#and an unintentionally powerful and complex statement

[two-ndborne]

Drone filming by @ kriskuganathan

[hawkogurl]

Sometimes I feel like the 'did we watch the same movie' readings of Raimi!Norman (ignoring the mess that was NWH) could be tempered if people were willing to treat characters as narrative devices to tell a story and explore themes than like, a real person who is close to you and is need of their (moral) character and honour defended bc it would harm them otherwise, plus not making being likeable, relatable, and sympathetic (not to confused with being complex and character motivations making sense) as obligatory traits for a 'good' character - Norman is far more interesting and layered when he's a morally awful person who doesn't want people to know his true nature bc it would get in the way of his goals and a foil to Peter in terms of the power/responsibility and man behind the mask themes than if he was just some sad woobie who never did anything wrong and is genuinely a sweet and kind person.

And like, if you want to play around with sweet old man Norman in your fanworks, then go wild, but just embrace that's what you're doing and not act like it's canonical text or a well-supported possible reading of the film and then try to shove that into actual analytical critiques of the movies.

Totally agree. When I disagree with other peoples takes on especially platforms like tiktok or reddit, sites I generally hate where for these movies narrative analysis tends to be put on the back burner, I will often give more elaborate explanations why, from a storytelling angle, something is or isn’t true. And consistently I tend to get comments which are, in fairness to the commenters, very lighthearted saying that I’m providing college essay level stuff when I really don’t feel like I am. Due to the absolute plague of anti intellectualism and the far more natural reality that when it comes to mass media, people do not think about media in an intensely critical way. And I think that’s fine, it would be elitist of me to think that people can’t just like things to like things. But when you’re going to enter the territory where you’re making statements on the narrative fabric of something or start arguing in favor of something or against something or just for something with other people, you do have to start examining it critically.

And I completely agree with the concept you’re communicating. And I would be hypocritical to say I never do the same, I very much do, but when I’m trying to make storytelling or analytical points I do my damnedest to separate what I’m saying from my own more meta reasons for thinking a way I do, whether that be my attachment to a character or relating my analysis to some sort of metatextual fan reaction that isn’t totally relevant. There are certain points where I go against my instincts to defend characters like Harry or MJ whose general fan perception is unjustified because it doesn’t help or actively weakens my point with that sort of bias.

I also think people have developed this idea that to be a good villain, the villain must be sympathetic or morally gray. Especially in the face of people tending to moralize their own or other people’s personal preferences, people often feel the need to justify their most evil faves as sympathetic or tragic when they aren’t, at least not in the capacity they argue, rather than just accept that it’s not a reflection on them to like an evil character. It’s often worse to try and justify Norman. A lot of the time, in the process of trying to frame Norman as tragic or sympathetic, they make things worse from multiple forms of critical lense by both weakening the narrative and what it’s trying to say and also by unintentionally or subconsciously falling into some not so great tropes, such as implicitly belittling the actions against the child he abused or using Emily, Caroline Mulder or whoever it is that Harry’s mother was as a sort of scapegoat, blaming Norman’s negative traits on her as something she made him develop by betraying him however they decided she did or otherwise dragging her down to make him seem better. And in my perspective, the character assassination of a woman to justify or prop up the poor innocent man who only became cruel as a result will never not be misogynistic. It’s just a method of stripping the male character of responsibility for his actions by pinning them on his female counterpart. This happening with a woman who never even shows her face on screen is, for me, an example especially cartoonish in its egregiousness. I’m all for adding flaws and nuance to Emily or whoever’s character, but you’ll lose me when she’s portrayed as a bitch who’s at fault for any amount of Norman sucking. He is an adult man. He’s responsible for himself.

I feel the same about the varying executions of Ambrose Osborn. There are examples I like a lot more, like The Final Act on ao3 where he’s never used to excuse Norman’s actions. But most of the time, he ends up as an excuse. Cycle of abuse narratives only work if you still acknowledge the abused is not any less now an abuser for it. And going back to Harry, it contributes to this sort of mass belittlement for what happened there. Within fandoms, themes that feel real are always more worth hating someone for than vaguer, more distant concepts like mass murder and terrorism. Norman’s abuse of Harry is more egregious than his crimes as the goblin because it’s more real to people. It’s more of a condemnation because more people have been there. As a result, a lot of people seem to believe that to redeem Norman or to be allowed to like him, Norman can’t have been abusive towards Harry. You get a lot of things like Harry being treated as unreasonable, or Norman never having been abusive and just having been unable to express love properly (usually with a nice side of blaming Emily), or using Ambrose as an excuse, often trying to do the comics canon Harry breaking the cycle with Norman. Which both erases Norman’s abuse and never really executes that plotline in a way that works because it’s so tied into the ways Norman directed harm at Harry for traits in Harry he saw as weak. It doesn’t work with Norman and it’s still rather off putting to never acknowledge that Norman was awful. I don’t think people really realize that writing Norman as a good father in fanfic isn’t as much of a… I don’t know, support to abuse victims as they think it is. I’m not going to begrudge anyone who does so as a coping mechanism, I’m not here to dictate your trauma and you can do whatever feels right, but most of the time it comes off as thinking what Norman did wasn’t real abuse because he never hit him, or because he still loved him, rhetoric that’s directed against the experiences of real life victims quite a lot.

And all of that comes down to the fact that people implicitly treat characters like they’re people. Liking a character who did something has become the same as liking a person who did the same. But Norman isn’t a person. He’s a character. And while characters are obviously a lot more and making them feel like people improves most stories, at the end of the day characters are not people, they’re narrative devices. Within storytelling, while there’s a bit more nuance than what I’m saying here, at the end of the day good writing is writing that works. Norman doesn’t need to behave like a real person, ignoring that he pretty much does, because he is a character who, at the end of the day, only needs to act in a way that makes the story work.

This whole reply is disjointed so I’ll probably revisit this topic when I’m capable of intelligent thought. As always for anyone reading who disagrees, always willing to participate in good faith discussion.

[scribbly-dee]

Inspired by this post

I adore corruption arcs, so I graded how well the non-archivist characters would have damned humanity if they had been the archivist.

Sasha James 11/10, would be an ideal archivist, this plus her height is probably why the stranger monster targeted her before she could peak

I have a soft spot for any au that knows Sasha has never seen a brain cell in her life and that any unhinged!Sasha au is really just a regular Sasha au. Picture it with me. Sasha and Jon have parallel archivist tracks, until Sasha (my beloved show off) decides: you know what would make me more efficient at snooping? Becoming a Human Google. And things accelerate. The Web doesn't even need to bother with subtly magic lighters, it slaps all 14 marks on her at once by pulling up next to Sasha in a windowless van with "free secrets 👍" written on the side.

After the Unknowing, Sasha takes over the institute from Elias instead of Martin and Peter. With Tim dead, Jon in a coma, Martin lonely-snatched, Melanie compulsively homicidal, Daisy in the coffin, and Basira on autopilot, she quickly bonds with Rosie, the ultimate nosiness enabler. Sasha is a fully marked archivist for a good long while, but doesn't start the apocalypse right away because she's eager to read ALL the ominous notes Elias left, so the watcher's crown statement is in her to-be-read pile. When the apocalypse starts (Rosie: "Hey, Sasha, I just read something extra fucked up that Elias wrote, wanna see?" Sasha: "God yes."), she books it to become the pupil with Rosie as her anchor. Mayhapse an anchor-archivist polycule with Archivist Jon and Martin? Mayhapse Jon is just a normal eye avatar here and deeply invested in all of Sasha's eyepocalypse statements, so it's Sasha and her plus-three? Mayhapse it's a race across the eyepocalypse wasteland between Archivist Sasha and Archivist Jon to usurp Jonah and become the pupil?

Tim Stoker 2/10 dude's here for a good time, not a long time

The only way I see this working is if Elias disguises not-stranger clues as circus related so Tim is motivated to investigate. Otherwise, his archival assistants are way more curious than him and disobey his direct orders to 🍹chill🏝. Jon, Sasha, and Martin inadvertently bring marks home to him like cats bring home dead birds. He asserts his agency when he decides the best course of action? Actually? Just blow up the archives. This unfortunately puts him in a false sense of security, and Elias makes him read the watcher's crown statement by cat fishing him on grindr and sending the ritual as a dm mid conversation.

Daisy Tonner - 9/10 archivist, would have started doomsday before she was at the archivist job long enough to use her PTO

Daisy already had a lot of experience hunting down fear-entity-related people in sectioned cases, which means she possibly canonically already has all the marks from just hunting avatars who use their powers in self defense. The reason she lost one point is because she's too much of a jock to read, only nerds are culpable to watcher crown statements, so this would be the only delay but oh what a delay it will be.

Melanie King - 7/10 archivist, points awarded for achieving her breakthroughs by smashing her head against a wall until she literally breaks through, points deducted for doing so in full clown makeup.

If Jon got a handful of marks by just asking anoying questions in the same room as an avatar, imagine how much faster Melanie would get marks by bringing her trademark Chaotic Brat personality on fear entity investigations. The apocalypse would have started in like two seasons: one season to hire her off the streets and establish shakey, complex relationships with her new assistants (Jon and Sasha put in the time with the institute but were passed over on this promotion for some random YouTuber (plus they're tighter with Tim and Martin, so proletarian solidarity against the boss)).

Then a second season to stab every mark and get stabbed in return. Melanie would blitz through all 14 marks because what precious little impulse control she starts with is slowly replaced with slaughter juice. One fun moral ambiguity to explore could be if Melanie tries to use her new, dangerous Eye/Slaughter powers to revive her reputation and platform in the supernatural community now that she can, ya know, identify supernatural things for the first time ever. Does she acknowledge her entire career up to her hospital episode apparently only investigated fake sightings? A better question to ask is whether Basira, Tim, and Jon ever let her live down how Ghost Hunt UK's professional dignity was contingent on the legitimacy of her sCiEnTiFiC gHoSt eQuIpMeNt in those episodes, so the temperature spikes set to dramatic music were well and truly just temperature spikes and dramatic music. Sasha found a clip of that music playing as Melanie narrates "it's a message... from the other side..." and made it as her text tone.

Also, it would be hilarious if Melanie tried to kill Jonah on sight in the panopticon, once again botched assassination attempt number 1,963,538, and then Jon quietly snuck in to finish the job on his first try just like in canon.

Jon: "What, like it's hard?"

Basira Hussain 3/10 archivist, her eye alignment manifests as office gossip, like a normal person

Basira has the most formidable super power of all: the power to nope tf out of any conversation or plan she wants. She therefore would probably take 10x longer to start the apocalypse than any other archivist because her fatal flaw is refusal to directly engage with a lot of personally difficult things (like the slaughter bullet surgery she organized, Daisy In General, etc). The marks will be slow going if she resists putting her safety on the line or invests time in making good plans (which is smart, but unhelpful for dooming humanity). She would for sure still get marked and end the world because once she's convinced of a plan (aka Elias convinces her of a plan), she's ruthlessly efficient. So I'd stay out of her way that last year or two, she marks the entities right back at them.

Martin Blackwood 2/10 archivist, considering a prerequisite for creepy eye avatar staring is the ability to make eye contact.

S1 Archivist Martin would probably dote too much on the employees under him to be hugely susceptible to Elias' isolation-dependant manipulation. Any progress Martin inadvertently achieves toward the watcher's crown goal would have to be contingent on it helping his loved ones, which is perfect fuel for a "corrupted by good intentions" arc. This would be key because Martin has superb bullshit and manipulation detection, making the marks are tricky but not impossible to orchistrate considering Jon can't stay put in a safe corner for 10 minutes and Martin's mother would refuse to stay with him where she's safe from avatar threats.

Imagine the petty drama when Jon and Sasha learn he got the promotion they wanted because he lied on his CV.

