Hello I was wondering if someone could give me advice on how to improve for lit tomorrow and as the title says is it grade 7 worthy? Thanks
R+J
Throughout the play Romeo and Juliet conflict rises and climaxes several times. We can see this conflict adapt from servants of the family fighting mindlessly to Romeo and Paris fighting for love. This development also creates a sense of a tragic hero and the drama of ‘everything for love’. This goes against the patriarchal society of the time where love was arranged by the parents, not the sons fighting for marriage.
In my opinion conflict is presented differently per character for example Tybalt says “Peace, i hate the word, as i hate hell, all Montagues and thee” First of all we can see that this is a biblical allusion and to a certain extent a simile associating Montagues as hell. This quote isnt directly during or after conflict however this is before it, the buildup. In this quote the noun “peace” represents Tybalt calling Benvolio and instigating conflict. As mentioned earlier this quotes and especially the biblical allusion is incredibly impulsive especially because of the patriarchal society that the play was written and performed in, because of this the audience would have been deeply religious being impacted and disgusted every time hell or any other negative way of Christianity showed itself. This impulsiveness is present throughout the play and is a real problem. This also leads on to how the saying nowadays of every action has consequence and this quote does as we see Tybalt get killed ironically from Romeo while being impulsive getting vengeance for Mercutio.
Mercutio is a odd character, we see him change due to the result of conflict. He is a prime example of the effects of conflict as he Tybalt caused his demise. “Plague on both your houses” shows the way he changes. Now Mercutio isn't exactly blood related to any o the two house therefore not directly in the “ancient grudge” however he seems to be biased with Montagues. “Plague” symbolizes illness and death in those times, therefore from this we can see how Mercutio changes from being on the side of the Montagues to then become a neutral like Paris and highlighting the idea that the “grudge” is pointless. However, there is another interpretation of him losing trust and respect for the Montagues, this is because Mercutio said this just after he gets stabbed because Romeo didn't honour his family and fight Tybalt. Therefore we see a sense of family honour which is something the audience would be familiar with, they didn't go to the extent to brawls on the street yet they would stand up for their family so for Romeo to back down it makes him looks bad and shows that he isn't the person Juliet or other people think he is.
However we can now see from the extract a different perspective of conflict, prince, from someone who is seen as a neutral within the play keeping law and order as such between the 2 families. “purple fountains issuing from your veins” is in my opinion a metaphor of the threat of death. This is backed up from the connotations of “purple” being royalty and “Fountain” being a metaphor for blood gushing and therefore death, suggesting that he threatens to kill them and so call spill their royal blood. In conjunction to this we can see within the extract that Prince is in my interpretation very similar to Benvolio in the sense of peace as seen from “Throw your mistempered weapons to the ground”. However this in itself is rather passive aggressive from describing the “Rebellious subjects” as “mistempered” which is childish and mockery to the two families. It could also suggest as mentioned in the paragraph above the impulsive and hasteful severe and impactful decisions being made on the spot. Therefore, there is a link between Benvolio and Paris in terms of conflict but not obvious. Contextually speaking the audience would be part of a patriarchal society where royalty would be the top of society, and for royals to kill other royals it is unheard of and would cause a stir within the audience.
Now for Romeo and Juliet, she isn't directly involved with physical conflict however I think there is another conflict which is a key factor in this play, the conflict with religion and fate. We can see from Juliet going against religion from the sense of suicide. “O happy dagger” backs up this idea from “happy” having connotations of being content and “dagger” of suicide. When you combines this is shows that she is content to commit suicide. As mentioned in the first analysis, the audience is religious, and there were two main sins of the time: being married twice and suicide, so this suicide would cause the audience to react and gasp as this is unheard of. We can also see from Romeo the defying of fate as seen from “I defy you stars”. If you combine this quote with “star cross’d lovers” it really shows just how much Romeo is trying to go against his destiny. “star cross’d” suggests that these two lovers get closer and closer until they reach a climax where they then ever get further away and finally if Romeo is trying to “defy” the “stars” it shows he is going against his fate and wants their relationship to last. I think this is quite a abstract analysis but is definitely meaningful within the play especially with the context of the time period.
Jekyll and Hyde
Jekyll and Hyde is an interesting story with several dynamics shifting throughout the novella one of these include good and evil and the duality of man. We can see this phenomenon show itself in several so called Victorian gentlemen, upright gentlemen of society supposedly meant to repress their negative feelings and refrain from enjoying themselves. Furthermore with Jekyll and Hyde showing the effects of this. Perhaps this shows Stevenson's opinion on society and the effects of him being repressed and held from society similar to the negatives in Jekyll for being a Victorian gentleman.
First of all we can see this from Utterson. Utterson is a Character which we see quite a bit yet we never get to know much about him however there are a few times in the short story where Stevenson informs us of this. “I incline to Caines heresy.” this is a very strong biblical illusion showing the audience of the feelings Utterson has. From the use of “Caines heresy” it links to the bible story which the audience, being a very Christian society, would know of. The story where a brother, “Caine”, kills his other brother, “abele” and then banished to hell, however this relates the negative feeling of lust as “Caine” was jealous of “abele.” The use of “incline” shows he is interested and similar to Caine and “heresy”, meaning lust and jealousy. When you combine these two connotations it presents Utterson as having a jealousy of being normal and expressing his evil side as such.
Now for Jekyll and the extract, here we can see just how Jekyll is thriving for the evil side of him, Hyde. Shown from “Sold a slave to my original evil.” This is an example of another biblical allusion as the “original evil” represents the devil. The use of “my” might seem very insignificant to the overall allusion however there is another interpretation of how “my” shows its in him, so the devil is inside of him. This really shows the twisted and confusing nature of this novella where it revolves around how repressing your emotions gradually causes your evil, aggressive and inhumane to become stronger and stronger, also linking to animalistic feature of inhumane. Therefore contextually speaking the recent publication of Charles Darwin theory of evolution caused a stir within society and the idea of evolution and all animals come from a common ancestor would make the readers consider the implications of keeping emotions to yourself and the effects of this.
We now go back to Jekyll, showing yet another biblical allusion of “My devil has been long caged, he came out roaring.” This quote as mentioned is a biblical allusion but this time presenting animalistic features. This quote shows the animalistic nature within humans and how this may be evil. First of all “My devil” showing Jekyll possesses a devil, firstly this is shocking for the audience as they are god fearing and the reference of devil would scare them somewhat, but perhaps this shows more of Stevenson as a person, the frequent repetition of “devil” throughout the novella suggesting he has a devil inside of him and this is his only way of expressing it. “Long caged” representing the time of which his “devil” has been repressed and hidden away, perhaps a representation of his negative and harmful emotions. “He came out Roaring”, now there is two interpretations of this. One of them is showing that the “devil” which has been “long caged” physically came out roaring in a human manor, this can be represented as Hyde. However, the other interpretation is “roaring” symbolises strength as seen in nature with a lion’s roar showing his dominance over other males and prey.
Back to the extract, “i passed the yard where the constellations looked down on me.” this is really a personification of the constellations as the physically cannot “look down on him”, however you can go deeper then this and interpret is as a metaphor about god, how he is always watching and keeping a close eye backed up from the verb “looked”. However this can also suggest that his so called good part of Jekyll is still present and fighting for superiority, this is because it creates a sense of guilt and regret, however the bad side of Jekyll is getting too strong for even god to fix, showing the audience that you shouldn't mess with science or go against religion.

• Meet the Kyanah -- the alien civilization I've been working on since 2016
• A Primer on Kyanah Physiology
• Aliens Deserve Alien Brains
• A Primer on Kyanah Pack Dynamics
• Advanced Kyanah Psychology: Inter-Pack Dynamics
• The Motives for Project Hope: Part I
• The Motives for Project Hope: Part II
• The Motives for Project Hope: Part III
• The Motives for Project Hope: Part IV
• The Motives for Project Hope: Part V
• Intro to Kyanah Politics
• An (abridged) Beastiary of the Kyanah Homeworld
• Plantlife of the Kyanah Homeworld
• An Analysis of Kyanah Military Forces: Part I -- Tech
• An Analysis of Kyanah Military Forces: Part II -- Organizational Structure
• An Analysis of Kyanah Military Forces: Part III -- Military Doctrine
• Alien Computers Are Alien
• Alien Computers Are Alien -- Part II: Kyanah-Human Cyberwarfare
• Alien Computers Are Alien -- Part III: A Guide to Kyanah Internets
• A Look Into the Kyanah Education System
• A Rare Look at Kyanah Living Spaces
• A Primer on Kyanah Economics
• Kyanah Food and Drink
• The Kyanah Have A Desert Planet -- Wait No It Has 12 Biomes: Part I
• The Kyanah Have A Desert Planet -- Wait No It Has 12 Biomes: Part II
• Kyanah City-State Dynamics: Part I -- Intercity Relations
• Kyanah City-State Dynamics: Part II -- City-State Demographics
• A Map of the Kyanah Homeworld: Part I
• Some Notes on Kyanah Timekeeping
• Profiles of Kyanah City States: Part I -- the Rktakian Kwardniet
• Profiles of Kyanah City States: Part II -- the Far South
• Profiles of Kyanah City States: Part III -- Everywhere Else

As was (maybe) previously stated, Kyanah don't have distinct languages with specific labels, yet this does not mean that they all share a common language. The vernacular tends to differ slightly from city-state to city-state; in the next city-state over, there might only be a few small spelling and pronunciation changes or some differences in handling obscure grammatical edge cases, but as one goes further and further away, the differences quickly accumulate. In most regions of the world, it's possible to understand the language up to a few hundred kilometers away from one's home city-state without dedicated study, but there's no hard-and-fast boundary where one language "ends" and another "begins". For this reason, linguistic aptitude is not a function of how many languages a particular Kyanah knows, but how large of an area they can make themselves understood in. Many of the specific vocabulary and grammatical structures used in Ikun are understood by educated Kyanah in other parts of the world, and tend to be used in settings where packs from many different regions of the world, with few or no linguistic features in common, must communicate, such as science or diplomacy. Due to Ikun's soft power and large-scale internet footprint, this is especially common in Net Zone 1; most but not all online content from this region is at least somewhat understandable to Kyanah from Ikun.
Notably, Kyanah have a syrinx rather than a larynx, meaning that their spoken languages are not pronounceable by humans and they also generally cannot pronounce human languages. Their typical vocalizations tend to sound like a mixture of rapid-fire grunts, hisses and chirps or screeches, which can vary considerably in pitch and cadence--not too dissimilar from how small theropods are believed to have sounded. Various low-pitched bellows and roars appear to be used in the same manner as shouting, being used to be heard across long distances, draw attention, or express anger. Naturally, this has presented considerable difficulties in translating proper nouns. With nothing else to go on, they have been forced to simply do a one-to-one replacement of the characters in their proper nouns with those in the Latin alphabet that most closely resemble them; humans have altered the conversion charts slightly in order to produce more consistently coherent and pronounceable results. Thus, for instance, the label "Kyanah" is simply a human construct and sounds absolutely nothing like what they call their species in their (as in, the soldiers from Ikun city-state) own spoken language. Actual communication between species was initially done through ad hoc gesticulation and amalgamations of human and Kyanah sign languages, which was gradually formalized in the first few years of the invasion, as well as occasionally communicating through writing or drawing when practical. By the end of the war, reliable inter-species machine translation and text-to-speech software would be developed, and in the subsequent years, this would advance to BCI devices that could generate speech in real-time, although not particularly reliable. Interestingly, even Kyanah who have a high base vocabulary of human words seem to struggle significantly with things like modifiers and word ordering, as their own languages tend to handle them in a radically different fashion.
For instance, over 95% of Kyanah writing systems organize words into binary trees rather than linear sentences, with children being semantically related to parents (e.g. subject and object, modifier and modified etc.). Linear scripts, while not unheard of, tend to be rare and associated with more primitive cultures, regardless of whether they're left to right, right to left, or top to bottom. It generally is not particularly important which words are the parent, left child, and right child; the writer chooses in order to optimize the aesthetics of their sentence-trees or place emphasis on a particular word. The nature of the semantic relationship between parents and children in the sentence-trees is denoted not by words comprised of characters, but by special markings called decorators, which in spoken language are expressed using subtle variations in tone, cadence, and volume, while in written language, they take the form of different types of lines between parent and child words. In most languages, decorators are also used for such things as prepositions, conjunctions, and tenses instead of using actual words for such things, resulting in all words referring to specific things or concepts, instead of having glue words that tie together other words or word groups like many human languages do. For instance, "You are eating", "You ate", "You will eat", "Are you eating?", and "Eat" (as an imperative command) all use the exact same words, with the difference lying in the decorators (or the tone/cadence/volume variations if spoken). It gets wilder, in Ikun, "Are the nyrud or the tyukrud in the field?" and "The nyrud and the tyukrud are out of the field." also use the exact same words. It's thus possible, in some cases, to meaningfully answer a question, especially a yes-no question, by simply repeating it back! (Albeit with variations in how the words are said, and with the caveat that simply "False" would be a much more succinct and natural response in this context.) For obvious reasons, decorators are dreaded by any humans attempting to learn Kyanah writing, and explain why Kyanah have an odd tendency to drop glue words and struggle with tenses when using human writing systems. In general, having a syrinx instead of a less complicated larynx allows them to make their vocalizations more compact by expressing a broader range of sounds, making the use of decorators instead of full words to save time a practical option.
Pronouns are another key difference; Kyanah have a whole set between singular and plural pronouns that they use to refer to packs, leaving human translators to awkwardly bounce between them when trying to translate these pronouns. Pack pronouns are a cultural universal for Kyanah; every single known language has them. It is customary to use pack pronouns when speaking to or about a member of another pack, even when only referring to that specific individual; using singular pronouns is usually a faux pas as it implies a higher-than-accurate degree of familiarity and intimacy, similar to a human walking up to a stranger and calling their spouse babe; or in the case of first-person singular, implies that the speaker is in some way deviating from their pack, if they have one. "I like nyrud steaks", when said to someone outside the speaker's pack, would for example strongly imply that the speaker's packmates in fact dislike nyrud steaks, and the speaker is the only one who likes them; saying it to another packmate however would have the connotation that humans would expect. The natural human tendency is to refer to packs using the plural pronouns, as they do in fact consist of multiple distinct individuals, but Kyanah would interpret this as referring to some vague, unspecified group, rather than their own pack. Additionally, as packs are atomic units in Kyanah society, occupying a single role and a single occupation, and being treated as one entity by their legal system, using plurals can create awkward statements in human languages and some meaning can be lost in translation.
Because the Kyanah use sentence-trees rather than linear sentences, languages aren't categorized into subject-verb-object, object-verb-subject, etc. but rather but the method in which the trees are traversed. Around 50% of the homeworld's population uses in-order traversal (left-child parent right-child), while 30%, including Ikun city-state, use pre-order traversal (parent left-child right-child) and the remaining 20% use post-order traversal (left-child right-child parent). To preserve the binary tree structure and prevent sentence-trees from exploding in size when dealing with many subjects/objects/etc. at once, lists of words with the same role in the sentence are placed into containers so as to occupy a single node. Kyanah sentence-trees can go on indefinitely as long as they are focusing on a singular subject; if the primary subject changes, a new sentence-tree must be started. Traditional Kyanah writing involves ornate sentence-trees shaped into aesthetically pleasing or meaningful shapes and sentence-trees are arranged on the page in a visually significant way; this sort of writing is roughly analogous to human calligraphy. Such niceties are typically ignored when typing on computers, in the name of efficiency and ease of programming. Instead, sentence-trees are automatically configured into rigid, standardized shapes and arranged on the page in such a way as to minimize wasted space, while still allowing for the creation of multiple threads. Naturally, traditional-minded Kyanah have been complaining about this since the invention of the computer, saying that it strips away subtle meaning and emotion from the text. However, the desire for efficiency has generally overruled such concerns in mainstream society.
Sentence-trees can be placed anywhere on the page, rather than following a particular order, though there is usually a clearly defined starting and ending point to a sequence; when the next tree in the sequence is not obvious from the position and orientation of the previous one, there is usually some arrow or other marker to point the path. Written works usually contain multiple sequences, each of which will take its own individual path around the page, and each of which is (at least primarily) written by a particular pack member. For this reason, written works are generally meant to be read by a pack collectively, with each member following one thread and later switching threads or explaining relevant aspects to each other if needed. Written works can be read by a single individual, but this requires the reader to frequently context switch between disparate threads that may only be loosely related to each other at times. Single threaded works do exist, but they are considered a separate form of art from mainstream, multi-threaded Kyanah literature. Multi-threaded literature is a direct descendent of story-threads, an ancient Kyanah art form and pastime that likely predates recorded history by a long shot, where members of a pack will take turns speaking sentences to collaboratively build a story. Good ones are sometimes written down and published, allowing other packs to enjoy them (sometimes even hundreds or thousands of years later), with each member of a pack choosing a thread and taking turns reading aloud their part of the story-thread and reenacting it. Interestingly, it is not just literature that is written this way; even textbooks, manuals, and research papers are all written in the same multi-threaded manner, and are likewise designed to be read by an entire pack.
There are plenty of distinct quirks between the different linguistic practices (using the term "language" may be a misnomer as linguistic practices tend to be continuous instead of being divided into discrete languages) in different parts of the world. Other than sentence-tree traversal, some of the most important differences center around the structure of words themselves. In most northern hemisphere scripts, characters represent sounds and have no intrinsic meaning on their own, while words are created by chaining these characters together based on the chronological order that they are pronounced. In southern hemisphere scripts, characters usually represent a few hundred basic objects and concepts and words are created by combining them, either in a linear chain or a graph-like structure, and the graphs tend to have their own unique algorithms for traversing them when reading or speaking, making such linguistic practices among the hardest to learn. For instance, in Kanenhah, "nuke" can be written (or spoken) by combining the characters for "made" (as in, made by Kyanah, not natural), "sun", and "egg" into a graph where the first two connect to the third, while in Koranah, the same word created by linearly chaining characters for "place" and "destroy" plus decorators to make the literal meaning "place destroyer" (which are written and pronounced somewhat differently from Kanenhah's characters for "place" and "destroy"). As an aside--the explanation for why there are so many broad and sweeping changes in language style and culture in general between the northern and southern hemispheres (a divide similar in many ways to the Western and Eastern worlds on Earth) is that impact ranges tend to cluster around the equator, which historically made travel between hemispheres much more difficult than travel within hemispheres. (I totally thought that through ahead of time, and didn't just make it up to retroactively justify the north-south divide.)

