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arimiadev · 4 months

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why does aniplex want mahoyo to fail

I love visual novels. being a long time fate/stay night fan and only having heard of mahoyo from hushed whispers about its cinematography, I was super invested when it was announced to be coming to the west and I could finally play an official version of it.

however, a lot of people interested in type-moon works had never heard of mahoyo, let alone it getting an official english translation. but how? aniplex is publishing the game and they're one of the largest anime distributors in the world.

with the console release of mahoyo being almost exactly a year ago and the steam release being just 10 days away, I want to look over some of aniplex USA's bizarre and nonexistent marketing for one of my favorite visual novels.

let's clear up a few things, first.

mahoyo is the shortened form of mahoutsukai no yoru (not to be confused with mahoutsukai no yome, i.e. the ancient magus bride), which has been localized as witch on the holy night. mahoyo was a linear non-eroge visual novel released by type-moon in 2012, being one of the first scripts kinoko nasu (co-founder of type-moon) wrote back in 1996 and adapted into a VN many, many years later.

in April of 2022, a console remaster (switch, playstation 4) was announced with HD assets and voice acting, to be published by aniplex. notably, this console release would contain an english translation and was later confirmed in June to be sold in the west via online retailers. this was huge news, as this meant mahoyo would be the first type-moon visual novel (not including gameplay-oriented titles like fate/extella or fate/grand order) to be officially released in the west, as despite numerous fan translations, their more recognizable visual novels tsukihime and fate/stay night still had not received a localization.

type-moon is the developer behind mahoyo and aniplex is the publisher, meaning that type-moon made the game and aniplex is in charge of distributing (and marketing) the game worldwide.

timeline:

April 11 2022: Mahoyo rerelease announced for consoles (Switch & PlayStation 4), including English translation

July 4 2022: Aniplex confirms Mahoyo will be available to the West, localized under the name Witch on the Holy Night

October 14 2022: 2nd trailer released, more voice actor info announced

November 3 2022: physical pre-orders launched, demo version available

November 18 2022: Aniplex attends Anime NYC with Mahoyo

December 7 2022: Mahoyo released digitally on Switch / PlayStation 4 (Dec 8th in Japan, Dec 7th in America)

December 12 2022: Mahoyo reaches 110k units sold worldwide

January 27 2023: Mahoyo physicals release

July 5 2023: Mahoyo reaches 150k units sold worldwide

September 10 2023: Mahoyo announced for Steam via a now unlisted Aniplex livestream

December 13 2023: Mahoyo will be released on Steam (Dec 14th in Japan, Dec 13th in America)

some of the dates might be a little fuzzy, especially the release dates, as some sources go by japanese time and some go by american timezones, so just be aware of that.

now, let's talk a bit about mahoyo itself.

mahoyo is a masterpiece. it's a niche game not meant for everyone. its cinematography is top notch among visual novels. its writing style can be off-putting to people who want faster-paced stories. it's one of my most beloved visual novels I've ever played, and I've been in this field for almost a decade and have played well over 100 VNs.

mahoyo is a completely linear visual novel—meaning it has no choices or gameplay—that follows aoko, a high schooler mage trying to balance her perfect school president facade with her secret life as a mage, something she has to keep secret at the risk of death. this is one of the lesser known type-moon works but it's well beloved because of the care put into it.

if you've ever heard someone talk about it, it's almost impossible for them to not mention the visuals. mahoyo is one of the most visually impressive visual novels I've ever seen, with its inspired use of artwork and in-game animations. I cannot recommend this VN enough if you like modern fantasy and don't mind linear VNs.

before we dive into aniplex USA's marketing, I want to clarify a few marketing terms for people who don't market visual novels as a job. marketing is not just advertising—it's everything related to how a product communicates with potential users, including its branding, its packaging, its everything. when marketing a game, you have several different avenues: social media, press & influencers, trailers, store pages, and more.

today I want to show you how, based off what I have researched after a long, manic day, aniplex USA has failed mahoyo on all of these accounts.

so let's go back to its western release.

mahoyo has a few official english channels:

website

twitter

facebook

aniplex also has an official english twitter with almost 500k followers where they shared mahoyo very rarely—only 9 tweets about the game ever.

well, surely their other pages are more maintained right—

both accounts stopped posting July 10th/11th, with their last post being about mahoyo going on sale on consoles. let's look at their posts prior to this, though, starting with the twitter.

we can see that the twitter account was made in december of 2022. if we scroll down far enough (it's not hard, given they only have 33 tweets), we can see that their first tweet was on december 6th 2022:

let's go back to our timeline. can you tell me when mahoyo's remaster released digitally?

yes they made both of the english mahoyo social media accounts the day before the game launched

we can very easily add up the entire social media posts for the game thus far:

mahoyo english twitter - 30 tweets and 3 retweets

mahoyo english facebook - 27 posts

aniplex english twitter - 9 tweets

aniplex english facebook - 2 posts

no other english social media accounts were tied to the website, so these are the only ones I looked at. this means in total, there were only 68 social media posts for the console release of mahoyo by the publisher for english audiences.

but what about the steam release? after the game sold over 150k+ units on consoles, surely aniplex was ready to market it a bit more for pc users—

neither account has made a post about the upcoming steam release.

if we look at the twitter, they have 3 tweets since July that do talk about the upcoming steam release- however, these are retweets from the japanese mahoyo account.

we know that this twitter and this facebook account are the official social media for mahoyo as they're linked on the website, so they're definitely meant to be followed for game updates in the west. well, maybe the english aniplex twitter has posted about it—

none of the english aniplex or mahoyo accounts have made a single post about the steam release

that's right, the social media posts I counted above are the only posts for mahoyo on their english accounts, all dating back before the steam release was announced. since then, they have not made a single original post even mentioning the steam release.

meanwhile, the japanese mahoyo twitter has been hustling hard to promote the upcoming steam release—reposting trailers, character bios, and more almost every day with pretty good numbers.

in fact, the japanese mahoyo twitter did such a good job at marketing it that the aniplex USA twitter never mentioned the english mahoyo twiter, instead only @ ing the japanese one in tweets (despite the english one being linked on the website).

why they even bothered making social media accounts and then not running them despite being one of the largest anime distributors in the world I have no clue.

well, maybe they didn't need to rely on social media presence. maybe they were going for the in-person approach and marketing it at conventions.

mahoyo had basically no anime convention presence

the only reference I can find to aniplex notably promoting mahoyo at any western convention is this tweet of them at anime NYC. from someone who was at anime NYC, I've been told that they pushed the game heavily at their booth with TV screens promoting the game.

however, anime NYC is only one anime convention. you cannot hope to sell a game by just attending one anime convention. mahoyo might have had a presence at other american conventions, but I'm unable to find any images or news about this.

maybe they don't understand type-moon

aniplex is the publisher for fate/grand order, one of the most successful mobile games ever created. they're also the distributor for a majority of type-moon related anime, ranging from fate to garden of sinners to side series. aniplex's marketing team should have lots of experience with type-moon properties.

maybe it was promoted in other aniplex titles

I was also unable to find a news post in fate/grand order related to mahoyo's release, despite news posts for other type-moon series (namely fate but also things like melty blood) getting news posts in fate/grand order. I might've missed the news posts when looking back through FGO but I don't believe there was one.

maybe it sold well in other regions but not western ones

(I'm going to be referring only to the console release for these stats, keep in mind)

mahoyo released December 7th/8th 2022 with an english, japanese, simplified chinese, and traditional chinese translations. at the end of the release week, mahoyo's japanese twitter announced the game had sold 110k copies worldwide and famitsu reported that 66,344 of these units were sold in japan. this means we have around 43k units unaccounted for.

