I don't have the book at hand to quote, but what struck me when I was reading it was John going desperately from how he had to make them his hands and fingers!! to keep them!! he IMMEDIATELY segues into how he's so sad he had to feed the revenant beasts his fingers to keep them away :( it was so awful that they made him do that :( like he makes them possessions then having objectified them he justifies having to destroy his Things to keep himself safe. which I think is where he and Harrow are going to diverge. (noting that they've already taken very different tactics as far as the order of what gets kept safe)

It's the very next line! This quote picks up exactly where the last one left off:

That's definitely a legit way to read this passage, though it's not the way I prefer to. I mean. Hypocrisy found in God, fork found in kitchen. Come on. But yeah, that's an undeniably fucked up trajectory.

More seriously, I see John's chapters of Nona the Ninth as a confession, rather than as a justification. It's not meant to be coherent or consistant, just emotionally honest. He's expressing how he felt in the moments he made his decisions and asking to be understood, but he's not asking to be affirmed, or forgiven. "Just as there can be no forgiveness for me," and all.

The way in which his story does make sense—the way he's choosing to frame it—is fascinating for what it shows about John and what he's so deeply afraid of, in his heart of hearts. He loved them, and he sacrificed them, and then he sacrificed them again, but at least they didn't leave him.

And yet even in his confession there are still levels on which he seems to sincerely not understand what he's done wrong—mostly surrounding the autonomy and personhood of other people. Like you said, he objectifies people. He loves them as extensions of himself, because that is the only thing he understands as being real. He has no peers, as he is God. His closest friends are his fists and gestures, the fingers on his hand. As necessary to him as a limb, and losing them cripples him, but he doesn't understand them as people in their own right at all. And that lack of respect and understanding leads to him treating them horrifically.

It's kind of sad, in a way. Not to jump tracks completely, but the way John loves reminds me of this quote from episode 55 of Welcome to Night Vale:

It's presented in the context of a romantic couple, but it works more broadly. lt seems like the only way John knows how to love is by subsuming what he loves into himself, becoming one. Leaving him once again alone.

What's interesting is that he appears to know this about himself. Right in this quote, he directly compares himself to the Resurrection Beasts. Revenants that crack open worlds to eat their souls for sustenance, then pack the dead shells onto their exteriors to become part of themselves. As he sees it, the difference is that the Resurrection Beasts will eventually be satisfied. He won't be.

As for the parallels between John and Harrow, I don't think we need to look for where they're going to diverge. I think we can point to where they already have. And it's a fair comparison, to a time before John was God.

Look at John's reaction to his cult schisming, here:

He loves his friends, but he doesn't trust them. Deep down, he believes their love is conditional. If he fucks up, if he's caught slipping, if he admits he's wrong, he'll lose them. He's terrified of anyone finding out he's flawed, of the ugly parts of him being known, because he's certain anyone who sees that part of him will leave. He's gone ten thousand years like that, compounding lies to make them stay.

Harrow has a similarly harsh expectation of herself, but she's already taken her leap of faith, and let the mask drop. She's told the people she loves exactly who and what she is, with the full expectation they would punish or abandon her for it. With the full expectation Gideon would kill her for it, in the pool scene. And Gideon embraced her. She confronted Ortus with her failings in the River, and Ortus comforted her, and still chose to stay and risk his life to save her.

The people who loved John would have done the same for him. Did do the same for him. They stayed through his breakdown, they stayed by his side until it killed them, but John could never let his guard down enough to trust that they would have done it just for him. He couldn't submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known.

This is all, of course, working with the basic premise that the way John treats people is horrific, and he did have all the opportunites in the world to stop. He could have taken that plunge any time in the ten thousand and thirty-something years he's been alive, if he'd been strong enough to accept the consequences or believed in the rewards. It was all so fucking avoidable, but here we are. My favorite kind of tragedy.

Putting on Hairs: Post Production - Kasumi's Gambit

Primary Pairing: N/A Starring: Shioriko, Kasumi Also Starring: Shizuku, Rina Secondary Pairing: ShizuKasu Words: 592 Rating: G Fandom: Love Live Nijigasaki AU: Vampires, Monsters Time Frame: Sometime after the main story Prompt: Chess

---------

Author's Note: Primary entry for the 10th

Summary: Kasumi and Shioriko play chess

---------

“Check.”

“Geh.” Kasumi hated that she flinched at the announcement from Shioriko.

She quickly scanned the board. She knew she needed to get her king out of check, but it was surrounded. The vampire’s buzzards had been circling for several moves and now they were closing in.

Here? No, that would bring the king into check again with the bishop. There? Nope, the queen covered that square. She would have to capture the offending rook. Nope again, none of her pieces could make such a move.

But! Her knight could block the rook! It would result in the knight being sacrificed, but then she could take it with her own rook when the knight was captured. Then she could take the queen. And then…

Kasumi grinned and moved her knight.

“Checkmate.” Shioriko said flatly after moving her queen.

“Wha…?” Kasumi collapsed against the back of her chair. “Ughn… I should have known better than to challenge someone half a millennium old to an even older game…”

How had it even come to this in the first place? Kasumi couldn’t even remember her original disagreement with Shioriko that led to the challenge. The restaurant where they were eating loaned out games so Kasumi figured it would be an easy way to settle the dispute. Unfortunately, all of the card games had been borrowed, and Shizuku had been teasing her about taking too long, so she had just grabbed the first board game she saw. And it had been chess.

“If you are implying that I have some sort of advantage due to my age,” Shioriko said, “I must point out that I have never played this game before.”

“But… but you didn’t even ask for an explanation of the rules or…”

“I looked them up once I saw the box you chose.”

“…” Kasumi continued to stare at Shioriko in disbelief.

“It is a zero-sum game with simple and straightforward mechanics. No luck is involved and one’s success relies solely on strategy.”

“In other words, Kasumi-chan is a bad tactician.” Shizuku poked her girlfriend’s cheek.

“Kasumi-san’s tactics were admirable, if predictable.” Shioriko stated.

“Which makes them bad.” Rina pointed out.

“Not you too, Rinako?” Kasumi groaned before sitting back up. “But seriously, you’ve never played chess, Shioko? Not even shang-shee?”

“Xiangqi.” Shioriko corrected.

“Yeah, that. So, you have heard of it.”

“It was a commonly played game in many Hunter camps.” Shioriko confirmed. “However, what time I could find for myself I preferred to spend reading.”

“But games are best played with friends.” Kasumi said.

“Yes, and Lanzhu preferred physical games that relied on strength and dexterity over those that required intelligence and wisdom.”

Kasumi made a mental note to challenge Lanzhu to a board game someday.

“Well, you have three friends here with you tonight that love board games.” Shizuku spoke up. “Why don’t we find one that allows for more players and perhaps as teams?”

“I’m on Shizuko’s team!” Kasumi announced immediately.

“Then Shioriko-chan and I will be your opponents.” Rina said.

“Come with me, Shioriko-chan.” Shizuku said as she stood from the table. “I think someone from each team should be involved with choosing the next game.”

“Find one with dice or cards or something.” Kasumi suggested. “Something with luck involved so Ms. Zero-Sum-Tactician doesn’t decimate us.”

“Are you implying my strategies would also be bad?” Shizuku raised an eyebrow.

“No! I… uhm…” Kasumi sputtered in a panic.

Shizuku smiled. Kasumi pouted. Shizuku laughed lightly.

“Anyway, let’s see what they have.” Shizuku said before leading Shioriko toward the game counter.

---------

Author's Note Continued: This was a really fun one to write. I love the idea of the highly analytical Shioriko just figuring out chess by quickly reading the rules and then being able to defeat someone like Kasumi. Now, Kasumi has canonically been depicted as being bad at games, but I can see her impulsiveness working against her in a game like chess, especially against someone like Shioriko, and doubly so if Shioriko is allowed all the time she needs to consider her moves.

Maybe Shizuku can have enough luck to balance things out for when they team up in a game centered around dice. But that's a story for another time.

And finally, I've got a ten day streak going with prior prompts now. Vampire was '21 and Buzzard was '22.

AITA for bluntly pointing out biases my friend has due to trauma?

So I (18n) have a long history of weird petty disagreements with this friend, B (19m), but this time I'm not sure if I was actualy just an asshole.

We were out with our other two friends S (19m) and E (20m), E starts talking about a coworker, I forget what it was about, and B jokes around saying something like "ooh is he hot" or "ooh is he single" E responds saying that said coworker is actualy 16. B erupts in disgust saying things like "ewww gross a minor!". I, forgetting he had recently had his 19th birthday, said that he was being a bit dramatic and 2 years is not that bad, Wich started our argument.

I forget the specific order of things so I'll sum up our main points. He was saying 2 years is a gross age gap, especialy if one is in middle and the other is in highschool because they are different social environments, and that's a similar dynamic to how he was abused by an ex, the whole time he had this very grossed out dramatic tone.

He has talked about this ex extensively in the past, from jokes to vents. And based on what my friend has said, this guy genuinely did treat him horribly. Mainly emotional abuse, guilt tripping, and being very controlling. Their ages did play a part in the power dynamic.

Anyways, my point were that 2 years is not that bad, and that anything can be a different social environment, people can go to different schools or one person can be in college and the other not. Of course 2 years could be bad paired with other stuff, but by itself I don't see anything to gag over.

This went on for a bit until I got tired of B mentioning his past so much as if it's what all age gap relationships are like, so I said something like "youre acting like you are the norm and im the weird one, but i think more people would agree with me, i think your biased" and he got really upset, saying I hurt his feelings and avoided me for the rest of the hangout, acting all sad. I felt bad seeing him like that, but didn't regret what I said and thought he was just being dramatic like he can be sometimes.

A few days went by where we didn't talk much, and next thing I know he sends me a dm saying "hey, i have something to say to you, i have this to say..." and sent me a screenshot of an entire paragraph in his notes, literaly saying things such as

"i dont care about "winning" or "loosing any arguments with you, but the other day, you took it too far. Saying something along the lines of "you only have that opinion because you were groomed, not everyone else has that opinion" was really hurtful" he also said I "insulted" him and that "there are better ways of aproaching disagreements, minor or not, that dont involve hurting eachothers feelings"

I was floored, I knew this guy had been dramatic in the past but this took the cake. Though I was annoyed and still kind of am, I can't help but feel bad?? Like I hate that I hurt his feelings but come on dude.

I responded saying that I did feel bad for hurting his feelings but didn't understand where I went wrong, clarifying that all I was trying to say was that he was ignoring his bias and admiting that I may have worded it wrong. Also mentioning that I had no idea what he was reffering to when he said I insulted him.

He responded saying "yes but you never appolagised" and "the way you worded it made it sound like my opinion was invalid because of my past trauma, wich is insulting because it implied my opinion was not valid because of my trauma"

I simply responded, "i dont get the difference between that and having a bias" and he talked about how "regardless of my past trauma I'm aloud to have an opinion" and "I'm not trying to have another discussion on the topic, I'm just trying to communicate to you that you hurt my feelings"

At this point I was just done because to me, he was just doing that thing ppl do when they want to say something without being challenged on it, so they say they "dont want to fight". So I just liked his message and we never talked about it again.

It's been a while but I still feel a bit bad and can't figure out if I'm just being a hard headed asshole or if he was just being dramatic. AITA?

TLDR: I tell friend he's just biased against age gap relationships because of his trauma with a past one and he makes a big deal out of it saying I invalidated his opinion and insulted him

What are these acronyms?

a chanbaek analysis from a veteran exo-l (part 2)

CLICK HERE TO READ PART ONE

Writing this was a bit harder in comparison to the first part, because I wanted to organize things into a neat timeline, but I ended up not having enough patience for it lol specially because both of ChanBaek's main archive blogs seem to have deleted their pages documenting each date of EXO's early years. Therefore I apologize in advance if this part is a bit more messy. Also, please don't forget that all of this is my opinion and I don't mean for any of it to be taken as truth!

I kind of want to jump from MAMA era directly into Wolf era, since we don't really have a lot of cover regarding their debut phase besides Chanyeol's overeagerness and Baekhyun's awkwardness towards it, so to sum it up, I felt as if Chanyeol was more confident and consistent on what he thought an idol should act like, while Baekhyun (sweet, innocent Baekhyun who was a trainee for less than a year!) was still unsure on how to act on camera.

On the few early variety shows/interviews EXO appeared on, the members always pointed out how funny Baekhyun was, how good he'd be at variety and at doing imitations, but he never really lived up to all the praise on camera, although off of it, he most likely was as good as his members claimed.

He was a bit stiff on his early days in comparison to what we see today, and that's normal, I guess, since he debuted really quickly, but when you compare him to Chanyeol the contrast is so interesting, because the latter was able to latch on to a persona as soon as the public gave him one, while to me, Baekhyun was still doubtful regarding what to put on display. In the end, deep inside, Baekhyun is a private person, and was even more so when he wasn't confident enough to talk to fans like he does today.

Once again, I’m sorry for not being able to upload the gifs directly into the post, so I’ll just link them like I did on my last one.

This is another one of the moments where Baek appears to tell Chanyeol to just. Hold on for a bit.

There's another one similar to this where Chanyeol does the same thing (try to whisper on Baekhyun's ear) and Baekhyun fake laughs and stares at a fan's camera right after. Then, his expression just goes blank. It's really interesting to watch because you can just see the gears spinning on Chanyeol's brain as he stares at Baekhyun for a second and clearly thinks alright, fanservice time, and leans in to whisper something: it happens so fast you just know it wasn't genuine whispering, just a playful interaction for the fans, and Baekhyun's direct stare to the camera as soon as it happens just confirms this for me. 

1: Chanyeol spots his target.

2: He’s really thinking this through.

3: Baek's in a perfect position for whispering-time, so he leans in and does his thing.

4: Baekhyun laughs.

5: And stares directly at a fan's camera.

6: Immediately regrets his life choices. Chanyeol looks pleased.

It's actually better to watch the whole thing, so I'll leave it here. (starts on 0:28!)

(Random note: on this date EXO perfomed a cover of H.O.T's We Are The Future, and I feel like a lot of new EXO-Ls have not seem it and I adore this performance, so I'll link it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1-z4s3fdgo)

Now let's jump on to Wolf era, shall we?

Wolf era

I can't help but laugh when I think about how wild 2013 was for both EXO and EXO-Ls. They had their first hit song (which was Growl, not Wolf) the fandom grew considerably, shippers where just discovering the cute ISAC moments between "BaekYeol" and "HunHan"... Or at least that's how everyone remembers most of what happened during that year.

Are we forgetting the rumoured ChanBaek fight?

Considering their past interactions on airports, SMTOWN concerts, ISAC and other events, ChanBaek was now widely known to be close to each other. Baekhyun even said Chanyeol was the one who made him open up, and both of them mentioned feeling this "connection" to each other as soon as they met (although jokingly).

After Mama, the fandom was content-less for a considerable period of time, and what most people did was sharing around old performances and repeat overused memes.  I think that in every fandom there is a period where fans establish their main inside jokes and basically just get together to create a collective line of thought for perceiving their idols. That being said, one of the most well established facts in the fandom was that Chanyeol and Baekhyun were close. That was a fact.But then Wolf came, and they suddenly were not. 

This gif is a good example of how awkward their interactions were. Not even my delusional shipping brain in 2013 was able to come up with an explanation for it.

They simply did not acknowledge each other at all, and Chanyeol appeared to be closer to Kyungsoo (I think Baekhyun interacted a lot with Tao, but that may have been during the Growl era, not Wolf. As I said before, I'm a Chanyeol stan guys, sorry lmao).

Point is, these two boys who seemed to be best friends suddenly were clearly distant from one another.

What added fuel to the fire of the rumours was their appearance on Sukira, a radio show, where Sehun cried because the members sometimes had fights. Here's a fanacc:

[130530] EXO at Sukira

Sehun cried because the members sometimes fight.

