#the fact that saving a single person was enough for sp to find peace in his suffering

[ardentadoration]

“Home” by Cavetown is the Oldest Dream being adopted by the outer gods of 999

Get a load of this train wreck, his hair’s a mess and he doesn’t know who he is yet. But little do we know the stars welcome him with open arms.

[avenger-hawk]

How do you think Sasuke's story would have gone if he were never told the truth about Itachi?

Sasuke didn’t even imagine his life after Itachi’s death. Everything he lived for, everything he trained for, everything he planned, ended with his revenge, with Itachi’s death. There was nothing beyond that.

In the anime (ep478) he’s shown on the ground, beside Itachi’s dead body, falling into unconsciousness and saying: “Niisan, I’ll be seeing you soon”. I always thought that he would have wanted to die after Itachi, and that scene validates it. If someone objects that it’s something added by SP, the same thing can be seen on Sasuke’s look when he woke up in Obito’s hideout. He was an empty shell, uninterested in anything until Obito mentioned his brother and the truth. Besides, let me remind that (cap309, or ep52 or 53) when Naruto yelled at Sasuke that Orochimaru wanted to use his body as a vessel (thus implying the death of his identity, his consciousness, at the very least) Sasuke clearly replies: “If I can obtain the power to defeat Itachi by giving myself over to Orochimaru I would gladly give him my life many times over”.

(long post ahead)

Itachi has always been what kept Sasuke alive, in more than one way. He accepted to carry on the massacre to spare his life, he manipulated him so that he would have a reason to exist, making revenge his only purpose, he made sure that his hate would only be focused on him.

Even though Sasuke never really hated him, as Itachi himself noticed when he said that he didn’t have enough hate.

The future Itachi envisioned for Sasuke was for him to get stronger in Konoha then find him, and kill him, thus obtaining a new power, prestige for having killed an S-rank criminal such as he was, and most of it all peace, finally having obtained his revenge.

He miscalculated his importance for Sasuke though. He thought his brother would compartmentalize his hate somehow, being able to put it aside and live a life as normal as it could be in his circumstances, and sometimes it looked like it was almost happening, because of his bond with Kakashi, Team 7, and most of it all Naruto, whose life he saved at the cost of his own.

Yet it didn’t happen because of their meeting at the inn. That event destroyed Sasuke’s already low self-esteem, showing him how little he had grown in terms of strength, making him vulnerable to Orochimaru’s manipulation and making him eventually leave. Still for Itachi’s plan, however an unplanned setback (and a very dangerous one…I’m sure Itachi was very very worried about his brother in the hands of someone he knew very well, from his days as Danzo’s subordinate and from his Akatsuki days), it would have still led to the same conclusion. His death, by Sasuke’s hands. It would have even granted him Konoha’s pardon, because in Itachi’s mind it was obvious that once Sasuke killed him he would return to the village and resume his life.

Like I said Itachi miscalculated Sasuke’s feelings. He didn’t realize how deep they were, how irreplaceable he was for his brother, how impossible it was to compartmentalize his hate and put it aside and live normally, especially after having felt so worthless against him. Sasuke followed Orochimaru, well knowing how dangerous it was, because he needed strength, and not the strenght he could acquire in Konoha, by regular training, but the power granted by someone who put no limits on his knowledge, using forbidden jutsu and whatever he laid his hands on. Exactly what Sasuke needed to defeat someone as strong as his brother.

