#so the leader from my party might be trying to appeal even more to the centre-left. idk. and not my party anymore but yeah

[lesbianjonimitchell]

omg... just sent my resignation of membership to the political party i've been a member of for more than 8 years. a third of my life. i've spent countless hours volunteering for them on the board of my hometown chapter and during election campaigns; some of my partymates are basically family. but the party on a national basis have been eerily silent on palestine. the national leader wrote a long bullshitty op-ed titled "the palestinians are suffering, the jews are suffering" in which she refused to take a stance and failed to distinguish between jews and zionists. and also spent more time condemning the crimes of hamas than the crimes of israel.

i have considered leaving the party many times over the years. the fact that they can't take a firm stance on a genocide makes it abundantly clear that i don't belong here. fucking sucks, man. im not sure where i go from here.

[hunn1e-bunn1e]

Dorm Heads - Sinbad (MAGI) Male Reader

🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.

Sinbad has seven Djinn Equips and there just so happen to be seven characters in this ask, so I sorted each one to whomever fits it the best. The Reader is still from another world, but this time they're from MAGI as the king of Sindria. I hope this is adequate to what you wanted. —Benny🐰

                                                                                                   

🃏•♡•🃏•♡•🃏•♡•🃏•♡•🃏•♡•🃏•♡•🃏•♡•🃏

🌹 Please have mercy, Riddle doesn't know how to handle flirting at all! Seriously, stop that! Don't corner him against the wall and lean over him like that! Don't hold his chin between your fingers and lift his head that way! Don't whisper in his ear all sensual-like! Are you trying to kill him!? Really; Riddle might just explode if you continue like this, going by the steam that keeps billowing from his ears. He's never been the object of affection of such a handsome man before; it's flattering and overwhelming at the same time.

🌹 You're a king? You!? But you're so irresponsible; with the way you quite literally run from him every time he tries to make you do your homework. Riddle honestly thought you were lying at first but after seeing how diplomatic you were during the unbirthday party, he actually started to believe it. He later witnesses that when you do your work, you stay holed up in your room until it's completed to perfection. Oftentimes, Riddle will go to you for advice on how to be a better leader for the students of Heartslabyul.

🌹 A gift, for him? Riddle is a little flustered, he's not too used to people getting him things out of the kindness of their heart; it's usually fear that marks the occasion. But what did you get him? Show him, he hates surprises— WHAT THE HELL!? Where in the world did you get this!? How much did this cost you!? What do you mean 'it was only half a billion'!? Congratulations, Riddle is now malfunctioning; he's stuck between being flattered that you'd spend that much money on him and being furious that you didn't use it for something more important.

🌹 Excessive jewelry and other accessories are strictly forbidden; such things could become a distraction to yourself and other students! Wait! Those are weapons!? That's even worse! Riddle is losing his mind with you, right now! You can't bring weapons into a school environment, such things are against the law! He'll have to confiscate them. Unfortunately, Riddle's unique magic doesn't seem to work on you for some reason; so his efforts are always in vain.

🌹 Riddle has his first encounter with your Furfur Djinn Equip when you sapped the light out of his bedroom using its magic. From then onwards you used it to annoy him (read as try to make him relax a bit) whenever he's busy for more than four hours. He would say he hates it, but he can't deny that your demonic-looking appearance is very appealing to the eyes; not that he'd tell you. Riddle secretly wants to touch your horns but he's far too prideful to tell you; too bad you've already noticed his fleeting glances.

🃏•♡•🃏•♡•🃏•♡•🃏•♡•🃏•♡•🃏•♡•🃏•♡•🃏

"O‐oh, for me? Thats very kind of you, My Rose. W-wait, how much did you say this was? Half a billion! Why would you spend such a ridiculous amount of money!? My face isn't red— No— Listen to what I'm saying!"

🐾•♡•🐾•♡•🐾•♡•🐾•♡•🐾•♡•🐾•♡•🐾•♡•🐾

🦁 Oho? You're a flirt I see, Leona can certainly get behind that. It does help that you're one handsome man as well. Do you wanna lay the charms on him? Go right ahead and do your worst if you're brave enough to face this beast of a man. Just be prepared for when Leona decides to flirt back; too bad for you he's not exactly the chivalrous type. This lazy lion prince is ready to give you the most risqué tongue lashing of your life; figuratively and literally if you're down for it.

🦁 Leona could tell that you were royalty of some type just by the way you dressed, but you also had a certain about you that only natural-born leaders have. He completely understands your aversion to work, he feels it too, work sucks man. You once offered Leona to be your queen, since you were already the king, and to rule Sindria by your side; he may or may not be seriously considering it...

🦁 Being the second prince of the Sunset Savana, Leona is certainly no stranger to expensive gifts, so getting him anything expensive doesn't really surprise you too much. You're rich, he's rich, the gift only cost you half a billion— Wait... half a billion? Leona will absolutely give you a look of complete and utter confusion as to why you think half a billion is such a small sum of money. He can see Ruggie in the background salivating...

🦁 So you're telling him that the jewelry you're wearing can be used as a weapon? Sure.... you'll have to sit Leona down and explain to him about Djinn, metal vessels, dungeons and, dungeon capturing. Well... that is if you can convince him to stay awake long enough to let you explain it. Leona has a bunch of z's to catch, so if you don't mind he'll be taking his long overdue nap now.

🦁 Leona has a love-hate relationship with your Valefor Djinn Equip. On the one hand, he appreciates the beastman-like features that appear when it's equipped as well as the clothing style, but do you have to be so damn cold!? Don't get him wrong, Leona loves cuddling with his boyfriend but your skill has a natural chill to it in that form. It's gotten to the point where he'll refuse to touch you until you go back to normal.

🐾•♡•🐾•♡•🐾•♡•🐾•♡•🐾•♡•🐾•♡•🐾•♡•🐾

"AAGH! D‐dammit you're cold, let go of m‐me. How am I s'posed to fall asleep if 'm freezing my ass off? Go back to normal 'n I'll hold you as long 'n as tight as you want, kay?"

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🐙 You're flattery will get you absolutely nowhere! At least, that's what Azul wishes was the truth. Ugh! You're so damn suave and so damn fine that it's killing him! How is he supposed to talk you into signing a contract when you're leaning over his desk and looking at him like you'd eat him if Jade and Floyd weren't in the room!? Poor Azul is ready to pull out his hair with how many revisions you've sweet-talked him into making to the contract. He's got a business to run dammit!

🐙 Oho? A king you say? Perhaps if you would take him there, he could give your people an offer they couldn't refuse. Unfortunately for Azul, any plots he had for trapping you or your people in a deal were swiftly shut down by you holding a sword to his throat. He was equal parts terrified, disappointed, understanding and, really turned on. Azul still wants to go to Sindria though; maybe even as one of your vassals representing Twisted Wonderland's Coral Sea if you'd let him.

🐙 You got him a gift? You're not trying to bribe him or anything are you? Azul is definitely no stranger to attempted bribery considering it happens about once or twice per day. But eventually, after a bit of insisting on your part he'll accept it... and then promptly return it because there is no way you would give him something that looks so expensive for anything other than bribery. If you try an calm his nerves by telling Azul that it only cost you half a billion and it really wasn't that expensive; his blood pressure will skyrocket. Dear lord, save this man...

🐙 My, that's quite a bit of jewelry you have there, you wouldn't mind parting with a few items, would you? Now, now, Azul's only asking for a friend, no need to get up in arms about it. The cecaelia mer, being quite observant, did notice that your jewelry and a few weapons are where you get your otherworldly powers from. While Azul would love to have access to that power, since old habits die hard, he still restrains himself because he doesn't want you to distrust or dislike him.

🐙 Azul is very cautious about your Baal Djinn Equip; lightning and water are not too good a combination in this case. However, he admits must you look very dashing and handsome in the clothes and jewelry you wear; he can't help but take a few glances at your bare chest, your draconic features are also very eye-catching to him and he can't help but briefly think of a certain dragon fae. While Azul usually just observes you from a respectable distance; he's not entirely opposed to being in your arms.

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"H‐handsome? Me? I— if this is some kind of joke it's not funny! Y‐you're flattery will get you no nowhere. N‐now if you would just sign here... Hm? Revision? A D‐DATE! Hold on—!"

🕌•♡•🕌•♡•🕌•♡•🕌•♡•🕌•♡•🕌•♡•🕌•♡•🕌

🪲 Aww, you're so nice! Kalim doesn't quite understand why you're so fixated on complimenting him, but he really likes it! He definitely returns the favor tenfold; not just to repay you, but also because he thinks you're a very handsome man. Another thing he doesn't get is why Jamil keeps shooting you sharp looks when you give him some of the weirder compliments. But Kalim doesn't mind too much, even when you back him against a wall, he just takes it as an invitation to cling to you.

🪲 Wow! You're royalty too!? And a king no less! Kalim thinks that's so awesome! You should definitely expect a ton of questions about what it's like to rule an entire country. What kind of responsibilities do you have as king? Do you have to make any hard decisions that could impact your people? What kind of holidays do you have there? Can he go there one day? And so on, and so on. Wait! Where are you going? Kalim still has more questions to ask you; you can't leave yet!

🪲 Wow! Did you get him a gift? You're so nice, it looks so cool too! Kalim is absolutely ecstatic to receive anything from you, be it a conversation, a compliment, physical affection, a gift or even a simple hello! Huh? Half a billion Madol? Okay! Kalim will find you something just as expensive and go out of his way to get a job, save up a bunch of money, and buy it for you! He can't let the gift you gave him go unreciprocated!

🪲 You have genies in your jewelry!? That's so cool! Please call them out so that he can meet them all, Kalim has so many questions! Tell him about all of your dungeon-capturing adventures, he'll be entertained for hours on end. Jamil is crying tears of joy. He will also somehow convince your djinn to come out and share the many adventures that they had with you and their previous holders. Expect to have to tell him at least five of your adventures a day, Kalim doesn't care if you run out of them, you're such a good storyteller.

🪲 Poor Kalim was truly in shock when he saw your Zepar Djinn Equip for the very first time. You got so tiny after that huge light show; he was surprised. For him, this Djinn Equip is his favorite because you're basically a really cute living megaphone. Kalim thinks your round belly is really cute; when you're under a blanket you look like you're holding a pumpkin. He's glad to have a mini boyfriend he can carry around like a teddy bear, it's super fun.

🕌•♡•🕌•♡•🕌•♡•🕌•♡•🕌•♡•🕌•♡•🕌•♡•🕌

"WAH! You got small! You're so adorable now! Oh; and your ears are so long too! Can you hear better like that? Hey, what can you in this form? Is it like the other one's you've shown me so far?"

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🪞 Flattery will get you everywhere; especially with Vil! However, this pretty boy has definitely heard it all; or at least he thought he had before he met you. No one had ever been quite so bold with him before. You laid your intentions out on the table right off the bat, and frankly, he found that really hot. I mean, who wouldn't want to be swept off their feet by a handsome king such as yourself? You want to make Vil your queen, you say? Oh my, buy him dinner first, you sly devil.~

🪞 A king, you say? Well, Vil did notice that you had a regal air about you, even if it was a bit overshadowed by that boyish charm of yours. But now you've got him thinking about you're proposition to make him your queen. Were you really serious about that? If you are, Vil has a long list of suggestions that he believes would improve your future shared kingdom. So what if he's never been there before, he's got to make some changes now before he walks into what might be a hot mess.

🪞 Now Vil and his family are quite wealthy, nowhere near royalty, but they still have a hefty sum to their name. This means he is no stranger when it comes to expensive clothing, accessories, skincare, and food. He has absolutely no issues with you spending a ridiculous amount of money on a gift for him. Vil just gives you an ecstatic "Oh! You shouldn't have!"

🪞 What a lovely medley of jewelry you've got there, but um... don't you think it's just a tad bit excessive? Not that you don't look absolutely dashing just the way you are, but maybe take off one or two? Vil only wants the best for you and that means fashion-wise as well. They're your weapons as well? Well, weapon or not, Vil will not allow you to walk around with a clashing color scheme! Rose gold is out of season, you know.

🪞 You know how Vil hates Neige because he feels insecure about his appearance when he's around? Yeah... that's how he feels about your Vepar Djinn Equip. He's never seen such ethereal beauty before and it's eating him up inside! He's torn between admiring his handsome boyfriend and cursing you for being more visually appealing than he is. Vil eventually accepts it though, you are his after all, and as long as he has you he can let it slide, just this once.

👑•♡•👑•♡•👑•♡•👑•♡•👑•♡•👑•♡•👑•♡•👑

"I didn't call you old, listen closer to what I'm saying to you! I said you had a mature look about you; It's a compliment. Not many men can pull it off like you can, so you should be grateful."

🔱•♡•🔱•♡•🔱•♡•🔱•♡•🔱•♡•🔱•♡•🔱•♡•🔱

💀 Stop. Seriously, stop. You will actually kill this man if you start flirting with him in any aspect at all. Even a compliment is a death sentence for Idia. But if you really do desire to send him straight to an early grave, do as you wish. This poor man can barely even function around someone as handsome and imposing as you are. Idia can barely breathe around you, his palms are sweaty, his knees weak, not to mention all the blood loss from his ever-flowing nose due to your sparsely clothed chest.

💀 As if Idia needed any more of a reason to feel like he doesn't deserve to even be near you; he finds out you're a King. Why is this happening to him!? No, he can't go with you back to Sindria! Even if Idia really wants to because it sounds a lot like the kingdom from "WIZ - Maze of Sorcery" and its two sequels; "WIZ - Queendom of Sorcery" and "WIZ - Outings of Bob".

💀 You didn't have to buy him anything, you're going to make him feel bad! Idia doesn't need you to spend money on him, not that he doesn't appreciate it, because he really does. A new box set of a ton of animes that were just released on DVD? Well... you were the one who offered so Idia reluctantly says it's fine. W‐wait... d‐did you say... half a b‐billion... Oh! It looks like he fainted!

