#true understanding of the Absolute Solver may not be possible

[chromaticleaf]

People have varying theories on the finer details, but this is the general gist of the plot in chronological order (this ended up pretty long, sorry):

The Elliots (Tessa's family) is evidently rich and influential on Earth, with a large estate and mansion, and a large number of worker drones as a household workforce. The Victorian style was evidently in fashion for them, at least during that part of the 31st century. Aside from that, anachronism is just part of the style of the show and its humor (VHS tapes, floppy disks, etc.).

Worker drones are intended to be shutdown and dismantled in a specific manner after disposal in order to avoid corrupted AI, or at least to avoid the associated fines. For the rich and influential, either the fines are not enforced, or they can be accepted as a cost of doing business, since it seems large number of drones are not being disposed of properly.

Tessa routinely visits a drone dumping ground to find drones to repair as pets. This is how she acquires J, N, V, and Cyn (as well as a number of other drones, we can assume).

Cyn, after not being disposed of properly, rebooted from "software death" on her own, still inside the dump. At this point, the absolute solver program mutated within her / corrupted her / possessed her / used her empty body for itself / insert theory here. Tessa then finds her and brings her to the mansion.

Cyn / The Absolute Solver (hereafter referred to just as Cyn) has the ability to manipulate matter. She is a godlike being and this is essentially a cosmic horror setting. She uses her power, her illusions, and trickery to massacre everyone in the Elliot estate during a gala, including Tessa. She hacks, manipulates, and rebuilds the drones into murder machines, and wears the remains of Tessa's body over her own body ("I will not discard you"). She goes on to attack and consume the rest of Earth. The solver requires matter to manipulate, it can't work off of nothing. Cyn is therefore extremely hungry, and seeks new matter to consume.

Humans on Copper 9 (The exoplanet most of the story takes place on) saw the results on earth. A team of scientists working underground try to replicate the abilities of the absolute solver for their own purposes (Defense against Cyn? Greed? Hubris?). They experiment on a large number of drones, including Nori 002 (Uzi's Mom), Yeva 048 (Doll's Mom, the Russian girl), and Alice 017 (The cannibal drone underground in episode 6). Most either fail or are corrupted and destroyed.

Yeva successfully develops Solver powers, and is successfully patched. Nori successfully develop Solver powers, and is remotely possessed by Cyn. Cyn destroys the research team, but Yeva and the intern Mitchell manage to patch her as well. A remnant of Cyn's power still manages to half destroy the planet anyway, wiping out biological life. Nori (and Yeva, probably) were too close to ground zero and had their memories scrambled, and ended up on the surface.

The worker drones on the planet are glad to no longer be under the oppressive rule of the humans, and start creating their own society. Nori meets Khan, Uzi's father, and Yeva meets Doll's father. Nori tells Khan to create some defense against Cyn, though indirectly since her memories are still probably scrambled. ("Build doors against the coming sky demons", etc.)

At some point, Uzi and Doll are born, this may have been after the next point. They inherit the solver powers from their parents, but not the patch.

Cyn sends several teams of murder drones, including J, V, and N. She allows these three to retain more of their original personalities for her own amusement. They proceed to murder all the worker drones they can find and build spires out of their corpses. Most of the teams then begin searching for the underground lab that Nori and Yeva were part of.

Khan's colony survives thanks to his defense preparations. At some point Nori is attacked by murder drones. Khan "kills" her to put her out of her misery after she gets poisoned by nanite acid, but her "heart" survives and goes to search for the lab as well.

Solver infected drones, by way of matter manipulation, can repair themselves, and can survive as just a heart/core. The "meat" is another expression of the solvers powers. On the level of molecular matter manipulation, the difference between meat and circuitry is mostly academic. Thus, Nori survives what should have been death.

Yeva and her husband are also murdered at some point by V. Yeva's heart does not survive as far as we know.

Uzi grows up neglected by her father and her peers. She decides to fight the murder drones, both to do something proactive and to earn status.

Doll's solver powers awaken at some point, and she refines them with the goal of getting revenge on V for her parents' deaths.

Uzi finishes her gun, she shoots N's head off, and he regenerates. The rest of episode 1 happens. Uzi kills J, and decides to take revenge on humanity, who she still believes are the ones who sent the murder drones to Copper 9.

J's solver powers, controlled by Cyn, attempt to regenerate her. Episode 2 happens, and this instance of the Solver is killed during confrontation with Uzi and N.

Doll and Lizzy come up with a plan to lure V into and ambush, involving granting her the title of prom queen as a distraction. Doll murders all other candidates as part of the plan. Uzi and N save V, and V "kills" Doll, but her solver powers regenerate her. Uzi's solver power also awakens, and Doll learns about it. She promises to help Uzi with the patch if she finds it and leaves. Cyn and a revived copy of J arrive on the planet, with Cyn disguised as Tessa. This was episode 3.

Uzi learns about the lab collars from Khan, and that he met Nori and Yeva at Camp 98.7. She heads there to investigate, looking for more answers. Episode 4 happens, and Uzi starts succumbing to the hunger the absolute solver inflicts on those infected with it. Uzi also finds a "key bug" that can grant access to the hidden labs.

Afterward, Cyn starts reasserting control over N and V as their administrator, trying to delete resurfacing memories to keep them in line. Uzi hacks into them herself, and they relive some memories of the gala massacre on Earth. Uzi makes herself administrator of N and V instead, shielding them from Cyn's direct influence. During this, Doll manages to steal the key bug from Uzi, who gives it up in exchange for focusing on saving N and V. This was episode 5.

Uzi and the gang find "Tessa" and J. Doll is in the process of giving them the key bug in exchange for help entering the lab. Doll rethinks her deal and takes the bug back, fleeing underground. "Tessa" recruits the others and secretly sends J to destroy any other ways off the planet.

The rest of episode 6 follows after. Cyn seems to start hacking Uzi while they go, mostly to manipulate N. V stays behind to hold of the sentinels and allows N and Uzi to use the secret elevator.

Episode 7: Nori finally finds the patch usb-crucifix, and encounters N being toyed with by Cyn. She rescues N and they both go searching for Uzi to patch her. Uzi finds the church and starts investigating the records Nori obtained. Cyn then finds the experiment archives and destroys them. Doll fights her and is shredded. Doll staggers to the church and collapses near Uzi. Cyn follows close behind and tries to kill Uzi. N stops her and "kills" her. Cyn hacks Uzi and destroys the patch, then tries to kill N and Nori, but Uzi manages to fight her off at the end with parental rebellion.

Cyn then regenerates her body and eats Doll's heart, then tries to eat the planet. Uzi saves N from the pit and falls in herself. The pit explodes, sending Uzi, Nori, and quite a bit of debris to various heights. Episode 8 happens and Uzi defeats the cosmic horror by eating its core. The Absolute Solver and/or Cyn survive inside of Uzi. The End.

I ended up leaving out a lot of the specific details in the later parts here, because they were self-evident (Khan fixing the gun, etc.), and I didn't want this to get too long. Hopefully this helps clear up some aspects of the plot!

Can some benevolent soul explain me what the hell was Murder Drones about in the end? Because like at first episode the whole deal was that main characters wanted to destroy humanity for trying to destroy them, but at the end it's some kind of fantasy with zombie-girl with cyber-magic somehow destroying an entire planet with space tentacles, like what the hell? It's like a genuine request, the fuck is happening? Whos the Russian girl? Why in cybernetic future there were Victorian mansions and top hats? Why robots have meat? I don't understand neither plot nor world building.

[aortaobservatory]

Classes of Light - AO Classpecting

Chosen Keywords: Knowledge, Evaluation, Insight, Meaning

TEZ Keywords: Knowledge-seekers, students, problem-solvers, precision, scholars, researchers, resourceful, driven, (fussy, pedantic, insensitive)

CANON: Those bound to the aspect of Light are the universe's knowledge-seekers. They are, above all, driven to learn and understand. They are great alchemists, able to take multiple sources of information and synthesize them into something useful. They are scholars and researchers, absolutely dedicated to knowledge for knowledge's sake. They are the ultimate students, and although that might conjure up the image of people sitting around peacefully waiting for knowledge to be brought to them, that couldn't be further from the truth. The Light-bound will go after knowledge with a fierce intensity that others may find distasteful. They aren't overly concerned with laws or norms, either. They often take rules as simple suggestions, instead searching for loopholes or work-arounds. At their best, the Light-bound are resourceful and driven. At their worst they can be fussy, pedantic, and insensitive.

All of the analysis written below is my own writing, analysis, and thoughts as based on the sources I consulted. The statements are my own analysis, but they may function as a "fill in the blank" statement for you to create your own interpretation of the classpect as you please by replacing the aspect word with any of the provided keywords above.

Sources consulted: (dahniwitchoflight), (rosespecting), (godtier-haven), (TEZ), (MSPA Wiki)

LINK: (Classpecting Analysis Masterpost)

TAGS: [Mage], [Seer], [Witch], [Heir]

TAGS: [Knight], [Page], [Thief], [Rogue]

TAGS: [Sylph], [Maid], [Prince], [Bard]

-aortaObservatory

Knowers/Changers

Mage (Active): Know - Too Much Experience with Light

A Mage of Light is almost constantly experiencing knowledge and evaluation from the people around them and their surroundings, which gives them a unique understanding of how insight and the meaning of something can help a situation... or hurt a situation.

A Mage of Light is flooded with Light (Knowledge, Evaluation, Insight, Meaning), uniquely experiencing both the good and the bad of it. As a result, they gain a unique understanding of what Light is and does, often resenting it or becoming jaded and frustrated with it, but never rejecting it. Their challenge is to become open to new insight or different perspectives than their own.

Heir of Void (Inverse): As the Mage of Light knows Light in a flood of both good and bad, they end up embodying Void, whether on purpose or accidental. They have an indirect relationship with Void; because they know and experience Light (that which is knowledge, evaluation, insight, and meaning), they fully embody and thus must change Void (that which is secrecy, unknown, potential, and possibilities). Because the inverse classpect is a ghost of the true classpect, the Mage of Light does not undergo the Heir of Void's challenge; their relationship with the Heir class and the Void aspect is purely surface level.

~

Seer (Passive): Know - Too Little Experience with Light

A Seer of Light is surrounded by secrecy and many potential unknowns, and lacks knowledge and insight in their life, and as a result are driven to learn everything they can about meaningful evaluation in order to understand what they previously lacked.

A Seer of Light studies Light (Knowledge, Evaluation, Insight, Meaning), craving knowledge of it from their previous lack of it. They seek knowledge of Light with a fierce intensity in order to gain more understanding of it, acknowledging the potential consequences of doing so and dealing with them later. Their challenge is to learn how to translate their insight and knowledge into action and decision, as well as learn how to manage their engagement with Light so as to not overwhelm themself or others.

Witch of Void (Inverse): As the Seer of Light attempts to gain experience with Light from their previous lack of it, they end up changing Void, whether on purpose or accidental. They have a direct relationship with Void; because they change and thus half embody Void (that which is secrecy, unknown, potential, and possibilities), they gain experience with and thus know Light (that which is knowledge, evaluation, insight, and meaning). Because the inverse classpect is a ghost of the true classpect, the Seer of Light does not undergo the Witch of Void's challenge; their relationship with the Witch class and the Void aspect is purely surface level.

~

Witch (Active): Change - Too Little Embodiment of Light

A) A Witch of Light embodies knowledge and the insight it gives them, in order to change their own and others evaluation of what something means.

B) A Witch of Light embodies the evaluation of what something means, in order to change their own and others knowledge and the insight it gives them.

Witches are self-assured and conclusive individualists. They pick and choose which parts and pieces of Light (Knowledge, Evaluation, Insight, Meaning) fit into their own already determined desires, making Light embody themself and changing it to suit their own wants and needs. Their challenge is to achieve a stable balance in themself without losing themself to Light or their own changing whims.

Seer of Void (Inverse): As the Witch of Light changes the pieces of Light within themself, they end up experiencing Void, whether on purpose or accidental. They have an indirect relationship with Void; because they change and half embody Light (that which is knowledge, evaluation, insight, and meaning), they gain experience with and thus know Void (that which is secrecy, unknown, potential, and possibilities). Because the inverse classpect is a ghost of the true classpect, the Witch of Light does not undergo the Seer of Void's challenge; their relationship with the Seer class and the Void aspect is purely surface level.

~

Heir (Passive): Change - Too Much Embodiment of Light

An Heir of Light embodies the ability of evaluation, meaning they are knowledgable; however, only by changing themself can they change the insight they gain and the meaning of it.

An Heir of Light inherits and embodies Light (Knowledge, Evaluation, Insight, Meaning), allowing Light to change themself or itself. They have huge amounts of Light related strengths, allowing themself to be surrounded by Light or naturally gravitating towards it. Their challenge is to not get stuck on Light, to know when to move on and change themself to keep themself balanced.

Mage of Void (Inverse): As the Heir of Light embodies Light within themself, they end up knowing Void, whether on purpose or accidental. They have a direct relationship with Void; because they fully embody and thus must change Light (that which is knowledge, evaluation, insight, and meaning), they know and experience Void (that which is secrecy, unknown, potential, and possibilities). Because the inverse classpect is a ghost of the true classpect, the Heir of Light does not undergo the Mage of Void's challenge; their relationship with the Mage class and the Void aspect is purely surface level.

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Utilizers/Allocators

Knight (Active): Utilize - Too Much Skill with Light

A Knight of Light would be very skilled in using the knowledge they possess and the insight it gives them, to protect and defend the evaluation of others and the meaning given to them.

A Knight of Light is extremely adept with their Light (Knowledge, Evaluation, Insight, Meaning), their driving effort to protect it and others through it. They are loyal to Light's cause and naturally gifted with it, using it as a tool to achieve whatever they set themself to. Their challenge is to learn how to be less harsh on themself, to accept and learn from failure, and to accept the assistance of others when they need it.

Rogue of Void (Inverse): As the Knight of Light utilizes Light from their loyalty to it, they end up valuing Void, whether on purpose or accidental. They have an indirect relationship with Void; because they utilize and are skilled with Light (that which is knowledge, evaluation, insight, and meaning), they value and thus give/allocate Void (that which is secrecy, unknown, potential, and possibilities). Because the inverse classpect is a ghost of the true classpect, the Knight of Light does not undergo the Rogue of Void's challenge; their relationship with the Rogue class and the Void aspect is purely surface level.

~

Page (Passive): Utilize - Too Little Skill with Light

A Page of Light is a beginner when it comes to learning and evaluating the knowledge they gain, but they repeatedly strive to master it using the insight they've acquired and the meaning they've ascribed to it.

A Page of Light starts unskilled in Light (Knowledge, Evaluation, Insight, Meaning), learning how it works and how to use it to its full potential over time. In their many attempts to master Light, they teach others the value of Light, becoming an unintentional source of inspiration. Their challenge is to keep at it, learn from failure, and eventually master Light, being able to confidently provide Light to others.

Thief of Void (Inverse): As the Page of Light attempts to gain skill with Light from their previous lack of it, they end up allocating Void, whether on purpose or accidental. They have a direct relationship with Void; because they take/allocate and thus do not value Void (that which is secrecy, unknown, potential, and possibilities), they gain skill with and thus utilize Light (that which is knowledge, evaluation, insight, and meaning). Because the inverse classpect is a ghost of the true classpect, the Page of Light does not undergo the Thief of Void's challenge; their relationship with the Thief class and the Void aspect is purely surface level.

~

Thief (Active): Allocate - Too Little Value towards Light

A Thief of Light lacks knowledge and evaluation in their life, resulting in a fierce desire to possess such things for themself and leading to them not understanding the value of the insights they gain and what that means, as they take knowledge and the evaluations of others from others and hoard it all to themself for their own benefit.

A Thief of Light takes Light (Knowledge, Evaluation, Insight, Meaning), either craving it fiercely from their lack of it in their lives or simply because they like it, stealing and hoarding it all for themself and their own personal benefit. Despite their outward confidence with Light, they often take it at face-value without learning of its true value, being unsatisfied with how much Light they hoard and craving more and more. Their challenge is to focus less on attaining and more on learning about the value their aspect, as well as to let others have their aspect and learning why it is important to others.

Page of Void (Inverse): As the Thief of Light allocates pieces of Light to themself, they end up gaining skill with Void, whether on purpose or accidental. They have an indirect relationship with Void; because they take/allocate and do not value Light (that which is knowledge, evaluation, insight, and meaning), they gain skill with and thus utilize Void (that which is secrecy, unknown, potential, and possibilities). Because the inverse classpect is a ghost of the true classpect, the Thief of Light does not undergo the Page of Void's challenge; their relationship with the Page class and the Void aspect is purely surface level.

~

Rogue (Passive): Allocate - Too Much Value towards Light

A Rogue of Light would redistribute, allow others to take, and/or give knowledge and insight to others in the name of balancing the meanings born of evaluation.

A Rogue of Light gives Light (Knowledge, Evaluation, Insight, Meaning) away, either because they have a lot of it already, or are able to get it so easily they don't know what to do with so much of it. They often know the true value of Light, and are able to see where there is too much or too little of Light and redistribute it in a balanced way around themself. Their challenge is to not let Light run dry within themself, and to learn how to healthily balance Light in themself.

Knight of Void (Inverse): As the Rogue of Light values Light within themself, they end up utilizing Void, whether on purpose or accidental. They have a direct relationship with Void; because they value and thus give/allocate Light (that which is knowledge, evaluation, insight, and meaning), they utilize and are skilled with Void (that which is secrecy, unknown, potential, and possibilities). Because the inverse classpect is a ghost of the true classpect, the Rogue of Light does not undergo the Knight of Void's challenge; their relationship with the Knight class and the Void aspect is purely surface level.

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Enhancers/Destroyers

Sylph (Active): Enhance - Too Much Reliance on Light

A Sylph of Light is a pure source of insight and the meaning behind it, and driven by knowledge and evaluation, attempt to restore/purify the meaning behind others insights.

A Sylph of Light starts off relying on themself for Light (Knowledge, Evaluation, Insight, Meaning), attempting to heal, restore, and enhance Light in others. They are a pure source of Light for others, and though this can cause frustration and irritation in themself and others, they can see ways for Light to help and heal the struggling of others. Their challenge is to learn how to listen to the needs of others instead of assuming they know best, and to balance themself by learning that it's okay to rely on others for Light sometimes.

Bard of Void (Inverse): As the Sylph of Light enhances Light from their love of it, they end up fearing control of Void, whether on purpose or accidental. They have an indirect relationship with Void; because they enhance and rely on Light (that which is knowledge, evaluation, insight, and meaning), they fear control of and thus destroy Void (that which is secrecy, unknown, potential, and possibilities). Because the inverse classpect is a ghost of the true classpect, the Sylph of Light does not undergo the Bard of Void's challenge; their relationship with the Bard class and the Void aspect is purely surface level.

~

Maid (Passive) - Too Little Reliance on Light

A Maid of Light relies on anyone or anything but themself to tell them knowledge and information as well as what it means, before learning how to rely on themself, restoring and purifying their knowledge and what it means for themself through precise evaluation and insight.

A Maid of Light starts off pushed around by others' view of Light (Knowledge, Evaluation, Insight, Meaning), but eventually allow Light to heal, restore, and enhance themself, making them into an entirely new person and purifying their aspect to themself. They start out relying on others for Light or being told by others how to interact with Light. Their challenge is to listen to themself instead of others, and to not let others opinions dilute their aspect as they restore it for themself and allow it to make them into a new person.

Prince of Void (Inverse): As the Maid of Light attempts to gain reliance on Light from their previous lack of it, they end up destroying Void, whether on purpose or accidental. They have a direct relationship with Void; because they destroy and thus cannot control Void (that which is secrecy, unknown, potential, and possibilities), they gain reliance on and thus enhance Light (that which is knowledge, evaluation, insight, and meaning). Because the inverse classpect is a ghost of the true classpect, the Maid of Light does not undergo the Prince of Void's challenge; their relationship with the Prince class and the Void aspect is purely surface level.

~

Prince (Active): Destroy - Too Little Control of Light

A Prince of Light is surrounded by knowledge and the evaluative demeanor they crave, but they can't control it or have no means of reaching it, so they lash out because of their own insight and meaning, to destroy the evaluated knowledge that others have, in the name of their own insight and meaning.

A Prince of Light destroys Light (Knowledge, Evaluation, Insight, Meaning) with Light or in the name of Light, and as a result, often end up appearing as Void (Secrecy, Unknown, Potential, Possibilities) at first glance. Princes start off with disdain or hate for Light, likely because of its overwhelming presence in their lives, and because despite its abundance, they can never seem to grasp or control it for themself. Their challenge is to be able to recognize Light's presence in themself before they destroy themself beyond repair, and learn that they do not need to control or bend Light to their will.

Maid of Void (Inverse): As the Prince of Light destroys pieces of Light in themself and others, they end up gaining reliance on Void, whether on purpose or accidental. They have an indirect relationship with Void; because they destroy and cannot control Light (that which is knowledge, evaluation, insight, and meaning), they gain reliance on and thus enhance Void (that which is secrecy, unknown, potential, and possibilities). Because the inverse classpect is a ghost of the true classpect, the Prince of Light does not undergo the Maid of Void's challenge; their relationship with the Maid class and the Void aspect is purely surface level.

~

Bard (Passive): Destroy - Too Much Control of Light

A Bard of Light is surrounded by a lot of evaluated knowledge, but fears being controlled by it or fears the control such things have over them, and as such ignores the evaluated knowledge and allows it to deteriorate via keeping it unknown and letting it wonder into possibilities; only by embracing meaningful insight can they begin to destroy the secrecy that destroyed them.

A Bard of Light allows Light (Knowledge, Evaluation, Insight, Meaning) to be destroyed via simply not reaching out for it, and ignoring its presence in their lives, leading to them appearing as Void (Secrecy, Unknown, Potential, Possibilities) at first glance. This is typically due to a fear of being controlled by Light; while they may see benefits to what it could offer them, they can also see all the downsides to it simply because of their fear of what could go wrong. Their challenge is to be able to embrace Light and not be ruled by its whims, learning to control the way it impacts themself without letting it be destroyed.

Sylph of Void (Inverse): As the Bard of Light fears control of Light within themself and others, they end up enhancing Void, whether on purpose or accidental. They have a direct relationship with Void; because they fear control of and destroy Light (that which is knowledge, evaluation, insight, and meaning), they enhance and rely on Void (that which is secrecy, unknown, potential, and possibilities). Because the inverse classpect is a ghost of the true classpect, the Bard of Light does not undergo the Sylph of Void's challenge; their relationship with the Sylph class and the Void aspect is purely surface level.

