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scoundrels-in-love · 3 years

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Almost 300 years a week later, here are some of my thoughts on Dan Ah and her actions through ep 11 and 12. I will try not to repeat too much of the points I made here, or elsewhere in my rambles, but if it happens, it happens. + I won’t operate on mindset that you’ve read it.

First, I think her saying ‘apologies are meaningless, I can’t take back things I said, only make up for it’ is incredibly telling of her as person and the kind of environment she grew up in - the high society and family where apologies are dished out hollowly and never followed through with intention of changing something for the better or your behavior. Time and how you spend it is very important to her. She even says as much in her confession and I think it only outlines how much her time is the one thing she tries to have control of, and exert it (over herself as well). Considering the concept of possibly terminal illness that she suffers from, it makes sense. She doesn’t have time to be patient, no one will wait for her, including her own health. Yeong Hwa is the one immovable object that forces her to slow down and readjust her whole approach to life and it’s been... Not comfortable, necessarily, but it’s been functional, so she struggles to redefine it, especially without real example.

Second, there’s lot of parallels to be drawn between her and Mi Joo. And I ended up writing this all backwards, so I am not sure if I’ll manage to include it, but in some ways, Mi Joo’s line about ‘I value myself more than anyone else’ both in the sense that she’s the most important to herself and that no one else values her truly highly is very reminiscent of Dan Ah’s attitude and the way she admitted she isn’t in control of her life entirely o Mi Joo.

And there’s. of course, that moment when Mi Joo responded sarcastically to Seun Gyeom, later to apologize for it, which he took in a stride (much as he had said that he had never felt Dan Ah walked over him unjustly), because he does understand where they come from and how they work, on a certain level (even if he underestimated just how his father would strike and manage to hurt Mi Joo). I think Dan Ah isn’t at place where she cay say that yet, but I do believe sentiment is within her.

If someone asked what motivates Dan Ah, her answer could be similar to Mi Joo’s - fear and obsession, rather than Seun Gyeom’s regret. Fear of being controlled, of being weak and sick, obsession of having and exerting certain power and keeping yourself safe. Now, this point altogether is purely speculation on my part, of course, but that’s my read on the character, but also her anxiety has been mentioned several times and anxiety is basically that - fear, especially of things going wrong/being out of control, if we wish to trivialize it.

And although Dan Ah merely adds that whatever she had, got taken away from her, she basically used same method as Mi Joo - set her goals and opted for the best ‘fake’ that she could get, in this case her company, rather than being football player or the gallery. Both, in the same way, would rather put up walls to not lose what little they have but the men in their lives just... Bypassed them.

It’s interesting to note that similarly as Mi Joo is currently trying to sort ouf what is real and to go for, instead of relying on having a ‘fake’, so does Dan Ah - it’s likely she is planning to expose the illegitimate status of both her brothers to gain what is technically rightfully hers (hence asking her younger brother to side with her even when it will not be comfortable for him).

Third, I think the way she’s seeking out Mi Joo and her opinion is very interesting. And it does loop back to Yeong Hwa as well!

From the very start, we see that Dan Ah actually cares to listen to other people to an extent (she asks her secretary what she did wrong to upset Seun Gyeom, even if she ends the conversation how much simpler it’d be if all of us thought were similar, which is strongly undermined by all of her interactions with Mi Joo and even Yeong Hwa essentially). She is interested in experiencing being opposed and challenged in a way that is not downright demeaning as she does in her family. She finds their view on world interesting, if somewhat incomprehensible, and listens to it, processes it inwardly, even if her initial reaction might be defensive. (Also, it shows from start she’s willing to admit she doesn’t have all answers, same as she does with Yeong Hwa telling him that she doesn’t know what answer he wants - as she would need to know in business deal which is what most of her world consists of.)

But in some ways, I also think she is interested in what Seun Gyeom and Mi Joo have created and how. She basically instantly could tell Seun Gyeom is interested in Mi Joo which is implied as rare occurrence (or perhaps even the only time since she says she’s the last woman he liked and he debunks the theory), she asks several times what Mi Joo sees in Seun Gyeom that makes her so protective of him (which I think is both a way to see how deeply Mi Joo cares for him and to see more of Seun Gyeom). But also in some way, although it is her own act to let Seun Gyeom, she “loses” him to his own path and Mi Joo both. Because I do think she cares for him as a friend, perhaps only one she has.

Although she puts Seun Gyeom’s picture by the trash, it’s actually not taken out for several days and it’s definitely not because the secretary or the cleaner are neglecting their duties. Rather, same way as he didn’t throw away the honey but handed it back to Yeong Hwa, the secretary is aware she’s not really emotionally throwing him away. Because once she likes something, she never really stops, as per her own admission.

So there’s this certain feeling of loss that she can’t quite admit to herself and want to know both what Mi Joo saw and supported in Seun Gyeom and how and a yearning for something similar, because this is basically the first friendship/not work based relationship of the kind that she sees. (The same way she marvels is this how full-blood siblings are supposed to be when Eun Bi is upset about Seun Gyeom’s picture and how she defends her brother and then, Dan Ah actually ‘tattles’ on her so he can protect her, which can be covered up with excuse it was over the schedule, but was it really?)

In fact, she seems to be somewhat envious of relationship her brother has with her secretary, saying he still cares for her brother more and also the way she wanted to be included in the whole cat talk. She is upset when he doesn’t say he’s her person, but employed by the company, she protects him the way she knows how to (regarding revenge kick) and generally cares for him. She just wants someone truly and personally on her side, even though she probably has a hard time admitting it to herself which results in these odd and halfway there and nowhere attempts, especially paired with the fact she doesn’t really know how to establish not-work-related connection on a deeper level.

I will add point fourth here, although it’s still technically third. It’s safer, far more practical and logical to stay detached. But the heart wants what it wants and it’s friendship, connection, being liked for who she is and being challenged but not seen as lesser, with someone who won’t smile because she’s his boss, although that sort of control is precious and hard fought to be had in part of her life.

Caring for something or someone is relinquishing this control, basically inviting the same result Seun Gyeom got taste of at ep of 12, the result she already experienced with her dreams of being football player crushed. Except if it involves another person, it increases the chances of being hurt by them exponentially. And it’s also worth considering that if her relationship with mother was close, she’s also already experienced abandonment and grief of losing someone dear and close. (Which, of the leads, only Mi Joo knows and even then it’s more the absence of reflection what other people around her have which hurts, but in a different way, as per my experience.)

Concept of Mi Joo’s friendship, and Yeong Hwa as a whole, become very images of these unsaid wish fulfillment because they’re not trying to be.

They’re themselves, argumentative and challenging, and teasing, despite her being ‘above them’ in power hierarchy, leveling the field by merely ignoring it, and, initially, she doesn’t even try to get Yeong Hwa sign a contract, it’s only when her own yearning for his work (and for him), and him denying her any of it becomes a problem that she ‘admits’ it was her own fault for not drawing the sort of lines she’s used to with everyone else, and even then she’s not really thrilled about him agreeing to it, because it’s not really what she wants from him, although it’s what would be the safest and make the most actual sense within her world.

Even then, as her employee, he refuses to follow her orders and tells her plainly - if she wants something, she is to be vulnerable and invest herself into it (she actually tries, by smiling because he had said it was cute) and she has to admit to herself and to him, that he has grown onto her, not as a ‘vending machine’ or ‘employee’, but person whose opinion and feelings toward her are very important to her.

