#bias theory

[edenfenixblogs]

How do you know if you’re antisemitic?

Well, if a Jew telling you you’re antisemitic won’t make you believe it, here is a guide to help you figure it out yourself.

1. Do you think Jews, en masse, are ACTIVELY REPLACING/ATTEMPTING TO REPLACE some other group — especially a somehow more deserving group? (For example, White people, Black people, African people, Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, indigenous people, etc.) Do you feel there are JUST TOO MANY JEWS IN A GIVEN LOCATION?

2. Do you think Jews are PRETENDING TO BE SOMETHING THAT THEY ARE NOT? (For example, White, PoC, “Real” Jews, Indigenous/Native, an Ethnic Minority, Devoted Citizens of [YOUR COUNTRY] etc.)?

3. Do you think Jews are CONTROLLING OR ATTEMPTING TO CONTROL SOME INTEGRAL ASPECT OF SOCIETY? (For example, the government, media, banks, business, medicine, etc.)

4. Do you think Jews that you criticize are UNIQUELY BLOODTHIRSTY OR GENOCIDAL — especially when hoping for personal achievement or cultural supremacy? (For example, trying to stage a global war so they can control the world; using/consuming blood of Christians and babies to do satanic rituals; sexually seducing non-Jews in order to contaminate bloodlines and erase other pre-existing identities; immigrating to a new location with the intention of murdering those who already exist there; desiring to murder Arabs, Muslims, or Palestinians in their homelands by means of genocide in order to control a region at the exclusion of other ethnicities, etc.)

5. Do you think Jews are APPROPRIATING A PRIVILEGE THAT THEY DO NOT DESERVE AND THAT DOES NOT BELONG TO THEM? (For example, freedom, wealth, power, whiteness, G-d’s favor, a safe home in the Levant, Arab land, colonial power, representation as a minority group, etc.)

6. Do you think Jews at large or the specific Jews you disagree with and who wield power in a way you disapprove of CAN BE COLLECTIVELY LABELED? (For example, might you call them slaves, vermin, insects, dirty, scheming, communists, fascists, Nazis, satanic, Zionists, scum, etc.)

IF YOU ANSWERED YES TO ANY OF THESE QUESTIONS YOU ARE AN ANTISEMITE. This is literally textbook antisemitism. If you answered, well yeah but only “the Jews in Israel” or “the ones who vote for Bibi” or the “ones who moved to my town/country/region” or if you saw something on one of the lists and think “well no fair! That one is actually true,” your exception isn’t exceptional. You haven’t found the one true bad thing that Jews ACTUALLY are. It’s not some conspiratorial propaganda to equate reasonable beliefs with hate. You’re just hateful. Some part of you hates Jews. And you have to confront what that part of you is and you have to destroy it if you want to engage in any conversations that impact Jewish welfare anywhere in the world.

One way to start deconstructing is to ask yourself “Why do I feel this way?” “From whom did I learn to think this way?” “Who in my life approves and supports me thinking this way?” “Am I comfortable telling a Jewish person I feel this way in person?” “How do I think a Jewish person will feel/What do I think a Jewish person will think if I tell them this?” “Do I care what they feel or think? Why or why not?” “How would I feel/what would I think if someone felt this way or thought this way about me or an identity I value deeply?”

[mortispoxi]

Seeing Twitter users recommending the People Make Games documentary as a good way to get insight on the issue is so….

I know, I’m always extremely disappointed whenever I come across someone who thinks it’s the end all be all explanations regarding the Studio ZA/UM situation.

Recommending that video always comes with a heavy caveat from me that the person needs to stop around the 40 minute mark since the interviewer shows a very clear bias that’s unbecoming of a journalist.

Regardless, now that more people are finding out about these layoffs, which might take out members of the studio that have been there since the beginning, it could finally help smack some sense into those Twitter users that actually thought, FOR SOME REASON, Rostov, Kurvitz, and Hindpere were lying for shits and giggles rather than seeing what's ACTUALLY going on which is that the investors have a very obvious agenda against the real wronged party. Hopefully this'll also open their eyes to how the People Make Games video fed into this twisted narrative that Kurvitz was somehow at fault/responsible for the theft of his own IP, but that might be asking too much from their concrete brains. Here's hoping though!

[strangerwheelerthings]

The Secret Truth of Stranger Things: the crux of it all is that the Wheelers are cursed. The Byers just got dragged into it the worst because the Wheelers had crushes and they are potentially Future Wheelers.

[sad-endings-suck]

Mizu’s Period

I’m getting kind of sick of the weirdly agreed upon headcanon within the fandom that stipulates Mizu simply must not menstruate very much if at all, solely because Mizu is often injured, possesses a slender build as well as an athletic lifestyle, and in many ways is androgynous in appearance (but that last point is always unspoken ofc).

