#idealistic to the point of ignoring reality?

[seahorsepencils]

ummm life is exhausting so I’m doing another Bramwell rewatch

#but also #her father just played a song on the piano #that reminded me of the jurassic world theme #so now I'm like 'what about dinosaurs' #ooh what about eleanor bramwell on a dinosaur island #that should be a thing #bramwell the lost world au? #wait #is eleanor john hammond? #idealistic to the point of ignoring reality? #bramwell #jemma redgrave

[cuddlytogas]

maybe it's just the Radical Rediker talking, but there's something pointed in the way that, say, popular pirate media like Pirates of the Caribbean dilutes the pirate's freedom to "bring me that horizon" as opposed to, say, "plenty and satiety, pleasure and ease, liberty and power" (Bartholomew Roberts).

broadly speaking, most pirates chose the life in order to escape and revenge the hard labour, corporal punishment, overworking, and unequal pay of merchant/navy/privateer ships; or the privations of their sudden unemployment once a war was over, ignored as soon as their ability to die for the state was unneeded. yes, many were thugs, but, consciously political or not, they were responding to a particular, material reality.

the pirate's desired freedom was from the effects of exploitative modes of statehood and capital production. but popular media usually shifts this into a general desire for freedom: freedom to roam, freedom to love (usually merely a cross-class white, heterosexual union), or freedom from the personal pressures of social norms. it's a vague, ahistorical, post-Enlightenment, libertarian ideal rather than a response to a real social and economic situation.

to be clear, this only really applies to specifically the late golden age of piracy, in the first quarter of the 18th century. earlier generations of pirates/buccaneers often displayed nationalist/religious motives, and were lauded, tolerated, or even encouraged by the French and English states for aiding their fights against the Spanish and Portuguese. only the last gasp of age of sail pirates had a truly anti-national energy, and both figured themselves, and were figured by the imperial powers, as the enemies of all nations.

but if we are to valourise the late golden age pirate, at his best, his ideals were for true democracy, and the abolition of nation, hierarchy, and labour exploitation; not "the horizon". he was striking out in response to specific political, social, and economic oppressions, rather than a general individual restlessness, and that reality - and its similarities to our own - are important.

I dunno, I just... have a lot of thoughts about the defanging of piracy in modern media. obviously there were a lot of things bad about them, too, and the level of egalitarianism varied between individual people and ships. but again, if we're going to be valourising them anyway... there were idealists. and they weren't subtle about they wanted.

"I shan't own myself guilty of any murder", said William Fly in 1726. "Our captain and his mate used us barbarously. We poor men can't have justice done us. There is nothing said to our commanders, let them never so much abuse us, and use us like dogs. But the poor sailors --"

#pirates #history #pirate history #Togas does meta #Rediker is Marcus Rediker and I've only just started finally reading some of his work properly but god it's good #also if you've watched Black Sails I'd love to know how much of this energy is in there #it's a bit too ~gritty for my tastes but I get the impression it's also a bit vague about freedom over material historical politics #but i could be wrong! #obviously PotC has an ingrained anti-EIC vibe but even then it's more about ''they're enclosing the sea against us wild rovers'' than #''company captains beat us half to death just for the wealth we facilitate to be funnelled to the top while us sailors are left to rot'' #and christ knows it's not interested in historical realities XD

[apas-95]

why do usamerican anarchists even want to cook bathtub insulin like regulations on drug manufacturing just arent exploitative relationships

the only reason anyone ever does anything incorrectly is the profit motive. if you took away all safety regulations and threw a bunch of random people into a machine shop and asked them to build medical equipment they'd do so perfectly safely and correctly, because why would they Want to do otherwise?

i joke, obviously, but that's the thought process - it's fundamentally an extension of idealism: for a politics that otherwise completely ignores the material necessities and restrictions placed on political organisation and the measures they require to apply to the real world, in favour of, essentially 'if everyone just agrees with us our ideas will win', it shouldn't be that surprising that that extends to production.

in reality, of course, there are factors outside direct human control, and the implementation of safety regulations and inspections are an incredibly obvious and necessary measure - *but*, once you accept that, the question is then 'what good are safety regulations without any form of enforcement?', which, for anyone concerned with simply the task of bettering life for the working class, would prompt a response of 'oh, you're right, we'll need some form of enforcement, then.' for a lot of people, that's the end of their relationship with anarchism.

however, the underlying motives that generate these politics - as, in general, idealist political philosophies disconnected from reality don't simply spring up by themselves - aren't about the task of bettering life for the working class. fundamentally, the interests of these worldviews are those of the small-producer, the middle class: they promote a utopia where everyone is a small business owner (whether in a commune or a 'free market'), and, providing no real method to achieve these utopias, function mainly to drive these middle classes away from their character as labourers, and towards their privileges. the question of 'authority', a nebulous concept, has always been specifically the existence of any authority *over the small-producer's enterprise*. it's for *that* reason that, when the idea of 'authority' comes into contradiction with the task of improving the lives of the working people, some *do* decide that 'authority' is more important.

there is no such thing as a definite 'left' and 'right wing' - there are left wings and right wings of individual classes, but they both share more in class interest than they often do with their counterparts of other classes. libertarianism, in all its forms, is a middle class ideology, and shares its flaws - any jab against libertarians works just as well, 'who'll build the roads', 'would you need a driver's license', 'how will you ensure medicine is produced safely', etc.

when faced with these problems, people not married to the need to avoid 'authority' will simply accept the ideology is flawed - there are people who are pre-emptively 'anti-state', but fundamentally, their opponents are not 'pro-state', just practical. the anarchists are the only people coming to the table with a pre-existing, overriding position about 'authority' and the role of the state, and they're willing to abandon all practicalities to support it. functional regulations on medicine production *have* to be considered authoritarian, because that's the point of the ideology.

[kaftan]

ok, these are my thoughts on interlude 11h, aka “the amy interlude,” aka “this is where things start to suck forever, right”

Abolish the nuclear family

Amy reiterating over and over that she’s not good at being a sister… god god goddddd

Up to this point, I can’t fathom feeling anything other than profound sympathy for Amy — a damaged, scared girl caving in under the weight of the unspeakable

Abolish the nuclear family

“The unspeakable” is the note dominating the story here: it’s the foundation for trauma, for abuse, for secrets that fester and explode and deal unimaginable collateral.

Fork found in kitchen, incestuous feelings found in the adopted girl deprived of any consistent, reliable definition of family

Maybe because you were safe, because you were always there.

God.

GOD!!!!!!

Abolish adoption also

Copying this from my friend who read worm: “Amy sees Victoria as an idealistic paragon and the only source of any of her happiness (this becoming very much an obsession/favorite person), and Vicky sees her as "her sister" who will absolutely never hurt her and always help her without really considering the impact on Amy herself. Tragedy for the ages.”

^ this partially in response to how Victoria was told twice (in no uncertain terms!) not to touch Amy, and ignored her — because Amy doesn’t really mean it, right? What she really needs right now is a hug from her sister, right?

There is probably a whole essay to be written on What’s In A Name, the Amy/Ames/Panacea and Victoria/Vicky/Glory Girl distinction, the way they use nicknames and aliases as a reflection of the interiority they refuse to afford each other — it all comes down to coercively assigned roles, doesn’t it

Fuck Wildbow for writing the confrontation/confession scene so homophobically it was giving me deja vu about hays code era films. FUCK OFFF!!! Just have Victoria call her a dyke and drop the farce!