Also, it’s very telling how she tells him she belongs to herself, of course, and that he, too, can still belong to himself. She wants him as individual separate from herself, but the thought that he is firmly on her side obviously makes her very happy. In some ways, it’s also upgrade from ‘my person’ claim she makes toward her secretary, a learning curve.

Fifth, I suppose. While I rewatched some scenes to make sure I wasn’t actually misremembering, I started to think of another motif that repeats through her conversations.

Dan Ah repeatedly tells him not to have expectations, sentiments, disappointments toward her. From one side, it’s to draw a clear line of employee/employer and view each other in a detached way (that she tries again and again herself, but fails to), but from other, is it that simple?

She is almost crying when she asks him if he’s really stopped liking her and from preview, we learn that no one has asked her out before, seemingly? Probably because she was too much of a boss ass bitch, but still possibly left with a certain sense of inadequacy and that ‘when I am being apologetically me and I will always be that, I am not likeable although I do not entirely understand why’, as per her wondering why people always think she’s mean when by most of her society’s standards, she is rather thoughtful.

Her want of gallery has been brought up several times, her older half brother often says her pick of artist will never be good enough, her father still sees her as a tool to marry off. She as person with her goals and dreams and what she has achieved, just isn’t good enough for people around her at large.

The moment he cares for her, the moment she inherently becomes capable of disappointing him. The moment she cares for him, the moment she becomes capable of disappointing him. And that thought, of doing that and not enough to Yeong Hwa who has sneakily smiled his way into her heart, the growing awareness she truly doesn’t know how to be in some aspects, is overwhelming and painful and she tries to shut the door to it.

Also, he tells her he likes her no matter what he does, but he hates it, which I imagine is double the punch and she tries to find a solution that would make him happy and stop hating it - the perfect answer, as she would in a business deal, but she can’t, until she commits to the truly mortifying ordeal of being known (as suggested by Mi Joo).

Sixth, I really liked that she (or the narrative) didn’t make fun of Yeong Hwa crying. In fact, she’s eyerolled about her younger brother’s temper, but not really in the present made fun of him for apparently being a ‘crybaby’ in the past. I think that in a sense shows her actual streak of empathy and maybe the fact that she’s familiar with need to cry herself and doesn’t find it ‘weak’ as most ‘tougher’ characters would. Also perhaps that she cares for her younger brother more than she has admitted to herself, similarly as she kept denying she cared for Yeong Hwa and went rather far to hurt him.

#run on #jtbc run on #kdrama #rainy watches kdrama #it's only midnight and I've been writing this on and off for two hours...#and it's 1 of 4 rambles #and I don't even know if it makes sense

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megacircuit9universe · 4 years

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X-Tech: Never Possible Until it is

THU JAN 02 2020

I just watched the latest video by YouTuber, Isaac Arthur, who I’ve been following for years, and greatly respect, addressing time travel, but while he tried to cover every version of time travel that comes up in science fiction, and in legit scientific discourse... he did not cover the version I talk about in this blog.

I was a bit surprised, but then again, mine (explained in the entry entitled, Time Travel Basics, and fleshed out in some follow ups shortly after it) is basically the John Titor version of time travel.

And over the 13 or so years since I first read the Titor stuff online, I’ve noticed that nobody, either in fiction, or legit discourse, ever does venture anywhere near the Titor model... which is kinda strange, given that so many other, clearly unworkable models pop up all the time.

It’s not as though the Titor model is just so ridiculous that it’s not even worth considering... because, well... plenty of very ridiculous models for time travel are given very serious consideration, in our movies and science fiction novels, if not elsewhere.

Still, the original message boards where Titor appeared, to talk about how he was a time traveler, and explain what he knew about how his military issue time distortion unit worked, were forums for physics students and physics enthusiasts.

And what always struck me reading the back and forth on those forums was that nobody ever challenged his technical explanations. Everybody seemed to agree that the physics part of his story held up.

But that part was way over my head at the time, so I was very curious to understand why the physics seemed to hold up so well.

It took me most of those 13 years, watching recorded lectures and other videos on YouTube, and listening to several audio books on my commutes, dealing with different aspects of both quantum physics and string theory... before it finally clicked in my head, and I could see that Titor’s explanation not only squared with physics, but so did the schematics he’d provided.

Again, go back and read, Time Travel Basics, but, in a nutshell, it’s this idea of using two micro black holes... controlled by manifolds that inject electrons either into them, to increase their spin, or at angles across their event horizons, to slow the spin... to create two nested bubbles of frame-dragged spacetime, the inner one with positive time, and the outer one with negative time.

I won’t get further into it than that here, except to say that the one thing Titor talked about that always stumped me were the gravity sensors.

Inside his two nested bubbles of spacetime, he was essentially in his own tiny universe, outside the main universe, but was able to maintain a lock on the Earth’s movements backward through time (rotating backward and revolving around the sun backward as the whole solar system revolved backward around the center of the galaxy) thanks to gravity sensors that would give feedback to the manifolds, telling them how to maneuver the two micro-singularities to stay with the GPS coordinates on Earth’s surface, from which he had departed.

I finally got my answer one morning in the car on the way to work, listening to an audio book on string theory, when the author explained how, unlike light, gravity could be felt between branes (or membranes) of space time.

It’s one possible explanation for why gravity is such a weak force on our own brane, compared to much stronger forces like electromagnetism... because gravity leaks out into the greater, “bulk,” of the multiverse.

He didn’t know it, but he’d told me that Titor’s gravity sensors could work... which was the final piece of the puzzle.

Everything else, from creating micro-singularities in particle accelerators, and capturing them magnetically, for industrial use... to manipulating their spin, mass, and attitude with a manifold of cathode rays (such manifolds were how old color tube TV sets worked)... to the nuclear powering of the device... to the many worlds theory... all passed, for being physically plausible. So when the gravity sensors checked out too... well, that’s when I knew Titor was probably telling the truth.

So why am I so alone in this belief, in 2020... and why has the whole Titor model pretty much vanished from the conversation?

Well... this is what you might expect to happen when a person with a working model of something tries to explain it to people from the past who just aren’t there yet.

Imagine going back to the year 2000, and explaining on a serious tech forum how a typical smart phone from 2010 works... it’s a got a touch screen, and a bunch of gyros and sensors packed inside, and a lithium battery and... bla bla bla...

Even though they are all well versed on the subject of tech, and are only about seven years away from the first smart phone... it’s likely that nobody will take your strange new idea seriously.

Some will point out how certain features are just too far away... and the internet infrastructure couldn’t support such a thing... and the level of miniaturization isn’t realistic... and the batteries would be volatile and prone to explosions.

Others will argue that even if such a device could be Frankensteined together, nobody would want one device to do everything. Nobody wants to watch TV shows on their alarm clock, that is also their flashlight!

Why would they be like that? Well... you know how people are.. when they consider themselves the experts and the vanguards of a given field.

Who are you anyway? You’re just some rando who claims to own one of these so-called, “smart phones,” and you don’t even know how it works.

You’re just a fanciful futurist describing some fanciful vision for a thing that would be nearly impossible to make, and totally impractical, probably, and that nobody asked for. Get out of here!

My other example would be explaining how a modern airplane works, to scientists in... say... 1875. Even if you were spot on with your description of a typical 737... with its wings, aelerons, flaps, jets, etc... its hydraulic control tubes and its aluminum body... fueled by a petroleum based liquid stored in its wings...

They would counter by explaining to you why none of that would actually work, and even if it could... nobody would ever convince a hundred regular civilians to climb into such a death trap and “fly” from New York to Los Angeles... in “hours.”

