#case transcript

[paa-official]

Recording No. 17

Parker had closed off a large area around the entrance to the ship and placed his troops in front of it, with orders to shoot at anything that crawled out of it. So we waited for the German military to arrive and take over. Was at least what we were supposed to do, but Parker twitched all because he wanted to search the ship. If he hadn't been too scared of what might be in there, he probably would have run in himself and conducted his own search.

Mitchell was standing in front of a table in a tent, looking over some information about the Phalanx that me and Becka were able to gather. His index finger tapped on the table as he noticed Parker's impatience and lost his cool because of him. He sighed in despair and his breath froze instantly in the cold air. His hand rose slowly and took the warm cup of tea from the table. After a sip, he put it down again and turned to us >> I'll try to calm him down. << and left the tent.

Becka sat next to me on a chair and had her arms crossed >> Didn't he want to take the ship apart? << she asked, annoyed.

>> He can't do that. << I said somewhat sympathetically.

>> Oh, that's right. The humans forbid other nations to carry out any actions without certain authorizations. <<

>> I think it's something else. <<

She looked at me questioningly >> What is it? <<

>> Not what. Who. <<

Her gaze remained questioning, but as she looked over at Parker and then at the crashed ship, something seemed to have dawned on her >> You're not telling me there's someone there he cares about, are you? <<

>> Why else would he have acted like that when we got the records? <<

Her arms loosened >> I didn't think he had anyone. <<

>> Well, probably not now. <<

She looked at me as if a chill ran down her spine >> What do you think he'll do if that's the case? <<

I took a deep breath and looked back out of the tent at Parker, who was talking to Mitchell >> Let's hope it's not. <<

Half an hour had passed and still nothing had happened. The German military still hadn't arrived and I hoped it would stay quiet until they did. I didn't want Parker to escalate and tear the ship apart, if that was even possible. From the reports of some of the soldiers, the dark gray steel had been very robust and almost indestructible. It had taken a lot of explosive force to destroy it.

During the agonizingly long wait, the rain did not let up at all. And although the heat lamp in the tent made the cold somewhat bearable, I still felt a little cold. So I asked Mitchell if he could bring us some tea, which he did. It was a black tea with a little sugar and a lemon in it. The first sip had tasted much better and more pleasant than the coffee with five spoons of sugar I'd had with Jenny.

I had never understood how she could drink something so bitter. It had felt like I had drunk my joy of life away, but she thought that was the way it should be. These humans had still been a mystery to me, as some had probably been so exhausted by life that they had needed something disgusting in the morning to remind them that they could still feel something.

Maybe that's why the tea tasted so much better to me. Maybe it just felt like I had been negatively surprised by this species, as I hadn't preferred the taste of coffee to that of tea.

Suddenly I sensed a great sense of unease among the people. I got up from my chair and put my cup down on the table. Becka looked after me worriedly >> Apath, what's wrong? <<

>> Something is off. <<

>> What exactly? << she asked me worriedly.

>> The people are anxious. <<

>> What for? <<

I didn't answer, but pulled the hood of my cloak over my head and walked out of the tent. Becka followed me uncertainly as I approached the ship where the people had gathered. Through the rain, I could only faintly make out that they were all talking to each other. And then I suddenly felt a familiar presence, which is why I stopped first.

>> What's going on? << Becka asked me.

I realized that there was a big misunderstanding coming and we had a lot of explaining to do.

>> I didn't think they would let him live. << I said and kept walking.

Parker was with the humans and when he noticed us, he ran towards us. His expression didn't seem particularly pleased as he grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me to a halt >> When were you planning to tell us about the third one? <<

>> I had thought that the Phalanx had killed him. That's why I didn't think it was important to tell you about him. <<

>> Any information, no matter how small and insignificant, is important enough to tell us about. You're lucky you're allowed to walk on this planet. <<

>> What does that mean now? << Becka asked.

>> It means... <<

Before Parker could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a soldier >> Sir. He wants to talk to those two. <<

Parker scowled at him for the interruption >> He can do the same to me. <<

But the soldier shook his head >> He only wants to talk to them. <<

Parker gave us another disgusted look before agreeing to the demand. They had taken Markus into a larger tent and given him a warm blanket. When the people had gone out, we were then allowed to join him and talk to him. His face had no scratches or other scars, which shouldn't have surprised me.

He looked up and immediately put on a grim grin >> Congratulations, Empath. <<

I grabbed a stool and sat in front of him, while Becka sat behind me on the left.

>> Is that all you wanted to tell us? << I asked him.

He shrugged his shoulders >> I actually just wanted to see you alive. And you... << he looked over at Becka >> I want to congratulate you too, for still being alive. <<

>> That sounds kind of sarcastic coming from you. << she said to him. >> Or like a threat. << I interjected.

Markus looked at me in slight surprise >> I don't think that would be particularly clever of me. <<

>> But the humans don't know that you can heal yourself, do they? <<

He sighed >> There would be no point. We lost and you won. From the looks of it. What happens now? Will we have to look for another planet now? <<

My gaze froze and Becka lowered hers, which Markus noticed immediately. He looked at us in turn >> What is it? <<

I took a deep breath >> We're staying on this planet. The ship is destroyed. <<

His eyes widened in shock >> And our population? <<

>> Many civilians and soldiers were able to save themselves and escape to Earth. The rest... << Becka said.

>> Miran? <<

>> Dead. << I answered him.