There also seems to be an odd obsession with using fanon theories that are not directly disproved nor proved in the canon, such as “Mizu never eats enough” as evidence for the Mizu’s Uterus Is Not Like Other Girls Reproductive Organs™️ headcanon, that presumes Mizu is just so special she’ll bleed from everywhere except her pussy.

Like… is it perfectly possible that Mizu does not often get her period due to her extremely active and dangerous lifestyle? Yes, of course! Does Mizu’s slender and athletic frame make this seem like more of a possibility? It could, but her physique in of itself is not “evidence” per say, especially since Mizu’s body looked exactly the same when she was living a much easier and more comfortable lifestyle on the farm with Mikio, and they clearly had plenty of food. Mizu also wasn’t training intensely if at all for the 8-12 months she was married to Mikio. Yet her build remained the same. So it’s perfectly probable that Mizu’s physique is most greatly impacted by her genetics and thus not greatly affected by physical activity.

And for everyone that’s about to shout “but women athletes that compete at the highest levels often loose their periods for a while!” yes absolutely, some of them do. They also work out for 2-6+ hours a day six to seven days a week, use treadmills, bench press, and eat ridiculously curated diets that specifically target certain macronutrients and involve carefully curated portions that must be eaten at the right times on the right days. The fuck makes you think Mizu is doing all that?? My girl inhales whatever food is put in front of her as long as she has good reason to believe it is safe (i.e not poisoned). Do you really think modern day Olympic power lifters, track and field runners, artistic gymnasts and rhythmic gymnasts are all slurping down full servings of soba or dumbplings just whenever? Fuck no. Also, the current top women athletes in the world from the aforementioned Olympic sports I just mentioned, all have vastly different body types. As well as extremely different dietary needs, training routines, workouts, and just plain genetics that would have naturally given them certain bodies regardless of sport.

as evidenced by the above photos of various female olympic athletes: power lifter (top left), track and field runner (top right), artistic gymnast (bottom left), and rhythmic gymnast (bottom right).

Mizu is not a power lifter, or a sprinter, or an archer, or anything of the sort. Mizu does not train to be incredible at one thing, nor does she base what she eats or how she trains on when she will be preforming at a specific event (such as Olympians do). She is a swordsman, a blacksmith, and an all around athletic person that needs to stay in a state of constant readiness for any physical activity. Such as climbing, swimming, horseback riding, using acrobatic techniques, performing martial arts, working on a farm, and so much more. All of which is presented as such in canon. Not to mention Mizu lives as a lower-class individual in Japan during the 1600s. What ever gave you the idea that she was dieting and training like a modern athlete? Mizu is not a sportsman, she’s a killer.

So can we just stop, please? Plenty of people menstruate. Its perfectly normal and natural. And as someone who has been at a much lower weight at different points in my life with less than desirable health conditions (to say the least), menstruation does not magically halt just because you (stranger on the internet) thinks it “logically” should under such circumstances. That’s not how it works. Bodies are weird, and everyone’s body works a bit differently. And if Mizu actually was as sick and muscular and thin as everyone seems to have headcanoned her as, then how the fuck is she mopping everyone she fights? If Mizu is “so active and low weight that she can’t be getting her period” then how do you explain the fact that she is able to preform at peak physical level while being so active? Make it make sense.

And for the love of god, please stop acting like menstruation is “special” or “other” or “weird”. It’s not. Get educated, and get over yourself.

[venus-is-thinking]

DRDT Chapter 2 Episode 13: Initial Thoughts

We're back again! I'm probably just gonna do one of these for every new episode this chapter at least, just because there's so much to talk about in all of them!

Basically, I'm going to run through my not-live-but-sort-of-live-thoughts of the episode, then at the end I'll give my thoughts on any more overarching theories/conversations that are relevant.

SPOILER WARNING FOR DRDT CH 2 PART 2!

T/W: Murder, suicide, hanging

The Reactions

Knowing where Levi's explanation is going now that I'm rewatching, it makes sense that this is the first thing he'd think of in regards to the secret. It's not about the lives lost or his status of being a "murderer," it's the real, concrete consequences of his actions-- AKA, the law.

Just, like, 'cause, or...?

Honestly, this adds a really interesting flavor to when Levi does threaten Ace. He's like, "do you think I don't have limits to my patience?" The fact that there was any amount of patience in the first place is honestly pretty cool for Ace.

Also, I don't really have a good place to screenshot this, so I'll just mention it: the clock motif in the backing track is really cool!! Has that been there before and I haven't noticed, or is it new? I also definitely find it personally suspicious that we're getting clock sound effects while Levi is talking about murder (Eden killer/Levi accomplice moment??) but that's probably just my confirmation bias talking. It could also definitely be something about wasting time in the Trial, which a point is definitely made out of. It takes them a long time to start talking about the method, and Levi even mentions that he's sidetracking before he starts on this monologue.

