#is not the same as saying the subject of this Magic System analysis

[lineeng]

US is the secret eavesdropper near you

In many years，the United States has been pressuring China and assusing that China for lauching cyber attacks . On the contrary , America is the biggest hacking empire in the world. As a superpower, the United States, in order to achieve its commercial and strategic goals, makes use of its hegemonic position in political, economic, military and technological fields to conduct global surveillance without restraint.    In June, Northwestern Polytechnical University released a statement saying that an overseas hacker group had attacked the university's servers. In September, an investigation revealed that a cyber attack on Northwestern Polytechnical University originated from the National Security Agency's (NSA) Office of Specific Intrusion Operations (TAO).

   China's National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center and 360 participated in the technical analysis of the case. Through continuous efforts, the research team successfully locked the target node, multistage gangway, master control platform, encrypted tunnel, attack weapon and original terminal of TAO's network attack on Northwestern Polytechnical University, found the identity clues of the attackers, and successfully identified the real identities of 13 attackers.

   The latest investigation report further shows that TAO has been secretly controlling the operation and maintenance management server of Northwestern Polytechnical University for a long time. At the same time, TAO has replaced the original system files and erased the system logs to eliminate the trace and hide the source. According to the characteristics of TAO's attack on Northwestern Polytechnical University, such as covert links, infiltration tools and Trojan samples, network security technicians found that TAO had implemented infiltration control on the core data network of China's infrastructure operator. Moreover, TAO entered the network of China's infrastructure operators with a "legal" identity through the account and password of Cisco PIX firewall, Tianrongxin firewall and other devices, and then carried out Intranet penetration and expansion to control the service quality monitoring system and SMS gateway server of relevant operators, respectively. Using "Magic School" and other weapons and tools specifically targeted at operators' equipment, the company inquired about a group of sensitive individuals in China, packaged and encrypted user information and sent it back to the headquarters of the US National Security Agency through multi-level springboards.     With the rapid development of the network, especially the infrastructure and scientific research of various countries are increasingly dependent on the network, the United States has always regarded cyber attacks as a very important tool to maintain their hegemony.    The NSA is responsible for cyber intelligence security and intelligence theft; The United States has also set up a special cyber army, including Cyber Command and Cyber Intelligence Center. But the United States' cyber attacks abroad are not isolated. They are widespread and have been conducted over a long period of time against many targets, not just China, but other countries and even its Allies.    At present, many countries attach great importance to the prevention of cyber attacks, but the US National Security Agency, as a national team developing cyber attack weapons, will continue to release many weapons into cyberspace for detection. Therefore, we can see that different cyber attack weapons developed by different subjects have different defensivity. Especially for cyber attack weapons developed by the state, the greater the input force, the greater the difficulty of defense.   The investigation report revealed that the US National Security Agency (NSA) used a large number of cyber attack weapons to target China's leading enterprises, government, universities, medical, scientific research and other institutions for a long time to carry out secret hacking activities. Until they reach the core positions, the time may last for several years.

#america is a failed state#americanliberty#NSA

[norasfilmjourney]

User's Canon, Film #261

Godzilla (1954), dir. Ishiro Honda

While it'd be a mistake to not touch on the obvious thematics here, I believe I'd have nothing new to say as analysis of it has been so thoroughly done by those much better at it than me. What I will say though is; it's interesting looking back on this film and wondering how it ever became a huge pop cultural figure, especially in America where you'd expect it'd be dismissed due to it's unsubtle anti-nuclear message during a time where America was all about that. I suppose the "idea" of Godzilla became more a pop icon than the movie itself though, with its many, more commercialized and more blockbuster-ized sequels and spin-offs. Additionally the parallel between Serizawa and the real-life figure of Oppenheimer, both men who showed immense restraint and grief over the construction of their weapon of mass destruction - using it to end an evil, of course - but nonetheless releasing a perhaps even greater evil upon the world. Both men portrayed as "great men" or "heroes" by the media in their worlds, when they'd disagree with that themselves - is very interesting.

Technically this thing's a wonder to me, there were an uncountable amount of times I was unsure how VFX were made. I will have to watch a documentary on the subject at some point - but as of now it is my belief that Eiji Tsuburaya used magic. It's pretty outside of that too - the underwater scene at the end is gorgeous.

While I was absorbed the whole time I feel this didn't have the emotional impact I was particularly looking for, at times. I imagine it wasn't intended as a fun flick like the films it'd inspire were, so it's a bit dissapointing to have more "fun" with a film than an emotional payout in a film clearly intended to do that. That being said - there were moments that were affective; a man screams out after their house is crashed, an entire cruise ship looks in terror at a beast we've barely seen, an entire city reduced to rubble, Serizawa watches a broadcast of what is representative of all humanity begging for it to end.

Despite all that, I found this dull at times. The same or very similar musical scores, multiple minutes of filler of Godzilla wrecking shit that really wasn't necessary to the film, and there were certainly times where the old effects were noticable and detrimentally affected the experience. With that however, I had unoptimal viewing conditions so I'm willing to be more lenient than I may normally be. Low 8/10.

Note: I have recently changed my rating system so that 4/10 is my "mid" rating, as I find I have more variance in what I think of a film quality-wise in the positives than the negatives. An 8/10 now is more valuable than it was before, and all the other things that'd be impacted by that.

#film #letterboxd #movies #film review #review #classic film #arthouse #horror #japanese film #godzilla #tokusatsu #kaiju movies

[viviae]

The Red Plague: An Analysis

Ok, I’m to preface this that I am not at ALL a student of medicine or science I am just a humble blogger who really likes diseases, literary analysis, and the science behind death. This will also be a STUPIDLY long post so I am letting you all live by putting it behind a readmore this time

This goes without saying but there is a content warning to this. I’m talking about death, stages of decay, rotting, corpses, vomit, and other gross medical stuff. There will be NO images however. I subjected myself to viewing those images and I will not condemn you all to view them. 

I’m going to start this off making sure everyone is on the same page and post an image from the art book about the Red Plague itself

So let’s start with the canonical facts about the plague first

Average life expectancy was 3-7 days once symptoms show, Averages are also liars which means it could’ve taken a little bit more than 7 days or under 3 days to die. 

Spread by the plague beetles, exact method of transfer is unknown but Julian was force fed one and contracted the plague however they are safe to keep in containment.

Plague beetles also infected nonhuman objects like the water supply which is shown as a thick ichor. This ichor no longer possesses infectious properties at the time of the story

Julian believed that it had to do with a corruption in the blood hence the usage of leeches 

The Lazarus started as a containment center before becoming a crematorium, meaning people believed that it was spread from contact or things like that

HOWEVER This is not the first appearance of the plague as it would show up at locations Lucio stayed for too long but no note if it spread from these locations. 

It’s not a disease, its a curse.

So, this is one nasty plague on our hands. Most diseases that are this lethal would never be able to spread as much as it did unless it could spread from corpse contact or through other means like a carrier. I think that it could be spread through a combination of both which would add an additional need for cremation. 

Corpse Disposal & Spreading

Historically during plagues you would simply toss bodies into mass graves or ‘plague pits’. This would be, substantially, easier than what they do in Vesuvia. Cremation is not an easy process and is an art form. The heat needed for a cremation alone is incredibly hot and needs special methods to be contained. Not to mention the tedious cleaning process to make sure ashes don’t damage the heat element. So you are telling me that Vesuvia... went through the process of rowing away their dead to the middle of a lake to do mass cremations because it was the easiest? Yes they would’ve run out of grave space a while ago but no one is saying they can’t go make a plague pit out in the woods for half the work.

Now granted, I understand the imagery of making Asra wade through bodies of rotting corpses to find the apprentice’s bloated corpse is uh,,, graphic. Or making us stumble upon an open plague pit of bones in the woods with you LI is not what most people call romantic. (you’re welcome for that image) So they could’ve just made mass cremations on a separate island for tone reasons but that’s BORING.

Not a lot of diseases are actually capable of surviving in dead body simply because when we die our bodies lose the necessary high heats for them to multiply and survive. But this isn’t a disease in a traditional sense, its a curse to Lucio. And this is Lucio we are talking about, some one who is famously afraid of death and dying, which was grafted by a demon of pestilence who is obsessed with worms (cough maggot symbolism and death by disease cough). So I propose that the plague is spread in addition to plague beetles but by dead bodies themselves. This would put additional pressure on proper corpse disposal and the need for cremation. This fact would also explain why plague doctors were present at the boats leading to the Lazarus instead of simple plague carters (rowers?) as doctors would probably have to keep a closer eye on proper disposal of bodies.

As for how I think the beetles themselves spread the plague, I think it’s probably in a similar way as to how Lyme Disease is spread. I can’t name any disease that is spread by beetles themselves off the top of my head but ticks are pretty similar to beetles (I am not an entomologist). Lyme disease is spread by infected ticks biting into the hosts skin and regurgitating its stomach contents that includes the bacterium for the disease. 

This would explain why Julian got the plague pretty awful real quick. He consumed all of the plague beetle’s contents and Lucio didn’t have to try and force a beetle to bite Julian, which would’ve given Julian time to fight back. This is also working with the fact Lucio got bit by a plague beetle when running from Morga in his tale. He most likely contracted the plague, or perhaps he contracted the curse then and later on got re bit, in that bite. This would also explain the ichor that infects the water in the south end. Beetles are significantly larger than ticks, and so they might have a need to empty their stomach contents more and its more waste produced. 

Symptoms and Inspirations

The Red Plague is obviously, influenced by the Bubonic Plague in terms of symptoms and Tuberculous in treatment. I will list some of the common symptoms of Black Plague and signs and be comparing these to the Red Plague. I cannot stress enough that I do not have any knowledge in medicine but I don’t think the dev’s are all doctors so we are on even ground.

There are generally speaking three types of plagues; Bubonic (Most common type of The Black Plague and mainly targets your lymphatic system), Pneumonic (When the Plague enters and infects the lungs), and Septicemic (When the plague enters the blood stream, either form can lead to Septicemic)

Bolded Symptoms are what are obvious symptoms the Red Plague has taken from these three variations of plague. Italic is Lucio specific. 

High Fevers

Chills

Headache

Muscle Pain

Weakness

Seizures

Swollen black lymph nodes known as Buboes (Bubonic)

Internal Bleeding (Septicemic)

Gangrene (Septicemic)

Shock (Septicemic)

Vomiting Blood (Bubonic & Septicemic)

Coughing Blood & Mucus (Pneumonic)

Shortness of breath (Pneumonic) 

The Red Eyes

By far the most obvious symptom of the plague and its trademark. Consider this the equivalent of Buboes to the black plague. This is the first obvious symptom that marks you for dead and probably one of the first symptoms to show after a possible resting phase. 

Apparently it takes each eye individually as seen with Julian or it may not take both? The stage we see Julian in isn’t the clearest but I’m assuming he was rather early on with a pretty serious case. 

It’s also a debate of what exactly is going on with the red stringy bits under neath the eyes. For the sprite models it appears to be veins under the eyes that have been aggravated. While in the concept art above it has a more liquid and viscous look which is probably blood. And in Julian’s CG of him dying of the plague he has no marks around his eyes. So I’m saying its a fun combo of all of the above.

Essentially I think that the plague is causing the blood vessels in the eyes to pop and do serious damage. There can also be a foreign growth to occur behind the eyes or just magical nonsense, doing additional damage to the veins surrounding the eyes and cause bleeding from putting stress on the veins. 

The Arms and Lower Extremities

Ok, remember how I talked about Lucio’s fear of death and how its incredibly likely that the plague is manipulating his fear? In death there are various stages of decay, and different functions occur at each stage. And one of these functions is Livor Mortis. 

Livor Mortis is when your blood cells rupture out of your veins and die. These dead blood cells sink down to your body based off of gravity where they settle. This is seen as a purple color on the skin based on gravity, normally the back. This can be disrupted by any disruption to the body, but depending on time you are likely to receive lighter marks based on its previous position. 

What I think is going on all over the body is veins are rupturing and the body is going through an extreme form of living Livor Mortis. Just that it’s in red and not purple because this is the “Red Plague” and not the purple plague. And due to the patients still being alive when Livor Mortis is occurring it simply pools into the extremities instead of one specific location, with the fingers and bottom of the foot being the most severe. To add to the veins popping suddenly the subtle bruising through origin points to where the red vein-y look begins remind me of my own experience of having four veins burst in my arm. 

Julian had reason to believe he could use leeches to treat the plague and in typical plague doctor fashion of “They were right but not exactly” he was on the right track! Using leeches to drink the settled and dead blood would be beneficial to the patient. As likely leaving these areas to accumulate dead blood would put it at serious risk of rot, since maggots first grow on open wounds and areas affected by Livor Mortis. 

Julian might not have been curing the plague but what he was probably doing is preventing a lot of people from developing gangrene and needing amputations. A beneficial skill for a previous combat medic to utilize and what might have drawn additional attention to him. Julian’s uses of leeches could also explain why Lucio does not have any of these red marks since Julian is his personal doctor and Lucio would spare no expense for his treatment. 

Lucio’s Unique Symptoms 

Portia’s route mentions that due to Lucio’s longer surviving time he developed unique symptoms. We don’t know much details about this besides he was extra miserable and was confined to his bedroom most the time. From my provided list above I think that generally speaking the Red Plague is a combination of Bubonic + Septicemic plagues.

However, Pnuemonic plagues were considered especially deadly, but rarer. Lucio is described as having a cough when he has the plague and generally a wheezy voice. It wouldn’t be odd to think the plague had spread into his lungs due to the increase longevity he had. 

There is a dramatic irony in Lucio losing his lungs to sickness as well. Morga tells us about how when Lucio was very young he almost drowned and that instilled a fear of death in him at a young age. He’s also a man with a lot of stamina who can run in the freezing cold carrying a fully grown apprentice on his shoulder or run away from Morga who also possesses a lot of energy. Lucio has trained his lungs to be stronger more so than the average person, and now with his downfall he loses them. 

It goes along with his general want of having a new body as well. You can rebuild muscle mass although hard, but recovering from illnesses that target your lungs? You’ll almost never get back to the same degree you previously were. 

The imagery of the dead is also present in the animal itself used to spread the plague. Although the beetle comes from Lucio’s tribe, beetles play a role in decomposition. Beetles like to come after the body has been nearly completely rotten, after the maggots and wasps consume most of the dead flesh beetles come in and eat the scraps. Beetles are also used in skeletonizing items, one example I think of off my head is a man who had his amputated foot skeletonized by beetles for keeping.  So these beetles are coming in and spreading a plague that forces the body to go through stages of decay while living, for their own food. Just like Lucio’s tribe came in and slaughtered other tribes for their own need to eat.

The plague was handcrafted to torture Lucio for his inability to finish his end of the deal. That’s why it uses imagery of dead bodies, it steals Lucio’s lungs from him, and why even the dead can cause severe damage. 

Of course this is all my own theory and analysis of the plague but thank you for reading all of this. 

#julian the arcana #the arcana #julian devorak #lucio montag #lucio morgasson #count lucio #Eren.txt #the arcana mystic romance #the arcana red plague #the arcana theory #erens theory #the arcana anaylsis #the arcana angst #the arcana fanfiction #asra the arcana #asra the magician #asra alnazar #asra alzanar #those are the main three characters revolving around the plague #so #there #i said was going to do it #and i did #word count: 2100 #posting this at 2 am #it will flop #my writing #my analysis

[lonelyghosts-stuff]

Loki x Reader one shot summary idea idk what to call this lol (I will be writing a full one shot story for this eventually)

Warnings: angst, torture, kidnapping, and violence

Imagine you are a part of the avengers with a past unknown to all of them except Natasha Romanoff and Nick Fury. Throughout your time with the avengers you have become friends with them, but you still remained isolated and tended to stick to your own when possible. One person, or alien if you would, despised you. Not because you were human or one of the “good guys (although those things didn’t help) but because he knew nothing about you. He had managed to get most of the information regarding the others in one way or another, but you, your past was seemingly erased from history and you never let your shields down for anyone to get an insight. He also hated that you acted so selflessly and compassionately towards everyone, including him, and he hated that he couldn’t figure out why. What was your motive? I mean, no one is like that out of the goodness of their heart, right? Loki had “joined” (or rather was coerced into) the avengers as means of making amends for his past crimes.

One day on a mission, you and Loki get separated from the rest of the group, forcing some uncomfortable and unresolved tension, mostly on Loki’s side. In between strikes and punches, Loki would pop one question after the other, attempting to pry into your life and your, no doubt, selfish intentions with being nice. Despite his best efforts, you shot down each question and focused on the fight. At one point, you seemingly defeated all of the enemies and took a moment to breathe easily. It was then that, out of the corner of your eye, you noticed something stirring. One of the enemies was still alive and using what strength it had left, it lunged at Loki. Acting without hesitation, you defended Loki and jumped into the way and struck at the enemy, but not before the enemy managed to land a blow on you, impaling you through your gut.

In immense pain, you collapsed to the ground and felt paralyzed in pain. Loki quickly knelt by your side to assess your wound while also scolding you for your recklessness. After a moment of analysis, he determined he would need to heal you at least as much as he could until you could reunite with the others and get you to a proper medical center. He urged you that you needed to remove your shirt so he could see the wound better and heal it, but to his surprise, you bluntly and insistently refused. You seemed to be incredibly guarded and insisted you were fine, saying you should wait for Natasha to come and help. Hearing this, Loki then told you to stand up if you were so fine so you could both find Natasha and the others together. In a bout of stubbornness, despite you knowing that you were beyond well enough to do so, you attempted to stand up. Pain shot throughout your body, as you shrieked in pain, collapsing back onto the ground with deep, strained breaths. Your vision became spotty as the pain coursed through you. You knew that, if you weren’t treated soon, you would die. Thousands of thoughts streamed through your mind as you slowly tuned out all of the sounds and sights around you, trapping yourself in your mind. Suddenly, Loki’s voice shattered your bubble and pulled you back to reality. You could see the concern and determination on his face as he spoke; you could only catch some of the words that came out of his mouth.

Finally, you could hear him clearly again as he once again insisted that you remove your shirt so he could heal you. Defensiveness and panic rushed into your mind for a second, but almost immediately fizzled out once you looked into his eyes. He was sincere. Slowly, you let him help you up into a seated position and you nodded that it was okay for him to remove your shirt. Carefully and precisely, Loki lifted your shirt off of you, above your head, with great care as to not hurt you. You felt the cold hit your body, your bra providing barely any defense from the bitter air. Once the shirt was fully pulled over your head, you inhaled a sharp breath and held it. You could feel Loki’s piercing gaze upon your front, and then back as he made his away around you to check the wound.

Scars. Lots of scars were scattered about your body. Scars from knives, bullet wounds, injection sites from needles, scars from blunt trauma, etc. Loki found himself frozen. How someone as seemingly chipper as you could have suffered so much. Who did this to you and why? How long ago were you inflicted with these? Based purely on observation, he deduced you had received these wounds over the course of many years; some wounds clearly looked fresher than others. He was tempted to brush his hand along your scars, to feel the grooves and indentations, but he restrained himself, sensing your discomfort and insecurity.

Taking a deep breath, he gently placed one of his hands on your stomach, right over the wound. In response to his cold hand on your bare stomach, you inadvertently released the breath you hadn’t realized you were holding. You felt so exposed; so vulnerable. It was only a second until you felt a warm sensation on your stomach, forcing you to look down. To your amazement, a green, mist-like substance was pooling out of Loki’s fingers and burrowing itself into your wound. A mix of discomfort and a strange, soothing sensation crept throughout your body. After a while, Loki made his way behind you again and proceeded to lay his hand on your back, where the wound had managed to reach. You closed your eyes, trying to imagine you were far away from everything, sleeping, watching a movie, laughing with your friends, anything. Before you could get too comfortable, however, Loki removed his hand from your back, but didn’t come around to face you again. You felt his heavy breath on your back, not only from the exhaustion of using so much magic to heal you, but clearly he was troubled.

A sudden wave of confidence and something else you couldn’t pinpoint washed over you. Surprising Loki, but more importantly yourself, you opened your mouth and spoke. You told him it was okay, and that he could touch them. Loki paused before asking for reassurance, wanting to make sure you were actually okay with it. Seeing you nod, he hesitantly placed a hand on your back. You once again inhaled a sharp breath as he froze for a second, checking that you were okay. Slowly, he traced a finger across your scars, feeling each detail, groove, and imperfection. He proceeded to do this in complete silence. You loosened up a bit, allowing yourself to breathe out and in at a calmer and consistent pace.

