#what would they use to define those characters distinctly in text?

[sentfromwolves]

hey writeblr I'm curious: what do you think is the most distinctive trait of your main character/s that your readers will pickup on?

[malorydaily]

While concerns of geography, place, and conquest/control are prominent in much medieval romance literature—particularly Arthurian romance—Malory’s text is unique among accounts of King Arthur for the way in which it imagines the map of Arthur’s world, an imagining that is best understood when viewed in light of some of the specific concerns of fifteenth-century England.

Engaging the Morte Darthur from the perspective of Cornwall helps throw into sharp relief the contours of the unique problems inherent in the late medieval British relationship between regionalism and nationalism. Using Cornwall in Malory as a kind of pivot point, we can apprehend this relationship between the whole and the part, but we cannot resolve it. Indeed, close analysis reveals that it can never be resolved, and herein lies the significance. the stubborn refusal of Cornwall to be categorized—and our attention to this refusal—helps us better see the Morte Darthur as a text that produces difference and presents challenges so that its characters have a means of defining themselves. Cornwall helps make plain the necessity of always striving toward resolution, toward incorporation, but never achieving it. The endless deferral is essential to Malory’s narrative.

[...]

It is a commonplace to note that the world in which Malory lived was one full of territorial concerns and the mourning of geographic losses. At the time when Malory was writing his text, the Angevin empire had long been whittled away. all English continental holdings—save Calais—were gone, and England itself was fractured in multiple ways. although both Malory and his first printer, Caxton, refer many times to “all ye englishmen,” their contemporaries were much more likely to identify themselves first in terms of their local affinities rather than their national ones. This does not preclude national sentiment, but it does mean we must pay as much attention to local identities as to national.

Such a self-identification becomes all the more interesting when we consider that many of those living in Cornwall in Malory’s day most likely spoke Cornish as a first language, although many certainly also spoke english. Thorlac Turville-Petre argues that “defining the nation in terms of territory or race presents considerable complications. By far the most satisfactory form of self-definition is in terms of language, wherever this can be achieved.” By this definition, Cornwall would seem to be an entity distinctly separate from England. the position of this region within Malory’s text becomes even more interesting when we consider that Benedict Anderson has famously and contentiously suggested that it is the explosion of print culture that helps give rise to the nation—an “imagined community”—through the fixing and dissemination of texts in vernacular languages.

[...]

Cornwall is contradictorily both part of england and distinct from it, as Patricia Clare Ingham’s astute comment on the opening lines of the Morte Darthur makes clear: “either the ‘all’ of england Uther rules does not include Cornwall, or Uther remains only titular ruler there, his power compromised by the duke’s rebellion” (see figure 1.1). Cornwall is the source of Malory’s Arthurian community at the level of narrative—Arthur is born here to a Cornish mother—and Cornwall is the Morte Darthur’s center in terms of structure—the middle third of Malory’s text is based on the old french Prose Tristan. in the final conflict between Arthur and Launcelot, the knights of Cornwall side with Launcelot: “then there felle to them, what of north walys and of Cornwayle, for sir lamorakes sake and for sir trystrames sake, to the number of a seven score knyghtes” (1170.26–29). and it is from Cornwall that Arthur’s heir comes, as we are told in the closing lines of the Morte: “then syr Constantyn that was syr Cadores sone of Cornwayl was cho- sen kyng of englond, and he was a ful noble knight, and worshipfully he rulyd this royaume” (1259.27–29). again and again, Malory’s Morte Darthur returns to the realm of Cornwall, as if seeking to reconcile the identity of this geographic space with that of the arthurian community to which it gave birth, from which it remains estranged, and to which it is essential.

– Dorsey Armstrong, Mapping Malory's Morte: The (Physical) Place and (Narrative) Space of Cornwall

[fratboykate]

yelena is aroace, why is it so hard for you to admit it???

I’ve been staying away from this because it feels like such a pointless thing to argue about. Despite me having my own tagging system that keeps me out of the show, character, and ship tags a seemingly endless amount of you have been ceaselessly hounding me for days, trying to police what I say and do on my blog. I've finally reached my breaking point so…here we go I guess.

Let’s start with the basics since it appears that most of you fail to grasp even that. There’s two distinctly different concepts that fandom conflates and/or tries to use interchangeably because evidently only a handful of us took a literature class in school. Time for a lesson.

CANON: Canon are the elements of a fictional story that are officially a part of it. Canon is IRREFUTABLE information provided directly from the media to the audience. In movies and TV this would mean things like action or dialogue that happen ON SCREEN. In a book or comic it would be things EXPLICITLY said or shown on the page. Canon isn’t fan interpretation/speculation, fix-its, headcanons, what-ifs, something an actor said at a con in front of 200 people or that they “thought maybe that’s a thing their character would do” at an interview in a press junket. Canon is what is IN THE TEXT. End of story.

AUTHORIAL INTENT & DEATH OF THE AUTHOR:

-Authorial Intent: An author can have an “intention” with a piece but that ends the moment the story is out of their hands and the reader/viewer takes ownership of it. Why? Because none of us see the world the same way. Literally. The author simply cannot control how an individual will read their work, cannot dictate how we embrace what they supposedly wrote, and cannot force us to throw out our own takeaway of the text. It is entirely possible that my experience with the text or the characters is vastly different than what they “intended” that to be and there is nothing wrong with that. Once art is out in the world it is going to take a life of its own. That is how subjectivity works.

-Death Of The Author: TV Tropes defines Death Of The Author as follows: “It holds that an author's intentions and background (including their politics and religion) should hold no special weight in determining how to interpret their work. This is usually understood to mean that a writer's views about their own work are no more or less valid than the interpretation of the reader.”

Now that we’ve established both those things let’s break down Yelena’s case in particular.

Let’s start with the “Ace” part. It is more than obvious that you guys are taking AUTHORIAL INTENT and confusing it with CANON. One of the authors wrote an obscure blog post where they expressed some thoughts. Let’s highlight key quotes from the post:

“Most scholars agree that the first official use of “aromantic” was documented in 2005. That’s thirty-five years after I was born, six years after Yelena was invented, and—fictionally--approximately ten years after Yelena would have come into being (in the version of events where she was born rather than cloned).”

Oh well...right off the bat, Authorial Intent seems to be out the window. The term didn’t even exist when they created Yelena ergo it is impossible that they set out to write her as “ace”. Next.

“But now, let’s talk a bit about Yelena. When I first invented her, I didn’t give much thought to her romantic life or sexuality because neither factored into the story I was telling at the time. Later, when I had lived with her a little longer and someone asked me if she might be ACE, I thought that actually made a lot of sense for her.”

This is an "afterthought" situation. I’m not saying this to undermine the writer as a person, saying they have ill will, or calling them a liar. But this is - as clearly stated BY THEM - an afterthought. Yelena was not created as an "ace" character. Next.

These are going to be two quotes:

“I like the idea of her being ACE and hope they go with that, but despite my 20+ years writing comics, there isn’t even anyone there I can mention that to. That’s not how comics work. Even if I said she’s X or Y or X and Y, Marvel might be a day away from releasing something that takes her in a totally different direction. Ultimately, my ideas about how Yelena identifies are no more right or wrong than yours.

I have a lot to say about how unfairly creative IP is handled in this industry, but that’s not what we’re here to discuss. What I do want to impart is that it’s a bad idea to trust multibillion-dollar corporations to represent you and your community.”

and

“I am a fan-fic writer and RPer, though, and I firmly believe that when you write or play or draw a character, you get to decide what is and isn’t true about them. No one can tell you you’re wrong (except, perhaps, your GM) – that’s the entire point. So if your question is really, “do you think it’s okay if I write/play Yelena as X or Y or interested in Z,” I am always going to support your choices. 100%. Do what you think feels right and makes sense. FWIW, you have my blessing."

The writer is LITERALLY TELLING YOU, in black and white, to headcanon Yelena as whatever you want because...

Their own ideas of Yelena are basically headcanons at this point.

They understand the inherent importance of representation and they agree that it would be cool that she could be this one thing but that they do not make and cannot make any creative decisions about what the character is or isn’t.

They are making it clear to you - the fan - that they do not get to dictate canon because they do not own the character. Disney/Marvel does. They are telling you that “you as an individual decide what her truth is and how you want her to represent to YOU” and yet somehow you guys turned that open invitation into “I must hound everyone who disagrees with my personal interpretation of how I want her to represent ME”.

Now, relevant quotes excerpted…beyond this one blog post there is no other actual canon evidence in any of the comics of Yelena verbalizing anything about her sexuality. At all. Anywhere. If you have it, please make me eat crow. Correct me. But I’ve been doing vast research on it for a couple of days now and have even asked people to provide it and no one can which is pretty strong evidence that there isn’t. All that anyone can come up with is the author's blog post and another interview where they have yet another throwaway sentence of Authorial Intent. This is it:

"PROBABLY MORE LIKELY". That is an opinion, my friends. This is all you have. Intent and Opinions does not canon make.

Now, onto my absolute fucking favorite part of this whole thing...

You want to know what IS canon? You want to know what you all conveniently and willingly choose to gloss over and never mention because it doesn't serve your narrative?

1) The fact that CANONICALLY Yelena is a lingerie model and a sex worker who owns a soft-core porn empire. [x]

2) The fact that in this scene she has an entire conversation with Natasha about how she chooses to use her body to sexually manipulate targets to get what she wants:

Interesting how I had to start doing research into Yelena to learn that because in this entire conversation about “representation” sex workers and sex positive, feminist women had never once come up. Funny how apparently sex workers don’t deserve a superhero then? Hmmmm...

I’m not saying one is more worthy than the other, just a point I figured was worth flagging because it just seems oh so very curious to me.

--

Let’s move onto the “Aro” part because this is the real doozy. This is the one y’all truly bent yourselves into a pretzel to come up with. At least there is some sort of something you can cling to on the "ace" front but on this one you really just went for the mountain of straws and started to grasp.

The "proof" you guys use of her being "aro" is a single panel of her saying "I'm not...anything". Here's the entire scene instead of just the one frame you guys use out of context:

I'm going to use two different sources here to debunk this one.

- This person had already read the whole series the panel you guys chose to extract that ONE frame from and completely misconstrue to support your point. Here are a couple of excerpts of the ask they answered:

“…It’s more people seeing that one panel and misunderstanding it.[…] The panel where she says "I’m not anything" is a reoccurring theme throughout this series specifically about her not seeing herself as the Black Widow and her dehumanization of herself. The full page itself is about the woman she was talking to goading Yelena by asking if she was into BDSM.”

I then had a DM conversation with the person to find out more because I wanted to get further context about the series as a whole since they had the full picture. I specifically asked them questions about this part. They said the following:

“The way she [the woman] degrades her [Yelena] and calls her worthless is supposed to be feeding into Yelena thinking she isn’t as good as Natasha and how she’s not truly the Black Widow. The "I Am Nothing" is the writers very badly trying to ham fist their way into having Yelena saying she is nothing as she is not the Black Widow, which is the main point of the comic."

Without having read the rest of the comic, if I were to see these panels in isolation, I would have a slightly different interpretation of the scene, because...again...no one digests texts the same way. This is a prime example of that. What I would gather from it is that Yelena would be saying “I am nothing” as in “I don’t label myself as anything” rather than literally just jumping straight to “I am aromantic”. Like…that is such a giant stretch that it’s almost laughable.

The second person I'm quoting is an AROACE person who made a whole thread on twitter agreeing that Yelena is NOT canon aroace and sharing pretty solid (and similar) factual evidence as to why.

[Full disclosure: I was sent this link as I was in the process of finishing this post by someone who knew I was writing it and I figured it was worth adding an Aro/Ace voice to the mix as well].

Here are some good excerpts:

"...in said interview grayson talks about yelena being asexual then proceeds to describe yelena as aromatic instead, making it clear that she doesn't know the difference between the two orientations..."

The writer then proceeds to break down and analyze the same misconstrued panels I was quoting above. She runs through several possible scenarios of what that scene could mean, all just as likely as the other. All valid interpretations. All different versions of Yelena as an LGBT character. This is the most important part to me tho:

"...once again think about the time and place yelena grew up in. you're going to try and tell me yelena knows what asexual is and what it means? muchless aromantic? she grew up in approximately 70s russia... expecting her to know her sexuality at that point is kinda weird?

now with all this in mind (especially the last three!) it pretty much completely erases any chance that those panels are meant to be her saying shes aroace. as far as im aware these are the only two pieces of evidence people try to use to confirm yelena as canonically aroace. both are very easily debunked.

i am by no means here to tell anyone not to write yelena as aroace, she's your character do what you want! i'm only here to educate people on this topic. and as someone who is BOTH aro and ace its absolutely my place to speak on this. [...] all i want is for this non-existent canon to stop being continuously shoved down everyone's throats."

And finally:

"i'd also just like to add the way a lot of people tend to handle this topic of conversation is very weird. if your first instinct when you see an aroace character is to say they cant be shipped or cant have sex... that's weird! aroace is a spectrum! not all aroaces are repulsed by sex and relationships! yes, some aroaces are! but not all of them. to immediately force her into that box with no evidence is extremely stereotypical! a very good majority of conversation based around aroace yelena is riddled with stereotypes."

--

I'm going to revisit the opening lesson for a beat because it has to do with my final point. Let me quote myself in case we already forgot:

"Canon is IRREFUTABLE information provided directly from the media to the audience. In movies and TV this would mean things like action or dialogue that happen ON SCREEN."

Why am I circling back? Because with this new wave of IP and adaptations that we're living in. So many pieces of IP are getting adapted from podcasts, comics, books, etc into TV/Film. Changes are always going to be made from the original to the screen. Always. ALWAYS. What is canon in one is not necessarily going to be canon in the other. They're two completely separate pieces of media. Every single time. They immediately become divorced and stand-alone from each other as soon as a derivative is created.

It's why you see things like couples being "endgame" in books but not in shows/movies. Or people being alive or dead in books but not in TV/films. Or major story points being changed. Or new characters being introduced or omitted from adaptations at all. They are not the same thing. Canon on text is one thing. CANON ON SCREEN IS ANOTHER. Shut up already about "what's canon here must be canon here" and learn the difference.

Do you want to know how much characters/relationships have changed from Marvel comics to the MCU? Let me list a few things that are canon in the comics just for quick references.

Black Widow had romances with Bucky, Hawkeye, and Daredevil.

Hela is Loki’s daughter not his sister.

Pepper was never married to Tony.

Black Window and the Hulk have never been on the Avengers together.

Natasha and Yelena are rivals not sisters.

I could keep going but I think you get the point. Marvel Comics are not the MCU. I'll repeat:

MARVEL COMICS ARE NOT THE MCU.

Simply because something happens or is true is one does not mean it must be true in the other. It is especially important to drive that point home in this case because "Yelena is aroace" isn't even a canon fact in the comics. It's farfetched at best. At best.

My goal with this is not to tell you to not headcanon Yelena as aroace. If that is important to you, dear god fucking do it to your heart's content. No one is trying to fucking take that from you. Matter of fact, if you want to string two whispers of a stretch together and pretend in your delusional little head that it’s “canon” be my guest. Where the issue begins is that you are now trying to militaristically enforce this “canon” myth when it is nothing more than that…A MYTH. And you are trying to force it on people who weren't fighting you on it to begin with. People like me who were just over here in my own corner of the internet minding my own business. I wasn’t invading your spaces, arguing with any of you, or trying to debunk any of your beliefs until you all insisted on coming to me with this bullshit over and over and over again.