Extremely funny reaction from Eden if they ARE in on this together btw. "Wait... you've killed, like, more people?? This isn't soul-crushingly deviating from the norm for you?????"

I get that this is the point, but lmao, Levi's really just saying these things like they're normal. Forget the murder charges, did you get in legal trouble for any of this stuff???

Oh Hope's Peak, always the shadiest people with absolutely terrible priorities. I feel like you could tell me Hope's Peak did, like, literally anything morally dubious in a fangan and I'd be like, "yeah, checks."

Shoutout to this anon for slam dunking it! The phrasing Levi used in the other scene makes more sense to me now that we know how Levi feels about all of this. The dialogue didn't imply any different feelings to Levi's father than the other members of his family because the fact that Levi killed him means, like, nothing to him.

Still, I wonder what actually prompted Levi killing his dad. Like, I feel like he must've been provoked, at least. Hopefully we'll learn why someday.

This episode had more of J being more vocally anti-murder than most. I still don't know if that's just because she's one of few characters who's both loud and has morals, or if it ties into some specific aspect of her character.

"I can't forget about the fact that Felicity died because of me under any circumstances ever!"

I hope Arturo and Levi talk more about their secrets in depth at some point. Totally get why they're opposites on the narrative foils thing.

"I mean, we all know why I tried to kill Ace."

Unlike Arei lmao /j /lh

(To be honest, though, I think David at minimum is upset about Arei dying though. More on that later. Eden too, possibly even if she did kill her.)

This is such an interesting thing to learn as a Levi accomplice theory truther. 'Cause like, on the one hand, it makes it more believable that Levi would do some thing that wild; if the other people don't really matter, it's easier to justify killing all of them. But, at the same time, if he doesn't care about Eden, either, why the hell is he helping her?

I'm gonna need to rewatch this episode once I know who this Trial's culprit is, because I am incapable of reading the Levi/Eden interactions as anything BUT horribly suspicious.

(Also, god, the good person jumpscare counter this episode was wilding.)

Nice to get a confirmation that Levi is still trying to be a good person, even if he doesn't understand what that means.

Wow. Didn't realize Ace was gonna throw some emotional vulnerability (???) into his fuck you Levi speech. Or that he actually genuinely believed they had more of a connection than he let on! Like I said to Accirax, he's such a tsundere that I didn't even realize he was a tsundere.

me believing you

*squints in Ace is canonically gay*

I hope we'll get to learn more about this guy at some point. I'd expect we will, if nothing else in the bonus episode that correlates with Ace's death (or in the main story, if he lives long enough to be a survivor). "His memory" definitely makes it sound like he's dead, though. Sad.

Shoutout to the AceVi shippers, though. This episode must've been a WILD ride for you.

Thanks for clarifying, Veronika! It's nice to have a character who likes to psychoanalyze the cast so that the writer can basically use her to clarify what other people are thinking. Useful writing tip.

This does provide some interesting context to that early scene where Arei manipulates and kinda makes fun of Levi, though. He really could've just decked her ass if he wanted to.

Oh my god. Has no one actually said that David isn't behaving like a good person anymore? Is Levi still following David's example???

If so, it's a really good example of how little Levi understands about other people. Like, damn. You can't even tell with David??

To be fair, maybe all the stuff about ending the killing game confused him. Teruko and David are arguing about whether or not Xander was a good person. If everyone else can't even decide, how is Levi supposed to know?

Ban her? I'm not a forum moderator, dude. Also, I hardly even know her.

(Idk if that was meant to be a reference or not but. Whit brainrot go brrrrr)

Thanks for the confirmation, queen!

okay I'm Running Out of Images so from here on out I'm including stuff as indented text and only doing pictures when I think the picture itself is relevant

Veronika: After all, my own so-called secret isn't even the worst thing I've done. Isn't that so utterly disappointing of the motive?

What have you done. Tell me.

I do wonder if this is somehow character commentary on Veronika. Like, let's say Veronika has also murdered somebody or something. Would this imply that this is something she'd be more concerned with others knowing, possibly because it's more personal?

I'm not really sure. It could just be that Veronika doesn't really have any secret she fears at all, so they were at kind of a loss.

David: Achoo! Ah-- Bless me!

what is he so funny for

David: Teruko. Own up to your goddamn secret already. You are the last person to do so.

I so think David knows Teruko's real secret. Like, there's no way.

Interestingly, though, I read Teruko's hesitation towards answering David as her trying to figure out which secret belongs to Min. It's easier for everyone involved if Teruko and Xander's are backwards rather than it being a triangle scenario.

