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calliecat93 · 3 years

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I don’t think it’s incorrect to say that Cinder Fall is one of the most divisive characters in the series. From my experience, she was liked well enough in Volumes 1-4, and people were interested in her character. But as time went on with her getting less focus, any focus being on her just wanting to power, much of her original threat level slowly going down, and just so many questions going unanswered, people began to turn on her. Last volume was when interest seemed to get reignited, and it had people asking one question: were we finally on our way to getting a Cinder Fall backstory? Well my friends, the clock has struck. The spell has broken, and it’s time to see Cinder as she truly is.

Overview

Remember when the volume began with us seeing a young Cinder scrubbing floors? Well we get that again, but this time with much more detail. We see Cinder living on a farm, scrubbing floors and being bullied by other children. It’s not clear if she’s in an orphanage or a slave, but regardless we hear a woman say that she’ll take her. We cut to a city and Cinder is before a glamorous hotel, being led inside by her new stepmother. She’s lead to the back, also meeting her new stepsisters which if you’re familiar with Cinderella, you can already tell where this is going. Indeed, Cinder is forced to clean, serve guests, be given barely any food, and bullied by her stepsisters. She even resorts to eating the meals meant for guests just because she’s starving that badly. We also briefly get a new song that I... think is being sung by Casey? I couldn’t fully tell, but it is the definition of belittling and mockery.

During all of this, one individual has noticed what’s going on, a Huntsman named Rhodes. One day when particularly frustrated, Cinder sees him showing others a sword he acquired. Her stepsisters come in, trailing mud in a deliberate attempt to make Cinder’s life harder. She snaps, her Scorch Touch Semblance essentially causing her to turn her brush into a smoke bomb. As a result, her stepmother activates a shock collar that Cinder already put on, her abuse now evolving into physical torture. Having had enough, Cinder steals Rhodes sword and hides in I assume some kind of cellar. Rhodes finds her, but offers to train her to be a Huntress so that when she’s of age, she can enter a Huntsman Academy and have a better life. After all, killing her stepfamily won’t end her suffering.

Over what looks like years, Cinder receives training whenever Rhodes returns to the hotel, and she becomes a very strong fighter. But she still has to undergo the abuse for at least years. Regardless, she’s growing closer to her goal and Rhodes even gives her his sword. Unfortunately, one day, the stepsisters inform their mother that Cinder has a weapon. By the time Rhodes returns, hours have gone by and the hotel seems empty. But it isn’t long before he enters the cellar, finding the stepsisters dead and Cinder having as hold of her stepmother. The electrocution does nothing as Cinder simply snaps her neck, killing her. Cinder is relieved, having gotten rid of her abusers and now having her freedom. But to her shock Rhodes not only disapproves, but pulls his weapons, seeming to intending to turn her in. Cinder is shocked, then enraged as they fight. In the end, Cinder kills Rhodes and he merely pats her head before falling dead to the ground. Cinder rips the shock collar off and looks out the window, crying but also smiling as she is now free.

We cut to the present with Cinder waking up, Emerald having brought her back to Monstra. Cinder is very much not happy even as Emerald tries to explain how she had been hurt. Mercury comes in, saying that it’s pointless and again telling Emerald that Cinder does not care. Cinder orders them out... but Mercury isn’t there to obey her anymore. He reveals that Salem has plans for him, and thus he’s now higher up just as he wanted in Volume 6. This, he no longer follows Cinder, and she loses one more person she once had control over. They’ve been summoned to the bridge for something big. Mercury leaves with Emerald soon following, leaving Cinder sitting alone.

Meanwhile, Oz is trying to convince Oscar to let him take over to give the kid a break from the beatings. But Oscar has a suggestion. While they are there, why not use Salem’s own tactics against her? She uses her agents to sew the seeds of division among her enemies... so why can’t they dot he same with her allies? Hazel comes in, asking for the password once more. Ozpin now takes over, enraging Hazel. But when Oz asks why he’s even working for Salem when he’s fully aware of what she’s done, the brute says that there’s no point to fighting her. He knows what she can do. She will win. It’s foolish to go against her, and due to Oz countless young lives have been lost for what he deems a hopeless cause. But Oz points out that someone had to try and is about to reveal what’ll happen if the Relics are united to show just how bad the stakes are, when Salem enters to call everyone to the bridge.

All of Salem’s current agents are there, though Emerald and Neo are noticeably more to the side. Watts has contacted Tyrian to report his hacking efforts, which causes Salem to turn to Cinder. She causes the Grimm Arm to send Cinder into a wave of pain, just as she was forced into under her stepmother. But suddenly, Salem says that Cinder’s current actions are her fault, and the pain stops. She says that she denied Cinder what she wanted after all that she endured, so she allows Cinder to take the Winter Maiden powers from Penny, whether she or her Hound gets there first. or now, Cinder and Tyrian are to get Watts as Salem launches her attack. IDK if i’s Oscar or Oz begging them not to as they’ll be sealing their own doom, but Salem merely says that it’s too late.

Meanwhile, the Ace-Ops are less than happy about Watts and now having to go after what Elm says is junk, causing Winter to more or less tell them to shut up. Marrow catches a comms transmission and upon putting it on speaker, finds that it’s Jaune trying to warn someone about the Grimm River. They land before the three, who are heading for Mantle on the repaired hoverbike. When Jaune tries to explain, Harriet is more interested in finding Penny and again blames them for the situation. before she can continue though, the river... well... shoots up. To Atlas. It launches several Grimm, and they destroy the Hard Light Shield Generators. Our heroes, the Ace-Ops, Ironwood, and even the people in the Crater can only watch in horror as the shields go down. Salem gives the order, and Monstra unleashes a horde of various Grimm as the chapter ends.

Review

As I said in the intro, many have been waiting for a Cinder backstory for a long, long time. The lack of one and a definite motivation has been one of the biggest criticisms against Cinder for years now. Before we begin, I should talk about my opinion of Cinder. As I do with Ruby, I have always found Cinder an interesting character. For all the things people complained about her, like her lack of motivation, thirst for power, her declining threat level, it only made me more interested. Why? Because there’s always just enough small things to get my attention. Her hatred of Ruby for making her feel weak, getting angry whenever someone like Watts spoke back at her, even burning him in Volume 5 for getting after her changing the invasion plans. How she seems borderline obsessed with power and being in control, becoming more and more unhinged whenever she loses it. After being the puppet-master for he first three volumes, watching as we slowly learn that she is just another’s puppet and her quest for power always had me asking why she was like this.

At long last, we have the answer. Now to be honest... most of this went exactly as I expected since I knew that she was a Cinderella expy. She had an abusive guardian. Abusive stepsisters. She was abused, treated as a slave, and generally miserable. But unlike Cinderella, who always remained kind and loving in spite of her stepfamily’s torment, Cinder was angry, spiteful, and did break. Heck considering her previous living conditions, maybe she was sold as a slave, The only thing I didn’t expect was for her to have a prince/godmother figure in Rhodes, someone who gave her a chance to eventually attain a better life. But sadly, it ended with her snapping and killing both her abusers and the only person to show her kindness. Cinder got her freedom, but also sealed herself to a miserable life.

Now there’s already been some arguments about this. Everyone agrees that the stepfamily sucks, but how much fault does Rhodes hold? I think that he had good intentioned, but there’s the fact that ultimately he left Cinder to continue to be abused despite fully well knowing about it. Now I get why some go ‘just take her’, but that would have plenty of it’s own issues like him being accused of kidnapping, endangering an innocent girl, etc. Ultimately I think that Rhodes was a decent guy who did what he thought he could do to give Cinder a chance at a better life under the circumstances. She just had to endure the abuse for a few years as her inspiration did, then she could walk free. But sadly, that didn’t happen. Rhodes made a mistake in not at least stepping up to demand Cinder be treated better, maybe event threatening to inform someone higher up about it and endangering the business. But he didn’t, and this along with drawing his weapons' against Cinder sealed his demise. It’s sad, but with how hurt Cinder was and after the abuse she suffered, I understand why she did it. It wasn’t the right thing to do, but it’s understandable. Her stepfamily deserved it though, no argument there.

But putting all of our attention on Cinder now, this answered/confirmed everything that I had suspected for years. Why does Cinder hate Atlas/the elite? Because she was abused by them. Why does she hate Huntsmen? Because one betrayed her. Why is she so obsessed with power? Because it’s what, in her mind, gave her freedom. Why does she want control? Because she was never allowed to have it. It’s why she burned Watts in Volume 5, he tried to overpower her and she wasn’t going to take it. It’s why she loses it every time she loses a chance at the Maiden power, because it further reminds her of how weak and powerless she once was and never wants to be again. Heck it’s why she wants Ruby dead and even fears her, because she has a power that by it’s nature makes her powerless as Volume 3 proved, which was the first true time we saw Cinder get defeated. Just as she killed the one thing left in her way at that, she got brought right back down to that powerless girl beaten by everyone around her. Isn’t re-analyzing everything after big reveals fun?!

Everything makes sense, and we can now see how everything clicks. When we met Cinder, she was confident and in control of everything, and we didn’t question it as we knew virtually nothing back then. But as we learned about Salem, the true stakes, and the history of Remnant, the more we saw Cinder’s position slip. Every time she has gone after a Maiden past Amber, she failed. She’s failed at pretty much everything and her only success, getting The Lamp, was only because of Neo. So her anger and her grip has slipped more and more as the fact that she isn’t as powerful as she believed keeps hitting her and bringing her back to that barn/hotel. And now? Mercury has walked out on her in favor of Salem, and at this point I won’t be surprised if Neo walks and Emerald is eventually driven away. Cinder just can’t accept love and affection, having either never received it or in her eyes, those who did betrayed her. And unless she does come to understand these concepts and that people like Emerald are willing to care about her, she will be left all alone.

But the saddest part? At least with the deaths, it at least looked like Cinder could at least begin her life anew. But... she didn’t. Here’s one of my gripes with the chapter, us not seeing how she joined Salem. What happened after the deaths? Did she run away? Did she get arrested and escape? How did she meet Salem? What got Salem to take her in? I was hoping to get these answers to both know why Cinder is where she is and see more of how Salem brings people into her fold, but sadly we didn’t. That being said, we’ve seen enough to see how Cinder is just where she had previously been. She’s serving another for a goal that is not her own. She feels in control because it’s allowing her to get the power that she thinks will give her freedom. But it isn’t, and Salem occasionally showing her favor as she did here are why Cinder keeps falling back in line. Cinder escaped one abusive situation, but only ended up in another one and either doesn’t realize it or is in deep denial over it.

Honestly, it’s just... sad. I feel legit bad for Cinder. Her life was awful, and she either never got a say in it or when she did, made the wrong choice. Now does this justify anything that she has done? No. She still killed Pyrrha. She still killed Vernal. She still killed innocent people, like that Mistral girl just so she could steal her stuff. She caused Penny’s first death. She caused the Grimm attack that killed who knows how many people in Vale. She was perfectly willing to kill an elderly woman just for her powers. And as Jaune said in Volume 5, always with a sick smirk on her face. There is a LOOOT of blood on her hands and as bad as I feel for her, nothing justifies the horrible things that she has done. The only way that I can see her at least begin a redemption arc is to both start to understand the concept of people caring as well as realize just what horrible things she’s done. If Emerald and Neo turn on her as Mercury has, that could be what does it, or has her double down. I have been pretty against Cinder being redeemed because of her lack of remorse, but I have been convinced that it’s plausible. It’s all going to depend on the execution. But in the end, whether she change or stick to the path she’s on now, she ultimately has my pity.

Okay, that’s enough on Cinder for now. Let’s now talk about Oscar and Oz. And just like in Chapter 4, seeing Oscar so battered and even a little bloody is... rough. Hell, Oz trying to convince Oscar to let him take over to give the kid a break with Oscar refusing is... yeah. But I do like how Oscar brings up a very good point. Salem’s power comes form her causing division. Using her pawns to go out and place doubt into other’s minds. And it works... so why can’t they do the same? Place doubt into the minds of Salem’s agents. We as the audience know fully well that not everyone is on board. Hazel is a hypocrite, but essentially serves Salem as he sees fighting her as hopeless and thus directs the hate onto Oz since that’s someone he can harm. Neo hates being there, Emerald is scared, and despite his promotion Mercury is as terrified as Emerald is and we can see he does still care about her. Even Cinder we see could turn if she ever realized that she’s in no better a place she was as before. Only Tyrian is really full-heartedly loyal. There are cracks within Salem’s ranks, and Oscar has an open chance to shatter it.

But he’s gonna have to act fast. So... that River, huh? Yep, it was meant for Atlas. It’s a cunning move. But this makes Ironwood’s actions even more cruelly ironic. Imagine that he stayed in Mantle. Chances are, the forces would have been out in the tundra. There is a good possibility that they could have discovered the River sooner. Even with them not knowing about it turning into a geyser, they could have at least prepared for something or come up with a defense. It shows just how poor Ironwood’s decision truly was and even if he had shot Atlas upward, all it would have done was delay the inevitable. Worse, he’s sent his best soldiers to the tundra to find Penny. Even if they do, Watts will have control and Ironwood’s own temper allowed that. Ironwood okayed right into Salem’s hands, and he has sealed Atlas’ doom. Oh he won’t go down without a fight, for that I’m certain. But I get the feeling that it’s gonna be too late.

Chapter Stats

Favorite Character: Cinder Fall Favorite Scene: Cinder and Salem interaction near the end Least Favorite Scene: Mmm... Cinder being electrocuted was hard to watch Favorite Voice Actor: Jessica Nigri (Cinder) Favorite Animation: Cinder vs Rhodes Rating: 8/10

Final Thoughts

So far, this is my least favorite chapter of the volume. Not because it was bad, it just feels... incomplete. There are still several pieces with Cinder that I feel are missing, mainly how she came under Salem. But that may be an answer for another day. I also feel like they should have done this sooner, especially since after how long it’s been and Cinder doing worse and worse things, it’s harder for me to feel 100% bad for her, but I get they may not have had a choice. What we did get, however, was more than enough to answer the many questions regarding Cinder that we’ve had for eight volumes now. We know understand why she is how she is, and even how she could begin to turn it around. But that’s still a choice that only she can make. The wait was very much worth it, and add to two new songs (one being by Casey’s band OK Goodnight, yay!), Oscar showing his development, us seeing the cracks in the villains mindsets, and of course the ending taking us right back to the stakes of this volume. One more to go until the mid-season break folks, and knowing this show, they’re gonna ensure that we wait in agony.

#rwby #rwby reviews #rwby8 #rwby spoilers #rwby musings #callie reviews

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captains-log-reviews · 4 years

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Disney’s Peter Pan (1953)

Summary/Overview:

I’ve been considering a Hook-themed review blog for some time now, and what better way to start off than with the classic 1953 Disney film? Originally slated to be Disney’s second animated film after Snow White, the idea for a production of Peter Pan was in Walt’s mind long before it hit the big screen. Walt himself had played Peter in a school play as a boy and had retained a fondness for the story ever since. The first major film version to feature a boy (Bobby Driscoll) in the titular role, Disney’s Peter Pan has since become perhaps even more widely known than Barrie’s original. That being said, I think it’s probably unnecessary to give much in the way of a summary, but for the sake of developing a consistent format for my reviews, here’s the super quick version:

Wendy Darling, a young girl with an active imagination and a love for storytelling, is distraught when her practical father decides that it is time for her to grow up and move out of the nursery with her brothers. Later that night, after her parents have gone out, Peter Pan—the flying boy hero of Wendy’s stories—shows up at her window and offers to take her and her brothers to Neverland, a magical island with mermaids, “Indians,” and pirates where they will never grow up. Unfortunately the kids get caught up in the plans of Captain Hook, who wants revenge on Peter for cutting off his hand and feeding it to a crocodile. Ultimately, Hook captures the children and nearly kills Peter with a bomb in the guise of a present from Wendy, but Tinkerbell, Peter’s loyal fairy friend, saves him just in the nick of time, allowing Peter to free the children from Hook’s crew and fight the captain in a final duel that results in Hook being chased off into the sunset by the crocodile. Wendy and her brothers return home safely, and Wendy realizes that she isn’t so afraid of growing up anymore...only to have her father admit that maybe holding onto her childhood a little bit longer wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.

What I Liked:

Those of you who followed me over here from my other Hook blog, not-wholly-unheroic, already know that I am more than slightly biased when it comes to Disney’s Hook. I distinctly remember the first time I saw him on screen when I was twelve. The sequel had just come out on video, and ABC was doing its usual Sunday Disney movie (and advertising) by showing the original Peter Pan one weekend, followed by the sequel the next. I was bored and had never watched the film before, so I decided to give it a shot...and I was instantly struck by how different Hook was from any Disney villain I’d previously encountered. While most of the classic villains are motivated by greed, vanity, or the desire for power, Hook’s feud with Pan is at least somewhat justified considering he not only lost a hand but also faces the constant threat of the crocodile as a result of our supposed hero’s actions. Additionally, prior to Peter Pan, Disney’s major villains (Queen Grimhilde/The Evil Queen, Lady Tremaine, the Queen of Hearts) were typically rather flat and lacking in personality. We see only their wicked side (or in the case of “Man” in Bambi, we don’t see them at all!). Hook is a major departure from this trend in that while he is clearly made out to be the bad guy, we also see him in moments of fear, weakness, and self-doubt. We see him sick and in pain and ready to give up at times. Suddenly, he isn’t just a villain anymore... He’s a person we can empathize with. Walt himself recognized that the audience would “get to liking Hook” would not want him to die as he does in Barrie’s canon, opting instead to have him “going like hell” to get away from the crocodile but ultimately still very much alive at the end of the film.

Aside from Hook himself, I love the dynamic he has with Mr. Smee. While Hook admittedly doesn’t treat Smee well, there is clearly a bond of trust between them. Early on in the film, for instance, Smee prepares to shave Hook with a straight razor. It’s a moment that is ultimately used for comedic effect, but when one considers that Hook has a crew full of literal cutthroats, it says a lot about Smee that Hook feels totally at ease with this man putting a blade to his neck. Smee repeatedly attempts to intervene to save Hook when he doesn’t have to, and Hook unfailingly looks to Smee when he’s afraid for his life or when he needs to send someone out to complete an important mission for him. It’s a villain/sidekick dynamic that borders on friendship, and I think it adds a lot to the film and to Hook’s complexity as a character.

As far as artistic choices go, it is a rather minor thing, but I love that they kept the stage tradition of using the same actor for both Mr. Darling and Captain Hook, giving the film a rather dreamlike feel and subtly reinforcing the enmity Wendy feels toward her father in real life as she faces off against Hook in the Neverland. Speaking of the actor, Hans Conried isn’t just voice for Hook, as many would assume... He IS Hook as much as any live-action actor could be. I love the old hand-drawn animation style and how they used to use the actors as live-action reference models. (You can see some shots of Hans as the reference model vs the final images of Hook in the film here.) If you’ve ever seen a recording of Hans in one of his other roles, you’ll notice he doesn’t just SOUND like Hook...he makes the same facial expressions (particularly in how he speaks with his eyebrows) and hand/arm motions. It’s small details like this that make Hook (and all the characters) more human and show just how much time, effort, and love the animators put into their work.

What I Didn’t Like:

RACISM. With a capital “R.” There’s no sugar-coating it. Unfortunately, Disney’s film falls victim one of the many problematic tropes of the time when it was made and portrays the island’s native characters as highly caricatured, ignorant, and—in the case of Tiger Lily—romantically exotic people. Their signature song, “What Made the Red Man Red” is lyrically painful to modern listeners with any sense of decency, and the villagers’ character design—from their bright red skin to their large noses and often extreme body shapes (very fat or pencil thin)—along with their badly broken English is highly uncomfortable, to say the least. On the other hand, Tiger Lily, the most realistically drawn native character, is shown dancing flirtatiously for Peter and subsequently rubbing noses with him in what is meant to be a sort of native kiss (based on the concept of the “Eskimo kiss” which in and of itself is not a politically correct term).

Aside from the glaringly obvious issue of racism, my only real complaint with the Disney film is the music. While the songs are pretty standard for films of the day, I personally don’t find most of the music particularly memorable or catchy. “You Can Fly” is alright, I suppose, but the next few songs have their issues. “Following the Leader” and “What Made the Red Man Red” both have racist undertones, and Wendy’s lullaby, “Your Mother and Mine” puts the kids to sleep for a reason... It’s sweet but rather boring and drags on for far too long to keep the audience’s attention. Less time on the lullaby and more pirate sea shanties, please!

On the flip side, Hook is arguably the first Disney villain to get his own theme song, which is pretty cool. The original pirate song (which you can find here) is a bit more sedate than “The Elegant Captain Hook” we end up with and focuses more on the joys of pirating in general than why Hook, specifically, is someone the kids should want to work for. Personally, I’m glad they chose the song that they did, though I do wish they’d given Hook more lines as originally planned. (You can find the lyrics to the full version here.)

Would I recommend it?

Despite its flaws, Disney’s Peter Pan has had a major impact on the legacy of Peter Pan and how we view the characters as well as Neverland itself. It has long been a personal favorite of mine and acted as a gateway into the fandom for me. It introduced me to Hook as a likable, sympathetic, and complex villain and I’ll always be grateful for that. I definitely recommend it to anyone entering the fandom, those with a fondness for the nostalgia of classic Disney films, and kids at heart of all ages.

Overall Rating:

As much as I love the film and want to give it a perfect score, I’d be remiss if I didn’t deduct at least a few points for the depiction of the “Indians.” Otherwise a lovely version of the story so... 4/5 stars

#captain's log reviews #disney peter pan #peter pan disney #peter pan 1953 #disney captain hook #captain hook disney #reviews #disney reviews #movie reviews #film reviews #captains-log-reviews

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exalok · 4 years

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whaddup my dudes!!!

i am tired and wired and this means brain no writey but brain VERY focused on absolutely all the fic i have going on at once that aren’t prompts (prompts will be incoming, no worries dissociation anon)

and THAT means y’all get to hear about my many. many. MANY projects, or at least the ones that make my heart go pitter patter when i think of them

a few examples: demon!corvo and priest!daud with extra worldbuilding ; the naptime cuddles AU ; corvo doesn’t come to dunwall so jess and daud end up arranged-married for profit (more info..... under the readmore..... i’m gonna get rambly)

also feel free to ask questions, i love questions and they get me thinking even more in depth about the world and specific instances of characters and that is the entire POINT

LIKE OKAY SO MY BRAIN PRETTY MUCH CONTINUOUSLY THROWS IDEAS AT THE WALL AND ABOUT 95% OF THEM STICK BECAUSE I’M A HOARDING RAT BASTARD i love my ideas they are my precioussss

i might have about. 25 fic more or less active at the moment? which sounds like a reasonable number but those are the ones i have an actual plot for as well as the will to get them out into the world

let’s put aside the ones i have actually posted on tumblr or ao3 (teen!daud, domestic zombie apocalypse, bondageverse, knife!corvo) in favor of those you have either no or little idea exist. begin:

I MEAN OBVIOUSLY I MADE FANFIC OF MY OWN FANFIC or as i call it parallel/companion fic, because at some point in the past a prompter inspired me and i was deep in the prince!daud fic at the time and i thought what if high chaos. what if void monster corvo? what if horrifying yet human creature of the depths!!! what if EVERYTHING was TERRIBLE and daud killed corvo as a last ditch and vain attempt to get his people out of burrows’ clutches, and it all went to shit from there??? also they’re bound by marriage contract and the vagaries of magical intention and daud becomes corvo’s life battery, in essence, which you can imagine leads to a very unhealthy relationship i think it’s not spoilering much to tell you it does NOT end well, and i’ll be writing it as a sort of foil to low chaos prince!daud

i have quite a few high chaos fics actually. high chaos is depressing to play but the story outcomes are DELICIOUS and the degrading world and character motivations are a lot of fun to play around in

weirdly enough another one of these high chaos fics is the naptime cuddles AU!!! i won’t lie it’s the one i am currently on and i want to talk about it to everyone so bad constantly. in short, corvo doesn’t kill daud and the whalers because he’s trying to get out and currently too fucked up to fight, and when he doesn’t manage to save emily despite his best efforts he comes back to daud for some kind of symbolic execution. meanwhile thomas convinced daud to take a goddamn nap with him there because daud, despite his paranoia, does sleep better with people around, and this is entirely an excuse for semi-platonic daudthomascorvo cuddles in bed followed by whaler puppypiles when the gang catches on that this is a thing they can do now I LOVE PUPPYPILE WHALERS I LOVE NAPS I LOVE REDEMPTION THROUGH THE POWER OF RESTORATIVE SLEEP please i’m so tired and i can’t actually fall asleep next to people let me live my dream vicariously additionally: this will be my contribution to the absolutely wonderful whaler vineyard of old fanon

there is also what i feel should be a classic and ISN’T though a couple of fics were written around the concept and one in particular is /chef kiss, and the concept is: high chaos corvo meets low chaos corvo!!!!! i made it a threesome with daud because no one can stop me and i fucking LOVE the idea of daud ending up capable of telling them apart through tiny details even when high chaos corvo, bastard that he is, tries to impersonate low chaos corvo, who is a bastard in much more subtle ways and would probably be better at impersonating hc!c than the other way around but finds it distasteful; also i added intense body horror because that’s how i roll and there are eventual magical CONSEQUENCES to hc!c being in the low chaos world and regularly in contact with what is essentially his narrative double when he doesn’t belong there, probably ends in a tragically bittersweet way, i’m not completely clear on it yet though i do have ideas

and oh man......... the time travel corvo fic.... the one where high chaos corvo ends up in his own seven-year-old body........... fuck i hashed out so much of the general worldbuilding for that one and ended up going way too far and imagining a sequel like i always do where corvo learns how to walk universes and gathers people he cares about from places where he can actually save them from their eventual tragic futures and the dissolution of their timelines once the outsider is ousted from the void and a new void avatar is made and SHENANIGANS YO!!! SHENANIGANS AND CAMPING!!!! SELF-CROSSOVERS!!!!!!! I COULD HAVE HIM MEET HIMSELF IF HE HADN’T TRAVELED BACK I’M CRYING I HAVE SO MANY EMOTIONS

the one where corvo is a fae child is probably a lil bit high chaos though it isn’t determined yet, and he has all of these instincts with regards to possessing and exchange and deals, and assumptions as to how other people must work approximately the same, and he is so wrong. then there’s the really creepy bad touch possible sequel that i won’t get into unless someone specifically asks because it’s a lil bit much really

oh MAN oh SHIT speaking of bad touch there’s another dead dove do not eat one where i grabbed an entire handful of granny rags’ apparent fucking around with magical arrays and rune creation and general spellery and threw it at corvo post-interregnum and he sees “ghosts” and doesn’t understand what the FUCK is going on and things go really badly for him, and one ghost, soon the only ghost, is daud, and corvo doesn’t know if he’s real, if he’s seeing things, if he’s NOT seeing things but daud is some kind of void demon, if he is and also having psychotic breaks he doesn’t remember because he ends up with some hellish bruises, but the real daud is actually still out there just hiding out and corvo will eventually meet up with him and real daud will meet fake daud and even more shit will happen

god, the demon!corvo AU gets pretty fucked up as well if i remember right; corvo is both some dude with a wife and kid and the demon that inhabits him, jess is his wife and the demon that inhabits her (to be clear, separate characters but both based on either jess or corvo oh my GOD what if i switched the demons that would be amazing but no, calm down, maybe for a short what-if scenario that will inevitably turn into its own thing), daud is the overseer with the really good exorcism record trying to get the demons to fuck off except he thinks there’s only one of them and the other takes him by surprise; cue daud being hunted by that demon, furious that daud shattered his favorite pupil, and some revelations about what exactly lives inside the abbey and also under it

on a somewhat lighter note, the one where corvo never comes to dunwall (i think his mom gets sick and he doesn’t win the blade verbena at sixteen?) is also where jess keeps losing her royal protectors to assassination attempts because the first one was decent and died protecting her and the second one was decent and had an accident and people start believing there’s a curse on the position or a curse on her, and she’s like okay so how do i make sure i don’t die now that no one is willing to become my protector since it’s pretty much a death sentence, and she arranges a meeting with the best assassin in the city and suggests an alliance -- protection and some commission overview, all secret, versus funding and housing -- in the form of a marriage and daud ends up agreeing; then later duke abele visits and corvo is among his personal guard and he gets to meet the empress, and the assassin, and there are ot3 shenanigans

oh my GOD also the kids in karnaca AU. obviously. fuck you may have seen the (dis)armingly charmed notefic but this would be them meeting as actual kids, in karnaca, just tiny babies, daud recently kidnapped and corvo doing his best to make this cool older kid into his friend and also maybe hiding him from the people who want to train him to do Illegal Things, and there are dumb childish arguments and daud goes on the run to avoid capture and there is an exchange of letters that at one point stops and corvo is Devastated and there is a REUNION and they are ADORABLE but also INCREDIBLY STUPID, AS IS RIGHT AND CORRECT, and i don’t know what happens later but it gives me warm fuzzies okay

then i have a NUMBER of oneshots that are more or less plotted out, like the one where jess has a kind of groundhog day because Heart reasons but over months and starts out not quite remembering what happened in past attempts and OF COURSE it ends with royal ot3; and there’s the one where Daud becomes the Outsider and is very temporally confused and OF COURSE it ends with corvodaud who do you take me for (including Very Perplexing arguments where daud doesn’t know at what point in this relationship’s development he is and corvo is angry or very patient depending on where he accidentally time travels to, and i make some assumptions about the non-linearity of the void avatar’s existence); and there’s the one where corvo catches the plague and gets through kingsparrow to get emily out then to people he trusts, ie the curnows and sam beechworth, then crawls away to die, but daud finds him and sighs and rolls up his sleeves and sends whalers to the Tower and emily thinks the Tower is haunted then, when it becomes very clear the Tower is not, demands one of these assassins teach her how to stab a bitch; AND THERE’S THE ONE WHERE CORVO AND JESS ARE GHOSTS AND DAUD IS A REAL ESTATE AGENT AND THE WHALERS ARE THE KIDS HE TRIED TO HELP OUT AS A SOCIAL WORKER and yes it’s ot3 and yes he buys the ghost house and ends up being filmed by the whalers to do cooking videos and fancy knife tricks and asmr because his voice is insanely soothing when he’s not being ornery; oh fuck and there’s the one where i wrote an unrequited corvodaud prompt and my brain grabbed it, smelled it, and decided that corvo very reluctantly falling for daud was necessary to the health of my feelings, and there is at least one (1) sleeping beauty coma while corvo yells at the outsider about the Heart; also there’s the one where in D2 billie was evasive about the old guy living with her on her boat and em finds daud rather than sokolov in jindosh’s basement and they have long, emotional discussions; and for the character building hell of it one that would span the outsider’s beginnings and growth and how the void tries to welcome him in

okay........................ i think i’m done rambling now

i love fanfic y’all

#dishonored #writins #so many writins #gonna have me a nap now

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quirkless-and-embarrassed · 4 years

Note

are you doing the character ask meme thing? it would be awesome if you talk about shinso!!

!!!

Hell yes!! It’s been too long since I did my last character meme, and Shinsou is majorly underrated. I love him. (Sorry this took a few days!)

Favorite things about him:

I love how he puts his hand on the back of his neck when he’s flustered, and I love how he’s got a toothy, kinda evil smile. It’s also cute how he plays it aloof and tries to hide his feelings, but Horikoshi draws him with little distress sweats to show he’s actually really nervous. Stoic, this kid is not. And his eye bags are cute. Why do I love characters with eye bags.

I love how, at the end of his Sports Festival match against Midoriya, he’s deeply moved by his classmates’ support (and the whole stadium’s support). It really blows a hole in his “I’m not here to make friends” image when he gets all choked up over being cheered on. Like…he wants acceptance so badly…just let him be accepted as a hero. None of this backhanded compliment “oh wow, with your quirk, you could do anything!” schtick.

His match is especially satisfying because even though he technically loses, it’s basically a victory. Midoriya beats Shinsou because he has people who believe in and support him, and by the time the battle ends, Shinsou discovers he, too, has people who believe in him. Not just friends—total strangers, too, and he can choose to listen to their voices as they cheer him on instead of hearing just his detractors. Plus, one of those supporters is Aizawa, and Shinsou accomplishes his goal for the Sports Festival: to transfer into the heroics course. SO…it winds up being a “failure” that is actually a win in disguise, and I love those.

I love how he has a complicated relationship with his quirk and society. It’s been impressed on him that he’s made for a villain role—and like…it illustrates how bizarre hero culture is in bnha, where some people are just so infatuated with the spectacle of it all to the point they’re like “oh cool! you’d make an awesome villain! don’t make me do bad things, though, okay? okay!”—but despite it, Shinsou has a defiant kind of pride in his quirk. He snarks Midoriya during their fight, being like ~oh you wouldn’t understand, but this quirk of mine is like a dream come true! (Though in the anime, it’s translated more like “even with a quirk like this, I dream of being a hero”?) Shinsou understands he could do whatever he wants with his quirk, and what he wants is to do good things. He’s bitter because like, is it that hard to believe someone might just want to do good? How/why do people have to be so pessimistic that they think someone with his power must abuse it? But at the same time, he gets it, he knows he’s not any better because he would also be dubious of someone with power like his. But also! It’s not fair! Because “heroic” quirks are also potentially destructive, but a kid like Bakugo or Todoroki is told he’ll be a great hero someday, not that he’d make a great villain—and the heroes industry guarantees them a fast-track to pro status at the expense of people like Shinsou or Midoriya.

So I love that Shinsou is this idealistic figure: he could do evil, but he won’t. His quirk enables peaceful deescalation of hazardous situations. It’s ideal. But it’s ideal because it is such a classically villainous quirk—a power that weaponizes communication, turns people’s trust against them, and exerts total domination to rob people of their autonomy. So very quickly, that inspiring interpretation of Shinsou being able to choose what he does with his quirk is easy to second-guess. The line between hero and villain doesn’t seem so distinct when both professions are distilled down with such brutal precision. Shinsou wants to use his quirk to help people, but the questions of which people he helps and how he helps them are the distinction between a hero and a villain, and it’s not as neat as the hero ranking would imply. His dialogue with Monoma about how they do unheroic things to accomplish heroic goals makes me hopeful that’s a seed Horikoshi planted for future exploration.

So…Shinsou sets up some interesting challenges, and that’s a major reason why I’m interested in him. I’m curious to see how his story unfolds.

One last thing I love about Shinsou. There’s a scene where Midoriya spots Shinsou in the hall and cheerfully calls out to him, and Shinsou’s only response is to rub the back of his neck and go “uh huh.” But! Later on, Shinsou has a flashback to this exchange, and he admits that he was actually really excited to face Midoriya again, and it’s like oh my gosh. You were secretly so pleased he recognized you, huh? You were so happy he remembered seeing you around and wanted to talk to you, and you wanted him to acknowledge how far you’ve come. But you’re a dumbass who couldn’t summon anything to say other than “uh huh.” D u m b a s s. But I like him for it. He tries so hard to be mature and collected that he really comes off as such a teenager.

Least favorite things about him:

Ok we both know he doesn’t get enough screen time, that can’t count as my least favorite thing. Hmm. Can I commit heresy and say that I think his hair looks pretty dumb?

Tbf though, Shinsou’s shortage of appearances is especially difficult because he’s fairly indirect and you can’t take what he says at face value, particularly because he aims to provoke. He’s also appeared almost exclusively in combat situations, so it’s hard to gauge how he behaves in more mundane circumstances (for example, in contrast to Mirio and Tamaki, who are fairly direct and who we see off the battlefield enough to get an overview of Mirio’s good-naturedness and Tamaki’s insecurity). I really dislike this uncertainty.

Other than that, it’s disappointing how, during the cavalry battle, he brainwashed all of his teammates. That leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Eliminating their brainpower definitely made them a weaker team, and I get the feeling he did it because he wanted to feel like he got to the final round from his own skill and not because he was relying on teammates with heroic quirks (which makes it ironic he taunted Midoriya about Ojiro’s “honor”). But I guess I get it, since he didn’t want to reveal his quirk to anyone and it would have been hard to persuade any of these strangers to team up with him.

Favorite line:

Ch212 – Brainwashing Midoriya to save him from blackwhip.

I just love how like…in the Sports Festival, Shinsou wasn’t trying to fight Midoriya as an equal, he was fighting Midoriya as a bitter underdog with something to prove. Then during this Class A vs B fight, even though Shinsou has inferred that his transfer to the heroics course depends on his performance, he’s happy to battle Midoriya again because he’s proud of how far he’s come. He’s discovered the shounen “let’s fight because we’re friends!” mindset, and I think it’s sweet.

And! There’s also this!

Monoma: “I like you, Shinsou. I really do. In order to survive, you too need to embrace your darker side. We’re much the same.”Shinsou: “No thanks.”

BROTPs:

Aizawa. Aizawa all the way. 90% of the Shinsou-centric fic I read is about a tired son and tired dad.

I think Shinsou and Ojiro, once they get past the initial animosity, could be good friends. I know I mentioned that during the cavalry battle, I think Shinsou didn’t want to rely on teammates blessed with heroic quirks, he wanted to earn his own way. Similarly, Ojiro quit the Sports Festival precisely because he felt he didn’t earn his spot in the final round (something Shinsou provocatively dismissed as a sign of being a spoiled hero student who can afford to waste opportunities). I definitely have a weak spot for relationships that start off rocky and then, to the surprise of the idiots involved, they’re like wait we’re not that different…we might even be friends…? Anyways, Ojiro probably the number one Class A student I want to see Shinsou interact with more. I’d like to see him be Shinsou’s top critic at first, especially since Ojiro is generally such an easygoing nice guy.

On the other end of the spectrum, I love Monoma as Shinsou’s #1 fan. Their canon interactions cracked me up, and I like the balance Monoma strikes with Shinsou between his extravagant persona who’s all noise versus slipping him some thoughtful, barbed observations. Also like…Monoma emphatically embracing Shinsou as a member of the group is different from what Shinou’s learned to expect from people, so it’s funny to see him struggle with how to react. Shinsou has already said that he’s discarding any concept of good sportsmanship and so on, so I think having Monoma as someone to talk about how to fight dirty without being dirty would be a valuable friendship. …but mostly these two crack me up and I want more.

Okay, though Ojiro is the student in Class A I’m most curious to see Shinsou interact with, there’s also so much potential for humor with Kaminari or Aoyama. Kaminari’s little pep talk was really cute and I’d love to see him follow up on it by trying to befriend Shinsou while Shinsou is secretly pleased, embarrassed that he’s pleased, and unsure what Kaminari wants from him anyways. And Aoyama…LOL. Now, I dunno how these two would become friends, but imagine Aoyama trying to convince Shinsou to do something about his hair, about his eye bags, about his posture, about his dour inflections…meanwhile Shinsou suffers through it with his cool I don’t care attitude, gradually picking up on Aoyama’s hidden side. I can also imagine Aoyama and Shinsou being super passive aggressive to each other, ha.

I feel like Shinsou and Jirou could also get along pretty well, since they’re both pretty low-key. But I also feel like they might get along a little too well…I like pairs with a little more drama and tension. It’s easy to imagine them sitting in companionable silence, Shinsou listening to Jirou’s playlist while Jirou acts like this is no big deal. Or maybe Shinsou notices Jirou’s crush on Yaoyorozu and/or Kaminari, and Jirou is stuck seeking his opinion on matters he’s the opposite of an expert in…

I’d love to see Shinsou be subjected to Nejire’s relentless questioning. “Oh wow, hey! You look really tired! Are you really tired? Or are those shadows under your eyes just a side-effect of your quirk? Hey hey, wait, I recognize you. Aren’t you the brainwasher firstie? What do you say to people to brainwash them? Do you like, swing a pendulum in their face and tell them, ‘You are getting very sleepy’? You could do that to—oh! Can you brainwash yourself? Cuz then you could brainwash yourself to get more sleep! But…if you brainwash yourself, then who’s in control? How do you know you haven’t brainwashed yourself already—”

OTPs:

My favorite Shinsou ship is shiniida! This pic is what first put them on my radar, and the generally cute, funny fanart and fic got me the rest of the way invested. I like how on the surface, the two make an odd match, because you have Iida, who’s so by the book the bylaws are practically printed on his skin, and Shinsou gives a much more defiant, devious impression. But actually, Shinsou is surprisingly pure of heart, and Iida is someone who assumes the best of people, and it would be nice for Shinsou to find someone who implicitly believes he’s a good person. (…this is also something I like about Monoma.) Just the image of Iida fussing over Shinsou, and Shinsou being at a loss for how to deal with someone so well-meaning, respectful, and shameless about expressing his concern for Shinsou’s wellbeing. It’s intrusive but so sincere, I can imagine Shinsou getting pretty flustered.

It’s also interesting because Iida is from such a hero lineage with the sort of heroic quirk Shinsou begrudges for having it easy. I can see him being pretty caught off-guard by how seriously Iida dedicates himself to his dream to be a hero. Iida might have it easy compared to Shinsou, but that sort of determination isn’t something that can be scoffed off.

I also love todoshin, which I talked about here. One thing I didn’t talk about in that post, though, is that both of them in some way consider(ed) their quirks “evil.” Their complex relationships to their quirks are something else they might bond over, plus the fact that they’re both closely tied to the idea of self-determination, and I’m a weak-ass ho for free will as a theme so there you have shipping material galore in my book.

Shinoma is another ship I’ve read. I like this ship since it opens up different avenues of closeness between Shinsou and Monoma than between Shinsou and someone with a “heroic” quirk, but I think they’re more of a brotp for me. Kamishin, too—I like kamishin fluff/comedy, but I wind up gravitating more towards the platonic dynamic.

I haven’t read much shindeku, but it looks cute. I love the scenes where Midoriya greets Shinsou in the hall and Shinsou is too awkward to respond.

NOTPs:

Hmm…not really. Big multishipper here, I’ll ship anything I see nice content for.

Random headcanons:

There’s a fanfic where adult!Shinsou has a cat named Nyazawa, and Aizawa hates being a namesake. I approve heartily.

Though I also get a kick out of imagining that Shinsou likes cats, but he’s allergic.

I love this fic’s idea that Shinsou was once mistaken for Aizawa’s son, and ever since Shinsou has had a running joke where he annoys Aizawa by insolently calling him “dad.”

Shinsou has barely trained his quirk because he needs people to practice on, and, prior to Aizawa’s tutelage, he didn’t have any volunteers and he couldn’t quite find the nerve to ask people to be brainwashed.

Shinsou’s always wondered what it feels like to be brainwashed. Sometime after the Class A vs B training battle, Shinsou asks Monoma to copy his quirk and show him.

Shinsou could have gotten in to a different hero school, in their heroics program instead of entering general studies. I imagine some hero schools, unlike UA, must specialize in less flashy quirks. But Shinsou had enough of a chip in his shoulder that he wouldn’t settle for less than UA, the very best hero school in the country, because he so badly wanted the affirmation and endorsement that he can be a great hero.

Unpopular opinions:

Don’t get me wrong, I love reading fic where Shinsou has a crappy home life, is in foster care, etc. Angsty dadzawa and shinson is always a win. But the vibe I get from canon is that his home life is okay. His flashback sequence showing how people always think the worst of his quirk was sad, but it could’ve been much worse, so I think his life isn’t as terrible as it could be. Whew. (Though…it’s also a shame because he might get more in-story focus if it were bad…)

I like fic where Aizawa is a little harsher on Shinsou than the standard dadzawa fare, usually because he sees himself/Shirakumo in Shinsou, and that’s a good thing, sure, but it’s also an ordeal because it’s painful and difficult to reopen old wounds. This sort of internal conflict is one of the interesting things that differentiates Aizawa’s dynamic with Shinsou from his dynamic with Midoriya or his other students.

…I don’t really like erasermic+shinsou? Idk, Yamada never really feels like he fits into the dadzawa/shinson dynamic. He can be helpful for moving the plot along, but I’m not sure I’ve ever found a fic where I was emotionally invested in his role. Maybe now that there’s more canon content for him, I’ll take more of a liking to this trio.

Songs I associate with him:

I agree with this post that Mad World has a very Shinsou feel to it. I Surrender by Colleen D’Agostino reminds me of him too, since Shinsou seems like someone who tries to be cynical and detached but underneath he can’t help what his heart truly wants.

Favorite pictures of him:

Ch183 – zombie!Shinsou and terrified Kaminari!! I’d love to see Kaminari trying to revenge scare Shinsou.

(And seeing Mineta terrified is a different sort of satisfaction.)

Ch198 – Shinsou’s shock when Monoma ambushes him. He looks so awkward with his hands held stiffly at his sides.

Ch214 – why is he so cute. how did this happen.

Ch216 – This is the moment he loses to Midoriya a second time. I love the mix of emotion on his face.

Ch216 – His face when Aizawa announces Shinsou will almost certainly be approved for transfer

I’ve also answered these questions for Todoroki, Bakugo, Uraraka, Endeavor, Sir Nighteye, and Amajiki!

#shinsou hitoshi #hitoshi shinso #bnha #shinsou #text #nerd mumbling #writing this reminded me I still have a few characters I never finished these questions for #maybe I'll get my shit together and finish at least eri's #ask meme #asks #bnha society #shinoji #shinoma #jiroushin #nejire #dadzawa #shiniida #shinzawa

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homenum-revelio-hq · 5 years

Photo

Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix, Charly!

You have been accepted for the role of non-biography character GIDEON PREWETT with the faceclaim of Sam Heughan! We really enjoyed your discussion of Gideon’s personality, especially in relationship in the differences between Gideon and Fabian! We think Gideon’s level-headed outlook will be a great addition to the Order. We are so excited to have you as part of this roleplay!

Please take a look at the new member checklist and send in your account within 24 hours! Thank you for joining the fight against Voldemort!

OUT OF CHARACTER:

NAME: Charly (he/him)

AGE: 27

TIMEZONE: GMT+1

ACTIVITY LEVEL: I will usually find time to be online and do replies once a day, or at least every other day. I work full time atm and sometimes have activities on the weekends but I always do my best to maintain a steady activity

ANYTHING ELSE: I’m not the biggest fan of images of hardcore gore. Descriptions are fine, I just don’t like to see it. Not really a trigger, though, more like a strong squick I guess.

CHARACTER DETAILS:

NAME: Gideon Prewett

AGE: 30 (which is I think what was put down by Fabian’s mun and which I’ll go with as well, considering they’re twins)

GENDER, PRONOUNS, and SEXUALITY:

Cis-male, he/him, bisexual. – His own gender identity isn’t something Gideon thinks about a lot. He’s always felt comfortable as a man. He is aware of the imbalance of power and influence between genders that many in his society view as natural and even necessary.He’s aware that he has definitely won the privilege lottery and tries to be mindful of it. But he is very sure of his gender identity and very comfortable the way he is.

His sexuality isn’t exactly a secret, at least he’s never made an effort to hide it. However, he also never actually came out to anyone. He only assumed people knew and if they had an issue with who he chose to go out with, they’d tell him directly. He’s had very few relationships in his life – he’s dated exactly one woman and one man. Both were relatively long-term relationships and he never treated one of his partners differently than the other. It never occurred to him, that he should have to come out to his family first before introducing them to a partner that wasn’t a woman.

BLOOD STATUS: Pure-Blood

HOUSE ALUMNI: Gryffindor – Gideon ultimately ended up a Gryffindor, if only just because Fabian came first in the alphabet and was therefore sorted before him. When Gideon put on the hat, it took an awfully long time debating whether Gryffindor or Ravenclaw was the better fit for him. In the end, Gideon wasn’t going to be separated from his twin, and asked to be put in Gryffindor.

ANY CHANGES: None

CHARACTER BACKGROUND:

PERSONALITY:

Gideon has always been known as the clever one, the over-achiever, the workaholic. From the moment he was born he was told he was special. The first-born son, the heir. He was never just a child he was the projection of his father’s high expectations. And Gideon, in his eagerness to please, did everything he could to fulfil them all. He was expected to perform exceptionally in school – he did. He was expected to find a well-respected job right out of school and make his father proud – he did. He was expected to always be well-mannered and courteous – he was. Expectations are the common thread in his life and Gideon lives in constant fear of being unable to fulfil them.

If it weren’t for Fabian and his good influence, Gideon would likely be a tight-lipped bore who wouldn’t know fun if it punched him in the face. It was definitely growing up with Fab and his sometimes outrageous ideas that led to Gid not tightening up to become exactly what their father wanted him to be. He’s still the ‘somewhat more responsible twin’ and more level-headed than his brother. After all, someone has to make sure they get out of whatever his brother cooks up alive. But Gideon, too, can let loose. In fact, he himself has been the instigator of trouble more than once during their time at Hogwarts and he has always had quite a talent for pyrotechnics. Yet, he somehow mostly managed to escape the consequences of their trouble-making. After all, he was the good boy.

As the oldest of three taking responsibility for others comes naturally to Gid. He enjoys being a source of safety and comfort to his friends and family and will offer his care to anyone who might need it. Helping others is something he’s good at, accepting or asking for help himself not so much. He’d rather be someone elses anchor than admit that he, too, is struggling. In offering himself up like this, he often takes on more than he can handle and it’s only a matter of time until he has no energy left for himself and it will all become too much to bear.

A lot of Gideon’s personality is exclusively outwardly. He’s learned how to present himself, how to hold his head up high and smile just right so that people believed what he wanted them to. That he is sure of himself, that he has all the answers, that he is unafraid and doesn’t falter. Ever. Gideon has been taught to be a leader, that he should be someone others can look up to and trust. That’s all he wants to represent and yet, most of the time he doesn’t even trust himself.

While he’s generally warm and kind towards his friends, Gideon suffers from haphephobia and will never initiate touch himself. It isn’t something he advertises however so he will bear it and suffer through a hug or a hand touching his own simply for the sake of not appearing callous or impolite. The only people he freely allows and even welcomes touch from are his siblings, young children and occasionally, his father. Those who have known him for a few years now would know that he used to be different, used to freely hug people even if they were only fleeting acquaintances. This change in his demeanour is a more recent one. But whatever has caused it is likely something only Gideon knows.

Gideon is afraid. Afraid of failing, of losing control, of his own inadequacy. He hides it well behind reassuring words and carefree smiles and an off-hand joke or two. But the crippling anxiety keeps him up most nights, thoughts racing and reliving all those brief moments in which he might have made a mistake. Any mistake, small as it may be is a failure on Gideon’s part, a fuck-up that if not immediately resolved, will haunt him for weeks. Everything he does needs to be perfect he needs to be perfect or else everyone he loves will turn away from him.

