#when you make it to adulthood without developing a cultural identity

[dareduffie]

HOW AND WHY BRUCE WAYNE CAN AND SHOULD BE ASIAN.

* Written by an East / Southeast Asian.

Batman (2016-) #153

You actually don't have to change much. Here's the story:

Thomas and Martha, philanthropists they were, decide to adopt a baby that's been abandoned on the steps of the Gotham Orphanage. In growing up with two White parents who are well-meaning but... simpleminded about race, let's say, Bruce doesn't develop much of a cultural identity.

He's East Asian and only "White-passing" in the sense that Markiplier and Olivia Rodrigo "pass" as White. Despite being a visible minority, Bruce grows up without a sense of race. First and foremost, he thinks of himself as a Wayne. Not only does his dedication to Gotham stem from his love for his parents because of a tragedy, but also because Gotham is the home he was handed by parents—who he would also view and miss as his "benefactors."

And this is another reason why Bruce has a chronic need to adopt as many children as possible—that was his first gift. In Batman & Robin: Year One, he struggles with the discovery that he and Dick, despite similarities in their life experiences, are extremely different people. Bruce is grateful that he was taken in and therefore removed from an impoverished childhood, so obviously it must follow that all other children desire the same outcome (and that the adoption would, in itself, be the solution to all life's problems).

Batman & Robin – Year One (2025) #3

Being as he's generally emotionally stunted, I don't see him as being very self-aware about his ethnic or cultural identity. Rather than changing or diminishing his character, I would instead argue that making Bruce Wayne an Asian man could actually enhance pre-existing facets of his nature by bringing more nuance and significance to them.

So why East Asian specifically? When arguing against Bruce being POC, I think people are mistakenly thinking of Whiteness and mobility as interchangeable (and, to be fair, they often are).

Through personal experience, I've found that White people are more willing to extend trust and respect to those that they can provide "exceptions" for. Generally speaking, Bruce will have greater social flexibility and ease of disguise (i.e. Matches Malone, Mordecai, Det. Hawke) the lighter-skinned he is. He's rich and powerful enough that Gotham's elite can't do much about him being an "outlier" regardless of his skintone, but he does have a habit of slipping in and out of characters regularly. Luckily for Asian Bruce Wayne, we're stereotyped to all look identical!

Batman: One Bad Day: Mr. Freeze (2022) #1

Personally, I think being emotionally stunted is of greater importance to Bruce's character than his being a billionaire. Like I said, I can't imagine him having a strong sense of his own ethnicity without anyone to lead him and especially after growing up in a White household devoid of other influences. Being adopted isn't quite the same experience as being a first-generation immigrant, but there is the same inclination to assimilate rather than celebrate your culture.

Which, of course, brings us right back to why he is so driven to serve Gotham. In addition to the plethora of other canonical or interpretive reasons, he's grateful. Might even feel he owes a debt.

TO BE CLEAR: I am not suggesting that Bruce Wayne as an Asian man would experience White privilege. I am suggesting that his exorbinate amounts of money and proximity to Whiteness would allow him access to a privilege similar to it—with the exception being that his privilege is conditional on him being rich. His life would not be empty of discrimination, but he would be keenly invested in assimilating himself not only because of his upbringing but also his own interests. His culture bears no importance to him because he has never experienced it and has therefore decided he's better off without its burden. Ignoring, of course, that his ethnicity is not something that he can simply put away.

To his eyes, Bruce would have no reason to investigate his background; nothing mission-wise calls for it and he's smart enough to know that it is politically wiser to appear closer to the hands that he is shaking than to note the differences. He wouldn't regularly clock microaggressions against himself and even if he did, he would probably accept it as a part of Brucie's reputation and Batman's protection.

Catwoman (2011) #2

Also. Listen. If there's anyone that's good at being a strict parent and stoic man who is obsessively committed to upholding his family's values, it's an Asian man.

TL;DR: Bruce Wayne should be Asian because it would suit his character to have been adopted himself and because conforming into whatever it is he believes is better for Gotham is like his whole deal (which is juicier if he's Asian) and because I want him to be and I said so.

[kharmii]

Seems you are vindicated about that Algerian boxer. Sorry, don’t know how to make it a link. Someone saw his medical records.

https://archive.ph/Drkws

This is another case of hard leftists using bullying tactics to screech that the sky is green, and grass is blue. It was obvious Imame Khelif was a man. Reasonable people said, "Hey! Show us the genetic testing proving he/she has XX chromosomes!"

Instead, -typical- we had the useful idiot leftwing causehead harpies descending upon us screeching, "How dare you! She's intersex! How dare you question a minority Muslim! You are obviously weirdos with no friends!"

When none of that worked, they had to move on to lawfare against such as JK Rowling and Elon Musk for daring to speak the truth. What nerve that person has to threaten lawsuits against people telling the truth, just to shut them up! Typical left-wing tactic worldwide. Anyway, the take-away from that link is that Imane Khelif's parents may have been blood relatives who produced an offspring with 5-alpha reductase deficiency, a disorder of sexual development that is only found in biological males. This is why The Kharmii doesn't support the incest irl, even if I think identical twins making out is hot. Anyway, here is the entire article under the cut, plus a Twitter link about the problem of inbreeding in Muslim culture:

Cousin marriages are common in Muslim culture because it's a way to keep women down. They get caught in isolated, closely knit families that are able to control every aspect of their lives. That's why it's always good to see new people.

Now the article from the Anon's link:

A shocking new development has emerged in the case of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif after a French journalist reportedly gained access to a damning medical report revealing Khelif has “testicles.” The news comes months after Khelif seized a gold medal in women’s boxing at the Paris Olympics.

The genetic abnormality influences the normal development of a child’s sexual organs. At birth, male babies impacted by 5-alpha are often incorrectly assigned female due to the presence of deformed genitalia that sometimes takes on the appearance of a “blind vaginal pouch.”

This disordered development typically becomes apparent by puberty, when 5-alpha adolescents begin to experience signs of masculinization such as muscle growth, hair growth, and an absence of breast tissue development or menstruation. Without access to a proper clinical examination, males with 5-alpha may incorrectly believe they are female into adulthood.

At the end of October, French journalist Djaffar Ait Aoudia obtained a copy of a thorough physical examination that was conducted on Khelif in order to verify the presence of a disorder of sexual development.

According to Aoudia, the clinical report reveals that an MRI determined that Khelif had no uterus, but instead had internal testicles and a “micropenis” resembling an enlarged clitoris. A chromosomal test further confirmed that Khelif has an XY karyotype, while a hormone test found that Khelif had a testosterone level typical of males. In the file, doctors also suggested that Khelif’s parents may have been blood relatives.

This report coincides with an earlier admission by Khelif’s coach, Georges Cazorla, that the Algerian boxer had been subjected to an assessment at the Kremlin-Bicêtre Hospital after being disqualified from women’s boxing by the International Boxing Association (IBA) in March of 2023.

In an interview from August, Cazorla tepidly conceded that the endocrinologists had determined there was a “problem with [Khelif’s] chromosomes” at the time. Despite this fact, Cazorla insisted that Khelif should still be allowed to compete against females.

Cazorla also stated that Khelif was placed on testosterone suppressants following the 2023 medical assessment. However, the International Olympic Committee has not submitted athletes to chromosomal testing since 1999 and, at the Paris Olympics, the only requirement to participate in women’s boxing was to have a female sex marker on legal documents.

Further confirmation of the boxers’ karyotype was given by Alan Abrahamson, an associate professor at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, who is a specialist in Olympic sports and member of the International Olympic Committee’s press committee. In an August statement, Abrahamson said that he had personally viewed the results of the hotly-contested chromosomal tests ordered by the IBA in 2022 and 2023 which “concluded the boxer’s DNA was that of a male consisting of XY chromosomes.”

The news of Khelif’s leaked medical report comes after he won gold at the Paris Olympics in the women’s 65kg category.

In collaboration with the Independent Council on Women’s Sport (ICONS), Reduxx was the first outlet to break the news of Khelif’s participation in women’s boxing at Paris, raising alarm bells due to his previous disqualification from women’s boxing by the IBA. The news sparked a firestorm of controversy, with the IBA coming out in opposition to the IOC’s decision to allow Khelif to fight women in Paris.

Speaking to Reduxx on this latest revelation, ICONS co-founder Marshi Smith slammed the IOC and the Algerian Olympic Committee for allowing Khelif to continue his journey to Paris gold despite being fully aware he was genetically male.

“The IOC and the Algerian Olympic Committee are complicit in endorsing male violence against women under the guise of public entertainment on the world’s largest sports stage,” Smith said. “They stood by as women were subjected to physical assault for spectacle, stripped of safety, fairness, and their lifetime achievements. All those involved must face swift and serious consequences.”

Smith adds that she believes Khelif should be stripped of his gold medal, but doubts any action will be taken to rectify the injustice.

“We urge leaders in sports and governments worldwide to condemn the IOC and demand a public commitment to ensuring fair and safe sports for women from this day forward. This must never be allowed to happen again.”

[menstralcycling]

Gunna dump a bunch of Sonic franchise headcanons here, it's more Mobian hedgehog based rn, but I need them out of my head and I would love to discuss with people who know the Deep Lore. I've been cherry picking from all the canons [yes even Sonic Underground jdfgallsf]

male and female hedgehogs have subtle sexual dimorphism that get more and more obvious the older they are until adulthood.

One "obvious" trait is quill type. Female Mobain hedgehogs tend to have shorter or/and softer/flexible quills than male Mobian hedgehogs. [Like with any species there's always exceptions]. I get this hc from the fact that besides Amy, we don't really see any girl hedgehogs?????? and the ones we do [Sonic's mom in the Archie comics/Underground, Amy, Sonic's sister Sonia in Underground] their quills seem to be more fur/hair than quill. "Classic Cmy" has more spiky quills so I think maybe as kids their quills are pretty identical and pre-teen/puberty starts to change them??? idk

Another thing: chest fur! Both Shadow and Silver have long and kinda thick chest fur, so it kinda makes me think that male Mobian hedgehogs develop that fur as a sign of maturity??? Like in humans. [I've seen in fandom spaces that Sonic actually does grow long fur but he keeps it cropped close for aerodynamic purposes which is so fuckign funny, idk if thats canon tho] [or if Sonic doesn't grow chest fur it can be either 1) trans hell yeah, or 2) he's from a race/bloodline of hedgehogs that dont have that]

A fun hedgehog specific hc is that they go through quilling up to 3 times in their life time. Once as an infant they shed their "womb quills" after a few weeks. The quills that grow back are a little harder and sharper and have color to them.

The second quilling is during puberty, but its not all at once like infanthood or the 3rd quilling. This one is rarely counted since it can just be clumps or one or two. Hedgehogs shed quills all the time, so it's not really counted, just the sheded quills are replaced by sturdier/thicker quills.

The final quilling takes place in that weird space between adulthood and the tail end of puberty. About 16-18 for the average Hedgehog. [I hc Sonic started his last quilling late - almost 18 and had to explain what quilling was to Shadow bc that boy was born with an adult body lmaooo]. All the "baby" quills fall out and adult ones grow in. It's an uncomfortable and irritating time and super embarrassing to the young hedgehog since their quills [culturally] are their pride and joy. Speaking of infant hedgehogs, or hoglets if you will, here's some kid/baby hcs

Newborn hedgehogs can't see or hear very well but they can recognize their parent's voices and scent immediately upon birth. Their ears and eyes "open" around the same time as their first quilling. It isn't uncommon for the hoglet to "open" before or after, it varies.

Their "womb" quills are basically translucent and the hoglet is virtually furless for that first month. During the first quilling is when their fur starts to grow in thicker and at this point parents get to see what color their child will be. You can usually tell by skin color [for instance, if the hoglet's skin is a pink skin color it will likely be pink/red/etc, if it's a greyish/blue tint, likely a black/purple/blue. [Check the skin color of you cat or dog and you can see what I mean!]

this is getting long so to the read more!

I touched on culture so here I go, it's vague bc it's more me throwing darts on the wall and seeing what sticks

Hedgehogs, like every culture, put a lot of emphasis on hair [er quills]. Female hedges have more freedom of expression with their quills since they are more flexible and able to bend without damage.

Circling as courting a potential mate or s/o is still done but it's usually a more formal occasion and its typically male circling the female thought same sex circling or female lead circling are a thing as well. The courting has been accepted if the one being circled starts to circle with them/follow the circling.

Polyamory is pretty common among hedgehogs. It's not uncommon for 2 hedgehogs to welcome a third. [Spreading my "Sonic, Amy, and Shadow have 2 hands" propaganda. I even have kid ocs for them jgaldgg, I'm open to discuss them :)]

But it is also not uncommon for hedgehogs to have closed relationships and mate for life. It varies between individuals.

Some more biology stuff, focusing more one the reproductive side

They do go through "ruts" and "heats" but it's more a mild mood change than a drastic change of personality like in fanfic jdghksdjgh [we listen and we dont judge jshgjsdh] a rutting Mobain hedgehog may just be a tad bit aggressive or affectionate towards their s/o - also, well. Horny. But it's just a inconvenience. Hedgehogs in heat experience the same thing. Both would experience mild mood swings, hormone imbalance, arousal, etc for a 6-12 days depending on each individual.

Mobian hedgehogs do not menstruate.

Hedgehog pregnancies are about 6 months long. They prefer to birth at home or in Chao Gardens, but a hospital isn't off the table if there are medical issues or just convenience.

Multiples are common. Twins and even triplets are expected, though singles are still more common. [Sonic is still the eldest and a triplet in my personal canon lol, he just doesn't talk to his bio sibs and mom that much bc reasons I haven't thought of yet]

I'm sure I'll think of more, but the rest of my hc are more character specific and I want to see if any one cares lol. Might do it anyway just to get it down but yeah! [My inbox is open if ya'll want to discuss!]

[hellobloger0000]

Baby Girl Names: Finding the Perfect Fit for Your Daughter

Choosing the right name for your daughter is a beautiful and meaningful journey. In today’s world, baby girl names are more diverse than ever—ranging from traditional and timeless to bold and innovative. This guide is designed to help you explore a wide variety of options so you can confidently choose a name that suits your family's values, culture, and aspirations.

The Emotional Impact of a Baby Girl Name

A name isn’t just a label—it’s a part of identity. The name you give your baby girl will likely be the first gift she receives from you and will stay with her throughout her life. It can influence her confidence, how she’s perceived by others, and even her personal sense of self.

Unique Fact: A study from the University of New York found that individuals with uncommon names were more likely to develop higher levels of creativity and self-reliance, especially during early childhood.