💀 Do you think— Would you mind if Idia used some of your magic jewelry for a few of his cosplays? He'll take good care of them, he promises! Actually, if you don’t want to lend him anything, could you... cosplay with him? Idia completely understands if you don't want to, I mean who wants to spend time with him anyway? But... the offer is still up if you ever consider it...

💀 After seeing your Crocell Djinn Equip, Idia finally understood why you weren't at all cautious about his hair. He accidentally went on a tangent about how you reminded him of a character from a manga he read once and how you were like his 'irl SSR Secret Quest Reward, Boyfriend', whatever that meant. Sometimes, Idia will ask you to go into your Djinn Equip so that you can play with his hair like that one scene in that Shoujo anime you both watched together.

🔱•♡•🔱•♡•🔱•♡•🔱•♡•🔱•♡•🔱•♡•🔱•♡•🔱

"That's way cool! A mystery boss stage with percentage boost in SSR gear and a companion character too! It's just like 'Last Delusion'! EH!? You've never heard of it!? Come on, I'll show you!"

🐉•♡•🐉•♡•🐉•♡•🐉•♡•🐉•♡•🐉•♡•🐉•♡•🐉

🐲 You're not scared of him? At all? You do know who he is right? Malleus Draconia: strongest mage in the NRC, prefect of the infamous Diasomnia dorm, heir to the throne of the Valley of Thorns? You do? Instead of finding him fear-inducing, you called him... gorgeous? Handsome? A sight for sore eyes? Consider Malleus a very flustered and confused dragon fae. He's used to getting compliments from Lilia and his vassals but from you? He feels like he's melting but in a good way. Well... he thinks so, at least.

🐲 A fellow royal? Oh, you're a king too? I hope you don't mind Malleus asking about the details of how you rule over Sidria because he has a lot of questions. He is also set to be the king of the Valley of Thorns in the future, so he wants to gain as much knowledge concerning ruling a country as possible. Malleus's ears are open; tell him anything and everything. How was Sindria established? How do you handle the punishment of your people who break the laws you set in place? Etcetera...

🐲 Malleus is quite wealthy due to his status as the prince of the Valley of Thorns, so he isn't exactly bothered by the thought of receiving expensive gifts. The price of said gift also doesn't seem to phase him. In fact, just like you, he sees such a sum of money as mere pocket change. Malleus is a dragon as well as exceptionally old, he and his grandmother have amassed quite a mountain of wealth in the many years that they have been alive. Nonetheless, he is very grateful for the gift.

🐲 That's quite the lovely set of jewels you have adorning your body there. Please spare this poor dragon boy, he's struggling to hold back his hoarding instincts. His brain is sounding the alarm bells and all he can think is "big shiny, big shiny, big shiny, bi–". Don't be too alarmed if a wild Malleus in his dragon form or otherwise swoops down and whisks you away. Though you may have to worry about leaving his hoard; it will be very difficult, I can assure you. You may just find yourself back where you started; trapped in Malleus's arms.

🐲 Malleus has seen each and every one of your Djinn Equips and if he had to pick a favorite, it would be your Focalor Djinn Equip, followed closely by your Baal Djinn Equip due to draconic appearance. The reason he favors Focalor's is that he can, instead of taking a moonlit stroll, fly through the night in the arms of his boyfriend without needing to go into his dragon form. Malleus had never been swept off his feet, but now he has, literally.

🐉•♡•🐉•♡•🐉•♡•🐉•♡•🐉•♡•🐉•♡•🐉•♡•🐉

"Child of man, these dungeons you speak of; did they perhaps house any gargoyles? I couldn't help but ask, what with all the fantastical creatures and items that you mentioned being within them."

🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.

Wanna see similar content? Check out my Masterlist!

[mariacallous]

Democrats are charging out of their national convention with enthusiasm and determination ― and in far better shape than seemed possible just a few weeks ago, when then-presumptive nominee President Joe Biden was headed for likely defeat.

Vice President Kamala Harris has wiped out Biden’s deficit in the polls, and now holds small but discernible leads over Donald Trump in both national and swing state surveys. She’s also expanded the electoral map, putting in play states such as North Carolina that seemed lost to Democrats when Biden was leading the ticket. As of this writing, Nate Silver’s predictive model suggests Harris is a 52.8% favorite to win.

It will take a few days for pollsters to figure out whether Harris got the traditional convention bounce, pushing her support even higher, or whether she got a version of it beforehand via the burst of activity and favorable press coverage around her campaign launch.

Either way, it’s hard to look back on the week in Chicago and deem it anything but a smashing political success, from the (still reverberating) call to arms by former first lady Michelle Obama to the (still circulating) sight of Gus Walz, son of vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim, tearfully telling the crowd “that’s my dad!”

Harris, for her part, gave what my colleague Jen Bendery’s story called the “speech of her life.” Plenty of other analysts rendered similar judgments.

With a passionate, near-flawless delivery, Harris introduced herself as the daughter of immigrants who valued virtue and hard work, promising to fight for the middle class and vowing to protect democracy. She wrapped herself metaphorically in the flag and what she thinks it represents to the nation’s non-MAGA majority. The laser focus on trying to win over swing voters was impossible to miss, in part because it was such an overriding theme all week ― whether through cultural symbolism (like having the aging veterans of Walz’s championship high school football team appear on stage) or more overt outreach (like having former House Republican Adam Kinzinger give a prime-time address).

But the appeal to the political middle had some telling substantive elements too.

Insofar as Harris and Democrats talked about policy, they focused on causes such as bringing down prescription drug prices, providing paid leave or helping families to pay for child care ― ambitions considerably more modest than the loftier, more progressive “Medicare for All” calls that dominated the last Democratic presidential campaign and to which Harris herself once pledged fealty. Harris also went out of her way to back a bipartisan immigration bill that would tighten security without creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already here, which is a provision progressives have frequently called essential.

The platform evolved, with party leaders scrubbing a call to end the death penalty ― quietly, until my colleague Jessica Schulberg found out about it. They also refused requests to feature a Palestinian speaker on the conflict in Gaza. That part wasn’t so quiet, or unanticipated. In fact, the prospect of protests and disruptions over Biden’s support for Israel had fueled speculation that Chicago 2024 was going to end up as tumultuous as Chicago 1968. But as HuffPost’s Daniel Marans and Jonathan Nicholson observed, the fissures never blew up into 1968-style conflicts ― not over Gaza, or any other issues for that matter. On the contrary, the Democrats seemed improbably and almost impossibly unified, with would-be progressive dissidents like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) sounding downright giddy about the Harris-Walz ticket.

What explains this unified enthusiasm? Three likely reasons come to mind. One in particular has a lot to do with how the party has changed in recent years ― and what it might be able to do if Harris manages to win.

Democrats In Array

One of these likely reasons is the threat Trump poses to individual liberties, the rule of law and democracy — threats progressives feel every bit as keenly as the more moderates in the party. These threats almost certainly seem even more menacing now after so many months watching Biden struggle.

Staring into the political abyss this way has been known to focus the mind.

Another possible factor is Harris’ identity. Electing the first woman president, not to mention the first Black woman and the first Asian woman, would have obvious symbolic value. But it would also have more practical effects — namely, bringing a new perspective to the presidency and making it easier for other women, and other nonwhite politicians, to make their own way to the Oval Office.

Progressives almost by definition care about these things, enough that it can help counterbalance appeal for politicians who see the ticket as less progressive than they might like. Barack Obama in 2008 benefited from just such a dynamic, as The New York Times’ David Leonhardt pointed out on Friday: “He was more moderate than some other Democratic candidates that year, yet he still excited many progressives.”

Harris notably hasn’t talked about herself as groundbreaker, and the campaign hasn’t made that possibility a focus in the way that, say, Hillary Clinton’s did in 2016. But that’s of a piece with Harris’ broader strategy since appeals tied to race or class can alienate some of the swing voters she’s trying to win. The voters who feel otherwise, meanwhile, don’t need reminders.

This brings us to the third, and potentially most important, theory for progressive enthusiasm: Democrats have gotten an awful lot done since Biden took office. An awful lot of it consisted of initiatives or reforms progressives have long championed. And most importantly, it all happened with progressives having a big seat at the table.

The most significant and visible of these accomplishments was the clean green energy investments of the Inflation Reduction Act, which add up (arguably) to the most important climate change legislation in history, plus the law’s health care provisions, which for the first time gave the federal government leverage over the prices of some high-priced drugs in Medicare.

But the list goes beyond that, to the appointment of aggressively pro-consumer and pro-labor officials at key federal agencies, and the burst of spending during the pandemic that (whatever its real or theorized effects on inflation) drove both unemployment and child poverty down to near-record levels.

All of these feel well short of the kinds of transformations progressives would prefer with, say, enactment of “Medicare for All.” But they had, are having or will have tangible, measurable effects on people’s lives — and are examples of the kind of achievements that might be possible if Harris wins and Democrats have control of both congressional houses again.

It so happens that these are also the kinds of achievements that animate up-and-coming party leaders, even if they are not members of the progressive wing — figures like Govs. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, or Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia. Not coincidentally, all gave Harris rousing endorsements in prime- time speeches.

But that too is part of the story about unity: The party’s “moderate” wing today feels pretty strongly about using the federal government to make people’s lives better, just as it does about protecting the freedoms Trump threatens. They may emphasize it differently — focusing more exclusively on the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy manufacturing jobs, for example, and a bit less on its environmental impact. They still land in the same place on policy.

Whether these good feelings would carry through enough to enact a legislative agenda is obviously a separate question and one that is very secondary to the question of whether Democrats even get that opportunity.

The presidential race is still a toss-up, or maybe even a bit worse than that for Harris if the polling now is missing Trump votes the way it did in 2016 and again in 2020. Republicans remain by most accounts a slight favorite to hold at least one house of Congress.

But Harris is coming out of Chicago on a roll, with a party behind her as she reaches out to the swing voters she needs to win. That’s a pretty good place to be.

[dailydragon08]

OT Gang Reacts: Halloween Edition

I'm halfway through writing Darkness Calls part 3, but here's a little something in the meantime for Halloween!

As a princess who has traveled all over the galaxy, I think Leia would be very familiar with traditions from other cultures, even if she’s only read about them—including Halloween. Although she’s proud of who she is and the role she had in bringing the empire down, dressing up and pretending to be someone else does sometimes appeal to her. It gives her a much-needed break from the weight on her shoulders where she can just let loose, have fun, and not be instantly recognizable. As an avid fashion lover (you can pry this headcanon from my cold, dead hands; she was just busy during the rebellion, okay?), she also loves to really get into all facets of the costume—putting together all the different pieces, buying different accessories, and I can honestly see her really enjoying thrifting for a costume at locally owned places. Although her costume might not be super flashy or extravagant, she’s one of the best dressed ones at the party and again, gets a huge thrill from mingling without the threat of other politicians, leaders, and rich people chasing her down the entire time. She tends to dress as people or professions she admires, but isn’t above matching group costumes with her friends—and the further away the costume is from an intergalactic princess, the better.

With Reader/an OC, she loves matching costumes, but isn’t dead set on it either. Either way, she loves helping you put your own costume together and helping you with hair, makeup, and doesn’t stray far from you during a Halloween party. She loves the chance to just relax and enjoy without others constantly pulling her away from you as if you were just two normal people on a little date, and an afterparty at her place with just the two of you, a scary movie (I could honestly see her being a big horror fan and loving things like Fear Street and American Horror Story), and some of your favorite fall-themed snacks is a must (I firmly believe she’s a bit caramel popcorn fan). I can see her really enjoying haunted houses too, and doing them frequently enough that she usually knows what to expect and isn’t too scared by them. She’s usually the one everyone’s holding on to as she bravely takes her position in front of the pack and immediately bursts into laughter after something scares her.

Luke, on the other hand, doesn’t have as many experiences with other cultures like his sister. Although he did travel a lot while in the rebellion, he was busy focusing on defeating evil emperors and trying not to die. But he loves learning and is an information sponge, researching different holidays and traditions himself and/or listening to others talk about it. Coming from a desert planet, I think he’d be especially interested and in awe of autumn in general—especially all the colors, cooler weather (even though Mr. Perpetually Cold Desert Boy might need more layers than most), and apple-flavored things. Although he tries to fully embrace Halloween, he’s a little overwhelmed at first and just follows his friends’ lead. Leia in particular is so excited to teach him all about it and he also gets into the aspect of pretending to be someone else with less weight on their shoulders for a night. He’s a big fan of matching costumes because it makes him fade in the crowd even more—which of course means, like Leia, he doesn’t have as many people chasing him down. He always gets a kick out of someone realizing who he is with a start once they get close enough. But I also believe he’s very introverted, so I could see him really enjoying a night in or a smaller gathering with the OT Gang & Co. versus some huge party.

With Reader/an OC, he’s 100% going out of his way to match his costume to yours. Usually, he even lets you pick it out and will sit there with the utmost patience, happy to humor any makeup, hairstyle, or accessories you want to put on him. If you go to a bigger party, like Leia, he’s ecstatic to just be able to stick by your side without other important people competing for his attention. But he loves having much smaller gatherings or even just a night in with you the best. He lives for the cozy sweaters (and excuse to drink hot chocolate) and while he doesn’t mind watching scarier movies with you, he likes the ones that have more of a cozy vibe to them better (think Hocus Pocus, Nightmare Before Christmas, etc.). He loves decorating and doing things like carving pumpkins because after all the chaos and loneliness he’s been through, I firmly believe he really cherishes the little domestic moments with you most. Depending on where he is in his jedi training, he tends to be able to sense things in haunted houses and hayrides coming through the Force and can be a bit hard to scare, but goes anyway because he loves the way you grab and lean into him and see him as a protector (even if the threat isn’t actually real).