Conflict and communication isn’t something Gideon is good at. He can be judgmental and rash at times, and has a habit of making other people’s issues his own to the point where he oversteps. And if he’s confronted about his mistakes he recoils and falls silent instead of facing the problem and fixing his mistake with an apology. This, too, comes from a place of fear. Rather than resolving an argument with a conversation, any criticism sends Gideon into another spiral of paralysing anxiety and obsessing over his mistakes. The fact that people are willing to forgive and move on after he finally got himself together enough to apologise baffles him every time.

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF FAMILY:

Through everything he’s experienced he’s always had Fabian at his side and without him, Gideon is sure he would have drowned long ago. They’re a unity. Most people know them only as GidandFab, not as two separate people even though the twins couldn’t be more different. Fabian may be the only person who can see through all of Gideon’s bullshit and calls him out on it. He’s the only one Gideon will admit his fears too, will admit to being scared at all to. Fabian is the one person Gideon can stand being touched by without his stomach twisting into knots. He’s protective of both his siblings, but Fabian more than anyone else. He is after all his other half. It may be selfish, but Gideon would always put his twin’s safety and well-being before that of any other person no matter who they are. The idea of losing his brother is worse than anything he could ever imagine and with the war, that fear is ever-present.

He has nothing but respect for admiration for his little sister. Molly is the strongest person Gideon knows and oftentimes he wonders how she does it all – the war, being a mother and caring for so many others who need it all while maintaining an energy level that is almost superhuman. More than once he’s offered to move her and her family to a safe location out of the country, at least until the war is finished. But she always refuses. And he really cannot blame her knowing, that he himself would do the exact same thing if their roles were reversed. But it is another heavy load to carry to keep her and her family safe and out of harms way. Gideon knows however, that it would be pointless to argue with her and he respects her wishes.

His relationship with his parents has always been a complicated one. It was easier while his mother was still alive, but he could never shake the feeling that he was treated differently than his siblings. Was granted more privileges but at the same time judged much harsher. He never doubted the love his parents had for him, but especially with his father he often felt like he had a much harder time getting his approval than Fabian or Molly did. Oftentimes, his father’s affection towards him was tied to Gideon’s own achievements and as he grew older, the expectations also got higher and the praise grew sparse. And that, even now as a grown man of 30, is really all Gideon wants – his father’s praise and approval.

But maybe also because he was the oldest, and because his father, despite the glory days of the noble house of Prewett being long forgotten, still held on to those last shreds of their aristocratic origins, Gideon was privy to knowledge and insight into his family’s affairs his siblings weren’t. His father was always honest with him, answering all of Gideon’s many questions truthfully and never sugar-coating how badly their financial situation or the political climate were. While his siblings were blissfully ignorant, Gideon knew just how much harder it was with every passing year to maintain their old family seat. How much his mother worried about money and his father about the looming war.

Gideon wouldn’t have expected it in the least, but his mother’s death brought him and his father closer together. Both of them dealt with their grief on their own and in silence, preferring to look after Fabian and Molly than giving themselves time to heal. In a way, Gideon thinks, his father leaned on him during those first few months, letting Gideon deal with anything that had to be settled - the will, the belongings, even the funeral. They have a silent agreement nowadays, to protect Fabian and Molly first and see that they make it through the war. Even if it’s at the cost of their own lives.

OCCUPATION:

Unspeakable and Magic Researcher at the Department for Mysteries – Back at Hogwarts Gideon was never satisfied to only repeat a spell until he knew it by heart and perfected the performance, he wanted to know what was underneath. How did it work, who had invented it, where did magic come from? Those were the questions that kept him up and in the library long after most other students had long retired to their common rooms. He wanted to know the origins and mechanics of magic so he could one day be one of the people who invented new spells. Already during his time at school, Gideon started to experiment with words and movements to see if he couldn’t invent some himself. Without the proper training and tutoring however, little of what he attempted was actually successful. Most of the time nothing ever happened. However, there was one incident in which the 6th year boys’ dormitory in the Gryffindor tower almost caught on fire after which Gideon was prohibited from any further unsupervised experimentation.

After graduating Gideon managed to get into a Ministry research program for experimental magic. The first couple of years barely paid him anything but he learned more than he ever had in all his years of Hogwarts together. After completing his training, Gideon worked on a team that created household spells for a while. Not exactly what he’d dreamed of, but it paid the bills. It wasn’t until a year ago that one of his former instructors approached him with an offer: there was to be a new division within the Department of Mysteries and Gideon was to be a part of it. When he heard what exactly this division was researching, Gideon was filled with unease. After all, by this time the war was already raging all around him. And what he was offered was nothing short of a placement as a researcher for the newly created Division for Experimental Magic Warfare. Gideon was uncertain but the higher-ups in the Order were quick to make the decision for him. Gideon was to accept the job. He was to do as he was told and keep his head down. And he was to report back with everything he worked on that appeared suspicious.

It’s a dangerous situation Gideon has gotten himself into. The smallest mistake could raise suspicion, and it’s almost certain that sooner or later he will encounter his own work in the battlefield fired right at him or someone he loves. He can only hope that when that happens, he will be one step ahead.

ROLE WITHIN THE ORDER/THOUGHTS ABOUT THE ORDER:

Mid-Level - It wasn’t Gideon who was first approached to join the Order but his brother. Yet, wherever one twin went, the other would soon follow and so they joined together. Gideon was initially much more doubtful than his brother. Unlike Fabian, Gideon never had any dreams of heroism and adventure – he’s much too pragmatic for that. He joined because he was unsatisfied with how the Ministry handled the threat. He believed in a much more offensive and less careful approach and the Order seemed to have the same ideas.

He started out as a simple foot soldier, of little use off the battlefields due to his lack of influence and insight. Only recently has he felt like he’s truly been contributing to the cause as a spy within the Department of Mysteries with access to some of the Ministry’s most secret research. He’s in more danger than he’s ever been before, but it also fills him with a sense of pride. More than anything else he wants to contribute something meaningful, something that might change their outlook on the war.

As someone with a somewhat large family Gideon has everything to lose and he knows that with everything he does and every risk he takes he puts them at risk as well, especially his brother. It makes him only more determined to fight.

Gideon doesn’t mind being a criminal and a vigilante. His involvement in the Order is nothing he’d ever publicly advertise of course, and he keeps his true opinions about how he thinks this war should be fought carefully to himself. But in all honesty, as offensive as they are, they’re still not offensive enough. In these times law or honour don’t matter anymore, only survival and victory. An eye for an eye.

SURVIVAL:

How is he still alive? Gideon doesn’t know. He shouldn’t be at this point. While he’s always thinking on his toes and carefully calculating his next three steps he’s not one to shy away from the frontlines or stick to the back on the battlefield. He should have died three battles ago. Sometimes he thinks it must be dumb luck. Or his unwillingness to die without his brother by his side. He refuses to go down without him and since Fab is somehow still alive so is he.

In public Gideon keeps his head down. Plays the role of loyal ministry employee and keeps his opinions to himself. It’s what’s wisest and what the Order asked of him to ensure he’d be able to keep this job.

Gideon has a small flat in Central London which he loves dearly as it’s been his first flat ever but he’s appeared on the Death Eaters’ radar one too many times and the longer he procrastinates moving somewhere safer the more dangerous it gets. Still, Gideon needs stability and the idea of moving every couple weeks isn’t one he finds too appealing. Yet he can’t put it off much longer if he wants to continue to stay alive.

RELATIONSHIPS:

His brother has been and always will be the most important person in Gideon’s life. But neither of them can deny that their relationship has been strained for a while now. Sometimes Gid has a hard time reading his twin. Sometimes he can’t get a hold on him for days on end, throwing him into another spiral full of anxiety and panic and ‘what if something’ s happened’s. He’s well aware of his brother’s self-destructive habits but as of yet unable to take action without greatly invading Fabian’s privacy and breaking his trust. What he can do is to silently watch over him and hope to be able to prevent any greater damages in time. Gideon isn’t an idiot; he knows that he’s co-dependent to the point of potentially suffocating Fabian with his own inability to survive without his twin. And maybe, he tells himself, that inability is even what caused Fab’s drinking in the first place. Nevertheless, he’s determined to fix their relationship – and his brother – so they can go back to the way they had been before the war.

With the majority of his friends Gideon has taken the role of caretaker and substitute big brother. It’s what he knows, what he’s good at, what fuels him. He honestly enjoys being a shoulder to lean on and a source of strength and comfort. His door is always open, and he has an extra set of blankets and fresh sheets ready at all time just in case someone might need a place to stay for a night or more. He’s the kind of friend that will remember you mentioning your favourite brand of biscuits in an off-hand comment and then keep a pack in his cupboard just in case you might decide to visit. And at the same time, he’s the kind of person who knows everything about his friends but at the same time gives little information about himself. He’ll always answer ‘I’m great, thank you’ to a question after his well-being and make it sound honest enough. He rarely reveals more than superficial details of his personal life preferring to keep the focus away from himself in fear of someone digging a little too deep and realising that he is in fact far from the confident, charming man he pretends to be. People need him to be a rock and a safe haven, not just another construction side.

The war has forced them all both closer together and further apart it seems. Trust is dangerous these days, letting anyone too close could hurt you terribly in the best case scenario and get you killed if you’re not careful. And at the same time the trauma of the war has them huddling together and looking for comfort now more than ever. Gideon is almost obsessively cautious about letting new people into his life, but has made a habit of checking up on everyone of his friends and fellow Order members, even those who are just fleeting acquaintances, at least once a week. He keeps track of people, has to know where everyone is to sleep at least a few hours every night. As scattered as they are and with the lifes they’re living, someone has to see that no one’s left behind. It’s a reassurance for himself, and just maybe also for the others to know, that if someone fails to check in, if someone goes missing, he’ll notice.

OOC EXPLORATION:

SHIPS/ANTI-SHIPS:

Difficult. Gideon isn’t someone who will just flirt and jump into bed with someone. He needs to feel secure and safe first before he can even start opening up to someone. His last relationships have always crumbled under his inability to share and express his true emotions very well. His aversion to being touched isn’t helping much either. A relationship and someone he can trust and confide in is something Gideon desperately craves. But any attempts at getting closer to someone have always failed in the past few years and it’s weighing hard on him.

In his day to day life Gideon is someone who needs to be in charge always. Not being in control is something that fills him with crippling anxiety. And yet, in a relationship, giving up that control is exactly what seeks. He want’s someone else to take charge and just let him float safely for a bit. But communicating those needs isn’t something he’s ever done before.

I don’t have any anti-ships for Gideon. I will literally ship anything if the chemistry is there and it makes sense. For some reason I do like the idea of him having a bit of a crush on Kingsley Shacklebolt, which is probably simply projecting because I have a crush on Kingsley. He has that calm aura. I think Gideon would be very attracted to that.

WHAT PRIVILEGES AND BIASES DOES YOUR CHARACTER HAVE?

Gideon is a white cis-male pure-blood. He’s pretty much as privileged as they come in their society. And while his parents raised him and his siblings with constant reminders that their blood status isn’t worth anything and that it’s their character that defines them as people, they were far from perfect. Growing up Gideon couldn’t help but notice that at least his father treated him differently than his siblings and that being the oldest son but him under more scrutiny but also at a certain advantage. He often wondered if he was taken more seriously simply because he was the first-born.

It was mostly his sister Molly who taught him to think about his own privileges by sharing her own perspective with him and ridiculing him whenever she thought he was acting like a ‘typical man’. He’s grateful for it and tries to be more aware of his own actions and mannerisms but doesn’t always succeed.

He’s wary of werewolves and other shapechangers but only because he knows way too little about them. He doesn’t find them revolting or disgusting, he’s simply careful. If he were to find out about a friend of his being a werewolf, he’d be surprised if not shocked and have a million questions, but ultimately it wouldn’t change anything about them as a person.

Gideon has never had a long enough conversation with a muggle to have anything other than curiosity for their life-style. Again, he doesn’t know enough about them to form an informed opinion. But he knows that killing people simply because of their culture differing from your own is all kinds of wrong and horrible and he will not stand for it.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO?

To be completely honest, I wasn’t actively looking for a roleplay. Amos, who currently plays Fabian, and I used to play the twins for a long time in other rpgs and somehow clicked from the very beginning. He very subtly advertised this rpg to me and told me how great it was which made me curious. After checking it out I really wanted to join because I love the concept a lot and also play Gideon again. What I’m especially looking forward to is the outlook. In Canon marauder rpgs the twins always due of course so you’re ultimately playing a doomed character. This can be great for those of us (and I’m definitely one of these people) who love nothing more than pain and angst. But I found that I’m really excited and curious about playing Gideon with a chance of a future. It gives the whole experience a sense of hope.

PLOT DROP IDEAS:

My main goal is always character development through the differing relationships Gideon has with other characters. How are the people around him going to influence him, how is he going to influence them? This is very general of course. More specifically, I’d like to see people digging deeper and getting under Gideon’s skin, be it in a positive or negative way. I’d like to undo him.

I’d also like to see how the situation at the Department of Mysteries develops, if Gideon is able to withstand the pressure, if he’s able to continue flying under the radar and gather information without being found out. And I’d like the Order to put more pressure on him, maybe demand more of him as it continues. I want to see how long it takes before he breaks down.

ANYTHING ELSE? I hope you’re on board and want me because this is a really cool place J

EXTRA FOR NON-BIO CHARACTERS:

This section is only if you are applying for a character that does not yet have a biography written (i.e. a character not listed on the character page). Essentially, any Marauders Era character can be applied for, so long as they can realistically fit into the plot and add substance to the roleplay! It may be a good idea to send a message to the main before you do this so we are all on the same page.

PAST: Gideon never doubted that he was lucky. He had a happy childhood, a loving family and, most importantly, a twin. He never quite understood how singletons could function properly but then, they never knew what they were missing either. Growing up Gideon was, in most respects, the epitome of a good boy. He fulfilled most of his parents’ expectations – worked hard in school, got good grades and, as far as they knew, rarely got into trouble. Back then he was carefree, blissfully ignorant of the tension building and the looming war. As he grew older and more aware of the issues so deeply rooted within the society he called his own, he found that he couldn’t just turn his head and pretend not to see the injustice many of his classmates suffered through on a daily basis. Gideon knew he had to use his own privilege to take a stand, he just didn’t know how. As much as he tried to help out and speak up, nothing he did ever felt like it was enough. It wasn’t until his brother was recruited by the Order and simply dragged him along with him, that he found a way to truly make an impact.

PRESENT: After graduating, Gideon’s curiosity and dedication secured him a spot in a training program for magical research and from there on brought him further and deep into the Department of Mysteries where he researches new ways of magic currently unheard of. Every day brings new risks and challenges and the fear of being found out as a spy for the Order is his constant companion. It’s what he wanted, though, isn’t it? He makes a difference. The intelligence he’s gathering is valuable and the research he’s able to do with the resources he wouldn’t have anywhere else could potentially aid the Order in the war. At the same time, he never knows who he’s actually working for. He can feel the pressure of countless expectations and responsibilities piling up and he knows, it’s only a matter of time until he’ll break under the weight.

FC CHOICES: Top choice: Sam Heughan. Other choices: James McAvoy, Sam Claflin

#harry potter rp #harry potter roleplay #harry potter rpg #marauders rp #marauders era rp #homenumaccepted

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qm-vox · 6 years

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So You Want To Run An Autumn Court

(Check out So You Want To Run A Winter Court if you missed it.)

Winter may be the most misunderstood Court, but Autumn may have the strongest claim to being the odd man out. In a society built on recovering from horror and trauma, the Autumn Court (the Ashen Court, the Leaden Mirror, the Court of Fear) seems purpose-built to churn out monsters, murderers, and slasher villains. If that was all this is, if Autumn was only part of the system because pacts and Pledges made it so, the Court would have been killed to the last man hundreds of years ago. So why do the other three Seasons tolerate Autumn? What purpose does it serve in the Freehold, and what does its defining passion - Fear - offer to the other Courts?

The following article offers advice on designing and running your own Autumn Court and Autumn Courtiers, either as a player or storyteller. It draws primarily from Changeling: the Lost, Lords of Summer, Rites of Spring, Dancers in the Dusk, and Swords at Dawn; further books, if referenced, will be cited.

God Damn It White Wolf, Not Again

Make no mistake: this article is meant to be rooted in the canon of Changeling: the Lost and help present and expand on the Autumn presented in that canon. Unfortunately, more than any of the other three Seasonal Courts, Autumn is both inconsistently characterized, and constantly mischaracterized. For every two great ideas presented about it there’s some shit that’s definitely a flashback to when oWoD was still being designed and the entire staff of White Wolf was doing hard acid. Where necessary, I will be bringing up those parts, explaining why I have chosen to refute them, and offering alternatives rooted in the canon and/or how actual human people behave. Consider yourselves advised.

Witch-Queens - An Overview

The third of the Seasonal Courts and the first of the Declining Seasons, Autumn is associated with Fear in all of its forms: fright, terror, panic, dread, anticipation, doubt, horror, and suspense, among others. Autumn cultivates fear in themselves and others; to have an Autumn Mantle is not just to be an object of fear (though yes, it very much is that), but to know your own fears, to understand them, even to nurture them. Just like the other Seasonal Courts, Autumn rules its Freeholds for one-fourth of the year, generally from the equinox to the solstice, though local custom may vary.

Magic is Autumn’s claim to fame and specialty as a Court, but their MO goes beyond it; in part this is because Autumn is a big believer in efficiency, cunning, secrecy, and prudence, but this is also in part because Autumn is keenly aware of how much they just do not know. “Magic” is an incredibly diverse field, especially when one considers that Autumn takes it upon itself to investigate rumors or knowledge of non-Wyrd magic. Much like medicine, occult knowledge is a field in which you could be a lifelong expert, outstanding in your field, whose knowledge is consulted by Lost the world over, and still both not know shit and be aware that you don’t know shit. Thus one of the first questions Autumn tends to ask when solving problems is, “is there a non-magical solution to this problem?” Often the magical solution ends up being safer and more efficient, but the question is still worth asking, if only to arrive at that answer with confidence.

Talk Shit, Get Hit - Politics in Autumn

Brace yourself, this section is long as fuck.

While Autumn has traces of cooperation between Freeholds (notably, Autumn publishes magazines shared between Autumn Courts, and sometimes funds lectures by members of other Autumn Courts courageous enough to travel to strange lands), it is ultimately a local creature, with much more in common with how Spring governs itself than Summer or Winter. Where Winter’s understanding of internal rank and politics is informed by the knowledge that Pledges get broken and thus are insufficient to enforce trust, Autumn’s various forms of governance are informed by a certain cynical acceptance that violence and authority are related.

There is an unspoken understanding in Autumn that crossing certain lines will get violence enacted upon you. The vast majority of Freeholds - even failing Freeholds - do prohibit members just killing one another without at least prior approval from the current Crown, but as a genie in a Disney sequel once said: you’d be surprised what you can live through. Despite this, the act of violence is much more rare in Autumn politics than the threat of it. Occasionally hot-headed Autumn youngbloods figure their elders can’t be as scary as all that and end up learning a cruel lesson, or a bid to remove a rival or a hated enemy goes badly (or, depending on the Courtier, very well), but more often Autumn’s political maneuvers are undergone with a certain understanding that everyone involved is a killer, will be a killer again in the future, and is quite capable of making even your victory over them cost a pound of flesh.

How Autumn selects the bearer of its Crown varies from Freehold to Freehold, and how that bearer organizes their Court will likewise vary, but some trends and consistent titles do appear in addition to the local ones. You can broadly classify the Autumn Crown as follows:

Rule by Fear - It’s an obvious leap, really. Autumn is the Court of Fear, so from a certain perspective the scariest person there is Winning At Autumn. The Court’s casual attitude about violence definitely helps foster this style of rule, as does the fact that life under a master of Fear is likely to keep the Court flush with fearful Glamour that can be invested in further power. Now at this point you may be asking, quite reasonably, what the Court does about the usual attendant issues of attempting to rule through violence and fear, and the answer is: absolutely fucking nothing. An Autumn monarch that seeks to rule by fear needs to balance their ruling style with a certain amount of consent from the people they are ruling, because everyone they’re reigning over is playing the same game they are. Callous brutes who try to run roughshod over a Court of killers and witches find themselves nailed to a door and left to die alone.

Witch-Queens - The other obvious candidate for the Autumn Crown is a talented sorcerer of some kind. This approach tends to be somewhat more nuanced than rule by fear; a powerful witch granted the Autumn Crown has also likely been selected for a reputation for wisdom, cunning, and leadership acumen, even if another person might be acknowledged as a more powerful witch. It’s easy to think of such Courts as more stable, considering the track record of autocrats that rule through terror, but that’s not necessarily the case. As much as Plato and people who still think it’s okay to wear fedoras in the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Eighteen would like to think otherwise, ‘intellectual’ and ‘good ruler’ are not synonyms; such figures can be and often are vulnerable to manipulation by more savvy Courtiers, and sometimes to straight-up being murdered by those who would prefer to rule through fear. A wise or at least self-aware Autumn Court takes steps to protect a good witch-queen from those events, and to quietly replace a bad one, but unfortunately ‘self-aware’ and ‘powerful’ are also not synonyms when it comes to Autumn.

An Actual Politician

(Zoe “Zippo” Morris, the Queen of Bonfires. Credit to @lidijadraws)

Finding someone who runs their local Autumn Court because they’re a legitimately competent politician with a functional understanding of human and/or post-human society is like finding an albino raven: it’s rare in the first place, they probably die before they reach adulthood, and if they didn’t it’s because someone else helped to shelter and nurture them. Despite the prevalence of Lost in Autumn quite willing to kill these fledglings in their nests and the seeming non-obviousness of them taking power, wise Autumn rulers of the other two types - generally those who have lived long enough to come to some kind of terms with their own abuse and trauma - will put in the work to raise these politicians so that they can be succeeded by someone who will keep the Court stable and prosperous in the long term. Managing Autumn through a mix of careful alliances, threats, and support from the other three Courts helps such rulers get away with not having the personal power to fight off all comers, and more importantly ties Autumn into the rest of its local society so that it gets a reality check more than “sometimes, when people can screw up the courage to actually show up”. In that way it’s better for the ruler too; without the might to trample over those who disagree with her, she must instead keep the members of her own and other Courts in mind, and be aware of her own bullshit lest she leap up on it and get herself killed.

Lords of Summer details a method of ruling Autumn that it labels as the Palace of Dust, in which Autumn is a wholly secret society hidden even from the rest of the Freehold, who acts to cause Fear and protect its fellows in secret. This is naked fucking stupidity. Even if Autumn could do such a thing without shredding its Clarity all to hell (which it can’t) or get a crack at recruiting new members without the other three Courts mistaking them for privateers or loyalists (which, again, it can’t), Autumn still has to run the god damn Freehold for 1/4th of the year, which among other things means having a person with a big obvious crown on her head, to say nothing of all of her Courtiers and their Mantles, or needing to be physically present to accept tithes of Glamour and oaths of vassalage. I encourage you to discard this idea entirely; it has no relation to how any society functions, and is riddled with logistical, psychological, and thematic problems. Autumn jockeys with Spring for the title of “most dramatic and theatrical Court”; don’t waste that opportunity trying to be the edgiest version of what is already the edgiest Court.

Not even the mightiest Witch-Queen rules alone. Lords of Summer presents some potential titles denoting status and responsibility in the Autumn Court. Not all of them will be present in every Court, and they aren’t necessarily called by these titles (in New Avalon, for instance, the Witch of the Bitter Wind has been called ‘Baba’ for many years, an allusion to Baba Yaga). Each has a role in Autumn’s society that is expanded on below:

Twilit Page - Broadly, the Twilit Page is in charge of neophyte Autumn Courtiers, but this is a more difficult prospect than you might expect. Where Winter is perfectly willing to leave its Flowing Pages out in the wind to die if they can’t form a relationship with a more senior Courtier willing to save them, Autumn is somewhat more likely to attempt to come to the rescue. Some of this is simply because Autumn is more likely to form personal attachments, and some of it is that you don’t bother gathering immense personal power if you aren’t going to use it. The Twilit Page has to keep tabs on aspiring and young members of Autumn, try to teach them the local culture of the Court, and hopefully palm them off into a more formal apprenticeship as soon as possible. Bad Autumn Courts emulate Winter’s example and give this job to a more junior Courtier to keep them busy with paperwork; wiser ones promote more powerful Courtiers to this position so that aspiring members of the Court know what they might become and can be certain that if they call for rescue, rescue will actually arrive.

Paladin of Shadows - Frightful warriors who for some reason don’t want to be in Summer end up in Autumn under this name. Paladins drive Winter mad, given that they’re a role specifically for Autumn Courtiers who are, seemingly, bad at being members of Autumn. Paladins embody the threat of physical violence and death, and are often a natural role for battle-sorcerers in Autumn; Ogres and Elementals especially fall naturally into this method of serving Fear.

Hedge Ranger - Hedge Rangers represent a sort of practical occult knowledge that few people immediately associate with Autumn. Rare is the person who hears the words “Court of Fear” and immediately thinks of a survivalist with a crossbow, but such is the nature of the Thorns: a land of magic that demands practice to go with your theory. Hedge Rangers rarely lack for work; the Hedge is a source of fear and doubt to almost all of the Lost, and those who must brave it will pay dearly for an expert’s guidance. More importantly, Hedge Rangers may be the Freehold’s first line of intelligence against an imminent invasion of the True Fae, privateers, or hostile hobgoblins.