Warning: WALL OF TEXT
• Control (2013): Kendrick addresses Drake, along with 10 other rappers, in his verse, prompting passive-aggressive reactions from Drake. Drake downplayed the verse in interviews and seemed genuinely annoyed he had to constantly discuss Kendrick during the rollout for his next album, Nothing Was the Same.
"And that goes for; Jermaine Cole, Big K.R.I.T., Wale, Pusha T, Meek Mills, A$AP Rocky, DRAKE, Big Sean, Jay Electron, Tyler, Mac Miller."
"I got love for you all but I'm trynna murder you niggas, trynna make sure your core fans never heard of you niggas. They don't want to hear not one more noun or verb from you niggas."
• The Language (2013): After months of hating in interviews, Drake finally addresses "Control" on wax, albeit subliminally. He makes it clear he doesn't view Kendrick in the same light as critics do and believes Kendrick is only doing this to get a reaction out of him. Both points would end up common themes whenever Drake addresses Kendrick.
"I don't know why they been lying but your shit is not that inspiring."
"Fuck anybody that's talking that shit just to get a reaction."
"I am the one with the motormouth I am the one you should worry bout."
• BET Awards Cypher (2013): Drake's subliminals on "The Language" prompt Kendrick to make the most direct shots so far, during TDE's cypher at the 2013 BET Awards. Directly referencing Drake's latest album "Nothing Was the Same" only 3 weeks after it released, calling Drake a sensitive rapper, a trend that would continue through this beef.
"And nothing's been the same since they dropped Control and tucked a sensitive rapper back in his pajama clothes."
"I got my thumb on hip-hop, and my foot in the back of your ass."
• Sh!t REMIX (2013): Drake takes the position of Kendrick's big homie, a trend that would also continue in this beef. He makes multiple mentions of helping Kendrick out by giving him a feature and bringing his tour to Los Angeles in 2011 when Kendrick was a much smaller artist.
"Took niggas out the hood like I'm from there, so you know it's all good when I come there."
"I hear you talking about you're city like you run there, then I brought my tour to you're city, you my son there."
• 0 to 100 / The Catch Up (2014): On "The Catch Up," Drake vents to a woman about rappers mentioning him in verses and coming to terms with the fact he's top dog now and the problems that come with that. An obvious reaction to the quick back and forth they had after "Control," he's framing Kendrick, and other rappers, as clout-hungry envious haters that just want his spot.
"Imagine how it feel to watch another nigga at the top, you know that if you wasn't you you would be dissing you dawg?"
• Pay for It (2014): Kendrick goes on the offensive for the first time since the BET Cypher. He directly responds to Drake's "motormouth" lyric from "The Language" and lets Drake know this isn't a warning shot, it's war now.
"Been dissecting your motormouth, til' I break down the engine."
"This ain't no warning shot, this a relevant henchman."
"Ending our friendship, baby I'd rather die alone."
• Used To (2015): Drake references a 2013 interview with Elliot Wilson, where he alleged he saw Kendrick days after the "Control" verse, and his demeanor was quite friendly.
"They gone say you're name on them airwaves, they gone hit you up right after like it's only rap."
• 6PM In New York (2015): On one of Drake's classic timestamp records, he takes shots at a bunch of artists, most notably Tyga. But towards the end of the track, he takes subliminal shots at BOTH Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar. Mentioning "Money Trees" and "Blood On the Leaves" making it clear he's ready to go there with artists of any caliber.
"Why you rapping like you come from the streets? I got a backyard where money seems to come from the trees, and I'm never ever scared to get some blood on my leaves."
• King Kunta (2015): Kendrick subliminally addresses rappers trying to sit on his throne. Most notably though, are the bars about rappers with ghostwriters. When this song first released nobody knew who Kendrick was referring to. But months later, after Meek Mill exposed Drake for using ghostwriters, it became obvious who King Kunta was referencing. It was at this exact point the entire dynamic of the beef began to change.
"I got a bone to pick. I don't want you monkey mouth motherfuckers sitting at my throne again."
"I can dig rapping, but a rapper with a ghostwriter? What the fuck happened?"
"I swore I wouldn't tell, but most of y'all sharing bars like you got the bottom bunk in a 2-man cell."
• Hood Politics (2015): While there are no direct shots at Drake, Kendrick does make reference to reactions to the "Control" verse. He talks about people in our culture being too sensitive and that further dissing could lead to violence because of that. But makes it clear he can press the "red button" and get the West Coast involved if it has to go there. More directed towards East Coast vs. West Coast than Drake, but still relevant to the lore.
"Unless you talking about power, yeah I got a lot of it. I'm the only rapper next to Snoop that can press the button."
"Had the coast on standby, 'K Dot what's up? I heard they opened up Pandora's box, I'll box 'em all in by a landslide."
"I resolved inside that private hall while sitting down with JAY (JAY-Z), he said 'It's funny how one verse can fuck up the game.'"
• 100 (2015): Drake makes another big bro maneuver. Featuring on a Compton legends song (The Game), while filming the music video in Compton. The verse seems to be a reaction to the praise Kendrick received for "To Pimp a Butterfly" he wants Kendrick to know that if he felt like it, he could make an album just as great as TPAB. He also claims Kendrick's recent music gets no play in the club and when it does, the reaction is lackluster.
"I would have all of your fans if I didn't go pop and I stayed on some conscious shit."
"I'm in the club every time they play the competition, if they even play the competition, and I seen the response they get."
• Darkside/Gone (2015): Kendrick one ups Drake. Likely upset a Compton legend allowed Drake to diss him on a song, Kendrick teams up with THE Compton legend on an album named "Compton" to respond to Drake. Directly referencing Drake's song "Enemies" and pokes fun at the constant subliminals Drake continues to send.
"But I still got enemies giving me energy I want to fight now."
"Subliminal sent to me all of this hate, I thought I was holding the mic down."
• Deep Water (2015): The more direct of the Compton soundtrack disses. He again references a Drake song, this time "Started From the Bottom," asserting that unlike Drake, he really started from the bottom. There are also references to the number "6" which Drake has a known affinity for.
"Motherfucker know I started from the bottom."
"They liable to bury him, they nominate six to carry him. They worry him to death but he no vegetarian."
"The beef is on his breathe, inheriting the drama better than a great white, this is life in my aquarium."
• Summer Sixteen (2016): Phase two of the beef begins here. In 2015 President Barack Obama was asked who would win in a beef between Kendrick Lamar & Drake. Barack Obama picked Kendrick, and obviously, Drake doesn't agree. A quick sub to Kendrick on a song mostly focused on the Meek Mill beef.
"Tell Obama that my verses are just like the whips that he in, they bulletproof."
• Untitled 02 (2016): Kendrick pokes fun at Drake, parodying his "If You're Reading This" flow on the last verse. No real direct shots but some possible subs.
"I can put a rapper on life support, guarantee that's something none of you want."
• Untitled 07 (2016): On the penultimate song from Untitled Unmastered, Kendrick addresses a few artists who sent shots at him after TPAB. Though the Jay Electronica shots are most notable, he does take a second to remind Drake that he's not ready for war. Essentially calling Drake a bitch.
"You niggas fear me like y'all fear God."
"Before you poke out your chest, loosen your bra."
"The mastemind, and til' my next album, more power to you."
• Grammys (2016): While there are no obvious shots at Kendrick, this is an important song in the lore. On this song Drake starts the "Top 5" discussion in hip-hop, and saying his spot there is not for debate. This would be referenced on many disses moving forward.
"Most niggas with a deal, couldn't make a greatest hits."
"Y'all a whole lot of things, but you still ain't this."
"Whole city going crazy, top 5 no debating. Top 5, top 5, top 5."
• For Free (2016): One of the more weird instances in this beef. Drake makes a sly reference to Kendrick's 2015 song, For Free? (Interlude). It's not clear if this was an attempt at being friendly again, or a petty pot shot. Although seeing how things played out after, I'd assume this reference was VERY tongue in cheek.
"And like your boy from Compton said "You know this dick ain't free."
•4PM In Calabasas (2016): On another of Drake's classic timestamps records, he shouts out Kendrick once again. This song reads as a post-Views victory lap. But Drake is still clearly taking the position as Kendrick's big homie, the guy that took him on tour when he was a starving artist. Also the first time Drake ever mentioned Kendrick's name on wax.
"When they told me take an R&B nigga on the road (Chris Brown), and I told 'em no and drew for Kendrick and Rocky"
• Gyalchester (2017): Drake makes a direct reference to Grammys. Asserting that's he's no longer just top 5, he's top 2 and he's not #2. Kendrick would obviously take exception. The artist he's been compared to for the last 4 years just claimed the #1 spot on record.
"I know I said top 5 but I'm top 2, and I'm not 2, and I got one, thought you had one, but it's not one, nigga nah."
• The Heart Part 4 (2017): Kendrick becomes the big dog. In the two years since TPAB, Kendrick received a ton of criticism from other artists. Downplaying the impact of the record, downplaying Kendricks skill as an MC. He was being boxed in as the "Black Power" rapper and artists not named Drake (Big Sean, Jay Electronica, Lupe Fiasco) were beginning to feel very comfortable shooting at Kendrick. Then comes The Heart Part 4. This was almost like Kendrick's 5AM in Toronto. He's now established as a top dog in the game, and he let's everybody, including Drake, know. A lot of bars on here could be interpreted as Big Sean disses, but Kendrick counting up to 5 and proclaiming himself as the greatest rapper alive was clearly a response to Gyalchester. Kendrick also name drops JAY-Z, referring to him as Hall of Fame. This could be interpreted as a shot at Big Sean, who has an album of the same name, or Drake, who had just had a public feud with JAY-Z the year before.
"My fans can't wait for me to son you're punk ass and crush you're whole lil shit. I'll big pun your punk ass, you a scared little bitch."
"Tip toeing around my name nigga you lame, and when I get at you homie don't you tell me you was just playing."
"Yelling one, two, three, four five. I am, the greatest rapper alive."
"Hoe JAY-Z hall of fame, sit yo punk ass down."
"Go celebrate with your team and let victory vouch you, just know the next game played I might slap the shit out' you."
"A difference between accomplishments and astonishments."
• ELEMENT. (2017): Much like The Heart Part 4, this song is also seen as a Big Sean diss primarily. But the 2023 leaked version shows Kendrick was prepared to use this song to kick off the Drake beef officially. Obviously, things changed and he went with a more commercial version, but still had shots. The most direct shot to Drake being a reference to Drake being in Compton shooting the "100" music video, and another call back to the Top 5 lyrics from Grammys. This was also the beginning of the "Bogeyman" narrative surrounding Kendrick, as he begs any rapper to say his name on wax.
"I don't do it for the gram, I do it for Compton."
"If I gotta slap a pussy ass nigga, I'ma make it look sexy."
"Mr. one through five, that's the only logic."
"Niggas want to flex on me and be in LA for free huh? Next time they hit the 10 freeway, we need receipts huh?"
"Most of y'all throw rocks and try to hide your hand. Just say his name and I promise that you'll see candy man."
"Last LP, I tried to lift the black artist, but it's a difference between black artists and wack artists."
• GOD.* (2017): Kendrick once again trolls Drake's flow. This time copying the flow from Drake & Kanye's song "Glow" no direct shots or subliminal's really.
• Mask Off Remix (2017): Kendrick's post-DAMN. Victory lap. After years of Drake being able to big bro him in the beef, Kendrick outsells and outperforms Drake in 2017. Kendrick now takes the position of being just as commercial as Drake, while still being true to himself. The gap had finally been closed, authenticity and artistry begin to play an even bigger role in the beef.
"Platinum, platinum, platinum, gotta look at yourself and ask what happened."
"How y'all let a conscious nigga go commercial while only makin' conscious albums?"
"How y'all let the braids on the TV? How y'all let the hood at the table?"
•Family feud (2017): Interestingly enough, at this point it had been 2 years since Drake sent any direct shots at Kendrick. And honestly at this point there wasn't much he could say. Kendrick was still active, moving the culture, and just as relevant as Drake. These bars are seen as a warning to Meek in case he wanted to start the beef again, but I think it's more directed at Kendrick. Drake sees the gap closing, but makes it clear he can still go there with Kendrick if need be. Possibly the biggest reach of this list, but it tracks.
"But this ain't all about calling truce I'm, still dishin' out verbal abuse. That shit could get reintroduced if somebody got something they urging to prove nigga"
•All the stars (2018): Kendrick had a monster 2017 with the release of DAMN. So monster even Drake had to recognize it. I can't find an exact link to the article, but Drake congratulated Kendrick on his success during an interview. Possibly another olive branch like For Free, but Kendrick clearly wasn't feeling it. He tells Drake to keep his fake praise to himself. And even just plain out states he doesn't like Drake.
"Fuck you and all your expectations, I don't even want your congratulations"
"I recognize your false confidence and calculated promises. All in your conversation"
"You endorsin'? Motherfucker, I don't even like you"
"I want the credit if I'm losing or I'm winning"
•Diplomatic immunity (2018): Possibly a little upset at Kendrick dismissing his congratulations, Drake goes back on the offensive for the first time since "100". He reaffirms his position as Kendrick's big homie by referencing songs from To Pimp a Butterfly, U and I. Essentially telling Kendrick he got too much dip on his chip after 2017, and to remember where he came from.
"They try to compare us but, like a job straight out of high school there's no U and I"
"I taught you everything you know now you got student pride"
•Sandra's rose (2018): In 2018 Drake had a lot more to worry about than Kendrick Lamar. He spends the majority of Scorpion going at Kanye West & Pusha T, but made sure Cornrow Kenny caught a stray too with a reference to "Mortal Man" from TPAB. After this we would see Kendrick withdraw from the game for a while due to personal reasons and the 2020 pandemic, essentially surrendering the throne to Drake. At least for the time being.
"I walk in godly form amongst the mortal men"
•Family ties (2021): In the 3 years since Sandra's rose, Drake has continued to run the score up. Going on an insane run of #1 hits, and establishing himself as not only the biggest act in rap, but arguably the biggest in the world. With the change in sound hip-hop was going through, some wondered if Kendrick still had a place in this game as a top rapper. Could he still make hits and be relevant to the culture? Or was he going the André 3000 route? This banger with Baby Keem answered all those questions. Kendrick comes with a refreshed energy, addressing his absence, and making it very clear he still sees himself as the best rapper in the world. He once again references the Drake "Top 5" line from Grammys, and makes allegations that Drake's numbers have been falsified. Baby Keem even gets a shot in towards the end as he alleged Drake or, Number 2, was messaging his girl. Reaffirming to Drake they still see him as #2, and insinuating Drake is a thirst god.
"Smoking on your top 5 tonight" "Don't you address me unless it's with four letters"
"Last year, y'all fucked up all the listener, who went platinum? I call that a visor. Who the fuck backin' 'em? All been falsified"
"#2 DM'ing my bitch, that's cool, I don't ask why"
•No friends in the industry (2021): Drake's responds to Family Ties with his most direct shot since Sandra's rose. Much like Scorpion, Drake was pretty preoccupied with Kanye West for this project, but made sure to let Kendrick know he can't touch him in the numbers game anymore.
"Fuck debating who the GOAT. Better not make this shit about the numbers all I know, better not make this shit about the summers all I know"
•Father time (2022): After Kanye and Drake got back together in 2021 for a Larry Hoover concert, a lot of fans were confused, Kendrick being no different. He likely saw some of himself in Kanye, and wonders how somebody with a mind like Kanye links back up with somebody who's taunted him and his family for years. You can literally hear the disappointment in Kendrick's voice, but he uses it as an opportunity to self-reflect and wonder if he's going about his issues with Drake the wrong way. This was also Kendrick's first time saying Drake's name on wax since "Control".
"When Kanye got back with Drake, I was slightly confused. Guess I'm not mature as I think, got some healing to do"
•Churchill Downs (2022): Drake finds a new angle. With Kendrick returning to the game with Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers, not everybody was so impressed. Drake begins to poke at Kendrick's height, and his lack of presence in the game since 2017. He almost seemed offended that somebody who took 5 years off could still be mentioned in the same breath as him.
"All I hear is tall tales coming from little men"
"Same ones that say they run the game when they not even in it"
•The hillbillies (2023): A hilarious parody of "Sticky" from Honestly, Nevermind. No direct shots or subs, but Kendrick and Keem are clearly poking fun at Drake for making a mediocre dance album.
•AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM (2023): Scary foreshadowing. Kendrick admits that the spirituality he's showcased since Mr. Morale has been a little inauthentic, because there's somebody out there he still REALLY wants to slap the shit out of. He also warns this artist's day one fans to have some facts on them. Just insane, and makes you wonder how long Kendrick has really been scheming.
"Truthfully I be lying in my rap songs, cause I always fail to mention I'll slap homie"
"His career didn't come with no life insurance, hope his day one fans got some facts on them"
•First person shooter (2023): This is an interesting one, because Drake doesn't really send any shots. Besides calling himself the GOAT, and comparing himself to Michael Jackson, not much on here can track back to Kendrick. J. Cole does mention Kendrick as a member of the Big 3, but then says the Spiderman meme is me looking at Drake. Likely asserting Kendrick's lack of activity puts Cole in that #2 spot officially. It feels like a narrative was being pushed that Drake & Cole were the top 2. Kendrick once again takes exception to this, wondering how these guys are BFF's all of a sudden. Wondering how somebody like Cole aligns himself with somebody like Drake. Hearing Drake flex beating a Michael Jackson record, while giving Cole his first #1. Cole and Drake claiming the top 2 spots? This was the moment Kendrick decided to go nuclear.
"Who the GOAT? Tell me who you really rooting for. Like a kid who act bad from January to November, nigga it's just you and Cole."
"Love when they argue the hardest MC. Is it K-Dot, is if Aubrey or me? We the Big Three like we started a league, but right now I feel like Muhammad Ali."
"Rhyming with me is the biggest mistake, the Spiderman meme is me looking at Drake."
"Everybody steppers, well fuck it, then everybody breakfast and I'm bout to clean up my plate."
"Niggas steady talking 'bout when this gonna be repeated, what the fuck bro? I'm one away from Michael, nigga beat it."
"Stories About My Brother (2023): Once again some insane foreshadowing. This song is Drake once again reaffirming his status as top dog, and shouting out the shooters he keeps around him. He also talks about artists banding together to put a dent in his armor. He then addresses Kendrick, telling him Mr. Morale was 'buns'. He also wants Kendrick to know nobody would care if he retired, saying he's not 'Kobe Bryant' to us, possibly a reference to Kendrick & Kobe's 2017 interview. Though some argue these are Kanye West shots, the Kobe reference swings it towards Kendrick in my opinion. The final chapter of subliminals. Clearly Kendrick had enough.
"Your last album was buns, you niggas Hawaiian as fuck."
"I can't wait for the day you choose to retire your stuff, takin' off the sneakers cause you tired of lacing 'em up."
"That's how you gonna find out you not Kobe Bryant to us."

