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The Incredible Hulk (1968) #226
#oh I remember this guy it’s been ages#hmm I don’t think we’ve seen the Hulk access Bruce’s memories prior to the gamma accident before#I really like this conceptually#like it gives Bruce’s life depth#to see someone he has a close relationship with prior to becoming the Hulk try to reach out to him#as well as a friend he made afterwards#throughout this the Hulk is just reacting in his usual emotionally way#he threatens the old professor because he’s offended that the guy called him ‘Bruce’#even when he realizes that he’s doing wrong and that he’s turning his friends against him#he reacts by stomping his foot which of course wouldn’t be as big of a deal for anyone else#but with the Hulk it’s very serious because he’s so physically powerful#the Hulk doesn’t have ill intent but my gosh he needs help#because the consequences of his actions are negatively affecting everyone including himself#and growing and changing entirely on his own isn’t exactly easy#or else he’d have done it years ago cause the consequences of his own actions hurting himself isn’t anything new#marvel#bruce banner#jim wilson#my posts#comic panels
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The main thing I have against Spotlight: Hot Rod is that it portrays him as being constantly weighed down by past losses and guilt, to the extent that he even limits himself for fear of facing the potential negative consequences that his misjudgement might inflict onto others - the "prefer to go solo" line - when it contradicts the very essence of his character as established in MTMTE and the main comics (even Autocracy), which specifically presents him as the type of person who is unburdened by the past and for the most part consciously remains unaffected by the consequences of his actions. It's why he has a perpetual Peter Pan thing going on, because he moves on from one day to the next, one crisis to the next, for four million years without letting the experiences change him - which includes the experiences of deaths and sufferings of both himself and others - and maturity and growth cannot be achieved without change.
His impulsiveness and headstrong obstinacy is in part a compensation mechanism for insecurity and subconscious self-doubt but is also an intrinstic aspect of who he is, someone who plows onward while refusing to look back. He can feel sorry but he does not do regret, much less mire himself in it like his spotlight appears to suggest. As a matter of fact he doesn't mire himself in anything at all - be it politics, responsibility, or guilt. He doesn't regret Nyon, nor Ironhide, nor Optimus' resignation, nor leaving Cybertron, nor trusting Megatron. Not even the Overlord incident, since although he does feel bad for his poor decision getting a bunch of people killed, in the end the biggest issue that he has with it is the 89/101 voting result (which isn't even solely about Overlord).
It's obvious that he wants - expects - to stay as captain in spite of everything and having the vote cut so close got him hard because it's a blow to his ego. He practically admits to this when Optimus calles him out, which again is in direct contradiction to his spotlight monologue.
If he's willing to apply this kind of introspection for a failed mission that can’t even be attributed to his fault, then a lot of his later screwups would never have happened.
Choosing to return the Matrix to Optimus is supposed to be a landmark incident of Rodimus' character growth, yet he regresses right back in MTMTE, in which he develops a recursive pattern of messing up, trying to do better by making amends, then returning to his old ways because he can't fully commit. There's no fundamental change going on. I would argue that the true pivotal moment of change to his character took place during his talk with the guiding hand in Mederi, when he first learns to look past himself to accept what's best for other people, how his decisions might affect them etc. - even if it clashes with his own desires.
And then he chooses to save Getaway, and the speech that gave everyone the confidence to open their matrices. There's change and growth and maturity, he learns to fully empathize and appreciate the people around him. But with this growth comes a double-edged sword: by opening himself to connect with other people he leaves himself open to be affected as well - he is irrevocably changed by his experiences aboard the Lost Light, by the people around him he's grown to care about, so that when the Lost Light lands for its inevitable end and everyone departs to pursue their own lives, he alone remains mired in place, with nothing but the past to cling to. After a lifetime of moving on and brushing horrors off without lasting issue he's suddenly unable to move on. The remainder of his life becomes defined by the weight of memories and loss (and the empty comfort of a parallel universe of which its existence he'll never know).
#the Lost Light is his Neverland lol#I was thinking of that quote#blah blah life never gives anything for nothing and a price is always exacted for what fate bestows#anyways this started as a one-star review for spotlight hot rod and then got off topic. again. for the umpteenth time#I'm aware that inconsistent characterization is a common thing for this kind of long comics with multiple writers#but for the most part I find Rodimus' character to be fairly compatible throughout the different series#transformers#idw transformers#maccadam#mtmte#rodimus#hot rod
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[5]
Caught up in the moment I forgot to comment on Fai’s open affection in holding Lava Lamp’s face before, so here it is again. HEALING.
I'm obsessed actually that the response from both of them was PHYSICAL. Lava Lamp expected them to physically attack him, and he would have accepted that, and they DO respond physically but turn it around into an affectionate gesture instead.
Something about the fact that Lava Lamp, with his guilt and self blame, opens himself up to destruction, but Fai and Kurogane (the people he thinks deserves to kill him the most) use the language he's expecting to show him the opposite of his expectations. They don't hate him, they love him. They don't blame him, they're on his side.
Obsessed with this inversion.
Meanwhile Fai manages to reassure Lava Lamp, tease Kurogane, AND explain their thought processes all at once.
Because ONE of them needs to be able to communicate clearly with words, and it's certainly not the other two!
OOH YES HERE WE GO.
Fai summarised it much faster than I could ever.
Please add me to the list of people that Fai needs to save through his short and clear explanations.
Fai includes Lava Lamp’s guilt as something too much for him to be fairly assigning to himself. To assume that HE ALONE is responsible for every single bad thing that has ever happened IS far beyond the limits of logic, and to let yourself feel guilty for Everything Ever is an unfair price to put on himself as well. Fai’s kind smile goes miles towards showing that they personally know all the tragedy that has happened since the events Lava Lamp began, but if THEY don’t blame Lava Lamp, then he shouldn’t either.
AND THEN WE GET TO KUROGANE EVERYONE SIT DOWN
Kurogane admits that he would probably make the same choice.
BECAUSE HE DID.
Or at least he did a very nice parallel to it, if not quite on the same scale.
In Acid Tokyo, Kurogane was faced with the choice of following Fai’s wishes and letting him die or breaking the rules to save his life. I'm not sure if this is officially labelled a taboo by the text, but removing someone's say in the matter and turning them into a vampire against their will certainly feels like a taboo at the very least.
Either way, Kurogane chose to break the rules to save Fai. (And his wording here specifies that he had already decided to "protect" Fai BEFORE that moment as well, which I love endlessly yes please. Even before the Acid Tokyo climax Kurogane had already included Fai in the circle of people he loves)
Kurogane paid the negative consequences of his actions too. But he still did it, doesn’t regret it, and would do it again. So his choices are analogous to Lava Lamp’s.
Fai is the same. When Evil Wolverine offered him a deal that went against the laws of the universe (bringing someone back to life is certainly a taboo), Fai took the deal. He went along with Evil Wolverine’s evil plan in order to save his loved one - it just didn’t pan out all the way.
So, all three of these characters WOULD and HAVE made the same call on this exact topic. Break a taboo, save your loved one.
So if ANYONE was going to relate to Lava Lamp, it’s these two.
And it helps that they also love him.
#How interesting that they all have such similar choices#And all face such suffering as a result#And yet it ALL stemmed from One Stupid Man#Who did this all TO them#But without that they never would have found each other either#Liveblogging the reservoir chronicle#Tsubasa#Vol 203#Kurogane#Fai#Lava Lamp Guy
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Victor and the Time Observers- Analysis
It’s finally here! This post is based on a question asked about the Time Observers and what their relations with Victor was! I deeply apologise to the anon for this response taking too long. I wanted each of my posts to be able to reach a standard where it’s adequate enough to satisfy me and most importantly the readers. Contains lots of spoilers, please do not read if you would not like to be exposed to future content! Here we go! ⏱
The Observer Effect definition-
"The observer effect is the disturbance of an observed system by the act of observation."
Who are the Time Observers?
“What is “intervention”, “correction”, “destiny”? Can we really figure out the mystery behind it?”
The Time Observers is an independent third party under the Space and Time Administration. They can travel through time and even tap can even tap into multiple universes/dimensions, such as when seeing MC in Behind the Curtain and when she travels to another universe in the Winter World. They are seen to be using pocket watches as their transportation tickets to other worlds in each timeline.
They were there in the 1908 White House explosion- where Evol was created, where to which Lucien states, “from then on, many futures have already been decided”. This was due to a comet hitting Earth which created a mini-black hole at the same time from the attack of an American hacker who could transmit data through laser pulses. Grandpa Chuck, the original Helios, and the Time Observers were all there. Soft piano music can be heard when they appear.
“Please stop spreading information about the explosion. Your actions have already affected the progress of this world. Someone has become aware of our presence.”
Victor: “Your people aren’t the only ones who can alter the future, Time Observer.”
“You misunderstand. We never alter, we are correctors of history. We want you to join us, your power’s scope of influence has already surpassed the dimension of this current world. Before you are rejected by it…”
Victor: “I will not leave this world.”
“Even if you’ve seen the future of what is all to pass?”
Victor: “No matter what happens, the person I’m seeking for is right here.” -Chapter 6 Black Curtain
Space and Time Administration
“You’re becoming more like the Victor I am familiar with.”
"Really, what’s he like?”
“Powerful enough to control anything… including time.”
The Space and Time Administration is an observation agency independent of all forces. They are noted for not having a guide or workbook- they just know what to do through their observations day by day. Their work is to observe and note statistics of time changes in the timelines, and the butterfly effect that each one produces. (Apparently more than 90% are negative.) Ultimately, their goal to stable the operations of the different worlds on all timelines.
Since Victor’s Evol is strong and has the capability to do more than the Time Observers, he is the one who is deemed the most suitable and more responsible for “grasping the time in the past and the future”. Ever since STF found out about Victor’s Evol, they wanted him to cooperate with them too, because every time he stops time, certain surrounding energy and space changes.
The organisation also entertains the idea of fate, and how things should be refused to be changed. Since they have “seen the future of how the world ends”, they want Victor in cooperating with them in making it stop. Nobody can rewrite the ending among them, except him. Victor refuses to joining because he doesn’t adhere to this idea.
“QUEEN’s return has brought unexpected consequences; the entire collapse of the world is ahead of schedule. The world’s line has come to an end, no matter through time or space, we can no longer interfere in this world.” Was there a difference in letting each world go to the end alone to close all the world lines in the future directly?
Victor: "But since the responsibility of the Space and Time Administration is to prevent the person who rewrites the world ending, don’t you think I am this kind of person? Moreover, the existence of time is objective, but the negative effects are subjective. I doubt 90% of your statistical results.”
"Nobody can maintain the critical value of the stable operation that each world line has reached. Everyone thinks they have done it. In the end, destruction is coming. We are not looking for anything, we are just waiting, waiting for what should happen when it comes to happen.”
ZERO
“In 1908, there was an explosion at the White House in the United States. There were no casualties, but the people there testified that there was no explosion.”
Amongst them, there was a man who looked familiar, but Victor couldn’t remember whether he had met him somewhere or not. He was gripping a pocket watch. Then, the young man left the spot.
The Time Observer Zero in the organisation is one most familiar with Victor, and had observed Victor travel through multiple timelines, consoling with him about his “failures”. He sympathises with him as he believes that the fate of the world cannot be changed, even if Victor tires himself to try otherwise.
“Now the world line is collapsing one by one, we’re running out of time. We can tell you where she is now.”
Time Observers can seemingly also allow others to see into different worlds too, almost how Grandpa Chuck can create and travel into different pocket glass dimensions, but not permanently enter inside. Zero personally lets Victor in.
“You should be aware of the consequences for doing this.”
“I said, my purpose is only one.”
Victor’s tone revealed unquestionable certainty. Zero willingly approached him with his hands stretched out to him.
“However, other matters are my own decision.” -Chapter 18 Rumours and Secrets
Chapter 33-34 Rumours and Secrets
"I’m wondering what happened in the in between- is it the decision of time or is someone interfering?”
He had told me that there was a group of people in the world waiting on various timelines to revise history.
“But amending the fact that has been changed, is it a course of “correction”, or just another “change?”
“But in any case, the end point of all timelines points all the same -this has not changed from the beginning.”
“Her destiny is tied to all timelines and she must walk into the only ending with this world.”
"You are also different.”
Although we found a breakthrough, this situation really caused us a lot of headaches: she who should not have survived and she should not have been sent to other worlds. As a result, it would seriously interfere and disrupt the timeline. No one had done it before, and no one except Victor could do it.
In disbelief, we weighed it and threw the olive branch- as long as he is willing to cooperate, we will help him find her. As decisive as he was to refuse a few times before, this time he had promised me without thinking. And for a moment, I didn’t know if his decisiveness was good or bad.
Once they had seen that MC was able to defy all odds in coming back alive and en route to becoming QUEEN, they were willing to fully accept Victor's decisions and perseverance on MC and why she was so important to saving their world, instead of him.
Chapter 35-36 Rumours and Secrets
Occasionally, Victor would visit the organisation and observe his hometown world, before Judgement Day. They watch as other worlds collapse and fade away.
Time is best at consuming people’s patience. He will understand that in accordance to the next decade, a century, a thousand years, that the world is just one of our many observation objects. At the end of limitless time- the only thing we can’t do is to change the past that doesn’t belong to us.
Victor doesn’t care about this price- he is more concerned with whether he can prevent the death of the girl in every unpredictable future.
"At least only in the Space and Time Administration can you repair your abilities. This, you know better than me.”
“But you can be rest assured that even if you still intend to return to that world after the deadline, the time flow rate there is a month. But if you stay here, you can continue to look for that ending.”
At that moment, full of hope and courage, I crossed the timeline again without hesitation. This time, he accepted Zero’s invitation.
The white crown slowly fell on the girl’s head, and the thin shadow almost turned into a phantom in the white light.
“The person who can save the world… is not me, but her. As for myself, I know my ending line and how much pain I can bear better than anyone. I would rather take such a risk.”
Zero looked at him without a word, and sighed heavily for a long time.
“Time is up.”
Judgement day arrives- to trigger the beginning of Season 2.
#恋与制作人#love and producer#mlqc#mr love queens choice#mlqc translation#mlqc analysis#mlqc cn#mlqc en#mlqc spoilers#mlqc victor#victor#li zeyan
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Qibli has a terrible arc
HEAR ME OUT.
Before you attack me for this, I genuinely don’t care if you like or hate him. I never loved him, but he wasn’t as bad as moon. Sometimes he’s funny, I like his interactions with winter, but I never really cared about him. But the way his mind was described in moon rising made me excited for his pov in book 10.
Then I read it and realized that he’s a boring, whiny, obsessive character who I was immediately sick of.
Darkness of dragons as a whole is a fucking mess from start to finish. And because I have nothing better to do right now, im going to explain why.
This is all my opinion, and it is based on story structure and character arc guidelines and stuff that I have learned recently. Feel free to disagree. Qibli is a decent character with his charm and humour, but he has the worst character arc out of all wof books. Yes that includes the hive queen and dragonslayer.
Ok so first, what I like about qibli: like two things: his relationship with winter, and his sense of humour. I like his playful banter with the shiny ice dragon prince. It’s entertaining. And he does have the occasional joke that manages to somewhat amuse me.
Literally everything else about him is awful. So let’s talk about that.
Memorable characters are driven by three main things: desire, fear, and misbelief.
Winter’s misbelief is that his life’s worth is determined by a ranking on a wall and what his tribe thinks of him. This also results in him believing that working with others and expressing love and trust are signs of weakness. He’s afraid of being a disappointment to his tribe because he’s experienced that feeling in his past already, and never wants to face it again. And yet … he does want more. He’s more open and caring than the rest of his family, and in the two backstory scenes we get, it’s clear he’s far more willing to bend the rules to be even a little more free.
Peril’s misbelief is that she’s too dangerous to make her own decisions. Therefore, she’s instantly loyal to anyone who expresses a hint of interest or affection to her. This leads to her being easy to manipulate, and Scarlet does just that. She’s afraid of displeasing the people she’s loyal to, but she does want to be free. But her backstory and eight years of living by Scarlet’s orders and not having a single thought of her own has lead her to subconsciously believe that she constantly has to have someone make all her choices for her. She doesn’t go after Scarlet for her own benefit, it never crosses her mind once. She’s doing it because she knows it will make Clay happy, and not herself.
Turtle always wanted to be a hero. That’s literally in the book blurb. But the Snapper incident in his backstory makes him doubt that he will ever be anything more than just another SeaWing prince. Thanks to his mother’s stories, he believes that in order to be a real hero, he has to do great, epic things like slaying whole armies by himself. He wants to be a hero, but his misbelief and fear of being noticed get in the way of his wants.
And they all grow and overcome their fears and misbeliefs. Winter realizes that his friends would never hurt him the same way his family would. He realizes that it’s okay to love and be loved, to trust and be trusted. He goes back to his friends because he knows that, even if they can be annoying some times, it’s so much better than having his worth determined by a family and tribe that never approved of him and probably never will. Peril discovers that her misbelief is leading her to make the wrong decisions. Her growth is so strong that she can take off an animus touched object. She knows she’s right. She can make her own choices, and she’s done letting others use her as a toy. Turtle saves his sister, not by taking down an army, but by tossing her his enchanted stick to keep her hidden from Darkstalker. In doing that, he’s proven that he’s evolved and changed as a character. They all still have doubts at times, but that’s normal. These three characters have some of the best arcs I’ve ever seen.
Now back to Qibli.
His family told him he was worthless and couldn’t do anything as an ordinary dragon. This sparked the misbelief that he has to have power, or in this world animus magic, to have worth. He’s afraid of being worthless, and wants to feel valuable. That’s a great setup for a great character. Qibli could have, and should have, been one of the best wof characters of all time.
But no he fucking sucks.
I’m going to focus on him as a character here. The Vulture stuff is boring as hell and I don’t care to talk about it. The whole book is shit and I will never read it again, so let’s continue.
Again, Qibli is set up to be an excellent character. When he goes to find Ostrich, he brings with him Anemone’s bracelets, which makes perfect sense. He doesn’t want to be powerless, so of course he’s going to bring that magic, that power, with him. More setup that goes no where, because when he uses them, he doesn’t even face consequences.
Pausing here because I hate it so much.
CONSEQUENCES ARE WHAT MAKE CHARACTERS GROW. If they face ZERO consequences for their actions, they won’t LEARN anything. Qibli using the bracelets works for his character, but I just cannot believe that Thorn would just let him walk away after burying the ENTIRE FUCKING KINGDOM in sand. I hate it so much. Qibli just getting a free pass and facing no consequences is so bad. He doesn’t even express that much remorse or guilt. That could work for a negative character arc (which I genuinely would have preferred from Qibli but I’ll get to that later) but for a positive arc? The magic and power he craves so deeply just got his entire kingdom buried. He should have so much more internal conflict now, because the thing he wants so badly just did more harm than good.
Okay. Next part. This one isnt’ really related to his character arc, just more of him being a kinda jerk for a few seconds. Winter expresses great concern over travelling over Darkstalker’s teeth, and Qibli just teases him about it. Winter has known about Darkstalker’s malice his whole life, was brainwashed by him, and is truly terrified of him. If Qibli had teased him about anything else I wouldn’t have an issue, but Winter was scared for his life in this moment and Qibli just completely ignores it. Or maybe I’m wrong I haven’t touched the book in years because I hate it that much.
Back to his ‘arc’.
Wait no this is an issue I have with the book: the cliffhanger of book 9 was Turtle losing his animus magic and they just kinda fixed it in two seconds here. It’s very upsetting and kinda comical that they fixed it so effortlessly lmao.
Back to Qibli.
Uh nothing happens for a while. Just boring Moonbli WHICH, might I add, is the worst wof ship (excluding problematic ones ofc). They have zero chemistry and honestly I find Qibli a bit obsessive. He always thinks ‘what would Moon do’ or ‘will Moon love me if I do this?’ which yeah it ties into his ‘I want to be loved and have value’ motivation but it still feels a bit excessive and annoying at times. Pair that with his constant nagging about how ‘oh no if only I had that gosh darn scroll!’ or ‘how can moon ever choose meeee when she has winterrrr’. Moon described his mind to be fast and full of commotion, but we never see any of that in this book. It’s just constant whining and complaining.
Then he goes another step further and blames Winter for getting angry at Moon for??? being friends with the dragon who just tried to murder his whole tribe???? Moon’s a fucking idiot for continuing to be friends with Darkstalker after everyone keeps telling her how bad he is. KINKAJOU, HER SUPPOSED BEST FRIEND, tells her all about what Darkstalker did to Turtle, and Moon’s just okay with it??? And then when Winter confronts her about still trusting Darkstalker after everything he’s done not just to the IceWings, but her friends as well, that Darkstalker brainwashed Winter and he’s not okay with it, Qibli calls him self-righteous for exploding with fury. What else do you expect?? This moment killed all three ships for me. It was an unnecessary event that’s only purpose was to give Tui a reason to make Moonbli canon instead of Winterwatcher.
Onto the climax (which by the way is like the only semi decent part of this whole book). Qibli again uses his power to save the day. SERIOUSLY??? Ok fine it makes sense because this book has zero structure whatsoever. Qibli doesn’t have to make the impossible choice at the end of act one. He doesn’t face a goal shift at the midpoint. He doesn’t look a disaster right in the face. You cannot convince me that he’s changed at all over the course of this book.
Because he doesn’t. He uses magic at the climax and boom everything is fixed. I like the concept of the empathy spell but it just doesn’t fit with this kind of character arc, unless it comes before the dark moment and fits into the supposed victory plot-point (thinking again now I think it sort of does but I’m too lazy to go change things so deal with it).