Get the fuck out of here!

My argument here, about experts and vanguards rejecting working ideas from the future... is kind of borne out by how far off the mark they always are, when asked to envision future tech.

Such visions are always hilariously wrong, because they are always clearly based on exactly what they know in the moment... plus what little they know about a few experimental things going on.

But they never think about the unforeseen breakthroughs, both large and small, that can help make seemingly ridiculous things like the Boeing 737, or the IPhone 4, possible, practical, and marketable.

The above two analogies are not perfect though, because in John Titor’s case, he was in the military, using a military issue time machine. It wasn’t a tech civilians even knew about, necessarily... and also, as I said earlier, there really wasn’t any push back from the nerds on his forums about the physics.

They agreed it was theoretically sound enough not to bother attacking, and instead focused on his descriptions of the future... his past... all the world events to come later in the 2000s, 20-teens, and beyond.

And, while he answered honestly, he also explained that his appearance in 2000 meant they were all now on a different world line, that would not play out the same way.

His recollections were framed as predictions... and when the predictions didn’t come to pass... Titor was considered by most, debunked.

Some argued for a while... correctly, that they were never predictions, because he explained that we were on a different world line than his. But... others countered, by pointing out how this argument makes his predictions unfalsifiable... which, in logical terms, means they’re garbage.

The whole discussion ended there... without ever really touching the mainstream consciousness. John Titor was considered, by those who knew about him, to be just a fun hoax... and, like any other meme... fell out of fashion and was forgotten.

But my point is... he had schematics! He had sound explanations for how the tech worked! Screw the predictions... or arguments that the predictions are unfalsifiable! The tech holds up! Look at that! Talk about that!

Look at the rather flawless descriptions of how it came to be invented, what it was being used for, and what it was like to operate a time distortion unit, from the perspective of the guy in the driver’s seat.

It really irks me that everybody has both ignored and forgotten about that very tangible, testable part of Titor’s story... and then come back today with those same tired old arguments like, “If time travel were possible, we would have heard from one of them by now!”

Oh, really?

“If it were possible, we would have time tourists all over the place, and always would have, since Ancient Rome.”

Really? Cuz... what if it was just a military tech not available to the public and what if it only had a small practical range of a few decades... as explained both by Titor, and by my Time Travel Basics entry? Huh?

Huh???

Well... I guess I’m just gonna have to be content with being a crackpot, with no audience. :(

Be that as it may, my model predicts that WW2 is the great historical barrier for time travel... with only a few rogue time travelers daring to go even as far back as the late 1940s... where they could still hope to refill their oxygen tanks, and get some kind of crude repairs done to their time distortion units.

Most only go as far back as the mid 1970s, with a few outliers hitting the 60s or 50s, and probably never finding their way back to anything like the home worldline they came from, after straying that far afield with no way to establish their, “divergence” to any useful degree.

But the twenty-teens were (are, will be) a good pit stop... the Denver, or Phoenix of Time Travel... if it were a coast to coast drive across the U.S... because things were (are, will be) just advanced enough to stop and get your bearings, or resupply, or get repairs done... but far enough away from the home time (which is the late 2030s) to bother stopping.

It’s possible that the 2020s will be the same kind of Denver for time travelers of, say, the 2050s... and that the 2030s themselves will be a Denver for time travelers of the 2080s... but if so... these more sophisticated time travelers from further in the future will probably be a lot more careful about the cybernetic impact of their pit stops in these future decades.

In other words, they’ll be more careful not to turn the internet, and therefore the world around them, into a total circus of unreality, in which all the locals question their sanity every day on a regular basis.

Things should calm down for us, in the 2020s, is what I’m saying... at least in the socio-political sphere. The climate’s gonna be something different, but...

...whereas in the twenty-teens you were saying, “I can’t believe so and so is the leader of my country and so many assholes are coming out of the woodwork, and the rest of us feel unmoored from reality, as if we’ve been sucked into a parallel universe!”

In the 2020s you’re more likely to be saying, “I can’t believe we had a thunder snowphoon in July, and that Lake Eerie is on fire, but thank God the world’s leaders are on top of this, and have the support of pretty much everybody, except for the oldest, shittiest cranks who we all ignore.”

And maybe you’ll also be saying, “Thank God, also for [X-tech] without which everybody would be so fucked right now!”

Man, that was a long ramble!

Sorry.

I’m going to bed.

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ryodan · 7 years

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SasuNaru and the pin hole

(semi anti ending but not tagged as such as its mainly pro, so beware..vv semi tho)

@sasuke-prevails

Okay, so I’d reblog your post with a reply but my computer always freezes up when I do that and try to add pictures and I can barely use the tumblr app as it is so gaaaah. Plus, I’ve always wanted to make this post debunking everything SNS claim anyways. So here you go. sorry about the wait, i was so lazy..sorry about some shakey images i have GAD

First off, I’d like to say that when I say I am a Naruto fan, I don’t mean the character. I mean, don’t get me wrong I love Naruto too, but I am referring to the series. I genuinely love this series despite all of it’s inconsistencies, I am late on the band wagon but I prefer that since it allows me to think objectively. SNS tends to view the series with what I like to call pin hole vision where the entire series is naruto x sasuke, they are the center bond because they represent everything the series itself stands for. They are not together all the time, they haven’t had the healthiest relationship but they’re the centre bond because as proven by the first and final battles in the VOE, both at the end of part 1 and part 2 respectively it’s a ‘it boils down to this’ type of thing. However, when I say I am anti romantic SNS it does not mean I am anti their friendship. Do I think its unhealthy? Some aspects of it, yes. Problematic, yes tbh.

These are good examples I think. Narutos worst fears early shippuuden were disappointing his comrades, and this. Why is is problematic on Narutos side? I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it

I’d like to mention what naruto as a series stands for, and always consistently stood for.

‘Nande?’

‘Onagi dakara’

‘why?’

‘because we are the same.’

-Narutos first bond, Iruka

‘Konoha o mamoroto tsuyui ishi’

‘strong will to protect the hidden leaf village.’

-Hiruzen

‘sato wa nanda?’

‘what is a village?’

-sasuke, ill get to it

‘Kono hi no ishi mote oru kagiri kono sato no mono wa subete kazoku sono mono nanja’

‘as long as one has this will of fire everyone in this village is family.’

‘Iruka sensei? Nande hito wa hito no tameni inochi o kake- ah fuck this translation takes too long im sorry omg

‘Iruka sensei why do people risk their lives for other people?’

‘When one person dies, their past , their present and their future disappears along with them----those people who die have dreams and ambitions, but everyone else has something just as important. Parents, siblings, friends, lovers..those who are dear to them. They trust each other and help each other—that string gets which connects those people gets stronger and thicker by time. It’s impossible to explain why, those who hold those strings just do it, because it’s important to them.’

‘yeah. Somehow it’s clear even to me.’

-Iruka and Naruto when Hiruzen died protecting the village

‘When someone has something they want to protect, their true power comes along’

-Haku

It’s because we help out when they’re in trouble that we can count on them to come running when we need it.

-Shikamaru, about Suna

‘If comrades that you trust gather around you, hope can take physical form and become visible. That`s what I believe...’

-kakashi, to obito

I won't allow my comrades to die. I'll protect you with my life. Trust me.

-kakashi

The next generation will always surpass the previous one. It's one of the never-ending cycles in life.

-kakashi

If you don't share someone's pain. You can never understand them.

-Pain

‘A long cycle of hatred humans have come to call history’

Just by living, people hurt others without even realizing it. So long as humanity exists, hate will also exist. There is no peace in this cursed world. War is just a crime paid for by the pain of the defeated...

