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newcatwords · 3 years ago

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where is hawai'i? can you point to it on a map?

if someone asks you to point to hawai'i on a map, where would you point?

before colonization, there was (and continues to be) an island called "hawai'i". the entire chain of islands is called "hawaii" and there is a state called "hawaii" made up of a large number of those islands.

now, because there are too many things named "hawaii," the island of hawai'i is often called "the big island", because o'ahu, the island where the city of honolulu is located, is what many people think of when they think of "hawaii". it's a mess.

on top of that, we have the "main hawaiian islands" (aka "southeastern islands" aka "windward islands") vs the "outer islands" (aka "northwestern islands" aka "leeward islands").

most maps of "hawaii" show only the "main" islands. the map above (created by USGS) shows more of the hawaiian islands, but omits the names of two of the islands in the "main" chain: lana'i & kaho'olawe. these are not insignificant omissions. lana'i is 98% owned by larry ellison, founder & chairman of oracle corporation. kaho'olawe has been relentlessly used & abused by the west. it has been used for ranchland, military training, and most notably, as a munitions testing site, resulting in the continued contamination of the island. after many years of protests & lawsuits by native hawaiians, the island is now only accessible by native hawaiians for cultural, spiritual, & subsistence reasons.

meanwhile, this tourist mug with a creepy colonial-style map of hawaii includes both kaho'olawe & lana'i. good job, tourist mug!

there are actually over a hundred islands in the hawaiian archipelago. the state of hawaii includes 137 of them (source). midway atoll (made up of 3 islands) is part of the archipelago, but not part of the state. it is one of america's territories: an unorganized unincorporated territory.

additionally, some of the islands "are too small to appear on maps, and others, such as Maro Reef, only appear above the water's surface during times of low tide. Others, such as Shark and Skate islands, have completely eroded away." [source: wikipedia page "list of islands of hawaii"].

in the course of writing this post, i failed to find a map that shows & names all the hawaiian islands and failed to even find a list of all of them (plus if an island only appears sometimes or has disappeared entirely, what do you even do with that?). if you find either or both of those, let me know in comments.

so where and what "hawaii" is remains a mystery.

but this has not prevented commercial & official interests from using maps of "hawaii" in all kinds of places! here on the islands, hawaii map imagery is all around.

maps are very common on tourist items:

the hawaiian telcom logo uses dots roughly arranged in the pattern of the islands on a map:

but i guess only five islands are worth including (i understand. branding needs come above all else!).

this souvenir cloth item is interesting because it includes all the main islands (including ni'ihau, lana'i, and kaho'olawe - which are often excluded), but smooshes them into the available space without much consideration for where they are in relation to each other:

the postcard above has the main islands in their rough places, but squishes them all together so that they fit in the space. also the islands are made more similar in size to each other so that you can better see the little illustrations.

here's a more "official" map to show where the islands "should be" in relation to each other, and their sizes relative to each other (although both of those can change depending on what projection the map uses):

in my mind, though, the ultimate hawaii map fantasy lives on the ubiquitous reusable walmart cloth bag (available for 50 cents at checkout to all who have forgotten to bring the right number of bags. there's a plastic shopping bag ban in hawaii.):

in the walmart commercial universe (wcu), the only islands that exist are islands that have a walmart. the general outlines of the islands & their general orientation is preserved (along with a rough topology too!), attempting to convey a sense of adhering to a recognizable reality, but islands without a walmart have been not only omitted, but the space where they would be has been eliminated as well - as if they were never there to begin with. in the walmart version of reality, what makes something "hawaii" is whether or not it has a walmart on it.

i've had a lot of time to think about this remarkable image because i have a whole bunch of these bags. this is the bag of the people - everyone uses it for everything. the one in the above photo is in a typical state - pretty rough - because it probably came from the side of the road. you can almost always find one on the side of the road. so wherever you are, you are probably within sight of the walmart version of the islands.

so why does it matter whether or not you can point to "hawaii" on a map? well, maps are political documents, meaning that they reflect the vision of whoever has the power to put the map in front of your eyes. so if you're the one with the power to make some of the most commonly-seen maps of hawaii and you decide to remove a few islands, well that can really shape what people think "hawaii" is! we're a sea of islands - many people here have only ever been to one or two of the islands. if it wasn't on the map, you might not know that it existed at all.

hawaii is incredibly important to the united states, not just for tourism, but in terms of global strategy. it's the largest outpost of american power in the middle of the pacific. it puts america & its troops half an ocean closer to some of america's biggest competitors, most notably, china. it's a springboard to all the other island territories of the pacific (which you maybe haven't heard of because they almost never appear on maps):

once you see a map of all of america's territories in the pacific, along with the exclusive economic zones (eez) that extend out for 200 miles around each island, you start to get a better feel for the extent of america's power in the pacific.

when a place is left off the map, it can be easy to make it (including its people!) invisible. so if you're america, with bases across the islands of the pacific, with a nightmarish history of atomic weapons testing in the pacific (rendering islands uninhabitable and leaving both land and waters too contaminated for people to use), perhaps you might not want some of these places to appear on the map.

in Foreign Policy in Focus, Khury Petersen-Smith writes:

"Many of us living in North America who are concerned about climate change, for example, have a sense that Pacific Islands are facing particularly severe impacts from rising sea levels. But that knowledge tends to be vague and limited, as actual residents of these islands are rarely invited to the table to speak for themselves.

This is not accidental. Commenting during the Nixon administration on U.S. nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands, which share the same region of the Pacific as Guam, Henry Kissinger said “there are only 90,000 people out there. Who gives a damn?”

The U.S. has long had an interest in Marshallese and other Pacific Islanders remaining “out there” in the American mind. This marginalization helps allow the U.S. to carry out military operations in the region, along with policies that further climate change and other harms, while keeping most Americans unaware of these practices’ impacts in the Pacific." [FPIF]

often hawai'i (and alaska - which is in many ways similar to hawai'i in its relation to the contiguous US) doesn't even appear on national maps of the USA.

here's a screenshot from the new york times homepage on march 21, 2020, just as the coronavirus pandemic was beginning to spread:

there is no alaska and no hawai'i on those maps. so if you were looking for information on the most important issue that was happening at the time, and you live in or are concerned about hawai'i and/or alaska, there would just be nothing. and what does it say about the people who run the top newspaper in america that they decided it was fine to omit these two states? are they not states? do they not matter? do the readers in those states not matter? and this is not an unusual thing at all. it happens all the time.

i'd like to finish by sharing with you a poem by CHamoru poet Craig Santos Perez. CHamoru are the indigenous people of the mariana islands (which include guam, saipan, tinian, rota, and others).

in this poem, Craig Santos Perez writes about not appearing on the map...

“Off-Island CHamorus”

My family migrated to California when I was 15 years old. During the first day at my new high school, the homeroom teacher asked: “Where are you from?” “The Mariana Islands,” I answered. He replied: “I’ve never heard of that place. Prove it exists.” And when I stepped in front of the world map on the wall, it transformed into a mirror: the Pacific Ocean, like my body, was split in two and flayed to the margins. I found Australia, then the Philippines, then Japan. I pointed to an empty space between them and said: “I’m from this invisible archipelago.” Everyone laughed. And even though I descend from oceanic navigators, I felt so lost, shipwrecked

on the coast of a strange continent. “Are you a citizen?” he probed. “Yes. My island, Guam, is a U.S. territory.” We attend American schools, eat American food, listen to American music, watch American movies and television, play American sports, learn American history, dream American dreams, and die in American wars. “You speak English well,” he proclaimed, “with almost no accent.” And isn’t that what it means to be a diasporic CHamoru: to feel foreign in a domestic sense.

Over the last 50 years, CHamorus have migrated to escape the violent memories of war; to seek jobs, schools hospitals, adventure, and love; but most of all, we’ve migrated for military service, deployed and stationed to bases around the world. According to the 2010 census, 44,000 CHamorus live in California, 15,000 in Washington, 10,000 in Texas, 7,000 in Hawaii, and 70,000 more in every other state and even in Puerto Rico. We are the most “geographically dispersed” Pacific Islander population within the United States, and off-island CHamorus now outnumber our on-island kin, with generations having been born away from our ancestral homelands, including my daughters.

Some of us will be able to return home for holidays, weddings, and funerals; others won’t be able to afford the expensive plane ticket to the Western Pacific. Years and even decades might pass between trips, and each visit will feel too short. We’ll lose contact with family and friends, and the island will continue to change until it becomes unfamiliar to us. And isn’t that, too, what it means to be a diasporic CHamoru: to feel foreign in your own homeland.

Even after 25 years, there are still times I feel adrift, without itinerary or destination. When I wonder: What if we stayed? What if we return? When the undertow of these questions begins pulling you out to sea, remember: migration flows through our blood like the aerial roots of the banyan tree. Remember: our ancestors taught us how to carry our culture in the canoes of our bodies. Remember: our people, scattered like stars, form new constellations when we gather. Remember: home is not simply a house, village, or island; home is an archipelago of belonging.

–Craig Santos Perez

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thank you for reading this post! please let me know if you see any errors.

if you'd like to learn more about some important issues in the pacific, here are just a few:

july 2, 2020: "US says leaking nuclear waste dome is safe; Marshall Islands leaders don't believe it" - Los Angeles Times

may 30, 2021: "Pacific Plunder: this is who profits from the mass extraction of the region's natural resources." - The Guardian

april 5, 2021: "75 years after nuclear testing in the Pacific began, the fallout continues to wreak havoc" - The Conversation

june 4, 2021: "Guam won’t give up more land to the U.S. military without a fight" - The World (radio program)

aug. 24, 2021: "The US is building a military base in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Micronesian residents have questions." - The World (radio program)

and if you'd like to learn more about how maps are political, here are a couple articles:

june 5, 2014: "The politics of making maps" by Amanda Ruggeri, for BBC

july 11, 2018: "Politics and Cartography: The Power of Deception through Distortion" by John Erskine, for the Carnegie Ethics Online Monthly Column

#pacific #hawaii #hawai'i #islands #maps #geography

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thefandomlesbian · 4 years ago

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WIP tag: thank you @scandinavian-punk for tagging me!!

Brace yourselves because I am about to word vomit on your screen—

(not including WIPs that are currently posted, since you can explore those at your leisure)

To Rule and Guide: The sequel to To Light and Guard, Lana and Mary Eunice go forward in their relationship, but they encounter hiccups along the way as old enemies rise, friends twist beyond recognition, and the church tries to call back the nun it released so recklessly.

Break Rank: John Laurens was shot down off of his horse and dragged away from the Battle of Combahee River, believed to be dead. A mutilated corpse was buried in his stead, but he awakens in a warm cabin to a middle-aged lesbian couple who nurse him back to health. Now disabled and with everyone believing he's dead, he has to try to make his way back up to New York, as there is only one person who will believe him.

Lead Me Astray: Spencer receives a diagnosis of malignant cancer behind his eyes, the first-line treatment being removal of both eyes. He quietly hands in his resignation to Strauss and earns a deal for medical retirement, and he intends to spend his remaining days setting things up to survive life alone as a blind man. However, when the team receives word of his decision to leave without telling any of them, Aaron hunts him down and demands answers. Convincing Spencer of his worth, both as a person and as a member of the BAU, is not easy, but it's necessary for the upcoming case they will face.

Like Minor Gods: Spencer lost a high-stakes bet with Derek. Now he's training for a triathlon. It's not exactly a fun time, seeing as his athleticism peaked when he was the basketball coach in high school, but with a little help from his unit chief, he may have a chance of crossing the finish line.

Shipwrecked Souls: After taking his leave from the BAU, Aaron struggles with Jack, who has developed increasingly concerning behavioral and psychological issues. Jack is riddled with anxiety and PTSD, and no matter what Aaron does to try to help, they wind up yelling at each other. Desperate for some help, he attends a seminar for parenting a troubled kid, where Spencer is surprisingly guest lecturing after earning his PhD in adolescent psychology. Aaron asks if Spencer will help tutor Jack—though Jack's failing grades are just the tip of the iceberg in regards to his current string of issues—and happily, Spencer agrees.

Singing While Rome Burns: After Foyet's escape from prison, Aaron has lost all of his coping skills. His family fell apart for his job, and he's apparently not even good at that anymore. He gets blackout drunk and wanders around lost in Rock Creek Park until he intends to call Rossi to come get him. Inadvertently, he calls Spencer instead. Spencer rescues him, and this act of mercy ignites a spark between them. But they walk a path ripe with trepidations, as Foyet is still on the move, Haley is busy settling the divorce, Strauss battles corporate challenges, and Spencer struggles to find where he fits in all of it with his new role in Aaron's life.

Spencer & Aaron: Dharma and Greg AU. Hotshot federal prosecutor Aaron Hotchner sees the most beautiful man he's ever met on the subway on his way to the office. He tries to go after him, but the doors slide closed, and he's left with a sense of longing—until he arrives at work to find the same man sitting on his desk. "You're Aaron Hotchner," he says. "You appeared in the Washington Post five months ago for putting away the Freeway Butcher. Your building security is weak. I was able to guess the passcode in two tries. I'm Spencer. I remember everything I read." On an impromptu first date, they recklessly decide to get married. On the days after, they bring together two incredibly different families and groups of friends, slowly teaching everyone that any relationship can work if there's enough love and compassion involved.

The Good Place: The Good Place AU. Corporate lawyer Aaron Hotchner was an asshole in life. In death, he awakens to find he's been placed in the Good Place by mistake. Partnered with his "soulmate," Spencer; a former nun, Emily, and her soulmate, Penelope; a spiritual vessel of knowledge, JJ; and two so-called angel-men, Dave and Derek, they find themselves dragged into a war which could challenge the very foundation the afterlife is built upon.

The Landscape After Cruelty: Spencer drives Aaron home from Quantico the day of Haley's death. Over the following days, he orchestrates everything from behind the scenes. He works with Jessica to care for Jack; he cooks meals for Aaron; he calls funeral homes to arrange services; he makes Aaron's appointments and then drags him to them by force. He makes himself indispensable. It only leaves Aaron wondering—why?

Insects in Amber: inspired by @ablogofthecriminalmindsvariety Whumptober prompt, infection. The team has split to handle two different cases. Spencer finds a breakthrough in the case he works with Aaron, but Garcia is busy with the rest of the team, so they go with no coordinates and no warning. When Aaron gets into combat with the unsub and they both fall down the stairs, the chamber doors seal behind them, trapping them inside. The unsub is dead, his neck broken in the fall, and Aaron's femur is protruding from his body where he landed. He's in an agonizing amount of pain, and Spencer knows the statistics for infection of an open fracture are bleak at best. No one knows where they are. They only have the hope that the team will find them soon—or else there will only be one of them to rescue.

Call Me Home: Cordelia Goode has finally escaped the oppressive home of her mother and has landed a job at the local animal rescue, Starfish, where she becomes fast friends with the quirky woman who works dog side, Misty. As shelter drama picks up, they learn together how difficult saving lives can really be.

Minor Bird: Acclaimed pianist, Misty Day, has decided to step away from her career and take an early retirement. Amateur Cordelia Goode wants to find out why. When her teacher makes arrangements for her to meet Misty in person, she learns that soon, Misty will not be able to perform any longer. In a crunch for time and desperate to learn more, Cordelia begs for Misty to teach her. In the process, they grow closer together than either of them ever dreamed.

The Sister Act: Lana Winters witnessed a horrible crime and has been placed in witness protection in an abbey for her own safety. She repeatedly butts heads with the Mother Superior, Jude, as she struggles to survive the trauma of what she witnessed. With the help of Sister Mary Eunice, she begins to appreciate the quiet spirituality of the place. But criminals are still pursuing her, eager to silence her before she can testify.

I've Got Your Demons (They're Crying Out for Love): Lana Winters aids Briarcliff in the exorcism of Sister Mary Eunice. Both are pregnant from crimes committed against them and against God. Lana places her son up for adoption; Mary Eunice's daughter is stolen from her, dumped on hospital steps with no note by Monsignor Howard who will not be held accountable for his actions. When Mary Eunice is well enough, she leaves Briarcliff with Lana, desperate to reconnect with her daughter, but it's years before they catch up to young Billie Dean Howard, and they find that demons still continue to touch them at every turn.

Autumn Hands: Audrey saved Shelby's life, but she couldn't save her mutilated vocal cords, permanently damaged by her attempt on her own life. All sorts of trials await them—criminal, medical, social—as they try to look past their fraught history and come together as the sole survivors of Roanoke.

On the Pyre, Before the Hearth: Lana Winters gets lost in the Louisiana swamp after she tries to find herself in the wilderness. There, she encounters a lonely hermit woman who has spent the past decade living in solitude and subsisting off the land. A flood forces her and Misty into one another's company for several days, but when it's time for Lana to leave, she finds she doesn't want to life with Misty ever again. Misty has her own secrets and reasons for hiding, unbeknownst to Lana, who writes and publishes about her experience in the hope of drawing Misty out of the woods. She has no idea the ramifications of her actions.

That... Should be everything 😳😬😐 I'm tagging @reidology @ablogofthecriminalmindsvariety @its-a-goode-day @honeyvenable and whoever else feels motivated to do it!

#ahs #american horror story #hamilton #criminal minds

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seethinghearts · 4 years ago

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𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐢 : stones skip across the water’s edge , the echo of a father's laugh in the empty wilderness as he ruffles his son’s hair ; eyes shut tightly in a pitiful attempt to stop tears falling , the vengeful heart of a lonely boy who lost too much too soon ; there’s a lot of things at the bottom of the ocean , shipwrecks , treasure chest and the lion - heart of boys who’ve been burned by the cruel sun .

𝐨. 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐒

full name : romano elias martocci

nicknames : rome , romeo

species : witch

birthdate : june 22

zodiac sign : cancer

age : twenty

occupation : cook at taverna

label : the facade , the insurgent , the vindictive

gender / pronouns : cis woman , she / her

sexuality : bisexual & biromantic

hogwarts house : hufflepuff first , ravenclaw second

moral alignment :

deadly sins :

playlist :

character inspo :

archetypal character :

𝐢. 𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄𝐒

trigger warnings : death

chapter one . mr and mrs martocci built their family on the principal of love . they were kind and understanding , open - hearted and soft - hearted and every kind of hearted . mrs martocci was a pre - school teacher and mr martocci ran a small little place for italian dining at the centre of town square . they met , fell in love and were so wrapped up in each other’s lives that there simply was no room for tragedy . but fate found away , fate always finds a way . in the second year of their marriage , they had their first child . and a year later , rome was born . he was their little bundle of joy , a little on the temperamental side but mr and mrs martocci could find the will and the patience to truly accept anything . they were beautiful parents , a beautiful family and everything was agonisingly perfect .

chapter two . rome remembers almost every moment of his childhood , from learning how to walk , to their trips to disneyland , to family picnics by the river , taking pictures at the parades , his father teaching him how to cook , his mother teaching him how to paint . every memory was bright and vibrant and life was so good . then tragedy , like a lightning strike came when they least expected it . after the supernaturals were exposed , his parents were one of the few humans who kept their word and allied with the witches , acting as some sort of double - agent as they continued to work with the purebloods . fourteen years later , they were charged with treason and killed by vampires . rome was seven years old .

chapter three . the family restaurant was handed of to a stranger , both martocci kids had been too young to inherit such a growing business . they were placed into foster care and were never adopted . they went from house to house , some were worst than others , some were better but they never truly found a home . as soon as his sister was old enough , she was granted guardianship and their first true home was a small apartment downtown where the streets were always busy and the people were noisy and the ceiling was cracked and the walls had holes punched in them and the windows were broken . but God , it was their first real home . and that was everything .

chapter four . high school was not good to him . he was an outcast , a loner , with a melancholy riddled gaze that was too frightening to hold . the pain was almost unbearable and he found solace in alcohol , drugs , strangers . high school had left him hollow , he holds very few good memories of that time in his life . the only moments he remembers were the after - school detentions , missing credits , skipped classes , failed subjects , the disappointment on his sister’s face , over - due library books , scrunched up projects , whispers of the girls in the corner and shoves by the jocks walking past . he managed to graduate somehow , he’s not quite sure exactly but he did . but the rambunctious cheers and high - pitched hollers from his sister at the ceremony was forever ingrained in his mind .

chapter five . straight after school he planned to get his parents’ restaurant back . the taverna had been in the hands of the martoccis for four generations , it was their shared legacy and rome was not letting it go that easy . he started as a cook , planned to work his way to the top . and that was it . that was his thirty - year plan . but it was easier said than done . at nineteen he discovered the true origins of his family , a family of witches . his mother was come from a powerful and respected covens of her time though her supernatural gene was dormant , almost non - existent . she never had the magic that her ancestors had . she was , in almost every sense of the word , ordinary . but she had passed the magic on to her children .

chapter six . rome was nineteen when his powers revealed themselves to him . it was after a long - night at the kitchen , got close to getting fired and he was enraged . he drove to the edge of town , hiked up the woods and screamed and cried and the ground shook and the trees fell . suddenly he had a bigger purpose than reclaiming the taverna . vengeance . he needed to study his powers , learn more about the purebloods , eradicate their tyranny , strip away their power . one day he will have his revenge . though that day seems further and further away . in the meantime , he reads and studies , much more rigorously than he ever did . and he’s slowly gaining control of his powers .

𝐢𝐢. 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐗𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐒

VENGEFUL : hates purebloods & vampires for what they did to his parents , will always remain loyal to the witches

EMPATHETIC : he is weak for other people who are unabashedly showing their feelings , he’s very emotionally intelligence and has a very high level of empathy so he’s automatically drawn to comfort them and be there for them

CANDID : blatantly and cruelly honest , most especially to strangers

NONCHALANT : doesn’t really care about anything or anyone’s feeling except those close to him , everything except his mission to vengeance and to reclaim the taverna is trivial to him . anything else to him is meaningless . .

AWKWARD : kinda says the wrong things at the wrong time ?? it’s just his trademark humour to just be this awkward stick in the middle of the room , and y’know *awkward chuckle* yeah that’s him .

𝐢𝐢𝐢. 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒

MENTOR : someone who helps him control his powers in secret ??

CHILDHOOD FRIEND : they drifted apart after his parents’ death ?? but he still really misses them ? and maybe they’re trying to reconnect ?

#// this was unnecessarily dramatIC #// this is my sad boii #ofmintro

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jbuffyangel · 5 years ago

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Entertainment Weekly Arrow Article

We never get any big articles of Arrow, so yeah I am posting the whole damn thing. There were some interesting little tidbits and of course discussion around Emily Bett Rickards’ exit. Is it wrong that I am low key pissed that of course Arrow gets the cover of EW after she leaves? Is it also wrong that while I’m happy Arrow is getting some attention, I’m annoyed it wasn’t an Olicity cover? Cuz that’s where I am at. (X)

How Arrow saved the TV superhero — and why it had to end

As 'Arrow' prepares for the end, Stephen Amell and the producers reflect on its origin story and preview the 'Crisis'-bound eighth and final season.

Stephen Amell is dreading the eighth and final season of Arrow, though you wouldn’t know it on this hot, sunny July day in Los Angeles. Wearing Green Arrow’s new suit, the CW star seems perfectly at ease as he strikes heroic pose after heroic pose on a dimly lit stage. But once he’s traded heavy verdant leather for a T-shirt, jeans, and baseball cap, his guard drops and the vulnerability starts to creep in as he contemplates Arrow’s last 10 episodes, which was set to begin production in Vancouver a week after the EW photoshoot took place and premieres Oct. 15.

