#two characters known for opposing the empire for as long as it existed!

[sleepymarmot]

After an entire season of Andor it’s still not clear to me whether its writers are aware of the deleted scenes from ROTS or consider them canon. They do know that Mon Mothma basically founded the Rebellion together with Bail Organa, before the Republic ever fell? They know that, right? In retrospect it’s bizarre how Luthen and Kleya treat Mon more like a money faucet than like a senior co-conspirator who’s been in this fight for longer than they have, and I can’t tell who’s being mean to her: the characters or the writers. 

Initially I was assuming that Mon had been keeping touch with Bail in the background, and we weren’t shown that because the show prefers to avoid the major characters from the Skywalker saga... But seeing how thoroughly Cassian’s backstory has been retconned, I’m not so sure anymore. Maybe the writers decided Cassian hadn’t been rebelling the entire time, and Mon hadn’t been rebelling the entire time, and the only one who’d been doing anything useful these past 15 years was not any one of the established rebel characters but their new fun OC. And then some other writer will come along with their own retcon and declare that well, actually, Luthen hadn’t been doing anything worthwhile either, and the circle will start anew.

[exhausted-archivist]

In regard to my last reblog, I kinda want to expand on it.

The novels are 100% optional flavour text. They aren't required for you to really understand what is happening in the world. With the exception of Asunder, that one for me is a bit of a grey area but that is only because it covers aspects of two companions (Cole and Vivienne) that are glossed over and is rehashed entirely in an aspect by another companion's personal quest (Cassandra's).

Not even World of Thedas, the lore books are required because a big chunk of them are put in the game as codices. And the character stuff that's not? That's also flavour text and the fact that Leliana doesn't share background reports on your companions or you can't find them is a missed opportunity in utilizing Leliana. The whole "Game" aspect of Orlesian politics could have also been better incorporated through Josephine and Vivienne.

This is long so... cut.

But TLDR: Nothing is mandatory. World of Thedas, Asunder, and Masked Empire are just under utilized flavour text. They better not do the same or worse with Tevinter Nights.

We know they cut Cole from having Evangelina and Rhys appear for his personal quest and instead we got that weird thing with Varric and Solas being disagreeing dads on nature vs nurture. Rhys and Evangeline, but more so Rhys, are so important to Cole's background that I feel they could have brought them on with a little codex or preamble and it would have worked fine. They could have touched more on Cole's fear of becoming a demon again, his sense of identity and self, and even explored his whole concept of "helping" and his unique brand of compassion - because really Cole's form of compassion is a little off the beaten path.

But, that isn't because Asunder is mandatory, but because Cole isn't well anchored to begin with. They don't really explore him as a spirit/demon, they mostly use him as a way to tell you about other characters, and he's really wishy washy on even establishing what happened at the White Spire or with Seeker Lambert and just gives these sort of teasing/tantalizing starting points.

Which leads into a weak point with Vivienne. She has issue with how the war started. She has issue with the vote. She has issue with everything that happened with the White Spire. Which again, isn't explored and is just flippantly mentioned in banter with Cole or when she's snarking at Fiona.

We know she has issue with the vote because it was made when everyone was already dealing with Circles falling and templars killing people and extremist mages were killing other mages that opposed them. The vote was made not by people who were elected by the Circles - not entirely. They were made by whoever happened to get to Andoral's Reach and it was very much an emergency vote. She wasn't there for the vote and that's the start of the issue for her. Which, understandably this was written before Vivienne even existed, but with that they never resolve why she wasn't there for the vote or even aware of the chaos of the Circles. You kind of guess it's because of Bastien's health but yeah not really clear.

Both Cole and Vivienne's stories would be better anchored as well as give the Mage Templar war and the factions with in it more nuance if they even tried to incorporate the cliff notes of Asunder. It would also make it more of a flavour text and less of this murky grey area.

Which to make it even more murky and grey, Cassandra's whole plot of discovering the reversal to tranquility? Yeah that was discovered by a tranquil mage at the request of Divine Justinia. Literally every circle mage and Chantry person (of a certain rank) knows of its existence. Which they cheekily hide in ambient dialogue between Mother Giselle and another cameo character from Cassandra's past, Avexis. An elven mage who was turned tranquil because of the danger from her abilities to not only control small creatures but dragons.

That story Cassandra is known for? The dragons attacking the Grand Cathedral? Avexis was involved with that. Whole big thing in Dawn of the Seeker. But I digress.

Mother Giselle and Avexis talk about the reversal to tranquility in Haven. Everyone already knows but Cassandra's personal quest misleads you cause she's so pikachu-faced about discovering that there was a reversal and the Seeker's knew about it. Only half of the information should be new to her, the rest everyone knew about for a year and could have been beautifully folded into her story as to not only her mixed feelings on how she didn't feel as close to Justinia as Leliana was - because Leliana was in on it and Cassandra wasn't even aware that the Divine requested this happen behind the Seeker's back in 9:35 Dragon.

It would have been a great point to fold into the story to not only give more context to Cassandra questioning the Order but also feeling out of control and lost. Honesty would have been a good point in tension for her and Leliana to have.

But instead Cole goes largely explained, Vivienne is under explored and barely connected to the Mage Templar War conflict, and Cassandra is a (in my opinion) much less interesting rehash of something most people connected to the Chantry and Circles already knew for the most part.

Asunder is less required reading and more of discarded world building that amounts to a lot of missed opportunities.

Something I think that Tevinter Nights is at risk of if not worse. Either under utilized world building or they go full tilt in the wrong direction and it becomes the first required reading.

Specifically reading, because the first required additional media is the Legacy DLC of which they yoinked Corypheus and the whole start of the red templars from. And then again with Tresspasser which establishes and reveals so much vital information for the next game. Both DLCs, I think should have/be updated to free. Especially since it's been so long and they are required for the story now. And any "well players had to pay for them previously" is bs because new players can get the whole trilogy on sale for like 15USD. Deluxe editions included so they come with the DLCs - except for DA2.

Asunder and DLCs aside, lemme now circle back to the whole World of Thedas/Leliana and co thing.

The thing that grinds my gears about the World of Thedas bits is that a large part of them... are written to Leliana as reports. In game Leliana talks about doing background checks - how she isn't thorough enough with Solas because there wasn't enough time and more pressing things were coming. He slipped through the cracks. But everyone else? She got dirt on. Sera included. Leliana could have been a great vector to not only divulge more flavour text lore of our companions, but it could have also given us more aspects of conversation. How do they feel knowing Leliana gave us reports? Is sera annoyed because of the questions you can now ask? Is Blackwall sweaty because you might know details he doesn't? Does Iron Bull want to compare notes and see how good Leliana's network is?

There was so much they could have done with Leliana to not only make her more involved but made us more involved with the characters. It would have lead to more interactive story telling and folded in making the meta knowledge less meta as our Inquisitor actually used the resources of our spymaster.

Still, not required reading, but a way to fold in all the world building you've done to make the characters feel more real and give us a chance to bond with them. Even if we can't talk to them about it because "leaving it open ended for headcanons".

This also goes into how "The Game" is under utilized in Inquisition. So much of Inquisition is telling vs showing us or letting us experience something. Having more scenes where we walk in on Josephine dealing with combative knowledge, using our origins and background perks to play the game introduces us to the concept of Orlesian politics and perhaps we get perks - more soldiers, resources, gold, higher starting approval at the Winter Palace. Something that has more relevance to us and folds in this supposed system all of Orlais is beholden to.

A similar system could have also been used with Vivienne. Whether she was hosting nobles or if she wanted to gossip with you over a letter she received that she thinks could be of use to you if you know how to properly use The Game. It would have also been interesting if it impacted the noble npcs hanging out in the hall, if it became weighted depending on just how good you were. Less Orlesians meaning less support from Orlais and more reliance on other nations to legitimize the Inquisition. More Orlesians? A stronger army, more standing with the court and the Chantry, more ammunition for when you're dealing with Celene and Gaspard in the Winter Palace. Things like that. Simple story threads that didn't really need to go anywhere but perhaps impacted the ambient state.

It would have helped tie in Masked Empire and give it more weight (and also make Michel de Chevin be more than the rando the Imshael maybe killed).

Just saying... It's just under utilized world building in an interactive media.

[mask131]

The myth of Apollo (1)

Loose translation of the article “Antique Apollo: Shadow and Light” (Apollon Antique: Ombre et Lumière), from the “Dictionary of Literary Myths” under the direction of Pierre Brunel.

THE ANTIQUE APOLLO: SHADOW AND LIGHT

In her “Nouvelle Mythologie de la Jeunesse” (New Mythology for Youth), wrote for the French school students under the rule of Charles X, madame Tardieu-Denesle tells the story of how Jupiter charged Apollo with the mission of spreading light throughout the universe: as such, every morning the god climbs in the Sun Chariot to ride through the sky until night. These poor students were such misinformed and taught to confuse two very different gods: Apollo and Helios. But miss Tardieu-Denesle can be easily forgiven, because the confusion between the two deities has been existing since a very long time…

When we want to associate the name “Apollo” with ideas, we associate him with “light”, “harmony” or “balance (equilibrium)”. Apollo means to us the Athens of Pericles, the sunrays descending upon the Acropolis, the “sôphrosunè”, this wisdom made of moderation and whose principles had been engraved on the façade of the temple of Delphi. We usually oppose (and Nietzsche greatly helped reinforced this antithesis) Apollo’s serenity with the barbaric drunkenness of Dionysos. The idea of Apollo as a god of light and harmony existed as early as Antiquity, but it does not correspond to the original character of the god – a god which has a dark face, obscured in mysterious shadow… For Apollo is a disquieting and complex god of contrasts, solar and chthonian at the same time, a bearer of life and death.

I/ The problem of the origins

The hardships of understanding the origins and the personality of Apollo appear as early as the examination of his epithets. The god is said to be “Lukeios”, an adjective that the scholars have for a very long time tied to “lukè”, the light. This etymology fits very well the most famous nickname of Apollo, “Phoibos”, “the clear”, “the shining”, “the pure” – a name that is found as early as the first lines of Homer’s Iliad and Hesiod’s Theogony. This already paves the way for the assimilation by Apollo of Helios – a fusion that already appeared within a 7th-6th century BCE text known as “The Homeric Hymn to Apollo”: “It is there that appears the ship of Apollo, the Archer Lord, under the appearance of the celestial body that shines in bright day”. This assimilation will be later reaffirmed by Aeschylus’ “Bassarids” (Bassarae?) in the 5th century: Orpheus claims in the play that the Sun is also called Apollo. In a similar way, Aeschylus identifies within the “Xantriae” Selene, the Moon, to Artemis, the daughter of Leto and sister of Apollo.

And yet Apollo, “the light one”, is also called “Loxias”, “the skew one”, “the dark one”. According to an information within the “Etymologicum Magnum” (642), this name can be explained by the character of Loxô, a daughter of Boreas that raised the young god. Let us admit this, and let us admit that the oracles of Delphi were in truth very clear: writers, nonetheless, were more concerned with dramatic effect than reality, and as such they started spreading the idea that Apollo always expressed himself in an ambiguous way, forcing mankind to interpret his predictions, with a risk of misunderstanding them and causing disasters. Aeschylus wrote in his “Agememnon”: “Yet I speak the language of Greece. Loxias does too: yet his oracles are obscure.”

Herodotus shared numerous stories about the misfortunes of mistaken humans, such as Cresus who was unable to understand that the great empire he wanted to destroy was his own and that the “mule” he had to fear was Cyrus, son of a Mede and a Persian.

The obscurity of Apollo is also found back within his ambiguous relationships to the chthonian world. He is the killer of a female dragon (drakaina) that guarded the very ancient oracle of Gaia the Earth at Delphi (according to the “Homeric Hymn to Apollo”). A famous statue depicted him as a “sauroctonus”, a “lizard killer”. He is also “Smintheus”, the “destroyer of rats” according to “Iliad”. But at Epidaurus, within the temple of his son Asklepios (whose symbolic animal was the mole, another chthonian beast), snakes crawled among those who practiced the incubation ritual. A snake also wrapped itself around the staff of the physician-god, a deity who himself sometimes appeared as a snake (Pausanias, II, 10, 3). Another son of Apollo appeared sometimes as a snake: Trophonios, who had his own underground oracle at Lebadeia. As for Apollo “killer of rats”, he might have originally been a healing rat-god: it is implied by the numerous analogies between the Greek Apollo and the Hindu Rudra (the motifs of the bow, the disease, the mole, the rat, poetry and obliquity).

As such, translating “Lukeios” by “luminescent” feels incomplete, unsatisfying. The Ancients had proposed themselves another explanation. Apollo Lukeios might have meant “killer of wolves” (lukos). “And you, god that destroys the wolves, destroy the army of our enemies” (Aeschylus’ The Seven Against Thebes), “Here is the Lycian Square, dedicated to the god killer of wolves” (Sophocles’ “Electra”). This depiction of the god is not absurd, because there are many links between Apollo and the wolf. According to Pausanias, Danaos obtained the kingship of Argos because the god sent a wolf attack a flock, and the new king had a sanctuary built for Apollo Lukios. In the same city, it was known that wolves were offered in sacrifice to Apollo. The Lyceum of Athens, dedicated to Apollo, was, also according to Pausanias, named as such in homage to a hero named “Lukos”. On coins, Apollo was sometimes associated with wolves. Apollo was a master of wild beasts, like his sister Artemis. Destroyer of wolves, protector of wolves, or maybe himself a wolf, as once was Zeus Lukaios? Indeed, according to Servius, it was under the shape of a wolf that Apollo managed to get close to the nymph Cyrene… But it might be an abuse of the theriomorphism explanation, with a risk to derive into a polytheriomorphism: after all, what can prevent us to turn the Apollo of Delphi into an ancient dolphin-god, since Apollo supposedly jumped over a Cretan ship under the shape of a dolphin (Homeric Hymn of Apollo).

There is a third explanation of the epiclesis Lukeios, which is probably the most convincing of the three. Apollo is supposed to come from Lycia, a land of Asia Minor. It is why he was called Lukégenès, “Born in Lycia”. However, it is true that “Lukegenes” is sometimes translated as “born of the wolf” – according to Aristotle’s “History of Animals” Leto, to escape Hera’s jealousy, turned herself into a she-wolf. But it is also true that this version of Apollo’s birth does not correspond to the one claiming his birthland was Delos. Antoninus Liberalis, in his “Metamorphosis”, to reconcile what seemed like contradicting stories, decided to make Delos the place where Apollo was born, and Lycia the place where Apollo went immediately afterward – even adding that Lycia was named as such by Leto because wolves showed her the way. Let us note anyway that there are many sanctuaries of Apollo within Asia Minor ; that his sister Artemis is also strongly tied to Asia Minor ; that in the “Iliad” the god fights alongside the Trojans, not the Achaean ; finally, that the palm-tree of Delos under which Leto gave birth (Homeric Hymn) is an Oriental tree…

The many interpretations of the word “Lukeios” do not exhaust the many hypothesis conceived about the origin of Apollo. For some he is an Indo-European god, close to the Hindu god Rudra. Others also claim that he is Indo-European, but rather say he comes from the North, highlighting his link to the Hyperborean. These same people like to point out that the first Greeks were nomad shepherds, and that the word “apella” (“assembly/gathering of the people”, but also “sheepfold” according to Hesychius) is very close to “Apellôn”, the name of Apollo according to the Dorians. The myth comes here to the rescue of the etymology: Apollo himself owned many different flocks, and acted as a shepherd for both Laomedon and Admetus. Dumézil analyzed all three functions typical of Indo-European societies within the speech Apollo addresses to the goddesses in the Homeric Hymn: the first (magico-religious sovereignty) appears within his allusion to the oracles, and to the lyre that is tied to the songs and dances of cultural celebrations ; the second (war) appears with the mention of the shooting bow ; the third (wealth, fecundity) appears in the gold that covers Delos, as a promise of a future prosperity.