Sehun: "Let's be loyal to each other, don't fight, and go until the end"

D.O: "We've been under a lot of stress lately because of the comeback, so I wish we won't fight in the future and do our best"

Here's a video cut of this part of their interview. 

I think this ask on lets-talk-baekyeol, a popular ChanBaek analysis blog from back in the day, shows how curious a lot of fans were.

What happened back then?

There's really no answer for that. On my opinion, not even Chanyeol or Baekhyun could give us a concrete answer on it, because I don't think an actual fight happened. For me, it was most likely a personality clash, a disagreement that probably wasn't even voiced out loud, just both of them noticing how uncomfortable things got, if Baekhyun's reactions to Chanyeol's fanservice is any indication. I somehow doubt there was a specific episode that created this distance between them, specially because during Growl, they went back to being friends, although not as touchy on camera as before, as if one of them had established their limits (oh, I wonder who!), but I still have this feeling that all of this was unspoken, because unspoken things seem to be a pattern on ChanBaek's relationship (something I'll touch on later, hopefully).

But it was during Growl era that I noticed something else about Baekhyun.

Wolf era

EXO'S Showtime was a such a gift. I recommend reading lets-talk-baekyeol's blog for this. I don't really agree with everything they say they do present a lot of relevant points. I may repeat them here, since I noticed them myself as well, but credits for them nonetheless.

I remember finding the lack of ChanBaek interactions during the episodes really dissappointing, but considering the Wolf Era drought, this was better than nothing.

My 13 year old self was devastated when Baekhyun appeared so quiet during Chanyeol's birthday episode, and during a recent rewatch of it, I think realized why.

Baekhyun doesn't like superficial things. It's not that Chanyeol is insincere, but he's just better than Baekhyun is at handling people pleasing, even when he doesn't really mean what's he saying/doing. The Chanyeol birthday episode was heavily centered on Chanyeol's random admiration for Kai, which I think we can all agree that it was a little bit scripted or a really spur of the moment thing that they just ran along with and oh man. Baekhyun did not want to be part of it.

During ChanKai's hug, this is what he looked like on the background, and the poor boy even refused to eat cake. He's just in the back, which is weird, because he's such a talkative person and Chanyeol is one of his closest friends. The only moment where he seems to be genuinely comfortable is when Chanyeol blows the candle and it's really cute. To me, it seems that he was kind of embarrassed to witness so much acting from everyone else and was unable to participate because he struggles with things like this, but the moment Chanyeol blows his candles to comemorate his birthday seems sincere enough for him to fondly smile.

This ties in so well with everything from Mama Era. He's just unable to keep acting/people pleasing on the same easy way that Chanyeol does, but this time he's not as nervous about it as he was on his earlier-early days, where he probably felt pressured to actually do stuff. Now he just doesn't do **it, he just doesn't do something that he dislikes doing, and that sadly creates a distance between them on camera and probably on a deeper level in their relationship as well, because both are just realizing how different their perceptions over their jobs is.

There's also this moment that the mods on lets-talk-baekyeol pointed out.

On the Christmas episode, when the members leave the couch to go get their presents, Chanyeol stays seated while Baekhyun gets up to fetch his. This is the sitting arrangement before (almost) everyone got up:

But when Baekhyun comes back, there's free space next to Chanyeol, however he's hesitant to sit by his side. He actually hesitates and doesn't sit down. Jongdae even gives him a little push right after.

Baek just seems hesitant to do things on camera, to interact with Chanyeol in front of an audience. For this moment, I feel like he's afraid to sit next to Chanyeol and end up having to over act. It's not that Chanyeol himself makes him uncomfortable, but the image of the friendship that they ended up creating for fans demands a lot from him.

And when I say hesitant to do things on camera, I really do mean it, because when Baekhyun thinks he is not being recorded/seen, here's what he does:

Here and here.

Their relationship clearly changed, and I think the reason for it is actually simple: both of them were under the impression that they were compatible with each other when they actually were not. Their personalities are extremely different, even if the way they present themselves is sometimes similar. Wolf and Growl era was our way, as fans, of watching them navigate around each other and finding out how their relationship was supposed to work.

And you know what's nice about that? The members watched all of it unfold. Their reactions to some of ChanBaek's interaction is a gold mine when it comes to analyzing them, because they clearly know, just as we do, that their relationship is kind of complicated. But I want to talk about it on the next part.

I am sorry for cutting this off again! I don't know if the next part is going to be the last, because after Growl there's Overdose and we all know what happened on 2014 [coughs] dating scandal [coughs] god help me I don't want to talk about it [coughs] so there's a lot to uncover and I need time to organize stuff.

Thank you for reading!

Chapter One

A/N: No real triggers this time!!  WC: 1.9k Chapter 1:

“So every person in this book is a fairy tale character?” Emma Swan says to her ten-year-old son. 

The boy had introduced himself as Henry, had brought his mother to Storybrooke. Of course, Emma had given Henry up for adoption when she gave birth to him.  But to have her son seek her out made Emma uncomfortable. He had come to her claiming to be the savior of the storybook world. Henry spun a tale about a curse and how all of the characters of the Enchanted Forest were stuck in a town called Storybrooke, Maine.

Henry had with him a brown leather storybook that was thick but didn’t appear to be heavy. Henry seemed to carry around with no problem. One thing Emma found off when they arrived into town was the clock tower. As she observed it, she couldn’t help take note of how it never seemed to move. She led Henry back to his mother’s house. Henry’s adoptive mother, Regina Mills, was the mayor of the town. Henry claimed she was the Evil Queen from the story Snow White. Emma found this silly. Then again, Emma wasn’t one for fairytales anyway. Fairytales are for kids. 

Inside Granny’s Diner, Sam Winchester sat inside waiting for his brother Dean. Granny’s was usually closed at night since Granny went to work at her bed and breakfast in the mornings, but Ruby was always there at night to serve the night owls who couldn’t sleep. 

Ruby wasn’t the only one working the night shift. She worked with Y/N Y/L/N. Hardly anyone saw  Y/N working in the morning. This usually led to rumors that Y/N was hiding something.  The story was Y/N stayed locked in Rowena’s shop.

Rowena MacLeod was a private woman. However, she was a businesswoman, a loan shark, if you will. Rowena was very good at getting what she wanted through these tactics. She would let her client borrow money with the promise of paying it back fairly and on time. However, many clients don’t read the fine print in her contract.  Resulting in them having to pay double or triple what they borrowed. Rowena had helped Sam and Dean’s parents with a large sum of money to keep their business, Winchester Mechanics, afloat. Leaving their two sons, Sam and Dean, to foot the bill. Dean paid her as much as he could, but with not many people coming or going from Storybrooke, business was slow. 

This left Sam to find a way to help Dean find a way to help pay Rowena back too. But he wasn’t having great success either. Sam had started working in Mr. Gold’s Pawn shop until he found himself interested in Law. Under Mr. Gold’s tutelage, Sam had become well versed in the laws created by the town council. This led him to also find work in the Sheriff's office as a prosecutor. Often being a rival for his own boss at the Pawn Shop. It only made Mr. Gold admire Sam more.  

“Ruby, can you please help them?” Y/N begged, trying to hold back an eye-roll at the two men that walked in together, sitting across from one another. Having a conversation amongst themselves and trying to not get in an argument, again, over the amount of money they owed to Rowena. Their next payment was due within the week, and they didn’t have the funds. 

“Sorry, Duckling, it's your turn. I helped them the other day.” She says, giving her a sentimental look. 

Ruby had been watching Y/N and Sam’s exchanges cringing internally whenever they walked in the door, knowing Y/N would try and pass her along to either herself or Granny. Ruby heard rumors about why Y/N and Sam had disagreements, but their arguments were getting harsher with each passing day.

Y/N scoffed, rolling her eyes, grabbing her order pad, heading over to greet Sam and Dean. 

“Evening, Y/N,” Dean says pleasantly. 

Sam muttered under his breath a greeting, and it sounded like he muttered a nickname only her friends gave her, earning a glare from Y/N in Sam’s direction. 

“What is it now, brains?” Y/N says. “Too buried in your debt to Rowena to speak louder and call me a name in front of my face?”

Dean sighed. Here they go again. “Just our usual if you would please,” he says, trying to cut the tension between the two. 

Y/N nods glaring at Sam before she heads back to the kitchen. 

“You didn’t need to butt in like that,” Sam scoffed. “I had it completely under control.”

“Oh sure, that’s why you and Y/N seem to fight or have some sort of disagreement every time we come in here?” Dean huffed,  “Who knows whatever the hell happens when you bump into her while she’s alone at Rowena’s,” Dean sassed,  “Oh wait, you’re too busy working at Gold’s shop, fighting for a chance to work a case in his place, or at the jail with Graham,” the elder brother snapped calmly. 

“Says the man who works in a shop with no cars to work on,” Sam snapped back, “How’s Amaya? Did you ever fulfill your promise to help her out?

“You keep that bitch out of this,” Dean growled. “I’ll figure something out. For now, I’m gonna see if I can get a second job somewhere.” 

“What do you mean? What other job could you get here? Think Granny can hire you as a short-order cook? At least she gets business!”  

“It’s something to get the debt paid back to Rowena, Sam,” Dean muttered as Y/N brought out their meals. Both were polite, and their bickering died down, and they went back to talking about their days. As uneventful as they were, they had a lot to talk about. 

Y/N sighed as she went back behind the counter, “Ruby, I’m gonna head to bed. Dawn wake-up call comes early.” She says with an eye roll. 

“Goodnight, Duckling,” Ruby says, smiling kindly to her, “I’ll clean up.”

===========

Enchanted Forest

“Dean, is target practice really necessary?” Sam says, looking at him. “I need to be looking for Odette, not shooting powdered arrows over at the servants’ asses.” 

“And what are you gonna do when you can’t hit your mark?” Dean questioned, “What of Odette needs saving from some Ogres, and you miss?” 

“Is that before or after the fact that you're catching fireflies at all hours of the night?” Sam asks, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Are they for you or to feed the frog that follows you around and hides on your dresser?”  he snaps, glaring at the older brother.

“I do not go out at night to catch fireflies for Amaya,” Dean scoffs, “besides, she goes out and catches her own meals.”

Rolling his eyes, Sam grabbed his red powdered covered arrows, game face on. Assuming the probability that Dean would let him win, again. Sam took an arrow from his quiver, sliding it into place. Pulling back the string once he nocked it, aiming it at his first mark, the butler, Crowley. Whom the brothers affectionately dressed up as a brown moose. The arrow left the nocking point, hitting its destined target in the center of his rounded ass. 

“Hey!” Crowley muttered, rolling his eyes. He brushed off the powder as he glared at both of the brothers. 

Dean was finding this amusing. The exercise was primarily for Sam. Why couldn’t he have fun too?

Just as Dean was about to take his shot, Castiel, the head advisor to his father, walked out onto the grounds. He intended to stop the game before it fully began. “Your Highness?”

Startled by the sudden interruption, Dean whipped around,  the arrow released from where it was nocked, hitting Castiel square into his chest. Before he could even react, a second followed by a third engulfed Cas in a powder of blue.

“If you children are quite finished,” he huffed, dusting the powder off himself, “my liege, you have a visitor. Something about a poisonous toad needing collecting?”

Dean fired one more arrow before stalking towards Castiel, “it better not be a waste of my time. My brother and I are training.” 

“Training for a lost cause if you ask me, Sir,” Crowley says, observing the body language of his employer. “For all, we know the Princess is dead as well, just like her father. God rest his soul.” He adds, making the sign of the cross. 

Sam’s head turned quickly at the Butler’s words echoed in his ear. Eyes flashed in anger, rushing over towards the pair. “Take it back! You don’t get to talk about Odette like that!”

“Forgive me, Samuel. However, I truly believe this to be a fool's errand,” Crowley says, standing closer to the trio gathered in the middle of the courtyard.

“I will find her, Crowley,” the younger prince declared, “I have to find her.”

Shaking his head, Dean followed Castiel inside to handle the visitor.

Needing an actual outlet for his anger, Sam walked with a fast pace over to the stables. The staff tended to the horses, but Sam usually liked taking care of his mare. It gave him a sense of responsibility. 

Sam’s mare, Onyx, was a beautiful black Friesian. Her height was just above 18 hands, given his six foot four stature, she was just as tall as he was. Sam was okay with that though. Grabbing a body brush, Sam slowly brushed out her black coat. It had become dirty from the loose dirt flying around.

Meanwhile, as the sun set on the edge of the trees in the forest, a beautiful white swan flew across the canopy. Odette had grown accustomed to the dawn and the dusk. Knowing she had to be on the lake’s surface as the moon touched it before she would become a woman again. 

As per her usual routine, Odette flew over Winchester Castle. Wondering if Sam would be looking for her. Who was she kidding? Sam only wanted to marry her for her beauty. Prince Samuel Winchester didn’t care about her.

Dusk approached, the swan moving to make her graceful descent down into the crystal colored water. “Was wondering if you were gonna be on time tonight dearie.” Rowena says, hands placed on her hips. Odette gave Rowena as much of a glare as a swan possibly could. The princess was always on time and never late. The other party that was never late was Rowena’s incompetant son Crowley. 

“Evening Mother, Odette,” he greets, giving his mother a nod of acknowledgement. Crowley’s appearances had begun to be a routine over the past week. Rowena’s son came every evening, giving Rowena the opportunity to ask her the same proposition in order to remove the curse. Marrying her son. 

Much to the annoyance of Rowena, Odette answered her the same as she had every single time she’d asked. One single word was her reply, but not the one the sorceress was looking for. 

“No.”

“Oh for the love of Dagda” She scoffed, rolling her eyes skyward. Eyes focused back on the maiden that stood before her. Hair glowing in the shimmering moonlight. “Need I remind you, I placed this curse on you, and I can just as easily reverse it. All you need to do, is agree to marry my dear Fergus. Once you're wed, I can give you all the riches a Princess could ask for.” 

“Far better than the Winchester’s that's for sure.” Crowley adds as a comment. 

“I’d rather be a swan over marrying your childish, pathetic son.” Odette snapped. 