I can’t stop imagining alternate realities where it didn’t happen like this. A world where Amy never became a Dallon. A world where she was never adopted at all. A world where her feelings for Victoria never morphed beyond the familial. A world where Bonesaw never showed up at her door. A world where Amy left for good and never saw Victoria again. A world where Victoria didn’t touch her after that warning.

But that’s not how the story goes.

Abolish the nuclear family.

#wormblogging #long post #(sorry) #I am aware of the broad strokes of What Amy Does To Victoria later on but I do NOT know specifics so no spoilers. please. I implore you #god I need to pull out the apparitional lesbian again and use it to talk about how amy is written don’t I

[viterbofangirllovestheuntamed]

why just say the jiang have an unnatural tolerance for spice? why not all flavor? Poisonously bitter, super sour, ultra sweet, the burn of the strongest alcohol, the jiang adore the extremes of flavor and still have very discerning palates and people with iron stomachs are WIMPS compared to the stomach resilience of the jiang, it wasn't on purpose but a true jiang is next to impossible to poison (which definitely helped Jin Ling when he's in Koi Tower)

Despite knowing that they were in the deepest, most isolated safe room in Koi tower, Jin Guangtong couldn't help keeping his voice low. "Thank you for meeting us here. Your... services are greatly appreciated, we assure you."

His fellow conspirators ducked and bowed their heads in agreeing acknowledgements, which went ignored by their guest who sprawled on his cushion like a drunken commoner. "Glad to be here," he grinned, vaguely sarcastic. "What services did you have in mind, exactly?"

"The new Jin-zongzhu." Jin Guangtong didn't think beating around the bush would get them anywhere.

Their guest---blast the man for refusing to give his real name---blinked. "Wow, I didn't think you Jin were capable of being that direct. You want the brat snuffed, eh? Not gonna just use him as your figurehead? Seems like that'd be more your type of thing. What, did his spirit dog shit in your shoes or something?"

The handful of other nobles around the table started blurting out their complaints, heedless of order or dignity. "He's punishing bribery!" "Had my nephew executed for a harmless bit of fun with a servant girl!" "He's auditing the tax collection!"

Jin Guangtong cleared his throat. "The brat is, unfortunately, intractable. Comes from being raised by that asshole of an uncle in Yunmeng. I'm afraid the boy is... idealistic and unwilling to adapt to the realities of ruling such a large and complex network such as Lanling Jin."

Their guest nodded pensively, scratching at his jaw. "I can see your problem. I've got one more question, though. Not to be ungrateful for your admittedly generous payment offer, but why not do it yourself?"

"His lineage is extremely strong," Jin Guangtong sniffed. "The highest pedigree, which means that his golden core is exceptionally strong."

"Plus he's been trained by that paranoid maniac since he was toddling around that backwater swamp," someone to his left muttered.

Jin Guangshan threw a quelling glare over his shoulder, though of course, they had a point. Jiang Wanyin's training had been rigorous to the extreme due to both his and his nephew's insistence that the latter be able to wield the formidable Jin Zixuan's sword when he came of age. And since Rulan would be unlikely to match the sword's strength at first, those Yunmeng bastards had taught him to be deadly with a bow. Because apparently there was no kill like overkill at Lotus Pier.

And speaking of overkill. "We in Lanling Jin are certainly not... unfamiliar with poisons. However, between the strength of the boy's core and the inevitable wrath of Sandu Shengshou, it is imperative that the poison be untraceable as well as effective. Preferably something innocuous that can be chalked up as a tragic accident. A food he is allergic to, perhaps."

Their guest barked out in laughter. "Wait! Wait a minute... you said the kid was raised in Yunmeng, right? And you think he has a food allergy?!"

Jin Guangtong drew himself up in irritation, unnoticed by the cackling man in front of him. "I don't see why not! In fact, noble though our lineage is, our blood has always had a weakness to-"

"Look, look, I understand where you're coming from, I do!" the mysterious man wheezed. "It's just... well, I've spent some time in Yunmeng. In fact, I've even known some Jiang disciples. Frankly, I'm not sure anyone from Lotus Pier can be poisoned!"

"Ridiculous!" another voice scoffed.

"Look," their guest continued, still trying to contain giggles. "The only region that can even compare to Yunmeng for spice is Meishan, and the ruling family of Lotus Pier is half Yu. The whole sect is used to a flavor profile that could kill a Lan at fifty paces, and that's not even taking into account the dares."

Jin Guangtong blinked. "Dares?"

"Oh yeah," their guest drawled, somehow managing to lounge even more. "Those Rangers are insane. The butcher sect might run their people through a crazy level of training, but nothing and no one can survive crazy like a Jiang. They don't even train for it- it's just how they live. Those bastards challenge each other to lick poisoned toads for fun! They will eat anything that comes from the river, no matter how disgusting! And don't even get me started on the so-called 'twelve-day rule'..."

Jin Guangtong decided he didn't want to know. "But surely, as the Jin heir, Sandu Shengshou wouldn't have allowed-"

"Sandu Shengshou?" their guest scoffed. "The man who cobbled together then had to feed an army of massacre survivors and rogue cultivators? The man who spent the first decade of his rule rebuilding his home from a few burnt sticks poking out of---how'd you describe it?---a backwater swamp? The man with the bottomless stomach? Seriously-" he added, abandoning his slouch to stab an emphatic finger into the table. "That man can pack it away like nobody's business. I think his fucking legs are hollow or something...

"Anyway," he continued, lounging once more. "The point is that Sandu Shengshou's perception of what is and isn't edible is... flexible. Especially knowing his shixiong's penchant for supposedly intolerable amounts of chilies."

"Then how do you plan on killing Jin Rulan?" Jin Guangtong spat, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"Oh, I'm not planning on killing Jin Rulan," their guest grinned, still scratching at his jaw. "I'm planning on killing you!"

Then his scratching fingers began pulling his own face off.

Jin Guangtong and his conspirators all recoiled in horror, a horror that increased one hundred-fold when their guest's discarded face revealed the damnable visage of Yiling Laozu himself!

The reborn master of demonic cultivation twirled the grotesque false face around on his finger. "Neat trick, isn't it? Picked it up from Xue Yang, of all people. Ah well; genius comes in all forms. Now!" He leveled a sinister smile at the gathered men as he raised a black flute to his lips. "Raise your hand if you wanted my beloved nephew dead!"

_____________________

Eventually, the screams faded away into gurgling, then silence. Jiang Cheng nursed a bottle of wine as he leaned against the secret meeting room's door, still glowing purple from his sealing spell. Some of those fuckers had really made a go at it, but none of these lazy Jin were a match for his own spiritual power.

After the silence reigned for a few moments, the wood against his back rattled with a brief knock as his brother's cheerful voice echoed out. "It's done, Jiang Cheng! You can let me out now!"

Jiang Cheng took another lazy swig. "What's the password?"

"Jiang-zongzhu is a little crybaby bitch who can't put his shoes on correctly," Wei Wuxian's voice snarked back, sounding decidedly annoyed.

"Nope, that's not it," Jiang Cheng answered, wiggling the bottle so that the sloshing liquid was audible. "Damn, this really is good wine."

