#to spend more time examining their characters' motivations

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Plot Holes & Other Structural Issues

Create chapter maps to find the main issues within your manuscript.

This method is faster than reading through your entire manuscript without knowing what you’re looking for.

Examine your chapter maps for the following…

Plot Issues

Would these events really happen?

Does the inciting incident happen early enough to grab the reader?

Are there errors in the chronology of events?

Are you able to trace the plot arcs throughout the whole manuscript? For example, is there a storyline that just drops off mid-way through?

Can you follow all your subplots to the end?

Are the events well-linked? Are there any holes in the plot that need to be filled?

How is the manuscript structured? Chapters, parts, various different sections? Is it working in this format?

Can something be done to strengthen how it’s presented to the reader?

Is there enough conflict?

Have you made the stakes high enough?

Why are these events happening?

Have you adequately described what set them in motion?

Does each individual event progress the story?

Is the plot complicated enough to sustain the story until the last page?

Is the plot too complex?

Character Issues

Whose story is this? Who is telling it? Is it engaging enough?

Do you believe the characters’ motivations? Are these clear enough?

Are the support/minor characters sufficiently developed? Is there a character you’d like to see become more prominent? Is there room for a new subplot or point of view? How would this affect the current structure of your novel?

Is the development of your characters limited by the point of view you have chosen for your novel? For example, if you’ve used a child’s point of view but need to explain something complicated, how can you resolve this?

What are the reasons behind your protagonist’s decisions? Do these link back to their original motivations?

Do the characters talk in a believable way? Does this reflect their background?

Is the reader given enough reason early on to care about your characters and what happens to them later?

Do your characters change and develop in conjunction with their experiences?

Does the reader see your protagonist at their best and their worst?

Have you made your characters as in-depth as possible? Where could you add in more backstory?

Do the backstories of your characters affect the plot? How? Make sure this is worked in throughout the novel.

Do the relationships in the narrative progress realistically?

What else can you do to make things difficult for your protagonist?

Does the reader experience a range of authentic emotions due to the characters and their interactions?

Would the character really react in this way to an event?

Is each character the appropriate choice for the role they play in the narrative?

Do you have both likeable and unlikable characters?

Is your protagonist active enough?

Are the traits of your characters distinctive and consistent throughout the novel?

Are the descriptions of the characters consistent throughout? For example, you don’t want a character’s hair to be red in Chapter 1, but blonde in Chapter 11 without any reason.

Setting Issues

Is there a strong sense of place? Are there elements of history and culture? How can these factors be developed further?

Does the setting suit the events that are occurring?

Does the setting create a sense of intrigue? Enough that the reader wants to spend time here?

Are the settings described using multiple senses?

Do you favour one sense in particular? Make sure you even this out.

Are the settings logical in terms of their relation to one another?

Are the details of the setting such as climate and conditions realistic? Does more research need to be done?

Does the setting require fact-checking?

Would a different setting be more effective?

Are the settings consistent throughout the novel? Such as the number of rooms in a house, or the position of a window?

Pacing Issues

Consistency of pacing: do the subplots, climaxes, and tension work in the current order?

Is the speed at which events unfold suitable to your genre and target reader?

Are the major events in the novel given the weight they need and deserve?

Is there enough description in the manuscript that the reader feels grounded within your world?

Is there so much description that the story lags?

What are the turning points of the narrative?

How can the tension be built further in these sections?

Examine the beginning and end of the manuscript by themselves: are they gripping enough? Do they convey enough information without giving everything away? Are they effective in terms of the author’s intentions?

Are there too many action scenes in a row?

Are there passages bogged down by too much detail?

Other Issues

Is the story accessible to the reader? Can the reader relate?

Does each chapter start and end with a hook?

Are the tone, content and language appropriate for the target reader?

Is the point of view maintained throughout the various scenes? Is it consistent?

Is there one element of the story that overwhelms the rest? Try to even things out.

Are character thoughts, actions, and dialogue balanced out with setting and description?

Source ⚜ Writing Notes & References More: On Editing

[suguru-getos]

Honkai Star Rail men when you don’t say ‘I love you’ back | Genre: Fluff ♥️

Characters included: Dan Heng, Sampo Koski, Jing Yuan, Blade

Dan Heng:

“I love you” the soft coo that came out of Dan Heng’s voice when you made him his favorite meal, especially when he was sick was remarkably cute. You smiled back, urging him to take another bite when you noticed a bland, poker faced expression, something Trailblazer and March 7 were already used to, plastered all over his face.

You chuckled, rolling your eyes and wanting to tease him a bit more; clearing your throat— “What is it? Did you not like the taste of the soup I made?”

Dan Heng could swear he knew what you were upto, pushing his buttons so easily. He both, hated and loved how much control you had over him. Raising a brow, squinting as if you’d just eaten the last slice of his favorite pizza, he cleared his throat again. “I, love, you.”

As if he’s waiting for his examination results, Dan Heng looked at you, eagerly waiting for a response from your parted lips.

…Silence

“I swear if you don’t—”

“Aww, I love you too Dan Heng,” you cooed, kissing his forehead giving up as soon as his pouting became prominent. A victorious huff escaped him as he begrudgingly sipped another spoon of the soup.

Sampo Koski:

“Come on, baby—” Sampo was following you throughout the house like a lost pup. He had only one ask of you tonight, to forgive him for bailing out of the date you planned at the very last minute.

“You know I’d never— purposely do that! Things got— eh, things just got weird and hard to handle, try to understand. Sampo Koski always stays by his friends’ side, then you? You are my significant other!” You scoffed, trying to hide a smile that came at you dauntingly after hearing him confess his love to you.

“Baby, I love you.” He mumbled, almost whining it like a child as he snakes his arms behind you, hugging you against his large frame.

You didn’t respond, even though you had no issues saying it back. You just liked how he was all over the place to make things normal. You really loved that about Sampo. “Please please pleaseeeeee! Say it back.” Sampo begged, kissing your cheek and chanting phrases about how it’ll never happen again.

“Sheesh, I love you too Sampo.” You finally gave up with a chuckle.

“I love you, I love you~ that’s my baby!”

Jing Yuan:

You had been dating the Cloud General for a while now, had it been a fun ride? Certainly not, but his presence does light up your life significantly. It’s safe to say that you both have a ‘pull each other’s leg’ relationship.

“I love you, my divine perfection.” Jing Yuan softly cooed, relishing the time you both got to spend together, in each other’s arms. After being busy for what felt like an eternity.

You hummed in approval, no response other than that. Jing Yuan kissed your shoulder, hands soothingly caressing your arms as he mumbled, “Do you not love me back? Little menace~” you smirked, chuckling at his response, he did want you to say it back. He wanted that— adorably bad.

“Mhm~ I do.” You played along a little bit more, biting your lip and bursting into a fit of laughter when he ticked you softly.

“Then say it back!”

“Alright! Alright! I love you too—” you managed to form barely a sentence, finally letting him hear those words and bask in them

Blade:

You and Blade had decided to spar together today, him being reckless and dangerous as always, only when it’s you— he’s careful. Pinning you against the wall, he leaned in, relishing the fact that you both had been at it for hours now, gasping for air. “I love you”

Blade and feelings didn’t go hand in hand, but the very fact that he’s been so open with you? Makes you want to be a tease. “Oh yeah?” You smirked, raising a brow and whispering. “Good for you.”

A hand that caged you against the wall, softly squeezed the sides of your neck. “Say it back little brat.” Blade also, had a smirk and a motive to brat tame you for it if needed.

You looked at him with absolute adoration. Hands snaking to hold his which were resting onto the curve of your neck. “Make me-”

Things were getting heated up, that’s when you heard something Blade wouldn’t say so easily. “Please?”

“Oh fuck- I love you too baby,” You cupped his face and leaned in with a kiss, knowing completely well you’d be destroyed by him later. ;) Not that you’re complaining.

[tumblingxelian]

Chloe & Heroism

Chloe Bourgeois as a hero early on is a premise that often evokes either questions, like "How" and "Why". Or expectations that she is either already on a path to self improvement, or will be forced onto within a short timeframe.

These are not bad questions and the former definitely are necessary to consider for a story. However the expectations I tend to feel a bit murkier and while I have no issue with how some authors handle this topic.

I want to outline why I think you could do a good "Hero Chloe" story before she gets character development, but first, house cleaning!

1: I have not watched and largely ignore everything post season 3, so don't bother bringing up Derision. Remember, season 1 Kim was afraid of spiders.

2: In canon. Chloe only revealed her ID publicly because her abusive mother she is obsessed with pleasing (who killed her the day before) chose a girl other than her to take to New York & then tore her to shreds in front of everyone. 

With all that in mind let's examine where Chloe's values and understanding of the world comes from and how she perceives them! 

1 - Media/Social Media 

This would be a mixed bag, because on one hand they have Mighty Majesta comics that try to instill good values, but also shows built around lying to and humiliating people are evidently popular television and the internet seems similar in regards to pranking VS trying not to be terrible. So she's gonna get mixed signals at best. 

2 - Her family & Circle 

This is where 90% of the problems come from. Of the important adults in her life, her father, mother, Gabriel and Nathalie are all varying shades of corrupt, abusive, cruel and ruthless, while the lesser evils like Jean and Emilie are largely consigned to the role of enablers. 

Worse still, even if we ignore the emotional abuse, neglect and other elements that led to her both having trauma and her trauma response manifesting in aggression. We still have issues like Andre, during the brief periods he bothered to parent, explicitly teaching Chloe that, Stealing, extortion and threats are all appropriate ways to succeed in life.

IE, she isn't compromising her morality when she does these things, she is very much doing what she is taught was right at least consciously. This isn't helped by a 24/7 Audrey impression as Audrey deems being in her vicinity as reason enough to hurt people unless she deems them useful. 

Long story short, the values and people she was brought up around are all explicitly some shade of bad, or enabler, or outright teaching her to harm others. 

3 - Societies & Class 

However, we know from season 2 that Chloe is not entirely unaware that there are issues with this. Because while she spends much time boasting of how she's beloved and brilliant, when stripped of that and exposed to someone she trusts she is entirely willing to confess that she knows everyone hates her and that she feels she has no worth. She may not be able to articulate why or how this came about but she knows something is wrong. 

Despite this, school is not the best place to figure this out, especially for someone who obviously struggles with social cues and the like. The teachers run the gamut from indifferent and unpleasant, to extremely gentle and accommodating, to simply not wanting any form of drama and usually caving to whoever makes the most noise and none of them have the authority to do much outside of class hours. 

The class is not significantly better, because students like Kim and Alix can and do casually throw around snark or do pranks and at worst only get brief bursts of anger while Chloe's garner a more intense response. This is because her relationship with the class and motives are varying shades of different, but for someone with issues reading social cues, it's just going to seem like a confusing double standard. 

We can also see all this demonstrated in her relationship with Adrien, as Chloe clearly takes the lead in their relationship in Origins and outlines her logic behind the pranks, but is then surprised when Adrien seems to turn against her. What's more, it seems Chloe is aware that Adrien is more gentle/naive than her given she tried to educate him on these matters & turns to him for comfort and protection at times, while seeing no inherent contradiction between her expectations for their relationship and how she treats others.

Adrien does not help matters with seeming indifference to how she treats staff. 

Thus, while she knows 'something' is terribly wrong, actually being able to understand it and work through it is another matter. 

4 - Chloe's Conclusion 

So, what is the conclusion Chloe comes to in order to square all of these circles when she isn't just in full denial mode? The answer is quite simple and even demonstrated in the show itself, playing one's role. 

IE, Chloe the mayor and style queen's daughter is different to Chloe the hotel owner's daughter and we see this in her being able to stamp down on her usual instincts and slap on a customer service role when Jagged Stone enters the hotel and guide her father into doing the same. VS how she conducts herself during a class election, IE explicitly threatening and extorting people, to how she conducts herself day by day with her Audrey impersonation. 

A separate example and way she'd view this for others would be that Marinette the baker's daughter of course has to be nice and sweet and giving because that is how customer service roles work, while Marinette the aspiring fashion designer or would be class president is sneakier and will lay traps so people trying to steal from her are sabotaged. This isn't wrong, this is how she expects people to behave when in these circumstances and roles. 

Final Conclusion 

Which is why Chloe could easily play the role of a successful hero, because she would not be "Chloe Bourgeois, mayor's daughter, hotel heiress and Style Queen's daughter" as Queen Bee, she would just be Queen Bee, a superhero.

They have wonderfully defined roles that would be easy for her to pick up & follow through on: assure the public, save people from danger, protect allies, defeat monsters, all things Chloe was shown doing very well when chosen as a Miraculous Holder. 