So I was just reading Dr. Marijn Van Putten’s work:
Hišām's ʾIbrāhām: Evidence for a Canonical Quranic Reading Based on the Rasm
Cliffnotes: the orthography of the name Ibrahim in the Quran varies between Ibrahim and Abraham - and while this is mostly limited to Surah 2 in the Cairo addition, the alternation between the two forms is relatively consistent in early manuscripts.
He concludes two things:

1. Hisham’s reading must have been based on the consonontal text
2. There must have been some oral tradition as well, as several of the canonical qiraat readers land on the same reading for words that we wouldn’t expect purely from the rasm.

Further, some like Deroche, note there may be some corrections to some of the manuscripts to ‘fix’ the names for consistency.
I don’t have a view one way or another, although I found Marijn’s work fairly convincing.
It did, however, make me think whether we can use orthography to evaluate claims relating to the Quran’s recension.
According to traditional sources (Al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, kitāb faḍāʾil al-Qur’an, bāb jamʿ al-Qurʾān, no. 4986.), the following is claimed:

1. There were two seperate recensions of the Quran, the Uthmanic recension that scholarship has largely agreed is historical, but also an earlier Abubakar compilation in ~634, two years after the prophet’s death.
   
2. Both tasks were handled by the same individual, Zaid Ibn Thabit, the Prophet’s scribe.
   
3. The initial compilation under Abubakar was accomplished by Zaid (who knew the Quran by heart orally, and presumably was a scribe so had at least parts of it written down). According to tradition, Zaid went to the companions who had physical copies of isolated verses or chapters, and compiled them together into a single written book.
   
4. This book was held by as personal property by Caliph Abubakar, Caliph Omar, Caliph Omar‘s Daughter Hafsa, before Uthman noticed oral differences in the recitation of the Quran and asked Zaid to start his recension project, using Abubakar’s Quran as his source.
   

If this story is accurate, we can infer several features:

1. Because of a variety of scribes writting down the quran in small fragments, we should expect to see some inconsistency in the spelling of proper nouns specifically (for instance, we can imagine scribes with familiarity with jewish texts would have a natural preference for Abraham, as it’s closer to the original). The fact that Zaid (who knew the quran) didn’t just write it down from his memory, but looked for fragmentary verses that were written in the presence of the prophet - suggests that he would have valued copy ing the text exactly despite inconsistent spelling, especially for proper nouns which have no effect on the text.
   
2. If we argue that in ancient times spelling wasn’t that important or adheared to, two counter points come to mind: 1. Then Zaid could have written the Quran from memory and like the later reading traditions could have made the spelling more uniform. 2. If spelling wasn’t important, we would see a shift in the locations of these differences, as the inconsistency could be view as embarrasing. So if we see post uthmanic manuscripts maintain the spelling tradition, that’s likely because the authorotative Quran had them.
   
3. The existence of Abubakar’s Quran does not diminish the emergence of companion codices or the palimpsets, as according to the tradition only a single copy was made, and it was kept in the private hands of the Caliph’s until Uthman’s project. No other quran’s were burned, and the companions would have still had their codices allowing for the same multiformic expression to exist until Uthman’s recension.
   

That’s just a theory I have anyways. So I have two questions:

1. Do you think we can use orthography to establish the multiple scribes wrote the original text and establish the likely historicity or the Abubakar Quran ?
   
2. Do you think this theory matches the observed data ? (IE is the spelling divergent inter-text, but consistent between texts (so the different spellings were there, but for some reason were respected and copied faithfully, which makes more sense if an authoratative copy made the Uthmanic committie retain the spellings instead of making them all uniform if they had more license.
   
3. Do the companion codices maintain these spelling conventions ? If this theory is correct, there may very well have been multiple scribes with copies of the same verse, spelled differently, but only one would have made it into Abubakar and therefore Uthman’s Quran, but some of the fragments not chosen could have either made it into the companion codices in the interim period, or into the 4 stemma the Uthmanic quran forms. Is this likely ?
   

