#human experience. how can you not understand margins??? like yes. you have to plan for the space around the space. the same way you would

[themanwhowouldbefruit]

professional full stack web developer screams and cries and shits himself over the horror of.  margins????????????????????????

[nerdygaymormon]

Matthew 5:21-48 "Ye have heard it said..."

Five times in Matthew chapter 5, Jesus uses some version of "Ye have heard that it was said...But I say unto you..." Jesus is saying that this text has been interpreted this way, but I'm giving a better way. Jesus challenged traditional ideas, He expanded the interpretation.

We can do likewise.

There's two words used a lot in Biblical study, hermeneutics and exegesis.

Hermeneutics is deciding what we will use to help us interpret the text. We bring our own sensibilities, experiences, and understandings. Scholars may bring historical context, linguistical analysis, and a knowledge of Hebrew or Greek.

Exegesis is what understanding we pull from the text. The hermeneutics we use will affect what meaning we retrieve. This is why reading the same verses at different times of our lives will give us different insights.

Jesus taught that all the laws hang on the 2 great commandments to love God and to love people. I think we can use that as our hermeneutics as we read the scriptures. What does this teach me about loving God and about loving people? How does this relate to loving my neighbor, specifically the vulnerable and marginalized?

I also think about how does this relate to queer people? I bring to this my understanding that being queer is not a choice, God made us this way and expects us to live our life as queer. It's incorrect to view queer people as broken, not worthy, or not good enough. LGBTQ+ people deserve hope and an uplifting spiritual life.

Given those hermeneutics, let's look at the examples we find in Matthew 5.

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Matthew 5:21-26

You've heard it said, 'Don't commit murder because you'll be in danger of being judged.' I say if you're angry at your siblings without a good cause, or you call them names, you'll be in danger of being judged and going to Hell. If you've come to worship God but things aren't right between you and your sibling, then leave and make things right before coming back.

Another way to state this is if a person plans to murder someone, but at the last moment doesn’t because of fear of consequences or cowardice, is that person still good with God? No. Don't murder them, but don't even be angry at them. You can't love God if you don't love your neighbor.

How does this apply to queer people? Don't physically harm LGBTQ+ people. Don't murder us, don't beat us up, don't bully us, and don't call us names. Stigma, prejudice, and discrimination create hostile and stressful social environments which lowers self-esteem, decreases psychological well-being, and has other harmful mental health outcomes. Instead, desire blessings for us and hope for our inclusion and equal standing.

—————————

Matthew 5:27-30

You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that every man who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

It is natural and good for a man to be attracted to women, he can't help that, it's how God designed humans so that we will procreate. But if he's attracted to another man's wife, how does he handle that? Does he merely note that she's attractive and move on or does he lust after her and think about being with her?

If two people have made vows to each other, it's harmful to try to get one of them to break that promise. Loving our neighbor means wanting their happiness and wanting them to have fulfillment in their most important relationship. To selfishly desire something for you that would harm their relationship is not loving. We should wish them the best in their relationship.

Unfortunately, I've had people use this passage to argue that being gay is a sin because I'm lusting after the wrong sort of person, just like the adulterer. And furthermore, by simply using the word 'gay' to acknowledge that I’m attracted to men, they say I'm identifying myself by my sin and I’m committing sin in my heart. That's not a generous or loving interpretation. This is not how straight people apply this teaching to themselves.

This scripture provides no reason to think of homosexual attraction any differently from heterosexual attraction. It's not a sin to be attracted to someone, and there are certainly appropriate ways to express those feelings. But if we seek to have sex with someone and upset their married relationship, that is a sin, as is lusting for that in our heart. A Christian should love their gay neighbor enough to want them to find a rewarding romantic relationship, just as they hope for themselves.

—————————

Matthew 31-32

It was said, 'Whoever divorces his wife must give her a divorce certificate.' But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual unfaithfulness, forces her to commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

The law was if you're going to leave your wife, you gotta give her a divorce certificate. This way she can prove she's not married any longer and can pursue finding another husband.

At that time, men had the power to divorce, women did not. Also, women at that time had little power or rights, they were reliant on men. To divorce a wife is to make her vulnerable to real harm, such as poverty, hunger, and homelessness. To not provide documentation that she is no longer married to you and thus prevent other men from being willing to marry her will cause her harm and is not loving.

Many like to say that sexual immorality is the exception clause, you are not justified in getting divorced unless your spouse has cheated on you, in which case you can move forward with splitting up. I don't know. Maybe Jesus is saying that if she cheated on you then she chose to commit adultery, but if you divorce her then you are causing her to commit adultery should she ever remarry, and you'll also be committing adultery if you remarry.

Christianity has long wrestled with these verses. Forcing people to remain in an abusive relationship or letting them split but not get divorced which means they can't remarry, that doesn't seem like it's in their best interest.

I think due to the LDS experience with polygamy and how difficult it was, the church made peace with the idea of divorce and remarriage. Not that we don't discourage divorce, it's seen as a serious thing, but if someone wants to get divorced, we won't stand in the way. And when someone who is divorced wants to get married, we allow that and even give them the highest blessings by letting them get sealed in our temples. We recognize it is to their benefit to get married and enjoy a loving relationship. They have companionship. They have a partner to help with raising the children and the many tasks of life. They can find sexual satisfaction within the bonds of a marriage. They can help each other progress.

I'm glad my church has put aside this and other teachings against divorce and remarriage, and that we recognize what a blessing it is to individuals to get out of relationships which are harming them and also that it is a blessing for them to join a new, loving relationship.

How can we apply this to queer folks? We allow them the same blessings you want for yourself. Let them form loving, committed relationships and bless those with the recognition of marriage because we know such relationships bless their lives.

—————————

Matthew 5:33-37

Again you have heard 'Don't make a false promise, you should follow through on what you have pledged to the Lord.' But I say you shouldn't make such pledges, and don't swear by heaven. Let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no.

We need to keep the commitments we make. Don't be deceitful. Don't make a promise we intend to break. When we make promises that others rely on, all while knowing we don't intend to keep that commitment, it harms them. They take actions that benefit us without getting the same in return. That's definitely not loving our neighbor. We should be honorable and trustworthy and known to keep our word. We should have integrity.

I think of people who say they love and support queer people, call themselves an ally and say we should be treated fairly by society, and then they vote for candidates who seek to block us from having legal protections and rights. If you're going to vote for our harm, then you're not the loving ally you portray yourself as.

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Matthew 5:38-42

You have heard it said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you when someone hits you on your cheek, turn the other to him. If someone legally takes your tunic, give them your cloak as well. If you are pressed into service for one mile, go two miles.

This is different from the other examples because those were saying for us not to harm others. These verses are how to respond when we get treated unfairly. Jesus is not saying that we should be a doormat inviting more injury to ourselves.

Jesus' examples are forms of passive resistance. If a Roman legionary tells you to do something, and you refuse, you are punished. If you are unjustly sued, and you lash out, then you go to prison, instead here's steps you can take to highlight the wrongness of what is being done.

I've read that in Jesus' time someone could backhand a person of lower status as a way to assert authority and dominance. If someone backhands you, turn your face so they can slap your other cheek. They can't use their left hand as it's used for unclean purposes, so will they now hit you with their open hand as that shows you're equal? By turning the other check, I am forcing them to recognize my equality or to walk away from my challenge to their dominance.

A person's tunic could be used as collateral for a loan, but not the cloak. The debtor can be forced to give the tunic off of his back, but by also giving them the cloak, they're now naked. Public nudity was viewed as bringing shame on not just the one who is naked, but also the viewer. The one enforcing his rights to take your clothes is shamed.

Inhabitants of occupied territories could be forced by Roman authorities to carry messages and equipment for one mile post, but the law prohibited forcing them to go further than a single mile. A Jew at any time could feel the tap on his shoulder from a Roman soldier and know he has to carry the soldier's gear for a mile. By going the extra mile, it's a nonviolent way to criticize the unjust Roman law and cause the Roman soldier to be at risk of discipline

These are each ways to assert our dignity and to shame others for the how they're treating us. Each is a form of resistance but not retaliation, each is a way of highlighting the injustice without it turning into revenge. This is nonviolent resistance, which can be powerful in changing hearts.

This passage reminds me of the first time I went to a Pride event, it was really joyous and wonderful, except for some preacher yelling about how we're all sinners and going to hell and even yelling insults at people walking by including about what they were wearing. He was really getting people upset. Instead of yelling insults back, or worse, a group formed a circle around him and started singing Katy Perry's song "Firework" and the rest of the crowd joined in, drowning out his hateful words, until security could remove him. We did no harm to him and our actions stood in contrast to his hate and anger. It was a way to affirm ourselves and negate his message

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Matthew 5:43-48

You've heard it said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you. God's sun rises on both the good and the bad, the rain falls on the just and unjust, in other words, he blesses all. There's no benefit in only loving those who love you.

When one group perceives another as 'the Enemy,' it's easy for conspiracy theories, prejudice, and fear to cause us to no longer see their humanity. This leads to seeing all Muslims as undercover terrorists or for some to believe that gay people are responsible for hurricanes.

We are to love everyone. This includes people who aren’t our race, or religion, or nationality. This includes sexual minorities, poor people, that annoying coworker, the politicians voting to limit your rights.

We don't have to agree with them. We focus on the issues and don’t make things personal. We can look for peaceful, constructive ways forward. We can have kindness and goodwill for people even as we disagree.

I think of the hatred toward LGBTQIA+ people by many who identify as Christian. The lack of compassion towards queer people is disheartening, and to be asked to love them in return feels difficult, but it can lead to positive change.

In 2004, 60% of Americans disapproved of gay marriage. In 2019, 61% approved of gay marriage. That's a complete flip-flop in 15 years. There were many who were vehemently against gay marriage and expressed hatred towards queer people. Gay rights advocates were speaking of love, and when gay marriage was legalized, we saw videos of couples joyously celebrating their love, which stood in contrast to the bigotry that had been expressed. It's hard to see the joy and love and believe the hateful rhetoric. Individuals naturally don't want to see themselves aligned with people who are harming and hurting people.

We can keep protesting, keep speaking our truth, keep advocating for those who can't, but don't villainize those who oppose us. Stick to the issues and act with compassion and love. Let our actions stand in contrast against those who view us as enemies.

[kimyoonmiauthor]

How literary agents can help Neurodiverse/Neurodivergent People (and everyone) query

The idea for this came from: https://twitter.com/cheyannemonkman/status/1531243041373028354

The list is my own compiled from different writers and experience with querying and being rejected.

Agents are human too, and often they don’t know what a writer’s life is like, since not all of them are writers. Also, busy. Also underpaid.

So since I’m neurodivergent, but not on the autistic spectrum, I thought I would help bridge the gap and list a wishlist of things writers who are neurodivergent would like to see from agents to help us and other writers query you. And no, I’m not aiming to vilify agents, etc. Just hoping to bring together two groups to help everyone. Sometimes accommodating disability helps everyone.

Introduction: I date far enough back in time that the only way to submit was to get a big book from the Library or purchase one and then go line by line and find places to submit. Yeah.

So this kind of thing wasn’t industry standard for obvious reasons. How are you supposed to do it in 100-250 words? I understand you very much that’s impossible.

However, as we converted to digital and things settled down, I think we can upgrade a bit and help everyone out while being accommodating to those with disability/neurodivergent. And no, I’m not name calling for agents who don’t do this. I’m asking you consider it. The Author Wishlist for agents:

How up to date is your Publisher’s Marketplace, website and Mswl?

Put up a date when you update the genres, etc or aim to update all at once so they aren’t out of alignment.

How do you want to be addressed specifically?

Ms. Mr,. Miss., Mrs.

Honorific, no honorific?

Name:

Full name, surname, first name?

List pronouns?

In case we need to talk to another agent in the agency.

Form of address:

Hello, Hi, Dear? Don’t care.

Query Letter formatting

Some agents are dead set against putting the word count info first. Some say definitely put the book description first. Which are you? Should we put how we found you, if relevant first or last?

Our Credentials? First or last?

Author biography

Only include if it has writing/life accomplishments relevant to the manuscript?

Y/N

Hobbies?

Y/N

Sentence limit?

Y/N

Hard Word Limit?

Some agents say a fantasy over 110K--will not look at it. Others say send whatever--Sara Maas got in with a 250k manuscript. Which one are you? Where are your hard word limits on fully edited manuscripts for the genres you rep?

Trigger Warnings?

Should it be in the Query letter, with the full manuscript request, synopsis and/or cover letter.

Yes/No. If you want specific types especially... up to you.

If you don’t list it, it makes it really, really hard on writers to divine. And some agents, like Janet Reid say a hard no. Make it obvious.

How long do you want the synopsis?

1 page, 2 pages, 4-5?

As noted by Vanessa MacLaren-Wray (Added with permission) (Dec 27)

Is the synopsis length dependent on single or double spacing?

Most say double, some some say single. Which is it?

Will you accept manuscripts that are not conflict narrative 3/5 act?

yes/no If you have no clue what I’m talking about: https://www.kimyoonmiauthor.com/post/641948278831874048/worldwide-story-structures

If the author plays with the story structure to fit their marginalization, such as being Neurodivergent mental health, etc, other than the 3/5 act, will you auto-reject?

Yes/no

When will we get our query answers back?

When is it Dead on arrival? 3 months? 6 months? 10 months? If you plan not to answer at all, tell us a specific cut off date.

If you’re requesting a full, please list if you would like the epilogue and author notes and when we should expect to hear back before poking you.

No, really, the industry rules became fuzzy after switching to digital. Even pros aren’t sure anymore. It used to be a hard no. But now it’s a fuzzy yes, maybe no. Also doc, pdf, etc.

Are you a mood reader?

Might prevent retractions. Don’t blast it on Twitter--update your website. Your twitter post won’t last. You know what does? The mswl and your website.

How do you like to work with authors?

I really appreciate agents who are up front about this. Hold hands type, edit it? Just sell it? etc.

Also, I have to note, if you’re open to diversity, be explicit about it and include the books you would like in your mswl AND in your reading list.

Diversity statements that you really are prepared to work with. If you’ve read Fault in Your Stars, but haven’t really read Sitting Pretty, people will notice. If you’re calling for PoC books, but your top three books of all time are white cishet male, people are less likely to believe you. I get the pressure bias--when asked people tend to list white cishet abled male books. But if repeatedly challenged and you fail, it’s not likely writers will believe you. You’re asking for PoC books, you should list PoC books and show familiarity by being able to rattle off story structures and fundamentally be able to tell how they work (better than the list above.) Same with disability, queer, etc. Show your capability to sell those books, not by your client list only, but by what you read for pleasure. Because privilege qualifying exists and make your place a safe, warm and fuzzy place to be.

Manuscript Format

The old conventions are two hyphens for a dash, dumb quotes, and let the typographers deal with things like italics, so underline. Some agents like this style and like to say, “Standard manuscript style.”

But there is a new convention where the dash is represented by the dash, the quotes are smart, and you use italics for italics. This is called, “Standard manuscript style.”

Some agents scoff and blast on twitter, “Why are you giving me your address?”

While others are saying, “Absolutely give me your address on your doc manuscript.”

And this is called, “Standard manuscript style.”

And then you see the problem here. You agents don’t agree what “Standard Manuscript style” is. And it’s only changed in the last 7 years (2017-ish, old Manuscript style was more widely accepted). And you KNOW how long it takes to sometimes get especially diverse books to be noticed.

So kindly tell us which camp you belong to in the “Standard manuscript style.” Especially if you care about manuscript style on these features.

Small Note about Document Formats: Accept ODFs

Accepting odfs is free. Open Office is free to download and cross platform/OS compatible. Sometimes people can’t afford Word. And Word is not free on all platforms. Sometimes exporting to Word corrupts the file, such as the case with Google Docs-->docx files (it removes double spacing, etc)

It costs you nothing to accept odf files and helps those who might not be able to afford Word on their machine to have access to give you files.

https://www.openoffice.org/download/

Please consider nixing all REQUIRED comps

https://www.kimyoonmiauthor.com/post/702003546640547840/philosophically-and-academically-why-im-against

Longer post is there explaining why in academic, marketing and writing history terms. But the biggest take away, I would think is that it is discriminatory towards people who have diversity--If you are calling for diversity, while asking for comps, you are limiting your clients and advertising you aren’t good at marketing. Some of our books simply do not exist, but if they were out there, they would work and sell. If you want to test the writer’s marketing skill, then there are much better metrics than comps. Comps should stay on Twitter and in conventions, though Elevator Pitches are better. (Added later than the initial post)

Level of Personalization (added from Vanessa MacLaren-Wray @CometaryTales on Twitter)

Some agents hate it and find it “creepy” and rather that “you get to the point”.

But others like things like “Stickers” and “Oh we went to the same college.”

While others are in between that point and want something more business professional such as “We met at X event/convention/conversed online.”

Do you need the how and why we chose you? Or would you prefer more hands off?

(Added later than the initial post)

Conclusion

If you think this is too long to post, you can post an example of a fake one with formatting. If you don’t care, explicitly state that. Some agents out there are very strict on these things, but the thing is--writers can’t read your mind. The standards have shifted in the digital age and it’s not consistent as it used to be. And even if we could read your mind, in most science fiction we have to be in the proximity of you to do so. So if you really care that much, help us help you so we don’t get rejected for things we can’t divine, and you get to enjoy all of the query letters and such from people who love following directions exactly how you like them.

Also complaining on Twitter about writers when you *didn’t* put it into any available material like your website, mswl or Publisher’s marketplace, honestly isn’t that helpful for neurodivergentpeople or much of anyone. I *do* get that it’s deeply satisfying, but it doesn’t help us to do better by you. We can’t read every tweet, especially those of us with PTSD, ADD, ADHD or sensory issues. It’s too much input. Invisible rules help no one and those of us who are neurodivergent might look down on you for it. If it matters that much to you and your well-being please, please put it somewhere accessible. Blasting people for things they don’t know about you and striking them publicly doesn’t look very professional to me, but then I’m neurodivergent, so maybe my perspective is different from yours.

Either way accommodating neurodivergente people is helping everyone.

[scribbly-dee]

Inspired by this post

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Georgie: "I've connected no dots."