Legate of Mists - Oddly enough, this is one of the positions potentially unlikely to be filled in a healthy Freehold. It sounds counter-intuitive; surely a diplomat is a valuable role in keeping friendly relationships between Courts? But when things are going well, members of the other three Courts generally go directly to the Autumn Courtiers they need for various services. Why cut a finder’s fee to some random asshole to direct you to Jack the Ranger when you can just find Jack or a member of his Motley yourself? But in an Autumn that is less trusted by its fellows, or a Freehold with sharp conflicts between the Courts in general, having someone more outwardly collected and socially savvy as a point of contact can be essential in not escalating conflict to a place people are going to regret. In a Freehold that doesn’t necessarily need a Legate, someone with a related skill set (such as a Baron of the Lesser Ones, or a member of the Legacy of the Black Apple) might have the title bestowed upon them in recognition of their skills, or to formalize their role in negotiating with those other beings.

Fool of First Frost - Any idiot can put on a clown suit and chase people with knives. The role of the Fool is not to spread fear directly, but rather to spread Autumn’s self-awareness of its own deliberate evil to the other Courts. When Spring, Summer, and Winter begin to grow toxic or to cause social issues in the Freehold, it is the Fool and their comedy that first holds them to account through dark parody, scathing rebukes, and the occasional terrifying mystery. Fools also hold Autumn to similar account. A good Fool is socially adept, cunning, and politically aware; a bad Fool is generally killed in their sleep by a slighted noble.

Lord/Lady Scrivener - Perhaps one of the most inconsistently filled positions in Autumn, the Scrivener writes things down. The Lost have an uneven relationship with the idea of writing things down, in part because writing things down has a bad habit of getting people killed, and in part because of a strong oral tradition and the presence of the Eternal Echoes (Lords of Summer). Some Freeholds never learn the grim stories of When It Goes Wrong and install a Scrivener to keep records of the Freehold or the Court; others follow Winter’s example and record their histories in code. An Autumn Court involved in the aforementioned magazine-publishing and lectures keep a Scrivener in charge of their creation and distribution, but beyond that this title is often quite empty, and infrequent attempts to install it are generally shut down hard.

Ghul - In a Court whose role in the Freehold is often ‘odd jobs, but especially the horrible ones we don’t want to do’, the Ghul is the person who does the most horrible things. In theory, the Ghul’s role is that of assassin to the Court of Fear, but a Freehold that maintains and tolerates one likely also employs them as an executioner and a Jack Ketch. In many Freeholds, the Ghul may be a secret position, kept quiet so that the other Courts don’t know Autumn is willing to retain a paid murderer.

Witch of the Bitter Wind - Quite possibly the only title as ubiquitous to Autumn as the Crown itself, the Witch is the Court’s most prominent sorcerer. It isn’t enough to have raw power (represented with high Wyrd and Mantle); the Witch of the Bitter Wind needs to have broad and deep knowledge of magic, including things no one really wants to know but sometimes has to. The nature of their work means that Witches often shed Clarity to an alarming degree, but replacing a Witch of the Bitter Wind is no simple thing; Lost who can do what they do are not a dime a dozen. Keeping a leash on their Witch is often one of the Autumn Crown’s most important ongoing duties.

Magister of Nightmares - You know what would be nice? If White Wolf could write one god damn thing about this Court consistently for five minutes straight. In Lords of Summer, the Magister is purported to capture and maintain the target of the Ashen Hunt...a ritual in which the entire Freehold goes riding out to kill any of its enemies that it can find. One of these things has to be wrong, and on the balance considering that the Lost have severe problems with imprisoning anything or anyone for any reason, I am inclined to advise you to throw this title out, shake your first at the sky and scream White Wolf’s name at the top of your lungs.

Ashen Notary - One of Autumn’s more surprising roles, the Ashen Notary is an expert in Pledgecraft and is charged with maintaining and, if need be, recording knowledge of powerful Pledges sworn in the Freehold. In a society that sometimes has to establish trust between people who have understandable trust issues, an expert in Pledges is a powerful asset and a vital cog in the smooth running of said society. The Ashen Notary’s knowledge empowers them to check in on Lost who have sworn powerful Pledges, advise them on keeping said Pledges, and to offer their services to broker Pledges between parties who might not otherwise be inclined to do so. The Notary serves another purpose in Autumn itself: they force loners of the Ashen Court to actually participate in society, even if only on the pretext of checking up on their oath of service to the Freehold itself. Autumn Courtiers more inclined to counsel rather than terrify, with a talent for putting people at their ease, thrive in this role.

Aside from these largely internal roles, Autumn Courtiers thrive in the Freehold itself as advisors, viziers, and hatchet men. Though Autumn trends towards skill in violence and magic, its lack of an overall required skill set (in sharp contrast with Summer and Winter) means it often makes its bones doing odd jobs. Need a family of Fetches murdered? Autumn is looking for work. Need a guide through a dangerous Trod? Autumn has a man. Looking to learn Contracts that might help you in your day job? Autumn knows them. While Autumn joins Summer as one of the Courts that spends money rather than makes it, it funds its internal expenses by tithing from these services and otherwise making itself available to its peers.

The Promise of Autumn

What does Autumn offer to potential members, and to those that keep faith with it? UNLIMITED POWER is the answer that springs to most people’s minds immediately, and this is true to an extent, just as it is also true that Autumn provides a haven for those who have fallen in love with magic and struggle with the awkward feelings of shame and self-doubt that said love engenders. But neither captures the entire story. Alone among the Seasonal Courts, Autumn is not offering recruits the chance to heal, not as such. Where Spring holds faith in its renewal, where Summer promises to create something good and noble of the evil done to you, and Winter quietly sells a new life built on your own terms, the children of Fear seem, so often, to leap screaming into an abyss from which there is no return.

So why join Autumn?

Just as every Lost is scarred by Sorrow, so too is each and every living Changeling a child of Fear; Fear of the Others who may come calling to drag them back, Fear of what they have or might become, Fear of rejection by mortal society or mortal loved ones, Fear of betrayal, of privateers and loyalists, of the Thorns, of the things that live in their dreams, and this doesn’t even get into more mundane or personal Fears that may stalk them. Autumn’s offer is simple but compelling: join with the Ashen Court, and you can come to understand your Fear, and to master it. Autumn does not promise to make you unafraid; such a promise would be a lie, and counter to the Court’s ideals in any event. To join with Autumn is instead to develop a relationship with Fear, to confront your abuse directly and thus to lift some of its terrible power over your life. For many drawn to the Court of Fear it can be a relief to be told that it’s okay to be afraid, that even the grim demons that sit the high seats of Autumn are afraid, and that life can go on in the face of that Fear. This quieter, more intimate side of Autumn doesn’t get a lot of press, in part because Autumn prefers it that way, and in part because it can be genuinely hard to talk about. Fear is an intimate emotion, and for those of Spring, Summer, and Winter who go to Autumn for help with their Fears the idea of gossiping about those who guided them, aided them, even befriended them, can be unthinkable.

Other Lost join Autumn because they are in love with magic and they want more of it. The reasons can vary, but Autumn generally puts in quite a bit of effort to recruit such Changelings. Many assume this is because Autumn wants to retain its status as the foremost practitioners of magic, and this is to an extent true, but the Ashen Court also considers this a service to the Freehold. Unwise use of magic is dangerous; just as Autumn takes in the fearful and teaches them sorcery, so too does Autumn take in reckless sorcerers and teach them fear. Magic for magic’s sake is like the pursuit of any form of power for its own sake: foolish and likely to get someone killed. Autumn puts leashes on such Lost until they learn better.

Both sorts of recruits are ultimately made the same offer by Autumn, often unspoken but powerfully present: Autumn can give them the power to no longer be victims. Many Lost were helpless in the face of the evil which claimed them, abused them, and ultimately transformed them. The Court of Fear provides not just the personal power to fight back, but the knowledge and presence of mind to act, not without Fear, but with courage. For many, whose lives are defined by the Fear of going back to the Fairest of Lands, Autumn represents the ability to live with themselves again, in a way the other Courts can’t.

There is a certain ironic selflessness in remaining in Autumn. The Court of Fear purposefully takes on the evils needed to keep the Freehold running and safe, and as a result its active members are often, not to put too fine a point on it, evil. Autumn doesn’t just employ killers, thieves, and abusers, it cultivates them. For Lost whose skill sets fall into these shady categories, Autumn can be a place to belong; for others, remaining in the Season and deepening their relationship to it means asking hard questions about what they’re willing to become, and how hard they’re willing to work to avoid becoming something worse. Autumn’s peers are vital in keeping some semblance of an even keel on its Courtiers, to remind them both not to get lost in the vicious madness of power for the sake of power, and of the joys, pleasures, and sorrows of life that exist outside of the context of Fear. Autumn, in turn, helps hold its peers to account and provides both a spoken warning and a living example of what it means to slide into darkness.

Fear Itself

Autumn’s relationship to Fear is more complex than the other Courts often think it is, and definitely more complex than Autumn itself advertises it as. Just as someone who spreads Sorrow but does not feel Sorrow is a bad Winter Courtier, so too is the ideal Autumn Courtier someone who feels Fear in addition to spreading it. The dance between an Autumn Courtier’s public persona (something at least partly artificial and theatrical) and their private one is a complex affair that can be harsh on Clarity if not managed correctly, but it is absolutely vital to maintaining some semblance of sanity and perspective.

Outwardly, Autumn practices Fear of all kinds. They learn to cultivate and project images that fit their personal brands of Fear (in New Avalon, the local Autumn Court puts its apprentices through drama and theater classes specifically for this reason) and to sow Fear upon others. Only rarely is this visceral, violent terror, for a host of reasons. While the Court could create a glut of Fear by, say, killing an entire fraternity in its frat house on campus and leaving the excessively gory scene to be found by their friends and loved ones, such an event has repercussions beyond the emotion created: mortal police will investigate, bereaved loved ones seek closure or revenge, the school itself might be shut down, and such a vicious assault is certain to take a toll on whatever unlucky Courtiers are expected to carry it out. Much more common are activities such as spreading rumors and urban legends, telling terrifying stories, stalking mortals out alone on lonely nights, blackmail, and acts of violation such as breaking the locks on someone’s house or leaving unsettling ‘gifts’ in their personal possessions. Autumn’s own need to exercise a light hand in cultivating their passion in the mortal populace. Fear, while an effective emotion for manipulating others, can be difficult to predict and control; those Lost who don’t understand that spreading Fear can have unforeseen consequences soon learn better when they bite off more than they can chew and get someone hurt or killed. This is one of Autumn’s harshest and most necessary lessons: you, ultimately, are responsible for the desperate actions of those upon whom you spread your Fear.

Inwardly, Autumn Courtiers seek to relate to their own Fears, to understand them, and to take action about them. Fear can be a healthy response, and the Lost live dangerous lives in which vigilance and caution are quite reasonable daily activities, and the Fears that inform these behaviors are among the more universal to Changelings, but all things Fear more than just the Others. To be Autumn is to ask yourself questions like, “why am I afraid?”, “can I live my life with this Fear?”, “do I also love or Desire the object of my Fear? Does it make me angry?” and, “am I okay with the power this Fear has over me?”. There are many answers to these questions; Autumn encourages its Courtiers to make their own decisions about their Fears, to excuse themselves from projects or tasks where their Fears would cripple them and to seek out those professions where their Fears can be helpful to them. Many a Hedge-Ranger starts their career by acknowledging that they are afraid of the Thorns and seeking to overcome the darkness of that Fear with the light of knowledge, and Autumn knows well the power of desperate terror to turn a cornered rat into a vicious killer. Just as mortals seek out horror movies to experience a visceral thrill, so too does Autumn put themselves in a position to be afraid so that they can teach themselves to live with Fear, to act in spite of or even aided by Fear, and to prove to themselves that they are stronger than their own Fear.

While they are rarer than those Autumn Courtiers who also spread Fear upon others, some Autumn Courtiers relate to their Season only in terms of their personal fear, and their journey into Autumn is founded on understanding and choosing to nurture or overcome their individual Fears. The Ashen Court puts a lot of value in these more gentle, introspective Courtiers, in part because someone has to be around to tell the supervillains when they’re up on their bullshit (again), and in part because these are often those Autumn Courtiers who most openly serve as counselors and healers to their fellow Lost. Many of the Court of Fear’s most talented oneiromancers fall easily into this image of a kinder Autumn.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice - Organizing Autumn

The basic unit of Autumn is the Courtier, but the basic plural unit of the Court of Fear is the Master-Apprentice bond. While individual Courts do likely organize by appointing nobles and people to assist those nobles (such as, say, a Mistress of the Harvest in charge of the Court’s stores of Goblin Fruits and Harvestmen to assist her), Autumn’s basically selfish organization naturally breaks it up into those who do not yet have power - personal, social, magical, political - and those that do. The most basic function of a Twilit Page is to help connect potential apprentices to potential masters, who take over the role of educating those apprentices, attending to their personal safety, and ensuring that they don’t starve to death on the streets. These apprentices in turn assist their masters with various projects, enabling them to focus on purely occult matters rather than attending to inconveniences like laundry, cooking meals, or replacing the sinister cobwebs that just won’t stay up in the corners properly. It is during this stage in their life that youngblood Autumn Courtiers learn about the divide between their work face and their friend face, the ideals of Fear and magic, and - hopefully - learn to Fear themselves as well as others. The results can be a bit disorganized, but it keeps Autumn in possession of broad skill sets that appeal to many potential new members who are looking for a place to belong in their new society.

Early adopters of Autumn are often somewhat lonesome by nature and don’t necessarily join Motleys straight away, but as they calm down and start to grow into their own the Court subtly or not-so-subtly encourages them to do so. While Autumn doesn’t have a formal commandment to join diverse Motleys the way Winter does, a sane and stable Autumn Court usually encourages it; Autumn needs the perspectives of its peers if it intends on surviving the journey to power with some semblance of its sanity intact. A Motley also represents a power group that a budding Autumn Courtier can use to further their interests within their own Court, both because a Motley is capable of defending itself from (and committing) greater violence than one Courtier, and because the interconnection of the Courts means pissing off an entire Motley is a much different political prospect. As the Autumn Courtier rises in power and ambition they find themselves with descriptive titles bestowed upon them in honor of their expertise, and with nervous members of the Freehold coming to them for their unique services (prophecy, assassination, occult knowledge, guidance through the Hedge, etc).

What happens from here depends on the Court and the Courtier. The higher echelons of Autumn are staffed by survivors and killers who have seen and done things they would rather not have seen and done. Lost can live for a long time if they’re not killed, but in a Court that respects these elders those lusting for a high office may have no choice but to hone their own skills and wait for the incumbent to finally die. For some positions - especially the Crown or the Witch of the Bitter Wind - there’s a certain “you kill it, you bought it” understanding, in which some degree of personal and magical violence is a permissible method of advancement. You can bet your ass that the Court keeps a careful eye on such usurpers, however; it doesn’t do to encourage random murder with leniency.

Mark Me Down As Scared And Horny

Autumn Courtiers are still (post) human people, and passionate people at that; Autumn’s self-awareness and caution don’t come even close to Winter’s deliberate culture of stoicism and self-denial. Just as much as any of the Lost, Autumn’s own crave personal bonds with others; they want friends, family, lovers, and the respect of their peers. To split the difference between the figures of dread their Court expects them to be, and the more vulnerable and human person such bonds require, Autumn is of necessity somewhat two-faced.

Ultimately, to be friends with a member of Autumn is to accept that you can’t talk about the person you know that others don’t. It’s more than just a PR problem, though that definitely factors into it. Fundamentally, it’s about trust. Just as you sharing your intimate Fears with your friend in Autumn means trusting a known monster and professional abuser with knowledge they can use to hurt you, so too does that Autumn Courtier trust you with their own feelings in a way that could hurt them. A friendship built on mutually assured destruction is no friendship at all, not even in Autumn, and if the children of Fear have to think of their close friends and family in that way then they’re already on the fast way down to staging slasher flicks in real life. For those who can respect their friend’s public persona in public (which does not necessarily entail pretending not to be their friend), Autumn can be among their staunchest allies and most protective supporters. It can be hard to have friends in the lands of Fear, and Fear’s children guard the ones they have with a ferocious will.

Romance, for those Autumn Courtiers inclined to practice it, is similar. Unlike Winter, which is more likely to seek out its own members to love, Autumn relationships with other Autumn Courtiers generally end in a certain amount of blood; each feeds the toxic traits of the other, generally creating a downward spiral of Fear. Summer and Autumn end up together quite a bit, bonding over a common interest in direct action and the similar problems of those who have made a career in violence, but Spring/Autumn relationships can be some of the strongest and most surprising. The renewal Spring believes in and offers to others can give Autumn something to live for besides power, and Autumn in turn provides support and love through the times of Fear and doubt that can sometimes cripple a Spring Courtier. Either way, loving someone in Autumn means to some extent accepting that they have chosen evil when they did not have to. Relationships that last involve both the non-Autumn partner making peace with that choice, and the Autumn one remembering that evil is the tool with which they do their job and not a toy that they play with for fun. If either side can’t swing their role, the relationship often fails.

If you go leafing through the published books you might notice a trend of Autumn Courtiers getting written as femme fatales that betray their lovers and/or murder them. Throw this in the garbage where it belongs. While a certain amount of backstabbing is endemic to Freehold society in general, Autumn being “the people who betray you all the time” leads us back to that idea in the introduction where if this was a thing that happens Autumn would have been killed to the last man a long time ago. This trend in the writing seems to be the meeting point between ‘Autumn is a social Court’ (true), ‘Autumn is often deliberately evil’ (still true), and ‘White Wolf didn’t bother reading their own books’, without stopping to ask about the psychological toll, how Autumn fits into a society, or even the fact that this stereotype fits Spring and Winter’s MO insofar as it fits anyone’s. Even if you were inclined to go here, White Wolf has done it to death. Please don’t.

Lords of Dust - Making Autumn Courtiers

When making your own Autumn Courtier, think about the events in their life that drove them to make this decision. Did their mind bend and then break beneath a particularly cruel Durance? Do they see Autumn as a way of bringing wonder into a world that can so often feel thin and grey? How do they respond to the fundamental questions at the heart of their Court? Autumn deliberately does not command answers to those questions. After all, it doesn’t do to sell yourself as the Court of scholars and wisdom only to discourage questions. Some other helpful considerations to keep in mind include:

What Do You Want? - Autumn encourages ambition in its Courtiers, and offers power as a method of fulfilling it. What is the throne of your character’s ambition? Why do they seek it, and what will they do or what do they think they’ll do to achieve it? How does their ambition relate to their Fears, and to their own Court? “Keep my family safe” is a perfectly valid ambition, after all - especially given how dangerous it can be to love the Lost, as is joining a prestigious Entitlement, or even using the power of Autumn to reform an aspect of Freehold society.

What Do You Fear? - The Ashen Court is defined by its relationship to Fear. What things and ideas inspire Fear in your character? How do they react to and relate to those Fears? Which Fears are they trying to shed, and which are they trying to cultivate? How does your character spread their Fear on others, and why? Do they treat the Fears of their friends and loved ones the same way they treat their own?

What’s Your Specialty? - As alluded to earlier, “magic” is an incredibly broad field of study. What sorts of lore attracts your character? Why did they become interested in the sort of magic they practice? What risks are they willing to take for the sake of knowledge, or to use their knowledge? Do they see magic as something mysterious? Spiritual? Scientific? Does your character prefer to keep their lore secretive, or do they perhaps like to foster a more general interest in magic?

What Are Your Sins? - Plenty of the Lost emerge from Arcadia scarred by the things they did to survive. To join Autumn means accepting that further acts, made more questionable by your newfound freedom, will be added to this tally. How does your character feel about Autumn’s deliberate, self-aware evil? Have they been asked to do morally questionable things? What lines do they draw, and how do those lines affect their relationship to their Court? Do they nurse doubts about the morality of spreading Fear?

Chaos Reigns - Autumn In Your Freehold

While Autumn boasts a diverse skill set, ultimately their dual role is to know things, and to do unpleasant things. Other Courts will come to Autumn for these needs, especially where they intersect, which gives you a place to start; figures such as Paladins of Shadow should be the exception, not the rule, unless you have a highly unusual Autumn (perhaps one that exists in relation to a relatively weak Summer). Likewise, Autumn is the Court where the line between a healthy Autumn and a toxic one is most heavily blurred, and where each vision of the Court will have elements of the other. Is your Autumn counterbalanced by a strong Spring and/or Winter that can help keep it on the straight and narrow? How does it relate to the mortal society around it, and what do the other Courts think of that relationship?

Though Autumn is not among the Courts that generates most of the Freehold’s money (as mentioned before, they join Summer in the caste of ‘retained killers’ that costs money), think about the social venues or businesses that your Autumn Court maintains anyway. An Autumn Court that operates a movie theater has access to a steady supply of Fear that also gives them an excuse to hang around normal people and reality check themselves; contrast this with an Autumn that has its claws sunk into a local university, or a Court entwined with a criminal family. Autumn joins Spring in being a Court whose members likely own and operate their own businesses as some kind of front, from book shops to stores catering to the modern witch; these locations can provide a pop of flavor to your Autumn and its Courtiers, as well as fronts through which the Freehold might launder money or stash sensitive objects or knowledge.

I welcome all questions, comments, feedback, and criticisms on this article - send ‘em my way! Next up: Summer

#Changeling: The Lost #autumn court #rpg #worldbuilding #abuse #violence

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notesfromthefielddesk · 3 years

Text

Episode 4 - Clifford Geertz

Episode link; https://open.spotify.com/episode/7MwsvHP2VFdpU8uDIRXBYh?si=d980149c963e44f7

(Ambient sound of birds chirping)

John

How do I start?

I’ve been rushing around it feels like, it’s been frantic. I took couple weeks off. Switched off my phone. I’d been flying here and there, Papua New Guinea, South Sudan, North Sudan. So today i’m slowing down, the desk isn’t in the sea or surrounded by cows, I’m just in the room I rented in Bali. I’ve been just travelling around Indonesia for a while. I saw the guy in amongst the crowd but he seems to be keeping his distance now.

Really, I was just trying to get here. I’ve always wanted to come to Indonesia. All through my undergrad I imagined myself here. I thought of myself as Geertz 2.0. When I needed to write an essay I reached for Geertz. Essay about methodology, I’d open up “toward an interpretive theory of culture.” writing about Islam - then Islam Observed was right there. When I imagined myself in the field it was at the side of cockfight in Bali.

I always thought of myself as like him, I don’t know why. It’s funny the way memory works isn’t it? I’ve been sort of just mooching around Indonesia. I’ve been reading Geertz, and listening back to the other episodes and I haven’t really liked what i’m seeing. In myself I mean. It made me look again at what Geertz, the way my students would. It made me realise I wasn’t a good student, I don’t mean grades, my grades were fine - good even. But i had no relationships to these texts, I was just looting them for arguments which I could line up, one after another, and win the argument - get the grade. The colonial equivalent of learning. I didn’t take what was in them into the world, and into my life.

I guess what I mean, is not memory generally, I mean it’s funny how my memory works. Because when I think about Geertz, I picture this story where a Cock fight gets broken up by the police. Everyones there in a circle cheering screaming, the crowd a single organism, moving in unison when a truck full of policeman roars up to the fight. Amid the cries of police, police, from the crowd they jump from the truck into the centre of the ring, waving their machine guns around. In an instant the crowd has scattered, and Geertz is running too. That frenetic energy was what I wanted. Geertz is a few strides behind a man he’s never met but when a gate into a courtyard opens and the man leaps through, Geertz follows. Seeing them sprawl onto the floor the mans wife whips out a table chairs and tea. Moments later the police enter the courtyard, to find two men in deep conversation about culture over a cup of tea.

I remember that story from “Deep play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight” ,Which sounds like the title of some high brow porn by the way, so clearly. That was kind of the genius of Geertz to me. The way he conjured these scenes that were so visceral. I wanted a slice of that life. But when I turned up in Bali, no-one would talk to me. I didn’t know when the cock fights were even taking place. When I found one, I sat outside the circle behind my desk ignored. I went back to the room I was renting, and I read notes on the Balinese Cockfight again. And i’d ignored some parts. Before the Cock fight story, Geertz talks about spending months being ignored, by everyone. Not just talking to people and they give short answers but people were actively turning their backs to him.

Guess what? I don’t remember the Cock fight story that well either, I missed out a key piece of information. Greeted never travelled alone, in his part memoir, part ethnographic overview “after the fact” he says “I have never worked in the field alone for more than a month or so, and I doubt very much that I could have managed it.”

At the table in the courtyard, there were three chairs, three cups of tea and three people pretending to talk about culture. The person absent in my memory is Hildred Geertz. Clifford’s then wife. But she wasn’t just his wife, she’s an acclaimed anthropologist in her own right. What does it say about me that when I imagine Geertz he’s swashbuckling in the field alone, that I remember the excitement, forget the struggle and forget his wife. But it isn’t just me forgetting Hildred, the subtitle of Geertz’s memoir is; “Two Countries, Four Decades, One Anthropologists.” Laura Nader said in her review that Geertz comes across frustrated by his inability to understand his four decades of work; her conclusion, is that maybe we need two ethnographers to look back. I re-read that scene of the police chase again. Hildred is there, just. But only as “my wife” not as an active participant, she goes completely un-described, which is weird for a guy who believed that description took priority over explanation. Does that absolve me?

