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alatismeni-theitsa · 1 year

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Theitsa have you seen Maestro? If yes, did you like it?

I think I liked it, yes. It's not a masterpiece imo but it was nice to watch. For me, it all came down to the ending, actually. For me, the ending was great for the show. I just saw they will make a second season and I don't want the ending to change. I'll keep the review without spoilers, except for the part where I give a warning.

The negatives are that Papakaliatis often makes caricatures and not characters and the dialogue was unnatural many times. On the other hand, the stories presented were interesting and not very far from Greek reality. The island setting was beautiful but not commercialized, the characters were interesting and brought different perspectives to the story.

I liked how a gay couple was shown in such a popular series. It's rare that, for Greek TV. And it had class struggle in the mix, which gave it layers and made it more realistic because people are more than their sexuality and gay characters deserve to be more than just "gay for the plot".

The episode from the abuser's pov was daring and interesting to watch. I felt it didn't excuse him, it just showed us his reality as it was - the cycle of abuse and what motives he had. I think sometimes it helps to understand these types of characters - and people irl - deeper so we also don't make excuses for their bad deeds. And it was clear in the narrative that he was someone who hurt people, so I don't think the show made excuses for him either. (I still hated his guts by the end)

Many of us are more aware of the dangers a large age gap relationship entails. The romance between a high school girl, Klelia, (turning 18 if I remember correctly) and her music teacher Orestis made me feel weird at best in all the episodes. And I partially agree with the people who were worried about how this relationship would affect our "beloved" Ellinares theious pou theloun na thn peftoun se mikres(TM). I don't dismiss any of these criticisms, and I am skeptical myself of the impact the series will have in Greek society when it comes to these types of relationships.

I saw that the narrative and most characters acknowledged the potentially predatory nature of the relationship, and the lovers themselves made remarks on the balance they had to keep. The narrative sometimes fell into the idealization of this love but, as I personally saw it, was the romanticization of "falling in love", not specifically "falling in love with an older man/a very young woman".

Klelia's grandma endorsed this relationship but I think she also ends up with mixed feelings about these types of relationships. As a character, she can be wrong and misled, having had an (obviously morally wrong) relationship with her school teacher. Generally, some characters were for and others against the relationship, some more rational, some more romantic. But the ending showed us, in spite of these characters, what the writer wanted to convey.

We see the relationship through the eyes of the lovers, many times I was aware that this was how they, themselves saw it. And their relationship was not how they saw it. Yes, they had fun together for the most part when their relationship became more official, but the reality is always there, reminding us that age is not just a number, that people in very different stages of life can have problems in a relationship, and that falling in love is as fleeting as a summer vacation. "It will pass", the characters said.

The hero, Orestis, knows this, too. I don't know yet if the reasons for Papakaliatis having such a young lover (Klelia) in the show were more nefarious or if he wanted to explore the dynamic for another reason. The differences in their priorities and their realities were shown, at least. The two lovers brushed them off but for the viewer it wasn't all so sugarcoated. We could see the disconnect between their lives. We were made to think again and again about the impact of the relationship both in their realities and in the souls of the characters.

It's also important that the disadvantages for young Klelia were discussed between the couple because she is the most vulnerable member of the relationship. It was apparent that the much older Orestis, had more control over his life, and he could afford to make decisions and still remain on his feet. Kleilia is just starting her life and so much will be impacted by this relationship.

Spoilers for the ending: I was holding my breath for the ending because if they ended up together it would mean - for me - that the narrative supports this type of relationship. But they didn't end up together and this was a very satisfying end for me. No matter how good one's intentions are, relationships of such nature are not only difficult but often risky.

The ending was realistic and it landed for me. Orestis is old enough to know that just being in love is not enough to change your life to that degree, especially when you have to work and take care of a kid. And he acted on it, like a responsible adult. It's good he left Klelia and I hope she can see in the future that her passion at that moment in her life with Orestis might have led her to a miserable life. The relationship shouldn't work, romanticism isn't always the best route, and being infatuated with someone shouldn't make you irresponsible.

I reaally hope Klelia and Orestis don't get together in the second season. I don't want it to be the type of story where "love overcomes all difficulties ever!" If they get together, I'd like to see it in a setting where Klelia has her job and can support herself, and knows who she is. (and over 25 yrs old for sure) And I want the narrative to stay grounded and still discuss the potential risks of that relationship.

What did you think, guys?

#maestro netflix #answered #greek movies

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enviroethicsashleymorales · 2 years

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“Get (This Hazardous Waste) Off my Lawn”: Distributive Justice in “Justice and Hazardous Waste”

Ashley Morales

Iris Marion Young’s piece “Justice and Hazardous Waste” discusses distributive justice, self-determination, and utilitarianism as they relate to environmental injustices. Throughout the essay, she examines a specific case study of a hazardous waste plant built in Massachusetts. Young emphasizes that self determination is needed when deciding where to place hazardous waste sites, and that the previous ways of decision making did not take fairness or disproportionate burden into account. Justice as we currently see it is not actually just, because the philosophies that we use come from a theoretical perspective, an idealized vision of neutrality. However, life is not theoretical. Real people experience the consequences of the decisions made, and these decisions are sometimes made without their consent, such as that of the Massachusetts hazardous waste site. Young writes: “The residents consider themselves the victims of injustice from the state, despite the compensation provisions of the siting law, because that law denies them participation in the siting decision.” This law essentially only gives the community a choice in how they will get compensated for the facility, but not if the facility will be there or not.

The state is supposed to act like a neutral arbiter when deciding where to place these facilities, but they are not the ones living in the communities and the “objective state” is not going to be directly experiencing the effects of these communities. According to Young, “The law specifies that the state shall approve a site, without requiring it to consult the host community. The state's siting board itself performs the risk assessment and other calculations necessary to determine an acceptable site, and the law compels the community to accept the state's decision. This entails that the state may override municipal laws regulating waste treatment or disposal.” The prevailing philosophical idea/logic behind this is utilitarianism, which attempts to increase the welfare of the largest number of people. The issue with utilitarianism as a philosophy is that it only sees people as a number, and while placing a hazardous waste site might increase the happiness of many people, it can have massive effects on the smaller number of people living near the facility. As Young writes, “Why should we be involuntarily subject to this risk and inconvenience, local residents asked, while the rest of the state suffers nearly nothing, and in many cases benefits from the removal of waste from their areas?” This emphasizes the importance of self-determination. Communities themselves should be allowed to decide what risks they want to take, in addition to their compensation, and if they do not want the risk of a hazardous facility at all, they should not be forced to deal with one. Young supports this idea claiming that if the facility is truly harmless enough to render the community’s decision irrational, then another community will agree to site it. If there are absolutely no communities that will agree to site the facility, then such a facility is not a good solution to the problem of hazardous waste.

In learning more about philosophy, I am beginning to see more of the problems with utilitarianism. The idea of increasing the happiness of the most people sounds great in theory, until you wonder what kind of suffering the minority of people who are not happy will have to endure. Nobody should have to bear the burden of poisoned water and intense health issues if they are not willing to accept it, and if they do not get a choice in the matter. Self determination is a solution to this issue. While a risk of self determination is that communities will only do what is in their own best interest, I do not believe all people are inherently that selfish. I think people would be willing to take on moderate risk in order to help others, but contaminated water and potential illness might be too much. And this idea might force governments to come up with a better way to dispose of this waste, which might not harm anyone. Self determination is a concept that is important in a number of situations, not just environmental justice, because many oppressions are connected to each other. Self determination is a main idea in the land-back movement and in decolonization, and both can also be tied back to environmental justice. Autonomy and representation in decision making, especially representation by the people that the decision will affect, is sorely lacking in government processes right now, and this keeps environmental injustice alive.

Word count: 746

Question: How can distributive justice be used in other movements? Is it always positive?

Photo: https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/eg/waste-combustors-effluent-guidelines_.html

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jessi--ac · 2 years

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Expectations, endings and heteronormativity

I wanted to address some things regarding the seemingly regression of character traits that I got the feeling some people might see and I want to add a little to this with other perspective.

The heteronormativity here serves a simple purpose: the way some people think that acceptance and respectability have to be achieved through normalization of non heterosexual relationships as a way of equating them with heterosexuals ones.