"Jiang Cheeeeennnnnnggggg," Wei Wuxian whined from the other side. "You're so meeeeeaaaaaan! Making me do all the hard work-"

"You wouldn't let me kill them, you bastard! Said I had to keep my own hands clean even though they where plotting against my-"

"-while you lounge around drinking Lotus Pier's finest wine like a mean meanie who's mean!"

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes so hard he was pretty sure he got a good look at his own brain. "Gods, you really are three years old, aren't you..."

"Let me out, you asshole! You know my core isn't strong enough just yet!"

He considered the wine bottle in his hand. "Say that Yunmeng wine is better than Emperor's Smile."

A scandalized gasp sounded from behind the door. "You wouldn't!"

"What's the problem? It's true," Jiang Cheng shrugged.

"But Emperor's Smile is so delicate!" Wei Wuxian protested. "It's the perfect balance of-"

"Well I guess I'll just go and find someone who does appreciate Yunmeng wine..."

"Okay, fine! Bastard. Fine, Yunmeng wine is better than Emperor's Smile!"

Smirking, Jiang Cheng released the seal on the door. Wei Wuxian stumbled out of the room that now stank of blood and excrement. Jiang Cheng amiably held out an untouched bottle, which his brother grabbed eagerly.

The deviant spilled half the fucking bottle down his chin as the other half went down his gullet, but smacked his lips like a satisfied toddler. "Hits the spot," he crooned. Mischievous eyes locked with his. "Emperor's Smile is still better, though."

Jiang Cheng snorted. "Traitor."

"Barbarian," Wei Wuxian retorted loftily.

The two bothers clinked their bottles together and took simultaneous sips.

#lanling jin #wei wuxian #jiang cheng #jin ling #MOD'S STUFF #asks #prompts #ASK THE MOD #reconciliation fic #post canon #I'M BAAAAAAAACK! Real life has been nuts and a half but things are finally settling down so I'm trying to get back to my beloved hellsite! #UNHINGED YUNMENG DISASTER BOIS

[aroaceleovaldez]

while i’m thinking of it- a niche underrated theme thing in the first series that I’m absolutely OBSESSED with is Percy’s love interests representing the sort of different paths he could have gone down, and him choosing Annabeth is him choosing the balance between the two worlds he’s living between - the truest sense of being demi-god.

Rachel represented him ignoring his godly side and burying himself in mortal life, avoiding the divine side of his family and self and everything that comes with it. No prophecies or destinies, just Simple Mortal Worries.

Calypso was the idealistic side of the divine - magical servants, a beautiful island, lost to time and forgetting his duties and destinies. Spending the rest of his days in a paradise with a kind soul who understands his struggles with the gods but not to the point of hostility. The epitome of the fantastical and living without a care in the world.

Nico represented fully embracing divine heritage, and the brutality and hardships that come with being a demigod. Death, pain, loss, crushed childhood idealizations. Accepting that the fantastical isn’t always kind and losing touch with mortality - Nico spends most of his time pre-BoO away from both camps, he’s the King of Ghosts, and he has no fully mortal connections. It’s also important to note how much Nico is in play, particularly in direct contrast to Annabeth, in TLO. Nico is the one to give Percy the Curse of Achilles (literally making him functionally semi-immortal, which is in-part why he’s offered immortality specifically in the first place). When Percy is in the Styx seeing the vision of being with Annabeth at the lake and reaches out to her, Nico is the one to grab his hand and pull him from the river (Ideals of demigod life [Annabeth at CHB] versus the reality of where they currently are [Nico in the Underworld]). Nico arrives with (notably entirely undead & divine) reinforcements to the Battle for Manhattan which helps turn the tide. Nico is there when Percy is offered immortality, but when Percy denies it, he looks to Annabeth.

Annabeth represents striking the balance between divine and mortal - fighting wars, going to college. Growing up at camp and moving back home in a land beyond the (Greek) gods. Making amends with both your godly and mortal parents. When Percy picks Annabeth, he’s picking equilibrium between the different lives he’s living, not honing in on a specific aspect of it and neglecting the rest. Also, particularly in TLO and contrasting with Nico, there’s a bit element of trust and loyalty - Nico has complex loyalties to Percy, where even breaking Percy’s trust was done in a roundabout way of trying to protect him and ensure he wouldn’t be harmed either by Hades or in battle. Annabeth’s loyalty is simple and Percy not only trusts her fully, but Annabeth trusts him in turn without question, taking a poisoned knife for him despite not knowing if it would even harm him or not. Both absolutely put their lives on the line for Percy, but there’s a give and take, gains and sacrifices (Nico seeking information and reinforcements, Annabeth just straight up getting poisoned/stabbed). Also, notably, the scenarios surrounding those moments again reflects the extremes versus balances of how they integrate the mortal and divine together (Nico seeking knowledge about his family & memories [mortal] from his father [divine] vs Annabeth getting stabbed [mortal] with a poisoned [divine] knife) - again an extreme/disharmony versus simplicity and unity/balance. 

#pjo #percy jackson #annabeth chase #nico di angelo #not gonna tag the other two cause most of the in-depth comparing and contrasting is the other two #there's also some elements of this theme with Reyna in SoN but it's significantly less and I only half-count Reyna as a Percy love interest #cause it's not really a major part of their dynamic together at all #but yeah i have a LOT of thoughts about this analysis and that theme of striking unity between two worlds throughout the first series #seriously though why isn't there more stuff re: Percy's vision of Annabeth in the Styx and Nico being the one to pull him out of the river #AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO SEES THE POTENTIAL IMAGERY THERE. PLEASE- #analysis #meta #long post //

[georgefairbrother]

When the Versailles Peace Conference convened in early 1919, US President Woodrow Wilson presented an idealistic 14-point plan for 'a new world order' described by Oxford Professor of Modern History, Sir Michael Howard, as furthering democracy and 'national self-determination', and so that 'out of the ashes of the old order of imperial powers there should emerge new self governing nations'.

These ambitions were immediately at odds with European leaders wholly intent on securing their own countries, expanding empires, and enacting revenge on 'a German state that no longer existed'.

French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau was dismissive of Wilson's plan, while British Prime Minister David Lloyd George wasn't a fan either. He wrote;

"…Whilst we were dealing everyday with ghastly realities on land and sea, he was soaring in clouds of serene rhetoric. This was President Wilson’s first contact with Europe, for ages the favourite hunting ground of beasts of prey and poisonous reptiles creeping and springing on their victims…."

Lloyd George also described Europe on the eve of the conference as 'a seething cauldron of hate'.