“I’m very emotional and melancholy, but it’s time,” Amell — who is featured on the new cover of Entertainment Weekly — says as he takes a sip from a pint of Guinness. “I’m 38 years old, and I got this job when I was 30. I’d never had a job for more than a year. The fact that I’ve done this for the better part of a decade, and I’m not going to do it anymore, is a little frightening.”

Developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg, Arrow debuted in the fall of 2012. The DC Comics series follows billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Amell), who, after years away, returned to now–Star City with one goal: to save his home-town as the hooded bow-and-arrow vigilante who would become known as Green Arrow (it would take him four seasons to assume the moniker). What began as a solo crusade eventually grew to include former soldier John Diggle (David Ramsey), quirky computer genius Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards), lawyer-turned-hero Laurel Lance/Black Canary (Katie Cassidy Rodgers), and the rest of Team Arrow. Together they’ve defended their city from a host of threats — dark archers, megalomaniacal magicians, and the occasional metahuman — while Lost-like flashbacks revealed what Oliver endured in the five years he was away, first shipwrecked and then honing his skills around the world to become someone else, something else.

The premiere gave The CW its most-watched series debut since 2009’s The Vampire Diaries. But before they launched Arrow, Berlanti and Guggenheim had to suffer through a failure: 2011’s Green Lantern, starring Ryan Reynolds. The duo co-wrote the script but lost creative control of the film, which flopped. So when Warner Bros. Television president Peter Roth approached them in late 2011 about developing a Green Arrow show, they were wary. After much deliberation, Berlanti and Guggenheim agreed, on the condition that they maintain control. Says Guggenheim, “As long as we succeed or fail on our own work, and not someone else’s work then maybe this is worth a shot.”

Their take on the Emerald Archer — who made his DC Comics debut in 1941 — was noteworthy from the beginning. Taking cues from films like The Dark Knight and The Bourne Identity and series like Homeland, the writers imagined a dark, gritty, and grounded show centered on a traumatized protagonist. “As we were breaking the story, we made very specific commitments to certain tonal things, such as ‘At the end of act 1, he has his hands around his mother’s throat.’ And, ‘At the end of act 2, he kills a man in cold blood to protect his secret,’ ” says Guggenheim.

A hero committing murder? That was practically unheard of then. Having Oliver suit up in a veritable superhero costume by the pilot’s climax was radical too. Sure, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was deep into Phase One when the producers were developing Arrow, but TV was traditionally more apprehensive about comic books. Smallvillefamously had a “no tights, no flights” rule and only introduced superhero costumes in the last years of its 10-season run, and there weren’t any masked avengers running around NBC’s Heroes or ABC’s No Ordinary Family, the latter produced by Berlanti (Let’s not even mention NBC’s The Cape, which was essentially dead on arrival and never did get its six seasons and a movie). But Arrow not only fully committed to the idea of someone dressing up like Robin Hood to fight crime with a bow and arrow, it introduced a second costumed rogue, the Huntress (Jessica De Gouw), in episode 7.

“It’s just comic book to the extreme and the fans seem to really love it,” says Batwomanshowrunner Caroline Dries, a former writer on Smallville. “They still maintain it very grounded, but it’s very different with everyone in costumes. The appetite for superheroes has changed in my mind in terms of like they just want the literal superhero [now].”

Not that the team wasn’t meticulous about creating Green Arrow’s cowl. “We had to have so many conversations to get it approved, but that’s why we got [Oscar winner] Colleen Atwood [Memoirs of a Geisha] at the time to [design] the suit,” says Berlanti. “We were determined to show we could do on TV what they were doing in the movies every six months.”

“It’s really easy to make a guy with a bow and arrow look silly. We sweated every detail,” says Guggenheim, who also recalls how much effort it took to perfect Oliver’s signature growl. “I actually flew up to Vancouver. On a rooftop during reshoots on [episode 4], Stephen and I went through a variety of different versions of, basically, ‘You have failed this city,’ with different amounts of how much growl he’s putting into his performance. [We] recorded all that, [I went] back to Los Angeles, and then sat with the post guys playing around with all the different amounts of modulation.”

That process took eons compared to the unbelievably easy time the team had casting Arrow’s title role. In fact, Amell was the first person to audition for the role. ��It was Stephen’s intensity. He just made you believe he was that character,” says Guggenheim, recalling Amell’s audition. “We had crafted Oliver to be this mystery box character, and Stephen somehow managed to find this balance between being totally accessible in a way you would need a TV star to be, but he’s still an enigma.” After his first reading, Amell remembers being sent outside for a short time before being brought back into the room to read for a larger group: “I called [my manager], and I go, ‘I know this is not how it’s supposed to work, but I just got that job.’”

In the first season, the show’s chief concerns were maintaining both the “grounded and real” tone and the high quality of the stunts, and investing the audience in Oliver’s crusade. Beyond that, though, there wasn’t much of an over-arching plan, which allowed the show to naturally evolve — from introducing more DC characters, such as Deathstroke (Manu Bennett) and Roy Harper (Colton Haynes), sooner than they initially intended (the shot of Deathstroke’s mask in the pilot was meant as a harmless Easter egg), to promoting Emily Bett Rickards’ Felicity from a one-off character in the show’s third episode to a series regular in season 2 and eventually Oliver’s wife. Even the whole idea of a Team Arrow — which, over time, added Oliver’s sister Thea (Willa Holland), Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog (Rick Gonzalez) and Dinah Drake/Black Canary (Juliana Harkavy) — was the result of the writers allowing the best ideas to guide the story. “Greg used to say all the time, ‘You have a hit TV show until you don’t, so don’t save s—,’ ” says Amell.

Also not planned: Arrow spawning an entire shared universe. “We went on record a lot of times during the premiere of the pilot saying, ‘No superpowers, no time travel.’ But midway through season 1, Greg started to harbor a notion of doing the Flash,” says Guggenheim. “I’m a very big believer that it’s great to have a plan, but I think when it comes to creating a universe, the pitfall is that people try to run before they can walk. The key is, you build it show by show.” And so they did. First, they introduced The Flash star Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen in the two-part midseason finale of Arrow’s second season. From there, Supergirl took flight in 2015, then DC’s Legends of Tomorrow in 2016, and Batwoman is due this fall. “It’s like the hacking of the machete in the woods and then you look back and you’re like, ‘Oh, there’s a path,” says executive producer and Berlanti Productions president Sarah Schechter. But even though Arrowis the universe’s namesake, Amell doesn’t concern himself with the sibling series outside of the now-annual crossovers. “I never think about any of the other shows,” he says. “I want all of them to do great, but they’re not my responsibility. My responsibility is Arrow, and to make sure everyone from the cast to the crew are good.” His sentiments are seconded by Flash’s Gustin: “I don’t understand how he does it — his schedule that he maintains with working out, the conventions he goes to, the passion he has for it, and the love he shows towards fans. He’s always prepared. He cares more about that show being high quality than anybody else on the set.”

That said, the universe’s expansion precipitated what is widely considered to be Arrow’s best season, the fifth one. After focusing on magic in season 4, the show returned to its street-crime roots as part of “a concerted effort to play not just to our strengths but what made the shows unique,” Guggenheim says of balancing their four super-series in 2016. “Because Arrow was the longest-running Arrowverse show, we were able to do something that none of the other shows could do, which is have a villain who was basically born out of the events of season 1,” he explains of introducing Adrian Chase/Prometheus (Josh Segarra), whose criminal father was killed by Oliver. “That gave the season a resonance.”

It was midway through season 6 when Amell realized he was ready to hang up Oliver Queen’s hood. “It was just time to move on,” the actor says of pitching that Oliver leave the series at the end of season 7. “My daughter is turning six in October, and she goes to school in L.A., and my wife and I want to raise her [there].” Berlanti persuaded him to return for one final season, which the producers collectively decided would be the end. “We all felt in our gut it was the right time,” says Berlanti. Adds Schechter, “It’s such a privilege to be able to say when something’s ending as opposed to having something just ripped away.”

But there’s one integral cast member who won’t be around to see Arrow through its final season. This spring, fans were devastated to learn Rickards had filmed her final episode—bringing an end to Olicity. “They’re such opposites. I think that’s what draws everyone in a little bit,” showrunner Beth Schwartz says of Oliver and Felicity’s relationship. “You don’t see the [love story of] super intelligent woman and the sort of hunky, athletic man very often. She’s obviously a gorgeous woman but what he really loves is her brain.” For his part, Amell believes the success of both Felicity and Olicity lies completely with Rickards’ performance. “She’s supremely talented and awesome and carved out a space that no one anticipated. I don’t know that show works if we don’t randomly find her,” says Amell, adding that continuing the series without Team Arrow’s heart is “not great. Arrow, as you know it, has effectively ended. It’s a different show in season 8.” And he’s not exaggerating.

The final season finds Oliver working for the all-seeing extra-terrestrial the Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) and trying to save the entire multiverse from a cataclysmic event. “[We’re] taking the show on the road, really getting away from Star City. Oliver is going to be traveling the world, and we’re going to go to a lot of different places,” says Guggenheim. “Every time I see Oliver and the Monitor, it’s like, ‘Okay, we are very far from where we started.’ But again, that means the show has grown and evolved.” Adds Schwartz, “This is sort of his final test because it’s greater than Star City.” Along the way, he will head down memory lane, with actor Colin Donnell, who played Oliver’s best friend Tommy Merlyn in season 1, and Segarra’s Adrian Chase making appearances. “Episode 1 is an ode to season 1, and episode 2 is an ode to season 3,” teases Amell. “We’re playing our greatest hits.”

But season 8 is not just about building toward a satisfying series finale. “Everything relates to what’s going to happen in our crossover episode, which we’ve never done before,” says Schwartz. Spanning five hours and airing this winter, “Crisis on Infinite Earths” will be the biggest crossover yet and may see Oliver perish trying to save the multiverse from destruction, if the Monitor’s prophecy is to be believed. “Oliver [is told] he’s going to die, so each episode in the run-up to ‘Crisis’ has Oliver dealing with the various stages of grief that come with that discovery,” says Guggenheim. “So the theme really is coming to terms, acceptance.”

If there’s one person who has made his peace with Oliver’s fate, it’s Amell. “Because he’s a superhero with no superpowers, I always felt he should die — but he may also not die,” says Amell, who actually found out what the show’s final scene would be at EW’s cover shoot. “I cried as [Marc Guggenheim] was telling me. There are a lot of hurdles to get over to make that final scene.” Get this man some more Guinness!

#arrow #arrow season 8 #stephen amell #marc guggenheim #arrow interviews #oliver queen #olicity #emily bett rickards #felicity smoak #arrow spoilers #spoiler theoretical

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arrowdaily · 5 years ago

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Stephen Amell is dreading the eighth and final season of Arrow, though you wouldn’t know it on this hot, sunny July day in Los Angeles. Wearing Green Arrow’s new suit, the CW star seems perfectly at ease as he strikes heroic pose after heroic pose on a dimly lit stage. But once he’s traded heavy verdant leather for a T-shirt, jeans, and baseball cap, his guard drops and the vulnerability starts to creep in as he contemplates Arrow’s last ten episodes, which was set to begin production in Vancouver a week after the EW photoshoot took place and premieres October 15.

“I’m very emotional and melancholy, but it’s time,” Amell—who is featured on the new cover of Entertainment Weekly—says as he takes a sip from a pint of Guinness. “I’m thirty-eight years old, and I got this job when I was thirty. I’d never had a job for more than a year. The fact that I’ve done this for the better part of a decade, and I’m not going to do it anymore, is a little frightening.”

Developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg, Arrow debuted in the fall of 2012. The DC Comics series follows billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), who, after years away, returned to now–Star City with one goal: to save his hometown as the hooded bow-and-arrow vigilante who would become known as Green Arrow (it would take him four seasons to assume the moniker). What began as a solo crusade eventually grew to include former soldier John Diggle (David Ramsey), quirky computer genius Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards), lawyer-turned-hero Laurel Lance/Black Canary (Katie Cassidy-Rodgers), and the rest of Team Arrow. Together they’ve defended their city from a host of threats—dark archers, megalomaniacal magicians, and the occasional metahuman—while Lost-like flashbacks revealed what Oliver endured in the five years he was away, first shipwrecked and then honing his skills around the world to become someone else, something else.

The premiere gave the CW its most-watched series debut since 2009’s The Vampire Diaries. But before they launched Arrow, Berlanti and Guggenheim had to suffer through a failure: 2011’s Green Lantern, starring Ryan Reynolds. The duo co-wrote the script but lost creative control of the film, which flopped. So when Warner Bros. TV president Peter Roth approached them in late 2011 about developing a Green Arrow show, they were wary. After much deliberation, Berlanti and Guggenheim agreed, on the condition that they maintain control. Says Guggenheim, “As long as we succeed or fail on our own work, and not someone else’s work then maybe this is worth a shot.”

Their take on the Emerald Archer—who made his DC Comics debut in 1941—was noteworthy from the beginning. Taking cues from films like The Dark Knight and The Bourne Identity and series like Homeland, the writers imagined a dark, gritty, and grounded show centered on a traumatized protagonist. “As we were breaking the story, we made very specific commitments to certain tonal things, such as ‘At the end of act one, he has his hands around his mother’s throat.’ And, ‘At the end of act two, he kills a man in cold blood to protect his secret,’” says Guggenheim.

A hero committing murder? That was practically unheard of then. Having Oliver suit up in a veritable superhero costume by the pilot’s climax was radical too. Sure, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was deep into Phase One when the producers were developing Arrow, but TV was traditionally more apprehensive about comic books. Smallville famously had a “no tights, no flights” rule and only introduced superhero costumes in the last years of its ten-season run, and there weren’t any masked avengers running around NBC’s Heroes or ABC’s No Ordinary Family, the latter produced by Berlanti (let’s not even mention NBC’s The Cape, which was essentially dead on arrival and never did get its six seasons and a movie). But Arrow not only fully committed to the idea of someone dressing up like Robin Hood to fight crime with a bow and arrow, it introduced a second costumed rogue, the Huntress (Jessica De Gouw), in episode 7.

“It’s just comic book to the extreme and the fans seem to really love it,” says Batwoman showrunner Caroline Dries, a former writer on Smallville. “They still maintain it very grounded, but it’s very different with everyone in costumes. The appetite for superheroes has changed in my mind in terms of like they just want the literal superhero [now].”

That process took eons compared to the unbelievably easy time the team had casting Arrow’s title role. In fact, Amell was the first person to audition for the role. “It was Stephen’s intensity. He just made you believe he was that character,” says Guggenheim, recalling Amell’s audition. “We had crafted Oliver to be this mystery box character, and Stephen somehow managed to find this balance between being totally accessible in a way you would need a TV star to be, but he’s still an enigma.” After his first reading, Amell remembers being sent outside for a short time before being brought back into the room to read for a larger group: “I called [my manager], and I go, ‘I know this is not how it’s supposed to work, but I just got that job.’”

In the first season, the show’s chief concerns were maintaining both the “grounded and real” tone and the high quality of the stunts, and investing the audience in Oliver’s crusade. Beyond that, though, there wasn’t much of an over-arching plan, which allowed the show to naturally evolve—from introducing more DC characters, such as Deathstroke (Manu Bennett) and Roy Harper (Colton Haynes), sooner than they initially intended (the shot of Deathstroke’s mask in the pilot was meant as a harmless Easter egg), to promoting Emily Bett Rickards’ Felicity from a one-off character in the show’s third episode to a series regular in season 2 and eventually Oliver’s wife. Even the whole idea of a Team Arrow—which, over time, added Oliver’s sister Thea (Willa Holland), Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog (Rick Gonzalez) and Dinah Drake/Black Canary (Juliana Harkavy)—was the result of the writers allowing the best ideas to guide the story. “Greg used to say all the time, ‘You have a hit TV show until you don’t, so don’t save s—,’” says Amell.

Also not planned: Arrow spawning an entire shared universe. “We went on record a lot of times during the premiere of the pilot saying, ‘No superpowers, no time travel.’ But midway through season 1, Greg started to harbor a notion of doing the Flash,” says Guggenheim. “I’m a very big believer that it’s great to have a plan, but I think when it comes to creating a universe, the pitfall is that people try to run before they can walk. The key is, you build it show by show.” And so they did. First, they introduced The Flash star Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen in the two-part midseason finale of Arrow’s second season. From there, Supergirl took flight in 2015, then DC’s Legends of Tomorrow in 2016, and Batwoman is due this fall. “It’s like the hacking of the machete in the woods and then you look back and you’re like, ‘Oh, there’s a path,” says executive producer and Berlanti Productions president Sarah Schechter. But even though Arrow is the universe’s namesake, Amell doesn’t concern himself with the sibling series outside of the now-annual crossovers. “I never think about any of the other shows,” he says. “I want all of them to do great, but they’re not my responsibility. My responsibility is Arrow, and to make sure everyone from the cast to the crew are good.” His sentiments are seconded by The Flash’s Gustin: “I don’t understand how he does it—his schedule that he maintains with working out, the conventions he goes to, the passion he has for it, and the love he shows towards fans. He’s always prepared. He cares more about that show being high quality than anybody else on the set.”

It was midway through season 6 when Amell realized he was ready to hang up Oliver Queen’s hood. “It was just time to move on,” the actor says of pitching that Oliver leave the series at the end of season 7. “My daughter is turning six in October, and she goes to school in LA, and my wife and I want to raise her [there].” Berlanti persuaded him to return for one final season, which the producers collectively decided would be the end. “We all felt in our gut it was the right time,” says Berlanti. Adds Schechter, “It’s such a privilege to be able to say when something’s ending as opposed to having something just ripped away.”

If there’s one person who has made his peace with Oliver’s fate, it’s Amell. “Because he’s a superhero with no superpowers, I always felt he should die—but he may also not die,” says Amell, who actually found out what the show’s final scene would be at EW’s cover shoot. “I cried as [Marc Guggenheim] was telling me. There are a lot of hurdles to get over to make that final scene.” Get this man some more Guinness!

#stephen amell #beth schwartz #marc guggenheim #greg berlanti #cast #s8 #interviews #news

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sage-nebula · 6 years ago

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I finished Unravel Two, and while the actual story with the humans that sometimes appeared in the background of the main levels was completely incomprehensible to me (and apparently also to others on the internet, from what I read), the real story in the game, for me, centered around these two, whom I dubbed Courage (black, left) and Hope (blue, right).

In the world of Unravel, yarnys (pictured above) are little creatures made of yarn that are brought to life by sparks, and are essentially positive emotions manifested. (At least, from what I’ve read; this isn’t explained in this game, and I never got to play the first one.) In this game, you play as two yarnys: one who was shipwrecked at the beginning of the game, and a companion that the shipwrecked one finds shortly after washing ashore. In my game, I decided that the shipwrecked yarny (who, by the way, is a different yarny from the first game) was named Courage, and the yarny that Courage found and united with was named Hope. (They are, as is probably obvious, named after the positive emotions they most embody in my headcanon. The friends they rescued were all similarly named in my mind: Passion, Joy, Inspiration, Generous, and so on.)

I chose these names and these emotions for a few different reasons. One, the yarny who was shipwrecked was clearly adventurous, being out in a little boat by themself so that they could be shipwrecked in the first place. Meanwhile, the second yarny crawled out of a chest when the first yarny was shipwrecked and alone, giving them the spark they needed to move forward. In other words, I felt that this yarny did represent hope. But more than that, in my mind, courage and hope are the two things that come together to form determination, and you all know how important that is to me. The reason I feel this way is because you need courage in order to have the strength to face and overcome obstacles in your path, which is a necessary component of determination. But likewise, you also need hope that doing so is worth it. Without hope, you don’t have the will to press on. Without courage, you don’t have the strength to. Thus, both courage and hope are necessary for determination to exist, and as a result, these two yarnys combined came together to form determination.

But as you can see in the screenshots, the yarnys do have personalities. They hug each other when they accomplish tough tasks, and they high-five each other as well (as well as offering high-fives and back pats to the friends they rescue in the bonus levels). They go through this adventure together, and as such, even though there’s no dialogue I imagined it between them. I imagined that before arriving on that island, Courage didn’t have much will left in them. They were shipwrecked and alone, with no spark to drive them forward. Meeting Hope, and seeing that there was someone else, gave Courage the will to move forward again, and to find that will deep inside themself, because while nothing ever truly scared Courage off, over the course of the adventure, losing Hope became terrifying to them. Likewise, Hope had sat in fear for the longest time, feeling alone and isolated and like they couldn’t move forward. They kept a shred of optimism that perhaps one day would change, but they stayed in that box until Courage found them because they were too scared to move forward by themself. But meeting Courage, and traveling with them, helped inspire Hope. Hope found strength within themself to face danger because Courage was there by their side (or sometimes leading the way a bit). Hope began to feel that if Courage’s inner strength ever failed, then perhaps that optimism that Hope had within themself might flicker out. But so long as Courage was willing to try, Hope had, well, hope that their future could be bright.

Unravel Two’s story is meant to be about bonds, and I think that was supposed to be represented by whatever human shenanigans were happening in the background. But for me, it was best represented by Courage and Hope, and how they came together to form Determination (since two yarnys can combine into one to travel as a single unit through areas that don’t demand they work in tandem). It’s about the bond they share, the way they inspire each other, and they way they love each other. They were so sweet and heartwarming, and even though there were levels that made me feel as though my mind was disintegrating because of how many attempts it took me to get past them, it still made everything feel worth it in the end.

That wasn’t the final appearance I settled on for Hope---you can customize the yarnys in game, but you don’t have access to all customization options at first (aside from colors), and instead have to unlock those by rescuing the friends in the bonus levels, and the head that I settled on for Hope wasn’t available until pretty late game. Either way, I came to love these two dearly, and I’m very tempted to look up a tutorial on how to make yarnys so I can make them (albeit, again, using the final head I decided on for Hope). I’d like to have them on my desk at work, I think. They’d have good homes there. ♥

#unravel #unravel two #unravel 2 #seriously tho what was the point of the human aspect of the story?#i could barely follow what was going on

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top40gordy · 6 years ago

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Twitt https://twitter.com/share?text=Everything%20You%20Know%20About%20Obesity%20Is%20Wrong&url=https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/everything-you-know-about-obesity-is-wrong/&via=HiSEPTEMBER 19, 2018

For decades, the medical community has ignored mountains of evidence to wage a cruel and futile war on fat people, poisoning public perception and ruining millions of lives.

It’s time for a new paradigm.

STORY BY Michael Hobbes

IMAGES BY Finlay MacKay

From the 16th century to the 19th, scurvy killed around 2 million sailors, more than warfare, shipwrecks and syphilis combined. It was an ugly, smelly death, too, beginning with rattling teeth and ending with a body so rotted out from the inside that its victims could literally be startled to death by a loud noise. Just as horrifying as the disease itself, though, is that for most of those 300 years, medical experts knew how to prevent it and simply failed to.