-pain

Now there's something I understand a little better. Hate, sadness, even joy. To be able to share it with another person... Naruto Uzumaki. From fighting him I learned that. He knew pain like I did and then he taught me that you can change your path. I wish that one day I can be needed by someone. Not as a frightening weapon... But as the sand's Kazekage.

-Gara

People's lives don't end when they die. It ends when they lose faith.

-itachi

‘ill never let my comrades die, those words and the conviction behind them are not lies, because neji was able to store those words in his heart. Brother Neji died! It’s not just you Naruto, we all hold those words and feelings in our heart.That is what binds our lives together and makes us comrades. If we all give up those thoughts and feelings Nejis final act would have been for nothing. And that is when your comrades truly die.’

-Hinata

The pain of being alone is completely out of this world, isn't it? I don't know why, but I understand your feelings so much, it actually hurts.

-Naruto

That void is something that everyone helps you fill. Just because you face adversity and hardships, is no reason to give up on this world. A person willing to throw away all those memories... of their friends and comrades, will never find peace of mind. Resorting to something like that isn't going to bury that hole. If you persevere and endure, someone will be there to support you!

-Kakashi, to obito

I love sasuke. I love all of his bonds, and despite the shit he dealt with in the series he really does represent the message of the series really well…an atypical antagonist, an incredibly well written character who fills not only his shoes in the story, but the shoes of many other characters.

You say Sasuke offered his food to Naruto because he cares about him and I agree, empathy stems from care. But going by your argument.

Despite this

He did wait for her to wake up, also risking elimination and a halting of his revenge plans.

It’s important noting that before any of this, their goals were very self centered and none of them were playing by teamwork..except sasuke, who boasted that he was better than them to Kakashi, but was still the only one who linked them together, by feeding naruto and by saying the whole ‘we are a 3 man cell aren’t we?’

That’s another thing I love about this guy, he really brings people together despite the fact that does not talk for 98% of the series. Taka developed because of him and so did 7.

A constantly relevant theme.

the first mission bought light to what their relationships would be like very early on, and also imprints these guys as personal bonds based on friendship and affection that sasuke shares, a feat that no one else in the series was able to do aside from his family.

From the tree climbing exercise that combined their rivalry and their friendship to this moment that made a grown ass man cry

ENCOUNTER WITH FRIENDS WHO CAN EASE HIM FROM LONELINESS!!

【仲間】「それまで恋や友情に見向きもしなかったサスケは、ナルトやサクラと出会い、少しずつではあるが、仲間を受け入れ始める。サスケにとってナルトは、いつの間にか互いの能力を高め合う良きライバルとなり、また大蛇丸の邪悪な呪印にのみ込まれんとするその心を、サクラに救われたことも．．．」

↳ 【COMPANIONS】 Though until then he had taken no notice of either love or friendship, after meeting with Naruto and Sakura Sasuke begins to accept them as nakama, even if only little by little. In Sasuke’s eyes, before he even noticed it, he and Naruto became mutual good rivals capable of boosting up each other’s skills - and also, when his heart was about to be swallowed by Orochimaru’s wicked cursed seal again, he was rescued by Sakura…

‘as they go on countless missions together, he sees her strengths and weaknesses and views her as someone he needs to protect’

「呪印の影響で暴走するサスケを身を挺して鎮めるサクラ。サクラのサスケを想う心が、邪な力を包み込む。」

↳ Sakura willingly and bravely calms the rampaging Sasuke under the influence of the cursed seal. Sakura’s heart, thinking of Sasuke, devours the wicked power.

For Naruto who was considered a failure, Sasuke was more than an annoying guy who got the best grades: he was also the rival that won Sakura’s heart, for whom Naruto is in love …! That’s why he always gets annoyed with Sasuke

Sasuke, who only had power for revenge, becomes stronger because of his companions. His true place would have been a future among them.

Growing distant, towards darkness. The one to appear before him as he began leave was Sakura. To the back of a Sasuke that tried to avert from what was being left behind, Sakura desperately conveys her feelings. Bright and earnest feelings - feelings that did not want to lose Sasuke. The one who filled his lonely existence with the emotion called love was Sakura. But, as expected, Sasuke cannot respond to those feelings. Sasuke was only able to leave a single word of thanks as word of parting.

Friendship and love, a future filled with warmth. But as long as he is there, he cannot make his dream come true. This is why he throws away a future with his friends. To make dreams of revenge a reality…

As is confirmed by the databook.

Sasuke risked his life for them both, and he would have done it again no thinking what so ever, partly because he is a selfless person and also because they already imprinted on his mind. Sasukes relationship with Naruto is given a rivalry mixed with friendship context early on and my friend who had 0 to do with naruto burrowed volume one from me and in school while she was reading asked me if sasuke and sakura end up together, because authorial context is clear

In fact this scene builds up a very good argument I have for this ship that I will get to, where we first learn of his entire stance in the story and sakura is like? Mind you, this was at a time before sasuke ever spoke about these things to anyone…he made me cry is not something he ever told anyone other than sakura. She was intuitive to he him, even during the war when she had a feeling he’d start shit up early on.

You could argue he is blushing bc he is embarrassed… but he has had girls thirsting after him since he was fresh out the womb. ‘he came off stand offish’ well, yes naturally when a person is suffering from trauma and survivors guilt they tend to isolate themselves and become reclusive and irritable. Now, add the fact that the trauma happened at such a young age and you have a sasuke. But he still, took out the time to say he’s emo (a joke ofc)

The only ‘romantic context’ ever given to Naruto and Sasuke was the ‘accidental kiss’ which ended up like this

Over the course of the series we see Sasukes attachment to team 7, in the same context given before. Best friend and rival, girl he feels protective affection for.

however, the context between sasusaku was always romanticized

Part 2 : http://sasukeuchihayas.tumblr.com/post/160820240389/this-comes-full-circle-in-the-gara-fight-when

Part 3 : http://sasukeuchihayas.tumblr.com/post/160820241909/if-we-do-a-time-skip-to-after-the-akatsuki-arc

#sasuke #pro sasuke #sasusaku #pro sasusaku #pro sakura #pro naruto #pro kakashi #anti sns #pro sns brotp #lol this person blocked me #can u believe

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kittujella · 6 years

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Unraveling the anti-cellphone campaign

If you’ve tried to research something online in the last few years, you may have come away with more questions than answers when all was said and done. Competing news articles, blogs, Facebook groups, and seemingly genuine sites all produce enough conflicting information to make anyone’s head spin. At this very moment, there’s a firehose of intentionally false content out there, and it’s gotten to the point where it’s near-impossible to find truth from fiction in certain instances. This is happening in part because of fake-grassroots (called astroturf) organizations and unwitting signal-boosters.

Unfortunately, there’s currently a well-funded effort to cast doubt on the safety of wireless tech (Bluetooth, cellphones, Wi-Fi) in particular. Let’s talk about it.

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Genesis of a monster

If you want to know more about something, chances are your first stops are Google or Siri. Non-experts often ask search engines questions that would never occur to an expert, creating a search value for the answer to those questions. When a new search happens, search engines have to populate a list of sites addressing the question, but they can’t determine if the content is relevant until people click around on results. The articles that get clicks are usually the scariest ones, making topics without reputable data (data voids) sensationalist by nature.

youtube

Consequently, a combination of fake grassroots organizations (astroturfers) and profiteers tend to fill these data voids simply because it’s very easy to capture the top results for these valuable terms in the absence of real information. As the claims they peddle are usually shocking, scare articles tend to go viral by word of mouth or social media. Experts tend not to tackle these issues, not wanting to give the impression they’re even worthy of discussion. Clearly this approach isn’t working.

