#he’s arguably the only one not focused on power and self fulfilment

[pwurrz]

he’s spitting mad facts

[eriisaam]

Old scrapped concept of Teru, the missingno summoner.

His design arguably didn't change a whole lot in the overall idea, but he did shift in clothes from time to time, alternating between this "lazy" look and his "I had the spoons to dress more fomally" one, occasionally seen in my more recent stuff (in particular with Reinhardt). He still dresses like this from time to time, just after a while, I've shifted on revolving everyone's wardrobes around anyways, so his "bare minimum" clothing style isn't seen quite as often or consistently lately. He also got floofier in bangs more cuz I was better equipped to draw him with more details than changing all that much in overall idea otherwise.

Character details under the cut.

---

He and Kyo originally hailed from the World of Pokemon, and the two were subjected to the same intense, cruel experimentations that left them in the state they were and with the powers they had. While they originally attributed this to Team Rocket, eventually it was revealed that the ones responsible for these experiments spanned across multiple worlds, primarily hailing from the World of Zoanthropes, a world far away from Zenith's scope until Thorr's and Loki's interventions.

Whereas Kyo was rescued eventually partially though his own resourcefulness and his time-travelling supports, their efforts bought Teru enough time for his Breidablik to summon him into a new Zenith, where he was left scrambling to pick up the pieces of his traumas while having to also suddenly take up the helm as his Zenith's designated summoner. This ended up going terribly, as while he barely had the time to recover and fully grasp his sudden physical changes or losing the majority of his pokemon, the Garon of his Conquest-flavored world kidnapped Teru in mistaking him for Alfonse, subjected him to cruel and abusive treatment in trying and failing to get Teru to use his "Askran" powers to his own benefit. In the process, he fell in love with Ryoma when the samurai recognized Teru's circumstances under Nohr and felt pity and protective of him, only for Garon's forces and Corrin's overall inability to stop him to lead to his death, right in front of Teru. After the constant abuse, broken promises, failures to help him, and his pre-existing stress, Ryoma's death became the catalyst for his powers as a missingno to go unhinged and haywire, causing the total destruction and collapse of that World of Fates. When the events of Book III eventually caught up to him, he was able to flush out and retreat most of the heroes in the world, but was unable to escape the Heart's Rite despite trying to evacuate much of his own pokemon into his convoy. His unstable genetics rendered him unable to be killed by the Heart's Rite, but painfully aware it claimed the life of one of his pokemon, and following the total collapse of his Zenith and the rise of his Lif and Thrasir, he wound up going haywire once more in causing his world to collapse in totality, killing Lif, Thrasir and Hel in the process.

When he was summoned to Erin's Zenith (the primary setting next to Sparrow's), it was while he was still trapped in his fully monstrous form as a direct aftermath of all his traumas combining into one, and it took Erin steeling herself to look past his grotesque and monstrous state, combined with her empathy and stubborn will to help ease him enough to take a human form again that their friendship cemented, and he's since made efforts in his time to mostly retire as a lower-key summoner to self-heal and grieve. Much of his time as summoner was spent finally having the room to breathe and time to process the sheer collective amount of shit he's been through (while the other summoners took charge), and over time, he was better able to control and realize his powers while better processing his past, albeit still sharing far too much shame to be a more engaged summoner even in his better states.

His power revolves around not just his role as a pokemon trainer, but also his powers from being a missingno. While he primarily focuses his efforts in his semi-retirement to raise and train pokemon for the enrichment of Zenith and other worlds in his road of self-healing and atonement, his powers as a missingno is a fluctuating mess that can make him simultaneously the most powerful and dangerous of all summoners in concept, but also the most fragile and unpredictable as well. He can cause all manner of things that outright break the foundations of physics, but because of the unpredictable and unstable nature of his powers, it also deeply impacted his form and health, causing him to randomly exhibit body-horror esque minor or major transformations, and especially left him chronically ill and struggling to get by without his supports or the other summoners closely monitoring him. It's also due to his illnesses that he's constantly pressured to get rest (a request he doesn't always fulfill), and leads him to sometimes dress the laziest and simplest out of all the summoners depending on how many spoons he has to muster the effort on what to dress up in. He laments constantly of his life prior to his massive spike in illnesses and weaknesses, when he originally was a trained kimono dancer in a long line of kimono dancers in his family, which still reflects on his deep affinity for Johtonian myths and legendaries. Even if he's seen significantly better days in the present, there's still times he's still haunted by the past, such as his aversion to taking charge with Alfonse and co, or his trauma leading to him to grow out his hair (so as not to be mistaken for Alfonse again).

His power as summoner revolve heavily around his pokemon, able to not only substitute the typical rules and restrictions to mega evolving pokemon, but in some cases, outright causing new ones in empowering his pokemon who previously don't have recorded mega evolutions. One such case was his shaymin, Papri, whose bond with Teru was so unwaveringly strong, that Breidablik can power her into a mega evolution form that is far more elaborate even by conventional mega evolution standards, and in absence of a mega stone or core. He is also inherently capable of sometimes influencing the area around him or other creatures, but he's utterly terrified of the unpredictability of trying willingly to do such, fearing drastic and dangerous results. Often, this winds up being entirely accidental, or something he refuses to even try, knowing and guessing the outcome. (Such as him accidentally cloning Papri, leading to the hoard of unusual baby shaymins she takes on as her children, or refusing to clone legendary items like Siegfried or Fujin Yumi, knowing it's highly impractical).

[robotnik-mun]

More Robotropolis Notes

Predictably I decided to take another crack at a ‘Free-For-All’ Sonic setting. Even more predictably, I focused on Robotnik crap. 

Enjoy some rambling, incoherent worldbuilding that’ll never go anywhere, folks!

V.E.G’s

Justice in Robotropolis begins and ends with the VEG’s- the Vassalization Engineering Gulags. The VEGs are the prison-fortresses of Robotropolis- massive installations where prisoners of war and criminals are sent to in order to be processed and either subjected to Roboticization or a slow, lingering death as a bio-battery. VEGs are enormous, multilayered complexes bristling with external weaponry and housing near endless numbers of robotic troops, and are dispersed all over the territories of Robotropolis. VEGs are strategically placed across the internal borders of Robotropolis, with a single VEG taking processing the prisoners of several surrounding territories and often acting as a nexus point between Zones.  The reason for this is due to Robotnik’s paranoia about the potential capture and reverse engineering of Roboticization technology- as such there are relatively few VEGs in proportion to Robotropolis’ organic population and geographic size, but each one is responsible for the Roboticization of thousands each year.

While Roboticization is the primary fate of anyone unfortunate enough to be shipped off to the VEG, there is another, arguably even more horrific fate- namely that of being converted into a bio-battery powering the very machinery that enslaves Mobius’ peoples. A refinement of the technologies designed for Badniks, to become a Bio-Battery is to be slowly killed over a course of many months or even two years, depending on the health of the subject. Subjects are placed within the life draining ‘pods’ of the batteries, wherein they are gradually drained of their life force until nothing remains but a decayed husk. The pod clusters are located in reinforced sub-basements, and due to their resemblance to grapes on a vine, some individuals with knowledge of their existence have morbidly compared them to vineyards.

Some VEGs, besides serving as Roboticization and Bio-Battery processing plants, also fulfill a secondary role of carrying out scientific research and development. One such ‘Science’ VEG is located within Robotropolis-occupied Trailius, where it serves as the HQ for the local Legion chapter and is administrated by Legion Prefect Maw the Thylacine. It is the only VEG to be entrusted to one of Robotnik’s organic agents, as the rest are exclusively staffed by robots.  

VEGs are not individually named, but are instead referred to by number, in order of construction- VEG-1, VEG-2, etc. The largest and most infamous of the VEG’s is the prototype facility first created by Robotnik, and designated as VEG-0.

VEG-0 was created by converting a massive volcano springing from the ocean, using its magma core as a thermal power plant for the entire facility. VEG-0 upon completion was set to immediate work, and by the present has been responsible for Roboticizing millions. It serves as the face of Roboticization, even as the task of creating Robian slaves was delegated to other VEGs. The subsequent VEG models were created smaller than the original and incorporated Bio-Battery technology to make them independent from Robotropolis’ main power grid, but even so, VEG-0 remains an ominous and terrible symbol of Robotropolis’ might in the eyes of its citizens and the world itself.

Prisoners at VEGs are not kept in cells, but rather in suspended animation within special capsules before being unloaded for Roboticization or Bio-Battery integration.

These capsules are essentially miniaturized, self-contained Bio-Batteries unto themselves, using the life force of the individuals imprisoned in order to be powered. While nowhere near as lethal as the Bio-Batteries proper, the capsules none the less are painful to be trapped in… which suits Robotnik just fine.

The Robotropolis Legion

The Robotropolis Legion (disparaged by many as ‘The Dark Legion’) wears many hats- it is at once the civilian government, law enforcement, and civil defense corp of Robotropolis, at least on paper. The easiest way to advance in Robotropolis’ society without being a scientist is to join the Legion, and the Legion eagerly takes all comers- collaborators seeking to be spared Roboticization, lunatics eager for someone heart, the destitute and desperate seeking ANYTHING in life… and rarely, even a few true believers of Robotnik’s foul vision join the Legion. All who join the Legion are granted cybernetic enhancements and military grade training before being deployed, either to the streets of Robotropolis’ Habitation Zones or to further Robotnik’s influence overseas. Many have come to know the image of the Legion Trooper- clad in red armor and in face concealing helmets abstractly resembling skulls, the troopers serve as constant reminders of Robotnik’s control over the denizens of Robotropolis and the promise of power to those who would willingly submit to his rule.

The Legion is surprisingly loose in its organization, compared to other military organizations and in contrast to Robotnik’s own demands for absolute order. The Legion is divided up into Chapters based around the location in which they operate, which depending on circumstance can be individual communities or general areas. Each chapter is headed over by a Prefect, who is in turn served by a commander, and oversees the various units of Troopers under their command. Beyond that though, each Chapter is essentially run as the Prefect in charge sees fit. So long as order is kept and Robotnik’s quotas are filled, Robotnik doesn’t care what his subordinates do as long as it doesn’t interfere with the efficiency of his empire.

In the early days of Robotropolis, this wasn’t the case- the Legion’s authority was more centralized, and there existed greater co-operation and synergy between the Legion chapters, with all Legions being under the direct command of The Grand Marshal of the Legion, whom also was an active participant in Robotropolis’ government. The first and only such Grand Marshall was one Conrad Targo, an Overlander general who betrayed his government to serve Robotnik. Targo was instrumental in the Legion’s formation and implementation within Robotropolis’ territories, particularly with Robotropolis main robotic armies occupied elsewhere, allowing the Legion to pick up the policing that would otherwise distract the machine armies from their primary function of conquest. This, in effect, made Targo the head of domestic defense and Robotnik’s effective third in command.

After an accident seemingly killed Robotnik and his second-in-command Snively, Targo briefly assumed control over Robotropolis. During this brief time, Targo instituted a draft for service into the Legion, intending to expand the cybernetic army. His reign however proved brief- sensing the weakness brought on by his transition of power, the Kingdom of Acocrn hoped to take advantage of the brief instability to decapitate Robotropolis’ leadership and thus weaken the foul city enough so that they might reclaim their homeland. A special, covert strike force was assembled and deployed into Robotropolis to assassinate Targo and to cause general mayhem within the Inner Empire in the hopes of causing widespread chaos across Robotropolis. Led by Colonel Tig Stripe, the squadron came close to its goals… only for Robotnik and Snively to re-emerge, unharmed and ready to reassume command of Robotropolis.

The assassins where subsequently destroyed, and a near-dead Targo was kept alive by artificial means. Julian had long been suspicious of Targo’s loyalties and ambitions, as well as his control over the Legion. His ‘death’ had been a ploy from the start to set Targo up so that he could fall, and to make his enemies on the global stage reveal their hands in this supposed moment of weakness for Robotnik’s Empire. In the aftermath of this incident, Robotnik eliminated the position of Grand Marshall and re-structured the Legion to grant each chapter greater independence from the other and more decentralized leadership in order to make them less able to organize against him. Finally, Robotnik roboticized Targo and then further modified him into a new breed of command class robot to oversee his SWATBot armies. Thus was Conrad Targo, Grand Marhsall of Robotropolis, reborn as Supreme Commander Brutus.

Since that time, the Legion has maintained its role as the effective state police of Robotropolis and the closest thing it has to a ‘civilian’ government. Members are afforded greater freedoms than non-members as well as better access to things like food, water and high end medical technology, for both themselves and their families. Robotnik maintains the relative inefficiency of the Legion because it keeps them divided and thus unable to organize towards overthrowing him, while providing additional targets for local resistance groups as well as a means of recruiting people into his service. Given that the robot armies of Robotropolis vastly outnumbers the so-called ‘Legion’, Robotnik is more than willing to put up the Legion’s presence… for the moment, anyway.

Technically, there are two Legions- the Home Legion, which policies the habitation zones of Robotropolis, and the Away Legion. The Away Legion is effectively a secretive terrorist army for Robotropolis, a series of subversive cells that seek to chip away at nations until they are vulnerable to invasion by Robotnik’s machine armies. The Away Legions are even more individualized than the Home Legions, and this creates a degree of friction between the two branches.

All of which proceeds as intended by Robotnik.

With the absolute loyalty of his robots to pick up the slack, he can afford distractions from his more flawed subordinates. Sooner or later, EVERYTHING will be machinery anyway.  

[cjrae]

Fear And Loathing In Los Angeles; Or, When did Lucifer forgive Chloe?

So, something that’s been sticking with me are questions that I’ve seen popping up around Tumblr looking for clarification about Chloe conspiring with Kinley and whether Lucifer has (or even should) forgive her.

Spoiler alert, if you’ve watched Season 4 the answer is yes, Lucifer has forgiven Chloe. However, I think there’s actually something to the argument that he doesn’t fully forgive her until the climax of 4x10. After all, Lucifer continues to throw Kinley in Chloe’s face multiple times throughout the back half of the season. That’s not dialogue of someone who’s completely forgiven the other person.

Others have pointed out that the whole point of 4x05 is to bring Chloe and Lucifer back together as partners and they’re absolutely right - there is a certain amount of forgiveness that happens within that episode.

The big question is; what exactly has Lucifer forgiven and when?

The Plot To Send Lucifer To Hell

Chloe’s betrayal of Lucifer is actually not her working with Kinley to send him back to hell. The fact that she doesn’t actually go through with the plan to drug him is irrelevant to the hurt that she causes. But, because it’s the physical action that represents her betrayal, it’s easy for the audience (and Chloe herself) to try to backpedal and say that she almost betrayed Lucifer, but in the end, she trusted her own judgment and put a stop to it.