[twentiethcenturymoviesandtv]

Star Trek: The Characters

Storytelling, especially where it regards movies and television, is always evolving.  

Whether it’s in deeper themes, better effects, different genres, or evolving archetypes, there is always something that is changing, except, perhaps, where the importance of characters are concerned.

Characters are an integral part of storytelling, particularly where it concerns television.  When it comes to television, the setup is everything, and the characters are part of that setup, that ‘home base’ that the audience returns to at the start of every episode.  The characters are the people that the audience gets to know, who star in each adventure.  Characters are what holds the audience’s investment, the reason fanbases tolerate bad episodes and praise good ones.  In the end, the main characters keep an audience’s attention, making each episode, even the bad ones, enjoyable.

In short, characters can make or break a television show.  It is vital that they be likable, or at the very least, interesting, lest the audience utter those eight deadly words:

I Don’t Care What Happens To These People.  

Once those words are uttered, it doesn’t matter how gripping your narratives are.  The viewers will start to leave.

See, while a film can get away with some lesser characters by distracting with an interesting concept, set-piece or a fast-paced story, television can’t.  Thanks to a smaller runtime and a smaller budget, television, by necessity, tends to be character based.  As a result, the main cast of a television show has to be able to work in multiple stories of different kinds.

This means that writing for characters on television can be pretty difficult.

The best television characters tend to merge two ideas together: That of relatability and entertainment value.  

You see, television, like all stories, tells stories of exaggerated versions of reality, especially in the cases of science-fiction adventure shows like Star Trek.  The only way to make an audience buy an unbelievable world is to create believable characters to place in that world, that relatability in the stories and characters.  When we see McCoy’s frustration, or Kirk’s boldness, or Spock’s reservedness, we see elements of ourselves, our own personalities and lives.  It is vital to make characters seem real, if not realistic.

The question is, does Star Trek manage to do that?

That’s the question we’re going to be answering today.  Let’s take a look, starting with the Captain of the Enterprise Crew: James Tiberius Kirk.

Kirk truly was The Captain in every sense of the word.  A Reasonable Authority Figure who did far more adventuring than realistic counterparts would have, Kirk was an Action Man, level-headed, dutiful, and always loyal to his ship and his crew.  A Bold Explorer (it’s in the job description), Kirk, while not fearless per say, took the Chains of Commanding quite seriously, and would often face down hugely powerful beings, power-mad computers, or other forces beyond him in order to save his crew.  A Determinator to the last, known for his interesting ways to think outside the box and refusal to accept a ‘no win scenario’, he is the unquestionable Hero of the show, the Leader, who often throws the rules aside to do what he feels is right, in a constant battle To Be Lawful or Good.  He was a Charmer, an expert fast-talker, and very smart.  In later installations of the franchise, Kirk would become a Living Legend, much as he became in our own pop culture.

All that being said, the common cultural image of Captain Kirk isn’t quite right.  Allow me to adjust it, as best I can.

More than any other character in Star Trek, or perhaps the history of television in general, Captain Kirk is possibly the most misrepresented character of all time.  Since the ‘60s, Kirk has evolved into an icon of heroism, machismo, and brash boldness, with even the recent Star Trek reboot depicting, not Kirk, but rather, the distorted, separate idea of Kirk in the modern light.

This idea, quite frankly, is just not right.  While Kirk did have his share of romances, he was no womanizer, often entering into dubiously consented-to relationships reluctantly, in order to save the ship.  The relationships he did actively pursue, he threw himself into wholeheartedly, and he was just as crushed as the other party every time they fell apart (for proof, watch City on the Edge of Forever or The Paradise Syndrome).  Kirk was no player.  As a matter of fact, he was a deeply compassionate man who respected the women in his life as much as he respected Spock and McCoy.  It just so happened that the women in his life tended to not stick around, unlike his one true love: The Enterprise.

Even his reputation of the ‘Cowboy Captain’ isn’t accurate.  As I mentioned before, Kirk was defined by compassion.  His moments of ‘rule-breaking’ wasn’t to impose ‘the way he thinks things should be’, it’s because Kirk cannot bear to watch helpless people in trouble.  The few times where he does break the famous ‘Prime Directive’ (To not interfere with less developed races) is to help.  Kirk was a deeply moral character, determined to not stand by while people were taken advantage of.  He wasn’t rash, either.  While it may be accurate to say that the ship’s doctor, Leonard McCoy, was a bit on the hot-headed side, it is entirely inaccurate to accuse Kirk of the same.  Kirk was an extremely smart man, a level-headed captain who was an expert at thinking fast.  He trusted his instincts, but he trusted his advisors too, often finding a balance between McCoy’s impulsiveness and Spock’s cold rationality.  Kirk’s intelligence and competence is often lost, overshadowed by his more extreme companions, and some audiences have forgotten the truth of Kirk’s character: a cunning problem-solver capable of saving the day under enormous pressure, whose decisions are far from based in irrationality.  He is a romantic, duty-bound to protect his ship and crew, greatly exaggerated and mis-characterized in the years following his captaincy.

As such, Kirk was a well-rounded, balanced character, far more three-dimensional than the modern idea of him tends to give him credit for.

That’s all well and good, sure, but how does he fit as a main character in a television show?

As a matter of fact, absolutely incredibly.

Kirk serves as a wonderfully effective lead, compelling, entertaining, and interesting.  Infinitely more developed than most leads of his time, and even more modern examples, Kirk was a game-changer, a revolutionary kind of protagonist who just worked.  The perfect balance of the main trio of the series, Kirk is the perfect face for Roddenberry’s ideals: a hopeful pragmatist, an idealist who proves the best of humanity: compassion mixed with intelligence, boldness combined with understanding.  A man of action surrounded by True Companions, Kirk was an extremely gripping protagonist who felt intensely, a perfect person for the audience to connect to and be invested in.  He drove the stories, opposed the villains, and always saved the crew, as a hero should, but it’s important to note that Kirk was hugely human, possessing many of our greatest attributes, but some of our failings as well.  He wasn’t perfect.  Sometimes he made the wrong choice.  In the end, though, he was us, or us as we should strive to be: always learning and helping, and always reaching for the stars.

But of course, Kirk wasn’t alone in his position as the ‘lead’ of the show.  It’s doubtful the show would have survived in the popular culture as well as it did if it weren’t for his support team, his True Companions: Dr. Leonard McCoy, and, more famously: Mr. Spock.

If Kirk represented the best of humanity, Spock represented the critique of it.  In a previous article, I pointed out that Spock exists as a very unique character: a half alien, half human crewmember who, while equally valuable to the script and the characters as Kirk was, served a different purpose: to point out and explore humanity from the outside.

Like I’ve mentioned before, Spock is a different sort of character than Kirk is.  Where Kirk is a demonstration of the best of humanity as we see it, Spock is a demonstration of humanity as someone else might.  He served as a criticism of the human condition, a character at war with himself and his heritage, split between the emotional humans, and the rational Vulcans.  Spock is the Number One, almost Comically Serious as he eschews his more illogical half and chooses to embrace the stoicism of the Vulcan people.  A Gentleman and a Scholar, Spock has Hidden Depths, a heart of gold and deep emotions that he usually succeeds in hiding.

Most of the time.  More on that in a minute.

Spock’s role in the show was The Smart Guy, the Stoic who had all the answers, all the statistics.  He was the champion of impartial logic, of cold rationality.  His job was to give Kirk the hard answers, to bring to him the facts and give him their options, especially the unforgiving ones.  He is the cold to McCoy’s hot, a stern-faced, cold-blooded computer.

Or is he?

Much like Kirk, there is a lot more to Spock than meets the eye.  While the cultural perception of Spock has often mutated into a parody of itself, much as it has done to Kirk’s reputation, Spock remains a much deeper character than he, or a brief skim of the series, lets on.  As I said earlier, Spock is at war with himself, uncomfortable in his own skin.  He insults humans for their humanity, but has strong, deep friendships with them.  He is not above expressing frustration and their emotional natures when pushed (usually by other forces that knock his guard down), but isn’t frustration a human emotion?

Spock is a bag of contradictions, a supposedly emotionless master of sarcasm, a man without feeling who invites his close friends (emotional humans) to a private Vulcan ceremony, a cold-blooded creature with undying loyalty who occasionally makes ‘illogical’ decisions that would make Kirk proud.  A lover of music and a sympathizer to space hippies (Not one of Star Trek’s better episodes, admittedly), Spock was an outsider who fit neither fully as a Vulcan or Human, a person who was struggling to find his place in the universe.

At first, this seems incongruous with the ice-cold exterior he projects, however, rather than being an example of inconsistent writing, it’s a shining example of development and nuance.

You see, Spock never gives up his following of logic.  He just begins to approach it differently.

Spock’s style changes slightly as Star Trek progresses (most notably in the films, released ten years after the show’s final season), from cold, ‘computer’ logic to something else: human logic.

One thing of especial note in the original Star Trek show is that you could see characters visibly affecting one another.  Kirk, Spock and McCoy all influenced each other in the ways they thought, reacted, and planned, and worked best as a unit.  In this, the humanity of the main cast affected Spock in his slow, reluctant appreciation of human merits.  In time, Spock began to make one or two decisions based on human logic, intelligence and emotion.  In episodes like The Menagerie or The Galileo Seven, Spock makes decisions that seem out-of-character for him, based in emotion.

Spock is, in many ways, Star Trek’s best known and favorite character.  The most visibly recognizable, as well as the most distinct, Spock is given more episodes exploring him than any other character, with installments like Amok Time and Journey to Babel, (the latter of which we explore his parents, and discover why it is that Spock has such a hard time with his human half) helping to examine Spock as a character.

The end result was a beloved science fiction icon, Kirk’s right hand man, an analytical, fascinating character as well-crafted and loved as Kirk himself.

Spock and Kirk are often remembered fondly, and are typically considered the most memorable and iconic characters of the franchise, but they don’t work alone.  Their dynamic is as effective as it is because of balance.  Spock is one extreme, and Kirk is the middle, but it’s no good without the other extreme: Dr. Leonard Horatio “Bones” McCoy.

McCoy is all hot-blooded human, the third of the main Power Trio.  An old-fashioned competent doctor who wasn’t entirely thrilled with deep space, McCoy is a deeply emotional character, duty-bound to follow his morals.  He clashed with Spock regularly, routinely criticizing him for his perceived lack of emotion.  Despite the fighting, McCoy respected Spock greatly, counting him as a close friend, despite their arguments and different perspectives.  A cantankerous pacifist (though not above getting into the action when needed), McCoy is a Super Doc and a Sarcastic Devotee, a Grumpy Old Man who serves as the Heart to Spock’s Brain (hah!), a man who values Honor Before Reason who values the Good Old Ways.  He’s a Determined Doctor who does everything he can for his patients, and a Deadpan Snarker to the point where he can match Spock in verbal sparring.

Bones represents the unpolished rawness of humanity, getting carried away with his emotions sometimes, but always with the best intentions.  Another Jerk with a Heart of Gold, McCoy’s gruff nature accompanied a deeply moral man, very concerned with human empathy and doing the right thing.  No philosophical discussion was complete without McCoy’s two cents, telling Kirk what he thought the right thing to do was.  He was the quintessential Knight in Sour Armor, who would follow Kirk to the ends of the earth, complaining the entire way.

Despite the fact that he’s not as well-known as the other two members of the Power Trio, Bones was a vital component to the True Companions dynamic.  His Vitriolic Best Buds relationship with Spock made up one of the most interesting and compelling dynamics on the show, serving as perfect counterbalances to one another.  However, although his most famous role in the show was arguing with Spock (and delivering phrases such as ‘He’s Dead, Jim’), there is another, equally important position that he held in the trio.

McCoy served as a foil to Kirk, as well as one to Spock, a confidante, a close friend, providing perspective.  While Spock was focused on the logic, Kirk on the best thing for the mission, McCoy’s focus was purely on the ‘patients’, the people, the right thing to do.  No matter the situation, McCoy was the closest to empathy with the people involved, and provided the audience with another surrogate, saying the things that the viewers are thinking.

While not being a terribly big fan of space (and liking transporters even less), Bones was the epitome of the Frontier Doctor to the stars, taking care of every patient, even if they weren’t humanoid (Devil in the Dark) or a heavily pregnant woman who refuses to listen (Friday’s Child).  McCoy was painfully human, reminding us of our most problematic traits while also holding onto that wild, fiery compassion that made him so incredibly humane, relatable, and understandable, making him just as vital to the Enterprise and her crew as Kirk or Spock.

The trio worked best together, providing a perfect main cast for an audience to follow.  The formula was an interesting one, allowing the audience to hear separate viewpoints and ideas, listen in to the philosophical banter, and truly feel the strong friendship holding the leads together.  The dynamic between them was powerful, an extremely vibrant bond that connected all three very different characters.

The result?  Extremely dynamic characters that remain iconic and memorable even to this day.

But the cast didn’t stop there.

The other characters of Star Trek, while not quite possessing the pop-culture iconography of the main trio, still hold their own rather impressive cultural footprint.

None more so than the chief engineer, Montgomery Scott.

Scotty’s job was to be a miracle worker, solving impossible problems in impossibly small amounts of time.  Whether it was the transporters, the phaser banks, the shields, or the engines, Scotty was the man for the job.  Nobody had a better understanding, or love for the Enterprise than Scotty (except maybe Kirk).  He was the king of outside-the-box solutions, and had the Enterprise jury-rigged to push her past her limits more times than can be easily counted.  As the name implies, he was also Scottish, and extremely stereotypically so.  Kilt, whiskey, haggis and all, Scotty was extremely proud of his heritage (though not quite as much as Chekov).  Fitting the traditional stereotypes, Scotty had a fiery temper, with a Berserk Button triggered by any insult to the Enterprise.  A Gadgeteer Genius (and the inventor of Scotty Time) as well as a Genius Bruiser, Scotty was both the brains and brawn, more than capable of holding his own in a fight, or thinking of a new, creative way to push the Enterprise past her capacity.

Scotty also held the distinction of being third in command, routinely taking the Captain’s chair when both Kirk and Spock were in the landing party.  He was also the focus of a few episodes, making him a rare character with a Day in the Limelight, with episodes such as Wolf in the Fold, The Lights of Zetar, By Any Other Name, and The Trouble with Tribbles giving him a little more screen time and story than is typical.  Scotty was an indispensable member of the crew, a life-saver on more than one occasion, and another of the legendary, iconic characters of the original Star Trek.

But it didn’t stop there.

Lieutenant Nyota Uhura was another prominent character.  As the ship’s communications officer, she codified the term ‘Bridge Bunny’, although she proved herself far more useful than she’s typically thought of.  Whenever given the chance, Uhura is a capable Action Girl, intelligent, witty, and good at her job, being extremely fluent in multiple languages.  She too got her days in the limelight, with episodes such as Mirror Mirror, The Gamesters of Triskelion, and The Trouble with Tribbles giving her more to do than just sit at her station and say ‘hailing frequencies open’.  Uhura was Silk Hiding Steel, not typically in the heat of the battle, but tough as nails when she had to be.  (I’ve talked about Uhura’s extensive influence on the real world in the Legacy article, but even that doesn’t scratch the surface of what Uhura’s impact has been.)

There were others on the bridge crew of equal importance, including the ship’s helmsman, Hikaru Sulu.

Sulu was a level-headed officer, amiable and cultured, with an extensive knowledge of botany, fencing, and antiques.  Yet another Deadpan Snarker (it must run in the cast), Sulu is another Genius Bruiser, as skilled in fighting as he is in his piloting, with a great sense of humor.  He is given special attention in episodes like Mirror Mirror and The Naked Time (Albeit as evil, and Brainwashed and Crazy), but often got great character moments in multiple episodes (especially Shore Leave).  A reliable officer and loyal to the core, he made an interesting character by himself, although he did end up forming a fun ‘Those Two Guys’ dynamic with the youngest of the cast, Pavel Chekov.

Chekov was introduced in season 2 as the navigator of the Enterprise.  A bright young man with a fierce, passionate loyalty to Mother Russia (which evidently invented every good thing known to man), Chekov tended to be at the receiving end of a lot of the embarrassing agony in the series (mostly because Walter Koenig had a great scream).  Also serving as a relief science officer, Chekov was plenty smart, if a bit of a Cloudcuckoolander, and the king of Cultural Posturing.  Reckless and impulsive to balance Sulu’s calm good humor, Chekov’s temper tended to get the better of him.  Like the others, he’s given a bit more screen time in episodes such as Mirror Mirror, The Trouble with Tribbles, The Way to Eden, The Deadly Years and Spectre of the Gun, but got to shine in plenty of other episodes, demonstrating his capabilities (despite being ‘The Intern’ and the Plucky Comic Relief) as a competent officer.  Unsurprisingly, he was yet another Deadpan Snarker, lending his style of jokes well to bounce off of Sulu’s drier humor.

But there was more to the crew than the bridge.

Another crew member of note was Christine Chapel, one of the nurses who operated in the sickbay.  Chapel was notable for having an attraction to Spock, as well as being another in the long line of Enterprise Deadpan Snarkers.  One of the most caring of the Enterprise’s crew, Chapel was given larger roles in episodes like The Naked Time, What Are Little Girls Made Of?, Amok Time, and Plato’s Stepchildren.

Arguably though, one of the most important characters in all of Star Trek was the Companion Cube: the Enterprise herself.

The Enterprise was one of the most powerful ships in Starfleet, a character in her own right.  The epitome of the Cool Starship, the Enterprise was well known for Explosive Overclocking, and always coming through in the end (with a little help from Scotty).  A Lightning Bruiser of a ship, the Enterprise became as legendary as her captain and crew, as beloved as the characters themselves to the point where one of NASA’s shuttles was named after her.

The characters of Star Trek are legends, both in and out of universe, and they are for a reason.  No member of the crew is useless.  Everyone has a purpose and a job to do, and each was distinct and unique.  No two characters were the same, and each brought their own special personality and abilities to each episode they appeared in.

And that’s what made the drama of the show work so well.

Each character felt real, memorable and genuine.  We as an audience worry for them with each danger, and cheer with each victory.  We liked these people.  We cared about what happened to them.

And they worked.

In each scenario and situation, the characters found new and interesting ways to deal with the circumstances, while never losing the core elements of their personalities.  That’s important, hugely so.  These characters were loved, and still are, for a reason.  They work very well as characters, both in main and supporting roles, providing entertaining and compelling figures for the audience to invest in.  The balance between relatability and entertainment was hit perfectly for every single character, allowing everyone to shine in their own ways in each episode.  They felt real, and in the end, that’s the point of a character.

After all, one doesn’t get to be some of the most iconic television characters of all time by being boring.

Thank you guys so much for reading!  Join us next time as we discuss Star Trek’s place in the times and the culture.  If you have anything you’d like to say, don’t forget to leave an ask!  I hope to see you all in the next article.

[theredhairedmonkey]

Claudia—Just what’s so bad about Dark Magic anyway?

Ah, Claudia. Everyone’s favorite dorky Dark Mage. Even as she continues her journey to villainy, we can’t help but find her at least a little adorable.

She’s undoubtedly likable, which makes a lot of what she does even more unsettling. We’re used to villains like Viren, who are so obviously villains even if they have somewhat good intentions.

But Claudia? She seems to have a good heart and cares about people outside of simply what they can do for her. Even if she may not reciprocate Callum’s feelings, she’s still clearly fond of him.

In S2, she’s genuinely supportive of her brother, telling him that them being alive matters more than succeeding in their missions. She also comforts Ezran and even helps mend his relationship with Callum, reminding him just how lucky they are to have each other.

As I lay out here, Claudia very much resembles Callum in the earlier chapters; both are bookish nerds, adorably awkward, and with an affinity towards magic. And while Callum starts to move away from this resemblance, we can see why Claudia is so likable.

Claudia can be caring and sweet. That’s why it’s so tragic and painful to watch her continue to cross moral lines, to the point that she is now thoroughly antagonistic to Team Zym, with any hope of total redemption being slim at best.

Now, I can’t talk about Claudia without first talking about Dark Magic. You see, while Dark Magic is terrible, the show doesn’t explicitly lay out exactly why it’s terrible. It merely illustrates how it works, portrays people using it for a variety of reasons, and then lets the audience decide how it feels about it. This is all intentional—Aaron and Justin have expressly stated they didn’t want to push too hard on the point that Dark Magic is wrong, instead leaving it for fans to make up their own minds. As a result, some fans sincerely believe there’s nothing wrong with it.

And that’s why we have Claudia. Someone who is sweet and sincere, relatable enough that you picture being friends with.

Someone who also sees nothing wrong with Dark Magic, defends using it, and even tries to use it for supposedly good reasons.

Because there’s no explicit reason given for why Dark Magic is so uniquely evil, the onus is on us, the viewers, to figure this out on our own.

There have been several fan attempts at explaining why Dark Magic is so bad, but for me, at least, I always felt we were missing something.

It might be wrong because it requires Dark Mages to sacrifice innocent creatures. But then again, humans in the real world consume animals all the time.

The logical response to this is that unlike, for instance, eating, Dark Magic is not natural nor necessary. However, we do all sorts of unnatural things with animals as well. For instance, we’ve created animal glue, whale oil for lamps, and leather from cattle. We’ve used creatures as working animals as well as for their cells to develop cures and vaccines. Without arguing that Dark Magic is defensible, this just helps illustrate the larger point that there must be something else that makes Dark Magic worse than any of this.

Another argument I’ve heard is that it permanently destroys magical habitats. The reason why the Human Kingdoms are much less magical than Xadia is that Dark Mages have poached and pillaged all the creatures they could. This could all very well be true, but it’s also what human beings do on the regular in the real world; as a rule, wherever industrial civilization lays down its roots, animal extinctions follow, intentionally or not. If Dark Magic is supposed to be an indictment of the way our society works today and the ecological problems we’ve caused, then we deserve it.

But many of us (hopefully) are working to change that, even if it means making life harder for us. The solution to climate change ultimately comes in the form of learning to live sustainably and in harmony with the world around us. One day, we’ll find a balance to our way of life, but if we can, why can’t Dark Mages? Why can’t Dark Magic users learn to moderate and regulate their behavior the way we could, and sustainably find ways to use the same magic that elves and dragons take for granted?

It also doesn’t help that characters who hate Dark Magic the most are also hypocritical about it. Sol Regem argues that Dark Magic causes the death of innocent creatures…while threatening to burn down a city filled with innocent people. Perhaps he opposes Dark Magic, not for ethical or benevolent reasons, but because it shifts the balance of power too much in favor of these so-called “lesser beings.” So, we can’t take his assessment of Dark Magic with anything more than a grain of salt.