Other than that, Martin would be even worse about pit stops on the apocalypse road trip than Jon because his Kill Bill mode would have no off switch. Does Archivist!Martin and his anchor Jon ever reach the panopticon? Eventually, but not until after they lose points for significantly reducing the apocalypse fear quantity. Would Annabelle survive to deliver her cryptic MaCHiNAtIoNs and achieve the Web's goal? Hard No, additional point reduction for neutralizing the multiverse invasion. Points potentially earned back if Martin's Web connection is strong enough to come up with the multiverse invasion plan on his own, though.

Georgie Barker 4/10, as a fearless coward, all the fear she feeds to the entities would be khaki flavored. They'd get their apocalypse, but they probably wouldn't enjoy the meal.

Similar to Basira, Georgie has the super power to Fuck This Shit I'm Out. She would overall be a subpar humanity damning archivist; a major archivist success factor of Jon's is that he has enough affective empathy to be afraid with every statement giver he reads, so when Jon archives a statement, he unintentionally contributes to the fear soup seasoning. Combined with how Georgie doesn't want anything to do with entity drama, so any corruption specific to the watcher's crown would stagnate. Even her casual exposition conversations would go like

Georgie: "I've connected no dots."

Melanie: "you've connected a lot of dots??"

Georgie: "I've connected shit all dots."

The reason she gets one more point than Basira is because Georgie's fatal flaw is the passive observer quality the Eye tried to stoke in Jon. Her level of engagement oscillates between two extremes, impulsive over commitment and judging from a distance. This would probably lead her to geting involved just long enough for her involvement to become irreversible, at which point she would try to cut that shit out of her life after it's trapped her. She'd linger, barricading herself on the margins of this problem as the marks that are targeted at her slowly tally up until boom. Apocalypse is on and she only half understands what's happening.

Georgie would wander around an apocalypse hellscape confused, but vibes and physical health fully intact. Anchor!Melanie would have quite the emotional journey starting with Georgie on that pedestal Melanie placed her, and ending with a slaughter avatar stabbing the person who convinced her to work on her slaughter inclination.

[arhvste]

❝ my assumptions based on your fav hq character ❞

these are all in good fun and not serious at all, please don’t get upset by them, my opinion doesn’t mean shit bby :,)

HINATA SHOYO

-> a soft bitch with a big heart. you want others to do well and you love positive attention. you do however, get overworked by emotion and sometimes get played because of how nice you are. judge people a little harsher and don’t be shy to put a bitch back in their place, you got this

KAGEYAMA TOBIO

-> we get it youre a bad bitch but sometimes it comes across like you’re still going through your angsty teen phase. stop that, you’ll get permenant wrinkles if you keep it up. let yourself live a little freely and don’t be shy to leave your comfort zone more often. and stop getting sad over the smallest things okay?

TSUKISHIMA KEI

-> horrible taste in men and you have a degradation kink. you wanna be called a little slut in the bedroom but would cry if you were called it anywhere else. you’re very kind people but you’re constantly putting yourself down and thinking you deserve shit over nothing. be kinder to yourself

YAMAGUCHI TADASHI

-> you’re the supportive friend people go to when they need a pick-me-up however, you let yourself get walked over from time to time and it’s not fair on you. don’t be shy to kick a bitch and show them who’s can be the alpha >:) you’re a bad bitch with a big heart and you’re academically stable

NISHINOYA YŪ

-> shush, indoor voices please! it’s okay! we know you’re here you don’t need to shout! you’re probably between 4’0-5’3 and preach personality over looks which is fine because as everyone should. you’re insecure around others and feel the need to have a bigger presence to feel more confident. it’s okay though, i think you’re really hot and you should let yourself feel more comfortable with people you actually like more often.

TANAKA RYŪNOSUKE

-> loyal as fuck and dependable. you’re the bitch people know they can come to should they ever need it. you’re popular and you own every hallway you strut through. you let the feeling of dejection get to you though and worry about how you’re perceived by the people you’re surrounded by especially if there’s a potential love interest in your orbit. calm down and be yourself more, it’s their loss if they don’t fall for you anyway.

ASAHI AZUMANE

-> stop letting people talk over you! you’re that bitch so why the hell do you let people overpower you? you’re hot and you know you’re capable but you wallow up in self doubt and get upset over nothing. remind yourself that you’re hot, loved and talented more often because you need it.

SUGAWARA KOUSHI

-> you’re deceptive and it’s not always a bad thing. you’re good at switching up your personality and probably act fake to certain people which is fair enough. you can be a bit of a bitch sometimes but you’re hot and funny so you get away with it. learn to break down your barriers a little more though because when people start seeing your act they’ll become untrusting around you.

DAICHI SAWAMURA

-> OKAY daddy issues pack it up now. no i’m kidding but you’re attracted to mentally stable people with good morals. someone that will take care of you and be there for you. try to be more self reliant and independent though.

OIKAWA TOORU

-> we know you’re hot okay? you don’t need to post thrist traps on snapchat at 2AM every night we get it! you’re a little whiny and bratty but that’s a given. you’re a burnt out gifted child and you were probably in top classes or top league for a sport between ages 8-14 before you started becoming more average. that’s fine too though, just remember you have talents that lie elsewhere you just have to find them.

IWAIZUMI HAJIME

-> daddy issues 0.2. you’re bossy and demanding but fair. you judge others accordingly and have a good sense of who’s a good person and who’s not. you need to be more open with people and let more people in though. you’re protective of yourself and don’t let your walls down so easily. soften them and let others in more.

MATSUKAWA ISSEI

-> you’re just here for a good time and a good railing that’s all i have to say.

HANAMAKKI TAKEHIRO

-> you’re the bitch that has to listen to the mattsun stans last hook up. you’re hot too, go have a good time.

KUROO TETSURŌ

-> you’re extremely hot and i would absolutely make out with you right here right now. no i’m kidding. i’m not but anyways, you have mommy issues and you need to get over it. you also need to stop being so analytical of people because some people don’t like being read and you step over peoples boundaries sometimes. control yourself you feral thing.

KOZUME KENMA

-> ah yes. everyone’s favourite ‘i have issues but i don’t want to deal with them, so i’ll be a whore online instead’. that’s a half joke but seriously, you’re doing fine bby you don’t even need to worry. nobodies judging you and even if they are they’re way uglier and dumber than you. even still you should be friendlier to those around you and let your guard down a little more.

YAKU MORISUKE

-> you’re like a little dog. yappy and lively. you’re also very trustworthy and i would tell you my deepest and darkest secrets and feel safe about it. you’re strong willed and put others in their place at ease. you do however, need to be a little more selfish and put yourself first at times. selflessness is great but it’s okay to put yourself first sometimes and you need to do that more often.

LEV HAIBA

-> you’re literally so hot and i’d be begging for your attention. you’re also slightly oblivious and have probably had several people crush on you at once but you’ve ignored them all unintentionally. you need to believe in yourself more and remind yourself that you’re that bitch. you’re capable of amazing things you just need to realise it yourself a little more

BOKUTO KOUTARŌ

-> okay mx mood swings you need to stop acting out over nothing. you’re gorgeous don’t get me wrong but dropping your slice of bread on the floor isn’t the end of the world. get over smaller things quicker and become more aware of your surroundings. you have a really good set of close friends and you’re friendly to everyone around you. you’re very very loved but you need to stop getting caught up over pointless things.

AKAASHI KEIJI

-> you’ve probably been called ‘boring’ before but that’s far from the truth. you make snide comments and you’re witty. you’re one of the most mentally stable people and you don’t get upset over petty argument or fights. you do howver nit pick at situations and get too critical. stop that because you only annoy yourself more and put yourself in a bad mood.

SHINSUKE KITA

-> you scare the shit out of me but in a good way. i’d be scared to talk to you because you’re so perfect? you do tend to come across as unapproachable though but that’s not your fault. smile a little more and don’t be afraid to laugh a little louder. your laugh is so pretty anyway so don’t be shy to let yourself loose a little more

ARAN OJIRO

-> you’re the type of person people think about for weeks after seeing you at the airport you’re that hot. you’re reliable and loved by many. you’ve got a good spirit and you’re mentally balanced. you need to stop overworking yourself though and stop getting too worried for other people in their place. you’ve already got enough on your plate so stop taking other peoples problems when you already have your own.

MIYA ATSUMU

-> you’re a bitch. no i have more to say. you’re misunderstood. you come across as a shitty person but that’s just because you’re passionate and hard at communicating in a way that’s not so blunt. you’re petty and dislikable at first but after a couple of conversations, people find out there’s so much more to you. you’re funny, hot and talented. just remember to work on holding back on the blunt statements a little more.

MIYA OSAMU

-> 2nd best kinda vibes. you ARE the pretty best friend but people always ignore that because you’re kinda overshadowed by others around you. you’re like a diamond in the rough and valuable to those lucky enough to find you and get to know you. don’t put yourself down so much and show others you can be independent and unique because that’s exactly what you are

SUNA RINTARŌ

-> you’re hot and that’s it. you’re probably the type of person to not show up to classes but still manage to pass every exam with ease. you’re almost too cool to approach and people probably think you’re bitching about them when they see you on your phone. what they don’t know is that you’re really looking at pictures of cows that have been washed and blowdried. you probably own a pink princess cowboy hat and your instagram is probably everyone’s pinterest board. just stop slacking off though because you can achieve so much more.

SAKUSA KIYOOMI

-> you’re powerful and elegant. you’re very level headed and go about problems the efficient way. you hate time wasters and don’t let people make you their bitch. you probably have a slight god complex but that’s okay because when you’re as hot as you are, it’s understandable. stop being so uptight and sensitive about things though. be kinder to your mind and let go of the things not worth holding a grudge against.

general taglist → @atsumuwoah @bloody-bella @bbymilkbread @miracleboy420 @doggonudez @tsumue @peteunderoos @tsukkisbean @saturnfarie @dear-kozume @zumisace @boosyboo9206 @totorosleaff @27kei @dai-tsukki-desu @angrylittleriri @dearestmegumi @kuxredere @warakou @iss6s @lovinnoya @sophiashortcake @wompwomphq @waitforitillwritemywayout @webworld @brokeasshoee @sunasbabie @rowley-with-ackerman @mjoork @trifliz @curiouslilbeast @ineedsomefoodpls @hp-hogwartsexpress

ALL CONTENT BELONGS TO @KUROOSKULT ON TUMBLR 2020 PLEASE DO NOT REPOST, CHANGE OR PLAGIARISE

[consul-valerius]

More Valerius/Valdemar headcanons: the spicy edition 😤 This is gonna be saucy, so it’ll be under a read more !

Lots of medical play; medical play gives the impression of indifference and also Valdemar is a nerd lmao Valerius likes the helplessness he feels during it; he knows if it really gets too much, he has a safe word he can fall back on, but in the meantime sexy doctor make brain go WRRRR

Valerius is usually the one to initiate sex, whether purposefully or unintentionally. Typically Valdemar can’t be bothered with sex/won’t pursue it. They’ve got other, more important science-y things to do, animals to dissect, beetles to feed, you get it. They’ll know Valerius is in the mood if he invites them at a later time to his estate or even by the way he dresses— he does little things to get Valdemar’s attention. However, sometimes Valerius is just.... being himself and it just so happens to push Valdemar over the edge. This can be anything from being brattier than usual or even having a violent outburst; in one scenario Valdemar wants to put him in his place and in the other they just really want to get R A I L E D.

Valdemar likes to think they have all the power in the relationship, but half the time Valerius is manipulating them to do the things he wants to do. “Oh no, you’re so mad at me, you’re not going to p u n i s h me are you? 😈” “oh wow, you’re so worked up, it would be a shame if we pounded each other like animals all night long 🤭” Valerius likes that he has to play mind-games with Valdemar; Lucio was so easy to please and easy to read. He likes that Valdemar is intelligent and is extremely complex and yet fun to influence in these ways.

Valdemar likes to power bottom. End of statement.

Because everything has to be a game and they both don’t want to acknowledge any growing feelings, they try to avoid vanilla or even lazy sex. It’s either someone’s getting stabbed or tied to table or NOTHING.