>> What happened to the ship? <<

>> Either the systems failed because of the civil war or someone sent a welcoming gift. <<

Silence fell between us and the rain beat loudly against the tent. Markus took a few breaths and raised his head again to look at the Phalanx ship with a questioning look >> Why did they crash? Didn't they want to help the humans? <<

>> Xornud betrayed us. I don't know what his plan was, but he had tried to kill me if Miran or Luke hadn't. <<

>> How? <<

>> An overdose of the painkiller he gave me after the meeting with Luke, and a bomb in his sword hilt. <<

Markus laughed softly >> Why is it so hard to kill you? <<

>> I could ask you the same thing. <<

Becka put her hand on my shoulder and asked Markus >> Speaking of the Phalanx. Did you see any humans on the ship? <<

>> Only dead ones. A lot of them, actually. And a lot of dead Phalanx. If I didn't know better, everything in there is dead. <<

>> Because of the impact? <<

>> Didn't look like it. Their bodies are mangled, like they were mauled by some kind of monster. Or a horde of monsters. <<

>> Did you see them? << I asked.

>> Only when they ran past me. I tried to avoid them. And couldn't exactly spot them. But I'm not sure if they survived the fall. <<

>> Have you seen a human with green hair? <<

>> Do you mean the one she brought on our ship? No. No, I haven't. Besides, I don't think he could still be alive. <<

As he said this sentence, there was a sudden flash and a clap of thunder immediately followed.

Becka hung her head and I could passively perceive her frustration. She then stood up and walked out of the tent. I followed her out, worried about her. She hadn't even put her hood on and was wandering away with her hands formed into fists. When I caught up with her, I held her by the arm and brought her to a halt. The look she gave me was probably the most intimidating look I had ever seen.

>> Let go of me. << she ordered me.

>> Becka, please. <<

>> Shut it. If you want to calm me down, do it with your empathy. Before I do something wrong again. <<

>> What are you talking about? <<

>> Everything I've done so far has ruined everything. I can't please anyone and I killed someone instead of helping. <<

She tried to get out of my grip, but I continued to hold her and wanted to say something, but the soldiers shouted something again. >> Contact! << shouted one and the sound of gunfire drowned out the rain.

[felassan]

[This recent video] by Mark Darrah on YouTube titled 'How 2017 Changed BioWare 1000 Ways' is worth a watch.

Vid description:

"For me, there have been 4 major moments in BioWare history: BioWare's sale to Elevation Partners, BioWare's sale to EA, Ray and Greg's departure, and 2017."

"Chapters: 0:00 12 Critical Months 0:22 Mass Effect: Andromeda 3:04 BioWare Reports To Someone New 4:35 Dragon Age Support 6:00 Casey Returns 7:10 A Prediction 8:20 A Message To Montreal 11:06 Anthem 12:01 Multiplayer Dragon Age 13:42 The Fallout 15:01 Is This a ME Problem?"

[watchlink]

transcript under cut.

Mark Darrah: "Okay, let’s talk about 2017, which I consider the most impactful twelve months in BioWare’s history. Or at least in recent memory. Actually, I’m lying, I’m gonna back up a little bit and I’m gonna start in late 2016, but I’m gonna stick to twelve months. We’ll just go to the later part of 2017, we won’t go all the way to December. In late 2016 we are reaching the point when Mass Effect: Andromeda is trying to ship. It has been grabbing resources from around BioWare for a while, but in this last push, we reach a decision that is different than anything we have done in BioWare’s history, at least in recent memory. And that is, I actually led this final team that came onto ME:A. If you look in the ME:A credits you’ll see the Dragon Age Finalling Team, DAFT, and I’m on that team. My feeling at the time was, the Dragon Age team was feeling jerked around, they were feeling like we were getting no support from BioWare or from EA, which was basically true, and that by me leading the group onto the project, I could then, when ME:A finished, lead that group as well as the other resources that were supposed to come back to Dragon Age back. That’s not ultimately what ended up happening, and we’ll get into that in a second. But what it was, how it was different, this was the first time where we had this leadership discontinuity where the person in charge of a project left that project to help someone else, some other project, while the project continued to run. In the case of ME:A, I don’t think the impact to Dragon Age was huge, it wasn’t very long. But it did set this precedent as this being a thing that we could do. And it’s not a good thing to do. It is incredibly dangerous to have a project run while it’s missing some of its core leadership. So we move forward, and now ME:A ships, and it doesn’t go well. BioWare had had a pretty good run of games that were pretty well-reviewed, pretty well-received, or if they, like Dragon Age 2, had some challenges, those challenges were easily rationalized away. With ME:A that got shaken. ME:A was shipped in a state that had quality bugs because of relatively small things that subsequently got fixed but really damaged the project at launch."

"In 2016 the part of EA that BioWare reported into changed. We went from, strangely, reporting in through part of the Sports organization, to reporting into someone new, and the result of that was that now, our EA leadership went from being benignly disinterested in us, I would say, not really understanding what we did, and being willing to let us do our best on our own, to someone that was hyper-interested in us, and really wanted to be involved in the day-to-day, in the decision-making, on the project. You can decide for yourself if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. It definitely was a dramatic change in BioWare’s interaction with the rest of the EA organization. One project they weren’t particularly interested in was ME:A, because they had little to gain from the success of ME:A and little to lose from its failure, so I do think one of the reasons why BioWare moved on from ME:A as quickly as it did is because the group that we reported into had very little stake in either the success or the failure of the project, and they had a lot more incentive for BioWare to move onto the next thing, that they could tie themselves to, and show themselves as having influence on the development of. Coming out of ME:A, I was feeling like Dragon Age was still not getting adequate support. We hadn’t gotten the people from Montreal that were supposed to come onto Dragon Age yet. They were still doing stuff with ME:A. And I went to Patrick Söderlund at the time, and said, I don’t feel like I’m getting the support from the organization that Dragon Age deserves. I don’t feel that I’m getting the support from the organization that Dragon Age needs. And from Patrick, as well as from Andrew Wilson, I got lots of assurances that Dragon Age was incredibly important, that we were going to get what we needed, what we wanted. In addition to that, I also got a large amount of stock to try to say, please stay, here are some financial handcuffs, to try to tie you to the organization. Around the same time that I’m getting these assurances from the greater EA org, that Dragon Age is really important, I have a conversation with the person that ran the organization that BioWare used to be a part of. And that interaction basically went like this: ‘I can’t believe you’re still at EA. Dragon Age still isn’t getting people. How can you deal with this?’ And, I guess in retrospect, yeah, that is a really good question."