(In fact, the only time Sasuke looked really afraid in part 2 was exactly when Itachi was coming towards him, after he used all his powers. He was stepping back and his legs were trembling and he looked frightened. I don’t think he was afraid of dying actually, on that occasion. He was afraid of Itachi himself…actually he has that same expression even when Edo Tensei Itachi is coming towards him, although it’s for a short moment. To me it’s because his body was remembering the trauma of the night of the massacre and of that day of their final fight, before Itachi poked him and died…)

However, his revenge was a complex thing. It wasn’t like the typical revenge where you feel satisfaction and accomplishment. It wasn’t like Shikamaru’s, for example. Shikamaru hated Hidan, once he defeated him and avenged Asuma, he was satisfied and ready to move on. (I won’t consider how hypocritical is the different treatment their revenges had because this is not the topic but still)

Sasuke never really hated Itachi…even when he was running towards the inn, he remembers the best times of their childhood. Then he remembers the massacre and how evil he turned. In his memory, in his mind and heart, Itachi first appears as his beloved brother, and then as the evil murderer. It’s even more painful this way. Itach was his most important person and later he became his reason to live, someone he forced himself to hate, someone he focused on constantly, especially during his training under Orochimaru. 

The look he had when he woke up in that cave speaks volumes on how broken he was, how empty he was. It’s like his life has lost any purpose, any meaning. He only existed to avenge his clan against his brother. In the past, when he fought Gaara and protected Naruto against him, he had thought that if he were to die that day it would have meant that he wasn’t strong enough, that he wasn’t worthy enough, to carry on his revenge. It was never about him, it was always about his purpose, his brother. So he’s completely empty, before he’s told the truth, before he finds a new purpose, still related to Itachi, even more related to Itachi.

If Sasuke weren’t told the truth, he would have been completely lost, without a purpose.     

I see 3 possible outcomes. I saw 2 at first but I later edited this post with a 3rd.

He would have stayed with Obito.

I added this cause I hadn’t considered it at first but it’s not impossible. Sasuke would have left the masked weird Akatsuki guy who used to be Deidara’s partner if that very guy didn’t give him something. But Obito might have pushed on being another Uchiha, manipulating him using their common blood as connection. He might have convinced Sasuke that there is nothing in Konoha for him, and at this point he would be right and with Sasuke feeling empty and apathetic, it would be easy to ‘keep him’, and, with the right push, turn him to his side. Not because he’d want to destroy Konoha cause not knowing the truth he wouldn’t care about them, but telling him about Infinite Tsukuyomi, and the possibility to have Itachi back, for example. And Itachi who never killed their parents. A vulnerable, empty Sasuke might see this as a purpose for living.

He would have been found by Konoha.

They would have taken him back to the village, where he would have been put in jail for a hopefully short time until someone (I want to think Kakashi since he just helped Shikamaru with his. Also…because. you know.) cleared their suspicions pointing out that Itachi was an S-Rank criminal and the favor he did to the village outweighed his desertion.

Thus Sasuke would be free, he’d return to his old apartment and he’d be reinstated as a shinobi in due time. His former team would be overjoyed to have him back but he would be detached, apathetic, completely disconnected. He would live mechanically, so to speak. 

Maybe, with time, he would get better. 

This is the future Itachi envisioned for him basically. Only I don’t think Sasuke’s healing process, his moving on, would be fast or easy, and I think he’d never really be happy anyway, because his heart would still ache for the loss of his most important person who, despite having killed their parents and clan and made his life miserable, would still be in his heart, no matter how.

It would take a lot of understanding and a lot of unconditional love to be beside Sasuke without judging, without imposing their ideas and feelings on him. In this scenario I’d like Kakashi to play an important role, because Sasuke looked up to him in part 1 and they had a bond, a strong affinity and chemistry and if only Kakashi had realized that if hiding behing rules and putting the village above himself and anything personal “worked” for him as coping mechanism, it doesn’t mean it would work for everyone, certainly not for Sasuke. Same for Naruto, who should give him space and never impose his values on him.

This is more or less the typical Emi10/Rankai doujinshi AU. And in general it’s a nice AU to read. 

He would have been found by his team, Team Hebi. 

They would have healed him and stayed by his side. He would have woken up with that broken look, not hearing a single thing they said, they would have made their usual mess but they’d have kept their eyes on him, never leaving him alone. Sasuke would have probably wanted to be left alone, and maybe he would have escaped to be on his own, not eating or sleeping or anything, and they would have found him after a while and cared for him, taking him outside in the sun, showing him random little things just to keep his mind off pain and suffering and lack of will to live. 