The entire series showed us two characters struggling to discover themselves, learning how to live with self and external expectations, as they both developed a really strong and healthy bond with each other. Aboove all, it also showed us the path to getting on the same page about everything entailing the relationship. They actually passed many turning points in it: knowing they liked each other, knowing it was mutual, having a secret relationship, being out in the open and passing the milestones of the acceptance they both wanted and needed. When they were on the secret relationship stage, there was a disconnect between what both of them wanted and expected, pran was afraid of people's reaction to them being a couple, especially his friends and pat wanted to shout about it from the rooftops and both expectations have to do with personalities. Pran is shown to be an anxious person whereas pat is much more easygoing and a no-brainer kinda guy. The beginning of their relationship was also all about understanding each other, so we see pat and pran slowly discovering what makes the other person tick, which buttons were safe to push and which ones weren't. As they discoreved these, they started to move more profoundly into the conflict. Pran didn't mind keeping it a secret and pat wanted to experience the advantages presented by an out in the open relationship. As their bond got stronger and stronger each one decided to compromise for the sake of their relationship, with pran letting pat post pictures and pat agreeing to be less open about it, but alas the conclusion of the conflict was ripped out from their hands by being outed by a selfish friend. So there they were, out in the open, trying to make amends for the perceived wrong behavior of lying (there was never any conflict about them being a couple). When they got over this and experienced how it was like to be out in the open, they both liked it but both also perceived the path wasn't cleared yet and once again had different hang-ups about the next conflict: the parents knowing. So they wanted to find out why there was such animosity between the families and how they could go about to help solve it so they could live like they wanted. But once again it wasn't what they expect and when the truth came out both arrived at the same conclusion: it wasn't a trivial matter and it would take time. The first thing pat asks pran in EPI 11 is if dissaya would ever forgive ming and pran's response was 'would you?' and although pat never expressed out loud his thoughts, we could hear the silent 'no'. From there, EPI 11 was a journey of coming to terms with the complexity of the situation and how they could tackle it and here, finally, we have both of them on the same page about it. It wasn't a salvageable situation, forgiveness wasn't coming and they were at a point that giving up their relationship was also out of question. And then we get to the fake break up and my main point really jddjnsksslks

Why is the fake break up a regression or a getting back in the closet type of situation if it was reached out of mutual understanding? We don't have a gaya sa pelikula situation in which the people wanting to have a relationship are on completely opposite ends of the same spectrum. We have two characters presented with a situation that requires patience and resilience and they both chose this path, because other options weren't acceptable. I have a very difficult time understanding this choice as being reproachful in anyway whatsoever. And it also ties in with my judgment of people that project their own feelings and responses into characters and then call it bad writing when it is very on character and is also a very relatable queer experience for queer folks out there. P'aof is an older queer man that has personal experience with situations like these or knows many people that lived similar experiences, we cannot call other people's experiences wrong just because it's something we wouldn't personally choose irl. It is simply a different experience that cannot be generalized given the whole premise of the series.

And here I bring back heteronormativity: the only way people can envision healthy queer relationships is if they somehow emulate hetero ones? If they have to wait for their parents to get a grip and get to share their kid's happy lives is the way they both chose to go, out of mutual respect for their personal and shared feelings and aspirations, there's nothing wrong with it, it is simply a different choice that a fuckton of queer people experience and, shockingly, don't feel bad or burdened or empty with it because it is the way that will make them achieve what they ultimately want.

Please let's be open to other experiences and how there's isn't the only one true™ queer experience.

#bad buddy the series #bad buddy #now i rest my case and I'm less unhinged

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fallingsunflower · 2 years

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Hello here are some of my thoughts on Pleasing :)

So this video was sent to me and I don't believe I posted it because I was going to bed, but it sums up what I feel VERY well. I'll be summarizing the video in case you can't watch it, but it's also representative of my own feelings.

There's a very big disconnect between Harry and his fans and I don't believe he knows how to reach his audience (Heather in that video talks about this too). I found the promo to be quite odd as he never actually said anything about it. He gave cryptic clues and then dropped it without warning, kind of expecting us to already be interested in it enough to buy it. There wasn't really any hype but just this expectation that people would buy it regardless. And I know the official launch is happening later in November but I don't really understand the point of the pre-order out of the blue and why Harry hasn't said much about it.

Now he did talk about it in his Dazed interview, but like Heather points out he says something along the lines of "I believe beauty comes from the inside". I agree with that statement, but I just don't think it works for a beauty line. Skincare and nail polish aren't makeup products, but they're still beauty products for external use. It's just an odd angle he's taking for this, in my opinion.

Heather also points out how in the Dazed interview, Harry says he wants to give back to his fans with this beauty line. But again, I personally don't think $20 nail polish and $35 serum is considered "giving back". And there's also the disconnect with his photoshoot for Dazed. Now I love the photos and the confidence behind them, but those photos represent something that's very high fashion and kind of unattainable. We, as the general public, probably won't connect with that level of fashion because we don't understand it in the same way Harry does. I know I don't. It probably makes a majority of us feel alienated. So I don't get why he's promoting this beauty line for his fans in a way that makes it feel too far out of reach and not in our realm. It doesn't feel like he's on our level or understands us.

And again, this is all just my opinion (thank you also to Heather for actually putting this into words so I could write it down).

Now let me get into the actual products.

Pleasing Nail Polish priced at $20USD for .43 FL OZ

- In comparison with other brands:

- (high end) Gucci: $30USD for .33 FL OZ

- (high end) Chanel: $28USD for .4 FL OZ

- (middle) Sundays: $18USD for .47 FL OZ

- (middle) Static Nails: $16USD for .4 FL OZ

- (middle) Butter London: $18USD for .4 FL OZ

- (drugstore) Sally Hansen: $3.59USD for .4 FL OZ

- (drugstore) Essie: $9.00USD for .46 FL OZ

- (drugstore) Opi: $10.79 for .5 FL OZ

We knew it wouldn't be priced like drug store brands. And we hoped it wouldn't be priced like high end brands. So I'm not shocked with the price. I think it's right in the middle. But do I think it's worth it? Absolutely not. Maybe the wear will be spectacular, but I'm not overly impressed so far.

And also to put it in perspective, other celebrities also have nail polish lines too: Machine Gun Kelly ($10USD), AJ McLean ($13USD), Snooki ($8USD).

The Pearlescent Illuminating Serum priced at $35USD for .5 FL OZ

Now I don't really know too much about what this serum entails. But I do know that most serums are 1 FL OZ and not .5. So essentially for this product, 1 FL OZ is $70USD which is an insane amount. The Ordinary serum I use is 1 FL OZ for $6.

Other brands:

- Cera Ve: $13USD for 1 FL OZ

- Farmacy: $44USD for 1 FL OZ

- Buttah: $60USD for 1 FL OZ

- Glossier: $28USD for 1 FL OZ

I would say Harry's is probably middle ground, again, for a serum. There are plenty of high end serums that cost waaaay more than his. Do I still think his is worth it? Not really, but I'll be curious to see how it performs. Perhaps the reviews will be really good, who knows. I won't knock it too much until I hear more about it but I will say that it's certainly not a super attainable item, or realistic for me to buy. My budget doesn't allow for that.

The Pleasing Pen priced at $30 for 2 x .2 FL OZ ($15 for .2 FL OZ)

This one if probably my favorite product. I still think it's a bit out of my price range, but I think it's the most unique out of them all.

I couldn't find too too many price comparisons but here's a couple (only for the eyes):

- Beauli: $15USD for .7 FL OZ

- First Aid Beauty: $25USD for .28 FL OZ

- Garnier: $10USD for .5 FL OZ

Again, it's very middle ground. You can of course find things at a higher price and things at a lower price.

Now I don’t know too much about beauty products. I know the packaging probably costs a lot, specifically with the nail polish. But is it really worth it? And I’m also curious about the ingredients and how good they are. I heard they’re not overly spectacular in this video. This one is a little better.

Here are also some comments I found:

My mom also agrees is a cash grab. She buys literally every beauty product and says Harry is overpriced so I trust her lol

Overall, I’m not really impressed. I don’t feel Harry’s passion behind this. His marketing isn’t good, the prices are a bit steep, and nothing about it is special yet. Maybe if he talks more about it that’ll change. And maybe once he drops more products it’ll become something better. This is the first launch after all so let’s see what happens and how it progresses.

So yeah there you go. Just my honest opinion. It’s not meant to be a hateful post but I can’t pretend I like it. I’ll let you know if my feelings change but that’s where I’m at right now.

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inevitably-johnlocked · 3 years

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Hi Steph! reading your blog has become a sort of guilty pleasure for me. Thanks for everything, it’s so clear that you put a lot of time and energy into your content. I was wondering if you have any johnlock fics that feature a particularly well-written or memorable original character? I always love to see how authors integrate their own character creations into johnlock stories!

Hey Nonny!

Ahhhh!! This is a GREAT request, because I like well-written OC’s in fics, so yeah, this is a great list to make. Here’s what I recall from my bookmarks. Please add your own faves, friends!

MEMORABLE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS

Ex by Itsallfine (T, 1,248 w., 1 Ch. || Angsty Fluff, Love Confessions, Coming Out, Exes, First Kiss, Fake Relationship, Getting Outed) – One night, in the midst of their post-case high and on the cusp of something more, John and Sherlock run into John’s ex. His ex-boyfriend.