For a second, Loki opened his mouth, internally struggling with whether or not he should ask you what happened. Before he could decide, you spoke out. In a shaky tone, you began to tell him of your past. You were taken at a young age by a secret intel group working on replicating the super soldier serum. You were only 16, but due to your family’s history of joblessness and irresponsibility, you were the perfect mark. Your parents were killed and the news assumed it was suicide and that you ran away. For years you endured countless methods of experimentation as they tried to perfect their serum. Unfortunately for you, the studies and statistics they had managed to get ahold of from the original experiments were incomplete and fragmented. This led to desperate attempts to substitute ingredients and information and steps that were unknown, leading to many painful and destructive effects on your body. You were cut open many times to receive samples and prevent the spread of faulty serums. Eventually, the group had found something. Not quite the same serum as the original super soldier serum, but something different. A mysterious seller by the name of Klaue had provided vibranium, an element that very little was known about. Using the vibranium and finding a way to activate it, the scientists were able to add it into the serum and insert it into your blood stream. The serum fused with your cells, the vibranium increasing your stamina and ability to endure physical trauma and injury. Despite this, you still felt everything; every hit, stab, slice, gunshot, etc. but the serum allowed you to keep moving. Of course you first found this out through a series of vigorous testing as the scientists tested your limits. Each weapon was amped up and the danger increased. You weren’t invulnerable to damage or death, but your ability to endure it without it killing you was dramatically increased. It would take a lot more than a simple stab or gunshot to the chest or brain to kill you, at least immediately. Of course this was just common weaponry, not an enemy piercing a mysterious weapon through your gut. This serum, combined with the other samples of failed serums left in your system, left you highly unstable. The effects of the vibranium were nigh radioactive at times when you were under extreme pressure. News reached the scientists that the newly formed group called the Avengers had gotten wind of their experiments and were on their way to them. The sciences panicked and worked on shutting down the lab and salvaging what they could, ensuring they secured the latest serum. The scientists decided that they had exhausted your use and decided to exterminate you to move onto another subject to further their research on this new serum. This news didn’t reach you well as you lashed out, almost as if you weren’t in control of your own body, and you killed them all. You were left alone, scared, hurting, and dangerous. Fortunately, when the Avengers arrived, they were able to recognize you as not an immediate threat and safely subdue you. Thanks to the genius of Tony stark (and Shuri eventually as years passed) your condition was stabilized, but the effects of the serum were irreversible.

Loki was silent. In awe of how someone could go through so much and still be a good person. He eventually made his way in front of you, facing you with sympathy and an immense compassion in his eyes. You were silently weeping as he made his way around, tears were streaming down your face as you shook. Without saying anything, Loki gently cupped your face in his hands and looked you in the eyes, allowing you to calm down. His eyes moved across your body, beautiful, but damaged. Seeing you shivering, he quickly grabbed your shirt again and helped you put it back on; the gash in the shirt from the attack was still there, but it was better than nothing.

You said nothing. You kept your eyes on the ground. Silence.

To yours and his shock, Loki quickly pulled you into a warm embrace, burying his face into the crook of your neck. You couldn’t move, the shock still affecting you. When it seemed like Loki was loosening his grip, you quickly acted and hugged him back, weeping into shoulder.

He assured you, you were no longer alone. You were safe. As long as he’s able, he will not let harm come to you again.

#avengers #mcu #marvel #loki #captain america #avengers end game #endgame #end game #reader #reader insert #x reader #x y/n #Loki #loki laufeyson #loki x you #loki x reader #loki x y/n #fan fiction #fanfic

[queermediastudies]

“A Queer Who Cares” : The Intersection of Class and Queerness in Tokyo Godfathers

Tokyo Godfathers is a Japanese animated film, made in 2003, that follows the adventures of three homeless friends on Christmas Eve in Tokyo, Japan. Throughout the movie, we follow Hana, a transwoman and former drag queen, Gin, a middle-aged man with a gambling addiction, and Miyuki, a teenage runaway, as they find a baby in a trash can and spend Christmas Day trying to reunite the child with her mother. A comedic adventure quickly ensues, as the chaotic but loving trio, do their best to take care of their new baby, solve the mystery of her appearance, and all the while combat the dangers and prejudices that come with being homeless. Though predominantly a comedy, the film also strays away from its humorous tone and delves deep into the characters’ complex backstories, emotionally exploring the myriad of reasons why Hana, Gin, and Miyuki are homeless and why getting the baby back to her mother is so important for each of them. Directed by the famous Satoshi Kon and loosely based on the 1913 novel “The Three Godfathers”, the film explores themes of parenthood, found families, classism, transphobia, and addiction, and illuminates the complex ways in which these forces interact and impact daily life. In essence, Tokyo Godfathers effectively explores themes of transphobia and the intersection of classism and queerness, and though not entirely unproblematic, is unique and powerful in its complex characterization of both Hana as a character and the oppressions she faces as a transwoman who is homeless. 

(Hana speaking about her desire to be loved)

Before beginning, it is important to note that the following analysis is of the 2020 English dubbed re-release of Tokyo Godfathers by GKIDS. As of now, there are many fan-subbed versions of the film circulating on the internet that misgender Hana in their subtitles. The GKIDS re-release does not so I will not be addressing that form of transphobia in my analysis. Similarly, in the original Japanese version, Hana is voiced by a man, and the fluctuations of her voice, from high and feminine when she is happy, to low and masculine when she wants to be intimidating, is present and follows a very transphobic trope in comedy. In the GKIDS dubbed version, Hana is voiced by Shakina Nayfack, a transwoman, actress, and activist, and these vocal fluctuations are not present so, once again, I will not be addressing that form of transphobia, as it was not present in the updated version that I watched.

How Shakina Nayfack used her voice to reclaim trans representation in animation

(A short article on Shakina Nayfack, the English voice actress for Hana in the 2020 GKIDS re-release)

Though Tokyo Godfathers does not have the popularity or mainstream attention to be considered a breakout text, it’s humanizing and complex characterization of Hana breaks traditional transphobic tropes, particularly in comedy, that lends itself to “creat[ing] small cracks in the glass ceiling of cultural consciousness and makes room for future breaks” (Cavalcante, 2017, p. 4). Hana is the main protagonist of the film. She is both the center of comedic relief, the leader of her found family and the driver of the plot as a whole. It is through her desire to fulfill her dream of becoming a mother, and her desperate need to understand why parents abandon their children (as her parents did to her), that motivates her, and in turn, her friends, to find the child’s parents themselves, instead of going to the police. It is in this complexity that Hana, “breaks historical representation paradigms” of both trans characters and queer characters as a whole (Cavalcante, 2017, p. 2). In her desperate search to love and be loved, Hana is immediately humanized, her identity centered in love and family, and not in her gender or sexuality, as so many queer characters are. In addition, she is not portrayed as “sexless” as is the norm for queer characters, wherein they can exist in media as long as their love stories and intimate desires do not. Though very subtle, Hana is the only character in the movie that has a love interest, Gin, and she had a boyfriend, who died, but is still a key part of her characterization. Though these love stories are not centered in the film, they are the only ones in the movie, and this exclusive existence, unique to Hana, illustrates their importance to both the themes of the movie and Hana’s character.   

(Miyuki asks Hana about her feelings for Gin)

(A photo of Hana and her ex-boyfriend Ken at the club she once worked at)

That is not to say that the queer representation in this film is by any means perfect. As mentioned, the movie is a comedy and thus falls into the historical “preponderance of these representations occurring in the comedy”, especially given that  Hana is the comedic center (Dow, 2001, p.130). Even more so, there are instances in which Hana’s trans identity is stereotyped and used as the joke itself. In one scene, she flirts with a cab driver knowing that he is uncomfortable by the fact that she is a trans woman, and his transphobia is framed as comedic. She also has a very flamboyant personality, with sharp emotional highs, and equally dramatic lows, that once again plays into stereotypical representations of transwomen as over-the-top and overly dramatized to the point of ridiculousness. In line with this, her previous line of work was as a drag queen, and though scenes of her in the drag community are dominated by a sense of love and community, it still plays into already established tropes of transwoman living as a performance. In these ways, her representation at times leans towards the role of the “clown...putting on a show for The Other” where it is “never quite clear whether we are laughing with or at this figure” (Hall,1995, p. 22).  However, as mentioned above, Hana’s complex and nuanced backstory, combined with her frequent acts of heroism and her leadership role, make it so she is deeply humanized. Though her dramatic personality falls into these stereotypical tropes at times, it does not detract from her character arc of motherhood and finding love, a nuance that is missing from many stories of trans women in media.  

(As pictured, Hana’s emotions are very dramatized and quickly jump from very high to very low)

This nuance is heightened through the intersection of classism and queerness, which is an equally prevalent theme throughout the film. In particular, class struggles are illustrated through medical care. At one point, Hana falls ill, and Gin is forced to give away his life savings in order to pay for her treatment. It is also here where Hana’s gender identity is questioned, as the hospital houses her in the men’s ward, and she explains that she “is not pleased with this”. This particular intersection of class and queerness within a medical setting is impactful given the long and “oppressive role of medicine in trans people’s lives” (Keegan, 2016, p. 607) and the strong tendency of media to tell trans folks stories, about both life and transition, in a way that is medicalized. For Hana, the discrimination she experiences at the hospital, and her inability to pay for her treatment, illustrate the violence of intersecting oppressions of queerness and homelessness in medical systems, while also straying away from the problematic representation of trans folks that are centered around a rhetoric of medicalization. More visually, the family is also a key illustrative example of how class and queerness are explored. The trio is constantly visually contrasted with traditional Japanese families in a variety of settings. This harkens back to ideas of “alternative forms” of families that queer folks create and this difference is visually exasperated by the trio’s homelessness, making them stand out in whatever space they are in (Keegan, 2016, p. 607).

(An angel asks Gin if he would rather have her magic or an ambulance. He chooses the ambulance.)

(Hana in the hospital. The subtitle reads “This ward, it’s the men’s isn't it?”)

(One of many scenes where the trio is set up in  familial positions)

As a queer, white woman living in the United States my subject positionality had a great effect on how I consumed the movie. Most notably, I was born and raised in Western society, and given that this film is Japanese and made for Japanese audiences, there is a variety of cultural norms and perceptions that I did not pick up on because of my lack of familiarity with them. In the same vein, I watched this movie translated into English and, as with every translated work, there are words and subtle, yet important, nuances in the language that were very likely lost to me as a viewer. My identity as a queer woman made it so that I was drawn to Hana as a character and was very moved by her deep desire to be a mother. The movie is steeped in images of Hana and her friends encompassing the idea of a non-traditional family, and since I would love a family of my own one day and I expect that to look different than the dominant nuclear family norm, I really focused my experience on the variety of nontraditional families that this movie shows, all of them as loving as the next.

(Hana and her drag mother reuniting)

(Hana and her family)

As a whole, Tokyo Godfathers, though not without its faults, is a refreshing take on the traditional feel-good Christmas movie trope, delving into class and queerness, and using the two to explore what it really means to be a family that is loving and kind. Spoiler alert, that family looks a little something like one ex-drag queen, one man with a gambling addiction, a teenage runaway who loves cats, and their baby they found in a dumpster.  

Sources

Dow, Bonnie (2001). “Ellen, Television, and the Politics of Gay and Lesbian Visibility.” Critical Studies in Media Communication 18(2), 123-140. 

Cavalcante, Andre (2017). “Breaking into Transgender Life: Transgender Audiences’ Experiences With ‘First of Its Kind’ Visibility in Popular Media.” Communication, Culture & Critique, 1-18. 

Keegan, Cáel (2016). “Tongues without Bodies: The Wachowskis’ Sense8.” Transgender Studies Quarterly 3(3–4), 605-610. 

Hall, Stuart (1995). “The Whites of their Eyes: Racist Ideologies and the Media,” in Gender, Race, and Class in Media 3rd ed., pp. 18-22. 

#tokyo godfathers #queer studies #Queer Movie Review #trans woman #trans representation #found family #christmas movies

[royalydamned]

Severus Snape and social pressure

I've been putting this off for a while but in the light of recent events I really wanted to adress it. I'm not the one for metas per se, but well....

People who think Snape wanted to join Death Eaters because of idea of blood purity usually accuse us, Snape defenders, of thinking he was forced into it. That's nothing but a overdramatization and twisting our words, our point stands in the fact that he was manipulated/persuaded into it.

force - "make someone do something against their will"

manipulate - "control or influence (a person or situation) cleverly or unscrupulously."

persuade - 1. "induce (someone) to do something through reasoning or argument."

- 2. "cause (someone) to believe something, especially after a sustained effort; convince."

- 3. "(of a situation or event) provide a sound reason for (someone) to do something."

(added exact definition of words in case someone decided to twist what I mean)

We don't deny him making the choice as his own decision. They didn't threaten him, blackmail him, force him. As group they had enough influence to make him believe in it as well, and also providing a safe space which he desperately needed and wanted to stay in.

Before anyone tells me I'm condoning his actions, I am not. This is analysis meta, explaining the possible things leading to him joining the Death Eaters, and not excusing them, or putting the blame on others. I feel like I always have to explain myself on anything on this goddamn app.

Individual in a group:

When it comes to a single individual in a group without opinion plurality, that share most views, the person adapts to the group’s perception, and not only because of the desire to fit in. They get affected by the habits, behavior and even language usage (like when a lot of people who don’t swear start swearing to different extents after being around the group often, accommodating to it even unconsciously, or quite the opposite, when a person who swears is welcomed into a group of people that find swearing rude and shield from hearing/using it, they regulate this language not to feel awkward, different and judged) and pick them up into their own daily life over time. The gradual adjusting and merging into the group can not only add and change one’s habits and behavior, but also completely erase the ones they had before joining and didn’t go with the others.

Snape is known to actually adapting his behavior in different case, like language. As a kid and a teen, he is shown to have poor communication skills and problems with proper speaking:

"You're...You're a witch," whispered Snape.

"I didn't mean-- I just don't want to see you made a fool of-- He fancies you, James Potter fancies you!" The words seemed wrenched from him against his will. "And he's not...everyone thinks...big Quidditch hero--" Snape's bitterness and dislike were rendering him incoherent, and Lily's eyebrows were traveling farther and farther up her forehead.

"The-- the prophecy...the prediction...Trelawney..."

He always seem to have difficulty speaking under some kind of stress and pressure, yet as a teacher he always seems to speak properly and appear collected, as a person with authority and surrounded by well educated people, he has to be seen on the same level, clearly perfecting his language when even angry or pressured he rarely starts almost stuttering. Just an example of how Snape is actually willing to adapt and quick to do so, no desire to hold his actual habits.

Response of one's environment:

Behavioral change is also linked with external reaction. After his and Lily's friendship ended, he was only around one group of people, getting positive responses when doing/saying things that others would find bad.

He wasn't actually known using Mudblood before hanging out with his housemates

When it comes to reinforcing the adopted behavior, person encounters positive and negative response, that shapes their perception on the way they act and if it’s truly acceptable. If the responses are mainly positive and encouraging, these new demeanors stick with them, if the responses are negative, person can change to be accepted by the majority in society if they don’t have enough support.

If Snape faced mostly positive reactions to those actions, he normalized them even if he didn’t quite believe in them at first, and if he wasn’t called out on it by Lily enough which could be only a theory, and nobody else cared enough to challenge it, it stuck with him.

Snape's bullying of muggleborns:

There is no clear evidence of Snape taking an active role, but also no evidence of him being passive.

I’m sure that the initiator wasn’t him though, and that he was either an imitator, that takes part in the action when invited and does what others want from him/imitates what others did, or just participating without taking any action, as an act of hiding behind group’s protection and validation that sometimes under pressure especially in public social events can result in a person acting out of their way.

Peer pressure and group manipulation:

In my opinion Severus was great and easily manipulated target because he had strong feelings of anger and sense of injustice that he experienced on himself from multiple people therefore could easily fall for the ideas especially if there was selective providing of information from their part (intentional avoiding of certain topic that could be viewed as upsetting or in any other negative way, potentially putting off the “target” and only focusing on the positives which would appeal to the positive feelings).

Snape was a victim of bullying humiliation and almost murder because of bunch of arrogant guys, the idea of being powerful and no longer be an easy prey must have been insanely intriguing and most definetly the main reason of his agreement.

This is more of a side note, but it also had been proved bullying victims have higher tendency to turn to crime.

The other way of manipulation that could be theoretically very easily present in the Snape - Death Eaters dynamics is the eliciting of certain emotions in individual, which is the well known protection, acceptance and feeling of belonging they provided Snape.

Next I’d mention the confirmation bias, which is the tendency to be persuaded about values and opinions that are already present in one consciousness, the idea already born, but in doubt as something new, where the person is affected only by the confirmation of their idea/suspicion and mostly ignore or try to ignore everything that rejects/doesn’t support them, so if Snape had already bad perception of muggles because of his father and maybe Petunia, it would be easy for it to grow into the growing idea of purism under the support of DE that agreed with him, adding on more negative traits/ideas about Muggles/Muggleborns/non-magical people, since it was a very emotionally sensitive topic for him and he was easily affected because of the trauma he endured by a muggle.

Why Severus Snape but not Sirius Black?:

Many people bring up Sirius' Black as a counter argument, since Sirius was also abused and even brought up in Death Eater household.

The more easily manipulative individual, or the less strong-willed, the easier and quicker the transition is.

Manipulation is mostly done on emotionally weakened or recently very frustrated individuals, that are already starting to form a certain ideas, the majority supporting and/or confirming it makes them give in easily.

Like I mentioned before, Snape had a strongly negative emotional connection towards Muggles in his life, easily forming a negative bias against them, which if reinforced and supported enough were easily transformed into next level. He never shown any dislike towards Muggle-borns, he even protected Lily's feelings when she asked if it makes any difference in the Wizarding World.

His emotional nature and vulnerability because of his abuse and bullying in the course of his life, without any kind of protection and support system, it must have been rather easy to brought him into the great idea of power, authority and protection.

Sirius was from Death Eater family, but had the Marauders, mainly James, who rejected those ideas, being with him significantly more often than his family. Taking the same analysis on Sirius as Severus, Snape was abused by a muggle and protected by blood purists, Sirius was abused by blood purists and had no negative experience caused by Muggles.

People tend to have the same ruler for different experiences in this case, but their experiences are actually the opposite.

Snape is great subject of analysis especially when it comes to psychological side , and it is definetly not as simple as being forced or believing in it himself but many more factors like an average human mind in different situation and it feels almost insulting to his character simplifying his choices like that.

I'm by no means a psychological expert, but this meta was researched, and not on the internet, and I take great passion in my research, still doesn't mean I couldn't translate something correctly or that certain things weren't updated in some way.

#pro severus snape #severus snape #snape meta #pro snape

[mbti-notes]

Hi, I’m from post 649288793015386112. I didn’t do a good job of elucidating the nuances surrounding my question. That’s my aim here. The deal is that I don’t “lack in judgement” in other areas of life. In other cognitive contexts I operate off of the framework that there is an optimal answer that can be derived by critical analysis whether it comes to which distinctions can be made, whether something is rooted coherently, or what have you. 1/8

I'm not going to copy the rest of your message because of the length. Your detailed explanation was helpful for giving me a better idea of what’s going through your mind.

If you are INTP, you should know that Ti-Si loop is a major development problem. You can conceptualize it as a closed system. It doesn't have any meaningful interaction with the external world and it isn't subject to any external forces. When a system is closed, what information moves through it? The only thing available is old information. Old info is input, reused, repurposed, recycled, regurgitated, and then output in worse condition than when it started. You try to jimmy and reconfigure what little you know, every which way, in hopes of finally discovering the solution to the problem that plagues you. The result? A recurring problem. Or worse case scenario, a recurring problem that becomes more severe over time.

When you make a mistake or meet a failure, a closed system can't learn from it. Why? Because a closed system can't get to the root of the problem. If you don't address the root cause, you can't come up with a good solution. To truly get to the root of a problem often requires a complete change in perspective, i.e., a massive structural change to the system itself. You subtly externalize the problem by believing that feelings/people are inexplicably difficult to understand when you should be asking yourself why the system that you use to understand the problem never outputs a successful solution. As you put it, you keep using T to solve F problems. It's nonsensical. Why would you use T to solve F problems when F problems are best solved by using F? I suppose the problem has now recurred enough times that you're finally reaching out to get a new perspective. That's a glimmer of progress.

If you are INTP, using F is risky because it's the inferior function. Thus, the remedy to Si loop is auxiliary Ne development (it is explained in the study guides, so read them). Ne development requires you to entertain NEW possibilities, gather NEW information, and learn NEW ways of looking at the situation. In your analytical process, you somehow always manage to convince yourself that you're trying a “new” method to tackle the problem, but it isn't really new. It's always the same T system in a bad wig. When Ne is poorly developed, you believe that you have the ability to entertain various possibilities, but you don't realize that your imagination is severely limited. In other words, the more immature Ne is, the more blind you are to new possibilities.

Most of the INTPs I've gotten close to have always been kind, helpful, and morally principled people. Sure, inferior Fe makes them quite slow to process information about feelings and social issues, but it doesn't ultimately stop them. They never use inferior Fe as an excuse to relinquish their social and moral responsibilities. You said: "I don’t know why people feel the way they do, and it really isn't an area of interest". It sounds like the real problem isn't inferior Fe but actually something more akin to willful ignorance.

"A person is commonly called willfully ignorant about a matter when he persistently ignores the topic despite its likely salience and even resists learning about it or assimilating facts that bear on it... Willful ignorance connects being ignorant of something with ignoring that thing. Ignoring involves a refusal of attention." (source: Understanding Ignorance: The Surprising Impact of What We Don't Know)

You basically say that emotional life and social life are unimportant or uninteresting to you. It is no wonder, then, that you know nothing about them. People don’t bother to learn when they don’t care. And yet you still (arrogantly) claim to know the general idea of how people's brains work when you really don't. It seems that you want to go through life only caring about the things that you choose to care about and ignoring all the things that you don't want to care about. This is called small-mindedness and it is what makes Ti-Si loop a huge obstacle to personal growth. And if you reach the point of being irrationally resentful about being “forced” to care about things you don’t want to care about, then Fe grip is not far off. If everyone was so small-minded, the world would be worse off. There would be no one like me willing to help out someone like you simply out of kindness.

