I’ve been thinking about the development of Elizabeth’s feelings for Darcy in P&P, and one of the things I find really intriguing is how incredibly careful Austen is in her handling of their physical attraction to each other.

A lot of takes on Darcy’s initial attraction to Elizabeth focus entirely on the physical element, but Austen’s description of it folds together his attraction to her intelligence, her expression, her body, and the “easy playfulness” of her manner. Of these, the earliest mentioned is his realization that her face is “rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes” and her eyes are the physical feature that he seems to dwell on the most.

At any rate, Darcy’s attraction to Elizabeth is established early on (Ch 6) and continues as a thread from that point on. And—I mean, even in 1813, it’s one thing to show a man in his twenties being attracted to the pretty heroine. Austen is a lot cagier about Elizabeth’s feelings.

The narrative is structured so that we know Darcy is physically attractive from his entrance in Ch 3, when the narrator refers to “his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien” along with his wealth. But we’re not in Elizabeth’s head at that point, and iirc, she isn’t shown as saying or thinking anything about his physical attractiveness until she blushingly agrees that he is very handsome forty chapters later.

Even there, Austen leaves the dialogue to stand on its own and tells us nothing of what Elizabeth actually feels about it. The conversation moves to Darcy’s personal virtues, which reveal the critical fact that Darcy is consistently kind and good-natured in the domestic sphere. So Elizabeth’s concession that Darcy is physically attractive is narratively linked to the suggestion that he would make a safe husband, emotionally speaking (although her concession comes first, which may be significant).

Between the initial, omniscient narrator-type description of him and Elizabeth agreeing in Ch 43, we do get references to his looks a few times, but during the period of Elizabeth’s dislike, it’s always either through implication or through someone around Elizabeth rather than Elizabeth herself. So Bingley, for instance, jokes about how Darcy is so much taller than he is, but the narrator only remarks on Elizabeth’s assumption that Darcy is offended by this.

We know that Elizabeth looks for a resemblance to Darcy when she first sees Lady Catherine, and finds it, but this isn’t explicitly linked to her conclusion that Lady Catherine might have been handsome in her youth.

Then there’s the introduction of Colonel Fitzwilliam, when he arrives with Darcy, as “about thirty, not handsome, but in person and address most truly the gentleman.” Obviously the contrast is with Darcy, who is handsome but has less gentlemanly manners, but this isn’t explicitly spelled out. Austen simply says that Darcy “looked just as he had been used to look in Hertfordshire” and moves to the manner of his compliments to Charlotte.

We do get an explicit contrast later, when Darcy, Georgiana, and Bingley come to Lambton (so, after the critical revelations):

Miss Darcy was tall, and on a larger scale than Elizabeth; and, though little more than sixteen, her figure was formed, and her appearance womanly and graceful. She was less handsome than her brother; but there was sense and good humour in her face

Austen breezes past this to Georgiana’s manners and Bingley’s arrival. There are a couple of discussions of Darcy’s appearance earlier at Pemberley, but entirely held between Mr and Mrs Gardiner, who admire his figure while Elizabeth is consumed by embarrassment. She mentions that it was obvious that he had only just arrived via horse or carriage, but not how she knows this or what she feels about it beyond repeatedly blushing.

Then they meet again, he interacts with the Gardiners for awhile, and Elizabeth and the Gardiners leave. The Gardiners discuss the encounter including Darcy’s appearance, and Mrs Gardiner—who at this point, still thinks Darcy has mistreated Wickham—first concludes that Wickham is handsomer, then immediately re-considers and decides that Darcy has perfect features, but not Wickham’s angelic countenance. She (Mrs Gardiner) goes on, “He[Darcy] has not an ill-natured look. On the contrary, there is something pleasing about his mouth when he speaks.”

Elizabeth does not opine on Darcy’s mouth, lol, and instead defends Darcy’s moral character as far as his financial dealings with Wickham are concerned. We don’t hear much more of it apart from that, and in general, we see Elizabeth’s reactions to Darcy more than we hear about them:

Their eyes instantly met, and the cheeks of both were overspread with the deepest blush.

She blushed again and again over the perverseness of the meeting.

The colour which had been driven from her face, returned for half a minute with an additional glow, and a smile of delight added lustre to her eyes, as she thought for that space of time that his affection and wishes must still be unshaken.

Darcy had walked away to another part of the room. She followed him with her eyes, envied everyone to whom he spoke, had scarcely patience enough to help anybody to coffee; and then was enraged against herself for being so silly!

The colour now rushed into Elizabeth’s cheeks in the instantaneous conviction of its being a letter from the nephew, instead of the aunt

She had only to say in reply, that they had wandered about, till she was beyond her own knowledge. She coloured as she spoke

I do not personally think there can be much reasonable doubt about whether Elizabeth is attracted to Darcy during this phase of the book. But the narrative does dance around it enough (for understandable 1813 reasons, I suspect, given that Elizabeth either dislikes or hates Darcy for a significant portion of the book) that it’s not at all clear when she begins to finds him attractive, especially given that she does not actually see him between receiving the letter and acknowledging his attractiveness at Pemberley. So I think there are multiple valid interpretations or headcanons one could come up with for that.

Examples Of Morals

What is ethical quality? By ethical quality or profound quality is figured out a bunch of convictions, customs, standards and values that act as a manual for individual lead inside the structure of a specific culture , society or custom. All in all, it makes it conceivable to recognize great and terrible inside a particular setting: the qualities protected by a gathering at a given crossroads in its set of experiences.

Ethical quality incorporates all subjects and settings of the person , for however long he is a free individual , of willful demonstrations, and invested with the limit with respect to self-assurance. It ought not be mistaken for morals , regardless of being comparative ideas.

Profound quality has to do with the freedom of thought of the person and his adherence to specific sets of principles framed by and large and socially. For instance, religions force specific sets of principles, which request the regular routines of populaces in light of what is socially, socially and profoundly satisfactory, and what isn't.

Beginning of profound quality Profound quality has went with the person in all phases of its set of experiences . Its substance has not been consistent, yet all at once a remarkable inverse: every human practice, every strict school, each culture, has its own ethical statutes and values, through which its ideas of "good" and "terrible" are communicated. .

Most likely, ethical quality emerged in old times as a method for sorting out networks and give them a specific steadiness. In light of clear principles of conjunction and lead, they could succeed.

As a matter of fact, social orders with moral codes flourished quicker than anarchic social orders, whatever the substance of those codes. Ultimately, ethical quality stopped being a bunch of practical standards and became dynamic ideas: great and malevolence.

Instances of moral A few basic Examples Of Morals codes are as per the following:

As indicated by Islam and the Bedouin societies that follow it, the lady should fundamentally cover her head (or now and again, she should cover herself totally) so as not to stir with her body or her hair the cravings of the ones who see her. In the Christian West, extramarital undertakings are shameless and evil, so they could be justification for separate. Particularly when the person who causes them is a lady. Moreover, conventional Christian profound quality restricts the utilization of contraceptives and thinks about fetus removal as a wrongdoing and an improper activity, in opposition to custom and customs. The above satisfied distributed at Cooperative Exploration Gathering is for enlightening and instructive purposes just and has been created by alluding to dependable sources and proposals from specialists. We have no contact with true substances nor do we expect to supplant the data that they radiate.

Kinds of assurance Social profound quality is forced by certain establishments or customs.

There are various kinds of ethics, for example,

Major profound quality. That which has to do with a general, expansive and evidently widespread thought of the satisfactory and the unsuitable, in the reasonable circle, yet in addition in the otherworldly and individual circle. Individual resolve. That which concerns the individual decisions of an individual, tolerating that piece of an aggregate moral propensity presses and controls him, however which he can likewise go against inside. Social moral. That which isn't individual, yet has a place with the group, forced by certain foundations or customs, and safeguarded as an aggregate standard . Financial moral. That which assesses the choices of an individual comprehended as a sign of a particular social and monetary condition inside a similar society. Sexual ethical quality. The one that administers the OK sexual way of behaving of the unsuitable one, in light of statutes of some nature, like strict ones. Contrast among ethics and morals Morals comes from social, lawful and proficient contemplations.

Regardless of being comparative ideas, ethics and morals are separated by the way that the first is supported in view of unique ideas of good and fiendishness, as proposed by custom, traditions and the verifiable agreement of a general public.

All things considered, morals tries to a more all inclusive enthusiasm for a singular's liability to the whole society, by and large applied to a calling or the activity of force.

Morals is objectively questionable, it originates from social, lawful and proficient contemplations , while ethical quality comes from outright and irrefutable qualities, albeit gradually changing over the long run .

Level headed and emotional profound quality A bunch of moral standards is frequently discussed as an objective ethical quality, that is to say, a profound quality set up as a regular occurrence socially, and that doesn't have anything to do with whether the individual submits to them, or not. In this sense, it recognizes:

Objective spirit. The one directed by custom and that doesn't rely upon the person. Emotional moral. The one that has to do with the person's own and interior choices.

Do you think Kaidan also went through N training at some point? I've seen fics where he's apparently gone through it, but couldn't find anything in canon about it.

Hi, anon! Ooh, a question. Fun! Thank you for thinking of me.

Do I think Kaidan is N-trained?  In short, no.

There isn't evidence disproving that he's N trained, but there isn’t evidence suggesting he's N trained either. If anything, the lack of any indication he has N training is proof in itself.

For one, none of the characters associated with N training ever include Kaidan as if he’s a member. James goes to Shepard with his N questions. He never mentions or refers to Kaidan's experience. Neither Anderson nor Shepard mention Kaidan being N trained.

It's not mentioned in his background anywhere. It's said he has over a dozen special commendations. He does get involved in special operations, even leading the first Special Operation Biotic Company, but this doesn't require an N designation.  Unless he failed out before qualifying as a N1, it seems like something that would be included in his history.  

In ME1, he specifically says he’s been holding back up to this point in using his biotics offensively.  Jenkins is the first soldier he’s lost to hostile action.  None of these suggest to me someone who’s undergone rigorous N spec ops training, where holding back would probably limit being accepted.  Some N operatives may not have seen someone die due to hostile action, but it’s at least more likely with a N trained operative than a general marine.  It seems like Kaidan is still coming into his own in biotic combat in ME1.

If anything, I wonder if health concerns over his L2 implant may not disqualify him.  N operatives frequently lead high-risk, high-priority missions either independently or in charge of a small groups. The whole mission hinges on that one person. Having a serious pre-existing health condition, especially one triggerable on the field (light, sound, stress, etc.), would be a serious concern. 

 While he may function well on a team or even in a leadership position commanding a unit, I think special forces may rely heavier on single-person performance under high-strain situations.  Conditions on those high risk N missions maybe be more likely to trigger an attack than typical combat.   Alone, disabled, and with the whole mission riding on him achieve a specific task, it could be disastrous.

Even if was accepted to apply, I don't know if he could pass N training with his health condition. If Wiki is correct, it says this about N1 training:

"If this is their first time at the school, trainees participate in scenarios experienced by the elite units of most land-based armies; a typical candidate may be in training more than 20 hours a day, leading small units into combat over hostile terrain with little sleep or food. Trainees who do well are awarded an internal designation of N1 and are invited to return."

While Kaidan is obviously a tough person, who's gone through basic and performs well as a marine on the field, I don't know if he could push himself to operate with 4 hours of sleep a day and hardly any food. My sister has terrible migraines, and she has to careful judge her sleep cycle and the timing of her meals. If she doesn't get enough sleep or oversleeps, she gets a migraine. If she misses a meal, she gets a migraine. 

Obviously, Kaidan would face those issues while on the field as a general marine, but I don't think it would be to the same extent as here.  If on the field in these conditions, a migraine could be dealt with, either supported by his team and medication.  Or, if extreme, by evacuation.  As a N candidate under these conditions, a bad migraine affecting his performance would simply disqualify him.

It also says about higher level N training:

"The highest grade of training, N6, provides actual combat experience in conflict zones throughout the galaxy. From day one, invitees are given basic gear, then separated and stranded on an asteroid with no nav data. The test ends when the last person runs out of oxygen. The first few are out of the program. If the trainee survives these scenarios in "admirable and effective fashion," they finally receive the coveted N7 designation."

I imagine every N operative enters training with the intention of becoming a N7. No one thinks, "Yeah, I'll join, but I only want to be a N4." Everyone is shooting for the top. In that case, if Kaidan wanted to become a N7, that means he'd be stranded alone on an asteroid and rationing oxygen. I think the hypoxia alone could be a huge trigger for a bad migraine.

Overall, I don't think there's any evidence to suggest Kaidan entered N training. Moreover, I suspect he may not qualify due to health concerns. If he did qualify, I don't know if he'd get pass the extreme conditions to get even a N1 designation.

Now that sounds like I'm looking down on Kaidan and what he can do having a migraine condition, but I'm really not. He obviously has found a way to function effectively as a marine. He assures Shepard he won't be a burden on the crew, if Shepard was worried.   He received all those commendations and jumps up the ranks fast.  He obviously functions well and deserves his position as a marine.  But the military is strict with health limitations, and I think N training may be the point where the line is drawn.  It’s just too risky for him and the mission.

I think what opportunities Kaidan lacks due to his L2 implant, he makes up for with his outstanding leadership skills, level-headed resourcefulness, and intuitiveness for politics and tact.  Through ME1, he is frequently dissecting Council and Alliance motivation and power-plays.  He’s open minded, fair, and progressive in the larger picture, long-term goals of the Alliance.  He takes time considering all of the political players involved and giving the benefit of a doubt to aliens in their actions toward humanity.  

To me, he makes an excellent candidate for Spectre for his political saavy in addition to his leadership skills, lack of racial bias, self-accountability, determination, and independent decision making.  He thinks for himself beyond blindly accepting orders.  He is willing to take those convictions to the level of breaking rules and confronting superiors.  Those are important for a Spectre, and his moral self-accountability will ensure he has proper discernment in how he uses his powers.  He obviously has good fighting skills and ability to lead on the field despite his health condition, because he jumps so many Alliance ranks.  He learns to Reave and is teaching other spec op biotics.  He’s very capable both on a political intellectual level and physically with skills and ability.

While he may not, in my opinion, match well with the rigors and high-intensity of N training, he’s an exceptional option for a high leadership positions within the Alliance and for promoting galactic interests as a Spectre.  

Thank you for the ask!!!

on doctor carmilla and her relationship to the mechanisms

welcome to my carmilla analysis post! all her lore is too big a subject to handle in one post, so i’m starting with this more specific one and seeing where it goes!

the main thing i’m going to be talking about here is the fan interpretation of her. i’ve collected all the evidence that supports fanon carmilla*, and i’m going to use it to discuss why fandom interpretation, while it has a basis, could be better done/more accurate to the character. i’m collecting evidence here both to support the fan interpretation and criticize it; this is very much not a discourse post, it’s an analysis post!

*i’m defining this as unnecessary experiments on and/or further abuse of the mechanisms.

(that being said, please don’t make her racist/ableist/homophobic; i’ve seen far too much of that, and it makes me incredibly uncomfortable as she is a disabled japanese lesbian and is also most likely trans. i mostly see this in modern aus, but it’s in ‘canon compliant’ works as well- the largest offender here is the popular headcanon that she forced jonny to change his accent to a british one, which for what i hope are obvious reasons given this section doesn’t sit right with me.)

rest under the cut! warnings for medical trauma, including non-consensual drugging and mind alteration, and discussions of abuse (both from a parental figure and from a significant other). it gets heavy; please stay safe!

first off: this isn’t really on the lore of her backstory, but i will touch upon that occasionally as it’s important to understanding her character! i would really suggest to listening to exhumed and (un)plugged (bandcamp / youtube) and ageha (prototype edition) (bandcamp / youtube) and reading her wiki page to get a grasp of the deeper lore; not necessarily before reading this, but definitely if you’re planning to make her a major character in your work.  

we only have two first-hand sources into carmilla’s interactions with the mechanisms; lashings (part one / part two / transcript) and homesick (video / transcript). in both of those, we see that the mechanisms- or at least jonny and nastya- are very uncomfortable with and/or afraid of her. lashings has a few examples of this, regarding nastya; her tone is noticeably quiet and cold whenever she speaks to carmilla and near the end of the show, carmilla hugs her from behind without warning, making her freeze up. 

homesick is even clearer in this regard- after the song is performed, carmilla and jonny have this exchange, which i’ve copied from the transcript in its entirety as it’s all potentially relevant.