For other scholars, the name of Apollo was originally “Pelun” – the god was as such the mythical ancestors of the Pelasgian. Finally, the “Homeric Hymn” itself gives us another path: the one leading to the Aegean world, especially Crete. Apollo of Delphi entrusted his Delphi temple to the guardianship of Cretan men from Knossos. And according to Pausanias, it is a Cretan that purified both Apollo and Artemis after the murder of the dragon – and it is a Cretan too that won the first victory at the Pythian Games.

As Robbe-Grillet wrote, the successive interpretations, by being piled up onto each other, erase each other. We can only conclude that Apollo does not have a singular origin, but that his historical personality is an amalgamation of gods coming from various countries – a succession of strata. The other epithets of the god unfortunately do not enlighten us. Apollo is called “Puthios”, but is it because he allowed the corpse of the dragon to “rot” (puthein), according to the Homeric Hymn ; or is it because, as an oracular god, he “informs” (puthestai) those that ask him questions (according to Strabon). Are the names “Paian”, “Paièôn” and “Paiôn” related to healing (the most traditional reading) or to a victory song?

[serenofroses]

Reposting from inactive blog to here.

Regarding the topic of Sign Language in star wars universe.

I unfortunately don't really sign, but I relied on hearing aids and lipreading quite heavily but not perfectly well. It's something I lacked in life for communication and projecting my disability onto OCs for this verse.

Again, this is my personal headcanons for my legacy and everything here are strictly fictional asdfghjkl.

The point is, I know it is common to rely on ASL and BSL as the base concept to use for deaf and mute characters to sign. Personally for me when it comes to deaf characters in my legacy verse, namely Ania and Jazz who are hearing impaired, there are more than two Sign Languages to range from within the galaxy's regions. I find that using ASL and BSL in star wars really awkward because you'll be asking 'where's american/british comes from in star wars???'. I won't be using that for a specific reason.

Ania and Jazz both have hearing aids and implants to help them, but Kritanta and Vowrawn made sure to teach the twins on sign languages under circumstances.

The first one being the Galactic Sign Language, shortened as GSL, which was formerly known as Republic Sign Language but the Senate elected to change it to Galactic for universal purpose. This can be roughly connected with Basic speaking language being mostly common. GSL is the SW equivalent to ASL (american sign language).

Tau Idair in this legacy was fluent in GSL due to one of her parents being deaf. Tau communicated Jazz in GSL within crowded places when she struggled to hear (and hearing aids can pick up a lot of noise frequencies at once, which can be distressing to deal with).

Secondly, with the resurface of the Sith Empire's existence, there is an Imperial Sign Language, shortened as ISL, as opposed to "Republic" Sign Language. It is the main sign language within Imperial core worlds. It is mostly common among Agents and Soldiers to communicate with each others for covert missions or radio silence. ISL is the SW equivalent to BSL (british sign language).

Kritanta and Vowrawn are fluent in ISL due to their daughters being hearing impaired when they found out they were born profound deaf. However, neither of them shy away from learning GSL. Not to mention that Kritanta wore a mask 24/7 for health reasons that hid away the ability for his daughters or anyone else to lipread.

Marr and Jadus were fluent in the knowledge of ISL and GSL the same reason for wearing a mask and communicate with hard of hearing officers. But generally this applies to masked characters who can take up the options of learning basic knowledge. As Ania relied on lipreading the most, Marr and Jadus didn't wait to linger long so they can take their mask off in private to communicate with her.

Thirdly, much like ISL but there's another one used within Imperial core worlds known as Sith Sign Language, shortened as SSL, commonly used amongst Siths or force-users to communicate and possibly talk shit and gossip behind non-force user's backs.

An idea brought to you by darthvronton that I'm including it in this legacy. It is possible that SSL borrows sign words from ISL purposely. a suggestion to take note brought by a friend.

Fourth, not all neutral core worlds like Tatooine or Nar Shadda followed GSL. The Hutts introduced and spread the influence of Huttese Sign Language, shortened as HSL, across neutral aligned factions. This was to go on par with characters speaking Huttese.

Especially the likes of Blizz who may have known HSL because they do communicate for trading. As part of the deal with the Jedi and Republic to keep out of trouble rather than going to jail, Blizz agreed to be an interpreter for the deaf Jedi… which they eventually became Jazz's main interpreter.

Lastly, the fifth being exclusive only to Mandalorians as they invented and translated their language into Mando'a Sign Language, shortened as MSL, for deaf and mute mandalorians without feeling the need to remove the helmet out of privacy.

All in all, I had to avoid using Basic Sign Language for universal use because when you shortened it as BSL, it can get mistaken for British Sign Language. This is why Galactic was a more appropriate choice.

[kuekyuuq]

Why Supercorp could still happen - and be GREAT!  [post 6x11]

Okay, let me, for one post, give in to my hope that's clinging to that 0.00001% chance, that The CW will let Supercorp happen. This is a long post - with an optional short-cut. You’ve been warned:

We've got (at this point, post-6x11) 9 episodes left, and the best estimate is, that Lena is back with the team (and Kara) from 6x14 on. So, maybe ...MAYBE... they've decided, to have Lena away and separate from Kara, to focus on all the other characters and build-up the plot(?) for half the season, so they can get all that out of the way and give Lena and Kara, and the 'epic' conclusion of the show enough screen-time and room to breathe in those last 7 episodes.

7 episodes is still a lot. Whole mini-series with proper character development and amazing plots and plot-twists exist. ...The CW shows are not known for such, but, with two-thirds of a season build-up, they may be able to pull off something really neat, still.

So, maybe there was a plan, after all. Maybe, picking up the hints and innuendos from previous seasons (Lena's mother, magic, Mxy's whole "this kind of magic [=love] can't be forced", Kara's previous dating life, etc) is going somewhere...

We had Kara now returning from the Phantom Zone, deeply traumatized (again). She needed time to deal with that. Heal and find her footing again. (I am not sure, the show did enough in that department yet, but... my expectations are low, so I take what we got.) There needed to be a moment to make clear William is not a love interest anymore, without Lena being a potential reason for that - so whatever develops now between Kara and Lena isn't tainted. Lena needed time to be with the team - and yes, without Kara's active support - to redeem herself on her own, to rekindle / make friendships on her own and for herself, and gain some confidence against her brother without relying on Kara.

Lena and Kara needed to become each their own woman outside any potential love interests - so whatever romantic relationship they will have moving forward (together) will be a healthy one.

IF that's what's happening here, I applaud the writers, because before, almost any and every relationship Kara and Lena had, was tainted / problematic, and SUPERCORP COULD BE THE EXCEPTION!

Now, you can skip/scroll to the next headline. The tl:dr for the next few paragraphs is: 

“All previous depictions of romantic relationships for Kara and Lena on the show were problematic.” 

If you want to read my current reasoning why, strap in and keep reading:

...still there? Okay, here we go...

Lena's (platonic) relationship with Jack started when she worked with him, partially in an attempt to get away from LuthorCorp and Lex. Canonically, Lena started working with Jack when she was 18/19 (!! - in 2012, in her own Prime-Earth memories / experiences), started dating him 2-3 years later when she was 21 and just after Lex had fired her... And in the show, she later sacrificed Jack for Supergirl's life... (SC may argue, that she only almost got back together with him, because Kara was with Mon-El and taken and that's why she was about to return to her previous comfort-relationship.)

Lena and James? *sigh* Well, we all agree, that Lena bought CatCo for Kara's sake, right? Yes, yes, it was a decently good business decision, too. Except for the part she had zero experience with guiding a media-empire. But neither did James really, who had been put in charge by Cat before - a photographer, who then clearly put his own vigilante business before his responsibility of hundreds if not thousands of employees... Lena and James did NOT get along. They were even fighting, bickering and clearly at odds two episodes before their kiss. Lena reached out an olive branch, to - we all know it - one of Kara's closest friends at the time. And then the writers decided that their clear tension (of mistrust and absolutely opposing opinions) were basis for an "enemies to lovers" trope and ran with it... But yeah, I get it. Both characters felt the charge between them, and with them both probably still thinking "we need to get along for Kara", their lingering feelz for the blue-eyed blonde got entangled with the tension they felt and... well, at least, that's my head-canon as of why Lames happened, and I feel reaffirmed by how their relationship proceeded and how they eventually broke up over their rudimentary differences and inability to trust another.

Kara and James... well, I have my opinions about James basically having been sent (or encouraged) by Clarke to move to National City to keep an eye on Kara. Or how the show picked up on other incarnations' depiction of a much younger Jimmy, idolizing his best buddy of steel, and then turned James into this guy whose only ambition in life was to be like their hero or at least be influential and as close as remotely possible to their hero....... Then had him desperately trying to date a hetero-normal carbon copy of his hero. (And yes, I stick with that gay subtext and if anyone wants to fight me on it, I point to Winn, who was CWSG’s ‘Jimmy’ and - there was no subtext when he gushed over Clark: Winn and Jimmy/James are gay for Superman.) ...All that while he still had unresolved issues with Lucy (arguably at least emotionally two-timing here)... Yeah... well, just too much tainting that relationship in my opinion. And just to make it abundantly clear: I am not blaming the actor nor the character himself, but the writers did James dirty on quite a many levels. And while I blame the writers on messing up James, I don’t think it’s a total coincidence Kara’s attraction to James fizzled out once Lucy was out of the picture... (Kara and jealousy - I sense, there’s a theme...) And on Kara’s end: She was young, doe-eyed and the buff looking guy knew her secret early on. She didn’t have to hide with him, which at that point was (on Earth-38) a rarity if not a novelty, AND he showed clear interest in her...  

Kara and Adam... oh, boy. Dating your boss' son!? Who is giddily shipping them and dropping hints and pressure that if Kara fails in that relationship, Adam will prematurely leave the city again? With Cat kind of putting her own failed relationship with her son and rekindling of the same on Kara's shoulders? Yikes. Let's move on...

Kara and Mon-El, the last member of a species that is as close to a fellow Kryptonian as it can get, that is not her cousin? There's an inherent dependency right there (on its own, could still have worked). Again, they didn't even get along on a basic level at first, and on too many levels they never did. No, I am not going to get into the whole "slaves" thing, as I personally think, he was just a victim of his own culture and mostly oblivious as the spoiled son - that's not inherently a character-trait of his. And Kara's own family played part in enough BS, so that's why I think their relationship (as friends or romantic) should not be viewed in that context. Or him. I evaluate him for his merits. However, Kara was his outspoken mentor and guardian. To the point he started looking up to her, idolizing her. He didn't grasp entirely what she (her whole stick as Supergirl) was about, and I'd argue, he didn't even do that, still, when he returned from the future with the Legion - had a better grasp on it, yes, was better at being a hero on his own, but still heavily relied on his image of Supergirl and some of his own moral compass was still somewhat out of whack - which in itself is not a problem for his character or a reason not to be in a healthy relationship, but him lying to Kara about Imra, basically two-timing, very much is. And then, there's the fact that Kara only initially started dating him - after earlier being relieved when he told her he was not interested in her, after making an effort to let him down gently when he did tell her he was interested in her - after she was pushed by Alex to give him a chance and after he started dating Eve... Being jealous over someone who a character wasn't really into before sounds cute on paper, sounds like hidden feelings, but I promise you, it's not. That's hurt ego and the idea of missing out on something, possessiveness. In some instances that could reveal deeper feelings, but the show made no effort to justify such. Drunk-Kara, uninhibited Kara sat right in front of Mon-El and still made fun of him, no gushing, no blushing, no flirting... Uninhibited Kara showed no signs of romantic (or sexual) interest in Mon-El. So, no: The writers gave us no good, gradual and certainly no healthy depiction of romance in the way Kara and Mon-El got together. ... And then they were a couple. Which had on one hand similar issues as Lena and James later had (opposing morals / opinions), STILL had Kara as a mentor to him, but also featured some nice and sweet moments of them being fluffy and Mon-El being attentive to Kara's needs - when they were alone and he didn't feel the need to be a reckless hero (over-compensating). If the writers had taken their time to write Mon-El and his platonic relationship with Kara before their romantic relationship any better, had shifted his character arc just the slightest bit, had made him and his evolution a little less dependent on Kara (her baby-sitting him, cleaning up after his messes), or had he returned without Imra (or w/o lying about her) and become his own person (with still lingering feelings for Kara, yes, but without him outright idolizing her), I would see no (or at least less) problems here. But, that's not what we got... Side-note: Do not hate one Karamel shippers. If you feel offended by them, ignore them. Do not offend them and start a war over fictional characters. They see merit in that relationship / his character / anything else you don’t agree with? Let them. You will not be able to change their perspective - the same way they will hardly change yours. We have one thing in common and that is our investment in the show and its characters. Be nice. Be better.

Kara and William was threatening to become a rinse and repeat of previously established (or attempted) "enemies/rivals to lovers" on the show. I still wonder what William's reason to come to CatCo undercover was, when Andrea never dated his buddy / got him involved nor ultimately killed (she wasn’t Acrata yet), and because Crisis changed the whole Leviathan timeline. I am glad he moved on...... in the about 2 weeks that passed on Earth while Kara was in the Phantom Zone. I truly hope it sticks. Good luck, William and Mary, the pediatrician. The actor seems to be a great guy, and whatever's left from William’s character that the writers didn't mess up in his earlier episodes, seems to be a truly nice guy (at least on Earth-Prime).

...

Now, where do I see the difference between Lena and Kara, when they both went through so much not-good personal drama and got quite the baggage themselves?

Lena never idolized Supergirl. She saw her as an opportunity, not just to elevate herself, but what she was already trying to do - good. ...She was trying to do good. (When she first saw SG on TV, she was already working with Jack on the nanobots to cure cancer!)

Sure, Lena said, she wanted to be in her own "small way to be more like Supergirl" - that's not per se idolizing the girl of steel, but agreeing with her morals and whatever else she stands for - again, for good, for hope, for caring about others. By buying CatCo Lena saved countless jobs, and a media outlet from becoming tainted by Morgan Edge's political agenda. If anything, Lena respected Supergirl. Respected her enough as a person to dare to challenge her. For herself and the Super. To be better, become better. To not fall for fallacies.

Lena bought CatCo (to save Kara's job), and I am soooo glad, that it now belongs to Andrea, because that power-dynamic would not have been good; has been addressed in the show itself to be a potential pitfall, even for their platonic relationship. And we've already moved past that!! There isn’t a potential power-imbalance between them anymore. Not on their day to day. (And the ‘supernatural-powered’ thing is also about to be taken care of.) Now, Andrea, Kara's boss, may still be a close friend of Lena's but we now witnessed Kara standing her own ground (albeit in a somewhat childish manner) around her. Kara and Andrea's dynamic is not defined by their respective relation to Lena.

Lena is friends with the Superfriends. She got time to bond with Nia and Brainy for her own merits, for their respective merits. They bonded over their own similarities and overlapping experiences. And not because they are Kara's friends and therefore she has to get along with them. She also bonded with Alex, but Alex will forever be Kara's sister first, yet one could argue that their bond is directly connected to their shared / respective love for Kara. Additionally, Lena had opportunities to gain Alex' respect for just being her smart self and person as a whole, and Alex got to see things from Lena's side, without Kara being Lena’s defender / spokesperson - Alex now acknowledges Lena as a good person, one she personally can relate to, all on her own. ...that also counts for J'onn. I don't think Lena ever has had a real one-on-one scene with Kelly yet and I don't even know where M'gann ran off to...

Lena rid herself of Lex. Without Kara backing her up. Even during a time she wasn't a 100% sure the Superfriends would really take her in. She did this for herself. On her own. Without Kara coaching her through it.

They are equals on many levels. They’ve saved each other, as Super, as CEO, as reporter, as scientist, as friends. From physical danger. From emotional distress. Helped and supported another. Countless times.