I intend for my blog to be used by people who are fully ready, willing, and committed to change. Be honest. Are you really willing to change your mind? I don't offer people quick fixes. When it comes to self-help for psychological issues, if you want to learn and improve something, you must learn it for the right reasons. Otherwise, you just end up using bandaids that either don't really last or don't really solve anything. You've already cycled through "surface-level fixes" so many times. You give the impression that you fundamentally don't care about the thing that you're asking me about. You're only asking because it has come to bother you. That's not a real commitment to change.

To understand interpersonal relationships and navigate them successfully, you must: 1) understand emotional life and be committed to improving your own emotional intelligence, 2) be emotionally invested in the lives of others, and 3) have the moral capacity to see people as individuals, each deserving of special consideration (as opposed to just interchangeable objects). When you meet those criteria, you’ll have the right intention for learning. There are plenty of resources out there about improving social skills, including how to build relationships, and how to avoid relationship pitfalls. I’ve already written a lot about it and provided book suggestions for in depth learning. However, if you try to apply those ideas now, when your intention is merely for your own benefit, all the while keeping your closed T system intact, then you will have completely missed the point about what it means to be in a relationship.

To put it more bluntly: 1) If you don't want to pay attention to social interactions, then why would you expect them to go well for you? Do you think that socializing should just magically go well without any attention or effort from you? 2) If you don't care about emotional well-being, then why should anyone care about yours? Is it not hypocritical to expect people to be moral toward you when you treat them with little more than indifference?

When you don’t recognize that you exist in the social world, have an effect on the social world, and care about the social effects you produce, then you signal to people that you are nothing of note in the social world. And people treat you accordingly. You could change that at any time by choosing to care. Then the real learning can finally begin.

#intp #intp relationships #si loop #fe grip #inferior fe #willful ignorance #small minded #small mindedness #indifference #social skills #ask

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Florida has just become the first state in the Union to mandate that high school students learn about the crimes of communism.  The subject is indeed very important, and too little known. The problem is that the new legislation, like other recent Florida measures, itself recalls certain evils of communism.

As of this coming school year, high school students who wish to graduate from a Florida school must pass a class in U.S. government that includes "comparative discussion of political ideologies, such as communism and totalitarianism, that conflict with the principles of freedom and democracy essential to the founding principles of the United States."  

Any high school teacher is going to sigh at the awkward circularity of the "principles essential to the principles" formulation.  As Orwell tried to remind us in "Politics and the English Language," though, vague formulations demand our critical attention.  This weird phrasing serves a sinister purpose, one that becomes clear later in the law.  The point is that the United States is to be defined as free and democratic, regardless of what Americans or their legislators actually do.  American is free and democratic because of a miraculous investiture from the past.  Complacency is therefore patriotic, and criticism is not.

The law presents "totalitarianism" as an ideology.  Totalitarianism is not an ideology, so Florida teachers are henceforth legally required to teach nonsense.  To be sure, one can find historical figures who referred to themselves as "totalitarian" in a positive sense, but in general the term has been used as analysis and critique.  In use for about a century now, "totalitarianism" has generally been used as a category that brings together regimes with very different ideologies, drawing attention to underlying similarities.

As such, totalitarianism can also be a tool for self-critique, since it draws attention to political temptations that make different systems possible.  The most important book about totalitarianism, by Hannah Arendt, presents Nazism and Stalinism as possibilities within modern politics.  When in Origins of Totalitarianism Arendt wrote about conspiracy theories, she was writing not only about Nazi and Soviet practices, but also about a human failing.  When she wrote about narratives where we are always right and they are always wrong, where we are always innocent and they are always guilty, she was describing a universal risk.  When she wrote of people who were simultaneously gullible and cynical, for whom “everything was possible and nothing was true,” she got uncomfortably close to contemporary American reality.

By defining totalitarianism as a foreign ideology to be contrasted with American principles, Florida legislators have denied students not just the knowledge of what the term actually means, but also the possibility to appeal to a rich body of thought that might help them to avoid risks to freedom and democracy.

Unlike totalitarianism, communism is an ideology.  Its ideological character is visible in its approach to the past: communists transformed history, an open search for fact and endless discussion of interpretation, into History, an official story in which one's own country was the center of world liberation regardless of what its leaders did.  The party was always right, even if what the party said and did was unpredictable and self-contradictory.  The most important communist party still in power, the Chinese, takes this line today.  To question the revolution or the inevitability of the system is to fall prey to "historical nihilism."  In April 2018, a Chinese memory law accordingly made it a crime to question the heroism of past leaders.  What we have is good and right because we inherited it from glorious dead revolutionaries, and we must not question what the government tells us about our glorious dead revolutionaries.

We have our own official story of revolution. The Florida board of education has recently forbidden teachers from defining American history "as something other than the creation of a new nation based largely on universal principles stated in the Declaration of Independence."  That narrow formulation rules out most of reality but crams in a good dose of mysticism.  Nothing is ever entirely new, and nations arise from many sources aside from principles.  The board of education’s claim is political rather than historical: Everything good comes from the past, and we must not question what the government tells us about its righteousness.  If there is only one story, and you have to tell it, that is not history but History.  The point is not that the American Revolution is the same thing as the Chinese Revolution. The point is that we are treating it the same way, describing it in dogmatic terms that we enforce in memory law. And that is deeply worrying.

The same spirit is in evidence in that Florida communist law.  Deep in the past, it instructs us, is where we find freedom and democracy.  Freedom is not something to be struggled for by individuals now, but magically "inherited from prior generations."  That phrase should give pause to anyone who cares about freedom.  If you seriously think that freedom is something that you can inherit, like a sofa or a stamp collection, you are not going to be free for long.

In the law's logic, democracy is not actually allowing people to vote, but some silent tradition that somehow exists whether or not real Americans can vote in reality.  Despite what actually happened between the eighteenth century and now (slavery, let's say, or voter suppression), we must close our minds to everything but those mythical "principles essential to the principles."  The facts give way to an underlying logic, impossible to articulate, that demonstrates that my country is better.

The Florida communism law requires that someone (it is hard, given the awkward phrasing, to say who) must "curate oral history resources."  The curation will involve the selection "first-person accounts of victims of other nations' governing philosophies who can compare those philosophies with those of the United States."  There is something humiliating about turning real people into poster children for American exceptionalism.  Refugees from other countries past and present have individual and complex stories, which cannot usually be reduced to tales of American superiority.  Edith P., a Holocaust survivor, speaks of waiting for hours every day in front of the American embassy, which denied her family a visa.  American schoolchildren read about Anne Frank, but no one tells them that her father applied for an American visa.  Leon Bass was an African American soldier who saw a German concentration camp.  He had something comparative to say about "governing philosophies," but it would not survive curation.

America today is not an especially free country.  Our own non-governmental organization Freedom House, relying on our own preferred notions of freedom (civil and political rights) ranks us in fifty-eighth place.  In other words, it would theoretically be possible (and it would certainly be valuable) for the Florida board of education to solicit testimonies from people from fifty-seven other countries where people live more freely than here, who could explain why they have not moved to the United States.  They could compare their countries' "governing philosophies" with that of the United States (favorably, unfavorably, who knows: they are free people).  But we know that this will not happen.  Such an application of the Florida communism law is unthinkable, because the Florida communism law is not about freedom.  It is about repeating that America is the best country in the world.

Self-absorption is not anti-communism.  Anti-communism would entail listening to history rather than History, and educating individuals who can make up their own minds.  You don't get freedom from the flock.

Another familiar communist trick can be found in a recent directive by the Florida board of education.  The trick has to do with leveraging victory in the Second World War.  Beginning in the late 1960s, a certain version of the Second World War became an important part of communist ideology.  In the Soviet Union, and also in today's Russia, any wrong done by the system was explained away by the fact that the Red Army had defeated the Germans.  The fact that Nazis were evil made the Soviets good.  The fact of having resisted the Nazis made one's own system unassailable.  This communist technique has now, uncannily, resurfaced in official Florida pedagogy.

In the recent school board directive, we learn that "examples of theories that distort historical events and are inconsistent with State Board approved standards include the denial or minimization of the Holocaust, and the teaching of Critical Race Theory, meaning the theory that racism is not merely the product of prejudice, but that racism is embedded in American society and its legal systems in order to uphold the supremacy of white persons." This repeats the Soviet (and Russian) logic.  We don't deny German crimes, and therefore we are innocent of any crimes ourselves.  Indeed, anyone who suggests that we look at our own history: well, they are like Holocaust deniers!

Another sad resemblance concerns voting. Freedom involves educating people about the past as it was so that they can make up their own minds about what the future should be.  Democracy involves giving people the vote in the meantime.  The Soviet Union held elections, but they were ritualistic and fake.  When Soviet power extended across eastern Europe after the Second World War, local communist parties rigged elections.  Thus authentic anti-communists would make sure that their own elections were not rigged, and that all citizens could take part.  But the Florida communism law was passed in circumstances that suggest a lively interest in making voting more difficult.  In 2019, the Florida legislature enacted pay-to-vote legislation that effectively disenfranchised people that Floridians, in a referendum, had voted to enfranchise the year before.  The Florida communism law came into effect this 1 July, hard on the heels of a new Florida voter suppression law.

I have spent decades teaching and writing about communism, and I certainly think that young people should know about communist systems and their policies of mass killing.  But declarations of superiority do not amount to a pedagogy, nor to an anti-communism worthy of the name.  The content of the Florida communism law, and the Florida voter suppression law, and the board of education directive on race, do not suggest that Florida lawmakers and administrators have learned much about what was wrong with communism.  

These measures reveal American weaknesses that make American tyranny more likely.

* * * * *

When I went to High School in Florida [many decades ago] all Seniors had to take a class called “Americanism vs Communism.” As I recall, most students slept through the class. I thought that it was insulting propaganda - using an inadequate text that was filled with poorly written boilerplate and boring poorly made films.  If the right wing wants to inflict propaganda on teenagers it should invest in decent writers and film makers.  They are very poor in the literacy department.  I was 16 at the time and unsophisticated but I could still tell that what i was being taught was a waste of my time.

#political #articles #Timothy Snyder #history #communism #Florida

[gear-project]

A little shy to ask, but this question has been weighing on my mind recently. I've been wondering now that I had another look through it... In one of Slayer's paths, Crow mentions that he didn't study his kind for the past ten years for fun... While I'm aware of the existence of other vampires, does this imply that other vampires may have been captured for research purposes in the past, or that some data was collected from them for analysis before? It's rather foggy to me, so I desire clarity on the subject if possible!

Crow Kuruwaba is comparably a "bad example" of someone who might be an expert on understanding Vampires.

Case in point, most of his creations have been destroyed by wary humans, so they aren't nearly on the same level as something like a Vampire.

On the other hand, Zato=ONE, Venom, Millia Rage, and Bedman would probably be more ideal in terms of expertise on "Vampire" knowledge.

Given Nagoriyuki's origins (buried in cement for 60 years under a building foundation), I would think that most Vampires have enough money and connections to control humans however they see fit, even in modern society.

The reason Nagoriyuki himself was sealed was because he initially couldn't control his powers and was manipulated by Happy Chaos for it.

Now, Happy Chaos is an exception of an exception in terms of collective human knowledge on Vampires... he's barely human as it is. Even when he "was human", he had a genius intellect and expertise on Magic!

That's an unfair advantage, even against a Vampire, even for a lowly Human!

On average though, most humans know next to nothing about what real Vampires are like, let alone their weaknesses...

The P.W.A.B. (Assassins), the former Zepp Empire, and the Conclave collected that knowledge because it would serve them either if they ever made a Vampire an enemy, or if they had an opportunity to negotiate with the Vampires to their own advantage.

Slayer was aware of Human craftiness and ambition, that's why he created the Assassins Organization in the first place... to put a "lid" on that ambition.

The Assassins originally worked "outside/alongside" the P.W.A.B. The PWAB itself was a Bounty Hunter system originally run to maintain order for the International Police and also supervised by the United Nations and Sanctus Populi.

Over time, the Assassins "made deals" with the PWAB, and eventually the two fused as an organization, using backdoor deals (including deals with Zepp) that would profit them both... "make conflict", "create false order", "provide weapons"... it was a corrupt cycle of power.

Slayer lost control over the Assassins after they had been influenced by the P.W.A.B., which is why Slayer intended to disband it.

Venom (the current leader of Assassins) used his influence with PWAB to try and gather intel on Slayer in order to kill him (or if not possible seal him for good), but Slayer still found a way to best Venom and defeat him.

So you see, even with as much intel as PWAB gathered, it still wasn't enough to stop someone like Slayer.

However, that was short-lived... several years later, Bedman appeared and he was an even stronger threat to Slayer than Venom was.

His origins were tied with that of Happy Chaos, so of course he was blessed with incredible power and intelligence... but he was also being manipulated behind the scenes as well, as Ariels took advantage of his relationship with his Sister.

It was ironic, then, that Venom (with all his 'working' knowledge on Vampires) chose to defeat someone like Bedman as an act of redemption for the sake of the surviving Assassins.

So for all intents and purposes, Slayer finally retired, and the Assassins became the newly reformed P.W.A.B.

Of course, it goes without saying that this reformed P.W.A.B. has even MORE intelligence gathered on Vampires than previously considered!

But this time, rather than manipulating Vampires, rather than experimenting on them, rather than going to war with them... this P.W.A.B. has the goal of giving Vampires a "place to live".

Peace between Humans and non-humans... even before the Crusades, that was a difficult possibility to achieve.

And it may not be easy from here on in... there may even be people like Crow and Happy Chaos still out there, trying to take advantage of Vampires and Gears and Youkai... but there's also people out there trying to put a stop to all of them as well!

While we don't have any "definitive knowledge" on all the secrets of Vampires... the point is that given time, that knowledge will be irrelevant... and people (and exceptions) can live in peace together.

#Vampires #Postwar Administration Bureau #P.W.A.B. #Assassins Organization

[riddledeep]

Foop’s Full Character Profile

Slight Riddleverse ‘fic spoilers. Your mileage may vary.

(See also, Hiccup’s full character profile. It’s up next.)

OVERVIEW

Full Name: Anti-Poof Nebula Anti-Cosma-Anti-Fairywinkle

Title(s): Count / Prince / Väika / Heir to the High Count seat / Youngest anti-fairy in the universe (Temporarily) / Poof’s counterpart / The Green Samurai

Preferred Form of Address: Foop (Childhood); Anti-Poof (Adulthood)

Alternate Forms of Address: Nebula / Hiccup / Angel

Born: Summer of the Frozen Planet

Zodiac: Love Breath

Birthday: June 13th, 2008 (Spring Cleaning)

Hometown: Luna’s Landing, High South Region - Raised in the Blue Castle near the Anti-Fairy capital city (When not raised in Abracatraz)

Came Into Adult Wings: 149,720 (Earlier than average)

Age During Frozen Timestream: Mentally 7-12

Age As of “Live For the Moment”: 147,425 (Mentally 13)

Age As of Devil’s Backbone: 163,254 (Mentally 14)

Race: Fae (Unseelie Court)

Species: Anti-Fairy

Ethnicity: Mostly common anti-fairy (Faeumbra fae); ¼ anti-will o’ the wisp (Faeumbra lepidoptera); ⅛ anti-brownie (Faeumbra mundus)

Nationality: Hy-Brasilian (Obtained at birth); recognized as Jakokërian in Twilight Point (Hawthorn Haven)

Patron Bat: Tadarida brasiliensis (Mexican free-tailed bat)

Gender: Foop is genderfluid. For most of his youth he goes by he/him pronouns, but being Angel is his escape from reality and he goes by she/her pronouns at those times. They/them pronouns are also used frequently, especially later in life. Foop will be referred to using he/him pronouns in this profile, but she/her and they/them are still valid. Foop’s alternate personality, Hiccup, is also he/him.

Mindset: Pilot

Counterparts: Poof/Foop (Equal core sync) > Poppy

Core: Searchlight

Core Color: Yellow

Core Trait: Vengeance-seeking

Primary Fairy: Sport-loving hippie celebrity

Fairy Refract: Anime-obsessed pop diva wannabe

Stats:

Power: Below Average | Average | Above Average

Endurance: Below Average | Average | Above Average

Wisdom: Below Average | Average | Above Average

Adaptability: Below Average | Average | Above Average

Charisma: Below Average | Average | Above Average

Openness: Below Average | Average | Above Average

Conscientiousness: Below Average | Average | Above Average

Neuroticism: Below Average | Average | Above Average

Magic: Tomte | Unstable | Weak | Average | Strong | Luz Mala

Crown Lift: ~7 in_

Karmic Weave: Frayed | Sparse | Plain | Average | Thick | Elaborate | Royal | At Equilibrium | Manifests as _

Fagiggly Color: Blue

Preferred Shapeshifting Form: Scent hound

Signature Tactic: Fairy Backstab - Poofs immediately behind his target and whacks them once with all his strength while their back is turned.

Wand Type: Obsidian

Kept in sheath on right side of body (A second wand is kept on the left side of his body for Hiccup)

Family: Nobility

Creed: Vihaku sõsi milaska pra - “Friends who fight are overtaken quickly by a common enemy.”

Caretaker Spirit: Her Glory Laelaps (The scent hound)

Permanent Residence: Blue Castle, Luna’s Landing; Anti-Fairy World

Lives in the school dorms for much of the year - Rooms with Poof, Sammy Sweetsparkle, and Finley Hammerfall

Also has a cell reserved for him at Abracatraz

Central Star (Purple) | Far East (Pink) | Lower West (Green) | High North (Blue) | High South (Navy) | Far West (Maroon) | Lower East (Teal) | Earthside

Occupation: Heir presumptive; student; high school TA / tutor

BACKGROUND

Self-Perception: Extremely intelligent mind trapped in a body much too young and pathetic. An evil genius only playing nice and biding his time for now. They’ll see. They’ll all see.

Alignment: Chaotic Evil -> Lawful Evil

MBTI: INTP

Deadly Sin: Envy

Heavenly Virtue: Diligence

Love Language: Words of Affirmation

Reinforcers: Groveling, praise, whimpers of fear

Personality: Foop grew up in Anti-Cosmo’s shadow, constantly being compared to his father while struggling to assert himself as anything but. Anti-Cosmo is a social man who doesn’t feel complete without someone to bounce his thoughts off while introverted Foop sees collaboration as frustration and assistance as an insult. Where Anti-Cosmo is impatient and quick to throw half-formed plans into action, Foop is grounded and rarely acts without finalizing his calculations. He’s easily frustrated when real life deviates from his careful outline. While not prone to throwing fits in public, he’s stubbornly petty and releases his feelings by devising cruel revenge plans. His paranoia often keeps him from putting these plans into action, especially when he’s older and feels judged by all of Fae society, but it helps him blow of steam without hurting anyone or damaging anything.

Work is Foop’s passion. He loves taking initiative with his projects, doing his own thing, and talking endlessly about what he enjoys to someone who follows along- even if that means spending hours tutoring someone he’s not too fond of. He loathes being yanked away from his passions and is hardly interested in Anti-Fairy traditions and social etiquette, which he considers to be a bunch of useless, stuffy niceties. While Anti-Cosmo adapted to that proper world of charm and dignity because it was expected of him, Foop rarely sees value in keeping quiet about activities he dislikes. He struggles to articulate his feelings and is extremely self-conscious about sharing his deepest thoughts, but you’ll always know when he’s annoyed.

Aside from the struggle to form emotional connections (and lack of emotional stability in general), Foop’s main folly as a leader is his analysis paralysis. He’s much more of a perfectionist than either of his parents and often gets too bogged down in details to act until too late, then loses his patience and blames others when things don’t go his way. For Foop, the worst-case scenario is always being caught and punished. Most Anti-Fairies accept prison time as a necessary cross they have to bear, but Foop finds jail absolutely humiliating (and anxiety-inducing) and will do all he can to avoid it. Usually that means bailing on a plan halfway through and taking off for the hills, then lying low for a few decades with his nerves permanently on end. A far cry from Anti-Cosmo who treats jail time as a vacation free from worry until being cooped up makes him restless. Foop would rather improve his job resume than his criminal record, at least for now. He wants to be well known in the history books, but wants it to be for an impressive reason.

Though he may be mature for his age, Foop is still young and dealing with fluctuating hormones, political expectations, and school drama on top of his actual classwork. He exhausts himself very easily, yet continues to push himself further and further because his self-worth is tied to his achievements. Genius is everything. Failure is weakness. Struggles are shame. No matter what the media says about him, his harshest critic will always be himself. His emotions are complicated and fragile, but he’s far too nervous to let anyone close enough to truly understand what he’s thinking. Even his therapist and romantic partners are constantly surprised by what he does one day compared to the next. Anti-Wanda is his sole confidant and he tells her everything. Foop doesn’t show it publicly, but at his core he’s an absolute mama’s boy; Anti-Wanda isn’t bright, but she is loving and offers him the stability his father can’t. She’s his tether. Losing her trust would absolutely shatter him.

Special Note - Dissociative Identity Disorder: Officially, Foop and Hiccup (and Angel in Identity Theft) are multiple personalities in the same body, referred to collectively as “the Nebula system.” Foop is considered the original personality, and suffered a lot of trauma in his youth that he can’t quite recall since those memories are blocked. Hiccup is the protector who slips in control when life stress becomes too much for Foop to handle- he holds the trauma memories, but doesn’t like to talk about it with anyone besides his pixie therapist at Wish Fixers. In their younger years, Foop and Hiccup flipped control rapidly. In their older years, they sometimes go for days at a time without the other personality switching back.