There is, however, a lot of.... strangely sweet aftercare. Because their play is so hardcore/rough, it’s almost essential that they have a cool down time. As mentioned in my previous post, Valerius is very self-care orientated and will probably benefit most if they take a long bath together. He actually allows Valdemar to brush through his hair and he’s open to giving Valdemar a massage if they’re up for it. Sometimes they’re too overwhelmed by touch to really want Valerius doing that, so they may just sit together in silence and enjoy their company. They like to share a bed post-sex too; they’re not exactly CUDDLING, but there’s a sense of calm by just sleeping next to each other (and Valerius may subconsciously hold onto Valdemar while he’s asleep shhh)

Valdemar. Loves. Marking. Valerius. No more low cut shirts for Valerius; it’s turtle necks only if he wants to hide those hickies/bruises. He pretends to be upset by them, but when he’s alone he loves admiring how they look on his skin.

Overall, sex is more of a means of release for the both of them; any pent up frustrations or even just the stress of maintaining a clean image melt away and they can’t really just..... let loose comfortably in front of one another. This of course takes time too; they would have to build up to get to the point that they’re at. More than once Valerius was convinced Valdemar was actually going to vivisect him

soooo yes! I’m having. a lot of fun with this pairing. and I hope others are too! I got lots of good feedback on my last post and it’s very encouraging to see that I’m not alone in thinking they’re an interesting crack ship lmaoo

[meikuree]

the topography of pieck’s grey morality

at first glance there is a sort of tragic, damning irony in the way that Pieck is cognizant of the terrible system she and everyone in marley participates in, and yet still continues to have quite a prominent hand in maintaining it. every warrior is inflected by this irony in spades, and all of them face the common bind of having to make terrible choices in conditions that are structurally abject from the get-go, but what distinguishes Pieck from the others is her approach for responding, or her stance towards the world and all the misfortunes it brings.

unlike Annie who literally cordons herself off from being appropriated by wider forces or Bertolt and Reiner who have relatively explicitly articulated moments of outburst and struggle with marley’s tentacular influence and ideology, any resistance Pieck can be said to have is quieter and more attenuated. she jokes, she uses sarcasm, she renders quotidian comfort and benevolence to people she’s bonded with, and she makes observations in quiet about people who might not have her or her allies’ interests at heart. but just as true at the same time is the way she participates in marley’s various imperialist strikes (e.g. in the middle east war) and unambiguously is both directly and indirectly responsible for many deaths; she does not necessarily rebel against marley in the material and practical where it counts.

of course, it’s difficult for any of the warriors to do so, and she’s hardly unique in this aspect, but alongside her mode of response it makes her a morally grey character in ways others aren’t. she has her declaration of dissent in 116, but it is overshadowed by the realities of the situation at hand: she is part of a mission that will bring her even further away from her ideals of eldian liberation if it succeeds. it is also possibly undermined, depending on how you read the scene, by the fact that they were made for the purpose of deception: she spun her statements specifically to ingratiate the enemy long enough to lead them where marley needed them (i.e. they had some grain of truth to them, but she was definitely leaving out nuances/complexities in that moment for the sake of more instrumental objectives at hand).

her approach of going along with a regime that has none of her interests at heart is probably just informed by practicality (to ask her to go against marley in that moment would’ve been a tall order), as well as coercion and the sheer absence of any tenable alternative. but I think it also builds into her characterization as someone who rebels not through loud antagonism but through banal moments of care for others. she tries to work in the system and carve out small pockets of prefigurative care and hope, that won’t contest the system at large but might be able to alleviate life within it.

what makes this morally grey in the eyes of some readers is the question of how far this is distinguishable from rolling along unthinkingly with the system. she ideologically opposes everything marley does but the total effect is the same regardless of whether she does so: her actions still amount to the maintenance of marley’s imperialism.

(i suspect one reason some people chafe at the widespread adoration for her is that the tenor of that adoration overlooks how, in some respects, pieck has very much been capable of indirect moral cruelty and direct, obvious forms of physical harm against innocents such as those caught in the crossfire of the middle east war. she’s not all sunshine and wholesomeness.)

this is only one reading however. it is a tempting one, but also potentially superficial, and elides the fact that the game for pieck and the others was already rigged from the start. no matter how she responds, any decision will have untoward costs. if she defects, her father likely gets it. it’s impossible for her to speculate about some hypothetical benefit that will accrue to her if she defects, and thus to judge whether the benefits outweigh the price of more explicit, resistant dissent.

this reading would also ignore the fact that her acts of everyday survival have significance of their own beyond their power to contest the system. pieck, in trying to cultivate optimism/relief within the unremarkable margins of her and the warriors’ lives, is also trying to dwell as well as she can in the boundaries of the life marley has circumscribed for her. she could very easily not do all the nice things she is known for: to be bitter, be more excessively cruel, be impersonal. but in making the attempt at all, it is as if she is saying that there is potential to resist in quieter, more unremarkable ways. as if it is worthwhile nonetheless to sustain the tolerability of life until a day when more overt revolution will be feasible. quiet, everyday resistance-- a la James Scott’s “weapons of the weak” idea if you will-- still matters on its own terms, especially for extending the resilience of those living in unfeasible conditions, and even if it’s not as demonstrative or effective as outright resistance. canon doesn’t exactly frame it as a big resistance vs. small resistance debate. but given how canon consistently depicts her comforting others and dedicates valuable panel space to their significance (see: pieck squeezing gabi’s hand!) and the manga’s themes of trying to rise above predetermination and the hand given to you by fate, it’s possible to say that these are far from useless choices of acts. whether unintentionally or not, the manga seems to be making statements about the meaning of these acts.

pieck overall appears to be the walking embodiment of the “beauty in cruelty” message for some people. for others, trying to find beauty in a system of cruelty without doing anything to oppose it is a morally grey act or even... downright condemnable. i think that reading can have value for some, but my take is that: pieck’s character isn’t so much about “finding beauty in cruelty” as “beauty coexists alongside cruelty” (because pieck very much has the capacity for some cruelty) and also “precisely because beauty coexists with cruelty within people, and you can be responsible for both at any one time, it is an active choice to uphold that beauty and try to nurture what is good for other people, and the agency committed in that choice must not be understated; the choice to cultivate beauty also could be read as a refusal to give in to a system that does not encourage kindness and encourages lots of cruelty”.

[cadomoisspokenfor]

Legion Rewatch Notes,

Chapter 5:

Everything You Wanna Be

Pre-amble: Farouk’s showing David how to use (and how he thinks he should be using) his powers. There’s a lot of self-absorbed moments from David, and as we know from future episodes Farouk desire is for David to have the same God complex he does. It’s likely he’s attempting to push him down that path all throughout the ep. It even culminates with him attacking Amy just like he did in s2. Only he doesn’t actually end up killing Amy here, though if I had to guess... he would’ve if the others weren’t on their way. Farouk sees killing Amy as “setting David free.” He’s trying to make David hate her (hence forcing Amy to reveal her secrets) so that he’ll start to see the world the way Farouk does. Hypocrites, liars, cheats. “The world will never respect us, therefore we deserve to be as selfish as we want.” Sound familiar? I think David’s actions are explained by Farouk trying to gradually instill these thoughts throughout the episode.

(Post ep addition, pretty sure I was right)

His actions here could be interpreted as more attempts to be helpful, just poorly approached. He tells Melanie he met her husband. His face looks smug, but he could also be smiling cause he thinks she’ll be happy about it. He does look confused when she walks away, as if he’s not sure what he said wrong. Alternatively, Farouk encouraged him to be callous, but after he said it his empathy kicked in and he wondered if maybe it was too mean.

David seems more at piece here than at any other point in the show, and this despite just getting Kerry shot by targeting the wrong person.

Syd seems very concerned about Kerry. The first thing she tells David is that they stopped the bleeding. David then cuts her off from going into what they discovered on their mission.

Small addition: what was Syd gonna tell David about the mission? What was she gonna say they may know now?

“I’m The Magic Man.” Very Shadow King of David to give himself a prestigious nickname.

Another moment of David trying to overcome Syds condition for his own desires. It’s still possible he thinks Syd wants this too. And if the latter’s the case, then it’s also another incident of David trying to be helpful and coming off as creepy unintentionally. From his perspective, he can finally give everyone what they want. What he thinks they want (And they’re all gonna owe him for it).

“It’s all an illusion. I see that now. Why’d I fight so hard?” “They’re signals, that’s all. Impulses sent from nerve endings. Electricity in the brain. Real, fake, it’s all the same.” ~Is that what one has to believe to properly understand the astral plane? Is there no way around solipsism for powerful psychics? Or is it just Farouk’s influence?

Syd is the first one to go in for the mouth to mouth kiss.

Cary seems to mistrust David a little bit this episode. Or at least be apprehensive about him. When Melanie says he could bring Oliver back he stays quiet and looks to Kerry. Melanie also looks to Kerry and seemingly understands his apprehension. Kerry getting shot happened specifically because David intervened. At least, that’s my interpretation of the subtle acting there.

Cary also told Melanie the episode before not to get her hopes up. That could also be what his look meant.

David’s stated multiple times he cares more about Amy than anything. Now he’s confident in his powers and Melanie’s STILL trying to keep him from going. That might be why the David side of this mind-meld goes along with the coming cruelty.

I think David’s definitely a little mad at Melanie for still telling him he can’t save his sister. I guess the connection is they both have someone they want saved, and if Melanie won’t let him save Amy, then he’s not exactly motivated to save Oliver.

Syd makes fun of Melanie's sadness about Oliver. “How long has he been in there? The astral- whatever 🤔🙄😴?” She was more empathetic when she wasn’t around David.

When Melanie says Oliver’s been lost for “21 years” Syd’s disposition changes. It looks like she maybe reconsiders her mean girls approach, a pang of guilt probably.

David seems to also be making fun of her a bit. I guess thinking about it, Lenny does always tell David not to trust them. The whole of Summerland I mean. Maybe David’s taking her advice on them since she did help get him out the astral plane. Or maybe Lenny’s just exerting more control in those moments.

Everyone in the room picked up on Davids hostile stance. I think... perhaps David’s reviling in the sense of power he feels right now. He no longer feels the need to listen to anyone but himself. With his powers, he can do whatever he wants. This is all by design, Farouk wants him to experience this specific feeling. It all go towards his goal of turning David into someone like him. A power broker with a God complex.

Despite Kerry being the protector in their relationship, Cary always end up taking on her wounds anyways.

The first “Who teaches us to be normal when we’re one of a kind.” Followed by “Promise me if you get lost, we get lost together.”

She says the latter fresh off of hearing Melanie's story about Oliver, who got lost and left Melanie alone. She also says it off the heels of discovering Davids past and his previous violent incidents. All throughout her journey last episode Ptonomy was trying to convince her that David was mentally unwell. Therefore “lost” in this since could mean both literally lost as in lost in the astral plane, and metaphorically lost as in losing your mind. And in combination with “who teaches us to be normal”, Syd’s essentially saying, “I’m no stranger to regretful past incidents. Just take me with you if the cookies start to crumble.” David would not end up taking her with him. Not that she wanted to go by that point anyways.

Additional note: This is the first recounting of Syd’s big mistake. Though, based on her tone, it seems like she knows what she did? Later in the series she’ll justify it more and twist it to place herself in more of a victim role. But here... the story is framed like an admittance.

David doesn’t want to leave without the others, Lenny convinces him otherwise.

It’s unclear when Lenny full takes over David. David’s had maniacal moments before that point, but not that bad. And the personality he shows in the D3 raid seems closer to his personality when talking to Amy in their old house later. That is to say... not his personality. He’s fully taken over by Farouk in the house, and scared out of his mind. Though... it’s still possible he just doesn’t want Amy to be hurt. Even before he and Farouk started merging, David was no stranger to remorseless killing. In ep 1 a D3 guy grabs him by the neck, the camera pans, a loud SNAP is heard, and suddenly David’s further down the path. No D3 guy in sight. And as pointed out in my notes for previous episodes, he does compulsively keep secrets even before s2. All-in-all, it being ambiguous is definitely the point.