It didn't take long for senior British diplomat and adviser, Harold Nicholson, to see which way the wind was blowing;

"...Clemenceau, Lloyd George, and President Wilson pulled up armchairs and crouched low over the map…It is appalling that these ignorant and irresponsible men should be cutting Asia Minor to bits as if they were dividing a cake…There was the final revision of the frontiers of Austria; Hungary is partitioned, indolently and irresponsibly partitioned, then the Yugoslav frontier, then tea and macaroons…"

Great War specialist and author, Professor Jay Winter;

"...The way in which Versailles was conducted was disastrous, in that it didn’t provide anything that could be called worth the sacrifice of even a fraction of those who had died in the First World War. So the idea of why, what for, has no answer…It becomes…a continuation of the nightmare of the war rather than the breaking of a new dawn…"

But perhaps the most ominously significant reaction was from a 30 year old corporal in the German army;

"…When the old gentleman began to tell us we were throwing ourselves on the mercy of the victors, I could stand it no longer. Everything went black before my eyes, I tottered and groped my way back to the dormitory, threw myself on my bunk and dug my burning head into my blanket and pillow. And so it had all been in vain. All the sacrifices and privations…The hunger and thirst of months which were often endless. In vain, the two million who died…Would not the graves of those who with faith in the Fatherland had marched forth never to return, would they not open and send the silent mud and blood covered heroes back as spirits of vengeance to the homeland which had cheated them with such mockery…Hatred grew in me for those responsible for this deed, in the days that followed my own fate became known to me. I decided to go into politics…"

Source: The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century - BBC-Imperial War Museum, 1996

#the great war #world war one #first world war #versailles #remembrance day #armistice day #lest we forget #europe #social history #peace conference

[ro-botany]

The Risen King and his Tactician

In my previous post about Risen King Chrom, I talked largely about who and what he is. What I didn’t touch on was questions of why and how; the reasons for his existence and the means by which he’s controlled. So that’s what I’m tackling today.

Naturally, this means an examination of Grima’s thoughts on the matter. It's not a purely tactical decision on their part.

---

The first reason I could think of for why Grima would make a Risen out of Chrom was that it was an act of tactical cruelty aimed at their enemies. Nothing kills hope and morale in the enemy troops quite like making the shambling corpse of their exalt attack them! But while that’s almost certainly part of the point... It doesn’t explain why RK Chrom’s mind is intact. You can get that effect for a lot cheaper by bringing him back as a garden variety Risen with no sentience to speak of.

After reading the Forging Bonds supports, I initially thought part of the point was to be cruel to Chrom. They’re being sarcastic. They’re taunting him with his dead friends and torturing him by making him slaughter his people. That motivation would explain why he’s still mentally present—if the aim is to torture a foolish idealist son of Naga, it would hardly be satisfying if he weren’t actually there to be tortured.

But I think the main reason I read things that way is due to Heroes’ visual limitation of only having one portrait per character. They can’t adjust a character’s facial expression to better convey tone, which means that wherever tone is ambiguous in the text, the words are coloured by the expression of that one portrait. Since m!Grima’s portrait has that malevolent little smile, we interpret him as sarcastic or taunting and ignore the possibility that maybe, just maybe, the words are genuine.

Read those supports again, and this time ignore the portrait art.

Grima’s phrasing is never blunt. They couch all these hard truths about the situation in these long, indirect statements that soften them. They never bring up a point unless Chrom, in his panic and denial, brings it up first. They even play along with his delirium at first! None of the content of what they’re saying, absolutely none of it, is actually comforting; but the intent to comfort is there in the phrasing. It’s not “Robin is dead”; it’s “Robin is gone, lost, but I am here.” It’s not “Your friends are dead, and now they’re my pawns”; it’s “I know your friends are precious to you; don’t worry, I can bring them back, and you can lead them just like before.”

And they also lie about who killed Chrom. “Who stole your life, you might ask? It was I, with none other than the Fell Dragon Grima, within me.” It’s a bit convoluted, but it sounds like they’re trying to avoid implying it was Robin. But these supports aren’t a timeline where the details of Chrom’s death are unknown; we know he died at the Dragon’s Table fighting Validar, and his very obvious fatal wound is the same spot Robin stabs him at the Dragon’s Table in the premonition from Awakening. The spot that Robin stabs him, under Validar's control. If I were to speculate, I’d say it sounds like Grima is trying to preserve the memory of who Robin was. Spare Chrom the reality that it was his other half that killed him.

And the thing is, Grima has no reason to attempt to speak kindly to Chrom or to absolve Robin of blame... unless Grima remembers enough about being Robin to still care about Chrom. Regardless of how you interpret the nature of the connection between Robin and Grima, it’s not unreasonable to assume that Robin’s memories and emotions are part of Grima in some way, and influence their actions.

Why does Grima bring Chrom back from the dead? Because Grima never chose to kill the man they loved, and now that they’re a god again, they have the power to undo it.

But! We know that Grima is capable of true resurrection. They bring Validar completely back to life in the main timeline, living body and intact soul, when they aren’t even at full power. So if Grima cares that much, why not bring Chrom back as a living person?

The answer to that one is simple: because there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell that Chrom would ever willingly participate in their apocalypse. What good would it do to bring him back only to have to kill him again? The fact that they don’t want to bear him being gone is what has them raising him in the first damned place. Grima needs him to be on their side... So they force him to be. They remake him as a Risen; a being bound to as dark a role as they are, and by definition, something they can control.

And here’s where we get to that how question. While Risen are naturally controllable through dark magic, there’s never been a Risen with a will before, and certainly not one with the blood of a different divine dragon. And given Validar’s actions, Grima is acutely aware of the fact that holy blood creates the possibility of control by another. Which means Naga might try something. They needed to counter that possibility.

Look at Risen King Chrom again and count the holy brands. It’s not just Naga’s anymore; he bears the brand of the defile too. At first I thought it might be attached to his sword, but I enlisted the help of a much healthier Chrom to check, and...

...no, the brand is absolutely attached to RK Chrom’s hand.

Grima covered all their bases. They minimized any chance that Chrom’s willpower or Naga’s meddling could interfere by making a blood pact with him as a second means of control.

Channelled dear old dad a little with that one.

---

So why does Risen King Chrom exist? Because Grima still loves Chrom. Or to be more precise... he exists because Grima loves what Chrom represents.

He’s the idea of companionship. A symbol of the brief moment that Grima was Robin, and was happy. And they love that idea so dearly that they can’t let it die. They bring Chrom back—but they don’t bring him back as he was, they remove his ability to choose and then force him into something that has the shape of their former relationship and none of the heart of it. Grima is still the tactician, and Chrom is still the exalt, and they’re marching to war with the Shepherds like they always do. They’re together like they always were. Right? Grima is acting out a hollow facsimile of a different life, and Chrom is trapped in a nightmare he can’t escape from.

What’s worse is I think Grima knows it’s cruel to keep him around like this. But they’re too rigid in their own beliefs to stop what they’re doing, and too selfish and lonely to let him go. And I think some part of them takes comfort in the fact that they’ve broken Chrom of his ability to hope, too. If even he can’t keep fighting the tide of fate, there really was nothing they could do to avoid this. (Nevermind the fact that they rigged the game so he couldn’t fight even if he wanted to.)

#fire emblem #grima #chrom #risen king chrom #meta #i am incapable of brevity and i refuse to apologize for it #*slaps the side of the grima/chrom ship* you can fit so much toxicity in this bad boy #i think i'm preaching to the choir a bit as far as the regular group of grima studies folks i've found are concerned #but nonetheless i find it fun to dissect this stuff in detail so here we are lol

[reality-detective]

I confess that sometimes when I look back, I miss the naive me. I know that at some point we must all face the fact that Santa doesn’t exist, but there was joy for a while in living in La-la land.

Don’t get me wrong, I prefer to be my current cynical self and not be herded to the slaughter house. But some days I do miss the innocence, the carelessness and the ignorance of believing there was no such thing as pure evil in this world.

The irony however, is that the type of future that I fight for now, is more idealistic than ever before, almost utopian! How does that make any sense?

When I was young and had no clue as to how dark the world actually was, I accepted it as inevitably imperfect, I played the game and lived successfully, and for a while, happily, within the matrix.