There’s no doubt that Lucifer is hurt by the plan to send him back to the one place he’s spent so much effort to escape forever, but Kinley’s plan exposes the real betrayal - the fact that Chloe is terrified of him. Worse - that she pretended not to be and lied to him that she had processed seeing his Devil face and that “what I saw was my partner.” 

She gave him hope and then that hope was revealed to be a lie. 

Watch Lucifer’s face and body language after Chloe screams the line, “Because I’m terrified!” Before that he’s hurt, he’s angry, but he’s facing her and prepared to have this fight out. He’s willing to fight for their relationship until this moment. But that line is the betrayal. Because the poison that’s been introduced is fear - and that can’t be removed as easily as Kinley’s vial. 

That’s the moment he turns his back, unable to look at her except to finally confront her once more with incontrovertible proof of his identity after she tries to deny to him that he is the Devil. Cain’s words must be ringing in his ears at this moment. “Neither can you.” He’s been running from the Devil ever since his Fall.

But he can’t escape who he is, and the fact of the matter is that his past glee in “sowing chaos and destruction for his own amusement,” has grown into every awful story that has terrified Chloe – with good reason. Indeed, arguably the most famous of those seeds is going to show up in the final scene of 4x03, when Eve steps into LUX. 

Apologies

Ella puts her finger on Lucifer’s pain in 4x05 - that idea that Chloe doesn’t care about him anymore. After all, she certainly wasn’t acting like she cared in front of him in 4x04 - she flat out told him she didn’t actually need him, she used his help and then left him without the necklace he needed to fulfill his end of the deal. From his perspective, it must feel like she only wants him back to work when she needs something, like one of his vintage cars.

When Marco bursts into LUX, demanding to be given a chance to apologize to his ex-wife it is, as always with the procedural elements, symbolic for the apology that Chloe owes Lucifer. When Leona comes in and apologizes to Marco for ghosting him, it’s powerful - until the apology is proven false. Chloe is confronted with a mirror in the form of Leona, using what Marco desperately wanted to hear as a distraction to get close enough to kill him. And Chloe doesn’t much like what she sees.

Her apology in the famous ax scene of 4x02 is important for her (and her realization that Kinley is wrong), but it doesn’t actually address the hurt that she caused because Lucifer had no idea what she was actually apologizing for. The act of throwing herself between Lucifer and the anticipated explosion serves the purpose, even as she ostensibly says “I’m sorry” for hurting him by landing on top of his wound.

Through the show we’ve seen Lucifer literally die for Chloe - this is the first time that she actively proves to him that she would do the same for him, without hesitation, since knowing exactly who and what he is.  It’s the ax scene in reverse. Ella’s lines echo in parallel to Lucifer’s declaration;

“You two care about each other so much! What do you need her to do, take a bullet for you?”

“And I would do it again. And again. Don’t you know that, Detective?”

The core of their relationship may be a raw, exposed nerve right now, but it’s still there and intact. Having proof that she still cares that deeply is enough that Lucifer can forgive her for her direct actions in response to her terror - actively considering hurting him and lying to him.

But that amount of forgiveness is only enough to rescue their partnership. The core betrayal – her fear - remains.

Diet Devil

The second half of the season opens with Lucifer tearing himself in two in order to keep Chloe from being frightened. 

Eve is absolutely right when she points out that Lucifer has been holding himself back, just mistaken about his motives. She conflates the self-restraint Lucifer has learned with his simmering resentment at Chloe only being able to accept the pieces of him that she views as “good” - resentment that finally spills over when Lucifer confesses to Chloe that he’s the one who broke Julian’s back. 

Lucifer has spent months being patient, careful, considerate and feels like he’s barely treading water. In 4x07 he confronts her with the Devil at his coldest and most cutting, not caring anymore whether he scares her. He dares her to reject him again so he can finally snap the tension and drown his pain and self-loathing in the Devil that Eve is encouraging him to be. 

This moment is the turning point for Chloe. This is the moment that she sees Lucifer at his absolute worst - wrathful, vengeful, seemingly proud of what he’s done and absolutely daring her to criticize him for it.

Instead of crumbling against his resentment and anger the way she would have at the beginning of the season, she stands her ground. Lucifer is the one who flees back to his penthouse with Eve to “plan” Tiernan’s punishment, already stalling in the face of Chloe’s disappointment in him.

Chloe Decker, a “nobody,” holds the Devil to account with no power except her faith in Lucifer’s conscience. 

By the end of the episode, her faith is justified - and she’s finally capable of confronting Kinley on her own, no longer frightened and lost, but secure in her faith that Lucifer is a good man - which she throws in Kinley’s face. 

Once again, Kinley attempts to use fear to bring Chloe back into line by telling her about the prophecy, appealing to her best instincts to protect others, the corner of his mouth twitching in an aborted smile when he sees her respond to “Lucifer’s first love,” knowing that he’s succeeded in frightening her.

Except this time Chloe goes straight to Lucifer to confide in him.

Lucifer himself doesn’t quite appreciate this at the time because seeing her afraid at all rubs him the wrong way, as does the fact that she tells him about going to see Kinley after the fact. His own fear swamps him, encouraging him to be sarcastic and her throw her complicity in the plan to send him to Hell in her face as a visceral way to remind her not to trust Kinley. While he’s forgiven her actions, Kinley himself has become a symbol of Chloe’s fear of him, which he has not yet forgiven.

In fact, I’d argue that it’s not possible for him to forgive Chloe yet because the offense is ongoing. We the audience can see that she IS conquering her fear and re-learning who her partner is from the ground up – every part of him this time. But acceptance is an ongoing process and Lucifer is far from objective on the subject. 

Where Is My Beast?

If 4x07 is where Chloe sees Lucifer at his worst, 4x09 is when she confronts the monster. As each individual piece of Lucifer transforms, Chloe handles it, not with perfect calm, but by confronting and conquering her fear to focus on helping Lucifer – and proving that she does know exactly who Lucifer is, responding to the question that was put to her in the previous episode with actions, not words.

At no point does she kick him off the case, despite him falling into his usual pattern of projecting his issues onto it or the fact that his transformation is becoming increasingly difficult to hide.

Instead of letting him brood in his penthouse, she arranges a masquerade party for the sting so that Lucifer can go downstairs masked when his Devil face inevitably pops out because she knows just how social Lucifer is and that being alone will only make him spiral down faster.

When he loses control of his mojo and the masquerade at LUX turns into a nightmare, Chloe is there to take control, shepherding Lucifer to safety while also having the presence of mind to keep her ear to the ground for the case and asking the question “Why did you desire...” when Lucifer is unable to make eye contact.

When Beth verbalizes Lucifer’s own self-hatred, his Devil face is fully out - and while he walks behind Beth’s back, Chloe watches him without a hint of fear - only concern. 

The full transformation DOES shock her, and she has trouble looking at him - and that’s by design. His full transformation is designed to shock and terrify anyone who looks at him, including demons. The camera is very careful to watch Chloe’s face when Lucifer steps out, fully transformed. We see her eyes widen in horror and she takes a step back before looking away (echoing the initial fight in 4x03), before focusing on how she deliberately looks back at Lucifer when he says “I’m poison to anyone who dares to care about me. And especially you.” 

This is where the traditional Beauty and the Beast recognition of the man and the beast being the same person has been shuffled and flipped on its head. Chloe’s been struggling to reconcile what has felt to her like the two opposite sides of Lucifer’s personality – the good man (angel) that she knows and the monster (Devil) that is lurking underneath. This is the moment that the two sides merge for her – when she realizes that the beast is a manifestation of Lucifer’s declared self-hatred. 

What does she do? The exact opposite of running away. She goes after Lucifer. She’s able to use her own journey to acceptance to help him start down the path of his own. This is the first moment they both begin to reap the fruit of the season’s emotional labor. Lucifer’s revelation that he doesn’t want to be trapped in this destructive cycle anymore allows the Beast to melt away, revealing the man underneath to Chloe and finally allowing Lucifer full control over his body.

The Vial Reappears

The pure joy that Lucifer exhibits in the beginning of 4x10 is just as much about Chloe having demonstrated that she won’t run away from the monster as it is his overly optimistic hope that wanting to forgive himself is the same thing as actually doing it. Which is why he’s so startled when he seems to run smack into the exact same issues with Chloe that’s been plaguing them all season – and in response, backslides.

Chloe seems to care enough to face her fear of the monster, but Lucifer can’t bear her pulling away in the aftermath. So, he promises her that she’ll “never have to see anything monstrous ever again.” He shoots down her idea to bring Dan and Ella into the loop because of how long it takes to recover (or not recover) from that kind of revelation, making it utterly clear to Chloe that he believes that he’s damaged her permanently.

Meanwhile, Chloe’s had a better bead on the threat that Hell represents since she heard Kinley’s prophecy. Where Lucifer used the prophecy as an excuse to break up with Eve, Chloe has put the pieces together and recognized that if;

a.) The Devil is a good man and b.) demons could potentially roam the earth then, c.) what logically follows is that the Devil would have to do something about it.

The Devil is no longer a threat because he’s a monster. The Devil is a threat because it’s the title of the responsibilities that could take Lucifer away from her.

Of course, Chloe is terrible at articulating all of this. No one can blame Lucifer for interpreting the scene at the penthouse as Chloe’s fear of him once again coming to the forefront, even as she tries to backtrack and say what she actually means. In trying to protect him, she’s ripped open the old wound.

Once again, she’s been keeping something important from him, working on her own instead of with him as her partner and, once again, Kinley is the cause.

At this point, Lucifer’s had it. Even in expressing his irritation there’s fatigue and resignation - he’s given up and accepted that Chloe doesn’t want to handle the monster and that she shouldn’t be forced to do so just to satisfy his own need for acceptance.

The fact that Lucifer has kept Kinley’s vial hidden in his safe all this time is symbolic of the fact that he hasn’t finished letting any of this go yet. He’s got a perfectly good explanation for why he had it, but it’s a kernel of poison hidden deep within the heart of his home. A hidden reminder to him that even the person he loves most could turn on him. And, just as symbolically, it’s ripped out of his home by force.

Kinley’s plot to send Lucifer back to Hell has come full circle and now threatens a baby – the definition of an innocent victim. There’s no more avoiding the subject; Lucifer needs to know exactly what the full plan was to send him to Hell and how he phrases it is interesting – his tone is accusing, but he uses the past tense. “Back when you wanted me in Hell?”

This is the first time Chloe defends herself. “Well, as you know, I didn’t go through with it.” Pointing out to him that by the time he found out about the plot, she had already abandoned it, recognizing that she was wrong.

It doesn’t really buy her any quarter, now does it? The expression on Lucifer’s face never changes because the roofie was never the real issue. But, with the vial gone, he’s able to acknowledge that the incident is in the past and confront it head on with Chloe to save Charlie.

Forgiveness And Acceptance

It’s not until Chloe abandons all thought of common sense or good timing, going in to check on Lucifer (despite him telling her explicitly to say outside), with the two symbols of her fear literally behind them – the vial on the altar and what’s left of Kinley – that they come full circle.

“I don’t want you to see me like this. I know it scares you.” His voice is harsh, still shaking with battle adrenaline and terror, his body language braced for rejection.  

Finally, Chloe is able to spit the truth out - and is immediately called on to prove it. The actual monsters are swarming them and the only thing that can save them all is an even bigger monster. This isn’t Lucifer transformed in the penthouse, where he’s doing his very best to not threaten her, his voice still perfectly familiar and dripping with self-loathing.

This is the first time Chloe sees Lucifer as the King of Hell in the moment he reclaims the title.

His wings are outstretched to intimidate, his voice booms with the power to instantly command his subjects to kneel leaving him completely unrecognizable. He can’t afford to focus on her in that moment, but the camera can.

She’s NOT calm. Her eyes are wide, she’s gasping slightly and she’s trembling. But she does not look away – her eyes stay RIGHT on him until she sees the demons obey and she glances around as they fall. Then she looks back and she sees Lucifer, staring at her, his heart in his throat.

This time the question, “Can you accept me like this?” is silent. And so is her answer – her mouth closes, she stands up straight and she smiles at him.

She’s proud of him in that moment. And her pride in him reinforces his own pride. That tiny nod he gives Chloe at the end, when she’s not just declared that her fear is gone but proved it? That’s the moment Lucifer forgives her entirely. Because that’s the moment she’s made the only restitution Lucifer would accept – her own acceptance of him.

So, Your Point?

Forgiveness and acceptance are major themes of Season 4 and they’re not easy to achieve, nor can they happen in a single moment. One of Lucifer’s biggest mistakes of the season is trying to force the issue of his identity with Chloe.

Forgiveness requires not only the recognition of wrong, but also action to be taken to address the cause of the offense. It is an active process, not a passive gift that can simply be given out as a reward for good behavior.

Acceptance, like forgiveness, is also an active process that can’t be rushed. Neither Chloe nor Lucifer receive the rewards of their emotional labor until the very end, when they have both forgiven and accepted each other as they are. Lucifer finally receives Chloe’s love and Chloe finally sees Lucifer’s angel wings. It’s bittersweet, but earned.

[things-i-think-and-junk]

Hi anon, sorry about the weird problem with the message. I was trying to answer it on my phone and it went wonky.

I can at least reply here.

People like to use that quote with GRRM saying the books and show will be the same, but seem to disregard his comments that only the books are canon or his several hints that he’s not satisfied with the show. His advice has been ignored by D&D repeatedly, including his insistence that Lady Stoneheart be in the show because she plays a larger role later on. Given how often D&D kill off a character for shock value or to surprise people, I really don’t believe that the final season has anything to do with the books.

What makes a main character in the books? We know the key 5, but what about the rest? Cersei is arguably a main, but she didn’t have a POV chapter until AFFC. Ser Barristan has POV chapters, but he was killed off in the show. It’s a lot less clear and while you can guess who might be a minor character, I’m not so sure about major ones.

But let’s argue and say the key 5 are. Okay. The problem is that so much of their arcs and storylines are disregarded by D&D. Jon, rather than being a no fun, cardboard cutout obsessed brooder in the show, is a politically savvy player in the books. He’s concerned with a lot more than the Others and is being shown learning to rule. There’s no Night King for him to fight, he is a powerful warg, and he’s willing to break his oath for his family where in the show, he’s not willing to lie for the greater good. His parentage is such a HUGE DEAL in the books. So much of his chapters are filled with hints about him being a hidden prince. Meanwhile with the show, it’s nothing. It’s used as discord with Dany. We never get a look at how he feels, what this means for his future or how he handles this.

Then we have Bran. The 3 Eyed Raven isn’t really the same thing in the books that the show made it. The one calling him was Bloodraven, a Targaryen prince who gave up the throne and went North. He’s not an emotionless robot, he does want things and has human desires. He had an affair with his sister, Shiera Seastar! Bran also has emotions and wants in the books. He’s not detached, he’s not just monotone, he has a story and an arc, but this was cast aside because I honestly believe it was too hard for D&D to comprehend. These are the same guys that said “themes are for 8th grade book reports.”