And then oh no we get the temptation plot point! This is often my favourite plot point in stories that have it because we get to see the protagonist drop their misbelief and refuse the offer because they’ve changed! Reading this and thinking, oh wow he’s going to refuse it because he’s gone through a super dynamic character journey and arc!’ … then realizing no he’s not, because Tui forgot to include that and now makes Qibli refuse the offer for completely different reasons.
See in a book with a good character arc, the character will refuse this offer because they’ve outgrown it. They no longer see value in it because they now have something greater to live for. I like this plot point much more than darkest moment if I’m being honest. So Darkstalker offers Qibli all he’s ever wanted: animus magic. Will Qibli accept, or decline? And why?
He declines. But not for the right reasons.
Qibli doesn’t refuse Darkstalker’s offer because he’s changed or grown. He doesn’t refuse it because he now sees no value in this because he’s seen happiness anywhere else. He refuses because he knows he can’t trust Darkstalker.
… wow.
i hate this book so much istg
If Qibli had gone through a dynamic arc, he would have refused for better reasons.
It’s just so disappointing. He has no reason to refuse that other than the fact that Darkstalker is untrustworthy. Holy shit.
I take character arcs and story structure very seriously, and Qibli is just AWFUL when it comes to this.
After three books that had such epic, emotional character arcs, DoD feels like a downgrade. And that’s why I think Qibli is a terrible character.
But hey you know what COULD have worked?? Giving Qibli a NEGATIVE arc instead!
I know he’s Darkstalker’s foil. That’s cool I don’t care. GIVE HIM A NEGATIVE ARC!! I would have LOVED IT SO MUCH MORE if Qibli accepted Darkstalker’s offer and arc 3 was all about all the other protagonists coming together to stop him and Darkstalker. That would have made a much better third arc. And you can bring in the other tribes if you want to I don’t care just find a way to make it work.
It would have made so much more sense and fit the story so much more if Qibli accepted Darkstalker’s offer and became an evil animus alongside him. It also could have given Moonbli more time and chemistry! I still would have shipped Winterwatcher because well, Winter, but I probably wouldn’t hate Moonbli if this was the way the story went. Or maybe Qinter could be a thing. Imagine like a really emotional moment where Qibli is about to kill Winter and Winter just talks to him or something idk something romantic and sad. Would be great because there’s zero mlm rep in wof.
Fuck it I’m gonna make an au about this.
Yeeah that’s my rant over. I don’t hate Qibli as a character and I think he had so much potential but the way the story is written, I honestly thought he would have a negative arc instead. Wow I really want that au now I can’t stop thinking about it haha. But yeah Qibli is charismatic at times and a bit fun but his arc is terrible. Moon had a better arc than Qibli. MOON.
Sorry if this came off as aggressive at times I just wanted to voice my opinion. If you like him, that’s cool! I just don’t. He’s not one of my favourites although he could have been. Missed potential in my opinion. This is a very long rant so if you’re still reading this … thanks lol.
Have a good day/night. Im gonna make that au now lmao.
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How would describe shameless to someone who never heard of it? How would you describe the specific characters?
I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve these super fun asks, but thank you so much! :D It’s funny that you sent this because I did actually describe the show to someone not too long ago, and I didn’t like how I did it in hindsight. I felt like I didn’t do it enough justice. So, I get a second chance to try again!
“How would you describe Shameless to someone who never heard of it?”
Shameless is a show about how life doesn’t always go our way, we don’t always do the right thing, and we’re all imperfect beings—but we still deserve a chance regardless. The Gallaghers begin the series nearly at rock bottom, doing anything they have to for their literal survival, but also to keep their family together. Sometimes that means supporting each other when they’re in a difficult spot, banding together to help their neglectful father even though he doesn’t deserve it, or even committing petty crimes to sustain their meager way of life. As they get older and have more agency in and control over their lives, the nature of their problems shifts, and they learn from their own mistakes rather than reacting to their parents’. The same trends unfold for the people and families in their orbit, showing that various trials and tribulations can impact anyone of any social standing. Not everyone gets a happy ending; not everyone gets what they want. However, they grow and learn how to manage both the hand that they’ve been dealt as well as the bed they’ve made for themselves. That, after all, is life.
Shameless is a “dramedy” where the comedy elements utilize primarily satire, which sets it apart from the popularity of slapstick and dry comedies over the last decade. By nature, the show therefore addresses difficult, uncomfortable, and controversial topics in manners and utilizing methods that are designed to make us laugh at the absurdity while forcing us to think about these topics in ways that we may have avoided otherwise. This format has been established since the pilot episode and certainly is not to everyone’s taste. I wouldn’t recommend this show to anyone who prefers that such issues be addressed with a deeper analysis on the part of the characters rather than the audience, which is the general tendency in drama pieces rather than shows of this genre.
“How would you describe the specific characters?”
For this, I’ll focus on the main Gallagher family, Kev, V, and Mickey, as they’ve been the constant presences on the show since the start. I’ll also keep it relatively short since I could write essays on each one, and that would bore anyone who hasn’t heard of Shameless (and 95% of those who have) to tears.
1. Frank Gallagher is the stereotypical “deadbeat” who plays the system for every penny so that he doesn’t have to work, choosing to fund his addictions rather than support his family. He will go to any lengths if it means preserving this lifestyle—mild, absurd, and even heinous. He functions as something of an anti-hero, being more a threat to the family’s stability in early seasons than a boon and gradually sinking into obscurity because of his children’s growing indifference as he burns one bridge after another with them. Frank prides himself on espousing only the values that will get him what he wants in a given circumstance. In specific instances, that has meant showing a measure of love and affection for his children that evidence has proven exists deep, deep below the surface. In others, he’s a wild card. Frank’s various fatal flaws have included arrogance, addiction, selfishness, and an avoidance of any and all responsibility.
2. Fiona Gallagher is the eldest and began the series as the rock of the family because, to put it simply, she was the only person able to do it. She selflessly cared for her younger siblings so that they wouldn’t be scattered into foster homes or adoption thanks to her parents’ neglect, even to the point where she gave up portions of her life and blurred the lines between her roles as sister versus caregiver, which became a sticking point in later seasons when her siblings didn’t need or want a mother-figure anymore. While Fiona was initially very responsible with regards to raising her siblings, she therefore sacrificed a lot of opportunities that were important for her development as a young adult and exhibited an immaturity typical of people her age that impacted other arenas of her life, especially relationships. As her role as caregiver dwindled, that immaturity and the norms prevalent in her environment became more pronounced with her newfound freedom, and she struggled greatly in the face of what she viewed as making up for lost time. Fiona’s various fatal flaws have included ambition, a “martyr complex,” and viewing her family as an impediment to her ambitions later in life instead of a support system.
3. Lip Gallagher is the oldest son. He began the series with a hefty chip on his shoulder. Intelligent, quick-witted, and calculating, Lip was constantly referred to as a sort of diamond in the rough and clearly came to believe it. This led to a very fascinating dynamic within the family and his other interpersonal relationships as his love for and desire to protect his family was balanced by a sense that his way was the best way—the only way, really. A combination of poor choices and unfortunate circumstances beyond his control resulted in a very real “fall from grace,” by South Side standards, and Lip has worked hard to claw his way back from where he was in the middle of the series. Where Fiona spiraled further as she withdrew from her family, Lip leaned on them and others in his support system—and it saved him. Lip’s various fatal flaws have included arrogance, contempt for power structures in which he is not at the top, and trying to solve other people’s problems at the expense of dealing with his own.
4. Ian Gallagher is the middle child and something of an outlier in his own right where his family is concerned. He began the series seeming to have his shit together: he balanced school, ROTC, and work, excelling in all three at just fifteen years old. He was plagued by his status in the family at times, not old enough to have more control over his situation while not young enough to shrug off a lot of it on Fiona and Lip, and wanted something for himself more than anything. It’s that combination that put him in an extremely vulnerable position, because while he was the picture of responsibility and didn’t orchestrate as many scams as his siblings (though he was involved in plenty—he is South Side and a Gallagher, after all), it gave him—and his family—the false impression that he was more mature and in control than he was. Multiple older men preyed on him because of that, and in his thirst to find something that was solely his and someone he could care for outside his household, he viewed them as relationships rather than abuse. Like Lip, Ian truly hit rock bottom in a different manner, although the causes of his descent were more heavily skewed beyond his control. In true Ian form, however, he remains driven to find the straight and narrow—and stick to it as much as he can. Ian’s various fatal flaws have included ambition, a “hero complex,” compartmentalizing to the point of narrowmindedness or naïveté, and ignoring his own needs in pursuit of fulfilling others’.
5. Debbie Gallagher is similar to Lip in that she has always been clever, cunning, and driven to get what she wants. Debbie began the series in a difficult position, going to school and contributing to the household while ultimately not in control of anything that was going on. From the start, all she wanted was a functional family, and it colored her behavior throughout the first six seasons of the show. In many cases, that meant doing whatever she could to hold everyone together: investigating Fiona’s lying boyfriend, running a daycare so that Fiona could work all night and still find time to sleep, prompting Fiona to more actively worry when Ian ran away and helping Lip locate him, and caring for Liam a lot of the time while he was a baby. Over the years, as the dysfunctions racked up, she sought an escape through boyfriends and a baby of her own. The means by which she attempted and ultimately failed to achieve these goals were at times reprehensible and spurred on by both her immature ignorance and the culture in which she was raised. Debbie’s various fatal flaws have included self-centeredness, envy, manipulative tendencies, and not thinking or caring about the implications and consequences of her actions for herself or the people involved.
6. Carl Gallagher began the series as a real mess. The word “sociopath” comes to mind. He was the stereotypical “wild child” whose behavior embodied the dysfunctional nature of the family and their environment. He destroyed toys for fun, tortured animals, physically bullied children at school, and was held back multiple times for poor academic performance. Carl was never as academically bright as the other Gallagher siblings, but his street smarts were nigh unparalleled and, like Lip, he could probably survive anywhere. Over time, Carl underwent a remarkable transformation: embracing the negative stereotypes of his environment, he dove towards rock bottom with gusto only to realize that the thug life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Once again, he paralleled Lip and Ian’s trajectory in leaning on his family when it became too much, and he’s turned his entire life in the opposite direction to pursue a path that he hopes will lead to helping people rather than hurting them for his own gain or reputation. Carl’s various fatal flaws have included lack of foresight, a penchant for violence, and ignorance.
7. Liam Gallagher is still very young and therefore tougher to fully characterize as his development isn’t as extensive. Right now, he’s the same age Debbie was when the show began, and we’ve seen just how far she’s come. So, for the time being, Liam is extremely bright and has grown up with a great deal more privilege than his siblings. He doesn’t remember saving for the squirrel fund with fears of not being able to eat all winter in mind. He doesn’t remember what it’s like to worry about Frank or Monica’s actions having an enormous and lasting impact on them. He doesn’t remember Lip dropping out of school and moving out of the house, Monica’s actions at Thanksgiving, Fiona crying over crumpled bills from working at the sport bar, Ian going missing for four months and coming home a different person, or Debbie lying about Patrick just so they could keep a roof over their heads. Liam didn’t grow up with those things, and so he has the luxury of being a kid a bit more of the time. However, because his parents aren’t around and Fiona left the house a long time ago despite being his guardian, he has matured quickly in lieu of any real supervision.
8. Kevin Ball and Veronica Fisher have been the Gallaghers’ closest allies in the neighborhood all this time. Kevin isn’t the brightest academically or in terms of common sense, but he has a good heart and makes the best decisions when he uses it. He has been through a lot, between foster care as a kid, a crazy ex-wife, trying to keep the Alibi afloat, and raising twin daughters that they definitely didn’t have the means for when they discovered that they were expecting two kids. And Veronica… Well, she’s quite literally his other half. She’s savvy and smart, intelligent and assertive—they complete each other. They began the series as an established couple experiencing some growing pains, especially when Veronica was giving the Gallaghers everything from use of their shower to their toaster while Kevin insisted that they needed to focus on themselves before they could help Frank’s kids. (He talked a good game, but when the chips are down, Kevin has always been there for them too.) They’re good people who’ve been given a few bad shakes and taken a few wrong turns, but their love for each other, their kids, and the Gallaghers has made them a surprisingly strong heart of the show. Kevin’s various fatal flaws have included lack of foresight, ignorance, and not standing up for himself. Veronica’s various fatal flaws have included avoiding communication about her feelings and indecisiveness.
9. Mickey Milkovich is the stereotypical personification of their environment. He began the series as a poor thug—and a dirty one, at that—who exuded such a presence in the neighborhood that he instilled fear at a mere glance. His family functioned as a foil to the Gallaghers, perhaps what they would have been if Frank had been a different person or they’d fallen even further. Mickey didn’t benefit from an emotionally supportive family that banded together to provide for more than merely monetary concerns, not to mention that his father was openly and violently homophobic, so it took a great deal of time and overcoming numerous internal and external hardships for him to come to terms with who he is on many levels. Over the years, Mickey was self-employed or acted with his family as a drug dealer, a pimp, and a prison hitman; worked for a drug cartel; and has engaged in any number of other scams and illegal activities in order to make ends meet—and he has been quite happy to keep doing so as it plays to his strengths. Mickey is remarkable, however, because he has always been a multifaceted character whose problematic decisions, abrasive mannerisms, and questionable lifestyle didn’t and don’t negate that he cares very deeply and will do literally anything for the few people he allows to get close to him, specifically Ian. Mickey’s various fatal flaws have included lack of foresight, avoiding communication about his feelings, and not reaching out for help when he needs it.
~*~
That was quite a bit longer than I initially intended, but I had a great time putting this together. Thank you again for the ask!
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Not Sugar-Coated, ToBecky Critique from a ToBecky Shipper
Let’s talk about Tobecky and it’s toxicity! And for once, let’s not hold back! I think what I’m gonna do for this post is focus on the dynamic they have in the show, mostly criticizing my own misogyny but calling out the fandom in general as well, as I’ve seen other’s do these same things. Later I will reblog it on the Word Up blog and continue my thoughts on the ship and how it affected Word Up.
The first thing I will say is that I am a Tobecky shipper, ever since Tobey’s first shorts when it was revealed he had a crush on WordGirl. I started watching this show as a kid, I would have been 9 or 10 when it started airing on PBS. If I were to get into this show today, however, I don’t think I would be shipping tobecky, because as an adult I can recognize its toxicity which I didn’t have the proper knowledge or understanding to do back in the day. And I think the real reason I still ship today is purely nostalgic. Though I won’t deny that their dynamic is interesting and that likely affects my shipping brain too.
As a kid, I think I shipped it because, well it seemed inevitable. It seemed like the only endgame option. How many romcoms start with a girl liking one boy, only to realize later she should be with a different guy, usually an underdog the audience is supposed to root for. How many romance stories start with the two not liking each other, ranging anywhere from minor annoyances for each other to full-blown enemies, only to later understand it was all a guise to hide their true feelings. It seemed obvious that Becky/WordGirl would end up with not Scoops, whom she had a crush on, but instead Tobey, the underdog she always was fighting or arguing with. Factor in Tobey’s crush, my very underdeveloped ability to think critically, and the fact that the writers in early seasons seemed to really take the time to focus on the potential chemistry between these two (their interactions in “Department Store Tobey” and both of them having a good time together in “Have You Seen the Remote?” etc) and it seemed there was only one boy for Becky to logically end up with.
The first time I can recall really questioning this ship, I mean really questioning it, was sometime in probably my sophomore or freshman year? Maybe my junior year? I recall my health teacher teaching us about healthy vs unhealthy relationships. In this unit, I realized several of my favorite ships across various fandoms were unhealthy but that’s a whole other topic. At one point I remember him giving his two cents about the phrase “opposites attract” when being applied to romance. He said this can be true, but only if the two are “opposites” in personality, and not “opposites” in values. If a couple’s values, their morals, don’t align, they probably aren’t going to make it. And in all honesty, I think Tobey and Becky have the worst possible combination for this.
They have very similar personalities, and while this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it can make it easier for them to encourage their negative traits instead of helping them overcome them. The traits they both share like pridefulness, attention-seeking, and being a bit obsessive, have the potential to be the traits they bring out in each other. The best counter-argument for this is the fact that Becky is willing to and would call Tobey out for everything wrong or ridiculous he does, and try to help him. But that doesn’t matter if Tobey is not willing to listen to her when she calls him out, or accept her help when she offers it and he needs it. And it’s especially worthless if he’s not willing to help her back.
Meanwhile, the biggest weakness for this ship is their opposite values. Their morals couldn’t be more apart from each other. Get these two together for long periods of time and a morality war would easily ensue. And then combined with if their similar personalities do end up bringing the worst in each other, then any relationship they could have would be disastrous.
The worst issues with their pairing all go back to Tobey. I love Tobey as a character, don’t get me wrong, but we need to be honest, and please excuse the language--Tobey is a piece of shit! He is disrespectful to everyone around him, except his mother, and that’s only because he’s scared of her He thinks he’s better than everyone else and has no issues expressing that opinion, even going as far as to try to define words for WordGirl. He goes as far as to belittle her in “Tobey or Consequences” criticizing her word choice. He has been shown on multiple occasions to lose his mind when he doesn’t get exactly what he wants and will do anything to get it, without regard for others’ property, feelings or safety. He’s manipulative as seen in “Tobey Goes Good” and “Have You Seen the Remote.” He’s unwilling to take responsibility for his actions, as demonstrated when he attacks the candy factory for making candy because he got a cavity, instead of realizing that he should have taken better care of his teeth.
And worst of all, despite what he and the audience often believe, he clearly doesn’t give a single shit about WordGirl. If he cared about her he would have acknowledged her disinterest, if he cared about her, he wouldn’t have tried to force Becky into admitting she’s WordGirl in “By Jove, You’ve Wrecked My Robot.” If he cared about her, he wouldn’t have pretended to be good or trick her into spending time with him or forced her to read poems about him. In the Halloween special he thought Violet was WordGirl just because she was wearing a WordGirl costume, failing to acknowledge that Violet is blonde and white and WordGirl is clearly not.
The episode “WordBot” makes it very clear what kind of relationship Tobey wants from WordGirl--and it’s not a relationship. It’s a dynamic where she simply showers him with never-ending adoration and does whatever he wants. Tobey cares about one person and one person only and it’s not WordGirl, it’s himself.
And I’m not even counting “Go Gadget Go” in any of this! That episode put him in such a bad light that most fans pretend it doesn’t exist because his behavior is so inexcusable. And yet even without that episode, we have plenty of toxicity coming from Tobey’s end.
I once saw someone say they hate the tobecky ship because the argument for it often is that Becky will be willing to put up with Tobey when they’re older. First of all, if that’s your argument in tobecky’s favor you need to go take a good hard look at yourself. Becky putting up with Tobey’s messed up behavior is essentially hoping she ends up in a horrible, toxic, unhealthy, relationship that would be borderline abusive if she didn’t stand against him. Secondly, while I don’t deny the existence of this argument, (I once read a fanfic where the two were married but still a hero and villain who battled regularly) I disagree with the idea that this argument is most often used to justify the ship. Instead, the most common argument to justify it is the idea that Tobey has it in him to change. This is certainly a better argument, as Tobey changing is really the only hope for this ship.
But I think it’s really easy for us, myself included, to struggle with the line between finding evidence that Tobey could change vs excusing his actions; the line between finding an explanation for his behavior vs finding an excuse for him. It’s a very easy line to accidentally cross without realizing it. And it really says something when, as discussed in another post, we are not giving other villains like Victoria--who have more of an “excuse” --the same treatment. It’s incredibly misogynistic.
I’m not going to try to argue that Tobey doesn’t have the capability to be good, of course, he does. We can see this in the cute note he leaves in Becky’s backpack in “Trustworthy Tobey” and in the very last moments in the Thanksgiving special, and of course in our favorite example, “It’s Your Party and I’ll Cry if I Want to.” I’m also not saying that Tobey’s actions and psychology aren’t the product of the environment and circumstances he faces daily. Of course having no father figure present, a single mother who is always working, and no friends is going to affect a child. What I want to question is when is Tobey responsible for his own life, choices, and actions? Maybe not now at age 10-11, but what about when he’s 13? 16? 18? 21? 40? Where do we draw that line? I also don’t want to discourage looking for the good in people and characters and thinking critically about how their past and psychology is affecting their actions. I want to encourage that in all characters, not just the boy who happens to have a crush.
And while it’s nice to speculate that Tobey will follow a better path in the future, not so much for tobecky as much as for the betterment of Tobey himself, we need to realize that it’s just speculation. We have no canon proof of where his story goes post-WordGirl. He has his moments of hope but overall this kid has a terrible track record. When it comes to others, Tobey makes terrible choices. And that’s exactly what “going good” will be--a choice--his choice.
I also want to take a moment to talk about something @fromtheplanethexagon said in this amazing post you should totally read because it’s great. They commented on how very few people when writing tobecky fanfics takes the time to explore her perspective of their feelings for each other. Where her feelings originate and why she would like him. This is something I am absolutely guilty of and will be paying attention to in the future. After reading that passage from their post I thought for a while why Becky would like Tobey, and I honestly struggled with it a bit, which shouldn’t be happening if I’m trying to write a healthy tobecky story. That’s all I’ll say on this for now because beyond this I would use Word Up as an example, so I’ll save that for later.
The older I get the more I realized how toxic this ship is. Heck, who knows what I’ll realize about it in the future when I’m even more mature. In the past I’ve tried to convince myself it’s okay I ship it because I never shipped Tobey with WordGirl, I shipped him with Becky. I know they are the same person, but Tobey doesn’t know that, and the dynamics between him and each of her egos are very different. The dynamic between Tobey and WordGirl reminds me of Gideon and Mabel from Gravity Falls. Meanwhile the one between Tobey and Becky reminds me more of the one between Jimmy and Cindy from The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron. That’s better right? Even if just a little bit? Well no, not really, because we all know darn well if Tobey fell for Becky instead of WordGirl he would treat Becky exactly the same as he treats WordGirl. He would ultimately have the same “WordBot esc” expectations. If anything he might try to treat her worse. With WordGirl there is a clear power balance, and while it’s still technically there with Becky, Tobey doesn’t know it’s still there and might try to use that to his advantage.