I think that eventually the contrast in how she is received as Queen Bee VS Chloe Bourgeois would start grinding on each other and bleeding through both sides of the mask. 

But the infectious nature of empathy and a larger support network that don't have the worst impression of her would give Chloe the room she needs to explore and grow.

If she is too snippy as a hero, or shows a ruthless side, these won't be taken in the context of "Chloe that person I dislike" but "Queen Bee my ally" and can allow for more honest and even handed reactions that give her the necessary breathing room to grow and change. 

So yeah, I think season 1 Chloe could have, under the right circumstances, done a great job as a hero be it Queen Bee or another hero even before any outside circumstances or internal changes might have forced her to chart a new course in life.

Provided the role of Chloe and the role of hero do not intersect and become one almost immediately, because in that case it gets a lot harder for her. 

[thecolorblockcurator]

A month ago I asked you to send me some journal prompts to dig deeper before I start testosterone- because I felt like there were things I was still pushing down

And here is the list I compiled!

Imagine yourself as an elder queer person - who are you? What are your values- what does your life look like, what do you look like

What beliefs do you have about love- where are they rooted, are they limiting? How have you challenged them?

Write about what you’re attracted to, traits, physical appearances, moments, experiences. (sexual or platonic)

Write about your love language- how you show love, and how you want to receive love.

How do you show vulnerability in your love life? Where do you need to push yourself to be more vulnerable? What are you afraid of sharing

A childhood moment of feeling queer/trans and feeling joy

A childhood moment of feeling queer/trans and feeling fear or confusion

Moments when you felt like you were close to recognizing/accepting your gender or sexuality but repressed it instead.

What does masculinity mean to you? How does it show up in your life. What parts of masculinity appeal to you? What doesn’t?

What does femininity mean to you? How does it show up in your life. What parts of femininity appeal to you? What doesn’t?

What are your thoughts on gender? Does your gender fit within the gender binary, or is it something else entirely.

What parts of your gender, if any, would you *like* to feel one way about, but actually feel differently about? Why do you think you would like to/should feel this way about that part of your gender

Does your gender affect or influence your sexuality? Is there anything that you feel like is a contradiction between the two- is that something you embrace or feel uncomfortable about.

How are your views about your gender influenced by others in your life? What are you holding onto because of a fear or anxiety about what others will think

Do you have unexamined negative feelings about men and masculinity/women and femininity that may be affecting your decision to transition? Have you delayed/repressed your desire to transition because of this?

Are you able to conceive of the kind of man/woman/enby you want to be? Do you know any people like this? If the answer is no, is this impacting how you feel about your transition?

Do you have fears about living as a man/woman/enby that you haven't examined? Am I afraid of being treated differently/ losing access to certain spaces? Am I afraid of how my interactions with others will change? Am I afraid of people's reactions to my transition?

What small thing can you do right now to affirm and express your gender

Do you want to take hormones? List all of the possible changes you could expect. Sort them into columns. Want, Don’t Want, and No Preference. Spend some time reflecting on each change, what is the underlying reason why you put them in their respective columns.

Do you want gender affirming surgery? Invision yourself after the procedure - what emotions does that bring up, is there anything holding you back?

If you went through puberty already - How did that affect you physically and emotionally. How did you feel at the time. What would you have liked to happen?

Create a visual gender moodboard. Collect outfits, accessories, style icons, favorite movie & tv characters. Things that make you feel euphoric.

Is there anything you would like to try out to express your gender that you’re afraid of doing? What is the motivation behind that fear

Have you worked through any internalized transphobia. Are you afraid of being less desirable after transition?

Are you afraid of being less queer or less visibly queer after transitioning?

[prosaic-bun]

Envy and Jealousy Part 2

Genshin Vignettes Genshin!men x Male reader Characters featured: Gorou, Heizou, Itto, Kaeya, Kaveh & Kazuha; 

Content: Fluff and a hint of spiciness.

Note: Boy oh boy did I take my sweet time to put this out. I hope you all like it as much as part 1. The problem is never the ideas, but more the time and motivation to actually type it out. Thank you so much for the flood of interactions I really felt the appreciation.

Gorou - The moon was slowly rising in the night sky, and even if your day shift was over, you were still carrying out your duties to the Watatsumi army. Under the sharp overhead lights specific to the infirmary, you were cleaning up the wounds of a novice soldier who had an encounter with a fatui squadron on the north beach of the island. The newly trained soldier's absence was quickly noticed by the general of the Watatsumi army and he was quick to come to his junior aid bow blasing. The man was quickly brought back to you in Bourou village and thankfully most lesions and contusions were superficial. However, the colouration of the soldier’s ribcaged worried you. Gorou stayed to help and brought some water to the unnerved soldier in hope it would help him feel marginally better. You bandaged the now cleaned wounds and proceeded to osculate the soldier, asking him to take deep breaths. Gorou watched your expert hands move the stethoscope to the different areas on the soldier’s back, torso and side, carefully listening to his heartbeat and breathing. With extra care you asked your patient to lie down so you could continue your examination. Your fingers gently palpated the soldier’s ribcage and you cautiously reached the bruised area. Behind you, Gorou watched you intently as you inspected the soldier's torso for internal injuries. You made sure to examine the soldier's traits when you would touch a new area to make sure he wasn’t trying to hide away the pain. Your assured movements were almost hypnotic, but the amount of care you exhibited also made the general yearn for the same treatment. How would you behave if you were to heal him, try to soothe his body or alleviate the pain? Well he already knew since he remembered the numerous times you had patched him up during the war. How you were always concerned regarding how he was pushing the limits of his body. Your hand had applied ointment many times to his wounds - now ashen scars covering his body. Lost in thought, Gorou was brought back to reality when his junior thanked him once more for saving his skin before it got ugly. Gorou reassured him it was nothing and that he would always be there for his troops.

Once the soldier left your infirmary, you took the road leading up the Sangonomiya Shrine where the quarters you shared with your partner were located. Gourou was unusually quiet and after spending so much time with him, you were able to read him better than anyone else. You took his hand and squeezed it lightly making your valiant hound of a lover turn his attention to you. You leaned closer to murmur softly into his ear that you wanted to take care of him tonight, your favourite patient still needed to have monthly check-ups. You could see that your words had an impact because the tip of his ears shuddered, along with his tail which confirmed everything you needed to know. He answered that he would truly appreciate it, but with a determined look he added he wanted to make things fair and reciprocate everything you would do for him. You started with a relaxing midnight bath which led into you tending to his tail’s fur, half naked on your bed while sharing how your respective day went. In that moment of proximity and warmth, you gently kissed each and every scar adorning his body, applying some regenerative lotion after your lips had appeased the skin. Satisfied with your work, you finally kissed his lips. Gourou delicately led you into a different position where you came to be lying down on your stomach, your limbs sprawling across the mattress. He made you blush once he straddled you, which he assured was only to have a better access to your back muscles. Your lover started his massage, relieving you of the stiffness and the discomfort. From time to time he would interrupt the massage only to press himself against your form and enumerate everything he liked about you. Maybe it was his words or maybe it was his body heat combined with yours, but in those moments you wondered if you were going to melt away into oblivion. Once he finished rubbing off any residual tension in your back, he freed you from underneath him. He moved aside to lie down on his side, facing you and started massaging and kissing your overworked, gentle hands, preparing them for your next shift.



Heizou - It must have been at least 3 days since you hadn’t seen Heizou. You knew he was deep in a case and looking at every relevant document from the police station archive, but you still missed him and decided to go see him before going to work at the Yae publishing house. You felt a smidge more house husbandy than usual and decided to cook a serving of radish and fish stew for him. You were aware of how he likes fried food so the warm dish was sure to be appreciated. As a side bonus, the omega-3 contained in the fish would help your boyfriend’s overworked brain. You were at these reflections when you realized your feet brought you to the police station’s main entrance. There, you were greeted by a doushin that introduced himself as Uesugi. He said that you would need to be accompanied to the archive because no civilian could go unsupervised. On the way there you patiently listened to the new recruit gloat on the fact he was only waiting for an exciting case to show everybody how great he was.

When you arrived at your destination Uesugi leaned on the archive room door and commented on the mouth watering smell that was coming out of your neatly wrapped bento. He affirmed that he should be rewarded for coming to your aid and guiding you to the archives. Before you had the time to answer, the door the doushin was leaning against abruptly opened and made him fall to the ground. Heizou came into view and peeked to the man at his feet stating that he was paid to be a public servant and not the other way around. He then mentioned he should get going before Owada, the yoriki of the police station (in other words their superior), noticed his prolonged absence from his post. The scolded man took to his heels and was quickly on his way back, feeling that the glint in Heizou’s eyes wasn’t that amicable. Before you could ask your boyfriend if he was always this way to his kōhai, he pulled you into the archive storage room and pulled you lower so he could kiss you properly. After inquiring about each other's respective last few days, you offered the lunch you had prepared to the detective who opened it as soon as it was in his hands. He took a seat at the nearest table and after a few bites, a string of compliments left his lips only to be halted by the next eager bites. He somehow must have felt that you were about to leave, so he pulled a chair next to him and tapped the seat to invite you over. You explained you had to go to work or you would look like a bad employee. In response he pleaded that he just wanted to spend a few more minutes in your company. You agreed to spend ten more minutes with him, but he would have to accompany you to work and give an excuse to Kuroda.



Itto - Your boyfriend was getting more and more cranky because he hadn’t seen you all day and he was missing you terribly. Itto knew you had prepared this fishing activity with Thoma for weeks, but this was one of those days he wished he could have stayed in bed with you since he wasn’t feeling like his usual bubbly self. How could he predict that not receiving a morning kiss would feel like an arrow pierced his heart. How could he predict that not being able to share breakfast with you would feel like eating his last meal in a cell. He didn’t want to impose, but everything felt so dramatic today of all days. He spent some time with the members of the Arataki Gang, but winning a TCG battle didn’t feel like it should. To make matters worse you probably had the time of your life with that housekeeper twink. No it wasn’t the thing. YOU were making Thoma’s day super great and the one and oni was left aside. Itto was brooding in your shared apartment when he heard the front door open. You were putting away your fishing gear when the oni sprinted towards you and embraced you into a hug. After kissing him on the cheek you told him that Thoma was treating you to dumplings and bubble tea in Ritou and that you would be back later that evening. Itto told you to have fun mechanically, but in a panic he started to ask you the whereabouts of his elusive lucky comb, the location of his favourite drums and asking what he was going to eat for supper. You answered that it was in the bathroom, under the bed and that there was miso soup he could re-heat and some leftover onigiris in the kitchen. Itto watched you decrease in size until you had left his line of sight on the road leading towards Ritou and then closed the door. He was devastated. Maybe you didn’t like him anymore. No he couldn’t doubt you like that, you were the boyfriend of The First and Greatest Head of the Arataki Gang. The one he would put his life on the line if needed. He reheated the miso soup and ate the onigiris. He smiled at the little note you had left him next to the platter. But maybe you were faking your affection with this little note to make things easier for him. No it couldn’t be. Or could it.

Itto was stuck in this very mindspace when you finally returned to Hanamizaka. He heard you come back and announce that you were home, but he didn’t flinch. He heard you make your way to your shared room where you would find him seated upright on the mattress with a blanket covering him. You approached him and teased him asking if he was sulking. You noticed how he refused to look at you, his eyes glued to the wall and if you tried to turn his head towards you he would exert all the strength his neck could exert to make sure he wouldn’t budge. You regained your seriousness and gently told him that if he was giving you the silent treatment he was either trying to make you feel bad or he was trying to signal he wanted to be comforted. One way or the other Itto needed to tell you what was happening for you to help. Your boyfriend finally looked at you and started to cry hugging you and admitted it was a hard day and he didn’t know why but he felt bad all day. You got seated next to him and made him lay his head on your lap. While you twirled his hair between your fingers you asked him to remember the exercises you had done with the wheel of emotions and to take his time to name the emotions he was feeling. He frowned in concentration and stayed silent for a little while. He then said he felt many emotions at the same time. At times he felt jealous, but also abandoned and lastly inadequate because he wanted for you to have fun, but couldn’t control himself to be better. You answered that sometimes even the almighty Arataki Itto couldn’t control his emotions and that maybe it was better to acknowledge and accept them and just let them be for a while and let them wash over him until they didn’t feel so intense.

He scrunched himself against you and hid his face in your lap. You gave him time and he eventually moved to hug you tightly. You then asked him to list 10 things you liked about him. At first the question seemed to puzzle him a bit and he tentatively answered that you liked his smile. You nodded and encouraged him to continue. Each new statement was becoming easier to say. You liked how he didn’t judge you, how he was genuine, how he listened to you, his enthusiasm, how he was helpful, the way he hugged you, how he took care of you and how he was always trying his best. Each thing he was able to find made him feel lighter. Each time you nodded to notify he was right, he got more earnest - smiling brightly. Once he reached the 10th thing you liked about him, he looked at you passionately and opened his arm to draw you in. Once in his arms he started to kiss you fervently, only you could bring him in this state of desire. You two were the perfect pair. How could he have doubted that? You both spent the rest of the night proclaiming your love for each other.