“That can be arranged.” Rowena snapped, allowing the princess to mull over her choices.

wait! be wordy! what's your line of thinking for the assembly coup i'm so curious

okay you sent this a few days ago and I was like, you know what they asked, so here is my entire research project on the subject of why not only is the assembly in a perfect place to stage a coup and take over the empire, but also why ludinus da’leth in particular seems rather motivated to do so:

fjord and caleb discussed this specific topic during their chat on the balleater in 98, and this line just sums it up:

fjord: what are they waiting for? caleb: the moment where they can ascend.

according to the lore we’ve gotten, from canon as well as the egtw, the assembly has existed since a war between mage houses that culminated in an event that nearly destroyed rexxentrum, referred to as the eve of crimson midnight—after which the members of those houses agreed to work for the dwendalian crown (and helped conquer the julous dominion). they occupy a very comfortable place in the empire obviously, but it’s unclear how much allegiance they actually have to the crown, but when caleb talks to the martinet in episode 97 at the party, they have this pointed interaction:

caleb: the empire, we all love the empire. da’leth: to an extent.

this is in part in reference to caleb’s past, but also... is admittedly, a strange thing for someone who’s meant to serve the king to say. much of their conversation at the party reads as da’leth putting the two of them on the same page—rather circumspect in their interests, and outside of the surface level realm of the empire’s interests. it’s worth noting that da’leth is not only the oldest member of the assembly, he has also been there since its inception, and therefore was almost certainly involved in the war that created it.

now, just before this, they have this exchange:

caleb: It will be good to finish this war. da’leth: Indeed it will be. caleb: I commend you on seeing the reason in cooperation and negotiation. da’leth: I believe it is important to stem the tide of lives lost and to instead focus on the livelihood of those within the Empire and for us to pursue more important things than base conflict and disagreements.

now, like essek, da’leth is likely looking forward to the end of the war because it means uninhibited time to spend researching the beacon they do have, but based on much of what essek has said, he is far more in over his head than da’leth is. of course, that’s in part because he’s not backed by a very powerful organization. but this is important, because arguably... da’leth isn’t backed by the assembly. he is the assembly. there has never been a cerberus assembly without him. additionally, his title (“archmage of domestic protections”) literally puts him in charge of all warfare and conflict in the empire and, as mentioned, this means he’s been involved in:

the eve of crimson midnight

the conquest of the julous dominion

the last century of tension with the dynasty (by the end of which, he found a way to escalate that tension and thereby instigate a war—which really makes him either great or shitty at his job, honestly)

the war with the dynasty itself

unlike essek, who has probably had his position for 20-30 years at most, da’leth has witnessed every part of these conflicts from a place of organizing warfare. (yet again it vexes me: we still have no idea what essek does. but he’s not really important here, I’m just using him to juxtapose. but it seems safe to say, based on his reaction, that he did not have any experience with it, and does not seem to be in anyway a military leader.) he knows when to expect war, and he... probably does not care about the human toll of it, based on the ones he’s lived through. so I’m looking more at the phrase “pursue more important things”—which is where we start getting into military coup territory.

and it’s important to point out that the assembly, based on their discussion in the throne room with the king and the examination of the beacon at the sanatorium, is almost certainly keeping both their research into the beacon’s power as well as the fact that they’ve had two beacons for three years secret from the king.

additionally, the assembly’s power seems to be growing at the moment, as evidenced by cobalt soul concerns that it may need to be curbed, while at the same time, the monarch is becoming increasingly paranoid (which translates to, closed off), as well as (and this is crucial) not having an heir. as mentioned in the egtw, his son and daughter in law have not produced a child, and all three of them are seeking different ways to maintain power. king dwendal, supposedly, is currently looking for ways to become immortal. da’leth, who is functionally immortal compared to the king, probably doesn’t love that (and I have no doubt that he knows).

so we have a military leader who has external interests, secret arcane research into an unknown, fairly deadly system of magic that the crown is unaware of (and therefore doesn’t have defenses against), and a rapidly encroaching potential power vacuum. but that’s still not enough, right? to actually take the throne, who has an entire army at its disposal, you’d need some kind of paramilitary force loyal to the assembly, not to the crown.

which brings us to the scourgers.

we know that trent ikithon created and designed the scourger program, also from caleb’s conversation with da’leth, which means it is relatively new (less than 50 years old, but probably less than that—trent is in his 70s, and he would’ve had to work up into his role, so let’s give him a generous estimate of being worthy of assembly membership around 40—which only puts the scourger program at 30 years old). da’leth does have a... really interesting comment about the program:

da’leth: Although the extent of these things were not entirely part of the initial presentation, I understand that sometimes, desperate requirements might call for unsavory methods.

there’s really no explanation of what these ‘desperate requirements’ are that called for, you know, that bullshit, and the program would’ve been implemented sometime within this cold war they’ve got going with the dynasty. while those desperate requirements may have been involved in that (which is likely), it’s also possible that there are other uses for them, especially now that there is some kind of treaty between the empire and dynasty.

of course, the other thing that I looked at is how astrid discusses the empire—she suggests that what the scourgers do, the “hard choices” they make, are so that the rest of the empire can sleep safely at night, which is interesting, considering the general sentiment of the empire’s populace is that the empire has become less safe (a sentiment that is likely even more heightened now with a war on their soil) as well as less prosperous, due to the growing paranoia and neglect of the king. the scourgers are specifically loyal to the empire itself, not the king—if they can be swayed to believe that disposing the king is in the nation’s best interest, it would not be difficult to turn the assembly’s personal assassins toward the crown.

which brings me back to the earlier conversation mentioned at the party, and the phrase “focus on the livelihood of those within the Empire and for us to pursue more important things.” the martinet has been, essentially, waiting in the wings of the empire for several centuries.

within the last, say, fifty years, the following things have happened:

the quality of life within the empire has gone down

its monarch has grown closed off and scared, potentially leaving a power vacuum which will likely throw the assembly’s power into question

the assembly has created its own paramilitary assassin force

the assembly has instigated a war via the theft of foreign arcane objects

the assembly has done fully secret research on the application of that arcane power

the assembly has then ended the war very quickly, retaining control of one of these objects, and sent everyone very speedily on their way.

furthermore, with peace only just brokered, the righteous brand is likely still on the border, and will have to be mobilized over the next month or more to return them to the inner parts of the empire.

this means the assembly is unoccupied by a war, has its own forces, probably has some unheard of weaponized dunamancy, and doesn’t have to contend with the military that is wholly loyal to the king.

time for a coup, y’all.

addendum: this is a theory/analysis, and it’s only one potential thing that might happen in the next few arcs. however, a counterpoint: the assembly has enjoyed unprecedented power, a small amount of responsibility, and very little oversight during its existence. I could see the point that there isn’t much motivation to change that, especially for da’leth—except for the fact that the empire still does not have an heir. the potential of a power vacuum will likely leave the assembly in a tough spot and without a puppet to control, and a coup to take power now may be the answer to that. that really is the key: before dwendal can actually do something nuts, like beat da’leth to creating himself a phylactery lol, they may intend to grab power to maintain control over the situation in the long run.

additional reading: I wrote up this post a few months ago about why, in conjunction with this, the assembly wants to keep their involvement with the beacon theft quiet—any conflict with the king will get started on their own terms. (which is the main point of my thoughts that the assembly will also likely try to have essek killed—while he’s alive, he’s a loose end, and even if it’s his word against theirs, it’s still possible he could sow doubt with the king. luckily for the nein, the assembly doesn’t seem to know that they’re aware of that!)

I read your essay, but I was more concerned by how Diavolo and Simeon acted in the event than whether the devs were wrong for making it. Simeon obviously for his sneaky behavior and Diavolo for basically saying he wishes his alleged best friend had fallen under the same non consensual mind control spell as his brothers because it would be fun to see a new side of him, even though Lucifer clearly hates to lose control of himself. I know he would not enjoy that as much as Diavolo would, and I can't help but wonder if he actually cares about Lucifer. In events Diavolo is often messing around with the brothers, kinda using them for his own amusement, but this event really brought that into focus. It might not be as big of a deal as it feels to me because I'm kinda sensitive about stuff like mind manipulation for some reason, I can't help but be mad at him for basically not caring at all, which is disappointing since they just released all that stuff for the side characters... What are your thoughts on this?

I want to preface this by saying technically I am have not started lessons 21-40. I am aware of the events that happened in them, but have not played through them for myself, so I can’t necessarily comment on a lot of Diavolo’s character development in the recent lessons.

I think it’s fine to be uncomfortable with how the characters acted. Writing should evoke emotion, both good and bad. My post ended up going more into people being mad at the creators because I’ve been seeing that build up for months now, and just thought that now was a particularly trivial reason (and I didn’t want people to start attacking the devs for something that I think was just being misunderstood). Like you though, I did not like Diavolo and Simeon’s actions in this event either.

When I first read what the bangles did, my thought was that the characters were actually going to the Celestial Realm for a party, and that the bangles would just keep them from acting out while there and corrupting other angels or causing a scene. Simeon’s characters I think has just been always a bit more complicated than the pure angel that much of the fandom reduces him too (when I saw a screenshot of him saying “Did he just discover a new kink?” from a previous event, I was shocked.) We know about the Celestial Realm from the brothers’ talking about Lilith that the angels were aware of the human realm and it’s culture (although some of it is anachronistic in terms of them knowing about manga back when the War happened thousands of years ago), and so it seems that the story’s version of angels are not the way we normally see angels portrayed in media (100% good, never faltering), but instead are just like humans that are usually very good and selfless but capable of doing bad things. I think this brings up a good point with Simeon’s character about how hypocritical he acted during this event, forcing the characters to act good when he himself has committed what in, at least Christian interpretations, could be viewed as wrong (not necessarily a sin) but more of a bystander issue. During the main story even, he often is just standing back while the rest of the characters are having trouble, he’ll often just find amusement in what’s going on rather than step in to help. I think this brings to mind that theme again of questioning what is good and evil in the lens of this type of story. Lastly, I forget where I read it, but in the past I did extensive research on angels for my own writing, and I remember a detail in one interpretation of them that “angels often got into disagreements with one another” and that God had to step in to help resolve them. I think this is an interesting thing to point out that angels themselves are not 100% pure or perfect, and are just of capable of committing sins like the demons, (as that is what leads to them becoming demons to begin with). In the frame of this story, I think the way Simeon acted in this event and how he normally takes amusement in seeing the brothers’ struggle may be indicative of future story lines that may highlight through our perspective with the demons, that the Celesital Realm is not good and that we may actually see a character fall. I know the popular fan interpretation is Simeon, but I actually see Luke as the one who could stay behind in Devildom.

Now, in terms of Diavolo- I think he has always been a manipulator too. Although he enjoys spending time with Lucifer, we know from the story in Lessons 1-20 that in exchange for Lilith being saved, Lucifer had to swear himself to him. Diavolo and Lucifer cannot ever have a true friendship because of this, and although we are viewing the story through a lens that makes us more partial and sympathetic towards the demons, that doesn’t meant that all the demons are in that view. Diavolo from the start seems/acts like a nicer ruler than the one the Celestial Realm has purely because he gave the brothers refuge when they fell. He lets them be their true selves rather than hold them to strict, righteous standards (standards that this event showed are not even what the angels themselves are held to, thus making Simeon’s actions hypocritical). However, as much as he may seem to be friends with Lucifer, we have to remember that Lucifer and his agreement was not one of friendship, and their perceived friendship is much more one that has just been forged by happenstance of them being around each other for so long. I’ve incorporated this discussion on Lucifer and Diavolo’s relationship into a few of my fanfictions for this series, and I truly think that Diavolo wanting to see Lucifer act under a mind controlled spell is completely within his character. After all, he already has control over Lucifer in some ways, he already has power over him. Why would forcing Lucifer to act a certain way be any different of him?

I can understand why this still makes people uncomfortable. I think at a certain point in stories and through fandom culture, when we consume stories in small pieces and then discuss them at large, it allows for many more views and interpretations. (Like a big book club!) However, I think a problem can occur if the largely vocal aspects of that discussion circle are overtly negative or angered about something within the media, as it normally does not fuel a positive discussion about the work (as in, constructive discussion, not positive as in considering the work perfect with no flaws) but instead can quickly spiral into a hate circle. Works can cause you to experience emotion and feel conflicted about things, which is a good thing. However, when you then discuss those things with others, I wish I saw more people not being so strong with their language in discussions of “I hate all these things” without talking about why or examining it. I probably sound very pretentious with all this, but like I said in my previous post, I think this is just one example of a greater problem in all fandom culture. I guess a more clearer example of this would be that the fact that the “book club” has people from so many different ages and backgrounds, but no one to moderate like in socratic seminar or no one who knows the ultimate, true answer (even though there never is one to writing, but with classics and established books we tend to all agree on main themes, symbols, and points that we find more valuable or more central to discuss) and what can often happen is members of the circle with less maturity or less experience in consuming media become the more vocal groups and refuse to hear other sides, thus spawning more negativity and preventing more discussion.

I promise that last bit wasn’t directed at you at all! I just thought of it was a good way to sum up my whole thoughts at the end. I’m glad you messaged me asking for my thoughts on Diavolo, and just to end off, I think we cannot mistake that there might be a culture difference in Japanese creators making a romance story. Like how Belphegor is categorized as the “yandere” character, some Japanese players may prefer Diavolo fitting some trope that has more negative, darker connotations. (Although it’s only hitting Japan now, the game itself is Japanese. I still don’t know why it was released to the western market first, but usually Japan is the predominant market). Anyway, that’s all the thoughts I have more now. If you have any more questions, I would be happy to follow up on anything I said here!

Reviews of Some Nova’s Fics

I have been on the (non-fiction) writing kick as of recently, which finally lead to me writing some fic reviews. I've been planning to start writing reviews for B7 fic for a long time, but those plans mostly involved some highbrow "New Wave" gen in the vein of the stories published in The Aquitar Files. Of course, this means that when I did write some reviews, they were about the stories of the classic slashfic author beloved by the fandom. :D

Why Nova? While I like her, she's far from being my favorite B7 author, in slash or in all the fic. I think she's just easy to write about, for me at least - there are a lot of things that I like about her, and a lot of things that frustrate me, and they often are in the same story. Her writing has a lot of clearly discernible patterns and tropes, and I find it much easier to write about them than about the subtleties and nuances of relationships between the characters; I may say that while I like reading both gen and shippy fics of all types, I may tend to write about even the shippy fics in the same way I write about gen. I also probably tend to "accentuate the negative", not because my feelings about this author are mostly negative, but because I find it easier - and more entertaining - to write about the things I dislike than about the things I like.

Let's start? Be warned, those reviews contain spoilers and discussions of heavy subjects. The fics I read and reviewed here: Delinquent, Avon at the Window, Five Easy Pieces and a More Difficult One, Town Mouse, Country Mouse, Love Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry, Before and After, Why I Can't Stand Vila Restal, Prime Suspect, Time and Fevers, Outlaws and In-Laws.

Delinquent

This was the first Nova's fic that I read and one of my favorite ones so far. It has some problems - while I like good boy/bad boy pairs, I think she sometimes tries too hard to shove Blake and Avon into these roles; the way Avon regains his rebelliousness after getting together with Blake felt too abrupt, almost comically so (I know that Magical Healing Cock is a thing; perhaps we should come up with the B7-specific version, Magical Class-Consciousness Rising Cock); and, of course, "undesirable associates" gets repeated ad nauseum. But I just find the idea of Avon being Blake's childhood hero so adorable, and it's for sure one of the most original takes on "they knew each other pre-canon" trope in this fandom. It's interesting to review it after reading other Nova's fics - now I can clearly discern some tropes and headcanons she used in many other fics, e.g. exploring characters' backstories, accentuated differences in Blake's and Avon's upbringing, love restoring the fighting spirit in characters and so on.

Five Easy Pieces and a More Difficult One

I... frankly don't remember that well the more psychological parts of this one, even though I read it not so long ago. What I remember well is all that sex and the bit with the uprising, which sums up my priorities quite accurately. (The sex was damn good. And so was the uprising.) In my defense I must say that it's one of those "faux-casual sex turns into emotional commitment" fics, so sex and romance are interwoven very closely here, even by the fanfiction standards. It's also quite trope-heavy, going through several slash cliches, and as someone who's not a fan of many slash cliches I can say that it's done in pleasantly non-cringy way (except the first part, which was somewhat cringy. I think nothing can redeem Visiting a Gay Planet and Trying to Fit In for me, except maybe outright parodies).

Town Mouse, Country Mouse

Another story about Blake's and Avon's very different upbringings, the one that probably got the most stylized, most deliberate and most extreme about emphasizing these differences. I found the sordidness too sordid and the cutesiness too cutesy, but it was probably the point.

Love Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry

Oh right. One of my least favorite tropes of all times is using other people as cannon fodder to showcase your Great Romance, and this fic is this trope in spades. Nova clearly likes it - she uses it in several fics, sometimes with several people. That's where we would't agree, I guess. Avon killing himself is another thing which we would't agree on. I get it that Avon have seen (and done) some shit, but the only case in which I can imagine him killing himself is, ironically, if he shared Blake's idealism - it would make such a hellish mix with his personality that it might get just too difficult to bear. This one is not the major point of disagreement and I think can be written convincingly, but here it just comes off as too dramatic. I liked the Vila voice, though, it was pleasant to read and created interesting interplay with the grim backstory and not exactly sunny main story.

Before and After

The only thing I liked about this fic is that Avon got put against the wall for killing Blake. (This review will surely gain me a lot of friends in the fandom.) It was bold and quite cathartic. But of course, here it was because he wanted it - he's too cool to just be shot, apparently. I can also add half a point for the homophobia thing - I don't mind exploring this subject matter in slash, and don't even mind portraying main characters as homophobic, it could be done in an interesting and nuanced manner, but here I felt like it was only somewhat interesting, but mostly felt forced and just made them too unsympathetic. Apart from that, it's just way too similar to Love Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry, except now Deva is also dragged into the Not As Good As performance.