And to conclude I’d like to add to @fromtheplanethexagon above-mentioned post (here’s the link again, seriously, read it!). Regarding their final thoughts that it’s fine to explore the ship, and it’s fine to explore the unhealthy parts of the ship. But we need to be careful to not glorify the toxicity of the potential pairing.
#wordgirl#becky botsford#tobey mccallister#tobecky#misogyny#toxic ships#shipping#pbs kids#okay that link to the victoria ask post...i'd only look at it on mobile#i linked it to my blog and i guess my blog layout doesn't like that post the order is completely mixed up???#guess i have to find a new desktop blog theme because that can't be happening#it's very confusing
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If you're still doing the DVD commentary thing, I'm curious about your thought process behind the whole discussion they have in the car at the end of chapter 11, when Richie asks Eddie why he thinks It targeted them specifically.
Oh boy, this answer’s a bit depressing.
See, I’ve gotten a lot of responses talking about how much they love Went and Maggie in Indelicate. And while they are fun--and a lot of their dynamic is influenced by my own parents and grandparents, and I decided to write their behavior as sort of blueprints for Richie and his behavior towards Eddie--Richie is more upset than he lets on about their conversation about Henry Bowers and his childhood.
So in Chapter 10, I have Richie sort of pick a fight with his parents. Eddie gives him an opening, and Richie immediately seizes onto the topic of Henry Bowers and his childhood bullying, because he wants to confront his parents. About their choice to live in Derry? Maybe. About their failure to respond appropriately to some very violent childhood bullying? Definitely. Richie brings up the incident from the book where Bowers wipes out in front of their class and Richie automatically and without thinking goes, “Hey, Bananaheels!” and Bowers chases Richie all the way through Freese’s department store with his cronies, intending to beat him. Because movie!Richie wears the Freese’s shirt, I decided to keep that incident.
And Went’s immediate response to Richie’s story of “Remember when I was in great fear of physical violence and very real fear for my safety?” is to ask, “Well, what did you do to make him angry?”
I don’t know if you’ve read Things That Happen After Beverly Leaves, but in that fic I have Bev and Richie have a conversation about Tom Rogan and a specific incident of violence that happens during the fic, during which Bev asserts that it was her fault that he went after her because she was antagonizing him. And Richie’s response is something to the effect of, “Oh, really? Does everyone have that threshold? What do you have to say to me before I decide to beat you, then?” Because it’s bullshit and victim blaming, and everyone has a choice of whether or not to commit violence, especially in positions of power. (Even when the violence is committed in self-defense, there’s always the choice to--not defend yourself, and to accept those consequences. In this instance, I’m not describing “violence” as an umbrella “this is always bad” sort of thing; but I do think that it’s always bad when enacted on someone else for the purpose of harming them, especially from a position of power to someone weaker.)
Like many readers of IT by Stephen King, I was horrified by the blasé approach that most of the adults have to the childhood bullying portrayed in the book. I know that King experienced bullying as a child--probably part of why he writes it so elaborately and brutally; and I know that one of It’s influences is that It exaggerates the negative and harmful tendencies of all of Derry’s residents, including bullies like Henry Bowers (even before It interferes with him directly), Alvin Marsh and Sonia Kaspbrak (whose “protective” and abusive natures become exaggerated and inhuman), and adults who turn blind eyes to the violence happening in front of them (the older couple who saw Bowers cutting Ben and drove on, bystanders who saw Alvin Marsh chasing Bev through the street and did nothing, a shopkeeper who tried to intervene in an act of bullying and allowed Bowers and his gang to run him off instead of rescuing the Loser in question, though I’m afraid I don’t remember the specifics).
In this case, I decided that the Toziers didn’t respond appropriately to defend their son. You can decide whether that was because of Derry and It or because of their parenting style. But in this case I decided to have Wentworth demand that Richie take responsibility for his victimization. And Richie gives a sort of Stepford smile when he admits to provoking Bowers; and Wentworth’s response is “You’re very smart, but you kept being stupid and getting into fights.”
If you read the Bananaheels scene from IT, we see that Richie has literally no brain-to-mouth filter. The very second the words are out of his mouth, he wants to kick himself, but he knows Bowers will do it for him. I also write Richie as having untreated ADHD, especially as a child, and his failure to consider cause and effect here is influenced by my own brother. He literally could not consider the consequences of his temper tantrums when he was a child, because there was no reflection or consideration of cause and effect for him. Many child psychologists, psychiatrists, and therapists attested to this. Because this is a real person and someone I have great affection for, I’m not interested in breaking down whether that’s an element of being a child (it was not in my experience) or an element of having untreated ADHD (again, it was not in my experience, as I suffered crippling overthink and decision paralysis at the other end of the spectrum). But I did decide to let that influence Richie.
Eddie is very uncomfortable with Richie’s parents’ lack of sympathy, especially because he shared the experience with Richie; but he’s also uncomfortable with parents in general and very aware that he’s in the Toziers’ space and doesn’t feel he has standing towards them. Richie gets more defensive, Stepford smiling, and recounts other stories of Bowers’ gang harassing the Losers, getting crueler and more flippant both with himself and with his friends (he casually insults Ben), and culminates in the story of Bowers cutting Ben for the crime of not allowing him to cheat off him in school, something that Richie is sure the Toziers cannot claim was the wrong thing to do, the way they suggested that Richie’s actions were the wrong thing to do.
Only then does Wentworth remember that the childhood bully Richie mentioned was actually arrested and imprisoned for fratricide. This is something that even the fog of Derry’s memory loss didn’t take away from him completely, and Richie discussing it brings it back up. And Richie gleefully confirms that yes, that is the Henry Bowers he meant, and actually he tried to lynch Mike and successfully stabbed Eddie in the face, two actions that the Toziers cannot dismiss as provoked. Then the Toziers get distracted by dentistry and Richie coldly and excellently lies to his parents’ faces not just about Bowers’ whereabouts but about the fact that he killed them.
So Richie’s topic of conversation when he and Eddie leave is “Why do you think It went after us?” because he’s still trying to deal with the victim blaming his father expressed and what he actually means is “What do you think I did that made this happen to me?” Then Richie talks about his parents’ choice not to have any children after him, and makes a joke that’s actually completely serious about being such an annoying child that his parents decided they didn’t want any more, even at the potential of his mother’s longed-for daughter, because (in Richie’s mind) the risk of a second Richie was too great. And Richie jokes about his own death, and admits to Eddie that he was very lonely, because Richie is still very lonely right now.
And Eddie says that he’s not lonely and he never felt lonely, and Richie hears “I wasn’t lonely because I had you,” and that’s what he really needs to hear right then. It’s not a love confession (a love confession would be too good to be true), but Richie thinks it’s as good as he’s going to get, so he eats it up.
Even Eddie’s thoughts are about victim blaming, which comes down to an argument that I read on tumblr some years ago: that “she shouldn’t have dressed like that, she shouldn’t have gone off by herself” means “rape the other girl, the one who did all the wrong things,” the one that means violence as punishment. Eddie thinks that victim blaming in this case means that It should have killed and eaten the other kid, which is of course wrong, because It had to be stopped for its monstrosity, not because it was an ineffective deterrent or punishment.
So Eddie pushes Richie in the other direction--he says that what made a difference was not that the Losers ran around without supervision, but that they loved each other enough to risk their lives trying to save each other. Even Richie, in his magnanimous cruelty after speechifying and leaving Bill on the hook, chose to kill the fucking clown rather than abandon Bill, rather than leave It to eat the other kid. And when Richie says “Good for us,” about the Losers being willing to die for each other, he gets grim because Eddie is still like that, trying to die for him; and Richie can forgive himself for trying to die to save the others, but he doesn’t know if he can forgive Eddie for actually dying to save him yet.
That was a long one, but I’m planning on digging back into Maggie and Went in Indelicate again and it’s good practice for me to analyze the choices I made months ago. So thank you for asking! And for reading, of course.
#my fic#indelicate spoilers#now what i'm gonna say may sound indelicate#nwigsmsi#indelicate#rape mention#victim blaming#child abuse mention
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An Error List for “Evillious Chronicles: 101“
What it sounds. I was very incensed at seeing this latest of Evillious “explanation” videos that not only was full of misinformation, but also repeatedly insults mothy as a writer for things that are clearly misunderstood or misremembered by the presenter (who doesn’t seem to have actually read the novels). Given that this video is over 2 hours long, it feels more likely than other cases that people might take the information in it seriously, and so I felt it was worthwhile to write a comprehensive (but not all-encompassing) list of the errors in it.
I am going to try not to argue with the writing critiques and just focus on factual errors.
In the interest of transparency, here is a link to the video that I am responding to [here] (epilepsy warning--the first 5 seconds or so of the video has flickering bright colors as the camera starts up).
Under a cut for length.
NOTE: I am not including errors that were later corrected (such as saying that Levia studied alternate worlds when she was a psychologist), and just to be nice I am going to leave be areas where he leaves out information or characters (which he does quite a bit especially near the end) unless he explicitly claims that the information or character does not exist.
1. The Second Period is not a real universe. It is entirely a simulation. The people within it are real, insomuch as spirit data has been made indistinguishable from real souls, but the world itself is not. They were believed to be parallel worlds because the Second Period did not realize it was a simulation and mistook the real world for an alternate universe.
2. Behemo is not a Len in appearance and Levia is not a Rin. Mothy himself said that he and Levia are not VOCALOIDS in design.
3. Behemo was not married to his maid, they were simply dating.
4. Behemo was not a member of the team that made the Second Period, he was a relative of one of the programmers.
5. HERS does not affect the First Period. It is more strongly suggested that the First Period was destroyed by nuclear fallout. HERS was deliberately created by the Second Period programmers.
6. Behemo does not go into the Second Period as himself. He creates an avatar of himself to enter into the program. At the point where Levia goes to the First Period and meets Behemo for the first time, there is no physical transference going on--all of the "inter dimensional" crossing is entirely "spirit data" ONLY. As in, no one from the Second Period went to the First Period without having bodies made to put their soul data into when they arrived.
7. The Climb One was never a real rocket ship. Behemo in the First Period tricked the programs into thinking they were on a ship going to another world, but what he actually did was create bodies for them in the First Period that he downloaded them into, using a real world equivalent Climb One to make them think they'd traveled there physically. This is why the Second Period individuals believe they are on a new world, rather than realizing they are on Earth (which they renamed Gudnatia, incidentally).
8. No one survived the Climb One crash (except Luna Hadzuki, I believe). This is why they were trapped in the ship, because they had no physical bodies to leave with and their data was stuck onboard.
9. Levia's motivation to destroy the world does seem to be implied to be a result of her HER, however Behemo's motivations are slanted more towards "starting over and doing a better job next time". This is why he drops it later when the world has already progressed.
10. The phrase is "Mem Aleph", not "Mem Alpha".
--. The Venom is not why Eve's twins were stillborn (however, with this note I am going to forgive anything that goes against recent revelations in the OSS novel because it may not be widespread fan knowledge at this point).
11. Pretty much the entire timeline of Project Ma as he describes it is wrong. Adam and Eve were a part of the first Project Ma, not something separate from it, and Seth only became in charge of the project after Adam and Eve disappeared. The Clockworkers only became involved in the 7th iteration of the project, not the first. Meta's part of the project took place during the 2nd iteration (his notes indicate he is aware that he f--ed up the timeline, but they don't adequately explain what the correct information is so I am still counting it as an error).
12. Seth does not spread HERS unintentionally--HERS is not a disease that you can catch during your lifetime (except in Judgment era when all the rules are being explicitly subverted). It is a genetic anomaly that you have from birth. It is extremely rare, though less rare if your parents have it.
13. It is actually explained pretty well--there's an entire segment of the Venomania novel's prologue that explains how it works.
14. Levia and Behemo's motive for reaching out to Kiril is because they were tired of waiting for the project to succeed (given its numerous failures) and wanted to use him to get a body to escape the arc with. They did not tell Kiril to kill everyone, they simply told him to put Elluka's body in the arc. The explosion was an unintended consequence of his actions.
15. The Climb One is not in a dungeon, it is in a religious temple.
16.The cat that becomes Irina is not a live cat. It is a cat plushy with a Black Box inside it.
17. The spelling of “Grettle”.
18. Meta very explicitly has HERS.
19. Hansel and Gretel are kidnapped some time after Meta escapes, not the very same day.
20. Hansel and Gretel are abandoned by Adam and Eve in the woods, and they kill them once they find their way back home. They do not kill them just because they discovered they were adopted.
21. Eve's soul was never split into 7. The demons were people from the Climb One, yes, but they were reborn into demons via Hansel and Gretel. Eve simply "became" the Demon of Sloth.
22. Irregulars are explained. They are people born outside of the world's rules who are able to perform "Re_Birthday events", which destroy and rebuild things (often on a large scale such as reshaping the world, but it can be on a small scale as Hansel and Gretel show).
23. The explosion did not bring Elluka back from the dead. The Clockwork Secret Art Kiril used before the explosion repaired the decay of her body so that it was a usable vessel, which is how Levia and Behemo were able to get inside.
24. Behemo does not go to the moon after the explosion. He goes inside Elluka's body with Levia, but remains dormant. He only goes to the moon after Ma is formed.
25. Levia was not cured of HERS (this is vague, but her HERS is suggested to be why she tried to destroy the world as Nemesis).
26. Elluka's original body does not become "decrepit" after swapping with Lukana, it just ages normally.
27. Her name is Banica, not Bianca.
28. The deal with Gluttony was to keep Banica from dying of her morbid obesity, and to pursue dangerous cuisine. It was not because she wanted to be thin.
29. Carlos is not in line for the throne of Marlon.
30. Carlos got over her being overweight, but he did think negatively of Banica for her weight on first meeting her.
31. Carlos never cooked human meat for Banica.
32. Arth does not give birth to Allen and Riliane, Anne does (yes, I know he probably just misspoke but he said it multiple times).
33. Riliane was possessed by Gluttony in the childhood incident that separated her from Allen, not Pride. Pride only occurred later.
34. Elluka was the one who went to Held looking for new apprentices, Held did not call her back.
35. Michaela and Gumillia were forest spirits in between being crewmember data and becoming human.
36. Kyle is not a descendant of Conchita. He is the descendant of one of Carlos' brothers.
37. Allen killing Leonhart is closer in the timeline to Riliane's downfall than the video implies.
38. Michaela was not employed by Kyle in Marlon. Michaela and Clarith were employed by Keel in Elphegort, who was friends with Kyle.
39. Riliane's Green Hunting genocide was a result of not knowing which green-haired girl was Kyle's crush, and so killing them all to get this one person. It was not simply to get revenge on green-haired people.
40. Kyle and Germaine partially allow Allen's death for revenge (Kyle because he thinks Allen killed Michaela, Germaine because Allen killed Leonhart). It is not just for the sake of the public.
41. The demon of Pride was no longer in Riliane by the time of the twin switch (I don't recall if it's said explicitly but I believe the implication is that Ney took it when she escaped).
42. The doll is a doll. It does not look like a person--it is doll sized. People perceive it as looking human due to Eve's brainwashing power. There is of course also the issue of how this video describes Eve's soul as "breaking" is incorrect, which is made especially clear here, but that was covered earlier.
43. Kaspar was not a doctor. Margarita's father was the doctor.
44. The Duel of Merrigod Plateau does not occur during the Sloth event. It occurs much later.
45. Pere Noel is in Lucifenia, not Marlon.
46. Pere Noel is the name of the crime organization, not the name of its leader.
47. His name is Lemy not Lenny.
48. Irina is entirely behind Pere Noel, not just one of its main operators--she is the leader and founder.
49. Irina did not bring Lemy to the duel of Merrigod, he went there on his own.
50. Gumillia and Elluka did not have the vessel of Sloth during the duel. Eve was inside Elluka's body at the time, which is why she was present.
51. Gumillia did not die when she was sent to the Hellish Yard (this is, in fact, why she can't leave to the Heavenly Yard).
52. Seth does not promise to allow Gumillia to survive being in the Hellish Yard with demon powers. He promises to use his scientific expertise to solve the problem.
53. Kayo is not a hairdresser, she is...as the name of her song implies...a tailor. She cuts clothes. Not. Hair.
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...Am I being trolled?
.
54, 55. Not only does he not bring up any of the plot twists of the Tailor novel (primarily that Kayo's actions were not done out of her psychosis but a result of a deliberate revenge plot), but he makes no indication that he's aware they're a thing, so I'm going to say that's two errors.
56, 57. The timeline for the Greed arc is messed up (again, does not seem to know what happens in the novel). Gallerian does not become a greedy judge until after he loses Michelle, which is waaaay after he met Ma, and way after their affair. He does not do this out of simple greed, but because he needs the resources to collect the vessels of sin, which he hopes to use to bring Michelle back to life, in a sense (I'm oversimplifying here but the point is I’m adding another two errors).
58. Gallerian is not actually a sin contractor.
59. Ma knew that Gallerian was her son and deliberately had a child with him while knowing this.
60. Nemesis is her birth name, it is not a name that she took for herself.
61. Ma did not put Eve into the doll, she put Irina into the doll. Irina is Master of the Court.
62. Ma does not have her own soul (this is why she tries to absorb other beings to, in a sense, create one for herself). She is consciousness without a soul.
63. Gallerian does not “abandon” Nemesis. He had no idea she existed until she came to kill him. He didn’t even know she was working for him in PN.
64. The "sins" do not "manifest" in the Theater arc until after Gallerian's death.
65. The way that the theater arc is described as coming about is wrong (Waiter is revealed to be Lilith Baldured, Gear is just Adam, etc). Again--doesn't seem to be familiar with events of the later books despite referencing reveals that are shown in them.
66. Seth as the mask is not able to shapeshift. It is Grim the End, the vessel that he is inside, that can shapeshift.
67. Hanma somewhat took care of Nemesis in her infancy--she was not completely alone.
68. Nemesis did not kill Michelle out of wrath. It was accidental. She didn’t even know that she’d done it.
69. Gallerian does not actually believe the Clockworker's Doll is human, he just believes that Michelle’s spirit is inside it.
70. The Pere Noel of Gallerian's era is not the same organization from Lemy's era. They only share a name.
71. Nemesis did not have to break into anything to get Punishment, she was in charge as the dictator of Elphegort.
72. No one is alive after the world's end except for Nemesis. They are still dead. They are disembodied souls.
--. Capriccio Farce is really the only primary, clear evidence that Allen is the one inside Master of the Court, Re_Birthday is not necessarily about the Irregular that she births, and Waiter's name does not necessarily mean she is waiting for Allen to be born to MOTC specifically (this is too contentious for me to list it as an error though, but my point is the level of retconning is not necessarily as severe as he makes it sound--I believe mothy began retconning this much sooner than people think).
73. Adam and Eve are blonde because they are Irregulars. This is also how they do the Court ending, not a result of “all the stuff their souls have been through”.
74. The Court ending people are not trying to kill the demons, they are trying to collect the contractors’ souls specifically--Ma tried to make a soul for herself using the demons but found them inadequate, and so she instead sought to use the contractors for the demons to sustain herself.
75. The contractors are not possessed anymore, but they do still have the abilities that their contracts gave them.
76. Very large inaccuracies here on how the confrontation with Ma goes but to sum up--Ma was lying dormant in Riliane's soul to stop herself from completely disintegrating into nothingness. She activates herself when all the sinners are assembled and draws them into her consciousness to remain stable, essentially becoming a conglomeration of all of them with Riliane’s appearance. This is incomplete because she does not catch Nemesis.
77. Gallerian is not part of the Court Ending, because he was drawn into the Ma conglomerate and was not present in the theater when it started.
--. Ironically, his (albeit brief) description of how the Court Ending functions is the one I believe to be the most accurate.
78. Most of the Second Period people did not ever learn that they were a simulation (save for Sickle and potentially Held).
79. It's not confirmed that Allen and Riliane fall in love in the Fourth Period (or that it's even them in 10 Minute Love).
80. Seth's motives for saving the world are explained. He is not "evil for evil's sake", he does things out of scientific curiosity. He still has HERS, but his goal as an HER has already been fulfilled with the destruction of the world.
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All of this is not including the host of things he omits that, if present, would have made the events sound much more coherent.
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James Flint Is Gay: A Meta Post
[slides into the Black Sails fandom late with Starbucks]
Hey! What’s up! Here’s a post no one asked for but I wrote mostly for me. Before we get into it, I’ve got some big notices to put on the top here.
DISCLAIMER: If you interpret James as bi, and you prefer that, I am not trying to say you can’t do that or to convince you otherwise!
You do you! If you’re not cool with seeing him as gay, please do us both a favor and keep scrolling past this post! I’m mildly aware that this fandom has a history of rough discourse surrounding this topic, but I cannot emphasize enough that I am new here, and this post is not an attack. Please do me the courtesy of not attacking me or blocking me or whatnot because I’m not trying to start drama lol. And for what it’s worth, I myself am bi (well, bi ace), so I’d like to think I’m being objective.
This post exists simply because I like to write meta out with my arguments / evidence lined up in a row; it gets things out of my head and onto a screen, and I find it satisfying. And if I’m doing it anyway, I might as well share.
So if you see James as gay, or have an open mind to that interpretation… please allow me to take you on this adventure under the cut. I’m sure it’s obvious, but this contains spoilers? Lol.
Here we go!