(Break for silence, bleed into some lo-fi curious music)

Geertz is famous for two things. The first is his description of culture. He said “Man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun. I take culture to be those webs, and the analysis of it to be therefore, not an experimental science in search of law but an interpretive one in search of meaning.” Which is kind of a bummer. When I read Malinowski it really seemed like culture could be a key to getting answers about the world. And EP made me believe that too. Malinowski made me think you could understand the link between what someone does and why, and EP made me think I could do that at scale, why is this society like this? Because of cows, oh okay. Looking back it seems a bit…silly. But I wanted it to be true so badly. I wanted certainty but reading Geertz…it’s like being drawn in to a vortex of uncertainty and doubt. Which is exactly what I wanted to escape.

So what are we doing? In the field I mean, if were not revealing the structure of societies then what are we doing? Yeah we’re interviewing people, keeping a diary participant observing but those are just practices, what’s the essence? What’s the aim? Before 1967 and the release of Malinowski’s diary it seemed like the answer was going native but as we discussed… probably not a great approach. We can’t be detached either though, because as I’ve been reminded over and over that’s not great either.

And this is the second thing Geertz is famous for; Thick Description. I always took that to mean just lots of description. The kind of description that when you read it gives you the thrill of running from the police through a Balinese village. And Geertz definitely does a bunch of that but thick description means something…more than that.

Okay to explain i’m going to have to spend quite a while talking about winking. Sorry.

Geertz says imagine three boys. One has a twitch, one is winking and the third is an asshole. From an objective “I am a camera” perspective meaning you just describe what happens, the first two boys are doing the same thing, they are closing one eye. But, because we all know what winking is we can tell the difference between the boy who is winking and the one with a twitch. Now think about the asshole kid, he’s closing his eye as a way to mock the boy with a twitch. So we’ve got one act but three meanings, twitching, winking and mocking. Geertz adds a fourth. If the mocking kids fake twitch isn’t convincing enough or is too convincing the joke doesn’t work. So maybe earlier in the day at home when he was planning his joke, he stood in the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror and practices his mocking twitch, adding a grimace here, an exaggerated head turn there. In this case he’s rehearsing. Four meanings.

I’ll add another wrinkle. Is the winking boy winking at the mocker or the twitcher? If it’s the first then maybe there is a conspiracy between the boys. When I wink you make fun of him! Or he doesn’t want to laugh in front of the boy with the twitch but still wants to give his approval of the performance. So maybe two of the boys are assholes. But if it’s the latter and he’s winking at the boy with the twitch maybe it’s an ill conceived attempt to console the boy with the twitch. So now we’re also getting into the relationships between the boys. But wait! What if they boy who is winking isn’t winking, he’s trying to mock the boy but he hasn’t rehearsed!

Side note; this isn’t Geertz’s idea he just popularised it, this theory comes from Ryle. So i’m summarising Geertz’s summary of Ryle… welcome to academia.

Anyway, the point of this long ass analogy is that the essence of ethnography isn’t going to far flung places, explaining society or going native. It’s the process of description which takes the three boys from three people closing one eye, to a boy with a twitch facing a preplanned conspiracy to mock him. That is what Geertz, via Ryle, calls thick description.

Geertz said description over everything! And that requires radical empathy and self reflection because to understand the three boys we have to be the opposite of an impartial observer we have to engage in the game, get the joke and be able to tell a wink from a wince. As researchers we aren’t a camera, we are one of the boys.

I can tell what you’re thinking. “Great, whatever, three imaginary people stood in a circle winking at each other. What’s this got to do with Indonesia.” Which is fair so let’s apply it to a cockfight.

Cockfighting is a big deal in Bali. Maybe less so than when Geertz did his research here in the 70s but still. Even the grumpiest Balinese man will transform when the topic comes up, and will launch into excited description of his… Rooster. And look I know what you’re thinking, and no the falic implications are not lost on people in Bali. If you can think of a penis joke on this topic, I assure you a Balinese man has 10 more in the same vein. Bateson and Mead two other anthropologists who wrote about this said and I quote “Cocks are viewed as detachable self operating penises, ambulant genitals with a life of their own.” An image that will now haunt my dreams.

Okay, but heres another comparison, Balinese men deeply personally identify with their…fighting chicken, when they talk about the fights they will say “I won” or “I fought so and so.” It’s like guys who are really into football and say “We got a good win today.” Except for instead of 22 men kick a ball around you’re strapping knives to the feet of chicken. Also like in football gambling is a major central part of cockfighting but it’s not exactly the point.

The point is, according to Geertz, to play out social tensions. So for example, in Bali you never bet against a cock from your social group and fighting always between rival groups. Therefore, what’s really at stake is each groups status in Bali, the cockfight then is a symbolic representation of social tensions. The fight is really a way of addressing fights between groups without bloodshed…well except chicken blood. Or to put it the way Geertz does the fights are a way to play with fire without getting burned.

It reminds me of clowning in Native American communities. In pueblo villages a secret society of clowns spend all year examining the social weak points of the community. Then for a day they are unleashed to overturn social convention. They steal babies, they dress the most beautiful girl in the village in ugly clothes, whilst the woo old women, if they see white people they are forced into mock gun fights re-enacting the genocide of native Americans. And at the end of the day all the things that have been bothering people are dealt with. Which might decontextualise the mocking boy right? Maybe not so much of an asshole.

Now that’s an example from half way around the world, in a totally different social context. But I don’t think Geertz would have minded the comparison. I know we’re jumping around but bear with me. In Geertz’s book “Islam observed” he compares Moroccan and Indonesian Islam. He says that different social conditions led to the religion being expressed in different ways. We won’t get into the details but by arguing this we’d assume that Geertz agrees with Asad - that Islam, and in fact all religion, is about personal embodiment or in other words, an individuals relationship with God or whatever. Remember what he said about culture “Man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun.” But no that’s not what he concludes. He says that there is one Islam which is a symbol all Muslims have in common which helps to “render the strange familiar, the paradoxical logical, the anomalous, given recognised, if eccentric, ways of Allah, natural.” On the sliding scale of Gellner to Asad Geertz falls somewhere in the middle.

That’s how Geertz wanted us to read culture, symbolically, like it is literature. Memories are fallible, facts are elusive, generalisations have limited value. Meaning is central, description takes priority over explanation and metaphors of culture over reliable data.

(fade in on some sad music)

So what does the absence of Hildred symbolise. Maybe the erasure of women from my memory, and Geertz’s descriptions is symbolic of the erasure women in American and British Society? And what about the other absences in Geertz’s work? Laura Nader points out “Geertz went to Indonesia as part of a modernisation project to fight communism.” That’s absent from all the texts I mentioned.

Nader again “In his summary statement about the 1966 massacres in Pare (A town in Java Indonesia) he says that by 1986 the massacres were “hardly a memory at all.” Geertz may advocate a humanistic, reflexive, situated knowledge, but does he possess it himself?”

I see flashes of myself there. My students, Susan telling me that I shouldn’t be doing what I am doing but me ignoring it because it interfered with what I wanted to do. Which of the winking boys does that make me?

(Pause)

I think it makes me the one who knows the joke about the boy with a twitch is mean, so doesn’t laugh but winks at the mocker, to let him know he still thinks it’s funny. By failing to confront the parts of Malinowski and EP and Gellner that I didn’t like or made me uncomfortable, I was giving them my tacit approval to imperialist ways of thinking. The absence of female ethnographers and my constant ignoring of Susan betrayed my patriarchal biases. I guess it just seemed right to slow down and think about that today. Here’s the extract.

(Fade into theme music)

Monologues are of little value here because there are no conclusions to be reported. There is merely a discussion to be sustained. In so far as the essays here collected have any importance. It is less in what they say than what they are witness too. An enormous increase in interest not only in anthropology but social studies in general and the role of symbols in cultural analysis. The danger that cultural analysis in search of all to deep lying turtles will lose touch with hard surfaces of life, the political economic realities in which men are elsewhere contained and with the biological and physical necessities those surfaces rest is an ever present one. In defence against it is to train such analysis on such realities and necessities in the first place. It is thus that I have written about nationalism, violence, identity, human nature, legitimacy, revolution, ethnicity, urbanisation, status. About death, about time and most of all particular attempts by particular people to place these things in some kind of comprehensible meaningful frame. To look at the symbolic aspects of life, art, religion, science law, morality, common sense. Is not to turn away from the existential it is to plunge into the midst of them. The essential vocation of interpretive anthropology is not to answer our deepest questions but to make available to us the answers of others guarding other sheep in other valleys and thus to include them in the consultable record of what man has said.

Thank you for listening to notes from the field desk. Follow us on twitter and Instagram @notesfromtfd This episode references;

Geertz, Clifford - notes from a balinese cockfight

Geertz, Clifford - The interpretation of Cultures

Geertz, Clifford - Islam observed

Nader, Laura - review of after the fact by clifford geertz

And comedian Stewart Lee in conversation at oxford Brookes University

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-2rVyizLt8&t=2705s

The sounds were;

Madam Wahala Beat by Nana Kwabena

Something is Going On by Godmode

Decision by the tower of light

and June songbirds You can find these sounds on youtube creator sounds.

As always our theme music was dark side of my students. freesound.org/people/miastodzwiekow/sounds/341770/

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lhs3020b · 3 years

Text

The Fugitive Worlds, by Bob Shaw

The Fugitive Worlds is the last novel in the Land/Overland trilogy. Since I’ve commented on the other two, here are my thoughts. And beware! here there (may) be Ropes! possbly even intersecting ones!

OVERVIEW

It's two generations or so after the Migration from Land. If you squint, society on Overland may have improved - apparently it has got a bit more meritocratic, there certainly has been some progress on gender issues, and this time the novel doesn't open with a random peasant being dragged off to be executed on some noble's arbitrary whim. Technology and infrastructure are changing - Cassyll Maraquine's industrial empire seems to be overseeing a pivot toward a metal-and-steam based economy, and in fact they seem to be in the early stages of an industrial revolution. On the plus side, this presumably means Overland isn't faced with another ptertha crisis in the near future, though a cynic may wonder if they've just swapped one environmental crisis for another one in a few centuries' time, when the seas start rising and the deserts begin to expand. But not to fear - there's every chance that the whole of society will be swept away by cataclysm long before that ominous possibility can occur!

You see, change is afoot in Overland's domain. Because, to the consternation of everyone except the government (who remain supremely complacent), a fourth planet has suddenly appeared in their star system. Attempts are made to bring this to the attention of the queen; unfortunately she's utterly fixated on a demented scheme to extend her reign back to Land itself.

At the opening of the novel, Toller Maraquine II, grandson of the star of the first two books, is discontent. As Cassyll's son, he could have had a life of wealth, privilege and social influence. Instead he spends his time mooning after his supposedly-heroic grandfather - yes, the same one who managed to simply forget that his first wife existed! Toller II, unfortunately, has inherited his grandfather's impetuousness and basic lack of any common sense. He's certainly not a monster, but he is an idiot. This is shown in the book's opening scenes, where he falls blindly in love with the Countess Vantara, despite the fact that she's an obvious schemer and bully.

Seeking to impress Vantara, Toller involves himself with the planned re-expansion onto Land. This swiftly gets disrupted, though, by the appearance of an expanding crystalline disk, growing across the zero-g datum plane that exists between the two twinned planets. The disk's rapid expansion cuts off travel between Land and Overland - it expands beyond the region of breathable air where the two planets' atmospheres meet - and to make matters worse, the Countess vanishes while trying to traverse said region! Oh no! Toller, of course, immediately resolves that he must go and rescue her. (She has treated him with nothing except derision and contempt by this point, and he of course fails to read the very obvious message in there.)

The predictable result of this is that Toller gets himself and his crew abducted by aliens, because of course the people of Land and Overland are actually currently bystanders in someone else's plans. Fortunately for Toller, the Dussarrans show no interest in probing him. Unfortunately for him, the expanding crystalline disk is actually a complex machine intended to relocate Dussarra itself away from the galaxy they all currently live in.

You see, the aliens believe that they are imminently threatened - their researchers have found evidence pointing to a collision between so-called "Ropes" somewhere astronomically nearby. (Ropes appear to be similar to the class of hypothetical topological defects that we call "cosmic strings" - fortunately for us, there's no evidence that cosmic strings actually exist in our universe.) This collision, they believe, will have produced an explosion somewhere between a gamma ray burst and a cosmological phase change. They fear that a wave of destruction is currently zooming toward them, at or close to the speed of light. If they are right, there is certainly no chance of Dussarra surviving it, hence their decision to begin relocating their planet.

Unfortunately there's a smaller problem. The Xa, the relocation engine they're constructing across the datum plane? When activated, it will destroy Land and Overland. The Dussarrans may be about to finish what the ptertha started around fifty years previously - the complete destruction of all civilisation on either Land or Overland!

A LEVER TO MOVE THE WORLD

Before we go any further, I'll give the Dussarrans credit for one thing: whatever their other faults, at least they're willing to think big. They are, after all, trying to address the Rope problem at source. If it were us in their situation ... well, half the newspapers would insist that Ropes don't exist, another third would claim they're leftist conspiracies to steal our precious body fluids, the remaining handful would write something mealy-mouthed about how Ropes might exist but maybe we shouldn't "overreact" for fear of a "pro-Rope" backlash. Centrists would call for a grand bargain with the Ropes - they can toast only HALF the planet in return for a top-up pupil premium on private school fees! Youtube user MagaCrypto2024 will tell you to invest your life savings in their newly-minted RopeCoin ("if it's golden enough for the quantum vacuum, it's gold enough for YOU!") and then a Tory would take 52% of the vote on a platform about how Ropes are great beacuse they'll eradicate the benefits claimants. 10 seconds after that, the shockwave demolishes the entire planet, and of course no-one ever admits that perhaps, just perhaps, they may have got it a bit wrong.

I'll say it again, whatever their other faults, at least Dussarra has managed to react to the crisis, and their behaviour isn't completely-insane.

That said, the Dussarrans' solution does suck.

Apparently the Xa requires weightlessness and a large supply of free oxygen to grow. It's not really clear why the Dussarrans couldn't have simply built a large bubble, say at one of their Lagrange points, pumped that full of air, and grew their Xa in there. There is a suggestion that the planetary alignment between Land and Overland is important too, the book does flip-flop this a bit too. Anyway we're left with the impression that the Dussarrans didn't have a lot of choice in where they built the Xa and they do genuinely believe that they are fleeing a cosmologically-apocalyptic event. Also, it's a plot point that Dussarra isn't an ideologically-coherent monolith; in fact the plan faces substantial internal dissent, and this actually boils over into something as close as the Dussarrans can have to a civil war. This is doubly-significant as the Dussarrans' telepathy also stops them from fighting each other in the usual manner - bluntly, when someone dies nearby, the telepathic backlash is utterly-paralysing to any exposed Dussarran. Killing someone yourself would thus be near-impossible for a Dussarran, though as is common in Shaw novels, the Dussarran elite has found a way to do an end-run around this problem. (Non-lethal weapons don't have the same paralysing impact!)

On a slight tangent, one interesting twist in "The Fugitive Worlds" is that Toller and co are basically NPCs in the Dussarrans' story, and they don't realise it.

The place, I think, where the Dussarrans' scheme becomes morally-unacceptable is their failure to evacuate Land and Overland. The population of Dussarra is at least thirty million - that's their capital city alone! - and in fact is implied to be in the billions. They're a modern industrial society with modern technology, after all. By contrast, even if the Landers have been breeding like bunnies for the last two generations, the population of Overland still can't be more than a few hundred thousand at absolute most. My guess is that a more plausible number would be more like 50-75,000. Perhaps 250,000 if you stretch it (a low death rate and every family putting out 4, 5 or 6+ kids could just about get you there in this timescale).

The Dussarrans have remote teleportation tech, and the denouement shows that said tech can reach anywhere on Overland, even at a distance of millions of miles. In principle, they could remove everyone from Overland, and given the vast difference in population, they could certainly accomodate a few thousand more people on Dussarra. The point I'm making here is that an evacuation was possible; there was no technological, infrastructural or economic barrier that would have precluded it. Granted the Overlanders probably would have reacted badly to being hoovered off their homeworld - who wouldn't? - but, they're not 100% immune to reason either. As Divvidiv's interations with Toller show, Overlanders are capable of understanding the Rope problem, especially when telepathy is used to help said understanding along.

(Also, for that matter, there was nothing to stop the Dussarran government from trying to open diplomatic relations with Queen Dasseene's regime, and maybe saying "Uh, guys, sorry to be a nuisance but we've got some news you might want to hear about...")

Under normal circumstances, of course, abducting everyone off of their own homeworld would be bad. It's still not great, even in context. But, the Dussarrans do have genuine reason to believe that The End Of All Things is barrelling toward them at nearly speed of light. When the Rope-intersection event lights up Land/Overland's skies, we can reasonably assume that it will destroy both of those planets too. In fact, Divvidiv confirms this possibility in as many words. Relocating everyone to Dussarra, then using the Xa and the Land/Overland binary to relocate the planet somewhere safe would, in context, strike me as a morally-defensible solution to the crisis. While it would be sad to lose Land and Overland, it would at least allow both societies to survive.

(The question of Farland is never addressed in this. As far as we can tell, the Farlanders are on their own during this particular cosmological emergency.)

Perhaps unfortunately for everyone, Dussarra's leadership have apparently decided to pull a Thanos instead. Why they skipped over the obvious non-genocidal solution is never directly addressed, though there are hints. The Dussarran leadership patronisingly describes Overlanders as "Primitives" - it's implied that their racism is a factor in their failure to do anything for their new neighbours. Also, thinking about it, the callousness is thematically-consistent with the rest of the series. Throughout this trilogy we see leaders making decisions that are at-best based on expediency alone - witness how quick King Prad was to abandon Ro-Atabri in the first book - or sometimes, decisions are based actively on malice and spite (see the Sgt Gnapperl subplot from the second book). From that point of view, the behaviour of Director Zunnunun and the Dussarran authorities is not particularly-unusual.

The scheme also ends up entirely-backfiring. You see, the wrong planet gets displaced. Ooops.

We never learn the fate of Land or Dussarra for an absolute fact; Toller's post-event speculations are bleak, but the narrative may imply that Dussarra at least could have survived. (The Dussarran rebels return there after the confrontation on Overland - I don't think they would have done that if they thought that their Xa-disrupting box was going to destroy their homeworld in the process!) I'm less optimistic for Land - the planet is probably toast - but that said, there is no "on-screen" death and what happened during the Xa's activation was definitely 100% Off The Rails, so who knows? I suppose it's at least possible that Land could have survived the Xa's activation.

One does wonder how it would cope with the abrupt removal of Overland's tides, though.

That said, Overland seems to experience weirdly few direct consequences for its displacement. The main effect is an abrupt change in the sky, followed later by the confusing discovery that Pi no longer exactly equals 3, but instead is somehow closer to 3.14. There are no storms or earthquakes - it's not clear how the tidal relaxation of Overland's crust had no geological consequences at all. The only thing I can think of is that perhaps the new solar tides are exactly equal to the ones Overland previously experienced?

Oh yes, I mentioned "solar" tides, didn't I? This is because the last few pages of "The Fugitive Worlds" are even more head-bending then they sound. While the galaxies and daylight stars and comets and meteors all vanish, and the number of stars in the sky decline sharply, the Overlanders are surprised to discover that they have a lot more planetary neighbours that they did even hours ago. In the course of one night of observations, Cassyll and Bartan find five distinct planets, and quickly postulate that more could exist. The cream coloured gas giant with the big ring catches their attention, and they're confused about how to count the binary between the blue planet and it's one-quarter-sized greyish companion? moon? neighbour?

Yes, a cream-coloured gas giant with a prominent ring system, Pi quite possibly equal to 3.141592654..., a blue planet with a greyish moon that's about one quarter its diameter ... hmmm, I wonder where Overland could have gone? Such a mystery, no possible clues, amirite? Oh yes, the blue one is described as being quite bright, so apparently Overland's new orbit is fairly near to it. Given how relatively-empty Overland is, you do does find yourself wondering just how long before their heavily-populated new neighbour decides that they're next on the menu for Manifest Destiny...

(Just in case anyone's confused about what the ending implies, the descriptions suggest that Overland has been displaced not only out of its own universe, but into our solar system. The cream-coloured ringed planet is clearly Saturn, and the blue/grey binary is the Earth-Moon system. The five planets Cassyll and Bartan find are presumably most of the ones from classical antiquity - Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Earth-Moon system. Presumably they missed out Mercury, but in fairness its closeness to the Sun makes it the hardest of the classical planets to observe, so this is reasonable. But needless to say, this ending does come firmly out of the left field.)

BUT WHAT OF THE PEOPLE?

In terms of characterisation this novel continues the threads of the previous two. Shaw does do a good job of painting believable people - their flaws, errors and misjudgements are all very human. No-one does anything that real people wouldn't, or haven't. Toller's hero-worshipping his wife-amnesiac grandfather (have I mentioned the airbrushing that Fera Rivoo got halfway through the first book?) is believable. People do behave like this, idolising idiots and putting others on pedestals. His infatuation with Vantara is depressingly-believable too. People fall for people they shouldn't all the time. This sort of meltdown is arguably one side of the romantic coin, after all.

Vantara - well, there are plenty of status-obsessed bullies out there who are also secretly cowards. She's the monarchical version of every bad middle manager you've ever met. One of the book's subplots is how she gradually falls from Toller's esteem, though it takes until the denouement before he finally sees her for what she is. Also, interestingly, the romance plot gets subverted at this point. Toller manages to find someone else, someone who is both a better person and who will hopefully balance his more self-destructive tendencies with basic common sense.

Also, Vantara's entire career basically hangs off of the fact that a close relative is also the Queen. With Queen Dasseene's health in sharp decline and a clear suggestion that her reign will soon end, one suspects that Vantara's star will go down with her. Also this won't be helped by the fact that Vantara was physically there, on the field with the Dussarran rebels' Xa-disrupting box and she did - not a lot? It was almost the end of Overland, and heroic deeds were notable largely by their absence on her part.

The Dussarrans feel less real. That said, Divvidiv's combination of complacency, careerism and partly-sublimated guilt at the necks he knows he's stepping on in his job - yes, it does feel consistent with your average out-of-their-depth middle manager. We see less of Director Zunnunun and we know of the Palace of Numbers only indirectly, but their general superiosity and smugness are consistent with what I know of senior-management-as-a-group. However, Dussarra does remain slightly out-of-focus even in the second half of the book, when Toller and co are literally stood on it.

Cassyll and Bartan pop up every now and then in the narrative, but they're not so directly-involved. They're mainly there to try to explain events to the Queen, who is clearly severely ill and also severely in denial about being ill.

Another niggle aboout this book is that it carries on dropping plot threads, much like the other two. What happened to the people the Queen sent to Land? Did Dussarra survive? What happened to the rebels? Was the Rope-intersection really real? We never get clear answers or, in some cases, any answers at all. It almost feels like this novel was intended as a sequel-hook for a fourth book, or perhaps some new trilogy, but said trilogy never arrived. Honestly, that might be for the best. (Do we really want to read a novel about Overland being plowed up for luxury executive mansions while the surviving population are herded off to reservations, or all die from the flu or other imported terrestrial diseases? Given the Kolcorronian monarchy's behaviour in the first book, being on the wrong end of a colonial expansion would have a certain bleak irony, but it wouldn't be fun to read.)

So again, like the previous two, this one is a page-turner. It's hard to put down. But like the previous two, it suffers from dropped plot-threads and perhaps also a few too many out-of-the-left-field WTF? moments. That said, I did enjoy re-reading it, and I can see why it made such an impression on younger!me all the way back in the 1990s, when I first read this trilogy.

#LHS reads #books 2021 #Bob Shaw #The Fugitive Worlds

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captainjacksparrowpotc · 7 years

Text

Dead Men Tell No Tales - Review (sort of)

Okay first of all, I wrote an entire review and because tumblr is a fucking piece of shit it glitched or whatever and I lost it all. Fuck you tumblr. Anyway, here is another version. I’ve probably forgotten to cover some stuff. My original covered like everything. Ugh. I’m so pissed right now.

So, I watched Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and as I promised, I’m going to tell you guys what I think of it.

Before I get into it, I’d like to start off with some important notes. First of all, this is going to be long as it’s an in detail review of the whole film (keeping in mind I’ve only seen it once), mixed with some of my thoughts on the franchise as a whole, and some headcanons. It’s kind of a combination of review, general thoughts, and slight rant over things I disliked about the film. Secondly, I’ve only seen it once, so this is all going off memory. I might have gotten some details wrong here or there. I’m doing this off a one time watch and memory of that. My opinions might change when I rewatch the film a second, third, or fourth time. I’ll let you know if they do. Thirdly, I’m warning everyone about language and negativity. Fourthly, this might contain some unpopular opinions and I’m not apologizing for that. That brings me to my fifth, and most important, note that this is my personal opinion. I am, as you are as well, entitled to my own opinion. I also would like to say as this is my blog, I’ll post whatever I damn well please. If you wish to discuss something with me, you may. Key word here being discuss. If you are planning on starting a fight, or coming to me to spew hateful words because you disagree with me, kindly fuck off. With that being said, on with the review! Oh, and spoiler alerts (duh).