David intentionally left earlier than he said he would. Summerland was clearly preparing for the raid, but Lenny convinced him to leave them behind. Everyone’s trying to help David, but Lenny keeps isolating him, and encouraging him to be cruel. And because of the situation with Amy, he’s more inclined to listen to Lenny than anyone at Summerland.

BIG NOTICE: Ptonomy says, “You don’t think I have a sister. Or a girlfriend. Or a mom?” Because of the next episode, we know he lost his mom when he was little. If he’s stretching the truth about her, maybe he’s stretching the truth about the girlfriend and the sister. He might just be frustrated with all the trouble around David and is putting forth any and all arguments to try and get the others to see reason, whether or not it’s relevant to his actual life. Like Devils advocate.

Ptonomy gets real harsh this scene. “This war is bigger than some guy named David and his sister” is probably relevant for future episodes. But making fun of Melanie's Oliver grief? It’s starting to feel like everyone’s doing it at this point. And she’s very offended by it.

Syd very sweetly says, “He found a way for us to be together. A place.” It meant a lot to her. Remembering the white room puts Syd in a certain mood, as discussed below.

Syd’s been acting like this all episode, or post-white room at least. She’s “love drunk.” “All animals need physical contact to feel love.” While that’s not exactly accurate, Syd’s first experience with non-power-activating touch is very impactful. But even despite this she’s not completely impenetrable. After the couch scene earlier, the affects started to wear off. She seemed worried looking at David as he flanked Melanie like a predator. And she pulled back on her cruelty after hearing how long Oliver had been lost. But this scene is after she’s had another hit. And similarly to the couch scene, she pulls back after hearing Melanie’s concern. This pattern will continue in later seasons of the show.

ALSO ALSO, as noted in the previous episode, David’s life falling apart pre-clockworks was in part because of bad influence from his friend “Benny.” And now in the present he’s making tons of dangerous decisions again because of the bad influence of his friend “Lenny.” In both cases Davids actions will be considered his own, regardless of who influenced him. I’ll just leave it at that.

Syd can’t think of a retort to Melanie’s statement. David’s acting completely differently than the David she knew before. She doesn’t know what to think of him right now.

Everyone’s been doubting David’s capability all episode, but now for the first time they see the absolute power he wields. And it’s horrifying. It wasn’t just doable for David, it was easy. It was too easy. It’s starting to become clear why Ptonomy asked David, “What are you?”

Everyone they meet in D3 is a potential enemy, even prisoners like Kissinger. This mindset makes them seem very unheroic.

The first attack we see David do in the security footage is that bright light pulse attack. It doesn’t turn them to shadows, but it definitely instakills them.

If Farouk wasn’t fully in control... why would he show up on the infrared? He normally hides himself inside David’s head, no?

Cary hears scary Farouk generated noises even when David’s not physically around. It seems like Farouk’s hauntings naturally infect people, like a virus.

I think Cary may have left the room when Farouk started fully messing with David. That’s probably why he hadn’t seen this footage before.

David leveled their entire forces in ways never before seen, all to get Amy back. “This war is bigger than some guy named David and his sister.” Evidently not. David is the most powerful being on Earth. And because of that, he’s the most important too. Or at least... that’s what the show repeatedly implies.

David is once again implied to be inhuman (not the actual marvel classification, just... un-human). In this case we could attribute it to them seeing The Devil With Yellow Eyes come towards them on infrared. But it will still be reapplied to David later on.

Through the discovery of Farouk, David’s previous actions are all forgiven. This mutant parasite has been the one rewriting his memories and influencing his actions for as long as David’s been alive. Ptonomy has a look of understanding, as do Melanie, Syd, and Rudy. It all clicks now, every little action. So now all they have to do is get Farouk out of his head, and everything will be hunky dory. I’m trying to say, the goal is clear for the first time.

A very disturbing scene. David’s lost control completely, and all his nightmares are guarding the exits to his mind. The situation may be clear, but that doesn’t mean this will be easy, or harbor no long lasting affects.

Amy fully admits she knew and was too scared to say anything. Knowing that Farouk later kills her for Davids sake makes this all the more dreadful.

When “David” says “You know something about me,” Amy shakes her head at first.

Farouk scares Amy into spilling the truth. “My whole life is a lie. I just need to know... who am I?” After Amy says it, “You were adopted,” Farouk allows the real David to come forward again. He wants him to feel this for himself. The feeling of betrayal, never being told his real origins. An outsider in every way imaginable. His ideas about himself all have different context now. His fondest memories throughout the series were with his parents and sister as a little kid. And now he’s not biologically related to them. He understands what Farouk meant now. His “whole life is a lie.” Amy knew this and kept it from him for decades. His adoptive parents never told him. Everyone’s in on it except him.

Syd is thinking of the white room on her way to see David.

“I don’t have an illness!” Farouk is succeeding in his goal of making David rethink his relationship with Amy. Perhaps in the moment... he no longer feels much compassion for his sister. She didn’t just hide the adoption after all, she also contributed to the societal gaslighting around his powers. I’m starting to see why she’s portrayed the way she is in the next episode...

“He’s not crazy, this is much, much worse.” What once were thought of as delusions are now being validated as completely real. David is no doubt traumatized, but he doesn’t have paranoid schizophrenia (according to the show at the moment). What he does have is a mutant-ghost that needs busting.

With David’s relationship with Amy permanently changed, Farouk moves on to messing with his Summerland friends. The goal, again, is to isolate David and convince him of his philosophy. “We are Gods. Gods make rules, they don’t follow them.”

Syd sheds a tear out of fear after being jump-scared by The Angriest Boy. She’s scared as all get out, but keeps moving forward for David’s sake. Syd is once again willing to risk everything for David. Or... is she just risking it for the idea of him? What’s the difference?

Walters abilities are still unclear to me.

Cary almost played charades with Melanie to tell her about the crown (or halo in this iteration?)

Kerry can either summon or just store weapons inside of Cary.

David’s very upset that he can’t stop Lenny. And he still thinks Lenny is a part of himself. We know better. But it does seem clear hear that David didn’t want any of the things that happened that day to happen. I think I feel comfortable clearing him on all charges for the D3 raid. For now...

David’s the one that first puts him and Syd in the astral plane. Farouk just seizes the opportunity takes control of the simulation. No doubt to multiple ends.

[dangan-happy]

Password: No offense, but you're really looking good today

To: Anyone I guess, but preferably Izuru, Celeste, and/or Mikan

TWs: Hopelessness(?), numbness/repression(?)

Where do I even begin? Well, I gotta start somewhere. Ah, sorry in advance if this becomes too long and I end up becoming too much though... oh, and, um, just call me RiRi, okay?

These past few months, I've been experiencing a depressive episode that's been slowly but surely getting worse. And nowadays, even when I have good moments or even really good days, it either gets ruined or it just... completely vanishes for no reason, y'know? It's like the depressive episode is this weird, black slug monster within me that absorbs whatever positive feeling I'm, well, feeling, even if nothing bad is happening or is going to happen whatsoever. It's almost like flicking a light switch to the 'Off' end. I chalk it up to mood swings/dips, to which, is something I've been experiencing more frequently as of this past month or so.

Like for example, I had a really amazing day yesterday! I went out shopping with just my mom, we went out to eat, we had a fun time overall, and it was just... amazing. Once I arrived back to my house, I was just immensely happy stimming/fidgeting hours afterward. Today [the next day] though? Almost a complete 360: mentally/emotionally exhausted, dull, almost numb even, wanting to just lay in bed and not get up. Online classes are a pain, excuse of a family's a pain, everything's just a pain. I'm not exactly feeling s*icidal; just completely dull. Ironically enough, I feel like a walking Izuru, just without the God complex powers.

I just feel like I'm way broken beyond repair, and that sooner or later, I'm going to become too much to those who care about me and try to help me, especially since I have Major Depressive Disorder, anxiety (generalized and social), some suspected ADD (not suspected by me, but by my counselor), and now, some suspected bipolar (whether it's just general bipolar or perhaps bipolar depression is unknown. Bipolar does sort of run in my bloodline though, to be fair). And I'll admit, nowadays, my anger issues are more frequent and current. One person who I care about so much has made their fear clear when my anger becomes a total wildfire, and has told me whenever I get that mad that they're going to leave me alone until "the old RiRi comes back", which not only stabs me in the heart, but angers me even more. I understand why they say that though; I don't want to hurt anyone else. Not again.

Wow, this is... becoming too long and sort of off track, ain't it? I'm sorry; I'll just try to wrap this up here. I don't know what I want. I'm not too big on advice; I'm normally into wanting to be left alone or just wanting someone's company (basically, talk to me about anything but whatever's bringing me down or such). So I guess just a hug will do? I... really did outdo myself here; I'll go ahead and stop now. I tend to ramble and have the habit/mindset that if I don't explain to the fullest, the other person(s) won't have a full, clear understanding. Sorry again, and I hope everyone has a lovely day.

~ RiRi

This is not your first visit here, RiRi. One such as I can sense this. You are always welcome to say as much as needed.... So your Sunday was possibly an amazing day, daresay it was one of the best days of your life, and from Monday onwards, things went south. You’re low in the depths of misery and despair. The level of change is quite fast. 

You mention someone very close to you often decides to keep distance at your negative moments, the moments when you are most in need of aid. While it can be seen as a heart-wrenching act, it may be possible that your ally was to ensure that in the moment of struggle, they refrain from saying anything regrettable. A possible outcome, one of many. Do not think ill of them for doing so, the people you are with, they care immensely for you, in a way you will never understand nor see. 

Above all, you asked for a hug. I can only tell you to keep living, and to avoid doing anything rash again. I cannot enforce you to promise that, but remember that there are those who love you, even when you think otherwise. Doubt them, and you will only sustain more pain. So have hope. 

- Oh goodness, isn't this a long one. Alright my dear, I'll be sure to give my full effort. RiRi is a lovely name, and there's no need to apologize. You're not too much at all! I'm happy to help. A black slug monster is quite the descriptive way to describe depression. I quite like it, and it's a perfect representation. That emotional back and forth must be exhausting, I'm sorry you have to go through that. I've heard of that happening before, and its even happened to me before, so I can understand how you feel. I am quite pleased to hear that you had a good day. Days like those are always wonderful things, even when we're going through a dark time. I think you may have been emotionally exhausted the next day, but I am obviously not a professional, so don't take my word for it.

Hmm, yes those feelings of dullness are terrible, although I am glad to hear that you aren't feeling suicidal. Yes, that state does remind me of Izuru. I'm very sorry you're going through this. You're not broken beyond repair my dear, that's not the case at all. Everyone has their diagnoses, but that doesn't mean you're broken or beyond repair. Yes, I would say that there are some emotional issues, but that does not make you broken, or place you beyond repair. You're never going to be too much. The people that truly care for you would never abandon you for reasons such as that. I think it's a good thing that you already have some finalized and suspected diagnoses. That might help the treatment and help target more of the specific issues.

Yes, I can speak on anger issues, I unfortunately have experience. Personally, I do not like the statement your friend used. While anger can be scary, saying something like that is quite hurtful, and I do understand how that hurt you. Can you tell when those anger flashes are coming on? I would try to learn to recognize them, and potentially separate yourself from others when you feel one happening. While I think your friend should protect themselves, that wasn't the best way to phrase it. It's very kind of you to worry about others. Learning to recognize when these shifts are coming could help you avoid hurting others unintentionally. Practice makes perfect though, so be prepared for that. It's alright, most people tend to ramble while they are venting, I was still able to understand what you are saying. In all honesty, I would say exactly what you've said here to your counselor. Make sure they know about these mood shifts, and they may be able to do more on their end. Everything I've said is a suggestion, so take it or leave it my dear. I just wanted to make sure that I had plenty of things to say to you, since an ask of this length certainly deserves it.

Again, there is no reason to apologize, and it's ok to not know what you want. I understood what you were saying perfectly, so there's no need to worry about that. I may have outdone myself on this response, so we're in the same boat together, aren't we my dear? I'm certainly happy to give you a hug. Angry or not, you're a lovely, wonderful person RiRi. You are not broken, and you are not beyond repair. We all have our struggles in life, and some are just more prominent than others. I hope you have a lovely day as well, but you're not allowed to leave until I give you a hug!