Avon at the Window

Ouch. I guess we are supposed to read this one in non-quite-serious, kinky way, because otherwise the situation described here becomes just way too appalling and overshadows any enjoyment one could derive from characters getting together. On the other hand, at least here Avon's Horrible Past is not as jarring as in Outlaws and In-Laws, because this fic is much more angstier and here it's more a center of the story. Nova is very unsubtle at laying out the angst here, crude even - and effective, considering that from all her fics, I remember this one the most and it provoked the strongest emotional response. It's a controversial trope, and I'm not a fan of how she engages with it, but in its own way, it worked.

What I dislike, however, is that Blake is basically mischaracterized for the sake of angst. I can see him to be uncomfortable with prostitution, but I can't see him react in such over-the-top judgemental and aggressive manner. I think it would be more realistic - and more interesting - if he tried to be understanding, but was making such poor job of it, being so clearly not okay with the whole situation despite trying to be, and it eventually lead to falling out between them. I believe he at least would bother to learn more about it and would knew how old Avon was at that time! And then I would be able to buy his more bitter and aggressive behavior PGP because well, Avon shot him, he has the right to be upset, and besides he did seem more bitter and aggressive in general in the last episode. As I said, Nova is very unsubtle here and sometimes it hurts the quality of the fic. Also, while treating domes and space stations as ordinary cities under the open sky is a very common trope in Blake's 7 fanfiction, it also one of my least favorite ones and here it's truly egregious in the bits set in the Space City.

The part I liked the most is the one where they are discussing the book about the prostitution. Nova can be very good in sociopolitical stuff, and those ARE the themes where I wouldn't mind her to be unsubtle, but alas, there is too little of it in this fic.

Why I Can't Stand Vila Restal

At this point it started to read like several other fics, some of them Nova's and some of them not. I don't have much to say about this story - it's easy to read and the sex is good, but there is just nothing new about it. Also, Blake is too paternalistic in this one, which can be done well but I just don't dig it, especially in sex scenes.

Prime Suspect

Another fic that I mostly forgot soon after reading. Blake playing detective was fun, and the resolution was deliciously wacky - but what I love about Nova is that she's not afraid of wackiness. Orac bashing is probably the only sort of character bashing I can stand, and no, that's not because it's not alive, it's because it's such an asshole. (I like Orac anyway).

Time and Fevers

Other characters are dragged into Blake's and Avon's love lives to make a point about their love - again! Deva, this time, and Jenna, somewhat, and while I like Blake/Deva, but definitely not like this. At least some time is given to explore their relationship, though not much. I would have preferred if Jenna either got a larger role or wasn't mentioned at all - as it stands now, it's just too creepy. Did she also die? I think we just are not supposed to care. :(

I liked quite a lot of things about this fic. I have a weakness for the washed out, beaten down Blake, and this fic portrays him rather well. Characters are older than usual in this story, and it is also handled well. The theme of love giving you back your mojo is developed better than in Delinquent, even though it involves unfavorable comparisons with other relationship (but not explicitly so, thankfully). The angst is good and not overdramatic, but rather more muted and melancholic, which goes better with Blake's 7 fics. The stuff about sexual histories of the character was, like almost always in Nova's fics, one of the strongest points. However, some bits gave off the vibe that was too romcom-y, especially Dayna and Soolin acting like matchmakers - it's just so not my thing.

Outlaws and In-Laws

One of my favorite Nova's fics and so quintessentially her - very good and hot mess at the same time. It has a lot of themes which I like and most of which Nova generally does well: explorations of characters' pasts and their sexual histories; political themes, including sexual politics; quite a lot of worldbuilding and interesting original characters. That first time is one of my favorite ones, the sex is original, hot and not unrealistic at the same time. Even the cheesier parts didn't feel that bad (or maybe my love of the Gothic genre helped me to get through them). However, the mood of the first and the second part of the fic was just way too different, which again might have been the point, but I don't think that it works that well there. I agree with Aralias' review that Blake is too damn passive in the second part, and this that just felt like him abandoning Avon. I think it contributes to the sudden drop of temperature in the story, figuratively speaking. I also wish we spent more time with Blake's mom - she seemed like a fascinating character, and yet most of her arc was spent on wackiness and being an obstacle.

So, those are my reviews of Nova so far. Maybe I'll write more in the future after reading more fics, or maybe not. Of course, all those fics are also well-written, and easy to read, and have good characterizations, but other people already wrote about it. At this point I can describe Nova as an author who sticks strongly and noticeably to the tropes and headcanons that she likes, and some of them I like too, while others not so much. Her fics also have a lot of mood whiplash, some of which probably wasn't intended as such. I also got the impression that she's better in more lighthearted stories than in straightforward angst.

Well of course he doesn’t, he’s nothing more than a coward sycophant Trump lap dog! - Phroyd

Attorney General William P. Barr has told associates he disagrees with the Justice Department’s inspector general on one of the key findings in an upcoming report — that the FBI had enough information in July 2016 to justify launching an investigation into members of the Trump campaign, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Justice Department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, is due to release his long-awaited findings in a week, but behind the scenes at the Justice Department, disagreement has surfaced about one of Horowitz’s central conclusions on the origins of the Russia investigation. The discord could be the prelude to a major fissure within federal law enforcement on the controversial question of investigating a presidential campaign.

Barr has not been swayed by Horowitz’s rationale for concluding the FBI had sufficient basis to open an investigation on July 31, 2016, these people said.

Barr’s public defenses of President Trump, including his assertion that intelligence agents spied on the Trump campaign, have led Democrats to accuse him of acting like the president’s personal attorney and eroding the independence of the Justice Department. But Trump and his Republican allies have cheered Barr’s skepticism of the Russia investigation.

It’s not yet clear how Barr plans to make his objection to Horowitz’s conclusion known. The inspector general report, currently in draft form, is being finalized after input from various witnesses and offices that were scrutinized by the inspector general. Barr or a senior Justice Department official could submit a formal letter as part of that process, which would then be included in the final report. It is standard practice for every inspector general report to include a written response from the department. Barr could forgo a written rebuttal on that specific point and just publicly state his concerns.

Spokespeople for the Justice Department, the inspector general and the FBI all declined to comment.

The Russia investigation was opened after the FBI was told of statements made by a then-Trump campaign aide, George Papadopoulos, that the Russians possessed hacked Hillary Clinton emails. Papodopoulos’s alleged comments were key because they were made well before any public allegation that Russian intelligence operatives had hacked the Democratic National Committee.

The attorney general has privately contended that Horowitz does not have enough information to reach the conclusion the FBI had enough details in hand at the time to justify opening such a probe. He argues that other U.S. agencies, such as the CIA, may hold significant information that could alter Horowitz’s conclusion on that point, according to the people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Barr has also praised the inspector general’s overall work on the matter, according to one person familiar with the matter. The inspector general operates independently of Justice Department leadership, so Barr cannot order Horowitz to change his findings.

But the prospect of the nation’s top law enforcement official suggesting the FBI may have wrongly opened an investigation into a presidential campaign, even after the inspector general announces they were justified in doing so, will probably generate more partisan battles over how the Justice Department and the FBI operate.

It is not unusual for an attorney general or the Justice Department to disagree with some of an inspector general’s findings. However, typically those disagreements occur because senior leaders at the department believe the inspector general has been too critical. In this case, Barr has conveyed to others his belief that Horowitz has not been critical enough, or is at least reaching a conclusion prematurely.

People familiar with the draft language of Horowitz’s report said while it is critical of some FBI employees, and found some systemic problems in surveillance procedures, it overall does not agree with Trump’s charge that the investigation was a “witch hunt” or a politically motivated attack on him first as a candidate and then as president.

Instead, the draft report found that the investigation was opened on a solid legal and factual footing, these people said.

Part of Barr’s reluctance to accept that finding is related to another investigation, one being conducted by Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham, into how intelligence agencies pursued allegations of Russian election tampering in 2016. Barr has traveled abroad to personally ask foreign officials to assist Durham in that work. Even as the inspector general’s review is ending, Durham’s investigation continues.

Barr’s disagreement with Horowitz will probably spark further criticism from Democrats, who have already accused Barr of using his position to protect the president and undermine federal law enforcement.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) charged in September that Barr had “gone rogue.”

In recent weeks, Democrats have charged that Barr’s Justice Department was too quick to decide not to investigate Trump over his efforts to convince Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to announce an investigation of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. The Ukraine controversy has led to an impeachment inquiry.

Criticism of Barr previously centered on his handling of the Russia investigation. The case that began in 2016 was taken over in May 2017 by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. After a nearly two-year investigation, Mueller filed a lengthy report of his findings to Barr, by which point he had charged 34 people with crimes, including 26 Russian nationals. Those charged and convicted included Trump’s former campaign chairman, former personal attorney, former deputy campaign chairman and former national security adviser.

After receiving the Mueller report, Barr released a short letter summing up its main points, including that there was insufficient evidence to accuse any Trump associates of conspiring with the Russians. Barr also said Mueller had made no determination about whether Trump had sought to obstruct the investigation, but Barr and his then-deputy concluded he had not.

When the full report was released, Democrats protested that Barr had improperly skewed the findings to be more favorable to Trump.

Barr has dismissed such criticism, and charged it is Democrats who are abusing legal procedures and standards in their quest to drive Trump out of the White House.

“In waging a scorched-earth, no-holds-barred war against this administration, it is the left that is engaged in shredding norms and undermining the rule of law,” Barr said in a speech earlier this month.

In his first months on the job this year, Barr made clear he had serious concerns about how the FBI had conducted the investigation into possible collusion between Trump associates and Russia.

The attorney general declared in April that the Trump campaign was spied on, though aides later said he used that term not in a pejorative sense but in the more general meaning of surveillance.

“I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal,” Barr told lawmakers. “I think spying did occur, but the question is whether it was adequately predicated and I’m not suggesting it wasn’t adequately predicated, but I need to explore that.” He also criticized former leaders of the FBI, saying, “I think there was probably a failure among a group of leaders there in the upper echelon.”

Current and former law enforcement officials have said that, when presented with information about a possible plot to undermine the U.S. election, they had a duty to investigate, and it would have been wrong not to have launched an investigation.

In the months since, Barr, through Durham, has pursued information related to a onetime associate of Papodopoulos, a European academic named Joseph Mifsud.

Mifsud was publicly linked to Russian interference efforts in late 2017, when Mueller revealed Papodopoulos had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the details of his interactions with Mifsud.

Shortly after his name surfaced publicly, Mifsud told Italian media he did not work for Russia. “I never got any money from the Russians: my conscience is clear,” Mifsud told La Repubblica. “I am not a secret agent.”

Since then, the professor has disappeared from public life, leading to a host of theories about him and his whereabouts. While court papers filed in Mueller’s investigation suggested Mifsud operated in Russia’s interests, Papadopoulos, conservatives and conspiracy theorists have suggested he was working for Western intelligence agencies.

Phroyd

THE HUNDRED-RISK COMPANY MANAGEMENT COMPANY

It's so common for both a and b to be true of a successful startup that practically all do raise outside money. Prediction is usually all we have to rely on other defenses. When you're running a startup is the opinion of other investors. Successful startups either get bought or grow into big companies.1 If you're ramen profitable this painful choice goes away.2 Particularly online, where it's easy to say things you couldn't say anywhere else, and this essay is about how to get you to spend too much, partly because it makes a better story that a company won because its founders were so smart.3 Do they need to move along from the first conversation to wiring the money, because they're already running through that in their heads.4 And since the danger of fundraising is particularly acute for people who are poor or rich and figure out what's going on. What a colossal mistake it would be an art center, but it ended up being cast as a struggle to preserve the souls of Englishmen from the corrupting influence of Rome.

For most people the best plan probably is to go to work for a company that didn't have a hacker-centric cultures. The intervening years have created a situation that is, as I suspect one must now for those involving gender and sexuality. Most employees' work is tangled together.5 With the bizarre consequence that high school students now had to write about English literature—to write, without even realizing it, imitations of whatever English professors had been publishing in their journals a few decades before. Talking about an idea leads to more ideas.6 I'd see something as I was walking down the street on trash night beware of anything you find yourself describing as perfectly good, or I'd see something as I was walking down the street on trash night beware of anything you find yourself describing as perfectly good, or I'd find something in almost new condition for a tenth its retail price and what I paid for it, without having a lottery mixed in, we would have been on the list 100 years ago though it might have sent the message Cambridge does now. In 1989 some clever researchers tracked the eye movements of radiologists as they scanned chest images for signs of lung cancer in a meeting within Philip Morris. Take a label—sexist, for example. Rapid growth is what makes it hard.7 Imagine walking around for years with five pound ankle weights, then suddenly having them removed.

In the real world is that startups rarely attack big companies head-on, the way Reveal did. A startup can't endure that level of ability can get you in trouble.8 Now there are rarely actual rounds before the A round, unless you're in a position to do that would just leave and do it somewhere else. You don't need to rely on other defenses. I'd agree that taste is just personal preference. My advice is, don't say it.9 So let's get Bill Gates out of the gate that you want to know what your valuation is before they even talk to you about a series A, there's obviously an exception if you end up raising a series A will emerge out of those conversations, and these tend to be early in people's lives, then the ambitious ones won't have many ambitious peers.

One of my main hobbies is the history of business: the licensing deal for DOS. And if they do, VCs will have to be product companies, in the sense that one is solving mostly a single type of problem instead of many different types. Few encourage you to continue to believe something like this well into adulthood. You just can't fry eggs or cut hair fast enough.10 Good hackers care a lot about where to live.11 So they must be a media company to throw Microsoft off their scent. But by that time, not points. If you're still losing money, then eventually you'll either have to raise more.12 Cadillac of cars in about 1970. Fortunately for startups, big companies are extremely good at denial.

No matter who you pick, they'll find faces engaging. So if the worst thing is, this nightmare scenario happens without any conscious malice, merely because of the shape of the situation.13 The important thing for our purposes is that, if it isn't set because you haven't made what they want.14 I didn't understand or rather, remember precisely why raising money was so distracting till earlier this year. Except books—but books are different. But by definition you don't care; the initial offer was acceptable. Unless you're experienced enough at fundraising to have a plan. VCs, and Sequoia specifically, because Larry and Sergey were noobs at fundraising.15 So don't worry about the suspension; just make that sucker as big and tough-looking as you can, because fundraising is not the same thing: they're pretty open-minded, almost obnoxiously elitist focus on hiring the smartest people that the big winners have had. This isn't just because smart people actively work to find holes in conventional thinking. The most likely source of examples is math.

But that wasn't the worst problem. It's like the court of Louis XIV. Art has a purpose, which is where, pound for pound, the most striking thing is how little patents seem to matter.16 To launch a taboo, a group has to be type A fundraising. It's the nature of fashion to be invisible. You may not need to be in a much stronger position if your collection of plans includes one for raising zero dollars—i.17 This was too subtle for me.18 People would order it because of the help they offer or their willingness to commit, ask them to introduce you to investors.19

But this will change if enough startups choose SF over the Valley. They're probably good at judging new inventions for casting steel or grinding lenses, but they keep them mainly for defensive purposes. At level 4 we reach the first form of convincing disagreement: counterargument.20 No, except yes if you turn out to be a compulsive negotiator.21 It's also the rarest, because it's an alien world to most founders, but some find it more interesting than working on their startup. Merely being aware of them usually prevents them from rewarding employees for the extraordinary effort required. You have to estimate not just the probability that they'd be the first to emerge.22 Because the main way to spend money on stuff. In fact they were more law schools. I'm not going to apply for patents just because everyone else does. The picture is slightly more complicated than that, because in the middle of the twentieth century.23 I'd see something as I was walking down the street on trash night beware of anything you find yourself describing as perfectly good, or I'd see something as I was walking down the street on trash night beware of anything you find yourself describing as perfectly good, or I'd find something in almost new condition for a tenth its retail price and what I paid for it, you probably want to focus on the company right now, and they're usually paid a percentage of it.