[JONNY] (very, legitimately afraid) ALRIGHT ALRIGHT- Stop stop stop stop stop, whoa whoa whoa okay okay okay- I can’t take it anymore! Are you going to kill us or not? Cause I’m (stuttering)- It’s lovely when we’re playing songs, and it's great. But we shot- well, one of us, shot you out of an airlock, and I wanna know. What are you going to do to us? Other than killing me?

[DOC C] Now is not the time, Jonny, I’m feeling a bit tetchy.

[JONNY] Watch it. You’re- you’re planning something. Something. 

[DOC C] Medication time.

[JONNY] Yes-- (cutoff)

the video ends here. the lines at the end are most likely a leadup to the song welcome to medi bay co, but given carmilla’s tone in the recording, it could also be a threat towards him. this implies she has non-consensually drugged him in the past. his conviction that she was going to kill him also suggests that that has happened as well.

from this, we can conclude carmilla’s actions in the common fanon are not out of character, but her motives and thoughts towards the mechanisms could often be considered so. the default motivation for her seems to be to experiment- she’s driven out of boredom or curiosity, and is simply using the mechanisms as test subjects. there are a few cases to directly cite in canon of her experimenting on someone (out of something other than necessity so that they survived)- the first one is from exhumed, and is not in reference to the mechanisms, but instead a clone of herself (x). (i won’t elaborate too much on the post i linked as a source here, but it’s very interesting and i’d suggest giving it a read!)

doesn’t fit too much here, but you know what does?

Highly amused by the moral ambiguity of the events leading to his supposed demise – where both Brian and the priest believed themselves to have the moral high ground, she rebuilt Brian with a slight modification – an inbuilt morality core, with two settings.

brian’s switch. the bio straight-up says she made it out of amusement, which is a huge issue as anyone can flip it (except brian himself; don’t have the source on hand, but there was a post a while back that mentioned it was on the small of his back, which he can’t reach) and it changes his entire mindset!

however! this is the only case of something like this happening!

maki has said that carmilla cared for the mechanisms, and considered them her adopted children. while the evidence i’ve noted earlier almost becomes worse with that knowledge, it’s a different mindset than test subjects.

this is getting into a bit more of personal thoughts/headcanons, but we know carmilla had a lot of trouble with healthy relationships, including familial ones. she could wholeheartedly care about the mechanisms, and just not know how to form an actually positive relationship with them. in addition, if you view my personal headcanon that carmilla made loreli into a vampire instead of the other way round, she sure does have a problem with people she’s attached to dying, doesn’t she? she’s more sympathetic in general than she tends to be painted, and she has had good interactions with the mechanisms. (mostly drawing on what maki has said on the mechscord for this- sadly, invites are currently closed).

not elaborating on it too much here, as there’s a lot to unpack vis a vis lore and red stringing, but it’s also likely that carmilla does grow and change and get better as a person- she left the mechanisms most likely of her own volition, as maki has said she ‘didn’t leave via the airlock’, and made an active effort to fix her past mistakes. this is in contrast to the other mechanisms (except possibly brian) who never make any kind of effort to stop being terrible people. (may write a meta/lore explanation on this eventually, but it’s too large a topic to cover here!)

tl;dr: carmilla was abusive towards the mechanisms, but she was more likely to be well-meaning, rather than bored or curious.

more scattered naruto thoughts now that we’ve finished season 8 -

[spoiler policy disclaimer first, as always: I am watching naruto for the first time and have only gotten up to the end of season 8 (after pain destroys the hidden leaf village).  i am trying to avoid spoilers, so please don’t interact with this (tags included, because the notifications now show them to me automatically) with any spoilery commentary, including even general things like “oh i love this show but it gets less good after X point” or “X season is better than Y season” or any general assessments of quality/likability/etc re: future seasons.  Thank you! <3 ]

- i like the way S8 ended.  i know that in real life maybe it wouldn’t be so feasible to just talk your enemy back to the light, but honestly, i don’t care.  i love that shit.  i love stories when people refuse to hurt the people who hurt them first, and then their seemingly inconceivable choice to refrain from striking back creates a connection (it’s the ‘return of the jedi’ effect, folks).  i understand that it doesn’t work like that in real life most of the time, and i don’t recommend it for real life people trying to defend themselves, but i do love it in fiction.  i LOVED how naruto went in pursuit of nagato to talk to him, not fight him.  even though naruto says straight-up “i can’t forgive you” / “I want to kill you so badly i can’t stop shaking” - he still recognizes that his enemy is someone who’s been victimized, and he has enough compassion to feel pain on their behalf even when he himself is reeling from having his entire home destroyed and both of his teachers murdered by the person he’s confronting.  his choice to control his (valid) rage and extend a hand in compassion is ultimately what changes the outcome and saves everyone who would have died, reversing the damage that was done, and i love that shit.  

- absolutely adore yamato abandoning his own mission and taking off at a run to try and help naruto when he senses that naruto is losing control over the nine-tails.  this man thought he was just a substitute teacher for a while there, but he’s become part of the family while he wasn’t looking.

- HINATA.  oh my god i couldn’t even enjoy this incredible moment because i was so stressed out (and angry, at the time, because i really thought they were going to kill her, and that would’ve crossed my line).  i want to watch this again knowing that she’s fine, because my anxiety over ‘fuck fuck fuck they’re actually going to kill one of the kids’ precluded me from even appreciating it appropriately.

- there’s been a lot of talk on this show about how sakura doesn’t have as much chakra as naruto or sasuke, but she heals people non-stop the entire time Pain is attacking and doesn’t show any signs of running dry.  SHOW HER SOME RESPECT.

- CHOOOOOOOOJIIIIIIII!  omg.  i was so afraid that his father was actually dead, and SO RELIEVED that he was okay.  you can’t do that to choji!!!

- also relatedly, how much do i adore choji for caring so much about kakashi?  <333 i mean this kid is there sobbing over his dead body, and then he bursts out crying when kakashi comes back to life - i really appreciate these little ties between characters who aren’t always in close quarters but who do have a relationship.  kakashi has been a teacher to ALL of the kids, and team 10 especially feels indebted to him - the respect and affection they all feel for him is very real.

- first time i actually thought ‘ok he’s cool’ with regard to minato was when he talked to the nine-tails so unfazed like “he’s a loudmouth.  let’s go somewhere more quiet.’  i’ve been kind of so-so on his character so far, but i liked this.  

- also later in that scene - the (rare) scenes we’ve seen where naruto totally breaks down absolutely kill me.  it happened once when gaara was dead, and then there’s another moment in this episode when he’s talking to minato - whoever voices him does just incredible work in those moments, and it is SO PAINFUL to me because naruto is always such a happy kid the rest of the time and eternally optimistic and positive and excited and popping back up every time he falls down, and so when he cracks it is just devastating to see.  i hate seeing him cry like that.

- similarly - that shot of sasuke at the end of the itachi arc wrecked me.  naruto’s breakdowns are upsetting, but at least he allows himself to have them - when he gets pushed past a breaking point, he explodes.  he cries and yells and spills every single thought in his head in front of everybody who’s around him, and after it’s done, things get better.  he’s with people who care about him.  he’s venting and making himself understood, and he always finds his equilibrium again.

sasuke, though, has been completely locked down ever since we saw him sneak out of the hospital to wander around the scene of his community’s mass murder, and he’s still locked down now, even crying all alone at the edge of the ocean.  this moment isn’t cathartic.  it isn’t a release.  this is barely even a sliver of what this kid has going on inside him, and it looks like it’s agonizing for him to even let that much out.

- the scene where naruto is about to give up and give in to the nine-tails’s power...that exchange!!!!!!!

i don’t know.  it hurts.  i hate this.  i don’t know.  what should i do.  i don’t know anything anymore.  someone...please help me.  give me...an answer.

destroy everything.  erase anything that causes you pain.  give me your soul, your spirit, your vital essence.  give it to me, and in exchange, i will rescue you from your pain.

this whole exchange is amazing.  the way naruto says ‘it hurts’...this is one of those scenes that expands to cover so much more ground than just what’s onscreen at that moment.  what naruto overcomes here is precisely the trap that sasuke has not been able to escape.  sasuke has never had any framework for dealing with pain that isn’t about pursuing vengeance.  it’s the only way he thinks he can free himself from his pain - by putting all of his energy into destroying the people who hurt him.  

but it becomes an endless cycle, because he never succeeds.  itachi dies and sasuke feels worse than ever, so he turns his attention to the hidden leaf in an attempt to finally kill what’s hurting him.  but even if sasuke were to raze the entire village to the ground, his pain would still be with him, and he’d then have to turn his attention to yet another target, because the alternative would be to recognize that he can’t escape his pain by destroying the things that hurt him, and that’s not something he’s able to accept right now.  he’s spent half his life fixated on the idea that revenge can rescue him from how terrible he feels, and abandoning that idea now would mean that nothing can save him.  it would mean that he’s going to hurt like this no matter what he does.  

kakashi tried to warn him about this.  he tried to tell sasuke that even after getting his revenge, sasuke wouldn’t feel better, that he’d only tear himself apart trying to achieve something that would leave him feeling empty - but sasuke was too entrenched in his own warped thinking to believe it.  and ever since then, sasuke has been in the company of people who are happy to let him dig himself deeper and deeper into a self-destructive hole as long as it benefits their agenda.  they don’t care if he’s hurting himself.  they’re happy to see him suffering.  his pain is a tool they can use.

- a note re: kakashi, when it comes to this topic - 

i think it’s relevant to remember that kakashi never tells sasuke not to pursue revenge because it’s “wrong” or ethically questionable.  he never delivers any moralizing speeches in the vein of “if you kill someone who victimized you, you’re just as bad as they are.”  kakashi doesn’t think it’s wrong if itachi dies, and if sasuke were in a better state of mind, he probably wouldn’t even mind if sasuke were the one to kill him.  that’s why kakashi is comfortable helping team 10 pursue asuma’s killers, after all - because they’re not unbalanced by rage or making self-destructive decisions; they’re acting with clear heads and pursuing a course of action that needs to be taken anyway (asuma’s murderers are on their way to the leaf to capture naruto - they need to be dealt with regardless).  team 10′s kids can handle that mission - they’re thinking straight.  they’re comfortable accepting adult guidance.  they’re grieving, but they’re okay. 

sasuke is not.  sasuke has been deeply traumatized since he was a very young child, and encouraging his quest for vengeance is equivalent to validating all of the fucked-up thought patterns that are hurting him so badly - that it was his responsibility (as a seven year-old child) to protect his clan, that he was weak and cowardly for running away, that he needs to take itachi down as penance for failing to save his family, that killing itachi is the only way for him to justify his childhood survival, that killing itachi will free him from his pain.  for kakashi to encourage any of these false convictions would be irresponsible and, ultimately, harmful to the child he’s supposed to be looking after.  if sasuke gets his revenge on itachi, he’s just going to be left with the horrifying realization that his pain hasn’t lessened even the slightest bit, except that now he also has to deal with the additional trauma of killing someone he used to love. 

kakashi doesn’t discourage sasuke from revenge because Revenge Is Morally Bad and You Are Morally Bad For Pursuing It; he discourages sasuke from revenge because in this particular case, sasuke’s fixation on revenge is hurting him.  it’s unhealthy for him, and it will cause him worse pain in the future if he allows it to continue driving his life.  sasuke is never going to feel better if he doesn’t stop distracting himself from his pain by focusing solely on vengeance.  if he’s ever going to actually be rescued from his pain, he needs to face (and FEEL!!!) his grief, which is precisely what staying fixated on revenge allows him to avoid.

- relatedly: i just.  am SO sick.  of all these horrible people.  getting their hands on sasuke.  and using him for their own ends.  when he has already been manipulated and victimized all his life.  it makes me wanna SCREAM!!!!  and i know that’s the point; we are supposed to be frustrated by this - but - hrnghghgnh

and like - it’s not like sasuke doesn’t know it’s happening!  he’s not stupid!  he knows the people around him are using him, and he just tries to use them back and play them before they play him, and he accepts that this is what his life is going to look like, and because he survives, he thinks he’s in control, but he has NO IDEA how far over his head he’s in now.  and besides, he never stops to think that maybe his life shouldn’t look like this.  he has no conception of ‘someone should be taking care of me.’  he’s never seen himself as a child who needs protection - he’s never seen himself as a child, period.  it’s why he’s such a brat to the other kids, and it’s why he never calls kakashi ‘sensei.’  he thinks of himself as an adult.  he has adult problems.  he can’t connect to children his own age because he can’t connect to the idea of childhood - his childhood was stolen from him, and with it went any conception of refuge or safety or the fact that relentless self-sufficiency and a constant cycle of using/being used by other people isn’t in fact what his life is supposed to look like.

i am continually infuriated by all of these people who have abdicated their responsibility as adults and chosen to exploit an already exploited kid, one who is too messed up to save himself or let anybody else help him.  none of these people care about him.  they all want to use him for something.  they’re happy he’s in pain, because his pain is what enables them to manipulate him.

the people who DO truly want to help him are the same people he’s desperately trying to avoid.  the only adult sasuke ever had a meaningful and non-manipulative relationship with is the same adult he keeps running away from.  and the only two people his own age who ever actually knew anything about him or cared if he was okay are the two people he keeps pushing away. 

there is, perhaps, a lot to be said about how sasuke continually runs away from the people who actually care about him and instead affiliates himself with people he’ll never have to worry about forming a connection with.  “having too many ties in this world just holds you back” - sure, and having no ties protects you, too.  nobody to love you, nobody to know you, nobody you can ever lose.

IFD Author Showcase - oopsabird’s SamiCharlie (Wonder Woman 2017) Works

Hello all! Since today is February 15 was International Fanworks Day, I thought I’d get around to something I’ve been thinking of doing for a while, which is a masterpost of all the Wonder Woman (2017) fics I’ve written for the pairing Charlie/Sameer! Yay!! Shamless self-promotion time!!

Click under the cut for all 15 of my works for this ship in the order I originally posted them! Plenty of reading to fill up your reading week or procrastinate whatever you “should” be doing lol

Unfortunately this probably won’t show up in the tags due to the amount of links it has, so reblogs would be super super appreciated, as are comments and kudos from those of you who click through!

These works represent the small public part of the huge amount of writing growth I have had in the last two years, and a big effort to build a ship tag from the ground up with my friends, and I am so so proud of them!! Every word of a comment or kudos means the absolute world to me, as making these fics has helped me rediscover my creative self again after so many years of being estranged from that part of me - they are an expression of creative joy.

Hope you enjoy!

1. And In The Morning [1838 words]

If that snowy night in Veld had been the calm before the storm, this sunrise was the stunned quiet in the wake of the hurricane. The moment to look around and take stock of what made it through the vicious night - and what didn’t.

Missing scene/coda: Sameer at the airfield, after.

Warnings: N/A | Fandom: Wonder Woman (2017) | Characters: Sameer, Charlie, Chief, Diana Prince | Relationships: Charlie/Sameer, Charlie & Sameer | Date Posted: 28 Nov 2017

Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Pre-Slash, sober Charlie

2. je le veux [7697 words]

Diana believes in love the same way children believe in fairytales - with optimism and wholehearted conviction.

or;

Over the course of their mission in Belgium, Diana deduces from watching Sameer and Charlie that they obviously must be a devoted married couple. This conclusion would in fact be news to everyone else on the team — including Sameer and Charlie.

Warnings: N/A | Fandom: Wonder Woman (2017) | Characters: Diana Prince, Sameer, Charlie, Etta Candy, Chief | Relationships: Charlie/Sameer, Diana Prince/Steve Trevor (mentioned), Charlie & Sameer, Etta Candy & Diana, Wonder Squad Found Family Feels | Date Posted: 27 Dec 2017

Addtional Tags: Mutual Pining, Intimacy, cultural misunderstandings (of a sort), Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Recovery, Grieving, well-intentioned meddling friends, Diana Prince vs 20th-century homophobia, aka Truth Coming Out Of Her Well To Shame Mankind, Fluff, Get-Together Fic, Post-Movie, non-explicit references to homophobia, sober Charlie

3. gambit [7390 words]

gambit: in chess, a sacrifice used to gain an early advantage in space or time at the opening of a game.

or;

Sameer does something arguably reckless, and consequences ensue.

