#storyworlds meta

[pynkhues]

ive just read part of an interview that says iwtv s1 was originally going to be the whole book and they had scripts written but amc asked them if they could just do s1 in new orleans. i think thats really interesting that it wasn't the writers choice from the start, and i know we cant compare because we haven't seen what the show would have been, but i think it makes for a better show this way. you really feel the weight and hurt in the relationships. what do you think?

Oh, that is really interesting, anon! I absolutely think it was the right call. The season already moved at such a breakneck speed (and I think actually would've benefit from being a longer season already) that I can't even imagine what it would've been to try and put the whole first book into seven episodes.

I think ending the season with Lestat's 'murder' is a really organic place to end it, and it bookends the season with two not-quite-deaths - Louis' and Lestat's - in a way that creates a really thematically strong season of TV. It's also - - mmm - - makes for a satisfying conclusion if the show had been a failure and was cancelled, which of course was a possibility (and thankfully hasn't been the case).

Like you said though, I think it's a poignant place to end it in terms of emotional stakes, but I think too that with Claudia and Louis heading to Europe next season, it really creates a logical transition point for the series to open up. The external world expands for these characters as Louis' internal world shuts down, and I think thematically that's just so ripe with possibility.

It also gives them space to I think bring other parts of the books, particularly The Vampire Lestat, into the second season as well. Between Armand's role being formally introduced and potentially being able to introduce characters like Gabrielle earlier (which I suspect they will do, given she's got so much potential as a bridging character while Lestat and Louis are separated and can introduce elements from the second book in a way not many characters outside of Lestat himself can), pulling that second half of the book out for s2 works in more ways than one.

So yeah! I definitely think it was the right call. I actually saw an interview too where Rolin Jones said that each episode more or less ended up being twenty pages of the book, which I thought was really interesting as well.

[wayward-imp]

As an editor and a publisher, it is absolutely fascinating to me to watch fans of an older work like SVSSS react to the fact that it is being edited.

There are all kinds of reasons to edit an older work, and it is (or at least it should be) ultimately the writer's call what they want to change. An edit after sitting on a story for a decade is bound to bring different aspects to the fore, because the author is a different person rereading their work with an evolved perspective. I think seeing how the world tree has grown inside their evolving imagination is an exciting thing!

But at the same time, the fans have already built out that storyworld in their own imaginations and run its roots through their collective body of thought. That's a powerful thing, and the fear that some part of the world tree you have loved and nourished will be summarily pruned is a valid one for fans to have.

I'm also a fan, and I've been nourishing my own version of that storyworld for years, too. Just because the author gets to prune their version doesn't mean they're pruning mine. Although I CAN choose to reference the shape they highlight in their edits, I don't HAVE to. I just get to have a choice between two main points of reference, the edited version and the original work (plus all the fan versions and different translations I’ve encountered, because let’s not forget that translations are a kind of edit, too).

Not to dip too much into the obvious parallels here, but I just think, Airplane would edit PIDW pretty vehemently if he had the choice to do so after his years in the storyworld and all the changes to his emotional landscape.

And Shen Yuan, for all he pans the original work and lived out his self-insert fix-it fic gay little dreams… Shen Yuan would be just as scared by every little potential change Airplane might possibly make.

Shen Yuan feels possessive of Airplane's story. He pokes fun, but he still deep down loves that storyworld... and yet he wouldn't trust Airplane to do a good job taking care of it. Not even when Airplane is the one who planted and grew it in the first place!

But that's because Shen Yuan is an antifan. He loves the storyworld that he read so fervently, but his identity is as someone who doesn't believe the author can write well, and doesn't believe the story was good, so he doesn't see his own love. He couldn’t trust that Airplane would do a good job with edits because he can’t admit that Airplane actually did a good job the first time around.

I'm not an anti-fan.

I have enormous faith in MXTX's writing chops, and I'm sure that whatever edits she makes to SVSSS will be fascinating and lucid choices, even if it turns out that some of them aren't to my own personal taste, or if they prune away a detail I loved.

More to the point, though... I am really looking forward to our particular batshit obsessive fandom doing deep dives and meta-focused rereads once an edited version of SVSSS is available. We all had so much fun doing it the first time, and now you're telling me we get to go AGAIN?!

[stvlti]

linger like a sandwalk - a playlist for Dune Part Two

I'm back 💃 after 2 years of not posting new playlists for my fandoms 💃 this new Dune movie is living in my head rent free 😮‍💨 of course I had to make fanmix for this one to try and consolidate my thoughts.

Tracks ⏏️

Bloodline -- Gabriels  //  No Church in the Wild -- Jay-Z & Kanye West  //  Mary Magdalene -- FKA Twigs  //  Pink Matter  -- Frank Ocean  //  Smother -- Daughter  //  Say You'll Go -- Janelle Monáe  //  A Time of Quiet Between Storms (Dune Part Two OST) -- Hans Zimmer  //  Your Blood -- Nothing But Thieves  //  The River -- Kero Kero Bonito  //  Bad Religion -- Frank Ocean  //  Telekinesis -- Travis Scott ft. SZA & Future  //  Transform -- Daniel Caesar ft. Charlotte Day Wilson

Meta ⏏️

An explanation of the song choices & related thoughts on the film *

(*) I still have not read the book *lies down* As soon as life slows down I swear I will. The 2 Denis Villeneuve films combined already make for a rich narrative and storyworld however, and this playlist is very much based on that.

▶️ Bloodline -- Gabriels

It's the bloodline This thing came before you Bloodline

I wanted to open this playlist on something that gets right at (one of) the core themes of Villeneuve's Dune, and to me that is the idea of bloodlines, legacies and self-fulfilling prophecies.

Birth rights can be stole Truth is you were always alone Tears in your hands Seems you lost before you began Your ancestors' blood fed the soil and the sand

I think a point that many filmgoers miss - and is also a point I missed on my first viewing of Part Two - is that the Lisan Al Gaib prophecy and Paul's claim to it is wholly manufactured. Upon rewatch, several lines in the 2 films jumped out to me: 'On Arrakis, a path has been laid' (Mother Mohiam in Part One), and first Paul (during his first meal in Sietch Tabr) and then Lady Jessica's declaration that they must persuade the non-believers that he is the Lisan Al Gaib so as to ensure their continued survival among the Fremen. Irulan's later commentary, 'these are our religious patterns', cemented this fact for me. We are reminded that The Bene Gesserit has sent missionaries to the Fremen over decades and centuries, creating the religious circumstances for Paul to consolidate power among the natives. He has as much a claim to the title of the Mahdi / Lisan Al Gaib as any other outerworlder from the Houses of the Imperium - that is to say, he isn't really the Chosen One. 'Birth rights can be stole', and this is a birth right he stole.