If any sort of partying is involved—especially if there’s alcohol—Han 100% knows about it, so is no stranger to Halloween. Good luck getting him in a costume though. You’d have to pay him a lot to get him to even consider one. He’s pretty much there for the free food and drinks. He tries to act all tough in things like haunted houses, but is actually pretty easy to scare and has had rare occasions his friends won’t let go where he screamed like a little girl—which he of course denies. Although he says he’ll only watch scary movies to humor his friends, he’s surprisingly reactive as the film goes along, yelling at the characters onscreen whenever they act dumb or go somewhere without a weapon. He also tries to pretend he’s above fall drinks, but sometimes sneaks sips of his friends’ beverages when they aren’t looking. In short, he tries to act like he couldn’t give two shits about Halloween, but does tend to secretly enjoy it.

With Reader/an OC, with enough nagging, you might be able to get him into a very low-effort matching costume—but do not even think about putting makeup on him or messing with his hair. He’ll do all the fall/Halloween things with you to make you happy and grumbles the whole time, but you know he’s secretly enjoying it via the excuses he makes. “Well, listen, pumpkin carving requires a sharp knife and I just don’t want ya to lose any of your klutzy fingers,” “hey, there’s some real creeps out there, so I’m just trying to make sure they leave you alone so you can enjoy the party,” “nah, I’m just watching this movie ’cause I’ve got nothing else to do.” The longer you’re with him, the more he softens up and stops grumbling—although you don’t think you’ll ever get him to admit out loud he is having a good time.

Lando is of course hosting the best Halloween party you’ve ever seen in your life. His place ends up looking like Halloween threw up on it by the time he’s done and every room is covered in props, fake spiderwebs, smoke machines, projectors in the windows, and he’s got every type of fall treat and drink you could think of. His costume is equally extravagant, and his parties are always ones for the books that go into the wee hours of the morning. He loves a good horror movie as well as the cozier ones, and somehow his pumpkin carvings always rival the most acclaimed artists of the decade. Lando does not half-ass anything, holidays and parties included.

With Reader/an OC, he’s so psyched if you’re super into Halloween like he is and he’s ready to do everything: pumpkin patches, mazes, haunted houses, scary movies, etc. He especially loves decorating for Halloween with you and you two frequently go on dates to the Halloween decoration store, coming home with almost all their inventory in tow. He’s always happy to match your costume, but is completely fine if you want to do your own thing as well and insists on buying you the most expensive, high-quality material the holonet has to offer. If you opt for a smaller gathering with just the OT Gang, he’s still decorating to the nines and bringing enough food to feed 100 people, and never hesitates to tell you how amazing of a time he had with you at the end of the night.

Chewie (platonic) is mainly just along for the ride and down for whatever, but he does not like being spooked. He’s actually been banned from most haunted houses because of the way he roars at the poor actors popping out at him. He’s equally fine with a larger party or a smaller one, but either way, you’re pretty sure he’s responsible for half the snack consumption and he’s not afraid to admit he loves the fall drinks. He’s not really big into wearing costumes (which ones would he even fit into?), but loves looking at everyone else’s and always appreciates the decorations. He’s not the best at carving pumpkins, but he tries and the only design he’s really nailed is the simple, classic one.

C-3PO and R2-D2 both enjoy the festivities for different reasons. Threepio is soaking in all the information like a sponge, but not the biggest fan of the scarier side of Halloween (“oh, my!”). He loves to marvel at the cozier aspects and is amazed by all the colors—and isn’t afraid to constantly say it, much to the annoyance or amusement of the rest of the gang. Artoo loves all of it, especially the dancing at parties and can regularly be seen in the middle of the dance floor bobbing back and forth on his little legs, but is unfortunately very easily spooked and will speed away with a high-pitched squeal.

~~ Taglist: @kaleidoscope1967eyes @masterlukessaber @coffeeorsomething-irl @lxstfathier @rogue-kenobi @sonofthedunes @pomplalamoose @lex-the-flex @myevilmouse @ilovemarkhamill @goddessesofeverything @acupnoodle

[yzeltia]

I'm sorry if this is random but I need advice from a fellow WOL. I am a FC leader and I've come to the decision that I need to remove inactive members from both my discord and FC. I posted a message today in my FC discord.

We've been an FC since 2021.

I want more active members and I noticed the number of inactive makes new members turn away. I also take into account jobs, rl, et. Does this seem fair? I work at a hospital myself so my hours are iffy but I do try and make times and plan events with my FC, I just want more members to actually do it with instead of like maybe 3 or 4 :/

Hello Anon!

Let me preface this by saying I’m not the leader of my FC. I’m a just a simple adventurer among them and if it seems that way because I write about them a lot, it is only because I love them and their characters and they give me nothing but enrichment to do so. So then, with that said, let’s unpack this ask.

On Removing Inactive Members:

So, a little anecdote. About when I finished ARR, I left the FC that had pulled me in as I only interacted with a couple of people and they wanted to branch out onto their own thing. I offered to found the FC, and so we made it out on our own. Just a tight knit group of not even ten people. We get to Stormblood and suddenly we’re all very busy with our lives. Somewhere in Heavensward I passed over control to the person that was the most responsible of us as I couldn’t afford to play for stretches of time. With that, and us getting busy, and a handful of us mingling in real life the leader felt left out and booted us all. Everything kinda fell apart afterward, pre-discord era (for me). Needless to say there was a bunch of hurt feelings and confusion for those not around or logging in to find themselves dumped. Ultimately, unless there's a behavioral issue or they've quit the game entirely or the FC is disbanding I wouldn't assume to kick people as you don't know what they've got going on and they might miss their friends.

On The Rest:

I cannot really speak to the whole inactive vs. active appeal. Ultimately, I do not think it should matter. Quality of a company is always going to be better than quantity. I was reminded by @driftward that we have a fair amount of incentives. Then there's those of us with several alts! You might delete someone by accident. @autumnslance pointed out that an exception to this might be if you've established in your rules activity as a requirement and specified that you will kick after a certain period of time. 

They also added: “Is someone actually, actively saying that having inactives on the FC roster is hurting recruitment, or is this an assumption based off anecdotal data? If someone is saying that directly...are they really someone you want in a FC of friends? If they're going to determine "inactive" due to whatever reason as a reason to boot someone out without warning?

“[Y]ou get people by doing things and showing people you're a fun and easy to get along with group with similarly aligned goals and personality types. The rest are details.”

That said, you cannot limit yourself to your FC or you're more than likely going to be disappointed. Even in a big FC, people's interests and goals won't always align and needless to say scheduling can get rough. That's why we've been given tools to ensure that we’re able to be social across the game. Use Party Finder when you’re running content with your current core group and then pick up people that you guys get along well with. Create a Crossword Linkshell and add them to it. Our community is vast and there's discord dedicated to all sorts of content in the game to help with Fates, Hunts, Bozja, Eureka, etc etc. @eorziapple suggested if your ultimate goal really is to find a more active environment, maybe it’s best to forgo leadership in favor of joining a more active FC

TLDR: Quality of friends is most important. Don't make assumptions. Use the social tools available to us.

[sevilemar]

Hey! I know you haven't been super into SHC lately, but you seemed like a good person to ask for this sort of thing. I'm a double Lion who's thinking of playing a double Snake in DND, and I was wondering if you had any tips--like things I might not immediately think of about his priorities and behavior. For a little context, I think his one and only Person at the start of the campaign will be his brother, and his circle will gradually grow to include the other PCs as time goes on. (1/2)

He's also true neutral (though he might transition into neutral good) and a rogue, ftr. I'm thinking his initial motive will be to earn money for himself and his brother, and his first tactic when faced with adversity will be to try to find out what the person opposing him wants and see if they can cut a mutually beneficial deal. Does that all sound reasonably Snakey? I have to shift my thinking a little to see through his eyes, so I figured I'd check with a real double Snake. :)

You are asking about two of the things I like to think about most, ttrpg and shc, so I'm thrilled about your ask, nonny.

This already seems sufficently snake-like to me, and if that's all the prep you wanna do for him in this regard, you'll be completely fine. But you asked me for tips to build on it, and I have a few things buzzing through my mind.

- You'll be in snake sec face mode with your party when you first start, since they're not your people yet, and I assume your brother is backstory rather than a player at the table. And since role play (e.g. multiplayer) is a big part of the experience, you'll get a feel for the face you'll show your party first. My tip would be that once you get that, start thinking how neutral would be/feel different. Maybe your GM let's you have a scene with your brother to get into it? Because once you got that, and the other assholes in your party slowly get under your skin and into your circles, you can slip in more and more neutral when you play with them. But keep that just for them, because it's special, and others haven't earned it yet.

- For all the snake secs I talked with, me included, neutral feels like our asshole state. It's direct, unfiltered, untailored, and deeply unsafe. So only go there in situations when you feel emotionally safe with whomever you're talking to. And because you're snake primary as well, that probably means safe in the sense that they wouldn't leave you even if they saw you unshowered, in your rattiest clothes, with bad breath and bad attitude and unattractive stubble and last night's make up clumped about your face. Because that's what neutral feels like to us.

- Even if double snakes are not usually the leader, we don't always just go along with whatever our people do. Arguing is perfectly acceptable, especially if they're doing something dangerous and stupid. (Although I do mostly find myself following them, and adjusting to them a lot. That might just be a me thing, honestly.)

- If you have trouble deciding where someone is in your circle, and what you're willing to do for them, you can literally get a paper and draw it out. And the more you get into your character, the more you'll know what each circle means, both in terms of how to get there and what they'll get to see from you.

- Mutually beneficial deals are a great starting point. If you can get people to agree to them without much fuzz, awesome! But don't be shy to use other tactics as well. If you can't convince them with facts and arguments, try to intimidate them instead, or become very agreeable and sweet and appeal to their kinder side, or whatever else you feel might be effective with this person. Don't worry if it feels out of character, or like it's weird to do a complete turnaround in one conversation. It's not you who is doing this but your character, and he is a snake sec, and that's what we do. It's what face changing means.

- Depending on your table, don't be shy to go off on your own occasionally when it's about your brother. This very much depends on your table and your GM though, so I would talk to at least your GM if that's OK. You don't even have to play out these scenes, but even saying 'While you celebrate your victory, I first let my brother know I'm still alive, and join you a little later' or something like that will probably feel very snake primary.

- Depending on how seriously you're playing, having your brother as your first priority can lead to some conflict with the party and/or the main story of the campaign. You can justify a lot in the name of story and staying together, but there may or may not come a time when your and your party's goals might differ too much, and/or they are not high enough in your circles yet to justify staying with them. Since I don't know your character or the story you're playing, I don't have anything for this. Retiring your character might be an option, or finding out that your brother does not need to depend on you so much anymore, and wants to fend for himself for a bit. I don't know. It's probably not going to get to this, but sometimes it's good to know that you got options if it does (hello there, my inner bird^^).

That's what I can think of right now, nonny. Like I said, you don't need any of it to play a good double snake character. And if reading it is making you feel like you don't wanna do any of this, forget it all and just go and have fun. Because I hope you have lots of fun with your character and your table!

[crimechannels]

By • Olalekan Fagbade This strike is not about issues affecting Nigerian Workers - Oshiomhole slams Organised Labour Sen. Adams Oshiomhole, on Tuesday cautioned labour unions not to mix political opinion with their primary responsibilities. Oshiomhole stated this while fielding questions from the State House Correspondents shortly after he paid a solidarity visit to the Vice President Kashim Shettima at the presidential villa, Abuja. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Trade Union Congress(TUC) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had on Nov. 13, directed all affiliates to embark on an indefinite nationwide strike. The strike was called to press home their demands, especially the “non comment by the Federal Government over the brutalising of the NLC President, Joe Ajaero by security agents and hoodlums in Imo”. Reacting to the strike, Oshiomhole said ” unfortunately, this strike is not about those issues affecting the Nigerian workers. ” And I think we have to be careful not to mix our political opinion with our responsibilities, because the issues confronting workers are so many that they should become the priority. ” Labour cannot be apolitical because politics is about the people. And I have argued when I was in NLC that nobody has a right to be partisan, much more than those who turn the will of our industrial progress. ” But in saying that, we must recognise that however how hard you try, when it comes to politics, people are going to have different reasons for supporting different candidates. ” The lawmaker also cautioned labour unions to be careful and avoid doing the bidding of a particular candidate or a political party. ” As a worker in the Senate, I don’t pretend over the fact that my first constituency, my permanent constituency, is labour. ” I can be removed as Chairman of APC as I was removed. But I couldn’t have been removed as a labourer. I remain labour in heart and labour in views, and labour in my aspirations. ” I will expect that even as we speak now that the issues that will appeal to me will be the fact that as we speak, we have states that are not paying N30,000. And those states are not being mobilised to go on strike. ” The Federal Government had granted N35,000 increase and those discussions were supposed to be for and on behalf of not only the federal government, but on behalf of all workers in Nigeria. ” Including those employed by the Local and State governments. And the additional revenue accruing from the withdrawal of subsidy trickles down to the state and to the local government. ” Now, I would have wished that the NLC recognise that the hunger in the stomach of federal employees is not any worse than the hunger in the stomach of those state employees, nor local government employees. ” If these are the issues on the table, even as a senator I will publicly support an action against any government that thinks that we should lament away our hunger and while the people do what they do. ” He, however, declared that he doesn’t support the brutalisation of any Nigerian, including a journalist, the unemployed and a labour leader. ” But I’m saying in terms of what you might call the hierarchy of needs and challenges that we face. ” I think that NLC should robustly engage all the state governors or the state governments, who are not implementing the agreement that was midwived courtesy of a national strike, not a federal government’s employees strike. ” So if you mobilise private sector workers, state employees workers, local government workers, and now there is an agreement on N35,000 across the board. ” I want to see NLC saying there will be no sleep in any state where this is not being implemented. That is all I can say.” (NAN)

[transition-with-the-torah]

Book: People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn (2021)

I've been meaning to actually get started on my to-read list, but this book was available to borrow via Libby now. Now being what feels like a very short time after the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel, even if it's actually the 23rd of October [according to when I first drafted this post]. I've known of this book for a bit, but there's something about the premise that feels very fitting right now - people love dead Jews, especially when people can project all sorts of metaphors and reasoning onto the death.