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence | Fandom: Wonder Woman (2017) | Characters: Sameer, Charlie, Chief, Etta Candy | Relationships: Charlie/Sameer, Charlie & Sameer, Wonder Squad Found Family Feels | Date Posted: 3 Jan 2018

Additional Tags: Canon-Typical Violence, liberal mis-use of historical timelines and the field of medicine, Hurt/Comfort, a dozen tropes stacked together in a trenchcoat, Mission Fic, Minor Injuries, Serious Injuries, Interrogation, Get-Together Fic, Post-Canon, Whump, epilogue compliant, sober Charlie

4. To Burn And Keep Quiet [5660 words]

Sameer and Charlie tell their secrets, yet still keep them secret all the same. Etta gets caught up in the middle of their mess, and prays for patience.

Warnings: Chose not to use | Fandom: Wonder Woman (2017) | Characters: Etta Candy, Sameer, Charlie, Steve Trevor (Mentioned) | Relationships: Charlie/Sameer, Etta Candy & Sameer, Etta Candy & Charlie, Charlie & Sameer | Chapters:  2/2 | Date Posted: 19 Jan 2018

Additional Tags: Mutually Unrequited, Mutual Pining, Friendship, Miscommunication, Pre-Canon, Post-Canon, yes it can be both, oblivious idiots in love, Hospitals, Etta gets caught in a minor moral conundrum, Secrets, Pining, Male-Female Friendship, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Period-typical attitudes towards homosexuality, (not Etta because she's a good person), Bisexual Character, Pre-Slash, epilogue compliant, sober Charlie, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism

5. so much like stars [6668 words]

Sameer gets Charlie back from the drink - and all that which comes with him, too.

or;

How the rest of the team spent that night in the village.

Warnings: N/A | Fandom: Wonder Woman (2017) | Characters: Sameer, Charlie, Chief | Relationships: Charlie/Sameer, Charlie & Sameer | Date Posted: 31 Jan 2018

Additional Tags: Pining, Canon Compliant, Mid-Canon, Missing Scene, Undressing, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, the result of watching the "evening in Veld" scene way too many times, Friendship, Unresolved Romantic Tension, probably some UST too but it's subtle I think, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Diana/Steve Trevor (mentioned), sober Charlie

6. Next To Me [2604 words]

After the war Charlie's drinking stops, but the nightmares don't. Luckily, he has people who’ll take care of him - if he can learn to let them.

Warnings: N/A | Fandom: Wonder Woman (2017) | Characters: Sameer, Charlie, Etta Candy, Chief | Relationships: Charlie/Sameer, Charlie & Sameer | Date Posted: 18 Mar 2018

Additional Tags: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Nightmares, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Friendship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, Angst, Mutual Pining(if you squint), Team as Family, Charlie and the fight against toxic masculinity, epilogue compliant, sober Charlie

7. take my heart (clean apart if it helps yours beat) [4147 words]

This thought more than any other makes Sami’s heart twist in his chest; he wishes he could turn back time, lift the troubles from Charlie’s mind and give him the peace he deserves. Steve says this new mission of theirs could end the war, and while Sami isn’t quite naive enough to wholeheartedly believe this, he quietly hopes that it can be true, because he isn’t sure how much longer they can hold on otherwise. A small group of missing scenes from the last night in London before the mission.

Warnings: N/A | Fandom: Wonder Woman (2017) | Characters: Sameer, Charlie, Steve Trevor | Relationships: Charlie/Sameer, Charlie & Sameer, Sameer & Steve Trevor | Date Posted: 1 May 2018

Additional Tags: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Canon Compliant, Missing Scene, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pining, Miscommunication, Etta and Diana appear briefly but not enough to tag

8. a degree of difficulty [2603 words]

Without the drink to cloud his judgement, Charlie finds himself prone to worry.

or;

A small cutscene preceding the battle at the airfield; a moment of reassurance.

Warnings: Chose not to use | Fandom: Wonder Woman (2017) | Characters: Charlie, Sameer, Chief, Steve Trevor | Relationships: Charlie/Sameer, Charlie & Sameer, assorted minor/background team feels and friendships | Date Posted: 27 Aug 2018

Additional Tags: Ficlet, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Anxiety, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Slash, Friendship, sober Charlie

9. i don’t know if you would listen [2509 words]

After the village battle and before the celebration, Charlie seeks out absolution in Veld's broken church.

Warnings: Chose not to use | Fandom: Wonder Woman (2017) | Characters: Charlie, Sameer | Relationships: Charlie/Sameer, Charlie & Sameer | Date Posted: 5 Oct 2018

Additional Tags: Character Study, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Canon Compliant, Religious Discussion, Pre-Slash, Friendship, Sami being beautiful in the twilight (again), Mid-Canon, time to unpack my massive box of Charlie feels (again), Prayer, sober Charlie

10. dìon [1944 words]

dìon — Scottish Gaelic; verb meaning “to protect”, “to safeguard”, or “to shelter”.

or;

Sami vs the forces of winter.

Warnings: N/A | Fandom: Wonder Woman (2017) | Characters: Sameer, Charlie, Etta Candy | Relationships: Charlie/Sameer, Charlie & Sameer, Etta Candy & Sameer, Etta Candy & Charlie | Date Posted: 8 Jan 2019

Additional Tags: Winter, Pre-Slash, mild whump, Fluff, Mutually Oblivious Pining, Sharing Clothes, epilogue compliant, sober Charlie

11. let me come with you [12,013 words]

the woods are lovely, dark and deep (but i have promises to keep)

or;

When things go awry on a mission in Italy, it's Charlie's turn to risk everything for his family, and pray they'll bring him home. Sequel and mirror to gambit.

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence | Fandom: Wonder Woman (2017) | Characters: Charlie, Sameer, Etta Candy, Chief | Relationships: Charlie/Sameer, Charlie & Sameer, Etta Candy & Charlie, Charlie & Chief, Etta Candy & Sameer, Wonder Squad Found Family Feels | Date Posted: 4 Apr 2019

Additonal Tags: Mission Fic, Established Relationship, Action & Romance, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Interrogation, Team as Family, Canon-Typical Violence, (maybe a bit above that), Whump, tropes tropes and more tropes, sober Charlie, Serious Injuries, Post-Canon, epilogue compliant, liberties taken with medical accuracy, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Peril, Romance, Multilingual Character, i love Charlie and i am terrible to him, Torture

12. a small enough love [1016 words]

 i don’t want to die. i just want    a little goddamn rest    and a small enough love    that i can breathe around it.

Charlie sleeps. Sami keeps watch.

Warnings: N/A | Fandom: Wonder Woman (2017) | Characters: Sameer, Charlie | Relationships: Charlie/Sameer, Charlie & Sameer | Date Posted: 20 Aug 2019

Additional Tags: Napping, Pining, Friendship/Love, Pre-Canon

13. (you say it best) when you say nothing at all [2073 words]

Sameer prides himself on knowing over two dozen languages (and counting) — yet somehow, he has never really needed any of them for him and Charlie to understand one another perfectly. 

Warnings: Chose not to use | Fandom: Wonder Woman (2017) | Characters: Sameer, Charlie | Relationships: Charlie/Sameer, Charlie & Sameer | Date Posted: 14 Oct 2019

Additonal Tags: Post-Canon, Getting Together, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Racism, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, mild whump, aka Charlie gets his ass kicked a bit, No Dialogue, sober Charlie, Sameer makes a fuss, Charlie doesn’t actually mind, Angst with a Happy Ending, but like mild angst, Men Crying, Friends to Lovers, First Kiss

14. remedy [4027 words]

Sameer has spent a long time pretending he doesn't hear Charlie's nightmares, both to shelter his friend's pride and hide his own feelings.

Then the war ends, and Charlie gets sober, and damn near everything changes.

Warnings: Chose not to use | Fandom: Wonder Woman (2017) | Characters: Sameer, Charlie | Relationships: Charlie/Sameer, Charlie & Sameer | Date Posted: 12 Nov 2019

Additional Tags: Pre-Slash, Post-Canon, Mutual Pining, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Nightmares, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, sober Charlie, Paris (City), Sharing a Bed, Accidental Cuddling, Repressed Idiots, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Post-War, Tenderness, Mutually oblivious

15. and if the night comes (and the night will come) [2164 words]

well at least the war is over

~

Charlie isn’t the only one who has his share of nightmares.

Sameer just happens to be a lot quieter about it.

Words: 2164 | Rating: G Warnings: N/A | Fandom: Wonder Woman (2017) | Characters: Charlie, Sameer | Relationships: Charlie/Sameer, Charlie & Sameer | Date Posted: 26 Mar 2020

Additional Tags: Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Role Reversal, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Singing, Established Relationship, Post-Canon, Post-War, Cuddling & Snuggling, Multilingual Character, sober Charlie, Sameer is painfully selfless, Charlie is Trying His Best god bless him, Lullabies, Tenderness            

If you’ve made it this far and still somehow want more, please go check out the 17 other works for this ship by my dearly beloved friends and muses Elri and Kaye, and my pal Bug. Hell, check it out anyway. Couldn’t have done all this writing without them, I simply couldn’t <3

Joining the Game Late: S8E6 “The Iron Throne”

Synopsis

Tyrion surveys the damage and finds his siblings, while Jon almost fights Grey Worm over executions. Arya and Jon are in the crowd as Daenerys gives her victory speech and Tyrion gets arrested for throwing away his pin. Tyrion goads Jon into growing a spine; he sort of does. Daenerys lives out her Season 2 vision and expounds upon her philosophy of conquest before Jon stabs her (not like that) and Drogon burns the symbolism...but not Jon for some reason. A tense trial at the Dragonpit, with Edmure still being a dumbass and a bid for democracy from Sam that goes over poorly. The man on trial nominates Bran as the new king which everyone accepts because he monologued a good thesis statement for the show, except Sansa who makes the North independent. For their crimes Tyrion is still Hand, and Jon is sent back to the Night’s Watch. Grey Worm, his antagonism ignored, sails to Naath, while Arya sails west off the map and Brienne finishes Jaime’s entry. The new small council features Sam dropping the book series title, Bronn arguing over the necessity of rebuilding brothels, and Davos completing a very old brick joke. Jon comes home to Tormund, and the two of them and Ghost lead the Free Folk north of the Wall as Sansa and Arya join them via cuts for a Stark ending.

Commentary

There are parts of this ending that I like. I like that the episode concludes with the Starks; uninterested as I generally have been in the family as primary PoV characters, it’s thematically appropriately to close out on the ongoing adventures of Jon, Sansa, and Arya. I like that Jon/Tormund is less of a joke than I was expecting, that Tormund features prominently in Jon’s final scenes and that the show sends them off as a sort of family unit along with Ghost and the remaining Free Folk. I like Brienne’s addition to Jaime’s entry in the book of the Kingsguard, highlighting his heroism while also remaining honest about his final decision...and delicately leaving out the incest, or her own fling with the man for that matter. It’s sterilized, and yet not wholly so, a fitting way to end the story of such a morally complicated figure whose very existence in the narrative seems to hinge on a deconstruction of the knight in shining armor archetype. I like the realization of Dany’s vision at the end of Season 2, a tacit understanding by the showrunners that they (and GRRM advising them) knew they were eventually going to get to that image of the Iron Throne in a ruined Red Keep covered in snow. I like that the show doesn’t belabor the “where are they now” aspect of the epilogue, that not everything is perfect and tidily wrapped up even if most of what isn’t is left unmentioned offscreen. It reminds me very much of most Fire Emblem endings, in the sense that a true happy ending remains elusive and there are always challenges left to face and tales remaining to be told. This isn’t Lord of the Rings, concluding when a fat and allegedly relatable guy named Samwell plops down a book (for the most part not written by him) bearing the title of the work in-universe as if to say that that’s the end of that and everything will sort itself out, nor is it Harry Potter with its treacly epilogue pairing everyone off into neat heterosexual marriages with 2.5 children and middle-class comfort. The story will continue, and you can place bets on how many decades of peace Westeros will have before there’s another continental war and a bunch of these characters get violently offed like the generation before them.

There are parts of this ending that I can abide. I’ve reconciled myself to the indignity of Bronn taking Highgarden by seeing in him a type of character like Thénardier from Les Misérables. Both of them are amoral, avaricious assholes despite occasional entertaining moments, and despite that their stories reward them not only with survival but with wealth and notoriety far beyond what they deserve purely as a demonstration that life is often unfair like that. Perhaps Bronn’s lordship of the setting equivalent of Paris was an explicit nod to that? I don’t mind the council at the Dragonpit laughing outright at Sam’s suggestion - transparent as it was coming from the author’s self-insert - of elective democracy, because much like FE the pseudo-medieval stasis this setting is locked into is not realistically equipped to handle such a revolutionary political shift, much less competently depict it in around half an hour of remaining screentime. I can bear the overt allusions to fascist regimes in Daenerys’s victory speech scene, because if you’re going to pivot her from liberator with worrying violent tendencies to tyrannical conqueror hard enough to make it reasonably justifiable that the show’s two most prominent remaining “good” guys would conspire to assassinate her with only that one scene to do it in you may as well go all out with the shorthand. Drogon not roasting Jon is stupid, but melting the Iron Throne is a great symbolic image: destroying all the ruin and strife it represents, coming full circle with the Targaryen reign over Westeros, and so forth.

And then there’s one part of this ending that’s really hard for me to swallow, particularly as Fire Emblem: Three Houses presents a variation of the same scene with much better execution. As this episode aired only about three months before the release of FE16 the similarities between Daenerys’s death and the final cutscene of Azure Moon can be nothing more than an interesting coincidence, but as you’d be hard-pressed to argue that Edelgard did not take some design cues from Daenerys - and to a lesser extent Dimitri from Jon - during the game’s development it’s a useful coincidence for contrast purposes. I mentioned a few posts ago that most of the uncomfortable elements present in Dany’s death are absent in Edelgard’s; she and Dimitri are not sexually involved at any point, and the game focuses instead on their familial bond even though (ironically) they are not biologically related. Dimitri also kills Edelgard in self-defense, after he reaches out his hand to her and she responds by throwing a dagger at him - which is considerably less awful than Jon leading Daenerys into a kiss just so he can stab her. Three Houses also benefits in that Dimitri is a far better realized character overall than Jon Snow, with a clearly defined arc in Azure Moon, meaningful convictions that place him at odds with Edelgard on both a personal and philosophical level, and even a stronger queer angle - also with a bear belonging to a historically marginalized culture/ethnicity, humorously enough. Jon by contrast feels at this stage mostly formless, with nothing strongly defining him (barring perhaps his affection for the Free Folk, which is what he returns to when everything is said and done) and in fact a repeatedly reference lack of desire to do things. Little wonder then that his decision to kill Daenerys comes more or less entirely because Tyrion told him she was the final boss and had to be taken care of.

Regarding Dany herself...if you’ve been following this liveblog the whole way through you know that I’ve been watching her character since the show began for signs that she’d wind up where she does. Yes, they are there, quite in abundance actually, and where the show stumbles comes of course from how terrible paced the story is by the time it reaches her breaking point. The audience has to make do with some of the most obvious fascist signposting imaginable and a single nonsensical speech to Jon (something else she has in common with Edelgard incidentally, who has many of these) revealing Daenerys to be the egomaniacal conqueror she always was with no subtlety whatsoever because the show has run out of time for subtlety. To this episode’s credit I do appreciate that Grey Worm continues to stick around as a foil and reflection of Daenerys. His rage over Missandei’s death sees him executing captured Lannister soldiers en masse, and he continues to demand justice for Tyrion’s betrayal even though after this point the writers stopped caring about him and shipped him off to Naath for an ending (where I am told there are plague-bearing butterflies? That doesn’t bode well.). In Grey Worm one can see a version of Daenerys’s own anger at all that she has suffered and lost, and how destructive that anger can be - only Grey Worm doesn’t have a dragon that can charbroil a city in minutes. Still, these are mere scraps of characterization to set up such a drastic shift in presentation for one of the show’s two biggest leads, and I can definitely understand why fans were angry about it and probably still are. Even as someone who was expecting this all along and was never personally invested in Daenerys the way I was with some other characters, her death - the centerpiece of this episode, and the lead-in to GoT’s epilogue - was easily the biggest sour note of its finale, less that it happened at all and more how, and probably the single event in the last two-ish seasons that more than any other really needs the book series to flesh it out and develop it into something worthwhile.