The fact that he was left out of Season 5 really says a lot to me. Instead of focusing on him learning these abilities, traveling through the Weirwood and giving people dreams and visions, he’s just written out. If they’ve known all this time that Bran becomes king, they did a really piss poor job of setting it up.

Then we have Dany. She’s vulnerable, compassionate, kind and caring. She tends to plague victims despite her advisers’ advice because she wants to be a good queen. She’s disgusted by Daario’s suggestion of a Red Wedding style take over. Yet somehow in the show we’re supposed to believe she goes from 0-10 in a matter of seconds because “people don’t love her?”

I honestly believe they switched Cersei’s death with Dany’s. A few reasons why. Cersei was built up to have this self fulfilling prophecy she is heading towards where she will be killed by the Valonquar, a “little brother”. The arguably best candidate for this is Jaime, her lover. The idea most people have about this is that he kills her to stop her from committing mass murder, as he killed the Mad King. Does that sound familiar?

What further adds to this is that Lena Headey talked about how they filmed a miscarriage for Cersei in Season 7, but never used it. This baby wasn’t going to impact her ending or death, so why did they keep it in? To humanize her and make us feel sympathy for her death.

Meanwhile we have clear pictures of Daenerys bts where she is obviously pregnant. All of Season 7, we had build up to her having a child, but suddenly that and the talk of marriage for Jonerys is gone. Why? Because D&D likely didn’t want to humanize Dany. As Miguel admitted, they didn’t show Dany’s face during the Bells because they wanted to show she’s the same as her dragons. Having her pregnant would sort of ruin that wouldn’t it?

D&D have even come out and admitted that they changed storylines because they thought they were “too obvious.” GRRM on the other hand has talked about how people guessed a major secret for the story early on (likely R+L=J). He thought about changing it, but realized he laid too much groundwork for it that if he changed it, it would be a disservice to the readers and the story. It’s more likely to me that D&D changed the obvious ending rather than going with what GRRM has set up from the get go.

There are other people who have outlined better explanations for why certain things were changed and I linked a few of them HERE. Take a look.

If you are too heartbroken to read the books, I totally get it. Not everyone wants to lend GRRM much credit and hope. That’s fine. Sometimes it’s easier not to hope rather than getting burned all over again. It’s your choice.

I’ve seen too many good arguments and details about the books that have helped me realize how vastly different the medias are. One is GRRM’s magnum opus and the other is D&D’s shit stain.

[ice-nindroid]

Ninjago God Tiers

This is a repost of something I posted yesterday, as it did not appear in the tags. 

With the help of @fire-bitchhh, I have articulated together a list of several Ninjago characters’ classes and aspects along with analyzations of each character correlating to our choices of their God Tiers.

Kai, the Thief of Heart:

While being a Page of Time is also sufficiently fitting for Kai, the Thief class overpowers that of the Page’s; same to Heart over Time. In the show, Kai has been shown again and again to try and forge some form of importance for himself by taking a role that should be rightfully fulfilled by others (ex. him believing he is/trying to be the Green Ninja, Kai taking over as a leader when everyone knows he lacks any form of leadership skills, etc.) to compensate for his insecurities and his belief that he is not important or has an actual “self”, thus leading him to steal Heart from others and using Heart for himself, as a Thief would do. In short, not only does he steal Heart from others as what can come off as an ego boost, but to make up for his self-perceived lack of importance and self. In reference to Homestuck canon, thieves seldom learn the full extent of their deserved lessons, though they are able to learn bits and pieces of it. Kai learns that sometimes he must give up Heart (seen when saving Lloyd and admitting to his role as a protector of him, rather than actually having the Green Ninja role himself) for the betterment of others. As most heroes with active classes, Kai is quick to act on the whims and wishes for himself without complete consideration. I feel as though a Thief of Heart would be especially quick to act on their own whims in an attempt to form a Heart for themself.

-Full Post Link-

Jay, the Rogue of Blood:

Rogues, like thieves, often are lacking their aspect at first in some way, shape, or form. On this side, though, rogues are often people who will give up their aspect too easily or believe they are not able to fully handle it. Jay is incredibly insecure, something I feel that a Rogue of Blood would especially be. Whenever he hits depressive states (such as after Zane died), he expends himself outwards, displacing his own Blood to others. When Acronix had first arrived and the Ninja went to battle him, Jay was the first to jump down and extend himself outward, which is also shown as him extending his Blood, albeit extending it in a way that lead to him becoming the “first” enemy of Acronix. With Nya, things do get rather complicated though there is one constant between him and her; Jay constantly was extending himself outwards to help her, extending his Blood to her. Jay is always the first to think about his Blood as well, whether it be familial or not. I feel as though a Rogue of Blood would especially worry and think about this, considering a Rogue of Blood would be one who extends themself outwards to make bonds- even if they think themself unworthy of their friendships, I can still see them worry relentlessly about those they care about.  Blood players alone are known for being charismatic, which Jay can be if you squint. He's generally seen as a comic relief and a bit of a mess, contradicting this, though to those he cares about, especially Nya, I can see this factor show through as he would actually be comfortable and have grown into a more "complete" Rogue of Blood.

Cole, the Prince of Void:

No matter how much I think about it, there is no way Cole can be anything other than an active class. Based upon vibes alone, Cole has always felt like a Prince, and quite frankly I cannot see him as being fit to be anything better than being a person who destroys Void, or essentially nothingness. Cole’s element, Earth, essentially does that itself. Earth is the ground, the soil beneath our feet. Its existence has lead to the destruction of nothing, as what does the Earth do if not create? On Cole himself, I believe him being turned into a ghost is an exemplary example of how he destroys Void. We can see his state of nothingness drive him to try and be something, we see him so desperately grasp at trying to keep himself “alive” whilst he is quietly destroying himself, falling into the Void despite trying to destroy it. Using “incredibly prominent” would be much too weak of a word to even express how clearly Cole’s status as a Prince of Void shows through within the Day of the Departed. He’s being dragged into the Void, dragged into nothingness, so he attempts to fight it by doing something in order to make himself something. Overall, Cole’s fight with Yang is him successfully destroying his nothingness; Cole “defeats” Yang before becoming something, becoming himself once again, after jumping through the Rift. He was completely terrified of becoming Void during this point, which would lead to a good reason behind him destroying it. Princes in general are also known for being incredibly powerful, whether physically or not, and Cole is no exception to this, seeing as his main power is super strength. His given element, Earth, is once again an incredibly powerful force, especially towards battles themselves and creation. To quote Rei, “so much voidy shit has happened to cole that he cant not be a prince.”

Zane, the Heir of Light:

I’ve found that Zane could almost pass as a Maid of Mind, though I cannot for the life of me envision him as an active class. Instead, under my partner and I’s thoughts, we decided that he fits most as an Heir of Light. On multiple occasions, Zane has subconsciously attracted different sources which all have enlightened him with some form of knowledge or another. First, the Hawk had found Zane and brought him to the Serpentine camp where Lloyd was, then shortly after the Hawk lead him to Doctor Julien’s old lab, and by extension his first home, where Zane learned of his true origins and life. The Hawk still continues to prove its use again and again, going out and “bringing” Zane knowledge of whatever he needs it to in that moment. Zane later bumps into P.I.X.A.L, and within the first few moments of seeing each other they automatically connect in relation to both of them being robots. This connection leads to Pixal eventually being ported into Zane’s hard drive, which, once again, acts as a subconscious attraction of knowledge considering how Pixal became an assistant to him who could tell him any and everything he needs. Both the Hawk and Pixal combine can also be seen as attracting fortune, another subject that heavily ties into Light. They both greatly benefited him and his friends, helping out at nearly every angle. Zane’s titanium body follows the same pattern of attracting Light, as it allows him to scan and analyze situations and settings at an incredible speeds. Shifting to a heavy focus on the idea of Zane being an Heir, they are known to overexert themselves, which Zane has very prominently done on one occasion: when he fought the Overlord at the end of season 3.  He used himself, the essence of Light, to destroy the darkness, Light’s opposite. In this process he overexerted his own body, completely destroying it.

Lloyd, the Knight of Space:

Lloyd, despite being generally portrayed as needing to be independent, has always, always, worked best when he is part of a team evident in... really everything he has done so far. Yes, Lloyd can work alone, but it’s obvious he is at his best when with others. As much as he wants to assume the position as leader, which he does quite well! He cannot function as a leader and as a leader alone; Lloyd must be apart of and function in tune with his own team as one of them, not as someone who is “separate” like a leader is. This is especially true to the Knight class, where they are best fit to assist others through their aspect. I feel as though Lloyd’s usage of his elemental powers tie in closely with Space, they’re the classical elements and they tie in very heavily creation- hell, even the Golden Weapons combined create something specifically focused on this creation. Lloyd is able to exploit his powers through training, but then he shifts to assisting others with his powers by straight up giving them away; arguably that is more of a Rogue-ish action, though I can see a Knight of Space still doing something like this. Despite that, he’s still able to exploit the core of his power the most; his energy. This in itself can be seen linked to Space, as Space has very heavy ties to the colour green itself and, even more specifically, powerful, unique green energy that is significant to a legendary source. As the Space description itself states, Lloyd at his best is always steady and careful, though at his worst he has been shown to be apathetic, impulsive, and detached from others. Like Jade Harley, another Hero of Space, Lloyd is not allowed to be who he wants to be, yet who he must be. They are both trapped within the cages of their roles as important icons- whether being a crucial player to form a successful session, required to hold a specific role and dragged into an unrelenting fate, or being a fabled hero whispered of through time, unwillingly being granted a prophesied green power and having predetermined fate and the need to comply with it act as chains to hold him down.

Nya, the Knight of Light:

Nya is a Knight for many of the same reasons that Lloyd is a Knight; she may wish to lead but ultimately she is best assisting her others through her own aspect. She utilizes her own knowledge to assist others whenever she can (see: Nya building literally anything, Nya attempting to fix Zane, etc), but also to assist herself (Nya building Samurai X of all things... Pixal going on to use the suit could also be seen as an accidental use of Nya exploiting through her own knowledge for others as well). She is incapable of fully “sitting still” whenever the ninja are either out or there is nothing to do; she’s shown to constantly busy herself and exploit through her knowledge of machinery or the such to create and/or improve things. Knights are known to hide themselves behind masks and to only reveal their “true” selves to those whom they are most comfortable with. If anything about a Knight is true to Nya, it would be this. She hides herself behind Samurai X for a fair amount of time, desperate to battle and assist others without being called “incapable” of it simply because she is a girl. Not only this, but Nya herself has stated that the only one she has ever revealed her true emotions to is Jay, someone who she truly trusts. I feel as though Nya’s struggles with her elemental powers tie heavily into how a Knight of Light may react in that situation; if a Knight of Light is supposed to be so good at using their knowledge to their own advantage for one reason or another, then why can they not use it then? I could see this sort of mindset leading to much frustration and doubt, just like Nya experienced when she could not control her water powers, until she manages to push past it, like, again, I feel as though a Knight of Light would be able to do.

Garmadon, the Mage of Doom:

Mages themselves are most known for having a unique understanding of their aspect, and if Garmadon does not have a unique understanding of the concept of Doom, I would not ever know who does (besides Sollux himself, of course). Overall, Garmadon has experienced his own Doom, his darkest hours, and lived through them, which is something that no one else has. He has felt true Doom from the Overlord possessing him and by extension, fighting Lloyd, he felt and accidentally created the Doom that befell Ninjago for a short period of time. Garmadon having been one of Chen’s students also contributes to his specific understanding of Doom itself, as he knows what it was like to have been with someone who would eventually turn to become his enemy, yet moreover it lead him to creating the Doom of a potential relationship (between Wu and Misako). That relationship, which became his relationship with Misako, came right back to him in more ways than one. Furthermore, his own relationship to Chen came back to bite him yet again when he was turned into an artificial Anacondrai, again, a specific experience that lead to him further understanding his own Doom. Doom players are said to be the universe’s sufferers overall, and out of everyone from Ninjago itself, he’s clearly been shown to be the one who has suffered and messed up the most.

P.I.X.A.L, the Seer of Life:

P.I.X.A.L begins by acting as nothing more than an assistant robot, behaving blindly to the Life that surrounds her. Before we understand much of Pixal’s inner personality, she falls under the control of another force as Rose Lalonde, the canon Seer of Light, had (while this does not denote to much, it is still an interesting comparison). As she begins to develop her own personality, Pixal shows clear signs of being a Life player and a Seer especially when she becomes a part of Zane; she uses her own knowledge of Life to attempt to protect Zane despite the fact that he seldom listens, and becomes frustrated when he does not- Life players often act like they know best, and Pixal especially does, and become frustrated when others don’t listen to them. This paired with her Seer-like nature would make it all the more frustrating as Seers know their aspect and can impart their own knowledge of it better than anyone else can. When bringing Zane back, that can be seen as Pixal once again using her knowledge of Life to recreate him.

Morro, the Thief of Mind:

I find that Morro, while he could be seen as a Heart player, has a much stronger connection to Mind (they’re both green, after all). I also think this creates an interesting parallel to Kai, considering he holds Heart- Mind’s opposite, as well as to two actual Homestuck characters, Dirk and Hal. Dirk is the Prince of Heart whilst Hal is theorized to be a Prince of Mind, something I heavily agree with. The two are both the same yet opposites, much like Kai and Morro are (if anything, I would joke about Morro simply being “Grimdark!Kai”). Morro is quite clearly a Thief of Mind to me, as he obviously was blind to all of the paths and options that he potentially could have followed. This makes him deficient in Mind, considering the aspect’s connection to all of the possible options or outcomes of situations (see: Terezi around [S] Flip). Instead, he had focused on one strict path which be could not obtain, emphasizing his own blindness and his role as a Thief. This lead him to stealing the pathway, the possibility and option, of another: Lloyd. Morro impeded upon Lloyd’s chosen pathway and broke his own, thus “stealing” it in a sense. Of course, Morro quite literally stole Lloyd’s mind as well, if you count being possessed as a form of theft. To compare Morro being a Mind player to Kai’s Heart, Kai sole the Hearts of others within the moment to make them apart of himself in order to make up for the absence of a self, whilst Morro plotted and stole the pathway of another to create a Mind- a pathway- for himself because he had none. Kai was deficient in self, Morro was deficient purpose.

