#what a Narrative can change; what it can't....

[deramin2]

I've talked before about how Critical Role is highly political because they as people live in the world, think about it deeply, and respond to it in their work all the time, even if it's sideways in subtext.

And so I think it's vital to understand that there is a fundamental divide between the context the characters in the Mighty Nein vs. Bell's Hells, and Campaign 2 vs. Campaign 3 were created in: the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Pandemic started mid way through Campaign 2, but the broad themes, tone, and narrative approach were already set. They'd defined the kind of threats they wanted to face.

Campaign 3 was created after we'd been living in the Pandemic for years and when it was clear our leaders and society at large had decided to "solve" it by completely ignoring it and denying it's still happening. Public health response in general started to be turned against and then dismantled. All the hope for change in the face of the horrors of 2020 turned to ash. There was no amount of harm the entrenched systems of power could do that would get people to turn against it.

In fact, it got worse. The last few months of Campaign 3 were played out in the shadow of the United States electing a known fascist promising to implement openly oppressive policies to rob everyone but cishet white abled Christian men of their rights and lives. Their city of LA literally burned down in the middle of the finale because these horrible people have prevented even basic climate change responses.

While Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast increased its iron grip on the TTRPG industry and also showed they'd hurt any independent creator for money. As the Pandemic and trade wars made the whole industry more unstable. All the joy and success WotC’s games have brought to Critical Role come with the strings that WotC gets to decide everyone else's fate. Especially if they're seen as a threat to that hegemony. If anything, it's the love and comfort that actually feed that terrible power. While Critical Role established their own TTRPG publishing wing and is increasingly going toe to toe with WotC.

So like, no shit they'd want to explore a whirlwind fight against the gods that came to their world from WotC. And the complexities that good vs. evil is not a useful framework for this fight. Sure you try to stop people you know will be even worse, but that doesn't mean that the existing system is good and that those who have the power to control everything should retain that control.

Politely persuading the Powers That Be to step back and be mortal like everyone else instead of all-powerful overlords is a conflict resolution power fantasy. Not every battle needs to be with swords. Violence can only ever destroy. Words are far more effective at actually rebuilding something worth living in. Even when you can't possibly know what that something is.

Change is necessary, and if it doesn't come soon we're headed for another Calamity. The past checks on that power have not worked, and it's clear that structurally they can't. We have got to do something else. That's terrifying, and maybe it'll fail, but it's unlikely to be worse than the current times we're living through.

[creatingblackcharacters]

Hi! I know this has been said before but thank you so much for running this blog, you do a huge amount of work for free and make it available to everyone and it's a phenomenal resource.

I wanted to ask you for feedback on a couple of story details. I'm developing a fantasy story with supernatural creatures and such. One of the main characters is Black and a vampire. (If it matters - the story takes place in a semi-fantastical world, the characters don't really have real-world nationalities, so he isn't specifically Black American.)

All of my characters are on the move often and have fairly 'basic' low-maintenance clothes and hairstyles, including him. Additionally, (I haven't quite decided how yet but it's there) the being undead thing slows hair growth quite a lot. I decided to give him a short afro considering both of those things, do you think this is realistic? (...or as realistic as it can be, in terms of this fantasy story lol)

There's no bigotry directly about anything real-world (like skin color), but there is arguably a fictionalized version of police discrimination. The story has a supernatural creature hunting association and one character mentions having left it because it was corrupt, cruel, and used underhanded methods to excuse taking innocents captive. I didn't originally intend it as an allegory for real discrimination and police brutality but it very quickly became that. The rest of the story is pretty lighthearted, so I'm not sure how much I should lean into that aspect (I'm also white so there's probably a line to how in-depth I can get about it). Do you have advice?

How do I address the maybe awkward implications of him being admittedly dangerous to other people? He's sort of an antihero that the audience is supposed to root for, but if we're already going into symbolism, then it's awkward that supernatural hunters have a genuinely good reason for going after him (he DOES kill people, although the narrative doesn't really take murder super seriously when the main characters do it), even though they do so often unjustly. I'm already aware of cultural uses of supernatural monsters as allegories for 'undesirable' minorities, and I want the audience takeaway to be 'that was a fun supernatural story' and not 'this story is encouraging me to think of [insert minority] as dangerous parasites'.

Well, it doesn't change anything that it's a fantastical world bc the character is still what we know to be Black. I do that with my stories too, but that doesn't change context outside of your story, no 😅 sorry.

1. An afro is fine; I don't see why it wouldn't be.

2 & 3. These two tie together, unfortunately. You can't really say that this world has an equivalent of police brutality and that these people who enforce said police brutality and bigoted discrimination are hunting down your character... That is Black... That "deserves it"... But it's a "light hearted" story. Because as a Black person, I'm not just gonna forget you said that 😅 ESPECIALLY when another character used to work for em! It reminds me of Twilight, when Jasper used to be a whole Confederate and as Black readers we were supposed to just... Get over that 😅

The connection there is that this bigoted entity could very well do those things to this character, and so while we can root for him to not be caught, that will still hang over our heads. And then for the narrative to unironically say "he kind of deserves it" nah I'll pass, personally.

Is anyone else on your main team Black, or at least of color? Or are we looking at this one guy who is a target of some of the worse that the story can hold, while everyone else is just... Not? Because that doesn't look great, no, if you have that and then don't treat it as important.

I will say, lightheartedness amongst a serious topic has been done! As weird and questionable as Quentin Tarantino is, the scene of the Klan being fucking jokers is admittedly one of the only times I've ever laughed at hardcore bigots.

But the rest of Django also treats the story as quite serious; his revenge narrative against racists and their violence is central to the story. So I think that if you're gonna bring that part of the narrative up, you need to commit to what that means or let it go.

[zengguos]

lottie rambles featuring shauna dynamic talk (made before season 3 episode 6 so my interpretations may change! also I believe the wilderness as a deity is purely psychological created by lottie so I will be talking about it like that).

do you ever think about how lottie was always told in life that all she is, is selfish, dangerous and hurts people? to the point she tried to be helpful and understand people all her life, projecting the way she wished she had that support system, was understood and listened to. she tried to be selfless by taking and sharing others pain with herself (even if it was enabling dangerous ideology like the deconstruction of reality, objectivity and subjectivity post-crash — carrying that on into the adult timeline with the people in her commune).

(she was doing this, having a need to be there, trying to help out way before the wilderness too — being first member to try and comfort allie, having her say in the freezing her out talk & shifting tai's aggression from shauna onto herself during the pit fight. these are core fundamental traits of hers we are introduced to in the pilot, to be involved, righteous and caring).

yet, post-crash, into her adulthood you can understand both sides — the selfishness & the selflessness. that is what lottie's character encapsulates, she is both of many contrasting emotions, thoughts, feelings, descriptions. showing you cannot be one or the other even if they are paradoxical concepts. you can't be black or white going through life, you're bound to always be grey...

the wilderness just broke those insecurities and desires she had internalised about herself free into the forefront, enhanced by her psychosis and fragmented identity/sense of worth leading to the creation of this prophet role. the desire to be someone people can rely on instead of being a liability, someone that can bring people together instead of break them apart, someone to bring some guidance instead of uncertainty, someone that is seen and has to be listened to instead of pushed to the side. to bring love, protection, security, sense and clarity of the madness (things she wanted deep down).

this event transformed the negativity surrounding her schizophrenia as she no longer had those external stressors and pressures. as all throughout her childhood she had been silenced, ignored, shamed and blamed for who she is by the people around her, by her environment. it was drilled into her so much that she also came to hate and deny herself (it even still effects her into adulthood too).

that when her hallucinations were acknowledged and called a "gift" by laura lee — someone who was part of the only place she had ever felt some semblance of security and love in — it had made such a huge impact on lottie's life. taking those words to heart (for many years) as she tried to make it one, a literal gift. however, this would soon be harming as much it was euphoric. as her need for support, love and acceptance for who she is got distorted with the association to faith as she developed the role of the prophet...

it didn't help that her deluded reality with the self created threat (and her denial coping mechanism) of the wilderness soon became shared by the group, that her thoughts and beliefs became based in actuality making it harder to be challenged. the wilderness becoming more of a threat through her as she mystified it, unconsciously controlling its narrative, causing lottie to be a victim and a instigator.

which spirals her into desperation (showcased through her tendency to self harm) and frustration based in anger (as a teenager) in the periods were she could no longer connect to the wilderness and make sense of her situation and her actions through it, or when the rituals are not fulfilled correctly and belief of the wilderness is shaken by others.