But, at the end of the day, Dark Magic is a bad thing. Even if we can’t place our finger on exactly why, we know there’s just something wrong with it.

And that’s where Claudia comes in.

She too doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with Dark Magic— Why should she? It’s no different than anything else humans do, it helps keep people alive, and keeps us from starving and being helpless. Whether you eat them or take their magic, they’re just a resource.

But over time, as she relies more on Dark Magic as her universal problem-solver, we see her cross more and more ethical boundaries.

In most of the first two seasons, Claudia’s uses of Dark Magic come entirely from whatever she happens to carry in her bag or little critters she finds here or there.

And, for the most part, she tries to do the right thing. Claudia understands how powerful Zym could one day become, and from her perspective, there is a risk that he could, in her words, reign “death and destruction down on all of us.”

Claudia honestly believes that finding the Dragon Prince and bringing the princes home is what’s best for Katolis. Initially, she believes that Rayla had kidnapped the boys, and later she still insists her actions are for the greater good.

She’s willing to cross certain lines, such as manipulating and betraying Callum and Ezran, but shows signs that she regrets doing so.

But she starts off at crossing these relatively smaller moral lines, before working her way to more reprehensible behaviors. By the end of S2, she crosses a line when she uses a living creature to cure Soren’s paralysis.

After this moment, we see that she’s willing to justify an ever-growing list of horrible actions without any regrets. Whether it’s overthrowing and imprisoning Ezran, wiping out Lux Aurea, or turning the entire army into mindless rage-fueled minions, and even possibly letting Viren’s illusion strike down Ezran.

By the time she resurrects Viren, most likely by using a poor unfortunate elf who stumbled upon her, she’s past the point of feeling remorse for what she feels she has to do.

And why?

She places all of her faith in Viren because he’s family. She values her family above all else, and finds that Dark Magic is an easy, reliable way to keep it all together.

As a result, her character’s arc helps show what’s fundamentally wrong with Dark Magic—because it’s such an easy fix to all her problems, Claudia is tempted to lean on Dark Magic in more unethical ways.

In Lord Acton’s famous maxim, power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

And Dark Magic is power incarnate.

Dark Magic is far more versatile than Primal Magic. Whereas Primal Magic lets a mage use spells by harmonizing with nature, Dark Magic is simply about harnessing power in its raw form.

It’s not merely a shortcut that lets you bypass having an Arcanum or a Primal Stone. Certain practices within Dark Magic are not possible elsewhere.

If Callum had mastered Sky Magic by the time Rayla goes to save Pyrrah, he could have made short work of Soren and his forces with his winged form, but actually freeing the dragon from its chains would have still been no easy task.

But with Dark Magic, all Callum needed was a spell. A single spell and the chains are turned into snakes. The soldiers are driven away, and the dragon is free.

You can’t do that with Primal Magic.

We haven’t seen a limit to what Dark Magic can do for you, provided you have the materials. It can swap souls.

Or take them.

It can provide safe passage across the Breach.

It could taint or even destroy sources of Primal Magic.

Dark Magic isn’t bad just because it relies on sacrificing creatures. It’s bad because it tempts users with the power to redesign and reorganize the fabric of the world around them, potentially at the expense of Primal Sources themselves.

Dark!Callum sums up this temptation perfectly:

“You can have unlimited power. And you can choose what to do with that power. You can make a real difference in the world!”

And sadly, it’s a temptation that Claudia falls for time and time again. Once Claudia wields this power, she’s tempted to abuse it, even if it just begins as an attempt to protect her loved ones. And the more she abuses it, the harder it is to stop.

She shows that the temptation to use Dark Magic and how it distorts the world is what makes the practice so terrible and so terrifying that it shouldn’t be used in any circumstance.

@batfamfan1(who gave me permission to bring up our conversation here) had argued that Claudia’s use of Dark Magic was different from Viren and Aaravos, because she at least uses Dark Magic for good (or what she sees as good). That is, she cures or protects her family.

However, I’d argue that it’s not as simple as that. Claudia indeed sacrifices a deer because she wanted to cure Soren, but had she ever considered what Soren wanted? There’s a reason why, for instance, doctors disclose all relevant facts and treatments to a patient and let them make an informed decision, even if the doctor believes only one of those treatments is the best option. It’s not just about a cure, it’s about the agency of the patient. This becomes even more important when it’s not a professional responsibility to a patient, but a duty to respect the free will of someone you love.

Claudia never respects Soren’s agency. Even when he’s come to terms with his condition, she has not. She wants to keep trying to find a cure even while he’s beginning to move on. And, when she does find a cure, she never tells him about it beforehand, never tells him what it would cost, and never tries to get his approval.

This is different from Rayla in 2x08 who, in spite of knowing it’s a bad idea to let Ezran leave on his own, lets him go. Or Callum, who, in spite of thinking that Rayla staying on the Spire is a bad idea, simply lays out all the relevant information to Rayla and lets her make the decision for herself.

This is because, when you love or care about someone, that has to include letting them make their own choices, even if you don’t agree.

Claudia never does this with Soren because, again, it’s not about him, but about her. She has a personal need, however tragic, to keep her family together and healthy.

She’ll do what she can to fill that need, even if she has to play goddess to do so.

For that reason, she isn’t using Dark Magic for someone else’s benefit but her own. Much like Viren, whose stated goal to defend humanity was really just a cover for his desire to be powerful, Claudia’s goal to protect her family is really about protecting her state of mind. To do that, she needs to become powerful as well.

Her inability to see just what’s wrong with Dark Magic, combined with her need to maintain this portrait of a healthy family alive, means she will always be tempted to try another Dark Magic spell that will simply cure everything and will never look back once she tries it.

This is different than, for instance, Callum. As I describe here, he’s seen the world that Rayla shows him and begins to see magic the way she does. It’s not a tool; it’s a phenomenon, a vibrance or a spirit to things.

He understands, at least in an unstated way, that there’s something fundamentally wrong about Dark Magic, because it threatens that vibrancy.

Interestingly, unlike Claudia, who sees it as an easy solution to everything, Callum is suspicious because it’s too easy:

“But that’s just it! Too easy! Even though I know it’s wrong.”

Because of this, Claudia’s character arc helps illuminate what’s wrong with Dark Magic, even if the show doesn’t go out of its way to tell us. It’s a temptation for people who want to be powerful, and it makes them just powerful enough to abuse it.

And before you know it, you’ve lost your way.

[swimmingseafish]

Chapter 4

Finally getting around to posting Chapter 4 of Sanderstale on Tumblr. Sorry for the long wait, guys! (I don’t even know if anyone’s following this fic on here, but if anyone is, sorry!)

tagged: @hideyseek @ironwoman359 @shrimpangie

summary: Thomas gets to know Patton a bit more and unlocks a power he doesn't yet understand. Chara tries not to deal with half-remembered memories. And Chara and Thomas talk, just a little.

CW: nothing really, just angst.

Read it on ao3!

Thomas had no idea how he managed not to cry as he maneuvered onto his knees and took the monster’s hand. His legs shook, barely holding his body up, and he was breathing hard, but he let go of Patton’s hand as soon as he was standing. Thomas glanced at Chara, but they had absolutely no emotion on their face whatsoever, and he was too overwhelmed to figure out what they were feeling right that second. They were staring at Patton, who was in turn staring at Thomas, ignoring Chara completely. It seemed that Patton couldn’t see Chara, either.

“Are you hurt?” Patton asked, sounding concerned. He studied Thomas intently, but it didn’t feel intrusive, just worried.

“I’ll…be okay,” Thomas croaked out, his voice hoarse. He swallowed and realized his throat hurt. “Your name’s Patton?”

“You’re not okay now, though.” Patton frowned. They knelt next to Thomas, lifting one hand, and Thomas flinched. Patton drew back slightly, complicated emotions dancing on their face, and held both their hands up. “I won’t hurt you, kiddo, I promise. And yes, my name is Patton. I use he/him pronouns.”

Thomas resisted the urge to step backwards out of Patton’s reach, both because he didn’t want to be rude and because he wasn’t sure he could move. Instead, he asked, “What are you doing?”

Patton held one hand out to the side, and it began to glow a soft green, the same color as baby grass blades. He smiled tentatively. “I’d like to heal you, if you’d let me.”

“With magic?”

Patton chuckled slightly. “Yep.”

If he wanted to hurt me, he probably would have already.

Thomas hesitated for just a second longer and then nodded, wincing. The motion made his head spin.

Patton slowly moved the glowing hand towards Thomas and touched it gently to Thomas’ arm. A green glow enveloped Thomas’ entire body. He felt energy rush back into him and the pain in his throat vanish. The entire process only took about ten seconds, but Thomas felt much better afterwards—and simultaneously not better at all.

Thomas chanced a quick look at Chara again. They were still observing the situation with a blank expression, but he could have sworn that he saw a green glow around their body as well. As soon as he blinked, it was gone.

“There, kiddo,” Patton said, nodding and smiling gently. “You should be all right now. Follow me—my home is this way. You’ll be safe there.” He looked past Thomas with a frown, and his eyes flashed. “No strange flowers or other monsters will hurt you again.”

Thomas was unsure what he should do. Patton wants to protect me. I’m pretty sure that much is true. I don’t know anything about him…but I want to trust him. He nodded his head the tiniest bit. And I think Chara wanted to keep going this way originally, so I guess we might as well go with Patton.

He turned his head to see what Chara thought, but they just continued to stare at him and Patton blankly, so he figured the decision was up to him. Still looking at Chara, he said, “Okay.”

Thomas jumped as a wave of anger went through him, accompanied by a mix of other things that he couldn’t identify in the moment. But…I’m not mad. I’m upset and scared and hopeful and probably other things too, but I’m not mad. What…

He looked closer at Chara’s face. Their expression remained mostly the same, but their eyebrows were furrowed just slightly. Thomas had been trying to avoid talking to Chara in front of Patton, but he temporarily forgot completely about that and asked, “Are you mad at me?”

Chara’s eyebrows shot up and their eyes focused on Thomas’, accompanied by a burst of surprise in his chest. They opened their mouth to say something, but Patton interrupted them.

“Oh no, of course not! Why would I be angry with you?” Patton took Thomas’ hand between the both of his, the pads of his hands (paws?) just slightly rough. Thomas could feel the tips of claws, safely sheathed. “None of what just happened is your fault, kiddo. I’m just happy I was able to protect you.”

I can feel their emotions.

Chara shut their mouth and crossed their arms.

“I come through here every day to see if a human has fallen down. You’re the first one in years, though.” Patton stood up, brushing dust off of his tunic. There were a host of emotions brimming in his eyes. Thomas blinked as he realized one of those emotions was pain.

There were other humans? What happened to them? Was Chara one of them? Do they know Patton? I need to talk to them.

Patton pulled his shoulders back, twisting his face into a smile. Thomas couldn’t decide if it looked forced or not, but it definitely looked uncomfortable.

“Now, why don’t we pat on over to my house?” Patton said, gesturing toward the door. This elicited a quiet giggle from Thomas, and he could swear he heard a sound from Chara as well, though he looked to them and their face was still blank.

The two of them followed Patton out of the cave and down the corridor. Chara floated next to Thomas, shivering as they hugged their arms against their body. They now refused to look at either him or Patton, instead looking straight ahead into the darkness.

In the next cavern, the walls were made of purple brick, and there was a large staircase and a set of doors. A pile of red leaves sat in front of the stairs. Patton walked up the staircase first, then looked down, waiting for Thomas to follow him. He smiled, and this one looked more hopeful than hurt.

Thomas took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He thought of Joan and Talyn, trapped and waiting for him on the surface. He thought of Chara, angry and lost right next to him. And he thought of Patton and the unknown Ruins and the mysterious world that he had to venture farther into in order to leave.

He was filled with determination…

…and was immediately nearly blinded by a brilliant golden light. A tiny golden star-like object had appeared in front of him, spinning around on its own axis.

“Thomas, what did you DO?!” Chara hissed.

“I don’t know!” Thomas whispered back. He reached a hand out and touched the star. It was warm, but it didn’t burn him.

“You coming, kiddo?” Patton called down from the top of the stairs.

Thomas hesitated, then took a deep breath. “Hey, Mr. Patton?” He pointed to the star. “Can you see that?”

Patton peered down from the top of the stairs. “The leaves?”

Well, that answers that question. “Um…sure, yeah! The leaves! They’re really pretty!”

Patton laughed. “Well, I’m glad you like them, but I think it might be time to leaf them alone and head up the stairs.”

Before Thomas could even react, he heard a snort. Chara had clapped both hands over their mouth and was doing their utmost to keep a straight face. He smiled a bit, and they glared at him, but he was certain they weren’t really angry this time.

“Okay!” he said, running up the stairs as fast as he could. He was out of breath when he got to the top. He glanced down, and the star was still there, spinning in circles.

“You didn’t need to run, kiddo!” Patton chuckled, smiling at Thomas. “You remind me…” His face darkened for a second like a shadow had passed over it. “Never mind. Let’s get going.”

*****

Chara was feeling far too many things, and they were not happy about it. They floated along, a semi-reluctant observer, as Patton led Thomas through the button and lever puzzles at the entrance to the Ruins.

Patton held Thomas’ hand tightly.

Too tightly.

Just enough that it was wrong.

…

They wanted to hold Patton’s hand.

*****

“Good job!” Patton said brightly as Thomas pulled the last lever. “You’re a natural puzzle-solver!”

Thomas blinked, the compliment taking a moment to register, and then smiled tentatively. He’d met very few adults even remotely like Patton and still wasn’t quite sure what to make of him. This was compounded by the fact that all Thomas had done was pull a few levers and step on some stones on the floor. He didn’t feel like a puzzle expert.

Patton walked a bit farther down the corridor and gestured for Thomas to follow, which he did, feeling the texture of the cave floor through his worn-out sneakers. Chara floated along, slightly behind Thomas’ right shoulder, still silent.

The small group came to a stop beside a worn dummy. Its body was cone-shaped, and it stood on a simple base. It was entirely made of cloth and looked to have a horse-shaped head. The head was tilted slightly to the left. Thomas noted the patches on the dummy in particular, as if someone (maybe Patton?) had repaired it multiple times.

“Now, I would prefer it if you could avoid fighting, but some monsters you encounter may start fights regardless of what I want,” Patton said, starting to cross his arms. He stopped and put his hands behind his back instead. “So, I want you to know that you should be able to resolve any conflict by talking to them. I’ll come intervene as soon as possible to make sure they leave you alone.” He brought one hand out and patted the dummy on the head. “How about you practice by talking to the dummy?”

I’m underground, with a monster named Patton and a…ghost? spirit?...kid named Chara. I just met a flower named Flowey who tried to kill me. And now I’m supposed to talk to a dummy.

…Maybe it’s a monster, too?

Thomas approached the dummy slowly, tilting his head just a little to match the dummy. “Um…hi! It’s nice to meet you!”

There was no response. Behind him, Chara said dryly, “It does not seem much for conversation.”

Patton, on the other hand, was beaming. “Excellent job, kiddo!  That’s exactly what you should do. Now, let’s continue—there are some more puzzles up ahead.”

*****

Patton wouldn’t let Thomas try the spike puzzle on his own, instead walking him through it carefully while holding his hand.

They supposed Patton never had enjoyed letting children near sharp objects.

*****

Patton led Thomas to an incredibly long hallway.

“I want you to walk to the end of this room by yourself. I’ll be waiting for you there.”

Thomas stared down the path, confused. “Um…”

“Don’t worry, kiddo, you’ll be safe.” Patton patted Thomas’ head gently, squishing his hair just a little, then walked very quickly down the hall. The corridor twisted, and as Patton rounded the first bend, Thomas lost sight of him.

“I—” Thomas put down the hand that he’d reflexively lifted up. “Okay?” He’d wanted to ask why, but he wasn’t sure enough of Patton yet to do that. Even the nicest of adults sometimes hated being asked why they were doing something.

He started off down the corridor, Chara trailing behind. His boots made a soft rustling sound against the stone floor. It was weirdly peaceful and tense at the same time. Thomas wanted to stop and talk to Chara, who was still upset, but he didn’t really want to leave Patton waiting. He figured he’d talk to them later.

As Thomas walked further and further down the hallway, he himself got more and more upset. Patton had left him…well, not alone, but Patton didn’t know about Chara. But he shoved his feelings away and focused on his footsteps and the faint red glow of Chara that he could see out of the corner of his eye. This wasn’t the time.

Thomas and Chara finally arrived at the end of the hallway and found Patton behind a pillar. Patton came out, laughing just a little. His smile seemed forced again.

“Excellent job, kiddo.”

Thomas furrowed his brow just a little. Did I do something wrong?

But instead of that, what came out of his mouth was, “Are you okay?”

Patton’s smile slipped, and he sighed, his shoulders sinking just slightly. “Yeah, kiddo. I just have to go prepare a few things for you at my home—” he winced almost imperceptibly here— “before we go there together, and I need you to wait here while I do. I wanted to make sure you could act on your own, so I had you walk down the hall alone.”

Oh.

“Oh.”

Thomas couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Is that okay with you?” Patton asked, his face screaming, please say yes, please say yes.

So Thomas said, “Yes.”

Chara made a noise of some kind behind Thomas, but he couldn’t really process it. He was desperately focusing on the way that Patton smiled, for real this time. I did what he wanted. He’s happy. That means I have to be okay.

“Here, take this,” Patton said, holding out a small, rectangular device to Thomas. He flipped the casing open and saw buttons with numbers and a small screen. “You can call me on this cell phone if you need anything. My number’s saved in there.”

Thomas just nodded.

“I’ll be right back,” Patton said with another smile, walking backwards until he reached the entrance to the cave and disappeared.

Thomas lifted his shoulders up and down and sighed, sliding down into a seated position against the column. He realized he was shaking and took several deep breaths, and then immediately realized he was being watched. He looked up and saw Chara floating in front of him with their arms crossed.

“What is going on with you?” they asked, a frown twisting their face. “You are not okay. You did not want…him…to leave. Why did you lie?”

Thomas took a breath to answer, but instead, he just burst into tears. Chara jumped backwards a bit, shocked. Their red glow reflected off of the tears in Thomas’ eyes and blurred their shocked face just a little before Thomas shoved his face into his hands and hid them from view entirely.

He wasn’t sure how long he cried, but when the tears finally started to subside, he opened his eyes to Chara on his right. They had sat down next to him and were hugging their legs to their chest.

Thomas let out a watery laugh, and Chara turned to look at him. “You know, I wanted to talk to you about what’s going on with you, but now we both have stuff going on.”

Chara’s eyebrows jumped, but they quickly settled their face again. “I asked you first.”

Thomas turned his head away and focused on the torn denim of his jeans. “I don’t like lying. I’m sorry I did. But I didn’t want to hurt Patton.” He could tell that Chara was confused, so he added, “Patton looked like he really wanted to go and set his house up before I got there. And I didn’t want to make him stay if he wanted to go.”

Chara was still lost. “But…you wanted him to stay.”

Thomas shrugged a little. “Yeah. But that doesn’t matter.”

He felt a shock go through him as Chara finally got what he was saying. They shot to their feet.

“You put his feelings above yours.”

Thomas nodded. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“You are crying. Doing that hurt you.”

A couple stray tears fell down Thomas’ face, and he brushed them away, leaving streaks of dirt behind. “But it helped him.”

“But it hurt you!” Chara dropped back to the ground and put their head in their hands. “I…do not understand why you put a monster you barely knew ahead of yourself. Even if he is…much nicer than is…safe.”

Thomas shrugged again, unable to explain himself any better. Something about Chara’s wording was odd, but he put it aside for now. “It…it helped him. And that’s more important.”

“You do not think you’re important.” It was more of a statement than a question.

“…No. Not really.” Thomas didn’t see why this was such a surprise. Chara couldn’t possibly think he was important. They barely knew each other. And I’m really not important. I couldn’t even help two people up on the surface without getting hurt and being forced to leave them forever. How could I possibly be important?

“You really are different,” Chara said, letting out a broken laugh. They opened their mouth to say something else and then stopped, pointing to the far corner of the hall. A small, gelatinous creature had rounded the bend, and it squished toward the two children.

“That is called a Moldsmal, I think, though I am not sure how I know that,” Chara said, bemused. “I do not think they are dangerous.”

Thomas’ chest glowed, his SOUL reappearing. He stood up and stepped backward, his body instantly hitting the column. “Are you sure?” he whispered.

“Not…particularly. I really am not sure of anything,” Chara said, a bit grumpily.

The creature squished around in a weird way, but it didn’t attack, and it wasn’t moving any closer. But Thomas’ SOUL was still illuminated.

Thomas figured he might as well try something, even if it was incredibly random, so he took a step forward. “Um…hi! I don’t want to fight, but do you want to dance, maybe?”

He bounced up and down, trying to imitate the Moldsmal’s squishing. It squished along with his bouncing. It had no face, but it seemed pleased. It squished away down the long hall, and Thomas’ SOUL faded back into his chest. He turned to look at Chara.

Chara’s face was twisted with the effort of withholding laughter, and it startled a small giggle out of Thomas. Both children took a deep breath to calm themselves, but they immediately looked at each other and started laughing in earnest. Thomas could feel the tear-stained skin of his cheeks stretching as he smiled, and his SOUL resonated with the confused joy and released emotions that belonged to both him and Chara.

After about a minute, Thomas remembered that he’d wanted to talk to Chara, so he made a concerted effort to stop laughing, coughing in his haste. Chara’s last few giggles trailed off into the silence as he got ahold of himself.

Thomas turned to them. He wasn’t sure where to start, but he knew he needed to. He could feel the fingers of his left hand pressing together into a not-quite fist as he began, “Okay, if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s completely okay, but…how did you know what a Moldsmal was?”

Chara blinked. “Oh. I do not know.” Thomas tilted his head, and they frowned. “I am not lying. I did not know what it was before I saw it, and then I just…did.”

“Maybe you only remember things when you see them again.” Thomas’ mouth turned down to match Chara’s as he realized something. “Wait, so, then…do you know Patton?”

Chara’s face closed. Thomas could feel their anger and frustration and sadness, and he quickly backpedaled. “Like I said, if you don’t want to talk about it—”

“Yes.”

Thomas stopped. “Oh. Okay.”

Chara flinched a little. “Stop putting me first. I don’t deserve it. And you need to know. Because there is no way I am leaving.” They looked down at their hands. “I…want to remember everything. And I think you are right. I think I can only remember when I see the things…and people…I forgot. So, I might as well come with you. And if I come with you, we are going to see Patton again…so you should know.”

Thomas nodded. “O—I mean, all right. Go ahead.”