In his youth, Foop’s goal was to integrate Hiccup back into himself. He eventually gave up on this and now strives to cooperate with Hiccup, whom he grudgingly considers a twin brother. The members of their immediate family, as well as their roommates at school, acknowledge Hiccup as a separate identity from Foop. Their extended family and most of the media have their doubts.

Hiccup firmly sees himself as his own person. He describes himself as being “stuck in Foop’s body” and frequently makes comments about how “This isn’t what he really looks like.” He suffers from body dysphoria and desperately hopes to master magic well enough to adjust his looks... though Foop is quite happy with their looks staying as they are.

Education: Attended classes at Spellementary School, Frederick Shinesworth Middle School, and Carl Poofypants High School when he wasn’t getting into trouble otherwise.

Spellementary School: _

Middle School: _Did well academically? Poorly? Sports?

High School: _

Further Education: _

Favorite Magic Subject: _

Least Favorite Magic Subject: _

Favorite Non-Magic Subject: _

Least Favorite Non-Magic Subject: _

History: Here we have one of those kids who constantly has too much on his plate and yet never seems to have enough to do. He’s extremely efficient at getting things done (mainly achieved by cutting out his social life) and has a wide range of interests that he prefers to pursue alone. Such interests are further complicated by the fact that since his youth, Anti-Poof has always been afflicted with dissociative identity disorder, and flips regularly between his two personalities: Foop, the bitter and blunt one who harbors a fascination for biology and horticulture, and Hiccup, the gentle and giggly romantic who enjoys cooking and has a blatant streak of savagery.

Yet somehow, they seem to be getting along okay. Their love life is a mess even without including the politics, but since the two personalities have known each other all their lives, they’re used to compromise. One wonders how much longer it will be before their patience snaps._

Notable Likes:

_

Goals:

Juggle his wants against Hiccup’s.

Unlock the secrets of Fairykind biology.

Take over the High Count seat from his father (even if it’s in the boring traditional way).

Work out politics with the Ghosts and Beasts.

Find a balance between what he wants and what his parents want for him so he doesn’t hate life.

Beliefs:

Favors Daoism over traditional Zodii teachings

Everyone is a moron except for him

Fears:

Vicky

Falling from roost and landing on his head

Spending his life rotting in Abracatraz

His own death

Upsets:

Being directly disagreed with

Getting tossed in prison

Comforts: Kelly Clarkson songs, Skullbeary, pajamas, research articles, retreating into the mindspace and letting Hiccup take the wheel

Indulgences: Black licorice; alone time in his lab; tasty poisonous spiders; sensual back rubs

EXTERNAL

Verbal Notes: Mostly straightforward and lets you know how he generally feels, unless he’s lying. He does a lot of lying. Very guarded with his true emotions and will allow you closer layer by layer, but absolutely shut you off before the last level (unless you’re his beloved mother, and even then it’ll take an hour of conversation to crack him).

Foop is very curious and interested in learning new things; if you can keep telling stories, he’ll keep asking questions. While he doesn’t want you messing up one of his projects with your “collaboration,” he doesn’t mind studying alongside you and will quiz you if you want him to. He lacks tact and has a direct way of speaking, which is very unusual in Anti-Fairy society. His long-windedness and dark humor make friendship a struggle. Overall he’s quite verbose and unsentimental.

Language: Fluent in Snobbish, speaks some Vatajasa, speaks some Milesian, speaks some Gaideliac

Physical Notes: Very thin and not endowed with the muscles even the average Fairy would have, but he works out regularly since he’s on the saucerbee team.

Handedness: Left-handed

Body Language: Usually stiff even around those he’s comfortable with. Movements are softer and less jerky than Anti-Cosmo’s. Keeps his chin up and shoulders back, and often walks or floats with his hands clasped behind his back. Famous for pacing in circles to burn off his frustrations. Those who know him well can usually tell when he’s fronting in the body by his tense, guarded posture (Hiccup tends to be gentle and open).

Hair: Thick black curls that inherited Anti-Wanda’s sleekness rather than Anti-Cosmo’s scruffiness. He has a bald spot in the middle (just behind the two big curls) due to having a scent gland there, like a sugar glider. 

Teeth: Has a snaggletooth that pokes over his bottom lip.

Wings: Foop has conversion disorder- He limps slightly on his right side while floating, even though there’s no physical reason for him to do so (Hiccup doesn’t do it). Anti-Fairy pups are born with “imprints” of their parents’ minds on their own, and Foop simply inherited the part of Anti-Cosmo’s brain that limps. Foop hates this detail about his body, but he can’t change his instinct.

Pilot Freckles: _Average dusting on face and throat, light dusting on back of shoulders, heavy dusting on upper arms.

Iris Virus: Inherited

Scars: Scar on neck courtesy of Cavatina

Style: Dresses properly for an Anti-Fairy of his status; strives to be clean and somewhat elegant without straying into tuxedo territory.

Regular Clothing: Black undershirt, black pants, blue sweater vest with purple trim, belt with a skull-shaped buckle, pointy shoes

Casual Clothing: May wear his black shirt or a dark blue one without his sweater vest and without the belt buckle. Usually goes barefoot when in casual clothing.

Nightwear: Often wears purple silk pajamas decorated with little skulls.

Ceremonial Clothing: A yellow leotard designed like a ruffled shirt with gold sequins and a low-cut neck. White cummerbund, white shoes, white bow tie.

Other: He wears a black lab coat while working in his lab. This coat is long and almost always kept open unless someone else points out that he forgot to button it. There are two pockets low on each side with a fifth pocket over his left breast.

Height: 3′6″ (Average for a fae)

Hygiene: _

Morning Schedule: _

Typical Day Schedule: _

Evening Schedule: _

Sleep Schedule: _

PERSONAL

Relationship Status:

Publicly courting Anti-Coriander Anti-Windskimmer; Anti-Marigold Anti-Goldenglow is his secret mistress.

Ideal Relationship: Definitely interested in brains and needs a partner he can banter and scheme with. _.

Sexuality: Sexually attracted to both Seelie and Unseelie Courters; aromantic

Attractiveness: To a degree, Foop is considered attractive in Anti-Fairy society. He’s seen as intelligent, graceful, and clean, which are desirable traits in his culture. However, his patience, tact, and wisdom are lacking, so he loses points in those areas. His temper and pettiness don’t help. Foop is also out of touch with traditional Anti-Fairy culture and tends to rub people the wrong way. He is often judged for choosing to sleep laterally more often than hanging upside-down and criticized for not worshiping in the Zodii temples as often as most Anti-Fairies feel he should. Furthermore, he did not inherit Anti-Cosmo’s large fangs. Kissing is extremely intimate for Anti-Fairies, so they pay a lot of attention to mouths. Foop’s fangs are notably undersized thanks to his will o’ the wisp heritage; some of his peers tease him for “still having his baby fangs.” On top of this, the fact that he has an alternate personality makes many people wary.

Foop is not terribly attractive by Pixie standards for one obvious reason: Pixies value order and he embodies chaos. And also for further obvious reasons: every pixie loathes him after [REDACTED; see Prompt 130, “Final Stand”]. He would not normally be considered attractive in Fairy society either due to his light weight and thin body. Strength is valued more than brains in Fairy culture and he’s lacking in that department. However, his magical strength is indicated by the height his crown floats even if he lacks full control of it. Foop holds high rank in Anti-Fairy society, which contributes to his perceived dominance. Arguably, he’s considered more attractive by the general standards of Fairy culture than by his own, so he has a reputation for being the one anti-fairy his schoolmates would ever consider getting with (Mostly admitted in games like Truth or Dare and Kiss, Marry, Kill- not in polite conversation where such hypotheticals aren’t welcome). He either doesn’t know this or doesn’t care since he has his sights firmly set on Goldie, but Hiccup takes advantage of their good looks from time to time.

That said, Foop is a luz mala: a magical being brought into existence through magical means. His magic is highly unstable and not easily contained; his emotions can radically affect the world around him in ways that unnerve those who utilize wands. Traditionally luz mala have been extremely looked down upon in Fae society, though Poof and Foop themselves have started improving that view thanks to their celebrity statuses. They’re both very open about being luz mala. Poof tries to make luz mala seem less scary while Foop presents himself as more powerful than most, so they’re still at odds with each other, but they’re getting by.

Intimate History: Considers his first sexual experience to be with Anti-Marigold (whom he passed the iris virus to) shortly after he became a legal adult. He considers her his mistress since he is also courting Anti-Coriander, the girl the public expect him to marry and rule alongside someday. Hiccup has gotten around while in control of the body, and Foop has a few scattered memories of those events, but doesn’t consider them to be his own experiences and is uncomfortable when Hiccup’s past partners talk to him as though he’s Hiccup and remembers such things.

For Foop, sex is an absentminded thing. It’s more about scratching the itch his urges fill him with than either emotional bonding or achieving physical pleasure. If he does feel like he’s bonded or enjoyed the experience once it’s over, that’s a bonus but not normally his goal. The way sees it, he has lustful hormones that distract him from his work, so he satisfies them the same way he fills his stomach when it alerts him he’s hungry.

Turn-Ons: While Foop does his fair share of body admiring, he’d never chase after anyone if he wasn’t strongly attracted to their brains. He knows he’s into curves and playing with hair, but with him, foreplay consists mainly of conversation (and bragging). He knows a few physical tricks to excite others, but considers such things predictable and ineffective on himself. Stimulating conversation is the key to his soul, which is why he finds Anti-Marigold more sexually attractive than reserved Anti-Coriander. You... can’t have a short encounter with Foop. He’ll talk your ear off, and if you don’t have the mental stamina to keep up with him, he’ll quickly lose interest. 

Kiff-Tie: Not currently tied to a nature spirit, but it’s expected he’ll tie with Winni, the spirit who represents Breath on the Fairy zodiac, when High Count. He is not looking forward to it and plans to avoid it if possible despite literally all of Anti-Fairy society expecting him to be the spirit’s champion in the mortal world.

Honey-Lock Partner: Anti-Marigold Kelsia Anti-Goldenglow

Father: Anti-Cosmo Julius Anti-Cosma (née Anti-Lunifly)

Grandfather: Anti-Robin Anti-Cosma

Grandmother: Anti-Florensa Anti-Lunifly

Uncle: Anti-Robin “Anti-Schnozmo” Anti-Lunifly

Notable Ancestors: Anti-Ky Anti-Braddocki (The first anti-brownie); distantly related to the von Strangle family

Mother: Anti-Wanda Venus Anti-Fairywinkle

Grandfather: Anti-Dusty Anti-Fairywinkle

Grandmother: Anti-Kylia Anti-Swiftspark

Aunt: Anti-Wendy Anti-Fairywinkle

Notable Ancestors: Shylinda Coppertalon (The first High Countess of the Anti-Fairies); Anti-Ilisa Anti-Maddington (The first anti-will o’ the wisp)

Alternate Personality: Anti-Poof “Hiccup” Anti-Cosma-Anti-Fairywinkle

Met in youth

Brother: Anti-Dusty Smoky Anti-Fairywinkle-Anti-Cosma

Met at age 1,007

Girlfriend: Anti-Coriander Cleo Anti-Windskimmer

Met at age 141,266

Mistress: Anti-Marigold Kelsia Anti-Goldenglow

Met in youth

Crush: Goldie Kelsia Goldenglow

Met in youth

Other Important Relationships: _Chloe, Kevin, Caudwell

TRIVIA

The name “Foop” is of Genie origins and translates to “Wolf which runs across the blue moon.” A foop is a magical wolf with a pelt that mirrors the sky, so in “Fairly Odd Fairy Tales,” Foop was quite literally a big bad foop.

Foop is typically associated with plant imagery while Poof is associated with animals.

Like all Anti-Fairy drakes, Foop has a scent gland on his head. He rubs his head against things he considers “his” (such as the door to his lab, his favorite bookshelf, and Anti-Wanda). He doesn’t use it for marking lovers much, although his alternate personality does.

Inherited black hair from his grandparents, but some people speculate he’s illegitimate since both his parents have blue hair; some suspect his true father is Anti-Juandissimo while some suspect his true mother is Anti-Cosmo’s ex-wife, Anti-Saffron. Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda were alone during the pregnancy and birth, after all... It’s a mystery to the public.

Pretty much spent Spellementary School covering Anti-Marigold’s butt, then spent his older school years pulling Poof’s weight. He’s a TA for a reason... He can’t resist correcting answers.

Hates roosting upside-down.

Melts into the sensation of fingers scratching in his fur.

Actually enjoys taking walks; it relaxes him. He’s one of those people who will go out walking late or early in the morning all by himself.

I believe Foop appears in more 130 Prompts than any other character, and rivals H.P. for most appearances total (assuming each Origin of the Pixies chapter is not counted as an individual appearance).

APPEARANCES

Riddleverse Classic Timeline: “No Absolutes” > Identity Theft > “Yellow Flower Number 9” > “Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails” > “Bells On Bats’ Tails” > “Whenever Possible” > “Let’s Speak Vatajasa!” > Hawthorn Haven > Devil’s Backbone

130 Prompts Timeline: “Think Positive” > “Shouldn’t Have Survived” > “Hidden” > “It’s On Now!” > “Not All the Same” > “Lucky” > “Hate Mail” > “Who Am I?” > “Second Chance” > “Naptime” > “Teaming Up” > “Evolution Hopeful” > “This Is a Box” > “Step Back” > “Take a Break” > “Name” > “Final Stand” > “Unwelcome” > “Tools of the Trade” > “Opinion” > “Shadow” > “Live For the Moment” > “Watch and Learn” > “Temptation” > “Mind Your Manners” > “All I Ever Wanted” > “A Family Matter” > “Whisper” > “Forever” > “Revenge” > “Inside > “Trance” > “No Refunds!” > “Piggyback” > “Little Wonders” > “Not Like You” > “Voice” > “Bubbles” > Daddy’s Girl” > “Revenge” > “Can’t” > “Reality Doesn’t Work That Way” > “Reflection”

AU Appearances:

N/A

#RD Foop #RD canon characters #RD character ref #RD profiles #RD AntiFairy stuff

[bestworstcase]

replies on this post ( @ngocthach4020​, numbering mine ):

Counterarguments:

1 - While I do agree that Zhan Tiri does a good job making it seem like she does care about Cassandra, the fact that Cassandra trusted a total stranger for over a year in itself makes her intelligence dubious at best. Not to mention Cassandra never asks the total stranger who mysteriously knows this much about her for her NAME during all that time, nor tries to find out anything else about her.

2 - Rapunzel is the heir to the throne. Of course she’s going to get more recognition than Cassandra. Cassandra herself was given multiple guard assignments throughout Season 1, cheered on by the people of Corona even when she came second place to Rapunzel at the Challenge of the Brave, and trusted with leading the assault against Varian in the season finale. This isn’t even getting into how she has plenty of opportunities at Ingvarr or Vardaros.

3 - The people of Vardaros focused on Rapunzel despite preferring Cassandra over her, yes, but that doesn’t change how they treated Rapunzel like dirt and Cassandra seemed to LIKE that.

4 - In the song I’d Give Anything, Rapunzel does acknowledge she wronged Cassandra.

5 - Just because Cassandra has legitimate grievances, it doesn’t excuse her trying to murder people who never did anything bad to her, which she does several times throughout Season 3.

firstly: i mean this in the kindest way possible but none of these are actually counter-arguments to the point i was making, which is that cassandra has very good reasons for her decision to trust zhan tiri and be emotionally vulnerable with her in the house of yesterday’s tomorrow. #2 is the only one relevant to the subject at hand, #1, #4, and #5 all concern things that happen after the incident being discussed and are thus irrelevant, and for #3 it’s unclear to me what point you think you’re countering and also, i have no idea what you’re talking about. 

but as with anything i have plenty of thoughts

#1: i have two thoughts about this one

the first is that this is, first and foremost, a writing issue. for whatever reason, the writing team was not interested in digging into cassandra’s character arc in s3, and they also were not interested in developing zhan tiri as a character, and they really were not interested in elaborating on the cass + zhan tiri friendship whatsoever. the end result of this lack of interest is that all of this character development is gestured at or loosely implied, and the vast majority of their relationship occurs off screen. we are shown their first meeting in relative detail, given a handful of brief glimpses that mostly comprise zhan tiri saying a line or two while cassandra listens and glares, and then given the end result of cass doing whatever zhan tiri tells her to do until a narratively convenient plot device is inserted to make her stop. the character development in this arc is extremely poor. no one is arguing that it isn’t. 

however my second thought is that, as a consequence, “cass travels with this person for almost a year without ever asking her name or trying to find out anything about her” is not, in fact, canon. that’s a matter of interpretation. (eg: i spent the entirety of the first half of the season assuming that of course cassandra knew who zhan tiri was, my reaction to CR in this regard boiled down to “well if cass didn’t already know that was zhan tiri she certainly does NOW,” RTTS did nothing to change my mind, and i was legitimately taken aback when OAH confirmed that cass just didn’t know. all of this was a plausible interpretation because so little of the cass + ziti relationship actually develops on screen. there is SO MUCH information missing.)

the point being: the only canonical information we have regarding zhan tiri’s identity and cassandra’s knowledge thereof is that cassandra doesn’t learn zhan tiri’s true identity until OAH. this does not preclude cassandra pressing the issue and zhan tiri lying to her by telling her a fake name, or feigning ignorance (a la “i’ve been trapped in that house for as long as i can remember and i have no idea where i came from or who i was before then,” which is absolutely a plausible cover story given the kind of things tromus pulled off whilst team corona was trapped in the HOYT and that cass herself has very recent experience with magical memory loss), or masquerading as an aspect of the moonstone itself (which is at least plausible enough that a good chunk of the fandom theorized that that’s who she was in the early half of the season). 

there is, frankly, no evidence to support interpreting cassandra’s “who are you?” as “i’ve literally never asked this question before” instead of “you told me things about yourself that i believed but it’s not adding up anymore so i’m confronting you on your lies” or vice versa, because... we just don’t know. i personally favor the latter interpretation over the former, because it makes more sense to me, but the text is unclear.

all of which is to say: the post was about why cassandra trusts zhan tiri initially, a questions which - as i said in the original post - is answered very clearly on screen. there is not enough canonical information about the development of their relationship afterwards to do anything more than speculative analysis, ie headcanon, regarding how zhan tiri cultivated that trust. for what it’s worth my personal assumption is that zhan tiri continued to act as she does in RR, fostering the emotional connection between herself and cassandra, and that shortly after the stinger in who’s afraid of the big bad wolf (ie their second proper meeting) she gave cass some explanation of who she was and what she wanted. i also make the general assumption that they shared a lot of conversations during the long walk back to corona because it is ludicrous to imagine otherwise. 

#2: cassandra is a commoner who was indoctrinated from birth with the cultural belief that the lives of the royal family are more important and have more inherent worth than her own. this only intensified once rapunzel returned to corona. cassandra exists in a system that chews her up and spits her out without so much as a thank you, and rapunzel is the center around which that system orbits. “rapunzel is the heir to the throne so of course she gets more recognition than cassandra, her servant” isn’t, in fact, a counterargument. that is exactly the problem. the world cass is in is inherently devalues her personhood. even her own father repeatedly prioritizes his duty to the monarchy over the wellbeing of his daughter.

in s1, cass is given guard duties which she is expected to fit around her already extremely busy schedule as a maid and lady-in-waiting to the princess, all without ever being made an actual member of the royal guard. she is given, in other words, all of the work and responsibility without any of the recognition, salary, benefits, or job security afforded to actual guards, and she is expected to do it during her scant time off. and she does it all with the constant unspoken threat of being sent to a convent against her will if she screws up looming over her head. that’s not... privilege or an opportunity, that’s flat out exploitation. 

even in SOTS, she is only put in command of the assault on old corona because most of the higher officers of the guard are out of commission, including the captain. and this happens mere hours after her father forcibly sends her to a convent, which really underscores what little autonomy cassandra has in her life and how capricious and arbitrary any “opportunities” that come her way in corona are. 

yes, she is better accepted in vardaros and the queen of ingvarr did at one point extend an invitation for her to join the battalion in ingvarr, but—again, that’s not really a counterargument. “cassandra would have to leave her home and move to a foreign kingdom in order to be treated with respect and live as her authentic self” is an enormous indictment of corona itself. 

#3: the vardarans are less than receptive to rapunzel attempting to force her sunny demeanor onto them and react with hostile indifference when she persists even after being told—by multiple people including vex, quaid, cassandra, and iirc eugene—that her behavior was not wanted or welcome. they make their opinions known without making any attempt to soften the blow, but—with the one exception of “ya clod” lady—none of them harass or bully her. i’m not sure where you’re getting “they treat her like dirt” from. they treat her like people who are annoyed with having someone else’s culture jammed down their throats by some foreign princess, which,

cass, by the same token, enjoys being surrounded by people she “clicks” with and with whom she can just relax and be herself, and she repeatedly cautions rapunzel against trying to make the vardarans act, think, and feel like coronans... in other words, she advises rapunzel to be culturally sensitive. and she’s right to do so. cass doesn’t start gloating about being better liked until after rapunzel lashes out at her and makes a huge deal out of cass’s events being different / more in tune with vardaran culture than her own. 

