#i actually didn't know about this rebellion ...really contradicts that narrative

[fideidefenswhore]

Thomas Stafford was the ninth child and second surviving son of Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford and Ursula Pole. Little is known of his early life, first being mentioned in 1550 as he travelled to Rome, where he associated with his uncle Reginald Cardinal Pole. He spent three years in Italy before travelling to Poland, obtaining the recommendation of King Sigismund Augustus who requested Mary restore him to the Dukedom of Buckingham. Augustus's appeal appeared to have no effect. When Stafford returned to England in January 1554 he joined the rebellion led by Thomas Wyatt; this arose out of concern of Mary's determination to marry Philip II of Spain. The rebellion failed and Thomas was captured and briefly imprisoned in the Fleet Prison before fleeing to France. There, he intrigued with other English exiles and continued to promote his claim to the English throne. On 18 April 1557 (Easter Sunday) Stafford sailed from Dieppe with two ships and over 30 men. Landing in Scarborough on 25 April 1557, he walked into the unprotected castle and proclaimed himself Protector of the Realm,[2] attempting to incite a new revolt by denouncing the Spanish marriage, railed against increased Spanish influence and promised to return the crown "to the trewe Inglyshe bloude of our owne naterall countrye".[1][3][4] Stafford claimed he had seen letters at Dieppe showing that Scarborough and 12 other castles would be given to Philip II and garrisoned with 12,000 Spanish soldiers before his coronation.[5] Three days later, the Earl of Westmorland recaptured the castle and arrested Stafford and his companions. Stafford was beheaded for treason on 28 May 1557 on Tower Hill, after imprisonment in the Tower of London. Thirty-two of his followers were also executed after the rebellion.[6].

[araneitela]

"Destiny has thousands of faces, why does it choose to wear this one?"

/rattles at bars /rattles at bars more firmly

Are we supposed to take this at direct face value? Tell me something, Kafka, what exactly is Spirit Whisper, and where does it come from? Does everyone from Pteruges-V possess it? I just double checked to see if I can find anything at all in any reference, and there's nothing that seems to indicate it to be the case. But also, I find no 'odd references' to any other instance of its use anywhere else, or by anyone else? I'm having a big brain moment, humor me for a moment: what if she actually is directly tied into Fate itself? Okay, let me bundle up some of my thoughts here:

Any showcasing of Spirit Whisper indicates that it doesn't seem to even remotely drain her of anything to use (I know we're speaking game mechanics here, but remember there are drawbacks to other things in this same game), regardless of the targets in question. In her trailer, she subdues (read: pit them against one another) a large number of men without doing as much as blink, the Jepella Rebellion had her very intricately control (and since this was a 'mock trial' of sorts— I do assume a lot of its dialogue to be genuine, but still?) 4 judges. But most importantly, when Kafka (of course) accompanies Blade to the Xianzhou, she likely knew exactly who to expect upon arrival due to Elio, she must've, it would also explain why she was perfectly calm and anything but unnerved. But the ones on the scene there? They're all very big players: Blade himself, Jing Yuan, Yanqing, Dan Heng who ultimately found his High Elder form; and Kafka didn't seem to flinch nor grow concerned even once. That means she was likely prepared or able to possibly intervene through SW, that means it's inherently capable of handling very significant 'foes'. Now of course, one can say that the script would have possibly reassured her, but through her SQ we know that she actively believes that fate is not by default predetermined, which tells me that there must still be an element of preparation or a 'safety net'. Yes, I know, I'm making an argument for fate, but it's very specific. Any way, it's strong and she seems to never flinch. What on earth is it?

Now, here's one thing about it: it is able to take people's choice away from them, isn't it? Isn't that on some level directly contradicting fate? Or in other/better words: is that not directly controlling fate?

The entire trailer ends on the premise of what No Country for Old Men presents, and to elaborate for those who don't know it: the entire story narrows down on the narrative that destiny is encroaching on all of us, you can't outrun destiny, any choice that you believe you have is an illusion because there is no second-guessing fate. In that final sequence, Kafka presents the final man with a coin flip, 'as for the ending, wanna take a guess? Some might think he stood a 50/50 chance of surviving this if he guessed correctly, but he doesn't,  and he never did. It's even in the way that she speaks, she never actually offers him a chance. If anything, she's simply presenting fate as inevitable. And when the scene proceeds, you hear the gunshot following almost immediately. Within this trailer, the one who controls all of their fates and how they are led to it, is Kafka herself. Throughout all of this, Kafka is in full control of their fate.