It's the sort of thing that's not 100% a shocking surprise, but in the course of living without dwelling too much on that in the day-to-day, you have to not focus on certain details. So, I'd say the discussion of historical and modern antisemitism is more of a reminder than a surprise. Going back to Italian ghettoes and blood libel and how antisemitic Shylock is, and the discussion of several (primarily USA focused) antisemitic attacks on synagogues and other gatherings of Jews. Antisemitism is definitely not a new thing, and it's not 'just' the Holocaust.

(Edited to add: It's possible that some people might want to prepare themselves to read about antisemitism and trauma ahead of time. Maybe? I'm sticking the #reviews tag on here for personal blog purposes and not as an actual review, so if someone has a particular thing that they find triggering, they might want to check other reviews.

I think this is approachable for almost any USAmerican reader (including gentiles and conversion considerers), and some European/Western audiences might find other examples of modern antisemitism in their locations more salient than the three chapters on USA attacks.)

Chapter-by-chapter summaries and quotes below the read-more.

Ch 1: Everyone's (Second) Favorite Dead Jew

Covers: Anne Frank.

The problem with this hypothetical, or any other hypothetical, about Frank's nonexistent adulthood isn't just the impossibility of knowing how Frank's life and career might have developed. The problem is that the entire appeal of Anne Frank to the wider world - as opposed to those who knew and loved her - lay her lack of a future.

Also touches on Elie Wiesel's Yiddish 'And the World Was Silent', which is presented as more angry and a touch less toned down than 'The Night' would be, and writing from Zalmen Gradowski found at Auschwitz. After an account of how the human body burns in an incinerator:

This fire was ignited long ago by the barbarians and murderers of the world, who had hoped to drive darkness from their brutal lives with its light.

Ch 2: Frozen Jews

Covers: Harbin, China, and how Russian Jews were invited to found a town there when the Trans-Siberian Railroad was being built in the late 1890s.

These initial entrepreneurs were later joined by new Jewish veterans of the 1904 - 1905 Russo-Japanese War, then by Jewish refugees fleeing the 1905 Russian pogroms, then by even more refugees fleeing World War I and the Russian Civil War. [...] The flood of refugees from the 1917 Russian Revolution included many non-Jewish "White" Russians (anti-Communist royalists), whose virulent antisemitism was soon institutionalized in a Fascist party within Harbin's government, and who burned the Old Synagogue in 1931. That was also the year the Japanese occupied Manchuria, noticed rich Jews there, and decided they wanted their money. [...] When the Soviets took over in 1945, they rounded up the city's remaining Jewish leaders [...] and sent them to gulags.

(This is a condensed quote of why there isn't a large presence of Jews in Harbin still, and it certainly isn't trying to cover everything.) This chapter also touches on the 'One Jew of Harbin' and his archival work and the phenomena of 'Jewish Heritage Sites' when traveling to "Property Sized from Dead or Expelled Jews" (or graves - which may not always be actual gravesites, since sometimes just the headstones are relocated).

Ch 3: Dead American Jews, Part One

Covers: Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, PA.

The oldest victim at the Tree of Life synagogue was Rose Mallinger, age ninety-seven. The year Mallinger was born was the tail end of the mass migration of over a million Eastern European Jews to America. Many brought with them memories of pogroms, of men invading synagogues with weapons, of blood on holy books. This wasn't shocking because it was already described in those books. On Yom Kippur in synagogue, these Jews read the stories of rabbis murdered by the Romans, including Rabbi Haninah ben Teradion, who was rapped in a Torah scroll set aflame. Before dying, he told his students, "The parchment is burning, but the letters fly free!" My synagogue's old High Holiday prayer book, a classic edition edited by Rabbi Morris Silverman that dominated twentieth-century American synagogues, hints at what these stories meant to American Jews of Ms. Mallinger's age. Its 1939 English preface asks: "Who can forget, even after decades, the sight of his father huddled in the great prayer shawl and trying in vain to conceal the tears which flowed down his cheeks during the recital of this poem?"

Ch 4: Executed Jews

Covers: Jews in the Soviet Union, including Yiddish artists like Benjamin Zuskin.

From the beginning, the regime eliminated anything in the celebrated Jewish "nationality" that didn't suit its needs. Jews were awesome, provided they weren't practicing the Jewish religion, studying the traditional Jewish texts, using Hebrew, or supporting Zionism.

[Stalin] had decided that this committee he himself had created was in fact a secret Zionist cabal, designed to bring down the Soviet state. Mikhoels was murdered first, in a 1948 hit staged to look like a traffic accident. Nearly all the others - Zuskin and twelve more Jewish luminaries, including the novelist Dovid Bergelson, who had proclaimed Moscow as the center of the Yiddish future - were executed by firing squad on August 12, 1952.

Also: A discussion with Zuskin's daughter in Jerusalem during Hanukkah, touching on the Yiddish theatre in the USSR [Zuskin was an actor], and the differences between 'Hanukkah antisemitism' and 'Purim antisemitism'. (In a nutshell, Purim's antisemitism is overt and about killing Jews directly, but Hanukkah's antisemitism is about trying to strip Jewishness from a still living person.)

Ch 5: Fictional Dead Jews

Covers: Storytelling.

Kermode points out how much readers desire coherent and satisfying endings, and then connects that desire to the history of Western religion. […] Kermode's argument is based on the idea that Western religion is all about "endings." As he puts it, "The Bible is a familiar model of history. It begins at the beginning with the words 'In the beginning,' and it ends with a vision of the end, with the words, 'Even so, come, Lord Jesus.' " Needless to say, this is not how the Hebrew Bible ends.

We expect the good guys to be "saved." If that doesn't happen, we at least expect the main character to have an "epiphany." And if that doesn't happen, then at least the author ought to give us a "moment of grace." All three are Christian terms. […] And then I noticed something else: the canonical works by authors in Jewish languages almost never give their readers any of those things.

Also: Holocaust fiction (especially best-selling, English language fiction focused on gentiles saving Jews), and a discussion of Chava Rosenfarb's "The Three of Life", which is a Yiddish trilogy about [fictional characters in] the Łódź Ghetto.

Dead Jews are supposed to teach us about the beauty of the world and the wonders of redemption - otherwise, what was the point of killing them in the first place? That's what dead Jews are for! If people were going to read about dead Jews, where was the service to mankind I owed them?

Ch 6: Legends of Dead Jews

Covers: Myth-making and the stories we tell ourselves.

Names getting changed at Ellis Island is a very popular but not factually supported story. Actually, most immigrants changed their own names - probably in order to 'fit in' and have an easier time finding a job.

In fact, the only petitioners Fermaglich cites whose filings actually mention antisemitism are non-Jews seeking to change their Jewish-sounding names, so as not to be mistaken for Jews.

Also: American antisemitism in the early twentieth century and the founding stories of certain other diaspora communities (as a means of explaining how Ellis Island name changes is part of the 'founding story' of the American Jewish diaspora).

Ch 7: Dead American Jews, Part Two

Covers: Poway synagogue shooting in San Diego, CA.

Passover has always been frightening. The very first Passover took place during the "night of vigil" before the Israelites fled Egypt when, we are taught, the Angel of Death struck down firstborn Egyptians and passed over the Israelites' homes. Since then, Passover has always been a vigil: For centuries, it has also been a time of antisemitic attacks, from medieval blood libels to modern pogroms to the massacre of thirty people at a Passover Seder in Israel in 2002.

Ch 8: On Rescuing Jews and Others

Covers: Varian Fry, an American in France with the Emergency Rescue Committee during World War II.

In fact, Sauvage believes that the reason Fry is so unknown is precisely because he reveals U.S. complicity in the Holocaust. "We live on two myths - that we didn't know, and that we couldn't do anything even if we did know," Sauvage said to me as soon as I sat down in his office. "This is the religion, and it isn't true. We knew plenty and could have done a lot. Varian Fry was a hero, but he was also a maverick who flew in the face of American policy. He shouldn't be allowed to acquit everyone who wasn't with him."

A note that despite the general name the Emergency Rescue Committee wasn't there for anyone and everyone. It was supposed to rescue the "A-list" of artists, writers, and intellectuals of the time.

The inevitability of murder, of course, is the premise of all narratives of Holocaust rescue - and part of what makes me so uncomfortable with them. The assumption in such stories is that the open maw of death for Europe's Jews and dissidents was something like a natural disaster. These stories, in some sense, force us - people removed from that time by generations - to ask the wrong questions, the kind of questions that we might ask about a shipwreck or an epidemic. Someone has to die, this thinking goes, and the only remaining dilemma is who will get the last seat on the lifeboat or the last vaccine. But these questions fall short by assuming that the perpetrators were irrelevant. As long as we are questioning the choices that were made, shouldn't we be considering the possibility of the Holocaust not happening at all? If someone was in a position to choose whether to save person A or person B, shouldn't whole societies have been in the position to reject the notion of genocide altogether? Why didn't everyone become Denmark?

Ch 9: Dead Jews of the Desert

Covers: Preservation of Middle Eastern and North African locations via Digital Heritage Mapping (and the flagship project Diarna).

Jews have lived throughout the Middle East and North Africa for thousands of years, often in communities that long pre-dated the Islamic conquest. But during the mid-twentieth century's tumultuous power shifts in the region between colonial and postcolonial control, political instability and antisemitic violence intensified to create a vast exodus, driving nearly a million Jews to emigrate to Israel and elsewhere, leaving entire countries all but devoid of Jews - and leaving behind synagogues, schools, and cemeteries that served those communities for generations. The circumstances of this mass migration varied. In some places, like Morocco, the Jewish community's flight was largely voluntary, driven partly by sporadic antisemitic violence but mostly by poverty and fear of regime change. At the other extreme are countries like Iraq, where Jews were stripped of their citizenship and had their assets seized, and where, in the capital city of Baghdad, a 1941 pogrom left nearly two hundred Jews murdered and hundreds of Jewish-owned homes and businesses looted or destroyed.

Ch 10: Blockbuster Dead Jews

Covers: Auschwitz: Not Long Ago, Not Far Away, an exhibit at the Museum of Jewish Heritage (Manhattan, NY).

That was in the 1990s, when Holocaust museums and exhibitions were opening all over the United Stages, including the monumental United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. Going to those new exhibitions then was predictably wrenching, but there was also something hopeful about them. Sponsored almost entirely by Jewish philanthropists and nonprofit groups, these museums were imbued with a kind of optimism, a bedrock assumption that they were, for lack of a better word, effective. The idea was that people would come to these museums and learn what the world had done to the Jews, where hatred can lead. They would then stop hating Jews. It wasn't a ridiculous idea, but it seems to have been proven wrong. A generation later, antisemitism is once again the next big thing, and it is hard to go to these museums today without feeling that something profound has shifted.

Also: When the bar of antisemitism is set at the Holocaust, a lot of antisemitism isn't seen as that big of a deal.

Doxxing Jewish journalists is definitely not the Holocaust. Harassing Jewish college students is also not the Holocaust. Trolling Jews on social media is not the Holocaust either, even when it involves photoshopping them into gas chambers. (Give the trolls credit: They have definitely heard of Auschwitz.) Even hounding ancient Jewish communities out of entire countries and seizing their assets - which happened in a dozen Muslim nations whose Jewish communities pre-dated the Islamic conquest, countries that are now all almost entirely Judenrein - is emphatically not the Holocaust. It is quite amazing how many things are not the Holocaust.

Imagine some underlining a couple times for emphasis:

The problem is that for us, dead Jews aren't a metaphor, but rather actual people that we do not want our children to become.

Ch 11: Commuting With Shylock

Covers: 'The Merchant of Venice' by W. Shakespeare.

It also seems unlikely that Shakespeare was unaware of actual Jews in England, given that one of the biggest news stories in the years immediately preceding the play's composition was the public trial and execution at the Tower of London of a converted Portuguese Jew named Dr. Roderigo Lopez, chief physician to Queen Elizabeth I, who was accused of being paid by the Spanish monarchy to poison the queen.

Also: Renaissance-era Venice and ghettoes, Italian blood libel (origin of St Simon of Trent), and the author's son first experiencing this play.

Ch 12: Dead American Jews, Part Three: Turning The Page

Covers: 2019 Jersey City shooting at a kosher grocery store [Jersey City, NJ], and additional antisemitic attacks in New York.

[...] because the sole motivation for providing such "context" in that moment is to inform the public that those people got what was coming to them. [...] The mental gymnastics required to get the Jersey City attack out of my head were challenging, especially when the Jewish community in the New York area was treated in the two weeks following this massacre to more than a dozen other assaults of varying degrees, most of them coming during the festival of Hanukkah. [...] Media coverage of these attacks also sometimes featured "context" (read: gaslighting), mentioning heated school-board or zoning battles between Hasidic and non-Hasidic residents - even after the perpetrator was identified as a resident of a town forty minutes away.

Imagine that this has been circled a few times for emphasis:

Of all the tedious and self-serving explanations for why this scourge was apparently reemerging in American life [...] the most convincing was actually the most boring, and also the most disturbing: The last few generations of American non-Jews had been chagrined by the enormity of the Holocaust - which had been perpetrated by America's enemy, and which was grotesque enough to make antisemitism socially unacceptable, even shameful. Now that people who remembered the shock of those events were dying off, the public shame associated with expressing antisemitism was dying too. In other words, hating Jews was normal. And historically speaking, the decades in which my parents and I had grown up simply hadn't been normal. Now, normal was coming back.

Also: Daf Yomi (the 7.5 year cycle of studying the Talmud), and how the author found solace in starting Daf Yomi in contrast to IRL events.

[queen-street-news]

New Post has been published on https://bloornews.com/blog-toronto/theres-no-way-books-can-be-banned-in-canada-just-for-criticizing-trudeau-it-sounds-too-crazy/

There’s no way books can be banned in Canada just for criticizing Trudeau. It sounds too crazy

I’m here this morning at the Federal Court of Canada.