Yay!!! Even if I still think it's partially wrong!

Eden: W... wait! Before we move on! I have to know. David... What happened between you and Arei?

I'm still inclined to read this as Eden having not believed Arei back when she declared she wanted to be friends. Eden is still trying to get at the truth of the matter, because she can't just have killed Arei without knowing how badly she fucked up.

There's definitely still an innocent reading out there, too, though.

Arei: If even a perfect inspirational speaker like you turns out to be an asshole, then there's no such thing as a "good person."

This was a really interesting direction to take this conversation, for both Arei and David's characters. It's true that they both lie about their personality often to get their way; Arei's lie is just WAY easier to see through. It makes sense that it's something they could bond over.

However, the INSANE thing is that this means that David probably actually cares about Arei. Like, to a meaningful extent. Maybe it's just the Kazui vibes, but I feel like if anyone actually understands David enough to see through him, that would be really impactful to him.

Also, the vibes on this scene were wild. The Arvid (????????) shippers sure could have a field day with this one.

But, of course, we can't forget:

...WHAT????

Okay, so first of all, I have no idea if David actually knows/remembers this or if it's just meant for the audience. But, either way, this thing is crazy.

The first thing I noticed was definitely the fork; is that the same fork that we see in the opening sequence?? The one commonly thought to be of when Xander lost his eye?

I know there's some LGI stuff with the fork too, but I'm not going to dive into that right now. I think Accirax is touching on this more strongly in hers.

The other thing is, I have NO idea what this says about Eden culprit theory. I definitely still think it's possible that this is a level of lore that's gonna follow Eden to her death and give her a reason to haunt the narrative, but this could also be something that we're going to explore later.

The main reason why I think this could lead into her death is because as far as we know, Eden doesn't remember anything included in this flashback. If Eden doesn't know about the lore, it's sort of weird if we, the audience, have this vague piece of knowledge about her that she doesn't. It's not a death sentence or anything, but I think it could still be in line.

I'll leave the speculation as to what exactly this means for another post/another theorist. Right now, my guess is that there might've been some kind of other killing game with this class before, or something. But, I'm DEFINITELY both alarmed and intrigued.

Arei: Even she must've made a mistake she couldn't take back.

The inclusion of "mistake" in this section is really interesting to me. Is that referring to whatever we see here? Was it a mistake she later came to regret?

Or, I also think this could actually be a reference to Arei. Not the image itself, but the mistake. If Eden genuinely believed Arei wouldn't change and killed her, only to realize Arei was being sincere, that's a mistake she couldn't take back.

I wonder if this is going to be Arei's last voice line (in the main series, I'd expect she'll talk in the bonus episodes).

If so, I think it's a nice way to end her character arc. Not only is she trying to be friends with Eden to be better, she's also able to reach out to someone like her and help them, too.

David: ...Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I didn't say anything to her, and she didn't have much to say to me either.

This was CRAZY. I was expecting we were all gonna have to play the "to what extent is David lying" game again, but instead, it seems like it all MUST'VE been real, because it came straight from his mind because he didn't even say it!!

It's funny to me that he says he didn't say anything to her, because from what we saw, that was... accurate, maybe?? Was David really just standing there bluescreening that entire time? Like, man loves his elipses, but goddamn, don't leave her hanging! /j /ref

It's also interesting that David is keeping this from the class, and more specifically, from Eden, who Arei clearly liked. Is it because the moment is personal, and he doesn't want to share it? Or, does he have suspicions about who her killer might be or how to catch him that would interfere with him sharing?

Anyways. Wild.

David: One hundred and one percent, I promise. Ace overheard everything, and what he told you all was the entire truth. Does that satisfy you?

I wonder if Ace stopped listening for real, or if there's a chance he heard all of this. If so, I wonder why he's not calling David out. Is he still coping too hard over the Levi thing?

Whit: Dang, we really got hung up on those secrets, didn't we? I thought you all would be on those for years. MonoTV: Years indeed. Some people had to wait one year and five months for you to get this far.

I KNEW MonoTV and/or Whit would make a joke about the time gap! Hope that one doesn't get lost in translation for the people who join the fandom after the hiatus, lol.

Teruko: They filled those jugs up with water and used them to increase Arei's weight.

Oh hell yeah.

Veronika: I'm not an expert, of course, but my intuition tells me that jumping off the top of the swing set isn't enough to break Arei's neck.

Whit: The way hanging normally works is that the victim is put in a noose with enough slack in the rope that they're unharmed. It's only when the victim falls from a high location to a low location that the rope becomes tight, and the noose strangles them.

Very interesting to have Veronika call attention to the fact that she's not an expert shortly before Whit goes into a long explanation of the mechanics of hanging, including with bolded words for emphasis/added ethos. I definitely think we're supposed to notice that he knows this for... some reason.