I'm talking nonsensically here, as in I'm just putting out thoughts almost maniacally, but I feel as if I'm connecting dots, I really feel like there's something here. But let me present you with the dialogue that I noted at the beginning one more time, and reread it after what I just talked about:

"Destiny has thousands of faces, why does it choose to wear this one?"

Not only that, but look at the shot that accompanies it. Yes, we know it's her spirit whisper due to the glow in her eyes (although I'm now also wondering, because at the beginning of the trailer, I don't see it as firmly; does it possibly grow fainter if its use is lighter?) but the entire moment is so immense, so overbearing. And the fact that this specific shot also feels as if it's a callback as well to Rorschach Inkblot's Fear Card, which is just perfect use of it by the way. But any way, let me point you to the other dialogue:

"Stealing a glance?"

And this line appears during the 'fulfillment' of the fate of the man we then see, at her hands, and let me show you the glimpse we're given of his final moments, just as she speaks those words. Stealing a glance at what, exactly? His fate? Or... fate? Is it her? Or part of it? — And lastly, there's another few lines that I want to point out, and they're at the beginning. And this, to me, is more so interesting because of the odd phrasing that was chosen for this. I do so wish I knew Chinese, because I'd love to know the source text and its weight/significance:

"Don't be afraid. Listen to me, wasn't it you, who invited me?"

Kafka. Kafka. Kafka. I need answers. Who are you talking to; to all of them? Why would they be inviting you? Unless we're talking quite literally, but then I present the question again: why?

Ugh. The Greek Fates, destiny. The Moirai, they weave the (silk) threads of fate. And then there's the spider, the arachnids that are all over her design. Silk, a spider weaves silk, fate could be, in part, represented by a spider within this universe (all en-compassing, coaxing, and yet not forcing), a spider that weaves silk, silken threads of fate. Am I overthinking this? I probably am, but this is so on the nose to me, that I can't imagine it to be a coincidence. Mihoyo doesn't do anything without meaning to. Ugh. Now if she is tied to fate in any capacity, that gives me something extra to hook into in terms of that 'humanity' that we're given glimpses of. No one knows better than fate itself that life will end, that it is therefore precious, that it is fragile, as all things within it are. And man, the sheer amount of references that she makes to very mortal things being beautiful is almost unnerving, especially this following one: "The human body is beautiful in its fragility"; there's also an odd sense of detachment from humanity when she speaks, and yet at other times, an odd sense of intricate connection (ie: her empathy towards Blade and the TB, her 'musicality'—).

Guys, I just have many thoughts.

[sepublic]

Reading through your Lilith analyses got me thinking. What if the reason she thinks the curse is why Eda didn't join the Emperor's Coven, is because Lilith believes Eda gave up the position for her and would've jumped at another chance to get in to be with her sister? - Pixel Anon

           That’s… EXACTLY my read on the situation, honestly! Lilith has this expectation, almost an entitlement really, for Eda to constantly act with her older sister in mind, that whatever she does is low-key a reflection of her feelings on Lilith and their inseparable sibling bond. And likewise, Lilith has been willfully ignorant of Eda’s criticisms of the Coven System, and she thinks that the only thing keeping Eda from joining the Emperor’s Coven is the ostracization of her curse…

          So coupled with how Eda didn’t have the curse (or at least didn’t know about it) in those initial moments after she gave up her position in the EC… And it’s clear that Lilith assumes that Eda was just trying to be nice. Not that Eda could ever have an actual issue with the Emperor’s Coven in the first place, because clearly that’s what Eda secretly wants, deep down? As Lilith said in Sense and Insensitivity, she expects Eda to eventually join the EC of her own volition, so there’s no point in forcing her to do it sooner rather than later; Because Lilith really thinks that this is what Eda truly wants, deep-down, or at least to be with her older sister again.

          Like I said, Lilith overstates her importance to Eda, ignores that Eda has to look after herself as well (especially with the curse SHE cast), and downplays Eda’s other connections by outright dismissing their existence; And she’s totally the kind of person to see love as a pie to be divided between multiple people, like you’re somehow choosing/prioritizing others, which is why Lilith might, say, feel the need to compete with Luz for that affection, and have a resentment/jealousy towards Luz, for being prioritized more by Eda to the point where she’d give her life for the girl, when to Lilith’s assumption, Eda wouldn’t even join the Emperor’s Coven if Lilith’s life was on the line- Which it was!

