#since monarchy is a very easy way to understand power for us today

[kawaiidegger]

power is cruel and traumatizing and the closer you get to the pit the sicker you will become I believe this more and more as I get older

[dsmp-agere-stuff]

Hi! If its alright could I request caregiver Techno and regressor Ranboo where theyre going home at night and they get attacked by mobs which causes an already stressed ranboo to regress? Its okay if not! I love your blog!

Thank you!! I'm fine with all of that!

Summary: The syndicate deals with kinoko kingdom, then they all go home and Ranboo tries to deal with how he feels himself, but a little explosion cuts that off.

tw: it kinda seems like c!Karl slander but its not, Ranboo goes through a moral conflict, there's a small explosion in the paragraph where they're going through the portal

Kinoko Kingdom. It was their worst dealing with a country yet. Ranboo wanted to keep it more impartial, but Karl already admitted to using his power against his citizens, to be fair in trivial ways, but still being used. That went against what the syndicate stood for and thus, Ranboo was set against his own beliefs once again. He hardly knew anyone in Kinoko Kingdom, all he knew was that they were a monarchy and living on top of Niki.

They somehow managed to settle it peacefully. Without Ranboo there.

Instead of staying for debate, he stepped out like he had been offered to before and stayed in Niki’s house, sitting by the nether portal.

He just couldn’t do it. He knew he didn’t have any room to advocate for them, but he also didn’t have the attachment to put himself on the line for.

So, he sat by the portal, waiting, until Niki came by and smiled, saying they came to an agreement. Ranboo was far too stressed to understand the terms, just nodding along while Technoblade explained, Niki humming along in agreement. Niki seemed happy, and so did Techno, so Ranboo should have felt better, but he got himself so wound up that they might trust him less after this and of the possibility of him having to fight against his wants again, that he couldn’t sit still. He said his goodbyes to Niki, then followed Techno through the portal, holding a grass block he got from just outside Niki’s base, tucking it against himself. Technoblade managed to carry the conversation, explaining everything that had happened, joking about being disappointed that he didn’t get to use his withers again.

Ranboo walked through the portal and started walking home. Techno yelped and jumped to the side, just in time for Ranboo to turn around and see a creeper, throwing the dirt block at it as it blew up, tossing him to the ground in the snow. Techno snorted since Ranboo clearly wouldn’t be hurt, he was in netherite afterall, and walked over to help him up, “yeah, that block sure showed hi-”

Ranboo was clearly crying, but he tried to keep his head down when he took Technoblade’s hand, standing. Ranboo was way too tall for Technoblade to not see his face, though.

Techno made a nervous noise, then tried to get Ranboo into the gated area, “hey, hey, it’s fine. You know, we got plenty of pots. Ranboo, hey-” Ranboo shook his head and rubbed the tears away with his sleeve, still whimpering.

He rubbed Ranboo’s shoulder, then paused, “wait- do- do your tears have water?”

Ranboo gave a little nod, following Techno inside.

“Bruh, you rolled like the worst genetics possible.”

Ranboo gave a little tired laugh and took Techno’s hand off of him, then whined at the tears, sitting down on the couch, trying to dry them off without getting some other part of him wet. Technoblade used some tissues to wipe it up, then looked at the tracks under Ranboo’s eyes, “wow. Really got that main character mark.”

Ranboo hummed and looked down.

Techno got up and grabbed some healing pots, “you okay though? Like really?”

Ranboo messed with his gloves and shook his head.

Techno looked Ranboo over, “do you not have protection on there or something?”

Ranboo looked confused then pointed at his own armor and nodded to say that it did have protection on it.

“Then what's wrong?”

Ranboo pulled up his communicator and typed out, ‘Im little.’

Techno sighed, looking at it on his after he heard the beep, “Yeah, I know that, but like- come on, you’ve been off all day, and the creeper was the thing to make you drop?”

Ranboo stared at Techno with big eyes, but Techno didn’t look back until he sat down. “Let’s get some healing pots on there. I’ll try not to look.”

Ranboo nodded and leaned forward into the rag with the healing potion on it, letting Technoblade put it over the scar.

Techno finished and stood up, “alright, I’ll get enderchest for you and the block, you stay here.” Technoblade pulled a blanket from under the couch and put it on top of Ranboo, then left.

Ranboo never told Technoblade that he regressed but somehow Techno knew it. Maybe he was just that easy to read. But this blanket smelled like Ranboo’s laundry despite the fact he’d never seen it before. It was a quilt made probably by Techno, seeing as he knew Phil didn’t sew, but it was still weird to him.

But it was smooth and thick so Ranboo didn’t care, just curling up and getting comfortable in the blanket.

Techno came back and placed enderchest on Ranboo’s legs, then plopped a block of green wool on Ranboo’s chest.

Ranboo let out a little vwoop for the first time around Techno, then immediately stuffed his face into the block in embarrassment.

Enderchest crawled up onto Ranboo’s stomach and leaned against the block Ranboo was squeezing.

Techno sat on what little was left of the couch, grabbing a book from the same place the blanket came from. He flipped to somewhere near the middle, then started to read, adding his own commentary along with it. It was a book of fairy tales.

Ranboo looked up as Techno began describing a cruel kingdom, making Ranboo whimper and sit up some.

Techno looked over, then set the book down, “okay, something’s up.”

Ranboo looked down and hugged the block some more, shaking his head.

“You know you don’t have to be part of the syndicate, Ranboo.”

Ranboo let out a whine at that.

“Man, come on, just- okay, what’ll get you to sleep today?”

Ranboo shrugged and looked around the room, then stared at the little record played to the side left over from Tommy.

Techno hummed, “sorry, kid, I don’t have a disk.”

Ranboo ran his hands over the wool, then took in a little breath, “I do.”

Techno frowned softly, then nodded, “okay, in your house, right?”

Ranboo nodded, then smiled a bit when Enderchest nuzzled his hand.

Techno left again, going for the disks.

Ranboo talked softly in ender to his cat, laughing every once in a while. Enderchest seemed very happy with that, purring against him.

Techno finally came back and decided to go with chirp, placing it into the player.

With the blanket, block, cat, and music, Ranboo fell asleep before the song was over. Technoblade laughed gently and kept playing the song over and over until Ranboo started sleep talking. He sat next to him, then grabbed the book again and went back to reading the start.

[theravenclawrevolutionary]

i'm not a frev expert. and you seem to be approchable enough and to have read enough. i had a question, or kind of a question. i just. i think that if robespierre wasn't against all the deaths by guillotine, he wouldn't have written that quote about virtue and terror. maybe i'm getting you wrong, or i'm not understanding the sense of that quote. could you explain?

Oh dang. I'm kinda surprised that people think I have any real authority on the subject of the Frev since I'm not an actual historian or anything and I'm surprised people find me approachable but of course I'll try my best for you Anon! And if anyone else has a better interpretation or anything else to add please, go ahead. I'll also try my best to keep it in as simple language as I can. But I digress.

⚠ This post is quite long so be prepared for that ⚠

First of all, Robespierre has more than one quote talking about terror and virtue. I'm assuming that you're thinking of the one that goes, "Terror is only justice: prompt, severe and inflexible; it is then an emanation of virtue; it is less a distinct principle than a natural consequence of the general principle of democracy, applied to the most pressing wants of the country." since that is the most common one. However, if you're talking about the one that goes "Terror is only justice: prompt, severe and inflexible; it is then an emanation of virtue; it is less a distinct principle than a natural consequence of the general principle of democracy, applied to the most pressing wants of the country." Let me know and I'll write about that one. The former is definitely a quote that, in my experience studying the Frev, gets misinterpreted from what it was originally meant to say fairly often.

To start with, it's very important to know what connotation and definition the words 'virtue' and 'terror' had in revolution-era France. Modern-day definitions may not be the same ones that were used in the past. According to my research, which of course isn't infallible, virtue was used to refer to someone's disposition and the way it would lead them to choose good over evil whereas where terror was seen simply as great fear. At the time there was no connotation of our modern-day terrorism to associate with the word. Nowadays we associate terror with terrorism which brings to mind murder, mindless destruction, oppression, and unchecked authority in which someone's ideals are forced upon large groups of people. Because of this many people assume that this is what Robespierre had in mind when he referenced terror when really he meant to describe the use of intimidation tactics to seize power from those who oppressed the lower class people and the general fear that was felt by the commoners.

Essentially the Reign of Terror meant 'a time period where everyone felt a sh*t load of Fear over all the bad stuff happening at once while the regular people try to overthrow the oppressive ruling class with intimidation tactics.' It does not mean 'a time period where loads of people were purposely committing widespread acts of terrorism to push their agendas'. And really, it was the only way to give everyone the chance to get rid of the old government, the monarchy, and allow a fair democracy that would be beneficial to the future of France to be built.

Next, it's important to know the context in which this quote was originally said. The speech where Robespierre said it took place on Feb 5th (?) of 1794. By this point, the revolution has been well underway for several long years and, as I said, a lot of sucky things are happening at the same time. The republic was in a war with a massive part of Europe and they're kinda getting curb-stomped. The country is in a state of civil war between the people that still supported the monarchy and all the different groups that had different views of how the country should be run. France's economy was complete sh*t too, so all this really radicalized the people and made the whole revolution situation so much worse than it already was.

At the time there were two factions, so to say, in the National Convention that were hella pissed at each other and really at odds. the Hébertists (who, to make things easy, wanted to escalate the Terror, go on the offensive with the military, and the overthrow and replace some of the existing government structures at the time) and the Dantonists (who wanted to sorta get rid of the revolutionary government, negotiate for peace in the war, and chill out on the whole Terror thing). And remember that these groups of people were very loose and like people in today's politic didn't agree with every stance their 'faction' took.

By the time Max made this speech, which was addressing these two groups, the situation between them was escalated big time. The Hébertists, with their views of 'more terror all over! That'll help us win everything,' or 'terror without virtue,' were pushing for a system that would quickly prove fatal. By contrast, the Dantonists with their, 'we just need to kinda chill and things will work out,' way of thinking or 'virtue without terror', would only lead to them (and the rest of the country) getting walked over by everyone else.

Throughout the entire speech, a speech I haven't recently read all the way through, Max comes back to the idea of terror and virtue, stressing that both are necessary. What I think he meant to do was talk about how the revolution couldn't survive without both terror (fear and the aggression that causes it) and virtue (the choice of good over evil) being applied. He's trying to explain to both groups that a little bit of both ideals is the most beneficial way to go about things. In reality, it has nothing to do with whether he personally believed in or advocated the death penalty/ the use of the guillotine. Instead, Robespierre is emphasizing that at that particular moment in time doing what is right and good (virtue) will most likely end up causing some bad things that will make people afraid for a while (terror).

What Robespierre is not saying is that terror, and by extension the violence that is causing the terror is virtuous. There are several easy-to-find sources that prove his personal disapproval of the death penalty from a moral standpoint. As a young lawyer in his hometown in Arras, he became physically ill at the idea of having one of his clients sentenced to death, even though he was found guilty of the crime he was on trial for. He made a speech agreeing with the abolition of the death penalty on May 30th of 1791 (?) arguing that there is no place for the death penalty in a civilized society because the law needs to be a model of what is good. He attempted to save the lives of Georges Danton and Camille Desmoulins, two friends/coworkers that he is commonly charged with sending to their deaths when the opposite is actually true. Additionally, he did the same with other more controversial people including the king's sister of all people, Madame Elisabeth. Even when voting for the death of the king he reiterates his own opinion on the death penalty saying, "For myself, I abhor the penalty of death that your law so liberally imposes, and I have neither love nor hatred for the King; it is only the crimes that I hate…. It is with regret that I utter this baneful truth…Louis must die in order that our country may live." Though it conflicts with his personal views, Robespierre makes the decision based on the needs of France as a country, something that many politicians need to relearn how to do today.

Long story short, he was not supporting the use of the guillotine with that quote, but rather trying to get two opposing factions to realize that both intimidation/fear and making sound, beneficial decisions would keep France on the right track to building a successful democracy for the people. Hopefully this helped and I explained it in a way that was easy for you to understand. If you ever have any more Frev related questions feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer or I'll send you in the direction of someone else more knowledgeable if I don't know.

Also, can someone tell me if I did a good job of explaining this? I can never tell if things I write about the Frev make sense to me because I actually know exactly what I mean to say so everyone else kinda goes along with it or if I actually say helpful things of substance. Thanks guys! And if anyone else knows more about the subject or if I've made a mistake please help me out.

~Dara

[ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes]

Field of Poppies Part 9

Summary: After being apart for six years, childhood friends Tommy and Amelia reunite under odd circumstances. Tommy is an outspoken young man and Amelia is pregnant and out on the streets. The bond of family can be unbreakable but it is tested often. Especially when Europe descends into war.

Part 9: The subject of family is very fragmented in the Shelby household, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be repaired and maintained. 

             “There he is, grown-up and responsible Tommy. A family man now, aye?” Barney Thompson grabbed Tommy the second he came into the betting shop and put him in a headlock to rile him up. “You ain’t gonna be fun, anymore are ya, Tom?”

            “We’ll have Mel walking up and down the streets of Birmingham all hours of the night looking for him.” Danny laughed. “She’ll drag him home by the ear.”

            Tommy shoved Barney off and punched him in the arm.

            “Eh, Barney’s just jealous ‘cause he could never get a girl to even look his way.” Arthur used the newspaper in his hand to smack the young man.

            “How do the numbers look today?” Tommy asked, leaning over to glance at the ledgers.

            “Going well, Greta’s outside waiting for you though. I told her you’d be down soon.” His brother answered.

            He frowned. “Did she say what it was about?”

            Arthur just shrugged.

            Curious, Tommy stepped outside of the shop where Greta Jurossi was waiting for him. She looked up at him with a polite smile.

            “I heard your son was born last week.”

            Tommy nodded. Despite the inconsistent timelines, it was generally accepted by everyone except close family and friends that Tommy was the biological father of Max. It made things easier and, in a way, it drew attention from Amelia’s past. He wanted to protect her from any ruthless comments, like the ones she got from her parents in London. If he had to take the heat for having a child out of wedlock, then he would do that. But he had a feeling that people in Birmingham were wise enough to know not to bring it up.

            “What did you name him?”

            “Max,” Tommy answered. “After a friend of Amelia’s.”

            “Such a cute name.” She glanced down at the paper in her hand. “Well, I hate to bother you, I know you’re probably busy with him and everything else.” She unfolded the newspaper and handed it to him.

            “What is this?”

            “Information about the revolution that’s going to happen in Russia. They want to overthrow the monarchy, let the government be run by the people, for the people.”

            Tommy wasn’t overly optimistic, even in his younger years. He’d seen enough hardship to know that the world wasn’t fair. “Is that so?” He took the paper from her. It appeared to be somewhat of an organization’s print instead of a national newspaper. He scanned the first few lines. “And you think they’ll be able to pull it off.”

            “They have the people’s support.” Greta shrugged. “I suppose it’s a bit what we’re looking for, isn’t it?”

            He glanced up at her. “We’re looking for better working conditions and labor laws.” He reminded her as if she’d forgotten what she’d dedicated so much time and effort toward.

            “And that can be accomplished by allowing the people to decide what’s best. Not those who are wealthy who’ve never worked a day in the factories. Who’ve never lived in the slums.”

            He nodded. It made sense. His sense of justice and integrity was all for it. “What can I do?” He asked.

            “You’re causing a stir in Birmingham.” She noted. “Everyone’s talking about the betting shop and the caps. The name’s caught on, by the way. The Peaky Blinders.”

            “Are they afraid of us?” Tommy folded up the paper to hand back to her.

            “No. At least, not the people here who need you. I think they’re sick of waiting for the Commons to make things better. They see you as a man of the people. They want you to succeed. Don’t you see, Tom? You’re the right person to make this happen. You have the skills to gain influence.”     

            A soft wailing sound from an open window upstairs carried down to the street. Tommy felt conflicted. He had tried to assure Amelia that he would make things better for everyone. If he gained influence and power was he better than any of the men sitting in the Commons? Would that give his son a better life?

            “I’ll be at the next meeting.” He promised her. “I’ll let you know what I think.”