this erratic behaviour is further facilitated through the position and power the group has given her. at first she didn't understand, but her impressionable mind twists their perception of her into it making sense in her own reality. especially with the skewed association she has with love, faith and devotion — she sees her "gift" through being their prophet as the bridging connection to get what she deeply wants and she clings onto that (even if it is harmful) by maintaining the need for the wilderness. she wants to keep that feeling of importance with them. not to be forgotten, abandoned and turned on like in her pre-crash life. she wants to fulfil those expectations for others now, unlike she couldn't pre-crash from the people around her, but just like pre-crash they're impossible. yet in the wilderness the impossible seems possible — everything from the old society they knew is deconstructed and reformulated in this brand new civilization here in the woods.

she does want to help and protect them, but in her own way that uses the wilderness as an unconscious external source for that gripe of power and acceptance within the group hierarchy she is still after deep down (although, currently she doesn't explicitly have the leadership role right now like before, she does have majority infulence and the power to change the leader of the group still — which that is interesting to her dynamic within the group and herself — hopefully we will see more of that unspoken imbalance show itself).

however, misty saying that she could possibly angry that the wilderness didn't want her to be the leader anymore and her delayed reaction is a very interesting moment showing her psyche. her slow responses, expression shift and eye movements. she is upset because the wilderness gives her a voice she felt she didn't have, a purpose, importance, to become part of her identity and not having that leaves her insecure and vulnerable again.

lottie has shown she can be selfish, pressuring, aggressive and manipulative here within the guise of selflessness and protection too. especially during this time in early season three by trying to force other characters like travis and akilah into channelling their connections to the wilderness for her own needs which is different to the needs of the others that use her visions/connection with the wilderness. she targets that emotional fragility of others for her own gain as well shown how she pressures akilah into going back into the caves and how she'll use the bonds the others have each other to her advantage (despite their trust in herself). for example akilah's trust in travis, she stopped travis from going in straight away even though he promised that he'd go get her as soon as the rope stopped. we can see how good her observation and intuitive skills are, how they can be a comfort AND a manipulation too depending how people perceive and respond to her words of advice (these traits in particular carries on into her adulthood too).

again, she does genuinely want to help, she does have good intentions at heart, but it's how they are performed and executed which places lottie in a complex dilemma, making us the audience question is this behaviour/action truly for the greater good and benefit of the group as a whole? or is this individualistic ego talking.

then you see that anger she had when she was younger transition into desperation and frustration based in sadness when she is an adult experiencing the wilderness once more.

she has heavily educated herself on this, she's experienced this slip so many times, she know the signs, she know the exhaustion that comes with this on-going battle of self yet... she can't stop it no matter what... it's even more tragic as she falls back into it. being aware, but unaware at the same time.

(I just want to point out how fucking fantastic simone is here in this scene with the bees, showcasing lottie's restraint erratic-ness, but not in an aggressive frantic manner like teenage lottie is seen a lot in with courtney's amazing performance. I really love this scene).

now the mask she had created for herself in her adulthood is broken again as she battles her self identity once more. she sees the antler queen telling that this life she is living in now is self-repression, that this is not her true self, that she was free in the woods. which in a way it is true...

in a state where she was heavily traumatised to the point of mutism when we see her in the rescue scene, she went back to a life where her agency was removed and her voice she found fully ignored, her wilderness identity full crumbled as it was a life once again full of denial, neglect and abuse when she was rescued. her parents put her through shock therapy, heavily medicated and sedated her, sent her away to another country, stripped her from any sort of connections she had with the other survivors, the people who she loved. you can only assume how horrible the reports on her would have been in the media, how she must have been seen, how her story must have ran around, the narrative of her life once again out of her control. it was like it never happened, yet it did, she had all these experiences and was still deemed crazy before and after this event. she was the only one to receive that treatment, that pressure with no support system. she was back with everything she hated. but, she was not that person anymore, she was made in the wilderness. she had more freedom and control in the wilderness setting despite it being horrific and life threatening which says a lot. especially with how it left her when she got rescued.

she had to find a way to get that feeling of self again. being able to sympathise with others expriencing the similar troubles as her as shown in that hospital scene, having them rely on her she falls back into the closet thing to that moment — fully immersing herself in the journey of healing.

but, it's tragically ironic.

she falls back into that pattern she knew that kept her stable, secure and loved even if it is harmful to herself and others that facilitate this balance and power dynamic for her. the association of a cult, centered around things they did out there, still partaking in her self harm habits, overlooking a wilderness, overlooking a lake... she never got over it, she never escaped it, she would and could never deny it the way the others were able to. she kept the cards... she kept the necklace... she kept re-opening those wounds... she kept hold of everything physically and internally for years while everyone tried to move on and construct a disconnected life.

a luxury she could not have.

then a chain of unfortunate events all occur at once where it just seems too good to be true, setting her off again. to have nat come in — after being saved by lottie after a failed attempt — and say she is insane, to say that all she does whenever she tries to help is hurt people.

to literally see it in front of her again with travis dying that she could have stopped it (but it was not fully her fault, if going by her events, that he called her thinking she would have the answers, when the idea of the darkness returning was placed into his paranoid mind while under the infulence, re-triggering lottie too with such a traumatic event).

the guilt of laura lee's death coming back that she could have stopped (she mistook that traumatic stress inducded hallucination as a sign of the darkness and the vision of laura lee being this harmful monster this time may be caused by the after effects of the shock therapy due to its associations).

with everyone else arriving from the past she regresses further and that isn't her fault, but the hunt on shauna she could have stopped that and misty telling her the death of nat is much on her hands too, another thing she could have stopped from happening (yet, they were all equally guilty for falling back into that and allowing it to happen with their collective paranoia).

somehow, she's the only one that is consistently punished for it despite others involvement of these events. and unfortunately this perception the characters have about her being selfish, dangerous and harmful post-crash was constantly reaffirmed within these narratives that she had faux power in, as this falsely sanctified image. when realistically, she was powerless in these events just like everyone else, yet she is still blamed for every part of it, fully... even by herself (her self harm, destruction and guilt coming back).

and we see that's one ways they survived — just as quick as they are to rely on her when good things happen and they need support, they are just as quick to put the blame onto her without thinking how that would still impact her to this day. thinking she's too "crazy" to process it and understand the weight of her actions... which is so wrong. it always stays with her deeply in her mind — "how much do you guys remember."

and how can she not forget.

they (misty voiced it) blamed her for the necessity of all the hunts to begin with too after shauna's beating. all these deaths were technically on her hands despite her having no control over it, never wanting it yet... she comes to accept it.

her defense mechanism being the wilderness... in her mind, in this moment where they hug her, physically hold her and affirm they are glad and happy that she is okay and still alive — I feel it is the moment the hunts soon enters the conception of the wilderness. to make the killings make sense and denounce their whole responsibility over it. protecting them again and allowing them to blame her. it's a selfish and selfless moment. the love she receives contrasting with the horrors committed, she now fully takes on both. she tells herself she needs to do that subconsciously. even as she denounces her leadership, she's already taken a more serious and deeper role within the group.

that's why, years later, she once again takes it into her hands as a felt responsibility to restart the hunts as she attempts to control the situation the only way she knows how, thrown back into that survival mindset, despite not needing to.

it's tragic to see her life fall apart in front of our eyes as she subcomes to the paranoia. we clearly see her battling this dilemma internally over the reality of the situation throughout the episodes until 'it' fully takes over her, transforming from her therapist to the antler queen. indicating she has fully entered a psychosis episode and is the prophet once more. emotionally, she feels the need to enforce a new hunt because only she can do it and only she can supposedly handle the repercussions of it (even though she clearly cannot).

yet, this time the wilderness was the start of her undoing, there were two fates sealed that night.

lottie begins to fully regress. this is the circle that is her life, making her loop back to the start...

this moment, in the kitchen, had so many layers to it — through shauna's anger here, you can tell she saw everyone blurring together.

(god simone's facial expressions in this scene again, her eyes say a thousand words with lottie! I really love her acting).

"it never meant what you thought it meant."

lottie like always tries to challenge shauna's perspective once more, tries to challenge the narrative of many things within shauna's life and get shauna to stop running — this is an attempt to move forward, not back. here I do not believe she was under any deluded infulence.