I never dreamt of a wonderful world or a better existence, it didn’t even occur to me, that there was the possibility of it.

It was only when I recognised the depths of evil and the darkness that envelops this world, that I started to dream of a completely different type of reality.

If you were unknowingly born in a prison, not knowing there was an entire universe behind the walls, you would not know to dream of freedom.

Humanity has been living within the matrix ‘walls’ for centuries. How could we know to dream of real freedom, or true organic life, until we identifed the illusionary limits of the matrix that was enslaving us?

We are finally realising that we’ve been prisoners all our life, kept in check by the absolute captivity of our perception.

The time has come to transcend the illusionary ‘walls’ so we may start to understand, that the dystopian reality they have created within the matrix, does not mean that a reality beyond it, is an unachievable utopia.

I have come to see, that I gave up my illusionary perception and ignorant innocence, in order to become a cynical idealist! (What an oxymoron!)

Let’s step out of the matrix, because now we know, there is a wonderful universe outside the ‘walls’, where real freedom is possible.

So screw La-la land! I want to live consciously in God’s beautiful, wonderful and abundant land!

Who’s joing me? 🤔

#pay attention #educate yourselves #educate yourself #knowledge is power #reeducate yourself #reeducate yourselves #think for yourselves #think about it #think for yourself #do your homework #ask yourself questions #question everything #free yourself

[leovoid]

No one understands Attack on Titan

Been struggling with getting my thoughts on paper with how busy this new job is making me. Looking for another job and got a 2nd interview today that is remote so I can have more time to dedicate to these videos But anyway... I wanted to share what I have so far to see if what everyones thoughts were? Anything I should add? Missing any points? I'd love to see your thoughts ^^

************THE VIDEO STARTS HERE*******************

More than a decade has passed since the release of Attack on Titan, a manga and eventual adapted anime that epically impacted anime culture globally by and large.

For just as much as an intense and emotionally stirring series Attack on Titan was and continues to be, that same inspiration reverberated into the many hearts of its fandom.

Spawning cosplay free of racial or ethnic limitations, A story in which its setting takes place in what most considered at the time a post apocalyptic world similar to the popular series “The Walking Dead” which landed Attack on Titan and in turn anime as a whole into the western lime light and in even more countries around the world, with characters and ideologies so meaningful and captivating that fans globally could not help but take the very same stance as our heroes, dedicating their very hearts to the Scouts cause and for 10 years heavily anticipated what the story would bring next.

Unfortunately however, it is within those 10 years where Attack on Titans characters, themes, and its very creator has always been and continues to be heavily misunderstood for reasons in which I can only define as misguided, projecting, and entirely foolish

Whether that is due to the possibility that I have surrounded myself in a conundrum of echo chambers of the naive, and ignorant is up for debate, (Show a faded icon of Twitter) but the fact that these misunderstandings happens by and large by both side lined spectators and fans of the show inexorably reinforces the topic this video discusses.

Despite being a story which expresses a tragically beautiful message meant to juxtapose itself within reality, no one TRULY understands Attack on Titan, or at least very few people do and with good reason.

What started as a young boys endeavor for the freedom of his species would eventually find himself caught in the complex webs of the machinations of human corruption.

Peeling layer by layer the extensive history of humanities cruelty, and the horrifying realization of the commentary Attack on Titan has tried to impose from the very beginning. Creating a rift within the fandom from the drastic change of how easily relatable its story used to be into how difficult of a question the story imposes towards its conclusions.

Leading people to accuse Attack on Titan for being anti-semetic and harboring fascist and imperialist subtext, that Eren Jeagar is a useless cry baby, a totalitarian tyrant and most importantly a god damn simp with the story's conclusion being heavily criticized as ruined, clumsy and just straight up bad.

But all of these statements couldn’t be any more wrong, most of their arguments set on such a fragile foundation that all it takes is a simple thought to topple it to the ground, which is exactly what this video sets out to do.

For those that the fandom has labeled as “Yeagerists” “Zekists” or even “AOE speculators” I ask this of you…

Instead of pondering what could’ve been, what your idealistic perceptions of how Eren should’ve acted in his final moments, or what was the right choice in the end, I ask of you, what do you think Isayama is trying to say with Attack on Titans story? Is it hopelessness and futility or is it something much more behind the futility?

Put your theories and ships aside and ask yourself, what is Attack on Titan asking us?

Attack on Titans asks of us a horrifying question, a question that remains integral and consistent within the story through out. But due to its uncomfortable nature, most people can’t help but shy away from it and instead criticize it narrow mindedly.

After all, how can most people empathize with acts of cruelty and oppression? How can most people not be upset at the social stratification the series presents? Its barbarous, its inhumane, but its horrifyingly real.

As the story begins with a hopelessly naive young boys idealistic perception of the world caught in the apex of mans cruelty eventually warped into a desperate man crushed by the viciousness of the world.

From the casts original objective to preserve mans existence, a fight for species survival eventually flipped on its head to something much more complex, rooted in self interest and strikingly real to events in our real lives.

Attack on Titan was never a story that avoided imposing a difficult question, an unavoidable question with no escape or unrealistic solutions that our main characters would have to face, where no hope or dream would survive as Isayama gives us an answer that we could never see coming.

Play: and on that day humanity received a grim reminder, that we lived in fear of the titans…

Oppression

A common complaint I often hear in regards to Attack on Titan is that it promotes anti-semitic and fascist ideals. 

Antisemitism is the act of hostility or prejudice against a specific race, while Facism is a way of organizing a society in which a government ruled by a dictator controls the lives of the people and cannot be disobeyed without severe consequences.

And while these descriptions are extremely apparent within the story, the detail that most are missing is if Isayama himself promotes such principles.

From a power hungry tyrannical king whose only goal is territorial conquest, to a corrupt nation which promotes anti semitic propaganda to succeed in the very same ambitions as the evil king before them, to the once prominent king hailed by many stands alone in his passivity as he traps his subjects in multi layered ignorance condemning them to an inevitable death, to the world which fervently yearns for your death simply for what you are.

What we can draw from this is that the setting in which Attack on Titan takes place in clearly represents anti-semetism and fascist principles, but just because it does should not mean that Isayama himself supports it which can clearly be seen when you look at the ramifications the story presents to us of said principles

To the lone man who walks the path of a devil implanted with the wanten desire of freedom bred from the oppression that surrounded him at a young age, to the many Eldians who were ignorantly held captive beyond their understanding as they lay helpless only to die, to a nation who reclaimed their land and liberty from their oppressors and to a lone fragile young woman who constantly finds herself in awe at the sight of what a slave can never have.

Eren Jeagar and the Scouts are the antithesis to the very principles that people accuse Attack on Titan of supporting, with their symbol representing wings soaring towards freedom; they fight for liberty against the monsters that condemn them within the confines of the walls, seeking to eliminate that which prevents them from their birthright, even going as far as dismantling the oppressive government power that had systematically oppressed the nation for over a century until eventually with their backs against the walls, they are forced to fight against the world.

Attack on Titan while again being a story surrounded around the idea of anti semitism and facism was never a story that supported it but instead adamantly opposed it.

Eren Jeagar personifies this ideal, from his early youth Eren came to the realization that freedom was a given right to all people who are born into the world, and slowly began to realize that everything that surrounded him, the walls, the titans and even his own people prevented that and this knowledge enraged him.

Throughout the story, Eren continues to fight towards this ideal until he eventually came to realize the significant amount of sacrifice it would take to see his dream a reality.

