#and it's very satisfying to watch hubris lead to death

[alirhi]

watching any of the Jurassic Park/World movies is like...

some park worker (besides Sam Jackson) gets eaten? "meh. dumbass." one CGI dinosaur is shown to have a boo-boo or be in mild emotional distress? "MY HEART!!! don't hurt my baby! look at that poor girl, she needs help and pats and a hug! I don't care if she rips my face off."

I liked Mr. Arnold, though. He's the one park worker I have ever been upset about the (disrespectful offscreen!) death of.

#jurassic park #jurassic world #samuel l jackson #arnold was the best #hold onto your butts #i'm watching jurassic world rn #but the first movie is a gd classic #too bad the main jw characters are so unlikeable #jurassic park had people worth caring about and rooting for #jurassic world has cg animals that are fun to look at #and it's very satisfying to watch hubris lead to death

[mittensmorgul]

I've watched season 11 again, and I have a question if you're willing to answer. In season 5, Cas was very disappointed about learning God was basically a "dead beat dad," as Dean called it. But when Cas had an opportunity to talk to Chuck, he didn't seem all that interested in talking to him or even asking a question or two. Why do you think they never had Cas interact with Chuck as a son talking to his father when it was such a huge deal for Cas in season 5?

Hi there! I’m happy to talk about this, because honestly I was personally GLAD that Cas treated Chuck the way he did in s11.

(A/N: I was halfway through writing this when my power went out last night, so now that everything is back on I’m gonna see if I remember wtf I was even talking about... if this goes sideways halfway through, blame Potomac Edison)

Cas had already realized long before exactly who and what Chuck was. I mean, not that Chuck was actually God, but that God and “His Plan” was always a load of BS.

Chuck left the angels a lot of conflicting information, and not a lot in the Free Will and Critical Thinking arena. I was just thinking about season 6, and this sort of feeds into a lot of the same distinction between Cas and the rest of the angels. My personal line of thinking earlier this evening was this line in 6.20:

CASTIEL I'm doing this for you, Dean. I'm doing this because of you. DEAN Because of me. Yeah. You got to be kidding me. CASTIEL You're the one who taught me that freedom and free will -- DEAN You're a freakin' child, you know that? Just because you can do what you want doesn't mean that you get to do whatever you want!

Major Tangent Warning, because I gotta write out what I was thinking earlier in order to explain why I am So Pleased with Cas and his reaction to Chuck in s11, which I think of as abject disdain. This is key to everything Cas had learned, to all of his growth as a person up to that point.

What Dean tells Cas here is in direct contradiction to what Raphael’s self-stated motive in restarting the apocalypse was. Also from 6.20:

RAPHAEL You rebelled - against God, heaven, and me. Now you will atone. We'll start by freeing Lucifer and Michael from their cage. And then we'll get our show back on the road. CASTIEL Raphael...No. The Apocalypse doesn't have to be fought! RAPHAEL Of course it does. It's God's will. CASTIEL How can you say that?! RAPHAEL Because it's what I want. CASTIEL Well, the other angels won't let you. RAPHAEL Are you sure? You know better than anyone, Castiel. They're soldiers. They weren't built for freedom. They were built to follow.

Raphael is just doing “whatever he wants,” in the way Dean was trying to convince Cas NOT to. Because if Dean learns anything in s6, it is the cosmic cost of his own actions. Think 6.11, and the lessons he learns having to play Death for a day. As much as Dean tries to work around the Bigger Picture of the Universe, he does understand that there is a right and a wrong, and that some things are worth fighting or even dying for, but the cost might sometimes just be too great. And unleashing all the souls in purgatory on the planet seems like just a different sort of apocalyptic level of bad... like putting out a fire with a flamethrower.

Cas had to make a choice here. He’d chosen his path every step of the way, wrestled with each decision he’d had to make over the previous year leading up to that point, but he’d passed the point of no return, and his direct prayer to Chuck went unanswered, and he never got a sign whether he was doing the right thing or not.

I’ve argued in the past that he absolutely DID get a sign, in the form of Dean telling him to stop in 6.20. But Cas dismissed him, out of pride, out of hubris, out  of desperation to do the one thing he believed could give him the power to stop Apocalypse 2.0, save Heaven, and also save Dean in the process, since Dean would be back on the radar to be Michael’s vessel if Raphael succeeded in breaking him out of the Cage.

And here’s the really tangenty part of the tangent: it just made me think of all the nitwits who won’t wear a mask in public, or follow social distancing rules because MAH FREEDUMB, you’re impinging on MAH LIBERTY. BUT THE CONSTITUTION!

Because yes, we can do what we want, but we can’t do WHATEVER we want when our actions are harmful to others!

The framers of the Constitution could never have foreseen a pandemic like this. But any SOCIETY where people must coexist needs to put some constraints on liberty, and the framers absolutely DID understand this.

They also couldn’t have foreseen air travel, but we have established rules about this. They couldn’t have foreseen cars and traffic lights and interstate highways, and yet we have rules that govern our behavior there, as well. Air traffic controllers, stop signs, speed limits-- we don’t just have the right to drive 90 mph through a school zone and run through red lights. And yet nobody yells BUT MAH FREEDUMB! when they get a speeding ticket.

Polite society ALSO must include *MY* right not to be killed because someone else decided that traffic laws didn’t apply to them, see?

Basically, wear your mask and shut up about it, whiny pissbabies. This is what is required of you to live in a functioning society. You do NOT have the right to infect others with a potentially deadly illness. Full stop.

But back to Cas and the Leviathan infection he’s about to infest the entire planet with...

Dean was effectively giving him the “wear a mask, nitwit” speech, but on a cosmic level.

And Cas had to live with the consequences of his choice, with the GUILT and DEPRESSION that resulted. And he spent the next few seasons desperately trying to make up for what he’d done, to atone and do whatever he could to redeem himself-- to Dean. He’d tried to redeem himself to Heaven, but the more he eventually began to learn about Humanity, the less affinity he felt for his fellow angels, and for Chuck’s construct of Heaven.

Because back to another previous point, Chuck effectively left the angels two opposing sets of instructions: orders to watch over the earth and act as shepherds to humanity, and orders to bring on the apocalypse at any cost. Can’t do both, truly. Even Naomi will eventually say, right before Metatron stabs her in the head, that she (and the other angels) forgot that their true mission was to protect and defend humanity, and she didn’t know when or why that ever changed.

FINALLY back to the point! WHEEE!

Basically, Cas has, in the six years between s5 and s11, experienced “god-ness” from every angle, experienced his own guilt over what he now believes were misguided actions, that sometimes Humanity has a better answer, and there are some things that just aren’t worth it in the long run.

Mostly, he’s realized just HOW deadbeat Chuck has always been. And the revelation that Chuck had actually been God all along? Saw their pain and suffering at trying to STOP the apocalypse all those years before? KNEW FULL WELL that Sam, Dean and Cas were doing everything they could to try and save the world from basically the entirety of Heaven and Hell, who were plotting the destruction of humanity and most of creation with it. I mean... Cas spent s5 begging for God’s help, to save the world, to convince Michael and Lucifer that they did not have to destroy humanity, and Chuck... had done LESS than nothing. He’d sat there and ghoulishly watched the entire mess unfold like a bad tv show... oh wait... :’D

By s11, Lucifer had not reached that point that Cas had. Lucifer had many other issues, having been rejected and locked up for most of existence, and even HE had been the one in 5.22 to try and talk Michael out of enacting Chuck’s battle plan. Lucifer never had the experiences Cas did (and despite being given every opportunity to have them over the next few seasons after s11, he continues to reject those experienced at every turn anyway, only serving to highlight the difference between Cas and, honestly, most of the rest of the angels). Lucifer had a personal need for a direct apology from Chuck for everything he’d been put through-- starting with taking on the original Mark and ending with the cage.

Of course Lucifer didn’t get an honest apology, because in the end, it was all just a theoretical production to Chuck. He had never apologized, in any of his universes, to any of the beings he created. And he never would. And on some level, Cas-- via his experiences, what he himself had already come to understand about God and creation-- already understood this about Chuck.

Cas... didn’t care about him anymore. He cared about HUMANITY, about Chuck’s CREATION. The creator might be a worthless jerk, but what came out of his creation is a thing of ultimate beauty. Humanity, love, free will, and the beauty of the universe is what ends up saving the world in 11.23, so I’ve chosen to accept this read of Cas and his relationship and opinions of Chuck. Because it’s perfectly in line with the “moral” of season 11.

Plus it’s just so personally satisfying to me watching each individual character’s reactions to Chuck, and understanding how that aligns with all of their personal arcs.

Dean: brought the “how could your forsake your creation” of a broken-hearted son who has finally seen the truth. something he worked out YEARS ago between himself and his own father, so it didn’t come with that particular personal baggage and didn’t completely break him in the process (as it may have done with Cas had Chuck revealed himself, say, in 7.01...)

Sam: brought his life-long hope that God was real, his faith in God’s inherent “goodness,” did the Chuck Fanboy for a bit before seeing Chuck a lot more clearly. He was able to relinquish his idol worship of Chuck as the Savior of Humanity.

Cas: had brought his experience of Humanity and Godhood, the entire spectrum of Creation that he had experienced for himself and grown through. Cas, for all his mistakes, had never stopped TRYING to do the right thing, never stopped doing everything in his power to save humanity and creation from every cosmic threat, while Chuck himself had only hidden away and watched from the sidelines, when he’d ALWAYS had the power to make everything good and right and allow the Winchesters their peace. Honestly, what BETTER response than to treat Chuck like a bit of gum stuck to his shoe?

Metatron: who had basically spent s9 trying to turn himself into Chuck Lite, literally plagiarizing his Supernatural novels to create his own origin story as the new God, and failed miserably. What other angel could truly confront Chuck, writer to writer, and call him out for His Story? Even fallen as low as he could go, Metatron understood first-hand the responsibility of The Cosmic Author in ways even Cas couldn’t, because narrative symmetry. Metatron was always about the Word, as God’s Scribe. He was a bad copy of the original with the names scratched out. He basically wrote the worst self-insert fanfic of all time. And that gave him the narrative space to confront Chuck about everything that Cas no longer had. Cas had long since rejected that role, sided with Humanity, and smashed Chuck’s Word. The original tablet-breaker.

Crowley: carried on Crowley-ing. Doing the best he could with what he had, and somehow miraculously BS’ing his way through.

Rowena: recognized the Biggest Power in the room and ingratiated herself to it for comfort and protection, and hopefully for a bit of power and security.

Billie: gosh she just stepped in at the 11th hour to annoy Chuck. :’D

But yeah, I’ve always been incredibly pleased that Cas basically ignored Chuck in s11. Good for him.

#spn 6.20 #spn 5.22 #spn 5.18 #spn 11.20 #spn 11.21 #spn 11.22 #spn 11.23 #spn 14.20 #castiel winchester #chuck's process #in the time of covid-19 #Anonymous

[manitamuerte]

Tarkin’s Folly - Ch. 2

Pairing: Armitage Hux x Enyo Tarkin (OC) Word Count: 2,001 Tags: Canon-Compliant until TROS, Awkward Romance, Emotionally Repressed Hux, Fixing Canon With A Hammer

Summary: Admiral Tarkin’s presence on the Steadfast is of no comfort to General Hux. The lofty weight of her family name and the reputation which proceeds her does not bode well for his future on High Command. [Read it on AO3] —

ADMIRAL TARKIN STOOD AT THE END OF THE LONG AND GLOSSY BLACK TABLE.

She quietly waited for the Supreme's Leader permission to speak, which he gave to her with a slightly bored wave of his hand. Hux could make out the slight eagerness he masked with the gesture, watching the way his shoulders relaxed as he sat in the place of honor. The General quickly turned his head so that Ren wouldn't catch him looking.

Admiral Tarkin's voice held a clear and grandiloquent quality begotten from her Eriaduian accent, which was a borrowed dialect of the Core-World's Basic – made sharp by Imperial Remnant influence. "Allegiant General Pryde and Supreme Leader Kylo Ren have asked me to prepare and present a simple evaluation of any of the high-ranking officers currently serving here on the Steadfast. I was allowed to pick anyone of my own choosing, and provide my own materials as I saw fit."

Hux felt his stomach drop. Tarkin had to know how Pryde and Ren felt about him, and she'd truly be foolish if she didn't leap on the opportunity to disparage him again in front of all the others. He knew he was the weakest link on the Council. This would be like a final nail in the coffin of his failed career, a springboard for which she could use the momentum to further her own. And if she truly was a Tarkin-- then she was no fool.

In the week she had been on board, Hux had not had a single chance to speak with the woman -- nor had much time to even consider her presence much besides on the first day of her arrival. Ren had him running off on unimportant missions, personally seeing to it that his day-to-day life was absolutely miserable even when he could not physically be there to see it.

Admiral Tarkin's grey-blue eyes pierced his skull as she turned her gaze to him for a brief moment, causing him to avert his own. Some at the table squirmed uncomfortably, either knowing the sequence of events about to happen and pitying Hux -- or more likely: Worried that her report would be about them.

She pulled a small holoprojector device from her pocket and activated it. An image of a grid and a flat rendition of D'Qar appeared and spread out over the table, and Hux immediately knew what sort of awfulness was about to transpire.

"If you could all draw your attention to the holoprojector, please. This is a representation of the failed engagement at D'Qar," She began, her voice settling in a calm and practiced lilt. "As I'm sure you all know, The Resistance was able to flee from this encounter despite the odds being heavily in First Order favor."

From the corner of his eye, Hux saw Ren lean forward in his chair with interest -- but felt the helmeted man's heavy gaze on his own countenance, watching him for any sort of reaction. He tried very hard not to give him the satisfaction, but a lump was forming in his throat that he had to swallow eventually.

"The active ships in the engagement are as follows:" As she spoke the names, the images appeared on the grid in formation. "One Mandator-IV Class C Siege Dreadnaught called the Fulminatrix, and Three Resurgent-Class Battlecruisers --plus, later, our scrambled Tie-Fighters. This was against the Resistance's One MC85 Star Cruiser, several MG-100 StarFortress SF-17's, several small squadrons of X and A-Wings. There were other Resistance ships present, but not strictly combat builds. To remind you, The Resistance was in the process of evacuating from their base of D'Qar and thus not in any sort of intelligent formation."

"Thankfully," She continued, "Their base planet-side was destroyed by the Fulminatrix's commander Captain Moden Canady. Our ships came upon the planet from hyperdrive, however you must note the formation that the ships are locked into."

The clear tactical mistake was on display for everyone to see. Hux's eyes averted from the grid, unable to take the wave of shame which washed over him. He felt Ren's eyes.

"The Resistance was able to drop a payload and destroy the Fulminatrix at the end of the engagement and escape due to many errors, including a delayed scrambling of our Tie-Fighters, as well as allowing an enemy ship behind our lines to take out all surface point-defense of the Dreadnaught. "

Hux had known the Resistance was failing, that this evacuation had been a last-ditch effort to survive. If he had simply destroyed them without the fanfare he was hoping to use for propaganda -- this would have been their final stand. His hubris haunted him -- He could have been in Pryde's place, promoted. He could have been hailed and applauded as the man who had finally stamped out the Resistance. But now he was forced to sit through a demonstration about how terrible of a commander he had once been -- a mistake, a moment of weakness -- and it's forevermore a mark against his otherwise impeccable file. Well, this and the fall of Starkiller base.

The holovid continued forward, the ships changing position. "Furthermore, I believe it was pure negligence and miscommunication which lead to the death of our personnel and the loss of the Fulminatrix. The battle formation as depicted is simply inefficient. To the point, the very sight of it makes one wonder if the commander of the engagement -- General Hux -- was purposefully sabotaging."

Hux jolted in his chair. How dare she accuse him of such a treasonous act? It was fine that she criticize him, but that was a measure too far. He felt his face grow hot in anger. His eyes locked with hers for a brief moment. He was surprised to find her expression was devoid of emotion.

"I have suggestions for how the engagement should have been handled." She clicks the holoprojector, playing a few more seconds of the holovid before pausing. The ships shift on the grid once more. "As you can see, this formation makes more sense. The battlecruisers would take escort position as I believe was intended, and thus would have the ability to create a defensive line for our Dreadnaught." The holovid illustrates this perfectly, and continues to animate as she speaks. "Furthermore, the Tie-Fighters should have been scrambled immediately, to take out the flotilla before it drew near. As an aside, I would have had the Dreadnaught prioritize the base just before or immediately after targeting the MC85 Star Cruiser -- if they had nowhere to go, the Resistance would have to take a moment to regroup and think of a new plan. This hesitation would have been our moment to attack. We direct our Tie-Fighters to clean up the survivors, and the Resistance would have been crushed."