I think that’s a wrap. I’ve spent nearly four months on this liveblog and have written far more than I possibly imagined that I would. Maybe sometime in a year or so I’ll return to this series again and just watch it through without taking notes. Perhaps I’m in a minority for believing that GoT would even be worth a rewatch. Eh...if you’ve read all this at least you know why.

Sometimes I think about yelling at STAR WARS fandom to slow the hell down because I have so many things to read and so many books and comics on top of all the fic, but then I remember, THIS IS THE BEST PROBLEM TO HAVE, oh no I have so many fun things to read! How awful! I can’t keep up with everything that I know I’m going to enjoy, so I have to post a list before I’m finished catching up, because otherwise it’d take me another month! Terrible! The fandom really has put out some absolutely wonderful things lately and I’ve just felt really happy and fizzy about them, I’ve been excited to yell about them and now I want to yell at other people about all the stuff I loved. STAR WARS FIC RECS: TIME TRAVEL RECS: ✦ Hearts Entwined by KeeperofSeeds, obi-wan & shmi & qui-gon, time travel, 6.5k wip   stolen moments between Padawan Kenobi and Shmi Skywalker, glimpsed by Qui Gon Jinn, and his continued attempts to understand both this strange new addition to the Temple and the unexplained relationship between the pair PREQUELS RECS: ✦ And the Void Answered Back by Ghost_Owl, obi-wan & anakin & rey & finn & poe & ben & yoda & maz & cast, force ghosts, 37.5k wip   (Follows the Force ghosts of Anakin, Obi Wan, and friends getting dragged kicking and screaming through the events of The Force Awakens) ✦ Youngling by LostintheTARDIS, obi-wan & anakin & cast, de-aged!anakin, 65.5k wip   Obi-Wan is sent on a rescue mission to find his missing padawan, shot down after completing a mission of his own, but what he finds is not what he expects. “No, it… It’s not possible, Obi-Wan. How can Anakin Skywalker be this little boy?” ✦ Supreme Chancellor Obi-Wan Kenobi by stonefreeak, obi-wan & anakin & padme & cody & bail & palpatine & cast, 16.5k wip   By an old Republic law, all members of the Jedi High Council are senators in the Galactic Senate, and can thus be voted in as chancellor. ✦ The Orchards by Raven_Knight, obi-wan & qui-gon & cast, 3.6k   When young Obi-Wan Kenobi is injured on a previous mission, Qui-Gon Jinn refuses to accept further off-planet missions until his Padawan’s recovery. Yoda assigns the pair an in-Temple mission of utmost importance while Obi-Wan heals. Master and Padawan welcome the change of pace. ✦ Staggering Is For Those With Nothing To Live Up To by shiningjedi, mace & ponds & depa & yoda & obi-wan & cast, 4.9k   Ponds has fought side-by-side with his general for over two years, so if Windu thinks that he can’t tell when something’s off, then, with all due respect, he’s made a serious error of judgement. ✦ Blow me away, Master Kenobi by stonefreeak, obi-wan, 1.9k   An explosion at a spaceport caused by anti-war extremists leaves Obi-Wan to navigate his way up through the surface through the debris. And then he finds the children… ✦ Found Clan by silvergryphon, boba & ocs & obi-wan & anakin & cast, 18.4k wip   After the Battle of Geonosis, a Jedi Healer discovers young Boba Fett mourning the loss of his father. Not about to leave a ten-year-old boy on his own, she promptly adopts him with the full collusion of her Padawan. ✦ The Art of Dual Wielding (Specifically, How to Not) by F-117 Nighthawk (F117_Nighthawk), obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka, ~1k   “Hey, Master, can you teach me Jar’Kai?” ✦ On the political ramifications of a marriage between a Jedi and a Senator by Deviant_Accumulation, obi-wan & anakin/padme & cast, 9.4k wip   In a shocking revelation, Nabooian priest Father Herriem has come forward stating that one year ago, he has officiated a marriage between Senator Padmé Amidala, former Queen of Naboo, known for playing a major part in the Liberation of Naboo, current Galactic Senate representative of Naboo and leader of the liberal south-up faction, and Knight Anakin Skywalker, Jedi General of the Republic Army. ✦ The House of My Father by ReneeoftheStars, dooku & cast, 2.4k   Dooku has left the Jedi Order and returned to his homeworld of Serenno, where he claims his rightful place as the Count of House Dooku. His sister-in-law is less than thrilled with his arrival. ✦ untitled by stonefreeak, dooku, 2.6k   Yan Dooku looks out over the holotable, filled with recent battles against the Republic. Battles that has started to go increasingly well for the Republic, with the heightened morale from their new chancellor. ✦ Full of Charts and Facts and Figures by ambiguously, mace/depa, 4.3k   Mace and Depa get kidnapped by pirates. ✦ Shed by SingManyFaces, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka, ~1k   Not long after being assigned to Anakin, Ahsoka becomes worried he’s hiding something serious and goes to Obi-Wan for advice. ✦ Tipping Point by Ria Talla (ronia), adi gallia & finis valorum & eeth koth, 3.3k   “I believe that if what’s happening on Naboo is allowed to continue, the other member systems will wonder what they owe to a Republic that can no longer protect them.” ✦ The Path of Totality by Raven_Knight, obi-wan & yoda & qui-gon & cast, 1.8k   Before going their separate ways into exile, Obi-Wan Kenobi shares with Yoda a lesson of wisdom he’d learned from his late Master, Qui-Gon Jinn. A lesson of darkness, light, and hope. OBI-WAN/ANAKIN RECS: ✦ Homecoming + Ben + To Love What Death Can Touch by Ripki, obi-wan/anakin & luke & leia & cast, western au, 3.7k   After a long absence, Anakin finally returns to the Lars farm. (Western AU.) ✦ The Missing Part by Nightstar269, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka, modern au, 57.4k wip   Anakin Skywalker, a student of mechanical engineering, has always felt that his life was lacking something, a feeling that was made much worse with the deaths of his mother first, and of the woman he loved some time later. Still haunted by the pain and heartbreak, he tries to go on with his life as well as he can. When an initiative of the director of the university has the students attending the classes of another degree so as to enrich their knowledge, he will meet someone that will turn his world upside down. ✦ Across the Darkness by xpityx, obi-wan/anakin & anakin/padme, 19.3k wip   Obi-Wan knew they had hit the temple’s inner security measures when Anakin went from calm to clutching both Obi-Wan and his lightsaber between one step and the next. ✦ Desire by Ralph_E_Silvering, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, mild d/s, 10.8k   Anakin Skywalker decides to take his investigation of an illegal smuggling ring in entirely the wrong direction when he finds a substance called “Desire"…and Obi-Wan cleans up his mess, as usual. ✦ What An Expensive Fate by FromDreamstoEmpires, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, sith!obi-wan, sith!anakin, 1.3k   Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at him, “But you like it when I tell you what to do.” He said softly, hand pulling on his curls until Anakin was forced to look at him, “Don’t you, sweetheart?” ✦ In the Details by SingManyFaces, obi-wan/anakin & anakin/ahsoka & obi-wan/anakin/ahsoka, NSFW, 2.3k   Anakin spends time learning the bodies of those he loves, and enjoys the same treatment. ✦ Collar by bell (belldreams), obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, d/s, 4.1k wip   “You have to be sure, Anakin. Once we’re in, we’re in.” “I think I can handle being your sub, Obi-Wan.” ✦ Pursuit by Icse, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, modern au, 18.5k wip   Aka ‘Obikin Equestrian AU’ on Tumblr. ✦ Thank You, Dear Heart by supercalifragilistichespiralidoso, obi-wan/anakin, ~1k   Obi-Wan calls Anakin by a pet name when they’re not alone ✦ came last in the technical by destiny919, anakin & ahsoka + background obi-wan/anakin, 1.5k   “Okay, Snips,” Anakin said confidently. “We’re doing this. We’re making this happen.” ✦ my heart is an echo chamber by Burning_Nightingale, obi-wan/anakin, 3.4k   Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader don’t meet again until their final confrontation on the Death Star. Not in person, at least. ✦ Rebel with a Cause by planetary_retrograde, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka & cast, 12.6k wip   A year after the fall of the Republic and the rise of the Galactic Empire, former Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi has formally joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic. His new mission: training Rebellion pilot and resident loose canon Anakin Skywalker. ✦ untitled by subskywalker, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, d/s, cock warming, 1k   “Remember dear one,” Obi-Wan reminded him as he pet his curls with one hand while the other stroked his cheek gently. “If it gets to be too much or if your need a break just tap our signal, okay?” ✦ Out Of Control by Gildedmuse, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 4.2k   “All right. But you owe me, and not for saving your skin for the tenth time . .” “Ninth time. That business on Cato Nemoidia doesn’t count.” ✦ last one on the list by destiny919, obi-wan/anakin & cast, ~1k   TIL the Han Dynasty was founded by a sheriff who was transporting convicts when several escaped. Knowing the punishment for this was death, he freed the rest and organized many into a rebel band, eventually going on to help overthrow the ruling Qin Dynasty and install himself as Emperor. ✦ darling can’t you hear me (s.o.s.) by nessa_j, obi-wan/anakin & cast, 3.5k   Stranded alone on a planet, Obi-Wan thinks his transmissions aren’t being received, and starts sending private messages to Anakin, not knowing that Anakin can hear everything. ✦ a night full of stars by Ralph_E_Silvering, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka, 2k   Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ahsoka are sent to Batuu on a mission by the Jedi Council. While there, Anakin and Obi-Wan finally act on the unspoken feelings between them. ✦ untitled by spell-cleaver, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka, ~1k   So for the prompt mashup, Magical Accident, Accidentally Married, Obikin Thanks! ORIGINAL TRILOGY RECS: ✦ The Family Tree by frodogenic, vader & luke, 12k   In which Luke Skywalker is stranded in a tree waiting for a flash flood to recede. Too bad he’s got company… Post-ESB oneshot, can be read as canon-compliant. ✦ They rhyme by liv_k, obi-wan & anakin, 5.2k   Past and future, darkness and light, despair and hope meet one last time. ✦ Stitched With Its Color by lammermoorian, luke & hera & cast, 4.4k  Luke’s been all over the galaxy searching for clues about the Jedi - he should have started a little closer to home. REBELS RECS: ✦ in this world by xpityx, zeb/kallus, NSFW, 2.1k   It had been eight months. Eight months since he’d last seen Alex in person. He’d still been Kallus then, had still been convinced that the Ghost crew were taking him to his executioners. FULL DETAILS + RECS HERE!

14.18 and 14.19 both will require additional viewings to fully understand the gravity of everything revealed, and context I think we’re only fully going to get in s15. Even now, after having seen 14.20, I have more questions than answers, I think. A big part of the reason for this is how much of the story focuses on how POV affects perception, and how easy it can be to manipulate actions based on that, combined with the effect of the weight of one’s own emotions on both perception and vulnerability to manipulation.

The story is screwing with everyone-- the characters AND us-- on a very meta level here.

Going through 14.18, from Cas’s grief and self-blame over not having told Sam, Dean, and Mary what he suspected about Jack being dangerous, to Dean’s transfer of blame to him because of the emotional weight conversation with Sam, because it calls back to Dean’s ENTIRE relationship with Jack, how his first reaction was “DIE” and that only gradually shifted into grudging acceptance through his grief and despair over losing Cas, into actual acceptance after Cas returned, into sympathy after Jack’s first mistake that led to the death of an innocent, into full familial acceptance by the time Dean says yes to Michael. In s14, Dean FINALLY feels a more parental sort of bonding with Jack, and as soon as he does, Jack sickens and dies. It’s almost like Dean has been manipulated into being prepared to make this ultimate sacrifice all along.

Their whole family is cursed. He’s poison, etc. etc.

This same perspective shift happens for Jack, being “guided” into believing that HE is somehow “poisoned” as well, that because of his actions the Winchesters will no longer trust him, but his vision of Lucifer convinces him that because of this, he can no longer trust them. Jack is so desperate to redeem himself in the eyes of the Winchesters that he’s convinced himself that what he’s doing is good.

How many layers of manipulation are going on here? The narrative spirals are turning so fast we’ve practically reached F5 tornado status here.

Dumah, in 14.19, finally has what she’s wanted since Jack was born. Apparently having locked Naomi away for having “failed” to defend Heaven from the incursion of the Empty Entity was nothing more than a pretense to use Jack for her own power play. Dumah truly believes she’s doing the right thing, because in times past, this perfectly lines up with what Heaven always did. Her version of a Heaven without mercy harks back to the mindset of angels during the Apocalypse era, of Michael and his mission to destroy worlds.

Jack TRULY BELIEVES that “purifying the world” and “making angels” out of human souls would please the Winchesters. The fact that he still willingly got in the Ma’lak box is the biggest demonstration of just how easily manipulated he is.

The way Dean’s been broken down to be prepared to believe that they have no other choice but to kill Jack, to sacrifice himself in the process, applies to everyone. It’s always been a manipulation, in the biggest way possible.

So that said, on to my questions:

1. Is Jack’s vision of Lucifer actually Chuck manipulating him, because heck that would be a nice turn from Lucifer pretending to be God to manipulate Sam back in s11. In the end, does it even really matter what the source of Jack’s visions are?

2. Did Jack actually cause Mary’s death, or did this force manipulate him into the power burst that killed her? Does that even really matter? Because it’s not about the act, but the perception of it. Because the perception of it is all that mattered to Jack, in the end. He rejected Mary’s perception of him as “not well.” He’s sadly following Donatello’s advice, with the “What Would The Winchesters Do.” But Jack’s own perception of what they would do is fundamentally flawed without his soul. Donatello replaced his missing empathy with the consideration of possibly the most morally kind man ever to live, a man who based all his choices and actions on how they might affect others. Kindness was Mr. Rogers’ mantra. Jack lacks the maturity to understand this, and instead has based his own actions on the results of his actions, and whether or not the Winchesters would approve, which is a distinctly different thing, and Jack lacks the mechanism to understand this. This is what makes him so terrifyingly dangerous now.

3. Everything that’s happened in s14 has brought TFW to this point where Chuck thought they would feel backed into this corner, where in the past they would be ready to accept Chuck’s terms for the conclusion of the story, the self-sacrifice, the terrible fate, as the absolute last resort solution to save the world. And at first it seems to work. At the beginning of 14.20, Dean seems ready to do the deed, because his perception isn’t just about Jack’s danger to the world, but also the fact that he feels at least indirectly responsible for what’s happened to Jack now.

Chuck’s first line when he finds Cas is, “Wow, you guys are screwed.” *smarmy smile* Cas calls him God, he objects, and is pleased when Cas calls him Chuck, because “Chuck” is a likable, personable dude, and God is a terrifying all powerful being. Perception, and manipulation.

DEAN: You know what I'm gonna say. SAM: Let me guess. This is where you tell me you're gonna pull the trigger. DEAN: Yeah, it is. We don't have a choice, Sam. SAM: Of course, we do. Don't we always? I mean, isn't that the point of everything we've ever done, that we always have a choice? DEAN: He killed our mom. SAM: I get it. I was mad, too. Or you know what? Hell, I'm still mad. And a part of me wants Jack dead -- it really does. But, Dean, we haven't even tried to save him. DEAN: S-- Okay. You heard him, right? He actually blamed Mom for what happened. SAM: He doesn't have a soul. DEAN: And whose fault is that? SAM: Mine. I'm the one who brought him back, and I brought him back because he's family. DEAN: Okay. SAM: And then he came back, and he burned his soul off to save us -- you and me. And now what? You... Now you -- you want my permission? You want me to say I'm cool with losing him and losing you all at once? 'Cause I can't do that. I won't say that, 'cause I... No. I've already lost too much.