The two women understand each other. Lena was the one to inspire Kara to become a reporter. Planted the idea for Kara to follow her guts on the story and "blob" (okay, that sorta backfired on Kara career-wise, but it was the morally right thing to do at the time).

Yes, thanks to the writers deciding season five had to happen the way it did, Lena has quite a lot to redeem herself for. But you know, even when she wanted to hurt Kara, she did never strive to harm her.

She did trap Supergirl in the Fortress - using the Fortress' own defense systems - to get a head-start on her Non-Noncere plans. That wasn't a nice thing to do and she must have been aware how painful the exposure was to Kara... But how else was she, a mere human (at the time) to outrun a Kryptonian? On that note, how did Kara get out of it? Kallex? J'onn coming to check up on them? A timer? Either way, my bet is, Lena knew Kara would be able to escape relatively unharmed and rather quickly... Lex's lab aimed Kryptonite guns at Supergirl and Lena frantically rushed to disable them.

Need I bring up, that Lena even supported Supergirl, during a time she and SG were at odds? While Supergirl was angry with Lena for possessing Kryptonite, Lena used the information she got from it to build SG an anti-Kryptonite suit, and had it at the ready and saved our titular heroine's life when the Graves siblings radiated Earth's atmosphere with Kryptonite?

Lena learned from her mistakes. And, oh, the regret...

Kara forgave her. Tentative at first, before the Phantom Zone. But the hug™ pretty much made clear, that at least in Kara’s mind, there’s no lasting power held from Kara over Lena for her misdeeds or ongoing redemption. The trust is back, has been earned. Will be proven, without a doubt in Kara’s mind, from now on till forever. And Lena will not risk losing Kara again.  If Kara being lost to the Phantom Zone showed Lena anything, than that she cannot risk Kara again, will always fight for her, with her and at her side. (...uh, after she returned from her little self-discovery adventure. But that’s necessary, too.)

They inspire another, but for the most part and especially right now, they don't need to rely on another. They are both (well on their way back to being) independent women each in their own right.

Don’t get me wrong. Kara and Lena had their fair share of problems. Their (platonic) relationship had several problematic stages and backdrops. But as things are now, where they are headed right now, Kara and Lena each and in regards to another are / will be at a stage in their respective and common development, where for once starting a romantic relationship with another would not be out of the wrong or questionable reasons! There are no more destructive secrets between them (and no more “boxes”), they are on the same page, they both know and cherish what they’ve got in each other. They are both vulnerable and strong for another. If their feelings for another persevered this long / manifested despite (and not because) all of their shared hardships, that’s a positive depiction of a relationship! Or, to stick with the theme: There was sickness, but we’ve had time for recovery, there was and is effort put into getting and staying better, so the relationship can be healthy.

...I am not sure the show really needed to make Lena a witch. Lena is still a genius, in her ingenuity easily bypassing Brainy’s. But I guess, Brainy literally having the brain-part in his name, the writers needed another role for Lena to fulfill in the group, now she's not really the rich entrepreneur anymore. (Lex may have cut her off, but are we seriously to believe, Lena's "poor" now? Like, the woman had no savings? No endeavors under her own name? Well, okay, the post-Crisis Earth-Prime did have Lex controlling even the DEO, so maybe he had Lena on a tight leash in this world... which again has me wondering what Prime-Lena's past looked like...) So, okay, now Lena's going to be a witch. She will get magic. It’s not like the Kryptonians defying gravity (see what I did there) wasn't magic of sorts. And magic now is a separate thing from the laws of physics and can't get taken apart or understood by science. Ooookay. It does serve the purpose, though, that Lena is now / will be an irreplaceable individual in the Superfriends' line-up. This gives Lena a purpose. One she can (and will) use at Kara's side, but one that is not there because of Kara.

And all that.. and more... is a much much healthier basis for a relationship than any Kara or Lena had before.

Rationally, I am hesitant to give the writers that much credit.  However, for a little while, I got to indulge myself in hope, that it all makes sense, will make sense by the time the finale rolls around.

Because, IF Supercorp were to happen now, it has the potential to be the healthiest relationship either Kara or Lena ever had on the show.

Congratulations, you made it to the end of this essay!! Now, excuse me, while I now return to reality, where Supercorp is less likely to happen than running into leprechaun waving a rainbow flag while riding on a unicorn. 

Kue out.

[magnetothehedgehog]

Dimension’s Ridge Announcement!

Hi everyone, With all the rise in Sonic media and the great releases coming up, such as The New sonic game in 2022,the sonic movie 2, sonic prime, and literally anything Idw has been releasing including their new side series “Imposter syndrome”, I am challenged to up my game and release information on my long running project in the works. Especially Since sonic prime and Idw is literally gonna blow out all the spoilers before I do if I don't start releasing stuff first. Since its been happening constantly, I gotta be a step ahead.

So, without further ado, I introduce you to the World of Dimension's Ridge.

Dimensions Ridge is My personal Alternate Universe that seeks to combine all aspects of sonic media. In fact, its super similar to the upcoming Sonic prime, archie and Idw Comics in this regard, with it possibly being a bit more ambitious, or at least equally as ambitious as Idw.

The Series will follow a number of favorite canon and non canon characters alike, but will also their universal counterparts and alternate universe selves.

The Main overarching plot line is that a Existence level Threat is putting everything in jepoardy. This Creature Known as an Existence Eater spreads its influence to a planet by releasing its minions into it, then after enough time, it comes to absorb the planet, thus erasing it from existence entirely, as if it had never been there in the first place. This has been happening for quite a while, until a few people caught onto it. They began leaving messages and warnings to others in a attempt to save them.

Being an existence level threat, this will take the combined effort of every Version of Sonic,Tails,Sally, Eggman and everyone else if they want anything to be left in the multi-verse. This Story is about how they all come together to do just that.

However that is the main plot. The story follows many minor or sub plotlines and stories that all connect and weave into this ultimate narrative. For Stories featuring Sonic and friends, Stories start off in the classic area and work their way into the modern area as the characters develop and mature, so we get to see and live their journey alongside them. For older characters and parents, I wanted them to have a  more staple involvement in the series, even if only at the beginning. Their Adventures as the World slowly slips into chaos can be read in War on Mobius.

While there are Prequels to the beginning of the story, such as the “Rift War.”, the main storylines that kicks off all the other starts is one of my current productions “War on Mobius.”This follows the economical and political collapse following the Recent End of The Rift War and begins the Egg Empire's rise to Power.I would like to mention that The Egg Empire Now consists of the collective versions of Eggman all working together as a family. Egg Fam for short. But we have Great additions such as boom eggman, Ova Eggman, Aosth Eggman, Satam Eggman, Russian Eggman,Eggette, and a few custom additions such as Omelette and Scramble.

Things That happen in War on Mobius will be seen effecting or influencing the states of things in my Classic Era Story “Classic adventures.” and others ones such as “The Freedom Fighters.”

Alongside canon appearances of less known or scrapped characters and designs, such as Tiara and Honey the Cat, Readers can expect appearances of my own characters, both as counterparts to main characters, and also as people who drive the story forward and show interesting and dynamic opinions of their changing world. A few Such ones would be “Tribal Ties” Focusing on the Tribes of Echidnas, Bayblonians and Pangolins Tribes, all of which play a part not only in Mobius history, but also will play a vital part in its future.

After Classic adventures, comes one of my long running claims to fame and a personal favorite of mine from my early script writing days. Zone Runners. This takes place after the Events of Classic adventures and as the world has been influenced by the political unrest in War on Mobius. It follows the Group of People on the East Side of the World as they try to fight back against the Egg Empire, Newly risen Oscillators Group, and The Very lack of Sonic and Freedom Fighter there. This series will also begin unraveling some of the mysteries behind the existence eater and the ultimate narrative. Originally this concept came from the Fleetway comics, and ever since I've been completely inspired to incorporate this into my own series. If anyone was ever on Sonic Amino, they might have seen me post things related to it back in the day.

I also wish to be a more character focused series as a whole, one who focuses on the people collectively as opposed to just Sonic himself. I want it to as if each character us actually a main character and can save the day, and that the day is only won because everyone has done their part, whether powerful or powerless.

To that End, I have many characters stories intertwine, or lead to one another. Some characters will have branching off stories, while others will be closely intertwined, and always interact with each other, regardless of who the story is currently focusing on.

A few I'd like to notable mention is, Shadow's Ark, Silvers Sanctuary, and Heir of Sol. Focusing on the characters Shadow, Silver, And Blaze Respectively.

While I have a lot of other Titles for the stories respectively, I'd just to touch on a few more before I close.

Worlds collide finally answers the question in sonic media about two planets and the dimensional connundrum of sonic rush and sonic 06. While also bringing together multiple characters who were on their own paths, for the collected purpose of setting up how everyone will be needed much later.

Dimension Forces is, a reimagined Version of Sonic Forces, including a whole new team of villains to take on the heroes from our prior stories. I call them: Forever Force. The Main Three Hitters Being the Villains Infinite, Eternity, And Enigma. In this Story we'll get to see Whispers team in action, and also get to see new stories involving Gadget and His Brother Widget, and a host of other rising heroes soldiers and returning cast members.

I also had this Idea that the wisps were able to use their abilities on their own, except in smaller weaker versions then when they had a mobians help.Thus you could call in drill air strikes and other things to help you in battle, and the flew alongside you rather than in containers. I had these idea way long ago, but what do you know Idw beat me to the punch again in rise of the wisps. However I would just like to say before they do it too, that I had the idea of the wisps combining their powers, as if anyone played Sonic simulator, you would know you can actually combine wisp powers. If its the same type, its twice as strong with a bonus effect. If its different, you can combine the strengths of two different powers. Think how eggman used cube with laser in the boss nega wisp armor.

Speaking of Sonic Simulator! Thats another Story I have plans for. Following alongside the events of Sonic colors, Sonic simulator follows the group of hedgehogs abducted from Mobius and sent to eggman's interstellar amusement park as part of an organic experiment to take out sonic. Suggested by The Leader of the Oscillators, These hedgehogs will now have to work together to prove their worth to Eggman and as worthy adversaries of Sonic! But what of their past memories? What will happen if they remember? And if they do, can they escape? Find out! Also its follow up story leads to sonic lost world.

I'd also like to talk about the Idw Verse Mini series I have been working on! Getting Art from the Talented CatRage and getting to voice my Ideas to My Friends as well as My sister, I present my own Miniseries! Mimic's misadventures!

This story takes place between  the events of Idw's Bad guys, and follows mimic's operations and struggles as he tries to complete his missions, and deal with people of similar caliber to himself. Will this mercenary manipulate his way easily out of another situation? Or has the Octopus finally met the one group who will send him back to the ocean? Find out!

Currently, this miniseries has 5 canon issues and one undecided.

1.Ghost Of The North.

2.Into the Spiders Nest

3.Hunt is on

4.Jaws of a Predator

5.Belly of the Beast

undecided: 6.Seaside Escapade.

Currently I am writing the script for Part 1 of Ghost of the North and hope to finish up the Audio drama reading for it soon.

So this is all the stuff I've had in production for the past few years! Along with my co writer Pinky heart.

Please, Please! Reblog or retweet this. It would mean the world to me. Also please! Ask as many questions as you'd like. I'll answer as many as I can, and would love to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions, as well as questions and inquires involving the series.

[antoine-roquentin]