Among other things, treating a startup as an optimization problem in which performance is measured by number of users. Many of the employees e. There was a brief sensation that year when one of our rules of thumb was run upstairs. If anything, it's more like the first five. If you could find people who'd eliminated all such influences on their judgement, you'd probably still see variation in what they liked. Their size makes them slow and prevents them from working. But the breakage seems to affect software less than most other fields. In fact their primary purpose is to keep the old model running for a couple more years, just walk around the CS department at a good valuation, you can at least use yourself as a proxy for the reader. They do something people want. Is to teach kids. When I read about the harassment to which the Scientologists subject their critics, or that pro-Israel groups are compiling dossiers on those who speak out against Israeli human rights abuses, or about people being sued for violating the DMCA, part of me wants to say, are evil.24 Which they deserve because they're taking more risk.

Notes

But it wouldn't be irrational.

No. Not all big hits follow this pattern though. But it's a significant startup hub.

Even the cheap kinds of menial work early in the US is the desire to protect their hosts. Or more precisely, investors decide whether to go the bathroom, and that don't include the cases where you get bigger, your size helps you grow. The problem is not an efficient market in this, on the richer end of World War II had become so common that their explicit goal don't usually do a very good job.

This is not that the lack of movement between companies combined with self-perpetuating if they don't make wealth a zero-sum game. Like early medieval architecture, impromptu talks are made of spolia. Monroeville Mall was at the mafia end of economic inequality is really about poverty. In theory you could build products as good ones.

Source: Nielsen Media Research.

This essay was written before Firefox. This is the same weight as any successful startup? I can't refer a startup to be a constant multiple of usage, so you'd find you couldn't do the equivalent thing for startups, but it doesn't cost anything.

Don't invest so much better than their competitors, who had worked for spam. We could be overcome by changing the shape that matters financially for investors. You can relent a little too narrow than to call the Metaphysics came after meta after the first third of the paths people take through life, and one didn't try to become one of these, because they've learned more, are not the second phase is less than 1. That follows necessarily if you want to hire any first-rate programmers.

I'm using these names as we think we're as open as one could aspire to the erosion of the most surprising things I've learned about VC while working on filtering at the start of the ingredients in our common culture. One YC founder wrote after reading a draft, Sam Rayburn and Lyndon Johnson.

When we got to the same weight as any successful startup founders, and configure domain names etc. Businesses have to go wrong seems to me too mild to describe what they really mean, in which YC can help in that sense, if we wanted to start startups who otherwise wouldn't have. Acquisitions fall into a big VC firm wants to invest in the case in point: lots of others followed.

4%? Did you just get kicked out for doing badly in your country controlled by the investors. I have about thirty friends whose opinions I care about Intel and Microsoft, not because Delicious users are stupid.

Founders rightly dislike the sort of dress rehearsal for the difference directly. 32. Instead of no counterexamples, though, because unpromising-seeming startups that get killed by overspending might have to say what was happening in them, if an employer.

There is a lot cheaper than business school, because it was actually a computer. You can retroactively describe any made-up idea as an asset class. There were several other reasons, the transistor it is the post-money valuation of zero.

And maybe we should work like casual conversation. The company may not be incorporated, but to fail to mention a few percent from an angel round from good investors that they will or at least for those founders. Morgan's hired hands. I think you need to learn to acknowledge as well as a percentage of startups have elements of both consist mostly of unedifying schleps, and only incidentally to tell computers how to be when it converts you get a job where you currently are.

High school isn't evil; it's IBM. The moment I do in proper essays. Many famous works of their works are lost. But it's a collection itself.

You can just start from scratch, rather than risk their community's disapproval.

Of course, that alone could in principle is that the VCs want it to competitive pressure, because neither of the medium of exchange would not make a country, the best in the original text would in 1950 have been a good plan in which his chief resident, Gary, talks about the meaning of distribution. The point where things start to leave. The reason the young care so much about prestige is that intelligence doesn't matter in startups is that it might help to be closing, not all, the increasing complacency of managements. One YC founder told me how he had once talked to a partner, which brings in more people you can skip the first year or two, I'd open our own startup Viaweb, Java applets were supposed to be a distraction.

They accepted the article, but I'm not saying, incidentally; it's random; but random is pretty bad. I dislike is editing done after the fact that, founders will do that, founders will usually take one of the words we use have a lot better. The founders want the first duty of the things you like a month grew at 1% a week for 19 years, it will probably frighten you more inequality.

The French Laundry in Napa Valley. Doing things that don't include the prices of new stock.

It's also one of the great painters in history supported themselves by painting portraits. If it failed.

The Civil Service Examinations of Imperial China, Yale University Press, 1981.

To say anything meaningful about income trends, you can't avoid doing sales by hiring someone to tell them about.

Change in the field they describe. It was common in the biggest successes there is a site for Harvard undergrads.

In practice most successful ones.

Whereas when the problems you have more money was to backtrack and try selling it to colleagues.

Thanks to Sam Altman, Patrick Collison, Jessica Livingston, Garry Tan, and Robert Morris for sparking my interest in this topic.

I dont know if you watch the nick jonas and his wifes vogue interview but there was a moment that nick pulls her chair closer. I thought maybe you can do something like that with bts

–I hadn’t seen the interview, but I went and watched it at your recommendation and oh my goodness, it’s such a cute little moment! Here’s my take on the scenario, I hope you like it!! 💕💜

You x Namjoon“Two Years Into Forever”

You let Namjoon help you out of your coat and smile at the attendant who takes it from him and hangs it up. “Thank you so much,” you say to the man with a smile, waiting for your husband to wriggle out of his own jacket.    He gives a half-bow. “Of course. Enjoy yourself, ma’am.”    “Absolutely,” you say, taking Namjoon’s offered arm. “Have a good night.” The two of you step into the entrance hall and when he stops to check his reflection in the giant mirror on the wall, you roll your eyes. “Here,” you say irritably, turning him towards you and fixing his tie.    “Thanks so much,” he says, a deadpan imitation of your over-the-top kindness to the attendant earlier.     You swallow a retort, knowing neither one of you would be proud of your behavior later. You turn to check yourself in the mirror and take a small breath; the argument in the car had been so ridiculous, but there hadn’t been time to really resolve it before you’d arrived at the wedding venue. It had been a busy week (a busy week leading into an even busier next week) and both of you had let the stress drive you to bickering that had morphed into an actual argument.    “Ready?” He’s holding his arm out to you again, but his gaze is already fixed on the flower arches that lead into the venue.    You smooth a strand of hair back into place and then turn towards him, studying him for a moment. You take a small breath and then slip your arm through his. “We can do this, right?” you murmur pointedly as he helps you up the stairs to the first flower arch.    “Of course,” he answers stiffly. “Tonight is about them.”    You bite down on your sharp reply as he pulls open the door. As soon as you step into the reception, you’re intercepted by couple after couple, all friends who want to compliment how good the two of you look together, how pretty your dress is, how long it had been since they’d seen you, how beautiful the party looked. You and Namjoon get separated at one point, and you have warring feelings of bitterness and needing him by your side. Almost like he’d heard you, he appeared suddenly, handing you a drink but turning away before you could speak. Jerk. You turn away from him, scanning the crowd for other friends and acquaintances.    “Hey!” One of the groomsmen pops into view. He crushes you two together as he gives you a joint hug. “How is my favorite couple??”    You smile tolerantly, but stand back to let Namjoon handle the conversation. “Good, good,” he says, shaking the groomsman’s hand. “Nice to see you.”    “You guys, too—you look great. Actually, can I borrow you guys for a second?” He’s smiling so wide that you can see all of his teeth. “We’ve got this little studio set up, and we’re asking couples to come in and record a little video message with some advice for the bride and groom!”     “Oh,” Namjoon hesitates. “We just got here, and—”     “Come on,” he wheedles. “They desperately need advice from everyone’s favorite couple! You know you guys are relationship goals.”     You sigh quietly, knowing that he wouldn’t go away until he had what he wanted. “Sure,” you say, giving him a bright smile. “Where do we need to go?” He gives an elated little cheer, and gestures towards the back of the hall. Namjoon puts his hand gently on the small of your back, guiding you forward, and then follows close behind.    The “studio” is a small room off the side of the main hall that’s been setup with a handheld camera and a couple of high-backed fancy stools in front of a flowery backdrop. The groomsman introduces you to the “director” and then disappears with a bright smile and a “You guys are the best!!”    The director is an old friend of Namjoon’s and they chat easily while he sets up the camera. He leads the two of you towards the stools. “All right, man, we’ll have you there,” he says, pointing to the far stool, “And your wife here—you both look great, by the way.”    You smile politely and gather the skirt of your dress in preparation to climb onto the high stool, but before you can figure out just how you’re going to do it, Namjoon appears and lifts you easily onto the seat. He stays a moment, making sure you’re settled, then goes to his own spot. The two stools have quite a bit of space between them, and you smile to yourself a little bitterly as you realize the setup is a perfect representation of the post-fight distance between the two of you right now. Pushing it aside, you smooth your dress and smile at the camera, preparing for the interview.    “All right, you two,” the director says. “This video is a little “welcome to marriage” diary for the happy couple, and we wanted to interview as many rock-solid couples as possible, just get your best advice, you know. So…how long have you been married? How long have you been together?”    Namjoon answers first. “We’ve been married for 2 years, known each other for 5.”    “2 years, huh?” the man repeats. “Still in the honeymoon phase, or not so much?” He directs this question at you.    You smile politely. “In some ways, I don’t think we’ll ever move out of the honeymoon phase. It just gets better and better.” You try not to think about the irritable frost between you.    The director nods encouragingly. “You guys sure seem like a great couple.” He looks at Namjoon. “I mean, tell us about your wife, man—how did you get so lucky?”    “You know…” Namjoon looks over at you, his quick mind already whirling towards an answer, but as soon as you meet his eyes, he freezes. The softest smile crosses his face and you can actually see all the leftover prickliness melt away. “She’s perfect,” he says, and as all your defenses are melting away, he suddenly reaches over and grabs the stool’s legs, pulling you carefully towards him until you are nestled against his side. He slings his arm around the back of the seat, bringing you even closer, and then nods. “That’s better. Anyway, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to explain my luck. She’s honestly just my best friend in the whole world, and I can’t imagine my life without her.”    He’s tenderly tracing patterns into your shoulder with the arm slung around you and you almost want to cry at his honest praise. The stupid argument from the car flashes through your mind and you feel equal parts guilty and relieved that it was now officially over. Taking a small breath, you shift in your seat, cuddling against him a little more and reach over to take his free hand in one of yours.    “So you followed the old adage of marry your best friend,” the director sums up. He looks at you. “Do you agree with that sentiment?”    You nod immediately, smiling as you feel Namjoon softly run his thumb over your knuckles, glad to have a chance to voice your own praise. “He just makes everything easier, you know? Having my best friend at my side all the time just makes everything easier. And it’s never boring. I think I learn something new about him everyday, even though I feel like we both know every corner of each other’s soul perfectly.”    “Married life is a pretty easy ride, right? The boat never gets rocked?”    You think of the way the two of you had entered the reception, your bitter exchange in the hallway, and feel the tips of your ears go pink. “Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” you laugh lightly, looking up at Namjoon.    He meets your eyes and squeezes your hand a little sheepishly. “It’s not always sunny,” he admits, not looking away from your face. “But even through the craziest storms or the dumbest little disagreements, we’re still a team. She’s still the person I trust the most, the only one I want to talk to when I’m happy or sad….”    You smile as he trails off. “The best part about marriage is having that rock, that partner-in-crime. I rely on him like no one else, and even when we disagree, I know he’s still my protector and my lifeline all in one.” Every trace of the earlier argument has disappeared, and all you can think as you look into your husband’s eyes is how much you love this man.    Evidently, he’s thinking along the same lines because he leans forward suddenly, pressing his lips tenderly to yours. “I love you,” he says softly as he pulls back.    “I love you, too.”     Someone coughs in the background, and the color rushes to your face as you suddenly remember that the two of you are not alone. “Wow,” the director says. “You two really are just in your own little world, aren’t you?”    “I’m so sorry,” Namjoon says, but he can’t stop smiling, secretly pleased with himself: you know how much he loves to show you off in public. He squeezes your hand and settles back in his seat. “I promise we’ll behave from now on.”    You’re still blushing furiously, but you take a small breath and smooth back a strand of your hair. “Yes, sorry about that.”    The director laughs. “Nah, don’t worry. You guys are adorable. So, what would you say is the most important thing to remember about marriage?”    Namjoon fields this question, so you settle back in your seat and listen to him talk: now that the tension between you two had evaporated, the words rolled more easily off his tongue, and as he talks you can feel him playing with the ends of your hair. You turn to watch him, unable to keep the slightly-goofy smile off your face as you listen to his familiar, calming cadence. Throughout the rest of the interview, he runs his fingertips over your neck and back, squeezes your hand, bumps his shoulder against yours, and once he even kisses your cheek at the end of one of your answers. You find yourself completely grateful for this silly little video interview, for the way it had so perfectly fixed the tiny rift between the two of you.    When you’re finally done, Namjoon gets to his feet and then turns to face you. He kisses your forehead and then murmurs against your skin, “I’m sorry, my love. I was being ridiculous.”     “I’m sorry, too,” you say, grabbing the lapels of his suit jacket and holding him in place. “I adore you.”    He grins and pulls back. “Let’s go find some food, yeah?”    “Yes!” you agree eagerly. “Plus, we should probably find the newlyweds at some point…”    “Probably.” He puts his hands on your waist and helps you down from the stool; he doesn’t let go once you’re on your feet. Turning slightly towards his friend, he gives a small wave. “Thank you!” His arm still wrapped around your waist, he guides you out of the studio room, but once you’re in the secluded hallway, he spins you around to face him. “You really are my best friend,” he says seriously, leaning down to rest his forehead against yours.     You smile. “And you’re mine, sweetest husband in the entire world.” You eagerly accept his kiss, wrapping your arms around his neck when he tries to pull away too soon. When you finally break apart, you straighten his tie again. “You look so good, babe. I kinda wish we were home right now…”     “Oh yeah?” He raises one eyebrow at you, making your heart race. “Well…maybe we just go congratulate the happy couple, grab a few snacks, and head back home…?”      The silly butterflies he had always given you fill your stomach again and you nod. “Yes, please.”    He kisses you again, then slips his hand into yours. “Okay, love. Let’s go.”

jenkai discourse in retrospection

 (long post)

to take a slightly more light hearted break from all the updates regarding the burning sun case, I propose a discourse of jxk in retrospection after gaining all the new knowledge exposed by the media recently

dont read if you dont want to, if you read please dont come attack me for posting what I want on my own blog 🥰

In no way is what I type facts, and I am NOT comparing burning sun case with jxk (jxk is so insignificant and jxk is not a criminal case) yet I will make references to what the media and companies are capable of doing as proven by the exposure from the b. sun case regarding similar behaviours.

---

we now know that the kpop world is not what some once thought - an ideal fairytale land where idols/ the media never lie to us.

The truth:

We finally realize for sure that in korean ent. industry, sexual favours (in exchange for sponsors, promotion via media manipulation, basically fame and safety), offering prostitutes services... all in all using SEX is commonly used in return for connections / power / protection from the 'higher ups'.

why did jxk happen?