[mschaefer-rt]

*Rhetoric as Narrative*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcb4cNiaWy8

In this entry, I will investigate the following critical questions: What is a narrative that is important to me or to U.S. culture? What values does this narrative promote and ignore? In which ways is this narrative productive for society, in which ways is it limiting?

To explore these questions, I decided to use a speech delivered by Augustana College President Steven C. Bahls in regard to the college’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. His speech promotes the central narrative that the Augustana community has persisted despite the impact of COVID-19 and will continue to do so. Through his rhetorical and delivery techniques, he promotes values of unity and perseverance among members of the Augustana community. This is seen in the content of his speech, as well as his tone and word choice. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, this sort of rhetoric has been common among many groups and institutions in the United States. In some ways, the Augustana community serves as a representation of this larger trend. Specifically for Augustana, this narrative is productive in that it can encourage students to work together in maintaining the health and safety of all community members. However, it is limiting in that it excludes some members of the community and does not hold space for different perspectives. Overall, the way that President Bahls uses rhetorical techniques to establish this narrative is unproductive for the Augustana community in that it normalizes the struggles of dealing with COVID-19 and does not promote critical thinking about the problems it has caused on campus.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the college has made a continued effort to update students on the events occurring on campus, and in the greater Quad Cities community. The Augustana Strong Task Force was created in order to discuss these events and implement appropriate safety measures on campus. As summer came to a close and many students returned for hybrid learning, there were frequent messages from the Task Force on Augustana’s status in terms of COVID-19 cases and adherence to guidelines. Many of these updates featured President Bahls alongside Dean of Students Wes Brooks and other faculty members/administrators. In this particular video, President Bahls is delivering a solo speech in regards to an uptick in cases on campus in early November of 2020. This speech marks the movement from “moderate” to “high” COVID-19 alert levels on campus. The change was prompted by the increased amount of cases on campus, as well as in the Quad Cities community.

President Bahls refers to Augustana’s experience in dealing with COVID-19 as a journey. The narrative that he creates in his speech is influential. Foss explains how “narratives organize the stimuli of our experience so that we can make sense of the people, places, events, and actions of our lives” (p. 333). Because narratives can help simplify complex events and feelings, they can have a profound impact on the general attitudes toward those events. Foss also talks about how narratives often play a key role in policy decisions, as well as the individual decisions that people make in their daily lives. Using her outline for Narrative Analysis provides a framework to determine how Augustana’s rhetoric surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic has affected individual students, as well as the larger campus community

In his speech, President Bahls encourages unity to reinforce the narrative that the Augustana community will remain persistent despite the challenges presented by COVID-19. He is serving as the narrator in telling the story of Augustana’s experience with COVID-19. His word choice and tone are able to help him convey this value of unity. Throughout the speech, he often uses “we,” when referring to the Augustana community. At the end he exclaims, “we are Augustana, we care about each other, we are Augustana strong.” He specifically promotes “caring” and “strength” as methods for, and consequences of achieving unity. By making this statement, he encourages everyone to play their part in protecting the campus community from COVID-19. He visually demonstrates this point as well by waiting to remove his mask until after the video starts. This action not only signals to the audience the importance of wearing masks, but also helps President Bahls to place himself on an equal level to them. He demonstrates that, even in his position of power, he follows the community guidelines.

President Bahls also highlights perseverance in order to create an optimistic narrative surrounding Augustana’s experience with COVID-19. He briefly summarizes the journey of dealing with COVID-19 and brings up the goal of continuing in-person classes until Thanksgiving break. His descriptions of causal and temporal relationships help him to emphasize the value of perseverance. At the beginning of his speech, he briefly mentions the events that have occurred leading up to this change to high alert on campus. He chooses to focus more on the current events, which helps keep his speech grounded in the present. This reinforces the value of perseverance by pushing the speech forward and not giving the audience time to dwell in the past. He is honest about the events that have led to the current circumstances, but he also praises the Augustana community for their successes. He infers that the reason why Augustana students have been able to stay on campus and participate in classes in person is because community members have been persistent in following COVID-19 guidelines. He further strengthens this point through his use of words in the phrase “living with COVID.” This word “living” is in contrast to other words that have been used for such sentiments: fighting, dealing, etc. By describing the Augustana community as living with COVID-19, he is implicitly expressing the value of perseverance. He’s not referring to COVID-19 as something that will interrupt life at Augustana, but as just another obstacle on the journey of life.

Many of these features of President Bahls’ speech may be important in promoting the values deemed necessary to make it through difficult times as a community. Despite some of these immediate productive outcomes that the speech could provoke, there are many ways in which the effect of the speech is limiting. The audience of the speech includes members of the Augustana community who have been willingly participating in classes in person. The rhetoric inherently excludes members of the community who have not, whether that be due to personal health concerns, family matters, or financial issues. The value of unity is significantly undermined when a portion of the community is completely unrepresented in the speech. President Bahls delivers his speech with a positive tone, a smile, and the occasional clenched fist to represent strength. Though this attitude may be necessary in order to inspire a positive mindset, it also ignores some of the negative feelings that people may be experiencing in response to COVID-19. 

The value of perseverance can also be limiting, as it doesn’t necessarily provide a space to process and reflect on events that are happening in the present. Dutta & Elers explain how certain narratives centering the value of kindness can actually have some problematic components. Humans are often drawn to such narratives for motivation, hope, and alleviation of guilt. However, these narratives may also intentionally or unintentionally push agendas that “[do] not serve those who are precarious, underprivileged or marginalized, by obfuscating and erasing necessary conversations on the transformative policies and infrastructure changes needed to address fundamental structural issues” (Dutta & Elers, 2020, p. 109) These narratives of kindness have many overlapping components with the narrative presented by President Bahls in his speech. He encourages Augustana students to demonstrate kindness by holding themselves accountable, caring for one another, and playing their part in keeping the campus community safe. Through the use of community-building “we” statements, President Bahls is able to shift the responsibility of appropriately addressing COVID-19 onto the entire community, rather than just the administration. There will always be some truth to this assertion that the health of communities lies partially in the hands of each person, but focusing too much on this perspective does not create space for critical policy discussions. This speech demonstrates how community members, especially students, have been encouraged to not question Augustana’s COVID-19 policies, even during a time of rapid increase in cases on campus. 

There are many aspects of President Bahls’ speech that may be helpful on a small scale. These values of perseverance and unity are often considered positive, or even necessary traits of such speeches that are delivered during tough times. However, through examining his rhetoric it becomes clear that there are significant limiting factors, especially at a community or society-wide level. Perhaps Augustana shouldn’t just be aiming to “live with COVID,” but to thoroughly address the many issues that it has revealed.

 Augustana College (IL). (2020, November 6). President Bahls Campus Update to students: November 6, 2020 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcb4cNiaWy8

Dutta, M., Elers, P. (2020). Media narratives of kindness - a critique. Media International Australia, 177(1), 108-112. https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X20953278

Foss, S. K. (2004). Narrative Criticism. In Rhetorical Criticism (3rd ed.) (pp. 333-343). Waveland Press Inc. 

[realitachifacts]

hi! ooc question (for the mod!), what do you think about itachis role/story in the show/manga? 💞💞

oh thank you so much!!! i love answering questions like this aaaaaaa

TL;DR: a ton of missed potential ):

okay so i’m gonna take this in a slightly different direction and also write about how i would have written itachi’s narrative alongside my analysis/opinion of it. this is DEFINITELY going to be long so it’s under the cut.

it’s pretty evident that the characters given the most focus in the show are naruto and sasuke. this is pretty much indisputable, with naruto as protagonist and sasuke fitting into the more complex role of antagonist-protagonist-antihero (which wasn’t given fair treatment by the narrative itself but again that’s another story). regardless, sasuke’s arc has a strong dependency on itachi, all the way back from the character’s introduction. and thus, this makes itachi one of the most important characters in the story, despite somewhat limited appearances. all of this can be pretty easily gleaned, but still, i think it’s worth repetition in an analysis like this.

while sasuke’s arc has strong dependence on itachi, itachi’s arc has an equally strong dependence on sasuke; at his point of introduction, kishimoto literally had planned no backstory for him, only that he wanted to “attribute to itachi some violent action that would have sasuke wanting to kill him”. though, later on, “when itachi was introduced, kishimoto had the idea to make itachi konoha’s secret agent who killed his clan under their orders” (which accounts for all of his character’s inconsistency throughout the series, and i personally have a hard time believing the decision to change was made at the moment of his introduction). itachi was introduced as a source of sasuke’s ambition and trauma, giving his character a driving arc. which, i mean, is fine. for a shonen story it’s a pretty average/decent goal and fits well within the universe and plot. as a character itachi’s design is solid, especially for playing the role of villain. his powers are cool. he’s interesting. 

and i think the biggest problem is that his story was over-complicated and just not thought out from the beginning; arguably, there was some foreshadowing early on to his position as an actual good guy. sasuke mentions in the forest of death that itachi is likely pushing him because he feels bad for what he’s done, and wants someone to kill him as justice. but… there was no weight for that and it seemed like a pretty baseless accusation on sasuke’s part, who appeared to harbor nothing but hatred for itachi and nothing even remotely resembling any form of sympathy or willingness to understand his older brother (i actually totally believe that sasuke could have guessed at itachi’s true motives, but the concept was pretty much immediately dropped after that statement- which, again, annoying lack of consistency). i love the relationship him and sasuke have as children, as i’m sure i’ve stated before. older brother as a villain to overcome/turned evil is interesting, turning out to be good all along even more so; but the second half is handled poorly, what i mean by missed potential. plus, itachi more or less needed to have hidden motives to push sasuke’s story in the direction it went in after the pein arc- sasuke wouldn’t really have anywhere to go after that and would probably struggle with a lot of internal conflict. and again, as i’ve talked about in a previous ask… the small amount of reconciliation provided wasn’t enough for either of them (especially sasuke).

so, here’s what i would have done.

in terms of canon adherence, there are pretty much only three options: 

1.) have him die a villain (admittedly killing his clan to test his abilities wasn’t the most believable goal, but eh, he’s an anime bad guy so whatever). as much as i don’t like this (i’m sort of a sucker for character redemption, but they pulled it off very badly), it would have made more sense within the storyline. it would’ve been nice if they pressed what sasuke believed on “he felt bad so he wanted sasuke to kill him” to the point where he was sympathetic but not good or redeemable. their final battle could’ve ended the same, with the forehead poke and all that, and just flashback scenes of things we haven’t seen in canon (that sasuke will never see) that prove his assumption was correct, and itachi did want to be martyred. it would keep him a pretty bad person but it would make both his and sasuke’s arcs feel more… conclusive, i guess. i personally believe the primary antagonists should have been the akatsuki and after pein’s death, the series should have wrapped up. was sasuke a little too messed up emotionally to just go back to the village at that point? …yeah. but him returning to the village voluntarily would’ve been more satisfying, and i’m honestly sure that, if the story was put in the hands of someone with plot-writing capabilities, it could have been done. this is supposed to focus on itachi so i’m not going to hypothesize on a hypothetical canon “story ends after pein arc” ending.

