#she does not get to return to a virtuous position

[lucy-moderatz]

Are you through?

[taebaelee]

Posted this on a small subreddit, but wanted to post here as well. For the new game, while part of me enjoyed playing some of it, I do really think it's such a disservice to be able to really call it a Dragon Age game when the writers stripped away any nuances by trying to make everything black or white; everything feels very basic and borderline cartoonish at points.

Anything morally gray is non-existent and you have no real influence in the game. No matter what you do, you are forced as the player to play a super friendly (or chaotic-good) at best protagonist with no opinions on the world of Thedas. This is what makes this not feel like a Dragon Age game to me.

This isn't super long, but there are spoilers under the cut as to why I feel this way. I do speak very critically about the new game, so please do not read if you think it may offend you as that is not my intention; this is more of a therapeutic rant for me and fellow DA lovers who feel disappointed about the writing.

While people can argue on how the previous games handle the situations involving anti/pro mages, templars, elves, the chantry, etc-- you can't even talk/argue about literally ANYTHING in the world with anyone as these ideas simply do not exist in the game OR are introduced but with a narrative already framed around it by the writers ideals.

- Factions/groups you work with are too virtuous. We could have had such deep and complex dynamics with the factions and how their backgrounds change your relationship with the characters in the world, or how the party members interacted with each other. Instead, none of it really matters as the game sanitizes the world around the groups to make the party members and factions palatable to the masses. A literal criminal organization, the Threads, is shown in a more positive light because while they commit other crimes, they don't deal in slavery? The Lords of Fortune (who are mainly mercenaries) would return cultural artifacts to the ethnic group they belong to-- they loot and steal, but are morally conscious enough to not steal from other cultures? The Antivan Crows who canonly bought and enslaved children, who made said children prove themselves through gruesome tests that sometimes included killing their own peers, are now played out like they're justice fighters. The the closet the game gets to showing any of the truth is small party banter you may miss with Lucanis saying his training was like torture, but it is to never be discussed again.

- The characters all get along way too well. Rook can't ask a character's opinion on the other factions, races, classes, religions, etc-- let alone reply back with their own thoughts that may go against the members views as we don’t really even get to see their opinions on them. Whenever the disapproval bubble pops up, which it rarely does, it does not change anything and it is not brought up again. There seems to be no consequences with your party members based on your choices, which makes the characters likeness towards you feel unearned as they seem to have no agency of their own. In DAI, if Cassandra has low approval then you can get a scene where you call her pathetic as she's stumbling over drunk and yells at you for ‘coddling mages’ or in high approval she can have a scene where she says something along the line 'while she doesn’t agree with everything you have done, she admires you.’ or in DAO Zevran can either betray you and go back with Taliesen/Crows or he can tell Taliesen he is not going back. Even something as small as the characters greetings change based on approval status when you visit them at skyhold. There are tons of examples I could give from previous games, but not a single cut scene seems to change with your companions outside of the final decision you make for them at the end of their companion quests. And to add on top of this, the party members all get along perfectly. If they disagree it is quickly resolved and moved on. Where are my Fenris and Anders fights or Vivienne and Solas sassy quips towards one another?

- No religious themes in the new game feels so out of place as this game literally changes the fundamentals of religious beliefs in the world of Thedas and could cause for a complete uproar with those that believe in the Maker and Chantry. The first game opens with an excerpt from the Chant of Light explaining the origins of the Blight and the Chantrys version of the truth and the whole mage/templar battle which is such a major theme (especially in DA2) in this series is due to the Chantry and this new info shows that the Chantry is wrong (or partially) and this can actually be completely missed behind a side-quest? Also, are we supposed to believe that all the Dalish just know Solas is better than Elgar'nan now? Strife say something along the lines that while Solas may be a bastard he is better than the other Evunaris" WHEN WAS THIS ESTABLISHED? Solas directly talks about how when he tried to tell the Dalish his identity they either didn't believe him or attacked him for being the God of Lies and Trickery. Yes, it has been a few years, and more may know the truth now... but how many as according to the old games the Dalish WORSHIPPED the ground Elgar'nan walked. If so many like Solas now from knowing the truth suddenly, where are all the followers for the Dreadwolf? Not only do we not have any missions regarding the agents of Fen'harel, we don't run into any at all.

- This sounds bad out of context, but where is the slavery/racism? I know a lot of people wanted them to tone some of it down, but for it to be completely removed just does no feel right when Tevinter is canonly known to be the worst place for slavery when it is openly practiced and legal... Also, playing as an elf feels very out of place during an undercover quest with the Venatori, but they already had them working for Elgar'nan which doesn't really add up either; so I guess they are just fine with Evles now after thousands of years...

- None of the previous games matter. While fundamentally, each game has their own story, I liked seeing the cameos of characters reflect past choices. One, of many examples, would be that we got to see Alistair either become a drunk in DA2 and forgotten by the narrative; or have him become a King or Grey Warden in DAI where you can even ask him about the Hero of Ferelden and his answers are different depending on how you played the game! Now we have some characters return but as a blank slate as the writers did not want to invalidate previous choices, but essentially let the characters' cameos fall flat because of this. What is the point of a character returning if they don’t reflect the character I know and helped them become what they are today through my choices?

I know I have a lot of negatives even when I said I liked part of the game, but it is a huge disappointment as the reasons above are what made me LOVE the series with it being so enriched with its environment and now it feels like a hollow shell of itself.

[randomfoggytiger]

Mulder and Scully, Past Lives, and the White Buffalo Calf

An extract from the next part of my Scully Family meta series.

Albert Hosteen at first compares Mulder's recovery in The Blessing Way to the Navajo tale of the Gila Monster: "When the F.B.I. man Mulder was cured by the holy people, we were reminded of the story of the Gila monster, who symbolizes the healing powers of the medicine man. In this myth, the Gila monster restores a man by taking all his parts and putting them back together. His blood is gathered by ants, his eyes and ears by sun, his mind by Talking God and Pollen Boy. Then lightning and thunder bring the man back to life."

However, Hosteen soon receives word from another (unnamed) tribe that links the birth of their legendary white buffalo calf to the day of Mulder's recovery: "Like the Navajo, these people have their own stories and myths. One of these stories tells of the white buffalo woman who came down from the heavens and taught the Indians how to lead virtuous lives and how to pray to the creator. She told the people she would return one day, then she turned into a white buffalo and ascended into the clouds, never to be seen again. But on this day, when the holy people had given the F.B.I. man a miracle, a white buffalo was born and every Native American knew, whether he believed the story or not, that this was a powerful omen and that great changes were coming." 

Canonically, this sets up exciting possibilities that aren't followed through (or, at least, not very well); but if one takes a step back, the Mulder and Calf comparison doesn't work at all:

Melissa's sacrifice is drawn directly to Scully throughout the entire episode, with Scully repeating that fact in doomed tones over and over and over.

The White Buffalo Woman is a feminine mythology, tying more neatly to the mother buffalo/Melissa's "sacrifice" and the calf/Scully's "rebirth" (as foretold in the legend.)

Not only does Melissa act as the "maternal" guide to Scully's inner voice, she is also her protector, supporter, and keeper-- in this life and the next (Beyond the Sea, The Blessing Way, A Christmas Carol, etc.)

If parallels between Mulder's "rebirth" and Melissa's "sacrifice" can be drawn, so can Scully's escape from her assassins and "rebirth" back into normal civilization alongside Melissa's death. It would also line up narratively with Albert's monologue about the buffalos: “The white buffalo calf had survived; but after a day it would no longer drink its mother’s milk. On the third day, the mother buffalo laid down in her stall and would not get up. They said the men could do nothing for her. That night, she died." Scully, too, was separated from her sister for a period of three days; and Melissa, too, died on the third.

Furthermore, there is no connection between Mulder's set of circumstances and Melissa's, narratively or mythologically.

However, we all know The X-Files is loaded with errors because of a lack of a show bible and a broken, incohesive narrative; that means, unfortunately, there is one possibility for the comparison to work-- and that is by taking The Field Where I Died's canon seriously.

TFWID posits that Mulder, Melissa Rydell, and Scully are connected soulmates, recycled together as an unholy trio in each life (kind of like the vampires in 3) and doomed to suffer tragic fates until they get it right. (On the surface, this might further prove the hypothesis that "the X-Files was always a dark show with an unhappy ending" except that Chris Carter himself said that wasn't the case-- though he might have changed his mind recently.) Massive plot holes of the episode aside, TFWID also posits each soul is reborn into a new body regardless of the sex of that body, meaning Mulder was alternately a Confederate man and a Jewish woman in previous lives.

And the Jewish woman reincarnation is the stickler... because that was the last past life Mulder had (to my knowledge) before his current one. Meaning, Mulder soul could very well be the White Buffalo Woman at some point in his past, reborn in this life, again, to bring about the justice and better ending he'd failed to accomplish in the preceding ones. It would do away with the feminine-only bent to the mythology, at the very least; and it would tie into Chris Carter's overall vision for the show-- fate vs. freewill, with fate winning out again and again in Mulder and Scully's lives.

However, that would negate the more interesting and accurate interpretation of the White Buffalo Woman mythology: that Scully, not Mulder, was the woman fated to save the world.

That interpretation would also make sense because Scully often experienced visitations from the dead or dying in the series, including Albert Hosteen's apparition in Amor Fati... which was right after the revelation that shook her to the core: finding the key to everything in Africa. And if that be the case, then the files and the Conspiracy and being a part of Mulder's quest was Scully's fated journey; and that Mulder had made repeated mistakes that destroyed his life in each of the past ones. That Scully was here, now, to "keep him honest, make him a whole person" and safeguard him from danger (and himself) while saving the world.

Furthermore, this interpretation of canon (which I argue is the only factual one) would also negate the late-in-the-game comparison between William and buffalos in Season 9 since:

The White Buffalo Woman was prophesied to be reborn with agency-- to be a leader herself, not a vessel for the next "Messiah"

It would mean Scully's son was a natural product of her and Mulder's dedication to each other, a bonus to saving the world and setting her partner's life to rights

Conclusion

While Hosteen's narrative states that Mulder is the White Calf and Melissa's life was sacrificed for his, it does not fit narratively with the White Buffalo Woman legend nor the ensuing events of the episode and rest of the series.

Thank you for reading~

Enjoy!

[sircnum]

[ jessie mei li, non-binary, she/they, 28 ] we've followed [ LYSA FJANDI ] for awhile now, the [ MAGE ] has been in Skellige for [ A FEW DAYS ]. They're known to be [ DELIRIOUS ] and [ VIRTUOUS ]. They often remind us of [ DARK CIRCLES PURPLING PALE SKIN, TICKING CLOCKS RHYTHMIC IN HER BLOOD, TONGUE THAT SPILLS DESPERATE RIDDLES ]. Our thread has already been woven on what their future is looking like, but we're eager to see the [ WORKER AT THE NEW PORT ] experience it.

tw: mental health, neglect / abandonment

basics

full name : lysa skeltwell fjandi

name meaning: light, enemy, devil, fiend

nickname / alias: fee, dee, the mad maid

gender / pronouns: she/her

sexuality: demisexual

age, birthday + birth runes: 27, may 1st @ 9.13pm, laguz & hagalaz

place of birth: novigrad

accent : redanian

occupation: worker at the new port

associated locations: novigrad

song: wildflowers by tom petty & the heartbreakers

appearance

faceclaim: adeline rudolph

height: 5″7

eyecolor: dark brown

haircolor: black

build: willowy/bony

tattoos / scars: scars on her knees, burn scars on her hands

personality

positive traits: gentle, virtuous, well-meaning

negative traits: delirious, erratic, self-loathing

relationships

parents : alonja skeltwell ( mother ), jorn skeltwell ( father )

siblings : three older brothers ( eldest deceased ) and a younger sister ( that she knows of )

children : none

pets : rat-catcher ( one-eyed semi-feral cat )

other

abilities : regular foresight/premonition

relationship to the gods : worships them all, respects the balance. 

characters she’s inspired by : drusilla ( buffy the vampire slayer ) , rapunzel ( tangled ) 

history

a girl is born in the dirt, one of an already overflowing brood, mouths that there is no money to feed. she learns to appreciate the little she is given, dedicating that which she gets to the gods she believes deliver it to her. she is devout, loyal, raised in servitude of those with greater grace than she. lysa skeltwell has nothing but her own good heart. 

tragedy falls. the eldest brother, first born first loved, and the apple of his father’s eye is killed. struck down in his prime by an unknown beast. and the loss renders her father’s heart stone. 

the fire calls - eternal, cleansing, redemptive. grief stricken her father allies himself with a new form of devotion. magic has destroyed his family. chaos bleeds. and only the fire, and his commitment to eradicate the blasphemous corruption of their world, can heal them again. 

but a girl is not pure. she has always lived with wider eyes, brighter sight. from birth she has known the way the world will turn, how the cards will fall. seen it in her minds eye. glimpses of the will of the fates. even her brother’s death, she witnessed before the news was brought. 

the passage of time only worsens her foresight. plagued with powerful and erratic visions, a girl becomes incoherent. desperate pleas leaving her lips as she tries to express the flashes of reality tearing apart her mind. 

fjandi. demon. becomes her moniker. her father’s name for her as he watches his child become corrupted by chaos. he cannot, in good conscience, allow this to continue. she is brought before the leaders of the temple, labelled a monster. a blasphemous creature. sentenced to death. 

only a mother’s love spares her. freed under a cloak of darkness and bid to never return. the disintegrating mind of lysa skeltwell is abandoned and left to survive alone. 

a girl lives on the streets, her consciousness crumbling as different versions of reality fold in on themselves in her mind. pieces of who she is, who she was, who she will be - are lost. and in that, her name - her identity. she knows only that she is bad, a demon, a monster to be destroyed - but not why. her life, her childhood, is a black hole - a missing puzzle piece. and lysa does not exist, only fjandi. 

she does what she can to survive. keeps at odd jobs, tasks that anyone can do, but is never wanted in one place for long. the nonsensical ramblings and incoherent warnings cause many to grow weary of her company.

but the fire rages, burns the city she loves that cannot love her. one sees her, one protects her. they take her shaking hands and lead her down a new path. aboard a boat, to a new life in a new world. skellige.

