,120 if you grail her all the way to Level 100, and her Max ATK to 8,355, or 7,520 effective ATK. Essentially, it allows her to stick along longer and have passable ATK.

Support Options: Supporting Mata Hari is...a choice, to be certain, but I salute you brave person for wishing to make a Mata Hari team actually work. You might want to grail Mata Hari just to make her a bit safer to use though. Since her NP generation is already pretty good, and her Defense debuffs will help sustain her damage enough, all she would really need is extra stars and added consistency to her Charms. Caster Gilgamesh can provide both of those, along with additional defense down and a source of DPS. Phantom of the Opera can also be used here, providing a massive, long lasting Debuff resistance down, Crit star regen for more crit consistency, and his own Charm with buff removal.

In reality, just use Mata Hari to boost the damage of your DPS.

Command Code: Since Mata Hari is mostly meant to be used asd a support, you can use some of the more supportive Command Codes like Bridge of White Rose or Jeweled Birds Coat of Arms. Command Codes that can generate critical stars ca be used to help out her star gen, and Command Codes that increase star absorption can be used to give her some extra help with NP. Command Codes that remove buffs from the opponent can also be useful, especially since they can be difficult to field on DPS with the large number of good DPS Command Codes.

Craft Essences: The biggest one out of the gate is GUDAGUDA Poster Girl, which will give Mata Hari 3 turns of taunt. This allows her to use her skills, tank a couple of hits and then make room for another Servant to continue the job. If you don't want her to just be a sacrifical pawn, you can use CEs such as Kaleidoscope or Demonic Bodhisvatta to abuse her NP. Even her Bond CE is pretty okay, since it'll boost the NP generation of allies as well. Fragments of 2030 can be used to provide an extra 8-10 crit stars, helping to even out her crit star generation for the team.

Competition: While Mata Hari is definitely not a DPS support on the likes of Waver, Merlin, Tamamo, or Skadi, the Servant she most faces competition with is Shuten Douji. Not only is Shuten of the same class, but her kit is extremely similar, just largely better. Howver, Mata Hari has a couple of things going for her. She fits much better into the support role than Shuten does, since Shuten not only has much better stats but also a hard defensive option, which means that playing Shuten as dedicated support means you're missing out. Shuten has the highest ATK of any Assassin currently in the game, and that shouldn't be neglected. But the biggest benefit of Mata Hari is cost, since she only costs 3 in comparison to Shuten's 16. Support Servants are overwhelmingly benefited by being in lower rarities if they aren't meant to also be defensive some way, and Mata Hari fits that bill extremely. Her low Cost means you can run more expensive Servants around her comapred to Shuten.

Pros: -While having a somewhat flawed kit, it is surprisingly synergistic and will allow her to pull her weight -NP generation is quite good, meaning that her NP is never too hard to access if desired -Low HP makes her a fantastic Poster Girl option -Low cost on a support Servant is amazing

Cons: -Very inflexible. She's only really useful as a support Servant without extensive help -Low stats mean she will struggle doing anything else, even if it makes her very good in her support role -Crit star generation is really bad for a triple Q deck -Charm chances are pretty bad, maxing out at only 60% -DW didn't give her an animation update for either Salem or Ooku or Ooku re-run so she still has magic orbs

I'm biased a bit towards low-rarity support Servants since they are the least hampered by their stats. Using Kojirou as DPS, Bartholomew to farm, or Spartacus to tank will always run into problems with their low stats: low ATK reduces their ceiling on their damage and low HP means they simply cannot take many hits. But for a Servant who can be considered "fire and forget" neither stat matters and its much more about kit and cost, which Mata Hari delivers.

This all being said, Mata Hari getting a buff would really not be a bad thing in the long run. Espionage is a terrible skill, Pheromones is not only outclassed by Shuten's 1st skill, it's also outclassed by Europa's version which also outclasses Shuten. Her NP could also use an upgrade, at the very minimum to extend the duration of her debuffs although it could also boost her Charm chance, similar to D'Eon.

You will love Mata Hari though, this is non-negotiable.