#the acting! the words! what this MEANS in the macro story

[charcubed]

I'm curious, what are the main reasons why Dean is your favorite canon bisexual in media? Love your meta and that video btw

Ooooo, anon, thank you for the kind words and for giving me an excuse to talk about my love for bisexual icon Dean Winchester <3

I'm going to be really annoying (sorry) and quote part of my meta first. It summarizes and articulates many of my thoughts on this. And then to further answer your question I'll add a bit under it!

From the very beginning, Dean Winchester has been a character tied to classic elements of American masculinity. He was introduced with a superficial veneer involving those elements, but almost immediately the early episodes provide a look at the complexity of his character underneath it. Over the years, that complexity was further explored, and he came to embody a study in things society would often have us think should be incompatible contrasts: the gruffness and grit of hunting life and its associated masculine iconography, paired with his open and deep emotional care for the world; unabashed love for classic rock, superheroes, and horror movies, as well as unabashed joy connected to TV dramas, chick flicks, and childhood favorites like Scooby-Doo; life on the road with a muscle car, but the desire for a home base with creature comforts he can make his own; motivation to always help people, but the clear longing for balance with personal domesticity and relaxation so he could save not only others but also himself.

As a whole, his character functions as an effective deconstruction of toxic masculinity and stereotypical American heroism. And while much of Dean’s most masculine traits and interests are said to come from his father’s influence, part of his journey is loving those parts of himself on their own merit not because he ever had to but because he wants to. He is not his father, and he redefines those valued parts of his identity so they are his and his alone. He also crucially learns to recognize and joyfully embody that those masculine traits were never all that he had to be, working through and overcoming shame and hesitancy along the way. The result? He’s “good with who he is.”

He and the audience are encouraged to see that there are no rules his identity and interests must subscribe to, on a micro or a macro level. The message is to disregard predetermined destiny or duty. Free will means his life is his to determine, his family can be what he makes of it and how he defines it, and what he needs and wants do not ever have to be mutually exclusive. Dean’s journey is about freedom from outwardly-imposed limitations–whether those limitations come from his father’s example and the God altering his story, or from the pervasive societal ideals and network/executive interference outside of it. Dean can and should contain multitudes, all at once.

In this way, Dean’s story is a powerfully queer narrative that acts as metacommentary. In the fullness of its execution, it is also specifically a deeply bisexual narrative.

The not-so-hidden truth is that Dean is canonically a bisexual man. His story was afforded something that’s rare for most characters and almost nonexistent for queer ones: fifteen years of lengthy, nuanced development.

[...]

Again: Dean’s identity journey is about how he can and does contain the capacity for multitudes, and it’s part of what makes him such a compelling character. He can like “this” and “that.” He can be attracted to women and men. Or, as writer Ben Edlund and director Phil Sgriccia said in a DVD commentary, Dean has “the potential for love in all places.”

I wanted to include the above verbatim because it spells out something specific: Dean's narrative is bisexual in its bones. Supernatural evolved to become a queer text, but the specific ways the show and Dean as a character evolved are very intertwined with and informed by the fact that Dean is a masculine bisexual man. SPN is a story that was not meant to be about being queer, but as it became about freedom through free will, those themes were then leveraged and emphasized in connection to queerness because of Destiel. And by the end, the free will narrative and Dean's journey as a bi man are utterly inseparable, because Dean's fight for true freedom is tied to his love for a man and their untraditional family in a way that higher forces are trying to hinder.

You cannot cut out or edit or remove Dean's bisexuality from the story, or several narratives and plot lines (not just Destiel) would at minimum be misunderstood or at maximum fall apart. And yet, simultaneously? Dean's bisexuality is also far from being the sole important thing about his character because he is written with such nuanced complexities and across so many years of material.

Of course, add onto this the overall unique situation that surrounds Supernatural as a piece of media. People talk at length about how there will never be anything like it again, including me; that's obviously true from multiple different angles and for multiple different reasons, with Destiel being prime amongst them. But a related yet distinctly significant branch of that topic is there will never be another bisexual character who is written and evolves quite like Dean.

Was Dean supposed to be bisexual from the very start, out of the mind of Kripke? Who can know for sure, but probably not. Were certain writers and members of production deliberately putting more queercoding and subtext into Dean's character/story from the very start? Who can know for sure, but potentially yes, and certainly the answer becomes unarguably definitely yes the farther you get into the show. That's part of my love and passion for him too, because all of that is deeply unique and incredibly cool.

Dean's bisexuality evolved in a way that (against all odds) actually feels organic, seamless, and like it's simply a part of his character that's been there all along. The effect when you look at Supernatural as a whole body of work is that Dean's always been bi, and his expressions of and acknowledgements of that part of him ebb and flow depending on situation–which is a very relatable notion for many queer people. And as those writing the show became more committed and certain about that piece of who Dean is, so did he, in nuanced and subtle ways skillfully embedded into his story by design. It's bafflingly, impressively cohesive; gives him an incredibly realistic feel; matches his overall character growth; and rings true to his demographic, age, personality, and experiences.

Dean and his story and the situation(s) surrounding both are simply incomparable, and that will be true forever ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

...also. Well. I simply love him, y'know? For even more reasons unconnected to this. How can you not, right? :')

Thank you for asking, and thanks for reading this bi Dean manifesto!

Putting my video that you mentioned here for anyone who's not watched it:

My new magnum opus, please stream, etc.

(or watch on Tumblr here)

#bisexual dean winchester #dean is bi #bi dean meta #bi dean winchester #dean winchester is bi #supernatural #spn meta #char writes things #God I LOOOOOVE HIIIIMMMM #dean #anonymous #yes I used like 5 dean is bi tags. I'm valid. leave me alone

[ilynpilled]

what do you think of valonqar Jaime? Do you think it's going to happen?

This is going to be very long, and will discuss a lot of things. Sorry in advance. Also do not expect anything truly conclusive either.

To preface: Alright, so I am not big on theory crafting and focusing all my energy on predicting what events will or will not happen. I have many different reasons for this. I think a lot of this fandom expects “endgames” to be all encompassing character defining moments. They want easy answers to questions they have set themselves. Even though this is not at all how this series functions to me. Sure, a death and an ending can speak to a character, but it will not be defining, especially in the cases of the major characters. If that was the case, our main and only takeaway from Ned’s story should be how his failure to play the game got him to lose his head because #thisisnotlikeotherfantasies here the #hero #dies, being the honorable protagonist = death. That is clearly not the only point. It is those of who view this story as nihilistic torture porn that believe this. Its realism, that should never be misunderstood as nihilism, does not set out to deal divine justice to all of its characters based on a concoction of all of their moral choices. Especially the PoV characters. For instance, much of the reason I find the theme of “the heroism lies in the attempt” so profound is because it frames heroism as defined by acts DESPITE of this reality. So on a meta textual level, these characters do not act motivated by receiving rewards from the narrative.

“My own heroes are the dreamers, those men and women who tried to make the world a better place than when they found it, whether in small ways or great ones. Some succeeded, some failed, most had mixed results... but it is the effort that's heroic, as I see it. Win or lose, I admire those who fight the good fight.”

This is the thesis conveyed through moments like “No chance, and no choice.”

This fight he is referring is to is the macro, with characters destined to try and enact radical change that truly challenges the very structure of the world that they are inhabiting. But I also think it can be applied to the micro: internal battles. There are so many characters in this series that are battling themselves primarily. George uses the canvas of a feudal society to have his characters carve out their identity in a world of rigid constructs full contradictions. The characters’ heart will always be at conflict with itself, but he aims to achieve the same with the readers’.

I do not think we should expect George to provide us with a completely conclusive answer to what we should take away about some of his ‘protagonists’, or how we should ultimately feel about them. This is why it bothers me that so much of what governs conversations regarding Jaime’s endgame, and the valonqar theory specifically, is the word “redemption”. This need to reduce this complex character and his journey to a word that is essentially a media trope drives me nuts. It always goes on to become an argument of “he is on a journey of redemption” (sure, whatever that means), “no, actually he is on a journey of subverting redemption. the point is that you are being tricked!!!” (ok, feels dismissive), “no, it is a subversion of the subversion!” (ok enough). The way these labels are used all feel like a reductionist idea of an arc. What is “redemption” even supposed to mean here? Why do we expect George to decide this for us and set it in stone? So much of Jaime is about perception, contradictions, and complex moral dilemmas with no easy answers. Why would any part of his endgame or choices of great importance down the line be not that? I think Jaime’s attempts at change, and the decisions he makes in pursuit of redefining his self concept, be it successful or not, should be the ultimate deciding factor for the reader in what they make of him, not just where he ends up (as with most of the characters).

“One of the things I wanted to explore with Jaime, and with so many of the characters, is the whole issue of redemption. When can we be redeemed? Is redemption even possible? I don’t have an answer. But when do we forgive people?” “I don’t know the answer, but these are questions worth thinking about. I want there to be a possibility of redemption for us, because we all do terrible things. We should be able to be forgiven. Because if there is no possibility of redemption, what’s the answer then?” - GRRM

Does not sound very concrete to me. This is an idea that does not even have to extracted from his interviews, it is written all over this series.

"If half of an onion is black with rot, it is a rotten onion. A man is good, or he is evil." - Mel vs “A good act does not wash out the bad, nor a bad act the good. Each should have its own reward. You were a hero and a smuggler." - Stannis

"Most deserve to be forgotten. The heroes will always be remembered. The best." - Loras vs                “The best and the worst."..."And a few who were a bit of both.” - Jaime

I also think another reason I avoid putting much effort into forming ideas of what will happen is because I do not really gain that much satisfaction in guessing an event happening. I much prefer to pick apart the event once it happens. Because these events will be complex with a lot of implications. Knowing the “if” or “it” without the “how” and the “why” is whatever to me. Of course so many of the mysteries are fun to address in your head, I’m just hesitant to come to conclusions about them without actually reading how the events play out and are written.  Also I think a lot of it is just people being more insistent on just pulling whatever out of symbolism and twisting lines into that of vague foreshadowing rather than looking at the grander structure and what would make sense thematically.

Now that that is over with, I am gonna actually tackle this question. This is gonna be Jaime & Cersei endgame discussion, not just the valonqar. 

CW: discussion of abuse, violence, suicide, incest, you know the drill with this topic.

To me, Jaime valonqar certainly leans towards the “how” and “why” rather than the “if”. The main reason I am really leaning towards Jaime is because I really cannot see another as thematically meaningful alternative. I’d personally hate it if it were Loras or some other “little brother” (Aegon, Victarion etc). I think a lot of the parallels that are in the text that are used to argue that Loras is a candidate for instance are primarily there to juxtapose the Tyrells and the Lannisters more than anything. Like I do not know how that would really serve Cersei’s character. After all, that is who this is most relevant to, it would be her conclusion for certain. Tyrion is a red herring for Cersei, which is extremely important. The narrative being in accordance with Cersei’s paranoia about him (she also tends convince herself of it using ableism) would not work for me, sorry.  Jaime is very likely, but if it is not him, I would only really accept it to be Cersei herself. Part of it is the desire to not have her death be her being overpowered and killed by an ex. Obviously, I do not know how that would work, the prophecy would have to become less literal. Maybe she poisons herself with the strangler in an act of suicide, as everything collapses around her, as an act of tragic agency and addition to the poetic nature of her downfall being self inflicted. This route makes me think of Ibsen’s (the father of realism in theatre) Hedda Gabler. I see a lot of parallels between these characters, with how their nature, nurture, and the patriarchal systems they inhabit affect them. This play gradually deconstructs Hedda as both a victim and a perpetrator, whose actions are influenced by the patriarchy that suppresses her identity and inner desires, rendering her inhuman. Ibsen comments on the destructive capacity of static social constructs by creating a character that turns into the devil of the story due to a world that ceaselessly strips her of her humanity, very much like Cersei. An essential aspect in making Hedda into a functional character is not removing her agency. Ibsen demonstrates an understanding that being a perpetrator does not negate her victimhood, and vice versa. She still makes choices. It is Hedda’s stubbornness and power hunger that leave her to her ruin in a world that does not allow her the ‘freedom’ or ‘power’ that she desperately desires (again, much like Cersei). This part could become confusing if you are not familiar with the play, but when Lovborg “loses” his manuscript, Hedda knowingly withholds her knowledge of its location in an attempt to control Lovborg’s destiny (gain control over others bc she has no true autonomy as a woman, again, much like Cersei). Lovborg refers to his manuscript as his and Thea’s child, saying that he would rather destroy it than leave it in evil hands. He says to Hedda: “But to kill his child—that is not the worst thing a father can do to it”. By this statement, Ibsen makes a parallel to Hedda’s life and her relationship with her father. Her father abandoned her and sentenced her to the life of a woman in a world that is restrictive and cruel. This has similarities to Cersei’s relationship with Tywin, and how much of a presence he, his conditioning, as well as how he used her in bridal slavery to gain political power, has in her life. Lovborg continues with: “The devil knows into what hands it may have fallen—who may have had their clutches on it.” The devil’s hands in the case of Hedda’s life is the static social contruct of gender. In the same way that the manuscript is trapped in Hedda’s clutches, she is trapped in a patriarchal system. The dramatic irony of Hedda becoming the devil whose hands the transcript has fallen into demonstrates the results of these static social constructs that turn the victim into a perpetrator. A perpetrator that burns the manuscript representing hope in the story and kills her child in the process of freeing herself from the world through suicide. Hedda ultimately kills herself to not let the men in her life rule over her, shape her into what she is not, and not accept her defeat.  I acknowledge that there are a lot of problematic aspects in framing a suicide as the only means of escape for Cersei from the patriarchy, but I think it would function well thematically.

I agree that a lot of the intrigue about the prophecy comes down to Cersei misunderstanding it, and it being Jaime would be something she does not see coming, hence it would function very well. But what if she starts to suspect him too?


“No one knows. We've had no further word of him. The woman may have been the Evenstar's daughter, Lady Brienne." Her. The queen remembered the Maid of Tarth, a huge, ugly, shambling thing who dressed in man's mail. Jaime would never abandon me for such a creature. My raven never reached him, elsewise he would have come.