All I - a casual viewer who had zero knowledge of the comics or the backstory - wanted to do was calmly enjoy and interpret these two characters and their relationship however the show had established them which was...AS A BLANK SLATE. Right now in the MCU they are non-denominational. They have never said Kate is [XYZ] and Yelena is [ABC] therefore I am free to construe them and pair them however I see fit. It is not up to you to tell me otherwise.

Now, with all that settled, leave me the fuck alone.

[g-perla]

From “Nessian Shipper!!” to “Nessian…Shipper??”

This...is going to be a long one so strap in.

Years ago when ACOMAF came out and the kind people of tumblr posted screenshots of the Wings and Embers short, I found myself looking at Nesta and Cassian, considering the idea of them being romantically and physically involved, and found myself with the following thought; that’s my SHIP. These feelings were reinforced throughout the smattering of brief interactions between the two we got in ACOWAR, probably until the very end where it was unclear if Cassian had gone to see Nesta before or after she headed up the stairs seeming distinctly not ok. That wasn’t a very big deal though. For all I know he did, and she pushed him away, or maybe they did have a talk. Feyre’s perspective is very limited after all. This didn’t really stop my Nessian shipper heart at all.

My Nessian shipper heart became compromised in ACOFAS and in the teaser to ACOSF. I still haven’t re-read ACOFAS so I just want to make it clear that I’m still dealing with 2+ years of accumulated messy, largely unexplored feelings about this ship. That being said, I wasn’t very impressed by Cassian’s behaviour towards Nesta. The interactions between them we were shown left me questioning the stability of a ship I had previously loved with reckless abandon. I questioned Cassian, I questioned Nesta, I questioned their independent trajectories, and them as a couple in the context we were given. My conclusion was that I could no longer really ship them as eagerly in good conscience.

A week or so ago I wrote in a post that Cassian seems, to me, ashamed of Nesta. This idea came to me after considering his behaviour mostly in ACOFAS and to a lesser degree in the previous books. A post by @inyourmindeye, where they put forth their arguments about why Cassian isn’t ashamed of Nesta made me reconsider, however. I read their post carefully and took some time to gather my thoughts after taking in this other perspective. I will share them now.

First, I will say that the word “ashamed” perhaps isn’t the most exact word to express how I feel about Cassian’s complex emotions when it comes to Nesta. I think a more apt word would be conflicted. Second, I want to clarify that when I wrote “ashamed” I didn’t mean to imply that he didn’t care about Nesta. Feeling ashamed of something or someone because of the feelings of attraction or care one might have is certainly possible. Additionally, these emotions aren’t necessarily contradictory, nor do they necessarily depend on each other. They do, however, complicate each other and create conflict.

But what exactly is the source of Cassian’s possibly conflicted feelings?

In the most simplistic sense, I suggest the source is Nesta and the Inner Circle. Or rather, Nesta v. the Inner Circle.

Many in the fandom and some of my own posts have discussed the inherent incompatibilities between Nesta and the IC (as depicted in the canon texts we have access to as of 21/10/20). These incompatibilities are largely ideological such as different definitions of “free will” and agency. Nesta simply does not tolerate the messy dynamics of the IC and the tacit acknowledgement that Rhys has the most authority. For Nesta to fit into this world, she would have to abandon the elements of her character that constitute her core self and which make her subversive within the narrative and without: a disdain towards authority, a resolute mind that isn’t easily moved, quick to anger and abrasive and hostile in her expressions of this anger, but capable of making concessions if the situation gnaws at her strict moral code, morally grey, not nurturing, generally unpleasant to those she doesn’t trust, judgemental, unapologetic in her sexuality or in her femininity, lacking in patience when it comes to idiots and sycophants, critical to a fault, not immune to enacting cruelty, etc. See, if this were a man and if this book had been written during the Romantic period and we were reading it now we would just say “well, I’ll be! What a text-book example of a compelling Byronic hero! We love to see it.”

Note how the men (sorry, males) in SJM novels tend to have many of these same characteristics. They are also pretty good examples of Byronic heroes. The main difference is the energy most people bring when they criticise women. One of the characteristics of a Byronic hero is his refusal to be confined. This confinement can be moral, ideological, epistemological, or physical. Basically, people in the world of such a hero (or even in ours) can’t compute when they encounter him and are unable to put him in easy categories. This often manifests as irrational hatred towards this character because it offends our sensibilities about what is known and what is unknown.

It’s attractive to think that we are immune to this as people existing in the 21st century, but we are not. We still rely on the “Other” to define our identity by both creating it and violently rejecting it. I suppose it’s as good a time as any to share the thesis of my overarching analysis project; basically, Nesta is the ultimate representation of the Other. She is Other in her womanhood (or I guess femaleness), she was Other even as a human, now that she is high fae she is Other to humans but tragically she is also Other to the high fae because she was Made. She is Other as a magical being, she is Other to the IC, she was and is Other to her bio family. She is Other to many of us because we simply cannot comprehend her actions in ACOTAR (how could she have been so cruel????). As of now, there is not a single place where Nesta can exist without offending the very core of what a lot of people value.

One framework for the Other was proposed by the French psychoanalyst Jaques Lacan. He basically said that the Other is that which we must reject when we start forming a concept of the Self. The Self is the known therefore safe; the Other is the unknown therefore dangerous and disruptive. The Self creates the symbolic order which is essentially the blueprint of accepted life to which the Other is antithetical. I can go on and on about the intricacies of this, and Lacan himself certainly did, but I’m working on a review of different conceptualisations of the Other so I will stop here. What I want to establish while bringing this up is that Nesta is essentially the Other to the IC’s symbolic order, i.e. fundamentally incompatible and an epistemological threat. This is a very theoretical way to explain the IC’s hostility and dislike towards her, but I find it compelling enough to pursue (and I am a nerd).

We can’t forget that Cassian is a known element of the IC’s symbolic order, thus one of the Selves let’s say. The Self should seek to annihilate the Other (as it usually does)…not love it, desire it, care for it. To do so is to enter a profound state of existential precarity. To pursue his feelings for Nesta, Cassian would have to question the fundamental assumptions that are at the core of his known world. There is nothing simple about such a task and I can’t really blame him for struggling. 

Still, understanding something isn’t necessarily synonymous with liking it. I wish that the distance between these two characters were not so great. I wish both could just sit and talk with the respect I know them to have for one another. The constant insults and underhanded jabs made by both parties are messy and not in a fun way. As the ship stands, I don’t feel comfortable liking it with the same reckless abandon as before. I think their hostility is too raw, even if their actions contradict them most of the time. Is it unreasonable to want them to interact without reservations in situations other than those between life and death? I hope ACOSF can provide the development they both deserve. Maybe then I can stop having one leg in the ship and the other overboard.

[vaguely-concerned]

Some T.F./Graves thoughts from their bios

I realize what a dumb move it is to base uuuuh basically anything on lol bios, since riot apparently change those like other people do underwear, but if I’m not here to build my castles on sand what am I here for honestly  

- I LOVE the description of their first meeting, it’s such a meet cute lol... these two assholes really did just take one look at each other and mutually went ‘so is anyone gonna enter into a life-defining homoerotic partnership with this lying cheating bastard??’ and then neither of them waited for an answer 

- Though at times Twisted Fate would blow all their shares and leave them with nothing to show for it, Graves knew that the thrill of some new escapade was always just around the corner…

I am genuinely a little emotional about how obvious it is that at the end of the day the money really is secondary to him - what really drives him is how much FUN they have together. (he seems in general quite driven by that sense of Adventure; if it were just about the cash he had steady work in bilgewater before he took the trip over to the mainland as a kid) it’s like the part of ‘the road to el dorado’ in the boat except more sincere... ‘you made my life an adventure bro’ :’) 

(also very funny that graves’ bio is where you learn that t.f. doesn’t always win or get away with his shit hahaha, in his own bio it’s played like ‘oh gotta let people win once in a while to throw off suspicion’ flasdhfjsad. it’s mentioned he gets caught a lot more without graves watching his back too, which also gets me in my feelings a bit) 

- one thing I find interesting is that t.f.’s parents aren’t referenced directly at any point (the only family members mentioned specifically are his aunt and grandfather, I’m pretty sure). I’m wondering if they were already out of the picture somehow and that’s part of the reason no one spoke up for him? I mean it’s fucked up either way, I don’t know what’s worse; that his people found it so easy to exile him because he didn’t have anyone to protect him, or that his parents were alive and JUST LEFT HIM THERE. like what the fuck. from how it’s written it’s pretty clear he was still considered a child at the time too, so, y’know. (Graves is described as ‘little more than a youth’ when he headed for the mainland while T.F. seems to have been a kid when he started being on his own, so I’ve headcanoned something like 16-17 and 13-14 for their respective ages of leaving home, with both of them around 19 when they met) I’m quite curious about what kind of internal family politics were at work for them to apparently all agree -- or perhaps be too intimidated to disagree -- to exile a child for life with no recourse and no resources. like yeah okay he messed up but that’s some next level assholery to pull on a kid honestly, no wonder he grows up to have a bunch of abandonment and emotional intimacy issues (and presumably some prime survivor’s guilt as well. oh buddy) 

- eternally entertained by how much meeting t.f. is worded like the ‘how they met their spouse’ section of a wikipedia article in graves’ bio

Across one table, he met a deplorable fellow named Malcolm Graves is also *mwha* so good 

- for fic purposes I would just like to give a moment of thanks for the paragraph in graves’ bio that mentions a bunch of shenanigans they got up to back in the day, very useful thank you

- from what I understand t.f.’s exile-causing transgression has been changed quite recently from fighting back to running away, which I am so happy about because it makes a lot more psychological sense to me and makes graves’ words in ‘burning tides’ hit so much better.  

- I like that their individual descriptions of graves being captured are so indicative of how they each think about it -- namely t.f. doesn’t want to think about it (repress! repress! repress! very relatable) but probably has the more accurate view of it: The exact details of that night remain shrouded in mystery, for neither of them likes to speak of it—but Graves was taken alive, while Tobias and their other accomplices ran free, while graves does think about it but sort of still has his trauma goggles on for it: During a heist that rapidly turned from complex to completely botched, Graves was taken by the local enforcers, while Twisted Fate merely turned tail and abandoned him. t.f.’s is obfuscating and refusing to engage in the emotional aspect of it, graves’ is much more emotive in the language used, like ‘abandoned’. the lol bios often teeter awkwardly between straight biographies and wanting to dip into prose/flavour text, I must say I usually find them very clunky and unsatisfying, but this juxtaposition works for me.

sort of weird the details that don’t make it in, though -- like the fact that they’re both aware that miss fortune was the one who screwed them over in the whole gangplank Situation? (I love that part in ‘destiny and fate’ where graves is gamely like ‘yeah of course I’ve got a grudge against her but that was pretty metal too so y’know *shrug*’ haha)   

- it’s interesting how much t.f.’s uh connection I guess to the cards is almost described as some kind of... compulsion/unstoppable drive in the middle of his bio and then fades into the background towards the end (because his priorities have changed to repairing his marriage now that it’s an option and by god I support him in that). I really do wonder how his card magic actually works -- it’s a cool mix of extremely unsubtle and undeniable sorcery (straight up throwing fireballs around) and subtle (’hunches’, being ‘guided’, just knowing things he sort of shouldn’t), which seems to be where it started

also it seems like he can do it with just about any playing card he comes across? would be sort of weird if it’s the cards that are special, considering he keeps throwing them away and also I don’t know a lot about gambling but I distinctly imagine that casinos don’t let you use your own decks haha. and t.f. seemingly can’t do magic just on his own, without them. so it’s a thing that happens very specifically in relationship, when all the elements come together, symbiotically sort of thing? could he do magic without the cards but it’s how he’s trained himself to think of it so he doesn’t realize it (well I honestly doubt that but just for the thought experiment)? is there some sort of spirit behind those cards looking out for him? is it lady luck keeping an eye out for her favorite boy lol? we know this stuff can physically change the cards like when they showed the crown in ‘destiny and fate’, and he seems able to ‘prime’ a card with magic beforehand if ‘double-double cross’ is anything to go by, but even then mf can’t actually use or release it. hmmmmm many questions  

- the more of my long fic I write the more I am questioning what the fuck these two DO with all the money they steal -- like they’ve clearly pulled off some HUGE heists, surely it can’t all go into like drinks and cigars and fancy waistcoats and tf’s seemingly unending supply of playing cards

do they have like. a bunch of small caches of gold hidden away all across two continents in case of emergency? are their buried treasures the stuff of runeterran urban legend and people go out hunting for them? Have they invested this stuff in actual banks? (actually no I refuse to accept that as a possibility lol if nothing else this would make it hard to figure out if they were robbing THEMSELVES sometimes, sounds like a lot of hassle)

- His people had always waved away concerns over primitive magic and “cartomancy”, but now Tobias began to seek out ever more dangerous means to bend the cards to his will. 

I’m having a little bit of a hard time parsing this -- does this mean his people didn’t believe the cards were magic at all and he’s the only person he knows who can do it, or do they know but just don’t think can be dangerous??? I chose one particular interpretation for my fic, but I honestly can’t figure out what it’s actually meant to mean haha

- T.F. getting a special satisfaction from robbing people who are Assholes is a good character detail (his colour story really goes out of its way to show that the merchant he’s playing against is a real shitbag, for example); there is some lopsided form of righteousness/sense of justice there, I think. and it also ties in with why I like that his exile was because he ran away rather than because he resorted to violence -- there’s this underlying sense that he particularly enjoys outsmarting people who’re dickish to outsiders in precarious situations (like his people) so thoroughly that they don’t even realize it before he’s long gone, without ever having to even lay a finger on them, because that’s a way to fight back while staying out of reach when you come from relative powerlessness. There’s a... lack of malice, I guess, to both of them that I find quite endearing, you can see in Burning Tides that even at his most mindlessly vengeful Graves doesn’t actually enjoy being actively cruel. ‘mutual sense of roguish honor’ is RIGHT they’re bad men but not Bad men you get me  

- All in all, Twisted Fate is glad to have his old friend back, even if it might take another job or two—or ten—to restore their once easy partnership.

This probably means nothing because as I said the lol bios seem an endlessly shifting kaleidoscope of canon, but I think it’s so sweet that both of their last sentences/’where are they now’ statements are about them wanting to repair their partnership (and do some Cool Big Stuff together in graves’ case, I do wonder if that’s foreshadowing for the ruined king game or what)

[yurimother]

LGBTQ Manga Review – ‘Eve and Eve’

Reviewing an anthology presents unique challenges. Each story must be considered as a standalone piece able to present a cohesive and engaging narrative (or not) by itself. However, being bound together intrinsically adds something greater to the works. They are no longer independent pieces but contribute to the book as a whole. I will admit this is the first time I have had the pleasure of reviewing an anthology but given the current trend of Yuri anthologies in Japan, and with the many English adaptations looming on the horizon, I figured I best get used to the prospect.