The animation shows the rest of the ships being destroyed, then finishes. The blue glow of the projection ceases, and she places the holoprojector back into her pocket.

Ren is the first to speak, voice clipped by the vocoder of his helmet. "I applaud your...Subdued aggressiveness, Admiral Tarkin. To accuse General Hux of treason is not the angle I expected, but amusing. Furthermore, although it was not your task to come up with them -- your suggestions are...Noted."

Hux felt like a stone was lodged in his throat.

Tarkin’s face does not pale as a lesser person's might, though perhaps it was because she read Ren's comment as the compliment it was while discarding it's back-handedness. She stares right into the visor of Ren's mask. "I only provided the facts as I saw them, Supreme Leader. I expect my charges to go above and beyond in their tasks, and I uphold myself to my own standards."

"A commendable trait of anyone in a leadership position, indeed." Ren mutters, leaning ever forward. Hux hated the way he said it, in that voice he used when he pantomimed responsible authority. "However, it would do you well to be careful that your aspirations do not exceed you, Admiral."

Her mouth twitches downward, the confident mask cracking ever so slightly. This seems to be the result Ren wanted, because he leans back in his chair, looking smug and satisfied even with the helmet on his head. "Of course, Supreme Leader --” She answers, “Wise council indeed."

Ren defers to Pryde, nearly cutting off the end of Tarkin's sentence. "And what do you think, Allegiant General?"

Pryde seems to perk up considerably, his posture tense. "I believe her presentation to have been satisfactory, Supreme Leader."

Ren's voice is tight. "But what do you think, Allegiant General?" He presses. Pryde's face conceals his panic well.

"...Admiral Tarkin's suggestions are spot-on, and if I remember correctly, Captain Canady had also expressed displeasure with General Hux's methods before his untimely death. The engagement was a failure, through and through -- our victory at D'Qar quite phyrric for both involved--"

"Make no mistake, Allegiant General. The miscommunication was on Captain Canady's part." Tarkin interrupted, her voice sharp and eyes laser focused on her target. It was suddenly clear to Hux that she did not like Pryde in the least, which was of some – little – comfort. "The comms history shows General Hux attempted to have the Captain launch the Tie-Fighter squadrons upon exiting hyperspace. The problem was his lack of further correction. Captain Canady seemed to have misunderstood the order as preparation of launch only -- though I couldn't say why. I believe this was likely due to his personal feelings about the General, as I understand it. It is a disgrace." She spat the final word like it was poison. "I suspect we ask more of our officers, do we not? We shouldn't let personal grievances or opinions cost us valuable tech and personnel in the midst of engagements."

Hux was felt a cold sweat begin to break upon his brow. His embarrassing past was no secret, but he hated that she knew. Everyone knew. Canady, Pryde -- all the older ex-Imperial officers. Friends of his father. They watched him grow up, and even though he was nearing his 35th year many of them still saw him as a child and a mere extension of his father. A failed extension, even.

Pryde's face immediately flushed with anger, both from being talked down to by a lower officer and from understanding her underlying meaning. He did not chastise her with the Supreme Leader present, realizing Ren's lack of protest meant her comments were allowed. "...Of course, Admiral."

From his peripherals, Hux watched the Supreme Leader's helmet slowly turn to his side of the table. The tightness of Ren's voice was gone, instead replaced with barely filtered amusement. "General Hux, what do you have to say for yourself? Admiral Tarkin has suggested you appear so incompetent that it looks like purposeful sabotage."

The General grit his teeth, gnashing them in agony. Ren was enjoying this way too much -- and he wondered if he really set this all up just for the express purpose of his own amusement. It certainly wouldn't be out of character, that's for sure.

When Hux spoke, his voice remained level but wavered at the edges with hesitation."I am, of course, appalled at the accusations of treason suggested by Admiral Tarkin -- however, I must agree that the engagement at D'Qar was poorly executed."

Pryde snorted. "Of course you do, Hux. It's plain as anyone can see." Hux noticed Ren stiffen at Pryde's sudden outburst, curiously turning to face the Allegiant General but saying nothing.

"...Have you anything further to add, General Hux?" Was what Ren did say, after a moment of tense silence.

"...No, Supreme Leader."

"And you, Admiral Tarkin?" Ren asked, his helmet tilting slightly to suggest his gaze shifting.

"No, Supreme Leader." She echoed, sounding the smallest bit pleased with herself. Hux stole a moment to glance at her face and was not surprised to find a smug expression on it. He averted his eyes to the table like a kicked dog.

"...Very Well. You are all dismissed."

#general hux #armitage hux #general hux x oc #armitage hux x oc #my writing #tarkin's folly #fanfic #also on ao3

[homestuck-session-analysis]

ok this session is a little unorthodox, it's actually two different sessions that end up having to work together. players of the first session are knight of space, heir of time, witch of breath, seer of doom, Prince of mind, rogue of light. second session is maid of void, sylph of hope, thief of rage, bard of heart, mage of life, page of blood. also, these players don't really have any relationship prior to the game; this isn't an Alpha kids and Beta kids situation. thanks in advance!

This was a doozy, and one that was done three hours before being posted on this blog.  This is a really interesting session, and I would definitely read this one!  Here it is:

SESSION ONE

Knight of Space

Personality: Knights are a very insecure lot, typically using their aspect to attempt to create a facade that makes them seem more impressive.  As a Space player, they would try to manifest the “tortured artist” persona, and will very likely distance themself from others.  To develop as a person, they should learn to trust others and lower their walls.

Abilities: As a wielder of Space, they would be a teleportation master, being able to teleport themself or others or weapons in a fight.

Session Contribution:  The Space player’s duty is to breed the Genesis Frog, and this Knight will be able to do it very effectively on their own!  The Knight is called to a session with a lack of their aspect, in this case, Space, so either they must efficiently utilize the little creativity or physical space given.Heir of Time

Personality: Heirs tend to come off as very dumb, but a more accurate term would be happy-go-lucky.  They are very much a representation of “ignorance is bliss,” for they tend to grow up very sheltered and secure, especially under by aspect.  As a Time player, their source of security would, ironically, be change and moving forward.  This Heir would value personal growth very heavily, and difficulty appears once they form a more stable sense of self and life becomes stagnant.

Abilities: The Heir of Time would avoid danger through time travel, though it would take a while to be able to use this ability on a non-incidental level.

Session Contribution: The Heir of Time’s time travel can be very helpful in avoiding doomed timelines, and I can also see this as an offensive player.Witch of Breath

Personality: Witches tend to find themselves in societies or situations where they are dissatisfied, which makes them strong revolutionaries and visionaries.  Their rebellious nature causes them to change their aspect in ways inconceivable to others.  As a Breath player, the Witch sees people acting in their own sake and transforms that into unified motion and motivation.  Witches are only satisfied when their vision is realized, which is not always possible.

Abilities: The Witch of Breath would be a master of motivation, especially toward a common goal.  They would also have very powerful wind powers.

Session Contribution: The Witch would be an ideal leader and revolutionary.  You can be sure that your session will be going places!Seer of Doom

Personality: Seers are exceedingly intelligent, bright, and calculating.  They are the people who seem to be wise beyond their years, though they are often afflicted with hubris.  As a Doom player, this person will likely become filled with despair and misery, especially as they will regularly see their loved ones die.

Abilities: The Seer of Doom will have visions of death and the futility of their session.

Session Contribution: Seers are meant to guide players, so this player will be very helpful in avoiding timelines where people die.Prince of Mind

Personality: Princes have fairly destructive personalities and resent others, mostly because they strongly resent themselves.  Their self-hatred often lead to them harming others, either intentionally or unintentionally.  As a Mind player, this Prince will be very perceptive, but feel responsible for other people’s problems.  Because of this, he will avoid responsibility by avoiding difficult choices, which will ironically harm others.  They are very much the kind of person who feels that life would be simpler if one person had control over everyone else.  Princes need to learn how to accept accountability for their actions and accept themselves for who they truly are.

Abilities: The Prince of Mind would be able to destroy free will, being able to control other people’s choices.

Session Contribution: He will be either very useful to your session, or very dangerous.  He is also extremely offensively focused.  Also, Princes are called to sessions that have a large abundance of their aspect, and they are called to destroy that before it destroys the session.  As a Prince of Mind, I can see this manifesting as a surplus of consequence and decisions.  It is up to your Prince to prevent your players from making too many wrong choices, and preventing those consequences from being too significant.Rogue of Light

Personality: Rogues are very selfless people, as they share a worldview with Robin Hood.  Their strong sense of justice and equality makes them easy to talk to, as they are very respectful.  They are also very spunky and ready to do what’s right!  As a Light player, they would be especially concerned with free education for all and financial equality.  Also, I can definitely see this player being a huge ham.  Sometimes, the Rogue puts themself into danger to right a wrong, so make sure they understand that it’s okay that life isn’t always fair.

Abilities: The Rogue of Light would be able to take luck, knowledge, and attention from their enemy and redirect it to their team.

Session Contribution: The Rogue of Light would be very helpful to your Seer, as well as to your team during battles.

Session Overview

Leader: The Witch of Breath for obvious reasons.

Offense: Everyone is going to be helpful to the team in some way in this respect, except maybe the Seer.

Survival: You don’t have any healers in this half, but your Heir is pretty well protected.

Foresight: Your Seer is very good at seeing what you need to avoid to survive.

Loyalty: You need to watch the Prince, and the Witch might be an issue if they’re not aligned with the team.

SESSION TWO

Maid of Void

Personality: Maids often feel a great deal of responsibility that was pushed onto them without their consent.  They feel that it is their job to ensure that everything is working properly, even when they are not recognized for their efforts.  As a Void player, the Maid would be especially unrecognized for their efforts, but they likely wouldn’t mind that much.  They like to see themself as someone who works behind the scenes, like the stage crew for life.  Maybe they might feel responsible for keeping something behind the scenes, or for keeping lies and/or secrets straight.  Maids also tend to rely on others to feel valuable, so please make sure they know they are perfect just the way they are.

Abilities: The Maid of Void would be able to induce amnesia, and perhaps have some form of conjuration powers?  Unlikely, though.

Session Contribution: Be careful around them.  They’ll be your go-to when it comes to keeping your opponents in the dark, but I can envision them going rogue if treated poorly.Sylph of Hope

Personality: Sylphs are people who have a great sense of someone’s potential, and they tend to be driven to help in any way possible.  This can make them seem to be incredibly nosy and a little annoying, but they have nothing but good intentions.  As a Hope player, they’re the kind of person who sees the good in people even when there is none there, and push/support them in their strive to reach their potential!  Their biggest weakness is that they can’t seem to grasp when something is a lost cause.  

Abilities: They would be able to heal others by believing hard enough, as well as restore the optimism the other players have lost in growing up.

Session Contribution: They will be an amazing morale support, as well as a great healer!Thief of Rage

Personality: Thieves are extremely ambitious and tend to appear to be very selfish and overly self-confident, but their confidence is an act of false bravado.  What makes a Thief a Thief is their overwhelming sense of envy toward others, especially when it comes to their aspect.  As a Rage player, the Thief would be jealous of other people’s passion and ability to feel strongly about things, and this causes them to one-up them by being very over-reactive, even though they typically feel next to nothing.  Thieves need to learn how to be happy for other people and allow them to prosper, while finding and accepting their own worth.

Abilities: The Thief of Rage would be able to take away people’s negative emotions and confusion and channel that themself.

Session Contribution: This player can get very heated very easily, but ironically they are a calming presence.  They might go rogue very easily, but they can prevent other players from betraying the team.Bard of Heart

Personality: Bards tend to be extremely fixated on their aspect to the point of worship, or at least obsession, and they are only happy when they are able to share the wonders of their aspect with others.  They are so fixated with this positive image of their aspect, whatever that image is, that if someone were to break it, their entire life would change.  As a Heart player, they might possess a strong sense of identity that is likely inaccurate.  I can also see them unquestioningly following their intuition, even when it is wrong.  Their break would result when they discover that they don’t understand themself quite as well as they thought they did.

Abilities: The Bard of Heart might have some variation of Dirk’s ability to destroy souls, but they will more likely be able to manipulate emotions or identity in a way that invites destruction.  This may manifest as Rory (from Modfic)’s ability to convert the imps into allies, though that may be more of a Blood ability.

Session Contribution: The Bard of Heart can cause a lot of damage to your session’s team, or they can do great work in destroying your enemies.  It really depends on your Bard’s allegiance, so make sure to be gentle with them.Mage of Life

Personality: Mages tend to be very intelligent and bright, but also tend to be jaded and cynical.  However, they gain their knowledge through experiences, often painful ones.  As a Life player, this Mage would likely be forced to grow up at a very young age, likely to raise a sibling, save a life, or something of that nature.  Though this will have lasting psychological effects, this will give the Mage the experience needed to use their powers.

Abilities: They’d have a great sense of what is needed to protect their teammates, manifesting as healing powers.  They might also have some low level form of phytokinesis.

Session Contribution: This player is the closest thing you have to a healer.  They are very important to your survival, as they will also be good at keeping people alive independent of their powers.Page of Blood

Personality: Pages are known to be very weak and impressionable.  Like the knight, they are very insecure about their weaknesses, but instead of acting impressive, they display their weakness in hope that someone will help.  As a Blood player, they would be very awkward and distant.  They can only grow once they become confident in their interpersonal relationships.

Abilities: The Page of Blood would eventually be able to bring people together with bonds of steel.

Session Contribution: This player will be the source of much of the team’s cohesion in the late game.

Session Overview

Leader: If the Page matures before the sessions combine, then they will be this session’s leader.  Until then, I think your Mage and Sylph would be good co-leaders.

Offense: Your Bard of Heart is honestly all you need for a good offensive build.

Survival: You have both a Mage of Life and a Sylph of Hope, so I think this session is pretty well-covered.

Foresight: The Mage will know what strings need to be pulled to keep everyone alive, but not as effectively as the Seer in the other half.

Loyalty: The Page needs to mature, but even if they don't, the Thief would be able to handle any issues in this department.

COMBINED SESSION INTERPERSONAL DYNAMICS

Usually I start off with “keep your Thief and Page separated” but to be honest, they can actually form a beneficial relationship with one another.  I always thought that was impossible.

The Mage would also be very good with the Page.

The Prince and the Bard will be issues to one another.  They won’t get along.

The Seer and the Mage are similarly dissonant, though I can see them working together to expand their worldview.

The Maid and the Knight would understand one another and provide emotional support.

The Rogue and the Maid would be super close.  The Rogue would shower the Maid with the attention they deserve, and the Maid would help the Rogue with whatever they need.

The Heir and the Seer would be friendly, though they don’t quite understand one another.

The Sylph would be friends with everyone.

The Page is intimidated by the Witch, but they can be good friends and help one another if they can get past that.

COMBINED SESSION OVERVIEW

Leader: The Page of Blood if they mature enough, and if not, the Witch of Breath.

Offense: Both sessions are strong independently, and combined they are a powerhouse.

Survival: The healers in S2 covers the lack of healers in S1, and the Heir is still very resilient.

Foresight: The Seer and the Mage can cover each other very well, and the Rogue is only going to help them.

Loyalty: The Page would be able to bring everyone together, the Witch will sooner, but not as effectively, and the Thief can calm down any disputes players may have.  Keep an eye on the Prince, the Bard, the Thief, and the Witch, because those players tend to have very strong egoistic tendencies.

Breeding: The Knight got it covered, but they can definitely get help from the Rogue, the Maid, the Heir, and/or the Mage.

Overall: Apart you had a good chance, but combined you have an even better chance.  However, I can see that many players are rather redundant after the combination.  Your success is going to be a question of teamwork, which makes your Page’s self-actualization of paramount importance.