[cruelprincae]

The image forming within the walls of his mind has the young Prince grinning a smile that is ever so slowly widening the more he entertains the idea. ❛ Knowing Sage, he is probably scheming an elaborate masterplan that includes pink sweaters and loops of hours on an end of Copacabana. He appeared to be tremendously confident. ❜ It isn't until the question is addressed back to him that Cardan's smile falters, and for a moment, he is left to stare at the back of Azriel's shirt ― and by extent his chair ― before he altogether shifts upon his back, black eyes rimmed in gold staring up the white engraved ceiling.

Would he indulge Sage were the shadow singer's and his positions reversed ? He ponders the question long and hard as manicured digits toy with the end of his coverlet, as though the answer is as perplexing and complicated as the math in Azriel's textbook. The answer, despite which, is unnervingly simple ― he would, and though the Fae would never dare admit it to himself, least anyone else, he had always been desperate and yearning for the relationship he saw his siblings have with Eldred; that curt nod of approval when Dain made the right political decision, the ever so tender touch upon Elowyn's shoulder, the proud glee in his eyes when Rhyia returned triumph from the court tournaments and the smile he always granted the gentle and virtuous Caelia when she would rush to his side ― and, though such is not much, it has always been more than the contempt and indifference that Cardan has received since the moment his fate was announced to his father. In the end, the more he tried, the more he seemed to fall before Eldred eyes; the incident with Dain was merely the final nail to the coffin, the wave that washed away all doubt ― if there were any to begin with ― that his youngest child could be anything but a harbinger of ill luck and destruction. A ticking time bomb that needed to be removed before it exploded and took down everything he, and the high kings and queens before him, strode to build.

If he could not be better than his siblings, then he would become much, much worse, Cardan recalls deciding upon his exile from the Palace, when he was cast into the care of his eldest brother with whom he, evidently, shared a similarity when it came down to their father's like. If he could not earn Eldred's approval, then he would stride to earn his scowl and his contempt. Attention is, after all, attention, regardless of whether it is positive or negative.

Dear Mab, he has issues.

❛ Yes, ❜ Comes the answer, spoken lowly, barely audible over the hissing of the passing cars from down the street. ❛ Your father, despite his dim-witted attributes, is tender and kind to you. He fulfils your every whim and desire without you having to do so much as ask for it and never expects gratitude, least of all, your respect. He does such because he wants to, and not once have you appreciated it because you are taking it for granted. You know it is always going to be there for you. So yes, if the positions were indeed, reversed, I would take an overbearing father over an indifferent one. ❜ Swallowing the ache down his throat, Cardan shifts uncomfortably, manicured brows furrowing from under the sea of dark locks and searching for a way to proceed that would not paint him as affected by this conversation as he feels. Then, he continues, voice lighter than before; ❛ Granted, I would have given him a hard time at first, so he would not get too comfortable. But that is just me. ❜

@cruelprincae 's words make him pause in the answer he's writing in his homework. ❛ i hope his old angelic vampire brain understood that meant never. ❜ he says as he begins writing again. not once as he looked up to meet his roommates' gaze as he spoke. not until the latter's question, that is. why did he not indulge sage in his desperate desire for father-son connection ? that was certainly something he hadn't expect the other fae would ever ask or even care about knowing. ❛ would you indulge him if you were me ? ❜ he enquires for only answer. he's genuinely curious. they both have their share of father issues after all.

[astaroth1357]

The Brothers vs. Their Fanclubs at RAD

They’re pretty. They’re popular. And they make the guys and gals scream… but they want to live their lives too, you know?

Lucifer

Lotta people out there just thirsting to be ignored because Lucifer gives them jack all.

Sees the multitude of groupies who follow him around at RAD as a waste of time at best and full on obstructions at worst.

To be fair to him, they’re quite insistent and will not take a hint. He usually has to re-route his way through the school multiple times just to dodge them all and it’s a hassle…

Mesphito doesn’t help in the slightest because that cheeky fucker will give them tips on his location throughout the day!! (More reasons for him to hate the bastard...)

He really wishes they’d just move onto his other brothers and leave him alone… He’s too busy for this shit...

Mammon

You wanna bet the Great Mammon has fans? He’s a fashion model with a “bad boy” reputation so there are quite a few...

He doesn’t mind his fans nearly as much as Lucifer (lord knows he needs some kind of positive attention sometimes) but he does use them for… less than virtuous means sometimes...

Yes, he does sign autographs and give selfies, but only for the right exorbitant price, and gifts?? He’s not only accepting, he’s encouraging.

His fans at least get a lot more attention out of him than most, so they got that going for them, but at his rates you gotta hope they’re loaded … 

Admittedly he’d also probably keep a lot more of them if he stopped picking their pockets from time to time, but hey, old habits and all that. 🤷‍♀️

Levi

Doesn’t even know he has a fanclub.

He could legitimately be the densest substance known to the Devildom. He takes NO hints.

The boy is at RAD so rarely that seeing him is like finding Bigfoot already - but any time that he sees his fans following him around, he just assumes they're chasing one of his brothers… or lost… or teasing him… or he’s just hallucinating and needs to go back home ASAP.

He once picked up a notebook for a girl and she fainted in pure glee, but he ended up crying for an hour because he was certain she thought he was hideous...

Mammon sells a lot of Levi pictures to his fans because they just get so little out of the guy… Maybe their existence will click for him one of these days… One of these days… 😔

Satan

Oh boy, does he have a fanclub. He has several but all for very different reasons…

There’s the fans who like his smart side, the fans who like his soft side, and the fans that like his angry side… Look, he’s hard to pin down so he’s got a pretty diverse group.

To his credit, he generally treats them with respect rather than denial or indifference… but he’s keeping an arm’s length regardless.

No photos, no autographs, no flirting, and if they give him any gifts he’ll accept them graciously - but ask that they not give him anything else. He’s not giving them much to work with, really...

That being said, a cat once wandered into the school and his reaction was so heart-stopping that he had a whole mob of them chasing him for a day straight… Thankfully, he saved the cat. 😁

Asmo

Excuse you, who are we talking about here? Of course he has fans!!

Asmo adores his fans right about as much as they adore him and really it’s a symbiotic relationship. He thrives on their attention and they love to get his in return. It’s a win-win!

Likes to pose for pictures and whatnot, but unlike Mammon he never charges his fans for it like a scumbag!! Plus, he’ll even flirt with them, no matter who he’s speaking to!

Regularly invites his fanclub out to his events, includes them in things, and tries to treat them equally… but let’s be honest, this is Asmo. He’ll forget and play favorites more than he would like...

Not a single brother takes care of their fans like Asmo does. Not a one. And that’s why most of the school loves him. 🤷‍♀️😌

Beel

Again, another guy with obvious fans. He’s a star-athlete and just the sweetest man on the planet so he’s practically popularity bait.

Beel is aware that he has fans but he doesn’t really understand why… Which is part of his appeal anyway, because that means he doesn’t make a big deal out of it.

He’ll sign something here or there, maybe take a photo, but mostly he just treats his fans with the same kindness he treats everybody else… Which is legitimately quite nice.

Of course he never, ever, refuses their food. But, if we’re being honest, it’s the multitude of food-based gifts he gets in a day that keeps him going so no one really complains.

Leave it to Beel to acknowledge that his fans are people too… What a sweetheart.

Belphie

Unlike Levi, Belphie knows he has fans… but he doesn’t care that he has fans. 

But that doesn’t mean he ignores them or anything, oh no... Belphie puts his fans to work. They’re his informal prank-squad.

He has literally no shame in leveraging some light flirting or a cute smile if it means making Lucifer’s life at RAD even a little more challenging. He doesn’t have to do very much and he’s still causing trouble so sounds like a win to him!

One day before one of Lucifer’s speeches, Belphie convinced his squad to put unicorn stickers ALL OVER the auditorium... The results of which were what you could expect.

Thankfully, Lucifer usually knows who’s actually behind his brother’s schemes so the groupies get off light... But still. Belph’s a bit of prick and they’ll realize it eventually… probably… man he’s cute…

[no--envies]

Nightless City – An analysis of Wei Wuxian’s accountability

I’ve come across several takes about the bloodbath of Nightless City that don’t really sit well with me. Some people say Wei Wuxian is totally to blame, others that he’s totally blameless, and I personally disagree with both. I think that, like in many other events in the novel, what really happened is more complex.

(All the translations are by Exiled Rebels Scanlations)

First of all, the text shows us that Wei Wuxian wasn’t completely clear-headed even before going to Nightless City, which is normal considering what he was going through. His whole world had crumbled in just a few hours. Everything he’d done until that moment – the sacrifices he had made for what he believed was right – appeared to be for nothing. He ended up hurting the people most dear to him, and he couldn’t even protect those he had wanted to protect. When he could move again after the three days he spent in the cave immobilized by Wen Qing’s needle, for a while he didn’t even know what to do or where to go.

After he got down the mountain, he stood amid the bushes, catching his breath. Bent down, he propped his hands against his knees for a long while before he stood up straight again. Yet, looking at the wild grasses that covered many of the mountain paths, he didn’t know where to go.

Burial Mound—he’d just gone down from there.

Lotus Pier—he hadn’t been back in over a year.

Koi Tower? Three days had passed already. If he went now, it was likely that Wen Qing’s corpse and Wen Ning’s ashes were the only things left.

He stood blankly. Suddenly, he felt that the world had no place for him, despite how large it was. He didn’t know what to do either.

(Chapter 77)

It’s rare to see Wei Wuxian so utterly lost and miserable. What happened was too much for even someone like him – who always tends to look at the bright side of any situation – to be able to deal with it. Since he doesn’t know where else to go, he decides to go to Koi Tower to retrieve the Wen siblings’ ashes, but he doesn’t manage to do anything before he’s discovered and forced to flee. He wanders without purpose for a long time until he arrives at a city gate where he hears a group of cultivators talking about him with contempt, which triggers his anger.

The longer Wei WuXian listened, the colder his expression grew.

He should’ve understood long ago. No matter what he did, not a single good word would come out of these people’s mouths. When he won, others feared; when he lost, others rejoiced.

He was cultivating the crooked path either way, so what exactly did the years of persistence mean? What exactly were they for?

However, the colder his eyes were, the brighter the raging fire within his heart burned.

(Chapter 77)

We see him come to a very bitter realization: no matter his noble intentions and moral integrity, everyone has already made up their mind about him, he would be made into a villain no matter what he does. Before what happened at Qiongqi Path he had managed to keep a positive mindset, since he was doing fine in the Burial Mounds with the Wen remnants. It wasn’t an easy life, but they were safe, they didn’t starve and Wei Wuxian was free to focus on his research and inventions in peace, creating the Compass of Evil and the Spirit-Attraction Flag. He missed his family, but he also found another one. He had people who loved him and valued him, and whom he loved and valued in turn. All in all, he was content. He thought that as long as he didn’t actively seek trouble, the world would leave him alone. But he was wrong. Jin Zixun ambushed him accusing him of something he didn’t do, and everything spiraled down so quickly he couldn’t do anything to prevent it, until he lost control of his demonic cultivation and killed Jin Zixuan.

In this moment, Wei Wuxian feels completely alone. The Wen siblings are gone, his beloved shijie might hate him for killing her husband and the cultivation world as a whole can’t wait to besiege him. If it had been another time, he wouldn’t have beaten up those random cultivators. It’s not like it was the first time he heard awful rumors about himself. The fact that he reacts so violently here says a lot about the state of mind he’s in. Wei Wuxian is clearly looking for a way to vent his anger, so he takes it out on the cultivators who are speaking ill of him. His rage is justified: not only were they saying malicious things about him without even knowing the full story, but they were doing it cowardly behind his back. However, his reaction is somewhat disproportionate to their offense: one of them gets kicked in the face until he passes out from the pain, while another gets his legs broken for daring to speak up. Although he doesn’t kill them, he does terrorize them and in the end he leaves them there immobilized by the spirits he had summoned (if Lan Wangji hadn’t been looking for Wei Wuxian, who knows how long they would have had to wait to be freed).

After this, Wei Wuxian sees the announcement of the pledge conference and goes to Nightless City. I’ve seen people argue that he was only trying to protect the Wen remnants and that the people who were there had already pledged to kill him, so it was self-defense. But is it really the case? Personally, I don’t think what he did was self-defense. Sure, he tried to discuss first and didn’t attack until he was attacked, but defending himself and the Wen remnants wasn’t the main reason he was there in the first place.

The crowd flung curses at him, but Wei WuXian accepted all of them.

Anger was the only thing that could suppress the other feelings within his heart.