Compulsory Heterosexuality vs “Bi Erasure”
Firstly… to address some stuff I’ve seen in my limited Black Sails fandom travels right out of the gate: I’ve seen people imply that interpreting James as gay is “bi erasure,” or they ask “Why are you erasing that James was attracted to Miranda and had an affair with her?”
But to that I say: it’s far more complicated than that.
Gay people can have sexual relationships with people of the opposite sex, especially until / or before they identify as gay. This is how so many gay people can be married to the opposite sex and have biological kids, and then later realize their truth and come out to themselves and their families. Having those experiences or even some variation of actionable attraction to people of other sexes in the past doesn’t negate their ability to later identify as gay, once they stop burying those parts of themselves and/or experience something that “brings that part of them into the light.”
This is why the phrase compulsory heterosexuality exists. The phrase was originally coined by Adrienne Rich in a 1980 essay titled “Compulsory Heterosexuality and the Lesbian Experience.” So yes, let me make this clear: this term originated in reference to lesbians and feminist theory, and then the idea was later expanded upon to include discussions of gay men by other academics in the early 2000s. I’m not gonna dive too deeply into it here, but in essence–as the name implies–this is the idea that patriarchal and heteronormative societies are viewed as the default, so individuals are assumed (by themselves and otherwise) to be heterosexual until “proven” otherwise. Through these standards that are seen as “normal,” people are also taught from a young age–whether explicitly or subconsciously through society–that anything that deviates from those ~straight norms~ leads to negative consequences. And so, society encourages people to avoid sexual exploration, because having experiences with someone of the same sex is what can often bring their gay identity into focus.
In the case of Black Sails, this is all very much emphasized at the forefront because it’s a historical drama. Aside from racism/slavery, patriarchy and heteronormativity are what the characters are actively going to war against.
So, the point in me defining all of this? No one—or at least, not me—is saying that James didn’t have a sexual relationship with Miranda. That’s not in question. But that doesn’t necessarily make him bi, and it doesn’t mean the narrative isn’t structured in various ways that indicate otherwise.
Just keep this in the back of your brain, because I’m going to circle back around to it.
Anne, Flint, & Gay Rage
In the wise words of an old pirate captain: “Fruit, fruit. Tits, tits.” This show thrives on parallels, and gives us lines / scenes that apply to more than one character; it’s partially why the themes are so consistent, and if you ignore that, you can miss a lot of the nuance. Our resident angry gay gingers are one of the paralleled sets of characters.
This is not a meta about Anne… but talking about parts of Anne’s story can help to highlight some things about James’ story.
I tweeted this once: “Flint and Anne’s sexualities paralleled to show struggles with compulsive heterosexuality, fighting for the sake of fighting, bringing parts of themselves into the light, wrestling with being told they’re monsters and their distorted senses of self, etc.” and really, now I’m just here to elaborate.
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The word “monster” is a recurring theme in this show. It’s tied mostly to Flint and how he is told he is monstrous for loving a man, fears being “the villain” or “monster” in everyone’s stories, and eventually embraces that monstrous portrayal in service of his goals–even as the violence is slowly devastating to him. But the other character the word “monster” is used in reference to? Anne.
A quote by Max:
“Idelle, how would you feel if the one man you thought would never betray you did? If he purchased for himself a future through that betrayal? If you were told by a world full of men that that betrayal confirmed for them that they were right to see you as a monster to be shunned? She's not mad. She is adrift.”
In some ways, this quote is also the story of what has happened to James in his life, over and over. (Not to say this is what Jack intended to do to Anne, but the parallels inherent in Max’s line itself cannot be denied.)
James is repeatedly betrayed by those he trusts: Admiral Hennessey; Peter Ashe; Hal Gates. All of them try to get him to conform to heteronormative society–including Gates, because even if he didn’t know it, that’s what he was doing by trying to get James to take a pardon. That’s why James reacts with such instinctual panic and kills him; the idea of being forced to apologize to and assimilate back into heteronormative society puts him at a breaking point. (It can even be argued that Miranda “betrays” James in this way too by trying to get him to take a pardon and go to Boston–which is where his “and they called me a monster” speech comes in–and that also contributed to how James later panics and kills Gates for trying to force him to do the same. Miranda tried in a well-meaning way to get James to move on, because she isn’t fully understanding what James wrestles with; but I’ll go back to that.)
Again, these parallels are deliberate. Anne and Flint are the two main gay characters who wrestle with their supposed “monstrosity” in the eyes of everyone else, because they don’t fit in. They are “othered.” It’s not simply about their violence; for these characters, it’s about what their violence is in service of achieving, which is tied to their sexuality.
Anne is seen as a “monster” for slaughtering the men who abused Max, who is not only a fellow woman but also a fellow lesbian, in a way that Anne is undeniably drawn to even before she lets herself acknowledge the feeling. We as viewers are meant to see this and understand this, and we do. Anne is ostracized for violence that was motivated by her sexuality, which is partially why Max tells her that she understands her violence and will protect her–because Max is not only also a woman in a patriarchal society, but she is gay too.
Flint is seen as a “monster” first and foremost by England, for his sexuality… and then, later, by everyone else for the actions he takes because of his sexuality. Again: the violence he commits cannot be divorced from his sexuality because it is the reason for it. It’s what informs it.
I tweeted about this once too, but in many ways Anne and Flint’s kindred displays of brutality and anger and “fighting for the sake of fighting” (a quote by Miranda which applies to them both) are informed by their desire/need for gay tenderness. The world has too often denied them that tenderness and their expressions of their sexualities, or demonized them for wanting it, and their violence is the result.
Here’s a quote from Deborah Tolman with regards to how compulsory heterosexuality affects men, which she calls “hegemonic masculinity”:
"These norms demand that men deny most emotions, save for anger; be hard at all times and in all ways; engage in objectification of women and sex itself; and participate in the continuum of violence against women."
The anger and hardness is a huge part of the personas both Flint and Anne have to put on for survival. I include Anne in this because she uniquely lives her life in a “male” role to survive the male-dominated world of piracy, and she’s clearly not immune from these unspoken masculine guidelines: she refers to Max as “the whore” half the time as a defense mechanism. Flint and Anne lash out, they’re hard and angry and violent for the sake of their personas, and it’s all because... inside, they just want to be soft and gay with who they love.
Anne, Flint, & Compulsory Heterosexuality (Not Bi Erasure)
In Black Sails, we are shown the story of a gay person who has a consistent sexual relationship with someone of the opposite sex, but is running from internal truths about themselves in some ways in the process. That person is Anne.
Struggling with compulsory heterosexuality is explicitly Anne Bonny’s prime storyline in the show and that is not up for debate (and I’ve rarely seen people disagree); but I argue that it is also part of James’ storyline, and he is paralleled significantly with Anne to make that clear. It’s just overall more subtle because it’s not the prime focus of James’ story the way it is for Anne, because James’ realizations happened largely in the past and we’re seeing the aftermath of it. The parallels are there, and I’ll be breaking some of them down.
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From episode one, we are told that Anne has a sexual relationship with Jack…. But later on, she tells Jack that she “can’t be [his] wife,” even though they’ll be partners forever. Why? What changed? The answer is that she’s been with Max and realized that she’s gay. It doesn’t mean Anne didn’t have sex with a man in the past and even enjoy it on some level, but it does mean that she knows now that she was using that sex partially to distract from things about herself that she was doing her best to ignore.
Multiple lines by Max (to Anne) tell us this:
3x03: “When you and I began you did not choose me. Something that lives inside you beyond choice made it so.”
2x01: “But perhaps there is something else underlying it. Something hiding in a place not even you can see. Perhaps… we would do well to bring it into the light.”
Before I continue, let me remind you of something: when writers decide to show viewers something on screen, that is done with intent, especially in a show like Black Sails where not a single moment is wasted. Remember this. What they show us, and what they don’t show us, are both deliberate choices.
So what are we shown about Anne’s sexual relationship with Jack? We get exactly one scene of her having sex with him. We are shown Anne riding Jack in a way where neither party was particularly enthused. Does this mean they definitely never had sex in the past that they both enjoyed on some level? No. But they showed us this one scene on purpose: to emphasize the stark difference when Anne has enjoyable sex with Max, an experience that forever changes her.
So what are we shown about James’ sexual relationship with Miranda? We get exactly one scene of him having sex with her. It is the most depressing sex scene of all time, James is just lying there to try to be helpful for her to chase her own pleasure, and he doesn’t even touch her. Does this mean they never had sex in the past that they both enjoyed, especially back during their affair in London? No. But we are never shown any of that. We never see them have sex in London before James’ relationship with Thomas; we never see them having good sex with each other after it all goes to hell. And that is a deliberate choice.
Why? Because all of the above info about Anne and her compulsory heterosexuality journey also applies to James McGraw, and his relationships with Miranda and Thomas.
“They paint the world full of shadows... and then tell their children to stay close to the light. Their light. Their reasons, their judgments. Because in the darkness, there be dragons. But it isn't true. We can prove that it isn't true. In the dark, there is discovery, there is possibility, there is freedom in the dark once someone has illuminated it.”
The realizations James came to about his sexuality (just like Anne did) inform much of his tangled story with the Hamiltons, and much of the tragedy of Miranda and James’ situation after the loss of Thomas. We are shown the way James and Miranda are no longer perfectly aligned after that loss, and grief is undeniably a part of it… but it goes beyond that. It’s more complicated than that.
That sad sex scene is not solely about grief; remember, that scene takes place ten years after they lose Thomas. It takes place during a time where Miranda is already thinking about and will soon actively try to tell James that they need to move on, without understanding why the loss of Thomas affects him in a profoundly different way than it affects her. I am not minimizing her loss or her grief whatsoever; but it is undeniably more complicated for James, and it’s why he can’t move on.
In episode 1x07:
James: “Have you no memory of how we got here? What they took from us?”
Miranda: “What does it matter now? What does it matter? What does it matter what happened then if we have no life now?”
James is, of course, appalled by this. I’ll talk about why momentarily.
The next time James is in Nassau (2x03), he goes to see Miranda and tries to apologize that night, but she’s otherwise engaged. So he stands outside of her window looking in, surrounded by darkness, while she’s playing the clavichord with children in the light. It is symbolically the domestic version of a heterosexual ideal. He is “othered” by the camera angles / framing, and the dark / light aspects. James is relegated to being an outsider literally because as Flint he’s a pirate, but metaphorically because he’s gay; the reason we as viewers are given that scene is to underscore that he feels he has no place in that display.
Ultimately, James is misaligned with Miranda after the loss of Thomas (shown in both the sad sex scene and arguments) in a way that goes beyond grief. The implication is that things cannot ever be the same for him again since the loss of “his truest love” and the truths he learned about himself.
If James and Miranda were simply at odds with one another because of grief, it would be far less of a “tragedy” in some ways. But James cannot heal the way Miranda slowly finds the way to over ten years, because Thomas signifies things for James that Miranda cannot relate to. In London, when Thomas is taken from them, Miranda even yells to James, “He is my husband!” Her grief and rage are shown as equal to James at the start and have extreme validity; the two of them are partners in the plan to kill Alfred Hamilton for revenge; but then she is able to somewhat move on, whereas James is not.
Why? Because, for James, Thomas was not just his (truest) love; Thomas was the awakening of his fullest self as a gay man.
In the same way that Anne can’t be Jack’s “wife” after she’s been with Max and realizes she’s gay, James cannot content himself with fulfilling the role of Miranda’s “husband” after he’s been with Thomas and realizes he’s gay. Neither of these facts minimize Anne’s love and devotion to Jack, or James’ love and devotion to Miranda; they are undeniably two sets of partners. But Anne and James are forever altered by their experiences with same sex lovers, and the truths about themselves that were brought into the light as a result.
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Another part of the tragedy of James and Miranda is what happens right when we see Miranda grasp the significance of all of the above. Whether or not she grasped it before in the past, we are shown it only once on screen, and that’s in Charlestown.
Peter Ashe says this in 2x09:
“You will tell them about the affair with Thomas. You will tell them how it ended. You will explain to them what it drove you to do. You will reveal everything. And when you do, Captain Flint will be unmasked, the monster slain. And in his place will stand before all the world a flawed man, a man that England can relate to and offer its forgiveness.”
This is James’ worst nightmare; we know as such from what he told Miranda back in 1x07, and from when he killed Gates. And yet, here and now in 2x09, he is exhausted from pushing back against heteronormative society, all he wants is to retire the mantle of Flint born of gay rage, and he actually contemplates playing by their rules and giving into their judgements of his sexuality... until Miranda comes to his defense.
In season 1, Miranda didn’t seem to fully understand James’ thoughts on this, but here–in combination with her realizations about Peter Ashe’s betrayals–she finally does. And she’s not having it.
“What forgiveness are you entitled to while you stand back in the shadows pushing James out in front of the world to be laid bear for the sake of the truth? Tell me, sir, when does the truth about your sins come to light?”
And the moment she is yelling in rage on behalf of James, and their combined loss, and how Peter would dare to force James to experience shame about his sexuality again–she is instantly shot for it. A woman who’s yelling on behalf of a gay man? In a patriarchal heteronormative society? It has no place. England makes that clear.
It all further underlines James’ sense of “otherness”... and now he decides to embrace it, even at his own emotional detriment. He will no longer try to fit in or reason with them; he will no longer accept their halfway measures of pardons. He can’t, because in the eyes of England, all that he is as a gay man is abhorrent.
2x10: “Everyone is a monster to someone. Since you are so convinced that I am yours, I will be it.”
3x05, to the Maroon Queen: “...England takes whatever, whenever, however it wants. Lives. Loves. Labor. Spirits. Homes. It has taken them from me. I imagine that it has taken it from you.”
The Way James Views Miranda
And here is where I simply give you more food for thought–or further “evidence” of James being gay, if you will.
All of Flint’s lines about how he views Miranda are worded very, very deliberately.
Here’s a minor one, from 1x05:
“So you can probably guess it isn't as much fun to tell stories about how your captain makes a home with a nice Puritan woman who shares his love of books.”
There is nothing overtly romantic or sexual about this. It’s said in a one-on-one conversation with Billy, where Flint neither has to make the relationship sound like something it isn’t nor refuse to give any info whatsoever. So he goes with what is the seemingly-mild truth.
But 3x01, convincing the men to forego pardons:
“But what price surrender? To beg forgiveness from a thing that took my woman from me? My friend?”
“My woman” is what Flint says for the benefit of the men… these men who are part of the heteronormative world they all live in, and still value sexual relationships with women above all else. It’s about hegemonic masculinity, remember? (“Objectification of women and sex itself.”) He’s doing his best to speak their language.
But “my friend” is a secondary line that was not needed for the purposes of this speech, but James could not keep himself from adding it in a quieter tone–because that’s who Miranda was to him. His friend. Not his woman, which drips sexism and sexual undertones. Not his wife. Not even his “love,” which he could’ve used if he wanted to be ambiguous and sneak a Thomas reference in; he said “my woman” to appeal to the men, and then he added “my friend” because in the face of her memory he couldn’t help it.
And lastly, in 3x03, we begin to hear from “ghost Miranda.”
But what is ghost Miranda? She’s a voice from James’ traumatized mind. Everything she says to him is about truths he already knows and/or things he is hiding from himself. So what “she” says here is a voice from James’ mind; it’s about how James sees her, and subtly elaborates on his sexuality in the process.
“When I first met you, you were so... Unformed. And then I spoke and bade you cast aside your shame, and Captain Flint was born into the world... the part of you that always existed yet never were you willing to allow into the light of day. I was mistress to you when you needed love. I was wife to you when you needed understanding. But first and before all... I was mother. I have known you like no other. So I love you like no other. I will guide you through it, but at its end is where you must leave me. At its end is where you will find the peace that eludes you, and at its end lies the answer you refuse to see.”
This does not diminish Miranda’s importance to James in the least! In fact, it emphasizes it, and it is all part of why he is so ruined over her! But it is also, in the oddest way, an elaboration upon how he isn’t bi: Miranda was his partner in many things, including shared grief and revenge and some semblance of life for ten long years; and she was also was instrumental to his formation of himself as a person (“mother”), and his acceptance of himself as a gay man (“love” and “understanding”). This is how he sees her. Mistress and wife were roles she filled in his life, but above all, she contributed to the birth of Captain Flint–the personification of James’ gay rage.
Of course, the “answer” that ghost Miranda (the depths of James’ brain) alludes to here as well as her later words of “you are not alone” are all about James needing to recognize that Silver is a newfound partner and love for him… but that’s a whole other meta entirely.
Closing Thoughts
Look, did I consult a couple of specific scenes and look up transcripts to put quotes in this? Yes. But have I still only seen the show in its entirety once? Also yes. My point in mentioning this is that, if I did a full rewatch, there might even be more evidence I haven’t mentioned here. This isn’t meant to be comprehensive, but I do feel that it... certainly conveys the gist of the mood.
You may still agree to disagree if you prefer to see James Flint as bi; I’m not here to fight you on it and what queer characters mean to you personally.
But for me, when surveying all available evidence, the narrative screams that he’s gay. In that sense, my thoughts on this matter are similar to my thoughts on the ending; sure, you can interpret it one way if you look at certain details, but if you take in all the evidence and the big picture as a whole… there’s a specific conclusion to be drawn.
Last thing I’ll say is this: Steinberg himself has said that Flint is gay, which I found out way after watching the show and forming this interpretation. And like... not that if I wanted to hardcore argue he was bi I wouldn’t disregard Steinberg’s words, because in my experience the narrative speaking for itself is always more important than than creators’ words, but... in this instance (as in all Black Sails instances I’ve come across), his words just underscore what the well-crafted narrative is already telling us, because the creators wrote this show with intent. They knew what they were doing.
And thus, I will quote him (from these GIFs) below.
“When we were trying to build the story, we wanted whatever this thing was that made [Flint] feel alienated to be so deeply tied into who he was that there was no way he was every going to dismiss this thing that happened to him. We wanted to make sure we understood what the reality was in England in terms of how homosexuality was perceived. In some ways it was more tolerated, in some ways it was significantly less tolerated. I think in terms of Flint being gay, it’s about the fact that it is a tool that is used politically when convenient to make somebody be a monster… and it isn’t even really about the relationship.”
(If you buy the series on iTunes, you get an “inside” look at every episode, including this one from 2x05.)
EDIT: I had no idea Toby Stephens basically confirmed my thoughts that James' relationship with Thomas was his actualization as a gay man, so excuse me as I lose my mind for a moment:
“I think his relationship to Thomas Hamilton, the initial friendship and then becoming lovers is sort of like the realization of himself. I think he became himself with Thomas Hamilton. His potential was unleashed with Hamilton.”
And just for fun, since I’m here anyway, here’s a piece of a Steinberg quote about Anne from the Fathoms Deep podcast.
“In terms of Rackham and Bonny, I think that was another thing that I assumed for a long time could never go away. That they were essentially, you know, that they were married. You know not legally, but they were functionally married. And then this story happened in Season 2 with Bonny, that I think with like with a gun to my head of things that I’m proud of with the show, probably at the top is this story of this woman coming out and understanding that she’s gay. . . And so when we got to a point where it was like, I think she’s gay? Like I don’t think this is something we want to be wishy-washy about. It required getting over that hump with Rackham of, ‘Well like what am I going to do with this relationship? I don’t want to split them up?’ And I think it became something way more interesting.”
Thanks for coming to my TED talk. I love James Flint and his gay rage, I love you if you read all of this, and I love my friend @sunbardy who dealt with me yelling about this in DMs and then proofread the doc.
Hit me up on Twitter @gaypiracy if you want, where I do most of my Black Sails related yelling. And shitposting. Because I contain multitudes.
Know No Shame, my friends.
#black sails#james flint#know no shame#flinthamilton#captain flint#anne bonny#meta#black sails meta#miranda hamilton#jackanne#maxanne#legit have no idea what else to tag#my meta
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Was that [CODY FERN]? Oh no no, that was just [HOWL JENKINS PENDRAGON], a [CANON CHARACTER] from [HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE]. They are [TWENTY-SEVEN] years old and [ARE NOT] aware that they are not actually from Washington DC. Too bad they can’t stray from this city for long.
BASICS
Full Name: Howl Jenkins Pendragon
Aliases:
Wizard Howl
Sorcerer Jenkin
Wizard Pendragon
Horrible Howl
Sylvester Oak
Age / Birthday: 27 / Aug 8th
Pronouns: He/him
Height: 6′ / 182 cm
Fandom: Howl’s Moving Castle
FC: Cody Fern
Likes: Himself, flirting his way in and out of situations, magic, mysteries, helping others
Dislikes: Hard work, not getting it his way, cleaning, lack of privacy
Positive traits: Charming, kind, talented, friendly
Negative traits: Dramatic, lazy, cruel, cowardly
Weapon of choice: Magic / sword
Abilities: Howl is described a magic genius and finds himself comfortable in this field, although right now he has little to no memory about his real life and abilities and so, most of them remain dormant, but he can still pull out a trick or two by accident every now and then
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⋆✦⋆ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
BACKGROUND / CANON LORE
Howl had always been a talented wizard who earned his life working for many different people including the governments of different warring regions.
He likes to woo people but specially women just to dump them afterwards; which began the story of mothers telling their daughters to take care, otherwise an evil wizard would come to devour their hearts.
He has also invented several rumors about himself to keep people at bay, so his castle and himself are rather feared in the region. (And with such a filthy place to live in I would be mad scared and keeping people away so kudos to Sophie for cleaning that mess).
Howl made a pact with Calcifer so he could become more powerful, but giving away his heart in exchange. LISTEN he thinks of himself as heartless, but he actually feels very deeply and his dramatic nature is proof of that.