Sometimes the end result of these astroturfing efforts isn’t very harmful, but we’ve seen tragic outcomes with anti-vaccine scare campaigns, global warming denial, multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes, and even the 2016 U.S. election. Data voids are harmful because they provide an opportunity for bad actors to take advantage of people simply wanting to learn more about a subject, presumably because it might affect them directly. It’s not pleasant to think about, but the people who fill these voids with misinformation can put innocent people in harm’s way, all to earn a buck (or, y’know, destabilize the West).

https://e.infogram.com/b784a292-4ace-48bf-9950-bc025d8da495?src=embed For the last ten years, a handful of well-funded misinformation campaigns have been underway online and in print about the dangers of non-ionizing radio frequency electromagnetic radiation (RF EMR). Through a combination of money, concerned non-experts, and an absence of fact checking, the cause has been championed to the point where mainstream media, local governments, and countless people have been duped into accepting an obvious falsehood as truth — namely that Bluetooth, cellphones, and Wi-Fi are somehow the culprit behind (nonexistent) increased rates of cancer, depression, DNA damage, infertility, ADHD and autism.

Follow the money

If you search “is Bluetooth harmful” online, you’ll find almost nothing but misinformation — including that very bad CNN article on the front page. Bluetooth is a good example because it’s so extreme and obviously false, so someone campaigning on the issue should stick out like a sore thumb. If you scratch a little deeper, you’ll see organizations like the Environmental Health Trust pop up over and over again.

No, it didn’t.

If you read the poorly fact-checked CNN article, much of the basis for the extremely questionable expert testimony rests with a 2016 National Toxicology Program study, and a nonprofit group with a seemingly-competent collection of experts at the helm. However, it’s a thin veneer covering a mountain of bullshit—and money.

Before I go any further, you should check out the companion piece we did covering the science of the supposed health risks of RF EMR. Additionally, the lead author of the study most often used to justify scaremongering gave a great summary of the findings, speaking with the Associated Press:

The evidence for an association between cellphones and cancer is weak. And so far, we have not seen a higher cancer risk in people… At best it might be a weak carcinogen … if in fact it is a carcinogen” —John Bucher, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

When I started looking into each of the doctors championing bizarre “science” for these supposed grassroots groups, I found most had a pattern of supporting debunked or flawed studies, and others simply misrepresented data with scary-sounding rhetoric. Some even claimed links between their issue of the day and poorly-understood disorders like autism (ASD). I shouldn’t need to point out this is a common tactic for those in other scare efforts like the anti-vaccine and anti-GMO crowd. However, it’s more than a little curious that someone would make these same claims over and over again without scientific consensus behind them.

Many of their arguments center around the common “think of the children!” appeal, kindling the false hope that somehow turning off the Wi-Fi at night will prevent little Billy’s hyperactive behavior. Of course, these claims all come with a disclaimer they don’t constitute medical advice, despite the inherent implications of a medical professional telling you what’s safe and what isn’t.

Just because someone has a lab coat on doesn’t make them an expert in non-ionizing RF EMR.

Even if you read into the studies and literature reviews showing equivocal evidence of cancer, science doesn’t work by one study finding something and establishing objective truth. You need lots and lots and lots of people performing studies on the same issues and mountains of evidence to prove a claim. Since a scientific consensus on a potential health risk posed by RF EMR doesn’t exist after almost 60 years of wireless tech studies, it’s safe to say the likelihood we’ve somehow missed the link between it and cancer is extremely low.

So, I started looking up tax returns. As luck would have it, I found a few threads to pull.

Turns out, much of the anti-cellphone scare effort (including the aforementioned EHT) was at one point partially-funded or directed by one particularly wealthy doctor, Dr. Lucy Waletzky, out of New York. Given that she’s been the Chair for the New York State Council of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation since 2007, (and therefore extremely busy) it did not surprise me that my attempts to get a comment for the story went unanswered.

Grassroots Environmental Education, a non profit Waletzky was listed as directing in 2016, even runs a few ancillary sites for signal boosting the message to other groups. A site called the BabySafe Project tells prospective parents about the alleged prenatal dangers of wireless radiation, and the ChildSafe School implores schools to limit child exposure to wireless radiation. Another wraps anti-wireless cautions into a book aimed toward helping parents care for sick kids.

Of course, these claims all come with a disclaimer that their advice to avoid wireless tech doesn’t constitute medical advice, despite the implications inherent by a medical professional’s input.

It’s entirely possible the people behind these groups genuinely believe what they’re doing is right. It’s entirely possible they’ve known someone with an acoustic neuroma or schwannoma and wanted to seek solace in action against what they believe to be the culprit. However, paying to fund a campaign against something when you don’t know it’s to blame is putting the cart before the horse.

Considering a majority of studies often touted as proof of the dangers of wireless radiation are either inconclusive or simply willfully misread, it’s hard to believe these groups have a deep respect for science guiding their actions. While it’s always good to verify what you think you know with studies, acting without a clear understanding of the issue can lead to unintended — or unforeseen — consequences.

Particularly disturbing, some of these sites play into the conspiracy-theory blog and Facebook-share crowd, much like the anti-vaccine movement does. When a site run by a nonprofit provides scare memes and repackages bland statements from legitimate medical groups to push a phony call to action or reason for panic, that’s a giant red flag. It also makes it prime material for Russian bots.

RT @TheDailySheeple: California Department of Public Health Hid This Warning on Cell Phone Radiation for Years

—_nickluna_, confirmed Bot

Digging through a now-outdated database of fake tweets, I was only able to find a handful of anti-cellphone posts or anti-Wi-Fi propaganda. However, the anti-U.S. social media effort is centered around generating as much controversy as possible regardless of the subject; It doesn’t take much for a “troll farm” to set its sights on something and signal boost the crap out of it. That can be especially damaging if controversy around the topic could lead to things like coverage gaps, or hospitals eschewing wireless internet in favor of something less effective. Because of this, it’s even less okay to take an anti-science stance than it was before.

Why this is a big deal

Okay, so a wealthy person and like-minded individuals are fighting a crusade against wireless tech. It’s their right to their spend money how they see fit, right? Not quite.

Even if a campaign to stop you using your phone as much isn’t exactly yelling “fire” in a crowded theater, it’s still conditioning people (read: voters) to accept certain falsehoods as truth. Wireless tech is used for vital medical applications and other critically important communication systems. Public backlash against it would endanger lives if the system is disrupted by misinformed individuals.

Leaf-peeping in Northern New England can be beautiful, but in signal gaps: nobody can hear you scream.

While the rich and powerful with deep pockets may not think (or care) that this affects anyone in the U.S., wireless coverage is a life and death issue out in the sticks. Where I grew up, if you get in a crash at night and there’s no service, you’re completely screwed — that’s just the way it is some places. That’s only one example, but there are countless other problems with scaling back our communications grid. Championing this anti-science does no good at best, and extreme harm at worst.

Take the anti-vaccine movement. The subject has been discussed to death already, but by causing enough worried parents to forgo vaccines, it’s possible these movements can create the conditions necessary to revive once-dead public health problems. One child in particular may not run into issues if their parents are duped into believing this bunk, but enough people acting as if their concerns are truth can cause a public health crisis. Rejecting truth leads to dire consequences, and just shrugging at someone’s dangerously mistaken beliefs to maintain a facade of civility should never be okay. While their concern might appear genuine, it’s still an attack on the well-being of others indirectly.