(even if back then she said callie was powerful in her psychosis episode after she just took a shot to the arm like it was nothing — but maybe I'm wrong with future episodes... but for now this is my thought on the scene).

because in many of lottie's climatic moments with shauna, you can feel the emotion between the two is clear, real and raw. lottie's placement with shauna in these big moments through her perspective is usually trying to ground her and makes her look at everything. she deeply cares for shauna enough to even allow shauna to beat her to a plup in grief to clear her mind and how she defended shauna's grieving actions from tai during the jackie body fight, attempting to give shauna some closure.

however shauna's perspective of lottie is the opposite, changing from needing to be defensive to aggressive with her as shauna further breaks down. we can see that with how she views lottie with her child in her dream, how she outright rejects lottie's mysticism and guidance for something dangerous, obsessing over the potential threat she may cause (despite shauna being a threat herself). lottie gave herself up as a punching bag, as someone for shauna to vent out her frustrations on and shauna has ran with that even since to the point it has clouded her judgment of lottie. it created an antagonistic dynamic in her mind, despite that never being reciprocated.

and because of this dynamic: they bring out each other's fatal flaw — lottie's love & shauna's rage.

so, I believe we exprience this reaction to the necklace in the kitchen through shauna's perspective as she voices her distress.

but, lottie is right, the necklace was never meant to be about death, it was always meant to be a symbol of protection, love and comfort. she tries to get that through to shauna. yet shauna sees it at face vaule, a symbol of death not the one of hope and luck jackie meant it to be. the one of comfort it originally was meant to be when lottie gave it to shauna back when they were about to burn jackie's body.

this moment forces shauna to panic, due to her denial and guilt, over being faced to acknowledge that once again she changed the meaning of something that belongs to jackie, what she left behind for shauna, when she placed it on nat during the first hunt for the worse. the meaning jackie put onto necklace, the meaning lottie gave to the necklace by giving it back to shauna — that's what lottie is telling her to remember, not what it became, but what it was.

also this may be a far assumption, but the "you can feel it too" — the emphasis and tension in that, through shauna's perspective, she chooses to focus on that being about death, making it sound more sinister than it is through the emotional roller coaster she is expriencing right now.

but, really this is about jackie, not the hunts, not the wilderness chosing — it is jackie because this moment of returning the necklace to shauna as adult is calling back to the body scene. it gives a hint that lottie understands the turmoil going on beyond callie's inquiries into the past with what shauna is go through. adding more to the connection between callie and jackie that the story has visually alluding to as well.

lottie has always been quite intuitive when it comes to shauna's emotional wellbeing especially in these situations. coming back to when they were all together drinking when shauna said she would rather not know what she is suppressing and lottie said she'll have to face it eventually as it manifests itself sooner or later in life...

now this scene in the kitchen, it may have been interpreted as a gesture of kindness on lottie's end compared to shauna. this is what jackie may have wanted, this is what might have happened to the necklace in another reality if it kept its original context. a hand me down vs a death sentence. this is just a really scene that shows what yellowjackets is about, the double narrative, the double line of reality, the double perspective. how shauna sees, in her reality, lottie as the main antagonist to her protagonist in the narrative of her life. but, in actuality lottie is one of the most loving presences shauna has ever had in her life.

(hey maybe wearing blue flannel again and kicking someone out is shauna soulmate-ism LMAO. but with lottie's death and the events of episode 5, you can now see shauna is starting to fully face her reality, what lottie wanted and the real truth of the situation. questioning the narrative she's placed on lottie as she starts this journey of uncovering her death — I hope she comes to see that and the tragedy of lottie and their relationship outside of what was just mentioned).

anyways, back to the main point...

lottie is rejected once more by shauna. seeing that her actions have hurt her, someone she loves once again and she is forced to leave before she can even explain herself. the meaning her actions have once again been misinterpreted — vilified by shauna's viewpoint of her. she is abandoned by another loved one. this is the final nail in the coffin with how she has been rejected fully by the only people and place she could call her safespace.

lottie is now fully pushed into that vulnerable insecure state. returning her mentally to her child self, that literally leads her physically back to her first childhood home — where it all started. we saw how her life was forced to move backwards once the wilderness started showing itself to her again. forcing her to face everything about it once more.

how she lost everything she built as an adult.

how she was sent back to the ward.

how she returned to someone part of that only place she ever felt accepted, herself in, loved in, that she cared deeply for and wanted that understanding back.

how she was doing things she did as a teenager again.

how she went back to her first childhood home. a place where she was still being seen as her younger self by her father who has an even more warped sense of reality than herself now.

still apologising repeatedly for her actions that hurt people, to what feels like everyone here and not here, but also — with the visual cut to her young self... it is to herself. with how her life has ended up, with how everything she has ever loved has gone, how she could not protect herself still, everything she tried to do in all of her attempts to rebuild and break free of the cycle of self harm and self destruction she finds herself in... 25 years after such a terrible situation that basically made her, this now is breaking her. she couldn't escape (shown by the location where she ends up dying — she predicted it, she couldn't break the cycle).

that she was not lottie here, she was charlotte.

dying in the place where her life ended, but also where her life began...

alone.

she was left alone from the beginning.

she was still alone until the end.

the moment she was never alone was one of the worst events of her life that was paradoxically probably the best time of her life with the people she loved the most.

she was a victim of her environment, a victim of others and, sadly a victim of herself... she was dangerous, she was hurtful, she was selfless, she was helpful, she was kind, she was manipulative. she was so many things, but there is nuance to it, she transcended the typical description for these words.

she is a tragic character through and through.

[reality-detective]

For years or months now, you have been walking this tightrope between two worlds. The world in which you were incarnated into, and the world in which you are rising up to in vibration.

Never has a soul been born into a third dimensional reality, then ascended to a higher dimensional reality in the same body. It's unprecedented, and you wonder why you are feeling the way you do?

You are being asked to transcend yourself in the most amazing and beautiful ways. Rise above the highest level vibration possible within this realm. All the while following the breadcrumbs given to you to allow yourself to elevate your thoughts, words and feelings to a higher level of understanding.

While undergoing physical and mental upgrades on every part of your mind, body and soul. Allowing you to expand so great and into a higher being within your human suit.

Now, it's your body's turn. The soul had to clear enough density from the human body you're in to bring in more light for it to hold. That beautiful light is cleansing and clearing your human suit, allowing it to upgrade while walking within it.

All of this is such a grand undertaking. There's no stepping away, do NOT let someone else handle it. Each step on this mission had to be done by YOU and you only.

Finding a balance within you to hold the much needed frequencies to rise higher, while rebuilding yourself, moment by moment.

Now you are being systematically removed from one of the hardest parts of this walk. Balancing between two worlds. You are being isolated within yourself to ascend. You're physical being is asking if you are ready to release yourself from this reality and move forward.

It's been hard walking with one leg in each world. Many can see and feel their Quantum lovers and friends. Others are being visited by their families here that have crossed over. In meditation we are welcomed in, loved on, told how greatly we are missed. We are also experiencing events in our Quantum future to prepare us for what is to come.

With that next step of moving forward comes the need to detach from this reality fully and completely. Not engaging with its narrative and releasing yourself above this reality so it no longer pulls and pushes on you.

It's NOT an easy task, but many have completed it and many more are preparing to do it, in this moment.

It is not something you have to think about, you've already chosen the Quantum. You have a soul contact that guides you. All you need to do is not over think it. Just allow yourself to move through this time and let it happen, let go of everything that no longer serves you.

It's a needed choice. You can't move forward still tethered to a 3D matrix reality. That's like a hot air balloon trying to soar high and free while still holding its sandbags inside.

All the clearings, emotional releases, the big understandings, and the changing of you, both inside and out, is bringing forward your untethered reality. Allowing you to no longer be connected to this lower dimensional reality and choosing to let go and elevate to the higher version of you.

That is why you may feel like you're isolated at the moment or in a void state. Much like a chrysalis creating a butterfly, you need time to create you and choose the higher vibrational YOU.

This is what's happening with Lightworkers this very moment. We are preparing to ascend. Preparing to step out of this reality and into the next.

So be easy on yourself today. If your eyes are blurry, or something within you aches, send it your love. So much is happening within you right now preparing you to move forward, it's truly miraculous.

You Are A Walking, Talking, Loving Miracle.💫

So be kind to yourself today. When you share your light, do it from the depths of your heart. Let this reality really feel who you are. Let them know the Legion of Light is here to show all the ascending and non-ascending their way home.