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

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

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

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

[infinitewarden]

Osiris isn’t Savathun.

Great! Now that I have your attention:

Man you guys tire me out about Osiris. If you truly believe this is Osiris I don’t mean to sound like That Guy that’s like “you don’t know what you’re talking about” but... You don’t know what you’re talking about.

So.

Let’s talk about how much Osiris cares about the City and humanity and why the Osiris in Epilogue is not actually Osiris.

Alright. Let’s start off with context. I think it’s super important to see what we do know as Osiris’s views. From my heavy analyses of him since 2020 I can confidently say these are what he views as the most important things a person can do:

Keep promises

Speak their truths

Protect the City & Humanity

Know that the Vex are true Evil.

Now, I won’t be doing a breakdown of each one individually but I will be talking a great deal of how important honesty is to Osiris, the City, and his views of the Vex.

Speaking honestly and bluntly.

I don’t know how many of you were into Destiny before Beyond Light, so if you were unaware of this it’s not your fault. However I’ve seen a very strange change in tone when it comes to how people view Osiris. Before Season of Hunt people hated - and I mean hated - Osiris. Why? Because he was blunt. They viewed his bluntness as rudeness.

To see a sudden switch to him being secretive and scheming is... alarming, to say the least. (And to see people think that this is the norm is also alarming but in other ways.)

The Osiris before Hunt was not secretive and scheming. He sought knowledge openly. He sought, specifically, the truth. I must stress just how open he was about his plans. First I’ll give you a few in lore examples:

I admit, I found your questions divisive and disloyal, and I feared you might be capable of breaking our unity when the City's position had grown so tenuous. Why divert attention away from the Traveler, our only hope? And then it got worse, dabbling in thanatonautics, Ahamkara-lore, chasing after Xur and the tricks of the Nine. Launching expeditions into the Reef and beyond at a time when ships were irreplaceable. Your quest split Guardians along ideological lines. This was your greatest crime: Hunters chose to pursue your visions instead of protecting refugees, Titans assembled teams to chase the legendary Vault of Glass instead of striking the Fallen, and Warlocks turned away from the study of the Traveler in favor of  your  ultimate obsession... learning the exact nature of the Darkness. ... Perhaps what drives a Warlock to madness is truth.

Osiris.

"Do not romanticize this burden. We wield a weapon." The Speaker shakes his head. "The Light wields you, Osiris. You are what you make of it. A glorious extension of its majesty, in many directions." Osiris paces at cadence with his words. "Then it would do well to speak clearly. To better direct me." The Speaker cocks his head. "Without will? Then it would be no better than the Darkness." "I am asking only for guidance; it is a delicate game we are playing." Osiris's voice, distressed. Regal again, the Speaker motions to the stone garden. "Will you sit with me?"

13: Margins Part II.

And, while I don’t particularly like using the Fall of Osiris comic as a source, it does have very important lines on his viewpoints that I find relevant yet.

Fall of Osiris #1.

Hell he was open about his plans to fuck with time itself to bring Saint back.

Sagira narrowed her eye at the rogue Lightbearer and lowered herself to Osiris’s shoulder. “Why’s he here?” she asked quietly. “I asked him to consult on the engineering work,” Osiris replied, crossing his arms. “You sicko,” the other man declared, walking a circle around the Warlock, his eyes darting along every surface of the Sundial around them. ... “Just one more question, then. Why all the fuss?” “I owe him.” “I owe a lotta people, Warlock. You’re opening the gates of hell with a Vex key.” “When the Traveler brought me back, I had no friends. No family—” “No one had anything in the Dark Age.” “But Saint was always there. And I saw him grow from neophyte to demigod.”

The Sundial.

"You haven't left the Forest in years," Ikora said to Osiris, the only one to address him directly. "I need help," Osiris replied. "I know," Ikora responded, hands clasped behind her back. She stared intently at her former mentor. Back in her Crucible days, that uncompromising gaze was often the last thing her opponents saw. Aunor glanced sidelong at her superior. Harper coughed and looked down at his datapad. "Two years ago, Guardians entered the Infinite Forest," Osiris continued. "They aided me in defeating the Axis Mind Panoptes, preventing a Vex apocalypse from befalling this system. "In the process," he looked between each of them in turn, "Some Guardians reported a body they found in the Forest depths." Ikora sighed. "Saint-14 never came back from that last mission to Mercury. We finally knew why. I reacted to it the only way I knew how."

Desperate Times.

“I do not understand all of this code. This is Geppetto’s specialty,” Saint-14 says while standing bent over a wide desk covered in data tablets. Holographic images of the Lighthouse shimmer in the Hangar lights. “We could use the Crucible right now. Your trials. This will be very helpful. You mean to stay, yes?” “I will. Long enough to show you how to implement the simulation; but tonight, I must disembark,” Osiris says. “So soon?” Osiris tenses his jaw in forced silence. He twiddles with code. “I’m worried about what Vance found.” Saint places a heavy hand on Osiris’s chest. “Let go of your obsession. Do not leave chasing phantoms again.” “Phantoms… You think the Darkness is satisfied? This is just the first move. I need to know the next before it’s made.” “If there is something you fear, let me help you. We face this together.” Osiris’s mind drifts to the Dark anomalies. Saint doesn’t need another burden. “The safest place for you is the Tower, Saint. Time... tends to renege on its gifts.” “So, your mission is dangerous?” Osiris considers lying. “Potentially.”

Immolant I.

There are many more sources I could list on his bluntness and honesty but there’s honestly too much. What is important to extrapolate from all of it is this:

OSIRIS SPOKE THE TRUTH NO MATTER IF IT GOT HIM IN TROUBLE. IT IS ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS HE GOT EXILED.

Protecting the City & Humanity

Idk where people get the idea that he’s abandoned the City and humanity. And I don’t understand where people think it’s “typical Osiris behavior” to choose to put the City in danger.

I want to make something very clear here:

Osiris was exiled. He did not abandon the City. And though others view him as abandoning it, that wasn’t his intention. He never intentionally abandoned it. Everything he did was in pursuit of a brighter future for humanity. Let’s look at one of his lines from the Sundial activity during Dawn.

“By the time I left the City, many believed my practices to be sacrilege. But my methods have prevented countless futures not unlike the one you walk now. When it is laid out before you, would you not sacrifice anything to see this future shut?”

The Sundial.

He left because he weighed his options and he saw that humanity would have better use of him if he left. He cares A great deal about the City. He cares almost too much about it. He would never give Lakshmi the technology to cause it harm, especially knowing that she’s unstable. And I’ve seen some people think he’s playing 5D chess? In what world would he ever choose to bring harm upon humanity for some sort of... agenda; which I’ve already cleared up earlier, he’s open about his plans.

Let’s look at more known lore about Osiris’s feelings of the City & humanity.

"You've wrapped your mind around an idea of your own making. I have always tolerated this fawning 'movement' of yours, but this is a step too far." Osiris seethed. Brother Vance was awestruck. He stared blankly at Osiris, unsure of what he could say to quell his anger and dissolve his frustration. "What I have discovered…" "…is dangerous enough to destroy every man, woman, and child in existence. You're meddling with forces outside your grasp," Osiris reprimanded. "I warn you here and now, remove yourself from this Lighthouse. Find a simple life. Start a family. Write music. Leave Mercury and this fool's errand behind."

Chapter 8: Idolatry.

Osiris was furious to find out Vance was experimenting in his name by endangering people for his goals. And he was especially mad that he would dive into such dangerous areas so much so that it had the potential to destroy humanity.

"It's truth." Osiris considers this. "Truth seems subjective these days," Osiris says, finally observing his entourage for the first time. Among them, a small group of men and women, stand two wayward Guardians—Warlocks, it appears—and a child. Their forlorn faces resonate with him. Castaways and believers. The weeks since his departure from the Last City have worn on him. He was used to working alone, knowing he could fall back to the City's resources should he need them. Now, adrift in the expanse of purpose, he finds himself longing for a place he could return to. A sanctuary.

Chapter 2: Postexilic.

Here’s a few lines from Season of Dawn:

“The Traveler, mutilated. Mercury, a desolate warzone. This is the bleak future the Cabal wants for us all. We do not know what has become of humanity here. I hope we will not find out.”

.

“There are many terrible futures, but I have not grown numb to seeing them. The future the Cabal wish for is a nightmare for humanity.”

.

“If the Traveler fled the system, there is a chance that the Darkness would ignore our region of the galaxy entirely. It would sacrifice our second awakening, our ability to wield the Light, but potentially continue our Golden Age. There are too many variables at risk, but it's a variant path worth investigating in the Infinite Forest.”

.

“This battered Mercury is a blueprint for our system. Lightless, bowed, and nothing more than fuel for an endless war. It must never come to pass.”

The Sundial.

There are many. Many. More lines I could put here about how much Osiris doesn’t want to see humanity suffering. And especially how he doesn’t want the City to be at risk. But I think you get the picture.

Know that the Vex are true Evil.

So. We all know Osiris as “the Vex guy.” His whole thing is on fighting the Vex. However it seems people think that he’d be okay with using them for grounds of a higher purpose? Or something? I don’t know, everyone I see rebuffing Osiris’s actions with Lakshmi don’t seem to be interested in explaining this one.

So anyways. Let’s talk about how Osiris views the Vex as true evil compared to other species.

“The Fallen are not so different from us. How hard would you fight if the Light were taken from you?” “Those stories ring false to me,” said Saint. “They are not a noble people. I’ve fought them, and so have you.” “I have not fought them all,” the Warlock replied, pulling his hands apart to create an intricate web of hovering cubes and points of light. “They are nothing, no threat—not like the Vex. Not like the Darkness.”

Vanguard Commander.

[u.2:06] Have you spoken to the House of Light, like I asked? [u.1:07] I would rather not speak with Fallen. [u.2:07] They may need our help. Their cause is just. [u.1:08] What happened to “trust no one?” [u.2:08] What happened to your sense of right and wrong, hero?

Maintenance Operations Log 30037.

The unenlightened wonder at my so-called "fixation" upon the Vex. They believe our gravest existential threat is the Hive, for those beings have made a pact with the Darkness itself via the medium of the Worm Gods (according to Toland, at least, and I see no reason to doubt him in this). But Darkness is not merely absence of Light. Darkness is an entity unto itself. Put simply, Darkness is not Nothing. But the Vex? The Vex seek neither Light nor Darkness. They seek Convergence, the reduction of all life to its simplest, most meaningless form. An entelechy of zeros and ones. "Evil" is a word for sentimentalists and fools. But, in the ontology of the sentimental, the Vex are more deserving of the term than the Hive. Given a choice between Darkness and Convergence, I would choose Darkness. It is a logical choice. Yet for this they banish me.

Kairos Function (Hunter).

This one is important because Osiris doesn’t subscribe to the idea of “good” and “evil”, and that he would go so far to say that the Vex are Evil shows just how much of a threat he views them as.

It’s just. Mind boggling to me that people think that Osiris would be okay with a Vex invasion. That Osiris would encourage Lakshmi to open up a rift to “send the Fallen away” (Despite being one of the earliest sympathizers!) Osiris isn’t ineffable, he’s just a man trying to do his best to help humanity. His actions aren’t difficult to understand, they have been written to be very clear and with understanding his motives.

Saying that it’s natural for him to be secretive and have contradicting opinions and actions is just. Wrong. It’s not him. It’s not how he’s supposed to be understood. Even in Curse of Osiris I don’t think his actions didn’t make any sense.

This is going to sound very mean but I want to be 100% clear: If you think that Osiris would actively choose to put the City in danger of the Vex, if you think that he would actively choose to stand calmly and watch as his lover was about to die to the very things he spent millions of lives to save... You don’t understand Osiris. Go back and reread his lore.

I leave you with this:

The Vanguard is dubious of our intent and ability, fearing corruption and displacement. They do not trust me. You were held in similar contempt for speaking your truth and empowering free thought. You know what it feels like to be chastised and labeled a traitor. We are mere steps away from a disintegration of our institutions, and they cannot see destruction staring them in the face. ... For so long, we have clung to the Light, denying the strength offered by the Dark. By using Stasis, we will end this war. We see this contest for what it truly is: a game, played by our adversaries. And we have been the pawns. We are pawns no more. This is not a battle I want to wage without you, although we may not have a choice in the matter. Wherever you may be, please come back to us.

To Osiris.

[paenling]

no ones saying you cant enjoy daniil? people like him as a character but mostly Because he’s an asshole and he’s interesting. the racism and themes of colonization in patho are so blatant

nobody said “by order of Law you are forbidden from enjoying daniil dankovsky in any capacity”, but they did say “if you like daniil dankovsky you are abnormal, problematic, and you should be ashamed of yourself”, so i’d call that an implicit discouragement at the least. not very kind.

regardless, he is a very interesting asshole and we love to make fun of him! but i do not plan to stop seeing his character in an empathetic light when appropriate to do so. we’re all terribly human.

regarding “the racism and themes of colonization in patho”, we’ve gotta have a sit-down for this one because it’s long and difficult. tl;dr here.

i’ve written myself all back and forth and in every direction trying to properly pin down the way i feel about this in a way that is both logically coherent and emotionally honest, but it’s not really working. i debated even responding at all, but i do feel like there are some things worth saying so i’m just going to write a bunch of words, pick a god, and pray it makes some modicum of sense.

the short version: pathologic 2 is a flawed masterwork which i love deeply, but its attempts to be esoteric and challenging have in some ways backfired when it comes to topical discussions such as those surrounding race, which the first game didn’t give its due diligence, and the second game attempted with incomplete success despite its best efforts.

the issue is that when you have a game that is so niche and has these “elevated themes” and draws from all this kind of academic highbrow source material -- the fandom is small, but the fandom consists of people who want to analyze, pathologize, and dissect things as much as possible. so let’s do that.

first: what exactly is racist or colonialist in pathologic? i’m legitimately asking. people at home: by what mechanism does pathologic-the-game inflict racist harm on real people? the fact that the Kin are aesthetically and linguistically inspired by the real-world Buryat people (& adjacent groups) is a potential red flag, but as far as i can tell there’s never any value judgement made about either the fictionalized Kin or the real-world Buryat. the fictional culture is esoteric to the player -- intended to be that way, in fact -- but that’s not an inherently bad thing. it’s a closed practice and they’re minding their business.

does it run the risk of being insensitive with sufficiently aggressive readings? absolutely, but i don’t think that’s racist by itself. they’re just portrayed as a society of human beings (and some magical ones, if you like) that has flaws and incongruences just as the Town does. it’s not idealizing or infantilizing these people, but by no means does it go out of its way to villainize them either. there is no malice in this depiction of the Kin. 

is it the fact that characters within both pathologic 1 & 2 are racist? that the player can choose to say racist things when inhabiting those characters? no, because pathologic-the-game doesn’t endorse those things. they’re throwaway characterization lines for assholes. acknowledging that racism exists does not make a media racist. see more here.

however, i find it’s very important to take a moment and divorce the racial discussions in a game like pathologic 2 from the very specific experiences of irl western (particularly american) racism. it’s understandable for such a large chunk of the english-speaking audience to read it that way; it makes sense, but that doesn’t mean it’s correct. although it acknowledges the relevant history to some extent, on account of being set in 1915, pathologic 2 is not intended to be a commentary about race, and especially not current events, and especially especially not current events in america. it’s therefore unfair, in my opinion, to attempt to diagnose it with any concrete ideology or apply its messages to an american racial paradigm.

it definitely still deals with race, but it always, to me, seemed to come back around the exploitation of race as an ultimately arbitrary division of human beings, and the story always strove to be about human beings far more than it was ever about race. does it approach this topic perfectly? no, but it’s clearly making an effort. should we be aware of where it fails to do right by the topic? yes, definitely, but we should also be charitable in our interpretations of what the writers were actually aiming for, rather than reactionarily deeming them unacceptable and leaving it at that. do we really think the writers for pathologic 2 sat down and said “we’re going to go out of our way to be horrible racists today”? i don’t.

IPL’s writing team is a talented lot, and dybowski as lead writer has the kinds of big ideas that elevate a game to a work of art, particularly because he’s not afraid to get personal. on that front, some discussion is inescapable as pathologic 2 deals in a lot of racial and cultural strife, because it’s clearly something near to the his heart, but as i understand it was never really meant to be a narrative “about” race, at least not exclusively so, and especially not in the same sense as the issue is understood by the average American gamer. society isn't a monolith and the contexts are gonna change massively between different cultures who have had, historically, much different relationships with these concepts.

these themes are “so blatant” in pathologic 2 because clearly, on some level, IPL wanted to start a discussion. I think it’s obvious that they wanted to make the audience uncomfortable with the choices they were faced with and the characters they had to inhabit -- invoke a little ostranenie, as it were, and force an emotional breaking point. in the end the game started a conversation and i think that’s something that was done in earnest, despite its moments of obvious clumsiness. 

regarding colonialism, this is another thing that the game is just Not About. we see the effects and consequences of colonialism demonstrated in the world of pathologic, and it’s something we’re certainly asked to think about from time to time, but the actual plot/narrative of the game is not about overcoming or confronting explicitly colonialist constructs, etc. i personally regard this as a bit of a missed opportunity, but it’s just not what IPL was going for.

instead they have a huge focus, as discussed somewhat in response to this ask, on the broader idea of powerful people trying to create a “utopia” at the mortal cost of those they disempower, which is almost always topical as far as i’m concerned, and also very Russian.

i think there was some interview where it was said that the second game was much more about “a mechanism that transforms human nature” than the costs of utopia, but it’s still a persistent enough theme to be worth talking about both as an abstraction of colonialism as well as in its more-likely intended context through the lens of wealth inequality, environmental destruction & government corruption as universal human issues faced by the marginalized classes. i think both are important and intelligent readings of the text, and both are worth discussion.

both endings of pathologic 2 involve sacrifice in the name of an “ideal world” where it’s impossible to ever be fully satisfied. in the Diurnal Ending, Artemy is tormented over the fate of the Kin and the euthanasia of his dying god and all her miracles, but he needs to have faith that the children he’s protected will grow up better than their parents and create a world where he and his culture will be immortalized in love. in the Nocturnal Ending, he’s horrified because in preserving the miracle-bound legacy of his people as a collective, he’s un-personed himself to the individuals he loves, but he needs to have faith that the uniqueness and magic of the resurrected Earth was precious enough to be worth that sacrifice. neither ending is fair. it’s not fair that he can’t have both, but that’s the idea. because that “utopia” everyone’s been chasing is an idol that distracts from the important work of being a human being and doing your best in a flawed world. 

because pathologic’s themes as a series are so very “Russian turn-of-the-century” and draw a ton of stylistic and topical inspiration from the theatre and literature of that era, i don’t doubt that it’s also inherited some of its inspirational literature’s missteps. however, because the game’s intertextuality is so incredibly dense it’s difficult to construct a super cohesive picture of its actual messaging. a lot of its references and themes will absolutely go over your head if you enter unprepared -- this was true for me, and it ended up taking several passes and a bunch of research to even begin appreciating the breadth of its influences.