we know the game was available in english, japanese, and chinese languages but we don't know what regions. mainland china has a very large visual novel playerbase (I say this as someone who sells visual novels), which means if it were sold there then it's easy to say that a big chunk of that 43k units could be attributed to them—this also means it would be easy to believe that aniplex saw mahoyo selling worse in western countries and took this as a sign to not promote the game any more there.

but was it ever sold in mainland china? from what I could tell—no.

looking at pricing charts for the nintendo eshop and the playstation store, china is not listed on either. furthermore, searching the game's chinese title on the chinese playstation store does not bring back any results. it looks like the only predominantly chinese-speaking regions that were able to buy it are hong kong, taiwan and possibly singapore (the playstation store page for it doesn't look like it's available for purchase anymore).

so what does this tell us?

without any other numbers it's hard to tell how many of the 43k launch week sales came from english-speaking players, but even if we conservatively say that only around 20k of the 110k launch week units were from western countries, that's still almost a million in revenue (and remember, the physical limited edition of the game was available in english for $60, which is $20 more than the digital base version).

maybe the store page is so good they don't need to market it

here's a little secret: store pages matter a lot more than you'd think. there are entire job positions dedicated to tailoring store pages (like a steam game page) to make it perfect for the game's target audience. there's a science to it that includes the artwork, descriptions, tags, screenshots, and more.

let's see what aniplex did for the steam page of mahoyo.

A tale told with vivid colors and rich sound in a classic TYPE-MOON visual novel.

I don't know how to describe this short description charitably other than to say it sounds like a person who's never heard of a visual novel has been tasked with describing a visual novel.

this tells me nothing about the game other than it's a visual novel. I hope you know what type-moon is, because if you don't then you've learned nothing else from this. alright, well, let's look at the screenshots—

there's only 1.

currently as of writing this, there's 10 images uploaded as screenshots (no trailers, they keep adding and removing the trailers for some reason). 9 of these images are just the full artworks from the game while 1 is an actual screenshot.

I really hate this, as you're not actually shown what the game looks like unless you look at the very last screenshot. this will absolutely lead to some people not understanding what they're getting into. what's worse is that some of these CGs are spoilers, especially one in particular featuring my wife touko.

why are we spoiling people instead of showing them screenshots? why not show people what mahoyo actually looks like??

there's also absolutely no use of the announcements section on steam. each game on steam can post announcements related to the game, including upcoming releases, new updates, and more. it's customary to post a steam announcement when a game has a release date announcement. mahoyo's steam page has none.

well they probably released the trailers in english for hype

I wish I had that much hope.

on mahoyo's english website, all of the videos listed are from the official type-moon youtube, which is their japanese channel. type-moon went through the effort to translate these videos. aniplex didn't upload these to their own youtube, where they already upload everything related to the fateverse and nasuverse.

searching up witch on the holy night brings up no results for the trailer—aniplex never uploaded the trailer to their channel.

maybe they got influencers to play it

according to steamdb, the max amount of viewers mahoyo streams have had on twitch was 71 viewers.

furthermore, if we check twitch and look for vods attached to mahoyo, we only find 4 videos total, all of which were posted in the past week. it looks like they didn't even reach out to streamers to play the console release, much less pay them.

over on the press side, it does look like they reached out to at least a few reviewers. for example, on the review by noisy pixel, they clarify that a review copy was provided by the publisher for review purposes. we can add that to the bare minimum of marketing—reaching out to press.

however, they did get for some other influencers to share the game! ...twitter game sale influencers, that is.

there's actually a lot more of these types of tweets for mahoyo than I was expecting when I searched it on twitter. as a friend pointed out, just because it says "#ad" doesn't necessarily mean these were paid for by aniplex—a lot of these links look to be referrals, which means they're getting a cut of any purchases.

let's recap

mahoyo released over 110k copies in the launch week for it's worldwide console release despite very, very limited marketing efforts from its publisher aniplex. now that the game has proven it can sell very well despite being a lesser known linear visual novel, aniplex has done no marketing for the steam release- no tweets, no influencer outreach, no localization of trailers, no announcements via steam, nothing.

so why?

why does aniplex want mahoyo to fail?

even after all of this, I still do not know why. to me, it's clear that the marketing team at aniplex were (most likely) given no budget for this game and just couldn't do anything with it, deciding to spend what little money they had on press outreach and an anime NYC booth.

but why? why didn't aniplex give them a budget, even a small one? why was their budget so tiny they couldn't even afford to tweet? to RT more posts from the japanese twitter? to share the already translated trailers to their own accounts?

I've heard a few excuses like "type-moon hates western fans and probably caused it" but this doesn't make any sense either. why would you authorize a translation of your game and allow your publisher to sell the game overseas but specifically make them not market the game (and what publisher would agree to that)? I've even heard excuses like "they just forgot it was coming out", to which I ask "how does an entire marketing team (a company the size of aniplex absolutely has a team(s) for marketing and not a singular person) forget a release for a game that's already sold over 150k copies?". the only excuse I've seen that I somewhat buy is that they did not have much faith in the game and relied almost entirely on fans doing word of mouth marketing for the game.

I don't think we'll ever get an answer. while I do believe the marketing team at aniplex was most likely given no budget for mahoyo, it still begs the question of why. why did someone at aniplex not want to give mahoyo a marketing budget? why are the japanese accounts for mahoyo and type-moon the only ones doing the marketing?

I hope the information I've provided here is accurate—if it's not, I'll try to update with corrections. I don't want this piece to cast hate towards the staff at aniplex or anyone involved with this projects, I'm just trying to assemble the pieces on what feels like a game being left to word of mouth. I've tried to include as many links to my sources as I could so you could come to your own judgements about what has happened regarding mahoyo's worldwide release.

mahoyo is a visual novel that's dear to me and will absolutely sell well on steam—with an estimated 50-80k wishlists, it's going to have a solid launch despite the zero marketing for its steam release. if you love other type-moon works or want to see an absolutely visually stunning visual novel, please check it out.

— arimia

#visual novel #visual novels #mahoyo #mahoutsukai no yoru #witch on the holy night #mahoyosweep #type-moon #visual novel game #anyway please play mahoyo #my articles

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mostlysignssomeportents · 2 years

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$100 billion later, autonomous vehicles are still a car-wreck

Autonomous vehicles were always a shell-game. The last time I wrote about them was a year ago, when Uber declared massive losses. Uber’s profitability story was always, “Sure, we’re losing money now, but once we create self-driving cars, we can fire our drivers and make a bundle.”

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/30/death-to-all-monopoly/#pogo-stick-problem

But Uber never came close to building an AV. After blowing $2.5b, the company invented a car whose mean-distance-to-fatal-crash was half a mile. Uber had to pay another company — $400 million! — to take the self-driving unit off its hands.

It’s tempting to say that Uber just deluded itself into thinking that AVs were a viable, near-term technology. But $2.5b was a bargain, because it allowed the company’s original investors (notably the Saudi royals) to offload their Uber shares on credulous suckers when the company IPOed.

Likewise Tesla, a company that has promised fully self-driving autonomous vehicles “within two years” for more than a decade. The story that Teslas will someday drive themselves is key to attracting retail investors to the company.

Tesla’s overvaluation isn’t solely a product of the cult of personality around Musk, nor is it just that its investors can’t read a balance-sheet and so miss the fact that the company is reliant upon selling the carbon-credits that allow gas-guzzling SUVs to fill America’s streets.