"In the middle of 2017 Casey Hudson suddenly returns. I say suddenly because I found out that Casey was returning at the same meeting that everyone else at BioWare found out. Because there was worry about leaks, there was a meeting held where both Aaryn Flynn was announced to be leaving and Casey Hudson was announced to come back. And then the press release went out during that meeting. So there was literally zero time between when the people at BioWare knew and when the general public knew. You have to remember, I am the second-most senior person at BioWare. Casey was interviewed, and hired, and prepared to be brought back entirely without me being consulted in any way. Would me having been involved in the process changed the decision? No, I don’t think it would have. But there is an immense amount of disrespect involved in making a hire of this impact, in making a decision of this import, without involving the second-most senior person at your studio in any way. So I actually went from the meeting where it was announced that Casey Hudson was coming back to lead the studio to my desk and sent a couple of emails. And those emails said, essentially, I believe what is going to happen in very short order is that Casey is gonna convince the organization that Anthem needs all-hands on deck. It’s gonna starve Dragon Age out even further, and this goes against what we literally just talked about a few months ago. And the email responses that I got back were, no no no no, Dragon Age is super important, that is not what’s going to happen, we are committed to Dragon Age, we are committed to you leading Dragon Age. And, as we all know, that’s not what happened at all. In very short order, in basically exactly the way that I predicted, Anthem was seen as needing greater support, needing greater leadership support, and myself and some other very senior people, as well as a large percentage of the Dragon Age team, was moved onto Anthem."

"Between Casey returning and the everyone on Anthem, we lose everyone in Montreal. This happens really shortly after Casey returns. Casey’s return was announced on July 18th and the loss of the Montreal staff was August 1st. So it’s only two weeks between the two different events. The people in Montreal had been told some stories. They’d basically been lied to, and told that Dragon Age didn’t want them, and that they were going onto other parts of the EA organization because BioWare couldn’t keep them anymore. And, from my perspective, that is a complete fabrication. When this started to happen, I spent 100% of my time trying to force Dragon Age through one of its gates. And the reason for this is that going through that gate theoretically would have allowed Dragon Age to get much larger, would have allowed Dragon Age to keep those people. Politically I don’t think there was any way that that was going to happen. I, there were very senior people on the ground in Montreal who wanted those people, and proximity is a powerful tool, and I don’t think there was any way I could make the argument to keep those people. But I tried. So if you are someone who’s been mad at me since 2017 because you feel like I abandoned you in Montreal, know that that’s not what happened. Know that I fought with every tool that I knew how to wield to try to keep you. But the organization had no interest in that occurring. Were there backroom deals happening between BioWare and the rest of EA at that time? If there were, I was not involved in them. I was definitely fighting tooth and nail to keep everyone in Montreal on Dragon Age. Because we were ready to start getting bigger. I certainly hope there were no backroom deals. Given the timing, given how early Casey was in his role, it seems unlikely that he was brokering such a deal, and it seems unlikely that Aaryn would have brokered such a deal in his last days. I suppose it’s possible for either of them to have done so, but I think what’s more likely is that leaders on the ground in Montreal were taking advantage of the relative leadership vacuum at BioWare to take those people away. But, like I predicted, that’s not what EA was interested in. What they wanted to see, is they wanted to see Anthem. That perfectly-crafted story that was told back in 2012, 2013, continued to hold immense sway within the organization. And now that Casey was back, it was stronger than ever."

"You can see in this time, my trust in the EA organization is being constantly hammered, constantly challenged. Additionally, in this time period, Mike Laidlaw leaves, because he sees the same things that I see. And while I end up going on Anthem, he sees a lot of frustration in the future for Dragon Age, and he decides that it is better for him to look for opportunities elsewhere. Which is certainly understandable. So part of the excuse for moving people off of Dragon Age was this pivot from a singleplayer game into a multiplayer live service. I believe that a large part of that pivot was done entirely as rationalization, as a reason to make it make sense that we were taking everyone away from Dragon Age. There’s no reason to have all of these people on the project because they are going back to the drawing board, because we are making a live service game now, right? So we can start over again. I wish that had never happened, I wish that pivot had never occurred. But that’s what happened. EA said, make this a live service. We said, we don’t know how to do that, we should basically start the project over. And thus, Joplin became Morrison, and myself as well as other very senior members of the team, moved on to Anthem. And we enter into a second, much longer leadership discontinuity on Dragon Age. Project runs until Anthem ships without its EP, without its senior development director. This ends up causing massive amounts of changes to the project, to the team structure, to the culture. In this time, Dragon Age is pursuing a goal that ultimately it doesn’t want to be pursuing. But it does its best, and in doing its best, it changes the nature of the project in fundamental ways. So as we come to the end of 2017, we are in a state where almost everyone is on Anthem, but Dragon Age, now Dragon Age Morrison, is running without most of its core leadership. And in the process of this change, EA and BioWare have dramatically damaged their relationship with myself, but also with a lot of other more senior members of BioWare, because they’ve said things are going to happen, that didn’t happen, they’ve made assurances that did not come true. As we come out of 2017, BioWare is a different thing. It is focused on making a live service in Anthem, it has lost one of its studios in Montreal being taken away, and now it moves into the future in this new state."