“Ezra Levant is a human rights activist, journalist and founder of Rebel News Network. He is the author of multiple best-selling books including Ethical Oil: The Case for Canada’s Oilsands, The Libranos: What the media won’t tell you about Justin Trudeau’s corruption, and most recently China Virus: How Justin Trudeau’s Pro-Communist Ideology Is Putting Canadians in Danger.”

For the next eight hours, Ezra Levant (Rebel News) will be on trial for writing a book called The Libranos.

There is an army of lawyers here from the Trudeau government. If they win, they will set a terrible precedent, making it illegal to publish books critical of politicians without first “registering” those books with the government.

Here’s a quick recap: In the 2019 Canadian election, there were 24 books published about Justin Trudeau.

23 of those books were pro-Trudeau or neutral. And then there was my book, “The Libranos: What the Media Won’t Tell You About Justin Trudeau’s Corruption”.

That enraged Trudeau — especially when it became a best seller. So Elections Canada assigned more than a dozen staff to investigate me and prosecute me. They’ve been hounding me for four years. They have already fined me thousands of dollars. And I’ve had to spend $100,000 in legal fees.

But I’ve appealed to the Federal Court. And today is the day that political freedom — and the right to criticize the government — lives or dies.

You might be thinking, “There’s no way books can be banned in Canada just for criticizing Trudeau. It sounds too crazy.”

Let me quote from an official notice I received from the “Manager of the Compliance Unit” of Elections Canada’s censorship branch:

the book title’s reference to “Librano$“, which was clearly designed to create an association between the name of a registered party and The Sopranos, a mafia-themed television show, and to link the party to corruption… drawings of the show’s characters were replaced with drawings of the leader and other public figures of the party.

Seriously. Trudeau’s staff are now deciding what words and even what pictures we can use to criticize Trudeau. He really meant it when he said China’s dictatorship is the country he most admires.

Speaking of which, Elections Canada hasn’t lifted a finger to stop Communist China from interfering in our elections. They’re too busy prosecuting my book.

You might recall that they specially hired two 30-year veterans of the RCMP to go after me — one of whom specialized in counter-terrorism.

Those senior cops interrogated me for an hour. I’ll never forget it: one of their most bizarre questions was to ask me why I didn’t register my book with the government before I published it. I secretly recorded that interrogation — you can watch it here if you haven’t seen it before.

Here’s their theory: they claim that because my book criticized Trudeau, it was campaign propaganda and had to be registered with the government. Even though Canada’s election laws specifically exempt books and the promotion of books. But Trudeau doesn’t care — he is trying to censor the Internet, so obviously he wouldn’t hesitate to censor an old-fashioned book.

I note that not a single journalism organization or civil liberties group has said a word to support me. Amnesty International, PEN Canada, the Canadian Association of Journalists, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association — not one of them has even issued a statement, let alone intervened in court. They don’t believe in freedom anymore — but I do.

https://www.thelibranos.com/

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Thoughts on the second Long-Running Panel Show Friday of 2023:

The News Quiz: This was a good week to have Mark Steel on, though I could probably say that about any week from at least the last seven or eight months. By which I mean Mark Steel is very good at unleashing unmitigated anger and reveling in the mess of whatever he’s talking about. He had plenty of opportunities to do that this week.

Seriously though, people who actually live in Britain, are you guys all right? Because from over here it’s starting to look like a ground-level collapse of civilization, instead of just the state and governmental collapse of last year. I genuinely hope anyone I know on here in Britain (and the people I don’t know, as well) is okay. Hope this doesn’t sound too patronizing; if it helps at all, Canada’s current leader of the Opposition is at least as bad as the people running your country and he’ll probably be running my country within a year, and then it’ll be our turn to collapse.

Anyway, good episode again. Mark Steel and Lucy Porter were good, but I think Andy Zaltzman stole the show. I pretty much always think Andy Zaltzman steals the show, but this time even more than usual. He had a few rants that made me think of Yes Minister for how fast and dense they were. Despite his many other talents, I think that sort of thing is what Andy Zaltzman does best. The way he can just take a deep breath and then go everywhere within a few minutes, hitting one subject after another while becoming increasingly sarcastic but not changing his tone of voice. Though he did slightly crack himself up in the middle of one today, which almost never happens to Andy Zaltzman and was rather delightful:

“This is the story of MPM Connect, which has contributed over 300,000 pounds to Labour MPs, including Yvette Cooper, despite lacking anything you’d expect a business to have, including people. So, what could it be funding these MPs for? What does it seek to gain? Well a cynic might say that a company that does absolutely nothing seems a perfect fit for Starmer’s Labour Party. And that cynic’s cynical friend might add that this story is surely further evidence of Starmer’s Labour trying to muscle in on Tory territory. Trying to appeal to core Tory voters who like their elected representatives to receive questionable funding from opaque sources. It certainly highlights once again the unsavoury workings of the Westminster sausage factory. And if you love sausages, what you don’t want when you bite into your sausage is for a screen to pop up with a short film showing every stage of the sausage-making process in graphic detail. It’s best that we don’t know about these things [brief, uncharacteristic giggle before continuing], which is why the ingredients of the British sausage are still covered by the Official Secrets Act. Some might say that we live in a free market economy, and if you are legally entitled to use your or someone else’s money to buy, for example, a pencil, or an ice cream, or a house, or a deceitful side of a bus, or a newspaper, or the ownership and editorial control of a newspaper, or a not guilty verdict, then it also stands to reason that you should be able to buy covert influence with politicians. And perhaps it would all be more transparent if politicians were simply forced to wear the logos of the companies that have funded them, which works very well in Formula One. I mean, sure, there might be some suspiciously Russian-looking logos on some worryingly front-bench overalls, but at least we’d know where we stand.”

QI: I think Ed Byrne was my favourite part of this one. He looked a whole lot more relaxed than the last time I saw him, when he was tearing it up in Mock the Week’s dying days, loudly protesting every chance he got about its impending death. Here, he’s calmed down and happy to sit back and just jump in whenever he has a relevant quip. Told a few stories that were clearly crowbarred-in stand-up material, but were more than funny enough to be justified. He was quick and exactly what you want on this sort of show. I hope he’ll get some other TV thing that can bring back his wild Mock the Week persona, because that’s great fun. But this side of him is fun too.

I don’t much like Jack Dee, and he didn’t do anything to change that in this episode, so overall it wasn’t my favourite of the season. But Ed Byrne was good and Callie Beaton always has good energy on this show. Also, this is rarely the point of QI but some of the facts were pretty cool. And nothing that features Sandi Toksvig correcting people about things can be bad.

Would I Lie to You: This show continues to impress me with how good it can be regardless of who the guests are. It’s the only panel show where I don’t mind if I see a lineup full of non-comedians, because it’s mainly carried by the format and the regulars. In this episode, like in most episodes, the stories were good (or at least, they were stories about which people could say funny things), the game was fun, and Rob, David, and Lee were good. That’s what makes this show. This one had a good bit where everyone makes fun of David Mitchell for having parents.

Having said that, I was pleased to see Henning Wehn on this episode. He’s always good on WILTY, and this was no exception. Some Kevin Bridges-style drawing a story out for no reason. He made me briefly choke on a cracker from laughing just by saying the word “Nigel”. It’s early to say, but think that story is going to go down as a fan favourite from this season.

Obviously the main thing about WILTY is how well I can do at it, and this week wasn’t so good. Last week I had a strong 4-1 of guessing the answers, but this week I went 2-2, and only broke even on the last round, when I pretty much got a freebie point because obviously Lee’s story wasn’t true. Always fun when Lee Mack’s light goes on and I get to say “lie” immediately and automatically get a point. I’ll try to do better next week; this time I was thrown off by Henning’s double bluff. And in my defense, if you're too drunk to remember even the broadest outline of the fact that you took a plane ride, how the hell do you manage to get on a plane in that state?

No Catsdown this week, which is probably fine. Tonight is the first episode of Jon Richardson and Lucy Beaumont’s new panel show about celebrity couples, which mildly depresses me. I’m sure I’ve watched panel shows that are worse than that one will be (not that I intend to find out by watching it), Jon Richardson is just capable of so much more. Richard Herring and Rachel Riley as the first guests exemplifies what I think about that show’s existence – I don’t hate either of those people (I might have briefly hated Richard Herring when I first read that horrible thing he wrote in 2006, but it was one page in 2006 and he was probably sort of joking and just misjudging a tone and it’s not really worth hating him over that), I just don’t much like them. They’re both basically fine, just not my favourite thing and I’m sorry to see one of my very favourite comedians doing that with his life. But anyway, Jon Richardson’s made lots of good things and this will probably be basically fine (again, not that I intend to check).

[eddawrites]

Jayce Talis Week Day 6: Legacy

Let’s talk that one scene between Jayce and Silco...

This confrontation between two leaders who have both been backed into a corner by the other and forced to negotiate lest more harm comes to their people easily stands as one of the most tense scenes in season 1, overshadowed only by the sheer insanity of Jinx’s tea party that follows later in the same episode. More importantly, this scene is a culmination of Jayce’s character arc - from an idealistic scientist to a somewhat jaded politician who now understands the necessary evil of backdoor dealings and conferring with your enemies. But there are a few frequently overlooked details in this scene that I would hereby like to draw attention to; concretely to this line of dialogue:

[Jayce] I was reminded recently of what brought us together in the first place. The threats beyond our walls. [Silco] This city has a short memory.

During the meeting Jayce freely admits to Silco that he is afraid of the escalating conflict between the two cities, which Silco incorrectly assumes to be a sign of cowardice on Jayce’s part. Jayce, however, is not afraid of Silco, but rather of what a war might mean for the people of Zaun. With this (admittedly flawed) deal, he is trying to stop bloodshed on both sides of the bridge. But the aforementioned dialogue betrays that Jayce has reasons for parley other than the present concerns. He is aware of the possibility that a civil war would leave the twin cities open to a foreign invasion. This is a callback to the understated scene between Mel and her assistant/spy Elora in ep. 7:

[Elora] I’ve had word from our friends overseas. This threat from the undercity is drawing attention. Piltover looks vulnerable.

Delivering a letter arrived from Mel’s family, Elora informs her that unspecified forces - likely Noxus - are turning their eyes to Piltover as a possible target for an invasion. A worried Mel then replies that Jayce isn’t yet ready to deal with such a threat, having only recently been appointed to the council. Notably, after this scene, Mel begins to urge Jayce to build weapons under guise of defending city from a possible Zaunite rebellion, but I believe her she was in fact trying to prepare for this undisclosed threat. The reasons for my belief are as follow:

Mel is not on good terms with her family and is quick to shut down her mother’s request for a hextech weapon upon her arrival, therefore it is highly unlikely that she would have asked Jayce to build weapons on Ambessa’s behalf.

Mel immediately suggests going a diplomatic route in lieu of Jayce’s plan for a use of force during the council meeting in ep. 8, further confirming that her ep. 7 appeal for hextech weaponry is truly intended as a defensive measure rather than offensive purposes.

There is also this line from the confrontation with her mother near the beginning of ep. 9:

[Mel] I wanted to protect the city from people like you.

The existence of outside threats to Piltover is even highlighted as early as ep. 2 by councillor Shoola when she stresses that Piltover was originally intended as a safe haven from magic:

[Shoola] Piltover was founded to escape the warmongering of mages, not cultivate it.

Clearly, something else is afoot. While the threat may or may not be magical in nature, a third party is indisputably in play, whether the player is the same person hellbent on annihilating the Medarda Clan or someone else. While Mel does not confide in Jayce about this threat in ep. 7, choosing to instead veil the true reason for her request behind the convenient excuse of the immediate crisis, it appears that Jayce is aware of it by the time of his meeting with Silco and so this deal is just as much an attempt at appeasing Zaun as it is at deterring the possible foreign invasion. The two have likely discussed it off-screen. Given Jayce’s very recent record of impulsive decision-making under pressure, it was probably a smart choice on Mel’s part to not disclose the information before the harsh lesson Jayce learned towards the end of ep. 8.

Better the Devil You Know

Oftentimes I see people point out that effectively handing over the keys to Zaun to Silco, the same man who has been exploiting its people for nearly a decade and unleashed a harmful drug epidemic upon them for profit - amongst other things - is not an ideal solution to the problem, and Jayce appears to be just as aware of that fact as the audience is, evidenced by this bit of dialogue:

[Jayce] Believe me, if I had it my way, it’d be you rotting in Stillwater, but we can't make a deal with a snake and cut off its head. We both have our shitty parts to play.

Jayce is not comfortable with keeping Silco in power any more than us, the viewers are; however, as the matter stands he has very few options to the contrary and the most viable of those options - that being approaching Sevika with this deal instead - he is not even aware of. By rule, negotiations require some sort of leadership to be in place and Silco is the only figurehead the undercity has. The chembarons as a ruling body appear to lack any sort of hierarchy nor do they have an appointed spokesperson. Ekko simply does not have the political pull. As Jayce himself says, the only reason he is talking to Silco at all is because - to his knowledge - there is nobody else authorised to advocate for Zaun.

But even though the deal is all too generous towards Silco given Jayce’s very few demands, the most daring being asking for Jinx to be apprehended, it is not wholly without its merits - the leverage the Piltover council would gain over Zaun’s politics by inviting Silco into their ranks is of particular value; as the man himself says:

[Silco] The topsiders offered me everything. Independence, a seat at the table. All in return for you.

By putting Silco on the council, Zaun isn’t only gaining an advocate on the previously indifferent ruling body - it would also mean that Piltover would maintain a degree of power over Zaun in spite of its formal independence. Zaun is dependent on Piltover for trade much like Piltover used to be dependent on Zaun for resources before the invention of the Hexgates and becoming a major trade hub. Many of the more polluting industries are likely located in Zaun as well. Simply put: the two cities cannot exist without coexisting. Although Silco’s deal includes free access to trade routes, such privileges could easily be revoked had the council been unhappy with his leadership. And after the shimmer production would be shut down and the hextech gem returned, Silco would lose the means of intimidation he’s previously held, leaving him vulnerable to the council’s influence.