Key to Tesla’s claims to eventual profitability was that AVs would overcome geometry itself, and end the Red Queen’s Race whereby adding more cars to the road means you need more roads, which means everything gets farther apart, which means you need more cars — lather, rinse, repeat.

Geometry hates cars, but Elon Musk hates public transit (he says you might end up seated next to “a serial killer”). So Musk spun this story where tightly orchestrated AVs would best geometry and create big cities served speedy, individualized private vehicles. You could even make passive income from your Tesla, turning it over to drive strangers (including, presumably, serial killers?) around as a taxicab.

But Teslas are no closer to full self-driving than Ubers. In fact, no one has come close to making an AV. In a characteristically brilliant and scorching article for Bloomberg, Max Chafkin takes stock of the failed AV project:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-10-06/even-after-100-billion-self-driving-cars-are-going-nowhere

Chafkin calculates that the global R&D budget for AVs has now exceeded $100 billion, and demonstrates that we have next to nothing to show for it, and that whatever you think you know about AV success is just spin, hype and bullshit.

Take the much-vaunted terribleness of human drivers, which the AV industry likes to tout. It’s true that the other dumdums on the road cutting you off and changing lanes without their turn-signals are pretty bad drivers, but actual, professional drivers are amazing. The average school-bus driver clocks up 500 million miles without a fatal crash (but of course, bus drivers are part of the public transit system).

Even dopes like you and me are better than you may think — while cars do kill the shit out of Americans, it’s because Americans drive so goddamned much. US traffic deaths are a mere one per 100 million miles driven, and most of those deaths are due to recklessness, not inability. Drunks, speeders, texters and sleepy drivers cause traffic fatalities — they may be skilled drivers, but they are also reckless.

But even the most reckless driver is safer than a driverless car, which “lasts a few seconds before crapping out.” The best robot drivers are Waymos, which mostly operate in the sunbelt, “because they still can’t handle weather patterns trickier than Partly Cloudy.”

Waymo claims to have driven 20m miles — that is, 4% of the distance we’d expect a human school-bus driver to go before having a fatal wreck. Tesla, meanwhile, has stopped even reporting how many miles its autopilot has mananged on public roads. The last time it disclosed, in 2019, the total was zero.

Using “deep learning” to solve the problems of self-driving cars is a dead-end. As NYU psych prof Gary Marcus told Chafkin, “deep learning is something similar to memorization…It only works if the situations are sufficiently akin.”

Which is why self-driving cars are so useless when they come up against something unexpected — human drivers weaving through traffic, cyclists, an eagle, a drone, a low-flying plane, a deer, even some pigeons on the road.

Self-driving car huxters call this “the pogo-stick problem” — as in “you never can tell when someone will try to cross the road on a pogo-stick.” They propose coming up with strict rules for humans to make life easier for robots.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/3/17530232/self-driving-ai-winter-full-autonomy-waymo-tesla-uber

But as stupid as this is, it’s even stupider than it appears at first blush. It’s not that AVs are confused by pogo sticks — they’re confused by shadowsand clouds and squirrels. They’re confused by left turns that are a little different than the last left turn they tried.

If you’ve been thinking that AVs were right around the corner, don’t feel too foolish. The AV companies have certainly acted like they believed their own bullshit. Chafkin reminds us of the high-stakes litigation when AV engineer Anthony Levandowski left Google for Uber and was sued for stealing trade secrets.

The result was millions in fines (Levandowski declared bankruptcy) and even a prison sentence for Levandowski (Trump pardoned him, seemingly at the behest of Peter Thiel and other Trumpist tech cronies). Why would companies go to all that trouble if they weren’t serious about their own claims?

It’s possible that they are, but that doesn’t mean we have to take those claims at face-value ourselves. Companies often get high on their own supplies. The litigation over Levandowski can be thought of as a species of criti-hype, Lee Vinsel’s extraordinarily useful term for criticism that serves to bolster the claims of its target:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/02/02/euthanize-rentiers/#dont-believe-the-hype

Another example of criti-hype: the claims about the risks of ubiquitous drone delivery — which, like AVs, is half-bullshit, half self-delusion:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/05/comprehensive-sex-ed/#droned

Today, Levandowski has scaled back his plans to build autonomous vehicles. Instead, he’s built autonomous dump-trucks that never leave a literal sandbox, and trundle back and forth on the same road all day, moving rocks from a pit to a crusher.

$100 billion later, that’s what the AV market has produced.

Image:

Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

Gartner (modified): https://www.gartner.com/en/research/methodologies/gartner-hype-cycle

[Image ID: A chart illustrating the Gartner hype-cycle; racing down the slope from the 'peak of inflated expectations' to the 'trough of disillusionment' is the staring eye of HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey, chased by speed-lines.]

#pluralistic

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copperbadge · 1 year

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Notable Births Of 2022

Every year around this time the newspapers run those “notable deaths” features, where they memorialize famous or infamous people who died in the past year, which is...appropriate to the season but also deeply morbid.

I would like to suggest we have a Notable Births feature instead, where we discuss all the people who will be famous decades from now who were born in 2022. Not real people, obviously, but like.

On March 3rd this year the first gay president of West America, Annalise Jorgensen, was born!

Also born this year, DieXel -- the composer of the smash it AI Baby, which launched the Electropopstep movement -- on September 29th.

Inventor of the Warm Drive (like the warp drive only more comfortable) Aidan Dietrich was born on July 9th.

The man who would eventually bring down the entire Coca Cola empire, Barry Smith, born Robert Smith on December 29th (hasn’t even happened yet!)

Founder of social media platform Dorp, Julia Nygard, and destroyer of social media platform Dorp, Ron Mellis, weirdly were BOTH born on April 22nd this year.

And of course NeeNar, first alien to openly land on Earth, was born outside the galaxy but traditionally celebrates his birthday as August 10, 2022, because 81022 is a lucky number in his culture. (10822 is a highly unlucky number which is why he landed in America instead of Europe.)

#happy new year #here's a bunch of people who died this year #winter is traditionally a time of horror and death but honestly

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darkskywishes · 3 months

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Levi and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

TW: mentions of rape and childhood sexual abuse

Throughout the course of Attack on Titan, and even before the canon timeline, Levi experiences innumerable traumas, not the least of which are repeatedly experiencing the deaths of his closest friends and comrades. By the end of the series, Levi has lost every single person he had been close to, being the last of the Survey Corps' veterans. Given the truly immense amount of traumatic events Levi suffers, it'd be difficult to believe that he wouldn't have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and indeed, he does display several key features of the disorder.

Paraphrased, the DSM-5-TR PTSD criteria are as follows (American Psychiatric Association, 2022, p. 301):

Criterion A: stressor (one required)

The person was exposed to: death, threatened death, actual or threatened serious injury, or actual or threatened sexual violence, in the following way(s):

Direct exposure

Witnessing the trauma

Learning that a relative or close friend was exposed to a trauma

Indirect exposure to aversive details of the trauma, usually in the course of professional duties (e.g., first responders, medics)

Criterion B: intrusion symptoms (one required)

The traumatic event is persistently re-experienced in the following way(s):

Unwanted upsetting memories

Nightmares

Flashbacks

Emotional distress after exposure to traumatic reminders

Physical reactivity after exposure to traumatic reminders

Criterion C: avoidance (one required)

Avoidance of trauma-related stimuli after the trauma, in the following way(s):

Trauma-related thoughts or feelings

Trauma-related external reminders

Criterion D: negative alterations in cognitions and mood (two required)

Negative thoughts or feelings that began or worsened after the trauma, in the following way(s):

Inability to recall key features of the trauma

Overly negative thoughts and assumptions about oneself or the world

Exaggerated blame of self or others for causing the trauma

Negative affect

Decreased interest in activities

Feeling isolated

Difficulty experiencing positive affect

Criterion E: alterations in arousal and reactivity (two required)

Trauma-related arousal and reactivity that began or worsened after the trauma, in the following way(s):

Irritability or aggression

Risky or self-destructive behavior

Hypervigilance

Heightened startle reaction

Difficulty concentrating

Difficulty sleeping

Criterion F: duration (required)

Symptoms last for more than 1 month.