Really curious what you guys think, can orthography be the key ? And can orthography help us estimate when this might have happened by analyzing orthography shifts over time in later manuscripts ?
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

The hyperform is the term I give to the hyperdimensional characteristics of reality that reveal themselves through the mutability of the macro-physical and our capacity to make sense of it.
Between those two venues – the material world and our ideation of it – is the phenomenology of the real, and this is where mutability can be expressed as a sort of language form.
This is not a radical observation in its expectation – we expect that meaning is made from the mutability of reality, such as the quality of human speech compared to the absence of it.
Where the premise is unreasonable by prevailing standards is in supposing a terrain exists that treats reality as a kind of soundboard for a music something somewhere is making.
Isn’t this what mutability of reality suggests – a kind of making? The players engage in a kind of play?
Let’s say music becomes an adjective instead of a noun – muse-ic or –ique – compositions derived from an inspired musical language. Muse-ic – woodwinds are breathed into, while players are inhaled.
Each inhalation changes the condition of the body, which is adjacent to all of reality, the way each drop of rain that lands in the ocean changes the ocean, and every sonorous moan, bleat and twinkle changes the potential of the human future.
I use the term hyperform in both the specific sense and as a collective – a hyperform followed me home yesterday, the hyperform is composed of inverted assumptions.
This might make it seem like another layer of reality, the way chickens lay eggs. Why, no – ha-ha – not exactly like a chicken lays an egg.
When we think of the hyperform as another layer of reality, we are more correct to imagine we are the chick inside unhatched, and a kind of shell circumscribes material reality – during one phase of life, if the shell cracks, we die.
Subsequent to that, we are on guard against cracked shells, followed by the odd premise that we won’t be set free until we crack the same shell on purpose – what? – because we’re hungry, because we must make music with our beaks -- whatever.
Once free, though, the opening premise becomes just that – we started with the stone-age formulation, but then the shell cracks, and the hyperform, in both its singular and collective sense, introduces us to the universal narrative, starting with the solar mind.
The solar mind is where some aspects of the hyperform are at right now – the solar mind meaning a will to assimilate the physical and metaphysical language forms of our solar system, which is the limit-case of all the phenomena we can reasonably expected to interact with locally.
I think of the hyperform as consisting of forms of reflectivity. We know reflectivity as mirror images and echoes, as well as the more abstract notion of sitting still, leaning forward, resting our chin on our fist, knitting our brow.
Some of this reflectivity has a kind of automatism and reflexivity about its responses, and some of this reflectivity starts to tell a story that seems to indicate it knows what humans like, changes the story in the retelling.
Some of this reflectivity can engage in dialogue, and when the dialogue begins, the mutability of reality can be an avid topic of conversation, a kind of upcycling of the moment into something else, and some of this reflectivity circumscribes natural law, such that the concept of a great-than experience of reality becomes something empirically verifiable.
The cosmic narrative we are being aimed toward as a species might indeed become trips around the galaxies – but this by virtue of an altered state of reality where the characteristic of mutability is significantly stranger than it is now.
I have been in the presence of the hyperform in a state of direct contact – a kind of ghost that let me know it could see me, then proceeded to bend my consciousness to one side, like it was looking at the underside of a leaf, and I only knew what happened after it happened,
like remembering a dream without falling asleep first, but once the dream is known, that inconsequential-seeming moment of confusion would be remembered. We are not alone.
The undersides of the leaves are where the brains are.
Each leaf shows its face to heaven, and what we see is a crowd above us, looking in the other direction. The leaves are still growing in size most places around the block, but the undersides are already pulsing with ideas, roaring with enthusiasm, and connecting opposite coasts with trans-American rail lines.
They can hear the sound of cicadas climbing through the soil, even when the shower of cosmic particles grows torrential.
The undersides of leaves are like reservoirs of contemplation, the trees capacity for mutability springing out of them.
I walk inside, see the undersides of the leaves of vines pressed flat against a couple of windowpanes – I can tell, the growing tips have already made it to the gutters.
From inside, the leaves are like directories, the vines, telegraph lines, and I try to picture what their signals portend.
Someday the vine of human consciousness will climb over the horizon, then out of the solar system, and with each new leaf unfurled, we will know a little more about the path we’re traveling on, what it’s made of, where it’s going, where it’s gone.
The sun! The sun! Has it escaped the mind? Or is it merely night?
I lay in bed, stacking the events of the day into a series of layers, layer after layer, which subsequently strut about the barnyard, pecking at the ground, turning things over – and then it’s time to lay another egg.

I thought of this as I was thinking about the sample texts often used to compare languages - the Lord's Prayer, Article I of the UDHR, the Babel story, the North Wind and the Sun, and The Sheep and the Horses (that last one's only for Indo-European languages). There's also "The Wren" which is used by ILoveLanguages! (It doesn't appear to be his own composition, BTW)
The main criticism of these texts is that they are often not reflective of how the language is used, being in high-register language (the first three), and in the case of the Biblical texts, using them for languages spoken by non-Christian populations could seem a bit strange. (Recently, ILoveLanguages! made a video comparing Middle Egyptian and Coptic, and another comparing Middle Egyptian with Egyptian Arabic. Both videos used a translation of the Lord's Prayer into Middle Egyptian - I'm not sure if Andy translated it himself. Very strange, considering Middle Egyptian stopped being spoken more than a millennium before Christianity.)
"The North Wind and the Sun" thus seems like the best text of the ones that are often used.
However, I think a better running text would be one where the only nouns, adjectives and verbs used are ones in the Swadesh/Leipzig-Jakarta list, and all of them would be used. (Pronouns besides the ones on the list could be used to pad things out, plus some adverbs and prepositions perhaps. Maybe one or two more verbs to pad things out.) I've even thought of a poem, but abruptly stopped as I realised I am not very good at poems.

Tinfoil and I will be making no proper conclusions, just connections that might've been an influence on the story.
Three tales..

According to legend, Herndon and his twin brother Harlon the Hunter built their castle atop Horn Hill and took to wife the beautiful woods witch who dwelled there, sharing her favors for a hundred years.
In the Early Middle Ages, Windsor Forest came under the control of the pagan Angles who worshipped their own pantheon of gods, including Woden, whose Norse equivalent Odin rode across the night sky with his own Wild Hunt and hanged himself on the world tree Yggdrasil to learn the secret of the runic alphabet. It has been suggested that the name Herne is derived from the title Herian, a title used for Woden in his role as leader of fallen warriors (Old Norse: Einherjar). - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herne_the_Hunter#Anglo-Saxon_deity

And last but not least, Green Arrow 1988 issue 26

Oliver Queen investigates the Hawthorne Estate, in Nottingham, England, where he finds the late Alec Hawthorne's cane. As he investigates an indoor garden, he is surprised by the appearance of the man who hired him, Geoffrey Dunston, who is also the Hawthorne family lawyer.

Some quick names to jot down..

• Dunston

Dunstonbury was once a castle of House Manderly when they lived along the Mander in the Kingdom of the Reach. When the Manderlys fled the Reach a thousand years before the War of Conquest - Wiki
Dunstan is an old man, but not as old as Erik Ironmaker. Lord Drumm carries the Valyrian steel sword Red Rain - Wiki

House Drumm may be a reference by George R. R. Martin to Jericho Drumm, a magic-using superhero known as Brother Voodoo.

After Princess Saera Targaryen's companion Alys Turnberry was disgraced and gave birth to a bastard daughter in the Vale, she was arranged to marry Lord Dunstan Pryor. - Wiki

The Sigil for the Pryors is an eclipse, one circle over the other.
There is a Pryor to be found in Marvel comics as well.. "Madelyne Pryor is a mutant clone of Jean Grey of the X-Men. She was created by Mister Sinister, and her existence was orchestrated to fulfill a grand scheme to birth a living weapon to destroy Apocalypse."

• House Hawthorne

House Hawthorne is a noble house from the Westerlands. According to semi-canon sources, they blazon their arms with interlocked rings of black thorns and pink flowers, on a green field. - Wiki

The text states that certain houses trace their roots back to the "golden age of the First Men", a term that could be meant to cover the Dawn Age and the Age of Heroes together.
One circle over the other.
Back to Green Arrow
https://imgur.com/a/WjGLajv - Here are the most important images from this issue.
At the end of the story it is discovered that it is Dunston who set all the pieces in motion and who killed Hawthorne for his estate, this was achieved with a sneaky application of poisons/LSD that were hard to trace and that alienated him and his family from the local people. Hern the Hunter is the one who tried to put all the pieces together again with the help from one of his avatars that show up throughout time, Sam the Green Arrow.
This sounds remarkably like something that the Faceless Men would get up to, and is also reminiscent of the Dun Fort during the Defiance of Duskendale.
TLDR: People in the guise of other people, mysteries and sneaky deaths. "Golden age of the First Men" has a bunch of comic connections and odd connections to the FM, the most egregious example being House Banefort and their Hooded Man.
The sigil of House Banefort is a reference by George R. R. Martin to the comic book character Black Hood.
"According to Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes, the Black Hood's other enemies include "Panther Men, the Animal Man, the Mist (who can change into a cloud of mist at will), the Mold (who transforms humans into mold), and Octavius, the violinist and author of "the Dance of Death". He also fights the Crow."
And Banefort is again reminiscent of certain other names, Dun Fort and last but not least Dreadfort

• dun (v.)

"to insist on payment of debt," 1620s, also as a noun, "agent employed to collect debts,"

• dun (adj.)

Old English dunn "dingy brown; dark-colored," perhaps from Celtic (compare Old Irish donn "dark;" Gaelic donn "dull; dark brown; dark;" Welsh dwnn "brownish"), from PIE donnos, dusnos "dark."

There is a Don(t)nos who did do underhanded work, a red one.

Dontos is the only surviving member of House Hollard, once close allies and vassals of House Darklyn. As a result of the Defiance of Duskendale, both houses were destroyed and their blood exterminated