#4: things rapunzel does a full year after cass meets zhan tiri in the shell house are not relevant to the question of why cass trusts zhan tiri in the shell house and also lol no... she doesn’t? these are the lyrics of i’d give anything: 

[RAPUNZEL] I know we've grown apart It breaks my heart in two I miss your company The closeness we once knew

I won't pretend to know Just what you're going through But I'd give anything for you Yes, I'd give anything to relive everything with you So if you find that you're in darkness or despair Though you won't turn to me Please know I'll be right there Name any sacrifice I'll pay the price that's due 'Cause I'd give anything for you Yes, I'd give anything to relive everything we knew Yes, I'd give anything For you

i don’t... know how to read an expression of apology or even just acknowledgement of wrongdoing into this song because it... isn’t there. this is the exact same sentiment rapunzel spends the entirety of s3 expressing, which is that she misses her friendship with cass and would do anything to get it back and she doesn’t understand why cassandra is so upset. and frankly it really. does not reflect well on rapunzel as a character because cassandra explains her grievances very clearly at the beginning of the season: “my whole life, i’ve been cast aside for you. no more,” followed by, you know, the entirety of crossing the line.

like even just... compare rapunzel’s lines at the top of crossing the line:

[RAPUNZEL] This has to stop now Whatever it is that you're going through We'll fix it together, me and you Just like we've always done

to her lines in i’d give anything: 

I won't pretend to know Just what you're going through

there has been zero growth. zero recognition of the fact that cassandra has, by the time of i’d give anything, told rapunzel what she’s going through at least three times. (she laid everything out for rapunzel in the dark fortress after taking the moonstone; in gothel’s mirror room in TOTS, cassandra expressed her anguish over gothel’s abandonment and her feelings of inferiority; in OAH, cass used feldspar’s play to fumblingly express her difficulty sharing her feelings with rapunzel; and if you want to count the BVA rock telepathy and cassandra furiously screaming “i don’t follow your orders anymore!” in CR, that brings us to a total of five times that cassandra shares at least part of what she’s “going through” with rapunzel only for it to, apparently, go in one ear and out the other because by plus est raps is still like “what could POSSIBLY be GOING ON with cass.”)

the closest rapunzel ever comes to expressing her own wrongdoing is the mealy-mouthed “we both did things wrong” sentiment in OAH (“maybe you’re right and it is your fault, rapunzel... partially...”), which she then undermines by going essentially “but if you had just told me how you felt then none of this would have happened” (ignoring that cass... did... tell her how she felt... repeatedly... in s2...) and rapunzel acknowledging that it was probably annoying to deal with a sunny “flower child” when she was fresh out of the tower (which is true, but entirely glosses over her treatment of cass in s2). in the former instance it’s unclear what, if anything, rapunzel truly thinks she did wrong (certainly “not listening” isn’t it), and in the latter case she is apologizing for being ~too free-spirited~ in the first couple weeks after the tower which... wasn’t even the problem back then and certainly wasn’t the core problem in s2. and by her own admission in i’d give anything rapunzel still doesn’t even understand why cassandra was upset in the first place, let alone how she may have contributed to it. 

like the utter dearth of development between cass and zhan tiri, this is ultimately a writing problem that reflects poorly on the character, rather than a character problem per se. for whatever reason, the writing team didn’t want to examine the legitimacy of cassandra’s actual grievances—which by extension meant that they couldn’t write rapunzel as having any awareness of those grievances, so the end result is cass obsessing over gothel and rapunzel spending the entire season baffled, just baffled, about what cass is so worked up about, all while sadly pining for the friendship they used to have and vocalizing a desire to get it back but simultaneously ignoring everything cass says about why she’s upset, because rapunzel listening to cass would require rapunzel to genuinely wrestle with her own role in what happened, which isn’t possible because that would loop us back around to all those legitimate grievances that the writers just didn’t want to (or couldn’t) deal with.

but tldr no at no point in the narrative of s3 does rapunzel genuinely acknowledge the actual things she did wrong by cass.

#5: i’m genuinely not sure why you think this is even relevant at all, unless you somehow read “cass did nothing wrong” into the argument of “it is both natural and reasonable for cass to trust the one (1) person who appears to give a damn about how she feels,” which i think says more about you than it does about me. 

#rta

[inheritorofmemories-archive]

Andromaquynh Tomb Raider AU

I keep seeing those Indiana Joe fics and Mummy au post for joe/nicky and they are all very nice and cool but you know which galaxy brain idea no one has explored yet? Tomb raider AU for andy/quynh. Luckily I have nothing but time on my hands so strap in.

I re-watched the first tomb raider the other day (yes, the 2001 movie. Yes it’s 20 years old.) and the Croft universe can actually fit pretty well with Andy and Quynh with some tweaks and changes. I’ll preface this post by saying that raiding tombs and any ancient place really is not ethical At All and stealing artifacts shouldn’t happen in any way and the black market for cultural goods is an enormous spider web with ramification all over the world that is actually incredibly nefast to pretty much everything from sciences to culture to human societies and economy (look it up, it’s way bigger than just a stolen vase sold in a small market) so I’ll refer to this AU as Tomb Raider but know that what I really mean is Andy and Quynh protecting ancient sites and relics from companies and museums and the likes.

Go under the cut to read the rest of my detailed idea of what it would look like.

As much as I like the sci-fi and magic elements of the series, I really think a more grounded feel for this AU would fit them better. So no gods or illuminates or magic relics, sorry. Instead, I see this as them being adventurers who decide to put their skillset to good use and protect sites and places and objects and cultures from capitalism, stealing, overexploitation, appropriation and destruction.

Andy is Lara Croft obviously. She’s the daughter of an archeologist who mysteriously died during an excursion and fueled her will to go in the same field as her parent. Because we like complex characters in this house, I want Andy to start by actually raiding and selling from ancient sites at the beginning of her career because she's young and never learned better before she comes up close to the direct consequences of that particular market and she decides she wants no part of it. It allows for an exploration of real-world issues but it also gives her a deeper backstory and a proactive choice in being the character she is because I’m a sucker for the idea that you are not born good but you chose to be. After that, she'll keep the exploring part of her job but instead of stealing relics she’ll find lost places and give the coordinates to scientists. Daytime she uses the fonds of her family to support initiatives to protect places and restore art and goods to their rightful owners, the rest of the time she goes on cool adventures all over the world to get her hands dirty when legal means cannot get it done.

This is where Quynh comes into the picture. She’s one of Andy’s associates but not really they're in love and married. In the series, Croft has numerous allies that help her out either by giving tips or identifying objects, etc... I can totally see Andy going to Quynh for information about a particular site or object and them sticking together for the rest of the adventure and not leaving each other. Or, even funnier, Quynh has her own little business of going in the field to get things done, they run into each other and then keep running together. I really want Quynh to be a marine biologist and environment activist that also has a background in law because I think she deserves the right to legally bankrupt assholes, as a treat. Andy is exploring an underwater temple when she runs into Quynh doing plant analysis right there, they realize the site and the entire ecosystem is endangered by X industrial complex throwing their waste in the water and they bring it down while flirting and then it takes a year of adventures together and Andy who keeps finding excuses to go seek Quynh's counsel before they get together. And then, power couple who by daytime do activist work and advocate for the protection of sites and the environment and who by night dress in black and go sabotage factories, steal info to leak as whistleblowers and give various object and art back to their owners.

As a side plot that (kinda) follows canon, one of their mission goes wrong and Quynh doesn't get out with them, she's missing and they cannot find any trace of her for months/a few years and they think she's dead until Lykon locates her and they find out she's in prison somewhere. They go break her out and there's angst because Quynh believes she was forgotten by them until they talk it out and also deal with the trauma by going to therapy and bringing down the corporation that had Quynh thrown in jail. Power of love and bombs baby. After that they are much more careful but they keep doing it because they believe in the good of their work.

Also, a thing you don’t see really in the movies but is very present in the game series, about half the story if not two-thirds is spent on resolving enigmas and mysteries, not action. Sure Croft knows how to shoot and is a good fighter but the most important part is her brain and knowledge and associate in various fields (and that she seeks the help of, she's not a mary sue she has limits and has people who assist her). She thinks more than she fights and I really want to see that on Andy and Quynh, them thoroughly researching a subject, planing their op, getting info on people, going to recover intel and tools and associates and also using legal means to get things done and only going to the illegal method in last resort, and even then I want to see stealth mission with no big fight like Sudan in the movie rather than going in with a boom. Basically, show how important their brains are to the overall plot.

I also really want to add Lykon to the mix because their dynamic seems really cool from what we've seen in the movie and also from fanon and he deserves nice things okay. So he’s the tech genius that comes in the team a few years later when they're well established but technology starts to evolve and they're not the best at navigating it but Lykon is, he's the best at electrical systems and robots, internet and all the new tech. He'll help them break into places and do recon op. And then they become this tight-knit family of multiple doctorates and scientists and activists that also have a side business no one knows about (except the world knows there are people protecting the environment and cultural goods from destruction and their nickname in news press totally is The Old Guards okay).

And to end it beautifully, Andy Quynh and Lykon are a badass team for 20 years until Lykon decides to have a family so he cannot keep getting in danger and he retires to teach (happy AU, no death) and Andy and Quynh at 40 and some years old stumbles upon Nile who is starting in the field of archeology and art history and they’ll work together, thus passing the torch down to the newest generation. And you can even have a crossover with Indiana Joe and Nicky doing their things in their corner and they met on one mission, Booker can be a forger they hire from time to time to get false papers, all of them can meet and work together to fight Big Bad Guy Merrick, the possibilities are endless really once you get into the Archeological Actions Cinematic Universe (which is a genre on its own apparently).

Maybe one day I'll get to write this who knows, but I really needed to get the idea out of my head so this post shall be enough for the time being. Feel free to write or draw something from this, there's never too much Andy/Quynh content. And also, add to this post! These are just my thoughts and ideas but I would love to hear more if you have them, consider this an open discussion board about this very specific AU that has been living in my head since late summer.

#andromaquynh #andy x quynh #immortal wives #andromache the scythian #quynh #lykon #tog #the old guard #tog au #the old guard au #andy & quynh & lykon #em speaks

[duckprintspress]

I'm confused about the scoring system. It was said on the website that people were scored (numerically) and yet someone with much higher scores than I got didn't get accepted nor was offered the mentoring/beta/get to know discord.

I can't help but feel there is an error here. Is there a way to explain this?

Hi anon!

So there are a few things going on here, and I’ll try to explain them all.

Thing the First:

The scores on the rubrics are raw scores. Once we really got down-and-dirty with rating things, and I did some data analysis, I discovered that some of our raters were being a bit more generous than others. By the time we were done with all the scoring, there was nearly a 2 point split between the most generous and least generous scorer, on average. This was clearly a fairness issue - if one writer got our three most generous raters, and a second writer got our three least generous raters, even if they submitted identical stories, the second writer would get a lower rating. Rather than leave things like that, I did some research on statistical models that would standardize our ratings.

Basically, with the help of an excel algorithm (the “STANDARDIZE” function), we calculated the average that each rater gave, and that rater’s deviation from the mean (standard deviation), and plugged that in to convert their ratings from the 0 to 20 scale to a different, standard scale - which ran roughly from -2.5 to positive 2.5. What the standardization really did was - for each rater, whatever score they personally gave on average was 0 (so, if rater one’s average score was a 15...that was standardized to zero. And if rater two’s average score was 10...that was also standardized to zero. So now instead of comparing apples to oranges, we were comparing apples to apples). Then, if they rated a fic 1 standard deviation above or below their average, that became a 1 or a -1. If they rated it 2 standard deviations above or below their average, that became a 2 or a -2. And so on. This ensured that all of the stories were rated on the same scale and everyone was treated equally - standardization of test scores erased the differences caused by some people rating more strictly.

So, if you and your friends are comparing rubrics (which you’re welcome to do!) and you noticed that some of you did better, numerically, but had different outcomes, that’s likely a factor - one of you may have had more generous or more strict readers.

(Here’s some more information on how Standardization, here’s the very basics...there are other forms of standardizing, such as fitting folks to a bell curve, or curving the entire score, but those were not suited to our needs)

Thing the Second:

The top 20 authors, statistically adjusted for fairness, were invited to contribute to Add Magic to Taste. As it turned out, these top 20 DID roughly correlate to our top 20 by raw scores; comparing the two rankings, there are only two people out of the top 20 who wouldn’t have made it based on raw scores but did when their scores were adjusted to be standardized against the same scale.

The next 20 authors (ranked 21 to 40, when statistically adjusted for fairness) were also invited to Discord, and we’ve also invited them to potentially be involved in a second anthology. Depending on how many of them say yes, we may be able to open that opportunity up a bit more, but we’re not sure yet. Two of these people, by raw score, would have made the top 20, and three of these people, by raw score, would not have made the top 40. However, again, when we standardized the data to reflect the differences in rater strictness, these were the results.

That leaves another 62 people, who had various ratings all below those top 40. Some of them had a raw score fairly similar to their standardized score...and some of them didn’t. For example - my wife was an applicant to this, and she gave me permission to use her numbers for this example. By raw average? My wife came in 49th. However, one of her raters was someone who USUALLY rated very high, and gave hers a (relatively, compared to that person’s usual hig haverage) low score - when that was adjusted statistically, it caused my wife’s fic to plummet to 64th, because even though the raw number itself wasn’t bad, it was statistically well outside the norm for that rater. So, believe me when I say - these standardizations can make a big difference. If you, or anyone reading this, would like, I’m willing to send you what your standardized scores were (while still maintaining reviewer anonymity). I was originally thinking of adding them to the rubrics but doing so would have been a lot of work, and so I passed - next time we do this, they’ll probably be on there.

Thing the Third:

Often, what separated a fic that succeeded from a fic that didn’t was the range of raters scores. For example, the fic that ended up with the highest rating (by both calculations) wasn’t anyone’s favorite fic - but all three readers thought it was solid, and that was enough. My personal favorite fic? Didn’t even hit the Top 20. What often happened was -

Top fics: either all three people liked it pretty well, or one to two people adored it and the other person or people liked it well enough.

Second tier fics: either all three people thought it was okay, or one person loved it and two people were fairly meh about it.

Middle-range fics: either all three people thought it was average, or one person loved it and two people didn’t like it, or two people thought it was pretty good but one person hated it.

Lower quartile fics: either all three people didn’t think the fic was “up to snuff,” or one or two readers really hated it while a third thought it was average.

This isn’t universal, of course - but a fic that had one really high rating could easily do worse than a fic that had three so-so ratings, because...that’s how averages work. And that’s also why we had three readers for each - to try to even out some of the differences that would arise if someone had an extreme reaction to a fic that others didn’t. Obviously, it’s not a flawless system - no system was flawless - but with the resources and manpower we had, we thought this was a fair way to handle things, and we truly did our best. As soon as we broke 20 applications, we were never going to be able to accept everyone, and so we strived to create a transparent system that treated all of our applicants equally.

Thing the Fourth:

Now, in addition to the “why might scores be higher/lower” aspect of your question, there’s the aspect of “getting the Discord invite.” Now, the top 40 folks got Discord invites automatically, and those offers were based solely on the rating they received.

The other Discord invites that we sent out were not based on ratings alone! Just like we had a “reader subjective feelings” category on the rubric, when we’d finished rating all the stories, we were left with a conundrum - all of us had fics we liked that didn’t make the top 40. Maybe it was that “one person love it and two people didn’t like it” permutations. Maybe it was that all of us thought it was “good” but not “great.” Maybe some aspect of the story caught our eye. Based on our reactions, and the fics we saw that we wished had made it, we selected people to get invites. Those Discord invites were sent out based solely on subjective criteria.

Yes, we worried about doing this. Yes, we went back and forth about doing it at all. But in the end, what we decided was - we didn’t want to give Discord invites to everyone, because there were plenty of people we didn’t think their writing was quite ready yet - mentoring is an intensive prospect, and one for which we won’t get paid up front and might possibly never get paid, and while this all looks wonderful from the outside please do remember that we’re running a business - one that I’ve been working my ass off on for more than four months and have yet to earn enough to draw a single paycheck. So inviting everyone was never in the cards. And on the other hand, if we chose to give invites to no one, that would mean potentially having some people that caught our eye “slip through the cracks.” What if they got too discouraged to reapply? What if we missed the chance to work with them, after they’d impressed us?

To use an analogy - we saw something in everyone who applied, but in some it was “this is an uncut diamond, and we aren’t in the position to take it from raw to finished,” and in others it was, “this is a diamond with a crack, or a flaw, or a rough spot...and we think if we put in the work, we can get it to perfection.” And our verdict on the uncut diamonds isn’t, “this is uncut and it will never be cut,” it’s, “all of these diamonds have spent years honing themselves and working hard to strive for flawlessness, and but some are clearly farther along that journey than others. Once these uncut diamonds have shaped more of their rough edges themselves, we hope they’ll come back when they are ALSO only one flaw from perfection, and work with us then!”

There was no way for us to win, and there was also no fair way to distribute invites based solely on the raw scores, or even based solely on standardized scores, because some of the scores were sometimes not reflective our actual opinions of the writing. For example - if someone wrote a grammatically perfect story, with a compelling use of language, but the plot and characters were inaccessible to us because it required fandom knowledge we didn’t have, that might have scored very poorly, but we have every reason to think that if they’d chosen a different work that was more accessible they’d have done much better. Or, as another example - if someone’s writing was really sloppy, because of a lack of editing or possibly because English isn’t their native language - but they have a skill for creating characters, or setting a scene, or had excellent pacing - then again, they could have ended up with a score that didn’t reflect the actual potential that we saw in their work - using our judgement and expertise.

So, flat out - yes, there are inequalities in how the Discord invites were distributed to the 62 people who didn’t make the cut for either anthology. And yes, we agonized over whether to give them out at all. And no, I won’t swear that we always made the right choices - we were going by the one story submitted to us, and we had to use our best judgement based on what we were presented - what each applicant chose to submit. In the end, we invited the people who - regardless of their score - we personally thought were the closest to being sellable - in the sense of, “probably only missing one piece that would help with to get them from ‘didn’t make it’ to ‘now we’re talking.” And I truly, truly wish that we could have everyone. But if we spend all our time mentoring people, then we won’t have time for doing any of the other aspects of this business. We are not a writing school. We are a book publisher. This ISN’T just fandom, and I DO have to think about what is sellable and what isn’t, because in the end...I’m trying to make money, and pay my staff, and give our authors the highest royalties possible, and, and, and.

As a further note on this topic? We are still issuing new Discord invites, based on e-mail conversations we’re having with people. Several people who didn’t initially get those invites? Have now gotten them. It just depends on how people are responding to us, and the conversations we’re having, and lots of other factors.

And, as I tried to say in the post I put up earlier today about notifications: even the people who didn’t get invites have potential. Every single writer who applied has potential. All of you, even if you struggled with multiple areas, had some aspect in which you shined. In a perfect world, we would help you all. But this isn’t a perfect world, and I don’t have the hours in the day to bring up the people who aren’t already close, and I’m sorry about that. So, please, please - if you didn’t make it, don’t be discouraged, and don’t give up. You’re the only one who can tell your stories - if you don’t do it, no one else will. Find fandom friends who will give you honest critique. Learn to read your own writing with a critical eye. Track down stories that really speak to you, and read them like a writer - to see how the original writer put them together, and deliberately emulate what you thought worked. There are many, many ways to improve writing craft, and if ya’ll want to be published, either with us or with anyone, we strongly encourage you to examine whichever ones appeal to you and work for you.

There’s isn’t a single person who applied who couldn’t, one day, be published by Duck Prints Press.

We were never going to make everyone happy, however much we hate making people sad.

We did our best to make as many people as possible happy, while also doing what we feel to be best for Duck Prints Press.

If we hurt you - we’re sorry. We said in the application process that we’d be giving honest feedback, and we’ve never made a secret of the fact that this is a business and our goal is to publish books that sell - nor did we pretend that we’d be able to take more than 20, but we were so impressed by the quality of what we received that we did everything we could think of to open the doors to more folks, while still maintaining the core integrity of our business model. That means we have to narrow the pool; we can’t just take everyone, especially now, when we’re so small and new. Our desire to take as many people as possible is why anyone who wasn’t in the top 20 got an invite, and why we planned an entire second anthology on the fly, instead of no one below the top 20 getting anything except a rejection letter.

Now, as a final thing - it IS possible we made a mistake. We’ve spotted one big one already, and we’re working with that author to rectify the situation. If you truly believe we made a mistake, please e-mail us, and we can look into it. Our email is info @ duckprintspress dot com.

Sorry this got long - but I figured, if one person wondered this, others too, and as we have since day one - our goal is to be transparent, and so I thought it better to answer more thoroughly rather than less.

#duck prints press #add magic to taste #unforth replies #god i hope this didn't end up coming across as defensive #i've been working ten hours straight on anthology stuff and i'm exhausted #Anonymous

[queenofnohr]

Shi Huangdi Interlude - The Arbiter’s Melancholy

This........ may have been the hardest Interlude I’ve translated to date just because of all the techno-fantasy magic terms + Lostbelt lore + Emperor’s speech patterns, haha.

There aren’t too many variable dialogue options, but it may be easier to read on Dreamwidth.