It’s interesting that Jack’s visit with his grandmother is what begins to shift his perceptions of himself into understanding. She goes from demanding answers about “What did you do,” into “What are you?”

So I talked above how Dean and Jack’s stories are entwined, but this is where Cas and Jack’s stories are entwined-- through Jack’s desire to do good, to do the right thing and yet always somehow making things worse despite their best intentions. Mostly because they tried to do the right thing by their own POV and perception, without understanding how they were manipulated into it. Like Cas in s6 manipulated by Crowley, by Dean’s promise to Sam to go live a normal life away from hunting, feeling the burden to fix everything on his own and unable to see any other way because of the depth of lies being uncovered would lead to the disappointment that was what he truly feared all along.

Which is why at the final moment, what finally gives Dean pause in his conviction that Jack needs to die, is Jack’s understanding and acceptance, his willingness to face what he’d done and truly repent:

JACK: You're not gonna lock me up again, are you? DEAN: No. (Dean raises the gun, aims at Jack and exhales deeply. Jack kneels down and bows his head. Dean, looking puzzled, lowers the gun and walks closer towards Jack. When he’s right in front of Jack, he aims the gun directly at his head. At this moment Sam comes speeding into the cemetery, car tires screeching. He gets out of the car and starts running towards Dean and Jack) SAM: Dean? Dean! JACK:(to Dean) I understand. SAM: Dean, don't! Dean? Dean! JACK: I know what I've done. [...] JACK: And you were right all along. I am a monster.

And in the end, the fact that Jack understands is what makes Dean realize that there is still another way.

Because in this part of the story, this is where Sam’s parallel isn’t aligned to Jack’s, but to Chuck. Sam picks up the Equalizer gun and shoots both Chuck and himself with it.

Writers lie.

And this lie is Chuck’s downfall. Because he was never on their side.

All that talk of stopping an apocalyptic thing by killing Jack? And then he starts an apocalypse with a snap of his fingers? Yeah. But he’s shown his hand now, and this changes everything.

And can y’all even conceptualize how O_O it is to loop from that scene in the graveyard to Mary tucking in baby Sam in in the pilot episode? Because I am now suffering. Chuck did this. He did all of this.

Texas: First Known Convicted Terrorist Asked For ‘First Step Act’ Early Prison Release

“This law was hastily passed and needs to be revisited before people start getting hurt.”

via @BensmanTodd

...

This past May, Bureau of Prisons Inmate No. 9627173 – Plano, Texas wife and mother Sumaiya Ali – asked a federal judge for early release from her terrorism sentence under the First Step Act. It is the first such case that I know of, but if this has occurred once, more are likely in a pipeline emptying out potential terror recidivists into the nation, a prospect about which I wrote that we are not well prepared for as a homeland security matter. This law was hastily passed and needs to be revisited before people start getting hurt.

Ali was convicted in 2017 for lying to FBI counterterrorism investigators along with her husband, Mohamed Ali, that they had no idea their two sons Plano Senior High School graduates Arman and Omar Ali, traveled to fight with ISIS in Syria (neither have been heard from since). This was an all-in-the-family ISIS affair about which I wrote more fully in this March 2019 column.

It can be argued that Sulaiyman Ali hits the threshold of nonviolent activity on behalf of terrorism. But buried in the court files, the evidence indicates that both parents were fully supportive of violent jihad for their sons on deeply held religious grounds, gave their influential blessings that the boys kill infidels for an ISIS caliphate, and possibly even planned to join or visit them in the region until the FBI prevented them from boarding a plane at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

Dad got about a year in prison for wittingly covering up what he knew about his sons and was released at his scheduled time April 17 of this year into a halfway house, according to BOP’s public inmate locator. But mom took an additional 30 months for lying longer and harder. She won’t be released until April 13 of next year from the FMC Carswell facility in Fort Worth, Texas. This seemed more than Ali wanted to stand.

Shortly after the December 2018 First Step Act implementation, Ali asked U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone for early release (wrongly, it later turned out). In a January 8, 2019 letter couched as ”a desperate plea of a mother,” Ali asked to serve the remaining sentence on home confinement or in a half-way house. As grounds, she cited the emotional struggles of her “withdrawn” and “embarrassed” 14-year-old daughter Sabeen, who is living with her brother and sister-in-law in Houston, ashamed her parents were in prison and that her older brothers were fighting overseas for a barbaric cause.

“She has lost her whole family and finding it very hard to cope with this traumatic situation…She is the innocent victim of the terrible choices that I made, and I take full responsibility for her predicament,” Ali pleaded, in part.

Tailoring a Claim to Fit First Step Act Provisions

To better grasp what Ali is trying to do, It will help to know something about the two main provisions of the First Step Act, both of which apply retroactively to already-sentenced people. One provision addresses the front-end reductions for the old mandatory sentences for repeat drug traffickers. Sumaiya Ali is hoping to tap the other provision, as outlined in Section 3632, part D, that would allow removal to alternative spaces for up to a third of total sentences. These are granted among other rewards to inmates who can demonstrate they have participated in “recidivism reduction” programs.

Processes not being very well ironed out yet, Ali asked the wrong person for the break: a federal judge, rather than Bureau of Prisons administrators. In May 2019, Ali filed a second request to Judge Crone for the law’s holy grail of release to a half-way house or to home confinement. The two-page legalistic letter seemed to hit the necessary right chords. For example, Ali asserted that she had been a model prisoner with an excellent work history while incarcerated, and was a nonviolent first offender.

She listed some dozen or so adult-education classes she took in jail: Forbidden Tombs, In the Womb, Untold Secrets of the Titanic and Modern Marvels, among them.

“A final question arising for this honorable court to answer would appropriately be whether (it) would encourage the individuals who successfully participated in correction self-improvement and rehabilitation program by granting these individuals downward (sentences), and in so doing, boost the confidence of the participants in their improvement and skills letting them become more productive members of society?”

Down But Possibly Not Out

Judge Crone, however, correctly ruled that she had no jurisdiction to shorten Ali’s sentence or change where she serves it; the Bureau of Prisons does.

“Moreover, to the extent Ali asserts that the First Step Act of 2018, Public Law Number 115-391 mandates that the BOP release her to a half-way house or home confinement for any period of time, she is in error,” Judge Crone concluded. “Under the current version… ‘the BOP is authorized to consider placing an inmate in a community correctional facility…Consistent with the forgoing analysis, Ali’s motion is DENIED.”

Nothing else in the court file indicates whether she has pressed her case with BOP, but it seems highly likely that she has. We will no doubt know the outcome of that only after an early release.

More importantly, the Ali case stands as a strong first indicator that those convicted of terrorism-related crimes are eying the First Step Act and that anonymous BOP bureaucrats have the unchecked power to grant them benefits as they evidently have to those convicted of explosives-related charges and sex offenders.

...

...Congress and everyone involved in the decision chain should remember that bloodshed terrorism is only made possible when non-violent supporters provide the incitement, recruitment, moral support, finances, ammunition, and guns that make the killing possible.

Read it all.

Andrew Davies Preps For The End Of One Series And The Beginning Of Another

Screenwriter Andrew Davies has been a true master of modern television adaptations, brining such iconic works as Middlemarch and Little Dorit to the MASTERPIECE screen for decades. Now, as he looks ahead to the end of his critically-acclaimed recent adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, Davies also previews his charming new adaptation of Jane Austen’s unfinished final novel, Sanditon, set to appear on MASTERPIECE in 2020.

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Transcript:

Jace Lacob: I’m Jace Lacob, and you’re listening to MASTERPIECE Studio.

This week on Les Misérables, ten more years have passed, and Valjean and a now-teenaged Cosette are living in a Parisian convent while Javert, now in charge of the capital city’s police force, continues to hunt his ever-elusive quarry.

CLIP

Cosette: What was my mother like?

Jean Valjean: Don’t make me speak of it. She was one of my workers and I dismissed her.

Cosette: What for?

Jean Valjean: For nothing, for concealing the truth.

Jace: Here to discuss the narrative time-jump and simmering political and personal tensions in Les Misérables is writer Andrew Davies. Davies has been one of the United Kingdom’s most prolific screenwriters, bringing his sumptuous adaptations of titles as varied as Middlemarch and Little Dorrit to MASTERPIECE for decades. Davies is already on the job for his next big MASTERPIECE series: a bold new adaptation and completion of Jane Austen’s tragically unfinished final novel, Sanditon. But with a few more episodes of Les Misérables to go, he offers a preview of the upcoming conclusion of his French revolutionary drama series.

Andrew Davies: Sometimes it’s the best not to kind of explain it to the audience just to say, you know, ‘Here it is. This moved and also baffled me. You know, let’s see what you make of it.’

Jace: Davies joins MASTERPIECE to talk Sanditon, the morals of Les Misérables, and his remarkable legacy as a true master of screenwriting.

And this week we are joined by Les Misérables writer Andrew Davies, welcome.

Andrew: Thank you.

Jace: What drew you to adapting Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables? And why is now the perfect time for such an adaptation of that specific book?

Andrew: It’s a big daunting kind of thing. And it probably wouldn’t be something that I’d have voluntarily just suggested to anybody. It’s not really my kind of book, in the sense that Jane Austen is my kind of author, because I’m reading it in translation. It’s great virtues are not to do with subtleties and wit. And, you know, the little varieties of human behavior. It’s a big kind of book. It reminds me of the Bible. You know, it’s so strong, it’s so iconic. It was suggested to me, and I read it, and I was kind of bowled over by it, by the strength of it and also by the sonorities and the echoes of like the world we live in today. A divided society, certainly, as far as UK and France are concerned but you know, maybe America as well, in which there are there are the haves and the have-nots and this is a book predominantly about the have-nots. It seemed very apposite and contemporary to do this book now.

Jace: True or false: your tagline for the project was, ‘Nobody sings’?

Andrew: That’s true, yes. Yes, that’s right. We came across that quite early on.

Jace: You were quoted in The Telegraph as saying that this adaptation quote, ‘Will rescue Victor Hugo’s novel from the clutches of that awful music with its doggerel lyrics.’ Fans of the musical and some of its cast members were not pleased with your words. How do you react to their retorts?

Andrew: Well I mean, of course they were! I was very rude about the musical, but you know, you have to say what you think, don���t you? You have to be honest. I know a lot of people love the musical, but I thought it was a very feeble attempt to represent the novel. I completely accept that other people disagree with me. That’s the way it is it, isn’t it?

Jace: This version of Les Misérables sans singing gives us instead backstories of Fantine and Jean Valjean. We’re privy to very different aspects of these characters. A lighthearted romantic Fantine, a raging, almost feral Valjean.

CLIP

Jean Valjean: How could I not have a heart full of bitterness and hatred? I’d like to see you after nineteen years in the hulks! So don’t preach to me about God and love.

Bishop: I beg your pardon, forgive me, I should have considered your feelings.

Jace: Was it important to you to focus the first episode on these untold stories?

Andrew: Oh yes and I like the way you characterize Jean Valjean raging, almost feral. Yes, sure. I think that’s that’s kind of where it comes from my first encounter with Les Misérables was when I was a little boy, I had a book called, Great Stories From the Classics, and it was little little petite extracts and it was a story of the Bishop’s candlesticks, and I saw, you know this poor Bishop, here comes this this terrifying figure who’s, you know, hardly human. He is so rough and so rude. And I found it quite hard to understand the behavior of the Bishop and also the behavior of Jean Valjean after the Bishop been so kind. You know, I thought surely he should be terribly grateful. Instead he robs the Bishop and then the Bishop not only forgives him, but gives him more things. And that that that kind of puzzled me. But that I wanted to, I don’t know, preserve that sense of and it comes across in the book I think of how frightened people are of Valjean because he’s a man of extraordinary power and strength and he’s so resentful against society, because of society, what society has done to him that I wanted to keep that frightening aspect of him. And that gets echoed later on in the story, when he takes Cosette out to see the dawn rising over the gates of Paris. It turns out that really he wants to see the convicts.

CLIP

Cosette: Can they really be men?

Valjean: Yes, they are men. They are men like me. Cosette?

Cosette: I think if I crossed paths with one of those men, I think I would die. Just from looking him in the face.

Andrew: It’s so strange it’s not like it’s like kind of novels you normally read, is it? It’s like something it’s like a kind of solemn mystical religious tale, you know, more than a book. You know, you could live your life by this book, somehow.

Jace: You could. I mean, it’s about a monster who becomes a man, and a man who becomes a monster and sort of the inherent complexities of humanity. It’s interesting to me because we we get a glimpse of Fantine. Traditionally we sort of picture her sort of a tragic sex worker. We get to see her entire backstory here. She’s given entirely new dimensions. Javert, however still remains a bit of a mystery. Did you consider filling in his backstory at all? I mean we get the fact that he was raised in a prison. But to see that additional dimension.

Andrew: Yeah. It would mean going too far back, too far back in flashback or whatever. Yeah, I could have done it. And one of those strange things that struck as somebody reminded me when we’d been developing the story for sometime, somebody said, ‘Valjean and Javert both seemed to be virgins,’ which is so extraordinary. You know, two mature men, and we don’t have any account of either of them having a loving relationship or a sexual relationship. Maybe sex is unimportant to Javert. And then having met Jean Valjean, he gets so annoyed with him that this develops into a kind of obsession, which is like a twisted love affair. And it’s like, Jean Valjean doesn’t seem interested in Javert at all, except as part of the forces that he’s fighting against. Once he gets out of prison, he never gives Javert another thought until he comes into his world and starts tormenting him.

CLIP

Rivette: That’s one man out of hundreds — and that was a decade ago. He may have been dead for years.

Javert: No, no, I am convinced that he is still alive and here in Paris, laughing at us. I shall never be at peace until he is back in chains.

Andrew: And one of the things I did in the adaptation I think was because I just couldn’t believe that coincidence that I would turn up and then having turned up that neither of them would recognise each other. I mean that’s way Hugo has it in the story. I think well, actually it makes it much richer. If you think there has I heard about this guy and he thinks I’m beat it’s that guy I had in jail and I bet he’s been committing crimes all the time and I just want to see him again. And I want to trap him. I want to nail him. I want to get him in my power. And so then it becomes a situation where they both know, but neither of them is letting on. Yeah, Javert is just waiting for Jean Valjean to reveal himself.

Jace: You’ve become known as a master of adaptations. You once said it gave you ‘A wicked thrill’ to cut down War and Peace. Are there any sacred cows when it comes to adapting fiction?

Andrew: No, I don’t think so. But I’m aware that these great books are not called Great Books for nothing. I mean these guys knew what they were doing. So I do respect the excellence of the original. But having said that, an adaptation is my take on them. It’s not the definitive one, necessarily, but I think it’s my job and my duty to get my reading of a book, not just try to humbly prostrate myself before the Great Author.

Jace: Given that you’re adapting rather colossal tomes for the screen, how do you prioritize or decide what makes it in and what doesn’t?

Andrew: I do a thing at the beginning, after a first reading, or my most recent rereading if I’ve read it long ago in the past, ask myself, ‘What really is the story here? Whose story is it? Who do we love? Who do we need to keep at the forefront of our minds?’ And base the whole adaptation around those two questions.

Jace: And how much of that decision making is personal versus thinking about what the audience might want or need?

Andrew: Um, entirely personal. I obviously I’m concerned about the audience but the audience is something very amorphous. I think the first audience as being me. I want to write something that I would like to see and that I would enjoy seeing, and there is something that I think most people wouldn’t realize which is that the first people that see it the people the time working closely with and they’re three or four very clever, very sympathetic, very clued up young people who are decades and decades younger than me, and close behind pleasing myself, I want to please them. And I don’t think of the audience in general. I think when I’m writing it, ‘Have I got it right for myself?’ and then I think, ‘Oh Laura’s going to laugh at this, Will is going to be moved by that.’ So those thoughts are quite uppermost in my mind.