"I talked a fairly long time ago about how EA buys studios and then consumes them and they start to lose their culture into the overall EA culture. To me it feels like 2017 is when EA finished digesting BioWare, which they had bought nine years earlier in 2008. You may be looking to this and saying, I don’t know if I buy your story, I don’t know if I believe that this twelve months is as impactful as you are making it out to be, it sounds more like these things are things that affected you personally. And I think there is truth to that, I think that a lot of these things are things that hurt me, are things that damaged my trust with the organization. I guess the argument I would make against that is simply that, given my position within the organization, damaging the trust, damaging the relationship between the second-most senior person at a studio and that studio is going to have consequences. Special thanks to my members. They provide the resources that this channel needs to keep running. If you’re interested in becoming a member, there’s a link to that down in the description. We also have a Patreon if you are more comfortable supporting the channel in that way. Both Patrons and channel members get access to our Discord, so if you are looking for a way to interact with me and the community to a deeper level, that’s a great way to do it. This may end up being a little more personal than I meant it to be, but I do think that when you step back from BioWare’s history, really far back, there are some major pivot points in BioWare’s history. There’s when BioWare got sold to Elevation Partners. Then there’s when BioWare got sold to EA. There’s when Ray and Greg left, and then there’s this period in 2017. Do you buy that? Let me know down in the comments. I will see you again soon, thank you."

[source]

[killjoy-prince]

House M.D. but it's when Wilson and House says each other's name

[smilesrobotlover]

Your chances of being bamboozled by Leon is extremely low but never zero

[tothelasthoursofmylife]

Countess Cloudia Phantomhive and Victorian Inheritance Customs

With the snippet of the Phantomhive family tree now having been shown in the anime, I decided to make a little post to hopefully answer some of the questions that might come up!

Could a 19th-century English noblewoman...

... inherit her family estate? Yes, she could.

There was no law that stipulated that someone had to bequeath their possessions (estate, wealth) to a male relative. The rich and the noble wanted to protect their possessions, of course, and created wills that ensured that their estates and wealth would not fall into just anyone's hands but remained securely within their (close) family. If there was no close male relative (or none they wished to make their inheritor), it was not uncommon for people to will their possessions to a close female relative instead.

In Jane Eyre (1847), she famously inherits her paternal uncle's entire wealth of 20,000 pounds (the book is set sometime during George III's late reign, making the last possible (full) year 1819; this would make her inheritance 2,32 million pounds nowadays (she only keeps £5,000 = £580,000)) because he chose to will it to her, overlooking, i.a., a nephew simply because he once had a terrible fight with said nephew's father (his brother-in-law/his sister's husband). In The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848), Helen is the heiress to her uncle's fortune, not her brother (who inherited their father's estate already). Wuthering Heights' (1847) Catherine Linton (Catherine Earnshaw's daughter) was the heir of Thrushcross Grange.

Female heiresses were not restricted to fiction though:

(Women and Marriage in Nineteenth-Century England by Joan Perkin; Ch.3)

The rich and the noble had access to a private law system that was administered by the Court of Equity. This allowed noblewomen to have their own estates and incomes, albeit secured by trust funds/trustees. This system protected their inherited family wealth from their husbands even under coverture. (While single women, feme soles, could possess their own property, they would usually lose all rights to it to their husbands upon marriage because of coverture laws. The trust system prevented this.)

Marriage settlements (marriage contracts that, due to their complexity, could only be afforded by the rich) could also protect the daughters of noble and/or wealthy families as they, i.a., stipulated how much money she would receive monthly or annually (pin money), and how much money she would receive upon her husband's death.

(Courtship and Marriage in Victorian England by Jennifer Phegley; Ch. 1)

This was the best case scenario for women of the upper classes (and the wealthy middle class).

(Feminism, Marriage, and the Law in Victorian England by Mary Lyndon Shanley; Ch. 1)

Nevertheless, the rich knew how to protect their wealth, then as now. The aforementioned private laws also helped to pave the way for women of all social classes and statuses to have their own possessions.

Little excursus:

Their vast fortunes also granted certain freedoms to rich heiresses, i.a., the freedom to choose a husband as they pleased. After all, they did not have to think about "making a good match" anymore. They were themselves filthy rich already after all! The fact that their wealth was protected also kept them safer from vultures.

(Women and Marriage in Nineteenth-Century England by Joan Perkin; Ch.3)

"Love" emerged as a reason for marriage in the late 18th century and became more common and popular throughout the 19th.

(Love as Passion: The Codification of Intimacy by Niklas Luhmann; Ch. 14)

However, that never stopped matrimony from being a serious business. No matter what, many people put a lot of care and thought into deciding who to marry. After all, divorces were an expensive hassle until 1857 (previously, one needed a costly Act of Parliament to obtain a divorce, and the process of obtaining a divorce was particularly difficult for women too: between 1827 and 1857 only three divorces that were petitioned by women were granted; the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 established a civil divorce court and expanded the rights of women). It was easier for rich women to choose to marry for love; still, many opted to remain cautious nonetheless.

(For example, what about the children one might have within a marriage? Upon a wedded union's dissolution, women had difficulties getting custody of their own children. The Custody of Infants Act 1839 allowed women to petition for custody of their children if they were 7 or under. It took until 1873, with the Infant Custody Act, for the age to be lifted from 7 to 16. It also removed the 1839 Act's stipulation that she would not be given custody if she had committed adultery. Before 1839, the father always got full custody. Caroline Norton believed she made a "good match," only to get stuck with an abusive husband who, i.a., beat her and did not let her access their children upon their separation for years.)

... keep her surname?/give her surname to her husband? Yes, she could.

The nobility and the rich, naturally, were very attached to their surnames. After all, it was their family marker, and they were proud of their family history, may it be because they came from a long line of nobles and/or because their ancestor created the family business that gave them their wealth.

When there was no (suitable) close male heir and a female one was chosen instead, the question arose, "what of the family name?" Women often took their husbands' surname upon marriage after all; in this case, however, it might mean the "end" of their old, history-charged and/or important family name.