They would travel, doing odd jobs when they got out of money.

One of my Team Hebi/Taka headcanons is that when Sasuke killed Orochimaru he also took all his money he could find, because he didn’t have anything of his own, and certainly Suigetsu or Juugo didn’t have any. Karin did have some earned money instead, but Sasuke has been shown paying for the weapons and in the anime also paying for all those desserts for Suigetsu so~

Not being in Konoha, a place with too many sad memories, would benefit Sasuke, although he wouldn’t be happy. He would find a sort of peace faster though.

When he freed Suigetsu then Orochimaru’s prisoners, Suigetsu told them to spread the word, that a man had come to bring peace to this world. Suigetsu was so grateful to Sasuke that he defined him a savior for prisoners and oppressed, a detail that has been overlooked with the further development of the plot. I think it’s an important detail that might give an idea of his possible development if he hadn’t known the truth. 

Away from Konoha, not bound by any loyalty, with his unusual comrades beside, a free group of people travelling and helping when needed.

Even though Sasuke’s heart would still ache for the loss of his most important person.

[rcardamone]

Final Part 4: A River Run Dry

The Colorado River runs 1400 miles from the central Rocky Mountains of Colorado to the Gulf of California in Mexico. It has flowed freely for untold millions of years, carving the Grand Canyon in the process. In the last century this river has gone from being an integral part of mountain and desert ecosystems to a supporter of civilization in the American West. As stated in “Living in the Environment”, the Colorado River “has been tamed by a gigantic plumbing system consisting of 14 major dams and reservoirs and canals that carry water to farmers, ranchers, industries, and cities.” Additionally, “[t]his system of dams and reservoirs provides electricity from its hydroelectric plants to roughly 40 million people in seven states--about one of every eight people in the United States…[and] supplies irrigation water that is used to produce 15% of the nation’s crops and livestock.” 1 The fact that a single river can support so much human life and activity is astounding. However, a river, in a way that is perhaps uniquely perceptible, is finite. With the Colorado River, “[s]o much water is withdrawn...that very little of it reaches the sea.” 2 Additionally, “since 1999, the system has experienced severe drought.” The waters of the Colorado must support an ever growing number of people and economic activities, while the flow is decreasing due to climatic shifts. This inevitably creates the complex problem of dividing the use of this resource, and the pressure and difficulty of this challenge will continue to increase. The Colorado River is a microcosm of the growing problem of natural capital depletion around the world. Despite economic models which insist the economy is independent of nature, it is abundantly clear that if the Colorado River dwindles, economic activities on which millions depend will follow. The same is true with hundreds of rivers around the world, and also with innumerable natural capital resources nearing exhaustion. As the dry estuary where the Colorado once met the Gulf of California indicates, finitude is no hyperbole.

Figure 1, The Parched Colorado River Delta 3

Rivers are not the only water resource that is diminishing. As Miller and Spoolman state, “water tables...are dropping quickly as farmers and rapidly growing urban areas draw dawn many aquifers faster than they can be recharged.” When the water grows scarce, tensions rise and the U.S Department of Interior is already anticipating this in “water hotspots in 17 western states. In these areas, competition for scarce freshwater...could trigger intense political and legal conflicts between states and between rural and urban areas within states.”4Certainly, as aquifers dissipate further and climate change leads to drought that reduces the presence of surface water in many regions, the tensions will continue to be exacerbated. Despite the neo-classical presupposition that when a resource runs low, the market will find replacements, there is no substitute for water.