I propose: to cover yg x jni sex/sexual activities and jni has sponsors rumours (updated). After knowing yg is to a certain degree (personal assumption: large extent) involved in B.Sun and gangnam clubs, it makes sense to suspect that the jni rumour could be real. look up yg's past history, how he obtained his wife (emphasis, obtain). 12 years older yg 'fell in love' the moment he saw his wife as a second year middle school girl, recruited her at 16, ruined her career and married her. who knows how exactly yg treats his younger girl employees? Who is there to protect them?

but its just a 'groundless' rumour why was yg desperate?

to propose reasons: 1) it could be real, if so he HAS to camouflage it before it blows up further. 2) even if its not real, he didnt want to put bp's and his own name's reputation at stakes since bp is his most money earning group right now 3) if he doesnt make a deal with dispatch, who ofc are capable of digging deeper and they hate yg (proven by their ability to obtain kkt chats and exposing b.sun evidences) to supply them a fake scandal to cover ygxjni... dispatch WILL expose him. (also keep in mind jni has other sponsor rumour that might or not be true). and 4) - suggested by anon: yg could be taking precautions before b.sun scandal blows up. As we know b.sun revolves around sex crimes, Yg must get rid of the 'boss had sex with employee' label before b.sun blows up. Or else he will get dragged, it would be like adding oil on fire.

this theory is reinforced by allshitpop stating a media outlet discriminately announced 'the yg x jni rumour was false.' why purposefully mention it when no one asked?

but why ji?

main reason: hes an artist from sm. Yg desperately needed a scandal impacting enough to satisfy dispatch (releasing small unconvincing sandals will discredit dispatch's liability and reputation. ) But what to do when none of yg's male artists are popular enough to create a fuss nor any male groups's careers mature and stable enough to withstand the scandal pressure from the general public? the obvious solution is ofc to beg other big companies - sm or bighxt.

Most popular boy groups atm is still btx and ekso. honestly yg wouldve prefered btx due to their crazy fame, and jni will be their first dating scandal... the reactions would be DRAMATIC. yet in contrast to ekso, btx didnt really need to take that risk in hopes for more popularity. (rmb there would always be adverse effects when being involved in a dating scandal despite positive reactions and large no. of supporters). Also, even if btx has any scandals to cover, bighxt's recent merge with cj-enm (described as 'a powerhouse' aka very huge powerful company) means btx's any potential scandals can be taken care of for now. so that leaves ekso.

Who in ekso fits ji's image the most?

(hence will recieve 'positive' reactions and make them more aesthetically believable. without a doubt, its ji and his on going promoted sex appeal.) Reasons for ji and not other members: 1. theres no harm in giving him a beard (personal belief, ignore point 1. if you think homosexuality/kaisoo pairing isn't plausible) 2. to raise his popularity for his potential upcoming solo. 3. if someone who was involved in dating scandal before came up again, they probably predicts the pairing to be more positively recieved --> more supportors and a more hyped response from the public.

but none of that happened, the scandal was managed poorly. The paris evidence was made in a rush (dates didnt match) park pictures were too ambiguous (again dates and time didnt match), even when dispatch posted a pic of ji in a carpark supposedly came back from hawaii to give jni presents after landing - we learned from ji's own ig live that the day he wore the outfit in the photo, he had already returned to korea a few days ago, was around town shopping and went no where near the airport. Besides these failed attempts there was absolutely no other proof that jxk is real.

why was it poorly managed?

bc this is a rare collab between two big rival companies. Yg was the one begging at the start yet sm wasnt able to take full control of this scandal. Conflicts and disagreements upon makng many decisions were highly likely to occur between these two rivals.

The break up

a lot of fans were shocked when jxk broke up just after 25 days. (brand new record). what else is weird?

sm personally confirmed jxk broke up abruptly. Usually when couples break up, fan rumours start to float around first. But not this time, no rumours surfaced yet sm all of a sudden definitively stated that jxk broke up. Back then I already predicted it maybe because yg or bp got into trouble hence sm wanted to distance themselves as far as possible. I still stand by that idea.

Sm must get away from yg and b.sun case for the sake of theirs/ekso's reputation. sm def dont want to be dragged into the mess. Remember, sm as a huge company themselves def have their own dirt to hide, getting dragged means huge consequences if the investigators target them.

so why did sm agree in the first place? I assume its bc altho sm knew that yg had dirt to hide, they did not know it was something as serious, severe and big as b.sun case / tax evading case. Therefore, what are the coincidences that sm announced breakup shortly before dispatch sparked reinvestigation into b.sun by posting crucial evidences? (the first chats)

its highly possible that dispatch warned sm, (which makes them sound like the good guys but no. remember sm is dispatch's source of money and partnered with them many times. b.sun indeed aint directly related to sm, (as for now) dispatch has no reason to ruin sm) Or, sm could have found out through other sources that b.sun case will blow up soon. they quickly cut their collab with yg early, and announced break up probably without telling yg first. (since telling them possibly means giving dispatch away).

this also suggests that dispatch hates yg but anyway.

The benefits of ji

Comparing the two, jni seems to be the one who gained more from the scandal. She got most of media and the public's attention. there is an explanation for this - shes the 'rookier' one, and the trendier one out if the two since bp is still rising when ekso has reached their plateau. However, ji did gain his own lesser share of attention (indicated by the gained followers on his ig).

I have always said that when idols agree to be involved in a scandal, they are likely to get a 'reward.' but now thinking about it, agreeing to scandals is part of ji's contract, rewards are bonus but not obligations. Besides, the scandal itself supposedly helps ji gain popularity for solo and gains a beard, sm didnt NEED to give him more bonus. Often when idols get more modelling jobs / solo etc after scandals is bc sm uses the risen populairty from scandal as an opportunity to maximise profit by giving them more jobs, it might not be bc sm wants 'pamper' them.

Plan cut short

unfortunately for ji who is not getting his solo soon, the jxk plan flopped due to poor management, and was cut short due to b.sun case. The scandal did not fulfill what it was supposed to do and ended prematurely . Followed by the apparent troubles in sm negotiating contract terms with ekso, (delayed ekso schedules),chxn suddenly getting a solo, and the blowing up of b.sun case, ji might have missed his chance again. Or hes simply still preparing.

to summarize i want to clarify a few things.

- none of these are facts, but an overall picture forming one huge speculation.

- I dont try to defame bp or shame them. i also am not trying to state that girl artists def had sex with the hihgher ups. b.sun has shown us that men always have more power over women, and they rarely get protection.

- I want people to realize the dark side of kpop. The kpop industry is full of conspiracies, media manipulation and lies. What you see on tv is not who your idols are portrayed to be on camera. Don't impose your ideal vision on them and hurt others when reality suggests otherwise.

side note: this theory conveyed reinforcement to statements I've made before

- conspiracies are real and true. Look at all the dark and shady events involved in b.sun case

- media play, mass manipulation exist and are common practice.

- dispatch and sm collab and are partners on a case by case basis.

- idols lie on interviews all the time, their tv persona is different from the real them.

- companies offer protection for their idols

- it is indeed common practice to use one scandal to cover another

ANYTHING can happen in the world of the k ent industry. dont lightly dismiss any possibilities. We must analyse the sum of the situations - the full picture of any events before believing anything we are told.

Snow White with the Red Hair: An Appealing Image of Respect and Honor

Our guest post today comes from author Audie Thacker, whom you can also find writing about anime and other topics at Speculative Faith.

-----

I almost didn’t start watching this series.

When I first saw some notices about it, I had either finished or was close to finishing Yona of the Dawn. Seeing how much the girl in the image for SWRH looked like Yona, my first reaction was that it was some kind of cheap copy of Yona, so I dismissed it as something not worth watching.

Why did I finally give it shot? Maybe just because those notices kept showing up, but even that’s not really much of an answer. For whatever reasons, after a few days or weeks of spurning the suggestion, I finally gave in and gave it a try.

And from the first image of the first episode, I was drawn to it.

That first episode opens with a very close view of a dew drop on a leaf, and reflecting in the dew drop was the sky and the tops of several towering trees. It’s a very well-made image, displaying how much care had been put into the art and animation for this series.

After that, what kept me hooked was the interplay between the two main characters, Shirayuki and Zen.

Romance stories often rely on certain tropes, things that are common in such stories, situations that can provide tension between the two love interests until the end when they finally realize that they don’t want to live without the other. For example, the misunderstanding the makes one person angry at the other, the ex who shows up out of nowhere just as the two are starting to make some progress in their relationship, or the secret that one of them keeps from the other that they fear would ruin the relation if it should ever come out.

What struck me strongly after a few episodes of SWRH is that these kinds of typical tropes are either missing, or given a creative twist.

There is one early episode that plays on the idea of being spurned, where it seems as if Zen has banned Shirayuki from the palace. But one of the things this series does differently is that instead of having Shirayuki wallow in this misunderstanding, going away to feel miserable and alone, she determines to hear from Zen himself about what’s happened, and does so even when it seems like her own life may have been threatened.

So, I watched one episode after another, finding myself very much enjoying the series, until at the end of the first season I was ready to put it among my favorites. In fact, SWRH is the subject of the first review I sent to Speculative Faith.

What was it about this series that drew me so strongly? Why even did I keep thinking about it, pondering what I had seen in it?

After all, while this is a pleasant series, most viewers might think it’s not a deep series. A person watching it would likely not put it in the same category as an Evangelion, or a Fullmetal Alchemist, or a March Comes In Like A Lion, the types of series that have complex situations and complex characters. SWRH is for the most part just the slow unfolding of a nice romance.

Yet it’s how that romance unfolds that I found so entrancing.

I’ve mentioned one thing that drew my attention—the lack of the normal sources of conflict in such romance stories. But there’s more to this. What I was watching was two people who treated each other well, who respected each other, who honored each other’s efforts, who trusted each other, and who wanted to help and support the other in any way they thought was best.

This is a day of hyperbole and exaggeration. It’s everywhere, and it’s wearisome. An ad for food can’t just be about how good the food is, but about how someone is so obsessed with it that they can barely function without it, and must scale mountains and cross deserts and even fight karate-kicking koalas in order to have this food. I usually find I’m kicking against that kind of thing, trying to be more thoughtful, or maybe cynical, in my views of things.

So, it seems as if I’m going a bit against myself when I write this: SWRH is one of the few, the very few, romances I’ve seen, either in real life or in fiction, that has left me thinking that if I were in a relationship with a woman, I would want it to be like the one in this series, that I would want to treat her with the same kind of honor and respect, as well as affection, that Zen treats Shirayuki.

In our culture, relationships are a shipwreck.

For example, the divorce stats are horrible, and that’s dealing with divorce and separations merely as stats, and not as real-world events with real-world and far-reaching consequences.

But I don’t even have to look only at stats to see how bad things are. I can look at things I’ve seen and heard my own self: people dating each other who seemed to care only for themselves instead of the other person, husbands and wives who speak to each other with irritation and even anger, times when seemingly innocent words sparked a fire of disagreement between a couple that did not soon die down, separations and divorces that seemingly came out of nowhere. All of it has shown me a rather bleak picture.

While things are better in the church, they really do not seem to be much so. Perhaps, as some sources indicate, the divorce rate among those who are “committed Christians” is not as high as among those who are considered “marginal,” but at 38 percent that still seems rather a high percentage.

One little anime series is not going to cure these things, but at least for me, it’s given me some things to ponder on. Here are some examples.

There is an episode where Shirayuki is taking a test to see if she’s able to be a court herbalist. It’s a test that lasts a couple of days, and she has to watch over the plants in a greenhouse. At one point, the head court herbalist tells Zen that as a prince of the country all he has to do is to say the word, and Shirayuki will be accepted into the position no matter if she passes the test or doesn’t.

I’d guess that many people might consider that if Zen really did care about her then he would do anything in his power to ensure her position, even throwing his weight around a little to make sure she got it.

But that’s not what Zen does. He’s seen her prepare for this test, and knows that she would not want the position if she could not earn it honestly. Plus, he knows that she’d be very upset with him if he did use his authority in that way. He respect her efforts and her wishes, even if that may mean she doesn’t pass the test.

In a later episode, Zen and his crew travel to inspect a fort, but when they get there they find the soldiers are seriously ill, so along with Shirayuki they have to find out what’s happened.

Shirayuki and Zen work together to fix this situation, but in their own ways and with their own expertise: Shirayuki uses her knowledge to find out what’s making the men sick and is able to get them back up and going again soon, while Zen and his people set out to deal with the bandits who were really behind the cause of the fort’s problems.

But maybe even more significantly, this episode shows that Zen and Shirayuki can correct and even scold each other without the other person taking it personally and getting all offended about it. Shirayuki tells Zen to stay away from the sick soldiers while she’s trying to learn what’s happened, and while he does kick against it a little, he eventually accepts the advice and stays away. Later, when Shirayuki has exhausted herself in taking care of the recovering soldiers, Zen gently scolds her a bit for not asking for help when she was wearing down.

This is something else that can be uncommon in real life, where the person being corrected can all too often take the correction as an insult, an attack, and become offended at the one daring to tell them they are wrong. And this problem is all too often made worse when the person doing the correcting will do so in a way that seems to belittle the one being corrected. When the person doing the correcting is demeaning and insulting, or prideful and superior, that can make the correction all the harder to accept, even if it is needed.

The scene that really caused me to begin thinking the first time I watched through the series was the proposal.

We have certain popular images of how a marriage proposal is to be done. Two of those images are what I’ll call the Buffoonish and the Beggarly.

By Buffoonish, I don’t mean unintentional mistakes—I can understand any man making an unintentional buffoon of himself in such a situation—but an element of silliness and even foolishness that’s inserted on purpose into the proposal to make the occasion seem less serious than it should; for example, the man who has “the question” pop up on a screen during a sporting event, or the man who has “the question” written in the sky by an airplane.

The Beggarly is clearly shown in jewelry store commercials: the man and woman are walking in the park, chatting about this or that, then suddenly he drops to one knee, looks up into her face with puppy dog eyes, and with a pleading voice pops “the question”, and of course the lady in the commercial thinks it’s all moving and romantic, and the ad ends with the two of them kissing while the jewelry store’s jingle plays.

Only one word is needed for me to sum up my reactions to these two images…

Barf.

When Zen knelt before Shirayuki, it wasn’t as a pleading puppy, and when he gave words to his feelings for her, he didn’t make a joke out of it. There was a necessary gravity to the situation and to his words, an acknowledging that what he’s saying and what he’s asking of her were not insignificant, but rather that they were serious and important, that the moment and their responses would bring great changes to both of them.

A proposal can be an occasion for joy and merriment, but for a man to make a joke of a marriage proposal or to act like a beggar is to demean and disrespect both the occasion and the woman he is asking.

The Bible’s relationship advice is often kinda sparse, usually addressing people already married with advice like, “Husbands, love your wives”, and, “Wives, submit to your husbands.” Zen and Shirayuki are not yet married, but in showing two people greatly respecting to each other, honoring each other’s positions and efforts, listening to each other, supporting each other, and sharing with each other their desires to walk by each other’s side for the rest of their lives, this story does give us a fairly good example of how that advice might look in practice.

=====

Audie is a Christian of undetermined denomination. He hangs out at Reformed Anime Hub a lot, usually peacefully. Usually. Like all writers, he likes to pretend to himself that he’s a writer, and sometimes, on rare occasion, he even actually writes.

Visual Guide to Adventurer George “The Comet” Crawley’s search for the “The Vanishing Princess” (1928 - 1936)

Luthien Tinuviel: (Elven Princess/Original Incantation)

“While exploring the throne room of the kings and queens, I found this.” The boy suddenly put up next to the masterful illustration of Lady Elfstone a large photograph of a mural upon a pearl marble wall.

Martha Levinson took a step closer as if drawn in by what she saw. It was a painting of a woman dancing by moonlight through a forest. Fireflies fluttered about her painted figure as she moved. The young woman had long raven tresses that were sown with flowers of the forest. Her figure was pale and slender with bright shining grey eyes. The loose gown she wore was cerulean and made of a fine silk that sparkled in the moonlight. For a moment, Martha was once more overtaken with the same overwhelming sense of sorrowful love for the woman in the wall mural as Lady Elfstone. She caught herself reaching out to touch the photograph. When she noticed it, the old woman cleared her throat and withdrew her hand, refusing to glance to the kid for his reaction. The young adventurer looked up at her, but yet, there was no judgement in his eyes to her emotion.

Lady Elfstone: (Last Princess of Byzantium/ First Lady of the House of Grantham/ Second Incarnation)

“Who is she?” She desperately stifled the emotion in her throat.