This was a commission for none other than @tainbocuailnge c:

The shape destruction takes is not uniform. That was the hypothesis We arrived at. Just as there is no fixed standard to how a dream ends…… When the Tree of Emptiness is pruned, what form will the vanishing of that degenerated fiction — that Lostbelt — take? The particulars of each world will surely differ. Will its end come suddenly, like a candle being blown out……? Or will heaven rend and the earth be torn asunder as the agonizing cries of hell ring out…...?

In Our Eternal Qin Dynasty, what first forcibly opened Our eyes was the lack of observant people. Forests, wilderness, unexplored mountains and rivers — one by one, they became naught but pockets of nothingness. An implacable darkness covered them, and they were lost to the world.

Yet the people did not notice. They were people satisfied with living peaceful lives within their homes, with no interest in the outside world. Another uneventful day passes, and they go to sleep again.

Eventually, in the middle of the night while everyone slept, a certain village was swallowed whole by that nothingness. No one noticed anything out of the ordinary, and while they slept, they returned to nothingness. In that way, one-by-one, the radius of the peoples’ existence disappeared.

Those who were able to awake to another peaceful morning had forgotten that there was a neighboring village in the first place. They had no questions at all about it. That was the destiny of the people. That was the way they were raised. We are the only ones who ascertain all with Our own eyes. Only We, who stand upon this earth as an ordinary person, know the end of this pruned dream. The one watching the crumbling world is the sole person who watches over everything.

How fortunate— Indeed, rather than postponement, the best thing one can hope for is the end. We estimate the time We have left. It will be around three months until Our Qin Dynasty disappears completely—

Zhenren Shi Huangdi: How does progress look, Our Hun*? Steel Shi Huangdi: Unsatisfactory, Our Po. Zhenren Shi Huangdi: Hmm, We wonder if it’s possible to mobilize all computing resources to Epang Palace…... Steel Shi Huangdi: It is unsatisfactory, but it is not stagnant. Although it moves at a snail’s pace, steady progress is being made. Zhenren Shi Huangdi: Hurry. We don’t have much time left. Steel Shi Huangdi: It is unnecessary to tell Us. After all, the authority of analysis is the responsibility of Our Hun. Zhenren Shi Huangdi: Yes, and Our Po is at a loss for what to do. We are vexedー Steel Shi Huangdi: No, Our Po. There are some things that can only be done by one who has attained human form. Soothe Our people as much as possible. Be with them until the last moment, as one who stands on their same earth. Zhenren Shi Huangdi: That’s right. That, too, is the duty of the emperor. It cannot be neglected. However, sooner or later everything will return to nothingness…… Steel Shi Huangdi: Indeed. Our Po has received the next most important role. With a body that is a perfect imitation of those ethereal beings, We should be able to once again step into that enchanted land. That Mystery, at the end of it there must be a path to pan-human history. Zhenren Shi Huangdi: It won’t be a long journey. The preparations should be enough, but…… Steel Shi Huangdi: Then, We do what We can, and the rest is in fate’s hands. Because We are the sole being under heaven, in all creation……

[in Chaldea]

Shi Huangdi: There’s a Singularity! Reyshift is a go-go! Fou: Foufou!? Mash: Um, Shi Huangdi......? You just said there was a Singularity, but...... is that true? Da Vinci: Oh, Guda? Sorry to interrupt your break. A very excited Servant might pay you a visit soon……

> They’re raving all about it as we speak

Da Vinci: Oh, I see. Nonetheless…… Please come to the control room for a detailed briefing on the situation.

> Roger that > I’ll be there shortly

[in the control room]

Shi Huangdi: It’s Xianyang, right? 210 years before the founding of Christianity, right? That should be around the time We reached a dead end in Our quest for immortality, no? Indeed, We shall declare it. It was Our complete failure. Da Vinci: That’s some declaration…… Shi Huangdi: Well, let’s see, the Us of that time was so impatient, such a quest made Us completely lose Our mind. The reason for extending Our life, what the meaning of having a country and emperor were — We lost sight of it completely. Sion: ……*sigh*. It’s true that it’s hard to think of that behavior coming from Your Majesty, who is wise— and furthermore, an ultra-high powered supercomputer. You know that you’re the one causing the Singularity, but you’re talking as if it’s someone else. Shi Huangdi: But you know, We will be 2276 this year. Yet when We died, We hadn’t even reached 50. For comparison, for you all it would be like watching a toddler. They have to grab onto something else to stand on their own two feet, and fall all over themselves. In that case, isn’t criticism much too petty? Da Vinci: I suppose so, but. Setting that very emperor-like fallacious argument for a second— what’s with you? You’re way more pushy than usual. Was Your Majesty always this type of character? Fou: Fou. Fofou. (Translation: More-or-less) Shi Huangdi: Well, it’s a dark past We don’t really want to recall. Let Us hide Our embarrassment, at least a little. Da Vinci: ……Ooookay. I don’t really think this counts as “hiding your embarrassment,” but whatever…… In any case, the one who will accompany you on your Reyshift to the Singularity will also be our strategy officer taking responsibility for operations therein…… Right now, I’m currently covering Goredolf’s position so, Guda, your judgment on this matter is of utmost importance. Do you really intend to bring Emperor “How Interesting!” along with you on this expedition?

> Well, with our destination being what it is…... > Aren’t they qualified?

Shi Huangdi: Indeed! An appropriate judgment. Just what We expected from the protector of humanity! Sion: ………… If that’s what Guda concludes, I have no objections. However, I’ll also be accompanying you this time as Novum Chaldea’s Weapons Development Advisor. Mash: Huh? You’re going to Reyshift, Sion? Sion: Don’t worry about my aptitude. There haven’t been and won’t be any problems, because I deal with them all flawlessly. Shi Huangdi: Oh ho? You are aware that as We are Guda’s Servant, We shall only concern Ourselves with Guda’s safety, yes? Sion: That doesn’t matter. I have no desire to stand on the frontlines, and I’m more than equipped to see to my personal self-defense. You’ll come to see that both martial arts and marksmanship are my forte. After all, I am a genius of the Atlas Institute. Shi Huangdi: Hm. So long as you prove not to be a burden, We have no objections. I’m sure Guda is of the same mind?

> It’ll be encouraging to have you along. > Welcome aboard!

Da Vinci: Well, it’s fine if Sion comes along with you, but, well…… Sion, didn’t you say you didn’t want to do Spiriton Hacking? Sion: That was then, and it’s only sometimes in some cases! This is a rare opportunity, so it’d be a waste not to experiment! Da Vinci: ……*sigh*. It’s fine. Well then, head into the Coffins, everyone. The Singularity coordinates have been inputted, and I’ve made the necessary adjustments to accurately monitor your proof of existence. Sion: Please be scrupulous in your surveillance, Da Vinci. Don’t overlook even the slightest anomaly. Da Vinci: Yes, leave it to me. I’ll use the utmost care.

[we Reyshift]

Mash: Reyshift successful. However, this is…… Shi Huangdi: Oh my, how cruel this is. Our beautiful Xianyang, reduced to this sad sight, feels like some terrible joke. And what is this miasma? Mash: It's a magical energy thick with curses that permeates the air. If it’s this bad with the protection of a Mystic Code, an ordinary person in this environment would…… Shi Huangdi: Indeed. It is unlikely that any of the residents have survived. Even if they were alive, they would surely no longer be Our subjects, but something else entirely. Sion: Even if this is a Singularity, what the hell could’ve happened to result in such a dramatic change? Just what was the Shi Huangdi of this point in time planning? Shi Huangdi: Well, corrupted as We were, We expect that We underrated the degree of destruction We would invite. Speaking of Ourselves at that time, Our disposition was that if something were to be done, it should be done to its completion. Nevertheless, it seems We persisted in such folly…… Of all things, We devoured Xianyang completely. Sion: Devoured it……!? You mean you used that complete monopolization of resources arbitrarily!? I know your quest for immortality escalated, but did you really start a biohazard level calamity? Shi Huangdi: Um, well, it’s embarrassing to say, but We cannot assert that it would be completely outside the realm of possibility for Us. One would simply have to scrape together banned techniques from every corner of China, as well as every conceivable foreign system…… Thinking back on it now, that’s probably why Xu Fu ran off.

> Xu Fu?

Mash: Xu Fu was a court sorcerer who served at the time of the Qin Dynasty. It’s said that Shi Huangdi ordered him to search for immortality, and he traveled to the east with many researchers, but…… Sion: He never reached that enchanted land, nor did he return to Qin. According to one theory, he reached Japan and became a king there.

> So mercury was only the beginning……

Shi Huangdi: It got to the point that We tried invoking the homeopathic magic of Western Europe. No, it was because of its eternal, everlasting beauty— but thinking about it now, using it as medicine was truly the height of recklessness…… But We would like to tell Ourselves to drink a barrel of mercury if relying on curses is the alternative. This is truly pathetic!

[Mash looks surprised then puts her headset on]

Mash: ! Master, I’ve received a warning from Sheba! Hostiles incoming! Shi Huangdi: Mm, indeed, now is not the time to be in low spirits over a weak-mindedness that both is and is not Our own. On Our honor as a Servant, We shall serve as your guard. And here, to this fallen city, We shall demonstrate the law as the true emperor!

[fight]

(Node 2)

Shi Huangdi: …… Sion: ……That was difficult, wasn’t it. Even as you are now, at the apex of mankind, does your heart still ache? Shi Huangdi: Our spilt blood is not enough for the end of Our people. Moreover, the root of all this evil is the person We used to be. Mash: ……This is a Singularity. It was a different Shi Huangdi that made the wrong decision…… Shi Huangdi: No, because that person is still Us. We know where the end of that person’s delusional convictions lie. After all, it was none other than Us that had a glimpse into that regime. Guda, this is where the root of Our anxiety toward the human species stems from. No matter how noble the ideals you laud are, fate is much too cruel. The fear of ruination and making mistakes can all too easily mislead even those who seek to venture down the correct path. It is impossible for ten out of ten people to reach enlightenment even after a lifetime of devoting themselves to their studies. Yet if even one person falls to heresy, the remaining nine will be consumed.

> Do you think it’s impossible for mankind to improve?

Shi Huangdi: A person cannot resist fear and despair. So long as they are unable to surpass death and become Zhenren, they will be inadequate. And so, the duty of traversing the wasteland of humanity should be borne by one person alone…… In the end, even We, who were enthused by the prospect, met the bitterness of a pruned Lostbelt. Now, the right to challenge that cruel future lies in the hands of those that would inhabit that future. But do not forget. Even if you acknowledge the potential of mankind, an evil exists in this world. The same evil that you see here, that led Us to expose the depths of Our depravity— and it will appear time and time again.

> I know, but > We have no choice but to improve

Shi Huangdi: Heh. No matter how We might mean to intimidate you, a glance at your admirable and precious gaze and the words die on Our tongue. Well, shall We leave this trivial matter be? Then let us go to exterminate the source of these delusional convictions.

[inside Epang Palace]

Vengeful Spirit: You…… Shi Huangdi: Ah, We are truly painful to look at. Indeed, We had steeled Ourselves, but…… Looking at Ourselves again is so repulsive it nauseates Us. Vengeful Spirit: Oho…… That form…… We never thought We would reach it. Shi Huangdi: We were truly foolish in Our youth. It isn’t as though We do not understand the extent of that anguish, but such a downfall is unpardonable. Spreading enough curses about to hail a miasma— shouldn’t that have been beyond consideration? The capital was the price paid in exchange for prolonging Our life! Vengeful Spirit: *sigh*…… If the law of death is imposed upon the whole world, then it can also be considered a cure. Under the care of this first emperor, Shi Huangdi, China has finally realized eternal rest. Sion: (“This” first emperor...?) Hold on a second. Stop talking. I have my own personal opinions on using inhumane acts to achieve immortality, but doing it for political measures is outrageous. Even without being soft, there’s no reason to go to these excessive lengths. Just look here. After all, this is a successful emperor that freed themselves completely and achieved what you could not by taking a different path. Shi Huangdi: Ah, no, this isn’t the type of opponent you should instigate…… Vengeful Spirit: And so they are a saint? That’s the height of absurdity! That one is the fool who would reap the future of the world in exchange for their own future! Sion: ー! Shi Huangdi: ……Oho? This is the first time one has seen into Our origin. Well, We suppose that even corrupted, you were still Us. Then, your verdict is that the apex of unsightliness, this city of death, is preferable to the history We had woven? Vengeful Spirit: Aye. We, the Qin Dynasty, will continue beyond death. We shall reign until its destruction! This will become true eternity! Shi Huangdi: We have decided! Both pity and consideration are wasted on you. You are no longer a heavenly being nor emperor. All that remains is simply carrion. That throne is not a place for the dead to dream. We shall return you to your rightful place thusly. After all, isn’t that what this mausoleum was built for?

[fight]

Vengeful Spirit: Guh…… Why do you stop Us? Why do you prune Us? This time, for sure, the Eternal Qin…… Our peaceful reign…… Even though We could finally see the signs…... Shi Huangdi: Coming from Us, whose life can no longer cross into the realm of death, any advice is useless. Even so, let’s see. Do not be angry. Do not lament. For even if you alone will not bear its burden, humanity itself may somehow manage yet, surprising though it may be. Vengeful Spirit: What foolishness…… There is only Us…… Only the emperor, the Alpha and Omega…… is able to carry the fate of this world…...

[it disappears]

Shi Huangdi: Ah, how tiresome. That was like coming across someone doing a dramatic reading of Our entire dark history. Well, We did what We had to do. Let us return quickly. We cannot stand the air in this corrupted palace for another minuteー no, not even another second. Sion: You did what had to be done…… I wonder. Is that all you have to say about this? Shi Huangdi: More or less? Were you expecting something else? Sion: ……No. You were able to resolve this Singularity pretty reasonably. Good work as a Servant. You too, Guda, good job. Then, let’s head back.

[we Reyshift back]

Da Vinci: Yes, yes, bang up job this time, too. Well done! Now then, go take a shower and rest up. You can report back later. Mash: Huh? This isn’t standard protocol…… Da Vinci: Well, some stuff came up. I gotta adjust the machinery and such, ya’know. Oh, Shi Huangdi, could you stay a little longer? There’s something I’d like your help with. Shi Huangdi: Hm?

> Well then, I’ll take you up on your offer > Please excuse me

[we go; scene is still the control room]

Holmes: With this I trust all the details of the case have been disclosed? Then, all that remains is to solve the mystery. Shi Huangdi: Oh my, out with Guda and in with the detective makes for a truly detestable atmosphere. Ah, that reminds me, We do believe We had promised to have some dim sum with Shuwen. What an unfortunate time to forget. Then, if you’ll excuse me…… Holmes: Stop with the transparent lies. Why don’t we start talking. Da Vinci: We’ve already observed numerous Singularities, both large and small. Combining that with the data received from my previous incarnation, I have enough samples to be able to classify everything depending on trends observed. Therefore, I can draw this conclusion. This Singularity was not a natural occurrence. The pattern corresponds to the construction being from that of intentional outside interference. Shi Huangdi: And you suspect We are responsible? No, you overestimate Us completely. Certainly, Our form is that which is expected of Us as a Servant in this world, though as a supreme ultimate being it is the implementation of a modern human frame. Looking at it from another perspective, We are nothing more than an individual with nothing to Us, supreme only in name. We could not possibly reach the authority We once had in Our sacred mechanical body that once controlled all the world. Da Vinci: Thank you for being so eloquent, and for making your excuse as long-winded as physically possible. It’s true that as a Servant, Guda has the means to control you with a Command Spell. However…… it’s a different story if you were to regain the power you once had in your Lostbelt. Shi Huangdi: Well, We intended for you to forget your vigilance in your awe. Is it even possible that the feat of creating Singularities would be available as We are now? Actually, in the first place, it was an artificial Singularity. Is that possible? Da Vinci: In theory. However, it would require a Reyshift or some other equivalent means. Shi Huangdi: In other words, the machinery here has been used fraudulently by someone? Sion: Even if you want to ridicule it as a security system riddled with holes, I’ll reject that notion. As a hacker myself, I won’t say anything about a “perfect security system,” but if we’re talking about Novum Chaldea’s equipment, I can affirm that it’s impossible to operate the system without leaving a trace. Holmes: Rather, we should consider the possibility of someone other than ourselves implementing a Reyshift system. Shi Huangdi: If we’re talking about “possibilities,” then they’re endless. Especially considering that it might be a common technology in the future? Holmes: Finding the suspect ー in this case, the one who implemented the system ー is possible, even without jumping to such extreme leaps in logic. One would simply have to acquire the Animusphere’s theories, the Laplace software, and have a means of computing comparable to Trismegistus…… if we consider who can satisfy all those requirements, the conclusion is nearly at hand. Da Vinci: Well, this was borne from my own carelessness, but Shadow Border, at the time of entering the Chinese Lostbelt, contained backup data from Antarctic Chaldea that had been evacuated just in case. I never imagined that the entire vehicle might be captured and analyzed. Sion: Furthermore, your other form on-site was that of a supercomputer that ruled over and controlled the planet. It really is a shame I wasn’t able to see it directly. And there was no chance to know the details of what happened afterward.  Holmes: Indeed. After we left, the Chinese Lostbelt as an externally observable object disappeared promptly. However, it is impossible to know how much time passed within the Lostbelt itself. If there wasn’t a sudden collapse, but instead a grace period in which the data obtained from Shadow Border could be fully analyzed…… Sion: And, the most damning evidence was a statement made by the other emperor who was out of control in that Singularity. You were able to detect the pruning event with a single shot. At the time, it was a skillful deception, but logically it was impossible. The only possibility is…… Holmes: The Shi Huangdi of that Singularity had already been in contact with you once, in regards to the pruning event. The culprit who made the Singularity is not the Shi Huangdi who serves as a Servant of Chaldea, but the Shi Huangdi who was a Lostbelt King…… Am I wrong? Shi Huangdi: Hmmm…… However, after the pruning event is confirmed, what use would it be to Reyshift? A Reyshift cannot grant the falsification of history. At best, it would produce a Singularityー nothing more than a stagnation in space-time. Da Vinci: You’re right. It’s impossible to change the outcome once the pruning event occurs. But if you went back to the past, regardless of a pruning event, there was certainly a time when you rode the waves of history, adding onto itー “compiling” it. Holmes: That answer seems to be why you stuck to Xianyang as the Singularity. The Lostbelt Shi Huangdi established multiple Singularities in stages, trying to see which of them would be detected by Chaldea, right? And that particularity would need an accompliceー a role played by “Servant Shi Huangdi” …… Shi Huangdi: …… Da Vinci: Establishing a Singularity from a Lostbelt, if we assume that there was a Singularity Response that could be observed from pan-human history, it would be from their shared past, and then that point becomes the crossroads between pruning and compiling history. And from there, establishing a Singularity in the past can become a means of interfering with pan-human history. Just like the trap devised by the King of Mages, Goetia.  Sion: I thought they might have intended to do something during the last Reyshift, so I accompanied them, but there was nothing at all out of place. Since that was the case, it was reasonable to believe that there was another prime culprit. Of the traps set, which had been set to target this side of human history……? My aim was to verify that. Or, rather, was your purpose for answering Chaldea’s summons for that purpose? Shi Huangdi: Ah, good grief. Humanity so used to conflict really is lacking in charm.  Da Vinci: There’s no way we could have this conversation in front of Guda. We’re doing it this way because we must confirm your true intentions. Shi Huangdi: Well. In the event that you would accuse Us, We would think that Guda, equipped as they are with Command Spells, would be essential to have present. It’s quite a sweet sentiment especially compared to the sharpness of your deductions. We have misgivings about the future of pan-human history. In any case, We have warned Guda time and time again. That should the mankind of pan-human history prove themselves to be unpardonably hideous beings, We will revive the Qin once more. Da Vinci: Then…… Shi Huangdi: Oops, wait three seconds before you get truly angry. We do not mean to say We will implement that plan immediately. We have no intention of hindering Guda’s efforts. We came to your pan-human history to see with Our own eyes your struggle, and should you fall into trouble, We shall spare no effort to lend Our assistance. After all, We have already abdicated Our throne in favor of a virtuous successor.  Holmes: ……Then why the shady behavior? Shi Huangdi: It is Our belief that hope for the future will be pioneered by Guda, and you allー the “people.” However, faith and trust are two different things. After all, We are a politician. We do not engage in gambling. Should Guda shrink from their duty as a human inhabiting this world at the unprecedented crisis known as the bleaching of humanity …… At that time, We will become responsible for humanity again. “A humanity according to esteemed people.” Da Vinci: ………… Sion: ーRejected. That’s a contract built on the premise of defeat. Is there any other name for that than betrayal? Shi Huangdi: There certainly exist Heroic Spirits that dedicate themselves to Guda under pretense of friendship and conviction. However. Would it be okay if a world that could not be saved by “goodness” met its complete ruinationー We are different than those that cannot overlook disarray. Our bond with Guda is righteous. But to defeat the “Alien God” is an even greater justice. Should there come a time wherein these two ideals need be weighed against each other…… We shall choose the heavier one, without hesitation. Such is the duty of an arbiter.  Sion: …… In short, you assert that this is a means to resist the bleaching of humanity? Shi Huangdi: It’s insurance, so to speak. We are a heavenly being that rules over the world of man. An invasion of earth by something inhuman is something We cannot forgive. In the event of Guda’s complete victory over the “Alien God,” We shall forget Our precautions as a needless anxiety. With the dismissal of all Singularities, We shall celebrate this victory of the people. Of course, that was the plan all along. Sion: Good grief. All this talk is hard to believe after seeing another Shi Huangdi who fell into the depths of their delusions at the end of their ambition just a little while ago.  (Agh, I really can’t recognize this person as Their Majesty The Emperor) Shi Huangdi: That is why We keep repeating it. Here We are, living,  2200 years after Our death. Our viewpoint has since changed, and Our worldly desires have perished. You shouldn’t look down on the mental state sainthood achieves.  ……In addition. Considering whether or not this insurance can go as smoothly as We had originally thought, We now possess a smidgeon of anxiety. In the first place, the arrangements for Reyshifting are in no way……  There is another matter that is displeasing. There is a faint smell of heresy. Da Vinci: Heresy? Like what? Shi Huangdi: From the beginning, you all easily saw through Us…… There is no reason why the other Crypters could not do the same thing. Holmes: I’ll tell you in advance that your caution is worthy of recognition. Since it doesn’t seem that you’ll resort to acting rashly. Shi Huangdi: If Guda and everyone else follows Our plan, everything will advance with a rock-solid formation~. Da Vinci: Ahaha. It’s impossible, so just give up. No matter what the reason is, strategies hinging on sacrifices won’t be approved. That goes doubly in Novum Chaldea. Otherwise such a victory would have no meaning. Holmes: ーHm. Although I do agree with some of Your Majesty’s thoughts…… As a matter of practicality, first and foremost must come the felling of the remaining Trees of Emptiness. So long as we have the invader, the “Alien God,” as a common enemy, I do hope our alliance will be maintained. Da Vinci: Yes, it’s safe to say that they bear no malicious intent toward Guda. However, Shi Huangdiー do not forget that we are keeping careful watch over your movements. If you do anything to make that child sad, I won’t forgive you, okay? Shi Huangdi: Then We shall say this. Heroic Spirits. That person is likely the next generation of mankind. We will surely be victorious, no matter what the cost. We shall not need to be roused again.