Eve and Eve is a mature Yuri manga anthology featuring six stories by Nagashiro Rouge. When I say mature, I mean it! the stories contain explicit (although not pornographic) depictions of intercourse. Two of the stories were originally published in Yuri Ninshin, a hentai publication, all explicit genitalia or nipples were edited out in re-printings in Japan. These edited editions are the ones which appear in Seven Seas’ Eve and Eve. Given these alterations, Eve and Eve is actually one of the few Yuri works in English I classify as an adult piece containing sex that is not pornographic, a classification I rarely make outside of visual novels, such as Kindred Spirits on the Roof. However, as this review does discuss the explicate content in the manga I am warning that you should read the following at your own discretion.

Now that the long-winded introduction is finished, let’s go over the universal aspects of Eve and Eve before I break down each of the six stories. Nagashiro’s artwork is clean and detailed. With each panel being full of detail except in a few circumstances to accentuate a character, object, speech bubble or interaction when white space is used. Their character designs are extremely impressive, with almost every character having a distinctly different hairstyle, face, and body type that mesh properly and make each individual feel distinctive. This is especially important for an anthology, as the short stories leave little room for individual personalities, so a lot of what has to be memorable is the design.

On the note of the characters, none of them are extremely complicated, often only having one distinctive personality trait. However, this lack of sophistication is to be expected and helps cut down on needless fluff. None of the personalities or dynamics between the characters feel overused or played out. Instead, they compliment the story well and allow for engaging short narratives. An example of this is Eko, in the second story, whose timid nature is the main conflict of her romance.

The content of the stories varies but there are shared elements. Half of them are science fiction stories with elements of aliens, robots, artificial intelligence, and the apocalypse. Additionally, unlike many of Yuri titles, those presented here are about adults (save one exception) who have consensual sexual encounters. Many of the pairings in Eve and Eve are women in relationship with each other that have a life together, which is tragically rare in this genre.

As previously mentioned, Eve and Eve has more than a few moments of intercourse. While these are certainly lewd, I did not find them disgusting as I do with so many instances of sex in Yuri. Part of this may be due to the omission of genitalia but mostly it is in the way sex functions in each story and how it is depicted. I will examine the former aspect later, but in the depiction, the intercourse itself, it is universally well done. While it is explicit and salacious, the sex does not contain gross moments of overly exaggerated orgasms or uncomfortably manipulated breasts. It feels mature and thoughtful, at least most of the time, something I greatly appreciate.

Finally, I need to talk about the “Summary of Stories” page that appears at the end of the book. This glorious spread gives me precious information about each of the six stories including when and where they were originally published. Alongside each story is a blurb from Nagashiro Rouge describing each story and their thoughts on it. I subscribe to Barthes’ “Death of the Author,” so I usually care little about the creator or their intent when evaluating a text. This belief is especially useful as an English teacher; that’s right, we know Fitzgerald may not have intended to put that much symbolism into The Great Gatsby, we just do not care! But I am also a hypocrite so I will on occasion use Nagashiro’s summaries to contribute to my thoughts and arguments about each story.

The first story, I Want to Leave Behind a Miraculous Love is about Sayu and Nika, the last two survivors of the apocalypse. They do not speak the same language, with Nika’s limited dialogue being written in Russian (only a few lines, even if you do read Russian it adds almost nothing to the story). Despite this difficulty, the two of them grow incredibly close and eventually become lovers. Through narration and effective visual storytelling, this story actually does an effective job of communicating how close the two are and how they care for each other despite the women's’ inability to talk to each other. This is seen in scenes where the two wander the dilapidated remains of a city and during their sex.

The intercourse here is the best that Eve and Eve has to offer, both in is salaciousness and the deeper meaning. The sex is a physical expression of their love and the way in which the two can communicate their feelings and devotion to each other. It is more than two characters smashing into each other to achieve climax, but an act that physically confirms their love. I applaud this depiction.

I Want to Leave Behind a Miraculous Love, is one of the stories originally published in Yuri Ninshin. To remind you, this is a hentai work and thus contains a lot of sex (although again, this is the edited version). It is also worth mentioning that “Ninshin” translates to pregnancy, Yuri Ninshin is a fetish work about pregnancies occurring between women. I will admit, I LOVE stories about women having and raising kids together, typically not biological kids, although I have done some quack reporting on the real world possibility (something I am in no way qualified to talk about. However, pregnancy fetishizing is absolutely not my things. It is easy for most people to dismiss this story because of its inclusion. I, however, will take a different approach.

Sayu repeatedly mentions her worries about one of them ending up alone if the other were to die. The pregnancy produced by magical science shenanigans produces children to keep them company in the isolation as survivors of the apocalypse. They are physical results of their love which shall endure beyond either of their lifespans, demonstrating the strength of Nika and Sayu’s devotion to each other. Additionally, they are a symbol of life returning after the tragedy of the apocalypse. The final panel of the story depicts life in both their children and returned plant-life surrounding the two female figures, mothers to the new human race, Eve and Eve.

The second story, The Case of Eko and Lisa, is about an artist, Eko, and Lisa, a sexbot that she uses to pose for drawings (but not for her intended purpose). Lisa malfunctions and begins to develop feelings for Eko, who spurs her advances.

The two characters struggle to confess their actual feelings for each other because of Eko’s anxieties about their possible relationship. During the climax of the story she reveals the source of her trepidation in a very human moment, she is scared that if they were to have sex she would be disappointing or that things between the two might change. It is a fear that many people in the real world have and Nagashiro is able to use it so well in this story, complete with some of the best art in this book. Equally as incredible is the response of Lisa, “just be honest with yourself and love me however you like.”

The relationship between Eko and Lisa is easily the best in the volume. Each of them struggles because of Eko’s anxiety around their relationship and trying to figure out how to best express their feelings. The resolution to their conflict is also one of the sweetest and healthiest things I have seen out of a Yuri relationship.

The third story is Top or Bottom? The Showdown! As the title suggests this story is comedic. It begins with a group of female students arguing about which of them is a “top” or a “bottom.” All the girls agree that protagonist Anzu is a bottom because of her small stature, something which she is outraged by. Anzu enters into a contest with the tall but passive Emi to decide who would be the better top. Hilarity and some (non-lewd) service occur.

I am on record as not easily crying but I am an easy laugh and Top or Bottom had me rolling in whatever the homosexual equivalent of “the aisles” is. The premise is ridiculous, as it should be which leads to some great jokes. The side plot of the girls “shipping” their male classmates together also ends up with one of the best twist punchlines I have read in a long time.

While it is easy to enjoy this story given what is presented in the book, it also invites some deeper analysis. Nagashiro plays with the expectation of the assertive and submissive, bottom and top, roles that often define relationships. The comedy comes from the characters struggles to fit into these defined roles, each possessing one of the traits of a “bottom” Anzu’s small size and Emi’s passive nature. Anzu eventually says, “deciding [roles] like that doesn’t feel right.” It becomes evident that deciding who should be the top or bottom is not something that needs deciding before a relationship begins but something more fluid which, if they are formed, are done so during the relationship.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the book that amusement ceases with the fourth story, An Infidelity Revisited. Two women, Azusa and Midori, who are former classmates run into each other on the street and cheat on their girlfriends with each other. When Midori suggests that they break up with their partners Azusa declines saying the only reason the sex between them is so good is because they are cheating. The two women begin to leave but stop walking away at the last second.

I really did not like this story for numerous reasons. First, cheating is such a lazy and problematic way to make sex feel scandalous and exciting. Secondly, because the characters never face any repercussions or consequences as part of their infidelity that we see. This could make for an engaging narrative if done properly and in a longer format. As it is, all the reader sees is their cheating, no fallout, no resolution, and no redemption. Some stories are able to present such a small window into the lives of characters without these aspects but An Infidelity Revisited does not have the literary chops to pull off such a narrative.

Nagashiro wrote that “I hope I was able to convey that way in which logic eludes us even as adults, and the incredible impact that our feelings can have on us.” While the mangaka succeeds with that first point, the total lack of logic, they utterly fail to deliver on the impact. The only effect that this story has on me is leaving me mildly exasperated and bitter. As I previously said, there may be an engaging, albeit unhealthy, narrative here but begins so incomplete robs it of the chance to deliver.

Continuing with the theme of stories I did not like is Heir to the Curse. This is a second Yuri pregnancy story and the third to feature explicit sex following I want to Leave Behind a Miraculous Love and An infidelity Revisited. However, while the first story is a tale of love and eternity between two women this one is far more manipulative and disgusting. The beginning and ending are both fine, a girl is cursed because she is born from two mothers and can only reproduce women and she ends up living happily with another woman.

It is the middle that I take issue with. The cursed girl, Ichika, forces herself onto her childhood friend Yui to implant her child. This is so absurd that I almost threw the book across the room, the only reason I did not was that I had an ebook which I was reading on a very expensive laptop. Moreover, this assault feels so out of place with the rest of the anthology which features (mostly) thoughtful and wholesome depiction of same-sex relationship where women have consensual and mutually pleasurable intercourse.

Sure, eventually Yui realizes that she loves Ichika and wants to be with her but this epiphany coming immediately after an assault is a whole other can of worms that I do not want to eat because they are freaking worms. Ichika displays some remorse and it becomes clear that she is doing what she has been raised and abused to know how to do. In the end, Yui “saves” her and brings her away from the village that labels the woman as cursed. I actually like this part, but I wish the action she had taken against her friend was not assault. Even a pained but consensual sexual encounter would have been preferable. Ultimately what I can say is “cool story, still rape”.

Nagashiro wrote that this as “a story about friendship and love.” I call horse dung on this description. If you only read the beginning and ending sure, but when you include blatant assault in the middle of the story that becomes a central element to the story which again, because of the short nature of the story, was not properly addressed.

The anthology ends with Eternity 1 and 2: Eve and Eve. This is the only work by Nagashiro Rouge I had read before this, having browsed the issue of Comic Yuri Hime it was published in, and it is easily my favorite story in the book.

In this tale, two lovers, Eternity 1 and 2, have their brains put into satellites and to act as the watchdogs of humanity. The artwork and symbolism are stunning! By itself, this chapter would easily earn a nine or ten rating from me in that department. One standout moment is in the opening pages, a display of the two women sitting in wedding dresses about to undergo the operation with a wedding officiant standing behind them. This scene replicates the themes of legacy and eternity in love seen in I Want to Leave Behind a Miraculous Love but furthers them even more.

The women, torn from their flesh live together only as minds and spirits. While this story is devoid of sexual intimacy between the two the emotional connection of having their minds work as one is so strong and transient. I will not spoil the stories climax but the actions of the women to display and finalize their love are so intimate and powerful that I was blown away. Nagashiro also does a great job of tying in the other science fiction stories, chapters one and two, to Eternity 1 and 2: Eve and Eve making these three works feel like one continuous world, an excellent shared world anthology.

Eve and Eve has its ups and downs. While many of the stories are spectacular they are bogged down by a few inferior ones. However, I did not outright hate any of the stories and find myself earning for continuations of the inadequate ones so that their potential could be realized. If you are willing to overlook a few questionable chapters Eve and Eve is a wonderful and salacious Yuri anthology with surprising depth and humanity. I definitely recommend that older readers give it a look.

Ratings: Story – 7 Characters – 5 Art – 9 LGBTQ – 9 Lewd – 8 Final – 7

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[insanityclause]

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

A Director Making His Mark in More Ways Than One

LONDON — The director Jamie Lloyd was giving me a tour of his tattoos. Not the Pegasus on his chest or the skeleton astronaut floating on his back, though he gamely described those, but the onyx-inked adornments that cover his arms and hands, that wreathe his neck, that wrap around his shaved head.

When I asked about the dragon at his throat, he told me it had been “one of the ones that hurt the least,” then pointed to the flame-licked skulls on either side of his neck: his “covert way,” he said, of representing drama’s traditional emblems for comedy and tragedy.

“I thought maybe it’d be a little bit tacky to have theater masks on my neck,” he added, a laugh bubbling up, and it’s true: His dragon would have eaten them for lunch.

It was early December, and we were in a lounge beneath the Playhouse Theater, where Lloyd’s West End production of “Cyrano de Bergerac,” starring James McAvoy in a skintight puffer jacket and his own regular-size nose, would soon open to packed houses and critical praise.

Running through Feb. 29, and arriving on cinema screens Feb. 20 in a National Theater Live broadcast, “Cyrano” — newly adapted by Martin Crimp, and positing its hero as a scrappy spoken-word wonder — capped a year that saw Lloyd celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic.

In London last summer, his outdoor hit “Evita” traded conventional glamour for sexy grit, while his radical reinterpretation of Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal,” starring Tom Hiddleston, was hailed first in the West End, then on Broadway. Ben Brantley, reviewing “Betrayal” in The New York Times, called it “one of those rare shows I seem destined to think about forever.”

When Time Out London ranked the best theater of 2019, it gave the top spot jointly to all three Lloyd productions, saying that he “has had a year that some of his peers might trade their entire careers for.”

Lloyd, who is 39, did not spring from the same mold as many of those peers. There was for him, he says, no youthful aha moment of watching Derek Jacobi onstage and divining that directing was his path. Epiphanies like that belonged to other kids, the ones who could afford the tickets.

If there is a standard background for a London theater director — and Lloyd would argue that certainly there used to be — that isn’t where he came from, growing up working class on the south coast of England, in Margaret Thatcher’s Britain.

The first time I laid eyes on him, chatting in the Playhouse lobby after a preview of “Cyrano,” he was the picture of working-class flair — the gold pirate hoops, the pink and black T-shirt, the belt cinching high-waisted pants.

He looks nothing like your typical West End director. Which of course is precisely the point.

What’s underneath

“It’s quite often said of him,” McAvoy observed by phone, once the reviews were in, “that he strips things away or he tries to take classical works and turn them on their head. I think he’s always just trying to tell the story in the clearest and most exhilarating way possible.”

The “X-Men” star, who put the number of times he’s worked with Lloyd in the past decade at a “gazillion,” calls theirs “probably one of the most defining relationships that I’ve had in my career.”

Yet Lloyd himself is on board with the notion that his assertively contemporary stagings pare back stifling layers of performance history to lay bare what’s underneath.

Like the tiger and dragons that he had emblazoned on his head just last May, though, the unembellished nature of his shows — as minimalist in their way as his tattoos are the opposite — is a relatively recent development.

Lloyd’s first “Cyrano de Bergerac,” starring Douglas Hodge in 2012, was also his Broadway debut. It was, he said, “absolutely the ‘Cyrano’ that you would expect,” with the fake nose, the hat, the plume, the sword-fighting.

There is, granted, sword-fighting in the new one — but the audience has to imagine the swords.

Lloyd’s productions, including a lauded revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s “Passion” in 2010, long marked him as a hot young director on the rise. But he sees in some of his previous work a noisy tendency toward idea overload.

The pivot point came in 2018, with a season that the Jamie Lloyd Company — which he formed seven years ago with the commercial producing powerhouse Ambassador Theater Group — devoted to the short works of Harold Pinter. The playwright’s distillation of language forced Lloyd to match it with his staging.

That immersion led to what the director Michael Grandage — one of Lloyd’s early champions, who tapped him at 27 to be his associate director at the Donmar Warehouse — called Lloyd’s “absolute masterpiece.”

“I had quite a lot of ambition to do a production of ‘Betrayal’ in my life,” Grandage said. “And then when I saw Jamie’s, I thought, ‘Right, that’s it. I don’t ever, ever want to direct this play.’ Because that’s, for me, the perfect production.”