If every language is acquirable, its acquisition requires a real portion of a person’s life: each new conquest is measured against shortening days. What limits one’s access to other languages is not their imperviousness but one’s own mortality. Hence a certain privacy to all languages. French and American imperialists governed, exploited, and killed Vietnamese over many years. But whatever else they made off with, the Vietnamese language stayed put. Accordingly, only too often, a rage at Vietnamese ‘inscrutability,’ and that obscure despair which engenders the venomous argots of dying colonialisms: ‘gooks,’ ‘ratons’, etc.12 (In the longer run, the only responses to the vast privacy of the language of the oppressed are retreat or further massacre.) Such epithets are, in their inner form, characteristically racist, and decipherment of this form will serve to show why Nairn is basically mistaken in arguing that racism and anti-semitism derive from nationalism – and thus that ‘seen in sufficient historical depth, fascism tells us more about nationalism than any other episode.’13 A word like ‘slant,’ for example, abbreviated from ‘slant-eyed’, does not simply express an ordinary political enmity. It erases nation-ness by reducing the adversary to his biological physiognomy.14 It denies, by substituting for, ‘Vietnamese;’ just as raton denies, by substituting for, ‘Algerian’. At the same time, it stirs ‘Vietnamese’ into a nameless sludge along with ‘Korean,’ ‘Chinese,’ ‘Filipino,’ and so on. The character of this vocabulary may become still more evident if it is contrasted with other Vietnam-War-period words like ‘Charlie’ and ‘V.C.’, or from an earlier era, ‘Boches,’ ‘Huns,’ ‘Japs’ and ‘Frogs,’ all of which apply only to one specific nationality, and thus concede, in hatred, the adversary’s membership in a league of nations.15 The fact of the matter is that nationalism thinks in terms of historical destinies, while racism dreams of eternal contaminations, transmitted from the origins of time through an endless sequence of loathsome copulations: outside history. Niggers are, thanks to the invisible tar-brush, forever niggers; Jews, the seed of Abraham, forever Jews, no matter what passports they carry or what languages they speak and read. (Thus for the Nazi, the Jewish German was always an impostor.)16 The dreams of racism actually have their origin in ideologies of class, rather than in those of nation: above all in claims to divinity among rulers and to ‘blue’ or ‘white’ blood and ‘breeding’ among aristocracies.17 No surprise then that the putative sire of modern racism should be, not some petty-bourgeois nationalist, but Joseph Arthur, Comte de Gobineau.18 Nor that, on the whole, racism and anti-semitism manifest themselves, not across national boundaries, but within them. In other words, they justify not so much foreign wars as domestic repression and domination.19 Where racism developed outside Europe in the nineteenth century, it was always associated with European domination, for two converging reasons. First and most important was the rise of official nationalism and colonial ‘Russification’. As has been repeatedly emphasized official nationalism was typically a response on the part of threatened dynastic and aristocratic groups – upper classes – to popular vernacular nationalism. Colonial racism was a major element in that conception of ‘Empire’ which attempted to weld dynastic legitimacy and national community. It did so by generalizing a principle of innate, inherited superiority on which its own domestic position was (however shakily) based to the vastness of the overseas possessions, covertly (or not so covertly) conveying the idea that if, say, English lords were naturally superior to other Englishmen, no matter: these other Englishmen were no less superior to the subjected natives. Indeed one is tempted to argue that the existence of late colonial empires even served to shore up domestic aristocratic bastions, since they appeared to confirm on a global, modern stage antique conceptions of power and privilege. It could do so with some effect because – and here is our second reason – the colonial empire, with its rapidly expanding bureaucratic apparatus and its ‘Russifying’ policies, permitted sizeable numbers of bourgeois and petty bourgeois to play aristocrat off centre court: i.e. anywhere in the empire except at home. In each colony one found this grimly amusing tableau vivant: the bourgeois gentilhomme speaking poetry against a backcloth of spacious mansions and gardens filled with mimosa and bougainvillea, and a large supporting cast of houseboys, grooms, gardeners, cooks, amahs, maids, washerwomen, and, above all, horses.20 Even those who did not manage to live in this style, such as young bachelors, nonetheless had the grandly equivocal status of a French nobleman on the eve of a jacquerie:21 In Moulmein, in lower Burma [this obscure town needs explaining to readers in the metropole], I was hated by large numbers of people – the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me. I was sub-divisional police officer of the town. This ‘tropical Gothic’ was made possible by the overwhelming power that high capitalism had given the metropole – a power so great that it could be kept, so to speak, in the wings. Nothing better illustrates capitalism in feudal-aristocratic drag than colonial militaries, which were notoriously distinct from those of the metropoles, often even in formal institutional terms. 22 Thus in Europe one had the ‘First Army,’ recruited by conscription on a mass, citizen, metropolitan base; ideologically conceived as the defender of the heimat; dressed in practical, utilitarian khaki; armed with the latest affordable weapons; in peacetime isolated in barracks, in war stationed in trenches or behind heavy field-guns. Outside Europe one had the ‘Second Army,’ recruited (below the officer level) from local religious or ethnic minorities on a mercenary basis; ideologically conceived as an internal police force; dressed to kill in bed-or ballroom; armed with swords and obsolete industrial weapons; in peace on display, in war on horseback. If the Prussian General Staff, Europe’s military teacher, stressed the anonymous solidarity of a professionalized corps, ballistics, railroads, engineering, strategic planning, and the like, the colonial army stressed glory, epaulettes, personal heroism, polo, and an archaizing courtliness among its officers. (It could afford to do so because the First Army and the Navy were there in the background.) This mentality survived a long time. In Tonkin, in 1894, Lyautey wrote:23 Quel dommage de n’être pas venu ici dix ans plus tôt! Quelles carrières à y fonder et à y mener. Il n’y a pas ici un de ces petits lieutenants, chefs de poste et de reconnaissance, qui ne développe en 6 mois plus d’initiative, de volonté, d’endurance, de personnalité, qu’un officier de France en toute sa carrière. In Tonkin, in 1951, Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, ‘who liked officers who combined guts with “style,” took an immediate liking to the dashing cavalryman [Colonel de Castries] with his bright-red Spahi cap and scarf, his magnificent riding-crop, and his combination of easy-going manners and ducal mien, which made him as irresistible to women in Indochina in the 1950s as he had been to Parisiennes of the 1930s.’24 Another instructive indication of the aristocratic or pseudo-aristocratic derivation of colonial racism was the typical ‘solidarity among whites,’ which linked colonial rulers from different national metropoles, whatever their internal rivalries and conflicts. This solidarity, in its curious trans-state character, reminds one instantly of the class solidarity of Europe’s nineteenth-century aristocracies, mediated through each other’s hunting-lodges, spas, and ballrooms; and of that brotherhood of ‘officers and gentlemen,’ which in the Geneva convention guaranteeing privileged treatment to captured enemy officers, as opposed to partisans or civilians, has an agreeably twentieth-century expression. The argument adumbrated thus far can also be pursued from the side of colonial populations. For, the pronouncements of certain colonial ideologues aside, it is remarkable how little that dubious entity known as ‘reverse racism’ manifested itself in the anticolonial movements. In this matter it is easy to be deceived by language. There is, for example, a sense in which the Javanese word londo (derived from Hollander or Nederlander) meant not only ‘Dutch’ but ‘whites.’ But the derivation itself shows that, for Javanese peasants, who scarcely ever encountered any ‘whites’ but Dutch, the two meanings effectively overlapped. Similarly, in French colonial territories, ‘les blancs’ meant rulers whose Frenchness was indistinguishable from their whiteness. In neither case, so far as I know, did londo or blanc either lose caste or breed derogatory secondary distinctions.25 On the contrary, the spirit of anticolonial nationalism is that of the heart-rending Constitution of Makario Sakay’s short-lived Republic of Katagalugan (1902), which said, among other things:26 No Tagalog, born in this Tagalog archipelago, shall exalt any person above the rest because of his race or the colour of his skin; fair, dark, rich, poor, educated and ignorant – all are completely equal, and should be in one loób [inward spirit]. There may be differences in education, wealth, or appearance, but never in essential nature (pagkatao) and ability to serve a cause. One can find without difficulty analogies on the other side of the globe. Spanish-speaking mestizo Mexicans trace their ancestries, not to Castilian conquistadors, but to half-obliterated Aztecs, Mayans, Toltecs and Zapotecs. Uruguayan revolutionary patriots, creoles themselves, took up the name of Tupac Amarú, the last great indigenous rebel against creole oppression, who died under unspeakable tortures in 1781. It may appear paradoxical that the objects of all these attachments are ‘imagined’ – anonymous, faceless fellow-Tagalogs, exterminated tribes, Mother Russia, or the tanah air. But amor patriae does not differ in this respect from the other affections, in which there is always an element of fond imagining. (This is why looking at the photo-albums of strangers’ weddings is like studying the archaeologist’s groundplan of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.) What the eye is to the lover – that particular, ordinary eye he or she is born with – language – whatever language history has made his or her mother-tongue �� is to the patriot. Through that language, encountered at mother’s knee and parted with only at the grave, pasts are restored, fellowships are imagined, and futures dreamed. 12. The logic here is: 1. I will be dead before I have penetrated them. 2. My power is such that they have had to learn my language. 3. But this means that my privacy has been penetrated. Terming them ‘gooks’ is small revenge. 13. The Break-up of Britain, pp. 337 and 347. 14. Notice that there is no obvious, selfconscious antonym to ‘slant.’ ‘Round’? ‘Straight’? ‘Oval’? 15. Not only, in fact, in an earlier era. Nonetheless, there is a whiff of the antique-shop about these words of Debray: ‘I can conceive of no hope for Europe save under the hegemony of a revolutionary France, firmly grasping the banner of independence. Sometimes I wonder if the whole “anti-Boche” mythology and our secular antagonism to Germany may not be one day indispensable for saving the revolution, or even our national-democratic inheritance.’ ‘Marxism and the National Question,’ p. 41. 16. The significance of the emergence of Zionism and the birth of Israel is that the former marks the reimagining of an ancient religious community as a nation, down there among the other nations – while the latter charts an alchemic change from wandering devotee to local patriot. 17. ‘From the side of the landed aristocracy came conceptions of inherent superiority in the ruling class, and a sensitivity to status, prominent traits well into the twentieth century. Fed by new sources, these conceptions could later be vulgarized [sic] and made appealing to the German population as a whole in doctrines of racial superiority.’ Barrington Moore, Jr., Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy, p. 436. 18. Gobineau’s dates are perfect. He was born in 1816, two years after the restoration of the Bourbons to the French throne. His diplomatic career, 1848–1877, blossomed under Louis Napoléon’s Second Empire and the reactionary monarchist regime of Marie Edmé Patrice Maurice, Comte de MacMahon, former imperialist proconsul in Algiers. His Essai sur l’Inégalité des Races Humaines appeared in 1854 – should one say in response to the popular vernacular-nationalist insurrections of 1848? 19. South African racism has not, in the age of Vorster and Botha, stood in the way of amicable relations (however discreetly handled) with prominent black politicians in certain independent African states. If Jews suffer discrimination in the Soviet Union, that did not prevent respectful working relations between Brezhnev and Kissinger. 20. For a stunning collection of photographs of such tableaux vivants in the Netherlands Indies (and an elegantly ironical text), see ‘E. Breton de Nijs,’ Tempo Doeloe. 21. George Orwell, ‘Shooting an Elephant,’ in The Orwell Reader, p. 3. The words in square brackets are of course my interpolation. 22. The KNIL (Koninklijk Nederlandsch-Indisch Leger) was quite separate from the KL (Koninklijk Leger) in Holland. The Légion Étrangère was almost from the start legally prohibited from operations on continental French soil. 23. Lettres du Tonkin et de Madagascar (1894–1899), p. 84. Letter of December 22, 1894, from Hanoi. Emphases added. 24. Bernard B. Fall, Hell is a Very Small Place: The Siege of Dien Bien Phu, p. 56. One can imagine the shudder of Clausewitz’s ghost. [Spahi, derived like Sepoy from the Ottoman Sipahi, meant mercenary irregular cavalrymen of the ‘Second Army’ in Algeria.] It is true that the France of Lyautey and de Lattre was a Republican France. However, the often talkative Grande Muette had since the start of the Third Republic been an asylum for aristocrats increasingly excluded from power in all other important institutions of public life. By 1898, a full quarter of all Brigadier-and Major-Generals were aristocrats. Moreover, this aristocrat-dominated officer corps was crucial to nineteenth and twentieth-century French imperialism. ‘The rigorous control imposed on the army in the métropole never extended fully to la France d’outremer. The extension of the French Empire in the nineteenth century was partially the result of uncontrolled initiative on the part of colonial military commanders. French West Africa, largely the creation of General Faidherbe, and the French Congo as well, owed most of their expansion to independent military forays into the hinterland. Military officers were also responsible for the faits accomplis which led to a French protectorate in Tahiti in 1842, and, to a lesser extent, to the French occupation of Tonkin in Indochina in the 1880’s . . . In 1897 Galliéni summarily abolished the monarchy in Madagascar and deported the Queen, all without consulting the French government, which later accepted the fait accompli . . .’ John S. Ambler, The French Army in Politics, 1945–1962, pp. 10–11 and 22. 25. I have never heard of an abusive argot word in Indonesian or Javanese for either ‘Dutch’ or ‘white.’ Compare the Anglo-Saxon treasury: niggers, wops, kikes, gooks, slants, fuzzywuzzies, and a hundred more. It is possible that this innocence of racist argots is true primarily of colonized populations. Blacks in America – and surely elsewhere – have developed a varied counter-vocabulary (honkies, ofays, etc.). 26. As cited in Reynaldo Ileto’s masterlyPasyón and Revolution: Popular Movements in the Philippines, 1840–1910, p. 218. Sakay’s rebel republic lasted until 1907, when he was captured and executed by the Americans. Understanding the first sentence requires remembering that three centuries of Spanish rule and Chinese immigration had produced a sizeable mestizo population in the islands.

Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities

[hyunrun]

Dream SMP/Batfam

This is my reasoning for connections between Dream SMP members and the Bats. This was all just for fun, but feel free to give feedback if you’d like! And do say if I’ve made a mistake. I haven’t done everyone, so if there’s anyone else you’d like me to do, lemme know! Please read, I spent a good while on this :D

Batman (Bruce Wayne)/Technoblade: Technoblade's Dream SMP origin story starts with his parents dying, so the backstory fits. He swears to kill all orphans because of the way they killed his parents (Similar to the way Bruce wanted to stop crime from running rampant in Gotham). Techno is also, technically, an orphan as Bruce was. I've always imagined Bruce's voice to be kinda like Techno's, especially that monotone tone he uses, and especially when he's Batman and not Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne is -Bat-man and Technoblade is a pig, need I elaborate? Both of them seem to stay up till ungodly times of the day, and I'm sure their sleep schedules are never on the same clock as anyone else's, Bruce's because of his vigilante lifestyle and Techno because... well, he's a Minecraft YouTuber. Both of them have a father figure, although not biological. They also have a friendly rivalry with a fellow content creator/hero (Cough Dream/Superman cough). We say Dick/Wilbur is dramatic, but you can't possibly mean to tell me Batman/Technoblade isn’t subtly more dramatic. They practically invented being dramatic in their respective businesses.

Alfred Pennyworth/Philza Minecraft: Is the father figure to Batman/Technoblade. Is really a force of chaos but everyone pictures them as a soft, loving dad because we all have parental issues and we need more father figures. Both of them are very badass in their own ways. Old and British. Here's a parallel I thought was pretty cool. Philza had been building up his hardcore world for 5 years before he died. It was like his home disappeared in front of his eyes as he fell away from his life. I'm not sure which continuity/arc this is from (Please do not hate on me, I am but a small child) bUT I do know that Alfred died of a heart attack/stroke at the same time the Wayne Manor was destroyed. His home was destroyed as he died. Just as Philza's had been.

Damian Wayne/TommyInnit: Is never really loved by anyone at first glance (From the fandoms). Tommy's the loud, annoying one, Damian's the grouchy, haughty one. But everyone eventually gravitates towards their characters later on. Their families were wary of them at first but grew to love them. Both of them are the youngest, and generally angriest child. Both are not American, Tommy being British and Damian, Arabic. They both have ICONIC mothers. MotherInnit is a queen, we all know this. If she can handle Tommy, she can handle absolutely anything. Talia Al Ghul has a reputation of her own right, and while she hasn't quite the pristine repertoire, she definitely strikes a strong mark on people. Now, this is a dumb connection between the two, but hair!! Tommy’s seems nice and floofy while Damian's is generally drawn spiky, and I think that's a cool contrast. Their love for pets is also important to note. Tommy's the one that's known for starting wars over the deaths of his pets, and it's easy to know that Damian wouldn't hesitate to hurt someone if they did anything to Titus or Batcow. It’s been shown on multiple occasions that he loves his pets a lot.

Jon Kent/Tubbo_: Best friends with Tommy/Damian. Do not try to argue that Jon and Damian aren't best friends because come onnn. And PLEASE do not take this as a dumb excuse to ship Tommy and Tubbo, as I know people ship Dami and Jon. Both are the embodiment of chaos wrapped in kindness, and both are definitely the more stable of their friendship with the other gremlin children. I am confident that both would probably refer to their parents as mother and father dearest. You cannot convince me otherwise. Tubbo has already done so, and Jon would never disrespect his parents, so this would obviously be the next best alternative for when he is upset by them. Jon’s powers fluctuate upon shifts in emotion and he can’t really control his powers, like the shifting of Tubbo’s alter egos. We never know when Toob or Big Law will creep out of the shadows.

Dick Grayson/Wilbur Soot: (Second) most dramatic in the family, though perceived as the drama queen because of their boisterous personalities. The one that was probably a theatre kid in school. The lighthearted one that keeps everyone cheerful, but also the one with the easiest path to a horrid descent into madness. They have a flair for drama, the glitter and sparkles to Batman/Technoblade’s sombre smoke and haze, which is why they work together so well. The closest family member to Tommy/Damian. Their little brother/big brother dynamics are just impeccable. Both are the most simped for by their respective fanbases (from what I’ve seen). The token pretty boys. Both artistically talented in different ways, with Wilbur’s music and Dick’s acrobatic skills. Also the ones that get constantly shipped with every woman they literally even look at. They also express their dramatic tendencies through their clothes, Dick with his jazzy Discowing suit and Wilbur’s dramatic L’manburg outfit.

Superman/Dream: The OP gods, need I say more? Friendly rivals with Technoblade/Batman. Very often perceived as ‘Perfect’ which they are not, but many refuse to accept that. A funny parallel I drew was the fact that both of them are famous in their own rights, but can just walk around and not get recognised despite millions of people knowing their online/superhero identities. Both are technically not human.

Stephanie (Batgirl/Spoiler)/Sapnap: Both of their names start with S! Not my only reasoning, but I’ll take it into account anyway. Both are basic looking in my head (Blue eyes blonde hair for Steph?? There’s at least 3 other girls that look EXACTLY like her in the nearby DC universes. And Sapnap blends in with every other white boy, though I love him regardless.) but both also have immaculate personalities to make up for it. They’re the most normal people out of all their co-streamers/superheroes in my eyes, also my favourites. (I didn’t realise as I put them together that I loved them most but here we are). They’re both great at dumb banter. They don’t have huge, hilarious bits often or any constant jokes that are pulled on time and time again, but their general atmosphere makes everything seem like a joke. They may not be the best at what they do in their friend groups but are actually really good nonetheless and do not get due credit for their effort and talent sometimes. Has a warring relationship with Damian/Tommy (Sapnap over the pets and Steph and Dami didn’t have the most friendly relationship at the start)

Jason/BBH- Same but opposite but same. Exists to cause chaos. I wouldn’t have associated these two with each other till the Badlands became a thing… but then the Badlands became a thing and I had to. Now, I know that technically Bad doesn’t have a grudge against Techno, but Jason would totally set up a whole empire just to mess with Bruce’s plans, just to get in the way, to instigate, to fan the flames of the fire till he’s driven Bruce to his breaking point. Bad isn’t exactly trying to do that, but he’s only around for the chaos. He’s only here for his own benefit, and he’s only here for that because of the hurt caused to him by the nation he came from. A parallel being Jason causing havoc because of the pain Bruce caused him. Besides, both have a cool red and black colour scheme, and both wear jacket!! Both are also technically not alive (If we're considering BBH as a demon).

