#part two of the core four gender edits

[meowicule]

it’s not a mistranslation, mori ogai likes kids: an look into anime translation and the bungo stray dogs fanbase

tldr; yes mori is a pedophile, he is not a “doting father”, this is a key point to his character

4/8 people voted that i should make this post and mg boyfriend said that if that won, i then was essentially obligated to make it. so i am making it. before i begin i just want to state a few things:

1. i’m not saying “We need to CANCEL!!!! fictional character MORI OGAI!!!” i’m just trying to elaborate on a common misconception regarding his character.

2. at the same time i’m also not saying that this is a good aspect of his character. obviously. this is bad. mori is a villain.

3. this is mostly about translation and less about mori so if you’re looking just for him and don’t want any context, section four discusses him.

this will be seperated into sections to hopefully make it easier to read but overall i’m just kind of rambling and i didn’t edit this so if it’s disorganized feel free to ask questions

PART ONE: translation overview

contrary to popular belief, the process of officially translating manga or anime from japanese to english is not typically the work of one person, especially when we’re considering anime/manga published and produced by major companies (anime: bones, manga: kadokawa shoten*). at its core (though processes and the nitty gritty is dependent on tons of factors), a translation will go through at least one translator, a typesetter/subtitle timer (manga/anime), and editors. for official translations, it is REVIEWED by typically multiple editors and revisors before being sent off to the public.

i feel many people talking about mistranslations assume incompetence and that it’s just one guy doing whatever he wants with the original text while the original creators are none the wiser (this is not true). generally this is born from the common belief among anime fans that japan is full of incompetent and naive people who have been isolated from society their whole life (ex: arguments on how japan doesn’t know what black people are, “legal age of consent” debates, etc). japan is not a magical land where everybody cannot do wrong and is simply misunderstood; you are just fucking insufferable.

this isn’t to say that mistranslations don’t happen but rather that they aren’t as common as a lot of anime fans like to claim.

*kadokawa shoten is a major publisher. repetoire includes: cowboy bebop, lucky star, mirai nikki, re:zero. their videogame section also did lollipop chainsaw, fun fact.

PART TWO: translating for understanding

the intent of a translated work is not to copy the text word by word but rather to communicate the core messages and ideas to a different audience. as i’m sure you’re aware, japanese and english are two different languages. going beyond just cultural understandings, the languages themselves utilize two entirely different alphabets. with that, english and japanese have different abilities in what they can communicate with the alphabet provided! a great example of language barriers are PRONOUNS.

in a very boiled down version, english pronouns are categorized by relation to the speaker, gender, and possession.

she = girl that is not the speaker

me = speaker

his = owned by boy that is not the speaker

your = owned by the person being spoken to

our PRONOUNS are not hierarchical. an old man and a young boy will both be referred to as “he”. titles such as “mr.” and “doctor” can elaborate on status and respect, but generally, a male doctor is going to use the same pronouns as a male farmer.

pronouns obviously go a lot deeper than that and i’m glossing over a lot of stuff but if you can read what i’m saying here then you know enough english to comprehend pronouns.

on the other hand, japanese includes multiple levels of formality in pronouns. this means that their pronouns are heavily based in context and can be considered hierarchical.

in english, the sentence “he is over there” only tells us the relative location “he” is to the speaker and the area. we know nothing about who “he” is and require more information to understand his place in the world.

in japan, however, the sentence “he is over there” would be translated in a way that would either formalize or deformalize “he”, providing us information on who he is and his place in the world as well as the personality of the speaker (are they more laidback or are they polite?).

all of this is to say that if you directly translate from one language to another, you lose a lot of the original meaning. that is why meaning is more important than exact translation. so, using the “he is over there” example:

if the japanese phrase uses formal pronouns, the english translation may look something like this: “dr. lastname is over there” or “the old man is over there”. instead of just saying “he is over there”, words are changed to replicate the formal intent of the japanese dialogue.

going beyond this, certain cultural references may be added or changed to resonate better with english audiences. using a more infamous example

4kids changed dialogue that likely originally referenced an enjoyment of onigiri to revolve around food that american kids are more likely to be familiar with. though in this particular instance the translation feels silly and unnecessary (since brock is obviously not actually talking about jelly-filled donuts and the onigiri staying in the visuals of the scene just creates confusion), the intent carries over. brock likes a food with flavored filling that is easily transportable. this scene was translated with audience understanding in mind and that is the point!

PART TWO POINT FIVE : why understanding matters

if you’re thinking, ‘well hey, i think understanding is stupid. why can’t anime just carry over japanese phrases and terms and just explain them later???’. well first off, they do. to avoid jelly-donut incidents, foods and places are often left romanized rather than changed and translator notes are utilized to explain these things to english audiences. HOWEVER, if you keep every word that doesn’t have a direct literal/cultural translation, you end up with this:

this specific example comes from a fan translation of death note. by prioritizing keeping the original work intact, the translator created something that would be mocked on the internet for years. they did not need to explain what keikaku meant, they just needed to put “plan” in the sentence in the first place. “all according to plan” is more understandable to audiences than “all according to keikaku (btw keikaku means plan)”. it simply distracts from the point of the scene rather than adding to it.

PART THREE: actual mistranslation

as mentioned earlier, mistranslations DO occur. however, most mistranslations happen intentionally. whether it be for censorship purposes or a miscalculation from the editors, a lot of the most famous mistranslations happen for a reason.

sailor moon is the best example of this. despite being produced by a major company and generally having the resources to create a good translation, the examples of mistranslations in the anime and manga have warranted hundreds of their own articles and thinkpieces. why were the translations so fucked? it wasn’t by accident but rather shoddy attempts at censorship.

most famous would be how in the original english version, sailor neptune and sailor uranus were said to be cousins. they are not. they are girlfriends. and it wasn’t until the show was retranslated by viz media in 2016 that they were allowed to be girlfriends!

some other intentional mistranslations in sailor moon include

- changing a gay man to be a straight woman

- cutting out/toning down violence and death

- fully cutting out episodes or scenes and reversing scenes that were kept to make them longer

- different names

- more slang (this is a pretty common mistranslation and generally the editing of dialogue to be more #cool with the kids is the most prevalent type of change in translations. such as atsushi saying bruh)

- moral recaps of episodes

PART FOUR: what the fuck does this have to do with mori.

i really did all of this explaining to showcase how there is literally no fucking way that mori was poorly translated in english. it is literally impossible for his behavior to be an accident and, unless we need to put the editors and translators in jail, there is no way somebody would add that character trait to him if it wasn’t involved in the original.

here is just one example of so many. but pay attention to fukuzawa’s word choice. do you still LUST after young girls. lust, as a word, refers explicitly and solely to sexual desire. if the translator wanted to show a nonsexual relationship towards young girls, the word lust would not be used. the usage of lust is intentional and, again, unless somebody needs to be put on a fucking registry, not a word you can use by accident.

it’s also really important to consider his ability. and before you say that the real mori ogai was asexual so that means bsd mori’s ability doesn’t refer to sexual desires, be serious. no longer human isn’t about how osamu dazai can cancel out other people’s abilities, it’s a fictional autobiography about a guy named yōzō who is the bojack horseman of japanese literature. their abilities tend to relate pretty loosely to their namesakes and the characters themselves aren’t 1:1 representations of their authors.

with that being said, the book vita sexualis was banned at the time for being an affront to human nature. all mori said was that he doesn’t think he feels sexual attraction. asexuality doesn’t matter in our society like nobody gaf the way they did when the book was released. does it not make sense for asagiri to adapt the impact of his work as opposed to the work itself. we do not see asexuality as a taboo crime but liking kids is something we all agree is an affront to human nature. so it makes sense that his ability reflects sexual attraction that horrifies us. odd writing decision but you can see how he got from point a to point b. his ability is a reflection of his sexual desires and as you can see from the yosano flashback, he is able to change elise’s temperament and appearance (as during the war, she was taller and more obedient) if he so chooses. her existence as a petulant child is deliberate.

so it is with all this being said that the original intent for mori was to be a creep and that is carried over in meaning by the english translation.

[archangelvibeboards]

“This is me, Bruce. For good and bad, because of what you taught me and what my Dad did--because of the things I think you’ve done poorly and the things you’ve done well. This is me now.”  -Tim Drake to Bruce Wayne (Red Robin #26 – What Goes Around…)

Some nonbinary Tim Drake vibes anyone? 

sized to the iphone x again lmk if you’d like a different size!

thanks to @autistic-damian-wayne​ for the second comic screencap Quote courtesy of @timdrakequotes​ 

Photo credits x | x x x | x x | x x | x

Requests are open!

[writterings]

hey so i know we all saw his ad a few months back and collectively cringed just based upon the phrasing of this but GOD this was genuinely such a good novel and this ad seriously does not do it justice

i left a review on goodreads for it but it hasnt posted yet. this is what i said:

I originally saw somewhat “cringey” advertisements for this on tumblr and was immediately turned off. And then I saw it was available on kindle. I usually use kindle use to read dumb romance novels and thought this would fit the bill.

Boy, was I wrong in the best way. Sure, there’s romance. But god, the plot? Is amazing. There’s inter-planetary politics, realistic approaches to slowly fixing the effects of imperialism, a realistic portrayal of an abuse victim who’s been gaslit and how people respond to finding this out, SUPER complex space tech that is explained in an understandable way, SUPER amazing world building, a ton of exciting action, and - at its core - a story about two people thrust into an unhappy situation coming to love and care for each other, as well as make some more friends and connections along the way. There were two big parts that genuinely made me have to put down the book out of shock. (No spoilers - but let’s just say one involved a certain “dead” prince and the other an important “I love him.”)

I’m a full time student with two jobs - I genuinely do not get a lot of free time. But I still read this book in four days, averaging about 100 pages per day. It was THAT good. I had to force myself to put it down at times so I could actually do real life things.

Is this book perfect? Probably not. But honestly I found it so good from an objective point and from a personal point that I can’t think of any criticism to say about it right now.

Also, this is more of a side note - but as a trans person, I love how this “world” approaches the concept of gender. I guess slight spoilers but not really - anyways, people are just the gender they say they are and there’s no question to it. The only issue that arises around gender is different cultures have different ways to present and signify gender so sometimes the characters get confused but immediately accept it and move on when they’re corrected. There quite a few non-binary characters and one character I interpreted as a trans woman (though this society doesn’t really seem to have a concept of “trans”, since they base gender around what the individual says they are regardless of how they look or what their assigned “birth gender” was.) But yeah, love the gender in this book.

Overall, a great book. Made me cry at times because I’m an emotional sap and because you genuinely do connect with the characters. Highly recommend.

okay so this review of mine doesn’t fully cover all my feelings about this book but in fairness i wrote this review at 2 am. anyways go read this book.

edit: wow okay just realized i never even said the name of the novel in this post

anyways go read Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell

[tipsydipsydo]

➳ Virgin! AU

➳ Foursome; soft Sex

Pairing: Yoongi x virgin! Reader x Taehyung x Jungkook

Gender of the Reader: female

Word Count: ~1k

Genre: Fluff; Smut

Warnings: Sexual Language + soft Dirty Talk; Polyamory Relationship; virgin! Reader; first experiences; talk about boundaries/consent; Petnames; Praising; Worship; (double) Fingering; everything is really kinda soft~

A/N: After some time I've finally written another drabble again and I hope y'all like it. It's really soft and sweet!

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「© tipsydipsydo」

This following story is my intellectual property and belongs only to my blog tipsydipsydo.tumblr.com!

I’ll not accept any kind of reposting, stealing or using/editing my work!

That includes reposting my content on other social media platforms too, even when you link me as the original author.

Thank you.

Small breathy pants and whimpered moans are leaving your swollen lips, everything is so new for you and you don’t really have a clue how to handle all these new feelings which are running through your inexperienced system. You’re biting down onto your lower lip once again, trying to suppress the urge to vocalize your desire and need, no matter if they’re just noises or messily spilled out words. Obscene yet so arousing squelching sounds are filling the room, the combination of all these things let your whole body trembles in sexual ecstasy. 

Both of your legs are bend up to your chest by one of Taehyung’s and Kook’s hand while two fingers of their other hand are buried deep into your tight pussy. Fingering you slowly with four fingers in perfect synchronized harmony open. As if that wouldn’t be already overwhelming enough, Yoongi, who is sitting behind you and supports your shaking body, is flicking mercilessly with his index and middle finger over your swollen clit. 

Flustered and hiccuping you turn your head toward the crook of Yoongi’s neck, hiding your face away from Taehyung’s and Jungkook’s attentive and curious eyes. They are a little too attentive for your own taste. 

Unfortunately your sudden movement let Tae’s and Jungkook’s Hands slowing down, Yoongi’s fingers on your clit pauses as well. All of them are taking their hands away from your private area and letting your legs go down, respecting your privacy. Well, this is something you absolutely didn’t want to happen, which is why a desperate mewl flees out of your mouth that you couldn’t control anymore. 

A deep but loving chuckle rumbles through Yoongi’s chest, wrapping his left arm a little tighter around your torso und pull you closer to his own body. It’s just a sweet little gesture but it gives you a sense of calming support, helps your poor heart to slow the rapid pace of your heartbeat down again. 

As soon as your hitched breath regulated itself again, you turn your head hesitantly back to your two other lovers. Both of them welcome you with a gentle and heartwarming smile, rubbing the big palms of one of their hands soothingly over the sensitive skin of your thighs. 

“Oh Angel, are you sure that everything is fine? Are you uncomfortable with anything we’re doing? Please tell us when something doesn’t feel good for you! We really care with our entire heart for you and we want that you feel good and safe with us.”, questions Jungkook and lift gently your chin, so he is able to look into your eyes. 

You press unconsciously your lips together into a small line and nod, still flustered from the behaviors of your own body and voice. You want to explain what made you so shy and embarrassed out of the sudden, you really want to... but your throat is so dry in this moment, not a single word wants to come out of your mouth. 

“Besides that, don’t be ever ashamed of anything, there’s no reason for any shame about how your body responds to our action or what noises you make.”, says Jungkook softly and lean over to you, cupping one of your cheek and press a sweet but short kiss on your lips. Trying to clarify the meaning behind his words. 

“Moreover... -and I think everyone of us can agree with that- your moans and whimpers are really fucking attractive, I love them so much and they’re driving us crazy, Baby. Not to be too open and blunt but... I think we all are rock hard thanks alone to your delicious noises.”, add Taehyung and flash one of his very well known boxy grins at you. You’re too cute for your own good, Tae couldn’t resist to send you a slightly teasing wink afterwards. 

“U-Uhm... I-I just... I’m not really used to get touched by someone else and to make such noises... usually when I touch m-myself, I don’t really express my feelings with m-moans or something like that...”, you mumble quietly, looking down onto Yoongi’s hand which holds you close. Even though you trust all of them with your whole heart, you just can’t put your shy and overthinking nature completely down. Maybe that’s why you struggle so much to let yourself go, to give all control away and to simply enjoy what’s happening tonight. 

“That’s absolutely okay and completely valid, Sweetheart. We know that everything is a complete new experience for you and that’s why we try to make it as good as possible for you. To make sure you’re not overwhelmed or that we didn’t infringe your boundaries. What do you think, are you comfortable to move on or do you want to stop here?”, asks Yoongi is his deep, raspy voice and draws small circles with his thumb on the skin of your pubic bone. He took his fingers away from your private parts like the other boys did, he wouldn’t touch you there until you didn’t gave them explicitly your consent that you’re comfortable with their actions. 

“Please... please continue with what you did before... I-I really want this here, I’m just a little shy and flustered sometimes. Please... I need it.”, you whimper out in a shaking voice, encourage them with a needy buck of your hips. 

“Okay, Babygirl... you’ll get everything you want. Just communicate a little more with us, yeah? This here is a safe space, you can demand and deny whatever you’re comfortable or not with.”, makes Taehyung with a small smile clear before his middle- and ringfinger join Jungkook’s fingers in your core. 

Soon after they continued with their work to pleasure you, you couldn’t keep your mouth shut even if you wanted to. Now, you couldn’t care less about those stupid and unimportant things. The one and only thought which dominate your clouded mind was the chase of your high. You’d do everything for your lovers to earn this incredible and mind numbing orgasm they build up in your body. 

“Oh Princess, you’re did so well. Let yourself go, we are here to catch you when you’re reaching your high. Come for us.”, rasps Jungkook in his hoarse and arousal drained voice. 

That was all you needed to see Heaven. 

[ace-trainer-risu]

what are your fave diana wynne jones books that aren’t howl’s moving castle??

Oh whattt a lovely and fun question which I was definitely not secretly hoping someone would ask!!!! Yay!!