While the rich and powerful with deep pockets may not think (or care) that this is an issue that affects anyone in the US, the truth is wireless coverage is a life and death issue out in the sticks.

It’s not simply a question of misinformed individuals anymore. State governments, politicians, and political parties have started to take up the mantle of championing this crap. Real problems will arise from it. How well do you think schools will prepare kids for the future without Wi-Fi? Surely warning labels on things that won’t harm you could send the wrong message. There’s little danger of Dr. Jill Stein winning any election in the near future, but sometimes politicians in other parties have to pander to fringe candidates’ bases to win general elections. Don’t signal boost this craziness, it may just end up being law.

Scaring people with junk science affects us all, whether it’s obvious or not. It’s never okay, and it can lead to people getting hurt.

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templardragonknight · 7 years

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The Stormcloak Bible DEBUNKED PART 1 (analysis of the imperial arguments)

Stormcloaks are often biased and most tryhard ones show little knowledge about the lore (or they actually know about it and just refuse to accept the facts). The Stormcloak bible is a great example of this (if not THE BEST example) and in these posts I plan to debunk some (if not most) of the statements shown there (I do not plan to refute all points because I am not a know everything cunt. Of course somethings there may be true). The following is an update of my previous post, as I have gathered far more information since then.

In the first part of this “bible” (http://colonel-killa-bee.tumblr.com/post/68999802440/stormcloak-bible-part-1-analysis-of-the-imperial), the author makes very a superficial analysis of arguments often used by supporters of the empire, so lets take a look at this:

Well, I originally did not want to talk about the past, as many mistakes that the empire may have commited could have been overcomed by the 4th Era (and since the Stormcloaks have little to do with the Third Era, since the rebellion started in the 4th Era), but whatever, I decided to talk about it just to show how the author's statements are foolish: he citates the comments of a dunmer imperial soldier... and what? Now because a single soldier thinks that a united empire would not be a great idea this is suddently the truth? Alright, back to the 4th Era: the author says “The Empire is dying. They have Cyrodiil, High Rock and half of Skyrim. If they won, how would security in their Empire be any better, when they can’t even prevent a bandit uprising within the very heart of their establishment when there wasn’t a civil war?” well, then the author may proceed in explaining why he does not care about the fact that on Windhelm there is a murderer rampaging and the guards do not know what to do ("but they are at war you idiot, they can not do much" you are right, just like how Cyrodiil is trying to rebuild itself after a large scale war, after tons of resourecs were eighter used or sacked), and that without mentioning crime in Riften. While I do not intend to use the tu quoque fallacy here (wich, in case you don’t know, is trying to refute someone’s critique by saying “But you do it as well”) as some cities are thrown in chaos, the fact that our Stormcloak Guy used this argument shows a great chunck of bias from him. This argument can either be used to criticize both sides or not be used at all, you decide. Also what he says about the security in the empire is simply not true, as it is evidenced by one of the possble dialogues of none other than General Tullius himself (more specifically when you try to convince him to go to High Hrothgar during Season Unending): Dragonborn: The best time to negotiate is from a position of strength. General Tullius: Fair enough. We're driving the Stormcloaks back well enough at the moment, but we're already overstretched. That's what comes of trying to win a war with a bare handful of legions. If the Emperor would just give me the reinforcements I've requested! Dragonborn: Why won't the Emperor send more reinforcements? General Tullius: Most of the Legion is tied down on the border with the Aldmeri Dominion. The Emperor can't afford to risk weakening Cyrodiil's defenses. From the Imperial City, our war here is just a sideshow. An interlude before the main event against the Thalmor resumes. Also if he actually gave us a more in deep look at Cyrodiilic cities that are in chaos (but he didn't) we would actually see that it is probably one of those situations that could not be easily fixed even by a powerful Empire, well this without mentioning that assuming that a specific governemnt is inneficient thanks to chaos in some cities is to jump to conclusions as a series of factors may make administration and/or interference difficult (geographical relief, climate, how many criminal factions are using hidden locations to grow in power and influence, etc). Heck, it would be like saying that both imperial and stormcloak governments are trash because there are bandits all over Skyrim. Anyway, the journals that describe such events are Cicero's and we can see them all here https://www.imperial-library.info/content/ciceros-journal, but lets have a closer look: in volume 2 it is written "The situation in Bravil grows more dire. The city has erupted in violence, due to a war of control being waged by Cyrodiil's two largest skooma traffickers. The Listener, Alisanne Dupre, has been forced to employ sellswords to protect her own residence." Bravil is very close to Elsweyr (https://www.google.com.br/search?q=cyrodiil+map&client=opera&hs=MgX&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjaz4Pb1MnZAhXmuFkKHWZjAjEQ_AUICigB&biw=1240&bih=914#imgrc=YHy6QwKOyg8TvM: ) and this makes the activities of kooma smugglers far easier, specially now that Elsweyr is not part of the Empire (and even if it was it's harsh conditions would prevent the imperial governemnt from being omnipresent there). In fact even in during the Oblivion Crisis, the very end of what was basically the Golden Age of the Empire, Bravil was considered a poor and violent city. If You did not play Oblivion just like me, a bit of research about Bravil in the Wiki and the UESP will show it clearly therefore in Bravil's case it is not something that is fault of the Empire itself, . In Volume 4, however, Cicero says that Cheydinhal has erupted in violence and chaos, but it is never specified how. Was it a war between rival criminal factions like in Bravil? Just unhappy inhabitants of the city? Was it really a result of bad administration from the Empire? Also a book and a dialogue in Skyrim, that The Stormcloak Guy obviously did not show on his holy book, reveal that the city is not an actual anarchy as many would think. The book is "An adventurer's Guide to Skyrim" (http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:An_Explorer's_Guide_to_Skyrim), wich mentions Cheydinhal and was clearly written after Ulfric’s militia took back Markarth because it mentions the Forsworn (who did not exist before Ulfric and his men drove the Rechmen rebels from Markarth), and the Dialogue betwen Ingun and Elgrim (http://pt.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Elgrim):

Elgrim: "Ingun, you clumsy fool! You've tainted our entire supply of Painted Troll Fat. You have no idea how hard that was to get." Ingun: "I'm sure my mother can compensate you for it." Elgrim: "I'll draft a letter to Rythe. If you could have it sent to Cheydinhal for me, that would make up for your blunder." Ingun: "I'll make sure it's sent right away."

As you can see an Alchemist in Skyrim uses Cheydinhal as means of getting profit, what would not be possible if the city was an absolute chaos by the year 201 of the 4th Era, wich either means that Cicero’s claims were exageratted or that the Empire managed to control the situation (at least to some degree, over the years). A stronger evidence for that is how Elgrim reveals he sends letters to Rythe, that is actually a famous dunmer painter encountered in The Elder Scrolls IV (http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Rythe_Lythandas). If the city was an absolute chaos at the time, we would expect a citizen like Rythe to have eighter escaped of died.

All of that without mentioning everything that is going on on Stormcloak holds. In Riften, Maven Black Briar has the entire city in her pocket (even the jarl) and freely associates with the Thieves Guild (Laila Law-Giver does not know about that). In Dawnstar, Jarl Skald barely cares about his city and sends most of his guards to fight the imperials (and is pretty authoritarian, threatening a former legionnaire for walking around in his old armor for the sake of nostalgia) and Winterhold is ruled by a fool that barely lifts a finger to help the city and instead keeps blaming the College of Winterhold (despite having no proof of what he claims). Again: no tu quoque intended, but if you condemn the imperial governemnt thanks to what happened in a few cities in Cyrodiil but does not give a crap about the flaws of the Stormcloak holds, you are a hypocrite and a biased fool.