]>>Maso

#homestuck #session analysis #knight #space #knight of space #heir #time #heir of time #witch #breath #witch of breath #seer #doom #seer of doom #prince #mind #prince of mind #rogue #light #rogue of light #maid #void #maid of void #sylph #hope #sylph of hope #thief #rage #thief of rage #bard

[willidleaway]

Doctor Who, series 12, episodes 1 and 2

In short: I love two-parters and I’m glad Spyfall was a two-parter. The conclusion wasn’t entirely satisfying, parts of this felt like a retread of old favourite story elements (including from The Curse of Fatal Death—seriously!), and I think there was a bit of disjointness between the two parts, but this is still a very good start to series 12, and I’m 90% sure I’m not saying that just because he’s back.

In slightly less short, still without spoilers:

—Positives: good tension throughout part 1, including the cliffhanger (hangar?); loved seeing historical characters tag along and interact in part 2, in one of the better attempts of Chibnall!Who at being educational; strong performances all around from heroes and villains.

—Negatives: part 2 has me fearing for a regression from some of the positive aspects of series 11; the villains weren't really fleshed out enough, especially in their motivation.

Verdict: Go watch Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death. It’s quite funny.

Oh, you mean about this two-parter? It’s good. Could have been great, though—almost should have been with its set pieces—and it didn’t strike me as great.

In less short, with spoilers:

OK, so I don’t even have much to say about part 1 because it really is all setup. We’ve got weird higher-dimensional ghosty things, they’re attacking spies all around the world and swapping their DNA out with something else, except they either won’t or can’t attack Yas and send her instead to some weird alternate dimension. Yas and Ryan go off to find out that Google are involved [0] in some sinister fashion because their CEO is totally in league with the aliens and is himself 7% alien, but it turns out the real mastermind is ... the Master! Dun dun dun. Very much the Dark Water reveal, right down to the gender swap.

So at the end of part 1, the situation is that the Doctor is in the same realm that Yas had ended up in, and her companions are in a crashing plane. So how is this all resolved?

Well, the second one is easy. It’s a time travel show. Do the Blink gambit! [1] Just go back in time after everything’s done, plant some signs and a recording on the plane, and they can land completely unscathed! In Essex! (I’d say ‘unscathed/Essex: pick one’, but obviously Graham feels differently.)

This is fine, but ultimately the companions don’t ... do much from there? It’s the series 3 finale thing again where they’ve got to go off-grid, except in series 3 where Martha is planting the seeds for, well, that conclusion. But she’s at least got some kind of agency in the story. Here, Graham and Yas and Ryan are ... chased? I mean, it did give us Graham laser-tap-dancing his way out of those situations, and I will be forever happy that that was a thing that happened, but overall they had so little to do other than have villainous speeches and antics spouted at them. Frankly, from a purely logistical point of view, it would have made very little difference if the Doctor had just picked them up on the plane before it crashed, because of course the Doctor had sorted everything out about the Silver Lady and the Kasaavins and all.

So I found that fairly unfortunate, especially given Yas and Ryan’s crucial actions (and their rather excellent performances) in part 1.

Resolving the Doctor’s cliffhanger seems a little trickier, and it leads to some of the disjointness I was talking about at the start between parts 1 and 2. In part 1 we’re led to believe that these pointy-hat white ghosts [2] are alien spies spying on Earth’s spies today. Here it turns out that, no, actually, they’re also spying on the Who’s Who of Earth computing and telecommunications.

This includes Ada Lovelace [3]—why she was also known as Ada Gordon is baffling to me given she was Lord Byron’s legitimate daughter and it’s not like Gordon was Byron’s surname (not blaming the show, just baffled at the apparent historical fact)—and later Noor Inayat Khan, the pacifist SOE hero with expertise in wireless telegraphy. It was really good to learn about them and their contributions, however briefly (although I have mixed feelings about the episode avoiding discussing Noor’s ultimate fate).

Thankfully they also get more to do than the companions—Ada hijacks a gun and fights off the Master while he’s distracted, while Noor hides Ada and the Doctor from Nazis and later feeds information to the Nazis to trap the Master. They then both go out and track down the Master’s TARDIS (although given his hubris it turns out to be not so difficult). That’s way more than laser-tap-dancing and being rather ineffectual otherwise!

My main gripe is how the Doctor wipes both their memories at the end—it’s not like the Doctor’s wiped the memories of Dickens or Shakespeare or even Queen Elizabeth! Anti-STEM discrimination, this is.

But overall I very much liked the Doctor in this power trio of women, although I think Ada got the short end of the stick out of the three of them. I suppose it may have been difficult because her abilities are relatively abstract—computer science is a bit more difficult to get across on screen compared to telegraphy and disinformation, so she has to make do with a gun instead.

So: strong companions in part 1 (although not so much in part 2), strong Doctor and historical figures in part 2. All fine and dandy. But let’s talk about the villains, because of course that’s the meat of the story.

OK, first off: that’s Lenny Henry?! God he’s unrecognisable. Goatee suits him, though. He looks sharp.

Daniel Barton, though, seems not so sharp, and not terribly interesting either. First off, he has all the information in the world yet can’t seem to be bothered to run a face recognition routine on Yas and Ryan when they’re undercover in his office as journalists. (Maybe he’s wilfully ignoring it. Maybe he just wants attention.) Then it turns out he’s 7% non-human, which is intriguing at the start but gets rather casually dismissed towards the end of part 2 as just him test-driving the DNA replacement idea.

But the real trouble was that I never found it terribly clear why Barton would have been interested in joining forces with the aliens to wipe out humanity. Did he just find the idea of using seven billion humans as data centres really appealing? Maybe, but what’s the use of all that data? Barton is most powerful as the head of basically Google, and all his data becomes utterly useless without the civilisation that actually needs it, surely.

Oh, then there are the Kasaavins themselves.

At first, their basic plan seems like it’s to wipe out Earth’s intelligence network, which makes sense as a step in an invasion. But then it turns out the ultimate point of their invasion is all about ... computers? And disk space, basically???

Why did they attach themselves to people like Ada Lovelace and Alan Turing and Steve Jobs? Was it to influence the evolution of computing in ways that made today’s computer architectures more vulnerable to ... whatever it is the Kasaavins later do through the Silver Lady and all of our modern devices? Sure, Ada Lovelace’s notes on computing engines were prescient and unquestionably influenced her spiritual successors like Turing, but I would personally have said more in the abstract. You'd definitely want to go after people like Woz, doing design on microcomputers much closer to our modern laptops and phones. I guess they figured it couldn’t hurt, anyway.

What exactly were they going to do with all that disk space? Why don’t they have their own massive storage devices? Why do they need to overwrite human DNA? Can’t they just build more DNA?

I dunno, maybe I’m overthinking it. I thought they were building towards a Matrix-style thing where all of human civilisation was going to just be someone’s cloud computing instance—but no, it’s hard drive space. It seemed a bit weak.

I think the Kasaavins suffered mostly for being in the same story as the newest incarnation of the Master.

The good thing about the Master, at least, is that he needs little motivation. He’s just mad. If he wants to wipe out all of humanity and the Kasaavins needing storage space happens to mean there may be a common interest there, the Master can just do that. That’s how the Master works.

He cuts an imposing figure at the start, I suppose—maniacal slick sort of fellow, shades of Simm’s incarnation in series 3 but still his own thing. But the way he works in this episode is just ... goofy. I mean, really? He just keeps tracking the Doctor through time? Can’t be bothered to keep tabs on whether someone’s trying to sabotage his master plan?

And then there’s the way the whole situation with the Nazis gets resolved.

I really thought he was going to go ‘seventy-seven years ... in a sodding twentieth century ...’, à la Jonathan Pryce’s excellent Master from Steven Moffat’s Comic Relief special. You know, the one from all the way back in 1999 where for the first half-ish, the Doctor and Master basically try to outwit each other through increasingly ridiculous time-travel hijinks, ending up with the Master having to crawl out a sewer for over nine hundred years.

Totally unlike this story, where the second half-ish involves the Doctor and Master trying to outwit each other through time-travel hijinks, and the Master ends up having to crawl out of his predicament for almost eight decades.

I’m not sure that’s a complaint, myself, frankly. For one thing, of course, when a show has gone on for over half a century, it’s difficult to avoid new stories running into old ones. But for another thing, saying something feels right out of a Comic Relief special isn’t necessarily a, erm, fatal flaw for Doctor Who. I prefer it when Doctor Who isn’t taking itself too seriously, just seriously enough.

Still, when you look at the big picture and look at all the retreads, I can’t help but think we’re heading back into the worst excesses of past new!Who.

For all its faults, I really enjoyed series 11 for how the narrative focus returned to the companions after much of the Moffat era’s obsession with ridiculously overpowered characters—Clara as the impossible girl, the Doctor as the Hybrid, the Doctor as literally where we get the word ‘doctor’, and so forth.

Well, now we’ve got the Master back and he’s gone and destroyed Gallifrey (negating the big winning moment of the 50th anniversary special, to boot) and it’s all because of some mysterious lie and it involves the Timeless Child that was mentioned for a hot five seconds last series??? It smacks of past new!Who arcs, especially under Moffat—and at least in my eyes those arcs have never gone terribly well. Those arcs have come at the expense of good companion characterisation as well, so overall it has me a bit concerned about series 12.

Sure, all these aspects of pre-series 11 Who returning to the show—the Daleks last year, and now the Master—maybe makes the show feel more like itself, much like how having a functional rebel force that’s not just confined to a single light freighter makes a Star Wars film feel more like Star Wars. I just worry that it’s a instinctive reaction against some of the mixed reactions to series 11, and that ultimately it’ll be an overreaction.

Good start, though, this two-parter. I just hope it doesn’t turn out to be the best story that series 12 gets.

Footnotes:

[0: Sure, they’re called Vor in the episodes, but first off they’re clearly meant to be Google, and second off it’s very awkward talking about ‘Vor’ being everywhere on the Internet and on everyone’s devices ... so for the purposes of this write-up I’m going to call them Google.]

[1: I know that in Blink, the Doctor and Martha are trapped in the past and have to plant the message in DVDs to get someone to get them out of trouble. But you know what I mean. Timey-wimey out-of-order rescue plan.

Maybe I ought to call it the Arrival gambit, after the excellent film from a few years back.]

[2: Makes them sound like alien Klansmen, doesn’t it?]

[3: What’s the opposite of née for the purposes of distinguishing maiden and married names in time travel stories? I guess mariée is as good as any ...]

#(Doctor Who series 12 spoilers!)

[mdelpin]

To Kill A Dragon - Chapter 8

Previous: Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Next: Ch 9

Chapter 8: Friend or Foe?

A chorus of "WHAT?!" erupted in the Fairy Tail guild library as everyone gaped at the healer in disbelief.

"I'm sorry, I could have sworn you just said that Natsu was pregnant," Lyon repeated dumbly, trying to wrap his head around the healer's announcement.

"That's exactly what I said."

"But how could that be? He's a guy," Lucy pointed out, earning herself a glare from the healer.

"Natsu did mention she tricked him into taking some sort of solution to induce a dragon heat," Laxus said sheepishly, knowing full well he had purposefully left out that information.

Makarov studied his grandson thoughtfully, wondering what else Laxus was keeping from them.

"Yes, he did say that, but he also mentioned the solution was created to keep dragons from dying out," Porlyusica corrected him.

"That's what made me decide to test him in the first place. If I had the solution here, I could analyze it, but my guess is it was actually some kind of fertility drug for dragons. Tiamat used it to impregnate him, and now a demigod is growing inside of him."

"How long will the pregnancy last?" Makarov inquired before anyone could say something that would upset Porlyusica.

"How the hell am I supposed to know what the gestation period is for a magically induced pregnancy of a demigod in a male?" Porlyusica screeched at Makarov.

She was starting to get agitated again. She didn't like being around people on the best of days, and she was quickly reaching her limit. The idiotic looks on all of their faces were not helping.

"Have you told him already?" Makarov asked her quietly.

"Of course not! He's too weak, both physically and emotionally at the moment to handle any of this. I recommend you don't tell him until he's had a chance to deal with his torture and captivity. Hopefully, he won't have any symptoms for a while." Porlyusica left the library and made her way back to the infirmary.

The room remained silent as they all watched her disappear up the stairs. Moments later Sting and Rogue made their way into the library, matching horrified expressions etched across their faces.

"Did that crazy woman actually say that Natsu is pregnant?" Sting looked to Laxus for confirmation.

The sound of laughter erupted in the room. Everyone looked for the source of the sound. Gray was laughing, tears flowing freely from his eyes as he finally snapped from the stress he'd been under since Natsu had disappeared. He noticed everyone looking at him worriedly and wiped the tears from his eyes, still chuckling to himself.

"I'm sorry, I know it's not funny, but I mean, seriously, only Natsu could manage to go from rejecting Erza to getting himself knocked up by a god in three days. He's never even been on a date! It's completely ridiculous," Gray's voice changed from amusement to sadness as he realized the truth of his statement.

Natsu had never gotten the chance to enjoy physical closeness with anyone on his own terms. It really wasn't fair for this to happen to him. Erza put her arm around his shoulder, pulling him in for a half-hug, but he shrugged her off.

"Let's keep this information between us for now. I don't want Natsu finding out by overhearing someone talking about it in the guild," Makarov instructed the small group in the library. "We will wait until he is doing better to tell him," The Fairy Tail master viewed Gray with concern, not quite sure what to do for him.

"Sting, go upstairs and have Porlyusica test you," Makarov ordered.

"What? No, that's ridiculous. I didn't drink anything when I was with her, and I feel fine."

Makarov glanced at Rogue Cheney, who nodded and dragged the protesting master of Sabertooth up to the infirmary. He then took Laxus upstairs to his office for a private talk.

Erza, Gray, and Lyon left the researchers and made their way back to the main guild room. They sat at a table near the back, quietly absorbing the shocking news they had just received when the large wooden doors of the guild entrance opened.

They watched curiously as two men entered the hall. The men looked around the guild nervously, as if they were looking for someone. They were wearing cloaks with some kind of symbol on the back but were too far away for them to make it out.

Mira hurried over to welcome them, and when the men turned to greet her, they were able to see the symbol. Five differently colored dragon heads joined at the neck to make a circle.

Erza reacted first. She requipped a sword into her hand and hurried towards the two men, violence implied in every step. Gray got up to follow her but stopped for a minute, looking up towards the infirmary.

"Go tell the dragon slayers to stay out of sight," Gray ordered Lyon quietly but urgently. The Lamia Scale mage quickly got up and hurried upstairs.

Gray walked quickly to stand next to Erza, his face impassive, but his stance leaving no doubt he was ready for battle.

xxx

A giant five headed dragon flew above the clouds. Now that Tiamat had both the white and red dragon's powers, she was capable of holding her dragon form for more extended periods.

It had been several days since she'd set fire to the building where she had been held captive, but Tiamat still felt satisfaction from the surprised looks on the cultists' faces. Looks that had quickly turned to terror when they realized she was outside the magic sealing stone where they had kept her prisoner.

She could still hear their agonized screams as they burned from her fire. They were melodious, like music to her ears. She wasn't sure if she'd gotten them all, but she was confident they would not be coming for her anytime soon. Tiamat was free.

'Fools,' she thought, annoyed by their hubris, 'They really thought they could contain me with that pathetic binding spell.'

She had spent the time since following a faint dragon scent that she hoped would lead her to the black dragon Acnologia. A chromatic dragon of that caliber would be an excellent ally to have.

Tiamat was determined to restore dragons to their former glory and undo all the tragedy that Igneel and his friends had caused. Once that happened, the humans were going to pay for their insolence. She would bring about a new age of dragons, and this time, there wouldn't be enough dragon slayers to stop her.

Tiamat continued to follow the trail over a range of mountains. She was hungry and had begun to tire, but an enticing smell caught her attention, and she dove towards it.

She followed it to a patch of grass where a group of goats was calmly grazing. After making quick work of them, she looked for a cave to shelter her while she rested.

Tiamat flew higher until she saw a cave large enough to suit her purposes. She walked inside and sniffed to make sure she was alone. That faint dragon smell was present here, but it was old. Once satisfied, she changed back to her Dark Lady avatar, lay down and went to sleep content and with a full belly. She woke to a rustling noise outside and moved cautiously to seek it out.

Even though it was still mostly dark out, she could detect a man standing outside the cave. He was muscular with spiky, long, dark blue hair. Blue markings covered his body. He looked at her haughtily, but there was no hiding the air of danger that surrounded him, and even though he appeared unarmed, she was instantly wary.

"What are you doing in my cave?" he asked her angrily.

"I sought shelter, but I will be happy to be on my way," Tiamat sniffed the air carefully, trying to determine what it was about this man that had her on edge.