I don’t wanna add spoilers for those who haven’t watched it, but eventually Howl founds himself unable to run away from all the mess he got himself into and so, he has to face the consequences of his actions with the help of Sophie and his friends.
PRESENT
How long has your character been here
Around two years, but he thinks he has grown up here in DC.
What is your character's job
He is a consultant for the FBI and some politicians. Seems to have vast knowledge on different topics and an odd yet very accurate intuition and good luck. He doesn’t like paperwork or chasing around the bad guys so he sticks to talking and lets the big guys do the rest.
Where has your character been pulled from in their fandom
The end of the movie, although he doesn’t remember anything at all aside of vague flashes of information.
Has any magic affected your character
Yup! While he retains his abilities, his memories are wrecked and doesn’t remember anything, but he keeps having these dreams about a flying castle, stars and fields of flowers. He keeps sketches about these dreams at home, but he hasn’t managed to make any sense of them just yet.
Howl does little magic tricks like waving a hand to turn on/off the lights or pull closer something so he doesn’t have to get up and get it, but he honestly thinks it is something normal that everyone can do, he doesn’t pay much attention to it and when he brings it up at work, people usually just think he is fooling around. He’s still a player that rarely sleeps on his bed each night; he also has different living properties nd keeps moving between them. This man doesn’t know why he cannot settle and feels uncomfortable after spending too much time in one spot.
He’s still very extroverted and friendly, but tends to keep people at arms length because he is emotionally unavailable and doesn’t feel capable of keeping up with social life or feelings.
He still calls himself Wizard as a way of saying he is one who solves other people’s problems, but he has no idea, the title fits him quite literally.
CONNECTIONS
People he has worked for, maybe politicians/important people or those involved with the law.
He’s a problem fixer in general so if you need anything, he’s your man.
Someone involved with the crime world that he helped catch?
Fellow magicians?
Neighbors? He probably introduces himself with different aliases so it could be fun? He is a good neighbor, although you probably have heard some horror stories about him??
Past flings for sure! He has had his fair share of meaningless adventures here and there; someone who actually have/had feelings for him just for angst.
Unrequited crushes.
I suck at this but I’m game for anything tbh akkdlg
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Five Mineral Drug
Five mineral powder (or wushi), also known as cold food powder (or hanshi), was one of the most widely used drugs in medieval China. I have read the paper Lebensstil und Drogen im chinesischen Mittelalter by Rudolf G. Wagner and thought that those who can’t speak German might want to know more about it as well. In this, I will explain how it was found and popularized, the people who took this, symptoms, side effects, etc.
So I picked out a few texts and translated the translations from German to English. Keep in mind that the translation had gone from being originally written in Middle Chinese to being translated to German by Wagner, and then being translated by me in English. This is not an official translation, and I don’t want it to be treated as such. I tried finding alternative translations but in the end, I had to resort to translating most of it myself. My translations (which are Wagners translations) are marked with a ・ .
And also for those not bright enough: DO NOT RECREATE THIS TRASH! DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CONSUME IT! Jesus
Five Mineral Drug Before He Yan
There is not much known about the History before He Yan’s lifetime, but we have the following statement by Qin Zhengzu in his work Hanshi san lun ・ :
Although the recipe for the cold food powder originates in the Han Dynasty, there were not many who used it. But when the shangshu (He Yan) achieved godly mental abilities (because of the drug), it spread immensely throughout the era.
In Chao Yuanfang’s work Chaoshi Zhubing Yuanhuo [1] which citates Huangfu Mi ・ :
Where the drug came from is not known. Some say Hua Tuo invented it, others say it was Zhang Ji. If one examines the truthfulness on these accounts, it was plausible for Hua Tuo’s talent to invent simple recipes (which does not apply to the five mineral powder). In a text written by Zhang Ji, there is a recipe called Houshi Hei (Black Powder by Sir Hou) and a Zushi Ying recipe, both of those, have a similar composition like the Five Mineral Powder, and the codes of conduct (for the ingestion) are more or less the same. According to those two recipes, the plant-based and the mineral-based, I deduce the origins stem from Zhang Ji and not Hua Tuo.
Remarkable is that Huangfu Mi had to speculate even though He Yan was dead for only 30 years. Rudolf G. Wagner comments that Huangfu’s explanation could ring true because Zhang Ji was known as a doctor specialized in Shanghan diseases (cold diseases). Summarized we know that the drug was probably invented in the Han Dynasty and that it was meant to be used as medicine.
He Yan and the Popularization of The Five Mineral Drug
He Yan (d. 249) was the grandson of He Jin and grandnephew of Empress Dowager He. His mother Lady Yin, who was formerly the wife of He Xian, became the concubine of Cao Cao. Although he was closely affiliated with the imperial clan (through his mother and his wife Princess Jinxiang), he was largely unrecognized by them, Wendi of Wei even calling him a ‘false son'. He stayed out of government until Mingdi of Wei’s death. He Yan cultivated a circle of friends of scholarly interests, on which he exerted influence. His contemporaries include Wang Bi, Xiahou Xuan, Deng Yang, Li Sheng, and Zhuge Dan.
At the regency of Cao Shuang, he and his circle would take great influence in the years from 240 to 249, which was known as the Zhengshi era. He and Wang Bi (226-249)achieved great scholarly achievements in Neo-Daoism, also known as Xuanxue. The cultural, scholarly, and scientific advancements were unparalleled and imitated in later years. But the regime by Cao Shuang and his co-regent Sima Yi (179-251) would prove to be highly unstable. Cao Shuang and his circle came to represent the new elites with Xuanxue as their philosophy, and Sima Yi represented the orthodox Confucian landholders, who would feel threatened by He Yan and his friends who represented in many the new powerholders. Internal strifes in Cao’s faction and Sima Yi’s short retreat from the court would result in a coup d'état against Cao. Cao Shuang, He Yan, his supporters, and their families were all executed.
For a more thorough analysis on He Yan, I highly recommend DaolunofShiji’s A Case For He Yan.
He Yan was described in the He Yan Biezhuan:” His figure and face were of outstanding beauty; when he went outside, for a walk, onlookers would fill the streets; many said he was a genius”. Further, the Weilüe states: “...in all activities white cosmetic powder did not leave his hands, when walking he looked back at his shadow.” As a dandy, outstanding debater, and philosopher, he would dictate the beauty and philosophical trends, of not only his day but for the next centuries. For example, the former standards of attractiveness were in the Late Han Dynasty a warriorlike appearance with great strength to accompany it. Because of He Yan, the standards changed to a more docile and graceful appearance.
As a trendsetter, with no doubt many admirers, he introduced the drug in the Wei elite with his description of the drug cited in the Shishuo Xinyu: “Whenever I take five-mineral powder, not only does it heal any illness I might have, but I am also aware of my spirit and intelligence becoming receptive and lucid.” It’s popularity rose in the Wei-Jin elite as following anecdotes describe:
Chao Yuanfang’s work which cites Huangfu Mi in Chaoshi Zhubing Yuanhuo・ :
In youngest times, the shangshu He Yan devoted himself to music and appreciated sex, when he took the drug for the first time, his consciousness gained more clarity and his physical strength increased. In the capital (of Wei), everyone passed the drug around... After the death of He Yan, those who took the drug multiplied, and it didn’t slow down with time.
The drug not only aids ‘spirit and intelligence’ but also increases the enjoyment of music and sex.
Cao Shuang’s biography in the Sanguozhi [2]:
Shuǎng’s drink and food and chariots and clothing, imitated the Imperial carriage; craftsmen treasures and toys, filled up his house; wives and concubines filled his Rear Courtyard, and he also secretly took the Former Emperor’s Talent concubines of seven to eight women, and his offices and officials, teachers and workers, drums and horns, elite family’s sons and daughters of thirty-three people, all became his performers and musicians. He forged Imperial Order documents, sending out Talent concubines of fifty seven women to Yè terrace, and having the Former Emperor’s Fair concubines teach and practice performance. He usurped the Grand Musician’s musical instruments, and the Military Store’s prohibited weapons. He made cavern residences, fine engraving all around, repeatedly with [Hé] Yàn and the rest meeting inside, drinking liquor and making merry.
Rudolf G. Wagner analysis that this scene is also in correlation to the five mineral powder, mainly being in a ‘cavern residence’ which helps with the side effects of the powder (I will explain the side effects later on). Also, the ‘Talented Concubines’ (who are Mingdi’s concubines), the excessive wine drinking, and the musical instruments indicate that the circumstance has been applied to fit the positives of using the drug and to alleviate the side effects.
Of course, this lifestyle would take a toll on He Yan’s health, as the powder that could ‘heal any illness’ betrayed him. As Guan Lu observed, not only He Yan but also his colleague Deng Yang were greatly weakened. The anecdote is in the Guan Lu biezhuan which you can find in his Sanguozhi biography[3]:
Deng Yang's gait is that of one whose sinews are loosed from his bones, and his pulse is unsteady. When he would stand, he totters as a man without limbs. This is the aspect of a disembodied soul. He Yan looks as if his soul was about to quit its habitation. He is bloodless, and what should be solid in him is mere vapor. He looks like rotten wood. This is the aspect of a soul even now in the dark valley.
Also the He Yan Biezhuan further states:” He had such a weakened constitution, that he couldn’t wear heavy silk anymore.” It is plausible that it is attributed to the drugs, the heavy silk could either produce more heat than he could handle, or it could apply pressure to the ulcers, you get from this drug, (but then again we will talk about the side effects later). Hao Yicheng (1757-1825) commented that if Sima Yi didn’t killed him, that he would have passed away anyway, because of the consequences of his drug use.
He Yan’s Legacy in Relation to the Drug
He Yan was the most important person concerning the rise of the drug in Wei-Jin circles. He was blamed for the moral decay of the elite, and over the centuries, criticized regularly for it. The following memorials bear witness to it:
Pei Wei’s (267-300) (whose father Pei Xiu passed away because of the drug, we will get to that later) memorial, which can be found in the Jinshu 35, criticizes Wang Yan and others for their admiration and imitating the actions of He Yan and Ruan Ji. It is explicitly mentioned that their rolemodels like themselves ran around naked, being unable to follow the rites.
Fan Ning, in the reign of Emperor Jianwen (reg. 371-373), presented in a memorial, which you can find in the Jinshu 75, in which he criticized He Yan and Wang Bi ‘That the faults of He Yan and Wang Bi are greater than Jie’s and Zhou’s faults’. Those two ‘terrible last rulers’ were considered evil, but only corrupted their own generation. He Yan and Wang Bi, on the other hand, exceeded the faults of ‘barbarians’ because their negative influence in all areas, corrupted the elite, the execution of He Yan and the establishment of a new dynasty affecting nothing to the problem. He is also implying that because the Jin elite followed He Yan’s and Wang Bi’s teachings, they couldn’t defend the north from the ‘barbarians’.
Sun Simiao (581-682) wrote in his treatise ‘Declaration of the Toxicity of the Five Mineral Powder’ which is in the Qian Jin Yao Fang ・ :
The revival medicine cold food powder or five mineral powder, according to old reports, were not known to recipe specialists, but (its use) began with the Marquis He after the end of the Han.
Since Huangfu Mi among those, who were tricked by this temptation, there were none, whose back didn’t inflame, whose bones didn’t disintegrate and who didn’t subject themselves to destruction. Since I can remember, it hasn’t struck only one from those who I knew, who came from the capital.
Su Shi (1036-1101) wrote in his memorial ‘The Memorial of Shangyang’ Lun Shangyang the following ・ :
It began with He Yan, that the people took stalactites and wushi (different word for fuzi: aconite), and gave themselves uncontrolled to wine and sex, to prolong their life. (He) Yan was in his youth rich and honored, how should one be surprised, that he took the cold food powder, to satisfy his desires? What he caused with that (that the powder spread), was enough to kill people and to destroy families. Every single day. How awful it is to die from the cold food powder - But what can I alone do? Those who take the cold food powder and whose backs are decaying (are so numerous), that they step on each other's feet!
Yu Zhengxie (1775–1840) wrote in his work Guisi Cungao the following, comparing the five mineral powder to opium ・ :
The nobles and dignitaries haven’t asked themselves if they have an illness or not, but it became fashionable with He Yan to take this drug without reason. The people of Wei and Jin took this drug and were not able to come back to their senses until the end of their lives...
The powder of Wei and Jin and the ‘pill’ of Tang and Song are the worst and are comparable with today’s opium. Under the Jin, Tang, and Song the governments, however, haven’t banned (these drugs), whereas today opium is banned; That’s how one can see that only the present government is handling the problem correctly.
The Recipe
First, we examine He Yan’s Five Mineral Powder Recipe, referenced in Sun Simiao’s (581-682) work Qian Jin Yi Fang, where mentioned in a note that if two components (sulfur and red clay containing silicon) are removed from the Wushi Gengsheng San recipe, you are left with Sanshi Gengsheng, Marquis He’s original recipe. The ingredients are listed here:
Zhongru (stalactite) 2.5 liang
Baishi Ying (milky quartz) 2.5 liang
Haige (oyster shell) 2.5 liang
Zishiying (amethyst) 2.5 liang
Fangfeng (Siler divaricum) 2.5 liang
Gualou (Trichosanthes kirilowii) 2.5 liang
Ganjiang (Zingiber officinale) 1.5 liang
Baishu (Atractylis ovata) 1.5 liang
Jiegeng (Platycodon grandiflorum) 5 fen
Xixin (Asarum Sieboldi) 5 fen
Renshen (Panax ginseng) 3 fen
Fuzi (Aconitum L.) cooked, with the removed shell 3 fen
Guixin (cinnamon tree bark from a smaller branch)
And very important is expensive wine.
As Wagner points out, his list of ingredients isn’t exact, because of the many variables the identification of those ingredients has (pharmacological variables, terms describing the ingredients, the provenance of the plants, etc.). But we can establish the most important ingredients: stalactite, aconite, and herbs such as ginger, ginseng, etc..
In Xi Kang’s (223-262) biography in the Jinshu 49, we see that stalactite could be consumed on its own ・ :
Xi Kang also met with Wang Lie, and together they went to the mountains. Lie found a stone, with the form resembling a sugar hat. Lie took half of the stone and gave the other half to Xi Kang. Both froze and turned to stone.
Donald Holzman, in his book La vie et la pensée de Hi K’ang identifies the ‘stone resembling a sugar hat’[4] as a stalactite, which is in He Yan’s recipe.
Little side note ‘turned to stone’ is indeed comparable with the slang ‘getting stoned’.
Pharmacological Effects
Before we turn to the preparation of the drug, I’d like to point out the fact that we only vaguely know what components lead to the psychoactive effect. Wagner wrote in his paper that he tried to have people knowledgeable in these regards, research with him, but it didn’t work out. If you want to learn more in this regard, I can’t help you.
Preparation of the Drug and Codes of Conduct
According to Huangfu Mi the minerals have to be prepared (I assume grinding it into a powder) and then they have to rest for 30 days. The plants are prepared on the day of ingestion.
The following texts are in Chao Yuanfang’s work Chaoshi Zhubing Yuanhuo and in Sun Simiao’s work Qian Jin Yi Fang ・ :
Those who take the Hanshi powder, take the amount of 2 liang, this amount is divided into three pastes.
At sunrise, he takes with hot, excellent wine the first paste. When the sun has moved one chang (meaning two hours), in turn, he takes the other paste. When the sun has moved a second chang, he takes the last paste, having used up everything.
After a while, he should wash his hands and feet with cold water. When the energy of the drug is working, one will feel numb. Thereupon he undresses and bathes in cold water. When the power of the drug gets stronger and the body is cooled, the mind opens to clarity, and one recovers from the hardships, even for those who lie weakened and suffering in their bed, it will improve before the day ends.
There are people of weak or strong constitution, and there is different tolerability of the drug for many. If the person using the drug is emaciated and weak, he can eat a little before taking the drug. But when the person is strong, he doesn’t need to eat...
One always has to dress cold, drink cold, eat cold, and sleep cold. The colder the better. If the drug didn’t had an effect yet, one shouldn’t bathe cold yet; if one bathes in this situation, it will result in a painful cold, blocking the drug’s effect, leaving the person shivering. Rather (if the drug is blocked) one should drink warm wine, jump, dance, and rub themselves, to achieve the effect, if one starts to get warm, then they should bathe. If the (situation where the drug hasn’t reached the effect) has been dealt with, one should stop and not overdo (the cooling). Also one should eat cold multiple times (a day), not only in the morning and evening. If one refrains from eating and getting so hungry, then it’s causing the person, to get cold, and only if he eats he will warm up.
The ingredients suggest a high content of calcium, explaining the feverish symptoms. For those symptoms of heat, it was also common to just remove the clothes and go around naked.
Further we are informed that 2 liang isn’t an universal dosage, about that Huangfu Mi writes, which is cited in Chao Yuanfang’s work Chaoshi Zhubing Yuanhuo ・ :
As far as seniors and children are concerned, who can’t tolerate (the normal amount, 2 liang) - here you can set the dosage under 2 liang. When the person is robust, you can set the dosage above two liang... Even though this medicine is excellent and can double the strength and spirit, it is indeed difficult to correctly dosage it.
Cao Xi (Yes from the imperial family) wrote also an explanation on the correct codes of conduct, which could criticize Huangfu’s suggestions which is quoted in Tamba Yasuyori’s work Ishimpo [5] ・ :
In general, one has to, when someone is taking the cold food drug, when it becomes too strong, consistently (focus on the condition) of the one taking the drug, and administer (fitting) healing recipes.
The body and liquids of the human flesh are (for different people) differing like earth and wind (as they are different in other places)Although it is said (by Huangfu Mi?), that one should drink wine, there are people who can do that, and those who cannot.
Although it is said (by Huangfu Mi?), one always has to stay cool, there are bodies of people, there are ones who can bear the cold, and those who can’t.
Although it is said (by Huangfu Mi?), one should eat and drink a lot, there are for food and drink different amounts (of digestibility).
Although it is said (by Huangfu Mi?), one should always exercise, there are different stabilities of the bone, ones who are strong and ones who are weak.
Because the people are thick and thin, old and young, have in their bodies illnesses or not, those who have much warmth and those who have much coldness, one cannot treat (the side effects) them with the same method.
A strong rise of the drug has many aspects and produces hundreds of illnesses.
As those symptoms can be useful in identifying anecdotes where someone is ‘under the influence’, as we turn to the next section.
The Stoned Nobles
Yes, Huangfu Mi called them “The Nobles turned to Stone”.
As it is mentioned the drug spread in He Yan’s lifetime and long after that. In the Guan Lu biezhuan there is instance recorded where Pei Hui asked his subordinate Zhao Kongyao why he isn’t looking well, Zhao replied ・ :”I have the misfortune, that no drug-minerals are remaining in my body.”
As Qin Zhengzu writes in his work Hanshi san lun ・:”Those who took (the powder), searched each others company.” The nobles of that time met in ‘drugparties’ which were most of the time called ‘wineparties’. The language describing those gatherings resembled those of wineparties. For example it is mentioned in the Jinshu 35 that Shi Chong (249-300) once wanted to sue Sun Lishu for not having acted according to the rites at his wineparty, but Pei Kai admonished Shi Chong by saying ・ :”You gave someone a wild drug and expect correct ritual behavior - isn’t that wrong?”
Then we of course have the parties by Cao Shuang, being prime examples of drug use. Of course the one mentioned in the Sanguozhi but also the one mentioned in Zhong Hui’s biography for his mother ・ :
At this time the Great General Cao Shuang alone held the goverment; he gave himself daily to wine until he became heavily drunk. The elder brother of Hui, the shizhong (Zhong) Yu told what happened on these parties. My mother (Zhong Hui’s mother) said:’ When they are having their fun, they are just having their fun, but it won’t last long. When those of high rank, aren’t arrogant and follow the rules and regulations, then they aren’t getting themselves in trouble. If they overdo it, a tragedy will happen. (Those who are in the government) have an excessive wastefulness. This is not the way to keep wealth and high positions’.
The seven sages of the bamboo grove were also known to be fond of the drug. We know of course that Xi Kang took stalactites, the other members showed also similar symptoms described in the following texts:
Wang Yin’s Jinshu biography cited in the Shishuo Xinyu ・ :
At the end of Wei, Ruan Ji drank heavily, neglecting himself completely, showed his hair in an unkempt state in public, and sat naked with sprawled out legs.
Liu Ling’s love for wine is well recorded, but we see him naked here as well, indicating of course this is a incident of drug use, it’s cited in the Shishuo Xinyu [6] :
Liu Ling was an inveterate drinker and indulged himself to the full. Sometimes he stripped of his clothes and sat in his room naked. Some men saw him and rebuked him. Liu Ling said, “Heaven and earth are my dwelling, and my house is my trousers. Why are you all coming into my trousers?”
Not only in the nobility was the drug popular, but emperors also took this. Emperor Huidi of Jin once had a party with youths of the nobility, it’s cited in the Jinshu 27 ・ :
Huidi hosted in the Yuankang era (291-299) a wine party with the high ranking and entertainment seeking youths (of the elite), they let their hair down and undressed in front of the slaves serving as concubines. Those who wouldn’t participate in it fell from grace, those who rejected it were criticized. Only a few nobles wouldn’t participate in it because of embarrassment, and they were presented as they would lack reverence (towards their ruler).
Interesting to see that not only the use of the drug only had a small opposition, but those who refused to participate in those drug parties were put under pressure. It was not only Huidi of Jin who used the five mineral powder but also emperor Tuoba Gui who personally beat those to death who argued against his drug use and displayed their corpses in the ‘hall of heavenly peace’.