Hm okay so, not specifically in order, probably my top fave Diana Wynne Jones books would be:

Deep Secret! Deep Secret is not just one of my favorite books by DWJ but one of my favorite books full stop! It’s so good. Basically, the premise is that there is an infinite series of interconnected worlds, some of which have magic and some of which don’t, at the center of which is a vast interdimensional magical empire. Magic in the multiverse is overseen by an organization of magicians called Magids and there must always be a specific number of Magids in existence. When Rupert, a young Magid living on Earth, discovers that his mentor has died (ish) he becomes unexpectedly responsible for finding and training the next Magid, which is extremely inconvenient timing for him because the aforementioned magical empire is on the brink of civil war and chaos and its his job to stop it. And also almost all of this takes place at...a science fiction convention. It’s amazing.  I have read this book minimum four (probably more) times and every time it’s absolutely delightful and hilarious. I would like to go to the sci fi convention in this novel more than anything. It’s such a good read and its one of her few novels which is specifically aimed at adults, so I would EXTREMELY recommend it. Plus the romance in it is extremely good...not exactly enemy-to-lovers but more like ‘annoys-the-shit-out-of-each-other’ to lovers.  (**One note about this one...there’s a few very briefly mentioned side characters who are gender noncomforming and even tho they are actually portrayed very positively, it’s not necessarily ideal and 100% respectful (basically the protags comment on them being very beautiful and nice but also keep trying to guess their “real” gender). Additionally there’s a different briefly mentioned side character who is fat who isn’t portrayed very nicely. Both of these are brief incidents, just wanted to provide a warning for them)

Dark Lord of Derkholm - Okay this one is weirdly hard to summarize but it’s about this magical fantasy world which has been taken overy and is being used as a tourist destination by a non-magical world (heavily implied to be Earth) for people who want to role play at being in a classic high fantasy story, including fighting and killing THE DARK LORD...who is really just a random magician pretending to be evil. The inhabitants of the fantasy world do not enjoy this and are trying desperately to stop the tours, but unfortunately according to a magical oracle, their best hope of stopping the tours is this year’s Dark Lord, a hapless farmer magician named Derk, and his, um, eccentric family consisting of his glamorous wife, seven children (of whom five are griffins and one is a bard) and a simply improbable amount of magical animals. And also there is a very good dragon.  I think Derkholm is so great as a novel b/c it’s a very funny, loving but sharp, parody of high fantasy stories...but a lot of the time parodies only function as parodies but not as good stories in their own right, you know? But this novel completely functions as a story too, and in fact the first time I read at maybe age nine or ten, the high fantasy parody went completely over my head...but I still loved it. I also really love that this novel is very accessible to all ages, I think I enjoy reading it as an adult just as much as I did as a kid, which is rare.  For anyone who has read Howl’s Moving Castle but nothing else by DWJ and isn’t sure where to start, I think this is a great place to start. (TW: There’s a brief, non-explicit scene which has implied sexual assault.) 

Fire and Hemlock - This may be the most controversial one since it features a romance with a significant age gap where the two characters meet when one is a child and the other an adult. And I fully agree that that’s :/ and normally that trope is NOT my thing but it doesn’t come off at all creepy in this story imo, and if you think you can deal with that then this is a very weird, atmospheric, cool book about storytelling and fairy tales and growing up. The short summary (this is another hard to summarize one) is that as a child, Polly encounters and strikes up a friendship and correspondence with a young man, Tom, which mainly consists of the two of them jointly making up a silly, ongoing fairy tale type story...but things get weird when parts of their story start to come true in real life.  I’ve only read this one twice but it really stuck with me and in fact just describing it here...really makes me want to read it again!

The Chrestomanci Series - So all of the above are either specifically aimed at adults or a general audience whereas the Chrestomanci series is aimed at children, mainly a middle grade type audience. And tbh I started reading them as a kid (fond memory - I bought an omnibus of the first two with my allowance money...b/c it had a cat on the cover!) so I don’t know what it would be like to first read these as an older teen or an adult. BUT. Honestly they are really good and would be a quick read so I do still recommend them. There’s seven overall, with th seventh being a collection of short stories, and they’re only semi-chronological so the reading order isn’t vital. My recommended order (b/c this the order I read them in, haha) is Charmed Life, The Lives of Christopher Chant, The Magicians of Caprona, Witch Week, The Pinhoe Egg, Conrad’s Fate, and then Mixed Magic you can read whenever you want so long as you read it after Charmed Life and The Magicians of Caprona.  So the very core premise of it is not dissimilar to Deep Secret - there’s an infinite series of worlds/universes and there’s a magician, called the Crestomanci in this case, who is responsible for making sure magic isn’t abused across the multiverse. The Chrestomanci is an extremely powerful enchanter who has nine lives, and the novels are various semi-connected stories about the adventures of Chrestomanci as an adult and child. Chrestomanci is a title so it’s not always the same person, but for the majority of the stories it is the same guy and he’s...the best/worst...He’s this extremely handsome, charismatic, powerful enchanter who is very good at his job, loves his wife a lot, wears very beautiful clothes and makes, um, questionable life choices and is very annoying to everyone. I’ve thought about this very hard and I believe that he’s what happens when you take a fundamentally chaotic good person and make him do a fundamentally lawful good job; yes, he’s going to do it and do it well, but he is going to do it in the most chaotic, ridiculous way possible, and he IS going to die at an ALARMING rate, doing things that would not normally kill a person, such as playing cricket and trying to catch stray cats. He also, as previously mentioned, frequently wears very dramatic silk dressing gowns with elaborate embroidery, which the protag of Charmed Life finds deeply alarming.  It’s very odd to me how these books don’t seem to be well known, because the Chrestomanci books were some of my absolute favorite books as a child. I still have my omnibus editions of the first four novels and they are very worn and very beloved. And it’s so WILD to me that I don’t think I have ever talked to someone who also read those as a kid! Like I’m not saying those people don’t exist, I’m sure I just haven’t met them, but that’s so weiiirddddd to me. If I bring up Tamora Pierce or Garth Nix or other authors of weird, eccentric children’s fantasy novels to other avid childhood consumers of fantasy, people usually know what I mean, but Chrestomanci and its just..crickets. Is it b/c she’s British? Anyway all of the Chrestomanci books are very degrees of good, but if I had to pick a favorite, I think, controversial choice here, it would be Conrad’s Fate. Particularly in terms of recommendations to others, Conrad’s Fate works as a standalone and, unlike the other books in the series, it’s aimed more at a YA audience, so if you wanted to read a Chrestomanci novel without getting into the whole series, that’s a good way to go. It’s about a boy, Conrad, who is told that he has a terrible, possibly fatal Fate awaiting him unless he goes to work as a servant at a wealthy, and weird, estate neighboring his town, at which place he encounters things including color changing livery, an extremely annoying teenage Chrestomanci, and the greatest liminal space house EVER. It’s like a combination of an upstairs/downstairs Downton Abbey type social drama with bizarre fantasy shenanigans. How could that not be good??

Also as Honorable Mentions - A Sudden and Wild Magic and The Time of the Ghost. A Sudden and Wild Magic is fun b/c it’s one of her few works aimed specifically at adults and it’s (gasp) a little bit NAUGHTY which I was very surprised and delighted by when I read it. (This may seem like an unfair statement considering that Deep Secret fully has an orgy in it, but Rupert is so fundamentally unnaughty of a character that he completely unnaughtifies the whole novel, whereas Sudden and Wild Magic embraces being a (little bit) naughty.)   The Time of the Ghost on the other hand is weird and haunting and creepy and atmospheric. I only read it once but it’s one of those novels you just think about periodically and go “wait what the fuck that was a weird novel” (Also known as the “Garth Nix” effect) 

[potteresque-ire]

More ask answer about Word of Honour (山河令, WoH) and the so-called “Dangai 101 phenomenon” under the cut ~ with all the M/M relationships shown on screen, does it mean improved acceptance / safety for the c-queer community?

Due to its length (sorry!), I’ve divided the answer into 3 parts: 1) Background 2) Excerpts from the op-eds 3) Thoughts This post is PART 2 💛. As usual, please consider the opinions expressed as your local friendly fandomer sharing what they’ve learned, and should, in no ways, be viewed as necessarily true. :)

(TW: homophobic, hateful speech quoted)

The following are three opinion pieces published by state-controlled media re: Dangai and WoH:

O1) Published on 2021/03/04, in Shanghai Observer 上觀新聞

8.6分爆款武俠劇《山河令》背后，是90后愛看的江湖 Behind the 8.6-score Wuxia drama WoH is the Jianghu loved by those born after 1990

[Pie note: the 8.6 score refers to the score WoH got from the popular TV and film review site, Douban]

O2) Published on 2021/03/16, in China Comment 半月談:

國產電視劇掀起「耽改」熱：「腐文化」出圈，青少年入坑 The Rise of Dangai in C-dramas: “Rot Culture” exits Circle, Youth fell into the Ditch

and its related editorial:

「耽改劇」 盛行？警惕對「腐文化」進行無底線炒作和過度消費 Dangai Dramas Prevailing? Be alert to the Uncurbed Hyping and Excessive Consumption of “Rot Culture”

[Pie Note: “Exiting the Circle” (出圈) and “Falling into the Ditch” (入坑) are both fandom vocabularies. “Exiting the circle” refers to something being so famous that it is no longer contained within fandom (the circle) and instead, breaks into public consciousness, mainstream. “Falling into a Ditch” means to fall for a fandom so hard that one cannot crawl their way out it. For example, c-turtles commonly refers to their joining the YiZhan fandoms as ditch falling, followed by being “hammered to the bottom of the ditch” by Gg and Dd’s candies.

“Rot” 腐 refers to the same rot as in fujoshi 腐女 and “rot selling” 賣腐 described in PART 1.]

O3) Published on 2021/04/07, in 光明日報 Enlightenment Daily

耽美作品改编盛行带偏大众审美 Popularity of Dangai Dramas leads the Public’s Aesthetic Astray

To summarise first,

* Article O1 was very light on the characterisation of Danmei—the terms Danmei and Dangai never even appeared in the article. It focused, instead, on WoH’s Wuxia elements, including the beauty of its presentation—much like People Daily’s review of TU focused on the drama’s aesthetics, including its world view. The relationship between Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing was never mentioned, not even garnering a description such as 摯友 (“close friend”) as LWJ and WWX did. The article did point out that the drama was catering to a women audience.

* Article O2a (the opinion piece) and O2b (the editorial) are about Danmei and Dangai, collectively as the subculture they named “Rot Culture” (腐文化). No drama names are mentioned (in reading Chinese news, it’s important to note whether the critiqued target is named or not; the former (點名批評) is considered significantly harsher). The article, as hinted by the word “rot” in its title, leaned heavily towards characterising Danmei and Dangai by the traditional BL characterisation. Article O2a was also the only article out of the four that explicitly addressed  homosexuality. Rather than addressing the queer elements in Danmei/Dangai as queer, however, the article argued the genres could turn their young audience queer.

* Article O3 is also about Danmei and Dangai as the “Rot Culture” subculture, without the naming of any dramas. This article is notable for its association of the genres and the state’s concern with the “feminisation” of Chinese men.

Based on these op-eds, the state is characterising Danmei and Dangai predominantly as characterisation 2 — traditional BL, women’s fantasy. They recognised the psychological need behind the popularity of the genres among their (het) women audience, and the tone, is overall, of understanding and approval:

One of the cores of Dangai is the pursuit of “beauty”. The “double male leads” in Dangai dramas score sufficiently high beauty points to become the party to be defined, to be gazed, to be consumed. It is a counterattack to the male gaze. In addition, such “double male leads” enjoying equal relationship, admiring each other and fighting together shoulder-to-shoulder, also reflects the ideals of women towards relationships.

In the visual world of Dangai, two beautiful men respecting and treasuring each other, progressing together shoulder-to-shoulder, not only fits with women’s ideal model of  relationships, but also also create wide, yet-to-be filled emotional spaces for women’s unstoppable imagination to flex. Such relationships have less considerations of reality and self-interest, and thus appear to be more pure.

However, these opinion pieces have also made clear that the state saw the queer elements surrounding the genre, and its opinion of them is much more … reserved, especially when they cross the fiction / reality line and become the focus of the promotion of the dramas via the actors, who straddle that fiction / reality line.

Due to the lengths of these articles, I’m only translating the notable “chunks” in each of them—the “chunks” that connect the genres with queerness. I’m deliberately keeping these passages as “chunks”—ie, without removing sentences in the middle—to highlight the state’s logic in making the connection.

From O2a: 國產電視劇掀起「耽改」熱：「腐文化」出圈，青少年入坑 The Rise of Dangai in C-dramas: “Rot Culture” exits Circle, Youth fell into the Ditch

“M/M CP”, “Beautiful Men Economy”, topics surrounding this market—today, nobody bets an eye anymore at “selling the rot” being the industrial phenomenon. “Sell the rot” is to sell “rot culture”, with “rot culture” being the subculture for the audience’s imagination, of M/M (ambiguous) love stories for major content.

Such subculture, if confined within its fandoms, may be harmless. However, if it is to be adapted into TV dramas in significant scale, if it is to break through the subculture circles and enter the realm of general public entertainment, then one must take caution of its bad influence, especially to inexperienced youths.

With the established review system for web and TV dramas, production teams often remove the “romantic plot line” between the two male leads in the original Danmei canon and display “brotherhood love” in the TV drama, while “playing edge ball” to provide their audience with room for imagination. In the subsequent promotion and marketing, however, the two male actors may have to “sell the rot” as well.

[Pie note: I’m translating 打擦边球 literally as “playing edge ball” as this is a very commonly used term in discussions of China’s censorship. It means to step as close to the forbidden line as possible without crossing it, to take advantage of loopholes.]

Author of the article “On the Danmei-ization of Chinese Dramas” believes that, in recent years, CPs “selling the rot” , the practice of which is rooted in Danmei culture, have become a hit in the Chinese TV industry. TV dramas with Danmei elements entice their audience to create CPs around the leads of the dramas; they make use of the fervour generated by the discussion topic to achieve high viewership.

In recent years, academics have already expressed concern and investigated the influence of Danmei culture on the youth’s gender awareness, their opinions of marriage etc. For example, the article “Sexual Orientation of Some Youths in Hunan Province and Analysis of their Potential Causes” investigated the sexual orientation of 1,260 youths in the province and discovered that: among males, 2.9% self-identified as homosexuals, 4.9% bi-sexuals, 12.4% unknown; among females, 2.4%, 12.4%, 14.3% respectively. 37.5% of the people knew about Danmei or Doujin (同人; fandom), among which 32.3% indicated they “liked” it. 11.9% indicated that they longed for the homosexual romance in such works.

The author of the article analysed that, students who knew about Danmei or Doujin were more likely to report bisexuality or unknown sexual orientation. This demonstrated the influence of such culture on the sexual orientation of youths.

( Cartoon from O2a, titled “Learning to be “cool” 學酷 )

From O2b:「耽改劇」 盛行？警惕對「腐文化」進行無底線炒作和過度消 Dangai Dramas Prevailing? Be alert to the Uncurbed Hyping and Excessive Consumption of “Rot Culture”

Not to be overlooked is this: the severe reality of “Rot culture” exiting the circle and becoming immensely popular is urgently awaiting the entire society’s alert and attention. Objectively speaking, many Dangai works are not aspiring to positively, proactively guide and display Danmei culture, but only to set up attention-grabbing gimmicks, the purpose of which is solely to “sell the rot”. Not a small number of Dangai’s plots are illogical. Worse, in order to attract attention and satisfy the “taste” of fans, some production companies are forcibly selling “M/M CPs”,  conducting “bound” promotion [Pie note: as in bound by CP pairing] and embarrassing interactions [Pie note: as in, getting the actors to interact in a suggestively romantic way] , “playing the edge ball” [Pie note: as explained above] to generate personalities, consuming “Rot Culture” without a bottom line. These poor marketing tactics not only hurt the interest of Danmei audience, but interfere with the online environment and its order. The indulgence of radical language, moreover, challenges and affects mainstream values. These bad influences must be paid attention to and supervised.

From O3) 耽美作品改编盛行带偏大众审美 Popularity of Dangai Dramas leads the Public’s Aesthetic Astray

In addition to the explosion of the number of Dangai dramas, many dramas that are not originally Dangai are attaching themselves to the Dangai genre, by setting up double male leads, by playing up the suggestive atmosphere between male characters in their plot lay out. Some variety shows make use of the plot setup, the post-editing, the promotion of topics etc, to forcibly pair up their male guests for the purpose of hype and attention. This vulgar custom of “playing edge ball” as a means to tempt, to lead the audience into indulging in fantasies [Pie note: sexual fantasies implied by the idiom 想入非非] have spread from visual media production to the areas of promotion and marketing. Some interviews, magazine photoshots, short video production have also joined the bandwagon of borrowing the popularity of Danmei culture. They use all sorts of sensitive topics to tease and excite the public, tirelessly, happily guiding the fans to overanalyse Dangai dramas and even, the relationship between the actors of Dangai dramas. With the push of such gimmicks, Danmei is reaching the public through multiple channels, gathering popularity and turning into a phenomenon.

From O3) 耽美作品改编盛行带偏大众审美 Popularity of Dangai Dramas leads the Public’s Aesthetic Astray

Men with delicate looks, with traditionally feminine (soft and reserved) quality, are often sought after by the rot women (fujoshis). There has been a recent, popular saying in the industry: to find out if a male star is popular or not, find out if there are fans calling him “wife”. Artists with a tough image often do not make it big, but explode in popularity once they switch to a soft beauty style. Netizens have teased “Ten years as a tough man known by none; one day as a beauty known by all”. This take on aesthetics is influencing visual media creation and entertainment production to a certain extent. Watching from a distance, more and more traffic-generating stars look like “cream young men” [Pie note: 奶油小生, from 奶油 “cream” + 小生, “the role of young men in traditional Chinese opera”, is an old-fashioned term traditionally used to describe young, good-looking actors who often presented as pale, mild-mannered, scholarly]. Some entertainment venture capital picks “flower men” as their choice for leads regardless of the TV dramas/films’ subject matter, follows the young (male) idol path. Commercial products and ads extend their offers to “little fresh meat” [Pie note: 小鲜肉 is the nickname for young (male) idols]. Even cosmetics, which have conventionally been thought of as women-only products, are no longer asking only women stars to be their spokespeople. Feminine beauty can exist, but all things shouldn’t be taken to the extreme. As “flower men” overflow on screen, masculine, tough men are reducing in numbers. This may counter the basic rules of art creation, and disrupt the development of diverse social aesthetics.