Chara dipped their head just a little. It was an oddly formal gesture. “I cannot remember everything, but I think my life on the surface was…not good. I came down here the same way you did; that much I know for sure.” Their hands were together in their lap, and their right thumb rubbed the fingers on their left hand almost obsessively. They were no longer looking at Thomas but instead into the distance.

“Patton, his husband, and his son took me in,” Chara continued. “I lived with them for…a few years? I think?” They shook their head, frustrated. “I am not sure. I can’t remember any of their faces or names except Patton’s. And I can barely remember them at all. But remembering them hurts. And I am upset with them for some reason that I cannot remember, or potentially multiple reasons, but I still care about them. It does not make sense.”

Thomas tilted his head again, this time simply confused. “Why not?”

Chara’s eyes focused on Thomas’, their fingers still rubbing together. “I do not understand why I can feel both.”

Thomas thought about this for a second. “Well, if you can be happy and sad at the same time, why can’t you feel other things at the same time?”

Chara frowned. “What?”

“When I left my friends, I was happy that I’d stopped them from getting hurt, but I was sad that I had to leave. And I was sad that I wouldn’t be able to help them anymore.” Thomas smiled just a little, but he felt his eyes begin to tear up again, just a bit. He blinked the tears away. He needed to be able to see Chara. “If I can feel two things at once, why couldn’t you?”

Chara turned away from Thomas completely, drawing their knees into their chest. Their voice muffled against their legs, they said, “I don’t want to. Not towards people. I don’t know how.”

Their shoulders shook, and Thomas could hear their jaggedy breaths. He realized that they were crying, and he wished desperately that he could hug them. He inched a bit closer.

“Would it help at all to know that I care about you?”

The crying sounds stopped, and Chara lifted their head, turning it so that Thomas could see half of their face. The tears on their cheek shone bright, like tiny red sunbeams in the dark. They laughed, the sound brittle like cracked glass. “Thomas, you barely know me.”

“I know some things about you, though,” Thomas said, moving to Chara’s side. “I know that your name’s Chara. I know that you laugh really hard and that you like silly puns. I know that you feel stuff stronger than most people, and I know that you hate lies and most humans. I know that you want to understand things, just like I do, and that you’re not afraid to ask questions.”

He stared into Chara’s eyes, hoping that they’d feel his sincerity. “I know that you’re hurting, and I want to help, even if you don’t understand why. And I know that I want to be your friend.”

Chara exhaled, one final tear making its way down their face. The corners of their mouth tilted upwards. “You are right. I do not understand you.” They got to their feet, and Thomas followed suit. When they brushed their tears away, no tear tracks remained, just a few sparkles that faded away into the dark.

“But I would like to be your friend, too.”

[thegeneralsnotebook]

January Feature: History of Colours Part 1 -- Yellow

Welcome to another year’s worth of articles on The General’s Notebook. The time off in December, as I flew home to be with my family for the holidays, was a refreshing one, and now I have some energy to begin tackling another project. In this case, that’s a new series of posts over here, detailing the history of each colour within the entire scope of the MLPCCG metagame. For many of us, those early days of the Premier Block may be represented by nothing more than the old cards that we know were played with back then, but there was real development and real competition then too. In fact, in my opinion those days were something of a Golden Age for the game, when the subreddit was filled with excited speculation and real discussion. Sure, the cards may have been subpar, but the community was pretty great.

Of course, in my case those days were before even my time, as though I started playing the game around midway through the tenure of Canterlot Nights, I only first started paying attention to the larger trends around Absolute Discord. So some of the older decks were completely unknown to me, and I was lucky to have the expertise of my good friend Bugle to help putting this history together. To start, we’re going to be talking about Yellow, because it’s a colour that’s had a really interesting history, possibly one of the most interesting out of all the colours.

It’s also a colour that is really present in the zeitgeist of the game right now, suddenly a force to be reckoned with not just in Core, but also in Harmony. Indeed, as we’ll see, there’s a little bit of poetic justice in Yellow taking a Harmony crown this year, given its history with the format, but to understand that we’re going to have to take the whole journey first.

Yellow’s fortunes in the game have experienced some significant variations over the course of time, but in broad strokes, the story is actually very simple. In the beginning, the colour was great. Then it was bad, for a long time, and now it’s good again. Barring one or two exceptions, that’s actually a pretty good approximation of how things have gone in the years since Premier. So let’s start with those golden days of yore, when the future was bright, and the metagame barely a new thing.

The core highlights of any Premier Yellow deck.

The Golden Years of Premier

There were two notable Yellow decks in the days of Premier, and while they shared one big card (one that will be a recurring theme through these early days of Yellow decks), aside from that their playstyles couldn’t be much more different. On the one hand, we had the aggro stylings of Blue/Yellow Rainbow Dash Wins, and on the other the Yellow/Purple control of Royal Guidance.

RD Wins probably requires little introduction and explanation. While in those days the game was fundamentally different, with confronting a Problem before anyone else netting you the Problem’s bonus points, functionally aggro was still aggro. That meant that one kept their cards’ reqs low, optimized high impact for low cost, and built an insurmountable momentum through the midgame that carried on through to the end. The biggest feature of Blue in those days was the free movement available from cards like Wild Fire and Holly Dash, and the AT efficiency of Cloudchaser and Two Bits. Yellow pitched in cheap things to make finding the off-colour Problem requirements easier, as well as the best Faceoff trick in the day with Critter Cavalry. And, of course, lest she ever be forgotten, the sheer dominance that was Guidance Counselor. This wasn’t one of those decks that necessarily tried to lock the opponent out of the game with her, as RD Wins was often, er... winning before that would happen, but it was still a huge source of AT advantage, and already well-recognized as one of the best cards in the game.

By the way, those 9 Troublemakers certainly weren’t a mistake, as if you take a close read on PR Rainbow Dash’s text you’ll realize that she needed them, even if the main strategy of the deck was was to confront Problems and go fast. And hey, who would say no to the opportunity for that brilliant double YPS opening? Even if we’re an aggro deck.

To the second example, Royal Guidance was the Swiss Army Knife of decks in those days, and it was one that absolutely thrived on the idea of dropping Fluttergui Turn 2 and basically winning the game from there on out. In fact, that was where the name of the deck came from, since Royal Guidance was the card that enabled either of Fluttergui or Ursa Vanquisher to hit the board early, setting up for an extremely asymmetric early game that would be used to assert dominance through the rest of it. Generally, this would take the form of solid Purple control, hunkered down behind Troublemakers and letting the game draw out. In those days, options against Troublemakers were few, and most decks could only really gather their resolve and hope to take them down in the faceoff, and under those circumstances Purple’s tools were well-positioned to keep the walls secure.

Indeed, some builds of Royal Guidance even tried their hand at the good old Gyro toolbox, even then already in a very well-developed form, though without the Eff Stop support at least. In the late game, the deck would often transition into a farming plan once Fluttershy had been flipped over, and could usually pull it off quite well, netting the extra points needed for the last push to the finish.

The meta as a whole was fluid in those days, with a number of other decks also vying for things (as we’ll get to in future articles), but with these two Yellow was absolutely in contention. This was a state of affairs that was bound to continue, at least for a little while.

These two could kill you with a wink of their eyes.

And The Man at the Back Said “Everyone Attack”

And it turned into a Ballroom Blitz. This one is probably the most well-known Yellow deck of the Premier era. Not only did it represent a distillation of the best that Yellow had to offer from the first two sets, it represented the match-made-in-heaven that was Yellow and White. And, so far as I could tell from the history, this deck was also Rarity: Truly Outrageous’ breakout hit. Sure, it was obvious to everyone that she was an absurdly valuable card right from the start, but it looks like this was the first deck that really hit the big-time with her.

The new Fluttershy Mane represented a huge speedup in the early game, especially since at this point Starting Problems were almost all small ones with easy confront requirements, and thus CN Fluttershy could ensure a quick confront and bonus points as soon as Turn 2. Remember those first confront bonuses plus the faceoffs, and a dominant early game could easily put the game out of reach, especially once it was followed up with the White-powered midgame, consisting of Stand Still to keep the opponent off-balance, and of course RTO to seal the deal. The deck could even (and often did) obtain the extra efficiency of using Staring Contest to self-bounce a cheap Friend like Forest Owl. Why, after all, would one spend 2 AT to move it when one could transition it through the hand instead and only pay 1 AT? All of that combined to make a lightning-fast juggernaut that tore up tournaments all across the country.

Of secondary note is a list that Bugle brought to my attention which I had never even heard of, a Yellow/Pink creation of the time that went by the semi-official name of Ploofy Critters. Fundamentally, this deck is working to much the same principles as the one above, but replacing the White integration with a somewhat lighter Pink package instead, and taking more Yellow weight as a result. Pink certainly does offer a bit of more permanent removal, but this deck’s success was something of a mystery at the time of its origination, especially with this list missing the crucial power that was Snips & Snails: Problem Solvers. (Which, it pays to note, was an even better card with those old first-confront rules.) Still, this deck in combination with Ballroom cemented Yellow’s status as one of the strongest colours in the game.

Unfortunately, though, that pride was coming right before the fall.

Something tells me this isn’t the last we’ll be seeing of these two in this series.

Rock & Ruin

Crystal Games started out shaping up to be a great set for Yellow. In fact, there was a deck shaping up that looked about ready to dominate the whole meta, and it was indeed powered by a Yellow card. But it got banned. Even so, for at least a little while the old guard was able to keep on with things, mostly overlooking the cards in the new set. As time went on, though, a couple of Manes who had been introduced in a small supplemental set made their presence felt more and more, and started defining their own era, which we’ll cover in more detail once we get to the articles about Orange and Pink. Most important to this story was the final nail that came with the banning of Guidance Counselor. Yellow had lost its biggest weapon, and in a world now filled with farming and Pile combo, there just wasn’t any space left for it anymore. It fell away.

So began the Long Darkness for the colour. Indeed, it got so bad that at the second NA Continental tournament, there was a grand total of just 7 Yellow cards across the entire Top 16. The one bright spot, in its own ironic way, was the popularity of Seabreeze’s Flower, which was kind of a Yellow card, even though nobody was using it for that purpose.

From here, the history gets a little dull, because yeah, the Long Darkness continued for a long time. Years and multiple sets passed with the colour being little more than a footnote, with few good Manes to its name, no true bombs that could form a deck’s foundation, and little prospect on the horizon too.

Which isn’t to say that attempts weren’t made. A few of them even bit at the edges of viability. Equestrian Odysseys especially offered quite a bit of hope, with Fluttershy, Backup Vocals finally being the card that could maybe make Bubbly Mare work, and Bedtime offering the chance for a Yellow/White control deck. Both of those saw real experimentation, but came up short, especially in a meta that was now quickly falling under the sway of the Apple Queen.

Then, suddenly, a spark. From a most unexpected direction, the colour came to life in High Magic, this time partnering with Purple and White in the form of Zipporwhill control. Granted, it was a mere 4 Yellow cards that made it into the deck, but that was the most that had been seen in a top deck in years, and more importantly they were the key cards that made the deck work. The piles of critter tokens that often accumulated over the course of a Zipporwhill game were a testament to that. The deck’s ability to turn a merely efficient Power Event in Rise and Shine into a control tool was its main strength, and cycling it repeatedly with Eff Stop turned out to be just the ticket. While Zippo’s time at the top turned out to be brief, with Defenders heralding the rise of Pink decks with more removal than she could stand, it was a bright, shining moment. Maybe, just maybe, Yellow was back to being something worth playing around with.

The heralds. Surprisingly, it still took a few sets for Yellow to emerge again.

A Silent Renaissance

Defenders of Equestria absolutely was the point of rebirth for the colour, though one wouldn’t necessarily have known it at the time. This was, after all, the meta made famous for Hot Wings and Vinyl’s Bag of Tricks, a time of Pink ascendancy almost unparalleled save maybe for the grand old days of Pile (again, more on that in the Pink article). But quietly, important seeds had been sown for Yellow’s resurgence later. Most importantly, after literal years of waiting, the colour received not only one but two exceptional Mane Characters in Nurturing Nature and Thorax. With that came extremely efficient point acceleration in the from of Tri-Horned Bunyip, and new tools against both Resources and Troublemakers, themes that had been building in the colour for a while, and were now getting close to a critical mass. Indeed, the colour was getting back to its roots for the first time in a while: prepping for a game plan of speedy confronts and aggression.

You might think, then, that it was only a matter of time before things turned around. Seaquestria & Beyond certainly had enough good cards that one would think the colour couldn’t help but see play. Day Shift once again gave the colour some brutal AT efficiency, its efficacy against Resources became unmatched with the introduction of Brian, and we even saw multiple effective multicoloured cards added in: like Pirate Fluttershy and Treading Water. Yet even so, Yellow remained under the radar, with the Seaquestria meta being first dominated by the Apple Queen (prior to her forcible removal) and then by Tempest Shadow and Purple/Pink.

Nay, it was indeed not until Friends Forever that the colour finally threw off its bonds and re-emerged as a true contender. Little wonder that this was accompanied by a true monster card in Mage Meadowbrook. In this set, Yellow was not taking any prisoners, and it was time for everyone else to feel the weight of the long years it had spent in irrelevance. Suddenly there were more Yellow than one could shake a stick at, with the most prominent being the Thorax/Orange aggro pioneered on the West Coast, and the pure mono style that first made waves in the Midwest. It also featured, at least tangentially, in the alicorn tribal that saw some play around this time. 

Fast-forward now to Leaders & Legends, and suddenly the colour is everywhere again. It has prospects with Purple thanks to Pegasus Royal Guard, is still going strong in Orange, where it now regularly trots out Novo for the surprise faceoff edge, and even just captured a tournament in Harmony, at this most recent Vanhoover Pony Expo. Remember how I said there was a little poetic justice in Yellow’s tourney win this year? Well, Yellow dropped off in the old CG meta due to the prevalence of Pile of Presents and Orange farming. Which deck did Yellow have to beat to take the crown at Vanhoover this year? Yeah, it was Pile, albeit in an updated form. What was taken first from Fluttershy, Thorax has now reclaimed.

Conclusion

That thus wraps the discussion of Yellow for this month. Truly, this colour has had a very bumpy ride over the course of the history of the game. Yet, at the moment, the horizon looks bright. It’s a future that once looked nearly impossible, but those of us with a soft spot for the colour are now happy to see it come. May many more like this follow!

As for this series, the next colour in the line will be White, as we walk backward through the normal colour order. That may be in February, or later if something else demands attention first. But in any event, I’ll see you all back here next month for another post!

[anirondaughter]

          ༼  BIRTH CHART  ༽

SUN — LEO

There's an unmistakably regal air to Solar Leos. These are dignified--even noble--folk. Leos have a reputation for being conceited, but think again. Leos do feel important, but this generally takes the form of wanting to change the world in some way--to make the world a better place. They are generally motivated by affection for people, and often have big dreams and plans to make people happy.

Generally, Leos are hard-working. After all, they are attracted to the good things in life, and they know they have to work to get them. It is sometimes difficult to imagine Leos as go-getters if you happen to catch them in one of their languid moods. These people can sleep in, laze around, and luxuriate for long periods of time. However, when they do get to work, they do it with intensity and determination. In this way, they are not unlike their symbol, the lion. The worst thing you can do to a Leo is accuse them of bad intentions. Displaying behavior that makes them think you don't appreciate them runs a close second. These happy, jovial people become mighty hurt when others don't see them for their noble intentions.

She is masterful, she likes authority, she aspires toward an ideal. She likes to give advice. She is honest, frank, loyal, open, and sincere. Possible issues: pride, vanity, arrogance, presumption and disdain for others..

MOON — LEO

This is a rather creative position of the Moon. At the very least, Moon in Leo people want to create and entertain. They can be rather lazy at times, and a little bossy too. Generally, though, they have a deep need to treat others fairly and justly. Lunar Leos require lots and lots of love and care in order to function well in the world. When they feel slighted, these people can be dramatic in their emotional displays. When their pride has been hurt, they are given to big scenes and sulking. This rarely happens in public, however. Lunar Leos are far too concerned about their image to make splashy scenes outside the comfort of their own homes. In public, they prefer to take things in dignified ways. At home, however, they're given to big displays of emotional drama. These scenes generally don't last too long, however. Lunar Leos are often personally popular folk who are valued for their integrity and strong sense of justice. Generally, it is easy to reason with a Lunar Lion. Appealing to their well-developed sense of fairness usually works well.

She is brave, knowing how to take risks and possessing the courage of her convictions, honest, imposing, and sharp. She has a great sense of, and respect for, justice. Organizational sense. Selectivity with friends but is not overly influenced by them. Taste for splendor. Potential issues: changing and numerous affections. Emotionally demanding and proud. Brooding when attention is not forthcoming.

RISING — LEO

Leo rising people cannot help but be noticed. They radiate a special energy and magnetism that gets others' attention. Sometimes it's because they are loud people who pay a lot of attention to their personal appearance (especially their hair!); other times it's due to a regal manner that simply demands interest from others. Leo Ascendant people are very self-aware and body-conscious. They are acutely aware of others, and how they come across. In fact, these people are especially aware of their personal "backdrop"--they consider what the people they're with, and the environments they are in, do to their own image. Often, Leo rising natives feel as if they are on stage, even in the privacy of their own homes! They are given to rash decisions, temper tantrums, and excesses. However, they have plenty of staying power, drive, and their idealism keeps them from getting into too much trouble. The desire to oversee the goings-on in their circle can sometimes amount to bossiness. If this desire doesn't go too far, however, it can just mean a person who wants to make sure the people they love are all right. Many Leo rising people are managers, either by profession or character.

The tendency to overestimate things, and themselves, is generally present. This is due to a natural enthusiasm and optimism about any new undertaking. Sometimes, they are walking commercials. In fact, Leo rising people make excellent promoters. Leo rising people are generally demonstrative, and given to grand gestures. Drama comes naturally to these natives. In fact, some are so caught up in fiction, they're a little blind to fact. They have an unusual need to be admired. Leo Ascendants often have a strong physical constitution. They pay special attention to their personal appearance and mannerisms. Usually, they choose clothing and hairstyles that are youthful. Their manner is authoritarian and strong. Very full emotional life. 

MERCURY — LEO

She wants to know the bottom line, and can be good at scoping out a situation and finding answers to problems. In fact, she is a problem-solver, and will spend a lot of time helping others solve problems if need be. Very friendly and usually positive, she can be charming in a warm way. Enthusiastic speaker, speaks with authority and sincerity. Great sense of organization. Playful. Likes to take risks in jest and for amusement. Might sometimes come across too strongly or offend sensitive folk with a somewhat authoritative tone.

VENUS — LIBRA

Venus in Libra people will impress you with their kindness, evenhandedness, and willingness to make your relationship work. They have a polished manner in love, which sometimes makes them appear insincere or superficial. They are gentle lovers who hate to be offended. They are threatened by bad manners and direct or abrasive expression of feelings. They not only prefer to choose the middle road, they seek the middle ground in their relationships. You can expect to be treated fairly, and you may be turned on by Venus in Libra's willingness to concede and adjust their lives to fully accommodate you. Venus in Libra natives have idealized images of their relationships, even to the point where the relationship becomes bigger than life, taking on a life of its own. They can become quietly resentful if they feel they are being taken advantage of -- and they make it easy for more aggressive types to bully them around.

Pleasing Venus in Libra involves treating them kindly and fairly. They love to share everything with you, so let them. Foreplay for them can be mental -- they love to communicate with you about the relationship. Sharing turns them on, and tactless or uncouth behavior is a turn-off. Although they seem to put up with a lot, be fair with them. Over time, imbalance in their relationship is sure to make them unhappy, and when it comes to this, they may try to even the score in subtle, roundabout ways. Don't let it come to that, and you will be rewarded with a lover who puts themselves in your shoes and treats you exactly how they would like to be treated.

MARS — AQUARIUS

It can be a little difficult to understand exactly what makes a Mars in Aquarius native tick. And that's absolutely fine with them--they enjoy surprising people. The tried-and-true methods of getting things done are far too boring for those born with Mars in this unique and original sign. Mars in Aquarius natives often have a rather original view of the world as well. These natives are generally quite proud of their independence. They are not easily pushed around with Mars in this fixed sign. Because Aquarius is progressive and open-minded when it comes to the world at large, it can be surprising that on a personal level, Mars in Aquarius natives can be quite obstinate. If they feel boxed in, they are quite likely to rebel. If you've discovered a pattern to their ways, they'll make sure they aren't so predictable the next time around. Being seen as "normal" simply won't do!

With Mars, the planet of energy and drive, in an Air sign, these individuals get off on mental and intellectual pursuits. Aquarius is a somewhat scattered sign, even though it's persevering in the long haul. If there's a method to their madness, it isn't always easy to see. Projects are taken on with a shotgun-style approach with this position of Mars. Mars in Air signs are generally quite clever at getting what they want; in Aquarius, they are particularly adept at getting their way. While this is not an overtly aggressive position of Mars (Aquarius has a manner that is far too detached to come across too forcefully), it is very willful. Combine willfulness with the cleverness of an Air sign, and you have a person who is quite creative about getting what they want--which generally is getting their way! Unlike with Mars in Aries or Leo natives, for example, you won't always know you're being dominated by a Mars in Aquarius native!

done using cafe astrology

[astrolarrie]

harry & louis are perfect for each other

astro.com has a ‘love, flirtation, and sex’ feature where it shows how the different placements in your natal chart affect your approach to love. and uhhhhh... harry and louis have a hell of a lot of compatibilities. the things that could be issues with some people are the things they each need, which is beautiful.

so this isn’t a synastry, but you can see how their needs work together.