Like she is currently overdosing on copium, but what if her character goes down a path of complete paranoia when this fact becomes more of a certainty that she cannot deny? What if her paranoia about the valonqar is what drives her to become her own valonqar? I think that irony would function very well too, especially in a self-fulfilling Oedipus kind of way. As for the pronouns subject, maybe it speaks to the constructs of gender that is such a primary focus in Cersei’s story, and how she always craved to be a man, or at least have what a man does in this society. However my issue with this is the “little brother” part. Truly there has to be some major mental gymnastics done here to make that fit neatly. Maybe there are multiple valonqars contributing to her downfall simultaneously, including Jaime? And they are not physically present to kill her, they are just causing the downfall of her regime, “choking her” with their armies? Maybe the valonqar part was never real, and that is the real tragedy of all of it? Do not want to over-complicate this, so I am leaving it here. Again, requires a lot of mental gymnastics to justify this scenario, which speaks to its unlikelihood. 

Thematically, what needs to happen is for their romanticized idea of “one soul in two bodies, going from womb to tomb” to be subverted, because obviously it is a narrative that has been deconstructed and proved to be a belief system they made up to justify themselves and what they gain from the relationship (my post elaborating on it here: link). This subversion can happen with a murder/suicide, Jaime killing her and then living on, Jaime living on and even being potentially destroyed by that decision etc. It can also be subverted by it not happening at all, as in one of them dies alone, tragically reflecting on this very belief, calling attention to their “other half’s” notable absence. So a complete divergence in regards to their characters would also work. I am pretty much okay with literally everything, if it is executed well, except for what happened in the show lmao.

Anyway, if Jaime valonqar happens, it will have to be a very loaded decision. I do not think it will be motivated by angry revenge because of the infidelity, as I do not view Jaime’s anger towards Cersei as exclusively rooted in her infidelity to begin with (plus if that was the case how come he did not do it already). The misogynistic rage is very much present though, I just do not think Jaime would actually resort to murdering someone like Cersei purely motivated by rage as a result of that betrayal, especially in his current state. He makes threats in his head constantly, but like his confrontation with Lancel, they do not come to fruition. "Only a fool makes threats he's not prepared to carry out.” is to me a very ironic line with this man.

However:

"How is Cersei? As beautiful as ever?"

"Radiant." Fickle. "Golden." False as fool's gold. Last night he dreamed he'd found her fucking Moon Boy. He'd killed the fool and smashed his sister's teeth to splinters with his golden hand, just as Gregor Clegane had done to poor Pia. In his dreams Jaime always had two hands (interesting); one was made of gold, but it worked just like the other. "The sooner we are done with Riverrun, the sooner I'll be back at Cersei's side." What Jaime would do then he did not know.

Then two Jaime chapters later:

Ser Ilyn drew a finger across his throat.

"No," said Jaime. "Tommen has lost a brother, and the man he thought of as his father. If I were to kill his mother, he would hate me for it . . . and that sweet little wife of his would find a way to turn that hatred to the benefit of Highgarden."

Ser Ilyn smiled in a way Jaime did not like. An ugly smile. An ugly soul. (very interesting part of the quote, read this wonderful meta about what Ilyn represents and you can come to your conclusions about it: link, not getting into it here)

Of course, taking Jaime’s words at face value is not how it works with him. This goes both ways, good and bad. Jaime is a character that often purposefully deludes himself. That in itself is a major character flaw, but it is different from taking all his words and thoughts at face value. Things that actually bother Jaime tend to be things that he completely represses and forms different narratives in his head for, to cope. The reason he does this is because he feels doubt about them. They are things that actually threaten his view of the world (like the amoral nihilism he justifies himself for having bc contradictions, flawed moral constructs, the impossibility of being a true knight, life being shit, his romanticization of his relationship with cersei etc) and most of this guilt or things he is in denial over he only manages to actually start to confront in dreams, a way of his subconscious mind to communicate with his conscious mind (attraction to Brienne, guilt over Rhaegar’s children, his concern with how he is perceived, the death of his mother, what he and Cersei became.) Before he can confront them consciously, he often does so subconsciously. This applies to his violent anger towards Cersei. The self-deluding can also apply to his attachment to her, that I think is still there, and his reasoning for not killing her is not exclusively what he claims here. If it was, and that is what is stopping him, Tommen is soon to be dead anyway. melrosing’s interpretation also rings true to me though regarding the themes of the futility of vengeance that is so prevalent in ASOIAF, and how a lot of his thoughts of vengeance seem to come to a dead end. It would not make him into a person he is thriving to be, but a person of the likes of The Mountain and Aegon the Unworthy, as he subconsciously points out. His loudly proclaimed future revenge against Vargo Hoat & co. also went nowhere for him (the brutality of what happens to Vargo Hoat kind of disgusts him, in fact, “somehow revenge had lost its savor ”- Jaime III, AFfC). After all, it is not gonna bring his hand back, I fear. Neither would just killing Cersei and closing that relationship make him a good person. Currently, a feeling represented in his actions regarding Cersei’s possible death and the letter is disillusionment. There is an acceptance that she has been spiraling and that their fates are not entwined. There is also an aspect of grief, if you read the snowflake in that one line as a tear. But it is not complete detachment. She is still lingering at the back of his mind in ADwD. Could be argued that this is a force of habit that he manages to push away for the first time, and then chooses to go in a different direction all together, away from her. The point is, Jaime has notably changed. So did Cersei. And so did their relationship. Jaime being so hung up on her cheating currently to me also speaks to his reluctance to face that this relationship was always very broken in its foundation, and that so many of their justifications and acts to sustain it were abhorrent. Jaime’s really has to come to terms with how this reflects on him as an individual.

"The things I do for love," he said with loathing.

"If I'd let kingslaying become a habit, as he liked to say, I could have taken you as my wife for all the world to see. I'm not ashamed of loving you, only of the things I've done to hide it. That boy at Winterfell . . ."

“They fought for half the night . . . well, Cersei fought, and Robert drank. Past midnight, the queen summoned me inside. The king was passed out snoring on the Myrish carpet. I asked my sister if she wanted me to carry him to bed. She told me I should carry her to bed, and shrugged out of her robe. I took her on Raymun Darry's bed after stepping over Robert. If His Grace had woken I would have killed him there and then. He would not have been the first king to die upon my sword . . . but you know that story, don't you?" He slashed at a tree branch, shearing it in half. "As I was fucking her, Cersei cried, 'I want.' I thought that she meant me, but it was the Stark girl that she wanted, maimed or dead." The things I do for love. "It was only by chance that Stark's own men found the girl before me. If I had come on her first . . ." The pockmarks on Ser Ilyn's face were black holes in the torchlight, as dark as Jaime's soul.

There is certainly an awareness in Jaime about the vile things he has done. He has self hatred about it, this to me is clear. He justified it to himself in the name of this relationship. But as he changed, as the relationship was deconstructed, and as he learned of the infidelity  (which represents a hole in the illusion he made inside of his head), it fully crumbles. Now he has many more things to reflect.

Also, there is a clear set up of paralleling Cersei with Aerys, doubt that is not building up to something. Do not think this would not play a part in the valonqar situation: “Even in the baleful glow, Cersei had been beautiful to look upon. She'd stood with one hand on her breast, her lips parted, her green eyes shining. She is crying, Jaime had realized, but whether it was from grief or ecstasy he could not have said. The sight had filled him with disquiet, reminding him of Aerys Targaryen and the way a burning would arouse him.”

I also believe that AFfC, the letter burning, them being “effectively estranged” according to George, could be about how their relationship had moved past a point of return, rather than closing completely. Like this does not mean to me that they will no longer hold relevance in each other’s narratives, or that they will not meet ever again. I think the romantic aspect is over, but I also think they will need to ‘conclude’ their relationship in some form and meet again with this change being the new normal. Hence she is still present in his thoughts in the ADwD chapter. Though I very much understand the preference to have that conclusion be him just no longer associating with Cersei anymore, for both of their sake.

“And when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you.”

The strangling certainly has very violent implications, but I genuinely have no idea about the logistics of a one handed man wrapping his “hands” around her neck, if we are meant to take that literally. There is the hand of the king chain theory, which has merit (like his offhand threat of strangling Sybell with her seashell necklace when he is angry about Jeyne and her situation), but I think that would require Jaime to be her hand, to make the chain “his”, which I do not see happening at this point considering where their relationship is, unless Jaime tricks her. There is, again, also the strangler (poison), and that could be his weapon of choice. It could also be worded in such a way so the major point of it is the idea of intimate betrayal, with the technicalities holding less relevance, as it is more metaphorical. I also have my gripes with this part of the prophecy, and do have a desire to have it be subverted in some form. People already want her to get a brutal dehumanizing death, if it turns out to be in anyway overly gratifying (really doubt it, but let’s acknowledge that George’s writing of Cersei is not flawless when it comes to this, and Lysa’s death falls under this too) it will leave me pretty bitter.

The issues within their relationship will not be excluded from it though, like it will not JUST be a pure kingslayer 2.0 situation, that I am certain of. Like you cannot extract the history of that relationship from such an act. I also do not really want it just to be a purely heroic mercy kill where we put down the mad woman like old yeller, for very obvious reasons. Anyways, regardless of the circumstances, then we might be left with Jaime and the aftermath, as this will no doubt impact his character if he lives on. 

Some people remove the potential of the kingslayer parallel from it by moving it away from KL (and the caches of wildfire) to Casterly Rock. I know of the theory that the twins will die like the Reynes, and that is when the valonqar will come to fruition. Not really sold on it. Read a post that put it similarly: I completely get the thematic appeal of Tywin legacy collapsing upon itself, but I just do not think that holds as much weight character wise for the twins. I don’t think it is as monumental in Jaime and Cersei’s narratives. Jaime actively rejected it, and Cersei’s desires and arc are located at KL, her status as queen and her children dying under the weight of their crowns, so I think it is more fitting for her eventual demise to be there. I just feel that the two of them left the place behind them multiple times with the choices they made, unlike Tyrion who is very fixated on it, and whose character it holds a lot of significance to. Him near destroying it will serve just as well for this idea of Tywin’s own children bringing his legacy to a ruin.

Anyway, what I want for the Lannister siblings is a more of an active role in destroying the Lannister legacy (be it with the intention of doing so or not) rather than just going down in flames with it. I also think a lot of this theory relies on a very literal read of Jaime’s weirwood dream, which is primarily metaphorical and about his conscience anyway, not to mention the way that dream goes does not really fit with it either because JC end up separated in it, as in she leaves/dies before him, at least that is how I read it. It also does not completely rule out the possibility of dying with Cersei after killing her, again it is very open to interpretation in my eyes.

The reason I am hesitant to believe that they will die together is a combination of things, the dream included. I am certain everybody already covered this, but I am putting it in here for the sake of practicality. It will be surface level analysis so bear with me, I just want to speed through it.

“What place is this?” “Your place.” The voice echoed; it was a hundred voices, a thousand, the voices of all the Lannisters since Lann the Clever, who’d lived at the dawn of days. But most of all it was his father’s voice, and beside Lord Tywin stood his sister, pale and beautiful, a torch burning in her hand. Joffrey was there as well, the son they’d made together, and behind them a dozen more dark shapes with golden hair.” “Us? This is your place, Brother. This is your darkness.” Her torch was the only light in the cavern. Her torch was the only light in the world. She turned to go. “Stay with me,” Jaime pleaded. “Don’t leave me here alone.” But they were leaving. “Don’t leave me in the dark!” “The flames will burn so long as you live,” he heard Cersei call. “When they die, so must you.” “Sister!” he shouted. “Stay with me. Stay!” There was no reply but the soft sound of retreating footsteps.”

This segment represents the Lannister legacy. Cersei abandons him to join the Lannisters, all of whom named are dead at this point. She as a character does not attempt to distance herself from the Lannister legacy, and more-so embraces it, because it is the only way she knows she could attain and sustain the power she craves. With Jaime, his relationship is more complicated with it. (Here is some analysis of color symbolism to elaborate on it: link)

“In this light she could almost be a beauty, he thought. In this light she could almost be a knight. Brienne’s sword took flame as well, burning silvery blue. The darkness retreated a little more.”

A new light and a new purpose is made for Jaime. That purpose being Brienne and the example she represents. His character is established to have purpose past his relationship with Cersei. He made Cersei his “maiden”, co-dependently making her his purpose. She was made into an ideal, an ideal that covered up the flaws that the Lannisters represent: power hunger, apathy, exceptionalism, brutality, etc. His story might not end with hers. However, now Brienne is the new ideal. I think the context of these two relationships are very distinct, so I do not think his romanticization of her is the same. I also think how he views Brienne and her ‘pure morality’ will be challenged through LSH, when even she will be placed in situations where she must make choices that bloody her hands. This will probably lead to the more nuanced conclusions on morality and knighthood. Long Night: I am not sure how this will go, how long Cersei will live etc. However, I am fairly certain of Jaime having involvement in the Long Night. The fact that George spends time on him training again as a competent fighter feels like a chekhov’s gun that will have purpose past a LSH confrontation, not to mention the whole Oathkeeper and Widow’s Wail thing for JB. Widow’s Wail, which was just an #edgelord naming by Joff, also feels like a rather ironic name considering valonqar.

Anyway, when we look at the prophetic weirwood dream, a lot of Jaime’s trauma is presented with imagery of the Long Night and fighting The Others. Sure, it is metaphorical for his internal battle, but the packaging is deliberate:

“They were armored all in snow, it seemed to him, and ribbons of mist swirled back from their shoulders. ”

“The shades dismounted from their ghostly horses. When they drew their longswords, it made not a sound. ”

“The fires that ran along the blade were guttering out, and Jaime remembered what Cersei had said. No. Terror closed a hand about his throat. Then his sword went dark, and only Brienne’s burned, as the ghosts came rushing in.”

Another instance from his second ASOS chapter:

In his dreams the dead came burning, gowned in swirling green flames. Jaime danced around them with a golden sword, but for every one he struck down two more arose to take his place.

Same is the case for Brienne’s own dreams and how her trauma is conveyed:

“she dreamed about the men she'd killed. They danced around her, mocking her, pinching at her as she slashed at them with her sword. She cut them all to bloody ribbons, yet still they swarmed around her . . .”

After all, “the night is dark and full of terrors, and so are dreams.”

So yeah, flaming swords are just the tip of the iceberg.

In terms of Jaime’s ending: The weirwood dream certainly hints at him not surviving, but it is also very intentionally open. His ‘prophecy’ certainly feels less set in stone than Cersei’s. Especially with Cersei’s words being plural, with only his flame going out at the end: “the flames will burn so long as you live” “when they die so must you”.