So, people simply decreed in their wills that, whoever their heiress married, would have to take her surname upon marriage.

Further, men who wanted to marry rich heiresses, of course, thought the wedding to be an honour and did not want to offend their powerful and wealthy in-laws. They, thus, often chose to hyphenate their surname with their wife's. (And the more important surnames you can show off, the better too!)

(Women and Marriage in Nineteenth-Century England by Joan Perkin; Ch.3)

Some examples:

Charles William Stewart took his wife's surname Vane (not even hyphenated!! it fully "replaced" his) when they got married in 1819 because Frances Vane was a rich heiress and her father stipulated in his will that her future husband had to take her surname, period.

In 1811, John Ward changed his surname to Ward-Boughton-Leigh after marrying Theodosia de Malsburgh Boughton-Leigh. "Boughton" is the maiden name of Theodosia's mother, "Leigh" her father's surname. She was the only heir to the fortunes of both her parents, so all families had to be honoured.

The marquessate of Salisbury belongs to the Gascoyne-Cecil family. Up until 1821, the family name was just Cecil. "Gascoyne" comes from Frances Gascoyne who married James Cecil; James hyphenated his surname with hers. She brought a considerable "Liverpool fortune" into the family. The Cecils were (and are!) very powerful and they still changed their surname.

Men also retroactively changed their surnames to their wives' maiden name if she suddenly received a great inheritance. (This could lead to some fun names like "Cresswell Cresswell.")

... hold a noble title in her own right? Yes, she could.

Henrietta Godolphin was the Duchess of Marlborough in her own right (suo jure) because of an act of parliament in 1706. (Her younger brother was meant to inherit the title but he died before their father and it went to her instead.) Henrietta's eldest son William became heir apparent to her dukedom (and his father's earldom, but that would only have been a "secondary" title because dukes > earls). Unfortunately, her son predeceased her, and the title went to her nephew instead.

This was not the first or last case of a woman holding a title in her own right. The Wikipedia article on suo jure lists more such cases.

Also: Vincent and Francis are full siblings! (Yana's tweet/Ducky's translation)

No matter whether Cloudia was married to Cedric or not, Vincent and Francis would never be bastards and always legitimate children in the face of the law.

*Note: Laws on women's property rights/custody/divorce/etc. changed multiple times throughout the 19th century; their effects on women also differed amongst the different social classes. As this post is about Cloudia's (possible) situation, it mostly deals with laws and such that would have applied to her as a noblewoman (late 18th to mid-19th century/1866).

A chronology on English marriage law:

(Courtship and Marriage in Victorian England by Jennifer Phegley)

[human-for-tonight]

choosing to believe "the serum" is testosterone and maxwell is trans

[luvlian]

previous | next | beginning

TRANSCRIPT:

T: Lee this is the oppurtunity of a lifetime and you’re just going to throw it away?

L: Yeah I guess I am.

T: Why?!

L: What do you mean ‘why?’ we have a kid, Tia.

T: Wait, are you fucking kidding me, Lee?

L: Why would I be joking about that?

T: Maggie isn’t going anywhere? Are you just going to give up every single thing now just because she exists?

L: Of course not, Tia-

T: Then do the art residency!

L: Tia I can't.

T: Why. Not.

L: Because it’s a fucking year long in Mt. Komorebi Tia.

T: .... You should still do it.

L: What? No, Tia.

T: How long did it take you to get chosen for that Lee?

L: ...

T: Lee?

L: That doesn't matter, Tia.

T: It does matter!

L: (sighs) I.. apply to a few every year… this is the first one where I got accepted.

T: (groans) Then do this one Lee! I’m serious! You’re pissing me off.

L: Tia-

T: Your mom was fucking right about you..

L: The hell does that mean?

T: Just forget it Lee. I'll tell everyone to leave.

[heartcircus]

devotioners just keep winning it seems

Pangi: Do you think Mapicc is a good friend? Zam: Do you think Mapicc is a good friend? Yeah. I'd say so. Pangi: Do you trust him with your whole life? Zam: He's like- I trust him with a lot of my life, maybe not all of it but like a good amount of it I'd say. Maybe like a good like, 80%, y'know? So most of it. Pangi: [overlapping] 80%? Zam: Yeah, so most of it. Pangi: What's the other 20%? Zam: The other 20? Myself. Pangi: [laughing] so whats the other 80 then wait.. Zam: The 80 is like, Mapicc. Pangi: Wait, you're 80- wait, wait. I'm confused. Zam: 80% of my life is with Mapicc. Uhm.. and the other 20% is for me. Pangi: Wow, you give a lot of yourself to Mapicc. Why don't we make that 100% you? Y'know, you should value yourself a bit more than just about(?) Mapicc you know. Zam: Well I care a lot about what he thinks of me, um... and I care a lot about- just, y'know, making sure he's happy.

[royalarchivist]

Fit: Oh, there's a coffee house, no way! FOFOCA!

Fit: Gosto de fofoca! Gosto de fofoca. ...Wait, that's how you say "I like fofoca," right? 'Cuz I remember "Gosto de você" is "I like you," but "Gosto de fofoca" means "I like fofoca," right? [Reading chat] "Sim" Obrigado.

Fit: GOSTO DE FOFOCA! Tio Fabio gosto de fofoca! Sim.

[princess-of-power69]

I LOVE HIM SOO MUCH??!!