I know Accirax's theory is that Whit's mom might have hung herself, which is... dark, if true. Like, that means that after the fact, Whit probably hyper-researched how hanging works. Yikes.

Also, I honestly didn't get why people were saying Whit was so sus before the hiatus, but I feel like it's been cranked up afterwards??? Whit are you the mastermind I thought you were chill??????

Whit: It's not like you can grab the rope when she's falling to stop it at the right time. If she's moving at a speed fast enough to snap her neck, I'm sure trying to stop it would shred your hands.

Caught between "yeah that's why they used the stopper rope" and "IS THE USING THE GLOVE TO STOP THE THING STILL REAL???"

YEAHHHHH

Tape truthers rise up!

Teruko joins the murder diagram contingent!!!

Incredibly real though. You simply can't figure out what the hell happens in this thing and how it works without being able to See It.

Teruko: Now that we've actually discussed the mechanism of murder, I realize that I've seen this murder method before. Eden: You have? Teruko: That's right. And so have you.

Funny you remind us of that, Teruko.

YES! GYM MURDER METHOD ANSWERS! PLEASE TELL US WHAT HAPPENED THERE!

Wow. What an episode. We truly learned so much.

Theory Update/Analysis

Okay, so I already yapped about most of the character stuff for a while in here. Similarly, I don't think all too much changed for my murder theory.

I'm still tentatively on Levi accomplice, but firmly on Eden culprit. The way I see this going is towards a Nico bait that goes nowhere because they have an alibi, then eventually causing the class to realize the culprit has to be one of the people who saw Nico's original murder method (who doesn't have an alibi)-- Eden, Ace or Teruko.

From there, they can discuss the Arei murder method more thoroughly, eventually circling back to the fish. That confuses the time of death more than anything.

Eventually, the tape can be the damning evidence. Or that could happen before the fish, not sure.

In summary, I liked this episode a lot! It's exciting that we're finally starting to get answers to the murder method that we all went so insane over.

This was. A short theory update section. If you have any questions please feel free to send in an ask! I like talking to people :)

[rooolt]

Fucking ENOUGH “normal is actually the chosen one bc of the fucked up oak family” bullshit. Normal is actually the chosen one because normal chose to care

[sleep-deprived-luka]

oh yeah I'm btw rereading gog, cuz I for the life of me can't base an au on 10 year old knowledge... not sure how things'll develop but here's a proto Saki design

[britcision]

So I’ve been listening to Did Titanic Sink by Tim Batt and Carlo Ritchie and I gotta say, the thing I find the funniest are the guests’ reactions

Cuz you get 20 minutes of Carlo explaining his overarching conspiracy theory (JP Morgan switched the Titanic for the Olympic cuz the Olympic was broken and $$$$)

And then Tim asks a guest “alright he sounds convincing, sanity check me. Are you buying it?”

And Carlo’s extremely well researched, he’s got a lot of compelling data and lined up information, and the evidence that it was Titanic is basically “well someone would have noticed”

(Parts of the Titanic were put on the Olympic so the serial numbers match, the main differences between the two were cosmetic rather than structural, the pic of both ships side by side in dry dock didn’t have either change so the ships were at that time functionally identical)

And all the guests so far have been telling him “nah definitely not, I can’t let myself believe this”

But… it doesn’t matter

The Titanic disaster is undisputed; the ship sank, people died, it was an unmitigated disaster that was absolutely made significantly worse by the decisions of JP Morgan leading to the voyage

It doesn’t matter if it was the original Titanic, bulkheads damaged by a 3 week long fire in the coal bunker next to the two most vital watertight chambers, with parts and pieces stripped to repair the Olympic

The same people who could have made the decision to switch out the Olympic for Titanic to not have to fix Olympic all the way, and deliberately cause the fire to make the ship sink over 8-12 hours if there had not been the iceberg… are the people who said “no, no second bulkhead. No, we don’t need bigger compartments. No, no extra lifeboats”

They’re responsible either way, and made decisions which directly led to the magnitude of the disaster

The question is basically about whether you think some of those decisions were intentional sabotage, or just poorly thought through

Malicious intent vs incompetence

So yeah, I have no skin in the game here. Carlo’s got a lot of interesting points, and I’m learning a lot of cool stuff about the ship either way (never heard about the fire, or that they may have intentionally holed the bulkhead trying to put it out?)