“The fires that ran along the blade were guttering out, and Jaime remembered what Cersei had said. No. Terror closed a hand about his throat. Then his sword went dark, and only Brienne’s burned, as the ghosts came rushing in”

Whether that be literal, as in he falls in the fight against the Others, or metaphorical, that he succumbs to his conscience and self hatred in some way (“ghosts” of his past, the impact of valonqar can be relevant here). The point is that Brienne’s light is still burning. She will carry his legacy, with a next generation of knights. That legacy will be the conclusion of the series’s deconstruction of knighthood, that Brienne carries with her. A conclusion they came to together through their journey. (my metas about it: link, link)

If he lives, I would be fine with him taking the black, or being attached to a duty that he does not desire to serve the realm for the rest of his life as atonement. Wouldn’t be crazy about him living happily ever after on Tarth because I do not think it would fit with the series, nor do I feel like that is necessary for the romance between Jaime and Brienne to be incredibly meaningful and thematically fulfilling.

And that concludes my thoughts. Hope this satisfies you, anon. I am never having another thought again, this took all the energy out of me.

#so glad twow is coming out in like 4 years so i have plenty of time before i find out just how wrong i was #blessed #inb4 george decides to drop it tomorrow #oh no george dont do that id be devastated oh no george oh noo pls george oh no #jaime lannister #cersei lannister #brienne of tarth #asoiaf meta #valyrianscrolls #the hedda gabler analysis was done from my memories from 11th grade so probably not perfect #ask #my opinions #i would also recommend reading my jamlan arc meta post but i already linked so many things here and its so brutally long #reading this answer is the equivalent of homework atp #tried to be as nuanced as possible #for the 3 people that will put themselves through reading all of this

[zzzaaafffaaarrr]

Is this the part of human evolution where we surpass narration

Genetic alterations are dangerous on a large time scale

We are inevitably going to evolve

I think adhd is an evolution caused by consumerism

I only have correlation

I can’t responsibly assert its causation

We’re evolving still

In different ways in different places

The through line for most is ephemerality

A state of flux

Between anxiety and consumption

Between work and play

There’s a few people who never work

There’s a lot of people who never play

But we’re all stuck between

Continually gambling on our narrative

Continually scrubbing the past

Trusting that the system at the root of our problems

Will yield the solution

We should understand that bandaids will only allow the problems to exist longer

But we should understand that lasting change must be slow

By slow I mean thoughtful and conscious

Extra information

Go outside the box

Trust in the scientific process

The brain is the most plastic organ in the body

I know my fractal memory pattern

I know there’s a universe of thoughts in everyone

Stuff that can’t even exit the mind

We used to be nomadic hunter gatherers

We came together under farming

Religion and politics

Trade and slavery

Trade and slavery

Trade and slavery

Cancer is caused by imperfect replication of DNA when the body repairs itself

I’m just looking forward to my ninth private jet

I’m gonna be happy once I get that one

Maybe one more after that

Philanthropy is a lucrative market

The coffee in your cupboard is unethical

Buy the ethical stuff

That commercial makes me feel better

I’m glad I could save the planet today

That devil cares

But me

Personally

I am selfish

I knew that from the start

My first word might’ve been “no”

I just like the flavour

The texture dances and pops and buzzes

A nice way to wet the whistle

We can’t trust wisdom

Capitalism means retribution is the only viable collateral

You didn’t like me

So I’ll fire you

Haha, you should’ve licked my boot

That is the end result of profit

That is the freedom afforded by capitalism

Revenge is the prize

It’s romanticized feudalism

The macro can never truly change if we only focus on the micro

The human as an evolutionary soul

Are we reaching the great filter

Is this how the story ends

Individual profit and revenge

Or could there be a more equal and meritocratic system

What human evolution do we want

What value system do we want

How should a human live in the future

We should be walking

Brain function increases by walking

We should have a roadmap of the average lifestyle of a future human

The next stages of technology are philosophical

Once our senses are totally hijacked

We will be unable to leave

Virtual reality for a few hours is incredible

VR for a few days

Real life becomes less

Less meaningful

Less physical

Less important

I feel that about my online self

My persona

This place

These social media’s

They’re more home than my bedroom

That’s why it’s so hard to leave

That’s why I struggle to start something new

These places

These accounts

They were built by living

Between treadmills

Piece by piece

It just kinda snowballed

Starting new, it seems illogical

I’m definitely not gonna change my style

Anywhere I go

I’m gonna continue to be me

The natural me

I don’t care if it’s a performance

It doesn’t feel like a performance to me

I wouldn’t do it if it did

Performance is a choice

Like walking to the bus

I perform the walking and try to maintain composure

I’m not worried about grammar

Is it a performance if I act in accordance with my temperament

It isn’t

But it is for others

Bukowski performs Bukowski for me

I perform me for

Me

But also you

Because to me

You’ve been here all along

I’m a social creature

I’m living in the world of social creatures

The other is always a part of me

The poor man sees himself from the rich man’s eyes

The writer sees himself from the reader’s eyes

But I guess I’m both the writer and the reader

I think I do it for me

I think I did it for me

But I guess you existed at the same time I existed

So I guess we both do it for both of us

That’s a win win scenario

Hella neato sich

[badkarmaviscomm]

VCC2 - Research Write-Up - ‘Why?’

Based on my research, especially into the world of ‘ignorant’ style tattoos which, in the mainstream opinion are considered to be indeed…shit. ‘Ignorant’ tattoos are often characterised by tattoos that are random, cartoonish, appear technically ‘poor’ or ‘basic’ and, the most integral part: devoid of any apparent sentimental meaning. Tattoo artist ‘streuthless’ believes this style of tattooing has been produced by a number of historical and socio-economic factors. Firstly, he claims that the rise of social media - specifically Instagram - has created a space for an influx of styles to meet and be ‘accessible to everyone’ whilst the app itself is ‘image based […] shareable. You could interact with people, and it was designed around discovery.’ This is significant as to why people nowadays get ‘shit’ tattoos as before social media, new styles would be seen in ‘a magazine or a blog’ with which there’s a big element of ‘external curation that someone picks’. Technology has also promoted this movement in the macro side of the style. Online shopping has a hand in the development of ignorant as there are plenty of places in which you can buy tattooing equipment unsupervised and under no regulations, whereas before you would have to contact a licensed distributor who would likely not sell the products to you. Online shopping allowed tattooing to be in the hands of unlicensed people leading to what struthless refers to as the ‘party thigh’, on which people, often teenagers, would tattoo poorly on their legs. He states: ‘People would wear them like a badge of honour tattoos tell a story of who you are, and these had told the story of ‘I'm impulsive’, ‘I'm wild’. ‘I had a good time getting a Shane Warne tattoo while high on MDMA’ makes for an infinitely better story than the person who just got the word ‘strength’ at a parlour.’ The popularity of this ‘party’ culture in tattooing became so popular that the nature of tattoos themselves changed in these contexts. The tattoos themselves became ‘weirder’, ‘postmodern’ and ‘self-referential’ - all features we see in ignorant.

Earlier in the video, struthless quotes the founding father of the tattoo style american traditional: Norman Kieth ‘Sailor Jerry’ Collins. Sailor Jerry stated that ‘tattoos were a way to publically broadcast your link to counter-culture’. Based on this definition, an interesting point struthless raises in his essay is the idea that the medium of tattoo has become the the act of broadcasting your ‘rebellion’ from mainstream culture, rather than the imagery the tattoos were composed of. After the ‘party culture’ of tattoos and the bricolage of ideas and designs coming in from social media, the meaning of the tattoos themselves became less relevant to the artform. He goes on to state that ‘now that so many people had them on their skin, the true way to rebel was to rebel to their permanence itself. It was like people were laughing in the face of the fact that tattoos were forever. The medium becomes the message.’ This sentiment is also echoed in my primary research in which I asked a tattoo artist I know, Aria, to give her opinions as to why ignorant style tattoos are so popular, especially with young people. She stated that ignorant ‘brings through what I feel is the most important part of tattooing, and that’s the process. Less about the final product and more about the time, skill and personality behind the work.’ She also believes that ignorant tattoos have an ‘ironic beauty’ that separates from the ‘toxic, masculine’ patriarchal history of tattooing.

In the video essay, ‘struthless’ links the style of ignorant tattoos to Albert Camus’ philosophical concept of ‘Absurdism’. Simplified, ’absurdism’ is the idea that life inherently lacks meaning which gives humans options as to how to live their lives: ‘philosophical suicide’ (join a belief system), become miserable because of life’s lack of meaning or, the philosophy ignorant tattoos favour, revel in lack of meaning and make the meaning less important. This tendency to indulge in weird for the sake of weird spikes in times of instability when times are tough. The conflicts between our desire to find meaning in our lives and our inability to find that meaning is at an all-time high,’ struthless explains. Given the socio-economic struggles of the past two decades, emphasised by social media, its no wonder where the trend has suddenly come from. The idea of absurdism inspiring artwork after struggles, also aided by technological development, is the rise of abstract expressionism after the Second World War. Post-WW2, fine art in particular took on many qualities that mirror the development of tattoo today: emphasis on process and concept rather than practical quality and realism, becoming more accessible to more people as there is no formal training necessarily required and, most similarly, rejection from the mainstream. After WW2, artists began asking questions about human nature and emotion rather than attempting to convey realism, with many artists moving towards abstract artwork. The camera had been developed and therefore no need to replicate real life within painting, for example. The development of the camera alongside artists embracing absurdism echoes the development of the most current tattoo trend.

#vcc2 why?

[dearmrsawyer]

8x21 “The Great Escapist” | I could never go on a quest like that

#spnedit #supernatural #canonspngifs #spnwhenever #my graphics #i can't....... explain. how much i love this monologue #the acting! the words! what this MEANS in the macro story #its the details #like the fact that galahad was kneeling #and thinking about little sam (who we have an emotional connection to bc we've seen him in flashbacks) #looking at that picture and thinking about his own lack of worthiness #and now essentially being willing to die if it means he's worthy #and how dean will just never truly understand sam's internal world - no matter how much he loves him #i love you sam

[idrellegames]

Wayfarer: Frequently Asked Questions

Mobile-accessible FAQ for Wayfarer. Contains (in descending order):

I. General

II. Help Desk

III. Player Character

IV. Story Content & Gameplay Mechanics

V. Characters & Factions

VI. Romances

VII. Fan Art & Fanfiction

VIII. Other

Desktop version located here. If you’re on desktop, you can use the menu on the right-hand sidebar to jump around to a specific part of the FAQ.

Please read the Ask Guidelines before submitting an ask.

I. GENERAL

✦ When will the game be released?

The public version of the game is released episodically on itch.io. A full game release date is TBD. It’s a long game, it will take a while to develop!

✦ How much will it cost?

Wayfarer Act 1 (which encompasses the Prologue and Episodes 1-3) will be playable for free. Future pricing for early access to later episodes while the game is in development is TBD.

Wayfarer’s alpha content will continue be available to play through Patreon. Please note that patrons only have access to the alpha as long as they are pledged.

✦ Where can I play the game? Can I play it on my phone?

Wayfarer is an HTML5 game, which means it is played in your browser. The game is fully mobile accessible, so you can play it on desktop or your phone!

The game is formatted to open automatically in portrait mode. If you want to play in landscape mode on mobile, you will need to use a non-Chromium browser like Firefox or DuckDuckGo.

✦ Will there be a downloadable/offline/app version?

Non-browser versions of the game are TBD. While it is possible to turn Twine games into an executable file or an app, I will not be pursuing this option until the entire game is complete.

✦ What’s the difference between the public build and the alpha build?

The public build is the public version of the game. It is available for everyone to play for free on itch.io.

The alpha build is the early-access build. It contains in-development content and episodes that aren’t playable on the public build. It is only available to Patrons and playtesters and is accessible through a private link and password. The password changes on the first of each month, so if you are a Patron and unsubscribe, you will lose access to the alpha build when your Patreon access ends.

In the future, there will be three versions of the game:

Free (Episodes 1-3)

Early Access Build (completed episodes past Episode 3, stopping two episodes before the alpha build’s content)

Patreon/Alpha Build (the whole game to date, including in-development portions of the most recent episode)

✦ How many episodes are in the game?

Wayfarer is divided into a prologue, an epilogue, and three acts containing 15 episodes.

Prologue

Act 1: Episodes 1 to 3

Act 2: Episodes 4 to 8

Act 3: Episodes 9 to 12

Act 4: Episodes 13 to 15

Epilogue

This list may change during development as I may need to split episodes. There is also a possibility of the game becoming 4 games, split along the act divides.

✦ How long is the game?

Long! Because of diverging paths and the emphasis on player choice, the full game will ultimately comprise millions of words. However, that doesn’t mean that a single playthrough will be that long. One playthrough will only see a portion of what the entire game includes.

There are three stats available with each update:

Average Playtime: the amount of time it will take to do a playthrough

Average Word Count Per Playthrough: the average amount of words the player will read during a single playthrough

Total Word Count: the total, cumulative word count of the game. This includes all paths, routes, outcomes, codex entries, tutorials, and notification text.

✦ How did you make your game?

Wayfarer is written and programmed in Twine 2, using the latest version of SugarCube. If you want to get started with your own Twine game, here are a few resources for beginners:

Download Twine

SugarCube Documentation

Twine Resources & Macros by Chapel

Twine Grimoire Vol. 1 by Grim Baccaris

Twine Grimoire Vol. 2 by Grim Baccaris

✦ How did you make your game look different from other SugarCube games?

You can strip the default UI and replace it with a custom one with the StoryInterface passage.

Wayfarer uses this template by @/cerberus-writes.

✦ How did you code [element in your game]? Can you show me?

In general, I am happy to help with basic Twine questions. My coding in Twine tag is a good place to start as I cover commonly requested mechanics and ideas for plotting and writing interactive fiction. There are also links to external resources, guides, and templates.

While I’m happy to help, I cannot give you Wayfarer’s files so you can see how I coded the game. I also cannot code your game for you.

The best way to learn is to try things yourself. Download the program and play around with it. Try making a character creator or a branching dialogue tree. I know it can seem daunting if you have no prior coding experience, but the only way you’ll get comfortable with it is if you try things out, make mistakes, and learn what works for you.

✦ I’m interested in helping out. Can I be a playtester? What’s required?

Thank you for your interest! I am not accepting new playtesters at this time.