[paa-official]

Recording No. 20

In the evening we were back in the city and I immediately ran to our night quarters. Xornud tried to stop me >> Apath, take it easy. This is normal for humans. They'll deliberate for a few days and then come to their senses. <<

I turned to him and stopped in the middle of the path >> You know, I had actually been pretty optimistic. I thought people were open-minded, friendly, innocent. God damn it, I thought they were reasonable. More reasonable than our people. <<

>> Well, that's not particularly hard either. << he muttered to himself. >> Why didn't you warn me about this? <<

>> Warn you about it? Shit, I thought you had some sense. Why else would you come to us for help? And now you want to put all the blame on me? <<

I laughed hysterically >> Are you trying to tell me it's my fault for speaking out against Parker? <<

Becka stepped between the two of us and looked me in the eye >> No one here is to blame. We just have to be patient. You said yourself that this all has to work out. <<

>> What if we don't have enough time? <<

>> But the military doesn't know anything about anything here. They think we're still spying on this place. <<

>> But what if they get suspicious about the whole Area 51 thing yesterday? What if Miran suspects why Markus hasn't returned? <<

I paused for a moment and Becka noticed it in my expression >> What is it? << she then asked.

I slowly turned away from he >> I have an idea. Don't wait for me. Xornud can you take me to Markus? <<

>> Apath? << Becka tried to stop me, but I wasn't paying attention to her, I was already running after Xornud.

Xornud had taken me deep into the ship, to an interrogation room where I had to wait. The walls, ceiling and floor were all made of dark gray steel. In the middle was a table with three chairs connected to the floor and a ceiling lamp had been built into the ceiling directly above it. Unlike in Naglfari or the human interrogation rooms, there was no mirror with someone behind it. After only a few minutes, the door opened and Xornud brought in Markus, whose hands he tied to the table. I went to Xornud and whispered quietly in his ear >> Give me a few minutes with him. I'll take care of it. <<

He doubted at first, but then nodded and left us both alone >> Knock on the door, if there's anything. <<

I walked slowly to the table and sat down on the chair opposite Markus, who looked at me sceptically >> Do you want to try again? <<

>> Yes, and you will give me answers. <<

>> Why so sure? <<

>> I'll ask the questions. <<

He laughed suddenly >> That's not like you. You can stop pretending to be threatening. <<

I sighed slowly and folded my hands on the table >> Alright. Why did you fake your death anyway? <<

He laughed again >> Isn't it obvious? 20 years without orders and then we arrive at the planet. Something will go wrong, like someone going rogue. Miran needs a backup like us, his mercenary force. <<

>> And what about your family? <<

He remained quiet for a moment and his face became serious >> I don't have any. Never did. <<

I hesitated for a moment. He had been all lonely on the ship and probably wasn't allowed to bond with anyone so there wouldn't be that pain when he had to leave everything behind.

>> And what about the second ability? << I then asked >> Have you had it all your life too? <<

He started grinning again >> How many years have you spent on the ship? <<

I looked at him questioningly >> 19 auroric years. What does that matter? <<

>> That's how long I've had mine. And if I'm not mistaken, I even saw you back then. <<

>> What? What do you mean by that? <<

All I got in response was this grin >> Ask your parents, if you have any questions. Or ask your buddy, Luke. Maybe he's in on the whole thing too. <<

I looked at him seriously >> There's more to it than that. Why don't you just tell me? <<

>> I'm only telling you what I'm allowed to tell you. <<

I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms >> What does that mean now? <<

He sighed and propped himself up on the table >> We haven't exactly had the best start since you and I met on Earth, but it doesn't have to stay that way. I want a little more neutrality between us. Do you understand? <<

I raised my eyebrow.

>> I'm willing to tell you certain things, but only the ones I won't get in trouble for. You'll have to find out the redacted lines for yourself. <<

>> Well at least I have a clue donor. << I muttered to myself.

He leaned back again, but not too far, because the chains weren't particularly long >> And if I can give you a tip: grow a new pair. <<

>> What? <<

>> I'm just saying. This pacifist way won't get you where you want to go. Trust me, I was convinced of that on Aurora. <<

I stood up and got ready to go to the door >> This isn't Aurora. You can keep your tips to yourself. <<

>> You're right. This is not Aurora. But the people you're up against are from Aurora. If I were you, I'd do what I advise. <<

I ran to the door >> Know-it-all. << I whispered to myself and knocked on the door.

I had tried to sleep, but couldn't. Becka was having trouble with it too, but she was already fast asleep while I was tossing and turning on the bed. I couldn't let go of the conversation with Markus and the excitement in the Pentagon. To make a pre-emptive strike on Naglfari. The guy was out of his mind. To distract myself a little, I looked at my watch. Maybe I could find or change something new. But first I checked my inbox in case I hadn't noticed that there were new orders. But it had been empty. At least one satisfying message that day.

But then I looked at the tracker, which I had switched off on me and Becka. Markus' words immediately came back to me. > Ask your buddy. <

I looked over at Becka and she was still fast asleep. She had even turned her back on me. I had to take advantage of this opportunity before it was too late. Maybe he would understand. Luke had always had a friendly character. If I had chosen the right words, I was sure I could have convinced him.

So I sneaked out of the night quarters and walked to the train. The lights had only been on in a few houses and the streets were empty. There weren't even any soldiers outside. It was similar at the train station. Only a few phalanxes were walking around and the trains had been mostly empty. That worked out well for me when I took a train to the UK. I can't remember exactly where in England. When I left the station there, I first made my way to a deserted field, far away from civilization. I didn't have to walk very long because the station was already close to a very wide, uninhabited meadow. Somewhere near the chalk cliffs, in fact.

sat down on a rock there and switched the tracker back on. Then I contacted Luke to come to my location, but alone and in such a way that no one would notice. I waited for him until then. The now cold wind from the coast brushed through my hair and was actually refreshing after all the commotion. And the best thing was that it was still so early in the morning in England and still so peacefully quiet.

Soon a shuttle appeared over the horizon. It was barely visible because of the darkness and difficult to follow with the naked eye. But the noise of the engines could not be hidden so easily.

The shuttle landed carefully several meters away from me and the ramp opened. The turbines slowed down until they were off and no longer stirred up the wind. Luke frantically ran out and towards me >> Apath, are you alright? <<

I stood up and ran towards him >> Don't worry, everything is fine. << I answered him calmly.