Jace: Before this next question, a quick word from our sponsors…

Jace: Now this week’s episode moves the action forward to 1832. We find a teenaged Cosette and Jean Valjean are still living at the convent. How did you decide where to place the time jump in the series? Was there always a notion that it would be at sort of a natural halfway point?

Andrew: I think Hugo himself helps us here, I mean he did this, we don’t get a lot of detail about how Cosette goes from age 6 or 7 to 16 or 17. We find her again a fully changed character, from being this abused little girl who’s clearly a survivor. And little Cosette is somebody who, when she’s shown love, reciprocates and she hasn’t been too damaged by all the abuse she’s suffered. And they have one of those almost idealized, perfect father daughter relationships. I invested a lot of emotion myself, I’m the father of a daughter. And there’s just a brief period in the girl’s life when her father is just everything, and she falls in love with you. And and then she’s going to gradually, yeah change, and of course Jean Valjean who’s known no love in his life before, can’t bear it that this is going to change.

Jace: You mentioned briefly earlier about Javert happening onto Montreuil where Jean Valjean just happens to have set himself up. Les Misérables relies rather heavily on coincidence — Marius ends up in Valjean and Cosette’s old flat next to the Thenardiers, whom his father told him saved him during the war. Cosette that ends up with the doll made of her dead mother’s hair. Should these occurrences be read as coincidence or as providence?

Andrew: Well I think again, as I said before this is one of those books, it’s not like an ordinary book. I’ve tried to sort out or explain or get away from some of the coincidences, but I guess some of the things in the book you’ve just got to understand. We don’t know for definite that the doll is made out of her mother’s hair, but it might be, because it could be the same guy. I mean he goes around the country, ‘I’m buying and selling I’m selling and I’m buying.’ And the teeth and the hair the get redistributed again and again.

Jace: Marius meets Eponine, and she tries to tempt him through a peephole in the wall. His romantic attraction to Cosette is complicated by sexual desire for Eponine which culminates in a we’ll say vivid dream he has. What were your intentions with this scene and with Marius’s sense of guilt?

Andrew: Well I was just fascinated by by Eponine and her character and just her juxtaposition with Marius at this stage. In the book, Marius is just such a po faced puppet, really. And I wanted, you know, to make him more like you know a real young man who’s been, I mean. In a way, like like most of the kids in this book, he’s been abused. I mean his upbringing was ridiculously privileged but he’s been brought up as a kind of little fascist, really. And he’s worked out for himself that with some prompting that some in his grandfather’s view is biased and crazy. And that he’s got to work out his own and things and of course here’s this here’s this girl who’s possibly a teenage prostitute. It’s never absolutely clear what she does, and she’s living next door and she likes him. And I just think it’s I always like if I can find any sources for humor in these these these sort of grand, iconic books and the situation where he has this pure romantic love for Cosette, but there’s this girl next door who’s sort of tempting him physically, and so I couldn’t resist giving him an erotic dream about the wrong girl. He wants to have a dream about Cosette, which is all kind of pure and kissy-kissy. Instead he finds she’s she’s changed into Eponine, who has a more kind of direct and visceral appeal. I suppose for him though from Eponine’s point of view, Eponine has a kind of pure attraction for. She just thinks he’s lovely and she’d do anything for him. I mean he’s he’s a you know a different kind of boy from the kind of boys she’s known.

Jace: There’s a massive fight sequence between Valjean and the Thenardiers and their criminal associates who ambush him, and ultimately Javert shows up as well.

CLIP

Valjean: You dare to threaten my Cosette? You think you can do anything to impress me? Look! Now do your worst!

Jace: How difficult was it to write this pivotal action sequence?

Andrew: I thought it was difficult because it’s so strange in the book. The most vivid thing in all this encounter, is that he allows himself to be overpowered and bound and then his superhuman strength is a given in the story. So he throws them all off, and proceeds to take this iron out of the fire and wound himself with it in order to demonstrate how puny any effort to frighten him about that kind of thing would be. So it’s again, it’s, you keep getting these things that are, you know, not rational and not logical and something like a kind of mystical text.

Jace: I mean it is craziest thing.

Andrew: That we need to reflect on and say, ‘Well what is that? What could that mean?’

Jace: That moment is the craziest of all craziness. Because he does burn himself. It is a demonstration of sort of his strength and his fearsomeness and it sort of is that moment where he allows the monster to come out that he’s been containing, it is sort of his true self. I mean, what were you trying to convey with that precise action?

Andrew: I was just trying to I don’t know, represent that episode in the book, I think. And it was something that I found you know very powerful and moving, but hard to understand. And sometimes, you know, it’s the best not to kind of explain it to the audience, just to say, ‘Yeah here it is. This moved and also baffled me. You know, let’s see what you make of it.’

Jace: We have an Andrew Davies adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sanditon on the horizon. Austen only wrote about 100 pages of that fragment. Was it challenging or liberating getting to finish an unfinished work of Jane Austen?

Andrew: Well it was, but it was both both challenging and liberating. It’s odd, it’s just a fragment, it’s quite a long fragment, I would imagine she would have ruthlessly edited the hundred or so pages that she wrote, because I find that there was enough for half the first episode, but that was all in her hundred pages. But she did get to introduce the characters and set out the situation and that was a really bold departure for Jane Austen, because the situation is the transformation of a little seaside village into a fashionable seaside resort like Brighton or somewhere like that. And the characters are again a departure. Of course, we’ve got our young heroine, who is a fairly typical Jane Austen heroine. She’s a bit like a rather more clued up version of Catherine Morland out of Northanger Abbey, she’s come from a large family of which she’s the oldest girl. So she’s quite sussed out about farm life and looking after her younger sisters. But she gets pushed into a new world with a lot of different people who are different from all the sorts of people that she’s known before. And crucially these main people, they’re not kind of aristocrats or gentleman farmers, they are business people, they’re entrepreneurs. They want to make a new world and make themselves some money. And you know, that’s different from all Jane Austen’s characters before and and so a lot of the novel is about things like raising money, attracting celebrities, trying to build momentum.  How modern! And also it’s got Jane Austen’s first black character, who’s an heiress from the West Indies with a fortune. I’ve said it was a hundred thousand pounds, which is huge for those days but it makes it so, on the one hand, she will encounter of course a lot of prejudice because this an England seaside village, no one will ever seen a black person before. But on the other hand, whoever marries her is going to be set up for life. So that’s an interesting situation. And then you’ve got the local rich lady, who’s got lots of money that she might leave to this person or this person or this person. And so we’ve got several people who are after her money. And of course, an entrepreneurial family of brothers all need her money as an investment. And so we’ve got a wonderful situation I think to start a story, and it was very liberating to write it. And also I was very, very much in mind that this Regency period where it’s set. She set it, I think well, she was writing it in 1820, so I thought, let’s let’s go for 1820, which was late Regency period. A period of extreme kind of looseness in society, really, which was much more dissolute,  and actually than we’ve got today. Jane Austen knew all about that stuff, but she always kept it below the surface with discrete references. We’re not going to be so discreet.

Jace: I’d expect nothing less. Andrew Davies, thank you so very much.

Andrew: Thank you.

Jace: MASTERPIECE viewers already on the edge of their seats thanks to Season 3 of Unforgotten won’t want to miss next week’s podcast, where we go behind the scenes with this season’s horrific killer as DCI Cassie Stuart and DI Sunny Khan catch their prey.

CLIP

Sunny: The ticket was issued at 6:20 a.m, on the A-405.

Cassie: Which is where?

Sunny: About six miles outside Middenham.

Cassie: And was he heading to, or from?                                                      

Sunny: From.

Jace: That’s next Sunday, May 12, following the explosive third season finale of Unforgotten.

MASTERPIECE Studio is hosted by me, Jace Lacob and produced by Nick Andersen. Elisheba Ittoop is our editor. Susanne Simpson is our executive producer. The executive producer of MASTERPIECE is Rebecca Eaton.

Chapters: 3/4 Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Aftermath - Chuck Wendig Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Gallius Rax/Rae Sloane Characters: Rae Sloane, Gallius Rax, Brendol Hux, Sheev Palpatine - Mentioned, Original Child Character(s), Armitage Hux - Mentioned Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Sickfic, Sharing a Bed, Belligerent Sexual Tension, Enemies to Lovers, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Canon-Typical Violence, mentions of self harm, Mental Health Issues, Angst, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Smut, Political and Philosophical Mid-Life Crises, Character Death Fix, Child Soldiers, Canonical Child Abuse Summary:

Until the Battle of Jakku, Rae Sloane held fast to the belief that men like Gallius Rax were a corruption, but the true ideals of the Empire she has been loyal to could still be saved.

Now, thanks to the vagaries of mystical Jakkuvian energy, Sloane can’t dispose of Rax so easily, and is forced to confront the violence and isolation of war and command with an increasingly unstable moral framework. As she struggles to lead the nascent First Order, Sloane finds the only person who could understand and validate her pain is the one who caused it.

But Rax’s own convictions are shattered after a humiliating defeat and near-death. If he is to take this second life as a chance at reinvention, he must find something new to believe in.

It would be wrong to admit weakness, wrong to indulge loneliness, wrong to forgive too easily, wrong to chase after old temptations. Then again, it would be wrong to doubt the legitimacy of the Empire…

I completely forgot to share the update on this fic! Feel terrible about it because the third chapter is actually an interlude written in large part by @pileofsith 

And it’s fantastic! Part of it was supposed to be an interaction between Sloane and a young Phasma, on the assumption that Phasma was one of the children taken off Jakku. I still really like that interpretation but the content is wonderful either way. 

It was also written long before I started my fic and I always had it in mind as the foundation of the story. It dives right into Sloane’s central conflict of needing to perform morality to get over the fact that she’s not being moral. The question of why we make certain moral choices -- if our moral convictions are our true source of motivation, and if they’re not, how do we motivate ourselves to follow those convictions -- became a central theme for this story and I love what’s done with the idea here. 

Highly suggest reading this chapter even as a standalone! 

Did Any Republicans Vote For Witnesses

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/did-any-republicans-vote-for-witnesses/

Did Any Republicans Vote For Witnesses

Sen Whitehouse: Congress Examining Role Of Some Gop Officials In Capitol Riot

BREAKING: Republicans Don’t Have Votes to Block Impeachment Witnesses

If these shocking allegations are true, then taken together, prosecutors may be able to link rioters to GOP senators and link GOP senators to the president, a pattern that would place them all in the same, massive conspiracy. Such a plot to overthrow the U.S. government by American citizens would suggest that our democracy is facing a peril graver than any we have seen since the Civil War.

Impeachment, of course, does not require proof beyond a reasonable doubt. For most senators watching, more proof that Trump incited a violent riot is not needed. For others, notably the 44 GOP senators who have indicated they will vote to acquit, the question of causation phrased as whether there was indeed incitement still offers an off-ramp.

As one of us urged with the last impeachment, given the critical importance to the country of the outcome of the trial, the Senate should not be in a hurry. Calling witnesses would likely require issuing subpoenas and then having the patience to enforce them. But given that the Democrats hold the bare majority needed to make that call, the choice is theirs.

Republicans Block Impeachment Witnesses Clearing Path For Trump Acquittal

The narrow vote came after Republican senators said they did not need to hear more evidence, and pressed toward acquitting President Trump next week.

By Michael D. Shear and Nicholas Fandos

WASHINGTON The Senate brought President Trump to the brink of acquittal on Friday of charges that he abused his power and obstructed Congress, as Republicans voted to block consideration of new witnesses and documents in his impeachment trial and shut down a final push by Democrats to bolster their case for the presidents removal.

In a nearly party-line vote after a bitter debate, Democrats failed to win support from the four Republicans they needed. With Mr. Trumps acquittal virtually certain, the presidents allies rallied to his defense, though some conceded he was guilty of the central allegations against him.

The Democrats push for more witnesses and documents failed 49 to 51, with only two Republicans, Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine, joining Democrats in favor. A vote on the verdict is planned for Wednesday.

As they approached the final stage of the third presidential impeachment proceeding in United States history, Democrats condemned the witness vote and said it would render Mr. Trumps trial illegitimate and his acquittal meaningless.

Still, those Republicans said, they were unwilling to remove a president fewer than 10 months before he is to face voters.

You dont apply capital punishment for every offense, Mr. Alexander added.

transcript

Louisiana Gop Votes To Censure Sen Cassidy

Literally minutes after Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., voted to convict President Donald Trump the Louisiana GOP voted to censure him. Cassidy was one of seven Republicans to cross party lines.

“The Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Louisiana has unanimously voted to censure Senator Bill Cassidy for his vote cast earlier today to convict former President Donald J. Trump on the impeachment charge,” the Republican Party of Louisiana said in a statement.

Cassidy, who vacillated between convicting and acquitting the president this week, has been a senator since 2014. He was previously a congressman from the state. A censure officially condemns a politician, but does not carry any further power, such as removal from office.

“Our Constitution and our country is more important than any one person,” Cassidy said in a statement. “I voted to convict President Trump because he is guilty.”

-ABC News’ Quinn Scanlan

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Republicans Are Open To Impeachment Witnesses But Democrats Need A 4th

Senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney seem open to witnesses in President Trumps impeachment trial. With one more Republican, Democrats could commandeer the proceedings.

By Sheryl Gay Stolberg

WASHINGTON The Capitol math is clear: Democrats need only four Republican votes to force the Senate to subpoena witnesses like John R. Bolton, the former White House national security adviser, to testify in President Trumps impeachment trial. Three have signaled they may be open to doing so: Senators Mitt Romney, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski.

That leaves Democrats searching for an elusive fourth vote.

The question of whether four Republicans will defect and if so, who looms large in the Capitol as the Senate prepares to receive articles of impeachment from the House on Wednesday, prompting the third presidential impeachment trial in American history. If they did, Democrats could effectively commandeer the Senate floor during the proceeding and defy Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, by moving to call witnesses.

That could derail Mr. McConnells hopes to secure a quick acquittal of Mr. Trump with little debate, drastically altering the course of the trial and potentially, of Mr. Trumps presidency.

Am I curious about what Ambassador Bolton would have to say? Yes, I am, Ms. Murkowski told reporters, according to Alaska Public Radio. But she said she would not prejudge the need for him to testify until after the cases are presented.

Sen Mcconnell Who Voted To Acquit Trump Says Former President Is Practically And Morally Responsible For Provoking Attack On Capitol

In remarks on the Senate floor after he voted to acquit Trump, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Saturday that the former president is practically and morally responsible for provoking the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol but that the Senate was upholding the Constitution by acquitting him.

The Senates decision today does not condone anything that happened on or before that terrible day, McConnell said. It simply shows that senators did what the former president failed to do: We put our constitutional duty first.

Trump, by contrast, appeared to take his acquittal as a vindication of his actions before, during and after the Jan. 6 attack. In a statement, Trump called his second impeachment by the House another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our Country and hinted at a return to national politics.

McConnell spent much of his remarks condemning Trumps actions and directly linking them to the Jan. 6 insurrection. The former presidents supporters, he argued, launched their violent attack because they had been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth, because he was angry he lost an election.

Theres no question none that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day, McConnell said at one point. No question about it.

He argued, however, that it was beyond the power of the Senate to hold Trump accountable for those actions.

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Impeachment Trial Highlights: A Showdown Over Calling Witnesses

Senators rejected a call for additional witnesses in President Trumps impeachment trial, dealing a fatal blow to efforts by Democrats to bring about new evidence.

Mr. Blunt? No. No. Mr. Booker? Yes. Aye. Mr. Boozman? No. No. Are there any senators in the chamber wishing to change his or her vote? If not, the yeas are 49, the nays are 51. The motion is not agreed to. This will set a new precedent. This will be cited in impeachment trials from this point to the end of history. The documents the president is hiding will come out. The witnesses the president is concealing will tell their stories. And we will be asked why we didnt want to hear that information when we had the chance. There is a way to decide right up front in some quick way whether theres really a triable issue, whether you really need to go to all the trouble of calling in new witnesses and having more evidence in something like that. Its not just about hearing from witnesses. You need documents. The documents dont lie. The question here before this body is, what do you want your place in history to be? Do you want your place in history to be, lets hear the truth? Or that we dont want to hear it? You did hear evidence. You heard evidence from 13 different witnesses, 192 video clips, and as my colleague the deputy White House counsel said, over 28,000 pages of documents.