            She smiled hopefully. “Thanks, Tommy. And good luck with the baby.” She stepped back from the betting shop. As she went to walk away, she coughed into a handkerchief.

~~~~~~~~~ 

            Tommy returned to the betting shop and found Amelia had come downstairs. Arthur was holding Max looking like a proud uncle. The baby boy had stopped crying and looked content in his arms. It made sense. Arthur had basically raised all of his siblings.

            Amelia had a smile on her face but it looked partly forced. When she saw Tommy walk in, it faded slightly. Tommy was worried she had overheard his conversation with Greta.

            “Can I talk to you for a moment?” She asked.

            “Uh…sure.” Tommy ignored the snickering from the rest of the men as he followed Amelia into the kitchen. He closed the curtain shut. “You trust them with Max?”

            “You don’t?”

            Tommy shrugged and sat down at the table. “They can be thick.”

            Amelia didn’t respond. “Were you ever going to tell me Polly had children? Or that they were taken away?” She asked in a hushed voice.

            He grimaced. The topic was a particularly sore one in the family. Polly refused to talk about it and would not listen to anyone talk about it. Even though it was unresolved, it was best to not speak about it. “She told you?”

            “No, a neighbor told me while I was out walking with Max.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Why wouldn’t she tell me? Why wouldn’t anyone tell me?”

            “Because no one in the house talks about it, Mel.” He ran a hand over his face. “It happened just last year. Michael was born the year you left. Anna was born a year later.” He explained.

            Amelia’s brow was wrinkled with worry. “What happened?”

            “The police took them. They had no fucking reason; Polly was a great mother. They just targeted her because we’re gypsies.”

            She slowly sat down next to him; a bit taken aback by the story.

            “They said she could get them back. We’ve tried everything. They won’t tell us where they are, where they were brought. One police officer even said there was no record of them anywhere.”

            “If I had known. I should-”

            Tommy shook his head. “Don’t mention any of it to Pol. She can’t handle it. She copes by not speaking about it.”

            Amelia chewed on her lip. She couldn’t imagine raising Max for a couple of years only to have him ripped away from her.

            And it seemed like Tommy could see that fear in her eyes. “It’s not going to happen again.” He promised her, gently taking her hand in his. “No one will ever take Max from us. And I’m going to bring Michael and Anna back home.”

            She nodded, too concerned to speak. She just leaned forward to let Tommy kiss her knuckles and pull her into his arms.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~

            “You’re doing so well with him.”

            On the first snow of the winter, Polly and Tommy were up early, sitting together in the kitchen. Max was in Tommy’s arms, having woken up the whole house at the crack of dawn. Everyone else had grumbled, turned over and shoved a pillow over their heads to block out the noise.

            But Tommy was up to grab his month-old-son. Max nursed while Amelia was half awake, leaning against the headboard. Meanwhile, Tommy got dressed in the small space and took his son after Amelia was finished. The new mother went right back to sleep, too exhausted to get up.

            Polly was already in the kitchen, preparing to go to an early mass before she worked on the accounts in the betting shop.

            Tommy smiled. “He’s easy, don’t ya think? Much easier than Ada was.”

            Polly sighed at the memory of Ada being colicky so often as an infant. “Much easier.” She agreed. “But still, I’m very proud of you. You’ve stepped up and have been very good to both of them.”

            “Thanks, Pol.” Tommy let Max grab a hold of his index finger.

            “So,” His aunt sipped her tea. “When are you going to marry her?”

            “Pol!” Tommy’s eyes widened in shock. “What are you on about?”

            “Thomas, you cannot hide things from me very easily. You lie the exact same way your mother did. Terribly. Now, I’m only asking because I’d like your union to be witnessed by God. Don’t want you two eloping behind my back.”

            It was too early to argue about God with Polly. But Tommy had a feeling she wouldn’t drop the subject of marriage so easily. “She’s just had Max; I think she deserves a bit of time before she has to make another big decision.” He said defensively.

            “But you’d be willing.”

            “W-I…why are you bringing this up now? I don’t care what people think.”

            “It’s not about what other people think. It’s about you, Tommy.” Polly gently touched his arm. “I know you’re in love with her. I know she’s in love with you. This flat is too fucking small not to notice the way you two are together. But I think you’re denying yourself this commitment because you’re afraid.”

            Tommy looked down at Max. The newborn was slowly starting to fall asleep, his eyelids fluttering a few times before sliding shut. “We’re raising him together, Pol, I think that’s enough of a commitment.”

            “Then marriage shouldn’t be a big deal.” She shrugged.

            He hesitated because he knew she was trying to snag him on a technicality. “I suppose it isn’t. But it’s about what she wants. Pol, she’s been through a lot since she left. The pregnancy, how it happened…” He knew he couldn’t tell his aunt because he’d swore to Amelia he wouldn’t tell anyone what happened. “She’s not overly trusting right now. I think…y’know maybe she’s relying on trust we had before. When we were just kids. But it’s different now. I want to make things work but I think we have different ideas for the future.” He admitted. Max let go of his finger, lifting his little fist up with a yawn before settling again in his swaddle. “She said I should work with horses and just…forget about the betting shop. She’s worried I’ll get hurt.”

            Polly could understand the young woman’s dilemma. It was the same issue she had with the start of the shop. But she’d begun to realize that they were Shelby boys, not choir boys. They would get into trouble no matter what. A pretty face couldn’t sway them from that. So, Polly figured that, if they had structure, a proper operation, maybe it would help them. Maybe it would keep them safer if they were let loose. She wasn’t perfect either. “Then maybe you two ought to figure out how to settle these differences. I know no one could ask you to change, Tommy. They’d only be wasting their breath. You have a plan and you want to see it through to the end. I suppose the only thing I can do is ask you to think about your family first. That family includes her and the baby now.” She reminded him gently.

            Tommy nodded. “I know. Family comes first.” He echoed in agreement. “Always.”

 ~~~~~~~~~~           

            It was a tentative arrangement and happened very slowly, to begin with. But when Max was born, Tommy and Amelia found it was difficult sleeping in two separate bedrooms. He wanted to help out as best he could even if it was the middle of the night. As time went on, Amelia got comfortable with having him in her space. When initially she was wary. It started out with Tommy coming in from down the hall when he heard Max cry. Sometimes Amelia would assure him everything was okay, or she’d ask for some help. Tommy would either go back to bed in John’s room or sit in the rocking chair by Max’s cot. When things were quiet again, he’d return to bed down the hall.

            Then, the nights became longer and sometimes he’d fall asleep in the rocking chair with Max in his arms. Sometimes he’d sit up on the floor near the cot, watching Max fall asleep. And oftentimes, watching the newborn fall asleep would make him doze off too.

            Eventually, Amelia noticed Tommy started to complain about his neck or back in the morning. She knew it was because the majority of the night he wasn’t sleeping in a bed. She felt bad but allowed herself the time to get comfortable with him.

            One night, when Max had settled down, Tommy had started to nod off in the rocking chair. Amelia got up and scooped Max out of Tommy’s arms so she could lay him in his cot.

            “Tom.” She nudged him gently.

            “Hm? Yeah?” He stirred and opened his eyes with a yawn.

            “Come to bed.”

            “Yeah, yeah, I’m going.” He stood up and stretched. He reached into the cot to affectionately touch Max’s cheek before heading to the door.

            “No, just…” Amelia grabbed his hand before he left.

            He looked back at her, a bit too tired to read between the lines. “Hm?”

            “Just stay here.” She didn’t want to sound like she was begging for him to stay, but she really was. After reassuring herself that Tommy would never harm her, she understood her deep need for his affection. A chaste kiss or holding her hand every once and a while wasn’t enough. Now that they were settled with Max, she wanted to grow their relationship.

            Tommy’s eyes flicked to the bed. “Are you sure?” He asked. It had been months since they were huddled up together in the vardo that summer at the fair. He had longed to be close to her again for longer periods of time in the day. But it was such a small flat and he knew his siblings could be merciless with their teasing. He didn’t want Amelia to be self-conscious about their relationship. So, he kept his distance and waited patiently for her to allow him closer.

            She nodded. “Yeah. I think I need you to stay.”

            “Alright.” He held a hand out to the bed, allowing her to lay down first so she could get comfortable first.

            But she didn’t let go of his hand, pulling him with her to the bed. He followed her lead, laying down beside her, his chest pressed to her back. She adjusted his arm, making sure it was locked around her waist and their hands were intertwined.

            It felt perfect. Tommy was suddenly wide awake, his heart beating too quickly to fall asleep.  

Permanent Tag: @papa-geralt-of-cirilla @giftofdreams @biba3434 @kimmietea @karmezii @enrapturedbythemoon @vampgirl1997 @tarafaithe

Tag list: @shelbyblinded

Masterpost

PB Masterlist

[girllovescomic]

An analysis of our OTP as we go toward the end

With the help of Karen Ly (Twitter), I found this post on Weibo and Google translated it.  I think this really encapsulate what I think of both characters

After watching the 60~63 episodes, my dissatisfaction with the plot has calmed down a bit, not only because the appearance of the king in these episodes is too high (this is the main reason, it is really love every frame of every line) , Also because the behavior logic of most characters can be explained. I think the Hulan episode of 58~59 broke so badly because the changes in Helan Zhen couldn't convince me at all. It was not like he could do it.

Let me talk about Xiao Qi first. Since the battle of Neem Hayama, I have been thinking about his return. I know it will be good, but it is better than I imagined again. Has Xiao Qi changed? Yes, it is not. Xiao Qi is a person with extremely strong inner world and self-awareness. He has gone all the way from the Cambrian to an extremely human minister. No matter how the outside world changes, he can hardly shake his self-constructed spiritual world. He knew exactly what he wanted along the way. He was a hero with the world in mind. Power and status were never the goals he pursued, but the means to help him achieve his ideals, so neither threat nor temptation would let him shake. This is why Wang Lin said that he always looked at people accurately, but he misunderstood Xiao Qi. After all, this son-in-law is not a mortal. From the time when he entered Beijing to be the king to the Lianyu Mountain Incident, Xiao Qi's attitude towards the royal family and the nobles of the Manchu clan was always neither humble nor overbearing, courteous and courteous. After being aware of the emperor’s scruples about his merits, he took the initiative to resign. . He is always smart, sober and restrained. After the return, he did not accept the order twice, and the face of the king did not worship the palace with the sword. He was arrogant and domineering, watching the world, just like the two of the past restraint and forbearance. But when Xiao Qi, who had restrained his modesty at the beginning, could ever afford these nobles? Today, he just didn't hesitate to hide his contempt and anger, for the sake of the dead Ning Shuo soldier, and for his ideals and beliefs. Xiao Qi is a person who has always acted in accordance with his inner rules, and this has never changed. In the past, he thought that by being close to the center of power, he could better realize the ideal of guarding his family and protecting the country and allowing the people to live and work in peace. After Xie Shouzheng's corruption incident and close talks with Zilong, he has realized that the corruption of the court and the family is a chronic disease. It is difficult to heal, so the meaning of retreat was born. Xiao Qi before Lian Yushan should be struggling. Although returning to Ningshuo was far away from the power struggle, he could only keep one side of the country safe and farther away from his great cause. The tragedy of Mt. Neem changed everything. The moment God of War, Xiao Qi, looked hollow and confused. In addition to his extremely overdrawn body, there was probably a collapse of faith and despair of the country and court he tried to protect.

The next few episodes are completely depressive. Xiao Qi is silent. In a one-man show with almost no lines, he cried silently. He galloped in the wilderness, he looked up at the sky in the courtyard, he was by the river. Pressing his forehead lightly against the horse, he grieves, angers, reflects, reconstructs his will, and strengthens his determination to revenge. The accumulated power reaches people's hearts through the screen. With such a layer upon layer of progressive paving, the outbreak after the return is extremely hearty. Xiao Qi came back, and he couldn't get through according to your rules in the past, so just follow my rules and see if any of you has the ability to stop me.

Similarly, the scenes after the return were progressive. When they were refused entry into Ningshuo City, they lowered their stance, were polite and courteous, and had a sincere attitude. When they saw Ningshuo soldiers swearing allegiance to the death, it was hard to hide their excitement. The voice choked for a while, this was the first emotional vent since Neem Yushan suppressed Yin Ren. When I saw Wyen (I love this scene very much, I repeatedly brushed it), the short conversation undercurrents surged and was extremely wonderful. Xiao Qi's eyes staring at Wyan were a little bit probing at first (want to see how many shadows there were in Wyan in the past), and gradually became cold (are you here to welcome me or stop me), and then became threatening and provocative ( Who will do it this time, is it you, Su Yibo), mentioning that Guanglie and Soldier Ningshuo are uncontrollable anger (this is the second emotional vent), and then return to calm, the disappointment and steel The same unchangeable will is chilling. I always felt that Liu Duanduan's interpretation was a bit too much, but this scene was also excellent, and the process of Wyan's inner anxiety, hesitation, and final break was very complete.

This period of entering the city was another highlight moment, and the whole confrontation was relaxed, and it was repeated several times. Personally, my favorite is the body language of the king in this scene, which is really domineering every time he raises his hand and turns around. Hearing the order to accept the order, he slightly leaned over to help the grandmother who was about to kneel down, stepped forward slowly, stopped sideways, and took the order, resolutely and beyond doubt. A few actions have made people see the aggressive attitude of King Yuzhang after his return. He just wants to clearly tell the emperor and these officials that his patience has been exhausted, and he will not leave them half face or give them any more. They stayed a little bit of retreat until the truth was found out and the real murderer came to the rescue. After Ma San arrived, he seemed to be holding a low posture, but in fact he was always in front of him. The connotation of his words is that Xiao Qi led soldiers to threaten the monarchy, committing chaos (you bring 100,000 soldiers, I will agree to anything you want), and put yourself in morals The commanding heights place Xiao Qi unrighteous, thereby confuses the public and avoids Xiao Qi's questioning of Lian Yushan. The confrontation was pushed to the apex when he said "Fight against me until King Yu Zhang is satisfied". At this time, Xiao Qi still looked directly at Ma San, his eyes were not evasive, but he took a deep breath that was hardly noticeable. , Looked up slightly, he was suspicious and inquiring about Ma San, and the anger at him for putting himself here was expressed vividly and vividly in this slight look up. After Wang Su quickly handed everyone a step and got a promise that he could self-check the truth, he took the opportunity to give in, bowed his head, and the confrontation ended. The rhythm of the subtleties is too good.

Talking about entering the hall in white, all the restraints in the front have been pave the way for the most heartfelt lift. As he approached the throne step by step, he was like an angry lion, showing the air of a king. Ma San was forced by such a momentum, his eyes were evasive, and his inner fear was self-evident. Here is an interruption of Wyan's eyes, which are worship, shock, and loss. He probably realized that he would never be able to surpass Xiao Qi. Then, it came to the monologue on Xiaoqi Hall. This paragraph kicked me to the bottom of the pit and never wanted to come out again. This third emotional catharsis directly pushed the contradictions to the peak. The anger, grief, and contempt for the nobles since Mt. Neem poured out like a rainbow, and finally received a meaningful look in front of the throne. At that time, he was as dangerous as a black panther waiting for an opportunity.

Should such Xiao Qi be proclaimed emperor? There are many voices on the Internet questioning that Xiao Qi’s retreat is the "heart of the Father" and the collapse of human design. I think this is a simple and rude categorization in the Internet age. The term "personal design" is even more annoying. How can the complexity of human nature be summed up with a simple facial makeup? Everything needs to be viewed in the context of an era. Monarchs and ministers are the head of the five Confucian ethics. The usurpation of the king and the killing of the emperor must be a shame in the history books. Even big ambitious people like Cao Cao have scruples. Need to hold the emperor to make the princes. The founding emperors who have changed dynasties in the past have all found various so-called apocalypses and signs to prove that the previous dynasties are exhausted. For Xiao Qi, a hero who takes the responsibility of defending his family and the country and has the world in his heart, he should not be easy to make such a choice. This is not the so-called Father's Heart, nor loyalty, but is restricted by the value system of that era. Of course, Xiao Qi is by no means a pedantic person, otherwise there would be no such thing as instigating many feudal vassals to ask for the gift of nine tins. The key is to see what he ultimately wants to achieve. For a person like him who follows his inner rules, I am curious how Zhou Yiwei will perform and convince us of his final choice.

Let's talk about Awu. Although I still feel that many details of the plot cannot withstand scrutiny, the direction of the character Awu is generally logical. First of all, Awu is not an ordinary woman. She has independent self-awareness and values. The love between her and Xiao Qi is based on the mutual attraction of two independent personalities. The other party. Such a woman naturally has a bigger pattern. She understands Xiao Qi's ideals. She was born in a family and was perfectly protected since she was a child. She didn't realize the taste of betrayal until she was involved in her father's plot and trade as a pawn. I think a drama review I watched before is very well written, to the effect that Awu’s noble spiritual world makes her not disdain to participate in the conspiracy, or even hate those who hurt her (such as Su Jin’er, more It is disgust, that she is a poor person). She hated her for the first time when she thought that He Lanzhen killed Xiao Qi. Xiao Qi is her bottom line, so she will do everything she can to die with him. Regarding the queen mother, after guessing that the emperor's uncle was murdered by her, Awu kept alienating her; after returning to Beijing, she felt compassionate when she saw the tragedy of the queen mother. This is also very controversial on the Internet, but after all, the layout of Neem Hayama has not been fully investigated, and it is understandable to have pity for the aunt who watched him grow up. (Of course, I didn't convince myself too much. There were still omissions in the plot. Ordinarily, she and Xiao Qi should be able to see the role of the queen mother). To Ma San, she was shocked to a large extent. After all, she grew up with her childhood sweetheart. She probably couldn't believe that he had become like this. She chose not to tell Xiao Qi not because she wanted to let Ma San go, but because she didn't think about what the consequences of this incident would be, and how this consequence would affect Xiao Qi and the situation in the world. So I don’t think that the hostess is overwhelmed by the heart of the Virgin. Her response to these people is different, and the way of coping is also considered according to different situations. Regarding the truth about Neem Yushan, she did have a disagreement with Xiao Qi. In the play, she mentioned letting go twice, one was when she went to Beijing to talk at home after returning to the government, hoping that Xiao Qi would not kill more after finding out the truth; Bian, asked Xiao Qi if he could put aside the things in front of him and live his own life. Two times, Xiao Qi didn't agree, he never gave her a promise that she couldn't make (here again). I think it is reasonable to think this way from the perspective of Auntie. First of all, she could not fully understand Xiao Qi’s brotherhood of life and death towards Ning Shuo’s soldiers. Second, she could not fully understand Xiao Qi’s pain and hatred unless he had personally experienced the affairs of Yushan. (On this matter, probably only Hu Yao Understand the king, please refer to See the eyes of the king and Hu Yao reuniting). So I think that although Ah Wu can understand Xiao Qi's ideals of the world on a large scale, he does not fully understand Xiao Qi's will and determination to revenge. She is afraid of the prospect of the rain coming, she is afraid of losing Xiao Qi, and also afraid that Xiao Qi will go on the road of murdering the king for revenge, and even more afraid of the bloody wind that will follow, which change of dynasty in history It didn't come by walking on the sea of ​​blood. However, this disagreement does not mean that the love between 57 has faded. In fact, their lives have been more deeply blended together (Auntie said, you are the most important person in my life; Xiao Qi said, to you never change). Auntie chose to stand with Xiao Qi on key matters. For example, when she entered Beijing, she refused to help Wang Yu persuade Xiao Qi, and followed Xiao Qi twice to bow down. (Here I want to emphasize the background of the times and not follow the rule of the monarch Ceremony is to pretend to be a big deal). He loves her, so he understands and tolerates her care for the family to the greatest extent; she loves him, even if she does not fully understand, she will respect his choice. This is the love between adults without blood.