Yet, he does undoubtedly hail from his mother's Bene Gesserit lineage and, through consuming the Water of Life, inherit the ancestral memories of both his masculine and feminine forebearers from both the royal bloodlines and the Fremen lineage of Reverend Mothers. (We see this during the montage after he takes the WoL, falling through a super cut of the faces of the Fremen Reverend Mothers who came before him before eventually finding a vision of Alia on the sand dunes.) His 'ancestors' blood fed the soil and the sand' on which he now stands as the (false) prophet that will lead his Fremen tribe to ruin...

It's the bloodline Don't let it destroy you Bloodline

... and in ascending to the title of the Mahdi, he will undoubtedly lose everything that made him Paul the individual in the first place. Greater prophecies, plans and conspiracies will eclipse his humanity. This is the real bloodline that drives him to war and genocide. 'Don't let it destroy you' - but maybe it's already too late.

▶️ No Church in the Wild -- Jay-Z & Kanye West

I mean, come on, this song choice is just too obvious isn't it?

Human beings in a mob What's a mob to a king? What's a king to a God? What's a God to a non-believer who don't believe in anything? Will he make it out alive? Alright, alright No church in the wild

'Mob' = the Fremen and their Fedaykin guerilla troops. 'King' = Rabban, and later Feyd-Rautha, and the Harkonnen regime. 'God' = Paul as Mahdi and Muad'dib, the desert terrorist. 'Non-believer' = Chani and her brethren among the Northern skeptics.

But the sonical landscape of this song also played a huge part in my inclusion of the song on this list. I'm a lover of words before all else, but something about Dune made me want to curate a sonically coherent playlist that accompanies the story in lyrics as much as it does in sound. The grueling, forward momentum of this song's iconic beat lends itself to the raids the Fedaykin warriors launched against the Harkonnen-controlled spice fields.

▶️ Mary Magdalene -- FKA Twigs

In my head I call this the quintessential Bene Gesserit song. Listen, and read the lyrics:

A woman's work A woman's prerogative

The song makes it clear from the very first lines that it's about the woman's birthright and sovereignty. Most of the Bene Gesserit ladies we see in this film have roots in the royal bloodlines themselves. In that, they have a claim to a particular prerogative. Yet they also actively govern the domain of procreation, descendancy, succession, and survival of royal bloodlines. That is the nature of 'a woman's work' in this storyworld.

A woman's touch, a sacred geometry I know where you start, where you end How to please, how to curse Yes, I learnt you needed me Yes, I'm here to open you Yes, I know that your heart is blue (So cold)

FKA Twigs' darkly seductive vocals paired with this particular verse really evokes that entire Lady Fenring/Feyd-Rautha sequence.

I fear before the fire True as Mary Magdalene Creature of desire Come just a little bit closer to me Step just a little bit closer to me

The seduction continues here, but there's power inherent in the 'creature of desire' Mary Magdalene represents. Her story and her iconography bears a heavy resemblance to the Bene Gesserit sisters and their relationships with the men of the Imperium and its court.

I can lift you higher I do it like Mary Magdalene I want you to say it Come just a little bit closer 'til we collide

A woman's hands So dark and provocative A nurturing breath that could stroke Your divine confidence

I really fuck with the Mary Magdalene allegory in this song, and the chorus nails the mythos and authority she commands in modern reimaginings of her figure in relation to Jesus' mythos. Yet there's something softer in the latter half of the chorus - the devotion she shows to her partner is on equal footing, less of manipulation and more of the muse she can be for him to realise his full potential. With the arrival of the second verse we truly see how important she is to a man's dominion. 'A nurturing breath that could stroke [His] divine confidence': that is the power of Lady's Jessica's love for and devotion to Leto Atreides.

A woman's war Unoccupied history True nature won't search to destroy If it doesn't make sense

Of course, it would be remiss of me not to point out that certain parts of the Bene Gesserit's characterisation functions as a manifestation and perpetuation of Frank Herbert's very of-its-time misogynistic, gender essentialist ideas of a woman's station and the (only) avenue through which she derives her power in the material world - her womb. (Miss me with that radical feminist bs.) But we also see, in the film, Princess Irulan's character: a female historian whom the film suggests would have been happier free from the trappings of the Bene Gesserit programme and her Imperial lineage. 'A woman's war; unoccupied history': Mary Magdalene is a prime example of how for most of history, women are often anonymous (as that Virginia Woolf saying goes), their histories are often erased and deemed as unimportant; Irulan's inner thoughts and history are also cast aside and given no voice in the Dune narrative, but in an ironic twist, she dedicates her life to documenting the history of others.

▶️  Pink Matter -- Frank Ocean

What do you think my brain is made for? Is it just a container for the mind? This great, grey matter Sensei replied, "What is your woman? Is she just a container for the child?" That soft, pink matter

This song provides more of a male - or at least, androgynous - perspective on the question of the Bene Gesserit breeding programme ('Is she just a container for the child?' / 'My God, she's giving me pleasure'). But it gets right at the core of the question of whether the women in this universe, and the avenue through which they gain power, is truly confined to being 'just a container for the child'. I also really liked the direct parallels Frank Ocean's lyrics draw between the womb (pink matter) and the mind (grey matter), as the other main source of power Jessica drives from is through her mind and the prescience becoming the Reverend Mother has afforded her.

▶️ Smother -- Daughter

In my head I call this Lady Jessica's song.

I want all that is not mine I want him, but we're not right In the darkness, I will meet my creators And they will all agree that I'm a suffocator

I think it's more intimate than either of the 2 songs that come before this one, and centres Jessica squarely in her role as a mother before her place as a Bene Gesserit sister. She knows she will meet her creators - the generations of mothers and Bene Gesserit sisters who came before her - and she knows they will disapprove of the path she has manipulated to suit her ends, first for Duke Leto (in bearing him a son) and then for her son's survival (in spreading propaganda of him as the Lisan Al Gaib among the Fremen tribes). Now I know that the films sort of reduce her to a one-dimensional villain in Part Two, but I've heard that she is a lot less gungho about their little homegrown personality cult of Paul as the Lisan Al Gaib / Mahdi in the book. In fact, his accelerated transformation into a religious figurehead and his willingness to exploit the Fremen for that, at the cost of his own humanity, seems to be an unintended outcome that she regrets. She has unwittingly become a 'suffocator', in that regard - a mother killing her own child's humanity in his metaphorical cradle as soon as she exposed him to tales of the prophecy.

Oh love I'm sorry if I smothered you I sometimes wish I'd stayed inside My mother

▶️  Say You'll Go -- Janelle Monáe

Say you'll go to Nirvana Will you leave Samsara? Or in the words of Dhammapada, "Who will lead? Who will follow?" Our love will sail in this ark The world could end outside our window Let's find forever And write our name in fire on each others' hearts

Something about Janelle's crooning vocals against the symphonic strings and melodies just makes this a timeless love song. I love including it in for my ships 🥺 and I think it rather fits PaulChani, the star-crossed lovers that they are. 'Let's find forever' is my 'I will love you as long as I breathe'.