It is sad for me to admit that, as an institution, the Congress has failed, Ms. Murkowski added

Democrats Hopeful To Convict Trump

The ball is in the court of the Republicans as a minimum of 17 GOP senators would have to join all the Democrats to reach the two-thirds majority required to find Trump guilty of “incitement of insurrection.”

While the Republican vote seems like an unlikely scenario, Democrats hope;they can win over enough Republican senators to convict Trump for his role in January’s Capitol riots.

Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Mitt Romney of Utah, and Susan Collins of Maine;are some of the names the Democrats could seek to persuade.;

These four;are frequent critics of Trump and have said in the past that he incited the insurrection. They have also joined with Democrats twice to vote against the Republican efforts to dismiss the impeachment trial.

But in what appears to be a shock for the Democrats, Senate’s top Republican Mitch McConnell said Saturday he will vote against convicting the former president.

While describing the vote on whether to convict as a “close call,” McConnell told colleagues in a letter that “I am persuaded that impeachments are a tool primarily of removal and we, therefore, lack jurisdiction.”

“I will vote to acquit,” McConnell added, leaving it highly likely that the Senate will fail to reach the two-thirds majority necessary to convict Trump.

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Trump Attorney Blames Senate For Not Trying Trump In January Does Not Mention Sen Mcconnell Blocked Trial

Trump attorney Michael van der Veen on Saturday blamed the Senate for not holding the impeachment trial in January, without mentioning that then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked the chamber from doing so.

The January exception argument is a creation of the House managers own conduct by delaying they sat on the article, van der Veen said. They could have tried the president while he was still in office if they really believed he was an imminent threat. They didnt.

After last months bipartisan impeachment vote in the House, McConnell said Trump had simply no chance of a fair or serious trial before Bidens inauguration Jan. 20.

McConnells office informed aides to then-Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer that he would not agree to immediately reconvene the Senate that week, according to a person familiar with the matter, despite pressure from Schumer to invoke rarely used emergency powers that allow the two Senate leaders to unilaterally reconvene.

Van der Veen also on Saturday falsely claimed the House impeachment managers had not referenced the Constitution or due process in making their closing arguments.

Several of the managers had done just that. Just minutes earlier, Rep. Joe Neguse had called out Trumps defense team for not allowing the former president to be a witness.

You cant claim theres no due process when you wont participate in the process, Neguse said.

Glenn Kessler contributed to this report.

Vote Comes After Surprise Call For Witnesses

Senate Republicans Reject Democrats Demand For New Witnesses | NBC Nightly News

Closing the House managers’ argument, Raskin played to senators’ sense of history in urging them to convict the former President for inciting the rioters to attack the Capitol and failing to stop them after the violence unfolded.

“This is almost certainly how you will be remembered by history,” Raskin said. “That might not be fair. It really might not be fair. But none of us can escape the demands of history and destiny right now. Our reputations and our legacy will be inextricably intertwined with what we do here, and with how you exercise your oath to do impartial justice.”

Van der Veen argued that Trump did not incite a riot that had been preplanned, again repeating the falsehood that the rioters represented both left and right fringe groups, when video evidence and court documents conclusively show that the riot was perpetrated by Trump supporters.

The final vote came quickly on the fifth day of the Senate trial after a surprise Democratic request for witnesses earlier Saturday threw the trial briefly into chaos.

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Impeachment Trial: Trump Lawyers Wrap Up Defense

Closing arguments in former US President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial;started Saturday after the;Senate reached a deal to skip witness testimony.

US senators had been;close to concluding the trial;, when proceedings were briefly halted as Democrats, along with five Republicans, initially won a vote to call witnesses.

The trial rules say that if senators agree to hear witnesses, votes to hear additional testimony would be allowed.

Hours later, senators agreed;to accept new information from a Republican congresswoman about Trump’s actions on the day of the deadly Capitol siege on January 6 and proceed from there without calling witnesses.

The ex-president stands accused of;inciting;the deadly;insurrection when he;called on a crowd of supporters to march on Congress, which was in the process of certifying Joe Biden’s victory.

White House Expects Gop Defections On Calling Witnesses In Senate Impeachment Trial

Washington ;The White House is preparing for some Republican senators to join Democrats in voting to call witnesses in President Trump’s impeachment trial, which could get underway in the coming days.

Senior White House officials tell CBS News they increasingly believe that at least four Republicans, and likely more, will vote to call witnesses. In addition to Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah and possibly Cory Gardner of Colorado, the White House also views Rand Paul of Kentucky as a “wild card” and Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee as an “institutionalist” who might vote to call witnesses, as one official put it.;

Last week, Collins said she was working with a “fairly small group” of GOP senators to allow new testimony, adding that her colleagues “should be completely open to calling witnesses.” Romney has expressed an interest in hearing from former national security adviser John Bolton, who has said he would testify under subpoena. Murkowski said last week that the Senate should proceed as it did during the 1999 Clinton impeachment trial.;

Gardner and Alexander have both said the Senate trial should be fair and impartial. Paul has said the president should be able to call his own witnesses, including the whistleblower whose complaint about Ukraine sparked the impeachment inquiry in the first place.

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Takeaways From The Trump Impeachment Trial After Defense Wraps Up

Raskin suggested deposing Herrera Beutler by Zoom for an hour. Trump attorney Michael van der Veen responded that if the Democratic House managers wish to call witnesses, he will need “over 100 depositions.”

Five Republicans voted with Democrats Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who changed his vote to yes after initially voting no.

Van der Veen said he would oppose holding any depositions by Zoom, saying they should be “in person in my office in Philadelphia,” drawing laughter from the Senate. “I haven’t laughed at any of you,” van der Veen responded.

Confusion on the floor

After the vote, the Senate ground to a halt, amid general confusion among senators about how to proceed from here.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., when asked whether he was expecting this, threw up his hands. “Shelby says he’s seen three of these and this is the craziest,” referring to Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby.

Before the deal was reached to avoid witnesses, an informal adviser to the Trump defense team dismissed the Democrats’ move, saying there was a risk that it would drag out the trial for weeks, all so that they can depose a witness whose contribution was already made public in a press release.

Trump attorney Bruce Castor said his side would call “lots” of witnesses. Van der Veen threatened to call House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Vice President Harris as witnesses.

Trump Impeachment Trial Live Updates: Biden Says Charge ‘not In Dispute’ In 1st Comments On Acquittal

Biden remembered those who were killed and called for unity going forward.

Senate votes to acquit former President Donald Trump

Former President Donald Trump’s historic second impeachment trial ended with a 57-43 vote to acquit in the Senate. He faced a single charge of incitement of insurrection over his actions leading up to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

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Here Are The Republicans Who Voted To Hear Witnesses At Trump’s Impeachment Trial

By Clare Foran and Ali Zaslav, CNN

Five Republicans voted with Democrats on Saturday in favor of allowing witnesses during former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial, a move that now means it is unclear when the trial will conclude. The final vote tally in the Senate was 55-45.

Susan Collins of Maine

Ben Sasse of Nebraska

Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

CNN’s Jeremy Herb and Kristin Wilson contributed to this report.

Republicans Vote To Silence Impeachment Witnesses Fast

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On Friday night, lawmakers voted on the issue of allowing further evidence in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump. As there were no doctors on hand to perform emergency spinal cord transplants, Republicans defeated the attempt to introduce relevant witnesses and documents 5149, with just Mitt Romney and Susan Collins voting with Democrats. Thats obviously a sad and depressing outcome but, in the long run, probably just sped up the inevitable, i.e., Republicans acquitting the president and paving the way for him to continue abusing his power for the next one to five years. And rather than attempt to make the case that Trump did nothing wrong and thats why theyre trying to wrap this thing up ASAP, GOP lawmakers are just coming out and saying it: He did it and we dont care. And thats not some biased liberal-media interpretation of what theyve saidthose are the actual words coming out of their mouths.

In a Medium post entitled My Statement on the Presidents Impeachment Trial, writes:

Rubio doesnt note that, as of March of 2019, we didnt know about the presidents alleged attempt to extort Ukraine for his personal gain, but we digress. He continues:

Twitter content

But apparently that information is neither here nor there.

If you would like to receive the Levin Report in your inbox daily, to subscribe.

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SOCIAL MEDIA: NETIQUETTES AND E-REMINDERS

BY JOHN LENARD VILLEGAS

Social media is a quagmire that ensconces a myriad number of users having different entitlement of their opinions and convictions, strong standpoints on their moral, religious, and political beliefs, and gratified and unbothered will to share, comment, and react to posts, articles, and issues. And because of these acquired privileges and rights of the users, social media is already nothing but a toxic and deadly environment to some, to everyone.

Today, every social platform would not be completed if no clashes, debates, and fights are seen on it. When someone posted his/her achievements, newly bought car, Birkin bag, Louis Vuitton bike, criticism about the performance of the government, or opinion about a certain issue, users will expect that there will be a commotion after. In addition, culprits and scammers are renting-freely in social media waiting for their target to unlock the opportunity. Social media had become a crime arena where any art of chaos was becoming normal. But despite of these catalytic, chaotic, and unkempt world of social media, people still use this for the reasons: this is the primary tool for fast and convenient way of communication and this is a mainstreamed source for entertainment and leisure.

Perhaps, people are already having no hold of the reality that even if social media is no healthy in some aspect, accelerating number of users are still high. And while we embrace this idea, we should be prompted and reminded every millisecond the etiquettes and proper handling techniques while using social media because once again, we don’t have the hold anymore of the chaos it possesses. The only thing we can do is to be careful and aware of the things and basics to avoid the havoc on our part and of course, to others. To control the chaos is to safen oneself from the potential hazards.

DO NOT MEDDLE ON SOMEONE’S BUSINESS

Always remember that whatever other users had posted and is out of your concern (when he/she is not asking for your opinion), DO NOT MEDDLE especially if you have nothing nice to say.

BE CRITICAL; DON’T BE CLOSE-MINDED

Social media houses different types of people and whatever they posted is a reflection of them. And if by any chance that what he has posted negates your belief (especially to the issues: homosexuality, divorce, abortion, etc.), learn to know first the user’s point of view and understand what he/she has coming through.

DO NOT BE A BANDWAGON; DON’T STRIKE THE IRON WHILE IT’S HOT

Do not engage oneself to issues just because it is trendy or just because almost everyone in social media is talking about it. Just do not engage at all!

KNOW WHAT TO POST AND KNOW WHAT NOT TO

If you don’t want to be a victim of culprits, scammers, and thieves, then don’t post confidential files and information. If you don’t want to be bashed and be criticized, then don’t post things that will lead you to bashing and criticizing. Sometimes, users are also the ones who bury their own selves to their own grave.

DO NOT BE BRAINWASHED

Whatever you see on social media, whether it is a news or an article, do not believe easily especially if it affects the nation and the humanity. Remember, even the companies we think are reliable are actually not. How much more the users?

ALWAYS BE A FACT-BASED

When posting online, be backed-up by facts. And when you see other users posts that you know it addresses the public, do your research about it and comprehend thoroughly the right information.

EDUCATE OTHERS LITERATELY

It is already given that wrong information and biases already proliferated the social media, and if you encounter one and you start to feel the urge to educate the user, PLEASE EDUCATE HIM/HER PROPERLY without humiliating and embarrassing him/her. And if he/she is tough enough not to accept correction…

STOP AND DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME

Remember that not everyone is open-minded thus do not put effort to instill to them what you know. Because if you insist, fight is where it all be ended up to. DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME. Get up and do other productive and more important things.

BE ACCOUNTABLE OF YOUR OWN MISTAKE; ACCEPT THAT YOU ARE WRONG

If you had been called out because you are wrong, accept that you are wrong and do apologize. Simple as that.

UNFRIEND OR UNFOLLOW OTHERS IF NECESSARY

Do not be afraid to shut others down from your space in social media. If you don’t feel other users then simply unfriend or unfollow them. Eventually, they will do the same thing to you if you are somewhat unfelt for them.

KEEP YOUR SPACE SAFE

Again, social media is problematic. Always prioritize your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health. If social media for you is toxic and it is no more helping to maintain your sanity and personal safety, shut it down or shut other users down. If you don’t want chaos, then don’t be a chaos to others.

Social media is not a community that is no thinking required. Attitude and approaches in using it is a must because otherwise, anyone is a subject to be a source of wrong information, fights, and pandemonium. The presented etiquettes and ways in handling social media are just few out of many reminders that we have to keep in our mind. There is no harm in conforming to those. In fact, it is beneficial in keeping peaceful environment in using social media. Let us always remember that social media is already harmful, toxic, and deadly in nature but the fact that it is also very useful in one way and another, we can’t do nothing but to establish things within our own to avoid terrible and worst scenarios to happen. Be disciplined; Be responsible.

For Dysphoria

This chapter was so good. It achieved just the right balance between deep character introspection and the plot needed to quickly escalate Celica’s situation from bad to worst, ending on one of the most suspenseful and nail-biting cliffhangers I’ve ever read in a story. And, in addition to this, you manage to write all of this terrible stuff happening to Celica or Celica making some less-than-savory decisions while still conveying how much you love and appreciate this character, with the weight and consideration you give to her feelings and to her trauma (both in the past and the present). Absolutely incredible.

First of all, I love how you dive into Celica’s psyche and tackle her identity issues.

It all starts out so innocuously, with her and Conrad back from another mission and having supper with Halcyon. On the surface, it’s a very ordinary and domestic scene.

I like Halcyon. The fact that he shelters Celica even though she’s a high-profile fugitive wanted by the Rigel empire says a lot about the kind of man he is.

The brief but playful back and forth between Halcyon and Conrad sets up their close relationship very quickly and effectively.

Conrad tries to include his sister in on the conversation, asking her to weigh in on the mask-vs-makeup debate.

Celica reminiscences on the night Conrad whisked her away from the temple, specifically on the thoughts that ran through her head before she knew it was Conrad. She didn’t trust her rescuer or their motives, fully expecting them to turn around and use her for their own personal gain (considering the duplicity she grew up around and the fact that she just caught her fiancee, who she was beginning to warm up to, ransacking the temple and kidnapping her goddess it’s understandable that she wouldn’t be very trusting right then).

Considering all the shit that’s happened to her, she almost can’t believe it when her rescuer takes her to the peaceful Sage Hamlet rather than sell her into slavery or to the Rigelians. In fact, it’s easier to accept that her half-brother managed to survive the fire that killed the rest of their siblings than that.

And it really says something (unpleasant) about Celica’s upbringing and the adults in her life up until now, that watching Halcyon act as a kind and supportive mentor/father-figure to Conrad confuses the heck out of her.

She’s evidently not used to people caring for her as well, as she can’t quite seem to process that her brother and this Halcyon figure intended to rescue her from the Rigel’s clutches the minute news broke of Rigel’s take-over of Zofia nor how to react to Conrad treating her like a beloved sister or Halcyon embracing like a daughter.

(I like that the reason Conrad was so close by at such an opportune moment was that he was planning to intercept the Rigel entourage and sneak off with Celica in tow but that he stopped off at the temple first to pray to the goddess).

I’m sensing a recurring theme of Celica being unable to accept good things happening to her or people showing her kindness.

Celica can only guess at what she’s feeling for Conrad, Halcyon and Sage Hamlet at large. She “tests” out different emotions but finds none of them fit her right.

She isn’t jealous of her half-brother though she has ample reason to be, what with him experiencing a normal childhood under the care and supervision of a loving parent while she was stuck at Zofia castle and burdened with all the responsibilities of being the heir (but pushing through it anyway because if she just endured long enough then she would earn her crown, only for her prize to be taken away from her in one fell swoop, making all her suffering moot).

But she isn’t happy either. She’s found allies who will help her take back her throne, her Zofia and her goddess but she can’t find solace or relief in that.

Celica feels ill at ease in Sage Hamlet precisely because of how idyllic it is. Conrad belongs because he came there young and without the weighty expectations of one who will ascend to the throne one day.