Most Popular Baby Girl Names Right Now

Every year, certain names rise to the top of naming charts, driven by trends, celebrities, and cultural influences. If you're looking for ideas based on current preferences, here are some trendy baby girl names that are capturing attention in 2025:

Aurora – A Latin name meaning "dawn," symbolic of new beginnings.

Hazel – Nature-inspired and vintage in feel, now back in fashion.

Maeve – A Celtic name meaning "she who intoxicates."

Savannah – Earthy and elegant, representing open grasslands.

Camila – A popular Spanish name meaning "young ceremonial attendant."

These names offer elegance, freshness, and a timeless appeal, making them some of the top baby girl names of this year.

Rare and Uncommon Baby Girl Names to Consider

If you're looking for something truly distinctive, rare baby girl names might be the perfect fit. These names are not commonly used, which gives your child a unique identity from the start:

Seren – A Welsh name meaning "star."

Thalassa – Of Greek origin, meaning "the sea."

Ziva – Hebrew name meaning "brilliance" or "radiance."

Indira – A powerful Sanskrit name meaning "beauty" and "splendor."

Liora – Hebrew for "light."

These names stand out without being difficult to pronounce, making them ideal choices for parents seeking originality.

Related high-volume keywords: rare baby names, uncommon girl names, exotic baby girl names

Classic Baby Girl Names That Never Go Out of Style

Sometimes, the best names are the ones that have stood the test of time. These classic baby girl names are elegant, widely recognized, and come with strong historical roots:

Anna

Grace

Charlotte

Emma

Clara

Choosing a classic name offers the advantage of familiarity and tradition. These names are often associated with poise, wisdom, and grace.

Factors to Keep in Mind When Choosing a Baby Girl Name

Selecting a baby girl name involves more than just following trends. Here are key considerations to help guide your decision:

1. Cultural Significance

A name that honors your heritage or carries cultural meaning can create a strong sense of identity.

2. Phonetic Simplicity

Choose names that are easy to pronounce and spell, which can help your child socially and professionally.

3. Compatibility

Think about how the name sounds with your last name and whether it fits with sibling names if applicable.

4. Future Flexibility

Does the name offer good nickname potential or adapt well from childhood to adulthood?

The Influence of Pop Culture on Baby Girl Names

Pop culture—from movies and music to social media—has a significant influence on naming trends. Characters from shows and films often inspire a surge in name popularity. Recent examples include:

Arya (from Game of Thrones)

Wednesday (from Wednesday on Netflix)

Elsa (from Frozen)

Raya (from Raya and the Last Dragon)

While these names might trend quickly, they often remain popular due to their strong associations and creative flair.

Related keywords: celebrity baby girl names, Disney-inspired baby names, famous baby names

Baby Girl Names Inspired by Virtues and Values

Names that reflect virtues are timeless and meaningful. They communicate what you hope your daughter will embody as she grows.

Examples of virtue-based baby girl names include:

Faith

Hope

Charity

Serenity

Harmony

These names offer positive connotations and emotional depth, making them a thoughtful choice.

International Baby Girl Names Worth Considering

If you’re looking to give your child a name with international flair, consider options from around the globe. These names are often rich in history and sound beautiful in multiple languages:

French Names

Amélie

Chloé

Esmé

Indian Names

Anika

Kavya

Rhea

Scandinavian Names

Freya

Elin

Maja

African Names

Zola (peace)

Amara (grace)

Nia (purpose)

Global names can honor family heritage or simply reflect a love for travel, culture, and diversity.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. How do I pick a name that ages well?

Choose names that sound appropriate for a baby, teenager, and adult. Names like Sophia, Olivia, or Eleanor have timeless appeal.

2. Should I consider middle names during the process?

Yes, the flow of the full name matters. Try saying the full name out loud to test the rhythm.

3. What about using initials as a guide?

Avoid names that create negative or humorous acronyms with your last name.

4. Is it okay to invent a name?

Absolutely. Many modern baby girl names are blends or creative spins on traditional names. Just make sure it's still easy to spell and pronounce.

5. How can I ensure my baby's name is unique?

Use online name databases to check popularity rankings. Choosing less common names or altering spelling slightly can help.

Final Words

Whether you're drawn to trendy girl names, classic baby girl names, or rare baby names, the perfect name for your daughter is one that speaks to your heart. It's a combination of meaning, sound, and personal relevance. Take your time, consider your options, and trust your instincts.

Your daughter’s name will be one of her greatest lifelong companions. Make it one that inspires pride, beauty, and identity.

[shiimperial-india]

7 effective ways for raising teenage child

Introduction: The Teenage Rollercoaster

Raising a teenager can sometimes feel like navigating a rollercoaster - exhilarating highs, sudden twists, and unexpected turns. It's a unique journey that requires a combination of understanding, communication, and patience. In this article, we will explore seven effective ways to make this rollercoaster ride a little smoother, helping you and your teenager not only survive but thrive during these transformative years.

1: Foster Open Communication

Communication is the cornerstone of any healthy relationship, especially with a teenager. Establish a space where your teen feels comfortable talking about their feelings and worries without fear of judgement. Listen intently, ask questions that are open-ended, and share your personal experiences. By creating an environment of open communication, you strengthen your relationship and make it easier for your teen to share their successes and struggles with you.

2: Set Clear and Realistic Expectations

Teenagers crave structure and guidelines. Set clear and realistic expectations regarding curfews, chores, and academic responsibilities. Discuss these expectations openly, allowing your teenager to have input in the decision-making process. When expectations are transparent and achievable, it sets the stage for a sense of responsibility and accountability, helping your teenager develop crucial life skills.

3: Encourage Independence with Guidance

While setting boundaries is important, it's equally crucial to encourage independence. Give your teenager opportunities to make decisions and learn from the consequences, within reason. Provide guidance rather than directives, allowing them to develop problem-solving skills and a sense of autonomy. Balancing independence with guidance fosters self-confidence and prepares them for the responsibilities of adulthood.

4: Stay Informed About Their World

The teenage world is constantly evolving, shaped by peer influence, social media, and societal trends. Stay informed about their interests, friendships, and online activities. Engage in discussions about current events and popular culture to better understand their perspective. Being informed not only allows you to connect with your teenager on a deeper level but also helps you navigate potential challenges together.

5: Be a Positive Role Model

Teenagers absorb behavior like sponges. Set a good example for them by showing them what you want them to be like. Be resilient, be compassionate, and focus on taking care of yourself. Your actions speak louder than words, and being a positive role model sets a powerful example for your teenager to follow as they navigate their own path to adulthood.

6: Support Their Passion and Individuality

Every teenager is unique, with their own set of interests and aspirations. Support and nurture their passions, even if they differ from your own. Whether it's art, sports, music, or science, encouraging their individuality fosters a sense of self-worth and identity. Celebrate their achievements, no matter how small, and help them explore and discover their strengths and talents.

7: Nurturing the Teenage Spirit

Raising a teenager is an intricate dance of guidance and understanding. By fostering open communication, setting clear expectations, encouraging independence, staying informed, being a positive role model, and supporting their individuality, you create an environment where your teenager can thrive. Embrace the unique journey of adolescence, and with these effective strategies, you'll find that the teenage rollercoaster becomes a fulfilling and enriching experience for both you and your teenager.

[dissociativediscourse]

the most wild thing about endos trying to "prove endo plurality" is using OLD sources, which mentions "normal multiplicity" which just means adherence to social norms observed (which would basically consider everyone if not only non-socially awkward neurotypical people endo systems), and then their "new" sources just re-uses prior ideology of the old sources, just removing the term "normal multiplicity" (instead now being called "multiple self-aspects" and "multiple self-control"), but it still only proves that they'd consider everyone if not just those deemed "socially functional" an endo system

I usually don’t participate in this kind of discourse anymore, but since I got this ask, why not?

There are all these sources, all this stuff… And none of it goes beyond acknowledging it as a social phenomenon. I wish the community could just accept that and not try to warp it. Because the thing is that endo/nondisordered/mixed origin/non-CDD plurality doesn’t really need to be “proven”.

The only reason we’re stuck on proving that it’s either real or fake is this obsession that we all have with comparing it to CDDs. But… That doesn’t really work. CDDs have a structure that is entirely based around trauma. All of these parts of self — and yes, they are parts — are either ego states from childhood that further elaborated and became more autonomous and independent senses of self because of the inability to go through the normal steps of childhood identity development, parts that split and followed that same pattern as a coping mechanism in adulthood (what caused it doesn’t matter. Trauma or not. Anything that causes dissociation, any niche that needs to be filled or need that’s unmet can possibly cause splitting in anyone who already has the disorder.), or less elaborated parts that… Still follow that structure.

Even ANPs and parts not formed (directly) from trauma (you can split over whatever you split over. If you think you’re mixed origins because you have DID/OSDD but split over something that wasn’t trauma, keep that in mind— your every split doesn’t have to be from trauma to still have a CDD) are still fundamentally unable to exist without trauma. They’re there to function. They’re your brain’s attempt to hide from that trauma by not experiencing the feelings associated with it or not knowing exactly what happened.

Non-CDD plural umbrella headmates simply aren’t that at their base. They’re many times considered separate people, and even then, their physical structure could never look like that of a CDD alter— that doesn’t say anything about their validity, just that they’re different. Even if an endogenic plural goes through trauma in adulthood, they’re going to develop PTSD or CPTSD. That doesn’t mean their trauma is less “valid”. It just means that the brain structure did what it naturally does when it’s traumatized. That’s all trauma disorders are— natural responses to unnatural circumstances. And the natural response at that age is just different, whether you’re plural or not. It’s no more or less valid.

We need to get it out of our heads that non-CDD plurality and CDDs are something that need to or even can be compared. We could all coexist quite easily if we weren’t constantly trying to shove each other around by either trying to force two nearly unrelated communities together or trying to yell at people practicing a belief that they’re wrong. They’re only wrong if they try to apply their own logic/belief system to CDDs— not simply by existing.

Back to the point, though: Non-CDD/Endo plurality doesn’t need to be proven. Because that would be stupid. Everyone needs to chill about that, honestly. It’s not always a spiritual phenomenon with plurals, but whether it is or not, it kind of fills the same cultural niche, if that makes sense. You don’t go up to a spiritual person and demand they give you sources, because no matter how hard those studies try, they’re not going to be able to explain it. It’s a subjective experience and can’t really be proven or disproven. It’s the same with plurality.

And… that’s another reason it’s completely separate from CDDs. Complex Dissociative Disorders are definitely widely varied experiences / a very colorful and diverse spectrum of experiences, but they’re an objective thing. A kid with a predisposition to dissociation gets stressed and can’t do anything with it except dissociate over and over until it’s too late. Bam. CDD. We can see it on brain scans, we have a million different papers on it and we have a very clearly defined explanation for how it happens. Non-CDD plurality is a subjective experience. No one can quite define what exactly it is or how it happens in a way that is going to include everyone who experiences it— and that’s okay. That’s completely alright, because there’s no need, as long as everyone is content, right?

I know I kind of just used this ask to go off on a tangent, but… Yeah.

They’re different things. That’s okay, and it just means we need different things.

[gingerdusk]

Zora headcanons please?

There's so many kinds of Zora; how about I do them all? :D

River Zora

So, the River Zora were the first kind of Zora we were ever met with in the LoZ series.

Capable of shooting fireballs, this variant of Zora is EXTREMELY territorial and defensive of their domain. And with good reason; their eggs are a rarity--a River Zora might lay only two eggs in their entire lifetime, which can reach up to 800 years. And monsters, especially water-based monsters, tend to be scavengers, meaning that if a Zora isn’t careful, their nest can be raided and the eggs devoured before they have a chance to react.

The River Zora are vibrantly colored, with the ability to puff up to three times their normal size and possessing side-fins to use as flashy warning signs against potential predators. Living in a place like Hyrule means you have to have all kinds of tricks up your sleeve!

But all that flash isn’t just for show; when they’re stressed, their skin releases a toxic substance that can cause paralysis in nearby enemies.

You can see it here in Queen Oren’s fountain, how the water’s gone dark purple (along with the size magnification mentioned previously).

Their mouths contain special glands that secrete a kind of organic napalm. When creating a fireball, they gather some of this substance in their cheeks and ignite it with a spark of electricity, similar to an electric catfish. This ability takes time for them to develop, and fireball accuracy is a point of pride among their soldiers.

Their diet consists of mostly trout, and their domain is hidden in a waterfall beside Death Mountain. However, by BoTW’s time, the River Zora have fled Hyrule for distant Holodrum, where there’s remarkably less threat of extinction.

Zora Warriors

These are actually the result of River Zora adapting to salinity! Also called “Geozards” to differentiate them from their ancestors, these Zora have lost their toxicity and pufferfish-like abilities in exchange for denser muscle mass and near-impenetrable scales. The frill atop their heads is their only biological sex indicator; frill means male, no frill means female, and the sex of a Geozard is determined by the temperature their egg was kept in, like alligators!

They also have an increased capacity for firepower compared to their more docile inland counterparts, an adaptation developed in the presence of more aggressive waterlife out in the open ocean. The napalm they produce is a LOT harder to get off of yourself, so watch out!

Lake Zora

Most famous for their queen, Ruto, Lake Zora are blue-white in coloring and have fins that mimic the patterns clear water would create on the seafloor. Unlike their vibrantly-colored firebreathing cousins, these Zora are stealth hunters, blending in with the water and staying very still before darting out to catch their prey in a split second.

The well-known fondness for jewelry that Zora have started with this subspecies, where earrings, necklaces, and gemstones were first utilized as bait, similar to metallic fishing lures. Since then, the fondness for shiny decoration has only grown, peaking when the Zoroyal family was entrusted with the Spiritual Stone of Water. Since receiving it, the gifting of sapphires between Zora has been a token of engagement, similar to how rings are in our culture.

Early stages of Zora life strongly resemble tadpoles; upon hatching, they’re little more than eyes and a sharklike tail. As they mature, however, the rest of their body develops, tucked into the curve beneath their faces, before eventually emerging into a Zora guppy.

Zora guppies are...clumsy, to say the least. Their bodies haven’t grown quite enough to support their heads yet, so they need neck support at all times. It’s just like human babies! It takes a Lake Zora about three years to get to the point where they can support their own head weight, so during that time, the parents have to be extremely diligent with their baby’s safety.

Bay Zora

The Zora that live in the Great Bay of Termina are almost identical to their Hyrulean counterparts.

Almost.

These Zora have had to adapt both to salt water and the presence of predators larger than them, so on top of the skills the Lake Zora possess, they also have a faster swimming speed, a tolerance to acid, and the ability to create a weak electric field around themselves to ward off potential attackers.