Playing dress-up

Charm is a ready currency in the theater, but Lloyd’s is disarming; he seems simply to be being himself, without veneer. Like when I fact-checked something I’d read by asking whether he was a vegan.

“Lapsed vegan,” he confessed immediately, with a tinge of guilt about eating eggs again.

Pay no attention to any tough-guy vibe in photos of him; do not be alarmed by the sharp-toothed cat on the back of his head. In conversation, Lloyd comes across as thoughtful and unassuming, with an animated humor that makes him fun company. If he speaks at the speed of someone with no time to waste, he balances that with focused attentiveness.

His father, Ray, was a truck driver. His mother, Joy (whose name is tattooed on his right forearm, near the elbow), cleaned houses, took in ironing and ran a costume-rental shop, where young Jamie would sneak in to dress up as the children’s cartoon character Rainbow Brite.

“It’s very embarrassing,” he said, squelching a laugh.

Seeing professional theater wasn’t an option then for Lloyd, whose grown-up passion for expanding audience access — one of the things he has made himself known for in the West End — grew out of that exclusion. His company has set aside 15,000 free and 15,000 £15 tickets for its current, characteristically starry three-show season, which will also include Emilia Clarke in “The Seagull” and Jessica Chastain in “A Doll’s House.” At the 786-seat Playhouse, that adds up to just over 38 full houses.

Lloyd, who was studying acting at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts when he decided he wanted to direct, found his way to theater as a child by acting in school shows and local amateur productions. Twice he was cast as a monkey; in “The Wizard of Oz,” thrillingly, he got to fly.

The details of his early days have always been colorful — like having a clown as his first stepfather, who performed at children’s parties under the stage name Uncle Funny. But Lloyd is quick to acknowledge the darkness lurking there.

“It sounds a little bit like some dodgy film, because he was actually a really violent man,” he said. “And there were times where he was very physically abusive to my mum. There was a sort of atmosphere of violence in that house that was really uneasy. And yet masked with this literal makeup, but also this sense of trying to entertain people whilst enacting terrible brutality behind the scenes.”

This is where he locates his own connection to Pinter’s work.

“A lot of that is that the violence is beneath the surface,” he said. “And on the top there is this sort of, what I call a kind of topspin, a layer of cover-up.”

Long relationships

Lloyd was still at drama school when he staged a production of Lapine and William Finn’s “Falsettoland” that won a prize: assistant directing a show at the Bush Theater in London. Based on that, Trevor Nunn hired him, at 22, to be his assistant director on “Anything Goes” in the West End — a job he did so well that Grandage got word of it and hired him to assist on “Guys and Dolls.” While Lloyd was doing that, he also began directing in his own right.

The costume and set designer Soutra Gilmour, who has been a constant with Lloyd since he cold-called her for his first professional production, Pinter’s “The Caretaker,” said theirs is an easy relationship, with a “symbiotic transference of ideas.” Even their creative aesthetics have evolved in sync.

“We’ve actually never fallen out in 13 years,” she said over mint tea on a trip to New York last month, just before “Betrayal” closed. “Never! I don’t even know how we would fall out.”

Of course, the one time she tried to decline a Lloyd project five years ago, because its tech rehearsals coincided with the due date for her son’s birth, he told her there was no one else he wanted to work with. So she did the show, warning that at some point she would have to leave. Now, she says, he understands that she won’t sit through endless evening previews, because she needs to go home to her child.

Lloyd and his wife, the actress Suzie Toase (whose name is tattooed on one of his arms), home-school their own three boys (whose names are tattooed on the other). Their eldest, 13-year-old Lewin, is an actor who recently played one of the principal characters, the heroine’s irresistible best friend, on the HBO and BBC One series “His Dark Materials,” whose cast boasts McAvoy as well.

Enter the child

Lloyd’s interpretation of “Betrayal,” a 1978 play that recounts a seven-year affair, imbued it with a distinctly non-’70s awareness of the fragility of family — the notion that children are the bystanders harmed when a marriage is tossed away.

Its gasp-inducing moment came with the entrance of a character Pinter wrote to be mentioned but not seen: the small daughter of the couple whose relationship is imperiled. In putting her onstage, Lloyd didn’t touch the text; it was a simple, wordless role. With it, he altered the resonance of the play.

To me, it seemed logical that Lloyd’s production would have been informed by his experience as a husband and father — and maybe also as a child in a splintering family. How old had he been, anyway, when his parents split up?

“Five,” Lloyd said. “The same age as the character would be.” He paused. “Oh God, yeah, fascinating. I’d not thought about that. Exactly the same age.”

If that fact was of more than intellectual interest to him, he didn’t let on. He volunteered a memory, though — of being a little one “amongst these kind of big giants, and I guess what we can now see as the mess of their lives.”

Blazer-free

Doing “Betrayal” in New York, Lloyd was struck by how eager Americans were to chat about his tattoos. Still, he told me after I texted him a follow-up question about them, he hadn’t expected his appearance to be such a talking point in this story.

It’s not just idle curiosity. It’s about what the tattoos signify in a field where, in Britain as in the United States, the top directors tend to have grown up very comfortably. It’s about who is welcome in a particular space, and who gets to be themselves there.

For a long time after Lloyd started working in the theater, he wore a blazer every day: a conscious attempt to conform in an industry where he felt a nagging sense of difference.

“Every other director at the time was from an Oxbridge background,” he said, “and looked and sounded a particular way. I spent a long time pretending to be like them.”

It was a performance of sorts, with a costume he donned for the role.

It was only about seven or eight years ago — around the time he left the Donmar and started putting together his own company — that he stopped worrying about what people might think if he looked the way he wanted.

“My dad had tattoos” was the first thing he said when I asked him about his own.

“I guess it’s partly getting older,” he mused, “but it’s just sort of going, ‘You can’t pretend to be someone. You’ve got to be who you really are, in every way.’”

The tattoos that have gradually transformed him are from a different aesthetic universe than his recent work onstage. Yet the impulse, somehow, is the same.

In shedding the blazer, in inking his skin, Lloyd has peeled back layers of imposed convention to show who’s underneath.

And should you spot him at the theater, where he is hard to miss, you’ll notice that he looks just like himself.

[traincat]

you really enlightened me about spider-man that seeing a tweet like this twitter(.)com/tylerllewtaing/status/1124384316870414336?s=19 got me pissed because now i know better. the worst part is i would have agreed to it months ago. why are so many spider-man opinions so bad

Yeah, these are bad tweets and bad arguments. First off, I’d argue there’s no such thing as a “blank canvas” superhero character meant to represent the “current reader” -- that’s a ridiculous idea that fundamentally misunderstands what storytelling is. What would that even look like? A superhero comic featuring a main character with a blank face you can paste your own portrait onto, featuring a blank slate supporting cast vague enough for you to project any sort of relationships onto, with blank word bubbles? The idea of a blank slate superhero character isn’t just ridiculous, it’s unsustainable. Nobody would 50 years worth of comic books about a character who’s personality was “completely malleable to the audience’s whims.” Obviously characters evolve with the times, and you have to take that into account, but to suggest that a character who has survived in such pop culture prominence since 1962 has done so because he doesn’t actually have his own personality is mindboggling and disrespects both storytelling, superhero comics as a medium, and Spider-Man as a character. That’s not a character; that’s a Mad Lib. I’d strongly recommend these guys get some lessons in critical reading and a long box or six full of Spider-Man comics to mull over, because Peter Parker very much does have his own personality and it’s not whatever these two think it is. 

Second off, let’s argue about what “relatable” means. I hate this term when it’s used to talk about fictional characters and if I could strike one word out of the English language, it would probably be this one, because it’s lazy. What is relatable? Who is it relatable to? It also perverts, I would like to suggest, what the audience was originally supposed to relate to about Spider-Man. Stan Lee and Steve Ditko gave Peter a set of problems when they introduced him that were decidedly unglamorous: he came from a family that had very little money. He had to step up upon the death of his uncle, a death he felt responsible for, to help pay the bills. His classmates misunderstood him and he felt alone. He didn’t have friends with similar interests. The popular girl didn’t want to go out with him. When he got a girlfriend, suddenly the popular girl did. His girlfriend had jealousy issues and her own personal problems. His boss was a jerk. And to quote Rodney Dangerfield: he got no respect. Those were the problems the audience was supposed to relate to, the ordinary struggles of the average person magnified by the fact that Peter also had a secret identity to protect and amazing powers beyond the scope of the average schmuck. He was relatable in that the audience could relate to him and to his problems, not in that he was a mirror held up to reflect each and every reader who glanced at the cover of Spider-man comic. 

I’ve argued this point before, but I think “with great power, comes great responsibility” is actually a deeply unrelatable concept. Look at the world and the people who have great institutional power -- there’s very little responsibility being taken by the people who have that power to protect their society and their communities. Peter Parker doesn’t have great institutional power; he’s a guy from a poor family who grew up in Queens, heavily Jewish-coded within the text of the comics, who frequently feels like the underdog. But with Peter’s specific brands of great power -- the super powers he got from the spider bite and the fact that he’s a supergenius (super relatable, right, aren’t we all just incredible scientific supergeniuses) -- he could certainly take that institutional power. But that wouldn’t be responsible. Peter’s responsibility is the protection of his community. I think a large number of people who argue that Peter’s foremost trait is that he’s “relatable” without clarifying what that even means would act in a very un-Spider-Manish way, should they magically be granted superpowers. Taking responsibility is, in and of itself, a distinctly unrelatable trait for many people, especially, and not to generalize but let’s be real here, an extremely large portion of the male population. By claiming that he’s relatable beyond all else is to essentially throw the concept that defines him -- responsibility -- into the trash. 

This is also twisting the “anyone can wear the mask” message in Into the Spider-Verse, because that’s not a line that’s about Peter at all. He doesn’t deliver that line: Miles Morales does. It’s a line that’s about Miles realizing he can be Spider-Man, he is good enough, he is ready, and embracing that confidence. Anyone can wear the mask referred to the fact that Spider-Man doesn’t have to be Peter Parker -- it can be Miles Morales, it can be Gwen Stacy, Miguel O’Hara, etc. And I think that was a very empowering statement for the kids in the audience who looked at Peter Parker and didn’t feel represented by him, but who did feel represented by Miles, and by the concept that Spider-Man doesn’t have to be a white guy. To use it to say “actually Peter Parker never had a set personality and was whatever the audience wanted him to be at the time” is stretching it pretty far when it’s about saying that, while Peter Parker is Spider-Man, Spider-Man doesn’t have to be Peter Parker.

Here’s another problem with the “Spider-Man: the relatable superhero” figure: the sweeping generalizations. “Modern teenagers” because all modern teenagers are grown in pods and their only personality trait is “youths.” Not everyone is obligated to like the same thing, and not everyone is obligated to see things the same way, especially not because they happen to be contained in a generation with each other. To claim something is relatable to an entire group of people is ludicrous -- now, to say something is marketed towards a specific group is completely different, and I do agree that’s very much what is happening with MCU Spider-Man. I think there’s very little that’s relatable about getting a high tech suit from a billionaire superhero who came far before you, or about having to stop a stealth jet from being stolen, or about going on a European vacation with all your friends after you were snapped out of reality. These things are all pretty far removed from the typical Spider-Man problems I’ve listed above, and let’s be honest, most of us are far more likely to be able to understand and relate to the money problems than the European vacation with all our friends, or becoming a billionaire’s protege. But Marvel Studios has a lot of money, and they’re very good at marketing. You don’t have to relate to a story to enjoy it, but you also don’t have to relate to it to be sold the idea that you do. And I’m not saying that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but it’s a whole different ballpark away from the hallmarks that originally marked Spider-Man as relatable. There was no batcave. No high tech armor. He had no butler. There was just a guy in his bedroom in Queens, mixing up his own chemistry experiments, wondering how he was going to save up enough money to pay the bills and have enough left over to take his girlfriend out for dinner. It was the ordinary that made Spider-Man an extraordinary character at the time, and what kept him so vibrant and easy to relate to. To, and not from.  

[cloudytian]

Yatadera Narumi’s hat

A lot of people use “天空” (sky/heavens) for the center text on Narumi’s hat because that's what’s most intuitive, especially given that a) the title of th16 is 天空璋 and b) the bulk of fanart was immediately after release and people hadn’t found all the references yet, but that has of course now been rectified (The Chinese Touhou wiki generally has a lot of information, and even the Google translated page is surprisingly readable at times).

The text reads「迷故三界城　悟故十方空　本來無東西　何處有南北 」,  which makes the visible parts "南北," "方空," and "西無." 

...But I wasn’t satisfied with just that, so I did some more digging!

First, Jizo statues are often adorned in red bibs (like the one Narumi wears) and knitted hats for a variety of reasons: to help ward off disease and evil, to represent generosity and goodwill towards pilgrims and travelers, to convey gratitude for the protection of children, and to help the souls of deceased children in the afterlife. 

However, as we see in this picture here, some of them are wearing distinctly out-of-place straw hats instead of warm winter hats!

This is because of the popular Japanese folktale of the Hatted Jizo, wherein a poor man goes to sell some cloth on New Year’s Eve but ends up exchanging his cloth for five straw hats after taking pity on a man trying to sell them out of season. On his way home, he spots six Jizo statues out in the cold and covers five of them with the straw hats, giving his own hat to the sixth. He goes home empty-handed but his wife isn’t upset because she takes it as proof of his generosity, and the six Jizo come to reward the kindly couple the next evening. Narumi’s straw hat covered in snow is probably an allusion to this legend. 

The hat, text and all, is also part of the traditional uniform for pilgrims undergoing the Shikoku Pilgrimage, a 1000 km route of 88 temples associated with the Buddhist monk Kōbō-Daishi. Pilgrims embarked on the journey knowing fully well that it could kill them, and wore white clothing to serve as their burial shroud should they die on their journey. According to these articles, the inscription on their hats (called sugegasa) were traditionally written on priests’ coffins. By writing the same phrases on their hats, pilgrims could use them as makeshift caskets in case they died on their journey. This practice was common enough for the inscription to be included in a pilgrimage guidebook published in 1690.

If the “Narumi was brought to life by Marisa/Alice messing around and putting the hat on her head in IN” theory turns out to be true, this ends up serving as an extra bit of irony as an item sending off the dead would end up bringing something to life, but either way it ties into Jizo’s role as a boddhisattva who works to ease the suffering of the dead and help their passage into the afterlife.

Anyhow, the actual text itself is a poem, and so you can’t translate it directly and have to interpret it, and I wasn’t feeling too confident about that. Luckily for us, this lecture here seems to know what it’s talking about!

迷故三界城 - “Bewilderment [is akin to being lost] in the City of Three Realms.”

This refers to the three realms of existence categorized by Buddhist cosmology. 迷 and 悟 are central concepts in Buddhism, referring to the states of being lost and enlightened respectively. The former is the state of living beings, and the latter is what they strive for. This line uses being lost in a city as a metaphor the standard state of all those not on the path to enlightenment meandering through the cycle of reincarnation across the three realms.

悟故十方空 - “Enlightenment [is as if there] is emptiness ten directions.”

“Ten directions“ is a poetic turn of phrase that means “everywhere,“ as it encompasses the four cardinal directions, the four intermediate directions and the vertical directions of above and below in our physical world. As Buddhist enlightenment asserts that suffering is borne from attachment to the material world, this line describes the state of enlightenment as “emptiness in all directions“ because nothing in our physical realm holds meaning, placing it in contrast to the material city of the previous line.