Criterion G: functional significance (required)

Symptoms create distress or functional impairment (e.g., social, occupational).

Criterion H: exclusion (required)

Symptoms are not due to medication, substance use, or other illness.

I've indicated the symptoms that apply to Levi, or that I believe likely apply, based on canon content in purple. Let's go one by one.

Criterion A: stressor

During the canon timeline, Levi was exposed to both large amounts of death and threatened death, primarily due to titan casualties, but also due to the circumstances of poverty and deprivation in the Underground. Notable examples include witnessing his mother die and decay while he starved as a young child; Furlan and Isabel's deaths; the deaths of Petra, Oluo, Gunther, and Eld during the Female Titan arc; the loss of Kenny; Erwin and the new recruits' suicide charge against the Beast Titan; and Hange's sacrifice.

Levi experienced multiple instances of serious injury, with the most significant being his injuries resulting from the thunderspear explosion and the Battle of Heaven and Earth. Given the nature of blast injuries, it is likely Levi suffered from internal damage—in particular, rupture of the respiratory and hollow organs, such as the lungs and bowels. We're also shown he suffered complete separation of the index and middle fingers of his right hand, as well as ocular damage to his right eye. A concussion and perhaps a traumatic brain injury following the blast is also likely, as well as hearing damage. Following the Battle of Heaven and Earth, he also experienced significant injuries to one of his legs, necessitating the use of a wheelchair three years post-Rumbling.

In regard to actual or threatened sexual violence, Levi was born and lived in a brothel, in which his mom was a prostitute. It's not an exaggeration to say Levi was likely the result of rape. Given the circumstances of his upbringing, it's also likely he witnessed the sexual encounters between his mother and the brothel's patrons and was perhaps sexually abused himself when his mother was unable or unavailable to protect him. Given the Bad Boy panel previews, we also know he was directly threatened with sex trafficking on at least one occasion.

Only one stressor is required to meet this criterion, and Levi meets all of them. He very much fits the profile of someone with complex trauma or C-PTSD, although that diagnosis has not yet been added to the DSM.

Criterion B: intrusion symptoms

Canon evidence of intrusion symptoms is a bit harder to find, given the heavy plot focus of Attack on Titan; however, I do believe there is enough to make some inferences.

During the Uprising arc, Levi takes note of a starving woman with her baby on multiple occasions, who appears to remind him of his mother. This indicates to me that he thinks of his mother and the circumstances in which he grew up with her with some regularity.

When he later confronts Kenny in the same arc, he specifically questions Kenny regarding the relationship he had with his mother, again indicating that Levi's mother took up significant space in his thoughts.

While we know Kuchel chose to keep Levi (rather than abort him), thus indicating Levi was a desired baby, it's evident that Levi's upbringing overall was damaging and distressing due to the severe poverty, food insecurity, and violence he endured as a young child. Accordingly, it's safe to assume that these memories related to his mother were likely to be both unwanted and upsetting.

We also have this panel during the War for Paradis arc, during which Levi ruminates on the deaths of his comrades and the purpose behind having saved Eren's life so many times. His facial expressions are truly crushing and filled with deep despair.

In terms of nightmares, we know that Levi experiences some truly disturbing dreams from the "Smartpass Good Night, Dear and Sweet Dreams Vol. 02" short story, in which he envisions his closest comrades all morphing into a sea of blood on a red carpet. Clearly, the affect of his dream has been influenced by the specter of death constantly looming over him.

Criterion C: avoidance

The full phrasing of this symptom (trauma-related external reminders) is, "Avoidance of or efforts to avoid external reminders (people, places, conversations, activities, objects, situations) that arouse distressing memories, thoughts, or feelings about or closely associated with the traumatic event(s)." Similar to the unwanted upsetting memories symptom under Criterion B, there is not direct canon evidence, but I do believe there is enough to make some inferences.

Primarily, what sticks out to me about Levi is the fact that no one near him seems to have knowledge of his past, which indicates he does not talk about it. When his past is brought up, it's always people who have some direct knowledge about it speaking on it (e.g., Kenny or Erwin). This is shown both directly in canon, such as when Petra speaks to Eren regarding the rumors of Levi's recruitment into the Survey Corps, and in supplemental Smartpass content, like the Close Up interview with Erwin and Levi.

This comes across to me as an effort to avoid conversations, and thus, reminders and memories about the topic.

Criterion D: negative alterations in cognitions and mood

There's quite a lot of evidence for these in canon.

In terms of overly negative thoughts and assumptions about oneself or the world, Levi has plenty. He appears to have the persistent belief that he only exists to be of service and use to others; he views himself as a tool, one which has no value if he is not directly contributing to something. This is exemplified by the following panels:

When Erwin asks Levi if he would be willing to be in charge of keeping the titan serum and determining whom to use it on, Levi answers with, "Why would you bother asking me?" This shows that Levi has no regard for his own personal feelings.

When Erwin and Levi are discussing the plan to take down the Beast Titan during the Reclamation of Wall Maria, Levi expresses his agreement with the plan by remarking that taking down the Beast Titan will act as him "[making] amends for failing to kill that armored brat earlier." This shows that Levi viewed it as his responsibility, and thus, his failure to take down Reiner. He placed an undue burden on himself here, casting blame for outcomes that should not be solely attributed to him.

And then there's this panel in the lead-up to the final battle, in which a severely wounded Levi is being reprimanded by Armin for being reckless and not resting, in light of his injuries. Levi responds, "... You want me asleep in bed? You're going to forget I even exist if I rest any longer." Levi suffered truly disabling injuries, and yet, he shows complete disregard for himself—concerned that no one will remember him if he is not actively fighting. This shows a projection of his own lack of self-worth onto how he believes others view him: if he is not useful, then he does not matter. Levi also shows disdain at the concept of resting and having been asleep, as if that's somehow a sign of laziness on his part, which is of course, untrue. No one would have faulted him for resting—he truly needed and deserved to rest.

We also know that Levi blamed himself for Kenny leaving him, which can be surmised from interviews with Isayama and the expression on Levi's face when Kenny abandoned him. Levi also asks Kenny why Kenny left him, which shows a certain preoccupation on Levi's part, wherein he worried there must have been something inherently wrong with him to make Kenny leave.

On the topic of Kenny and Levi, Isayama is quoted as saying:

"Levi still had the experience of being separated from Kenny during his childhood. He was constantly troubled by the thought of "Kenny left because I couldn't fulfill his expectations." When the Uprising occurred within the walls, and he confronted Kenny again as an enemy, Levi sought to meet what couldn't be satisfied previously." (x)

Regarding both negative affect and difficulty experiencing positive affect, Levi's expression and mood is frequently shown as depressed. There's a great post by @cosmicjoke on the topic. In terms of the latter, Levi laughs and smiles so infrequently that it's a significant moment at the conclusion of the Uprising arc when he smiles after Historia playfully punches him.