          And Lilith believes Eda wouldn’t join for Lilith’s sake, because deep down she knows Eda doesn’t care about the Emperor’s Coven anymore, and believes that Eda is saying that her petty pride against the Coven System, which Lilith refuses to understand, is more important than being with Lilith- As if Eda isn’t tormented by the distance between her and Lilith, it’s just that she can’t ignore the cruelty of Belos, either. Because there’s more to life than just the two of them, other people exist too. And Belos’ toxic ideals and propaganda have no doubt jeopardized relationships just like Eda and Lilith’s… Including Eda and Lilith’s, actually. Lilith needs to remember that Eda didn’t eagerly choose defying the Coven System VS being with her sister… It was an uncomfortable choice, and Lilith no doubt contributed towards making that an ultimatum with HER own decisions, as well.

          There’s that irony of Lilith “I don’t have a problem, YOU have a problem” Clawthorne thinking that SHE was the one being patient with Eda, having to deal with a sister who’s participating in a morally-wrong lifestyle that she has to constantly put up with, in the hopes that Eda will finally have a wake-up call and improve; Rather than the other way around… And no matter how much Lilith wanted to be with Eda, how desperate she was to the point of taking Luz hostage, instead of just abandoning the Emperor’s Coven… It goes to show some skewed priorities, that Lilith HAD to have Eda AND her place in the Emperor’s Coven; Especially since Belos is the kind of person who would probably feed into and encourage Lilith, make her feel more ‘appreciated’ by him and his coven, than Lilith is by Eda, who clearly doesn’t appreciate all of the (unasked-for) effort that Lilith extends out to her.

          Belos’ coven validates lonely people like Lilith, by telling them that they’re more special than others, that they earned that chosen privilege… Which could make Lilith resentful towards Eda, for not saying the same; Given how Eda’s beliefs contradict the assumption that there is a hierarchy, and thus Lilith would be greater than anyone else. And when Eda says that Lilith isn’t better than others, it’s not an indictment of her; Rather, it’s an uplifting of everyone in general. Not that Lilith would be able to realize this, because like I said- She probably sees love as something you must prioritize and divide accordingly, and that extends to glory. It’s a forced ultimatum, where one must be able to choose between two witches, and decide one is objectively better; And Lilith might expect Eda to uplift and encourage her, at the implicit expense of others being beneath Lilith’s level.

           That’s all that Lilith wants, really- It’s validation, being told that she’s good enough, because she doesn’t trust her own opinion of herself enough to do that. And she loved Eda’s validation, because you know that even if Eda didn’t want to contribute to those toxic coven system ideas (and it’s worth noting she DID want to join the Emperor’s Coven for a while, so there was a brief period where Eda likely subscribed to its propaganda)… She was still someone who looked out for her sister, like when Lilith got her lunch money stolen that one time. Eda’s love and validation is different than the kind the Emperor’s Coven provides, and it’s why Lilith craves it so much, NEEDS it, and why she can’t just be content with Belos’ propaganda and her position as Head Enforcer of the Emperor’s Coven. But at the same time, Lilith wants both Eda AND Belos’ approval, without realizing the two are in fact contradictory.

          And considering how long Lilith stuck with the Emperor’s Coven, even after Eda made it clear that Lilith had to choose between the two; Well, I don’t blame Belos for believing that when it came to an ultimatum, Lilith would choose the Emperor’s Coven over Eda. She doesn’t want to lose that sense of belonging there, even if it’s to be with Eda- And likewise Lilith is too afraid to challenge Belos after seeing what he’s capable of, amidst not wanting to admit that her views in life have been wrong this entire time; So instead, she goes with what’s most flattering and reassuring, because clearly Eda is in the wrong and the Emperor’s Coven is right. Even when Lilith works against Belos to free Eda, she’s still operating under the hopes that she can return to being Head Enforcer like nothing happened…

          So it’s no wonder that Belos thinks that if Lilith were forced to choose between him and Eda, it’s always Belos- Because all of Lilith’s actions and choices beforehand supported this belief, and she only ever seemed to care for an idea of Eda that never existed, especially as Lilith saw her as the cursed beast she made her. Because to Lilith, just being with Eda wasn’t enough to make up for losing her place in the Emperor’s Coven, apparently… But alas- Lilith DID prioritize Eda more, in a sense… She just had issues realizing this, amidst the fact that she rightfully asks why she needs to choose between the two, why can’t she have both; Though in this case, she REALLY can’t have both, because Belos and his ideals are antithetical to the idea of ignoring ultimatums when it comes to prioritizing what you want in life. And when Lilith FINALLY is forced to confront an ultimatum between Eda and the Emperor’s Coven, unsurprisingly set up by Belos himself… In the end, Belos miscalculated.