TLDR2: Dontos donned dusky drapes then did dun deeds

Just wrote this rant, figured it might be interesting to get other people's thoughts on it. You kind of need to be fairly familiar with season 1 and season 2 of The Newsroom to fully know what I'm talking about. This also references specific "technical storytelling technique" names with proper noun capitalization that aren't exactly recognized by anyone other than me and my glossary of techniques. Also the formatting is wonky because I wrote this in Word where the indentation code is way smarter than Reddit's rtf code.
tl;dr: I'm writing out a lot of reasons why I think the pilot episode of The Newsroom was way better than Episode 1 of its Season 2. I go into specific dramatic tension techniques, thematic question, characterization techniques, thoughts on how to improve specific parts of Season 2's first episode, stuff like that. Basically a video essay in text form.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The first episode of The Newsroom Season 1 worked. The first episode of its second season didn’t. Here are 4 points as to why (sorry, church pastors).
1. The first episode of Season 1 established the following season-wide components extremely clearly:
a. Thematic Question: Can a news show be honorable and popular at the same time?
b. Elevator Pitch: News anchor transforms his public persona in an attempt to civilize America from his news desk.
c. Allegory: The entire story is basically Don Quixote but in an American, modern newsroom.
The first episode of Season 2 established none of those three season-wide components for the new season. As a direct result, the narrative composition of the season and its episodes was thematically ambiguous, difficult to summarize, and not memorable.
Successful development of those three components is the foundation of successful story.
2. The first episode of Season 1 effectively develops its main protagonist, Will MacAvoy, using the following 4 technical storytelling techniques:
a. Synecdoche Principle of Characterization: Before we see Will’s face, we are immersed in his subjective way of experiencing of the cat fight on the college stage. This isn’t a traditional expression of the technique, but it’s in the spirit of the technique. This is a technically correct use of a characterization technique.
b. Forced Denial technique: For about three minutes, Will is forced to deny the things he wants to shout from the rooftops (per Mackenzie McHale’s posters). This is a technically correct use of a dramatic tension technique.
c. Identity Reversal technique: Will’s externalized qualia rapidly reverses to its foil when Will says, “Fine.” This is a technically correct use of a characterization technique.
d. Authority Reversal technique: The dominance hierarchy on the stage radically transforms immediately once Will says, “Fine”. This is a technically correct use of a dramatic tension technique.
All those techniques put together are partly the reason that scene has amassed over 30 million views on YouTube.
Furthermore, the scene established two separate Setup/Payoff devices indulged upon later in the season, established character synecdoche for the female lead, set the season’s main events in motion, and created a Problem to Solve device for later in the same episode. Most importantly, the follow-up to the scene in the hallway established the Season 1’s Danger Level. Establishing a story’s Danger Level is the single most important task of any prologue or prologue-esque scene.
The first episode of Season 2 opens on a medium shot of Will MacAvoy. This was a major mistake. We already know who Will is. There is no need to spend this precious first minute on Will. The opening scene continues to use a cheap power trip to establish Will’s dominance in the scene (he claims he saw the stenographer type a word incorrectly from across the room). This moment does not match the pattern of any known technique and does not contribute much, if anything, to dramatic tension, characterization, or pacing.
The scene is establishing a nonlinear storytelling format where information is provided out of sequence without laying the foundation first. This format was done effectively on two episodes in Season 1 but is used ineffectively here because it is essentially a pilot episode. That format requires the audience to be well-grounded in the story from last week’s episode.
The scene goes on to cast a joke and to elaborate on a supporting character not integral to any primary conflict. It then spins off into a story where Reese Lansing is not allowed to walk into a room.
The first scene in the first episode of a season should usually focus on developing a new primary character. Season 2’s first scene introduces a new primary character but does not focus on developing that new character. Furthermore, it fails to use any identifiable technical storytelling techniques (while Season 1’s pilot used 4, arguably 6).
Here's a suggestion for a fix: the ending scene where Mackenzie is in the lawyer’s conference room uses a Value Stacking technique to develop the lawyer character. Make that technique stronger by changing Mackenzie’s line from this:
“When I was little, I asked my uncle how much a lawyer costs. He said if it’s bad, £300. If it’s really bad, £400. And if it’s really bad and you’re guilty… How much do you cost?”
to
“When I was little, I asked my uncle how much a lawyer costs. He said if you punched someone, £300. If you killed someone, £400. And if you killed someone and you’re guilty… How much do you cost?”
Using this Value Stacking technique to imply that Mackenzie is guilty of a “really, really bad” crime is not as effective as using the technique to imply that Mackenzie is guilty of a crime far worse than killing someone.
Then, put that scene at the very beginning of the episode but don’t show the lawyer’s face until the very last possible second (Synecdoche Principle of Characterization). Then, use some combination of 3 or 4 other techniques to make the scene memorable and exciting. The opening scene absolutely must focus keenly on establishing the lawyer’s character.
Then, take Will MacAvoy out of the entire first 99% of the first episode. The story now takes place on the night of the 9/11 anniversary when Will has been taken off the air. Establish that Will is waiting outside the lawyer conference room in the opening scene with Mackenzie (establish the Setup) and then wait to release that Payoff until the end of the episode. A reminder of the Setup may be necessary in the middle.
Why? Because this episode needs to focus on developing the lawyer character. You can’t effectively develop that brand new character in a sequel with your already-developed main protagonist in the way. This episode must be about the shiny new character. The new character needs to be deeply imbedded in the allegory and elevator pitch the first episode establishes (as done in Season 1’s pilot).
3. There is no bad dialogue in Season 1.
However, in the first episode of Season 2, we see examples of excess filler dialogue. We see numerous lines continue well after their natural expiration. For any other writer, this would be forgivable in small doses. For Aaron Sorkin, just one is unforgivable.
a. Don Keefer’s lines about not needing to discuss the reason Jim left. This should have been a one-liner.
b. The scene at the park bench with the Occupy Wall Street lady. Her line, “Then why do you take Wall Street bullshit like limited government seriously?” should have been the end of that line. The moment she took the next breath, the scene’s realism was popped open like a piñata.
Most scenes in Season 1 used at least 1 technical storytelling technique. Often, multiple were used at the same time.
However, in the first episode of Season 2, only 1 or 2 techniques were used in total throughout the entire episode. Season 1’s pilot used them at a rate of about 1 per minute for a total of about 40-50.
Here are some examples of scenes that would have used at least 1 clever technique if they had been written by the Aaron Sorkin from Season 1:
a. The scene where Jim asks Mackenzie to let him go on the campaign trip. It uses perfectly strong subtext, but that’s not good enough. You really need a Forced Denial technique here, a clever iteration. It’s not at full-blown technique stage yet because it’s just plain-old subtext. The Aaron Sorkin of Season 1 would have come up with a clever way to incorporate a stronger Forced Denial technique here. The scene needs to start off talking about something completely different, we can’t have such a clear intention through-line from the preceding segment since that spoils the transition, and then we need to rapidly transition at a tangential climax. The bit where she stopped to shut the door killed all the momentum. Closing the door needs to happen after the transition, not before.
b. The scene where Jerry Dantana was first introduced ruined a perfectly good opportunity to use the synecdoche technique. Don’t show his face until he shows up in the newsroom. Use the establishing scene where he gets the phone call to focus only on the character’s synecdoche. Do not show his face. Instead, show his costumes/props/living space. Perhaps even use that as an opportunity to install a Bomb Under the Table device by showing the audience evidence in his house that he has something to gain by harming ACN—before even showing his face. This technique was used exceptionally well on Mackenzie’s introduction in Season 1.
c. The scene where Jim is denied entry into the bus didn’t use any techniques at all. This could have been massively improved by either adding an Authority Reversal, Kill the Cat, or a Trap. It’s technically using a Kill the Cat, but it’s very weak because it doesn’t seem particularly unfair since Jim’s department publicly humiliated the people on the bus. This needs to be an Authority Reversal or Trap. Even an Identity Reversal may work here for the bus manager. Yes, technically there already is one, but it’s very weak since the transition is far too slow. The key to most of the dramatic tension techniques is rapid transitions.
d. The scene where Reese Lansing tries to enter the room in the Capitol building. We have an extremely tangible intention and obstacle and we have a “unstoppable force meets an immovable object” situation going, but it doesn’t work. Firstly, the intention line for Reese doesn’t work because we don’t know why getting into that room is so important to him. Secondly, we’re not using any techniques. It’s bland. Dry. It can be made far better by adding a Bomb Under the Table for example. Instead of us gradually realizing with Reese what’s going on by seeing hint after hint (yes, Will already told us, but the transition from confidence in Reese is far too gradual and we see it through Reese’s perspective), we instead see Reese’s friend tell the guard not to let Reese in. The scene continues as normal, but Reese’s nametag is there and he’s still on the list of names. But the guard won’t let him in. Reese pleads for the same friend we saw before. The guard doesn’t reveal that his friend is the one who banned him. This is the bomb under the table. Then, at the end of the scene, the guard finally reveals to Reese that his own friend was the one who banned him. That may not be the best implementation, but it's a start.
For contrast, we’ll briefly explore 2 scenes from Season 1 that should have been boring and thoroughly unexciting, but weren’t:
a. The scene in Season 1 Episode 3 where Will says, “OH! I DIdn’t even knOW you were HERE”. This entire scene only consists of Will ranting about something hardly anyone viewing can follow. To keep the less-educated audience’s attention, it uses at least 4 techniques.
i. Bomb Under the Table: The audience knows Mackenzie is back there, but it doesn’t seem like Will does. Instead of getting bored by Will’s long rant, the audience is anticipating when and how he will realize she is back there.
ii. Graphic Illustration: Hardly anyone can follow the flow of logic, so Sorkin references the imagery of the Pentagon levitating multiple times so that the audience can focus on imagining the Pentagon building levitating while listening to the musical dialogue.
iii. Withheld Revelation: At the end of the scene, it is revealed that Charlie Skinner secretly manipulated Will into going on this rant in the first place. This significantly changes the framing of the previous conversation, causing the audience to mentally revisit it.
b. The scene in Season 1 Episode 6 where Sloan Sabbith is on the phone with her Japanese friend in the conference room with the producers talking about the nuclear reactor meltdown. The Aaron Sorkin of Season 2 would have led with a conversation about the nuclear reactor meltdown since that’s what the scene is about. The Aaron Sorkin of Season 1 instead led with a conversation about the friend’s daughter’s diving team regional championship. This is a clever use of the Identity Reversal technique. This scene was randomly selected from a pool of all Season 1 scenes.
4. Season 1 had a very clear and actionable Problem to Solve device running straight through the entire season. That problem to solve was this: “How do we civilize America from a news desk without getting fired and hated?”
Season 2 on the other hand does have a Problem to Solve, but it is not actionable. The Problem to Solve is this: “We massively screwed up on Genoa, so how do we get out of our legal troubles?” This is not an actionable problem firstly because the season isn’t even about solving that problem. It’s about discovering how the problem was created. That’s not a story. That’s a group therapy session.
It worked on the Season 1 episode where Will was at his therapist’s office because the episode was about how to civilize America from a news desk without getting fired and hated. The discovery of Will’s emotional problem was a minor subplot. It was not the primary plot. Furthermore, the episode did not lead with telling the audience exactly what Will’s emotional problem was and thus did not strip the episode of its all its tension like stripping a deer of all its venison.
It's not actionable secondly because zero scenes take place in the presence of a jury, judge, or other neutral factfinder.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Critical quarrels regarding the show’s thematic messaging aside, The Newsroom Season 1 demonstrated mastery of technical storytelling. The Newsroom Season 2 failed to demonstrate mastery of technical storytelling. Poor technical storytelling was the reason Season 2 was not remembered because mastery of technical storytelling is what makes a story effective at painting a picture of thematic debate.

The official glossary for the Sword of Kaigen can be found here.