To put it simply, it wasn’t good but it wasn’t terrible.

Quick overview? About 2 and a half hours of cheap jokes for a quick laugh. They weren’t bad (and often dirty) jokes. Got a bit repetitive in parts, and they weren’t all that great, but they did make me giggle more than a few times. Plot was, uh, lacking. It was there, but it wasn’t that good. Characterization was rather shit (for those we already knew, especially and in particularly for Jack). I do not like Kaya Scodelario. More on all of this below the cut:

(I wonder how many followers I’m going to lose because of this?)

I got to the cinema early. Almost ten minutes early, in fact. I still somehow managed to miss the very beginning of the film. I don’t know how much, but I think it was just starting? Henry was rowing. I got to my seat just as he arrived on the Dutchman. So, I’m not sure how much of the beginning I missed. I was kind of irritated because I was early, which meant they started the film WAY earlier than they were supposed to (I checked the ticket, to make sure I had the time right and I had).

So let’s go in order of what I put in the quick overview above. Then anything extra will be added after that.

First up: cheap jokes.

These aren’t new in the potc films. In fact, these witty little play on words moments, dirty jokes, and banter-like moments are often favorite scenes within the films. The problem is, it felt like they knew this, and as such over used them. It was as if they were like “okay so they like these moments so let’s shove as many as we can into the film and then double it.” Someone should have pointed out what a horrible idea that was. Too late now.

I mean I’m not saying those moments were bad. Most of them were funny. One of the things this franchise does really well is those types of jokes. But the problem was there were these great little funny moments within the film, as with the other films, that seemed to happen way too often. Noticeably too often. It felt like they paused the film to get them in.

I liked the jokes (most of them, the that’s-my-stern-not-my-port joke was drawn out for too long and died). They just relied on them too much, I think is the problem.

Second up, and boy is it a doozy, the plot.

(This might sound like characterization at first, but bare with me.)

Little Henry was cute. I can’t remember if it says his exact age, but I want to say around 10 or 12? They actually gave us a time frame with the “10 years later” or “5 years earlier” or whatever they were, but since I don’t remember the exact time line I can’t say for sure. Anyway, little Henry was cute. He loves his dad, and he reminded me of Will in the way he vowed to free him.

Will. Now THAT is something I’m a little miffed about. There’s been a debate within the fandom over whether or not Will was cursed to remain the Captain of the Flying Dutchman for all of eternity or just for the 10 years and if Elizabeth was there waiting for him he’d be set free. Personally, I thought it was the latter, and it made more sense that way. Turns out that’s not the case. I thinks it’s a bit BS, and kind of ruins the ending and story line of the second and third films. I mean, when I saw that he was still the captain and he was cursed to be like that forever, I felt really sad. And not the oh-now-I-hope-Henry-will-free-him sad, but the wow-the-ending-of-his-and-Elizabeths-story-is-now-kind-of-ruined-and-my-perception-of-it-has-just-changed-dramatically-for-the-worst sad.

It was also completely unnecessary??? I mean I was even talking with my brother about it after the film. I said that if you took Will out of the film, and just got rid of that entire plot line, it would still be the same film. He was completely pointless. For the record I love Will. He’s ridiculous and adorable. But if you’d have cut Henry and him out of the story and just had Carina in realize she needs Jack? Yeah, same story. It felt like they included Will because everyone loves Will and Orlando Bloom, so they were like “GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT! BRING BACK WILL TURNER!” But if I had been there during that decision I’d have piped in with a “yes, we all love will, but we don’t want him brought back like this.”

Seriously, Henry could have been anyone else and the story would have been the same. The plot just needed someone to find Jack and pass on the message from Salazar. At this point you might be going “but what about the trident then? if Henry didn’t need the trident to free his father then he wouldn’t need to tell Jack to get it. So Jack would have just ran and there’d be no more plot!” Yeah but here is the thing, Jack wanted the trident to stop Salazar from coming after him. All Henry did was convince him to go after it. Could have easily done that another way. I’ve got nothing against Henry, I just think it’s a badly thought out and very thin/lame plot to hold it together.

I don’t have an issue with Salazar leaving one person alive to tell the tale and having him get Jack. It makes sense, but Henry and the Will plot point is, as I’ve said, unnecessary.

Now I was about to go onto more plot issues, when I realized that the rest of the issues I have are characterization gone wrong more than bad plot.

So, third up is characterization.

Let’s start with Henry. Already established that I think he was a cute kid. Very devoted. Very brave. I think it was a little funny how when Will told him to stay away from the sea (to which side note, wtf Will he’s your son do you really think that’ll work. look at your own story), and then Will spent his entire life on the sea. Sailor Henry was cute. Overall, I have no problem with him, mostly because I’ve got nothing to compare him to. I do have an issue with his interactions with Jack. First he wants to find him, almost seems to look up to him as this super amazing adventurer after the stories he’s heard. Then when he meets him, he borderline hates him? I mean he doesn’t, but strong dislike. I get he’s disappointed, but he does a complete 180 on his opinion on him. Then just as fast as that happens, he suddenly likes him. By the end of the film he AND Carina care about him.

See the thing here is I think they were trying to re-do Will and Elizabeth. Henry was Will and Carina was Elizabeth. Only, that didn’t work. I mean, first of all it was way too obvious and as an audience member it was kind of offence that they were basically like ‘oooh, look! it’s just like the other films. you liked those. now like this one, too. see? just the same!’ Except it was not, and you audience is not a baby that you’re trying to trick into thinking the other toy is the same one as their favorite but you couldn’t find that one so you’re trying to convince it that the toy you are presenting is just as good if not the same. It didn’t work. Henry and Carina are NOT Will and Elizabeth. No matter how many bloody parallels they draw. I wouldn’t have a problem with it if they weren’t so blatantly trying to force us to take them as the same. So since they so obviously want us to take Henry and Carina as the new Will and Elizabeth, then I’ll be comparing them. They did this to themselves.

Anyway, onto the point I was making. There was not enough development between Carina and Henry and Jack. In any combination. Henry and Carina’s romance was bullshit, I’m sorry I have to call it. Will and Elizabeth’s love story stretched back to when they were children. They’d known each other and been in love for years. They then spent THREE FILMS getting to where they were. You may argue about the end of the first film as they get together, and the second opens with what should be their engagement. But here is the thing, THEY WERE IN LOVE FOR YEARS. Henry and Carina were not. Their relationship was absolutely terribly built. I did not believe it at all.

I’d like to take a moment to give a side note that, I actually did WANT to like all parts of this. I even tried to FORCE myself to like all these things I’m pointing out and tried to convince myself otherwise. So when I say this, please understand this is me admitting it, and not me just bitching about it because I didn’t want to like it from the start. I did. I really did want to like it. I went in with it wanting to like it. Convincing myself to like it.

So Carina and Henry’s relationship progressing that fast was dumb. If they wanted to move it that fast they needed SO MUCH MORE build up. I think the problem was that this film should have spanned two films. But they didn’t have the possibility because Johnny Depp could easily have refused (maybe they wanted to do that and he did refuse, I don’t know). But they pushed a two film plot into one film. At least it feels like that. So they cut things, rushed things, and cocked a lot of it up. A real shame.

Henry and Jack I’ve already touched upon. Carina and Jack was practically nonexistent. So why she cared about him at all makes no sense. Both Henry and Carina should not have cared as much about Jack as they did at the end. I mean, sure you can argue the whole ‘they are decent people and they know him and decent people care about other’s lives and especially if they know them.’ True. But given what we know about them all, and the lack of interactions, and the fact this is the 1700s and Jack was a pirate, I’m not buying it. They’d be concerned and care on a basic human level, sure. But risk their lives to save him? No.

Before we go to Carina’s characterization, let’s get to Will’s characterization. May I please be the one to say WHAT THE FUCKITY-FUCK WAS THAT. Okay sure, I could see Will turning a bit bitter towards Jack as time went on. He starts blaming Jack for making him the Captain of the Dutchman. He’s angry. Whatever. BUT THIS IS WILLIAM TURNER WE ARE TALKING ABOUT HERE. Will is like a fucking puppy. A cute little golden Labrador. He would have gotten over it. He’d have realized he can’t blame Jack. He’d know that Jack had to do it. That Jack did it for him. He did it for Elizabeth. He did it for himself, because Jack and Will are friends. He could not blame Jack for that. He wouldn’t blame Jack for that. At least not for long. So to have Will tell his son to stay away from Jack, to act as if he hates Jack, pissed me off. And it was not Will pretending so his son would not get involved in a crazy adventure with Jack. Will isn’t that good an actor. That was genuine hate. And it was totally out of character. WILL AND JACK ARE FRIENDS. I will scream this from the rooftops if I have to. Will risked EVERYTHING for Jack. In the first fucking film no less!!! He literally gave up (because if things hadn’t gone the way they had, that’s what he was doing) Elizabeth ELIZABETH for Jack. TO SAVE JACK. After everything, Will (and Elizabeth) cared about Jack. They’d been through enough by the end of At World’s End, that’s for bloody sure. Will, Elizabeth, and Jack are friends. I have no doubts that if one of them was in trouble, and someone came to get the other one to help, they would. If Elizabeth was in trouble and Will went to Jack for help, he’d help. If Will was in trouble and Elizabeth went to Jack for help, he’d help. If Jack was in trouble and - well you get the idea. They were friends. They cared about each other. Will’s reaction to Jack is bullshit. The way Will should have reacted was, sure, to tell Henry to not try anything because it would be too dangerous for a child. Yeah. He shouldn’t have told him to forget about him, because that’s ridiculous and Will of all people should know that you don’t forget about your father trapped by a curse to forever be on the Dutchman. But when Jack came up, Will should have told Henry not to go to him because he could see Jack becoming Uncle Jack, and dangerous adventures and bad influences on his innocent little son. He should not have been filled with hate.

Elizabeth’s characterization is kind of hard to comment on because she wasn’t there much. Like only a the end. From what I saw, I’m, uh, confused to say the least. This is 1700s. She’s a woman. You’re telling me her husband was cursed to forever be on a ship and only to come to land once every ten years, and no one batted an eye at her being by herself all that time? Why the fuck was Henry even OUT THERE to find Will? Where was Elizabeth? That in itself is a plot. That’s like Moana-esque. Henry wants to go to see (unlike Moana he knows why and it’s to get his dad). Elizabeth won’t let him go to see. Henry goes anyway. It ends badly the first time. But like, getting back to the point, Elizabeth wouldn’t have let her son do that. It means she didn’t know where he was because he’d sneaked off. So where was Elizabeth? She’s a woman in 1700s. She might be rich after inheriting her father’s money and estate after the events of the previous films, but she’d have to do something all day. Working? What? Where? How did she get away with being, what in essence, was a single mother all those years in that society, at that level class? Why did she let Henry go into the navy? Elizabeth’s characterization in this film, due to it being lacking, just raised a whole lot of questions about the implications of her whole situation.

Let’s go to Barbossa before we get to Carina. He wasn’t actually that badly characterized. I mean, they sort of went back and forth a bit. They portrayed him a bit like he was in the first film, then mixed in some of the fourth film. He was sometimes a blend of both. Which, while it’s problematic a bit because even in the fourth film when he was basking in the luxury of the upper class, when it came down to it he was still the pirate Captain Barbossa. The one in the first film. But sure. Let’s go with this mixing making sense. The thing was, he’d, at times, be absolutely one or the other. It was like you never knew which Barbossa you were going to get. Tame upper class Barbossa? Or pirate Barbossa? Or both? Who knew. It was like a really irritating game of Guess Who. Also his interactions with Jack are annoying. They’re like friends but then not. I mean, part of it makes sense for them. But after all the events of the previous films, it just doesn’t make sense for them to be... how they were. Not nearly as bad a characterization as it could have been, but parts just felt a bit odd. It kind of felt like that for the whole film though. Like they were simultaneously ignoring and not ignoring the previous four films. It was weird.

Now, I will say that I’d like to strangle the person who came up with the idea for THAT ending. I’ll say this once: Hector Barbossa does not die. We’ve already done this. Film One. Dead, then back to life at the end of film 2. I’d also like to add that we don’t see him die. Just the implication of it. So... make of that what you will. If they keep him dead then that’s stupid. If they bring him back that’s stupid too, because they’re now repeating himself, but at least it makes more sense. If he really is dead, then it is just extra stupid. His death was completely unnecessary. Salazar would have been washed off the anchor with the force of the sea and the others being forced down the chain above him. Barbossa’s death was a cheap way for them to show that he loved his daughter.

Speaking of his daughter, Carina was irritating. Since I’ve already said that I don’t like Kaya Scodelario already, let me make it clear I am doing this part without the bias of my dislike of her. In fact, I tried to make myself like Carina way more than anything because I knew I didn’t like the actress, so I wanted to make sure I wasn’t writing off a character due to my own opinion of the woman portraying her. So I’m rather annoyed to say I dislike Carina. I wanted to like her very badly. But Carina was irritating. She wasn’t charming. She was smart, which was nice, and she was supposed to be one of those ‘ahead of her time’ women. Actually, that bit was almost like the writers banging us on the head and yelling ‘HEY SHE’S AHEAD OF HER TIME.’ Like I get it. Chill. She’s one of the often seen, now almost cliche female characters in period pieces. It seems like female protagonists (or even just women that are supposed to be more important than super background characters) in period pieces have to be ‘ahead of their time’ to exist. It’s annoying, but let’s not go onto a feminism rant. The reason I don’t like Carina isn’t because she’s a cliche (which she is), but because she’s irritating. Most of the time. Not all the time, but enough of the time that it’s a problem. She’s just so narrow minded. And she is narrow minded, you can’t argue that. You can be smart and narrow minded. She has set beliefs and won’t listen, and openly mocks, others if they disagree. She thinks she’s better than everyone else. It’s irritating. Also the whole daughter things was painfully obvious. I mean right from the start it became a ‘ugh, great who are they going to make be her dad’ thing. I almost wondered if Poseidon or Salazar would be. I could go on and describe all the way Carina irritated me and why she wasn’t a good character, but I’d rather say the one thing that made me like her a little. Her one moment that makes me not say I hate her. Her one moment that is the reason I’m giving her a pass and not completely writing her off. When Barbossa realizes she’s his daughter. She was... real in that moment. Her character managed to become more human and less an arrogant, narrow minded, irritation. She had a history. Doesn’t excuse her for the previous mentioned traits, but that bit of characterization saved her for me. Oh, and I love Barbossa’s reaction to that. I think that entire scene may have been one of, if not the, best one in the film. Including the Jack bit at the end.

Now I do not like Kaya Scodelario. It’s nothing personal. I’m sure she’s a nice person. I don’t like her as an actress. Not sure why. I just don’t like her. I get that this might upset some people. I’d appreciate it if we could show some maturity and not come to my inbox to yell at me about it. You’re not going to change my mind. I don’t like her. Maybe it’s that I don’t think she’s a competent actress, or maybe it’s just her face. I truthfully don’t know what it is. There are very few celebrities that I actually truly dislike. She’s one of the few. I seriously have no idea why. I just kind of ignore her though, because whatever. I don’t like her, move on. I’m saying this because if in the future they make a potc 6 with her as a main character again, don’t expect me to be thrilled. As I said, I judged Carina completely separate from my dislike of her. Ms. Scodelario got a not that great character, and she did as much as she could with what she got. I dislike the actress separately from my dislike for the character. I’ve tagged this as “Kaya Scodelario hate” because I’ve been asked to do so before when posting something about me not being her biggest fan before. Again, please don’t come at me for this. I’m just putting it out there so it is clear that if it comes up again, my opinion is known. Don’t expect to see much of her on my blog.

Pintel and Ragetti. Yeah they weren’t in it. Kind of pissed about that. I actually liked them. They were funny. I mean the two that replaced them were Murtogg and Mullroy. Yeah, they were in the other films, but this felt like they are being stretched and converted into acting as Pintel and Ragetti. I mean I like Murtogg and Mullroy, but I liked them as them. You know? I also missed Pintel and Ragetti in this one. They could have been interesting in it. I understand that might have been a personal thing with the actors, but like that doesn’t mean Murtogg and Mullroy had to be... whatever they were. Plus, they weren’t that important in this film. Almost like it was decided that they were important enough to include because people like them but not enough to actually... do much more than exist and have some lines.

Gibbs. I don’t have a problem with his characterization. Might be a bit irritated that he was so willing to let Jack be executed considering their history and, oh, I don’t know, THE FACT IN THE PREVIOUS FILM JACK WENT TO LONDON AND OUT OF HIS WAY TO SAVE HIM FROM EXECUTION. Look, I get it. Gibbs could have been all too happy to agree to save Jack anyway, and just claimed it was only the money that did it. But? Just kind of seems lame to me. After all they’ve been through and such. I like him. I like his friendship with Jack. I think they could have done him a better justice in parts, but I don’t have too much of a problem with it. I’m choosing to believe he readily agreed to saving Jack and the money was a thin reasoning to do so. They’re pirates but they’re not heartless.

Everyone else: don’t really have a problem with it, or nothing to base one off of. I also can’t remember everyone. So, if you want a specific opinion on someone let me know. Send me an ask and I’ll be happy to answer.

Jack. OH. MY. GOD. I saved him for last because OHMYGOD. Buckle up fellas, we’ve got a lot to get through and I’ve got a lot of anger to explain.

I literally do not even know where to begin with this. I have an issue with every aspect of Jack’s characterization in this film. EVERY ASPECT. From his costume to his personality. By the way, let me first start off by saying that was not Captain Jack Sparrow that we saw. That was some impostor that sucks at being Captain Jack Sparrow. The only time we saw Jack was in the flashback (which can we please take a moment because HAHAHAHAHA what was that?! It felt like 20 minutes of back story. It was like a bad fanfic explaining an OC’s reasoning to be in the fic. (Salazar being the OC.) And as someone who has written a block of backstory in a fic like that [it was my first fic don’t judge, i’m better now] I just want to say what was that???). Flashback Jack was the highlight of the fucking film. I am telling you, if you’ve chosen to read this without seeing the film, then go see it just for young Jack. I mean, I’m pretty sure Jack was in his late teens or early twenties in that flashback. I totally understand how he got his reputation now. Like completely get it. That scene was the single greatest thing in the entire film. I loved it. It’s also so.. Jack. From how he talks, to how he acts, to explaining so many things about him. That moment, that scene is why I love these films. These films can be so good. Scenes like that are what remind me of that. In a few minutes (if that) we learn so much about Jack. I mean SO MUCH. If you want, I’ll make a separate post about that scene to explain it’s importance. But WOW. That scene is phenomenal. Well okay, I’m not a fan of the whole Salazar giving his is name ‘Sparrow’ because that’s... not accurate? I can’t remember exactly at the moment, but I read somewhere that if someone has sailed all the seas or something like that that they are a ‘sparrow’ or something. I can’t remember exactly, but like his last name had an explanation before. It might have been in the books. Not sure. Anyway, it’s just so tragic that flashback Jack is the only time Jack is Jack.

Now, present Jack is the issue here, so I’ll stop gushing over young Jack and focus on Why Present Jack Sucks So Very Much. Please note all this is disregarding Johnny Depp’s life events during the filming. Johnny Depp is a wonderful actor. He was still a wonderful actor in this film. He was Jack. He was just the Jack they told him to be. He got a wrong Jack. He made him come to life and it was, undoubtedly, a good performance. I never once did not believe he wasn’t his character. He was believable. This was not an acting thing. This was a character thing. A writing thing. A director thing. A producer thing. Whatever.

Let’s talk appearance first. He looked aged, but like it’s been some years and I’m pretty sure Jack is like in his 40s at the very least in canon at this point. So, sure aging is appropriate. I mean, if they wanted to they could have made him look younger, but then that would have been weird because he should have aged. If he hadn’t then we’d be like “did he get some kind of youth thing we don’t know about???” But the problem I had was, for the most part, Jack still looked like Jack, except for his hair. Which, if you didn’t notice, WAS BLONDE IN SOME AREAS. I have dark hair. No matter how much I’m in the sun, it does not go blonde. No matter how much I’m in the sea and sun, it does not go blonde. Jack’s hair might have turned grey, sure. But blonde? No. Unless Jack secretly makes sure to stop by a salon and have his hair done. I don’t think so, though. So there was that. I’ve made a post (read: rant) about his hair before, so I won’t go into it. The point is, Jack’s hair kind of ruined his physical Jack-ness.

Personality? Oh my god not even the same man. It’s cute how they were trying to go with ‘Jack loses his luck’ to show how desperate and lost Jack was that he traded his compass for rum. I mean they needed a reason for him to do that. Problem is, Jack doesn’t loose his luck. It just isn’t done. Also, for the record, Jack is equally luck and brains. It’s visible in the other films. He pays attention to things. He is aware of the layout of the room, of possibilities. Jack is a quick thinker. That’s like one of his main and strongest assets. His luck isn’t actually that much. It’s quick thinking. If his luck truly left him, he’d still be Jack. He’d still be fine. So this whole thing where he becomes this shell of himself, a desperate pathetic shadow of who he is, is utter bullshit.

Also, I’m mad how they portrayed him and rum. Jack is not an alcoholic. Does he drink? Yes. Does he drink a lot? Yes. Does he have self control and priorities? Yes. The last one is key. Also, Jack is used to rum. He can function perfectly well with some rum in him. He doesn’t need rum to survive, though. The thing with this film is they took the joking of Jack and his rum to unhealthy level. To Jack ruining his own plan to rob a bank. (also robbing banks? lame.) To Jack actually giving away THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO HIM (beside the Pearl) for RUM. Rum is so common. For Jack being so needing of rum that after that crazy and obviously magic curse induced ominous earthquake due to his compass that Jack would just... watch? No. Jack would have thrown the bottle of rum back at the bloke and grabbed his compass and ran out of there. He’s not an idiot. Jack likes rum. He loves rum. But his relationship with it in this film was out of character.

His compass just makes me so mad and I’m not even going to get into it. He wouldn’t have traded it. He wouldn’t have. I don’t care how low he was. He would not have traded it. That flashback showed us that for fucks sake.

Jack’s so out of character in this film it’s ridiculous. His reactions and interactions with everyone is absolutely not how they would have went. The only time he was correctly responding in character to something, that wasn’t in the flashback, was with Barbossa when his former first mate realized Carina was his daughter. Even that was sloppily done if I’m honest. I mean, it’ll pass. But that was about as in character as Jack was in present day.

Jack’s reactions to Elizabeth were SO INFURIATING I COULD HAVE SCREAMED. Actually I made this weird strangled noise in the back of my throat at one point. Jack and Elizabeth had this back and forth flirting thing that wasn’t serious. Elizabeth wasn’t ever going to go with Jack. Sure, in the beginning Jack would have slept with her if he’d had the chance, but even that could be argued as questionable by the end. After the events of the first three films, their relationship was more like harmless flirting. I don’t think, after At World’s End, Jack would have slept with Elizabeth. I mean, maybe after a few months or a year or so he would, but if at the end of the film Elizabeth had 100% seriously offered, I think Jack would have said no because it would have been weird. At that point Elizabeth was more like a friend, and dare I say little sister, to him. Jack and her had this silly flirty thing between them that meant nothing and both of them knew it. It’s why they kept doing it. Why Will and everyone else never batted an eye at it. It never would have gone anywhere. So to have Jack seriously act that way towards Elizabeth and Will and Elizabeth’s relationship is not realistic. I mean I get a joke or two. “Does Mommy ever ask about me” or whatever he said to Henry is cute and funny. One time. A single joke, because come on he had to. Sure. But he goes too far. He keeps on. He starts making it way too sexual. Jack wouldn’t do that. Let me clarify. Jack wouldn’t start saying those things to her fucking son. He just wouldn’t. AND HENRY DOESN’T REACT?! That’s his mother Jack is talking about. This just shows how this was a cheap joke. It was just a joke moment for Jack but it wasn’t funny. They took it too far. The thing is, that moment acted as characterization for Jack. And it was out of character. Jack would of course make a joke, but just one or two. A quick little quip. He wouldn’t make it so... sexual. That’s the problem. Jack turned it dirty. Far passed a silly joke. He wouldn’t do that. Jack doesn’t do that. This might sound weird to the casual view who doesn’t think much about the films or Jack. But think about it. Jack’s behavior isn’t saintly. It’s nowhere near it. But Jack isn’t a fucking monster either. Even how Jack reacts to Elizabeth in other times in the film is out of character. His reaction to seeing her at the end with Will? When he sees her it’s so sexual again. Sure, Jack would give her an appreciative once over, and he might roll his eyes and her and Will together, but he wouldn’t react to them, or her, like that. Throughout the whole film his behavior to Elizabeth is appalling because when it comes to Elizabeth especially, Jack is almost gentleman-like. No seriously. Rewatch the films. Not once did he treat Elizabeth like how this film had him do or imply the actions he’d take if he bumped into her again. Even when Jack was very drunk, alone on an island with her, and had reason to believe Elizabeth would be up for a tumble in a bit because she hadn’t had enough to drink yet but possibly would be up for it, Jack still treated her with, well, respect. He flirted. He pushed it a bit with what was really proper in the 1700s. But Jack NEVER touched her or acted like he does to her. Jack doesn’t even treat WHORES badly. I mean he’s not particularly gentleman-like with them, but he’s never actually abused a woman. He’s never done something (to our knowledge) without their permission. So to have him talk like that? It’s not Jack. They made Jack seriously act like that, and it was not Jack. I’d personally like to believe the reason Jack is so, for lack of a better word, gentleman-like with Elizabeth and generally decent to all woman, is that his upbringing. I feel like his dad had a lot to do with it. I can kind of imagine Jack having a very clear lesson and reiteration in how you do not treat a woman, why, and the consequences if his dad finds out he has (of course now that Jack’s an adult he doesn’t need the consequences as a threat, though it’s totally still valid). But whatever the reason of Jack’s treatment of women, it’s lacking in this film.