Another sad thing (on top of all the other sad things in Celica’s life) she almost got out. She almost found her own Sage Hamlet in Novis Monastery. She almost found stability and a sense of belonging. But then, abruptly, she was yanked out of her new life and dragged back into the Zofian line of succession.

Even worse, after surviving an attempt on her life not a year ago (and to her knowledge losing all of her siblings) and then forced back into the court so suddenly, the nobility still expected her to act like the innocent flower they remembered her as.

And because she’s not that little girl anymore, she just doesn’t know how to relate to Conrad, despite his friendly overtures and her own fondness for him.

As she answers Conrad’s question, she puts on her “princess” voice, another sort of mask, and says she, “always [forgets] to take either off.”

And the implication behind her words, that she’s played a part for so long either as a defense mechanism or a disguise that it’s gotten hard for her to turn it off and stop pretending, is deeply concerning.

  The only times when she’s something approaching comfortable is in battle or on a mission. Celica feels like a bad devotee/person for that but missions bring back memories of “better” days (relatively speaking) when she and Mathilda would sneak out and help their people out in a more direct way.

But during those missions there was always this certainty (possibly presumptuous) that they’d make it home safely. There’s not quite that feeling of certainty anymore.

Celica knows eventually they will have to confront Rigel directly, that they can’t just keep running these small covert acts of subterfuge and sabotage forever. But they’ll cross that bridge when they get to it. For now Celica chooses to focus on the present.

It’s downright eerie, how quiet the village is when they ride in (I know it’s late and the villagers are possibly just asleep but knowing what I do about what happens later I can’t help but wonder…).

Aw, sensing Celica’s apprehension and unease, Conrad gives her hand a reassuring sneeze and says a few quick words of encouragement.

Even though missions are far more familiar territory than functional families, Celica’s still aware of everything that could go wrong and is understandably nervous.

The two hit their first major snag when the ship they came to burn isn’t in the harbor like it’s supposed to be.

This worries Celica because if the vessel’s not there then their whole mission becomes meaningless. The thought distresses her so much she almost burns in her own flames.

Conrad, however, evinces concern that they could endanger the villagers, who aren’t a part of this.

Surprisingly, this sentiment grates on Celica’s nerves. She’d figured Conrad, because of his god’s ideology (though he clearly still prays to Milla too), would agree that sometimes risks need to be taken and (regretfully) sacrifices have to be made.

It feels like there’s this undercurrent of shame to her annoyance too? I don’t believe Conrad meant it that way but since Celica was already kicking herself for being more bloodthirsty and militaristic than a good devotee of Milla should be it ends up sounding like another reminder of how she doesn’t stick to or measure up to her own supposed ideals.

Thankfully, they’re interrupted before this disagreement can escalate into a full-blown fight.

I feel so dense for not realizing the flashes were being used to lure Celica straight to the camp. It’s so obvious in retrospect.

While Conrad is unnerved that the soldiers have already set up camp (much worse than he was at their ship disappearing), Celica, conversely, becomes much more resolute.

She plans to set the whole camp on fire so’s to stop the soldiers before they even set foot in Zofia and if Conrad won’t help her then she’ll just have to do it on her own.

Celica’s aware of how harsh she sounds and she wonders what Conrad thinks of her now, whether he sees the sister or the power hungry monster.

It’s worrying that a part of her wants to be that monster, at least then she could take back her kingdom and decimate all who threaten it.

But her most immediate concern is if Conrad will help her or not. Ultimately, he decides to but it’s not an easy choice for him.

It’s heartbreaking that Celica and Conrad part on these terms, things not quite contentious but definitely tense. Now they might never have the chance to patch things up or get reacquainted with each other again.

Celica makes her way quietly up the hill, seemingly more calm and collected than when they first arrived.

In hindsight, it’s suspicious that there was only one guard posted at the front of the camp and that he would be so conveniently bad at his job. It’s obvious they were setting up a trap.

Celica infiltrates the camp and moves around it undetected. For a brief moment, she questions why no soldiers have heard or spotted her yet (she’s good but she doubts she’s that good) but she ignores her suspicions, just relieved that things are running so smoothly for once tonight.

Celica’s taken aback when she realizes she doesn’t feel a lick of hesitation, regret or guilt for what she’s about to do to the general. Despite her conviction earlier that she’d do whatever it takes to free Zofia, even she thought her conscience would muster up more resistance to the idea of setting a man on fire in his sleep, especially since she only narrowly avoided the same fate herself (though I do agree with her in that the situations are not a 1 to 1 comparison). But the fact that she thought this would be a lot harder and it’s not is endlessly fascinating (especially when in a lot media it’s the female characters who are designated the moral pillars of their team).

While Celica’s heart may be hardened, she’s not too far gone that she’ll leave an entire village to burn with her enemies so she goes off to warn the villagers (even if it will undoubtedly attract attention to her).

I had the exact same reaction to Berkut as Celica, namely surprise and a flash of terror.

Considering how fleetingly Celica saw Berkut (I don’t think they’ve even had one conversation with each other), it makes sense that she wouldn’t recognize him immediately, especially when it’s so dark and his armor could be obscuring his features.

Maybe a tiny part of her doesn’t want to slay the soldiers this way, or maybe she just wants to distract Berkut, or maybe it’s a combination of both but as she readies herself for an attack she tells Berkut he should be helping his men still trapped in the blazes, not fighting her.

Berkut reveals that the camp is empty, it was a trap, and that he is her brother-in-law.

The overly familiar, patronizing way he speaks to Celica makes my skin crawl.

Aware of his fearsome reputation in battle, Celica knows with a cold hard certainty that she doesn’t stand much of a chance in a one-on-one fight so she aims to take him out quickly with her strongest spell, banking on the attack to either kill him (which was her main intention) or incapacitate him long enough to make her escape.

Unfortunately, with his shield Berkut is able to withstand her most powerful attack while she’s left completely drained of her energy and her magic.

He’s so sexist and condescending, belittling Celica even though her fireball clearly did do some real damage.

He’s so unnecessarily violent too! He stabs her with his lance even though she doesn’t have the strength to fight back or resist him! He’s just being a sadistic jerk!

  The Rigelians aren’t taking any chances transporting Celica. They use every  precaution, from shackles, to blindfolds, to gags, to spellcasting, to keep her docile and under control.

What a nightmarish scenario for Celica, to wake up and realize the enemy has not only bound her but stripped her naked. Especially horrifying is what it implies about what they plan to do to her.

As futile as it is, Celica redoubles her efforts to break out.

Jedah’s attitude both infuriates me and creeps me out. The first words out of his mouth reveal that he looks down on Celica as an inferior (probably for not worshipping Duma) and that he considers her behaviour (panicking, struggling, and later cursing) unreasonable and crass for a person of her station (even if she’s a prisoner).

Jedah’s presence puts her mind at the opposite of ease, since Celica knows full well that this stranger could do anything to her with no repercussions and most likely possesses the will to hurt her as well.

Celica doesn’t have the means to free herself, all she can do is curse in frustration.

What makes Jedah even more menacing is that Celica (and by extension the reader) never sees his face, so he seems like even more of a monster than a flesh and blood human.

I have a really, really bad feeling about what “humbling” Celica entails and it gives me chills that he says it like it’s a chore that, while tedious, must be done and that he’s actually performing a vital service.

Celica’s gotten so desperate that she tries to cast a fire spell, grimly accepting that it could kill her along with her captive.

While I’m relieved that her attempt failed, since it means more chances for Celica to escape, reunite with Conrad and Halcyon and save Zofia, I’m also dreading what she’ll be forced to endure under Jedah’s “care.”

Ugh, I hate Jedah’s holier-than-thou attitude, how he clearly sees himself as superior because he’s following the ‘right’ god in the ‘right’ way.

The first time Celica speaks up, her voice (much to her dismay) giving her fear away, she asks why he’s doing this to her.

She hates that while she’s been stripped bare, her captors can keep her ignorant and in the dark (both literally and figuratively).

Jedah’s reply is not very illuminating but, as with everything else he says, it’s made all the more unsettling by his smug, self-righteous tone.

Now, although I know Celica survives to meet up with Alm again, I’m really scared about what state she’ll be in.

this was a difficult chapter to write as I didn’t have a lot of specifics planned out in advance and it ended up taking the double-duty role of having to catch readers up with Celica and then going and pushing her in a new state/role once more, so I’m glad you enjoyed it

while Celica’s psyche is one of the major driving forces of PLBT, I was extremely interested in delving into it here, especially with how she classifies her past self as Anthiese while she mentally sees herself as Celica, even if the name was only used for a year, aside from explaining plot elements I think it really captures the underlying argument that royal life is what messed her up even more than the Rigelians did (though they were the catalyst for much of it bubbling to the surface) 

Berkut and Jedah will be interesting characters to look at in the future, some background knowledge, while i didn’t name it, Berkut used a shield that halves magical damage so the fight between the two of them was far from equal, especially as Celica had already been using a lot of magic (as in-game it cost HP to cast) he’s kinda the embodiment of the worst of Rigelian/Duma beliefs so he’s a fun foil to compare the cast with

Jedah in canon was the dragon/second in command to the big boss and tried sacrificing Celica’s soul to Duma so that should prime you on the type of person he is, however in this universe he has nowhere near as much power due to events that will be revealed later 

you must never have been a victim of abuse or neglect if you don't feel sympathy for ben who was neglected by his parents. do you know what it would be like as a child to know you ALWAYS came second to your parent's cause? just because Han and Leia were good heroes in the movies doesn't mean they would have been good parents. Leia by her own admission always put duty first above everything and Ben knew that she prioritized the New Republic over him. Han couldn't sit still and resented settling

down and prioritized his restless spirt and wanderlust over Ben and wasn’t around most of the year but was wandering around the galaxy (Bloodline). Carrie even admits Han and Leia neglected Ben. I don’t know how anyone could watch the original trilogy and think Han and Leia would be a good couple or good parents. They’re not bad people just much too different with different priorities, even Carrie admits this. Leia can’t stop fighting for the cause and Han couldn’t sit still. Their relationship was dysfunctional with having to spend months apart because they fought too much when Han was home (Bloodline) that isn’t healthy? They fought all the time in front of Ben and then Han would leave and storm off (No matter how much we fought I always hated seeing you leave) and wouldn’t come back for weeks. This had a terrible impact on poor Ben. BELIEVE the victims when they tell you their parents were abusive. Believe Ben, or you’re prejudiced against abuse victims.

Ok. Three things, here:1. The fact that you sent me these messages on anon indicates to me that you don’t have the conviction, courage, or integrity to put your own name to your words and accusations. I also think you knew this was way out of line and exemplary problematic behavior, otherwise you wouldn’t have been compelled to send it anonymously. 

2. You know literally nothing about my life or experiences, and then you have the nerve to accuse me of “prejudice against abuse victims”? I don’t advertise my personal situation on my blog because it’s private and because I shouldn’t have to justify my opinions about a fictional character with personal trauma in my own life. Believe it or not, you don’t have to be an abuse survivor to watch a movie and identify an evil shithead. However, for the sake of proving you wrong, I’ll have you know that it is precisely BECAUSE I know the reality of parental abuse and neglect that I am so entirely unsympathetic to this bullshit character. Guess what, anon? I suffered through 2 decades of neglect, verbal abuse, and emotional abuse. I feared for my safety in my own home as a child. You want to talk about neglect? You want to talk about a five year old alone in a house at night with no adult supervision because her so-called guardian was passed out drunk with a lit cigarette in hand? You want to talk about being a victim of violent rage? Because guess what, I lived through that and I’m not a murderer. I lived through that and I didn’t decide to stab my father in cold blood or join a fascist terrorist organization or kill BILLIONS of people just because I had a terrible childhood. The notion that Ben Solo committed genocide and patricide, in addition to countless other unspeakable crimes, all because his parents supposedly fought when he was young and were “busy” running the galaxy is the least sympathetic scenario on earth. Neglect does not explain or excuse mass murder. Child abuse is a terrible thing and my heart goes out to any suffering children, but everyone has something scarring in their past. It’s not a free pass for mass murder, and Kylo Ren gave up his chance for my sympathy when he displayed a complete lack of morality and empathy, when he demonstrated a tolerance for slavery and an approval for oppression, when he actively sought out the Dark Side, when he joined a fascist organization building a superweapon designed to obliterate billions of people at a time, when he participated in a genocide, when he destroyed the entire Jedi Order, when he murdered an entire village of civilians, when he abducted and tortured a civilian girl, and when he killed his father who was trying to help him all because he wanted to be like Darth Vader. He lost any chance of sympathy from me when he–a grown man–threw literal temper tantrums over not getting his way, when he spat in the face of forgiveness and redemption and love, and when he acted throughout the entire first film of the new franchise out of hatred, greed, selfishness, and ugly entitlement. That is not sympathetic to my mind. 

3. I have to admit I don’t think you understand the difference between reality and fantasy. Where in the new canon does it say that Kylo Ren was neglected or abused? Please provide a direct quote from a book, comic, or movie that states explicitly that Han or Leia abused or neglected their son. Because last time I checked, Han having a job that required him to travel does not mean that he was neglectful or unable to settle down. Leia having a career in politics does not mean she didn’t pay enough attention to her son. Does that mean that from your perspective, any parent that is in the military and must spend time away from their family, or who has a political career, or goes on business trips, or a cause that they’re fighting for is neglectful of their child? 

“Leia by her own admission always put duty first above everything” Where is this admission? Where in the new canon movies, comics, or books does it state that Leia put her duty above her family? Please provide the full citation.

“Ben knew that she prioritized the New Republic over him.” Please provide the direct quote from a movie, book, or comic–including publication, and page number where applicable, that states Kylo Ren felt Leia prioritized the New Republic over him and that that’s why he’s an unrepentant killer.

“Han couldn’t sit still and resented settling down and prioritized his restless spirt and wanderlust over Ben.” Oh, really? He resented settling down? Please provide the direct canon quote from an official canon installation that explicitly proves this. Please provide the evidence that says he “prioritized his wanderlust” over his son (reminder, in case you forgot: having a job that requires travel doesn’t mean you’re abusing your child…..)

“Carrie even admits Han and Leia neglected Ben.” Last time I checked Carrie Fisher was an actress and not an authority over the canon, and her words or interpretations of the situation do not make them “true”. She also called Kylo Ren Hitler, so…. are you sure you want to stand by her opinions? Or perhaps you’re also a Hitler sympathizer, like you are a Kylo Ren sympathizer? 

“Their relationship was dysfunctional with having to spend months apart because they fought too much when Han was home.” Hi, yes, I’d like the receipt for this one, too please. Where does it state in the canon that Han and Leia frequently spent months apart because they were fighting?

“They fought all the time in front of Ben and then Han would leave and storm off and wouldn’t come back for weeks.” ??????????? Please produce this imaginary scene from a book or comic wherein Han and Leia argued in front of Ben and then Han left for weeks afterwards.

“BELIEVE the victims when they tell you their parents were abusive”. First of all, where in the new canon does Kylo Ren claim his parents abused him? Please provide the objective and indisputable evidence. Second of all, you do realize that Kylo Ren is not real, don’t you? This isn’t a real-life case of someone claiming they were abused. This is a work of fiction, and in this work of fiction it quite frankly does not state that Kylo Ren was abused, and therefore his abuse is not a canon fact. 

And finally, I’d just like to ask you what movies you watched and thought were the original trilogy, because it doesn’t seem to have been episodes IV-VI. Last time I checked, the success of Han and Leia’s love story is one of the three major triumphs of the original, completed saga. And beyond the fact that Han and Leia demonstrated a million times over that they could and did commit to each other, that they put their loved ones above EVERYTHING else, that they were willing to put each other’s happiness above their own, that they were willing to sacrifice for one another and for others, that they believed in each other, that they trusted each other, and that they supported each other–AKA, they were a good couple who loved and cared for each other– they ALSO proved again and again and again that they weren’t just good heroes, they were good PEOPLE. The entire point of the original trilogy was that Han, Luke, and Leia were GOOD PEOPLE. And good people don’t abuse children.