Falls Zora

This subspecies of Zora actually marks an evolutionary transition point between the Lake Zora and the Sea Zora. They still possess muted coloration to blend into the water for stealth attacks, but they’re starting to branch out; sunset-colored fins and bioluminescent spots on their headtails mark the development of several key traits BoTW Zora possess.

It’s also the point where we first see sign of the red and purple color mutations.

But by far the most interesting point of this particular era in Zora history is their cultural development.

This is the point in time where they start decorating their domain with the trademark Zora silver we know them for in BoTW, with intricate lacing designs in semi-see-through walls.

We also see the first use of Zora spears, along with masks worn by soldiers and metallic jewelry, signifying that the Zora have begun to develop the means to forge tools.

This is huge, from a worldbuilding perspective. Aquatic races tend to get locked into a stone-age level of tech, because it’s insanely difficult to forge metals without fire and without cooking yourself. The techniques they use to make these weapons and decorations, though they remain a carefully guarded Zora secret, are the reason they can make grand palaces like we see in BoTW.

This era also marks the appearance of Zora armor; as in, clothing created from Zora scales.

Magical garments for breathing underwater existed before, but the presence of this here means that Zora can both shed and craft their scales into a kind of chainmail mesh. In later years, this kind of garment would become the equivalent of exchanging sapphires, specifically for inter-species relationships in Hyrule.

And, finally:

Sea Zora

These are probably the Zora you all were expecting. I’ve covered the reasoning behind their coloration and physical variation here, so let’s get to the stuff I haven’t quite covered yet, shall we?

The Zora of BoTW are highly adapted to salt-water conditions, capable of breathing in both fresh and seawater. Their scales, however, are thinner due to generations of enjoying a peaceful lifestyle, making them highly susceptible to burns, frostbite, and electrical nerve damage. This makes elemental arrows a huge threat to the Zora population; it’s an ongoing debate in their kingdom on whether or not it should be banned.

A Sea Zora’s lifespan consists of about 20 years of being a guppy, at which point, they develop their “sea legs.” As you’ll notice, this is much longer than the standard infancy of their ancestors; while Lake Zora matured at a similar rate to humans, Sea Zora more closely resemble the lifespans of River Zora, which can lead to generations of Hylians passing by in only one Zora lifetime.

After growing out of their guppy phase, Sea Zora stay at a relatively small size, even into adulthood, until they hit their growthspurts. This final stage of Zora maturity is triggered by environmental factors, such as temperature, abundance of resources, and emotional stability, though some Zora take longer to reach that finicky balance than others. The growth stage takes about two years to finish; Mipha, a hundred years prior to BoTW, was right in the middle of hers, thus making her much smaller than other fully grown Zora at the time.

On a cultural note, Zora from this era participate in neck elongation, like many human cultures in Africa and Asia.

In this practice, coils of metal are wrapped around the neck to give the appearance of it being longer than it actually is. Contrary to popular belief, this doesn’t actually dislocate the neck and vertebrae; instead, it works by pushing the collarbones down and the chin upwards.

We can see this practice on Zora of any age, and all walks of life; it’s even present in the Zora Armor, to a lesser degree.

Notably, though, Royal Zora and Zora in direct service to the Zoroyal family haf elegant frames rather than coils, as a secondary indicator of status.

Luminous stones are popular with these Zora, and it’s believed that this started as a mirror to their developing bioluminescence. And they have a lot of it; unfortunately, however, it’s on a scale humans don’t perceive very well, as to us, the most glow we get is right above Muzu’s eyes.

But for Zora? They see A LOT.

Sidon, for example. We see him like this:

But Zora night vision isn’t as good as ours, so they’d see something more like this instead:

(Not an accurate depiction, a rough estimate done by someone with little art skills)

The spots on his head, the brightly colored edges of his fins, and the luminous stones all stand out, letting Zora identify each other in murky waters easily.

Sea Zora eyes possess special cells in them specifically for detecting luminescence. These disappear in strong light:

But are visible in darker settings, like rainy Zora’s Domain, in the form of tiny dots on the outer edge of the iris.

These cells work by catching miniscule amounts of light and color and reflecting them, causing weak dots to become much more pronounced, at the cost of their night vision overall.

Hope this answered your questions about the Zora!

[ianthe-is-a-bitch-and-i-love-her]

On Family

An excerpt from Memoirs of a Flesh Eater, never published

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One question that I see asked in the news a lot is why there are still any ghouls left. We have a distinctive, high-impact feeding habit that requires us to stay within human society, where we are both outnumbered and outgunned. This has essentially been the case since the development of automatic firearms, and you’ve continued to develop more and more effective methods of killing us since then. How are we not extinct?

The talking heads always have lurid theories to propose. My personal favorite one, which comes up every couple of years or so, is that the government is secretly breeding us so that they have an excuse to send secret police out into the general populace for nefarious purposes pretending to be exterminators. As if they’d need the excuse {Editing Note: I’ve gotta keep my political views out of this except where they directly pertain to ghouls. No unnecessarily alienating people}. The most commonly accepted one seems to be that we just have a lot of children to compensate for our high mortality rate. Spatha calls that an R strategy, I think. Scarlet calls it the Rabbit Theory. Whatever you call it, it’s wrong. Our species has survived off the strength and compassion of our families.

Contrary to popular impressions, our “nuclear” families are pretty small. My understanding is that 1-4 children is the typical range. I’m the only confirmed only child in my friend group. Scarlet’s the youngest of three, Scorpio’s a middle child, Spatha avoids talking about her home life, and Kestrel doesn’t know her biological parents. There’s a couple of pressures that keep our family sizes small. First, it’s challenging to feed too many ghouls at once, especially ghoul children, who we don’t want worrying about where they’re going to get their meals. Second, the majority of ghoul parents are going to end up as single parents before their kids are fully grown. Either one of them is going to get killed, or they’re going to have to separate to go on the run from the exterminators; and, of course, we do still break up and get divorced sometimes.

These pressures are exaggerated by our general lack of an extended family. It’s not that all of our aunts and uncles get hunted down - even if they did, we’d still have cousins - but it’s not safe for us to have traceable extended families. When exterminators identify a ghoul, the first thing they do is put out a bulletin for all known blood relatives. The most common tactic to avoid this is, when multiple siblings make it to adulthood, at least one of them changes their identity and moves away. This isn’t always done, but it’s done often enough that document forging is a widespread and well-respected profession in the Society. It’s useful for dodging exterminators in other circumstances too. My mom and I changed our names and moved cities after exterminators killed my dad when I was 4.

Between that and the sheer number of out-and-out orphans in our Society, it should come as no surprise that we’ve developed a new family structure to fill in the gaps. The terminology we use for this structure is variable, but the term I’ve always used is “household”. A household is a sort of adopted extended family, typically formed by and centered around one particularly resourceful ghoul called a patron. The patron takes whichever ghouls they choose under their wing, introduces them to each other, and helps them coordinate their talents and resources so that they all have everything they need. Most obviously, this means making sure they all have a supply of flesh, but there are numerous other kinds of support a household can provide. I doubt I need to emphasize again how valuable a reliable source of companionship and safety is, but patrons typically have access to connections and contacts that can help the other members of the household accomplish their goals.

My household, for example, was founded by our patron Yaga. It consists of her, her adopted daughter Kestrel, my mom and I, my friends Scarlet and Scorpio and their immediate families, and four other older ghouls. There’s also Spatha, who has been reluctant to fully join the household but acts like a member in most contexts. Three of our members have reliable flesh sources, and Yaga coordinates with other ghouls to find supplementary sources to ensure that she always has a surplus on hand. This keeps all of us well-fed and lets her distribute the rest to those in need in exchange for favors and cachet that the rest of us can use for our own advancement. In turn, the rest of us pitch in for odd jobs here and there, mostly on flesh-gathering jobs of one kind or another, and we look out for each other. I’ve done a bit of babysitting with Kestrel, for example, and Yaga was able to get me and Scarlet summer jobs to save up for college.

Babysitting, by the way, is one of the most valuable services a household can provide to a ghoul parent. Given our mortality rate, it probably isn’t a surprise that there’s a good bit of cultural pressure to have children, and have them quick. Ghoul children are… a lot. When we’re newborn, we’re pretty much like human babies. Ghoul babies can nurse from ghoul mothers for awhile, which is a relief. They need to switch to flesh before their teeth come in, though, so that means flesh slurry, which is more complicated to make than you might think. For best results, you want a mix of blood, muscle tissue, organ tissue, and bone, especially marrow. We get better at pulling all our nutrients from just flesh as we mature, but babies aren’t as developed. Getting those varied tissues is a little more complicated than just getting flesh. Bone especially is challenging - more mature ghouls have no need for it, and it’s honestly kinda gross. You just have to hope that whoever you’re getting flesh from can start holding some bones for you. Not every source has easy access to bones. 

{Editing Note: I think I wrote bone too many times - it looks fake now. Bone. Bone.}

We get our ghoul teeth at the same time as our baby teeth. Our ghoul teeth fall out and are replaced too, but we keep growing new ones our whole lives, kinda like sharks. Funnily enough, I don’t think we grow extra human teeth, which seems like a strange way for evolution to take us, but what do I know, I’m not a biologist. At that point we can start eating regular flesh, and parents have the unenviable task of explaining to toddlers that they can’t just slide their teeth out whenever they want. Our other features come in a bit later - claws between 4 and 6, eyes with puberty. Let me tell you, the claws hurt coming in. I couldn’t hold a pencil for a month. My mom told the elementary school that I was deathly sick so she could keep me home, but I think Scarlet just pretended he’d broken both his hands and went in splints. I don’t envy him - stretching my claws did a lot to relieve the pain.

I’ll admit freely that, by our standards, I had a pretty charmed childhood. I fit into human society pretty easily, I had a mom who loved me and could provide for me, a patron and household to help pick up the slack, and ghoul friends my own age. I had the discipline to keep my true nature hidden from my human peers, and I don’t think I was even particularly traumatized by the pressure of performing humanity that much. I can safely attribute that to the fact that I had safe spaces throughout my life to let the charade drop. Most ghouls at least have that. Most, but not all.

Our integration into human society also means that we inevitably become entangled in human society. We become invested in the lives of our human peers, we befriend them, care about them. Sometimes we fall in love with them. Eating people seems like kind of a big secret to keep from a potential romantic partner - I certainly couldn’t manage it - but some ghouls form romantic relationships with humans nonetheless. Maybe some of these human partners eventually discover the truth and are willing to overlook it for the person they love, but I doubt it happens often. I’ve certainly never heard of it. I’ve heard of it going the other way, though, a human partner discovering the truth and reacting poorly. Someone always dies when that happens. I personally know a few ghouls who’ve dated humans, or are seriously involved with them. Frankly, it scares the hell out of me. I get that the heart wants what it wants, but some wants aren’t worth the risk.

{Editing Note: That last line feels… tense. Emotionally charged. Why? And should I change it?}

In my opinion, the gravest of these risks is what happens when a human and a ghoul decide they want to build a life together, but kids are already in the equation. The human-ghoul mixed family is probably the most toxic environment that a ghoul child could be raised in and conceivably survive. All that pressure of hiding your true nature from your peers as you grow up? That feeling of isolation that follows you everywhere you go among humans? All of the most crushing emotional turmoil I’ve described in this book so far? Imagine if there was no relief for that even at home with your family. I frankly have no idea how ghoul parents manage to feed themselves and their children without being caught, or how they manage to perform humanity so flawlessly and constantly that their literal immediate family never catches on. I don’t know how those children manage to survive to adulthood, but I imagine they have some seriously fucked up mental health problems by the time they do. Factor in the suspicion that they would inevitably face from our Society when they finally are able to join it properly - after all, who more likely to become a Judas or be Lost than a ghoul raised by humans? - and I’d be willing to bet most of them don’t make it out of their twenties.

Before we move on entirely from families in general and mixed families in particular, I’d like to take a quick aside to talk about “half-ghouls”. You hear about them in horror media fairly often, the biological child of a human and a ghoul. Authors love to ascribe all sorts of traits to these hypothetical creatures - greater and more monstrous than the sum of their parts, supernaturally strong and vicious, impossible to detect within human society, sometimes with traits that are blatantly impossible, like telepathy or mind control or just plain magic. All of that is obviously untrue, but it’s something of a point of contention as to whether or not a “half-ghoul” is even possible. None of the ghouls I’ve talked to seem to agree about whether it can happen, and a search of human medical literature was similarly inconclusive. Humans, at least, seem to think that it might be theoretically possible, but have never been able to verify it by observation or by medical experiment. Of the ghouls I know that have been romantically involved with humans, none of them have ever gotten a kid out of it. It’s one of those things where we just don’t know. If it were possible, I’m not even sure what the implications would be.

[standard-muse]

What happened to Rey?

Rey was honestly one of my favorite characters coming out of TFA, but I couldn’t figure out why I was walking out of TROS feeling like there was something off about her. I decided to dive into a character study to see what the issues were. That’s when I realized the unbelievable character regression we witnessed in TROS. I know I’m not the first one to notice this or comment on it, but here are some of the key elements I noticed.

Rey’s Wardrobe:  Rey’s wardrobe in the first two movies does an interesting thing. She starts off in an off-white outfit, very similar to the looks we see on Anakin in TPM and Luke in ANH. This signals the beginning of all three of their stories. Each character begins as a child and is inexperienced and naïve in their training and maturity. Then, we move to the second movie. Rey progresses to cool grays, Anakin movies to a series of deep blues, browns and black; and Luke also moves to a gray color scheme. This signals the growth, the changes, the rise in maturity and knowledge, and signals the step that they are no longer in that place of innocence and adolescence. This matches what we see on screen in ESB as Luke dives deep into his training, Anakin goes on his first solo mission in AOTC, and Rey trains with Luke in TLJ – it fits perfectly.

Then, we get to the third movie. And here’s where the problems begin with the choices they made with her character. In ROTS Anakin is wearing all black, he has a gloved hand -- his wardrobe not only signals his completion into maturity but also foreshadows his eventual turn to Vader. Luke is also wearing all black, at one point he has a cloak, and his wardrobe shows the struggle and trials he’s been through. Luke is no longer the same man he was in ANH. Famously, Luke’s all black wardrobe raises the question of “will he turn to the dark side like his father?” And after he refuses, we see the white lining to understand that he was always good on the inside. If we were to follow this trend (since Star Wars is supposed to rhyme), Rey should have been wearing dark colors. A darker color would have also been a nice callback to the teasing question we had with Luke, but instead the question would have been “Will we see Rey join Kylo on the Sith throne?” Instead, what we got was a blindingly white outfit that was identical to her TFA outfit. Not only does this symbolically point to a regression in her character and the work and training she’s gone through, the stark white paints her as an innocent – a pure creature that is untouched and has a naivety about her and her experiences. More than that, it’s almost identical to the outfit she wears in the flashback when her parents leave, telling us that after the acceptance we witness in TLJ that her parents are gone and her place is ahead of her instead of behind, she’s suddenly regressed back to waiting for her parents to return to her. This outfit did not suite the Rey that we left in TLJ who showed development and experience. 