Other characters who have the same acting online include the prime minister who is always conscientious in his career, and the queen mother who has hysteria to get up and pull his enemies into the water, finally wakes up to the elder brother who is firm in his career, and even the black line of love and brains, Ma San, their wonderful makes My resentment for the first episode of Hulan has fallen, and I moved a small bench to wait for the last 5 episodes...

[sleepless-in-starbucks]

Here, have a free pass to ramble about losleep!! -space anon

LOSLEEP RAMBLING YOU SAY

today’s losleep rambling sponsored by @blinksinbewilderment who gave me a prompt thingy to talk about: prince!Remy and knight!Logan losleep. also she looked it over (which is code speak for I wanted someone to read it while I couldn’t post it and she also did some editing while she read it and I believe in credit where credit’s due)

Warnings because I wrote this while my tumblr was nerfed so it got REAL long: Mentions of war/fighting/blood/injury, (false) belief that a main character is dead, not eating/sleeping, grief, but all and all a happy ending because Me

    -So Remy’s a prince

    -He’s as expected- slacker, not very interested in running a kingdom, mostly messes around in his room and goes between sleeping (rarely) and reading (excessively, since no twitter to scroll through in these times)

    -Logan’s a peasant in one of the towns under the monarchy’s power

    -He wants to be a scholar, but like I said… peasant

    -He can’t afford proper teaching

    -He also can’t read or write

    -He’s very smart, of course, but there’s only so much you can learn from village elders and the such

    -So Logan applies to get proper teaching from royal teachers

    -No one accepts him, of course- he’s a peasant, why would they?

    -He’s hanging around the area near the castle a lot, though, and eventually someone mentions to him that the only job he’d ever get at the castle would be as a guard

    -So Logan figures, hey, at least with that he’d be in proximity of royal teachers and such

    -So he becomes a guard

    -Well

    -Guard in training

    -But, like with everything else, he takes very well to learning the sword

    -And reflexes and fighting and protecting and all of that

    -He ends up at the top of the ranks, tossed in with the group being considered for a new head of guard

    -Head of guard not only organizes the squadrons and their patrols, but is also personal guard to the prince

    -The most recent one was thrown out after being found conspiring against the prince, so this time, the prince himself will be helping to select his head of guard

    -For reasons of trust and such

    -Remy comes mostly before a dozen or so strong men fighting for the right to spend time with him can’t be that bad of a time, right?

    -Logan catches his eye, not just because of his muscles (though that does help) but also for his skill- in his battles, he never has the physical upperhand… but he always wins with the strategical one

    -Remy catches him in between battles, moving and speaking with ease and charm

    -Most of the guards bow easily and greet him warmly, looking to be favored

    -Logan doesn’t

    -His bow and greeting are perfunctory, done of duty and training alone

    -He keeps his eyes on Remy, but they’re bored, and Logan’s stiff. The prince does not excite him, especially not just by existing

    -Remy should be offended

    -But he isn’t

    -He’s… intrigued

    -‘so. looking to be head guard?’

    -‘I’m looking to be whatever you need me to be, my highness’

    -‘well then, would you be looking to be my head guard if I asked you to?’

    -‘of course, your highness’

    -‘and what if I told you to be head guard you had to call me beautiful?’

    -‘then I suppose I wouldn’t be head guard, your highness’

    -Remy just smirks

    -He can work with this

    -So Logan becomes head guard

    -He’s only thrilled a little since being around the castle will likely mean more chances to hear information, to learn more

    -But he’s mostly stuck with the prince who, in his honest opinion, is a moron

    -Prince Remy’s flighty and daydreamy and cares more about his looks and flirting than the kingdom

    -Logan will give him half points for being pretty enough to warrant part of his confidence but that’s about it

    -The problem, however, is that for how much Logan dislikes Remy?

    -Remy just loves him

    -Not romantically though (not yet anyways)

    -But he loves Logan as a person. Loves his stubbornness and his principals and his looks and his muscles and his brain

-Especially his brain! Logan may not know much (or speak much) but when he does, it’s always so… refined, especially for a peasant

-Remy just knows there’s more to him than meets the eye

-So he drags Logan around the castle, walking beside the head guard as he talks endlessly, mostly jokes and flirts and compliments

-Logan mostly ignores him or gives him odd stares, but every once in a while…

-Well

-Seems not even the ‘emotionless’ guard is completely impervious to his charms

-Logan, if asked, would say he is

-(But he’s a liiiiiii-arrrrrrr)

-It all comes to a head three or four weeks after Logan is promoted to head guard

-Remy’s strolling them through a garden

-Logan’s focusing between the flowers and the area past the garden walls, looking for security threats

-That is, at least, until Remy completely catches his attention

-‘And you see, here, the common poppy, also known as the papaver rhoeas, or as I call it, the sleepy bitch flower-’

-‘wait. say that again’

-(no ‘your highness’ because Remy got sick of that within two days. He told Logan to call him ‘Remy’ or any variation of ‘beautiful’ he liked, but Logan seemed content to simply use neither)

-‘sleepy bitch flower?’

-‘no, no- the, the name you called it after ‘common poppy’’

-And Remy tilts his head with some confusion before he repeats the scientific name

-Logan’s eyes light up

-‘how do you know that?’

-‘well… I am a prince. I’ve had an expensive education’

-‘can you-’

-Logan cuts himself off before he can finish his thought, shaking his head mostly to himself and going back to looking for threats

-Because he wanted to know if Remy could teach him, make this worthwhile, let him actually get at that knowledge he had been seeking for as long as he could remember

-But Remy was a highly educated prince. Why would he want to help teach some peasant who’s quick with a sword?

-But Remy isn’t letting this drop

-‘can I what?’

-Logan doesn’t respond. Remy frowns

-‘guard, I’m ordering you to tell me what you were going to say’

-And Logan grimances, because he can’t defy a direct order, as much as he’d like to, so he sighs and finally turns back towards Remy

-‘can you teach me’ he says, lamely, not even a question, really, hoping that Remy won’t respond to it, especially since Logan could already feel his reactions: anger, disgust, maybe amusement as if it were some sort of impossible joke

-That wasn’t his reaction

-Instead, Remy smiled, and tilted his head even further

-‘I’d be happy to, if you really want, hun’

-Logan’s… surprised, to say the least

-‘you… really? No jokes?’

-‘none. swear it on this patch of sleepy bitch flowers’

-So Logan starts getting an education

-Instead of wandering all day long, he and Remy sit down in Remy’s room, where he’ll pull a book at random off the shelf and start teaching Logan from it

-It’s not easy, at first, especially with having to teach Logan how to read and write

-But they do have a lot of time, so eventually, Logan has the alphabet down, and he’s starting to be able to spell all those complicated words he can say with ease

-It’s about two weeks into all the learning that Remy breaks the schedule they had fallen into

-‘y’know, Logan, all this has been fun, but I’m starting to feel a little taken advantage of’

-‘…how so?’

-‘well, babes, I’m teaching you all this stuff, and yet getting nothing in return. I think that’s going to have to change’

-Logan’s not sure what Remy could possibly want from him. He’s just a peasant guard, after all, he has no riches that the crown cannot outmatch with ease. All he really has is himself and… oh

-‘I’m not entirely sure why I would be your first choice for, eh… such, um, matters, your highness, but if that is, eh, what you… require, than, uh, I-’

-Remy raises a hand and silences Logan

-‘firstly, sugar, I think I told you to stop calling me ‘your highness.’ secondly, I was gonna ask you to teach me the ways of the blade or whatever. What were you thinkin’?’

-Logan doesn’t answer, just staring at Remy as his entire face steadily turns a very bright shade of red

-Remy stares back, still confused, until his eyes widen in understanding. His face quickly also becomes red.

-‘…I see. uh, please… please never think that, just uh, never, ever think that again. um. yes’

-So, horrible miscommunication and following insane awkwardness aside, Remy is now getting sword lessons!

-They can only practice at night, however, because Remy’s parents and kingdom are based on a foundation of peace

-The prince should look pretty and be smart and uphold peace, not be weapons training

-But it’s fine, because Remy’s already used to nighttime environments and Logan say it’ll help with his night vision/night fighting, should he ever need it

-So now they’re learning by day, fighting by night, and sleeping during dawn and dusk

-All sounds good, right?

-Well it gets even BETTER

-Because, really, there’s only so much time two pretty gays can spend around each other and remain uninterested in the other

-Helps that Remy’s never been exactly ‘uninterested’

-And that, for all he protests it, Logan has always found an odd sort of charm to Remy’s… Remy-ness

-So things, as they are ought to do, start happening

-Hands brushing more often as Remy passes Logan papers and quills, his smile never changing no matter how many times he saw Logan’s eyes light up as he learned something new, Remy always congratulating Logan on a day well spent in a soft tone matched with a sincere smile

-Remy constantly seeming to need Logan to readjust his grip on his sword, Remy favoring moves that forces him and Logan right beside each other as they trade blows, Remy still stumbling despite being such a quick learner (but he only ever stumbles when Logan can catch him, and he always seems to linger in the soldier’s arms. doesn’t help that Logan lets him)

-The trip back to his sleeping quarters seeming to become more tedious every time Logan has to make it, one time even falling asleep for a minute halfway there, making it easy for Remy to convince him that it’s quicker, and safer, if Logan just shares his bed when it’s time to sleep. to protect him better from attacks twenty-four/seven Remy says

-Because it’s just for protection, really, when Remy curls up against Logan, and Logan wraps his arms around him, just protection to hold him close, because if there’s an attack he’ll be able to get Remy moving as quickly as possible, and like this he’s blocking attackers from getting to the majority of Remy’s torso, which is very important

-It’s also important to be warm

-And to be able to nestle his head on top of Remy’s

-And to listen to Remy mumble in his sleep quietly and nonsensically and yet beautifully

-But that’s still all for protection, clearly, since a warm, talking Remy held close to Logan is a safe, living one

-And those are the only reasons he’s doing any of this

-Clearly

-Things continue like that for a few months

-Fleeting glances, prolonged touches, too much sincerity in what should be harmless flirts and pet-names

-Talk starts up, of course, between the guards and the lords and such

-Talk of the head guard who has a much too close relationship with the prince

-The two of them spend all day with each other, they whisper, and they spend all night out and about doing something, something explicit, likely

-Logan’s not even reporting to the barracks, anymore; stopping by in the mornings to assign their stations for the day, but never for bed, never to sleep

-It doesn’t take a fool to guess where he must be sleeping instead

-Remy and Logan mostly ignore it

-They don’t care, after all

-Logan is still the guard Remy’s chosen and trusts

-Logan still protects Remy, and he would do so with his life if it came to it

-The king and queen, luckily, also don’t mind

-It helps that Remy has made it clear to them, multiple times, that he and Logan are close, yes, but not like that

-They’re just friends, he says, and he’s not lying, even if he almost wished he was

-So they allow it

-But it’s a grim reminder, the day Remy finds a book of royal etiquette left in front of his door, a very specific page marked

-Royals marry Royals or Nobles

-They do not hold relationships with peasants

-And they are never officalized

-Ever

-‘it’s not pertinent information to us’ Logan says when Remy drops it on the table

-‘nope.’ Remy agrees. He smirks at Logan, but it’s slightly more flat than it should be, doesn’t carry the right weight with it. ‘thought if you fall in love with me, let me know’

-Logan smirks back at him, but it’s also flat, also wrong

-‘not a problem’ he says

-But it already is

-But it’s alright

-They’re alright

-They still have their lessons

-Logan still protects Remy (from day to night, and from dusk to dawn)

-Remy’s still… not dead

-So they’re fine

-It’s fine

-Everything’s fine

-Until it isn’t

-There’s an attack from a western nation

-The kingdom’s thrown into war

-And they need soldiers

-When they say that they have to take Logan away for the fight, Remy protests as much as he possibly can

-He needs a head guard! There are plenty of men who can go! Why must it be Logan?

-Because Logan’s a strong fighter. He’s tough. He’s one of the best guards they have. They’ll replace him with five guards, Remy will be safe, they promise

-When Remy spits at them that they know that’s not why he’s upset they just look away from him and say they’re sorry

-It hurts to say goodbye

-Logan tries to tell Remy he’s going to make it back, tries to promise that he’ll return

-Remy just shakes his head and asks him not to

-Because they both know he can’t promise that

-And Remy can’t take that false hope

-So they just say goodbye

-And pretend neither of them want to cry (because they do, but Logan’s a head guard being sent to battle and Remy’s a prince with an image to maintain)

-And Remy pretends he’s just staying by the gate as long as he can see the troops marching off for the fresh air

-And Logan pretends that he just keeps glancing back as long as the castle’s within sight to check that all the men are keeping in file

-The time they spend apart is… hard

-Remy doesn’t sleep as well, the bed colder, and his dreams always nightmares now, bloody and much too realistic

-In the middle of a warzone, Logan isn’t sleeping any better

-Remy has nothing to do with his time anymore, no lessons he can teach or learn, his love for books gone sour without Logan

-Logan is constantly thrown into battles, fighting not necessarily for his life but for the one he had with Remy, fighting to get home

-After six months, Logan is taken captive in battle

-He’s only a prisoner for three days, however- the troop that caught him is unorganized, mostly untrained; his bindings are loose, his guard is easily distracted, and by the nightfall of the third day he’s gone

-But Logan’s injured, a bad leg cut alongside the common scrapes and bruises

-He makes it to a forest near the battle zone, and gets as far into it as he can, because he knows he won’t survive trying to cross the warzone to get back to his squadron

-He makes his way through the forest instead, surviving on plants he knows are edible thanks to his lessons with Remy

-But by the time he gets to the other side… his squadron is gone

-Moved on to a new fight

-And he’s officially MIA

-Back at home, Remy knows none of this

-His parents are getting updates from the war, but they refuse to tell him anything but vague details of general stats

-Remy almost prefers not knowing

-If Logan really was hurt or a prisoner or…

-Well

-Remy’d just rather not know

-At seven months, the nation warring against them offers to establish a peace treaty

-But only on one condition- that Remy is the one to negotiate with them

-It’s clearly a trap, the nation clearly hoping that the inexperienced prince will be a poor negotiator

-But Remy agrees, because he doesn’t care what it takes

-He wants peace

-He wants Logan home

-They meet at a neutral point, beside the road that is between both their territories

-Each bring the same amount of guards, who all station themselves at equal points around the area, to serve not just as protection but also as witnesses to the deal to be made

-Everything goes fine enough at first

-The nation’s king makes a demand, Remy matches with something lower, they come to a compromise and move on

-Remy knows he could probably be bargaining harder, longer, for better peace and better benefits for his kingdom, but he doesn’t care. He just wants this all over with

-Eventually, however, things go south

-The warring king makes too high of a demand, and Remy can’t offer him anything he’ll take

-He gets frustrated by Remy’s offers and he draws his sword

-The warring king shouldn’t even have had the sword on him, not at this meeting of peace, but Remy’s not surprised when he draws it. No one brings a sword to a peace meeting and doesn’t use it

-His parents hadn’t allowed him to bring his own, but that’s alright

-Logan had known he’d never be given a sword

-So it’s more instinct than thought when he reaches over and steals the sword of the guard beside him, the move one he had practiced many a time before

-He takes a single step back as he does, avoiding the jab the warring king makes at him with ease

-It’s three slashes to get the king’s balance thrown off, the sword thrown behind him and barely in his grip

-Remy turns to the side just enough to elbow the king in the chest, hard

-The king stumbles, falling, his sword fully slipping out of his grasp and sliding across the ground

-Remy puts a foot on the king’s chest, presses the tip of his blade to the base of his throat

-None of the guards move

-It is clear that the battle started is a problem of the negotiators, not them

-Remy leans down, putting more weight on the king’s chest as he does so, sword tipping moving up to rest uncomfortably close against the top of his neck, just below his chin

-‘this war ends tonight’ he says, voice low and and serious and deadly. ‘the only choice you have left in the matter is whether or not I seal the peace treaty with your blood’

-The king agrees to a peace treaty that easily favors Remy’s kingdom by an insane degree, but he does walk away with his life, so it balances out in the end

-The troops and soldiers and guards come home

-Remy is ecstatic

-Ecstatic until it’s been two hours of men straggling home and nowhere amongst them is Logan

-His parents eventually pull him aside and tell him the truth

-Logan’s been missing for a month and a half, last heard of as being a prisoner to the other side

-He’s assumed KIA, but officially he’s just MIA

-Remy’s… well, Remy’s a lot of things

-Angry, at first, that they never told him, that he didn’t have a chance to force a peace earlier, to find a way to help him sooner

-Then desperate, talking to every soldier he can, hoping for any hint, any information, anything that might lead him to Logan, to even lead him to believe he’s still alive

-But no one has any good information, nothing to put him at ease, nothing to help him, only to hurt him even more

-So then he’s just… well, sad isn’t quite it

-He feels more numb

-Empty

-As much as it hurt to exist away from Logan, it hurts even worse to be forced to exist without him, likely forever without him

-He no longer has nightmares, but he doesn’t dream, either, just sleeping and waking and barely recognizing the gap in time

-Remy wanders the palace, because there’s nothing else to do, and sitting still just makes the void in his stomach settle in place and hurt worse, so he keeps walking, endlessly in circles with little regard for how long he does for any stretch of time

-It’s been two weeks since the soldiers returned home

-Remy’s out in the garden

-It’s late, but what does he care?