So you see, there is a failsafe in place even if it might not be apparent at first. I suspect that this particular sneaky caveat in the agreement did not come from Jayce’s own mind - he is still a rookie when it comes to the matters of politics despite being a fast learner - but rather someone with a bit more political prowess such as Mel. A piece of advice likely shared during the same talk in which she finally revealed the risk of foreign invasion. That said, it seems that she is not any more privy to the details of the deal than other councillors, shocked as she appears to be at the suggestion of independence during the council meeting proper, thus solidifying this particular decision as a show of agency from Jayce.

[robininthelabyrinth]

A continuation of NHS invites WWX to JYL's wedding, and what happened there? Perhaps about how the estemed Hanguang Jun ended up running off and eloping with the Nie sect heir's intended?

continuation of that short fic, now it’s own fic on ao3

Plus One - Chapter 2

“So,” Nie Huaisang said, sidling up to his brother and his two sworn brothers now that they’d finally gotten to the party part of the wedding and they could all huddle up in a corner to be anti-social together.

Or, well, for Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen to be anti-social and for Jin Guangyao to be forcefully restrained from attempting to perform hosting duties, which he incessantly tried to do - it was like he had no idea what servants were for. Which Nie Huaisang supposed was understandable, given everything, but the way Jin Guangshan encouraged him to do it certainly wasn’t.

“So,” Nie Mingjue said, his voice only mildly ominous in a way that suggested, to Nie Huaisang at least, that he was still finding this whole thing incredibly funny.

Accordingly, Nie Huaisang ignored him. “How much do you think I can milk being horribly dumped?” he asked. “Because I think I’m about to be horribly dumped.”

“By your new ‘intended’?” Lan Xichen said, looking amused. “Really, Huaisang, I don’t know what you were thinking by bringing him.”

“Uh, that he deserves to attend his shijie’s wedding? Obviously?”

“But to bring him to Lanling…”

“He’s my guest,” Nie Huaisang said haughtily, bringing out his fan and doing his best ‘rich young master who is better than this and is most certainly above your petty questions’ Jin sect impression. “You aren’t suggesting that the Jin sect would take back an invitation they freely issued, would they? Or breach the rules of hospitality?”

“Huaisang, Xichen didn’t mean it that way and you know it,” his brother said, sounding annoyed, but in his relaxed run-of-the-mill ‘I hate parties’ type of annoyance, rather than specifically about his behavior. “Obviously the Jin sect won’t do anything about it. Regardless of any other considerations, anything they did would be refusing to show our Nie sect face, and then I’d have to make an issue of it.”

He sounded wistful. Probably thinking about how he could use it as an excuse to storm out and go home early.

“We’re only worried about you, Huaisang,” Jin Guangyao murmured, looking remarkably calm for someone who was definitely (if unobtrusively) being blocked from leaving by two very tall men with excessive mother hen tendencies. “You’re all grown up now, not a child – you need to think about the political implications your actions might have. Aren’t you concerned about your brother’s reaction?”

Huaisang was about to explain that he’d gotten his brother’s permission, but then he remembered that they were in Lanling, full of spies, so he decided to tell Jin Guangyao about that later.

“It’s not my problem that Sect Leader Nie has to think about politics at what should be a happy family event,” he said instead, nose in the air, and Lan Xichen frowned even as Nie Mingjue sighed, probably at Nie Huaisang’s total lack of caring about even the basic obligations of etiquette. Or possibly his reference to their little inside joke, but these were his sworn brothers, so they’d have to figure out sooner or later that Sect Leader Nie and Nie Mingjue weren’t always the same. “Besides, that isn’t what I asked. I asked about how long I can milk my terrible heartbreaking break up.”

“I thought you were getting dumped?” his brother asked, passing him a jar of wine. A good brother, even if he was mocking him.

“Getting dumped leads to a break-up,” Nie Huaisang insisted. “Wei-xiong is a thankless white-eyed wolf who was just using me with absolutely no consideration of my tender feelings.”

“You have tender feelings?” his brother said. “Why wasn’t I informed of this?”

Nie Huaisang kicked him in the shin.

As usual, it had no impact whatsoever on his brother and only hurt his own toes, but it was the principle of the thing.

“Huaisang,” Lan Xichen said, his voice oddly gentle, even softer than normal. “Did you – really – for Wei Wuxian –”

Nie Huaisang, who’d been taking a drink of wine, nearly choked. “Er-ge,” he said, mildly horrified. “Please. Wei-xiong is a very handsome gentleman, fearless and dashing, with all the skills one might ask for in a son-in-law –”

“Brother-in-law,” his brother muttered, as if he hadn’t been Nie Huaisang’s de facto father figure for years.

“– and, yes, I suppose we have similar tastes in drinking, carousing, and pornography –”

“Of course you do,” Jin Guangyao said, looking up at the ceiling as if it would hide how his lips were twitching.

“– but let us not forget: he lives in a trash heap. With Wen sect. I have standards!”

“I thought he was marrying in?” Lan Xichen asked, smiling again now that he had confirmed that there was no actual heart-breaking occurring in the vicinity. “He’d live in the Unclean Realm that way, wouldn’t he?”

“He would not,” Nie Mingjue put in. “I don’t care if they’re all enlightened saints that do nothing but charity all day, no one surnamed Wen is living in my home.”

“You see what I’m up against?” Nie Huaisang said, holding out his hands in appeal to his brother’s sworn brothers. “My da-ge doesn’t understand, he’s only good for swinging a saber! How cruel and heartless must a man be to stand in the way of true love?”

Lan Xichen covered his smile with his sleeve. Jin Guangyao pressed his lips together in such a way that made his cheeks especially round and quivering with suppressed laughter, like a mouse stuffing its face to bulging with rice.

“Er-ge, you wouldn’t be nearly this cruel if it were you, would you?” Nie Huaisang asked, reaching out and tugging said sleeve. “You’d be kind and generous about it – I bet you’d find them a nice little place to live, maybe next to those foothills you’re always saying you want someone to use but that you’re not willing to sell…”

“Were you planning on moving in with er-ge after your marriage, then?” Jin Guangyao asked. He looked much more amused and relaxed now – maybe he’d been stressing over this being some sort of scheme and was feeling much better now that he realized it was actually just Nie Huaisang’s nonsense. His paranoia had always been deeply endearing. “I don’t think your brother will like that.”

“Not me,” Nie Huaisang said, rolling his eyes at him. “But if it was Lan Zhan sweeping him away, er-ge would definitely support him. Right, er-ge?”

“I always support my brother,” Lan Xichen said with a smile.

“Good,” Nie Huaisang said, taking another swallow of wine. “Because he and Wei Wuxian just had a very intense conversation in a secluded corner that ended with them kissing and running off together, so it’s about to become your problem.”

Nie Mingjue choked, Jin Guangyao’s jaw dropped, and Lan Xichen’s eyes got really big.

“Not joking,” Nie Huaisang clarified cheerfully. “Totally serious.”

“Excuse me,” Lan Xichen said, getting up very quickly. “I need to – go see –”

He didn’t even bother finishing the sentence before rushing off.

“Go with him,” Nie Mingjue said to Jin Guangyao, who blinked owlishly at him. “It’s going to be a shitshow, isn’t it? Politically, I mean.”

“Uh,” Jin Guangyao said.

“Really, da-ge,” Nie Huaisang said. “The notorious ostracized-by-the-cultivation-world demonic cultivator Wei Wuxian, the Yiling Patriarch, is abruptly reintroduced to society as my intended bride, only to be stolen away by the Lan sect’s Second Jade, the second most desirable bachelor in the cultivation world, in the middle of a wedding party thrown by Lanling Jin? I have no idea why you think this would so much as raise an eyebrow.”

“That’s a lot of words to say ‘shitshow’, which is why I didn’t,” Nie Mingjue said. “Meng Yao – Jin Guangyao – oh, fuck it, A-Yao, someone is going to need to keep their head about them and think about the political implications long enough to keep Xichen from getting himself into serious trouble, and you’re better at it than I am. Go help him. I’ll cover for you two here.”

Jin Guangyao still looked torn.

“Don’t listen to da-ge, he’s worrying too much,” Nie Huaisang volunteered his own opinion. “How much trouble can the Lan sect really get into over a matter of love?”

“I’m going at once,” Jin Guangyao said, and ran after Lan Xichen.

A moment later, Nie Huaisang handed the jar of wine back to his brother.

“Well done,” he said, voice much more neutral than it had been a moment before. “Assuming your goal was to deprive Sect Leader Jin of san-ge’s assistance while we define the situation to make it come out the way we want.”

“Couldn’t have done it without your timely assist,” Nie Mingjue said, pinching the bridge of his nose. He did so hate politics, and he hated being good at it even more. Truly there was nothing better, in Nie Huaisang’s opinion, than forcing his brother to relent and give in to the sneaky bastard half of his heritage. “Anyway, Sect Leader Jin is drunk and his heir is the groom, and thus occupied. It’s only reasonable that I, as the person with the next highest status, take charge of dispersing the news.”

“And by ‘dispersing the news’ you mean rehabilitate Wei-xiong’s reputation, get him reinstated in the Jiang sect, and arrange an appropriate marriage between him and Lan Zhan before anyone can complain about an inappropriate elopement, of course.”

“It’s called being efficient, Huaisang,” Nie Mingjue said.

“It’s called creating a countervailing alliance to the Jiang-Jin sect connection, getting both the Jiang sect and the Yiling Patriarch to owe our sect a favor – not to mention the Lan sect, too! – and conveniently also undercutting Sect Leader Jin’s authority just at the moment he’s trying to install himself as the new ruler of the cultivation world.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Huaisang,” Nie Mingjue said, finishing off the jar and putting it down. “I’m far too stupid to be considering any of that. Only good for swinging a saber, remember?”

Nie Huaisang sniggered.

“Yes, I remember,” he said. “You won a whole war against a much stronger, more numerous, and more unified force on Baxia’s strength alone, no brains required. How can I help? You want me crying or excited?”

“Whatever you think is best, Huaisang.” His brother solidified his scowling angry face, just the sort of thing a dumb brute might wear when dealing with politics that he was far too ignorant to understand. “Let’s go right some injustices, shall we?”

[therandomfandomme]

"Sometimes I really hate Americans"

that is the post I wanted to make yesterday in the middle of the night, but that is not true. I don't hate Americans, I do not know many of them, but you seem okay and I have nothing against you.

It's just that I'm tired.

I'm tired of the us-centric view the internet holds and how it sometimes seems that the USA forgets the rest of the world exists or is not also the USA but then in a different spot.

While the USA has made itself important, the world isn't all centered around it. You're problems might not be my problems and my problems might not be yours.

I know that as I make this post, I make it from a place of privilege.

I am not black, nor islamic, nor jewish, nor Roma, nor disabled. I live in West Europe, my parents are middle class and they are fully supportive of my queerness.

So I cannot make appeals on their part and I know their struggles are global, so in the USA as well as in Europe and the rest of the world we need activism for them, and I'm not trying to undermine them.

I'm also not saying that none of the USA's problems are relevant here, but I am saying that the USA's problems are more advertised everywhere. Like how I know so much about Stone Wall and hardly anything about how I got my rights, to the point that Pride overtakes those voices that fought for me.

In the years 2016-2020 I saw the US president more than my own prime minister, even in the pandamic. I know more about USA politics than those in my own country and I can argue more for changes in America than here.

And it is good that those problems are being talked about. I love learning about what I can do to help and it's good to educate yourself. It's just that American activism isn't something each country can import.

I know that if I make an awareness post for an American issue it will get more attention than if I post about the leader of our growing fascist party comparing his racists and homophobic texts with saying you dislike snow while you actually like snow.

I know that it's harder to start up conversations about the prejudice in west Europe about eastern Europe even though the word slave most likely comes from Slav due to the amount of slaves captured from there during the Carolingian era. And the cold war had a massive impact on the relationship between the two sides, not just between Russia and America.

I know the Wall was a big thing and what's happening on the border betweenthe USA and Mexico is terrible, but I see post that romanticise European borders, completely ignoring how Europe is trying to keep out so many people who are fleeing from wars we contributed to.

I know that smaller issues in America get more attention than bigger issues elsewhere, a gap that is more apparent when it's not an European country.

That's just how it is.

But that's not how it should be.

This post is not made for you to feel guilty, you are watching out for yourselves in an environment catered to you.

However, this post is meant as a call to every American. A call to ask yourself: am I as educated about the issues of other countries as I expect them to be of mine? Do I assume people are American? Will I be less invested in the issues when they're not American?

It's not your fault for your mindset, but I have had so much stress over American politics on top of my worries about my own country and I would like Americans to realize that their issues get highlighted more than others.

We don't make Americans are dumb jokes because we think that, but just because your mistakes get the most attention.

Just be kind and look to help others, I think that's what I want to motto of this post to be. Be kind and advocate for everyone, everywhere

TL;DR: The internet is an us-centric place and that can be kind of annoying when not American. Try to think of your non-American neighbors on this platform and learn about their issues too :D

[skyeventide]

I’m really really fascinated by your interpretation of Maedhros and I’d love to read more of it, I saw your comment on the post about earlier versions and then was super intrigued

-@outofangband

hello @outofangband ! thank you for the ask, I'm going to try putting it into words, though I'm usually much better at fanfiction to explain how I envision characterisation — and unfortunately I don't have any Maedhros fanfic other than To die in the light (which is less about him per se, and more about the ex thrall who interacts with him; but there's a good swathe of Maedhros as well). still, to explain:

essentially, what I meant with that specific comment is that I don't attribute to Maedhros any personal unwillingness to follow along the rebellion, the first kinslaying, or the Oath, certainly not at early stages. what I instead attribute to Maedhros is an aptitude for politics and a willingness to attempt diplomacy routes and handle public perceptions of facts, no matter how facts actually are.

a lot of this is, by necessity, extrapolation. the bare bones of characterisation are there in the text, but the flesh that is built on those bones varies, and can vary a lot. so mypersonal construction is informed by a few external things too. I basically just... don't really vibe with restrained good person Maedhros, cause that feels to me like the easiest route to construct a narrative that's contrasting, depending: his father's; his brothers'; sometimes other characters' (e.g. Elwing). and like, to each their own, but it's not my thing, and I'm not into singling out the good guy out of the bunch as a trope, it simply doesn't call to me.