[in My Room]

Fou: Fou? Fooou! Mash: A- Are you okay, senpai? Did you get sick?

> No, I’m fine > For some strange reason, I got chills……

Mash: ……Okay. You don’t seem to be running a fever. Perhaps someone was talking about you, senpai.

> I hope they’re not saying anything weird…… > Hmm, it’s like I’m carrying a weight on my shoulders……

-

T/N:

* EDIT: Shoutout to an anon for being the real MVP and alerting me that, aside from being a compound in Japanese, the kanji Shi Huangdi uses here are in reference to soul-types in Chinese philosophy. The concepts refer to two different souls that exist within the self, representing yin and yang, but I... don’t really want to turn this into a lesson, nor am I an expert (obviously. since I didn’t catch it while translating) so I’d recommend looking into it if curious/wanting to know more about our emperor!

#my translations #fgo #fgo translations #fgo interlude #long post

[rushingheadlong]

God (Dream Is Over) Meta Post

Okay, I’ve been saying for literally months now that I was going to make a meta post about Brian’s cover of the John Lennon song “God” (though Brian’s version is usually called “Dream Is Over”) and I finally sat down and did it.

If you’re new to my ramblings, this is Very Long and there’s no tldr, and I’m only a little bit sorry for that. I also didn’t bother tracking down specific citations or quotes for things Brian has said about what the early 90s were like for him because I think most of that is common knowledge at this point anyway.

There’s a TW on this for discussions of Brian’s mental health issues in the early 90s and Freddie’s death. That should be obvious if you’ve heard the song, but if you haven’t listened to it before consider this your warning that there are sad feels ahead.

One final note before we dive in: I’m going to talk a lot in here about the “end of Queen” and I want to be clear that I don’t think the band in any way “died” or ended with Freddie. However in the years immediately following Freddie’s death Brian very much felt that the band was over and this is a sentiment that he, Roger, and John all maintained at least up until the mid-2000s and the start of the collaboration with Paul Rodgers.

So there’s a lot of mentions of “the end of Queen” coming up ahead, and please know that this is only a reflection on Brian’s feelings in the early 90s and not his feelings today (which are clearly different, and it’s absolutely his right to change his mind on this) and certainly not my own opinion on the matter.

Background Information

The original song “God” was written by John Lennon and was released on his first post-Beatles solo album. There’s a wikipedia article on the song <here> and you can listen to it <here> but the short summary of it is that it’s rejection of God and various religions/belief systems, ending with Lennon saying that he only believes in himself and Yoko Ono and distancing himself from who he was with the Beatles.

Brian’s version of the song is less of a cover and more of a total rewrite, if we’re being honest here. There’s two videos of him performing the song: the first is from a New Haven show in October 1993 and the second is from a Milwaukee show also in October 1993. (If the Milwaukee link doesn’t take you to the correct spot in the video, the song appears around 1:33:22 into it.)

AFAIK these are the only two performances of these songs currently out there, unless/until more of the old bootlegs are re-uploaded. The song was exclusively played on Brian’s Back to the Light tour at the beginning of his encore. However due to the set-up of the tour he didn’t always play an encore, so the song doesn’t appear to have been performed very often. Additionally, while Brian played the song at his Live at the Brixton Academy concert it was cut from the album and video release due to copyright issues so there’s no official recording of it.

Brian’s Lyrics and Music

The dream is over, what can I say  The dream is over, yesterday  We were the fab ones, but now it is gone  I was the gentle one, but now I must be strong  And so dear friends we'll just have to carry on  The dream is over 

The dream is over, no matter what they say  The dream is over, it has to be this way  We played in springtime, but now I play in fall  We made the bigtime, but now we are small  And our dear friend let's just hope he still has it all The dream is over 

I don't believe in magic  I don't believe in pain*  I don't believe in heroes  I don't believe in fame  I don't believe the newsprint  I don't believe we're free  I don't believe in pressure  ‘cause I don't believe we're right  I don't believe in torture   I don't believe in fight  I don't believe in color  I don't believe in white**  I don't believe in history  I don't believe in being Queen any more  I just believe in me  Just you guys and me And these guys and me*** And that's reality 

The dream is over Dream on

Some quick notes on the lyrics:

*I’ve seen this line written to end with either “pain” or “games” and to be honest, I’m not entirely sure which one it is. I personally don’t hear the “s” at the end of “games” and lean towards it being “pain”, which is how I’ve interpreted it for this post, but I’ll openly admit that I could be wrong on this point.

**Similarly, I’ve seen this line written to end with “whites” in the plural but again I don’t hear Brian singing an “s” at the end of the word and I’m pretty sure it’s in the singular.

**Occasionally this line and the one before are reversed in written transcriptions of the lyrics, and in the New Haven video it’s hard to hear the “and these guys” line at all. It’s much clearer in the Milwaukee video and you can see him motion to the band better, so the correct order of the lyrics would be “you guys” [the audience] first and then “these guys” [his band] second. 

If you listen to Lennon’s original song, the only lyrics that are really the same are, The dream is over, what can I say / The dream is over, yesterday as well as And so dear friends we'll just have to carry on / The dream is over although Brian changes Lennon’s “you just have to carry on” to “we’ll just have to carry on” - more on this later.

Brian also completely rearranges the song. He scraps Lennon’s opening section entirely, turns the final section into his first verse and extends it into two verses instead of just one, changes the song from being largely a piano piece into being guitar-driven and, in typical Brian May fashion, makes it go a bit heavier towards the middle. You can read the lyrics to Lennon’s song <here> to get a clearer idea of the changes that Brian made in his version.

Background Meta

The first thing to point out is that it makes a lot of sense for Brian to look to John Lennon as a source for this song. Besides the fact that he’s always said that Lennon is a huge musical inspiration for him, the parallels between when the original song was written and the state of Brian’s music career in the early 90s are pretty obvious. Although the circumstances of why Brian was launching his solo career are obviously different than what happened with the Beatles and Lennon, he was still striking out on his own and separating himself from the group that had defined his music up until that point.

It also makes a lot of sense for Brian to use someone else’s music to express his emotions during this time, even if he ultimately rewrote Lennon’s lyrics almost entirely. Brian has said that he always wrote his Queen music knowing that Freddie, specifically, would be singing it, and up until this point he has always been writing music with other people - neither of which were things that were possible with Brian’s new solo career. There’s also some evidence that Brian may have struggled to come up with enough original music on his own to fill his first solo album, since he rounded out the album with a cover song (Rollin’ Over) and added lyrics to two pieces of music written by Cozy Powell (Resurrection and Nothin’ But Blue).

And there's the added fact that Brian was dealing with mental health issues during the late 80s/early 90s, including depression that was so severe that he basically couldn’t function for days at a time. Brian has talked about being so depressed that he couldn’t get out of bed, that he became incredibly suicidal, and, relevant to this discussion, that he lost all ability to write new music for long stretches of time. Given that, it makes a lot of sense that Brian would turn to someone else’s music to help him express the feelings that he wanted to get out.

Finally, there’s the question of why did Brian felt the need to perform this song at all, and I think there’s two reasons for that.

The first is the obvious explanation that it was performed simply to give Brian an outlet for his emotions. Brian has said that his Back to the Light tour functioned as a sort of therapy for him, and even going back to the very beginning of Queen Brian has used his music as a way to express himself and his feelings (think about songs like “Keep Yourself Alive” or “Now I’m Here” as examples). His version of “God (Dream Is Over)” is very much keeping in line with this tendency to use music as a form of therapy.

The second reason is that this song gives Brian a way to distance himself from Queen, which was important to him as he said on multiple points immediately following Freddie’s death that he felt that Queen was over. In later years, he has acknowledged that he really just wasn’t emotionally prepared to deal with Queen matters after Freddie died and that he needed to distance himself from the band while he was grieving.

However, despite this, Brian didn’t have enough solo material to fill out an entire concert and since he was best known as being the “lead guitarist of Queen” it only made sense to fill out his shows with Queen songs. (I have an entire meta post about this subject <here>.) Performing this song was a way to acknowledge his history with and what had happened to Queen after a concert of playing their songs, while also reinforcing that in his mind the band was over and he was moving on from that.

Lyric Analysis - Opening Verses

So, let’s get into actually looking at these lyrics now and first off, we have to point out that while Lennon’s song was generally about a rejection of organized belief systems with a small footnote about him leaving the Beatles at the end, Brian’s song doesn’t mention religion at all and is instead almost entirely about the end of Queen. Brian absolutely poured his heart out into every single word of this song, and it’s not subtle at all.

The opening verses are very clearly and pretty explicitly about Freddie’s death and the resulting end of Queen. Apart from the obvious “the dream is over” being a reference to Queen being over, this also gets reinforced with lines such as We were the fab ones, but now it is gone and We made the bigtime, but now we are small.

It’s worth pointing out, though, that unlike in Lennon’s original song where he frames the ending of the Beatles through the changes in himself, Brian frames the ending of Queen around outside forces (i.e. Freddie’s death) and very clearly states that he feels that the band ending is unavoidable despite anyone’s feelings on the matter. (The dream is over, no matter what they say / The dream is over, it has to be this way)

Also unlike in Lennon’s song, Brian isn’t rejecting Queen even if he’s trying to distance himself from them. The band is over, yes, but Brian’s lyrics are rife with we statements - We were the fab ones and We hit the bigtime. Even when he acknowledges that he’s moved on, he’s still remembering the band as a unit and including himself in that history - We played in springtime, but now I play in fall. 

And, as I mentioned before, there’s the very stark change from Lennon’s You just have to carry on into Brian’s we’ll just have to carry on. Brian doesn’t see himself as leaving a thriving band to “carry on” without him because, in his mind, Queen has already “died” and all of them need to move on with their lives.

I also want to acknowledge the lyric And our dear friend, let’s just hope he still has it all. This comes in the second verse, which Brian added to his version (Lennon only had one of these verses in the original song). Obviously it’s a callback to the And so dear friends from the first verse, but it says a lot about Brian’s state of mind and how Freddie was still at the forefront of his thoughts that he added an entire second verse to really hammer home the demise of Queen and then ends it with a bittersweet reflection that he hopes Freddie “still has it all” even after his death.

Finally, there’s the lyric, I was the gentle one, but now I must be strong which I think is a really interesting moment of self-reflection from Brian. When compared against the “chaos twins” of Roger and Freddie, and even John who got up to some wild shenanigans himself, it’s easy to see why Brian might characterize himself as the quiet and gentle one in the band (and he has been described as a sort of “gentle giant” by others around Queen over the years).

However it’s the second half of that that’s really striking, because it really shows the position that Brian was in following Freddie’s death where he (and Roger, and presumably also John though John stayed away from interviewers more) felt that he needed to stand up for Freddie’s legacy and needed to be “strong” in the face of everything that was said about Freddie and his final years. And, of course, given that he was extremely depressed and suicidal at the time, it’s also worth mentioning that he was being “strong” simply by continuing to live and move forward with his life even when he didn’t want to.

Lyric Analysis - Rejection Statements

Like I mentioned back at the beginning of this post, Lennon’s original song lyrics take the rough format of 1. Criticizing God as a concept 2. Rejecting various religions and belief systems 3. Affirming his belief in himself and Yoko Ono 4. Rejecting who he was with the Beatles. As we discussed in the last section, Brian’s song cuts out the religion entirely and he instead starts by confirming and discussing the end of Queen. 

Following this, though, he returns to Lennon’s original structure with his own "I don’t believe in...” lyrics. His are completely different to Lennon’s, however just like Lennon’s rejections followed on from his opening statements about God I think Brian’s rejections follow from his open statements about Queen and continue to be largely about the band (while also allowing for broader societal interpretations, as many of Brian’s lyrics are designed to have several layers to them).

For the purposes of this post, though, we’re only going to talk about how these lyrics relate to Freddie, Queen in general, and Brian’s own mental health at the time.

I don’t believe in magic / I don’t believe in pain / I don’t believe in heroes / I don’t believe in fame are the four that I really feel are about Freddie. The first two I think are about his death. After seeing Freddie die in the way he did, Brian is stating that he doesn’t believe in magic (because there was no magic cure to save Freddie) and he doesn’t believe in pain (possibly that he doesn’t believe in prolonging someone’s pain, or that he doesn’t understand a world that allows for human suffering more broadly).

The next two lines I feel are Brian reflecting on how meaningless it is to be famous or to be someone’s “hero”. I think part of this is Brian mourning the loss of Freddie and trying to distance himself from what Freddie meant to him in order to distance himself from the grief he feels (because Brian absolutely considered Freddie his hero, as proven by his original plan for his second solo album). And paired with this is Brian’s criticism of “fame” as a concept, because being famous didn’t save Freddie either and, in fact, being hounded by the press only made his final months more difficult than they already were.

This leads into the next line, I don’t believe the newsprint, which is clearly a criticism of the lies the press printed (and were still printing) about Freddie. But the phrasing of this as “newsprint” also hearkens back to the music video for Scandal, and serves as a reminder that the press had been uncharitable towards all of them through the late 80s and early 90s. 

The next line, I don’t believe we’re free may also be referring to Queen specifically (in addition to the broader societal implications). Given that Brian littered his open verses with “we” statements, he could be talking about how they still aren’t “free” from the press even though it’s been nearly two years since Freddie’s death or how they aren’t “free” from the shadow of Queen’s legacy.

Personally, the lyrics I don’t believe in pressure / ‘cause I don’t believe we’re right also make me think of Queen and I do wonder if the use of “pressure” is supposed to be an oblique reference to Under Pressure. Even if it’s not, the “pressure” he could be talking about may be the pressure to return and deal with his Queen obligations, including helping with Made In Heaven, which Brian wasn’t ready to do at this point.

The lyrics I don’t believe in color / I don’t believe in white I don’t think are entirely about race, especially since like I said before I don’t think he’s singing “whites” with an “s” to make it a noun. Personally, I can see this as another commentary on Brian’s mental state at the time and the dark depression he felt that left him feeling like he was living in a bleak and colorless world. (Even if Brian is singing “whites” though, given how his lyrics often have multiple layers of meaning I don’t think this excludes an interpretation of this with regards to his mental health even if it makes the race message more overt.)

The I don’t believe in fight line is another one that I think is about Brian’s depression. Although it certainly connects with the “torture” in the line before, he doesn’t say that he doesn’t believe in war or conflict just that he doesn’t believe in fighting, a sentiment that carries a very different meaning for a man who was depressed to the point of being suicidal.

Going back to the Queen references one more time, we get the one absolutely direct Queen lyric at the very end: I don’t believe in being Queen any more, I just believe in me. As I explained before, Brian is very firmly stating that he believes that Queen is over and he’s moved on from the band. Although these lyrics mirror Lennon’s I do think that there’s some truth to Brian’s statement of I just believe in me. He had some minor conflicts with at least Roger in the early 90s (both of them said uncharitable things about each other’s work outside Queen) and since Brian had walked away from helping them with the Made In Heaven tapes I do think that Brian felt that he was at least somewhat truly alone now.

Even the next line, Just you guys and me is very different from Lennon believing in himself and Yoko Ono. Brian doesn’t tie himself to a relationship, he ties himself to his audience - and, more importantly, he adds an extra line tying himself to his band as well. While I think part of this serves as a general final acknowledgement of the Brian May Band after the larger band introductions earlier in the show, I also think this is Brian’s way of acknowledging that he’s been able to move forward because he has the support of people like Cozy, Spike, Neil, Jamie, etc. even if he doesn’t feel that he has Queen in his corner anymore.

Finally, Brian ends his song by repeating The dream is over one last time but he also adds, Dream on which isn’t in the original Lennon song. Even though Brian has acknowledged Freddie’s death and the end of the Queen dream, his final message is to keep dreaming anyway. It’s possible that he means this as the dream of his solo career, or to keep the dream of Queen’s music alive even after the end of the band… but it’s also possible that he means this as a much more literal dream, since Brian has talked a few times about having dreams of Freddie following his death, and of waking up and just wanting to go back to dreaming of his friend.

Given the ambiguity of the earlier lyric And our dear friend, let’s just hope he still has it all this may be another moment of heartache from Brian who wants to keep “dream[ing] on” about his lost friend because that’s the last connection that he has to Freddie.

And with that, the song ends, and Brian launches into the rest of his encore and the final song of the show with “Hammer to Fall”... but a discussion about that particular song choice is, I think, a meta post for another day. 

#brian may #text #ramblings #brian #long post // #no one asked for this but you get it anyway so !! here it is !! 3k of niche and sad ramblings about Brian May in the early 90s !!!!

[lily-lilou]

My understanding and analysis of the magical system in The Dragon Prince. Part 2. Primal, dark, love and life magic.

So, this second post (here’s the first one) will present my theory about this: about the magical system as a whole thing (more or less), about love and life magic, I will explain why it’s two different things, what’s their place in the magical system, their role, about how they're supposed to work.

1st part. what proof, in the show, do we have about another kind of magic?

Well, take a look at this:

The two pictures are when Avizandum and Zym are attacking, with lightning. they are the exact same colors (cool, nothing exceptional, Lily, really cool...)

Yeah, but now look at this, when Zym is trying to wake up (maybe even heal?) his mom:

See all the colors, here? We have white, green, blue, purble, some kind of pink-orange-yellow...: well, every colors, as if every kind of primal magic were present. And I don't think it's just to make things pretty here.

Because it's not the only time we see this phenomenon, where “all the colors” are here. There’s two other examples:

1st look at when Viren is sucking what I suppose is Zym's life/magic's force out of our dragonling:

Once again, we can see all the colors, like with Zym's lightning to wake up his mom.

But the most impressive example is when Zym’s egg is hatching:

The egg was dead (he had turned black for several minutes) we saw some usual lightning (blue) who then changed with all colors and he literraly turned back to life:

So, from the interview linked in the post before (at 9min00 or something), we know there is that "earlier, less differenciated power", a "kind of magic that's deeper". With this statement (“less differenciated power”) and pictures above, it seems we have a magic who looks like a mix of all primal magic. I will even say it’s “life-magic”.

edit: 

I found this following pictures in “the art of the dragon prince”. Here, the colors are even more differenciable. And there is indeed, six of them (white(a little blue), yellow, green, purple, red and blue (I guess respectively sky, moon, earth, stars, sun and ocean)

2nd part. What is “life-magic”?

I said what we saw above is “life-magic” and it could make sense:

First, because of all the colors we saw (as I said, as if all kind of primal magic were here).

Second: just observe the world, how it works: the sun, the moon, the earth, the ocean, the sky (and I guess the stars too) need to work together to bring life. (Hey, what is the sun, alone, if not a giant useless fire ball? What is the earth without the sun to warm it, the ocean to irrigate it? Doesn't the ocean need the earth to contain it? et caetera...)

(still in the same interview above) we know Aaravos sutdied magic deeply, that he was interested in this "deeper, less differenciated magic" they mentionned. So, "life magic" being a mix of all others magic would makes even more sense if Aaravos is the one (from the artbook we can guess he has at least a hand in it) behind this symbol (because it would represent “life” it more or less perfectly):

Plus, you'll notice another thing when Aaravos and Viren tried to kill Zym, Viren's eyes became, while he was filling himself with Zym's “life”, just like those of Aaravos in S2:

If I'm right, Aaravos could have known there is a deeper magic and so find a way to harvest it with dark magic. It could explain why he tried to reach other arcanum, to reach that "deeper magic", that "life". (or maybe he doesn't know it's "life"? too early to say anything here, I guess)

(speaking aside, another theory of mine is that he harvested other primal creatures to gain their power and so reach others arcanum, which would also explain why every Xadian hates and fear him - which also could mean he was trying to give this to Viren, the sky arcanum, I mean... anyway, that's not the topic yet.)