The Prize We Sought Is Won by deathfrisbees (E, 4,610 w., 1 Ch. || First Time, Mild D/S, Oral, Military Kink, Bottomlock) – Sherlock's in love, or in lust, or both--unfortunately, the object of his affections is not only his completely oblivious flatmate, but said flatmate would probably run screaming into the hills should he find out. John's been invited to a wedding--unfortunately, the groom used to serve under him back in Afghanistan, and requests that John wear a uniform he's honestly not sure he fits into. Unfortunately for both flatmates, Sherlock's got a military kink the size of Kandahar and John wants to know if he actually can fit into this uniform or if his eyes are deceiving him. It goes from there.

Time on my hands by Mildredandbobbin (M, 7,179 w., 1 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Post-S3, One Night Stands, Mutual Pining, Virgin Sherlock, First Time, Sexual Exploration / Discovery, Desperation, Body Worship) – Virginity’s a construct, a concept—what does losing one’s virginity entail for a gay man anyway? Sherlock wants to fill that particular gap in his knowledge but John won’t, can’t, never will assist and there’s only so much desperately unspoken pining even Sherlock can take.

High and Tight, Soft and Loose by cwb (E, 7,429 w., 1 Ch. || Jealous John, Miscommunications / Misunderstandings, First Kiss / Time, BAMF John, Insecure Sherlock, Clueless Sherlock, POV John, Embarrassed John, Adorable Sherlock, Junk Size, UST / RST) – John pressed the knuckle of his index finger against his mouth and sighed. “So, you're coiled like a spring and ready to be ... sprung?” “If you want to be pedestrian about it, yes.” “Like I said, you should do something about that.” “And like I said, pedestrian. What would you have me do? Take up jogging? Yoga? Oh! Unless you mean –” “I don't mean anything. Let’s drop it.”

Matters of National Security by mistyzeo (E, 8,465 w., 1 Ch. || BAMF John, Doctor John, Jealous Sherlock, Dating, Bisexuality, Arguing, Stupidity, Teasing, First Kiss/Time, Hand Jobs, Frottage, RST, Idiots in Love) – John starts dating a male client of Sherlock's, and Sherlock can't figure out why he's so incensed about it.

High Tide by stardust_made (T, 8,540 w., 1 Ch. || Jealousy, Angst, First Kiss) – A little favour Sherlock stupidly agrees to do for Mycroft leads to John meeting a handsome, affluent man, who is going out of his way to woo him. Sherlock struggles with the situation and with his own reactions to it. Part 1 of The High Tide Series

Iris by slashscribe (E, 11,948 w., 1 Ch. || Parentlock, Pining Sherlock, Post-S3) – Sherlock does his best to make John happy when John comes back to 221B with his new baby after the events of Season 3, but Sherlock has a track record of getting things wrong in this area. This story is an exploration of their gradual shift from friends to lovers, told from Sherlock's perspective, full of a lot of pining and lack of emotional awareness.

A Brand of Gold by aquabelacqua (M, 12,757 w., 1 Ch. || Mutual Pining, POV John, Phone Sex, Texting, Masturbation, Long Distance, Drunk Texting) – What am I doing? he wondered. The answer came back at once: Flirting. He let the vital, missing piece snap into place as surely and as cleanly as if it had always been there. He was flirting with Sherlock Holmes.

Twelfth Night by yourdykeinshiningarmor (E, 15,139 w., 5 Ch. || Fake Relationship, Christmas, Mutual Pining, Friends to Lovers, Angst & Fluff, BJ’s, Anal) – John is invited to his aunt's Twelfth Night ball. Sherlock offers to attend with him as a friendly face among strangers, but John's family force him to address his true feelings for Sherlock.

Vessel by Rhuia (E, 15,695 w., 1 Ch. || Cancer, Medfic) – That was the surprising bit – the way his doctor said it, eyes shining with sympathy but breathing it out, shifting it off her shoulders and thrusting it onto his, making him take it like an unwanted gift.

A Life Well-Lived by Kate_Lear (E, 20,121 w., 1 Ch. || Original Male Character, Sherlock Woos John, Jealous Sherlock, Reluctant Bi-John, Past Abuse, Insecure John, Reassuring / Caring Sherlock, Protective Sherlock, Understanding Sherlock) – John got scared off men by an abusive past relationship. Sherlock has to try and woo him while not scaring him off with protective possessive rage.

Winter's Delights by Kate_Lear (E, 21,173 w., 1 Ch. || Holmes Family, Christmas, Fake Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Bed Sharing, Domestics) – Sherlock takes John home for Christmas to meet the extended Holmes family. Part 1 of Winter's Delights

A Shipless Ocean by myswordfishmind (M, 22,135 w., 4 Ch. || Post-TRF, John has a Kid, Angst, Reunion, Falling in Love, Open Ending) – Ten years after the fall Sherlock goes back to London to find that John no longer lives there. Instead, he resides in a seaside town, a widower, and the father of a seven year old son. Now, Sherlock must struggle with the fact that there may no longer be a place for him in this new world.

Maintaining A Personal Life by Gingerhermit (E, 24,284 w., 6 Ch. || Alternating POV’s, Bisexuality, BAMF!John, Jealous Sherlock, Romance / Drama, Sort-of Case Fic, Peril & Angst, Love Confessions, Toplock, Soft Idiots in Love, Post S3) – Sherlock and John discover some interesting revelations about each other’s sexuality, which lead them both to question the assumptions they've made about one another for years. In the midst of their mutual discoveries, a dangerous psychopath looms on the side-lines who threatens to destroy their new beginning.

26 Pieces by Lanning (E, 28,236 w., 1 Ch. || H/C, Torture, First Time, Happy Ending, Schmoop, Past Abuse) – Mycroft gives Sherlock the apparently simple task of solving a puzzle box containing a stolen microchip. It isn't simple.

Where Else Would I Be? by cwb (E, 34,910 w., 10 Ch. || Retirementlock, Domestic Fluff, Falling in Love, Parentlock, Fluff and Smut, Reminiscing) – John and Sherlock's five-year-old granddaughter spends the weekend with them in Sussex. Sherlock happily indulges her whims, and John takes care of them while quietly revisiting the past thirty years of their lives together.

Classified(s) by blueink3 (E, 36,153 w., 4 Ch. || Wedding Date AU || Fake Relationship, Jealous, PIning, H/C, Idiots in Love, Happy Ending, Mary is not Nice, Escort Service) – Clara's American father is the ambassador to some such territory that Great Britain probably used to own, but she (and Harry’s undying love for her) is the reason John is getting on a flight at 12:30pm, flying across the second largest ocean in the world, and pretending to be in a perfectly happy, healthy relationship with an undoubtedly perfectly coiffed stranger. See, Clara is not only American (and wealthy to boot), she's also best friends with John’s ex-fiancée. Whom she's placed in the wedding party. As Maid of Honor. And John just happens to be Best Man. Bloody brilliant.

Nothing to Make a Song About by emmagrant01 (E, 36,833 w., 10 Ch. || Post-TRF, First Time, Reunion, Jealous John, Pining Sherlock, Romance, Angst with Happy Ending, Sherlock Has a Boyfriend) – When Sherlock returned from his faked death, John could not forgive him for the deception and broke off their friendship. Ten years later, John returns to London in search of yet another new beginning. Sherlock, not surprisingly, is waiting.

Set in Stone by SilentAuror (E, 39,309 w., 1 Ch. || Romance, Wedding, Therapy, Fluff and Angst) – Sherlock and John are back from Ravine Valley and planning their wedding. However, as they move past the trial of the human traffickers, Sherlock can't help but wonder if he's imagining that John is becoming a little distant. Surely he isn't getting cold feet about the wedding... Part 2 of The Ravine Valley series

Only To Be With You by SinceWhenDoYouCallMe_John (M, 40,768 w., 4 Ch. || Black Mirror / Future AU || Character Death, Future Technology, Sickness/Cancer/Illness, Heavy Angst with Happy Ending, First Person POV John, Pining John, Heart-Wrenching Angst, Promise of Forever) – I tell myself that next time I’ll come near this same place again. Wait around for the mysterious stranger in his coat to dash past me, hot on the heels of a new criminal in black. I think this all the way back to my Exit, planning where I’ll wait and what I’ll say when I see him. Scheming on how to get his name. It’s only once I reach the Exit Point door that I realize two hours and forty-five minutes have passed, and I realize that this won’t be the last time I Visit. It won’t be the last time at all.