-Day, night, light, dark… it doesn’t matter anymore

-None of them have Logan in them

-So he’s in the garden, wandering past the flowers and plants with very little care

-He stops by the patch of poppies, still alive and blooming even though it’s been roughly a year since Logan asked Remy to teach him

-He brushes his fingers against them

-‘Common poppies’ he says, because Logan liked it when he’d list the plants and flowers and their names, common and scientific, because it was knowledge and learning and Remy loved it too because his eyes would always light up and-

-‘Common poppies’ he repeats, voice now sounding choked as he fights back tears, ‘also known as papa- as papaver rhoeas’ he manages, and he’s stumbling over the words and the pronunciations are wrong but that’s okay, really, it’s not like anyone cares now, especially not now that- that-

-‘I think I prefer to call them sleepy bitch flowers’

-Remy turns so fast his vision blurs (which might also have to do with the lack of sleep and his non-existent appetite and the tears he’s one hundred percent sure are in his eyes and running down his face)

-He almost doesn’t believe his eyes

-But that tone? That reference? That voice?

-Remy knows it even before he sees him standing there, in the middle of the garden, looking dirty and tired but alive, oh so very alive

-It’s Logan

-He’s next to him before either of them can so much as blink, holding Logan’s face in both of his hands, looking him over

-‘Are you alright?’ he asks, because that’s what matters first, matters now that he’s here and with him

-‘More than’ Logan answers. He’s tired, yes, and there’s still a healing scar on his leg, but it’s been two months and he knows how to take care of himself, knew how to get what he needed as he fought his way home, giving up on finding his troops and instead focused on finding his way back to Remy, on finding his way back home

-And now that he’s here, now that he is home… he’s almost certain he could fly

-Remy nods to himself, glancing over Logan again, finding him dirty and ragged and a little bloody but he really is okay, really is alright, and he looks back up, finally, looks in those crystal blue eyes that he’s been missing for too long, and it’s not a choice so much as a need when he pulls Logan forward and kisses him

-It lasts for a mere second, Remy pulling back almost immediately after he moved forwards

-They pause, looking at each other, eyes wide, both surprised

-And then they kissed again

-It lasts longer this time, like it’s meant to, the kiss filled with desperation and fear as if the other will suddenly disappear again, as if this isn’t the beginning of their forever but instead the end of it

-But it’s also filled with hope, with hope and promise and love, filled with every bit of wishful thinking and misplaced hope that they had throughout it all, all of it building up to one thing, to one moment- this one, right here, right now

-When they pull away this time, they’re breathless

-Logan’s hands had moved to hold Remy’s waist, while Remy’s still cradling Logan’s face, and even when they pull away they press their foreheads together because they just can’t let there be space between them not now, and likely not for a long time

-‘I’m going to marry you’ Remy promises, fervently, and maybe hastily, but he really can’t bring himself to care at all

-Logan laughs, and it’s watery but it’s genuine, ‘I don’t think you can do that’

-‘Don’t care. I’m going to marry you and make you my king and you’re never going to get sent away to any stupid war ever, ever again and I’m not going to- I’m never going to lo- to lose you again because I- I can’t-’

-Logan’s arms slip from their place at Remy’s hips to wrap around his back instead, holding him close as Remy sobbed into his shoulder, and Logan cried too, Remy’s arms moving to hold Logan too

-They stayed like that for several minutes, holding each other and crying, every once in a while murmuring something, sometimes a promise or partial sentence but mostly just the other’s name

-Eventually they start to sag even more heavily against each other, Logan tired from his journeys and the remnants of his injuries, Remy tired from sleepless nights and feeling so empty for so long

-They stumble to Remy’s room, to Remy’s bed, to their bed, still holding each other even as they fall onto it, curling into each other as they get comfortable

-In the morning, Remy will call the court doctor and make sure Logan’s truly okay, and wrap and bind and take care of whatever they need to

-They’ll then go to face Remy’s parents, together, still holding each other, as Remy declares he’s going to marry him, regardless of what they say or think

-His parents will protest it for a moment, but not long

-And they’ll begin the wedding preparations as soon as possible

-But for now, they’ll sleep, holding each other close, finally warm, finally close, finally whole again

[omoi-no-hoka]

A New Era! Goodbye Heisei, hello Reiwa!

The name of the new era is officially announced! 令和 (Reiwa)

Today at about 11:30 a.m. JST the name of the next era was announced. Many Japanese people stopped what they were doing to be a part of this momentous occasion. But what does this mean? What exactly is an era? Let’s dive into it!

What is an era?

Japan has been using their own unique method of counting years based on the reign of the emperor since 645 AD, adapted from the Chinese method of dating using dynasties. This method is called 元号 (gengou). To date, there has been a total of 248 eras. An era begins when a new emperor ascends to the throne and ends with his death (or, in rarer cases, abdication). This time, the emperor is elderly, has health issues, and has asked to step down from the throne. This is the first abdication since 1817. 

Currently, it is April 1st on the 31st year of the Heisei Era. That can be written like this:

平成３１年４月１日 (Heisei 31nen, shigatsu tsuitachi)

“Heisei 31” can be abbreviated like this:

平31

H31

What’s more commonly used in Japan, gengou or the western system?

On official documents, it is standard to use gengou. Also, all money uses it to denote the year it was minted. However, nine out of ten Japanese people will tell you that the western system (西暦 seireki) is easier to understand. For this reason, people will often choose to use seireki when talking or in non-official paperwork. You will often commonly see both side-by-side, with one or the other in parentheses. 

What are the eras up until now?

Lol I’m not gonna list all 248. Sorry. However, all Japanese people know all the eras from Meiji to present, so I’ll talk about those. The Meiji Era was kicked off by the Bakumatsu, in which the centuries-long system of an all-powerful shogun and largely ceremonial emperor was overthrown, and Japan opened itself up to trade with the rest of the world for the first time in over 200 years. The start of the Meiji Era marks the start of modern Japan, the beginning of a more traditional monarchy (according to western standards), and the adoption of Western technology, education, etc. 

明治 Meiji 

25 Jan 1868 – 30 Jul 1912

大正 Taisho

30 Jul 1912 – 25 Dec 1926

昭和 Showa

25 Dec 1926 - 7 Jan 1989

平成 Heisei

8 Jan 1989 – 30 Apr 2019

令和 Reiwa

1 May 2019 - ?

How are era names chosen?

This is actually really interesting. In centuries past, government officials would determine the gengou within 1-2 years of the emperor’s enthronement. The names were chosen using auspicious kanji like 明 (bright), 永 (eternity), 寿 (longevity), 和 (peace, Japan), etc. There were few rules, except that an era name could not be used more than once.

Nowadays, when these dates are used by all Japanese people on a daily basis instead of just by the select elite, several criteria have been established.

The meaning of the kanji must reflect the image of Japan and the way Japan wants to move forward in history. (Nothing negative or unlucky)

The kanji must be easy to write and pronounce. (The 嘉 of 嘉永 [Kaei Era, 1848 - 1855] wouldn’t stand muster today because it’s ridiculous to write.)

It can only be two characters. (In the past, there were some eras with four kanji.)

The starting letter cannot be M, T, S, or H. (This is because the gengou is commonly shortened to “H31" to mean Heisei 31, or 2019. If the next era used the same consonant, we wouldn’t know which era was being referred to. 

It cannot be a word already in use. It cannot be used in a surname, company name, or place name of any kind.

A small group of select historians, literary experts, and political scientists (I think this time it was 8 or 10?) sequester themselves away for several long months while they decide the new gengou. The gengou is of the utmost secrecy up until it is announced, so they are completely cut off from the outside world. No phones, no television, no radio, no contact with family, no internet until it is announced. Why is it so secret? Because Japan likes to be spooky and mysterious, I guess. lol I’m honestly not sure, but it’s probably just because that’s how it’s always been done. 

Since the emperor’s abdication is scheduled for April 30th, the new gengou was announced one month in advance, today. Because many computer programs and official government/business forms have been pre-made with “Hesei” on them (sort of like how we may sometimes make templates that have 20__ written on them), you can imagine how busy this change will make company and government employees. They will be spending this month creating new templates or getting rubber stamps with the new era on it and stamping over the obsolete Heisei. Poor guys. 

So what does Reiwa mean?

Let’s take a look at each kanji.

令 rei

orders, ancient laws, command, decree

和 wa

harmony, Japanese style, peace, soften, Japan 

When I first saw it, I thought it was something like “decree of peace,” which sounded very...militaristic? I mean, can you command that there be peace? Haha. But then I looked further, and it appears that this is taken from a line of poetry in the Man’yoshu, which is the oldest anthology of Japanese poetry. 

Classical: 于時、初春令月、氣淑風和、梅披鏡前之粉、蘭薫珮後之香。

Modern: 時、初春の令月にして、氣淑く風和ぎ、梅は鏡前の粉を披き、蘭は珮後の香を薫す。

Summary: 人��が美しく心を寄せ合う中で文化が生まれ育つ

English Summary: Culture blooms and grows through the beautiful cooperation of the people.

Okay, so it’s not as dour as I thought it was at first haha. It’s actually pretty! 

What do you think about the new name? Is it fitting? Do you have any other questions about eras?

[mrsrhys23]

I wish you'd write a fic where Riley is really worried about the costume ball. I feel like PB did do a great job there, I find it difficult to believe they would all just go back into the ballroom without a fuss after what happened in there at the Homecoming ball I'd also like it if Riley had been shot that night as well as Drake just to make it more scary for her to go back in there.

Thanks for the request Nonny!

I got quite carried away with this and now I have 2077 words...

I agree with you that  Riley and everybody else probably wouldn't, in real life, be able to just go back in there after what took place. 

Warnings: Angst, PTSD.

Permatag: @itschoicesstuff, @addictedtochoiceslove,@desiree-0816, @cordoniaqueensworld

It was the night after the art gallery that somehow, despite all the odds, Riley managed to make into something salvageable and not a complete disaster, like it was destined to be at the start of the day.

She had been lying in bed staring at the ceiling for most of the night, unable to sleep. Sleep hadn’t been something that had been coming easy for Riley since the homecoming ball.

After spending another half an hour staring at the celling she climbed out of bed and headed to Liam’s room. Liam answered after a few knocks.

“Riley, you alright?” Liam asked, his brow creased  in concern.

“Can we talk please?” 

“Yes,” Liam nodded, allowing her into his room. They took a seat on his bed. “What is it you wanted to talk about?”

“The wedding,” Riley muttered. 

“What about it?”

I’m not sure we should go ahead at least until we know who’s behind the assassination attempts and the videos,” Riley explained, twisting her hands together nervously. “At the homecoming ball people got hurt…. another social event like that one, especially with it being the royal wedding its seems like the perfect time for them to try again. The anti- monarchy wants us dead. I know we have to appear that we are not frightened but I am. After I… after I got shot… the wedding, the costume ball tomorrow,  I don’t know if I can do it.  I’m probably just being stupid, but that thought of being in the sort of situation again Liam…”

“Mara and Bastien will have the security side of everything covered,” Liam reassured, but that did very little to assuage his fiancée’s fears. “Do you really want to postpone the wedding?”

“No.  No, I don’t. I’m scared, Liam, I am really, really scared. I want to marry you more than anything. This was all a lot simpler when I came here, when I was ‘the mystery woman’ from New York. Everything I do, every move I make I’m being watched. My life is an open book there for everyone to see. It’s tough. I’m expected to be perfect and I don’t know how to be. I suppose it’s easier for you because you’ve grown up in the spotlight. You probably think I’m being ungrateful,” Riley explained, fighting back a few tears.

“No. I understand,” Liam told her, reaching for her hand.

“It’s not just that… The thought of tomorrows ball….It’s just bringing a lot of memories from that night back…”

Liam squeezed her hand tightly, prompting her to look up at him instead of at her hands in her lap. “Do you maybe want to talk to someone about it?” Liam asked, his thumb rubbing soothing circles along her knuckles. 

“The duchess needs counselling,” Riley scoffed, “Wait until the press get hold of that. All that will prove is that the crown was affected.  

“You got shot that night people will understand.”

 “I’m going to ask Madeline in the morning to set up a press conference. There’s a few things I want to say, and I want It to come from me before it ends up in the papers another way.”

“Okay,” Liam  nodded. “It seems like a good idea to probably consult our friends, if that’s okay with you?”

“Yeah,” Riley said, giving Liam as small smile. 

“We better get some sleep,” Liam suggested.

“Yes. I better go back to my room. Maxwell will be worried if I’m not there as he is my alarm clock,” Riley explained, getting to her feet and walking over to the door with Liam.

“About that…When we can actually sleep in the same bed can we get a proper alarm clock?”

“Yes,” Riley chuckled. “Good night your majesty.”

“Goodnight duchess.”

_

The next morning Riley  met Madeline in the boutique at Kiara’s estate before going outside doing the press conference, that Madeline had set up extremely quickly, then heading back to the palace for the ball later that evening.

 “Everything for the conference is set up, now you need something to wear,” Madeleine said, looking through the different clothes on the racks.

“You know Madeline I can pick out my own outfit,” Riley mentioned.

“Yes,” Madeline sighed, turning to face the future monarch, “Do you know what you’re going to say today?”

“Yes. Me and the king discussed it last night.”

“Well I hope that you know what you’re doing.”

I do. As does Liam.”

“I have no doubt that Liam does but you on the other hand, Duchess Riley.” 

“Thank you for your concern Madeline but I am getting the hang of this. I have an announcement of my own to make.”

”Just don’t screw it up,” Madeline snarled.

“I won’t.”

_

The royal couple stepped outside of Kiara’s lovely home and over to the podium that had been set up on the steps, herds of people and press swarming around.

Riley stepped up to the podium, Liam standing just behind her letting her take the lead. She adjusted the microphone slightly, took in a deep breath then started talking.

“So most of, if not all of you are probably wondering why this press conference if even being held. I, as future queen want to feel like I’m doing all that I possibly can…I watch the news, I read the newspapers, I’ve seen the headlines…After the attack, the videos, the orchard it’s getting harder to reassure everyone in the kingdom.  You all absolutely have a right to be worried, but we are doing everything in our power to find whoever is doing this. But how can we expect you all to feel like you’re safe if we don’t share the information as we receive it? We have reason to believe it is someone from the anti- monarchy and after their assassination attempts failed they resort to terrorising you, the people of Cordonia. Just because of this it doesn’t mean you have to abandon your normal day to day lives and be scared, because if you do that then they win, I understand that more than most,” Riley said, turning to Liam, who gave her a reassuring smile.

Liam stepped forward, sensing Riley’s reluctance. “As everyone knows the night of the homecoming ball Duchess Riley was very unfortunately injured during the attack at the  palace. In an effort to help my fiancée, you’re future queen in getting back to herself she has decided, with the support of myself and our friends to attend some counselling sessions-”

When Riley heard the crowds murmurs she stepped forward again, adjusting the microphone on the podium slightly.

“I know what you must all be thinking....We’ve made out that the crown was not affected and that was wrong, I think everyone in a way was affected by what happened, one way or another. And that’s okay. If we continue to make out we werent then everything we say and do will be dictated by that lie. By the anti- monarchy. I will not be stepping down from any of my royal duties, I hope I will be able to do more afterwards though.

“How did the shooting affect you exactly?” Ana asked, stepping forward in the crowd.

“I nearly died,” Riley blurted out.

“Are you saying that the press and people were misinformed of the severity of your injuries?” Anna asked.

Riley swallowed hard, looking down at the podium then back up at the people. She felt Liam grab her hand, squeezing it tightly. The simple action made her believe she could do this.

“It was a very emotional time,” she explained.

“It’s okay,” Liam whispered in her ear.

“It was not released to the public domain at the time and maybe that was wrong, but I got shot. When you get shot Miss de luca then you can tell me why you wouldn’t want a whole country to know the severity of it. I have never and will never let that get in the way of ruling this kingdom. I will continue to do my best for everyone here, for every man, woman and child and that is a promise. On the unity tour, while we were in Applewood, there were two children who used to play where the orchard was, but they couldn’t because of the scorched ground so we played with them, we spent time with them and that just reminded me of how important our roles are. How many people rely on us. When you are relied upon so much you will not, and you will never let anything, not even a bullet stand in your way. I’m not perfect and I’m done trying to be. I’m just a woman trying to do her best. Isn’t that what everyone here is trying to do? That’s all I have to say on the matter.” 

_

After the Constantine drama, they all returned to the palace. In the early evening, before Riley needed to get changed she trotted through the halls of the palace to the ballroom where staff were finishing all the preparations.  