(Chapter 78)

All of his pain, desperation and guilt were too much to handle at once, so he tried to suppress them all with anger, and directed that anger at the people who hated him. Wei Wuxian didn’t go to the pledge conference to try to prevent the siege from happening (since he thought it wouldn’t change anything anyway) or to weaken the Sects’ forces. He went there to vent his anger and frustration. Wei Wuxian is not clear-headed here, as highlighted by this passage:

Wei WuXian spun around to dodge the attack and laughed, “Fine, fine. I knew since the start that we’d have to fight a real fight like this one sooner or later. You’ve always found me disagreeable no matter what. Come on!”

Hearing this, Lan WangJi’s movements paused, “Wei Ying!”

Although he shouted the words, any sane person would be able to tell that Lan WangJi’s voice was clearly shaking. However, right now, Wei WuXian had already lost his judgement. He was already half-mad, half-unconscious. All evil was being augmented by him. He felt that everyone loathed him and he loathed everyone as well. He wouldn’t be scared no matter who came at him. It wouldn’t matter no matter who came at him. It was all the same anyway.

(Chapter 78)

In this moment Wei Wuxian believes everyone hates him and there’s no use trying to convince them otherwise – there’s no use trying to reason with them in a diplomatic way because no matter what he says or does, his words will be twisted to fit the opinions of the crowd. He almost welcomes the attack because this way he can attack them back and vent all his pent-up anger. Wei Wuxian is not behaving like his usual self here. He can’t see Lan Wangji isn’t trying to hurt him because his mind is not lucid. This is why he loses control of his demonic cultivation for the second time, injuring Jiang Yanli.

His shijie is the only one who manages to calm him down a little despite his chaotic state of mind. He manages to stop the corpses from attacking everyone and waits for her to tell him what she thinks of him, if she forgives him or not. However, she dies to save his life before being able to say anything, and the whole situation becomes simply too much for him to bear. All of his emotions crush him at once, so in his already half-unconscious state he activates the Tiger Seal, effectively erasing any chance he might have had to redeem himself in the eyes of society.

The point of this analysis isn’t to blame or absolve Wei Wuxian. It’s very easy to empathize with his anguish in these scenes. What he was going through was incredibly stressful and the root cause (the ambush at Qiongqi Path) wasn’t his fault. Even Lan Wangji says he can neither condemn nor justify his actions, but he’s willing to face all the consequences with him anyway.

I told [Wangji] when I went to see him, Young Master Wei had already made a grave mistake, there was no use augmenting it. But he said… that he could not say with certainty whether what you did was right or wrong, but no matter what, he was willing to be responsible for all of the consequences alongside you.

(Chapter 99)

Wei Wuxian isn’t blameless for what happened at Nightless City. I don’t think he’s proud of what he did and all the people he killed, either. The fact that he destroyed the Tiger Seal after returning to the Burial Mounds is quite telling. He definitely didn’t act in the most rational and clear-headed way, which resulted in a lot of people – including his shijie – to lose their lives, but the point of all this is that Wei Wuxian is human. He makes mistakes because no one is infallible, no matter how heroic, selfless and virtuous. Not even he can be totally immune to all the criticism and accusasions, even though he often acts like he is. Wei Wuxian is a fundamentally positive person, so most of the time he can ignore the bad things that happen to him and focus on the good, but this time his situation was simply too extreme for anyone to be able to stand it.

[enha-woodzies]

➸ CHAPTER 1 | " A TRUCE FOR STICKS "

starring: enhypen ft. i-land daniel

pairing: jungwon x fem!reader x sunghoon

genres: royal au, romance, angst, slowburn, 18th century setting

word count: 1.4k

taglist: @serendipitysung (thank you for the beta babe) @affectionaterainoflove @renkiv @softforjungwoo @jislix

[ TEASER ] | [ MASTERLIST ] | [ NEXT CHAPTER ]

"Hear me! Hear me! Oh dearest citizens of Northumberland! Today, I excitingly send words of the town's whatabouts as we engage ourselves in the most awaited event of the season一 the debutantes' ball!

To finally meet and acquire their very own match, a roster of this year's finest young ladies and lords will twirl and swoon their way in the Queen's Court in about forty-eight hours from today.

Amongst the several noblemen in present, who will be the lucky and eligible lords to win the hearts and hands of the city's virtuous and stunning young women? From Northumberland's notable and wealthy families, who will be the successful couples to make it through the exceptional game of matchmaking?

I, for one, doubt the family of Lady Yang will be two steps behind this social occasion, as it appears to my sources the second-born is finally joining the eligible bachelors of the season! Oh yes! Juicy, isn't it? But wait! Another juicy tattle just sprung up the instincts of the town's desperate mothers!

The ravishing only son of the Duke of Northumberland is finally back in town and up for grabs as the Duke himself announced his son "eligible and in need of a potential wife"! This season will no other be than an exciting and exceptional turn for the highly-acclaimed families of the North.

Curious of what's going to happen? Well, see you in forty-eight hours!"

The folded paper is now shoved at the back pocket of the tensed boy who begrudgingly positioned himself back in the shooting marker of the field. With a steady stance and a firm grip on the blunderbuss, he pulls the trigger aiming for the target hanging on a tree branch. The boy hisses for what somehow appears to be his fifteenth missed shot now.

"I see you've read the Daily Tattle. Does that explain your angered shot just now?" A tall, plump-faced boy walks toward the brooding lad who's now awaiting his next bullet being prepared by his personal servants.

He heaves a deep sigh. "Been pissing off my shot the moment I took my first pull this morning."

The tall, plump-faced boy in question is Daniel, the youngest of the three brothers of the Yang family and a very dear friend of our pissed off lad, Niki, the youngest of the Park family. Daniel slings an arm around his pal's shoulder, only to be shrugged away in an instant. "Loosen up, my lord." He scoffs in sarcasm. "Is it your sister?"

Niki closes an eye as he carefully steadies his arm to his line of sight. After he blows another impulsive shot, he lets go of the blunderbuss and turns to his friend. "Who do you think?"

"Well, for starters, you're using the blunderbuss for target practice. Anyone would think you're just out to play but as your trusted old pal, you only come out here with that weapon when it's about your sister." Niki rolls his eyes while pulling Daniel to the nearby bench. "You sure, bud? Only when it's about Y/n? You've surely seen the stupid parchment this morning. Can't believe you're dumb enough to be my friend."

Daniel perks up his brows when he recalls the contents of the Daily Tattle. "Ah! Sunghoon's returned!" Niki clicks his tongue while adjusting the utterly tight boots his maid had put on for him. “And here I am thinking you’re annoyed because your sister is about to be offered for marriage.” The other boy mumbles.

“It was originally that. But then one thing led to another now that I’ve seen the Daily Tattle. Mother will look for ways to get Y/n closer to Sunghoon.”

“Well, I’d do the same if I was your mother. It’s the Duke’s son we're talking about here! His father plans to hand over the title to him as soon as he gets married. Isn’t it regal?” Niki quickly slaps Daniel’s chest before walking away to head inside their manor. The boy was quick enough to catch up to his heated friend, after all, he has pretty long legs for a mere young lad.

“C’mon! Y/n would never answer to a guy like him. You should trust your sister more often, Nik.”

“And you should keep your mouth shut more often, Dan.” Daniel struggled to stifle another remark the moment Niki turned his back on him. He knows where Niki’s frustration and anger are coming from so one more silliness from him would make Niki’s fist land him on the ground.

“Sunghoon sent me an invitation this morning. I reckon you haven’t opened yours? Chap’s inviting us for quick rounds of fencing in their garden today.”

Niki abruptly stopped from his rushed paces when Daniel’s tone changed from being playful to utter seriousness, but he never turned to face him. He was trying to process what his pal just said and stood stiff on his spot. “It’s about time you take your sticks out… for a few rounds of fencing, don't you think?” Daniel walked past Niki but didn't fail to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. He huffs an almost tired sigh. “See you at the Duke’s garden, bud.”

The afternoon daze lands upon Niki’s hooded figure coming down from their carriage. The boy deeply exhales before finally setting foot on his former friend's grounds. It’s been years, he thought. But the memory still stings his fragile heart, although his mother taught him better than to let his emotions get the better of him. He just couldn't figure out what to do in the remaining hours of being stuck with Sunghoon in this dreaded place.

“Lord Niki,” The Duke’s butler bows before the lad while choking in a whisper. “Belle missed you tons, my lord.” He finally let out.

“She does, doesn't she? I’m sure she's been well?” Niki suddenly felt a rushing warmth up in his cheeks at the mere knowledge he just gained. “Always been, my lord.” Niki places a hand on the butler's shoulder before smiling away. “Much thanks, Edmond. I’ll visit the castle’s stable in a bit to see what Belle's been up to. And don’t worry, I can see myself to the horses.”

“Niki! You came!” Daniel rushed to his friend for a tight hug to which Niki only forced a smile. It wasn't because of Daniel’s almost constricting embrace though, but because of the sight of the Duke’s son walking his way towards the two lads. “Your Grace.” With a tone of sarcasm and his most incomparable humor, Niki bows before the tall and well-built, almost pale marquess the instance Daniel pulled away.

“There will be no need for formalities, Niki. It’s not like-”

“I insist, Your Grace.” Sunghoon clicks his tongue as he places his hands on his waist. He will, after all, be addressed that way very soon. “Very well. You’ve never been one to take heedings anyway. Come, the garden’s been waiting for us.”

The pavement leading to the grand garden was made of the purest white pebbles and enormous shrubs towering over them on each side of the vertical pathway. Niki couldn't help himself from sniffing the fresh air time to time as the place, despite being dreadful, is filled with fresh air adequately provided by the healthy bunch of trees that's surrounding the royal grounds.

He forces down every bit of flashback that's trying to reign over him by little subtleties such as swallowing his saliva consistently, or clicking his fingers in agitation. Daniel would place an arm over his shoulder every ten seconds to keep the anxious boy from insanity.

So long as Niki was too occupied with his drowning thoughts, he hasn't realized the servant handing him the fencing sword after he’s changed into full gear in the middle of the yard.

“May I remind you that this is nothing but a formal play without personal intentions in the way. I trust you well enough to at least take that very simple heed, Niki. There won’t be a need to get effusive.” Sunghoon smirks to the boy whose eyes are now hooded with fuming anger.

“Oh, he’s tamed, my lord. You need not to worry about him. Right, Niki?” Daniel awkwardly chuckles to keep the tension from brewing any further. With stares that could kill, Niki may as well have “His Grace’s” head off by now.

“After the third count, gentlemen. En-garde!”

“Foils at the ready!”

“One…”

“Two…”

“Allez!”

And before the count even reached its end, Niki threw his first offense.

*send me an ask or a message if you wish to be added on this series' taglist!

ㅡ © ENHA-WOODZIES, 2021

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Conservatism in Brandon Sanderson’s Writings; or, Reflections on Revolution in the Cosmere

I’ve only read The Stormlight Archive and Warbreaker, so this is based on an incomplete picture, but the combination of those two have given me an impression of Sanderson’s ideas on social structures, appropriate and inappropriate responses to institutional injustice, and revolution. These ideas strike me as being essentially conservative; I’m tempted to say Burkean (hence my alternate title), but I don’t know Burke’s writings well enough to be sure if that’s correct.

To be clear: this is not a ‘call-out’ post. I personally disagree with some of Sanderson’s themes, but I’m trying to understand, engage with, and debate them, not flatly condemn them.

My interpretations here are primarily based on two storylines: Warbreaker, and Kaladin and Moash’s arcs in Words of Radiance. Both of these two storylines, and their resolutions, seem grounded in the following political ideas:

1) Injustice and cruelty are the result of bad, or flawed, people; not of bad systems. And people can change. The solution to a system that seems unjust is to improve the people within it, not to tear it down.

2) Those who seek revolution are basically self-serving and vengeful, not interested in the good of others or that of society.

3) Radicals and those who seek revolution have a blinkered political perspective, flattening societies and people into stereotypes rather than acknowledging their complexity.

1. People, not systems

For the first point: both Alethkar and the world of Warbreaker have systems that are fundamentally founded on entrenched and institutionalized inequality. In Alethkar it is the division between lighteyes and darkeyes (and the different ranks thereof). In Warbreaker it is the position of Returned, who can only exist by daily taking life-force/spirit from others - typically from the poor. Nonetheless, the narrative justifies the maintenance of both systems, primarily on the basis that the ruling classes contain good people (e.g. Dalinar, Adolin; Siri, Susebron, Lightsong); one of the major themes in TWOK and WOR revolves around forcing Kaladin to recognize that some lighteyes are good, and others, like Elhokar, have the desire and capacity to improve.

The basic political conflict is, to me, expressed by two lines following Kaladin’s (second) defeat of a Shardbearer. The first is Dalinar’s, when he states what Kaladin should do about institutionalized discrimination against darkeyes: “You want to change that?...Be the kind of man that others admire, whether they be lighteyed or dark...That will change the world.” This fundamentally rubs me the wrong way - it’s the Booker T. Washington theory of how to address racial inequality, and history has proven time and time and time again that it doesn’t work. If Kaladin did that, people would say, “Wow, that Kaladin, what an unusually exceptional darkeyes!” and continue to treat the rest of darkeyes just the same.

The second line is Kaladin’s when he refuses the shardblade that would make him lighteyed: “I don’t want my life to change because I’ve become a lighteyes. I want the lives of people like me...like I am now...to change.” This, I completely agree with - but later events would suggest the narrative may not. (And the fact that Kaladin doesn’t used his increased status in later books to push for change on this front frustrates me.)