But of course, the question of whether Paul will go south looms over their heads like the Sword of Damocles. 'Will you leave Samsara? ... Who will lead? Who will follow?'

▶️  A Time of Quiet Between Storms (Dune Part Two OST)

Among the Dune OST, this song holds a higher and special place in my heart because of the way it celebrates their first on-screen kiss, but is also used as a reprise of sorts at the end of the film as Chani walks out on Paul. It's a bittersweet track. And it's lived in my mind rent free much the same way that last shot of Chani, with her quivering lips and angry eyes, has.

This brings me to the name of the playlist: the PaulChani tragedy, and just, the film as a whole, has definitely lingered in my mind. It has dragged against my thoughts gently, but persistently like the rhythm of a sandwalk.

I also chose to place it in the middle of playlist to sever it into 2 parts, much the same way the film is severed into 2 parts: before Paul undergoes the Water of Life ritual, when he is still an idealistic boy who actively rejects the title of the Mahdi for fear of the wartorn future he's foreseen, and afterwards, when he claims the mantle of the Mahdi.

▶️  Your Blood -- Nothing But Thieves

You know it's your blood that I bleed Tell me that there's some way that I'll get through the night I carry your moral disease I don't wanna be something I'm not to stay alive

You guys don't know how long I've wanted to put this song on a fanmix!! I've called this Joey Wilson/Jericho's song from the moment I heard it 😂 but I think the same themes can be found in Paul's story too, specifically his first scene right after recovering from the Water of Life ritual. 'We're Harkonnens.' And his realisation that that's how they'll survive: by becoming Harkonnens. It's the Baron's blood that he bleeds, and conflicted as he is about that, eventually he'll come to realise that he has to 'be something I'm not to stay alive'.

▶️  The River -- Kero Kero Bonito

Holy mother Receive our hearts in your arms And let our souls pass The day the rain returns again

These 4 lines are repeated throughout the song, almost like a prayer. It reminds me of the way Stilgar holds onto those same 4 words, 'As it was written', throughout the film as an affirmation of his religious convictions - the belief that the true Mahdi will bring paradise one day and with it, the rain.

When Earth is submerging And heaven is open The river will carry all of us to Where we belong ... Then a torrent crashes down Releasing the jungle swelling in the ground And as was foretold our time is out

▶️  Bad Religion -- Frank Ocean

If it brings me to my knees It's a bad religion This unrequited love To me, it's nothing but a one-man cult And cyanide in my styrofoam cup I can never make him love me Never make him love me

This song places us in Chani's pov. To her, Paul's meteoric rise of notoriety among the Fremen is 'nohting but a one-man cult'. She loved him as he was - an outsider who stayed humble and learnt her ways, and earned a place among her Fedaykin brethren. But as a power-tripping outerworlder claiming to be the Mahdi - she doesn't recognise him, and she 'can never make him love [her]' again, not as the man he has become.

▶️  Telekinesis -- Travis Scott ft. SZA & Future

I could've took the pain and I could've went out sad Streets stepped in and raised me, but I ain't have my daddy

So I'm gonna be honest: this is actually the track that started this entire project for me 🙈 But you see it, right? Travis Scott as Paul's voice, and SZA as Chani's...

I can see the future, it's lookin' like we level through the sky I can't wait to live in glory in eternal lastin' life

The fact that 'I can see the future' is the refrain of this song. In its original context I'm almost certain that Travis meant it less literally, and more in the realm of being able to guess the trajectory of his career as he continues to top the charts as a hip hop superstar. But it lends well to the context of Paul's religious myth-making as well. 'Eternal lasting life' and all that.

How can I sleep when you're out catchin' bodies? I still wanna be with you, trust me, I know that's insane ... We both ain't shit and it's workin' for me Workin' for me, yeah I can see the future, I can see the future

The thing that breaks my heart about the ending of the film is that you can see Chani still loves Paul, but not who he has become. I also like that the song flips the refrain around and has SZA sing it too. Except when she says, 'I can see the future', she says it self-deprecatingly. It's a future of more heartbreak and betrayal (by way of mutual infidelity) and ruin.

▶️  Transform -- Daniel Caesar ft. Charlotte Day Wilson

If a leopard never changes its spots How can I change what I've got? Transform, transform, transform, transform We don't punish the tiger for catching its prey So how am I the one to blame? If it's in my nature Transform, transform, transform, transform

One thing rewatching these films has made me realise is that Paul's 'sudden flip' to becoming a coloniser exploiting the Fremen's religion for his own gains in Imperial politics after drinking the Water of Life is actually less of a plot twist and more of an inevitability that has been advertised since Part One. Towards the end of the first film, he says to Liet Kynes that he intends to marry one of the Emperor's daughters and make a play for the throne. In Part Two, during his first meal at Sietch Tabr, he says to his mother that he must convince the non-believers that he is the Lisan Al Gaib. He may not have intended to bear the mantle of the Mahdi, perhaps he was foolishly, idealistically looking for a different path towards revenge and the throne, but he has never been above playing the game and utilising court politics to secure his 'victory', so to speak. He was born of royal blood and forged in those politics. It's in his nature.

It's never over until life ends Lay down beside me, do it again

These 2 lines reminds me again of that promise Paul and Chani exchanged: 'I will love you as long as I breathe'. (And if I remember correctly, Chani said something to the effect of 'I will be here for you as long as you stay who you are' as well.) I didn't want to end this playlist on a downer ending, hence this song choice.

If you've made it this far into my meta-commentary, thank you! Hope you've enjoyed this playlist ♡

[indigoinka]

Hi! I’m finally getting around to that intro post I promised months ago, and honestly, you could be here for some time.

I’m squatting on a whole bunch of social media accounts, but this is the only place I feel safe anymore, though I do have a little reader group on the Meta-hole (🤢). I wish I could get my AuDHD head around Discord, but it feels like the old Yahoo boards mated with a speeding train, and I'm just too tired for that. 

Wherever you look, I’ll be indigoinka or Inka York there.

This is me:

About me, then:

I love tea. Would I even be British if I didn’t?

I love cake. British.

And cider. British.

Yeah, and pie.

Food. I like food.

Please rec queer TV shows to me because I don’t watch as much as I should, and sometimes I just need to refill my crusty old well.

I love supporting indie authors, and rarely read trad stuff these days unless the blurb and sample are god tier.

Feel free to ask questions and tag me in writing games, or whatever shenanigans you get up to around here.

What do I write?

I write queer books, mostly urban fantasy, and usually set in the same storyworld. I also write contemporary gay romance, sometimes with an alien twist. And I’m wide with my books, so you can find them at all the major online retailers and in library catalogues.