Any product produced by the mind, in the process of production, is also producing minds that will accept it, consume it. Audience of Dangai include not only adults, but also not-too-mature youths who pursue “Rot Culture” as a fashionable trend. In particular, as the aesthetics of men in the eyes of young women turn even more feminine, such change can indirectly influence the cognition of young men, cause the young men to subconsciously shift their own gender expression closer to the feminine beauty anticipated by women. Most Dangai stories are far removed from reality; some young audience nonetheless mix them up with real life, develop biased understanding such as “only love that doesn’t treat matrimony and reproduction as destinations is true love”. Although Daigai is often made “Danmei-less”, in that the romantic relationship between the two male leads are re-written as brothers and zhiji (confidants), the canon and the Rot Culture behind it still hides large amounts of pornographic, violent content, including biased, unhealthy perspectives on gender, and un-scientific, even wrong biological knowledge. If such content isn’t given restrictions, it will seriously mislead the values and self-fulfilment of the young.

PART 1 PART 2 <-- YOU ARE HERE PART 3

[bogkeep]

theo’s tarot collection

hi hello i suffer from a terrible ailment called I Keep Acquiring New Tarot Decks Even Though I Am A Tarot Newbie.... so i figured i could do a little writeup about my decks if anyone is interested in that :’) basically i started doing tarot in 2019 because i couldn’t get a hold of a therapist (i was put on a year long waitlist WAHOO) so i basically. self-medicated with tarot readings hahaha. i had a friend who gave me a lot of really good advice and had done some readings for me before who felt immensely comforting. the way i read them is like... it allows you to confront your situation and your emotions through a new angle, but you gotta be brave enough to do it - or ask someone to do it for you. it can be a really intense but also cathartic experience. it’s not for everyone! but i like it. i still consider myself a novice and still learning so i am not in ANY way trying to paint myself as a Knowledgabl Tarot Witch - in a perfect timeline that’s who i wish i was, but i’m ultimately just some guy with a solid appreciation for art and personal growth.

ANYWAY... onto my DECKS (the tumblr post will probably squish the quality outta my photos so i’m gonna link the URLs for Full View)

Children of Litha by Alexandria Huntington

i consider this my main and first deck (i am NOT counting the official homestuck deck i bought as a teen just because i wanted to look at the art. no offense to the homestuck deck i’m just not gonna use fandom decks)! i picked it out but my Tarot Friend gifted it to me... i think it’s a very good starter deck for me personally, and it’s the deck i’ve bonded with and used the most. i even put a fancy sticker on the box as part of the bonding process. i always feel so bad for all of my other decks because i haven’t been able to dedicate as much time for them as i have this one... so it’s definitely the deck i go to for the most accurate readings for myself. Vibes and Thematic Coherence: the art in this is so beautiful and elegant. the symbolism more or less draws on the classic smith-waite deck, but redrawn for its theme. i like that it has a very consistent imagery! out of the major arcana, the fool is the only fully human character - every other character is part animal in some way or other. then the suit of swords depicts birds, winged insects and the air element, coins depict ungulates and equines and earth, wands has felines and canines and fiery imagery, and cups has fish and creatures of and in the sea. the court cards have humans. the suit symbols are always depicted consistently, as white silhouettes. there are also two extra cards: the all and the void. Pamphlet: the reason i think this was a good starter deck is because both because the art feels very intuitive about what it depicts (to me, at least), the descriptions in the pamphlet describe what is happening and why the artist chose this motif for this card. it has honestly helped me remember the meanings a lot, because i’ll be reading the other decks and be like “oh that’s the octopus card i know what the octopus card is about”. there are also little poems next to the main descriptions that work as a pretty solid tl;dr for the core meanings. i also like that the court cards are referred to in the sense of like... a knight is “a young person with masculine energy” rather than “a young man”. it feels more fluid and vibe-y about gender than traditional decks ya feel. on a range from Abstract to Directness this one feels like it sits pretty comfortable in the middle, maybe leaning on Abstractness. it has always given me gentle instructions and advice.

Cardfeel: the cards are very smooth and nice with gold edges. the cards are not NOT solid, but i wish they had been a little thicker because i’m always afraid i’m going to accidentally damage them - but that’s probably a feeling i have about most of my possessions tbh!! i think they’re a good size, too, at least for my small hands. they’re more on the long/slender side so they are good for me to shuffle. i also like the box, it’s a hard flip box with a magnet. i think u can’t go wrong with that. this is the deck i’ve travelled with the most (did u know hotel beds are the best tarot reading spaces. for some reason they just Work). The Spacious Tarot by Annie Ruygt and Carrie Mallon

this is one i really like a lot and want to use more! i absolutely adore the concept of it, but it’s a little harder for me to read than the Litha one. Vibes and Thematic Coherence: this one is like!!! it’s about the open space and the quietness. the vibes are IMMACULATE. the cards aren’t filled to the brim with happenstance and symbolism, but they each feel like a little refuge. very meditative. i also like that the court cards are not gendered at all - there is no page, knight, queen and king, but rather child, explorer, guardian and elder. i am really into that, especially as steps of mastery of their suit. i do think that this deck is probably easier to read if you’re more experienced with tarot meanings and symbolisms, because the illustrations aren’t necessarily that intuitive. Pamphlet: i haven’t read through this one very much, but i think it’s more on the abstract side of the Abstract to Direct scale. it might just feel like that because it describes what the card symbolizes without drawing much on what the card depicts - it is generally a pretty abstract and meditative deck. i like it for what it is! but it’s harder for me to read than my main Litha deck. Cardfeel: there’s something about the cardfeel i wish was different. they’re perfectly ok cards, they’re smooth and not too thin, but i still wish they had had more heft or something. while the cards fit very well into my hands i think maybe they could’ve been Larger to emphasize their motifs of openness and space. or texture. or gilded edges. i really don’t know what i want. the box however is very good and easy to open and use!! never underestimate a good box.

Tarot of the Divine by Yoshi Toshitani

this is a deck i Had To Get because i knew the artist was working on it and i was always Planning To... it is not a deck i use very often but i absolutey adore it. you can also get it with an accompanying fairytale book, i thought i had ordered that but i was Wronge. Vibes and Thematic Coherency: it depicts motifs and characters from stories, myths, and fairytales from a vast variety of cultures. it’s AMAZING. the art is so clean and crisp and i was VERY EXCITED to find a card drawing on a sami story (page of coins)! i don’t have a lot to say except that yoshi yoshitani has done some incredible work on this. Pamphlet: while i do not have the Fairytale Book edition, the pamphlet is really super nice because it shows pictures of the cards, lists what story it depicts and where the story is from, gives a short description for how this scene or character embodies the card. it then lists some of the Card Characteristics beneath. very simple but very nice. i really like pamphlets that explain Why the artist picked the motifs they did - for me personally it really helps me connect to the deck and their symbols. it’s probably more on the Direct side of the scale thanks to this. Cardfeel: these are textured!! they feel like the playing card deck my grandmother has, which feels apt to me. textures make the cards feel solid to me. they’re also a very nice size to hold. the edges are not guilded, but with the white frames it looks good and nice. the box is nice but also Large, possibly to fit with the book? might not be ideal for travel, but there’s nothing stopping you from getting a different box or pouch.

The Star Spinner Tarot by Trung Le Nguyen

my most recent deck... i KNEW about the artist and the deck from before, but wasn’t PLANNING to get it, but then i saw it in the comic book store and i wasn’t able to pass it by. no regrets, it’s a wonderful deck. Vibes and Thematic Coherence: absolutely lovely art and style. it’s another deck drawing on fairytale themed motifs. i’m loving the use of colors and circles. it also has four different cards for the Lovers so you can choose which one(s) speak to you the most, something i think is just wonderful. i think the only thing i found a little... odd? was that the suit of Wands looks kinda same-y, which isn’t a bad thing, but it was the only suit that looked that way to me. they’re still very very nice. ALSO THE BACK OF THE CARDS ARE SHINY. I JUST THINK THAT’S VERY LOVELY. as a Physical Product these are chef’s kiss. Pamphlet: on the Abstract to Directness scale, these are VERY DIRECT. the pamphlet doesn’t say a lot about why the cards depict what they do, but go straight into card meaning, and in a very unambiguous way. i think it can both work very well, leaving you little room to avoid your feelings, but it also has a higher margin to miss completely. for being such a cutesy deck full of fairies the pamphlet is definitely giving you a smack at the side of your head. i haven’t used this deck a lot yet due to its newness, but i definitely want to try it out more to see what it does to me.

Cardfeel: out of all of my decks i think this has the best cardfeel... the cards feel really solid, and have a very good size that feel just right for them. like i sort of fell in love with the deck when i actually started shuffling it and browsing the cards. buying cards - especially on the internet - can be a gamble because you Can’t Know The Cardfeel. with decks like the Spacious Tarot i got a little dissappointed, but this one was a very pleasant surprise. also the box is very good and look like a work of art. The Fyodor Pavlov Tarot

honestly one of my new favourite decks that i ABSOLUTELY am going to use more and become more familiar with. also a deck that i knew the artist was working on, and supported the kickstarter the moment it was announced. my deck also came with two Magician cards and i don’t know why. extra wizard for me??? Vibes and Thematic Coherence: the look and feel of this deck is Immaculate. it looks very classical and traditional (and absolutely gorgeous), it is grounded in the classical smith-waite imagery but Expands Upon It, draws on the diversity of human culture and experiences... also loving the energy of “THIS CARD IS TRANS NOW AND THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT” many cards have (most famously the Lovers, but i don’t want to post pics of any of the cards depicting nudity or risqué themes on tumblr). i absolutely adore the knight of coins card (THE HORSE IS HIS FRIEND AND SERVICE ANIMAL!!). it’s just Really Very Good. also the backside has pretty Shiny stars and i like it. Pamphlet: i really like this one. it is a deeply personal pamphlet, where fyodor pavlov directly discusses his relationship to the cards and why he chose the motifs he did. it feels really grounded in the world we live in, and also such a vulnerable thing to share with us all. it’s on the Direct side of the scale without necessarily telling you “the card is definitely this one thing”. my only wish is that it was easier to navigate at a glance. Cardfeel: THEY ARE TEXTURED!!! these cards are definitely long and slender and benefit someone with larger hands than mine, but i still like them a lot. i do wish they had been a smidge heavier just so i wouldn’t worry so much about damaging them... but i don’t want to be ungrateful. the deck and the box are wonderfully crafted. The Botanica Tarot by Kevin Jay Stanton

oh boy did i support the kickstarter for this one... i had actually bought the major arcana when it was the only version available, and then the artist decided to make a full deck. it’s an absolute work of art. Vibes and Thematic Coherence: oh boy oh boy does it serve vibes and thematic coherence. it’s Plants all the way down, OBVIOUSLY, but also like... every card in the minor arcana depicts their suit in its own way. like the range of coins/currency from various times and cultures?? AMAZING. looking at the art of this deck is a DELIGHT. every card manages to be beautiful and interesting despite there not being a single living creature depicted on any of them. i WILL say they, same as the spacious tarot, are not the most intuitive to read if you’re not super familiar with either the Plants or the meanings of the cards. Pamphlet: you can fit so much plant knowledge in this one. i got a version of the deck with a beautiful little book, but there’s also a small pamphlet that follows the deck itself (which i admittedly have not looked too closely at yet). there’s descriptions for why this specific plant has been chosen for each card, and then some Card Meaning Keywords. so definitely on the Abstract side of my imaginary tarot pamphlet scale, because you mostly have plant symbolism to go on. i haven’t done a lot of readings with this deck, i’ll be honest - but it’s a beautiful treasure that i adore. Cardfeel: they’re Smoothe and Guilded edges. they can feel a little wide for my hands, but not so much that i cannot shuffle. i think maybe a smidge of texture wouldve been good with this deck since it would fit the look of the painted art. i also did get like... a big kickstarter reward version of this deck. it came in a tin box with extra treasures and a cloth and pins... the actual card box itself is beautiful to look at, but i have to say that the one i got is VERY HARD TO OPEN. i might transfer the cards into a pouch if i want to be reading them more often. IKEA deck

yes this is a meme deck and i don’t really use it but I WANTED TO SHARE... i think the major arcana is very cool and funny, but i was dissappointed to find that the suit cards are just “ikea part but Multiple Times”. it also does not come with a pamphlet. also yes yes it’s funny that the names of the cards are spelled in a “silly ikea word language” BUT IKEA NAMES ARE JUST SWEDISH....... IT’S NOT A SECRET LANGUAGE IT’S JUST SWEDISH............ it’s a funny deck to have and it doesn’t take up much space so eh! shrugs!!! The Lubanko Tarot by Emily Lubanko

another kickstarter deck... it’s gorgeous but there is a chance i might gift it to someone else. not because i regret getting it or don’t like it, but because i already have so many decks that speak to me, while this one gives me vibes of serving someone else better. does that make any sense? i admittedly haven’t looked at the pamplet so much so i think i’m going to skip that description for this one. Vibes and Thematic Coherency: the MOVEMENT and the COLORS... it’s Capturing Feelings in a really good way. i mean. i got it for the vibes and it’s serving vibes. Cardfeel: Smoothe Cards. shiny silver edges, like a slippery fish in a rapid river. it feels good and right for this deck. also good box. i know most of these decks have Good Box, it’s just the botanica one that let me down by being difficult. The Oriens Tarot by AmbiSun

i don’t have this deck anymore, i gifted it to my boyfriend... i found these pics on my twitter. it’s one of the first decks i supported on kickstarter and it’s VERY pretty, and it has HOLOGRAPHIC RAINBOW EDGES HOT DAMN. it’s another one of those instances where i Yearned for it and then found that it didn’t fit me as well as i had hoped. tarot is just one of those things where you have to find what Works for you. at this time the children of litha was working so well for me and i really liked the depiction of animals in it, i wasn’t able to connect to another animal deck in the same way... and it was before my tarot collection snowballed into what i have now. C’EST LA VIE ... i don’t have a smith-waite deck. i’m a fake tarot fan. i am however familiarizing myself by following Jessica Dore on twitter and subscribing to her monthly newsletters. i really love how she talks about these cards and how she interprets them.

[savvyblunders]

Personal Post: Imposter Syndrome, Reading Traditional Books, and thoughts about my own writing

{Just rambles regarding books, fanfiction and some of my thoughts therein.}

It’s been a terribly long time since I read any published books--aside from those written by fellow fanfiction authors. It has reached the point that I find them entirely too cringey. The plots are tame, the characters stiff, the language rote. I especially have a hard time caring if there is a supposed ‘romance’ involved. Forget about het romances, they’re so formulaic that they leave me cold. It isn’t that I have no interest in the portrayal of a relationship between a woman and man, it’s that by and large they might as well have been churned off of a factory production line. 

Part of my objection is to the tired old tropes and gender roles which authors (and readers) don’t seem to realize they’re not only falling prey to, but encouraging with their work. The world doesn’t have to be turned on its head to be interesting, but you shouldn’t know from the first few scenes between characters how it will play out--and further more, not care.

I did read a rather good psychological mystery a few days ago, however. I think perhaps it was successful in part because it was so different from the usual run of stories that people publish, but also because there wasn’t a romance shoe-horned into the storyline. The narrator wasn’t particularly sympathetic, but nor were they entirely unredeemed. I don’t want to give too much away, but it explored the themes of bullying, memory, redemption and revenge, with an enjoyable twist that I didn’t see coming--I was successfully led astray by red herrings, which isn’t always the case when I’m reading mysteries. The book, should anyone be interested, was Girl Gone Mad by Avery Bishop.

{I keep on rambling after the break ;)}

I also read another which was such a stinker I deleted it from my Kindle history and couldn’t tell you the title or author. This beauty had a somewhat interesting premise of a woman who wakes from a six month coma with full amnesia and throughout the book has to struggle with not remembering anything and depending on her husband, children and neighbors for the details of her life. Frustratingly, she finds parts of her personality and tastes have changed--at least as far as they all tell her. She begins to doubt that she is who they say--an issue further compounded when certain facets of her life pre-coma are revealed. Then when the ending arrives, there is a twist and a reveal which could have been pretty neat, only it arrived at the end of such a rote story, with such clunky storytelling and unimaginative language that I kind of didn’t care. It was clear, I might add, that the female protagonist was written by a man. Although blessedly he didn’t go into raptures over her perky breasts, long hair, or other physical attributes [insert vomiting]

My reading resulted in a two-fold feeling. One, traditionally published books are by and large crap. A few months ago I tried reading a book from a famous author whom I used to be quite a fan of. It was part of a series with which I used to be enamored. I settled in, expecting a very enjoyable read. After slogging through three chapters I gave it up. The writing was generic, the characters shallow and the ‘bad guy’ was so sketchily written as to be bewildering, not mysterious. 

That book left me frustrated and annoyed. But it also revealed something to me which I had somewhat accepted and understood prior to that, but not entirely absorbed. Just because a book is traditionally published doesn’t mean it’s any good. Just because an author is well known--or even on the best seller list--doesn’t mean they can write. There are more places to find interesting, funny, heartbreaking, sexy, fun, amazingly written, daring and wonderful stories than at a bookstore or through Kindle. 

The second part of my two-fold feeling was that while, as a writer, I may have much room to grow, I still have valuable skills to offer. My four years of writing fanfiction have honed my talent, refined my style, and influenced my voice, perspective and ability. A good beta, or editor, is invaluable. While I used to write solo and not show it to anyone, simply edit and post, I’ve come to understand the inherent value of feedback. It can be a tricky road, as you might find yourself influenced too much by a reader into trying to suit their tastes rather than your own, but a good beta (eternal thanks to @paialovespie & @hoomhum)--that is to say, a great beta, will not only see the nuts and bolts which might need tightening, but will offer insights which blow your story from ordinary to inspired. The same goes for a ‘personal cheerleader’ (the highest of praise to @mottlemoth) or someone who reminds you at your dark times that you are capable of far more than you can conceive of in that moment. Forget nasty comments online, most of us are our own worst enemies--after all, we know our weakest spots and can zero in on them mercilessly.