Rey’s Hair: It’s been a common theory that the reason Rey has her 3-bun hair style is because it’s the same hair she had when her parents left; and the reason she kept it was so they could recognize her if they returned. This ties into the same point made that she is wearing the same outfit she had as a little girl so they could recognize her too. The irrational hope that even as she knows (as Kylo unlocks this memory within her) that her parents are gone, she still won’t let it go. The problem with this hair choice for TROS is that Rey had already moved passed this way of thinking. In TLJ we see his beautiful moment of her accepting Kylo’s words to “Kill the past so you can be who you were meant to be”, seconds later after this scene she dives into water (i.e. a rebirth or baptism) and comes out with her hair down. This was beautifully done and was a great way to show the big step Rey had just taken in her character journey. Not only that, but immediately after she lets her hair down, she reaches out to Kylo again and they admit to each other that they’ll never let the other person be alone (i.e. a new family). Unfortunately, the writers of TROS decided not to follow up on this, and instead her character goes back to the same little girl hairstyle she’s had since she was a young child. This felt like Rey tacking a Padawan braid in her hair after she had already ceremoniously cut it off. There was no excuse or reason to justify it either other than that she reverted to a child like state.

She was living with Leia, the Princess from Alderaan, the place with a culture famous for their braids. Would it not have made infinitely more sense for Rey to be sporting an Alderaan-like braided hairstyle? Not only would that have helped TROS’s “New-Found Family” theme they were poorly trying to convey, but it also would have emphasized the relationship and connection between Rey and Leia. It would have been an easy way to show the audience that Rey and Leia had bonded, without them having to film it (which they couldn’t have anyways).

Rey’s Staff and Saber: Now, Rey’s staff has been with her since the first moments of TFA. She relentlessly carries it around with her all across Jakku and it’s her main form of protection. This makes total sense in the TFA timeline. However, about halfway through TLJ we see her shift her attitude towards the staff. There is a moment on Ahch-To where she’s practicing with it, she stops, and instead shifts to using the legacy saber for her training. Not only that, but during her fight with Luke she uses the staff for a moment, only to quickly drop it in favor of the same saber. After which point, she never uses it again in TLJ. By the beginning of TROS, after we’ve clearly seen the legacy saber working and her using it, it makes no sense for her to continue carrying around the staff. The staff was a symbol of her time on Jakku, it was her main weapon of choice before she became a Jedi and before she joined the Resistance. After she goes on her journey for a little bit, in TLJ she moves past that, she sets it aside in favor of the saber since that is where her future is. However – in TROS she inexplicably goes back to carrying it around like a safety blanket. It's another tether to her childhood that the writers insisted on keeping around even though it had no purpose. She uses it one time with Zorii Bliss, but even then in a second she swaps it out for the saber. There was no purpose for her to have this staff with her and more often then not, it hinders her ability to use her saber, the true Jedi weapon. In one scene—ridiculously—she carrying around the staff, the saber, the sith dagger, Han’s blaster, and Chewie’s crossbow and bandolier. She looked like the character from Jumanji with the giant backpack that is just known as the weapons valet.

As for the saber and how it relates to her character regression… In TFA we hear Maz Kanata say “This lightsaber belonged to Luke, and his father before him, and now it calls to you.” She then proceeds to use the lightsaber to defeat Kylo Ren and the Praetorian Guards all on her own. She’s trained with it, it flies into her hand when she calls to it, and she retrieved it after Luke threw it away on Ahch-To. This was Rey’s saber. However, in TROS we get this perplexing line of her returning the saber to Leia (who never owned it?) and saying she’ll earn it again one day. This was wrong on so many levels. Not only did Rey already earn this lightsaber, and it called out to her in Maz’s castle and on Starkiller; but the fact that she doesn’t even assume she’s worthy of holding a lightsaber means her Jedi’s journey is in it’s infant stage in the final film of the trilogy. Compare this to our other main protagonists Anakin and Luke, they’re both masters (sorry, Anakin) at their craft and proficient and confident with a saber. Anakin defeats Dooku when Obi-Wan can’t and Luke has built his own saber and takes on an entire barge of criminals. They’re both exactly where they should be in their Jedi/Hero’s journey at this point in the story. But, in TROS, Rey takes an epic step backwards from all the groundwork done in TFA and in TLJ and is put in the place of a Padawan. Where she should have been prepared to fill in the shoes of master, she’s not even fit to carry a lightsaber without permission from a parental figure. What’s worse, it is brought to our attention that Rey is trying to earn this saber, and in the end, she ends up just burying it in the sand and making a new one anyways. In a weird way this feels like she gave up on that idea entirely, or failed at it, and instead decided to make a new one because in the end she didn’t feel worthy to use it.

Rey’s Maturity/Emotional Mindset: For lack of better word, Rey’s maturity in this movie takes a huge step back as well. Again, if we look at our other protagonists Anakin and Luke, they both start off as young, naïve, and somewhat whiny. Rey, blessedly, never whined but we do see a great amount of youthfulness and child-like behaviors from her in TFA. She slides around on sand dunes, she runs away in Maz’s castle when she gets scared, she plays around with a x-wing helmet. This is the perfect place for her character to begin and balances great with the parallel of Luke and Anakin who both are in similar states. Then, in TLJ, like Luke and Anakin, Rey matures. She’s no longer playing around, she faces Luke head on and fights for what she knows is right, she doesn’t shy away when she’s scared, she enters into a relationship much like Anakin did – signaling her maturity and stepping into adulthood. Rey in TLJ grows up so much in the best possible way. After her hair comes down, and after she shares the hut moment with Kylo, she steps up fully and makes the choice to go and save him, moving away from her master to go on the journey on her own. She faces Snoke with her chin held high and doesn’t cower or get persuaded by him. She never lashes out irrationally and is poised and dignified the entire time. We see this again at the end with Kylo and her during the last force-bond scene of TLJ. This is after they’ve already parted ways and after she realizes he’s taken on the mantle of Supreme Leader. What we see is Rey standing there, poised and dignified, mature and calm as she looks him dead in the eye and closes the door on him. I’ve seen 50-year-old adults less mature than Rey is in that moment – and it is a wonderful moment of her character growth.

This was mentioned by @Forcebond-Shenanigans and I wanted to touch on it a little bit more. Rey in TROS acts completely irrational to Kylo up until…well Exegol basically. In one particular scene, Kylo is calmly standing there (in the weirdest framed shot ever, but that’s besides the point) talking to her normally on his ship, warning her that Palpatine is trying to kill her, and Rey immediately pulls out her lightsaber, bares her teeth, and threatens him. In fact, any time he is present around her, she attacks even though he never tries to attack back. Kylo, in every scene, is just trying to have a normal adult conversation and Rey—for some reason—keeps trying to fight him. It’s undoubtedly immature and goes against everything we’d seen between the two of them in TLJ.

This. Does. Not. Make. Sense.

In TLJ she’s already established a close, intimate connection with Kylo. She’s told him her deepest thoughts and feelings and he’s listened calmly. She already knows she can sit down and have a normal, easy, rational conversation with him even after what happens in Snoke’s throne room. It might have made sense for her to lash out at him if he too had his lightsaber out, or was threatening her, or doing something else sinister. But even when he’s trying to help her by letting her know Palpatine is after her, she still lashes out at him. This, in no way, fits the Rey we saw at the end of TLJ who was able to calmly close a door on Kylo without so much as creasing her forehead at him. Her attitude towards him for 95% of this movie feels like we’re stuck in the middle of the Starkiller Battle.

Rey’s Hero Journey/The Tatooine Ending: For Anakin and Luke, we see their hero’s journey come full circle within their trilogies. Anakin starts off as a child, learns the Jedi ways, becomes proficient at it, and by the end of ROTS is ready to lead the next generation (He just…takes a detour to the dark side instead). Luke as well, begins as child-like figure, learns the Jedi ways, moves beyond the point of needing a master, and by the end is ready to pass the baton to the next generation of Jedi. Rey begins as a child, learns the ways of the Jedi, becomes very skilled at it…then goes back to needed a teacher, is unworthy of her lightsaber, needs the help of other Jedi to fight off Palpatine, and ends the movie going back to the home of her masters who were also a sort of parental pair to her (which is weird, but for other reasons).

Now, Rey was put in this place of taking on the mantel of the Last Jedi. She inherits that from Luke after Luke passes. Presumably, that set her up to lead the next generation of Jedi as that was what Snoke was trying to prevent Luke from doing. She is supposed to pass on that knowledge so that the Jedi can survive. However, by the end of her story she’s simply…not ready. Comparatively, if we look at either Anakin or Luke, they were ready to pass the baton to the next generation. Luke had proven himself to the point where even Yoda says, “No more training do you require.” And Obi-Wan says to Anakin, “I’ve taught you everything I know, and you’ve become a far greater Jedi than I ever hope to be.” Both our protagonists in the OT and PT are clearly shown to be at the end of their training and ready to lead the next generation. Rey, on the other hand, begins TROS still acting like a padawan who’s trying to earn her lightsaber. This was such a bad writing choice as we now finish this story with Rey not in the place of being able to adequately pass that knowledge along to others, and even worse, not even ready to be considered a master at her own craft herself. This would be like Anakin ending the trilogy in a Pre-AOTC state of being. It’s unresolved, it’s unfinished. They backtracked her journey so much she’s not even close.

To further this blunder, we get this extremely bizarre scene on Tatooine. It’s weird from the second we see the ship land and it gets weirder every second we’re there. Rey, who should be a mature leader, stepping into the shoes of Luke and Leia, ready to lead the next generation of Jedi as a master is…sliding around in the sand like she did on Jakku. One might call this a cute callback to TFA, but in a lot of ways all this did was further drive home the blatant character regression we see in Rey. She is now ending her story in the exact same way she started it in Jakku. Comparatively, If we look at Luke in ANH we see him in white, dreamily standing and looking at the twin suns. At the end of ROTJ, we see him dignified and powerful as he watches the force-ghosts. Luke by the end also has a new outfit on that’s drastically different than the one he started with, he’s surrounded by his friends and family, and you can see the change in him. Anakin in TPM compared to ROTS is even more extreme, the little boy is now a full-grown man, a man who got married, who had kids, and is now second in command to the Galactic Empire as he’s clothed in metal. Rey, in TFA starts off alone on a dessert planet, clothed in white, dreamily looking up at the sky. And ends her journey in TROS alone on a dessert planet, clothed in white, dreamily looking up at the sky.

And as if that wasn’t strange enough, the scene gets even more bizarre. At the end of her story, Rey should be confident in who she is, she should be taking on the mantel of master she should be leading others, and she should be at the point in her life where she’s not looking for her parents so she can be a kid again, but instead is thinking about starting her own family (not saying right away, but that’s where her direction should be). This is the natural place for somebody who’s now fully an adult and has gone through all the growth she did. By the end of her story she should have fully replaced her master’s roles and would be taking in her own padawan. Instead of looking for a parental figure, she should be in the place of being a parental figure.

And yet, instead of that, what we’re left with is a moment where somebody asks Rey who she is and she inexplicably turns to her metaphorical parents, as if asking for permission, and then tells this lady she’s a Skywalker. And as much as I’d like to think she took this name because it was Ben’s name and she was claiming herself to be his wife, unfortunately I think the reason she took it was because she was still, still stuck on trying to replace this parent figure in her life.The issue here isn’t with her choosing a new family, which presumably was the point of her story in TROS even though it was botched and spliced together, the issue was that the writers decided to end her story with Luke and Leia, in the weirdest way, almost taking her in as their kid. It might have worked if there was the whole family of Skywalkers there and she was embracing everybody equally, but the fact we only see Luke and Leia (who she calls her masters and who act as the parental figures to her in this movie), and the fact she doesn’t choose Solo or some other new name, one could argue the point that this wasn’t a new name by marriage or a new name by embracing a new identity, but decidedly was Rey stepping into the roll of Luke and Leia’s adopted daughter. The complete opposite of where you’d expect her character growth to end up (e.g. moving forward and starting her own family and being the leader of that family), Rey finishes her story by stepping into the role that is almost always reserved to the role of a child. And it makes no sense for our main protagonist to end up here.

.

Not only did Rey’s character stay stagnant throughout this movie, in a lot of ways it made a complete 180 to the point where if felt like we were watching TFA Rey.

Overall, this left me feeling unbelievably frustrated at TROS and the disservice it did to all of it’s characters – but Rey in particular. She is such a great character and we could have seen so much more from her than this. She deserved so much more than this. She earned it. Rey was a strong character and a wonderful inspiration to many people and this movie completely sacrificed her story for the sake of fan service. I have never cried more during a movie than I did during this one and all of that can be traced to how bad I felt for all these characters and what the writers did to them. I hope one day we can see them again but in the hands of somebody who takes care of them.

[violethowler]

The Heroine’s Journey of Sora

I’ve spent the last couple of weeks writing out my thoughts on Kingdom Hearts and the way the series follows the framework of the Heroine’s Journey. Rather than a bunch of drabbles or a single long-winded post, I’ve decided to break up my explanations of the Heroine’s Journey and the way Kingdom Hearts fits into it as a series of ten essays posted weekly. I will put up a masterpost once all of them are finished, and in the meantime I will have all of them on my blog under the tag ‘Kingdom Hearts and the Heroine’s Journey.’

Due to the length of this essay, I will be putting the full thing under a cut. 

What many Kingdom Hearts fans do not realize is that while Tetsuya Nomura does sometimes make up the details as he goes when it comes to the writing of Kingdom Hearts, he does do things with a plan. 

In the KH3 Ultimania [1], he talked about how he’d had the conclusion of the Dark Seeker Saga outlined by the end of Kingdom Hearts II’s development. In an April 2012 interview [2] with Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, he indicated that he’d had a general framework up to Kingdom Hearts II planned out when the original game was first announced. And in a 2004 interview after the original Chain of Memories was released on GameBoy Advance, he mentioned that he’d already come up with the “last scene” that would serve as the definitive ending of the entire series[3]. 

So while some details may be hard to predict because Nomura comes up with lore and backstory details as he goes, he does have a plan in mind where the overall story is going. And the central arc of the series is entirely predictable once you understand the framework that the story fits into. 