And yet in spite of that, people often misconstrue Erens intentions, the foundation of his motivations, and the very contents of his dreams.

Eren Jeagar is the sole character who encompasses a majority of the themes and messages Attack on Titans demonstrates, however, its partly due to how heavily misunderstood Eren is that leads most people to fall short when it comes to recognizing what it is that Attack on Titan is trying to say…

Erens actions towards the end of the story is highly controversial, polarizing the fanbase into those who empathize with his decisions vs those who simply can not.

And all the while, people who are stuck on the topic of whether Eren was right or wrong is simply irrelevant The Rumbling, while undoubtedly able to stir a moral dilemma to the viewers, is but a rather large piece to an even larger picture.

Attack on Titan does not focus on the idea of what is right or what is wrong, at least not on an individual level, but instead offers us layers of dark gray circumstances that shows us who the true enemies are.

*Play Erwin: “That was a weird question” scene*

The enemy of Oppression: Dreams

When one is completely surrounded by sorrow and strife, what lays dormant inside of us all is the constant struggle to persevere towards attaining a state of being which provides us the greatest feeling of contentment.

However, most of us if not all of us fall into the trap of completely romanticizing our dreams to the point where we become blindsided to the effects in which our endeavors may bring as a result.

And the more dogmatically we substantiate our dreams, the heavier the weight becomes when reality plunders what we had desperately hoped for.

Mention how the cruelty of the world twists those dreams into malicious ambitions to persevere

*Play the scene between Erwin and Levi “Is this more important than the fate of humanity? Yes.”

#aot #anime #anime analysis #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #eren yeager #rumbling

[sapphire-weapon]

Hey, I love your page and it's honestly the reason i started analyzing re4remake, anyway I was reading about the don quixote because its mentioned in the re4r so much and i tried looking for you mentioning this but couldn't find anything so i'll just ask about.

So in the scene where luis and leon are about to give find ashley (in the mines), Luis calls Ashley "prinsess dulcinea" right after leon told him that Ashley was the priority, and in modern spanish being called dulcinea means "To this day, a reference to someone as one's "Dulcinea" implies idealistic devotion and love for her." (source is wikipedia but it citates oxfordord reference but it's behind a paywall so I can't confirm it, so take it with a grain of salt, the wikipedia page is dulcenia if you're curious). But at least i interpreted the scene as Luis playing a joke into Leon' devotion to protecting Ashley and/or like playfully trying to joke that Leon likes Ashley.

What do you think? is this something the writers could've been aware of and intentionally put there or am i just reaching for something that's not there?(btw if you covered this then feel free to ignore)

well dulcinea was a character in the story of don quixote. she also wasn't real. like, don quixote made her up. but she was the justification for all of his (mis)adventures. anything he did, he did because he had to rescue dulcinea -- you know, the dulcinea that he just made up and isn't real.

but it makes sense for ashley to be the dulcinea in luis's version of the story that he's telling, because she is actually the princess needing to be rescued.

unfortunately, in this version of events, luis is don quixote -- not leon -- which would make ashley his love interest. LMAO

so i don't think there's much to look into there. the point of using don quixote in the context of luis was that don quixote was a delusional character who wanted to be a hero but in reality just fucked up the lives of everyone around him and then died before making amends. for luis to constantly be comparing himself to don quixote says a lot about his self-esteem and how he viewed his time working at umbrella. references to leon as sancho and ashley as dulcinea are just window dressing to reinforce luis's own role in the story.

[vickyvicarious]

jonathan would find gabriel as the model lawyer, so cool and unphased yet lovable, i wanna be him, and gabe would be thinking protect your innocence boy, change professions. he believes the white hair is that law school has become more brital.

I'm imagining that Mr. Hawkins knew Utterson professionally. Younger Jonathan shows up with some documents or is tagging along somewhere and gets introduced to him/sees him in action, and he's so impressed. Goes home and talks to Mina about Utterson's quiet confidence and mild nature but that he obviously listens attentively and is so calm and unflappable and he seems so professional. Of course he looks up to Mr. Hawkins, he has this kind of affable way of getting along with people and an excellent cataloguing system and all that, but that Mr. Utterson really seemed like a lawyer, you know? And sure, he didn't have the same way with words or the ability to break the ice with a good joke like Mr. Hawkins, but there was just something really likeable about him somehow anyway...

Mina nods along super fond and points out that Jonathan has a certain quiet dignity himself, and she's always loved how he remembers everything she says to him, and Jonathan's temper is disposed to a rather calm natural state, and she's certainly always found him very likeable... So honestly, if those qualities are what make this Utterson so impressive then she's even more confident in the great career awaiting him. Essentially just a lot of (fluffy flirty Jonmina) support and Jonathan looks up to Mr. Utterson from then on.

On Gabriel's side of this he's met Harker once or twice, never alone or for long, but he seems like a nice enough young man. He's obviously got a great big heart and Gabriel's kind of thinking to himself, well, it's obvious Hawkins dotes on him (Mr. Hawkins in true dad form brags about Jonathan being just an excellent protege from time to time), but, oof. The day is definitely going to come when the often-cruel reality of human nature is revealed to him if he sticks around in this profession. A lot of the most idealistic and eager people get their spirits broken by such things, in his experience; certainly, many of his friends who succumb to a bad influence go slower if they weren't so innocent when it was first introduced to them. (In a word: Dorian Gray. That certainly happened quick enough.) They certainly seem to find more pleasure in the fall when it's gradual, and it's often more of a gentle slope to a more realistic outlook as opposed to a plunge off a cliff. (Not that he judges, either way.) He's a tad invested due purely to exposure; even if they haven't met in person very often, Mr. Hawkins talks about Jonathan enough that Gabe's gotten a bit fond by proxy.

The next time he has business with the Hawkins law firm, it's become Hawkins & Harker, except actually the only one left is Harker. He's very different in some ways - his hair shock-white now; the way he stands like he's poised to act, a certain set to his shoulders, his hand falling to his hip; a certain look in his eyes that is at times impressive, at times unsettling, and at times concerning - but it seems that whatever experience he's lived through (and it's definitely been an experience, that much is clear) has not broken his spirit. Far from it. He's just as soft-hearted as ever, but there's something steely-edged underneath it. A kind of fire evident in him, and a love for his wife that he feels and expresses so unabashedly that Gabriel feels a little envious of the vigor in it. Harker seems mild at first, but he has a kind of intensity to him, a willingness to ignore everything else, that Gabriel hasn't often seen in decent people. It's endearing.

Whenever their paths cross, they work well together, and so perhaps their paths cross more often than they otherwise would. Maybe one day Jonathan invites him to go to the theatre and see a play together after something comes up and Mina is unable to make it, and Utterson winds up breaking a long-kept self-restraint on that count. They see Hamlet and enjoy themselves a lot, though Jonathan gets that certain look in his eye extra hard during some scenes.

#dracula daily #jekyll and hyde weekly #dr. jekyll and mr. hyde #utterson #jonathan harker #gothic novel crossovers #crossovers #garnetsfists #replies

[miacarrillo]

Faceclaim: Priscilla Quintana.

Name: Mía Carrillo.

Pronouns & Gender: She/Her & CIS Female.

Birthday: March, 30, 1990.

Occupation: Therapist, Community Group Leader.

Neighborhood: Starlight Cove.