本來無東西 , 何處有南北 - “Originally there was no East or West, so where do South and North exist?”

This further separates the state of enlightenment from the physical realm, renouncing the divisions of direction altogether. As directions are defined by the positioning of the “self” in relation to the material world, it imposes an attachment to the physical form through the perception of worldly creatures that does not exist in the intrinsic nature of reality, but is rather a worldly preconception that must be abandoned to achieve enlightenment. This again ties back to the metaphor of the city, as it eliminates the physical directions necessary for the conception of being lost.

(Yes, all of this is conveyed by 20 characters. English really is inefficient.)

So basically, it describes abandoning worldly attachments to attain enlightenment, which pretty much is the gist of all Buddhist poetry.

...The poem itself really has nothing in particular to do with Narumi, it’s just for the aesthetics of the Jizo motif. ZUN probably went “There are Jizo statues in straw hats, and there’s a special straw hat that’s extra Buddhist, and has connotations of giving someone a peaceful death! I’ll combine the two and frustrate fans by covering the text in snow and wait for them to figure it out.” But the hat is a staple of henro clothing and yet I couldn’t find any record of the poem in English, so I thought I might as well put it here.

[audiencestudies2020]

Audience Studies (3P18) Week #9 - Fandom and Tumblr

In this week’s lecture and reading, we discussed the concept of fandom and audience subcultures. This week’s reading was by Pouls, S, and Gilpin, D titled Socially mediated Stranger Things: Audience cultures and full-season releases. In this week of class, we discussed the nature of fandom and audience subcultures. Before I delve too deep it is important to establish a clear definition of both fandom and subculture. Fandom, as defined by the Cambridge dictionary, can be defined as, “the state of being a fan of someone or something, especially a very enthusiastic one” (Cambridge Dictionary, 2020). While they define a subculture as, “the way of life, customs, and ideas of a particular group of people within a society that are different from the rest of that society” (Cambridge Dictionary, 2020). From these two definitions, you can almost state that a fandom is a form of subculture, as those who are enthusiastic fans fall into that specific and distinctly separate form of culture/society for whatever they may be fans of.

              In the lecture, the following is stated, “Media fans are members of subcultures in the sense that they adopt their own linguistic codes (specialized ways of talk, unique forms of greeting and address, and the use of codenames or titles, for example) and symbolic forms (including styles of dress) that delineate them from the rest of the population” (Sullivan). As well as, “Fans who outwardly and proudly claim their affiliation with their favorite popular culture texts, particularly when those media are generally considered to be ‘fluff’ or mindless distractions from reality, may be challenging the status quo through their acdvides”(Sullivan, p.196). From these two definitions, we can gain a better understanding of how fandom members and subcultures communicate differently than those members of main cultures. They have their own terms, phrases, slang, and lingo to describe people, places, things, and actions that exist within their fandom.

              This got me thinking, what are the most popular fandoms? How do they communicate? And where do they communicate? – In my search, I found that though fandoms exist across all forms of social media, one social media platform, in particular, stands out as an epicenter for fan-related content, Tumblr. As I post these blogs, I actually am using Tumblr and in my personal life I have had a Tumblr account for many years, so I fully understand the magnitude to which fandom content flows freely on Tumblr. If it exists, I guarantee there is fan content on Tumblr for it. Though with the vast quantity of fan content on Tumblr I was personally curious as to what fandoms and fans reigned supreme on the platform. In an article they state the top five fandoms as being:

1.      Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Video Game)

2.      WtFock (A Belgian teen drama)

3.      BTS (K-pop Group)

4.      Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Movie)

5.      Critical Role (Dungeons and Dragons Podcast)

From this list, I found a few things specifically the most interesting, I had absolutely no idea what WtFock was before I googled it, which made sense once I found out that it was not a show that had a predominate western following as it was an international show. I also found it interesting how animal crossing new horizons was at the top of the fandom list as it was a video game that was released at the peak of the first lockdown/quarantine phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people flocked to it as a way to socialize and escape reality when things got especially tough. I as someone who played the game quite extensively (and continue to play it) most definitely see how the fandom has developed its own terms and ways of communicating with one another that only other members of the fandom would understand. Examples of these include:

-        Can I catalogue that? (Asking someone if you can purchase an item from one of their shops to ensure that you fill up your catalogue of items in-game)

-        I have *insert name here* in boxes (Stating that you have an in-game character ready to move out on your island and can be given to another player of the game

-        Bells (The currency in the animal crossing franchise games)

These three examples are just an extremely brief look into the specific terminology of this specific fandom, and every single fandom has its own vast and extensive collection of terms and phrases that connect users to one another in an extensive and secretive way. Fandom’s themselves are like secret little clubs, where members themselves speak in a seemingly secret code that to outside viewers does not make any sort of sense, these members know exactly what each other mean. Fandoms are like the fun little communication clubs of the larger communication community.

Reference List:

Burt, K., Burt, K., Harrisson, J., Harrisson, J., Sokol, T., Sokol, T., . . . Cummins, C. (2020, December 07). Tumblr's Top Fandoms of 2020. Retrieved December 08, 2020, from https://www.denofgeek.com/culture/tumblrs-top-fandoms-of-2020/

Cambridge Dictionary. (n.d.). Fandom. In Dictionary.Cambridge.org. dictionary. Retrieved December 4, 2020, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/fandom

Cambridge Dictionary. (n.d.). Subculture. In Dictionary.Cambridge.org. dictionary. Retrieved December 4, 2020, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/subculture

[anti-kin-cringe]

There are some things I’d like to address in this. 

First of all, otherkinity is not the same as a belief in reincarnation and an identity held off that belief.

Otherkin is defined as someone who identifies on a spiritual or psychological level as non-human (the definition has changed slightly over the last ten years, but that is what is considered the current definition by the community and is extremely close to the definition you see used in academic and professional texts on the subject- however, the academic and professional texts would most likely include your dear anon, with the implication that they ID on a physical level as well, which the otherkin community not would not actually accept). While that certainly includes those who adhere to reincarnation beliefs- as reincarnation is an exceptionally belief held throughout the world- that does not translate to everyone believing in it. More so, yes, actually, other religions believe in past lives having an effect on your identity in your current one. A prime example of this is Buddhism, one of the “global” religions, in fact!

Take the Jataka as an example. It not only teaches valuable lessons as a prime piece of scripture, but also very clearly shows examples of the gradual steps towards enlightenment that each life helps an individual attain. Not only that, but it also shows the shared identity that intertwines all of the lives through one continuous thread of essence- the Buddha can clearly remember his past lives, after all, distinctly noting who he was and who others were. Really, I’m not sure what else to say on this, because I am just astounded that this extremely obvious example did not jump out to you when you where making this erroneous argument. 

Also, yes, otherkin do refuse to generally believe that their beliefs come from delusions, because, a majority of the time, they don’t. To also give a shoutout to the anon you were answering, who seemed to imply that they thought they were a fictional character on all levels at times, if you’re having extreme delusions and looking for a label to explain your identity: Don’t bother. Just go see a fucking doctor. Please. 

Beliefs and opinions quite literally do not fit the definition of a delusion. If I go up to you and, to use your example, say, “I believe myself to have been a kingfisher in a previous lifetime, and I still feel deeply connected to what I believe to have been a past life. That is why I call myself a therian.” and you proceed to respond with, “You’re delusion because of that” then you are provably wrong.

There’s no ‘if’s, ‘and’s, or ‘but’s here. If you claim that someone is delusional for beliefs or opinions, you are wrong. A delusion is a symptom of a disorder, and is a provably false belief that is held beyond all proof to the individual otherwise. You can’t prove that someone’s beliefs or opinions in this case are wrong, because A) it’s a metaphysical belief, which means it can neither be proven true nor false, or B) It’s a psychological or neurological educated guess, which means that in order to prove it wrong you’ll need to do some actual, serious research into this phenomena (but only specifically for that one otherkin since everyone has different opinions, ESPECIALLY psychological otherkin), which no one has the time nor money to actually do, and C) Everyone’s attitudes are open to change when presented with new information, which means that even if you somehow, someway proved them wrong, they could/would just proceed to say, “You’re right, I guess I’ll have to think of another logical way of explaining this. Cheers!” 

Beyond that, hallucinations have nothing to do with reincarnation. If someone walks down a hallway and sees Cthulhu at the end of it, that’s not because they believe they were a construction worker in their last life. Seriously. There is just...no connection here, I’m baffled that you would imply there is. Are you stupid, or just an ignorant westerner? More so, the anon you were answering said they had delusions, not hallucinations. Those are two entirely different animals right there, though they do frequently dance together in the diagnostic criteria for disorders. You can’t just use them interchangeably.

That last portion I have gotta agree with Mod Dulla here. The anon they’re answering says they literally have delusions that they’re 100% a fictional character, which I’m guessing also includes physical identification, so, yeah, that’s got nothing to do with being otherkin. Regardless, if you have delusions, go see a medical professional. Don’t try to just “find a label” to make yourself feel better, go get help from a professional. Don’t just ignore it if it’s causing you problems! I know Tumblr has a habit of glorifying mental illnesses, but it’s important that you take care of yourself. 

-Halcyon

[in-my-minds-reflection]

Literature & Reading// Fiction and American Lit

Going into EWU I had little to know knowledge of what a literary analysis actually was, nor did I have any idea how to do it without plain summary. However, through Ian Green’s Intro to Fiction and American Lit I class I have developed my skills tremendously and I can create theses so much more easily and know how to prove them. These classes have improved my writing so much and with them I know I can apply some of the different techniques he used to teach me into lower level classes, so those students may find success earlier than I did. I have also been able to find a stronger interest in classics in literature and with a teacher who did not encourage just the canon and the white man’s perspective, I can help create an environment in which voices are actually represented in what we read and learn through.

The Language versus the Origin: Identities Exist Long Before Their Labels Do

NOTICE: It is important to note that throughout this paper, as a writer, I can only critique these scholars from a homosexual, cisgender female point of view. As a scholar, one must note that they inherently have biases especially when writing about a group of people they do not identify as and it must be noted as such. Whether one identifies as a woman or a womxn or a they/them or  anything else, it must also be recognized that much of this language has only erupted in the last thirty years or so and we must infer from the descriptions other’s use.