To give another example: when Sadeas treats bridgemen as cannon fodder and their lives as utterly disposable, the problem is treated as being that Sadeas is a bad person (and facing certai. tactical constraints) - not the fact that Sadeas and the other brightlords has the power to treat darkeyes’ lives as disposable in the first place. When Kaladin is imprisoned for challenging Amaram to a duel - in effect, imprisoned for being darkeyed, since a high-nahn lighteyes would not have been punished for issuing such a challenge - this is treated as Kaladin’s fault, not the fault of a system that treats him as having fundamentally less worth than Amaram.

There’s no focus in the books on getting rid of the unjust system - by any means, violent or non-violent, bottom-up or top-down - just on having the ruling class become better people, which is expected to alleviate some problems without fundamentally altering the social structure.

2. Revolutionaries are selfish

The most open expression of this idea is in TWOK, where Moash says outright that he’d like to keep the same system but flipped, with darkeyes on the top and lighteyes on the bottom. Vivenna’s endeavours towards revolution are also portrayed as driven by bigotry against Hallandran culture. And Kalladin’s desire to remove Elhokar is shown as driven by a desire for revenge, with any larger goals or motives being mere rationalization. Likewise, the main antagonist of Warbreaker is shown as having destructive, not constructive goals.

While this is ceratinly true of some revolutionary movements, in Sanderson’s works it is shown as invariably true, with no revolutionary characters being driven by genuine justice or the desire to improve people’s lives. This provides a stark contrast with the number of virtuous characters who are shown depicting or upholding the existing social systems.

3. Radicals see society in shallow and stereotypical terms

This is a big part of the characterization of both Vivenna and Kaladin. For Vivenna, the main example is that she initially sees her people - from a largely rural nation - as fundamentally virtuous, and is horrified by the ‘criminals’ they have to live among in the slum. When she’s made to see that those ‘criminals’ are in fact members of her people, she sees them as victims tragically corrupted by the terrible (urban) culture they’ve immigrated to. She generalizes; she doesn’t want to recognize the fact that some of her people prefer life in the city - despite marginalization and poverty - to life in their country of birth, and wouldn’t want to return. She spends most of the book being gradually forced to break down her stereotypes of her culture as good and Hallandran society as corrupt.

Kaladin, for his part, continually stereotypes lighteyes. In his youth, it’s a kind of internalized caste-ism - he’s constantly disappointed and mistreated by the lighteyes around him, and he keeps on thinking that the people doing it aren’t ‘real’ lighteyes, ‘real’ lighteyes are noble and honorable and he’ll get to fight for one someday. After being betrayed one too many times, he switches to thinking that all lighteyes, invariably, are corrupt, exploitative and evil; it takes a lot to get him to trust Dalinar, and for well after that he continues stereotyping every lighteyes he meets (Adolin, Renarin, Shallan) as spoiled and uncaring even after evidence to the contrary. Even in Oathbringer stereotypes are his default reaction to lighteyes he doesn’t know. He also tends to ignore the fact of major differences in variations in status and life with the two main castes, by nahn and dahn. It’s treated as one of his more persistent character flaws, and contrasted with the more open and merit-based attitudes of the main lighteyed characters.

I’m not really comfortable with this portrayal. Kaladin’s entire life, and everything he’s suffered, have been defined and determined by being lighteyes. He doesn’t have the luxury of being ‘eye-colour-blind’ . Does he make invalid assumptions? Yes, especially about Shallan. But Kaladin thinking of Adolin as a spoiled brat and Adolin calling Kaladin ‘bridgeboy’ are not the same kind of thing; calling someone from a discriminated-against group (who is an adult of about your age) ‘boy’ has implications that both the author and reader are aware of; it is, intentionally or not, an expression of power and superiority, and it is quite justified that it would guve Kaladin a negative impression of Adolin! More broadly, mistrusting lighteyes is basically a trauma-induced defense mechanism for Kaladin, and understandable given what he’s been through. Adolin’s thinking, early in Words of Radiance, that “he was all for treating men with respect and honor regardless of eye shade, but the Almighty had put some men in command and others beneath them; it was simply the natural order of things” is to my mind far more offensive than Kaladin’s personality hostility to lighteyes, but the only main character who the narrative treats/criticizes as being bigoted on the basis of eye color is Kaladin. Adolin’s treated by the narrative as a great person who Kaladin needs to be nicer to, and the aforementioned attitude is never addressed again; it’s not part of his character arc like Kaladin’s view of lighteyes is.

In short, Sanderson’s works are strongly grounded in the idea that the quality of a society is grounded in the personal goodness of its people (including the goodness of its ruling class) more than in the creation of just and equal social structures; and that attributting a society’s problems to structures that create and perpetuate injustice rather than to the choices of individuals is basically wrongheaded. I agree with him on the importance of individual goodness and choices; I disagree with his minimization of the need to dismantle unjust social structures.

[sterling-silvers]

Star Wars: The High Republic #2 Review

Ultimately a 7.5 out of 10, this installment was slightly better because of how Cavan Scott decided to advance the plot. While there some are nice nuggets of good-story telling and character interactions, even worse than last time, it’s bogged down with cardinal errors that truly make me question Scott’s competency as a writer for this story.

The issue comes right off the back end of Keeve being promoted to a Master Jedi and chronicles her first mission in the position. She is still dealing with the growing pains of what it means to be a Jedi which is depicted with her ongoing internalized self-doubt as well as her difficulty expressing certain Jedi mantras, such as “May the Force be with you.” Arguably exacerbating this bottled up uncertainty are the Keeve-proclaimed legends of Jedi Masters Sskeer, and identical Kobati twins Terec and Ceret. These twins are Bond-twins and as so are able to share the same mind and experiences of each other.

As they exit “hyperspace” (more on that later), the four masters come across the leftover demise of a ship that has been attacked. The Jedi were tasked with responding to the scrambled distress call that the ship had sent out sometime ago but, it seems as if they arrived too late. Both Keeve and one of the twins, using the Force, are able to sense survivors within the ransacked ship. As so, they board and enter.  Almost as soon as they are inside, they are met with poisonous Nihilian ovax gas and utilize a device called “rebreathers” to mitigate the effects.  Fully aware that the Nihil have raided this ship, they continue their investigation and split up to cover more ground. Traversing in groups of two, Terec – who is accompanying Sskeer – can sense the Trandoshan experiencing extreme trauma which means that Ceret can feel it as well via their bond; specifically, Sskeer is having flashbacks to the exact moment he lost his arm in the Battle of Kur.

On Keeve’s side of things, she and Ceret come across the corpses of a Hutt and Gamorrean guards. Upon further examination, it seems the Hutt was killed via an amalgam of stab wounds, blaster bolts, and nagnol poisoning – the latter being a toxic natural gas, capable of disrupting starship sensors, poisoning beings based on dosage, and a key element in the Nihil smokescreen.

On Sskeer’s end, he comes across a barley crop and together the Jedi deduce that the Hutt was capitalizing on the grain shortage that has occurred thanks to the Great Disaster. As the twins work on trying to ascertain where exactly the crop came from, Ceret is attacked by a Nihil that has been left behind; this causes both twins to feel the pain but, the wounds are not fatal. Sskeer charges ahead and chases after the Nihil raider, who is already suffering from serious injuries previously sustained in the raid. While Sskeer is perturbed that he cannot sense the attacker he is able to fatally strike down the assailant; coming to gripes that he has just killed, Sskeer goes on a rampage and continually slashes the bifurcated carcass only be brought back to his senses when Keeve addresses him.

Afterward, the Masters relay their findings to Marshall Avar Kriss and with the analysis from Master Maru, come to the conclusion that the barley – specifically Vratixia Renanicus – is a key ingredient in bacta; moreover, the shipment likely came from the Sedri System – principally, Sedri Minor. With this in mind, Kriss assigns Sskeer and Ceret to got to Sedri while she and Jedi Master Rwoh convene with Keeve and Terec to collect the Hutt ship that is breaking trading sanctions. Keeve moves to go with Sskeer but, Sskeer stonewalls her to stay with Terec.

Arriving on the planet, Sskeer is met with unwecolmedness by a citizen, Kalo Sulman who makes it clear that the Jedi’s presence will interfere with the colony’s independence. As the two are discussing, Ceret sees a Rodian in the crops motioning him to come over – as Ceret goes deep into the brush he is attacked by Drengir.

Back on the ship, Kriss and Keeve are discussing the remains of the corpse that Sskeer has left; Kriss reprimands Keeve for not telling her sooner but, also admonishes herself for not looking deeper into the signs the Force were giving her – such as not being able to hear Sskeer’s “song”.

As this happens, Terec – who is being medically assessed by Rwoh – screams out in pain feeling his brother’s anguish and relays this to Kriss. Kriss immediately contacts Sskeer and asks if Ceret is with him; when Sskeer realizes that the twin is gone rushes into the fields only to find his lightsaber.

What I liked:

A growing plot pivoting off of the bacta manufacturing that was touched on by Jedi Grandmaster Veter; this is much welcomed world building within the parameters that is the High Republic.

A very competent and aptly written investigation, analysis, and deductive reasoning done by the Jedi as a whole. The way the Jedi got on the ship, looked for clues, relayed their information to the data analyst/forensic expert, and hash out a plan to go to the planet where the clue originated from was great and definitely resonated with the idea that these Jedi are analogous to Texas Rangers. They certainly seemed like proto-Jedi investigators, not unlike future Jedi Master Tera Sinube.

The continued delving into Jedi Master Sskeer. I like the balancing act that is being conducted with his character. He’s a virtuous being that is dealing with trauma but, that doesn’t, ultimately, stop him from being a Jedi – it just tests it. He is still a “knight” and applies that chivalry when it needs to shine. Witnessing his accident and how it is affecting his psyche, ability to use the Force, and his morality is the highlight of this issue. This is what should be focused on to establish WHY Keeve looks up to him – give her these thoughts in accordance with herself doubt.

The dynamics of Ceret and Terec as interconnected Force Twins (could be seen as “Dyad Force-bond” inspired). Their link is a double-edged sword that reminds me of the Tomax and Xamot Paoli from Cobra Command. The original Star Wars was centered around Force sensitive twins and it’s nice to see that element played with more here – haven’t really seen that since the Mikkian twin sisters – Tiplee and Tiplar – in Clone Wars.

The holster to the lightsabers – it’s a nice, subtle way to convey how the Jedi of this era are more in a time of peace and reservation. To have a weapon holstered means that they have to take the extra moment to consider brandishing it. This underlying detail syncs really well with the time period considering that most of their enemies would be lifeforms and could be reasoned with – “life is precious.”

This can be seen as succinct yet distinct dichotomy between this era Jedi and the Skywalker Saga Jedi, as their sabers were without a holster and normally fashioned around the hips allowing for both instant access and draw in an age encompassed by war with droids – “droids are replaceable.”

What I disliked:

The application of Keeve’s personality traits continues to feel like a mismatch for the particular time period and volk she supposedly has been training and studying with; Ezra Bridger – who by the High Republic’s standards would not even be a Jedi – acts more like a Jedi than Keeve does. If anything, the uncertainty, quirks, and misapplication of Jedi traditions would have fit Ezra WAY more than it does (or really doesn’t) with Keeve. The concept itself is fine but, the iteration is what is flawed. Keeve is fast feeling more like a Jedi from post revenge Revenge of the Sith – like Kanan Jarrus – that a High Republic Jedi.

The sloppy fan service – there is a scene not only of a Hutt but, the Hutt is dead with its tongue out, surrounded by dead Gamorrean guards. It would be one thing if we just had a dead Hutt, I can even look past the Gamorrean guards (even though it would be nice if we saw this race in more roles than guards – there are some but, it does seem like guards is niche as far as the universe is concerned) but, to also have the Hutt dead with its tongue out to me just screams “DO YOU REMEMBER THAT ONE SCENE IN RETURN OF THE JEDI WITH JABBA?!!!” Just, how much are you going to dilute a reference? Make the fan service substantive and or just not in your face – the Rodian luring Ceret is a good version of fan service; present, notable, but not impeding in terms of the narrative.

What I Marked Off:

The completely wrong depiction of hyperspace; Star Wars Hyperspace is blue and certainly not immersed in stars when one is traveling through it. This error is on the very first page of the issue. This shook me to my very core and yanked me out of the immersion. IT’S THE FIRST PAGE! HOW DOES ONE MESS UP ON THE FIRST PAGE?!!! To add grave insult to mortal injury, hyperspace is a FOCAL element of the High Republic Era – you CAN NOT mess this up. Ultimately, it’s a team mess up but, Scott gets the brunt of this reprimand because this is his story and arguably his script is the one that should be guiding the artist.

The fact that Scott continues to fail to make the necessary references about crucial dynamics, events, and positions within this era. I had to learn from a YouTube video (link below) that Sskeer is actually the “Steward” to Kriss’ Marshall role. As of issue #3, this position is still not established to be held by Sskeer which is a real shame as it adds more substance and weight to his plight as a perturbed Jedi. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPeRcyJE5dk&feature=emb_title

In summary, this issue was a 7.5 out of 10; slightly better than issue one because of how the writer decided to advance the plot and who he decided to advance the plot with. The genuinely good moments of story-telling are bogged down by ineptitude that can literally throw one out of the immersion. Nonetheless, if you can tolerate the faults there are elements to enjoy, especially when it comes to the characters. I hope those elements promptly become prominent.