Playtesters test new material before it is added to the public build. They hunt for bugs, typos, continuity errors, and other mistakes, and report those errors. To be a playtester, you must be a member of Wayfarer’s Discord server (17+ only). Selected playtesters are given the Playtester role, which allows access to the private playtester channels.

After you are selected, you must remain active in the private playtester channels and report the bugs you find. Playtesting is not free access to the alpha build. If you are not active, your playtester role will be removed and you will lose access to the alpha build.

Playtesters are credited in the game’s credits.

✦ Will your translate your game?

No. Even if I did have a team to translate the game into other languages, I do not have the ability to code translated text into the game. Unfortunately, Wayfarer will be an English-language game only.

✦ Can I translate your game?

No. Wayfarer will be several million words long by the time it is finished. Its length along makes it difficult to translate without funding or support (which is not something I can provide). Additionally, as mentioned above, I do not have the ability to code in translated text.

✦ I'm a writer/editor/coder. Can I work with you on your game?

No. I am a solo developer. I do not work with co-writers, I code the game myself, and I have an editor.

II. HELP DESK

✦ I tried to launch your game and received an error message / the game takes forever to load. What do I do?

If you encounter any errors with launching the game, check this post here! It includes common errors and their solutions.

Please try out the solutions before reaching out or making a bug report. Most of the time, errors with the game launching or assets failing to load have to do with your personal settings on your browser and not the game itself.

✦ I lost my saves!

Twine’s engine stores save data in your browser. If you clear your browser history/cache, your progress will be lost. You can use Save to Disk to download your saves directly to your device and Load to Disk to upload them.

Note: Using Save to Disk is like using an unlimited additional save slot. It cannot download your browser saves in bulk. If you want to backup all of your browser saves, you will have to load each save individually and back them up one-at-a-time with Save to Disk.

✦ I’m not clearing my cache and I'm still losing my saves. What do I do?

Some browsers and extensions clear your cache automatically or when you close your browser. iOS also occasionally checks your apps’ cache and purges it, so this could be the issue if you are using an iPhone or an iPad. If you are still losing your browser saves, this may be the reason.

Check your settings to see if you can disable that feature; if not, you may need to switch devices or rely on manual saves.

✦ When I go to the save the game, I get an error message but the autosave still works.

This is a known issue on the itch.io app. If you are playing on the app, you will only have access to the autosave and you will not be able to use the browser save slots. You can still make manual saves to your device with Save to Disk.

If you’d like to use the browser save slots, please play on a browser!

✦ The interactive map won’t load and I can’t proceed with the game. What do I do?

There are many reasons why a game image may not load (internet connection, your browser settings, issues with image hosting on itch.io, etc).

If you encounter a blank map or you cannot interact with the map, go to Settings and turn off the Interactive Map. This will give you a list of location links you can click on instead. If the change doesn't immediately register, make a save, close your browser, re-open your browser and the game, and load your save.

✦ I found a bug!

Thank you!

If you’re playing the public build: please report it to the form here.

If you’re playing the alpha build: please report it to the appropriate bug channels in Wayfarer's Patreon Discord server.

Please don’t post bugs to the game's comments on itch or send them via ask.

III. PLAYER CHARACTER

✦ Who is the player character? How customizable are they?

The player character is a member of an order of warriors called Wayfarers. Wayfarers are born with complete magical immunity. They cannot use magic or magical items, their physical touch suppresses magic, they cannot see illusions, and they can break enchantments, barriers, wards and curses.

You can customize the following:

Name (defaults and suggestions are provided)

Gender (male, female, and nonbinary options)

Pronouns (use a pre-set or make your own pronoun set)

Ancestry (choose from 5 fantasy species)

Origin (choose from 6 different backgrounds)

Appearance (complexion, hair, eye colour, height, tattoos & scars)

Aliases & Nickname

✦ How old is the player character?

The player character is canonically in their early 30s. They are a child/young teen during the Prologue. There is an 21 year time skip between the Prologue and Episode 1.

✦ How tall are the heights supposed to be?

Heights are left deliberately vague. Player’s interpretations of what counts as “short” and “tall” are going to vary, which is why I don’t have specifics heights or height ranges in the game. But in general, this is what I personally imagine for the heights:

Very short: 5 feet and under

Short: 5’1 to 5’4”

Average: 5’5” to 5’9”

Tall: 5’10” to 6’2”

Very Tall: 6’3” and over.

If you have a very short character, the game is going to treat them like they’re well below an average height, but still able to get around mostly unhindered.

✦ What are the ancestries?

Ancestry refers to the player character’s species. There are five species in the Wayfarer world. Ancestry choice grants the player a unique attribute and affects some dialogue and action choices.

Humans The original inhabitants of the continent of Rhesainia. They live between 80 and 100 years.

Attribute: Lost in the Crowd [allows the player to hide easily in crowds]

Dwarves The original inhabitants of the continent of Vergelnar. They closely resemble humans and live to be around 300 years.

Attribute: Poison Immunity [prevents the Poison status]

Elves Distant descendants of the Eleneids. With the exception of their pointed years, they closely resemble humans. They live between 180 and 200 years.

Attribute: Night Vision [allows the player to see at night and pass all perception checks]

Melusine Distant descendants of the Eleneids who reside in the world’s oceans, lakes, and rivers. They are often tall with bright skin tones, hair colours, and eyes. They also have pointed ears and fangs. Their lifespans are incredibly long and they live for many centuries.

Attribute: Aquatic Affinity [gives the player additional options when in water]

Aeda Distant descendants of the Eleneids who reside in isolated mountains and forests. They resemble elves, with a few notable exceptions: metallic and jewel-toned hair and eye colours, wings, and crests (natural markings that appear around the eyes and forehead). They live between 70 and 80 years.

Attribute: Superhearing [allows the player to overhear conversations that may otherwise go unheard]

Player characters who are Melusine and Aeda have a human parent and are not full-blooded Melusine or Aeda.

✦ What are the origins?

There are six potential origins for the player character. Origin affects the player character’s starting stats, as well as some unique dialogue and action choices.

Child of the Desert You are from a family of warriors who reside in the deserts of Sathir. You have spent most of your childhood travelling your native lands, training to fight and protect. Even at your young age you have mastered a diverse set of weapons and techniques. Though you were never ostracized by your family for your peculiar lack of magic, you were always treated with a sense of pity – an unfortunate soul unable to live out their potential.

Child of the Wilds You are from a clan of hunters in the Artanisian wilds. You have spent most of your childhood learning the ways of the hunt. Many in your clan thought your lack of magic to be a hindrance and at a young age you were branded the black sheep of the family. Though you worked twice as hard to prove yourself among those who wielded magic, you could never live up to the clan’s expectations.

Child of the Fields You are the child of farmers from the rich fields of Arsenia. You have never held a weapon in your life, but you are accustomed to hard work. You spent much of your childhood taking your family’s goods to the local market, where you nurtured a hidden talent for bartering. Though you’ve always felt relatively normal, your friends and peers have always seen you as a little strange, perhaps due to your lack of magic.

Child of the Streets You have never known parents or a family. All you have left of them is the name they gave you. You are one of the hundreds of children lost on the streets of Nesactium, the capital of Arsenia. Most don’t survive. Those without magic shouldn’t survive. But you did. Everything you know you’ve taught yourself.

Child of the Seas You were born in Tol Covere to a wealthy family whose mercantile empire spans the Rhesainian Ocean. As a child with no magic, you were often forgotten about, nothing more than a waste of resources in comparison to your magically talented siblings and cousins. Even so, you were taken on multiple journeys and have already seen your fair share of the world, from aristocrats to pirates.

Child of the City You were born in Vodena, into the Vestran aristocracy. Despite your lack of magic, you were given the education of a noble, studying history, mathematics, sciences, music, and multiple languages. However, you were always seen as an odd child, the disappointment of the family, and you were ostracized from your peers.

IV. STORY CONTENT & GAMEPLAY MECHANICS

✦ Why am I failing?

The idea of “failing forwards” is a core concept behind Wayfarer’s gameplay. The player character messes up and life continues on. Failure will never stop the game from progressing, it is simply another path. There is unique content behind every failure; some routes or paths can only be accessed through failure.

If this is your first time playing the game, I highly recommend seeing where the game takes you before you hit reload.

✦ How do skill checks work? Why do I suck at your game?

Skill checks are the dice roll number + the player’s level number. If the combined number is higher than the pass threshold, you will pass. If it is lower, you will fail.

Some checks have a higher or lower threshold to pass than usual, depending on the circumstances. For example, if you have a Persuasion check against a character who is very set in their ways and who already doesn’t like the player character, the threshold to pass will be much higher than normal.

There are some rare red herring skill checks that result in an automatic fail. In this case, you will get a Skill Ineffective notification (this is to prevent players from trying to save scum their way through a choice that always results in failure).Succeeding a skill check is not the same thing as winning and failing a skill check is not the same as losing. This is not a game that you can win or lose. Success and failure changes the story content you see and how your character’s journey progresses.

✦ How do I improve my skill level?

You will be allotted up to three skill points to level up at the end of each episode. How many skill points you receive depends on your health status and a dice roll. Full Health has the highest chance to receive 3 skill points. Injured has the lowest chance.

If you re-load your autosave to re-distribute your points, you will get a new dice roll and a new allotment of points.

It is possible to receive 0 skill points.

✦ How do I get Varyn, Cenric or Sero as my master?

See this ask here.

You can also select your master manually with the Quick Character Creator. The QCC skips the Prologue and proceeds straight to Episode 1.

✦ How to I get a specific result or story outcome?

Check the walkthroughs tag.

If your question is not answered there, ask in the Wayfarer Discord server. I will not be creating detailed walkthroughs that cover all choices, approval changes and outcomes at this time.

V. CHARACTERS & FACTIONS

✦ Who is the main cast?

There are seven characters in Wayfarer’s main cast, also known as companion characters. Companions join the player’s party and follow them throughout their journey. The MC can form relationships with them (sometimes romantic, sometimes strictly platonic) and the strength of their bonds will shape the course of the story.

While you cannot remove a companion from your party, you can decline to pursue their personal quests.

The companion characters include (a * denotes a companion with romance content):

Aeran Kellis*

Alexia Antonis*

Calla Tormond*

Felix Navorre

Melchior Larkspur*

Nelani an’Zoraia

Ren Varadon*

✦ What about other major characters?

Wayfarer has a lot of major characters. You can see a full list in the character roster here. Mobile users, you will have to open this link in a browser. Pages do not load on the app.

✦ What are factions?

Velantis is filled with organizations and institutions pursuing their own goals. The MC will become entangled with six of them throughout their journey. How they navigate their relationship with these factions will determine the course of the story.

The factions include:

The Order of Lethalis: a sect of Guild mages looking to re-establish control over the Guild

The Order of Solarath: a sect of Guild mages searching for the source and cause of magic

The Arathian Empire: the Imperials who govern Velantis and seek to maintain control of the city

The Velantian Loyalists: Velantians loyal to their former kingdom and are fighting for independence from the Empire

The Arcanists’ Lodge: a guild dedicated to magical engineering and technology

The Meissandium: the dominant religion in Rhesainia, headquartered in Velantis

Balancing faction approval is an essential part of the game. It is not possible to side amicably with all factions and keep high approval with your companions.

✦ What do the characters look like? What ancestry are they? How old are they?

Because the cast is so large and will eventually encompass hundreds of characters, not everyone will have official art. Please keep in mind that sometimes I make small changes to descriptions and I forget to update this page, so if something in the game contradicts the description here, the game is always correct.

Official character portraits can be found here.

Descriptions of all companions and major characters are available on the character page (desktop/browser only, this link will not open in the app). This includes physical descriptions, their ancestry, and their age.

A skin tone reference sheet for the companions is here. Please use this reference when drawing the characters. I will not endorse whitewashed or offensive art.

✦ When will everyone be introduced?

All major and romanceable characters will be introduced by the end of Act 1. Characters with romance content are marked with a *.

Prologue: Aeran Kellis*, Rindan Cenric, Brissa Varyn, Amali Sero, Sabien Quirinus

Episode 1: Zenaida Anaxas, Malsara Markal, Nova Markal, Rhodarth Nairan*

Episode 2: Sophia Anaxas, Sandro Anaxas, Melchior Larkspur*, Phaedra Amestris*, Umbria Bellaris, Allegra Arantir (conditional)

Episode 3: If the player did not meet Allegra in the previous episode, they will meet her here

Episode 4: Raven*, Alexia Antonis*, Ren Varadon* or Calla Tormond* (conditional)

Episode 5: Ves Sithia. If Alexia, Calla or Ren have not been encountered yet, they will be introduced in this episode

Episode 6: Hypatia Navorre, Athana Navorre, Lyrian Blushrose*, Nelani an’Zoraia

Episode 7: Kellan Osgar, Vara Helmi, Felix Navorre

VI. ROMANCES

✦ How many romances are there in the game?

There are four main romances and four secondary romances. These include:

Alexia Antonis [romanceable by everyone]

Ren Varadon [romanceable by everyone]

Calla Tormond [romanceable by everyone]

Melchior Larkspur [romanceable by everyone]

Rhodarth Nairan [gender-locked to male & nonbinary MCs]

Raven [gender-locked to male & nonbinary MCs]

Phaedra Amestris [gender-locked to female & nonbinary MCs]

Lyrian Blushrose [romanceable by everyone; only available on Melchior’s polyamorous route]

Romances are optional and the game can be enjoyed without romancing anyone.

You may encounter characters outside the ones listed here who have flirt prompts or romance flags. I highly recommend playing the game and seeing where things lead you, rather than pre-planning a specific course.

✦ What’s the difference between main romances and secondary romances?

Main romances are romances with companion characters. They are the most complex and their storylines are related to the main plot of the game and can be accessed by all players, regardless of gender. You will have to manage the companion’s approval stat as well as their romance stat.

Each romance will unlock at different rates and their content will play out in different ways.

Alexia is asexual and has no interest in a sexual relationship.

Ren is demisexual and requires a strong emotional bond (i.e. high approval and high romance) before his romance will unlock.

Calla is open to open relationships, but if you want to pursue more than one character while being in a relationship with her, you may need to have certain conversations with her.

Melchior is polyamorous. He has two romances—a polyamorous romance with Lyrian and the player character, and a monogamous romance with the player character. To unlock the monogamous romance, your approval must be high and you must have certain conversations with him.

Sexual and romantic compatibility is a major theme of all romance routes and it will be a discussion point between romanceable characters and the player character.