While the ideas of gender roles have existed for hundreds and thousands of years, those not aligning to the binary of these pink and blue stereotypes as we know now have been around for just as long. While the acceptance of these non-traditional ideas is still formulating in big waves, the language that we have to surround these topics has increased exponentially in the last few decades. However, this allows for much disagreement over older texts that deal with gender and sexuality and whether they “were” gay, transgender, or non-binary among other identities, and whether as scholars we can accurately pinpoint the identities without having these explicit messages that “This Character is Trans”. In regard to Mountain Charley, a tale of a person who was born and raised “female” who took upon a male identity in parts of adulthood, and other 19th century American texts, gender is discussed and critiqued in negative ways because to the inability to perfectly define the sexual and gender experience due to the lack of language available during that period. Professor Peter Boag, a history teacher at WSU, has multiple articles about gender in 19th century Western novels. Boag says, “This reveals a problem that confronts historians: it is anachronistic to impose our present-day terms and concepts for and about gender and sexuality — such as transgender — onto the past” ([The Trouble…]325), but if someone were to describe in detail how to make banana bread, but instead called bananas plantains and measure everything in the metric system and titled it “Fancy Loaf”, would it still be incorrect to point out that it is still, literally, banana bread? Though it is notable that the word “transgender” only became commonly used within the last quarter of the 20th century (Boag [The Trouble…]324), the language not being available for use does not excuse that existing not within a gender binary but instead a gender spectrum has happened for all of history. While the west is typically thought of as being settled by white men, the Homestead Act allowed for anyone to purchase 160 acres for only fourteen dollars (Patterson-Black 67). Between five and ten percent of all homesteaders were women (Patterson-Black 68) as the only requirement was to be head of a family or twenty-one years of age. This uncommon knowledge has been holding back the gender ratios as well as power structure that was at work of the nineteenth century that we can distinctly trace back with a paper trail. While female homesteaders were perpetuated as dependent on their husbands, dance hall participants, or prostitutes (Patterson-Black 69), the real women who took on this land ownership were strong and independent workers. If these women were to exist in these generally “masculine” roles, why can’t other people existing on the gender spectrum have also taken advantage of the “wild wild west” and its opportunities?  While we have a large dictionary of words to describe various sexuality and gender labels, the incorrect and offensive terms are still used. Boag says, in his article from only fifteen years ago: “Of course applying our terms and concepts of transgenderism and transsexuality to the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century is problematic. The concept of transsexuality only crystallized in the 1940s and 1950s when advancements in medical technology allowed individuals who felt they had the wrong sex or body to surgically reshape them. Since then, transsexual identity has expanded to include those who choose not to, or are unable to, surgically change their bodies to conform with their gender identity. In the last quarter of the twentieth century a broader concept of transgenderism emerged. The new understanding includes transsexuals, but it also embraces a whole set of people who, perfectly satisfied with their bodies, nevertheless identify with the gender "opposite" of the one society normally assigns to their bodies; it also counts people who truly transcend normative gender categories, wanting to be seen as neither female nor male.” (Boag 479-480) The term “transsexual” is not a term used to describe those who are transgender and most of the population is very uncomfortable of this term; one’s gender experience is not limited to their genitals and whether or not they would like to alter it. While many trans people would like to transition as much as they can medically, not everyone wants to or needs to, and either way they all fall under the broader term of transgender (or trans-masc or trans-feminine). This language used to refer to such a broad group of people is not a positive or useful thing to do, especially when in the twenty first century now that there is easy-to-access language to discuss these things. This idea ties into the transmed community who believe that one must medically transition and desire to to be trans, whereas not everyone who experiences dysphoria that comes with being trans would have their dysphoria solved from being on hormones or getting surgeries, and for some, medically transitioning is just not possible. One’s genitals does not in any way determine their gender, and only may help someone feel comfortable with their body upon altering them. Boag says, “Such a sequence of events undoubtedly helped Greeley reclaim balance in his sense of gender norms and sex roles which had recently been upset by encountering a "woman" dressed as a man in a region where, and at a time when, few women could actually be found. Moreover, the meaning embedded within this story about changing physical locations and gender identities anticipated a theme that decades of later regional historians and popular writers assumed as axiomatic: the West was a man's world, a place either not welcoming to, or simply devoid of, women-creatures best relegated to the more domesticated East” (478) in response to a journalist finding a womxn dressed in traditionally “male” clothing working in the west, which turned out to be not quite as prosperous as he once thought. This section of Boag’s article, “Go West Young Man, Go East Young Woman: Searching for the Trans in Western Gender History”, is exactly contradictory of what Patterson-Black claims in her article in which she is researching women in the great plains. While Boag notes what the writers and historians said during this time, he ignores the researchable statistics and within this ignores all of the women who made their way across America. In researching gender in the nineteenth century, one might come across a book called, “‘The Horrors of the Half Known Life’: Male Attitudes toward Women and Sexuality in Nineteenth Century America” by G.J.Barker-Benfield, a man. This book “covers” (albeit very, very generalized) the ideas a man would have about a woman during the 1800s; from gynecology to multiple chapters about sex, this text, much like the articles by Peter Boag, can not accurately define the life of a woman during this period. This book not only perpetuates the binary gender idea rather than one existing on a spectrum, but also titles its chapters “Man Earn--Woman Spread” and “Architect of the Vagina” whereas not all women “spread” for men nor do all women have vaginas. While the in the intro, Barker-Benfield notes that he is a man and is to be met with criticism for creating this text following a variety of other men creating “feminist” texts about women, this did not prevent his publishing nor did it make him second guess these incredibly sexualized phrases about the real experiences of womxn. It is important to question why something would need to be published about the male version of the womxn’s experience when that is almost solely the history we receive anyway. The Horrors intro is almost entirely about how feminists are interested in the gynecological aspect of the text, but this limits all women to only their sex, and not even all women. While Horrors does recognize the difficulty of a non-male lifestyle in the nineteenth century within its title, the encouragement of a binary gender situation obscures and ignores all the womxn who did not participate in the standard gender roles of the time and who existed beyond the binary. “Arresting Dress: Cross-Dressing, Law, and Fascination in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco” by Clare Sears opens with the true story of a womxn, who in 1866, was caught “cross-dressing” in public on the arm of another person (who the author calls a man or possibly a woman). The mxn who were regularly arrested for dressed in feminine style clothing called for her arrest, as she had just been ignored during her first appearance so the police arrested the womxn, Eliza DeWolf, the next day (Sears). This text addresses the increasing number of laws against “cross-dressing” put in place, aggressively, in the nineteenth century. While this did have a detrimental effect on those not “dressing in accordance to their sex” (however possible that is), it also publicized those who did it and therefore increased awareness of the womxn who were not wearing “less than three pieces of women’s clothing” (Sears). Other than the language of cross-dressing, the people who suffered these laws were able only to express their gender identity without the structure and the labels we have today and without these, they were even less understood. However, the act of “cross-dressing” is not a politically correct one; clothes do not have gender and people should and get to decide how they identify on their own. By referring to the people who chose to dress eclectically between standard feminine and masculine clothing items, it is easy to assume that they are just doing it for fun or to be weird or because they are weird, and not because they identify differently and present differently on the spectrum than the majority of people in that day and age. While these people did dress in clothes traditionally the opposite of what their assigned gender is (based on sex), it is inappropriate to call them cross-dressers at any point in time.   Gender and sexuality ultimately exist on an intersectional spectrum. Darnell Moore, of Columbia University and inaugural chair of Mayor Cory Booker's LGBT Concerns Advisory, writes that queerness is both inherently structured within each class and then, due to its intersection, is also structureless: “Yet, and again, even in its quests to resist structures, the "queer" exists as another space wherein structure is once again reconfigured and operationalized, particularly as it relates to the ways that some bodies and political interests are made visible in queer movements while others are not” (Moore 259). It is nearly impossible to interpret Mountain Charley’s gender and sexual identity because, at the time of writing, the language did not exist. However, this lack of structure and identity labels does not disprove that Mountain Charley very well could have been butch, transgender, non-binary, gender fluid, or a myriad of different identities. Moore says, “[this] critique, however, was not enough to correct the erasure. Instead, we developed the Queer Newark archive, a structure of documents and material culture, as a means to render visible the lives of queer subjects who have been othered out of queer histories by, often, other queer” (259-260). This is important to note, that while there may be clearer historical texts out there of people being definitively queer (gay or lesbian for example), it should not have to erase the other examples that are less obvious. It is still ever important to recognize those who do not have that label, whether their story was created before or after the label existed, and not to erase them from history, just because they are not outright saying they are homosexual. In chapter three, when Charley decides to act upon the solution they composed, it does appear as Charley’s “only option”. “At length, after casting over in my mind everything that presented itself as a remedy, I determined upon a project, which, improbable as it may appear to my sex and to those who have followed my life thus far, I actually soon after put into execution. It was to dress myself in male attire, and seek for a living in this disguise among the avenues which are so religiously closed against my sex” (Mountain Charley 18). Note that the only concern is against religion, however, Charley does feel that they could find themselves in this role despite their sex. Charley “fully determined to seek a living in the guise of a man” (Mountain Charley 19). While one could argue that this was their only option, the truth is that Charley ultimately could have found another man to marry or become a beggar; most people would not want to live as the gender they do not identify with unless it was life or death, and at this point the options were poverty, admitting the mistakes they made to their father, or finding a new husband.  While Charley never explicitly says that they are a man confidently, rather only commenting on the comfort of being in that “persona”, it is not improbable to assume that Charley was not a cisgender woman. “Although I had resumed my womanly dress and habits, I could not wholly eradicate many of the tastes which I had acquired during my life as one of the stronger sex” (Mountain Charley 29). Had Charley been cisgender, there would have been an experience of gender euphoria at the return to “womanly dress”, instead, Charley was not comfortable in this femininity and still found something to identify with in their masc side. Gender has no perfect definition; it is something that exists as a spectrum and almost no one lies perfectly on either edge. The spectrum is not a single line either, there is not just male and female with a combination in the middle but instead it is more of a circle with different points along the edges: agender, cisgender, genderqueer, bigender, two-spirit, and the list goes on. While the visibility of gender non-conforming people has improved infinitely since the nineteenth century, what with these different labels being created and being publicized, it still is not a perfect utopia of freedom of expression. Much of Mountain Charley’s concerns over dressing “like a man”, such as religion, are still ever present today. Much as one may argue that Charley had to dress as a man to survive, there are thousands of people today who have to dress aligned to one sex or another to survive in the same way. Charley’s story could be comparative to trans-masc or trans-feminine individuals who have to dress according to their assigned gender at birth to continue to have a safe life, whether it exists as protection from being kicked out of their home, attacked or assaulted, or to continue to partake in their own religion. Not only this, but Charley variates between comfort in their masculine dress and their feminine dress and it is inconsistent; there is no true gender euphoria within either. Charley, by this definition, falls under the umbrella of genderqueer. While gender does exist more than dress, the “personas” Charley takes on impacts their personality and skews either side together to create a non-binary individual. While Charley does not have any language to determine this, nor do they necessarily need any because labels are not important for everybody, it is important to be able to consider any and all texts queer texts and not omit anything. Boag says “Period stories of Monahan as well as those of the Mountain Charleys and even Horace Greeley's clerk are progress narratives in their own right: the cross-dresser's transformation into a man is temporary and for some specific purpose. But more, the progress successfully terminates when the subject resumes a womanly identity, passing the remainder of her life, as one period observer put it, in "a sphere suited to her sex." (“Go West” 497). While these womxn often dressed in quintessentially male attire to “save” themselves, they have to go back to what is “suited to her sex”. These womxn were obligated to reveal their sex and align with their sex, whether or not they felt more like themselves when they were dressed in that masculine attire; it was easier to wrap up the story of these Mountain Charleys to have a conclusion that they are “normal” and weak feminine ladies who desire to return to that life, rather than to live out their lives as butch womxn, men, or gender non-conforming individuals. Boag’s argument that these stories are just for “cross-dressers” is not accurate; it is a way to expose the womxn who did not live on their designated gender line and allow for other people to view it in a positive manner.   Ultimately, as scholarship is continually written about these people in history, the language one uses must be updated and relevant with the times; we have the words to describe these people and we should use them. However, we should use them with caution--no one knows these people and their “true” stories, but one can identify transgender and queerness in any text from every point in time, despite the word “transgender” only finding its grounds less than a quarter of a century ago. The biases these authors have must be taken into account as one reads their scholarship and it is important for us, as readers, to recognize transphobic and anti-LGBTQ+ commentary in works and let others know that it is not okay. Due to language and certain views, Mountain Charley and other 19th century texts are critiqued negatively due to either their representation or alleged non-representation of transgender or non-binary individuals.

Works Cited: Barker-Benfield, G J. The Horrors of the Half-Known Life. Routledge, 2000. Boag, Peter. “Go West Young Man, Go East Young Woman: Searching for the Trans in Western Gender History.” The Western Historical Quarterly, vol. 36, no. 4, 2005, pp. 477–497. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25443237. Boag, Peter. “The Trouble with Cross-Dressers: Researching and Writing the History of Sexual and Gender Transgressiveness in the Nineteenth-Century American West.” Oregon Historical Quarterly, vol. 112, no. 3, 2011, pp. 322–339. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.5403/oregonhistq.112.3.0322. Guerin, E J. Mountain Charley or the Adventures of Mrs. E.J. Guerin Who Was Thirteen Years in Male Attire. University of Oklahoma Press, 1968. Moore, Darnell L. “Structurelessness, Structure, and Queer Movements.” Women's Studies Quarterly, vol. 41, no. 3/4, 2013, pp. 257–260. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23611522. Patterson-Black, Sheryll. “Women Homesteaders on the Great Plains Frontier.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, vol. 1, no. 2, 1976, pp. 67–88. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3346070. Sears, Clare. "Arresting Dress: Cross-Dressing, Law, and Fascination in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco". Duke University Press, 2015.

[ignis-scientia-estrogen-brigade]

With the discussion surrounding original characters and their place within the greater FFXV fanfiction community reaching nearly a fever pitch, I though the logical thing to do was to hide under a rock and never publish any of my own hedonistic drabbles ever again hahaha yeah right I’m totally about to subject y’all to my newest, 100% self-indulgent, textbook definition of a Mary Sue OC. (That is, unless you’d rather I unleash the horrifyingly naughty Ignis x Camelia fic @blinding-awesomeness and @metapoodle asked me to write huehuehue.)

For those devoted ISEB followers who are here strictly for my headcanon and fan art offerings, never fear—those posts will continue to appear on this blog with ongoing regularity (free time permitting). But I wanted to challenge myself by writing something told from a Timeskip!Ignis’ perspective; specifically, I thought it would be a great exercise in thinking outside the box if I were to attempt to draft a work without the luxury of his sight at my disposal. For reasons I won’t delve into here, I am of the belief that Prompto, Gladio, and Ignis survived the ending of FFXV; with that in mind, this particular fic is set directly after the events of the game, and features a blind Specs and the introduction of a potential paramour. If I could’ve gotten away without naming her, I would have, since the whole point of the redhead of my previous stories was to make her anonymous enough that anyone could project themselves onto her. Unfortunately, it proved to be too great of a workaround in this particular instance, so I do hope you’ll consider giving this new OC of mine a chance to carve out her own mark on the strategist’s life.

And for all—*checks reblogs*—three of you who have invested time reading my last series, you might be interested to know that I have full intentions of wrapping up the final details of the redhead's story in this (hopefully ongoing) fic. The first few chapters I’ve outlined in my head fall fully under the “General Audiences” category, but you can rest assure that this series will culminate in some shameless, highly NSFW smut! (You can follow the link above or click on the cut below for the full text of Chapter 1.)

From Ancient Greek ὀφείλω (opheílō, “to increase, to strengthen”); to help

Interviewing bakers was a far cry from hunting daemons, but nights in Lucis had grown rather quiet since the dawn had resumed its monotonous cycle, and a man had to make a living somehow.

“So when can I expect to start?”

Ignis Scientia resists the urge to sigh, and instead offers a pleasant expression vaguely in the direction of the gentleman seated across from him. “The final decision will be up to Mr. Tostwell. We still have one more interview scheduled, but you can be sure to hear from us should the position align with your, er, talents.”

A deep chuckle erupts from within the man’s belly. “I know I don’t have a whole lotta experience kneading bread, but I sucker-punched a few Flans in my day. Ain’t much of a difference, am I right?”

“Indeed.”

The strategist then listens as the man rises to his feet, and waits until he is out of earshot before finally indulging in his previously repressed exhale. Like Ignis, the candidate had once been a daemon hunter, and had found himself conspicuously out of a job these past six months; unemployment of the masses was a small price to pay for humanity’s salvation, but unlike himself, the man had few skills beyond slaughtering satanic beasts to fall back on in times of peace.

It wasn’t just Flan Man with a painful lack of culinary proficiency, however; the woman before him showed little comprehension of the slight flavor nuances differentiating Cleigne Wheat from Fine Cleigne Wheat, and the man before her actually thought a Zu egg and a Bennu egg were one in the same. At this rate, Ignis thinks, Mr. Tostwell ought to spend more time perfecting his offal stew recipe and leave the bread baking to Surgate and Tozus.

He shifts in his chair and tilts his head to one side, cocking an ear back toward the marketplace he had memorized by sight when his vision was still intact. The sounds of sleepy daytime Lestallum slowly stirring to its familiar nightlife can be heard on the humid breeze: the beating of drums, the strumming of stringed instruments, the increase in distinctly feminine chatter as the women employed at EXINERIS Industries ended their shifts. His right eye is sensitive enough to light to register the sun fading behind the alcove beside Tostwell’s Grill where he is conducting his interviews; if his last candidate didn’t show up soon, he’d inevitably have to fight the evening crowds on the way back to his apartment.

The former royal advisor had made a concerted effort over the years not to let his disability define him, but few things irritated Ignis more than bumping into people unawares. Even with his hearing as keen as it was, he couldn’t entirely escape stepping on someone’s toes in tightly congested spaces, and he wasn’t quite sure what bothered him more: the unsympathetic gruffness of others when treaded upon, or the whispers of pity that followed when they finally recognized just what it was they were looking at.

Or perhaps it simply reminded him of his younger days, when Noct would push him in jest as they ran through the wide open fields of Duscae, for no reason other than to elicit a disgruntled reaction from him.

“Mr. Scientia?”

He snaps his head around and ignores the sudden aching in his chest. “Apologies. I didn’t hear you approach.”

The light footsteps he had missed while mired in his own nostalgia move closer to where he is seated. “Do forgive me for my tardiness, the power plant released us a bit later than usual this evening. I let Mr. Tostwell know over the phone earlier, but if you’d prefer to reschedule—”

“This is fine.” He fixes a genial smile to his face and tilts his chin up toward the woman speaking to him. “And please—call me Ignis.”

“Ophelia. A pleasure to meet you.”

The strategist’s ears prick at the clipped accent of his newest interviewee. “Pardon the assumption, but you don’t exactly sound like a local.”

“I’m from Galahd, originally. Although my family relocated to the crown city when I was a child.”

“Is that so? I hail from Insomnia myself.”

“I know.” A pause. “Your reputation precedes you.”

His placid smile falters slightly. “Does it?”

“Those who lived under the crown have long memories.”

“Yes. Well.” His hand moves to his frosted visor purely out of habit; they are situated across the bridge of his nose adequately enough, but it gives him something to do with his fingers other than twiddle them like a fool. “Some memories are best left in the past. Shall we begin?”

The skittering of a chair along the ground echoes against the walls of the alcove. “Of course.”

“I presume you are aware that Mr. Tostwell is seeking an artisan specifically to expand his repertoire into baked goods. Something about keeping up with the local competition.”

“I am.”

“The position entails working directly under me, but you’ll have the freedom to develop the bakery department as you see fit. I’ve learned it’s best to lighten up on micromanaging others, lest they intend to organize a mutiny against you.”

The strategist is mercifully rewarded not with the sound of crickets chirping, but of Ophelia’s polite laughter. “That’s certainly a generous arrangement. Is it my understanding that you took over lead chef duties from Mr. Tostwell in recent months?”

“Correct.”

“I knew I’d seen you here before. I rarely have the time to eat out, but the Lasagna al Forno this establishment serves is delightful.”

The warmth of her voice matches that of the breeze stirring in the strategist’s hair, and his smile returns in earnest. “May I ask what you like about it?”