In the 1600s, some sea captains distributed lemons, limes and oranges to sailors, driven by the belief that a daily dose of citrus fruit would stave off scurvy’s progress. The British Navy, wary of the cost of expanding the treatment, turned to malt wort, a mashed and cooked byproduct of barley which had the advantage of being cheaper but the disadvantage of doing nothing whatsoever to cure scurvy. In 1747, a British doctor named James Lind conducted an experiment where he gave one group of sailors citrus slices and the others vinegar or seawater or cider. The results couldn’t have been clearer. The crewmen who ate fruit improved so quickly that they were able to help care for the others as they languished. Lind published his findings, but died before anyone got around to implementing them nearly 50 years later.

This kind of myopia repeats throughout history. Seat belts were invented long before the automobile but weren’t mandatory in cars until the 1960s. The first confirmed death from asbestos exposure was recorded in 1906, but the U.S. didn’t start banning the chemical until 1973. Every discovery in public health, no matter how significant, must compete with the traditions, assumptions and financial incentives of the society implementing it.

Which brings us to one of the largest gaps between science and practice in our own time. Years from now, we will look back in horror at the counterproductive ways we addressed the obesity epidemic and the barbaric ways we treated fat people—long after we knew there was a better path.

I have never written a story where so many of my sources cried during interviews, where they shook with anger describing their interactions with doctors and strangers and their own families.

About 40 years ago, Americans started getting much larger. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 80 percent of adults and about one-third of children now meet the clinical definition of overweight or obese. More Americans live with “extreme obesity“ than with breast cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and HIV put together.

And the medical community’s primary response to this shift has been to blame fat people for being fat. Obesity, we are told, is a personal failing that strains our health care system, shrinks our GDP and saps our military strength. It is also an excuse to bully fat people in one sentence and then inform them in the next that you are doing it for their own good. That’s why the fear of becoming fat, or staying that way, drives Americans to spend more on dieting every year than we spend on video games or movies. Forty-five percent of adults say they’re preoccupied with their weight some or all of the time—an 11-point rise since 1990. Nearly half of 3- to 6- year old girls say they worry about being fat.

The emotional costs are incalculable. I have never written a story where so many of my sources cried during interviews, where they double- and triple-checked that I would not reveal their names, where they shook with anger describing their interactions with doctors and strangers and their own families. One remembered kids singing “Baby Beluga” as she boarded the school bus, another said she has tried diets so extreme she has passed out and yet another described the elaborate measures he takes to keep his spouse from seeing him naked in the light. A medical technician I’ll call Sam (he asked me to change his name so his wife wouldn’t find out he spoke to me) said that one glimpse of himself in a mirror can destroy his mood for days. “I have this sense I’m fat and I shouldn’t be,” he says. “It feels like the worst kind of weakness.”

My interest in this issue is slightly more than journalistic. Growing up, my mother’s weight was the uncredited co-star of every family drama, the obvious, unspoken reason why she never got out of the car when she picked me up from school, why she disappeared from the family photo album for years at a time, why she spent hours making meatloaf then sat beside us eating a bowl of carrots.

Last year, for the first time, we talked about her weight in detail. When I asked if she was ever bullied, she recalled some guy calling her a “fat slob” as she biked past him years ago. “But that was rare,” she says. “The bigger way my weight affected my life was that I waited to do things because I thought fat people couldn’t do them.” She got her master’s degree at 38, her Ph.D. at 55. “I avoided so many activities where I thought my weight would discredit me.”

Chances of a woman classified as obese achieving a “normal” weight:.008%Source: American Journal of Public Health, 2015

But my mother’s story, like Sam’s, like everyone’s, didn’t have to turn out like this. For 60 years, doctors and researchers have known two things that could have improved, or even saved, millions of lives. The first is that diets do not work. Not just paleo or Atkins or Weight Watchers or Goop, but all diets. Since 1959, research has shown that 95 to 98 percent of attempts to lose weight fail and that two-thirds of dieters gain back more than they lost. The reasons are biological and irreversible.

As early as 1969, research showed that losing just 3 percent of your body weight resulted in a 17 percent slowdown in your metabolism—a body-wide starvation response that blasts you with hunger hormones and drops your internal temperature until you rise back to your highest weight. Keeping weight off means fighting your body’s energy-regulation system and battling hunger all day, every day, for the rest of your life.

The second big lesson the medical establishment has learned and rejected over and over again is that weight and health are not perfect synonyms. Yes, nearly every population-level study finds that fat people have worse cardiovascular health than thin people. But individuals are not averages: Studies have found that anywhere from one-third to three-quarters of people classified as obese are metabolically healthy. They show no signs of elevated blood pressure, insulin resistance or high cholesterol. Meanwhile, about a quarter of non-overweight people are what epidemiologists call “the lean unhealthy.” A 2016 study that followed participants for an average of 19 years found that unfit skinny people were twice as likely to get diabetes as fit fat people. Habits, no matter your size, are what really matter. Dozens of indicators, from vegetable consumption to regular exercise to grip strength, provide a better snapshot of someone’s health than looking at her from across a room.

The terrible irony is that for 60 years, we’ve approached the obesity epidemic like a fad dieter: If we just try the exact same thing one more time, we'll get a different result. And so it’s time for a paradigm shift. We’re not going to become a skinnier country. But we still have a chance to become a healthier one.

A NOTE ABOUT OUR PHOTOGRAPHS So many images you see in articles about obesity strip fat people of their strength and personality. According to a recent study, only 11 percent of large people depicted in news reports were wearing professional clothing. Nearly 60 percent were headless torsos. So, we asked our interview subjects to take full creative control of the photos in this piece. This is how they want to present themselves to the world.

“As a kid, I thought that fat people were just lonely and sad—almost like these pathetic lost causes. So I want to show that we get to experience love, too. I’m not some 'fat friend' or some dude's chubby chasing dream. I'm genuinely happy. I just wish I'd known how possible that was when I was a kiddo.”— CORISSA ENNEKING

This is Corissa Enneking at her lightest: She wakes up, showers and smokes a cigarette to keep her appetite down. She drives to her job at a furniture store, she stands in four-inch heels all day, she eats a cup of yogurt alone in her car on her lunch break. After work, lightheaded, her feet throbbing, she counts out three Ritz crackers, eats them at her kitchen counter and writes down the calories in her food journal.

Or not. Some days she comes home and goes straight to bed, exhausted and dizzy from hunger, shivering in the Kansas heat. She rouses herself around dinnertime and drinks some orange juice or eats half a granola bar. Occasionally she’ll just sleep through the night, waking up the next day to start all over again.

The last time she lived like this, a few years ago, her mother marched her to the hospital. “My daughter is sick,” she told the doctor. “She's not eating.” He looked Enneking up and down. Despite six months of starvation, she was still wearing plus sizes, still couldn’t shop at J. Crew, still got unsolicited diet advice from colleagues and customers.

Enneking told the doctor that she used to be larger, that she’d lost some weight the same way she had lost it three or four times before—seeing how far she could get through the day without eating, trading solids for liquids, food for sleep. She was hungry all the time, but she was learning to like it. When she did eat, she got panic attacks. Her boss was starting to notice her erratic behavior.

“Well, whatever you're doing now,” the doctor said, “it's working.” He urged her to keep it up and assured her that once she got small enough, her body would start to process food differently. She could add a few hundred calories to her diet. Her period would come back. She would stay small, but without as much effort.

“If you looked at anything other than my weight,” Enneking says now, “I had an eating disorder. And my doctor was congratulating me.”

Ask almost any fat person about her interactions with the health care system and you will hear a story, sometimes three, the same as Enneking’s: rolled eyes, skeptical questions, treatments denied or delayed or revoked. Doctors are supposed to be trusted authorities, a patient’s primary gateway to healing. But for fat people, they are a source of unique and persistent trauma. No matter what you go in for or how much you’re hurting, the first thing you will be told is that it would all get better if you could just put down the Cheetos.

Emily went to a gynecological surgeon to have an ovarian cyst removed. The physician pointed out her body fat on the MRI, then said, “Look at that skinny woman in there trying to get out.”

This phenomenon is not merely anecdotal. Doctors have shorter appointments with fat patients and show less emotional rapport in the minutes they do have. Negative words—“noncompliant, “overindulgent,” “weak willed”—pop up in their medical histories with higher frequency. In one study, researchers presented doctors with case histories of patients suffering from migraines. With everything else being equal, the doctors reported that the patients who were also classified as fat had a worse attitude and were less likely to follow their advice. And that’s when they see fat patients at all: In 2011, the Sun-Sentinel polled OB-GYNs in South Florida and discovered that 14 percent had barred all new patients weighing more than 200 pounds.

Some of these doctors are simply applying the same presumptions as the society around them. An anesthesiologist on the West Coast tells me that as soon as a larger patient goes under, the surgeons start trading “high school insults” about her body over the operating table. Janice O’Keefe, a former nurse in Boston, tells me a doctor once looked at her, paused, then asked, “How could you do this to yourself?” Emily, a counselor in Eastern Washington, went to a gynecological surgeon to have an ovarian cyst removed. The physician pointed out her body fat on the MRI, then said, “Look at that skinny woman in there trying to get out.”

“I was worried I had cancer,” Emily says, “and she was turning it into a teachable moment about my weight.”

Other physicians sincerely believe that shaming fat people is the best way to motivate them to lose weight. “It’s the last area of medicine where we prescribe tough love,” says Mayo Clinic researcher Sean Phelan.

In a 2013 journal article, bioethicist Daniel Callahan argued for more stigma against fat people. “People don’t realize that they are obese or if they do realize it, it’s not enough to stir them to do anything about it,” he tells me. Shame helped him kick his cigarette habit, he argues, so it should work for obesity too.

This belief is cartoonishly out of step with a generation of research into obesity and human behavior. As one of the (many) stigma researchers who responded to Callahan’s article pointed out, shaming smokers and drug users with D.A.R.E.-style “just say no” messages may have actually increased substance abuse by making addicts less likely to bring up their habit with their doctors and family members.

Plus, rather obviously, smoking is a behavior; being fat is not. Jody Dushay, an endocrinologist and obesity specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, says most of her patients have tried dozens of diets and have lost and regained hundreds of pounds before they come to her.

Telling them to try again, but in harsher terms, only sets them up to fail and then blame themselves.

89%of obese adults have been bullied by their romantic partners Source: University of Connecticut, 2017

Not all physicians set out to denigrate their fat patients, of course; some of them do damage because of subtler, more unconscious biases. Most doctors, for example, are fit—“If you go to an obesity conference, good luck trying to get a treadmill at 5 a.m.,” Dushay says—and have spent more than a decade of their lives in the high-stakes, high-stress bubble of medical schools.

According to several studies, thin doctors are more confident in their recommendations, expect their patients to lose more weight and are more likely to think dieting is easy. Sarah (not her real name), a tech CEO in New England, once told her doctor that she was having trouble eating less throughout the day. “Look at me,” her doctor said. “I had one egg for breakfast and I feel fine.”

Then there are the glaring cultural differences. Kenneth Resnicow, a consultant who trains physicians to build rapport with their patients, says white, wealthy, skinny doctors will often try to bond with their low-income patients by telling them, “I know what it’s like not to have time to cook.” Their patients, who might be single mothers with three kids and two jobs, immediately think “No, you don’t,” and the relationship is irretrievably soured.

When Joy Cox, an academic in New Jersey, was 16, she went to the hospital with stomach pains. The doctor didn’t diagnose her dangerously inflamed bile duct, but he did, out of nowhere, suggest that she’d get better if she stopped eating so much fried chicken. “He managed to denigrate my fatness and my blackness in the same sentence,” she says.

“There is so much agency taken from marginalized groups to mute their voices and mask their existence. Being depicted as a female CEO—one who is also black and fat—means so much to me. It is a representation of the reclamation of power in the boardroom, classroom and living room of my body. I own all of this.”— JOY COX

Many of the financial and administrative structures doctors work within help reinforce this bad behavior. The problem starts in medical school, where, according to a 2015 survey, students receive an average of just 19 hours of nutrition education over four years of instruction—five hours fewer than they got in 2006. Then the trouble compounds once doctors get into daily practice. Primary care physicians only get 15 minutes for each appointment, barely enough time to ask patients what they ate today, much less during all the years leading up to it. And a more empathic approach to treatment simply doesn’t pay: While procedures like blood tests and CT scans command reimbursement rates from hundreds to thousands of dollars, doctors receive as little as $24 to provide a session of diet and nutrition counseling.

Lesley Williams, a family medicine doctor in Phoenix, tells me she gets an alert from her electronic health records software every time she’s about to see a patient who is above the “overweight” threshold. The reason for this is that physicians are often required, in writing, to prove to hospital administrators and insurance providers that they have brought up their patient’s weight and formulated a plan to bring it down—regardless of whether that patient came in with arthritis or a broken arm or a bad sunburn. Failing to do that could result in poor performance reviews, low ratings from insurance companies or being denied reimbursement if they refer patients to specialized care.

Another issue, says Kimberly Gudzune, an obesity specialist at Johns Hopkins, is that many doctors, no matter their specialty, think weight falls under their authority. Gudzune often spends months working with patients to set realistic goals—playing with their grandkids longer, going off a cholesterol medication—only to have other doctors threaten it all. One of her patients was making significant progress until she went to a cardiologist who told her to lose 100 pounds. “All of a sudden she goes back to feeling like a failure and we have to start over,” Gudzune says. “Or maybe she just never comes back at all.”

60%of the calories Americans consume come from “ultra-processed foods” Source: British Medical Journal, 2016

And so, working within a system that neither trains nor encourages them to meaningfully engage with their higher-weight patients, doctors fall back on recommending fad diets and delivering bland motivational platitudes. Ron Kirk, an electrician in Boston, says that for years, his doctor's first resort was to put him on some diet he couldn't maintain for more than a few weeks. “They told me lettuce was a ‘free’ food,” he says—and he’d find himself carving up a head of romaine for dinner.

In a study that recorded 461 interactions with doctors, only 13 percent of patients got any specific plan for diet or exercise and only 5 percent got help arranging a follow-up visit. “It can be stressful when [patients] start asking a lot of specific questions” about diet and weight loss, one doctor told researchers in 2012. “I don’t feel like I have the time to sit there and give them private counseling on basics. I say, ‘Here’s some websites, look at this.’” A 2016 survey found that nearly twice as many higher-weight Americans have tried meal-replacement diets—the kind most likely to fail—than have ever received counseling from a dietician.

“It borders on medical malpractice,” says Andrew (not his real name), a consultant and musician who has been large his whole life. A few years ago, on a routine visit, Andrew’s doctor weighed him, announced that he was “dangerously overweight” and told him to diet and exercise, offering no further specifics. Should he go on a low-fat diet? Low-carb? Become a vegetarian? Should he do CrossFit? Yoga? Should he buy a fucking ThighMaster?

“She didn't even ask me what I was already doing for exercise,” he says. “At the time, I was training for serious winter mountaineering trips, hiking every weekend and going to the gym four times a week. Instead of a conversation, I got a sound bite. It felt like shaming me was the entire purpose.”

All of this makes higher-weight patients more likely to avoid doctors. Three separate studies have found that fat women are more likely to die from breast and cervical cancers than non-fat women, a result partially attributed to their reluctance to see doctors and get screenings. Erin Harrop, a researcher at the University of Washington, studies higher-weight women with anorexia, who, contrary to the size-zero stereotype of most media depictions, are twice as likely to report vomiting, using laxatives and abusing diet pills. Thin women, Harrop discovered, take around three years to get into treatment, while her participants spent an average of 13 and a half years waiting for their disorders to be addressed.

“A lot of my job is helping people heal from the trauma of interacting with the medical system,” says Ginette Lenham, a counselor who specializes in obesity. The rest of it, she says, is helping them heal from the trauma of interacting with everyone else.

“My weight makes me anxious. I'm constantly sucking my stomach in when I stand, and if I'm sitting, I always grab a pillow or couch cushion to hold in front of it. I'm most comfortable in my bathrobe, alone. At the same time, my brain starves for attention. I want to be onstage. I want to be the one holding a microphone. So, I decided to split the difference with this photograph: to perform and to obscure. The worst part is that intellectually I know that I have worth beyond pounds and waist inches and stereotypes. But I still feel like I have to hide.”— SAM (NOT HIS REAL NAME)

If Sonya ever forgets that she is fat, the world will remind her. She has stopped taking the bus, she tells me, because she can sense the aggravation of the passengers squeezing past her. Sarah, the tech CEO, tenses up when anyone brings bagels to a work meeting. If she reaches for one, are her employees thinking, “There goes the fat boss”? If she doesn’t, are they silently congratulating her for showing some restraint?

Emily says it’s the do-gooders who get to her, the women who stop her on the street and tell her how brave she is for wearing a sleeveless dress on a 95-degree day. Sam, the medical technician, avoids the subject of weight altogether. “Men aren’t supposed to think about this stuff—and I think about it constantly,” he admits. “So I never let myself talk about it. Which is weird because it’s the most visible thing about me.”

Again and again, I hear stories of how the pressure to be a “good fatty” in public builds up and explodes. Jessica has four kids. Every week is a birthday party or family reunion or swimming pool social, another opportunity to stand around platters of spare ribs and dinner rolls with her fellow moms.

“Your conscious mind is busy the whole day with how many calories is in everything, what you can eat and who’s watching,” she says. After a few intrusive comments over the years—should you be eating that?—she has learned to be careful, to perform the role of the impeccable fat person. She nibbles on cherry tomatoes, drinks tap water, stays on her feet, ignores the dessert end of the buffet.

Then, as the gathering winds down, Jessica and the other parents divvy up the leftovers. She wraps up burgers or pasta salad or birthday cake, drives her children home and waits for the moment when they are finally in bed. Then, when she’s alone, she eats all the leftovers by herself, in the dark.

“It’s always hidden,” she says. “I buy a package of ice cream, then eat it all. Then I have to go to the store to buy it again. For a week my family thinks there’s a thing of ice cream in the fridge—but it’s actually five different ones.”

Ratio of soda and candy ads seen by black children compared to white children:2:1Source: UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, 2015

This is how fat-shaming works: It is visible and invisible, public and private, hidden and everywhere at the same time. Research consistently finds that larger Americans (especially larger women) earn lower salaries and are less likely to be hired and promoted. In a 2017 survey, 500 hiring managers were given a photo of an overweight female applicant. Twenty-one percent of them described her as unprofessional despite having no other information about her. What’s worse, only a few cities and one state (nice work, Michigan) officially prohibit workplace discrimination on the basis of weight.

Paradoxically, as the number of larger Americans has risen, the biases against them have become more severe. More than 40 percent of Americans classified as obese now say they experience stigma on a daily basis, a rate far higher than any other minority group. And this does terrible things to their bodies. According to a 2015 study, fat people who feel discriminated against have shorter life expectancies than fat people who don't. “These findings suggest the possibility that the stigma associated with being overweight,” the study concluded, “is more harmful than actually being overweight.”

And, in a cruel twist, one effect of weight bias is that it actually makes you eat more. The stress hormone cortisol—the one evolution designed to kick in when you’re being chased by a tiger or, it turns out, rejected for your looks—increases appetite, reduces the will to exercise and even improves the taste of food. Sam, echoing so many of the other people I spoke with, says that he drove straight to Jack in the Box last year after someone yelled, “Eat less!” at him across a parking lot.

“I don’t want to be portrayed; this is not about me. It’s about that guy you always see on the far treadmill at the gym. Or the lady who brings the most beautiful salads to work every day for lunch. It’s about the little girl who got bullied because of her size and the little boy who was told he wasn’t man enough. It’s not about me but had it been about me when I was that chubby little girl, maybe I wouldn’t be standing here, head against the door, wondering if I’m enough.”— ERIKA

There’s a grim caveman logic to our nastiness toward fat people. “We’re attuned to bodies that look different,” says Janet Tomiyama, a stigma researcher at UCLA. “In our evolutionary past, that might have meant disease risk and been seen as a threat to your tribe.” These biological breadcrumbs help explain why stigma begins so early. Kids as young as 3 describe their larger classmates with words like “mean,” “stupid” and “lazy.”

And yet, despite weight being the number one reason children are bullied at school, America’s institutions of public health continue to pursue policies perfectly designed to inflame the cruelty. TV and billboard campaigns still use slogans like “Too much screen time, too much kid” and “Being fat takes the fun out of being a kid.” Cat Pausé, a researcher at Massey University in New Zealand, spent months looking for a single public health campaign, worldwide, that attempted to reduce stigma against fat people and came up empty. In an incendiary case of good intentions gone bad, about a dozen states now send children home with “BMI report cards,” an intervention unlikely to have any effect on their weight but almost certain to increase bullying from the people closest to them.

This is not an abstract concern: Surveys of higher-weight adults find that their worst experiences of discrimination come from their own families. Erika, a health educator in Washington, can still recite the word her father used to describe her: “husky.” Her grandfather preferred “stocky.” Her mother never said anything about Erika’s body, but she didn't have to. She obsessed over her own, calling herself “enormous” despite being two sizes smaller than her daughter. By the time Erika was 11, she was sneaking into the woods behind her house and vomiting into the creek whenever social occasions made starving herself impossible.

And the abuse from loved ones continues well into adulthood. A 2017 survey found that 89 percent of obese adults had been bullied by their romantic partners. Emily, the counselor, says she spent her teens and 20s “sleeping with guys I wasn’t interested in because they wanted to sleep with me.” In her head, a guy being into her was a rare and depletable resource she couldn’t afford to waste: “I was desperate for men to give me attention. Sex was a good way to do that.”

Eventually, she ended up with someone abusive. He told her during sex that her body was beautiful and then, in the daylight, that it was revolting. “Whenever I tried to leave him, he would say, ‘Where are you gonna find someone who will put up with your disgusting body?’” she remembers.

Emily finally managed to get away from him, but she is aware that her love life will always be fraught. The guy she’s dating now is thin—“think Tony Hawk,” she says—and she notices the looks they get when they hold hands in public. “That never used to happen when I dated fat dudes,” she says. “Thin men are not allowed to be attracted to fat women.”

The effects of weight bias get worse when they’re layered on top of other types of discrimination. A 2012 study found that African-American women are more likely to become depressed after internalizing weight stigma than white women. Hispanic and black teenagers also have significantly higher rates of bulimia. And, in a remarkable finding, rich people of color have higher rates of cardiovascular disease than poor people of color—the opposite of what happens with white people. One explanation is that navigating increasingly white spaces, and increasingly higher stakes, exerts stress on racial minorities that, over time, makes them more susceptible to heart problems.

But perhaps the most unique aspect of weight stigma is how it isolates its victims from one another. For most minority groups, discrimination contributes to a sense of belongingness, a community in opposition to a majority. Gay people like other gay people; Mormons root for other Mormons. Surveys of higher-weight people, however, reveal that they hold many of the same biases as the people discriminating against them. In a 2005 study, the words obese participants used to classify other obese people included gluttonous, unclean and sluggish.

Andrea, a retired nurse in Boston, has been on commercial diets since she was 10 years old. She knows how hard it is to slim down, knows what women larger than her are going through, but she still struggles not to pass judgment when she sees them in public. “I think, ‘How did they let it happen?’” she says. “It’s more like fear. Because if I let myself go, I’ll be that big too.”

Her position is all-too understandable. As young as 9 or 10, I knew that coming out of the closet is what gay people do, even if it took me another decade to actually do it. Fat people, though, never get a moment of declaring their identity, of marking themselves as part of a distinct group. They still live in a society that believes weight is temporary, that losing it is urgent and achievable, that being comfortable in their bodies is merely “glorifying obesity.” This limbo, this lie, is why it’s so hard for fat people to discover one another or even themselves. “No one believes our It Gets Better story,” says Tigress Osborn, the director of community outreach for the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. “You can’t claim an identity if everyone around you is saying it doesn’t or shouldn’t exist.”