2.) have him be redeemed. this just… literally had to have been done from the beginning. unconditionally. in the previous ask i talked about how the characters are all displayed as wholly “good” or wholly “bad” and making a wholly bad character like itachi “good all along” just isn’t really possible with the way good characters are framed. it puts him in a middle ground that’s inconsistent with that categorization and fans are more or less forced into picking a side for him based on personal opinions. that alone could’ve been fixed by better characterization but again, off-topic. the torturing sasuke thing would have to go. sasuke could have returned to the compound either after itachi had left already (and was given some sort of clue or learned later that it was him) or itachi could’ve noticed him and left without speaking; very clearly not hurting him but he also just killed the rest of the clan so you can mark it as “okay, he’s a bad guy, but he spared sasuke entirely. why?” and there’s already suspicion he had an ulterior motive. sasuke could have decided on revenge on his own; made hateful through pain and loneliness along the lines of gaara or no-iruka naruto (it would make gaara’s communications with sasuke later around their battle/attack on konoha more chilling or get through to him more). i feel like it also would have made it easier to convince sasuke to return to konoha because naruto is pretty able to get through to people like that. in the hallway scene, itachi would still refuse to take on sasuke but eventually do so, and should have been clearly going out of his way not to hurt him; ending the battle by making him unconscious with the sharingan or something, i dunno. the indifference would (unintentionally, on itachi’s part) fuel sasuke’s choice to get revenge; which he would have made apparent that that’s what he desires (though of his own volition this time). itachi probably wouldn’t be expecting that, but as he’s dying later in life, he’d give in to a final battle with sasuke, both feeling himself being redeemed throughout it and giving sasuke the satisfaction of killing him. but if it was super clear he went out of his way to hurt sasuke at any cost, the “itachi was good all along” thing would make so much more sense. however…

3.) this is a subset of 2. for 2 to exist and itachi to be painted as a good guy, the reason the clan was killed would need to be different. so, canonically, it’s stated that the uchiha are oppressed, they want more rights, threaten a coup d’tat if they don’t get them, and so danzo the third hokage orders them to be killed by itachi. this is where we get into trouble. as i’ll repeat time and time over, the narrative frames people as being unconditionally good or bad. in the eyes of the average fan, the uchihas fighting back against the leaf village- konoha is always shown as good- for more rights is morally gray at the absolute best, and more likely to be seen as bad, as with most revenge/opposition to the system motives in fiction. which is another unfortunate product of the very morally polarized lens the characters are placed under. but, more in theory, it is very hard to make itachi and sasuke “good” at the same time. if you’re going down a fighting oppression arc in a story, you want the character fighting against it to be viewed positively (like katniss, right?). so, by extension, itachi or sasuke gets to be the bad guy, and it’s 100% reliant on what the uchiha clan’s motive was. frankly, a lot of the uchiha get painted as villains (with the curse of hatred, it makes partial sense)- madara, sasuke, itachi, obito, etc, so pretty much all the main ones are “bad” at some or all points of their story. what would’ve worked best in my opinion is to go back to madara’s time and the initial interactions between the uchihas and the hidden leaf village. basically just… make them bad/a threat from the beginning; no government oppression, they were always just villains/in the “bad box” (note that this is in terms of canon adherence and i’ll get to my own personal “if i wrote this” in a second because eh, i don’t like framing the hidden leaf village as good at all lmao). they were just bad and going to take over the village, so they were killed by itachi before they killed everyone else. after obito got to sasuke, he could have constructed an elaborate lie about what the village was “secretly” doing and made it convincing to anyone watching, as well. so you think itachi is bad again, and sasuke is justified in wanting revenge against the village, learn later that itachi was good, but then it’s also hard to fault sasuke, since he was only working with the information that he was given and had the right idea at heart. but basically with what we’re given it’s almost impossible to make everyone “good” so it’s probably not even worth it. i mean it’s: itachi, sasuke, hidden leaf, uchihas- pick two to make redeemable at most. i don’t think telling a thirteen year old to just kill his whole family is really ever justified and i’m super biased so i’m going with itachi and sasuke.

in terms of what i would have done if i had full control (and the massacre HAD to happen), here’s what i’d do:

1.) itachi explains to sasuke at the beginning what happened and basically tells him to grow stronger through friendship/bonds to prevent this from ever happening to someone he loves; sasuke’s narrative then revolves around revenge against the government instead of his brother, which would be a good parallel to naruto’s wanting to be hokage, since the two are so paralleled in general. they could both learn something from that. plus i would want the words of “grow stronger from love” (instead of from hatred) to impact him and he has a deeper desire to grow closer to people and make friends, i guess. (this is my most preferred outcome not gonna lie)

2.) i also wouldn’t be opposed to itachi just taking sasuke with him but that would usurp most of the actual story.

3.) the writing is good and itachi lives and gets more time to reconcile with sasuke. he returns to konoha and becomes hokage and takes care of his crows and chickens and spends time with his niece sarada and his nephew-in-law boruto and niece-in-law himawari who all adore him. admittedly this is INCREDIBLY self-indulgent but hey, i have control of the story now. and there’s no reason this and 1 can’t exist at the same time, haha. 

god that was so long i’m so sorry anon but i hope you like it!!!! i like… am not gonna read this over to edit it so sorry for typos. ): thank you again for asking!!! aaa if you read it and would like to please let me know what you think!!!

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[gen-is-gone]

Hey so, I hate to be the person to drag drama into a small and mostly pretty decent fandom with very little of it, but you know what would be fucking fantastic? If people in tumblr WicDiv fandom could stop fucking calling Amaterasu straight. Please, do a rando on the internet a favor and just fucking stop.

Before folks start getting righteously indignant and come to me with eighty different reasons why bi erasure is okay if it’s Ammy, hear me out:

IT’S STILL BI ERASURE. Amaterasu, you might say, has called herself straight, and only kissed/slept with girls while drunk. To which I reply, no, Amaterasu called herself “boring” and later explicitly pointed out “prefer guys” =/= “only attracted to guys”. She called herself “the boring one. I’m sooo boring” while the magical equivalent of high on E, and here’s something for you, has only ever shown on-page attraction to women. Pretty weird that such a large portion of fandom would’ve decided that an ambiguous, out of context statement a character said once outweighs multiple instances of textual sapphic attraction, huh?

Another argument then, perhaps? Amaterasu was unwilling to go down on Sakhmet, therefore she’s obviously only faking attraction for attention/”experimenting”/not-really-bi. Here’s a thought: attempting to rationalize policing of a character’s (or worse, actual person’s!) sexual/romantic orientation via what sexual experience they have or what sex acts they are comfortable with, is a really fucking ugly, biphobic thing to do. No better, in fact, than declaring that a man who is uninterested in anal sex must not really be bi, because everyone knows that’s what mlm attraction is all about. Cunnilingus, and any given woman’s interest in/comfort level with it, is but one small facet of a world of wonderful ways in which to be a sapphic woman.

And for the last, and I suspect, most salient of arguments in favor of calling a queer woman straight, Amaterasu is a piece of shit.

This is 100% true. Hazel Greenaway is an over-privileged, spoiled, cruel, self-obsessed, thoughtless, unrepentant racist. Her behavior particularly in Imperial Phase is almost calculated to hit just about everyone’s buttons in some way at some point, and make us all boil over with rage and cringe in resigned disgust at every new word that comes out of her mouth. She wore out her welcome at the end of IP1, and by this last issue I don’t think there’s a single reader who doesn’t at least briefly harbor the thought that she got what she deserved.

But here’s the thing: there is no moral litmus test for queerness. My fondness for Ammy had like most people’s, diminished down to nearly nothing by the time she died. I don’t particularly identify with her, and yeah, in WicDiv, if not most media, we’re not exactly hurting for mga rep. But within the past month or so, I’ve seen a flurry of snide comments and derisive not-quite-jokes about how much of a straight girl Amaterasu is, how predictably like “that kind of straight girl”, how she’s “curious” in comparison to out queer characters. And every single fucking comment feels like a slap in the face from an otherwise friendly fandom.

Guess what? Orientation and attraction are not inherently moral. There is obvious merit to calling attention to queer virtue, to the beauty and power and strength of our people, in response to centuries of being told we’re all degenerate and sick, disgusting and unholy. But just as straightness is no sign of either good or evil, so too is a woman-loving-woman inherently a good person. Amaterasu isn’t exactly an aberration among wealthy white queers either, as the many blatant and highly public instances of racism and antisemitism on display at Pride this year can attest.

Positive representation is diverse. If she were the only character to express same gender attraction in WicDiv, I’d have a whole different set of beefs, and with the text, rather than the interpreters. But she’s not, and she has a specific place and role within the larger narrative. Saying out loud that Amaterasu is bi does not, in fact, erase or ignore or forgive her cultural appropriation or her passive aggressive cruelty. It is, in fact, possible for her to be attracted to women, uncomfortable with performing specific sex acts, semi-closeted or nervous about coming out of the closet, and still be a hideously bad person. These qualities are not mutually exclusive. Her having human moments of sympathetic interaction adds human complexity to her character, but it doesn’t actually dismiss her many, many flaws. Acting as though queer characters are only ever good, and characters who are not good can thus not possibly be queer, strips huge layers of nuance out of analysis of a highly nuanced text. Plus, you know, it’s pretty fucking textbook bi erasure, and (unintentionally I’m sure) viciously biphobic. 

*Sigh* And before everyone chimes in to tell me how they’re bi and they don’t think Ammy is and they’re perfectly comfortable calling her straight, please. Don’t. Don’t bother pointing at “Curiosity” as the interstitial in 28, don’t bother to give me whatever you think Gillen meant by that or your own personal experiences of straight girls breaking your heart while pretending to be bi. I am pointing out a Thing, and honestly no, I can’t actually stop you from doing or saying whatever the hell you want. But it is a Thing, and worth pointing out. And having seen three separate posts in two days make that kind of snide comment, and having had one day honestly kind of ruined by that (yes, I do blow things epically out proportion and fixate on the negative, why do you ask?) and my heart start fucking racing over it, I’d just. Like to get this off my chest, you know?

My apologies; this is barely coherent and deeply uncharitable, and I know I’m breaking my own rules of assuming good faith as often as possible, but I’ve had my blood pressure skyrocket over a casual comment in a tumblr post one too many times in an already ridiculous and aggravating week, so here you all go.

[poopingthoughts]

Sentences And Words I Would Steal From Issac Asimov’s Foundation #1

Page numbers depicting my copy for self reference.

* marked things are important to memorise right away. 

SENTENCES

With a little dread curled gently in his stomach. (p—10)

It ended up being nothing more than a trifling jar, a little internal kick which ceased an instant before he could be sure he had felt it. (p—10)

He hadn’t expected to have to wait longer: (p—12) [because I’d have written he hadn’t expected he’d would have to wait longer]

Gaal moved, seeing the flowing twists of air suspended high in

nothingness and reading ‘TAXlS TO ALL POINTS’.

He said, ‘I am Hari Seldon,’ an instant before Gaal’s befuddled brain placed the face alongside the memory of the many times he had seen it in pictures. (pg—20), similar - point 2.

There was a rising buzz of conversation at that which swept the tanks of the peers in the audience and invaded even the row of commissioners. (pg-32)

There were expired breaths in the gathering (pg-36)

Negligently, he turned the papers upon his desk with his fingertips, so that they would face Sheldon. (pg-37)

Haut Rodric nodded through the smoke of his first lusty puffs.

Hardin groaned in spirit. (59)

He lifted the corner of this mouth in a sour half smile (69)

He stared from one to the other and they gazed fixedly at him. (75)

Hardin fumbled for a cigar almost automatically, but thought better of it. (79)

He’s foaming at the mouth with eagerness to attack foundation (97)

His voice chocked off at the twist of his uncle’s lip. (106)

* Salvor Hardin didn’t travel to planet Anacreon - from which plane the kingdom derived its name - immediately (the word immediately was a big sentence turner based on how story was going).

collapsed into a chair with a windy sigh (137)

ward off attacks (138)

A week to wind a weary way (144)

Careful and nauseating milking for the flourishing signature that was the pathway to the next official one higher up (144)

Ponyets winced without showing it (145)

The Askonian ruler sucked thoughtfully at his lower lip (147)

There’s no merit in discipline under ideal circumstances (177)

Commdor’s house’s approaches (doors) were guarded (185)

Brown arms were thrown up and out, and the muscles tautened into a stretch, then faded into repose (state of rest) (207)

a scene sprang to view, in colour, in three dimensions, in every attribute of life but life itself. (218)

Stretched his claws upward, while falling sleeves hung half-way (220)

Mallow shouted over the tumult, roaring against the noise. (221)

WORDS

Clamber — Climb or move in an awkward and laborious way.