Of course, the problem of sharing diminishing water resources is global. Miller and Spoolman point out that, “In 276 of the world’s water basins, two or more countries share the available freshwater supplies. However, not all of these countries participate in water sharing agreements. As a result, international conflicts over water are likely to occur as populations grow, as demand for water increases, and as supplies shrink in many parts of the world.” 5 It is difficult to imagine long-term peaceful resolutions, even in places where water sharing agreements do exist. The country upstream, when their economy and citizens start to suffer for lack of water, seems likely to take more than their share. Perhaps for a time agreements will survive out of goodwill, but the more dire the situation grows, the less tenable this will be for a government, which will face immense pressure from their own people to divert more water. This, like most problems that arise from the depletion of shared natural capital, is easy to anticipate and extremely difficult to imagine long term solutions for that take into account the behavior of governments and individuals when survival is at stake. However, at least for the short-term, there are examples of successful water crisis management.

The dry future is already arriving in places like California, which in late 2015, after four years of drought, faced a drought that, “across 97% of the state was classified as severe or worse.” 6 The government and citizens of California responded with a mixture of voluntary and mandatory measures. Notably, “water supply agencies raised their water rates to encourage conservation. One common approach involves using an increasing step rate structure. Users pay a certain rate for a set amount of water. Once they surpass that amount, the rate goes up. Within this structure...the largest users pay much more per volume of water than do those at the lowest level.” 7 This essential measure ensures that as use increases, so does cost. It incentivizes lower use, yet does not punish slight and severe overuse the same. Thus, a household that is slightly excessive in its water use will not bear the same level of cost per amount of excessive water as a golf course would. Additionally, many Californians are voluntarily, “replacing their grass lawns with water saving ground cover or native vegetation adapted to dry conditions.” This is a particularly effective measure because, “according to the Public Policy Institute of California, at least 40% of residential water use is for watering lawns.” Other voluntary measures include, “installing more efficient toilets and showerheads and...showering and washing clothes less frequently.” 8 These measures taken by Californians are certainly commendable, and show their awareness that drought is not an anomaly, but an unavoidable aspect of their future. Furthermore, it demonstrates an awareness that conservation of a finite resource requires personal participation in that conservation. However, it must also be noted that, much as it is with Carbon Dioxide emissions, private citizens and households are not the primary problem.

Miller and Spoolman point out that “According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), agriculture uses 78% to 80% of California’s available water in most years.”9 Thus, the measures that will have the most effect on total water use are those in relation to agriculture. Both enacted and proposed solutions have problems. For instance, “[d]ue to water restrictions imposed by the state in 2013, along with complex water rights laws, some Central Valley farmers have lost their surface water irrigation sources…[in] turn many have drilled deeper wells into the valley’s aquifers that require decades to recharge.”10 It is hard to blame the farmers, whose livelihoods depend on their ability to water their crops, for taking this step. On the other hand, it is surprising that the government either failed to anticipate this repercussion of their restrictions or failed to adequately counteract it. When putting solutions into place, particularly when they are restrictive, the government should do everything it can to ease the transition. One way to do this would be to subsidize the use of drip irrigation and other efficient irrigation technologies. Another proposed solution is, “for farmers to shift from producing thirsty crops such as alfalfa, lettuce, and almonds to producing less water intensive crops.”11 However, in order for this to be feasible there must be equivalent or near equivalent demand for these new crops. Furthermore, it would take time for the farmers to establish themselves in new markets. This is another solution that would likely require significant government subsidies. Otherwise, farmers will see their profit margins shrink to the point of untenability.

Figure 2, Almond Trees Stretch to the Horizon in California 12

There are certainly reasons for hope in California. The active participation of citizens in reducing water use in times of drought is certainly encouraging. However, to create the necessary reductions in water use, dramatic shifts must be made in agriculture. Such changes are not as simple as replacing a lawn or a shower head. However, there are certainly clear steps that can be taken such as government subsidization of drip irrigation and other technologies that increase water efficiency. However, these measures are still stopgaps in the long term. Water use reduction will have a difficult time keeping pace with the loss of snowpack and the dwindling of rivers as climate change induced drought becomes common. California, like many other places across the world, will be left with the impossible task of successfully sharing a resource when there is not enough to meet the need. This task will be significantly more difficult in other places, where pre-existing tensions between nations and groups of people which make attempts to share in good faith less likely. The unfortunate truth is that there is no economic restructuring or agreement that can keep a river from disappearing when drought hits. Even when it does flow, that finite flow cannot support everyone in an environment of ever increasing water use. It is important to remember that even roaring rivers with the staying power to carve canyons in the landscape over millions of years, are not a given.