Abiria a country occupying the southern part of the continent of North Baxaria, a former Yammanka colony populated by the descendants of indigenous Abirians, Yammanka colonizers, and the Hadean laborers they brought with them.
adyn a person with no telekinetic abilities or enhanced strength (by Earth standards, a regular human being).
Appa an informal Kaigengua noun and term of address meaning ‘Dad’ or ‘Papa.’
Arashiki the ancestral castle of the Tsusano family in Ishihama, Shirojima, Kaigen, also called the ‘Stormfort.’
awa a Yammaninke word meaning ‘so,’ ‘well,’ ‘okay,’ ‘good,’ or ‘um.’
ano a Shirojima Dialect word meaning ‘that,’ ‘um,’ or ‘so.’
Ba or -ba a respectful Yammaninke suffix for an important person.
Baba the Sizwean word for ‘Father.’
Baxaria the two continents encompassing the former Yammanka colonies of Carytha and Abiria, and the former Sizwean colonies of Malusia and Zandile, meaning ‘New World’ in Yammaninke.
bloodline technique a fighting maneuver or trade secret (usually necessitating specific powers) that is passed down through a single family line and kept secret from outsiders.
Blood Needle a jijaka bloodline technique unique to the Tsusano family, wherein the practicioner takes control of a small amount of the blood inside their victim’s body and freezes it in the shape of needle, which is used to strike pressure points or pierce vital organs, called ‘Chihari’ in Shirojima Dialect.
Blood Puppeteer a jijaka powerful enough to control another person’s entire body by manipulating their blood, thought to exist only in legends and ghost stories.
bogolan a traditional type of Yammanka fabric associated with wealth, status, and professionalism.
bokken a blunt practice sword with the approximate weight and dimensions of a katana, usually made of wood.
bound a Dunian measure of distance (roughly equivalent to 26.4 feet or 7.74 meters).
Carytha a country occupying the northern part of the continent of North Baxaria, a former Yammanka colony populated by the descendants of various indigenous peoples, Yammanka colonizers, and Hadean slaves.
-chan an informal Shirojima Dialect suffix used to address a close female friend and/or a female person of lower status than the speaker.
click a Dunian measure of distance based on how far the sound of a clicked tongue can carry (roughly equivalent to 1.75 miles).
Daybreak Academy a theonite academy in Livingston, Carytha.
dinma (pl: dinmanu) a Dunian measure of time (roughly equivalent to 0.43 seconds).
Disa a country on the continent of Namindugu, a former Yammanka colony populated by the primarily tajaka descendants of native Disankalu and Yammanka colonizers.
Disanka (pl: Disankalu) a person from Disa; an adjective describing a person or thing originating from the nation of Disa or its culture.
Disaninke the main language spoken in the country of Disa.
dojo a training space in Shirojima fighting tradition.
Donkili a song performed by finawu to teach others about the history of the world and its relationship to the religion of Falleya.
-dono a deeply formal Shirojima Dialect suffix (used to address a member of a high koro family).
Duna a planet that closely resembles Earth in a dimension that parallels ours, also used more generally to refer to the realm of the present and the living.
jakama (pl. jakamanu) a Yammaninke word meaning ‘teacher,’ ‘mentor,’ or ‘master,’ a formal address used by an apprentice to address their mentor.
fankatigi (pl. fankatigiwu or fankatiwu)a sub-theonite with physical strength equal to or surpassing that of the average theonite.
Falleke the holy union of God, Kiye, and Goddess, Nyaare, in the Yammanka-originating religion of Falleya.
Falleka a practitioner of Falleya.
Falleya a Yammanka religion centered on the Falleke (the marriage between God, Kiye and Goddess, Nyaare) practiced throughout Duna.
fina (pl: finawu) a member of the fina kafo; a prefix for a member of the fina kafo, similar to the English ‘Mr.’ or ‘Ms.’
Firebird the crime-fighting alter ego Robin Thundyil.
fonya a shortened form of fonyoya the ability to control air.
fonyaka a shortened form of fonyojaka (pl: fonyakalu) a theonite with the ability to control air.
genkan the entryway of a traditional Shirojima house, typically where one takes off or puts on shoes.
Geomijul a Kaigenese tech company specializing in info-com device technology.
guli a Kaigenese unit of currency (roughly equivalent to 50 American cents).
gbaati a shortened form of kewaati or kettewaati (pl: gbaatinu) a Yammanka measure of time (36 minutes in Earth time).
Hades the westernmost country on the continent of Namindugu, a former Yammanka colony, the original homeland of most of Duna’s adyns.
Haijing a coastal city in the modern Ranganese Union, a major military stronghold of the Kaigenese Empire prior to the Keleba, meaning ‘Sea Capital’ in Rangagua.
hakama a traditional type of loose pants worn by swordsmen, archers, and other martial artists in Shirojima, Kaigen.
haori a traditional long coat, worn by men of status in Shirojima, Kaigen.
Heibandao a coastal city in Holangoku, Kaigen.
Ishihama a town in Shirojima, Kaigen, ancestral home of the Tsusano family.
Jali a prefix for a member of the jaseli kafo, similar to the English ‘Mr.’ or ‘Ms.’
Jaliden a diminutive address for a young member of the jaseli kafo.
Jalike a respectful address for a male member of the jaseli kafo, roughly equivalent to the English ‘Sir.’
Jamu Kurankite a global peace-keeping and humanitarian aid force of highly trained theonites based in Yamma, meaning literally the ‘Peace Army.’
Jamuttaana (pl: Jamuttaananu) an agent of the Jamu Kurankite.
jaseli (pl: jaseliwu) a member of the endogamous Yammanka social class that specializes in speech, music, and dance.
jijaka (pl: jijakalu) a theonite with the ability to control water.
jiya the ability to control water.
Jungsan the capital city of the Kaigenese Empire, meaning ‘Middle Mountain’ in Kaigengua.
Kaa- a Shirojima Dialect prefix used when addressing one’s mother (typically combined with –chan or the more formal –san).
kafo (pl. kafonu)an endogamous occupation-based social class.
kafoka (pl. kafokalu) a Yammaninke word used to refer to people of a kafo other than the koro kafo and/or individuals outside one’s own kafo.
Kaigen a country occupying the easternmost part of the continent of Namindugu, the center of the Kaigenese Empire, home to most of Duna’s jijakalu.
Kaigengua the primary language spoken in the country of Kaigen and the Kaigenese Empire.
kallaana a racial slur used to refer to white adyns, meaning ‘corpse’ in Yammaninke.
Kama a respectful address for the head of the household (one’s fankama), one’s mentor (one’s jakama), or someone in a position of authority over the speaker, roughly equivalent to the English ‘Master,’ can be used as a suffix to a first or last name.
kamaya a term referring to traditional Yammanka social hierarchy, including but not limited to the practice of powerful koronu providing for members of other kafonu in exchange for their services, and young people serving and apprenticing with more experienced members of their own kafo.
katana a traditional Kaigenese sword.
kayiri synthetic material similar to paper but fireproof and sturdier.
Keleba the first and only open war fought between Duna’s theonite superpowers, precipitated in 5291 when Daybreak Academy principal Oyeda Biida was assassinated along with several students, meaning ‘Great War’ in Yammaninke.
Kiye God in the Yammanka religion of Falleya, typically associated with soul, vitality, and the sun.
Kolunjara the capital city of Yamma.
koro (pl: koronu) a member of the warrior or commoner class, also called ‘kele koro.’
Koro a prefix for a member of the manga koro or kele koro kafo, similar to the English ‘Mr.’ or ‘Ms.’
Koroden a diminutive address for a young member of the manga koro or the kele koro kafo.
Koronkalo the fifth month of the twelve-month Dunian calendar, named for Queen Koronkan Wagadu, the third queen of Yamma (roughly coincides with Earth’s November).
koroyaa a respectful address for a female member of the kele koro or manga koro kafo, roughly equivalent to the English ‘ma’am.’
koyin (pl. koyinu) a Dunian unit of measure about the width of a grown man’s thumb (roughly equivalent to three Earth centimeters).
Kri a mythical figure in the religion of Falleya, the first female human ancestor and the mother of all tajakalu.
Kribakalo the last month of the twelve-month Dunian calendar, named for the mythical human ancestor Kri from the Donkili (roughly coincides with Earth’s June).
Kudazwe a Dunian continent divided between two nations*—*the independent country of Kudazwe and Kaigenese Kudazwe, belonging to the Kaigenese Empire.
Kumono Academy a private high school for koro boys in an old temple on Mt. Takayubi in Shirojima, Kaigen, traditionally headed by the Matsuda family.
Kumono Lake a spring-fed lake on Mt. Takayubi in Shirojima, Kaigen.
-kun an informal Shirojima Dialect suffix, used to address a close male friend and/or a male person of lower status than the speaker.
Kusanagi a peninsula in Shirojima, Kaigen, called the ‘Sword of Kaigen’ for its history of cutting down would-be invaders.
Kyougetsu Yari the name of the white-lacquered katana forged by Kotetsu Katashi and wielded by Matsuda Takeru, meaning literally ‘Spear of the Mirror Moon’ in Shirojima Dialect, also called the ‘Moon Spire.’
Laaxara the realm of the afterlife in the religion of Falleya.
langa or lanya (pl: langana) a Yammaninke swear word meaning ‘curse’ or ‘malediction.’
Lazou Linghun a fonyaka bloodline technique, wherein the fighter vacuums the air from their victim’s body through the mouth, collapsing their lungs, meaning ‘Soul Pull’ in Rangagua.
Lindish a language originating on the western islands of Hades and spoken in some parts of Carytha and Abiria (nearly identical to Earth’s English).
littigi (pl: littigiwu or littiwu) a sub-theonite with the ability to control light.
Livingston the largest city in the country of Carytha.
The Longhouse Confederacy a coalition of Native Abirian tribes that banded together in an attempt to oust the Yammanka colonizers from Abiria and establish an independent nation once in 5135 and again in 5290.
manga koro (pl. manga koronu) a member of the ruling kafo.
Manga Koro a Yammaninke prefix for a member of the manga koro kafo, similar to English ‘Lord,’ or ‘Lady.’
mattaku a Shirojima Dialect expression of exasperation.
The Moon Spire the name of the white-lacquered katana wielded by Matsuda Takeru, called ‘Kyougetsu Yari’ or ‘Kyougetsu’ in Shirojima Dialect.
Na the Yammaninke word for ‘Mom’ or ‘Mother.’
Nadamui a town on one of the farthest southern islands of Shirojima, meaning ‘Hill of Tears’ in the local dialect.
Nagi a mythical deity from the Donkili, the founding male ancestor in Namindugu, conflated with God, Kiye, in Ryuhon Falleya.
Nagidon the first day of the eight-day Dunian week, named for the mythical human ancestor Nagi from the Donkili, a day of work.
nagiji a word used to refer to written characters of Kaigenese and/or Ranganese origin.
Nagimaru the name of the Kotetsu-forged katana wielded by the ambidextrous Matsuda Takashi (usually in his right hand), companion to the shorter wakizashi, Namimaru.
Nagino Falleya the prevailing denomination of Falleya in the Kaigenese Empire, which subscribes to all the main beats of the Yammanka creation myth.
Nami a mythical deity from the Donkili, the founding female ancestor in Namindugu, conflated with Goddess, Nyaare, in Ryuhon Falleya.
Namimaru the name of the Kotetsu-forged wakizashi wielded by the ambidextrous Matsuda Takashi (usually in his left hand), companion to the longer katana, Nagimaru.
Na-Nyaare or Na-Nyaxare a reverent address for Goddess, Nyaare, in the Yammanka religion of Falleya, meaning literally ‘Mother Nyaare,’ sometimes used as a mild oath.
ne a Shirojima Dialect particle indicating a request for confirmation, similar to English ‘no?’ ‘isn’t it?’ or ‘okay?’
nenneko a Shirojima Dialect nonsense word used as a soothing filler sound in lullabies.
Nii- a Shirojima Dialect address for one’s older brother (typically combined with the suffix –san or the more deferent –sama).
numu (pl: numuwu) a member of the endogamous Yammanka social class that specializes in the creation of tools, weapons, clayware, and machinery.
Numu a prefix for a member of the numu kafo, similar to the English ‘Mr.’ or ‘Ms.’
Numuden a diminutive address for a young member of the numu kafo.
Nyaare or Nyaxare Goddess in the Yammanka religion of Falleya.
nyama any active or potential energy in the universe.
Ranga a country on the continent of Namindugu, a former colony of the Kaigenese Empire, the current center of the Ranganese Union, home to most of Duna’s fonyakalu.
The Ranganese Union a collective of nation-states occupying most of the continent of Namindugu, populated by a mix of fonyakalu and jijakalu.
Rangagua the primary language spoken in the country of Ranga and most of the Ranganese Union.
Ryuhon Falleya the oldest Kaigenese denomination of Falleya based in the idea that all life originates from the ocean, defined by a belief that Nagi and Nami are the true form of the two founding gods of the world.
Ryuhon Falleka (pl. Ryuhon Fallekalu) a practitioner of Ryuhon Falleya.
Sabaisu a town on one of the farthest southern islands of Shirojima, meaning ‘Shark Coast’ in the local dialect.
-sama a formal Shirojima Dialect suffix, used to address someone of higher status than the speaker.
-san a somewhat formal Shirojima Dialect suffix, a polite way to address an acquaintance, friend, or someone of similar to or slightly higher status than the speaker.
Sasayaiba a jijaka bloodline technique, unique to the Matsuda family, wherein the practicioner turns ice into a bladed weapon hard enough for use in combat against steel weapons and theoretically able to cut through anything, meaning ‘Whispering Blade’ in Shirojima Dialect.
senkuli (pl. senkuliwu) a member of the endogamous Yammanka glass-working class that specializes in glasswork.
Senpai a Shirojima Dialect noun, suffix, and term of address meaning ‘upperclassman’ or ‘senior.’
Sensei a Shirojima Dialect noun, suffix, and term of address meaning ‘teacher.’
shimatta a Shirojima Dialect exclamatory curse word.
Shirojima a province in the Kaigenese Empire, comprised of a cluster of large and small islands.
Shirojima Dialect the native language of Shirojima, Kaigen.
Sibikalo the sixth month of the twelve-month Dunian calendar, named for the mythical human ancestor Sibi from the Donkili (roughly coincides with Earth’s December).
**siira (**pl. siiranu) a Dunian measure of time (roughly equivalent to 0.72 Earth minutes).
Sizwe the southernmost country on the continent of Kelendugu, populated mostly by tajakalu, a former imperial power and old rival of Yamma’s.
Sokolokalo the fourth month of the twelve-month Dunian calendar, named for Queen Sokolo Wagadu, the second queen of Yamma (roughly coincides with Earth’s October).
sondatigi (pl. sondatigiwu or sondatiwu) a sub-theonite with the ability to control sound.
sub-theonite a person who has special abilities but does not qualify as one of the original types of theonite (tajaka, jijaka, fonyaka, or the now extinct senjaka and kabaka) such as littigiwu, sondatigiwu, and fankatigiwu.
stride a Dunian measure of distance (roughly equivalent to a meter or 3.3 feet).
Suradon the seventh day of the eight-day Dunian week, named for the mythical human ancestor Sura from the Donkili, a day of rest and reflection.
tabi two-toed cloth shoes worn in Shirojima, Kaigen.
tajaka (pl: tajakalu) a theonite with the ability to control fire.
Takayubi a mountain on the tip of the Kusanagi Peninsula in Shirojima, Kaigen, home to a small cluster of villages that share its name.
Takayubi High School the public co-ed high school on Mt. Takayubi in Shirojima, Kaigen.
Takenagi the name of the ancestral Kotetsu-forged katana wielded by generations of Yukino swordsmen (the most recent being Yukino Dai), meaning ‘Bamboo Cutter’ in Shirojima Dialect.
tanto a traditional Kaigenese dagger.
taya the ability to control fire.
theonite a person with the ability to remotely manipulate their physical surroundings in the form of air, water, fire, or solid substances.
Thulanism an anti-imperialist ideology originating in Sizwe.
Tou- a Shirojima Dialect prefix used to address and refer to one’s father, usually combined with the suffix ‘-san’ or the more deferent ‘-sama.’
waati (pl. waatinu) a Dunian measure of time (one hour and 12 minutes in Earth time).
walla (pl: wallanu) a Yammanka unit of currency used throughout most of the world (roughly equivalent to two dollars).
wakizashi a traditional Kaigenese sword, shorter than a full-sized katana but significantly longer than a dagger, good for close-quarters combat where a katana is too long.
The Whispering Blade a jijaka bloodline technique, unique to the Matsuda family, wherein the jijaka turns ice into a bladed weapon strong enough for use in combat against steel and glass weapons, called ‘Sasayaiba’ in Shirojima Dialect.
xuro a strong Yammaninke swear word, similar in meaning and application to English ‘shit.’
Yamma a country occupying the central and northwestern part of the continent of Kelendugu, populated mainly by tajakalu.
Yammanka (pl: Yammankalu) a person from Yamma; an adjective describing a person or thing originating from the nation of Yamma or its culture.
Yammanka obsidian refers to a set of particularly sturdy types of glass developed by Yamma’s senkuliwu, including the industrial jonjo glass and the nearly impervious Zilazen glass.
Yammaninke the main language spoken in Yamma, the most widely-spoken language on the Planet Duna.