Roy Harper/Skeppy: I have absolutely no explanation for this, but it just Fits. Besides, they have cool opposing colour schemes and are best friends with BBH/Jason!!

Aaaand last but not least

Jason/Technoblade: Now you must be thinking But Kaly you already spoke about them! And yes, I did, and they do go really well with their respective characters but I couldn’t simply ignore the connection between these two, so I thought I might as well write about it. Technoblade was an English major (If I remember correctly) before he dropped out to pursue his youtube career. Jason, though this may not be a well-known fact, was a definite literature nerd at school before he met his demise. Their cut off education in English is an interesting parallel to me. Both of them also have destructive tendencies, with Technoblade being an anarchist and Jason periodically running an underground empire to make sure he can do whatever the hell he wants to. They don’t generally care who they hurt on their way to reach their end goal. Jason’s reckless shooting and killing clearly shows this, as he continuously justifies his actions by saying he’s ending crime rather than just making it wait in line for its turn to pop up again, while Technoblade’s release of the withers and excessive use of his firework crossbow clearly shows that the deaths of the residents of L’manburg do not matter to him as long as he abolishes the government.

[rebelsofshield]

Star Wars: The Clone Wars: “Victory and Death” -Review

After twelve years, Star Wars: The Clone Wars comes to a close in a finale that is high on tension and somber atmosphere.

(Review contains spoilers)

Rex now free from the control of his inhibitor chip, Ahsoka and he make a desperate bid for safety from Order 66 and a rampaging Maul.

After the chaos and surprising plotting of the last three episodes, there is a welcome simplicity to “Victory and Death.” The Siege of Mandalore has been left behind. Anakin has fallen to the Dark Side and Order 66 is now enacted across the galaxy. The great Jedi apocalypse is now in full tilt and The Clone Wars is forced to conclude in its aftermath.

As a result, the first three quarters of “Victory and Death” are a nail biting fight for survival. Rex, Ahsoka, and Maul are all each at their wits end as they attempt to escape this tumultuous moment alive. It’s a miracle of directing and writing that Nathaniel Villanueva and Dave Filoni are able to make this such a breathless episode. We know the fates of the three major players in this story. Their futures will carry on for years from this moment, but somehow “Victory and Death” milks any ounce of uncertainty for all its worth. It’s easy to imagine just how traumatic this episode would’ve been in an alternate universe where Rebels did not yet exist and our understanding of the end of this series was all the more uncertain.

Part of the reason why this ends up working so beautifully is the clear emotional pain that our characters are suffering through. Ahsoka and Rex make an early pact that they aren’t going to take the lives of their brothers and former comrades in arms. It’s an understandable but almost impossible morality play. When Ahsoka removes Rex’s helmet to find him tearing up, it’s with the realization that they may very well have to kill those they love to survive. Filoni smartly mines this emotional line in the sand for maximum heartbreak. Even as their deaths feel more and more certain, neither of our heroes strike the killing blow. It’s the one act of light and true heroism in this somber and even despairing finale.

The action direction sells all of this chaos and desperation with sweeping scale and up close intensity. Just as Ahsoka and Rex’s set pieces are defined by two fundamentally good people pushed to their limit, Maul’s show a man of unbound anger and without limitation. Those who adored his hallway carnage in “Shattered” are sure to get a lot out of his merciless destruction of the Venator and the people inside. The in atmosphere disintegration of the ship functions as a great element of atmospheric storytelling as the setting for so many episodes of The Clone Wars comes apart at the seams  and scatters the good, the bad, and the helpless to the wind.  

There is likely to be some frustration though with so many open threads still dangling for the future of our characters and our universe. There isn’t the catharsis of a reunion between Obi-Wan and Ahsoka. There isn’t an answer to how Wolffe had his chip removed. There’s no image of baby Luke and Leia. The ending that is shown here is decidedly bleak. Not interested in answering questions or even offering a hopeful hint as to where we may go going forward. This is the ultimate purpose and achievement of “Victory and Death.” It’s an extended denouement of a tragedy.

The wordless final minutes of “Victory and Death” make for some of the best filmmaking of the series. Ahsoka and Rex bury their friends and leave behind everything they knew for an uncertain future. Villanueva marks these moments by a focus on negative space and artifacts. Despite the smoldering wreckage and the clone helmet grave markers, Villanueva makes a point to show our characters as alone and surrounded by a desolate landscape. Ahsoka and Rex don’t embrace and set off for a more hopeful future. Our last shot of our heroine is her letting go of the identity that she has held for so long. Fully and finally casting off the way of the Jedi.

In a moment that none of us expected, “Victory and Death” jumps forward. The Empire has discovered the crash of the Venator and an ebony clad figure steps out into the snow and picks up a discarded lightsaber. For a few brief and quiet moments, Darth Vader enters The Clone Wars. As opposed to Ahsoka and Rex, who were surrounded by memorials for those they cared for and presumably setting off for some future together, Vader is shot alone. His black suit stands out in the frozen wasteland indicating how truly alone the broken man inside is. Filoni and Villanueva pack so much into these wordless moments. Vader takes Ahsoka’s lightsaber. Perhaps as a memento of the man he used to be or as a trophy. A convor flies above. Ahsoka’s eventual companion Morai watching over this moment for unknown purposes. And with that. With the ushering in of a dark time and a buried orange helmet in the snow, Star Wars: The Clone Wars comes to an end. A series that was marked with joy, adventure, heroism, and heartbreak, closes wordlessly with a burial of an era and its people.

Kevin Kiner once again knocked it out of the park here. Kiner’s score in this final arc should be known as one of the great Star Wars soundtracks in the franchise’s history. From the symphonic triumph of the invasion of Mandalore, the eerie foreboding that carried the middle of this arc, the chaotic action beats of this last episode, and the somber heartbreak at its end, The Siege of Mandalore sounds beautiful and “Victory and Death” is the best of the bunch. It’s more than a little impressive how masterfully Kiner layers in the character motifs for Ahsoka and Rex with the larger movements of tragedy and suspense. Also, I’m sure all of us will have the final song “Burying the Dead” lodged in our memory for all time.

It’s far from the ending many of us expected, but it’s fitting and sobering in its honesty and vulnerability. It’s restrained in its focus and razor sharp in its depiction of isolation and uncertainty. It’s one of the few, if only, Star Wars stories that ends without a shred of hope for the future. It’s a move that shows the incredible maturity that The Clone Wars has achieved as a series and as a collective creation of the artists that brought it to life for over a decade. In its final moments, it doesn’t feel the need for bombast, for spectacle, or for homage. It lets its own artistry and the story it has been crafting for so long come together in the way it needed to, confidently assured in the quiet sadness that it deserves.

Score: A+

[bagheerita]

So I just finished Empire of Gold and need to gush about The Daevabad Trilogy for a minute.

(I try to be vague, but that's exactly when I up and hit you with low-key SPOILERS, so be aware.)

My rambling is only barely organized into the format of randomly selected topics in order to provide a vague outline for my outflowing of affection for each book.

CITY OF BRASS

Favorite character: Definitely Nahri. I love a woman who isn't afraid to go after what she wants, and boy howdy do I love me a pragmatist. AND do I love me a girl who can keep her head on her shoulders even when she's in-lust with man. As much as she is truly falling in love with Dara, she never forgets the way he looked at her when he thought she was shafit and his relief when Ghassan said she wasn't. She would have married him if he had offered I think, but she was smart enough to make him take the first step to cross the gap that his prejudice had put between them.

Most impressive thing: The way the author uses her narrator to tell a story that the narrative character doesn't always fully understand. This mostly comes through Ali's chapters at this point cause he's a little naive, but it's really skillfully done.

 KINGDOM OF COPPER

Least favorite thing: There are some moments that just felt... weirdly written. There's three big ones that come to mind...

At the beginning- the way the writing describes the environment. I'm paraphrasing because it's been a week since I read it and I don’t remember details, but it's like "the only sound in the graveyard was the distant sound of cats fighting" then, five minutes later "The only sound was the sound of coins jingling in her basket."  Like, where were those coins five minutes ago?! Also, why does an experienced thief put coins in a jingly basket that is easy to steal or drop instead of hiding them on her person??? (That's super nitpicky, but it was the first chapter, so I noticed it more.)

The second big moment that annoyed me was... okay so Dara learns that Muntadhir is bisexual through mind-reading powers that he's never previously demonstrated? I mean, there are enough clues about how he does it, and it makes sense to the character's history that he can sense peoples’ desires, but it felt weird that this is the only time we really see him use this power- here, as the inciting incident to the third act, where so much of the plot revolves around it. Dara already knew that Ghassan was planning to force Nahri to marry Muntadhir, they'd already talked about this, so I'm not sure what about Muntadhir being in a relationship with a man, as opposed to the multiple women he’s slept with this week, was enough to make this prospect so immediately repugnant that Dara goes absolutely stupid about it and incites the climax of the book.

Then there's the epilogue that basically just exists to point out what we already learned about Muntadhir and Jamshid. I thought that was kind of unnecessary, as no one in this epilogue scene, including the reader, doesn't already know about this relationship. Though the epilogue does also contain what I think was supposed to be foreshadowing, but which sent me off on a weird mental tangent where I spent most of the second book thinking Jamshid was the reincarnation of Rustam...

Favorite character: Muntadhir, hands down. There is one scene in particular, where he sasses Dara while dying of poison that is just my favorite scene in the entire book. I mean, I think part of my enjoyment was that I had been worried that he was about to be a victim of the Bury Your Gays trope, so when he shows back up still not dead I was so relieved to see him I literally squeeeed, and then he's bragging to Dara about something I explicitly know didn't happen, just actively involved in assassinating his own character because he has nothing else he can give to save his brother at that point except trying to distract Dara by enraging him... omg, do I love me some brotherly feels- my second favorite scene was the three siblings in a closet plotting a coup.

Least favorite thing: Dara lying to himself and justifying Manizheh's actions for the entire book. I get that the fact that he was lied to and betrayed by the people in power that he should have been able to trust is a big part of his arc, but I was not excited to have his POV added to this book just to have him and everyone around him spout off more prejudiced victim narrative bullshit every time I flipped to his chapters, like I wasn't getting enough of that from practically every other character in the story.

Most impressive thing: The author draws some really great parallels and contrasts between the 3 main characters and their journeys that I absolutely love. In chapter 2, Nahri says something like "Where's your sense of adventure?" to her new friend and then literally in the next chapter Ali says "Have you no sense of inquisitiveness?" to his new friend. (I don't like to call ships that early in the story, but I was like- these two are fated to be best friends if not something more.)  A bit later in the story, Dara is presented with a choice: to do the easy thing or to do the Right thing, and he chooses the easy path even though he knows that it's wrong. After this, Ali is presented with a choice: to do the easy thing or the Right thing, and he does the Right thing, even though he knows that it ultimately probably won't help. I just really love that this story always feels like every narrative POV and every chapter fully develops the character and contributes to the world. 

I also really love the twists and turns that Ali and Nahri’s relationship has taken over these first two books. They really have grown as individuals, and have believed the best and worst of each other, and understand each other in a way that is a great foundation for a truly lasting friendship (which is, of course, the best bedrock for building a more intimate relationship).

 EMPIRE OF GOLD

Favorite character: Sobek. I have a soft spot for unrepentant murderers who have a soft spot for the people they find interesting.

Least favorite thing: It ended? I know this book was long enough to be an entire trilogy on its own, but I would have loved more at the end from the side characters. Like, I want 100 more pages just about Jamshid and Muntadhir. I was explicit confirmation of what Zaynab and Aquisa are up to, and a sequel trilogy about their adventures. I want more about Fiza and what her plans are for the future. I want orchard shenanigans with Mishmish. I want more about Sudha and her family. I want more about Nahri conning everyone into making a functional government, and I want more about the trials of everyone in the city learning to not hate and judge as a first reflex. Just MORE!

Most impressive thing: Overall I was just impressed with this entire book. If I had to pick one thing, I would probably say I was most impressed, and pleasantly surprised, by Dara's ending. By this point in the story, I was certain that Dara had transgressed every transgression that it was possible to transgress, and lied to himself the entire way, only deciding upon the Right course of action when it was exactly 2 minutes too late, so I was prepared for him to find Redemption in Death. But once again I was pleasantly surprised at this story's refusal to follow popular story tropes, when it instead granted him true freedom as he perhaps had never known in his life, and the ability to choose who he would live that life in service of- choosing to help those who, like him, had been victims of the ifrit. 

I want more stories like this, about characters who are unforgivable, but who are forgiven- not by people or by those they have wronged, but by the narrative itself. Who are able and allowed to rededicate their lives to something, choosing to see their own actions and commit to helping people instead of just blindly following.

 OVERALL

Favorite character: I want to say Nahri, though I also really appreciate Ali and his quiet growth from being naive and kind of annoying to a man who is finally comfortable with and understands himself. But I think I’m going to have to choose Jamshid. I really like characters who are honest with themselves about their motivations, and I really admire his willingness to be open to change, to having his entire world and beliefs be turned upside down and try to go with the new way of being instead of holding on to the past, to confess his sins and be honest with Nahri, to believe in the people he knows rather than in what others say about them when Manizheh tries to manipulate him, to have been through everything he's been through and still retain a sense of humor and a generally upbeat personality.

The author does a good job of presenting all of the characters as fully rounded people so that there isn't really a character that I find poorly written. I definitely disagree with a lot of characters, and dislike them as individual people, and Manizheh comes the closest to being someone I truly hate, but you can see the paths that brought these people to be who they are. There are some great lines- where I think it's Nahri who notes that Ghassan's father make him like he was by his abuse, as he had twisted Manizheh  up with his own abuse, and that Muntadhir could have easily become just like his father. All people have the potential inside of them to be good or to be evil, and they are formed by the circumstances of their lives, the choices they make, and the power they give to the relationships they have.  I also loved that, once she learns the truth about her parents, Nahri notes how much of herself she gets from her Egyptian mother, just as much as she got her Nahid heritage from Rustam, and that it's a part of her that she can be proud of and celebrate.

 Most impressive thing: I don't like "realistic" fantasy, where lots of people die, because that tends to be an excuse for the book to just be really depressing. This story really surprised me by being realistic but in a way that was still full of hope. Sometimes people are terrible, or they are broken by the world and can no longer see anything beyond their pain, and a lot of the time the institutions we have created are terrible and are built on terrible things. But there is still always a need for people who do the right thing, who stand up for those who are being treated unfairly, who are willing to make sacrifices to break down the "us" and "them" that divides people. Who are willing to see change not as something to be feared but as a beautiful potential.

Least MOST favorite thing:  As Chakraborty herself notes in her afterward:  "There are days when it feels silly and selfish to spend my days crafting tales of monsters and magic. But I still believe, desperately, in the power of stories. If you take any message from this trilogy, I hope it is to choose what's right even when it seems hopeless - especially when it seems hopeless. Stand for justice, be a light, and remember what it is we were promised by the One who knows better.

“With every hardship comes ease."