For decreased interest in activities, the full phrasing is, "Markedly diminished interest or participation in significant activities." Levi's character is contrasted with all the other characters in the series in the sense that he has no dreams of his own. Both Armin and Hange have that greater curiosity about the unknowns of the world, represented by the sea and titans; Erwin is similar in that he desired to validate his dad's theories about the outside world and the existence of other humans; Eren craved freedom above all else; etc. Levi, on the other hand, is never shown as having those same dreams and ambitions. Hence, I would say he demonstrates a markedly diminished participation in significant activities, as even though his complete lack of self-interest is immensely admirable, it is also deeply tragic—particularly as dreams and ambitions are often crucial for one's psychological well-being.

And then we also have feeling isolated, for which the full phrasing is, "Feelings of detachment or estrangement from others." On the topic of Levi and relationships, Isayama is quoted as saying, "It’s likely because he is afraid of forming close relationships. Because he exists in a world where one can be eaten by a Titan at any time, he consistently avoids building 'family'-like connections with others." (x)

This manga panel is a good example of how Levi views himself as detached from others. Pay attention to the phrasing: "And I doubt normal people think about these things on a daily basis... So that means I'm abnormal... Probably because I've seen far too many abnormal things."

Criterion E: alterations in arousal and reactivity

With all of the above laid out, Criterion E becomes very easy to meet.

For irritability or aggression, this is one of Levi's known character flaws, borne as a result of his upbringing.

For risky or self-destructive behavior, we have clear instances of Levi engaging in battle to the detriment of his physical well-being.

For hypervigilance, the last manga panel I attached provides a good example of that.

For difficulty sleeping, Levi is famously an insomniac, often quoted as getting 2-4 hours of sleep a night.

Criterions F, G, and H: duration, functional significance, and exclusion

Have the duration of Levi's symptoms been greater than one month? Yes.

Do the symptoms result in distress or functional impairment? Yes.

Are the symptoms more attributable to the physiological effects of a substance or another medical condition? No.

Thus, Criterions F, G, and H are met.

Citations

American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Trauma- and stressor-related disorders. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.).

#attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #levi ackerman #medium: anime/manga #anime: snk #c: levi ackerman #my thoughts #snk meta #I wrote this instead of doing my grad school work #goodness poor Levi #He suffers so much

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theriverbeyond · 1 year

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who's alive, dead, in between or beyond! pre-alecto the ninth character masterlist

After my previous pre-nona the ninth character status masterlist, I'm attempting another one! Some characters have been grouped for ease, and I did not include any characters from the previous post that are not mentioned as doing anything in NtN (i.e. Wake, Canaan House crew, previous lyctors et. al). They are all, presumably, in the same place as they were before.

Also not included is the empty stretch of time between Harrowhark's soul exiting the bubble-memory with John and reappearing in her own body at the end of the book - this is relevant as based on the preview, AtN may not immediately pick up post-NtN.

(current date: 12/12/2022, #ntn spoilers)

ALIVE (characters who have been alive continuously since their birth, and whose body&soul have never been separated)

The Gang - Hot Sauce, Honesty, Born in the Morning, Beautiful Ruby, Kevin (all last seen on New Rho)

We Suffer and We Suffer (last seen on New Rho)

Jolie/the teacher (last seen on New Rho)

AIM/the Messenger (Last seen in the megatruck on the top tier of the Ninth)

Noodle (last seen in the megatruck with AIM, barking)

Our Lady of the Passion (Last seen in the megatruck)

Crown Him With Many Crowns (formerly Coronabeth Tridentarius, last seen in the megatruck)

Judith Deuteros (Body still partially possessed by Varun, last seen in the megatruck under the care of Crown Him with Many Crowns)

The Sixth House Oversight body (notable member Juno Zeta, all last seen in the megatruck)

Various OG members of the Ninth House (last seen under Devil attack, sheltering in the catacombs of the Ninth)

Aiglamene (last seen outside the unlocked door of the Tomb)

Ianthe the First (feat. the chewed up battery of Naberius Tern' soul) (last seen in the Unlocked Tomb, having just been smacked by Alecto & thrown into the water)

Grand Admiral Sarpeadon (Presumed to be on Antioch with EJG. has received a large promotion!)

ALIVE (reunited and it feels so good)

Harrowhark Nonagesimus (feat. the cheeseburger portion of Gideon Nav's happy meal soul) (body & soul together, last seen being carried unconscious by Alecto. lyctoral/power status unknown, eyes black)

KILLED BUT NOT DEAD (they got better!)

Emperor John Gaius (presumed to be on Antioch, last seen being stabbed through the chest by Alecto but still chatting it up. previously murdered by Mercymorn the First)

Alecto (presumed to be on Antioch with EJG and Harrow, last seen putting a sword through EJG's chest. previously murdered by John's nukes)

Pyrrha Dve (soul active, body G1deon the First's, last seen in the Unlocked Tomb. no necromantic powers & immune to herald fear, lyctoral healing intact. previously murdered by John's nukes and also again by an unknown party - presumed to be self or G1deon the First - to attain lyctorhood)

Various members of the neo-Ninth (notable member Sister Berta, last seen sheltering in the catacombs of the Ninth & under Devil attack. previously murdered by John's nukes)

SOUL GESTALT (mutual death & rebirth, fusion)

Camilla Hect (body active as Paul, individual soul consumed by grand lysis)

Palamades Sextus (body blown to pieces & bones presumed to have been abandoned somewhere along the way consumed by Camilla Hect to complete ascension process (updated 12/14/2022), individual soul consumed by grand lysis)

Paul (revived/lyctorized soul gestalt of Pal&Cam, body Camilla Hect's, last seen in the Unlocked Tomb. presumed to have full suite of lyctoral powers, herald reaction unknown. implications of soul gestalt vs. traditional lyctorhood on abilities is unknown. grey-brown pupil, lambent grey iris)

Nona (amnesiac 6 month old world-soul of planet earth. last seen in the Tomb, currently presumed to have been subsumed into the body and greater consciousness of Alecto)

DEAD

Naberius Tern (body last seen on New Rho, empty. soul being used as a battery/chewtoy by Ianthe the First)

Crux (killed by Kiriona Gaia to provide the thanergy needed to unlock the Tomb. prior to death was soul-infected by the Devils, implications of which are unknown. soul status unknown)

Anastasia (soul status known, body last seen as only bones, nestled by the rock in the Unlocked Tomb)

DEAD*

Varun the Eater/Number 7 (revenant world-soul currently periscoping in Judith Deuteros, with Heralds currently attacking New Rho. Body is dead/revived as a House planet)

DEAD?

The River (what does a river of the dead being dead even mean? no idea, but Alecto found it so and was thus grieved)

MEGA DEAD

Gideon Nav/Kiriona Gaia (sans cheeseburger portion of her happy meal soul) (mega dead, aerodynamic, sad bitch and the most special girl in the universe. soul & body together, eyes gold. last seen in the Unlocked Tomb)

???????????????

Devils/Stoma creatures (are they individual beings or is it hand, finger, spider, web situation? what's their relationship to the Tower? what's their relationship to the Stoma? Spirit magic, possession shit, specific abilities unknown. Currently on Antioch and the Ninth. Seen also at Canaan house in the body of Colum Asht)

#the locked tomb #nona the ninth #alecto the ninth #tlt meta #tlt #FINALLY........... i needed to digest the book for a few months before i understood it enough fldsflsdjkfs #hope this is helpful... it was fun!#tlt masterlist #trb.txt #tlt thoughts #long post #dating this just in case we get like preview chapters or like an extra or something that totally changes the game

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periwinkle-musings · 8 months

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Did Taylor Swift write "Sweet Nothing" about Paul McCartney and his wife's summer in Wicklow in 1971?