(i’d argue this is ultimately a good thing; i would never have gone and picked up Camus or Strugatsky, or even known who Antonin Artaud was at all if i hadn’t gone in with pathologic! my understanding is still woefully incomplete and it’s probably going to take me a lot more effort to get properly fluent in the ideology of the story, but that’s the joy of it, i think. :) i’m very lucky to be able to pursue it in this way.)

anyway yes, pathologic 2 is definitely very flawed in a lot of places, particularly when it tries to tackle race, but i’m happy to see it for better and for worse. the game attempts to discuss several adjacent issues and stumbles as it does so, but insinuating it to be in some way “pro-racist” or “pro-colonialist” or whatever else feels kind of disingenuous to me. they’re clearly trying, however imperfectly, to do something intriguing and meaningful and empathetic with their story.

even all this will probably amount to a very disjointed and incomplete explanation of how pathologic & its messaging makes me feel, but what i want -- as a broader approach, not just for pathologic -- is for people to be willing to interpret things charitably. 

sometimes things are made just to be cruel, and those things should be condemned, but not everything is like that. it’s not only possible but necessary to be able to acknowledge flaws or mistakes and still be kind. persecuting something straight away removes any opportunity to examine it and learn from it, and pathologic happens to be ripe with learning experiences. 

it’s all about being okay with ugliness, working through difficult nuances with grace, and the strength of the human spirit, and it’s a story about love first and foremost, and i guess we sort of need that right now. it gave me some of its love, so i’m giving it some of my patience.

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Journey with Joseph: Solidarity amid Uncertainty

A church invited me to preach for them on the first Sunday after Christmas -- and because I knew this church is composed mainly of white cishet folks who are pretty centrist in their views but open to learning, I decided to focus my sermon on Joseph as an ally (or co-conspirator)! I imagine Joseph as a powerful role model for those who strive to be in solidarity with marginalized communities to which they do not belong and whose experiences they can never fully understand. Let me know what you think :D

For the sermon transcript, go to this google doc.

And for more on the concept of Joseph as a role model for allies of trans folk in particular, check out my podcast episode 32, "A Queer Nativity: God's transition; Mary's trans-gressive yes; and Joseph's trans-formation into an ally.”

_______

Sermon Excerpt: 

When I hear of Joseph’s plans to cut things off with Mary after she goes against his expectations, what jumps to my mind is the myriad of stories I have heard from queer friends about reactions to their coming out. I have some such stories myself: loved ones who respond to our hopeful joy, our vulnerable news, with tears, anger, dismay.  “I feel like I don’t even know you anymore!” “If you follow this path, you aren’t welcome in my life.”  There is often the same sense of betrayal that Joseph must have felt. “How could you do this to me?!” parents or partners will demand...as if we have decided to be gay or trans or bi just to spite them, just to hurt them.  But the good news of our queerness is no more about them than the good news of Mary’s pregnancy was about Joseph -- it was news she longed to share with Joseph, to delight in with him…..but he felt he couldn’t be part of it. He did not believe her when she said it was all brought about by God.   He assumed God’s will was for him to cut her out of his life, to leave her by herself. But of course, God’s will isn’t always what we, any of us, assume it is.

As Reverend Tim vividly preached on a few weeks ago, God sends an angel to visit Joseph wrapped in the soft darkness of dreams. This holy messenger tells him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife, because her baby was conceived -- queerly enough -- not with any man involved but through the Holy Spirit. Mary is the faithful young woman he had known her to be -- this transformation does not change that. Indeed, she is as faithful as any a human could be -- daring to say yes to God even if it meant disgrace in the eyes of the world. 

What makes Mary extraordinary is that she is immediately on board with God’s plan -- after just a couple clarifying questions, she immediately sees and understands what role God is asking her to play in God’s revolution, an unfolding that will lift up those who like her are poor and oppressed and pull down the rich and powerful to the same level as everyone else. 

What makes Joseph extraordinary, meanwhile, is that when he incorrectly assumes the will of God, he is open to changing his mind. 

...I can only imagine how awkward and anxious he felt when he approached Mary to ask her if she would still have him, after what he’d said to her in response to her coming out, her good news. He likely admitted he still didn’t really understand, that he still had a lot of questions, but that he’d like to try, if she could find it in her to forgive him.

And Mary, being truly very full of grace, does welcome him back into her life. And from that day onward, Joseph is as good a partner as anyone could ask for!  

When his little family needs shelter, he knocks on every door in Bethlehem and will not be turned away until a stable is finally offered for them to crash in. When Mary is in the throes of labor pains with no midwife to be found, I imagine that Joseph scrambles to gather water, and clean straw, and he kneels beside her, lets her squeeze his hand till it hurts as she gives birth to the Creator of the Universe. 

And then the shepherds come to worship -- worship! -- the newborn infant that Joseph wiped the blood and gunk away from!  They worship Jesus, and Joseph wonders what on earth he’s gotten himself into -- but whatever it is, he is ride or die now. He is not going anywhere….

...Except, of course, to the temple! We’ve made it back around to today’s reading at last. Joseph is, above all else, a good Jew -- and that matters; that must be emphasized, in our own time that is still rife and rotten with antisemitism, where hate crimes against Jewish communities have risen yet again this month.

Joseph was a good Jew, above just about anything else we could say to describe him; the parents of Jesus Christ obeyed God’s instructions for their people as laid out in the Torah, and for them that meant ritual washing and sacrifices. Note one interesting point, however, about the ritual washing -- here’s the part in the Gospel reading: “When the days of their ritual washing were fulfilled according to the torah of Moses, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.”

“The days of their ritual washing,” plural. Mary’s and Joseph’s washing, together. The Torah of Moses, specifically Leviticus 12, requires only the one who gave birth to ritually wash themself. But Joseph joins Mary in this ritual. Why?

Perhaps it’s a show of solidarity with Mary -- a way for Joseph to show that whatever she underwent, he would go through too. When she goes through the pain of childbirth, he is there to ease her along, providing shelter and a hand to squeeze. When she goes through her ritual washing, he joins her, because her needs are his needs, her faith is his faith. ...

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 262: A Fierce Bad Rabbit

Previously on BnHA: The hospital raid squad, which had two jobs consisting of (1) not letting Ujiko get away, and (2) not letting any of the Noumu break free to go ravage the countryside, impressively failed at both of these tasks (or so I assume) in a remarkably short amount of time. The EndeavorZawaMicLock squad were all occupied with having a very destructive fight in the hospital lobby, leaving my girl Miruko, Goddess of Courage and First of Her Name, to do pretty much all the heavy lifting, which, fine!! Except that Ujiko remembered that he had a bunch of High End Noumus just floating there waiting to be activated, and he was all “!!” and fucking activated them, and like five of them went after Miruko all at once and smashed her into a bunch of machinery and glass tubes, which frankly should have killed her but it didn’t because she’s a fucking boss. But now it’s just her (and Crust, who might do something too, but for now JURY’S STILL OUT) against all these guys while Ujiko speeds off to grab Tomura and abscond. So basically everything that could go wrong has already gone wrong so UH. OKAY.

Today on BnHA: Miruko kicks ass. Then she checks her watch and sees that there’s still time for her to kick more ass, so she does. Then there is still time, because this chapter is all about her kicking ass! So she kicks even more ass!! It’s great!! I have no complaints!! She decapitates a man with her thighs!! That’s a thing that really happens!! Also she loses an arm but WHO HASN’T LOST AND/OR BROKEN THEIR ARMS IN THIS SERIES, REALLY. Everyone is doing it. Somehow she manages to make it look cool because Miruko. Miruko can strangle a man with a cordless phone. She can kill two stones with one bird. Miruko makes onions cry. Death once had a near-Miruko experience. Mirukoooooooo. Anyway the chapter ends with Skeptic warning everyone at The Ol’ Villain Hotel that the heroes are coming, so basically WELCOME BACK, EVERYONE, this manga is back with a vengeance.

guys I’m gonna try to do this recap fast because I’m seeing Heroes Rising tonight at 7:30! and I’m so excited! and for those that asked, yes I do plan on doing some kind of write-up about it, though it’ll all be from memory after the fact so we’ll see how that goes. but !! I’ve waited 84 years for this ahhhhh but anyway so in the meantime let’s see what new and creative ways our heroes are finding to screw this up even more

(ETA: I did it but this thing isn’t edited for shit lol. after I get back I’ll give it a more thorough readthrough so sorry if I missed any really obvious errors! also there are probably way more exclamation points than usual which may or may not be a plus or minus.)

look at this helpful announcement

High End Noumu approaching, everyone. you have been warned. just in case you somehow failed to notice?? IT’S RIGHT THERE Y’ALL LOOK OUT

lmao FINALLY

MORE HEROES. YOU ALL CERTAINLY TOOK YOUR FUCKING TIME, but hey welcome to the party. and none of that “I don’t see how that’s a party” sassy shit either. you all know what I’m talking about so get out there and have fun

so they’re standing there all “it’s a talking Noumu!” and YEAH. that’s what I’ve been fucking trying to tell you. thank god someone finally fucking said it out loud so that hopefully the EZML squad can finally take notice of this as well. like guys. bigger fish?! get to frying!!

so now Crust is all “there are more of them ahead, Miruko’s in danger!” which, again, thanks for finally letting everyone else in on this formerly exclusive scoop there pal. ‘preciate it

I... really do not understand Crust’s quirk at all. I’m just gonna own up to it

what is this. what does “zuga” mean fx-wise. why did those scale things on his arms get so big. what are they made of. what’s happening

oh it turns out that if you scroll and read more instead of pausing for ages to ask dumb questions, the thing you were asking about might actually be explained in great detail in the very next panel

but what are they made out of though. and why “Crust”?? ah well I suppose that’s a question for someone who actually cares more than I do

by the way the quality of this scan is actually really good so far, I gotta say. we’re only two pages in, true, but they either cleaned this up really nicely, or this was a much higher-quality scan than usual. either way I am appreciative!

lol this poor Noumu is shook

what did I name you two weeks ago, again? Rusty?? anyways he’s doing his best you guys. gambare my dude, though actually you do need to die, so that’s too bad though

Crust is all “you pitiful living corpse!” with tears in his eyes because he’s dramatic! but jokes aside I do appreciate that he has compassion for these monsters who are all still basically innocent victims at the end of the day

does anyone else actually hear that funny-sounding anime narrator guy in your head nowadays when you read panels like this lol

I can hear the voice so clearly and it’s great

only ten times the strength of a normal human, guys. that’s actually not that bad. I’m only half joking lol. because obviously your average hero is going to be much stronger than a so-called “normal” person too, yes? and I’m pretty sure Miruko has the strength of like 30 humans but I may be overestimating her just slightly but am I though

oh lol I apparently did not learn my lesson about doing commentary before I’m done reading hahaha

so High Ends are on a different tier of their own above even the “high” tier. well that’s just. yeah that sounds more like the “we’re still fucked” update that I was expecting

oh wait, seriously??

are you telling me that all of the High Ends were actually cultivated from villains? so maybe not completely innocent, then? is this Horikoshi’s way of trying to make us feel marginally better about the fact that the heroes are shortly henceforth going to have to exterminate these guys with great prejudice? I mean they’re still basically slaves to Ujiko’s programming now though so that sucks

also I missed this earlier but the narration here basically just confirmed that Noumu are all made from corpses. which I kind of suspected, but the still-very-much-alive Tomura would then be a glaring contradiction to that, no? or is that why he’s so special. anyway I do appreciate that we’re getting a lot of much-awaited answers in this Noumu arc, but some of this is also just raising more questions. gotta be patient I guess

speaking of Tomura, Ujiko’s back in the Tomura room, so. I assume some absconding is soon to occur

oh shit!! so there’s another panel explaining that “artificial transplant of quirks” requires surgery and then three months of stabilization time following that. sooooo I’m pretty sure this mofo just confirmed that he gave Tomura some shiny additional new quirks, so that’s nice! that’s real fucking great! I know we were all eyeing Tomura skeptically and thinking to ourselves “this is almost just right, but needs more death”

wait, what?

“I was already dead anyway” meaning that he knows there’s no way out for him? and so he doesn’t have a secret way out of the lab?? ??? can that really be true?? our intrepid heroes actually did their job right and the villains had no contingency plan?? oh my god I am so terrified of letting my guard down lmao I still refuse to believe this at all

and is that Tomura who’s at 70% stabilization? that would seem to fit with the timeline we were given. holy shit is he unboxing him early fsdfkjalsdk are we about to go from “fucked” to “exorbitantly fucked”

and why am I strangely excited about it sob!!

HAHAHAHA OH GOD

so this is how liberty dies. with a beep

also fuck you all, now it’s at 71%?! couldn’t leave it at a nice even number for us, could you? you just had to throw that extra percent in there at the last moment to fuck with us all

anyway did you all catch how fucking ripped he was there though? like boiiii whaaaaat. clearly his abs are already at 100%

OH MY GOD

DOES NOTHING FUCKING FAZE THIS BEAUTIFUL, RULE-BREAKING MOTH

HAHAHA

RIGHT??

HOLY FUCKING MOLY

friendly reminder that Dabi was all good and ready to throw down with both Endeavor and Hawks (who were admittedly weakened by that point) that one time a while back, but then Miruko showed up and he was all “lol nope I think the fuck not” and warped out of there. Dabi, whose quirk is so powerful that its only apparent downside is the fact that it roasts him alive as well. that Dabi took one look at Miruko and decided he likes having his spine intact and fucking vamoosed, because that is the smart fucking thing to do when this girl shows up smiling at you the way that she is smiling at these Noumu now

anyway. fucking Ujiko knew he needed at least five High Ends to even stand a chance of slowing her down, is all I’m saying. y’all better respect the FUCK out of Miruko, everyone. it’s the law

anyway. so. quirk: bunny. can smash rl gud

someone needs to ask Horikoshi the fuck kind of rabbits he has been hanging out with. applied that “and more!” part pretty fucking liberally huh. WHO DID YOU SAY TRIX WERE FOR AGAIN, CHILDREN??

NOBODY THROWS MIRUKO IN THE BRIAR PATCH AND GETS AWAY WITH IT

fffwhatttttttttt

that would be our good buddy Max Rebo. so that’s definitely not an elephant trunk-like thing then. we may need a new name for you

on a side note, I never thought we’d meet another character who looks more like Katsuki than Mitsuki does, and yet every damn week Miruko is proving me wrong. goddamn she is great

lmao wait maybe that wasn’t Max at all, but Jester. because this is clearly Max over here

so Girl!Noumu is a water bender, Jester can do... something weird with his hair, and Max can do anything an elephant can do if that elephant was also powered by steam. nice

HAHAHA BUT MIRUKO IS ALL “KICK!!!”

HOLY FUCK HOLY FUCK!!!

HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT. I WOULD READ AN ENTIRE MANGA OF JUST THIS LMAO THIS IS TOO MUCH ADRENALINE I CAN’T

JESTER’S WEIRD SPIKY ROCK HAIR IS SLICING HER ARM AND SHE’S ALL “THAT HURTS YOU JERK!!!!” AND GETTING READY TO FREAKING PILEDRIVE HIM I CAN’T, THOUGH!?

SDKFJLDKSJFLKJ

HER FATHER PEPPY TAUGHT HER THAT. BARREL ROLL ALL OVER THESE BITCHES!!

WHAT THE FUCK

FUCKING QUIRKS!!!! THOUGH!!!! WILLLLLLLLLD

SDKFJLAS;DHK OH MY GOD OH SHIT

real talk this is the scariest fucking quirk I’ve ever seen I was like what the fuck looking at her arm and then I saw him doing the twisty hand gesture and just. fuck. YOU’RE NOT CRIMSON RIOT AT ALL YOU’RE SOME PSYCHO TELEKINETIC BITCH AND I FUCKING HATE YOU!!

NO!!!!!

fuck fuck fuck. I’M SURE HER ARM’S GOING TO BE JUST FINE AND DANDY AFTER THIS GUYS, DON’T WORRY. THIS MANGA HAS SUCH A SERENE AND TRANQUIL HISTORY WITH ARMS. ISN’T THAT RIGHT DEKU

though on the plus side, if she does lose that arm we can count on her to somehow instantly become like 50x more attractive, which I’m pretty sure might cause the very fabric of the universe to unravel but it would be worth it

(ETA: SHE DID AND IT WAS!!)

MADAME PRESIDENT!! MY QUEEN

OH HELL YERRRRRR

fucking hell guys I’m running out of exclamation points and excited things to say here. AND SHE JUST KEEPS GOING! LIKE HER MOM THE ENERGIZER BUNNY BEFORE HER

I’M SORRY UJIKO DID YOU THINK FIVE HIGH ENDS WAS ENOUGH?! MAYBE NEXT TIME WE MAKE IT TEN, HOW ABOUT THAT. FUCK OFF

lmao holy shit I can’t stop laughingggg

well Crimson, at least you get to die happy. is she literally going to crush his face between her thighs. is this entire chapter just one big prank on me. if Miruko was the protagonist would this series have ended in the first chapter. trick question, the answer is it never would have started to begin with because she would have killed All for One years ago!! how much would it cost to hire Miruko to come kick away all of my problems for me

hello good afternoon everyone this is a real panel that really happened in this manga

I don’t even know what to say about anything anymore

sob she’s all “YEAH RIGHT” and SNAPPING HIS FUCKING NECK WITH A FUCKING TRIANGLE CHOKE, THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING, FUCKING LOOK!! AT!! THIS!!!

we’re not even gonna make it to 300 chapters. Horikoshi held off for as long as he could, but eventually Miruko couldn’t be contained any longer and he had to unleash her and she instantly went and reckt every last fucking bad guy out there until there was nothing left. who are the kids even going to fight. nobody that’s who. go back to school kids

SON OF A BITCH WHAT IS HAPPENING

THIS IS THE MOST VIOLENT THING I HAVE EVER FUCKING SEEN AND YET SOMEHOW I SWEAR I CAN HEAR ANGELS SINGING. RESPLENDENT

SOBBING!!!!