I also believe in the power of stories, and I’m so excited to have been able to experience this one.  <3

[demetrius-sinclair]

𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐔𝐒 𝐑𝐀𝐅𝐀𝐄𝐋 𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐑 “We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”

♘ 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙸𝙲𝚂

Name: Demetrius Rafael Heroux Sinclair Nickname: Dem Date of Birth: 07 October 1990 [33] Place of Birth: Clamart, France [French-American] Hometown: Sacramento, CA, USA Current Residence: Los Angeles, CA, USA Occupation: Founder & Owner of “Club 916”

♘ 𝙵𝙰𝙼𝙸𝙻𝚈

Status: Married to Valencia Sinclair (née Cavallero) — June 29, 2019; m. October 28, 2019 Children: ⋆ Noelle Rose Sinclair (b. May 05, 2020) ⋆ Daniel Gregory Sinclair (b. March 28, 2023) Father: Daniel Bryant Mother: Amelie Heroux Adoptive Father: Gregory Sinclair Adoptive Mother: Caroline Sinclair (née Johnson) Sibling(s): Ezra & Christian Bryant (half-brothers)

♘ 𝙱𝙰𝙲𝙺𝚂𝚃𝙾𝚁𝚈

Adopted shortly after his birth, Demetrius — or "Dem" as he's more commonly known — is his family's only child. But his childhood wasn't one he experienced alone. For as long as he could remember, there wasn't a moment in his life where he didn't share it with his best friend, Ezra Bryant. From the moment their mothers placed them in the same playpen at age one, in the hopes that they'd play together, they've been inseparable ever since. But despite their close bond, they were as different as night and day. Dem was, and still is, the quieter of the two. Often described as being cool, calm and collected regardless of any situation, he always much preferred to be in the shadows as opposed to the glaring spotlight. But it didn't mean he didn't have any fun of his own.  If anything, high school and college were nothing but fun. It had to be, what with the amount of time the two of them pored over their studies. Parties were a great stress reliever, and the beautiful ladies were a great perk. But eventually, there came a time when the two were finally separated; Dem went to Paris to further his studies while Ezra went his own way. But naturally, it didn't take long before they were reunited, though this time they had grown from being boys to men. With their education and specific skill sets deep in their pockets, they grew their very own empires. "Club 916" — aptly named after the area code of his hometown — was established first. A few years later, another of the same name was built in Seattle, then one in Los Angeles. Geared up to open three more in the East Coast whilst still overseeing his current three in the West, it's kept him plenty busy.  However, as of the past year or so, Dem's had to make strategic changes to his plans in order to accommodate his new life with his wife, Valencia, and their infant daughter, Noelle. With much more to look forward to, Dem can't help but look back on everything that's happened that has made him the man that he is now. For his entire life, it's always been him and Ezra: ride or die. But with the times changing, and the circumstances changing with it, more often than not, he's caught himself wondering just how much of it would, and could, impact him, his family and their future together. At what great lengths would he go to keep his family safe from his own shadows? And more importantly, can he do it on his own this time?

♘ 𝚃𝙴𝙼𝙿𝙴𝚁𝙰𝙼𝙴𝙽𝚃

✓ family-oriented, good-natured, patient ✗ calculating, resentful, unforgiving

♘ 𝙰𝚁𝙲𝙷𝙸𝚅𝙴

N01

DISCLAIMER This account is for roleplaying purposes only and is not associated with any individuals depicted herein. All written content are original works of fiction; any resemblance to existing works and/or characters should be considered coincidental and free of malicious intent. Please do not reproduce/redistribute. Thank you.

[kiraofthewind]

The 88 sapienti species of the Pentagonal Dominion

No, I’m not here to describe all eighty-eight lol. Actually, my plan is to write short bios about each of them and post maybe four or so at random intervals? Depends on how long it would take to write them up, it could be weekly or just whenever I finish. In the future, I’d love to have artwork of all 88, but of course that takes a lot of time and money lol.

Currently, I have art of specific characters of the following species. An asterisk means that species is represented in at least one character I have art of:

A note on my invented word ‘sapienti.’ Some might be asking “Erika, why don’t you just call them sapient?” I do, quite often in fact. However, when I was writing my books, I found that ‘sapient’ didn’t always do what I wanted it to do. ‘Sapienti’ is essentially my fantasy-world’s version of the word ‘human.’ If a characters stumbles across the bones of a person, they would refer to the bones as “sapienti bones” meaning “the bones of a sapienti person.” Imagine instead if they’d referred to them as “sapient bones.” That makes it sound like the bones themselves are alive and chatting with you!

So how did a world manage to get eighty-eight different species of people living in it? Time travel, son. The world is only 1450 years old anyway. Ain’t no evolving from a single-celled organism in that amount of time!

Many of the sapienti species evolved over billions of years in timelines that the Time Spirit left alone to just let nature take its course. These are usually the more “human-looking” species. Ones with opposable thumbs or which can otherwise use tools.

Some species were made sapient by the blessing of a Mind God. Wynnles came from lions. Yosoe came from goats. All the insect-based species came from, well, insects lol. In the Pentagonal Dominion timeline I write about, there were actually only 87 sapienti species to begin with. The Domovye (singular: Domovoi) were animals. They would be yoked together and trained to dig deep underground, uncovering metals for their sapienti masters. This was seen as no different than yoking oxen to plow a field, or dogs to a sleigh, or a horse to a carriage. The Domovye turned sapient overnight by the blessing of Lucognidus. His purpose in doing so was to punish Ulinor, whose dictator refused to accept the (at the time) new Spiritism religion. Ulinor was the primary civilization that used Domovye as working animals. The Ulese lived underground and needed the Domovye to keep their city functional. But the Ulese abhorred slavery, so when the Domovye became sapient, they could no longer be forced to work.

Many of the species are capable of interbreeding, largely thanks to Life elemental magic. Biologically, without magic, most of them would not work. Their chromosomes would be incompatible or the sperm wouldn’t be able to merge with the egg. Life element magic just “makes it work, damn it.” It will fuck around with genetics until it creates something that can exist. I made this chart a while ago when I was playing a game with some people to create demigods:

It shows how some interbreeding works, but it was within the context of a certain time and place. For instance, the Morenzi can interbreed with any of the others that aren’t in colored boxes, but they currently live in the Quarantined Plane, so none of their hybrids currently exist. It also says Odonata cannot interbreed, but the entire point of Calinthe is that she’s the first and only Odonata hybrid.

The Pentagonal Dominionists use specific language to describe sapienti based on the number of limbs they have. A human might be described as a biped-bibrach (two legged and two armed). A few sapienti look a lot like humans, including the Olivians, Ulese, Umi, Omi, Yetrians, and Myralese. In these cases, the things that make them non-human are deeper than their appearances. Olivians will bond strongly to whoever they first have sex with. Ulese have advanced intelligence. Umi and Omi can control certain internal functions which are automatic and uncontrollable in humans. Yetrians can eat things that a human’s stomach would reject. Myralese are Ice elementals and can survive in frozen environments.

Note that I use ‘nullped’ for species without legs (Domovye, second-stage Orochijin, Poltergeists, Mizura). There is a single monoped species: the Collembola. They have a leg and a tail. They mostly get around by hopping on their tail, but their single leg helps to balance them.

Yet some of these species are so weird and nonhuman that describing them is… difficult. I still don’t have art of Päivi, who is fairly prominent in MoKaM, because I tremble at the idea of trying to describe her to an artist. xD

Many of my species are aquatic, too! Or at least *can* live and breathe underwater if they choose. Aquatic/water-breaking species include: Anemone, Daga, Ephemeropteran, Flora, Foma, Hemipteran, Kraken, Mizura, Phasmida (they can transform into other species, so a Phasmida wouldn’t drown likely because they could transform into someone else), Piniko, Poltergeist, Rubaiyan, Selachi, Sin-Derion, Thysanura, Tsuru, Vodyanoi, Zullia.

Wings are another common feature. Everything that has ‘pteran’ at the end of its name has wings. Other winged species include the Winyans, Pellas, Tsuru, Noklopae, Subrikae, and Nilians.

A few species are extinct in the time period the Merchants novels take place in. The Tellia and Pokki were exterminated by demons when the demons were first created and wanted to take over their homeland. The Mujin went extinct when the Death God Sawyer lost control of his powers in a fit of despair.

A few of these species are also so few in number that a person could go their whole life without meeting one. These include: Odonata, Iur, Mabera, and Phasmida. Technically Phasmida change into other species, so their true numbers are unknown. A Phasmida might live a lifetime in the body of another species and never tell their neighbors that they’re actually a Phasmida. The only one who has made her identity known is Mira, the Chancellor of Aloutia. Because Phasmida only age in the bodies they are currently using, they are effectively immortal. Mira has been the Chancellor since the founding of the Aloutian Empire. She has existed in the Pentagonal Dominion since its beginning. She is actually over 50,000 years old because she’s the Time Spirit’s toy, and she keeps getting put in alternate timelines.

In-world, people might refer to the sapienti species by other numbers. Some will say 87 because they’re excluding the Morenzi, who are unknown to everyone on Aloutia, Cosmo, Ophidia, and the Makai. Some will say 84 because they’re also excluding the three extinct species.

Some species have body parts that naturally produce elementrons, but they can only be used for specific types of ‘magic’ e.g. the Sin-Derion have teeth enchanted to shoot Death elemental beams. Wynnles have electric tails. Yosoe have electric horns. Most winged species have Wind elementrons to allow them to fly because otherwise their bodies would be too heavy/awkward for flight. Daga shells are gold, but enchanted to float on water. Sounites have fire for hair. It’s a whole lotta fun to design all these people!

One thing I want to be clear on, though: no species are monoliths. No species is ‘pure good’ or ‘pure evil.’ They don’t all belong to the same country or culture. They don’t all believe in the same principles, dress the same, speak the same languages, or worship their Gods in the same manner. Sometimes when I talk about my species, I may talk about the culture in which *most* of them belong. *Most* Wynnles live on the Wynndalic Plains of Cosmo’s Starsine planet, where they engage in ritual hunting, have strict sexual practices, and speak their own language which few other species speak. But… obvious not all Wynnles are that way. Amiere, Liesle, and their children are Wynnles, but they live on Aloutia, buy their meat at a market or fish it out of Deep Sea, eat a lot of tropical fruits, and speak a sort of pseudo-French patois most commonly spoken by Flora and Ebonoirs. All sapienti have individual, rational minds (some can connect to a ‘hive mind’, but they *still* retain their individuality, should they choose) and can come to their own conclusions about morality and society.

[mask131]

Cold winter: Ghorghor Bey

GHORGHOR BEY

Category: French BD

“Les Chroniques de la Lune Noire », in English « The Black Moon Chronicles », is marketed in France as the “greatest heroic fantasy saga in bande-dessinée”. Wikipedia rather considers it to be one of the main medieval fantasy series of France ; but by common consensus and with modern’s look onto it, it is rather a comic book that fits in the category of epic dark fantasy.

The Black Moon Chronicles was launched in 1989 by a collaboration between François Froideval and Olivier Ledroit, before ending at its fourteenth issue in 2008 – but the series had such a popularity that more issues were released as additional “cycles” or “seasons” ; a second cycle of seven issues from 2012 to 2021, and the promise of a third one to come one of these days… And when I say this series was successful, I mean it WAS a huge success. It stays one of the big names of the French bande-dessinée (the European form of comic-book), to the point it gave birth to two video games in the 90s, to MMORPG in the 2000s, a boardgame AND a miniature game.

And as I approach this series for the first time in my seasonal posts, it would make sense for me to look at its main protagonist, Wismerhill the mysterious half-elf in search of his past and father, who will turn from a naïve young man to a bloodthirsty and cruel warlord-sorcerer, as he is unknowingly used as a pawn and agent by various political, military, religious and otherworldly factions in a vast game of plots and schemes centered around a gigantic empire’s downfall and an ancient prophecy from the gods…

But I will not. Because I will instead focus on one of the secondary characters of the story: Ghorghor Bey.

Ghorghor Bey appears in the story as the leader of a group of dreaded warriors who are known to terrify even the bravest knights and strongest citadels. These bloodthirsty bandits obeying at Ghorghor’s sole and only command are known to roam the various lands of the series’ world, leaving only “ashes and corpses” in their wake – for they do not seek to conquer anything and have no ultimate goal. Ghorghor’s forces simply travel through the land, raiding and pillaging whatever they want whenever they want, and forcing their way wherever they have to go, never taking no for an answer – and since Ghorghor’s army stayed undefeated, no warlord even dares oppose him.

Our protagonist, Wismerhill, and his first and partner Pile-ou-Face, end up imprisoned in a cage by Ghorghor’s army due to an unfortunate series of coincidence – the duo was stealing chickens from a farm, just as Ghorghor’s warriors arrived, for they had recently conquered the village and so by stealing the farmer’s chickens the protagonists were stealing Ghorghor’s chickens. Pile-ou-Face, knowing too well the danger they were in, dreaded Ghorghor and his men, but still decided to play at being cheeky and witty with him, notably by letting Ghorghor steal away his magical swords before teleporting them back to his side, again and again. A trick which angered Ghorghor at first… before making him laugh, and prompting him to enlist the two as part of his band, because he likes men that don’t cower or show fear in the face of danger.

Thus begins the time for our protagonist as a member of Ghorghor’s forces – even becoming his lieutenant after using magic to avoid an ambush waiting for them. Because as it turns out, Ghorghor’s isn’t such a bad guy… He doesn’t like being criticized, is prone to anger and refuses to have his absolute authority discussed, but he is prone to humor, always liking a good jest (though his sense of humor tends to be crude, brutal and unrefined), and he protects and feed his men for as long as they battle for him and don’t drag behind them. Fail to your duty or prove yourself useless, you’ll be punished, but do something good for the troop and you’ll be rewarded. We also discover that Ghorghor’s group seems only to exist for the sole pleasure of having a “good life”, as they enjoy each battle, and mostly invade or “conquer” lands and cities temporarily, just to enjoy all of their food (and women) before leaving for another place. In fact, most of the time when they come up near a city they ask if they can stay for the night or the winter, and people usually accept out of fear despite it meaning they will be plundered – because if anyone refuses them entry to their domain, Ghorghor will just order the doors to be broken down and force his own way inside. Even worse if the owner of the land or city actually threatens or insult him, in which case he will ask his death as a payment – but of course, it is all just funny for him as killing is mostly a good sport. To give you an idea of Ghorghor’s “jokes” – he likes to say “You better knock at the door before entering, to be polite” as he is literally breaking down a door ; or he always offers his personal victims a “game” called “right hand, left hand”. The game? He slams his two enormous hands on each side of your head, and if you can’t avoid them you die with your head crushed. If you escape you win and can keep your life, but nobody ever wins since he never explains the rules… He finds it hilarious.

Oh yes, because I forgot to precise one thing… the reason Ghorghor is so feared. He is not a human being. He is a half-ogre. Which means he is two to three times taller than a normal human being, and three to four times larger (given the comic was taken by different artists, and themselves weren’t always consistent, his size tends to vary from issue to issue). While this largeness is in part fatness (as an ogre he has a monstrous appetite, always eating entire pigs and drinking full barrels of beer for his meals, and the most regular insult he gets from people is “fatass”), it is also a good part of muscles – muscles offering him a gigantic strength. A strength with which he can crush a man’s skull with his bare hands, or even burst open the doors of a city by holding a battering ram ALL ON HIS OWN. As a result he can’t ride normal horses and has to choose from various large and monstrous beasts from long gone pasts – his first one being a sort of spike-covered rhinoceros. He himself is usually seen wearing a large and heavy armor covered in spikes – but he can switch for more comfortable cloth-and-fur clothes when he feasts inside castles.

While the group’s journey goes on without any troubles, Ghorghor’s troop meet their demise as they arrive at the border of the great empire we talked earlier, the empire of Lhynn. Its emperor, clearly seeing Ghorghor’s presence in his territories as a threat, sends to eliminate them a large army of holy knights/paladins known as the “Knights of the Light”. Ghorghor and his men were staying at Kendrhir at the time, formerly the “city of the great wizards”, but that they had completely invaded and taken control of earlier in the series – the Knights of the Light simply surrounded the city and besieged them. Ghorghor (actually influenced by a demon sent by a dark wizard, but no one will ever know that) decides to take the incredibly stupid decision to have his warriors leave the city to fight the Knights of Light in an open-field, resulting in Ghorghor’s troop decimation, and Ghorghor’s own death. Not death by weapons, as he is pierced by at least three dozen spears and yet keeps fighting with his gigantic axe of war (or cleaver of war depending on how you look at it, able to kill several men in one blow) ; but rather by being pushed off a cliff by the Knights.