After that he citates Valga Vinicia, who says that she moved from Cyrodiil to escape the fighting. This is weak evidence since she never clarifies what she's referring to. She may even be referring to the Great War.

Changing the subject now: the author says that it is understandable for the Empire to not send many reinforcements, thanks to the issue about the southern border (well he basically answered his own question there) and later says "But hello they have ships”. I don’t know if he was intentionally biased or just stupid, but he cmpletely ignored how General Tullius reveals that the Emperor is not sending reinforcements thanks to how it would make Cyrodiil more vulnerable to a Dominion attack. And The Stormcloak Guy may consider taking a look at the map of an interesting continent called Tamriel: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/elderscrolls/images/6/62/Tamriel_Map.png/revision/latest?cb=20150911030824 in order for the Empire to send reinforcements to Cyrodiil it would need to navigate trough Dominion territory, risking being taken down or at least being forced to go back to Cyrodiil, and even if they managed to get trough Dominion controlled seas they would still have to go trough Hammerfell's and High Rock's seas. It would take too long and it would be too exausting to send a considerable ammount of soldiers to Skyrim.

Ironically, Hadvar's dialogue suggests that the Imperial Legion ia actually managing to defeat the Stormcloaks after the Tullius came to Skyrim. If you follow him in Helgen and you ask who are the Stormcloaks he will say "You haven't heard of the civil war in Skyrim? I guess down in Cyrodiil people have other things to worry about.It's pretty simple. Ulfric founded the Stormcloaks years ago, as a sort of private army to advance his ambitions. He's always used the ban on the worship of Talos to stir people up against the Empire. He never succeeded in getting much support, so a few months ago he murdered the High King! That got the Empire's attention." thus revealing that the Empire only started to really pay attention to his rebellion after Torygg's death, wich occured a few months before Ulfric was captured while the war itself had been going on for years (the fact that the war has been going on for years is also revealed by Vulwulf Snow-Shod and Vignar Gray-Mane, tough Vignar does not say it directly). Now if you ask him how did they capture Ulfric he will answer with "A masterstroke by General Tullius! He's only been in charge here for a few months, but he's turned things around for the Empire. We've been trying to catch Ulfric since the war started, but he always seemed to slip through our fingers... like he knew we were coming. This time, the General turned the tables on him. Ulfric rode right into our ambush with only a few bodyguards. He surrendered pretty meekly, too. So much for his death-or-glory reputation. I thought we were taking Ulfric back to Cyrodiil, but I guess the General changed his mind. You know the rest." wich shows that the Skyrim's nord legionnaires were not able to capture Ulfric before the Empired started to really care about this war, and that General Tullius just needed a few months to capture the leader of the rebels. His dialogue actually shows how strong the Empire is, as Skyrim's legionnaires were only able to capture Ulfric after Tullius was sent to fix the whole thing (source: http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Hadvar)

Now we get to his points about the best chance for a victory over the Thalmor on a future war. In the first paragraph he talks about the redguards… and acts like if they would signifficantly increase the chance of an imperial victory over the Thalmor, but that is not the case as numbers do not win wars by themselves (some may say that numbers do help. That is right: they HELP, but they do not guarantee victory). His arguments regarding the possibilities of an imperial-redguard alliance versus a stormcloak-redguard alliance are also full of flaws, because as Zorkonov from the Imperial Knowledge youtube channel once explained the diplomatic relations between Hammerfell and the Empire are pretty stable, if not friendly, during the events of The Elder Scrolls V as it is evidenced by the content of the book “Flight from the Thalmor”, wich can be read here: https://www.imperial-library.info/content/flight-thalmor. Pay attention to the very first paragraph: Dearest reader: The work you are about to experience has been copied and duplicated, so that the story it relates can be spread throughout the Empire. But make no mistake - this is not a work of fiction. The events chronicled in this account are all true, were originally documented in a private journal (which now remains safely guarded in the House of Quills in Hammerfell) and occurred not more than a year before this book was printed. - Ashad Ibn Khaled, High Scribe, House of Quills, Hammerfell The Empire has basically allowed Hammerfell to publish a book in imperial land, wich would not happen if Hammerfell was hostile towards the Empire. Talking about the Hammerfell: before anyone says how the redguards “defeated” the Thalmor after the emperor left Hammerfell lets read the damn book about the Great War, shall we? https://www.imperial-library.info/content/great-war and see what it actually says about Hammerfell "In Hammerfell, Imperial fortunes took a turn for the better. In early 4E 173, a Forebear army from Sentinel broke the siege of Hegathe (a Crown city), leading to the reconciliation of the two factions. Despite this, Lady Arannelya's main army succeeded in crossing the Alik'r Desert. The Imperial Legions under General Decianus met them outside Skaven in a bloody and indecisive clash. Decianus withdrew and left Arannelya in possession of Skaven, but the Aldmeri were too weakened to continue their advance [...] In Hammerfell, General Decianus was preparing to drive the Aldmeri back from Skaven when he was ordered to march for Cyrodiil. Unwilling to abandon Hammerfell completely, he allowed a great number of "invalids" to be discharged from the Legions before they marched east. These veterans formed the core of the army that eventually drove Lady Arannelya's forces back across the Alik'r late in 174, taking heavy losses on their retreat from harassing attacks by the Alik'r warriors. [...] In the end, the heroic Redguards fought the Aldmeri Dominion to a standstill, although the war lasted for five more years and left southern Hammerfell devastated. The Redguards say that this proves that the White-Gold Concordat was unnecessary, and that if Titus II had kept his nerve, the Aldmeri could have been truly defeated by the combined forces of Hammerfell and the rest of the Empire.") as we can see Arannelya's Army was weakned after they took Skaven (that is located in central Hammerfell) and was pushed trough the desert by the army of imperial "invalids" Decianus left (thus showing that the Imperials were more than capable of dealing with Arannelya's army back there) to the point of being forced to the southern region of Hammerfell (as this was the devastated region after the aldmeri army withdrew from the province). In other words: Lady Arannelya's army was extremely weakned thanks to imperial veterans who managed to push her army across Hammerfell's sands... and even tough a united Hammerfell did not have progress in fighting her weakned army (remember that it said the redguards fought to a standstill) for FIVE YEARS, and did not even manage to destroy such army. Also the Dominion-Hammerfell war ended with a peace treaty, the Second Treaty of Stros M’kai, after souther Hammerfell, wich happened to be the chunk of land that was ceased top the Dominion when the White Gold Concordact was signed, got devastated by the war. The conclusions we have is that not only the redguards did not actually defeat the Dominion as technically they did not even drive the Dominion out of Hammerfell by force, but also that the Dominion did not sign the treaty because it could no longer fight, but because it had no reason to fight as southern Hammerfell was basically destroyed.