[minmotl]

Chapter 43: Sui Zhou Takes Care of a Sick Tang Fan

Context: A partial continuation of Chapter 42. Tang Fan is still trying to recover from his cold, and his new acquaintance Wang Zhi turns up at the house to visit him. Sui Zhou leaves them both alone in the room to talk, and Wang Zhi ends up in a compromising position with Tang Fan, much to Sui Zhou’s displeasure. His cousin turns up again and this time, he rejects her firmly.

Introduction Post | Masterpost

—

Highlights under the cut

Wang Zhi approaches him without him realizing it and with one hand, he lifts Tang Fan’s jaw up, looking from left to right.

“Speaking of which, you are rather good-looking in certain aspects. If you can’t be an official anymore in the future, just head to the streets and sell your books and I suppose with many women, old and young, visiting your stall, your business will surely be good!”

Tang-daren can no longer resists and rolls his eyes in a way that is anything but elegant, “If that day comes, I will definitely head to the doors of the Western Depot and sell my books there!”

Just as he finishes saying his piece, they hear the doors creak open.

Sui Zhou is holding onto medicine when he walks in and coincidentally sees Wang Zhi positioned slightly over Tang Fan, one of his hands pinching at Tang Fan’s jaw. This forces Tang Fan to have to raise his head a little, but he is still in a sitting position in bed wrapped in blankets — two rosy circles are visible on Tang Fan’s pale complexion because of his cough, his hair a mess and his clothes not properly worn. Both men are in close proximity to each other as well and just looking at this sight, it is easy for people’s thoughts to take a strange turn.

What’s more important is that Ming dynasty officials are not as unmanly as most people think. Among them there is no lack of manly and aggressive types with large builds, and if not for their lack of facial hair, no one would even notice.

Although Eunuch Wang doesn’t look aggressive and is more on the side of dark and gentle, but one would not use the terms gentle, weak and skinny to describe his body. To think of it, for someone who has learnt martial arts since young just like Sui Zhou, how skinny and weak can he be?

In comparison, because Tang Fan is a civil official and coupled with him being unwell, who is strong and weak is immediately clear at a single glance.

No matter who comes over and takes a look, all they will see is Eunuch Wang being overtaken by lust as he teases Tang-daren.

Under Sui Zhou’s icy, wordless glance, Wang Zhi naturally releases Tang Fan and then lightly pats at his cheek. In an overly intimate tone, he says, “I’ll come and visit you another day, rest well.”

“…”

Why does Tang Fan feel that there’s something really amiss by Wang Zhi’s tone, which could be very easily misperceived by others?

Facing Sui Zhou’s cold and powerful aura, Wang Zhi continues as if he’s not seeing any of it, “Sui-baihu is so virtuous, serving medicine and taking care of him. If this goes on, I believe Tang-daren won’t have to marry a wife in the future?”

Without waiting for Tang Fan to react, Wang Zhi laughs loudly and leaves the room in large strides.

Saying this, Wang Zhi exercised no tact and was extreme loud and arrogant. If it was anyone else today who ended up being flirted with as if he was a woman, comparing a grown man to a wife, he would have quickly developed a grudge for Wang Zhi. Thankfully Tang Fan hasn’t taken any of his comments to heart and Sui Zhou cannot be bothered to confront Wang Zhi about this, and so they allow the Western Depot’s Admiral to leave as he pleases.

The one who’s down on his luck is Tang-daren.

The moment Wang Zhi leaves, he’s lectured at. Sui Zhou says with a cold look, “Wang Zhi is temperamental and morally ambivalent. It’s not worth it to be in a close relationship with him.”

Although Tang Fan agrees with his appraisal of Wang Zhi, he still says, “He is an extremely favoured eunuch to the Emperor at present and this will not change any time soon. Stern, considerate and firm officials like Huai En are lesser in numbers and the type that the Emperor likes is still those like Liang Fang, Wang Zhi and Shang Ming, those who can welcome and cater to his views. So even if it’s not Wang Zhi, it will also be Li Zhi, Zhang Zhi… As long as we are able to subtly guide him onto the right path and drive him to act in the interests of the country and its people, this is considered a good thing.”

Seeing that Tang Fan’s thoughts are clear on this, Sui Zhou does not add on. He shifts the medicine in front of Tang Fan.

Forcing a smile, he says, “You see, can we negotiate a deal on this? I’m almost recovered, can we just skip this round?”

That’s what he says, but in reality, he’s still sniffling.

Sui Zhou is straightforward and simply returns, “Are you going to drink this yourself, or do you want me to feed you?”

Without another word of protests, Tang Fan takes the bowl from him and swallows the medicine while pinching at his nose. His brows and eyes are scrunched up tightly together and even when Sui Zhou passes him an osmanthus sweet, he blearily waves his hand, not interested at all.

Gluttons may love to eat, but this does not include medicine.

Sui Zhou’s three-sectioned house is actually not small at all, but aside from himself, Tang Fan and Ah Dong, there are no frequent visitors. The help that cleans the house are temporary workers and they typically have their own lodgings within the city. After they’re done with cleaning they head home without imposing any further on their employer, so much so that Sui Zhou does not even have a steward to watch the house or their doors. The master of the house has to personally open the doors, but this way, they have more freedom. For people like Sui Zhou and Tang Fan who do not like restrictions or burdens, they do naturally prefer not to see outsiders move around every day in the house under their eyes.

After Sui Zhou leaves, he does not come in again. Tang Fan finds this a little strange, but then he sees Ah Dong sneak in suspiciously.

Tang Fan laughs, “Would I ban you from my room? Why are you acting like this?”

Ah Dong giggles, “Sui-dage’s cousin from the Zhou family is here at our doors again.”

Tang-daren is a fully grown man and is both easy-going and direct. He does not have any grudges with Young Lady Zhou and of course, will not simply be irritated at her visit. He was a little bad-tempered that day, but that was because he had just experienced the East Palace case. Having seen so many people’s demise, people who should not have died, and then coming home to see Ah Dong and Sui Zhou chattering so happily with Sui Zhou’s cousin (it actually wasn’t all that happy, this is purely Tang-daren subjective point of view), and so he couldn’t help but feel the loneliness of a person without any friends or family inside.

That was a long time ago and Tang Fan cannot really be jealous and throw a tantrum just like a little child, even going as far as to stop his good friend from becoming close with the young lady. Listening to Ah Dong’s words, Tang Fan chuckles lazily, “Ah Dong ah, are you jealous that someone is getting close to your Sui-dage? But you’re still young, it’s not that Da-ge doesn’t want to help you, but if you like Sui Zhou, then after a few years have passed and you’ve grown, I can suggest this to your Sui-dage and see if he’s willing to take you in as a concubine. You’re only as big as beansprout right now, even if you complain to me, there’s nothing I can do!”

While Ah Dong is usually quite bubbly and cheery, but she is after all a servant who was born in a big house and family so it’s impossible for her not to have any knowledge about internal family affairs. Hearing Tang Fan’s reply, she launches herself at him and sulks, “Da-ge, what are you saying? I’m not jealous of Zhou jiejie, I’m worried about you!”

“What do I have to be worried about?” Tang Fan asks, bewildered.

“Think about it, if Sui-dage truly gets married to Zhou jiejie, what will you do?”

Tang Fan is usually a smart and intelligent person, but listening to this right now he’s entirely confused, “What do you mean what I will do? The things you’re saying are getting more and more incoherent!”

Rolling her eyes, she continues, “Da-ge, how did you become stupid after getting sick! If Sui-dage and Zhou jiejie get married, then she’ll definitely have to  move in correct? When that time comes, it wouldn’t be good for us to still live here, so won’t we have to move out? That’s why I’m concerned! Da-ge, it’s not you can earn a lot of money and of course I hope that we can stay here for as long as possible, and then you can save some money too!”

Don’t be fooled by Ah Dong’s young age, because she really has a knack for accounts and is making a lot of sense right now.

Tang Fan’s voice lowers, “In your eyes, your da-ge is so useless? If we move out, we have to be subject to the winds and storms?”

Ah Dong sadly answers, “Are you not? Da-ge your salary is so low and you love to eat. You eat so much everyday and can eat someone poor, so what will do in the future? The silvers for rice and noodles that you gave me, I’ve been counting our finances meticulously. Now we can still grow some fruits and vegetables in our backyard, and then buying some meat from outside, we can still save some money every month and put it away for when you marry someone. if we move out, we will surely be unable to save and then what will we do?”

Listening to this, Tang Fan wants to roll his eyes out of anger, but he is a little touched too. At the end of the day, this is the reason why she’s so concerned over whether Sui Zhou and his cousin will get married?

Tang Fan caresses at her head and firmly states, “Put your heart back in your stomach, we will not end up on the streets. Besides, even if I end up on the streets, you’ll disown your da-ge?”

Ah Dong shakes her head fervently.

“Then isn’t that settled? As long as I eat, you eat. Besides, don’t belittle the old Tang family. When my parents were still alive, the Tang family was still considered to be of elite ranks. Although we’ve fallen from the ranks a little since then, we still have a lot of good things and assets stored away as our last resort. And if that doesn’t work out, my sister lives in Xiang He Prefecture, and when the time comes we can run to her.”

He’s only saying this to reassure Ah Dong. Once his sister married someone else, she is technically part of her husband’s family and Tang Fan is an official in Jing city, so it’s not very likely that he will go to his sister’s to stay.

However, the young girl is all smiles at the news.

“Alright then, Da-ge, I won’t complain about you eating too much again. It’s still much better if you eat more. After this bout of illness, the meat on your face is almost gone, and people who don’t know might even think that you fled here as a refugee!”

Tang Fan pinches at her face, “If you continue to spout nonsense, then we don’t even have to wait for you Sui-dage to marry, I’ll be the first one to chase you out!”

As the both of them play and banter, they hear a cold voice sound from the door, “Who’s getting married?”

The both of them turn around, only to see that Sui Zhou has come to the door and conveniently heard the last part of what Tang Fan said. Behind him stands the young lady Zhou and her servant.

Sui Zhou says, “My cousin heard that you were ill and thought about talking back to you that day. She asked me to bring her here to see you and apologize as well.”

In recent years, even though there are some lines delineated clearly between men and women, it’s not as if the customs rigid to the point of no flexibility. Take Tang Fan as an example - he is Sui Zhou’s good friend and has already shown his face to Sui Zhou’s family, and Sui Zhou is also physically present in this case, so seeing young lady Zhou is not a problem. In comparison, if they were in the south, the customs and etiquette there are much stricter, while the North is a little more lenient.

Lady Zhou also doesn’t seem as prickly as that day and in front of her cousin she is the very picture of shy and demure. Anyone can see the feelings she has for her cousin, but only the cousin in question still has a stoic face on, and who knows how much he actually knows?

Tang Fan smiles, “You’re too courteous, Zhou-guniang. We didn’t know each other’s identities and that’s why we had a misunderstanding, and now that it has been resolved, everything is naturally alright. However, as I still have a cold and the air here is unclean, so I have to ask Zhou-guniang not to remain for long.”

Zhou Xiu Yue nods and then exchange a few more pleasantries with him. She is clearly not used to the medicinal smell within the house and does not even move to sit inside. Standing at the door, she says hello to Ah Dong, and then moves to leave.

As the master of the house, Sui Zhou naturally has to walk their guest out.

As they approach the main door, Zhou Xiu Yue speaks delicately, “Biao-ge, it seems that winter is soon to be upon us. Shall we find a day with good weather, and you accompany me to Yun Ju Temple to pray, how about that?”

Sui Zhou may be cold and emotionless in personality, but he is strong and heroic, exceedingly competent, humble and outstanding, and has a promising future ahead of him. The Sui family naturally sees plenty of matchmakers coming to their doors, but Sui Zhou’s parents have never been able to control their younger son’s decisions. More than that, the Sui family and Zhou family made a verbal agreement on a possible betrothal, and thus, they’ve managed to ignore the issue of his marriage temporarily.

Now, the Zhou family’s uncle has brought his family back to the city on one hand to take care of his aging mother, and on the other hand, to decide on his daughter’s marriage.

In actual fact, Zhou Xiu Yue’s father has another match in mind and the potential suitor’s father also works at Han Lin Yuan and he himself is currently studying at Guo Zi Jian. This is a born and bred academic-focused family and is wholly different from Sui Zhou, who is an Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Since the Zhou family managed to have Empress Dowager Zhou, its members began to dream of walking the civil official route, forming connections across several other influential families and move to greater heights. It is only natural that his uncle will choose this.

Of course, personally, it’s not as if Sui Zhou has to marry his cousin and no one else.

The relationship between them was formed when they were younger but stopped there. After so many years, there is no dramatic plot where he will marry no one else but her no matter what obstacles they face. The only thing is, it seem that Zhou Xiu Yue still has some unexplainable feelings for Sui Zhou and this is the reason for her repeated visits as she tried to find out what he thinks about her.

It cannot be helped that they do not think the same.

It is not easy for the woman to take the initiative and invite him, but Sui Zhou shakes his head, “I’ll pass. Tang Fan has been ill for a while and Ah Dong cannot cope, so I have to be at home to take care of things.”

Zhou Xiu Yue bites at her bottom lip, “Then I can send a servant from home to come here and take care of him?”

He refuses, his tone bland, “Forget it, you don’t have to go to the trouble. You should just go with uncle, and I hear that uncle is intent on confirming a match for you. I believe the man’s character is good. While the both of us are cousins but some lines have to be drawn still between men and women, so it is best if you visit less, lest people gossip.”