The man narrowed his eyes at her when he noticed what she was doing and began to do the same. He looked surprised at whatever he found and immediately got into a battle stance.

"Who are you? Are you the one who has been following me?"

She stiffened as she finally recognized the scent she had been following pouring off this man. How could that be? She changed into her dragon form and took to the air. She hovered above him.

"I am Tiamat, Dragon Goddess and Queen of the Chromatic Dragons. I am looking for the black dragon they call Acnologia. Why do you smell like him, are you his dragon slayer?"

Acnologia quickly changed into his dragon form and took to the sky, leaving room between them for the moment. He roared with laughter.

"Indeed I am, Your Highness," he said mockingly, "Did you think I was a black dragon? All the dragons are dead. I made sure of that over four hundred years ago. All except for you, I thought you had been banished during the War."

He was getting excited at the idea of fighting a proper dragon, a goddess no less. It had been a long time since he'd had a truly good fight. One where the outcome was not decided before the battle began.

"YOU, A LOWLY HUMAN, KILLED MY PRECIOUS DRAGONS?" Tiamat roared.

Her voice echoed through the mountains, sounding like a judgment from the heavens themselves. She was furious, and her heart instantly filled with hatred. She'd been looking to make an alliance with the black dragon, but now, now she just wanted to destroy him. Tear him limb from limb with her claws and fangs and blast him with all her magic. But that would be mercy after what he'd done, so she would heal him so she could do it over and over until he begged her for death.

She flew at him, her red head already roaring dragon fire at Acnologia, hotter than any mere dragon slayer could manage. Her white head simultaneously attacking with holy light. Her other three heads were divided between hurling insults at the black dragon and encouraging the fighting heads on in their assault.

Acnologia quickly dodged her attacks and responded with his own dragon roar. Tiamat flew out of the way of most of it, but she'd already been tired before she got to the cave and knew she wouldn't be able to fight for very long.

She could already see she was going to require more power than what she currently had to be able to defeat him. She needed to get away so she could get the rest of her magic from the last three dragon slayers. Only then would she be able to destroy him. She concentrated all of her remaining magic into one spell and teleported herself away from Acnologia.

She was sure the dragons slayers were already huddled in Magnolia with Fairy Tail, so she decided to head to Era. The poison dragon slayer was isolated and should make for an easy target.

A/N: Making progress! Hoping to get a few more of these out this week.

#fairy tail #gratsu #ftlgbtales #fanfiction #update #tkad #chapter 8

[sabrinaprotectionsquad-blog]

AU Yea August 14 - Victory, such as it is

@auyeahaugust

A rare bit of terrible angst from me. Still, think it turned out well. 

Gabriel wins and must pay a hefty price for his wish. Appearently he never learned that you need to be careful what you wish for. 

on Ao3 https://archiveofourown.org/works/15683562

Everything come at a price. Fashion empires are built upon the broken backs of the ambitious failures who paved the way for men and women, willing to exploit their passion and naiveté.

Life is but a series of choices and the choice will always take the same form, eat, or be eaten. Nooses hang heavy with the weight or those who have lived their lives as predators, but took a moment to remember the blood of the innocent which coated their every step.

I’ve spent years looking back with nothing but regret and longing to change the hand of fate, to take destiny by the scruff and force her to deal me a new hand. Now I stand at the precipice, the tiny jewels in my hands, light and tiny, and the weight of them never able to live up to their own significance.

My thoughts went to the defeated, spiteful and horrified look on my sons face as his transformation ended, souring my victory and forcing me dangerously close to remembering the blood under my own boots.

It was for the best, my son’s hatred for me is justified. More than that, I hoped that this was my legacy, of spite and contempt. I prayed for a moment, holding the Miraculouses to my chest and hoping that this would be my legacy, that no one would ever look back on my life with love or longing, that no one would miss me the way I had missed my beloved. That no one be destroyed like I had been, because of me.

I slid off my wedding band, allowing it to gain freedom from me for the first time in 25 years. A simple ring of gold, a mockery of the union which was always meant to be eternal. Without its partner, it was nothing but a reminder of a yesterday which refused to leave me, which kept me up at every moonlit night, which had me hearing the final gasps of an angel whom I’d foolishly thought to capture.

Adrien was the dark clad hero, while under my watch he had become one of my most fearsome opponents, he had been a source of near endless frustration, he had stood against me for years. Looking back at the man he had become, my heart swelled with pride and relief, that my wickedness had not seemed to spread to him, that he had grown to be nothing short of a great man. I didn’t deserve him, but was I perhaps allowed to believe for a moment, that the world would not break my son.

I held the wedding ring in my palm, it felt so light and so innocent. Throwing it away like a discarded memory was impossible, but I did not deserve its memory. How could I hold onto the past, when my present self had been emptied of any love and any good which could have ever existed within the tar black walls of my being.

I was lead to corruption, and I never stood a chance. Some men come into the world broken and empty, and I had been a fool to believe for even a moment that I could live a life in the light of the radiant maiden and the son who through sheer luck took after her. His goodness was a constant reminder of how broken I truly am, and his morose eyes seem to be the only gaze fit for my being.

I allowed myself a moment of hope before finally allowing the ring to fall onto the ground. It rang out in a sweet, hollow glasslike tone as it hit the stone beneath. It drew my breath and I was forced to not dive for it, not take it, hug it and apologize. But today was not about the past, for the first time since the day of her death, a moment in my life was about the present.

The ring, a monument to destruction, it slid onto my finger, taking the place of the wedding ring. How fitting that entropy and decay would replace hope and happiness. All things end, and life is but a cycle of birth and destruction.

I felt a moments pain as I stabbed the studs through my flesh. Perhaps fitting that the red jewels should be soaked in the blood of my labor. The studs represented creation, and what is creation but blood and pain? Of course, I would have rather suffered a hundred or a million times worse, if it would have meant feeling satisfied with my victory, instead of simply hollow purpose.

The trio of beings stood before me suddenly, as small as rats and so marvelously incapable of living up to their own magnificence. As I stood in the presence of the gods, all I could think was whether this was all they were, trembling, angry little servants.

As the kwami of creation opened its mouth to speak I held out my hand. I was not here to listen to their groveling, their anger or their warnings. They were here to listen, and they would do nothing else.

I looked at them with purpose, having waited in stasis since her death for this moment. “Bring me back to her. Bring me back to a time before all this, where she is alive. Bring back my angel Emilie, I command you”

The creatures looked at one another for a moment, the small cat looking up with contempt “nothing is free. For creation there has to be destruction.”

The texts had been vague, but there was no surprise. A part of me had hoped that we could live as a family, the three of us. However, life was a series of choices and sacrifices. And it was better to live happily as two, than to continue this life of static nothingness and emptiness. For an angel to rise upon the earth again, any price was worth it.

I smiled in spite of myself, was a sadistic part of me so far gone into bile and evil that I enjoyed the poetry of sacrificing life for life? Or was the prospect of the two, alone together, actually happy, the thing which I’d desired all this time? Had I hoped for the sacrifice to be true, so that the strong family could be whole again, without the parasitic third that had destroyed it in the first place?

“Then, as a sacrifice I offer myself” the three creatures gasped with surprise, their childish naiveté almost brought laughter forth from me. “I am poison, poison which seeps into the lives around me. For an angel to live, the devil shall offer his life in return. Do it! Reshuffle the hand of fate and make the world right! Make a world where she lived, and I died!”

The Kwami floated with expressions of sadness and regret as they began glowing with a light that engulfed everything.

I was swallowed by the light, which shone through my being like radiant fire and ice which burned at my flesh, exposing my very soul. For a moment I could feel it, my very being without body, only a black corrupted mass of oil and hatred. My very soul, a reflection of my eldritch pursuits.

As I burned, I felt nothing but pain and relief. Then, only nothingness.

There can be nothing but a disappointing beginning after such an ending, but somehow life kept marching onwards. I found myself floating in darkness, purple nothingness surrounding me on all sides. Was this death? Or simply the punishment for my hubris, a personal chamber for my lonely thoughts, a place for me to tear myself apart for all of eternity. Yet, it gave me hope that it had worked.

I felt a sudden pressure around my body, the sensation of warmth, like the warmth of the morning sun. The darkness slowly vanished as light formed around me and I found myself in the last place I expected, but the first place I would have chosen if given the chance.

My heart seemed to stop as I looked into the eyes of my angel. She looked down on me with her perfection, she was as beautiful and radiant as ever. Though a bit older than last I’d seen her, did I dare to hope that the woman before me was actually a sign that I had gotten everything I’d ever dreamed?

In all of the stories he’d read, there seemed to be just as many stories where the hero was asked to make an impossible sacrifice, only to learn that it was a test to see if he was truly deserving of his price. Had I inadvertently passed the ultimate test? Could I dare to dream that I could have it all?

“What’s your name?” Emilie’s voice send shivers of happiness through my joyful being, but the words confused me, had she forgotten about me? If she had, then could she grow to know me again?

I wanted to study this new world from afar, to see what had happened, to find my voice before I was forced to face her. Yet I needed to answer her, to figure it out as I went, all I could do was talk to her, then get my answers later.

“My name is Duusu” my voice was alien to me, and my words more so. My voice seemed light, birdlike and strangely feminine. I held my mouth and found that my hand was replaced with a blue, featureless flipper. As I looked at Emilie it slowly dawned on me that somehow, I stood before her as a kwami. Ice began forming in my stomach as my mind raced to try and catch up.

“Duusu” Emilie stated factually, the radiant kind eyes from my memory, lost in the quiet no nonsense frown before her. “Tell me, is it true that with the powers of the kwami of creation and destruction, I can change the course of fate entirely.”

My eyes widened, I wanted to tell her no, to scream in protest, but while my body seemed to respond to my wishes, my words refused to come out the way I wanted “Yes.” I wrested control of my words finally “but! Doing so would come at a terrible price! You cannot-“

“- quiet” Emilie ordered, her voice harsh with anger and bitterness. “I want answers, not advice. You will speak only when spoken to, and you will do as I say!”

Looking up at her piercing eyes I could see no sympathy, none of the love I remembered from her. Worse still, the words echoed through me with horrifying familiarity. I remembered the first conversation I’d had with Nooroo, his own miraculous. Word for word, it was the same, tears began forming in my eyes with bitter realization.

Emilie scoffed at my tears, she ignored me, turning from me and opening a locket, I could see misery in her longing expression. The eyes of a woman who had lost everything shone through her, breaking my heart in a way that I had never experienced before. I choked up, seeing the painting on the wall behind her, Emilie standing in front of Adrien, the boy’s professional expression exactly the same as I remembered. I looked at the eyes of my son, seeing the same sadness and pain as always.

“Duusu, let us begin, we have much to do.”

I wanted to scream in protest, to tell her everything, but some force caught every word in my throat. I looked up at her, hoping the sadness and regret on my face would be enough to give her pause, but her eyes shone with nothing but purpose, devoid of empathy or love. I could only allow the tears to fall as I nodded to her with beginning realization of the hell in which I now lived.

#AU Yea August #Gabriel Agreste #Hawkmoth #Bad end #angst #Hawkmoth wins #but at what price

[him-e]

this might be a dumb comparison but would you consider star wars/skywalkers in general to be kind of like a greek tragedy? or at least inspired by greek tragedies? i just really love mythology and would like to think there’s some sort of connection in some way. thank you! :)

Definitely! Star Wars relies heavily on archetypes and psychological motifs, and many of them come from Greek and Latin literature. In the original trilogy, taken in isolation, you see more echoes of arthurian myths and classic fairytale elements than tragedy. It’s when you think of the three trilogies as a whole, particularly in terms of Anakin’s arc, his rise and fall and redemption and the repetition of the cycle with Ben’s fall just a generation later, that the Greek tragedy vibes become evident.

To put it in very simple terms, Greek tragedy typically revolves around a good/average man who has one “fatal” flaw (usually an error in judgment or hubris). Because of this, but also because of the crucial role played in the genre by the inevitability of fate and the cosmic order dwarfing humanity, fragile and powerless even at its best and at the mercy of much bigger and incomprehensible forces, the hero is bound to fall. And one fundamental aspect of tragedy is that the audience knows he’s going to fall, and watching the events unravel to the inevitable gut wrenching conclusion is cathartic. (see how the whole prequels experience is built on the premise that you know exactly how it’s going to end.) (also, side note, catharsis is a major reason why even today we need fiction, including “dark” fiction.) 

The fall of the hero often takes the form of a heavily immoral act, a horrific crime against the aforementioned cosmic order that the hero performs either in good faith, as a result of his hubris, anger or passion, or because he feels he has to—be it accidentally killing your father and sleeping with your mother, sacrificing your own daughter to the gods, punishing your asshole ex husband by killing your own children, or choking your pregnant wife who has come to confront you after you slaughtered a temple of younglings. As monstrous as the act can be, the audience can’t help but sympathize with the fallen hero, because it’s clear he’s motivated by a desire to do the right thing (or to fix some wrong), he loves fiercely and intensely, he is (at least in part) a victim of circumstances, and the pain and punishment inflicted on him and everyone who he loves and who loves him is disproportionate. What happens to the protagonist is a metaphor of the fragility of human condition, in which sometimes a minor mistake or an unforeseeable chain of events leads to catastrophic consequences. Individual responsibility matters, but it’s always portrayed in tension with the cruel irony of a blind, irrational fate who tears good people and bad people down alike, which it often succumbs to, or is proven to be eventually irrelevant.

You can see how Anakin is in this sense the quintessential tragic hero. A good man raised in humble conditions but destined to be royalty, to be the hope of a galaxy, the fulfillment of a long awaited prophecy, who rises to a state of quasi-kingship (becoming a Jedi master, marrying a former queen), but remains ultimately a slave—to his own passions and fears, to destiny (as personified by Palpatineworking slowly to corrupt him), to the will of the gods (the Force), to the trappings and limitations of a corrupt society (the Jedi order and the republic). His one fatal flaw, loving Padmé, backfires and turns him into the very cause of her death. 

Ben’s fall is also deeply tragic, as it’s the result of a twofold lapse in judgment: Luke’s (who falls for a second prey of his own darkness and briefly considers executing his nephew for the greater good) and Ben’s himself (who mistakes this one second of weakness for a truly murderous intent, and violentlyretaliates, and never stops acting on the false assumption that his uncle was really going to kill him).

Hubris and madness are two other crucial themes in greek tragedy and I can see the dark side as a fascinating space opera portrayal of both. And then, vengeance, and family—and even more relevant to star wars, the cycle of violence-pain-revenge. The original crime opens a wound in the cosmic order (you could also say: the Force becomes unbalanced) that spreads like a cancer dooming multiple generationsand is only really healed when there is a genuine will to step out of this cycle. 

This is imo the key to understand the three trilogies in their entirety, and what they’re trying to do with the sequel trilogy in particular. Many people struggle with Ben’s fall because he “had everything”—i.e. was born in a time of peace, from a loving family of revered rebellion heroes, with unique force powers and someone to teach him how to use them, etc.—so his turning to the dark side is thrice as hard to swallow. Was he a bad seed from the start? Or did he just infuriatingly squander all he had? Other people complain that the new trilogy is built on a nihilistic concept, that evil always come back cyclically one way or another, that victory is never complete, that the heroes are bound to make the same mistakes over and over again, or that everyone is inevitably destined to be corrupted and lose hope (see the discourse re: Luke in TLJ).

Both miss the point, in my opinion. The way I see it, it all ties back to Anakin’s original crime—his tragic, blood-soaked fall to the dark side, order 66, and most importantly Padmé’s death—and how that crime was a cosmic wound that tore the balance of the universe apart and was never fully healed. So it reverberates across the galaxy, onto his progeny, and his progeny’s progeny (Ben).