Corpus Hominis by mycapeisplaid (E, 47,709 w., 12 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Case Fic, Fluff, Romance, Frottage, Angst, Anal, Blow Jobs, Rimming, Spas / Massages, Shampoo, Jealousy, Fake Relationship) - John knows the human body intimately. He’s had plenty of opportunity for study as a doctor, soldier, and lover. There’s one particular body, however, he knows very little about. When Sherlock launches himself head-first into a new obsession and they get sent on a case in an unlikely location, the pair discovers each other’s bodies with confusing yet delightful (and sometimes hilarious) results.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by SilentAuror (E, 50,635 w., 1 Ch. || Post-S4/S4 Divergence, Case Fic, For a Case / Reverse Fake-Relationship, Conferences, Marriage Equality, Travelling / New York, Pride, Homophobia, Bottomlock, Marriage Proposal, John POV, Sexuality, Love Confessions, Emotional Love Making, Public Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs, Passionate Kissing, Needy/Clingy Sherlock, Virgin Sherlock, Touching / Hand Holding, Bed Sharing, Little Spoon Sherlock, Intense Orgasms) – John and Sherlock go to New York to attend a conference run by the National Defence of Traditional Marriage Coalition in order to investigate the potential bombing of the annual Manhattan Pride parade. As the conference unfolds, John finds himself repulsed by the toxic ideology being presented, which becomes relevent to his own unacknowledged issues and his friendship with Sherlock...

Coventry by standbygo (E, 52,020 w., 26 Ch. || Dollhouse AU || Case Fic, Slow Burn, Sci-Fi / Fantasy, First Kiss / Time, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, BAMF John, Falling in Love) – “Let me get this straight,” John said, wondering when his life had become a science fiction film. “Some guy orders up a personality, a person, to his specifications, and they program this into a real live person, who has consented to do this, and she goes to this person and acts as his wife, or lawyer, or Royal Marine, or Navy Seal or what have you, and she has all the skills, all the knowledge, everything? Then you say the magic words, and she follows you back to The House, and they erase it all until her next appointment?”

Albion and the Woodsman by Glenmore (NR [E], 54,437 w., 50 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Post S3, Parentlock, Pining Sherlock, Angst, Family, Drug Use, Depression, Sherlock POV, Light Humour, Reconnecting, Declarations of Love) – Sherlock and John are devastated after Mary Morstan makes her final moves. Sherlock relapses at the crack house, John walks around the world … and a lot happens in between. Parentlock, in the good way.

Wars We Fought, Things We're Not by blueink3 (M, 55,204 w., 10 Ch. || Post S3 / Post TAB, Parentlock, Fluff & Angst, Kidnapping, Whump, Post-TAB, UST/URT, 3G, Mild Peril, Slow Burn, Couple for a Case, Protective Mycroft, Infant Death Pre-Story, Friends to Lovers) – Five months after John's world has fallen apart, Mycroft sends the consulting detective and his doctor on a case that neither is prepared for.

Isosceles by SilentAuror (E, 56,609 w., 7 Ch. || Post-S4, POV John, Original Male Character / Sherlock Dates Another Man, Love Triangle, Jealous John, Virgin Sherlock, Sexual Coaching, Angst, Romance, Domesticity, Unrequited Feelings, Miscommunication, First Kiss/Time, For a Case, Friends With Benefits, Bottomlock, Love Confessions, Spooning) – After solving a case for a major celebrity, Sherlock gets himself asked out. When John asks, he discovers that Sherlock has no intention of going, at least not until John agrees to coach him through whatever he might need to know for his date...

The Great Sex Olympics of 221B by XistentialAngst (E, 58,611 w., 10 Ch. || First Time/Kiss, Experiments / Sexual Experimentations, Multi Pairings, Voyeurism) – John Watson thinks Sherlock Holmes should admit that he, Watson, is more of an expert on sex than Sherlock is. But Sherlock refuses to concede the point. He comes up with an experiment plan that will resolve the issue. The results will determine who wins the prize. But sometimes even the best thought-out scientific study has unexpected consequences.

Bridging the Ravine by SilentAuror (E, 58,887 w., 3 Ch. || Post S4, Couple For a Case, Bed-Sharing, First Times, Confessions, Awkwardness, Sex Trafficking, Massages, Wet T-Shirt Contest, Group Therapy, Past Loss of Child) – Sherlock and John go undercover at Ravine Valley, a therapy centre for same-sex male couples in an investigation into a possible human trafficking ring. As they pose as a couple and fake their way through the therapy sessions for the sake of the case, it quickly becomes difficult to avoid discussing their very real issues. Set roughly six nine months after series 4.

The Bells of King's College by SilentAuror (E, 64,019 w., 5 Ch. || Post-S4, Missed Opportunities, Angst with Happy Ending, Fake Relationship, Case Fic, John POV, Jealous John, John in Denial, Travelling / Holidays, Virgin Sherlock, Wedding Proposals) – It's only been two weeks since Eurus Holmes disrupted their lives when Mycroft sends John and Sherlock to Cambridge to pose as an engaged couple at a wedding show in the hopes of solving six unsolved deaths...

Summit Fever by J_Baillier (M, 78,802 w., 18 Ch. || Mountain Climber AU || POV John, Angst, Tragedy, Suicidal Ideation, The Himalayas, Mountain Guide / Doctor John, Mount Climber Sherlock, Loneliness, Drama, Suspense, Slow Burn, Injured Sherlock / Sherlock Whump, Pining John) – After graduating from medical school, John Watson followed his heart to the Himalayas. Ten years later, he's a haunted cynic working for his ex-lover's trekking and mountaineering company. Will leading an expedition to Annapurna I—the most lethal of all the world's highest mountains—shake John out of his reverie, and who is the mystery client added to the group at the last minute?

Secrets and Revelations by Hisstah (E, 83,535 w., 9 Ch. || Sentinel / Guides Omegaverse AU || Adventure, Violence, Anal / Oral, Omega!John / Alpha!Sherlock, Case Fic, Politics, Mild DubCon) – Dr John Watson has some major secrets that he's kept from his flatmate, Alpha Sentinel Sherlock Holmes. Now the Sentinel Tower is after him. Can John stay out of their hands until he can reveal his secrets to Sherlock? Part 1 of Secrets and Revelations

Thermocline by J_Baillier (M, 83,557 w., 14 Ch. || Scuba Diving AU || Adventure, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Marine Archaeology, Asexual Sherlock, Horny John, Relationship Drama, Technical/Scuba/Wreck Diving, Slow Burn, Underwater / Medical Peril, Doctor John, Hurt Sherlock, Anxious Sherlock, John POV, Protective John, Body Appreciation) – John "Five Oceans" Watson — technical dive instructor, dive accident analyst and weapon of mass seduction — meets recluse professor of maritime archaeology Holmes. As they head out to a remote archipelago off the coast of Guatemala to study and film its shipwrecks for a documentary, will sparks fly or fizzle out?

Maintenance and Repair by patternofdefiance (E, 106,650 w., 71 Ch. || Future AU, Augmentation || Augmented John, Depression, Body Modification, Slow Burn, Worldbuilding, Sci-Fi, Self-Care, Body Dysmorphia) – John wants to explain the rush of sensation and data, which is just another form of sensation (or is it the other way around?). John wants to say: Augmentation circuits report temperature, pressure, various forms of quantitative input. Sudden changes are reported as pain, since sudden changes are dangerous, and pain is the quickest way to encourage reflexive extraction. But all John can manage is, “Nng.” Because this sudden touch is not reporting as pain. Part 2 of STATIC

The Burning Heart by May_Shepard (M, 119,150 w., 21 Ch. || Canon Divergence, Post-TRF, John’s Sexuality, S3 Rewrite, Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending, POV John Watson, John’s Gay) – When Sherlock dies, John Watson feels like his life is over too. He’s completely shut down, until Mark Morstan, a new nurse at John’s medical clinic, catches his attention, and helps him uncover the long buried truth of his attraction to men. Although he’s certain he’ll never get over Sherlock, John plans to move on, and build a new life with Mark, unaware that Sherlock is not quite as dead as he appears, and that Mark is hiding secrets of his own.

The Swan Triad Series by Pennin_Ink (T, 121,660 w. across 3 works || Swan Lake AU || Magical / Fairy Tale AU, Romance, Falling in Love, Pining, Psychological Torture, Transformation) – Sherlock and John grow up spending every summer together. Their mothers' attempts to play matchmaker only fuel their mutual resentment and scorn. But then, one summer.

Colors by Quesarasara (E, 140,537 w., 17 Ch. || Pleasantville-Inspired AU || Soulmates, Colour Bonds, Alternating POV, Angst, Fluff, Pining, Case Fic, Medical Procedures) – Everyone on earth is born with eyes that see in black, white, and an endless series of greys. When you meet your soulmate, you finally see the world in color. We're all searching for the person who brings color to our lives. John and Sherlock are no exception. Part 1 of The Colors 'Verse

The Adventure of the Silver Scars by tangledblue (NR [M], 142,458 w., 41 Ch. || S3 Fix-It, Post-HLV/ Post-TAB / Canon Compliant, Case Fic, No Baby, Angst, Humour, UST, Slow Burn, Angry John, Reconciliation, Not Nice Mary / Leaving Mary, Dependent Sherlock, Pining Sherlock, Caretaker John, Fist Fights, It’s An Experiment, Virgin Sherlock, Dancing, Drugging, John Whump, Pet Names, Sherlock’s Mind Palace, Scars) – It’s been thirteen months since Mary shot Sherlock and John finds he’s still pissed off about it. Sherlock had thought everything was settled: John and Mary, domestic bliss. But when John turns up at Baker Street with suitcases, the world’s only consulting detective might not be prepared for the consequences. A new case. Some old scores to settle. Certain danger. Concertos, waltzes, and whisky.