Even without a beta, I believe in myself as a writer enough these days (most days) to hope that one day, with hard work, skill, great editing, and some luck, I too could be published. Not a NYT best seller, perhaps, but then, I’m not entirely certain I’d like that. I don’t say this out of any sort of pretentiousness, but because, in essence, these days, I want to write the kind of things that appeal to a more niche audience. I’d like to point with pride at my small book, nestled there on a bookshelf, or available with one click of a button, as something that helps give a voice to a community which has, and still continues to be, marginalized, ignored, fetishized and pandered to, in equal measure. Perhaps it would be for the best if what I wrote wasn’t palatable to the greater reading public.

Of course, those days when I’m full of zest and confidence don’t always last. Like any creator, I fall prey to Imposter Syndrome. Lord, I can’t believe that a time used to exist when I didn’t know what that was! I knew the feeling (oh, how I did), but had no clue that a term existed to encapsulate it. The concept that I wasn’t alone in having days (weeks, months, years) of being cast into doubt that I had anything worth saying--a voice worth listening to--isn’t a new one, but to find out that I’m not alone was unutterably comforting. 

Since, like so many people, I’ve been suffering from a lack of ambition and ability to focus during this global pandemic, I haven’t written much at all, that inner voice rang loud and clear. I’m a fraud, a fake. Any ability I had was used up, clearly as shallow as a mud puddle if a little adversity was enough to dry it out. The struggle to get myself past that was, and is, one that swings from good to bad almost day by day. I had to finally give myself permission to be sad, scared, worried, tired, uninspired. Eventually I decided it was enough that I could find comfort and solace in other’s writing. And oh, how I have! Even though days and days would pass when I couldn’t even muster the interest to read, other times I would consume fanfiction fervently, feverishly. 

And there was so much out there! Adventure, sex, romance, comedy, crack, fluff, hurt/comfort. It seems funny that I can rail against the ‘formulaic’ writing of published books and then turn to ‘tags’ and ‘tropes’ for comfort. But I think the difference lies in the heart that is written into those fanfiction stories. Most of us, while being somewhat influenced by friends, mutuals and fans into writing for a hungry public, are, by and large, writing for ourselves. The old tried and true ‘write what you know’ advice seemed empty and meaningless to me for years. If we only ever write what we know, then how do sci-fi, fantasy, adventure, etc., get written? My brain went to the obvious and ignored the heart of the matter--it isn’t so much what you ‘know’ as writing what you need. What makes you passionate. Even if you’ve never been on a space ship, or been part of a polyamorous, platonic communal family group, if you write it with that yearning and spirit in your heart, it will reach out to someone else.

Fanfiction, at it’s core, is self-comfort.

In my estimation, looking at traditionally published books, it seems that what most of them lack is that heart. The writers aren’t writing because they need the story, or because they are compelled to tell it. It isn’t that they had a hell of a good time writing it, or that they made themselves laugh while doing so. They had a publishing deal to fulfil, a publisher to make happy, a reading public who had certain expectations. There’s nothing wrong with that of course, but if it’s your only motivation...then the writing suffers the neglect and a percerptive reader will note the difference. 

By and large, the fandom, the ship, even the trope, aren’t what captivates me most. I’m a pretty eclectic reader. I enjoy a good story more than I do the fact that it is a particular pairing. The draw is how well it is written, any chances the author took, the indulgence into style, formatting, etc. that they allowed themselves. So why should published books be any different? I’ve heard (non-fandom) people dismiss fanfiction as niche. Perhaps it is. But it is also broad, vast, uncharted territory where we’re all having a lot of fun and enjoying the hell out of ourselves.

Maybe those published authors need to spend a little time with us. 

[oh-boleyn]

te para tres

words: 3809, language: english. jane & kat (kind of mom/daughter relationship)

author’s note: I wanted to keep multichapters on my ao3 but I actually kind of like this fic, and so I thought to post it here too! anyway it is also in ao3

tags: jane & kat - centric, kat is homeless, jane is trying her best, canon abuse/non con, tw abuse, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Families of Choice, Light Angst, pregnant!jane, sickness

part one: las tazas sobre el mantel part two: un poco de miel

la lluvia derramada

They take a taxi to the doctor’s office. The cold weather is not helping them to just walk or try any other route.

“Are you going to find out the baby’s gender?”

“Probably not. I want it to be a surprise.” Jane explains. “What do you think they’ll be?”

“I don’t know. I’m not good with guesses. Have you thought about names?”

“I would like to name them after a family member. It’s a family tradition I don’t want to lose.”

“Tell me names.”

“My father’s name is John.”

“Too plain.”

“Margaery.”

“I like it.” Katherine smiles.

“Edward?”

“Yes! It sounds like a prince's name, something out of Disney.” The teenager nods. “Who is Edward?”

“My brother.” Jane states. “He is my confidant, and he is there for me every time I need him.”

“Is he a good person?”

“Yes, he is.”

(…)

At first Katherine refused to search for her family, but she knows that unless waiting until eighteen was a goal, she should contact them, at least to get her job permission signed, or any document that releases them from being their legal guardians.

What she didn’t know was that her cousin, already in her late-twenties, would want to meet her.

She introduces herself as Anne Boleyn, and it would be a lie if Katherine said that she had never heard that name. They look nothing alike. Anne is shorter than her, has pale skin, green eyes and a round face. She is kind, but tense. Katherine can’t decide if she likes her or not.

Anne is way too enthusiastic for Kat’s liking.

Their first meeting goes rather political, but not as family is supposed to be.

Still, they decide to meet again.  

(…)

Jane never thought Katherine would love hair dye so much, but now for the second time in a row they were sitting on the bathroom, applying electric pink dye to the girl’s hair. Anna recommended changing brands, mostly to not ruin her hair. Cathy also stepped in suggesting that once a month was an alright amount of time, but that doing it less frequent is better.

Still, Jane buys two boxes. If she can give Katherine a sense of stability, she will. Even if stability means dying her hair the same day every month.

(…)

“I can’t remember baking cookies, like ever.” Katherine comments, breaking an egg.

“You are missing a lot.”

Jane looks bright, like the sun. For the teenager, she looks like the standard picture of some announce. Her blond hair is up in a bun, which is not messy but not immaculate, her blue eyes are sparkling warm. She’s wearing a lose overall, with a yellow shirt. Her bump clearly there.

“Do you bake often?”

“No, not really. I used to, when I was younger.” Jane explains. “Can you measure the sugar? I need a cup.”

“Sure.” Kat moves, doing her task. “Why don’t you? If you love baking so much, you should do it more often.”

“I just don’t have the time.” She takes the flour. “Now I do, but before, living with my ex and college. It was just a lot; I never had the time to do it all.”

“Do you miss it? Your life before?”

“No, I don’t think I do.” Jane smiles. “I have better things now.”

She gives Kat a kiss on the forehead as good as she can give the height difference.

(…)

Living with Katherine is not always easy.

She would zone out from time to time, sometimes almost hurting herself. It was hard for Jane to keep up with her, because the teenager would enter periods of dissociation without previous notice. Other times, her personality would almost change, becoming furious and angry, throwing hateful words at Jane and begging to be back on the street.

But lately, every episode ended up the same, with both of them curling on the sofa watching a movie, until Kat would finally go to sleep.

Jane thought a lot about how her baby is going to be in sixteen years. Most importantly, if her baby will love her. The teenager who was now under her care rarely expressed feelings with words. Judging by how she acted around, the older was sure that they loved each other.

Wondering what could’ve happened if they didn’t meet wasn’t something she was too keen on. Katherine was the person she never knew she needed. Helping her felt so natural, almost like destiny, and Jane couldn’t love her more. The teenager had made her way into Jane’s life, becoming her daughter in all but title.

Jane hopes Katherine will let her be around, wanting nothing more than to see her grow and live the happy life she deserved.

(…)

Jane’s family were visiting, and Katherine felt nervous to the core. She knew how much the older woman loved her siblings, and if they didn’t like Kat, she might kick her out.

It was impossible to think about it, but Katherine knew better than to get too attached, even if Jane was the kindest person to her in a long time, so was Culpeper, and it didn’t mean kind was good.

“How is my little princess?” Jane’s father asks.

He looks like Jane; both share the same blue eyes. The word princess makes Katherine flinch, but she tries to cover her emotions. She toys with the pink dress Aragon gifted her from the spring edition of the magazine, while trying to ignore all the people who get into the restaurant.

“Dad, let me introduce you to Katherine. Kat, they are my father and siblings.”

“Hi, I’m Edward and he is my brother, Thomas.” One of them announces. “And my sisters, Dorothy and Elizabeth.”

Katherine is both glad and nervous none of them try to initiate physical contact, not sure if that was Jane’s recommendation or just their way to let her know she is not welcomed.

“I’m Katherine.” She replies, trying not to sound rude.

“Shall we order? I’m starving.” Jane announces, resting a hand on her stomach.

(…)

“Was her family amicable?” Anne questions.

She picked Katherine from the restaurant, trying to give Jane and her family a moment to themselves.

“Yes, they were kind.” Katherine replied, making herself smaller on the car seat. “She has a brother, Edward. He explained every family detail to me so I wouldn’t get lost when they talked about their extended family.”

Elizabeth was almost asleep on the back of the car, which led to the teenager deciding to ride in the front seat.

“That is nice.”

“They are buying her a new apartment.” Katherine blurs out. “They already did.”

“They must have money.” Anne adds, eyes fixed on the road.

“Yes. It is a three-bedroom apartment, and she asked me to move in with her. Like, living twenty-four seven with her.” Kat continues. “I haven’t said yes yet.”

“Do you want to?”

That was a real, fair question and Katherine didn’t know the answer.

A part of her wanted nothing more to have the security and protection Jane offered, late nights watching movies, waking up and having breakfast, going back to school, graduating. But she wasn’t sure she was able to do that, if she was destined to have that kind of happy life. The idea that Jane might kick her out any moment was something she couldn’t erase, but still, she decides to take a chance.

“I think so, yes.”

(…)

“Why did father do that?” Jane questions Edward.

“Do what?”

“Buy me a new place.” The woman states as if it’s obvious.

“You are having a baby. His first grandson. Of course he wants the baby to have a room.”

“And why the room for Katherine?”

“Do you not want her?” He questions.

“I do, a lot. But none of you do.” Jane speaks hurtful.

“We want whatever makes you happy. And if adopting a girl from the street is that, we are going to welcome her as one of our own.” The brother gives his sister a smile. “We are family.”

“Do you think she will want to be a part of it?”

“Your family? Sure. Not so sure about Dorothy, she is not likeable.”

They share a laugh.

(...)

“Jane stop it! It hurts!” Kat says, trying to get the older woman away from her hair.

“Don’t apply so much pressure!” Cathy indicates.

Braiding hair is harder than what she thought it would be. Parr is giving the directions, while Jane is trying to keep up.

“Sorry sweetheart, but this is hard.” Jane excuses herself. “Is there not something easier to do? Like a beginner braid or something?”

“This is the beginner’s braid Jane. It’s just a French one.” Cathy says. “Look.”

She takes Katherine’s hair on her hands, and starts braiding it quickly. In a moment she finishes half of it, doing a tight ponytail instead of finishing the braid.

“See?”

“I hate you, Parr.” Jane half jokes. “You don’t have a baby bump in your way, it’s not fair.”

“Shut up and just admit you can’t do a braid.”

Kat laughs, watching her reflection. “You make amazing braid, Cathy!”

“Thank you!” Catherine replies. “Now, let’s give your cousin a hand with the boxes. Or you will end up moving next year with half of the stuff.”

(…)

Jane and Kat move into the new apartment on a Monday, and they have their first fight on a Tuesday.

“I don’t want to, Jane!” Katherine screams, to the top of her lungs.

“Katherine Howard, we talked about this, you are going to therapy. There is nothing to discuss.” Her voice is hard, stern.

“Don’t Katherine Howard me.”

There is a slam on the door and the poster Anne bought her falls from the wall.

Jane is speechless, Katherine has never been so aggressive before. Even when she was upset, she was usually calmer, quieter. She hated it; how afraid the girl would look if she got even the littlest upset. Getting mad could be considered an improvement, even if it was not gladly received by the older.

Anne Boleyn

Hi Jane! Is everything okay? Kat just texted me if I could come and pick her up.

Jane Seymour

Yes, it’s alright, we were just discussing therapy.

“Katherine, come here please!” She screams.

The teenager comes out of her bedroom with eyes full of tears. The old phone with the cracked screen her cousin gifted in her hand. Her knuckles went white from the pressure.

“We have to talk. I’m feeling upset, I won’t deny it. I am not kicking you out nor I feel different about you, but we have to talk.”

“If I say I will go, will you just stop?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to help you. Why don’t we prepare some tea, and then we can talk?”

Katherine nods, Jane walks to her and puts Kat’s hand on her stomach.

“The baby is saying stop being so headstrong.” Jane laughs lightly, the baby kicking Kat’s hand.

The warmth on the woman’s laugh makes the younger girl relax.

Katherine Howard

I’m sorry, I over exaggerated. Don’t pick me up, but are we still on for next week?

(…)

Something good about the new apartment is how much space there is for the couch. A big pale blue sofa lays on the middle of the room, opposite to the TV. Katherine would be lying if she said she missed sleeping on the couch, her own bed being much comfortable, and her room made her feel protected. It was something she once had for granted, but having a place of her own was one of the best things that ever happened to her.

As usual of their late nights, they are searching for a movie. Streaming was good, it obviously was, but they had felt into the tradition of looking, going through channels. They found the same comedy months ago.

Watching it again comes as a silent agreement.

When the movie is half over, Katherine calls. “Jane.”

The older does not react, sleeping peacefully.

“I think you are asleep, which is good. I don’t know how to say it really, but I am so grateful and thankful and a hundred other words. You gave me a life again, the chance to be a person, to have joy. And you didn’t have to, but you did.” She squeezes the woman a little, careful to not wake her up. “You are going to be the best mom. I love you.”

Jane tries to not blow up her cover, but the slight smile shines through.

(…)

“Anne is my cousin.” Katherine begins to explain. “She is twenty-nine, and she has a little girl, Elizabeth, she is three. Anne is blunt, maybe impolite. She speaks her mind more than I would even think to, but she is also a good person. She pushes and asks me things I don’t want to think about, and it makes me angry when she does it. I also get angry when Jane asks me things I don’t want to answer, or begs me to do things I don’t want to.”

“Have you talked about this with them? Calmly, trying to understand each other.” Her therapist interrogates.

“No, not really. Jane loves to try and talk things out, but I feel nervous about it, I don’t like to talk about feelings.” She explains.

“Do you not like it or don’t know how to talk about it?”

The question plants itself on Katherine’s mind. It has been so long since the last time she had to actually worry about something that was not only her survival that she is not sure for how long she didn’t think about feelings.

Maybe it was when they stole her first backpack, or maybe the first night on the street. It might have been before leaving her house. She doesn’t remember feeling anything with Francis. Not even with Manox. Maybe her feelings have never been there until yet.

She wishes she knew how to express how much admiration she felt for the woman who showed her that not everything was lost.

(…)

“Jane! Anna called me, are you okay?” Katherine asks, running to Jane’s side.

Anne is by her side, looking worried with her car keys ready.

“Yes love, just a fake alarm. The doctor told me about this, fake contractions are a thing.” Jane explains.

“I just freaked out, okay? Cut me some slack.” Cleves complains.

“It’s alright, I had those for like two months with Elizabeth.” Boleyn puts a hand on Kat’s shoulder. “In case you want, I can drive you to the hospital.”

“No, thank you, Anne.” Jane smiles.

Their relationship was polite, they were not friends, but cared deeply for Katherine and were willing to do anything for the sake of their girl.

“Can you take us home?” Katherine asks.

Anne nods.

Katherine takes a moment to consider what she just said. Home. Jane, the baby, the new apartment. It was home, safe, secure. She felt loved there, at ease.

She wished she could just hold onto it and never let it go.

(…)

Jane feels her stomach constrict into itself.

A contraction, another Braxton-hicks. Except that it feels more painful, and a sense of unease settles in her stomach. She is only seven and a half months, the baby shouldn’t be coming, so she keeps with her chores.

Katherine picks up something that is wrong far too late into the night, her mind deviant and without having the chance to focus onto anything, even if she tried every exercise on her list. But once she does, she thinks it might be too late. Jane is having contractions almost every hour, and refusing to go into the hospital.

“Love, I swear I’m alright, there are still six weeks to go.”

“Don’t do this, let me take you to the hospital, as a precaution.” Katherine pleaded. “We might be in serious trouble if you keep refusing, if there’s nothing wrong we will come back and sleep and maybe watch a movie! But please, can we go?”

The older one takes the teenagers anxiety as something more worrisome that what is happening to her. She doesn’t want to make Kat feel insecure. Knowing her almost-daughter is in constant fear of abandonment, she decides to obey, just for her peace of mind.

(…)

Things are clearly not okay.

Her blood pressure is too high, and she has started to dilate. The doctors are quick to give her two shots, one to try and relax her muscles, in an attempt to cease the contractions, and another one with steroids, trying to help the lung development of the baby. Before Jane realizes, there are at least three beeping machines hanging around her.

(…)

“Love, have you talked with my family?” Jane asked.

Her contractions were more and more frequent, almost switching to active labour.

Jane wants to cry, feeling as if she failed her child. The doctors didn’t want to give her much information except for the stable vital signs of the baby. That was not enough to calm her down. She tried to be calmer, to don’t let her stress affect the birth, but she was beyond scared to be successful.

“I did, your parents didn’t text me back yet. Edward says he is coming, he is picking Dorothy. Elizabeth will be here tomorrow, and Thomas sends his best wishes but he can’t come.” Katherine explains. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore?” Jane tries to laugh, but a contraction hit. “I won’t lie, this is painful. Have you called Anne?”