Zhou Xiu Yue’s face sours at that and she glares at Sui Zhou, before spitting, “You are truly despicable!”

She then turns and angrily walks out. The Zhou family’s servant was following behind them both and after seeing that they were speaking in hushed tones, she put some distance between herself and the cousins. All she sees right now is her mistress getting angry for no apparent reason with her sleeves rolled up, and she frantically chases after her.

Sui Zhou watches as they leave without a change in his expression, and then returns to Tang Fan’s house.

The medicine he just took has taken effect and Tang Fan is already asleep.

Ah Dong says softly, “Da-ge just fell asleep not long ago, Sui da-ge, what would you like to have for dinner? I’ll go prepare.”

Sui Zhou nods, “Anything is fine. You can just heat up the leftover porridge from earlier.”

They’ve both been busy taking care of the patient these couple of days and Tang Fan cannot have too fancy dishes, and so Ah Dong cannot be bothered to go to too much trouble either. She makes a noise of assent and heads out.

Once she leaves, all that’s left is Tang Fan and Sui Zhou in the house. One is awake and on his feet, the other is asleep in bed. It is easy to fall sick, but incredibly difficult to fully recover.

It is very quiet in the house, interrupted only by Tang Fan’s deep and long inhales and exhales.

Sui Zhou helps him to adjust the covers, then stands quietly there for a long while. Only when Ah Dong knocks on the door and calls for him to have dinner does he leave.

===

Notes:

*提督 ti du

Formally, the equivalent of this would be a admiral, but I believe in this novel it can be interchangeable with “head” or “chief” as well. A ti du is one of the highest ranks an official can have and along with the chief army commander, the admiral can possess military power.

*风吹雨打 feng chui yu da

Literally translated means wind blowing and drops of rain hitting at you - in this case, Tang Fan uses this phrase to mean being homeless, without shelter (and thus they are subject to the mights of the weather) and possibly being out on the streets.

*把心放回肚子里 ba xing fang hui du zi li

Literally translated means to put your heart back into your stomach, of which meaning is to keep your concerns and worries.

*病来如山倒, 病去如抽丝 bing lai ru shan dao, bing qu ru chou si

An idiom to describe the ease of falling sick and pains of recovery - Falling sick is akin to a mountain collapsing, but recovering from illness is as difficult and challenging as getting silk from a silkworm.

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Macarthur: A Grim Portrayal of Philippine Poverty

⠀ ⠀ Written by Bob Ong, Macarthur is a novel that follows the lives of a group of friends who have to deal with their own flaws: Cyrus, Noel, Jim, and Voltron. Although he is known for his works themed after satire and humor, Bob Ong deviated from his usual formula to produce a novel depicting life in a Filipino slum community. The story opens with one of the main characters getting chased after stealing and swallowing an expensive necklace. He eventually gets caught by a corrupt policeman and is forced to defecate and hand over the stolen piece of jewelry. Macarthur can create very believable scenarios that everyone in the Philippines knows actually happen in real life. As a result, the novel is able to develop most of its cast of characters in a realistic way to show how miserable and tragic lives in the slums of the Philippines are.

⠀ ⠀ Education was one of the ideas contained in the novel. In particular, many mentions of education were from Cyrus or his grandfather, Mang Justo. When the four boys were at the fair, Cyrus asked his friends whether or not they wanted to turn their lives around, and uttered the following quote: “If I had finished my studies, I and Tatay [Mang Justo] would be rich now.”1 This dream for a proper education, along with something he had said earlier about building a business to buy a big TV and cook Tinola for his grandfather, showed that Cyrus had a will to turn his life around. Unfortunately, due to society, he had not been able to continue with this dream. It shows that many people are willing to change for the better, but they have no means.

⠀ ⠀ Later, when Noel and Mang Justo had a heart-to-heart talk about life, the topic of the discussion shifted to Noel’s education. At one point, Noel said that he wanted to return to school, but he did not know where to start. To this, Mang Justo responds: “You’ll only have to study for twenty years. You have to be able to endure that much, otherwise you’ll have to suffer for fifty years instead.”2 Having regret for himself and worry for the boy, he relayed this powerful analogy that emphasizes the importance of proper education. Overall, it can be seen that Mang Justo is a very empathetic man shown to have elder wisdom coming from his experiences in poverty and the successes of his children.

⠀ ⠀ Another theme that the novel tries to tackle is the idea of expectations. The characters in the novel are shown to have their own hopes and dreams. Through the eyes of the characters, we see how each of them struggles in order to achieve their goals. As previously mentioned, Cyrus and Noel had aspirations for their futures. Unfortunately, we see both of these characters’ aspirations come crashing down by the end of the novel due to the circumstances they have been exposed to. It shows the grim reality of the life of those who live in poverty. Jim can also be seen being affected by said circumstances. Due to poverty, he and his wife struggle to raise their child. One scene in the novel shows the two arguing with each other. Olive, Jim’s wife, was unsatisfied with the life they were living; Jim did not meet her expectations.3

⠀ ⠀ Voltron is another example of failed expectations in the novel. His mother, Aling Seding, was said to have high expectations of him—a fact that was shown by the name his mother had given to him. His legal name, Amadeus, was never used to refer to him in the entire span of the novel. He was commonly referred to as either Voltron or Denver, Voltron being used by his close friends and Denver being used either by his mother or colleagues. The name Amadeus may actually refer to the famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was a child prodigy. This name represents the expectations that Aling Seding once had when Voltron was younger. At one part of the story, Voltron, together with his friends and mother, were having a drinking session. While having their chat, Voltron’s mother happened to say a comment in passing. She called Voltron a punyeta (roughly translated to asshole), saying that she had put so much effort for him to go to school, disappointed at the fact that he dropped out.4 This being said, the only people who refer to Voltron as Denver were people who did not think that highly of him. Besides his mother, only his colleagues, who were implied to be doing illegal activities, were the ones who referred to him as Denver. These colleagues obviously do not think highly of him; it was implied that these people were responsible for Voltron’s death. If these people did actually respect Voltron, they would not have let him die. His third name, Voltron, is an obvious reference to the animated television show of the same name. Voltron (the character in the novel), was described to have a bumpy chest, a small head, and big limbs. His physical appearance is an allusion to the actual television character, having the same physical features. Though, the connection between the two characters does not only end with their physical appearance. The television character Voltron was also commonly referred to as “Defender of The Universe”.  As seen in the novel, Voltron wanted to stay away from mischievous activities. After meeting with Edwin, he was described as not wanting to join said activities.5 He can also be seen abstaining from vices his friends do, even going to the point of trying to convince them to do the same.6 From a conversation between Cyrus and Voltron, it can also be seen that Voltron heavily disagrees with Cyrus’ sentiments on stealing. This being said, the parallels between the characters from the television show and the novel can be drawn. Voltron (in the novel) can also be described as the “Defender of the Universe”, the word “universe” referring to his friends. This shows his efforts of trying to protect his friends from bad influences.

⠀ ⠀ Other than education and dreams, poverty and addiction are also very prominent themes in the novel. Owing to poverty, the characters in the story face various problems. Being the eldest son and having a widowed mother, Voltron needs to stand for his other siblings. He needs to borrow money to meet the daily needs of the family and his youngest sibling. Another character, Jim, has an unstable income causing him to quarrel with Olive. In order to have a more decent life, the four main characters have tried to change towards a better path, but were unsuccessful in the end. 

⠀ ⠀ Sometimes, people steal in order to survive. Due to the extremely uneven wealth distribution in modern society, people often steal to meet their basic needs such as food and clothing. Stealing seemed to be a daily routine of Cyrus’ life. He told Mang Justo that he has a job, but when Mang Justo asked him about which factory he was employed in, he paused for a few seconds before answering. The “work” he might be referring to is stealing. Although it is a white lie, it also revealed his deceitful behavior.

⠀ ⠀ Many issues arise from addiction as well. Cyrus consumes drugs which leads to the tragedy that happens near the end of the story. Again, Cyrus stole accessories from an ale. However, this time, he stole an accessory for the spendings of Mang Justo’s kidney transplant. Seeing Topak was almost near and reaching him, he went to the comfort room. Cyrus swallowed one of the accessories and kept the other one in his pocket. Then, he took the five packs of shabu from his pocket and consumed them one by one. From this it can be seen that Cyrus usually has drugs with him. 

⠀ ⠀ In many cases, addiction is a kind of escape from reality or a short-term sense of security. Through smoking, drugs, drinking alcohol, games, the internet, and other forms of addiction, people get rid of worrying emotions temporarily. In the end, people fall into a brutal cycle and cannot get rid of their vices. Hence, their personality, lifestyles, and people around them will also be affected.

⠀ ⠀ The novel is a realistic portrayal of the life of lower-class Filipinos, revealing many social issues such as poverty, addiction, unemployment, and lack of education. The story showed the qualities, growth, and change of the characters. The four friends represent the young people in Philippine society, with virtuous innate qualities, but inadvertently led down the wrong path, tainted with bad vices. At the same time, they also want to escape from the vicious cycle of poverty, so they reflect on themselves and promise to reform themselves after realizing their mistakes. However, they do not let go of their vices because they think they can control their addiction. Things do not work out the way the friends thought they would, and the story ends as it does in the real world, where not all efforts are rewarded positively. 

⠀ ⠀ Not only in the book, but these topics have always been social issues that have been brought up in reality. The author's intention in writing this story is not only to bring up these topics again, but also to warn readers to make every life choice wisely because even a small negligence can affect them. The story of the four friends is fictional, but the people in the real world have only one life to live.

Quote sources

Translated from Filipino. Original quote: “Kung nakapag-aral ako, mayaman kami dapat ngayon ni Tatay.” p. 45.

Translated from Filipino. Original quote: “Dalawang dekada ka lang mag-aaral. Kung di mo pagtitiyagaan, anak, limang dekada ng kahirapan ang kapalit.” p. 87.

“Kumakain tayo, Jim! Nagdadamit tayo. Nagkakasakit tayo. Kailangan natin ng legal na tubig at kuryente. Kailangan mo ng matinong trabaho. Kailangan ni Jon-Jon ng tatay. Kailangan ko ng asawa. Kailangan nating mabuhay! Ito na ba yung rurok ng mga pangarap mo, Jim? Hanggang dito ka na lang ba? Eto na ba yon lahat?!” pp. 37–38.

“Etong si Denver putangina ‘tong batang ‘to pinag-aaral ko dati, sa sabungan naman pala tumutuloy, kaya punyeta ka, sabi ko, huminto ka nalang, wala ka namang pakinabang!” p. 49.

Alam nya ang reputasyon ng kausap. Alam nyang nakakatulong ito sa mga handang magpatulong. At yun ang tanging katarantaduhan sa buhay na kinatatakutan nya ata hangga’t maaari ay gusto sanang iwasan.” p. 25.

“Tarugo kasi kayo, ayaw niyo tigilan mga bisyo nyo e,” p. 15.

Image sources: 

Abee5

Malvika Neupane, Boost Thyself

Get Real Philippines

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Brick Club 1.3.9 “Joyful End Of Joy”

This title is such a weird choice. This time it’s not a translation thing, but a Hugo thing. He decides not to focus on Fantine’s reaction to the surprise, but on the other girls’ reactions. It’s weird, but I think it also works, because it serves to highlight how unusual Fantine’s reaction really is. The rest of the girls shake off the abandonment pretty quickly, because none of them made the same attachments as Fantine. Her devastation is highlighted by their mirth.

The men keep up the pretense long enough to even turn and wave at the women, laughing. I get the impression they’re giggling at their prank, but the girls probably think they’re just being jaunty. Also, I wish I had a better visual of the area. I imagine them kind of blending in with the crowd, maybe turning a corner or something out of sight, and then heading to wait for the stagecoach.

Again, Hugo shows the difference between Fantine and the others. While Fantine repeats herself with “Don’t be long,” the other grisettes are more preoccupied with what the surprise might be. Also, so far Fantine’s really only had two lines, since one was about the horse, and the next two lines are nearly identical to each other.

“You’d think piles of chains were flying off into the heavens.” I love the visual of this line so much. There are so many visuals in this book that I wish I had the skill to draw. This line’s an interesting one. My first instinct is to say that the metaphor feels backwards? “Piles of chains flying off into the heavens” sounds to me like saying these men that could have held these women down are leaving. But that seems backward. Unless perhaps that’s the opinion of the other grisettes aside from Fantine? My other thought is that maybe it’s not really a good thing or a backward metaphor. These chains which are the men are flying off, but the next ones could be even worse, could leave the rest of them in the type of situation that Fantine is now left in. These specific chains have flown off into the heavens, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more waiting in the wings.

The fact that Fantine gets the most important, foreshadowing line is interesting to me because it’s a very specific observation. “That’s strange,” she said. “I thought the stagecoaches never stopped.” The group has just spent the last 8 chapters mocking Fantine’s head-in-the-clouds state of being and how she doesn’t notice anything. And yet she notices this little detail and points out that the stagecoaches don’t usually stop. (I like this from the headcanon that she’s autistic, too. Social cues etc are harder to pick up on, but a change in a weird little detail like when the stagecoaches stop is something she notices because it’s wrong but no one else notices or cares.)