Harrop, the eating disorders researcher, realized several years ago that her university had clubs for trans students, immigrant students, Republican students, but none for fat students. So she started one—and it has been a resounding, unmitigated failure. Only a handful of fat people have ever shown up; most of the time, thin folks sit around brainstorming about how to be better allies.

I ask Harrop why she thinks the group has been such a bust. It’s simple, she says: “Fat people grow up in the same fat-hating culture that non-fat people do.”

“I think some folks are genuinely surprised that a man who looks like him is with a woman like me. As a fat person, I'm very aware of when I'm being stared at—and I have never been looked at this much before. So I thought that taking the photo in public would be a good idea. It feels subversive to show my fat body doing regular stuff the world believes I don't or can't do.”— EMILY

Since 1980, the obesity rate has doubled in 73 countries and increased in 113 others. And in all that time, no nation has reduced its obesity rate. Not one.

The problem is that in America, like everywhere else, our institutions of public health have become so obsessed with body weight that they have overlooked what is really killing us: our food supply. Diet is the leading cause of death in the United States, responsible for more than five times the fatalities of gun violence and car accidents combined. But it’s not how much we’re eating—Americans actually consume fewer calories now than we did in 2003. It’s what we’re eating.

For more than a decade now, researchers have found that the quality of our food affects disease risk independently of its effect on weight. Fructose, for example, appears to damage insulin sensitivity and liver function more than other sweeteners with the same number of calories. People who eat nuts four times a week have 12 percent lower diabetes incidence and a 13 percent lower mortality rate regardless of their weight. All of our biological systems for regulating energy, hunger and satiety get thrown off by eating foods that are high in sugar, low in fiber and injected with additives. And which now, shockingly, make up 60 percent of the calories we eat.

Draining this poison from our trillion-dollar food system is not going to happen quickly or easily. Every link in the chain, from factory farms to school lunches, is dominated by a Mars or a Monsanto or a McDonald’s, each working tirelessly to lower its costs and raise its profits. But that’s still no reason to despair. There’s a lot we can do right now to improve fat people’s lives—to shift our focus for the first time from weight to health and from shame to support.

The place to start is at the doctor’s office. The central failure of the medical system when it comes to obesity is that it treats every patient exactly the same: If you’re fat, lose some weight. If you’re skinny, keep up the good work. Stephanie Sogg, a psychologist at the Mass General Weight Center, tells me she has clients who start eating compulsively after a sexual assault, others who starve themselves all day before bingeing on the commute home and others who eat 1,000 calories a day, work out five times a week and still insist that they’re fat because they “have no willpower.”

Acknowledging the infinite complexity of each person’s relationship to food, exercise and body image is at the center of her treatment, not a footnote to it. “Eighty percent of my patients cry in the first appointment,” Sogg says. “For something as emotional as weight, you have to listen for a long time before you give any advice. Telling someone, 'Lay off the cheeseburgers' is never going to work if you don't know what those cheeseburgers are doing for them.”

4% of all agricultural subsidies go to fruits and vegetables Source: Environmental Working Group, 2014-16

The medical benefits of this approach—being nicer to her patients than they are to themselves, is how Sogg describes it—are unimpeachable. In 2017, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the expert panel that decides which treatments should be offered for free under Obamacare, found that the decisive factor in obesity care was not the diet patients went on, but how much attention and support they received while they were on it. Participants who got more than 12 sessions with a dietician saw significant reductions in their rates of prediabetes and cardiovascular risk. Those who got less personalized care showed almost no improvement at all.

Still, despite the Task Force’s explicit recommendation of “intensive, multicomponent behavioral counseling” for higher-weight patients, the vast majority of insurance companies and state health care programs define this term to mean just a session or two—exactly the superficial approach that years of research says won’t work. “Health plans refuse to treat this as anything other than a personal problem,” says Chris Gallagher, a policy consultant at the Obesity Action Coalition.

The same scurvy-ish negligence shows up at every level of government. From marketing rules to antitrust regulations to international trade agreements, U.S. policy has created a food system that excels at producing flour, sugar and oil but struggles to deliver nutrients at anywhere near the same scale. The United States spends $1.5 billion on nutrition research every year compared to around $60 billion on drug research. Just 4 percent of agricultural subsidies go to fruits and vegetables. No wonder that the healthiest foods can cost up to eight times more, calorie for calorie, than the unhealthiest—or that the gap gets wider every year.

It’s the same with exercise. The cardiovascular risks of sedentary lifestyles, suburban sprawl and long commutes are well-documented. But rather than help mitigate these risks—and their disproportionate impact on the poor—our institutions have exacerbated them. Only 13 percent of American children walk or bike to school; once they arrive, less than a third of them will take part in a daily gym class. Among adults, the number of workers commuting more than 90 minutes each way grew by more than 15 percent from 2005 to 2016, a predictable outgrowth of America’s underinvestment in public transportation and over-investment in freeways, parking and strip malls. For 40 years, as politicians have told us to eat more vegetables and take the stairs instead of the elevator, they have presided over a country where daily exercise has become a luxury and eating well has become extortionate.

“My son and I both like to play the hero. There wasn't necessarily any intentional symbolism in the costumes we chose, but I am definitely a member of the rebellion, and I see my role as an eating disorders researcher as trying to fight for justice and a better world. Also, I like that I'm sweaty, dirty and messy, not done up with makeup or with my hair down in this picture. I like that I'm not hiding my stomach, thighs or arms. Not because I'm comfortable being photographed like that, but because I want to be—and I want others to feel free to be like that, too.”— ERIN HARROP

The good news is that the best ideas for reversing these trends have already been tested. Many “failed” obesity interventions are, in fact, successful eat-healthier-and-exercise-more interventions. A review of 44 international studies found that school-based activity programs didn’t affect kids’ weight, but improved their athletic ability, tripled the amount of time they spent exercising and reduced their daily TV consumption by up to an hour. Another survey showed that two years of getting kids to exercise and eat better didn’t noticeably affect their size but did improve their math scores—an effect that was greater for black kids than white kids.

You see this in so much of the research: The most effective health interventions aren't actually health interventions—they are policies that ease the hardship of poverty and free up time for movement and play and parenting. Developing countries with higher wages for women have lower obesity rates, and lives are transformed when healthy food is made cheaper. A pilot program in Massachusetts that gave food stamp recipients an extra 30 cents for every $1 they spent on healthy food increased fruit and vegetable consumption by 26 percent. Policies like this are unlikely to affect our weight. They are almost certain, however, to significantly improve our health.

Which brings us to the most hard-wired problem of all: Our shitty attitudes toward fat people. According to Patrick Corrigan, the editor of the journal Stigma and Health, even the most well-intentioned efforts to reduce stigma break down in the face of reality. In one study, researchers told 10- to 12-year-olds all the genetic and medical factors that contribute to obesity. Afterward, the kids could recite back the message they received—fat kids didn’t get that way by choice—but they still had the same negative attitudes about the bigger kids sitting next to them. A similar approach with fifth- and sixth-graders actually increased their intention of bullying their fat classmates. Celebrity representation, meanwhile, can result in what Corrigan calls the “Thurgood Marshall effect”: Instead of updating our stereotypes (maybe fat people aren’t so bad), we just see prominent minorities as isolated exceptions to them (well, he’s not like those other fat people).

What does work, Corrigan says, is for fat people to make it clear to everyone they interact with that their size is nothing to apologize for. “When you pity someone, you think they’re less effective, less competent, more hurt,” he says. “You don’t see them as capable. The only way to get rid of stigma is from power.”

This has always been the great hope of the fat-acceptance movement. (“We’re here, we’re spheres, get used to it” was one of the slogans in the 1990s.) But this radical message has long since been co-opted by clothing brands, diet companies, and soap corporations. Weight Watchers has rebranded as a “lifestyle program,” but still promises that its members can shrink their way to happiness. Mainstream apparel companies market themselves as “body positive” but refuse to make clothes that fit the plus-size models on their own billboards. Social media, too, has provided a platform for positive representations of fat people and formed communities that make it easier to find each other. But it has also contributed to an anodyne, narrow, Dr. Phil-approved form of progress that celebrates the female entrepreneur who sells “fatkinis” on Instagram while ignoring the woman who (true story) gets fired from her management position after reportedly gaining 100 pounds over three years.

“Fat activism isn’t about making people feel better about themselves,” Pausé says. “It’s about not being denied your civil rights and not dying because a doctor misdiagnoses you.”

And so, in a world that refuses to change, it is still up to every fat person, alone, to decide how to endure. Emily, the counselor in Eastern Washington, says she made a choice about three years ago to assert herself. The first time she asked for a table instead of a booth at a restaurant, she says, she was sweating, flushed, her chest heaving. It felt like saying the words—“I can’t fit”—would dry up in her mouth as she said them.

But now, she says, “It’s just something I do.” Last month, she was at a conference and asked one of the other participants if he would trade chairs because his didn’t have arms. Like most of these requests, it was no big deal. “A tall person wouldn’t feel weird asking that, so why should I?” she says. Her skinny friends have started to inquire about the seating at restaurants before Emily even gets the chance.

Hearing about Emily’s progress reminds me of a conversation I had with Ginette Lenham, the diet counselor. Her patients, she says, often live in the past or the future with their weight. They tell her they are waiting until they are smaller to go back to school or apply for a new job. They beg her to return them to their high school or wedding or first triathlon weight, the one that will bring back their former life.

And then Lenham must explain that these dreams are a trap. Because there is no magical cure. There is no time machine. There is only the revolutionary act of being fat and happy in a world that tells you that’s impossible.

“We all have to do our best with the body that we have,” she says. “And leave everyone else’s alone.”

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junker-town · 4 years ago

Text

The richest athlete of all time did nothing with his wealth and vanished into history

Over the course of his chariot racing career, Gaius Appuleius Diocles won almost 60,000 lbs of gold. What did he do with it? Who knows

It might have gone a little like ... this:

Gaius Appuleius Diocles knew his job. He didn’t need to win; he just had to survive. Seven laps. Twelve competitors. That was it. Whatever happened next could determine whether he would race another day, or lose his life.

The Circus Maximus was dizzying like that.

Gaius Appuleius Diocles entered the arena from an underground holding area. He’d made this walk dozens of times before, but it never got easier. It was easy to get lost in the spectacle of it all. Thousands of screaming fans, dust whipping around the sun-bleached earth, horses grunting in disapproval while assistants tightened ropes and readied equipment. Gaius spotted a young racer to his right, someone he’d never seen before. This kid was lost in the moment, staring in awe at the crowds.

Gaius knew better than to be distracted by the pageantry. A veteran charioteer, he had learned that paying attention to anything but the race itself would mean injury or death. Instead, he placed his faith in his skills, and prayed to Mercury, the god of luck, confident he would watch over him just as he had for hundreds of races before.

Thunderous applause enveloped Diocles as his name was announced and his feet left the ground, climbing onto the unstable platform of his chariot, but the crowd noise barely registered with him. Instead he went through an exhaustive mental checklist. Were his legs pressed against the wooden side rails of the chariot to keep his balance in the turns? Had he set his feet? Were the reins taut? Did the horses look relaxed? Everything felt comfortable, except for a bothersome dull aching in his right arm. That was to be expected after racing five times earlier that day, but it bothered him nonetheless.

The charioteer pushed the worry aside. Unnecessary thoughts had no place here, and before he could concern himself with anything else, the flag dropped in an instant. A plume of dust filled the air as horses gained their traction.

Chariots rushed past him into the first corner, precisely as expected. Quick starts were for the foolish, or those with a death wish, and Gaius was neither. Instead, he hung behind the pack for as long as possible, waiting for the shipwrecks to emerge, mangled amalgams of flesh and wood as chariots lost their balance and crashed into the ground. He leaned hard into the corner, willing his horses to move left with him in the hopes they would avoid a fallen chariot. The force caused the leather reins to dig into the flesh of his hands, enough to make anyone wince in agony — but Diocles knew that any distraction could result in a crash, and did his best to retain his composure.

A distant dust cloud on the straight signified another competitor had fallen. The chariots in front of him swerved, an attempt to get as far away from the wreck as possible. Diocles knew this was a risky move. Attempting a quick change in direction might work, but it would likely spook his horses. If they bucked, or failed to obey his command, he was done for.

Instead he would go right through the dusk.

He closed his eyes for a moment that felt like eternity, saying a quick prayer. Everything went dark. Gaius couldn’t help but wonder if he had perished, and this was his path into Elysium. Before he could fully process what happened, the light of the stadium jarred him back to reality. Gaius realized that he was not only alive, but still racing. Glancing back he saw the young charioteer from the beginning of the race, laying motionless in the dust. Tragic, but expected. Emerging from the dust, he realized there was nobody behind him, and just three chariots to beat. The rest had lost control or retired. It was time to make his move.

Diocles banked inside, passing third with relative ease. First and second jockeyed for position, splinters of wooden wheels whirring past his head. “These two are so absorbed in each other that they don’t even realize we’re on the final straight,” he thought.

Whipping the reins as hard as he could, Gaius willed his horses ahead for one last surge on the inside. The other two didn’t even see him gaining. Gaius steeled his nerves, his muscles aching from the tension he was putting on them. One last push, a few final seconds. He willed his body down the final straight, so focused on the moment he didn’t even register that he’d edged ahead. Gaius teeth clenched until it felt like a blood vessel would erupt, then – release. The charioteer glanced left, then right, realizing he’d crossed the finish line first.

The crowd erupted, chanting Diocles’ name. He was a hero, but all he felt was relief. Another race down; another one survived. It was time to head underground once more. The next race waited for him in a few hours.

In a sport where the average racer would be lucky to win a race or two each season, Gaius Appuleius Diocles racked up 1,462 wins and placed in an additional 1,438 races over the course of his 24-year career.

He also became mind-bogglingly rich. The richest athlete of all time.

At the end of his chariot racing career, Diocles had earned 35,863,120 sesterces, enough money to pay the salaries of 29,885 Roman legionaries for a year. He could have had his own army, if he’d wanted.

Historical accounts state that Diocles earned 26,000 kilograms of raw gold by the time he retired, worth $12.7 billion in today’s money. That’s seven times more than Michael Jordan has earned — and yet, Diocles has largely disappeared from record. How did the richest, most accomplished athlete of all time fail to cement himself in history?

What we know.

Born in 104 A.D., in a region which is now Portugal, Diocles was firmly in the middle class, relatively well off by the standards of your average Roman citizen. It would have been expected for young Gaius to follow his father into the family shipping business, but he instead started racing chariots, competing in his first race at the age of 18. We know that his style of racing was exciting, and this led to rapid provincial success. It wasn’t long before word spread of the captivating young charioteer. in 122 A.D., Diocles was invited to Rome to begin racing at the Circus Maximus, the summit of of charioteering in the empire.

We know that Diocles didn’t experience immediate success upon arriving in Rome. In fact, it would take him two years before he earned his first win in the Roman leagues. The aggressive style that caused him to win in Portugal didn’t lead to success against more accomplished racers. However, at the age of 20, things changed. Diocles altered his style entirely, and with it came wins, a lot of them.

The vast majority of charioteers were slaves, forced into competition much like gladiators. Naturally, this gave Diocles an edge. His social standing allowed him to be well fed, well rested, and better prepared than the majority of his competition — but this wasn’t enough to make it a difference on its own.

There was a definite abundance of talent that he had over most riders. The risks were ever present, though, with most charioteers being injured or killed in a matter of months after their first race. This makes Diocles’ long career even more remarkable. The reason for this high mortality rate among charioteers was innate to chariot racing, but also due to the twist that Romans put on it.

Wearing just simple leather helmets, shin guards and basic chest protectors, it wasn’t uncommon for charioteers to lose their lives during a race when turning a corner or swerving to avoid a competitor. Rather than hold the reins in their hands like the Greeks did when racing, the Romans would tie them around the charioteer’s waists.

This allowed the driver to have free hands to better steer their horses, but also meant that in the event of a crash they would be dragged around the course until they were dead, or the horses became tired. Sometimes both. As a result, drivers carried a curved knife exclusively for the purposes of cutting their reins in the event of a crash, but even then it was routinely known that should a chariot crash, the driver would likely be seriously injured or killed.

The story we know doesn’t answer the big questions

Whether through providence, skill or blind luck, Diocles managed to survive. Little is known of his post-racing career. A statue was erected in his honor at the Circus Maximus, and Diocles settled in the small town of Palestrina, in what is now the Lazio region of Italy, where he raised a family and retired. It’s said he remained extremely popular and wealthy until his death, but little else is known.

It’s remarkable how little information there is on Gaius Appuleius Diocles’ life. This isn’t simply a case where we can wave off the lack of details to the passage of time. We are intimately aware of the private lives of dozens of famous Romans, and yet a stunningly wealthy athlete who captivated an entire empire, making more money in the process than any athlete in history, had almost nothing written about his life away from racing.

We can, however, piece some things together and posit some theories about why Diocles has largely vanished to history.

Maybe Diocles wasn’t as good as the stats show?

There is evidence to support the idea that Diocles wasn’t so much good as he was a survivor.

We know that Diocles won a lot, and historians have told us that his style captivated the empire — but the charioteer might have stumbled upon a way to break the sport in his favor. Accounts of Diocles on the track note that he routinely trailed in races, sometimes lagging in last place, only to surge ahead on the final straight, routinely snatching victory from defeat and ruining everyone else’s day in the process.

This made for incredible drama, which caused crowds to fall in love with him — but Diocles’ racing style also meant he was largely able to avoid the fray in front of him. When everyone else had to deal with wrecked chariots, he had more time to react. What if Diocles wasn’t the most dominant racer every time he took the track, but rather the veteran who simply managed to survive? Fuscus, a famous charioteer, managed to win 53 races by the age of 24, when he died (presumably on the track). It’s believed that Fuscus began racing the same year as his death, and the history books record him as the only charioteer to win his first career race. If we extrapolate out Fuscus’ career to a span of 24 years he would have won 1,272 races — almost on par with Diocles.

We also need to take into account how often Diocles raced.

Chariot racing in the ancient world is most akin to modern Formula 1, but these were exceptionally short races compared to modern sport. Races involved seven one-mile laps around the Circus Maximus, with 12 chariots in each race. Careers and lives hinged on the 10-15 minutes spent on the track. There wasn’t room for error: one mistake and a race would be over for a charioteer.

It was routine for charioteers to race multiple times per week, sometimes in a single day during holidays. Diocles averaged between three and four races a week for the length of his career. Porphyrius the Charioteer, arguably the most decorated charioteer in Roman history, had 374 wins attributed to him. While that’s a far cry from Diocles, he did something Diocles didn’t: Win the diversium. This entailed winning for one team, then changing teams mid-day and winning again, this time racing for the team in last place. It was considered the highest honor in the charioteering world, and Porphyrius was hailed for doing it twice in a single day.

So while Diocles was the most prolific charioteer in history, at least in Rome, he wasn’t regarded as the greatest. Diocles was a volume charioteer, which was difficult in its own right — but didn’t earn the same level of “greatness” ascribed to others.

What happened to all that money?

We have very clear ideas on what someone could spend billions on now: Buying companies, real estate, material goods, vacations — but in the Roman Empire the prospect of spending as much money as Diocles earned was far more difficult. There was the concept of land ownership for sure, but wealth was more of a social status indicator than something to be spent. In order to become a member of the Roman senate during the Imperial era, a prospective senator would, barring intervention from the Emperor, need to be of senatorial class (i.e. be the son of a senator), and have one million sesterces on hand.

Generally speaking, this was the pinnacle of aspirations for a Roman citizen, but unless Diocles somehow managed to find favor with the Emperor, it was out of his grasp despite his wealth. Instead, he largely escaped the public eye after retiring from racing, and retreated into seclusion on his land in Latium.

Why did he disappear from history?

Born into a wealthy family, with no record of siblings, it would have been expected for Diocles to take over his father’s shipping business. This would have been an extremely comfortable life compared to that of the average Roman citizen. Instead, he left for the capital to compete in one of the empire’s most dangerous sporting events.

This isn’t the story of an athlete using sport to improve their station in life. Rather, it reads like someone actively looking to throw their life away for the possibility of glory. Imagine for a moment that Diocles was the family’s black sheep, and it explains many of his motives.

This was a life defined by doing the opposite of societal norms, from competing as a charioteer in the first place, to quietly retiring in the Italian countryside to raise a family, in fairly meager surroundings — leaving very little on the historical record, outside the knowledge that he was the winningest charioteer of all time, and a small memorial at the Circus Maximus, a painting with a small inscription and nothing more.

He apparently didn’t desire a world of high society. He could have funded an army if he wanted to. He could have bought huge tracts of land or been a patron for the arts. He could have commissioned epic poems to be written in his honor. He could have ordered lavish sculptures and statues to cement his place in history and ensure his legacy resonated through the centuries. But he didn’t.

The real story of Gaius Appuleius Diocles is lost to history. Perhaps that was the plan all along.

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sweetlialia · 7 years ago

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It’s time

I know that Chrismtas’s gift are usually given on Christmas’s day, but as I won’t be able to do it tomorrow morning, I’m taking a little bit of advance to wish you, @rose-grangerweasleyisbae, a merry merry Christmas. (Also you know i’m such a grandma with computer so it’s tooking me ages to publish ^^”) Just keep in mind that it’s my first attempt at writing in English, ever. And it’s the first time I write something for four years. I know it’s not good but I wanted to give you something back, as you give me so much with your writing. You are my morning smiles.

Alone in the semi darkness of his room, Drake let escape a quiet sob. He felt something tightening his chest a little bit more at each cry he held back. He couldn’t let the dam break. If it only begun to crack, he knew he would just drown in the flow. It would be too much for him to handle. He could never do it alone. Never. They were so many tides in his own affairs. The current wasn’t in his favour. But now … It feels strange to Drake, to think that maybe there were someone by his side, someone whom made him thinks that maybe, maybe, she has understood everything. And that maybe, maybe, she wasn’t going to run away as soon as he’ll tell her how much his feelings and Draco’s were similar. Maybe the flood would lead him on to fortune. Maybe it was now the time to cast off and brave the sea. A single tear fell on the book opened on his legs. He sniffed and extended his arm, trying to catch whatever could do a proper tissue. He will not break loose. Not here. It was time to get up and get out of his bed. It was time for him to fight back against the demons polluting his mind. He crawled out of the mess where he’s been lying for the past three days but stopped when he heard a loud boom. The book. The book had fallen from his knees. It was so stupid of him not to have thought about it. Of course the book would fell. And as absurd as it could appear, the thought of it filled Drake’s eyes with tears. If he scratched it, ripped it or worse, lost it … Nah, he couldn’t. It was everything to him at that precise moment. It was the oars of his craft. It was the lighthouse guiding him through the storm of his own mind to a land he never put a foot on. That 150 000 words … That 150 000 words could save his life. Drake curled up around the book before briefly checking it. It was fine. Not a single page was crested.

In a silent prayer, Drake left his bedroom, still hugging the book close to his heart.