Secondary romances offer more streamlined content. These relationships range from one-night stands to friends-with-benefits to intimate relationships that are not dependent on the main plot. They are far less complex to manage as they only have one approval bar (rather than the romance/approval split the companion ROs have).

Some are locked by conditional story events. For example, if Rhodarth survives Episode 1 and leaves the Count’s service, he will be available later in the game. If he dies or does not leave, he will not appear.

With the exception of Lyrian, all secondary romances are gender-locked (meaning your player character needs to be a certain gender in order to pursue the romance).

✦ Why are there gender-locked romances?

While I’m all here for bisexual representation, I do think it’s easy to fall into the trap of “player sexuality” when you make every romanceable character bisexual. Wayfarer is a LGBTQIA+ game, which means some of my characters are gay and lesbian, and I need to stay true to that.

✦ Then why can nonbinary MCs romance everyone?

Because nonbinary is a complex identity that encompasses a diverse breadth of experiences. The distinctions between one nonbinary identity and another are far more than I can feasibly put into a game like this, which means it is nearly impossible to create numerous flags to control the way nonbinary gender identities intersect with sexual orientations.

Furthermore, a person’s sexual orientation doesn’t change when their partner is nonbinary. A gay man can have a nonbinary spouse and still be gay.

✦ Will there be asexual romance paths with characters besides Alexia?

Yes! All romance scenes will have allosexual and asexual choices. You can pursue one or the other, or flip between them as you wish.

Allosexual choices (marked with a filled-in heart) will lead to scenes that emphasize sexual desire and intimacy. These will sometimes lead to fade-to-black/implied sex scenes.

Asexual choices (marked with a heart outline) will lead to scenes that emphasize romantic attraction and intimacy. Your MC does not need to have sex to pursue a loving relationship.

See this post here for more information.

✦ Will there be smut in the romance scenes?

Steamy lead-up? Sure. Sexually explicit material? No.

✦ Can I romance more than one character?

You can try! Depends on the character(s). ;)

✦ Will there be a poly route?

There is one polyamorous route with Melchior and Lyrian.

Calla is open to open relationships, so you may be able to pursue multiple characters at the same time while romancing her.

✦ Will it be possible to have a queerplatonic relationship with the characters?

There are unique friendship scenes for high or maxed out approval that do not trigger if you are romancing that character. Friendships are just as important as romances in this game and one is not weighted more importantly than the other. Nelani and Felix do not have any romance content at all, but they may end up being the person your MC is closest with.

You can read more about that here!

✦ If I flirt with Aeran in Episode 1, will I be locked out of an RO’s romance?

Nope! Flirt to your heart's content—at your discretion. I am not responsible for any feelings that may occur as a result of flirting with Aeran.

✦ How do I get +60 romance points with Aeran by Episode 2? How do I unlock his high romance and his Episode 2 intimacy scene?

You have to select the #4 option when Aeran is introduced:

#4. You are friends and you are partners. You can’t imagine this life without him at your side. Though nothing romantic has happened between you, you can’t help but wonder…

This will flag his romance. It's not possible to gain romance points with him otherwise, the MC's feelings for him have to be established from the beginning (he is the only romanceable companion who works like this and it's because they've known each since childhood).

For his high romance content in Episode 2, you HAVE to net over 60 romance points in Episode 1, which is only possible if you:

Get knocked unconscious on any of the boss fights (Count fight, basilisk fight, town square riot, etc).

If you're leaving Rona conscious, then you're going to miss out on the only opportunity to get a head start on his romance. Because Aeran is a fool and he doesn't realize he's in love with the MC unless they almost die.

In Episode 2, you need to make sure that:

Your approval points don't drop below 60

Your romance points don't drop below 60

You cannot have personally killed Rhodarth or have ordered him to kill Rhodarth in Episode 1

Do not tell him about the letters (if you've read them) during the fight at the end of Episode 2

Do not go to Melchior's party

Do not accept Veyer's tryst (you can absolutely make out with them and then leave and go back to Aeran though, if your MC is that kind of messy)

✦ Why isn’t [this character I like] romanceable?

Because this isn’t a romance game. Romances are optional content and they are a lot of work to create. The available characters were chosen very carefully because they have stories I’m interested in telling.

VII. FAN ART & FAN FICTION

✦ Can I make fan art?

Yes! I love seeing different artists’ takes on the characters and story. If you’ve made something, feel free to tag me in it! I do my best to check the Wayfarer tags and reblog the lovely artworks artists have shared.

✦ Can I write fanfiction?

Of course! I love fanfiction. I wrote it for many years before jumping to professional writing. If you’re inspired, go for it! I’m honoured that my work has sparked someone else’s creativity.

However, I won’t be reading or reblogging any Wayfarer fanfic. Fanfiction gets messy when the original creator is involved. I would like to avoid being influenced, even subconsciously, by other people writing about my characters. Maybe when the game is finished I’ll be able to showcase fanfic on this blog, but until then, it won’t be shared here.

I would appreciate if you didn’t @ the blog directly in your written works for now. Thank you!

✦ What about commissions?

Private commissions are fine. Commercialized fan art (merch, prints, online store, etc) without my express permission is not.

As personalized short stories set in the Wayfarer world are a Patreon benefit, I would appreciate if fanfiction authors do not attempt to make money off my world or characters, even for private commissions.

VIII. OTHER

✦ How do you make your maps?

I use a program called Wonderdraft. It is not a free program, but it is well-priced for what it offers. It comes with hundreds of built-in assets, but you can also import custom-assets to suit your needs.

Other mapmaking resources:

Inkarnate

Medieval Fantasy City Generator by Watabou

Fantasy Map Generator by Azgaar

✦ How can I support you?

Sharing and talking about the game helps me out so much! But if you want to help financially, you can support me on Patreon. Patreon is the main way the Wayfarer’s development is funded and the game wouldn’t exist without my patrons.

Patrons receive a bunch of special benefits and perks, including access to the alpha build, bonus content, writing tutorials and more. You can find the full details here.

Just note that Patreon charges first when you sign up and then subsequently on the 1stof each month. If it’s near the end of the month, I would wait for the next month to roll around before pledging. Otherwise, you will be charged back-to-back.

#wayfarer #wayfarer if #faq #announcements

[thevagueambition]

One of the key differences between Flint and Silver IMO is that Flint always believes the stories he's telling, at least to some extent. Even when they're not his own, even when he's telling them not out of belief but to achieve a goal, a part of him believes them. Silver, on the other hand, never believes any of his own stories (and very rarely anyone else's), but stays detached from them. In the macro, this also corresponds to how Flint has a very specific internal story for what he's doing and why that is based in his own experiences, his own truth, while Silver refuses to relay any truth of his backstory and has little in the way of an internal story about what is happening and why.

To Silver stories are a means to an end and while Flint also uses stories this way, they’re much more to him than a simple rhetorical tool. They’re how he makes sense of the world, how he keeps on going, how he justifies his own actions in the face of his morals.

Silver initially wants wealth, then becomes loyal to people. Flint, on the other hand, is always working in service of an ideal, a story, a version of the truth. Initially it is Thomas’ version of the truth he wants to see become realised, he wants Thomas’ story to go on beyond his death, he wants to give his words power over a reality he is no longer able to shape. Later, it is Miranda’s story of Peter Ashe’s actions and of the fate of Charlestown that leads him to act -- he goes about realising her story as well.

I wonder if the reason Flint’s so adrift in early season 3, beyond his grief, is not also because he’s not sure yet what the new story is. He has made himself the villain of the new world, has set in motion a story about his name and his evil deeds, but there is no room for his own truth at this point in time. In allying with Maroon Island, he is given a new story to work on, a story where he no longer has to be simply a monster meant to scare off those who would attack Nassau. In allying with Maroon Island, he manages to formulate the story of revolution, of injustice and the victims of it standing up in solidarity to oppose it.

Flint needs stories to function, while Silver picks them up and puts them down with much more ease.

#siggi rambles #black sails

[kiefbowl]

can you explain what socialized is supposed to mean? or just socialization? i see ppl use it all the time here but when i look it up it makes no sense.

humans are social creatures, meaning we create society with each other by living together, working together, creating groups together (etc).

socialization is a huge way we learn about the world. a good example of this is mythos (or mythology). in every culture across space and time, humans will create images and stories that reinforce mores, cultural ideas, instill an ethical framework...and because of the way human brains work, we understand these things as true which is a loaded word philosophically. Things can be true with out being scientifically factual by way of collective belief. For example, money is only worth what it's worth because we all decide it is money (this is of course a very simplistic look at money, but it is the basic tenet of it).

Mythology is not "old" and "ancient", it is an integral part of human society and it is malleable. Perhaps you and I don't sit around a camp fire every night listening to an oral tradition about dragons and gods and ancient wars and hell...but we do turn on the TV and watch commercials. We go online and join discord servers filled with memes. We go to bars and hear songs playing over our conversations. And sometimes we DO sit around a campfire and tell stories to each other.

All of this information constantly bombarding us from birth until death is unavoidable and effects us. It's not a bad or good thing, but it can lead groups of people to take up some pretty bad ideas, but it can also lead group to take up some pretty good ideas. And benign ideas. Etiquette, for example, is a set of rules on how to act in public and private to be polite and respectful. Etiquette changes from culture to culture, but there's no one "good" form of etiquette, and what's polite in one culture can seem downright rude in the other, but in the macro sense these tend to be benign behaviors and ultimately having a set of understood society rules is a good thing. The only way to learn etiquette is through socialization. We grow up in our culture where our mothers and fathers correct our behavior, tv and movies show how people act in groups, and rude people are treated poorly by others around us. We don't sit down for etiquette class at age 5, we just absorb it through cultural osmosis.

You don't choose socialization, and you aren't socialized as one thing. You are constantly being socialized through your interactions with other humans and the culture we create together, and you are constantly socializing others.

Hope this helps :)

[verycharismaticdragon]

1. As someone who watched SHL first and read TYK second, I can try to explain how things came across to me. About Long Que's death, on first watch I was confused because I didn't yet know what ZZS had figured out, but on second watch it made perfect sense to me to have WKX cut the chains. ZZS had just realized that LQ was the only person left who had tried to help WKX's family, and cutting the chains was the only way left for WKX to thank him, because he was clearly not up to talking.

2. The hair brushing scene also made sense to me due to what we'd seen previously. It never seemed like WKX was very personable with the members of the dept of the unfaithful, and when we saw him talk to a couple of them earlier on they were wary of him. I got the picture that he never really interacted with anyone except Beauty Ghost, Luo Fumeng and Gu Xiang personally. And so the rest of them would have heard the same rumors as the rest of the Valley about him being dangerously unpredictable.

3. As for the rain scene and the new years celebration, both felt well paced and like they had the perfect amount of oomph in the plot. The rain scene's tragedy felt heightened to me because of the secondary plot, because WKX's complete inability to pay attention to Gu Xiang's words made the extent of his misery feel that much worse. It was what made it click for me how both in love and unwell his character was, in addition to highlighting how he wasn't able to be who Gu Xiang needed him to be.

4. The new years, on the other hand, felt like the climax of the domestic arc that had continued for around 8 episodes by that point with very little conflict. Not knowing what was going to happen, but having had so much time to watch the peaceful family life documentary, it felt like a relief to the building tension to finally see the other shoe drop. It didn't lessen the enjoyment, but instead felt like the rightful resolution to the story arc. Reading the novel, all of these felt very

5. different, but then I found the novel a very different story altogether. In the show I enjoyed the macro focus on generational changes, and in the book I liked the micro focus on just wenzhou. Show wenzhou felt like a very flawed relationship of 2 people who need the time immortality gave them to heal and learn to live for each other, and who were given that as an act of generational redemption by YBY. Novel wenzhou felt like true 知己 who clicked like puzzle pieces outside the general society.

6. I like both the novel and the show, but they feel like two very different stories built on the same prompt, if that makes sense? From the themes to the pacing to some of the characterization, I had to actively separate the stories in my mind to be able to fully enjoy the novel for what it was after watching the show. I think it's an interesting case study of a successful, but very different adaptation to a screen.

–––

Ohhh this is v interesting, thank you for taking time to reply!

ZZS had just realized that LQ was the only person left who had tried to help WKX's family, and cutting the chains was the only way left for WKX to thank him

I mean, this is pretty much Wen Kexing’s motivation in the novel, even though nobody else present knows it, but what bothered me about this scene was show!Zishu making the choice for Wen Kexing. Like, I wouldn’t spring ‘hey assist this sui/cide’ on a mentally well person out of the blue, let alone someone who’s visibly in shock. But again it’s possible my perception is affected by novel’s “asks consent before saving someone’s life” Zishu?

It never seemed like WKX was very personable with the members of the dept of the unfaithful, and when we saw him talk to a couple of them earlier on they were wary of him.

Ah, I see, definitely affected by having novel brain on then – compared to the sheer terror WKX inspires in the novel his show’s counterpart comes off as almost friendly. Like, that moment WKX tells those two girls not to return to Ghost Valley, and they actually disagree? To his face? Not something that could happen to his novel counterpart that’s for sure.

It was what made it click for me how both in love and unwell his character was, in addition to highlighting how he wasn't able to be who Gu Xiang needed him to be.

Yeah several people actually told me they felt the rain scene was strong enough in the show. Perspective!

The new years, on the other hand, felt like the climax of the domestic arc that had continued for around 8 episodes by that point with very little conflict. Not knowing what was going to happen, but having had so much time to watch the peaceful family life documentary, it felt like a relief to the building tension to finally see the other shoe drop.

Oh. Hm. This just made me realize that not coming from the novel, Four Seasons manor arc must’ve indeed felt enjoyable and peaceful? For me it was like, low simmer of annoyance at the whole “WKX hides his identity as ghost master” arc (out-of-story, way to throw their novel dynamic out of the window, in-story, this problem was entirely created by ZZS and to have him, like, ~nobly~ wait for wkx to tell him on his own, when he was the one who scared wkx into hiding it in the first place was…) punctuated by bursts of anxiety every time they name-dropped or used Drunk Like a Dream (Qi Ye has conditioned me to expect bad things to happen whenever it’s used). So to have all that finally resolved and then not even getting to enjoy the one sequence they adapted closely..? Yeah ok definitely seeing this one should’ve been put on petty complaints list.

I like both the novel and the show, but they feel like two very different stories built on the same prompt, if that makes sense? From the themes to the pacing to some of the characterization, I had to actively separate the stories in my mind to be able to fully enjoy the novel for what it was after watching the show.