Favourite then insults Fantine and says she knows nothing of life and essentially calls her a simpleton while making fun of her observation. What is Favourite’s problem? She’s really the only one aside from Tholomyes who gets actual dialogue mocking Fantine. God, this whole group is so awful. The next line is “Some time passed this way.” I can’t tell if Hugo is saying that some time passed where they were just staring out the window, or if he’s saying some time passed where they were making fun of Fantine. Either way, this constant picking on Fantine is so cruel, from all of them. Especially Favourite and Tholomyes. It seems like Favourite is in the best situation out of all of them, too: she’s the eldest, has her own home, and is cheating on Blacheville with Tholomyes. Maybe she’s guilty and that’s why she’s so aggressive towards Fantine; she’s trying to convince herself there’s a reason she’s doing this thing with Tholomyes. I don’t know.

It seems like Fantine has never really had stable friendships in her life. These girls have been having affairs with the students for two years. It might be the longest Fantine has every really had a friendly, familiar, consistent relationship with other grisettes outside of work. And it seems like the other grisettes, particularly Favourite, really take advantage of that naivety to mock her.

Why is Favourite the only one so preoccupied with the surprise? She was the one to ask for it properly, to announce it the morning of and get everyone up early, to keep reminding everyone of it, and now to read the letter. Nobody else seems to be as obsessed with the surprise as her. No one else has dialogue mentioning it. She’s like the “leader” of this little group, so it stands to reason that she’s Tholomyes’ counterpart and that would make her be the one who thinks about the surprise kind of in tandem with the fact that Tholomyes is the one orchestrating it. But I still think it’s odd that nobody else seems to care as much as she does. It almost sounds like an insecurity, a point of anxiety for her? Everyone but Fantine seems to be expecting Gifts. I actually wonder now if this is why they are unsurprised by the letter being a parting one. What they think is going to happen is that they are going to get parting gifts; instead they get this letter and a paid for meal. It’s a letdown, but the leaving is expected, I think.

Before I get into the letter, I just want to point out how weirdly classical the line “they desire our return and offer to kill the fatted calf for us” is. The rest of the letter just sounds like a regular letter, but that line in particular sounds like I’m reading Homer or something.

The men start off their letter explicitly pointing out the class differences between the themselves and the grisettes. Despite the fact that Favourite’s mother lives with her, the men obviously don’t see that as similar to their own, rich parents. Hugo says earlier that Fantine is, essentially, a child of France. The students seem to see all of the women in that way, as crude orphans who have been taken in and socialized by Paris. The men then contradict themselves, quoting their parents as calling them “prodigal sons” and then in the next sentence calling themselves “virtuous.”

I can’t find anything on the Bossuet line; I assume it’s a pun that I don’t know enough French and/or Bossuet literature to understand. “Fleeing to the arms of Laffitte,” I assume, means running back to high society, back to rich families and political connections and all that stuff. They’re no longer slumming in Paris with working girls, they’re going back to the safety of the society of banking and politics and all that. I don’t know what the “wings of Caillard” is referencing, because the only Caillard I can find is Gaspar Caillard, whose writings aren’t translated into English.

The gall of them to straight up call the girls “the abyss,” man I hate these men. They see these women as a fun little jaunt into lower society. These women, who are without family (or the same kind of family as these men), who are very poor and probably teetering on the edge of penniless, are the closest these students can get to this “abyss.” I bet they think they did some sort of fucking charity, too, and treated these girls to a “good time” for two years or something before dropping them. Ugh.

“It is necessary to our country that we become, like everybody else, prefects, fathers of families, country policemen, and councilors of state.” Reading this line just makes me feel so disgusted. That men like this, who are slimy and manipulative and selfish and uncaring like this, are the ones who are going to become people in charge of the infrastructure of their local society and who will have power over people in similar positions to these grisettes. It reminds me of Bamatabois, who not only was able to harass Fantine and then get her nearly thrown in prison, but was also a juror at Chapmathieu’s trial. Twice he has the power to decide someone’s freedom; I imagine these law students will have similar positions in their own respective towns. It’s also such a gross flaunting of their social position, telling these women that they have all these opportunities and connections and money to become whatever they want, and these women are left in barely-paying labor positions on the edge of total poverty.

(This is also a really important piece of characterization, I think. It contrasts massively with the students we see later on, who come from rich families (minus Bahorel, I suppose) but who are dedicated to the betterment of others.)

Something I don’t quite understand is the paying for dinner thing? Why? Is it just because they knew maybe the girls wouldn’t be able to afford it? Why do that one niceness with such a cruel prank? Was it like a last “look at us, we can afford one last lavish meal before we vanish” sort of thing?

Favourite is so odd to me. She decides that if this prank was Blacheville’s idea, it makes her fall in love with him. She says “No sooner loved than left,” which makes me think it’s a sort of “you don’t want it until it’s gone” type of thing. But I’m also wondering if it’s a comment on potential cleverness. She only likes him more now that she thinks he’s clever enough and cunning enough to come up with and pull off a joke like this one.

Then the realization that it was actually Tholomyes comes. None of them seem surprised (neither are we). They laugh about it and I assume that, again, the “Vive Tholomyes” is a celebration of his cleverness at this elaborate joke. But they seemed to know that the end was coming, so it’s just a funny and interesting ending to them, rather than a boring goodbye. Also, I wonder if they would have been more upset if the dinner had not been paid for.

I don’t have much to say about that last visual of Fantine crying in her rooms, except for fuck Tholomyes. Also, what a damn bombshell for Hugo to drop on us, spending all that time describing Fantine and then in the last sentence revealing a child.

[smallfrost]

Re: The grey morality of one General Sarah Alder

One of the big questions for the upcoming episode, ‘Mother Mycelium’ is whether or not that is the real Raelle or a copy of Raelle that Alder will use to torture Scylla. But I think the bigger question is, why would General Alder be torturing a witch at all? 

Based on the promotional photos for 1x07, contextually, I have no idea why Raelle would be being forced into the dungeon. We have no other contextual clues in the trailers except that Scylla is being tortured. So perhaps there is another faux Raelle out there that will exist to psychologically torture Scylla. Does it have to do with the Mycleium? I have no idea. 

But here’s the thing, why would Alder be OKAY with torturing a witch? Even is Scylla is Spree, why would the woman who changed the world to have witches escape persecution be completely comfortable with now inflicting the same torture her family suffered 320+ years ago? Are not all witches family? As Scylla eluded to in Memorial Hall, perhaps the burning times are not really over. 

If it’s burning time, can I make S’mores?

If Alder is okay with torturing Scylla, does this perhaps suggest she has acquired a grey morality that blurs the lines between good and evil? Does she think that because she has the power, because she suffered in the past, that it is acceptable to inflict that suffering on another witch, even if said witch is a member of a terrorist group whom themselves are morally grey? How do the Biddies feel about her torturing Scylla after making what they believe is the most moral, heroic, and brave a sacrifice there is? Perhaps Sarah was always this grey and that is why she released her song all those years ago. After all, wouldn’t condemning a witch to a life of fighting and inevitable death not be considered torture in and of itself? Do you see the parallels here? The Spree warned Scylla that her future would be bleak if she failed her mission. Does this future not look bleak to you with her bound and her voice silenced?

I have no caption for this, this scene causes me pain

Perhaps you can see where I’m going with this, but all in all, together with my previous [crack] theory regarding the Camarilla, I think it is looking more and more likely that Alder is the puppet master behind the Spree. She could be the queen bee of the Spree hive mentality and using them to maintain her position of power, thereby justifying torturing Scylla as a guise for making an effort to combat the Spree. 

And I don’t think Scylla knows this. I don’t think the Spree know who other Spree are beyond when they orchestrate something together, and their faces are usually disguised. Therefore, if there is another faux Raelle, it could very well be the same glamour work we have seen the Spree use previously. Because remember, Izadora tried to stop Raelle from touching the Mycelium, so I’m guessing the mushroom memory of Raelle with serve to help Raelle and Scylla, not Alder.

Is it getting hot in here or is it just me?

And let’s say for arguments’ sake that this is completely wrong. This may be a misleading trail of breadcrumbs that will make the inevitable plot twists at the end completely unpredictable. Perhaps Alder isn’t controlling the Spree but she is still okay torturing witches. Could this instead suggest that it was Alder behind the targeted attacks on the Bellweathers? The Bellweathers are one of the most power families and Petra has already made her disagreement with Sarah’s tactics known. And after all, the Spree don’t usually target witches. Ultimately, these are both possibilities but either way, Sarah Alder is not as virtuous as she hopes she appears. Indeed, Raelle reminds us that “no other witch in history has as much blood on her hands.”

And what about Anacostia? Well I’m working on a character profile/crack theory for her so I won’t discuss in detail here, but based on a future episode description and the trailer or next week, it seems as though whatever she finds in Scylla’s mind is shocking but reveals a path on which they can both find common ground. It slightly terrifies me to think about what this might be.

The loose end… If Raelle knows the military is torturing her girlfriend, why does she return to basic training like nothing happened afterwards? 

This is the big question but without more context clues, all we have is speculation. Simplest answer would in fact be that Raelle doesn’t find out. That all of these teasers are in fact a faux Raelle and that Scylla and Raelle will not be reunited quite yet.  But it is also very possible that Raelle is going to find out Scylla is Spree in ‘Mother Mycelium’. She may accept this and swear fealty to the Army, returning to basic training. Alternatively, if whatever Anacostia discovers in Scylla’s mind brings them to common terms, it is possible that Raelle returning to training is merely a cover to buy time.

Taylor Hickson has said in interviews that Raelle makes decisions that make sure she doesn’t lose the light [Scylla] in her life again, and that those decisions lead her down an unexpected path. I don’t think we know enough yet to make a solid prediction beyond guessing as to what choice this may be. But we do know Anacostia grants Scylla favors (based on episode descriptions), so protecting Raelle may be one of these. I’ve said it before, but in my gut I think there is going to be a Revolution or Civil War once all the cards are laid bare. 

[recentanimenews]

86 – 07 – Nobody Comes Back

86’s structure returns to more of a mix of the processors’ and Lena’s perspectives rather than being split evenly, starting with the unit launching fireworks on the anniversary of the Republic’s Great Revolution. Some are playing with sparklers, Anju is finally crying, and Kurena watches Shin off by himself talking to Lena.

Lena is the one who sent them the “special ammunition”, emptying her wallet to bribe the quartermaster. It’s a small gesture, but she can do it, so she does, and it also highlights her increasing disillusionment with the shallow material world she lives in. If it can soothe the hearts of those soldiers for just a few moments, it’s worth all the money she has.

The superb juxtaposition of the fantasy world she inhabits with the realities of how it’s maintained continues as Lena walks alone in a bustling plaza. Celebrating Alba citizens are stuffing their faces with fine food and wine and couples are whispering sweet nothings, and little kids are crying about something as little as tripping and falling (something Lena herself does in front of subordinates earlier, so nervous she was about the fireworks).

All the while, Lena is on her Para-RAID, listening to Kuren describe in unsparing detail all of the horrors processor see every day.  Compared to watching their friends lose limbs, get their faces shredded, their bodies burned, their guts ripped open, and screaming in pain as they die, the voices of the long dead are nothing.

Because Lena is a kind and virtuous person, she never stops requesting reinforcements from the surrounding units, even “overstepping herself” in the eyes of her Uncle Jerome to complain directly to him about the lack of progress in her request. He assures her “the resupply and Processor replacement plans for the Eastern Theater are a settled matter.”

She takes that to mean resupply reinforcements are on their way to Spearhead, and Jerome pointedly doesn’t dispel that misconception. Despite what she takes as good news, she obeys the letter of her uncle’s order to attend the Revolution gala in an “appropriate dress”—which for Lena, can only be mourning black.

When the time she usually contacts Shin passes, he ends up calling her, which may just be a first, and she’s clearly thankful to be called away from the boring festivities. She heads out into the courtyard to watch the city’s fireworks display, marred by light pollution, almost letting slip that she wishes she could watch the fireworks she sent with Shin, modifying her hope that all of them can watch them together when the war is over.

Lena knows Shin once watched fireworks with his brother, and Shin is happy Lena remembered her brother when he was still his brother, something he can’t do anymore. Shin also reports Anju was finally able to cry, making the fireworks a unique opportunity for 86 to have a memorial gun salute. When asked if she’ll remember them all, Lena says she will, but before that, she won’t let anyone else die.

Rewinding a bit to the morning Shin received the delivery of fireworks, Anju and Kurena, the last two girls left in Spearhead, discuss whether they should “tell” Lena a secret they still carry, now that it’s clear she’s a good person. Anju warns that Shin and Raiden probably aren’t telling her because she’s a good person they don’t want to hurt more than they need to.

We also learn Anju has words scarred into her back, and while she grew her hair out to hide them, Daiya thought she did it because her hair was so pretty. Now that it’s just her and Kurena, and Daiya is gone, she sees no reason to hide it anymore. As for Kurena, she knows when they die “their Reaper” Shin will make sure they’re properly sent off. What she fears most is when he’s the only one of them left…who will carry his heart?

Two days after the fireworks and Lena’s vow not to let anyone else to die, Spearhead attacks the forward base knowing full well it’s a trap, and are then assaulted by a new ultra-long range Legion artillery cannon. Within seconds, four more soldiers are killed. Hopefully they died instantly, because Shin obeys Lena’s retreat order, knowing if they stay they could be wiped out entirely.

When they manage to shake off their Legion pursuers, Lena launches into a diatribe about reinforcements and how it simply “doesn’t make sense” that a unit as important as Spearhead hasn’t received any in all the time she’s been their Handler. That’s when Shin asks the others if it’s okay to “tell her”, and they all agree. She’s earned enough trust to learn yet another horrible truth.