“Yes, she was free to pick me up when I texted her. I don’t want to leave you alone, though.”

“That’s really thoughtful, Katherine.”

“Jane?” The doctor questions. “Can I check how it is progressing?”

She nods. Katherine holds her hand tightly. He checks the machines, and quickly calls a nurse. The teenager squeezes her hand, and she does the same maybe a little harder than intended.

“We have to do an emergency c-section. The baby’s heart rate is growing faster and your blood pressure is not getting any lower.” He announces. “Do you have someone to be with you?”

“Me.” Katherine quickly says.

“Are you over eighteen?”

“Yes.”

The way she lies feels almost natural, and Jane wonders for a second if she ever had to do that before. Her mind can’t focus on it for too long.

“Kat, you don’t have to come.”

“But I want to, really.” She gets closer and whispers to her ear. “Please, you have helped me so much. I have seen the worst things, I think. Please.”

“No, Kat, you are too young.” Jane says, firm. “Is there anywhere near but not in the room she can stay?”

“She can wait in the neonatal unit.”

(…)

They leave her in a corridor with a bright white light that is driving her crazy. Nobody tells her any news, and Jane’s family are supposed to arrive in a couple of minutes but there is still no trace of them. She feels helpless, unable to do anything and clueless enough to be insecure.

But then a nurse shows up with a baby.

“The mom is alright, but taking a nap.” She explained. “She wanted you to be the second to see him. She said you knew his name.”

The chat they had just months before still on her head.

“Edward. His name is Edward.”

(…)

“He is really tiny. And red. Are all babies that red?” Katherine asks her cousin.

“The ones that I know, yes. Elizabeth was quite big, but still red.” Anne smiles, remembering. “She had to be in a lamp and receive plenty of solar light because the doctors said she was yellow, though.”

“I don’t think he looks yellow, at all.”

There is a silence, not uncomfortable, but not at ease.

“How are you feeling about Edward?”

“What do you mean?” The younger questions.

“I know how close you got with Jane. When George was born, I was so upset, I almost cried for days. It took me a while, but now I love him a lot, even when he gets on my nerves.” Anne took Katherine ‘s hand in hers. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m not sure.”

She didn’t have enough time to think about it, to process that now Jane was a mother. A real mother with her biological son. The space Katherine took was now belonging to Edward.

“I am anxious, a tad frightened and excluded, I won’t lie about it.” A feeling of being exposed started creeping up. “But Jane has been nothing but kind. I can’t feel bad about him when she loves him so much. I love him too, I know I don’t know him, but if he is a little like her, he is going to be a good guy, and God knows we need those.”

Anne smiled, and the teenager embraced her in a hug.

“I’m happy you think like that, Kitty.” She squeezes the girl. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Annie.”

(…)

“Jane, can we talk?”

Katherine is trembling, her voice not above a whisper.

To admit how much she adored the older woman was nerve wracking. She almost couldn’t remember how it was to have a mother, since hers died when she was so young. Mothers were probably like Jane. She felt protected, cared for, near her.

“Honey, I’m feeling tired. My legs are killing me. Is it really important?”

She wanted to say yes. To explain how important it was for her, how her life changed for the better since meeting Jane. How much it meant the fact that she felt seen.

“No, not really.”

(…)

Jane feels worse. The ibuprofen is no longer working and her fever is burning up. Not even the idea of going to see Edward can bring her out of bed. Her headache is just getting worse each time, and she feels as if she was going to throw up at any given moment.

Katherine was by her side, trying to help, bringing water and soup, ready for when her mother, or not mother, decides to order her to call for an ambulance.

And she waits.

But Jane never asks, instead Katherine calls when she seems to no longer recognize her voice.

(…)

The teenager is sitting outside the emergency room, in a hall without anybody near her.

Her mind is not there, though, and she feels as if she can almost watch herself as a third person would. Not sure of how much time has passed, she tries to focus on counting numbers, but it doesn’t work. The presence of a doctor doesn’t help either, not even when he tells her the dreadful news. It’s not until she calls Edward, the older, that she realizes what she is saying.

Internal organs shutting out.

Say your goodbyes.

Jane is not waking up.

[leahazel]

7KPP MBTI - over-long and completely unedited meta

I’m just copy/pasting this from my notes software with no editing. If you’re brave enough to read the whole thing, more power to you. It’s about 3K words all in all.

I was in a doctor's waiting room this morning (I have the flu and I was waiting for a chest x-ray) and while I waited, I was thinking about some recent thoughts I had about D&F, and how they've changed my mind on some MBTI typings I've had for the 7KPP NPCs. I've been musing on the MBTI subject on and off for as long as I've been playing the game (first post here: https://leahazel.tumblr.com/post/126655090075/congratulations-on-the-kickstarter-also-if), and I've typed most of my own MCs and other OCs. In fact, for some of them, their MBTI and enneagram types are pretty central to their character arc.

But some characters are more well-developed than others, and some are quite difficult to type. And, of course, impressions are subjective. Since I'm fluish and too tired to actually write any fanfic (I have several unfinished), I might as well do a proper post of all my typings.

If I were at full strength, I'd so a whole resources section with links about what MBTI is and how it works. Since I'm not, I'll give the bare minimum background. MBTI is a personality typing system based on Jungian cognitive function theory. You can find everything from official descriptions written by professionals, to jokey quizzes and Tumblr memes, all over the internet. My favorite fannish MBTI account is @funkymbtifiction. I love their character typings and I rely on them for nuanced takes on the different types.

Without getting too much into my typing philosophy, here are the 7KPP NPCs, grouped somewhat arbitrarily.

Introverted sensing types

The four types marked SJ use the introverted sensing function as either their primary or auxiliary cognitive function. Stereotypically, Si-using types are hidebound, dutiful and traditional, reliable but also stubborn and rigid. Certainly unhealthy SJ types act like this a lot of the time. More mature, healthier people of the same types have access to all of Si's strengths -- an eye for detail, conscientious work ethic, a strong sense of honor -- while being aware of their weaknesses, and compensating for them.

ISTJ - Cordelia and Jasper are both ISTJ types. They share some of the same strengths and vulnerabilities. Both are very emotionally contained, but have difficulty expressing affection openly. At the same time, they have a strong moral compass and inner sense of right and wrong. This is typical of the Te/Fi function pair in the secondary/tertiary positions. Both of them have personal dilemmas and character journeys revolving around the tension between tradition and novelty. When frustrated or at a loss, they're prone to retreating into loops of rumination (Si-Fi loop), or spiraling into anxiety about future possibilities and everything that can possibly go wrong (inferior Ne). Cordelia is the more stable of the two. When we meet Jasper, he's already in the midst of a personal crisis. I suspect Sayra is also an ISTJ and generally write her with this type in mind, but not enough is known of her to pin her type down.

ISFJ - Penelope and Ria are both ISFJ types. Both of them are kind, gentle and helpful as ISFJs often (stereotypically) are, and are prone to putting other people's needs ahead of their own, as Fe-users often are. ISFJs thrive on the power of friendship and community, and excel at promoting harmony for the benefit of all. Disharmony, cruelty and rudeness make them anxious and upset, but they also possess hidden reservoirs of both fortitude and courage, especially in defense of others. As Si-users, they have a keen appreciation for the aesthetics of small, everyday details, and as Fe-users, they feel a strong need to put up a persona that reflects what others expect of them. When their desires are at odds with group harmony, they can struggle to assert themselves. Both Penelope and Ria have character arcs that show them to be strongly motivated by a sense of justice and fairness, being stronger than they initially appear to be, and willing to come into conflict with established mores when necessary.

ESTJ - General Falon is an ESTJ, and I believe he's the only one out of the characters I've named here (there are some characters that I don't feel I know enough about to type). As Falon is a minor character and not very well-developed, he adheres closely to ESTJ stereotypes and doesn't provide much nuance. He's driven by duty and honor and values tradition, hierarchy and efficiency. When driven out of his comfort zone he becomes easily flustered. He has a hard time seeing things from other people's point of view, is weak at diplomacy, and his discourse style lacks tact. Many traits that are typical of the extroverted thinking function.

ESFJ - Emmett and Lisle are both ESFJ types, and both pretty typical, although in slightly different ways. Here's the controversial part: I now think Jarrod is also an ESFJ, and I'll explain why, but I want to start with the simpler, more linear characterization.

ESFJ types use extroverted feeling as their leading cognitive function. It's a powerful emotional function that excels at both reading people's behavior and intentions, and reflecting that behavior back at them. Fe-dom types, when healthy, switch handily between personas appropriate to their surroundings, they know how to read the room's mood, and when they want to influence people, they know how to form an argument that's tailored to their conversation partner. On the downside, Fe-users can get lost in their masks or lose sight of their own goals, because they read other people's desires so readily. When supported by Si, introverted sensing, their desire for stability and continuity can hinder them from considering the possibilities of positive change. They can be cautious to a fault. Lisle is a typical ESFJ and his difficulty in opening up about negative emotions can be attributed his the Fe-driven desire to promote social harmony above all. Emmett does not initially seem like an SJ type or a J type at all, because judging types are not usually perceived as being as open-minded and easy-going as he is. This however is more of an adaptation to the circumstances his family life thrust him into, not by his own decision, and Emmett several times expresses a desire for a more stable home and family life.

Now, about Jarrod. On the face of it, his behavior is more consistent with a thinking type than a feeling type. He has no patience for anything soft or tender, he's quite aggressive and demanding, comfortable handing out orders. These are behaviors associated especially with extroverted thinking, which would make one think he should be an ESTJ or ENTJ. Likely ESTJ, since he shows a clear preference for a stable subjective sensory environment, typical of an Si-user. In fact, I'd initially typed him as ESTJ and I was comfortable with that typing until recently. However! You can't type a character based only on a type's weaknesses. If he's really an ESTJ, he should have an ESTJ's strengths, too. Looking at General Falon, he might be hidebound and inflexible, but he's also hard-working, efficient, and has the kind of natural air of authority that's so useful to a general. Jarrod yells at servants, but struggles to get them to obey his orders. He's not very organized or efficient, and can't manage to wake up on time even with a battery of servants at his disposal. The only sphere he shows any discipline in at all is his physical training. He's... not very smart, and his week one dialogue shows a lack of basic strategic understanding, quite aside from being tragically ill-informed. Jarrod doesn't act like an ESTJ, he acts like someone trying to be an ESTJ and failing, badly.

In MBTI circles, a lot is made of statistics that show that thinking types are disproportionately men, and feeling types are disproportionately female. This affects a lot of people's self-typing, because it introduces bias. Gender norms in the 7KPP universe are based on our own, and while we haven't seen a lot of direct evidence of the idea that men are inherently more logical and less emotional than women... it's not implausible that this belief is just as common in the Seven Kingdoms as it is in reality. Jarrod's particular flavor of "rationality" looks a lot more like the rationalization of a feeling type, in the grip of his inferior thinking function. The Si/Ne function pair still fits, and so ESFJ is my conclusion. I would elaborate and say that the mimicking abilities  of extroverted feeling as a dominant function are especially suited to a young person attempting to emulate a stronger personality in order to gain acceptance and social cachet.

...Wow. That was long.

Extroverted sensing types:

SPs, sensing perceiving types, are very different from sensing judging types. The sensory cognitive function they use is extroverted, less subjective and personal than Si, more grounded in external reality. This makes them more flexible but also more disorganized. Part of the reason why so many cast members are Si-users is because the Summit itself is such a socially rigid environment, where perceiving types in general are less likely to fit in. Se-users especially are more impulsive and that's reflected well in the two main SP types in the cast, Hamin and Anaele. Both of them struggle with the strictures of the Summit's schedule and rigid behavioral codes, and are constantly seeking outlets for their enormous physical and social energy.

Aly has said explicitly that Hamin is an ESFP, and that tracks. His superficial behavior is driven overwhelmingly by the demands of the energetic Se function, which demands a lot of attention and forms most of his public persona, his reputation. His quieter, more hidden side is emotionally driven and has a strong moral core looking for an outlet, both in terms of his desire to do right in the world, and in terms of his strong interpersonal relationships. Subtler still, you can see the signs of his tertiary function, Te, in his leadership ability and his efficiency in accomplishing tasks -- as long as he deems them important enough to be worth his attention (Fi-Te). Thinking about the future makes him anxious, because his future-oriented inferior Ni function is weak and under-developed. That's the main thrust of his personal character arc.

I went back and forth on Anaele, but eventually typed her as an ESTP. ESTP and ESFP types can appear similar some of the time, simply because the leading function is so extroverted it can overwhelm the expression of the auxiliary function, especially in public. Ana's Ti function isn't always super obvious, but her tertiary Fe is evident in her constantly struggling with the idea of social consensus and social responsibility. Her reputation and the reputation of her warriors is important to her, as is Skalt's standing among the kingdoms and her standing with her mother. At the same time, she resents the need to fit in and to conform herself to other people's ideas about who she is and how she should behave. She also has some of the positive aspects of tertiary Fe, she can be charming and reassuring and supportive, and generally has a good grasp of how to influence the mood of the room, when she's willing to put in the effort. Her insistence on speaking with Skaltic cadences even though she knows they sound wrong to the speakers of the common language is exactly the kind of stubborn oppositional behavior typical of ESTPs who like to provoke a reaction, without necessarily thinking through what they're provoking.

Jaslen and Blain are also probably ESP types, but I'm not confident about their typing, at least not enough to pin a specific type.

Introverted intuition types:

NJ types are targets for all sorts of stereotypes and mystification in MBTI communities. In fiction, they often appear as extraordinary characters, world-changing types, great heroes or villains or even mentors. The Ni function is described as being big picture oriented, very abstract, intuitive and futuristic. Judging intuitives sometimes seem to be reaching for "a target no one else can see", which is probably why they're often seen as being intellectual or artistic geniuses. Or, at least, really good at faking it. NJ types in the 7KPP universe are usually characters who are hiding important secrets, mostly about things bigger than themselves. They're driven by great conviction and not easily derailed from their plans.

ENFJ: Aly has stated that this is her type and also Clarmont's type, and in fact a significant part of his characterization seems to revolve around it. Feeling types are more ethically-driven than thinking types, at least stereotypically, and Clarmont is not an exception. He has a vision for the future that he's willing to sacrifice for. He has deep convictions, but he's also able to dine and dance with his mortal enemies, without betraying his true thoughts or feelings. In fact, he so excels at hiding his intentions that the Matchmaker makes a point of remarking on it.

INFJ: Look, I know I just said that feeling types are ethical, but the prototypical INFJ in the 7KPP verse is Gisette. It's easiest to explain by contrasting her with Avalie. Both Gisette and Avalie show certain common traits: they are contained, composed, ambitious, manipulative, and unscrupulous. They both know how to pull people's strings and like peeking inside people's heads to see through to their true intentions. The difference is, the way they do it is different. Avalie is a thinking type, and she operates like a chess player. She sets people in scenarios that cause them to reveal themselves. Gisette is an INFJ, and her auxiliary function is extroverted feeling. To execute her grand vision (Ni), she manipulates people through social convention, using gossip to tear down reputations and carefully curating her own public image. Gisette's weak one event is absolutely typical of an amoral FE-user. She doesn't hesitate to use the power of social convention to position people according to her needs. He tertiary Ti function shines through in her tactical thinking skills, and her inferior Se function is apparent in her love of fashion, as well as her ability to pounce on opportunities when her carefully laid plans go awry.

As a side note, I believe that Countess Yvette is also an INFJ, but it's harder to gather evidence for it, since she has a fairly minor role, all in all.

INTJ: Avalie and Woodly are both INTJs. INTJ is often touted as the chessmaster type, and it makes perfect sense as a type for people who prefer pulling strings in the background, as opposed to openly passing out orders, like General Falon. Not much more to be said about that, except that the manifestation of INTJ functions can be affected by social convention. Avalie is an attractive young woman and Woodly is an older man who is much more socially established, and naturally this affects how agreeably they interact with others. Thinking types are not stereotypically known as being particularly polite or graceful, in the social sense. But, the introverted intuition function is very calculating, and the extroverted thinking function is results-driven. With time, a woman with a TJ type can learn to mimic behaviors that create the illusion of the feminine softness that's expected of her. Avalie in particular does this very well.

ENTJ: My second controversial typing, I insist that Zarad is an ENTJ. The persona he puts up is that of an ESFP, like Hamin, but as his opening narration says, no one whose reputation is that consistent can be exactly what he seems. Zarad's public persona, that of the careless flirt and black sheep, is a bit too much of a textbook description of an ESFP. It lacks the depth and nuance of Hamin's internal conflict. Putting up an elaborate facade for years on end is not something that an Fi-user, like an ESFP, is typically proficient in. A judging type is more likely to succeed at this, specifically either an Fe-dom or a Te-dom. The reason why I zeroed in on ENTJ for his true type, is that ENTJs and ESFPs have the same cognitive functions, but in a different stacking. This commonality would allow Zarad to more effectively access the thought process that would be typical of the type he's assuming -- it's all there under the surface, it's just not his natural, instinctual behavior. I also think part of the reason that he and Hamin collaborate so well is that they're not the same type, but rather they complement each other's strengths and weaknesses. The confounding factor is that the difference between Hamin and Zarad is not just in type, but in environment. Hamin definitely couldn't maintain the type of long-term deceit that Zarad engages in, but maybe an ESFP who was raised in the secretive and backstabbing Corvali imperial court could.