Luke did begin to make things right—by choosing to reject violence he gave Vader the chance to sacrifice himself to to kill the emperor and save his son, which earned him his redemption. And…it’s a good way to end a story if you want it to end there, but if you want the story to continue, then you have to face the fact that it’s only a partial, and in many ways convenient solution to a much larger problem. Vader’s redemption did nothing to eradicate the deep-seated political views of those who were still loyal to the Empire and fighting for a dictatorship in the moment when Palpatine was killed. It wasn’t enough for Luke and Leia to actually embrace their lineage and come out as Vader’s children, if Bloodline is to be believed. It wasn’t enough to shield little Ben from Snoke’s attentions—in fact, Anakin’s blood is exactly what put a big ol’ target on Ben’s back, with nothing of his grandfather’s post-redemption wisdom to keep him on the right track, only the myth of his legacy, a myth that as we’ve sadly seen can be easily misconstrued and exploited and that Leia and Luke never properly explained to Ben either. Anakin just died, and if that single sacrifice was enough to save his soul, it actually didn’t do much to fix the countless wrongs he contributed to create during the two decades he served the Empire as lord Vader. The galaxy bled because of him. And he just died and left his children to clean up his mess. Lucas’ original idea that Vader’s redemption brought balance to the Force is a good happily ever after, but only if you don’t really plan to deal with the consequences.

More on a thematic level, RotJ represents a perfect fairytale ending on almost all fronts but it leaves a question unanswered: was Anakin wrong to love Padmé? Is romantic love wrong? Aside from Han and Leia—whose marriage didn’t end well anyway—romantic love comes out of this narrative as a tragically negative force. Specifically, romantic love for a Jedi. If you consider the first six films, the logical conclusion is that the Jedi were right, after all, to forbid romantic attachments, because look at the mess Anakin made. Anakin destroyed himself and Padmé. It was only Luke’s familial love that made him come back to the light—Luke, the eternal celibate Jedi. Familial love is good, romantic love is poisonous. The narrative absolutely implies this reading.

So although RotJ’s ending fixes everything on a superficial level, the wound keeps festering underneath, there are still many things that weren’t made right, and this is why only a few years later Luke is still so haunted by the darkness and still so afraid that a new Vader is possible that he actually considers killing his nephew for a split second. This is why the ashes of the old Empire don’t die out, but instead give birth to a new tyrannical power; and why Leia cannot be free to live her life in peace with her family, but still feels committed to a rebellion that never ceased to have reasons to exist, even after the Emperor’s death.The gods (the Force) aren’t satisfied, if you will, so they keep punishing this family. The original evil has not been completely exorcised. Love, personified by Padmé’s unacceptable, unnatural death, hasn’t been vindicated. The balance is not restored. And Ben falls.

The sequel trilogy is set to heal this wound, for real, this time. It’s also why it has a much darker tone (despite the superficial humor) than the original trilogy. It’s not impossible for a tragedy to have a happy ending, but the resolution must have the same tone, the same gravity of the premise. The prequels are a tragedy, and the original trilogy is essentially a fairytale, a hero’s journey—they’re basically two different genres, and Vader’s last minute redemption seems (and is) inadequate once you’ve seen all three movies of his very detailed and nuanced fall to the Dark Side.

We’re watching, through Ben, the tortured redemption arc that should have been written for Vader if this story had followed a chronologically and stylistically linear narrative. Through Ben and Rey, we’re watching a reconciliation of the Dark and the Light side, whose unresolved conflict, worsened by the repressive puritanical policy of the Jedi order, originated the schism in Anakin’s soul. And we’ll also (hopefully) get the answer to that question I said earlier, and see the redemption of romantic love.

#anon #asks #sw asks #sw for ts #sw** #/// #greek tragedy #house skywalker #reylo for ts #just a little #mmm i hope this makes sense

[ironarchived]

HALF GODS ARE WORSHIPPED IN WINE AND FLOWERS.

REAL GODS REQUIRE BLOOD.

ACT I                   EX NIHILO.

THERE  ARE  GODS,  THEY  USED  TO  SAY,  that reign over the skies and hang the stars in the heavens,  that sung the earth into existence and plucked the sun from the constellations to shine brightest in the day,  that wept until the seas filled more of the world than land and gave their breath to the wind and their rage to the thunder and lightning.  these are our gods, they used to breathe with lips parted in sacred exaltation,  eyes turned skywards,  to the vast infinite beyond where they imagined the sky and moon and stars watched them live and die. these are our gods, they gave us the world and everything in it.

they worshipped the gods like lovers, like mothers and wives,  like blood and kin.  to the gods that guarded their hearth and home, they gave their food and the best of each season’s harvest.  for the gods of lust and hunger that gave them love and war, they spilt blood and crowned their victors in the carnage.  for the gods that brought them rain and wisdom and plenty, they danced and revelled and feasted  from dawn till dusk.  they named them father sky,  and mother earth,  and prayed to their children,  the gods of wind and storms,  the gods of the land and forest,  honoring above all,  the gods of the living and the dead.  in the south,  the daughters of summer warmed the air and kissed the clear sky with stars so they could always  find their way home;  in the north,  old man winter and grandfather frost came out of the cold to sit by their fires and bring gifts of food and laughter to their children.

all over the world,  in each age of humanity,  scattered across the eras of  history and civilization, they spoke of gods.  their veneration,  their devotion,  was absolute.  

it was life,  the very breath that filled their lungs,  the certainty that everything under the skies was here  because the gods had willed it.  the divine –– they move the heaven and the earth, rattle the skies and the oceans ––  but the one feat that mankind had never needed them for, the  act of divinity  they taught themselves, they wielded like song, and story, requiem and warcry.

this was how they immortalized themselves.  and this was how they began to  forget.

ACT II                  THE AGE OF HUMANITY.

IN  THE  BEGINNING,  MEN  AND WOMEN  knew nothing beyond the borders of the world the gods had carved for them.  they were the architects,  the authors,  the great masterminds of human design.  but centuries passed,  and as mankind grew,  evolved, advanced,  they began to discover a world that had no need of rulers and sovereigns they could not see or touch.

in egypt, the people called them pharoahs, half-king and half-god. in persia, the kings and conquerors were one and the same, men of war and bloodletting. in china, they were emperors, sons of heaven and supreme rulers of all under heaven. rome went through their philosopher-kings, dictators, and emperors, faster than they could replace them, and their republic of men rose and fell crumbling into dust. russia had her csars, derived from caesar,  ancient and biblical.  in every city-state and later country,  kings and queens with their gilt crowns and diadems reigned from on high, and their people  adored them,  worshipped them,  like their bloodlines were more than simply royal.  as if their birthrights made them divine. 

worship became a matter of fanaticism  rather than belief, a means of power and control to extend man’s dominion.  they called on the gods not for mere protection or prosperity but merciless victory in battle,  the demise of their enemies,  the triumphs of their conquests, slaughters, subjugations.  the gods listened,  helpless,  as so many of them bled.  a god is powerless,  after all,  if the people do not  truly believe.  temples and holy places burned,  and burned,  and others took their churches with them in blazes of fire or flood,  choosing to flee before they watched their people burn,  too. 

in some parts of the world, belief survived as ritual and tradition, passed from mother to daughter, father to son, like  treasure and heritage. ceremony and old folklore thrived in the tales spun by high priestesses, wise men, magicians. stories survived.  and humans cast their own heroes, too, made gods out of the ones amongst them that walked like they had the  blood of the divine  running through their veins.

their gods were rebels,  revolutionaries,  heretics.  they defied the heavens and the stars,  and they brought their own hell and their own heaven down upon the gods of old.  a reckoning born of long-awaited retribution.  for what’s a god to a non-believer  ?   what use were gods  who reigned from on high,  from their mount olympus or valhalla,  when mortal men could build their own empires,  their own legends.  new heroes and martyrs rose,  part-human and all glory,  and they were loved for it,  adored for the fallibility that made them worthy of the empathy of men.  they were loved,  they were hated,  and they lived on the lips of men and women who spun their greatest triumphs and tragedies into gold. 

eventually,  even half-gods must die.  but buried in the immortality of history,  they were never truly  dead  to begin with. 

ACT III                 HOW TO KILL A GOD.

THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  EMPIRES  is woven into the thread of mortal history.  according to the sacred texts,  gods existed for millennia before  the creation of men.  according to the lore of the divine,  gods will exist long after the last mortal takes their last breath.  the stories do not tell you that  gods die.  and when they truly die,  they die unmourned and unremembered.  

what are gods,  after all,  without belivers  ?  without worship,  without faith and prayer to keep them and sustain them.  for centuries,  their power and vitality had waxed and waned on the whim of humanity.  some learned to thrive in their own way,  expanding their domain into unexpected,  increasingly inventive places so long as there were disciples willing to listen.  devotion came in new forms:  new ways for mortals to sell their blood,  soul,  and bone for a price.  ideas are more difficult to kill than people,  or gods,  and the divine had lived feeding from the cornucopia for centuries;  if you believed the cynics,  religion was the greatest con humanity had ever played on themselves.  

for most of them,  modernity meant death.  many vanished altogether into obscurity and folklore,  shrouding themselves in the protection oblivion offered rather than watch themselves decay.

it was the lesson they all should have seen coming,  the price they paid for immortality.  eternity lasts,  but what god can abide living forever,  forgotten and unwanted. 

new gods,  those who could still recall the taste of humanity,  flourished best.  the game of longevity became adaptation.  humanity had new things to worship now               fame,  media,  technology,  money.  an endless,  inexhaustible list of thrills to fill the void of their life’s  pursuit for meaning.  for the new gods,  everything became about survival.  reinvention.  they refused to languish,  defiant even at the brink of annihilation,  as countless old gods had.

in an age where men could walk on the moon,  halt disease and delay death,  revel in their own brilliance and daring and laugh in the face of their own morality,  divinity has become extinct.  the modern world is no place for blind worship anymore,  at least not in gods.  but the minds and hearts of mortals remain malleable,  their desires and wants so easily sated.  you see,  humans  want  to believe.  they want,  more than anything,  to know their mortality isn’t subject to the cold indifferent nothingness of mere existence without meaning or higher purpose or profound truth.

belief is still the most powerful thing in the world.  men have waged wars,  burned empires,  destroyed everything and themselves included,  believing in something.

all gods who receive homage are cruel,  but mercy and devotion made them almost soft.  once,  they were powerful,  all-knowing,  and above all,  beloved.  now,  the divine are dead and dying.  humanity has abandoned them in pursuit of hubris and apotheosis,  but the gods have not left,  they never have.  and the ones who want to  survive,  the restless and the hungry,  they’ll burn the world down before they let themselves die forgotten.

half-gods are worshipped in wine and flowers,  they’ll let themselves be satisfied with hollow ingratitude,  brawling in the dirt of sacrilege for any scrap of mortal devotion.

real gods require blood.

INSPIRED BY THE WICKED + THE DIVINE AND AMERICAN GODS.  

VERSE INFO BELOW

PINTEREST.  BROUGHT TO YOU BY  IRONARMORED /  CLAUDIA.

PREMISE

this is a group verse inspired by  image comic’s  the wicked + the divine  by kieron gillen and jamie mckelvie,  and  american gods  by  neil gaiman.  you don’t have to have read  ( or watched ! )  either to join this verse but feel free to read their basic synopses on goodreads or wikipedia,  or catch the new episodes of american gods every week.

this is a  non-superpowered au  in the sense that the traditional ‘ superpowers ’ superhumans / metahumans have will not be considered as such.  you might translate those powers into divine abilities but obviously,  they will extend from your muse’s divine status rather than their superhuman abilities.  also, if it wasn’t clear already,  there are no superheroes in this world,  instead there are gods.

track  #DIVINEAU, and  #DIVINEOOC  to find out more,  and to stay up to date with the verse.  information about  biographies  &  plotting calls  will be posted shortly.

GENERAL CODE OF CONDUCT

all drama should be kept fictional only.  ooc drama and godmodding / metagaming are forbidden and will lead to removal from the group.  if any issues arise that can’t be sorted out privately between the relevant parties,  contact me and i’ll see what i can do to help resolve them.

this verse will contain mature content and triggering material. all triggers should be appropriately tagged;  if you need something tagged let the rper in question know.

stay as active as possible.  because there are limited positions open inactivity without explanation for more than 2 weeks may result in you being dropped from the verse.  if you’re taking a hiatus or you know you’ll be busy for a while,  let me know and i’ll keep your spot on hold until you’re back.

GAMEPLAY

the way this verse will work will be based on 3 main things:  

1.  everyone interacting with everyone.  do your absolute best to engage with everyone in the group ic and ooc.  most of the dynamics between all our muses should be pre-established so go wild with plotting / establishing dynamics / building backstory.

2.  in service of the overarching plot arcs for the verse,  there will be fortnightly plot updates.  or maybe every three weeks,  i haven’t decided yet.  more information on this later  !

3.  apart from act one,  major plot arcs will be a joint decision between all of us.  your  input and suggestions are vital  to the development of this group verse.  if you have any ideas or things you’d like to see happen  please don’t hesitate  to message / im me.

THE OLD GODS & THE NEW

the original inspirations for this verse are both  highly diverse and representative of a wide range  of folklore and mythology spanning cultures from  all over the world.  i love graeco-roman mythology as much as the next person,  however it would be very boring and cliche to have this verse populated with deities that are exclusively greek or roman.  i absolutely encourage you all  to look to other ancient mythologies when choosing your character’s god / demigod / mythological figure.  godchecker  is an excellent resource and database for deities around the world,  and  wikipedia  has lists of deities sorted by classification.

the pantheons are divided between  OLD GODS,  and  NEW GODS.  the distinction is fairly clear but i’ll allow for loose intrepretations if you’ve already considered a good reason why your character would be more suited to one allegiance over the other.  for the most part however,  new gods are only demi-gods or half-gods, or not divine at all.  they are mythological figures, and not officially part of any major pantheons;  they should be fringe gods or lesser-known ones as they are considered relatively ‘ newer ’ than the old, traditional, more well-established gods.  to use greek myth as an example,  hercules / ariadne / odysseus / achilles / circe would all be considered new gods.  again, i encourage people to look outside the usual greek-roman sources.  it might take some research and in-depth wiki-ing but honestly, everyone’s going to need to do some research on their god to fill out their character’s backstory and work out their individual details for this verse,  so don’t shy away from going for the rare or obscure. those are the most interesting !

you may syncetrize your chosen deity,  i.e.,  use an amalgamation of different interpretations of the same ‘ type ’ of god.  people who choose a greek / roman deity can use one or both versions of the god.  there are other cases throughout history where the same god has been reinterpreted in different ways and if you like,  you can work out a way through your deity’s history and your own muse’s characterisation to invent and explain the merging of your two chosen gods.  an example of this might be combining inanna, sumerian goddes of love / beauty / sexual desire / fertility,  and bastet, egyptian goddess of love / sexuality / beauty / dance

alt fcs of color are welcomed,  and in fact,  encouraged.

v. important:  the ethnicity of your character  does not necessarily  have to match the gender identity or cultural background of your chosen deity.  

before deciding on your god,  i would suggest taking a look at the blogs that have already been accepted to ensure that the one you’re interested in hasn’t already been taken.  there will inevitably be overlaps in terms of the domains of each god but ideally,  i don’t want any direct repeats,  e.g. having helios / ra / amaterasu would be pointless,  but apollo / ushas / bastet would be acceptable as they cover a wider range of functions and areas they were worshipped for.