Kaeya - You were tasked by Hertha, Captain of the 6th Company - Logistic, to show the new recruit around since you were one of the most experienced field officers under her. She also knew you had a good work ethic and wouldn’t cut corners while showing the most mundane tasks there were. The new recruit wasn’t exactly your favourite type of colleague. He seemed to care more about the appearances than the efforts needed to back them up. You blamed it on his nervousness, he probably tried to play the tough guy as a way to hide his nervousness. You spent most of your day teaching him the basics, but as the good senior that you were you also instilled in him the sense of why the 6th company was important for the knights. The charter and administration of baggage train, resource management and record-keeping weren’t exactly glamorous tasks, but they were still cogs in the machine that is Ordo Favonius. You also introduced him to the other personnel he would work with, Noelle as a representative of the maids, Lisa who helped with bookkeeping, etc. You then left the library and headed to the office of the quartermaster. As you found the office empty, you concluded your presentation of the Knights of Favonius and indicated he would be appointed to a regular task and schedule tomorrow morning. He thanked you for your help. He seemed to hesitate to leave, and you raised an eyebrow, wondering if he still had any questions. He decided to shoot his shot and put on his bravado once again. He leaned towards you and asked you if you were going to invite him for a drink since you were so obviously pining after him. You couldn’t help yourself, but to burst into laughter, effectively turning the proud expression of the recruit into a meek one. You told him you only did your job and that he didn’t receive any special treatment. Obviously vexed, the man cut his losses and turned around to leave the quartermaster office.

Kaeya came into view and blocked him from retreating. With a devilish smile, Kaeya introduced himself offering his hand out, cold air seemingly coalescing around the recruit who extended his hand only to be caged into the other’s grip. After ending the rigid handshake, Kaeya mentioned he occupied the role of Cavalry Captain and quartermaster, but more importantly he was ‘his’. The recruit babbled that he didn't quite understand. Kaeya took the expression of a patient teacher and explained that he had the utmost honour of being able to call the man beside them - you, his beloved partner. The recruit understood all but too late that he had made a move on someone that was already taken. He bowed his head several times, apologizing to the both of you while hastily leaving the office. You looked at the pleased expression plastered on Kaeya’s smile and could only snicker to yourself. Kaeya came closer to you and asked what was so funny. You answered coyly that you didn’t know that ‘being his’ was one of his titles. Kaeya answered that he was serious when he said that it was his honour to be yours. Kaeya had closed the distance between you and him and looked intently at you while you tried to chase away your chuckles to remain impassive. He softly reached out to hold your chin up and asked if he may. You agreed and he started to kiss you passionately. Each time he would take his breath, he would mumble ‘yours’ to your ear. Sometimes he would say it shyly and sometimes like a one word statement; changing tone each time you were catching your breath from the passionate kiss. His voice was now a faint whisper, and he let out one last ‘yours’. However this time he clearly denoted the question that was hidden in the word - like followed by an implicit question mark. You smiled and said he was yours as much as you were his. You left the office bickering lovingly at each other and in the following weeks you noticed that Kaeya was more keen on holding your hand whenever you were out in public.



Kaveh - For once you were lucky and had the opportunity to leave the Akademiya early for the day. You had made plans with your boyfriend Kaveh for the evening and took a chance to pass by his place, maybe he would’ve finished his day early as well. The grey clouds above your head suddenly let out the rain they were carrying, as you made your way through the overpass and archways leading you down from the House of Daena. You soon reached the familiar yet impressive house decorated by many stained glass windows. You knocked at the door and you were soon invited in by the Akademiya’s scribe himself. Al Haitham offered for you to wait for Kaveh here since he shouldn’t take too much time to come back home. The scribe then disappeared in the kitchen to boil some water and make some tea while you made sure none of the books in your backpack were damaged by the rain. You put out an aged tome treating of ancient runes on the table to make sure there was no humidity that would linger in between its pages. Al Haitham came back with two cups of mint tea and commented on the book you had brought out. You mentioned you were trying to understand the scripture you had stumbled upon in some Dahri ruins and that you were currently trying to translate it, but it was no easy task. Al Haitham offered his help and you were amazed by his translating skills. After taking some notes and promising that you would get back to him to notify him of your research advancement, the conversation slowly moved on to your respective Darshans, yours being Vahumana - history and social sciences, and his being Haravatat - linguistic and semiotics. Kaveh entered the house as you were talking about the benefits of multidisciplinary research units, especially in your two fields of study. You paused to greet Kaveh and he stole you a kiss before eyeing scornfully his roommate. He excused himself, saying he needed to change his clothes - something about being less formal and more comfortable. You continued your conversation while packing your things in your bag to be ready when your boyfriend would come back.

Kaveh came back looking even more exquisite than you had expected with richly decorated garments and accessories. Your boyfriend was a sight to behold. He walked directly towards you and offered his hand to help you stand up. Kaveh simply stated that Al Haitham shouldn’t wait up as you would spend the night out. Kaveh escorted you outside and took the direction of your favourite restaurant. Although he was all smiles while inquiring about your day you halted and asked him if there was something bothering him. He knew he couldn’t hide anything from you as you were the one that read him best. He asked if you were going to do a joint research with Al Haitham since you get along with him so well and that your Darshans were closely related. He went as far as to mention that if he was going to have the house to himself at the cost of you bringing Al Haitham with you in some ruins he didn’t want the empty house at all. You reassured him that you didn’t view Al Haitham as someone you would want to pursue a professional endeavor with (nor a romantic one). You just happened to have similar academic interests and that he knew about some runic language you wanted to decipher. You resumed walking in the direction of the restaurant, but felt Kaveh still harbored some negative feelings. You squeezed his hand and mentioned you were thinking about writing a paper on the architectural style of the Dahri ruins you were currently investigating. Kaveh perked up at your words waiting to hear the rest. Having his attention on you, you asked him if he would like to accompany you during your next expedition. After all, Al Haitham wasn’t the only one with whom you could do a multidisciplinary research project. Kaveh knew how much you value and enjoyed your expeditions and the fact you invited him meant a lot. He asked if you were suggesting this idea only because he was jealous, to which you answered that you had planned to ask him for a while, but you didn’t have any good opportunity to do so. He bashfully lowered his head and said he would really enjoy coming with you. He hugged you tight and you were back on your way to the restaurant, Kaveh asking you about your day once more.



Kazuha - The Alcor and its crew had been quite on demand during the last few months. Different commissions took the crew all over the seas of Teyvat and Beidou was able to strike plentiful commercial deals with important actors of the trading business. As a reward the beloved captain decided to hold an evening celebration including a feast and some music on the side. You and your partner were able to eat to your heart's content, you couldn’t decide if you had preferred the Golden Shrimp Balls or the Lotus Flower Crisp. Your partner was delighted by the Stir-Fried Fish Noodles to which you took a mental note to try and get the recipe from Xinyue Kiosk. You weren’t sure your cooking skill would be enough to recreate the dish, but you were confident that Kazuha would appreciate it anyway. Kazuha suddenly stood up from beside you and kissed your temple before getting to the small stage in front of the dining area. It wasn’t a stage like the one Yun Jin or Xinyan, but more a cozy little platform that could accommodate solo artists. Kazuha took out his zitar and started playing a tune, sometimes humming along with the melody. After a few minutes of rehearsal and warming up, the beat morphed into something livelier and fast paced. Soon the tables were out of the way and the crewmate made their way on the newly formed dancefloor. You were softly gazing at your boyfriend’s finger brushing against the cords of the zitar when a big hand landed on your shoulder. Taken by surprise you turned around and none other than Suling - the Alchor’s chief smith, came into view. For once it seemed the ironworker had his mind off the maintenance of the weaponry. He offered you a dance to which you accepted after looking at the concentrated yet elated expression on your lover's face. You stood up and joined the others on the dancefloor and let the notes carry you around, guiding your movements. You didn’t expect Suling to be such a good dancer and paired with Kazuha’s music, time really flew by. The moon was now high above you and you requested a break, going back to sit at the dinning table to bring some relief to your legs. You accepted the cup of tea Yinxing offered you to rehydrate yourself. As you were drinking the liquid, Kazuha finished the last notes of the tune he was playing and everybody cheered for him. Kazuha came beside you and asked for you to follow him. As exhausted as you were, you managed to get up and Kazuha pulled you aside to a more secluded area where he leaned his elbow on the wooden railing of the Alchor. You felt the salty air on your face and Kazuha’s finger running on your arm. you turned to face him and asked him if he was bothered that you had danced with Sulin; each time you had checked on him you couldn’t meet his gaze, but he always harbored a soft smile on his lips. Kazuha chuckled and answered that in the end he was the one that really made you dance so it didn’t matter in the slightest. However he got closer to your ear and asked you if you would have preferred him as a jealous boyfriend. His traits kept an enigmatic demeanour and before you could answer he pulled you towards your shared quarters. If Kazuha isn’t the one to fall subject to jealousy, he still dedicated all those songs to you while longing to have you in his arms.

[subway-boss-jericho]

Every time I make a tumblr post I get an intense itch to continue making tumblr posts and liveblog into the void. Dangerous. Addicting. Kind of funny. I try not to post too many rambles in a row but man. if it'll help me post more maybe that doesn't matter actually

Current random thoughts and experiences writing steady tracks chapter 2:

Today I went back and reread everything I've written in the last two years. I am pleased to report that almost nothing needed changed or fixed except for more recent things that hadn't been edited.

Apparently the thing that motivates me to write the most is creating a random, arbitrary side character with something wrong with their gender (affectionate) and giving them a sentence or two's worth of dialogue to transition the plot between parts I'm struggling with. So anyways keep an eye out for the new freak (affectionate) in chapter two to go along with frizzle from chapter one in the "i gave them a name and a gender and a single personality trait and now I'm emotionally attached" club. (2.5) ^ said new character doesn't use pronouns and only goes by name and jesus thats hard to write, but I feel like I've done a pretty solid job at making it not confusing

Speaking of pronouns. I can't go a day without a headcanon, apparently. So the next chapter is going to start off with a note explaining which nicknames I've given Ingo's and Emmet's pokemon plus which pronouns they use because damn man i guess weird genders and neo pronouns are just fun to write. These creatures are not confined by humans' societal gender expectations even slightly and i'm tired of pretending they should be. Biggest worry is that it will distract from the experience, but I'm doing my best to write it in a way that is as minimally intrusive as I can make it while still doing what i wanna do.

The formatting in this chapter has been like the funnest thing on the whole planet. I really hope someone enjoys this as much as I do, I'm having a blast. I had to figure out what ingo and emmet's last name is because I wanted emmet to write a follow up email to juniper. it's 1 word in a 300 word, single exchange email chain, but i sure did spend 45 minutes trying to find a name i liked.

jesus christ there are so many side characters in this chapter!! shit dude! the hardest thing for me to write is more than three characters in one place at one time. Not only am I characterizing Emmet's entire team, I've also got a whole goddamn battalion of named depot agents with distinct personalities and pokemon teams.

jirachi's fuckin tanzaku i am 9k words in and ingo hasn't even shown up yet! i feel like this chapter is going to need to be a minimum of 15k words. surely. and by need to be I mean it needs to be that long in order for it to stop where I want it to, narratively.

Could this have been multiple posts? yeah! but as I just said and as anyone who's ever read steady tracks should know from experience I just need the thought to keep going until it gets to a place I'm satisfied, and today that's one Real Long Post about how steady tracks is goin

anyway man if anyone ever wondered if i was still writing steady tracks and how that's been, yeah, I sure have. It hasn't been fast and it hasn't been easy but jirachi alive tehy live in my brain. You can really tell how starting college affected my energy and burnout levels by examining my progress on chapter 2. the relationship is Linear

[magiefish]

Something I've kind of noticed about a lot of the academic scholarship I've read about Frankenstein / Dracula / Jekyll & Hyde is that everyone just seems to completely dismiss/ignore the characters as actual characters most of the time unless they're the Main Guys. Like, they'll go really in depth about Victor or the Creature's motivations and backstory and spend ages talking about Jekyll's relationship to Hyde and stuff, but the second it comes to characters like Enfield and Elizabeth or Lanyon and Clerval or frankly the Entire Rest of the Cast of Dracula, they just immediately seem uninterested. They'll just sort of vaguely gesture in their direction and go 'Oh yeah X and X thing happens to this character and here's a one sentence summary of their personality which doesn't really matter because this entire cast is interchangeable, anyway, onto the next theme' and half the time their One Sentence is just textually incorrect (looking at the New Woman/Traditional Woman descriptions of Lucy and Mina). And the reason I find this so baffling is because with other analysis I've read (e.g. Great Gatsby stuff) people seem to actually slow down and consider the characterisation and motivations of the cast as a whole with like. Nuance. Like they sit down and treat the characters as multifaceted and complex and having actual relationships with one another, and then you get to these books specifically and no one seems to care? Like they'll go really in depth with various interpretations and historical context for the Big Guys, and then never apply the same sort of examination to anyone else, and if they do, very rarely and probably only for one other character e.g. (Utterson or Mina).