[edited for harry’s 2:30pm birth time - which gives them more of the same house placements]

LOUIS

(cap sun)

he’s a very steady and reliable partner

doesn’t commit hastily, but when he makes a commitment he sticks to it

he will give completely of himself, and wants his partner to live up to his expectations

for long-term happiness, he’d do well with a partner who continually injects freshness and originality into the relationship; he would be a stabilising factor/emotional home base for them

he tends to hold in feelings he would like to communicate, so he needs a fluid and sensitive partner who can explore the depths of his personality without treading on sensitive areas before he’s ready to share

(sun in 8th)

physically sexual; tangible intimacy is very important to him

he’s intuitive and may have considerable subliminal power over others, controlling them without their knowledge

a psychic animal magnetism

may be drawn to power games; a lover who is considerably older or younger; situations where one is a good deal more experienced/teaches the other

no matter what, his key word is intensity

(leo moon)

very open and mellow towards his partner

a very enthusiastic and outgoing partner

his partner should enjoy social gatherings, because he feels unfulfilled if he goes a long time without being social

generally he’s an optimist

physically and emotionally, he could enjoy the presence and love of many different people, but he will lock his truly heartfelt loyalty and love to one person only

(moon in 4th)

his ideal relationship is one that provides an emotional defense for time of trouble or distress

he is happiest with a partner who is absolutely true to him, who is always there when needed

he’s drawn to live-in relationships because it provides the greatest opportunities for warmth and expression of his love; both he and his partner will find it most satisfying to live together 24/7

ideally his partner should cherish the wealth of care and thoughtfulness he provides

(scorpio venus)

he has a very deep, gut-level style in love

when he sets his sights on someone, he doesn’t give up until he gets what he wants

not good with moderation

he prefers sexuality to have tremendous power; sex should be an uncontrollable flood in which he and his partner are caught up in

in everyday life, he has to take care to let control return to both partners equally so that the power dynamics don’t rule their lives

(venus in 6th)

he appreciates well-crafted lovemaking

his partner should like working at improving their relationship and refining the gentle art of love

although he wants to be equal with his partner in the relationship, equality is not ideal in sex; he prefers to be served or to serve

(sag mars)

he tends to approach any sexual/romantic involvement with gusto, jumping right in

he has a talent for bringing an overly thoughtful or melancholy lover out of the dumps and into a gleeful love session by his own open and positive approach

his sexual style borders on the athletic, very energetic; possibly his favourite way to exercise

he needs a partner who fits into the spaces of his own fantasies/kinks and helps fulfil them

(mars in 7th)

he may gravitate towards rather intense, strenuous relationships where both parties emit and demand a great deal of energy

he needs to take care to define respective roles within a relationship

he’s best off with a regular partner who he spends a lot of time with

he derives a great deal of his energy, drive and inspiration from his partner

(gemini rising)

he has a talent for variety in his personal relationships, and therefore could enjoy many kinds of lovers, or a lover who was different themselves

he would find a partner who liked the same thing every time boring

he’s an inventive lover, and needs a sensitive partner who can respond to his delicate touch and lively imagination

imagination is another key word for his style

HARRY

(aqua sun)

he is a very understanding lover, with a special ability to be helpful when his partner is having emotional difficulties

he can enjoy a wide variety of sexual experiences; if he limits himself to one partner, that person would enjoy lovemaking as an affectionate but continuously changing adventure

his partner must respect his freedom

he prefers close contact with open communication

quite capable of carrying on a love affair without any sex at all

(sun in 8th) (same as louis)

physically sexual; tangible intimacy is very important to him

he’s intuitive and may have considerable subliminal power over others, controlling them without their knowledge

a psychic animal magnetism

may be drawn to power games; a lover who is considerably older or younger; situations where one is a good deal more experienced/teaches the other

no matter what, his key word is intensity

(libra moon)

he is a problem-solver; he may continuously try to improve his relationship

he creates beauty and balance in both his physical environment and socially

he needs a partner as willing as he is to confront truth and deal with it directly and clearly

(moon in 4th) (same as louis)

his ideal relationship is one that provides an emotional defense for time of trouble or distress

he is happiest with a partner who is absolutely true to him, who is always there when needed

he’s drawn to live-in relationships because it provides the greatest opportunities for warmth and expression of his love; both he and his partner will find it most satisfying to live together 24/7

ideally his partner should cherish the wealth of care and thoughtfulness he provides

(aqua venus)

he seeks special styles and unusual varieties of love, and partners who have similar interests to his

he needs a lot of action in order to be mentally stimulated in a relationship, so his relationships can become complicated/multi-faceted

interested in unusual relationships; may be tempted to get involved in several relationships at once, which can be stimulating but likely unfulfilling for him (due to: libra moon, cancer rising, scorpio juno, all his 8h/7h placements which require more depth and make him possessive)

(venus in 8th) (counterpart to louis’s scorpio venus)

strives for relationships that are very intense and therefore quite involved 

may be drawn toward people who seem mysterious or challenging in some way

requires plenty of physical attention within a relationship; is happiest with a demonstrative lover who pays attention to his physical as well as his emotional needs

the more he can lose himself in a relationship, particularly in its sexual aspects, the more satisfying it will be. he has to try not to let his life outside of the relationship become unbalanced by it.

(aqua mars)

his style of expression is multi-faceted; he is wide-ranging, combining variety with truly satisfying intimacy

he goes out of his way to discover and fulfil all his partner’s fantasies

he must feel free to express his personality, and may not handle a jealous partner (again, his aqua placements being in 8h affects this)

(mars in 8th)

he likes to maintain a certain air of mystery concerning his style and motivations in sexuality, which can add both power and attraction to his image as others see it

in order to stay in control of his sometimes complex and subterranean inner forces, he must make a particular effort to explore them and reach an effective level of self-understanding.

sexual activity has a very invigorating effect on his constitution

he is rather good at unraveling the tangled skeins of others' personal lives. in a relationship, he can pursue seemingly well-hidden motives that reveal his lover's special needs and then satisfy them.

(cancer rising)

probably the most important aspects of a relationship for him are integrity and security. he will persevere through many trials in order to make a relationship work out, as long as he feels that his partner is equally committed.

if there is any problem with this position, it is oversensitivity, a tendency to take remarks made in jest too seriously.

this position makes him a very faithful lover, and an incident of unfaithfulness will be very traumatic for him

he has to try to avoid being overly possessive in the physical sense and remember that faithfulness belongs more to the heart than to the body.

ALSO, i think it’s important to keep their juno/venus connection in mind when discussing compatibility. their venuses are basically interchangeable when it comes to each other 🤷‍♀️ 

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[androsswannabe]

⭐

[ Character Quiz Meme | Accepting! ]

Send in ⭐to see my muse’s Homestuck ‘True Sign’

Sign Class: Blue

Let’s not mince words: Blue Signs are the ones to watch. Of all the sign classes, they have the potential to do the most good, but also cause the worse harm. They can be incredibly effective, and also incredibly destructive. Tell a Blue Sign this and chances are they would agree with you. They are magnetic and adaptive, able to adjust how they present themselves in any situation. They have a mask for every occasion. They are obsessively dedicated, willing to throw themselves into work, play, and everything in between. Because of this, Blue Signs are highly valuable allies and friends. However, they are very selective when it comes to who they let into their inner circle. You could be best friends with a Blue Sign and still never truly know them. They are powerful and successful, but they also tend toward jealousy. They often resent those they see as more well-positioned than they are. A well-adjusted Blue Sign is fantastically competent and inspiring, but a Blue Sign at their worst is a force for chaos. In love they can find themselves having to choose between their ambitions and their relationships, often with great difficulty.   • Learn more about Sign Classes.

Lunar Sway: Derse

Derse Dreamers have personalities marked by a distinct and restless skepticism. Whatever their waking circumstances, chances are they will live in a state of dissatisfaction. Rebellion is in their blood, manifesting whether they are fighting back against a fascist dictatorship, or the most recent trend in casual footwear. Derse Dreamers are cerebral and self-aware; they have a far better grasp on the landscape of their own minds than on the world around them, which they can find alienating and confusing. But as so much of their identity is built on control, they will do their utmost to hide any insecurities, often with false humility or self-deprecating humor. They may be inflexible and pessimistic, but they are also great problem solvers, facing conflicts head-on with shrewd, calculating minds. They see one true path among an infinite snarl of wrong ones. They tend to be introverted, but if you win their trust Derse Dreamers are extremely powerful allies. However, they find sincere vulnerability difficult and will often keep people at arm’s length. Letting go and living in the moment is hard for a Derse Dreamer; they constantly look toward the future and analyze the past.   • Learn more about Lunar Sway.

Aspect: Light

Those bound to the aspect of Light are the universe’s knowledge-seekers. They are, above all, driven to learn and understand. They are great alchemists, able to take multiple sources of information and synthesize them into something useful. They are scholars and researchers, absolutely dedicated to knowledge for knowledge’s sake. They are the ultimate students, and although that might conjure up the image of people sitting around peacefully waiting for knowledge to be brought to them, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The Light-bound will go after knowledge with a fierce intensity that others may find distasteful. They aren’t overly concerned with laws or norms, either. They often take rules as simple suggestions, instead searching for loopholes or work-arounds. At their best, the Light-bound are resourceful and driven. At their worst they can be fussy, pedantic, and insensitive. • Learn more about Aspects.

“Hah! See? It’s destiny! Quite thoughtful really, to make me the Emperor – but I don’t need a quiz to tell me that!” It’s clear that Andrew is taking this as positively as possible rather than seeing it as the giant call out post it is.

[thatboomerkid]

The Reverend of Razored Witch-Pyres

The Reverend of Razored Witch-Pyres (a CR 7+ Pathfinder Modern / Urban Fantasy Encounter for Bloodlines & Black Magic)

There are small towns where the Blooded dare not tread.

Little burgs and hamlets, out-of-the-way places like Hobb’s Hollow up in Utah or the quiet city of Rowe over in northwestern Massachusetts. There are thirteen of them in all, and any competent magician of the modern era could probably list at least three off the top of their head: lessons drilled-in by a paranoid mentor during their apprenticeship or else picked-up from idle sessions of rumor, gossip & laughs over drinks with the fellow initiated.

Ask around in any major city and you could probably get a comprehensive list of all thirteen of these infamous scary-spots in a couple of hours. Along with a half-dozen false positives, crackpot theories and bald-faced lies, of course.

These aren’t the sort of towns that you just stumble across, thankfully. Most of ‘em are half-abandoned and far off the beaten path: you’d have to go looking for trouble to wind up there ... or, perhaps, find yourself hopelessly lost following a bad trail of horror about to get a whole lot worse.

Nothing particularly weird can be found-out about these places online, in case you were wondering; the Archons have seen to that, scrubbing the web until it glistens like a raw wound. Feel free to Google them if you don’t mind falling onto a watch-list maintained by the dark heart of the Internet Herself: you’ll find nary a whisper about what happens to those Blooded who set foot in town.

Uncovering the true histories would require access to old & forbidden books, kept by possessive antiquarians in basement vaults under lock & key, salt & spell: held against a purge ordained by the Seven of Secret Names.

These towns? Those of us in the know, we avoid them for fear of the Reverend.

Brought to you absolutely free to play, to test & to share, as always, by the fine folks of my Patreon.

original image from here

Every few years you’ll hear a tale about some brave occultist or another setting up shop in one of these villages: daring the fates, establishing a witch’s circle or a midnight reading-room right there in the shadowy maw of the beast.

Maybe some of these stories are just that: stories. Maybe nobody’s really that stupid. But if you’ve met some of our contemporaries, you know that there’s always someone -- a magus one High Priestess short of a full Tarot deck, if you take my meaning -- dumb enough to try just about any fool errand.

And everything, according to the old legends, seems to go just dandy for a few weeks. Maybe even a few months. On a single occasion, almost a year.

And then one day ... nothing. Not a peep. Every last member of a Bloodline in that town vanishes overnight. Never to be seen or heard-from again.

And life in that quiet little back-country town rolls on, perhaps just a little bit quieter than before. Local police wash out the dead-end alleys; public works officials clear the storm drains. There are bonfires held on the Sabbath, and whispered prayers before bedtime, and everyone pretends they can’t smell the rust on the wind or hear those sharp clicks rattling out of the woods at night.

The Revered walks his appointed rounds slowly ... but he keeps them all the same, with precise & religious care.

NOTE: So, precisely which towns out there exist under the dreadful watch of the Reverend of Razored Witch-Pyres? Well ... that’s been left intentionally vague, allowing for greater flexibility on the part of an individual GM.

Of course, it’s possible that some of these towns are used by cabals loyal to the Archons: a village under the gaze of the Reverend is a safe haven where no servant of the Goetic Spirits might ever dare to meddle or intrude.

They say that in life, long ago, the Reverend of Razored Witch-Pyres -- whatever his name was, it’s been lost to the machinations of our starry masters for many decades -- served the Archons with unparalleled zeal and efficiency: tempering the roaring blaze of his utter hatred with ruthless & icy professionalism.

By the standards of modern psychoanalysis, we would likely term the Reverend a particularly high-functioning sadist & serial killer: he went to elaborate lengths to understand his targets fully before striking, taking great pains to break each of his victims completely -- mind, body and soul -- before performing a uniquely grisly public execution. His life’s work had genuine artistic merit, from a certain point of view, full of profound allegory & subtle poetry.

He worked for the church, and he hunted witches.

At this task, he was without equal; by his deeds, the Veil was maintained & made strong. No one can say precisely how many servants, sycophants & supporters the Goetic Spirits lost to his blades ... but his victims numbered in the dozens if not in the hundreds, and each of his many obscene “performance pieces” surely terrified another dozen or more would-be-arcanists into hiding.

image from here; the Reverend of Razored Witch-Pyres in better days.

In death, the Reverend was rewarded dearly for his strict devotion to the will of the High Seven by no less august a figure than Yasazziel, Grand Archon of Glittering Things and Earthly Delights: he was gifted an Abhorrent Heaven of his very own, a sprawling realm of dark woodlands & villages full of fearful sinners upon which to vent his most grotesque lusts for all eternity.

To this end, his soul was reforged into a new and brutal shape: an Advanced Barbed Devil with the Implacable Stalker template; in this flesh, the Reverend was loaned-out by his mistress to the aid of her sisters on many occasions, rapidly becoming one of the top-tier problem-solvers for the Archons. The Reverend was frequently unleashed to wipe-out entire Lineages that had finally crossed some invisible line or another and drawn the apocalyptic ire of the Masters of Heaven: cities & fortresses alike burned when the Grand Archons took the honorable Reverend out of his toy-box & set him loose in the real world to “make the wicked suffer, as pleases you”.

And then, one day? Something happened. Nobody knows how, precisely, but one group of magicians or another cobbled themselves together a desperate silver bullet, took a long-shot risk ... and it worked. By unknown means -- most-likely an Incantation of incredible power, although nobody’s talking -- the Half-Summoned Creature template (see Bloodlines & Black Magic, pg. 223) was successfully applied to the Reverend.

And it stuck.

He’s slow and confused, these days. Wandering, alone and lost. Can’t tell where he is; can’t get his bearings nor keep his thoughts straight. He wanders between a few familiar cities that remind him of home: stepping casually across the world via greater teleport according to a half-remembered schedule. About once a month, on average -- usually on some high church holiday or the anniversary of an important event in his mortal life -- he’ll experience a full night of clarity.

During these times, he keeps to the code of the Veil: hunting only the Blooded.

He has been killed a few times, since the curse took effect.

It never sticks for long.

Using the Reverend:

If a character’s Threshold increases to an odd number from direct exposure to the presence (or the power) of the Reverend of Razored Witch-Pyres, she may gain one of the following Oddities (roll 1d8):

Your eyes glow like lit cigarettes; this is visible only in the dark. You add produce flame as a 1st level spell to any one spell-list you possess.

You feel heat on the back of your neck and upon your heels whenever you are within 50 feet of a Lawful-aligned non-mundane creature allied to the Archons such as a devil, kyton, angel or inevitable. Note that not all Lawful outsiders are servants of the Archons, and that some Chaotic outsiders are also under their thrall. The range of this ability is halved (to 25 ft.) for mortal Blooded creatures who fit the criteria above, such as Lawful oracles and slayers loyal to the Archons.

You gain an overwhelming scent of brimstone, ash and smoke, and may be freely detected by all opponents within 30 feet purely by sense of smell. If you are upwind, the range increases to 60 feet; if downwind, it drops to 15 feet. Your exact location is not revealed, only your presence within range and the general direction toward you. When you are within 5 feet of any creature, however, that creature automatically pinpoints your location even if otherwise blinded to you. Upon whispering a prayer, your stench is suppressed for a number of minutes equal to your level.

You are always treated as if you had directly witnessed the death of the Reverend and are thus susceptible to his Nightmare Resurrection ability. While he is alive, this ability has no effect ... although you often see him in your dreams, calmly watching you.

You develop a severe allergy to silver. If you touch, are touched by or are otherwise exposed to silver or alchemical silver – such as by taking damage from a silver weapon or because you are wearing or carrying silver items – you immediately suffer a –2 penalty to Dexterity and Charisma for 1d4 hours (no save). Multiple separate events of exposure stack, but none of your ability scores can be reduced to zero in this way. In addition, you must stay at least 5 feet away from silver, holy symbols and holy water; you may not choose to move closer to such an object or substance if it is within 20 ft. You also gain immunity to fire.

You gain full knowledge of either the Celestial language or the Infernal tongue (your choice).

You gain vulnerability to fire. If you ever possess less than half of your maximum hit points, you lose this vulnerability and instead gain fire resistance equal to twice your level. You likewise gain this benefit if at least half your body is covered in blood from another source.

Roll 1d6+1 twice, keeping both results. If you gain the same result for both rolls, re-roll one of the dice.

[ardenttheories]

idk if you're willing to answer this but what do the individual classes represent especially when trying to determine your class?

I’m not too sure what you mean by represent but I’m assuming it’s something like this; in a literal context of our world instead of the super powers of the SBURB world - so if I’m wrong, please let me know!

Your class is the way your aspect manifests, and how you use it. So when trying to determine your class, you really need to go through and understand how you personally act, and how this would affect your use of your aspect. 

Here’s a starting point:

Witch: to rebel, to manipulate aspect to their will

You’re likely someone who actively rebels against your aspect - the rules and regulations of it, the usual limitations - to force it to become something utterly your own. Think Jade shrinking down the planets; if she’d done that under the normal laws of physics, I’m pretty sure she’d have made a black hole. Instead, everything remains the same, just smaller. As someone who actively loved science, she goes against her own laws of physics to instead allow her and her friends to progress into the alpha session. To be a Witch is to know how something works, and essentially to screw with it to your own ends.

Heir: to inherit, to seek out aspect

You’re likely someone who can obtain your aspect easily, and would to most people seem a literal embodiment of it. Think John, a bit flighty and free, with no active concerns in the world, who works as much of a free spirit as one could expect. Nothing concerns him pre-game; he is, essentially, free of all worries. To be an Heir is to actively seek out as much of your aspect as possible. 

Mage: to understand, to take action with knowledge of, to suffer from aspect

While it may seem more like a seer, a Mage actively suffers from their aspect - think Sollux suffering from the voices of the Doomed, or Meulin suffering in her relationships. Mages tend to have an innate understanding of their classpect, and use this understanding in order to take action - again, think Sollux using Doom to even create SBURB to begin with. In a more literal context, Mages likely suffer from but are really good at their aspect; so a Mage of Heart like Meulin might suffer a lot in their own relationships, but be absolutely brilliant at ensuring others get it right.

Seer: to learn/find/observe, to advise with aspect

Seers, on the other hand, pour themselves over their aspect, gain knowledge and understanding of it, and advise people with it. Think Rose guiding her session with her visions, or the Signless attempting to change trolls’ minds with his visions of Beforus. They’re likely people to be more bookish but fantastic at advice. 

Prince: to destroy, to destroy with aspect, to ghost the opposing aspect

Princes are a bit confusing, but don’t worry. Princes, in destroying their aspect, sometimes work a bit like their opposing aspect - so a Prince of Rage might seem like a player of Hope at first glance - but you can usually tell a Prince of an aspect from their opposite by destructiveness alone. It’s very obvious, very plain; a Prince of Heart like Dirk, for instance, may frequently ruin relationships, and a Prince of Breath may actively destroy the freedom of others. Undiscovered, they are more likely to be toxic players - but when aware of their actions, become incredibly useful (for instance, a Prince of Heart may be good at destroying toxic relationships between friends). If you’re a Prince, you can usually tell it from the level of destruction you have in your life. 

Bard: to destroy through the effect of, to allow the destruction of aspect

A bit like a Prince, but subtle. Bards are more laid back, more relaxed, until the time to destroy their aspect strikes - at which point they’re likely not even the one who does it. Think Gamzee using Terezi’s rage to trick her into killing Vriska. Bards are usually harder to spot, but I suppose you can think of them as that kid in movies who starts a fight by saying “Janet said x about your mum!” They don’t get actively involved as a Prince would (a Prince would have said “your mum is x” to Janet instead), but typically cause the issue that arises.

Maid: to create through/with aspect

Maids create their aspect - which makes it pretty obvious to see one when put into the context of an aspect. A Maid of Time would make Time, so in literal terms, is more likely to suddenly have time for every issue on hand. A Maid of Breath is more likely to make freedom, so may be a healthy and freeing person within your life (perhaps someone who helps you find a website or game or book that becomes your little hideaway from life). If someone seems to just make something out of nothing, regardless of how difficult that may be, then chances are they’re a Maid.

Knight: to manipulate, to make use of, to hide aspect

Knights tend to hide their aspect behind facades of who they wish they could be. A big pointer to you being a Knight would be if there is a part of you that you keep tightly hidden, a part that you cover with what you would assume others consider to be normal. Dave using irony and a coolkid persona to hide his abuse, Latula using a gamergirl persona to hide her insecurities, and Karkat just straight up hiding his bloodcolour behind grey are all examples of Knights hiding. However, Knights are adept at understanding the rules of their aspect and finding ways to bend them without breaking them - so a Knight of Heart may not be able to make relationships out of nothing like a Witch, but they would be able to forge stronger relationships between people who already work well together. They are, in essence, problem solvers who wish to help people (usually to a self-sacrificial level) but struggle to show their true selves.

Page: to grow through, to lead others with, to lead others to use aspect

Pages seem weak at first, and usually throw up a barrier of defencelessness so that others will work for them - take Jake actively acknowledging that Jane wants to ask him out, but in their conversation managing to make himself seem clueless enough that she spins herself in circles and eventually says that she doesn’t like him, the response he wanted as it meant he wouldn’t have to deal with the struggle of both Jane and Dirk liking him - but through time can usually become natural leaders of their aspect. Using Jake’s classpect, a Page of Hope might be the sort of person to lead you to begin believing in yourself, and a Page of Breath like Tavros would either lead you directly to freedom, or lead you to find your own freedom. A big sign of you being a Page, thus, would be if you frequently put on a face (usually of cluelessness) so that you don’t have to face situations you think will be hard.

Thief: to steal aspect (for own benefit)

Thieves are pretty obvious as a class. They are more likely to be selfish people, or at least people who focus more of their time on themselves. They steal from others for their own personal gain, with usually negative connotations; a Thief of Breath, for instance, may “steal” another person’s freedom by blaming them for something they didn’t do, thus forcing them to suffer the consequences instead while getting off scot-free. To figure out if you’re a Thief, consider if you appear or put up a front of being self-centered (much like Vriska and Meenah), and whether your actions have given you frequent benefits and others frequent downfalls. 