APPLICATION

to begin with,  there will be  23 available slots  for people to apply for,  12 new gods / 11 old gods.  if there’s enough interest / demand,  i may consider opening that up.  to join,  message me with your faceclaim, your character’s deity, and whether they are an old god / new god.  i reserve the right to ask you to reconsider your deity if they share too many similarities with already accepted gods.

no duplicate characters, faceclaims, or gods.

for the moment,  this verse is  only open to mutuals  that are following me and that i’m following back.  if all goes well and i end up expanding the verse,  i may open slots for non-mutuals.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

OLD GODS I.    INANNA / ISHTAR / APHRODITE                TALIA AL GHUL  /  NADINE NASSIB NJEIM.   @alghul​ II.     GEVURAH                  KATE KANE  /  IDINA MENZEL.   @viiragini III.    THOR                 THOR ODINSON  /  CHRIS HEMSWORTH.   @tordenvaer IV.    HEKATE                WANDA MAXIMOFF  /  DEEPIKA PADUKONE.   @nexusbeing​ V.     ATABEY                 AMERICA CHAVEZ  /  HERIZEN GUARDIOLA.   @americhic​ VI.    AMATERASU                HIKARU SULU  /  JOHN CHO.   @starlightsulu VIII.  PERSEPHONE                LYDIA MARTIN  /  LANA DEL REY.   @shelazarus IX.    EREŠKIGAL / KĀLĪ / LILITH               EREŠKIGAL  /  SEGOVIA AMIL.   @erkalla

NEW GODS I.     PROMETHEUS  /  盤古                TONY STARK  /  GODFREY GAO.  @ironarmored II.    MORPHEUS                 EMMA WALKER  /  KRISTIN KREUK.  @somniferi

#０１ : // ⟨ RUN.SYSTEMS_OVERRIDE. ⟩ #U : // ⟨ Ｇ. ⟩ #Ｇ : DIVINE // ⟨ THE SECRET TO IMMORTALITY IS NOT TO LIVE FOREVER. IT IS TO DIE OUTLIVING YOUR FEAR OF DEATH. ⟩ #divineau #divineooc #i literally can't look at this anymore if there's typos in the last part i'm just gonna have to live with that shame #no proofreading we die like men #AnYWAYS don't let the sheer amount of text scare you off lmao i just got excited #and this verse has been a long time coming #basically it's just a mythology / american gods / wicdiv au

[oscopelabs]

‘The Counselor’: No Movie for Most Men (or Women) by Mike D’Angelo

[This month, Musings pays homage to Produced and Abandoned: The Best Films You’ve Never Seen, a review anthology from the National Society of Film Critics that championed studio orphans from the ‘70s and ‘80s. In the days before the Internet, young cinephiles like myself relied on reference books and anthologies to lead us to film we might not have discovered otherwise. Released in 1990, Produced and Abandoned was a foundational piece of work, introducing me to such wonders as Cutter’s Way, Lost in America, High Tide, Choose Me, Housekeeping, and Fat City. (You can find the full list of entries here.) Over the next four weeks, Musings will offer its own selection of tarnished gems, in the hope they’ll get a second look. Or, more likely, a first. —Scott Tobias, editor.]

Most people prefer movies to be affirming, in some way. Life-affirming, love-affirming, norm-affirming—just so long as something we believe (or want to believe) gets reinforced, everybody’s happy. Declining to satisfy that desire is step one en route to making an art film, or what publicists who are nervous about the word “art” like to call a specialty release. These, too, cater to viewers’ preconceived notions about the world (good luck finding something that doesn’t), but they target notions that are less commonly held, which makes them less commercially viable. Deriving enjoyment from genuinely despairing or pessimistic movies is a taste that must be acquired, and only a small subset of the population has the time or the inclination. These are the folks who’ll go see a Moonlight, say, or a Manchester By The Sea. They’re game.

It’s possible to alienate these adventurous, open-minded viewers, too, though, by making a movie that’s not just challenging or upsetting, but flat-out nihilistic. A movie that assumes the worst about human nature, with few (if any) mollifying grace notes. A movie that, at least to some extent, glorifies venality and ugliness. “Alienate” is too mild a word for the common reaction, actually. They will be pissed off.

Such was the reception that greeted The Counselor back in 2013. Expectations for the film were sky high: It features a superb cast (Michael Fassbender, Pénélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Cameron Diaz, and Brad Pitt); was directed by Ridley Scott (a decidedly erratic talent, but still capable of greatness); and, most exciting of all, boasts a screenplay from Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Cormac McCarthy. McCarthy’s books had been adapted several times—most notably by the Coen Brothers, whose version of No Country for Old Men won multiple Oscars—but he’d never before written an original story expressly for the big screen. Had The Counselor been made available intravenously, many would have mainlined it without hesitation.

Cue the adrenaline-shot scene from Pulp Fiction. Not all of the Counselor reviews were negative, by any means, but the critics who hated it really, really hated it. “Meet the Worst Movie Ever Made” ran the headline on Andrew O’Hehir’s savage takedown at Salon, and that wasn’t some editor’s hype; in the actual piece, O’Hehir expands his assessment to “the worst movie in the history of the universe,” thereby dismissing the possibility that alien life forms in faraway galaxies may possibly have committed an even greater sin against cinema. Other reviews in major publications deemed the film “lethally pretentious,” “a jaw-dropping misfire,” and “unforgivably phony, talky and dull.” (Characters do indeed talky on the phony sometimes.) Audiences were similarly repulsed: The Counselor got a dismal D in Cinemascore’s survey, which generally skews so positive that you can currently find an A- assigned to the likes of Assassin's Creed (Metacritic score: 36/100) and Collateral Beauty (Metacritic score: 23/100). It’s not a popular title.

Here are a few reasons why many people seem to hate it:

The narrative is ludicrously convoluted.

All of the characters speak primarily in lengthy philosophical monologues.

It’s just a catalogue of horrible things happening to people who mostly deserve them.

Cameron Diaz fucks a car.

We’ll come back to that last one. Let’s start at the beginning, with the basic story McCarthy wants to tell. The Counselor is about a drug deal that goes horrifically wrong, mostly because the title character (played by Fassbender; we never learn the guy’s name), who’s never done this before and just wants to make some quick cash, has not the slightest clue what he’s doing. That’s essentially all you need to know, as far as making sense of events is concerned. McCarthy lays out some essential details—how the drugs are transported, and by whom, and who’s looking for a way to intercept the shipment—but only in the service of making it clear that what befalls the counselor is to some degree just very bad luck. What matters is that he was completely unprepared for the possibility that some random misfortune could cost multiple people their lives. Indeed, even the characters, like Brad Pitt’s Westray, who consider themselves prepared, and keep warning the counselor that he’s unprepared, are not themselves really prepared.

Think for a moment about Jurassic Park. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t much matter exactly why the dinosaurs get loose—that Wayne Knight’s programmer was planning to steal embryos, and that he got killed by a dinosaur in the attempt, and that his death left the fences unelectrified, and etc. It could just as easily have been some other series of seemingly random deviations from expected outcomes. (Indeed, Ian Malcolm, the chaos theory-obsessed mathematician played by Jeff Goldblum, would argue that it surely would have been.) Jurassic Park is a simple tale of hubris: Various smart people foolishly imagine that they can control the uncontrollable, but something utterly unforeseen occurs, and all hell breaks loose. Nobody complains that the chain of events leading to disaster is overly complicated, because it’s all just a means of providing the exciting sequences of people being menaced by dinosaurs that we want to see.

The Counselor is basically the same movie, aimed at a different sensibility—one that doesn’t necessarily require some of the threatened characters to be sympathetic, and that appreciates a more detached approach to carnage. About halfway through the movie, a man about whom we know nothing shows up at a motorcycle dealership, waves off the salesperson, and proceeds to measure the height of a particular bike. For those on the right wavelength, curiosity about this anonymous character’s purpose is its own reward, and the gruesome payoff constitutes just as much “fun” as does watching a dude cowering on a toilet get chomped by a Tyrannosaurus rex. It’s not even wholly clear to me why the latter is almost universally perceived as entertainment, while the former got widely dismissed as empty grotesquerie. Both involve a benignly sadistic voyeurism that’s always been at the core of the moviegoing experience.

Granted, The Counselor’s nihilism might be less off-putting to many if the characters didn’t keep openly discussing it, often in speeches that occupy several minutes of screen time. (And that’s after they've been trimmed—the unrated extended cut of the film, available on the Blu-ray release, runs an extra 21 minutes, with most of that consisting of additional monologue.) This is a natural reaction, as most screenwriters would hesitate to include even one such blatant exegesis in a screenplay, much less a baker’s dozen of ‘em. There’s something strangely liberating, though, about seeing this dramaturgical rule violated with such gleeful excess. Almost every character in The Counselor, including those who drop in for just a scene or two, is ludicrously verbose, prone to bloviating. The first couple of times, it’s a weird distraction; by the end, it’s become an even weirder form of gallows humor. How many different ways can this movie’s pitiless thesis be openly analyzed by the very people who are doomed to be spared its pity?

If McCarthy were Joe Eszterhas, sure, it’d be a problem. But the speeches are beautifully written and performed, and the ordinary give-and-take dialogue is even better. There are admittedly some howlers, like Malkina, the femme fatale, being asked if she’s really that cold (emotionally) and replying “Truth has no temperature.” (Though even that line might have worked with a different actor; I'll get to Diaz shortly.) The stuff that makes me cringe is handily outweighed, however, by the stuff that makes me chortle.

“Is this place secure?” “Who knows? I don’t speak in arraignable phrases anywhere.”

“I want to give her a diamond so big she’ll be afraid to wear it.” “She’s probably more courageous than you imagine.”

“Cheers.” “A plague of pustulent boils upon all their scurvid asses.” “Is that your normal toast?” “Increasingly.”

As far as I can determine, McCarthy invented the adjective “scurvid,” but it sounds suitably noxious. In any case, the notion that a movie chock-full of pungent exchanges like these offers nothing of value is absurd. Certainly the actors relish them. Pitt, who’s usually at his best when he goes over the top (Twelve Monkeys, Burn After Reading), finds just the right degree of languid sangfroid for his cautious middleman, and Bardem turns in a performance as amusingly eccentric as the wardrobe his character sports. The one weak link is Diaz, for whom Malkina’s predatory nature proves just too much of a stretch. (It doesn’t help that she reportedly performed the role with a Bajan accent, then was asked to overdub it.) The infamous scene in which Malkina intimidates Bardem’s Reiner by rubbing herself against the windshield of his Ferrari was always meant to be ludicrous—although McCarthy’s screenplay conceived it entirely as a story that Reiner tells the counselor, not something that we’re meant to actually see. With Diaz visibly straining to look depraved, it comes across even sillier than was intended; imagine Charlize Theron in her place, and see if it doesn’t suddenly shift into focus, along with the rest of Malkina’s presence in the movie.

Even with these undeniable flaws, McCarthy’s offbeat vision for the movie survives mostly intact. Scott wisely stays out of his way, choosing to serve the text, though he declines to indulge some of the screenplay’s most experimental ideas. The opening scene, for example, depicting the counselor and his girlfriend (Cruz) in bed, begins with the two of them hidden entirely beneath white sheets, suggesting two corpses. As scripted, they were supposed to remain hidden from view the entire time, for what was originally going to be six or seven minutes. What’s more, McCarthy specifies that all their dialogue should be subtitled, despite being spoken in English, as it’ll be too muffled to hear. (Said dialogue is also considerably more blue in its original form.) The decision to shoot the scene more conventionally seems perfectly defensible, but I do wonder whether the more extreme version McCarthy intended might have at least helped to signal that The Counselor doesn’t operate like a traditional thriller. Its subsequent discursiveness and single-mindedness wouldn’t have seemed so thoroughly out of character.

Ultimately, what made this film an object of ridicule—see also everything from Ishtar to Drive—is the enormous gap between the size of the audience it courted and the size of the audience predisposed to appreciate it. Not many people would salivate at a description like “what you might get if you gene-spliced a slow-motion multi-car accident with a freshman comparative philosophy seminar.” (That’s not from a negative review—it's my own best précis.) But not every movie needs to appeal to every taste. And a movie that makes a lot of folks mad is always more interesting than a movie that makes everyone shrug.

#the counselor #brad pitt #michael fassbender #penelope cruz #cameron diaz #javier bardem #ridley scott #cormac mccarthy #cheetah #musings #oscilloscope laboratories #mike d'angelo

[constancecream]

Sherlock season 4 premiere: “The Six Thatchers” offers a disappointing end to a 3-year-old mystery

Sunday’s episode dropped a major character death ��� that of John’s wife, Mary — into the middle of an already-messy series of plot complications. Frustratingly, the only real reason for Mary’s demise predictably seems to be to examine its impact on Sherlock and John.

The lack of surprises — note: a plot twist is not always surprising — includes the occasional unworthy cliché, such as a slow-motion bullet hovering on its way to its target. On the other hand, a struggling, gurgling, smashing fight in a swimming pool is a refreshing change. It’s a jolly enough episode, but not as thrillingly stylish as some past adventures. Dare one suggest that we need more Moriarty? As it is, the Holmes brothers, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock and writer Mark Gatiss as Mycroft, remain the most stylish performers though — or because? — they talk RP in a general swamp of mockney. Modified rapture, then. It would be a shame if the new series sinks into the peremptory and mechanical.

Amanda Abbington’s arrival as Mary Morstan at the start of Sherlock season three seemed to accompany a shift in the show’s overall direction away from crime-solving and toward a rhetorical plot cycle in which John attempts to swap his dysfunctional relationship with Sherlock for something healthier, only to fail because in the world of Sherlock, all roads and all people ultimately lead back to the title character himself. The people around him, even John, ultimately seem to exist only as extras in his world, showing up when needed to lecture, scold, or spurn him into a renewed sense of purpose or a showing of human decency. (This trait is so well developed that all the characters who appeared in 2016’s one-off, 1890s-set holiday special turned out to be Sherlock’s mental representation of them as pieces of his conscience.)

Mary, who was initially the only character whose storyline seemed totally independent of Sherlock’s, fully upset this pattern for a moment. Ultimately, however, the show gave her very little autonomy; in the final episode of season three, her entire mysterious and unrevealed history — which fans have spent the last three years debating — was framed as an insight into John’s character rather than Mary herself. We learned that she was a secretive former assassin, and that she lied her way into John’s life after stealing a new identity; but this entire story was framed as a story about John, not Mary — a story of how John was drawn to her because he was a reckless thrill-seeker.

This moment is the inevitable result of three seasons’ worth of Sherlock’s hubris and refusal to heed warnings or take seriously the judgment of anyone besides himself; and when Mary just as inevitably jumps in front of him, sacrificing her own life for his, it should feel like a wake-up call and a moment of reckoning. Sherlock registers a glimmer of self-awareness that her death is his fault, but by this point, the show seems to be so far immersed in the cult of worship around its anti-hero that the scene is hardly more than an afterthought. By episode’s end, Mary herself — via posthumous “If you’re reading this, I’m dead” message sent to Sherlock via a video file — is giving Sherlock permission to insert himself right back into the center of John’s life, thus making her death all about his relationship with his best friend.

John, meanwhile, had cheated on Mary emotionally before her death; his grief sees him processing his obvious guilt as anger toward Sherlock for failing to protect her. Given all the terrible things Sherlock has done to John directly over the course of their friendship that John has inexplicably managed to forgive — including lying to John, drugging John, sending John into a PTSD-triggering war zone, and making John watch as Sherlock faked his death before pretending to be dead for two years — the fact that Sherlock’s failure to save Mary is the final straw that threatens to cause a permanent rift in John and Sherlock’s friendship does even more injustice to Mary’s narrative. Her story was never her own story; it was always and ever about fueling the heart of the series, the relationship between Sherlock and John.

At this point, does anyone even really care if Sherlock and John are in love?

Much has been written about the way Sherlock queerbaits — that is, the way in which it arguably exploits queer identity by making John and Sherlock’s relationship into the ongoing subject of homoerotic speculation and subtext, even as the show’s creators insist, again and again, that they’re not writing the two men as queer. Almost every episode of Sherlock up until now has contained some sort of side-speculation by one character or another that John and Sherlock are gay and/or in love. “The Six Thatchers” was notably devoid of this kind of interaction, and was in fact extremely straightforward about John and Sherlock’s friendship without any of the usual frustrating homoerotic overtones.

Except, of course, Mary is now dead, and she has charged Sherlock to “save” John after her death. This sets the stage for an even deeper level of intimacy forged by mutual grief over her loss. Before “The Six Thatchers,” we had queerbaiting in the form of a lot of gay jokes. Now the gay jokes may be gone, but the show has traded them for something that feels even more insulting: the death of its most independent female character purely to further some manpain that in the end probably won’t bring John and Sherlock together as more than friends. It’s kind of a mess. And it really only justifies the impending narrative for the rest of season four — in which John will push Sherlock away as Sherlock awkwardly tries to help him recover — if you ultimately think their relationship is worth salvaging. Frankly I’m not sure that it is. Sherlock, for all of his occasional attempts to be a friend, is a perpetually selfish individual who seems to need John more as a reflection of a certain version of himself than because he values who John is. John, in turn, appears to still be the PSTD-ridden soldier who can only snap out of his stupor when he’s chasing the adrenalin high of crime-solving that Sherlock offers him. If this is friendship, it’s darkly co-dependent; if it’s true love, it’s a tragedy. Sherlock has never been forced to reckon with any of the utterly unconscionable things he’s done to John over the years (look back at that list — it’s a horrific list!). And if the show is going to sacrifice entire characters on the altar of “Johnlock,” a.k.a. the shipping name for their eternal love, it should probably make Johnlock something worth caring about. I’m just not sure that it has. Also, though this may be an afterthought for a series that has built itself around its own cleverness, it’s just not very much fun anymore.