Despite the snow and the wind, the blond guy walked out of his home. He froze when he saw the light turned on by his father’s window and allowed himself to breathe again when the light turned off a few minutes later. If Father found him in pyjamas wandering in the Mansion’s garden at four in the morning … Drake didn’t want to think about the consequences … It wasn’t time to back off. It was time to run. He couldn’t fail now. Making as few noises as he could, he opened the high wrought iron gates and escaped in the dark. He walked a few miles only guided by the moonlight and the stars before turning on his cell phone and connecting to a map. He then entered his saviour’s address and tried to follow properly the indication. At a constant rhythm, it would take him an hour or so. He could do it. He had just left the Mansion. He had just left Father behind. And all his life. Drake sniffed again and wiped with anger the tears that had slowly begun to run on his pale cheeks. It wasn’t time to cry. He just had to hold the pain inside for a little hour. He had let it rot inside of him for years. He could take a few more hours. He had to.

Rose walked out of her bedroom on her tiptoes. She wasn’t used to receive calls at five, nor to meet some dude under her window; there was something wicked coming this way. So was she thinking when she finally saw her best friend, freezing to death in his satin green set. “Hi.” whispered Drake, faking a smile. Rose frowned in incomprehension. Drake was so good at the art of pretending but his eyes were too red and swollen to fool anyone. “Drake… What … What happened?” Lacking words and energy, he took her hands and threw her in an embrace so tight that she could feel his bony hips against her dressing gown. “It’s, it’s your book.” She felt against her neck. “It’s Draco.” He couldn’t see her confused eyes but she could sense his wobbly lips and his shaking body. She broke the hug regretfully, trying to make eyes contact. When he finally looked up to her, she smiled, empathy and compassion shining through her tired face; and, against all of her habits, she leaded him to her bedroom, only stopping by the kitchen to make some cocoa.

Drake was sitting on the floor, his back against her bed, her book laying on his knees. He was absentmindedly caressing the cover, his eyes somewhere outside the window. She didn’t knew him for a long time but somehow, she has felt something within in. He was an accident waiting to happen. Waiting to shipwreck. The book was her last attempt. And finally he seemed to have accepted her helping hand. “So, what about Draco?” did she begin, nervously and cautionary. “It’s, it’s more complicated that just Draco…” did he begin.

Drake started talking. He talked and talked for hours. Sometimes it was too much for him. The abuse. The beaten-up. The looks and stares and all of their comments. His gayness. His Father and his unacceptance. His Mother and her sad sad eyes. Her crazy sister. The monsters in his head. The voices echoing through the empty corridors, whispering in his ears. He knew it was all inside of his head. But when they called him a disappointment, a failure, an error, he believed them. He was a mistake, a shame for his name. He shouldn’t be alive. He didn’t deserve that. No one would miss him. He was better off dead. But there was still Mother, and he couldn’t let her home alone with Father. So he couldn’t kill himself. It was hard for Rose to hear. Drake was sobbing, crying, whispering and even sometimes howling. The dam had break. He was a mess. But he had to tell her everything. He had to tell someone about the cutting and the starving. The puffing and the puking. If he couldn’t die by his own hand, he wouldn’t let anybody else kill him. So he had stopped eating, hoping his body will do the task he wasn’t allowed to do. How horrible it felt, feeling miserable for year and not having an emergency issue. That’s why he always wore long sleeves. To hide his bones, to hide his scars. Most of them were his, but some other… Father’s belt had left some. His only son couldn’t be a faggot. He couldn’t fancy a guy, and one of colour? I would rather not having a son at all. And then there were the burnt and the bruises. He confessed the days he spent in his bed, enabled to found enough strength within him to get up and faced another day. How he had prayed to die every night to found himself waking up every morning. And how the days still succeeded, one to another. In the beginning, he had hopes. But he’d learned the hard way that it’s what he loved the most that destroyed him the much. His hopes had turned to nightmares. Henry had looked up to him. Had tried to be friendly to him but Drake couldn’t. Couldn’t be just friends with him. But he didn’t deserve anything else. In fact, he didn’t deserve anything at all. So Henry stopped looking up when their path crossed. And it felt like there were no escapes left for him, no one waiting for him. But then, then he had found the book. And the book had giving him hope. And strength and bravery. It had helped him get out of bed made him smile when he thought he couldn’t. The slicest joy. And the tears. He had held so many tears. So he talked about Draco. About the way he feels, about what he had endured at home, at Hogward. About their shared background and the heavy burden on their shoulders. His speech was confused as the “he” sometimes turned to “I” and “we”. But finally, he told her that maybe, maybe, when she wrote the book, she knew ; and then again, maybe, when she gave it to him, she knew, too. Rose hold her breathe a little bit more. Drake had stopped talking. His eyes were staring in hers, waiting for the slicest hint of disgust or pity. He was fully embracing the idea of losing everything, losing his one and only friend. But then, she gently placed her hands above his, gripping the cover of the handmade book. She could felt the tense in his body diminished and his knuckles weren’t so white anymore. “It’s going to be okay, Drake. I’m here. And I’m not leaving anytime soon.” Letting one hand on his, she took him in a comforting hug, softly playing with the hair on the back of his neck. Drake stayed there, his face on her shoulder for what seemed hours. He had just fallen asleep. Only then she allowed herself to smile. She had done it. He had accepted her hand. Her words had reached his heart.

#fanfic on fanfic

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humans-are-seriously-weird · 7 years ago

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Debt

Imirrim-Chæma-Thiridion had answered a distress call. It had probably been stupid on xir part, but what was done was done.

A small ship, even smaller than xir, had crashed on a barren but breathable-to-most-species moon in the system of Hyaldnar. Xe had been making a delivery for xir mentor when xir communication system picked it up, and since xe was barely past adolescence, the journey of not even five rotations was making xem bored and seeing a crash site would be exciting. After all, it was probably an automated distress call, nothing could survive a crash to a rocky moon.

But there xe was, standing in front of a crumpled and burned wreck and the very much alive creature that had crawled out of it after perceiving xir pod landing. Imirrim cursed xir rotten luck, now xe would have to help the poor thing. Xe had been planning on just sight-seeing the wreck a bit, maybe later contact whatever species it had belonged to to tell it had crashed, if only to look good in front of xir mentor.

After a while of the creature gawking and baring it’s teeth at Imirrim, xe recognized the species as human, the fifth longest living space-faring species. Still, xe belonged to the second longest living, and Thalmors like xemself could outlive five humans each born at the moment of the previous one’s death. What had especially stuck from xir exobiology and alien anthropology lessons was humans’ way of expressing their emotions in strange and backwards ways, and their sheer capability to holding grudges. Great.

Imirrim approached the human slowly. It was approaching xem right back, still showing it’s teeth like it was attacking, but but humans expressed their emotions backwards, so that was good, right? Besides, the human was wounded and limping, and xe could outrun it if things went bad.

“Finally someone answered my call,” the human -a male, xe guessed- said as Imirrim was close enough. “I’ve been here for a week and I’m running out of water.”

A week? How was he alive?

“Oh, where are my manners,” the human said and extended the less damaged of its upper limbs towards Imirrim. “I’m Thomas Warren, from the human colony on Clyzma Al Carrim, farmer by profession.”

Imirrim carefully extended a cheliped to mimic the greeting, and did xir best not to flinch when the human grabbed it and shook it. “I am Imirrim-Chæma-Thiridion from planet Skismin, apprentice to the Grand Navigator.”

“It is very nice to meet you,” Thomas said and shook xir cheliped some more before finally letting go. “You mind taking me off this rock?”

Imirrim shifted xir weight from a foot to another to a third. “Sure.”

“Great!” Thomas said and pulled his lips even further back, revealing even more teeth, more than could possibly fit comfortably into a mouth that small. “I’ll be right back.” He limped back into the small shipwreck.

Imirrim was regretting this. It wasn’t customary to help strangers, especially from other species, since there was no telling what they could do. Humans had a reputation of being unpredictable, especially when wounded. And this ‘Thomas’ was covered in wounds, some looking much too severe for anyone to possibly survive.

Thomas emerged from his wreckage, carrying something that was clearly important if he was willing to retrieve it from a wreck while severely wounded. “So, Imirrim, was it? Where are you headed?”

Imirrim led the human to xir pod and helped him climb over the threshold. “Back to Skismin. You can get better help there.” If he stayed alive that long.

“Lovely, you’re a real life saver,” Thomas chuckled. “I’ll owe you one.”

To Imirrim’s surprise -and relief- Thomas did not die during the two rotations’ travel back to Skismin. He talked xir auditory membrane off and after a while filled the pod with the faint stench of alien blood, but all things considered he wasn’t the worst passenger. Once xe had docked the pod back on Skismin and had helped Thomas and his bag of belongings (which turned out to be an assortment of small possibly decorative items, data storage devices, clothes, and even a few ordinary rocks one could get anywhere but that were apparently 'cool’) to the nearest emergency clinic, Thomas turned to xem one last time.

“If you ever find yourself in a bad spot, call me,” he said with a serious expression xe had come to recognize during their time at the small pod. “I owe you my life, just call and I’ll pay you back.”

Imirrim stared after him for a long while before turning away and heading to tell the Grand Navigator that hir delivery was received and thanked for, and to tell xir mentor about human Thomas Warren.

After xe had told hir what had passed, Imirrim asked one last question. “Master, what does it mean when a human says they 'owe their life’ to someone?”

The Grand Navigator’s age-reddened crest rose curiously. “Like you probably know, humans are known for holding grudges and for being almost insensibly loyal. While they keep in mind all wrong that has been done to them, they do not forget a good deed done to them either. 'Owing one’s life’ means you have done something to them that they regard highly of, usually the saving of a life, and that they will do anything in their power to, as they say, 'return the favor’. Did this Thomas say this to you?”

Imirrim nodded. “Right before he went with the medical staff, he said he owes me his life, and all I need to do in a time of distress is to call him and he will come.”

The Grand Navigator raised hir upper chelipeds in a sign of pride. “You have done well, my apprentice. To earn a human’s favor is a feat of great bravery and compassion. One day, you shall become a fine and daring Navigator, like the explorers before us.”

Imirrim ruffled his crest at the praise. Maybe answering the distress call wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

–

Time went by, and Imirrim progressed from an appearance to a novice and on, up the ranks, and eventually landed a spot as the head Navigator on the long trade ship Pochella, traveling at high speeds through barely charted nebulas and dangerous asteroid fields. Xe plotted courses through the densest of rock fogs and past dangerous gravitational pulls, and not once did his calculations for the course fail.

Xe had lived many more cycles, many more than a human could ever live. Imirrim had counted- xe had kept a distant eye on Thomas Warren in case xe would ever have a need for the favor he had claimed to owe xem, but the need never came. He had died fifty-seven cycles after xe had rescued him, or seventy-two years, as humans counted time, and even more time had passed after that.

Still, even after all this time xe looked back at him for courage when daily life was hard and xir spirit was down. Xe had met and worked with humans many times now and they all shared the same spirit Thomas Warren had had, but none of them had left quite the same impression on xem as Thomas, who had smiled and joked through nine rotations on broken bones and told fondly of his family and farm back on Clyzma Al Carrim.

Imirrim had plotted a course through a particularly dense asteroid cloud, a course that would save the ship a lot of time and fuel. The ship was nearly out of the cloud when the proximity alarm went off and something clamped into the ship’s hull. The computer showed xir an approximate hologram of the something. It was a smaller and armed ship attaching itself to their ship.

The Cieruna members of the crew -small, short-lived, and feathery things with nimble hands and a sensitivity to electromagnetic fields- were screaming in terror. Pirates, they yelled, we can’t shake them off, we’re all going to die. Shush, xe said, we will not die. I’ll call for help, be quiet.

Imirrim galloped to the unoccupied communication post and sent a distress message on all frequencies. “This is Imirrim-Chæma-Thiridion, head navigator of the trade ship Pochella. We are inside the Halfway asteroid cloud. And we are under attack by pirates. Please help us.” Once the message was sent xe stepped away from the console and joined the crew in listening to the magnetic creaking of their hull in the morbid silence that had followed xir call.

The ship could not move, following the already plotted course with the extra weight and bulk of the pirate ship attached to them would be suicide, and finding a new safe route out without knowing the exact dimensions of the other ship was impossible, not to mention useless against the threat. All xe could do was hope for a miracle.

And a miracle xe got. Another proximity alarm sounded, and the computer showed an image of a charging mining pod, ten times smaller than the pirate ship and at least a hundred times smaller than Pochella. Outmatched, outgunned, it rammed the pirate ship and despite being hit by their lasers and missiles, it kept on pounding it with its grappling arms and mining lasers and asteroid bombs, everything it had. And finally, when the pod was leaking air and plasma and fuel into space, the pirate ship released its hold and retreated, engines sputtering and its hull dented and battered, and flew away from Pochella and the mad mining pod to safety of the asteroids.

“What was that? What happened? The Cieruna chirred and cheeped. "It is gone! We are saved!”

Imirrim was still looking at the hologram screen. The mining pod was all but destroyed in the short but fierce fight. Someone exited it, wearing a spacesuit and carrying something, and the pod engaged it’s barely functional engines and sped away leaving a trail of debris and smoke in its wake, until it finally exploded from the damage it had sustained a safe distance away.

Imirrim stared at the hologram for a moment, and shifted xir weight from a foot to another to a third. Xe input a code to the control panel and opened a small airlock near the creature that had saved them all. Xe set off from the bridge where xe was posted and galloped through corridors and climbed down stairs, until xe arrived in front of the airlock that had already closed and the creature that had successfully boarded the ship.

“Are you Imirrim-Chæma-Thiridion?” The creature asked. Xe nodded, all the while looking the spacesuited being up and down. Four limbs, two for walking and two for holding. No tail, short neck but a neck nonetheless. No added room for fins or spikes or crests. It was a human.

The human handed their possession to xem -a lumpy bag that both felt and looked like it had rocks in it- and pulled off their helmet.

The human was ruffled and grizzled and had spark burns on his face and his eyes were serious, but he was baring his teeth in a joyous smile. He extended a hand to greet xem and Imirrim took hold of it and shook it.

“I am Stepa Warren,” the human introduced himself. “You rescued my grandfather from a shipwreck when he was young. He spoke fondly of you til his dying day. It is an honor to meet you.”

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cogentranting · 7 years ago

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Oliver Queen as a Slytherin: A Character Study

When asked what Hogwarts house I believed Oliver Queen to be in I very adamantly declared him to be Slytherin. I was asked to explain my reasoning and (with the editing and co-authorship of @emeraldoliverqueen) I wrote this absurdly long exploration of Oliver and his character as a Slytherin. (These are my own thoughts and interpretations- I’m not trying to fight anyone; you’re free to imagine him/write him in whatever house you prefer)

These are the traits that the Harry Potter wiki listed for Slytherin: Resourcefulness. Cunning. Ambition. Determination. Self-Preservation. Fraternity. Cleverness. And if those don't describe Oliver I don't know what does.

Resourcefulness- the ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties.

He made a bow from materials found entirely within his hotel room. He rigged together a booby trap in the middle of a jungle. He devises weapons on the fly. He may have come back to his city and have billions of dollars at his disposal to help him on his quest, but his origins are on a deserted island where his resourcefulness sustained him.

Cunning- skill in achieving one's ends by deceit (aka lying)

He came up with a plot to get himself arrested so that he could have someone else pose as him in order to throw the police off his trail. He dug up information and used it to blackmail Amanda Waller. He came up with a ploy to destroy the League of Assassins from the inside. He planned the ruse to get Sara Slade and himself onto the Amazo. Plans and strategies are his strong suit. Here we could also include, Oliver’s impressive skill at lying (he manages to convince virtually everyone that he is something he’s not for years. And he beat a lie detector test.).

Ambition- a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work; desire and determination to achieve success.

admittedly not one of his more notable traits in that he doesn’t really seek success for it’s own sake. However, he is the mayor, was a CEO, was high-ranking Bratva member, was the head of the League of Assassins and also has a zeal he puts into perfecting different skills. So there is some element of ambition present in those things, because he rises to the top of everything he does. And of course, there is the incredibly ambitious endeavor that is Oliver’s crusade- the sheer size of the tasks he sets for himself speaks of his ambition. The idea that he would hold himself accountable for saving a city, and punish himself for failing (running away after the Undertaking) indicates his ambition.

Determination- the process of establishing something exactly, typically by calculation or research.; firmness of purpose; resoluteness

His name is Oliver Stubborn Queen. Stephen Amell described stubbornness as Oliver’s superpower. Oliver’s sheer force of will is what propels him through most of his experiences. His determination is part of why he’s so able to resist torture (Oliver NEVER breaks under torture- except with Prometheus, but that was on a special psychological level and didn’t involve endangering anyone else). It’s why he’s able to endure so much. It’s why he is able to achieve such skill and physical fitness. It’s why he butts heads with literally everyone. And it’s why he is able to accomplish so much more than anyone thinks he’s capable of. Also think of his dedication to the list and his evolving crusade.Think of how absolutely impossible it is to dissuade Oliver from this course he has set for himself, either through arguments (Diggle, on multiple occasions but the Claybourne incident in particular) or through harm to him (Oliver going out to chase down the Count while still being affected by Vertigo). Once Oliver has set himself a purpose he does not back down.

Self Preservation- the protection of oneself from harm or death

This one is unusual because it’s very present, but it’s also paired with self-loathing and suicidal tendencies. However, this only makes his sense of self preservation even more evident. Because it’s undeniable that Oliver fights hard to survive- in his ten years there were countless times when he could have given up, or should have died and he kept going and made it out. Oliver’s inclination of self preservation is so strong that for ten years it has managed to overcome those suicidal thoughts even in the face of the number of impossible situations he’s been in. Consider the fact that he survived his five years through sheer force of will. A few specific moments stand out: Oliver breaks his own hand to get free and stop Slade from killing him when they first meet; Tatsu claims that his “will to live” is what saved him on the mountaintop; digging the bullet out of his own stomach; undergoing a week of torture and then still stabbing Kovar in the hand and trying to fight his way out; his suspicious nature, especially in instances such as when he finds the guy in the cave claiming to be shipwrecked and chooses to leave him, and with Andy.

Fraternity- the state or feeling of friendship and mutual support within a group.

The list of Oliver's "brothers": Tommy, Diggle, Anatoly, Slade, if you want to take Barry on to that even though he's never verbally identified Barry that way. Oliver loves his bromance. In fact, Oliver is all about family. From his mile-high prioritization of Moira and Thea, to the found families he creates everywhere he goes (the island, hong kong, team arrow etc.). That sense of brotherhood and that form of love is something Oliver can’t go long without, and that’s why he almost always has at least one close friend he refers to as his brother.

Cleverness- the quality of being clever; ingenuity or shrewdness.

Arrow has a pretty common mystery element and puts a lot of focus on Oliver’s detective skill- piecing together clues, discerning motives, tracking people down. His sense of humor, when he shows it, is sort of clever dry sarcasm. He has an extraordinary skill with languages. Tactics are his specialty. He’s good at figuring out how machines work (fixing the plane radio). He rigged a computer system to help him when he worked solo. Oliver’s extremely intelligent and most of that veers toward the clever and cunning classifications.

Slytherin is also associated with tradition and family names. Oliver is from Old money- an established family name with wealth and power (btw, Thea, Moira and Robert are ALL Slytherin- it’s why Merlyn relates to them more than to Tommy, who is decidedly NOT a Slytherin). His idea of honoring the dead is also a somewhat tradition oriented mindset. His choice of weapons (bows and arrows and swords) could also be considered traditionalist.

The Slytherin wiki page also talks about how they make strong leaders, and that is something I strongly associate with Oliver. (I’ve talked about it before, here)

The biggest thing however is that Oliver (and all the Queens) is defined by a ruthless pursuit of his goals. “whoever I am, I'm someone who will do whatever, whatever it takes to save my sister.” “he had you and he was gonna hurt you. There was no choice to make.” “To live I had to make myself more than what I was, to forge myself into a weapon.” “There's no length that I will not go to to avenge Laurel. To stop Darhk from ever hurting anyone again.” “Do you remember what you told me? It takes a monster to kill a monster.” “To do what I do, Barry, takes conviction. But more often than not is the will to do what's ugly.” “There are people in the world who deal only in extremes. And it would be naive to think that anything less than extreme measures will stop them.” What sets Oliver apart is his moral pragmatism, his willingness to cross lines, the fact that if you stand in his way he WILL destroy you. And that’s ALL Slytherin all the way.

Here’s an additional Slytherin description that seems to sum up Oliver pretty well:

Slytherins are usually ambitious, goal based learners, who can be very perfectionistic. They can be resourceful, subtle, charming, self-reliant, and adaptable. Just because they’re not loyal in the same way Gryffindors are doesn’t mean they’re not loyal people- they’re just extremely selective about who they are loyal to; which is usually a very small amount of people who they know they can trust and confide in, and they are usually extremely passionate and caring towards this small group. They also feel great deals of respect for people they feel are deserving of respect. (http://unicornachos.tumblr.com/post/46241425124/diffusing-some-hogwarts-house-stereotypes)

What about the other houses though? How does Oliver compare to their key characteristics?

Ravenclaw- Intelligence, wit, wisdom, creativity, originality, individuality, acceptance.

Oliver is certainly intelligent. I have a whole ongoing soapbox about how smart Oliver is and how it never gets acknowledged. Note that: it never gets acknowledged. That’s important. Because there is a reason Oliver isn’t often thought of as being one of the smart characters (and why characters will make comments calling him dumb “you’re very handsome but not especially bright)- Oliver doesn’t have a particular inclination toward the pursuit of knowledge or a value for intelligence/knowledge in and of itself, and those things are defining Ravenclaw qualities. It’s for this reason that Oliver never did well in school- the knowledge itself was not interesting to him. For Oliver, intelligence is a tool to achieve his ends; his intelligence is channeled into a goal- getting off the island by fixing a plane radio, using computers to steal from Adam Hunt, learning a language to survive whatever country he’s trapped in, memorizing ARGUS tactical maneuvers etc. His intelligence craves utility much more so than someone like Felicity, or Nate, or Caitlin. This pushes it away from a Ravenclaw trait more towards the Slytherin sortings of “cunning’ and “resourcefulness”. And really it all falls back under the purview of Oliver’s ‘by whatever means necessary’ mentality- sometimes “whatever it takes” is torture, sometimes it’s learning a new language in under a year. Oliver has wit- his humor is defined by snark and dryness. But the fact that it only makes rare appearances keeps it from being a defining trait of his, and indicates that it’s not of particularly high value to him. Oliver isn’t a character I would define as creative- creativity is defined by imaginativeness, which is never something highlighted in Oliver, and original ideas. Oliver has plenty of original ideas, but creativity has a strong artistic connotation, something Oliver does not demonstrate. Rather his more inventive ideas lean toward tactics and strategy, something related to resourcefulness- again, a Slytherin trait. Likewise, originality/individuality is not something Oliver actively cultivates- he’s original and unique as a person because everyone is and he’s by no means a conformer. But rather than coming from a desire to be original or exercise his individuality, Oliver’s contrast with others comes from ambition. Acceptance can have many different definitions/connotations but Ravenclaw definitions seem to put an emphasis on accepting eccentricities. Oliver is not un-accepting… but neither is his acceptance clearly shown. While Oliver is very adaptable and will work with all sorts of people, there are a number of people whose eccentricities he meets with clearly expressed annoyance, especially when first meeting them (Cisco in 3x08, Curtis at various points but 4x17 particularly, Ray in 3x18, Kara in Legends 2x07, Barry at various points). As to Oliver’s wisdom, that’s a contentious point. Many would argue that Oliver is not wise at all, he makes terrible decisions and never learns from his mistakes. (I would not be one of those people). Others would say that Oliver has a lot of experience to offer and gives strong advice. I would argue that while Oliver’s experience has lead to him becoming much stronger at giving advice, his practicality and comfort operating in morally gray areas, as well as his extensive trauma, cost him the moral viewpoint that would be needed to truly be considered wise.