She opened the doors, taking in a deep breath then walked in. Flashes of that night going through her head, she closed her eyes, squeezing them tightly as if that action could make those memories that were flooding back go away.

She turned, facing where it happened. It all happened so quickly, the lights went out, they came back on and she was staring down a barrel of a gun, frozen, unable to move, think. She remembered being tackled to the floor, she remembered Drake landing on her, his blood going everywhere, the fiery pain she felt in her stomach as the world darkened around her, hearing Liam pleading with her to stay awake…

“What are you doing in here?” Drake asked, snapping her out of her daze. Riley opened her eyes, noticing the staff had all left, leaving only her and her friend in the massive ballroom.

“Tonight we’re supposed to come back in here and act like nothing happened…This is the first time I’ve been back in here,” Riley explained.

“Me too.”

“I’m glad the unity tour is over.. But being back properly at the palace especially tonight… I just don’t know if I can do it. I thought maybe coming in here now before tonight would I don’t know… Do you ever think about that night?” She asked, turning to him.

“No,” he insisted shaking his head.

“Really?” she asked, her eyes widening, she thought about it all the time.

“Well occasionally,” Drake shrugged.

“We still don’t know how they got in.”

“But at least precautions have been put in place.”

“Yeah but…”

“At the homecoming ball it was unexpected, no one thought it was even a possibility. But this time everyone’s ready. You need to stop worrying about it Brooks,” Drake said, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze.

“You know Neville’s going to be here, right?” Riley said, eager to change the subject.

“Don’t remind me,” Drake grumbled, “I promise I will try my best not to punch him.”

“He is irritating,” she agreed.

“I thought the future queen was supposed to like everyone?”

“I can just about tolerate him but liking him? Never,” Riley shuddered, causing herself to smile and Drake.

“How are you, Brooks?”

“I’m Fine. why?”

“After the press conference...”

“Yeah, that was eventful,” Riley reminisced. “I know marrying Liam that the press will always be involved, but it’s just… it’s exhausting. Questions about that…I just don’t know how to answer them without yelling at her. Sometimes I just wish we were all normal and did normal things.

“Normal? Normal is overrated. And me and you we were normal. Would you really want to go back to that?”

“No, well maybe sometimes.”

“’Sometimes’ meaning when your yelling at the press?”

“Yeah,” Riley nodded, “Me and Liam are being announced together to night. I can’t believe this is actually happening, that we’re actually getting married. When that stuff with Tariq happened and then he was engaged to madeleine and it was all just a mess and it wasn’t that long ago. At the coronation it all fell apart, and I can’t help but feel it will again.”

“It won’t. Your marrying Liam in two weeks,” Drake told her.

“A lot can go wrong in two weeks. It took five minutes for that to happen.���

“Oh, you need to lighten up Brooks. You really do,” Drake advised.

“Drake?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you,” Riley smiled, pulling him into a hug.

[lightshielded]

today i would like to talk a little about the late queen catherine lightshield, the late - king jarvan lightshield iii and the little riot shone for a brief moment in the slight development of their characters and how this light needed to be smothered to continue the story they wished. this is not a post to condemn riot for this decision, for the reason for doing so is understandable and they are not champions so less important, but a post to talk more about what i personally theorise why these decisions came about during maybe character development and what would have happened in lore had riot not made these decisions ( in short, lore would be nice but more boring as the champions would be doing nothing ) and my reasoning behind this. -- also i know it is entirely possible that they did this purely for drama and i know that jarv is my muse and thats basically all he is used for by this point but look this was fun and interesting and i just like the two characters a lot -- so this is just a little brain storming “what if” if you will, so i hope you enjoy if you continue to read along. part one is my rambling explanation, part two is a what if at the end.

MY RAMBLING

in previous lore ( meaning lore with new lore demacia but prior to recent changes with new champions ), the crown royals of demacia were never quite developed, there was ultimately no need. their ambitious and scarce mentions in their son’s lore gave way to reasonable assumptions of their character and we can assume they were very generic demacias. would could also imagine them both as characters which actually opposed their son in ideology based on the state of this demacia ( the laws were closer to the ones instated by most recent lore jarv with the hardest line mage suppression ).

however, with the newer lores for demacia, riot ultimately wanted to provide xin.zhao with a backstory to fit into the new lore and this is the first large change. now while this lore was not released first, we can assume they were worked on in development together due to the closeness of their update times and this proves a crux to my point. prior, jarv ii was the one who had rescued him from noxus but with the new lore this is jarv iii. now we can assume this is for age reasons as well as making more things relevant in lore ( tho jarv ii does get a nod to in the story and i do like this fact ) by having all active characters closely tied to each other. now we know OLDEST lore demacia raided noxus to free some of their slaves, this is not possible with new lore demacia as they don’t raid nor are they close enough that they can just grab their army and take it to the heart of noxus casually. so noxus had to be the aggressor for it to work, hence xin.zhao’s position as a slave soldier in this story.

but, this inspires a first change in the character of jarv iii - to accept a stranger, a noxian soldier, into demacia he had to be significantly compassionate. so by establishing the king as someone kind enough to release noxian slaves, prisoners of war, and entrust himself to one, to call one friend. BUT this essentially sets up a very kind man who is enforcing harsh, prejudice based laws on a population of his people. obviously, this is a paradox and riot also noticed it and changed it. and with the newer bits of lore we find out multiple new things: 

one) this newer lore jarv iii didn’t teach his son to be suspicious of magical beings. this was mentioned before in his old lore that jarv iv was like most demacians on this and this part was removed on revision, even then enforced that this was not true by his uncle remarking on that is was very unlike him to be so during aftermath. so we can assume he was at least not vocal about his opinions or was genuinely trying not to be prejudiced. two) the laws of stone were introduced and presented us with a not much better but step in the right direction set of laws for demacia which is implied to be done by jarv iii. through they were subsequently slowly undone by the council of nobles as seen in a couple mentions in lore of how the laws were tightening in ways the lightshields disliked and how the king had been giving the council more power. three) the king welcomes shyv when it was open that she was a dragon and the nobles questioned his wisdom in it which meant he openly supported the idea of his son having a dragon guard. (old lore had her hiding it and people just thought she looked weird and were super sus of her). four) all the extra lore we got with the royal family publicly helping mage exiles and meeting with them on conference and other things and all.

essentially made him a king trying to be good for mages. in addition to these changes they wanted to make him a likeable person as well. they worked this into jarv iv’s lore by him being genuinely happy for his sons return rather than emotionless, mentioning how his father genuinely cared for him for one and basically having him present. but in the development of his father they also wished to develop his mother. previously it had be a loveless arranged marriage which tied them together but i guess they figured that wasn’t the route they wanted to go now with this new kinder and more emotional jarv iii so they had them romantically inclined with court whispers, gossip and all. so given this opportunity they went to develop her a little bit, giving catherine strong leadership traits and they likely decided they wanted to show these as plainly and briefly as possible, which apparently in demacian lore is how quickly you can shut down a arms race. which she did instantaneously essentially. she basically kisses the king and said stop and the entire nation was like oh shit we need to stop. no arms race civil war for a good spot near the king’s ear. so, yeah, a queen who can shut down civil war and convince nobles to her side every easily that is much beloved by the nation.

in short, they fixed the paradox of a nice king being cruel to a nice king trying to be good. and then added a powerful queen ruler who stands at his side who is greatly loved and just as influential. HOW LOVELY! however, this causes the issue of why could the good of a now markedly feudal kingdom ( they were constitution monarchy in old lore and still kinda are cause the council and they elect the king but we aren’t here to talk about that ) not just make the decisions they wish? i believe this was their point of realisation of their mistake. the realisation that these two would just do what they want, and that the entire lore of demacia for the 26 years prior would be altered. you have an idealistic king and a queen whom the entire nation adores and bends knee to? they SHOULD be able to do everything they want. and likely did some as it is mentioned the king wants his son to finish what they started and achieve his dreams. have to start something to finish it.

alas, by wanting to develop these characters for the sake of champions like jarv and xin, the essentially wrote themselves into a space of, if they continue to exist we can’t have the story we want. so they basically stopped them existing. first they killed of catherine, in all previous lores as far as we know she was alive just wasn’t romantically interested in her husband. but they did royal stuff together, watched her son get almost killed with a poison crossbow once. good ol days. i imagine they were like good business partners. but for the first time in all lores they had her killed, removed her ( they also removed jarv’s capture by noxus too which has existed just as long but thats a discussion for another day ). now this one move is easy since they put fault on the time period, its olden days in terms of technology in demacia, and unfortunately deaths in childbirth were common. so a very easy disposal which not only removed the civil war ending queen but also injures the motivation of the king by making him emotionally worn out ( in an already emotionally taxing job )

essentially, in one fell swoop they pushed back the pro mage changes to be completed by jarv iv based on his lore as had been written. which is then removed from him and he is given the role of the villain with the comic. funny that if they had just left them both ambiguous they could have just easily had the king the villain cause there wouldn’t have been paradoxes. though i’m not sure how xin.zhao would have gotten in... maybe he escapes and they find him fighting noxians. seems alright? oh well at least we get the cute uncle/nephew relationship in this version of lore. this gives me strength. but ye, so it gets interesting from here because you can sit and just think, what would have happened if she didn’t die?

WHAT IF?

for one, the power couple would have been able to do so much more. i like to think they would have been slowly working down the laws for the betterment of their people and since jarv is not emotionally weakened and lady catherine has the entire council at her beck and call, there would be little resistance amongst the nobility. slowly the laws would lower from mageseekers having to register all emergent mages and ensuring they don’t slip up or they’re out to all emergent mages having to attend classes with members of the lightbringers to learn how to have basic control of their magic -- something they are all too happy to do for they have been doing their best without aid until now -- this would then evolve to allowing more experienced mages to take these classes as an assistant and then a teacher, the lightbringers allowing their secret inner circle to take these places and serve in the open for the first time in so long.

 slowly mages are given voices in positions of leadership and exiles from “slip ups” are lowered as mages are not repressed and know how to control their magic. this would change to not fearing slip ups as use of magic is less restricted for people are less likely to fear what they understand, magic usage becomes legal on school grounds then ever growing territories, eventually towns would have mage quarters where all manor of magic is permitted. although greater usage of magic would likely not be permitted in older parts of cities as it is known to discolour walls and there is only so much you can replace in instance of greying and flaking. got to keep it simple around the grander structures. but maybe over time the mortar can be replaced to not contain petricite, or maybe the bold amongst them might design builds intended to be saturated so their ceilings flake free and reveal the magic like opals within.

slowly magic is phased into the way of life, a smithy apprentice might be permitted to light his own flame without a flint or builder help ease the load of stone. and then ( as jarv seems to have been doing with shyv prior to the comics ) mages might be permitted to don the blue if they so wished, integrating magic into what demacia sees as their pride and joy. their heroes. the mageseekers would become more a force for protecting against mages in war rather than at home, a battalion rather than a power hungry force governed by a few. or maybe they would remain a police force, part of the city guard like any other just they possess protection from magic so are called for a mage criminal while the non magic protected are called for a person swinging a sword. right armour against the right weapon. also as likely, they will lose their name, and their tools simply be another weapon to the people that wear the blue. the tainted history of the name remembered but not allowed to continue on.

slowly, it becomes a nation that embraces magic rather than shuns it out of century old fears. together it is a country that could have healed its wounds both given and inflicted on each other. and our beloved champions could have grown up in a much brighter demacia. frankly, i imagine that within the 20 years from finding xin to the “now” of this universe, much of this could have been accomplished given what we know of them. i do hope, once all the pain and suffering if through in our version of the lore that maybe these steps could be walked by the true of our champions.

[thegeminisage]

i have deep and conflicting thots about the gilli episode (3.11)

they’re long (they’re LONG!!!) so here’s a cut. you’re welcome

good things:

this is the ANTITHESIS to everything i was complaining about last night. this is what i was CRAVING. this show did me so good (and yet, so bad - more on that in a sec)

there was a touch of outside pov here (my weakness) since we got to see who merlin was from gilli’s point of view

and when i say we got to see who merlin was i mean we really for real got to SEE WHO HE WAS oh babey

something gilli said in this episode was that merlin has been pretending so long he forgot who he was and i think similarly he pretends so well that we the audience (me anyway) also kind of forget who he is because we see it SO rarely

but we saw it here! in this episode merlin was SMART?? those aren’t two words i’d normally use in the same sentence without sticking a “is not” between them but he WAS - he cottoned on right away that gilli was using magic, he confronted him immediately and in a way that didn’t invoke hostility (and what a nice little flip, what a TREAT to see someone else freaking out and covering their ass while merlin is keeping his cool), (some of) his normal little jabs at arthur were a tad wryer/slyer on the delivery, and he figured out, ON HIS OWN, how to save both gilli and uther, and used his magic in front of ALL THOSE PEOPLE without getting caught

and speaking of that, merlin being like “he’s braver than me, using magic in front of all those people” and gaisu going “brave or stupid” like... ok, at first my reaction was: come on, merlin uses magic in front of people ALL THE TIME...but when i think about it, my very own self was complaining just yesterday that he was keeping his shit buttoned up way too tightly. and i did notice merlin himself waiting until backs were turned more often, incantating aloud less often...he ACTUALLY HAS gotten less stupid, JUST a smidgen. i didn’t even realize

merlin seemed more grown-up and serious in this episode than he has in the entire series. maybe it’s the fact that he had someone younger and dumber to play off of (and i don’t think gilli was a strong enough character to carry an episode, but maybe it was enough to give us an excuse to develop merlin so much) but he did in fact seem WISE, and he seemed TIRED, which is a thing grownups usually are... the way he talked to the other characters seemed different too - he spoke to the dragon as an equal (last dragon & last dragonlord), not as some dumbass in over his head asking for help (very nice also that he didn’t go to gaius for advice but someone more on “his level”). he gave arthur clear and frank advice on how to go about fighting his dad, he STUCK UP FOR GILLI AGAINST GAIUS (backbone! compassion!) and then STUCK UP FOR HIMSELF against gilli!!!!!

(i like a slightly more serious merlin because while quirky dumbass country hick merlin IS charming and endearing that charm can only carry him so far without more meat involved, especially after some of the terrible things we’ve seen him suffer through and all the experiences he’s had to grow and change)

i have mixed feelings about merlin showing his magic to this particular person at this particular time, but i do also like that he was willing to open up about WHO HE IS if it could potentially save a life. that shows backbone. and it shows integrity. two things i was sorely missing from merlin before now

speaking of merlin’s integrity, we finally got to cover why he keeps saving uther, who he should hate and despise and want dead, which i have been DYING for

merlin and gilli have a sort of professor x/magneto stance about uther, by which i mean one of them argues that they should change things from within the system to court goodwill and avoid violence because acting violently would just make their detractors’ point for them, and the other argues that the system should be destroyed entirely through any means necessary because violence is the only language the oppressor understands

on a rewatch what really stands out to me is merlin chastising gilli at the end by saying “you’re better than that.” it makes me think of season 1 when merlin had the chance to let morgana’s allies assassinate uther and he asks gwen what he should do - gwen, who also has every reason to hate and despise uther, tells merlin that to allow him to die through inaction would be just as bad as murdering him directly, and that that would make merlin as bad uther is

i don’t want to give the people who fucked morgana over so thoroughly too much credit but it makes me wonder if that wasn’t when merlin decided that he was going to be the bigger man

he says it himself in this episode, near tears - it is LONELY, being what he is, and doing what he does. he could kill a man with a thought and he spends all his time mucking stables and polishing armor and when he gets a break from that it’s to save someone’s life without endangering his own. it is dangerous, tireless work for which he believes he will NEVER get any thanks. and what i was so frustrated about before was not understanding WHY - did he care THAT much about arthur’s feelings, that he couldn’t stand to watch arthur lose a father? was he just THAT afraid of uther and what uther would do to him if he found out?

but i get it now - it’s because he CHOOSES to. not to protect arthur or to protect himself but because he wholly believes that he’s playing the long game and he’s on the correct path to seeing a future where what he is is no longer outlawed - god, his FACE when he says “when that day arrives, we WILL be free” 

again not to overcredit the writers bc i DON’T think they were smart enough to do this on purpose but like in my heart he decided all the way back in season 1 that he wasn’t going to take the easy way out and just let uther die because THAT’S NOT WHAT MAGIC IS FOR. he’s stronger than everyone else around him and HE CHOOSES to keep his head down and wait it out because in his OWN WORDS “magic is not meant to bring you glory.” even gilli agrees - when used for personal gain, it is very easy for the power of the magic to corrupt. i thought merlin was weak, to have saved uther’s life so many times - but to resist that kind of temptation and corruption over and over, he’s actually the opposite. he doesn’t try so hard to protect the monarchy because he lacks self-respect or integrity, he protects the monarchy BECAUSE OF his self-respect and integrity. all along, he’s been fighting for a better future too - just in his way, not the way gilli or morgana would

and speaking of morgana...here’s the bad:

i. am. LIVID!!!!!

that merlin would tell this boy he BARELY KNOWS his secret in order to maybe possibly save this kid’s life and NOT TELL MORGANA in her worst hour of need when she most needed a friend

merlin got a whole lot more respect from me today but the fact remains that he’s a LYING LIAR WHO LIES and he has tried to kill morgana two and a half times (the poison, the bump on the head, knocking her off her horse) and as of the end of season 3 also MURDERED HER SISTER THAT IS APPARENTLY ALSO LOWKEY HER GIRLFRIEND (i know)

which really clashes with his whole deal that i just described above, of using his magic for good and not evil purposes, for trying to win over hearts instead of win battles. and it’s funny that it’s ONLY morgana that merlin acts out of character for...i think it’s because! and this is a crazy concept! the writers hate morgana!