Extroverted intuitive function:

The only NP type in the cast, as far as I can tell, is Lyon. He is canonically an INTP, which Aly has confirmed is based on several of her family members. His introverted thinking function fixates on the idea of an internal, consistent and logical inner world, at the cost of interacting with the messy and subjective outer world. This causes him to rationalize emotional behavior patterns and close himself off. As part of his character arc, the auxiliary function of extroverted intuition opens up possibilities for him, because what Ne excels at most is offering up lots of alternative explanations based on existing parameters. For example, "what if not everyone hates me?" or, "what if sometimes things actually go right?" I'm being sarcastic about this because I'm an Ne-user myself, so I'm allowed.

Odds and ends:

Minor characters like Imogen and Mrs. White don't have types, because we don't know them well enough. Specifically, we don't get to contrast their typical, healthy behavior with their behavior under stress. Kade, Leala and Greer don't yet have types or enough characterization for typing, but based on my intuition and what I've learned about Aly's writing, I have preliminary predictions. Leala is probably an ESFP like Hamin. Greer is most likely an INTP, or else possibly an ISTJ or even ESTJ. I would guess that she's an introvert, but as her leading function is definitely a thinking one (as her blunt speaking style reveals), Te-dom is also a possibility. Kade is a bit of a wild card, but I'm placing bets on either ISTP or ENTP, just for the sake of novelty.

Among my own problem princesses, I have an assortment of at least three quarters of the types. Least represented are the FP types, excepting Princess Felicity, who's an ENFP, and widow Selene, who's an ISFP. If you add in the supporting OCs, they really run the gamut.

[jasper-the-menace]

What Really Happened: An Ex-Mentor Versus A Witch Academy

Hello all, welcome to my TED talk about a very recent drama that has cropped up. In this essay, I will explain what happened during the drama, what information I’ve collected, and what the big issues were.

Earlier this very month and near the end of last month, a slew of posts were made from three sides of a drama - @swedishsorceress (Riley), @acturianacademy (during the drama it was mainly run by @starlight-and-coffee, Ambrose, but the other two who run it are Skye and Mickey), and @gingersguide (Sophia). I also collected testimony from @hidingsikki (who we shall call Sikki) and from Ciera on Discord.

I have no connection to any party involved, so my information comes from posts made after the apparent drama. I also reached out to the people involved for more clarification, making it clear that I was a neutral party. Also, I am not making this post just to get attention. I’m doing it so we can all see what happened, what went wrong, and how to learn from it.

The Acturian Academy is run by three people: Ambrose, Skye, and Mickey. Riley was once a mentor but was removed from their position. Sophia was the messenger between the two after the drama escalated. Sikki is another mentor at the Academy. Ciera was once a student of the Academy and is a valued member of my witch Discord server.

I will preface this by saying that everyone I listed was an absolute dear to work with and speak to, and they answered all of my questions and got the screenshots I asked for. Bless them all, and may they not be too angry at me by the end of this discussion/drama/commentary/thing.

(As another thing, thank you to Ambrose for correcting me on Riley’s pronouns when I was unaware of them.)

So what happened? How did this become a drama that dragged a good portion of the Witchblr tag into it?

Let's begin with the posts that were created after the drama from many sides. Note: I didn't go digging through these to see who had the “last laugh”, so to speak, so a few reblogs may end with a different party saying the final thing. https://swedishsorceress.tumblr.com/post/188147771902/oh-thanks-ill-make-a-mental-note-that-the-truth https://swedishsorceress.tumblr.com/post/188149767397/since-youve-had-your-content-stolen-before-if https://swedishsorceress.tumblr.com/post/188149683997/settling-drama https://acturianacademy.tumblr.com/post/188143271075/i-honestly-believe-the-mentor-was-wrongfully https://acturianacademy.tumblr.com/post/188143105825/no-dont-fucking-say-thank-you-for-understanding

As I went through Riley's initial post (the first one I linked), it seemed odd to me that Riley didn't screenshot the folder with their lessons in it. However, they did put all of their screenshots in this Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lHVQCJvOXdFfKeQOk9DqNR97I6sRuQv0RWmeIErGN7I/edit

Ambrose and Sophia both stepped in and made their own posts and reblogs. They have something in their mentor handbook saying that any lessons given in the server can still be used by them after a mentor leaves, regardless of circumstances:

Sikki backed this information up by providing me with a slightly different screenshot of the same thing.

Sophia spoke to Ambrose and relayed a message to Riley that said that Ambrose had removed all of the lessons ORIGINALLY WRITTEN by Riley, minus a few that were started by or co-taught by another mentor. I can now confirm that Ambrose did, indeed, authorize this.

Riley did provide screenshots of the messages relayed between them and Ambrose by Sophia, which they put in this Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11YeFdTHf581SI0q3qeaDx9tCsUjIJ3fNRM3Hx5NtVXY/edit One part that they made a big note of was the final portion in this image:

I reached out to both Ambrose and Riley about why Sophia didn’t just send screenshots and instead copy-and-pasted messages. Riley didn’t know why. Ambrose said that they (Ambrose) had had their screenshots photoshopped in the past to make them look bad in the past and wanted to avoid that happening again.

So why was Riley let go from the Academy?

The Academy has strict inclusion rules - which is a nice thing, to not exclude witches based on religion, gender orientation, sexual orientation, culture, et cetera. However, Riley is a transmed/truscum - they said so in the discussion I had with them and in headers and posts on another blog of theirs. Photos:

None of these beliefs were ever pushed onto students, but a few anonymous students felt unsafe because of it.

According to Ambrose, the Academy fact-checks to make sure that people making claims are actual students of the Academy. They then privately research the claims brought to them and bring it up with the mentor. I have no way of knowing that this is what happened other than testimony, so I’ll take their word on their method in good faith.

This isn't the reason why the drama started, however.

Riley claimed that one of their lessons was uploaded with their name removed after they left. I spoke to Ambrose about this, who claimed that the Academy removes the ex-mentor's name as they were no longer affiliated with the Academy, and the Academy assumed that they wouldn't want their names associated with the Academy after leaving.

Side note: According to Ambrose, an ex-mentor staying in the Google classroom after being asked to leave the Academy was a violation of their terms. Riley apparently did this to see the lessons, but I can't say for sure as I was not present in the classroom.

Ambrose said that the request for all of the mentor's lessons to be removed is something that doesn't happen in the Academy - in Ambrose's words, “mentors are supposed to leave all of their work with the academy after termination/leaving”. Riley demanded that their work be removed. After a lot of back-and-forths, Riley's lessons were eventually removed.

But wait, there’s more.

I found it interesting that the Statement of Ownership was so hard to find, so Ciera sent me a PDF copy of the student manual (bless her for hanging onto the student manual when everyone else seems to just delete theirs). The 2019 Student Handbook I have access to is 16 pages long and has a great focus on the students, not mixing in the information that’s only for the mentors.

The Academy is very open and accepting, according to their vision and belief statements. However, going through it, the Statement of Ownership is nowhere to be seen, so the regular student wouldn’t know that lessons would be used even after a mentor leaves. It’s not a big deal, but it’s still something to be aware of.

Also if you look in the manual that I’m seeing, you see that one of the teachers is named Jasper, but I swear it’s not me, it’s a different Jasper.

Complaints About the Academy: What You Hear in the Tea Room

This is probably a weird title for a subchapter that has almost nothing to do with the drama itself, but a common complaint I’ve found regarding the Acturian Academy is that they go through mentors like water.

Considering this seems to be a volunteer-based organization, that doesn’t surprise me. Volunteers come and go, and it takes a long time to build a core group of supporters.

So what did we learn?

Well, lesson one is definitely “don’t be shady” and lesson two is “run better background checks”. This situation was caused by miscommunication, flared temperaments, and people being too quick on the trigger on both sides.

“But Jasper!” y’all may be saying. “Who do you think is right?”

I started off in this drama as a neutral party. Through talking with those involved, I reconsidered my stance quite a few times. But now, in the end, I believe I’m right back where I started: as a neutral party who sees both sides.

In the defense of the Acturian Academy, I understand wanting to have an open and safe environment for beginning witches or ones who want to learn things more in-depth. Having a teacher with views on the lines of a transmed goes against that idea and may make students feel unsafe.

But in the defense of Riley, I understand not wanting your hard work to go uncredited, particularly when you run or co-run no less than (in the handbook I’m looking at) four lessons for the Academy.

In the end, this drama was dumb. Credit is due where someone made something, and the Academy taking this “unless they specifically ask us not to, we’re taking their names off of the lessons they make after they leave” stance is something that they should talk about and maybe change. As for Riley, they have their own thing going on from what I see of their timeline, so good for them. Maybe they’ll become a mentor again one day, maybe they’ll start their own academy thing, who knows.

To everyone involved and those that weren’t, see this as just a learning experience. Take what worked, think about what didn’t work, and change yourself and your groups for the better.

Please don’t hate me for making this post, it was an interesting drama and I wanted to dig deep into it.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

~Jasper

[jennamoran]

IOSHI (Part 8)

Hi!

Today we’re sharing a bit more of the cyberpunk setting I wrote in, I dunno, 2003?

So far,

we’ve had a basic introduction to what’s going on.

we talked about the core culture and a few subcommunities.

and a few more!

and another few!

and the last of them.

Then, we discussed some system stuff and the first character type: deckers.

Then, two more types: fires and hunters.

    Today, let’s do two more!

     Developer’s Note

As a reminder, this was originally written for Guardians of Order, at the cost of great suffering---I’d taken to calling it “Hell project” among friends, for a number of reasons, not least among which were the ridiculous writing style guidelines that called for “he or she” as the gender neutral pronoun. That still gives me bursts of rage and flushes of fear and screaming nightmares fifteen years later, and that was before half my social circle was non-binary, that was before I even knew that non-binary was a thing, that was back when the only thing the idea was really offending against, for me, was the English language and my conscience as a writer; and, even then, it was Hell project; even still---and then they never actually paid me.

I was advised long ago that I retained the rights to everything except the Tri-Stat game mechanics, but disentangling this material from those mechanics is a little ... tricky ... and thus that has slowed down this re-release by a little bit. Two of the really core bits of IOSHI were the mechanics/setting integration bits: the way it correlated OOC character points and IC money as part of its narrative thesis, and, the way it took advantage of a generic superhero/anime system sitting right there to do really over the top things with powers that were still theoretically just human skills.

Those things can’t just be replaced with verbiage; they need a rules core to connect to, or they don’t work.

So, ultimately, I’ve opted to build a quick-and-dirty system; it’s pretty embarrassing, really, and it would be nice to do better, but the game doesn’t fit well with the systems I have and I don’t think you want me to spend four years creating HERO or GURPS or Cortex Plus or Unisystem or whatever as a serious Tri-Stat replacement when people already did that quite some time ago.

Ultimately, I’ve opted to stick with the old writing style, too, because most of this material isn’t actually being rewritten, just shared.

... although as we get into this extremely mechanics-heavy bit where I am rewriting almost everything, and thus having to actually go back and edit my reflexive and instinctive use of  “they” into “he or she” on a regular basis; when I have to struggle constantly to remember how one spells things in the bisarre Canouedian idiomme that this project used; as we get into this bit where I know that I’m probably not even catching it every time I fail to do this and use American English or the gender-neutral “they” instead, the attempt, it feels a little bit like cutting off my nose to spite my face.

Well, you show that face, IOSHI! You show it!

... I may have some unresolved issues regarding Hell, which I always felt was theologically ungrounded, and the projects and/or companies that are, figuratively? perhaps? I think? spawned therefrom.

       Jockey

Mission Statement: “I don’t get along well with gravity.”

       Summary

Jockeys get to fly. Anyone can put on the equipment — flightware comes in bodysuit and cyberware forms. Anyone can fumble around trying to control it and crash repeatedly into the ground. Anyone can hand over control to the city’s transportation net and have it shuttle them around. Jockeys are different. They do not crash. They do not hand off navigation to Tartessos’s net. They fly.

Controlling flightware is ridiculously hard. It takes substantial natural talent and expensive IOSHI training. Those who master the art free themselves from the constraints of human motion, becoming athletes and acrobats equally adept in all three dimensions. Many find employment in competitive sports, pit fighting, or “special operations.”

Suggested starting traits for a jockey are

Action 4 — what you use in action scenes.

Connect 1 — what you use to understand people, trust people, connect to them.

Endure 3 — what you use to endure suffering, manage in harsh circumstances.

Perceive 3 — what you use to sense things, be alert to them.

Research 0 — what you use to look things up.

Sell 2 — what you use to sell people on things.

Stealth 0 — what you use to avoid notice.

Tactics 3 — what you use for infiltration, combat, etc. plans. Also functions as Luck OOC.

        Two points of improved appearance are common, bringing the total so far up to 50‡.

        Flightware

Flightware suspends and moves the character by reacting against ambient force. Its most basic operations need nothing more than the Earth’s magnetic field. Actual aeronautics, however, relies on the flight utility — ubiquitous reaction energy pumped out for the transportation net’s use in the better regions of Tartessos. The flight utility rarely extends very high above Tartessian territory.

Flight requires IOSHI training. Characters without flightware cannot actively use these abilities, but they are otherwise vulnerable to data taint and librarian manipulation like other IOSHI-based Powers.

      Flight Utility Level             Effect

0             Cannot actually fly, but can use other flightware abilities

1             Can’t get more than a couple metres off the ground

2             Past that height, you can fly, but accelerating and decelerating are slow, trying to rise bleeds speed and momentum fast, turns are slow, and you must maintain a minimum speed to avoid stalling out.

3             Flight

        Identifiers

Jockey fashions tend to show influence from the anthropophobic, artistic, maenadic, and physical idealist cultures. They have consummate control over their body and its actions, having edited away or learned to override all the little pains, twitches, and stiffness. They tend, accordingly, to shift between mild hyperactivity and perfect stillness. Traditional jockey avatars include aerial things such as angels, hawks, and dragons; abstract patterns composed of ever-moving lines; and idealized versions of themselves.

        Role

Characters exert power by bringing their resources to bear through the channels of access they have to a given situation. Even the greatest physical, technical, strategic, and informational resources do the group no good unless they have a good vector through which to apply that strength. A jockey in a group serves as that vector. He or she gives the group a positional and temporal advantage, as when he or she takes up a position behind the enemy, gains height from which to fire weaponry, or reaches a vulnerable spot or a potential hostage before the enemy can.

Jockeys also help protect the group against finding themselves in an inescapable and unmanageable situation. Without room to move, a jockey loses his or her primary advantages. Accordingly, where most Tartessians find safety in walls — safe borders that can easily become a trap — jockeys make a conspicuous effort to keep multiple avenues of retreat open at all times.

        Cred

Jockeys most commonly have criminal, maenadic, or physical idealist culture cred. The Tartessian decoupling of “personhood” and “career” limits the adulation even the best athletes receive outside of maenadic culture, but they may pick up core culture cred in a specific region to reflect their mild popularity as an athlete.

A recommended starting point is two points of level 1 Cred.

        Talents

The basic Jockey Talent costs 1.0‡ and adds the regional flight utility level as a Tool bonus to acrobatics and climbing-type Action checks.

The Enhanced Flightware Talent costs 3.0‡. In regions with flight utility 0-2, the character can treat any Tartessian-manufactured substances as “the ground” — that is, e.g., they can fly well within a metre of two of the wall of a tall building, or while next to a plane.

        Combat Style

Mobility and speed define a jockey’s combat style. Common combat techniques, all of which have been described in more detail before, include:

Dash (‡1.0 waives level 1 Obstacles for closing/covering distance quickly, ‡2.0 removes 1-3.)

Evasive (‡1.0 per level for an Obstacle to enemy Action rolls in direct combat.)

Eyes in the Back of Your Head (‡1.0 for 2 Edge and a reroll to spot immediate danger to the jockey.)

Steady (‡1.5 per level to waive Obstacles up to that level on Action rolls.)

       Attributes

This section lists common jockey abilities and how a character can purchase them in the IOSHI setting.

Flight costs ‡3.0 per level. It frees the character from the constraints of gravity, subject to the availability of a regional flight utility. It is capped in practice by the character’s relevant base Trait, which is almost always Action (but is sometimes Endure, Stealth, or Tactics (as Luck).) Top speed is roughly 100 kph in the air and 300 kph near the ground.

Flight suits also enable a jockey to move at ground-level or near a building’s surface with blurring speed. Learning to do so is advantageous for jockeys intending to work in regions with low flight utility access. Ground Manoeuvres like this cost ‡4.0 per level and let the character move up to 300 kph, run on water, skitter up walls (with the Enhanced Flightware talent), and do casual obstacle course style manoeuvring; this too is capped by their relevant base Trait, almost always Action, but does not require the flight utility.

Certain unorthodox uses of flightware occur with sufficient frequency to justify their documentation. Jockeys who enjoy swimming can learn Water Manoeuvres, which cost ‡2.0 per level for underwater movement at around 50 kph. Jockeys more into weird tricks can spend ‡3.0 to learn the trick of magnetically shoving away small metallic objects or pushing off of larger ones. This power, Flightware Grip, works from a couple of metres away, and a successful Action roll allows precision.

        Sample Jockey

A sample, narrowly focused jockey might spend:

48‡ on base traits,

2‡ on appearance,

2‡ on cred,

1‡ on the jockey talent,

3‡ on enhanced flightware,

12‡ on flight,

4‡ on a level of dash and three levels of evasive, and

8‡ on ground manoeuvres.

        Knife Edge

Mission Statement: “I impose my order on the world.”

        Summary

Knife edges wield force against their enemies. Their weapons include blades, guns, garrottes, bombs, fists, feet, and minds. They control the combat zones of the late 21st century with lethal finesse.

In a knife fight, strategy, tactics, strength, and the weight of the blade all come into play. However, it all comes to naught unless applied through the edge of the knife. Similarly, in every major conflict, all the manoeuvring of the communities, corporations, and individuals involved comes to nothing unless backed up by at least a few people willing to implement those manoeuvres with force. For this reason, the hired warriors of the IOSHI setting name themselves “knife edges” as often as not. Some are mere thugs, unable to conceive of their own agenda and thus confined to supporting the ideas of others. Some bring their own ideals to the table when serving their corporate masters, community leaders, or employers. A few make themselves knife fighters as well as knife edges, laying out their desires for the world and implementing them with the force of their martial way.