>> Why did you bring me here? And where is Becka? <<

Luke stood right in front of me and looked at me worriedly. I had to take a deep breath >> We've split up. You don't have to worry, really. <<

He exhaled with relief >> If you say so. Do you actually know what's going on with your watches? Yesterday they showed that you traveled several hundred kilometers in a few minutes and then the trackers went out today. <<

I looked him in the eye and thought about how much I wanted to tell him >> I don't know about the first one, but I turned off the trackers myself. <<

He looked at me confused >> Why? <<

>> It's not important now. << I shook my head >> I have a few questions. <<

He looked around uncertainly >> Go ahead. What's up? <<

>> What do you know about Markus? <<

He looked at me cluelessly >> He had no family. And he never came back from the scouting mission. <<

>> Is that so? << I asked insinuatingly and Luke no longer understood me.

>> Yes, it is suspected that the reptiloids have something to do with it. Have you found him? <<

>> Well, he more likely found us. But I guess Miran didn't tell you everything. <<

>> Miran? What makes you think of Miran? He hasn't been seen since he wiped everyone's memory. <<

[hahahafangirl]

is sugishita a big silly stupid dumdum?

my staunch belief is that sugishita is NOT DUMB. hes pretty smart, actually. somehow i fell into the illusion of sugishita being a dumbass, which, of course he is, but, like, hes not dumb, or super naive, or an idiot (an archetypical baka) (affectionate) the way sakura is. see: sugishita not falling for suo's bullshit

extremely unimpressed

but he gloats a little too much about this... maybe hes usually pretty baka stupid but not as much as sakura.

his favorite subject is chemistry! dumdum heads like sakura or kaji either have 0 or have PE as their favorite subject. even if hes interested in it because of gardening, he knows the material.

so heres what i think: i think he gets average grade. ok grades. which is great for somebody who go to bofurin and sleep through class since the 2nd grade. in a normal high school, he would be a good ole just-below-average to average to barely-above-average student. in furin, this would probably put him at the upper quartile of his class. being quiet and socially awkward doesnt mean hes a big dumdum in everything else. hes not good at expressing himself, yes -- i think sugishita's development will likely center around him learning how to express himself and may end with him helping somebody else articulating their feelings, or (framed as unexpectedly) stepping up to a leadership role temporarily, like in a fight -- but, like, that doesnt make him dumb. a stereotypical teenage boy is bad at words but good at science, for example.

heres my headcanon/fanfique(tm): it would be so funny if sugishita is the only one to go to college after graduation. he scores perfectly average in every subject, except for chemistry, which hes solidly miles above average. not genius, not once-in-a-lifetime talent, not award-winning even, but he starts off college already knowing two years worth of a chemist education.

which confound everyone who sees his grades and read his applications. suo and kiryuu passionately discussed and strategized on how sugi can get into college, from local ones to travel-to-tokyo ones, and suo even flirted with the idea of sugi getting into utokyo (too far from home, sugi absolutely cannot be left to his own device in a metropolitan area, chance of getting in ~1%). their homeroom teacher and guidance counselor almost went bald deciding how they should write his recommendation letter (quiet but helpful? righteous anger? he-looks-scary-but-hes-a-good-kid-we-promise?). they werent even sure if he was at college-reading level going into third year (nirei helped. a lot.) at the end, they settle at the nearest college in town, which is fine and decent enough that they harbored some doubt if sugishita is going to get in. umemiya encouraged sugi to apply to several places (just in case).

to the surprise of most (but not suo, kiryuu, or umemiya), sugishita got into college. its a fine one. its close enough that he still lives at home, go to college full time, and work part-time at whatever establishment umemiya now works at (my headcanon is that he starts a farm. kiryuu uses his nepo baby money to be the primary stakeholder). sugi's grades in college is good enough that he contemplated getting a phd at some point. but then he decided, nah, and follow the agricultural science track, graduate, maybe get a masters, and work at the farm with ume-senpai. sometimes, when the local elementary school go to visit, ume pressured sugi into giving them a chemistry-focused tour.

andddd this is basically a fanfic. maybe i'll write it someday.

[ananinidraws]

I dunno if this has been done before but. Bowser looks like he has a really squishable face

[suenitos]

tina asking george about his christmas (2022)

tina: what'd you do for christmas? george: uh... went to dream's parents' house. (laughs) tina: wait, that's actually kinda nice! that's sweet! george: yeah, well, i don't have any family here so... had to go somewhere.. or else i was just gonna sit at home alone. tina: did you have a christmas meal? george: yeah, we did! tina: and it was good? ooh, okay okay, what did you eat? george: there was mashed potato... tina (whispering): i love mashed potatoes! george (continuing): there was turkey, there was like little green beans wrapped in bacon. and there was... this like broccoli cheese thing? tina: broccoli cheese thing? george: there was some like, banana dessert thing... i dont know what else there was. some other stuff. and a cup of iced water! tina: oh! you remember your drink... that's good. you know what, good on you.

[bleue-flora]

Michaelmcchill really asking the real questions about Dream and the Prison…

[clip] Sapnap: “He’s fucked up alright? He was my friend but he’s Fucked Up, okay? He wanted to control everyone.” Eryn:”Really?” Micheal: “So you do think he should be in there?” Sapnap: “Yes.” Michael: “For how long?”