It's truly a beautiful day to be YOU. 🤔

[centrally-unplanned]

Definitely split-minded on the Congressional CR/Funding bill and Dems not blocking it, I don't think there is a right answer. Overall I think the Dems strategy in the House to pretty much refuse to negotiate to force a clean funding bill was "right", in the sense that Republicans have an awful track record of putting one together. They just overcame their own weaknesses here (advantages of a "low-ideology-high-autocracy" system, Trump's team told them they 100% must pass something or they would get fucked but didn't particularly care what) and actually put one together. So the gambit failed, but it was a solid bet and even then while ofc the bill is Quite Bad, it isn't dismantling the welfare state or anything - it is pretty close to as clean a funding bill as one could expect from a dominant Republican majority (the DC budget cuts are the standout "pain for the sake of pain" play)

So it comes to the senate filibuster, and I just don't know. So a government shutdown is obviously, on the actual merits, Very Bad. It is always bad, but it will be much worse now because it does in fact empower the Trump admin to make much more sweeping policy changes - they have pretty-much-total authority to determine what is "essential" and what isn't. It would be a ton of suffering. And of course Democrats don't, like, control Congress. They can't draft their own bill, they can only play chicken.

Which is the other side of the coin - the reality of politics is that sometimes you have to do really bad things as part of the "game" because otherwise you get rolled on. If a government shutdown would get almost entirely blamed on Republicans, then it would probably be worth it. And if that was true that it would probably be brief, because Republicans would cave! Trump is increasingly unpopular, is tanking the economy, and is generally seen as a chaos agent. I can definitely see the argument for him getting blamed.

But I don't think it is a strong argument, because the Republican funding bill is relatively "clean" - it doesn't like slash social security or anything like that. All these arguments about "oh we need to have the bill hold DOGE accountable" are inside baseball legalese that voters will never give a shit about (and don't really matter on the merits compared to the court cases). The Republican funding bill, in isolation, is perfectly "popular" amoung voters. And Trump's entire "slash the bureaucracy" agenda really isn't that unpopular yet! Dems just aren't where the voters are on this. So if Dems block it, it also seems reasonable that they are going to get blamed. And that would be a huge misplay, as Trump's incompetence is the headline story right now, and it would take the wind out.

And this narrative stuff matters because it is isn't just about the 2026 elections; whoever is getting "blamed" is the side that is gonna balk in the chicken game. Trump is 100%, no questions asked, going to love taking away people's welfare services in order to make Dems looks bad, they won't cave on that. The narrative and the policy outcomes are intertwined.

So in that naïve case I think Schumer is probably making the right call? But I do think this could have been done differently in the lead up. Kelsey Piper mentioned the idea of outlining very clear red lines ahead of time, anchoring expectations, and then following through, and I agree that the House & Senate Dems did not do a great job of coordinating to do this. They may have been banking too hard on Republican incompetence. Hard to fix that now, but it is fair to point out and take notes on it for the future.

Obviously the true takeaway is the filibuster delenda est and the entire idea of government shutdowns and funding bills delenda est, this entire legislative process is an absolute joke. People should vote on bills they want to pass, simple as.

[unproduciblesmackdown]

also to go "wow this is just like in pentiment" about absolutely anything and/or "wow this is just like iphigenia crash land falls on the neon shell that was once her heart (a rave fable)" about absolutely anything further:

the Narratives within crash land falls where like, in the end iphigenia being Given the story of both "this is going to happen anyways" and "so why don't you see it as a noble sacrifice to accept." the situation happening to Create a story that she was killed, so her father must be tragic, and sympathetic. that iphigenia does take on that Narrative of taking on the Noble Willing Sacrifice, and it kills her, but she also would have been killed anyways, as everyone also knows. that we even get a bit of pentimentesque [other characters observe & assess things] like, the fresa girls as a chorus, and one at the end like yeah She Was No Saint, i saw everything, but being cut off by The News that's like yeah looks like iphigenia was killed, that seguing into her father saying yeah she was killed, god's will was done, She's A Saint now. seguing to the emcee who introduced the play, but that superceded by achilles, and that superceded with iphigenia's extasis monologue as the end of the play. that whether iphigenia's a saint or not, she dies. that [the whole play] tells us as much, like, this isn't a What If kind of retelling where she escapes her fate, this is a retelling examining itself like, she Will die because the story's preset, so what to do with this as the story that has to take her there, what to do with this as iphigenia who has to go there

that iphigenia takes on another narrative in addition to the one offered by like, violeta as guide and oracle telling her she has to die (As A Noble Sacrifice), that again (as per iphigenia in aulis being like uh hey daughter. let's go to aulis so you can uh marry achilles (it is to be sacrificed)) achilles is this bait, but it's only in the ending that there's any Story about being with achilles, and when iphigenia goes to the mercenary soldier who she knows will kill her, she's the one telling him what to tell her about where she's going and why, i want you to tell me achilles is waiting for me....and she still dies, because This Is The Story. as also applied to the reality, iphigenia as another dead and missing girl following & preceding many; any disappeared deaths when consumed as disposable & replaceable, not given part of any narrative about it. while also iphigenia only gets a chorus of fresa girls from there being crosses put on the factory wall with their names, with one girl even remarking like hey they spelled my name right for once. but at the same time they're also like, both mere Apparitions but also like standins for people who are simply alive. real [shades]esque kind of, i suppose, but like they're not Sanctified for dying either, they'll comment on iphigenia but not with any like, divine knowledge, just as this out of place rich girl. whether iphigenia's A Saint or Not A Saint, she's still dead either way. she wants to be a fresa girl, they maybe want to be her, but everyone's doomed anyways thanks to way larger forces and the Stories that have been told and will be told again

but there's also the moment right before the final section wherein, before she's having to say what she wants within the bounds of [she has to die], there's achilles asking "you still want me" and iphigenia answering with "i want everything" and her vision for, like, getting to be alive actually, i'm on the gulf where the sea is gray, and no one wants a piece of me....the whole inciting event here where iphigenia wants to evade her fate however she can, exiting the bounds of her life, the physical bounds and the family unit and walking away from the rank of status / class / wealth, trying for [have her body for herself] and what the body wants, the sensuous indulgences of (a rave fable), let's hear some more about the roman state like "we don't like the examination and challenge and upending of class and convention in a bacchanalia, so only do the official versions we permit;" the Threat of people's desires for themselves, when that's going to be counter to those in power who'd want these people to be resources at their disposal; the burden on the disempowered to suffer [the only way out is through] with the Additional pain & loss that has to be taken on in pursuit of their autonomy, while also of course suffering for the autonomy they lack, that restricted and controlled and mitigated versions of what you might want are deigned to be provided or permitted so that you have Something, but that everyone's actual undeniable personhood will always be spilling past those bounds, the potential power of transgressive pleasure when one's wellbeing and autonomous choices are counter to the power structures that have to constantly try to suppress and preclude this. achilles just as bait, doomed to die like iphigenia is also still doomed, sex was never going to save everyone and the [recognizing connection as these two parallel people / We're The Same] with your lover here is not going to save everyone but it still makes more things possible for them both; iphigenia does know what she wants, and gets some of it because she wants it, same with achilles in turn, while it can't save anyone from their fates still. but it can mean something even if it doesn't transcend, like even a fleeting night of insignificant dancing that doesn't change anything can mean something, and we all die, but that doesn't mean it's Nothing to be killed any more than it's Nothing to have your desires or choices one way or another to be wrung out of your life before you are

anyways, the stories. the Looking and Presenting here. achilles and iphigenia first encountering each other as images put together and presented by someone else for their own purposes. the presence of what's seen through film/camera/recording versus in person; the potential power relations and even violence in framing, presenting, and the intended looking and assessing. repeated language about eyes/looks that burn, while also that connection between iphigenia and achilles, and their finding the least room in what they do have of their lives for more of their own wants and selves and something genuine and not predetermined, is also connected to eyes and looking and being seen and light and burning. while they're also connected to the protection and possibility of night and darkness, getting to exist and be Without being lit up or seen; that with the power that's still in play, it's never like, well then you should have nothing / no reason to hide; the penultimate moment in the play with achilles being one that's in person and fades into darkness, rather than coming in from the light of a projection / video onscreen as the introduction....iphigenia needing to be guided through a crossroads to even get to achilles in person; violeta giving the Advice and Story and Tradition to pray to eleggua, as iphigenia does before getting to encounter achilles for real, who also doesn't get to break out of a role or a fate in full in any way, but their tragedies are like, pointing towards [autonomy, imagine it] in both the ways they manage to find a little bit of it for themselves, in no small part for simply recognizing each other as in the same boat here, and in the ways they still don't have it and still can't get it

and anyways it's also inevitably saying like, telling a story?? this Play is a told story!! looking? assessing? interpreting? you're doing that in the course of experiencing it! and it's really so fucking true.