Still, at least Abbington and Mary got a fierce send-off. Whether it will be worth the loss in the long run depends on how willing Gatiss and Moffat are to really have Sherlock undergo the moral reckoning that would justify her death, or whether they intend to keep spinning out the same empty, self-satisfied love story of two crime-solving bros who would probably each be better off alone — or at least without the other.

Vox

#sherlock #tst #review #vox #that wife #johnlock

[homestuck-session-analysis]

Can I have a session review for Page of Time(m), Prince of Mind(m), Heir of Hope(f), Seer of Heart(m), Mage of Light(f), Sylph of Void(f), Knight of Doom(f), Maid of Space(f), Rogue of Life(m), Witch of Rage(f), Thief of Void(f), and Bard of Breath(m)?

Wooh boy I was struggling with this one for no good reason.  This ask has cemented my decision of never doing session analysis asks again, or at least limit it to like six players.  That being said, this is a really cool session, Forgotten Ask Number Six!  Again, sorry for the wait, but here it is!

Page of Time (male)

Personality: Pages are known to be very weak and impressionable.  Like the knight, they are very insecure about their weaknesses, but instead of acting impressive, they display their weakness in hope that someone will help.  As a Time player, he would be very hard on himself due to his perfectionism, or maybe he would feel like his life is too stagnant.  They can only grow once they become confident in their actions.

Abilities: At 100% power, the Page of Time would be able to have extremely powerful time travel powers, and perhaps be able to give more time to their team by slowing down time or looping it like Groundhog Day.  You know what?  This take doesn’t belong here, but Tree from Happy Death Day is a Page of Time, inverted from a Thief of Space.

Session Contribution: Before I became a mod here, I sent an ask for a session with a Page of Time in it, and Nix told me that it was doomed to hell and back because of it, but I feel that as long as this boi is nurtured and loved, it will all work out.  He will be one of the things holding you back, though.Prince of Mind (m)

Personality: Princes have fairly destructive personalities and resent others, mostly because they strongly resent themselves.  Their self-hatred often lead to them harming others, either intentionally or unintentionally.  As a Mind player, this Prince will be very perceptive, but feel responsible for other people’s problems.  Because of this, he will avoid responsibility by avoiding difficult choices, which will ironically harm others.  They are very much the kind of person who feels that life would be simpler if one person had control over everyone else.  Princes need to learn how to accept accountability for their actions and accept themselves for who they truly are.

Abilities: The Prince of Mind would be able to destroy free will, being able to control other people’s choices.

Session Contribution: He will be either very useful to your session, or very dangerous.  He is also extremely offensively focused.Heir of Hope (f)

Personality: Heirs tend to come off as very dumb, but a more accurate term would be happy-go-lucky.  They are very much a representation of “ignorance is bliss,” for they tend to grow up very sheltered and secure, especially under by aspect.  As a Hope player, this player would be so optimistic that she would have no concept of danger or distrust.  That makes her one of the most powerful Heirs possible.  Heirs tend to struggle with change, as they tend to get comfortable with where they are.

Abilities: If she doesn’t believe she can die, then she won’t die.  Heirs manipulate the world based on their instinct, and as a Hope player, she is able to manipulate the world based on what she believes it is or should be.

Session Contribution: There is only one Heir that surpasses this one in survivability, and it is the Heir of Light.  She is extremely powerful and will be one of your biggest assets.Seer of Heart (m) (personality copied for previous two asks)

Personality: Seers are exceedingly intelligent, bright, and calculating.  They are the people who seem to be wise beyond their years, though they are often afflicted with hubris.  As a Heart player, he would be able to intuitively understand other people, but he would find it difficult to use that knowledge himself.

Abilities: As a Seer of Heart, he would be able to see the soul, including their intentions, emotions, and identity.  He can read people exceptionally well.

Session Contribution: He is going to be very helpful in preventing betrayal, as well as a very good support class to analyze the enemies!Mage of Light (f)

Personality: Mages tend to be very intelligent and bright, but also tend to be jaded and cynical.  However, they gain their knowledge through experiences, often painful ones.  As a Light player, she will learn things that will hurt her, or more likely, she will be put in painful situations, where she will learn something important.  The Mage of Light is uncharacteristically unlucky for a Light player, but she must learn that she can learn from every negative experience she has.

Abilities: The Mage of Light will likely work very similarly to the Seer of Light, but instead of visions, she will very likely experience it in person.

Session Contribution: She will act as a guide to the team, though I doubt she would especially like it.Sylph of Void (f)

Personality: Sylphs are people who have a great sense of someone’s potential, and they tend to be driven to help in any way possible.  This can make them seem to be incredibly nosy and a little annoying, but they have nothing but good intentions.  As a Void player, she would be a living representation of “ignorance is bliss.”  She solves problems through distraction and comfort, never really addressing the heart of the issue at hand.  Is it healthy?  Not really.  Is it effective?  Kinda.  A Sylph’s biggest weakness is that they can’t seem to grasp when something is a lost cause.

Abilities: The Sylph of Void would be able to literally erase injuries by making them disappear, as well as induce amnesia.

Session Contribution: This is somehow a very good healing class, but she will also be a great teammate to the Heir.Knight of Doom (f) (copy/pasted from two asks)

Personality: Knights are a very insecure lot, typically using their aspect to attempt to create a facade that makes them seem more impressive.  As a Doom player, she would try to appear intimidating and dangerous, like Death incarnate, but in reality, she is depressed and concerned for her friends.  To develop as a person, she must learn to trust others and lower her walls.

Abilities: The Knight of Doom is the wielder of death itself.  She would be very proficient with many different weapons, and ultimately, she may be able to temporarily raise the dead.

Session Contribution: Knights are called to sessions with a shortage of their aspect, so this session will likely have too few people dying, if that makes sense.  The Knight’s job is to make the most of each death to make up for this lack.Maid of Space (f)

Personality: Maids often feel a great deal of responsibility that was pushed onto them without their consent.  They feel that it is their job to ensure that everything is working properly, even when they are not recognized for their efforts.  As a Space player, this Maid would be like a mother figure to her peers.  Maids also tend to rely on others to feel valuable, so please make sure she knows she are perfect just the way she is.

Abilities: The Maid of Space would be able to teleport in order to ensure that things are in the places they should be.

Session Contribution: As a Space player, she is tasked with the breeding of the Genesis Frog.  She would do great with this as a Maid, and she would also keep things in order in the session.Rogue of Life (m)

Personality: Rogues are very selfless people, as they share a worldview with Robin Hood.  Their strong sense of justice and equality makes them easy to talk to, as they are very respectful.  They are also very spunky and ready to do what’s right!  As a Life player, he would be mostly concerned with issues such as world hunger and economic disparity.  He likely saved a live at one point.  Sometimes, the Rogue puts himself into danger to right a wrong, so make sure he understands that it’s okay that life isn’t always fair.  If you’ve watched or read any iteration of Les Miserables, Valjean is a great example of a Rogue of Life.

Abilities: As an allocator of Life, he would be able to drain life from his enemies to his allies, which is very offensively focused.  

Session Contribution: He’s like a healer and a fighter combined in one, but also he’s a very good person.Witch of Rage (f)

Personality: Witches tend to find themselves in societies or situations where they are dissatisfied, which makes them strong revolutionaries and visionaries.  Their rebellious nature causes them to change their aspect in ways inconceivable to others.  As a Rage player, she will take the negative emotions associated with frustration and anger and transform it into passion and a drive for righteousness.  Witches are only satisfied when their vision is realized, which is not always possible.

Abilities: The Witch of Rage is a manipulator of anger and close-mindedness, so she would be able to drive others mad and paralyzed with frustration.  Also, if she practices with her powers enough, I can also see her doing the reverse: Soothing her allies and expanding their possibilities, though that would be more of a Hope player thing to do.

Session Contribution: I can see this player being a great asset in a fight, though I would imagine she would be very emotional herself.Thief of Void (f)

Personality: I’m breaking my pattern of explaining what a class is then what it means with the aspect to just quickly state to never trust a Thief of Void.  They tend to be sneaky, secretive, and manipulative, just to prove that they could be, or to assert dominance.  My first OC was a Thief of Void, and let’s just say they can fuck shit up very quickly.  They are power-hungry, and they always want to feel like they’re on top.  Make sure you’re on their good side.

Abilities: She steals void, so she can reveal secrets and use that lack of knowledge to protect her own secrets.  She can also conjure items by stealing the Void from them, but that would erase her little by little every time she does so.

Session Contribution: She’s a more dangerous and underhanded Vriska, but she will be extremely powerful.Bard of Breath (m) (copy/pasted from another ask)

Personality: Bards tend to be extremely fixated on their aspect to the point of worship, or at least obsession, and they are only happy when they are able to share the wonders of their aspect with others.  They are so fixated with this positive image of their aspect, whatever that image is, that if someone were to break it, they would go crazy.  This is why Bards are exceptional berserker fighters.  As a Breath player, the Bard would have a warped sense of individuality, refusing to listen to others and only taking his own path.  Their break would result when they discover that they couldn’t do everything alone.

Abilities: Bards invite destruction through their aspect, so in addition to their berserk fighting style, they can also likely break up the team, making them either stronger or weaker.

Session Contribution: The Bard is likely going to wreak havoc on your team, and for once I’m not talking about a killing spree.  However, they are an absolute powerhouse.

Interpersonal Dynamics

The Seer of Heart and the Prince of Mind can easily work together to lock down the Thief if needed.

Keep the Thief of Void a lightyear away from the Page of Time.  The Page has a long way to go in the first place, so it’s important to keep him away from any Thief, but this Thief in particular can really easily get into his head.

Also keep the Page away from the Bard, the Prince, the Witch, and the Sylph, because they can all mess up his personal growth in different ways, even when they have the best intentions.

The Sylph of Void and the Heir of Hope should work together as often as possible.  The Heir’s abilities will be affected by her understanding of the world, and the less she knows about it, the more freedom she has to believe whatever she wants.

The Sylph and the Mage would hate each other soooo much.

The Mage can likely use her personal experiences to aid the Prince in his character arc.  Suffering together to learn how to accept it.

The Rogue of Life and the Knight of Doom are inverses, but they aren’t hostile about it.  In fact, I lowkey ship it.  Full disclosure, I ship Valvert, and I’d like to believe these are their classpects.  The Knight would be all broody and gloomy, and the Rogue would feel bad for her and try to be her friend, but then realize the Knight is actually a really good person because she would feel more comfortable around him and stops trying to be so angsty and if they both went through shit they would be super supportive of one another and comfort each other, but even if they didn’t they’d still like each other and ughhh.

Session Overview

Elephant in the Room: There’s two Void players, which under this blog’s rules state that one of them is destined to die before winning.  Not to sound callous or anything, but if you had to choose, I’d say you’d prefer to keep the Sylph of Void.

Leader: There are really a lot of possibilities here for a good leader, but I would say the Mage of Light has the wisdom necessary to lead the team.  The Maid, the Rogue, and the Seer would also be great candidates.

Offense: Bard, Thief, Witch, Rogue, Knight, and Prince.  Half of your team is made up of extremely powerful offensive players, so I’d say you’re pretty set.

Planning: The Mage of Light is really going to be your lynchpin in the early game, at least until your Page matures into the OP lord he’s always meant to have been.  The Seer is very good at predicting people, so that’s also really helpful, especially with all of these players who can fly off the handle at a moment’s notice.

Survival: The Knight of Doom is a great omen that not many people will die, but be careful, because again, many of these players have betrayal in their blood, and with no Blood player, that’s going to be hard to avoid.

Frog Breeding: The Maid of Space will be a very diligent breeder, and with the Knight of Doom, she won’t have to worry about the frogs dying…if she had to worry about that before…okay, the Knight of Doom isn’t the best breeding partner (don’t take that out of context), but you know who is?  Ironically the Thief of Void, who can conjure up any frog.

Loyalty: Read above.  No Blood player, and a lot of players with strong wills and strong emotions makes for a very hectic game.

Overall: This session is somehow both overpowered and one wrong move away from the brink of disaster.  Have fun, and good luck!

]>>Maso

#session analysis #homestuck #chimeracalculus #Forgotten Ask #page #time #page of time #prince #mind #prince of mind #heir #hope #heir of hope #seer #heart #seer of heart #mage #light #mage of light #sylph #void #sylph of void #thief #thief of void #knight #doom #knight of doom #maid #space #maid of space

[adamsetser]

Documenting 2016 in Mental Pictures

Following my Documenting 2015 in Mental Pictures, here are the highlights from my life in 2016. These are just some of the biggest lessons learned in a (pretty) random series of mental pictures. Here we go.

Motivation will never last, but discipline will.

Why do I have such high standards for myself? Is it pride? Insecurity? I honestly don’t think so. I think we humans in 21st c. America have missed the boat. I judge myself historically and I fall dramatically short of that standard. The culture I was born into values entertainment and pleasure over discipline and greatness. We have lost definitions, and with them lost meaning and the ability to answer with convictional definitiveness the basic questions of life. I am blessed: in my illness I was given the gift of education (albeit a meager dosage), and now I am simply living the life I think is only proper. But I feel odd: I’m not the American ideal. I have been given convictions by someone other than what my eyes and ears see around me, and that can make me appear arrogant. But it’s not about that; it’s about what I see, about a vision I can’t forget.

Seeing is only ever described these days as physical—something that happens with the eyes and the brain—but the word originated with an intellectual seeing: an understanding.1 To see, the mind must be opened, trained to observe what is already there but what it is overlooking. We all are born blind, and just like Sherlock Holmes, we must learn to acquire vision of things: what is there and what is not; the value of things. This is education—and experience. When someone asks me why I read so much or love history and art, it tells me they’ve fundamentally missed the boat on what it is we were created to do. They don’t see what is gripping me. They don’t see that it isn’t me pursuing that stuff; it won’t let me go. If they saw, they would know.

We weren’t created for ourselves, but for Him: we’re made to behold Him. And beholding isn’t passive; it’s active. It’s a shaping of the mind and the senses to be able to perceive Him as He is, to see glory and see it as glorious. To see the final kick of the soccer ball to win the world cup as what it really is, not as a random man kicking a white ball into a smallish net. We are arrogant materialists, assuming we see all there is to see, and if not, that it doesn’t matter and wouldn’t change our lives in any way: thus, we explain away our need for God, and our ability to enjoy Him. Thus, we miss the boat…and the joy ride.

Joy isn’t in indulgence, it’s in restraint. You can’t enjoy a sunset if you have a cell phone dinging in your pocket, a loud neighbor playing music, and a dog pulling at your pants leg. You find joy in focus, and focus is precious—the result of limitation. You pay for it with attention: you pay attention, and you reap experience. Joy is deep…so deep it’s often compared to pain. For greater joy, you must limit—you must discipline. You must say no.

You can’t be an expert in everything, and chances are when you try to be you’ll fail at being even decent at one thing; therefore, you must limit. You have to make the hard choice to intentionally shield yourself from things and information. You can live by whim and serendipity, but you’ll never go far. If you want to GO somewhere and BECOME someone because of your journey, you have to limit yourself to one trip and discipline yourself to stick to the path. Discipline is freedom.

The most valuable thing in the universe is the Truth, and the most valuable thing you and I can possess is character (or, integrity to that Truth). And character is only forged in slow, laborious applications of Truth to your life in creative, imaginative ways that sneak around your defenses and teach you who you really are.

Character is who you are when nobody is watching: when you go against your conscience, you go against God (Jam 4:17).2 Your relationship with God isn’t “off” when you’re alone and “on” when you’re around others. It’s 80% in your heart where only you live. Which is why true character and spirituality is fought for where no one will ever see. They will see the fruits, absolutely, but never the roots.

Learning is often explained in the metaphor of a journey, and as with all journeys, you can’t arrive without starting, without getting lost and finding your way back. And none of this even happens if you exit and stop at an entertainment shop and plug your brain into the entertainment vortex all day after work. You can’t develop deep trains of thought that burrow into the great unknown and find vision without reading and thinking in long, plodding spurts. The internet trains us to think in soundbites, to access information instead of understand it, to use it instead of see with it. We need to sit still and read, think, meditate, ponder, and eventually, see.

We become what we worship and we worship what we spend the most time on. Most Americans worship themselves and pay their attention to their own pleasure in entertainment. But if we are lifted from this self-focused gaze to behold an infinitely higher and more glorious Being and reality, we are changed to be like Him, to be satisfied by Him, and experience His joy.