Since the late 1800s, scholars have been studying the common patterns that repeat in stories, legends, and myths across different cultures around the world. One of the most well known templates developed from such research is the Hero’s Journey. In his 1949 book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, literature professor Joseph Campbell published a 17 step formula of storytelling. Campbell held up this framework as the monomyth, an ultimate narrative archetype from which all other stories are derived, and in discussion of his work expressed his view of The Hero’s Journey as a universal framework that showed how people grow from youth into adulthood.

However in the 1980s, Maureen Murdock began work on her own narrative framework. Believing that Campbell’s view on the universality of the Hero’s Journey did not encompass the experiences of every identity like he claimed, Murdock developed what she called The Heroine’s Journey as a critique and response to Campbell’s monomyth. Other authors have shared their own variations of the Heroine’s Journey, but for the purposes of this analysis, I will be focusing on Murdock’s model. Hers is both the oldest one I know of, and the one that I personally have the most familiarity with. Though originally conceived as a therapy tool, the core concepts of Murdock’s template have resulted in its use in storytelling for narratives about protagonists overcoming the ingrained biases and preconceptions of society. 

Some notable examples of stories that follow the Heroine’s Journey template, albeit most with different formulas, include 

Beauty and the Beast

The Hunger Games trilogy

The Princess and the Frog

Tangled

Howl’s Moving Castle

Labyrinth 

Star Wars Sequel Trilogy*

Voltron: Legendary Defender*

*Note: Voltron: Legendary Defender and the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy are examples of 3-act narratives that followed the Heroine’s Journey framework in the first 2 acts only for behind-the-scenes conflicts to result in the formula being abandoned in the final act. 

Despite the name, it is possible in theory to have a male protagonist follow the Heroine’s Journey, much like how you can have a female protagonist in a Hero’s Journey.  While nearly every story I know that follows the Heroine’s Journey template has a female protagonist in the lead role, Kingdom Hearts is the first example that I’ve discovered of a male protagonist following this formula. Sora’s arc across the series follows Murdock’s framework so precisely that I was able to correctly predict the broad strokes of how Re:Mind would go three months before the DLC was released. 

Part I: The Beginning

While the Heroine’s Journey mimics the Hero’s Journey in its early stages, it ultimately goes in its own direction. I plan to go into further detail about the differences between the two in a later essay, but for now I will say that while Campbell’s monomyth describes physical plot points and the themes they represent, the Heroine’s Journey formula focuses on the emotional conflict of the narrative and the psychological development of its main characters. The pattern of the Hero’s Journey is fluid and doesn’t have a fixed central theme, while the core element of the Heroine’s Journey is a protagonist coming of age in a society that consciously or not regards them as lesser because they do not fit in with the expectations of the dominant social group. 

I know that some people who decide to read further will be put off by the fact that the names and descriptions of the Heroine’s Journey feature gendered language and focus on discussions of masculinity and femininity, so allow me to explain. The reason for this is that in a Heroine’s Journey, the protagonist is attempting to conform to a set of traits that the audience’s culture values. In pursuing this external validation, the main character has to suppress a vital part of who they are, cutting themselves off from achieving their full potential. The traits they are suppressing are the ones which are often regarded as feminine, while the ones they are trying to conform to are typically associated with masculinity. We see this pattern frequently in movies where the female lead tries to succeed in a male-dominated career field, only to feel lonely and unfulfilled when she finally gets what she wants because she sacrificed the parts of herself that made her who she is along the way. 

Now that I’ve given you a relatively brief summary of the Heroine’s Journey, I can get down to business and walk people through the steps to this template and how it fits with the story of Kingdom Hearts. Note that this is only a basic rundown of the steps of the Heroine’s Journey and how it relates to these games, and I will be posting additional essays shortly which go into greater detail on the themes, character archetypes, and other different layers of the framework that are present in the series. 

Murdock’s version of the Heroine’s Journey begins with the “Separation from the Feminine”. This is the stage where, as mentioned, the protagonist suppresses a core part of themselves in pursuit of external validation. It often takes the form of the protagonist sacrificing their emotional strengths and focuses exclusively on proving themselves in the physical sphere. Sora has demonstrated again and again that his greatest strength is his empathy and his willingness to make connections with others. It makes him a strong unifying force because of how well it complements the people around him. But because this isn’t something tangible in the same way that physical strength is, he doesn’t see the value of it, believing that without the strength of his friends he’s nothing. 

From the way the other kids on Destiny Islands talk about their competitions, Sora’s focus is on trying to prove that he’s just as strong and capable as Riku is. But he’s so focused on proving himself in physical challenges that he doesn’t notice the signs of Riku’s jealousy that lead his friend into the arms of Maleficent. And we see through Anti Form and Rage Form that Sora is still repressing his own negative emotions in Kingdom Hearts III. His narrow focus on external skills has cut him off from achieving the full potential of his internal ones. 

When Sora awakens in Traverse Town after the destruction of Destiny Islands, we come to the second stage of the Heroine’s Journey, “Identification with the Masculine and Gathering of Allies”. This is where the main character chooses to align with the traits and roles that the dominant social group sees as desirable in order to achieve their goal, and where they acquire the allies who will help them in their quest. With the adults around him focusing on his ability to destroy the Heartless, Sora latches onto the Chosen One status that implicitly comes with having a Keyblade. His interactions with Phil and his disappointment with the status of Junior Hero in subsequent games paint Sora as being focused on heroism in the sense of overcoming obstacles with force. Even Donald and Goofy, in the beginning, are focused on Sora’s value as a Keyblade Wielder in terms of how their fight against the Heartless can lead them to King Mickey’s location.

By setting off with Donald, and Goofy, Sora embarks on the “Road of Trials” stage of the Heroine’s Journey. This is one of the few points of similarity between the Heroine’s Journey and the Hero’s, corresponding to Campbell’s “Tests, Allies, and Enemies” stage. This is where the main character faces the initial obstacles and challenges of their quest. In the first few Kingdom Hearts games we have Sora face off against Maleficent, Ansem, and the Organization, before reuniting with Riku and Kairi in The World That Never Was. The final stages of Kingdom Hearts II correspond to the “Finding the Boon of Success” stage of both the Hero and Heroine’s Journeys. 

Part II: Interlude

In a Hero’s Journey, the Boon of Success is the end of the story. They slay the dragon, save the princess, and go home to live happily ever after. I suspect this is one reason why a lot of gamers in the KH fanbase tend to think of Kingdom Hearts 2 as the best game of the series - because in their minds Sora’s quest had been completed now that he had found Riku and Kairi like he set out to do in the first game. His journey, as far as they were concerned, was done. 

(This may also have an affect on how some fans reacted to Kingdom Hearts III, expecting it to be a grand epic finale that wrapped everything up with a bow and left a completely blank slate for the future of the series)

But in a Heroine’s Journey, the Boon of Success is not the end of the main character’s story. They have achieved their external goal, but they have not addressed their internal motivations for seeking that goal in the first place. And as their story continues, they find themselves facing challenges that their attitude thus far has failed to prepare them for. Finding The Boon of Success typically occurs early during the second act of the story. Usually it is achieved in the second half of Act II, but can sometimes happen as early as the end of the first act. For Sora, this was of course finding Riku and Kairi so that they could all go home to the Destiny Islands together.

But because the protagonist of a Heroine’s Journey has not addressed the underlying insecurities which set them on their current path, they “Awaken to Feelings of Spiritual Aridity”. 

They begin to learn that the conflict they find themselves involved in is not as clear cut as they previously believed, and the challenges that come with this new knowledge are ones that their current way of doing things has failed to prepare them for. They may have found their boon of success, but things quickly begin to go wrong until they are ultimately forced to sacrifice their reward. 

The first game already showed through Riku and Mickey that Sora was not the only person able to wield a Keyblade, but because of his heroic deeds the story still framed him as the Keyblade Master and treated him as having a more significant role to play in important events than anyone else. It’s only after he hears from Mickey of the Keyblade Wielders who came before him that it begins to sink in for him that being a Keyblade Master is not a special Chosen One status. He thinks that because of all that he’s accomplished, he doesn’t need the recognition that comes with the official title, and because of that he’s careless and almost gets himself Norted at the end of DDD. 

His failure in the exam is a blow to his self confidence and shows that despite what he had said at the start of the test, deep down he really does want that kind of external validation. His insecurities and doubts continue to eat at him over the course of KH3, culminating in his breakdown at the Keyblade Graveyard. Outside of battle, we see him bottle up his doubts and other negative emotions because his friends (Except for Riku. More on him later) brush his concerns and problems aside. It is very much like Joy from Inside Out doing everything to keep Rylee happy and refusing to let Sadness take the controls. 

When their current way of doing things ultimately costs them their boon, the protagonist tries to go back to the way things used to be. To return to a simpler time and avoid the pain of the present. When literally going back to where their journey began isn’t possible, a Heroine’s Journey story will use this stage symbolically. The main character will cling to a person, object, or relationship that they associate with a simpler time. But as comfortable as the sense of familiarity they get from that is, it ultimately cannot truly address their inner pain in the long run.

This is reflected in the Re:Mind DLC, where Sora goes back in time in order to find the pieces of Kairi’s heart and bring her back. One of Kairi’s most consistent character traits is her fear of change and desire for things to remain the way they were. 

At the end of the DLC, Sora compares his connection with Kairi to the bond between Ventus and Chirithy, a friendship explicitly strained by distance, time, and Ven’s amnesia. In an interview at E3 2018 [4], Nomura commented about Kingdom Hearts III tying into a theme of childhood friendships changing as one gets older, a plotline that Merlin calls attention to after Sora’s visit to the 100 Acre Wood. And in a 2006 book titled Character’s Report Vol. 1, Nomura specifically calls attention to Kairi’s anxiety about growing apart from Sora and Riku as they get older. [5] All of these details combined frame Sora’s quest to save Kairi as an attempt to symbolically recover the innocence he lost when he began his journey.

But while he is able to find a way to renew his connection to Kairi, it can never be the same as it was before, and attempting to go back to how things used to be is ultimately doomed to failure. By the time he brings her to The Final World at the end of Re:Mind, Sora has realized that he and Kairi cannot stay on the same plan of existence anymore as a consequence of his actions. So he takes her on a tour of the worlds to re-establish their connection before fading away at the end of KH3. Thus, we come to the final act of the Kingdom Hearts narrative. 

Part III: The Future Story 

It is at this point that the protagonist of a Heroine’s Journey begins the “Initiation and Descent to the Goddess” stage. Having failed to achieve meaningful success through their old way of doing things, they must look inward and examine the cause of their insecurities and accept that in order to move forward they need to heal themselves. In this step, the main character travels to either a dream world or a physical location that is closed off and forbidden to them, like the West Wing of Beast’s Castle in Beauty and the Beast. In Jungian psychology, this metaphorical dark cave represents the main character’s subconscious, and entering it triggers a dark night of the soul for our protagonist as they are forced to confront the parts of themselves they’ve been keeping locked away.

While Sora knows in his head that darkness is not inherently bad, he continues to rely entirely exclusively on light, on his connections to others, and has not properly accepted it in his heart. In order to truly finish his coming of age narrative, Sora must learn to balance his inner light and darkness the same way that Riku has. And to do that, he needs to look inside himself and figure out why he feels so badly that he needs his connections to others in order to be strong. And in order to achieve that level of understanding of himself, he needs to understand his Animus. 

Derived from the psychological theories of Carl Jung, the Animus in a Heroine’s Journey is an external representation of the protagonist’s masculine-coded traits in physical form. While not every Heroine’s Journey features an Animus, many of the stories I’ve seen that follow the formula do. Usually the Animus appears in the form of a deuteragonist who often functions as the protagonist’s Shadow, an archetypal character that embodies the aspects of the main character’s personality that due to their immaturity they either aren’t aware or don’t want to acknowledge that they have. 

In order to complete their character arc, the protagonist must symbolically integrate with their Shadow by learning to embrace the parts of their psyche that the Shadow represents. In many stories the protagonist has more than one Shadow figure, all of whom challenge the protagonist by forcing them to become faster or smarter to stay one step ahead, giving their interactions with the main character a push-and-pull dynamic as they drive the main character to grow. Shadow figures who fill the role of the Animus also challenge the protagonist to look inside themselves and examine their own emotional needs. With an Animus, the push to grow runs in both directions, with the main character motivating their Animus’ growth just as much as the other way around. 

In these types of stories, every aspect of the character is tailored to make the Animus and the protagonist fit together like Yin and Yang. In visual stories such as film, television, and video games, the Animus’ entire look is designed to complement the main character and they are framed in the narrative as the protagonist’s equal physically, intellectually, and spiritually. This serves to emphasize that despite their surface differences, much of the conflict between the protagonist and their Animus comes from the ways in which they are fundamentally similar. While their circumstances may have led them to drastically different lives, the characters are ultimately two sides of the same coin, and their character development is driven by learning to balance their contrasting traits.

And within the structure of the Kingdom Hearts series, there is only one character who fulfills all of these qualities in relation to Sora’s journey. 

The same character who Testuya Nomura said in the KH1 Ultimania was designed to balance Sora; [6]

Who series producer Shinji Hasimoto said was part of the core of the series alongside Sora [7], as has been repeatedly emphasized by the number of games where he is given a major focus and is a playable character alongside Sora. 

[Image Description: Riku walking towards a door to light in the opening of Kingdom Hearts III. End Description]

While Sora and Riku have addressed some of the latter’s behavior in the first game during their conversation on the dark beach at the end of Kingdom Hearts II, they have yet to truly dig deep into why Riku felt the way he did in the first game. Riku has not told Sora about how he felt like he was being left behind and forgotten. And since that conversation, Riku has gone to the opposite extreme, dealing with his emotional problems on his own instead of lashing out at others like he had done at the start. Likewise while Sora has accepted that darkness is not inherently evil he has yet to apply this to his own negative emotions, as seen in Kingdom Hearts III. Neither character has truly achieved an ideal balance yet, and they cannot until Sora completes his journey. 

After the protagonist returns from their spiritual journey, they experience an “Urgent Yearning to Reconnect with the Feminine.” As the main character recovers from their period of soul searching, they embrace the parts of themselves that they had neglected in their pursuit of outside approval. Their Descent allowed them to recognize their value as a person and an individual outside of their ability to fulfill the role that they were expected to fill. Following this realization, they go about “Healing the Mother/Daughter split”. Reclaiming the aspects of their personality they’ve been repressing gives the protagonist the clarity necessary to gain a different perspective on their old way of thinking. This new understanding is what will allow them to find the inner balance needed to truly complete their journey. 