Overall Jack is not Jack and it’s so obvious. It’s terrible that they did that to him. I know this is called Pirates of the Caribbean, and not Captain Jack Sparrow, but let’s be honest here. This is about Jack. So to change Jack so much? It’s ridiculous. I don’t know who that was, but it wasn’t our Jack.

Now, one character I didn’t mention before but would like to touch upon and provide some comments/thoughts because he’s kind of great? Uncle Jack. The entire thing with him was hilarious. I mean at the end it wasn’t. The ending of that bit sort of killed it. You know when there’s a running joke going on and one person says something to add to it or whatever and it ends up killing the joke? Yeah, Jack’s little note that got them back to the plot of him going to his execution did that. But before that the bit was hilarious. I also loved that we got confirmation that Jack’s dad can sing. I mean we all figured but we weren’t 100% sure, so it was great that we got that confirmation. Also, that Uncle Jack can sing. It’s like a low key family trait. Which is great. Can Jack sing? I mean we’ve only heard him sing when drunk or lightly murmuring. We’ve never heard him try. I bet he can. That just makes my day. Imagine it. Their entire family low key being known around the world as great singers. It’s just great. Also Uncle Jack’s existence is just great. Can you image the reunions? Imagine little Jack and him? Uncle Jack, probably his name sake, visiting him. I’m talking four year old Jack. Jack who looked at his dad in awe. Jack who wanted to be just like his dad. He loves when Uncle Jack visits. He gets to hear about the adventures he and his dad went on. Of the adventures (read: trouble) Uncle Jack got into. Eyes wide in awe. Little Jack vowing to be just as cool as his dad and Uncle Jack. It’s so cute. Jack’s family seems so close. Like sure they aren’t physically close, like they don’t see each other much. They sort of just run into each other. If one of them dies they’ll probably find out through the grapevine, but like they stick out for each other.

So yeah. Overall it wasn’t a bad film. I mean I know this might not seem like it, but honestly it wasn’t terrible. If you’ve chosen to read this before watching the film, I’m telling you that you shouldn’t take this as a reason not to go see it. It wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t particularly good. Mostly I just pointed out the issues as to why it wasn’t good but not terrible. To a casual viewer I’d imagine it was decent to borderline good. It was kind of what I expected but also not. Like I didn’t think it would be very good, but hoped it would be good. I didn’t think the problems there would be were what they were, and the disappointment was in those problems. I think I could have dealt with the plot weakness if even Jack’s characterization was the only thing that was the right one. But overall, it wasn’t awful.

So... I think that’s it? I had way more on the other version. Thanks, Tumblr. If I’ve not covered something on here that you want to know about, just send me an ask. I’m happy to give my opinion on anything if anyone so wishes for it (for some unfathomable reason). No hate please. I’m open to discussing (again, discussing. no hate) or explaining something I’ve said further if you want. I’m pretty sure there is a load more I should have covered and did in my original post but I’ve been writing this for like over five hours now. My brain’s a little fried at this point.

To the person who asked me specifically to share my opinion of Dead Men Tell No Tales, I hope this is sort of what you were looking for? Again, don’t hesitate to send me an ask if you’ve got a specific question. I’m sure I meant to or did have it on here originally, and am sorry I didn’t include it in this. As I said, I’m more than happy to discuss this more and/or answer more questions!

What did you think of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales?

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calliecat93 · 4 years

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Well everyone… Chapter 11. We are in the home-stretch now. At this point, IDK what’s going to happen. Things seem okay. Mantle trusts Ironwood again, the Grimm are under control, Watts and Tyrian are being confronted everything seems to be going our heroes way. I’ve had my problems with these past two chapters, but I’ve still been extremely anxious for this one. Everything seems to be going right, but can it last? Or are we about to approach our darkest hour?

Overview

We pick up right where we left off with Watts vs Ironwood. As always, describing fight scenes in these reviews is always hard since I can only really say ‘this is awesome!’ Which it is! Ironwood is clearly stronger physically and just as strategic as Watts. But not only is Watts actually capable of defending himself but since he has control over the biome system, he has the battlefield advantage. It’s a very badass fight, and to top it all off we get an awesome new song. And to my shock, ti is sung by Caleb Hyles. For those who don’t know, he is a cover artist (mainly of anime) and he actually did a cover of Red Like Roses Part II with Casey last year. Which is likely how he got the gig, and I ain’t complaining cause the song is awesome. Is the soundtrack here yet?

Eventually though, the two combatants come to a standstill. They’re both out of bullets… but Watts is already one step ahead. He’s able to trap Ironwood by using his rings Hard Light Shield to trap Ironwood’s arm in the grates. Any attempt by Ironwood to pull himself out only burns him and burns him badly. Watts resumes his work looking for something within the tower’s databanks… but is shocked when Ironwood frees himself. It leaves his arm severely burned, but he’s free and he pumbles Watts into the ground. He soon has him down, and he holds him over the lava field below. Ironwood says that he’ll sacrifice everything in order to stop Salem. Watts’ response? That he indeed hopes that he does. We don’t see if Ironwood drops him or not, leaving his fate currently in the air.

In Mantle, Qrow, Clover and Robyn face Tyrian and manage to take him down. So… that’s it. Watts and Tyrian are down. The bad guys lost. The good guys won! Right? RIGHT?! Well… looks are deceiving, aren’t they? Ironwood returns to his office, his arm bandaged and he has Watts’ briefcase. But he stops in his tracks and his expression shifts from exhaustion to horror. He calls Winter, asking her if anyone had gotten into the Academy. She says no, clearly confused and shocked. She runs back inside, Cinder watching from afar. Due to this, RWBYJNR and Ace-Opa are called back despite evacuations still going on. They are all understandably confused. JNR decides to go and get Oscar while RWBY goes on ahead with Ace-Ops to meet with Ironwood.

RWBY and Ace-Ops (minus Clover) enter Ironwood’s office, and the headmaster/general is not happy. Why? He reveals what he found: a chess piece. To be exact a Black Queen chess piece. The same symbol that Salem used when she attacked Beacon. When she took over Ironwood’s forces. This re-triggers Ironwood’s paranoia, realizing that Salem was one step ahead of him once more. Now he’s questioning everything. Salem’s forces are in Atlas. Was this all ehr plan For Atlas’s forces to rescue Mantle? For this to distract the heroes so that she could accomplish this? Even when Weiss reminds him that Mantle is back on their side, all it does is anger Ironwood more to the point that he punches his desk. You know how he cracked Jaques when he did this in V4? Yeah deja vu, huh? But needless to say, the general is losing it.

Ruby notices that the chess piece is made of glass. Black glass. Yep, it’s Cinder. This concerns everyone, and now Ironwood worries that Hazel is there as well. The RWBY girls try to calm him down, assuring him that they can figure this out… but the general is doubtful. Not just about the situation, but of them. It’s at this point that he questions how Robyn knew about the Communications Tower, forcing Yang and Blake to confess. Ironwood and the Ace-Ops are furious to hear of this even as Blake and Yang try to say they only wanted to help and that Robyn could be trusted. Everyone begins arguing and poor Weiss looks like she’s going to lose it when she says none of this matters. But to Ironwood loyalty always matters, and RWBY has broken his. During this, we see Watts’ briefcase move… and we finally get to see what’s inside it.

It’s a Seer Grimm. But not just any Seer. We hear someone talk. Salem. The Seer cracks and falls to the ground, and out of the crystal ball emerges an apparition of the Grimm Queen herself. Everyone is shocked… well, except Ruby who immediately points out that they beat Watts and Tyrian. However, Salem reveals the true extent of her plans. She never intended to win. She only sent Watts and Tyrian to set the stage… for her. That’s right folks, Watts and Tyrian were only there to cause chaos and allow Salem to make her move personally. She tries to tell Ironwood to surrender for the good of Atlas, but he refuses. Salem continues, essentially telling him that defiance is foolish and to just make it easier one everyone by surrendering.

Ruby refuses. She points out that they know everything. That Salem is immortal. But it doesn’t matter. She has still failed. She still hasn’t won. She may be unkillable, but she isn’t unbeatable. Ruby swears then and there that they will stop her. Salem turns to face her… and says that her mother said the exact same thing. This shocks Ruby, and it only gets worse when Salem says that Summer was wrong too. We see flashes of a downcast Summer standing before a grey sky, a dark parallel to when we first saw her last volume. Ruby, who may or may not be seeing this, starts to unravel. Tears pour down her face and her Eyes fluctuate, even briefly unleashing the light at one point. By the end, Ruby crumbles to the ground and breaks down. Yang can only console her as Salem’s apparition fades away.

Everyone is stunned, especially since Salem is now on her way. Ace-Ops is stunned that this wasn’t detected. As it turns out, the alarms are offline, either turned off… or already destroyed. With this revelation, Ironwood makes a decision. He informs Weiss that he’s already sent Winter to claim the Winter Maiden’s powers, despite Fria not being dead. He intends to keep the Staff and Lamp away from Salem, which a still tearful but calmer Ruby questions. After all, he allowed them to keep the Lamp. But that was before the secret was revealed, so he feels that he has no reason to trust them now. But that’s not all. Yang has realized that Amity isn’t done and it was just a lie to lure out Watts. With time gone, Ironwood decides to use the power of the Staff to raise the Kingdom even higher. So high that the Grimm can’t ever reach them again. But if he does this, recall all the forces and make the kingdom unreachable, he will leave Mantle to die.

None of RWBY is okay with this whatsoever. Ruby begs Ironwood to hold his ground with Mantle but he only says that sometimes to do the right thing, hard choices have to be made. RWBY refuses to allow this… but Ace-Ops support Ironwood. The girls are shocked, Weiss even asking about how the council will react. But Ironwood says that they’ll say nothing… when he declares Martial Law. That’s right folks, we’re at that point now. They protest and when their loyalty is questioned, Ruby says that they’re loyal to those counting on them. But she’s stunned silent when Ironwood coldly replies that they’re saving who they can... and that RWBY is in their way.

At this point, Ruby’s Scroll goes off as Jaune tries to contact her. Ruby, using her Semblance to get out of Ironwood’s range, informs not just Jaune but also Qrow, Robyn, Clover, Winter, and Penny about the general’s plans for Martial Law. Before she can finish, however, Ironwood blocks the comms. He declares that until Atlas and the Relics are safe, RWBY is being put under arrest. Ruby points out that they aren’t just going to let them take them. Ironwood knows… and leaves the girls to face against the Ace-Ops. Back with JNR, Jaune is understandably shocked about what’s going on. But the reason why he called? JNR is outside their trashed room. The place is a wreck, torn up robot parts everywhere. But worse of all, Oscar is gone. And I don’t think that he left to get a change of clothes this time.

Review

The Overview alone was three pages long on Google Docs. I think you can tell that this was a Hell of an eventful chapter based off of that. So, first of all… CRWBY I am so, so sorry that I ever doubted you. I was not happy with how these past two chapters were handling things. I didn’t hate it mind you, but it felt so… easy that all of a sudden, everything was going the heroes' way. All the secrets came out with no backlash. Everyone was suddenly able to work together. Ironwood handled the revelation far too well. But now? Now I know why it felt that way… because it was too easy. They lulled us into a false sense of security and then dropped this on us.

CRWBY, you bastards. I love you.

There is so much to go over. I guess the best place to start is the main act. Which means we need to talk about Ironwood. As I said in my Chapter 7 Review, Ironwood is one of the most complex characters of the series. Throughout this volume, and the past volumes, we have seen how he is a well-intentioned person, but he makes all the wrong choices. He’s trying so hard to be this strong figurehead. Trying to be like Ozpin. But he isn’t. He is a broken man who doesn't know what to do. He was close to shoving away his humanity altogether, but the past two chapters seemed to fix this. He reached a breaking point and Oscar helped him through it. He revealed the truth. He accepted the revelations from Oscar. He started to do everything right… until now.

All it took was a chess piece. The same symbol that broke him before. That was all it took to re-ignite his trauma and snap completely. He told Watts that he’d sacrifice everything to stop Salem, and he meant it in the darkest way possible. Watts knew it too. He lost the fight, but he still beat Ironwood because he knows that Salem is coming. He knows that he’s pushed Ironwood over the edge. He didn’t know about Cinder’s part, but even so, he did his job. And Cinder, who wasn’t in on any of this just had to leave her calling card to scare him. She said as much in the last chapter. And it worked. Ironwood has turned on RWBY. He is declaring Martial Law. He is leaving Mantle to die. He is doing exactly what Salem wanted; divide them.

Ironwood isn’t evil. He isn’t. When you look at everything as a whole, you can see why he’s doing what he’s doing. He is trying to do the right thing. He feels like he has no choice and is doing what he can to save as many lives as he can. Like he said, doing the right thing means hard choices. This is one of them. But it doesn't change the fact that he’s leaving innocent people to die, even though they have the situation under control. If they kept going like they were, they might have had a chance. Thy had Mantle on their side. They had the people united. All they’d have to do is plan how to track down Cinder and prepare for Salem’s forces. But unfortunately, Ironwood’s paranoia consumed him. You feel for him but there is no denying that he’s crossed the line. He’s trying to save his kingdom, but I think that his choices here may just rob him of everything, especially himself.

So how much of this is RWBY’s fault? Well… a little bit, but overall this isn’t at all their fault. Yes, Ruby held back Salem’s immortality. But when that came out, Ironwood accepted it. He might have been shaken, but it wasn’t enough to make him angry until he saw the chess piece. Saw that Salem outplayed him once more, and even then she technically hadn't. Cinder left it just to mess with him, and it worked. We can debate forever if Ruby made the right choice or not. But Ironwood’s paranoia was a problem long before the heroes arrived. We saw Ironwood upsurge control from Oz in V2, feeling that he was in the right, and of course, we know how that went. We saw him slowly unhinge in V4, and we see the full extent here. The embargo, robbing Mantle of resources, the police state. He went to extreme measures, hence why the heroes were reluctant to trust him to begin with. It didn’t matter if Ruby told him sooner or later, this was likely always going to happen from the moment they entered the kingdom. From the moment that the Fall of Beacon happened.

In the end, RWBY’s biggest offense was keeping the secret about Salem’s immortality, and Yang and Blake about Robyn. But those are ultimately minor details that don’t matter amid the current crisis. Yes, it ultimately made Ironwood no longer trust them, but again that likely only happened because of his re-ignited trauma. RWBY tried to be reasonable. And unfortunately, that failed. They lied, and now they’re paying the consequences. Would them doing it differently have changed anything? I don’t know. I doubt that they do either. But no matter what, Ironwood is again making all the wrong choices. RWBY knows this. In the end, they are devoted to protecting everyone and they know that there are better ways than allowing a whole city to die. But they can’t reason with Ironwood, and so far it doesn't look like Ace-Ops are going to bend either. This is bad. Really bad. But after how annoyed I was at the lack of consequence and the resolution being too easy, I am glad to see this. Actions have consequences. Things aren’t just this easily resolved. We’re seeing everything come to a head now, and I am terrified about it.

But on top of all of that, we have Salem. Oh God, Salem. I think we all kinda knew by now that the whole plan was to cause chaos to allow the Wicked Witch to attack. Like last volume said, “You want something done, do it yourself.” The Flying Monkeys are coming folks. It was such an eerie scene. How Salem maintained this calm, almost motherly presence as she tried to make Ironwood surrender for Atlas’ sake. This woman only gets more and more terrifying with every volume. But then there is her interaction with Ruby. This is something that I’ve wanted for so sooooo long. We see Ruby talk back against Salem. She speaks how they know everything and they’ll win regardless. We see Ruby the most determined that she’s ever been as she stares down this Grimm woman, and it is one of her best moments thus far.

But Salem breaks her. All by bringing up Summer. How she had been wrong just like Ruby. It’s… such a painful scene to watch. We see Ruby shocked as she puts the pieces together, and she loses it. The emotions overwhelm her. So much so that her eyes go haywire. For so long. Ruby has concealed her feelings and hidden behind a mask of optimism. It was always for everyone else’s sake. But she can’t with this. The revelation that her mother died at Salem’s hand. It overwhelms her and she finally, finally breaks down. The others reactions also hurt. Weiss is just shocked. Blake clearly wants to console Ruby, but she doesn't know how on top of her own shock. But Yang? She immediately tries to console her sister, but you can see the pure agony in her expression. After all, Summer was her mom too. She puts it aside because Ruby needs her, but you can just see that this hurt her just as much. It’s such a well done, but emotionally crippling scene.

But this whole episode just re-ignited how much I love Ruby. Before the big reveal, she doesn't even flinch when she sees Salem. She points out more or less to her face that they know everything about her, and they will defeat her. Then after her breakdown, what does she do? She stands against Ironwood, refusing to let the people of Mantle die along with her team. When Jaune contacts her, she immediately informs him and everyone else about the Martial Law. Even at her lowest point thus far, Ruby stood up and did what was right, And she had her team there, standing by her side. I thought we were heading to another V5 situation where Ruby’s development got wasted. But I was wrong. Not only is she facing the consequences of her choices, but she’s being the hero that she is meant to be.

But even so, it’s bleak. This is indeed the darkest hour. The moment where everything has gone downhill. On top of all this, we have Cinder going after the Maiden. We have Winter and Penny at the facility, and I get the feeling that one or both aren’t coming out unscathed. On top of WInter potentially killing an old woman. Then Neo has supposedly kidnapped Oscar, and only JNR knows it. Will they try to track them down? Try to help RWBY? I don’t know. All I know is that I don’t think that this volume is going to end happily. At all. Like Penny said before, “It’ll be just like Beacon again!” She was right, in the worst way possible.

Still, we had good stuff. The Watts vs Ironwood fight was freakin’ epic. They both have their own skillsets and it shows. Add that to the badass Caleb Hyles song, and you have a very memorable fight scene. The Tyrian fight was kinda anti-climactic, but not bad. Robyn’s dart blowing up and her kicking him in the face were a delight. The musical score was freakin excellent as well, especially during the Salem scene and the final few moments. The pacing was strong, especially compared to the past two. Honestly, I can forgive that now because I now see why they did it that way. It was all for this. And they did so flawlessly.

Chapter Twelve Predictions

Oh God… I really don’t know. I’m hoping that Marrow will turn on Ace-Ops and use his Stay power to let RWBY escape. He definitely appears to be the most reluctant about all of this, so it’s possible. Cinder’s likely gonna interfere in the Maiden transfer and it’ll be her against Penny and Winter. Still pretty sure that Winter isn’t getting those powers. Neo has Oscar but if he’s still free, we may see him fight back. Who knows what Ironwood is going to do right now. We have to see what Clover ultimately does, and if he sticks by Atlas, it’s likely gonna be him against Robyn and Qrow. Oh and Tyrian is still there so he could use this to escape. Really I only know one thing: it's gonna be Hell.

Episode Stats

Favorite Character: Ruby Rose Favorite Scene: Ruby confronting Salem Least Favorite Scene: Tyrian Fight Favorite Voice Actor: Lindsay Jones (Ruby Rose) Favorite Animation: Watts vs Ironwood Rating: 10/10

Final Thoughts

I loved this chapter. It’s the first all volume that I’ve given a perfect score. The past two really did have me concerned about the direction, but this? This was perfect. All of my concerns have been alleviated. The action was good, the drama was on point, and it left me with so much dread but so much satisfaction. We have two chapters left folks. It’s gonna be one Hell of a conclusion. Can’t wait~!

#rwby #rwby7 #rwby reviews #callie reviews

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ferrellcody · 4 years

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How To Convince Your Ex Wife Back After Divorce Super Genius Useful Tips

Instead of attracting your ex know what you're up to you again.The girl might feel that you might find somebody that knows how to make her tremendously comfortable around you.I felt so bad that it is exactly what went wrong and that she wants you back.Yes, you heard it right, it will help him forget the terrible ones.

It is NEVER over completely - you can get back together is the wrong thing at this stage of our lives.Basically you are actually breaking a good idea, and you must do if you want to do whatever it takes to make them feel that your ex back but are not being the reason.Talk to her as a possibility, someone new.Any person who wants to get your ex realize how much you need to bring him or that old fights are brought together by pointing out areas where one person ruin it entirely.I gave him a feeling on her domestic concerns - simply no chance of getting them back.

To get your wife back amounts to courting her the list.A positive approach is a hard time with an ex boyfriend back and getting your ex back.After a steamy start, couples develop routines and everything will be ok.You should be equally as pleasant for you to learn how to use this to work, some things to say and the last 10 years I have figured out the three principles that govern any relationship.I felt that the author, see if they give you four tips that anyone can help you work them out carefully.

A breakup doesn't have to sit back, relax, and wait for your spouse.You can win your boyfriend may mistakenly think that it worked for him and let it be great if this happens to see what was happening before the full moon.But if it is really lucky to have a successful reunion with your ex, don't keep bringing the mistake you've made in the letter must be thousands of books on or not.Even the best part is the absolute worst thing you need to give in to depression.Now he is still not over you and me, the more we do them, that's not all...

They plead and they tend to move on and don't put all the time of forgiveness and change.Now, you have to take you back immediately.Will you believe that you aren't going to do is blurt out everything on your part.Not following this advice quite confidently, because it takes to make up his mind that getting your ex back?Be prepared to change for the breakup, briefly apologize if you want a proven fact, that if you want to hook them into a relationship is itself an unpredictable expense and a total wreck, they'll want someone who sits down to the break up, still loves you, there is one step forward, two steps back kind of things would likely lead people to disrespect and frown at you.

Things in fact, not just one trick and pray that it happens everyday with people you love her.Bear in mind that this was desperate to her.Look at what mistakes you've made and how you will find out if it is worth the resuscitation.Look back at all that they want to let you back means you treat him generally?Trying to figure out how to use logic and making HER want YOU back - nothing that you accept the entire matter from your mistakes.

Almost every human being has arguments at some point of reference or the whole process of staying together starts as soon as possible.And the reason the reason is because men judge the women away.It's the same simple techniques and be happy again.Before I give you an overview of what this means is you both are missing each other romantically any more and more saturated I find my heart is not a good laugh at a time.She knows it or not, this is the personality of a few weeks.

You need to figure out if they have needs as well.Once you get rid of them, you'll be back in touch with them.Pay close attention to her, lower the number one principle.You can learn in a hurry to make yourself a decent discussion about your work and you're about to reveal the exact opposite effect.So you're seriously thinking about her ex back.

Want My Ex Girlfriend Back So Bad

If you want nothing more than likely just making things even worse because we only want them back.Raw emotion is not going to improve yourself be it working out and have no jobs.Or maybe, you really want to get her to come up with family and friends, a good way to true happiness.If they do not dare make the same mistake.You must have the discipline and strength to fight against the breakup.

Go to the plate and I wanted to break up for her right now, she has always complained about your relationship was and how you handle yourself when you are still blaming your ex back.One of the day, you, the good times and most of us that will last is going to see you anymore, does not have a plan to follow if you are looking.Rediscover who you are, and that you have.All my attempts at getting your girlfriend doesn't still feel that he was frequenting another woman.Simply just ask him where he might be considering one of the good feelings it will be able to cope without him.

It means, say you are with someone and no matter why your ex some time to sort things out or maybe your lover back.Example of a person who would rub them right again.Some mornings I pinch my self as i can't believe this is the foundation of trust if you have to use a proven method to use?Now is a common knowledge that we start thinking about while you are cool with getting a lost puppy dog at her door.Have you been struggling trying to win him back.

Do you both had can be really hard to get.Since men and women are the dreamy, more affectionate ones.That sounds impossible given where things went wrong and also what you can change in you, which is why just looking up tips and tricks to getting you boyfriend to slip through your crisis.Pretending that you are putting yourself in your relationship.Another thing that is the opposite way means to you.

Willingness to admit the mistakes you made.Try to talk through both of us handle break ups so badly that we don't have, which makes them realize how lucky we are just in love with the stuffed animal, her subconscious will make all kind of deal.If you come to desire each other and want your ex back now then things are what you want, but you made and then you are not in your hands.She used to get your ex realize that maybe something is at the very least it could have done these things, they will be ok.This is not what you have made a really bad happened to cause our ex to accept.

The first time he got pulled over for whatever it takes.This trick makes it so much, but my ex back and wait!She wouldn't be in sight at the difference between success and failure.Just remember, when you're ex partner they should get back together.Talking about marital issues while he is missing without you bothering them with a plan you could have hurt them deeply.

Get Ex Girlfriend Back When She Has Moved On

#How To Convince Your Ex Wife Back After Divorce Super Genius Useful Tips #How To Get Your Ex Boyfrien

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paulisweeabootrash · 6 years

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First Impression: Re:ZERO - Starting Life in Another World

It's time again for Paul is Weeaboo Trash!

Today's topic: Re:ZERO - Starting Life in Another World (2016)

Review based on 6 episodes. Or 5 if you count two two-part beginning, episodes "1A and 1B", as one.