How long have they been in Starlight Oaks? This time around, she has been in Starlight Oaks for one month. Growing up, she used to come to Starlight Oaks every summer.

Three positive traits: Ambitious, Idealistic, Observant.

Three negative traits: Cunning, Guarded, Stubborn.

about.

mia is a product of mere strangers. her mother's family, wealthy and out of touch with most of reality, used to take trips to seattle. somewhere along the lines, her mother ventured out into a remote area and stumbled into a man that was everything her parents would have hated. she fell pregnant with mia and while she didn't keep it a secret, she didn't give mia's father much of a say.

upon her birth, her parents made an agreement. when mia was old enough, she would spend the summers with her father as long as he could provide for her. until that point, mia's father made the journey down to california every so often to care for her and for a brief period of time, it looked as if things could work out for the family of three. however, he just didn't fit the high class mold, but her mother never held that against him.

eventually, she married someone who did. a vice president of a yacht company and a total asshole. summers away in washington were actually a sense of reprieve from the uppity nonsense her mother had tried forcing her into. familial wealth doesn't last forever, she'd often reminded her.

her father, a third generation fisherman, was the opposite of her mother. he didn't believe in the finer things in life. he taught mia how to take a fish off the hook and how to drive a stick. he was the down to earth parent that grounded her when the wealth dared to pull her under.

she stopped visiting when it came time for college. at least, she stopped spending her entire summers there. after all, she needed to put her focus into her studies. to everyone's surprise, she leaned into a degree of behavioral science. she'd always found the mind fascinating and truth be told, she'd developed a knack for listening to others problems to forget about her own.

after undergrad, she wasted no time in diving head first into her masters, ignoring her mother's push for marriage. upon graduation, rather than being met with some form of a gift, she was met with a handsome looking attorney in which her mother had every hope of her taking an interest in. instead, mia put her focus into her budding career.

for years, she worked her way through a counseling firm until the pressure of her mother became too much. on a whim, she packed up and made the jump to starlight oaks where her father welcomed her under his roof without question.

of course, living with one's father isn't ideal, but it only took three weeks to secure a job, even if said job came with an added responsibility that she didn't necessarily want to accept.

#starlight.intro

[primus-why]

Flavors of TFP

I love the angle of Megatronus being head-over-heels for Orion Pax back in the day, and how that obsession bled into their present-day conflict...

However I also enjoy the idea of Megs?? Not really caring for Orion Pax that deeply??? Like yes sure they've had some in-depth conversations; he could tentatively call themselves friends, as they're certainly more than mere acquaintances. Though he's nowhere near as close to him as the disposables and fellow gladiators who have been following him for a while. It's not like Orion Pax had discovered him and brought his words into public consciousness or anything like that-- obviously the ever-loyal Soundwave has overseen the mass-spread of Decepticon ideals. Pax is ultimately weak, ignorant, and untried... an idealist without the life experiences which would bring any sensible mech crashing back down to the reality around them.

No, to Megatronus, Orion Pax is yet another follower with bright optics. Only particularly notable by his biased perspective as a mid-caste, and the fact that he has stubbornly stuck around even after his points are proven wrong or flawed time and time again.

Gimme a Megs who takes advantage of Orion Pax's connections without remorse. Who dismisses a lot of what OP says without really considering his arguments, because he's so self-assured in his own conclusions. Gimme a Megs who is blindsided when this twerp upstages him-- not because he feels betrayed by a loved one, but because 'who in the Pits does Pax think he is??'

Then fast forward, and Orion officially becomes Optimus. Now, the twerp has become strong, has gained even more wisdom of the Primes of the past, and has gained his own following-- and still he maintains the views he'd previously espoused. That makes Megatron give his arguments a second look...

... and as the war rages on for millenia, Megatron overanalyzes previous arguments or off-hand conversations he'd had with Pax. He finds nuances, he actually gives the arguments some thought, but he finds he fundamentally still disagrees. However, the landscape and context for these arguments have since changed, and thus so must their philosophies.

But Optimus Prime doesn't disappoint there, either! The Prime continues to challenge him-- both on the battlefield and philosophically. Slowly, Megs becomes obsessed by looking at their relationship retroactively as well as in the now. How could he have slept on such a confounding opponent?? Without having to worry about toppling Cybertronian society anymore, Megatron hones all his focus on toppling everything Optimus Prime stands for-- as a true, complete victory-- which is easier said than done.

(And if these visions of grandeur sometimes result in the idea of toppling the Prime in Other Ways..... well.........)

#megop #rambling

[theconstitutionisgayculture]

As someone who’s been rethinking his position as an Ancap, It honestly feels to me at this point that what the majority of Ancaps really hate is taxes and taxation and in particular how the Feds respond to people who don’t pay their taxes. I agree with them that throwing people in prison who don’t pay their taxes for whatever reason is immoral and shouldn’t be a thing, but I feel as though many ignore how political communities (States) came to be to begin with and so jump the gun. (Cont.)

If anything, we should at least try to reform our justice system somewhat so that the consequences for not paying taxes are different (perhaps if you don’t pay taxes you no longer get the services of the government?). And even then, I’ve been rethinking the very premise that Ancaps base their criticism of the State on, in particular how they use a definition of the State that no one else really uses, which is merely an organized political community that owns territory. What are your thoughts?

Out of all the Anarcho-whatever sub groups, anarcho-capitalists are the ones that I...I don't know if the right term is "pity" or "get mad at", but I definitely react the most strongly to them because we actually agree about so many things, but their insistence that any state is just as evil as the most oppressive state is so infuriatingly blind and childish. Any group of people living together will need to form some kind of ruleset to live their lives by. And the moment you get people together to decide what rules to live by, you have some form of government. And that's fine. But their ideology can't differentiate between ultra-oppressive states like dictatorships and communist "republics", actual republics, and loose gatherings of individuals that all agree to abide by the same rules, so they have to pretend that the kind of organization they want is somehow not a government, and won't lead to a government, but every other kind of organizing is either no different than Russia under Stalin, or it will always end up being oppressive at some point so no one should ever attempt it. It's just...such reality denying, idealistic, echo-chamber nonsense from people who are otherwise spot on about a great many things.

Anyway, this is a very long winded way of saying I agree with you. Making taxes voluntary would eliminate a lot of the problems with taxation as a whole. "Don't pay taxes, don't get access to government services" is a very reasonable take, IMO. There are still avenues for abuse. Just look at the way England treats people who don't "choose" to buy a TV license. But there are avenues for abuse in every facet of life. As long as there are adequate ways for people to combat abuse and hold the government responsible when it does abuse the power we allow it to have over us, then trying will always be better than not trying.

[fincalinde]

how do you feel about yi city? i don't really go there but i know i've read some meta about how it's like 3zuns and a lot of people compare jgy and xy and was wondering what you thought.

I don't go there either and writing a post deconstructing the idea that there are parallels between Yi City and 3zun could get messy, but I'll make an attempt. Here goes, this got quite long.

As far as I'm aware, fandom when it conflates Yi City and 3zun draws parallels roughly thus:

JGY = XY

LXC = XXC

NMJ = SL

Well there sure are three guys in each group! I mean actually Yi City has four key characters but AQ is a girl and who cares about those right? Right? Fandom, as always I am regarding you disapprovingly over my lorgnette.