I’m exhausted from emotionally engaging the news. So I gave it up as a focus and now just dip in when I have the time and reason to. Finding a reason to is what then allows me to connect what I’m reading in the news to what I’m learning in eternal truth, and that doesn’t exhaust me. It feeds me. It’s hunting with a rifle instead of a shotgun.

News is information that is just-in-time, but I crave information that is just-always-the-case. Not to say news is bad; it’s just a small piece of the puzzle.

Television is destroying our culture. Or, better put, Satan is destroying our culture through manipulating the inherent evil in fallen human nature, and television is playing a huge part:

Neil Postman provided some clues about this in his illuminating 1985 book, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. The media scholar at New York University saw then how television transformed public discourse into an exchange of volatile emotions that are usually mistaken by pollsters as opinion. One of the scariest outcomes of this transition, Postman wrote, is that television essentially turns all news into disinformation. "Disinformation does not mean false information. It means misleading information—misplaced, irrelevant, fragmented or superficial information—information that creates the illusion of knowing something but which in fact leads one away from knowing ... The problem is not that television presents us with entertaining subject matter but that all subject matter is presented as entertaining.”3

Television does the seeing for us, and it tricks our minds into thinking it knows when really is doesn’t. Seeing isn’t believing. Seeing with the mind is believing, and the imagination is all but dead when the TV screen comes on.

I’m not against TV, but I hold it at arms-length because I know the damage it can do: namely, to train me to simply see the surface of things and form judgments based on emotion instead of fact.

Discernment is the art of judging well, it’s a mental process. It is obvious that if you abuse your mind by never reading or building it up or making it stronger or more capable, you will have bad discernment, and that will affect every area of your life. It is very important to renew your mind.

Being a Christian is about striving. It’s about never letting go of ideals in the face of failure and inevitable hypocrisy. We all will fail, and yet we are called to wake up every day and make it our goal to be like God (Matt 5:48). That tension gives way to cynicism before long, because it never happens for us. We are fighting the long defeat. But the antidote to hypocrisy is confession. When we confess our sins to God, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleans us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Thus, we are no hypocrite, just sheep being led by our shepherd. We all stumble in many ways (Jam 3:2; cf. Rom 7).

Don’t believe the lie. Ever. But specifically, don’t believe the lie that darkness is good, that a little dark side is a good addition to the Christian life. Let it go. Your past is evil and part of the past. Instead of dwelling on it, dwell on Christ and whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, or of good reputation (Phil 4:8). There are no medals in heaven for angsty Christians who are “in touch” with the darkness.

Don’t get carried away with cynicism: don’t let the darkness invade your worldview. Never truly respect J. D. Salinger, David Foster Wallace, or other angsty, secular authors. They speak the truth as they see it, but they are in rebellion against their Creator, and you should do everything you can to NOT want to be like them. Never stop seeing life as a comedy instead of a tragedy. The precursor to faith is laughter, not angst.

A friend of mine posted on Facebook:

Just saw Rogue One for the second time, and I was reminded of this old Latin phrase which was Caravagio's personal motto: NEC SPE, NEC METU. It means “without hope or fear." It's the idea of going into a battle with no hope of winning and thus no fear because you know you're fighting for something bigger than yourself, and there is hope for something larger than your own failure or success. I think that's what the movie was about. I am with the Force and the Force is with me.4

THAT is the proper balance between hope and cynicism.

But overall, In the day-to-day, moment-by-moment Christian battle, cynicism and humor aren’t all that great. The Christian life is a war (Eph 6:12) and there is no place for that in the trenches. I don’t want a man guarding my back who reads (and worships) Catch 22. I’d rather him read Homer’s Iliad and, in his hubris, think himself the mighty Ulysses for heaven’s sake. Give me hubris over cynicism any day. Give me courage, honor, and bravery (even a little naivety!) from a heart that believes his mission over a witty writer-type who thinks he is better for harboring mistrust at the world. Humor is great, don’t get me wrong. But when it is used to undermine, it’s evil.

Strength is required, because life is a war. And strength requires humility because you can’t leave room for failure. It’s the hipster mantra to undersell, downplay, and side-step, but when the bullets are flying I want a level-headed, accurate assessment of the situation, and fearless strength to carry out the mission.

You have to learn to be optimistic. that’s not innate. You have to indoctrinate yourself that things will turn out for good, that God is a God of love, that His plan for you is perfect and without fault. When you begin to lose hope, anchor your soul to Him (Heb 6:19) like a tree planted by streams of water (Psalm 1). Grope for those ideals and hang onto them, even when your whole heart is saying something different. Thankfulness and positivity is a spiritual discipline, not an emotion.

Okay, so thankfulness is an emotion, but it is a by-product of thanksgiving, which is a verb. So, go give thanks for things, and eventually you will begin to feel thankful. And that gratitude will lead you to Joy.

Never underestimate the power of small sins. Your heart is a sin-factory and it is very sensitive. Evil gets into you and when you let it grow it will devastate your worldview and then the motivation for your morality. Then all the chains of cause-and-effect you have set up in your Christian life will fall away and you’ll be left virtue-less. Example: you will stop giving thanks for God’s good gifts, and then you will lose your gratitude and lose your joy, and at the end of the day you will stand there waving your fist at God and praying “restore unto me the joy of my salvation”, which is a decent thing to pray, but if you never go and fix the root of the problem, you’ll never heal.

When you are a regular joe working a secular job, why do you really need godliness? This question is one of my favorites because I have so thoroughly explored it—because I was a doubter and wanted a way out of that high calling of Matt 5:48. But since I am God’s child, I have that calling still. Here is why.

We all have two callings:

Primarily, we have a vertical, spiritual calling. We are called to love God with our whole beings (Deut 6:5; Mark 12:30), to be like God (Matt 5:48).

Secondarily, we have a horizontal, worldly calling. We are called to love others as we love ourselves (Mark 12:31), to subdue the earth and reign over it in discerning right from wrong (Gen 1:28) and to serve the world with the work we do, doing it to the glory of God, not to men (1 Cor 10:31).

How those two work themselves out is different for everyone, but we all need Him, desperately, and we all also need hard work, desperately, daily.

For the love of all that is holy, read more books. Begin by reading this: the best article I’ve ever read on reading.

“In fact, for the first two hundred years of its existence, the word “vision” referred exclusively to sight with the mind’s eye, whether in the form of a prophetic or mystical revelation, or simply the contemplation of a thing not actually present. Only later, in the late 1400s, did it come to mean bodily sight” (Source). ↩︎

Which is why you should follow your conscience but also educate it with God’s Word to know what truly is good and what truly is evil. That is called discernment. ↩︎

Source. ↩︎

Citation: Taylor Reynolds. ↩︎

#faith #vision #Reading #Meaning of Life

[ilovebennystuff]

taken from VOX . Some interesting comments here. I wondered what other people thought.

After a three-year hiatus, the BBC’s Sherlock finally returned on New Year’s Day to kick off its fourth season with the first of three new episodes, “The Six Thatchers.”

The show is coming off a divisive third season that drew plenty of audience backlash both for what many viewers felt was too much fanservice at the expense of good character development, and plotting that seemed all over the map. The general fear was that the show had moved away from the more compelling stories of its first two seasons and gone off the rails in favor of highly implausible plot twists that did nothing much for the overall narrative. It was a worry that 2016’s Christmas special, “The Abominable Bride,” did nothing to allay.

Unfortunately, the season four premiere has revealed that Sherlock’s most promising and divisive element in the wake of the season three finale — the evolving three-way relationship between Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch), John Watson (Martin Freeman), and John’s mysterious wife Mary (Amanda Abbington) — is little more than a giant distraction, a red herring for ... whatever the show has up its sleeve next.

But will the major change in plot direction the show sprung on us in this episode be worth it?

Major spoilers follow.

“The Six Thatchers” starts off feeling like one of Sherlock’s manic drug trips before settling into a story about the past

Sherlock’s forever escalating drug addiction is just one of his problems in season four. Sherlock/YouTube

Sunday's episode dropped a major character death — that of John's wife, Mary — into the middle of an already-messy series of plot complications. Frustratingly, the only real reason for Mary's demise predictably seems to be to examine its impact on Sherlock and John.

Written by series co-creator Mark Gatiss and directed by Rachel Talalay (Tank Girl), the episode title “The Six Thatchers” pays homage, like the titles of all of Sherlock’s previous episodes, to an original story from Arthur Conan Doyle’s Victorian Sherlock Holmes canon (in this case, “The Six Napoleons”). The “Thatchers” in the title cheekily refer to a series of destroyed busts of Margaret Thatcher; in the original Conan Doyle story, the busts are the center of a giant mystery, but in the updated version, they’re side jokes in an episode full of misdirections and side-excursions into mini-cases, montages, and flashbacks that serve no purpose other than to illuminate the frustrating genius of one Sherlock Holmes.

We’ve seen this before. Showrunners Steven Moffat and Gatiss (who also plays Sherlock’s brother, Mycroft) are quite fond of gleefully showcasing Sherlock’s brilliance alongside his rudeness and interminable unconcern for social mores. In “The Six Thatchers,” Sherlock is more Sherlockian than ever; his drug addiction seems more serious, and his determination in solving cases has translated into a constant obsession with his cellphone. His rudeness extends to texting obliviously through the christening ceremony for John and Mary’s newborn daughter, Rosie, but they ask him to be her godfather anyway, because every human being in Sherlock’s life ultimately decides that his general horribleness is worth tolerating because it’s his noble commitment to detective work that makes him act that way, or something.

Case in point: In “The Six Thatchers,” each of the people around him patiently endure as he ravenously takes on case after quickly solved case, hoping to figure out the maddening-to-many season three turn that brought back the very-dead Moriarty (Andrew Scott) as a spectral presence in Sherlock’s life. None of these cases lead him to Moriarty, however; instead, they plunk him down into the rabbit hole introduced in the tumultuous season three finale: the truth about Mary’s murky past as a mercenary assassin.

The trouble with Mary

Oh, Mary, we hardly knew you.

Amanda Abbington’s arrival as Mary Morstan at the start of Sherlock season three seemed to accompany a shift in the show’s overall direction away from crime-solving and toward a rhetorical plot cycle in which John attempts to swap his dysfunctional relationship with Sherlock for something healthier, only to fail because in the world of Sherlock, all roads and all people ultimately lead back to the title character himself. The people around him, even John, ultimately seem to exist only as extras in his world, showing up when needed to lecture, scold, or spurn him into a renewed sense of purpose or a showing of human decency. (This trait is so well developed that all the characters who appeared in 2016’s one-off, 1890s-set holiday special turned out to be Sherlock’s mental representation of them as pieces of his conscience.)

Mary, who was initially the only character whose storyline seemed totally independent of Sherlock’s, fully upset this pattern for a moment. Ultimately, however, the show gave her very little autonomy; in the final episode of season three, her entire mysterious and unrevealed history — which fans have spent the last three years debating — was framed as an insight into John’s character rather than Mary herself. We learned that she was a secretive former assassin, and that she lied her way into John’s life after stealing a new identity; but this entire story was framed as a story about John, not Mary — a story of how John was drawn to her because he was a reckless thrill-seeker.

The larger questions that season three raised about Mary — who or what she had been working for, what her new role would be now that her old career was known, and how the birth of a wee baby Watson would affect her and John’s relationship with Sherlock — were shelved until this season. Alas, Moffat does not have the world’s most excellent track record for giving women arcs with agency and satisfying plot resolutions, and it seems Mary is no exception to this pattern.

Who is Mary Morstan? Turns out, it doesn’t really matter.

Although “The Six Thatchers” gave her plenty of chances to be badass, the episode revealed Mary’s entire assassin arc to be, not a foray into independence from Sherlock and his radius of dysfunction, but an enabling of it.

“The Six Thatchers” casts Mary as the victim of a routine revenge plot carried out by a former co-agent of hers from her days as a hired assassin. Through total coincidence, Sherlock is the one who figures out that someone is attempting to kill her, which prompts him to embark on a misguided attempt to protect her that ultimately results in her death. After identifying the shadowy government figure behind a plot to kill Mary and her fellow agents, Sherlock unnecessarily goads the suspect into taking a shot at him.

This moment is the inevitable result of three seasons’ worth of Sherlock’s hubris and refusal to heed warnings or take seriously the judgment of anyone besides himself; and when Mary just as inevitably jumps in front of him, sacrificing her own life for his, it should feel like a wake-up call and a moment of reckoning. Sherlock registers a glimmer of self-awareness that her death is his fault, but by this point, the show seems to be so far immersed in the cult of worship around its anti-hero that the scene is hardly more than an afterthought. By episode’s end, Mary herself — via posthumous “If you’re reading this, I’m dead” message sent to Sherlock via a video file — is giving Sherlock permission to insert himself right back into the center of John’s life, thus making her death all about his relationship with his best friend.

John, meanwhile, had cheated on Mary emotionally before her death; his grief sees him processing his obvious guilt as anger toward Sherlock for failing to protect her. Given all the terrible things Sherlock has done to John directly over the course of their friendship that John has inexplicably managed to forgive — including lying to John, drugging John, sending John into a PTSD-triggering war zone, and making John watch as Sherlock faked his death before pretending to be dead for two years — the fact that Sherlock’s failure to save Mary is the final straw that threatens to cause a permanent rift in John and Sherlock’s friendship does even more injustice to Mary’s narrative. Her story was never her own story; it was always and ever about fueling the heart of the series, the relationship between Sherlock and John.

At this point, does anyone even really care if Sherlock and John are in love?

Sherlock/YouTube

Much has been written about the way Sherlock queerbaits — that is, the way in which it arguably exploits queer identity by making John and Sherlock’s relationship into the ongoing subject of homoerotic speculation and subtext, even as the show’s creators insist, again and again, that they’re not writing the two men as queer.

Almost every episode of Sherlock up until now has contained some sort of side-speculation by one character or another that John and Sherlock are gay and/or in love. “The Six Thatchers” was notably devoid of this kind of interaction, and was in fact extremely straightforward about John and Sherlock’s friendship without any of the usual frustrating homoerotic overtones.

Except, of course, Mary is now dead, and she has charged Sherlock to “save” John after her death. This sets the stage for an even deeper level of intimacy forged by mutual grief over her loss. Before “The Six Thatchers,” we had queerbaiting in the form of a lot of gay jokes. Now the gay jokes may be gone, but the show has traded them for something that feels even more insulting: the death of its most independent female character purely to further some manpain that in the end probably won’t bring John and Sherlock together as more than friends.

It’s kind of a mess. And it really only justifies the impending narrative for the rest of season four — in which John will push Sherlock away as Sherlock awkwardly tries to help him recover — if you ultimately think their relationship is worth salvaging. Frankly I’m not sure that it is.

Sherlock, for all of his occasional attempts to be a decent friend, is a perpetually selfish individual who seems to need John more as a reflection of a certain version of himself than because he values who John is. John, in turn, appears to still be the PSTD-ridden soldier who can only snap out of his stupor when he’s chasing the adrenalin high of crime-solving that Sherlock offers him.

If this is friendship, it’s darkly co-dependent; if it’s true love, it’s a tragedy. Sherlock has never been forced to reckon with any of the utterly unconscionable things he’s done to John over the years (look back at that list — it’s a horrific list!). And if the show is going to sacrifice entire characters on the altar of “Johnlock,” a.k.a. the shipping name for their eternal love, it should probably make Johnlock something worth caring about. I'm just not sure that it has.

Also, though this may be an afterthought for a series that has built itself around its own cleverness, it’s just not very much fun anymore.

There are now two episodes left in season four, which Moffat and Gatiss have called “climactic” and have hinted may be the show’s last. But I’m not holding my breath for a narrative that boasts any finality, particularly since Sherlock still has a lot of loose threads to tie up. After all, we not only still don’t know what Moriarty’s end game was, we haven’t even met this season’s villain, Culverton Smith (Toby Jones). There may even be a third Holmes brother in the mix.

Still, at least Abbington and Mary got a fierce send-off. Whether it will be worth the loss in the long run depends on how willing Gatiss and Moffat are to really have Sherlock undergo the moral reckoning that would justify her death, or whether they intend to keep spinning out the same empty, self-satisfied love story of two crime-solving bros who would probably each be better off alone — or at least without the other.