[melodysoars]

all good! for some context, I'm in law school and working with two national watchdog groups that monitor clean water & food safety; what I mean to say is that none of my professors, supervising attorneys, or peers are freaking out over this ruling.

To be an enviro activist news source is to be professionally outraged about everything all the time. The public-facing sides of groups like the Sierra Club and MPU are obviously going to publish short, catastrophic-sounding bulletins that make people panic/donate. That's why you couldn't find a substantive MPU article — it doesn't exist. A tweet about "Sewage In Your Drinking Water!" is going to get people talking; it's just not what this case is really about. I always recommend thinking super critically about enviro echo chambers.

Now I've got to apologize for being unclear: when I said "article" in those personal tags, I meant "opinion". I'm going to put the rest under the cut, but I wanna give a short run-through of what City and County of San Francisco v. EPA, 604 U.S. _ (2025) actually means for the CWA in case people are super worried.

TL;DR: SCOTUS now requires the EPA to tell companies exactly what to do to fix water quality. This means more work for the EPA, not less, and that CWA permits are going to take longer and spark more lawsuits. If the EPA keeps doing its job, water quality will stay the same.

Obligatory disclaimer: I'm a law student, not a certified attorney. Apply salt as needed.

First, while any opinion SCOTUS puts out is noteworthy, City and County of San Francisco v. EPA (which I will now refer to as Frisco) is not a unique or targeted attack. I think it's surprising to many people that a lot of environmental legal work actually involves suing the EPA (or USDA or FDA or Army Corps of Engineers...) for fucking up. On average, the EPA fields 150+ lawsuits a year, so the idea that they'd be called out on their permitting wasn't exactly a blindside.

Frisco centers around the definition of the word "limitations". The majority, led by Justice Alito, argues that a limitation has to be more specific than a vague end goal. The dissent, led by Justice Barret, argues that limitations include vague end goals. There are other issues in the opinon, but it basically boils down to whether or not the EPA can legally bind companies to vague promises to "not contribute to" or "not create" water quality violations.

Crash course in the Clean Water Act: before 1972, there was an older water protection law called the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (WPCA) that was widely regarded as a failure. In 1972, Congress created the CWA and changed how the law handled pollution. Instead of trying to retroactively assign blame for already-committed pollution, the CWA now tries to prevent it in the first place (or tie it to a specific polluter from the get-go) with permits and use the fine money for clean-up. This is widely regarded as a good idea. Now fast forward to 2019. Frisco began because the EPA tossed in two new regulations (the "not contribute" and "not create" ones from above) on a San Francisco permit that were more in line with the WPCA old law than the CWA we currently have. The city said "that's not the law," and now the Supreme Court has also said "that's not the law". Justice Alito is very careful to stress — Frisco actually upholds the Clean Water Act. It just limits the EPA from going beyond it.

Key points:

The EPA can still, as it always has, set quantitative and narrative requirements on its permits. Permittees still have to watch their toxics and sewage discharge and can still be fined and sued for not trying hard enough. That's not changing.

However, permit limitations now have to be assigned "from without"; i.e. the permittees can't make their own decisions about how to fix problems. This actually gives the EPA more control, but also a lot more work. The NPDES permit process is going to take longer now and there will be more lawsuits.

The reason why businesses are celebrating is that they are no longer responsible for the end result of their pollution control attempts. If the EPA tells Example Corp. that they have to do XYZ and then they actually do XYZ, then Example Corp. can't be fined —even if the water is still polluted & we're pretty sure it's due to them.

In the short term, this is going to create a kerfuffle. The EPA has to redo its permitting process. There's no clear consensus on what's going to happen to the hundreds of thousands of permits already out there. In the long term, if EPA can work out a standard and detailed permitting script, not much will change at all! If somehow the EPA gets a lot more funding, this could be an amazing tool for environmental protection (or at least, eco attrition warfare). The general consensus among lawyers seems to be that as long as the EPA is reasonably staffed and funded (ha), not much will change.

Overall, Frisco is a fairly standard SCOTUS-is-out-of-touch case. It's not evil. It's not doomsday. It's not great news, but it's certainly not the biggest recent threat to the CWA or EPA (goodbye Chevron my old friend; Sackett my beloathed). To learn more about Frisco, I recommend these articles and overviews by Bloomberg Law, JD Supra, Oyez, and Morgan Lewis. On a final note, the EPA is not the only agency involved in water monitoring! All but 3 states have their own DEQ water monitoring boards that work mostly but not entirely in concert with the federal agency. So even if the EPA does get dismantled, not all would be lost.

However, let's work to keep the EPA around as long as possible! Right now (3/13/25), there's an attempt to remove the National Environmental Policy Act from federal law. PLEASE go to federalregister.gov or click this link and submit a public comment stating how important NEPA is and how much you support it. Comments can be as short as a few sentences and each one matters (legally, the gov't has to read and consider them before passing a rule). So far there are nearly 17k of us voicing support and with two weeks left, I really think we can hit 20k!

[juniemunie]

[Abandoned by the Lightners, his heart became cracked with hatred.]

Hitting a lil' too close to home?

[virgil-upinthestars]

tolkien, writing a poignant and epic tale about two people overcoming thousands of years of feuding and cultural conditioning to save the world and form a lifelong bond of understanding, respect, and admiration

tumblr users: that's the gayest shit i've ever seen in my life

[earl-grey-crow]

SCREAMING SOBBING WHAT DID I JUST WATCH

[danwhobrowses]

Okay I've had a sleep, I've seen a lot of what the fandom has to say and I'm gonna just talk about my thoughts on the episode 118 stuff in more detail too.

Spoilers under the cut and it's a little bit (5 paras and a tl/dr at the bottom) long

I have never liked the Release Predathos option, but it had been very apparent - since probably as far back as the vorbing - that Matt had been pushing the narrative towards that option whether Bells Hells wanted it or not. The lack of alternatives provided meant that yes, the Hells had little choice but to deal with Predathos themselves; Ludinus was likely not dead, they were low on strength and resources even after a short rest to fight another full-strength Ludinus, and even if they caved in the core and killed Ludinus again someone else would've tried to come and release Predathos. On that I can't really fault the cast for playing ball with the DM and I can't say what the characters are doing is out of character or with bad intentions, it simply annoys me how close we were to entertaining the idea that should've been discussed earlier of putting Predathos somewhere nobody can get to. Objectively it was still a terrible idea, one that even in delivery could've been better prepared with Imogen not in range of the two saving throw buffs or having any Inspiration as she took on Predathos knowing from previous experience that a wisdom save is likely to be involved. But again, the alternatives offered up to them are sparse, nothing else in the narrative had offered a clear solution and if something did suddenly come up it would've felt too much like a deus ex machina. The Hells are not doing this because they want to do Ludinus' plan, but doing so is by proxy doing Ludinus' plan, and thus the problem as of current lies in the Plot.

Right now, they're at a very high risk of the plot not justifying a story, because why did we have this campaign if the outcome is gonna be the same? If the plan is to reset Exandria why didn't we have C3 in the post-reset era and trickle in what happened as lore? Bells Hells have often lacked agency when it came to the Predathos portions of the campaign, but even when they took agency to try and be more than what they were made to be they found themselves punished or being withheld the catharsis they needed to grow. Regardless, the plot is currently failing the characters, and thus the characters are failing the audience - to the point where some in the fandom now want them all to die or for Braius to betray them all - because we the audience don't see the appeal of the direction.

There is a caveat though: it's not yet over. We expect that there will be a fight between the Hells and Predathos!Imogen (we need a name for that) and possibly Ludinus swooping in with the harness to try and steal a victory, but that does mean that the theatre of imagination can come into play in dealing with Predathos itself. There is of course uncertainty whether Predathos can die, since Vecna at 0hp would've just discorporated them for a bit, but there are a lot more options for the Hells to entertain now than there was at 118, including having to kill the vessel - be it Imogen or transferring it to another like Ludinus or Liliana, being able to expel Predathos from Imogen and entrapping/banishing/killing it with the knowledge that yeah that was a terrible idea, or somehow having Imogen suppress it and remain control over herself (and hope that the same rule doesn't apply to her as it does with Delilah being free when Laudna dies), which all can involve exciting twists and turns and creative solutions befitting of a conclusion. In that hope is the opening for a more exciting and satisfying end, and while the plot has had rightful criticisms a good ending can make up for them just as much as a bad ending can ruin a good plot.