If I had to posit an explanation, I would say its a combination of the archetypal nature of the title characters and the admittedly patchy writing of these books (which arguably lends to their archetypal status). I think academics kind of assume that the primary draw of these books are The Big Guys and the expansive themes and ideas they cover and that everyone else is just a pawn there to enable the narrative around the Big Guys, and the propensity for film adaptations to scrap or rewrite characters probably compounded this impression. And while I think this is at least partly true, the thing is, these characters were not always archetypal Big Guys. They originated in stories alongside *these* other characters *specifically* and it is worth asking what it is about the rest of the cast that makes the story interesting as well. Because, let's be real, if there was approximately no interest in the fucking *narrators* of Dracula, the best friends of Henry Jekyll, or the victims of the Creature, the original readers would have been completely bored out of their minds for most of these novels and public interest in them would not have been as great as it was. All of these novels were stories before they were myths, and academics should not be letting pop culture eclipse them unless they're specifically talking about the relationship between the two.

Overall, I just feel like academics are not only shooting themselves in the foot, but also doing a disservice to these stories by not bothering to investigate the other characters because frankly. It's lazy. It's lazy to dismiss an entire cast and basically skim read any sections involving them just because it's easy to focus on The One Guy. If you people really cared about themes, you'd understand that characters are inextricable from them. Like shit dude I see more care given to characters in essays about Greek tragedies, you guys are waaaay fucking behind

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

'You're reading too much into ATSV.'

[aka meta analysis is good for the soul]

I often get told on this blog that I'm reading too much into plots or scenes or things in general.

And honestly, fair point. I do the most.

And as a writer, I will say that I do it out of pure respect.

[actual photo of me reading the script and going for my 'reading too hard at ATSV notebook']

Movies take years to write.

People spend months of their lives genuinely toiling over these characters, often times creating more work than what can ever be reasonably used. Months of revisions and scraping work.

For weeks, about a dozen people probably went to sleep dreaming or thinking up what Hobie would wear, what Gwen would say, what emotional cues Jess will have.

A lot of people dedicated years of their lives and creative labor into that story.

To me, it isn't at all bizarre to take an hour out of my day to sit and consider the story they spend a lot of time trying to tell.

Compared to the labor they have given me, multiple 40+ hour work weeks for years - an hour or two is literally nothing lol

It's literally the least I can do.

As a writer, I feel like its only right to sit back and look deeper into a story.

To analyze the writer's intentions, or examine their storytelling tactics and abilities.

We are taught to consume media so quickly and rapidly that to offer time to critically analyze a piece of work is considered bizarre, too much work, or pointless.

As if there's nothing to read into. Or as if speculation and meta analysis is helpful to no one.

If someone spends five hours drawing fanart that is accepted. If someone spends two hours writing fanfic, this is expectable behavior.

But I spend the same amount of time to look deeper into the work of the writers, and often times I'm met with surprise or treated as if I'm overly uptight.

It's like snickering at a person who asked there was deeper meaning behind a painting. While standing in an art gallery.

When streaming shows drop all in one day, it becomes about the Easter eggs and watching it as fast as possible as not to be spoiled.

Then at the end of it, you wash your hands of it and wait for the next big release.

People spend years, decades of their writing career trying to write realistic characters with layered motives. Or stories with complex themes.

Comic Book and Screenwriters included.

I myself try very very hard to do so - to provide foreshadowing, and emotional insight into the characters, their motives, their faults.

If I heard someone say that the piece is not worth looking that far into, all the work I've done as a writer gets overlooked.

Writers cannot grow if people are consuming their media without caring enough to look critically at it as the work of a storyteller.

So yes, I'm looking too far into it. Cause writers can write that far into it. And that deserves to be examined, acknowledged, and praised.

To assume less is too assume lesser of the writers who put everything into the media you enjoy.

This year of all years, we should be appreciating the work Screenwriters put in.

I guess what I'm trying to say is - I'm not being an asshole (well, not trying to be).

I'm looking at writers as vital parts of a movies production. Because they are.

We look deeply at the art style, or the animation, or the music. Writers are not shadow figures. They're people with careers. And them and their work deserve to be spoken about and acknowledged as a work of effort just the same as CGI artists or editors, or directors.

I implore you - Read more into it.

If you're a writer yourself, doubly so.

Read FAR into it. Build your analyzation skills, come to your own conclusions. Break the story down every which way and look at the characters from every angle.

It's fun, it's free, it makes the characters so much more real.

So many people on this website hope to one day become published writers. One thing they do to help you achieve that in college, is by racing things like scripts, and looking critically.

Meta analysis is good for you as much as it is the writers.

If you don't think you're cut out for it, or would have nothing to add, still try. Not for the brownie points, but to feel closer to the characters and the story.

If you've seen ATSV (or any Fandom media) and haven't ever really sat and thought about it - everyone's moral stances, why they want what they want, why they've made the mistakes they've had, where you stand on it all - I highly recommend it.

You might come away with some surprising conclusions about characters or even yourself.

Think about your favorite characters, and what might happen to them in the next movie.

There's really nothing wrong with reading that far into it.

Fifteen minutes of thinking, or an hour of writing is nothing compared to the months of work that went into this absolute masterpiece.

Trust me, the first time you catch some shit that makes you go

ITS LIKE A HIGH I TELL YOU.

Touch grass? Nah bro, touch your local library card. Go there right now. Take out this book.

There's gonna be a discussion tomorrow in class.

If you read this far heyhello I think you're rad as hell.

Here's a Hobie for the road because he's a great companion.

Bye.

[horse-girl-anthy]

Pseudo-Incest in Revolutionary Girl Utena

while RGU contains actual incest between blood-related brothers and sisters, there are also relationships between characters who are not blood related, yet behave both romantically and familially towards each other. I believe that these pseudo-incestuous dynamics add an important layer to the themes of the work.

the most obvious pseudo-incestuous relationship in the show is between Nanami and Tsuwabuki.

although not blood related, there are many similarities between this dynamic and other incestuous couples in the show. most importantly, role confusion: although he is not her brother, Tsuwabuki wants to be; and although he is younger than Nanami, he wants to be her older brother. yet, when he approaches Nanami, this desire somehow warps into him being her "boyfriend," or more accurately, her servant.

Tsuwabuki is the youngest of all the characters, unable to understand the meaning of his interest in Nanami. at this age, the foundation of a child's life is their family, and they are likely to understand all relationships in terms of family dynamics. thus, when young people begin to develop their sexuality and enter into the world of adult relationships, confusion is bound to follow.

there is also an apparent draw to these confused dynamics. Ikuhara has discussed how in fiction, incestuous romance relies on the myth that “blood relationships are eternal.” by portraying both blood-related siblings who seek eternity in each other's arms, and non-related characters who blend roles, RGU is able to examine more deeply the dynamics which motivate incest.

Mikage's feelings for Tokiko and Mamiya are up for debate, but in my view, they aren't as simple as "romantic interest," in either case. rather, I would argue that he becomes fixated on them because of their relationship to each other.

Mikage is a lonely individual, an outsider with no significant relationships, family or otherwise. upon witnessing the tragedy of this little family, the sister's true care for her brother, the brother's gratitude and sad resignation, he is entranced. what Mikage is seeking is a family, and this comes out in romantic obsession with both siblings.

Utena is similar; as an orphan, she has no family dynamics through which to understand the world, and her desire for family is easily manipulated. she views Akio and Anthy as the ideal siblings, enjoying watching them interact in much the same way as Mikage liked to spend time with Mamiya and Tokiko. Akio is ready to take full advantage of her naivete.

in the final arc of RGU, Utena pseudo-joins the Anthy-Akio family, with all the baggage that entails. examining Akio's pattern of predation, it's as if he's trying to make everyone he meets into another Anthy--a younger sibling he can control and sleep with. thus, his relationship with Utena is pseudo-incestuous. it's my contention, as well, that Utena and Anthy develop a sisterly relationship in the show, as they live under the roof of the same patriarch.

-------

in his privacy files, lead writer Enokido stated that the prince's appeal is related to dependency, which "is a most serious matter for a mammal that cannot survive for several years without dependency after it is ejected from the mother’s body at birth." thus, rather than taking a moralistic stance, the creators of RGU understood that struggles with role confusion and dependency are natural parts of human development. however, Enokido also wrote, "people who are in love for real would not be chasing after the image of a prince."

pseudo-incest isn't just the result of a desire to have a family; it's a result of the erosion of the boundaries between individuals, the grasping after certainty, the drive to force closeness with others for one's own benefit. Tsuwabuki put his own self-image over Nanami's actual safety, all while claiming to care about her. Mikage wanted to be a part of Tokiko and Mamiya's family so badly that he tore everything apart at the first sign of trouble. and Akio is immature to the point that he can't conceive of a relationship not based on patriarchal, familial power. notably, when Utena and Anthy become true lovers in Adolescence, the family angle is dropped and Akio is no longer around to muddy the waters. whatever real love looks like, it isn't people replicating their own family dynamics eternally, and it won't be found in the chains of dependence.

[thebardbullseye]

“Philosophical and Personal Musings on the Wizard Stone and the Axiom of Proliferation” – An Essay and Divinations for Arc 3 of “The Wizard, the Witch, and the Wild One”

From the Desk of The Bard Bullseye

Happy Birthday, Worlds Beyond Number!

Spoilers abound! This is an essay discussing the actual-play podcast “The Wizard, the Witch, and the Wild One” from the fine folks at @worldsbeyondpod It is an expression of my analysis of and engagement with the content of the second arc of the show and also contains some speculation about future plot and current themes. These interpretations are my own, include some reflections on my personal philosophy, and are written in a mostly academic style of writing (be warned, it’s around 3,000 words!). If you do read through it, I hope you find my points interesting and thought-provoking regardless of whether or not any of it turns out to be true (and I have done my level best to adhere to the facts of the story thus far, with transcript pages and timestamps cited when available/applicable).

Abstract (TL;DR, or I ain’t reading all that, but I’m happy for you):

The Wizard Stone’s discovery that the Axiom of Proliferation is untrue has major implications for the overarching story and the direction of the next arc. Herein, I explore my reaction to this moment in Episode 19 and how my experience and own philosophy potentially align with Stone’s. Then, I examine the logic of her argument and its implications for the greater worldbuilding in Umora. Specifically, there is a fundamental problem with the way that wizards are using the lingua arcana that is affecting the link between the Spirit and the Mortal worlds (i.e., the “greater binding”), and this is leading to detrimental effects. This, I believe is ultimately what Grandmother Wren (and now Ame) and Coven of Elders (and possibly the Man in Black?) are concerned with, though they have come to vastly different conclusions about who is at fault and how to solve this problem, which are yet to be revealed in the forthcoming third arc (see footnote 5).

Introduction

Something has piqued my interest and scratched a deep philosophical itch for me in the second arc of “The Wizard, the Witch, and the Wild One.” While the first arc introduced the characters, explored ideas of ‘quest fever,’ and masterfully wove in lore and character motivations for reclaiming Eursulon’s sword, Wavebreaker, the second arc has expanded upon the characters and their relationship to the greater philosophy of the Citadel and Umora.

I don’t usually speculate where stories might go next or craft my own fan theories. Especially for ongoing projects (i.e. TV shows, actual plays, books in a series, etc.), I tend to be along for the ride, and I spend time analyzing the story being told and the characters within. And rarely do I put these thoughts to paper, at least not coherently; I am more likely to ramble endlessly to a friend or lurk on Discord for others’ opinions, chiming in occasionally. However, I have noticed some things brewing in this arc that I wish to discuss at-length and even speculate upon: my perspective and analysis of the philosophy of the Wizard Stone, and the possible implications for the forthcoming third arc.

I don’t often see myself in stories. Not to say that I don’t see myself or parts of myself represented in media: i.e. demographically, socially, politically, etc., but rarely do I find a specific character or character motivation that ‘snipes through the duplex door’ where I go “oh shit that’s me” or “I relate to this on a deeper level.” This happened to me in Episode 19, when Suvi is investigating the records of her mother’s early time in the Citadel: her expulsion from the College of Divination and readmittance to the College of Abjuration because she had accused one of her professors of “treason against magic itself.”