“S’POSE I SHOULD GET THIS ANNOYING THING CHECKED OUT BEFORE I BLEED TO DEATH OR SOME BULLSHIT.” WHAT AN INCONVENIENCE. JUST A FUCKING FLESH WOUND. NOBODY USES ARMS THESE DAYS ANYWAY

“IF THE ONLY WAY TO STOP YOU IS BY CRUSHING YOUR HEADS THIS WILL BE WAY EASIER THAN HOLDING BACK ON A NORMAL VILLAIN.” SOB THIS IS MIRUKO’S WORLD AND WE’RE ALL JUST BEGRUDGINGLY ALLOWED TO EXIST IN IT. MY BARONESS

DID YOU JUST TOURNIQUET YOUR DISMEMBERED FUCKING LIMB WITH YOUR OWN FUCKING HAIR ONE-HANDED FFCKCK KCKCLK JUST MIRUKO THINGS

Miruko also saw Horikoshi getting ready to end the chapter after 17 pages and was like “EXCUSE YOU THERE” and he backed off because he actually likes having a fucking head thank you very much

LMAO AND NOW OF ALL TIMES WE’RE CUTTING BACK TO THE OL’ VILLAIN RESORT. SIGH

Skeptic seems to have finally cottoned on to them being in some kind of trouble. huh

how does he know it was Jin who screwed up?? did he realize that Hawks betrayed them oh shit!?!

OOP HE’S SOUNDING THE ALARM

AND THE CHAPTER IS ENDING. BUT I’M NOT DONE SCREAMING. AHHHHHH well anyways I’m off to watch my children kick lots of ass on the big screen. assuming I can get this posted in time with zero editing whatsoever lol I’ve got like... an hour. WE SHALL SEE!

(ETA: we did it lol just barely! this whole thing is probably a giant mess but oh well! Mirukoooooo)

[somedrunkpirate]

In the dark we travel (Geraskier Sci-fi au)

The witcher fandom yelled at me so hard more gays in space spawned, I love yall. Chapter 2 just got posted. 

Chapter 1 (Tumblr) | Chapter 2 (this post)|  Chapter 1 (ao3) | Chapter 2 (ao3) 

Though Geralt has been on large ships often, there is something about Garbagecrafts that looms over you when you enter. Walking over the edge of the doorway is akin to stepping into the maw of a creature, a cavernous space opening up before in a tunnel, leading only to greater open halls. The bowels of the beast with thin walkways crawling up walls that reach 20, maybe even 30 meters. 

The echo doesn’t help matters. Even though the first three halls they pass are almost filled to the brim with labyrinths of containers, the sound of footsteps ricochets off the metal floor and comes back multiplied a dozen times over. It disorientates Geralt, the echo overlaying with actual sounds to such an extent that it is hard to know where anything is coming from. It will be better slightly further down, he knows, where the walls taper off to a humble 15 metres. 

Every Garbagecraft is built the same way. You have the smaller, lower level, where engines reside on one side, and the dangerous and toxic wastes reside on the other, guarded and secured. Then you have the second level, the one they’ve just entered, where the majority of the trash is stored in those endless halls of space. Some elect to spend their time there, in between the containers— mostly those who are able to trance or hibernate in some manner or another. A way to biologically skip the time. 

But for those who need some measure of utilities, the best bet is to come as close to the third level as possible. The crew eats, drinks and sleeps there. If you’re lucky, there are bathrooms and showers just in between the second and third level, for the lowest of the workers to use. 

The crafts are made to be manned for long periods of time. Geralt has heard of people who have been on a single garbage run for over three years. They go from planet to planet, picking up specific kinds of garbage that can be reused or destroyed in other parts of the galaxy. This one seems to be most focused on fuels— biological, chemical, quantisable, Geralt can smell all kinds —though they always have some bays open for more general waste that can be discarded off anywhere. 

Theirs is a service that goes beyond borders or politics. There have been so many planets and societies either destroyed or corrupted by their own waste, that there is an understanding among the galaxy that the disposal of materials is something that must be done with equity and generosity. No society is too small to have the right to ask a Garbagecraft coming to their docks. 

And of course, with any service that is for the good of all and has no motive other than necessity, the ships are perpetually understaffed. 

This is how they can carry people, as well as waste. For all intents and purposes, they all just got hired. 

“Are you going to claim a bunk?” Jaskier is saying, forcing Geralt to realise that he’s still walking beside him. “You’d have the right to it.”

“Hmm.” 

“That doesn’t actually illuminate anything.” 

Geralt shrugs. 

“You’d have to right to it. This place must be hell for you.” 

Geralt doesn’t respond. It isn’t that he’s wrong, but Geralt has no intention to wade into the utter mess that is the bunk claiming process. If you could call it a process. The Sketh will likely get her way, she’s shown her willingness to use her blaster in any manner she sees fit on the platform. But despite Jaskier’s idealistic declaration, the art of getting a bunk is much more about status than merely intimidation. 

There are rules in places like this— lives like these. Who is supposed to interact with whom. Where you can sit with, who you can drink with. There are three sizes of it: species, role, influence. Jaskier is going to be high up in all— humans tend to have the unerring ability to elevate themselves above others, even if it is just through sheer annoyance. His role as a Bard will gather him many accolades, as few people have an ability that is actually of use during their stay. And well, on influence. He’s shown his mastery of that on the platform as much the Sketh showed her volatile nature. Jaskier will have no trouble getting a bunk, nor gathering food, drink, protection, companionship, and all else you might need. 

Geralt, on the other hand— 

There is little consensus whether Ancienthunters even should be considered a species, rather than an augmented experiment with admittedly, some use to them. Their trade of killing the worst the universe has to offer earns them less than respect.  Many believe even the proximity to those creatures leaves the hunters tainted and prone to corruption. Influence is a hilarious afterthought, not even worth mentioning. He could use his sword, or Roach, to be convincing, in some sense of the word. But there must be more than a hundred people down below, and the moment the crew hears of a wayward Hunter, terrorizing the people, he’ll be outside the ship’s walls faster than he can blink. 

He won’t get a bunk. That’s just the way it is. 

Jaskier is about to say something else when they turn a corner, and the last cargo hall opens up before them. 

“Oh, fuck yes.” 

The last hall is where most people congregate, only because that is where the main airflow system resides. The big blades of ventilators cast a damp breeze through the area. Horrible still, but marginally better compared to the labyrinths down the hall. The further wall also gives access to the third level, and with a measure of relief Geralt can see small neon signs of pointing arrows with shower and toilet symbols. 

But the best thing— the reason why Jaskier sounded so utterly delighted, is half of the hall is empty. There are a few containers stacked to the side, and three large piles of miscellaneous crap greet them besides the entrance, but other than that, they have about half a hover-hockey stadium all to themselves. 

“They must be planning to do a pick up at The Grand Station,” Jaskier muses, smiling. “Oh this is going to make it suck so much less. Look! There are even cots put out-- those military folding beds, and there is a bar! Made from empty fuel drums, but still. They must have had a lot of stowaways here before.”

“Running low on funds,” Geralt says. It's the only reason why they actually would be catering to their technically illegal passengers. It belies a sense of desperation. Geralt’s gaze casts around the area, wondering dimly if there are any repairs the crew has been procrastinating due to lack of cash flow. Last thing they need is for the water to stop running, or worse still, for the engines to. 

“Or,” Jaskier says, eyebrows raised, “They figured we would appreciate not sleeping on the ground.”

Geralt snorts. 

“Ah, you’re one of those. The world is never dark enough in your eyes, is it?”

“I’m not the one keeping you here,” Geralt says, low and without inflection. 

Jaskier laughs like he made a particularly good joke. “You say so, but there is something magnetising about that perpetual frown. How does he manage it? Is there a limit to one's ability to glare on a daily basis? Can you get stuck like that?” 

“If you are going to ask me to smile—“ 

“I have more self preservation than that.” 

Geralt tilts his head, makes a noise that could be construed as questioning. 

“She wouldn’t have actually shot me. Much too messy.” 

“Hmm.” 

“Risk assessment is something I am particularly good at.” 

And yet you insist on talking to me, Geralt doesn’t say. 

As they walk, they’re coming nearer the open space where some of the travellers have already laid claim to a few of the cots. The Pervuvians have gathered about a dozen, laid them out in a circle, and are guarding them like dragons on a hoard of gold. A group of humans have set up a few closer to the makeshift bar. Two women, one with tight braids piled on top of her head and the other with long blond curls that must be fake, are already pouring drinks and cleaning plastic shot glasses. Yur and Decalons have gathered together, the neighbour species sharing their space much as their planets do, some even preening each other’s feathers and making quiet conversation. 

There are other little groups scattered around the area, and Geralt knows not to approach any. He stops at the last row of sporadically stacked containers. There are two that come from the wall on either side of a ladder, that leads to a small square grate hanging like a small balcony over them. It must have been once connected to a larger walkway, but Geralt can just see the haphazardly welded edges of it— maybe someone was too enthusiastic placing containers and broke through it. 

In any case, the space between the container stacks will serve as a nice place for Roach to stay, and she’ll stand vigil before the ladder. The grate won’t be comfortable, but it hangs right in the shadow— the rows of yellow industrial lights barely miss it — and from that height, he’ll be able to keep an eye on things. 

It takes Jaskier a few steps to notice that Geralt has turned right. 

“Where are you goin— really? This is where you’re going to stay?” 

“Didn’t ask.” 

“My judgements are always unsolicited and free of charge, and I think this is bullshit. You’re going to fall off of there, or at least break your back on that grate.” 

Geralt ignores him and folds out a water tray for Roach. He should have enough hydration packages for a week or so before needing to get tap water in the bathrooms. 

“Is being stubborn something they teach you or is it something innate.” 

Geralt shrugs. 

“I won’t be here if you’re gonna complain about not being able to sleep.” 

Geralt turns to him, looks him in the eye and says, “Good.” 

Jaskier throws his hands up. “I don’t know why I even— You know what. Fine. I’ll come back once you’re less—“ He makes a vague hand motion that encompasses Geralt’s general form, “— this.” 

“Good luck with that.” 

“Would booze help?” 

“Hmm.” 

“I’m choosing to take that as a yes because I desperately need some at this point.” 

“Sounds like it.” 

Jaskier makes another exasperated sound and begins to walk away. 

Geralt hesitates for a moment. Roach stares at him and then leans in to huff a warm breath in his face. 

Fine. 

“Jaskier.” 

The footsteps halt at once. 

“Yes?”

“Stay away from the old timer. Blue uniform. Wrinkles.” 

“What. Why?” 

“Just do it.” 

There is pause. 

“You’re not going to give me a straight answer, are you.” 

“Hmm.” 

Another, longer, silence. Pacing, and then a sudden chuckle. 

“You’re insufferable, you know that.” 

Geralt takes a deep breath, sighs it out through his nose. 

He braces himself when Jaskier continues speaking, but what he hears is: 

“I’ve never met a man so interesting and yet so reluctant to be at the same time in my goddamn life and I swear to you, I will figure you out.” 

And with that, Jaskier leaves. 

Geralt has absolutely no idea how to feel about any of it. 

Roach looks at him knowingly, presses her snout against his shoulder for a moment, and then turns to drink some water.

Geralt rolls his eyes and begins to climb the ladder. 

Up above he can see the commotion as the last wave of passengers arrive and the people begin to out divide the cots. He should be keeping an eye out for conflict, keeping track of who is willing to fight, who is impulsive, who is calculated. But Geralt finds himself watching as Jaskier makes his way through the crowd, slipping through all designated areas in brash ignorance of any social rules. Somehow he’s never met with a fist as he does so. Instead, wherever he goes, he draws out the species’ best approximation of a bemused smile. They seem unsure what to do with him at first, but one by one, he manages to lead them to an easy and harmless solution: to have fun. 

It doesn’t take very long before laughter cascades the hall. Rounds are had, songs are sung. 

Geralt sits above, iron pressing cold lines into his back, and watches. 

He thinks that once or twice, Jaskier looks up, and watches back. 

The merry sounds only let off when the ship gives a roaring rumble, and familiar alarms go off warning everyone aboard to take hold and sit tight. 

There are no belts in this place, but as everyone hunkers down, holding pipes and walls and each other, the ship lurches into motion. 

Geralt closes his eyes, trying to breath through the building pressure without throwing up. 

The ship tilts, dives lower, accelerates. Beds and people alike begin to list to the side. 

But with a sudden burst of force, the ship rightens and stabilises. The walls behind Geralt tremble still as different parts of the ship move and interlock with each other— going from the standard dock positions to long void travel. 

One of the platforms that had been folded up now shifts away, and opens up a small window on the opposite wall. Most everyone’s eyes are drawn to it one by one, as they slowly watch Zevos’ many purple moons becoming smaller and smaller, before the planet itself is swallowed mostly by the light of its sun. 

They have four days before that too, will disappear entirely. 

Geralt heaves a deep sigh. 

The journey has truly begun. 

[greatfay]

controversial opinions?

Cold pizza actually not good. Tastes like angry bacteria.

There’s a completely separate class of gay men who are in a different, rainbow-tinted plane of reality from the rest of us and I don’t like them. They push for “acceptance” via commercialization of the Pride movement, assimilation through over-exposure, and focus on sexualizing the movement to be “provocative” and writing annoying articles that reek of class privilege instead of something actually important like lgbtqa youth homelessness, job discrimination, and mental health awareness.

Coleslaw is good. You guys just suck in the kitchen.

Generational divides ARE real: a 16-year-old and a 60-year-old right now in 2021 could agree on every hot button sociopolitical topic and yet not even realize it because they communicate in entirely different ways.

Sam Wilson is a power bottom. No I will not elaborate.

Allison’s makeover in The Breakfast Club good, not bad. She kept literally and metaphorically dumping her trash out onto the table and it’s clearly a cry for help. Having the attention and affection of a smart, pretty girl doing her makeup for her was sweet and helped her open up to new experiences. Not every loner wants to BE a loner (see: Bender, who is fine being a lone wolf).

Movie/show recommendations that start with a detailed “representation” list read like status-effecting gear in an RPG and it’s actually a turn-off for me. I have to force myself to give something a try in spite of it.

Yelling at people to just “learn a new language” because clearly everyone who isn’t you and your immediate vicinity of friends must be a lazy ignorant white American is so fucking stupid, like I get it, you’re mad someone doesn’t immediately know how to pronounce your name or what something means. But I know 2 languages and am struggling with a 3rd when I can between 2 jobs and quite frankly, I don’t have the time to just absorb the entire kanji system into my brain to learn Japanese by tomorrow night, or suddenly learn Arabic or Welsh. There are 6500 recorded languages in the world, what’s the chance that one of 3 I’ve learn(ed?) is the one you’re yelling at me about. Yes this is referring to that post yelling at people for not knowing how to pronounce obscure Irish names and words. Sometimes just explaining something instead of admonishing people for not knowing something inherently in the belief that everyone must be lazy entitled privileged people is uh... better?

Stop fucking yelling at people. I despise feeling like someone is yelling at me or scolding me, it triggers my Violence Mode, you don’t run me, you are not God, fuck off. Worst fucking way to "educate��� people, it just feels good in the moment to say or write and doesn’t help. Yes I’ve done it before.

Violence is good actually.

Characters doing bad things ≠ an endorsement of bad things. Characters doing bad things that are unquestioned by the entire rest of the cast = endorsement of bad things, or at the least, a power fantasy by the creator. See: Glee, in which Sue’s awfulness is constantly called out, while Mr. Shue’s awfulness rarely is because he’s “the hero.” See also: the Lightbringer series, in which the protagonist is a violent manipulator who is praised as clever, charming, diplomatic, and genius by every supporting character (enemies included), despite the text never demonstrating such.

Euphoria is good, actually. It falls into this niche of the past decade of “dark gritty teen shows” but actually has substance behind it, but the general vibe I get from passive-aggressive tumblr posts from casual viewers is that this show is The Devil, and the criticism of its racier content screams pearl-clutching “what about the children??” to me.

Describing all diagnosed psychopaths as violent criminals is a damaging slippery slope, sure. But I won’t be mad at anyone for inherently distrusting another human who does not have the ability to feel guilt and remorse, empathy, is a pathological liar, or proves to be cunning and manipulative.

It’s actually not easy to unconditionally support and love everyone everywhere when you’ve actually experienced the World. Your perspective and values will be challenged as you encounter difficult people, experience hardship, are torn between conflicting ideas and commitments, and fail. My vow to never ever call the cops on another black person was challenged when an employee’s boyfriend marched into the kitchen OF AN ESTABLISHMENT to scream at her, in a BUSINESS I MANAGED, and threaten to BEAT the SHIT out of her. Turns out I can hate cops and hate that motherfucker equally, I am more than capable of both.

Defending makeup culture bad, actually. Enjoy it, experiment, master it, but don’t paint it as something other than upholding exactly what they want from you. Even using makeup to “defy the heteropatriarchal oppressors!” is still putting cash in their pockets, no matter how camp...

Not every villain needs to be redeemed, some of you just never outgrew projecting yourself onto monsters and killers.

Writing teams and networks queerbaiting is not the same as individuals queerbaiting. Nick Jonas performing exclusively at gay clubs to generate an audience really isn’t criminal; if they paid to go see him, that’s on them, he didn’t promise anyone anything other than music and a show. Do not paint this as similar to wealthy, bigoted executives and writing teams trying to snatch up the LGBTQA demographic with vague ass marketing and manipulative screenplays, only to cop out so as not to alienate their conservative audiences. And ESPECIALLY when the artists/actors/creators accused of queerbaiting or lezploitation then come out as queer in some form later on.