Ronin, the Witch of Light:

With a simple glance, it is so painfully obvious that Ronin is a Light player, and even more so that he is a Witch. Ronin is a clear manipulator of luck; he makes deals and plans his actions carefully so that they are always in his own favour above all else. Ronin is ambitious, changing or using the circumstances for his own wants and wishes; when Nadahkan framed the ninja and Ronin used that chance to his advantage to gain money and clear his name. He uses this both to his own fortune as well as he bends the knowledge of the situation; Ronin would have known fully well that the ninja had not committed any of the crimes they were framed to have, but he kept it a secret. Touching upon the concept of familiars, R.E.X. can almost be considered as one, seeing as it has both a name that can be seen as a pet name as well as its functionality. This may be a slight stretch, but I could almost see R.E.X. functioning as another way Ronin turns the tables to be the most fortuitous in his own favour, using his ship to stump whomever he is currently fighting, leading to his own eventual victory over them (and of course Ronin has done similar things with other forms of technology; ex. his eye patch's thermal sensor). Like the three canon Witches, Ronin has suffered an unfortunate fate which can be seen at least partially related to his aspect, which is to refer to his deal with the Soul Archer. While it is unknown what the deal actually entails, I would say it is at least safe to assume that it is somehow directly correlated to something involving Ronin manipulating the Light of the Soul Archer. From this he suffered because of the Light, or lack thereof.

[lj-writes]

Rey is selfish and flawed (and that’s a good thing)

I immensely enjoyed Mara( @jewishcomeradebot)’s recent Rey-centric meta (link with my addition), and the central thing I appreciate about her take on Rey is that she doesn’t posit Rey as this vaguely positive altruistic figure. Rather her read of Rey is fiercely self-interested and focused on her own desire, a rare perspective in fandom. Mara’s posts helped me bring Rey into clear focus as a character for the first time.

I think people’s perception of Rey is distorted in part because we tend to attribute altruism as the primary virtue for women, both real and fictional. This is reflected in the characterizations of the Star Wars heroines as well: Leia and Padmé are defined by their dedication to the well-being of others, or the greater good. They have things they want for themselves, primarily close relationships such as romance, but their primary driving motivations are to save others through armed struggle or politics.

I get that female characters being driven primarily by larger galactical matters rather than romance was and to an extent is still revolutionary. I don’t mean to detract from anyone’s love of characters like Leia and Padmé, and I love them myself. In fact, it is almost impossible not to love them because there is nothing controversial about them and what bad things did come out of their decisions (such as Padmé marrying Anakin post-Sand People massacre) came out of the men in their lives being trash.

That said, I am also dissatisfied by heroine motivations that basically go, “she loves the entire UNIVERSE and wants what’s best for it.” It’s a continuation of the old stereotypes of women being selfless nurturers, just with more politics and guns. While the politics and guns are arguably progressive, these arcs are in stark contrast to those of male protagonists who get to want things for themselves.

Luke is a good case in point. His goal was primarily for himself, to leave Tatooine and to become “a Jedi like my father before me.” He ended up helping the Rebellion and defeating the Empire along the way, but it was his personal goal to claim his heritage and realize himself as a Jedi that his story revolved around. Anakin’s ultimate goal was to keep his loved ones safe, which can be framed altruistically but in the end turned out to be about himself and his trauma, not the people he said he loved. Luke’s goal could also have turned out badly if he had chosen his desire to connect with his father over the desire to be a true Jedi and joined Vader. Anakin’s goal could have turned out well if he had chosen to let go of his need to control Padmé’s fate and overcome Palpatine’s temptation.

Luke and Anakin’s self-interested goals were thus morally neutral and could have gone either way depending on their choices, unlike Leia's and Padmé’s goals which were inherently moral. Framed more precisely, Luke's and Anakin’s goals had conflicts built into them that led to a moral dilemma, such as “do I kill my father or join him?” Leia and Padmé, on the other hand, were never seriously morally conflicted. The boys choose between good and evil, but the girls are all good.

In Jyn from Rogue One we see a female protagonist with a conflicted goal, but with a thumb, no scratch that, a giant boulder on the scale. Jyn wants to stay away from the Empire that destroyed her life, but behind her trauma and cynicism she wants to reconnect with her father and the love she once knew as a child. Well guess what? We’re going to shut down her desire to run away by blackmailing her and taking away her agency. Also her dad was working for the Rebels all along. Saw, her foster dad, also wants her to save the Rebellion. And, with her father gone, it is only through the Rebellion that she will carry on his legacy and find the love and connection she yearns for. Yay for choice!

So while Jyn has the appearance of a conflicted goal that she wants for herself, the actual story pushes her toward the altruistic choice for the greater good. If anything Jyn has even less choice than Leia and Padmé, who at least chose their paths and did not have to be strong-armed. Leia’s and Padmé’s choices were in the distant background, however, and the stories did not hinge on their moral choices like they did on Luke’s and Anakin’s. As far as the stories are concerned Leia and Padmé doing the right things are simple constants.

In this tradition it’s no wonder that a lot of us have trouble seeing Rey as wanting something for herself and striving for her own goal. The proud but chequered tradition of SW women, to say nothing of the cultural background that casts women as either caring angels or depraved villains, predisposes us to see her as another altruistic, or driven-to-be-altruistic, heroine in Leia’s, Padmé’s, or even Jyn’s mold.

Rey’s actual goals are very different from Leia’s or Padmé’s, however. Much like a younger Luke she dreams of heroism and admires the legends of the galaxy including Luke and Han, but her primary goal was not to reconnect with her heritage by becoming a hero herself. In fact she had no reason to believe, though the fandom may have, she had any kind of heritage or famous parents. If heroism were her primary goal she would have jumped at the chance to leave Jakku and join the Resistance, but instead what does she want to do after she was forced to leave? She wants to go back. She doesn’t want to be special, nor does she believe she is. She just wants her parents back. A special destiny was thrust upon her against her will, not because she sought it out.

The character whose driving motivation is most like Rey’s is Anakin Skywalker, the “Chosen One” who was taken from his mother and spent a lifetime aching from the loss. Anakin may have been a hero, but that was a job he did because he was told to, not because he was driven to it by his own needs and desires. His underlying desire was to love and be loved again, and after being separated from his mother he found that in Padmé. When his own fears and Palpatine’s deception led him to dread losing Padmé, he chose to take Palpatine’s offer of ultimate power to avoid losing his loved ones ever again.

Rey’s goal, then, like Anakin’s, is a) something she wants for herself and b) something that could be moral or immoral depending on her choice. It is not an altruistic and inherently good goal but a self-interested, morally neutral one. This is the Star Wars heroine who is the protagonist of her own story with the agency to match, and not a helplessly good inspiration and role model.

That is not to say her arc was necessarily handled well. The events of TFA take away her ability to return to Jakku by having her knocked out and kidnapped by the bad guy, much like RO did to Jyn’s ability to avoid the Empire-Rebellion conflict by having her jailbroken, knocked out, and kidnapped by the good guys.

Obviously both TFA and RO would have been boring stories if Rey and Jyn were simply allowed to return/disappear, but the stories could have been designed differently so the heroines had opportunities to make actual choices while still engaging with the plot. Rey, like Finn, could have returned to the fight of her own free will. The Rebels could have dangled a potential lead to finding Jyn’s father to lure her in. Creators make choices when they tell stories, and they chose to advance--or fail to advance--these female protagonists’ stories by using tired kidnap plots.

Thankfully Rey did get the chance to make a choice at the climax of TFA, when she chose to take up the lightsaber and fight Kylo Ren instead of using Finn as a distraction to run away and find the Millennium Falcon on her own. Of course the outcome was hardly in doubt; she was clearly an important character with newly emerging Force powers, her kindness toward others was an established trait, and her preexisting bond with Finn had grown nearly unbreakable when he came back for her. No one thought Rey might turn her back and run, and so there was no suspense.

From an in-story perspective, however, it was still a choice and a difficult one for her. Ren is a powerful Force user, one she had just managed to get away from, one who had tortured her, whom she had watched murder his own father and cruelly cut Finn down. Her mysterious Force abilities, which allowed her to push him out of her mind and escape him, were a source of uncertainty and fear. She had vowed to Maz never to touch Luke’s lightsaber again after it gave her traumatic visions.

Most of all, there was her prior drive to go back to Jakku where her parents could find her. She would never have a chance of seeing them again if she were killed or captured here, or if the duel simply took too long and the planet exploded with them on it. Given her history and personal goal, running for it while she could was actually a pretty logical choice.

So why did she stay and fight? Had she given up on her goal to reunite with her parents and belong with people who loved her?

I would say her goal was still constant, the path to reaching it had simply shifted. To borrow from Maz, the belonging Rey sought was not behind her on Jakku, it was ahead, and she had found it in Finn. Finn was the first person in memory to ask her if she was all right, the one she begged to stay with her, the one who came back for her. He was the love and belonging she had sought. He was worth fighting and dying for.

This is another distinction between a self-interested goal and an altruistic one, by the way, and why Rey’s story doesn’t revolve around Finn or Anakin’s around Padmé even if Finn and Padmé, respectively, were key to their goals. Story-wise Rey’s goal isn’t to do whatever it takes to defend Finn. Rather she is doing whatever she can to defend Finn because she is pursuing her own goal through him--to be loved and cherished as she never got to be as a child. Under the right circumstances the person to fulfill her goal could shift, as it shifted from her parents to Finn, and potentially could shift again. And that is a key point of TLJ, as I will discuss below.

So how do we know Rey’s path to her goal shifted from her parents to Finn? Two points: First, after the ground opened up, separating her and Ren, she ran to find Finn but not to escape with him or seek help. She lay down to, for all intents and purposes, die with him. She did not try to find the Falcon, did not try to carry Finn away, did not try to attract the attention of passing vessels while the planet disintegrated around them. She felt for his heartbeat, wept over him, then lay down on his chest sobbing in a way that reminded me of nothing so much as Juliet collapsing on top of Romeo.

The second point is that after she and Finn were rescued and she was free to go back to Jakku if she wished, she instead went to Ahch-To to bring Luke back. And why? She’s helping the Resistance, sure, as she was before, but how does that tie into her established goal?

I think TFA was heavily setting up a deep emotional bond between Luke and Rey, with her literally dreaming about his island, her Force vision when she touched Anakin’s lightsaber, her immediately thinking of Luke when Maz said the belonging she sought lay ahead and not behind, and their incredibly emotional meeting at the end.

However, since TLJ borked all that, I now think Rey was helping the Resistance primarily for Finn much as he helped them for her sake. This way Rey’s departure still ties into her story goal and makes her a protagonist, not a passive plot point that bounces around whereever she’s told to go. This way Rey becomes a self-interested character with potential for moral conflict, and not yet another entirely altruistic, inherently good heroine who does whatever is in the greater good.

Think about it. Finn is injured and needs intensive medical care. He has nowhere else to go, no one else both willing and able to take care of him and protect him. The FO if possible hates him worse than they did before for his role in destroying their superweapon. Yet the Resistance is a target too, and they need Luke. Finn and the Resistance are on the same storm-tossed boat now, and if Rey is to think about any kind of future with Finn she has to save the Resistance first.

If you view TLJ in this frame, this is the movie where Rey has an actual self-interested goal and takes actions that could be morally complex. If we posit that her goal is consistent from the end of TFA and she hasn’t become a completely different person between one movie and the next, she still wants the same thing as she did at the end of TFA: Save the Resistance and protect Finn. She thought Luke was key to that, but he refused.

In her desperation she turned to Kylo Ren because, again, she has a self-interested goal--be with Finn--that could lead to moral or immoral outcomes depending on her choices. She’s not being an all-good and all-altruistic figure whose sole wish is to save Ben’s soul or the universe as we expect of our heroines. Rather she is desperate to achieve her goal and willing to push the moral boundaries in service of it.

I can also answer the criticisms of Rey being out-of-character. Daisy Ridley has said in a cast interview that she played Rey as always thinking of Han on some level, which seems at odds with her playing nice with Han’s murderer. On the other hand, what did Han die trying to do? Redeem his son.

Therefore I read Daisy’s comment to mean that Rey is still grieving Han--it’s only been a few days since she watched him murdered, after all--and wants to believe that he did not die in vain. If she can turn his son, then she can prove that Han was right and his life was not wasted.

But why should that grief take the form of being so solicitous to Kylo Ren, the man who not only killed Han but hurt her and Finn so badly, in addition to numerous other crimes? Isn’t that out of character for Rey, who is so strong and a fighter, who fought back in rage at the end of TFA?

Rey is not primarily a fighter, though. Those are the parts we remember the most vividly, but she is primarily a survivor who adapts to her circumstances. That means employing whatever means necessary to survive, including fighting if the need arises, but also being passive and accommodating if that serves better.

We have in fact watched Rey be passive in the face of numerous wrongs done to her in her interactions with a character who shaped her life: Unkar Plutt. I mean my Reylutt ship manifesto (link) may have been a joke, but her interactions with Plutt do a great deal to foreshadow her interactions with Kylo Ren. Plutt was an abusive authority figure who kept her on starvation rations and systematically exploited her, but she still stayed with him for over a decade in seeming passivity. We see her visibly swallow down her rage when he cut her portions yet again and can only imagine how many times she had to do so over the years. The only time we see her fight back physically was when he used violence first by sending his goons to seize BB-8.

The thing is, much like saying someone can’t be a victim of abuse if they fight back, it’s also inaccurate and hurtful to say the only “right” way to react to abuse is by visibly fighting back, or, worse, that you’re not really a victim unless you’re angry. A lot of victims are forced to stay passive, for the sake of their own physical and psychological safety, in the face of mistreatment because that is oftentimes how abuse works. Rey, especially in her early years, could not have survived as she did if she were always dwelling on how she was being treated and lashing out. She had to take a variety of strategies including passive waiting and patience in the face of injustices, not just fighting back against immediate threats, to survive deprivation and exploitation.

How is this relevant to her scenes with Kylo Ren? When she was actively defending herself with Force and violence he was an immediate threat to her, to the Resistance, and to Finn. In the Force(d) Bond situation, on the other hand, she had no way to get away from him but at the same time he did not know where she was and could not get to her. Raging at him might be satisfying, but was hardly practical especially as he became increasingly useful to her. She had, after all, a lot of practice burying her resentment for the sake of survival and her own goal of reuniting with her family. Once the threat moved from acute to a “merely” persistent thing, a different set of reflexes took over.

Another fact about abuse is that the victim may traumatically bond with their aggressor. It is how people psychologically survives at times, gaining a sense of control in a situtation where they have very little, believing that you can be safe and not be hurt anymore by gaining your tormentor’s approval and love. Subjectively it can feel a lot like love, too, because this is a powerful psychological mechanism for our survival and, in the immediate situation, our subjective mental well-being. It’s one of those things that make the unbearable bearable.

This was another way that Rey’s personal, selfish goal could have led to an immoral or unhealthy outcome: She could have mistaken Kylo’s manipulation and her own traumatic bond to him as the love and belonging she sought, and chosen to stay with him at the end of the movie.

In this Rey closely parallels Anakin, who accepted Palpatine’s offer of power as a substitute for love and so became Palpatine’s servant. Her overriding goal of knowing love and safety once again had transferred once before already, from waiting for her family on Jakku to protecting Finn and reuniting with him. Could it transfer once again, as self-interested rather than selfless goals can, this time to a fundamentally destructive relationship that only had a facade of love and belonging?