I write what I like to read, which sometimes includes problematic tropes, but mostly includes wholesome shit like twin stories, sibling banter, ride or die friendships, a hearty mix of fluff and angst, found families, annoying ghosts, salty supernaturals, cinnamon rolls with knives, and sentient vehicles. Oh, and goats. I love me a judgemental goat.

My favourite tropes

Well, it started as a love triangle/square/dodecahedron, but now everybody's fucking (I don't know what this trope is actually called)

Forced proximity/only one bed (or coffin, in my case)

Friends to lovers (AKA idiots who took too long to notice how perfect they are)

Grumpy/Sunshine

Secret twins

Rivals to lovers

Hurt/comfort

My storyworlds

Cascade Apocrypha (queer paranormal/urban fantasy in many subgenres from pirate adventures to cosy mysteries to paranormal romance)

Feverish (contemporary gay romance)

Dracate System (AKA Gay Space Bridgerton)

My books

My first series, Not the Same River, is urban fantasy, upper YA/crossover, set in the Cascade Apocrypha storyworld. It features angels, demons, vamps, vaewolves, goats, succubus nuns, and villains to cry over. Book five is out this month, and the final book is out in February. This is the story of my heart, and the one that spurred a thousand spin-offs that I'll never have time to write.

The first book in that series, A Storm of Paper Starlings, is complete on Wattpad and Inkitt. I was gonna put it on AO3, but it feels weird because I tore all my Potter fics down when JKR started flashing her arse at the entire world, and everything I had on there felt dirty. Anyway, I digress. I might go back. Talk me into it.

I also have two other books updating on Wattpad:

🩷 Victorian Vampire Daddy (MM historical romantic suspense/Cascade Apocrypha)

🩷 My Ex & His Boyfriend (MMM/Feverish storyworld)

My other current series, Tales from the Noctuary (Cascade Apocrypha), has two books out at the retailers:

🩷 Secrets at the Door (historical mystery/suspense with lesbian romance): fat, beekeeping lesbian vampire, queer well-demon with a bad haircut, nonbinary treasure who sometimes makes bad decisions, everybody be gay.

🩷 Puddles in the Pavement (historical mystery and outright shenanigans): queer archangel brother detectives, a perky butler, an escort of indeterminate gender with the worst singing voice in the known world, a vampire duke with terrible table manners, and a Home Secretary with an unasked for appendage (let's hope that doesn't get around).

I have two more books written for this series so far, which will likely debut in my subscription.

Getting to that...

My subscription

13 Club: After Dark is hosted at Ream Stories, the only subscription platform designed specifically for authors and readers, and it is amazing.

You just click on the book cover you want, and the app will drop you into the social e-reader right where you left off, so you can comment right there inside the story. It’s like Patreon + Wattpad + a community board + extra sauce.

Honestly, I could gush about it all week.

This is also me:

So, what’s there?

Well, first, you can follow me there (which is free, obvs) and get access to:

The Weakest Link (Not the Same River #0): features the series MC’s twin sister and the coven she grew up in.

The Cursed Bones of Sergeant Boom!: a contemporary paranormal mystery involving a ghost who gatecrashed a funeral and got followed home by a necromantified corgi (as one does).

Pride’s Treasure: a series of mini adventures with characters from all the stories above, where all the chaos is your fault, because the MC of this story is YOU!

In the paid tiers, there’s 8 weeks early access to the two stories updating on Wattpad, the whole Not the Same River series so far (book 5 is updating now, before it hits the retailers at the end of October 2023). There’s also a 13 Club exclusive story called Earth Render, which is MMMMF (but not reverse harem), again set in the Cascade Apocrypha storyworld. That one features a witch with no beginning, a raven shifter with the best taste in pets, a vampire with memory issues, a vaewolf who can’t control his wolfism, and a nephilim with a huge secret. I promise not to give the Archangel Gabriel a horse penis in this story 👀

There are also physical welcome packs for some of the tiers, and all members are rewarded with After Darkling points, which they can save up each month for sweet treats, like a personalised drabble, or a one-shot featuring their favourite character, or some mystery merch. I love my After Darklings and my little club so much.

My main WIPs at the moment are:

Earth Render serial (mentioned above)

The Dryad's Curse: Pirates of Siorai trilogy (paranormal pirate adventure with romance/Cascade Apocrypha)

Gay Space Bridgerton (space fantasy romance with interplanetary political intrigue and hapless humans/Dracate System)

Almost done... maybe

That was a whole lot of intro (mate, do I love the word shenanigans), but I’m a busy goblin, and though my days are only marginally more comfortable than my painful nights, I still feel grateful that I get to do this every day.

I’d love to chat with you here, on Wattpad,  in my FB group (same name as my sub) or over at 13 Club: After Dark. My subscription is what keeps me and my writing going, so if you’re here because you already love my stories, and you have the means, I’d love to see you over there. Your support would mean the world to me, whether it’s a follow or more. I love in-story comments more than life.

I’d love more friends on here, though. So if you’re into queer media and love reading, feel free to follow and I'll follow back.

That’s it from me. I’m finally shutting the fuck up.

Come chat with me whenever you want.

Stay safe!

❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜

[tezerenotameiki]

like doomed by the narrative isnt when bad or tragic things happen to a character (especially when it’s their fault!) it’s when the storyworld itself is deliberately and irrevocably set up against the character to the point of being near a meta level. you cannot escape your fate bc it was written ahead of time. both of those characters could have done LITERALLY anything else x

[plutos-by-the-dozen]

Anemone: a continual-build storyworld

A series of stories, or perhaps a forum roleplay, about reef ecology -- written as xenofiction

I'd start with clownfish establishing anemone territory and building their coalitions, engaging in anthropomorphized rituals to determine their roles in the hierarchy

Naturally, different groups of clownfish would interact, and some would disperse to form their own families

The whole time I'm writing this, I'd wanna research clownfish thoroughly to understand their biology & behaviors (and anemones!)

Eventually, we branch out into other species living in the area. Predators, competitors, symbiotes, neutrals. Start to build a reef and create complex social dynamics. Get kelp forests and algae mats in the mix. Wandering jellyfish. Maybe a whale fall.

A meta society? I hope so!

I don't really have an endpoint or resolution in mind. I don't know if I need to, if I'm mainly doing this for the purpose of learning. But I've found that stories and storygames need something to work toward or against, and ideally a win/loss/end condition. It's a later priority, but something to think about.

Finally, I'd want to do ART. So much art! Drawing for learning, drawing for worldbuilding, and to make beautiful things for their own sake.