They ought to start as soon as they‘re weaned and have the trip once a week — accustom to food other than its mother’s milk. (p—18)

Coterie - a small group of people with shared interests or tastes, especially one that is exclusive of other people. (pg—23)

Wilt — become limp through heat, loss of water or disease / droop / lose energy, vigour or confidence. (pg—25)

Gaal ground (also minded ) his teeth — pp. and simple past of ground.

Quibble - A slight objection or criticism (pg-29).

His words were heard by the hissing of the voice carried a certain asperity - harshness of tone or manner

The sound was that of a mellow gong. When the reverberations ceased, the gabble of the audience also did. - gabble - talk rapidly and unintelligibly.

Vicissitude - a change of circumstances or fortune, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant.

Interregnum - A period where normal government is suspended especially between successive reigns or regimes (pg-34)

Lore - a body of traditions and knowledge on a subject or held by a particular group, typically passed from person to person by word of mouth (pg-34)

Vagaries - An unexpected and inexplicable change in a situation or in someone’s behaviour. (pg-35)

Peevish - Having/showing an irritable disposition.

Querulously - complaining in a rather petulant (childishly sulky and bad tempered) or whining manner. (pg-46)

Phlegmatically - compose, calm; not easily excited into action or display of emotion. (pg-46) also see 76

*Complaisant - willing to please others or accept what they do or say, without protest. (pg-49)

*Complacent - showing smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one’s achievements. (65)

Acumen - The ability to make good judgements and take quick decisions. (pg-50)

Disconcert - disturb the composure of; unsettle (pg-50)

Detest - dislike intensely (pg-50)

Teetering one’s chair back on two legs - move or balance unsteadily, sway back and forth.

Nub - the crux or central point of matter. (pg-54)

Sneer - A contemptuous or mocking smile, remark or tone. (pg-55)

*Insufferable - too extreme to bear, intolerable

Fiendish - (informal) - extremely awkward or complex.

Devious - showing a skilful use of underhand tactics to achieve goals (pg-57)

Capitulate - yield (pg-57)

Pliable - flexible (57)

Pomposity - self importance.

 Hardin snickered below his breath - give a smothered or suppressed laugh.

* Ponderous (voice (in the book)) - slow and clumsy because of great weight (61)

Fara had a trick of uttering the most obvious platitudes (a remark or statement, esp. one with moral content that has been used too often to be interested or thoughtful) with great profundity (great depth, insight or knowledge)

Pontifical: Overblown, pompous

Sideburns

Whereat - at which (pg-63)

Intercede - Intervene on behalf of the other (67)

Drivel, Balderdash - nonsense (73, 92)

Sibilant monosyllables - making or characterised by hissing sound.

Virility - The quality of having strength, energy. (80)

*Bristly yellow moustache - (of hair or foliage) having a stiff and prickly texture (87)

Alacrity - Brisk and cheerful readiness (89)

Morbid interest - characterised by an abnormal and unhealthy interest in disturbing and unpleasant subjects such as disease and death (90)

Perfunctory - Carried out without real interest (93)

Putsch - a violent attempt to overthrow a govt., coup

Epigram - A Pithy (terse and vigorous) saying or remark expressing an idea in a clever or amusing way.

Apocryphal - of doubtful authenticity although widely circulated as being true. (94)

Saunter - Walk in a slow relaxed manner.

*Inveigh - persuade to do something by flattery / deception

*Egregious - Outstandingly bad; shocking.

Derelict battle cruiser - in a very poor condition as a result of disuse or neglect. (98)

Trifle - a thing of little value or importance.

Nebulous - hazy

And then only because he, Verisof, had balked at further appeasement - hesitate or be unwilling to accept an idea or undertaking. (101)

And not one had left without at least one effort to pit his skill with air speedster and needle gun against the feathered flying fortress they call the Nayakbird (103) - set someone or sth in conflict or competition with.

Sardonic - grimly mocking on cynical (105)

Machination, stratagem - plot / sheme (107, )

* Peremptory - insistent on immediate attention or obedience, esp. in a brusquely imperious ( arrogant and domineering ) way (110), also see 59.

Dissent - the holding or expression of opinions at variance with those commonly or officially held.

Officiously - assertive of authority in a domineering way, esp. with regard to trivial matters. also see, 57.

Assiduously - with great care and perseverance (113)

* Muff (v) - handle situation, task or opportunity clumsily or badly

Incipient dawn - beginning to happen or develop (116)

lumbering effort - moving in a slow, heavy, awkward way, also see 31

Exalted nobility - at a high or powerful level. (120)

shouting oneself to near apoplexy - unconsciousness or incapacity resulting from cerebral haemorrhage or stroke.

Dowager - a window with a title or property derived from her late husband.

Lorgnette - a pair of glasses or opera glasses held in front of a person’s eyes by a long handle at one side. (121)

* Discommode - cause (someone) trouble or inconvenience. (123)

Interdict - an authoritative prohibition in particular (124)

Exhort - strongly encourage or urge to do something.

* Bespangle - cover or adorn with sth that glitters or sparkles

Din - loud unpleasant and prolonged voice.

Rabble - Disorderly crowd or mob (126)

Miasmic - filled with vapour. (131)

Mountebank - Charlatan

Hardin listened stolidly - having or revealing little emotion or sensibility; not easily around or excited. also see 15

Whereupon  - immediately after which (134)

Rout - a disorderly retreat (135)

Tenuous - very weak or slight

Snug - comfortable, warm and cosy. (141)

Ponyets could have handled them at a pinch (idiom) : said of a challenging but a potentially workable situation. (144)

Deplorable - deserving condemnation, completely unacceptable.

Straggled red moustache - grow, spread or be laid out in an irregular, untidy way (151)

* Ponyets felt himself botching it - carry out a task badly or carelessly

Facile - superficial.

* Affront - an action or remark that causes outrange or offence. (153)

* Overhaul - take apart (a piece of machinery or equipment in order to examine it)

Gibber - speak rapidly and unintentionally, typically through fear or shock.

* Inviolate - free or safe from injury or violence. (166)

Disaffection - a state of feeling of being dissatisfied esp. with people in authority of a system of control.

Stolid - calm, dependable, and showing little emotion or animation, also see 15, 76

Flank, v. - to be on each or one side of (176)

Husky - sounding low pitched and slightly hoarse (177)

Supplication - The action of asking or begging for something earnestly or humbly.

Raucous - disturbingly hard and loud voice. ( native browser search for voice) (179)

His breath was a harsh rap in his nostrils - a harsh grating noice. (180)

The speaker blared and forestalled Mallow’s answer (...) - prevent or obstruct by taking advanced action.

* Snuffle - breathe noisily through the nose due to cold or crying. (182)

* Inordinately - excessively 

Unfitting - not suitable

Plaintive whine - sounding sad and mournful

Blazon - display prominently / vividly (192)

Legerdemain - skilful use of one’s hands when performing conjuring tricks. (192)

Garrulous - excessive talking (195)

Iniquity - immoral or grossly unfair behaviour (199)

Bleat

Coax

Swathe 

Odious - extremely unpleasant, repulsive (221)

Coddle - treat someone in an indulgent and overprotective way (221)

Asper Argo, the Well-Beloved, Commdor of the Korellian Republic greeted his wife’s entry by a hangdog - having a dejected or guilty appearance; shamefaced

Epithet - an adjective or phrase expressing a quality or attribute regarded as characteristic of the person or thing mentioned (223)

Dotage - period of life in which person is old and weak (224)

VERBS and ADJECTIVES

Avakim smiled frostily, and it turned out that there was room for it on his thin face after all. His cheeks wrinkled to make the room

‘But then’, interposed Sutt, (...) - place or insert between one thing and another.

Weary Patience

He indulged in a dry chuckle

Rebellious silence (109)

Wienis said thickly, ‘we can hold out, devil. We’ll last the day. Let the mov howl and let the power die, but we’ll hold out. (128)

Laughed tearingly (135)

Animated discussion (136)

down curved smile (154)

he muttered soundlessly to himself (200)

Cooly contemptuous (204)

giggled nervously (205)

stripped to the skin (207)

cold lack of appreciation (208)

spoke with difficult lack of anger (210)

eyes which seemed to retreat into their sockets.

being at sea (218)

She said in a voice as sleek as her hair and as cold as her eyes (223)

shuffled feet wearily (225)

[litbits]

2017 Reading Round-Up, #6-10

6. The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante, trans. Ann Goldstein (Europa Editions, 2008, original 2006)

Ferrante’s last short novel before embarking on the Neapolitan quartet. The seeds of that project are planted here - a woman trying to make sense of her life after her daughters have grown up and left home. There’s a tension throughout as she watches a Neapolitan family on the beach every day, relating to a woman playing with her daughter, and also sensing the violence that could erupt when the patriarch is around, a tension that increases as she becomes involved in a strange way. A visual theme emerges of dark insects marring a picture-perfect scene (a black moth in a seaside bedroom, a worm coming out of a doll’s mouth) that seem pointed and unflinching, like much of Ferrante’s work.

7. Susan Sontag: The Complete Rolling Stone Interview by Jonathan Cott (Yale University Press, 2013)

A full transcription of a multi-part interview Cott conducted with Sontag in 1978, which was only excerpted at the time.  (It ends up stretching into a book of 130 pages!) Sontag seems fun, and funny, via this interview. She admits her own contradictions, because of her commitment to constant change. She talks about how rock and roll (Bill Haley and the Comets), the energy of it, made her change her life and find the one she actually wanted to live in the late 50s (leaving her marriage and the academic life behind). They toss around fascinating takes on stuff like: how and why the fragment speaks particularly to our time; what is a miracle; why ritual require silence; loving both “high” and “low” art; being fundamentally Californian or East Coast; how people want to drift towards (over)simplifying, and why complexity has to be kept alive, etc…

8. Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City by Russell Shorto (Vintage, 2013)

This was a fun history of the city - not comprehensive, as the title indicates, but rather exploring the roots of Amsterdam’s liberalism, in the widest sense of the word (including capitalist enterprise, for example). The author pipes up with his own opinions and as a character, in a way, in the history he’s telling. This personal authorial intervention isn’t too obnoxious, but I wouldn’t say is entirely necessary either.

9. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (Riverhead, 2017)

This novel was definitely written in response to the migrant crisis, and I liked how he pushed it into a speculative space of new possibility, rather than simply reflecting the depressing present. I had some minor quibbles - the epilogue, for example, which I had to pretend didn’t exist, the book ended so well otherwise. I also wondered at his very deliberate choice to keep his protagonists from being specifically Syrian or Muslim (although based on the details they might as well have been described as such). I guess this was underscore their “everyman-ness,” but in a way, it has the opposite effect. It would have been a strong statement to have “openly” Muslim characters in a novel with a largely Western readership, especially when every other location and character was grounded in specifics (named cities and nationalities). I remember a beautiful passage about what prayer meant, and had meant over time, to the more devout male character, for example, that made me understand Muslim prayer better. Anyway, a powerful novel, and I’m glad it’s gotten a lot of attention and people are reading it.

10. A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit (Canongate, 2005)

Essays on what it means to get lost, both purposefully (like Baudelaire in the city), and unintentionally, as a Spanish explorer separated from his group in pre-conquest America, and what you find when you’re found. Lost in a color, as Yves Klein, lost in another person. Solnit’s a phenomenal writer. I think she’s stronger when she writes about subjects other than herself (and she mostly doesn’t write about herself), perhaps because she maintains a final filter, a  reticence to fully reveal her personal life. My favorite essay was on Cabeza de Vaca, and her own re-telling and re-contextualizing of what the “new world” was when the Spanish arrived, and how they missed it altogether. I love the way she is open to any subject, draws connections, and parallels. Her curiosity and love of history, art, anthropology, fiction, film, etc. etc. is invigorating. (She is also one of my favorite activist voices at the moment - everyone should follow her on FB.) I’ve read a lot of her work online, but this is the first book of hers I’ve read, and I’m excited there are many more to eat up.