The Lost Special: Family Matters (As Do Relationships) by ShirleyCarlton (M, 144,688 w., 40 Ch. || S4 Fix It Fic, Unreliable Narrator, John’s Mind Bungalow, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending) – Sherrinford is not really the name of some high security prison. That was just a figment of John’s frantic coma dream. And Eurus is not actually Sherlock’s sister. That’s just something random she said to John before shooting him. Sherlock and John were never actually estranged. That was just their act to cover up what really happened to Mary – or Rosamund Moran, as her real name has turned out to be. Sherlock does have a secret sibling, though, and his name is Sherrinford. After finally eliminating Moran – though in a rather dramatically different way than they had envisioned – and exposing the truth about Eurus, John encourages Sherlock to delve into his past and to find out whether the reasons to keep Sherrinford away from Sherlock were the right ones, and to discover what really happened in 1981. Along the way, Sherlock and John gradually, finally, stop keeping each other at a distance, and eventually become a proper family of their own. (SC’s version of Sherrinford may as well be an OC; he’s well written and different from Canon)

Sketchy by serpentynka (E, 184,053 w., 83 Ch. || Post-TRF, Post-Mary, John Whump, Slow Burn Love Story, Case Fic, Art, Porn With Feelings, Switchlock, Travelling, Career Change, Family Secrets, Illness / Health) – What (and who) will be left when nobody cares about your Work? A slow-burn fic with cases, places, mistaken identities, unfair choices, essential changes, violent feels, blatant lies, fearless portraiture, family secrets, high-risk bespoke gifts, durable friendships, bedtime stories, foreign travel and tongues, sickness (and health), and the significance of things which are slow to unfurl -- but cannot be ignored. Oh, and...porn. Part 1: Sherlock takes on an obvious case (barely a 4) and meets someone who will force him to re-examine what it means to see. Part 1 of Sketchy

The Gilded Cage by BeautifulFiction (E, 326,887 w., 31 Ch. || Omegaverse || Omega Sherlock / Alpha John, Friends to Lovers, Dub Con, Reproductive Rights) – In a world where Omegas are the property of the elite Alphas, locked away and treasured by those wealthy enough to buy them, John never questioned his flatmate's secondary gender. Sherlock Holmes was an Alpha through-and through. Wasn't he? A chance discovery turns the world on its head, and John is left grappling to come to terms with Sherlock's past as events conspire to threaten their future.

#steph replies #johnlock fic recs #original characters #my fic recs #Anonymous #long post

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thevalleyisjolly · 3 years

Text

Ok, I’ve rewritten this post several times because I really want this to be a productive and respectful discussion, but this is a conversation that does need to be started. I’ve been thinking about the whole cultural appropriation story line in this season of The Unsleeping City so far, and of course I think it’s great that Cody is starting to realize why that’s wrong and that Murph is making it explicitly clear that it is wrong, but I want to reorient the conversation away from Cody now and talk about Ricky as a Japanese-American character.

Because when Zac went “Just to paint a picture for you...” during the museum fight episode, there was quite a bit of surprise from non-Asian people in the fandom that this was really a serious issue, and one that Ricky would be bothered by or speak up about. But why wouldn’t he? I mean, the character is Japanese-American, and so is the player. Doesn’t it make perfect sense that he would at least be a little bothered by a white person appropriating Japanese culture? Asian fans certainly noticed and pointed it out before that episode aired. Ricky/Zac certainly noticed - go back through the episodes and observe how every time Cody pulled out a kunai or threw a shuriken, Ricky was cringing or facepalming with an uncomfortable laugh. Even with seven different camera perspectives to watch at the same time, it should have been pretty clear in the fandom that this was an ongoing issue that would bother and was bothering Ricky.

And I think there are several different facets to this, but the one I want to address is how there’s a tendency in fandom to ignore or erase Ricky’s Japanese heritage. Not literally (although there is a particular sting every time I see another Ricky fancast where the actor is of another Asian heritage than Japanese - Asian people are not interchangeable). But especially prior to Season 2, there was a general trend in the fandom that liked to simplify Ricky’s character and overlook him as a complex player character because of traits that are very common in East Asian immigrant cultures.

Perhaps it’s because my heritage is East Asian and I’ve had more exposure to general cultural customs and behaviours among East Asian immigrants, but Zac’s portrayal of Ricky has always read as a very obvious Asian-American child of immigrants to me (and, y’know, Zac and Ricky are actually Asian-American children of immigrants). Not expressing negative emotions out loud, not verbally articulating thoughts and feelings but expressing them through actions, deferring to other peoples’ needs first instead of expressing his own wants because it’s not about him. With the caveat that I’m Chinese and not Japanese, these are common practices that I’ve observed in my own family, among friends and acquaintances (of various Asian heritages including but not limited to Chinese), in broader experiences with other East Asian immigrants.

(Asia is not a monolith and I’m not familiar with the immigrant cultures and experiences of people from other Asian heritages. I specify East Asian here because that is broadly what I can speak on and because Ricky is Japanese, but other Asian people please feel free to discuss your experiences as well)

And obviously, these are not monolith traits observed at all times, I’ve definitely met plenty of East Asian immigrants who did express their emotions loudly, who used their words, who were assertive about their own needs and wants (this is not the post to be getting into different generations of immigration and the culture differences between those generations). And it also depends on the context - from my own experience, in private within families, both emotions and words can get extremely loud (if you dare to risk the wrath of your elders by arguing with them!) But my point is that the habits I pointed out above are still relatively common in East Asian immigrant cultures, even if not all individuals follow them at all times.

Particularly prior to Season 2, there was a common perspective in the fandom, usually couched in “uwu, I love that Zac is playing a hot dummy!!” that would go along the lines of “Ricky doesn’t have a character arc, he doesn’t get into conflicts with other people, he doesn’t say anything and is just happy to be there, he’s a shallow character who’s just a himbo.” All of which I’d dispute, (*insert post here about Ricky as a character reclaiming Asian masculinity*), but I want to focus on how the main traits -refraining from overt emotions, remaining reserved in speech, not bringing up his own needs and wants- that were brought up and used to simplify and dismiss Ricky’s character were traits which are commonly found in East Asian immigrant communities. The whole “remaining reserved/trying to avoid conflict” is something a lot of East Asian-American kids pick up at home because what you say or don’t say isn’t as important as what you do or don’t do.

And I mean, so much of Ricky is about doing things for people, showing his feelings through his actions, not his words. Just because he wasn’t getting into PC conflict in Season 1, or expressing his emotions in the same ways as other PCs, doesn’t mean he was just a silent, cheerful himbo. Which there’s nothing wrong with being a himbo, and it can be particularly empowering in Ricky’s case as an Asian man (see above linked post about Asian masculinity), but that’s not all there is to Ricky’s character! And don’t get me wrong, I personally love that part of his ongoing character arc in Season 2 is speaking up about his feelings and expressing to other people what he wants (because there’s the “American” part of the Asian-American experience that’s not just about having Asian heritage but is also about negotiating that relationship in a place with different norms and customs). But it doesn’t negate the “Asian” part of “Asian-American” either, which does impact and shape the way Ricky interacts with people and the world.

In hindsight, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that interest and meta in Ricky skyrocketed once he did start being more vocal and assertive in Season 2, which are common traits in many Western cultures. And it’s not the only reason that there’s a deeper interest in Ricky now (shout out to all the Asian fans and allies who’ve been really diving into Ricky’s character this season!) and I choose to believe in good faith that it isn’t intentional or malicious (audiences do tend to gravitate more towards tangible moments of conversation and conflict rather than background acting). But I think we as fans need to start questioning why as a whole, we really didn’t start giving deeper thought to Ricky until he began displaying more typically Western traits, because I think it’s emblematic of how, very subtly and unconsciously, we are used to privileging white “American” behaviour and ignoring or glossing over Asian (immigrant) traits.

In many ways, Ricky prior to Season 2 (and very arguably up until the museum fight), has been perceived in the general fandom as a sort of post-racial American-melting-pot character. Fans don’t wholly ignore that he’s Japanese-American, you can’t really do that when his family name is “Matsui” and when the Season 1 finale showed that his interactions with the American Dream pretty strongly involved his parents’ immigrant experience. But knowing intellectually that Ricky is Asian doesn’t always translate to actually perceiving him as an Asian person with all the implications and racial dynamics that entails.