[pml1225-blog]

2: the legend of the Legend of Zelda

The fictional chronology of the Legend of Zelda is honestly just a hot steaming pile of dog doodoo. Most people agree that a timeline was kind of cobbled together in 2011 to clarify why there was a seemingly identical kid named Link fighting Ganon so many times, tying together the existing releases. It’s not coincidence that this first appearance of the official timeline was linked to the release of Skyward Sword, the prequel to the entire timeline explaining the origin of the legendary conflict between Link, Zelda, and Ganon. Essentially, the overall story of Hyrule, the world of Legend of Zelda, is that Link, Zelda, and Ganon are destined to wage an eternal conflict over the ages, with each Link who seals Ganon away being christened a new Hero. For example, Link from Ocarina of Time becomes The Hero of Time, Link from Twilight Princess becomes the Hero of Twilight, and the link from Spirit Tracks becomes…the Hero of Trains. (Seriously.) However, while the exact history of the Legend of Zelda is convoluted and almost nonsensical at points*, the sense of lore is so strong and contributes to the experience of so many of these games, especially the ones that I (and everyone else) love the most.

Spirit Tracks was lowkey actually kind of fun.

So much of the magic of the Legend of Zelda comes from the role the “legend” itself plays in the world of Zelda. Like legends in the real world, the stories of the Hero Link are passed down through oral and written tradition by the residents of Hyrule. And like real stories, they morph and redefine themselves over time. Most of the “main games” take place so far in the future from the previous Link that his story is an actual legend – a fable that people tell their children, like the epic of Gilgamesh or King Alexander. Thus, the player often occupies a state built on dramatic irony – the non-player characters will tell you the story of Link, the Triforce, and the Master Sword, all while you (a different Link) are creating a new story with the same elements that people far in the future will tell. This creates so many fun, beautiful, and poignant moments that gives the story a sense of grandness.  You are constantly reminded that you are one in a line of Heroes, but also, players who follow the series closely will have actually been all the Heroes at one point in time. It’s a cool feeling, to say the least.

The Hero of Time, as depicted in the opening scroll of Wind Waker.

In the Wind Waker, the Hyrule you enter as a player is one where Ganondorf was defeated, but when he returned, the Hero of Time (Link from the previous game Ocarina of Time) who defeated him was nowhere to be found (there is a Very Important Plot Reason for the Hero of Time to not reappear, but the point is that the populace of Hyrule does not know this). Hyrule is flooded in order to protect the citizens of Hyrule from Ganon’s wrath, splitting the kingdom into separated islands, but his threat is always looming and growing, unbeknownst to the peaceful residents. The Hero of Time’s legend, is therefore, a bit tainted. He succeeded once, but since he seemingly disappeared, people have grown to slowly forget him or not believe in him. This is evident throughout the game. On the island where Link lives, all boys receive the traditional hero’s garb when they become the same age as the Hero of Time and are forced to wear it for a day, hoping to inspire them with courage. However, the meaning of this tradition is long diluted. All Link wants to do is play with his dear sister Aryll. He’s not going to be inspired with courage and set sail for Ganon’s fortress and fight him himself – he’s not the Hero of Time – so why bother with this nonsense?

The face of the future Hero of the Winds, everyone.

Only after some wild coincidences involving Aryll being mistakenly captured in place of a pirate named Tetra does Link begrudgingly set out on his adventure. Even still, he doesn’t set out to kill Ganondorf – he sets out to save his sister. As Link gets essentially roped into defeating Ganondork, the player is constantly reminded through interactions with various residents of Hyrule that the Hero’s story is just a tall tale, and people have stopped believing in a Hero who will come to save them. People are just trying to live their lives as best they can, unaware of the growing threat that Ganondorf presents. The foolish ones who still believe in the Hero are also children like the Rito Medli, and are ushered in as the next generation of sages.

These kids are the future! Fitting with the overall themes of the game of letting the past die to ensure the future, Wind Waker ends with Link and Zelda searching for a new land to call Hyrule after completely flooding this Hyrule (again). It’s kind of like the end of Thor: Ragnarok, except Thanos doesn’t come later (spoiler) (lmao)

When Link finds the flooded Hyrule Castle, where the Master Sword has been hidden, and is confronted with a statue of the Hero of Time, the impact is incredible. You realize that the Hero of Time was real, a young boy clad in green just like you, and you really are the successor, ready to confront Ganon himself.

The moment™, shortly before you get the Master Sword and truly embrace the role of the Hero.

This is the magic that the Legend of Zelda can bring. As Link travels across the flooded remains of Hyrule, the player gets the sense of a people who lost hope. They don’t see Link as the next incarnation of the Hero, but as what he really is: a kid who got thrown into an adventure while he was cosplaying. The fact that Link of Wind Waker can be both is what makes it such a fun game, and gives the player so much satisfaction to create the next chapter of the legend.

[courting-stories-blog]

Analysis of Class in ACOTAR

I took the opportunity this weekend to reread A Court of Mist and Fury - the second book in the ACOTAR series. I had forgotten a lot of the details and key quote (THERE ARE SO MANY GOOD QUOTES) which I'll be sure to post more of here in the upcoming weeks, but something else I would like to focus on is the discussion of class in the series.

In A Court of Mist and Fury, when Feyre and Rhysand travel to the Summer Court, Feyre has an interesting conversation with the High Lord of Summer, Lord Tarquin. The Summer Court has a vast treasure collection, and Feyre asks to see it, citing her background as a merchant's daughter as motivation for her interest in such things - she would like to "compare mortal riches to those in Fae hands" (Chapter 33, pg 288). Tarquin agrees, then follows with his own question, asking what the mortal world is like.

Image of Tarquin found here

At this point, Feyre responds honestly, telling her personal narrative and the small slice of the human world to which she was exposed. But she goes on to describe her perceived difference in class lines in the mortal world as opposed to Prythian. She says, "Here [in Prythian], class lines are far more blurred, it seems. There, it's defined by money. Either you have it and you don't share it, or you are left to starve and fight for your survival... [her] father... regained his wealth once [she] went to Prythian, and the very people who had once been content to let us starve were once again our friends" (Chapter 33, pg 288).

While in terms of money, I agree with Feyre -- in Prythian, people are not so much divided based on monetary possessions. But in terms of more blurred class lines, I disagree. While in Prythian, Feyre has been exposed to even less than she was in the mortal world. She has only ever lived in the home of a High Lord and she only come in contact with a very niche population: High Lords and their inner circle. Outside this elite group, class lines become very clearly defined, namely, in the separation of High Fae and Lower Fae, something Tarquin points out to Feyre in their conversation. Far from an equal society, Prythian bestows many inherent privileges on High Fae, putting them at a definite advantage over "lesser faeries," an inequality which manifests itself in the terms used to describe each group. Rather than money, class is determined by power, magical prowress, and, perhaps most importantly, birth. As such, Sarah J Maas comments on the relative nature of discrimination. In different cultures, people groups, and societies at large, class divides may manifest itself differently, though for the vast majority of groups, it inevitiably does exist. Though this isn't directly connected, Feyre and  Tarquin's conversation makes me think about a book I read recently, The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs. In this book, Sachs comments on the nature of poverty, arguing that it has no one form. In fact, poverty itself is relative - one who may be considered impoverished in the United States would likely be viewed as affluent in Bangladesh.