Hufflepuff- Dedication, Hard Work/Unafraid of toil, Fair play, Patience, Kindness, Tolerance, Loyalty

Dedication comes very close to Oliver’s “determination” trait so in most instances it is present, however, dedication could also be applied to relationships and there you run into the issues of Oliver’s cheating in his younger years. Oliver is also very hard-working (won’t stop until he drops from exhaustion type of hardworking). But that’s where Oliver’s Hufflepuff traits end. Hufflepuff’s value fair play- fair play doesn’t particularly interest Oliver. He’s a no holds barred fighter, his primary tools for accomplishing things are fear, intimidation and pain. He’ll sever your tendons to end a fight, physically intimidate you in an argument, keep countless secrets, torture an innocent man for the greater good, use any trick he thinks of to win. Fairness is not something Oliver considers. Hufflepuffs are patient. Oliver is patient in accomplishing a task, but not when dealing with other people. Watch the scene in 5x02 where he berates the recruits after Rene messes up. Watch him get frustrated with Barry in Flash 2x08. Even consider the way that he charges off to climb the elevator shaft in 5x20. Kindness. No. Oliver is not kind. He’s good, with a big heart and a lot of love. But that’s not the same thing. He can be kind, to the people he cares about, but in general he is not a kind person. Oliver has a temper, Oliver is very blunt, Oliver is often focused on his goal to the point of neglecting the emotional needs of others. Oliver shot three different mentees with arrows to teach them a lesson, Oliver has yelled at every single member of Team Arrow and most members of Team Flash. Oliver has gotten frustrated and made several different grown men cry. He’s not kind. Tolerance really depends on which definition. Go back and look at what I have to say about “acceptance” and adjust as necessary. And loyalty. Oliver is loyal… until he’s not. He’s loyal until he cheats on you with your sister. Or until he feels he needs to lie about something or do something alone. Or until you do something that makes him feel he can’t trust you- and his trust issues are substantial so there’s a lot that can do that. But mostly just consider that Hufflepuff is most commonly defined as being the friendly, cheerful house. And Oliver Queen is most commonly referred to as brooding, dark, and “doesn’t play well with others”. To the extent that the woman he was dating made a joke about how an alternative version of Oliver might be “agreeable”.

And Gryffindor (the one that more people probably sort him into)- Bravery/nerve/daring/courage, chivalry, recklessness/impulsivity (not listed but very commonly associated with them)

Oliver certainly does share some traits of this house-. However, Oliver isn’t actually what I would call chivalrous. Chivalry is defined by being courteous and gallant- Oliver is more often blunt, cold and pragmatic. He isn’t given to large gestures and when he is charming, it isn’t with the same nobility that chivalry implies. Secondly, though many people deny it, Oliver is not impulsive. Occasionally he acts impulsively, in times of duress or anger or fear. But in general, most of his behavior is very controlled, very calculated. He’s the planner of the Arrowverse. He’s the strategist. He’s the one who spent years planning his crusade. He’s the one who researched his team members before telling them anything. He’s the one who taught Barry to case a situation before rushing in. He’s the one who insists on having a plan before a confrontation, the one who wants all the information before deciding whether or not to trust someone. Nor would I describe Oliver as arrogant. Confident, yes. Arrogant is defined by overestimating one’s abilities. In his younger days Oliver may have been a touch arrogant. But now Oliver’s confidence is simply awareness of his oft-proven skill. Oliver knows what he’s capable of (a lot) and has confidence to match. Gryffindors are also often thought of as self-righteous, which is defined as “characterized by a certainty, especially an unfounded one, that one is totally correct or morally superior.” And Oliver is quick to praise the morality of others (whether they are deserving or not)- Thea, Laurel, Diggle, Felicity, even someone like Moira. And not just praise what a good person they are, but tell them how much better they are than him. He’ll call himself a monster, talk about being “beyond redemption”, or “broken.” He can be made to believe that he is undeserving of any kind of love, that he is poisonous to the people around him. It took years of working as a superhero before anyone could convince Oliver to see himself as a hero. Oliver is sometimes proud, it’s not unusual for him to think he’s smarter than someone else, or to think they’re naive. But most of the time he does not believe that he is a good person, let alone better than others. He’s not self-righteous.

And Oliver is without a doubt brave (daring/courageous- Gryffindor’s trait list is a bunch of synonyms) but this trait is rarely emphasized. In its place the narrative focuses on his toughness and determination- his passion and willingness to do whatever it takes. The emphasis on his willingness to sacrifice rather than bravery in and of itself. And Bravery is rarely a trait that Oliver expresses any particular value for. It’s rare that he praises something like that. What’s more, Oliver’s bravery is not a trait unto itself. His bravery comes naturally from all that is Slytherin in him. It comes from his cunning, resourcefulness and skill which he is acutely aware of to the degree that he doesn’t have to fear anything.It comes from a passionate sense of fraternity. A loyalty to his brothers (and any family, biological or otherwise, that he claims) which supersedes everything else. And most of all it comes from his single-minded determination, ambition and ‘whatever it takes’ mindset which will not let anything stand in the way of him accomplishing his goal- not even fear. (And, unfortunately there is also an aspect where some of what might be considered bravery is actually disregard for his own life- what is there to fear when you’ve embraced pain and the possibility of death?). Oliver’s bravery is result, not a cause.

[That being said, there is a decent chance that, were he in the books, Oliver would get sorted into Gryffindor. Because there is a tendency for Harry Potter to treat bravery as a trump-card trait- it doesn’t matter how many of your other traits line up with another house, if you’re brave, you’re Gryffindor. It’s like the golden snitch of character traits- if you have it, everything else is irrelevant. And that’s something that happens in practice but in theory shouldn’t happen. It’s the tendency which turns four equally valid houses and personality types, into the Protagonist House, the Antagonist House, aaaannnnddd everybody else. And it’s a tendency that I think Rowling actively tried to counteract further down the road (hence, Newt Scamander). So I don’t accept Oliver’s bravery as overriding all his prominent Slytherin traits.]

In the end, I think that the qualities that most distinguish him from other characters (characters like Diggle, Barry, Ray, or even Felicity) are very much Slytherin traits. His key characteristics, the ones that really define him and his style of heroics, are his cunning, his determination, and his ruthless pursuit of goals. And those are all Slytherin.

Plus…. Come on guys. Green.

TL;DR-- Oliver is a Slytherin because he is cunning, resourceful, stubborn, ambitious, and always has a plan which he will be ruthless in executing.

#arrow #oliver queen #oliver queen meta #cogent metas #slytherin

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robertmcangusgroup · 7 years ago

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The Daily Tulip

The Daily Tulip – Archeological News From Around The World

Friday 2nd February 2018

Good Morning Gentle Reader…. It’s that day of the week again, Archeological News Day! This seems to attract more reader than any other day of the week which is pleasing of course, we have a page the is exclusively Archeology called “Our Past Beneath Our Feet” and we are always looking for new members…Hint Hint… https://www.facebook.com/groups/OurPastBeneathOurFeet/

BRONZE AGE SKELETON FOUND IN NORTHEAST ENGLAND…. NORTHUMBERLAND, ENGLAND—BBC News reports that skeletal remains were found in a burial cist on farmland in northeast England. The body and a beaker had been placed in the stone-lined grave and covered with what appears to be a horsehair blanket. Sanita Nezirovic of the University of Derby evaluated the bones. She thinks they belonged to a young man who was between the ages of 17 and 21 when he died some 3,500 years ago, and added that his teeth were in good condition. “The shape of his head is beautiful, and you can see from the teeth he would have had a perfect smile,” she said. Nezirovic also noted that he probably stood somewhere between five feet, six inches, and five feet, nine inches tall.

MEDIEVAL CHESS PIECE UNEARTHED IN SOUTHERN NORWAY…. TØNSBERG, NORWAY—According to a Live Science report, a game piece recovered from a thirteenth-century house in southern Norway is believed to be a knight from a shatranj, or ancient chess set, since it is carved with circles on the bottom, sides, and top, and a protruding snout bearing dotted circles, causing it to resemble a horse. Archaeologists from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research suspect some lead inside the thimble-shaped piece of carved antler helps it to stand upright. Lars Haugesten, project manager of the excavation, says similar game pieces are found in Arabia, where chess was first played in the seventh century. In addition, a twelfth-century chess piece has been found in Lund, Sweden.

TWO WELL-PRESERVED SHIPWRECKS DISCOVERED IN BALTIC SEA…. STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN—According to a report in The Local, two wooden shipwrecks have been found in the Baltic Sea, near Sweden. One of the vessels is thought to be a single-masted cog dating to the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries. The other ship, thought to date to the sixteenth century, was carrying 20 barrels of osmond iron, a type of wrought iron, and tar when it sank. Maritime archaeologist Jim Hansson said he had never seen such well-preserved shipwrecks. They will be featured in a new maritime museum in Stockholm.

MODERN HUMAN FOSSIL IN ISRAEL PUSHES BACK MIGRATION DATES…. TEL AVIV, ISRAEL—According to a New York Times report, a fossilized portion of a modern human upper jaw, complete with seven intact teeth, has been found in Israel’s Misliya Cave by a team led by Israel Hershkovitz of Tel Aviv University. The maxilla has been dated to between 177,000 and 194,000 years old, which suggests that modern humans were present in the Levant at least 50,000 years earlier than previously thought. Paleoanthropologist Gerhard W. Weber of the University of Vienna and his team used high-resolution micro-CT scanning equipment to create a 3-D replica of the jaw, examine its features, and compare them with fossils of Neanderthals, Homo erectus, and other hominins from Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America. “It’s not a little bit modern, or on the border of being modern,” Weber said. “It is really modern human.” The fossil is said to be the oldest-known evidence of modern humans living outside of Africa, and it could push back the evolution of Homo sapiens by 100,000 to 200,000 years, suggesting they originated in Africa some 300,000 to 500,000 years ago.

NEW THOUGHTS ON HUMAN BRAIN EVOLUTION…. LEIPZIG, GERMANY—Simon Neubauer of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and his colleagues say rounded heads rising above the forehead and globe-shaped brains appeared in modern humans between 100,000 and 35,000 years ago, according to a Science News report. The researchers used micro-CT scans of the inner surfaces of the skulls in the test sample to create digital approximations of the size and shape of the individuals’ brains. The sample included 20 ancient Homo sapiens skulls, the oldest of which date to 315,000 years ago. Four of the skulls date to between 120,000 and 115,000 years ago, and the remainder between 36,000 and 8,000 years ago. The ancient brains were compared with 89 present-day modern-human brains, and the brains of 10 members of other ancient Homo species ranging in age from 1.78 million years to 200,000 years. Eight Neanderthal brains, dating to between 75,000 and 40,000 years ago, were also used for comparison. The study suggests that over a period of about 250,000 years, the human brain remained the same size, but transitioned from a flatter, elongated shape to a rounder one, due to changes in the parietal and cerebellar areas. Those parts of the brain are involved in orientation, attention, imagery, self-awareness, memory, numerical processing, language, balance, spatial processing, and tool use.

PREHISTORIC ARTIFACTS RECOVERED FROM NORWAY’S GLACIERS…. CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND—Newsweek reports that more than 2,000 artifacts dating back to as early as 4000 B.C. have been recovered from mountain passes in the glaciers of Oppland, Norway, by an international team of researchers. The artifacts include weapons and arrows, the remains of pack horses, and skis. Lars Pilø of the Glacier Archaeology Program at Oppland County Council said the skis are broader than modern skis, and may have been partly covered in fur. A tunic dating to the Iron Age, one Bronze-Age shoe, and the remains of sleds were also found. Pilø said that during the Late Antique Little Ice Age, a period stretching from A.D. 536 to 660, harvests failed and populations fell, but the number of artifacts from that time period suggests the survivors intensified other means of gathering food in the mountains. “This is sort of a dark archaeology, where we benefit from climate change that’s making this ice high in the mountains melt,” Pilø said. “There’s not much we can do to stop it, but at least we can be up there trying to find what we can.”

Well Gentle Reader I hope you enjoyed our look at the Archeological news from around the world this, Friday morning… …

Our Tulips today are resplendent in all their glory…..

A Sincere Thank You for your company and Thank You for your likes and comments I love them and always try to reply, so please keep them coming, it's always good fun, As is my custom, I will go and get myself another mug of "Colombian" Coffee and wish you a safe Friday 2nd February 2018 from my home on the southern coast of Spain, where the blue waters of the Alboran Sea washes the coast of Africa and Europe and the smell of the night blooming Jasmine and Honeysuckle fills the air…and a crazy old guy and his dog Bella go out for a walk at 4:00 am…on the streets of Estepona…

All good stuff....But remember it’s a dangerous world we live in

Be safe out there…

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ruwithmeguys · 7 years ago

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Olicity Fanfic Rec List:

(You’ll find all of these on AO3 unless I specify otherwise)

There’s so much love in this fandom and a great way to express them is to write fanfiction! I’ve had a tiny but if a difficult time recently - my mum was ill, ambulances, hospital and lost of chocolate (me) was involved - and I haven’t been able to write a thing.

Coming back to it, I took a quick look through all the bookmarks I’ve near-to obsessed over in the past and thought I’d write this list. @scu11y22 is to thank so if you actually manage to find one you haven’t read, then go send her a word :)

(This list is not exhaustive) They are to be: multi-chapt, slow burn, well written, mature, no threesomes (ditto x 1000), no kids and AU/canon divergent... and not @so-caffeinated and @dust2dust34 AMAZING FICON

So.

Legacies series by @chronicolicity

Part 1 is called You’re His Hope ( Felicity struggling to save Oliver's humanity after losing him to the League of Assassins. Anything else would legit be a spoiler. Expect drama, romance, angst, humor, plot and plot TWISTS. Sparked by some amazing Tumblr theories I apologize in advance for completely ruining.) And so on and so forth.

The Crow

(Bratva Captain Oliver Queen has been looking for revenge his entire life. When he can’t trust his own family, the Bratva to get it, he finds the answer to all of his problems in Felicity Smoak; a genius hacker who is running for her life from the same object of Oliver’s hatred, The Triad. With an unlikely partnership, The Crow might just find out that light can shine in the darkest of places.)

ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING EVER TO EXIST BY @anthfan JUST MAYBE?

AO3 Address: Anthfan

(My personal fav is the Devil’s Backbone)

When the Day Comes

“Have you talked to her?”

“Yeah.”

“So you'll call her-” Thea sent a teary look back through the window at Tommy.

“I'll call her if he wakes up.”

“When,” she gripped him fiercely then, her little nails digging into his forearm, “when Tommy wakes up.”

Oliver nodded, “Yes, of course.” His tone as hollow as his smile had been.

An all time favourite of mine: Sins by @smoakandarrow

(Oliver Queen is alive.After being presumed dead in a violent shipwreck five years ago, Oliver Queen returns to Starling City determined to right the wrongs of his family. But the billionaire playboy's homecoming stirs more than feelings for joy; it threatens secrets someone is determined to keep buried. Secrets that threaten the life Oliver has just reclaimed, and the lives of those he loves the most.Vowing to protect his family at any cost, Oliver digs deeper, bringing danger to his doorstep, and leaving him with the shocking realization that the sins of the past are rooted much closer to home than he ever thought.When friends may be enemies, when enemies may be his best allies, when love is used as a smokescreen to hide the most vicious hate, Oliver isn't sure who he can trust. He just knows that he'll do anything to protect those he loves... even it means dying all over again.)

You Have Not Failed This Verse by @so-caffeinated

(Sometimes a payday ain't exactly what it seems.) Don’t let the brief description fool you. It’s incredible.

Hands

(Felicity knows her place in Oliver's life. She's the sidekick not the love interest. But in the Summer after the artificial earthquake lots of things can change.)

The Ways of the Universe

(No two epic love stories are the same. For Oliver and Felicity, it's quite the long road. What with all the crime-fighting, and super-secret identities, and emotionally-stunted men, and old flames, and meddlesome friends and family. Some goats, too. Picks up right after the end of 'City of Heroes' (2x01). Any similarities with the rest of S2 are, for the most part, coincidental.)

What Happened in Vegas - a very different take on the usual Vegas hookup fics

(It's all fun and games until you wake up hung-over and married to a stranger. Five years ago Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak made a drunken mistake that could never be corrected. After years on a hellish island he comes back as a man on a mission only to find out that what happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas. (Season One Rewrite))

Every single story by @supersillyanddorky06 but especially Predator

(Oliver Queen is the one anomaly in the Chicago Outfit. He is the only non-blooded member to be a part of the high circle in the family. His reputation precedes him and he is their best hunter. Felicity Smoak, daughter of the Starling boss, infiltrates his house, intent on killing him. But a startling encounter tips the scales. He goes on the prowl and she escapes. Hate, heat, and friction. Sparks. But something bigger is happening in their world. And despite their disagreements, only they can fight it down. Mob AU. Not Bratva. Enemies-lovers. You'll want to bash their heads sometimes. Stuff will happen. Enjoy! )

The Legacy Series by @ash818 (I’m sort of in love with this universe: it involves Oliver and Felicity’s children and it’s a wonderful and very serious - possibly quite honest - look at what the future might look like for them. Plus, I wrote a one-shot for this. SHE’S THAT GOOD.)

(It's 2039, and Jonathan Queen cannot stop looking for trouble. Then trouble finds him and his family, and Jonny discovers that there is more to his parents than he ever suspected. He must learn to bear the weight of his parents' past, and he must learn fast, because time is running out for his mother.)

Most of these aren’t finished but this one hurts me because it’s been left alone:

Somewhere Out There

(When Felicity falls through a gate that takes her to a parallel universe, she finds herself in a world that is so much like her own, except for one very important thing.)

Layers

(I feel sad. Wanted something to cheer myself up. This is the result.I have no set dates for updating, so bear with me.This is the Bratva fic no one wanted. Note - I like that Oliver isn't possessive. I also like when women have agency. You will find both here. This is a Oliver/Felicity-centric story.)

His Girl Wednesday and Some Things Are Meant to Be

Insanely long fics (THANK GOD): Missing her interview for a position in the IT department of QC, Felicity Smoak meets Oliver Queen, son of the CEO and future CEO himself. Only Oliver doesn’t take the company as seriously as he should and after yet another fiasco with his assistant, his mother decides to take matter into her own hands and select one with more qualifications than long legs and deep cleavage. In an effort to get her off his back, he pretends he already hired one: the blonde nerdy girl he met a few minutes ago.Or when Arrow and Ugly Betty crash in my head (except we all know Felicity could never be ugly). It is mostly Arrow, I borrow a few plot ideas/characters from Ugly Betty.

Sequel: Three years ago, Oliver went on a cruise on the Gambit and never came back, leaving Felicity devastated. She forced herself to move on with her life, trying to forget that the love they had shared was one she'd never get to live again.

Except Oliver didn't die on that boat. But no matter how much he wants to, he knows he can't come back. Too many things happened, and the only way to keep his loved ones safe is to stay as far away from them as possible.

It all changes when Felicity starts questioning the circumstances of the accident that took him away from her...

One More From the Top

(In the aftermath of his fight with Ras Al Ghul, Oliver finds himself somewhere unexpected: his hospital room when he first came back from the Island.With a second chance to right the mistakes he’s made since coming back to Starling City, what will Oliver do to save the people he’s loved and lost?Will he be able to change his past or will be he forced to watch history repeat itself?)

Break

(After the events of Unthinkable, Felicity burns out from Arrow activities. So she takes a step back to get some air. This story tracks Felicity's journey of becoming a heroine in her own right as she helps form the Justice League.)

Good, Better, Best Series by redtoes - a three part series each specifying how O + F got together and stayed together. Not very long but 15 chapters so...

The Grand Adventures of Felicity Smoak

(a.k.a How Felicity did not save the day.Felicity's father comes back only to take her away from the life and the people she loves. But sometimes, it takes a series of misadventures for a girl to discover how badass she really is and how valuable she is to her friends. She gets in trouble, gets rich, gets in trouble, gets hurt, gets in trouble again and gets the guy.Canon divergence. From in mid s02 before the revelation of Slade Wilson.)

Another I need to mention - though it isn’t a multi-chap slow burn - is: This Love Thing

Also a short fic but there aren’t that many slow burns around :) is Love Me Like I’m Not Made of Stone

(When meeting Felicity, Oliver has a flashback. Afterwards, he flees, leaving behind his 'latted' laptop. She further investigates on her own, but lurking underneath everything else is Felicity's concern for Oliver. Just like with anything that matters to her – she doesn't know why he matters but he does, she can't let the episode – what she fears to be PTSD – go.)

The Darkest Hour

(just weeks after moving to Starling City, Felicity Smoak is kidnapped for information she does not have. She endures weeks of torture before she is rescued by a man in green leather and his partner, John Diggle. As Felicity begins to put the pieces of her life back together, she realizes the trauma she suffered changed her in unexpected ways. Restless and with a driving need to help others the way the man in green helped her, she finds herself using her brilliant mind and considerable computer skills to follow a different path fraught with danger and violence. As Felicity grows closer to the Green Arrow and Diggle, helping them in their cause to save Starling City, the three struggle against unseen enemies, and discover the unexpected truth behind her kidnapping.)

All in a Day’s Work

(By 9:00 a.m., she had broken a heel, lost her cell phone, and been the victim of a coffee catastrophe. By 9:30 a.m. she had “borrowed” the NSA mainframe. By 10:00 a.m., she was engaged to Oliver Queen. Really, it was all in a day’s work. Plotty, fluffy fun with a side dish of heart.)

The Best of Friendships have Benefits

(like Communism or time travel, having a sex-buddy sounds a lot better in theory than in practice. However, Oliver and Felicity see it as a means to rebuild each other. So, inevitable consequences be damned, they still give it a go, not expecting to gain a whole lot more than what they initially bargained for.)

Also, most fics by @yellowflicker09011996 will make you want to tear out your own heart but one of my favourites is: All The Worthy Places (They say if you get hungry enough, you start eating your own heart. When she sits on top of him, arms and legs tight around him and kisses his mouth like she wants to eat him alive, Oliver believes it. ) and To Rage Against the Dying Light (There could be no time to think, no moment to feel. The dark was going to engulf him till there was nothing left, if he so much as flinched.He had known grief and he had known fear but this… this was wordless.Nobody had ever told him that ruin felt so much like death.)

The Fall Verse by @callistawolf

(Taking place directly after the events in “Sacrifice” (the season 1 finale), Felicity tries to pull Oliver back from the edge. But is Oliver ready to be pulled back? Or is he ready for the fall?)