Word Count: 1477

Question:

Are there international enforcement mechanisms to ensure that water resources are shared as agreed? Assuming yes, what do they look like and have they ever been used?

1Miller, G. Tyler, and Scott Spoolman. 2018. ​Living in the Environment.​ (Boston, MA: Cengage Learning), 324

2Miller and Spoolman, 324

3 https://www.npr.org/2012/06/26/155777834/as-colorado-river-dries-up-the-west-feels-the-pain

4Miller and Spoolman, 329

5Miller and Spoolman, 330

6Miller and Spoolman, 347

7Miler and Spoolman, 347

8Miller and Spoolman, 347

9Miller and Spoolman, 347

10Miller and Spoolman, 348

11Miller and Spoolman, 348

12https://theclippermag.com/2020/03/30/coronavirus-not-the-only-concern-for-farmers-in-california/

[grosserfluss]

30 day persona challenge ;

day 9: favorite dungeon

this challenge was really, really hard, because i ended up with two top choices, and i couldn’t for the life of me decide which one i wanted to pick in the end. but because i can only choose one, i finally chose to go with the hollow forest, but in truth i can’t even call my second place ‘second place’ because they’re extremely close, if not outright tied.

the hollow forest stands out to me as, narratively, p4′s best dungeon, and one of the best dungeons for narrative in both p4 and p5. perhaps it’s because it was not included as part of the original story plot, it does not feel like just another dungeon that you have to go through as part of the game plot to collect all your party members and whatever else it is the plot centers around ( solving the mystery, sticking it to The Man ). there is actually a reason to go into this in the story aside from ‘it’s the next part of the plot’. 

however, i would also argue that this is an impressive point of the hollow forest. often, with dungeons that are not directly plot-related, it is easy for them to feel like add-ons or shoe-horned in, particularly in the case of hollow forest where it was not part of the first game. it’s very easy to feel like they add nothing to the story and are only there for additional content for players who want more to do. but despite being an added feature, the hollow forest fits seamlessly into the narrative of p4. it doesn’t feel like ‘why is this related’ or like a branch-off; i felt like it was important to the story that we rescue marie.

which takes me to the next reason why the dungeon is my favorite; of all of them, it demonstrates and contributes directly to character development very well. i already talked in an earlier post about marie’s situation. she is unique in the fact that her social link -- where the bulk of persona’s character development usually occurs -- is actually the setup, and her dungeon -- which is usually the setup for characters -- is where the development happens. it was a lot to ask of a single dungeon, but the hollow forest accomplished it well. she struggles with identity, self-hatred, and isolation throughout the floors of the dungeon, and it is resolved in the boss fight. despite that, the development doesn’t feel rushed or campy; in fact, as i mentioned before, her boss fight and the scenes before and after it are some of my favorite in the game.

in addition to narrative and contribution to character, the dungeon’s aesthetic is also one of my favorites. i love the way it looks; i fell in love with its soft, dreamy appearance as soon as i stepped inside. the dungeon’s visuals imparted an atmosphere of loneliness, fading, longing, and memory almost immediately. i just loved that everything was blanketed in a layer of fog that, despite the role of fog in the game, was unthreatening despite the way it limited visibility. it felt instead almost comforting, and conveyed the peace, rather than fear, that marie felt accepting her isolation and suicide, even if there was also sadness. the soft whites and earthy browns also created a lulling, pleasing visual. there was nothing visually jarring or stand-out, again imparting a serene feeling upon the player as they progressed. and of course the misty pieces of inaba that marie visited throughout her social link being littered around the fringes of the scenery evoke heart-wrenching emotion. you could just imagine marie walking around her own dungeon, coming across the abstract recreation of the beef stand, and pausing to reflect sadly on the memories she’d shared with the MC and his friends there.