Yeah, very much with you on them being very different stories!

I think my problem is like… if I try to see SHL as an adaptation, it doesn’t work as an adaptation because it changed or reversed almost everything about the novel. But if I try to see it as its own story, I don’t like it as much as the novel. And I’m really a ‘hyperfixate or nothing’ type of person when it comes to enjoying things.... It’s a bit of a pity because I think I could’ve enjoyed the show if it was the only version of the story there was, but with the two of them side by side, I just like the novel’s choices better.

And I would probably be content to stay in like, novel fandom’s little corner, if there wasn’t so much of SHL content still seeping in somehow (like, the amount of people that keep posting show-only content in the novel tags? the fact that 4/5 fics tagged “Faraway Wanderers” on ao3 are also tagged “Word of Honor”? me finding out there’s a character limit to twitter’s advanced search query because of how many terms I had to filter out of my searches?). So my comparisons are like… 80% me trying to process my own damn feelings and 20% trying to let people know treating the two as a single story isn’t the best idea.

...Sorry for going on the tangent here, this isn’t directed at you but just something that was. on my mind for a bit.

#tyk shl comparisons #tian ya ke meta #word of honor meta

[linkspooky]

Annie Runs Away (Again).

Annie has suddenly decided she’s a pacifist. Annie is leaving on a journey of self discovery. Perfect timing. You take all the time you need. It’s not like the world’s ending or anything. 

Just kidding. Annie’s not actually acting any different than she usually acts. I’ve said this before, but Annie and Armin are characters who continually exhibit regression rather than development. If you remain the same person more or less throughout the story, that’s not suddenly going to change without impetus. You’re always just the same person, even at the end of the world. 

An analysis on Annie and Armin’s failings under the cut. How they parallel Eremika, and why they can’t get close. 

1. But That’s None of My Business

Let’s bring out my handy dandy Want / Need chart again. 

Want

: something your character desires, because they believe it’ll improve their happiness.

Need

: the lesson they need to learn to overcome their inner struggle and achieve true happiness.

Annie has run away again and again throughout her entire arc. 

Annie’s a survivalist. Her own life comes before anybody else’s. When the chips are down, Annie will always choose to run away and protect herself. When things get hard her response is essentially to find some way to escape, and insist that the ongoing conflcit has nothing to do with her therefore there’s no reason for her to be personally invested. 

The entire tunnel scene is symbolic for this. All Annie had to do was make a choice to confront what she had done. She had to choose to walk into a situation that would be unsafe and even potentially compromise her. 

There was a chance, but Annie can’t even walk into a situation where she’s potentially unsafe. She can’t handle any confrontation. Annie, who is capable fo turning into the female titan, and easily can beat up men twice her size, and yet ultimately that physical strength means nothing because Annie is a self serving coward. 

We know the reason why Annie is like this. It is a pretty good reason. Her father told her that the most important thing above all else was her own survival. Annie was raised like a child soldier, to her all she has is her strength, and her promise to reunite with her father. If one fails, if she’s not strong enough to fight her way out of a situation she falls back to the other and runs. That’s why Annie as a person is both strong, and incredibly weak, she can’t even stand the slightest confrontation. 

Annie says she doesn’t care about being a good person, but she also gets tripped up and coerced by Armin’s words that he’ll think less of her. Annie says she will kill anyone on this island to survive, but she fails just because she spared Armin. Annie is wavering back and forth. She’s contradicting herself constantly, and that’s because Annie doesn’t want to think about who she is or what she wants. Her entire identity is found in running away, and running back to her father, and Annie never tries to be a person outside of that. 

What do you call soemone who blindly follows what their parents told them to do, and is unable to make decisions of their own outside of listening to their parents? 

A child.

The words of Annie’s father have kept her alive until this point, that’s true. However, treating the whole world as her enemy, as something to run away from, has stopped her from connecting to another person and giving her what she needs to grow up. You don’t grow and learn by doing the same thing over and over again. The same ideas that let her survive are now holding her back. 

What Annie thinks she wants is to be left all alone. She gets exactly that when she’s crystallized, and it only makes her worse. She is protected from everyone, nobody is able to harm her, she doesn’t have to interact with anyone and she becomes completely helpless. 

Annie’s path forward relies on confronting the people she’s been avoiding. However, Annie has only ever known avoidance. 

What Annie thinks, is that she doesn’t have to care about other people. However, she contradicts herself because Annie clearly does care. If she didn’t care she wouldn’t have spared Armin. If she didn’t care she wouldn’t let Armin’s condemnation of her actions get to her. It’s not that Annie is a good or bad person, it’s that Annie doesn’t even want to think about if her actions are right or wrong, she doens’t want to have any kind of confrontation at all so she runs away. 

Annie’s arc has always come about by her realization that there are other people who exist besides her in the world, and who have other wants and needs outside of her. If Annie was truly capable of living alone she would have just stayed in the crystal after all this time, but she obviously hated that. 

The only way Annie can move forward is if she gets closer to other people, but she can’t do that if she’s running away from them. I’ve said this again and again, the micro informs the macro. Characters decisions on a micro-level  have greater consequences in story. Annie is not able to rise to the occasion, because of her personal weaknesses, namely that she can’t be close to other people.

Once again we have Annie insisting that she just doesn’t have anything to do with this. Annie is someone who is perfectly capable of fighting, and strong in some ways but weak in others. Any time she has to confront something, she always chooses to avoid instead and runs away. It’s not because she can’t do anything, but it’s because she doesn’t want to have to face the conflict. 

Annie will always try to run away and be by herself because that’s what she thinks she wants, when what she needs to do is grow up and learn to be her own person outside of her father’s words for her. Like. She even says she wants to die peacefully. As if she’s accepted death rather than trying to struggle to live. Which is why she even physically runs away from Armin, the one person whose closest to her. 

Armin is the one person who has consistently challenged her to be a good person. As long as she’s far away from Armin, Annie doesn’t even need to think about whether her actions are good or bad. However, being quiet and being at peace is just what Annie thinks what she wants because if that was really the end result of her arc she could have just stayed in the crystal forever. 

2. EreMika Parallels

Armin and Annie mean a lot to each other. Armin is Annie’s connection to her own humanity. Annie saved Armin once and because of that her life has been forever changed since that moment. Armin is the person who looks up to Annie, and sees the best in her and even challenges her to be a better person than she was previously. Armin sees Annie better than Annie even sees herself. Does this sound familiar? it’s like a parallel. It’s intentional. 

Mikasa has always seen the good in Eren. She’s seen the kind little boy who wrapped a scarf around her on a cold day, and gave her the strength to fight. Eren is always stopped and hesitates when confronted with the memory of the scarf because Mikasa represents his connection to other people. It’s his memories of  Mikasa who always opposes him when Eren insists he’s a terrible person that’s going to destroy the world. 

Mikasa sees the good in Eren. However, their relationship is a complex one. Mikasa has, time and time again, enabled the bad in Eren because she has difficulty looking at the whole picture. 

Mikasa has enabled Eren’s bad tendencies. This is because Mikasa is so codependent on Eren, and so paralyzed by the idea of losing him she’s too afraid to confront him. Annie and Mikasa are both characters who despite their tremendous strength, they can’t seem to whether the simplest interpersonal confrontation. 

Mikasa and Eren have both at some point in the story saved each other. Eren saved Mikasa from the kidnappers. Mikasa told Eren that he was accepted and loved at his lowest point when confronted with the Dinah Titan again, and he promised to wrap the scarf around Mikasa again.

However, they also both have the tendency to ruin each other because Mikasa enables Eren’s worst qualities. She could push Eren to be better, but she’s too fixated on the idea of Eren rather than confronting who Eren really is as a person that she’s unable to do anything to stop Eren until it’s far too late. 

Armin and Annie are too people who could just like Eren and Mikasa, challenge each other to be better people. Eren’s flaw is his independence, Mikasa’s flaw is his codependence. It’s gender reversed in Aruannie, Armin’s flaw is his codependence and Annie’s flaw is her independence. 

The problem with Annie and Armin is ultimately they both tend to be very cowardly people. When they interact they have the potential to make each other braver, or they can run away from each other. 

Let me elaborate quickly on Armin. If Annie’s tendency is to always do what she wants, then Armins’ tendency is to always try to do what other people want. That’s not as selfless as it sounds though because, Armin wants to put all of his decisions on other people. 

Think about the conflict with Connie. If Armin had just told Connie no, or asserted himself as a leader, he could have just avoided Connie kidnapping Falco all together. 

Armin doesn’t want to make choices though. Armin will do anything to put the choice on other people. He physically put the choice on Connie, by just throwing himself into a suicide and forcing Connie to decide to save him. 

Armin believes that he himself is insufficient. There’s a theory going around that Armin is the main character of the story, but even if that is true: Armin does not want to be the main character. Armin will do anything to avoid being the main character of his own life. Part of the reason Armin puts Eren on such a pedestal is because if he treats Eren like the main character, then Armin himself is spared from making a decision. 

Annie doesn’t want to think about other people. Armin spends so much time thinking about other people that his own will gets lost time and time again. Eren continually putting responsibility on others and relying on others around him when everyone needs him to take responsibility and step up is his own version of running away. 

If part of the reason that things got this bad, was the total failure of leadership. Everyone acting powerless. Floch even says humanity needs a devil to lead it immediately after he creates the situation that kills Hange, and puts Armin in charge once more. 

If Annie’s first instinct is to always run away to protect her own life. Armin’s first instinct is to always throw himself away in some kind of suicide plan. However, this creates far more dififculties than it actually solves. Reiner even yells this at him, how would it help for Armin to throw his life away in a sacrifice at this moment to buy time if he was there best chance against Eren.

Floch believes that humanity needs a demon to lead them. This is an idea that’s been built up since the death of Erwin. It’s not Eren who is the demon however, it’s Armin. 

However, just as Annie consistently runs away when she’s cornererd. Whenever Armin has to act responsible for other people he always reacts by saying he couldn’t possibly live up to Erwin’s legacy. But that’s just the same behavior. That’s just running away. Annie values herself too highly over other people. Armin sees himself as expendable and much lower priority therefore refuses to step up to any responsibility placed on his shoulders, or make decisions he can put off onto other people. It’s different motivations but the same behavior, consistently running away from each other.

This is something they both do, and they can either confront this behavior in one another or they can run away from it. 

If Armin had challenged her to stay and fight Annie probably would have stayed. he didn’t so she didn’t. Armin calls himself a bad person who has killed comrades, but he doens’t really want to make the decisions that Erwin made and so he avoids that. 

In order to get closer, Annie and Armin would both have to confront themselves and admit things about themselves they don’t really want to think about. Which is why Annie runs away, and Armin lets her. Annie could challenge Armin to be better and call him out, but Armin doesn’t really want that fight right now. It’s something they would have to work on in order to be closer. How can you expect two people to be close, if they are continually running away from each other?

AruAnnie, and EreMika are two completementary sets of people with similiar flaws that could help each other or ruin each other, and right now we’re seeing the regression and not the development. 

#armin arlert #annie leonhart #Mikasa Ackerman #aruannie #eremika #eren jaeger #attack on titan meta #snk 132 #snk 1232 spoilers #aot 132 #aot 132 spoilers #aot meta #attack on titan

[emblazonet]

I think the thing that weirds me out the most about the Sea Shanty Discourse is that part of the reason I’ve loved sea shanties (and its related, overlapping genres of Celtic music & worker songs) for so many years is the context.

Like, the whole point of enjoying historical music is you get to learn about something that is far removed from the present day, and therefore it does two things:

Frees your imagination from your present day to imagine different times and places and;

Ties you to the stories of people who came before, who may not be your blood ancestors but who lived & struggled as humans on this same earth.

Newsflash 2021, humanity is Problematique.

Enjoying a song, even singing a song, no more endorses negative actions & beliefs than reading a book or chatting about a movie. The very act of singing a shanty in the present day, removed from its original function (be it keeping rhythm or entertainment), changes the meaning of it: it is necessarily a historical song now sung in the modern day. It can be applied to new situations, thereby gaining additional meaning... but it doesn’t endorse the lifestyle of centuries earlier, because it can’t. We just don’t live in the Age of Sail anymore.

The point is that these songs are interesting and they are part of the human narrative; it doesn’t matter if they’re ‘pure’ or not. Historical songs invite us to learn the context and enjoy something other humans enjoyed; if some songs have words that are actively harmful, we can change them when they are actively sung; but their contexts are far removed and their implications are changeable. 

The ultimate problem with purity is what is pure enough? The entire world is an endless kaleidoscope of connections that we cannot trace entirely even if we had centuries to untangle the puzzle. New connections form and break all the time: layers of symbolic meaning, the macro level of relationships, the interactions of countries, the interactions of cultures in those countries... It seems the only place purity can end up at is death; and it being inevitable, we might as well embrace the absolute mess of life while we’re alive, and sing some goddamn enjoyable vintage music.

#apparently I have feelings about this #sea shanties #historical music

[byamylaurens]

On Structuring Plot: A List Of Useful Resources + My Recent Process

I was asked on Instagram last week how I go about structuring my stories, whether there’s a set way I like to do it, or if it’s different for every story, or what. I promised an answer last week, and that didn’t happen, but hey! It is this week and now I can answer! 😀

The truth of the matter is, I feel very self-conscious about plot structure. It’s the area of writing I’m least comfortable with, and so my attempts either end up with me just writing and ignoring structure entirely (A Fox Of Storms And Starlight), or else plotting everything else in meticulous detail, usually with the help of Liana Brooks (How Not To Acquire A Castle, as evidenced in our epic plotting video).

And then there is everything else, which tends to fall in the middle. Honestly, it depends on the book, and the mood, and how much of a concrete, specific handle I need on the story before going in.

Because that varies widely, too. When Worlds Collide, the final book in the Sanctuary trilogy that won Best Children’s Book 2019 in my state? You’re reading the first draft, prettied up with some proofreading for typos. The first book in the series, on the other hand? That’s the …eighth, I think, draft? And again, everything else falls somewhere in the middle, though generally speaking I plan my novels more than my short stories, and things that feel “fast paced” more than things that luxuriate more in the prose. Though even that’s not entirely true. And it overlaps with the length tendencies.

SO. Rather than continuing to ramble about my actual processes (variable), I thought I’d share with you a range of resources that you might find useful (if you’re a writer) or simply interesting (if you’re not, or even if you are I guess).