The talent that makes a knife edge is also a mindset. The character must treat violence and suffering with a casual respect. Those driven by bloodlust or anger have trouble mastering the discipline of a warrior. Those who cannot find satisfaction in delivering violence make a poor fit for the career — few can afford to squander IOSHI training on abilities they do not plan to use. In the end, a knife edge must act with a decisive but dispassionate ruthlessness, enacting pure desires and decisions rather than indulging his or her anger or mercy.

Suggested starting traits for a knife edge are:

Action 4 — what you use in action scenes.

Connect 1 — what you use to understand people, trust people, connect to them.

Endure 3 — what you use to endure suffering, manage in harsh circumstances.

Perceive 2 — what you use to sense things, be alert to them.

Research 0 — what you use to look things up.

Sell 1 — what you use to sell people on things.

Stealth 2 — what you use to avoid notice.

Tactics 3 — what you use for infiltration, combat, etc. plans. Also functions as Luck OOC.

        A point of improved appearance is common, bringing the total so far up to 49‡.

        Identifiers

Many knife edges style themselves after criminals, physical idealists, or members of the high families. A few display religious, street, or technical influences. Most radiate complete self-assurance and fearlessness. Standard knife edge avatars include the warrior archetypes of various historical cultures; imposing creatures such as dragons, wolves, and centipede spirits; and shadowy, abstract forms.

        Cred

Knife edges often have cred with the core culture, floating boards, criminal communities, and maenads. A few have cred with secure, street, or technical communities.

A recommended starting point is four points of level 1 Cred and one point of level 2 Cred.

        Talents

The basic Knife Edge Talent costs 1.0‡ and acts as a +2 Tool bonus on Endure rolls to cope with the psychological shock and (later) trauma of violent or brutal situations; for a relatively ordinary combat scenario, it waives them entirely.

The Unstoppable Talent costs 1.0‡ and grants similar bonuses to coping with the physical shock of injury and the long-term trauma to the body therefrom ... although this won’t stop a character from being physically limited by their wounds or, if it comes to that, dying of them.

        Combat Style

A knife edge is generally quite adept at combat, generally investing somewhere between 7‡ and 21‡ in the abilities below. Another 3‡ to 17‡ generally goes into cyberware and 2‡ to 16‡ into weaponry, armour, vehicles, and home security.

Action Hero costs ‡1.0 and grants a +2 Tool bonus on any Tactics rolls to have adequate ammunition on hand or loaded.

Arms Dealer costs ‡1.5 and grants the character a +4 Tool bonus on Research rolls to find sources for combat hardware (and software, and bioware, and cyberware ...). It gives the character a +2 Tool bonus on Connect rolls with the merchants and purveyors of the same.

Assess costs ‡1.0 and gives the character a rough sense of the competence of his or her opposition without a roll. If the opponent is deliberately concealing or inflating his or her apparent abilities, it grants +2 Edge on a Perceive roll instead.

Catlike costs ‡1.0 and waives level 1 Obstacles on balance- and jumping-related Action rolls. It can be taken twice to remove level 1-3 Obstacles instead.

Dash (‡1.0 waives level 1 Obstacles for closing/covering distance quickly, ‡2.0 removes 1-3.)

Deflect costs ‡3.0 and makes it feasible for the character to parry bullets. Parrying automatic weapons fire, lasers, rockets, and so forth becomes technically feasible as well but faces a substantial Obstacle.

Evasive (‡1.0 per level for an Obstacle to enemy Action rolls in direct combat)

Eyes in the Back of Your Head (‡1.0 for 2 Edge and reroll to spot immediate danger).

Personal Weapon costs ‡1.0, plus the base cost for the weapon itself, and gives the character access either to a weapon that’s several steps ahead of the bleeding edge or is perfectly attuned to who they are. With no further expenditure, it’s simply neat, and sufficiently tied to the character’s story that the GM should be reluctant to remove it on any long-term basis; however, the character can buy appropriate powers, such as those in this section, at 3/5 cost, as long as they can only be used with that particular weapon.

Pinpoint Accuracy (‡2.0 per level for a Tool bonus on combat Action rolls)

Powerful (‡1.5 per level for an Edge bonus on combat Action rolls)

Steady (‡1.5 per level to waive Obstacles up to that level on Action rolls)

Tenacity (‡3.0 per level to turn a failed combat roll against an NPC into success 1/scenario).

Tooth and Claw (‡1.0 for +1 Edge against lightly armoured opponents, or ‡2.0 for +3.) and

Weapons Expert costs ‡1.0 and grants a +4 Tool bonus to Research rolls to know or look up information on a given weapon or combat-focused technology. The character automatically knows generally public or semi-public information on weapons, combat-focused technology, and military and security organizations.

      Sample Knife Edge

A sample, narrowly focused knife might spend:

48‡ on base traits,

1‡ on appearance,

6‡ on cred,

1‡ on the knife edge talent,

1‡ on the unstoppable talent,

4‡ on four levels of Evasive

6‡ on four levels of Steady

2‡ on two levels of Catlike

1.5‡ on Arms Dealer

1.5‡ on one level of Powerful

3‡ on Tenacity

2‡ on gear (a selection of knives, swords, bombs, and guns, personal armour, and a rocket launcher for special occasions) and

3‡ on a bioware-based physical tune-up

      Librarian

to be continued ...

[latenightcinephile]

#737: ‘Hoop Dreams’, dir. Steve James, 1994.

The pros of this film, before I went in to watch it for a second time: First documentary film to be nominated for an Editing Oscar; the #1 must-see documentary, according to the International Documentary Association.

The cons of this film, before I went in to watch it for a second time: A subject (basketball) which I know very little about; run time of nearly three hours.

What makes Hoop Dreams a particularly intriguing film it that’s a documentary about a thing that it pretends not to be about. The story of two black teenagers in Chicago trying to develop their talents enough to join the NBA is actually about all those things America has been wise enough to try and avoid in polite discussion: race and racism, poverty in Chicago, and the way these power dynamics interact with the world of professional sports. When I say ‘wise enough’, I don’t mean to suggest that avoiding discussion of racism is a clever move (cf. Taika Waititi, who I have very complicated feelings about). But cinema has always been at its best in confronting these topics when it does so from an angle, and Hoop Dreams has found a very effective angle to approach from. The fact that the film works as an inspirational story, despite knowing the trajectory of William Gates and Arthur Agee’s lives following the release of the documentary, shows precisely how effective that method is. But it also explains in part why the film is so drearily long.

To make a documentary about race is one thing - if you have this theme you can afford to be as forthright as you care to with it. What Steve James is saddled with, in trying to whittle down 250 hours of footage, is the following: tell a story about these two boys and their hopes. Spend enough time with them that their hopes follow an arc (in this case, four years). Figure out what to do with the other events of their lives (becoming a father, confronting drug abuse and family trouble in their community). Use all of this to convey a message about race and poverty. Do so without your film being written off as solely about the last point. While this juggling act doesn’t make Hoop Dreams riveting at every moment, in some ways it’s a surprise that it’s only three hours long.

James succeeds in shuffling the race card into the deck, in part because of where it appears in the film (and this is why the film was likely to be nominated for editing, notwithstanding any other Oscar controversy - more on that later). By filming through years of schooling, footage exists of William and Arthur in classes on American history. “The civil rights movement started in the 50s,” one teacher explains in the ambient soundtrack. By itself, this quote doesn’t mean much - it’s one of many such lines from school, along with footage of Spanish, chemistry and English classes. However, following a moment where Arthur is described by a coach as “a little more disruptive... He wasn’t used to the discipline and the control. He reverted back to, maybe, his environment, where he came from”, a resonance between these two moments begins to form. At another stage, the St. Joseph’s coach explains “You people don’t know what it is to work.” In this instance, the coach is speaking to the entire basketball team, an interracial group, but the camera focuses its attention on its protagonists of colour, and it becomes impossible not to connect the dots.

Hoop Dreams takes many of its cues from the observational style of documentary, although it has a direct-address narration as well as talking-head interviews. The effect is to imply that the documentary is being truthful and unbiased, although no documentary has ever succeeded in this - and indeed very few have ever actually tried to be, no matter what they insist. Where the observational mode is unable to convey the message directly, the last hour has a few talking heads that helpfully fill in the blanks. One junior college talent scout explains that of course basketball scholarships are just “a meat market”, a subject that the documentary has been unable to get at incisively otherwise. The closest it manages is the treatment of William’s knee injury, which is neglected by the coaches almost as much as by William. The interview with the talent scout does double duty, however: as well as putting forward one of the most explicit statements the documentary has, it also implies a gap of understanding: the junior college has the luxury of admitting that it’s running a meat market. Its avowal of that fact seems to suggest that it has a less conniving understanding of the dynamics at play. It is, of course, in the junior college’s best interests to suggest that it’s more honest than the major colleges.

One area of Hoop Dreams that is particularly insightful, but rarely discussed in the literature surrounding the film, is how is depicts gender. One of the most striking sequences is the final exam for Arthur’s mother, Sheila, who wants to become a nurse. We see her twirling in her white uniform before the mirror, and the camera lingers on her, in her most unguarded appearance before the camera. For once, her focus is shown as being about something other than her son and his ambitions, and it’s genuinely affecting to see her emotions when the test scores are revealed.

Women are the unseen casualties of the stories told in Hoop Dreams, and they represent the shortsightedness of the men in the film, too. William, late in the film, explains why he keeps chasing his NBA dreams, saying “Basketball got me out of the ghetto, it got me to school.” His wife Catherine quite understandably retorts “I’m going to school, I’m going to college, and I have a daughter. So what’s my excuse?” William tries to discard the argument, saying the scenarios are totally different, but I’m on Catherine’s side here.

One of the great triumphs of Hoop Dreams, then, is that it’s about more than it says it is, and twenty-five years down the line, is about even more again. At its core, though, it’s about basketball and the cult of enthusiasm that surrounds it like any other dream. The difference here is that basketball created a culture to enforce that enthusiasm, to say that it’s right to feel that way about basketball. Whether this documentary can be read as supporting that enthusiasm is something I’m not equipped to say.

[anthropolos]

Feminist Anthropology Guide

I created this syllabus for a class last year. It isn’t doing any good in my drive, so I figured if anyone is interested in learning feminist anthropology (and archaeology / bio ant) on their own - given that many departments do not teach it -  this can serve as a valuable resource. Enjoy! 

WEEK 1 – EARLY WOMEN IN ANTHROPOLOGY

This week is designed to introduce students to how women’s perspectives became a topic of inquiry in the 1970s and 1980s. Week one explicitly includes readings where key women in anthropology called out male bias in the discipline.  

Lamphere, Louise. 2004. “Unofficial Histories: A Vision of Anthropology from the Margins.” American Anthropologist 106 (1): 126-39.  

Spender, Dale. 1982. “Putting it in Perspective: Margaret Mead (1901-1978).” In Women of Ideas and what Men Have Done to Them: From Aphra Behn to Adrienne Rich, 716-9. New York: Routledge.  

Walker, Alice. 1979. “Looking for Zora.” In I Love Myself When I am Laughing: A Zora Neale Hurston Reader, edited by Alice Walker, 297-312. New York: The Feminist Press.

Recommended for Professor: Read the introduction, "Zora Neale Hurston: A Woman Half in Shadow,” by Mary Helen Washington in the Zora Neale Hurston Reader, p. 1-19. This gives a comprehensive background of her life and work for lecture during week one.  

Slocum, Sally. 1975. “Woman the Gatherer: Male Bias in Anthropology.” In Towards an Anthropology of Women, edited by Rayna R. Reiter, 36-50. New York: Monthly Review Press.  

This week’s learning objectives and outcomes: 

Women were typically not included in ethnographic studies, with the idea being that men’s perspectives captured the whole truths of a culture.

Who we consider today to be accomplished women who helped shape the beginning of the discipline, such as Margaret Mead, Ruth Benedict, and Zora Neale Hurston, were women who were not given recognition while they were alive, and were denied elevated positions in universities and tenure.  

There are more women in anthropology than just Mead, Benedict, and Hurston; anthropology is a field dominated by unrecognized, uncited, and disregarded women.  

Men, who received much notoriety in anthropology, had very male-centric points of view on culture and the ‘natural’ subordination of women cross-culturally.  

This week should show students how anthropology is still male-centric, and how it came to be that anthropologists study women. Students should also get an idea of the histories of important women figures in anthropology.  

WEEK 2 – FEMINIST ANTHROPOLOGY

Week two introduces students to how feminist methodology was reconciled with traditional methods in anthropology and ethnography. Each reading for week two discusses the ways that anthropology and ethnography can recognize and incorporate feminist methodology.  

Abu-Lughod, Lila. 1990. “Can There be a Feminist Ethnography?” Women & Performance 5 (1): 7-27.  

Stacey, Judith. 1988. “Can There be a Feminist Ethnography?” Women’s Studies International Forum 11 (1): 21-7.  

Behar, Ruth. 1995. “Introduction.” In Women Writing Culture, edited by Ruth Behar and Deborah A. Gordon, 1-23. Berkeley: University of California Press.  

Davis, Dána-Ain, and Christa Craven. 2016. “How Does One Do Feminist Ethnography?” In Feminist Ethnography: Thinking Through Methodologies, Challenges, and Possibilities, 75-98. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.  

This week’s learning objectives and outcomes:  

Address the tension between feminism and its principles and anthropology’s main method of data collection: ethnography.

Overview how feminist anthropology went from incorporating women into studies to more serious feminist concerns of objectivity, self/Other imbalance, and abuse of power.  

Students should get an idea of how feminist anthropology is an oxymoron from Abu-Lughod's (1990) and Stacey's (1988) readings. Students should read Behar's (1995) introduction because it outlines how feminist anthropology became what it is today. Finally, Davis and Craven's (2016) chapter gives an overview of how feminists approach ethnographic methods and theories. Their chapter also gives students examples from other famous feminist anthropologists as examples.  

WEEK 3 – DOING FEMINIST ETHNOGRAPHY

Week three includes examples of works in anthropology and ethnography that utilize a feminist methodology. Each reading is representative of the way feminist principles and approaches have been used in the discipline.  

Lewin, Ellen. 1995. “Writing Lesbian Ethnography.” In Women Writing Culture, edited by Ruth Behar and Deborah A. Gordon, 322-38. Berkeley: University of California Press.  

Nader, Laura. 1972. “Up the Anthropologist – Perspectives Gained from Studying Up.” In Reinventing Anthropology, edited by Dell Hymes, 285-311. New York: Pantheon Books.  

Kincaid, Jamaica. 1991. “On Seeing England for the First Time.” Transition 51: 32-40.  

McClaurin, Irma. 2001. “Theorizing a Black Feminist Self in Anthropology: Toward an Autoethnographic Approach.” In Black Feminist Anthropology: Theory, Politics, Praxis, and Poetics, edited by Irma McClaurin, 49-76. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.  

This week’s learning objectives and outcomes:  

There are many different ways that feminist anthropologists have tried to modify the ethnographic method to accommodate for feminist principles.  

Students should be asked to think about whether Kincaid’s (1991) ethnographic vignette, Nader’s (1972) methods of studying up, Lewin’s (1995) lesbian ethnography, or McClaurin’s (2001) autoethnography could be considered feminist ethnography. Are they hitting at the core issues addressed by Stacey (1988) and Abu-Lughod (1990)?  

Students should learn that there are other ways of doing ethnography than traditional, male-centric, objectifying methods typically taught in anthropology classrooms.  

WEEK 4 –FEMINIST ANTHROPOLOGY OUTSIDE OF CULTURE

The readings for week four are meant to introduce students to the ways that feminist methodologies have been utilized across sub-disciplines. They are a reinforcement of what feminist principles/methodologies are, and how they can be adopted outside of social science research.  

Kakaliouras, Ann. 2006. “Toward a (More) Feminist Pedagogy in Biological Anthropology: Ethnographic Reflections and Classroom Strategies.” In Feminist Anthropology: Past, Present, and Future, edited by Pamela L. Geller and Miranda K. Stockett, 143-55. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.  

Wekker, Gloria. 2006. “’What’s Identity Got to Do with It?’: Rethinking Identity in Light of the Mati Work in Suriname.” In Feminist Anthropology: A Reader, edited by Ellen Lewin, 435-48. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.  

Wylie, Alison. 2007. “Doing Archaeology as a Feminist: Introduction.” Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 14: 209-16.  

Dowson, Thomas. 2006. “Archaeologists, Feminists, and Queers: Sexual Politics in the Construction of the Past.” In Feminist Anthropology: Past, Present, and Future, edited by Pamela L. Geller and Miranda K. Stockett, 89-102. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.  

This week’s learning objectives and outcomes:  

Feminism is a theory, a lens, a way of seeing the world that is applicable to more than just cultural anthropology.  

Each student in the class can leave the unit knowing how feminism has been used to address their field of study. Such as:  

Biological or physical anthropology students should see the ways that constructions of gender, race, and sexuality impact our interpretation of human biology. They should also get an idea as to the ethical concerns with analyzing indigenous remains.

Archaeology students should foremost recognize that cultural theories surrounding issues of patriarchy and gender have ramifications in their work. Like biological and cultural anthropology students, archaeology students should question the ethics of their work with indigenous remains and artifacts.  

Sociolinguistic anthropology students should get an idea as to how local concepts surrounding gender, race, and sexuality impact language.  