morgana in season 1 and most of season 2 was a kind and loving person. she was a true ally to gwen and often used her status as the king’s ward to stand up for gwen when gwen was in trouble. the first time she tried to have uther killed it was because of what happened to gwen’s father. she was more than capable of feeling love and knowing right from wrong and doing what she believed was right at any cost as evidenced by her helping to sneak the little druid kid out of the castle at risk to herself

morgana in season 3 does nothing but smirk evilly. and while it’s a good look on her and she’s MORE than valid in wanting to fuck up merlin and uther and maybe even arthur too from a certain viewpoint her aggression against gwen is ENTIRELY unwarranted

even trying my BEST to be sympathetic towards her and remember what she’s gone through and that her bad characterization is the fault of the writers and not morgana herself it is VERY hard not to hate her when you see her delighting in gwen’s misery and watching her PANIC about gwen’s future as the queen was FAR more satisfying than it should have been because i was then delighting in MORGANA’S misery and that is NOT a feeling im comfy with

in fact! im furious! the fact that this gilli kid got a more sympathetic portrayal than morgana ever will makes me SEE RED!!! imagine if the professor x/magneto vibe had been played out with merlin and morgana throughout the entirety of season 3! imagine morgana still had feelings other than ~edgy evulz~ and kept trying to kill uther BECAUSE SHE BELIEVED IT WAS RIGHT but had no quarrel with people like gwen who had always loved her! imagine her being conflicted when there was every chance that gwen would die during the takeover! imagine how her feelings could have become even more complicated when she found out she had living family - a father and brother, one of whom she is plotting to kill! imagine her NOT wanting harm to come to gwen or arthur and trying to persuade them to her side with good yet flawed arguments! imagine uther having to face the fact that the daughter he dotes on is also the thing he hates! people talk about arthur’s conflict if he realizes merlin is magic, but he’s known merlin a lot less time than he’s known morgana and merlin’s not his sister, imagine arthur had to deal with that conflict of interests! we could have HAD IT ALL in season 3 and instead season 3 MOSTLY SUCKS

what if morgana had remembered how fucked up arthur was about learning about the true circumstances of his birth? what if she had persuaded him that uther’s stance against magic was wrong? what if she knew merlin had magic but she hated him so she blackmailed him with it? he could have told her and then spent the ENTIRETY of season 3 shitting himself about it and it would have TOTALLY JUSTIFIED how shifty he got later after gaius taught him how to lie.what if he had SEEN what choosing to hurt other people had wrought in morgana and truly felt remorse and it informed his character for the rest of the show and that’s why he’s always choosing the moral high ground! there were SO MANY possibilities that could have opened up by having morgana be even just a little bit 3-dimensional!!!

which brings me to my next complaint: as good as this episode was, as much as i loved it, as glad as i am to finally understand merlin or at the very least have an interpretation of him i’m happy with, i should not have had to wait ALL SEASON to get there. i know what kind of show this is but they could have slipped some of this stuff in WAY EARLIER so i didn’t have to spent the entirety of season 3 and quite a lot of season 2 thinking merlin was just some spineless fuckup

also i will say it again, gilli was NOT strong enough to have carried this episode. the work on merlin’s character was INCREDIBLE and it was fun enough to see gilli mirror who he was in early season 1 but imagine how much better it could have been if he’d gotten to play off of someone like morgana - gilli’s a one-off character, and he has to tell us about his history and struggles, but morgana’s struggle is something we’ve witnessed firsthand. when she makes her own arguments about how hard it is to be magic under uther’s rule it comes from a place of deep pain that could have and should have resonated with merlin just as deeply as gilli’s.

morgana works MUCH better as a foil to merlin because all the way back in season 1 when they were both angry on gwen’s behalf and both wanted uther to pay for what he’d done so that no more innocent people would die it was MORGANA who chose the magneto route and merlin who decided to go professor x. they had the potential to make something REALLY COOL out of that AND THEY DIDN’T and what makes me so mad about this episode is that the sheer CONCEPT of this was good enough to have carried the entire season and yet they crammed it into a single 45-minute block

here end my thots i guess, in conclusion morgana deserved better

[insideanairport]

Nietzsche’s “Thus Spake Zarathustra” (part II/II)

❍❍❍

Iran between Zoroaster (زرتشت) and Islam

Last Thursday night (June 20th), Trump approved an attack on Iran after a US drone was shot down, yet he suddenly changed his mind and pulled back from the attack. (5) While Trump almost attacked Iran and started a new area of war and misery in the world, Iranians inside Iran and around the world are frightened by this escalation. Today, Iran’s Jewish community is the largest in the Mideast outside Israel – and feels safe and respected. (6) 

Iranians in the diaspora have a variety of ethnicities, languages, religions, and political views but with different intensities, they all share the common Iranian-something else identity. There are many different political oppositions to the current Islamic Republic which in itself is one of the most straight-forward opponents of the United States hegemony and its imperial projects. Politically, Iranian Left has a wide spectrum; from the ultra-radical MEK which is supported by no one else but John Bolton, to Tudeh Party of Iran. Iranian right-wing opposition has also a wide gamut from ultra-right nationalists such as Persian Renaissance, Jason Reza Jorjani who hangs out with American white-supremacists Richard Spencer, to the good old monarchists, and of course the recent infamous Mohamad Tawhidi a fake Muslim cleric educated in Iran who is now a hero for the white-nationalists and Islamophobes. (7) (8)

Iranian nationalists see themselves as Caucasian or white. This might be in part due to the fact that etymologically the word Iran means “land of Aryans”. The Avestan name Airiianəm vaējō "Aryan expanse", is a reference in the Zoroastrian Avesta (Vendidad, Fargard 1) to the Aryans’ mother country and one of Ahura Mazda's "sixteen perfect lands". (9) Before the Islamic Revolution of 1978, Shah of Iran was seeing himself as a descendant of the great ancient Persian kings. In 1971, Shah decided to organize a huge event on the 2500-Year Celebration of Persian Empire (officially known as the 2500th year of Foundation of Imperial State of Iran). Many historians argue that this event resulted in the Iranian Revolution and eventual replacement of the Persian monarchy with the Islamic Republic. If you fancy watching some part of the event, there is good propaganda video narrated by Orsen Welles. 

Before the Shah, for a short period, Iran had a cozy democracy in 1951-1952. Iran democratically elected its 25th prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh (محمد مصدق‎), who was a supporter of secular democracy and resistance to foreign domination. He nationalized the Iranian oil for the first time in 1951. The oil industry had been built by the British on Persian lands since 1913 through the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC/AIOC -later British Petroleum and BP). Mosaddegh’s government was overthrown in a coup d'état (28 Mordad 1332) orchestrated by the United States' CIA and the United Kingdom's MI6. (10)

Nietzsche and Postmodernism

Zoroaster [Zarathustra as its older form] was the ancient Persian prophet who lived in Iran at some point between 1500 BCE - 1000 BCE. Nietzsche chose the older version of Zoroaster’s name “Zarathustra”. Before publishing the book, Nietzsche included the first paragraph of Zarathustra’s prologue in his previous book Joyous Science (1882). There are two differences between this paragraph and the opening in Thus Spoke Zarathustra. (1) The title Incipit Tragoedia [tragedy begins] and (2) in Joyous Science the lake of Zarathustra’s home is mentioned as “lake Urmi” [today’s lake Urmia] compare to the prologue in Thus Spoke Zarathustra where the name of the lake is left out. We know that the real birthplace of Zoroaster is uncertain. (11)

Nietzsche’s anti-Christian and anti-majoritarian views (it's reversals of Christian morality and values) are picked up by white feminists and queer theorists for obvious reasons. As Michael Hardt wrote in the forward for Deleuze’s "Nietzsche and Philosophy”, postmodernists didn’t just use these concepts to get away from the dominant French Philosophical establishment of ’50s and ’60s but they were also genuinely interested in Nietzsche’s anti-universalities views.

Although very similar in methodology, there are some differences between the Nietzschean concept of solitude (which is very predominant in this work) and postcolonial marginalization and anxiety. Words such as "happiness” and “joy” has a distinctive meaning for Nietzsche which wasn’t unpacked in this book but was the main topic of his previous book Joyous Science (1882). Nietzschean Dionysius is more tonal in this book rather than descriptive and maybe has giving its chair to the bigger umbrella of Eternal Return as the "fundamental conception" of Thus Spoke Zarathustra. (-Ecce Homo, 1888)

Importance of writing as an activist

“Of all that is written I love only that which is written with blood. Write with blood: and you will discover that blood is spirit. It is not easy to understand the blood of another: I hate the reading idler. He who knows the reader does nothing further for the reader. Another century of readers – and spirit itself will stink. That everyone is allowed to learn to read will in the long run ruin not only writing but thinking, too. Once spirit was God, then it became man, and now it is even becoming mob[populace].”

At the end of chapter 4 in Joyous Science, Nietzsche inserted the opening of the Zarathustra’s prologue. He is making his readers ready for a transformation. For understanding Thus Spoke Zarathustra, it is essential for the reader to read Joyous Science first. Nietzsche wants to prepare his readers for his philosophy, so in a way, he is selective about who is he talking to.

“We not only want to be understood when we write, but also just as surely not to be understood. It is by no means an objection to a book that someone finds it unintelligible: perhaps this was precisely the author’s intention – perhaps he did not want to be understood by ‘just anyone’. Every individual with a distinguished intellect and sense of taste, when he wishes to communicate himself, always selects his listeners; by selecting them, he simultaneously excludes ‘the others’. All the subtler laws of style have their origin here; they simultaneously ward off, create distance and forbid ‘entrance’ (or intelligibility, as I have said) – while allowing the words to be heard by those whose sense of hearing resembles the author’s. And between ourselves, may I say that, in my own case, I do not want my ignorance or the vivacity of my temperament to prevent me from being understandable to you, my friends; certainly not the vivacity, however much it may compel me to come to grips with a thing quickly, in order to come to grips with it at all. (The Joyous Science - Book V, 381 On the Question of Intelligibility”)

Anti-Nietzsche writers

Anti-Nietzsche writers usually refer only to Nietzsche’s text from his early period (before the break with Wenger) without taking his later works into consideration. Taking his works out of context is a sign of dismissal of his philosophy and art. Nietzsche met Wagner at the home of Hermann Brockhaus an Orientalist who was married to Wagner’s sister, Ottilie. Brockhaus was himself a specialist in Sanskrit and Persian whose publications included an edition of the Vendidad Sade—a text of the Zoroastrian religion. (12) It was only after the publication of “Richard Wagner in Bayreuth” that he realized who Wagner really was (an anti-Semitic coward). After completion of “Human, All-Too-Human” (1878) and continuation of his friendship with Jewish philosopher Paul Rée, Nietzsche ends his friendship with Wagner, who comes under attack in a thinly-disguised characterization of “the artist”. (12)

“Nietzsche had long hymned the sublime power that Wagner’s music exercised over his senses but now he realised how it robbed him of his free will. The realisation filled him with a growing resentment against the delirious, befogging metaphysical seduction that once had seemed like the highest redemption of life. Now he saw Wagner as a terrible danger, and his own devotion to him as reeking of a nihilist flight from the world. He criticised Wagner for being a romantic histrionic, a spurious tyrant, a sensual manipulator. Wagner’s music had shattered his nerves and ruined his health; Wagner was surely not a composer, but a disease?” 

(Sue Prideaux, “I Am Dynamite!: A Life of Nietzsche”)

To even start talking about Heidegger and Nietzschean metaphysics, is to miss-read Nietzsche, just as taking "Will To Power” as something that Nietzsche actually published is wrong. Will to Power was never meant to be a book, it was put together by Nietzsche’s Nazi sister Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche and Heinrich Köselitz. They have selected, added and subtracted parts to Nietzsche’s notes in order to compile a book that is accessible to their average readers. (See Will to Power introduction by R. Kevin Hill, Penguin Classics 2017). Sue Prideaux described this perfectly in Nietzsche’s biography "I Am Dynamite!: A Life of Friedrich Nietzsche”. And Carol Diethe’s wrote a biography on Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche which gives us more insight into her proto-Fascist mentality.

The Will to Power book, did everything that Nazis wanted, hugely swerving from Nietzsche’s philosophy, the book starts with "European nihilism" and ends with the forceful sentence “This world is the will to power – and nothing besides! And even you yourselves are this will to power – and nothing besides!”. No other philosophy could do better justice to the Nazi cause than this fabricated assemblage.

Majority of Nietzsche’s work can be hijacked by ultra-right and the new alt-right, expect his fundamental critic of Christianity which is at the heart of his philosophy. Fascist and racist white writers such as Jordan Peterson, Oscar Levy (who wrote the introduction to Untimely mediation in 1909 and according to Walter Kaufmann, forged a fake autobiography of Nietzsche titled “My Sister and I”), Richard Spencer and others have tried to utilize Nietzsche in their hatred of brown and black peoples, religious minorities, Muslims and Jews, Queer people, and liberals. (13)  

Methodologically, Nietzsche doesn’t throw away, archaic classical concepts such as; nobility, civilization, and barbarism, he appropriates and instrumentalizes them for his philosophical end. He didn’t have everything perfect, after all, we are talking about a dude who lived his mature period 140 years ago and was using a “writing ball” to type. (14) He has comical and outdated stuff as well. His rejection of vegetarianism is one of them.

Who is living in Nietzsche’s world

It seems to me the worst thing that we can do when reading Nietzsche is to put his philosophy into a functionalist and majoritarian (national) use. He argues in Joyous Science concerning consciousness (which he perceives as a communal category rather than an individual one):

“the growth of consciousness is dangerous, and whoever lives among the most conscious Europeans even knows that it is a disease. As one might have guessed, it is not the antithesis of subject and object which concerns me here; I leave that distinction to the epistemologists who have remained entangled in the snares of grammar (the metaphysics of the people). Even less is it the antithesis of the ‘thing in itself’ and the phenomenon; for we do not ‘know’ enough to be entitled to make such a distinction. We have absolutely no organ for knowledge, for ‘truth’; we ‘know’ (or believe, or imagine) exactly as much as may be useful to us, exactly as much as promotes the interests of the human herd or species; and even what is called ‘useful’ here is ultimately only what we believe to be useful, what we imagine to be useful, but perhaps is precisely the most fatal stupidity which will some day lead to our destruction.”

Nietzsche’s critique of European Universalism and Western Humanism is still valid and timely, yet if we stay within the hegemonic “white domain“ (White-main) our theoretical understanding of Nietzsche, will be centered somewhere between the Alt-right racism, white phenomenology, European Modernist and localists, Silicon Valley accelerationism and Nick Land (which is equally racist). The only way to get out of this binary is to step out of White-main and find Nietzsche in between the lines of the second-generation non-European Nietzsche intellectuals (Fanon, Derrida, Aimé Césaire, Muhammad Iqbal, Ali Shariati) and the third-generation intellectuals (Spivak, Bhabha). At this time in history, Europeans can’t (and shouldn’t) any longer teach or perpetuate Nietzsche’s philosophy for any end. Not for Germany, not for any other white-majority nation. This is simply because they are already living in Nietzsche’s post-God reality.

Bib.

1. NIETZSCHE, FRIEDRICH and HOLLINGDALE, R. J. . Ecce Homo. s.l. : PENGUIN BOOKS, 2004. 9780141921730. 2. Sandis, Constantine. Nietzsche’s Dance With Zarathustra . philosophy now. [Online] 2012. https://philosophynow.org/issues/93/Nietzsches_Dance_With_Zarathustra. 3. Ashouri, Daryoush. Nietzsche and Persia. http://www.iranicaonline.org. [Online] July 20, 2003. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/nietzsche-and-persia. 4. Nietzsche, Friedrich. the joyous science . s.l. : Penguin Classics, 2018. 5. Michael D. Shear, Eric Schmitt, Michael Crowley and Maggie Haberman. Strikes on Iran Approved by Trump, Then Abruptly Pulled Back. nytimes.com. [Online] June 20, 2019 . https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/20/world/middleeast/iran-us-drone.html. 6. Hjelmgaard, Kim. Iran’s Jewish community is the largest in the Mideast outside Israel – and feels safe and respected. msn. [Online] 8 29, 2018. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/iran%E2%80%99s-jewish-community-is-the-largest-in-the-mideast-outside-israel-%E2%80%93-and-feels-safe-and-respected/ss-BBMAVgX. 7. Mackey, Robert. How a Fringe Muslim Cleric From Australia Became a Hero to America’s Far Right. theintercept.com. [Online] June 25, 2019. https://theintercept.com/2019/06/25/mohamad-tawhidi-far-right/?fbclid=IwAR25hr0TV8w0erffRrGhccVkC5G0KFwjR3y7tM7n2j-4nx4pp_b5PssuFzo. 8. Schaeffer, Carol. ALT FIGHT Jason Jorjani Fancied Himself an Intellectual Leader of a White Supremacist Movement — Then It Came Crashing Down. theintercept.com. [Online] March 18 , 2018. https://theintercept.com/2018/03/18/alt-right-jason-jorjani/. 9. ĒRĀN-WĒZ . Encyclopedia Iranica. [Online] http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/eran-wez. 10. Kinzer, Stephen. All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror . s.l. : John Wiley & Sons, 2004. 11. Nietzsche, Friedrich. Joyous Science. s.l. : Penguin Calssics, 2018. 12. Wicks, Robert. Nietzsche’s Life and Works. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. [Online] 2018. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche-life-works/. 13. Illing, Sean. The alt-right is drunk on bad readings of Nietzsche. The Nazis were too. www.vox.com. [Online] Dec 30, 2018. https://www.vox.com/2017/8/17/16140846/alt-right-nietzsche-richard-spencer-nazism. 14. Herbst, Felix. Nietzsche’s Writing Ball (Video). felixherbst.de. [Online] https://vimeo.com/43124993.