Queer is not a bad word, and I’ve no clue how that remains one of few words hurled at LGBTQA people that can’t be reclaimed. It’s so archaic and underused at this point that I don’t get the reaction to it compared to others.

People who defend grown-woman Lorelai Gilmore’s childish actions and in the same breath heavily criticize teenage religious abuse victim Lane Kim’s actions are not to be trusted. Also Lane deserved better.

Keep your realism out of my media, or at least make it tonally consistent. Tired of shows and movies and books where some gritty, dark shit comes out of nowhere when the narrative was relatively Romantic beforehand.

Actually people should be writing characters different from themselves, this new wave in the past year of “If you aren’t [X] you shouldn’t be writing [X]” is a complete leap backward from the 2010s media diversity movement. And if [X] has to do with an invisible minority status (not immediately visible disabilities, or diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, persecuted religious affiliations, mental illness) it’s actually quite fucked up to assume the creator can’t be whatever [X] is or to demand receipts or details of someone’s personal life to then grant them “permission” to create something. I know, we’re upset an actual gay actor wasn’t casted to play this gay character, so let’s give them shit about it: and not lose a wink of sleep when 2 years later, this very actor comes out and gives a detailed account of the pressure to stay closeted if they wanted success in Hollywood.

Projecting an actor’s personal romantic life and gender identity onto the characters they play is actually many levels of fucked up, and not cute or funny. See: reinterpreting every character Elliot Page has played through a sapphic lens, and insulting his ability to play straight characters while straight actors play actual caricatures of us (See also: Jared Leto. Fuck him).

I’m fucking sick of DaBaby, he sucks. “I shot somebody, she suck my peepee” that’s 90% of whatever he raps about.

“Political Correctness” is not new. It was, at one point, unacceptable to walk into a fine establishment and inform the proprietor that you love a nice firm pair of tits in your face. 60 years ago, such a statement would get you throw out and possibly arrested under suspicion of public intoxication. But then something happened and I blame Woodstock and Nixon. And now I have to explain to a man 40 years my senior that no, you can’t casually mention to the staff here, many of whom are children, how you haven’t had a good fuck in a while. And then rant about the “Chinese who gave us the virus.” Can’t be that upset with them if you then refused to wear your mask for 20 minutes.

Triggering content should not have a blanket ban; trigger warnings are enough, and those who campaign otherwise need to understand the difference between helping people and taking away their agency. 13 Reasons Why inspired this one. Absolutely shitty show, sure, but it’s a choice to watch it knowing exactly what it contains.

Sasuke’s not a fucking INTJ, he’s an ISFP whose every decision is based off in-the-moment feelings and proves incapable of detailed and logical planning to accomplish his larger goals.

MCU critique manages to be both spot-on and pointless. Amazing stories have been told with these characters over the course of decades; but most of it is toilet paper. Expecting a Marvel movie to be a deeply detailed examination of American nationalism and imperialism painted with a colorful gauze of avant-garde film technique is like expecting filet mignon from McDonalds. Scarf down your quarter pounder or gtfo.

Disparagingly comparing the popularity and (marginal) success of BLM to another movement is anti-black. It is not only possible but also easy to ask for people’s support without throwing in “you all supported BLM for black people but won’t show support for [insert group]” how about you keep our name out your mouth? Black people owe the rest of the world nothing tbh until yall root out the anti-blackness in your own communities.

It is the personal demon/tragic flaw of every cis gay/bi/pan man to externalize and exorcize Shame: I’m talking about the innate compulsion to Shame, especially in the name of Pride and Progress. Shame for socioeconomic “success,” shame for status of outness, shame for fitness and health, shame for looks, shame for style and dress, shame for how one fits into the gender binary, shame for sexual positions and intimacy preferences, shame for fucking music tastes. Put down the weapon that They used to beat you. Becoming the Beater is not growth, it’s the worst-case scenario.

Works by minorities do not have to be focused on their marginalized identities. Some ladies want to ride dragons AND other ladies. The pressure on minorities to create the Next Great Minority Character Study that will inevitably get snuffed at the Oscars/Peabody Awards is some bullshit when straight white dudes walk around shitting out mediocre screenplays and books.

Canadians can stfu about how the US is handling COVID-19 actually. Love most of yall, but the number of Canadian snowbirds on vacation (VACATION??? VA.CAT.ION.) in the supposed “hotbed” of my region that I’ve had to inform our mask policies and social distancing to is ASTOUNDING. Incroyable! I guess your country has a sizable population of entitled, privileged, inconsiderate, wealthy, and ignorant people making things difficult for everyone, just like mine :)

No trick to eliminate glasses fog while wearing my mask has worked, not a single one, it actually has affected my job and work speed and is incredibly frustrating, and I have to deal with it and pretend it’s not a problem while still encouraging others to follow the rules for everyone’s safety and the cognitive dissonance is driving me insane.

It’s really really really not anti-Japanese... to be uncomfortable with the rampant pedophilia in manga and anime, and voice this. I really can’t compare western animation’s sneakier bullshit with pantyshots of a 12-year-old girl.

Most of the people in the cottagecore aesthetic/tag have zero interest in all the hard work that comes with maintaining an isolated property in the countryside, milking cows and tending crops before sunrise, etc. And that’s okay? They just like flowers and pretty pottery and homemade pastries. Idk where discourse about this came from.

You think mint chip ice-cream tastes like toothpaste because you’re missing a receptor that can distinguish the flavors, and that sucks for you. It’s a sort of “taste-blindness” that can make gum spicy to some while others can eat a ghost pepper without crying.

Being a spectacle for the oppressive class doesn’t make them respect us, it makes them unafraid of us. This means they continue to devour us, but without fear of our retaliation.

Only like 4 people on tumblr dot com are actually prepared for the full ramifications of an actual revolution. The rest of you just really imprinted onto Katniss, or grew up in the suburbs.

Straight crushes are normal. They’re people first, sexual orientation second. Can’t always know.

The road to body positivity is not easy, especially if what you desire is what you aren’t.

You’re actually personally responsible for not voluntarily bringing yourself into an environment that you know is not fit for you unless you have the resolve to manage it. Can’t break a glass ceiling without getting a few cuts. This one’s a shoutout to my homophobic temp coworkers who decided working a venue with a drag show would be a good idea. This is also is a shoutout to people who want to make waves but are surprised when the boat tips. And also a shoutout to people who—wait that’s it’s own controversial opinion hold up.

Straight people can and should stay the fuck out of gay bars and queer spaces. “yoUrE bEInG diVisiVe” go fuck yourself.

[pass-the-bechdel]

Alias season one full review

How many episodes pass the Bechdel test?

Seventeen out of twenty-two (77.27%).

What is the average percentage per episode of female characters with names and lines?

25.08%

How many episodes have a cast that is at least 40% female?

Zero.

How many episodes have a cast that is less than 20% female?

Three: 1.09 – “Mea Culpa” (16.67%); 1.11 – “The Confession” (9.09%); and 1.14 – “The Coup” (17.65%)

How many female characters (with names and lines) are there?

Twenty-two. Sixteen who appeared in more than one episode, two who appeared in at least half the episodes, and one who appeared in every episode.

How many male characters (with names and lines) are there?

Eighty. Thirty-one who appeared in more than one episode, seven who appeared in at least half the episodes, and four who appeared in every episode.

Positive Content Status:

While it could have done much worse, it could have also done considerably better. The white male perspective shines through in ways that are often individually minor but collectively major (average rating of 2.86).

General Season Quality: Mindless fun, at least the first time around. However, once subjected to scrutiny, only the performances save what is in many ways a mess.  

MORE INFO (and potential spoilers) under the cut:

Alias’ first season is often considered to be among the series’ best, and it’s not hard to see why: it’s the most confident (at least on the surface), it’s the one that is most distinct from other TV shows, and features level of extravagance that is not seen in many of the future seasons. It’s also the season most in control of its various elements: while not all of them are used to their best effect, we can at least understand why they are there, and they all have a role to play.  This is very often not the case with this series.

And yet, I find that season one, which I had once considered my favorite, is actually the one that stands up least well to rewatching. With the twists and turns that define its narrative having long since lost their bite, there is very little about it that is engaging in the way future seasons are. While it features elements which I wish had been kept and not abandoned, the more I rewatch, the more it becomes clear that these elements were often just not used well.  

Take Rambaldi. While a lot of the fandom would eventually lose patience with the device and blame it for the series’ flagging quality, it is clear, upon reconsideration, that it wasn’t a good idea from the start. Are Rambaldi missions marginally more interesting than those that don’t involve Rambaldi?  Sure—but that’s not exactly hard. The problem with those early non-Rambaldi missions wasn’t the absence of a mystery box featuring a Leonardo Da Vinci knock-off, it was that there was absolutely no resonance to them. They did not tell us anything about characters. They did not feature interesting elements. They did not further the stories that existed outside of them. However, none of these are actually inherent qualities of the stories. Having non-Rambaldi stories that did not feel as if they mattered was a choice. Furthermore, none of these problems with the early missions are actually fixed by having Rambaldi in them. Rambaldi stories are often exactly as hollow as the others—they just happen to also include The Tease, which is by definition attention-grabbing and helps make it easier to ignore other crucial things—like, for example, how meaningless it all is. 

“Meaningless,”  sadly, is a word that can be used to describe many of the stories this season, which could accurately be described as a twenty-two episode version of the first three quarters of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, also by J.J. Abrams—go to Place A to do Thing B, so you can then go to Place C and do Thing D, repeat ad nauseum.  What does Rambaldi tell us about anything? What did Charlie tell us about Francie? What makes the C.I.A. fundamentally different from SD-6?  What is the point of all this prophecy business?  What’s the red ball about, and why should we care, when the series is not giving us any reason to beyond “you should care”? What is the series saying?

The closest thing the season has to a theme, as mentioned in previous reviews, is the idea that people have different faces, many of which we choose to or are forced to keep hidden for one reason or another. It’s…fine, as themes go (although it’s worth noting that Rambaldi contributes nothing to that conversation), but the season is, at best, ambivalent about it. Given how universal the thesis is, it feels very much like it should be applied to everyone, and yet this is very clearly not the case, with a very clear line between characters who get to be multifaceted and those who don’t. Additionally, a robust exploration of the theme would require a greater interest in people than the show has demonstrated; that the standard mission features the barest amount of human interaction feels like a serious misstep, and is one of the reasons why large parts of this season feel unmemorable. As crucial as Sydney’s costumes are for the series’ brand identity, the missions that facilitate them are also often the least interesting part of any given episode.

(On a related note, it’s worth noting once again that the series is also not at all interested in the various places it takes its characters to. All the jet-setting the series does exists largely to provide the barest amount of local color, and nothing else—the philosophy behind Sydney’s costumes, applied to scenery.)  

One thing that is consistently interesting about season one, though, is the difference between the Sydney the writers thought they were writing and the Sydney they actually wrote.  I’ve mentioned multiple times that there is a consistent sense that the writers were afraid of making Sydney a character that could be considered objectionable, in a way that led them to strip away every bit of complexity from her situation, and undermining the show’s very premise. Yes, she worked for a terrorist group for seven years, but Alias is not a redemption story—Sydney is never shown to have done anything that could be considered immoral. Yes, she’s actually still working for them now, but none of her missions actually require her to consider compromising her beliefs. Yes, her job requires her to dress much more sexily than she does when she’s not playing a role, but never that she have sex —spysex is bad. Yes, SD-6 is the most formative experience of her life as a young adult, but that doesn’t mean she’s in any way ambivalent about it or has seven years of history to recontextualize. No, she has no reason why to trust the government, but that doesn’t mean she is anything other than completely loyal to U.S. intelligence interests.  A situation that is nothing but complicated edges—a woman who has turned against the institution that made her who she is because she realized it was evil and that she was facilitating that evil—is as toothless as Clifford the Big Red Ball.

(Making things worse still is that the writers don’t actually morally object to the things they contrive to prevent Sydney from doing. The scene where SpyDaddy tortures and kills Haladki is not meant to make viewers think worse of SpyDaddy—just the opposite, in fact. And this has very real implications: arguing that male characters like Jack or Sloane get to have edges and imperfections while female heroes only get to be worthwhile if they’re virginal is textbook sexism.)   

This, however, isn’t to say that Sydney is flawless—but rather, that Alias, having decided to leave the natural implications of its premise unexplored, has to look elsewhere to provide imperfections. The first of these imperfections, which feels like the show’s version of the clumsy female YA protagonist trope, is that Sydney…is not smart. She’s very clever in the moment, but she is consistently very bad at long-term thinking, or at dealing with people (Alias does not care about people). While she sometimes gets called out on this—such as when she’s told her impulsive plan to quit SD-6 and still keep her normal life is impulsive and had no chance of working—it still feels exceedingly odd for a veteran spy to be thinking this way, and inexplicable in one that has been in the business for seven years and is supposedly very good at her job. That characters like SpyDaddy are, in turn, allowed to be competent in ways she isn’t make things even more baffling: if you know well enough to make your characters tactically smart, then why not allow your supposedly-smart main character to actually make tactically smart decisions?

Sydney’s lack of critical thinking mixes with the aforementioned fear of allowing her to be morally compromised in ways that further serve to undermine the character. A person who has no need to make moral compromises is much more likely to not understand the concept of compromise or moral complexity, which is very often how Sydney is written—she just loves that high horse—in a way that actively harms the series, because the series then has to warp its universe in order to fit the narrative.  It makes no sense for Sydney to consider her mother to be evil for being a KGB assassin—not in light of Sydney’s own work for SD-6—unless one makes it so that her work for SD-6 was somehow not immoral or visibly harmful.  Similarly, it makes no sense for Sydney to consider being lied to for large parts of her life as indefensible, given her life and how much of it is lying to others. And while Sydney is free to have feelings that are logically inconsistent or even hypocritical, the fact that she is never seriously called out on these inconsistencies strongly suggests that the writers have not spotted them either. 

And so, we have a Sydney who can accurately be described as a Karen: someone who (often correctly) believes systems and rules and morals are only suggestions when they apply to her but unbreakable rules when used against those she doesn’t like,  and who uses her relatively minor oppression as a way to ignore her considerable privilege, which she consistently uses for her own personal benefit. Not only is her “original” sin—telling Danny about SD-6—borne from this belief, we see it consistently in ways both major (her belief that the anti-SD-6 effort should follow her lead, even after she’d just learned that she knew nothing about the group; her attempts to secure Vaughn as her handler; her general belief that only she gets to determine who and who does not get forgiven) and minor (her blithe attempts to get an extension on classwork she didn’t do). While she’s far from the worst example of a Karen—she lacks, for example, the cruelty that characterizes those who call cops to kill Black people—she nevertheless fits the profile with shocking exactness.  

And honestly, that’s fantastic.

One of the reasons I can still appreciate Alias, despite its multiple flaws, is because it’s part of a genre that is both fairly derivative and which gets a fair amount of play—the original Nikita (the 1990 Luc Besson film) begat La Femme Nikita (the 1997-2001 TV series) begat Alias (2001-2006) begat Nikita (the 2010-2013 series) and to a lesser extent Person of Interest (2011-2016)—which means that everything it’s done badly has probably been done well elsewhere. This, in turn, allows me to enjoy Alias on its own terms. I don’t really need to see Sydney the hypercompetent, empathetic super-spy—that’s what Nikita Mears is there for, and if Sydney were more like her, then she would not be nearly as memorable or fascinating.  

(It helps immeasurably that Jennifer Garner is fantastic at making Sydney feel fundamentally likeable. Were it not for that, the series would have been unbearable.)

That said, that doesn’t mean that Sydney doesn’t present a problem for the show. As fascinating as Hypocritical Entitled Princess SpyBarbie is, she would be even more so as the main character in a world that reacts to her idiosyncrasies in a way that makes sense. That this is not the case is one of the season’s biggest problems. To go back to Sydney Doesn’t Kill, even if one could justify it in-universe, one would still need to explain why it goes on completely unremarked by anyone. The only explanation for that is to argue that SD-6 just has a general non-killing policy, which makes absolutely no sense. More generally, keeping the show’s version of Sydney viable means breaking the series’ moral parameters—SD-6 is terrible except when it isn’t—which further hinders the season or its attempts to say anything worthwhile.   

On another note entirely, let’s talk about those Bechdel Test results. When I began working on this, I was honestly expecting this season to do far worse than it did, since I remembered the bulk of Sydney and Francie’s conversations being about the men in their lives.  While this turned out to be not the whole truth, it is still largely accurate in ways that do not speak well of the season.  

The Bechdel test presents, by design, a very low bar to clear. Passing is not hard to do, and it is even less hard when the main character of the work is female—you almost have to actively work at failing in order to consistently do so. And yet, this is what almost happens with Alias. Take away Francie from the main cast—which is actually shockingly easy to do, especially in the second half of the season—and the passing rate falls dramatically.

It’s also worth noting how few of the passes actually take place outside of Sydney’s domestic life. This is a serious problem! First of all, it means that the series is very often passing by the skin of its teeth, since Sydney’s domestic life is not often the focus of the series, especially as the season progresses. More importantly, it indicates that Sydney’s worlds outside the purely domestic realm are ones made up nearly entirely of men. 

Now, it’s bad enough that Sydney is very nearly the only female intelligence operative in the world, in a world where even the desk jockeys are overwhelmingly male. But this goes beyond that. It’s not just that Sydney does not interact with female agents. It’s that she very rarely interacts with female scientists, female doctors, female party hosts, female corporate bigwigs (or, in college, with female professors). Why has the world of the show been set up this way?    

Well, consider this: in a heteronormative world—which Alias very much is, no matter how much we all love Anna Espinosa and her no-heterosexual-explanation-for-this chemistry with Sydney—seduction is not a valid interaction between two women.