This is all in issue 1, by the way.

In issue 3, Ghorghor miraculous returns – as the protagonist and a new group of friends went to seek the Oracle (a god of destiny bound to the human world) at his holy site, they find him back well and alive – he himself was seeking the Oracle to know what had happened to his former underlings. As it turns out, Ghorghor had on himself a magic ring with powerful regenerative powers that resuscitated him from his deadly fall… but this, only the narrator and us readers know that. Because Ghorghor ignores everything of the ring’s actual powers, and so he believes he was just a tough guy and that he got better all of his own from his injuries. Promptly Ghorghor tries to form back his band and recruit again his former warriors… only for Wismerhill (who in between got some nasty supernatural powers, a new personal quest to follow and some deadly skills) to actually force Ghorghor into becoming HIS warrior, under his command – first by invoking how Ghorghor’s stupidity led to all of his men dying before, and then by simply beating up Ghorghor into submission. Not that Ghorghor minds, though, as he still considers Wismerhill a good friend of his. And so he becomes one of the faithful companions and allies of our protagonist, and will remain as so for the rest of the series… And it is at this point that the plot really kicks in.

- - - - - -

I stop at the three first issues to recap this whole story for a very good reason: the first three issues are kind of their own thing. The duo Froideval-Ledroit were doing a big epic fantasy series for the first time, and so the first three issues were basically them finding their marks, offering a story still kind of in production, trying and testing out new things, just beginning and exploring. Heavily influenced by Dungeons and Dragons, and the You Are the Hero books (in fact the author was part of the French branch of D&D for a while), the story started out as a “picaresque road-trip about a group of characters trying to survive”, before gaining its steadiness and certainty and evolving into a serious story about territorial conquests, power struggles and the politics of an empire. As a result the character reflects that a lot – notably Ghorghor Bey, who was admitted by Froideval himself to have started out as a “punctual” character, who was probably just here for issue 1, but the author enjoyed him and his potential too much and so decided to have him return and become a regular…  And so while the first three issues are much needed to understand who the characters are, how the story starts, who are the powers at play and the plots set in motion, their style is much faster, wilder and humoristic than the following issues – for by issue 4, things get much more epic.

An interesting fact about the Black Moon Chronicles is that the characters have basically no past. It is most true for the protagonist, whose absence of past (and even absence of name, as he is named as an adult, in the first pages of the first issue, by a friend he just encountered in the woods) is a key plot-point of the story ; but in general all of the other characters lack any kind of past. They are introduced, they have their identity, personality, characteristics, but their background seems to be irrelevant for the most part (with this true “old fashioned D&D” and “You are the Hero” feelings of having characters starting out with basic traits and filling up their character as they go along). But the author “compensated” this by producing a spin-off series ENTIRELY dedicated to the backstories and pasts of each of the characters: Les Arcanes de la Lune Noire, in English “The Black Moon Arcana”.

Ghorghor’s very own backstory is told in the first issue of this series, and… I am not going to tell you everything because it is an entire “volume” full (for the French BD, each issue is a “volume”, which is basically a book-full of story, so usually quite bigger than a typical American comic-book issue), but if you don’t fear spoilers, here is the barebone of the story. He was born and raised in a human village by a human family in the northern part of the Lhynn’s empire – his mother had been raped by a young ogre (humanoid gorilla-like savage man-eating beings) during an attack on the village, but she still loved him, and he looked mostly human despite his unusual size and strength. However she was the only one who loved him, as everybody else hated and bullied him, including his mother’s new husband and his own son. After his mother’s death during his teenage years, he snapped at his step-father and step-brother’s abusive behavior and killed them in rage before fleeing in the night. He wandered in the snowy and frozen lands of the north, learning how to hunt and survive, rejected as a “monster” from every human village he tried to stop in – until as a tall and strong young man he encountered a travelling freakshow/circus that hired him and became his new family, teaching him all sorts of other talents such as weapon-throwing or reading. He became their “strongman” as the circus travelled to southern lands and bigger towns, and knew there for the first time romantic and sexual love in the arms of Siamese twin sisters.

Their downfall was however accepting the invitation of a gloomy local lord to play at his castle. Offended at the idea of paying them after their performance, he tried to lock them up away in a dungeon (except for the girls, that his sons wanted to “play” with in their chambers). The troop was barely able to flee the castle, and where hunted down into a cursed swamp filled with the forgotten corpses of an old war – this is where Ghorghor found his trustful battle-axe, and where his twin love found death in the tentacles of an ancient monster haunting the bog. Ghorghor killed the monster, but also swore on his lovers’ grave that he would kill the evil lord that had banished them here and all of his descendants. After escaping the swamp, he left the troop to their own travel, and now clad with the armor and weapons of the corpses of the bog set up on his vengeance. After killing the leader of a group of bandit who tried to attack him, he became the group’s new leader. With his men he burned down the castles of noblemen and plundered the convoy of aristocrats, using all the money to pay for huge feasts that often ended up in drunken vandalism, his fearsome reputation bringing him new recruits every day – and so he became a ruthless warrior, who was only know to spare the occasional travelling circuses he met.

Until he was ready to enact his vengeance on the lord that had caused the death of his two true loves… (Oh yes, and the regenerating ring is not forgotten and also gets its origin in this story).

[asitrita]

Personal rant

This is a personal rant about Spain’s history and some people’s interpertation of it, mostly regarding some of the “nations”, or “ethnic groups” that are sometimes considered Spain’s parents. If you think it can affect you personally, don’t continue reading.

I really do not understand people who consider Spain’s father figure anyone other than Rome. Like... literally, no one makes any sense other than Rome. I could buy Visigoth acting as Spain’s father figure, or as his “tutor”, and I could even understand (though in no way share) the idea of Castile and Aragon being Spain’s “parents”. Though, again, I would not share that hc either, because even if the current nation-estate of Spain is “younger” than the many different medieval kingdoms, the notion, the “idea”, the “identity” to some extent, of Spain is way older than any of those medieval kingdoms which, technically, were not nations nor modern estates either, so acting as if Spain came to be out of the blue in the 15th century, as if there had not been already a clear Spanish identity and notion of unity and nation prior the 15th/16th centuries is just... ignoring all the evidence. What I trully do not understand is when people have Al-Ándalus, Umayyad, or even Carthage, as Spain’s father figures. It is true that history can be interpreted in many different ways, more so when it comes to Hetalia, but there are some interpretations that... they just make no sense. Not from a historical point of view, at least. Guess you can have whatever headcanons you want, but historically speaking, they may make no sense whatsoever. And that is exactly the case with these interpretations. For Al-Ándalus and Umayyad the reason why it is utter nonsense for any of them to be Spain’s father figure is that they are literally everything Spain is not (and did not want to be). In the first years of our lives, until we become adults, we all build our identity against the others. Something similar happens with the different nations. They build their identity partially based on not being like the neighbour next door. We could say that Spain built itself against precisely these two guys up there, Al-Ándalus and Umayyad. One could think, “okay, but as we all know, in many cases, the first ones we try to build our identity against is our parents, so that could further emphasise the role of those two as Spain’s paternal figures”. Well, no, and here’s why. Maybe it all comes to what I understand as a father figure, but to me, in the case of nations, the father figure, or the “father” or “mother” of a nation should be the one the nation receives more influences from. It should be to some extent the “origin” of most, or a big significant part of the nation’s culture, identity, and overall, idiosyncrasy. Either that, or it should have left a very deep impact and long lasting effect in the character and identity of that nation. And what I mean is that the nation must have adopted transcedental aspects from that “father nation” that are now rooted deep in its character. Otherwise, a deep impact could be a traumatic event like a war that people from the nation have built their national pride upon, but that’s not what I mean. I mean that the nation has actively acquired, integrated, and assimilated, deep and transcendental elements and aspects of its “father nation” culture and identity, so the “father nation” identity has, to some extent, become the identity of the “new nation”. Examples of some of these transcedental elements could be religion (and overall, spirituality), sense of justice, moral values, or even lexicon related to abstract concepts and emotions such as love, passion, fear, desire, hate, regret, etc. So here’s the thing. Neither Al-Ándalus nor Umayyad did, in any way, affect Spain in this respect. Mind, I am not saying they didn’t leave any influence in Spain at all, what I am saying is that they did not have a transcedental influence in Spain’s identity. Or they did, but just in the opposite way. Spain takes its culture, society, values, and spirituality from Rome, and builds itself against Al-Ándalus and Umayyad (quite honestly, Spain’s relationship with these two is more similar to the “traumatic” event some nations have built their national pride upon I mentioned earlier than to any father-son type of relationship). If anything, they only helped to exacerbate Spain’s loyalty to its “indigenous hispanoroman” identity. Again, not saying they left no influence, for example, some architecture in southern Spain (though, tbh, it’s more like a couple buildings people visit while ignoring the hundreds of christians and roman buildings lol), some cities, some influences in the food and some traditional dishes, some new agricultural and destillation techniques, etc. And it is well known that up to 8% of the Spanish vocabulary is of Arab origin, even though, to be honest, much of that percentage are toponyms and half of the lexicon is no longer used in Spanish today (most people don’t even know half of these words, and some have their Latin counterpart). However, none of these influences affects Spain’s psique and identity to a transcendental level. Not only that, but the people who identified as Spaniards and all its old variants (derivatives of Latin’s hispanus/hispanicus) were the Northern Christian people, never the Muslims who lived in Al-Ándalus under Umayyad rule. It was northern Christians who talked about Spain, who considered Spain their “lost” nation, and who identified with a Spanish identity, not the people nor the rulers of Al-Ándalus (for a short time, Northern Christians would actually refer to Christians living under Muslim rule in Al-Andalus as Spaniards, to distinguish them from the Muslims). And in no way am I justifying the following, I’m just stating a fact, which is that Muslims were expelled. All of them. Which means that Spain, as a nation, as the people it represents, literally has almost no link whatsoever with the people of Al-Ándalus, Arabs, nor Muslims, other than its people, the “Spanish people” fought them for centuries. Obviously, they lived in the same piece of land, though borders were never an easy place to live in, they were not 24/7 killing each other (impossible to do that nonstop for almost 8 century), they often traded, and there were Christians living in Muslim territories who adopted some Arab or generally Middle Eastern/Oriental traditions and practices that they preserved even under Christian rule (they were called Moriscos), hence the influences. But these influences are so superficial and “materialistic”, they affected so little the Spanish way of understanding the world, that I trully think it is unrealistic to make any of these two Spain’s father figure. It is almost a bad joke when you get the Northern Kingdoms singing to Spain and identifying as Spanish, getting ripped of their representation and identity, and instead, associating this identity and representation (their identity and representation) to those who never identified as Spanish and fought those who did with the intention of conquering and subduing them. And I guess you could argue that most of “Spain” (the land) was under Muslim (Umayyad) control, but as I understand Hetalia, and modern states today, it is not about land, but about nations and ethnic groups, and the people they represent, and it just makes no sense to make Spain’s father figure neither Al-Ándalus nor Umayyad, because given history, they would have probably tried to kill Spain had they got the chance, and the same goes for Spain, as it certainly would try to kill them as well. Plus, friendly reminder that the muslim territory of Spain was, for the most part, independent from the Umayyad Empire, so even if members of the Umayyad dinasty ruled over Al-Ándalus, it was not part of its empire (again, for the most part, there was a short time it did belonged to the empire). Plus  Al-Ándalus was cut into pieces during the 11th century and the Arab “Umayyad” elite expelled from the Peninsula. I mean, neither the Umayyad dinasty nor Al-Ándalus lasted for 7 centuries. The Arab rulling elite (Umayyad) were expelled, and Al-Ándalus destroyed, by the end of the 11th century. So it is not true Spain received direct influence from these particular people for almost 800 years, that’s an extreme oversimplification of Medieval Spain, as Arab rule in part of Spain, as well as the existance of Al-Ándals, in reality, lasted for around 350 years, as opposed to Roman presence in Spain, which lasted for over 600 years, plus, they were never expelled and their identity completely permeated the indegenous inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula.

About Carthage... what can I say? This just makes no sense. It may not be as ironic (and almost offensive) as the other two choices, but in some way, it makes even less sense, if that’s even possible. Not much to say about this one, I just can’t even think of one thing Spain has inherited from this guy, can’t think of any influence from Carthaginean culture or whatever in Spain. The little I can think of slightly related to Carthage is actually Phoenitian so... I mean, Cartagena, in Murcia, is a great city, but... can anyone think of any significant influence, any significant link Spain as a nation, or Spaniards as an ethnic group, have with Carthage? I’m sure people from Murcia may come up with something but... in general, I really don’t think we have anything to do with Carthagineans, as much as I like Carthage. I’m sorry, but I trully can’t think of anything Spaniards, Hispanics, even Portuguese if you want (though I’m no expert on Portuguese history so I may be wrong on this one) have ���inherited” from Carthage (guess you could link the Portuguese Empire based on trade with Carthage, but realistically speaking, there’s no historical corelation there either). I guess they may have introduced some new techniques and whatnot, but, really, that happens all the time, that does not affect the identity of a group nor their way of looking at the world greatly, unless it supposes a radical change in their way of life, which did not happen, since Carthage barelly controled some strategic cities. Yes, it got to the northern part of Spain, but did not have actual control over all that territory, and there was no cohesive rule nor anything I can think of... In any case, I’m no expert on Carthage either, but I trully cannot think of any Carthaginean influence in Spain at all. In conclusion, a nation’s “father figure” is the one that has, to some extent, “built the nation”, or “mould it”. Just like if we were talking about a human being, we should ask “how does it behave? how does it think? how does it see the world? how does it communicate? what are its values? what are its traditions?” Then ask about the origin of all those answers. And there you get the “father figure”. Spaniards speak a Latin-based language/s (but the Basques and some people from Navarra who speak a pre-Roman language), they are Christians, Roman Cahotlics to be more precise, and Spanish justice is based on Visigothic and Roman laws. Spanish culture is overwhelmingly based on Roman culture, as is its society, values, etc. The way Spanish interact with the world and others is based on a Roman perception of the world. They may be others who have influenced Spain, I’m not denying that, but none of them has, not by a long shot, defined Spanish identity as much as Rome has. The only event in history that had a significant importance in defining Spain’s identity other than Rome and getting to America, is the war against the Muslims, which includes the two listed above. But they never “added” to the Spanish identity on significant levels, for the most part they just reinforced it by acting as its antagonists, which is not exactly what I would represent as “parenthood”. Carthage... I don’t even know how that happened. And that’s it. This is not a personal attack to anyone who has any of these headcanons, it may seem like it is, but it is not. If anything, it is an “attack” to these ideas, simply because I don’t think they accurately portray Spain’s history at all, on the contrary, they distort Spanish history based on 18th and 19th century foreigner’s ignorant and orientalist crazy theories and assumption (and anti-Catholic propaganda, tbh), and Hetalia, at the end of the day, is about history. If any one has these headcanons,you do you, go with it, but please be aware that they are not historically accurate, that’s it.

[randomeditscreates]

The Force Awakens Breakdown

So I know no one gives a shit about my opinions on movies and my last post about the sequel trilogy [ST] But honestly I want to continue talking about these crap movies. So now that we got that through, lets start.