An example of how this manifests: Ricky and Esther become a canon couple. Numerous posts begin to appear (and periodically still do) that express opinions along the lines of Ricky/Esther being the only tolerable “het” couple. Ignoring the fact that we don’t know Esther’s sexuality and we only have an offhand Ztream comment for Ricky, Ricky/Esther is a canonical interracial relationship between two non-white people, a Japanese man and a black woman. Interracial relationships are already extremely poorly represented in media, to say nothing of interracial relationships between non-white people. Yet we overlook the racial dynamics and only focus on the perceived queerness (or not) of the ship.

Or, for another example, taking the discussion on cultural appropriation and making it all about Cody’s flaws and character development, rather than considering how it affects Ricky as a Japanese man to see a white man disrespecting a part of his cultural heritage.

Anyways, I really urge D20 fans, especially if you’re not Asian, to start questioning and challenging how you really perceive characters, what kind of characteristics you tend to privilege and be drawn to and why, and what kind of fandom environment you shape in your interactions with the show and with other fans. This is not to say that Ricky should be everyone’s favourite character or that you can’t dislike him, but it is important to think about why we have the preferences that we do. I especially urge you to remember that Ricky Matsui is a Japanese-American character, that this was a deliberate choice which has been repeatedly brought up by Zac (who is a Japanese-American actor), and that you cannot and should not ignore Ricky’s heritage when you think and talk about him.

(And if you think Ricky is being an “asshole” to Cody just for being, frankly, mildly perturbed in his direction because Cody spent most of the season so far being very offensive to Ricky’s cultural heritage, I really encourage you to think critically about your opinions and why you hold them. And if, after thinking critically, you still don’t see why they’re wrong, please don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Your conscious racism is not something that is welcome in this fandom, and Asian fans are not here to teach you better)

((White and non-Asian people can and should reblog this, but don’t clown around. Productive, respectful discussion is welcome. Asian fans are more than welcome to add their perspectives/agree/disagree, especially people with Japanese heritage))

#dimension 20 #the unsleeping city #d20 spoilers #tuc ii spoilers #ricky matsui #diversity in fan spaces #asian rep #white people can and should reblog this but don't clown around #non-asian people can and should reblog this but also don't clown around #productive discussion is absolutely welcome but please be respectful #asian fans are more than welcome to add their perspectives/agree/disagree; especially fans with japanese heritage #i really love tuc but being an asian fan in the fandom is just like *avoids twitter* *avoids discord* *curated list of blogs to follow*

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thefirstknife · 3 years

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Help, I ran Garden of Salvation with some clan mates and i'm Experiencing Great Sadness about the Kentarch 3 again.

I haven't been following you since shadowkeep, and was wondering if you had some theories about what happened, because a lot is left unexplained, specifically about Lisbon-13's motivations. The story from Yardarm-4's perspective shows that something is influencing them before they accept power (stasis teaser?) from the darkness. Do you think they really had a choice? Do you think he was influenced in his decision to kill them? If so, why? As a test just for him? Presumably he's still out there somewhere, and I can't tell from the lorebooks whether Rekkana let him kill her first or not. I just feel so bad for them, they all loved each other. Yardarm probably took the power in the first place to help get them out safely. Do you think it'll ever get concluded? The whole lore series seems interestingly close to what happens with Shayura, just sort of in reverse.

Kentarch 3 fireteam and the whole story on the Garden of Salvation armour and the associated weapons and equipment is amazing and very interesting, I agree. I haven't talked about it before but it's a good thing to revisit every so often! I think there's still a lot we don't really understand, mostly due to not fully understanding the power of the Black Garden.

In short for the general audience, Kentarch 3 was a fireteam that consisted of Yardarm-4 (Titan), Rekkana (Warlock) and Lisbon-13 (Hunter). They went to explore the Black Garden at the behest of the Warlock order called the Cryptochrons which Rekkana was a part of. This order got exiled some time after Osiris for dabbling in prophecies. Cryptochrons were formed around a Oneiromantic Circle and led by a Sibyl (or multiple sibyls; or Sibyl was just a name of one member, it's unclear). Oneiromancy is the practice of interpreting dreams to predict the future and sibyls were ancient Greek female prophets and oracles.

I didn't think this would get long but it did so the rest under the cut:

The Cryptochron order continued operating after its exile and Rekkana received a prophecy from them that revolved around a fireteam learning about the Black Garden and retrieving from it a Vex relic of some sort. The relic is the exotic weapon Divinity and the lore tab on it details the prophecy they were chasing:

"And after any other Cryptochrons they learn of. But your path is more dangerous than most. The Circle has foreseen many fireteams following in your footsteps. You can find the knowledge the order seeks at the Tree."

"Can? Not will?" For the first time, Rekkana sounded concerned.

"The Circle has had limited success in piercing the veil that surrounds the Black Garden, so the order offers no certainties. They say that a group of Guardians will discover secrets about the origin of the Black Garden at the Tree. The Oneiromantic Circle foresees no reason why it will not be the Kentarch 3."

"Nor can I. But…?"

"There is another thread in the tapestry, entwined with this one. The Vex, or some fractal faction of them, worship or honor a… divinity there."

"The Black Heart? It was destroyed."

"Yes, but this is something different. An object. Something like a sacred relic. It is important to the Vex for reasons that we have not yet fathomed. The Circle has determined that it is dangerous—"

"A Vex weapon?"

"Perhaps," the Sybil sounded annoyed at the interruption. "Rekkana, the Circle concluded that it is a danger to you."

"To me? But then, why send me on this mission?"

"When the Circle dreamed of the object, you were beside it."

They agreed that, should they find this object, Lisbon should be the one to carry it. They did find it and he was indeed the one to carry it, as is shown later in another lore tab detailed below.

We know that Lisbon-13 killed the rest of his fireteam because they got corrupted by the Black Garden, something happened to their Ghosts (they all just dropped down and started losing their Light) and then turned on him. He was being hunted and he really had no choice. But he couldn't live with it. In Beyond Light, he's shown trying to kill his Ghost in order to stay permanently dead because he couldn't bear the burden of what he did to his fireteam, even though his actions were justified and he acted in self-defence.

But before he managed to do that, he was faced with his own doppleganger, just like the YW at the end of Shadowkeep. In the end, Lisbon didn't kill his Ghost because the doppleganger offered him power and Lisbon (presumably) chose to take it: his wish was simply to make himself forget about his fireteam (and Rekkana specifically, whom he loved). It's implied that he accepted and after that, we have no formal information what happened.

The outcome of what happened to Kentarch 3 is somewhat known, as detailed in this ship lore. The Vanguard knows Lisbon killed the other two, they're not sure when they lost their Ghosts and they have not found anyone's body, not even Lisbon's. But we know from the lore that came out after that Lisbon accepted the deal with his doppleganger and we have no idea what that entailed. Is he still in the Black Garden? Was he killed? Replaced? Just memory-wiped and sent back? Something else entirely? We'll explore at the end.

I'm pretty sure the voices they heard talking to them were also their own dopplegangers. And it's somewhat implied that they made some sort of a bargain and accepted "new powers" that came "from the wrong side." There's only one description of it:

Her fist glimmered and quaked with an unfamiliar power. She only had to release her grip, and that energy would rip through him, burning without fire.

That's Rekkana attacking Lisbon. It's never fully explained what it is, but it could very well be some sort of prototype Stasis in my opinion. Or some other Darkness power. Not sure why the Black Garden would give them this, which is why I think they simply harnessed the power of their dopplegangers. This is something that's been mentioned a few times in regards to Darkness: duplication. Same is present with the Taken as well (Taken psions duplicate). I mentioned the duplication theme being discussed in Clovis' journal before too.

Honestly, I can't make any definitive conclusion, but Kentarch 3 definitely found something horrifying in the Black Garden and fell to its influence. They also reference doing the puzzles to get Divinity, which they got and Lisbon used it to kill the other two.

Garden of Salvation raid ends with a Pyramid scale opening up and leading us down into the area with the Darkness statue. I think this could've easily been some sort of a lead into the future of Destiny and the powers of Darkness. Kentarch 3 may have accidentally received this power early on or were perhaps some sort of a test the Darkness did on Guardians before offering them Stasis for real.

It's an interesting story and yep, it does mirror Shayura's fireteam and how the story is told! Each member of the fireteam tells the same story from their own POV on armour for that class. I'll link all of them in order, roughly how I think it's best to read each POV:

Rekkana: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Yardarm-4: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Lisbon-13: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

I like how the armour follows the same name pattern: Righteousness, Exaltation, Transcendence, Ascendancy and Temptation.