I'll try to explain my points about early Maedhros (much as I'd love to explain my headcanons for the whole character arc, that would be so long and complicated that I give up without even trying lmao); also I'd like to add that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence but that's where both "personal construction" and "extrapolation" come into place. essentially, this is what I construct and extrapolate, and I'm not really interested in alternatives, I don't like them, or I just disagree with them. and by contrast, people may think the same of this.

firstly, not against the rebellion and the Oath: the early text in @undercat-overdog's post is to my knowledge the only existing text that gives insight with regard to the state of mind with which the Oath was taken. now the Silmarillion says "a dreadful oath", but the Silmarillion has reason to do so by virtue of hindsight. the entirety of the speech to the Noldor, fear and gloom of the moment aside, is a speech that pushes to action: it seems extremely fitting to me that the taking of the Oath itself should reasonably be something with an upwards push, taken without full acknowledgement of its lines and what they may entail when it comes to other elves. because the stated purpose of moving war to Morgoth is very clear throughout, and even though the reality of the war hasn't hit them yet, the awareness of its approach is very present — there is, imo, a readiness for fight and an acknowledgement of intent: killing a deity.

I also feel that "these leapt with laughter / their lord beside / with linked hands / there lightly took / the oath unbreakable" meshes fairly well with the Silmarillion version, where some of this is not kept but the sons still leap at Feanor's side, this time with their swords drawn. Maedhros in this is not called out as any different — in fact, Maedhros is not called out as being different during the feud either: "lies came between them" with regard to Fingon paints the rumour-spreading among the Noldorin factions as affecting them equally, just as it affects Fingolfin ("grew proud and jealous each of his rights and possessions").

the first kinslaying: again maedhros is not singled out as against it. and again, absence of evidence doesn't equal evidence of absence, however, my preferred method in reconstructing my understanding of canon through the skeleton of its textuality is at times trying to make sense of drafts and grabbing the fil rouge of their logical development. and, when there is someone called out as acting against the Noldor during the first kinslaying, that is Galadriel. Maedhros never even is named in this circumstance.

I also think that the modus operandi of the whole situation is a remarkable early calque of the second and third kinslaying. first, other options are exhausted first: the noldor go north, stop in Araman by foot, and decide the crossing of the ice is too costly, not doable, or otherwise not something they're willing to do (more: people directly blame Feanor for the bitter cold they're exposed to, before they have to cross, if they wish to reach Middle Earth); second, there is an attempt to convince Olwe and the Teleri via words; third, a passage that is textually absent from later deeds of the same sort, but which might be potentially inferred, the leader (here Feanor) sits alone brooding on his options; fourth, action. this is the same as what happens with the later kinslayings, even though the first was not meant to be a deadly undertaking in its conception (it was a theft). but, what I mean is, second kinslaying: failed first option, the battle of unnumbered tears, part 2 diplomatic attempt, the message to doriath, part 3, not textually stated, part 4, action. third kinslaying is muddier and I won't attempt to map it perfectly other than: delayed attack to the havens; diplomatic attempt via message; [not textually stated, may be incorporated in the delay]; action.

either way, my point is: whether Maedhros is outright leader or he isn't, there isn't any fundamental difference in the story beats of the kinslayings. inb4 "Feanor and Maedhros have different character traits" — yes, to an extent. and this is where the early draft from that post returns to my aid in terms of personality building: "the eldest, whose ardor / yet more eager burnt / than his father’s flame, / than Feanor’s wrath". now, I feel there's an important qualitative difference in ardour and wrath, but that line exists and the Silmarillion doesn't contradict it: the fire of life burns in Maedhros, the eagerness here mentioned does not fade from this draft to later versions. (inb4 “the circumstances don’t overlap perfectly”: yes of course they don’t. I’m not trying to argue that they do)

now, what happens when it's time to depart with the ships? Feanor takes counsel with his sons, and the decision is to take the loyalists and go to the other side with them first. what happens when Feanor tries to burn those ships? Maedhros gives his famous lines, "what ships and rowers will you spare to return, and whom shall they bear hither first". my extrapolation here is this: I think it's obvious that the burning was not supposed to happen; and I think it's obvious that the joint decision of Feanor and his sons, dare say of Feanor and his firstborn heir, was to send back a group and carry the rest of the Noldor to Middle Earth. Feanor says lmao fuck you and the rest is history. Maedhros doesn't take well to that, and here comes forth what I think actually distinguishes him as a character: the cool-headed pragmatism that will imo really come forth post-captivity, the diplomatic abilities, and weighing his options with a level-headedness that his father lacks — and I would like to posit, these options are not weighed in a particularly moral way: he appeals to Feanor about Fingon being carried first because Fingon rushed in and got involved in the kinslaying on their behalf (there may be different readings, but they don't appear to me as textually supported as this — and for the purpose of this I am making no difference between feelings of romance and friendship; the quality of the relationship is here irrelevant, the strength of it has more bearing). it isn't "Fingon because he's my friend", or "Fingon because he's a good guy", it's "Fingon because he killed for us". and after he is on this side, actually keeping the rest of their army, an army they need to effectively wage the war they said they would wage, becomes a cake walk.

also, I go back and forth on this, but: it's possible that Fingon gained his "the valiant" sobriquet before the Darkening; it isn't a given that it was gained in this instance, his Alqualonde attack. but I still feel like it's quite telling, whether the epithet is gained now or before, that it's brought up under these circumstances. the last "valiant" deed from Fingon has been saving the day during the kinslaying. whether Maedhros is saying it to convince his father or because he truly feels it's currently deserved, he's nonetheless saying it.

a last point is the envoy with which he accepts to meet with Morgoh's forces: this is very shortly after Feanor's death, and Maedhros goes in with more warriors than agreed, though it's still not enough to counter Morgoth's own breaking of the terms. Maedrhos in this demonstrates that he's willing to pursue diplomacy despite his father's own words, but he is neither blindly trusting nor a good person who's simply out of his depth: he goes prepared to be the larger armed force and brings none of his brothers with him. it's not enough, but the attempt is there.

which reads to me as an ardour and eagerness that are kept in check by pretty solid abilities to plan, and that do not, really, counter his father's wishes in any truly consistent way. yes, the ship burning, but in the long run having all the Noldor in ME was going to be a benefit; I feel he could have well patched-up the problems without giving up any crown. yes, the parleying with Morgoth, but they just lost their father and despite that the Dagor-nuin-Giliath is a victory: he's coming as the winning party and newly crowned king, and he might, perhaps, find another route to proceed.

so these are more or less the salient points of my personal reconstruction of "early Maedhros". it'd be too long to get into post-captivity and this post is already long lmao, but I hope this made sense to you? and clarified how I understand his character with that early draft included as an aspect.

*all opinions and analyses are personal and are not attempting to establish a true canon. they make sense to me; I’d argue that I try to make them as textually supported as possible with a canon so fragmented. if my readers’ here are different, go on y’all’s merry way.

[theseerasures]

While you're doing reactions, if you're up for it, how are you feeling about all the finale predictions you made on March 23? By my count, you scored pretty well!

hooooooo boy (the alluded post, for those just catching up)

how i feel about my predictions is that...you’re right and i scored pretty well, but much like the characters doing right in the episode itself, it didn’t matter. part of the reason why the finale made me feel so much--why i loved it, despite still being emotionally hungover from ugly affect--is because i WAS right, but i was so often right but wrong on a smaller scale, or right but wrong because i completely misunderstood the overall thematic stakes, or in one case right but in such a phenomenally cruel and roundabout way that i’m still reeling from it.

more detailed breakdown under the cut (as in “let’s unpack this,” and as in “i have an emotional breakdown”):

WHERE I WAS MOSTLY RIGHT

Team Green, Yang, the non-Robyn Happy Huntresses, Klein and the non-combatant Schnees were gimmes from the beginning, even the ones of whom we didn’t have visual confirmation by the end of Worthy.

Pietro and Maria are still MIA so i’m putting them here, but...Winter’s gonna have to tell Pietro, when he shows up again.

Cinder and the Relics i was correct about, but even though i knew going in that she would win i didn’t imagine the scale of her victory. mostly because i thought she might have learned some self-discipline and just skedaddled with the Relics in an attempt to trap as many people as possible in superhell, but a) she didn’t, and b) she won without needing to.

Salem, Watts, and Ironwood are where i predicted, but i think part of me really bought into the fan theory that maybe Salem would want to keep Atlas around. both Watts and Ironwood lasted much longer through the episode than i expected because i was working from that assumption, but with the direction the episode actually took it makes perfect sense that they exited the stage as Atlas fell--they are, after all, twin architect-destroyers of Atlas. brains and brawn.

Nora ended up in Vacuo, but she’s...uh, not happy about it. not that i expected her to be happy, but this is much much worse. og JNPR is now JUST Renora, and much as i love freewheeling modular megazord JNPR, that’s gonna hit like a truck. last time they lost someone Renora were consciously trying to play supportive teammate to Jaune, who’d just lost his partner, and Nora especially also had to talk Ren off the edge with the Kuroyuri stuff. i expect they’ll swap the dynamic this time, especially since Nora was already planning to go all independent woman before this.

Qrow, Robyn, and the AceOps are stranded, but in transit and not in Mantle, because Mantle the place is no more. and Vine is dead. the reason i posited that the AceOps might be split up was so they could find their team dynamic after it’s been unsettled, and...well. having one of them do a heroic sacrifice should do a similar trick. because i didn’t think Atlas would fall on Mantle i thought Qrow and Robyn (particularly Robyn) would get more to do, but both of them are pretty much exactly in the same place they were in at the beginning of the season: trapped in a cramped environment, cut off from the people they love and uncertain what happened to them, and unable to contribute in a way that they would consider meaningful. i’m guessing we won’t check back in with this crew for a while, but if we do it’ll be interesting to see if the Qrow and Robyn dynamic changes--like, if he has to be the one to talk her down from cabin fever and despair. (before he finds out that he was the one who should have been despairing all along.)

WHERE I WAS MOSTLY WRONG

Neo is in superhell. i had put her in Atlas because i’d overestimated Cinder’s ability to play the long game, but what the show ultimately doubled down on was that Cinder remains at heart a petty and impatient opportunist, and that’s where she’s most effective. which i dig! i dig that she has not so much improved (in means or ends) so much as learned to hold the beneficial and detrimental parts of herself farther and farther apart, because in the end they’re all the same parts, and because presumably she’ll end up starfishing out so much (who knew the way she took care of Winter’s death pigeons was foreshadowing?) that she breaks in two. and i dig Neo in superhell without Cinder, because it’ll be our first chance to see Neo not working for anyone outside of that one time she fought Cinder. if superhell does end up being part afterlife, she might also get some closure with the Torchwick stuff.

Jaune being in superhell points to it being part afterlife, because the chance for HIM to get some closure is also right there. that was always the case, but the reason i made the prediction i did was because i assumed that Jaune would remain the person he has been this whole season--this stolid, clueless but incredibly effective supporting leader. having a Jaune who is at the top of his game meet up with Pyrrha again is obviously appealing, especially to me, a person who scribbles misshapen hearts labeled “Arkos = 5evr” on all my notebooks, but at the time i didn’t think it was necessary to his story...and then the story dramatically shifted his character and threw all my carefully hedged bets off (which is something we’ll also get to with...later).

having a Jaune who has just effectively EUTHANIZED someone meet up with Pyrrha again isn’t just appealing--it’s vital. and it’s vital because the exact parameters of how and why Jaune ended up having to kill Penny is a point-for-point echo and escalation of the way the Amber to Pyrrha transfer was supposed to go. last time Jaune Arc was party to a Maiden transfer process he had no idea what was going on, and he tried to intervene when he worked out that whatever Oz was doing was going to hurt Pyrrha, and that however minute thing contributed to Pyrrha’s death and the Fall of Beacon. this time it’s not just that he knows what’s going on and the stakes of it. it’s not even just that he is the Ozpin operating the Aura Transfer machine. it is that there is no machine--there is just him, holding the knife. he knows the Amber better than the Pyrrha this time, and this time the Amber is his friend, and still whole, and choosing. not just consenting, but asking him. trusting him. so he carries it out. the old Maiden dies, and like Ozpin he dies shortly after, but not before he watches the new Maiden fail.

but he does prevent history from repeating, because a new Maiden is created, and she gets to live. and Cinder Fall has made him a murderer on top of everything else, but she WILL remember him, now.

there are other people i was wrong about, but that’s...for later.