(Engineers were told the fire wasn’t relevant to the inquiry, on the record, and told not to discuss it)

A ship with “Titanic” painted on the side sank when they hit the iceberg

The iceberg probably would have sunk it even if the fire hadn’t been going on and damaging the ship; it holed three watertight compartments

The Olympic kept sailing for the next twelve odd years

Switching the ships is a mildly interesting conspiracy theory based solely in corporate greed, which makes it one of the most potentially plausible conspiracies around, with absolutely no consequences either way

It doesn’t matter if Carlo’s right or not

But these folks are very sure he can’t be, without half the research

[odinsblog]

I have been very critical at the way that media has helped legitimize what essentially is a propaganda campaign. We need to call that what it is.

We know the actors. The actors are very explicit. They don't camouflage what they're doing.

In fact, one of the biggest actors, of course, Chris Rufo, regularly goes on Twitter and says, this is what we're going to do. He said he was going to turn critical race theory into a term that made white Americans think about indoctrination, their white children being treated as the oppressor. I mean, he lays it out, and then he lays out his strategy, which is we keep pushing this until we get some mainstream media to pick it up, and then the rest of mainstream media feels that they have to now pick it up or it will look like they're being biased.

So these folks have studied, I think, really the flaws in media and have exploited it. So what happens is this desire to be ‘balanced’ then actually means we obfuscate the truth.

The first thing we should have done as journalists is said, okay, show me in a classroom where this is happening.

Provide evidence that this is happening.

Let's define what Critical Race Theory is, and what it isn't.

And instead, we allowed bad faith actors to really define the terms in a way that I think has been very harmful because that's how propaganda works.

Attempted bans were against 1619 specifically. Then they came back with critical race theory. Now, of course, they're coming back with DEI and we just keep making kind of those same mistakes again and again.

I also just want to add that when we think about something like critical race theory, when we think about what should and shouldn't be taught in the classroom, part of what we did as a failure media is to ask what is the role of an education? And is it wrong to teach a theory? Is it wrong to teach things that every parent wouldn't agree with?

I mean, that is actually the role of an education.

—Nikole Hannah-Jones: The Attack on Black History

[ilynpilled]

These two characters are usually not in the same conversation because they are pretty isolated from each other’s stories, but I talked to one of my Dany mutuals about this and there is one thing in particular that I desperately want to see happen down the line. The duality of fire is such an integral part of this series: its function as a representation of passion, emancipation, and light along with destruction, corruption and death. I think it is supposed to speak to the multifaceted nature of power in general. Jaime’s relationship with fire (wildfire in specific, the most corrupted version of it) is pretty singular, especially among PoVs, because of his trauma. He associates it with Aerys, and then later Cersei. To him, it means destruction, corruption, and death. It represents the epitome of the abuse of power. So what I would find very poignant is the redefinition of it for him in particular during The Long Night.

I am very convinced Jaime will be present: George spending time on him training again as a competent fighter feels like something with a function beyond a LSH confrontation, the whole Oathkeeper and Widow’s Wail thing for JB, and trauma being packaged deliberately with TLN imagery: “In his dreams the dead came burning, gowned in swirling green flames. Jaime danced around them with a golden sword, but for every one he struck down two more arose to take his place.” Then the prophetic weirwood dream in general: “The shades dismounted from their ghostly horses. When they drew their longswords, it made not a sound. ” “They were armored all in snow, it seemed to him, and ribbons of mist swirled back from their shoulders. ”

His trauma is so focused on the fact that Dany’s father used something of such great power for something so deeply evil and destructive: “Jaime saw green flames reaching up into the sky higher than the tallest towers, as burning men screamed in the streets. I have dreamed this dream before.” For us to see the daughter of that man use it for the exact opposite, to repel death, through his eyes at some point would be one of the best ways to communicate and really drive home that duality that permeates this series regarding fire. It is not just fire that is being redefined, but power in general: who wields it and how.

Not to mention Jaime’s relationship with Rhaegar. Deep inside of Jaime’s mind Rhaegar was the “good king that never was”, something he still clings onto despite how much he represses the idealist romantic boy he used to be:

Rhaegar had put his hand on Jaime's shoulder. "When this battle's done I mean to call a council. Changes will be made. I meant to do it long ago, but . . . well, it does no good to speak of roads not taken. We shall talk when I return." Those were the last words Rhaegar Targaryen ever spoke to him.

On the morning after the battle, the crows had feasted on victors and vanquished alike, as once they had feasted on Rhaegar Targaryen after the Trident. How much can a crown be worth, when a crow can dine upon a king?

He rues Robert, and aspects of Barristan’s character’s commentary of who you represent and choose to serve are more subtly present in his story too.