Image found here

While I realize my comment on poverty is tangential, it was nonetheless initiated by reading ACOMAF. Even though this series falls solidly in the YA genre, it still has the capacity to push readers to think about these highly valuable topics.

So, I have a question for y'all -- what has ACOTAR (or any other YA book you've read recently) made you think more about? This can be on the global scale, domestic, local, you name it!

[dunderpediaa-blog]

Post 6: Justice for Jan Levinson

Unpopular opinion: Jan Levinson, while unanimously feared and disliked by those in the office and warehouse, actually is a character that deserves more recognition. 

Her sexy, dangerously controlling nature always intrigued me, and I thought she had a softer side which exposed itself in rare, exciting moments. I didn’’t think The Office’s writers did her justice by nearly writing her out of the show mid-season five. As actress Melora Hardin (who played Jan) says in an exclusive interview with Buddy TV, “I really like Jan. Although she might be manipulative at times, I think she’s got a good heart and is really trying her best out there in life, even if she trips up a bit or things don’t go her way.”

I find the episodes in which Jan shows her softer side to be very endearing, perhaps because these emotions are coming from a character who is usually so nitty-gritty and commandeering. Many of these episodes encompass Jan and Michael’s relationship, which starts as a woozy, one-night stand (or so Michael has us believe) after a business meeting (S2 E7) where Michael impresses Jan by winning over a client. Prior to this, Jan saw Michael as a nuisance who offered the office zero professionalism. At this point in time, Jan is Michael’s boss and works as Vice President of Sales at the corporate office in New York. However, closing the sale resulted in Jan being impressed with Michael and them drunkenly kissing and spending the night in a hotel; however, Jan wants to forget that this ever happened the morning after. During the rest of Season 2 and half of Season 3, Jan continues to treat Michael in a typical boss-employee manner. Their relationship resumes again shortly before Back From Vacation (S3 E11), where it is later revealed that the two took an intimate trip to Sandals, Jamaica on short notice.

Hardin prides herself on recreating a character who borders on inappropriateness, even if she doesn’t identify as Jan herself. Jan is a funny character not for her sense of humor, but rather for the oxymorons she represents. For instance, she is supposed to keep her relationship with Michael secret to avoid any conflict of interest. However, she comes to Scranton from New York City on several occasions to see Michael, and some (ok, most) of these visits involved them getting sexual in Michael’s office. During work hours. In broad daylight. If that’s not inappropriate, I don’t know what is.

The downside? I date Michael Scott publicly and collapse into myself like a dying star. 

--Jan in Cocktails (S3 E18), when the two become official

Another instance of Jan’s inappropriateness is when she tries to get Michael back after a brief split in the middle of Season 3. She comes back to his office to woo him, and he is ready to tell her no, until he sees her new appearance. Jan is intentionally wearing a very low cut V-neck to expose her new boob job, and as expected, this move reels Michael back in immediately. 

Despite sounding distasteful, I personally find a lot of Jan-induced situational humor hilarious. Out of context and perhaps injected into another sitcom, Jan might be looked down upon. However, intermixed with the themes of sexual harassment and inappropriateness from The Office, Jan fits right in. She is the very definition of a femme fatale who carries her sex appeal on her sleeve and Michael’s dignity on the other. 

Towards the end of Season 3, we can already see Jan’s career trajectory begin to unravel. She is fired from her position as VP of Sales for being “extremely unstable” and “unable to complete her work.” As she struggles with unemployment, she begins to live off Michael’s money and spends it recklessly. Michael doesn’t have the heart to tell her to stop and she is unaware of her bad habit for a while until Michael finally takes Creed’s advice to “Declare bankruptcy!” In a dramatic moment during Money (S4 E4), Michael hops a train in a last-ditch effort to get away. However, Jan is driving up to the office and runs after him. She finds him, apologizes wholeheartedly for not realizing she was putting him in such a tight financial situation, and declares her appreciation for him. While her delivery is a bit constrained, it is the most emotional, kind and genuine I had seen Jan to this date.

A rare display of kindness from Jan.

The entire premise of Michael and Jan still remains an example of a dysfunctional relationship, which culminates in a violent ending during Dinner Party (S4 E13). This continues Jan’s purpose as a character who exudes inappropriateness. Her relationship with Michael in an ideal office either never would’ve happened, or would’ve been kept under wraps until either of them switched teams so they weren’t directly managing or being managed by the other. However, the tension and contrast between the two characters is so strong that, to quote Hardin, “[it] ...had you dying for the two characters to hook up.” Opposites attract, and that certainly was the case with Michael and Jan until the physical aspect of their relationship was no longer enough to sustain it.

While Jan’s character analysis is primarily shaped through her relationship with Michael, there are several interesting plot lines I am interested in seeing her play out post-breakup. After Goodbye Toby (S4 E19) towards the end of Season 4, Jan is largely written out albeit a few mentions in Season 7 and Season 9. Her last appearance includes a platonic encounter with Michael at the supermarket, where she reveals she is pregnant. Michael at first is in shock that she cheated on him during their relationship, but she clarifies that she is expecting a baby girl via artificial insemination. Michael congratulates her and spends the rest of the day feeling as if he just found out he was the father (not the case). He offers to accompany Jan to Lamaze classes and helps her out with chores out of the goodness of his heart. However, this ‘fatherly role’ ends after the baby is born. Jan did not notify Michael that she was going into labor as she didn’t want him to become overly attached to a child that wasn’t his. Michael is visibly upset when he finds out Astrid, the baby girl, has already been born. The season concludes when Michael finally meets Astrid, but he doesn’t feel the same connection with the baby as he does with someone he truly cares for, [SPOIILER] his new love interest, Holly. [SPOIILER]

Throughout her ups and downs in the first four seasons, Jan Levinson is truly a remarkably mysterious character. Since I haven’t gotten to Season 7 yet, I’m not sure what has become of Jan since the end of Season 4. I am interested to hear about her relationship with her daughter and whether she is back on the dating market. I am also eager to see her interact with Michael again, and to see whether the two are awkward exes or remain on good terms. While every person has their flaws, Jan seems to be an amalgamation of many different character flaws I myself and most people around me possess. It surely is interesting to watch a character full of vices play herself out on screen, and it helps us viewers out with our character flaws by distancing ourselves from her for better or for worse. Thank you, Jan. You are the antithesis of pure and evil we don’t deserve.