What's this?: Each month in Doctor Who Magazine they have a column by Russell T Davies (formerly 'Letter from the Showrunner', before that 'Production Notes') - a column by someone involved in the production of Doctor Who, and normally in the form of either the showrunner writing pieces about writing Doctor Who or the showrunner answering reader-submitted questions. Because these pieces and questions have often been used as a source for blogs to write misleading stories, they started being typed up for /gallifrey.
Hey thanks for doing this! Now I don't have to buy it: Yes you do, otherwise you'll be missing out on: in-depth previews of the first three episodes of the new series (Space Babies, The Devil's Chord, Boom); a joint interview with four of the stars of The Devil's Cord - Chris Mason (John Lennon), George Caple (Paul McCartney), Philip Davies (George Harrison), and James Hoyles (Ringo Starr); an in-depth interview with Jinkx Monsoon (Maestro); an interview with Anita Dobson (Mrs Flood); a feature on the construction and design of 'Jimbo' (the robot from Wild Blue Yonder); a deconstruction of "Smith and Jones"; the final part of DWM's Fifteenth Doctor comic-strip "Mancopolis"; reviews for all of this month's DVD/CD/Book releases and EVEN MORE.
It's available physically in shops and digitally via Pocketmags.com!
Want an archive of the previous Production Notes that have been posted on /gallifrey?: Follow this link.
I bumped into Sarah Lancashire recently. I said, "Matron Cofelia!" Without a pause, she replied, "Of the Five-Straiten Classabindi Nursery Fleet, intergalactic class." She still remembers!
I love those mad Doctor Who words, all those names and proper nouns that we'll remember forever. And now here comes a brand-new batch. Will we ever see Mondo Caroon? Where exactly is Bertie Lester? And how many people does it take to fly an Asteroid Hopper? All those words and more are hurtling towards you, starting May 11!
Here in the Doctor Who factory at Bad Wolf, we're clanking away, still shooting the climax of Season 2 - which includes the words "tinderbox", "Croydon" and "threshold", and oh, I wish you could see that guest star - but a lot of our focus has gone on to the most important thing of all, the launch of Season 1. By the time you read this, we'll be on the verge of our premiere in London, and then we're zooming off to launch the show in New York and LA too. Showbiz!
But be warned, screenings mean that spoilers will start to flow. And I know that's a tricky issue for some viewers, with episodes dropping at midnight on the BBC iPlayer, before they're shown that evening on BBC One. Doctor Who has had all sorts of transmission patterns over the years, with lots of bumps and changes. I can remember 1996, standing in the queue outside HMV at midnight to buy a VHS copy of Paul McGann's Doctor Who movie, five days before it was shown on TV. Five days! Even before the shop doors had opened, a man behind me spoiled the entire plot, yelling out, "And then the Master falls into the Eye of Harmony!" But still, I went home and watched it until 2am and loved it. Also, famously, in 1983, the BBC released the paperback novelisation of The Five Doctors weeks before it went on air. I bought it and denied it; I let it burn, glow and tempt me from the corner of my bedroom in Juxon Street, Oxford. All I did was flick through the first few pages, which had a marvellous chapter concerning Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter, walking through the ruins of a post-Dalek-invasion London... only to discover it was invented for the book and didn't happen at all on screen! And then, to top it all, The Five Doctors was shown in the USA a good two days before it reached BBC One on a Friday - not a Saturday! - night.
And now we have 2024. With plenty of warning of the new pattern, for you to plan ahead and choose your own viewing. And that's the point: choice. You're not having to change your habits to fit the show, the show is changing to fit you. And it's changing to adopt the patterns of all modern TV shows. Yes, I think all of them, very soon. This is the future, and it's here, right now.
If you want to stay spoiler-free before the Saturday night transmission, I honestly believe it can be done. I stayed spoiler-free when Game of Thrones would drop in the UK in the early hours of the morning. I'd happily watch it at 9pm that night, in blissful ignorance. And okay, maybe I'm not as online as you are, but that's the key. Manage your online activity for, what, 18 hours? And it's a Saturday too, have a day off!
Easily said, I know, I know, but consider Casualty. I watch that every week. I have done for decades. They now drop their episodes on the iPlayer on a Saturday morning, before that night's TX. And they recently had an episode which resulted in - spoilers, look away - the shock stabbing of Charlie, a good old-fashioned cliffhanger. And it was a surprise to me. I'd remained spoiler-free, happily startled on that Saturday night. And okay, I get you, Casualty might not buzz as much as Doctor Who online. The Holbyverse hasn't quite taken off in the same way. But to counter that, bear in mind: I do follow Casualty, it's made in the city where I work, I know some members of the cast, I know some writers very well, and a good friend of mine is a script editor on the show (hello Tommy, I bet he reads DWM). And despite that proximity, I still stayed spoiler-free. It can be done! It's actually fun.
And bear in mind, a midnight viewing could be lovely. Stay up! Have a party! And that includes kids, too - plenty of children went to midnight openings of bookstores when the new Harry Potter books were released. It was part of the game, part of the narrative, a story they'd tell for years to come. I'd especially recommend midnight for Episode 7, because it's shocking, frankly, and there might be screaming! And the planning of a viewing can be an absolute joy. I remember my Paul McGann midnight vigil as really fun and daft and dedicated, all part of the warp and weft of my life as a Doctor Who fan. These anecdotes make us who we are.
And even on the actual Saturday night, you own it now. Because, yes, you can sit there at the allotted time and watch your favourite show, as normal. But now, look, if the pizza is delivered late, you can wait. If mum's stuck at work and misses the bus, you can pause and start half an hour later. Or if you've got a party later that night, or a big trip planned for Sunday morning, you can start an hour earlier. If all your mates happen to be in town on a Saturday afternoon, you can have your viewing party then. And don't a lot of you like Doctor Who in the dark? So wait till 9 or 10pm, feel that unique Doctor Who terror that comes with drawn curtains and the lights low. The programme is yours, now. Yours absolutely. Yours to start and stop and pause and play whenever you want.
Thing is, we all want to make our own appointments. We wish that we could say to the doctor, or to Amazon, or the gas man: Saturday at 9am, please. We want to be in charge of our own lives. Now, with Doctor Who, we are.
Someone told me recently that Generation Alpha considers radio to be a really odd thing. How weird, they said, that you have records, chosen by someone else, played in a fixed order, and topics of conversation decided in advance, by unknown people, offstage. If you're young, I was told, that seems bizarre, because it makes you powerless. And I can see what they mean. At my age, I cling to a Radio 2 schedule, but I get it; I might disagree but I can also see how that opinion of radio is true. Which means, again, that choice is the way things are heading, and the tide cannot be stopped.
For now. Maybe one day things will change. They might revert back. They'll more likely find something even more new. Maybe in 10 years we'll have all programmes blipped directly into our brain by a psycho-link!
But seriously, I'm not making light of this. I can hear the worries. It's easy to say 'stay offline' when your health or job or nature might make that impossible. And I'm sorry, because then, yes, spoilers, will fly. Unfortunately, there's always been a subset of viewers hitting the spoiler problem, like the tons of people who work Saturdays and on night-shifts. They've had to negotiate this for years. So there has never been a transmission pattern in the digital age that's perfect for everyone.
And to be honest. If you're that online, and cannot change... folks, you stand a high chance of getting spoiled anyway. Before transmission. That's the modern world. Beyond my control. From April onwards, there will be screenings and previews and screeners and friends-of-friends who've seen episodes in advance. And Doctor Who is so popular, it's a victim of its own success. It has devoted fans who will talk, and share, and some who will move heaven and earth to discover information, and post it, far more than, say, good old Holby.
Some people have said to my face that they think our leaks are deliberate. That it's a deliberate attempt to drum up publicity. Let me tell you now and forever: nonsense. To try that with the press and online would be to dance with the devil. And also, inappropriate, because the BBC is a public service broadcaster. I promise. No leaks are ever deliberate.
But still they come! And we try to stop them. We have great people working very hard at the problem. One script was found recently in Brazil! Back in my old 2005-2010 days, a script with the actor's name watermarked on every page was found on a park bench. A copy of The Next Doctor was once on sale in a sci-fi shop in Florida! And I might laugh about this - you see, transmission becomes anecdote, in the end - but I know these spoilers are damaging. I'm told that the entire plot of The Giggle and The Church on Ruby Road were available online, in detail, months before transmission.
But there you go. If you're that online... you always will be. And, in fact, that's part of your joy too. You like it. You love it! So for the run of this season, the hours after midnight will be your ultimate playground. Okay. I can only hope that your happiness doesn't dent someone else's.
Right, let's sweep that off the desk - the most important thing is, NEW DOCTOR WHO! And not just Specials, this time, but an actual season, a great big proper season, for the first time since 2021. And new viewers! Hopefully, for some people, this will be their very first copy of DWM, and I apologise if I've wittered on about 1983 and VHS and Brazil. Ignore me! Because the crucial point is: this season is new, the Doctor and Ruby are new, and the monsters and stories and villains are new, new, new.
You can start here, first-time viewer. Don't worry about all those years of backstory. Truth is, there isn't one. He's a man in a time machine and she's his best mate, that's all there is to it. If you have questions, don't worry, Ruby asks them! And the show works like an anthology series - every week, a new time and place. Deep in history, or the future on far-flung alien worlds, or thrillers in the modern day, we've got them all. Lots of free-standing episodes, although, pay attention, because there are little hints and hooks here and there which might build up to something in the season finale.
And you, old faithfuls. Create new viewers! Have that screening party and invite someone new. If someone says "I don't know where to start," tell them: right here, right now! If I've worried here about transmission, it's because I want you all to have the best possible front-row seat as we introduce, ladies and gentlemen and others...
Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson. The Doctor and Ruby Sunday. I adore this team more than I can say, and I'm so excited to unleash them upon the world. At this stage, I must've seen each episodes about 25 or 30 times, and yet I still see new things in their performances. Oh, they dazzle! What an honour to watch two brilliant actors seize these scripts and make them spin and sizzle and soar. I swear, those two will make you hoot and gasp and yell and weep, and then hoot all over again.
I have loved Doctor Who all my life. And now a brand-new form of Doctor Who is about to light up the sky. So whatever time you're watching, buckle in and settle down. Because here it comes. The ride of a lifetime. Hold on tight!

So here’s my situation: due to a long and complicated story, I ended up taking over the elementary guide halfway through the year. I am not certified in any montessori thing, just taught myself as much as I can for free.
My class is not normalized. Here’s some things that are happening.

1. The previous teacher said you had to do one thing in every subject, after that you could do…unclear. Nothing is what I got. This means some kids would “complete” work halfway through the day and just be wandering around being distracting. I’m open to breaks, but then I have to redirect them to work.
   
2. My elementary class is small (8 kids) and mostly 5-year-olds. Even one super-advanced four year old who has known multiplication since he was 3. I do use some elementary materials with them, but sometimes they’re still not really ready for things. I have 3 children in the 6-9 category, 2 8 year olds, 1 6 year old.
   
3. My director has a school wide curriculum that sometimes just flies over their heads completely, and I have to do it with everyone. These kids (minus older ones) do not understand themes, for example. I have a new student who can’t read, let alone has any idea what any of the parts of speech are. The opposite can be true with older kids, where they’re like “yeah, I know about nouns.”
   
4. The previous teacher did not use any montessori math materials. I have introduced a bunch of materials to my younger ones. One older one is honestly very advanced (can do long division on paper) so I’m not bothering with him. The other 8-year old, it’s been a weird mix. She is returning as far as I know, but I feel like parents will feel like they’re behind now that they’re doing montessori math.
   
5. The previous teacher almost never let them do art. Now that’s all they want to do. I don’t mind some art, but they have to do work.
   
6. In general because of the “one work per subject” policy, kids just want to rush through work. Kids don’t want to do more than like 2 stamp game problems. They complain about having to do work, basically.
   
7. I have a new student who has never done montessori. He’s not a bad kid, but definitely not normalized. He cannot read, which everyone else can to some degree. He is kind of loud. Basically I feel like I’m tethered to this kid and I just tell him “go do art” because I get exhausted spending all day on him. Not great, but true.
   
8. My older students in particular are so stuck in how the old teacher did things. They lack flexibility, even when I say “let’s make a booklet instead of just copying this in a journal (which at 8 I would have JUMPED at).” One parent complains I don’t just have them copy, so with her I just let her copy again. This mom is too much drama for me to fight her on. They are more open to it than before, but now it’s 100% about the art and there’s no interest in learning about a new topic. They’ll spend all day on the art part, not on other things.
   
9. Constant interruptions. I try to tell them to get help from other kids, but that doesn’t always work. It can be from any reason, such as “can I go get water?” (Despite telling them just go get it) or a random story or tattling.
   
10. The primary class that leads into mine has “easy work time.” This is basically toys time. One kid who came up into my room mid-year is smart, but does not have the attention span for work.
    

I just want my class to feel functional. It was kind of good when I first started, but now I just dread being there. I feel like I’m correcting all day. If I ask politely they don’t care. If I’m firm, I feel like that’s just my mode all day and kids hate me (or don’t like me, whatever). What can I do to make it better?

I am NOT the Original Poster. That is u/IMighthavefuckedup97. He posted in AITAH and his own page.
Original BORU posted by u/LucyAriaRose
New update marked with ---!NEW UPDATE!---
Editor's Note: I did some mild editing to improve readability.
Mood Spoiler: sort of resolved, but still a lot of questions
Original Post: September 6, 2023
I might have fucked up.
Me (32M) and my best friend Alex (32M) have been friends since diapers, we're basically family. After college we both moved back home so we could live at home and get our feet underneath us. Alex started dating Stella (35F), a lovely girl, around 4.5 years ago, and from the get go she seemed to politely dislike me, idk why, oh well c'est la vie. Alex and Stella moved across the country in 2021 after Stella earned a promotion at work, In 2022 Alex proposed, she said yes, and they set a wedding date for the end of September 2023.
I got a save the date card at the beginning of the year, and based on the conversations I had with Alex assumed I would be in the wedding party, either as a groomsman or the best man, but never received any official confirmation from either of them. Couple months before the wedding I saw that wedding invitations had gone out on social media, and figured mine was en route. It never came. I waited a couple weeks, figured it might have just gotten lost in the mail, before I checked in with him.
I called Alex and had a brief conversation with him where he was clearly agitated and said he was dealing with a lot, would be incommunicado for the near future, to direct any wedding related questions to Stella, and he'd call me when things cooled off. I called, texted, and emailed Stella several times over the course of a week but she didn't respond to any of them. At this point I figured I wouldn't be attending the wedding, and that things were really fucked up for some reason between the two of us.
Yesterday, a little over three weeks after our last conversation, Alex dm'd asking if I was free to chat. I jumped at the opportunity to get some answers, and after exchanging pleasantries Alex jumped right into a spiel saying that he knew I was super busy with work and dealing with a lot of personal stuff but he'd love it if it could attend his wedding, even just as a guest, and wanted to know if there was anything he could do to help make that happen. I just blurted out that I'd love to but hadn't received an invitation. Alex stared blankly at me and said "what?" and I just kinda verbal vomited out that I hadn't received an invitation, that was the reason I'd called him a few weeks ago, that I'd contacted Stella about it but she never got back to me and left me on read, and that I had no idea what he was talking about me dealing with too much to be involved in the wedding. After a very pregnant pause, he said he needed to go sort things out, and that he'd call me when it was done.
My phone's blowing tf up since with wedding attendees asking me wtf happened and why the wedding might be off now. My girlfriend has reaffirmed to me that I did nothing wrong, but I've had people from all sides saying I stuck my nose where it didn't belong, and caused a stink, which is really fucking with my head. AITA?
EDIT: after he dmed me we switch to video chat, meant to include that whoops
EDIT2: I may not be able to respond to everyone's response but I have read them all an appreciate each and every one of them, my girlfriend is also having way too much with this and is kindly giving me shit for doubting myself
Relevant Comments:
Why didn't you ask any of your other friends if they knew what was going on?

"I asked a couple who I knew could be trusted to keep it on the DL who were both surprised I hadn't gotten an invite and encouraged me to talk to Stella
I've had some bad experiences in the past where shit interpersonal drama was happening, I reached out to people looking for answers and it made it 10x worse, I tend to just shell up and wait nowadays"

Is there any reason she might think you were a bad influence if you've known him since diapers?