WHERE I WAS RIGHT AND IT DIDN’T MATTER

Ruby, Blake and Weiss are all in superhell, so on paper i was right, but...well. sing it if you know the words. the reason i’m putting them in their own section is because it’s not just that they fell and didn’t jump like i thought; it’s that they would not have jumped, and that changes everything. you know how i realized that we would lose everyone, and not by choice? it was Weiss. it was when Weiss said we have to do this for Yang. Jaune had reminded Nora of what was priority one minutes before, but the implications of that didn’t sink in for me until Weiss confirmed it. they PLANNED for this. not just the eventuality where they would have to die, but the one where they’d have to watch everyone else die and do nothing except keep going.

which...has implications. the best way to read this--and i think we’re all dying for some good news--is that even if it certainly does not feel that way, RWBY was able to snatch a partial victory from Salem’s claws. they lost the Relics, but they got the Maiden powers away, and most importantly: they saved Atlas and Mantle. by the time Jaune intervened Grand Central was empty. there was no one left to evacuate. they didn’t get everyone, but they got a lot. even before Cinder intervened so catastrophically they knew how many things could go wrong, so they made a plan, and largely stuck to it. on a purely material level they only lost one thing vital to the war effort--the Staff. but they got everyone else out, which was priority one. the show in general and this arc in particular has emphasized that our heroes don’t think they should be exceptionalized, that they’ll fight tooth and nail to make sure everyone is given the treatment and respect they deserve, and they’ve made good on that. they’re Huntresses, and Huntresses be thou for the people. they chose, and they won what mattered to THEM.

but on the flip side: they chose, and there’s no way to read this choice as anything but a compromise...and a very Atlesian one at that. when confronted with calculus similar to the one JYR faced after they lost Oscar in War, our heroes chose...the opposite. one, then three, then four, then five, then six for the many. what was that number compared to two entire cities’ worth of people, especially when they’re the ones who signed up for this? i’m not trying to take this down the slippery slope where our heroes are no better than the dictator they just dethroned, because when the time came for sacrifice they chose themselves first. but it remains a sacrifice, which means that when the time came to test the hard moral limit they set for themselves, they...moved. they decided ahead of time that some risks aren’t worth taking. that this is not a situation where everyone wins, so they had to go for the next best thing, then the next best thing after that, and so on. i’m honestly not sure where it points to yet, except my usual refrain that this show is a lot less didactic than it seems, but...yeah. this is going to lead to some invigorating discussions in-universe.

and maybe it’ll start with this: that Jaune and Weiss--the two who had to verbally advocate for leaving the fallen behind--fell last of all, which means they had to watch everyone else go first. and the last person they saw was the same person. Weiss, who executed the plan to brilliant perfection, saw the past--the first family she ever had--streaking after her in an endless void, forsaking the priorities they all agreed upon, for her. Jaune, who followed the plan to execution and broke a part of himself, saw the new Maiden he crowned, backlit and pulled away by the bright future that he ensured was possible, but can no longer access.

QUEENMAKER

i’m starting with Penny, because Penny came first. there has already been a ton of discussion on the ways that she’ll come back, and while i absolutely agree that she will, for now i am not so much interested in that as i am in eulogizing this Penny. the Penny we had just now, not identical but continuous with the Penny we had before that, in the same way that everyone is not identical but continuous with who they were in the past. the Penny who IS dead, her eventual resurrection notwithstanding.

because she DID die, and her death matters. that’s the thing about the deaths in this season, and it furthers my point re: RWBY’s presumed didacticism--the show’s treatment of death has changed as our heroes have changed. it is no longer (and never was) as simple as “death and sacrifice are always senseless waste,” and more something like...”death has to matter, and we will give it meaning.” Hazel and Vine sacrificed themselves, and the fact both resulted in a “positive” outcome (more lives saved) does not make the deaths any less tragic. but neither should the tragedy of it take away from the fact that they saved lives. what separates our heroes from a Salem or a James Ironwood even now is that they recognize the importance of grievable life even as they accept inevitable death, that what is worth it all about preserving life is not to make sure that lives go on forever, but that lives have meaning and are remembered, that when you’re gone the people who are still here respect you enough to carry that meaning with them. it’s a tenuous balance to walk, but all the more important for that reason.

Penny--though her death can and will be reversed--is much the same. in every arc there has been a Game of Three Maidens (which i guess would make shogi the better metaphor and not chess because--what AM i on about), and in every Game there has been sacrifice. and i thought that would encompass Winter, here. we’d get away with it not being literal death, since Fria already took care of that, but she would be trapped on the other side of the gate--in pretty much the exact same position James Ironwood ended up in the episode itself, actually. it just seemed obvious: she’s the decoy, the one who missed the call by inches, the last revealed defector when there still was an Atlas from which to defect. all of it pointed to Winter’s story ending with one last delay barring her from salvation, of her finally being too late...

and well. i WASN’T wrong in the broad strokes, but first there was Penny Polendina. Penny could have let Jaune try to save her and Weiss die for her, but she knew she had to make a different choice to save as many lives as possible. so she offered herself up as the sacrifice instead. last week i waxed prolonged poetic about how Winter defected so recently, how it has been just IronwoodandWinter for so long, how Winter doesn’t have a team and only the healing shreds of a family, how no one would think to look for her...and then Penny did. you were my friend. (given Winter’s rough age and the hazy creation dates for the PENNY Project, it’s possible that Winter is Penny’s OLDEST friend.) Penny thought of Winter as she was dying, thought about the good Winter could do if Winter had her powers, believed in Winter, and in doing so, saved Winter’s life before anyone else’s.

she ceded the spotlight to Winter in this last episode, but this season as a whole belongs to Penny Polendina--the myriad ways she creates herself, the ways she defends her self-creation, ultimately culminating in her new body, created by no one but herself. but for her final act the Maiden of Creation did something different and no less miraculous: i thought of you. a thought was all it took.

she created someone else.

KINGSLAYER | THE MAIDEN THAT WAS PROMISED

the thing about Winter is that she came first.

no, i’m serious. i checked the fairy tale and everything--Winter came first. as the Wizard’s first visitor she encouraged him to reflect and meditate, and when probed about why she was here at all, she answered: i am waiting for my sisters. Spring and Summer have to wait, too, of course, but. Winter was the first.

Jacques and Willow named their firstborn Winter. it is not the way this story begins, but it is certainly is one of them, because the story begins with Winter, and Winter begins the story--a new retelling, a new cycle of heroism. we’ve since been introduced to other characters in that indeterminate age group between RWBY and STRQ, but Winter--by virtue of being Weiss’ older sister--anchors herself to the new generation in a way those others (even Cinder, who comes closest) do not. she started things, in the mythical emblematic way that this show likes to move, and the way she started things--the way she MADE herself start things, thanks to the house she grew up in--was with love, and protection. she took care of Weiss and laid the groundwork for the person Weiss is today, and conversely: she took care of Weiss, and through Weiss, laid the groundwork for herself and how to take care of everyone. so eventually the steel thread she tied to Weiss she also linked to Whitley, to Penny, to Marrow, to all the people they love, and on and on it goes. Winter loved Weiss, so she made herself learn how to love Weiss, and so when i say she started things what i mean is she started family. a new home, for a new generation of the orphaned.

Winter came first. but as the show demonstrates time and again, especially with Winter: first does not mean best. because being first also means you’re the prototype, a volatile thing that must be tested and tempered and then discarded to make way for what comes after, what gets improved. and it is THIS part of being first that Winter has internalized most of all. Winter, the first Maiden, taught the Wizard peace and prepared the earth so that her sisters could grow and foster and harvest the life within it; Winter, the first Schnee, laid the groundwork in her siblings, but did not wait for them. and let herself fallow in the process. she left, and every time they tried to follow or stay with her she sent them away. (she keeps sending them away; even after defecting and taking down Ironwood, the first thing she says to JNPER is go.) Winter laid the first stone in the foundation, but she cannot take credit for the home her family turned it into, for all the ways it has flourished, because she willfully absented herself of that (birth)right.

and the reason she did this was very simple: she was afraid. she could not bear the thought that while she had to learn how to love she made mistakes, the idea that instead of preparing the earth she might have poisoned the well. so she ran. she turned her face away so she would not have to look, so they would not look to her. she left, and every time one of her siblings superseded her after that, every time she was made to be their Esau--passed over--it just seemed to confirm that she was right to leave. look how well they’ve all done without her.

in the stories, eldest siblings aren’t here to win. they’re here to be made an example of, and Winter...had resigned herself to that. she was prepared to be left behind for good by all the people who have outpaced her.

but then there was Penny Polendina. Penny didn’t follow her, or try to stay; Penny came back for her. Penny remembered Winter when all Winter wanted was to be forgotten, because she’d gotten it in her head that it was what she deserved for all the things she’d done or enabled or failed to do. why did Penny remember Winter? because you were my friend. there is no divine complexity to it, nothing for Winter to fall hopeless short of. there is only the fact that Winter gave Penny something, made something together with Penny, even as she was trying her hardest not to, for fear that she would create something terrible. and this does not take away from all the ways Winter did fall short, but it is still SOMETHING. and it is enough.

it was your power, after all. Penny means the Maiden powers, but she also means THIS Maiden’s power: the power to create. you made this home, Penny is saying to Winter, you should get to reap its fruit, even if you weren’t around for the labor. all you have to do is say yes.

this was a gift. she says yes. she accepts, because in the end Winter Schnee loves her family more than she hates herself.

but then--

(a gift for what? Winter will ask herself wretchedly later, after she has failed in the two tasks she thinks Penny set for her.)

the thing about Winter is that she came first. she taught Weiss everything she knows, and she was so busy doing that she never had the time to show Weiss everything she feels. so in the end what Weiss never predicted was that for all of her team’s painful planning, for all of her own pained enforcement of that plan...none of it was a match for her sister. that when the time came it was would be WINTER who defaults to the absolute ideal of “no one gets left behind,” of “every life” meaning every life, priority one be damned.

or that Winter, in trying to choose both, in finally and fiercely trying, with surely enough power to make a difference, would fail.

what are you doing? Winter heard as she watched Weiss fall into nothingness. my life doesn’t matter.

so here, then, is the story of Winter in The Final Word: a girl returns home after having left it, but in this version it is the home who has changed and the girl who has not. and from this both are unmade. but she gets to live, because she was invited back home. and she gets to go through the portal as its last passenger, into the Promised Land.

and she is still the Maiden of Creation. even after all this, THAT is still her task. to build a refuge for her people, to collect the broken strands of the family she began and her siblings continued and expanded and reinforced, and gather them up again into a new home. it will be impossible, but at the same time: she has done this before.

and this time, she will wait for her sisters.

(a gift for what? for nothing, would be the answer. gifts aren’t FOR anything. they’re gifts.)

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Hey! Do you like tabletop rpg actual-play shows that are equal parts audio drama and improv comedy? You should check out the criminally underrated DnD podcast 'Dice Funk'. It manages to combine the comfy vibe of good friends chilling out together cracking jokes with some legitimately interesting worldbuilding that examines existing DnD lore and conventions to put its own spin on them.

 Each season is a self-contained storyline with new characters so you can jump in at whichever one sounds interesting (you might get spoilered for some stuff 'cos the PCs have a tendency to make world-altering decisions that still have big repercussions, even with the substantial timeskips between seasons, but otherwise they limit any references to earlier seasons to non-essential easter eggs to keep things accessible).

 Personally I started with seasons 3 & 4 and they served as a good introduction to some recurring concepts like "the World of Forms".

 Below the Read More I'll break down each season so you can see what appeals to you:

Season 1, "Stoneroot": A noir-esque black comedy that follows a trio of varying levels of competence attempting to solve a simple missing person case that spirals wildly out of control.

 I kind of think of this as the 'Here There Be Gerblins' of the show since it's the only season with a different GM so it has a pretty different feel to the rest of the show and takes a bit longer to find its feet.

 Personal Highlight: One of the PCs rolls a 3 Intelligence, leading to a running segment where that player brings up monsters from the Monster Manual and asks the other players if they think it has a higher or lower Int than that PC.

 Season 2, "Lorelai": A more lighthearted romp in which a cast of interplanar travellers explore the world trying to figure out the cause of a catastrophic flood and put a stop to it. According to the creators this was conceived as a cross between 'Princess Bride' and 'LoZ: Wind Waker' but morphed into more of a "moist Undertale".

 Personal Highlight: The first time the GM has to portray a mysterious entity making deals with lower life forms he decides to portray them like a wheeling-and-dealing used-car salesman and it honestly made every scene they're in a delight.

 Season 3, "Ilium": The party are trapped in a strange city that people can enter but never leave, taking whatever jobs will make ends meet. Inspired by 'Hot Fuzz' and 'Twin Peaks', this series places a lot of emphasis on how the supernatural elements affect people's normal lives and uncovering the many dark secrets these characters hold.

 Personal Highlight: The GM wrote a custom "Wild Magic" table for the party sorcerer with some absolutely buckwild shit on it. I was on the edge of my seat every time it was rolled.

 Season 4, "Valentine": A cyberpunk urban fantasy with near-future technology levels in which the cast struggle to make ends meet while doing shady jobs for uncaring megacorporations. If your familiar with DnD, this season's based on 'Shadowrun'. Probably the season most explicitly about how capitalism sucks.

 Personal Highlight: One of the PCs is a wizard who uses yugioh-esque trading cards to cast their spells instead of a spellbook. I did not anticipate being so invested in their rivalry with not-Kaiba and neither did the player.

 Season 5, "Markov": If you love unlikely found families then this is the season for you! It's a space-faring sci-fi story in a galaxy reeling from war with the colonialist Mind Flayers, setting the stage for a lot of political turmoil. If you're familiar with DnD, this story's based on 'Spelljammer' and absolutely riffs off of a lot of the bizarre ideas that setting introduced.

 Personal Highlight: The Son Gun. I will not elaborate on what this means but you'll know when you get to it.

 Season 6, "Purgatory": The season opens on a group of mortals who have just been resurrected and tasked with taking up the mantle of the Furies; interplanar assassins who traverse the various afterlives dealing with whichever god-like entities threaten the balance of power between the planes. If you've played 'Planescape: Torment' or are familiar with the city of Sigil you know what to expect.

 I honestly think this might be the best individual season of 'Dice Funk'? Everyone's really firing on all cylinders.

 Personal Highlight: King Badass has my heart. Y'all can't claim to support himbos and then not be supporting my favourite dumbass bae.

Season 7, "Wormwood": After all the previous seasons deconstructed a lot of elements of classic DnD ("what's up with certain species automatically being evil?", "isn't delving into a dungeon to murder its inhabitants and steal their stuff kinda colonialistic and messed up?", "how would access to magic actually affect the way a society functions?", etc.) this seasons brings this all together by having the closest set-up to a conventional DnD adventure. The world is post-apocalyptic and draws a lot of elements from the 'Dark Sun' setting.

 Personal Highlight: Two of the PCs are a cult leader and his follower and I thought I knew exactly what direction that storyline was going...then it absolutely surprised me.

 Season 8, "Grendel": I can't comment on this one yet since it's only just started but so far it has had a very cosy, 'Animal Crossing'-like vibe with a focus on a small community, in contrast to previous seasons' much higher stakes.