Step By Step

(During the summer between seasons two and three, Oliver and Felicity are attempting to navigate their new status post-fake but not actually fake I love you's, and a kiss that may or may not have meant everything. Or: What would have been different for Oliver and Felicity if that summer had been about both of them truly coming to terms with what they meant to each other. Basically - Felicity decides to live her life, and Oliver realizes that her life doesn’t necessarily include him as much as he may want. How he reacts, and how Felicity responds to his actions, shape the future of their relationship.)

City of Fallen heroes

(Five years ago, Felicity was kidnapped and forced to do the unthinkable in order to return home. Convinced she couldn’t be the loving wife Oliver deserved, she left and tried to keep her darkness from hurting their daughters. The return of an old enemy will force Felicity to decide if she’s the monster she thought she was— or the hero her family believes her to be.)

Absolution

(It’s been two years since the Atom invented a plague that wiped out most of Starling City. With a ruthless government agency in control, and a hooded vigilante fighting to shut the Atom down, Felicity Smoak quickly learns that life post-apocalypse isn’t exactly like it seemed in movies.)

He Deserves a Shot at Being Happy alos by @chronicolicity

(Short version: an AU where Tommy Merlyn didn't die, and is around for season 2 of Arrow.Long version: Tommy Merlyn has spent most of his life being an expensive disappointment to his family, but now he's a part-owner of a semi-successful nightclub in the worst area of town (it's seriously looking up) alongside his best friend, who — after five years on a deserted island — decided to come back to be a freaking vigilante. It's a long story, one that's longer than Tommy wants to remember, but it took the Glades collapsing and the death of one of their best friends to get him officially done with being a troublemaker. Nothing interesting. Just running a nightclub, and trying not to get into any trouble.Oliver's been gone god knows where for most of the summer, which means he's stuck being the big brother to the guy's snarky little sister, whose boyfriend "Ron" seems completely set on getting himself killed. An afternoon of test-driving Verdant's new cocktails gets interesting when Felicity Smoak and John Diggle show up asking (more) questions about where to find Oliver, and Tommy has to decide whether he wants to keep his new rule.Spoiler alert: he doesn't.) It’s so good guys... THE SLOWEST OF SLOW BURNS BUT SO FLIPPING REWARDING.

In Another Life

(Their lives couldn't be more different - and yet Oliver can't take his eyes off the beautiful blonde woman that leaves the subway every morning at 7.43am. There is something about her that makes him look up every morning - something that also makes him aware he'll never be good enough for her, or that she'd even notice him.He had no idea how much his life would change the day he rushed over to help her...Olicity AU - no Lian Yu, no saving the city (at least not in the way we know from Arrow :D ))

Felicity Takes a Holiday

(Frustrated by Oliver's apparent indifference, Felicity takes a solo trip to NYC where she meets with unexpected dangers. Is it super-soldiers amped up on Mirakuru, or Beasts created by Muirfield? Starts at the end of Season 2; a story of how Oliver comes to realize that he is in love with Felicity, told with help from CW's Beauty and the Beast and a whole lot of Diggle.)

What’s a Little History Between Me and You by @sarcasticfina

([Canon-Divergent] In the wake of The Undertaking, Felicity returns to Starling City when her brother Tommy is severely injured, and soon finds her world turned completely upside down.)

THERE AREN’T THAT MANY SLOW BURNS @scu11y22

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boria2 · 4 years ago

Text

Binah, Saturn; Justice, Enlightenment—understanding how the universe works.

(From Ten Rules for Spiritual Seekers) 📷

Introduction

Outer Energy: Saturn is sometimes viewed as a nightmare. There is sadness, sorrow, grief, loss, disgrace, shame, failure, suffering, and pain. Saturn’s voice speaks not of Jupiter’s opportunities, good fortune, adventures, and new horizons. Instead, the energy is dense, heavy, and filled with the spirit of oppression.

Saturn is a time when you are held back from moving forward—when getting what you want is confronted by overwhelmingly opposition. You are beset by darkness and cannot find a path to follow. Nothing around you seems to express or reflect the desires of your heart. All opportunities for expanding your experience, for feeling alive, and getting the most out of life come crashing down. Your hopes are dashed to pieces, dreams shattered, your life shipwrecked.

Saturn’s vibration destroys false attachment, eliminates waste, removes inefficiency, and dissolves inertia. It basically says, “Do not be distracted or compromised. Remain focused. Stay the course. Accomplish the work set before you.”

Yet amid Saturn’s demands is a knowledge of equilibrium and balance. Its serenity is so refined it can restore harmony to anyone who has lost his path or any soul which has fallen into darkness.

You will know when you have made a good start working with Saturn. You will find in your heart, (quite separate from the events in the outer world), inner strength, inner peace, and complete freedom.

Saturn’s inner energy simply asks, “Did you learn what you were meant to learn and did you do what you were meant to do?” Your status in regard to these two questions determines how Saturn views you.

We can look back briefly on other sephiroth. Take Netzach/Venus. Its outer vibration is very familiar. It is overwhelming attraction and desire.

The five senses are continuously bombarded with pleasure, bliss, and ecstasy. Every unfilled longing rises up saying, “Here. With this person, you can find complete satisfaction and fulfillment.” And the intellect concurs, saying, “With this person, you will find a lifelong friend, companion, and lover with whom you can feel one.”

But in spite of that whirlwind of sensations and feelings, even with the high learning curve that accompany knowing another person, erotic attraction offers no path that leads to mutual understanding. To get to oneness you are going to need maturity, real skills in relating to another person, profound empathy, and unselfishness. There is a time of decision with Venus in which you must decide—Do you seek gratification or do you want to learn the divine arts of love?

Saturn offers a similar process. When Saturn in its full force enters our lives, something of great value has been taken from us. And it is never to be found again. And so there follows sorrow, grief, and loss.

Saturn also requires a decision. The inner vibration of Saturn says, “We exist here in this world under great limitations. Yet in our souls we are divine beings and in our minds we are free. You are not here by accident. You have things to accomplish—create love, establish justice, assist others in their time of need, and transform yourself. Do not fail in this endeavor.”

(For a story introduction to Saturn, see The Temple of Saturn at the end of this essay.)

Virtue: A judicial temperament, establishing justice, superhuman

patience, diligence, implacable will, equanimity, equilibrium, recollection, contemplation, discipline, unshakeable self-esteem, humility, conscience, protector of all spiritual paths, mentor, thankfulness, accomplishment—producing works of enduring value.

Vice: Negligence, fixation, rigidity, failure to take responsibility, inattentive, preoccupied, lack of conscience, anguish, corruption, treachery, criminal enterprise, degradation, oppression, conspiracy, feeling abandoned, alienated, estranged, lack of self-reflection, ungrateful.

Negative: A lost soul. Feel as if you are among the dead. A wasted life. Incarcerated. Obsessive. No opportunities. Stuck. Groundhog Day. Madness.

Basic Quality: Appreciation.

Understanding the sacrifices others have made so that we are alive and enjoy the freedom and opportunities that we have.

Challenge

Life is whatever you want it to be. You are free to make your own choices.

Yet whatever your circumstances, your consciousness has no form or image. No tradition defines who you are or expresses your essence. We are surrounded by immense possibilities.

Take hold of your limitations. Find ways to learn from them and to overcome them.

Magical Practice

The voice of Saturn says, “Experience life to whatever extent you can. Discover what makes you happy and brings you satisfaction. Find some things worth doing that are right for you and totally captivating.

Yet also discover your deepest lessons in life and then take the time and make the effort to learn them.”

These lessons are whatever holds you back, whatever limitations you are to overcome, and whatever interferes with your attaining harmony within yourself. Make the study of love, wisdom, will, and conscious your passion, your daily meditation, and a permanent endeavor.

What keeps you from being happy? What family karma has been passed down to you from previous generations—prejudice, false assumptions, bias, selfishness, greed, arrogance, abuse, fear, hostility, domination, vulnerability, ignorance, etc.

What stands in your way preventing you from attaining something great or pursuing your dreams or attaining your destiny? What is missing from life that no one else sees or seems able to address?

For Saturn, life is a school, a college. You signed up for the human experience. You would not be getting your money’s worth if you do not make your best effort.

Consider the basic components of life in terms of the hermetic tradition:

The element of fire is will power. But for Saturn divine purpose is essential otherwise will power falters and produces disasters.

The element of air is wisdom. But for Saturn, your mind must be as open as the sky and as clear as a mirror. All boundaries and limitations must be left behind otherwise you live as if you are blind.

The element of water is love. For Saturn, you must become one with another without a trace of attachment, possession, or grasping. Fail in this endeavor and you are like a sailor on the open ocean without a home port.

The element of earth is consciousness. Do you have something to accomplish? For Saturn, the works that we do in life must be of such value that that they endure through all ages of the world.

Biographical Note

Part I: Magical Equilibrium

My deepest lessons in life originally presented themselves to me quite differently from what I sense now. Initially, my primary concern in the external world was the threat of nuclear war. It was beyond my understanding how people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett could amass their fortunes knowing that in thirty minutes the world as we know it could end. But when I look inside their minds, I can see that this question never occurred to them.

On a personal level, I needed to free myself of a fiery will that had been implanted in me. At times, I had incredible anger.

I also had a gradual realization that Christianity had for two thousand years engaged in a coverup. For political and psychological reasons, it denied the possibility of spiritual training and spiritual perception. I had to work through and beyond that tradition. I did so in part by studying spiritual anthropology—a detailed first hand examination of the training exercises in various religious traditions and the results they achieved.

I also had tremendous mental tension. My mind was far more developed than my emotional life and I had no internal practices involving being aware of my body other than sport’s activities. I was also overzealous in trying to learn new things. And I had no sense of my own profession or career.

Rather than focus on investment counseling, something I might have excelled at, I went all in on spiritual quests. It would have made more sense to succeed first in business which would then have enabled me to pursue my spiritual interests from a position of freedom. It would have been easy then set up organizations that assisted me in my research.

But the external conflicts were secondary. The lessons I needed most to learn involved mastering the five elements inside myself. In the end, I had to change myself before trying to change the world.

The element of water, for example, with its super human empathy and healing power, is completely missing from Western culture. I had to do original research and quite a few interviews with astral mermaids and incarnated mermaids to discover how it operates. And then I had to figure out how to adapt what I learned so it was helpful to me.

The water element by itself can destroy your survival instincts and place you in a narcissistic state of bliss where you lose interest in the external world. The love that mermaids experience in their astral kingdom is for the most part worthless in our world. It has too much enchantment along with a kind of cocaine high and not the kind of practical application that changes people.

And the fifth element of akasha remains an incredible challenge. In Tibetan Buddhism there are practices identical to what Franz Bardon calls in his Kabbalah the cosmic letter U or the void. I had to take that pure meditation and work on the applications to geopolitical issues around the world.

But I was not supposed to just get the sense of void as being a second “home,” that is, mastering it like say a sixth or higher ranking Don in aikido. I am meant to master it as if I am an incarnated earthzone spirit, a being authorized to use akasha in overseeing human evolution.

It made perfect sense that early on I would find myself living in a Buddhist monastery where I was initiated by the head of the oldest Order of Tibetan Buddhists. These lamas had what I needed to learn. But due to their culture and feudal outlook on society they had absolutely no sense of how to apply their wisdom so it is useful for individuals living in a postindustrial, pluralistic, and democratic society. And they have false assumptions that the external world is unreal which diminishes their curiosity and learning curve.

It would take me twenty years of magical practice before I understood the significance of first mastering the five elements. Bardon himself once appeared to me in a dream and demanded I stop studying the auras of spirits and focus on the elements. My journey has resulted in books such as The Four Elements and Lessons from the Realm of the Water Spirits.

Part Two: North and South Nodes of the Moon

📷

A perspective on your deepest life lessons can be found in your natal chart’s North and South lunar nodes. You can use an on-line program to cast a free natal chart on one of many internet sites. This will usually include your north and south node locations. You can then find a simple interpretation by searching, for example, “north node Sagittarius south node Gemini.”

The South node represents areas of experience from past lives in which you have excelled. It is something you are good at or take for granted. In the movie, Lord of War, Nicolas Cage plays a weapons dealer named Yuri Oriov. He is very good at what he does and so he keeps doing it even though he ends up losing his brother, his wife and child, and his parents.

You could say his South node involves making deals with terrible people and succeeding at it. His North node would be the opposite—helping disadvantaged people survive and start new lives. Often the excessive experience you have in your South Node position is utilized in a positive way by redirecting it through the North node position.

With my South Node in Sagittarius, to say the least I have an excessive amount of conviction and certainty about what justice is and a flair for searching out the truth of the universe. But it is a disaster if I were to spend my life engaged in these same pursuits. All the same, by focusing on communicating what I know inside myself, I can open up paths for others and enrich their lives. In this case, it is about service to others rather than seeking an ideal or a vision.

Common Virtue

📷

Gratitude, thankfulness, appreciation, and celebration of the gifts of the past. To be able to look back and say, “My life was all it was meant to be.” In which case, we can also say, “Saturn was my spirit guide. She was tough at times, even incredible hard on us. But she did what she had to do in order to produce something wonderful.”

For some people, the past is like a warehouse. There are crates and boxes lying about, misplaced, or lining long rows of shelves. The air is dusty. The place is downright boring.

For some, the past is like an old museum filled with relics and exhibits that have no relevance to today. You do not enter here to renew yourself or seek knowledge of what shall come to be. It is not a happy place.

And for some each moment in the past continues to live on. The discovery of fire, domestication of animals, agriculture, architecture, trains, cars, flight, computers, art, and jurisprudence is still filled with wonder.

For some the past is as real as the present moment. And the future is here too, for the past and future are well-connected, each defining and fulfilling the other.

If you want the feeling that best enhances our experience with Saturn, be thankful, appreciative, and grateful for what you have been given. Take nothing for granted.

Magical Virtue

The magical virtue of Binah is to take “the void,” a vast, empty state of mind, and meditate on it until it feels like home.

Buddha

The new born infant who would later become Buddha (Roughly 583 BC to 483 BC.) was given the name Siddhartha (Pāli: Siddhattha), meaning "He who achieves his aim". Buddha attained complete enlightenment solely through his own efforts. He had no gurus or spirit guides to assist him because there was no one within Hinduism or in India that possessed the degree of enlightenment he attained.

Buddha’s mind is like a clear mirror—it perfectly reflects without distortion or blur anything that appears before it. Consequently, Buddha’s mind also embodies perfect empathy. With this mirror like awareness, it is easy to know another’s experience as if it is your own.

With Buddha mind, you can think, act, evaluate, perceive and make decisions without using thoughts or images. You can feel but there is no need to direct, shape, contain, or define those feelings. Feelings too are another kind of energy that you can be fully aware of from beginning to end.

For Buddha, an enlightened mind is identical to absolute freedom. You perceive in each moment a path of action that is free of obstacles or hindrances. If you meditate in the vibration of Buddha’s mind, you feel completely relaxed and yet fully awake, clear and detached yet fully engaged.

What Buddha has done is make the void his identity. He never loses that sense of prefect, mirror like clarity and an awareness that anything being experienced is itself part of the void.

The Meditation

Here is a brief review of the enlightened mind we discussed under the Mystery of Hod. Take a breath. Now imagine a void, a vast space without light, no day or night, no form, no substance, no matter of any kind, no electronic or magnetic vibrations, and no gravity.

It is like a very big room filled with shiny black light, a room with nothing in it. And because there is nothing in it there is no time or space because time and space require form and movement as a reference.

If you practice this, then you get good at it. It is quiet. It is peaceful. There is no disturbance of any kind. There are no interruptions or distractions. It is the nature of mind itself when it is still—it has the ability to be perfectly receptive, reflective, and clear like a mirror.

There is nothing here to feed ideas that require desire, need, ego, selfishness, insecurity, or greed in order to survive. Put simply, if your mind embodies nothingness, you have stepped outside of the stream of history and of the flow of linear time that we reply upon so much to get through the day.

Top Useful Aspects of the Void

10. A void is your space. There is nothing to weigh you down. There is no one telling you what to do. There are no limitations. No obstacles. No barriers and nothing to overcome.

9. In the void is infinite peace. We are surrounded by hundreds of billions of galaxies. The void embraces and supports everything.

8. The void is where you can create and dissolve any feeling. Try it. Imagine anger and hatred. Now imagine a very hot, burning ball of fire in front of you. The heat is radiating in all directions.

Now imagine this ball of fire gone. It has vanished. It has dissolved into nothing. Anger and hatred are energies and, like a ball of fire you have conjured up through imagination, they can cease to exist if that is what you wish.

Imagine depression, sorrow, and sadness. Now imagine a very heavy, dense ball in front of you as if it is made out of lead. Imagine that ball gone. The weight has vanished. You can do the same with the feelings that weigh you down. The void amplifies your imagination.

Recall or sense anxiety or obsession. Now imagine a ball in front of you like a sphere filled with the blue sky. Except this sphere has dark clouds like a hurricane or tornado inside. Now imagine the ball dissolving into nothing. No more disturbances in the atmosphere. No more feelings of anxiety.

Imagine greed, jealousy, and possession. Imagine a ball of water in front of you that is sticky, impure, or contaminated. Now imagine the ball gone. The same meditative action applies to greed, possessiveness, or jealousy. They are gone. They are no more. There is nothing here in the void to grab or to be attached to.

Emotions and feelings are energies in your body. You can reflect on them and process them. You can get to know them in every nuance and aspect. But, in the end, they arise and appear in the void—the vast open space of your awareness. You are free to guide, transform, or dissolve them according to your purposes and volition.

7. The void is wisdom and understanding. You can capture in one gaze the past, present, and future of what you are looking at. You can experience things from the other’s point of view. You can imagine likely outcomes and opportunities that can be seized upon. You can comprehend the way the world is and also the way it is meant to be.

6. The void specializes in modifying and changing karma. Again, think of sitting in a dark theater where a play is being performed on stage. That play is your life and there was a script written for you to act out before you were born.

Every time you have been angry, depressed, lonely, sorrowful, needy, or hurt—all those feelings were waiting for you to experience as you walked into different scenes in life and acted out different scripts. But you can decide if you want to continue playing your assigned role with its assigned feelings, thoughts, and identity.

Imagine sitting there in the theater and calling out to yourself up there on the stage—“You already did that too many times. Find another response.” And the you on the stage hears this shout from the dark theater as the voice of his own conscience speaking to him from inside.

5. The void allows you to identify with the original source of anything that has come into being so that you develop the insight into why things exist as they do.

4. The void is omnipresent. If you think of someone, then that person is right here, now, and present with you in the void. There is only you and that person.

To be aware of another from within the void is to be one with that person since nothing else exists in your awareness.

3. The void is silence. As silence, here is where you can cherish and nourish in your heart your highest dreams and ideals. Your dreams and ideals are always near to you and a part of you.

2. The void is a divine workshop. If you wish to create a future, to manifest a dream, here is where you see it, envision it, enter it and live it so it is so real that you embody its vibration and feeling. This is because there are no barriers to imagination in the void. Nothing prevents you from experiencing “here and now” as being completely real whatever it is that you seek to fulfill.

Creative artists and genuine prophets make the void a second home because they enjoy the freedom and the stimulation to their imaginations to which the void gives rise.

1. And of course the void is the experience of perfect enlightenment. Free of all attachment because here there is nothing to which one need be attached. There is no assigned identity or set of predetermined responses because you yourself are the original source of perception and experience.

You see the world as it is because you mind is reflective as a perfect mirror that sees without bias, blur, or distortion. Whatever occurs you perceive in your awareness according to what it is without the mind imposing a meaning or interpretation on it.

Note: For more on the void practice, see my manuscripts, The Perfection of Wisdom and How to Speak Saturn at williamrmistele.com

Divine Virtue:Dissolving negativity, malice, hatred, hostility, etc.

Whenever righteousness becomes lax and injustice arises, then I send myself forth to protect the good and bring evildoers to destruction. For the secure establishment of the laws of the universe, I come into being age after age. ... I was born to destroy the destroyers.

—Krishna

A representative government of the people, by the people, and for the people puts in place laws, judges, bailiffs, courts, prisons, etc. The executive branch, on a national, state, and local level, hires police, probation officers, lawyers, etc. to insure that laws are enforced and citizens protected. In general, those who are a threat to others find their rights are increasingly restricted until they are removed from society.

And yet there is always a tradeoff. Too much freedom and lack of regulation and some individuals harm and take advantage of other individuals without any recourse. On the other hand, if society exercises too much control and monitoring of individuals, then freedom is lost and the society becomes oppressive.

The divine virtue for Binah is a Saturnian or spiritual judicial system. Perhaps it is activated when negative people overwhelm positive people. All the same, issues concerning fairness and justice are usually left to societies to address. As governments evolve, we can see judicial systems becoming more effective.

Perhaps it is more accurate to say that the spiritual world takes an interest in human affairs when spiritual development itself is in danger of being compromised. We might imagine that magic itself can be so abused that it is possible to close down all paths of spiritual development in a society.

In this case, the spiritual world might intervene directly and place severe restrictions on a society or else simply eliminate a nation, a society, a religion, etc. In other words, Saturn’s method of education is primarily associated with restricting or taking away. When something is gone, then at last its true value can appear.

If you want kindness, mercy, generosity, good fortune, benevolence, and inspiration, then look to Jupiter or the Sun. If an individual or nations shows up in the court of Saturn, things have already gone far enough that only the most severe remedies are available.

This issue of a spiritual judicial system is seen most clearly in regard to wars. Human beings are permitted to have wars. A strong leader says to himself, as many corporate CEOs also say to themselves, “If I can put forth my hand and take something, then that is the right thing for me to do.” And so we have Enron, WorldCom, and Bernie Madoff in the corporate world taking everything they can from others.

And in history, we have Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, and Mao looking around and saying to themselves, “Let me see. I can easily take this and that. But I wonder how much more can I take? Perhaps the entire world. Maybe I will give it a try.”

“All power is given from above,” says the prophet. So where is “the above” when it comes to the barbarian cruelty and the hideous suffering of wars? Obviously, the spiritual world leaves issues concerning justice in the hands of humanity, in our hands. If you do not like something, then fix it. Do not sit around whining and complaining.

We might suppose that in religions the saints, sages, and holy men would address this issue. But they do not. They leave issues concerning justice and power in the hands of evil men to decide. Worldly power apparently has never been part of spiritual training. Perhaps at this point in history we should seriously study how power “given from above” so often ends up in the hands of dictators and evil men.

In perspective, then, this divine virtue of Saturn—of dissolving malice, hatred, ill-will, and negativity—is relevant. We are at a point in history where a few individuals can damage the entire planet. Let us consider this matter of dealing with the negative first on a personal level.

I have already described the enlightened state of mind and the void. You imagine a big empty space with nothing in it. Call it the void. You put off to the side everything personal about yourself. Your role in society, your feelings, your thoughts and opinions, your biography, your religion, and your social identity. Put it all in the closet it so to speak and close the door. Now here we are. We are in a psychological and spiritual state of mind where even space and time are not present.

The void dissolves negativity because the negative principle requires something present to attack, to possess, or to flee from. But these things are not present in the void.

You can do this when you are with a negative person or else imagine a person in front of you. He or she is in your void. Nothing else exists than you and this person.

Now imagine that the negative energy in the other person dissolves. You can actually sense the hatred, malice, and desire to dominate draining out of the other’s body until it is completely gone. If you can imagine a vast void around and inside of others when you talk to them, then you may notice that they attend to be calm and reasonable when you do this.