So in short; I don't like that Imogen did that, but I know why she did it. And why she did it is more the plot's fault because we never saw it as a good idea, just the only decision that was pushed to be made. There's hope though, and all is not lost, but the plot as well as the characters are gonna have to earn it.

[moongothic]

You know I realize I forgot to mention this before in the Crocodile Power Level Speculation Post/Ask (btw I did go back to edit it so it's actually legible and has a point now lmao)

I really wanna know if Croc has any new tricks with his hook

Like in Alabasta the dude had a poison hook under his regular hook, which was also hiding a tiny blade beneath it as well. This is all fine and dandy, absolutely iconic etc etc

And then we never see him reuse either feature again.

Now to be fair, the only other time we could've seen Crocodile use them would've been in Marineford, but the dude just escaped from prison. Although people are quick to meme about the Marines being 'kind enough' to let Crocodile keep his gigantic fucking hook in prison-- If we're being realistic here, they probably let him keep the base of the hook simply because without a hand any shackle would just slide off his wrist and fall off. Of course he wouldn't still be able to escape or anything since he'd still have the Seastone cuff on his right, but if they wanted to keep him properly shackled then letting him keep even just the hook base would just be the easiest option for the Marines.

It's the fact that the Marines went out of their way to retrieve his missing hook attachment and gave it back to him that's a bit wild

But let's keep in mind that Luffy did break the poison hook back in Alabasta. Even if the Marines let Croc keep the hook attachment, I find it extremely unlikely they would've gone out of their way to fix/replaced the poison hook when the guy's going to jail anyways. If anything it'd make far more sense if they got rid of whatever poison might've still been left in the base and confiscated the blade. Like there's an argument to be made for the Marines letting Crocodile keep his hook due to disability reasons, but the poison and the purely stabby weapon? Not so much

So really, it's very likely the reason Crocodile never used his other weapons in Marineford might've just been that he literally didn't have them on him at the time, just the basic hook

But hey, it's been two whole whooping years. That would be plenty of time for him to replace the broken hook and blade and get some new poison into the hook base too while he's at it

Or

Are there any new weapons Crocodile could've gotten inserted into his hook base that he could whip out

Like just because he could get a new poison hook it doesn't mean he has to get a poison hook, same for the blade as well, right

To be fair, dude feels very old fashioned so I'm not expecting any Inspector Gadget kinda tech from him. Like I don't think Crocodile's knowledgeable about stuff like that himself, at least not enough to install any technically advanced weaponry into the hook on his own, and IDK if he'd trust his hook with anyone to "upgrade it" either for an extended period of time either

But could you imagine if Croc had gotten access to a busted ass Pacifista and stole a laser and had it built into his hook base. He just pulls of the hook and starts blasting people with the laser. How fucking funny would that be. Franky eat your heart out

[potionwine]

Oooh, you’ve also seen Nirvana in Fire?!? That was SO good. And as inspiration for PF?? That, explains some things, dang! It works

My friend. My dear. My lovely Cimi—

WHAT in the world—

Have I seen the drama that bloody changed my life; my favourite comfort c-drama; the series that I rewatch yearly the way I rewatch lotr every Christmastime; that exquisite story with the most incredible breadth and variety of characters with impeccable character work and amazing themes and an ending that respects its viewers which however tragic is thoroughly earned and identity porn and politics and pride and grief, god, so much grief—and an Emperor who is shakespearean in his tragedy and—

Okay. Okay, no, you could not have known, tis a failure of my part if I have not spoken enough about it—I probably mostly reply to other people's posts as they liveblog their watching but. BUT. God when I saw your ask it felt like you came up to me to remark "hey wow so you also ship PF?" that's how gobsmacked I was lol!!!

I have dragged everyone in my life into watching this show! I have mutuals on here who can testify to my introducing them to it omg. I just checked and the earliest NIF post I reblogged was in 2016 so I have been watching it every year since 2016 hahaha!!! Although it's pretty complex chinese, and since so much of the show is made up of characters sitting around talking the intricate plot into existence, it's not really a beginner-friendly c-drama either!!!

NOW I DIDN'T KNOW YOU'VE WATCHED IT TOO???!!!

I. have. been. going. UTTERLY MENTAL. at the lack of anyone with whom I could talk about it? OR SO I THOUGHT. So many times I thought of going into our discord to be like "has anyone ever heard of NIF because hhhhhhh the phoenixflare resonance" or like "so is anyone into TGCF perhaps perchance mayhap???"——because heh. hehehehe. heheheh??? My fic is practically a NIF/TGCF mashup, it's a Lin Shu+Xie Lian!Joshua Rosfield & Jingyan+Hua Cheng!Dion Lesage——and I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW MANY TIMES I wanted to ask god please does anyone else see my vision please god does anyone?? but no one would even understand the references, and I couldn't even ask in areas (asian fandom) where there would be a higher chance of people knowing what crack I'm on because asian fandom is all about that...you know...that I loathe—and I have been in pain and I thought right well fine I'm writing the fic anyway it's fine if I have no one to scream about it with because I'm writing it and then I'll find fellow competence porn+politics enjoyers if they find my fic and—and.

God. What an earth-shattering message to receive in my askbox! You are some sort of miracle <3

Do you see it??? Do you see it? A boy who burned to death in an inferno as an innocent betrayed youth in a catastrophic event caused by his own family, his father slain, his entire clan (and all the troops under his banner) wiped out or scattered. A boy reborn after extensive and horrific injuries after an agonisingly long period of recovery: a ghost who crawled his way out of the gates of hell, the last of his broken once-noble house.

That boy's transformation into his new identity of Mei Changsu/Margrace. His off-screen discovery of the truth that led to Meiling/Phoenix Gate and his continued on-screen quest to learn more. His determination to hold the true culprits accountable at immense personal cost and suffering. His dogged persistence despite incredible odds and visibly failing health. Being surrounded by people who love him and want to protect him, and himself constantly undermining their efforts because his goals are more important than his health. (Because in truth he knows perfectly well that he won't survive, but he can make a difference while he is alive.)

Something that amuses me hugely is how Lin Shu and Joshua literally both come back as 宗主? I love it so much! They come back with the same title! Both of them come back as clan leaders of an organisation that obeys their every command! Margrace is the 不死鳥教団の宗主(=leader of the cult of the undying bird) and Mei Changsu is 江左盟的宗主(=leader of the Jiangzuo alliance).

AND. Hooooo yea this PF fic is just JingSu at this point because oh, a handsome, principled, prideful, and stubborn prince who is a decorated warrior famed for his numerous military accomplishments and the man who is essential to the success of Lin Shu's/Joshua's plans? The resurrected boy barging into his prince's life: no matter how insane it is to choose your side, still "I choose you, Your Highness Prince Jing"??? The fact that the undervalued prince has a history with our secretive ghost protagonist? And (arguably) frequently thought about and missed the bright boy he knew once upon a time in happier days—"I know you," says Dion Lesage without a shadow of a doubt, extremely normal of him to instantly recognise a dead boy he met 20 years ago?

Mutual admiration of each other's integrity and capabilities? Reciprocal faith and remembrance? The foundation of deep respect and enduring friendship, their shared goals and shared family??? I froth at the mouth. JingSu are cousins, PF are stepsiblings by their parents' marriage. Each pair is bound by destiny and by choice—other people have made choices that permanently entangled each pair's lives together forevermore (Joshua+Dion and Jingyan+Xiaoshu), and the choice they themselves personally made to choose each other—

DO YOU SEE THE VISION.

How difficult it is to pursue justice when everyone involved is family and how impossible it is for Lin Shu the nigh-extinguished Chiyan fire for Joshua, the guttering flame, to indict Jingyan's father the Emperor of Liang Dion's father the Emperor of Sanbreque of his crimes against Joshua's family without opening old wounds and hurting many loved ones in the process including Dion himself. The people directly responsible for the tragedies are related to the protagonists in one way or another! If Lin Shu Joshua ever wants resolution for his grief unending, he has to strike at his beloved's father, and plot meticulously to avoid all of the dangers of attacking such a powerful enemy.

(Of course, I acknowledge the critical difference in Jingyan's versus Dion's feelings about their respective fathers.)

Now if only Joshua had done the famous blizzard scene with Dion instead of letting him go off to carry out his ill-advised coup—"Xiao Jingyan! You stand where you are! If I don't stop you today, what are you going to do? What do you think you can possibly accomplish if you charge in to challenge imperial power like this? Do you think you can simply force the Emperor [to do what you want/change his mind about Anabella Wei Zheng]? You have honour and valour but why do you just not have brains! How many more people must be hurt, you tell me!"