Projects

Unit Project/Assignment Option #1:  

Have students read the blog posts cited here:  

Watt, Elizabeth. 2018. “Why #MeToo is Complicated for Female Anthropologists.” The Familiar Strange, March 1. Retrieved from https://thefamiliarstrange.com/2018/03/01/why-metoo-is-complicated/

Hernandez, Carla. 2018. “Queer in the Field.” Queer Archaeology, February 21. Retrieved from https://queerarchaeology.com/2018/02/21/queer-in-the-field/

The first post talks about the sexual harassment and abuse women anthropologists face when they do field work, and how this impacts their view of the contemporary #MeToo movement. The second post talks about being a queer woman archaeologist in the field and facing both sexism and heterosexism. Have students read these blog posts and either write a short response paper, work together in groups, or present their standpoints to the class. These options depend on how much class time can be given to student presentations.  

Unit Project/Assignment Option #2:  

Students should write a short response paper based on their subdiscipline. Cultural anthropology students can decide whether feminist ethnography is possible, while sociolinguistic, archaeology, and biological anthropology students reflect on whether their methods can be feminist. This can be required on the final day of the unit, after students have an opportunity to read week four’s readings on feminist approaches in other subdisciplines. This can also be an opportunity for students to begin working on their undergraduate theses and write about how their thesis can accommodate for feminist principles. This can be informal and short, or a part of their final project for the course.  

If unit could be extended, or if professor is seeking other readings to swap out or to offer to students for optional reading, incorporate the following pieces:

Abu-Lughod, Lila. 2000. “Locating Ethnography.” Ethnography 1 (2): 261-7.  

Abu-Lughod, Lila. 2002. “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others.” American Anthropologist 104 (3): 783-90.  

Conkey, Margaret, and Janet Spector. 1984. “Archaeology and the Study of Gender.” Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory 7: 1-38.  

Jones, Stacey Holman, and Tony E. Adams. 2010. “Autoethnography is a Queer Method.” In Queer Methods and Methodologies: Intersecting Queer Theories and Social Science Research, edited by Catherine J. Nash and Kath Browne, 195-214. New York: Routledge.  

Kus, Susan. 2006. “In the Midst of the Moving Waters: Material, Metaphor, and Feminist Archaeology.” In Feminist Anthropology: Past, Present, and Future, edited by Pamela L. Geller and Miranda K. Stockett, 105-14. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.  

Lewin, Ellen. 2002. “Another Unhappy Marriage? Feminist Anthropology and Lesbian/Gay Studies.” In Out in Theory: The Emergence of Lesbian and Gay Anthropology, edited by Ellen Lewin and William L. Leap, 110-27. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.  

Lewin, Ellen. 2006. “Introduction.” In Feminist Anthropology: A Reader, edited by Ellen Lewin, 1-38. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. Only pages 18-26.  

Newton, Esther. 1996. “My Best Informant’s Dress: The Erotic Equation in Fieldwork.” In Out in the Field: Reflections of Lesbian and Gay Anthropologists, edited by Ellen Lewin and William L. Leap, 212-35. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.  

Ortner, Sherry B. 1974. “Is Female to Male as Nature Is to Culture?” In Woman, Culture, and Society, edited by Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo and Louise Lamphere, 68-87. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Rodriguez, Cheryl. 2001. “A Homegirl Goes Home: Black Feminism and the Lure of Native Anthropology.” In Black Feminist Anthropology: Theory, Politics, Praxis, and Poetics, edited by Irma McClaurin, 233-55.

Rosaldo, Michelle Zimbalist. 1974. “Woman, Culture, and Society: A Theoretical Overview.” In Woman, Culture and Society, edited by Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo and Louise Lamphere 17-42. Stanford: Stanford University Press.  

Rubin, Gayle. 1975. “The Traffic of Women: Notes on the Political Economy of Sex.” In Toward an Anthropology of Women, edited by Rayna R. Reiter, 157-210. New York: Monthly Review Press.  

Syllabi sources that served as inspiration for authors to include:  

http://www.anthropology.ua.edu/cultures/cultures.php?culture=Feminist%20Anthropology

https://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/soan/assets/SA_226_W13_Feldman_Savelsberg_syllabus__3_.pdf

https://anthropology.washington.edu/courses/2015/autumn/anth/353/a

http://home.wlu.edu/~goluboffs/275_2009.html

https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/files/mKWooKqSsg

http://anthro.rutgers.edu/downloads/undergraduate/236-378obrien2007/file

http://queeranthro.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/SexGender.pdf

[lucyreviewcy]

Made in Chelsea S01 E08

Caggie’s decided to go back to London. Francis has hired a life coach. Spenny is dating someone forgettable who’s clearly just there to raise the tension. Ollie goes on a date with a man. Also they all go to a big polo match because the series has to end at the poshest possible event and what is posher than horse croquet. 

This episode is our “tying up loose ends” episode. We’ve been through eight episodes with the guys and what have we learned?

We’ve learned that Cheska and lovable Binky are 100% the “quirky friend” characters from a romantic comedy. You know, they’d be played by Judy Greer or Sarah Parish. In this episode they drink wine, listen in to Ollie’s date over the phone and try on all his clothes. As I’ve mentioned a lot in my previous posts, Ollie, lovable Binky and Cheska are the most relatable characters in the programme. Their conspicuous consumption is shown far less on screen than characters like Rosie and Millie who spend 80% of the show in expensive looking rooms. While I have no doubt that Ollie’s living room is expensive, it looks like... a nice living room. The relationship between the audience and these characters is built through symmetry here: you’re in your living room watching Ollie’s date, they’re in their living room listening in on it. The audience is allowed to be like these three characters in a way that we are unlike the others. 

We’ve also learned that Caggie and Spencer are... still not a thing. This storyline is the central thread that pulls all the episodes together. Will they, won’t they. The issue I have with this as the chosen through line is that Spencer at no point shows himself to be deserving of Caggie. I’m going to compare the show to another London-based-romantic-narrative Bridget Jones’ Diary (recently re-watched this alone in my dressing gown while eating four, yes, four bowls of chilli and I have no regrets.) For all its likely flaws of gender representation and romantic cliche, I love this movie just as it is. Both Made in Chelsea and Bridget Jones have a moment where one of the two characters’ whose relationship forms the core of the drama is going to fly off to New York, curtailing any chance of their relationship blossoming. HOWEVER, Mark has shown an interest in Bridget that is beyond the sexual, he never claims to have any right to her, he supports her in her work and is kind to her friends. Mark is a desirable man, we want him to end up with Bridget because he is kind to her, despite his flaws, and shows clear affection for her, despite her flaws. 

Spencer is never actually nice to Caggie beyond telling her she looks good or buying her dinner. Obviously she looks good, everyone in this show looks good. She doesn’t actually need him to buy her dinner, either, she won’t starve. The closest Spenny comes to being nice to Caligula is when he comes to see her perform. So when Caggie dramatically arrives at this miscellaneous polo match to declare that she’s leaving and didn’t want to say goodbye to him because he’d convince her to stay, I’m left extremely cold. I don’t really want Caggie to get together with Spencer: he’s been horrible to her consistently, treated her like an object and toyed with her emotions for eight episodes. He’s also got silly hair and he should just get it cut because it makes him look like a tiny goblin that’s trying to be suave. 

I’m also not impressed with this story line because we’re introduced to a new character, tiny Maltese brunette Elisha, who we’re told in no uncertain terms is unimportant by the editing of the scenes she’s in. Whenever Elisha is speaking at Millie and Hugo’s dinner party, she’s faded down or we literally cut to another scene altogether! Elisha is an object introduced to show Caggie what she’s missing with Spencer. 

But wait, all this actually does is show that Caggie doesn’t really care for this other girl’s feelings when she comes to the polo match and kisses Spencer in front of tonnes of people, humiliating Elisha (presumably, we don’t see any more of her so who can say) in the process. 

And here’s the kicker, what if Caggie is also a bad person? What if she isn’t our white-clad guile-free heroine? In this episode she tells Millie to keep her departure from Chelsea secret from her boyfriend, and then snogs Spencer, whom she knows has started a new relationship, before jetting off to New York, apparently to guilt trip him for making her feel “awkward”.

In the words of the Wombats, this is no Bridget Jones. Part of the reason for this is that we’ve been presented with such relatable characters elsewhere, whose stories are played out in a more interesting, satisfying way in this episode. Gabby has been jealous of Ollie dating other people, and is clearly not over him. When they finally reach a point of Gabby being happy for Ollie, we find out that Gabby is attending the polo match with someone else, and Ollie looks crestfallen. We’ve been exposed to Ollie being funny, flawed and flirty. We have seen Gabby’s breakup with him and subsequent emotional turmoil. Both these characters have learned something by the end of the series. Caggie and Spencer haven’t really learned anything at all. Millie and Hugo the Human Shark started a relationship during this series! Even Francis learned to be slightly more humble in his interactions with other human beings. 

Caggie and Spencer end the series pretty much where they began it, as two people inexplicably drawn to each other who don’t seem to want to start a relationship for reasons unknown. I can only hope that this particular drama doesn’t continue into the second series because in this series, this story is deeply overvalued and given far too much screen time. Honestly, who really cares anymore whether or not Spencer and Caggie do the nasty? I know I don’t. 

[tlatollotl]

Camelid figurine

Date: 1400–1533

Geography: Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, or Argentina

Culture: Inca

Medium: Alloys of silver, gold and copper

This male camelid figurine, potentially representing a llama, has a solid head and a hollow body. While many similar camelid figurines are made of hammered sheet, X-radiography confirms that this figurine was cast by the lost wax method (see image 3) in two distinct casting stages to achieve different metallic effects. The first step was the casting of the llama’s head (see image 4), neck, torso (see image 5), and tail (see image 6), as well as its legs, with a silver-copper-gold alloy. As part of this first step, the wax form of the torso was modelled around a ceramic core that now forms a hollow space within the camelid’s body (the space is not visible to the viewer as it has been covered over by a silver metal plug at the chest, visible in the X-ray). The second casting step was the creation of the head and upper or rear elements of the body and tail in a more gold-rich silver metal. This second casting operation was accomplished by casting directly onto the solidified silver-rich portions. X-radiography reveals extensive porosity throughout most of the silver metal areas, a feature caused by gas trapped in the molten metal during casting, which contrasts with a lack of porosity in the gold-rich areas. This difference suggests that the second step in casting may have been undertaken to correct flaws or areas of weakness associated with the porosity in the first. XRF analysis of the two metal elements indicates that the silver-rich metal contains approximately 72% silver, 20% copper and 7% gold while the more gold-rich areas contain roughly 50% silver, 42% gold, and 8% copper. Following casting, the metal worker employed tracing and engraving tools to form the details of the inner ear, the eyes, the nostrils, the mouth, and the toes. The object may be considered a huaca, a Quechua and Aymara word for a sacred being among Andean peoples. Huacas may take the form of artificial anthropomorphic or zoomorphic objects, as well as rocks, mountains, and mineral sources (Cruz 2009). Throughout the Andes, camelids, including two wild and two domesticated species, are prized for their wool and meat (Moore 2016). For the Incas, their human ancestors, along with camelids, were thought to have come into existence from a cave at Pacariqtambo. In the Andes, camelids, whose hides and bones were turned into a range of products, are charged with carrying goods as part of caravans. Camelid figurines may be components of the Inca ritual performance of capac hucha, a Quecha term meaning ‘royal obligation’, in which, according to 16th century Spanish chroniclers (Cieza de León 1959, 190-193; Diez de Betzanos 1996, 46, 132), could involve annual celebrations in Cusco where prophecies were given for the coming year as well as sacrificial offerings of llamas, maize, and children, whether as a dedication to the Sun or for particular royal events, including the Sapa Inca’s death. As part of this performance, in some cases, juveniles were ritually married in Cuzco and then sent on processions to points as far north and south as Isla de la Plata in Ecuador and Cerro El Plomo in Chile, respectively, where they were sacrificed and buried, wearing textiles, and accompanied by dressed metal and Spondylus spp. shell figurines, ceramic vessels, and other shell and metalwork. The motivation of the capac hucha was to commemorate particular royal events and to mark the expansion of the Inca Empire. However, such figurines may have been deposited with other intentions, and without human burials. In one case, four camelid figurines in metal and shell were recovered in a line oriented to the southeast and in association with stones related to the usnu, or altar, of Cuzco as part of the dedication of sacred space in the Haukaypata, or main plaza of Cuzco (Farrington and Raffino 1996, 73). Camelid figurines were occasionally designed with special ornamentations, such as those seen on two figurines from the region of Lake Titicaca, including the attachment of a textile blanket adorned with gold appliqué and cinnabar (AMNH B/1618) and a highly corrugated surface to index the texture of the animal’s pelage (AMNH B/1619). These ornamentations, or inherent aspects of the design of the figurines, testifies to the ways that metallurgists distinguished their ritualized work. At present, there is little archaeological indication of production sites for these figurines, but Spanish chroniclers point to Cuzco. Many Inca camelid figurines in metal tend to be around the height of 1974.271.36, but there are exceptions (such as the two aforementioned AMNH figurines) that are larger, at 23–24 cm. The height groupings of the camelid figurines are in some way comparable to those of the Inca anthropomorphic figurines in metal but appear to show a bipartite rather than a tripartite grouping (see McEwan 2015, 282, n. 15). In Spondylus spp., the heights of camelid figurines may range from approximately 2 to 7 cm without clear groupings across that range. It should be recognized that many of the sites from which these figurines have been recovered are sacred to local indigenous communities (see Aguero 2004, Fine-Dare 2009, and Politis 2001 on the display of human remains from the mountaintop capac hucha site of Llullaillaco in Argentina). Eleven camelid figurines in silver, gold, and Spondylus spp. were associated with the human male juvenile’s grave at Llullaillaco but none was found with the two human female graves (MAAM 2007, 52). A hollow camelid figurine, made of gold-silver-copper sheets joined mainly by solder, was recovered from the capac hucha burial of a 7-year-old human male at Cerro Aconcagua, also in Argentina (Bárcena 2004). While camelid figurines are often found with male capac hucha burials (King 2016), a strict gender correlation is not clear. At Choquepujio, in the Cusco Valley, a Spondylus male camelid figurine was found resting in a Spondylus valve associated with the Inca burial of a female juvenile (11–12 years old) inside a pre-Inca temple (Gibaja et al. 2014). In excavating a burial of a male juvenile (6–7 years old), investigators recovered two Spondylus female camelid figurines. In these assemblages, camelid figurines were social actors, having their own camay, a Quechua term that could be translated as “energizing power,” through interaction with other assemblage components and with the human actors that made and deposited them. The deterioration of these objects, or their removal from their original locations in the earth, has surely changed their efficacy. Technical notes: Optical microscopy, new X-radiography, and XRF conducted in 2017. Bryan Cockrell, Curatorial Fellow, AAOA Beth Edelstein, Associate Conservator, OCD Ellen Howe, Conservator Emerita, OCD Caitlin Mahony, Assistant Conservator, OCD 2017 Further Reading Aguero, Adrian. Violan derechos de las momias del Llullaillaco. Argentina Indymedia. Last modified August 24, 2004, http://argentina.indymedia.org/news/2004/08/218027.php. Bárcena, J. Roberto. “Las piezas metálicas de la ofrenda ritual del Cerro Aconcagua, Mendoza, República de Argentina.” In Tecnología del oro antiguo: Europa y América, edited by Alicia Perea, Ignacio Montero, and Óscar García-Vuelta, 157-172. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 2004. Cieza de León, Pedro de. The Incas. Edited by Victor Wolfgang von Hagen. Translated by Harriet de Onis. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, [1553] 1959. Cruz, Pablo J. “Huacas olvidadas y cerros santos: Apuntes metodológicos sobre la cartografía sagrada en los Andes del sur de Bolivia.” Estudios Atacameños (San Pedro De Atacama) 38 (2009): 55-74. Diez de Betanzos, Juan. Narrative of the Incas. Translated and edited by Roland Hamilton and Dana Buchanan. Austin: University of Texas Press, [1551-57] 1996. Farrington, Ian, and Rodolfo Raffino. “Mosoq suyukunapa tariqnin: Nuevos hallazgos en el Tawantinsuyu.” Tawantinsuyu 2 (1996): 73-77. Fine-Dare, Kathleen S. “Bodies Unburied, Mummies Displayed: Mourning, Museums, and Identity Politics in the Americas.” In Border Crossings: Transnational Americanist Anthropology, edited by Kathleen S. Fine-Dare and Steven Rubenstein, 67-118. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2009. Gibaja Oviedo, Arminda M., Gordon F. McEwan, Melissa Chatfield, and Valerie Andrushko. “Informe de las posibles capacochas del asentamiento arqueológico de Choquepujio, Cusco, Perú.” Ñawpa Pacha 34, no. 2 (2014): 147-175. King, Heidi. “Further Notes on Corral Redondo, Churunga Valley.” Nawpa Pacha 36, no. 2 (2016): 95-109. McEwan, Colin. "Ordering the Sacred and Recreating Cuzco," in The Archaeology of Wak'as: Explorations of the Sacred in the Pre-Columbian Andes, edited by Tamara L. Bray, 265-291. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2015. Moore, Katherine M. “Early Domesticated Camelids in the Andes.” In The Archaeology of Andean Pastoralism, edited by José M. Capriles and Nicholas Tripcevich, 17-38. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2016. Museo de Arqueología de Alta Montaña (MAAM). Museo de Arqueología de Alta Montaña. Buenos Aires: Fondo Nacional de las Artes, 2007. Onuki, Yoshio, and Fernando Rosas Moscoso. Exposición del gran Inca eterno: La tristeza de la niña "Juanita.” Lima: Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Perú and Museo Santuarios Andinos, 2000. Politis, Gustavo. “On Archaeological Praxis, Gender Bias and Indigenous Peoples in South America.” Journal of Social Archaeology 1, no. 1 (2001): 90-107.

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