Associated Garden of Salvation weapons also have some tidbits of lore that might help, namely:

Ancient Gospel Hand Cannon:

"These forces have existed forever, but only one of them speaks to us." —Rekkana, Warlock of the Kentarch 3

Sacred Provenance Pulse Rifle:

"These gifts were not made for us, but we were meant to have them." —Rekkana, Warlock of the Kentarch 3

Zealot's Reward Fusion Rifle:

"Why not use these gifts we've been given?" —Yardarm-4, Titan of the Kentarch 3

I would really like to learn more about them, and specifically Lisbon because he might be able to actually tell us what happened. He or his Ghost, Piri, who managed to survive last we've seen her. I think the Ghost might be able to give the most accurate version of events. It's interesting that Lisbon was very much against whatever power they received and that was the reason he abandoned his fireteam, which made the other two consider him a traitor to their friendship.

Very intriguing lore story that could possibly be mentioned again in some form. Also as a brighter note, yes, Yardarm literally flew into the Black Garden with an entire ship and crash landed inside. On a less brighter note, we've never seen the remains of a ship in there (to be fair, Black Garden is huge) and it's somewhat implied that they entered through the Vex Gate on Mars which puts the timeline of when they got there into question. The Vex Gate on Mars that led into the Black Garden was destroyed in the Red War. The new gate showed up on the Moon in Shadowkeep (and you can't fly a ship into it because it's in a cave).

An additional note which answers certain things when it comes to Lisbon's fate that I hinted at before: in order to acquire the quest for Divinity, you have to go to the Moon to the Vex Gate for the first time. The gate will open up and a Vex mind will come out. This giant Vex minotaur is called Zeteon, Redemptive Mind. Upon killing this minotaur, you receive "Divine Fragmentation" quest. Details of the quest here. You pick up a Vex core that has strange readings coming from it and you have to decipher it by running it through various Vex technology. Once fully completed, you have to go into Garden of Salvation, do the Divinity puzzles and the weapon will drop from the extra chest at the end.

Why am I mentioning this? Well. Zeteon, Redemptive Mind drops a core that contains information about how to get Divinity. Lisbon was the member of the fireteam that held Divinity and used it to kill his fireteam. There's a quote from Lisbon on the weapon called Accrued Redemption:

"I should never have let it come to this. Now each arrow is a penance." —Lisbon-13, Hunter of the Kentarch 3

Divinity's perks are called Judgement and Penance.

Basically, I believe that whatever deal Lisbon accepted that made him forget his fireteam, free him from the suffering and redeem him ended with him being converted into Zeteon, Redemptive Mind. It's the reason why this Vex in particular had the pieces needed to construct Divinity again. Lisbon was the last person who had it. Becoming the bearer of parts needed for Divinity was both his Judgement and his Penance.

Final note because I love ancient languages being used for the names of things in Destiny: "Zeteon" most likely comes from Greek "zeteo" which means:

to seek, search after, look for

to inquire into, examine, consider

to strive for, desire, wish

Probably tied to Lisbon's search and desire for redemption for what he's done. I think that wraps up his fate quite nicely, although tragically.

#destiny 2 #kentarch 3 #lisbon-13 #rekkana #yardarm-4 #garden of salvation raid #black garden #darkness #vex #ask #long post #anon if you've been wondering what's taking so long for your question to be answered or if i've received the question #this essay is the reason shfksjfhskjfhks

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musette22 · 3 years

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Hi Minnie! Hope you can help me settle an argument my brother and I are having about EG!Steve. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this with shipping goggles off, looking at it purely in terms of characterization, narrative, and good writing. Better hang on though, it's going to be a long ask! (sorry in advance for spamming you!) 1/7

So my brother and I were watching FatWS and once again got into a debate about whether Steve's last actions were a disservice or in line with his characterization and narrative, given that the Russos confirmed (and therefore it's Word of God/canon, even if it did sound reactionary to the immediate backlash after EG) that Steve created an alternate reality when he went back, and didn't just live in hiding in the past of the OG timeline. 2/7

Because of this, my bro argued that: 1) the total character assassination that is the idea of Steve just sitting back and letting all the shit happen happen is no longer a problem - for all we know, the alternate reality oldman!Steve came from might have become utopic already due to his presence and foresight. He played coy when talking to Sam so we don't know for certain he didn't save Bucky, get rid of Hydra, and enact social reform when he had the chance. 3/7

Likewise, 2) the accusation that Steve would rob Peggy of her husband and children is a non-issue as Steve went back to a time before Peggy and Daniel got together - I argued here that it was still wrong for him to do given that he KNEW for a fact that Peggy lived a happy life, whereas it was a gamble if he could give her the same. My bro shot back when you truly loved someone, you want them to be happy and to have what's best for them. 4/7

So if Steve chose to go back to Peggy, he had to have believed that he could give her the best life. That Steve based that decision purely on his own assessment is pretty in character (e.g. pushing to become a soldier because he thought that was how he could do his part, even though at the time, he'd have just been a danger to himself and other soldiers; not signing the Accords because he believed in his team's judgment in crises above gov't oversight that might be influenced by politics). 5/7

And lastly 3) he might have settled into the past and started to move on, but what was wrong with him choosing to be selfish and going to the past when given a chance? Why was it wrong for him to go back to a time he knew, where he was beloved by both Peggy and the public, and when he could also save Bucky early? In terms of character growth, wouldn't it be fair for him to finally learn he could be a bit selfish and choose happiness, after a lifetime of nearly suicidal selflessness? 6/7

Our debate was based on confirmed canon with shipping put aside. So I put forth the sin of leaving a traumatized Bucky, Sam, and world behind, that Steve's actions were surely the result of a man broken by grief again and again, and that choosing the past was him running away - which, I argued, was a horrible way to end his character arc. But my brother asked me why I thought so, because wasn't this the so-called 'soft epilogue' that Steve deserved, one that was most in line with canon? 7/7

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Hey love! Very interesting argument you and your brother are having here… I’m sure he’s a great guy but I have to say that I vehemently disagree with him (as you probably already guessed lol). Soooo many people have done an excellent job at explaining why, shipping aside, Steve’s ending in EG was absolute bollocks, and I’m certain I could never argue this case as well as all of them have. Nevertheless, I’ll do my best to explain why, in my opinion, your brother is wrong :p I’m going to put my reply under the keep reading tag, because it is long.

1. The Russos and Markus & McFeely (the writers) never managed to agree on whether Steve really did go back to an alternate timeline, and if so, how that would have worked, exactly. When they were asked, after EG had been released, about whether Steve would have just sat back and let everything he knew was happening/going to happen in the decades to come, both to Bucky and to the world at large, they came up with this ‘alternate timeline’ solution, but they kept contradicting each other on the logistics and technicalities of it (like how would old man Steve suddenly be able to jump timelines to come back to give Sam the shield in EG? And how did EG Steve attend Peggy’s funeral, like they also suggested, which would technically have been in a different timeline?). Which makes it pretty clear that this wasn’t something they’d considered beforehand or even all agree on afterwards, and therefore it can’t technically allowed to play a role in judging the rightness of Steve’s ending in EG if we’re looking at it from a ‘the creator’s word is law’ perspective. Moreover, there is nothing to indicate in EG itself that Steve knew he’d be able to create alternate timelines, so that would’ve been a crazy gamble on his part. Also, him ‘playing coy’ in that final scene with Sam really isn’t a convincing indication that he was actually, canonically, talking about anything besides marrying Peggy.

2. Which bring us to point two: Peggy had literally told Steve she’d lived a happy life with her family, and told him in no uncertain terms to move on. If Steve really loved her, he would have accepted her wishes and allowed her the dignity of her choice (something Peggy herself, in CA:TFA, had told Steve was important to do when you care about someone) to move on from him once she believed him dead. Steve deciding that he would be better for Peggy because he believed was a better man than the person she ended up marrying originally would be the most un-like Steve thing to do, ever. Steve has never once shown that he thinks of himself as the hero or better than other people – he simply wants to do the best he can to help make the world a better place. He would never say “Peggy deserves the best and I believe I am the best, therefore she will have me, regardless of what she thinks or wants.” Steve drinks respect women juice, that’s clear from all of his movies, and deciding the course of her entire life for her, taking away her agency, whether in his own timeline or another, would be utterly disrespectful to Peggy.

3. As for the next point: of course there’s nothing wrong with Steve being selfish for once – Steve is human, and all humans are selfish sometimes, and that’s okay. But, as Chris Evans already explained multiple times prior to Endgame, Steve had already made selfish decisions in the past, namely when it came to getting Bucky back and keeping him safe. Shipping aside, Bucky was presented in all the Cap movies as Steve’s very best friend, and was even called his ‘soulmate’ (platonically or otherwise) by M&M (the writers). So when, in Civil War, Steve was presented with a choice between duty/what was expected of him by the government versus saving Bucky/keeping Bucky safe, Steve was selfish and chose Bucky. That, canonically, made sense. Peggy being presented as the ultimate love of Steve’s life, who he loved and valued more than anyone or anything else in the world (which is what happened in EG), canonically does not make sense.