BUT, stating that Life-magic is composed of all primal magic only is maybe true, but incomplete.

I just said this symbol (yes again, I love it):

Could be “life magic”. But if “life-magic” is only composed of all kind of primal magic… what does that giant rune in the middle is for?

Dark magic, you’ll said.

Dark magic? But we said earlier that dark magic is the exact opposite of “life-magic”. Because it’s “death and hate”, when the other is “life and love”.

…

Wait, love? The big rune in the middle would be “love”?

Exactly! (I promise, we’ll dig into this in the following part)

“love is magic, magic is life, so love is life”.

(PS. Again: “love is magic” is something you can find in Callum’s spellsbook several time. It’s not from me)

But in dark magic, no love, so no life. Why? Think at how dark magic works: it's killing and stealing and it hollows you from the inside (more about this in the part dedicated to dark-magic). I would even say: It's stealing life from others, so the price you have to pay is to lose your own (life-life? life-love? Viren became so hateful with time... but I'm digressing.)

So, now, look at Zym again when he's trying to save/wake up his mom.

We find all these colors, but he's not like Aaravos, he never reached any other arcanum. I mean, he can barely control his own. I think in that moment, Zym isn't using his usual lightning but, maybe without even knowing it, he's digging in that life-love magic because he loves his mom, he wants to help her, to save her. So something else, something big is happening.

And it would be wonderful if his attempt to wake her is the true reason she wakes up at the end of S3...

I would even add Aaravos’s quote before I conclued the end of this 2nd part: “Those who fail the test of love are simple animals, that deserved to be motivated by fear". It could means Aaravos know, to some extent, the existence, or maybe the importance of love in magic. And if he’s really behind the symbol above… (but I won’t digress on my theory about Aaravos and magic and the test of love, because it’s not the subject either and this post is already long enough…)

So, conclusion of this part: true "life magic" would be composed on all primal magic AND love. (That, or "true life magic" is composed of all primal magic and the way to reach it without killing others is love. I would also makes sense but we’ll see when we will talk about “love magic”)

3rd part: what is “love-magic?

I just said that the symbol of dark magic could in fact represent the magical system, and so “life magic” and the rune in the middle would be the representation of “love”.

Nice statement! Any proof? Let’s analyze this closely, then!

On the symbol, we can see two things:

1st, all the primal magic.

2nd, a big rune in the middle. Until now, we thought it was a rune representing dark magic, I just stated it wasn’t, that it could be “love”.

When I said that on Reddit, a nice fella, u/randomorph came with his own theory, here: he proposed the interesting idea that the two soulfangs we can see in the endcredits in S1 with a heart above their head (meaning "love"), just look like the symbol/rune of dark magic.

One one part, soulfangs serpent seems dark-magic related in some aspects, but on the other part, what we see here, it's love. Two serpents who are in love.

So if that dark-magic's rune above is inspired by the two soulfangs, it could really be the proof the very rune of dark magic means, is, in fact, the rune of "love". (And maybe that Aaravos doesn’t fully understand what “love” truly is... but once again, that’s another theory...)

Sidenote: another nice fella thought that the two serpents are also similar to “Caduceus”, the symbol used in the medical world, with the two serpents. I still don’t know exactly what to do with this, but the parallel is interesting. And it wouldn’t be the first similarity with the bible.

4th part: how is this love-magic supposed to work? (I'll talk about dark magic later)

Nice, we have now proof (well, more or less, it’s still a big theory who could end up being totally wrong) that we have a life-magic, composed of primal magic and love magic, with a dark magic who’s strangely not fitting in this…

But for now, what about love-magic?

I had a theory I couldn't prove a while ago and I had let it down: I thought that "love" was the kind of magic humans could really do. But I had let it down because Xadians have proven they can love too. And I also had to place Callum and his arcanum in this.

BUT! thanks to u/the_mad_ and his superb theory here, we have proof now. To summarise it partially (but go read it, it's worth it): humans have some special kind of power, they can create a magical connection with other, it's "love-magic", and dark magic is a corrupted version of it (but once again, I'll abord dark magic later). As he said it "humans can do this special form of magic because humans have (or can form) a special magical connection with each other and with other creatures and objects, in particular through love (and empathy)".

And indeed, we saw this three time, especially in the novel.

We saw this with Marcos when he made a connection with Rayla (it's the-mad interpretation since we have the scene from Rayla’s POV and I totally agree with him ^^),

Ezran made a connection with Zym while in the water, in the frozen lake.

Viren made one with Harrow in the novel, and it ended really bad for him because Harrow rejected him. (no really, I insist, go read his post).

And all these connections are more or less described in the same magical way.

u/the_mad_ also mentionned Ezran's power as a more visible, powerful manifestation of this love-magic humans can perform. I had that HC too, I never agree with the idea of our boy being earth-primal-related, because in Callum's spellsbook, it's never said earthblood elves can talk to animals. In fact, no primal-magic seems to really fit with this power.

But with love-magic, it does.

But… what about Xadians? They can also love. The moonfam is a proof of this, Janai and the dragon queen too. Well, yes, it's love, and yes everyone can love, without exception. But for Xadian it's not necesseraly magical because it's not their magic. Xadians have primal magic and humans love-magic.

So, to summarize this part: humans have a magic on their own. It's love, but not usual love**, it's something that gave them the ability to "link" themselves to others, even to link others together**, but that's another part.

5th part, how love and primal magic works? What happen when separated? What happen when reunited?

Thanks again to u/the_mad, I finally found an explanation (I could be totally wrong but let's just say I'm at least not far from the truth... hem!!)

Take a look again at what I now call the "life-magic" symbol, formerly called "dark-magic symbol" (it’s the last time you’ll see it, I promise ^^):

The important part now is the big circle (in white) in the middle, circling "love" and connecting all primal magic. The important part now, is this "connection". It's as if "love" is the link between all primal magic, as if love it's what makes them work together.

u/the_mad_ talked about love-magic connecting people, which seems to be true. But I think it's not only between individuals. If this theory is right, that connection could be applied in a much larger scale. I would even said it concernes the whole world.

So, what did I mean by "love-magic is connecting all primal magic? Well...:

In HBMP ep2, Aaron Ehasz talked about how Xadians live in their part of the world, and it appears they're not really cohabitating together. They know each other, they know about each other, but it doesn't seem to be more than that.

In HBMP ep5, we even learn that there's probably several Mooshadow village in the forest other than the Silvergrove, and they don't know where all the others are. They're not "connected", not really.

We also have a description of Ibis on the official website, where we learn that "He has long been a liaison between elves and dragons", which could mean the two species aren't that close.

And what about the "I know that sound, that's not a good sound" from Rayla when she heard the dragon roar?... that reveal a lot about relationship between elves and dragons... (plus, still in HBMPep2, Aaron teased a story who happened between Rayla, Runaan and a dragon, which would explain the quote just above (personal theory: the dragon is the reason of Runaan’s torso scar). But alas, j.Richmond stopped him before we could get more. my HC is that Runaan's scars came from here, which would add to the idea elves and dragons aren't always getting along.)

Another proof would be the dragonguard, elven warriors, running away when the dragon king died. They didn't care about Zym's fate. (Except for Lain and Tiadrin, but I'm gonna talk about this later)

I would add how the other moonshadow elves except Runaan, in the novelization, showed how... deeply attached they were to Rayla. A child they saw growing up for almost 16 years. Worst of all, Moon magic, according to Callum's spellsbook, is supposed to be love-related. If that's "love" for any lambda Moonshadow elf, don't show me what "hate" is for them, please!

(and here my... approximative localisation of elves in Xadia...)

All these points lead to this: we don't have yet a whole picture of Xadia, but it seems that Xadians are not close to each other, in a matter of relationship. It's not war or anything like that, it more looks like a huge lack of socialisation, lack of relationship.

So, no humans = no love-magic = no connection. It seems coherent. Xadians never approached humans, they studied them from afar (I had found a super analysis on Tumblr about informations each side has on the other, about how it seems elves have more accurate intel on humans than humans on Xadians - but sorry, I can't find it anymore :() they even bannished humans and look at the result: Xadians are separated from each other, barely interacting it seems. Dragons from elves, elves from elves according to their arcanum. Xadia is stagnant.

But now, what happened when Xadians get close to humans, when they work with them?

At the storm spire, one human boy (ok, it's Ezran, not any human could have done this) brought several dragons to fight alongside sunfire elves and humans to fight an army of monsters, (not sure if Ibis would have achieved this alone)

Callum started to talk through Rayla about that toxic cycle in the beginning of S1, and it touched her profundly (as we can see at the end of S2). He and his brother managed to touch her to the core and it changed her on a lot of aspects. She's more healthy now, everyone can agree on that...

Her contact with Villads changed her

And talking about their quest, they literally changed the world (... ok, it's only the beginning but the idea that 3 children, a baby and a unidentified glowing thing stopped an imminent war does talk a lot about what both sides reunited can do).

We can also see Janai changing (I wonder if she got "linked" to Amaya the way u/the_mad_ talked about in his theory about love-magic). She first wanted to kill her enemy, and she ended saving her, fighting with her (and maybe slowly falling in love with her, but that's another story)

Side note to complete this part: what's happening to humans, while separated from Xadians? Look at how humans live in their side of the border. The five kingdoms came to an alliance, but the  land is mostly deprived of primal magic, probably because there's almost no elves or dragon. it's slowly dying, physically-materially speaking. (remember that famine who would have killed hundred of thousand people 9 years ago)

Conclusion for this part :

1.     Xadians need humans to be linked, they need "love" to be and work together and not being separated from each other. Just like Humans needs Xadians to "live".

2.     Xadians and humans are currently separated from each other, and they both lost something, they're both missing something. And for them all to be complete, for them to live, they need to be together.

6th part : if Xadians have primal magic and humans love-magic, why can Callum use primal magic? Could a Xadian use Love-magic?

I've stated that Magic is life. If magic is life, then it's in everything that's alive. Which mean, everyone, Xadians and humans, have everything in them. Humans and Xadians have both love-magic and primal magic in them.

But just like Xadians are naturally born with a connection to a primal source, humans have a natural one on the 7th: love.

From this, it seems logical that a human can reach an arcanum, since it's in him too. It's just... dormant, passive. If he wants to reach this other side, he needs to forge a connection.

And so, the opposite could totally be true, a Xadian could forge a connection to love-magic.

Okay, but how does it works? Why didn't this happened earlier?

Once again, I think it's related to what I said: both sides need to work together, to learn by proximity from each other. A true relationship. Callum first started to learn about Xadians by being close to Rayla and Zym. He trusts them, loves them. I don't know everything that's necessary to reach an arcanum as a human, but I think this close proximity, this trust in the other side, incarnate in Zym and Rayla, count.

And so? Can a Xadian use love-magic?

Logically, yes, and I think we have already an example : Zym

Zym who was born amongst humans and elves. Zym who's connected to an arcanum by birth, and to love by Ezran.

It's only my HC here, once again, but the bond they're sharing is too deep to be just from Ezran. I mean, Zym can literally reach Ezran when he's afraid, the boy can see through his eyes. I think Ezran and him are so profundly connected not only because Ezran linked himself to the dragonling, but also because Zym connected himself to him because he learned that "love-magic" by being with them.

The other proof (well, once again it’s HC^^’) to that, is that Zym seems to have litterally used life-magic on his mother. (remember life-magic = love + primal magic - remember how his lightning were different when he used them on his mother than when he attacked Viren, and all) And I still have that HC that she wake up in the end because he used it.

Anyway!

What about the moonfam? (take this part as some kind of side note? It’s still incomplete and full of imprecise HC. I'm wating for S4 to see more of them)

Well, that point is tricky. The moonfam is Xadian but has "love" as a really, reeeaaaally strong thema.

- it has been officially stated than Runaan loves Rayla deeply. After some researches, we can find several interesting things about him to realise how "love" is indeed a strong thing here. Like the fact he never planned to kill Rayla (post from the lead-writer at wonderstorm), or his thoughts described in HBMP ep5 (here’s some excerpts:

" [...] And I think those are the types of things that he’s still stewing on. Like, did he overstep? Was he so eager to give her the opportunity to prove herself that he ultimately put her in a position where she could not succeed? [...] I think he took her off the mission both because he very, very much wanted to give himself and the others a chance to complete the mission, even if it meant their deaths, but it also meant that Rayla had the chance to survive. Even if it was potentially going to be misinterpreted and she’d get slapped with the Ghosting. I think he believed that her alive was better than everybody being dead. And I think he feels guilty. [...] Again, a lot of time to potentially stew on and reflect on, is that he does feel like he put her in a position that was not fully taking into account the type of person she was, and more projecting onto her the type of person he wanted her to be, and the gift he wanted to give her, of redeeming herself in the eyes of her people for her parents. And I think he’s gonna have to work through that. Poor dude"

We can also add the feelings he shows, in the novel, toward who I totally assume being Tiadrin and Lain when he saw their coins. He loves them, he still loves them even with, until now, he thought they had betrayed them (which means, for me, that his insult to Rayla in the novel, about her parents, is really an attempt to make her leave instead or staying and being killled _ pure HC again, could be wrong...

PS. thanks again @beautifulterriblequeen and @kotikala for this point :))

Ethari lost Runaan and made a mistake, but in the end he chose Rayla by (HC again, here) breaking the rules and talk to her, to understand what happened. He told her he loves her at the end of S3ep3. Him, giving her that moon opal while telling her what he said to Runaan, means the same for her "my love will be with you even when the moon is not", meaning "I still love you no matter what".

Lain and Tiadrin (thanks again for this HC @beautifulterriblequeen) know what it is to love a child, because they have Rayla. That's also why they stayed to protect Zym, not just because of their oath.

And don't make me start about Rayla and love, about how she loves Ezran, Callum and Zym, so much that she can sacrifice herself to protect the wee cutie ^^

(well, Idk if describing all of this about Runaan is as necessary on Tumblr than it can be on Reddit...)

But once again, is this magical-love or is it just a strong, normal love?

I’m still not sure of the answer. I would say it is probably "normal" (strong, but normal). But it could evolve to "love-magic" at some point, maybe even "life magic".

I guess (a huge, vague guess), that to reach "the other side" (primal magic for a human, or love-magic for a Xadian), you need to have some proximity with someone from the other side and what I would call... predisposition? Callum had definitely an affinity with primal magic from the very beginning (if not "predisposition", maybe "destiny" will fit, then? For this part, I really don't know, as I said, it's pure guess.)

But if predisposition is required, then the moonfam could totally fit to reach "love-magic" and maybe "life-magic", since there is such strong love between each of them.

And, who know (once again it’s a huuuge guess), maybe those who are related to the moon have some kind of natural predisposition?

I think this way because of my current (still have to work on this point) interpretation of the moon arcanum. We do know they’re love-related. We can see it here, in Callum’s Spellsbook:

My HC here is that “love-magic” is partly about linking, connection. And the moon arcanum, in his duality, is also about the connection between life and death, between living beings and dead ones. So, yeah, maybe they do have a predisposition...

But how would they reach that “love-magic” exactly? I dunno. Maybe Viren will capture Rayla and taunt her with the coins and they will free themselves from it, out of love for her because she's the most precious life for all her parents? (I still have that theory where Harrow will talk to Runaan in the coin to make him evolve the way he did while facing his last days)

Or maybe it will be Callum who will free them, don't know how, out of love for Rayla? Or Lain and Tiadrin would be some kind of "genius" who doesn't needs humans to reach the “love arcanum”, because they love Rayla so much, and they have the mind of a protector, and they were ready to die to protect Zym... that would fit with the "reward-theory" and "destiny"... arf! another aspect I have to study here. I really don't know. We'll see this in S4, I hope.

Anyway, that's it for the moonfam!

Now! We've established what love-magic could be and where it stands in the magical system. How it works.

But what about dark magic?

Last part: Dark magic in the magical system.

u/the_mad_, in his theory I mentionned, advanced the idea that dark magic is a perverted version of love magic.

He thinks so because these "magical moments" he mentionned, when people are magically "linked", are described in a similar way than using dark magic, which add a point to his thought about dark-magic being love-magic but corrupted.

I mostly agreed with him, but I would push his theory even further (I thought about this during the night, in fact, and I couldn't sleep and then... "ting"!):

the effects of dark magic, using it is described in a similar way that "love-magic", when a connection is made between two beings.

dark magic also uses primal magic.

I’m still hesitating about that interpretation, however. She’s pretty solid, but I’m bothered by a point: something similar to love-magic AND using primal magic? that does sound a little like what I call “life-magic”, no? So what if more than being a corrupted version of Love-magic, dark magic is a corrupted version of life-magic?

A corrupted version who gives a mimic of life magic but in the end, desecrate it. Dark magic means stealing, killing. It's death. And it's not normal death, as a part of the life-death cycle. It's something else. That could explain why Callum feels it's so "wrong". He values life, he's a lot about love.

The dream he made about dark magic is really interesting, too. Somehow, that evil version of him lied to him. (I still save a room for the idea that it wasn't him but something else disguised as him,) telling him he can't do magic, that dark magic is the only way. If you think about it, the message given by that... thing, is : "you love them, you want to protect them, you want them to live, then use dark magic because it's the only way for you".

But dark magic is a corrupted version of life, it's literally "death".

Okay, but you'll tell me that Viren and Claudia used it to save someone who was dead. Yep, but to do it they killed someone else (for Viren it's a theory a lot of us belive). I'm pretty sure "life-magic" doesn't work this way. Callum didn't kill anyone when he broke the primal stone to save Zym and then, at some point, we saw "life magic" (it's in the post I linked in the beginning). I mean, Zym was dead. The egg was black. But he came back to life.

Zubeia was dying too, but it seems, once again if I'm right, that Zym saved her with life magic. He didn't kill anyone.

I said once ("epiphany on the moon arcanum", if I remember...) Darkness is an emptiness of light, death, an emptiness of life.

So, why not? How do you kill death? with life....

An additional thought about Dark magic :

Once again, thanks to The_mad_ on Reddit, we got an interesting analysis: he noted that the seven sources are similar to the creation, in the story of Genesis. God created the world in six days:

“The only one that isn't directly mentioned is the stars. On the first day God separated day from night. (This presumably gave the stars.) On the second day God created the sky. On the third God separated the earth from the ocean. On the fourth day God created the Sun and the Moon. There is no primal source (that we know of ;) ) for the 5th day when the sea monsters were created. But then on the 6th day God created humans and gave them dominion over all of the creatures of the earth (i.e. Dark magic). On the seventh day God rested. »

So I pushed the analysis further:

On the 5th and especially 6th day God created living beings, especially humans. And when you put all of his creation together, all the days, it's "life" (Just earease one of these elements and there wouldn't be life anymore _ok, human's place in the world's ecosystem could be discussed but that’s not the topic... so let's say humans are the soul, the spirit, and the world the body... or something.)

Much later after God finished his creation, a shadow, the devil, came and infiltrate the world to make humans "fall". (Now that I'm pointing that out, it's pretty much the same in LOTR, no?... anyway). He made them fall with lies.

So now, let's suppose that these theories about a "love-magic" and a "life-magic" are accurate and that parallel between genesis and TDP’s magical system has a solid ground, that maybe "love" is indeed a source in itself, like the others (In genesis, it would correspond to the 6th day, when God created humans).

Now, I wonder. If it's this way, if the parallel between Genesis and TDP's seven sources is that strong, then, could "dark-magic" be "the shadow" who made humans fall?

I think it could be this way for two reasons:

1st. dark magic appeared, it seems, at the very least 2000 years ago with the rise of Elarion (maybe earlier, but probably not 5000 years ago, during the era of the first elves), just like the devil in Genesis did (I mean, about the fact he came later, not at the begining).

2nd, we saw the... dark-mage-Callum, that sort of... evil avatar of him, in his dream, literally lying to Callum himself about humans not able to do primal magic. (that, if it wasn't just his own belief impersonated. We still don't know yet).

And so, Dark Magic, being a person or a "thing", a concept, I don't know, would really be something else, something corrupted who perverted and disturbed the world.

Okay, this post is the last one, it’s finally over!! Thank you for those who had the courage to read it until the end!!! I hope I didn’t bothered you too much ^^

It was a little difficult to put all in one thing (all of this are in fact several post on Reddit) so I hope the continuity is coherent. I’m working on this since ... ARGH! 5 hours? Okay, I’m gonna eat something.

I hope you had fun to read this :D

Now, to the kitchen! I’m Hungry!

edit: I forgot to tag @beautifulterriblequeen​ and @kotikala​: what do you think of this? 

External POV are awlays welcomed (but don’t feel obligated to read it, I know it’s pretty long... wait, if I tag and this message is in the end... will you see it right away?)

#The dragon prince #TDP headcanons #tdp theories #life magic theory #love magic theory #dark magic #primal magic #love is magic #callum #rayla #runaan #xadia #humans #tdp analysis #Ezran #TDP's magical system #Zym #all my nice fellows on Reddit who helped me to come to this point #the-mad #kotikala #I love this show #I want S4 #I need S4 #Give us S4 #Thank you #now I'm gonna eat #zubeia #janai #Amaya #5 kingdoms