(Part II/II)

______________________

[a-duchess-and-a-prince-wk]

A very interesting read

Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton’s fans are fighting a fierce new royal feud

In the world of British duchess fandom, there’s no room for divided loyalties: praising one means automatically 'hating' the other, writes Patricia Treble

A new war started in 2018, and it’s a take-no-prisoners affair with major implications for the future of the royal family. The once-genteel, even genial, online world of royal watching has been turned upside down and inside out as fans of Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, duel for social media supremacy and, in the process, tear down anyone who dares to challenge their view of the royal world. There’s no room for divided loyalties: praising one means automatically “hating” the other.

Signs of the slagging aren’t hard to find. Just dive into the royal family’s own social media accounts, then follow the online infection trail. “Please give us MORE MORE MORE of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Sick to absolute death of fake narcissistic MeAgain Markle,” a commenter wrote on a photo of Prince William and Kate on the royal family’s Instagram account. Kate is “clinging to dear life to Willnot [sic]. His attention is on HRH Meghan,” says another beside a Kensington Palace photo of Kate at a laboratory. “Kate will never be on Meghan’s level, all that lazy consort did was marry a Prince, she don’t know about working, and connecting with others, don’t disrespect Meghan like that,” writes @HRHmegh on Twitter. “Meghan speak so bad and she was fake and she is an actress she know who act. But Kate always is natural,” comments another.

“It is really unbelievable,” says Susan Kelley, who is near the epicentre of the Kate vs. Meghan fan wars because of her two popular royal fashion websites—What Kate Wore, which she started in 2011, and What Meghan Wore, which she co-manages with Susan Courter. “Every time I tell people about it who aren’t in the Kate-Meghan world, they are incredulous.” While the two Susans, as they are known, approve comments before they are posted on the Meghan and Kate sites, “on certain days you can’t go 30 to 60 minutes without checking” Facebook to delete over-the-top comments, Kelley notes.

The reason for the sudden increase in vitriol isn’t hard to find. Seven years after marrying Prince William and being the only leading young female royal, Kate has “competition” in the form of a beautiful American former actress, Meghan Markle, who married Prince Harry in May. William, Kate, Harry and Meghan may be known as the “Fab Four,” but to fans, it’s an either-or choice. The Meghan and Kate acolytes appear to be very young, and accustomed to a social media world that not only condones but seems to encourage anonymous insults. It’s not for nothing that such devotees are known as “stans,” a combination of stalker and fan.

The fans aren’t living in an “and” world but in an “or” one. “Don’t get out of your lane, don’t be coming into my lane,” is how Kelley sees them. “This has been just extraordinarily troubling to me,” she continues. “This is 2018. If this was two men, this would not be happening. I thought we were beyond this…There is something so off, the level of hatred and how intense it is, and the volume.” Perhaps most disturbing for everyone is the level of intolerance, even racism. Not only is Meghan, the daughter of a black mother and white father, the focus of racist attacks, but her fans, in turn, quickly toss the “r” word at perceived Meghan opponents.

Susan Kelley isn’t alone. Everyone reports the same thing—a sudden, disquieting increase in harassing attacks that seem completely over-the-top given the rather sedate royal topics being discussed, including fashion, engagements, living arrangements, protocol and even the state of a curtsy or bow. “I have witnessed what amounts to be roving Twitter gangs that find a tweet/blog post about Meghan and kind of rally the troops and stoke up the fires and suddenly you have a hail storm of abuse flowing at you,” explains Jane Barr, who runs the From Berkshire to Buckingham fashion site, which focuses on Kate. “For me, it is very frustrating to write a nuanced analysis and have people just take a black-and-white interpretation and run wild with it.”

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“I think it is indicative of a larger societal problem,” says Barr. “We have an inability to listen to other people, and reason and debate together as a community. The ramifications are obvious for free democratic societies, and very concerning.” In seven years of blogging, Barr has blocked two people for foul language. In the past year, she’s blocked between 15 and 20 for “completely out of control behaviour.”

Royal outrage is complicated by a transatlantic culture clash. Many intense Meghan Markle fans are Americans who don’t understand the monarchy, its place in British society and how there has always been criticism of the family, royal author Victoria Arbiter told the Express. “The American community doesn’t have anything like the royal family so they can only liken them to celebrities or politicians,” she explained. Their lack of knowledge of the intricacies of royal life, protocol and history explains some comments. For instance, they can interpret a photo being posted on a royal feed as a sign of the Queen’s personal approval for Kate or Meghan, their clothes or their behaviour, rather than the work of a member of the royal media department.

“Celebrity rivalries are always conducted by us, the fans, the people who buy the concert or theatre tickets, the records, the merchandise and who send the memes through social media,” contends Ellis Cashmore, a sociology professor at Aston University in England whose book Kardashian Kulture will be published in early 2019. “It helps if there is genuine animosity, but it’s far, far from essential—or even necessary. As long as we think they’re fighting, that’s enough to sustain the feud. We enjoy the feuds so much, we’re tempted to take sides and engage, albeit vicariously. Today, social media has made this easy; so much so that fans can keep the fight going independently of the principals.”

Many stans believe that Meghan and/or Kate don’t like each other and are coming between the close relationship of brothers William and Harry. The reality that the two brothers now have their own families and own priorities doesn’t appear to factor into their online fights. Every new bit of information—Harry and Meghan leaving the tiny two-bedroom Nottingham Cottage around the corner from William and Kate’s London residence for a larger house on the Windsor estate, or reports that they are ending their joint staffing arrangement, established when they were teens—is fought over. To some, the former Meghan Markle is the Yoko Ono of Kensington Palace: “Megan [sic] is the reason for the split between William and Harry,” commented one fan on the royal Instagram feed.

And in the busy autumn season of royal engagements, the war may be at a tipping point. Earlier in 2018, the work schedules of the two popular duchesses didn’t overlap. At the beginning of the year, the focus was on Kate while Meghan slowly dipped her toe into royal engagements. Then, when Kate went on maternity leave in late March, the focus swung back to Meghan, who married Harry in a wedding watched by billions. Kate stayed largely out of the public eye until after Harry and Meghan completed their high-profile tour of Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand.

But now, both royal women are both doing royal work, both based in their London home of Kensington Palace. And that’s setting up an inevitable “showdown” between how the media covers them—who gets top billing, who gets criticized? The palace, no doubt aware that social media is swimming in bile and acid, appears to be trying to mitigate the intense fan reactions. On Nov. 21, both Meghan and Kate were out and about in London, yet their schedules were carefully timed to not conflict with each other. As well, neither event touched on the subject matter of the other, and neither was announced to the public in advance.

In the morning, the Duchess of Sussex went to the Hubb Community Kitchen. Meghan had been making private visits there since January and, with the help of funds raise by a charitable cookbook she helped create, the women are making 200 meals daily for local groups in the area, devastated by the Grenfell Tower fire. A few hours later, Kate arrived at University College London’s developmental neuroscience lab to be briefed on the latest “research into how environment and biology interact to shape the way in which children develop both socially and emotionally.” Coincidently (or not), both wore outfits in shades of burgundy and plum. The preparations paid off. The Express put the two on its front page with the headline “Double duchess: Kate and Meghan’s copy-cat fashions.” For the record, the large photo was of Meghan, the inset of Kate.

The irony is that the Kate and Meghan stans are engaging in behaviour the royal women they profess to adore would find abhorrent. All four of the young royals are committed to raising the profile of mental health issues, including the negative effects of social media. On Nov. 15, William gave a powerful speech about the harmful effects of cyberbullying: “When I worked as an air ambulance pilot or travelled around the country campaigning on mental health, I met families who had suffered the ultimate loss. For too many, social media and messaging was supercharging the age-old problem of bullying, leaving some children to take their own lives when they felt it was unescapable.”

“I am very concerned though that on every challenge they face—fake news, extremism, polarization, hate speech, trolling, mental health, privacy, and bullying—our tech leaders seem to be on the back foot,” William continued before issuing a challenge: “You have powered amazing movements of social change. Surely together you can harness innovation to allow us to fight back against the intolerance and cruelty that has been brought to the surface by your platforms.”

Cashmore doesn’t see the Kate/Meghan social media battle stopping any time soon. “The beauty of our screen society is that, once people get on their phones or laptops, they become a force majeure—nothing and no one can stop them,” he explains. “If they say there’s an argument, then there’s an argument. Meghan and Kate can deny it all they like; it won’t alter a thing!”

There seems little room for neutral observers. Journalists are taking it from all sides. Any criticism—real or imagined—of one duchess is perceived by many fans as an attack, and also favouritism for the other royal woman. In the past year, virtually every full-time royal correspondent in London issued a plea for tolerance on Twitter. After being accused of everything from bias to racism, Richard Palmer of the Daily Express wrote, “We have all faced unpleasant and unfounded accusations of racism towards Meghan.” He pinned a tweet to the top of his account stating that “with the exception of a few I have known for years, I’ve decided I will only now engage with those who share their real identities.” Some journalists are also blocking extreme fans.

And the attacks don’t just stop at those who critique. The fans demand total loyalty. As Richard Palmer commentedon Twitter, “As far as I can see the pitchfork brigade have just regarded anything not 100-per-cent gushing as racist ever since with no evidence.” Susan Kelley has seen the same: it’s not enough to speak the truth, but they many readers accept only “complimentary, laudatory things.”

Netty Leistra, a veteran Netherlands-based royal journalist and blogger, has tried to avoid the Kate vs. Meghan fight, but an online critic called her a racist a few months ago for saying “absolutely nothing special.” For Leistra, the current phenomenon brings back memories of around 15 years ago, when Australian Mary Donaldson married Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark. In the era before Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, she and a few others ran an online forum about the couple. Soon, the anti-Mary folk were battling with the pro-Mary fans. “The bad thing to us was that we tried to be objective, and in the end we were the ones being attacked for not protecting any of the two sides,” she recounts. In the end, they stopped the forum.

Today, no one thinks things will improve any time soon. Both Kate and Meghan are full-time working royals, both gearing up their charitable activities, Kate after her maternity leave, Meghan as she settles into her new royal role. Perhaps a break will come when Meghan gives birth in the spring and steps away from the public spotlight to concentrate on being a mother. Meanwhile, royal watchers who want to engage in polite conversations and debates are trying to block the more extreme commenters, and hoping tempers will cool—or interest will die down.

[parniarazi]

It’s been about 2 weeks since I got back from visiting Iran, and I am still processing so much from my experiences there. It was a beautiful trip and I am so grateful to be able to travel, see new places, reconnect with my roots, and learn. I am grateful that everything went smoothly and we went/returned safely. It’s hard to put into words what this experience meant to me, it was in many ways something I really needed at this point in my life. I’m almost 21 years old, and had not been back to the country I was born in since I was 8. As an American-Iranian, many of us share similar stories. Living in our priviledged, bubble-lives in America, it’s easy to forget the stories, the struggles, and the beauty of our country. It’s easy to take for granted the freedom, privileges, and access to resources we have here. Most of all, this trip gave me a deeper sense of gratitude for my life. Not because I look down on people in Iran, or think my life is better than theirs. In fact, I look up to them for living the beautiful, vibrant lives that they do. Traveling gives you a sense of oneness with world, with realizing nothing is good or bad, that there is so much nuance and grey area that we need to dive into. Without assumptions or judgement, but with a broadened sense of global perspective and understanding. 

Politics are one thing, but I want to talk about and see the human perspective. Seeing things firsthand is so different from reading about them, there is an undeniable sense of human-ness you can only feel through the firsthand. Iran is currently going through one of the hardest socio-economic times in its history. It’s a country that has been through so much, from an Empire, to monarchy, to an Islamic Republic, there is so much history there. As for today, it’s a country of perseverance. Of love. Of depth, art, and beauty. Despite problems of over-population, unemployment, pollution, and drought, there is still a vibrance, a light-heartedness, and a sense of humor that flows through the city. 

The majority of the people disagree with and are against most of the Islamic government’s actions and policies. They believe the government is a source of oppression, something they have to deal with and struggle against constantly. From women having to cover up and wear a headscarf in public, to restricted/censored internet, there are constant roadblocks placed in daily lives of Iranians, especially women. Yet, women are going to college at higher rates than ever, and there are increasingly more women going to work in Iran (a country where women traditionally stay at home). As a woman and a feminist, there is so much I learned from experiencing this culture and being around the women in my extended family. In my American ‘feminist’ and women’s studies learning, I’ve always noticed a constant lack of nuance and global consideration. Of course, each region has its own struggles, but I think it’s more important than ever, in our globalized world, to have connection and global awareness in your feminism. Having a dual identity as American-Iranian makes me understand both the issues for women in Iran, as well as for women here, but most of all it makes me understand how much more similar these struggles are than we would think. It helps me cultivate a perspective and feminism that is uniting, rather than dividing. We have more in common than we would expect. I am so grateful to have been able to connect with women there, because womanhood and feminine power knows no borders. 

Being American, I was also shocked by how much American politics/policies impact countries abroad, especially ones in direct conflict/tension such as Iran. As a middle-class young American, I have not felt a significant direct impact of the Trump administration thus far. But as an Iranian, I most definitely have, and seeing the way it has affected some of my family was heartbreaking to say the least. I’ve been very general so far, but I’m going to share a specific story to draw on this. I have cousins in Iran, whose mom (my aunt) applied for and received her green card to America many years ago. She’s been back and forth, trying to gain citizenship and apply for her kids to come to America, too. Meanwhile in Iran, her husband got extremely ill and her kids had to take care of him as she was back and forth to America over the years. They had finally reached the final stages of their green card process to come to America last year, when the Trump policies stopping immigration from Iran passed. They had went to their interviews at the American embassy in Turkey, prepared to sell their apartment, and packed for America, when it all came to a dead stop. A few months ago, their dad passed away from illness he struggled with for years. My cousins were left with nothing, and my aunt had been away from her kids and sick husband for years, staying in America to make try to complete her kids immigration process, for nothing. My cousins that this happened to are some of the most kind, genuine, and creative souls I have met. There, they are stuck in many ways, whereas if they had been able to move here, they would have had many opportunities and been able to contribute to the world in so many more ways. It breaks my heart, and it also makes me feel a sense of guilt, although it’s not directly my fault. How was I any different, or more deserving of coming to America than them? Why do I get to live this privileged life, go to college, and work, when they don’t? The universe works in strange ways. Life is unfair and things don’t make any sense sometimes. America is an entire oxymoron to everything it stands for, and it’s insane to think about how its policies can hurt people on the other side of the world. Politics is a game, and pieces of paper can be signed that mean nothing to most Americans, but that can turn someone else’s world upside down. The political is personal. 

Seeing family that I had not seen since I was a kid also meant a lot to me, experiencing the generosity, warmth, and kindness Iranians have to offer even their most estranged friends and family members. Connecting with my roots, I learned that I have Iranian, Pakistani, Azerbaijani, and Turkish in my blood. I also learned that I have creativity, passion, bravery, and resistance in my DNA. All Iranians do, as those traits are an essential part of life and existence in Iran, and is something we carry with us even when we go abroad. One of my favorite things about Iran was the art that flooded its streets and the souls of people. I believe everyone is an artist, but that is even more true for the people of Iran. From tiny, detailed paintings, silver and bronze work, street art, and mosques, the physical art in Iran is unbelievably beautiful. But even in the words, sayings, and poetry Iranians know and share each day, art and creativity are so deeply etched into the culture. I have been reading Hafiz poems for the last few weeks, and I’ve been incredibly moved and connected with the beautiful verses and words of my mother tongue. 

I had my first experience traveling internationally as an adult, experienced death/mourning firsthand, and saw my family and home country for the first time in my adult life. From light to darkness, I am grateful for the experiences, lessons, and growth I gained from this trip. I always knew my parents made significant sacrifices to move to America so I could have a better life/future, but this trip expanded that even more. They left their family, friends, and home to go somewhere entirely foreign to them because they knew it would make for a better future for our family. I am forever thankful for their bravery and sacrifices, and it’s something that will always motivate me to live my best life and make the most of myself here. I am also grateful for the difficulties I faced on this trip, as they helped me expand and tune into my dual-identity, and become a better, more aware global citizen and human. 

[my-dear-hammy]

Falling Through Time: Book 2

Masterpost

Jamilton Series Masterpost

Basking in Firelight

Part Forty-Six:

Just Getting Started

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Warnings: None

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Funny thing about being elected as the first presidents of a Nation that had presidents previously is the white house was already built. There wasn't a bunch of moving around as the capital was decided. There was no watching it get built. Hamilton thought it was great they didn't have to worry about moving. Jefferson found it slightly sad. He loved watching things become something great. But he could also see all the history just under the fresh coat of paint and that history is what made it so beautiful.