[adonutshoppe-blog]

Women in Kingdom Hearts

Despite Kingdom Hearts being so closely connected with the Disney universe, which arguably caters more towards young girls than young boys, the games clearly leave much to be desired with respect to female representation and development within the game. And while I recognize this is a trend across most role-play video games, I had hoped that a game that caters to a somewhat younger audience and that lacks the violence and bloodshed that marks RPG’s as a “boys’ game” would at least make steps to ensure their female characters received as much love as their male counterparts.

One notable example is Kairi, one of Sora’s best friends. She, together with a boy named Riku, grew up together with Sora on Destiny Islands, and the trio are technically the main protagonists in the series, Riku even serving as a main antagonist. Despite that, she serves barely any screen time in Kingdom Hearts (she’s pretty much in a coma for 90% of it), and in Kingdom Hearts II (where she’s once again kidnapped). Especially compared to the development and strength shown by the other two main characters, Kairi is notably lacking and trapped in a passive role, despite being a rare Keyblade wielder like Sora and Riku. The manga adaptation of the series showcases her personality more, revealing Kairi to be charismatic, strong-willed, and independent, but these traits are barely touched on in the video game itself.

Kairi is also one of the six “Princesses of Heart,” who possess no darkness within them and have hearts of pure light. Despite their apparent power to unlock Kingdom Hearts, which is the heart of all worlds and basically everything, they are all easily snatched from their homes and rendered prisoners by those who tried to possess this source of infinite power. Besides Kairi, I don’t recall any of them even having lines, much less any character development.

There are plenty of female characters within the series, but very few are of actual depth. If they possess power, they are often tools to be used by others (like Xion and Namine), or they play an antagonists role (several members of Organization XII are female, or Maleficent). It’s frustrating to see female characters receive less care and attention from the game developers, especially because I love these games so much, and I’m hoping that the release of Kingdom Hearts III might see some changes to this trend.

[sarasa-cat]

Ya know.

Ten to fifteen years ago if I wanted to just make an interesting little point about something in a piece of media I'd just plunk down in front of my keyboard and type a short meta essay.

This past handful of years? Uhhhhhhh...... errrrrrrrr.......

weelllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.....

I'll just quietly think my little thoughts inside the peace and quiet of my own zen-like mind.

[miss-watolock]

Final Reflection

I was really hoping to have done more creative little projects on this blog - creating gifs, videos, even creative writing. 

But there’s nothing stopping me, after the conclusion of the academic project portion of this blog! 

There’s a lot more that can be said about Miss Sherlock, and the tributaries of all sorts that stem from Sherlock Holmes canon. The show itself could be analyzed in so many other ways apart from what I’ve covered so far on this blog with the show composition itself, camera work, specific plot choices, placing what has been a mainly Western story into a Japanese setting and context and genderbending it at that. The characters of Sherlock and Wato themselves are fascinating in their own right - Sherlock’s name has been revealed (Futaba Sara Shelley) but not the reason for her use of Sherlock itself, and the characterization of Wato in comparison to the standards of the Watsonian character would be great to delve into. 

I’m really craving for more Miss Sherlock content - fanmade and canon-wise. To give the fall of Sherlock without her inevitable revitalization would just be :/

It’s safe to say that Miss Sherlock is my most favorite rendition of any Sherlock Holmes content, and I recommend it to anyone who loves Sherlock Holmes in any capacity. Please. If you haven’t watched season 1, do yourself a favor and watch it. The actresses have definitely done other shows, and Miss Sherlock has demonstrated their strong acting chops and I myself am tempted to check out some of their other stuff. 

It has been rewarding to take something I’ve so enjoyed and critically analyze it and look at various aspects of the show, and I definitely want to continue this kind of interaction with other types of content I enjoy. 

That being said, I’m nowhere done with the Miss Sherlock fandom. A fan forever, if you will. 

[therealnickho-blog]

Westworld: Conclusion

Westworld has had a tremendous impact on me. It challenged me to engage with the meta in a way that I had previously never been expected to do. It was my hope that with this project, I would be able to re-watch parts of the show with a more critical lens and take the time to truly appreciate all that Westworld has to offer.

I started off with a general idea of what I wanted to tackle. I think there have been several attempts in recent years to create narratives that expose the dark side of humanity, particularly as our technological capabilities become increasingly advanced. I had intended on spending a lot more time focusing on artificial intelligence and its implications for our world. But as I was drafting the post, I found it to be unmotivated and almost predictable. Shortly thereafter, I scrapped the post and decided to take a new direction.

Westworld does not exist in a vacuum. It engages with the viewers and other works on several levels. I wanted to peel back the layers of Westworld and explore some of these levels with my posts. Unsurprisingly, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy are very intelligent and thoughtful writers and directors. They seamlessly weaved numerous allegories and references that influenced their vision. While I feel satisfied with those that I was able to address (i.e. Wild West setting, man vs. creation genre, etc.), there were many that I missed.

For instance, Westworld is filled with references to several religious allegories and works of Shakespeare that I wasn’t able to explore. To be frank, I was slightly intimidated with the task and limited by my previous exposure. To fully appreciate Westworld requires a dearth of literary knowledge that I did not feel that I was equipped with.

In retrospect, I think this exercise could have benefitted from more foresight and planning on my part. While I feel like I was thorough in my analyses and covered a variety of topics, from a birds-eye view, my Tumblr feels incomplete and disjointed. The posts don’t follow any particular direction; rather they feel like a collection of random thoughts and ideas that I wanted to explore.

Part of this is a testament to how massive Westworld is. There’s no way that seven posts can capture all the intricacies of this enormous storyworld. I think that had I narrowed the scope of the blog, I would have been able to curate a more concentrated and coherent Tumblr. For example, after reviewing all my posts, one of the underlying themes that I think I tried to emphasize was how disruptive Westworld is. While I alluded to how it deviates from certain trends (i.e. multiple timelines, strong female leads) I never explicitly emphasized that this was my intent and indeed didn’t even use the word disruptive until my final post.

At the very least, I hope I was able to communicate how much fun I have had with the show and with this Tumblr. It truly made me rethink how I understand narratives and storytelling.