The song "Sweet Nothing" on Taylor Swift's Midnights has always stood out to me as a bit of an anomaly. Until this intriguing quote by Paul McCartney caught my eye:

In a 2001 ABC interview about his wife Linda, who passed away in 1998, Paul McCartney said:

"I would go out for a run, think of some words, get home from the run, write them down, and make a cup a tea for Linda," said McCartney, who would bring it to her for breakfast. "I'd make a little tray, and go up, and then I'd say, 'Hey, by the way, do you want to hear some poetry?' She'd always … she'd say, 'Yeah.' And so I wrote that poem." 'Blessed.' I would come back from a run. With lines of poetry to tell. And having listened, she would say "What a mind."

This is a direct quote and exact same storyline as in "Sweet Nothing." There is NO WAY that is a coincidence. So I wanted to see if Paul and Linda had any connection to Wicklow - the place mentioned in the song.

I think the McCartney family vacationed at the Luggala Estate in Co. Wicklow, Ireland in the summer of 1971 as an escape from the aftermath of the Beatles breakup.

A sweet Wicklow love story:

Paul McCartney has connections to Luggala going back to 1965-1966 when he partied at the estate with Guinness Brewing heir Tara Browne who was killed in a car accident a few months after his raucous 21st birthday, and inspired the Beatles song "A Day in the Life." Paul was close to Tara and his death deeply impacted him. This Rolling Stone article details their relationship and mentions that Paul has visited Luggala to visit Tara's gravesite since then on "numerous occasions." Paul had not met his wife Linda yet while Tara was alive, but this proves Paul's deep and personal ties to the family and their 5,000 acre private estate in the Wicklow Mountains, which continued to be a private retreat for celebrity guests until it was sold in 2019.

Paul McCartney has posted multiple family photos taken by his wife in the summer of 1971 that appear to be taken near the Luggala Estate in Co. Wicklow. He tweeted this photo on St. Patricks day in 2017 which a previous Reddit thread links to Wicklow in 1971. And recently on March 2022 he tweeted this photo which appears to be taken the same day judging by his shirt and his dog, and credits the photo as being taken by his wife (she was a professional photographer) in Ireland in 1971. Here you have a better view of the surrounding mountains and rocky streams (full of pebbles I'd imagine...) It's notable that the second photo was posted March 2022 around the time when Taylor would be writing and recording the Midnights album.

If you look at the aerial view of Luggala Estate (Now showing on Google Maps as Luggala Lodge), I believe that these photos were taken in one of the rocky streams that feed into the private lake...which is named Lough Tay. (I like to think it's an extra little wink from Taylor that this investigation literally led me to a lake named Lough Tay.)

This area is completely private and the closest public access is from a hiking overlook. This seems like a great place for one of the most famous musicians in the world to hide out with his two young children, 2 dogs, and Linda, who would have been pregnant with Stella McCartney (born Sept 13, 1971).

We know that the family and their dogs were in Ireland in the summer of 1971 from this newspaper article where they were photographed at an airport in August leaving Ireland, which means it's possible that they were in Wicklow a few weeks earlier in July.

Even though The Beatles broke up in 1969, it continued to be messy between members of the band and the financials involved for the next few years. During the summer of 1971 Paul McCartney and John Lennon were embroiled in a very public fight. There were lawsuits and scathing letters (dated 1971) and it's all very complicated so I won't go into it here, but this article has a good overview.

The lyric, "Industry disruptors and soul deconstructors and smooth-talking hucksters out glad-handing each other" could reference these incidents. I could see Taylor relating to Paul going through this public turmoil surrounding business with former friends, because it is similar to what she's going through with her masters.

The lyric "You're in the kitchen humming" could reference Linda's passion for cooking and vegetarian activism. She literally founded a food company and wrote a cookbook. This darling photo on her website shows her cooking at the family home in Scotland in the 1970s. Linda was also a singer and recorded many songs with Paul, so the idea that she could be "humming" makes sense.

Taylor Swift has been friends with the McCartney family for a while. She first met Paul in 2010. She collaborated with Stella McCartney in 2019 for a clothing line as part of the Lover era, and Stella also dressed her for the Evermore album cover in 2020.

Taylor and Paul McCartney famously interviewed each other for Rolling Stone's "Musicians on Musicians" in 2020. In this article they mention how they both like writing under pseudonyms.

But the most surprising thing I learned is that Paul actually wrote a song dedicated to Taylor and her relationship with her fans called "Who Cares."

youtube

Notably, the music video also features Taylor's longtime friend Emma Stone wearing rainbow makeup in an otherwise black-and-white world full of cartoonish bullies. It's notable that the music video was released Dec 2018, right before the Lover era would kick off a few months later. Perhaps Paul was showing a bit of preemptive support for Taylor as she embarked on what many of us believe was intended to be her coming out era?

Now to the William Bowery of it all:

Taylor clearly wants us to think Sweet Nothing is about Joe because of the Wicklow name drop, where Joe was papped in July 2021, which looks staged to me.

Interestingly, I can't find any photos of Taylor being seen anywhere near Wicklow, but for some reason she staged a whole photoshoot in Northern Ireland in July, where locals said she "arrived and left by helicopter in a fleeting visit."

She was also seen in several different locations in Belfast in fan photos. This article also says part of Red TV was recorded in Belfast.

Clearly she wanted to be seen and linked to Northern Ireland, and the lyric easily could have been "Does it ever miss Belfast sometimes?" (same number of syllables) but it's not.

"Sweet Nothing" does have a William Bowery co-writing credit. Would Sir Paul McCartney agree to a secret writing credit? Maybe.

I read an interesting twitter thread from a lawyer (who is a Gaylor) that discusses how William Bowery could be a name under which Taylor commissions writing "for hire." Meaning it could be Joe or multiple other people writing under that pseudonym, as opposed to the "Willam Bowery" (spelled different) which is listed as a U.S. Citizen.

Even if Paul wasn't involved in writing the song, I believe he inspired "Sweet Nothing."

---

Note: This theory was originally posted on the R/GaylorSwift subreddit Dec 22, 2022 which is currently set to private. I am the original author of the Reddit post (u/-periwinkle), and am reblogging it on my Tumblr because this theory has been gaining traction and I wanted to create a public version. This version has been slightly expanded and updated with better images. Also, I was not the first person to uncover the "what a mind" quote, and the original person who found it is tagged on Reddit.

#taylor swift #gaylor theory #gaylor #sweet nothing #paul mccartney #the beatles #william bowery

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anonagon9 · 1 month

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TVT Adminpocalypse

TW: transphobia, acephobia, bullying, suicide

Hey, for those of you not aware, TV Tropes has gotten very bad in the last six or so months. I'll do my best to give a short summary.

2022: Fighteer, a mod notorious for using his post to bully others, takes a self-imposed leave after several users call him out on this pattern of behavior. Due to user backlash at general moderator behavior, a mod code of conduct was established. While self-enforced, the moderator discussion thread existed, in part, to discuss future incidents.