Upon her dismissal from the Citadel, Stone wrote a dissenting missive to the Archmagi of the Citadel regarding one of the three metaphysical axioms, the Axiom of Proliferation, and how this particular axiom “does not describe any actual truth of the lingua arcana, nor does it more broadly describe any facet of the greater binding” (Ep. 19, transcript p. 12). She goes on to posit that not only is it “pure intellectual technology,” but that its continued acceptance as fact is a “danger to the future of wizardry” and “[a] stain on the face of magic itself” (Ep. 19, p. 12). An axiom in this context is described as “simple… laws that are given to young wizards about broad truths of spell casting in general… that are true across spells [and], … different schools of magic” (Ep. 19, p. 13). That is, “the Axiom of Proliferation is essentially that the more times a spell is written down … the weaker the spell becomes” (Ep. 19, p. 13).

An axiom as defined in philosophy is a statement that is self-evidently true and serves as a starting point for reasoning. Therefore, any argument against its truth would call into greater question the philosophical foundation of the Citadel itself. If Stone’s claim that this was not a true axiom had not been dismissed swiftly and discredited, it is possible (though highly unlikely, given the power of empire) that this would have led to a redefinition of the philosophy of wizardry in Umora.

This is what struck me like a bolt of lightning while listening to this episode. I did almost this exact thing when I was in grad school!

Stone is… me? Faulty logic and its effects

As part of my master’s degree, I took a philosophy seminar on bioethics, which covered some polarizing subjects and more fringe points of view. Most of these topics cannot be directly studied or supported by scientific evidence, so the conversation and academic debate is largely conceptual or theoretical (i.e., conducting research to investigate these ideas have varying states of legality and moral acceptability) (see footnote 1). This course was excellent and a bit out of my comfort zone, but it challenged me to think critically about fundamental logic and accepted ideas that often go unexamined until they are taken to the extreme. At one point in the semester, we were discussing a particular topic and the current state of debate surrounding it. Immediately, I was perplexed by some of arguments made to justify it, and at first, I didn’t have the language to express why. Much like Stone, I found myself screaming (internally) “you’re all idiots!” or “you’re missing the point/the bigger picture!” or “that’s not how that works!” Essentially, I had arrived at the conclusion that if this idea were to be implemented broadly in society, it would likely have major negative ramifications, and furthermore, not even achieve the desired and purported effect that they were arguing for! 

Eventually, I figured out what the underlying problem was: a logical fallacy inherent and unidentified within the current debate. Since scholars had just accepted the argument at face value and moved on, most of the debate was concerned with its future implementation or theoretical follow-on effects on individuals and society at large. I did find some existing papers that danced around the idea of fallacious reasoning (i.e., that the theoretical benefits were greatly exaggerated, if not a zero-sum game, or that the negative long-term effects may outweigh the short-term benefits), but none named it specifically or even examined the logical argument the entire debate was predicated on. So, for my term paper, I researched and wrote about this fallacy, and in it, I discussed how the discovery and acknowledgment of it would reframe the debate and perhaps even bring about reform to existing systems!

In the process of writing and researching, I felt incredibly isolated intellectually (this was also peak-COVID so that didn’t help either). Now that I had put the pieces together, it seemed quite obvious to me, but it was difficult to find supporting evidence or other similar arguments to mine (even if they weren’t breaking the logic down so specifically). Was this thing I had reasoned actually true? Why had no one pointed this out before? What if I’m wrong? What if they’re right and I’m a fool for daring to challenge them? What does my professor think? They’re an expert and approved the topic, so I know I’m not entirely off-base, but do they agree with me? I knew that if I wrote a strong, supported, and persuasive argument, that I couldn’t fail, but I deeply cared whether or not I was actually right. It was also probably one of the first times that I wrote with passion (and specific planning ahead of time!), rather than churning out yet another good-enough research paper (that I may or may not have written days ahead of the deadline or the night before).

Thankfully, unlike Stone, my fears that I would not be taken seriously, or worse, told that I was flat out wrong (and be silenced) did not come to pass—my professor agreed wholeheartedly with my argument that this fallacy is pervasive in the current literature. (Though I feel must disclaim that I still could be wrong in some other aspect of my argument, and that simply arguing the existence of a fallacy can be treacherous! In philosophy, no one ever has the only or complete answer—if they claim to, they are either lying or ignorant.) As part of the course, we did a mock peer review in class and my professor sent us further feedback on our papers after we submitted our initial draft of the term paper.

One particular piece of feedback stands out to me upon reflection and comparison to Stone’s experience and the philosophy of wizardry. It said something along the lines of ‘We think that is a very admirable and unique take on this subject. No one found any fault in your logic; however, it is important to consider the practical implications of identifying this fallacy.’ Point taken, of course, that the mere identification of a flaw in logic is not the end of the conversation—it is merely the start of a new discussion and opportunity to surface new arguments.  

In my case, the identification of the fallacy was the concrete thing I felt I could verifiably yell about (academically) to explain why I disagreed so vehemently with current literature (and some truly wild propositions made by certain scholars). Of course, one should not commit the ‘fallacy fallacy,’ which is that simply pointing out a fallacy invalidates the argument. Instead, it was a means to discuss practical implications: some less harmful methods, some overlooked existing solutions, and to pull knowledge from other related disciplines that had not yet been considered because this fallacy had yet to be identified (see footnote 2).

The philosophy of Stone’s accusation of ‘treason’ and treatise to the Archmagi

In listening to and reflecting upon this episode and the conclusion of the second arc, I wonder if Stone felt similarly to me: that she had a fundamental disagreement with the way that wizards (and the Empire) conduct magic. I wonder if she learned about the Axioms and something didn't sit right with her, so she dug into the philosophy or history of it. Moreover, I find it particularly striking that her original specialization was divination. Although it has not been stated outright, I think it can be plausibly inferred that Stone divined some kind of knowledge about the fundamental ‘wrongness’ of current wizardry and the disastrous follow-on effects it would have. She may have been unable to fully convey her revelation in the moment, and so just shouted ‘treason against magic’ at her mentor. As was the case with me, the Axiom of Proliferation was just the most concrete thing that Stone could point at to explain herself.

But beyond my own biases and affinity for Stone, it follows that she may well have examined or done a proof on the Axiom of Proliferation which led to her discovery that the premise of the Axiom was false. Let’s examine the argument that Stone may have made (and the one that Suvi may have done a poor proof of, by her own admission). The argument is as follows:

All Axioms of magic describe a truth about the fundamental nature of magic

The Axiom of Proliferation states that the more times a spell is written down (proliferated), the weaker the spell becomes, which is a truth about the fundamental nature of magic.

Therefore, the Axiom of Proliferation is an Axiom of magic.

This can be simplified:

All A’s have property B

C has property B

Therefore, C is A

This does not necessarily lead to a false conclusion, and while the argument may be valid, it may not always be logically sound, see for example:

All people are mortals.

John is a mortal

Therefore, John is a person.

In the Citadel’s view, there is no flaw here, because they teach (and presume) that the Axiom of Proliferation is true in the lingua arcana. Wizards, of course, are known by their secrets, so it follows that in their philosophy of magic, they would have some kind of justification for keeping magic limited to the select few. But, if one of the premises is false (in this case, premise 2), then this justification is in jeopardy. It stands to reason that Stone must have had serious evidence to declare that premise false, and as she was studying divination, it was likely a vision or prophecy of some kind. Presuming she is correct, then it also speaks to her incredible intelligence (although she did not have the social grace at 19 years old to deftly navigate this accusation) (see footnote 3a).

Although (as far as we know), Stone did not make another public ruckus about the Axiom upon returning to the Citadel, I don’t think this caused her to abandon the belief that the axiom was erroneous. Upon her readmission, she joined the College of Abjuration, specifically studying “counterspelling, dispelling magic, [and] sort of metamagic, … the magic of magic itself” (Ep. 19, p. 11). This might seem to be an odd choice for a backup specialization, but Stone’s issue with the Axiom and metamagic are deeply intwined philosophical concepts, as metamagic is essentially the equivalent to metaphysics in our world.

Wizardry and the nature of magic in Umora

Wizards are defined in Umora to be people that can use a “language of magic” the “lingua arcana” to cast magic, and importantly, that “they believe [the lingua arcana] is the language the universe uses to understand itself,” which was only coined about 250 years prior to the present story (Ep. 19, p. 16). At the end of the first arc, Suvi discovers from her father’s notes that the reflexive indicative, which was taught to her as a necessary component of the lingua arcana, is in fact entirely unnecessary for spellcasting. And further, Stone also doesn’t use the reflexive indicative, which is demonstrated through her unique casting of Mending in the very first episode. It is unclear so far in the worldbuilding (to me, at least) if the lingua arcana is the language the universe uses to understand itself, or if it is a construct used by people to explain, communicate, and more importantly cast magic in Umora (much like math and science are ‘constructs’ that describe the nature of our world, though the fact that it is constructed does not mean it is not true). If it is the latter, then there is likely to be forces at work, be it the components of spell casting (such as the reflexive indicative), the casters themselves, or others yet to be revealed, that are manipulating and restricting the nature of magic in Umora (see footnote 3b).

Thus, I would posit that there is some issue in the way that the restriction of the lingua arcana is affecting the “greater binding,” which is “the theory of magic, that magic is the interplay between the Spirit and the Real—or the Spirit and the Mortal” (Ep. 19, p. 14). Essentially, the lingua arcana describes the nature of the relationship between the Spirit and the Mortal world, while the greater binding is the metaphysical link between them. Stone all but confirms this in her letter to the Archmagi, that if the issue is left unresolved, it would endanger the future of wizardry (Ep. 19, p. 12).

Other pertinent wizarding history and context

Stone and Soft were also part of a group called the Acadator, which was dedicated to rooting out corruption and bad actors within the Citadel. We don’t really know too much else about them, the exact specifics of their philosophy, or if they still exist as a group (given that Steel and Eiorghorain were members). There is also some history surrounding two early wizarding groups pre-Citadel, the Antivoli and the Accordati, that had a philosophical disagreement about accepting the help of the Saraz Imperium for building the Citadel (specifically related to the sharing of magic), which led to a civil war called the Cataclysm of Carrow (Ep. 19, p. 16). In terms of timeline, the lingua arcana was coined in 1423, the term ‘wizard’ was coined in 1456, the Cataclysm of Carrow was in 1467, and three years later, in 1470, the Erien (Citadel) was built. The current story with the three protagonists is taking place in 1670, so it has only been 200 years since the Citadel was created, and the lingua arcana coined only 47 years prior to that (in less than a human lifespan).

Further, the creation of the Irulian Desert, the Erien, and the Citadel is a destructive history—wizards razed a verdant forest and turned it into a hot, unlivable desert with a miles high glass tower at the center. Additionally, the Wizards of the Citadel pool their magic beneath the Erien in an ‘Aerith,’ into which they deposit magical reserves and draw upon its combined strength when in crisis (see footnote 4). Mechanically, we see Suvi ‘donate’ unused spell slots at the end of the day.

We do know that Grandmother Wren’s cottage is located on top of a source of great magical power and serves as her sanctum. Wizards also use the towers of the Citadel as their sanctums, and I believe the following is speculation, as I do not think it has been canonized yet, but it is possible that the Aerith serves a similar purpose as a source of great magical power that previously belonged to the Spirits that wizards alone now use and control. This control is the key difference that may be contributing to, or even causing, detrimental effects on the greater binding.

The Witch(es)’s and the Wild One(s)’s perspectives

Additional evidence to support this theory of the Aerith's origins and purpose comes in Episode 23, when Eursulon meets the Man in Black and discusses their opinions on mortals, particularly wizards and their desire for control. Specifically, the Man in Black states, “that tower is the handle of a knife plunged deep into the heart of this world, a heart that is responsible for… a murder to the world of Spirits” (Ep. 23, 0:09:45-0:10:07).

Later, in a flashback with Mirara and Grandmother Wren, Mirara argues that “the world has burned before” (perhaps in reference to the creation of the Irulian Desert), that “[wizards] cannot be allowed to do this thing” (still unclear what that thing is), and the coven must make some kind of decision before it is too late (Ep. 23, 0:58:46-0:59:00). Wren pleas for another option, points this out as a false dichotomy, that they must not “be forced to choose between one slaughter and another,” and they should work to find common ground and coexist (Ep. 23, 0:59:07-0:59:33). Mirara retorts that she could never imagine the day that she would see “the will of wizards debase themselves” (i.e., that wizards would ever lower themselves from their current position of power) (Ep. 23, 0:59:39-0:59:52).