After the fall of Western Jin the nobles took their drug culture with them south, as it is described in an anecdote with ‘The Eight Da’ which is cited in the Jinshu 49 [7]:
Humu Fuzhi, Xie Kun, Ruan Fang, Bi Zhuo, Yang Man, Huan Yi and Ruan Fu were sitting together naked and with disheveled hair in a closed room; they had already been drinking for several days. (Guang) Yi (Humu Fuzhi’s protege whom they had not seen for years, arrived and) was about to push the door open and to enter, but the guardian did not allow him (to come in). He thereupon stripped himself outside the door, put off his hat, (crept) into the dog-hole and looked at them, shouting loudly. (Humu) Fuzhi was startled and said:’Other people definitely cannot do so. That must be our Mengzi (i.e. Guang Yi)’. He immediately called him in, and together with him they (went on) drinking day and night, without stopping. Their contemporaries called them ‘the Eight da’.
The Five Mineral Drug and Women
Wagner comments on the question if women took the drug as well, that they were only sexual objects or musicians. They were not members of the circle who took them for psychoactive purposes.
But that doesn’t mean they didn’t consume it. Certainly, they didn’t participate in parties like the scholar gentry, but they used it like most as medicine. In Chao Yuanfang’s work Chaoshi Zhubing Yuanhuo [8] it says:
When a pregnant woman catches cold and suffers from serious pain in her body, and she cannot be moved because of her condition, taking a dose of Cold Food Powder in warm wine and having a cold bath can do her good. After this, if she feels numbness somewhere on her body, the area should be washed with cold water, if she feels cold, drink some doses of wine...
Considering the fact that He Yan ignored the drug’s intended purposes, it is probable that not all women of that time weren’t so strict on using it purely as medicine either.
Also worth mentioning is that women took other substances like cinnabar, in the tomb of Wang Danhu 200 pills were found, which contained cinnabar. Cinnabar was mainly used in alchemy to either achieve immortality, or immortality of the corpse (to preserve it). But in the Tang dynasty, it replaced the five mineral powder, for it was also psychoactive.[9]
Five Mineral Drug and the Common People
To clarify, the five mineral powder was a luxury commodity. The powder itself wasn’t cheap and you had to mix it with expensive wine. There were no people who could profit from peasants getting addicted, there was no point in getting someone addicted to a substance he couldn’t even in the slightest afford. The five mineral powder was in every aspect a status symbol.
And because it was a status symbol people who couldn’t afford the powder would feign to suffer from the side effects of the powder. An anecdote from the Taiping Guangji 247 states ・ :
In the Northern Wei under Xiaowendi (reg. 471-500) the princes and high dignitaries, in high numbers, took the mineral drug, they were called the Shifa, for those ‘where the mineral drug is coming up strongly’. However, there were also people, who had a fever but were not rich and high standing, but also claimed they took minerals and that the fever derived from that. Contemporaries frequently suspected that those people imitated the looks from the rich and high standing.
There was once a man who lied down in front of the gates of the market and with all seriousness assured, that he had a fever so that the people congregated around him to take a look at him. When his companion wondered (about his simulation), he told him:’The drugs are coming up strongly (I am a Shifa).’ His companion asked:’When did the high lord take the minerals?’ The man replied:’Yesterday evening I bought rice, in it I found a mineral; That one I ate and now it is coming up too strongly.’ Everyone started laughing (because the effect of the powder starts immediately, exposing himself). Since then there were only a few, who pretended to suffer from the drug.
Effects of the Five Mineral Powder
As mentioned five mineral powder was originally used as a medicine, but through He Yan, it was used as a lifestyle drug. It was recommended to be used for everyone, literally everyone. Embryos, children, adults, seniors, healthy people, sick people, weak people, and strong people. And it seems that it was not just recommended in treating every disease you might have, but also to achieve godly abilities, good looks, a lucid mind, strength and of course using it per se was a sign of extreme wealth.
Shi Huiyi (372-444) wrote, which is cited in the Ishimpo by Tamba Yasuyori ・:
The five mineral powder is among the supreme drugs. One can excellently prolong their life, nourish life, and bring harmony to one's intellect. How could (one say) that the drug can only heal illnesses?
Cao Xi wrote, which is cited in Qin Zhengzu’s work Hanshi san lun ・ :
Those who are in today’s high rank, see the basic recipe of the drug and are calling out:’This is the divine powder, with which you can hold on to your life.’ And then comes the day, where they are taking it, undress, stand in the wind and pour cold water over them.
Side Effects of the Five Mineral Powder
Wudi sent an urgent message, in which he demanded that Huangfu Mi accepts a government post. Mi answered with a submittal, referring to himself as ‘the hidden one in the grass’: ‘Since I am weakened and emaciated, I am unclear about the direction of the way. Because of my illness, I removed my hairpins, my hair is (dense) like a forest... My humble self has nothing excellent about me, I cause catastrophe’s and seek my ruin, in fear of my serious illness. Half of my body is already numb, and my right leg couldn’t support myself for 19 years. I also take the cold food powder drug and missed and confused the codes of conduct; my pain (caused by this), my suffering, my bitterness, and my sorrows last for seven years. Even in the coldest weather, I undress and eat ice, and when summer comes, it is unbearably warm, and I am shaken by the coughing. At times I am exceedingly feverish, at times I have the coldest chills; Pus is running out my ulcers, and my arms and legs are heavy. In the meantime, my suffering only got worse, as I am gasping for my life...
In the Jinshu 51 ・ Huangfu Mi describes his ailings caused by the drug, in a submittal, hoping to avoid office. He took this drug in hopes to cure his old disease (most likely a stroke), but only worsened his overall condition. As Huangfu Mi describes further implications, cited in Chao Yuanfang’s work Chaoshi Zhubing Yuanhuo ・ :
At times hands and feet hurt, and all joints want to loosen(?). On the body ulcers, form and knots raise. One sits at the bed and sits for a long time, without moving. Extreme heat is everywhere on the body and collects on one point. At times there are hard sores. When it gets worse, they turn to ulcers. When one recognizes that, the person has to wash it with cold water and rub a cold stone (over the sores). In an easy case the sores disappear after a short time; In the worst case one has to pour water over it for a few days without pause, and then it will improve. When the person has been watered for a while, he will recover eventually. But when the bumps are getting bigger and there is no improvement, one should take a knife whetstone and hold it to fire until it glows, then throw the stone in bitter wine. When the stone is in the bitter wine the stone shatters. Thereon one should grind the stone, and apply the stone mixture to the ulcers; When it has been done three times it will improve. Then one takes big worms from the toilet, grind them, and warm them up and apply the mixture to the ulcers, also that is not necessary to do more than three times, and then the healing is improved.
Huangfu Mi doesn’t write where the ulcers form but it is highly likely that they form on the back. Su Shi writes of decaying backs and according to Huangfu Mi, a son of Wang Su (195–256), Wang Liangfu, died because ‘ulcers ate his back away’.
Of course, the well-known side effect is getting feverish but there are far more, according to Chao Yuanfang’s work Chaoshi Zhubing Yuanhuo other side effects include ・ :
Swelling of the stomach, until it wants to explode
Inflamed buttocks
Stabbing pain in the heart, like needles
Dizziness, frequent falling
Pain on all limbs
Difficulty to urinate
Difficulty to defecate
Stiffening of the joints, until one cannot move or stretch
Defecating without knowing
Pain in the eyes, like needles
Tinnitus and liquids exiting the ear
Pain in the mouth, tongue is tensing, and the mouth getting so dry you can’t eat
Rotting of the testicles
Sweating secretion under the arms and ulcers (on the lymph nodes?)
Hypersomnia without being capable to wake up oneself
Swallowing a cough up, leading to an injury to the throat and to bleeding
The feeling of cold and heat change for months
Screaming loudly with a wide openend mouth and with wide openend eyes
Blindness
Insomnia
Stiffening of muscles and skin, until they are dry and feel like wood
Tendency for the eyes to pop out
Some of them can be deadly. But next to the physiological side effects, there are also the psychological side effects. Huangfu Mi writes the following, cited in Chao Yuanfang’s work Chaoshi Zhubing Yuanhuo ・ :
In general, those who take these drugs, when it came up too strongly, even when they are usually intelligent, they are getting dumb. When they are abandoned, they won’t get better. The number of those who died isn’t comprehensible. In general speaking for the stoned nobles, there are ten wrong attitudes (before ingesting the drug): 1.That they are starring angrily; 2.That they have fears or worries; 3. That they cry; 4.That they suppress defecation; 5. That they suppress hunger; 6.That they suppress thirst; 7.That they suppress heat; 8.That they suppress cold; 9.That they overexert themselves; 10.That they are sitting stiff and don’t move When one is against these ten wrong attitudes, one has to, when one wants to raise the effect of the drug, but is already stiff, always has to relax and bring harmony to the limbs; also one cannot read bitter things and not think of something worrying. If one is capable of doing that, the drug won’t come up too strongly and everything will better
If you fail in getting relaxed, similar to LSD, you are getting a ‘bad trip’. Huangfu Mi writes, which is also cited in Chao Yuanfang’s work Chaoshi Zhubing Yuanhuo ・ :
One time I felt like that, when I was sitting in front of my food and tears just kept falling. I took a knife and wanted to kill myself, but was unable to go through with it because my family noticed and took the knife away. I retreated, checked myself, and forced myself to eat and to drink cold water, after that the (desperation) stopped. That it didn’t come to a tragedy, hang on a single thread.
Wang Wei (398-425) once treated his brother with the five mineral drug, but he passed away as a consequence. Wang Wei blamed himself and wrote in a letter which is cited in the Songshu ・ :
In the past year, the powder came up too strongly; on the climax tears came to my eyes, day and night without stopping
And of course, we have Tuoba Gui, when he started taking the five mineral drug his reign was considered ‘a bad trip’
Everyone was aware of the side effects, but they didn’t attribute that as an inevitable consequence but as a case of an overdosing. It was considered safe to use as long as it was used correctly. How it was considered safe to use knew no one.
First Aid In Case of Overdose
At times it can happen, that one falls unconscious and doesn’t recognize people or circumstances. If one (wants) to move its mouth, one can’t open it. The ill person doesn’t know himself and relies on the help of others. In this case, it is necessary that one takes hot wine, for it now depends on his life. But if he can’t drink (the hot wine because of the stiff mouth), one has to kick his teeth in and force the wine down his throat. When the throat is blocked, and the wine flows out, one should not stop (pouring it in). When (the wine) flows out again, one should pour it again and repeats it for perhaps half a day. When the wine gets down, he will regain conscience, but if one stops, without the person drinking the wine, one kills the person.
This is a recommendation by Huangfu Mi cited in Chao Yuanfang’s work Chaoshi Zhubing Yuanhuo ・, it is probably self-explanatory that kicking the teeth of another person while unconscious, will at least provoke animosity, especially when the person unconscious is of higher rank like Pei Xiu. Huangfu Mi writes about his death in Chao Yuanfang’s work ・ :
Pei Xiu from Hedong took the drug and missed the codes of conduct. But because he attained the rank of Sangong, no one dared to force him to treat the (side effects of the drug). He was already beyond the stage of confusion, so that he wasn’t able to realize (what should have been necessary to do), and no one in his entourage knew how to help him. The treatment they chose for him was (giving him instead of warm wine, which would have been correct), letting him drink cold water and rinse him with cold water. When they used hundreds of shi of water on him, the cold became too much and, he died in the water.[10]
If one takes ten shi of glowing coal and pours over them 200 shi of cold water, the glowing coal will go out. Although the heat (caused) by the drug was great, it isn’t as great as the fire stemming from 10 shi stone coal. If one pours the person without interruption, the cold will be enough to kill him.
Later his son Pei Wei wrote a memorial, which you can find in the Jinshu 35, urging to correct the scale of the imperial physicians to prevent overdosing. He didn’t explicitly mention the five mineral drugs, but his background and the massive prevalence of the drug should be good indicators.
Lethality of the Five Mineral Drug
Those who survive (the intake) the longest, live for a few decades; those who live the shortest, only for five to six years. Even though I myself still see and breathe, (is that what I say), only the laugh of a drowning man.
Huangfu Mi’s description of the lethality of the drug cited in the Chaoshi Zhubing Yuanhuo ・. He also lists people who died from the drug in the following:
More and more people took this powder and refused to stop, at time, including myself. Although violent effects were not common it could take a man’s life. One of my cousins named Changhu, suffered from atrophy of the tongue almost shrunk back into his throat; Wang Liangfu of Donghai country suffered from ulcerative carbuncles on his back; Xin Changxu in western Gansu Province suffered ulceration of his back muscles; Zhao Gonglie in Shu County of Sichuan lost six of his cousins to it. All these sufferings were caused by taking cold food powder. Among these, some were quite elderly and some still young, only 5-6 years old. Though I have seen this and sighed at it, I am just like a single drowning man, laughing at those drowning. Yet patients will not take a warning from this, and stop themselves.[11]
Notes
[1] All of Huangfu Mi’s works about the five mineral powder, are only existant in citations in the Chaoshi Zhubing Yuanhuo, the Hanshi san lun and the Ishimpo.
[2] The translation of Cao Shuang’s biography was made by @xuesanguo. You can read it here.
[3] This translation I found in Guan Lu’s wikipedia page. It basically says everything Wagner has translated. But I only know for sure in this passage, I don’t know if the rest is correct.
[4] I couldn’t find a whole translation of this passage, but in Google Books the translation for Wagners ‘sugar hat’ (in German ‘Zuckerhut’), is in other versions ‘sweet meat’ or ‘cakelike stalagmite’. I personally think ‘sugar hat’ fits best.
[5] Cao Xi was the son of Cao Hui, Prince of Dongping. After the establishment of Jin he was made Duke of Linqiu. His works about the powder were also lost to time and ony citations in the Ishimpo and in the Hanshi san lun survive. Also to note the Ishimpo, which was written in around the year 984, was the first medical text in Japan.
[6]This translation is in the book World History, Volume 1
[7]This translation is in the book The Buddhist Conquest of China: The Spread and Adaptation of Buddhism in Early Medieval China by Erik Zürcher
[8]This translation is in the book History Of Medicine In Chinese Culture. Important to note is that Chao Yuanfang hasn’t quoted neither Huangfu Mi nor Cao Xi, so it could be his own recommendation, which was then followed in the Sui dynasty.
[9] For more info on Wang Danhu I recommend Entombed Epigraphy and Commemorative Culture in Early Medieval China by Timothy M. Davis, Landadel - Emigranten - Emporkömmlinge: Familienfriedhöfe des 3.-6. Jahrhunderts n. Chr. in Südchina by Annette Kieser, and Emigrantenfamilien der Östlichen Jin-Zeit im Spiegel ihrer Gräber und Grabinschrifttafeln also by Annette Kieser.
[10]The Jinshu says he drank cold wine, not cold water. In this case the Jinshu is correct, he should have had warm wine, but he was given cold wine.
[11]This translation is in the book History Of Medicine In Chinese Culture.
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Supernatural season 7 review (part 1)
Link to part 2:
I think this season was a lot alike the first ones, maybe because of the amount of episodes representing small hunts that have nothing to do with the big plot (as episode 4, about the Egyptian god Osiris, 5, about witches, 7, about ghosts, 12, about the Greek god Cronus, 13, about the Amazons, 14, about Sam’s fear of creepy clowns, 15, about demons and so on), or also because the plot of the season, the Winchesters fighting against the villain of the season, was quite simple. I somehow appreciate the two features, and I will later explain why, but of course at this point of the show it’s kind of unnatural not to focus on bigger storylines.
I find the “single episodes” pretty original, but I can’t help thinking they’re only meant to increase the number of episodes and create at least 20 of them per season, and that the main storyline alone would’ve requested only at most half of them to get completed. I’d understand if the show wasn’t 15 seasons long, and if the authors didn’t force all the main action to take place in the very last episodes.
Season 7 has a quite plain main plot: the villain, Dick Roman (Latins would’ve said “nomen omen”, which means something like “someone’s name’s an omen”), the leader of Leviathans, plans to conquer the world by drugging and killing people through the food produced in his factories. It is clear that Sam and Dean have to stop him. As I was saying, for someone who’s used to complex plots, this season might result a bit boring, but for me it was even relaxing not having to keep too many details in mind.
Two of the main themes of the season are introduced already in the first episode, Leviathans, which are contained in Castiel’s body and are destined to come out and spread death, and Sam’s hallucinations, which will accompany him for a long time.
I just mentioned Leviathans, new creatures that appear right from Purgatory thanks to Castiel. We’ve left him at the end of season 6 and we meet him again as an arrogant and vengeful God. I found it quite strange that Castiel had become so mean, and even the Winchesters can’t understand his behaviour. It is kind of a lesson of how power can change people, but still at some point I found it incoherent with Cas’ personality, as he has always been so humble and kind to every human, especially to Sam and Dean, and as he suddenly asks for their forgiveness.
When Leviathans take over, Cas dies. It is a very painful moment, as every time someone dies through Supernatural, but it is as if the brothers are sorrowfully getting used to losing people and have so many problems to solve at the same time they don’t have any more mental energy to devote to process grief. They always carry an unbearable burden they never have time to mindfully focus on and that makes them so frustrated they’re often almost to the point of exploding.
This time Cas’ death is the least of their problems, as Leviathans are starting to kill and eat people at a hospital, and in addition they are invincible with the Winchesters’ usual weapons, and Lucifer is trying to take over Sam’s mind. We immediately get to know that Sam’s mental wall is broken, so that Lucifer can torment and play him. It is like Sammy can’t have rest from his demonic side and can’t get rid of it: Lucifer provides him with increasing hallucinations and pain. Dean and Bobby are really worried about him, but they have no clue on how to cure Sam, as it happens most of the time when one of the brothers is “supernaturally ill”.
However, despite all the odds they’ve been and are going through, Sam and Dean finally seem to be happy and comfortable with each other, but their dynamics get complicated in the third episode, when Dean kills Amy, a monster who’s Sam’s friend and has proven trustworthy, of course without telling his brother. The brothers’ relationship is a seesaw of continuous positive and negative moments, and when one of them does something like this I really doubt they’ve been able to build a solid bond based on trust. That is their biggest problem which keeps on coming out without ever being resolved: the typical pattern is that one of them does something he doesn’t want the other to know and the lie goes on until the truth is invariably revealed leading to endless fights (until one of them is severely ill or dead). Sam, Dean, don’t you see that’s how things always go? Wouldn’t it be easier and better and healthier for your relationship to always tell the truth, even if it hurts, because hiding it and knowing it later is by far more painful and problematic? I wonder if they’ll ever understand that, considering that, as they’re approximately the two of them alone against the entire world, it is stupid to keep on lying to each other.
Meanwhile, Bobby studies a Leviathan to find a way to kill him and Sam and Dean meet Frank, a weird old friend of Bobby’s who helps them create new identities, because two Leviathans in the shape of Sam and Dean are committing crimes all over the country. Finally Bobby and the brothers find out that the monsters aren’t as invincible as they seemed to be at first, because they can be slowed down by cutting their head or by burning them with some chemicals.
The mid-turning point of the season is episode 9: the three find out about Dick Roman and his plans, which they try to stop by entering into one of his food factories, where Bobby is captured. I wasn’t worried at all about that, because the Winchesters and Bobby always go through difficult situations, and that one wasn’t surely worse than other times. That’s why Bobby’s death occurred so unexpectedly and hurt a lot more than all the others in Supernatural. An entire episode, the tenth, is devoted to the exploration of Bobby’s mind in his last moments of life, where he’s accompanied by Rufus through his happiest memories. We have an extraordinary view of Bobby’s existence, with his parents and his wife, and of course the brothers. Even in this highly pathetic moment we experience Bobby’s deep bond with his adopted children: he spends his last breath and forces to communicate a fundamental information he’s discovered to defeat Dick. This was really the solemn ending moment, as if the ultimate meaning of Bobby’s life was giving everything, his knowledge, his love and his life, to Sam and Dean, having been loyal to them since forever. As you may see, Bobby’s death really broke my heart: I thought of him as a nearly immortal character, who would have been by the brothers’ side until the end. As it was predictable, this event has massive consequences to the plot and particularly to the Winchesters (by the way, it is extremely meaningful that they seem to be much more scattered than when John died). They face their grief the only way they know, working cases and gathering information on Dick to avenge Bobby. Unfortunately, they lose another precious ally on their way: as a matter of fact Frank gets killed by Leviathans, which was sad both because he had helped a lot Dean in tracking Dick and because he was quite fun and a nice presence in the season.
As if all that trouble wasn’t enough, Sam’s visions of Lucifer become more and more frequent and painful, while Dean can’t find a way to help him. The brothers have to face everything at the same time: the fight against Dick, Bobby’s death and Sam’s mental instability, which is destroying him and Dean at the same time, as what happens to one of them affects even more painfully the other. In addition, another worry comes out: Dean finds out Castiel is alive and has lost all his memories about who he is and what he has done. Dean at first can’t really forgive him, but when Cas gets to have his memories back, he can’t resist his stubborn hate toward his “friend” and finally decides to erase God-Cas parenthesis, also because the angel is so guilty he offers himself to take over Sam’s hallucinations. It is a noble sacrifice which allows the brothers to go back to hunting Dick and establish a new degree of friendship and trust between team free will, after the painful moment of Cas’ death. I think both getting rid of Lucifer and gaining back Castiel give the brothers the hope they need to succeed in defeating Dick, after the previous single episodes of impasse.
In the ending episodes another surprise awaits Sam and Dean: Bobby, as a ghost, manages to communicate with them and makes himself visible, giving start to a weird dynamic where he still helps the brothers as he did when he was alive, but using his ghost powers. This situation leaves in the protagonists and in the viewer a sense of bitter illusion, as everyone knows it can’t end well, as Bobby’s destined to become a vengeful spirit, like any other ghost, and when the moment comes they would have to kill him again, and, doing so, renewing their pain. This kind of “second death” was quite sadistic, but still I appreciated Bobby’s comeback as it was right to give more space to such an important character and explore the afterlife from a different point of view. From the first time we profoundly feel ghosts’ frustration of being isolated from living people and we can easily put ourselves in their shoes, as they’re no more depicted merely as a cruel monster.