1. Liana Brooks’ Outlining Sheet

Liana, who you probably know is my writer-buddy and co-conspirator with regards to Inkprint Press, is excellent at plot. She does developmental edits for a really reasonable rate, and is absolutely stellar at what she does. So it’s without shame that I recommend first up her outline sheet, which is a take on the Lester Dent Plot Formula (google it).

2. Beat Sheets.

For when a general outline with key touch points isn’t detailed enough, there are beat sheets. The best ones I’ve found came from Jami Gold, and you can download them here. I’ve also converted them to word docs with scenes numbered for a 40-scene/chapter book and a 20 scene-chapter book, and you can grab those here (word docx download).

3. MICE Structure.

I posted this video on Friday, but Mary Robinette Kowal’s MICE theory has been hands down THE most useful plotting resource I’ve encountered for me personally. I’ll elaborate on this a little more below, where I’ll talk specifically about a project I’m working on right now.

4. Brandon Sanderson’s Plot Lectures.

I listened to these nearly a year ago, then relistened recently and was interested to discover I’d done something similar with Moon Shot, the project I’m currently plotting. Definitely worth a listen. It’s a little more general in scope than the preceding resources, but very necessary for a sound understanding of what your plot should be DOING.

You can also check out the posts I wrote on plot structure years ago, starting here.

Okay, now to the specifics. On Tuesday, I posted the following to Instagram, which is what precipitated the question that resulted in this post:

This is me working on Moon Shot, and it’s the first time I really used the MICE process on a longer work very deliberately, and I LOVED IT.

So I thought I’d quickly delineate for you here exactly what I did. (ETA: Quickly, ha.)

Worldbuilding. I had a giant conversation with Liana about the worldbuilding for the world, and how the main sci fi element works. She took notes and emailed them to me.

Brain Dump. I did a stream-of-consciousness dump into my notes just rambling through things roughly sequentially, and stopping to research the sciencey stuff I needed.

List Of Questions. From this, I listed out on my small whiteboard (A4-ish size) all the questions that would be asked and answered in this book. Will they escape? Why can’t they go to Earth? Who are the kidnappers? Etc.

MICE. I then colour-coded each question according to it’s MICE category: milieu, inquiry, character, event. If that doesn’t make sense, go watch Kowal’s video first (resource 3 above).

General Plotting. I broke out the bigger whiteboard (A2 size?), separated it roughly into quarters across the ‘page’, and added every question to the board. Some questions are asked right at the start of the story, so that’s where their coloured line started, then I estimated roughly when the question would be answered in-plot, and ended their coloured line there. This was hands-down the most useful part of plotting, because it let me see a bunch of things in macro: I’d overloaded the third quarter with too many answers, and there wasn’t enough in the second quarter. Certain questions COULDN’T be asked until other ones were answered, and if I left the answering too late, the next arc would be too squished before the end of the book. And so forth. So I played around, adjusting arcs until I got a fairly even spread of questions and answers across the book, with little clusters at the 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 marks. I also looked to make sure that I had enough strong questions asked in the beginning that weren’t answered until the very end.

Specific Plotting. For each arc, I now knew WHEN in the book it had to be. So I grabbed three A3 pages, taped them together in a long line, divided the page into 25 columns (see point 8 for why), and wrote headings with the basic beats of a story. Call to action, midpoint, final puzzle piece, act 2 antagonist, and so forth. See resource 2 above. Then I took my MICE arcs and started filling things in: this scene needs to answer this question and raise the next one. This scene needs to answer this question. That sort of thing. Not the specifics of what the characters are doing, but the underlying bones of what the SCENE needs to be doing.

Conflict! Once the beginnings and ends of each MICE arc were in place, I referred back to the MICE principle to figure out what kinds of conflict I needed to add. For example, one of the opening MICE arcs is a milieu question: How did the kids escape? Knowing that this is a milieu, I know I need to add points throughout the story where they run into dead ends in their attempts to escape, all the way until they actually make it out. Another MICE arc revolves around a mystery, so I knew I needed to throw red herrings and misleading information in there to influence the decisions the characters are making. I used different coloured highlighter to mark the main long-running arcs to make sure I was sprinkling them evenly throughout the book, and not accidentally ignoring one for too long.

Point Of View. I now had a really good idea of what was happening in each scene, so on to POV. Most books wouldn’t need this step necessarily, but part of the POINT of this book is that it has POV scenes from all 25 of my Year 8 students from a couple of years ago (you have not LIVED until you’ve tried this, oy, my head). AND on top of that, every character has one of eight different superpowers. So I wrote out all the character names on sticky notes, colour coded according to superpower. Then I played around. Which superpower would be useful in this scene? Which would lend an interesting lens to the events? Post-its meant I could test things and swap them around easily, until I got an order I was happy with, with the superpowers kind of evenly sprinkled throughout the book (as much as possible; they’re based on Myer-Briggs personality type, which, yes, most of the students were kind enough to do the test for me so I could allocate their powers accurately, HA, but it means some superpowers are more common than others).

Text Type. One of the only ways I could think of making this book hang together cohesively was to tell it via epistolary, which means including a bunch of other text types as well as narration (or instead of). So there are story bits, but also emails, letters, maps, interviews, transcripts and more. So once I had everything else in place, I figured out which scenes were going to be which text types so that again, there was a balance of them throughout.

PHEW. What a process. Still, overall it only took me about three hours, and it was SUPER FUN AND SATISFYING to do. I’ll DEFINITELY be doing at least steps 1 – 7 for a couple of future books, because it was just a really inherently enjoyable process for me, and makes me confident going into the book that the scenes will do what they need to do.

Here’s a sneaky peek at what some of the final outline looks like… 😀

On Structuring Plot: A List Of Useful Resources + My Recent Process was originally published on Amy Laurens

#Amy Laurens #Australian author Amy #beat sheets for writers #before you write #Brandon Sanderson #Canberra writer Amy #how to plot a novel #How to Write #Jami Gold&039;s beat sheets #Mary Robinette Kowal #plot plot plot the book #plotting masterclass #structuring stories with story structure like a well-structured story with structure #writing #writing resource #writing workshop #you too can write a story woo

[drinkthehalo]

Macro perspective on each Lymond book

I've been listening to the Lymond Chronicles audiobooks, which has given me a different perspective than reading them. With audiobooks, you’re less inclined to stop and dive into the details, to look up an interesting word or obscure historical fact; instead you get swept along with the larger arc of the book.

So, I thought it would be interesting to look at what each book is about from a macro perspective.

Spoilers for the entire series follow.

The Game of Kings

In genre, it's a mystery told in a historical adventure style; it asks the question "Who is Lymond?" and gives us a ton of contradictory clues, then finally reveals the truth - in a psychological sense by stripping away Lymond's defense mechanisms and revealing the human being underneath, as he breaks down in the dell, "the guard was down... every fluent line and practised shade of Lymond's face betrayed him explicitly"; and in a narrative sense via the trial, which examines each "clue" we received throughout the story and tells us what it really meant.

Thematically, it's mainly about "serving honesty in a crooked way" - that morality isn’t simple and that sometimes you need to break the rules to do the right thing.  Nearly all Lymond’s acts are apparently bad things done for a goal that is actually good. We see the theme also in Will Scott (who learns that the world is more complicated than the "moral philosophy" he learned in school) and the various characters who help Lymond, breaking the rules of society by aiding a wanted outlaw (Christian, Sybilla, the Somerviles). 

It is also about the balance of looking out for self vs the obligation to the greater society - Lymond is not completely selfless (after all, he is back in Scotland to clear his own name), but when forced to choose, he always chooses the greater good above his own goals. He is contrasted with Richard, whose great mistake is to put his obligations to Scotland at risk in pursuit of his personal vengeance, and Margaret Lennox, who is purely and grotesquely out only for herself.

The historical context is part of this theme, as we see the various border families playing both sides between England and Scotland, with the heroes being those who ultimately stand up for Scotland, even as we understand that some have no choice but to profess one thing while doing another.

Queens Play

In genre, it's a spy novel; thematically, it's about what Lymond will do with the rest of his life. The question is asked explicitly several times (most obviously, "You have all your life still before you." / "The popular question is, for what?") It's important that Lymond loses his title at the start of this book; he has to figure out who he will be without it.

The main characters all represent possible paths Lymond could take -

O'Liam Roe, who sits back and laughs at the world with detachment, while abdicating all responsibility to use his mind and position to change the world for the better.

Robin Stewart, who loses himself in bitterness about the ways the world has been unfair to him, and in fixating on how he deserved better, fails to take any action to improve himself.

Oonagh, who works passionately to change the world for the better, but whose ideals have become corrupted because she has attached herself to a leader who is more out for himself than for their cause.

And of course Thady Boy and Vervassal, two extremes of himself that Lymond tries on, and (by the end of the series) must learn to reconcile.

The recurring imagery of the first half is the carnival, the masks, the music, the parties, and our hero in danger of losing himself amidst the debauchery. In the second half the imagery every time Lymond appears is of ice, the ultra-controlled, hyper-competent version of Lymond at risk of losing himself by denying his artistic soul. (There’s a wonderful essay here that explores these motifs.)

In the end, Lymond comes to the conclusion that he must not withdraw into detachment or bitterness, that he must find a way to make a positive difference in the world, but that he also must not attach himself to a powerful figure who may be more out for themselves than for Scotland (ie, his refusal to attach himself to Marie de Guise). This sets up the creation of his mercenary army in the next books, as a way he can exercise independent influence in the world.

The Disorderly Knights

This book couldn't be more relevant to the world today. It's a portrait of cynical hypocrisy in pursuit of power; it lays out step by step the tactics of propaganda and manipulation used by despots to build up themselves and tear down their rivals: pretend to be pious, accuse of others of your own crimes, tear down straw men instead of engaging in real debate. It tells us to "look at his hands"; what matters is what a leader actually does, not what he professes to believe.

It shows us how leaders use charisma to manipulate, and, in showing the battle between Gabriel and Lymond for Jerott's loyalty, shows how Lymond takes the harder and more ethical path, by refusing to use his charisma to seduce (a lesson learned from his experience with Robin Stewart) and instead guiding Jerott to come to his own conclusions by means of rational thought instead of hero worship.

At every level the novel advocates for tolerance and internationalism, and against petty sectarianism, as Lymond questions whether the Knights of St John are really any better than the Turks, and as he tries to get the Scottish border families to abandon their feuds in favor of the greater good of the country.

In terms of genre, it’s a pure adventure novel. I never get bored of the masterful action sequences with the battles in Malta and Tripoli, and the extraordinary duel at St Giles in the end. (Also in terms of thematic imagery, there is some crazy S&M shit going on in this book, with Gabriel and Joleta's sadism and Lymond's self-sacrificial masochism.)

I love Disorderly Knights so much. It is nearly perfect - well structured, thematically coherent, witty, fun, breathtaking, and heartbreaking.

Pawn in Frankincense

In genre, this is a quest novel. In several places it explicitly parallels The Odyssey.

In theme, it explores -

Do the ends justify the means? How much sacrifice is too much? Lymond gives up his fortune, his body, and his health; Philippa gives up her freedom and her future; we are asked often consider, which goal is more important, stopping Gabriel or saving the child? We even see this theme in Marthe's subplot, as she gives up the treasure, her dream to "be a person," to save her companions. Perhaps the most telling moment is right after Lymond kills Gabriel; despite all his claims that Gabriel’s death mattered more than the fate of the child, he’s already forgotten it, instead playing over and over in his mind the death of Khaireddin. If you do what is intellectually right but it destroys your soul, was it really right?

The other big theme is “nature vs nurture.” What is the impact of upbringing on how people turn out? In its comparisons of Kuzum vs Khaireddin, and Lymond vs Marthe, it seems to fall firmly on the side of nurture.

It’s also a kaleidoscope of views on love, with its Pilgrims of Love and their poetry, and the contrasting images of selfless, sacrificial love (Philippa and Evangelista for Kuzum, Salablanca for Lymond, Lymond for Khaireddin, perhaps Marthe for Lymond as she helps him in the end) with possessive, needy “love” (Marthe for Guzel, Jerott for Marthe or Lymond, arguably even the Aga for Lymond).

This novel is also a tragedy. Its imagery and the historical background complement the themes by creating an atmosphere lush, beautiful, labyrinthine, overwhelming, and suffocating.

The Ringed Castle

I have to confess this is my least favorite, in large part because I find the historical sequences (in Russia and in Mary Tudor's court in England) go on way too long and have only tangential relationships to the themes and characters.

It seems to be primarily about self-delusion as a response to trauma.  Lymond spends the entire novel trying to be someone he isn't, in a place he doesn't belong, because he is too damaged to face reality. (His physical blindness as a manifestation of his psychological blindness; the sequences at John Dee's, surrounded by mirrors, forcing him to see himself.) 

Lymond convinces himself he can build a wall around his heart to block out all human connection, that he can be a “machine,” but despite his best efforts, he cares for Adam Blacklock and develops a true friendship with Diccon Chancellor. And of course, by far the most important moment is after the Hall of Revels, when Lymond's heart unfreezes and he suddenly sees one thing VERY clearly. (And then tries, desperately, to escape it.)

The only reason I can think of that the book lingers so long on Mary Tudor (so boring omg) is the parallel with Lymond, her false pregnancies as a manifestation of her desire to see the world as she wants it to be, and her failure to see reality as it is. Ivan of Russia also is a parallel: delusional, unable to trust, and dangerous. Their failures, and the failure of Lymond's Russia adventure and relationship with Guzel, tell us that you cannot hide from reality forever.

The book spends so long painting the backdrop of 16th century Russia that it makes me think that Dunnett got too caught up in her research and needed a stronger editor, although there is also a parallel with Lymond in the idea of Russia as a traumatized nation struggling to establish itself, and of course, Lymond subsuming his need to deal with his own issues into a goal of building a nation.

It's also about exploration, about the intellectual wonder of discovering that there is more to the world, as we learn about Diccon Chancellor and the Muscovy Company. It’s wonderful imagery, but I struggle to how this fits coherently into the overall theme of the novel, and am curious how others reconcile it.

I like the idea of this book more than the reality. If you’re going to do to your hero what Dunnett did to Lymond in “Pawn,” there has to be consequences. But hundreds of pages of our hero in such a frozen state is difficult to read.

That said, the Hall of Revels is one of the best things in the series, and I’ll always love this book for that.