Anyway Joshy doesn't have the insufferable smugness of Xiaoshu but he does absolutely have Xiaoshu's pride, the sort of pride that is not just personal pride but familial pride too (after all Joshua comes from extremely prestigious lineage)—just look at how he speaks to Ultima in every scene, his lordly manner. Joshua I think has more Consort Jing to him, and Consort Jing is only my favourite character in all of NIF, in a drama where I love every character to bits—steel in softness, ever gentle ever polite yet not to be bullied and not to be underestimated and also extremely perceptive and learned and patient. Extra sweet bonus that Consort Jing is also a healer. Elegant, restrained, and very repressed. Who knows the depths of Joshua's Consort Jing's grief and loss?

But you know, Jingyan, near the end he is completely in charge—the prince who was always a great and respected general on the battlefield is now more than that, he's directly taking responsibility for all of his people as their future ruler—that means thinking on multiple fronts and exerting control over all of the key governing officials, not merely his military officers. He's leading with confidence, and there's that little scene where he apologises to Xiaoshu for taking action on several plans without consulting him, and Xiaoshu says no, this is the way it should be, this is the correct state of affairs: you are the crown prince, and this is rightfully your arena. You lead, you decide, you command.

Jingyan now sees clearly, he's found out and accepted the truths of his father's role in the atrocity at Meiling and everything that happened back then. He rightly perceives the failings of his family and seeks to redress past wrongs and avoid repetition of past mistakes, he weeds his court of the corrupt and the cowardly, he's become the best possible version of himself: stronger than ever, not just a powerful wartime commander-in-chief but an inspiring leader in the imperial court, careful, thoughtful and politically up-to-speed, finally stable in his sense of self instead of being permanently stuck as that angry and lost and hurting child. He has renewed purpose, he possesses hope for the future, he is able to dedicate himself fully to what he truly believes to be right and act in furtherance of righteous causes—

Critically, this is the man he becomes only because Xiaoshu came back into his life to shake it up. Without Xiaoshu he wouldn't even have the opportunity or means or knowledge. The radiant and fiery boy who Jingyan missed all his life came back to save him. From the outsider prince without contacts or support within the imperial court->to the crown prince who has the court subdued within the palm of his hand. From his pitiful existence as a neglected, unfavoured prince, his lowkey constant simmering resentment, his half-dutiful half-forced obedience of paternal orders that chafe at his conscience->into the steadfast and self-assured prince who is capable of fighting for the betterment of his country and the rallying point for virtuous officials who share those aspirations. The drama shows the audience that Jingyan is unquestionably ready to assume rulership, and together with the person he loves most, they achieve their goals, they save each other and their country (by arresting its downward slide due to the rotten state of its governance).

It's just a strong headcanon of mine (albeit one that I can absolutely present extensive arguments for) but to me Joshua Rosfield is the one and only character able to perform that same abovementioned function for Dion Lesage. Catalyst, turning point, spark that ignites the fire—whatever you call it, this is salvation. It is beautifully poetic that both Lin Shu and Joshua are characterised by fire. They are the fires of change that burn away the old life: before their arrival, the two war princes exist in a state of wearying routine, long-suffering and almost hopeless. Both Jingyan and Dion are shackled by their stations and duties, both are unloved sons with virtually no chance of their circumstances improving without drastic action, and both are trapped in precarious situations where they are subject to the whims of their father (if their imperial fathers turn on them, it will result in irrevocable loss of their status).

Dion's position is weak in the Oriflamme imperial court—pretty sure this point isn't up for debate, since no one ever speaks up in support of him despite the obvious injustice of his ill-treatment. His degree of influence in the court is much, much, so much less than any reasonable person might expect someone who is literally Bahamut and crown prince to have. The Council of Elders and other officials stand by haplessly while he is progressively stripped of power in favour of Olivier. Nobody defends him, nobody objects. (Or maybe some did, and were eliminated.) Even Dion himself submits to the abuse despite inherently superior abilities. Career politicians know which direction the winds blow—they don't defy their Empress, meaning they are either her cronies or too fearful of her to make themselves a target by any raising any opposition. Added to that is the implication that Dion was often away for long periods—and as Xiaoshu explicitly tells Jingyan in the drama, the crown prince cannot leave the imperial capital untended because that is the surest way to lose power. Dion may be Sanbreque's mightiest weapon and revered by the populace, but in practice his political sway is almost negligible. He is not able to leverage himself effectively.

Don't get me wrong, for these reasons I extra extra love the canon portrayal of J*** obeying Joshua against her wishes and T****** obeying Dion against his wishes—I absolutely think their obedience is, to them, the truest and highest and final demonstration of their love and understanding of their respective masters. And both Joshua and Dion expected no less from them. [I've not typed the names out just in case the search function ends up capturing the post and putting it in their tags, not because I hate those characters; I just don't want to be uncivil within fandom.]

But the very point here is that, you know, sometimes you aren't supposed to leave someone just because they say so. Sometimes it is the worst possible course of action to obey someone just because they command it. Sometimes it is undesirable at best and disastrous at worst to support someone's every decision out of unchanging (if uncharitable, one might even say unthinking) loyalty. That is a fundamentally unequal relationship, and while beautiful in its own way, is also uniquely doomed. The truth is, Joshua was always going to pull that trigger, and Dion was always going to pull that trigger: the master was always going to sever the relationship. Those pairs were doomed as soon as they began, because one party can only ever say yes, and yes means the end, you see? That is The End, that is the final break. By their very subordinate nature and by their established personalities within the game, "yes" is the one and only answer J*** and T****** can ever or will ever give. Their master will say, "Leave me", meaning it is over, and they will reply, "Yes, I obey". Because this is the only answer that proves their devotion, leaving them totally incapable of changing the script. Both J*** and T****** knew it and played their parts to perfection, and my heart hurts for them.

In NIF terms, I reckon J*** is Gong Yu, and T****** is Lie Zhanying. Zhanying will follow Jingyan to the end, whatever it may be—in fact in one episode he explicitly says so, and his loyalty is never in doubt. He will go to his death if Jingyan orders it. He will always support Jingyan's decisions. He and the rest of Jingyan's men have been following Jingyan even when the prince was out of favour and cold-shouldered and constantly dispatched to safeguard the country's frontiers—inconvenient places where comfort is low and the environment harsh. Jingyan's favoured brothers live in the lap of luxury within their palaces (like Olivier), while Jingyan himself (like Dion) has always been at war. And as with Zhanying, T****** will never be able to change this status quo on behalf of Jingyan (Dion). For all his boundless dedication to his lord, Zhanying will never be able to improve his prince's standing in the court, never be able to secure more political power for his prince (unless his prince decides to revolt/coup), never be able to make his prince's father love or prize his prince.

It is not a problem of character or willpower or desire. It is, simply put, a problem of power. It is a problem of class. The servant rises as their master rises, and falls as their master falls. In other words, the servant's status is determined by their master's status. Zhanying is Jingyan's deputy. When Jingyan's status was elevated, Zhanying naturally also assumed commandership over more troop divisions because those were allocated to the prince by the Liang Emperor. (There is no doubt in my mind that T******'s status as second-in-command is because of Prince Dion. He's too young to have earned that position by gradual promotion through meritorious accomplishment. Unless you're telling me that the knights dragoon don't have a single officer above age 30.) Zhanying is invaluable to Prince Jing in security, in warcraft, and in a variety of generic daily tasks. However, he is part of the rigid imperial system and lower in the hierarchy. He may persuade his lord, but he cannot order him. He may disagree, but he cannot defy. He may privately despise the Emperor/Empress, but he cannot show it and cannot act on it (literally treason). His role is to follow and obey. If he does not perform that role for whatever reason, he fundamentally negates his utility to his lord.

Ergo, endgame Jingyan is only possible because his true equal and soulmate, his real zhiji, came back to challenge the status quo. In fact, came back to challenge him. It is not merely the fact that this person understands him above all, it is also the fact that this person has the ability to act on that understanding. Jingyan is technically also Xiaoshu's prince, master, and eventual Emperor—so where is the difference?