I’ve noted that Sydney’s aliases are almost never about adopting concrete personas, and instead about adopting particular aesthetics, which almost always accept the modifier “sexy”—sexy maid, sexy club-goer, sexy IT person—even when there’s no actual need for it, according to stated mission parameters.  While this is, to a degree, about genre convention (sexy spies gotta sexy) there is something deeper going on here. Sydney’s aliases tend to be about being sexy because it’s Sydney’s chief interaction (whenever interaction is needed—it often is not, as mentioned earlier)—or at the very least, the use of feminine wiles is. This, in turn, is only possible because Sydney’s spy work takes place in a world largely devoid of women. It’s a vicious circle: Sydney’s missions don’t have women because sexy costumes are not needed to interact with women. Sexy costumes are needed because Sydney is always interacting with men, and the only valid interactions with them involve the possibility of sex.

Consider, in contrast, what happens with Dixon. Sydney dons costumes; Dixon adopts personas. Given that seduction is not an option for Dixon in a world with almost no women, his interactions get to be more complex—the rich person lording his privilege over the people who want his money; the cocky poker player. Heck, even Vaughn, with his limited screen time, gets to have fairly complex interactions. His alias in “The Solution” involves a more complex interaction than Sydney has ever had in the whole season, with the possible exception of…sigh…her brownface alias (which note, is also one where seduction is not available to her).

In short: Alias’ mission sequences are often so samey and uninspired because writers cannot conceive of a world in which Sydney interacts with women, or one when she can have non-sexual interactions with men. One could hardly find a better example of how sexism actively makes works worse and is inextricably linked with quality.

I’ve been fairly negative during this review so far, so it’s important to note that Alias is far from all bad. In fact, part of the reason why this season is so frustrating is because what we actually got, as disappointing as it is, is still generally so enjoyable, and makes me want the series to be its best self.  So let’s talk about things I do like.

The first and foremost element in Alias’ plus column is its excellent cast, which does an incredible job of elevating writing that, as we’ve established, often does not do them any favors. Usually, bad writing results in unlikeable characters, but not here; this is actually a supremely engaging group of people, which makes the series surprisingly easy to get through. There’s no character whose presence will stop me from enjoying an episode because of the haaaaate, and that’s a rare blessing. Even Will, who has the audacity to both date his twenty-year-old intern and then very visibly not appreciate her, even when she’s great and looks like Sarah Shahi (whose Sarah Shahi-ness is 98% of the reason why the character is great; it certainly isn’t because of the way she’s written), is someone I really, really like, which is a bona fide miracle.

(Also, shout out to unproblematic favorites Dixon and Francie, who are wonderful and don’t get nearly the development they deserve.) 

Something I also really enjoy about this season is its management of Sydney’s love life, which feels atypical for the genre in a way I appreciate. Both Will and Vaughn have really good chemistry with Sydney, and you could see her being happy with either. You can see why they all like each other. The pacing feels just right: neither Will nor Vaughn dither when it comes to expressing their feelings, and yet the evolution of said feelings and how they express them simmers at just the right speed. Will gets to have his feelings rebuffed and deal with them in exactly the right way (at least when it comes to his interactions with Sydney). None of their characters treat romance as the only worthwhile endgame of their relationships. It won’t last, but for now, this element of the series is very appreciated.  

Finally, there is something about this season’s expansive approach to world-building, which is very appealing for reasons I can’t quite describe. As someone who’s a big fan of narratives featuring tangential storylines running in tandem, I really appreciate just how many different social circles the series establishes in a very short amount of time. It could have done better by pretty much all of them, but ultimately, I am interested and invested in the world the show has established. 

In the end, though, season one’s chief asset may just be its ability to bluff, using the appearance of confidence, showmanship and excellent production values to make up for its various sins. It’s largely illusory, of course, but if you let yourself get caught up in the magicians’ misdirection, you end up with a propulsive fun experience that is also unlike anything that was going on at the time and which despite various imitators hasn’t quite been replicated since.  It may not always be great, but it’s never a slog.

Alias season 1 is not the best season of the show; it’s not even among the better ones. Still, despite it significant and arguably fatal flaws, I can’t hate it—just the opposite, really.  It’s a lot like Sydney Bristow that way.

[dailyaudiobible]

02/10/2021 DAB Transcript

Exodus 30:11-31:18, Matthew 26:47-68, Psalms 32:1-11, Proverbs 8:27-32

Today is the 10th day of February welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian and it is great to be here with you as we continue the journey through another one of our weeks together, hump day here on this, actually this is the first full-blown seven day week of the month of February. So, we’re smack in the middle of it and ready to take the next step, which will lead us back into the book of Exodus, back into the instructions that the Lord is laying out at the mountain of God, otherwise known as Mount Sinai. We’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Exodus chapter 30 verse 11 through 31 verse 18.

Commentary:

Okay. There’s…there's stuff we can talk about in every portion, every section of our reading today. So, let’s just touch base on them real quick. So, we are at the mountain of God and God is laying out statutes and ordinances and expectations. He is building a culture. He is weaving a tapestry and that usually begins with a foundation of some type of rule, right, the rule of law, some type of basis so that everybody has an understanding about how this culture conducts itself, because a culture is what, the interaction of people, right, in some sort of way, whether that be commerce or relationship or any other way. Like it's the interaction of people and expectations that one person can have another inside of a society that sort of glues the expectations together. And then we usually as people proceed to live on the margins and find out we can get away with. And that will be the story of the children of Israel just like it's our own story. But right now, God is laying this out and He's being very specific about certain things, very specific. And if certain things aren’t obeyed then the consequences can be dire. And we can read through some of this and go, “why such a dire consequence for mixing up some type of formula of incense that can, you know, like…what's the big deal? Yes, I can see that the recipe would be specific, but why can nobody else make this? Why wouldn't they want to have this holy aroma around them all the time?” There’s reasons for everything. Everything that God is laying out for the people to do or to build or to observe for that matter, certain holidays etc. etc., everything is there to…to serve a purpose. It is a reminder of identity, that they are chosen and set apart and that this is their identity. It is a reminder of who God is, who it is that they have entered into a covenant with, and it is a reminder of where they're going. They’re headed toward a land of promise. So, as we’ve talked about before. We can get into all this and go, “this is so tedious.” But so is our culture friends. It’s tedious, we just happen to know the lay of the land because we grew up in it. There are expectations inside of every culture. We can look at this and go, “this is so tedious” and forget what's obvious right in front of us. Everything these people do is a reminder of either who they are or who God is or where they're going. Everything that they do is order around the same outcome. This puts them on the same page moving in the same direction submitted to the same God. So, if there is an aroma for that than that smell means something specific, and that smell only comes from the tabernacle or the temple. That smell is what you smell when you become aware that you are entering a holy place in the presence of God. So, when you understand it in those terms instead of, “I'm just gonna go order some essential oil from my favorite essential oil”…look…I love this stuff. I love essential oils. I have aromas in the studio all the time, most every day. I love the atmosphere. I love these traditional rituals and I've been to Israel many times. I fact, had Covid not arrived we’d be gearing up to go in just a couple of weeks, but we’ve had to postpone and cancel that because the borders aren't even open. So, but I've been there many times and I’ve have been places where these holy mixtures are mixed together minus one ingredient. Like, even in the tradition today they won't make this outside of the holy place. So, you can kind of get an aroma of what this smells like minus one of the ingredients so that it's not made exactly as specified in the Bible. And we could be these thousands and thousands of years in the future going, “what's the big deal?” But we have to understand that aroma changes atmosphere, does it not? And we’ll talk about this later when we get into the…deeper into the New Testament. Can you not walk into a room and if the cookies are baking that changes…like you just immediately think of something or you walk into a room and there's the scent of pine and it's Christmas time and all of the sudden that brings the spirit of Christmas or any number of things. And…and certain smells can have very very negative triggers for certain people because it reminds them of harm or it reminds them of danger. Aroma around us sets an atmosphere. So, we could understand why this would be an important thing, that this particular aroma doesn't remind anybody of anything but God. We…we can keep going here, but let's just leave it at that because that's the point that we’re observing here, is that everything is intentional for a reason and everything means something.

We turn into the book of Matthew and we witness the betrayal of Jesus. And I’ve said we’re going into this territory for the first time and we could, “yeah, I know the story of Jesus on the cross and He rises from the dead three days later and it’s a big big deal. And that's the story of Easter and we just move on. Like I've heard this a thousand times.” That's really not the way to approach this though. Let's observe what we’ve seen just today. Judas, Judas is one of the 12 disciples, Je’s one of the inner circle of God on earth. When you put into…some of these terms where you understand…like when you say it most directly it's pretty riveting. Jesus is God made flesh, right, God incarnate, and these 12 people are His inner circle, they’re His disciples on earth. Judas is one of the inner circle of God on earth and he decides to betray Him. And Jesus is fully God and fully human, so He experiences humanity in the same way that we experience humanity. And, so, when one of His closest friends brings a mob of people with clubs and swords and they’re there to arrest Jesus and this friend walks up and puts a soft kiss upon His cheek, that is the kiss of betrayal. Anybody out there ever been betrayed by somebody you loved, right? Or anybody betrayed somebody that loved you? We are right at…at some of the most painful experiences that a human being can experience emotionally. There’s nothing more tearing and cutting and painful and disruptive. There's nothing that tips you upside down and question reality more than betrayal does. The kiss of betrayal by somebody Jesus loved is how He was captured. And then he was led away. Like what we witnessed today was the loss of freedom. God submitted himself to be bound by humanity and taken away captive. And it wasn't just random humanity it was the church leaders it was the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They’re bringing Jesus to the high priest Caiaphas. They're going to hold counsel and make a judgment about the life of Jesus, which is what we see play out today. They're trying to get two witnesses, but they can't really cobble that together. And, so, they just…they just ask Him outright, “are you the son of God, are you the Messiah?” And then Jesus says you have said it, which is basically like saying, “if…if that's what you say. You said it.” And then He goes on to say, “in the future you'll see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” They don't fall to their knees and worship at that point. They don't go like, “hang on a second, we need to explore this further” and fall to their knees and…and say, “tell us more” so that they can begin to get an understanding. They tear their robes and cry blasphemy and then declare that He deserves death and then they blindfold Him. And I know we know this, but this is Jesus. Like we’re here for this. We’re here to find out what the big deal was about Jesus. I mean some of us have been following Jesus and following His paths and being in a relationship with Christ for many many years. But then there are others of us who are here, really, truly saying, “I’m not like trying to deny or affirm anything. I just want to know the big fuss is. And, so, we have to enter into this. If we’ve heard the story a thousand times, fine. This is Jesus. This is God made flesh. They are spitting in His face. They’re spitting in His face and smacking Him and asking Him to prophesy who smacked Him. I don't know. Can that sink in? That's where we left…where we left the reading of Matthew today, is that Jesus is being spit upon and smacked around. He’s being ridiculed and made fun of. These people that have been plotting to kill Him are the religious people. And now they believe He’s committing blasphemy and they plan to execute Him. That's where this story is going. The son of God, God made flesh. That's what humanity is doing to God. And it's not just humanity. That's what religious humanity is doing to God as portrayed in the gospel of Matthew. Let's sit with that today and invite the Holy Spirit to bring up the ways in which we do the same thing usually when we don't get our way.

And we turn into the book of Psalms today and can…let…I mean…lets just listen to these words. “I will instruct you.” Let’s take this from God. “I will instruct you and show you the way to go. With my eye on you I will give counsel. Do not be like a horse or mule without understanding that must be controlled with bit and bridle or else it won't come near you. Many pains come to the wicked, but the one who trusts in the Lord will have faithful love surrounding him.” Let's take that as the truth. Let’s live into that and understand that we are seen, and that the guidance of the Holy Spirit is available. The trick really honestly, like the biggest trick we could learn this year is to insert a beat before we react to anything, like one second. If we take one second before we react to anything and in that second become aware of wisdom and become aware that God is present and watching and will show us we could save so much mayhem from like…we could take out…where we would be giving life back to ourselves. Some of the days out in the future of this year won't get ruined if we will listen. We won't go through days of silence with our spouse trying to show who’s more dominant. We won’t be doing this stuff anymore because it doesn't do anything that leads to life.

And, so, then we turn into the Proverbs today and we’re listening to the voice of wisdom. And it is here that She tells us She has been with God from the very get-go. She was with God when humanity was made. We should seek wisdom. She is older than human beings are. She has seen it all. And we should seek her as the Bible tells us as a more valuable thing than any kind of treasure we would go after, that everything flows from her and everything flows to us because of wisdom. And, so, we hear the voice of wisdom as we end our reading today and she's like, “listen to me, those who keep my ways are happy.”

Prayer:

Father, there's…there’s always rich depths in Your word. And they're…they’re rich in that they inform our minds, but they're rich in that they touch our hearts. They begin to transform things in us. They question…they ask the right questions of our lives and they begin to shape us. And, so, we are thankful for all that we have read in the Scriptures today and we ask Holy Spirit that You would come and plant these words, plant these thoughts deep into us as we move and navigate the rest of this week. May we be continually considering the path that we are walking. Come Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website and that makes it home base for the Global Campfire and of course the Daily Audio Bible app is part of that home base too. So, anything on the web is for the most part in the app as well. So, be sure to stay tuned and stay connected.

Check out the resources that are available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop to accompany us on the journey as we make our way across a year through the Bible.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well and I thank you. We’re on a mission. It's an ongoing one. It's one that doesn't end in the foreseeable future. It's a day by day step-by-step journey that leads us certainly through a year in the Bible, but leads us into a relationship with the Scriptures that doesn't really end. It's always there. The…the Scriptures are always there to inform our lives and it's our mission to bring the spoken word of God to anybody who will listen anywhere on this planet any time of day or night and…and to build community around that rhythm. And if that's you and that has been life-giving to you than thank you for your partnership. So, there's a link on the homepage. If you’re using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, which is the little red button at the top or there are a number of phone numbers that you can use. In the Americas 877-942-4253 is the number to dial. In the UK or Europe 44-20-3608-8078 is the number to dial. And if you are in Australia or that part of the world 61-3-8820-5459 is the number to call.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Good evening DABbers this is Blessings Flow in Pennsylvania. Tonight, is February 6th and there were a number of heavy prayer requests tonight and I just want you to know that I'm praying for you. Kingdom secret Daniel with your kids, the sister her and her husband lost their daughter seven years ago this month, the woman whose son took his life in college and for the rest of your family. I just want you to know that we’re praying for you. I'm praying that you'll be strengthened with power in your inner person, that Christ may dwell in your heart that through faith, that you would be rooted and grounded during this time in love. And I just wanted to pray over you. [singing starts] The blood that Jesus shed for me way back on Calvary the blood that gives me strength from day to day it will never lose its power. It soothes my doubts and calms my fears, and it drives all my tears the blood that gives me strength from day to day it will never lose its power [singing stops].

Hello DAB family this is God's Grace for Japan I just listened to the February 6th broadcast where a brother and his sister called out for prayer for families in crisis. I want to speak as a daughter of two faithful believing parents who were raised in abusive alcoholic households who chose to turn away from the path of the family curse and to believe in Jesus and His design for family. It was not easy for them. I've watched them for decades prayerfully go through crisis after crisis both from the previous generations and sickness disease cancer hatred of God all sorts of things as well as in between me and my siblings I'm afraid the abuse got through my sister abused me for 20 years and I don't think my family even knew how to process that and I'm sure my parents felt like failures that that had gotten in however I can't go into all the details for the past five years God has been redeeming that situation. My sister and I are now reconciled because I rebuked her according to Matthew 18. She fully repented and all of this is because my parents were faithful. They kept praying. I know that our families are in crisis, but God loves family. He redeems family. It takes time. Sometimes it takes decades. Sometimes it takes generations. But as a daughter of faithful parents who did not give up did not stop caring who saw who grandfather who hated God his entire life come to faith on his deathbed because of my parents belief in God's design for family, He said this a good family and because of that he believed in Yeshua before He died. I just want to encourage you parents you brothers’ you sisters keep praying keep being faithful because God will be faithful and will redeem. I love you all. I'm praying for you. God bless.

Hey this is Pike hey this is Ben and we just wanted you guys to pray about our grandma who has COPD. She really needs some prayers. She walks to the spare room and then she walks back and then she's out of breath. She has COPD because she…because she…what was it again? She started smoking when she was six. And we just ask you guys to pray about that and then that you guys will make sure God will heal her. And yeah, she is doing really bad. And yeah, that's all. We just ask you to pray about my grandma and then bye. Bye.

Hey DAB this is beautiful soul in North Carolina. I'm calling after listening to the February 8th episode. I heard a call in from a young man. He didn't give his name or anything, but he spoke about how he just come to faith within the last month and how God has changed him and pulled him from where he used to be to where he is now and how God is giving him a desire to chase after him and find out who he is in his life. He encouraged everyone to just talk to God like He's a person because He is a person and that's all he wants. And I really needed to hear that. And it’s amazing how God can use the babes in Christ to…to…to speak to those who have been in it for a while. I'm literally driving around in my car this morning just taking a drive and trying to get my head focused on God and hearing from Him and listening to Daily Audio Bible. When this young man sent his word of encouragement out, I know it was God that spoke because I needed to hear that this morning because I'm trying desperately to hear from God. So, I just appreciate God using you, young man. Continue to let God use you, continue to chase after Him and…and I'm gonna keep chasing after Him too and having these conversations so I can hear from Him. So, I appreciate that encouragement. God bless you all. God bless you, young man.

Hello this is Alice from Idaho I'm calling in to ask for prayer for my mom and her family right now. She…a few weeks ago she found out that her brother had passed away and a few days ago she found out that her sister had also recently passed away. We haven't been able to visit them 10 years now because we live in China and it's been really tough on all of us not being able to see them and for this sudden news to come as a shock for all of us. I'm asking for prayer also for my grandma my mom's mom. Obviously, this has been really hard on her and I'm praying that her heart will be softened towards the Lord and she will find comfort and peace in Jesus as well as joy and happiness. I'm praying for the same thing for all of my relatives in China. This is definitely one of the most unexpected things and I'm just hoping that they will find God and peace and joy surrounding that. Thank you so much. Bye.