1) Jar Jar Abrams start this movie by basically ripping off the concept of the OT [Original Trilogy] The First Order [The empire] has taken over with a dark side user [Kylo Ren in this one, and Darth Vader in the OT] with a more powerful dark side user in the background pulling all the strings [Snoke and Creamy Sheeve respectfully] With an opposing side that happening to be small in numbers, [The Rebels and The Resistance(What they're resisting, no fucking clue, but it sounds nice)]

2) Rey Palpatine (I refuse to use the other name) is the protagonist of this story, and just so happens to live in a desert planet, you know like Luke. And happens to be the most laziest character Jar Jar and Kathleen Kennedy ever created. She's kind, and friendly and her only flaw is that she doesn't have any family. She's a scavenger, yet has so much proficient in the force, you would think she's been training for decades. She has great skill in flying ships and fixing them, that you would think, it would at least be a throwaway line. But nope, she has no reasoning for knowing how to fly or fix ships and the only reasoning we really have is that, Jar Jar wanted it, so he put it in. And throughout this movie and following ones, she picks up skills like their pokemon cards because fuck hard work. Now Rey pisses me off, not just because of her lazy character, but because during all the movies, nothing ever fucking happens to her, she doesn't get hurt to an extreme degree like Finn, She doesn't go through a huge revelation, all that happens is that Rey loses Han (someone she barely knows) then she magically beat Kylo,( who if you don't remember has years even decades over Rey in training) and then decides to find Luke. And that leads to the third problem...

3) The movie is too full. for being a movie that is 2 hours and 16 minutes, yes I fucking looked it up, this movie seems to drag on and not develop any of their concepts. Because while I fucking agree that Rian Johnson left fucking nothing for Jar Jar to work with, at least his story had some character development, and yes it dumb and breaks the world but I'll take what I can get. All the main characters in this movie all ends up the same as they start off with. Rey is a happy and kind character with no past, turns to Rey is a happy and kind character with no past and force abilities. Kylo Ren is tangled up Christmas lights drenched in yogurt and acid, and turns into a tangled up Christmas lights drenched in yogurt and acid, who ends up Killing his father. But if you remember is haunted by that death by TLJ [The Last Jedi] Poe Dameron is a self assured Spit-fired Pilot and ends up a Spit-fired self assured Pilot who's Not dead. Even the characters who do get develop, Finn and, oh my god, it's only Finn, get's completely rewritten in TLJ and gets the story arc redone just terribly. We can't even talk about Han, Leia or even Maz, because Han doesn't change and then dies, Leia doesn't get enough screen time to show anything about this character, and Maz is supposed to Yoda in a yellow and female clothing, and they do shit with that too because it leads to this..

4) Maz Kanata and holy fuck, she's literally the reason Han is dead. Maz yells very loudly to the entire cantina that Han Solo is here, which leads for the First Order to be notified. She somehow has Luke's lightsaber [It doesn't get explained, not even in the later movies] and somehow Rey is drawn to it, and leads to Maz giving advice, but you know the shitty type because it ends with Rey running away in the forest for her to get caught by Kylo. She tells Finn that he shouldn't leave, and that it turns makes him severely injured. And if you don't remember she does the same to Han, and he ends up dead. And her cantina gets fucking destroyed after being their for centuries, yet she couldn't give a fuck. and it shows the true issue, Jar Jar and Kathleen Kennedy in extent doesn't give a fuck about characters and just wants to to get from point A to point B with a lot of flashing lights.

5) Han Solo: Character Assassination. A character who developed into a man who was ready to risk it all for the rebellion. A character we loved in the OT is now broken down into his New Hope person all over again. Who apparently has scammed everyone in the galaxy? Um, Jar Jar, I know it might seem strange to you, but a smuggler needs people who trust him to get jobs and therefore receive income. But I guess I shouldn't expect much from the same man that think a Smuggler would want to be easily known or recognized. Also Leia and him are either broken up or divorced and that makes me feel really happy to know a couple that I loved are no longer together and one of this dead. Because Han Solo is just there for fan service and to shoot his gun, because that's what he's here for to go pew pew. Oh and to die, that what all the OT fans wanted, One of the main three characters killed by their own child.

6) Subtle doesn't exist in this movie, everything is given the delicacy of a hammer. We find out that Kylo or Ben, (I really don't fucking give a shit) is the son of Han solo, by Snoke just saying, the droid is in the possession of your father Han Solo, like no shit I assumed that when you mentioned the Millennium Falcon. Who would you think I thought Kylo was the son of, Chewbacca? Finn's story arc is the only one that makes you think, and brings a new aspect to the movies, and to the Stormtroopers. I just fucking wish we could do the same for the others Stormtroopers, because the other are killed with no regards that most of them, as Finn states were sold into this at a young age. Good job Resistance for killing all these people who was forced into this with no regards. How does a series that came like a decade before you (Star Wars: The Clones War Series) manage to develop the concepts that stormtroopers or clones are not mindless drones better than you. (The Rookie episode in the first season helps flesh out all the clones and they only have 25 minutes per episode, get you're shit together Lucas Films) And these are only the examples I could think of, off the top of my head.

7) Rey is a great example of Sexism, but instead it goes the other way around then usual. All the male characters are laughed at and or ridiculed, but all the females are perfect and don't need to change. One of the last scene is a great example of this, Kylo Ren, the one with years of training and two powerful masters who trained him, gets beat by Rey, someone who has no skill with a lightsaber and didn't even know she could use the force until Jar Jar decided to pull it out his ass. Even Finn who has at least close quarters fighting skills under his belt couldn't beat Kylo, and has to be saved by Rey. Now I will admit to being a feminist but Kathleen version completely differs from mine. Because while I believe both men and women are both capable of reaching the same level of skill, Kathleen think women should be able to do incredible things without working for it. And it clear by her stupid "The Force is female" Like shut the fuck up, the force was never given a gender, why the fuck are you doing it now? I also found out that most of the Crew in Lucas Film, happens to be female. and it's clear who's doing that. Again I am a feminist but I hate when people just have diversity for the sake of diversity instead of the person's capabilities. It's very vindictive of the Feminist movement, The Black Lives Movement and LGBT+ agenda as well, as we're trying to make people see them as just like everyone else which they fucking are (I will not stand for any form of bigotry and if you don't like something simply because of someone's race, gender or sexuality, you are shit human being) , they just so happen to not be a straight white man. And that they have the same struggles as everyone else. Also we already had strong female characters in the series without the big emphasis on the fact that they have a vagina. As from the basis, Star Wars was never about gender and because of this we got fully developed character we could relate to.

Now Dishonorable Mentions

A) This movie is fucking 2 hours and 16 minutes long, yet it feel so unfinished

B) Jar Jar Abrams deep seated love for mystery boxes and how it get more screen time then the actual Character it involves (Rey)

C) The movie could've been great, they're was definitely potential but it was dwarfed by mystery boxes and Visuals

D) Rey is not a Mary Sue in this Movie, she becomes one by the end of TLJ but she's not yet. So I guess it one positive.

E) Jar Jar inability for world Building, and doesn't even fucking tries to explain how the First Order even began to rise.

F) Poe Fucking Dameron, and the amount of time that is dedicated to him. I love him but come on, just make it someone like Han, as it could bring up the relationship between him and his son, which could then bring more emphasis when we reveal their relationship. But no lets bring up a character who we all assume is dead until about the end. And then does absolutely fucking nothing.

G) And Lastly when we see Han die, we don't get a scene of any of the characters we give a fuck about and who knows Han mourn his death, instead we just have two characters who had about 15 minutes of screen time with Han, and Chewbacca. And it doesn't get better because Rian Johnson decides in the second movie that we don't need a scene of Luke mourning over the man who fought side by side with him and is his Sister's husband. No Instead we get a scene of him drinking tit milk.

So that's it, well for now, I'll make another post for this if I have any more issues. But that it for now. I would also like to make it damn clear now, as I'll probably continue this, that me tearing apart a movie is based soley on the technical aspects of it. And that if you enjoyed this movie, you are entitled to it, but you cannot defend this movie's writing , because as I hoped I made clear, the writing is very much shit.

[breakingbadfics]

Thought Experiment. Part 1.

or “How would I have done it” 

So The Sith Resurgence is a petty bashfic driven purely by a desire to spit in the face of canon, but specifically ReyLo Shippers, specifically the Kylo Ren/Ben Solo lovers of the ship. The plot is hollow, the only characters given any consideration of depth are the romantic leads making the supporting characters even more bereft of substance. and in trying to fix certain things with in the canon it somehow has even less than canon

What does a good version of this look like? 

“Course Correction”

So lets start with an easy version of this question. The story is sitting at 35 chapters as of my writing this section of the essay. 

Lets say Hypothetically Lily Orchard reached out to me to outline the final arc for the story. How would I do that? 

So as of the end of chapter 35 these things happen 

Kylo Ren is intending to fake the return of Emperor Palpatine. 

Aliana and Rey have just gotten married

Rey’s growth in power has been climbing and causing concern among her friends for her safety. 

The First Order know the location of the Resistance’s new base after they survived the events of episode 8

There is still some sort of conflict between Aliana, Rey, and Leia.

Kylo Ren is Angling towards setting up the fall of the republic. 

Rey and Aliana are sent to Nathema  reinforce the extraction of child recruits from The First Order. 

I’m missing something I’m sure, but we’re moving forward from these points. 

Chapter 36 begins with Aliana and Rey arriving on Nathema, They do the fighting, clear out the base, begin the evacuations and save a bunch of children. During this The Message is sent out to all First Order bases. The Emperor has returned from the dead. 

On Nathema The Message arriving causes a shift in the morale of the fighting and while Rey and Aliana make it out in time along with any resistance back up they had, but everyone is ratttled. 

in spite of that Aliana is basically no-selling the threat of The Emperor’s return. and while Rey is also nervous about it Aliana assuages those fears by explaining that, that wasn’t Palpatine at all. Because there was no shock in the force. If Darth Sidious had cheated death, it would have been something everyone force sensitive could have felt, and would have been felt long before the emperor even composed the message. 

And so Chapter 36 ends

Chapter 37 

With the force bond having been unblocked Kylo Ren was able to detect Rey had left the Resistance base. And in an impulse chose to personally lead an attack on the base. During this he made sure to have The Message from The Emperor sent out 

During the attack a lot of casualties occur, but The Core Cast srvives but the big casualty is that Kylo Ren slashed a path through and took out his mother. 

the rest of the story is trying to recuperate and then convey that Palpatine’s message was fabricated as propaganda. 

during all this it’s decided amongst the remaining resistance that when they make the retaliatory strike it has to be the final blow that sets off the collapse of the first order. 

Chapter 38

Aliana and Rey train more, Rey start learning various Sith Techniques. 

Captain Phasma leading the last remnants of The Knights of Ren reveal themselves to have been waiting in hiding, they’re further accompanied by a collection of bounty hunters aiming to overwhelm the jedi and the sith through sheer numbers and power. 

It is not an easy fight but Phasma’s attack force is defeated and the captain is forced to retreat as one of the sole survivors of this attack. The victory is owed in both to Rey and Aliana’s capabilities as a unit as well as Finn and the remaining Resistance assisting where it counts. 

--

Kylo Ren is continuing his own private solo training and has found a collection of sith holocrons in Snokes original private quarters that have aided in honing his skills.. 

The First Order itself has made an order for all forces across the galaxy to return to the original coordinates of Star Killer Base.

once the full force of The First Order arrives in one place the plan is revealed that they intend to pull a full final assault on The Republic, intent to basically glass the surface of Corruscant. 

Chapter 39

The First Order again. 

They are preparted to set out only to find themselves faced with The Resistance and The Sith Fleet having arrived to make their own final attack. 

The fight begins

During all this Rey, Aliana, and friends infiltrate the lead ship with intent to find and eliminate the leaders of the first order. 

The eventual final confrontation between Kylo Ren, Aliana, and Rey happens. 

And Then everythings for a moment as hundred of thousands of Imperial Star Destroyers warp in from nowhere. And start attacking both sides. 

A mesage relayed across all channels. 

Emperor Palpatine is actually somehow alive, and has arrived to reclaim control of his fleet. 

Chapter 40 

Emperor Palpatine’s message is simple; he’s returned to take his throne as ruler of the galaxy. To the Resistance he demands surrender so that their deaths may be quick and merciful. To The First Order a message to stand down, declare fealty to him or die. 

The entirety of the battle as far as the fleets go dissolves into chaos and immediately Rose and Holdo declare a fall back and as many people in the resistance get out, leaving the first order and imperial forces to engage in a massive civil war. 

While this is happening Aliana and Rey are trying to gauge what to do while also fighting Kylo Ren, only for Kylo Ren to get shot in the back of the head by General Hux, who retreats to take his side with the empire. 

Aliana and Rey spend the rest of the chapter escaping and being very very angry they were denied the catharsis of killing Kylo Ren 

Chapter 41 

everyone is panicking. 

The resistance is down to their last legs and the entire galaxy is with little hope 

meanwhile Hux and Phasma are called forth to see The Emperor personally. where it is explained that even in spite of the unifying desire to re-establish the empire the first order was not the entirety of the remaining imperial forced and some chose to quietly seek out planets known to be inhabited by the dark side of the force. during this a ritual was carried out to allow a suitable individual to become the vessel for the emperor. The Emperor is basically wearing full fitting body armor at all times. but basically he’s inhabiting the body of a Galen Marek clone. 

Oh also Hux is executed, because the emperor saw what he did to Kylo Ren who was the acting supreme leader of the First Order, and so determined Hux to be not trustworthy. 

The resistance are still having doubts to their abilities now that they’re low on forces. further faith in Aliana is wavering due to the whole “I’d know if the emperor was back” blowing up in her face. 

However because Palpatines Message was delivered across the galaxy, and on all channels they get a message from The Senate that basically declares that they’re going all in on the resistance and fully endorsing them. planets from across all systems as well as former rebel alliance members are en route to bolster their forces. it is now a full scale war to snuff out The Imperial Remnant. 

Chapter 42.  

Aliana and Rey are declared high generals with only Holdo and Rose Tico holding equal authority to them 

The Resistance manage to find the current whereabouts of the emperor. 

They set out to finally put an end to his reign of terror once and for all. 

Chapter 43 

Rey, Aliana, and crew launch a strike on Emperor Palpatines personal cruiser. 

It’s revealed that Palpatine has “resurrected” Kylo Ren. though no more than a puppet to act as an extention of Palpatines will. 

The final fight for the fate of the galaxy and the right to be The one true sith lord begins. 

Chapter 44 

The fight happens.

 Rey fights the husk of Kylo Ren, The final step in Rey Beniko’s empowerment, destroying and ending the life of her abuser, lamenting only in that the soul of kylo ren never occupied the husk so she couldn’t revel in the end of his pathetic existance. 

Aliana and Palpatine fight, The right to call themselves the True and Rightful Sith Lord. Palpatine almost wins, even with the act of the fight becoming a one on two drag out brawl between the two lovers and the emperor.

However Galen Marek proper, and Finn arrive, and proceed to even the odds in a 4 on 1 fight.

As one last attempt at a moral blow is Palpatine reveals that somewhere along in the past he set up an arranged marriage with the Beniko line of sith lords something that had been set up several hundred of years back somewhere between lana and aliana’s grandmother. The suitor was a member of his bloodline which he says to be rey. And that in falling for one another they’ve played into his plans to the letter 

Aliana, does not care. Murders palpatine, and as to whether or not he was telling the truth. No one cares about that either. taking it as an attempt to fuck with the both of them 

Chapter 45

The story ends with the usual “where are they now” 

Finn and Poe get married, Rey and Aliana adopt. under the leadership of Holdo and Rose The Resistance slides back into being the officially backed “Rebel Alliance” hunting down the last remnants of the first order and the empire with the full scope of the republic military 

The future for Force users is made a little more weird because the sith and the jedi are effectively the same thing trying with what ever opposes them being recognized as extremists of both sides

Somewhere the sole remnants of the first order and empire gather quietly to lick their wounds, lead by “Supreme Leaderl Phasma”  as a potential sequel bait

The story ends with Rey and Aliana drinking wine. and a toast to the future.