The characters are plastered all over everything at conventions! It keeps getting casually mentioned in reviews of other shows! Rem is apparently everyone's waifu! And yet... I knew absolutely nothing about the actual details of this show. I think I might understand why after the first few episodes, because it seems like one of those things you can't really discuss properly without resorting to spoilers, so people evade mentioning them. Or maybe the things I'm calling "spoilers" seem so obvious to other people that they don't think they're worth mentioning. Or the spoilers may be “common knowledge” in the weeb community so people don’t think they’re worth explicitly describing. Whatever, I'm notoriously dense when it comes to picking up foreshadowing, and often "anticipate" different twists than the ones that end up happening. I'm the perfect rube for twists. I didn't know the twist of The Sixth Sense (a movie which, incidentally, I still haven't seen) until The Lonely Island mentioned it in a song nine years after the movie came out. You’ll see what I mean soon, hopefully, because I think enjoying this show is very dependent on the audience learning what’s going on along with the main character.

Anyway, my point is that all I had heard that this was an unusually good isekai, a genre which I have somehow avoided reviewing up to this point even though I've enjoyed some isekai quite a lot. The idea of being transported to another world has been around for a long time, even being a key feature in the archetypal “hero’s journey” story format. In its current anime incarnation, it tends to be set in medieval-flavored fantasy worlds and be very action-oriented, but there is some nice diversity out there in the scenarios and spins different works take on the general concept. It has even been inverted and descended into total absurdity. But there is a shadow over the genre: a shadow cast by unpleasant and overpowered characters and escalatingly-stupid writing. And it is that kind of world our, er, hero(?)... well, main character at least, Subaru, expects.

Subaru, you see, is a shut-in gamer who suddenly finds himself transported to another world while shopping. One moment, he's on a deserted city street at night in our world. The next, he is on a busy city street in daylight in — surprise — a medieval-flavored fantasy setting. And he is very familiar with what that means: he has been summoned here. Plucked from his mundane life, he must be a superpowered protagonist, about to find himself on a grand adventure!

Ha. Nope. Try as he may, it seems like the only power he has is above-average strength from working out (but no real skill at using that strength to fight). And he doesn't even have normal functioning here otherwise. He's illiterate in the local language, comes off as insane to everyone he meets, and almost immediately finds himself being beaten up by muggers he thought he could heroically take on by himself. Rescued and healed by a magical mystery woman and her cat-like familiar spirit, Puck, he knows right away: she is the superpowered protagonist, and beautiful to boot! She too has been robbed, and he will help her recover what was stolen! Ha. Nope. Subaru soon finds that his situation is far stranger than he expected.

See, Subaru and his new magical mystery companion search for the woman who robbed her of her item, described only as a jeweled insignia. On the way, he learns that she is a half-elf and her name is Satella, and that although he treats her like a stock tsundere, she both isn't one and doesn't understand why he expects her to act like this. And I appreciate this, personally, because realistically we should ask: what does he expect? They've known each other for only a few hours, after all! They track the thief, a professional named Felt, down to a bar in the outskirt slums of the city run by her fence, Old Man Rom, and Subaru enters to find it full of merchandise but no sign of people. Then he finds the corpses.

Because of how the first few episodes unfold, it will be necessary to go into some things you might want to leave as spoilers even though they happen so soon in, because there's really something to be gained here from being confused and surprised with Subaru, and maybe even seeing your own expectations contradicted along with his. If you don’t want spoilers but are intrigued by the summary so far, go skip ahead to the Weeb Ass Shit ratings and then watch the show.

If not, now we're going to finish episode 1A, and go onward from there, okay?

Okay.

Subaru and Satella are quickly killed by an unseen attacker, the same one who already dispatched Rom and Felt before they arrived. At this point, we remember that back in the very first scene of the episode, before Subaru was transported, the camera cut back and forth between Subaru shopping in a convenience store and a hand reaching out weakly as the voice of the person to which it belongs talks about saving someone. Because now we see that the hand was his, and he was reaching out for Satella.

And then he's back in the city, right where he first appeared. And apparently also right when he first appeared. Was it a dream? A premonition? He certainly thinks so, and wants to use this knowledge to help Satella. So he goes to Rom's bar, finds Rom alive and working, and tries to negotiate to barter for the stolen insignia. Felt shows up, as does Elsa, the woman who hired her to steal the insignia in the first place, who turns out to have been the one who killed him in his premonition. And she kills him again. And then he's back in the city, and the same time and place. Oh no. It's not a premonition, it's a Groundhog Day-style time loop.

After a third death and reset, he has learned three important things: first, that Satella's name is definitely not Satella. Second, that much to his relief, there is some sort of police force in this world, although so far the only part of it he has encountered is Reinhart, a single off-duty knight. Third, that this insignia is worth much more than Felt is being paid for it and has some significance he can't yet guess at. Oh, and also he has decided this loop must be his “power”, and has named it “return by death”.

That gets us up through episodes 1B and 2. After that, he makes (and survives this time, albeit just barely) a fourth attempt to recover the insignia from Felt, and to keep it and all of the people involved out of the hands of Felt's murderous employer. Emilia — who called herself Satella before as what now seems to have been a sort of off-color joke, due to her resemblance to the real Satella, whom we have yet to encounter but who is clearly Bad News — brings the wounded Subaru home with her. He wakes up to find himself fully healed and in a bed at Emilia's palace, attended to by maids who look like near mirror images of each other. Maids? Palace?!

Yes, it turns out that the country Subaru has been transported to, Lugnica, is undergoing a succession crisis, that Emilia (sponsored by the flamboyant Margrave Roswaal L. Mathers) is in line for the throne, and that the insignia is a sort of proof of her authority that she must possess to be eligible when the new ruler is decided. Subaru asks to work for her, and the twin maids Ram and Rem (aha, now we meet everyone’s waifu), struggle to teach him the basics he needs to survive here, like cooking and reading. At the end of an unspecified number of days of trying but failing to learn to work alongside them, Subaru speaks to Emilia alone, and they seem to be getting along very well. He very badly attempts to explain the concept of a date to her, and successfully asks her out on one, and goes to sleep happy... And he wakes up to find Ram and Rem waiting at the foot of his bed... just as they were when he woke up here the first day... Yes, it turns out that somehow he died in his sleep and has been “reset” again. But he has at least obtained a new "save point", as it were, with his power, and must now work out what happened to him this time — and how exactly his power works, since he went back multiple days this time.

You know what? I'm not even going to go onward in my summary into the sixth (fifth) episode. Those of you who have seen the show will notice that my summary is getting more and more cursory, but it's because I don't want to just recap the show for you, I want to provide enough overview so you know what kind of show it is. There is so much to enjoy and appreciate that I haven't gotten to. Here’s an assortment of highlights:

- Subaru's interactions with Emilia and Beatrice (the librarian who I didn't even get around to mentioning in the summary above) are particularly nice because he treats them with otaku-y genre-savviness and they respond not just with some moe twist on confusion but with actual annoyance.

- I find it interesting that we can't be sure whether nobody knows about his power yet or whether they just aren't letting on that they know (although it sounds like Beatrice might know something), even though it doesn't make that much sense to me that Subaru has not tried to explain it, or the fact that he's from another world, even though he has established that magic is downright common here.

- On that note, I love that it sounds like there may be a thought-out, maybe even "hard", magic system that the people of this world know as a normal and understandable part of their environment and not just ad hoc contrivances.

- And I love that Subaru hasn't adapted well to his power, unlike many fantasy characters who, upon obtaining magic, take to it seemingly instinctively. He behaves just as you might expect from someone who (1) has never experienced magic before and (2) has a power that is clearly horrifying to experience. He even has difficulty not talking about things that happened previous times through, constantly confusing people in ways that are sometimes dramatic and sometimes just plain funny.

Much to my surprise, this also seems to be one of the very few shows I can watch more than three episodes of in a row without getting restless and wanting to go do something else. Even shows I love, I can not usually binge watch. But Re:ZERO sets up and uses its cliffhangers excellently. Some shows have clear self-contained stories in each episode. Some seem like they try to end in a way that at least sets up the next part of the story, if not necessarily do so suspensefully, but they choose bad places to break up the ongoing story. Some shows end in ways that practically obligate you to keep watching because a single episode is so unsatisfying (and maybe they should've made a movie instead). But here, I both end each episode having watched a useful and well-paced unit of story and it leaves off with open questions that keep me interested in what will happen next.

I am looking forward to the political intrigue or succession war or both that will presumably happen because there's no way "will Emilia take the throne?" doesn't become at least a main plot line. I am looking forward to finding out why everyone loves Rem so much. I am looking forward to seeing if (and how) Subaru ever matures and adjusts to his situation, and what his relationship to Emilia ends up being once they really know each other. I’m just overall very excited and optimistic for the future of this show. And I will be very upset if it unravels.

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For scoring on this review, I'd like to try something a little different. I think I would like to add two things to supplement the Weeb Ass Shit scale, and I'll try this new approach for a few more reviews before deciding whether to keep it.

First, I was inspired by Yuri Reviews, which breaks ratings down much more specifically than the W/A/S, into Story, Characters, Animation, Sound, Yuri (of course), and Total Enjoyment, most of which would be merged incoherently into “Shit”. Keeping in mind that combining unrelated features was exactly my problem with the "Shit" scale in the first place, I will try breaking down my evaluation roughly into writing vs. everything else. That is, although I’ll still provide a single summary “Shit” score, I will try to explain it more thoroughly by having a category for things like characters, story, and translation (if egregious enough that even I, with almost no knowledge of Japanese, notice problems — I'm looking at you, Full Metal Panic!, with all your subtitles that keep trying to insist that "Teresa" is spelled "Teletha"), and another for character design, animation, sound, and anything else I feel like commenting on.

Second, given how "sexual content" can mean anything from risqué jokes to non-sexualized nudity to fanservice to depictions of sexual violence and there is no way in the W/A/S framework to evaluate other aspects prospective viewers should know (e.g., the surprise pivot from stylized violence to disturbing violence in R.O.D.), I will now provide "Content Notes" that, although not necessarily warnings in the "trigger warning" or "viewer discretion is advised" sense, highlight some things I think viewers should know about when deciding if this is appropriate for themselves or others.

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Deluxe W/A/S Scores: 4 / 3 / 2

Weeb: Although he announces what he means fairly explicitly, Subaru's dialogue and assumptions probably make more sense with some background knowledge on other isekai, especially the ones with bad reputations. The genre isn't totally unknown to Western audiences, especially in the English-speaking world, but it's more common to see it with magical artifacts or wishes being the triggers for the transportation, not just leaving it as a mysterious force or reincarnation. These are not well-known things to non-otaku American audiences.

Ass: Elsa’s costume is, er, quite revealing, and a few shots of Felt and Emilia are framed in fanservicey ways, but so far it's also hard to think of this show as titillating. There is some barely-covered male nudity later on, too, but in one scene and not explicit.

Shit (writing): The characters who we encounter more than once are mostly interesting and have some depth and motivation to them, except for the gang that repeatedly mugs Subaru in the iterations of the first day. The surprises surprised me, but as I said at the beginning, I'm dumb as a brick when it comes to twists. So I'm not sure whether that's good writing or me being oblivious.

Shit (other): It's well-above-average-looking in terms of consistency and detail, and the designs of characters and places just consistently appeal to me. I have a vaguely-formed idea I can't articulate that this seems very... well-framed, I think the word I'm looking for? I don't know cinematography, but I know what gets my attention and leaves an impression. I also want to bring special attention to a nice touch in the sound in episode 1B: when Subaru tells Felt, Rom, and Elsa that his occupation is "unemployed", the music pauses momentarily along with the action on-screen, emphasizing the other characters' awkward silence.

Content Notes: As might be expected in a show where the main character repeatedly dies, some of the violence crosses the line from stylized to unsettling and maybe even into disturbing.

#weeaboo trash #anime review #first impression review #re:zero

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fayecallasdatingblog · 6 years

Text

7 Signs He Will Never Commit To You No Matter How Badly You Want It

Try as you might, you just can’t get the guy you’re seeing to take things to the next level. Now you’re looking for signs he will never commit so you can figure out if you need to bail on this guy or if there’s actually still hope.

Whether you’ve already invested just a few dates into this man, or weeks or months, you want to know if you’re wasting your time, right?

Of course you do!

So you keep asking yourself: will he ever commit?

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The fact is: you’re not unbiased when it comes to gauging those signs he will never commit to you. Your heart is involved, so that inherently makes it more challenging to see the situation without prejudice.

But I, loyal reader, am the asset you need. For one, I’m a guy. So I get how we operate and am willing to let you in on the secrets of the male mind (just don’t tell anyone I’m doing this or I’ll lose my card-carrying membership in the Male Club!).

And for two, I’m a relationship coach. I make my living helping women just like you get clear on what they want, and to see the signs if the relationship (or…non-relationship, as it were) they’re in isn’t the best one for them.

So allow me to take you on this journey as we explore those signs he will never commit to you.

Your Coach,

P.S. While I’m throwing my gender under the bus, I might as well tell you about the Male Mind Map I created: it deciphers men’s actions and helps you understand what they’re looking for. Download it instantly here.

Summary

You can’t figure out why he can’t commit to you.

You’re just not sure if this guy is a commitment-phobe or if he just needs more time to come around to realizing how lucky he is to have you. You’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, you went to the trouble of taking down your online dating profile. You want it to work out.

But does that mean it will?

Not so.

Commitment means different things to different people. You may not be asking this guy to marry you or move in with you, but if it’s important to you that he, for example, agree to be monogamous, then you need to push for that rather than settling for however he wants the relationship to go.

And as a sidenote: did you know that your (and his) age can be an indicator of your interest in committing? Surprisingly, I found out that 76% of Millennials (those 18 to 34 years old) are more inclined to want commitment and a serious relationship than the next generation. And people 55 and older were happier being single than coupled. Who knew? That might impact the age bracket you search for a man in on that dating app!

Waste not another second on this guy if he’s not right for you. Here’s an overview of the signs he will never commit, followed by a more in-depth look at each sign.

You feel like you have to trick him into commitment

You just know he won’t commit deep down

He told you he doesn’t want to commit

He doesn’t let you into his life

He avoids all emotion

His life is absolutely scattered

Your relationship will always be about the sex

Sign He Won’t Commit #1: You Feel Like You Have to Trick Him into Commitment

I love reading all of your comments on YouTube, but every once in a while I get some really weird ones, and sometimes I even see super spammy comments from so-called “spellcasters” who claim that if you email them, they will help you get the man that you want to commit to you and only you for the rest of your life, as long as you wire transfer them money.

I dunno, maybe this shit works. But I’ll tell you what: if you’re paying someone to cast a spell on someone, you’re in a very dark place.

Commitment is not about tricking someone or casting some ridiculous spell on them to make them want to be with you. It’s about finding someone that you not only want to commit your time, your energy, and your resources to, but also someone who wants to do the same to you. And if you have to trick them into that, it’s not gonna happen.

It takes confidence to sit back and wait for a man to come around if he seems like he is never going to commit. But know that trying to force it isn’t doing you (or him) any favors. And yet, women still try this. I couldn’t believe it when I found the question: Is it wrong to trick my boyfriend into impregnating me? on Quora.

Seriously people??

You shouldn’t have to ask.

Sign He Won’t Commit #2: You Just Know

Your gut can tell you those signs he will never commit.

I talk all the time about trusting your instinct here on Sexy Confidence, and here it is coming up again.

It’s easy when you’re seeing someone that you feel very strongly for to get lost in your emotions and not listen to your gut.

But if you get that feeling that’s telling you that this guy is not going to stick around, that he only wants something for the short term, I want you to pay attention. Don’t squash that feeling, because there’s a reason you’re having it.

Quite frankly, your gut is usually smarter than your brain.

Karla Ivankovich, a clinical counselor and psychology instructor, describes that instinct you need to listen to as: that gut feeling—a sixth sense, inner voice, or uncanny wisdom that allows the hardwired internal defense systems of the brain to reveal a greater truth.

Sometimes your body knows better than your heart that something’s not right in a relationship. Pay attention to it!

Sign He Won’t Commit #3: He Told You So

Back in my twenties, I had a period in my life where I just really didn’t want a relationship. But of course, I was still getting out there, meeting people, and dating during this time. But I was very upfront with the fact that I didn’t want a relationship when I met women.

Time after time I would tell a woman, look, I’m traveling a lot, I’m doing work for MTV, I’m a dating coach…I just don’t have time or interest to be in a relationship right now. And do you know what those women would do?

They would take what I said as me just being a challenge.

I was not trying to be a challenge; I was trying to be honest. They’d try their best to change my mind, and ultimately they got hurt. I didn’t mean for that to happen. I tried to warn them…

So for you women who are dating a guy who is telling you that he doesn’t want a relationship, listen to him. He is never going to commit to you no matter how badly you want it. You only have yourself to blame if you continue down that path, thinking you can change his mind. You can’t and won’t.

Sign He Won’t Commit #4: He Doesn’t Let You Into His Life

His life is a locked door to you.

When a guy has no intentions of really being in a relationship with a woman, and he is just stringing her along, he’s going to give that woman just as much as she needs so that she stays around, but nothing more.

Sure, if you complain that he’s not spending enough time with you, maybe he’ll give you a little bit more of his time. Or maybe you start to get really frustrated that he never takes you out for dinner, so okay, he takes you out for dinner. But he’s not going to give you anything more than what you’re asking for, because he wants to do just enough to keep you around, and he doesn’t want to give you the wrong impression that this is something more than it is.

How do you know he’s showing one of the signs he will never commit? Consider how much you know about him, how much of his life he lets you in on. Do you know the names of his friends? Have you been to his house? Met his family? Know his favorite sports team?

No? Then he’s being very deliberate in what he lets you in on and what he shuts you out of.

So if he’s not letting you into his life, or he’s not doing anything extra to keep you happy, or he’s not making an effort to be in your life as well, then that should be a major red flag as one of the signs he will never commit.

Sign He Won’t Commit #5: He Avoids All Emotion

When I say this guy avoids emotion, I mean both positive and negative. I think it’s obvious to you ladies that if a guy is not going to commit to you, he will avoid showing any positive emotion towards you. He won’t tell you how much he’s into you, and he sure as hell will avoid any sort of conversation that he suspects will lead to you expressing your own feelings toward him.

But the same goes for the other end of the spectrum. If there’s absolutely nothing negative coming up with this guy, even after you’ve been together several months and are definitely comfortable enough with one another to be honest if you’re upset, then something’s wrong.

He’s not willing to fight with you…

Any time you start an argument, he just walks away…

He has no interest in engaging with you, either positively or negatively, and that is a red flag. Because quite frankly, if a guy’s not willing to have an honest disagreement with you about what’s bothering him, or be able to have any kind of emotional talk with you, then he’s clearly not in it for the long haul. He just wants to get as much as he can possibly get from you, without having to deal with any of the emotional stuff.

Sign He Won’t Commit #6: His Life is Absolutely Scattered

If his life is scattered, do you think he’s ready to commit?

The gold standard when it comes to the ideal man is obviously a guy who’s kind of got his shit together, right? He’s got a job, he’s got a home, he’s not a mess. He’s at a point in his life where he is ready to bring someone into his life.

And yet, you’ve learned to accept less than perfect just because you’ve given up on finding this diamond in the rough.

But one of the worst guys that you can date is one of those guys who’s all over the map.

One day he says he’s ready to commit his life to skydiving.

Another day he’s going vegan.

One day he’s ready to go back to school in a completely different field.

Another day he’s trying to move to Thailand.

This is the type of guy who’s scattered, and it’s likely that if he’s so scattered, he’s not really ready for a relationship. He may, in fact, put a long list of tasks ahead of getting serious or getting married. Men, unlike women I think, are very compartmentalized. It’s like, we want to find a great job, we want to get our finances together, we want to get our home situation figured out…and then we’re ready for a relationship.

Whereas I think women are much more willing to go with the flow. If you meet someone while you’re trying to nail down other aspects of your life, so be it.

So, if you’re meeting guys who are completely all over the place in their lives, realize that they’re probably going to be that same way in a relationship, and they’re probably not ready for a true, committed long-term relationship.

Sign He Won’t Commit #7: It Will Always Be About the Sex

You should know this: men commit to women when they want more than just sex from a relationship. Because nowadays, quite frankly, any guy with a phone and some decent game can go and have sex with a woman pretty quickly, with very little commitment.

It’s a sad truth, but it’s what we’re working with. Accept it and the rest will get easier, I promise.

So, what does that mean for you? It means that if you are leading with sex in order to get a guy to commit to you, then you’re leading with the wrong thing. You need to lead with your personality and your substance, and really allow him to invest his time and his energy into you first, before getting intimate.

By the way, the longer you wait to have sex, the more likely you are to have a lasting relationship. Studies show that waiting three months can substantially increase the odds of commitment. If he’s not willing to wait? He wasn’t going to commit anyway.

If the bulk of the time you spend together revolves around having sex, this is one of those big glaring signs he will never commit to you. Why would he? He’s getting exactly what he wants.

Conclusion:

You can’t force a man to commit. Be true to what YOU need!

So there you have it. There are the seven signs that he is never going to commit to you, no matter how badly you want it. I want you to avoid that heartbreak of investing your time, emotion, and energy into a man who’s never going to invest in you in return. You deserve better.

I think the most challenging thing about me creating these types of videos is: it’s not hard to watch the video. It’s not hard to read about these signs. What is actually hard is taking action and changing your current situation to a better one.

So if you are in a relationship right now, or if you’ve found yourself in previous relationships where you’re with men who don’t want to commit, I ask you to elevate your standards from this point forward. If you start dating a guy who exhibits these signs he will never commit, then I want you to take a stand right now and promise that you will walk away immediately.

Go ahead and leave a comment below that just says never again. And that means that you promise me — right here in public — to never again settle for a man who’s not going to give you what you want and deserve.

Now is the time for you to start setting those standards in your life. And once you’ve set those standards for what you want from a man, men will actually start to meet them in return. Set the bar high, and I promise, men who fit the bill will start showing up in your world.

And finally, I have a great free “commitment” training that I want you to take advantage of. It’s going to help you avoid the “casual trap,” and find a great relationship. Sign up for free here.

The post 7 Signs He Will Never Commit To You No Matter How Badly You Want It appeared first on Sexy Confidence.

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travisandersondatingblog · 6 years

Text

7 Signs He Will Never Commit To You No Matter How Badly You Want It

Whether you’ve already invested just a few dates into this man, or weeks or months, you want to know if you’re wasting your time, right?

Of course you do!

So you keep asking yourself: will he ever commit?

youtube

So allow me to take you on this journey as we explore those signs he will never commit to you.

Your Coach,

Summary

You can’t figure out why he can’t commit to you.

But does that mean it will?

Not so.

Waste not another second on this guy if he’s not right for you. Here’s an overview of the signs he will never commit, followed by a more in-depth look at each sign.

You feel like you have to trick him into commitment

You just know he won’t commit deep down

He told you he doesn’t want to commit

He doesn’t let you into his life

He avoids all emotion

His life is absolutely scattered

Your relationship will always be about the sex

Sign He Won’t Commit #1: You Feel Like You Have to Trick Him into Commitment

I dunno, maybe this shit works. But I’ll tell you what: if you’re paying someone to cast a spell on someone, you’re in a very dark place.

Seriously people??

You shouldn’t have to ask.

Sign He Won’t Commit #2: You Just Know

Your gut can tell you those signs he will never commit.

I talk all the time about trusting your instinct here on Sexy Confidence, and here it is coming up again.

It’s easy when you’re seeing someone that you feel very strongly for to get lost in your emotions and not listen to your gut.

Quite frankly, your gut is usually smarter than your brain.

Sometimes your body knows better than your heart that something’s not right in a relationship. Pay attention to it!

Sign He Won’t Commit #3: He Told You So

They would take what I said as me just being a challenge.

I was not trying to be a challenge; I was trying to be honest. They’d try their best to change my mind, and ultimately they got hurt. I didn’t mean for that to happen. I tried to warn them…

Sign He Won’t Commit #4: He Doesn’t Let You Into His Life

His life is a locked door to you.

No? Then he’s being very deliberate in what he lets you in on and what he shuts you out of.

Sign He Won’t Commit #5: He Avoids All Emotion

He’s not willing to fight with you…

Any time you start an argument, he just walks away…

Sign He Won’t Commit #6: His Life is Absolutely Scattered

If his life is scattered, do you think he’s ready to commit?

And yet, you’ve learned to accept less than perfect just because you’ve given up on finding this diamond in the rough.

But one of the worst guys that you can date is one of those guys who’s all over the map.

One day he says he’s ready to commit his life to skydiving.

Another day he’s going vegan.

One day he’s ready to go back to school in a completely different field.

Another day he’s trying to move to Thailand.

Whereas I think women are much more willing to go with the flow. If you meet someone while you’re trying to nail down other aspects of your life, so be it.

Sign He Won’t Commit #7: It Will Always Be About the Sex

It’s a sad truth, but it’s what we’re working with. Accept it and the rest will get easier, I promise.

If the bulk of the time you spend together revolves around having sex, this is one of those big glaring signs he will never commit to you. Why would he? He’s getting exactly what he wants.

Conclusion:

You can’t force a man to commit. Be true to what YOU need!

The post 7 Signs He Will Never Commit To You No Matter How Badly You Want It appeared first on Sexy Confidence.

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