          And to be fair- I think Belos didn’t take into account how Luz’s healthier relationship with Eda showed to Lilith, just how much she was messing up. Let’s be real here, Luz is a TOTAL outlier in every sense of the term, in both an in-universe and narrative scale… Nobody expects her, she just sort of appears and out of nowhere and is inexplicable and surprising- Hard to figure out, despite Luz being so upfront, honest, and wearing her heart on her sleeve, practically begging to display who she fully is without any restrictions! Had Luz never come into play, maybe Lilith really WOULD have chosen the Emperor’s Coven over Eda, when the time for that decision came- And it really recontextualizes and makes you appreciate, what Belos said about not caring for Eda… Because Eda was inconsequential, because Lilith cared more for the Emperor’s Coven than Eda; Until Luz showed up. The girl really DID change everything… And her Light showed Lilith the truth, while Belos’ Light merely blinded Lilith from it.

          It’s ironic- Luz’s arrival sort of threw a wrench into Belos’ plans because she ensured Lilith’s inevitable rebellion… But her arrival ALSO illuminated to Belos the existence of the Portal, which he needs for his Day of Unity. It is worth noting that Eda still had the portal beforehand, and thus Belos could’ve learned of it even without Luz’s arrival… So in a way, one could argue that what Luz has REALLY done has been is do nothing but hinder and be a thorn in Belos’ side. In the end her arrival wasn’t that great of a thing for Belos like he claimed; Eda still had the portal and he might’ve figured it out beforehand. Luz provides no benefit to his sytem, nothing he can make use of- Like Belos insists making use of every witch in the isles by forcing them to join a Coven to pragmatically channel their skills, or how he dismisses the ‘useless’ as inconsequential to him.

          Luz very much provides no genuine use to Belos- And yet unlike so many others, she WILL be very relevant to his life, whether he likes it or not. And really, a lot of people ‘useless’ to Belos were relevant… He just couldn’t tell, until Luz’s illuminating Light has come into play, and shown him just how disgruntled the people of the Boiling Isles are, hence their protest at the Conformatorium. And THAT revelation forces Belos to actually appease the will of the people for once, even if he does have bigger fish to fry and is just saving face. Belos dismissed a LOT of people in the end, and ironically Luz, who he sees as more useful to him than she really is- She’s going to force Belos to take others into account for once. Really, Belos overstating the importance of some at the expense of the rest is what he’s always done, hence him establishing a hierarchy that claims some witches deserve the privilege of magic, more than others; And we again see this reflected in how Lilith plays up how much she means to Eda. And Lilith DID mean a lot to Eda; Just not so much that Eda would have to disregard herself and who she is. Lilith respecting this autonomy and allowing Eda to love her, while still being her own person, is so important for her.

[gffa]

How much of our real world concepts and rules can we apply on gffa? Issues like mental illness, therapy, age are they same in gffa? Does the worldbuidling of gffa cover these subjects? Ahsoka at 14 fighting is argued as Jedi using child soldiers but Padme at 14 being a Queen and ruling a planet is accepted. Anakin didn't get therapy, but does mental therapy exist as a concept in gffa? Is it okay to simply accept the gffa's in-universe machinations, treat it as separate from our world concepts?