adding to that was the music, which is also one of my favorite tracks in the persona series. the memory track is absolutely gorgeous, and effectively captures the melancholy, longing state of nostalgia and regret that marie feels. the seamless combination of the visuals, the music, and her voice drifting across the background every now and then, all came together to present a dungeon that felt, to all the senses, permeated by marie’s soul.

finally, and this is the particular place where the hollow forest just barely edged out into first place, i love how the mechanics specific to the hollow forest also contributed to its atmosphere and symbolism. first of all, if i remember correctly, there aren’t really shadows just roaming around much in the dungeon, but they typically appear when you cut the ropes leading to different parts of the floor. unlike in other dungeons though, they are not visible beyond the barrier, but just appear occasionally as random encounters. i can’t really explain why this made an impression on me ( other than being annoying bc they were unavoidable ) but i think it added to the dream-like quality of the place since you couldn’t see the threats in front of you.

secondly, you lost all your equipment and weapons upon entering the dungeon, and could only equip what you found scattered in treasure chests throughout the dungeon. emblematically, all the default weapons your party had were “imitation --- ”, so yuu had his imitation katana, but naoto had an imitation gun, yukiko an imitation fan, etc. this highlighted the dungeon’s theme of identity always being questioned, things not being what they seemed, and the sense of unease and fear that comes with not knowing if you can believe what you thought you knew. the equipment you got throughout the dungeon also interestingly granted no stat bonuses like regular armor, but gave elemental immunity. these, along with the various SP-regen items you would find in chests, seemed like little lanterns of hope within the overall sense of melancholy and isolation, like small indications that marie was actually calling for help and in fact wanted you all to succeed and save her.

and finally, the dungeon’s iconic mechanic: SP being halved after every battle. i actually really loved how this mechanic ended up playing out for me. what happened was that the game would take however much SP you had at the end of each battle, and halve it afterwards. this sounds terrifying, and it kind of was in the sense that your entire party was constantly at low SP ( like, under 30 per person ). as this dungeon comes late in the game, the player is not used to feeling like they’re strapped for SP, especially if they’ve been grabbing cups from shuffle time and/or making use of the fox. it feels suffocating, like you’re trapped. you feel panicked because you’re afraid you might be left completely helpless against the monsters.

this is exactly the feeling that marie feels. trapped. suffocated by a situation she has no control over. like she’s on the verge of being overwhelmed by invisible demons.

and yet. as mentioned before, the dungeon is scattered with SP-regen items in its treasure chests. you get a bunch of these, easily enough to equip all your characters with at least the low-level ones, if not some of your more SP-heavy fighters with the ones that recover 8 or even 16 SP per turn. coupled with invigorate 3 on naoto and even MC if you’re prepared, this means that the reality is you will almost never use more SP than you regen in a turn. what this all leads to is the feeling that you’re constantly in danger of hitting rock bottom, but there’s always that bit of something that keeps you from getting there. you’re never completely done for. it just feels like it. and for them to work that extremely powerful message -- not only about mental health, but life in general -- into the mechanics of how the dungeon plays is very masterful.

i already talked a bunch in another post about how amazing the boss fight for the dungeon is, so i won’t recap that again. but it is easily my favorite boss fight in p4 as well, possibly in all of persona. the hollow forest was an incredible breath of fresh air in the midst of persona 4′s otherwise average narrative and character. it really felt like a diamond in the rough.

honorable mentions: futaba’s palace ( the second-place that’s actually more like a tie or maybe a 1.2 ), secret laboratory ( naoto’s dungeon ), void quest ( mitsuo’s dungeon )