[glitchinthesystemspiderbyte]

[6] Glitch in the System - A Secret Worth Sharing (Secret Part 1)

By E. A conscience happens.

–

When Sombra woke up, she woke up angry. Two weeks ago Akande had sent Widowmaker off on some sort of mission and then vanished himself, leaving her and Gabriel to butt heads in their absence. She’d been good about avoiding him, but run-ins happened regardless, and she was quickly running out of sarcasm and clever comebacks to his biting commentary criticising everything she did. Usually she had Widowmaker to act as a reluctant mediary, if only to dilute the situation with her own unintentionally dry humor.

For the most part, though, she was mad because it took her a solid half day to miss the spider’s presence.

After a furtive trip to the kitchen for breakfast, her boredom drove her to idly review her files, from Gabriel’s to Akande’s, to various members of Overwatch to her own poorly-supplemented data. Through it all, she kept avoiding a review of the sniper’s. She’d read it enough by now that she could practically recite it verbatim, anyway, and no additional overview would shed brighter light onto her unfortunate situation.

Despite this, she hadn’t shared it with Widowmaker. Not a word - not so much as a subtle dog-whistle while they were out in Venice, which was her very favorite form of talking around people: overtly stating something they knew related to them, but not necessarily how. There was a power in knowing secrets about others, and even more in letting them know you knew.

Not for Amélie Lacroix. For some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to mock the assassin for the life she’d had ripped from her along with the ability to mourn its loss. She’d found no real pleasure in holding her past over her head, and she’d certainly tried. It just didn’t seem worth it when the only response she ever got was a deadpan lack of any shits to give, if she received any recognition at all. Talon’s personality wipe might not have been perfect, but it was comprehensive enough to turn Widowmaker into the perfect killer they’d needed.

Now they had her, and after many long, frustrating nights of contemplation, Sombra was tired of that being the case. Truth be told, the more she learned about Talon, the less she liked them, but their reckless disregard for the law and order of the world was just too easy for her to exploit. She’d help them persist - for now. She was too close to something else - something much larger than Talon, Vishkar, or even Overwatch - to leave now.

But the details of Widowmaker’s reconditioning weighed on her mind like a heavy shroud. She didn’t know why. It wasn’t like her to care.

She parsed through her own thoughts, assessing the variable, and assuring herself that she was not, in fact, giving up. This was not a case in which she’d determined that the goal was too far to reach. Hell - she’d been chipping away at Helix’s firewall for years and hadn’t once considered giving up.

This was something else entirely. It wasn’t that she couldn’t continue prodding, needling, and extracting emotions from the cold spider’s broken mind. At first she had viewed the curious case of Amélie Lacroix as the greatest challenge of her career; a nanocognitive network of fascination blending her love of social engineering and physical technological hacking into one single, sad organism. And she was so close all the time, it would have been an impossibly tempting project to ignore.

So no - it was not that she couldn’t break the Talon operative down to her composite, precious parts. It was just that, over the past few weeks or so, she realized she simply didn’t want to.

Flopping irritably on her bed, she generated the holographic display she preferred to use for her more sensitive work, networked directly through her cybernetics, making any activity therefore untraceable. In general, she used it for complex Talon hacking operations, or complex anti-Talon hacking operations.

Today she used it to chat up an old friend.

Hey, she typed, fingers flying across the hard light keyboard as she looked up at it from her prone position. What’s up?

Hey! Not much, holding down the fort while Arenas is out. Did you hear Doomfist escaped from jail? came the answer, typed cumbersomely over a physical keyboard. She could tell from the click rate.

No way, that’s wild, she replied, smiling at the casual ignorance of her companion on the other side of the world. Los Muertos may have bought her skills, but they’d earned her respect, and she’d parted ways with more than a few friends she liked to catch up with from time to time. Can I ask you something?

Always.

She thought hard on what to say, her brain picking and tossing words in rapid succession before she decided on a sentence to type. I have a friend. She’s in some shit, and she knows it, but not sure if she knows the extent to which she’s being manipulated. I don’t know whether ignorance is bliss or a burden in this case.

And I assume you have all the answers, yes? her friend replied.

In six backup drives and a manila folder, obviously.

Comprehensive. Can’t tell whether this is a problem with a job or a girlfriend, destellita.

Ugh, I hate that nickname. She paused, fingers hovering in mid air. It’s complicated.

With you? Never.

She rolled her eyes, feeling the sarcasm behind the text as poignantly as if it were spoken out loud.

Before she could retort, she could see that her friend was typing, and waited for a response. Show it to her. It’s not yours to keep, and you’re not doing her any favors by protecting her from her own past if it’s actively coloring her present. You should know this very well, little spark.

I guess you’re right.

I’m always right.

Sombra smirked, but didn’t contest the statement. All right, I’ve got to run, viejo.

With age comes wisdom. Stay safe, Sombra.

You too, she replied, smiling as she swiped a hand across the hologram, vanishing it from her sight. It was a short lived smile, however. She hopped from the bed to grab Widowmaker’s file and tucked it under her arm.

Exhaling to steel her nerves, she marched out of her room, down the hall, and into Widowmaker’s. She had her own copy - she had seven of her own copies - but her friend was right: it was not a secret that was hers to keep. She’d seen the way in which Talon had neutered Widowmaker’s ability to feel anything more the vaguest emotions, and at first she’d found it fascinating; amusing even, if you viewed Widowmaker as a pawn in a game you were invested in winning. But Sombra had never viewed Talon’s game as her own, and despite her association, didn’t much care whether they succeeded or failed so long as she got what she needed in the process.

As for Widowmaker? She realized she’d stopped viewing her as a test subject a long time ago. It had just taken her until now to understand her complicity in the matter.

Now it just made her angry.

And very, very sad.

Placing the dossier on the sniper’s desk, she started to arrange it before realizing that there was no way to pleasantly display something as raw and vile as what was contained therein. Instead she simply left a note and placed it on top.

Araña. You’re not going to like this. I’m sorry. - S

*Read from the beginning or check out our intro post! All stories tagged under #glitchfic

[theengineeringknowledge-blog]

Synchronous Motor Power Correction

Hello friends, I hope all of you are having fun in your life. In today's tutorial, we are gonna have a look at Synchronous Motor Power Correction. Synchronous motor is such a machine that can operate at unity, lagging and leading P.F but induction motor operates only on lagging P.F. The synchronous motor P.F varies with a variation in field current. If it increases the value of P.F shifts from lagging (inductive) to unity and then becomes capacitive (leading). This feature of motor at working different P.Fs used in power system to improve the P.F. When the motor operates for power factor correction then there is no load connected with it. It excited in such a way that it increases the power factor of the system means to make it leading. In this case, this motor is recognized as a synchronous condenser. In industries the induction motor is generally used, when induction motor is connected with a full load it has 0.8 lagging P.F. Due to variation of loads, the value of P.F of this motor decreases to 0.6 lagging, but this not good for appliances connected with the motor to operates at such low P.F. For the improvement of P.F synchronous motor (condenser) is connected in parallel with an induction motor for power factor improvement. In today’s post, we will discuss how synchronous motor installed in a system for power factor improvement. So let’s get started with Synchronous Motor Power Correction.  Synchronous Motor Power Correction In the given figure, you can see that the output of the infinity bus bar (large power system) is connected with the industrial load by the transmission line.

There are 3 loads connected with it first 2 are induction motors having lagging P.F and 3rd is a synchronous motor that has unity, lagging and leading P.F. For understanding the P.F variation and effects of these three loads we solve a numerical problem. Whose statement is written here. In the above figure, you can see that an infinity bus bar (large power system) is operating at four-eighty (480) volts. First induction motor connected with this system consuming two-hundred kilowatt (200kw) having 0.78 lagging power factor, second induction motor using two hundred kilowatts (200kw) at o.8 lagging power factor. The synchronous motor using 150-kilowatt real power so we have to find these three conditions. If synchronous motor operating at 0.85 lagging power factor then what the value of transmission line? If synchronous motor operating at 0.85 leading power factor then the value of current will be? If the power loss of transmission line is given. PLL =3I2LRL What will be effect of these losses on first two conditions? Solution You can see in above-given figure that the active power of first induction motor is a hundred kilowatts (100kw) and its reactive power Q is given as. Q1=P1tanø =(100kw)tan (cos-178) =(100kw)tan38.70 =80.2KVAR The value of active power of second induction motor is two hundred kilowatts (200kw) so its reactive power will be. Q2=P2tanø =(200kw)tan (cos-180) =(200kw)tan36.870 =150KVAR The synchronous motor’s active power is one-fifty (150) so its reactive power will be. Q3=P3tanø =(150kw)tan (cos-185) =93kVAR If we add active powers of these three loads than we have. Ptot= P1 + P2 +P3 =100kw +200kw+150kw =450kw So total reactive power will be. Qtot = Q1 + Q2 +Q3 Qtot=80.2KVAR +150KVAR + 93kVAR =323.2KVAR The corresponding system power factor is given as. F =cosø= cos (tan-1(Q/P)) = cos (tan-1(2KVAR/450kw)) =cos35.70= 0.812 lagging So the line current will be. IL=Ptot/VLcosø =(450 kW)/(480V)(0.812) =667 ampers b). the active and reactive powers (Q) of induction motor are constants while synchronous motor’s power is varying. So reactive power of the synchronous motor will be given as. Q3 = P3tan(ø) =(150 kW) tan (-cos-l85) =(150 kW) tan (-31.8°) =-93KVAR So total real power will be. Ptot = P1 + P2 + P3 = 100 kW + 200 kW + 150 kW = 450kW And total reactive power is. Qtot= Q1+Q2+ Q3 = 80.2 kVAR + 150 kVAR - 93 kVAR =137.2 kVAR The corresponding system power factor is. F =cosø= cos (tan-1(Q/P)) = cos (tan-1(2KVAR/450kw)) =cos16.60= 0.957 lagging So transmission line losses is. IL=Ptot/VLcosø =(450 kW)/(480V)(0.957) =566 ampers C). so line losses in the first case are given as. PLL=3I2LRL =3(376A)2 RL =1344700RL In the second case line losses will be. PLL=3I2LRL =3(566A)2 RL =961070RL You can see that power loss in second case is 28% less than the first case but the power is similar in these 2 cases. You can observe from this example problem that adjustment the P.F of loads in system also disturbs the efficiency of system. With the decrement in P.F causes to increment in losses of line delivering power to the loads. In industries mostly loads are induction motors so the P.F of system will be lagging. The existence of a synchronous motors system provides some benefits to a system that are described here. Synchronous Motor Importance For Industries If there is such load industry like a synchronous motor that has leading P.F can provide Q to adjacent lagging P.F load, instead to use separate generator used for reactive power.

Due to easy access of reactive power for lagging power industries by synchronous motor decreases power losses that will occur if we get reactive power from some distant generator. As this power has to come by transmission line due to its resistance some power loss will occur in traveling to load. Like we discussed in above-given example. As the transmission lines transmit a lesser amount current, they can be reduced for a given rated power movement. A lower apparatus current rating decreases the price of a power system meaningfully. synchronous motor is used in a system to improve P.F then it should be in over-excited condition. It will enhance the extreme (maximum) torque and decreases the possibility of unintentionally surpassing the pullout torque. The implementation of synchronous motors or any other device for the improvement of power factor of system is known as a power-factor correction. As a synchronous motor can deliver an improvement of P.F and decreases the price of a system, numerous loads that can take a constant-speed motor are operates by synchronous motors. Though the price of synchronous motor higher than induction motor due to its complex circuit and separate field excitation, its power factor improvement ability makes it effective for industries because it saves amount that used due to lagging power factor. Precaution for Synchronous Motor USE The synchronous motor used in industries for power factor improvements and high pullout torque has to operate in over-excited conditions. For this, overexcitation there is a need of a large amount of field current that also generates heats in the motor’s rotor. So during overexcitation, we should set field current at such value that cannot produce heating in the machine. It this complete post on the Synchronous Motor Power Correction I have mentioned each and everything related to this topic. If you have any questions about it ask in comments. See you in the next tutorial.     Read the full article