The Japanese version of the “My friends are my power” mantra often repeated across the series is “Connected hearts are my power.” For Sora, who has long relied on his connections to others as a source of strength, he should come to realize that these connections go both ways: that his friends draw strength from him just as much as he draws strength from them. This should help him come to accept that he is still strong and worthy all by himself. Ven’s version of the mantra from the English version of BBS summarizes it best: “My friends are my power. And I am theirs.” After he accepts this, Sora will finally be able to use the full extent of his emotional abilities.

After achieving that new perspective, the protagonist’s next step is “Healing the Wounded Masculine Within”. This is the stage of the Heroine’s Journey where the main character, having come to understand themselves, reconciles with their Animus, thereby symbolically integrating the aspects of their psyche that the Animus represents and permanently healing the rift between the two characters. This will be where Sora and Riku need to have a longer, more in-depth conversation than the one they had on the Dark Magin at the end of KH2. Where they talk about why Riku acted the way he did and finally address the underlying reason for why he was so jealous of Sora in the original game. 

The final stage of the Heroine’s Journey is the “Integration of Masculine and Feminine”. This is the point at which the main character and their Animus finally achieve a perfect balance between them. They are united both internally and externally. There are no more secrets between them, and they are now free to move forward and overcome the main antagonist together. 

Part IV: Conclusion: 

While there’s too many different possibilities to completely predict every twist and turn of the series’ lore in future games, once you understand how Kingdom Hearts fits into the framework of the Heroine’s Journey, the broad strokes of how the story will go in terms of Sora’s growth and character development are entirely predictable. When Re:Mind first released and the rest of the fandom was reacting on Twitter, I was sitting back with a smug smile on my face thinking:

[Image Description: Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi sitting aboard the Death Star II with the caption ‘Good, Good. Everything is going according to plan.’ End Description.]

While I didn’t expect the precise mechanics of how Sora went about saving Kairi, Re:Mind was exactly what I expected it to be in terms of themes and its place in the Heroine’s Journey framework, and then the Secret Episode came along to reinforce that the next game is going to be Sora’s Descent.

While there isn’t a complete guarantee that the series will continue to follow the formula, I find it extremely unlikely that it won’t. Kingdom Hearts follows the stages of this framework too precisely for me to ever believe it happened by accident. So as long as there is no corporate interference from Disney like what happened to Voltron, I’m confident that Nomura’s plan for the finale of the series will be exactly what the Heroine’s Journey predicts it should be, no matter how unexpected future additions to the lore may be.

Special thanks to @dragonofyang and the rest of Team Purple Lion for everything I know about the Heroine’s Journey. I wouldn’t be as enthusiastic about analyzing the story of Kingdom Hearts if they hadn’t taught me the vocabulary to realize the kind of story that Nomura has been telling right under my nose for the last 18 years.

Sources:

[1] “Kingdom Hearts III Ultimania interview with Tetsuya Nomura”; March 12, 2019

https://www.khinsider.com/news/Kingdom-Hearts-3-Ultimania-Main-Nomura-Interview-Translated-14763

[2] “Iwata Asks: Nintendo 3DS: Third Party Game Developers, Volume 12: Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance], Part 3: Square’s Intentions”; April 2012.

https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/creators/11/2

[3] “2004 GMR Nomura Interview 2004!”; Translation by Kingdom Hearts Insider posted May 5, 2012. 

https://www.khinsider.com/news/GMR-Nomura-Interview-2004-2563

[4] “E3 2018: Tetsuya Nomura on If Kingdom Hearts 3 Is the End of Sora's Story”; June 14, 2018.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/06/14/e3-2018-tetsuya-nomura-on-if-kingdom-hearts-3-is-the-end-of-soras-story

[5] “Character’s Report Vol. 1 Translations”; Jul 16, 2014

https://www.khinsider.com/forums/index.php?threads/characters-report-vol-1-translations.195560/\

[6] “A Look Back: Kingdom Hearts Ultimania Gallery Comments Part 1″; August 30, 2019;

https://www.khinsider.com/news/A-Look-Back-KINGDOM-HEARTS-Ultimania-Gallery-Comments-Part-1-15519

[7] “How Kingdom Hearts III Will Grow Up With Its Players.” September 24, 2013

https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/25/how-kingdom-hearts-iii-will-grow-up-with-its-players

[X] “The Heroine with a Thousand Faces”; June 13, 2019;

https://www.teampurplelion.com/heroine-with-a-thousand-faces/

[X] Murdock, Maureen. The Heroine’s Journey. 1990.

[X] “Maureen Murdock’s Heroine’s Journey Arc”. The Heroine Journeys Project. https://heroinejourneys.com/heroines-journey/

[akria23]

I highly doubt DSN will get anything but a happy ending. I guess they could, but honestly, it would be wildly out of left field I don’t think they could justify it in the remaining episodes. DSN has established a pattern of setting up a conflict and then showing them working through it together. Not a huge blowout angst that results in a season where the main characters started ou together and broke up.

If anything, I actually think the series will deal with Fiat reconciling with his family. BL’s are not terribly subtle about foreshadowing, and no one can tell me Fiat and Leo’s parents conversation about fixing their relationship before the end is not exactly what’s going to happen.

Exactly. For me like I said it would just be very jarring to have a ‘sad’ or open ending but I also understand that some of the people feel otherwise because they feel like the big angst moments are still to come & they don’t see how big angst can be resolved quick when the end is near. But I also feel some ppl want a open ending because it sets up a better chance of a S2.

I feel like an unresolved ending would contradict not only the set up but the tone they’ve set for Leo & Fiat so far. I think every before they got together romantic they still have a concept of trying to deal with things when they could see the other was unhappy. I feel like that only leveled up once they started dating because the things they were forced to compartmentalize and deal with on their own so the other wouldn’t know they had romantic inclinations disappeared which left them able to be more open when handling their conflicts.

I haven’t seen episode 7 yet so I have seen the parents arrival but yeah that’s where it feels like it’s going. I’m more sure about that on the dad front than the moms but since they only shrouded her in the mystery vibe for me it’s hard to speak to her personal intent because they haven’t really presented her in any light one way or the other. Her intent can be good or bad but the culture usually likes to present ‘familial’ even when it comes to parents who are toxic and I don’t like that. So, I haven’t been keen on that storyline ever since they first presented the dad in the light of ‘strict parent who just can’t get it right’ - because that alone kinda clued where they were taking him. Maybe if they given the relationship more presentation in the series I could get invested but right now it just feels like another storyline where a parent affect led their child development & identity in bad ways (mentally & emotionally) but it’s okay because he stuck around and raised him financially 😒. Like no, there’s more to raising a human than opening your wallet & putting a roof over their head. Personally I don’t know if I buy into the concept of a toxic relationship that’s lasted for childhood into adulthood & has built resentment, abandonment issues, & mistrust can be ‘restored’ def without years of work & conscious effort.

So I hate when shows just glare over it as this ‘one conversation - I’m sorry- ok all’s forgiven & we’re great now’ type of thing. I prefer more depth and I could be wrong but I don’t think I’m gonna get that with DSN. I know some people would say ‘well this is about Leo & Fiat not Fiats parents’ but actually a large part of the reason Leo & Fiat are Leo & Fiat is because of how Fiats parents actions affected his life & self identity. His cling to Leo is born out of the abandonment that came from his parents. The story is character driven that’s why his parents are a part of the storyline because they are a huge part of his start & what he has to overcome. I just with they would’ve delved into it differently. I feel like they set the father up to not be seen as that bad way too early and have away that whole set up.

I’ve said before but I’m still surprised they waited to do the family stuff at the very end. I’m hoping this new episode sheds light to is there a reason behind that decision or it’s just how the cookie crumbled. To have Leo’s parents near to the end makes sense but not so much Fiats for me. Right now I think it’s just a fall for the setup. It’s harder to have the tone of ‘conflict resolution’ when there’s too much drama stretching through several episodes instead they placed it in the background and mentioned it ever so often to foreshadow it’s presence.

But yeah I agree with you - there’s no way that’s not where they’re going after laying down the dialogue the way they have.

[arofili]

HCs about Elemmírë?

Oh man, for a character we have next to no information about other than “Vanya” and “sang a really sad song about the Trees,” I have a lot of headcanons for Elemmírë!

First of all, Elemmírë is named after a heavenly body (possibly Arda’s version of Mercury?) and the name is not given in either a masculine or feminine form, so we don’t know Elemmírë’s canon gender. This of course means that Elemmírë is trans, you can’t change my mind! I’ve seen depictions of them as nonbinary, which I love, but personally my Elemmírë is a trans woman!

All the rest of my headcanons are pretty much made up whole cloth :)

I intended to make like, a bullet point list of headcanons, but I ended up referencing my recently created personal timeline of the Years of the Trees and the First Age, and...it kind of expanded into an essay on Elemmírë’s role in the larger story of that verse of mine. So, under the cut is a roughly 2,000 word essay on my take on this blank slate of a character!

~

Elemmírë is one of the Unbegotten elves who awoke at Cuiviénen. When she awoke, everyone assumed she was a male elf, which didn’t really sit right with her but she didn’t know how to express herself at the time. For the first part of her life she lived as a nér.

Elemmírë has a sister*, Calima (one of my OCs). Calima marries an Avar, who she manages to drag with her on the Great Journey despite his reluctance to go West. Right before Ulmo takes the Vanyar and the Noldor to Aman, Calima’s husband leaves her and disappears into Taur-im-Duinath...but not before Calima becomes pregnant. Elemmírë comforts her and supports her through the birth of her child, Elenwë - the first child to be born in Aman.

*(My headcanon around Unbegotten siblings is that some elves woke with soul bonds that connected them to other elves, which while they aren’t genetically related, they consider to be siblings of their fëa. This is the case for Elwë, Olwë, and Elmo; I also gave Nowë (Círdan) and Ingwë OC siblings. Finwë is a loner, which is part of why he’s so concerned about creating and keeping a marriage bond...)

While Ingwë is busy building Tirion with Finwë, his sister-in-law Alcariniel (the mother of Indis; her spouse died on the Great Journey and has yet to be reborn) leads some of the Vanyar to the foot of Taniquetil and founds what will become Valmar. Calima, Elenwë, and Elemmírë go with Alcariniel.

At this time, Elemmírë enters into the service of Varda. She develops a close relationship with her Vala, and feels more comfortable in the beautiful starry robes and among the company of mostly priestesses than she ever did in the more gendered Vanyarin society. She sings and composes hymns to Varda and the heavens.

About a century later, Elemmírë is an established and well-renowned musician in Valmar. It is then that she meets Findis, daughter of Indis, when Findis is visiting Taniquetil with her grandmother Alcariniel. Findis greatly admires Elemmírë’s songs and engages her in a discussion about poetry; the two quickly become friends.

After another hundred years or so, Findis’ half-brother Fëanáro has his fourth child. Finwë invites his whole family to the celebration; Findis now lives in Valmar and does not always attend these begetting day parties, but she happens to be in Tirion for the occasion - with Elemmírë, who tags along to the party.

At the celebration, Makalaurë (a young teen in Elf Years) sings a piece he wrote for his new baby brother, and Elemmírë is greatly impressed by his talent and offers to teach him personally. He’s had music tutors before, but none so renowned, and he is absolutely star-struck. Fëanáro has an inherent distrust of the Vanyar, but he cannot deny his son anything, especially when it comes to furthering his craft, so he agrees to let Elemmírë teach Makalaurë, on the condition that she move to Tirion. Findis offers to move back as well, so her friend won’t be alone; they move in together.

A few years later, Elemmírë takes her star student Makalaurë to Valmar so he can perform at her niece’s 200th begetting day party. This is, of course, Elenwë; Makalaurë is immediately besotted with her, and does his best to impress her. Of course, Elenwë is well into adulthood and Makalaurë is still an awkward adolescent, so nothing ever comes of this, but they do eventually become friends.

All this time, everyone has assumed that Elemmírë is a nér, but with every passing year she becomes more and more certain that is not actually the case. At last she confesses to her dear friend Findis that she thinks she might be a nís, and while Findis isn’t quite sure what that means at first, she’s very supportive and encourages Elemmírë to go to Varda with this revelation.

I do operate in a verse where some homophobia and transphobia exist in Aman, kind of accidently put into place by a well-meaning but ultimately harmful decision by Manwë, but Varda is significantly more chill than her husband. She doesn’t really get what Elemmírë is saying, but she supports her servant’s change in expression. Elven gender roles are pretty loose, so it’s not really that much of a difference, and with Varda’s support Elemmírë feels more confident in herself and comes out to the public.

Most elves, especially the Vanyar, likewise don’t really get it, and privately they still see her as a nér, but there is a firm taboo against rudeness which means they will refer to Elemmírë with the correct pronouns and honorifics and such because it would be incredibly rude not to. The discomfort with someone else’s non-normative expression is easier to deal with than the social impropriety of deliberately refusing to respect someone’s wishes about their personal identity.

This, along with Varda’s kind-of-confused-but-she’s-still-got-the-spirit support of  Elemmírë means it’s a pretty smooth transition process for her. Since her name isn’t gendered, she decides to keep it, and she is much happier now that she can express her true self. She also has a staunch ally in Findis, who she has recently begun courting.

Again, there is some homophobia in my verse, and two níssi in a relationship is generally frowned upon, but the half-acceptance of Elemmírë’s gender allows them to exploit a loophole in that particular Law/Custom. Manwë, at least, still sees Elemmírë as a nér, and so doesn’t see anything wrong with her dating Findis. It’s not the ideal situation, but Elemmírë and Findis aren’t really the “fight the system” type, so they’re content to live with the happiness they’ve been allowed.

Eventually, Makalaurë reaches his first coming of age** and Elemmírë takes her student on a tour of all Eldamar to show off how exceptional a musician he has become. He is declared a master singer, and leaves Elemmírë’s side to pursue mastery in instruments, beginning with the harp. His teacher couldn’t be more proud.

**(In my headcanon, elves have two coming-of-age ceremonies: one when they reach age 50, and are considered physically mature and old enough to be given more freedoms in their decisions, including now being of a socially acceptable age to start dating; and the other at age 100, where they are considered a Full Adult and able to marry. Sometimes elves marry younger than that, but it isn’t super common. Age pretty much stops mattering, especially when it comes to age gaps in relationships, when an elf is about 150.)

Not long after this, Elemmírë and Findis get married! Makalaurë performs his then-masterpiece at their wedding. Also at the wedding, Findekáno is caught up in all the glorious romance, and the possibilities of same-gender marriage now that two níssi (one a princess!) can be wed, and confesses the depth of his love for Maitimo. Maitimo...immediately panics and brings up all the reasons why their love is doomed, how their aunts are the exception and not the rule and besides there’s that loophole they’re taking advantage of that doesn’t really work for néri like us - but notably does not deny that he feels the same way. Findekáno is heartbroken by the rejection; Maitimo is terrified of his feelings and distances himself from his beloved cousin for a time.