Of course, that's what they thought. When someone told Jefferson that the white house would undergo renovation to accommodate the massive increase in personnel, Jefferson wouldn't allow it. All that history, gone, just to make room for eight or so more people and their cabinets? Not gonna happen. Hamilton didn't see what was so wrong with it. Out with the old, in with the new. But if someone didn't think about making sure what was happening today could be remembered tomorrow, then how much history would be lost? How much history was already lost just because people thought that no one would ever forget? Far too much. Jefferson was bent on keeping that from happening. That's why in his past life he always made copies of every single one of his letters, it's why there's so much history surrounding the birth of The United States of America, it's because it got written down.

So Jefferson insisted that the White House be preserved and instead used his own money to construct a presidential manor. A new house for a new nation, right? The best part, he got to design it himself. As much as he wanted to avoid the look and build of a mansion, there was no helping it. His first idea had been to build little cabin type designs for each member and a central building for meeting with ambassadors or cabinets, to keep it humble and simple. But Jefferson realized how inconvenient that would be. Imagine all the running around. No, everything had to be centralized which meant that Jefferson would be stuck with a mansion design after all.

He could still do a lot with that.

In the meantime, they made the White House work. There were plenty of guest rooms. Jefferson didn't fully understand why the White wouldn't be suitable even without the renovations, but Hamilton insisted that it be either renovated or they moved. So Jefferson chose they move.

Hamilton was surprised by how easy being president was. There was nothing to do. Literally. He spent his time wandering the rooms. Jefferson had been saying there'd be so much stress, yet here they were, bored out of their minds. Where was Jefferson anyway? After a ten minute hunt, Hamilton found him sitting in the oval office, looking over paperwork. "Is that something we need to take care of?" Hamilton asked, excited that there was work for him to do.

"No, not for you anyway. These are the floor plans for the Presidential Manor."

"Oh, I forgot you were designing that yourself. Are you going to put in gardens?"

"Who in their right mind wouldn't?"

"Just asking, jeez." Hamilton looked around the office. "So, I thought you said this would be stressful and time-consuming."

Jefferson looked up at him. "Hamilton, the government just started up. You have to give it a few days. Last time was hectic because of all the issues that were glaringly obvious. In a couple days, Congress will put forward plans for commerce and laws that become evident as time passes. This time around there's no constant debate about slavery, thank God, and you and I don't have to fight over financial systems. That's not even your job anymore. I'm sure by the end of the week we'll be so swamped with paperwork that we won't be able to see the door. Besides, we can't get started until the rest of the elections are over. We still have to wait for our vice presidents."

"I bet the financial plan need reviewing. I should look it over."

"That's your treasurer's job, Hamilton. Now can you leave me alone so I can work on this, I'd like to have the plans finished before the flood of paper so we can actually get started on the Manor."

"I need something to do, I can't just sit around and twiddle my thumbs," Hamilton protested. "Who do you think is going to be Vice?"

"Well, Washington retired and went home. I'll bet Madison and Burr will be two of them."

"Yeah? What about the other two? I bet Lafayette could get a position."

"Can you imagine if Adams ended up being your vice?" Jefferson laughed.

"No-" Hamilton's eyes went wide. Jefferson was full on cackling. "Not going to happen. Nope. Nope."

"It's fully within the realm of possibility. You're in the same party, yeah? Very likely. At this point, I'd be surprised if it didn't."

"Yeah, well, you'll have to deal with fucking Burr. Remember how well that went the first time?"

"Shit."

"Yeah. So fuck off."

***

Ends up, they were pretty spot on for elections. Madison and Burr were Jefferson's vice presidents, Hamilton's was Adams, and to both Jefferson's and Hamilton's surprise and pleasure, Angelica was Hamilton's other vice.

Jefferson was right. Hamilton was swamped with work. Jefferson and Hamilton were running back and forth to each other's office every five seconds to get a signature or steal some important document or discuss something. Right now, they were dealing with the aftermath of the war. The nation was bankrupt thanks to the oligarchy and King George's taste for extravagance. There were small uprisings of Govey loyalists to deal with. King George disappeared and went into hiding as soon as the word spread if the Rebel victory. He still had to be found. Commerce had to be renegotiated and reestablished with other nations since the Eastern States was technically a new nation now, so all old treaties and agreements were void. That meant ambassadors had to be nominated and approved and then funded to be sent overseas. The infrastructure of the government had to be completely rebuilt from the ground up. That was the part of the government that dealt with building roads and cities and buildings. Keeping everything up and running. Electricity, power, gas, water, tram systems, licenses, everything. It all collapsed in the war and is nearly impossible to rebuild.

Unless you've got deep pockets. Deep, deep pockets. Something the government didn't have.

It didn't help that Jefferson and Hamilton argued over everything. Jefferson was constantly worried about Hamilton proposing another financial plan like the one before. Jefferson fought against it the first time because he predicted that from it would spring corporations that would grow powerful enough to slowly turn the Republican form of government into an aristocracy or monarchy. And was mostly right. Look around at the world around you. Corporations control everything. Jefferson bitterly regretted the day he and Madison traded it for the capital. But they would need a system for raising money and fast. If they didn't come up with anything soon, the nation could fall apart as it spiraled into depression.

Hamilton also wanted to use the military to squash the Govey resistance. Jefferson had to remind him daily that they were citizens and had every right to protest the government as long as they didn't endanger the nation and her people. Hamilton wasn't happy. He didn't like being slandered by the press. Every time something was published about him and his past affairs or supposed new ones or any awful slander people could come up with to rake his name through the mud, Hamilton was always right there with a sharp and barbed response, defending his honor. That's always been his weakness. The ones put against Jefferson went ignored. The people could say whatever they wanted, he wasn't going to dignify schoolyard taunts with a response.

"We should think of a flag redesign," Hamilton said one day, walking into Jefferson's office, plopping into a chair and kicking his feet onto the desk.

Jefferson eyed Hamilton's feet, debating whether or not to push them off and risk scattering his papers everywhere or leave them be. He really didn't feel like having re-sort his papers again, so he let them be. "A new flag?"

"Yeah. We're getting a new Manor, new government, new treaties, probably a new name when someone thinks of one. Why not a flag?"

"I suppose, but we already have so much to do," Jefferson sighed, looking at his desk and the tall stacks of files.

"So, we do what the old government did before the oligarchy was formed all those decades ago. Make it a contest. Anyone can participate. All the designs are sent in and we can decide from there."

"That's still a lot of work, Hamilton. Work we don't have time for."

"Nonsense. Pull a couple all-nighters and we'll be good. Just drink some coffee."

"Hamilton," Jefferson rubbed his face tiredly, "we've both already been up for three days straight. We literally walk into each other in the hallway and stand there confused about it for a minute until we realize we were heading to the other's office. I don't think our bodies can take much more sleepless nights."

"More coffee."

Jefferson hit his head against the desk. "Fine. Let's run it by Congress."

"Great!" Hamilton jumped to his feet, "I'll do that right away" he dashed out of the office, nearly running into the door on his way out.

Dear God, that man was going to be the death of Jefferson

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[frozenartscapes]

About the Arendelle Royal Flag

So I happened upon this video on youtube, detailing why there are no national flags with the colour purple. It’s an interesting video, but if you know anything about the history of garments or colours you likely already know the answer: purple is expensive. That’s actually why it tends to represent royalty, because up until the 1850s it was only royalty and those with lots of money who could afford the purple-dyed fabric.

And that got me thinking, because Arendelle’s flag has a good lot of purple in it.

That’s not to mention the many other banners and flags Arendelle has, including the Royal Standard, it’s Shield, Elsa’s royal banner, and the various profile banners.

(From The Art of Frozen book)

And as we can see from this shot, there are a fair number of these banners just around the castle alone, and more likely throughout the town.

Now: we could simply chalk this up to Arendelle being set in a fictional kingdom located somewhere in Very-Similar-But-Not-Real Europe, sometime around 1840, and that because of that reason there was no shortage of purple dye and it wouldn’t have meant financial ruin for a country to choose purple as one of three colours in its flag. After all, Corona’s flag from Tangled also is largely composed of purple fabric:

And it is much easier to simply say these were both made as artistic choices by the modern creators of these movies because purple = royalty and we needed something to very obviously show that these nations are monarchies. But that is also the boring option (and one that suggests the creators didn’t really care too much about this particular kind of historical accuracy, but let’s not get into that).

So, let’s assume this is close to reality and purple fabric was ridiculously expensive. Going off the linked video above, purple dye was traditionally produced in one area of the Mediterranean known as Tyre, when thousands upon thousands of a certain kind of sea snail were routinely used so royals could wear purple. Because of these snails only being found in that location, and the sheer number of them to produce even a single gram of dye (about 10,000 snails for one gram), purple dye cost up to three times its weight in gold.

Purple did become more popular and easier to produce after 1856, when Willian Henry Perkin (an English chemist) accidentally created a solution that was capable of dyeing fabric purple. But, as mentioned above, Frozen is supposedly set in the 1840s, and it is likely that its national colours had been set long before that point. And while the video lists numbers that are more likely to apply to more older civilizations, I have a feeling purple would still have been fairly expensive to buy en mass when it’s likely cheaper to use other colours. Hell, even some of the biggest empires in history didn’t use purple in their flags, mostly because something like a flag would have to be reproduced for every ship, every army, every town, every castle, and every fortress a kingdom might have. 

So why would Arendelle, or Corona for that matter, use that much purple in their flags?

There are two options I can come up with, and feel free to state yours if you have any. The first one isn’t quite as exciting, and kinda cheats with the whole “it’s like Europe but it’s not actually” concept of the Disney universe. Basically, there’s something in either Arendelle or Corona that allows them to make their own dye. While it’s not very exciting, it would still be an interesting way for these kingdoms to flaunt their wealth and power by being some of the few places where purple dye can be bought, and since they have so much of it they can afford to have it feature prominently in their flags. It’s not quite as obvious a statement of wealth as, say, building opulent palaces or constantly utilizing gold and marble in designs. (This would also give Arendelle an actual processed good to trade rather than solely relying on raw materials). For Arendelle, I’d say a flower, like a crocus, might be able to be distilled down into a natural purple dye, or perhaps there’s a mineral in the mountains that’s similar to something like lapis lazuli and can be used to create a pigment. Probably the latter would be more likely. Corona could probably get away with having some kind of aquatic animal as its source, given it’s position further south and closeness to a large lagoon/sea.

The second option is also a little out there, but much more interesting in terms of story potential: Arendelle and Corona are both loaded. Like, fabulously wealthy. But unlike other nations that try and flaunt it, both - but especially Arendelle - try to keep it on the down low. This could be a wise strategy, as it makes them a key player in a lot of international affairs without outright painting a massive target on themselves just daring someone to try and rob them of it. The same sort of thing would then apply: their flags have purple because they absolutely can afford it, but that’s really the only clue they’ll give people. For anyone who doesn’t get the hint then they wouldn’t even notice, but anyone who did know exactly how much purple things cost would totally understand the symbolism. In terms of story, things could range all the way from our main cast having more run-ins with characters like the Duke of Weselton who know Arendelle is beyond wealthy and want to try and get their grubby little hands on it, all the way up to citizens of Arendelle getting fed up by exactly how much just one flag costs and why the kingdom is spending money on stuff like that rather than spending it on more important things. Heck, maybe Arendelle isn’t as wealthy as it used to be when all those flags were made, and as a result whenever a new one has to be created the public get more and more frustrated.

I don’t know, it’s something to think about. I know none of this really matters because a) Frozen is a kids’ movie set in fantasy Europe so ignoring nitpicky points of historical fact is kind of what it does and b) it was more than likely that Arendelle’s flag, colours, and crest were designed to fit the symbolism of the movie and not match up with anything from history. While it is something interesting to think about, it’s not something to get annoyed at the creators for. If anything, it just gives those of us desperate for more world building an excuse to start imagining more about Arendelle.

(Also as a side note, the other colours of Arendelle’s flag also create interesting issues if you go ahead and apply real-world fact to them: The yellow crocus would actually be fairly easy to produce as yellow dye can be easily created from several natural sources, however if it’s embroidered then it the yellow could be replaced with gold thread, once more upping the price. Green, on the other hand, was a pain in the ass to get a good colour for, as you either had to mix blue and yellow dyes - often leading to something that will fade into a splotchy, ugly mess - or it was made out of an arsenic-based dye. The latter didn’t come into play until the 1800s, and given the more natural look of the green in Arendelle’s flags I’d be more inclined to say they used the safer method. But it’s still interesting to see how something that was chosen based on how we see colours today would be affected by the methods of the actual time period.)

[sparkermiller]

The United States has almost become an autocratic monarchy. It would be easy for us to shake our heads at these bullying excesses of power. But in a democratic republic, the government belongs to us, so when things like this happen, our hands aren't completely clean. And that leads me back to my point about governments scaring people into giving them more control. The policies I've have seen described were popular at the time -- some people considered them essential. Why? Because the first thing Americans has done was let the government teach them what to fear and remain within a groups who practice cult like behaviors that separates us into smaller groups who do not have the strength to lash back.         Especially in the past fifty-some years, we have seen the utter failure of the far right and the destruction it has laid upon our country–just look at us now, on the verge of free fall. Oh no! Don’t go there. Don’t start blaming our current condition on someone else. All one has to do is look at the record–the real record, the real and true history, not the propaganda put forth by some. No one came into office in 2009 ready to deal with our financial collapse and impending state of economic depression. That happened in 2008, just before the elections–just before. I don’t have to be a resident of the oval office to believe that the plans of both parties, Republicans and Democrats alike, were geared toward winning the election and going forward from there. Our economic crisis, the largest since the Great Depression fell like a nuclear bomb out of the blue. Unfortunately, and arguably, no one expected it, not those in leadership anyway. It was a bomb dropped right in the lap of the new party elected to power, a bomb so immense it had to have almost completely demolished any plans which they previously had for governing in the immediate future. I don’t think anyone could think otherwise. Surely, their planning wheel had to be reinvented.           Digressing ever so briefly, I want to make a point which I think we should keep in the back of our minds as we proceed in this discussion. In his book, The Benefit And The Burden, a book about taxes and reform, Bruce Bartlett briefly discusses the history of the income tax in which he says, “Historically, governments did not tax incomes. The main reason is that until the Industrial Revolution, incomes were too low to tax. The vast majority of people made barely enough to survive. They had no significant surplus from which to pay more than a small amount of taxes.” And what is my point? Our standard of living has come, as they say, “a long way, baby”. It surely has, and I don’t want to go back there, and neither do you. Also, I don’t want a government that will take me there either. It would seem, however, that there are some, if not many of those who would lead us in that direction, the purpose of this writing.           I was born in 1956 just after Korea. Even though very young, I still remember the grinding worry and stress of "What Next" because of my parents fears. I remember the very hard labor of my father. I understand the concept, “survival of the fittest and let the devil take the hindmost.” Our small family at the time experienced it. I know what it is to live conservatively. I dont want to see the people to go back to it in our great nation. I also understand, and care about those who lose. I understand, too, our recovery from that Great Depression brought about by the progressive programs of the left (the opposition of the right notwithstanding) and aided by the advent of World War II. I’ll never forget the difference in our counties standard of living when Vietnam came around. I saw and witnessed the conflict of Vietnam and the evil which surrounded it. Given our mini-recessions in the meantime, I remember our great period of prosperity between then and now. As I proceed further, there will be those who don’t agree with my point of view. I ask you to consider one premise. God created this world for all of us–not just for the rich and powerful elite among us (and certainly not for the corporatocracy which are and should be tools for the service of man rather than to rule over him). Perhaps you don’t believe in God. All right–even if you don’t believe in God, surely you know this universe and our planet came from somewhere. That must surely be true. Do you think someone else out there just sat back and said, “Let us make our world only for the benefit of the rich and powerful? Let them rule and everyone else serve them. Let only the fittest survive.” I’m sorry. I can’t subscribe to that. For such to be true would require a world without feelings either for self or others, and we know that isn’t true. Everybody, even the lower of the mammals among us, have a sense of self, pain, and emotional feelings. To decide in which direction you wish to go, it seems to me, requires a knowledge and realization of who you are and your personal values. Do you want to be enslaved and poor or do you want to be among the rich and elite? Now that you’re thinking about it, what makes you think you will ever come close to being among the elite, that rare one, two, or three percent of us all–especially in this land which has lost its gift of equal opportunity for all? How many of us can even come close to winning a lottery, let alone be part of the elite? They do not care what you have in respect of your needs and future sustainability. It is about what they may give to their children and not yours. Let us assume that they will not change because their into themselves and based on their own greed let us ask ourselves the questions: ‘Have I done any good in the world today? Have I helped anyone in need or am I mocking the meaning of charity? What a formula for happiness! What a prescription for contentment, for inner peace—to have inspired gratitude in another human being that we too can financially progress. Our opportunities to give of ourselves are indeed limitless, but they are also perishable. There are hearts to gladden. There are kind words to say. There are gifts to be given. There are deeds to be done. There are souls to be saved This not about what political party we are in but this condition and position must be remedied for the good of all, including those involved. Even our most wealthy have only so much money give. Respectively, Steven P. Miller @sparkermiller: Hello World From Steven P. Miller & Gatekeeper-Watchman Jacksonville, Florida, USA, #sparkermiller, #Melchizedek, #Sedek Facebook:https://facebook.com EMAIL: sparkermiller@att.net SKYPE: sparkermiller https://sparkermiller.tumblr.com/post/189483486325/log-in-tumblr