This may work on a personal level with people who you know who are negative. But highly dynamic and powerful individuals have often made a lifelong study of how to control, dominate, and exploit others. Your meditation that you have worked on for five hours over a few weeks does not compare to the decades in which they have refined, tested, and perfected their negativity. To be effective on a geopolitical scale, then like them, you have to make dissolving negativity a lifelong commitment.

The reason this can be effective is that this empty void of pure receptivity is free of all false attachment. The void supervises, oversees, and has authority over will, feeling, thoughts, and conscious actions. This is its nature—it is the voice of Saturn, of conscience, of freedom, and of enlightenment in action.

Of course, people remain free. But if you succeed in dissolving the negative energy in an individual, the negative principle no longer leads to success. A person remains negative, but the influence of their negativity is greatly reduced. In effect, you have saturated another’s aura with the void that diminishes the influence of negative actions. The power another holds through fear, domination, and manipulation dissolves.

The Voice of the Void

There is no vice I cannot twist and bend

And turn again into its opposite virtue.

There is no compulsion or obsession I cannot

So fill with light it becomes kind and bright.

There is no ill will or malice I cannot

Convert into chivalry or true nobility.

There is no crunch or karmic bind, no evil intent or design

I cannot refine within my mind

Into contentment and absolute satisfaction.

There is no suffering

I cannot so enfold within my palms

Spit on, blow upon,

And recreate as beauty hidden in the heart of life.

Such are my power and might;

Such are the depths and the heights

Where my wings fly.

(Note: I intend to write a book in the next year or two on ending wars utilizing the above method. I have spent 42 years meditating on dictators and world leaders. But one person can only do so much. It will take a dedicated and trained spiritual community to establish justice on earth.)

The Dream: Placing Causes in Akasha

Akasha is a spiritual plane and also a state of awareness. What happens tomorrow—where the stock market opens, the speech the president will make, a war that flairs up, a mass shooting, a scientific breakthrough, an asteroid shooting past the earth or a volcano erupting—the events of our physical world are already registered in akasha.

If you are sensitive and still your mind, you may be able to sense something of the future. Once a year I have a lucid dream in which I wake up in the future. I look around and try to memorize everything I see. I take notes when I awake because I have just seen the future that is to be.

Such things as sitting at a desk surrounded by electronic devices that allow you to communicate with others around the planet; big mechanical machines that are programmed to water farm land; a Starbucks latte that has a different taste with each sip; and a war between two nations that must not be allowed to happen. Things like that.

These “causes” in akasha—events that are to be—have their own shape, activity, and emotional force built into them. They are as yet immaterial and invisible but, like gravity, they already weigh upon our world. When the pandemic began, I could see in advance people rioting in the streets, but I did not know why. In the future, the stock market will fall 30% or more. That is certain. But the question is when and why and how quickly will it recover.

Causes in akasha take time before they manifest in our world. An individual has a biography. He rises in power. He is then in a position where he makes a decision that affects millions of people and the history of his nation.

Another individual is torn and twisted inside. He searches for remedies. In a moment of clarity, he forges for himself a path of healing that frees him from the torments of his past and enables him to be a healthy and creative individual within society.

History is shaped by three things—necessity, desire, and dreams. Some things are beyond our control. At least until science and technology give us power over nature.

Some desires motivate individuals, driving them to seek satisfaction. They approach the future as an extension of the self they already know. And with some luck and if they work hard, they may well succeed in getting what they want.

And some events in the world are brought about through what we dream. In a dream you can remake yourself into something wonderful that is completely beyond the limitations of your present desires and wants. This is a divine mode of dreaming.

The future is malleable, open to suggestion, and totally receptive. For any conflict, you can dream a future in which the conflict is fully addressed, resolved, and a state of harmony and where lasting peace exists between all parties in a conflict.

In akasha, nothing prevents you from experiencing “here and now” as being completely real whatever it is that you seek to fulfill. If you want to place a “cause” in akasha, your dream needs to be compelling, persuasive, and relevant. Your vision must become like a living being, something that is fully alive. This vision then overrides and reshapes others’ dreams, desires, and images that also are seeking to manifest.

The Dream for Binah is of being able to place a “cause” in akasha, within these spiritual realms surrounding us. This cause is so dynamic that in spite of all opposition and all limitations it manifests.

In magical terms, you enter a deep meditation or state of trance. You imagine you are in akasha, such as the void which I frequently describe—a state of awareness outside of or prior to space and time. And then you envision exactly what you wish to become real as if it is already real right now in every way.

You are providing a clear and very refined vision of the future. And you are imbuing it with energy—the emotional force, a mental plan of action, a spiritual purpose to be fulfilled, and an entire visualized network of supporting cast to assist it manifesting.

I could be one of the richest billionaires on earth or a very powerful diplomat. In which case, I might be able to present a persuasive plan that would get the prime minster of Israel and Gaza to sign onto an enduring peace plan. All of this accomplished independent of the U.S. State Department which never seems to grasp the reality of opposing states.

On the other hand, what if I were more skilled in placing causes in akasha? I could synchronize the vibration in the minds of these opposing leaders such that they themselves then possess an unshakeable and electrifying vision of peace that overwhelms all opposition. That would be placing a cause in akasha. That cause then operates independent of me and does not stop until the vision within it becomes real.

The take away from the Dream of Binah is that, with the help of our imagination and concentration, we can enter the divine workshop in order to alter reality and remake the world.

“Without a vision, the people perish” says Solomon in his book of Proverbs. The dream in each sephirah offers hope. It makes the sephirah feel alive. In a dream, you can experience now what you wish the future to be.

Saturn offers the vision that your mind and imagination are not superfluous. They help shape reality.

Initiation

Every separation, loss, farewell, and goodbye is a sacred rite in my eyes.

—the Chief Judge of Saturn

The play, Our Town by Thornton Wilder, won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1938. Edward Albee describes it as “the greatest American play ever written.” The play tells the story about Emily Webb who dies giving birth to her second child.

After her funeral, Emily finds herself among other dead people. Although she is warned not to fixate on her past life, Emily decides to go back and relive her 12th birthday. She can see but not interact with the living. And she knows what will happen in their future.

Realizing how unaware the living are of how special it is to be alive, she turns to the stage manger and asks,

“Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?—every, every minute?”

The Stage Manager replies, “No. Saints and poets maybe …they do some.”

When we lose something we cherish or depend on, then the loss and grief hit us. But Saturn does not go away and then return after thirty years for what is called a “Saturn return.” Saturn is with us every moment.

The Initiation of Saturn is not some abstract, metaphysical realization of a sage, saint, or Bodhisattva. It is an artistic sensitivity like the experience of Emily in Thornton Wilder’s play.

Can you seek to be fully alive in every moment while also being aware of life as if you have already died and are looking back at it from the other side?

Is there an inner peace and serenity that embraces equally both life and death? Can you embrace life with tenderness knowing that joy and sorrow, love and hate, and wonder and horror walk side by side in our journey through life?

Can you be touched by evil, broken, abandoned, and alone and yet be so open and receptive that in each moment you are ready to let go of the past and enter the light?

Do you have the purity of will to make the best of any situation you enter regardless of the extent of the unknown that looks you in the face?

Have you been anointed by divine grace in the depths of your heart such that you have unshakeable faith that love will triumph over separation, darkness, and loss?

Saturn has given you this sacred gift if you can sense how special, precious, and beautiful each moment is.

Mysteries: Creating Love Where Love Does Not Exist

Blessed are those who create love where love does not exist, for they have past the final test and have attained cosmic freedom.

Saturn would like us to learn all we can about life here in the physical world. There are tests, difficulties, ordeals and many things to accomplish. But if you want to reduce all that Saturn requires down to one test, then this is it: When you are placed in a situation where there is no love present, where there is no support or backup, can you create love where love does not exist?

A Christmas Carol is a novella by Charles Dickens. It tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser. On Christmas Eve, he encounters his old business partner Jacob Marley who has previously died. Marley tells him he is to be visited by the spirits of Christmas past, present, and future.

Without his consent and as if in a lucid dream, three spirits take control of Scrooge dreams for one night. Scrooge experiences his own past, present, and future as if he is actually present witnessing the events as they unfold. Finally, with the spirit of Christmas Future, Scrooge realizes that his life is without significance. Through this life review, Scrooge is transformed—

“Spirit!” he cried, tight clutching at its robe, “hear me! I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse. Why show me this, if I am past all hope!”

The spirits did not put these words into Scrooge’s mouth. Scrooge, on his own initiative, adopts their point of view. The implication is that if you give someone enough one on one attention, you can have a remarkable influence on him. When done right, there is a blending of minds. The spirits perceive what Scrooge experiences. At the same time, Scrooge experiences what each of the spirits perceive.

This process entails a very high level of empathy. In A Christmas Carol, the spirits control what Scrooge experiences without interfering with his free will. In the process, they manage to imbue Scrooge with a different spirit. We could say that in a matter of hours Scrooge relived the major events from his life. He saw the choices he made. And he was able to sense how things might have turned out if he had made different choices.

Under the Zen of Love exercise in Netzach, we learned to do something similar to what occurs in A Christmas Carol. You sit with a person, meditate on the other, so to speak. You put on the other’s body and wear it as if it is your own. You feel what the other feels. You think the other’s thoughts. Your review the other’s life as if his experiences and memories are your own. And you do all of this while retaining a very high level of mental clarity and detachment.

After all, as a Venus spirit might ask, “What is love and friendship if you do not feel you are within the other person living that person’s life as if it is your own?”

The outer life of Venus carries with it all sorts of crazy and, many times, overwhelming attractions. The inner spirit of Venus simply is attaining a state of oneness with another person. There is the mad dance and then there is the calm, nearly divine feeling and perception of being one with another.

The Zen of Love exercise can be used with friends, lovers, and people of significance in your personal life. The level of empathy is such that you know other’s lives equal to or better they know themselves. Saturn’s approach, on the other hand, is more universal in scope and power.

The Judges of Saturn can say, “We create limitations so that in overcoming them you can attain cosmic freedom.” There is an authority and finality present. “If you want to attain cosmic freedom, then there is a final test.”

Here is the difference between the Zen of Love and the Saturn approach. With Saturn, you bring realizations, feelings, insights, and experiences of all ten sephiroth to the meditation you share with the other person.

If he needs inspiration, then you are the inspiration of the sun. If he needs self-mastery, then you are the will and power of Mars. If he needs faith and conviction, then you are the electrifying certainty of Mercury, a voice of thunder, awakening the truth in the core of his being. If he needs serenity and inner peace, then you embody an inner peace with the universe of Yesod that is inexhaustible and without end.

On an astral and mental level, you are so close and so connected that you experience what he experiences and he experiences what you experience. Without interfering with the other’s will, you are 100% there for the other person, with the other person, and, in a sense, a part of the other person.

To conclude, Saturn might turn to anyone and ask, “How can you say you have learned all there is to learn about the physical world unless you can accomplish this simple task—to create love where love does not exist?”

From the novel, Mermaid Assassin.

Lili enters Uri’s office at the university. He gestures for her to sit down.

“How can I help you?’ he asks.

She says, “How do I do what you do?”

Uri replies, “What do you mean?”

Lili says, “You are like Anthony Hopkins. You become 100% the character you are playing. This is more than art. You are doing something else.”

Uri says, “Why do you say that?”

Lili says, “Actors use various tricks to get into their part. They study

the role, the script, the subtext, and they do field research. They get to know someone who is like the character they are playing. Then they construct a careful backstory for their character.”

Uri looks questioning at Lili.

Lili goes on, “Spies give the same attention to detail in constructing their backstory. When Eli Cohen was asked where his parents’ graves were, he immediately gave a plot location in a cemetery. His cover included minute details about his past.”

“And so?” says Uri

“At night, Eli had dreams that were not his own but those of his assumed identity as Kamel Thabaat. Yet I think you get more into a role you play than any spy or actor.”

On the verge of surrendering, Uri puts his elbow on the arm rest of his chair and rests his chin on his palm as he looks down.

He then says cryptically, “Where there is power, there are secrets.”

Lili says, “You are sworn to secrecy? Is there a Jewish form of the freemasons? The hidden knowledge behind the blowing of the shofar on the Feast of Trumpets? Perhaps kabbalah, something only passed down from father to son?”

“Not exactly,” replies Uri. “I discovered this on my own. While doing research for my Ph D, I found a manuscript from the twelfth century in an archive in Rome.”

Lili leans forward and smiles expectantly.

Uri goes on, “It may sound weird to you, but it is about music.

Lili says, “You do tone magic?”

Uri sits quietly staring at her.

Lili quotes a line from the chairmen of the Department of Theater at the local university, “From the beginning of mankind, people have been singing, dancing, and producing tones from reeds or sticks.”

Lili goes on, “You carry on an ancient lineage. Yet you can talk to me about this and not others?”

Uri replies, “Yes. Because you understand. If I say a name to you of someone you do not know—Nimrod Barkan—what can you tell me about him?”

Lili pauses for a moment and then speaks spontaneously, “He is Jewish and in politics. From a young age he was surrounded by highly successful individuals who were very well connected. And he is involved in operations no one is supposed to know about. Who is he?”

Uri says, “He is the Israeli ambassador to Canada. Now your turn.”

Lili says, “Aaron Gilon.”

Uri closes his eyes for a moment. Then he opens his eyes and says, “This is someone you work closely with. Yet your relationship is so formal it is hard to say you are even friends. And he has an intimate relationship with water—like he is professional scuba diver or else has done extensive surfing. It is like water is a part of him.”

“Yes. That is Aaron,” says Lili. “OK. Hit me with your secret. I am ready.”

Uri says, “Different notes can be used as a focal point for mediation. Take this note.”

Uri very softly hums the note of B. Lili closes her eyes and listens. She hears the note he is humming. Then she hears the note as if it is sung by a cantor or professional opera singer in a huge temple. The acoustics of the temple amplify the note so the air reverberates with the sound and the temple nearly shakes with the vibration.

Uri stops humming. Then he says, “The note of B. Sing it in the right state of mind and you enter a mystical space where things are created—where you can perfectly embody in yourself the consciousness of any other person; perfectly express any feeling; and where your receptivity is so great you can produce an emotional response that creates harmony in any situation.”

Lili adds, “You use it to enter a deep trace.”

Uri says, “Yes. That too. But I have practiced it so much that it has become a part of me. So when I act, there is no me present, only the personality of the person I am playing. A part that is difficult for others to play is easy for me. But spies and actors do not need this level of concentration.”

“Who does?” asks Lili.

Uri replies, “Power such as this is only for those who wish to create love where love does not exist or else to create justice where there is injustice.”

Lili says, “You and the Mossad director share some of the same commitments.”

“I suppose we do,” replies Uri.

The Temple of Saturn

(from Stories of Magic and Enchantment)

In times of yore such as in ancient Rome or further back in Greece, nature was too mysterious and diverse for men to feel at ease with its unknown powers or safely interact with its beauty. And so temples were built to celebrate its holy mysteries.

If you wanted to draw near to the sea with its flowing, giving, renewing hope, and endless adaptability, then you might enter the temple of Neptune. If a priest or priestess was worth anything, if you engage in a ritual or festive celebration, you would leave the temple feeling at least for a while that the sea and you had become friends. That vast blue green expanse from horizon to horizon would be alive within you. You would feel your nature is love and that we are in the end all one.

If you wanted to worship the sun with its dazzling light and endless power to imbue the earth with life, then you would enter the temple of Apollo. And there you would be initiated into a great mystery—that in mastering our limitations we shall attain to divine, immortal being while still in human form. Our innermost and true essence is always close to us—within our hearts if we look for it.

Or if you have some great conflict requiring your total will, if you seek self-mastery, or if you are about to go to war, then you enter the temple of Mars. Place a small vial of your blood on the altar. Then pray and meditate. And finally take back the vial and anoint yourself with this blood which now, through the force of your faith and meditation, mixes with the life force of the god. No matter whatever desires and needs may bind you to life, at least for a while you are now ready to give your entire being without distraction to the task or mission to which you are committed.

Mars is like that. It inspires you so you feel the power of the universe is flowing through you. For the sake of your cause, you may end up sacrificing yourself, but your exuberance and inner sense of fulfillment outweigh the needs of your mortal self.

And certainly everyone will at some point wish to visit the temple of Venus. Julius Caesar himself declared his blood line descended from this goddess. War will bring you prestige, honor, and glory. But if you wish to rule an empire or truly lead men so that you capture their imagination and loyalty, Venus will give you an edge. Charisma and personal magnetism are basic foundations of leadership.

All the same, if you enter the temple of Venus, expect the air to be filled with enchantment. Many seek love for its pleasures and bliss. And indeed if you wish to overcome the barriers separating one from another bliss and pleasure are often required in no small measure.

Nonetheless, Venus is the mistress who has mastered ecstasy—to reach beyond the self and become one with another or something greater than you. In love, you transcend life’s limitations while simultaneously uniting with its deepest purposes. When you walk out of a temple of Venus after being initiated into its mysteries, you will finally experience body, soul, and mind for the first time in true harmony.

Ancient Rome. Walk down the street and you can feel the city’s heartbeat. There is order and also brutality. There are men of great power and also always conspiracies. There is hard work, industry, and productivity and also smoldering passions in individuals and raw emotions ready to erupt in the masses.

There is excitement in the air—foreign wars, expanding territories, and also people from many cultures. And there is hopelessness, misery, oppression, and despair.

Then there is the Temple of Saturn. 23 BC in Rome under Imperator Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus—you could walk over to the foot of Capitoline hill in the western end of the Forum Romanum in Rome.

If you are sensitive, even before you reach the staircase, you can sense the aura of the temple before you. It is not the enticement and festivity of the Temple of Venus. No, this is as if you are out in nature. It is overcast. There is no wind and it is silent. It is as if time has stopped. Suddenly your memories are more alive than events in the outer world.

You climb the steps toward the columns and the entrance. And you remember your mythology. You think of Orpheus descending into and returning again from Hades, Psyche crossing the River Styx separating life and death, or Odysseus speaking with the shade of his mother who is among the dead.

But the Underworld is not your destination. You are entering a temple. Nonetheless, you are beginning to view your life from a great distance as if you have suddenly had to let go of everything you know and stepped into the unknown.

If you come here nearly any day in the late afternoon, you might see on these steps a woman sitting unmoving or a man holding his head in his hands. Though you may sense anguish, strangely they are not depressed. Rather, they feel a sense of relief. As they climbed the steps whatever distress or sorrow held them has suddenly let go. Here strong emotions wane and detachment takes control.

As you approach the entrance, the air is slightly cooler. You smell the incense from within, perhaps Myrrh, Poppy, or Cypress. The scent carries a mixture of feelings—something dangerous, formidable, and yet also like a trustworthy mentor, like a general who has had a bad day and yet is happy to meet with his advisor.

We pass through the entrance. You may feel your stomach slightly tighten and a blood pulse in your head. You take a step forward.

And then again it hits you. To enter the Temple of Saturn is like entering the gates of a graveyard—not as one who comes to mourn but as one who is now among the dead.

It is somber. There is little room for regret or sorrow. There is finality and closure. You carry nothing from your life with you. No possessions, no honor, and no fame.

Saturn is time experienced as nightmare. Life is short and the end comes quick. You sense horror, tension, anxiety, and fear, but there is nothing that seems to define these emotions. They are just there like a nearly invisible mist surrounding you that follows you everywhere.

The temple now appears gloomy, dark, forbidding, and haunting. There is a sense of belonging nowhere. There is sadness, despair, feeling alone and abandoned, without support and without a home. You are on your own.

In the pageantry of life with this mood weighing upon you, you feel you have a small part to play and nothing you do makes any difference. No matter your station in life, the five senses offer no real stimulation. The feelings you share with others contain no celebration. For all the freedom you have or do not have, you might as well be living in a jail cell for all the difference it makes.

Ah, Mamercus, a priest I know, comes to greet us. He is from an aristocratic family named Bassianus. For some reason, he is incredibly relaxed. He walks as if he is strolling alongside a stream out in the woods. We enter a small room with an altar and candles. There is a vase in the center filled with water.

We sit down and he begins chanting. The sounds are hypnotic and spellbinding. But it is not a chant as much as a song. It recapitulates our experiences with life from the point of view of Saturn. This Saturn priest is a bard and he is singing a song of what it is to be alive.

Mamercus could be intoning a chorus of a play in a Roman theater except we are on the stage and it is our lives on display. The priest says, “It is not as you think. Time can be a friend. You begin life. You are given gifts. It is how you use what you have been given that counts.

“Saturn only asks that you find in life something of great value to work at or to accomplish. This can be inside yourself or in the outer world. Make something that endures.

“Rome itself is part of this struggle. There are buildings that we build that shall stand for thousands of years. What emperor can enter this city made of stone and leave it filled with marble? What general can set aside his rank and power and return to his villa leaving behind a tradition of honor that shall guide men for ages in the future?

“Each of us is a part of two worlds—an outer world and inner, spiritual world. We live and operate equally in both even though the outer world seems solid and real and the inner, the spiritual world, feels like a dream.

“You will know when you have entered Saturn’s dreams. There are soul to soul and heart to heart connections. What is within others transforms you and you in turn pass on a flame of inspiration to others.

“And yet there is more. Saturn itself can become your spirit guide. In this case, you are not on a spiritual quest. You are not operating as part of some mythic journey of some great hero.

“No. Saturn sets before you work to accomplish on earth that shall endure through all ages of the world and be of value to all races and people.

“You will know when you have undergone the initiation of Saturn. You perceive all men are your brothers and sisters. You see all nations as one community of humanity. And what you do in each moment would and will be honored as a work of the body, heart, and spirit whether it is witnessed thousands of years ago or thousands of years in the future. The words you speak are truth and illuminate like the sun.

“And yet this is not so far away, is it? Who among us has not shined like the sun and the moon to others in a dark night of their lives? To meet another where they are, to be with them and to comfort them, and then to walk by their side to a place of freedom and light—is this not the greatest and most sacred celebration of life?

“We are here on earth to learn, to grow, to experience new things, and to transform into something more than what we now are.

“And yet Saturn stalks us demanding what even the greatest of world teachers are hard pressed to achieve—

“To demonstrate that we have learned all that can be learned from life in the worlds of form we must show that we are able to create love where love does not exist and that we are able to be clear in our minds and free in our hearts under the worst and most difficult conditions of life.

“The voice of Saturn says to each of us, ‘Learn to be as me—weep not when death and fate take away. Renounce regret, sorrow, and loss. Every ending, separation, farewell, and goodbye is a sacred rite in my eyes. It contains my blessing and my voice.’”

For a little while we sit in silence allowing the words of the priest to echo through our memories and to clarify our choices.

And now our time with Mamercus comes to an end. It is ten o’clock at night. We walk out from among the columns of the Temple of Saturn in ancient Rome. We return to our hovel where the rats occasionally jump up on the table or else perhaps to our villa on the hill where we sit by the fountain out back in the garden where there is running water and statues made from marble.

In both cases we know that the life we now live is but a cloak we have put on. We shall take it off and put it on again many times in many different lands and we shall play roles in many different societies; until at last we master the lessons of the physical world and ascend. And then we shall sit in a circle among divine beings that hold in their hands the powers of creation. At which point, Saturn will have accomplished its mission—to insure we attain absolute freedom.

Essays (stories, novels) in the Hermetic Tradition of Franz Bardon

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