“Well,” she concedes, “most people settle for ground Dualhorn steak to use in their filling, or Behemoth tenderloin if they’re feeling adventurous. But I’ve found that the gaminess of the Jabberwock sirloin compliments the Cleigne Darkshells quite nicely.”

“That’s… rather insightful of you. Most people can’t seem to make out the difference.”

Her chair creaks against the concrete, as if the enthusiasm lacing her tone has found its way down the legs of her seat. “It’s a subtle distinction, but it really makes all the difference. I’ve only had lasagna prepared that way once before—at an establishment in Altissa.”

“Maagho,” he says, nodding his head absentmindedly. "I learned my recipe from the proprietor there, as it so happens.”

“My parents and I spent a holiday in Accordo when I was a teenager. Altissa was quite a beautiful city at its height.”

He hesitates, and reaches for his visor once more. “It was.”

His interviewee is either unaware or unaffected by his sudden diffidence, because her cadence remains upbeat. “I’ve heard that Accordan refugees have begun returning to Altissa. Word is that the secretary is committed to rebuilding the capital within two years.”

“Good to hear,” he replies quickly, eager to steer the conversation away from less palatable reminders of the past. “So tell me, Ophelia—what is it you feel qualifies you to assume a position as a baker? Any past experience in pastry making?”

“Yes and no. My father ran a bakery in Insomnia before the city fell, and had hoped to reestablish the trade once we’d settled in Lestallum. My job at the plant is steady work, but I fear with people returning to the other parts of Lucis, layoffs will be inevitable. Thought I might dust off a few of his old recipes and try my hand at the craft.”

“Is he also looking for work? Mr. Tostwell might be persuaded to hire a two-person team, under the appropriate circumstances.”

“No,” she says. “My father is no longer with us. Neither of my parents are.”

His perceptiveness must have atrophied right along with his sight, because Ignis could’ve kicked himself for not picking up on the slight hitch in her voice sooner. “My condolences. I’m sure they would’ve been comforted to know their daughter has carried their legacy onward to better days.”

“One can only hope.” The seat across from him squeaks again, less jovial than its prior enthusiasm. “Is there anything else pertaining to my qualifications you’d like for me to share?”

He quells the temptation to reach for his visor again, and offers a quick shake of his head instead. “No, I believe I’ve gathered quite enough information for Mr. Tostwell to mull over. Your attendance this evening is much appreciated.”

Chair legs scrape across the ground one last time, and her footsteps shift beside the table as she gathers herself to her feet. “Thank you for your consideration. My apologies again for keeping you out so late.”

Silence befalls them, but he doesn’t hear the telltale sound of her departing off into the distance, and it takes him a full second to realize the lull in their exchange is likely due to the fact that she is probably holding out a hand toward him. When he lifts his own hand in the vicinity of her direction, he is mildly embarrassed to feel the sensation of her palm meeting his. “Think nothing of it,” he says. “I’m used to being out at night.”

He notes the firmness of her grip despite delicate fingers; judging by the width of her palm, the strategist estimates her height to be at a little over five feet. Then she is dropping his hand as she strolls past him toward the open marketplace, the scent of Sylleblossom perfume swirling in the air around her wake, and Ignis allows himself a brief moment to indulge in one of the few senses left to him intact.

But her footfalls only make it a half dozen paces before falling quiet. “Mr. Scientia?”

“Please—do call me Ignis.”

“Right. Ignis.” Her footsteps slowly migrate back to where he is seated, until he can feel her warmth emanating beside him. “I feel compelled to thank you for something else.”

He tilts his head toward her and frowns. “And what’s that?”

His ears then pick up on an unusual click click, until he recognizes it as the sound of fingernails tapping against metal, and that Ophelia must be fiddling with a piece of jewelry on her wrist. “I would just like to acknowledge the sacrifices you’ve made for the kingdom of Lucis. The bravery displayed by you and your brethren has not been quickly forgotten by its people, nor will it ever.”

The problem with being blind, the strategist surmises, is that he was much more prone to unsolicited recollections when his useless eyes had nothing but darkness to focus on; visions of death and destruction suddenly flood his mind, of a battered and bleeding Noctis, of the Hydraean raging and of the last thing he ever saw, and of strands of red hair falling across the face of the only woman he ever loved.

Icy tendrils of grief lick at the insides of his throat, but he clamps down on his anguish before it can reach his voice. “Many have made greater sacrifices.”

“Regardless, fulfilling your duties to the crown and beyond without expectation of reward is an altruism above all measure.”

Ignis’ hand moves to his face again, but it’s not to adjust his visor; rather, the abrupt tightening in his chest is causing the scar that mars his left eye socket to tingle. He scratches at the blemished skin there momentarily as he waits for his discomfort to pass, then slowly rises from his chair and angles himself in the direction of the crowded marketplace. “A future people can look forward to is a reward in itself,” he says, feeling the ground in front of him with the edge of his toe. "I’ll be sure to pass on my findings to Mr. Tostwell and let you know when he’s made a decision about the baker position.”

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

The Young Man in the Linen Cloth

by Henry Melvill

"Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body. And the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked." - Mark 14:51-52

The facts of our text are abruptly introduced and just as abruptly dismissed. The young man is brought suddenly on the scene, and we are not informed whether he was a disciple of Christ. There is no mention of his motive in following Christ at such a moment and in such a dress. As soon as he has escaped from the crowd, not a word is added which might assist us in understanding why Mark interrupted the course of his narrative to insert what seems to have so little to do with the tragic story of our Lord's closing scene.

Our Lord had just passed through his fearful agony in the garden when he was met by Judas, who was accompanied by a great multitude with swords and staves to seize him and take him to the high priest. Gethsemane was at the foot of the Mount of Olives, and therefore Judas and his crew had to take Christ through the suburbs of the city, where any tumult in the dead of the night would have been most unusual.

Now the common thinking is that this young man, awakened by the strange disturbance in the street, had thrown a sheet round him, being the first thing that had come to hand. He then rushed down to find the cause of the uproar. Finding that Jesus had been apprehended, he determined to follow in order to see how the matter would end. But if this were all, it would really be hard to say for what purpose the facts have been recorded. What information, or what instruction, does it furnish us in any way in keeping with the tremendous occurrences which the evangelist Mark had taken in hand to narrate?

Let us be ready to acknowledge that there is good ground for concluding that Mark designed to convey some more important lessons for us, when he brought this unknown young man into his narrative and just as suddenly dismissed him, as though a spectre had suddenly arisen in the midst of the crowd and just as suddenly disappeared.

We will begin by examining the "dress" this young man wore. You often meet with the mention of linen in the New Testament, but you are not to think that whenever the word occurs in English the same word occurs in the Greek. For example, you read of the rich man in the parable who was "clothed in purple and fine linen." You read also in Revelation that it was granted to the Lamb's wife "that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." But the linen spoken of in these cases is defined in the original by a totally different word than that used in our text. Indeed, the word used in our text occurs but seldom in the New Testament, and it relates to the garment customarily used to wrap around a dead body. "When Joseph of Arimathea had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth"--in a clean sindon, for that is the word used; or as we should probably have said, in a clean shroud.

Now we do not wish you to conclude from this that the word was never employed except in respect to the raiment of the dead, for such was not the fact. But it was employed to denote a particular kind of garment, not just any covering that a man might throw over him even though it happened to be linen. If a man were awakened from sleep and had thrown a linen sheet around him, he would not on that account have been said to clad himself in the sindon. In fact, the sindon was a cloak made of linen that was frequently worn in Jerusalem, especially in summer. But besides serving as a covering for the body, the sindon was turned to a religious account. It was the cloak upon which the scrupulous observers of the law were accustomed to fasten those fringes you read about in the Book of Numbers; and the Jews commonly covered their heads with a sindon when they prayed. Therefore, while anyone might wear the sindon merely as an ordinary garment, others might wear it by way of religious distinction; that is, they might wear it in such a manner as to make it indicative of special strictness, of a rigid adherence to the laws of God or the traditions of the elders.

And this latter would appear to have been the case with the young man of whom we read in our text. It is expressly noted by Mark that this young man had the sindon "cast about his naked body." He had nothing on but the sindon; and this was not usual. What then seems more likely than that the young man who followed Christ was a devotee, one who assumed a peculiar sanctity of deportment and therefore wore only the sindon that he might show greater contempt for the body and more rigorous habits of self-mortification?

There is no reason for supposing him to have been a disciple of Christ. In all probability, he was not. But he was one of those Jews who practiced great austerities and whose dress was meant to indicate a claim or pretension to extraordinary holiness of life. Neither is it to be concluded that he had just been roused from sleep and had hurried down as one eager to know the cause of the tumult. It is just as likely that he may have been with the crowd from the first, may even have been as firmly established against Christ as any of the rest. Upon this supposition, then, what are we to make of the conduct of the multitude? Why did the mob fall on the young man and handle him so roughly? What light does his rough handling throw on the events narrated by Mark of Christ's sufferings? Our answer is as follows: From the manner in which the multitude treated the assumption or appearance of extraordinary holiness, we may learn something of the temper by which they were incited and thus be guided to right conclusions in regard to their hatred of Christ.

It was a religious hatred against Christ that moved the great body of the Jews to demand his crucifixion. It is easy to speak of the political feeling and disappointment experienced when Christ gave them no hope of setting up a temporal kingdom, thereby advancing them to sovereignty over their haughty oppressors. And no doubt this political feeling had its part. But in many there may have been a dogged resolution that they would rather have no Messiah than one not likely to fulfill their dream of national supremacy, that Christ was rejected in spite of a thorough conviction that he was the Messiah. The parable of the wicked husbandmen implies as much: "When the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.'" You observe that they distinctly knew the son. They did not act under any mistaken idea or false impression as to who he was. They deliberately proceeded to kill him because he was the son, because he was the heir, because as such he stood in the way of their covetous and ambitious designs.

However, pertaining to the great mass of the Jews, it is hardly to be thought that it was the feeling of political disappointment which made them so bitter and malignant against Christ. After all, on mere political grounds our Lord might have well suited the people. He could heal all their diseases and had the mastery over evil spirits; and though he was disinclined to assume the character of a king, they might make him a king in spite of himself and then see whether he would not wield his powers in advancing them to greatness. But Christ did not suit the Jews as a leader because he would make no truce with their evil passions and allow no indulgence to their lusts. It was the holiness of our Lord that all classes of the Jews felt most galling. Had he made greater allowance for human frailty, had he not so expanded the morality of the law as to make a lustful look adultery or a vicious thought murder, many would have given him their allegiance and become his disciples. But Christ displayed and demanded the strictest purity of action, word, and thought.

And if it were this dislike of holiness of life that chiefly moved the multitude, we may naturally find some exhibition of the fact in their conduct. It would not, indeed, be any open declaration, for even the worst will hardly confess that it is goodness which they hate. But it would be some passionate outburst of temper, something that would satisfy without being so openly direct.

This is what we have in the narrative of our text. A young man is seen in the crowd whose dress lays claim to special strictness and sanctity of life. Immediately the real feelings of the crowd break out. They give vent to their bitter animosity at holiness and jostle this young man, laying hold of him and stripping him of that garment which plainly showed his devotion to religion. Thirsting for Christ's blood because he had reproved vice and required righteousness, they could not tolerate among themselves even the appearance of a superior holiness. Therefore they turned on him as hounds upon their prey, and he was forced to escape naked. Nothing could more distinctly inform us that the main cause of the hatred shown to Christ was the holiness of his life and the purity of his doctrine than the multitude seizing and forcing this young man, whose dress indicated pretensions to extraordinary sanctity, to leave the linen cloth with which he was clad and flee for his life.

[pomrania]

What Species To Choose For Your Star Wars OC: Volume 2 (text only)

Text-only version of the Star Wars OC species selector (volume two) by @thefoodwiththedood

Answer the first question, then follow the number at the end of your selection to your next question; keep doing that, until you get a species. For more information on a given species, check the original post for links, or just search Wookieepedia.

0. Alright, first question: How Human do you want your OC to be?

Almost entirely human, save for some minor differences with their biology or appearance; I don't want to get too crazy with this, after all! (1)

Mostly human, but with some other features being prevalent; something with a human face, but distinctly alien (2)

Somewhat human, but with an alien face, features, and anatomy -- like an alien with human proportions (3)

Only human as far as their humanoid body shape (head, arms, and legs on a central torso) ; something almost entirely alien (4)

I want something weird and crazy, with hardly any human features -- humans are overrated, anyways (5)

1. Alright! Now, a common thread between these species are tattoos connected to their cultures; what are your thoughts on those?

Eh, they're not my thing (6)

I think they're cool! (7)

2. Awesome! So, a common thread between species like this is things growing out of their heads; which sounds coolest to you?

Nothing (8)

Horns (9)

Head-tails (lekku) (10)

Tentacles (11)

Facial tendrils and bone spurs: SITH PUREBLOOD

3. Alright, cool! So, biologically speaking, what do you want your OC to be like?

Aquatic (12)

Mammalian (13)

Reptilian (14)

Insectoid: GAND

4. Okay, cool! So, relative to a Human, how big do you see them being?

Big (15)

Normal (16)

Small (17)

5. Excellent choice! Now, with species like this, there's a possibility that some might not have a definite body shape -- how's that sound?