Checkmate

Checkmate is about reconciliation of self and recovery from trauma, as Lymond is forced (kicking and screaming) to accept who is and what he's done, and to allow himself to love and be loved. Philippa is his guide, as she discovers the secrets of his birth, understands his childhood, hears his tales of all the terrible things he's done, and loves him anyway. As far as genre, this is definitely a romance.

There are villains in this book (Leonard Bailey, Margaret Lennox, Austin Grey) but they're all fairly weak; the true antagonist is Lymond himself. From the beginning, he could have everything he needs to be happy (he's married to the woman he loves, and she loves him back!); his true struggle is to stop running from it (by escaping to Russia or committing suicide) and to break through his own psychological barriers enough to allow himself to accept it.

The primary parallel is with Jerott and Marthe, who also have happiness almost in their grasp, but never manage to achieve it.

The heritage plot looms large and is (IMO) tedious; it's so melodramatic that it takes some mental gymnastics to get it to make thematic sense to me. It ultimately comes down to Lymond's identity crisis and childhood trauma. His “father” rejected and abused him, so he based his identity on his relationship to his mother, but his suspicion that he is a bastard means he lives in terror that he doesn’t really belong in his family and that, if his mother isn’t perfect, he is rotten. (I love him but, my god, it is juvenile. The only way I can reconcile it is that his fear about the circumstances of his birth is really just a stand-in for his self-hatred caused by his traumas.) He also continues to struggle with his envy that Richard was born into a position with power and influence that Lymond has spent the past six books struggling to obtain, and that Lymond’s terrible traumas (starting with the galleys) would not have happened if he had been the heir. The discovery that he actually IS the legitimate heir is what finally snaps him out of it, since his reaction is to want to protect Richard, and this also reconciles him to Sybilla since protecting Richard was her goal too.

There are some other parts of this book that I struggle to reconcile (Lymond's inability to live if he can't have sex with Philippa; the way the focus on heritage seems to undercut the nature vs nurture themes; that no one but Jerott is bothered by Marthe's death, which undercuts some of the most moving moments in "Pawn”; and I mostly just pretend the predestination and telepathy stuff didn’t happen). On the other hand, I do sort of love the way this book wholeheartedly embraces the idea that there is no human being on earth who will ever be as melodramatic as Francis Crawford.

In terms of the historical elements, in addition to providing the narrative grounding for the character stuff to play out, it sets up the idea that Scotland has troubles coming up (the religious wars, the betrayal of the de Guises) and that Lymond needs to go home, let go of France and Russia, and focus on Scotland where he belongs. I’m sure there is also some political nuance in the fact that our Scottish hero, after spending so much time and energy in France, ends up with an English wife.

The conclusion in the music room is perfect - it brings us back to the amnesiac Lymond who innocently played music with Christian Stewart, to Thady Boy whose songs made the cynical French court weep, and fills the “void” Lymond described to Jerott where there was no prospect of music. The aspects of himself are finally reconciled and he has a partner to share his life with.

I am curious what others see as the macro / thematic big picture meanings of these books. :)  And if anyone can find the key to make “Ringed Castle” and “Checkmate” make more sense to me...

#lymond #the lymond chronicles

[swaybaeblog]

Steve Wright from CBS’s Survivor WAS Racist to Philip During Rice wars. #BelieveSurviorsofRacism

The best way to discredit someone is to make them seem “crazy.” While watching season 22 of CBS’s Survivor a black man named Philip Sheppard accused a white man by the name of Steve Wright of being racist to him on the island. During that season Philip Sheppard was depicted by the show as the “Wacky” “Crazy” and/or “Cooky” black person. This is not unfounded for reality tv shows to portray black people as a weird or unusual character. Even though Philip may has been portrayed as the “Crazy” black person whether or not he has been found to have a mental illness has to be the least of worries. The amount of gaslighting, insensitivity, and downplaying of the situation of racism and the fact that Philip was the only black person left on the island during this season of Survivor made his treatment despicable. Philip expressed during the episode rice wars that by Steve calling him constantly “Crazy” was coded for the n-word for him. Many of the Zepatera tribe said that they felt “unsafe” when Philip talk to them as well as said that they felt Philip was a “Dangerous man.” Philip up to that point seemed very eccentric to the audience but not dangerous. Many of the members of both tribes told producers and the audience that Philip was just playing the race card when he got upset from being called “Dangerous” and “Crazy.” Many of the Zepetera tribe stated that they felt threaten by Philip because he was “Crazy” not because he was black which is still really problematic because the use of the word “Crazy” is still be very ableist toward people with mental health issues. 

In addition, the host Jeff Probst, who is a great host otherwise of the show, was not very considerate towards Philip situation and it seemed as if Jeff did not believe Philip during the Tribal Council when he brought up his concerns about racism from Steve. Steve was Philip main antagonist during the Rice Wars. Even though Philip took some of the Rice from the Zepatera Tribe it became racial when the Opatera tribe rice had maggots in their rice bin. They quickly cleaned it out and picked the maggots out on a blanket. Philip asked the Zepetera tribe could he put the rice into the their bin so it wont be outside for too long. Steve and Julie from the Zeptera tribe said no and asked why. They responded with just no. Then Philip got upset and slightly raised his voice and they responded saying things like “you are a very dangerous man,” “ Are you threatening me,” “ You are crazy,” “ He is crazy.” Than Philip stated that was code for the n-word. Which is so true. Racism often is not outright it is often a look, or coded words that people use to discriminate against you so that they can take it back if they called so they don’t seem racist. After these comments Julie from season 22 hid Philips swim trucks in a pile of dirt and then said he was crazy because no one did anything to his clothes. In addition, many members of both tribes were very hostile towards Philip even though he was asking for basic things to be done in tribe such as getting food, water, and keeping the fire going. 

On Reddit a user stated, “Finished watching Rice Wars and I cried during the tribal. As an African American I related with Phillip so much. So what If Steve didn't flat out say the n word. Phillip was right, if he was a women he'd know if a man was making inappropriate remarks. Steve was being racist, look how he acts after tribal. I mean look at Steve and Ralph and tell me they aren't a little prejudice. Seriously, makes me sick. Colton got shit on worse than them and they deserve more. It's nice to know Survivor continues to allow racists on the show. Look at next season, pathetic. I'm done with Survivor.”

This is not an unfamiliar story of black people being portrayed as “Wacky.” Yes Survivor has casted eccentric characters before who were white but they became fan favorites as well as were able to capitalize off of their “ Wacky” behavior. Whereas the “Wacky” black person troupe the black person tends to represent the entirety of their racial group and are used as spectacle for the white gaze.  Whether you do not like Philip because he is eccentric and/or because he is annoying the fact that the majority of people were totally disrespectful was uncalled for. 

As a black person I can absolutely say that this incident was a prime example of racism. It is also important for other black folks and non black folks to believe victims and survivors of racism. Not everyone who has experience racism survives. For Philip to be the only black person on an island full of white people must have been very hard for him and his mental health. I can only imagine the multiple macro-aggressions that he received on the daily basis as well as the inability to be himself during the entire process. Ironically, Special Agent Philip was the sole Survivor. 

#Survivor #CBS #Philip #StevenWright #believesurvivorsofracism #season22 #Survivorseason22 #jeff probst

[thevagueambition]

I posted 3.613 times in 2021

637 posts created (18%)

2976 posts reblogged (82%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 4.7 posts.

I added 476 tags in 2021

#les mis - 112 posts

#esc 2021 - 96 posts

#siggi rambles - 74 posts

#black sails - 39 posts

#lmao - 35 posts

#disco elysium - 32 posts

#eurovision - 29 posts

#doctor who - 23 posts

#lil nas x - 19 posts

#siggi arts - 17 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#i also don't really want to end the second chapter late i don't think because i think the ending scene works really well as an ending scene

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

grantaire: could a depressed person do THIS! *alienates all his friends*

144 notes • Posted 2021-03-12 18:03:29 GMT

#4

The Danish agency for traffic safety didn’t have to go this hard but they did and it’s extremely funny (it has subs as well)

166 notes • Posted 2021-06-11 20:49:17 GMT

#3

One of the key differences between Flint and Silver IMO is that Flint always believes the stories he's telling, at least to some extent. Even when they're not his own, even when he's telling them not out of belief but to achieve a goal, a part of him believes them. Silver, on the other hand, never believes any of his own stories (and very rarely anyone else's), but stays detached from them. In the macro, this also corresponds to how Flint has a very specific internal story for what he's doing and why that is based in his own experiences, his own truth, while Silver refuses to relay any truth of his backstory and has little in the way of an internal story about what is happening and why.

To Silver stories are a means to an end and while Flint also uses stories this way, they’re much more to him than a simple rhetorical tool. They’re how he makes sense of the world, how he keeps on going, how he justifies his own actions in the face of his morals.

Silver initially wants wealth, then becomes loyal to people. Flint, on the other hand, is always working in service of an ideal, a story, a version of the truth. Initially it is Thomas’ version of the truth he wants to see become realised, he wants Thomas’ story to go on beyond his death, he wants to give his words power over a reality he is no longer able to shape. Later, it is Miranda’s story of Peter Ashe’s actions and of the fate of Charlestown that leads him to act -- he goes about realising her story as well.

I wonder if the reason Flint’s so adrift in early season 3, beyond his grief, is not also because he’s not sure yet what the new story is. He has made himself the villain of the new world, has set in motion a story about his name and his evil deeds, but there is no room for his own truth at this point in time. In allying with Maroon Island, he is given a new story to work on, a story where he no longer has to be simply a monster meant to scare off those who would attack Nassau. In allying with Maroon Island, he manages to formulate the story of revolution, of injustice and the victims of it standing up in solidarity to oppose it.

Flint needs stories to function, while Silver picks them up and puts them down with much more ease.

187 notes • Posted 2021-07-16 07:36:04 GMT

#2

I saw someone mention how “faggot” is the only word censored in Disco Elysium and how this points to Harry’s own personal relationship with that word.

Throughout it’s pretty evident that the game pays particular attention to homophobia and if one pays attention to how these elements play out, it’s also pretty clear that Harry himself has a lot of internal struggle bound up in attraction to men. The most reasonable reading of his interaction with The Smoker On The Balcony is that he’s attracted to him but is not entirely willing, or perhaps able, to admit that to himself. The conclusion to The Homo-Sexual Underground thought offers no real answers, because Harry is not ready to answer those questions about himself yet. There’s a real sense that he’s aware of his own attraction to men, but doesn’t allow himself to really be conscious of that awareness.

This is why faggot is censored, too, when nothing else is in the narrative; Harry himself is censoring it out -- something made even clearer by the fully voiced version of the game. Harry doesn’t allow himself to fully hear or comprehend the word, the same way he doesn’t allow himself to comprehend his attraction to The Smoker On The Balcony or, arguably, to Kim.

And Kim seems vaguely aware of all this, as well. Kim comes across as someone who keeps his cards close to his chest, who is very measured in how he presents himself and when and how he allows others to know certain things about him. He’s always managing how he’s perceived, as a gay, part-Seolite man in the world he lives in, doing the type of work he does.

With that self-management comes both, I think, an awareness of the ways Harry is failing to do the same, an awareness that there are things Harry will not allow himself to see but is equally unable to hide, as well as a reticence to share of himself with Harry in the ways that would be necessary to help him in this particular way. I think the gently mocking tone he takes with Harry about the Homo-Sexual Underground stuff is to protect himself and Harry both, while still letting Harry know that a spiral of obsessing about it is not a helpful way to go about figuring out his sexuality. I think he knows that Harry is not ready for a more direct conversation about it and that either indulging or pushing him at this point won’t be helpful. Kim sees him, though, and he does relay that.

Of particular interest is the “Pissf****t” jacket. The game censors that both in descriptions and in the visual, because again, Harry does not allow himself to see it. He can wear the jacket, but he can’t really allow himself to fully perceive it.

Kim, by contrast, says that if he had to wear either the “Fuck The World” jacket or the “ Pissf****t” jacket, he would choose the latter because it packs more of a punch, showing us a lack of the type of aversion to the word that Harry has. He still refuses to wear the jacket, of course, but it comes off more like his professionalism and no-nonsense attitude than the type of inner conflict Harry, who will wear it but not let himself see it, has.

The file for “Pissf****t” jacket actually lists it as jacket_pissflaubert, telling us that just like the racial slurs used in this game are inventions for the purposes of this world, as is the homophobic slur. In-universe, it’s not actually “faggot” it’s “flaubert“, which tells us with even more certainty that the reason it’s the only censored word is not simply out of an avoidance of portraying that slur from the devs pov (the game is not afraid of being crass), but serves a character purpose as well.

341 notes • Posted 2021-07-18 14:30:07 GMT

#1

Okay one last HP thought and I promise I’ll shut up: back when Mark Oshiro did his Harry Potter read through (he ran a blog where he wrote up a short essay on every chapter of a book he read,  starting with a ridicule of Twillight and later branching out extensively, idk if he’s still doing this), he mentioned his own abuse several times because the depiction of Harry’s abuse and the way he was affected by it resonated so strongly with him. I remember him writing that he expected Rowling must have been an abuser survivor of some kind herself to write it so authentically (which of course the tabloid media has long suspected to be true and Rowling has now confirmed herself).

Honestly, I really don’t think we can discount this as part of Harry Potter’s appeal. As hugely successful and popular as the series was with a large number of different sorts of people, many of the most dedicated fans have been people who are statistically more likely to have been exposed to abuse, bullying and/or hostile environments -- such as a LGBTQ people and neurodivergent people. No, it doesn��t always make total sense that the golden trio are outsiders, but they’re presented as such nonetheless. Harry, the abused kid with too big shirts full of holes and a temper that frightens those he loves, Ron, the impoverished kid who wears his brothers’ hand-me-downs and is a bit too fast to take the bait and Hermione, the autistic know-it-all who doesn’t quite get why people react to her lectures the way they do. This is, more than anything else, in my estimation, what resonated so strongly with fans. You can do a dissection of the politics of Harry Potter for fun and profit, but this is what lies at the heart of why people love it so much, and some of the things that get criticised are written in service of this moreso than what it’s getting criticised for (for example, Harry’s riches are part of the escapist fantasy more so than anything else).

There’s a reason the vast majority of those who love Harry Potter are disgusted by Rowling’s actions. She cultivated a core audience of people who would be.

499 notes • Posted 2021-03-17 12:03:12 GMT

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