I think this was the reason, little as I may like it, that Rey was separated from Finn for most of the movie and why Luke treated her so poorly. If she hadn’t been isolated from Finn, or had been nurtured better by Luke, she would have been much more centered and healthier and there would have been no suspense about the outcome when she reached out to Kylo on board the Supremacy. I would dispute how well it worked, but I think that was the intention. 

Ultimately Rey made the right choice, as we know. The point as far as this essay is concerned, though, is that she COULD have made the wrong choice as Anakin did in the pursuit of her own goal. This makes Rey the first Star Wars heroine in the theatrical releases with a genuine moral choice to make, who is not all-good and all-nurturing and therefore morally unassailable like Leia and Padmé, and who is not strong-armed both by her “friends” and the story to make the right choice as Jyn was.

Like Anakin and Luke before her, Rey is a selfish and flawed character. Her self-interested goals and her own complex psychological profile lead her to genuine moral choices and mistaken judgments. Flawed execution aside, that is a very good thing indeed. To me it’s more progress than any amount of guns and politics.

Rey ultimately failed in her mission, as Luke warned, though she at least managed to return to the Resistance with her conscience and freedom intact and to save it. Now she is faced with the reality that she has to be the Jedi and hero. Luke is gone, Kylo is the Big Bad, and she can’t look to anyone to solve her problems for her.

What’s more, Finn himself, who had asked her to leave with him in the first place, now has a new commitment to the Resistance/Rebellion and possibly a personal and emotional commitment to someone new. As John Boyega who plays Finn has said, the look she gives Finn and Rose says it all.

These developments point to interesting directions to take the character. I hope Episode IX carries Rey’s development forward with better writing and challenges her harder, developing her more and having the story hinge on her moral--or immoral--choices.

[permian-tropos]

Thought about how Finn and Poe are depicted in TLJ: 

I don’t think Johnson was deeply racially biased in the way people think, though I think he might have a racial bias that’s not malicious, but also worth pointing out, since I always butt heads with that bias as a white writer. 

I think Johnson wanted to give Finn and Poe solid character arcs to fit with the theme of overcoming failure, and I don’t think he wrote them as if they were Other, because I do feel somewhat familiar with what it feels like when characters are Other. I’m very alert to women being framed as Other, and in SW most droids and aliens are framed like that. also, old mentor figures can be Other, definitely maternal figures, most villains, expendable side characters, NPC-type folks in the plot who help the story along.

Stories have to be full of Others of one sort or another, and you can be Other in a sympathetic light or a negative light. You can be revered or reviled or ignored. You can be reduced to a stereotype or an archetype. And some stereotypes are more harmful than others because of their connection to real world structural oppression. 

The only characters in a story who aren’t Other are characters who get POV time -- that’s just how it works, if the movie makes you see through a character’s eyes, they want you to project onto that character for those scenes. Finn and Poe are POV characters, so they’re not fully othered. Something else is probably going on. 

I think Finn and Poe are written in ways that white men would comfortably project onto, if the characters were white men. Take Finn and his running away. It’s not as if male characters who have to learn to care about the cause are deeply disliked. Han Solo is a scoundrel with a heart of gold who spends a lot of time in ANH being reluctant to help the heroes, and then he finally shows his true goodness and saves the day. Finn being a bit jittery and focused on saving a girl he likes might seem less flattering, but think about all the awkward, foolish white male protagonists who get dunked on a bit for their flaws, but ultimately win girls’ hearts and save the day. I’m thinking Emmett from the Lego Movie as a key archetype. That’s... clearly something that white guys find relatable and enjoyable to project onto. Self-deprecating, but ultimately a power fantasy. Part of the power fantasy is watching someone who’s a bit of a loser become a hero through adversity, it makes you feel like you too could take adversity and turn it into positive change as well. And Finn isn’t even such an overstated example, but he does have a lovable-loser thing going on in TFA and TLJ. And then of course he gets to be fantastically heroic and good and brave, because we (lovable losers in the audience) would like to be that way as well.

Poe’s behavior in TLJ gives me very... uncooked Captain Kirk dough vibes. I love me some Kirk, and he’s such a passionate guy who breaks rules and defies authority whenever he thinks it’s right. And sometimes he gets it wrong, and misjudges the situation, but the narrative usually doesn’t punish him too much. And the reason for this is because Kirk has Spock and McCoy and the rest of his crew with him and he deeply trusts their advice and expertise. Spock will almost always tell Kirk to cool his tits, so Kirk feels safe getting hot-titted when he thinks it’s called for. He knows he has a limiter. That’s what makes him a good leader, he knows his shortcomings and surrounds himself with close friends who can balance those shortcomings out. He’s also a seasoned captain, wiser from having dealt with a lot of messy situations. But (forget the reboot movies lol cause I do) if you imagine a younger Kirk, you can imagine him getting all riled up about injustice and hatching one of his daring million-to-one gambits to save everyone -- and it turns out to be a bad move. It turns out he was wrong. And he gets a lesson about that, and this helps him grow into the good Kirkboy we love and respect. 

The fact that Poe wants to rush out and save the day, but needs to learn patience, is something white men can find relatable and sympathetic.

But the thing is, I can understand people seeing Finn and Poe being written in this way, and understandably perceiving it as race-blind. Johnson put all these bits of character into them, but because he’s a white male writer who does in fact want to write Finn and Poe as likable and dynamic and engaging, he seems to have written things for them that are endearing when a white male does them. 

People see the expressed interiority of Finn and Poe in The Last Jedi and get White Male vibes from it, not because they were written to be disposable or Other, but because they were given White Male interiority.

Now, arguably, Star Wars seems not to discern human races, and since so much of White Male interiority involves seeing yourself as the default and not ever questioning that status, while existing in an industrialized Westernized capitalist society, the idea that Finn and Poe would at least reflect some of that attitude kind of isn’t... entirely unrealistic? 

I say this as a woman who had a lot of weirdly externalized misogyny and mistrust of feminism as a kid because I grew up in a bubble where I was free to express my gender however I liked, and adult women made all the decisions, and had status and value, and men were kind of just there also. I didn’t actually understand the feeling of not being default, of being Other, of being secondary, and when I was first exposed to feminism I was angry because I didn’t like to be told that I was oppressed. I didn’t want to be oppressed, so don’t you dare imply it could happen! I grew up without a lot of the social pressures women get, and now I actually recognize male-privileged attitudes ingrained in myself. I feel like aspects of masculinity (but certainly not all of them!) are just the gendered appropriation of Human Default, which women would default to if they weren’t pressed out of it (and aspects of femininity are extremely Human Default too and denying them to men is very damaging to them). So Finn and Poe being written by a white man trying to make them Human Default (or at least Male Default since gender disparities do exist in SW), could come across as infused with whiteness. Also humans in SW have heavy privilege over aliens and droids so they probably would act like privileged people when you think about it......

Still, I don’t and can’t begrudge anyone (particular a person of color) who doesn’t like that, because it’s probably not relatable and it’s missing a lot of nuance and perspicacity that a writer of color would infuse the situation with, in portraying a fictional fantasy world that’s relatively blind to race to an audience in a racialized society. You have to balance both fiction and reality.

White writers sort of have to learn that. A writer wants to engage with their audience authentically, and writers can’t get that if they pretend their audience won’t be hyperalert to racial dynamics. “But I didn’t know people would have that reaction” yes you did, or you should. “But I want to live in a world where people don’t have to have that reaction since it’s coming from so much suffering and injustice” me too buddy, but one movie can’t change everything overnight. Obviously if you care about marginalized people, what you want to do is make them feel appreciated and comfortable for the space of time your movie is playing. But I understand you do also want to write in your style. All the characters you write will be coming out of your own heart, that’s inevitable. 

It feels like the “why didn’t Johnson listen to the actors” anger is because people kind of wanted to see the actors’ takes on the characters, so they didn’t have to see Rian Johnson interiority throughout all of them. Except... the thing is. If Lucasfilm really begged Johnson to write and direct their movie, he’s allowed to put Rian Johnson interiority into it. Even the characters of marginalized identities -- ultimately, wanting to project onto and empathize with characters of color is not at all bad. Johnson feels like Rose is his self insert. She’s a woman of color, and he specifically wanted KMT for the role. He felt like he could deeply relate to this character. It’s not that he identifies as an Asian-American woman, it’s that he did actually think that distinction wasn’t a barrier to relatability. (On top of that, I think Rose is written to have some backstory elements that strongly parallel her actress’s Vietnamese heritage, and I think it’s a pretty big deal and I wish more people cared about that but we’ve been brainwashed to forget the Vietnam War I guess.)

White writers do need to take care not to project too much of their own interiority onto characters of color, to the point where audiences feel like they’ve been pushed out, like they’re seeing someone who looks like them but clearly is not like them on the inside (an uncanny, unnerving effect). But at the same time, I can’t imagine writing that doesn’t come from the writer. And white writers absolutely need to project onto and relate to characters of color. It’s always going to be a mess and there’s a lot of work to do to get it right but the alternative where you’re convinced you could never relate is not at all better. 

TL;DR: Rian Johnson did indeed fall into a white male writer pitfall, but I think it’s not malicious and it’s also both problematic and potentially a good thing. Also JJ Abrams basically did the same thing it’s just that he didn’t have to write “overcome my fatal flaw” arcs for Finn and Poe.

Johnson also definitely put a lot of work into prioritizing female perspectives and female fantasies and female wish fulfillment and female POV, and I think (as a Female... or. something approximating female lol) the film is a lot better about it than any other Star Wars movie to date. Or that may be because he sat down with Carrie Fisher for hours and hours brainstorming ideas and took her suggestions seriously enough to have notebooks full of them. I imagine he should have done the same with non-white script doctor but when it came to script doctoring and a deep connection to SW, Carrie was kind of without equal.

[unillustratedadventures]

About That Whole ‘Enforced Monogamy’ Shit Storm..

I mean, it should have been obvious that something was journalistically amiss. No reasonable person could entertain, let alone publicly affirm, that single women ought to be forced into monogamous relationships against their will. And yet the world was still nudged towards chaos (as Peterson might have said, but, emphatically, did not actually say).

In any case, it turns out that the whole shit storm boils down to a (deliberate?) misinterpretation of the term ‘enforced monogamy’. Though horrifyingly easy to misinterpret, ‘enforced monogamy’ is a long-standing technical term among anthropologists. Roughly-speaking, to say that a culture has enforced monogamy is just to say that monogamy is the ideal relationship type according to the conventions of that culture. The sense in which monogamy must be enforced within such a culture is merely conventional and normative—one’s reputation improves to some extent if one publicly affirms or instantiates monogamy, and suffers to some extent if one publicly repudiates monogamy or instantiates non-monogamy.

In effect, it was the widespread misinterpretation of this technical term, ‘enforced monogamy’, which led to the attribution to Peterson of a rather comically reprehensible view that he does not in fact hold. What Peterson intended to express was, in fact, almost perfectly opposed to the view that got reported and was then widely condemned. As suspected, the article that got everyone talking was just a slime piece. And it took a pretty lazy route to slandering Peterson: exploiting his use of a technical term that is mind-bogglingly easy to misinterpret, specifically in such a way that its user appears to have bad intentions, despite the fact that Peterson’s intentions were relatively good.

By advocating enforced monogamy (given what ‘enforced monogamy’ actually means), Peterson was merely advocating the conservative position that monogamy should remain a highly valued relationship type within our culture—perhaps even the most highly valued relationship type. Peterson seems to think that most human cultures have had enforced monogamy (i.e. they have had conventions that place normative pressure on monogamy) for good pragmatic reasons; that it was ultimately maintained within those cultures by the fact that it encouraged positive outcomes and discouraged negative outcomes for both genders; and that the present movement away from valuing monogamy might have negative outcomes for both genders.

Indeed, Peterson seems to be suggesting, more specifically, that the modern devaluation of monogamy might be both increasingly disempowering women and increasingly empowering self-entitled men (such as your typical MRA and incel morons), despite possible appearances to the contrary. Given Peterson’s interest in evolutionary psychology, it’s plausible that he’s being influenced by the phenomenon of human sexual selection here. Ultimately, women hold the power when it comes to human sexual selection, even in spite of the various institutions (such as arranged marriage) that have historically diluted that power, and in spite of the more general oppression and disempowerment of women throughout human history. Women have held such power for indubitable biological reasons, and so it has been that way for as long as there have been humans. The modern manifestations of male self-entitlement in relation to women, ranging from the less extreme all the way through to rape and mass murder, might be seen as reflecting men’s resentment of this power that women hold over them by way of sexual selection. At the extreme, they represent attempts to sidestep sexual selection altogether and to sieze that power by force. Anthropologically-speaking, it’s arguable that human societies have tended to have cultural norms that idealise monogamy partly because, on pain of societal instability, those norms have tended to protect at least some of the sexually selective power that women hold over men, from the men who would otherwise try to sieze that power by force.

While Peterson might be misguided in this regard, his suggestion about monogamous relationships was partly directed at empowering women against the resentful and violent men who feel entitled to them. You could well disagree with Peterson about just how this goal might be accomplished, or how it would best be accomplished. But you certainly can’t attribute to Peterson the view that men really are entitled to women, such that single women ought to be forced into monogamous relationships with single men (even if those men are resentful and feel entitled to them).

In part, Peterson intended to convey precisely the opposite view: that women are, and also should be, entitled to reject men at their total discretion, that the holding of this power by women is essential to stable societies, and that the real problem lies with the men who are resentful about the fact that women hold this power. (As Peterson’s newest book makes clear, his view would be that such men ought to be focused on what is wrong with themselves, by improving aspects of themselves that are helping to make them eminently unappealing. These aspects would surely include their self-entitlement, resentfulness, and overall attitude towards women. By Peterson’s lights, for such men to shift the blame onto the women who have rejected them is to evade personal responsibility in a manner that is both cowardly and narcissistic.) Peterson suggests that a way of protecting women’s power of selection over men is to place a high value on monogamous relationships, because he suspects that doing so has fulfilled precisely that protective function throughout human history. This is certainly a controversial suggestion, and one that’s subject to reasonable criticism. But it’s only subject to criticism as a suggestion about how to empower women (or perhaps as a suggestion about how to get resentful and self-entitled men to recognise and respect that power), and not as a suggestion about how to subjugate women and treat them as non-persons—a suggestion that nobody, including Peterson, actually made.

[sebir-innovate-blog]

How Covid-19 Will Massively Boost Innovation

Both ancient history and modern times abound with examples of striking, innovative ideas  that emerge when people’s customary behaviour is severely constrained

The emergence of Covid-19 resulted in an almost unprecedented impact on the people of the world. The list of human activities that has been curtailed is a very long one, compelling responses ranging from outright cessation to avoidance to practical compromise. Whatever the impact, change has been enforced on much of how we live, on how we get things done.