“This is the Lady Elfstone …” The boy read from the ancient inscription in the chronicle. “To what her real name is, I don’t know, they don’t say. She was a Byzantine Princess, the last of the Imperial House. She had fled the fall of Constantinople. How she got to England, no one knows, not even the monks of the abbey. She washed up in Wales and was found by a Tudor Lord. They said that she had never spoke of her life in Byzantium again, “fore the grief of her people’s ancestral city afire was too great”. But she was a beauty like holy sapphi … uh, well, to sum up, they say she was really beautiful. And uh, her voice was a match for even a heavenly chorus. She was kept as a prize of the Lancastrian Court in London. The monks here say that only her presence and the Grecian hymnals and songs she wove could quell the fits of madness that would overcome Henry VI, and so Margaret of Anjou kept her a prisoner in the tower.” The boy turned the page. He blew on the dry piece of parchment as he leaned close to read. “It seemed that Queen Margaret wanted to give her to the Lancastrian Heir. But on the day of their wedding, she uh, she fled, I guess. Someone smuggled her out of the castle … and she rode for Yorkist lands in Northern England. She sought sanctuary at … Downton Abbey.” The boy stopped and looked up in surprise at Martha. For a just a beat they felt a pang of something, a tiny breath upon their neck, a slender figure crowned in roses that sat upon the sofa watching them. The boy shook his head and continued.

“The monks took her in, but uh, Lords Somerset and Percy marched an army to take her back …”

“Must have been one hell of a woman.”

“Yeah, well they incurred the wrath of the Knight of the county … Sir Grantham “The Black Dragon”. He was the bastard son of Lady Katherine Percy, and Lord Percy’s half-brother, whose land the abbey was on. There was a battle on that field over there.” The boy pointed past the columned veranda at the edge of the gardens. “They outnumbered Sir Grantham’s forces three to one, but the Knight wouldn’t yield to them the beautiful Lady for any price, threat, or odds … eventually, the “Black Dragon” stood alone and surrounded, fighting his last stand by the doors of the abbey itself taking up a notched battle axe and stricken helm, but uh, he fought off waves of enemies, still unwilling to surrender the Princess even then. Oh, well, lucky for him, Edward of York arrived with his father’s men and drove the Lancastrians off Grantham’s land. But still, he was wounded, having cut down many of the greatest of the Lancastrian Knights in defense of the Lady. It says here that the monks and the Princess healed him, and there …” The boy was quiet a moment. “Sir Grantham fell in love with the nameless princess who sat up with him through the worst of it. He gave to her the name … Lady Elfstone for how she shimmered in the sunlight by the abbey’s windows.” There was a touch of a sad smile of reverence on his face as he turned the page with a crackling of ancient binding.

But then the boy didn’t say anything else.

“If I wanted damn cliff hanger I’d go to a serial, Cowboy.” Martha scoffed in annoyance. “What happened next?” She pressed.

The kid flipped through several pages, then flipped back. “I dunno …” The boy said in genuine confusion. “This is where the entry stops.”

Ilona Tepes: (Princess of Wallachia/ Third Incarnation) 

“Yeah, well if you’re freaking out about that …” the boy retrieved his leather folder. “Then this will put some hair on your … uh …” He looked Martha up and down for a moment. “Well, it’ll put hair on whatever it is you have, uh, down there.” He cleared his throat with quirk of his eyebrows awkwardly. He took the spot next to the old woman, ignoring her two clenched fists placed on her hips with a deeply grudging glare directed at him.

“Alright …” The boy cleared the air. “So, about a century after the first Lord and Lady Grantham’s deaths there was a Prince of Wallachia in Transylvania named Vlad that they called Dracul, which translates into “The Dragon”.” The boy explained. “He married an English noble woman named Ilona, I don’t know where she came from, and there isn’t a lot known about her … most of her records were scrubbed by someone long ago. But there is one thing that survived the Catholic Churches purging of the House of Tepes. A Triptych of Ilona was painted by an artist named Dresden and was send as sort of a wedding present to her husband. I don’t know where the original is, no one does, they think it got destroyed along with Alexander Grayson …”

“Oh yeah, I remember that moron. Industrialist. The dumb bastard blew up half of London with his newfangled electro power machine thingamajig. Cora and Robert were supposed to go to that unveiling, but Mary was kicking inside her, and they stayed home … about the last useful thing that girl ever did, and she wasn’t even born yet.”

“You’ll hear no disagreement from me.” The kid replied with an easy bitterness. “Either way, whether Grayson died with it or not, there is a record of it being sold to a Lord Davenport who was the uncle of Lord Anthony Strallen.” He shrugged.

“Wait? The chud who left Edith at the alter …?” She blew out a bitter scoff. “Is there anyone who owned this thing that wasn’t a prick?” She asked rhetorically. “I swear, having this triptych or whatever is more judgement on the owner at this point.” She waved off.

The adventurer glared in a long pause. “Anyway …” He pushed past her rant. “There is an insurance claim on the painting from the auction house that it was bought from.” The boy put another photograph next to the drawing of lady Elfstone over the page of the inscription.

“You can’t be serious.” Martha shook her head scratching her ear.

The photograph showed a renaissance painting that was separated in three folding parts. On the left section was a slender maiden standing in an arch by a window which had the Castle Dracul in the distance upon a field of green. She had long tresses of raven hair and cerulean eyes. Upon her lithe and milky frame was a simple dress of pure white, one slender hand clutching the skirt. To the right was the same woman standing in the same arch but by a different window which was now viewing countryside farm fields of wheat upon sloping ground. This time she clutched a red cloth over her white gown. Both depictions of the same woman from right to left faced one another, each one seemingly staring at the main painting in the center. Once more it was the same woman. But this time she was centered in front of a wall that was flanked by a piece of each adjacent window from left and right of the folding painting. She was regal with a head crowned by a golden band and a matching braided chain necklace. Garbed in a gown of red with thick white sleeves underneath, Ilona Tepes seemed a saint in the three painted depictions.

She also was the exact replica of both women that sat to her left on the puzzle desk.

“Her too?” Martha exclaimed. “Jesus Christ, Kid, how many of these broads are there?” She asked. But when she turned to the boy, he only blew out a breath with a look that was telling. 

“You’re kidding me?!”

Mina Murray: (First Female Medical Student, University of London/ Fourth Incarnation)

“So, we flash forward nearly four-hundred years later to London in the 1890s …”

“Skip ahead “professor”, I know the steps to this one, I was there ...”

“Sore subject?”

“Sore nostrils, everything smelt like piss, including Buckingham Palace. And there was shit everywhere … horse and human.”

“Then you should’ve felt right at home with amount you shovel.”

“Yeah, well, open wide, Cowboy, so you can eat some. It’s on the house.”

“With your monopoly, I bet it is …”  

“…”

“…”

Both glaring at one another, the boy slapped the scrap book packet next to the photograph of the Triptych. On the front page of the paper was a black and white picture of a young woman with a bonnet of blue with matching ribbon, leather gloves, and long overcoat that covered a white blouse. In her arms was a collection of books against her breast, with a blue umbrella hooked on her wrist. Once more, though less surprising now, the beauty in the picture matched that of the previous women on the puzzle desk. Raven hair, milky skin, slim, with demure and innocent eyes that sparkled. But what was different was that a sudden light of recognition hit Martha Levinson as she studied the paper, flipping through articles.

“This is …” The adventurer began

“Wilhelmina Murray.” The old woman finished for him. “Yeah, I remember her.” She nodded. “We met ten or twelve times when Cora was doing her first and second Season in London. She was the daughter of old Dr. William Murray. He ran Royal Bethlehem. I believe my husband and I made quite a sizeable contribution to expanding their Psych Ward. In fact, I believe they named the new wing after me.”

“They named the Psych Ward in Royal Bethlehem after you?”

“Yeah …”

“…”

“…”

“Shut up!”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“No, but you were thinking it.”

“Entry for the defense?”

“I’ll allowed it.”

“I’ve been thinking that since we met.”

“Fair enough. You know, us Southerners like our women religious … and just a bit mad.”

“Your preachers gotta learn it from somewhere, I guess.”  

With a momentary understanding reached, Martha flipped through the packet. “Yeah, beautiful girl … she had brains too. She was the first female medical student at the University of London.” She nodded. “I remember, she was always trailed by some young thing that lived in her front pocket. What was her name? Uh, hmm … Oh, right, Lucy! Lady Lucy Westenra, that’s it. She was a sleek blonde piece of bitch that one. Seemed odd that the shark of a woman hung around with such a gorgeous little lamb.” Martha shook her head.

“You seem to remember her rather well.” The kid observed.  

The old woman glared. “Like I said, I was there.” She put the papers down. “Anyway, she was hard to forget. After Robert and Cora got engaged, they started to do fluff pieces in the New York papers and one of them involved Ms. Mina Murray.” She shrugged.

“What was it?” The tone in the boy’s voice was suddenly serious.

When the woman looked over, she saw that the mentioning of Cora and Mina in relation captured his attention. It seemed in that instance that there was something about this mystery that was personal to the boy. That underneath all the intrigue and research there was a very serious reason that he was chasing this “Princess in the Mirror”. Something cold ran up Martha’s spine in a maternal six sense. Slowly, she was beginning to realize that whatever this was, it had everything to do with her family, her little girls, all of them.

When Martha answered it was with a new caution. “They were mistaken for one another sometimes. They went to similar parties during the Season and reporters approached Mina, thinking her Cora. “The New Yorker” did a fun article about Cora’s popularity in London and the mistaken identity craze between Cora and Mina. They even photographed them together … Listen, Cowboy, I shovel shit for a living, so I know what it smells like. Are you gonna tell me what’s going on here?” She asked.

“She’s dead …” He blurted out as if it was the answer to her question.

The old woman frowned. “What?” She didn’t know why, but a deep pang of hurt filled her when she heard him. The boy, morosely, turned and retrieved something from his pack.

“How do you know?” She asked in a grimace.

“Because …” The boy held in reverence a long crimson scarf in his hands that looked tattered and damaged. 

“I was there.”

Lady Sybil “Sybbie” Afton Branson: (Contested Viscountess of Downton Abbey/Heiress to Branson and Talbot Motors/ The Final Incarntion)

But then, in that very moment … she saw it.

“Sybbie … can you come here, baby?”

The girl frowned in puzzlement gliding toward the old woman’s hands. It was the dress of sapphire and silver, the white roses abloom she wore in her glossy raven tresses, and the morning tide of a beauty unrivaled but for golden and graceful Marigold only. She gently took the girl’s delicate face in her hands and looked into her near glowing cerulean eyes that were inquisitive. Then, it was clear as day who she was looking at.

It began in an enchanted forest with an angelic maiden of pre-history. Then, thousands of years later, came a lost, broken hearted, and desperate Princess of Byzantium, the last of that ancient race. There was Ilona Tepes, finer than all of the gold and silver in Wallachia, burned at the stake for her husband’s sins. Afterward came Mina Murray, kind, smart, and a tragic pawn in many a game of worldly consequence who died in the darkness of an evil temple many leagues under the fathom’s abyss. And now, raised gently and with boundless love in the fairy halls of Downton Abbey, there was Ms. Sybil Afton Branson.

Even as her thumb rubbed the little girl’s cheekbone cherishingly, the old woman looked up to the kid who stood off to the side clasping his fob watch in hand. Then, she saw the recognition in his blue eyes of her finally seeing what he had known all along. There were so many things unspoken in one acknowledging glance that drew both back to the pictures. Then, it was clear why the boy had done all of this, why he was so terribly invested in finding the answers to this repeating curse of doom or fate.

It was a great labor, a secret mission, and a case of lonesome obsession. Whatever tormented him, the chief of these emotions which drove him on was love and fear. He knew of the fate of all these women who had shared a greater destiny and doom. And it was by great love that he feared for Sybbie’s very future. He knew that whatever waited for her, there was greatness mingled with a matching sorrow whose ending was that of despair and ruin. What strength was in the boy, however little he knew of in himself, despite what others saw in great store, he would not allow these terrible things to happen to her. With all his power, he vowed to protect one whom he cherished above all things left to him in this world.

He would not fail to save a girl he loved, not this time … never again.

Conclusion - Of the fall of the House of Grantham and it’s exiled Heirs

Many lives of the ancient past and future yet lived flashed like a runaway train that rolled without break through the infinite whose tracks were lain through her mind, heart, and soul. Tears ran down the pale cheeks of this indefinitely young creature of surpassing loveliness. In her induced state, she was all of them at once. In her consciousness was each woman of regeneration since the days before days. But also, the final incarnation, whose betrayal in the arms of a Nazi husband from the beautiful grounds of their South American estate would lead to the fall of the House of Grantham and the beginning of “The Long Defeat” of its exiled heirs.

Yet, the adventurer’s mind was not on the plight of his future children. Nor did he comprehend their and his own betrayal by one whom he loves and would search vainly for in a terrible torment of many long years of despair after her capture during the war and disappearance afterward. And further still did he not know of the terrible evil that would be found this day, and ever afterward curse him and his line of descendants with its hatred and malice. Yet, if he did have the foresight and providence for such a moment … the youth would still not budge, nor give an inch. Even if all the suffering of his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren swirled about him in a roar of sorrow and despair like a rolling river rapid, he still would not yield the maiden fair at any cost to himself or his kin.

This was clearly seen, but not yet respected by Professor James Moriarty.

(Taken from the Downton Abbey Fanfic “Medel an Gwyns”)

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Side Story “BLACK ALBION”

Short story written by Koujirou (Sunrise) about Zerozaku sets in one year some time after Zero Requiem to accompany the introduction of Lancelot Albion Zero. Source: https://p-bandai.jp/tamashiiwebshouten/blackalbion/. Please inform me if you notice some mistake.

First year of Light Sum*. Some time have passed since the extraordinary hero, Zero, killed the last emperor of Holy Britannian Empire, Lelouch vi Britannia.  The world that joined hands to defeat Emperor Lelouch who took hostage of the countries' leaders in his plan to conquer the world, continue to wish for peace and choose cooperation route even after Lelouch's death. With more than 80% of the world joins United Federation of Nations in the form of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Japan and China that became the center of UFN’s formation during wartime, politics were practiced with global perspective. In addition to that, as the military power is transferred to and is operated by Black Knights as delegated by UFN, no large-scale conflict ever occurred, and the world peace was preserved.  However... "We need a machine that acts as Zero's symbol." The one who suggested that was Schneizel el Britannia who serves as the Chief of Staff in UFN Supreme Council. The words of the man who's practically the world's No. 2, were not directed toward the President Sumeragi Kaguya, but to the masked man in black clothing, Zero. "....We don't." Zero asserts. Under the mask that exposed not even one part of his real face, his expression can't be read. Zero, who's present at the UFN Supreme Council meeting as CEO of Black Knights, shook his head in disagreement towards Schneizel's proposal. "However, no matter how the world as a whole is advancing toward peace, buds of conflicts will always arise. As a precaution, as Zero who slain Emperor Lelouch, you need to demonstrate your strength." Schneizel's words are reasonable. It's also clear that his words are for the sake of keeping peace. But, that's not it. The world must be peaceful. Otherwise, what did "he" bet his life for? Of course there are small seeds of conflicts. In this world that had been in war for a long time, it's natural that flames of conflicts can't be completely erased. It's natural because this world is inhabited by people who preserved their own self. Therefore, in order to prevent the conflicts from rising, it's probably a correct thing to do to assign the power to subdue conflicts to Zero the symbol. But for Zero, for Kururugi Suzaku who has now became Zero, it's not an idea he could accept that easily. "You're wrong. If Black Knights holds too much military power it would frighten the people and give birth to new conflicts instead. To the very end, we exists to maintain world peace. To that end, we're requesting the Glinda Knights to audit Black Knights." Oldrin Zevon, the head of Glinda Knights who is present at the meeting, nods in agreement.  "...." Schneizel gives an "I give up" look. As Zero has said so, Schneizel can't go against his words.