Wren then asserts a key point that correlates directly with Stone’s perspective: “There is nothing I have seen in the world of Mortals or of Spirits that shows me that there is a path that is wrong to tread” or anything that proves the pursuit of wizardry as inherently wrong (i.e., the lingua arcana), only those who “tread paths hurtfully, with cruel intention” (i.e., those abusing the lingua arcana for political purposes and imperial gain) (Ep. 23, 1:00:08-1:00:28). Wren also questions Mirara’s stance of wizardry as “an abomination against the natural order of the world” (Ep. 23, 1:00:40-1:00:47). Mirara then challenges her to consider her point of view and insists that even Wren cannot deny that “the poison of wizards does not spread so quickly as to choke the life from this world” (Ep. 23, 1:01:03-1:01:09).

My pure speculation and fan theory:

From this conversation, I postulate that Mirara and the Coven has taken an extremist and doomed perspective on the harm that is resulting partially from the Axiom of Proliferation (and perhaps the Aerith as well), while Grandmother Wren took a reformist stance. This would put her and her position as the Witch of the World’s Heart at odds with whatever plan the Coven intends to enact. Given what we know of the Witch Class and the other domains of the Coven, their plan is quite possibly violent, retributive, and holds little to no concern for the Mortals or people of Umora.

The third arc will begin with Ame’s meeting with the Coven of Elders at the North Pole, where they will attempt to destroy her station as the Witch of the World’s Heart. For all of the reasons above, I believe this event will connect directly to Stone’s declaration of “treason against magic itself,” but I will just have to (patiently) wait and see (see footnote 5).

Footnotes:

(1) I am well aware that I am being quite vague and obtuse regarding this subject and what specifically I was researching. Mainly because a) that’s not really the point of these musings, this is just some background info and context to explain my philosophy which is already longer than I would like, b) it would be impossible to do justice to an overview of this complex subject in an essay about something that resonated with me in a D&D podcast (and which does not engage with that subject directly, at least not in this context), c) I’ve already written a paper on this subject and am not interested in regurgitating it here, and d) Nunya Binyess (i.e. I could still be wrong about this fallacy and I’d rather discuss WWW than start a tangential IRL philosophical or political argument on this forum).

(2) Though on a deeper level, I partially disagree with the idea that I needed to account for the practical implications of the fallacy within the paper. I disagree that when challenging the fundamental nature of something (e.g., an erroneous argument, a misinformed policy, or an unjust system), there must be an immediate remedy or solution offered up. In my philosophical opinion, once a fallacy like that is identified for something that we hold to be fundamentally true, we need to sit in that revelation and undo the thought processes created by the incorrect assumptions. You cannot flip a switch and suddenly reverse all of the justifications that have gone into supporting a flawed, ingrained argument. To undo a pervasive, incorrect fundamental idea that has been implemented, internalized, or proliferated, first it must be fully examined for all its flaws, rescinded, and only then do we start from square one and think about practical changes (in a perfect world, of course, I am fully aware that the world does not work this way). I do often wonder about this reactive nature in society to demand immediate alternatives and solutions when norms are challenged, though I recognize this is a result of different lived experiences and worldviews. After all, this reactionary nature is true in Umora as well, and the wizards of the Citadel “tend to be a lot more about praxis and practice” (Ep. 19, p. 14).

(3a) Perhaps Stone rolled a nat 20 on some kind of intelligence check for the vision, but rolled a nat 1 on her Persuasion check against Sleep!

(3b) There is another essay I could write here about the history of science and empire (another grad school course) and the reflection of this in the Imperium, its taxonomy, and the (anti)-democratization of knowledge, but perhaps another time.

(4)  Something that occurred to me when piecing together the Erien and the Aerith was the similarity to Morrow’s derrick that harnessed Naram’s power in the first arc. Both serve similar purposes as well, of generating magic and magical items. It makes me wonder if it was intended for the derrick to be Morrow’s poor attempt at recreating the glory of the Citadel, or if this is just a happy coincidence/connection between the arcs.

(5) I do want to briefly acknowledge the nature of improvisational storytelling in this situation, and that anything can change, be clarified, canonized, etc. at any point. This is partly why I don’t like to speculate much myself, because I trust the creators to tell the story the way they want to and follow the paths that appear, without projecting my own hopes or prescriptions when I listen to their wonderful creation that has been crafted with such care. It is also why my theory in the end is limited to the meeting with the coven- truly anything could happen at the beginning of the next arc, and whatever I might come up with is likely less interesting than what will happen. (NB: There is nothing wrong with fan theories or head canons! It’s just not usually something that interests me!) I merely saw a connection and through-line that deeply resonated with me in this second arc and felt compelled to write about it. Also, Worlds Beyond Number and WWW is just so fucking great, and it truly astounds me that this story is so deep that I have somehow written a 12-page essay analyzing essentially a 20-minute segment of one episode. I pray to Enzo that there are no grievous errors or spelling mistakes, but I wanted to post this on WBN’s first birthday! 🧡

[absolutebl]

Hi there! I've just returned from a two-week holiday (as I'm writing this I'm actually still driving back home, but I want to get on top of it lmao), so I would like to defer to your knowledge:

could you pretty please provide me with an update on what series ended/started while I was away? I have a vague idea, but I don't want to miss out on the things that didn't get as much promo and are therefore not on my mdl.

if you can, my watchlist will be forever thankful!!

July Report: BL that Stopped & Started & Is worth Your time

Ended July 2023

Step By Step

This was Thailand’s answer to The New Employee, and everything I loved about that show I loved about this one.

This was an office romance between stern boss and sweet subordinate that felt more authentic to an office environment than previous Thai BLs of this ilk. And that authenticity added tension to the narrative and character development (how novel). Now that might be because it has western source material, or it might be because it is actually kind of old-fashioned (it’s been years since I worked as an office grunt). I also really enjoyed the brothers’ relationship, and kinda wished they hadn’t attempted (and failed) to give said brother his own side BL. That one flaw made it a 9/10 for me.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

La Pluie

This BL takes to task the fated mates trope and what it means to have love chained intimately to predestination. It’s about how faith in destiny before choice diminishes the authenticity of emotion, relationships, and connection. This is a high concept to examine through the lens of a BL.

By activating + examining the soulmates trope this show is challenging a foundation of romance: the idea that there is one person meant to be your one romantic partner all your life. This means that we, as viewers, spend much of the show worried about it having a happy ending, and that’s the source of both its brilliance and tension: would the narrative have the strength to truly challenge its own romantic core? But, ultimately, all this elevated complexity was executed in a somewhat shaky manner with the narrative derailing into some serious pacing issues and characters manipulated by miscommunication.

However, with good chemistry and decent acting all around, plus some excellent high heat and representation of consent and a few other rare tropes, this one has to (like it’s sibling show My Ride) earn a 9/10. I enjoyed it even as it made me think, so despite its flaws:

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Started July 2023 & Looking GOOD

Jun & Jun

Korea Thurs Viki 8 eps

THANK YOU BL GODS. It is so good. Like everything I want in the world. I’m incandescently happy with this show.

It’s office set,

it’s an ex idol,

everyone is pretty as peaches,

and it’s all about remembering somebody’s smell!

I could not be more delighted.

Laws of Attraction

Thai Sat iQIYI 8 eps

(Icky picked it up but they are serving it in a complicated way that may require a VPN.)

Stars the pair from To Sir With Love with the same production team. IT’S SO GOOD. A morally corrupted trickster lawyer with a tragic past, sad eyes, and a beautiful smile that he uses like a weapon. Meets paladin martial arts instructor from other side of the tracks (who is out, at least to his baby sister).

Corrupt police.

Spoiled rich kid evil.

Ambitious politician.

Tragic death.

Terrible subs.*

This show is very like Manner of Death but so far it is a much better/tighter story (there's a Devil Judge aura happening). It’s NOT BL but it is fucking phenomenal. And you should watch it. Not wait to binge it. WATCH IT.

On a global scale this might be the best thing currently airing featuring gay romantic leads. Its really fucking good. It’s Lawless Lawyer but more complex character motivation and gay af. Fuck yes please and thank you. FINALLY.

Triggers for violence, beatings, death & torture depicted on screen. Like MoD they are not holding back. 

(* A lot of the familial names they are using are not gendered in Thai but translated as such, like “nephew”. This one is gonna go down a lot easier if you know some Thai.)

ALSO:

Stay By My Side - Taiwan Fri Gaga 10 eps

Hidden Agenda that isn’t hidden - Thailand Sun GMMTV YouTube 12 eps

Low Frequency - Thailand Sat iQIYI 8 eps

Started But You Can Probably Wait IMHO

Dinosaur Love (Sun iQIYI)

Be Mine Super Star (Mon Viki)

Wedding Plan (Weds YT & iQIYI) it's mame so A trash watch is happening! 

Minato Shouji Coin Laundry Season 2 (Japan Thu Gaga)

Hope this is what you wanted.

[pygmi-says-hi]

I'm trying to write a character falling in love and that slowly turning into obsession. Can I have some advice on what their upbringing could have potentially looked like?

this involves some psychology work, which I only minored in so we'll do a bit of generalizing.

Attachment types come from specific styles of parenting. Obsessive love is a kind of attachment that disregards personal boundaries and oversteps any socially acceptable ways to coexist.

This link right here is definitely not a scanned copy of the DSM 5 which you absolutely under no circumstances should use as a reference if you wanted to.

If this character (I'll name them Andi) is like in love in love with this other person (Brett) and that love soon turns into an obsession, a lot of things can influence this. provided these two people are human with regular human experiences - social exclusion, parental neglect or smothering, and preexisting conditions are a few options.

Does Andi want to control Brett's social life?

If it turns into 'i'm your only person' then they might have a history of losing relationships or of broken trust.

Does Andi feel the need to monitor Brett's location?

Another example of broken trust.

When you're considering a negative approach to a relationship, it's important to examine the emotional and mental motivation. Is it out of a need for control? Is the abusive partner angry? or sad? That emotion, once identified, opens avenues for corresponding behavior.

Let's say Andi controls Brett's social life because they're mad he has so many friends. Why are they mad? Well, he spends a lot of time with them and sometimes not as much with Andi. Andi is angry because they think he'll move on, and they have put in so much effort to make the relationship work.

Normally, they'd chat and work out a compromise. But Andi doesn't trust Brett as much, so they think the only way to deal with it is to take control. That's because having control makes their anxiety fade away. Why do they need control? Because their mother was controlling and overprotective, and nothing bad happened with her.

Not all people use parents as a model; sometimes they use them as a bad example. Andi is controlling because their father wasn't, and their mother ended up having lots of affairs.

or it has nothing to do with parents. you decide obvi.

My main point was that the emotional drive and motivation should be the focal point when deciding why the character acts a certain way. Dissect this and pick appropriate options in context of your plot. What experiences might make the character feel the need to do that?

I'm not trying to avoid your question, but these are good thoughts to have when considering your work. If this was too vague, I can absolutely provide a more specific example, but I thought I'd hit the big point.

xox thanks for the ask!

[marsontherocks]

My Motivation is here but is fighting off the ADHD and Anxiety, so I'm going to just work on what is wanted more first :)

Explanations below, and spoilers for MW3 on number 3

1. Simon "Ghost" Riley x Hispanic! Trans Male Reader: You spend some time with Soap and get an insight into his and Simon’s relationship.

2. John "Soap" MacTavish x Medic! Male Reader: John wakes up with some bad, yet amazing news.

3. After Soap's near death experience, the 141 takes some time off and re-examines their relationships with each other, and if it's ever been platonic.

4. Reader is assigned partners with the Paranormal Believer FBI Agent Phillip Graves(there will be other characters making appearance of course)

5. A team consisting of Physician Dr. Rodolfo Parra, Technology Specialists Mr. Phillip Graves, Representative Mr. John Price, Geologist Dr. Farah Karim, and Survival Expert Mr. Alejandro Vargas are sent to a remote Arctic research station in Svalbard.(Relationships dynamics will be different than both COD and The White Vault, and the featured ships will be AleRudy, FarahAlex, and PriceGraves :) also I highly recommend listening to The White Vault)

[saintsenara]

Why riddledore?

why not?

riddledore definitely started out as a crack ship for me, but it’s now something i’ve completely come round to and genuinely believe can be made to work in a way which both feels true to dumbledore and voldemort’s characters and which has something approaching a happy ending...