In CA:TWS, Peggy told Steve to move on. When Peggy died, Steve buried her and mourned her, and then not long after, he canonically kissed Peggy’s niece. Then, in Infinity War, Steve saw Bucky turn to dust before his very eyes in the “Blip” (a conscious decision on the writers’/directors’ part to show how Steve once again lost what was most important to him while helplessly standing by) – and the next thing we know, Steve is leading a support group for other people who lost loved ones in the Blip, and starts talking about losing… Peggy? Huh. Also, Steve going back to a time which your brother calls “a time when he was beloved the public” doesn’t add up, either: technically, Steve went back to a time where people loved an idea of him, but also believed him to be dead. So either he would have had to have found a way to convincingly stage his own resurrection (meanwhile possibly leaving the other version to vegetate in the ice..? depending on how this timeline malarkey was supposed to work), or he would have lived his whole life hidden behind some fake persona – which does not sound like Steve at all, does it?

4. Finally, let’s talk about Bucky some more, because I think we need to to be able to assess the situation properly. I understand that your brother may believe that shippers are often delusional and only see what they want to see etc, but there is ample evidence, canonically, of Bucky being the most important person in Steve’s life – the person he would give up the shield for, the person he would give up his other friendships for, the person he would give up his life for. Peggy may have been a recurring character in character in the three Cap movies, but she was never presented as the principal motivator of his actions, or as the love of Steve’s life. You know who was? Bucky. Sure, that love wasn’t canonically romantic in nature, but there can’t be any doubt that Bucky meant more than anything to Steve. Therefore, Steve choosing to have a ‘soft epilogue’ that entails him spending the rest of his life without Bucky – and, more importantly, Bucky to spend the rest of his life without Steve – contradicts everything we’ve learned about their relationship (platonic or otherwise) in the rest of the movies, does it not?

Also, the Russos have said something to the effect that Bucky and Steve were now both mentally ‘well enough’ to not ‘need’ each other anymore (because as we all know, that’s exactly how friendships work…), but it’s pretty clear from EG that Steve was still traumatized by everything he’d been through, and going back to the 50s would have meant he would never be able to get proper help with that and in fact could only talk about any of it with Peggy and Peggy alone. Moreover, M&M have literally said in interviews that Bucky wasn’t all that well yet, mentally, and TFAWTS also shows convincingly that Bucky was not actually in a good place when Steve left him. So that would have meant that Steve either did not see this (unlikely, given how close they were) or did not care (unlikely, given how close they were).

It would have meant that for the first time in all these movies, Steve decided “to hell with Bucky’s needs, I’m gonna just be selfish because I’ve earned it and claim my trophy wife because actually I am the best man for her, despite the fact that she’s already lived a happy life that I will be negating against her wishes, but that’s fine because maybe I’ll be able to create a different timeline, and maybe I’ll be able to save Bucky from all his trauma anyway, but then again maybe not, but that brings me back to my first point of to hell with Bucky’s needs” - which does not make a lot of sense to me, personally. Not to mention that, in exchange for his ‘soft epilogue’, Steve would also leave the world to sort out the post-Blip mess without him, and leave all the other friends he still had left and clearly cared about a lot to boot. I would not call that character growth, I would call that character disintegration. If your brother insists on taking the creator’s word as gospel and that we have to accept that Steve really did do what he did at the end of Endgame, and that wasn’t just a case of bad, lazy writing fuelled by greed, then to make a decision like this, Steve would have been either an asshole in disguise all along, or mentally extremely unstable.

There you have it, my two cents! I hope this helps a little in settling the argument with your brother, anon! Lots of love ❤️

#anti endgame #steve rogers #minnie answers #Anonymous

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dreamerstreamer · 3 years

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im so curious to hear your thoughts on george’s recent dethronement?

this is going to be a long one, so strap in, folks!

there are two central ideas that surround george’s dethronement: the nature of power and what it means to protect someone. i’ll be talking about them in order as stated, then providing my final take at the end.

1) the nature of power

so, power—what is it as seen on the dream smp? for the most part, power has been established largely by two things: 1) how much of a threat you are, and 2) how much influence you have. as of this moment, it’s clear that the two most powerful people on the server are dream and technoblade; both of them are immensely powerful and could easily take down an entire nation if they so pleased, while also being incredibly influential in their sphere of power. dream could say one word and an entire flock of people would switch sides just to agree with him. technoblade has mastery over his use of languages as presented through speeches, which have clearly left an impact on the server as a whole. just based on these two facts alone, we can determine that power in the dream smp is based on how threatening and influential you are.

looking at the position of king within the dream smp faction, it’s quite clear that despite holding such a grand title, the king in itself is not exactly a position that ensures its holder will have power. instead, it is more of a figurehead position. dream does most if not all of the negotiations regarding the country, managing its internal and external affairs entirely by himself, while the king does none of that. while eret was king, he was not particularly feared by others for his power—rather, he was hated because of his position and his association with the faction. the same can be said for george’s time spent as king. did he suddenly gain immense influence or become much more frightening? no, not at all. all he got was a new house and a fancy title. being king entails the castle, the name, and the entourage of people, nothing more and nothing less. the true position of power within the faction beings to dream, who has been labelled as god within the dream smp world. there’s really no beating him there.

to me and dream, dream’s dethronement of george means very little, as george is effectively losing nothing of value. the castle? he literally had a house before. the title? it’s a single word before his name. the entourage? it’s not like he doesn’t have friends. from an entirely political standpoint, george loses nothing from being dethroned. he never called the shots and didn’t have any more power or influence as king. so from one perspective, everything should be just fine, as the transfer of kingship does not entail a transfer of power.

however, it is very clear that to many within the dream smp that the title of king does actually hold some semblance of value. why? “well, you’re a king! isn’t that cool? you’re different. you’re above us.” because of these beliefs, there do exist people who are upset by george’s abdication, like sapnap and quackity. they think that dream’s dethronement of george means that he thinks that george does not deserve to be in a position of power. george himself believes that dream thinks this, and as a result is angry.

when asked about if he cares about being king, george responds with, “we need the throne.” george believes he needs the throne because he thinks that being king gives him power. what george fails to realize though, is that the title itself means nothing. technoblade is no king, and yet he is arguably the second most powerful person on the server. as such, dream’s transition of kingship from george to eret has formed two different sides.

2) what it means to protect someone

from the other day’s stream, dream makes it explicitly clear that he cares about nothing on the server save for tommy’s discs, which expand his sphere of influence and thus make him more powerful. he shouts in four people’s faces and even curses about it, making his stance on the matter remarkably clear. however, we (later) learn that this is largely a ruse, as dream does care about his friends, taking clear interest in protecting them from harm. he explains that he wants to dethrone george to protect him from assassination attempts and attacks against his character. this obviously shows that dream lied about not caring about anything, as he does care about his friends’ well-beings.

however, sapnap and george are disgusted by his actions, as they dislike the fact that dream had told such a bold, profound lie in the first place. they insist that he should have been honest, should have done the moral thing and just stuck up for george and found a different way to negotiate. when sapnap even finds out about george being dethroned, he’s at his side in an instant, ready to support him and defend him all while being honest and true to his friend.

these two actions immediately present two cases on what it means to protect someone.

sapnap and george believe that protecting someone entails sticking by their side through thick and thin no matter what, even if it means taking the hard way out. the means justify the ends.

dream believes that so long as that person remains safe and sound, it doesn’t matter what he has to do to ensure their security, even if that means he has to manipulate them, lie to them, and make them hate him. the ends justify the means.

george’s, sapnap’s, and dream’s views on kingship paired with their beliefs on what it means to protect someone have obviously created a rift between them, dividing them into two and one, ultimately increasing tensions within the smp by tenfold as dream slowly begins to lose his sphere of influence.

3) my conclusions

so, who do i think is in the right?

honestly, no one.

while i do agree with dream that the title of king is in itself pointless and that he’s ultimately just doing his best to ensure his friend’s safety, i cannot fully commit to his ideology. at the same time, i think that george and sapnap have a point with the fact that dream is disrespecting them, but i think that their views on kingship are rather silly.

relationships—platonic, romantic, familial, and et cetera—are two way paths. both ends need to be doing their fair share of the work. friends listen to each other, take each other’s perspectives into consideration. by effectively allowing himself to be hated by the other parties, dream is no longer defending a friendship. he is simply fighting to protect their lives, but not their interests. he is no longer listening, only doing what he thinks is best, and i cannot agree with that. i will, however, continue to stand firm on the fact that being king within the dream smp world amounts to nothing in terms of power, so i’m still utterly baffled why people are so greatly disturbed by george’s dethronement. is it the symbolism? the connotations of the action? who knows!

otherwise, this was a really fascinating step forward within the story! dream’s character has been developed to an almost astonishing degree. i can’t wait to see what happens next.

#mcyt #dream #dream mcyt #dream team #dream smp #georgenotfound #sapnap #dreamwastaken #belle babbles #ask #anon #dream smp spoilers #dream smp analysis #mcyt analysis #technoblade

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