Jaime snorted. "It's not Aerys I rue, it's Robert. 'I hear they've named you Kingslayer,' he said to me at his coronation feast. 'Just don't think to make it a habit.' And he laughed. Why is it that no one names Robert oathbreaker? He tore the realm apart, yet I am the one with shit for honor." "Robert did all he did for love." […] “Robert did all he did for pride, a cunt, and a pretty face." He made a fist . . . or would have, if he'd had a hand. Pain lanced up his arm, cruel as laughter. "He rode to save the realm," she insisted. To save the realm. "Did you know that my brother set the Blackwater Rush afire? Wildfire will burn on water. Aerys would have bathed in it if he'd dared. The Targaryens were all mad for fire."

And because he deserved to die. "I have made kings and unmade them. Sansa Stark is my last chance for honor."

Dany is destined to succeed in the places that Rhaegar was doomed to fail, they have a plethora of parallels, so her reawakening that hope in Jaime in some form too would be something I would love to see actually.

Jaime is one of the characters that does have a very emphasized relationship with Rhaegar and his children. The guilt is very present, other than the reevaluation of his father, it might also be building to something concerning Rhaegar’s legacy: be it Jon, Dany, or even FAegon. He also has guilt regarding Dany’s mother:

And dragons, lurking down below. He remembered the sullen orange glow of the coals in the iron dragon's mouth. The brazier warmed a chamber at the bottom of a shaft where half a dozen tunnels met. On the floor he'd found a scuffed mosaic of the three-headed dragon of House Targaryen done in tiles of black and red. I know you, Kingslayer, the beast seemed to be saying. I have been here all the time, waiting for you to come to me. And it seemed to Jaime that he knew that voice, the iron tones that had once belonged to Rhaegar, Prince of Dragonstone.

"You're hurting me," they had heard Rhaella cry through the oaken door. "You're hurting me." In some queer way, that had been worse than Lord Chelsted's screaming. "We are sworn to protect her as well," Jaime had finally been driven to say. "We are," Darry allowed, "but not from him.”

Prince Rhaegar burned with a cold light, now white, now red, now dark. "I left my wife and children in your hands." "I never thought he'd hurt them." Jaime's sword was burning less brightly now. "I was with the king . . ."

For an instant, the deep red clouds that crowned the western hills reminded him of Rhaegar's children, all wrapped up in crimson cloaks.

Dany is one of the most raw representations of hope in this story, so I would love for that to be a through line with multiple PoV characters she interacts with. She is the fire in the title. Not to mention that fire is already associated with life, light against darkness, very directly in Jaime’s prophetic weirwood dream:

Brienne’s sword took flame as well, burning silvery blue. The darkness retreated a little more.

The fires that ran along the blade were guttering out, and Jaime remembered what Cersei had said.

“the flames will burn so long as you live” “when they die so must you”.

[tgslar]

The Portal communitys refusal to engage with the two female mcs in any respectable way and basically removing their entire characters just to put all the attention on the three or so infinitely less interesting male characters never ceases to amaze me

[dougielombax]

“hiSTORy iS WRitteN bY THe vicTORs¡”

Oh do fuck off with that Churchillian, pompous, small-minded, imperialist, triumphalist Great Man Theory bullshit!

That stopped being true after 1945 and you know it!

Get in the bin with that shite!

Besides I’m pretty sure that quote was actually about biased narratives.

Mind you, I’m not using it to justify revisionism or “lost cause” narratives! That shit can also get in the fucking bin! Starting yesterday.

[deathsweetblossoms]

The Archeron Sisters, the Artistic Expression of the Self, & the Mating Bond

Throughout ACOTAR, each Archeron sister has three important components coloring their respective stories: an artistic expression of the self, a healing journey aligned with that expression, and an entwining of that expression with their endgame romantic partner. For Feyre, that expression is painting, for Nesta it's music and dance, and for Elain, theoretically, it is baking and gardening.

On the other side, each sister also has a more warlike aspect of the Self, which is embraced throughout the series, and serves as a dichotomy to the "softer" natures of their personalities. For instance, Feyre is well known to be a huntress, and Nesta establishes herself as a Valkyrie/warrior. Elain's more "warlike" side is yet to be explored.

For the purposes of considering how Elain's story will progress, I will be focusing moreso on the artistic expression of the Self as it pertains to her sisters, and how it serves as a sacred tool to strengthen the connection between her sisters and their mates. (I mainly introduced the warlike self to bring up some questions about Elain at the end.) Disclaimer: I am not mentioning ANY ship in relation to Elain here. I just want to put the information out there and let people think on it.

Feyre: Artist/Huntress

Early on in ACOTAR, we learn two things about Feyre: she is a hunter (her "warlike self") and an artist. We learn painting is an important outlet for her which she uses to "brighten" the dark spaces of the Archeron's home. We see her journey with her art blossom, unravel, and come back even stronger. It's such an integral part of her character that Rhy's first introduction to her, after the initial series of random images, was of her hand painting:

"until one of the images was of a hand...This beautiful, human hand. Holding a brush. Painting -- flowers on a table."