But of course that doesn’t last long - and it’s at the celebration of the birth of Laurefindil, Findis and Elemmírë’s son, that Maitimo brings himself to reconcile with Findekáno...platonically. Of course. Until a few months later where he just can’t take it anymore and breaks down and confesses he can’t deny his feelings any longer, and they get together at long last.

Findis, Elemmírë, and Laurefindil return to Valmar and settle down there. Laurefindil is buds with both his Vanyarin cousin Elenwë and his oodles of Noldorin cousins. At his first coming of age celebration, he introduces his cousin Elenwë (on Elemmírë’s side) to his cousin Turukáno (on Findis’ side), and Turukáno immediately falls madly in love and begins some intense pining that will rival even his older brother’s romantic dramatics.

As strife grows among the Noldor, Findis and Elemmírë distance themselves from Tirion as much as they can; Makalaurë is pretty much the only Finwëan who is allowed to visit them. However, Laurefindil misses his Noldorin cousins and, after his second coming of age, chooses to move to Tirion and join his grandfather Finwë’s court. He becomes even closer to Turukáno (who has by now married Elenwë) and is very loyal to his older cousin.

At the Darkening, Elemmírë is deeply grieved at the destruction of the Two Trees, and it is then that she composes her most famous song, the Aldudénië, “Lament for the Trees.” Her grief is compounded when her son chooses to go into exile with his Noldorin kin - and, almost worse, when her niece Elenwë chooses to leave as well.

Elenwë is the only Vanya who leaves (well, the only Vanya who is fully culturally Vanyarin without any Noldorin ancestry), mostly because she cannot bear to be separated from her husband and young daughter, but also because she knows the story of her Avarin father who stayed behind in Endórë and hopes that she will meet him on the hither shore. (Unfortunately, she perishes crossing the Ice. Idril will eventually meet her maternal grandfather, but not until just before she and Tuor sail West. Elenwë is reborn in Aman shortly after the founding of Gondolin; she reunites with her Vanyarin family and with her good friend Amárië.)

I don’t have a whole lot of headcanons for Elemmírë and Findis during the events of the First Age; they live mostly a quiet life. I think Elemmírë rededicates herself to the service of Varda, and pleads with her Vala to show mercy for the Noldor in their need. (Perhaps that helped to convince Varda’s husband to send an eagle to Thangorodrim?)

When they hear of Laurefindil’s death in the Fall of Gondolin (because of course Glorfindel followed his favorite cousin Turgon to his hidden city, and got a noble house out of it!), Elemmírë and Findis grieve his loss all over again. They don’t know how long it will be before his rebirth, and they soon decide to have another child together. This is their daughter, Faniel, who grows up on stories about her brother’s bravery.

Eventually Glorfindel is reborn, and he has a few good centuries in Aman with his family (and his husband Ecthelion, who he finally gets to marry; they had gotten betrothed the day before Gondolin fell, RIP) before the Valar send him back to Middle-earth to play the hero again. Elemmírë and Findis are once again heartbroken to lose him, but they are at the same time incredibly proud of their son for his bravery and dedication to all things good in the world. This time, he leaves with the blessing of Varda, his mother’s patron Vala, and a promise that he will return when his task is complete. He does, but not until the Fourth Age, when he sails back to Valinor with Elladan and Elrohir!

[ruskinbondstories]

Why Ruskin Bond will always remain our favorite

From our early school days to the age of stepping into our respective career paths - we all grow up undergoing many changes. But only the writings of Ruskin Bond remain our constant companion. The close relationship between Ruskin Bond and us emerged slowly. The first introduction happened through textbooks, mostly after which people regularly saw a curious kid sitting at the corner of a bookstore with amazement in his eyes. And this amazement continued to appear on our faces every time we opened a book by Ruskin Bond. Unknowingly, we formed a strong bond with our favorite, Ruskin Bond. 

It's pretty impossible not to smell the hills, our childhood, winter breezes, the old and rusty cottages in his words. Ruskin Bond's stories feel like a legit time machine that never fails to transport us into a newer world or the world of the past. His stories made us enjoy natural affection, subtleties, and the lucid pleasures of life without delving into the materialistic way of living. So, let's try to get lost in the world of Bond and relive our sweetest memories again to remind ourselves why he will always be our most favourite.

Nature as its best

"Never mind. Men come and go. The mountains remain." - "Our trees still grow in Dehra."

Due to his intimate understanding of nature, Ruskin Bond successfully presents how nature could actively become a significant part of a person's well-being. We can't help feeling the solitude and the peaceful purity of being amidst the forlorn mountains, the Magpies, the beautiful forest birds, and the freshness of trees while reading his stories. Nature in his reports does not only provide background, but it becomes a character itself. He allows the free-flowing river, the little birds, the wildflowers, the sky, and every aspect of nature to convey their own messages to the readers.

That's why we perceive nature as a catalyst for healing our minds and making us transcend in the spiritual world. So, in most of his stories, he tries to convey the message of preserving nature. For example, in "The Coral Tree," Ruskin Bond has painted an essential aspect of teaching children the importance of planting and nurturing trees, thus, making a lasting partnership with man and nature.

Many great critics of our generation have declared the significant presence of the pantheistic nature approach in Bond's writings. He profoundly portrays both the nurturing and the destructive sides of Nature in his stories like "The Blue Umbrella," "Time Stops at Shamli," "The Angry River," "Rain in the Mountains," "Roads to Mussoorie," "The Room on the Roof" and many others. It's evidently clear that nature is the Muse of Ruskin Bond, and he will continue to strengthen the friendship between us and nature.

Bond's Art of Characterization

One of the most captivating qualities of Bond's stories that make them so relatable is his art of characterization. He amazingly creates a fellowship between the reader and the characters by presenting various characters and showing every character's development through the thick and thin of life. The most amazing part is that his feelings are rooted in reality and possess a breadth of genuineness without pretensions.

Ruskin Bond is the master of creating various characters who fall into every social and economic background of the vast spectrum of our society. He beautifully paints the difference between the characters belonging to both the backward and underprivileged class and the flourishing upper-class. But most surprisingly, each character's life becomes significantly inspiring to the readers because of their physical and mental struggles, their realization and acceptance, and their close connection with their conscience. Our eyes suddenly get wet whenever we go through the brief encounter of the two potential lovers in "The Eyes are not Here." Similarly, we feel the same adrenaline rush while witnessing Binya's adventurous journey down the stream to save her most precious possession in "The Blue Umbrella."

Ruskin Bond's excellent insight into human psychology makes the readers understand exactly what the character is going through. That's what makes it way easier to discover the characters' reasons, hesitations, dilemmas, joy, anxiety, happiness, and all sorts of emotions. We somehow get attached to the characters without consciously knowing it and start to fascinate them most realistically.

Accurate Representation of the Indian Society

Bond's literary works serve a great purpose of expressing the social, economic, and political issues concerning the public and the country at large. He conveys the different opinions of the differently brought up characters in society in the most effective way. The state of India when it was under British rule, the bloodshed during partition, the ruins made by corruption, the conservative approach of the society, the superstitions, and the prevailing problems of dowry and child marriage - all have become an integral part of his writings. That's why his stories are considered proofs that aptly documented the then Indian society comprehensively.

Ruskin Bond's excellence also prevails in enriching the native language, bringing forth ethos and culture, and portraying the existing complexity of the socio-political scenario. At the grass-root level, his stories present a great insight into the ongoing social stigma without being a complete rant about problems only. His characters depict juxtaposition by making readers experience the constant tension that goes on within themselves between their rural and old values and the new urban moral code that they are exposed to.

Although Ruskin Bond Books is majorly known as one of the best writers of children's books, his adult and adolescent novels deal with the aspects we all go through in adulthood. For example, his "The Room on the Roof" brings up issues faced by the protagonist Rusty that had never been the table talk back in the 1950s. The life of Rusty resonates with us because we all have witnessed the problems like identity formation, wanting financial independence, emerging sexuality at some point in our lives. On the other hand, "The Room on the Roof" and its sequel, "The Young Vagrants," also successfully bring out the pain and loneliness of the orphan protagonist while depicting the prevailing social concerns such as racial and cultural differences, narrow-mindedness, and the social pretensions.

A Master of Stealing Children's Hearts

Risking Bond's fantastic insight into child psychology has contributed to making him our most favorite writer. The most incredible element found in his children's books is that he shows immense respect to a child's emotions, a thing which is not openly discussed or even given much value to. He captures the innocence of children in the best possible way while providing the utmost importance to the adventures, the hidden complexity, tragedies, and determination of the little minds. The self-seeking attitude of children is beautifully painted in the subtle yet strong words of Bond. "The Blue Umbrella" and "The Angry River" are perhaps the most outstanding examples for showing the strength and abilities children inherit along with the intricacies of life- all presented with a mesmerizing touch of simplicity. Through these stories, Ruskin Bond successfully raises a very pertinent question on the conviction of getting attached to trivial materialistic things of life, which exposes the futility of the entire concept.

Ruskin Bond is a master of depicting the innocence and simple pleasures of children, which contrasts with the cunning, shrewd, and envious nature of the adults in his children's books. It inspires the readers worldwide to adhere to the old pleasure-seeking and joyful spirit we have left in the past. The children's stories highlight the lessons of sympathy, kindness, and brotherhood among the readers of every age. 

That's why Bond's significant contribution lies in the fact that Bond's children's stories do not only evoke happiness in kids, but adults also perceive the same amount of gleeful experience while reading them.

Conclusion -

Ruskin Bond's simple style of writing delves deep into our conscience. It is a potent weapon of his that beautifully depicts both the complexities and the ease of life. Bond never wants to "make readers toil and sweat" because he never believed in the concept of putting complex and unconventional words to sound more serious. In "It's a Wonderful Life," he shared why he always chooses to write simply. He also shared his views on social media regarding his writing style by saying, "I have always tried to achieve proses that are simple and conversational. Those who think this is easy should try it for themselves." It is always astonishing to see how the subject matters of Bond's writings are given such high importance without presenting them in a twisted form by using complex words. That's why his stories can be read repeatedly regardless of the reader's age, as the Ruskin Bond Stories have something interesting to offer you each time you turn the pages. 

[krazyclue]

Italian in Name Only

I am a mixtape of European influences, but the two biggest are Italian and Irish, so it's maybe ironic that I've never been much for family. Not hostile toward it, more like disinterested.

 Italians and the Irish have the reputation of being devoted to their families. If there's nothing quite like a good Catholic upbringing mixed with poverty to convince people to have loads of children, then being middle-class and an only child is the antidote. Never wanted children, never wanted to be part of a family, didn't even really have a notion of them. I just never thought about it.

 Not until lately anyway, and I do not mean in the sense of having children myself. I mean of being suddenly conscious of a growing need to know what my origins are, to see how I somehow fit into the larger concept of a family. When my ancestors arrived in America, what they did once they got here, and how that differs from or mirrors what other families have found. This desire might have something to do with the pandemic and all that time spent alone when the world was shut down—the isolation making me want to reconnect and do so on a deeper level.  

Most of my knowledge of Italy is from the movies, design, and fashion. My understanding of Ireland is even more limited since I spent my only visit there wandering between pubs listening to white guys with 'dreads spinning drum'n'bass. I don't speak any Italian beyond a stray "Ciao, Bella" or "Vaffanculo." I know the second one because English soccer fans used it in a taunting chant whenever they played Italian teams ("Where were you in World War 2? VA-FFAN-CULO!!"). My father spoke fluent Italian when he was a child but forgot most of it in adulthood.  My immediate family is small and spread by time, distance, and some animosity; I know very little about most of the members of my extended one. If I have cultural heritage, it's hard to know what it is.

 I am not at all sure what made me start to think this way. It could have been watching the HBO adaptation of My Brilliant Friend, based on Elena Ferrante's novels. The show is a portrait of two women growing up in 50's Naples. We see their lives against a backdrop of a country coming fitfully to life after the devastation following the Second World War, its progress held back by repressive patriarchy. Grim moments often give way to more ecstatic ones before doubling back again the other way, leading to emotionally vivid set pieces that capture the personal and historical in the same scene. The score by Max Richter alone can induce yearning and seeing the young, very inexperienced cast gradually develop into compelling actors makes the whole experience unforgettable, like the best work of the Italian neorealist cinema.

 But My Brilliant Friend is set in Naples, and my family is from Tuscany. Italy, like the States, is a country of regions that do not always like each other, the north versus the south, and my ancestors would have been culturally different from the show's characters. Still, carried by the show, I find myself more and more drawn to thinking about Italy—I have roots in Germany and France as well, but for some reason, Italy is the country for which I feel the strongest connection. 

 Possibly I am entirely led by my stomach. Early in the pandemic, I started getting into Italian cooking, going carefully through a copy of Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hasan, who you might call the Julia Child of that countries' cuisine. I have a copy of Silver Spoon too, a compendium of real recipes from Italian families, from which I've made a few dishes, and I have my grandmother's pasta maker, and somewhere on an index card her hand-written ravioli recipe. It took all day for her and my grandfather to make that recipe; she stirred the slow simmering meat and prepared the ingredients, and my grandfather painstakingly sealed each ravioli with a fork.

 My German grandfather may have loved his pig's feet and pickled herring, but that obsession thankfully was not passed onto me, nor, as far as I know, to anyone else in my family. I might like a good stout too, even some Irish stew on occasion, but it's Italian food that captures my imagination. I am only beginning to know how each region has shaped that cuisine and the influences that created so many varied dishes. 

 I have not kept up with my family. I hardly know most of them, and outside of my parents and my uncle, I am not in touch with any other relatives. I forget the birthdays of even the closest friends and family; I must mark them on a calendar, or I'll miss the day altogether. My uncle has become something of the family historian and has been sending emails to nearly a dozen family relations. While I do recognize many of the names, there are far more that I do not remember and at least two I only know of by reputation. There are also people I met on that list, only once or twice, and those I saw most often were back when my grandparents were making their famous ravioli to go along with the Thanksgiving turkey, and that was a long time ago now.

 Those emails coincide with my awakening interest in my origins. I know a few more names now: my great grandparents Enea and Italia Lorenzetti emigrated here in 1916 and had two sons; my grandmother's dislike for Enea, a man with old-world beliefs who thought women shouldn't drive, my grandfather's brother, who threatened to walk out if Enea told them how to run their business; a rift with the Catholic Church because a priest wouldn't baptize Enea's and Italia's daughter unless they paid him an indulgence, and that the girl died soon after.

I've seen family photos, the people captured in those images ghost-like in those black and white pictures, and since I am such a mongrel, I do not look at all like them. Of course, I'd like to know more, but really, what I want is a better sense of what Italy is and why I feel so drawn toward it, not only the particulars of my one family's experience. I will start getting to know my family, but that is only the beginning of reconnecting, not its conclusion.