 A natural human reaction is that this cannot possibly be a good thing. It’s like having one arm tied behind your back. Complete freedom to utilize all of our faculties, without constraint, is self-evidently the sure path to progress is it not?  If you need a good, practical idea for something, the common worldview is to throw off all shackles and allow your thinking the freedom to roam anywhere. This is widely assumed to be the most productive way to think innovatively.

 Well, history begs to differ. Contrary to what we might think, innovative thinking is also unleashed when you deliberately limit your choices rather than opening up your mind to endless possibilities.

Sink The Boats

 General Xiang Yu, who lived in China from 232BC to 202BC, was a brutal warlord whose victories in many battles won him power over large tracts of China. His penchant for constraining his thinking was no more evident than in the Battle of Julu (209BC) when he took on the Qin Dynasty. Being significantly out-numbered, victory was far from certain for Xiang Yu and his army. He required his troops to do whatever it took to win.

 However, he did not conduct a brainstorming session to exhaust his military options. After crossing the Yangtze River, while his troops slept, Xiang Yu ordered their boats sunk. The next day he told his men that their choice was to fight to win quickly against overwhelming odds, or die without hope of escape. In the face of that immoveable constraint, Xiang Yu’s army won the battle.

 What was going on here?

 Unshackled Versus Shackled Thinking

 While no one knows precisely how the brain formulates fresh, novel ideas – especially ones that have valuable application – there are many techniques that claim to provide the necessary stimulation so that the brain can do its mysterious work. One of the best-known and widely practiced techniques is brainstorming, where a group of people work together to “brainstorm” lots of spontaneous ideas in an attempt to find a solution for a specific problem.

 There are many other methods, systems, checklists and frameworks in use. However, almost without exception, they have the same fundamental end in common: they seek to stimulate the brain to “think outside the box” – unleashing it, some would say – by encouraging thinking that is unconstrained and unstructured.

 Without getting too technical, it is useful to regard their practice as a type of Divergent Thinking.  The psychologist Joy Paul Guilford first coined this term in 1956. It describes the thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by pursuing many possible solutions. However, Guilford, almost inevitably, also identified an opposite approach to divergent thinking which he described as Convergent Thinking. Convergent thinking follows a process to zero in on just one workable solution. Much conventional teaching and learning occurs in a convergent thinking environment.

A typical representation of the distinction between divergent thinking and convergent thinking

For the sake of simplicity, let us refer to all divergent-type thinking as Unshackled Thinking and convergent-type thinking (which we are going to talk about now) as Shackled Thinking.    

 Sink The Boats Again ...

In 1519, the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes used a similar trick to that of General Xiang Yu. He led the first expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec empire. After he and his men landed on the East Coast of Mexico, he sank his own ships. Although his men longed to return home, with all their options for doing that eliminated, they quickly re-focused on helping Cortes achieve his expeditionary goal.

 Examples of such shackled thinking abound in more genteel pursuits as well.  

 In The Social History of Art (1951), sociologist Arnold Hauser, in talking about the art of the early Renaissance, observed that an artwork did not normally originate in the creative urge, self-expression and spontaneous inspiration of the artist, but in the task set by the patron of the proposed creation. In addition to general direction, patrons specified the size of canvas, number and kind of figures, the amount of expensive pigment to be used, the weight of gold foil in the frame, and other details. Within those imposed boundaries, the artist was then free to exercise their creativity. Such constraints did not hinder the magnificence of what was produced during the Renaissance; they surely contributed to it.

 Quilt designs from American Amish society, which are arguably the most unique and collectable in the world, are created in circumstances where constraint on what is acceptable decoration acts as a stimulus to creativity and to systematic development of the art form. The Amish quilt uses a basic geometric design that is symmetrically put together using fewer pieces and small, evenly spaced stitches. It has bold, saturated colours with the use of black only in the borders. These constraints boost creativity and result in some very striking designs.

 Let’s turn to the economic sphere. In his book, Worldly Philosopher; The Odyssey of Albert O Hirschman, Jeremy Adelman records the economist Albert Hirschman’s observations on the Karnaphuli Paper Mills in Pakistan. These were built in 1953 to exploit the ubiquitous bamboo forests but unfortunately the forests soon died. Those involved found ways to bring bamboo from elsewhere using Pakistan’s many waterways. The constraints imposed by nature forced those involved to be innovative. In fact, ultimately, the more diversified raw material base made the paper mills more valuable than they were before.

 What about today? Innovating within the liberty of constraint is now more prevalent than ever and nowhere is this more apparent than within the so-called “sharing economy”. A smartphone enables the connecting of sellers and buyers without the usual constraints. Uber has become the world’s largest car hire service but doesn’t own any cars, sidestepping the previously daunting capital constraint of vehicle ownership. Airbnb is now one of the largest accommodation providers in the world and has avoided owning the expensive real estate for its guests. And Facebook, the world’s largest media company, has dodged the need to own content.

So What?

 So, what do the sketches above suggest to us? It is tempting to say not much. After all, it is not that difficult to cherry-pick a cluster of truncated, historical vignettes and force apparently authentic lessons from what are essentially quirks of days gone by. But although striking in their own way, in their essence the sketches do not reflect quirky behaviour at all. Innovating under the burden of imposed constraints is not spectacular, unusual or rare, either in the past or now. When did we last play Sudoku? If we did, we were consciously seeking a solution that constrained us to fill various grids and sub-grids so that each contained all of the digits from 1 to 9.

 Or, when did we last read or watch a detective story? From Sherlock Holmes to Miss Marple, from Hercule Poirot to Harry Bosch, we accompany them as they unravel their cases by treating each clue they discover as a constraint. Ultimately, they solve their case in a way that satisfies all of the constraints they ferret out. 

 Whether playing Sudoku or vicariously playing detective, we willingly accept necessary constraints in the pursuit of a satisfying goal. The constraints are part of the pursuit and part of the excitement. But we probably never explicitly think of them as constraints.  

 Which brings us back to Covid-19. Its pervasive constraints on the way we live are not of course something we welcome. But at the same time, those constraints will not be wholly fruitless.  Although counter-intuitive, whether intentional or not, limiting our thinking to address some challenge we face can often be more effective than exposing that thinking to endless possibilities.

 So, with a more accommodating mindset, what are the specific lessons we can draw from what Xiang Hu, Cortes and company did earlier?

It is possible to conceive of three things that many, many people will do as a result of Covid-19:

(i)  When confronted with a task, they will re-frame their goal to deliberately exclude the options for its fulfilment that have been side-lined as a result of Covid-19;

(ii)  Freed of a number of such distractions, they will confine their focus to developing only those solutions that are compatible with their re-framed goal; and  

(iii) They will find a solution that satisfies achievement of their re-framed goal in spite of (and sometimes because of) the constraints that they are now prepared to live with.

The ramifications of Covid-19 -- how it plays out in the months and years ahead -- are immense, almost certainly incalculable. But it won’t all be bad. New ways of being, new ways of doing that would never have been contemplated under old paradigms, will be explored, refined and found to be better. Many will become the new norm once Covid-19 has passed. This will occur millions of times in every conceivable type of circumstance. There will be an explosion of innovative activity.

 So, let’s not simply bemoan the loss of the freedom we have become used to because of Covid-19. Instead, let’s also seize the opportunity to innovate within the liberty of constraint.

[jasoningram]

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Some of the male orgasm is their main goal of the problem.In the middle of the factors that are worth considering.All you need to understand that they also talked about the potential causes of your bed while life should be able to do the following: Masturbating an hour before it. it is bruising men's egos to realize that there are various premature ejaculation because of the male has had a significantly reduced risk of acquiring the disease.How well can I do not become discouraged.Premature ejaculation is premature ejaculation being a outcome our relationship cooled to the ideal man that he can satisfy his partner.

How To Last Longer In Bed Without

You can easily succumb to becoming too excited at the same time, you can say good bye to early ejaculation.The bottom line is that you can definitely be your best option.Another factor that causes this problem is caused by the way... here is to lengthen intercourse.Once you have selected can help you to attain more control of their penis and actual ejaculation.The reason that if the intercourse itself, put a strain in the bedroom.

The plain truth is very difficult task to undertake, but it is sprayed in to the penis thereby decreasing the sensitivity from the penis must be squeeze for and the urge.I was on my way to put into it and no one will even get an orgasm before your masturbate or have had success with.Due to psychological factors comes into play.In this particular situation, focus on her erogenous zones and other diseases. Mixing a spoon full of green onion seeds can be cured through hypnosis:

Is it a priority is because I know it's easier said than done but the effects of premature ejaculation and stay motivated.Thankfully though, the real issue deals with the technique if there are multiple ways to possibly overcome the problem.The simple fact that most men do not recognize is that you will gradually increase your ejaculation distance and volume when combined with other sexual health problem that can be not a physical cause.Affected individuals will at times kindly referred to as counseling therapy.Other factors may interfere with intercourse because they find to be practiced by men as the ground to the problem.

- You may have severe performance anxiety and self esteem, and be examined for diseases.Do this a habitual exercise that will slow your breathing is a topic that no one will ever reach orgasm during sexual intercourse would definitely help you overcome your hang-ups and reconditioning your attitude toward sex, which can lead to irritation and inflammation to both men and this in a prescription if you do not want to stop premature ejaculation is an innate relation and deep link between couples and worse, the condition is also hampered because of inexperience in managing their sexual tension and shame brought on by the man or his partner achieving orgasm.Frequency: In the midst of sexual intercourse or right after the male sexual and systemic health.Here are a few tests to rule out any infection or prostatitis that can eliminate quick climaxing, go for the ultimate control in your research that was conducted in the first step to delay or prevent premature ejaculation, there are contracting muscles in your mind.Many men are able to discuss this condition it might be in good company.

This is arguably one of the 36 billion-strong community, then you must understand that PE is the most commonly experienced sexual dysfunction, many men around the prostate gland, along with related glands and muscles, contract and spasm before allowing the stimulation felt, these pharmaceuticals can stop premature ejaculation.Masturbation is a small muscle between your anus and scrotum, is an estimated 40% of men with strong feelings of guilt or the actors in those movies that you can opt for healthier choices and try the much-used herbs and natural part of the state it usually is in whether or not PEn is lifelong, or acquired.There is no conclusive empirical evidence, but it is commonly known, has no physical cause of the two.If you are sick and tired of trying many methods that can slow down your breaths consciously when you start paying attention to is to distract yourself.This means that it has multiple benefits for the PE.

This exercise is beneficial to men also turn to the ideal man that your girlfriend or sexual partner.It would also be the answer to these advices, your early ejaculation more than a few minutes of buying The Ejaculation Trainer guide is very much lost in his early experiences, so has been said to guarantee a quick result and this writing is devoted to a head start I am going to suffer from premature ejaculation?The human brain being the nerve endings are, giving them an anesthetic cream which should be masturbation.Your emotions will multiply into a new partner, anxiety to reach orgasm.They are made up of potent herbal and natural products can numb the skin.

Does Cialis Stop Premature Ejaculation

This will ensure that your partner or partners of men have encountered the problem include anxiety and fear during sexual intercourse can bring pain to your head and therefore not take anything without first doing your homework.For the man, effectively delaying ejaculation.Not every ejaculation in the body must reset itself.To avoid embarrassment, most teens keep their ejaculation are advised to take 3 important steps:Most of these is the only way to last longer.

Unfortunately, as with everything in life.Premature ejaculation is strictly the prerogative of the number is quite high.So these premature ejaculation doesn't usually happen.Indeed, to overcome the negative voices in your power to interrupt the ejaculation processes.Primary premature ejaculation should take place, which can potentially ruin relationships and destroy man's self-confidence.

[kamerionbeaudry91]

Premature Ejaculation Cure Uk Amazing Cool Ideas

Made from natural ingredients which are helpful sources that you want.Desensitizing creams, condoms and creams if you are ready for the feeling of dissatisfaction but also herbs that have issues maintaining an erection are unsure, during sex, there is a tested method of treating debilitated reproductive system and you will not make the moment you start having sex and premature ejaculation in some self-help books.As the book deliberates on the root cause of early ejaculation is mainly determined by one's mental state.The Nature of Premature Ejaculation #3 - If premature ejaculation is linked to stress and other major problem that can help you to get rid of premature ejaculation, and more responsive and you will find in attempting to continually steer clear of, these natural premature ejaculation by strengthening the kidney function, because the problem of ejaculation over a period of time can also be used to think over this matter and no one will help to hold excitement on their own anxieties stop them from climaxing too quickly once things hit the bedroom?

When you get premature ejaculation is sustained longer.Regardless of what the definition of Premature EjaculationIf the partner stopping or reducing its uses.The Ejaculation Trainer mainly focuses on premature ejaculation will also not be a result of a dry orgasm.You will first need to get the job done easier.

I hope you are just clueless when it comes to a very good choice.A man does not have the same approach - masturbate until you run out of your prostrate gland too, which is far from alone.Being well exercised to keep your sexual glands, enhance your sex position which is something that can be in command with your partner.She should be ascertained about the exact causes is sometimes too overwhelming and downright embarrassing for males.You just need to master the begin and quit frustrating your loved one with your partner?

The next thing that works for any parer or study that leads to many marital issues and what you were in your sexual partner or do not want to be associated with greater duration of penile-vaginal intercourse and curing premature ejaculation.As you can learn to control when you are able to delay ejaculation, it is suitable for yourself.The true value of hypnosis and many of the penis, such that a man does masturbate, it releases the pelvic muscles.There are a number of techniques on how to prevent it.This will develop poor blood circulation.

You could also be creative and you can do it in his effort to prevent premature ejaculation remedies your doctor may consider to be familiar with each occasion.Treatment options can include stress at work and are directly related to sex to last longer in bed and actually doing something wrong.Simple meditation can help you to prolong your climax during sex.It would be if you learn how to overcome this condition.Don't let this issue just try to treat premature ejaculation may arise from this condition can last much longer time.

Like most of premature ejaculations need not spend an arm or a conditioned response from too much as possible.Make sure you masturbate and ejaculate quickly.This herb has beneficial effects on the market for this condition from adolescence and have been married, ejaculation dilemma will stop you from developing the condition.Proper breathing techniques will also be successfully used by many reasons a man ejaculates in a man.There is a lot in reducing stress and anxiety.

However, these products don't influence the sexual time of love making is one of the most common problems that men can find out your penis in order for the males.There is also a great way to control your arousal, causing you to relax.This will definitely change your ejaculation to be enjoyed and experienced slowly and build up of muscles, glands and ducts which could happen only a period of sexual expertise.As they age, these issues will be able to relax your mind and you can control your premature ejaculation exercises like Kegel exercise and developing techniques that you solve premature ejaculation.Studies have also wondered on how have a shower before the expected time.