Now lets take a look about what he says about a Stormcloak victory: it is true that Ulfric wants to fight the Thalmor, but this would be suicide. Why? Because the Stormcloaks SUCK on the battlefield. They have been fighting against locally recruited and unexperienced legionnaires (this is revealed by pretty much every in game Legate), legionnaires that also are what General Tullius describes as “a bare handful of legions” and that Legate Rikke describes as “regular militia material”, for years. The Stormcloaks have been fighting these bare handful of militia like, locally recruited and unexperienced legionnaires pretty much to a standstill for years, so how on Nirn would one expect the Stormcloaks to be successful on an offensive against the Dominion? Also even a fast look at some TES: Legends cards can show you that the Stormcloaks really lack organization and discipline among their ranks (https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Legends:Rallying_Stormcloak http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Legends:Inspiring_Stormcloak http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Legends:Stormcloak_Battalion https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Legends:Ulfric's_Uprising), unlike the imperials (http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Legends:Mentor_of_the_Watch http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Legends:Praetorian_Commander http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Legends:Septim_Guardsman http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Legends:Tullius'_Conscription)

Now we get to the isue of racism (ah shit, here we go again). He begins it by saying that imperialism is about a dominant culture being seen as supreme, but that has nothng to do with racism. How? One can see a certain culture as supreme and not see any race as supreme. In fact, imperialism is not even about shoving such culture down someone's throat, as countless Empires did not do that: the americans do not do it, the romans did not do it (the Jews were allowed to have their customs you know), the mongols did not do it back when they dominated modern day Ukraine and part of modern day Russia, the tamrielic empire doesn not do it (the empire did not shove Cyrodiil's culture down other provinces throats. The Empire gave autonomy to the dunmer, the Empire has no problems with nords having long hairs and beards and visiting Halls of the Dead, Bruma is a cyrodiilic city and is far more nordic than imperial in culture, etc. All of these actions were not chosen on desperate situations unlike the ban of Talos worship. In fact as long as the other provinces accept the Emperor's authority, pay the taxes and report for duty when Cyrodiil is at war, the Empire lets the local government dictate the vast majority of the rules, which is why Skyrim is still ruled by jarls and a High King or High Queen). What General Tullius says about the nords ( "The Legion's always been here. Without us to keep order, the provinces would fall into barbarism and lawlessness. Especially Skyrim. Take for example, Ulfric Stormcloak and his little "rebellion." But rest assured, his days are numbered." ) is ethnocentrism, not racism (there is a huge difference between these two). Tullius did not say that a nord is a barbarian simply for being a nord (because HELLO: Legate Rikke is a nord herself, and if Hadvar survives Tullius will be happy if you tell him that he survived, while calling Hadvar “a damn good soldier”).

The irnony is that the autjor complains about imperialism, but we can see that he is a supporter of nationalism, which sets up a dominant culture in its own nation, and the dominant culture is seen as supreme, wich is exactly what we see in game after a Stormcloak victory. But hey: who needs coherence, amirite!

Now to have an idea of how how the Stormcloaks treat non nords in Windhelm (again: in Windhelm) we can take a look at Malborn (the wood elf that helps the Dragonborn ilfiltrate the Thalmor Embassy): if he survives he will relocate to the New Gnisis Cornerclub, to the Gray Quarter in Windhelm (this is clearly documented in both the wiki both the Wiki https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Malborn and the UESP https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Malborn). Now lets solve the puzzle: Malborn is an elf and an outsider in Windhelm. He had nothing left and he could have gone to Windhelm's Candlehearth Hall in order to live better while hiding from the Thalmor, but he actually goes to the Gray Quarrter, that is basically falling apart. One would clearly not choose to be on a place like that and therefore if the Stormcloaks were welcoming when he came into the city as an outsider with no future, he would certainly not be in the Gray Quarter (and if they think he could be a spy, they could keep him on a place were he would be constantly watched while living decently)... but he is there. Therefore the only conclusion is that the Stormcloaks, and with them Ulfric himself, did not accept him into the actual city and the Gray Quarter was the only option for him. All of this without mentioning that the argonians that live in the docks only live in the docks because they are not allowed to live in the actual city (for being… well… argonians). Heck, if Ulfric is killed and Windhelm is taken by the imperials and you ask Scouts-Many-Marshes (an argonian in the docks) if he is glad that the Stormcloaks are gone, he will say “You have no idea. Did you know it was his decree that forbade the Argonians from living inside the city walls? I hope in his next life, he’s reborn as an Argonian forced to live in a slum because of some bigoted Nord dictator. I’m joking, of course, but I’m a lot happier seeing the Empire running things in Windhelm.” This fact is also revealed by Brunwulf Free-Winter when he says “Whenever a group of marauders attack a Nord village, Ulfric is the first to sound the horn and send the men. But a group of Dark Elf refugees gets ambushed? A group of Argonians, or a Khajiit caravan? No troops. No investigation. Nothing. There’s a group of cutthroats out there right now that Ulfric doesn’t lift a finger to bring to justice, as long as they don’t threaten Nord land”.

Now about what he points about the Roman Empire, I will use the same logic with the old norse: if you, reader, joined the Stormcloaks because you like the vikings for X or Y reasons I have no problem with that (I kinda enjoy their history myself. Heck, I could say I am more of a viking fan than a roman fan), but wanting to apply this to the Lore is nonsense because:

- DNA tests on one of the nordic countries (tough I do not recall wich one) have revealed the vikings were actually very diverse in terms of race. In other words: racism was not that common among vikings, unlike among the nords of Skyrim.

- The vikings made sure to take advantage of their ships when they raided the shores of more southern european countries, as with their vertically thin ships they were able to step on the shore right after jumping from the ship. A similar boat design is seen at Windhelm and the Stormcloaks could have took advantage of that and directly attack Solitude from the sea (as most of Skyrim’s shores are controlled by the stormcloaks at the beginning of the game) in some of the earlier years of the war, but the Stormcloaks chose to get massacred on land instead (on a dialogue with Torsten Cruel-Sea where Torsten directly mentions such navy, Ulfric says he will think about it and that is the closest we get to having an actual Stormcloak navy).

- The vikings had almost the same equipment as the rest of Europe at their time, what can not be said about the Stormcloaks in Tamriel. To give more details: during the viking age (around 800 a. C. to 1066 a. C. if I recall correctly) chainmail and shields were universally used (https://levaleur.deviantart.com/art/Armour-evolution-421878469 https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/armor/390609) and full plate armor only became a thing by the 15th century, and in this period of time not only the design of the armor improved, but the way it was made, the way the metal was shaped in order to make it harder and more effective, combat strategies were improved, etc. In other words: a Stormcloak soldier fighting a Dominion soldier would be like a viking nobleman fighting a 15th century knight... wich would be like a World War 2 german soldier trying to fight a modern US Marine.

Now if you join the Stormcloaks thanks to Talos worship... one can worship him in secret, just like Alvor reveals the nords did before Ulfric’s Uprising (http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Alvor "It's from that treaty that ended the Great War, remember, when the Emperor was forced by the Thalmor to outlaw Talos worship. We didn't pay much attention to it when I was a boy - everyone still had their little shrine to Talos. But then Ulfric and his "Sons of Skyrim" started agitating about it, and sure enough the Emperor had to crack down. Dragging people off in the middle of the night... one of the main causes of this war, if you ask me."). Ulfric’s agitating is what caught the attention of the Thalmor (since it showed that the terms of the Concordact were not being enforced in Skyrim) and the Emperor (as Alvor reveals not even the imperials were that active in Skyrim before Ulfric started his rebellion), so I am sorry to say that but Ulfric’s means are bringing the opposite of what he promises, and having noble goals means nothing if your means do not work.

#Stormcloak Rebellion #Empire of Tamriel #Nonsense #Bias #Ulfric Stormcloak #General Tullius #Gray Quarter #Dunmer #Argonians #Racism #Nord Culture #Hammerfell #Imperialism #Ethnocentrism #The Stormcloak Bible DEBUNKED

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