[you know, by their standards - the fairytale fluff girlies are probably not finding anything to please them here...]

the facetious explanation for why i think this is that neither of them would be so completely obsessed with each other if there wasn’t some sexual tension lurking underneath it.

the serious explanation is that obviously they should be absolutely horrifying together. even before we get into the flaws in their personalities - a shared tendency to lie and manipulate; a shared self-righteousness; dumbledore’s inflexibility, voldemort’s violence; the fact that they both live behind masks which conceal their true motivations and emotions and use these to project their own self-loathing onto other people; and so on - there is the fact that they have a colossal age gap, that their acquaintance was established when voldemort was a child, that their relationship was set at that point by dumbledore spectacularly failing to understand voldemort or offer him the support he needed [instead, dumbledore took one look at a clearly-traumatised orphan, said "lol, he reminds me of gellert", and then did nothing about it], that dumbledore deadnames voldemort constantly as a power-play, and much more besides.

there is virtually no scenario in any timeline in which they could be openly in a relationship unless one of them is concealing their identity. and - and really this seems quite minor in the grand scheme of things - they are obviously constantly trying to destroy each other in increasingly theatrical ways.

but...

dumbledore and voldemort are very, very similar people - even if canon spends much less time interrogating what they have in common than it does on examining voldemort’s similarities with either harry or snape. dumbledore’s description of the young voldemort in half-blood prince as secretive, independent, obsessed with magic, and so on equally applies to him - and the fact that he recognises himself in voldemort is evidently something which triggers his kneejerk dislike of him when they first meet, and which sustains this dislike into voldemort’s adulthood.

voldemort is clearly aware of this - it’s obvious in canon that one of the things he dislikes about dumbledore is that he perceives him to be a hypocrite, who won’t admit that he has the same attitude towards magic, being considered important, and so on as voldemort himself does - but this can be turned on its head, and dumbledore’s recognition of himself in voldemort can become the foundation for a relationship which is sincerely fulfilling.

after all, they’re intellectually compatible - they are probably the only two characters in the entire series who could be described as the other’s intellectual equal - and, while their divergent approaches to intellectual gatekeeping are a point of tension [dumbledore, out of shame over grindelwald, refuses to allow himself to move beyond disciplinary boundaries; voldemort obviously thinks that's complete bullshit], they are not - i think - an insurmountable one. the two of them are definitely ending up in bed the first few times because they’re arguing about the twelve uses of dragons’ blood - and i love that for them - but they are also going to be able to offer each other another person who actually understands what they're on about when it comes to magic, and i don't think we should underestimate just how attractive that can be...

more profoundly, their lives are both shaped by an absolutely cavernous grief - and this drives their views on death, love, duty, and so on, which are nowhere near as divergent as the text believes they are.

the love which dumbledore prioritises throughout the series is love-as-sacrifice, a love which emphasises the nobility of suffering and which is rooted in loss - and it is this, specifically, which voldemort [whose upbringing was, of course, one which gave him nothing to sacrifice and nobody to sacrifice it for, and which made him understandably opposed to his own suffering], rejects.

but, both dumbledore and voldemort are people whose grief makes them potentially receptive to the value of love-as-pleasure. they’re dismissive of this idea in canon - dumbledore because he thinks pleasure is something he doesn’t deserve, since his sexual desire for grindelwald was what caused the sequence of events which led to ariana’s death, voldemort because deriving comfort from other people is something he considers to be a sign of weakness - but they’re both clearly lonelier and more starved for affection than they’d be willing to admit. they can, in their own little ways, give each other an outlet to permit themselves to take pleasure in someone else - undoubtedly by convincing themselves [initially, at least] that they’re only sleeping together in order to have power over the other, and that staying the night for a little cuddle is definitely a real part of that…

[the most interesting riddledore scenario is, of course, what happens when voldemort finds out about grindelwald. and, actually, i don’t think that he’d take this anywhere near as badly as is often assumed. as i’ve said, voldemort’s issue is that he thinks dumbledore’s a hypocrite, and so learning why dumbledore constructed his benign and good public mask would help voldemort make sense of him. he’s not going to be jealous - he thinks he’s cleverer and hotter than everyone, gellert grindelwald included, and, since he's not afraid of hard work and convinced he's always right, he's more than happy to demonstrate to dumbledore why blondes definitely don't have more fun...]

[duhragonball]

Daima 4: Chatty

I wish this guy was a cereal mascot, because you know his cereal would be awesome.

Last time, Glorio brought Goku and the Supreme Kai to the Third Demon World, but they got in a barroom brawl on their first night there, and Goku beat the patrons up so badly that they decided to steal Glorio's plane for revenge.

This situation is a lot like what happened in Episodes 3 and 4 of Dragon Ball GT, which sees Trunks' spaceship get towed away by the Imeckian authorities. But that's where the similarities end, and I think it's worth examining the differences to see what works and what doesn't.

Okay, so let's do a really quick recap of the Imecka storyline from GT. The GT crew is forced to land on Imecka to make emergency repairs, only to discover that Imecka is a hypercapitalist dystopia. They decide to stay with their ship because they can't afford the hotel, but the ship is impounded, because the planet's ruler, Don Kee, depends on trapping offworlders on his planet to maintain his financial empire. For some reason Pan insists they try to take back the ship without using their super powers, only to finally change her mind in Episode 5. Goku wins easily and they force Don Kee to return their ship and cancel all the debts owed by his citizens. Also, they meet Giru on Imecka, and Goku finds out he can't teleport in his child body.

I don't want to spend a lot of time griping about GT, but the main issue with the Imecka storyline are that it really doesn't have enough story to be a three-parter. Pan's self-imposed pacifist run feels like it was only designed to fill time, and the heroes keep forgetting that they can fly. When Goku finally does use force, he really only has to fight one major opponent, and it's a pretty quick battle. Meeting Giru was the most important thing that happens, but they could have encountered him literally anywhere else and it would still work. And Goku not being able to teleport seems like it ought to be a problem, but we never see a time where he couldn't just use flight or super-speed instead.

So how does Daima deal with this same setup? Well they start walking. Glorio doesn't even try to find the guys who took his plane, so I guess he figures it's long gone. In GT, the gang happened to show up just in time to see their ship being hauled away, and it needed repairs, so at least they knew no one would fly away with it. But I guess whoever took Glorio's plane flew out of town, so there's no way to catch up, even if they knew which way to go.

This seemed kind of strange to me at first, until I realized that Glorio doesn't need the plane quite as badly as the GT crew needed their ship. The GT guys were traveling from planet to planet, but Glorio's just escorting Goku to see King Kadan. He's already made it to the Third Demon World, so he can make the rest of the trip on foot. It's just going to take a lot longer this way. The Supreme Kai, is more concerned about how they're going to make the return trip, since they'll definitely need the plane to get back to Universe 7. But that's still a ways down the road. Glorio can only suggest that he'll figure out something later, but for now all they can do is head for the next town.

Actually, this is a nice way to showcase the characters and their differing motivations. Glorio's mostly annoyed by the inconvenience of the whole thing. Anyone who's had a car stolen or towed knows what he's going through right now. But in terms of his mission, he's basically where he needs to be, which is the Third Demon World. He's behind schedule, but he's still on his home turf.

The Supreme Kai is the one worried about their return trip because he's not on his home turf. He only came along because he wants to know more about King Kadan's plans for Goku, and Degesu's connection to King Gomah. He wants to know how they're getting back to Universe 7 because he kinda sorta runs the place and he can't afford to get stuck in the Demon Realm forever.

Then there's Goku, who's more care-free than the others. He does care about the mission. He wants to rescue Dende, restore himself and his friends to normal, and defeat King Gomah. He also cares about the plane. I think this is important because in GT it often felt like Goku hardly seemed to care about anything that much. But in Daima he's just as upset about the plane theft as the others. But he doesn't let it worry him for long. For Goku, there's no point worrying about the way home until they've finished their business in the Demon Realm. He'll worry about it after he saves Dende and clobbers Gomah, and not before.

All Goku's concerned about right now is getting to the good part, so he suggests they just fly to where they need to go. They can all fly under their own power, sure, but Glorio reminds Goku of the thicker air in Demon Realm. We saw this slowed down Goku's movements in the previous episode, and Glorio also explained that he couldn't fly the plane too fast in the Demon Realm atmosphere, because the wind resistance would tear it apart. Similarly, Goku could fly here, but he'd have to work a lot harder to do it, and he would wear himself out covering the distance they need to go.

And that might not be a big deal, except we've already established that this is hostile terrain. There's bandits and rowdy bar patrons and planejackers and that was just the last episode. They can't afford to fly long distances and then stop to rest.

Even so, they do fly a little, because there are big canyons with that Sea of Darkness thing below them. So you really can't go anywhere in Demon Realm without some sort of flight ability. But a big monster attacks Goku from out of the Sea of Darkness, and Glorio has to fight it off in mid-flight, which just goes to show how treacherous this place can be. We're used to characters zipping all around the world in Dragon Ball Z, but that sort of thing just doesn't work in Demon Realm, at least not for the kind of power level we're seeing in this show. Maybe Jiren or Beerus could fly around without a problem, I dunno.

Anyway, this is a really great way to change the playing field for this show. It took a few episodes to set it up, but it makes sense. This feels like the sort of flavor that early GT was going for, but could never quite pull off. That's because GT never seemed to establish how or why the characters would be less powerful than they were in Z. Goku was de-aged, yeah, but he and Trunks could still fly and turn Super Saiyan. Pan was a little kid, but she was still much, much stronger than anyone in O.G. Dragon Ball. So you kept getting episodes where they just acted like they couldn't fly or turn Super Saiyan, without ever explaining it.

What we're seeing here in Daima is a lot more like Krillin and Gohan's situation on Planet Namek. The boys could fly and shoot energy blasts, but they knew if they did that stuff, they would be detected by the bad guys' scouters. Then the scouters got destroyed, and they were a little safer, until it turned out that Vegeta had learned to sense ki the same way they could. So when Krillin took Gohan to meet Elder Guru, they had to travel slowly. Then as soon as they picked up the pace, Vegeta sensed their location immediately and came after them.

It also helps to introduce new characters like Glorio to the mix, since you won't be beholden to the established rules for the major characters. Daima has to nerf Goku and the Supreme Kai, but Glorio's a brand new guy, so he can be exactly as powerful as they need him to be, no explanations necessary.

It also helps to add new gimmicks to the story to make up for the powers you take away. Eventually, Glorio, Goku, and the Supreme Kai find this general store in the middle of nowhere, and they get some food. Glorio inquires about buying a new plane, but the couple who run the place don't have a plane, so they sell him a "Sky Seed" instead. There's a cute scene where they haggle over the price, but I don't want to get too bogged down. What I want to talk about instead is the other stuff for sale in this store: Medi Bugs.

So there's a display in the store that's just a bunch of wooden barrels filled with dead bugs. Gross, but they actually have special properties. There's one kind called the Revive Bug that works like a Senzu bean, but that's just for openers. There's Achichi Bugs for burns, Zutsu Bugs for headaches, and Beaut Bugs for silky smooth skin.

I can only assume that these are going to come in handy later in the show. Someone will get a really bad burn, and they'll eat a bug to fix it. Glorio will get a headache while filling out the paperwork to make the return trip to Universe 7, and that Zutsu bug will save the day. In episode 32 or whatever, Vegeta will take a self-care day and eat a Beaut Bug to enhance his skincare routine.

Oh, there's also a Join Bug that you cut in half and give to two people, and they fuse together. So we've already got fusion set up for down the road. Goku marks out for this, because I think he senses what we do: there's going to be a battle later in this show that's challenging enough that we need fusion to deal with it.

And you know, this might be another point in favor of the whole "Damia is a GT remake" theory. I don't buy it myself, but I can't quite dismiss it either. Maybe they came to Toriyama with a basic layout of GT story beats and he said "Yeah, we can do fusion near the end of the series, but we should lay the groundwork for it and build up to that moment." I don't think anyone really questioned GT Vegeta getting the Fusion Dance right on his first try, but it still would have been a bigger moment if they had been setting up for Gogeta instead of hotshotting it the way they did.

Anyway, Goku begs Glorio to buy him dead bugs the same way I used to ask my mother to buy me Transformers at Target. Then they head over to use the new Sky Seed Glorio just purchased.

Okay, so the Sky Seed is that Q-tip looking thing you may have seen in the closing credits. The guy who sells them has a whole routine he does to launch them, with a wizard robe and a megaphone and everything. But it's basically just a missile. There are plants in Demon Realm that make these Q-tip-shaped seeds and when you rip off part of one end, they launch into the air with tremendous force. The Supreme Kai has never heard of this, so about halfway into the flight he asks Glorio how he's steering the thing, and he explains that he's not. It's just a projectile, which means they need to fly off of it before it crashes.