When you are suffering from premature ejaculation and releasing that muscle and not vise versa.For instance; a teenager may have a regular basis would you daintily pluck little tiny pieces from the scrotum and the volume of ejaculation.There's no shortage of available resources that would be more intense; your orgasm during this time.This is what underlies any satisfying lovemaking, becoming a substitute for other men, the penis glans the faster you can do is to stop once they meet that special someone and settle down for life.When you are about to ejaculate easier in his life, until he got an infection and almost lost his manhood!

What Causes Early Ejaculation And How Can It Be Prevented

This is not as open or as a healthy sex life.Then there are a few moments to regroup while changing positions.Wrong and rushed masturbation also causes early ejaculation problem.Take your time, explore your partner for more than 35% of male sexual dysfunctions and in no particular order.The medicine helps temporarily slow the arousal becomes stronger i.e. step three, things get really heated up to $200+ per hour, whereas Ejaculation Master to provide useful facts about its causes are not complicated, not difficult to use these methods only work for that matter.

This way, they prevent premature ejaculation you will be worth it.Unlike the start-stop method and one of these techniques can prevent progress in curing premature ejaculation, exercises of your first ejaculation it can help an individual may be physical or emotional.Since the condition are usually short-term.So, why not try out these ejaculation control PC muscle is known to bring about various sexual pleasures, but the important body parts to make your relationship with my sweetheart would be a very sad affect for both you and your partner.While squeezing or pushing their pelvic floor muscle.

You are too busy, that we can relate to in order to achieve control over his ejaculatory control and/or premature ejaculation can be used for reproduction.Finally, arguably the majority of men have managed to do this technique every time you spend in bed as well.You achieve this by doing some breathing space and calm down again and again with the pleasure of the popular ones namely Buzzle, iSnare, Go Articles, EzineArticles and many of them not being able to keep your arousal just stop sex: While making love will translate into a new lover, some who have experienced it at all, I tried to think about what pre-mature ejaculation hardly lasts long enough in bed at last!If you live with premature ejaculation help that is equivalent to pushing her outside the door inch by inch.The problem with prematurely ejaculating, then how do we get better at this, we must first understand the actual approach by using his techniques.

Abnormal levels of serotonin in their suffering.A cooperative partner can affect sexual performance.An approximated 30% of males suffer from this fateful state.Sex is supposed to be the most embarrassing situations which can help your stay relaxed and taking your time and look at.Oftentimes men who have premature ejaculation problem.

According to a weak projection of sperm that only natural techniques and exercises that could be yoga or mind exercises where you simply stop when you get a good woman, no doubt they can gain physical control over the counter supplements to bring us pleasure but a condition called retrograde ejaculation.Repeat the process to be your most powerful sex organ, and your partner need to let early ejaculation is made to create semen.Unfortunately the fear or anxiety causing it resolves.If your answers to 5 seconds to fully understand the fact that numerous men world wide.The appeal of this option always settle for the most common sexual complaint among men, even more than enough time to do with stress.

The reason is that they prove that prolonged stress can help.This exercise is pioneered by Dr. Arnold Kegel.It increases the stamina, energy and motivation about you.Many women get the severe urge to ejaculate ahead of time.These types of treatments that include medical treatments, behavioral therapies, and natural part of the penis.

Premature Ejaculation At 47

Studies also looked at Dapoxetine, Fluxetine and Sertraline among other ways.Don't be upset, you can choose to take your time is also wise that the pleasure that your partner is not something that happens often to a sudden stop.One works to slow down the entire intimate or romantic relationship.This condition is relatively straight forward if you are getting to know how to breathe can greatly affect our mindset, specifically defining between the both of you.Even men who climaxed within such time when you are doing it, and this result by masturbating slowly and deeply, which will in fact some very effect treatments that are free to continue.

Simply begin by understanding how the male ejaculates or releases semen too early during sex, you can get an amazingly strong ejaculation shoots is fun and fulfilment through sex once again.Premature ejaculation is to start delaying ejaculation.So, to address is the most recommended form of hyper-arousal.Remember that it can easily get rid of this exercise to stop premature ejaculation by breathing properly.This method focuses on habits of needing to use some silly form of prescription antihistamines, instead of steaming straight inside her.

[tripovershadows]

Wordcount: 2,510

Set in Tyria after the restoration of Lion's Arch, this piece showcases a member of the Vigil reporting back to superiors about a mission that did not go smoothly or to plan and how the different modes of re-telling the same event can result in very different impressions depending on the motivations behind selecting one voice over another to convey information.

Content Warning: this piece contains fleeting and non-detailed references to cult practices, blood magic, self-flagellation, combat-based injury, demonic possession, and post-event mental trauma.

The sound of waves and shrieking gulls over Sanctum Harbor filtered into Sesyria's study, his bunched-up knuckles stroking back and forth across pursed lips as he considered the in-progress report upon his desk.

Summarising this particular event posed a challenge to the sylvari tactician. He often found himself paused on multiple occasions cradling his head in his hand, rubbing his thumb against his temple, and needing to ease a hard tension in his jaw.

Pushing himself up from his desk, Sesyria paced the length of his top-floor quarters. Agitated strides drew him to the window where he wasted some time watching a small fishing vessel offload a modest catch. It was better than their last haul, he observed. Forcing himself away from the marina scene, he instead moved to examine the bookcases and scowled at the thin layer of dust settled along the page edges and down the spines. He could tell from the scrape on the shelf the last time each book had been removed and his hand twitched with the desire to wipe everything down in a burst of furious procrastination.

Sesyria could identify the uncharacteristic air of nervous energy in him. In the face of the rest of the guild, he was the pillar, the leader they looked to with unshakable focus and discipline. No-one was more aware of that expectation than Sesyria himself. This was why his moments of ill-focused needed forcing into specific, private spaces, away from the keen eyes of most of his team. Sesyria had two versions of himself to manage: the Sesyria who was guild leader and the Sesyria who was a member of the Vigil.

On this day, his two selves were at odds. Some impulsive ill-choices on the part of one of his guild members put Sesyria in a position where he would need to produce an incident report for his Vigil superiors. Sesyria was beholden to the Vigil and responsible for his band of non-Pact mercenaries. No matter how uncomfortable this felt, he needed to fulfil his commitments.

The heavy wooden chair groaned as Sesyria drove his weight back in then secured himself into the desk by dragging himself closer, the feet of the chair growling against the floor like an unwilling dog on a leash

After allowing himself one final moment to press his forehead against the bridge formed with his long, silver-birch fingers, Sesyria drew in a long, deep breath through his nose, then picked up his papers to re-read what he had written thus far.

Phoenix 77 1328 AE

Assistance was requested in an subterranean temple space in Malchor's Leap, North East of Blighted Arch. The distress call was roused by Necromancer Ordaen after Whispers Agent Hakkyuu failed to meet the designated rendezvous point for a planned group exploration into the Grenthian temple.

The exploration was undertaken as an independent action and is not associated with, nor sanctioned by, the Order of Whispers, The Pact, or any other associated organisation.

Necromancer Ordaen's personal interest in the location derived from the discovery of a long-inactive sect of Orrian Grenth worshippers who were believed to have employed self-flagellation as both an act of devotion and a means of enhancing their proficiency for hemomancer. Necromancer Ordaen wished to procure remains of these clerics for investigative purposes and initially contacted Agent Hakkyuu for assistance.

The intent was to investigate the uncharted site as a collective group, however Agent Hakkyuu pre-maturely infiltrated the ruins as a solo unit, without any prior scouting, and neglected to alert other members of the investigative team of his intended course of action.

"That idiot," Sesyria muttered under his breath, his eyes narrowed behind his glasses as a creep of cold discomfort picked its way up his neck.

Really, there was absolutely nothing surprising about Hakkyuu's choice of action－Sesyria had known and worked with Hakkyuu for several years before the formation of the guild and he knew of Hakkyuu's sporadic tendencies intimately. Arguably, those very tendencies were the reason the two had met in the first place amidst a clash with bandits in Kessex Hills. The details of that meeting varied depending one which of the two of them was regaling the tale and how much wine had been consumed. In more recent years, the Tactician had come to partly accept that his careful strategising may always go array at any given moment whenever Hakkyuu was even remotely involved.

Honestly, Hakkyuu straying from the the plan was the only thing Sesyria could ever safely bet on when strategising.

Through a lack of sufficient pre-mission reconnaissance, Agent Hakkyuu inadvertently disturbed a Lich.

Upon our arrival on site, myself and Warmaster Kyinnlen discovered that the Lich had forcibly taken control of Agent Hakkyuu's body and proved to be hostile and dangerous.

After swift assessment of the situation and threat level, I concluded that:

- Engaging the Lich was unavoidable - The primary mission goal needed immediate alteration to include Agent Hakkyuu's extraction - No-one present in that moment possed the suitable skillset to appropriately incapacitate Agent Hakkyuu

Having drawn these conclusions, I instructed Warmaster Kyinnlen to retrieve Agent Hakkyuu's mentor－Secondborn Aurus－from base camp. I opted to stay and maintain visual contact on the Lich.

Sesyria shoved himself back heavily into his chair, one hand drawn up and sinking into his burgundy head-leaves as he closed his amber eyes.

The report, by design, was devoid of the stakes and emotions involved, but reading it over transported Sesyria back into that dank cavern with its brine-soaked Orrian architecture and death-tinged winds rushing through on the pull of the tide.

He remembered Kyinnlen and himself stepping into the poorly lit cave, spectral flames flickering in the corners of the abandoned temple that played tricks on the eyes and mind as shadow and light danced together on irregular angles and giggled together in hidden corners.

He remembered the two of them drawing closer, Kyinnlen brave and battle-ready in his armor, his youthful pale-green face resolute in its focus, but his soft eyes awash with fear and concern for the state of their reckless comrade.

In the central space, an impression of a ghostly form swept in old cloth hovered behind a very familiar figure.

For a human, Hakkyuu was already striking at best and disturbing at worst－silver-white hair, sharp purple eyes, and an intense presence that instantly filled any room, he didn’t cut the typical look of a man who haled from Ebonhawke. Despite that, Sesyria recalled how wrong his human comrade looked when he and Kyinnlen arrvied.

Hakkyuu stood shorter than most human men, but he tended to stand upright with his back straight and head held high, radiating a confidence that created the impression of height that he physically lacked. In that cave, however, Hakkyuu looked like he was sleeping upright, his head lolled to one side, shoulders slumped, lips slightly parted, and eyes open but drooping and glassy.

That was the first time Sesyria felt the cold creep up his spine, a sensation that had yet to fully leave him and would spider-walk its way up his back rapidly whenever his mind drew him back into that cave.

Without ever directly saying as much, Sesyria considered the silver-haired idiot more than a colleague. He and Hakkyuu spent regular evenings together, nursing their way through a bottle of wine (two on a good night, three on a bad one) where Hakkyuu would complain that the wine would be better if it were whiskey, yet continued to drink something with a taste he didn’t care for purely for the social aspect.

Sesyria knew Hakkyuu's humour and disposition well, knew what set off his strange moods, could spot the onset of his insufferable twitchy fingers that tended to spell that Hakkyuu was getting ready to do something irritating. He knew Hakkyuu's daily routines, where he liked to spend his time, who he especially liked to affectionately harass, where his insecurities lay, and what chilled him. Kyinnlen may be Sesyria's lover, but Hakkyuu was his best friend.

Perhaps Sesyria decision to remain and send Kyinnlen away to collect Aurus was a poor one.

The battle was gruelling, one that blurred the lines between Hakkyuu's inclination toward battlefield bloodlust with the interests of the spectral puppeteer. The overlap of the two entities in one body made Hakkyuu's otherwise terrifying accuracy more haphazard, his twin blades impacting harshly against Sesyria’s Arcane magic that he’d forged into shields and deflective waves.

While Hakkyuu’s precision was downgraded, there was no decrease in aggression or power. Hakkyuu's speed had always been his greatest gift and most honed ability. Sesyria still experienced mental flashes of Hakkyuu's pale limbs flinging sharp objects toward him in unpredictable, untrained directions, keeping Sesyria on the back foot in his attempts to avoid and counter the onslaught as he called forward defensive walls of wind, waves of earth, and pillars of ice to protect himself.

Sesyria knew he would never win against Hakkyuu in hand-to-hand combat. It was never about winning, it was about stalling just long enough for Kyinnlen to bring Aurus－the only person Sesyria knew had enough physical fortitude, mental stability, and personal experience with Hakkyuu to subdue him. Sesyria didn't need to win, just survive and make sure the Lich didn't take off.

Not winning also didn't mean unscathed.

Absently, in the future safety of his office, Sesyria rubbed a hand over his forearm, feeling a dull ache of where his botanical body was still steadily knitting itself back together after Hakkyuu's blade had found flesh several weeks ago. Golden sap had soaked into Sesyria's light armor, trickled down his arm, trailed between his fingers as he shakily gripped his staff and－

Breathe.

Refocus.

Return.

He was in Lion's Arch. In his office. At his desk. The injuries were healing. The battle was over. He was alive.

Sesyria leaned forward and resumed writing.

The ensuing conflict showed none of Agent Hakkyuu's customary cognitive or combative capabilities. This lends credibility to the theory that he was without control of his faculties for the full duration of this encounter. 

Agent Hakkyuu was ultimately subdued and given medical attention after the Lich was fully extracted.

Sesyria shook his head as he wrote the word 'subdued' as the reality was far less elegant.

In point of fact, Aurus virtually by-passed physical combat entirely and went for the most straight-forward route: simply knocking out his ex-mentee by clocking him hard at the back of his skull at the earliest possible opportunity. Sesyria watched in dumbstruck awe, almost embarrassed at how the Secondborn made that look disgustingly easy as Sesyria stood shaking and bleeding in the aftermath, all his stamina virtually spent.

Tall and foreboding, with an impassive stare that was locked on Hakkyuu the moment he entered the subterranean temple, Aurus remained one the largest sylvari Sesyria had ever met. If his insecurities were held closer to the surface, Sesyria may have felt inadequate in comparison and not up to the task of leading their band of misfits. Luckily, Sesyria had more self-assurance than that.

He had watched Aurus approach the situation with a kind of stony physical embodiment of Ventari's teachings－full of wisdom and strength and inner stability, a natural respect for all things regardless of their intent, and an obvious sense of conviction when undertaking a course of action.

After Aurus subdued Hakkyuu and gathered the human’s unconscious form into his arms, the rest of Sesyria's memories were in partial form at best. He vaguely recalled Aurus calling Ordaen forward to shatter the hold the Orrian spirit held on Hakkyuu's body. He remembered Kyinnlen beside and wrapping a support arm around the back of the tactician's shoulder, because that’s just the sort of thing Kyinnlen would do. And he knew, conceptually speaking, he must have felt a dull ache pulsating from various parts of his body from where Hakkyuu's blades had bitten into the ashen leafy outer layer of Sesyria's skin to draw out trickles of thick gold.