Greetings fellow believers and prayers. This is Paul from Manchester calling. I have…I’ve just listened to the 2nd of February and I heard Jody from Arizona praying, asking for prayer for her family and particularly her granddaughter…her granddaughters. I just wanted to share it really touched my heart and as I started to pray, I heard the words of Psalm 23 came to mind. And I just want to pray that over them with anyone who will pray, that thank you Jesus, that you the Lord are there Shepherd, that in you they have everything that they need, that you let them rest in green meadows and that you lead them by peaceful streams, that you renew their strength and that you guide them along right paths bringing honor to your name, that even when they walk through the dark valley of death they will not be afraid for you are close beside them, your rod and your staff protect and comfort them. You prepare a feast for them in the presence of their enemies. You welcome…you welcome them as a guest anointing their head with oil and their cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and your unfailing love will pursue them all the days of their life and they will live in the house of the Lord forever. Thank you, Jesus for this wonderful way that we can connect in prayer together and for your power at work in their lives. And I pray for wisdom and courage and boldness for all parents and grandparents and carers including myself, that we would make excellent decisions for and on behalf of the people that we care for. Yeah, Lord I pray that you would be present in their…in their situation, that they would know your…

[steadyreadycollective]

ACCOUNTABILITY DEMAND OF WOODY BATTAGLIA

This is an open letter to demand Rochester, NY comedian and organizer Woody Battaglia [ETA: legal name, Ron Wood] be held accountable for numerous incidents of sexual harassment and assault. The following photos depict conversations and testimonies from survivors. We stand in solidarity with these women, who span the age ranges of 25-35 years old, come from various class backgrounds and include BIPOC women. While not all of them are part of the local comedy scene in Rochester, NY, the majority of them are or were in the past.      Due to the obvious patterns of predation by Battaglia, as well as his standing in the comedy community as a show organizer,  we anticipate more survivors coming forward once these accounts have been read.    The oldest incident reported happened in 2013.     [NOTE: Dissociative disorders are common responses to a traumatic event.]  

Predation and sexual exploitation is a common tactic among men in leadership positions because power often distorts perception. These men overestimate someone’s friendliness as sexual attraction which creates a dangerous pattern of entitlement. Here is testimony from a woman who experienced Battaglia’s abuse of power in response to her avoiding his prolonged, unwanted sexual advances:   

Here is another example of unwanted sexual advances from March, 2019: 

A third person explained how Battaglia groomed her at the beginning of her career in an egregious attempt to normalize his sexual advances :   

In a scene that is notoriously male-dominated, Woody Battaglia made numerous women feel sexualized, fetishized and unsafe. Sadly, this behavior escalated.    CW: The following is an account of sexual assault.   

There have been a few attempts at holding Battaglia accountable for his actions, but he usually gaslights survivors and/or their advocates:

  Battaglia’s few apologies have been empty and without any notes of true remorse or motions towards rehabilitation.    Often, people are unwilling or unable to recognize themselves as assault victims, thus lacking the ability to hold their assailants accountable. Predatory people rely on many things, including social hierarchies, shame, embarrassment and the culture of victim-blaming that happens when survivors come forward. Fear of an unfair legal system as well as police ridicule are also major contributing factors to this culture of silence. 

  We have reason to believe Battaglia is aware that numerous women have come together to exchange stories of his serial sexual harassment, assaults, gaslighting and professional retaliation. Almost three hours ago, he sent his usual attempt at an apology to a woman where he incentivized her silence by offering free professional development:    

We are extremely grateful for all of the women who came forward and bravely used their voices to help put an end to Woody Battaglia’s devastating behaviors. This problem is not unique, especially within creative industries where men are often given positions of power and act as gatekeepers. These are not occupational hazards. These are CRIMES.     As stated previously, we have no doubt more survivors will come forward. We will support any attempts made by them towards healing, safety, recovery and accountability.    WE DEMAND:    1. Wood Battaglia be immediately removed from any roles of leadership within the comedy community and beyond.    2. Woody Battaglia provide any people willing to work with him a concrete plan to make amends, rehabilitate and honor the autonomy of his victims.    3. Men within the local comedy community make larger, more impactful efforts to speak up for women, femme and non-binary performers. INVEST IN US. PROTECT US. DEFEND US. FOREVER.     If you are a survivor in need of help, please go to https://restoresas.org/    You are not alone.           _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _    [We’ve decided to consolidate the updates so they are also in this original post]      UPDATE 1:   We have been informed by survivors that they wish to include Battaglia’s legal name, Ron Wood, in the initial post so we have amended it to reflect those changes. Two more survivors have come forward publicly and one of them has allowed us to re-post her response from last night to this page in hopes of submitting further evidence of Battaglia’s serial predation and, more importantly, to document an incident that dates earlier than 2013, as previously reported. The following incident is from 2012 :  

We continue to be in awe of the bravery these women have shown. Coming forward with these testimonies is such a vulnerable and costly action, even when protected by anonymity. Though the solidarity of survivor-kinship can feel validating, these women are still hurting and are likely experiencing new levels of harm by reading the accounts of others.   It is our duty to affirm the anger and sorrow of these women, and all survivors, everywhere. The strength they have shown is not only admirable, but life-saving. In order to achieve true liberation for all, we must actively invest in the uplifting of community members’ voices, especially those historically silenced. We have the power to strengthen our communities from the inside. We don’t need saviors. Men: take action. Step up. Call your brothers in and have the hard conversations. Follow through. This work is a daily grind. Ask yourselves if you’ve done the actual work, or if you’re being performative. Remember, saying nothing also says something. To disengage from this conversation is to employ systems that continue to replicate the violences of oppression and, specifically, rape culture.   No more. We’ve had enough.         _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _       UPDATE 2:    We wish to thank the local Rochester comedy scene and worldwide comedy scenes and unaffiliated individuals who’ve expressed public support of the women who’ve come forward and their lead advocate (a local comedian who has fielded and submitted all of the provided screenshots to us.) This is an extraordinary show of solidarity that gives us hope. The following screenshot is from 2013, submitted by Emily Champion, a former employee of the (now closed) Acanthus Cafe on East Avenue. She worked there for approximately nine months while Battaglia hosted an open mic series.   As the open mic series was coming to its end, Battaglia sent the following inappropriate sexual advance to Champion (note the full month of non-communication between them) :  

Each testimonial thus far has shown unwelcome verbal and physical sexual attention or instances of sexual misconduct and assault. The majority of women speaking up have noted their “subordinate” positions - Battaglia was in a role of power, abusing his social standing and their trust, causing them to fear social or professional retribution.   In our experience with offenders within artistic communities, job insecurity and unreliable wages can be contributing factors in a person’s growing resentment of their “unappreciated” leadership roles. Over time, these people develop an inadequate sense of superiority and entitlement, justifying inappropriate sexual demands from people they believe “owe” them. Due to the voluntary nature of hosting and organizing, many victims lack proper channels to report sexual harassment or assault, leading to further exploitation.

For Those Struggling with The Allegations Against Battaglia

We understand and support you, too. Rape culture’s entire foundation is built on a myriad of the worst emotions / responses: confusion, shame, embarrassment, uncertainty, shock, fear and silence.  Your close proximity to a predatory person does not make you complicit but it might require you examine whether you can actively assist in any prolonged rehabilitation and accountability efforts.   Often, the immediate response to allegations of sexual misconduct or abuse are to ostracize or make threats to the offender. Everyone responds differently to news of sexual harassment and assault, but the healthiest response is to be supportive of survivors and not commit unlawful acts of retaliation. Yes, it is possible to believe the survivors and remain in healthy contact with the accused. Yes, it is possible to recognize the offender’s humanity and well-being while holding them accountable for their actions and assisting their rehabilitation if you choose.

Allow yourself space. Set boundaries. Seek a professional to support your own physical and mental health.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  

NOTE:  Incidents like these are why we renounce performative activism: public displays of “woke-ness” (via political memes or declarations made on social media) are by no means indicative of how a person acts in their personal or private life. These displays are sometimes used to thwart recognition of problematic behaviors.  

No community is immune to enabling predators. A way to be in direct opposition to this epidemic, which stems from power structures, is by explicitly opposing hierarchies within your community. Do not allow gatekeepers to happen (if there is A Leader of your scene, ask yourselves how they got there and why they've held their position if it’s been longer than a two year span.)   Anyone actively working to liberate the most marginalized members of their scene will make efforts to elevate their roles, providing access to leadership positions and community empowerment. Good luck, Rochester. There’s so much work to be done. We’re rooting for you.

[omfgtrump]

The Don Gets The Boot

FUCK YEAH!!!

ABOUT TIME!!!

Americans have voted in the first female Vice President. A mixed race Black Indian whose mother was an immigrant. Now that’s the idea of America!!!

Yes, The Don gets the boot, but how many Republicans will remain boot-lickers? Seems like Lindsey Graham has his tongue stuck to the bottom of The Don’s shoe. Congratulations Lindsey, in a unanimous vote, you win the “Sycophant of the Decade Award.”

Mittens Romney, whose occasional expression of dismay over The Don’s actions, took off the Mittens and took The Don to task. But honestly, I’m tired of hearing that Mittens shows courage and independence. Crawling out of your bunker every few months to venture your dissent only to slink back in to hiding leaves me cold. Where is your voice on The Don’s atrocious handling of the pandemic? Umm, thought so. I guess that makes sense, as you are the one who thought it was okay to tie your dog, like a piece of luggage, to the top of the car, and believed he was having fun. That takes a lot of denial and wishful thinking.

Many are shocked that The Don decided to tell the American people that he won before all the votes were counted.  Really?

Let’s examine the reasons why he thought won.

It was unfair that pollsters were counting votes after election day, even though the ballots were cast before or on election day.

He didn’t understand that you can’t choose which states to count votes.

He didn’t think it was legal for people from rat-infested cities like Baltimore to vote. So unfair, so unfair.

There are so many more Red states then Blue ones. If he has more Red M&M’s than blue ones, red wins, right?

Millions of people dressed up as other people and voted twice. The Don said: We have evidence of this. A detailed report will be coming out soon. QAnon is working on it as I speak.

Putin promised me that I would win.

There is evidence that at least 5 million dead people voted, and since Joe Biden is practically dead, they felt closer to him and voted for him. You’ve seen the “Walking Dead,” that stuff is real.

Most importantly: I never lose, so this is all fake news.

Frankly, anyone who understands The Don’s pathology, his malignant narcissism, could have written his ludicrous rant. Translated, it goes: I am The Don, I control the world; if it doesn’t go the way I render it, there is something wrong with the world as there is never anything wrong with me. That’s why I win, win, win; and never lose.

His response to the results of the election are identical to his response to the pandemic. “This can’t be happening because I didn’t deem it to be.” Once again we witness The Don’s delusional process at work, hoping if he repeats over and over that the election is illegal, rigged, a fraud, a conspiracy against the greatest president who ever lived; and that it is he, who is democracy greatest defender.

The next 74 days will be like no other transition of power in this country. Anyone believing The Don will go lightly into the night is living in their own alternative reality. Everything he has done and said before tells us that he will do whatever he can to burn the house down. The chances that he can accept defeat graciously are zero! It is not in his DNA. The Don’s entire life is predicated on destroying others in order to avoid losing: losing exposes his underlying smallness and the humiliation it brings is intolerable. He will do anything and say anything to twist reality so he doesn’t have to experience this. Up until this point in his life, he has miraculously escaped every situation that could have confronted him with his true self. He will never accept defeat and when he eventually leaves the White House (willingly?) to start Trump TV, he will turn his rage toward Joe Biden, just like he did to Barack Obama. He will continue to be a force in politics and continue to stoke fear and resentment and seek revenge on those who have usurped his power because that is the only way he can protect himself from connecting to his smallness. The good news is that those of us who do not want to ever hear from him again won’t have to because he no longer will be president. However, his desire to remain relevant to his supporters will make him a real force in Republican politics and he will have no qualms inciting people to violence. Maybe his first guest will be Steve Bannon, who recently called for the beheading of Anthony Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray.

Yes, The Don has lost; and the country, for a few moments, can exhale. Millions took to the streets in celebration. Church bells rang out in Paris like they did after the Germans surrendered; in London, there were fireworks. The perpetual state of anxiety that many Americans were thrust into for four years has been mitigated, though pharmaceutical companies are probably upset as profits may decline because fewer people will renew their prescriptions for anti-depressants and Xanax.

The Don made democracy fray at its seams, but the people pushed back. Democracy prevailed. Enough of us felt that another four years would catapult us into an autocracy. It is remarkable that nearly 150 million people voted during a pandemic.

It is also remarkable that 70 million people voted for a man who separated children from their parents, supported White Supremacists, banned Muslims, called Mexicans rapists, is a vowed sexual predator (Access Hollywood tape), was impeached (remember that), is in Putin’s pocket and did nothing when he was given high level intelligence information that Russia paid bounties to the Taliban to kill Americans, paid no taxes, covered for the Saudi Prince who murdered a Washington Post reporter and attacked science promulgating an alternative reality (with the heinous silence and collusion of Republicans) that the coronavirus is about to take a hike, when we are being ravaged and setting records for infections with 1,000 people dying every day.

Experts are saying that by the time Biden takes the reigns that there could more than 200,000 cases a day and increasing death tolls. It didn’t have to be that way, and the task before Biden and Kamala is enormous. Long after The Don is gone, our country will be paying the price for his incompetence, indecency, and heinous disregard for human life. Rather than being closer to a point where would are containing the spread, we are heading in to a very dark winter that will take a much longer time to come out of. The economic costs will be graver than necessary and tens of millions of people will continue to struggle with existential issues of food and housing insecurity. As for The Don, he will seek refuge cheating at golf and not give one iota of thought to the suffering of the American people.

For people of color, members of the LGBQT community, Muslims, immigrants and other marginalized groups, there is relief that his malignant man has been banished and hope that Biden and Kamala Harris’s policies will embrace, protect and uplift them. But these communities also see the numbers of Americans who voted for a vengeful, carnival barker who has deceived them into believing he is speaking for them, that he cares about them. Despite all they have seen and heard, his capacity to stoke fear, resentment and divisiveness allowed them to cast their ballot for a White Supremacist, a man totally void of empathy and morality.  What message does this communicate to these communities? What does this say about America and its capacity to move forward and embrace equity and inclusion?

It galls me when I hear pundits create moral equivalents between the Right and the Left’s extremism and the need for people to come together. I am all for coming together; this country will have a hard time surviving if we don’t. But the Right in this country (which at this point is the Republican Party) has been stoking racial animus, creating obstacles to voting, promulgating abhorrent and dangerous conspiracy theories, stoking violence by White Supremacists groups, and working against equity and inclusion for years. The violence at Charlottesville did not have good people on both sides. Torch-bearing White Supremacist and Nazi groups chanting anti-Semitic tropes are not the same as people fighting for racial and social justice. The oppressed fighting back is not the same as the oppressor asserting itself. Fighting for social justice shouldn’t even be a movement: it should just be. But as sobering as it is, this is America.

But America is also the place where a Black Indian Woman with an immigrant mother can become vice president. Let’s hope that that the part of us that could make that happen is the part that moves us forward during these challenging times.

P.S

I had planned to end this blog with the defeat of The Don, but given the way this transition is going to go down, I thought I would stick around and wait until he actually leaves the oval office and Biden is sworn in. Hold on to your seats!

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[zenithlux]

Cadence- CH 1

In which Vergil meets someone new, and that someone might just confuse him more than anyone else he’s met since his return from the Underworld. 

It’s here! And with an accompanying song/lyrics that I feel just fit the chapter (or something I listened to a lot while working). That will continue with every chapter because writing and music go hand and hand for me. Now, I get to share that experience with all of you!  🎶🎶

I hope you enjoy!  🥰 🥰

Hello my name is regret I’m pretty sure we have met Every single day of your life I’m the whisper inside Won’t let you forget.

Hello, My Name Is - Matthew West

After six months in the human world, Vergil still had no idea what he was doing with his life. 

He kept himself busy, of course. He took as many jobs as he could. Not because of Dante’s frequent declarations of “who better to pay off the debt!” (Vergil had done many things wrong in his life, but he would never take the blame for Dante’s current finances) but because the work gave him something to do. A purpose, if you will. For someone who often felt that the world should never have given him another chance, it was comforting to know he could do something meaningful.

Helping the small town around Devil May Cry was another one of his projects, though that was one he kept to himself. It was a small and quiet place, which was more than expected considering its location. When the twins had finally found their way out of the Underworld, they’d discovered that the town, which the citizens had unironically named ‘Haven’, was being rebuilt around the ruins of the shop. So, Dante had focused his attention on that. Not for the money potential customers would bring (though paychecks were sorely needed), but to provide some kind of assurance that the demons would never touch this small place again. 

Vergil had quietly helped with the town itself, donating a portion of his job money to the buildings that needed a little more work. And aside from a small cut that Dante demanded to “keep the lights on” (which Vergil never understood as they could see in the dark), the rest went to Nero and the orphanage in the form of anonymous donations. It wasn’t much, and Vergil knew it would never be enough. But, as Dante had told him more than once; “You can either sulk forever or move on and make up for your mistakes the best you can.” 

Today was one of the very few days Vergil had off. Since the phone had been “conveniently” unplugged that morning, there were no jobs to take. Months ago, Vergil might have argued over Dante’s “oversight”. There were always demons to deal with in a world so damaged by the Qliphoth tree. But today, he let it go. Word on the metaphorical street was that the local bookstore had finally opened its top floor with books sent from Fortuna. Vergil remembered how the owner had proudly announced that she was able to reopen with reduced prices. Rumors had circulated of another donor paying for the building’s renovation, but Vergil (regretfully) had played no part in that.

That didn’t mean he wouldn’t enjoy the fruits of someone else’s labor. 

The building had an old-fashioned feel to it, as it was filled with paintings of landscapes, bouquets of flowers, and other antiques. The walls and floors were made of wood, but the building itself had been redone with red bricks. Today, it smelled of lavender and lemons from the various candles scattered about. As usual, the owner was behind the counter, reading her own book from a stack she kept on her own personal bookshelf. She was an older woman with curly white hair and wrinkly skin, but she had the energy of someone much younger. Her wide smile was oddly comforting, even for a man who’d much rather keep to himself. 

“Welcome!” She said as she set her book down. “We’ve gotten a lot more in stock since I saw you last. Especially in our new classics section.” The old woman’s eyes lit up as she let her reading glasses drop to her chest. “I’m glad our small town finally understands the value of good literature.”