I think this process could be included in the new connotation of supernatural creatures that emerges from these seasons on: the absolute dichotomy good-evil which imposes that monsters can only be bad is a bit more flexible (and along with it, also the Winchesters become more and more open minded) and gives space to complex characters and personalities which can’t be defined univocally. The best example of this change of tone is Meg. I really appreciated the growth of the character from season 1, where she seems to be an ordinary demon, to seasons 6 and 7, where she’s developed as a proper round character, an outsider from both demonic and human worlds: here she keeps helping the Winchesters, presenting herself as a good ally against Dick and Crowley and at same time preserving her typical bad bitch attitude. She leaves us a striking message, volunteering to look after Castiel at the hospital while the boys are busy fighting Dick: the strict first seasons determinism is definitely gone, also demons can make decisions using their free will and change the order of things, fighting side to side with the good guys. This kind of sympathy for the brothers can be noticed also in Crowley at some point, as he helps them with the spell to defeat Leviathans, but of course there’s no doubt his only interest is to use Sam and Dean to fight a common enemy.
Moreover, season 7, marked by many painful deaths, is certainly also productive of new characters destined to become permanent for some time. Besides two appearances of Jody, one of the rare positive and strong female figures of the show, who is now occasionally helping the brothers in their hunts, and one of Becky, which gives us one of the funniest episodes of the season, where she makes Sam falling in love with her thanks to a potion and marries him, three new important characters are presented.
First of all Garth, a weird and clumsy hunter, helps Dean in episode 8 (while Sam is married to Becky): after the initial skepticism, he becomes one of their most trusted friends. I find the relationship between Garth and the boys so cute, as they kind of protect him by teaching him what they know about monsters and in return he tries very hard to be accepted in their team and to do whatever he can to help them.
At the end of the season we meet another young male character, Kevin, a normal kid who studies and has dreams about his career, but gets absorbed by the supernatural world as he is chosen as a prophet of the Lord. His skill is to be able to read some tablets containing the Word of God and fundamental knowledge about angels, demons and other creatures (thanks to one of those tablets Sam and Dean get to know how to kill Leviathans). Kevin is such a lovely guy, at first really confused, as every human would be in his situation, and as well hopeful that the nightmare he finds himself into without having a choice would end quickly. We know, as well as the Winchesters, that things like this never end and once you’re trapped in the supernatural world it is forever, and that’s why we feel pitiful and protective towards Kevin. Seen from Sam and Dean’s perspective, he’s another innocent person they have to look after and feel guilty for even if nothing about it is their fault. Kevin is one of those characters that make one doubt about the real existence of free will and self determination, especially for someone who’s devoted to high purposes in the economy of the show.
Last but not least, the end of season 7 sees the appearance of one of the undoubtedly best characters in Supernatural, Charlie. She becomes a fundamental part of the plan of defeating Dick thanks to her great computer skills, but, more importantly, she quickly becomes Sam and Dean’s friend and one of their best allies in some of their hunts. I really loved her as a character and in her interactions with the brothers, as from the very beginning they seem to see her as their little sister. She also brings into the show a small (but still great and quite unexpected) insight on the lgbt community, being overtly lesbian. I loved how Dean in particular was at ease knowing this information, and the fact that the authors seem to get more in step with the times, as the ideas of slight misogyny and toxic masculinity and heterosexuality of the first seasons can’t fit anymore in recent years. It is so interesting to see how the show grows in time through its characters and their complex psychology and personality, even if there’s still a long road ahead in terms of equality and representation.
I have the feeling that this season goes through three changes in mood, the first half (and a bit more) being quite problematic and full of sad events and the last part presenting some positive characters who guarantee hope for the finale. The last episode is a mixture of the two sides, as Dick is happily defeated, but his death has a price: Dean and Cas are sent directly to Purgatory with Leviathans. So the episode ends with our favourite couple having to deal with the third mysterious realm of afterlife (we’ve already been to both Heaven and Hell) and its dangerous monsters.
- Irene 💕
#spn#supernatural#sam winchester#sam#dean#dean winchester#castiel#destiel#deancas#bobby#bobby singer#spn lucifer#crowley spn#crowley#meg spn#dick roman#leviathan#godstiel#leviathan!cas#garth fitzgerald iv#kevin tran#charlie bradbury#jody mills#becky rosen#frank devereaux#season 7#season 7 review#first time watching supernatural#supernatural review#a little bit of Latin because why not
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*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.
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The Princess and Her Sultan
Summary: Crown princess Emma of Misthaven is second in line to the throne, her brother Leopold ll being the first, but her parents see her with a future as a great ruler. King Rumpelstiltskin of neighboring land, strikes a deal with King David, promising to uphold the peace between the kingdoms if Emma marries Prince Baelfire. With the promise of his daughter becoming future queen of the Dark Kingdom, David accepts reluctantly.
Before her wedding day, the princess is kidnapped and taken overseas. She is sold as a slave to a palace where Crown Prince Killian of Neverland ascends his father’s throne and is sworn in as Sultan. Meanwhile, Killian’s mother pressures him to sire a prince and presents him with gifts for his birthday, one of them including a blonde princess from Misthaven. Dazzled by Emma’s charm, intelligence and beauty, he summons her to his bedchambers every night and eventually finds himself casting aside his harem and centuries of tradition.
WARNINGS: This story takes a dark turn, like fifty shades of dark. Trigger warnings for this chapter and the next include graphic scenes of violence, sexual assault, attempted rape, death threats, death, blood and gore. Some of these warnings involve main characters, but not death. The rest of the story will not be as dark, mostly this chapter and the next. I did my best to balance it out though with some sweet, sugary moments too. So please prepare yourself because by the time you finish this chapter your heart will be shattered into a million pieces, your teeth will be rotted and you'll probably hate me for the emotional wreckage I have put you through. You're welcome ;-) But seriously, this is probably the most fucked up content I've ever written and I basically had to banish any thoughts of possible negative consequences from posting this so I could finally share this chapter with you without changing anything, so please continue with caution. And no, nothing in this chapter is from Magnificent Century, this all came from my twisted mind. If you're not comfortable with reading about what I've mentioned or if you're unsure about it, please come ask me any questions you may have either in the comment section or on Tumblr under the same user name.
Thank you @gingerchangeling for your wonderful suggestions and ideas for this story, and also @ilovemesomekillianjones for gifting me with your wonderful editing skills at. I also want to give a shout out to @onceuponaprincessworld for being my sounding board, constant cheerleader and good friend, thank you, darling! This story wouldn’t be the same without these lovely ladies!
And all of you have been so supportive and awesome, thank you all for following along and for your feedback!
Rated: Explicit
AO3 l FF.N I Prologue l Ch 1 l Ch 2 l Ch 3 l Ch 4 l Ch 5 l Ch 6 l Ch 7 l Ch 8 l Ch 9 I Ch 10 I BTS
Chapter 11
Killian waits for Elsa to enter the room as he paces back and forth. He’s thought about this many times repeatedly but still doesn’t know if it’s a mistake or not.
Elsa enters the room, immediately prostrating herself at his feet. He bends down and gently takes her chin in his hand, urging her up. “That's unnecessary, lass.”
She rises and keeps her head bowed. “Yes, Your Majesty.” He can’t see her face, but judging by her posture, how she stiffens at his touch, he knows she wishes to be anywhere else but here. She doesn’t wish to betray Emma.
And that’s what he was counting on.
A chuckle leaves his lips, and Elsa finally raises her head, her brows furrowed in confusion. “Is something of humor, Your Majesty?” Her voice is shaking, and when he looks at her joined hands, they’re also shaking.
Killian doesn’t respond and instead offers his hand to her. He leads her over to his bed. “Relax, Elsa,” he says in a soothing tone and points to the end of the bed. “Please sit.”
She does as she’s told, still unsure about this whole thing, but she takes a deep breath, relaxing her shoulders. She waits for him to speak because that’s undoubtedly what she was told to do. Not speak unless she is spoken to.
“You’re a loyal friend to Emma, aren’t you?”
She seems surprised by the question, her mouth parted slightly as she nods. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Killian smiles and sits next to her. “I’m glad to hear this… because I need a favor from you.” Killian doesn’t realize what his words could’ve possibly implied until he sees Elsa’s cheeks flush as she looks away from him, her lips trembling.
“Of course, Your Majesty.” She lowers her head, and he can tell she is on the verge of sobbing. “I will do whatever you wish.”
He swallows thickly. “And you promise to keep this a secret? No one must know what I’m about to ask you. No one. Is that clear?”
Elsa lifts her head again, and she’s even more confused than before. “Of course, but won’t they know what we’re doing in here, My Lord?”
“And what is it you think they will know?”
Elsa blushes once again, facing away from him. She doesn’t answer for a minute, but he can see the wheels turning, he can see the anger bubbling inside of her. “They will know you are with another woman. They will know you are not with Emma,” she murmurs.
“Exactly.” Killian grins and takes her hand in his, dropping a gentle kiss on her knuckles.
She immediately regrets her words and looks at him again, her features etched with apology. “I am sorry, Your Majesty.”
“No need to apologize. I am glad we are on the same page.”
She raises a brow at him. “Excuse my manners, Your Majesty, but I’m afraid we are not on the same page. I do not wish to betray Emma. She is my friend.”
“But you see, Elsa, we are on exactly the same page… I do not wish to betray Emma, either.”
Her mouth gapes open as she stares at him in bewilderment. “Then why did you summon me here?”
Killian's expression grows serious as his eyes meet hers. He draws in a deep breath, still holding onto her hand between them. It’s not so much of an act of affection, but a plea. His eyes and hands are pleading with her. “You will not say a word to anyone about this? I need your word... for the sake of Emma… for the sake of our child.”
Elsa shakes her head. But she still looks a bit confused. “I promise, Your Majesty. Whatever it is you have to say will not leave this apartment.”
Killian nods, and he feels he can trust her. He can see the sincerity in her eyes. And Emma trusts her, so he knows he can, too. “I need everyone to believe I am taking more than one maiden to my bed.” As much as the thought pains him, he needs to do this. To protect Emma. To protect their baby. “You will be moved to the apartment of favorites and treated as a Gozde in compensation for your cooperation.”
Elsa’s face twists in bafflement. “But why? You only want to be with Emma, so why do you need people to believe otherwise?”
“Because they won’t understand. You were taught the different ranks in the Harem, correct?”
Elsa nods. “Yes, there are Odalisques and Gediklis, and then there are Ikbals and Gozdes, who have gone to the Sultan’s bed. You can have as many of those as you want, but you can only have four Kadins and one Bas Kadin. I know how it works.”
“That’s how it’s supposed to work. I am expected to have four wives, but I don’t want anyone but Emma. I had only one woman before, and she was murdered, along with our unborn child.”
Elsa’s features sadden, but she doesn’t seem surprised. “Milah,” she murmurs.
He nods. “Aye. The Sultan of Neverland is to take many maidens to his bed, not one, and once word spreads about Emma being my only maiden, people will react. And I don’t want her or our child to suffer because of my actions.”
“So, you want to summon me and pretend to take me to your bed?”
“I want people to think I am summoning you. They won’t know Emma will be the one coming to my chamber every night. Even when she is with child, I wish for her to be in my arms while we sleep.” He smiles at the image his own words create.
“But, what happens when I don’t get pregnant, Your Majesty? I’m still a virgin.”
“It doesn’t matter. If they find out you're still a virgin, they’ll think I chose you to pleasure me in other ways, but no one will dare question my actions.”
“But they will question you if you only take one woman to your bed?”
“They will. My mother especially.”
“And Regina.”
Killian arches a brow, his eyes narrowing at her. “Why would my sister question me?”
Elsa’s eyes widen and she shakes her head. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Killian gently takes her chin in his hand again, urging her to look at him. “Tell me, why would my sister question me? And how do you know of this?”
Elsa swallows thickly, fear swarming her eyes.
His voice remains calm and soothing. “Please, tell me. Remember, nothing we discuss will leave this room.”
She nods, and he releases her chin, waiting for her to speak. “Your mother invited me and Emma to her suite for a celebration of Emma’s pregnancy. Regina was there and she was upset because Kira kept referring to Emma as her daughter.” Elsa swallows thickly, hesitant about what she’s about to say, but he offers an encouraging smile.
“Tell me, lass.”
She nods and lowers her eyes, speaking softly. “Regina said she hoped Emma was poisoned like Milah and stormed out of the suite.”
A wave of anger washes over him. His jaw tightens, fists clenching at his sides. His own sister wished death on his wife and child?
“But please, you did not hear this from me, Your Majesty.”
“Do not worry, Elsa, our secrets are safe with one another,” he assures her in a gentle voice, but on the inside, he is fuming. How could his own sister betray him like this?
After Elsa leaves his chamber, Nemo escorts her to the Harem, but not before opening the doors for the enchanting woman whose face is hidden by a veil, apart from her dazzling green eyes. Killian had instructed Nemo to inform Emma what was going on after Elsa had come to his chamber.
As Emma steps into the room, Killian smiles, the sight of her instantly calming him. He has to put any thoughts of hatred toward his sister aside for the time being. He doesn’t wish to ruin his night with Emma by letting his mood set a dark cloud over it. He’ll deal with Regina later. Right now, he has more important matters to attend to. He approaches his beloved, removing her veil and pressing a soft kiss on her forehead. Her eyes are full of love and warmth as she smiles at him.
“Emma…” he whispers, caressing her chin. “I’ve missed you.”
She laughs, her eyes dancing with amusement as her hands move to his chest, fingers combing through the chest hair poking out from the v-neck shirt he’s wearing. “You saw me only this morning, Killian.”
His smile fades, his heart pounding mercilessly in his chest as he swallows. “I miss you every second you are not with me, my love.”
She touches his forehead with hers, closing her eyes. “I know exactly how you feel,” she whispers.
He slides his hand through her hair and captures her lips. They kiss slowly, soon adding their tongues. His love for her consumes him. He knows he has to stop before he has the urge to take things further, for he doesn’t wish to harm their wee one. So he lifts her up, carrying her to the bed. And he just holds her in his arms caressing her belly as they talk.
He tells her about Elsa and what they had discussed. She will be summoned to his chamber, but Emma will be the one going to him every night. “Thank you for trusting me,” he whispers, brushing his lips along her ear.
“Of course. When Nemo came for Elsa, I had no doubts about your motives. I knew you were up to something,” she laughs, and he chuckles with her.
“I’m so glad my summons did not upset you. It’s the last thing I would want,” he says with sincerity.
She hums a response, her voice raspy with tiredness. In that moment, he realizes just how much she affects him. How much she influences him. He would do absolutely anything in the world for this woman. He’d kill for her, he’d even die for her gladly if she asked him to. Perhaps that’s why Neverland society frowns upon their Sultans having only one wife. He knows that’s why. But he doesn’t care. The traditions and customs of Neverland make him feel imprisoned, like he’s not able to think for himself or do what he wants. Even as the most powerful man of Neverland.
Emma makes him feel less imprisoned, less trapped. Even if his love for her makes him feel powerless. It feels like there’s this huge, conflicting war inside him. He hates feeling trapped, yet he loves being ensnared by the woman in his arms. He hates following his people’s customs, yet he’d do anything Emma asked him to. Killian smiles as he buries his face in her hair, letting her scent invade his senses. If he had to choose between being Sultan and being with her, he would choose her. He would choose them. Which is why he would rip someone's throat out if they dared threaten to destroy his future with her.
~*~
The next day, Elsa is moved to the apartment of favorites, next to Emma’s suite, and the palace seems to be content with the Sultan favoring two maidens of his harem. They don’t question the situation one bit. But, there’s still another matter Killian must tend to.
He promised Elsa their secrets would be safe between them and Emma, but he cannot live in the same palace as someone who seeks to harm his wife and child. So he goes to his mother to discuss his sister’s future... her future outside the palace.
“How can you do this to me!?” Regina screams as she storms into his chamber full of fire and rage.
Killian doesn't even flinch. He's facing away from her with his hands clasped together behind his back.
“How dare you send me off to be married?! I will not go!”
He lifts his head, praying that God will give him the strength to not murder his sister.
He spins around swiftly, flooded with hurt and betrayal when he looks at her. It’s as though she’d stabbed him in the back with a dagger, digging the blade deep and twisting it. “How dare you wish death on my wife and child?” He speaks calmly with a controlled tone, but there’s a raging storm brewing inside him threatening to break through the surface.
Regina’s mouth opens, her eyes wide with shock. As though she didn’t think he would find out about her betrayal. “Brother, I’m sorry, I didn't mean it," she says, lowering her voice. “I was only upset. Mother treats your Kadin like a queen. She adores Emma just because she’s having your baby. And you will soon have a family to love and cherish. I will never have that.” Her eyes are glistening with tears as she kneels on the floor, bowing to him. “Please forgive me, My Sultan.”
Killian chuckles darkly. “So, since you can never be happy, you wish for me to be unhappy as well?”
Regina quickly shakes her head. “No, of course not.”
He doesn’t believe her. He moves toward her, taking her chin in his hand, and lifts Regina to her feet, his expression hard and cold as she lifts her eyes to his. I want you to answer something for me, my sister.” He says sister with distaste and resentment. “If you don't answer honestly, I won't even send you off to be married.”
She sighs in relief but then blinks back at him in confusion. "But, how would remaining here in the palace, rather than being forced to marry some stranger, be considered punishment?"
He inhales sharply through his nose and walks away from her, trying his best to maintain his composure. But the thought of his own flesh and blood killing Milah or even wishing Emma harm makes him furious and sad. He could've had a son or daughter living and breathing if not for Milah's death, not to mention Milah would still be alive. But they were both taken from him, and if he finds out Regina had something to do with it, God help her. When he reaches his desk and turns around again, his expression remains stoic as he speaks. “I could consider it your punishment since you would no longer be breathing.”
Her face pales, eyes swarming with fear.
“If you are not truthful with me, I will behead you myself and throw your body to the bottom of the sea, is that clear?”
She nods. “Of course.”
He steps closer to her, holding her gaze with stormy, dark eyes. “Did you have anything to do with Milah's death?”
Regina stares at him heavily, her mouth agape, but doesn’t answer. Anger surges through him, his patience wearing thin. He wraps his hand around her neck and swiftly walks her backward until her back hits the wall. His fingers squeeze slightly around her neck to keep her in place as her hands try to pull him away but to no avail. Regina’s eyes widen with fear, as though she wasn’t expecting him to do something like this. This isn’t him, but when his loved ones are hurt or threatened, he’d do anything for revenge. “Did you murder Milah and our child?” he demands again.
Regina shakes her head, tears falling from her eyes. “No, I didn’t. I swear!” Her words are strangled as he tightens his fingers around her neck, closing her air supply. Bright red colors her pale face as the blood rises to the surface of her skin. Her head wriggles, small, ragged gasps leaving her lips as her fingers claw at his hands, struggling to break herself free from his firm grip.
“Were you planning on killing Emma and our baby?”
She shakes her head. “No,” she whispers, barely able to get the words out, “I swear.”
He studies her intently, watching as she looks straight into his eyes without blinking. He can see she is telling the truth. A swarm of relief washes over him and he releases her. She falls to her hands and knees, coughing and gasping for air.
He feels a palpable relief wash through him since he doesn’t have to murder his sister. “I will find a suitable husband for you, you will run off and marry him and you may never return to this palace again, do you understand?”
“Yes,” she chokes out, breathing hoarsely, still trying to collect the air in her lungs.
“Good.” He leaves her sobbing on the floor.
~*~
The months pass and the nights grow warmer as the snow over the roofs of the palace slowly disappears. Gepetto retires and hands over his imperial seal and Killian gives it to James, who is shocked at first, but happily accepts.
Meanwhile, Regina remains in the palace, but only while Killian searches for a man suitable for his sister. Honestly, it's not his top priority right now. He's certain he'd frightened Regina to the point where she will not even think about harassing Emma or making idle threats or death wishes. So, his main focuses are Emma and his council meetings, which she attends most days from behind a carved screen.
On the days she is not secretly sitting in on council meetings, Emma is driven mad with boredom. Her bodyguards are always there wherever she goes. When she’s bathing, when she’s eating, when she wants to chat with her friends, when she wakes in the morning after she leaves her Sultan. They’re always there. The only time they’re not allowed around her is when she is in her Sultan’s bedchamber or when she is with him. Those moments are only theirs.
She enjoys the time with her Sultan. But she also enjoys the time away from her guards. They’re around her so much, she can’t breathe. So she sneaks away one afternoon and storms down the Golden Road, tired of feeling suffocated.
“I demand to see the Sultan,” she says firmly to his guards when she approaches his chamber. At the same time, she feels her baby kicking her insides. She groans, holding her belly with both hands.
“Are you all right, Sultana?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” she snarls through gritted teeth.
One guard knocks on the door and requests permission for Emma to enter. Killian of course never denies her from seeing him.
“You may enter, My Sultana.”
“Thank you,” she mutters sarcastically and enters Killian’s chamber. She finds it rather ridiculous and annoying that she has to ask permission to see her husband.
“My love,” he murmurs as he looks up from his desk and sets down the goose-quill pen next to the parchment he was writing on. “You are certainly a sight for sore eyes.”
Emma blushes as she gazes at him from across the room, all the anger she had held seconds ago instantly vanishes. Just like that. She smiles and strides over to him, sitting in his lap. He wraps his arms around her, kissing her lips, his hand gravitating to her round belly under the creamy white satin chemise she’s wearing. “I can say the same about you,” she coos against his lips, curling her arms around the back of his neck. Her Sultan is devastatingly handsome, though his tired eyes are a dull shade of blue and his hair’s slightly disheveled.