As I read and study (and hopefully get to make that first trip to Italy after the pandemic canceled my trip scheduled for last October), I want to know Italy without romanticizing it. You can convince yourself that life is better "over there" when it's probably the same or worse. Okay, maybe better too, possibly much better. But I don't want to become an obsessive Italy fan. Or fall for obvious cliches—about how Italy is a place where people know how to live. Italians are all passionate and stylish, speaking with their hands, operatic and over the top, and all the other hot-blooded Italian tropes. I'm sure there's some truth there as well.

But Italy also had one of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks and still struggles with a government, often in disarray, that cannot impede the dominance of the Camorra clans in Naples. And Italy still hasn't quite overcome the legacy of Mussolini: a far-right movement led by Matteo Salvini remains threateningly close to taking power, a rise aided by racism and xenophobia. I do not want to idealize or unfairly condemn the place, but rather know Italy and its' people for whatever they are, so I can see how it shaped myself and my family. I want to take pictures in the streets, wander without a plan until I got lost and needed one. Maybe discover my operatic personality.

 Coming out of this lockdown, old age not quite here but getting closer, as in just around the corner smoking a cigarette close, with the world isolated from itself, without any family of my own; maybe that is what sparked this need to connect with a sense of place, a sense of family. That's what being "white" can mean—it's when you've become so absorbed into American culture that your ancestry seems like it started around about 1980 (in my case anyway). I used to joke that my cultural heritage was shopping malls and Back to the Future movies at the multiplex.

 I think that has some advantages to being part of a well-defined community or coming from a large extended family. If you have no family, you won't be assigned an identity by what they think you should be. You won't have as many expectations about your choices before you get to choose for yourself.

 The problem is that you also have no sense of history or your heritage or how your small part fits into it the larger story. You are isolated. You can claim America, the nation of immigrants, but you make a claim not knowing where your people came from, and that might be the worst side effect of assimilation: forgetting the past. I've never known much about mine. I regret letting so much time slip before realizing family and heritage are so important. Now I am going to do my best to embrace my past, whatever it may be. 

[omarifaulkner]

THE IMPORTANCE OF HOLISTIC DEVELOPMENT FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

When Joseph Cooper’s career on the junior varsity basketball team at UNC Chapel Hill came to an end, he felt lost. Being an athlete was all he knew growing up. Once that part of his life was over, he didn’t know where to go.

“During the conclusion of my athletic career, during my young adulthood, I experienced an identity crisis,” Cooper, now an assistant professor in sports management at the University of Connecticut, said. “I began to critically reflect on why I felt this way at this point in my life. I was young, I was in college, I felt like I had a lot of positive things going for me but I felt this deep depression related to my athletic career coming to an end…My self-worth was very much tied to my athletic ability.”

After earning his Ph.D. in Sports Management from the University of Georgia, Dr. Cooper’s goal is to prevent today’s student-athletes from feeling the same way. In 2014, he helped found Collective Uplift with a group of five student-athletes on the UConn football team and his research is centered around improving the overall student-athlete experience.

The goal is holistic development, as Cooper calls it. Instead of young men and women being brought up as athletes, being an athlete is simply a part of a balanced life enriched by personal, academic, and professional pursuits.

“We feel like it’s important to cultivate holistic development,” Cooper said. “Using sport as a way to connect with the youth but understanding that sport isn’t the end goal, it’s a means to accomplish a broader aim, which involves the collective uplift of the community.”

Most athletic departments use a blanket method of support for all student-athletes, regardless of their background or the problems they are facing. Dr. Cooper’s research shows there is a greater need to offer more tailored approaches to each individual’s problems.

“We all have multiple identities and intersecting identities that exist within society and within the spaces that we occupy and it’s important to have culturally responsive programming that’s in tune with those unique identities and experiences,” Cooper said. “When you talk about how to prepare for an interview, resume, all those things, without taking into account their unique identities, ultimately it limits the effectiveness of that support.”

Omari Faulkner, the author of Athlete For Life, agrees with this sentiment.

“No two journeys are the same,” he writes. “You have to work toward the establishment of your very own legacy.”

The lack of this type of support from athletic departments is part of the reason Dr. Cooper has conducted his extensive research and authored a book on the matter. By making the academic-based case for holistic development, he narrowed down the most critical areas where schools need to improve.

“Through our conversations it continued to grow and expanded in terms of providing multifaceted support around mental health, financial literacy, career exploration, relationship building, professional etiquette, and a range of skills that are important for human beings to be exposed to as they navigate the world based on their unique identities in relation to society,” Cooper said.

Dr. Cooper’s research found that most athletic identities are built in middle and high school. He believes helping student-athletes at that age will help them better understand that being an athlete doesn’t need to be their whole identity.

Once they get to college, student-athletes don’t have the same freedom as typical students. That’s what makes holistic development from an earlier age important.

“If you’re in college for four years, where a number of peers are exploring their identities, being involved in different things,” Cooper said, “Study abroad, internships, changing your major…For student-athletes, who don’t get those experiences, no doubt once your career ends there’s going to be a period of challenge.”

In Athlete For Life, Faulkner provides practical advice for finding your areas of interest outside of sports. This can be a huge challenge for athletes, who are typically focused solely on sports from a very young age. Many of these kids are told, either directly or implicitly, that their minds are not as valuable as their bodies.

In order to break free of that harmful stereotype, student-athletes must be deliberate in finding their academic balance, just as they would be in addressing a weakness in their game.

Faulkner introduces this mode of self-discovery as “finding your music” in Chapter 5 of Athlete For Life:

“That moment I found my academic tune at Georgetown was the moment I lifted myself from being a student-athlete who attended a university to a student-athlete uplifting the university.”

He offers these simple steps for finding your tune:

1.Start early 2.Ask questions 3.Use your academic advisors 4.Build relationships 5.Try something new

Ask yourself, what brings you joy in life? What subjects do you care enough about to ask questions, or dig further on your own? What are some issues facing your hometown or your neighborhood? How can you make a positive impact in those areas? This level of personal motivation is a powerful tool for discovering your academic passions.

You are much more than your athletic ability. The things that made you great on the field will make you great off of it, but nobody will do it for you. Dr. Cooper outlines the importance of developing yourself holistically, and Mr. Faulkner shares his advice from the challenges he has endured and overcome. These are great examples of the resources available to you on your journey.

[scripttorture]

Human Rights: An Introduction

The Human Rights Act is a piece of legislation most people have probably heard of but there’s a lack of understanding about what it actually says and does.

For a start there’s a difference between the Human Rights Act and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The former is a set of laws from the 1990s based around the European Convention on Human Rights. The latter is a state from the UN just after the Second World War which was envisioned as a roadmap to a better, more humane world.

This is a brief introduction, I’m not a lawyer, going into the detail is beyond me and probably only useful for a very small minority of stories. Keep in mind that I’m UK based and the content and enforcement of human rights laws varies from country to country.

Behind the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a rather revolutionary idea: that everyone, regardless of who they are or what they’ve done, is entitled to a basic standard of treatment simply because they’re human.

I’m going to go through the Universal Declaration as a quick, bullet point list to give an idea of what people see as essential to human rights. I’m going to go through the articles of the Human Rights Act in more detail to give an idea of how countries turn the ideals into law.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

All human beings are born free and equal.

Everyone is equal regardless of race, colour, sex, language, religion, politics or where they were born.

Everyone has the right to life and to live in freedom and safety.

Everyone has the right to be free from slavery.

Everyone has the right to be free from torture.

Everyone has the right to be recognised before the law.

We are all equal before the law.

Everyone has the right to seek justice if their rights are violated.

Everyone has the right to be free from arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Everyone has the right to a fair trial.

Everyone has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Everyone has the right to privacy and freedom from attacks on their reputation.

Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and to be free to leave and return to their own country.

Everyone has the right to seek asylum from persecution.

Everyone has the right to a nationality.

Everyone has the right to marry and to have a family.

Everyone has the right to own property.

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

Everyone has the right to take part in government and to have equal access to public service.

Everyone has the right to social security.

Everyone has the right to work, to equal pay, to protection against unemployment and the right to form and join trade unions.

Everyone has the right to rest and leisure.

Everyone has the right to a decent standard of living, including food, clothing, housing, medical care and social services.

Everyone has the right to education.

Everyone has the right to participate in and enjoy culture, art and science.

Everyone has the right to a social and international order where the rights in this Declaration can be fully realised.

We have a duty to other people and we should protect their rights and freedoms.

Nobody can take away these rights and freedoms from us.

The Human Rights Act

There are 14 Articles in the Human Rights Act. I’m not covering Article 1 and Article 13 because they effectively state that countries should apply the Human Rights Act and enforce laws protecting human rights. There’ll be a sentence or two about what each Article says and a little bit of unpacking what that means.

Article 2: Right to life.

This actually has quite a broad application. It does mean that nobody has the right to end another person’s life, but it also means that states have a responsibility to protect people’s lives and consider whether any action effects life expectancy. Making a hospital inaccessible to a group of people could breach their right to life if it means their life expectancy drops.

An exception is made for authority figures using ‘proportionate force’ in the course of arrest, escape from prisons or to prevent violence against other people.

Article 3: Right to freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.

This does what it says on the tin. It bans to use of deliberately inflicted pain (mental or physical) using the legal definition of torture. It then expands that to include the same acts in scenarios that wouldn’t legally be torture.

Article 4: Right to freedom from slavery and forced labour.

This Article defines and bans slavery. You can read more about modern slavery in this ask.

There are a couple of exceptions, the first is sentenced community service or prison labour. The next is state-sponsered relief efforts in an emergency. So if there’s an earthquake and your character is capable of taking part in relief efforts governments can require them to take part. It also doesn’t cover things that are classed as normal parts of being a citizen, such as jury duty.

Article 5: Right to liberty and security.

The idea behind this is individual protection from unreasonable imprisonment. Essentially it means that if you’re arrested you need to be told why and what the charges are. You need to be taken to court promptly, have a trial as quickly as is practical and be able to challenge your imprisonment in court if you think it’s unlawful.

It essentially means that a character can only be imprisoned by the state if there’s a clear, lawful reason for it, such as being found guilty of a crime or being sectioned under laws relating to mental health.

Article 6: Right to a fair trial.

This counts for characters charged with a crime and for characters who think state action has impacted their civil rights.

It means that cases need to be held in a reasonable time, by impartial decision makers. People involved are given all the relevant information and have access to lawyers and interpreters.

It also means that a character who is going to court should: be presumed innocent, allowed to remain silent, told what they’re charged with, provided with a lawyer, given time to prepare their case, given any relevant information, allowed to attend their trial, put forward their side of the story and question or call witnesses.

There are restrictions on Article 6. In the UK there are exceptions under immigration law, tax law and laws to do with voting rights. People can also be restricted from accessing courts if they miss a defined time limit for bringing a case to court or if they repeatedly bring cases that are judged as a waste of time.

Article 7: No punishment outside the law.

This means that a character shouldn’t be charged with a crime if their action wasn’t against the law when they did it.

There is an exception for anything that is ‘against the general law of civilised nations’. What that essentially means is that if a character commits war crimes (ie genocide) they can be charged even if there isn’t a specific law on the books.

Article 8: Right to a private and family life.

This one is pretty broad. It essentially boils down to the idea that a state can’t tell you who to form a relationship with or how valuable those relationships are. The state also can’t dictate what your lifestyle should be, so long as you’re not harming anyone else.

The simplest part of this is characters having a right to remain in contact with their families. But it also means a right to developing a personal identity, covering things like figuring out sexuality, deciding how to dress, how to live and how to participate in society. In it’s broadest sense this means a state has an obligation to make sure all groups of people can participate in social, cultural, economic and leisure activities. It also means a state should make sure no one’s personal information is shared without their consent.

Interfering with a character’s rights under this Article need to be proportionate and there needs to be a good reason, such as preventing a crime or protecting the rights and freedoms of other people.

Article 9: Freedom of thought, belief and religion.

This Article protects the right to hold beliefs, change them and, to a certain extent, put them into practice. It includes no-religious beliefs, such as atheism and pacifism. But it does need to be sincere, serious and concern important aspects of human life.

The right to hold and change beliefs is regarded as absolute but the right to put them into practice can be suspended in order to protect public safety, health or the rights and freedoms of other people. Once again, this is supposed to be proportionate.

Article 10: Freedom of expression.

This covers public protest but it also covers the media, books, art, TV and the internet. It counts for the person giving and receiving information, so it doesn’t just cover the producers of a show but the audience as well.  

It’s supposed to protect an individual if they want to criticise the government or other prominent individuals but it also covers fiction and the arts.

And once again there is an allowance for proportionate restrictions to prevent crime and protect other people. Which means that hate speech is not protected. Information can also be suppressed to prevent prejudicing judges and to prevent release of private information that was given in confidence.

Article 11: Freedom of assembly and association.

The crux of this Article is that people should be allowed to form and join peaceful groups and shouldn’t be forced to join any groups. The usual examples are political parties and trade unions.

Again, this can be suspended if it’s a proportionate response that’s necessary to prevent a crime or protect other people’s rights.

Article 12: Right to marry and start a family.

Restrictions on this right mostly come from national laws about things like the age of majority (legal adulthood) and what counts as incest.

Article 14: Protection from discrimination in respect to these rights and freedoms.

This essentially means that all the rights and freedoms defined in the act apply to everyone. It covers things like race, disability and religion but it also covers things that aren’t discussed as often, like ‘illegitimate’ births, trade union membership and linguistic minorities.

It also covers indirect discrimination. Which means that if a general rule disadvantages a particular group it’s going against Article 14.

In short-

Human rights are a powerful, levelling concept and regardless of whether your story is set in the modern era they can be relevant. Consider whether the cultures in your world have equivalent concepts and whether they prioritise the same rights. If you’re writing fantasy or sci fi consider whether these rights and broader conception of personhood are extended to any non-human groups.

The concept of human rights grew out of violations of them. This codified standard came from a background of war crimes, and that means that the factors deemed worthy of protection say something about the cultures and history which fed into them.  

Do all these factors apply to your world? Do the same kinds of discrimination exist, historically or in the present? What do people deem ‘proportionate’? Did historical trauma feed in to the concept of dignity and correct behaviour? Did it pre-date them? Is there even an attempt at defining universal rights or is everything dependent on the local law and culture?

Most stories are not going to need you to go through and define an equivalent (or not) of the Universal Declaration. But a rough idea could help you sketch out ideals about right and wrong, it can help to make a world feel more consistent, deeper and richer.

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