“Indeed,” Vergil said with a curt nod. She was friendly, yes, but he still wasn’t one for conversation. 

The woman gestured to a set of stairs next to her. “Some things are still being organized, so let me know if you have any questions.” 

Vergil simply nodded and headed up. The top floor was virtually identical to the bottom but much larger as it stretched over the woman’s living space. The dozen or so bookshelves reached close to the ceiling and were lined up in two, long rows. In the back, Vergil saw a trio of tables but frowned when he heard the quiet voice of another person. 

Wonderful. 

He knew he shouldn’t be bothered by other people. This place needed all the patrons it could get. But he greatly preferred solitude. 

Especially when said person started talking rather loudly, and seemingly to herself. 

“This is what I was hoping to find,” the unknown woman said. “I’m glad those donations paid off.” 

That piqued his interest, as much as Vergil wanted to ignore it. No one knew who had funded the store, just as no one knew of his donations to the housing project four months ago. And a small, insufferable part of him was undeniably curious. Reconstructing this building had not been a cheap endeavor (he’d seen the numbers himself), so he often wondered what kind of person could afford such a thing. 

“Foolishness,” he thought. He didn’t come here to make acquaintances. He came here to lose himself in the book stacks and leave marginally more relaxed so he wouldn’t want to argue with his brother once he left. 

But the damn woman wouldn’t stop talking. 

“And isn’t this a beauty?” He heard a soft thud, likely a book landing on a table. “A full collection of English Poetry. I wish I had the budget for that. I’d buy it in a heartbeat.”

Vergil twitched, and his grip tightened on Yamato. It was irritating how she was somehow saying all of the right things as if she was actively trying to get his attention. But Vergil was certain she didn’t know he was here. And even if she did, there was no possible way she could predict what kind of things would entice him. 

But Vergil didn’t want to be enticed. He wanted to read. In silence. 

Frustrated, he stubbornly scanned the closest shelf, looking for anything to distract himself. This was normal. Human interactions - or humans in general - were normal. A part of him didn’t understand why he couldn’t quite get over that fact. Maybe it was his time in the Underworld, both before and after the Qliphoth Tree. Maybe it was because he hadn’t had any respect for humans until his temporary split, and now felt uncomfortable (“Guilty,” Dante’s voice echoed in his head) whenever he was around one. 

His eyes fell to a simple poetry book - English Romantics - and his thoughts dispersed in an instant. That would be enough. Now all he had to do was find a secluded corner and…

A quiet, but unmistakable chirp caught him off guard. The woman sighed in a dreamy sort of way. “I do need more supplies for something like this,” She said. “Let’s make an order to Fortuna when we get home.”

A second, louder chirp was the final straw. 

Vergil whirled around, both irritated at the intrusion and confused at why he was so annoyed with it. And when he found the woman surrounded by an absurd amount of books, he didn’t hesitate. “Do you often talk to yourself?”

She practically leaped out of her seat. A pile of books crashed to the floor, but when she moved to grab one, Vergil saw her flinch in an odd sort of pain. She sat back up and stared at them with a forlorn look on her face. “I’m not talking to my…” She trailed off as she met his gaze. “Yes. Yes, I do.” 

He watched her for a moment, assessing how best to respond to keep the conversation in his favor. She was a petite woman, and he knew he would tower over her even if she was standing. Her odd, light-blue locks were pulled back into a loosely curled ponytail, and her cheeks were spotted with a modest, but not distracting amount of freckles. Her green eyes were the most striking; much brighter than any he had seen before. That didn’t change why he had approached her in the first place. “Keep it down,” He said. “There are others here that don’t appreciate the useless chatter.” 

“I see that now, but you must be one of the quietest people in Haven.” She watched him warily, but he didn’t miss the smile when her eyes flickered to the book in his hand. “Good choice. I highly recommend it.”

As Vergil stared at her, he realized that he didn’t have much of a plan for this conversation. But, to be perfectly honest, he hadn’t expected a conversation to spark in the first place. Most people didn’t try and converse with him after such a curt demand to be quiet. But there was something about her. Something off in a way that he didn’t quite understand. So maybe this conversation would be more beneficial than he thought. So, he quickly scanned her books, hoping for a suitable topic to continue with, but was more surprised to find that her modest piles consisted of art tutorials, history books, and the stack of anatomy textbooks that had hit the floor. It wasn’t until he found a tome of poetry that he finally figured out what to say. “One should always value the classics.”

Her eyes seemed to light up as she raised her own poetry book like it was her most prized possession. For a moment, he thought her reaction childish. But, in all fairness to her, the blue cover, expertly painted pink flowers, and golden calligraphy made the entire thing rather impressive. “I like to broaden my horizons. This, for example, is a fantastic collection of every great English Poet from Keats to Wordsworth.” Vergil’s frown deepened, but she continued before he could say anything. “Though I have a special fondness for Brontё and Blake.”

That caught him off guard. Again. “Blake?” He said, annoyed at how… confused he sounded. A very small piece of him wondered how this woman dared to fluster him, but the more rational half realized how childish that sounded. 

“He’s sorely underrated nowadays,” The woman said, clearly unaware of the chaos in Vergil’s mind. “There’s too much of a fascination with Shakespeare. Even Keats and Wordsworth get more attention than Blake. A crying shame I tell you.” She gave a dramatic sigh as she set the book back down. “But alas, I do not have the kind of time to explore such interesting topics in my old age”. 

Vergil wasn’t certain what her definition of “old age” was, as she looked about as young as he did. Though, considering how slowly he’d aged in the Underworld that wasn’t saying much. “I see.”

“What about you?”

That time, he said nothing. He wasn’t certain why, as the answer to that question was both easy and obvious. But this conversation had already spun out of his control, and he wasn’t about to admit it. The woman’s eyebrows furrowed. “Uhh… right,” She said. “I’ll just go back to… talking to myself. But quieter this time.”

“That won’t help,” He muttered. 

“Well, I can’t go home for another half an hour so…”

Vergil huffed as she reached for one of her art books. He could feel the war within his head; one side demanding that he walk away, and the other pushing him to talk. V would talk if only to defend his favorite poet. But Vergil would… do something else… maybe.

“Blake is far superior to others of his time.”

The woman’s face lit up again, and Vergil felt an uncomfortable and strange surge of satisfaction at the sight. “Most would disagree with you.”

“And they’d be wrong.” 

She laughed. “Care to support your argument?”

Vergil’s eyes narrowed, but his mind raced. A cordial debate then. That was something he could handle. “His works are art given life through his passion. He wrote for a great cause, and never shied away from the issues and progress of his time. He was a visionary, if you will.”

“The same could be said for Wordsworth and Keats. All three were the Romantic Poets of their era.”

“Blake is the most prolific,” Vergil said. “Who never let his relative obscurity hinder his writing. His focus on the future is much more valuable than dwelling in the past or on the present.”

“All three explored similar topics,” She countered, her eyes never wavering from his own. He could see glitters of excitement, and he swore her face had flushed from passion alone. “All three searched for meaning in one’s existence. And while I think looking to the future is certainly valuable, remembering one’s past and the trials can create a sense of hope for the direction they’re heading in.”

Vergil paused. Not because he didn’t have more to say, but because her words hit him a bit harder than he expected. Hope? Maybe a simple human could find hope in their past, but his was nothing but failures and mistakes. He felt his eyes narrow and didn’t miss the way her smile faltered at that alone. “Though I will admit,’ She said slowly. “I’ve always found Blake’s approach to be more… comforting.”

Vergil didn’t know what she was getting at, nor did he know why she was trying to argue in his favor. “Then you agree with me.”

“I never said I didn’t. I just enjoy a good debate.” She shrugged. “Growth is inevitable. The world is harsh, but pain is often necessary to push a person to where they truly need to be.”

Vergil paused again, as the wisdom he’d gained as V circled through his mind. While he would never admit it outright (especially not around his family), he’d been quite humbled after splitting himself. His recollection of both halves was hazy at best, but V’s memories were more prominent. His feelings towards humanity were more real than Urizen’s overwhelming desire for power. He still recalled the guilt he’d felt once he’d realized what he’d done, and how determined he had been to fix it. He’d had nothing. No power. No future. No hope. Yet… V had kept going. V had fought the demon Vergil had believed better than his human half in every way. And while this conversation with her certainly wasn’t as dangerous or world-ending under any circumstances, Vergil could feel V tugging at his mind; reminding of him what he fought for. “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to a man as is.”

“Infinite,” She finished. 

A shrill ring echoed around them. And while she reached for her heart in another burst of panic, Vergil simply glanced at the phone she’d left on the table. When she grabbed it, she grimaced. “Unfortunately, this is a call I can’t ignore.” She reached for the smallest stack of books - two art, and one anatomy. Odd choices, but Vergil wasn’t one to judge - before reaching for the poetry book. “Please take this,” She said as she held it out to him. “I’d hate for it to end up on the shelf of someone who can’t appreciate it.” 

After a brief moment of hesitation, Vergil took it. Her smile returned as she tossed a side-bag over her shoulder. “I’ll let Maybelle know I made the mess. She’s more than used to it by now.” She bowed her head ever so slightly. “Thank you for talking with me, and I’m sorry for disturbing you.”

Vergil tensed as she passed him by. His demonic senses flared to life as he realized what had been bothering him all along. Something was off about her. Inhuman. But it was so minuscule that he barely noticed. It wasn’t like Dante or Nero who exuded the confidence and power of their demon-selves, but it was something he didn’t recognize. A spike of energy that dissipated the moment she left. She couldn’t be demonic; he would have felt that from a mile away. But...

“Hey, Verge!”

His frown turned to an immediate scowl as Dante’s voice echoed from downstairs. “I’m sorry to bother ya!” He said in an unapologetic tone. “But we got important business to deal with.” 

Vergil rolled his eyes. “And here I thought the phone was off.”

“It is,” Dante said. “This was a personal visit.”

That, unfortunately, was vastly more important than whatever demonic thing the woman was involved in. Tucking the books under his arm - might as well take something for his time - he blinked as close to the counter as he could get without startling the owner. Dante was already there, leaning against it with that annoying grin on his face. “I’ll take these,” Vergil said, ignoring him completely. 

“You’re all good to go,” The owner said as she tapped the blue poetry book. “I’m glad that’s going to a good home. One of the few I considered buying for myself.”

Vergil blinked. “How much…”

“Oh Roxanna bought it for you,” She said as she fished through a nearby drawer. “And this.” Vergil’s eyes widened as she set an exquisite bookmark on top of the pile. A dark blue sky with stars that seemed to glisten off the plastic itself. Black yarn was braided on the top, with a small star charm hanging to the side. On the bookmark was a very familiar quote; “No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.” 

“I don’t…”

Dante yanked the bookmark out of his hand, inspecting it as if it were a priceless diamond. His eyes widened when he flipped it over. “She gave you her number!?” He groaned as he slapped his hand to his forehead. “I can’t believe you got a cute chick’s number before me.”

Vergil snatched it back. “I did not…” He trailed off as his eyes fell to it. 

Impossible.

She… wanted to talk to him again? That’s what a phone number meant right? No one had ever done that before, but he’d avoided anything but casual small talk, preferring to keep to himself. 

Did he want to talk to her again?

Why did he feel so strange?

Foolish.

“So when ya gonna call her?” Dante said.

Vergil glared at him. “We have a job, yes?”

Dante rolled his eyes as he spun toward the door. “Off we go then.”

Vergil glanced at the bookmark again. The woman gently pushed the books toward him. “Don’t forget these,” She said with a genuine smile. “I hope to see you again soon.”

“Let’s go, Verge!” Dante shouted from outside. “I’m not getting any younger.”

“I apologize for his…” Everything. “Behavior.”

The woman chuckled. “I don’t mind. It’s nice to see people again.”

After another moment of quiet thought, Vergil tucked the bookmark into his gift and left. 

Read on AO3 Master List

[slowpokesami]

My opinion about pokémon games 1- Kanto (Red and Blue)

Hello darlings!

In these reviews I will write about what I think is good and bad about different Pokémon videogames. I will talk (at least by the moment) about the principal games and I will go generation through generation. So yes, Kanto will be the first. Oh, and even I say bad things about some generation, I still LOVE all the games :)

Red and Blue were the first Pokémon games, created by Game Freak, and that’s why I think this was the scheme for all the games that came later. It was simple and well planned, and it introduced the first generation of pokefans to the game. There wasn’t much to do apart of completing your pokedex and fighting the gym leaders, team rocket and the league, and that’s why I think it gets kind of boring when you have played all the games. But I think it was a good plan to begin with. All the ideas of what the game consists on are there, easily explained and without much details.

About the world: I think the villages are quite boring in general, as they get kind of repetitive. I know they couldn’t do much more with it as the first game boy wasn’t prepared for details but anyways there’s something I like, and it’s that they, intentionally or not, added some background that made them more interesting. Apart from the dark touch we all know they added in Lavender Town, there are some things… how could I explain it? Really, really dark about these games. I mean, for example, have you thought about all the stuff about safari zone in Fuchsia City? It’s not just the fact that you go in a wild zone with rare and very dangerous Pokémon on it, meaning that there is people using it to attract people and make money from them, which is kind of cruel but also happens in other games; it’s also the way they are exposed in this city, just in front of the Safari, there are Pokémon exposed to the public kept in small spaces like: see this!! We’ve got weird Pokémon here!! Come on catch them all!! This gives me some cringe honestly.

About the villains: Team rocket is an interesting team, as they are inspired in a mafia, which makes a lot of sense to me. A mafia would be really interested in such powerful and dangerous creatures if they were real, and of course using them for their own benefit is something they would totally do.  I really think they already have control over Kanto. It makes sense if we link it to the dark vibes I was talking about before. For example with the casino, I think it is clear that it is no coincidence their secret base is located in there; they own the casino. Why? Because in real life there’s a lot of casinos ruled by the mafia. They already own Silph S.A. (I mean that they invaded it, not that Giovanni is the director of it, I remember the man who gives us the master ball) and the Pokémon lab in Cinnabar Island.  They own everything that gives them enough power or money to rule the region, and don’t forget two of the gym leaders are or have been part of team rocket too (Giovanni and Blaine); in the manga even Sabrina is part of Team Rocket!

That makes me think the real game was really criticizing how the ones who really rule the world are evil; the world is ruled by the mafias and some powerful people after all, using capitalism (casinos, companies, etc) and all tools they can to oppress the others and make them do everything they want in their own favor. So the real plot of the games would be about a guy fighting against the system to make Kanto a better place for both humans and Pokémon, being the main character more or less aware of it.

Other stuff I personally see dark about these games are all the glitches and the fact that’s it’s an old game per se. I sometimes doubt that those glitches were all errors and not something Game Freak added on purpose to make the games more interesting. For example, I think the Mew glitch is kind of weird. I have no idea on how programming or videogames work, honestly, but I think it wouldn’t be strange that the glitch was only a way to hide mew, making him a really weird pokemon that only could be owned by those who discovered the glitch by error (or of course the official events were they were distributed), but that are only conjectures. All the Missigno stuff also gave the gamers a lot to talk about. I’m not saying it was like that for sure, but I have reasons to believe it could be more planned than it seems. Anyways, being it planned or not, in the end these are facts that give the original games all the mysterious and punk feels they have.

The Pokemon designs: These are the original designs that made the game famous so, how could I hate them? I love 90’s manga and anime style, so old-school and not that much digitalized as nowadays. I have not much to say, they are cute. Maybe they are not as original and extravagant as in the second generation (Gold and Sylver), which are my favorites, but they have that wild touch that matched the game feels so much. There’s a great variety of designs too, so I think everyone can have some favorites there (I love slowpoke, for example); from the classical “cool shonen” Pokémon like Charizard and Dragonite, going through cuties like cleffairy or meowth, beauties like Ninetails and Lapras to freak dangerous monsters like muk or magneton. The legendaries all look stunning and intimidating so I think they are very good too. In fact, they are all very different, and I think the game freak team worked hard on it because they knew they would be the key to Pokémon’s fame; and they were.

  The character’s design: They also have this old school touch, which I like, but I think that other generations have more diversity. I mean, a thing I love about Pokémon is that everyone can feel minimally represented by some of their characters; Let’s be clear about it, while in the other games some characters look androgynous or simply not white, this first games still didn’t include these marginalized social groups (well, I suppose that they were all japanase, but that doesn’t look that inclusive thinking that the game comes from japan). But that doesn’t mean the characters were bad, just that the game lacked representation for those who don’t have that much of it, thing that is sadly normal, as it’s an old game… Apart of this, I think they are all worked too. Their designs are original; there’s a character I personally hate, and that’s why I think it’s good. Lt. Surge. Yes, this fucking war soldier; this guy gets on my nerves BUT that is cool, because people like that exists too, and Pokémon don’t represent him neither as good or bad; you just can judge by yourself liking it or not. In the other hand I love Erika and Sabrina, for example. Another thing I love about Pokémon is that the characters are so worked they let you think about what kind of people they are, why are them like that, how do they live… For example, why Erika just allows women in their gym? Is it because she was a victim of sexism? Is she a lesbian forming her harem? Ha, ha! you know, it’s not just like in most of Hollywood films or commercial manga where they only represent very beautiful people without defects and looking all the same. No; all Pokémon characters are individuals with their own personality, not demonized nor glorified, and I love it.

A thing I hate about Kanto is all the remakes and glorification there is about it. I understand it, because it’s the first game and it brings nostalgia to most of the older players, but I don’t share it. For me, Kanto was just the first Game Freak experiment and the introduction for us in the Pokémon game, and there are more complete and interesting games that came after it. Also, in my opinion, making remakes doesn’t make much sense because the funny thing about Blue and Red is how they get older, and as they get older they get darker, don’t ask me why because that is some personal feelings about it. That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the remakes, they sure are funny and enjoyable too, as they give a new point of view to the old region, but I think Game Freak could spend their time in making their new games more complete, remaking other games (like Diamond and Pearl; what happened with them? Ha, ha!)

Let’s be honest, to me these games are boring compared to others, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t good games and all the dark feels are what I love about them. And... I also think I might have just got bored of them because I played them too many times! ha, ha!

Sami Luu~