Rogue: to steal aspect (for others’ benefit)

The same as a Thief, but with the purpose to help others. A rogue is more likely to be selfless, putting as much as possible into helping others as they can. They steal to ensure that someone else can improve in whatever their aspect may be. When questioning being a Rogue, consider if what you take from others is beneficial; does the person who gains the aspect gain something from it, or does the person who loses the aspect suffer less because of it? Do you do these things selflessly? Rogues tend to be a “out of the good of their own heart” sort of class, like Roxy and Nepeta. 

Sylph: to heal/fix, to heal others with aspect

And another pretty simple one. I won’t go over this one in depth, but Sylphs tend to be motherly figures, or figures who present themselves as helpful upfront. In fixing their aspect, or in healing others with their aspect, they tend to flip between seeming focused on themselves and on others; think Kanaya and Aranea, one who is overly focused on the actions of others, and one who is overly focused on the sharing of knowledge to the point of paying you for it. Sylphs fix things, as completely as they can, and so to question being a Sylph you ultimately need to ask yourself if you’re a fixing sort of person.

Muse: to become, to inspire through aspect

Lord: to become, to control aspect

Now these two I know less on, so I won’t really go over them, but from what we can see in canon? Lords are typically more domineering, assertive; they control their aspect no matter what, and they control it well. This usually contains negative connotations, and revolves entirely around how self-centred the Lord is. They look out for themselves, for the continued presence of their power, and little else. Muses, on the other hand, are inspirational figures; they are kindly, sweet, more submissive in personality, but also perhaps a force to be reckoned with through the sheer ability of their class. To inspire is a powerful tool, and can be used to utterly create or utterly destroy most thing. It’s more obvious, but if you find you’re an inspirational person and tend to be more passive as a person as a whole, then maybe you’re a Muse. 

When trying to determine your class, you essentially need to look at the base simplistic description and question what each class would correlate to within your personality. Classpects base themselves entirely around you as a person; are you an overtly rebellious person, or perhaps someone who grasps the idea of an aspect smoothly? Do you consider yourself someone who destroys an aspect, or someone who fixes it more often than not? 

If you’ve already found your aspect, it’s significantly easier. Trying to understand a class without it’s aspect is like trying to understand one piece of a puzzle without looking at the other pieces; it will never truly reflect who you are, because to destroy Heart is not the same as to destroy Mind, so looking at just the Prince class alone will never tell you everything you need to know. You may even find that the above descriptions don’t entirely encompass everything a classpect may bring; maybe a Lord is typically as I explained, but a specific Lord of [Aspect] is completely different! It’s always good to start off with your class by trying to find a few that fit, then combining them with your aspect to see which class still makes sense to who you are. Don’t mash a class and an aspect together because they seem to fit individually if, when together, they sound like someone completely different. 

In general, though, these simple ideas are enough to go on. If you can look at one of these and think to yourself “do I hide parts of myself? Am I a natural leader? Do I rebel against anything to a degree that it defines me?” then you’re already halfway there. 

[holytheoristtastemaker]

One of the common mindsets of people who want to become freelance web developers is they just have to be so good at coding and the rest will follow.

WRONG.

If you’re serious about being successful, this is not the right mindset to start with.

Freelancing is a business, and it takes more than coding to make it grow.

In this article, I’m going to share the different hats a freelance web developer has to wear to grow and sustain his or her business.

What do freelance developers do?

In its simplest sense, freelance developers write code for clients on a project basis. This means that they are self-employed, they get to set their own rates and decide who to work with, and they control their time.

Freelance developers are first and foremost problem-solvers. Companies are now realizing that going digital is a necessity and not an option, and they are looking for people to give them the right solutions to digitalize their businesses in the most effective way possible.

Websites and apps are tools designed to bring clients sales – so, in this sense, developers directly contribute to clients’ bottom line by building technologies that will give them the edge over their competitors.

These are a few skills required for freelance developers (other than coding):

Understanding your client’s business nature and goals.

Understanding the nature of your client’s business will help you better prepare for the project and anticipate your client’s needs. This is true for both employed and freelance developers.

Ecommerce businesses have different needs from SaaS companies. A startup will also have a smaller budget, shorter timeframe, and different priorities than an enterprise company that has been around for years.

Understanding the nature and goals of your client’s business will enable you to give more valuable contributions and solutions. It will also inform your decision about which features should be included and given more technical depth.

You can understand your client’s business goals by:

Browsing their website and social media accounts. Find out their history, how long they’ve been around, products and services, their plans, etc.

Ask them yourself. This is a good way to show that you are committed to giving them the best solution possible.

Communication

Effectively communicating with a client is key to working efficiently and giving timely, effective results. A lack of clear and timely communication can give rise to a series of problems like bad coding, bad design, lost time, and wasted money.

As a web developer, it’s your job to ask questions to help you understand what your client specifically needs.

Client communication involves:

Explaining complicated technological concepts in a way that your client will easily understand.

Explaining your ideas and suggestions to the client.

Asking questions and encouraging clarifications to make sure you’re on the same page about the website’s design, features, and functionality.

Working with their in-house marketing team or hired marketing agency.

Negotiating prices and deadlines.

It also includes deciding which concerns can be emailed and which ones need to be explained face-to-face or through video calls.

Decision-Making

From choosing the framework to deciding whether a certain feature is really needed, you’re going to make pretty important decisions that will impact the project’s success.

If you are the lead developer of the project, you’ll often get asked these questions:

How long will you take to complete the project?

How much time and money should we invest in building feature X?

What is the most cost-effective way to achieve Goal A?

Your experience, technological expertise, and understanding of your client’s business, goals, and specific needs will all come into play when you’re making important decisions.

The best example I can think of to illustrate this point is the never-ending debate about CMS platforms. Which I think is quite pathetic but let’s get to the point :)

Let’s say a business coach wants a simple website that brings in a consistent flow of leads every month.

This website will need nothing more than a single high-converting landing page to do the job.

Decide on if a CMS is best or if you need to code it.

Don't waste your time unnecessarily by coding something if you can just use a plugin or existing theme to do the job for you.

I’ll say it again: As a developer, coding is not your job – finding solutions is. The best solution is the one that achieves business goals sooner.

Marketing

Before you get to start coding, you need clients, and to get clients, you need to start marketing.

The word “marketing” can be intimidating to those who have no prior experience to it because there are so many technical buzz words that sound so complicated.

In the simplest sense, marketing is putting your products and services in front of people who might need it.

Marketing is so important for freelancing that you should aim to most of your time to it and less time to actually writing the code.

To market effectively, you need to answer a few questions:

Who are your target clients? What kinds of businesses do they have?

What are their problems that your services can help solve?

Where can you find them? Are they on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Reddit?

How do you tell your message in a way that will resonate with them?

Marketing is such a big industry in itself, but if you know the fundamentals, you’re set and can learn along the way.

If you want to know more actionable tips to market your services to clients, this guide on how to get clients may help: How to Get Clients as a Freelance Developer

Time Management

Managing your time is huge if you want to stay productive and sane.

As you get more clients and projects steadily come in, it’s easy to lose track and fall into a state of confusion and having a sink filled with unwashed dishes.

Here are some tips to help you manage your time and stay productive:

Multitasking is a myth. Only 2.5% of people in the world can actually process tasks simultaneously.

Here are some more statistics to officially end the myth of multitasking:

According to a study of Microsoft employees, employees took an average of 15 minutes to get back to intense mental tasks (e.g. writing code or reports) after responding to instant messages or emails.

People who are interrupted take 50% longer to finish a task.

Multitaskers make up to 50% more errors.

Instead of multitasking, have short bursts of hyper-focused working mode. Work distraction-free for 2 hours (or how long you prefer), take a short break to clear your mind, and repeat. You can also try the Pomodoro technique.

Collect design assets and resources. Find a set of go-to websites for your photo, vectors, icons, and other design needs. I personally like to use Deposit Photos because it’s easy to use and they have a huge library of assets. There are also free options like Pixeden, Free Design Resources, and 365PSD.

Use productivity tools. You need tools to help you organize your projects like Trello. Make collaboration easier, integrate apps, and maintain your schedule. Learn more productivity tools and other tips in this blog post: Practical Productivity Tips for Web Developers.

Cash Flow Management

No matter how many clients you get and how well you do your job, you won’t stay afloat if you mismanage your cash flow.

Some things you can do to manage your cash flow:

Closely track your income and expenses

Cut costs. Spend only on things you really need. If you’re struggling, that cup of Starbucks coffee can wait.

Stay on top of invoices.

Have a cash reserve with 3x your monthly expenses. If you spend $5,000 a month, you should have a savings account with $15,000. This cash reserve should NEVER be touched unless absolutely necessary.

As your business grows, you need to outsource taxes and bookkeeping to a trusted accountant.

I recommend reading this blog post for more money management tips: How To Spend Your Money As A Freelancer.

How do I become a freelance programmer?

Now that we’ve painted a clearer picture of what freelance web development really looks like, you can set a realistic expectation and even reassess if it’s really for you.

If you’re still set on becoming a successful freelance developer, check out the Complete Freelancing Bundle for everything you need to get started.

I hope this article helped give you an idea of what it’s like to run a freelance web development business.

[saegusakin]

Guardians of the Galaxy - True Signs, irl-rocket-raccoon interpretation

So I’m GOTG trash. I also, at one time, was huge Homestuck trash. At one time I put forth my interpretations on what class/aspect the Guardians would be, but now there’s an actual test that determines dream status, true sign, and aspect, so I thought I’d take it for all the Guardians!

Note: this is strictly my interpretation. You can feel free to disagree of course, but this is the result I got by trying to take the test in-character as each.

ROCKET RACCOON TRUE SIGN: ARPIA, SIGN OF THE EXAMINER

SIGN CLASS: RUST Adventure motivates Rust Signs more than anything else. They crave new experiences, the wilder and farther-from-home, the better. They are confident and energetic, ready to face the unknown. This dynamism makes them great leaders, but it can also make them foolhardy. Often, they don't posses the level of caution they should for someone so willing to jump into new things. Their willingness to trust can get them into trouble, but they are also incredibly resilient. Their ability to bounce back from trauma and injury leaves them as the toughest sign class on the spectrum. Rust Signs make great friends and traveling companions, but they also can be selfish and quick to anger. If what they deem to be an acceptable level of "excitement" isn't happening around them, they have a tendency to try to stir some up. They love the drama. They have incredibly high expectations for themselves and for romantic partners. If someone doesn't live up to these, they may deem them not worth their time. If they aren't careful, Rust Signs can end up in a cycle of excitement, followed by crushed expectations, followed by a quick recovery and new flush of excitement. 

LUNAR SWAY: DERSE Derse Dreamers have personalities marked by a distinct and restless skepticism. Whatever their waking circumstances, chances are they will live in a state of dissatisfaction. Rebellion is in their blood, manifesting whether they are fighting back against a fascist dictatorship, or the most recent trend in casual footwear. Derse Dreamers are cerebral and self-aware; they have a far better grasp on the landscape of their own minds than on the world around them, which they can find alienating and confusing. But as so much of their identity is built on control, they will do their utmost to hide any insecurities, often with false humility or self-deprecating humor. They may be inflexible and pessimistic, but they are also great problem solvers, facing conflicts head-on with shrewd, calculating minds. They see one true path among an infinite snarl of wrong ones. They tend to be introverted, but if you win their trust Derse Dreamers are extremely powerful allies. However, they find sincere vulnerability difficult and will often keep people at arm's length. Letting go and living in the moment is hard for a Derse Dreamer; they constantly look toward the future and analyze the past.

ASPECT: LIGHT Those bound to the aspect of Light are the universe's knowledge-seekers. They are, above all, driven to learn and understand. They are great alchemists, able to take multiple sources of information and synthesize them into something useful. They are scholars and researchers, absolutely dedicated to knowledge for knowledge's sake. They are the ultimate students, and although that might conjure up the image of people sitting around peacefully waiting for knowledge to be brought to them, that couldn't be further from the truth. The Light-bound will go after knowledge with a fierce intensity that others may find distasteful. They aren't overly concerned with laws or norms, either. They often take rules as simple suggestions, instead searching for loopholes or work-arounds. At their best, the Light-bound are resourceful and driven. At their worst they can be fussy, pedantic, and insensitive.

PETER QUILL/STAR-LORD TRUE SIGN: AQUAGO, SIGN OF THE ESOTERIC

SIGN CLASS: VIOLET Violet Signs are the universe's eccentrics. Forget marching to their own drummer-Violets built their own drum, and it's probably weird. A good deal of this is natural, but they also have a distinct bent toward contrariness. They are the sorts to give the popular thing a pass. Personable and outlandish, they are ready to make friends with anyone, although if they aren't careful their 'game for anything' attitude can come across as clingy or desperate. When their feelings are reciprocated, however, they are very loyal friends. Politics and humanitarian causes are often very important to Violet Signs, and they will turn their considerable inventive energy into a sort of noblesse oblige, happy to offer their nontraditional approaches to help others. At their very best Violet Signs are artistic and inspired, but they tread the fine line between genius and maniac. Too often their more esoteric interests can come across as perverse or untoward, and they can have a hard time holding their tempers, especially if they feel that they are being belittled or ignored. Intelligence is enormously attractive to Violet Signs, and often an intellectual connection is necessary for them to be attracted to a prospective partner.

LUNAR SWAY: PROSPIT Marked by a flexible optimism, the personalities of Prospit Dreamers are reactive and intuitive. They naturally exist in the present, rather than look to the future or obsess over the past. When making decisions Prospit Dreamers tend to rely on gut instinct and whatever emotions they are experiencing at the moment. This makes them quick to act and reliable in a crisis, but it also can make them capricious. They have trouble thinking things through, and their feelings toward specific situations and decisions can change from day to day. They solve problems with creativity rather than cold logic, often seeing multiple options with ease and clarity. Because they generally take things as they come, Prospit Dreamers are less rebellious than they are adaptable-instead of struggling against authority, they will find a way to coexist with it. Possibly because they are so instinctual and flexible, they like having a defined set of rules-a safety net for their passionate lives. Naturally trusting, they have trouble with deception or hiding their true selves, and will often worry about what others think of them. The self they project into the world is often not under their control.

ASPECT: SPACE Those bound to the aspect of Space are, as the name suggests, concerned with the big picture. They are patient, masters of the art of 'wait-and-see', and are inclined to take things as they come. That isn't to say that they're pushovers or willing to let injustice lie-they just choose their battles wisely, understanding that sometimes you have to let something burn to the ground in order to build it back better and stronger than before. To this effect, they tend to be innovators, concerned with creation and redemption. Catch them recycling the old to make the new, the fresh, and the beautiful. For the Space-bound, the journey is as, if not more, important than the destination; how they do something is as important as what they do. At their best, they are steady, impartial, and creative. At their worst, they can be detached, apathetic, and vague.

GROOT TRUE SIGN: LECER, SIGN OF THE LOYALIST

SIGN CLASS: OLIVE Olive Signs are, by and large, incredibly agreeable people. They are generous and enthusiastic, ready to offer help to anyone who needs it. Luck plays a large role in their lives; Olive Signs have a knack for being in the right place at the right time. And even in the case that their luck goes bad, they can ride rough patches out without falling too far into depression or hopelessness. That said, Olive Signs are most comfortable with things that they are familiar with; new places and ideas often alarm them, resulting in a dogmatic insistence that their way is the right way. They can be quite bossy and domineering, although that usually comes out of a genuine belief that they know best and can help the ones they care about. They are extremely faithful friends and lovers, ready to drop everything and go into helper mode. However, if their trust is breached, there's no going back. No one can hold a grudge like an Olive Sign, and they aren't afraid to just pick up and leave if they decide something isn't working for them. Romance and companionship are extremely important to them, so even if they get hurt, their hearts remain open.

LUNAR SWAY: PROSPIT Marked by a flexible optimism, the personalities of Prospit Dreamers are reactive and intuitive. They naturally exist in the present, rather than look to the future or obsess over the past. When making decisions Prospit Dreamers tend to rely on gut instinct and whatever emotions they are experiencing at the moment. This makes them quick to act and reliable in a crisis, but it also can make them capricious. They have trouble thinking things through, and their feelings toward specific situations and decisions can change from day to day. They solve problems with creativity rather than cold logic, often seeing multiple options with ease and clarity. Because they generally take things as they come, Prospit Dreamers are less rebellious than they are adaptable-instead of struggling against authority, they will find a way to coexist with it. Possibly because they are so instinctual and flexible, they like having a defined set of rules-a safety net for their passionate lives. Naturally trusting, they have trouble with deception or hiding their true selves, and will often worry about what others think of them. The self they project into the world is often not under their control.

ASPECT: BLOOD Those bound to the aspect of Blood draw their strength from bonds, from the trust and camaraderie that blooms among a group of people who all share a single vision. Blood-bound are absolutely leaders, but they inhabit more of an inspirational role than a commanding one. They are prophets, rather than generals, giving others the strength and motivation to keep fighting. The Blood-bound can dispense excellent advice even when their own lives and interpersonal relationships are disasters. They can be very "do as I say, not as I do" types. A Blood-bound can often be found on a sinking ship, forcing an endeavor forward with sheer stubborn force of will. No matter how bad things go, a Blood-bound can always count on friends and allies. At their best, they are charismatic, uplifting, and magnetic. At their worst they can be sullen, unkind, and set-in-their-ways.

DRAX THE DESTROYER TRUE SIGN: CAPRISCES, SIGN OF THE UPLIFTED

SIGN CLASS: PURPLE Purple Signs are the workaholics of the sign classes. Ambitious and driven, they have a very specific path in mind to reach the pinnacle of their field, and will work tirelessly toward it. However, if their practical brains convince them that their goal is unrealistic, they may be slow to trust anyone with the secret of their true desires. They are often very funny, their wit veering toward the dryly macabre. Their fatalism can be incredibly humorous or terrible, depending who you ask. Purple Signs are usually the people who will say out loud what everyone else was thinking but was too nervous to mention. They are very stubborn, and once they've made up their mind about something, whether it be a restaurant choice or a political affiliation, it is difficult to change. They have trouble admitting they were mistaken, and also that they are upset. An oft-repeated phrase of the Purple Signs is, "It's fine, don't worry about it." They will let arguments fester rather than face them head on. In love they tend to be strictly monogamous and fiercely devoted, ready to pledge themselves to a person the same way they do their goals-utterly, and without reservation.

LUNAR SWAY: DERSE Derse Dreamers have personalities marked by a distinct and restless skepticism. Whatever their waking circumstances, chances are they will live in a state of dissatisfaction. Rebellion is in their blood, manifesting whether they are fighting back against a fascist dictatorship, or the most recent trend in casual footwear. Derse Dreamers are cerebral and self-aware; they have a far better grasp on the landscape of their own minds than on the world around them, which they can find alienating and confusing. But as so much of their identity is built on control, they will do their utmost to hide any insecurities, often with false humility or self-deprecating humor. They may be inflexible and pessimistic, but they are also great problem solvers, facing conflicts head-on with shrewd, calculating minds. They see one true path among an infinite snarl of wrong ones. They tend to be introverted, but if you win their trust Derse Dreamers are extremely powerful allies. However, they find sincere vulnerability difficult and will often keep people at arm's length. Letting go and living in the moment is hard for a Derse Dreamer; they constantly look toward the future and analyze the past.

ASPECT: LIFE Those bound to the aspect of Life are the universe's healers. They are concerned with the betterment of themselves and those around them, as well as the onward march of positive progress. Deeply empathetic, they have an intuitive understanding of other's suffering and the best way of righting those wrongs. If you're poisoned, chances are the Life-bound have something for what ails ya. This applies to both physical and mental suffering, though it might not be a cure you'll like. They also have the tendency to put other's needs before their own, which never ends well for anyone, because the Life-bound can grow bitter if they feel their own self-care has had to be shunted aside. At their best, they are great listeners, caretakers, and nurturers. At their worst, the Life-bound are passive aggressive, and pushy-they're certain they know best.

GAMORA TRUE SIGN: LIBRIUS, SIGN OF THE SEAMSTRESS

SIGN CLASS: TEAL Teal Signs are natural charmers. Social and flirtatious, they are great at parties and public speaking events. Even though they aren't afraid to use their many engaging qualities in both personal and business ventures, they have a strong moral sense. Right and wrong are very obvious to a Teal Sign, and it can frustrate them that others don't see the world the same way they do. Their idealism can make them strong defenders of justice, but it can also result in them being incredibly let down. Their strict adherence to procedure can lead to errors in judgement; they can be gullible and too quick to trust. They have vibrant imaginations, and enjoy fiction and roleplaying, and often those games will resemble the lives they want to be living. Deep down, they often long for a hero, someone they can idolize and count on, with the smarts and charisma to keep up with them. Unfortunately, they have a tendency to get involved with people who are very obviously wrong for them out of a desire not to be alone. Many Teal Signs are better off being single, at least until someone really extraordinary comes along.

LUNAR SWAY: DERSE Derse Dreamers have personalities marked by a distinct and restless skepticism. Whatever their waking circumstances, chances are they will live in a state of dissatisfaction. Rebellion is in their blood, manifesting whether they are fighting back against a fascist dictatorship, or the most recent trend in casual footwear. Derse Dreamers are cerebral and self-aware; they have a far better grasp on the landscape of their own minds than on the world around them, which they can find alienating and confusing. But as so much of their identity is built on control, they will do their utmost to hide any insecurities, often with false humility or self-deprecating humor. They may be inflexible and pessimistic, but they are also great problem solvers, facing conflicts head-on with shrewd, calculating minds. They see one true path among an infinite snarl of wrong ones. They tend to be introverted, but if you win their trust Derse Dreamers are extremely powerful allies. However, they find sincere vulnerability difficult and will often keep people at arm's length. Letting go and living in the moment is hard for a Derse Dreamer; they constantly look toward the future and analyze the past.

ASPECT: HOPE Those bound to the aspect of Hope are driven first and foremost by their convictions. They do right for right's sake, and are quick to come to the aid of anyone they deem to be experiencing injustice. That said, their views of the world can be quite black and white, so what they see as the "right" thing may not always be the universally accepted view. They put great value in the power of the imagination, the ability to dream up a better and more beautiful future. If anyone could dream a better world into existence, it would be one of the Hope-bound. They may sound like all sunshine and rainbows, but they aren't adverse to a little destruction, especially if they think they can replace it with something better and more just. At their best, Hope-bound are positive, caring, and warm. At their worst they can be narrow-minded and selfish.

