so this was interesting, I watched the new eps of Sunny with my mom (my parents house has the cable,) and I felt I had to mentioned to my mom that other episodes are like... really really funny (these eps were slightly lacking in the humor imo unfortunately) but anyway the interesting thing; my mom who doesn't watch the show much was kind of gasping at some moments, like she was seeing with her fresh non-fan eyes a kind of dark family drama (it is that too, but again, there's usually better jokes sooo...) What im saying: EMOTIONALLY WEIGHTY EPS.
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Talk to me about Isurd and bureaucracy
Oh boy, so, I think Lambda's issues with structural inefficiencies and bureaucratic overhead produces a direct parallel between the way Taion and Isurd responded to Nimue's death. After all, we know that commanders get pretty free reign in how they run their colonies, and there are far less subtle examples of "the thing that is Wrong with this colony is also what is Wrong with its commander" in the game, so this isn't even too aggresive of a read, IMO.
For Taion, his bad coping is pretty front and center -- he's got a strong need for control, but also little faith in his own judgement; he's suspicious of other people's conclusions, but also defers to them when it comes to decision-making. He can't even fully stand by his own conclusions most of the time, because the more critical it is to get something right, the worse the runaway anxiety gets, and the more he slips into analysis paralysis. Taion doesn't trust himself, and doesn't trust anyone else -- so no decision he makes can truly be grounded, everything is up for second-guessing, and he can never have peace knowing he made the right call.
Isurd, on the surface, is kind of the opposite. He's very decisive, to the point where he tends to pull ahead of the pack because he's already two steps to a solution while everyone else is still catching up to a problem. Undoubtedly some of the problems with Lambda's system are that peacetime operations are more complicated and they're simply not equipped to handle them at this scale, but a larger problem is that even while authority diffuses down the chain, if there is a fuck-up, ultimately the responsibility will be his. Absolutely nobody is allowed to make judgement calls unless he's personally appointed them, and even then he retains a veto. Isurd also doesn't trust himself, and also doesn't trust anyone else -- so no decision can be made without a second opinion, and he has to run himself ragged not to slow the system he's set up down.
It reads as a kind of hypervigilance -- neither of them has fully dealt with their trauma, and so are mentally braced to react to a similar situation. Now, I do think to an extent both of them probably just are like that, naturally -- Isurd is the strategist of the generation, after all, and Taion is very curious and intellectually engaged in general, they're absolutely the kind of people where "comparing notes" is a kind of love language -- but it just kind of goes to show that sometimes bad coping looks like good coping, but too much. They're overprepared to respond to their own judgement failing, and it's wearing both of them down.
I think this reading of the situation also nicely harmonises with how little presence Isurd has in Lambda's quest line. By his own admission, he's been going through the war essentially on autopilot since Nimue's death, letting the problem grown unfettered just because he naturally tends towards hogging responsibilities. Delegating and leaving actual decision-making to other people is a step forward -- or at least a step sideways -- for him, and leaving Lambda and having to just trust that they'll be okay without his supervision would further help with that. He's at least trying to disengage, even if he's very bad at it, being a dumb moron workaholic who has to make everything into a production.
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First off, happy holidays + decorating!! For the character colour duo, I'm thinking Rayleigh and dark green 💖
thank youu! i've successfully put up my christmas trees and will be taking a 24h break before i actually decorate them (o˘◡˘o)
castleton green.
falling snow. a forest of evergreens. quiet mornings. warm cups of tea. fluffy blankets. the hum of a lover's snores. a gentle love only the two of you know.
rayleigh looks out the window, a cup of tea in his hand and the smell of your favourite breakfast cooking on the stove. he takes a sip as he watches the snow fall to the ground. each snowflake falls gently, slowly, inevitably kissing the earth — not unlike the way he fell for you.
rayleigh chuckles; he's getting senile if he's comparing you to snowflakes.
it's the quiet shuffle of your slippers that informs your arrival first, your sleepy yawn following thereafter.
he turns around to find you wrapped in his shirt, adorably so. you smile at him, half-asleep and endearing, as you approach him.
"g'mornin'," you murmur against him, wrapping your arms around his waist.
"hi, beautiful." rayleigh's baritone voice resonates against your ear, and it sounds wonderful.
"d'you make breakfast?"
"i did."
you glance up at him, morning light dusting your cheeks golden. there's a playful glint in your eye that rayleigh knows all too well; it's one of the many things that he loves about you.
"hmm," you ponder in excessive exaggeration. "i guess it's okay that you left your darling lover in bed alone if you were making breakfast."
rayleigh laughs — a deep, sonorous laughter — and you can't help but smile. with anyone else, resounding laughter might feel like too much for the wee hours of the morning, but rayleigh isn't anyone.
he's home in every sense of the word; comforting, soothing, and this domestic life of yours is one that you wouldn't trade for the world. these 4 walls that you have built with him have seen silly joys and loving gazes that only the two of you can fully appreciate.
you wink at him, "you're so lucky that i'm so forgiving."
rayleigh lifts you up to set you on the counter. now eye level with him, you rest your arms on his shoulders. he marvels at you for just a moment — basking in this beautiful being he calls his angel — before pressing a morning kiss on your lips.
"you got that right," he hums.
"i'm the luckiest man in the world."
send a character + a colour and i might write for ya!
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