This seems kind of silly, but it helps. The Sky Seed takes them "120 kilos" closer to where they're going. I don't know if that's kilometers or not, but that's pretty impressive. That's like an hour on the highway in a car, and it only took a few minutes. Glorio estimates it'll take half a day to get to the next town, and Goku suggests flying under their own power from there, and using the Revive Bugs to recover stamina. That's a pretty good plan, except Supreme Kai and Glorio don't want to eat bugs. Also, I would think Goku would want to save those Revive Bugs for a big fight, but he's bored with all this traveling.

Along the way, Goku asks Glorio about the Demon Realm's Dragon Balls, since Piccolo had mentioned there was a set here back in Episode 2. Glorio tells him that there's only three Demon Realm Dragon Balls, and you don't have to find them because everyone already knows where they are. Each one is located in one of the three Demon Worlds, rather prominently on display. The problem is that you can't take one without first defeating the Tamagami guardian who protects it. This was all arranged by Neva thousands of years ago. And no one has ever made a wish on these Balls, because the Tamagami are incredibly strong and have never been beaten. Well, maybe someone managed to beat one or two, but no one's ever made a clean sweep, that's for sure.

So this makes Goku all excited, because he's a rowdy boy and he loves fightin'. He wants to clobber the Tamagami and get the Dragon Balls just for the fun of it, but the Supreme Kai reminds him that they're here to save Dende first. But Glorio thinks this might not be a bad idea. Suppose Dende gets killed, or they can't rescue him. If Goku could defeat the Tamagamis, he could use the Demon Realm Dragon Balls to rescue Dende, then they could use the Earth's Dragon Balls again and restore their bodies to the proper age.

Goku's thrilled to have any excuse to pursue this plan, but after Glorio says it, he has this weird staredown with the Supreme Kai, who doesn't seem to be convinced. He's been suspicious of Glorio from the beginning, so maybe we're beginning to see Glorio's ulterior motive starting to take shape. Officially, he's here to bring Goku to defeat Gomah, but maybe he really wants Goku to defeat the Tamagamis.

I'm not sure what the implications of this would be. For example, let's say Goku wins and makes his wish. Do the Tamagami reset and then someone else would have to defeat them all over again to make the next wish? Or would the Tamagami be gone forever, allowing the Demon Realm Dragon Balls to be gathered and used by anyone who can find them? It might alter the balance of power in the Demon Realm, which is probably why Neva stayed behind and set up the Tamagamis in the first place.

But on the other hand, I'm glad we're already talking about Goku fighting these big unbeatable guardians. I mean, they're all over the opening and closing credits, so I was pretty sure it would come down to this anyway, but it's better to confirm it early on and give the audience something to look forward to. Episodes 3 and 4 haven't gotten a whole lot done, but they have been steadily filling up Goku's dance card. He's gotten into several skirmishes just walking around the Third Demon World, and we already know he'll be doing some fusion and fighting Gomah, and all three Tamagamis. Oh, and he fights Vegeta a little in the opening credits, so if they want to do another Goku vs. Vegeta fight on top of the rest, I'm down to clown.

In the next town, Goku and pals find the villagers being hassled by King Gomah's royal goons. They're here for the classic evil tax collection bit, but with a twist. They've put magic collars on everyone so they can't run away, and they also have a device that drains the life force out of people. So if you can't pay the tax, which King Gomah has increased from 1 gold piece to three, then you lose three years of your life for each gold piece you can't pay. There's an old man who can't afford to pay, and losing nine years of his life will kill him, so he's kind of fucked. Just as Goku decides to intervene...

This character shows up. She throws a "Wasabi bomb" at the guards, but it's a dud, so she just ends up running away. She's got a taser, too, but that doesn't do much good, so just when it looks like she's captured, Goku jumps in and goes to town on all the guards. Not just any town. Goku Town.

So this fight scene kicks ass. The barroom fight from the last episode was pretty sweet, but we've already topped it. The bad guys are more evil and better armed, so it's even more satisfying when Goku clobbers them. Also the choreography is just gorgeous. Goku's swinging the Nyoibo around like a maniac, bouncing off walls, doing all sorts of flippy shit like an indy wrestler with nothing to lose, and it really reminds me of Goku invading Red Ribbon headquarters way back in the day. If the rest of the series is anything like this, then we are in very good hands.

And to turn back to GT Episode 4 for a moment, this is what Goku could have been doing in that show, except he just... didn't. Because Pan told him no. For no apparent reason. So it's refreshing to see Daima Goku charting a very different course. Glorio also told Goku to stand down, but at least he had a good reason. They were having a hard enough time as it was without revealing their presence to King Gomah's men. But Goku had all he could stands, and he couldn't stands no more. He had to jump in and kick ass. He had to. That's who he is.

I think Dragon Ball Super kind of created this version of Goku who kind of didn't care about what was happening. I'm not sure it was intentional, or if it's even present in the text, but the fans got really fed up with "Stupid Goku," the version of Goku who didn't understand kissing, and constantly had to have the plot explained to him. DBS Goku was pretty lackadaisical about the Tournament of Power, and recruiting Frieza, and promising to bring Frieza back to life to get him to join the team. I would occasionally defend DBS Goku, but usually the best I could come up with was that he really didn't have much of a choice in these scenarios, and he was just refusing to stress out about things he couldn't control. Fans wanted him to stop Grand Zeno from erasing universes, but how could Goku do that?

Well, you can certainly argue that maybe the writers should have thought of that before they came up with the story. The gods in Dragon Ball Super were too big to stop, so it left Goku in a position where he didn't have much agency. Grand Zeno saved him from Beerus and Champa, Grand Zeno saved him from Zamasu, and Android 17 just happened to win the Tournament of Power and make the one wish that wouldn't get everyone erased. You know what? Dragon Ball Super kind of sucked.

Daima gets it right. Glorio knows the smart play is to keep quiet and let the injustice play out, but Goku doesn't care. The Turtle School taught him to use martial arts to help the weak. And Saiyans aren't much for hiding, and Goku's no ordinary Saiyan anyway. He came here to wreck Gomah's shit. If clobbering Gomah's men attracts Gomah's attention, then good, it means the fight will come to Goku that much sooner. If Gomah sends more troops after Goku, then the fight will be that much more fun for Goku.

Maybe King Kadan didn't understand what he was getting into, but Goku's the Legendary Super Saiyan. You want stealthy heroics, go call Batman or whatever. But don't drop a war machine in your backyard and then complain about the noise.

Anyway, when the dust settles, Goku's like "Oops, I didn't meant to kick this much ass. Sorry!" and they have to run out of town. Glorio's annoyed that Goku's made himself a fugitive on top of everything else, but before they can discuss it further that girl from earlier shows up and unmasks to reveal... a girl?

Well, it's the girl we see in the closing credits, so I'm glad we finally got her on the board. I'm pretty sure her name is Panzy, because that's the title of the next episode.

[rhaenall]

Warning, this is super long but I think the reason so many people think of Shiv as the favorite is more about how "favorite" is defined and from what perspective we’re examining “favorite.”

I think there’s a pretty solid argument that, in-universe, the Roy’s generally see Shiv as Logan’s “favorite” where favorite means the child he “likes” most and treats “preferentially.” As a preface, Brian Cox has pretty consistently said Shiv is Logan's favorite in interviews. While fans and viewers are free to take or leave an actor’s extra-textual viewpoint as they wish, I think it has both been influential from a fanon perspective and provides a view into Logan’s thought process.

What I mean by that is that Logan probably thinks of Shiv as his favorite, partly because Logan's views towards Shiv are (at least initially) less complicated than his views towards his sons. As Shiv said in Episode 3x09, Logan thinks there’s something wrong with Roman and he has a dichotomous love-hate relationship with Kendall. By contrast, Logan thinks of Shiv as his little Pinky, there’s nothing competitive about the relationship because she’s not another Man coming to usurp him and he can’t comprehend the whole of her as a full and complex person due to his own misogyny. As the only girl, his relationship with her is inherently unique and, I’d argue, in some ways inherently limited by her gender. Shiv is someone he can afford to let in because she’ll never be a Son and therefore, will never really be a rival (or a disappointment as a Man).

I think we get a bit of a sense of this in Episode 2x08, where Logan seeks out Shiv’s assurance that he’s making the right decision about announcing Rhea. There’s a kind of emotional reliance there that Logan can show Shiv that I don’t think he could have really show Kendall or Roman by virtue of their being men. It’s not dissimilar to how he relies on Marcia earlier in the season. It almost gives the illusion of tenderness, but in other ways simultaneously dismisses Shiv as a potential Heir herself, even though that’s the whole paradigm she’s been operating under this season.  That reliance and psedo-emotional closeness (as well as Shiv being out of the company for the majority of her life) allows for their relationship to function differently then any relationship he has with his other children and potentially to connect with each other (see Shiv’s speech that same episode where it’s clear they really do get each other in a way).

By virtue of this unique relationship, I think the rest of the family (mostly Roman, Kendall, and Caroline) view Shiv as Logan’s “favorite” as well.  This is potentially evidenced in some of Kendall’s lines in Episode 1x02 (I say potentially because everyone is speaking from places of mixed motives haha). Thus, by certain in-universe metrics, Shiv is Logan’s favorite.

As viewers however, our view of “favorite” may differ from those of the characters in the show. If we think of Logan’s “favorite” as the child Logan lets in the most re the business, or thinks about the most, or spends the most time with, or brings into his inner circle most frequently – then the “favorite” may be Kendall.

I think it’s pretty indisputable that Logan has uniquely weird relationships with all of his kids but at least where Kendall is concerned there’s an intense kind of possessiveness involved. Putting aside how wild it is to tap a seven-year-old as the future CEO of a public company that will have a market cap in excess of $40b, Logan seems super interested in involving himself in basically every aspect of Kendall’s life. We see in the pilot episode that he’s always trying to get his kids in the company (and exercise some level of procession that way), but it extends beyond that with Kendall (see for example all of Season 2 and large parts of Season 1and 3 haha).

At least until the start of the show, I think the implication is Logan has been dedicated to molding Kendall in his image as his heir, largely without meaningful competition from his siblings. However, one of the things that I think keeps Logan from thinking of Kendall as being his “favorite” even though he holds the title of Heir, is that Kendall is a massive disappointment to Logan because he can never live up to that title. Part of this is just, no one can live up to Logan’s standard because it’s a constantly changing standard (he is after all a human gaslight) but the other part is that Kendall is, at his core, a vastly different person from Logan. They don’t think the same. And on top of that, because Kendall has been trying to absorb and learn how to be whatever it is Logan seems to want, he keeps either attempting to emulate Logan poorly because, as stated, they’re different people, or he tries to grow and do his own thing which Logan inherently dislikes either because it’s not Logan’s way or he views it as competition which is unacceptable from one of his children.

To me, in many ways, Kendall is Logan’s great contradiction – love and hate in equal measure with a toxic co-dependance swirling throughout due to the sheer amount of time and energy that’s gone into molding Ken to be more like Logan and Kendall’s desperate attempt to shove himself into a mold that doesn’t fit.

Now for how this further fits into the “favorite” discussion, I don’t think Kendall views himself as the favorite. I think this is in part because the grass is always greener and from where Ken is standing – Shiv’s pasture looks far nicer than his (and Roman’s but that’s a whole other thing). However, I also kind of think that because Kendall is so constantly in Logan’s orbit, he doesn’t really think about this favorite thing too much (or at least not in those terms).

From Shiv’s perspective though, I think she’s much more keyed into the reality that Logan’s view of her is not in fact “better” but a massive disservice to her potential and I think she does clock that there’s a connection with Kendall that she cannot be part of in a way that makes any favoritism she gets meaningless. All of which is to say, I think Shiv understands she’s in a unique position with her Dad as the girl and the baby, and that to some extent others view her as a Daddy’s Girl. But I think she also has identified that Ken is the one who’s got Daddy’s attention more than not and although she may be called the “favorite” in many ways, Ken gets to “matter” in a way she can’t.

 So all of this to say…I think Shiv is technically the “favorite” but that Kendall is practically the “favorite” or the one who “matters– it’s all about how you define it and which perspectives you’re adopting.

(Also, one final note on Logan’s feeling around Shiv – there’s also probably some deeply mixed-up subconscious association between Rose, the younger sister he lost and carried guilt about for forever, and Shiv, his only daughter (and the only child that seems to physically take after his side of the family) that may also be at play here. I’m still kind of thinking through how all of that fits together…)

WHO SEND THIS?€;&::&&: (/positive)

I appreciate it, I read it all. Really lovely thoughts and ideas.

I didn’t know about Brian Cox’s thoughts on this matter. I think I am only aware of Jeremy’s and Sarah Snook’ thoughts on their characters/season 4.

But yes I can definitely see why there is conflicting answers about the favorite.

Thank you, anon! This is Appreciated