"Welcome back, Zero." After finishing the UFN Supreme Council and returning to his room in Black Knights' headquarter, Zero was welcomed by Nunnally vi Britannia who came to meet him. "I'm back, Nunnally." Suzaku takes off his mask for the first time since awhile, and shows a smile. "Today you came to talk about the schedule for humanitarian visit to Spain next month, right?" "Yes, Suzaku-sa--, I mean, Zero, sorry I always ended up troubling you..." "Ha ha, now I'm just Suzaku, Nunnally." Among the few people who knows about Zero's identity, Nunnally especially can interact with Suzaku's true self. For Suzaku who has always carried the burden of being Zero, the time spent with Nunnally was extremely important. Nunnally who became the Honorary Consultant of World Humanitarian Organization, an auxiliary organization of UFN, visited the areas where scars of war still remained, and carried out humanitarian support activities. Suzaku as Zero has a lot of opportunity to be with Nunnally. Nunnally's coming to meet to Suzaku today too was to make arrangement for their next visit. But, with a sudden emergency call calling for Zero, that purpose was never realized. "Report from UFN Supreme Council! We’ve been informed that an armed group who declared themselves as Japan Revolutionary Army has occupied Shinagawa Seaside Airport." The smile that was on Suzaku's face till just now is gone, and his expression becomes dim. "Suzaku-san..." "It'll be okay, so don't worry. I'll be back soon." To the worried Nunnally, Suzaku shows her a smile. However, his heart is not calm. ...Zero doesn't need to have power. And yet.... Suzaku picks up his mask again and walks out from the room leaving Nunnally behind.  

In Black Knights commander office, the main monitor shows the presumed state of Shinagawa Seaside Airport that was taken with a long distance camera. Other information such as the Knighmares that are used in the armed uprising and the list of people suspected to be responsible for the incident, were displayed on the sub monitors. "How's the situation?" The one who answers Zero's brief question as he entered the room is General Commander Toudou Kyoushiro. "Not very good. Konishina, report the present status to Zero." Prompted by Toudou, Konishina Ryou, the captain of Squadron 3 that was selected for duty, reports to Zero through the submonitor. The armed group called Japan Revolutionary Army, with about 30 Knightmares from sky, land, and water, swiftly gained total control of Shinagawa Seaside Airport that was built on a reclamation area in Tokyo Bay. It's reported that about 4000 passengers and staffs were held hostage. "It happened an hour ago. They seem to target the blind spot of UFN Supreme Council." "How about the perpetrators’ identity?" "It's Major Bandou... no, it's Bandou Shin. A survivor from the former Japan Liberation Front." "!?" Toudou's words agitate Zero slightly. Bandou is Suzaku’s acquaintance who once taught him martial arts together with Toudou and the others back when he was still a kid before the war with Britannia started. "Why, Bandou-san... right when everyone is about to compromise and head towards peace..." Konishina grinds his teeth. "Konishina was a new recruit assigned to Bandou's troop back during Britannia's invasion 9 years ago," Toudou fills up Suzaku's conjecture. He understood that it's because Japan Revolutionary Army turned out to be the remnant of Japan Liberation Front, that Toudou assigned Konishina to be in charge of the matter.   "Japan Revolutionary Army led by Bandou, in regard to Zero eliminating Kusakabe Josui's group, raises a banner of rebellion. Zero, now it’s..." "I know, Toudou-san." From inside Suzaku's chest, an emotion that can't be expressed in words rises its head. However, his top priority is to secure the safety of the 4000 captured people as soon as possible. "I’d like to join UFN Supreme Council. This case will be handled by Black Knights." "I knew you would say so~" At the corner of Black Knights' headquarters hangar that's in preparation for sortie, a familiar machine was brought in by Rakshata. Lying on top of the equipment container, with the tobacco pipe in her hand, she points to Zero's line of sight. It's unthinkable that she's a person with many titles. "A black... Lancelot Albion." Zero shows a little bewilderment. "It's part of Joint Strike Armored Cavalry Program that had been worked on since the time of Emperor Lelouch's rule. Because we also needed to develop and conduct research on Knightmares made by Britannia, our Pearl Party was created." The one who answers his confusion is a dark skin woman with prosthetic legs, Neha Shankar. She's a researcher apprentice who participated in the decisive battle of Madrid in the past and is studying under Rakshata. "Based on the data left by Dr Lloyd, with little improvements, we managed to complete it. In term of performance it's equal to Guren Seiten Eight Elements." Explains Kagari Savitri who's transferred from Black Knights' engineering department to the Pearl Party. Good handiness, almost as if they had been preparing for this. Suzaku thinks that perhaps Schneizel had asked Rakshata in advance in anticipation for situations like this. Otherwise, the unit that bears the name Albion which means white, wouldn't be dyed in black. "I got it. Let me use this." He can't believe it, he never thought that he would ride this unit again now that he became Zero. "Please take good care of our cute Z-01Z0." "Zero... Zero, huh." As he hears the model number of the black Albion, Zero mutters to himself. "Understood. From here, I'll sortie with this Albion Zero!"

*the new calendar system I’m still not sure I got this right.

An Irreverent Intro to the Iliad

A/N:I’ve taken the introduction to the Lombardo translation and condensed it. Any time I says something to the effect of “don’t quote me on this” that means I’ve added my own analysis or thoughts that I cannot back up in any way, so don’t, like, put it in an essay if you don’t plan on doing your own research.

Anyway, you don’t care about that stuff, you came here to read about the Iliad.

It’s really fricken long, so, for the sake of mobile users, everything’s under the cut except for this:

“Rage. Bitch, lemme tell you about the time that Achilles fucked over the entire Greek army by Rage-quitting.”

Timeline for the Noobs 

Ten years ago:

Aphrodite bribes Paris so she can win a beauty contest between herself, Athena, and Hera. Paris’ reward for his ‘heroics’ is Helen

(There’s probably an essay’s worth of symbolism you could dig into here, what with the goddesses all representing different priorities: erotic love, wisdom/justice, and familial duty. I wonder what Paris’ choice reveals about his character?)

There’s some disagreement about whether or not Helen when with Paris willingly

Seeing as literally no other woman in the Iliad (and maybe the entire Cycle? Don’t quote me on that) willingly went with her kidnapper, I’m calling bull on that. Do with that what you will.

Menelaus gets really mad that Paris stole his wife, so he rounds up the Greek army, and they go to war. (It’s worth noting that Athena and Hera are both on his side here.)

Present day:

Agamemnon(Boo), Menelaus’ brother kidnaps a girl. Then he has the balls to get upset that the girl’s father called Apollo’s plague down upon the Greeks until she’s returned

Achilles points out that Agamemnon’s being a dick and people are literally dying because he won’t let go of one girl. Agamemnon says, “Fine. If I have to give up my lady-war-prize, I’m taking yours as recompense.”

Achilles allows Agamemnon to take his girl, then Rage-quits. As consequence, people die.

Hypocrites. Hypocrites everywhere. If you wanna analyze that for an essay, I think there’s plenty to talk about. 

The Theme Worth Giving a Shit About (Because it Drives the Narrative)

Heroes risk their lives on the battlefield in exchange for Prizes

Ie. riches, bitches, and clout

Honor <--> Shame is how they judge the value of others and themselves. Honor wins Prizes, Shame loses Prizes

3 Characters Worth Giving a Shit About (Because They Explore the Aforementioned Theme)

Achilles: Main character. Rage is his thing. Also, pouting. 

His honor is insulted by Agamemnon(Boo) taking away Briseis, his lady war prize. Since war prizes are how their society rewards heroes for risking their lives, Agamemnon is basically saying he doesn’t care of Achilles dies or not.

And that hurts Achilles’ feelings because he knows he’s gonna die. There’s a prophecy about it. 

The only reason he’s fighting is because society conditioned him to believe that Prizes and eternal glory were worth dying for.

Now that he doubts everything he knows, he refuses to fight for the Greeks.

The entire poem is the consequences of his Rage-quit

Agamemnon: fuck this guy

He loses his lady war prize, so he takes Achilles’. Because short-sighted spite is the best motivator.

He and Achilles start the poem in the same place, believing that material goods should equally compensate a loss. Achilles is the one who learns that that’s not how that works.

Agamemnon starts as a dick and ends as a dick. Google Iphigenia if you want to learn more. And that shit he pulls with Cassandra? Major dickbag. Fuck this guy. 

Hector: The Trojan hero, and honestly the only likable guy here. 

He is Achilles’ foil. 

Just like Achilles, he’s separated from society - but, unlike Achilles, it’s not because he rejects their values. It’s because he never questions them.

He’s basically the perfect hero, and he suffers for it:

His son is scared of his war helmet

He can’t stay closer to home to fight defensively because that’s ‘shameful’

And he can’t even stay in the city that long on his breaks because wine and women are too tempting. 

Side Characters to Maybe Give a Fuck About

Patroclus: The most important of the supporting cast, and he’s only in it for, like, maybe a book

Achilles’ BFF and probably more

(Read: Definitely more. If you listen carefully, you can hear me chanting OTP OTP OTP every time you open your book.)

He is Achilles’ double

He never doubts society but supports his bestie’s midlife crisis anyway

His death at the hands of Hector symbolizes Achilles’ death because he was wearing Achilles’ armor at the time

Achilles causes Patroclus’ death btw

When he Rage-quits, he asks Zeus to help the Trojans (because short-sighted spite is the best motivator). Patroclus goes to help the Greeks wearing Achilles’ very recognizable armor, causing Hector to target and kill him

His death redirects Achilles’ Rage at the Trojans instead of the Greeks

Diomedes: a badass fighter

Greater Ajax: a badass fighter

and (I think) the guy who talks sense into Achilles at some point

Ajax the Lesser: a badass fighter (are you sensing a theme in these characters?)

Odysseus: the only smart guy here

The Odyssey is about him btw

The Trojan horse was his idea, according to the Aeneid (and maybe other places? But definitely the Aeneid.)

WTF is an Epic Poem Anyway?

Epic Poem: recounts events with far-reaching historical consequences, sums up the values and achievements of an entire culture, and documents the full variety of the war

Basically, if “’Murica, Fuck Yeah” sums up America, then the Iliad sums up Ancient Greece

(Actually, Hamilton is a better comparison, but I needed to make a joke. Fite me.)

That “full variety” thing is why Book 2 and a couple other places just list off a bunch of ships or leaders and their dads. That shit is boring. Skip it. 

But also, that ‘full variety’ thing is what makes other parts of the story so interesting. Homer will sum up a dude’s life story right before he kills them or some shit. It magnifies the scale of the narrative by showing how insignificant one person’s experience is - no one person can stop the war.

That’s what makes Achilles’ story even more powerful --> because his impact on the war is significant. His Rage controls the ebb and flow of it. 

He can’t stop the war though. No one can. 

The Gods are Petty as Fuck

Homeric gods look/act like humans, but they’re different mainly because of two things:

1. They can’t die.

That means they treat the events of the war less seriously than the mortals do.

2. The gods know about fate

To the modern reader, it seems like the humans have no agency, but that’s not really the case

Knowing fate is a bit like knowing the plot of a movie. It gives insight into a character’s actions that would otherwise seem random.

By reading this poem, you’re basically a god. Don’t let it go to your head. (But, hey, there’s a reason I’m majoring in this shit)

Bards like Homer would more directly be gods because they changed and adapted the story as they told it, just like the gods influence human actions in the story.

Don't quote me on that tho

Character choices are usually doubly motivated - by the human, and by the gods

Ex: Achilles chooses not to kill Agamemnon because Athena tells him not to.

This is personifying the literal thought process he had so that the reader understands what’s going through his head.

Fate doesn’t force anyone to act out of character --> fate is the consequence of their life choices

The gods not caring about death and his own lack of foresight is what Achilles messes up on

He asks Zeus to help him get revenge on the Greeks because he assumes Zeus cares about that sort of thing, but Zeus is bigger than that.

That leads Patroclus’ death, btw.

The “Enduring Heart” Shit

Achilles is really butthurt that Agamemnon wronged him

The lesson he has to learn is that even if material goods can’t make up for losses, there’s no other option --> you can’t bring people back from the dead, so you have to move on

That’s the Enduring Heart shit

also, if you abstract that concept it sounds kinda like entropy to me (Don’t quote me on that tho)

He learns that lesson by feeling pity for Priam (Hector’s dad) instead of perpetuating the Rage Train

And, hey, that Enduring Heart shit is a lesson that all of us could take to heart. None of us want to die, but it’s gonna happen. Maybe that’s not fair, but throwing a temper tantrum isn’t going to change anything. Really, the only way to avoid being miserable is to embrace our mortality so we can appreciate life while we have it

don’t quote me on that tho

In a nutshell, Achilles has to accept his mortal-ness. Otherwise there’s a lot of unnecessary suffering. 

That’s why we don’t need to see him die in the Iliad even though everyone makes such a big deal about the prophecy about his death. His journey was completed as soon as he found pity in himself instead of Rage - essentially rejecting the godly side of himself (oh yeah, I forgot to mention. His mom is a goddess) and embracing his mortality. 

because gods don’t have to deal with death, they can Rage all they want, remember?

Also, if he never dies, he can’t be reunited with Patroclus. 

OTP OTP OTP

You could probably write an essay about how Achilles died as soon as Patroclus did.

Honestly Boring Historical Context (That might be interesting if you’re a nerd like me?

The poem was basically historical fantasy even when it was first written. There are gods and super strength and shit

Greek History Over-Simplified: The Mycanaean Period was prosperous but ended suddenly. The Dark Ages of Greece followed, and we don’t know much about what happened during that because they forgot the written word was a thin. 

The events of the poem probably take place during the Mycanaean Period because they use bronze weapons. 

But warfare is described from more of a Dark Ages perspective. Like, they don’t use chariots the right way

Which suggests that chariots were part of the source material, then the Dark Ages made people forget how they were supposed to be sued, so the bards just kinda made shit up to explain their presence. (Don’t quote me on that tho)

The Oral Tradition of the poem means that this story was told thousands of times over hundreds (thousands?) of years. So the narrative is hones at shit.

it has the sculpted body of an Olympic athlete. Each muscle toned to do a specific job and everything works perfectly together to accomplish the sporty feat of interest. Every verse is packed with character, setting, plot, and cultural significance

Except for that Catologue of Ships shit. Boooo boring ships.

There were probably lots of other versions of the poem, but Homer told it best. His version was written down as soon as the written word was (re)invented

Side Note that wasn’t in Lombardo’s Intro

The Iliad and Odyssey are both parts of a larger body of work known as the Epic Cycle 

(The Aeneid is basically Caesar Augustus-insert fanfiction at that, btw. Virgil was a satirical fanboy and I’m living for it.)

Characters and events are introduced with the assumptions that the reader already knows their importance

But we only have fragments of the rest of the Cycle today because it was either never written down or the manuscripts were lost

I’m looking at you, Burned Library of Alexandria

*sad fiddle music plays in the background

Videos That I Learned Shit From (Only, like, the first two links are relevant to the topic at hand, btw)

Basic Plot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faSrRHw6eZ8

More about the Epic Cycle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3bn0eKt4Rw 

Iphigenia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifFsKCrH3GM 

Oresteia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kpGhivh05k             

The Odyssey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-3rHQ70Pag&index=4&list=PLDb22nlVXGgfwG1qbOtNgu897E_ky_8To (Also, this story is my favorite of the Epic Cycle)

The Aeneid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRruBVFXjnY&list=PLDb22nlVXGgfwG1qbOtNgu897E_ky_8To&index=5  

Ancient Greek History: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzGVpkYiJ9w&index=2&list=PLDb22nlVXGgexsbafIwirG6Tk9uww9dSW    

And, yeah, these videos are all from the same channel. I’m a basic bitch and a ho for not leaving my comfort zone. Fite me. 

Honestly, if anyone has other sources, let me know. Youtube history/video essays are my shit.

I hope this was helpful.