[clip] (about Sapnap’s visit to prison) Michael: “But was he like shaking bars fucked up? Or like what?—Was he acting like a fucking monkey in the zoo, like trying to get the fuck out, or what?” Sapnap: “Like no this—look he went from being fucked up in terms of like—like him just being like a bad person to him being fucked up by being like he wouldn’t talk—like oh he—he was like—he got fucked up from being in prison so long. You know what I mean? There’s a difference between the two fucks up.” Michael: “Well if he got fucked up from being in prison then maybe he should be out?” Sapnap: “No, no, no, Micheal, you’ve got it all wrong. He needs to be in prison til he’s not fucked up either way. Once he’s just not fucked up and—” Michael: “Wait a minute, so the prison made him fucked up?” Sapnap: “No, no, no, he was fucked up, alright? And then he got a different kind of fucked up but he’s probably still the other fucked up as well. You get what I’m saying.” Michael: “I mean I get it he was fucked up before he went in but it seems like the prison has fucked him up even more.” Sapnap: “No—no, look he’s gonna get better.” Michael: “If he—if he’s your friend, wouldn’t you want to help him get better?”

[clip] Michael: “But maybe the prison can’t help him!” Sapnap: “Michael, you’re wrong.” Michael: “I’m—I’m just asking.” Sapnap: “Michael, he has to stay in there. If he comes out— Michael: “These aren’t necessarily my opinions I just don’t—I mean if he’s you friend—What if he needs therapy instead of the prison?”

[professorfcknmoriarty]

If this season doesn't turn out to be a great trans allegory about denying who you are for the people around you and transitioning into who you're supposed to be and being the real you (written specifically for Brennan's dear friend Ally Beardsley who transitioned since starting the show, but also for all his friends), I'll pull a Lydia Barkrock and cook 37 chicken parmesans.

There are SO many threads to pull, but to name a few:

In episode 1, Cassandra, who prior to JY used they/them instead of she/her pronouns and didn't look like a copy of Kristin, offered to theme herself around shakes and smoothies to make herself more likeable and relatable to Kristin, and episode 4 she says, "You saved me from being the Nightmare King."

In episode 5, Brennan offered, "Do you wanna use doubt as your weapon here, or do you want to use rage as your weapon here? Do you want to approach the goddess with her own gift, or is there something in here that you wanna go with?"

Later, Brennan says, "There's a moment where that red glows in her, and she says, "Why don't you let me get us out of here?" and turns to look at all of these rage shatter-star things. You see that she looks at them with recognition, and she goes, "How are they back here? I thought you were dead"."

And later something or someone said "She is at my side once more," and Brennan says "Kristen, your goddess is gone and a being whose name you do not know speaks to you with rage and malice from a realm beyond."

In episode 10, Siobhan/Adaine asked: "Was this god that seems to be missing a celestial god or a giant god?" And Brennan said, "On a 27, I will honor the specificity of that question. You think this god's domain changed over time."

From Lydia, we heard, "This god was a god of the Nine Hells, a god of, you know, fire and rage and torment, yadda yadda, all that stuff."

And later, Brennan says, "You start recording the moon, recording that. I think you find effectively what we would call MNA, magical nucleic acid. You're finding a string of magical sequencing. I'm gonna say from this point on, anytime you do any kind of Detect Magic or Detect Evil and Good, you will be able to see whether something is directly of Bakur. But you also find a deific, almost mitochondrial DNA of, oh, here's Bakur, but here's actually where he gets his power from -" and, "- So you're also able to be like, if you were to investigate anything else, you now have this magical sequence being like, is this of the deity that produced Bakur?"

To which Siobhan/Adaine says, "So Cassandra was married to a female or nonbinary or transmasc deity. Mitochondrial," And Brennan agrees that's what he could mean.

In episode 11, Brennan says, "Your worry as these things came out of your hand, the shards enclosed themselves. There was fear, right? Which is something that Cassandra, who in some other version of herself was the Nightmare King, is very familiar with," and while they're falling into the briefcase he says, "you're falling faster. As he (Baron) goes, he says, "The Nightmare King, very angry, once again in the arms of his loving partner. I think you should be very afraid Kristen Applebees, but not of sweet little old Baron from the Baronies. You have plenty of fish in your fish pot to fry with your fish oil." And disappears into the pages again. Very mad. So Cassandra's mad and with... They've both been corrupted again."

(Note that the Nightmare King used he/him pronouns, Cassandra used they/them at the end of SY, she/they before the mall. Baron used they/them pronouns in SY and he/they in JY.)

In episode 12, Riz said "I wasn't keeping him (Baron) a secret. I said I was dating Baron from the Baronies, but I made that up. But then, he became real." And Baron said "I am sorry that my romance partner, Riz Gukgak, has lied so much about my nature," And "(my stark father) wants to make your name something that cannot hurt you anymore."

And Riz said "-(this was) A clear lie that maybe other people could've picked up on, but didn't. And then, you know, Baron was manifested."

And later Baron said, "My stark father does not wish to ever be referred to by his name," and "Stark father, I call him, but there are other titles by which he is referred." And, "You will die here and then there will be none that remember her."

So Riz's refusal to think about or acknowledge his feelings or identity (aro/ace) and thus making up a partner that "doesn't go here" to keep his friends from suspecting or shunning him for his otherness manifested in magic from the Nightmare King/Stark Father/Cassandra. Baron isn't just a manifestation of his lies but a manifestation of his inability to accept his own identity and trying to be someone he isn't.

Random weird threads that seem somehow connected: Kristin's notoriously religious and bigoted parents have they/them pronouns in their title card AS DO Digby and Wilma Thistlespring but not every pair that often shares title cards (see the Barkrocks who have their pronouns listed separately).

There's so much focus so far on names, names that hurt you (what kinds of names hurt trans people? Dead names, usually), identity, changing, duality of self, being honest with and about yourself and I just-

There's also been a lot going on about how little correction that's been for misgendering or just completely changing the pronouns of previously nonbinary NPCs in this season. Given the fact that there have been so many details like this peppered throughout the season so far, I highly suspect that the lack of correction is to not alert the Players too early as to the overarching plotline.

(Also non-zero chance Bucky Applebees turns out to be trans and/or Kristin transitions by the end of the Bad Kids story arch)