MANTIS TRUE SIGN: PICER, SIGN OF THE CONFIDANTE

SIGN CLASS: FUCHSIA Fuchsia Signs are the final of the sign classes, fittingly, also the most enigmatic. Possessing a strong imagination, they have an otherworldly quality to them that draws others in. Often, it has more to do with what they don't tell you than what they do, giving them an air of mystery that would more than likely perplex a Fuchsia sign if you told them about it. They aren't usually trying to be alluring-they're just lost in thought. Highly emotional, Fuchsia signs are sensitive and anxious, and tend to spend a lot of time worrying-about the world, the future, and what others think of them. They are artistic and talented, but can suffer from crippling bouts of depression, holding themselves to impossibly high standards. They have rich fantasy lives, and can get so caught up in daydreams that they sometimes forget to actually do things. Many Fuchsia Signs have trouble with follow-through, and it can take a lot to kick them out of their inertia. As far as romance goes, they need partners who are willing to put in the time to go at their pace, and who can handle how sensitive and emotional they can be.

LUNAR SWAY: PROSPIT Marked by a flexible optimism, the personalities of Prospit Dreamers are reactive and intuitive. They naturally exist in the present, rather than look to the future or obsess over the past. When making decisions Prospit Dreamers tend to rely on gut instinct and whatever emotions they are experiencing at the moment. This makes them quick to act and reliable in a crisis, but it also can make them capricious. They have trouble thinking things through, and their feelings toward specific situations and decisions can change from day to day. They solve problems with creativity rather than cold logic, often seeing multiple options with ease and clarity. Because they generally take things as they come, Prospit Dreamers are less rebellious than they are adaptable-instead of struggling against authority, they will find a way to coexist with it. Possibly because they are so instinctual and flexible, they like having a defined set of rules-a safety net for their passionate lives. Naturally trusting, they have trouble with deception or hiding their true selves, and will often worry about what others think of them. The self they project into the world is often not under their control.

ASPECT: BLOOD Those bound to the aspect of Blood draw their strength from bonds, from the trust and camaraderie that blooms among a group of people who all share a single vision. Blood-bound are absolutely leaders, but they inhabit more of an inspirational role than a commanding one. They are prophets, rather than generals, giving others the strength and motivation to keep fighting. The Blood-bound can dispense excellent advice even when their own lives and interpersonal relationships are disasters. They can be very "do as I say, not as I do" types. A Blood-bound can often be found on a sinking ship, forcing an endeavor forward with sheer stubborn force of will. No matter how bad things go, a Blood-bound can always count on friends and allies. At their best, they are charismatic, uplifting, and magnetic. At their worst they can be sullen, unkind, and set-in-their-ways.

YONDU UDONTA TRUE SIGN: SCORIES, SIGN OF THE REDEEMER

SIGN CLASS: BLUE Let's not mince words: Blue Signs are the ones to watch. Of all the sign classes, they have the potential to do the most good, but also cause the worse harm. They can be incredibly effective, and also incredibly destructive. Tell a Blue Sign this and chances are they would agree with you. They are magnetic and adaptive, able to adjust how they present themselves in any situation. They have a mask for every occasion. They are obsessively dedicated, willing to throw themselves into work, play, and everything in between. Because of this, Blue Signs are highly valuable allies and friends. However, they are very selective when it comes to who they let into their inner circle. You could be best friends with a Blue Sign and still never truly know them. They are powerful and successful, but they also tend toward jealousy. They often resent those they see as more well-positioned than they are. A well-adjusted Blue Sign is fantastically competent and inspiring, but a Blue Sign at their worst is a force for chaos. In love they can find themselves having to choose between their ambitions and their relationships, often with great difficulty.

LUNAR SWAY: DERSE Derse Dreamers have personalities marked by a distinct and restless skepticism. Whatever their waking circumstances, chances are they will live in a state of dissatisfaction. Rebellion is in their blood, manifesting whether they are fighting back against a fascist dictatorship, or the most recent trend in casual footwear. Derse Dreamers are cerebral and self-aware; they have a far better grasp on the landscape of their own minds than on the world around them, which they can find alienating and confusing. But as so much of their identity is built on control, they will do their utmost to hide any insecurities, often with false humility or self-deprecating humor. They may be inflexible and pessimistic, but they are also great problem solvers, facing conflicts head-on with shrewd, calculating minds. They see one true path among an infinite snarl of wrong ones. They tend to be introverted, but if you win their trust Derse Dreamers are extremely powerful allies. However, they find sincere vulnerability difficult and will often keep people at arm's length. Letting go and living in the moment is hard for a Derse Dreamer; they constantly look toward the future and analyze the past.

ASPECT: TIME Those bound to the aspect of Time are fighters, full stop. Their lives are often marked by struggle, not so much because fate has it in for them, but because they are fundamentally incapable of just accepting things as they come. They value action over passive acceptance, even if that may not be the wisest or safest choice. Don't try to tell a Time-bound to sit still and look pretty. They are very goal-focused, and tend to value the destination over the journey, and you won't find them making that journey in any traditional sort of way. To quote cheesy posters found on many a guidance counselor's wall-"impossible is just a word". If you need a miracle, they are who you call. At their best, the Time-bound are empathetic and relentless problem-solvers. At their worst they are ruthless, defensive, and impulsive.

NEBULA TRUE SIGN: CANO, SIGN OF THE TRANSLUCENT

SIGN CLASS: LIME Lime Signs are tumultuous, bringing great emotion and creativity to their endeavors. They are resolute in their decisions; if they are going to do something, they do it. They have a tendency toward melodrama, especially when they feel passionately about something, and their bad moods are loud and usually difficult to conceal. Hiding their feelings does not come naturally to them, so many Lime Signs cultivate a hard outer shell to hide the passionate, caring person inside. Lime Signs tend to have a large group of friends-they draw people to them with allure and the promise of excitement, and are usually unaware that they are doing it. They tend to focus on their own flaws, rather than their good points. Although they are exceedingly kind and empathetic individuals, many Lime Signs posses a mean streak. If you catch them on a bad day, they can be incredibly vicious. But it they take care to use their power for good, they make very loyal companions. Romance is extremely important to Lime Signs, and when they fall, they fall hard. They don't take rejection well, and a breakup can send them into a tailspin requiring an extended period of recovery.

LUNAR SWAY: DERSE Derse Dreamers have personalities marked by a distinct and restless skepticism. Whatever their waking circumstances, chances are they will live in a state of dissatisfaction. Rebellion is in their blood, manifesting whether they are fighting back against a fascist dictatorship, or the most recent trend in casual footwear. Derse Dreamers are cerebral and self-aware; they have a far better grasp on the landscape of their own minds than on the world around them, which they can find alienating and confusing. But as so much of their identity is built on control, they will do their utmost to hide any insecurities, often with false humility or self-deprecating humor. They may be inflexible and pessimistic, but they are also great problem solvers, facing conflicts head-on with shrewd, calculating minds. They see one true path among an infinite snarl of wrong ones. They tend to be introverted, but if you win their trust Derse Dreamers are extremely powerful allies. However, they find sincere vulnerability difficult and will often keep people at arm's length. Letting go and living in the moment is hard for a Derse Dreamer; they constantly look toward the future and analyze the past.

ASPECT: HEART Those bound to the aspect of Heart are very concerned with their favorite subject: themselves. It wouldn't be a stretch to call them 'self-obsessed', but not necessarily in a negative way. They simply want to understand the one thing we all are stuck with for our entire lives, i.e. our own minds. Forging an identity is extremely important to the Heart-bound, and every decision and action goes toward building a coherent narrative of their own story. That isn't to say Heart-bound don't care deeply for their friends and allies; they just have a tendency to assume that everyone is as concerned with identity as they are. They are excellent at putting on and taking off masks as the situation calls for them. At their best, they are competent, imaginative, and steady. At their worst they can be overbearing, inflexible, and cold.

So the two players required for a GOTG win would be...Quill and Yondu.

[howlifes-blog]

From the 4 character prototypes and 4 evaluation capabilities, what abilities do product managers want? (authentic)

To assist individuals higher perceive the forms of work that product managers do, and the abilities and qualities to do the job properly, we divide the tasks into the next 9 prototypes. One can find that though not all product managers are specialists in each area, one of the best product managers can span a number of ability classes.

Product supervisor's true supply of worth

Observer Product managers can see who the shopper, the market, and the staff are. The perfect individuals can discover alternatives, others might solely see a wasteland. This requires a eager commentary capacity, no judgment, listening deeply and never talking - not straightforward. Product managers can do that, to allow them to use their observations to assemble a holistic image—the present state of the product, the shopper's thoughts, and the way it must evolve sooner or later. Prophet The product supervisor makes use of visible commentary to find out the place the product is heading, as described above. To design a significant product that actually solves buyer issues requires deep perception and absolute confidence to find and uncover design concepts, after which construct a complete product. Though most clients understand how painful they're, it's troublesome to discover a buyer who is aware of the best way to clear up the issue. At this level, the product supervisor is predicted to work. He is aware of how the staff ought to strengthen the product, even when everybody doesn't know what to do subsequent. 3. Strategist Product managers can set product targets and key initiatives to realize the next degree of imaginative and prescient. Beginning with a market and customer-driven technique, they rigorously think about the capabilities and potential of the group, then construct what they need to obtain and the way they'll obtain their targets in order that the product staff can deal with essential issues. The strategic product supervisor tracks the targets and adjustments the plan accordingly. 4. Accounting Product managers are accountable for proudly owning their very own merchandise and methods. In fact, the product supervisor rigorously units the quantitative targets and establishes clear indicators to find out success. Nonetheless, simply setting targets and plans will not be sufficient. Strategic product managers know they will't enhance what they don't measure. Due to this fact, they preserve a efficiency metric instrument that's vital to the well being of the product and the enterprise. Product managers are primarily based on these metrics and are always contemplating them. 5. Aligner Probably the most revered product managers work at two ranges – driving strategic alignment inside the product and product groups whereas guaranteeing that everybody is in sync. They're additionally dedicated to making sure that the technique is carefully linked to day-to-day work. This high-level and task-oriented work have to be adjusted by the product supervisor. On the most strategic degree, product managers be certain that function priorities are aligned with insurance policies. Detailed cross-functional planning and management (and presumably even tricking) groups to ship outcomes. Driver The product supervisor drives the motion. Nobody is working tougher than they need to push the staff to do significant work. As a result of they know the significance of urgency within the staff and might reply rapidly to requests for data and questions. They will't afford the staff to decelerate, time will not be one thing that product managers can get, so that they work exhausting each day to make it possible for the product is extra common with clients than the day earlier than. The work of a pushed product supervisor has by no means been carried out, which is why they're desperate to have affect each day. 7. Warrior Product managers battle to grasp the authenticity of consumers and merchandise and refuse to be distracted from their technique. When a brand new thought exhibits the potential to essentially enhance the product for patrons, they're the primary to be excited (actually, actually excited). Nonetheless, when shiny new concepts are inconsistent with targets and plans, they're additionally the primary to reject. They may battle for patrons and groups as a result of they know that the 2 are ruthlessly intertwined. 8. Evangelist A profitable product supervisor can also be the most important marketer of the product – each inside and exterior. Whatever the dimension of the corporate, the interior product champion is the important thing. However in bigger firms, what's extra essential is that many product managers typically compete for shared assets. From the skin, product managers are the most important followers of the product as a result of they're born with success and know that it affords extra worth than anybody else. Product managers are a pure preacher who can't share their ardour for immediately's and tomorrow's merchandise. 7. Holder The product supervisor fixes every little thing. They regulate product methods primarily based on significant evaluation of what's taking place. They're additionally the primary to be requested to unravel complicated issues—when new options are delivered, gross sales are distorted, or companions requesting a change within the API for the boarding expertise doesn't drive the anticipated buyer engagement. The product supervisor is aware of which points to concentrate to as a result of it determines when to determine an issue, when to depart it, or when to permit the group to appropriate itself. The perfect product managers know when to dig and when to not intervene. The fixture product supervisor depends on all different abilities (observers, prophets, strategists, accountants, aligners, drivers, fighters, and evangelists) to prioritize when to do what. This record pertains to the important thing roles that product managers fill out and the worth that product managers deliver to the group. In fact, there are different prototypes—psychologists, coaches, and gatekeepers—however we need to concentrate on these areas the place product managers contribute probably the most to groups and firms.

What capabilities does the product supervisor want?

Of all the mandatory abilities, analytical abilities would be the most important, however not the way in which most individuals assume. As we speak's analytical expertise instruments have eliminated many technical duties, comparable to knowledge compression and visualization, which permit product managers to concentrate on asking higher questions and discovering extra solutions. 1. Create a customized metric Product managers can get sufficient knowledge and numerous instruments to measure nearly each side of product efficiency. Nonetheless, with a purpose to make distinctive selections about their merchandise, PM should learn to create customized metrics. Every product is exclusive, though customized metrics will assist present normal insights—such because the variety of month-to-month energetic customers or conversions. However product managers have to create their very own key efficiency indicators in larger depth that can assist the operations staff measure and optimize habits, particularly for advertising firms. Growing a customized metric requires a four-step technique of targets, actions, metrics, and analysis. 1) Goal Contains two person targets and enterprise targets. Consumer targets and the way individuals work together with merchandise, comparable to time on the website, and enterprise targets are targeted on income, value, and product success. 2) Motion Actions concentrate on the merchandise you need your customers to do, comparable to: what actions customers take to get probably the most worth, or what actions present repeating exercise. Product managers can set up operational staff brainstorming and small-scale seed customers to prioritize actions. 3) Measurement The product supervisor interprets person habits into measurable values ​​that may be tracked inside the product. As soon as the top-level indicators with excessive precedence are decided, different indicators have to assess the technical capabilities of the R&D division to make sure that the mandatory actual knowledge will be collected and analyzed. 4) Analysis Sources from the appliance market or third-party customers might help decide if a customized metric is beneficial and driving worth. Product managers can monitor the anticipated person habits from tagging points and talk about the general success of customers and enterprise with the advertising division. Product managers have entry to each attainable buried level index. In line with the 28 precept, PM will concentrate on a small variety of metrics, measuring the very important indicators of the product primarily based on its significance. 2. Ask questions concerning the survey In line with the exercise degree, the product supervisor asks the survey questions each month, for instance, with the technical monitoring of the R&D division to the period of the person's entry to the internal web page. Customers work together inside the product and use time to reply your questions. Which means that PM has to study to guage inaccurate issues, and it's extra time-consuming than to waste time writing "good" questions (questions). When each query is answered each month each week, the iterative course of within the reply is a clue to the iteration of the product perform, which can assist the PM to find deeper issues within the product. For instance: “What are customers doing earlier than upgrading to a paid plan?” is a survey query with a number of attainable solutions. Once you ask such questions, the evaluation reveals clues that pressure you to ask follow-up questions. 3. Conduct knowledgeable resolution making Product managers are drawback solvers, which implies they typically have to make powerful selections to push the product by way of any obstacles. It isn't a boring train for the product supervisor to make selections primarily based on the information of the operations staff. The information will solely give the solutions wanted to find out the additions and deletions of the product iterations. The information will present data to the product supervisor, however it's often only a snapshot of the particular scenario of the product for a time period. That is the basic distinction between data-driven (working departments) and data-informed selections (product managers). Information-driven PMs (subordinate to the operations division's pm) rely solely on the danger of their knowledge being run, making selections in a vacuum, with out exterior atmosphere, instinct and expertise. Resolution-driven PM makes use of knowledge and exterior judgment to current testable issues. The product supervisor makes a speculation that efficient decision-making is dependent upon how the operations staff interprets the evaluation in the issue. Information from operational departments or market suggestions ought to aid you reject your assumptions slightly than show that it's true. Suppose you might want to resolve whether or not to take away a poorly performing function to avoid wasting prices, however the problem is that many customers nonetheless like this function. If the person loses this function, will these customers quit? Once you analyze, you by no means know if the person will go away, however you possibly can acquire sufficient proof to find out the chance, which helps to ask three questions on your conclusion: These knowledge absolutely reply this query? Easy methods to use it? Does the information aid you create a case to your resolution? Easy methods to use it? Are there any exterior variables, have you ever thought of unfavorable knowledge? In the event you can reply these questions with excessive confidence, you've gotten one of the best data for deciding to behave. It's the resolution maker's product supervisor who has the power to assume backwards. 4. Efficient communication evaluation Product managers are the glue that retains every stakeholder (together with administration) targeted on the shared imaginative and prescient of the product. Efficient communication Evaluation of every stakeholder, making individuals in a loop is a unique ability, slightly than a transparent analytical evaluation of the assembly. On the similar time, in the event you can't clarify your insights in ways in which assist others perceive your logic, then having sturdy analytical abilities means that there's little or no efficient communication. When most professionals are used to listening to knowledge, don't assume that your conclusion is self-talking. You must join these factors collectively. When your conclusions are linked, it's efficient communication. Product managers have many various programs of communication, which implies that you typically have to create completely different variations of the report back to work together with your varied stakeholders (stakeholders). The best way you talk with executives is completely different from the event staff or gross sales and advertising communications. For instance, on the morning session of agile growth, your viewers will affect the way you current your work, what particulars you select, and what you utilize to draw the staff. Though understanding your viewers is essential, there are particular rules. Collaborative communication will aid you to successfully analyze with any group. Stay up for your viewers's expectations and create a message that can resonate with them. This may require some further work to deal with a number of variations, however it can save numerous time and subsequent silent prices. Lastly, a communication side that's typically forgotten is to actively pay attention. PMs that efficiently make clear their evaluation and resolution logic additionally spend numerous time asking for suggestions and opinions to maintain their data correct. There's a good line between your evaluation and stubbornness. If you find yourself keen to pay attention, you'll achieve extra perception. Due to this fact, the product supervisor solves the issue on the velocity of considering. With the evolving product administration abilities of the instances, each PM must shift from knowledge science to vital considering and reasoning. That's, in the event you don't have the best instruments to rapidly analyze the information to reply your staff's questions, then these analytical abilities lose their significance. Behavioral and product efficiency knowledge is wealthy, and selecting the best instruments to gather, course of, and analyze this knowledge will be the important distinction between a product supervisor trapped within the knowledge and a product supervisor who rapidly processes the issue and optimizes the product. Article supply: byElle Morgan Authentic hyperlink: https://dzone.com/articles/6-ways-product-managers-can-be-heroes-with-behavio?fromrel=true This text was posted by @王丹翻译 at immediately's watchpoint. It's forbidden to reprint with out permission. 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[suzanneshannon]

The Great Divide

Let’s say there is a divide happening in front-end development. I feel it, but it's not just in my bones. Based on an awful lot of written developer sentiment, interviews Dave Rupert and I have done on ShopTalk, and in-person discussion, it’s, as they say... a thing.

The divide is between people who self-identify as a (or have the job title of) front-end developer, yet have divergent skill sets.

On one side, an army of developers whose interests, responsibilities, and skill sets are heavily revolved around JavaScript.

On the other, an army of developers whose interests, responsibilities, and skill sets are focused on other areas of the front end, like HTML, CSS, design, interaction, patterns, accessibility, etc.

Let’s hear from people who are feeling this divide.

In response to our post, "What makes a good front-end developer?", Steven Davis wrote:

I think we need to move away from the term myself. We should split into UX Engineers and JavaScript Engineers. They are different mindsets. Most people are not amazing at both JavaScript and CSS. Let UX Engineers work closely with UX/Design to create great designs, interactions, prototypes, etc. and let JavaScript Engineers handle all the data parts.

So sick of being great at CSS but being forced into JavaScript. I'm not a programmer!

This schism isn't happening under our feet. We're asking for it.

I heard it called an identity crisis for the first time in Vernon Joyce's article, "Is front-end development having an identity crisis?" He points to the major JavaScript frameworks:

Frameworks like Angular or libraries like React require developers to have a much deeper understanding of programming concepts; concepts that might have historically been associated only with the back end. MVC, functional programming, higher-order functions, hoisting... hard concepts to grasp if your background is in HTML, CSS, and basic interactive JavaScript.

This rings true for me. I enjoy working with and reading about modern frameworks, fancy build tools, and interesting data layer strategies. Right now, I'm enjoying working with React as a UI library, Apollo GraphQL for data, Cypress for integration testing, and webpack as a build tool. I am constantly eying up CSS-in-JS libraries. Yet, while I do consider those things a part of front-end development, they feel cosmically far away from the articles and conversations around accessibility, semantic markup, CSS possibilities, UX considerations, and UI polish, among others. It feels like two different worlds.

When companies post job openings for "Front-End Developer," what are they really asking for? Assuming they actually know (lolz), the title front-end developer alone isn't doing enough. It's likely more helpful to know which side of the divide they need the most.

Who gets the job? Who's right for the job? Is the pay grade the same for these skill sets?

My hope is that the solution is writing more descriptive job postings. If clearly defined and agreed upon job titles are too much of an ask for the industry at large (and I fear that it is), we can still use our words. Corey Ginnivan put it well:

I'd love more job descriptions to be more vulnerable and open — let people know what you want to achieve, specify what they'll be working on, but open it as a growth opportunity for both parties.

This seemed to work pretty well for us at CodePen. Our own Cassidy Williams said she really appreciated this writeup when Rachel Smith sent it to her to consider.

"Front-end developer" is still a useful term. Like Mina Markham described to us recently, it's who people that primarily work with browsers and people using those browsers are. But it's a generic shorthand, says Miriam Suzanne:

Front-end developer is shorthand for when the details don't matter. Like being in an indie-rock band — who knows what that is, but I say it all the time. Shorthand is great until you're posting a job description. When the details matter, we already have more detailed language — we just have to use it.

To put a point on this divide a bit more, consider this article by Trey Huffine, "A Recap of Frontend Development in 2018." It's very well done! It points to big moments this year, shows interesting data, and makes predictions about what we might see next year. But it's entirely based around the JavaScript ecosystem. HTML is only mentioned in the context of JavaScript-powered static site generators and CSS is only mentioned in the context of CSS-in-JS. It's front-end development, but perhaps one half of it: the JavaScript half. If you read that summary and don't connect with much in there, then my advice would be:

That's OK. You can still be a front-end developer. 🙏

You might be exploring layout possibilities, architecting a CSS or design system, getting deep into UX, building interesting animations, digging into accessibility, or any other number of firmly front-end development jobs. There's more than enough to go around.

Remember just last last year how Frank Chimero, who builds incredibly great websites for himself and clients, was totally bewildered with where front-end development had gone? To summarize:

... other people’s toolchains are absolutely inscrutable from the outside. Even getting started is touchy. Last month, I had to install a package manager to install a package manager. That’s when I closed my laptop and slowly backed away from it. We’re a long way from the CSS Zen Garden where I started.

A long way indeed. I might argue that you don't have to care. If you've been and continue to be successful building websites any way you know how for yourself and clients, hallelujah! Consider all this new toolchain stuff entirely as an opt-in deal that solves different problems than you have.