“What can I do for my lovely Queen?” he asks with a warm smile, his hand making soothing circles around her belly.
She sighs. “Killian, I am losing my mind. I know you wish to protect us, but I feel smothered by the measures you have taken. I cannot even leave my chamber without getting permission from my guards.”
He glances at the doors with an arched brow. “Do they know you’re here?”
She shakes her head. “I snuck away,” she replies unapologetically. “I’ll have to chastise them later for not doing their jobs properly.”
He chuckles in amusement. “I’m sorry, Emma, but you and our baby are too precious to me.” He presses a kiss to her forehead, and when he pulls away, his expression grows solemn, eyes darkening at a thought. “If anything happened to either of you—”
“I can take care of myself. I can take care of us.” The baby kicks again, underneath Killian’s hand, and Emma laughs. “He has not been born, yet he’s already protective of his mother.”
Killian’s eyes light up as he watches her belly, seeing the ruckus their child is raising. “You think our baby is a boy?”
She shrugs. “I have a feeling. If so, he will be a strong warrior like his father. He’ll be Sultan one day.”
He smiles at that. Just then, the baby kicks again, causing her to groan as she holds her stomach. He rubs her belly, speaking in a soothing voice. “No worries, lad, it’s only your papa.” He leans down and kisses her belly.
Emma enjoys her time with Killian, but she knows he’s a busy man and has to get back to work, so she forces herself to return to the matter at hand. “Please ask my bodyguards to back off. I can’t breathe with them always around. At least allow me to bathe in peace.”
He sighs, his lips curving into a defeated smile. “I shall, my love. I am sorry I’ve been overprotective.” He lifts his hand to her cheek, his thumb caressing her skin. “I love you, Emma, and I want you and our wee one to be happy.”
“Thank you, Killian. We love you so much.” She smiles at him and captures his lips, running her hands through the scruff on his cheeks. The kiss quickly deepens and he wraps his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. Her tongue sweeps inside his mouth, brushing against his. He groans, and she swallows the sound, sighing in relief. She loves this man more than she could have ever fathomed. She’s so glad she opened her heart to him. She’s so glad she’d put complete faith in him. If their baby is a boy, she hopes their son will be just like Killian. Honorable, loving, caring, protective. She hopes and prays he will find a woman he will love just as Killian loves her.
A knock on the door interrupts them, pulling them down from their cloud of happiness. Emma groans against her Sultan’s lips. She knows it's her guards on the other side of the doors.
“I will speak to them, my love,” he murmurs, kissing her forehead.
Emma nods and says a thank you before tearing herself out of his lap, reluctantly leaving Killian's bedchamber. But she’s smiling and completely flushed as she leaves, still feeling his soft lips on hers, his tender touches on her skin.
After that, her guards give her more space. They're still there, just not as much. Until there are only two full moons left of her pregnancy, and the doctor orders bed rest.
She grows tired of resting and knitting and paces her suite with her hands on her belly as they itch to do something that doesn't involve embroidery.
She opens her door to find her guards right outside. “I wish to go for a stroll around the palace grounds.”
Faraji nods. “Yes, My Sultana.”
Her other guard, Lancelot, doesn’t seem to agree, though. “But, Your Majesty, the Sultan asked you to follow the doctor’s orders and get some rest. You don’t wish to put stress on yourself or the baby, do you?”
Emma becomes irritated and clenches her fists at her sides. She doesn’t even know why she has two guards. Both are well built, strong and tall, towering over her. No one would dare harass her when one of them is protecting her, let alone both. Although, their personalities contrast one another to the point where it makes sense why they are both her guards. Lancelot is honorable, with warm, kind eyes and an honest smile. He reminds her of a knight from her kingdom. Faraji, on the other hand, almost always dons a cold expression and never smiles while remaining detached emotionally, avoiding any personal connections with his mistress. Normally, Lancelot is the one who’s more lenient with Emma, often showing her his soft side. The two make the perfect pair of bodyguards, and it’s most likely why Killian chose them, rather than based on their sizes and physical strengths alone. “I need to leave this apartment before I go insane.”
Lancelot shakes his head. “I’m sorry, My Sultana, but we were given specific orders.”
Emma ignores him and storms away from her bodyguards, heading downstairs. If they won’t let her leave, she will go herself.
“Please stop, Your Majesty,” Lancelot calls after her, but she continues her trek. Faraji follows behind her as she marches through the harem, heading outside.
“The Sultana needs to stretch her legs. I’ll go with her,” she hears Faraji say to Lancelot.
“Fine, but make sure she’s back before the Sultan realizes she’s gone.”
“I will.”
The harem garden is shaded by high walls, the paths flanked by columns of white marble and overhung with cypress and willow. Emma wobbles along one of the cobblestoned paths, her hand resting on her protruding belly as she enjoys the fresh air. She’s wearing a gold kaftan, an emerald damask chemise and a crown of gold and emerald jewels atop her head, her long golden hair bouncing as she walks. Emma closes her eyes briefly, relishing in the cool breeze sweeping around her.
“How is the baby?” Faraji graces her with a smile that highlights his rich black cheekbones as he walks beside her through the garden.
Emma’s a little surprised by his question because during the few months she’s known him, he’s always been quiet and strictly business. Normally Lancelot is the conversational one, always regaling her with stories of his childhood. Usually, Lancelot is the one unopposed to walking with Emma through the garden. She wonders what has changed. “The baby is fine. We just needed to get away. Thank you for not stopping me,” she says gratefully. “I was dreadfully bored in my suite. Sometimes we need to get out for a while,” she says, gently patting her belly.
“It is not a problem,” Faraji assures her with a smile. “The Sultan is a little overprotective.” He looks at Emma, his eyes scrolling down her body, his tongue darting out to lick his lips. “Though, if you ask me, he has good reason to be protective of a woman with your beauty.”
Emma shudders at his comment and the way he looks at her. The Sultan would kill Faraji for admiring his wife like he is.
“I’ve realized that you and I know little about one another, so I thought we should change that.”
Emma nods in agreement, so he tells her about where he grew up and about his family. His eyes glisten as he speaks of his wife and children.
“What happened to them?”
He looks blankly ahead. “Our village was raided, and my family was murdered in front of my eyes when I was captured. I was then sold into slavery.”
“I’m sorry,” Emma murmurs, her heart breaking for him. As they walk, a sudden question pops into Emma’s mind. How can a Eunuch marry and have children? He can’t. Which means either he’s lying or… he’s not actually been emasculated. Unless the slaver Killian purchased him from did the deed himself so the Sultan would buy his slave. Slavers resort to just about anything if it means someone will pay more for the purchase. Emma shivers at the memories of being stripped naked in front of all the possible buyers at the auction house. The memories of that experience still haunt her occasionally.
She suspects the details Faraji is divulging to her is why he's never engaged her in conservation, for fear she would ask about his past. So why is he telling her this now?
She's not sure she wants to solve that little mystery.
“I’m sure you are.” He looks at her, but this time, his gaze holds a much different disposition than before. This time he looks at her with disdain, as though he doesn’t believe her heartfelt apology. Emma gulps and averts her eyes from him, looking ahead.
Do not show fear, she tells herself.
“I was taken from my family too, and sold as a slave,” she says, trying to distract herself from wondering what his intentions are. “I was betrayed by a bodyguard I had trusted and was handed off to pirates.”
He scoffs. “How can you possibly compare yourself to me?”
Emma stops in her tracks and glares at him, placing her hands on her hips. “How dare you speak to me like that?” Her words don't intimidate him.
When he turns toward her and steps into her space, she loses a breath. “You live here in the palace and have everything you could possibly need. You have slaves tend to you, feed you, bathe you,protect you... all because you are pregnant with the Sultan’s child.” He regards her with a condescending sneer. “I would give anything to not be treated as a slave… to have my family back.”
Anger rises within Emma as she clenches her fists at her sides. “You think I wanted this life? My parents were King and Queen, and I was taken from them. Just so I could be the mother of the Sultan’s child! I did not ask for this,” she snaps at him. “I’m sorry you lost your children and that you will never have children again,” she adds, to see if he’s actually been castrated, but he gives no indication as to whether he was or not, “but there's no point in being mad at the world for what happened to you.”
Emma is taken off guard when she’s pushed back and slammed into the stone wall, a gasp leaving her lips as Faraji grips her arms tightly, pinning her against the wall.
She struggles against him, but his grip is too strong. “Unhand me!”
He laughs darkly, his fingers tightening around her skin. “You see, that’s where you’re wrong, princess,” he mutters disdainfully. “I am not mad at the world. I am only mad at the man responsible for murdering my family, and I wish to avenge them. The people who raided my village were Sultan Brennan and his men. Unfortunately, he is no longer around. But you know who is?”
Emma gulps, slightly shaking her head. Judging by the evil look on his face, she doesn’t actually want the answer to his question.
He leans in, his breath wretched as he breathes against her cheek. “His son.”
Fear surges through her entire body as he removes one of his hands, lowering it to her belly, and applies pressure. Emma draws in a sharp breath as though he is trying to suck the life from her, and she's trying to draw as much air into her lungs as she can.
“That’s right, your precious Sultan’s late father is responsible for the death of my family,” he snarls.
“But you can’t blame Killian for that. He is nothing like his father.”
“Is he not, though? All Sultans are the same. They only care about power and passing on their precious legacy.” Faraji presses the pads of his fingers deeper into the skin of her belly through her clothes, and Emma cries out in pain, her eyes wet with tears.
“Please don’t. My baby is innocent.”
“Oh, it’s certainly not. It’s the spawn of a Sultan.”
“My baby didn’t do anything to you, and neither did Killian.”
“You’re right, they didn’t. But Brennan did. And since he’s already dead, Killian must pay for the sins of his father. And what better way to punish someone than to hurt the things he loves the most?”
“Please,” Emma begs, on the verge of tears. “Don’t kill us.”
He laughs and speaks in a sinister tone. A tone that makes her skin crawl. “Relax, princess, I don’t plan on killing you. That would be too easy. Besides, what is worse than the death of a loved one?”
Emma can barely breathe, her head spinning as she tries to mask her fear. But the thought of losing her baby makes her numb. “What?”
“Oh, Emma, you should know this.” He smiles darkly and leans in, whispering in her ear. “Betrayal.”
She glares at him. “I would never betray Killian.”
“No, I suspected not. At least not willingly. But you’d have no choice if someone forced you to.”
“I’d rather die than do anything for you!”
He laughs again. “I’m afraid that’s not an option. You see, Emma, you were wrong about another thing.”
“What’s that?”
He reaches into his trousers and pulls something out. She peers down to see what he's doing and panics. His cock is throbbing in his hand as his eyes sweep hungrily down her body. She can't believe someone would be so stupid as to rape the Sultan's wife, but Faraji obviously has a death wish.
“I can have children again.”
She gulps, her face paling as she lifts her eyes to his empty ones. “But how? You’re supposed to have been castrated.”
“My slaver only said I was so the Sultan would purchase me. He was offering a large amount of gold and was too trustworthy and naïve to ask for proof.”
Faraji leans in, pinning her against the wall with his forearm pressed hard across her neck so she can’t escape while he retrieves a potion from his satchel. He pops off the cap with his thumb and drinks it himself before reaching into his satchel again, grabbing another potion. He holds it up and smiles, letting her know this one’s for her.
“No!” she shrieks and turns her head, screwing her eyes shut as he kisses her cheek.
He pinches her nose closed so she can’t help but breathe through her mouth. When she gasps for breath, he takes the opportunity to pour the potion in her mouth. Then he releases her nose and forces her lips shut with his hand, tilting her head back so she’ll swallow down the potion. She coughs and sputters, a small amount of it dribbling down her chin, but most of it ends up down her throat. He doesn’t know that whatever the contents are will have no effect on her or her baby, but she wishes to keep it that way.
“I will implant my seed inside you and then kill the Sultan's baby,” he whispers in her ear with a dark smile.
His threats enrage her; she can feel the blood boiling under her skin. “It won’t work, you pig! You can’t impregnate me when there’s already a baby inside my womb!” Or so she assumes.
He chuckles, and she can feel the sound in her bones. “That’s what the potions are for. The one I took will enhance my ability to procreate and speed up the process. The potion I gave you will cause your body to release an egg while you’re already pregnant. My baby will grow inside you at an exponential rate, soaking up all the nutrients for itself. By the time you give birth to the Sultan’s baby, it will be a dead corpse and mine will be a full-grown newborn, strong and healthy.”
A tear escapes her eyes as much as she’d tried to hold it back. Where did he even procure these fertility potions? He takes her chin in his hand and collects the tear from her cheek with his tongue. “I’m assuming our baby will be a boy because all my wife and I could have were boys.” He leans in, hissing in her ear like a snake. “And he’ll be black as night,” he whispers, enunciating the t, “just like me.” He moves his mouth to her cheek, his warm breath on her skin, making her tremble. He looks at her mouth, the pad of his thumb brushing over her bottom lip. “Or, seeing as your skin is pure white, maybe he’ll be mixed. Either way, the Sultan will know it’s not his baby.” His eyes dance with excitement and he lifts his gaze to her eyes as the palm of his hand slides over her cheek. “The Sultan will be so enraged that his precious wife betrayed him that I won’t even have to kill you. He’ll do it himself.”
“It won't work,” she mutters, her voice unwavering, thankfully, despite the fear surging through her. “I'll tell Killian what you've done. He'll believe me over you and he'll kill you.”
He chuckles, not even a flicker of fear in his eyes. “That's what I'm counting on. Do you think I want to live in this world without my wife and children? Revenge is the only thing that fuels my will to live. Besides, if you tell him, I'll just murder you in front of him. He will cut my head off afterward, but at least I will get my revenge first.”
Emma tries to move, but he presses her roughly into the wall and smashes his lips to hers, moving his hand to her breasts. Her eyes widen as she tries to pull away, but he doesn’t budge.
He takes the fabric of her chemise, rips it at the top and pulls it away from her chest so her breasts are exposed to him. He takes one in his hand, squeezing it, his thumb toying with her nipple. “Mmmm, there’s nothing prettier than a soon to be mother. With skin glowin’ and tits big and ripe. He lowers his head and takes her nipple in his mouth as he holds her hands against the wall.
Emma thinks she might vomit, and it has nothing to do with being pregnant.
He spins her around, pressing her against the wall, one hand returning to her breast and the other reaching for her skirts to pull them up.
Once he has her skirts pulled up, she reaches for the leather strap around her thigh and grabs her dagger. He’s unaware of what she’s doing because he’s too busy lining up the head of his cock against her entrance. He pushes her against the wall, his hands gripping firmly around her hips. Before he thrusts into her, she jabs the blade into the side of his leg.
He cries out in pain, releasing her. She quickly turns around and stabs him once again, this time in the stomach. She looks at him in disgust as he grips onto his stomach, and she removes the dagger and does something she’d never imagined she would ever do. But he tried to kill her baby.
She swipes the blade twice at him so he can no longer have children. His screams are unusually high in pitch, and with both hands, he grasps at the area where his testis are supposed to be, falls to his knees and joins his testes on the ground in a pool of his blood.
Emma is staring blankly, still gripping the handle of the blade in her hand as though it’s a life source.
“Emma? What happened? I could hear the screaming from inside the palace!”
She’s in too much shock, too numb to look at Lancelot as he gently grabs her arms, observing the other guard who’s balled up on the ground in his own blood, wailing.
“My Sultana, are you okay?” The words sound so far away even though Lancelot is directly in front of her as he turns his head to face her again.
“He tried to murder my baby,” is all she can manage, her voice now weak and shattered.
He helps her back inside and calls for the doctor.
Tagging:
@courtorderedcake @teamhookook @onceuponaprincessworld @nikkiemms @followbatb @resident-of-storybrooke @hollyethecuriouscurious @snowbellewellsw @artistic-writer@ultraluckycatnd @kmomof4 @darkcolinodonorgasm @lovepurplepumpkins @kiwistreetswaneetswan @therooksshiningknight @deathbycaptainswanaptainswan @tiganasummertreeasummertree @superchocovianovian @emeraldwitchestches
#cs ff#captain swan#please read the trigger warnings#attempted rape#violence#attempted murder#death threats#dark!killian#the princess and her sultan#my fic
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Moral Dilemmas Then and Now
Dario Gabbai died last month, aged 97. Gabbai was a Sonderkommando, a Greek-Jewish prisoner at Auschwitz-Birkenau who was forced to help herd new arrivals to the German death chambers and remove their bodies to the crematoria a few minutes later. Very few of them survived the war, and Gabbai may have been the last of them.
Gabbai, who was often interviewed and appeared in several documentaries about the Holocaust, described shutting down his brain in order to survive in that hellish place. There were things that he had seen, he said, that he could neither talk about nor get out of his mind.
His situation raised moral dilemmas in the purest possible way. He had a choice: he could help the Germans or they would kill him immediately. Should he sacrifice himself in order to avoid becoming an accessory to murder? It would be pointless: there was no shortage of prisoners who would take his job in order to stay alive a bit longer. The Germans killed all the Sonderkommandos every few months, anyway (Gabbai arrived near the end). Maybe they simply stopped being able to do the soul-destroying work, or maybe the Germans were afraid of a revolt; there were at least three bloody but unsuccessful revolts of Sonderkommandos in Treblinka, Sobibor, and Birkenau. These were men – boys, actually – who had nothing to lose, and who knew in the most graphic and painful way they had nothing to lose.
One day, the transport included two of Gabbai’s friends from Salonika. “I told them they were going to die,” he recalls. “My cousins and I gave them whatever food we had, and we told them where to stand so the gas would kill them in two minutes instead of five.”
The cousins scooped the men’s ashes from the oven and buried them outside the crematoria. “We said ‘Kaddish’ for them,” Gabbai says. “But we were already so ice-cold [emotionally]. Nothing was penetrating. That is the only way we could survive.” – Naomi Pfefferman, “Job of Infinite Horror”
Gabbai was apparently not religious, but he indicated that it gave him some comfort to be told that his actions were permitted as pikuach nefesh, a doctrine that permits violating almost any of the commandments when it is necessary to save a human life.
I rarely write about the Holocaust; I’m not happy with the uses to which it is sometimes put. But I’m thinking about it today because the worldwide coronavirus pandemic has again posed hard, though different, moral questions. There are simple (but not easy) ones, such as that faced by the doctor with an inadequate number of ventilators at his disposal. And there are the more complicated ones, like finding a balance between shutting off economic activity in order to reduce the rate of transmission of the virus, and preventing an ensuing economic catastrophe.
This is a very difficult question from a scientific standpoint, since getting a good answer depends on predicting the effects of social distancing, quarantines, and lockdowns on the spread of the virus, something which as yet is only partially understood. We are better able to predict the economic consequences of these measures, although even then there is uncertainty about possible feedback effects that could make a downturn more severe.
There are moral questions too. As an extreme example, suppose it were decided to impose no restrictions at all on workplaces and schools, and let the virus run its course. Because of the nature of the illness, the greatest number of those seriously affected would be the elderly. It might be possible to mitigate the imbalance by isolating only older people – many of them are retired, after all – but there would still be a much greater opportunity for them to be exposed if movement and commerce weren’t restricted. And if the healthcare system became overloaded, as happened in northern Italy, then they would be much more likely to die, even if care were not apportioned according to age.
If, on the other hand, a society succeeded in “flattening the curve” by reducing normal activity, then everyone who was sick would be more likely to receive the best possible care, which would disproportionately reduce the death toll among the older patients.
A straightforward utilitarian argument can be made for letting the virus run its course. Older people are on balance consumers and not producers. They have a negative effect on the economic life of a society. Economically speaking, they wouldn’t be missed. The virus would just be a small blip, with a small number of productive individuals becoming seriously ill and very few dying.
Sweden seems to be doing something like this. They are taking some social distancing measures and trying to isolate older citizens, but they have not shut down workplaces and schools. At some point there will be herd immunity, and at some point a vaccine.
This strategy could not possibly be adopted in Israel, where even secular people are imbued with Jewish ethical principles, according to which every human life is equally valuable. The tradeoff that is being made in Israel between economic activity and suppressing viral transmission leans in the direction of protecting people from the virus, a policy of pikuach nefesh. And I think this is a humane policy, a morally better one, even if it is less rational by some standard than strictly minimizing economic damage.
Somewhat less admirably, people in assisted living facilities here have been more or less abandoned. Staff have passed the disease to residents, and then essentially fled. No one has picked up the ball.
There are other factors in dealing with the epidemic. I haven’t mentioned the attempt to track and isolate carriers of the disease before they can transmit it. In this respect, Israel could do much better if she would (could?) increase the number of tests done daily. This is a win-win activity, because it only isolates those who need to be. In addition, research is proceeding on various treatments that may be efficacious. The slower the virus spreads, the more patients will be able to receive these treatments in time.
There are (naturally) political problems. There is a struggle between the Health Ministry and the Defense Ministry over who should be in charge of coordinating the overall response to the epidemic, although we do not see the kind of political controversies about the efficacy of this treatment or another which seem to exist in the US. On the other hand, the lack of a permanent government and the specter of a possible fourth election may have serious effects on the ability of Israel to deal with the economic fallout from the epidemic.
The corona pandemic is not like the Holocaust in many ways. There is no Auschwitz-Birkenau and there are no Sonderkommandos. But the campaign against it is much like a military campaign, involving logistics, foot-soldiers, and orders that must be followed. And I suspect that some medical personnel, like Dario Gabbai, will be left with memories that will be very hard to erase, much as they would wish to.
Abu Yehuda
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