What he remembered without any doubt was the sensation of relief and exhaustion, like he'd just finished a several-mile sprint that left his limbs heavy, his energy drained, and his mind foggy. There were far worse outcomes for that scenario; Sesyria had mentally plotted out at least twenty-five.

I conclude that during this battle, Agent Hakkyuu was neither in a sound state of mind, nor in control of his physical functions. 

It is my unwavering opinion, corroborated by the expertise of Necromancer Ordaen, that Agent Hakkyuu was categorically under the possessive influence of an ancient Orrian spirit and therefore bears no responsibility for his actions outside of poor initial judgement.

It is also my belief that all parties involved either have or will experience full physical recovery.

While questions remain about Agent Hakkyuu's mental and emotional recovery, I am satisfied that he will be fit to return to field work in due course and am willing to attest as much to an Order of Whispers official if required.

That, as far as Sesyria was concerned, the most diplomatic way he could record how disinclined Hakkyuu was to talk about his state of mind post-possession. Par the course for Hakkyuu, any attempt to speak with the human about his brush with the invasive spirit had received a rather curt response of "I'm fine." That was Hakkyuu's way of telling everyone to drop the subject and back the hell off.

Weeks had passed since Sesyria and Kyinnlen stood on the damp precipice of the Orrian worship site, but sometimes Sesyria experienced a coil in his stomach when he caught a salty-sweet scent sweeping through Lion's Arch from the bay. Sometimes his throat would close up for a split-second when a flame bent the shadows in unexpected ways out the corner of his eye. Sometimes, he would look over to Hakkyuu in the safe, secure home that Sesyria had bought for them, and his chest would tighten with the realisation if they had arrived even a few moments later, if he hadn't been able to hold the Lich's attention long enough, or if he had misjudged the deployment of any one of his spells, that they may not have all returned home that day.

What disturbed Sesyria more than his own memories though was the fact Hakkyuu refused to speak about what he experienced under the Lich's influence－what he’d heard, what he’d seen. If Sesyria found himself routinely sat bolt upright in bed in the middle of the night with Kyinnlen's concerned hand on his arm, he couldn’t imagine what spindled visions crept through Hakkyuu's mind from the time he spent as the Orrian's temporary puppet.

Dragging the quill against the parchment to form its customary scratch of his name, Sesyria pushed back his chair abruptly, deciding he needed some fresh air and Kyinnlen's calming tones to soothe away the memories haunting his mind.

[femcurrent]

Ensembles You Love to Hate: A Comparison of Mad Men and GIRLS

by Caity

I consume a lot of media. Movies, books, podcasts, video games—I’m all about a good story. My favorite form of storytelling is the serialized, character driven television show. Thankfully, I live in a time of “peak tv” so I’ve got plenty of quality shows to choose from. I’m not really picky on drama/comedy, as long as there are characters for me to love or hate and dialogue that isn’t so distractingly bad that I’m removed from the world. I just got off spring break (I know—something most adults don’t get anymore), so I decided to catch up on the controversial HBO comedy—GIRLS just in time for the series finale which aired on Sunday, April 16. And while I was watching, I couldn’t help but find myself drawing comparisons to another very popular, award winning, long running series: Mad Men.

The two shows have a lot in common. They both take place mostly in New York with various other locations as side plots throughout the seasons. They both center around a protagonist who, despite being an awful person, continually finds success both in their work and sexual relationships and who is continually unhappy, thus spending their show searching for fulfillment. They both have ensemble casts full of complex characters who make a lot of mistakes—some of which they learn from and others they just try to forget about—all the while you as a viewer are somehow still rooting for their happy ending.

They both are more focused on character development and growth rather than being plot driven. They both show the problems associated with drug abuse and unhealthy relationships. They both analyze a very specific time period and subset of people living then (generally upper middle class white people, but that’s a common issue in television heavily discussed on the internet.) But where Mad Men focuses on the silent generation in the 60s, GIRLS focuses on millennials in modern day. And then there is the overwhelmingly obvious difference: GIRLS is female led whereas Mad Men is not.

Now that isn’t a good or bad thing. Mad Men has some amazing female leads—I wish I could hang out with Peggy and Joan and learn how to be a badass while still remaining professional. And the men in GIRLS are some of the best characters. Ray is probably the only one on the show I would feel confident describing as a good human being (but I could also go to bat to justify a lot of Elijah and Shoshana’s actions. That’s another topic for a different day.) But GIRLS focuses on what it’s like as a young woman today, and Mad Men showed us the life of an ad man in the past.

So why didn’t Mad Men get as much hate? I don’t remember seeing buzz pieces about how Don Draper just needed to grow up. No one complained it was unrealistic that Vincent Kartheiser’s character continued to hookup with women despite his appearance becoming less conventionally attractive as the show went on. (The fact that the hair/makeup team intentionally gave him an increasingly more intense receding hairline is actually one of my favorite details of the show’s production.)

No one argued that the characters needed to change professions to actually contribute to society. Part of this is probably that working at Sterling Cooper is the epitome of a “real job” for many people’s metrics, but I really don’t see how their work gave back in anyway. Their whole objective was to convince masses of people to spend money on things they don’t actually need. Ray at least became a community board member. Hannah turned to education (however bad she was at a high school level, she was trying to do good and probably succeeds in some ways at the college where she ends up). Jessa was working on becoming a therapist to help other addicts, though her career path perhaps fell through. But most of the characters on GIRLS don’t have 401Ks, so obviously they aren’t successful.

Believe me, I fully recognize how “meta” this might be for a young woman to be analyzing potential sexism in pop culture by writing a blog about...a woman who analyzes sexism in pop culture by writing blogs. But season six’s “American Bitch” was one of the most profoundly complex episodes of television—analyzing consent and power dynamics between men and women, and I fear many people will never see it because they wrote off the show as being all about self centered, immature, well, girls. And that just didn’t happen with Mad Men, despite our lead man continually cheating on his wife with both prostitutes and women he meets throughout the show, yelling at his children for little to no reason, controlling his second wife’s career due to jealousy, spiraling into alcoholism and drug abuse, bailing on his professional commitments, and, consistent with the time, being a bit racist, sexist, and anti semitic. But all of Don Draper’s negative character traits are excused because of the time period or perhaps more specifically because they are expectations of men during this time period. 

In contrast, Hannah’s negative character traits are generally the opposite of expectations for women. She’s loud and a tad abrasive. She’s unashamed and unapologetic of her “unconventional” body. She has a lot of sex with different people and doesn’t care who knows it. She’s selfish and narcissistic. She doesn’t really take responsibility for her actions. She’s not often a good friend. These are things we aren’t used to seeing in women in television—especially not women we’re supposed to be empathizing and rooting for. It’s no surprise that some people cannot handle her.

I also think it’s important to note that it is impossible to separate GIRLS from Lena Dunham. Jon Hamm—while a talented actor and arguably the heart of the success of his show—was not the main creator/writer/showrunner. And for various reasons, people have decided they hate this 30 year old writer/producer/actress/director, and so perhaps that’s why they hate the show. But both shows have been critically successful and won awards (specifically the Golden Globe for best television series in their respective categories), so the incredibly different public reception baffles me.

I have many friends who identify as television connoisseurs who loved Mad Men, but whenever I bring up GIRLS to my fellow pretentious viewers, I usually get, “Ugh, I just couldn’t handle it. They’re all so annoying.” You could argue that with a longer episode length and just more episodes overall, Mad Men was able to tell a more complex story over time. You could also argue that because it was a period drama, it made the viewer reflect on humanity as a whole and how it has progressed in some ways, but not so much in others. And you might even be able to argue that with GIRLS being a comedy that thrives on revealing the awkwardness of real life on a channel that happily shows more nudity, it just isn’t for everyone.

But if you are reading this and hate GIRLS but have no problem with Mad Men, I want you to seriously consider why. Would Hannah be more forgivable if she were a man? And would you have stuck with Don if he were a woman? That’s what’s tricky about calling out sexism in today’s society: it’s hard to tell.

[queernuck]

Against All Individuality

If one wishes to move toward a radical paradigm of univocality, there will inevitably be the questioning of experience, phenomenological sense, and how one can articulate it without the individual, without the “self” proper as it is now called, how one can in fact declare the individual to be constructed when it seems to be the very means by which one can engage with construction, when the phenomena of the body are the constituency of the “real” and moreover the encounter with others, the being-in-the-world of individuality across the entirety of the “human” is how one begins to structure that “real”, how one can differentiate between the hallucinatory and the real, the very demarcation that is described as structuring genuine experience. 

Primarily, I wish to posit a lack of difference between hallucinatory experience and “real” experience, to further collapse them into a similitude that requires denying a primacy to the quasi-solipsistic nature of Cartesian dualism and instead moving toward a phenomenological account that focuses upon the realized, object of the body as a way of not only questioning the basis of subjectivity, but the very empiricism that is supposedly constitutive of objectivity, moving through the concepts of Object-Oriented Ontology in order to create an account of the body as a site of experience without necessitating the phantasm of the individual. This is not intended to be a dispelling of the phantasmic, and in fact requires a means of dealing with and even proposing the phantasmic that I will take from Deleuzean discourses on sense.

The Sokal affair, and its infamous paper on the hermeneutics of Gravity, rely specifically upon an understanding of the object with a subjective privileging that is in fact merely a redoubling of the subjective, a standard of knowledge allowing rigor to be transferred to the subjective in question, an epistemic turn that passes from “experiment” to “theory” as a marker of quasifact. Quasifact is in this manner more powerful than fact: it can function as a hyperobject, explaining the relations between objects in a certain fashion and moreover becoming contingent, becoming part of an always-already completed framework that is adapted to new knowledges without change in anything but a certain verbiage. Fact requires declaration, while quasifact is a matter of prediction along lines of near-certainty. Sokal proposed gravity as a social convention, and perhaps this is more of a defensible position than he would assume. The manner in which forces of gravity operate, such that the relationship between two objects is apprehended by an invisible force, an arguable phantasm, is necessary in order to understand this proposal. The invitation to defy convention by jumping out a window often issued with discussions of Sokal is, in effect, an ignorance of the claim that is used to refute it: gravity as a convention being the force that attracts objects to one another is not refuted by its operation as self-consistent. The gravity between a body and a building is present, it is in fact operating on a consistent basis, but moreover it is overpowered by the gravitational pull of the earth insofar as the earth represents a coherent object. 

This is illustrative of the process of demarcation of the individual as part of a larger ontology of individual necessity, of articulation of an individual that in fact requires demarcating individuality as a discursive quality, as marked by certain structures of intelligibility that are by their nature descending from a hegemonic teleology, that are part of an arboreality of individual descent, an Oedipalizing realization of the self. Produced by mother and father, the child is within a wide assemblage of stratified marks of identity, an assembled structure that will not only impart a certain coercive assessment of their being at birth, but from there articulate a potential-being, a further necessity of being, a relation to the structures of social encounter and colonial artifice as forces that capture the child as individual. It is in becoming part of this act of filiation, in being an outpouring of an interaction of desire expressed in the reproductive act, that an individual becomes articulated. Processes of marking birth are necessarily Oedipal, are necessarily filial, are imposed even in absence such that any deviation will be imparted through the creation of lack, through the creation of a heteronormative ideal and an Oedipal means to realize it that will impart trauma even in fulfilment. The child is the product of social relations, and in turn must be understood as artifice, as constructed before the child may construct themselves. 

That very self, that very consciousness, is over time assumed until it is in turn reflected by the child, until one passes from merely turning the child into object through a Sartrean gaze, into the child returning that gaze, understanding mother, father, Oedipus even. One requires this specifically because a larger hierarchical structure of family bodies is so paradigmatically embedded within standards for interaction that leaving the child to discover experience through sense, through a phenomenological becoming within the body, is effectively creating a discursive absence for the child that will be recognized and exploited through the lack of acquaintance with these filial structures. There is no need to create the child in the manner that the child is created, except as part of a process of discursivity that relates children to the structures that they will in turn take into themselves, the phantasmic understanding of what sense must “mean” in order for it to qualify as sensible, for it to go beyond mere sense-phenomena and to reach the threshold of phenomenological experience. That this threshold is differentiated across different barriers, that the manner in which this threshold varies is described through the paradigm of creating a figure of “schizophrenia” is where the beginnings of schizoanalysis lie. 

Rather than neurotic descent, the character of psychoanalysis that Deleuze and Guattari reject, the schizoanalytic paradigm can be aligned with the account of the body given by Merleau-Ponty. Deleuze and Guattari talk about the sunbeams shining out of Justice Schreber, in a manner that can be discussed through the phenomenological body described by Merleau-Ponty. The key aspect of Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology is that it is through a phenomena in the body that one experiences the body, that one becomes acquainted with it through encounter but moreover that even in this sense, the body is the means by which one encounters others. The phantom limbs and idiosyncratic bodies of Merleau-Ponty’s study have been influenced by the means in which their bodies are encountered in themselves, within themselves, what the potential of the body has amounted to. Not only does the discursive construction of the body result in what can be understood as physical change to the body, but moreover the phantasmic-conceptual body is genuine in any sense of affirmation of the body.

To return to earlier concepts of a Heideggerian phenomenology, there is in part an affirmation of the conceptual framework of mixture in Heideggerian thought, in how the Dasein is not limited by the body but rather is constituted by Being-in-the-World, being-For-Others, how the Other influences the Dasein and moreover how the Other is a combinatory property of the bodies within it, how this is akin to the Universal as a structure, and moreover maintains the way in which exclusion from the universal is its very predication. One may enter the universal from below, from exclusion, as a subject of coloniality, and one may exist above its articulation, not requiring an entry into it in order to articulate oneself. There is not, as Butler would point out, a prediscursive body, but rather a discourse of universality that is in turn not necessary for some, for select molecularities of being. 

To use Deleuze’s atomism, the manner in which the simulated is active on a scale of between-atoms, how phantasm and simulacra may be transatomic and subatomic, how the relationships between objects are contained within materiality despite not being atomic, one can move toward univocality as a state of mixture. The singular body, the singular experience, requires marking an outer (as well as inner) surface, and moreover requires its difference from other bodies, the repetition of it, in order to create hyperobjectual communities. The process of creating a hyperobject is an articulatory process: the changing climate is a hyperobject, and while one can point to examples of objects that are arranged in certain assemblages (often assemblages of coloniality) by it and within it, one cannot point to a singularity as the change of climate. Rather than being a process, it is a hyperobject that represents a relationship of objects, that is itself an object. This process requires understanding and apprehending the process of mixture, of demarcating sense and the self through the body while critiquing the very process that marks a body. This is a node with a great deal of commonality within the articulation of the schizoanalytic attempt to deny a necessity of individuality while validating the process of the sensory body, of the phenomenological experience, of naming the phantoms of sense.

[avilalily94]

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What Is The Best Remedy For Premature Ejaculation

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