Hi!  This is a really fascinating subject that I enjoy a lot, because a lot of elements go into consideration for these things–writers often having an imperfect understanding of the concepts they’re drawing on for influence, the lack of desire to be a perfect match to realism rather than the thematic elements they prefer, even whether or not you follow narrative intention or instead go by Death of the Author.Let’s take physics as an example–if we try to jam real world physics into the world of Star Wars, we’re going to be sorely disappointed because the creators don’t have a perfect understanding of physics (NO WAY A LIGHTSABER WOULD EVER WORK IRL, THERE IS NO SOUND IN SPACE, etc.) but also that that’s not the point.  They’re writing a story to be entertaining, to follow themes, to have exciting and dramatic moments.  Those laser swords work because realistic physics is a far, far secondary concern to, “Does this look iconic and will make our property unique and sell a shitload of toys?”Does this stop people from yelling about how SWORDS DON’T WORK THAT WAY!!!! in “this expert analyzes the fight scenes of Star Wars” on YouTube?  No, it does not.  And I can yell back, “THEY’RE LASER CHAINSAWS, OF COURSE THEY’RE ALL BOUNCY, ALSO FUCK PHYSICS THAT’S WAY LESS IMPORTANT THAN THEMATIC INTEGRITY.” and then we’re at an impasse!  It depends on which way you want to go, if you want to aim for a Doylist or a Watsonian view on the stories you’re consuming.I want to establish that clearly–one of fandom’s biggest draws is that you get to choose whether you want to abide by Word of God or if you want to embrace Death of the Author (though, in that case, I don’t think you get to claim narrative intention, if the authors specifically say otherwise), that both are valid options.  Beyond this point, we’re going with Word of God because I think that’s the aim of this ask, but I want to be very clear that this is not a judgment of people who subscribe to Death of the Author!Within a fictional world, there is such a thing as narrative intention and narrative structure.  What I mean by this is what you mention with Ahsoka and Padme–the idea that the Jedi use “child soldiers” isn’t really backed up by the canon narrative and is directly contradicted by Padme being an elected Queen of her entire planet and being trained for combat, by the same age, which is treated as awesome.  We see Ahsoka being awesome all the time, there’s no narrative arc where she has to deal with being a “child soldier”.  The Resistance also uses younger people of that age and we’re not meant to think that the Resistance is a horrible, evil organization for that, either.I think realism has its place, because the authors and creators are influenced by realism, but if you can’t back up an assertation with reliable in-universe evidence and the narrative supporting it, then you’re not meant to think that that’s what’s going on.  Star Wars is a fictional space fairy tale, one with laser swords and psychic powers and spaceships, it’s not meant to be 100% realistic.  Not in physics or in psychology!  Not only is it okay to accept the GFFA’s in-universe machinations on their own merits and treat them as separate from real world concepts, I think that’s the best path to understanding the narrative!That said, that is a separate issue from potential criticism of a narrative for including the tropes it does–ie, if we want to, we can criticize the narrative for putting for the idea that having a 14 year old Queen (who many mistake for being much, much older because of the way she’s costumed and made up) is totally cool and that it puts pressure on people of that age to be more world-ready than they should be, but saying that the GFFA intends for us to find this horrifying and that the people around Padme are super judgmental and right about this–or Ahsoka fighting in a war or the Rebellion and the Resistance doing the same–is not accurate.  Because it’s not backed up in-universe by reliable narrators reacting the way they would if such concepts were intentional.It gets further more complicated when we start assuming things that make utter sense to us, but aren’t necessarily intended.  For example, Anakin Skywalker’s various diagnoses by different people (sometimes professional, sometimes not) can be used to say, “This is why his actions are understandable!” or “This is why his actions are inexcusable!”  You can map anxiety disorders behaviors onto him just as much as you can map domestic abuse/IPV behaviors onto him.  You can say, “He should have had therapy!” and I can say, “An actual professional paralleled the Jedi teachings as analogous to therapy, Anakin WAS going to therapy.  He did not want it.”  How much of these were intentional by the narrative and the authors?  We have to look at the characters in-universe’s reactions–ones we know to be reliable, ie, not villains who have an axe to grind or are shown over and over and over to be lying liars who lie for evil purposes, like Palpatine, like the First Order–and take our cues from there.Examples:  Everything in Dark Lord of the Sith shows us that Anakin cannot own up to his mistakes, that he lets his fear rule him, that he is shown better options and rejects them over and over and over.  (“No, this is all there is.”)  Or, in From a Certain Point of View, Obi-Wan says, (“Anakin became a Jedi Knight,” Obi-Wan interjects, a thread of steel in his voice. “He served valiantly in the Clone Wars. His fall to darkness was more his choice than anyone else’s failure. Yes, I bear some responsibility—and perhaps you do, too—but Anakin had the training and the wisdom to choose a better path. He did not.”)  It’s clear that the narrative is saying, yes, Anakin had access to tools that would help him make better choices, but he still rejected them.Ultimately, no fan is obligated to take one path or another, Realism vs Thematic Intentions, Word of God vs Death of the Author, Doylist vs Watsonian, or even a mix of the two, all are our choices.  But when talking about narrative intention, real world influences can be important, but they are inspirations, not a direct, literal correlation.  George Lucas did research on history, so the prequels follow certain structures, but his understanding of them was often imperfect, so I draw on his comments and what’s in the actual canon and books like Star Wars: Propaganda to make my conclusions, because that’s what was built into the foundations of the story.For me, I find it far more satisfying an experience, because my understanding of the story then tends to align a lot with the intentions of it.  Intentions are only as important as any given person wants them to be (Death of the Author is a perfectly valid approach to stories, if you want!), but that is still what was going into the story and I think it’s important to recognize that trying to cram hyper-realistic concepts into a story that wasn’t intended to have them isn’t always going to work out very well, because they aren’t narratively intended.  Padme’s not intended to be a child soldier, trying to cram that into her story can be an interesting thing to explore, but it’s not going to be reflected in the rest of her story.  Same for Ahsoka and the Resistance and the Rebellion, same for the realistic physics of lightsabers.