Later, in ACOMAF, we know her struggles with PTSD kept her from being able to paint anything, gradually getting inspiration for paintings as the story progresses, until she is finally able to paint something again -- on Rhys.

"I had just painted something. On him. For him. I'd--painted again."

Rhys, despite not being an artist himself, mirrors this action by painting on Feyre before they make love after culminating their mating bond:

"he took that hand and traced a circle around my breast, then lower, until he painted a downward arrow beneath my belly button"

So, here we see Rhys, her mate, entwined with her artistic expression of the Self; painting. We can also see how her painting played a major role in her healing and rediscovering herself and self sovereignty.

Nesta: Dancer(Music-Lover)/Warrior

In ACOSF, we learn from Elain that Nesta is a prolific dancer with a seemingly spiritual connection to music:

"(Nesta) was trained in dance from a very young age. She loves it, and music...in the way that performers make an art of it."

"You haven't seen her on the dance floor. That's when Nesta truly lets the wolf roam free. When there's music."

We see glimpses of moments throughout ACOSF when Nesta seeks out music as a respite from her suffering:

"when he'd dragged (Nesta) out of a particular seedy tavern, (she revealed) she had been there for the music"

She even uses musicality to describe her love for Cassian:

“Nesta could have sworn the blade hanging from her belt hummed in answer. As if it liked the sound of his voice as much as she did”

“For it was music between their souls. Always had been. And his voice was her favorite melody.”

Later on, Cassian "(finds) a way for her to have music --always" by gifting her the Symphonia, revealing that he traveled to all of her favorite taverns to record her favorite songs and that he got the musicians in the Hewn City to perform their entire set just for her. Additionally, he learns how to dance for her so they can share a dance in Hewn City, thus entwining himself with both of Nesta's artistic expressions of the Self.

With both Feyre and Nesta, their two "expressions" are present right before an intense moment of connection with their mate. With Feyre and Rhys, they make love in paint after she had a burst of inspiration to paint the entire cabin. With Nesta and Cassian, she is gifted the Symphonia and then they make love after her successful dance-mission in Hewn City. Both females master that part of themselves in some way before the mate steps in to honor that part of their soul, mirroring it back to them in some way, before they deeply connect.

Elain: Baking & Gardening / ???

For Elain, I have a few questions to present for consideration:

We have already seen how baking and gardening has a healing effect on Elain - is this her own artistic expression of the Self? If the beautiful Bread and Roses theory stands, then I would say yes. (I would also say this helps strengthen the Bread & Roses theory, simply because the imagery has now presented itself as something important enough to be noticed by Bryce). I believe to confirm this, we either need her POV to explain her own connection to these things, or someone else's observance of how she makes baking and gardening an artform.

Who in the series is already "entwined" in Elain's love for baking and gardening? (I'm talking powerful imagery, I'm talking shared moments, etc etc.)

What is Elain's dark side? We know she has the moniker of Kingslayer, we know she has Seer abilities; are these aspects of her dark side or is it something else we haven't yet explored? Since each of her sisters has these dualities present, it would only make sense that she has a dualistic nature as well.

How will Elain's baking and gardening continue to contribute to her story, her self sovereignty?

How will it lead to the culmination of her union with her chosen romantic partner? (This is just fun to think about, tbh. How is this going to manifest narratively? Are they making love in a field of flowers? Is she going to be gifted flowers?? The possibilities are endless, and, quite frankly, cute as hell.)

Either way, if we follow the same format as her sisters, we can start to imagine different possibilities for the path that Elain's journey will take. Especially if we look at it through this lens. Personally, I'm really looking forward to seeing what Elain's "warlike" side is, or how that will even manifest itself in a way that is in character for her.

[valkyrie-song]

Mathblr! You get ONE meaning of "normal" to keep using in math. Everything else gets a new term. Who is staying normal?

[valerieofavonlea]

Every single bit of evidence and point in favor of Gavinor being Odium's Champion can be just as easily applied to Adolin, and he can actually fight and is the better choice all around, but y'all aren't ready for that conversation

[mikesbasementbeets]

“if mike is gay and never actually loved el romantically it would diminish their whole relationship :(” ok but like what do you think they’ve been doing this whole time then? do you think the current dynamic of their relationship is good? the relationship we’ve been shown this whole time is supposed to have some sort of positive romantic meaning?? like what do you think would be diminished if mike is gay? he is already unable to genuinely (ie not under dire external pressure) tell el he loves her. he is unable to be genuinely romantic with her (see Every Single Time they kiss (or almost kiss) and mike looks like he wants to crawl out of his own skin). he can’t even put his arm around her waist to support her!!! like. what would be lost if we were to learn that the feelings between them are actually platonic????