Shin, Raiden, Theo, Anju, and Kurena all take turns telling Lena that nothing she does will change a single thing, ever. They’re going to get wiped out, because they’re supposed to get wiped out. The “replacements” Jerome told her about are the Processors that come after them, but they won’t come until every last one of them is dead. Nobody ever leaves the 86th District. The five-years thing is a lie…of course it is.

The higher-ups are able to determine which Eighty-Six are smart by how long they survive, and place them in increasingly dangerous positions until finally they arrive at the Spearhead. They’re not in an elite squad because they’re the best at fighting the Legion. They’re there to be killed off so no strong strategic or tactical Eighty-Six minds will ever be able to lead a rebellion against the Alba.

Now that she knows replacements won’t come until all of them are dead, Lena doesn’t want to believe it, but she believes them anyway. When she asks why they don’t simply run, or let the Legion through, it’s for many reasons. First, to honor those lost before them. Second: just as not all 86 are good, not all Alba are scum.

An Alba woman raised Raiden. Shin was raised by an Alba priest who refused to give up his land and was sent to the camps. Theo’s captain was an Alba. They knew some of the good Alba, while Kurena and Anju knew the very worst. They mention how Kaie was abused by other 86 for her skin color, while many of them have Alba blood.

Raiden says just because some of the Alba are scum who treat them like scum, doing the same doesn’t make them better. Even if they have no choice but to face the gallows, they can at least choose how they’ll climb up there. So they’ll keep surviving as long as they can. With increasingly advanced Legion—controlled by Shin’s brother’s brain—slowly advancing, that may not be long at all.

Now that Lena knows all of these things, simple gestures of kindness or little acts of resistance against her apathetic, hedonistic society probably won’t suffice anymore. All her hopes were riding on reinforcements that she now knows aren’t coming. And if Shin and the others are right, slaughtering their best frontline shoulders will eventually lead to the Legion invading the Alba districts.

So really, Lena can see the gallows in the distance as well. The difference is, she may still be do something other than merely decide how to climb up to them. With the help from what’s left of Spearhead, there’s a slight chance she can change all their fates.

By: braverade

[simastysims]

Meet the characters

Simasty primarily tells the tale of the mega rich and powerful Simmington family of Windenburg and their dealings and interactions with 2 other families in the area – the equally rich Dolby family and the working class Drysdale’s. Let’s meet the cast:

Burke Simmington, self-assured patriarch of the Simmington clan. Some would say ruthless, others charming,  Burke built his business empire WindenburgSimmington, from scratch and is one of the richest men in all of the Sims world. He is father to 2 grown up children and raised them alone, since they were children after divorcing his first wife. His daughter, Fathom, is the apple of his eye but he fails to understand his son Heathen and as such he is at constant odds with him.

The story begins with the wedding of Burke to his second wife, his former secretary, Brystle. He adores her and is determined to make his second marriage a success despite the doubts of his jealous daughter.

Burke plays his cards close to his chest and is always two steps ahead of everyone in both his personal and professional life. There is no secret he won’t find out but what secrets of his own does he have?

Brystle Simmington, nee Hemmings, the softly spoken virtuous 2nd wife of Burke. Some would say this former secretary of WindenburgSimmington was too innocent and naive to be marrying into the scandal ridden Simmington clan. Others say she woohooed her way to the top, but what is the truth?

Hailing from the small seaside town of Brindleton Bay Brystle was raised with wholesome small town values. She likes to see the good in people and hates confrontation. She struggles with Burke’s daughter Fathom’s hatred of her. She also is finding it daunting to assume the position of mistress of the mansion and feels she is living in the shadow of the former Mrs Simmington whose presence is still felt throughout the house. Will she be able to win Fathom around and step up into the demanding role of a billionaire’s wife? And what of the rumours of her affair with an unnamed married man? Will this be the next scandal to hit the Simmington clan?

Fathom is the twenty-something year old daughter of Burke and is the apple of his eye. He greatly admires her fiery, independent nature and her devil-may-care attitude but does not take her seriously enough to be the heir to his empire Windenburg Simmington. Fathom herself feels very close to her father and greatly admires him. She is suspicious of any woman who her father becomes involved with and has seen off many of his girlfriends over the years. However ,when her father announced his engagement to his secretary Brystle Hemmings, Fathom went into meltdown and has been resentful of his father’s fiancée from day one. She makes it her mission to ensure Brystle has the most miserable time as possible in the hope that she will finally leave her father.

When she’s not making her future step-mother’s life unbearable, Fathom can usually be found in the hottest night clubs around where she is seen as a celebrity it girl. She likes to party hard, loves to look fabulous and flirts with every man around. Not one for settling down any time soon, Fathom is avoiding the amorous advances of Seth Dolby, the famous playboy nephew of her father’s billionaire rival Cyril Dolby. Cyril would love for Fathom to marry his nephew to tie the two families together but Fathom has her eyes currently set on the much older Cyril…..

Heathen is the younger, more sensitive of the Simmington siblings.  He is very close to his older sister who has looked out and protected him ever since their mother left them after divorcing their father. He is however the polar opposite of the outgoing Fathom – he is introverted, shuns the spotlight and would rather be doing something creative than strutting his stuff on the dancefloor.  Heathen does not have a close relationship with Burke as he does not want to follow in the family business and is in fact embarrassed about the family wealth. So with barely a simoleon in his pocket Heathen left the family mansion to lead his own life in San Myshuno city pursuing the arts and culture instead of business and politics.

Heathen has returned to the family home after several years away to attend his father’s wedding and also to get over the break up of his long term relationship with his partner Fred Rimmard. Could there finally be a reunion between estranged father and son? Can Burke mould his son into the man he wants him to be? Or will Heathen return to the city and continue with is living his life his way?

Seth Dolby is the playboy heir to the Dolby fortune and the nephew of Cyril. As a child he was friends with both Fathom and Heathen as the Dolby estate is next to the Simmington mansion. Whilst the adults of the rival 2 families were at war, the children remained the best of friends. As they grew up Seth had a crush on Fathom and they were teenage sweethearts for a time. However, where Fathom was wild and independent, Seth was more reserved. Where Fathom was unpredictable, Seth was reliable and as such Fathom grew bored of Seth and their relationship and moved on. Seth however remained in love with Fathom and still carries his unrequited love to this day. His romantic relationships with women are as brief as Fathom’s are with men as he remains hopeful that one day he will finally be able to be with her.

Seth was orphaned at a young age and was adopted by his uncle Cyril and his then wife Skankie. After recently returning from university, where he excelled in business studies, Seth joined the family business DolbyDoh!. and is second in command to his uncle. Despite having this wealth and power Seth remains level headed and is very much respected by rival businessman Burke who believes he would be very good for his daughter. Fathom however has very different ideas. Will Seth be able to woo the woman he has loved his whole life or end up in a loveless marriage?

Cyril Dolby is the long time rival of Burke Simmington in both business and love. Their history goes back to when they were young men setting up in business together. Cyril was from the already wealthy Dolby family, Burke from a poorer background. With Cyril’s money and Burke’s steely determination their first business venture together was a success. Whilst Burke did all the groundwork, Cyril put little effort in but took all the glory and credit. Seeing this, Burke took the money he had made and set up his own company WindenburgSimmington in direct competition to DolbyDoh! and thus the feud began. Whilst Burke was overseas building his empire, Cyril swooped in on Burke’s then wife and the two had an affair. Burke discovered this and made a vow to destroy DolbyDoh! and has been trying to do so ever since.

Cyril was married to Skankie at the time and when she found out about the affair she left him and has never been seen or heard of since. Cyril has remained single and concentrated on building DolbyCo to withstand any takeover from WindenburgSimmington. Not one to let an opportunity go by Cyril has been concocting an insidious plan to take over Burke’s company and he sees this through the union of Seth and Fathom. He has been secretly meeting Fathom to encourage her to enter a marriage of convenience to Seth in the pretence to heal the rift between the 2 companies. However Fathom has her eyes very much set on Cyril…

Malaudia Drysdale is wife to Mayhew and mother to young Mimsy. She and Mayhew have been together since they were teenagers which resulted in a teen pregnancy the first time they woohooed. The young couple moved in with Mayhew’s mother and she helped with bringing up young Mimsy.

Malaudia has always displayed very erratic behaviour and can often be found conversing with herself and her emotions are very unpredictable. When she started taking showers outside in the rain Mayhew decided, with the advice of his domineering mother, to commit his young wife to a simitarium where she could convalesce. This was to be the first of many such trips for the troubled Malaudia. In fact she has spent more time in recent years inside such facilities than outside of one and has missed out on much of her daughter growing up and also her husband becoming successful in his career at WindenburgSimmington. Mayhew’s mother has been instrumental in keeping Malaudia locked up as she has never believed she was right for her son. Now with Mayhew climbing the ranks as a marketing executive at WindenburgSimmington and Malaudia due for re-release, will Mother Drysdale convince her son to have his wife locked up indefinitely?

Mayhew Drysdale is the recently promoted marketing executive at WindenburgSimmington. A devoted father to young Mimsy, his marriage to Malaudia has been through some tough times due to his wife’s erratic behaviour and his mother’s constant interfering. He is very hardworking and wants to provide a stable upbringing for his daughter. As such he has recently purchased a new home for his family and moved out of his mother’s house and cut ties with her in a last attempt effort to make things work.

It was during one of Malaudia’s prolonged stays in the simitarium that Mayhew struck up a close friendship with a fellow colleague at WindenburgSimmington. That friendship grew stronger into attraction and then a full blown affair. But neither party wanted to hurt anyone and thus called time on their relationship. That colleague was, (spoiler alert!!) Brystle Hemmings, secretary and soon to be wife of the powerful Burke Simmington. They may have called time on their relationship but can those feelings ever go away for Mayhew and Brystle? And will their affair remain secret for long or, worse still, does someone already know all about it…..?

Mimsy Drysdale is the infant daughter of Malaudia and Mayhew. She has spent most of her young years raised by her father and grandmother, with her mother being almost a stranger to her. Mimsy has been heavily influenced by the spiteful Mother Drysdale who has been poisoning her impressionable young mind with spooky tales about her mother.

With Malaudia about to be re-released will Mimsy at last be able to form a bond with her mother? Or has the damage Mother Drysdale instigated been irreversible?

Mother of Mayhew and grandmother to young Mimsy, Alice Drysdale goes by the name Mother Drysdale as she loves being the matriarch of the family and no daughter-in-law will stand in her way.

Mother brought up her son alone after her husband’s sudden death. Rumours abound that she nagged the poor man to death but the cause has never been established.

A middle class woman with upper class dreams she encouraged Mayhew to work hard and progress in life. When he got girlfriend Malaudia pregnant at an early age Mother Drysdale was personally affronted. She had them come live with her and she helped in the bringing up of young Mimsy whom she adores but fills her head with horror stories of her mother Malaudia.

Mother Drysdale is active in keeping Malaudia locked up in the simitarium and out of her life, leaving her to bring up Mimsy and to encourage Mayhew to find a rich Sim to marry. With Malaudia due for release, what lengths will Mother go to now to drive her daughter-in-law totally insane…?

Fiercely protective and loyal to Burke, Joseph was hand picked by the first Mrs Simmington to run the household. He is very disciplined, neat, takes his job very seriously and is a complete snob. Sometimes he is referred to as Joseph and others as Flanders depending on the mood of the Simmington family member. He is very snooty with the other staff at the mansion and runs a very tight ship and will not stand for nonsense amongst them. Joseph is a widower with grown children of his own who have long since moved away, the youngest of which, his daughter, studies overseas in Champs Les Sims. He now has his own quarters in Siloli mansion.

Joseph is privy to all of the Simmington secrets and has a knack of digging up dirt on potential enemies of Burke. After seeing Burke humiliated in the tabloids over the first Mrs Simmington’s escapades he is determined not to let it happen again. As such he is giving Brystle a hard time a she tries to settle in at Siloli.

When Heathen Simmington left the family mansion to make his own way in the world he moved to the Arts Quarter of San Myshuno city. There he began his career as a professional photographer and set up his own studio. He soon began to make a name for himself photographing models for some of the world’s biggest fashion brands. It was on one of the photoshoots that he met model Fred Rimmard who was doing an underwear shoot for Bugo Hoss. Fred’s fine physique drew Heathen in from the start and he knew he had found his muse. Some of Heathen’s best known work featured Fred in a variety of poses wearing very little.

Fred made the first move and asked Heathen on a date. The pair hit it off  and in typical Sims style they were living together by their second date in Heathen’s modest apartment. Fred came from humble beginnings and Heathen was reluctant to tell him that he himself was from such a wealthy background so as not to intimidate his new boyfriend. When Fred found out that Heathen in fact was the son of a billionaire he did not seem interested at all in the money much to Heathen’s surprise. It was then that Heathen felt he had found someone who wanted him for who he was and not the money.  

Fred was the one who encouraged Heathen to reconcile with his father as he could see that Heathen was desperately missing the contact with his family. Heathen didn’t want to feel pressured into doing it and left the city on bad terms with Fred not sure if it was going to work out between them. When Fred showed up at the mansion he and Heathen reconciled and they are both living at Siloli while Heathen tries working at his father’s company.

Not much is known about Fred’s background other than he has a sister who texts and calls him frequently with her multitude of problems that only Fred can sort out. Heathen has not met Fred’s sister or any of his family as yet but is hoping he will be introduced to them soon. Heathen believes he has found his one true love in Fred but does Fred really feel the same about Heathen…?