Sounds cool! (18)

Eh, that sounds a little too crazy, even for me (19)

6. Fair enough! Now then, what skin tone do you see for your character?

Normal human skin tones (20)

A shade of white, grey, or black (21)

A shade of red, blue, or purple (22)

Something with an unknown skin tone (23)

7. I agree! So, what skin tone do you see for them?

Blue: PANTORAN

Green: MIRIALAN

Red (24)

Normal human skin tones (25)

Grey (26)

8. So if nothing sprouts out of their head, should their head at least be weirdly-shaped?

Yes (27)

No (28)

9. How many horns were you thinking?

Two (29)

Four (30)

Six: THEELIN

Eight or more (31)

10. How many lekku were you thinking?

Two: TWI'LEK

Three: TOGRUTA

Six to eight: THOLOTHIAN

More than eight: MIKKIAN

11. Do telepathic abilities sound cool?

Yes: ANZATI

No: KHIL

12. Would you want something fish-like? Or something more amphibian?

Amphibian (32)

Fish-like (33)

13. So, on a scale of one to three, how much hair would they have?

Little, if any at all (34)

An average amount (35)

A whole lot (36)

14. On a scale of one to three, how reptilian should they be?

Straight-up scaly lizard man (37)

Still scaly, but not exactly lizard-like (38)

Really only reptilian as far as their physiology (39)

15. What sort of body covering should they have?

Bare skin (40)

Fur (41)

Scales: ANOO-DAT PRIME

Feathers: SATHARIN

16. What body covering should they have?

Fur (42)

Bare skin (43)

Exoskeleton (44)

Feathers (45)

Scales: PYKE

17. How cute would you want them to be?

Not that cute at all (46)

Sorta cute (47)

Not just cute, but fuzzy too (48)

18. I agree! Now, what do you see their body being made of?

Nerves and muscles: GEN'DAI

Bark and leaves: NETI

Nuts and bolts: DROID

Stardust or whatever: STARWEIRD

19. Okay, fair enough! So, what do you see them using for locomotion?

Tentacles: GREE

Hands: DUG

Nothing; they'd levitate (49)

Tail (50)

Feet (51)

20. So do you want something that looks exactly like a Human? Or something different?

Just like a Human (52)

Slightly different (53)

21. What shade of grey were you thinking?

Pure white: ECHANI

Light grey: NAGAI

Medium grey: UMBARAN

Pitch black: SAKIYAN

22. On a scale of blue to red, what colour would they be?

Blue: CHISS

Bluish-purple: OMWATI

Purple: KESHIRI

Reddish-purple: SEPHI

Red: ZELTRON

23. Would you prefer something high-tech or low-tech?

High-tech: GANK

Low-tech: TUSKEN RAIDER

24. Can they sometimes be blue?

Yes: VOSS

No: ALDER-ESPIRION

25. Do psychometric abilities sound cool?

Yes: KIFFAR

No: SARKHAI

26. Okay, so besides their skin tone, what other distinguishing feature(s) do you see for them?

Facial jewellery: RATTATAKI

Glowing eyes: KAGE

Magical powers: DATHOMIRIAN NIGHTSISTER

27. But should they still have a normal face?

Yes: CEREAN

No: MUUN

28. Should they have rough/weirdly-textured skin?

Yes (54)

No (55)

29. Which way would those horns be pointing?

Up: DEVARONIAN

Down: IKTOTCHI

30. Should they have hair?

Yes: ZYGERRIAN

No: CHAGRIAN

31. Should they have tattoos?

Yes: IRIDONIAN/ZABRAK

No: ARPOR-LAN

32. Would you want them to have fins/ webbed appendages?

Yes (56)

No (57)

33. Should they have fins or tentacles?

Fins: MON CALAMARI

Tentacles (58)

34. Would you want them to have horns?

Yes (59)

No (60)

35. Okay, so what distinguishing feature(s) seems coolest for them?

Extra arms: BESALISK

Cranial horns: TARNAB

Chin tusks and big ears: KALEESH

A majestic beard: TARSUNT

36. What colour would their hair be?

Tan and brown earthy tones (61)

White: TALZ

Purple: LASAT

37. So, besides their lizard-like appearance, what other defining feature(s) sound cool?

Facial crests: GORMAK

Cranial horns: TRANDOSHAN

A tail: BARABEL

A short but muscular build: NOGHRI

38. What colour should their scales be?

Green (62)

Tan/red (63)

Both: FRENK

39. What kind of eyes should they have?

Red and pupilless: DUROS

Black and marble-like (64)

Like tiny galaxies: RODIAN

Human-like eyes: SKRILLING

40. What distinguishing feature(s) sound coolest?

Chin horns: DOWUTIN

An elephant-like appearance: CRAGMOLOID

Oral tusks: ZEXX

41. Would you prefer something beastly? Or more sleek and weasel-like?

Beast boi: YUZZEM

Weasel boi: SELONIAN

42. What colour should their fur be?

Brown (65)

Blue: NELVAANIAN

43. Would you prefer something high-tech or low-tech?

High-tech: SKAKOAN

Low-tech: ITHORIAN

44. Would they be more of a crustacean or an insect?

Crustacean: KREVAAKI

Insect: VERPINE

45. Colourful feathers?

Yes: RISHII

No: FOSH

46. So what would you want their face to look like?

A grumpy little muppet: YODA'S SPECIES

Snaggle-toothed and bug-eyed: TOYDARIAN

A little blue elephant: ORTOLAN

Hardly even a face: KALLIDAHIN

47. Biologically speaking, what sort of appearance would you prefer?

Reptilian: ALEENA

Mammalian: TALPINI

Avian: MRLSSI

Idk: JAWA

48. What animal sounds cutest to you?

Bear cubs: EWOK

Rats: SQUIB

Bats: CADRA FAN

Hamsters: DRALL

49. Do you want them to have eyes?

Yes: PARWAN

No: CELEGIAN

50. What kind of tail?

Mermaid: MELODIE

Slug: HUTT

Snake (66)

51. How many feet would they have?

Two (67)

Four: SUGI

Six: SAUVAX

52. Okay, so what distinguishing feature(s) would they have then?

None (68)

An extra-long lifespan: MORELLIAN

An extra-flexible body: VAHLA

Basically they're a Neanderthal: DANTARI

53. So what feature(s) would make them different from a Human?

Antennae: BALOSAR

White hair and eyes: ARKANIAN

Plantlike physiology: ZELOSIAN

Healing factor: FIRRERREO

No eyes: MIRALUKA

54. What sort of skin texture should they have?

Ridged: PAU'AN

Skeletal: STENNES SHIFTER

Scaly: FALLEEN

Bumpy: KHOMMITE

Wrinkled: DELPHIDIAN

55. What skin tone should they have?

Normal human skin tones (69)

Glowing white: DIATHIM/ANGELS

Greyish-purple: RYN

Red: COWAY

Blue (70)

56. What skin tone would they have?

Green: RYBET

Tan: GUNGAN

White: KAMINOAN

57. Would they be able to breathe oxygen?

Yes: DRABATAN

No: TOGNATH

58. Where on their body?

Their face: QUARREN

Their head: NAUTOLAN

Both: FEEORIN

59. Do you like pirates?

Yes: WEEQUAY

No: ELOMIN

60. Okay, so what skin tone do you see for them?

Green: GAMMOREAN

Orange: MAZ KANATA'S SPECIES

Tan-ish: SULLUSTAN

61. How long/thick is their hair?

Sorta short: CATHAR

A bit longer: BOTHAN

Fairly fuzzy: IAKARU

Really fuzzy: GOTAL

Literally a walking carpet: WOOKIEE

62. Is it alright if they can't breathe oxygen?

Yes: KYUZO

No: KALLERAN

63. Can they sometimes be green?

Yes: NIKTO

No: POLETEC

64. Should they be especially musical?

Yes: BITH

No: KEL DOR

65. Are you afraid of spiders?

Yes (71)

No: HARCH

66. How many arms do you see them having?

Two: SLUISSI

Four (72)

67. Relative to a human, how big do you see them being?

Big: HERGLIC

Normal: CHEVIN

Small (73)

68. So you just want a normal Human?

Sure! HUMAN

Not exactly; I want a Human, but one with a jetpack and a cool helmet: MANDALORIAN

69. Do you mind a shorter stature for your OC?

Yes: CODRU-JI

No: (74)

70: What should their most distinguishing feature(s) be?

None, really; they're just blue: BRITARRO

Gold tattoos: TERRELIAN JANGO JUMPER

Patches of scales: ICARII

71. Are you on Team Jacob or Team Edward?

Who cares about Twilight anymore? WHIPHID

Team Jacob! SHISTAVANEN

72. Do you see them having hair?

Yes: THISSPIASIAN

No: HYSALRIAN

73. How small?

Tiny: ZILKIN

Sorta smol: NEELABI

Tol, but still smol: XEXTO

74. What should their most distinguishing feature(s) be?

A pig nose: UGNAUGHT

Big ears: LANNIK

[childrenofexcess]

Strange Aeons: Understanding the theme of the 41st Millennium

[I just found this article on Faeit 212 and thought I should share it with tumblr for those that haven’t seen it. It’s quite long for a tumblr text post but worth it.]

“With the imminent release of the next edition of Warhammer 80,000 set to grace the tables of gamers in the next few weeks, it seems an appropriate time to take a step back and cast a contemplative eye over this most unique of sci fi settings. In this short article, I wanted to briefly discuss some of the literary and cultural influences of the 40k universe, and to understand what it is that can be said to really define the setting as we know it. To be sure, to offer an exhaustive analysis of all aspects of Warhammer 40,000 could take up an entire book; after all, we’re speaking here of an IP that’s been shaped by many different creatives and has existed in one form or another for nigh on 30-odd years. Indeed, there’d be a very strong argument to say that nothing can truly be said to ‘define’ Warhammer 40,000; it’s a wild collection of themes, aesthetic styles and ideas jammed into one insane, sprawling pastiche. It’s the heavy metal, post punk and glam rock music waves of the 80’s mixed with the cyberpunk sci-fi films of the 1990s, it’s Hieronymus Bosch meets Dune, it’s a universe that can claim inspiration from sources as vast and diverse as Gothic and Baroque architecture to mecha anime (lookin’ at you, Tau) and the history of the Roman Empire, all filtered through a distinctly British sense of ironic humour. 

Nevertheless, one major unifying thread has been the idea of ‘grimdarkness’, a theme that’s been raised to such a status now that it’s become an adjective, a noun and a moderately popular internet meme.  The question is then what constitutes the idea, and what influences we can find behind it.  As an overarching heading, I’m going to argue that what defines the idea of grimdark isn’t necessarily Warhammer 40,000’s emphasis on conflict, but rather the subtler and more disturbing notion of man’s insignificance in an essentially indifferent universe. If we take a trip back in time and look at the know-legendary Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader[1], we can see that this has been a theme from the very start. Released in 1987, this source and rulebook represented the first iteration of the 40k universe, and though the setting subsequently received numerous additions and revisions to its lore, much of the core structure would remain consistent. It’s as early as Rogue Trader that we get the first iteration of its famous opener, which captured its bleak themes in two short paragraphs;

"For more than a hundred centuries the Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the Master of Mankind by the will of the gods and the master of a million worlds by the will of his inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is Carrion Lord of the Imperium to whom a thousand souls are sacrificed each day, and for whom blood is drunk and flesh is eaten. Human blood and human flesh- the stuff which the Imperium is made. To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live the cruellest and most bloody regime imaginable. This is the tale of these times. It is a universe that you can live today if you dare- for this is a dark and terrible era where you will find little comfort of hope. If you want to take part in the adventure then prepare yourself now. Forget the power of technology, science and common humanity. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for there is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter and the laughter of thirsting gods. But the universe is a big place and, whatever happens, you will not be missed...."

 It’s interesting to trace the number of different inspirations and angles that this tone initially emerged from. One useful place to start is by noting that the creators of Warhammer 40k always saw it as being an offshoot of Warhammer Fantasy Battles, not only in terms of its game mechanics but more importantly in its overall tone. Indeed, in the Rogue Trader book itself it’s boldly stated that 40k wasn’t ‘just a science fiction game, although it’s set in the future … we call it a fantasy game set in the far future … a sort of science fantasy.’ What’s significant about this, however, was that it was fantasy of a sort that was the diametric opposite of conventional[2] genre fare. Warhammer, both in its straight and futuristic guises, was part of the subgenre of ‘dark fantasy’, a reaction against the more mainstream conventions laid down by ‘swords and sorcery’ fiction (associated with the likes of Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarianseries) as well as the titanic presences of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien’s work. In all such works one often commonplace thread was that they created universes that were essentially ordered, knowable and benign, with the most obvious illustration of this being that the concepts of good and evil were frequency depicted as cosmic forces with some sort of objective existence.  Arguably, this stemmed from (amongst other things) a tendency for the early founders of such fiction to use historical myths (such as Norse mythology and the Arthurian tales) as their inspiration, where man’s relationship to the natural world was seen as one of unity rather than alienation and where the protagonists of such tales were heavily idealised.

 Dark fantasy, however, presented a startlingly different perspective in its approach. In place of clear-cut black-and-white morality came only shades of grey, with no benevolent, omnipotent arbitrator to decide right from wrong. Both the characters and the worlds they inhabited became dirtier, more dysfunctional, even downright terrible. If Tolkienesque fiction (generally speaking) took its inspiration from a largely symbolic, even nostalgic, view of history, focusing on the legends of old, then dark fantasy looked at the crueller, actually existing side of the past and humanity. This was the world of plagues, of famines and blighted crops, where people lived short, difficult lives in a world that they little understood and which showed them little mercy. Again, we see these themes as early as Rogue Trader; as it put it, in the world of the 40k universe there exists an;

 ‘almost medieval attitude amongst the human societies. Fear, superstition, self-sacrifice and common acceptance of death are all strongly featured. Technology is present, but it is not central to the way people think. Most common folk see technology as witchcraft- so do the technicians!’

But this emphasis on the petty, unpleasant lives of humans in the 40k setting is only one half of the coin that is the concept of grimdark. For what the 40k universe achieves, which few other fictional settings do, is to emphasise the dark side of scale.  In this regard, one cannot talk of influences on the 40k setting without mentioning the works of H. P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft’s presence looms large over the 40k setting, with the most obvious connection being Chaos, though it’s a source of inspiration that works in a number of different ways. On a purely visual level, there’s the ideas of physical mutation and pulpy, tentacled horrors that stories like The Rats in the Walls and The Dunwich Horror introduced, which have been a part of Chaos ever since the days of the Lost and the Damned and Slaves to Darkness sourcebooks. Equally important in this regard was Lovecraft’s frequent emphasis on the dreamlike and surreal quality of the supernatural, which finds a parallel in some of the original illustrations of the artist Ian Miller, whose crowded, twisted nightmare landscapes featured heavily in these publications. (If this seems like mere speculation, it should be noted that Miller was commissioned to illustrate the Panther Horror paperbacks of Lovecraft’s works in the ‘60s and ‘70s.  But I think it does a disservice to both the writer himself and the 40k setting to only consider this angle. For what marked out Lovecraft as one of the seminal horror authors of the Twentieth Century wasn’t necessarily the monsters of his stories themselves (creative though they were) but his pioneering of the concept of ‘cosmic horror’. More of an ethos than a well-worked out philosophy, it might be roughly said that cosmic horror was a sentiment of seeing horror in vastness; the idea of things in this universe being so large, so immeasurable and incomprehensible that our limited human existence is absolutely meaningless by comparison. On one level, this was a sentiment expressed by Lovecraft’s fictional characters (most notably Cthulhu) and finds a parallel in the 40k setting with the Chaos Gods and the C’tan, terrible beings of such power and infinitude that the entirety of mankind is but cattle to them. But at the same time it’s really an attitude to our existence in the world itself. Lovecraft was writing at a time when astronomy and geology were coming into their own (both of which he studied during his teenage years), revealing the full scope of the cosmos in terms of its age and size, and many of his stories express this sense of despair and realising the insignificance of our brief existence by comparison. And it’s this sort of feeling that only something like Warhammer 40,000 can properly capture, presenting us with a galaxy entirely separated from our own both by cycles of eons and by a magnitude which we can scarce imagine, yet without the sort of up-beat positivity that a lot of more mainstream sci fi usually engenders. If things like Star Wars and Star Trek offer space operas offering high adventure, then Warhammer 40,000 offers us a universe where we are but small blips beset on all sides. To round things off, I think that if there’s one specific area that conveys this most of all it’s the Imperium itself, where the scale and indifference of the universe is reflected in mankind’s own social structures. To me, what will always define the Imperium and the grimdarkness of the 41stmillennium are those brief but sinister glimpses we get of the countless citizens and organisations of mankind’s empire; it’s the hunched, shuffling servitors we see in the corners of the artwork, it’s the description of the teaming, polluted hive cities and the administratums manned by millions of nameless scribes. Above all, it’s the idea that moral, social and political values are totally irrelevant in comparison to a galaxy spanning industrial bureaucracy fighting against its own extinction, where only the forces of efficiency and necessity can hold sway. A piece of art that I think conveys this most is John Blanche’s stunning depiction of the Mechanicus on Mars (see above), where in one sprawling picture we get a glimpse of an environment utterly alien to comforting sentiments; an enormous, arcane landscape where people have literally become just cogs in a machine.” [1] Which we can do thanks to the retro-review over on realmofchaos80s.blogspot.co.uk[2] Speaking relatively, that is