Character parallels (or a lack thereof)

XY is hyperviolent and takes excessive revenge for the smallest of slights and takes pleasure in extreme violence and cruelty. JGY endures an onslaught of slights with smiling forbearance, and while he commits acts of extreme violence always does so under duress or in service of a larger goal (though he can certainly enjoy it to a degree). He even outlines his personal philosophy to XY in Villainous Friends, which XY not only rejects but doesn't even fully comprehend.

XXC is an idealist with limited experience of the depths of human cruelty, vulnerable to being preyed on by bad faith actors exploiting said ideals, and when those ideals are shattered he is unable to endure it. LXC's entire deal is that he has a clear understanding of the gap between ideals and reality; witness, he is the one constantly pointing out how few options JGY has and how that informs his actions.

SL is a man of upright morals who wants to break from traditional clan-based practices. When he loses his temper with XXC in a highly emotional context, he subsequently feels deep shame and tries to find him to make amends. NMJ is a moral stickler, but hypocritical and obsessed with the blood-based legacy of his clan. He flies into regular rages which over time escalate to become more and more murderous; he never attempts to make amends for anything he has done during said rages.

Narrative parallels (or a lack thereof)

Again from what I can tell, a proportion of fandom seems to have decided that JGY is some kind of XY lite, hiding behind LXC's skirts and making a diabolical neko face as NMJ points out how evil he is and LXC blithely ignores it. This is then being conflated with XXC being tricked by XY and SL being the one whose arrival at Yi City blows up the status quo.

Except this isn't really accurate to either group.

LXC and NMJ are not partners in ideals or ambition. They each have very different ways of seeing the world and are each responsible for their own clans. They're good friends, but we know that LXC's motivation for suggesting the sworn brotherhood is to improve relations between NMJ and JGY i.e. to protect JGY from NMJ's wrath, and we know NMJ's motive is to regain authority over JGY. There's no indication that they would have entered into a sworn brotherhood with each other if JGY hadn't been present. They're good friends but they're just not a matched pair like XXC and SL.

JGY does not intrude on some cosy scenario and cuckoo his way into LXC's life by means of deception. He saves LXC's life, protects him, gives him the funds to rebuild his clan, and is upfront about who he is and what his parentage is from the beginning. Obviously he keeps secrets from LXC, but he doesn't enter LXC's life under false pretences. I presume people think JGY's use of Turmoil can be compared to XY's use of corpse powder, but there is an ocean of difference between using your friend's house key to steal a piece of paper you need in order to take out your mutual friend who has repeatedly and recently literally tried to kill you and ... literally tricking your friend into murdering a bunch of innocent villagers and laughing about it.

LXC knows a high percentage of what JGY has done and isn't defending him due to ignorance of his actions but due to a sincere belief in their necessity and/or an understanding that JGY's options are limited and he is doing the best he can in the circumstances. This attitude continues in the temple, when he refuses to turn aside from questioning JGY in an effort to reconcile JGY's additional secrets with the man he knows. Meanwhile, during the confrontation between XXC and XY, XXC is steadfast in his rejection of XY's thesis statement and when he succumbs it is to despair rather than to XY's justifications.

Rather than being oblivious to the danger JGY poses, LXC is not fully confronting the fact that NMJ is incredibly dangerous and an ongoing threat to JGY's life; and, for that matter, the lives of others too. Remember NMJ cut down plenty of his own cultivators under his qi deviation, and said qi deviation was merely accelerated rather than created by JGY's playing of Turmoil. SL is no danger to anyone and continues to selflessly travel and do good where he can. He takes ownership of his mistakes and commits to doing penance in the hope that he can ultimately make amends.

It really cannot be overstated how dangerous NMJ is both to JGY and everyone around him. He's a ticking time bomb and that is not remotely comparable to SL, a genuinely upright man who makes a huge mistake and in trying to put it right stumbles into a twisted situation and gets horribly murdered. SL isn't obsessed with the potential for destruction exhibited by a man who is doing his best to navigate an impossible situation because he has to follow his father's awful instructions or be eliminated; he's trying to stop the man who massacred his temple, maimed him, and used his own best friend as a murder weapon for the fun of it.

It's not that XY doesn't have affection for XXC; he clearly does love him in his own way, and XXC is the shizun cum father cum big brother he never had. It's notable that XY stops with the corpse powder after a while and settles into his domestic life with XXC and AQ (remember her). But he very obviously has no understanding of XXC's moral framework, and it's not that he learned better so much as he no longer has a desire to revenge himself on XXC and can't quite bring himself to examine that.

Miscellaneous dynamics (oh no, I'm going to talk about pairings)

Guys, A-Qing is there. She is there, like, she is super there, she is our viewpoint character, she is not some optional add-on. She's crucial to the entire dynamic and whenever I have dipped a toe in Yi City I'm usually frustrated to see that the miraculous plot change that has spared XXC has omitted to spare AQ. Or, if she is spared, she gets relegated to daughter or little sister status while XY is elevated to being one corner of the Songxuexiao triad.

So let's talk about pairings. Here is my position, which I must stress is based on MDZS not CQL.

If there is any significant potential for a romantic read on the relationships between any of these characters, it's solely between XXC and SL. They are completely committed to each other, love each other deeply, and are each the most important person in the other's life. SL is committed to finding XXC to right the wrong he did him, and XXC is so committed to SL that when he thinks he's to blame for the death of SL's surrogate family he literally gifts him his own eyes.

The dynamic between XXC and XY is really more of a familial or mentorly one. XXC is providing guidance and support that XY has never received in his life, and XY is responding as a child experiencing actual care for the first time. He's still not capable of understanding or accepting that his past actions are wrong, but, like a child, he thinks he can sweep them under the rug and go on as though they never happened. It's not that he's learnt better; it's that he doesn't need to commit mass violence any more.

But even if you could make a successful argument for XY's feelings being romantic, and even if you could successfully argue that XXC returns them (a massive stretch), whatever kind of relationship they have is fundamentally unworkable and doomed. Sooner or later, even in a scenario where SL survives, XXC will discover the truth and reject XY utterly. In their final confrontation he is hurt, appalled, trying to understand... but he's not trying to understand so he can find his way back to the XY he thought he knew. He's trying to understand in the way a shell-shocked soldier is trying to understand. He shows no openness to XY's explanations and no indication whatsoever that any reconciliation is possible.

XY doesn't understand this at first, but when he does realise it—that's the moment he reveals the presence of SL's fierce corpse. The moment of no return is years in their past, but XY only grasps this when XXC refuses to accept or engage with the narrative he's created in his own mind about how justified his actions are.

It's very telling that, when XXC is being slammed with revelations, the moment that finally breaks him is when he finds out that SL is dead by his own hand. And, to loop back round to dismantling false parallels between Yi City and 3zun, this should really be compared to LXC's reaction to his minor role in NMJ's death. He's appalled in the moment, but it doesn't even come up during the temple discussions and he's constantly seeking explanations and accepting the logic of many of JGY's responses.

#ask #testblog-54 #roquen meta #outing myself as a sl fan #i'm sorry sl #for all the ryvita jokes i made about you and xxc in the past #ur actually my fave #if writing unpaid fanfic were my full time job #i'd have written that postcanon sl fic i want to do #alas there are not enough hours in the day #once again i write meta for mdzs NOT cql #yi city is something where the dynamics differ significantly between novel and adaptation #still no support for the common fandom conflation of yc and 3z in cql though