September 2023: User AgProv is suspended for calling Dylan Mulvaney a man. In his appeal, he tries to get around the issue by using they/them pronouns. Though Mulvaney uses both she/her and they/them, as this appeal was clearly done in bad faith, AgProv had been bounced from the site. A few hours later, however, Kory, a site programmer, unilaterally overrides the bounce on behalf of otherwise non-present site owners, citing he was a productive user with several edits. When called out on this, Kory doubled down, using thumps and suspensions to shut down conversation. Notably, AgProv was later suspended for messy editing, but to this day has not needed to appeal his transphobia suspension through the typical process.

youtube

Later that month: Fighteer is asked back by the admins, citing a need for manpower. Fighteer's "apology" amounts to being burnt out and justifying his meanness as being an "equal opportunity" bad cop. He promises to step back from areas of the site where he'd been an issue previously. This does not last. By the end of this one-two punch, the moderator discussion thread is reworked into a narrow policy clarification thread with issues of misconduct being exclusively handled by emailing the admins.

Past seven days: Fighteer makes a post in the social media thread stating that people threatening suicide over a possible TikTok ban should just do it. In another post, he considered this an act of terrorism. These post were thumps, but no other visible disciplinary action was taken. This is despite the US Politics thread being closed for celebrating the death of Henry Kissinger. Again, attempts at discussion were swiftly shut down. Notably, Kory all but stated that Fighteer, despite all the issues, was worth having as a mod.

So for anyone reading, consider spreading the word. While that alone won't fix the underlying problem of private tech companies pushing for content at the expense of user experience, if enough people, and especially, advertisers, catch wind of this, it may create enough of a PR disaster where the administrators will change course rather than quintuple down. For anyone who, understandably, does not wish to do that, then please, if you haven't already, get an ad blocker and make sure it's on for that site.

Thanks!

#tv tropes #tvt adminpocalypse #trans #transgender #enshittification #asexual #asexuality #Youtube

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gone2soon-rip · 1 year

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CLARENCE GILYARD JR (1955-Died November 28th 2022,at 66).American actor. Gilyard was known for his roles as second private investigator and right-hand man Conrad McMasters to Ben Matlock (played by Andy Griffith) on the legal drama series Matlock from 1989 to 1993; Pastor Bruce Barnes in the Left Behind movie trilogy; Cordell Walker's (played by Chuck Norris) Texas Ranger partner, James "Jimmy" Trivette, in the 1990s crime drama Walker, Texas Ranger; Theo, the terrorist computer expert in Die Hard; and Lieutenant (junior grade) Marcus "Sundown" Williams in Top Gun.He later became an associate professor of Fine Arts.Theatre department at the University of Nevada,in Las Vegas.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Gilyard

#Clarence Gilyard Jr #American Actors #Actors #die har #Walker Texas Ranger #Notable Deaths in 2022 #Notable Deaths in November 2022

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hartz-penny · 1 year

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after celina's "it's 2022" comment in 5.10, i think most of us had a bit of whiplash for "what is the timeline of this show again??"

because i love a good powerpoint timeline and show timeline inconsistencies drive me batty (i've spent way to much time trying to figure out what the grey's anatomy timeline was), i mapped out a timeline based on confirmed dates and time jumps we have in the show.

lucy's DOD is honestly the anchor of it all lol

and surprisingly, the inconsistency in it being 2022 isn't too far off!

i added some dots to note a few notable events:

1.01 "Pilot" [~ Mar 2019] - Lucy, Jackson, and John's first day as rookies / field training in the FTO program, this will be 13 months in length

1.20 "Free Fall" / 2.01 "Impact" [~ Sep 2019] - Lucy, Jackson, and John's FTO 6 month exam

2.11 "Day of Death" [09Dec2019] - Lucy is abducted by Caleb

2.20 "The Hunt" / 3.01 "Consequences" [~ Mar 2020] - Lucy, Jackson, Nolan begin their "one month push"; Nolan is set up by Armstrong and his time as a rookie is extended by one month; Angela's pregnancy is revealed & she is promoted to Detective I

3.09 "Amber" [~ Apr 2020] - Lucy and Jackson complete their time as rookies and are promoted to P2s

3.14 "Threshold" / 4.01 "Life and Death" [~ May 2020] - Angela and Jackson are kidnapped by La Fiera; Jackson is killed; John becomes a P2

4.02 "Five Minutes" [~ Aug 2020] - 3 months since the events of 4.01, Jackson "Jack" Evers-Lopez is born (at apparently 5-6 months gestation based on the actual timeline but assumed 8-9 months lol)

4.05 "A.C.H." [31Oct2020] - Confirmed to be Halloween

4.11 "End Game" [~ 12Dec2020] - Nyla finds out she is 6 weeks pregnant

4.21 "Mother's Day" [May 2021] - Confirmed to be Angela's first Mother's Day

5.01 "Double Down" [ ~ Jun 2021] - Tim and Lucy go undercover, based on what is said in the episode its probably a week or two between 4.22 and when Hajek calls them

5.02 "Labor Day" [~ Jun / Jul 2021] - Nyla gives birth, again guessing a few weeks have passed since 5.01 since Chris is at home recovering from Rosalind's attack

5.03 "Dye Hard" [~ Aug / Sep 2021] - Lucy returns from her 5 weeks away at UC school

5.06 "The Reckoning" [31Oct2021] - Confirmed to be Halloween

5.10 "The List" [~ 2022] - Celina claims that its 2022 in her conversation with John, Leah Harper-Murray is confirmed to be 5 months old by Nyla so if she was born in ~ June / July, it's feasible that we're in Jan 2022

#the rookie #tim x lucy #chenford #john nolan #angela lopez #lucy chen #tim bradford #jackson west #nyla harper #usercher #usertimlucy #userburn #tuserbecca #this timeline is kinda messy but mostly works #good job the rookie writers!

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allgirlsareprincesses · 1 year

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Mythical Husbands in Willow (2022)

(Adapted from my Twitter thread)

Ok, time for a stream-of-consciousness thread about mythical husbands in #Willow: lost husbands, enchanted husbands, false husbands, mortal husbands, and demon lovers. #Graylora

After Ep4 of #Willow, I count at least 4 mythical husbands: Airk, Graydon, the Lich (stay with me), and... Madmartigan. I'm not including Willow himself in this, at least until we find out what happened to Kiaya.

False husbands and false brides are very common in folk tales, but usually the FIRST bride is the True Bride, while the SECOND husband is the True Husband. A True Bride has to master trials in order to prove herself, while a True Husband must humble himself to recover his bride.

There are many variations of the false husband, including the Demon Lover (sometimes the literal devil), a Revenant (undead lover), Incubus (avatar of the bride's sexual fantasies), the prince's beastly form, or a mortal man whose mundanity leads him to abandon his bride.

Thus far, #Willow seems to be blending these a lot, which is great in that it gives these husbands a lot of complexity. First, Airk: as @whattheforce has suggested, he's likely a false husband, most obviously the mundane mortal who fails to appreciate his extraordinary bride.

One example of this type of husband from myth is Theseus, who relies on Princess Ariadne to defeat the Minotaur and escape the Labyrinth, but then abandons her on an island. She wakes to find the god Dionysus, who makes her his consort.

Airk's immature love of "Dove" is a sort of emotional abandonment, showing that he is an inadequate partner for Elora even if she rescues him. Further, if the Crone manages to corrupt Airk, he will be a demon lover, who is sometimes (but not always) a false husband.

We see some other aspects of the Ariadne myth in #Willow, especially with how Elora is "tied" to Airk by the bracelet he gave her, and then tied to Graydon by the binding he tried to release in Ep3 and the belt she tied around him in Ep4.