And yet, this toolchain opaqueness prods at even the people necessarily embedded in it. Dave Rupert documents a real bug with a solution buried so deep that it's a miracle it was rooted out. Then he laments:

As toolchains grow and become more complex, unless you are expertly familiar with them, it’s very unclear what transformations are happening in our code. Tracking the differences between the input and output and the processes that code underwent can be overwhelming.

Who needs these big toolchains? Generally, it's the big sites. It's a bit tricky to pin down what big means, but I bet you have a good feel for it. Ironically, while heaps of tooling add complexity, the reason they are used is for battling complexity. Sometimes it feels like releasing cougars into the forest to handle your snake problem. Now you have a cougar problem.

The most visible discussions around all of this are dominated by people at the companies that are working on these big and complex sites. Bastian Allgeier wrote:

Big team needs "x" that’s why "x" is the best solution for everyone. I think this is highly toxic for smaller teams with different requirements and definitions of what’s "maintainable" or "sustainable". I get in touch with a lot of smaller agencies and freelancers from all over the world and it's interesting how their work is often completely detached from the web’s VIP circus.

What is going on here? What happened? Where did this divide come from? The answer is pretty clear to me:

So big:

It's everywhere on the front end of websites. The major JavaScript front-end frameworks are seeing explosive growth and dominating job postings. These frameworks are used by loads of teams to power loads of websites. Native JavaScript is evolving quickly as well, which has lots of people excited.

It powers backends, too. Your site might be powered by or involve a Node.js server. Your build process is likely to be powered by JavaScript.

Third-party JavaScript powers so many front-end features, from a site's ad network and analytics to full-blown features like reviews, comments, and related content.

Concepts like Node-powered cloud functions, storage, and authentication, combined with low-cost and low-effort scalable hosting, have empowered the crap out of JavaScript-focused front-end developers. They can use their skills exclusively to ship entire functional products.

A front-end developer with a strong JavaScript skill set is wildly empowered these days. I've been calling it the all-powerful front-end developer, and I did a whole talk on it:

Through all the possibilities that swirl around the idea of serverless combined with prepackaged UI frameworks, a front-end developer can build just about anything without needing much, if any, help from other disciplines. I find that exciting and enticing, but also worthy of pause. It's certainly possible that you become so framework-driven going down this path that your wider problem-solving skills suffer. I heard that sentiment from Estelle Weyl who goes so far as to say she thinks of developers more as "framework implementers," reserving the title of engineer for tool-agnostic problem solvers.

This front-end empowerment is very real. Particularly in the last few years, front-end developers have gotten especially powerful. So powerful that Michael Scharnagl says he's seen companies shift their hiring in that direction:

What I am seeing is that many developers focus entirely on JavaScript nowadays and I see companies where they replace back-end developers with JavaScript developers.

What some don’t understand is that a JavaScript developer is not per se a front-end developer. A JavaScript developer may not like to write CSS or care about semantics. That’s the same way I prefer not to work directly with databases or configure a server. That’s okay. What is not okay is if you don’t want to use something and at the same time tell others what they do is easy or useless. Even worse is if you try to tell experts in their field that they are doing it all wrong and that they should do it your way.

And Jay Freestone takes a stab at why:

Over the last few years, we’ve started to see a significant shift in the role of the front-end developer. As applications have become increasingly JavaScript-heavy there has been a necessity for front-end engineers to understand and practice architectural principles that were traditionally in the domain of back-end developers, such as API design and data modeling.

It's happened even with my own small scale work. We were looking for a back-end Go developer to help evolve our web services at CodePen. When we didn't have a lot of luck finding the perfect person, we decided to go another direction. We saw that our stack was evolving into something that's extremely welcoming to JavaScript-focused front-end developers to the point where we could easily put more of them to work right away. So that's what we did.

There may be a cyclical nature to some of this as well. We're seeing coding schools absolutely explode and produce fairly talented developers in less than a year. These code school graduates are filling labor gaps, but more importantly, as Brad Westfall tells me, starting to lead industry discussions rather than be passive followers of them. And make no mistake: these schools are producing developers on the JavaScript side of the divide. Every single code school web development curriculum I've ever seen treats HTML/CSS/UI/UX/A11Y topics as early fundamentals that students breeze through or they are sprinkled in as asides while JavaScript dominates the later curriculum. Can you come in and teach our students all the layout concepts in three hours?

When JavaScript dominates the conversations around the front end, it leads to some developers feeling inadequate. In a comment on Robin Rendle's "Front-end development is not a problem to be solved," Nils writes:

Maybe the term front-end developer needs some rethinking. When I started working, front-end was mostly HTML, CSS, and some JavaScript. A good front-end developer needed to be able to translate a Photoshop layout to a pixel perfect website. Front end today is much much more. If you want to learn front-end development, people seem to start learning git, npm, angular, react, vue and all of this is called front-end development.

I am a designer and I think I’m pretty good at HTML and CSS, but that's not enough anymore to be a front-end developer.

Robin himself gave himself the job title, Adult Boy That Cares Too Much About Accessibility and CSS and Component Design but Doesn’t Care One Bit About GraphQL or Rails or Redux but I Feel Really Bad About Not Caring About This Other Stuff Though.

It's also frustrating to people in other ways. Remember Lara Schenk's story of going in for a job interview? She met 90% of the listed qualifications, only to have the interview involve JavaScript algorithms. She ultimately didn't get the job because of that. Not everybody needs to get every job they interview for, but the issue here is that front-end developer isn't communicating what it needs to as an effective job title.

It feels like an alternate universe some days.

Two "front-end web developers" can be standing right next to each other and have little, if any, skill sets in common. That's downright bizarre to me for a job title so specific and ubiquitous. I'm sure that's already the case with a job title like designer, but front-end web developer is a niche within a niche already.

Jina Bolton is a front-end developer and designer I admire. Yet, in a panel discussion I was on with her a few years ago, she admits she doesn't think of herself with that title:

When I was at Apple, my job title when I first started out there was front-end developer. Would I call myself that now? No, because it's become such a different thing. Like, I learned HTML/CSS, I never learned JavaScript but I knew enough to work around it. Now—we're talking about job titles—when I hear "front-end developer," I'm going to assume you know a lot more than me.

It seems like, at the time, that lack of a JavaScript focus made Jina feel like she's less skilled than someone who has the official title of front-end developer. I think people would be lucky to have the skills that Jina has in her left pinky finger, but hey that's me. Speaking to Jina recently, she says she still avoids the title specifically because it leads to incorrect assumptions about her skill set.

Mandy Michael put a point on this better than anyone in her article, "Is there any value in people who cannot write JavaScript?":

What I don’t understand is why it’s okay if you can “just write JS”, but somehow you’re not good enough if you “just write HTML and CSS”.

When every new website on the internet has perfect, semantic, accessible HTML and exceptionally executed, accessible CSS that works on every device and browser, then you can tell me that these languages are not valuable on their own. Until then we need to stop devaluing CSS and HTML.

Mandy uses her post for peacemaking. She's telling us, yes, there is a divide, but no, neither side is any more valuable than the other.

Another source of frustration is when the great divide leads to poor craftsmanship. This is what I see as the cause of most of the jeering and poking that occurs across aisles. Brad Frost points to the term "full-stack developer" as a little misleading:

In my experience, “full-stack developers” always translates to “programmers who can do front-end code because they have to and it’s ‘easy’.” It’s never the other way around. The term “full-stack developer” implies that a developer is equally adept at both frontend code and backend code, but I’ve never in my personal experience witnessed anyone who truly fits that description.

Heydon Pickering says something similar. When you're hired at this mythical high level, something like HTML is unlikely to be a strong suit.

... one of the most glaring issues with making Full Stack Developers the gatekeepers of all-things-code is the pitiful quality of the HTML output. Most come from a computer science background, and document structure is simply not taught alongside control structure. It’s not their competency, but we still make it their job.

Just like it may not be my job to configure our deployment pipeline and handle our database scaling (I'd do a terrible job if that task fell to me), perhaps it's best to leave the job of HTML and CSS to do those who do it well. Maybe it's easier to say: Even if there is a divide, that doesn't absolve any of us from doing a good job.

Just as architecture and developer ergonomics are all our jobs, we should view performance, accessibility, and user experience among our line of work. If we can't do a good job with any particular part of it, make sure there's someone else who can do that part. Nobody is allowed to do a bad job.

It's worth mentioning that there are plenty of developers with skill sets that cross the divide and do so gracefully. I think of our own Sarah Drasner who is known as an incredible animator, SVG expert, and a core team member of Vue who also works at Microsoft on Azure. Full stack, indeed.

I expand upon a lot of these topics in another recent conference talk I gave at WordCamp US:

Is there any solution to these problems of suffering craftsmanship and skill devaluation? Are the problems systemic and deeply rooted, or are they surface level and without severe consequence? Is the divide real, or a temporary rift? Is the friction settling down or heating up? Will the front-end developer skill set widen or narrow as the years pass? Let's keep talking about this!

Even as JavaScript continues heating up, Rachel Andrew tells me it used to be hard to fill a CSS workshop, but these days conference organizers are asking for them as they are in hot demand. One thing is certain, like ol' Heraclitus likes to say, the only constant is change.

✌️

The post The Great Divide appeared first on CSS-Tricks.

The Great Divide published first on https://deskbysnafu.tumblr.com/

[siliconwebx]

The Great Divide

Let’s say there is a divide happening in front-end development. I feel it, but it's not just in my bones. Based on an awful lot of written developer sentiment, interviews Dave Rupert and I have done on ShopTalk, and in-person discussion, it’s, as they say... a thing.

The divide is between people who self-identify as a (or have the job title of) front-end developer, yet have divergent skill sets.

On one side, an army of developers whose interests, responsibilities, and skill sets are heavily revolved around JavaScript.

On the other, an army of developers whose interests, responsibilities, and skill sets are focused on other areas of the front end, like HTML, CSS, design, interaction, patterns, accessibility, etc.

Let’s hear from people who are feeling this divide.

In response to our post, "What makes a good front-end developer?", Steven Davis wrote:

I think we need to move away from the term myself. We should split into UX Engineers and JavaScript Engineers. They are different mindsets. Most people are not amazing at both JavaScript and CSS. Let UX Engineers work closely with UX/Design to create great designs, interactions, prototypes, etc. and let JavaScript Engineers handle all the data parts.

So sick of being great at CSS but being forced into JavaScript. I'm not a programmer!

This schism isn't happening under our feet. We're asking for it.

I heard it called an identity crisis for the first time in Vernon Joyce's article, "Is front-end development having an identity crisis?" He points to the major JavaScript frameworks:

Frameworks like Angular or libraries like React require developers to have a much deeper understanding of programming concepts; concepts that might have historically been associated only with the back end. MVC, functional programming, higher-order functions, hoisting... hard concepts to grasp if your background is in HTML, CSS, and basic interactive JavaScript.

This rings true for me. I enjoy working with and reading about modern frameworks, fancy build tools, and interesting data layer strategies. Right now, I'm enjoying working with React as a UI library, Apollo GraphQL for data, Cypress for integration testing, and webpack as a build tool. I am constantly eying up CSS-in-JS libraries. Yet, while I do consider those things a part of front-end development, they feel cosmically far away from the articles and conversations around accessibility, semantic markup, CSS possibilities, UX considerations, and UI polish, among others. It feels like two different worlds.

When companies post job openings for "Front-End Developer," what are they really asking for? Assuming they actually know (lolz), the title front-end developer alone isn't doing enough. It's likely more helpful to know which side of the divide they need the most.

Who gets the job? Who's right for the job? Is the pay grade the same for these skill sets?

My hope is that the solution is writing more descriptive job postings. If clearly defined and agreed upon job titles are too much of an ask for the industry at large (and I fear that it is), we can still use our words. Corey Ginnivan put it well:

I'd love more job descriptions to be more vulnerable and open — let people know what you want to achieve, specify what they'll be working on, but open it as a growth opportunity for both parties.

This seemed to work pretty well for us at CodePen. Our own Cassidy Williams said she really appreciated this writeup when Rachel Smith sent it to her to consider.

"Front-end developer" is still a useful term. Like Mina Markham described to us recently, it's who people that primarily work with browsers and people using those browsers are. But it's a generic shorthand, says Miriam Suzanne:

Front-end developer is shorthand for when the details don't matter. Like being in an indie-rock band — who knows what that is, but I say it all the time. Shorthand is great until you're posting a job description. When the details matter, we already have more detailed language — we just have to use it.

To put a point on this divide a bit more, consider this article by Trey Huffine, "A Recap of Frontend Development in 2018." It's very well done! It points to big moments this year, shows interesting data, and makes predictions about what we might see next year. But it's entirely based around the JavaScript ecosystem. HTML is only mentioned in the context of JavaScript-powered static site generators and CSS is only mentioned in the context of CSS-in-JS. It's front-end development, but perhaps one half of it: the JavaScript half. If you read that summary and don't connect with much in there, then my advice would be:

That's OK. You can still be a front-end developer. 🙏

You might be exploring layout possibilities, architecting a CSS or design system, getting deep into UX, building interesting animations, digging into accessibility, or any other number of firmly front-end development jobs. There's more than enough to go around.

Remember just last last year how Frank Chimero, who builds incredibly great websites for himself and clients, was totally bewildered with where front-end development had gone? To summarize:

... other people’s toolchains are absolutely inscrutable from the outside. Even getting started is touchy. Last month, I had to install a package manager to install a package manager. That’s when I closed my laptop and slowly backed away from it. We’re a long way from the CSS Zen Garden where I started.

A long way indeed. I might argue that you don't have to care. If you've been and continue to be successful building websites any way you know how for yourself and clients, hallelujah! Consider all this new toolchain stuff entirely as an opt-in deal that solves different problems than you have.

And yet, this toolchain opaqueness prods at even the people necessarily embedded in it. Dave Rupert documents a real bug with a solution buried so deep that it's a miracle it was rooted out. Then he laments:

As toolchains grow and become more complex, unless you are expertly familiar with them, it’s very unclear what transformations are happening in our code. Tracking the differences between the input and output and the processes that code underwent can be overwhelming.

Who needs these big toolchains? Generally, it's the big sites. It's a bit tricky to pin down what big means, but I bet you have a good feel for it. Ironically, while heaps of tooling add complexity, the reason they are used is for battling complexity. Sometimes it feels like releasing cougars into the forest to handle your snake problem. Now you have a cougar problem.

The most visible discussions around all of this are dominated by people at the companies that are working on these big and complex sites. Bastian Allgeier wrote:

Big team needs "x" that’s why "x" is the best solution for everyone. I think this is highly toxic for smaller teams with different requirements and definitions of what’s "maintainable" or "sustainable". I get in touch with a lot of smaller agencies and freelancers from all over the world and it's interesting how their work is often completely detached from the web’s VIP circus.

What is going on here? What happened? Where did this divide come from? The answer is pretty clear to me:

So big:

It's everywhere on the front end of websites. The major JavaScript front-end frameworks are seeing explosive growth and dominating job postings. These frameworks are used by loads of teams to power loads of websites. Native JavaScript is evolving quickly as well, which has lots of people excited.

It powers backends, too. Your site might be powered by or involve a Node.js server. Your build process is likely to be powered by JavaScript.

Third-party JavaScript powers so many front-end features, from a site's ad network and analytics to full-blown features like reviews, comments, and related content.

Concepts like Node-powered cloud functions, storage, and authentication, combined with low-cost and low-effort scalable hosting, have empowered the crap out of JavaScript-focused front-end developers. They can use their skills exclusively to ship entire functional products.

A front-end developer with a strong JavaScript skill set is wildly empowered these days. I've been calling it the all-powerful front-end developer, and I did a whole talk on it:

Through all the possibilities that swirl around the idea of serverless combined with prepackaged UI frameworks, a front-end developer can build just about anything without needing much, if any, help from other disciplines. I find that exciting and enticing, but also worthy of pause. It's certainly possible that you become so framework-driven going down this path that your wider problem-solving skills suffer. I heard that sentiment from Estelle Weyl who goes so far as to say she thinks of developers more as "framework implementers," reserving the title of engineer for tool-agnostic problem solvers.

This front-end empowerment is very real. Particularly in the last few years, front-end developers have gotten especially powerful. So powerful that Michael Scharnagl says he's seen companies shift their hiring in that direction:

What I am seeing is that many developers focus entirely on JavaScript nowadays and I see companies where they replace back-end developers with JavaScript developers.

What some don’t understand is that a JavaScript developer is not per se a front-end developer. A JavaScript developer may not like to write CSS or care about semantics. That’s the same way I prefer not to work directly with databases or configure a server. That’s okay. What is not okay is if you don’t want to use something and at the same time tell others what they do is easy or useless. Even worse is if you try to tell experts in their field that they are doing it all wrong and that they should do it your way.

And Jay Freestone takes a stab at why:

Over the last few years, we’ve started to see a significant shift in the role of the front-end developer. As applications have become increasingly JavaScript-heavy there has been a necessity for front-end engineers to understand and practice architectural principles that were traditionally in the domain of back-end developers, such as API design and data modeling.

It's happened even with my own small scale work. We were looking for a back-end Go developer to help evolve our web services at CodePen. When we didn't have a lot of luck finding the perfect person, we decided to go another direction. We saw that our stack was evolving into something that's extremely welcoming to JavaScript-focused front-end developers to the point where we could easily put more of them to work right away. So that's what we did.

There may be a cyclical nature to some of this as well. We're seeing coding schools absolutely explode and produce fairly talented developers in less than a year. These code school graduates are filling labor gaps, but more importantly, as Brad Westfall tells me, starting to lead industry discussions rather than be passive followers of them. And make no mistake: these schools are producing developers on the JavaScript side of the divide. Every single code school web development curriculum I've ever seen treats HTML/CSS/UI/UX/A11Y topics as early fundamentals that students breeze through or they are sprinkled in as asides while JavaScript dominates the later curriculum. Can you come in and teach our students all the layout concepts in three hours?

When JavaScript dominates the conversations around the front end, it leads to some developers feeling inadequate. In a comment on Robin Rendle's "Front-end development is not a problem to be solved," Nils writes:

Maybe the term front-end developer needs some rethinking. When I started working, front-end was mostly HTML, CSS, and some JavaScript. A good front-end developer needed to be able to translate a Photoshop layout to a pixel perfect website. Front end today is much much more. If you want to learn front-end development, people seem to start learning git, npm, angular, react, vue and all of this is called front-end development.

I am a designer and I think I’m pretty good at HTML and CSS, but that's not enough anymore to be a front-end developer.

Robin himself gave himself the job title, Adult Boy That Cares Too Much About Accessibility and CSS and Component Design but Doesn’t Care One Bit About GraphQL or Rails or Redux but I Feel Really Bad About Not Caring About This Other Stuff Though.

It's also frustrating to people in other ways. Remember Lara Schenk's story of going in for a job interview? She met 90% of the listed qualifications, only to have the interview involve JavaScript algorithms. She ultimately didn't get the job because of that. Not everybody needs to get every job they interview for, but the issue here is that front-end developer isn't communicating what it needs to as an effective job title.

It feels like an alternate universe some days.

Two "front-end web developers" can be standing right next to each other and have little, if any, skill sets in common. That's downright bizarre to me for a job title so specific and ubiquitous. I'm sure that's already the case with a job title like designer, but front-end web developer is a niche within a niche already.

Jina Bolton is a front-end developer and designer I admire. Yet, in a panel discussion I was on with her a few years ago, she admits she doesn't think of herself with that title:

When I was at Apple, my job title when I first started out there was front-end developer. Would I call myself that now? No, because it's become such a different thing. Like, I learned HTML/CSS, I never learned JavaScript but I knew enough to work around it. Now—we're talking about job titles—when I hear "front-end developer," I'm going to assume you know a lot more than me.

It seems like, at the time, that lack of a JavaScript focus made Jina feel like she's less skilled than someone who has the official title of front-end developer. I think people would be lucky to have the skills that Jina has in her left pinky finger, but hey that's me. Speaking to Jina recently, she says she still avoids the title specifically because it leads to incorrect assumptions about her skill set.

Mandy Michael put a point on this better than anyone in her article, "Is there any value in people who cannot write JavaScript?":

What I don’t understand is why it’s okay if you can “just write JS”, but somehow you’re not good enough if you “just write HTML and CSS”.

When every new website on the internet has perfect, semantic, accessible HTML and exceptionally executed, accessible CSS that works on every device and browser, then you can tell me that these languages are not valuable on their own. Until then we need to stop devaluing CSS and HTML.

Mandy uses her post for peacemaking. She's telling us, yes, there is a divide, but no, neither side is any more valuable than the other.

Another source of frustration is when the great divide leads to poor craftsmanship. This is what I see as the cause of most of the jeering and poking that occurs across aisles. Brad Frost points to the term "full-stack developer" as a little misleading:

In my experience, “full-stack developers” always translates to “programmers who can do front-end code because they have to and it’s ‘easy’.” It’s never the other way around. The term “full-stack developer” implies that a developer is equally adept at both frontend code and backend code, but I’ve never in my personal experience witnessed anyone who truly fits that description.

Heydon Pickering says something similar. When you're hired at this mythical high level, something like HTML is unlikely to be a strong suit.

... one of the most glaring issues with making Full Stack Developers the gatekeepers of all-things-code is the pitiful quality of the HTML output. Most come from a computer science background, and document structure is simply not taught alongside control structure. It’s not their competency, but we still make it their job.

Just like it may not be my job to configure our deployment pipeline and handle our database scaling (I'd do a terrible job if that task fell to me), perhaps it's best to leave the job of HTML and CSS to do those who do it well. Maybe it's easier to say: Even if there is a divide, that doesn't absolve any of us from doing a good job.

Just as architecture and developer ergonomics are all our jobs, we should view performance, accessibility, and user experience among our line of work. If we can't do a good job with any particular part of it, make sure there's someone else who can do that part. Nobody is allowed to do a bad job.

It's worth mentioning that there are plenty of developers with skill sets that cross the divide and do so gracefully. I think of our own Sarah Drasner who is known as an incredible animator, SVG expert, and a core team member of Vue who also works at Microsoft on Azure. Full stack, indeed.

I expand upon a lot of these topics in another recent conference talk I gave at WordCamp US:

Is there any solution to these problems of suffering craftsmanship and skill devaluation? Are the problems systemic and deeply rooted, or are they surface level and without severe consequence? Is the divide real, or a temporary rift? Is the friction settling down or heating up? Will the front-end developer skill set widen or narrow as the years pass? Let's keep talking about this!

Even as JavaScript continues heating up, Rachel Andrew tells me it used to be hard to fill a CSS workshop, but these days conference organizers are asking for them as they are in hot demand. One thing is certain, like ol' Heraclitus likes to say, the only constant is change.

✌️

The post The Great Divide appeared first on CSS-Tricks.

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