The difference is, Lin Shu is comparable in nobility. Lin Shu is the cousin of princes and the incumbent Emperor's nephew, Lin Shu was raised amongst the imperial household, and played and studied and fought and hung out with them as peers of roughly equal rank. In this respect Joshua actually outstrips Lin Shu: Joshua is a prince by blood, and had Rosaria not fallen (especially if Sylvestre had not risen to the throne), would have been higher status than Dion. It's a massive pet peeve of mine that so many fans in XVI fandom don't seem to realise that Joshua was crown prince? Everybody knows Dion is crown prince, but do they realise Joshua is the original? In the English version prologue, the knights do call him "prince" and "your highness". The Rosarian throne is Joshua's by right of birth. At the time of their meeting as children, Joshua outranked Dion. They were equals as Dominants of their nation, but Dion back then was the child of a Cardinal and not the child of Sanbreque's ruler at that time; i.e. he was not a prince and not in line for the Sanbrequois throne.

The other wonderful similarity is Lin Shu's and Joshua's statuses as outsiders to the system when they reintroduce themselves to Jingyan/Dion. As Jingyan's strategist, Lin Shu has more leeway with regards to making his prince listen to him and take his advice. But importantly, he is now Mei Changsu, and that means he is able to play outside of the system. The imperial system effectively cast him out when it killed him. The strict codes of imperial conduct no longer chain him as they chain those confined within its structure. As a free agent unlike Zhanying, he has the right and privilege of choosing his own master. That includes the right to leave or to change his mind. And although the prince's strategist is supposed to be subordinate too, Xiaoshu would never truly be subordinate in the same fashion no matter how many times he bows his head, because at his core he is still high nobility and it still shines through despite everything. His manners are still perfect. He still navigates life with the easy expectation that people will serve him. He grabs the Duchess' hand and yells at Prince Jing and gloats at Marquis Ning. It's all the little ways that remind the audience, over and over, that this man was raised as a posh lordling. You can remove the boy from the upper class but you can't remove the upper class from the boy. It's the same with Joshua. His manners are still court-perfect. He still moves through life accepting that he will be served. He may bow his head to Dion and call him "your highness" but he also takes the liberty of throwing himself at Dion for a hug. Because to him, the prince is not some lofty and untouchable figure to be addressed with unfailing deference, he's just a friend.

(I know T****** is minor nobility, to be honest Zhanying definitely is too. The deputies of high level royals aren't going to be commoners. But I don't think I have to explain the gulf between ruling class/a close blood relative of the monarch versus lower nobility.)

Joshua too is an outsider that isn't beholden to Sanbreque's Emperor in the way that all of Dion and his knights owe their fealty. Again in this respect Joshua has it better than Xiaoshu—Joshua is his own sovereign master, and that should impact his perspective, his sense of self, and therefore his behaviour with others and how he navigates the world.

Gong Yu... I think anyone who's watched NIF will know exactly why I say that J***'s counterpart is Gong Yu lol. I think the s/h/u/a/t/e/s want her counterpart to be Princess (Duchess) Nihuang and they certainly produce fanwork in that vein, and I respect them for it because fans be doing what they love and hooray for that. But..... she's Gong Yu.

For all these reasons I am utterly obsessed with a Joshua that pushes back at Dion. The person able to challenge the status quo and challenge Dion. An equal who listens to Dion's absurd speech in the palace at Twinside and calls utter bullshit, who says, "A matter for the imperial family? are you joking? that's my mother, that's my younger brother. an imperial matter for you to resolve? say rather, our family, OUR problem to resolve. You don't get to go off half-cooked to arrest or kill my mother without actual political strategies, notwithstanding your military capability to launch a coup. And also, what about your dad? However much I love you, my darling Dion, we have to talk about the way that you insist on poor little meow meowing your awful father because my dear old mum didn't do Phoenix Gate alone and she for sure didn't immaculately conceive Olivier."

Endgame Dion isn't satisfactory in several glaring ways and it annoys me hugely that even unto the end he never grapples with and confronts the truth of his father instead of the idealised version that lives in his head. It's a little bizarre how Dion's arc is often praised by fans, since it feels very incomplete to me. Or, well, fine, perhaps just unsatisfying (since XVI simply isn't his story). His deep-seated need to be loved by his father prevents him from seeing anything clearly, which is so ironic for the only character to possess a third eye in canon? His honour and his might have been squandered in service to a selfish, uncaring, and objectively bad monarch, yet despite how earnestly Dion wants to be a good prince to his people he seems wholly incapable of recognising this fact? His mind repeatedly shies away from his father's shortcomings. In one scene he calls his father out for words befitting a tyrant, yet ultimately he persists in the belief that his father simply needs to be saved from Anabella's evil influence as if Sylvestre Lesage isn't a 50-year-old adult man who schemed his way to the throne and killed a woman's whole family and happily married that woman to beget legitimate offspring with her.

Soooo....... I've just spoiled the whole plot of my fic but it's really just NIF nonsense as usual and that is actually extremely predictable of me. But honestly the spoiling is not a big deal, because as with NIF, fundamentally my story is not meant to be plot-twisty and suspenseful—the real storytelling skill of the NIF drama is that the audience should be able to quickly grasp the overarching plot with no difficulty because the pleasure of this particular type of story is to watch the protagonist achieve their heart's desire, step by delicious step. The objective of this type of story is to properly pay off what it promises. NIF=the wronged protagonist seeks justice. We already know Lin Shu will obtain justice by the end of the tale, what we are here to enjoy is the journey! Same really for IEM I reckon; by the end of chapter 1 Joshua's goals should be really obvious, and since my little fic will have the happy ending tag because I only ever write happy endings, the audience basically knows he'll succeed—it's very much a journey not destination kind of story.

Ooof the post is crazy long and took me 3 nights to compose an answer and I haven't even managed to go into any TGCF elements but that work mainly contributes to characterisation instead of plot. One of the craziest XVI scenes was the Hideaway's sickbay after Twinside, the genuine regret Joshua expressed and how he blamed himself for not reaching out to Dion sooner; now the Empire and her prince lie in ruins etc. Surely he remembers this is the country that destroyed his own? Surely??? What kind of person, robbed of home and throne, can find it in himself to respond with so much empathy and kindness? Sanbreque has now experienced pretty much the same tragedy they inflicted on Rosaria two decades ago, and isn't that just the funniest parody of divine retribution? Instead of viewing this as Sanbreque's just deserts, Joshua Rosfield pities them and wishes he could have helped them avert this disaster.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wonderfully Xie Lian-coded. Something something someone who has been through the worst and nevertheless chooses goodness and kindness. Someone who intimately understands the ugliest and lowest depths that people sink to, yet refuse to lose themselves in that temptation even when vengeance would seem perfectly justified.

You've known for a long time now that I love a Joshua who is very similar to his mother. This is why lol. It's about that delicious, delicious contrasting foil. It is the difference between Jun Wu & Xie Lian, as it is the difference between Anabella & Joshua. That the indestructible integrity we see from Xie Lian or Joshua didn't come easy, they weren't born perfect, their ethics were tested and forged and earned through suffering the likes of which most people will never know. The person that they have each become is the sum of their choices actively made. In the canon of TGCF and XVI, both of these ex-crown-princes live on in disgrace, in circumstances best described as reduced and humiliating, their respective kingdoms fallen, their wealth and glory spent—but they are better and braver human beings than everyone around them, they are beautiful and noble souls, quiet and unacknowledged, and only Hua Cheng and Dion truly see and fully understand that (and therefore cannot help but love them utterly).

I've a few more thoughts regarding Joshua swirling around as captured in other Xie Lian posts: here, here, here, and here. Not sure if you know TGCF or are into it as well, but just leaving links to those posts here for my own benefit too. I've been gravitating towards phoenixflare comparisons in various hualian meta posts since early 2024 so clearly these concepts have been stewing in my head for some duration, but I haven't fully teased out what it is about these two ships that gives me that niggling sense of connecting similarities.

^ Whereas I clearly know exactly what it is about JingSu that makes me point and holler "THEM!"

[tsuncda]

so am i right or am i right in my assertion that bridgerton doesn't actually do character work, it just rebrands it's main characters before their season begins and tries to recontextualize them as poor little meow meows.

[loveryoushouldvecomeover-mp3]

'can't get into poetry, it's like, jeez, just say it already, we're dying here.' '/ hey, romeo and juliet had warring families and they still managed to do a little damage.' / 'it's getting a little west side story here, and i gotta warn you, my dancing skills are not up to snuff.' ooooooh he wants to be a tortured poet soooo bad he wants to be romeo sooooo bad he wants to be doomed by narrative soooo sooo bad.... proceeds to fulfill the prophecy <3333

[fideidefenswhore]

things that make you go hmmm.