Airk could also be classified as Elora's Incubus, given how sexually aggressive she is with him. This will be especially true if the Crone attempts to use her attraction to Airk to lure or corrupt her. Important note though: an Incubus is not necessarily a false husband (Kylo)!

The Lich qualifies as a demon lover when he uses Graydon as a vessel to pursue Elora. Specifically, the Lich is a Revenant or undead lover who tries to lure the bride into the underworld. Sometimes the Revenant can take the form of a lost lover, like Graydon using Airk's voice.

When possessed by the Lich and his past brush with dark magic, Graydon is also HIMSELF a demon lover or beastly husband, particularly demonstrated by his scarring and later facial deformity, the beastly skin which Elora must burn or consume to reveal the true husband underneath.

My favorite example of a Revenant tale is The Blood-Drawing Ghost, in which Kate finds a blackthorn wand atop a fresh grave. When she grasps it, the corpse demands she carry him to a manor where he drains and eats the blood of three young men. When she returns him to his grave, he tries to drag her in, but Kate outwits him and escapes, returning to the manor to feed the young men their own blood (which she cleverly refused to eat), reviving them. She then chooses one as a husband, discovers the dead man's hidden treasure, and lives happily ever after.

In #Willow Elora discovers her magic (making her the rightful owner of Cherlindrea's wand) and then is pursued by the agents of death. The Crone tries to use the blood of Airk, Kit, and Graydon to revive herself, and Elora fights back by cooking for or feeding others.

Graydon, though a prince and therefore a fitting partner for a goddess by fairy tale logic, can also be considered a mortal husband. The goddess of the dawn Eos or Aurora was known to take mortal lovers, notably a Trojan prince whom she gifted immortality.

Elora too is a goddess of light with a name that sounds very similar to Aurora and whose story includes many references to Sleeping Beauty variations like Brunhild. This Valkyrie was cursed to sleep under her shield and surrounded by a ring of fire until a hero could revive her.

Sleeping princesses are typically revived by the appearance of their true husband, and sometimes by that husband calling her by her true name. Immediately after Willow reveals Elora's identity, Graydon is the first to address her as such, awakening her from her disbelief.

In some tales, a sleeping princess is awakened first, and then her husband is cursed and must be healed. This is exactly the pattern followed by Elora and Graydon so far. Further, a ring will often play into the lovers' reunion, so I would expect Graydon's ring to be significant.

Lastly, a prominent lost husband in #Willow is Madmartigan, and I feel it is extremely likely that he, or at least his unreslved loss, will play a role in this season's conclusion. Because Sorcha chose to retreat behind the Barrier to protect her children, she never sought him the way that heroic brides typically do. As a Snow Queen archetype, Sorcha's role is to let her children go, and given Kit and Airk's unresolved issues with their father's disappearance, they may complete the quest she should have taken (Elora too).

Furthermore, Madmartigan could himself have become a demon husband in his time away - he might be dead (in the underworld) or transformed in some way, in which case he would need to be healed or integrated in some way by a power associated with Sorcha (likely through Kit).

Lastly, just in case anyone is wondering why Elora NEEDS a husband at all, it's the same reason that Kit needs a bride: alchemical union is the path to wholeness and the healing of the world which as #Willow said is out of balance!

/end (for now!)

Sources:

In Search of the Swan Maiden: A Narrative on Folklore and Gender by Barbara Fass Leavy

Sleeping Beauties: Sleeping Beauty & Snow White Tales From Around the World by Heidi Anne Heiner

https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfgw/tfgw33.htm

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the-90s-music-colosseum · 5 months

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this whole time i've been like 'haha very funny, (almost) no one here knows who Mike Patton is' and....you could just...look him up...but you know what? here, have a "summary" (lol it's long) of Mike motherfucking Patton and his career:

Mike is an aquarius, fire goat, grew up in Eureka, a small city on the northern california coast

he never intended to be a musician, but loves diverse music/soundscapes, is a curious person, worked in a record store, has perfect pitch and a bonkers vocal range and had close childhood friends (Trevor Dunn and Trey Spruance) who WERE studying music, they formed a band that would be called Mr. Bungle in their teens (fans tend to ship Trevor and Mike, and if you look at footage of them...you'll know why)

a demo tape of Mr. Bungle landed in the hands of Jim Martin, the guitarist for Faith No More...at the time they had fired their original singer and were looking for a replacement. The funny thing is, the demo was pretty hard thrash/death metal and FNM is....not that...but anyway, Mike was recruited to FNM, ostensibly for his singing ability, but he also was the profile of young, fit, long-haired, and hot as all get out. (fans tend to ship Mike and Roddy, and if you hear them banter on stage....you'll know why...and shoutout to Roddy for being an out gay man in metal in the early 90s...take that bja)

somehow, Mike finagled getting Mr. Bungle signed to the Warner Bros label when he signed onto FNM, so Bungle had a budget and exposure...and very little oversight...hence the MV for Quote Unquote/Travolta

The big Faith No More hit is Epic and that song catapulted them into a two year tour, during which Mike became known for being a fucking maniac (mostly shirtless) on/off stage....there's lots of true stories, and LOTS of untrue stories, no one, probably not even Mike knows exactly which is which. Two things are relevant: teen Mike started out straight edge, and during this tour he also gained a reputation for hating on groupie-and-party-focused rock stars. But his looks and his chaotic gremlin energy landed him this "reluctant pinup boy" persona.

Meanwhile Mike was also fully with Mr. Bungle, touring in his 'off time' from FNM, and at their shows everyone was completely unhinged.

HERE'S THE CRUX: after the success of Epic and the album it's from, The Real Thing, Faith No More were expected to have another massive hit with the next album....and they didn't. BUT they produced an album that to this day is beloved by fans even more that their first album, and Mike's stage persona continued to develop in this way that is mysterious, mesmerizing, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes grotesque, sometimes just raw sexual/homoerotic/electrically-passionate energy. They're big abroad, but not as much in the US.

Through the rest of the 90s you see Mike with FNM and Bungle, but you also see him produce a baffling feat of a solo album, starting to experiment with his own band Fantômas, collaborating with avant garde musicians/artists, most notably John Zorn.

Faith No More disbands in 1998, but Mike continues with Bungle, and for many fans, his work with Mr. Bungle is considered paramount...FNM is fun, but Bungle is FUN, WEIRD, dangerous but not in a scary way, none of their four albums sound anything like each other. Their "pop" album is....not pop.

Mr. Bungle disbands officially in 2004 (both FNM and Bungle reunite later on), Mike continues to collaborate with musicians, form new bands (including my fave Tomahawk), make better and more impactful solo projects and generally work at a pace that seems the definition of workaholic....producing music that is both eclectic and instantly recognizable, but seldom (never?) hit material. (Since it's not the 90s, I won't describe in detail...but it truly is well worth looking up)

as a little extra, and as was referred to by lurkerwithabike, Mike suffered a certainly covid-times-influenced breakdown and dealt with alcoholism around 2021/2022. For someone who has kept his personal life and struggles cloaked in apocryphal stories and sarcasm, when Mike opened up about what he was dealing with at the time, for many of us it just solidified this deep, deep love for our little weirdo. Oh, and also, the entire time he's a fucking hottie and he hates it.

SO, from my perspective at least - that's why you get such fervor over some guy you've never heard of

fin

(ps....I could have written more....that is a threat)

This is actually so fascinating. May "who the heck is Mike Patton" be no more!

#most attractive 90s musician #asks #mike patton #mr bungle #faith no more #tomahawk

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