[gumjester]

Your meta about the narrators and time is absolutely incredible and for some reason it made me think about sound. Which. Arguably wouldn’t exist in EAH, right? Because it’s a book, and those don’t speak, you “hear” it in your head when you read but it’s not the same as actually making a sound. Unless you’re reading out loud, and there’s SOMETHING in there that I haven’t thought about long enough to articulate. something about taking a bit of the storyworld and making it real or bringing the narrators to life or being, in a sense, a narrator and therefore involved in the story on that level. But ok when do people read out loud? Well parents read to their children (I’m starting to sound crazy aren’t I) and now I’m just imagining Brooke’s parents “reading” to her through IRL parents reading to their children. Like the parallels... the MIRRORing... the cyclical nature of family... the cyclical nature of storytelling (yep completely crazy)

NO FUCK NO YOU'RE ONTO SOMETHING

now there is some confusion to be had here about the existence of sound in the tv vs the book universes - we're not about to get into whether they're different universes entirely or different articulations of the same universe because otherwise i'd be here all night - but we at least know in the books, sound is not a tangible component of that universe, along with lots of other things (that is a fun thing about the books: everything is a lot more conceptual, so reality can be squished and poked about in ways the tv show wouldn't allow. it's also why i think that a wonderlandiful world would never have translated well to screen, despite my burning need for a cartoon adaptation).

and you're right! the only way you can involve sound as we perceive it with the story is by reading the story aloud! my thought was that the book narrators were reading the story aloud in a more meta-textual sense, in that, they are manifesting the words to the paper so there is anything to read at all (we've been over the whole "eah exists as an unspoken concept" thing in another post so i won't go on) but yes! in reading a book aloud we become the narrators of our own dimension, i suppose!

and the thing about the cyclical nature of storytelling is REALLY TRUE! because the idea of true existence being granted by reading aloud links brilliantly back to the origin of all fairytales which was, of course, folktales! stories told around fires and to children in beds and at the weaving table, fables that were passed down orally from generation to generation and eventually harnessed into the written word by the brothers grimm (in their most commercial form, of course) (ooooo something something stories existing in their purest form as spoken word and the brothers grimm constraining them to writing = stifling nature of the destiny system something something)

GOSH, much to think about, this is such a brilliant brain snack, thank you for bringing it to my attention!!

[hircyon]

16, 18, and 20 for the ask meme

16 - Tried anything new with your writing lately?

I'm actually rewriting Dogtooth again and structuring both parts (which were originally meant to be published separately to bookend Absence) as a single story. It might not work, it might just be more confusing to read, but I'm thinking it'll move the plot along and account for Dogtooth Part I's lack of driving force. I don't normally do this kind of intertwined plot structure. I'm literal and bullheaded with my pacing, so everything moves at a pretty consistent forward pace and I rarely do flashbacks. Having two stories running simultaneously with one in flashback is going to be a stylistic experiment.

18 - Do any of your stories have alternative versions? (plotlines that you abandoned, AUs of your own work, different characterisations?)

Oh boy, so uh. I've mentioned before that my shared storyworld with moonlenoircrow has multiple branching AUs, but I really mean it. I like to take a concept and explore all avenues. Branch wherever it seems interesting and motivating to the characters. This is more of a thought exercise because I have, idk, some sort of MDD so I'm exploring these stories mentally all the time. I don't write most of these down.

I made a flowchart because I'm the visio bitch now, just for our Phindian stories and AU-of-AU branches. It's wild. I should maybe try to put one together for all my AUs, if that would even work.

20 - Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about

This is hard because a lot of the meta relates to things I want readers to be able to understand from the text. I so want to ramble about the symbolism and character motivations, but I also want my stories to stand on their own and be comprehensible. That's important to me. Whether or not my writing will motivate readers to dig deeply into critical reading, I don't know. You can't really expect that from fanfic; the reader-story relationship is different. I think fanfic is meant to be more consumable and here I'm trying to write it like all the other litfic I do. So maybe I'll ramble after I have things published.

[averagefolksfandom]

on “wise woman” vs “prophetess”

So we know from the beta pilot that the citizens of Vallis refer to Terra’s position as the “wise woman,” to the point where most of them seem not to even know the position can be called “prophetess.” Meanwhile, Terra refers to herself as a prophetess, and the narrator as well as all marketing materials we’ve seen so far have referred to her as a prophetess as well. On a more meta level, the term used by the narrator and marketing materials suggests “prophetess” will be the dominant term moving forward, but every good DnD player knows how to separate meta knowledge from player knowledge, and this is a post about the in-universe implications, so we’ll leave it at that. 

Terra suggests that the term difference has to do with a culture one between wherever she came from and Vallis. Makes sense, makes sense. I am *super* here for those kinds of vocabulary shifts based on culture/location, makes the storyworld feel that much more real. What’s really interesting to note though is that Terra is repeatedly shown to be uncomfortable/upset by/annoyed with the term “wise woman” being used instead. I have two things to say about this.

1.) It could be that Terra is as unfamiliar with the term “wise woman” as Vallis is with “prophetess,” and since everything else around her is new and strange already, she may very likely feel threatened by the idea of a profession name change. Labels can become tied to identity, after all, so the shift may feel to her like a shift in/change of identity. (I say “threatened by”; she may not think of it like that necessarily, as she doesn’t seem to like feeling threatened and would be resistant to admitting that’s the case, but acknowledged or not, she can and has responded with hostility [correcting the others, sometimes forcefully]. But I digress.) 

2.) It could be that Terra is familiar with the term “wise woman,” but the name means something different where she comes from. We know nothing about wherever she’s from. For all we know, that’s what people call something entirely different and maybe even against her values. If that were the case, the shift in language would be personally distressing even if she understands that the name is just different in Vallis. In a worst-case scenario, it could be the equivalent of going to another country and finding out that your job is casually referred to as the slur for it in your country. 

NOW. In any case, Terra is the one coming into a new culture, and more than that, she’s coming into a service role for the community. Part of her job is to learn the new culture and adjust to it, and allowing the job title change might be part of that. The fact that she doesn’t seem to think so is really fascinating to me. She corrects citizens of Vallis repeatedly, and seems insistent that the title not change. That’s what led me to consider the two ideas above^^ in the first place. This could easily count against her with the people (folks?) of Vallis, as she may come off as pretentious or unwilling to really learn about their way of life. I don’t think that’s actually true of Terra, but whatever her reasons for this term insistence, it’s a possible conflict moving forward. 

There’s one other thing I want to say here, and that’s the possibility that this role is exclusive to women. I considered as much before the beta came out and we just had the name “prophetess,” but that’s such an easy title to shift based on gender that I didn’t dive too deep into it. BUT, with the addition of “wise woman,” it seems more likely that the position is women-only. (Am I saying that because “wise woman” is only alliteration if it’s woman? A little bit yes. I admit, I can be shallow, and I fucking love alliteration.) Especially in a society that doesn’t adhere to the gender binary in the same way we so often do (especially in matters relating to god, as their god specifically does not adhere to the gender binary), having both in-universe titles for this job hinge on the gender of the title-holder seems odd. This seems to suggest the position is women-only, and to that, I have only one question: Why? Why must the “authorized earpiece,” as I think the summary put it, of the Great They be a woman? Is that the same in every culture? Unique to a handful? Has it always been this way? Maybe my obsession with the Genesis story is shining through, but, does a different creation story have anything to do with it?? I’m intrigued. I’m fascinated. I have no other sources to pull from until the kickstarter succeeds and I can begin the long wait till next summer, so I really can’t get any further (ha, I say that now, but if this spiral can happen in a single shift, imagine all the shifts I have between now and then).