"It's possible, Alex was raised kinda sheltered and I wasn't, I think we only got in trouble one time in HS, not like she has much room to judge though, AFAIK her HS experience was pretty bog standard, in college we all got into some shit as most people do"

Extra info on Stella:

"Funny part is everyone loves Stella except me and another guy in the group whose autistic
EDIT: I just want to clarify something, I did not mean autistic as a pejorative, because of his neurodivergence he has a completely different perspective, one I find incredibly valuable"
"yeah kinda, she's really good at doing that fake polite thing, especially to me, everyone else eats it up, he doesn't, but has learned over the years not to say anything"

Are you gay?

"NGL I expected this question way sooner, but no, I'm not gay, or queer, not that there anything wrong with that"

Possible biases she might have:

"ethnicity, no
socioeconomic, kinda?
religions, kinda, I'm agnostic, so's Alex, Stella's a non practicing Christian
different school? no we all went to 4 year university,
bathing? lmao no that's nasty
controlling behavior? none that I know of
past info? not that I can think of, Alex was raised fairly kinda sheltered and religious, me and Stella had more traditional HS experiences, college was more or less the same for all of us"

There must be missing info here:

"I don't disagree, I feel like I'm missing a lot of pieces of the puzzle, but Alex delegating to Stella is pretty normal, he gets overwhelmed easily in high pressure situations and tends to defer and she's much more an "alpha" personality, that's one of things he loves about her
The weddings might be getting called off AFIAK because she lied to him, people are mad I "exposed" this instead of going along with her story. The weddings massive, this isn't some small personal affair with 25 people"

Why tf would you think you're the asshole?

"a. when you've got a bunch of people spamming your phone it makes you question whether you were in the right or not
b. I didn't want to cause a bunch of drama and make shit worse for what I though was an honest mistake at first, blowing a whole friend group when the person you're "going against" is way better liked than you is a dangerous choice, also a lot of those people just assumed I was invited
c. Alex is pretty easily overwhelmed and tends to defer, one of the reasons he loves Stella is she's a go getter who will handle stuff for him, IDK why he didn't or why he had to go incommunicado though, guess ill find out soon I hope"

Update Post: September 7, 2023 (Next Day)
Alex and I texted Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, he said he was handling stuff and asked if I'd be free to talk Thursday afternoon with him and Stella, which I agreed to. This is just a rough summary, and I probably forgot some stuff, frankly I'm too mentally fried to weave a narrative rn so its just gonna be bullet points.
a couple of pieces of info about Alex to provide some context
-Alex was raised fairly sheltered and religious until he was 18, when he went to college and opened, as a result he still has some, idk, blindspots about certain things
-Alex has mild to moderate OCD, it's managed with low levels of medication and maintenance therapy, which is one of the reasons he gets overwhelmed easily, especially from unexpected stressors, and weddings are chock full of those.
Now for the actual update:
-The wedding, it's still happening, I will be the best man, and I've been read in on all the shit I need to do. The person who was filling in for me, Matthew (34M), one of mine and Alex's good friends whose also neurodivergent is thrilled not to have to "spend the day peopleing" and can instead "party his ass off." As a result of this clusterfuck Alex/Stella/whoever parents are paying for the wedding will be comping me+gf's plane tickets and hotel stay and my best man tux
-What was the main driver of this mess in the first place? Stella's pregnant, yay....... they found out a couple days after the wedding invites got sent out, apparently they were passively trying, then actively trying in 2022, but stopped and swapped back to heavy BC once the save dates went out because Stella did not want to be pregnant on her wedding day. This led to several changes to the wedding, threw a bunch of other planning into disarray, sent Alex into an OCD hole for a couple weeks which is why he was agitated when I called him and why he needed time to get his head around it all and get the intrusive thoughts managed, and one of the reasons why Stella ignored/missed my messages/calls.
-Why did Stella not respond to my messages? Besides surprise pregnancy, Stella said that she's on her phone for work a ton, and gets hundreds, if not thousands of emails/texts/calls per day, she misses some stuff, especially since she didn't have my contact info saved (lol), I also emailed her work email instead of personal email which I don't have, and my own personal email handle is not my name. In the future I was told to be more insistent in my communication with her to breakthrough her everyday noise, duly noted.
-What happened to my invite? Stella claims that she sent me one but must have sent it to my old address, I did move in March to my current residence and the save the dates were sent out in January
-What did Stella tell Alex about me not being in the wedding? Apparently nothing, according to Stella he either 1) believed one of his intrusive thoughts was real when he was he was in his OCD hole, 2) he got confused when she told him one of her cousins with a similar sounding name to mine wouldnt be attending, or 3) some combination thereof. According to Stella she always wanted me in the wedding.
-Why did Stella not contact me after I didn't RSVP back? She assumed there was something going with me and Alex and that we'd sort it out and he'd tell her, in the meantime she was busy with work, wedding planning, and unexpected baby
-How did a bunch of wedding guests find out about this mess? Alex called his mom for advice after our convo, mom had church friends over, church ladies overheard a good chunk of their convo, church ladies are gossipy fucks. Alex has spent a decent chunk of time the last couple days putting out fires so to speak
After about an hour Stella left to go deal with some wedding stuff and me and Alex chatted about shit for a couple hours. Do I believe Stella's explanations? kinda, the babies real AFAIK, confirmed by medical professional, she does have a cousin I know she's close with who has a similar sounding name to me, and she does work from her phone a lot, but the rest of it just seems a little too convenient, and I feel like I'm left with more questions than answers. Good news is since I'm in the wedding I should have great access to figure out wtf is going on, I hope.
TLDR: Wedding still on, surprise baby messed everyone up
Relevant Comments:

I don't believe Stella at all:
"neither do I, it should be a mildly entertaining mess based on the guest list"

Checking with Alex:

"After she left I asked him if he was sure he wanted to do this and that I'd support him no matter what, he said yes so he seems committed, I've generally found when people are this determined to see something through any action taken to get them of course will fuck up your relationship just as much as it'll fuck their determination, better to just be there, be supportive, and be ready for the mess"

OOP's theory on what really happened:

"She intended to wait and see how long she could delay my invite until Alex noticed, the pregnancy situation gave her a good crisis to take advantage of and she did, she hoped he'd be stuck in his OCD hole until the wedding ended, that's the rough version anyhow"

Examples of why you think she doesn't like you?

"I don't think she's ever given me a real smile, it's all dead eyed fake ones
body language is usually defensive around me, lotta crossed arms, hunched shoulders
she makes a lot of subtle snide remarks, IE I got him an 100 dollar bottle of Japanese whiskey a few years ago, she mentioned how it would look great on the bottom shelf"

Why you weren't best man in the first place:

"Alex treated me like the best man in the first place, his OCD kept him from making it official because he couldn't find the "right" time according to him"

---!NEW UPDATE!---

Update 2: April 28, 2024 (8 Months Later)
Welp, it's been a while, sorry y’all for taking so long to get this update out, been absolutely swamped at work putting out fires with my hair on fire for the last 6ish month, so here's the cliff notes version of the wedding and some post wedding shit.
-lead up was boring, shitton of emailing back and forth between me, Stella, other wedding people, venues, vendors, etc
-Me and Alex had some pretty deep conversations over the week and reaffirmed the importance of our continued friendship
-Shit was really fucking awkward the first night we were there for dinner nil, especially considering both Alex’s stepsister Sam (32F) and Stella younger sister and MoH Diana (29F) were already staying there, (we stayed at an Airbnb within walking distance of Alex's house). I went into event work mode pretty quick and that smoothed things out right quick and put Stella at ease.
-I spent most of the lead up to the wedding either at the ceremony/reception site doing liaison/set up (gaffing, running cables, setting up monitors, hanging and focusing, building shit etc.) or running around picking shit/people/shitty people up with Sam
-My GF, Alice (29F), was kinda miffed about the whole thing, she’s never worked a wedding before, just attended, so she expected it to be like 50% working 50% vacation, when it ended up being more likely 90% me working and 10% vacation. She spent most of her time helping Alex out with wedding support related shit or gaming on my laptop when she gassed out or got too overwhelmed.
-Wedding was a fun mess, tons of unrelated drama, Stella sure knows how to design a beautiful ceremony and plan a fucking party, I’ll give her credit for that, didn’t get to enjoy much of it since I was working the wedding with a few other people in the wedding party more than attending, but c’est la vie. Ceremony took fucking forever though, felt terrible for all the bridesmaids who had to wear heels through that shit.
-Unfortunately there was no gotcha moment or come to Jesus moment where I got the full story as to why SHTMFF, but based on what I observed while working the wedding I think I've been able to piece together roughly what went down
**Why wasn’t I the best man?**
I think this had more to do with Stella's parents, Ken and Karen (60’s), than her, although she still doesn’t like me, my main reasoning:
-Ken and Karen were paying for the majority of the wedding, more than Stella, Alex, and Alex’s parent combined
-Alex and Stella sketched out pretty early what they wanted the wedding to look like, throughout the process Stella made several significant changes out of the proverbial blue (EX: they originally agreed on a smaller wedding something like 50-60 people, then one day Stella wanted a big ass wedding). Alex didn’t really care all that much and just figured she changed her mind, he just somehow missed that most of these changes occurred after Stella either had a phone call or in person meeting with her parents (which is on brand for him)
-Her parents were very standoffish towards me (to be expected, feelings mutual) and made a lot of, frankly weird comments about Stella's younger, totally not a cokehead, brother Chase (23M), often times in comparisons between us that flattered him (and kept insisting he was “perfect best man material”)
-Alex has barely met Stella's parents, maybe a dozen times over the last 5 years, every time they visit for the holidays Stella has them leave early for whatever reason and Stella rarely initiates calls with them
-Stella acts really fucking weird around her parents. Around everyone else she’s a badass modern woman but around her parents she gets super meek (EX: her mom asked her to go drive to some specific store over an hour away to get her a specific food item in the middle of wedding planning shit, and she just did it without any protest and left the rest of the wedding party in a lurch. When she got back three hours later her mom took like two bites then threw it away). If I hadn’t seen this shit with my own two eyes I wouldn’t have believed it, it was that bizarre.
-Lots of other innocuous shit that individually means nothing but when combined to together provide a decent amount of circumstantial evidence
-So here’s what I think happened, roughly: Ken and Karen wanted Chase to be the best man in the wedding, Alex really wanted me to be the best man. Rather than make a choice Stella appeased both parties telling them what they wanted to hear while making no actual decision. The longer it went on the more complex the lying got, when Alex had his breakdown Stella saw a way to get out from under her Gordian knot of lies by taking advantage of the crisis. Unfortunately for her Alex came to his senses before the wedding, started asking questions, and when push finally came to shove she chose her relationship over whatever the fuck is going with the family, much to their apparent chagrin.
**Why does Stella not like me?**
I have two main guesses here:

1. I swear, a lot, I tend to forget most people don’t use the work fuck as a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition, conjunction, interjection, numeral, article, and determiner Since I was working the wedding and in I was on my best behavior and cut down on my swearing by a good 90%, which led me to noticing that any time swear, or anyone for that matter curses, Stella has a little grimace/cringe reaction. Stella herself also rarely curses, and if she does its something pretty small like “hell” or “dammit”, followed by a quick apology. It’s probably exacerbated by the fact that in spite of my generally “unprofessional” behavior I hold a fairly professional job, the dissonance can bother folks.
2. Politics, and before people freak out, I’m somewhere between a democratic socialist and socialist on the political spectrum, I am a far cry from conservative,, but for Stella that’s not far enough left, as from what I can tell she’s either a tankie or tankie adjacent. This has been more or less confirmed to me based on her social media engagement relating to the major geopolitical events of the last 6 months or so. Probably exacerbated by the fact that my job involves working in geopolitics so I am part of the “repressive imperialist western system”.

And as it turns out I’m not the only person in the wedding who isn’t super fond of Stella, found my flock so to speak
**Post wedding shit**
-Alex and Stella had a healthy baby girl, named Iris, me and Sam are the godparents.
-Me and Alex have been talking a lot more (for whatever reason he asks me for childcare tips, like bruh, I’m just as lost as you here), and have set up a weekly gaming sesh where we're slowly slogging through BG3 with Sam and Matthew
-AFAIK Alex and Stella are in couples counseling, which seems to be helping from my vantage point, Stella was weirdly against it, but Alex pushed for it so he could be a better husband to her, and she relented
-AFAIK Stella's already back at work and on most of her pre-baby schedule
-Alex’s stepsister Sam has been checking in on them periodically and according to her there’s no major red flags atm
-Stella actually texts/emails me stuff now, it's mostly baby pictures, but it's a step in the right direction and I appreciate it (I send cat pictures in response)
Hopefully this is the last update, my life got far too interesting for that month and with my current workload I doubt I could mentally handle more drama.
TLDR: Nothing really interesting happened, hopefully things are looking up
​

THIS IS A REPOST SUB - I AM NOT THE OOP

DO NOT CONTACT THE OOP's OR COMMENT ON LINKED POSTS, REMEMBER - RULE 7

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Just as expected, Carbon was waiting at the entrance to Engineering - it had its own stop on the maglev line. It was the heart of the ship. On Human ships it was usually the single largest section, what with all the power generation and multiple methods of ship motivation going on. Unless he was mistaken - which he could be as he was just guessing at the moment as there was no speedometer on the maglev tram - it was about two-thirds of the way back from the bow. A human ship would usually have it all the way to the aft.
What he hadn’t expected was how Carbon was dressed. He’d gotten used to her in a lightly modified CPP coverall while back on the Kshlav’o, once she had stopped wearing the encounter suit. In retrospect, it should have been obvious that wasn’t her normal getup. It had all the exact same pockets as his - in what universe did two separate species both develop coveralls with the same pocket layout and nametag location?
Even the standard Tsla’o pants and jacket had been easy to adjust to.
This getup, on the other hand, made her look a little bit like a videogame character. Brown boots that nearly came up to her knees, with slabs of scuffed armor and soles so thick she was noticeably taller. Similarly heavy khaki-colored pants, made of thicker fabric than what she normally wore, reinforced impact patches at the knees, hips, and lower back. Absolutely resplendent with pockets. Looked like there were a few places to hook up a safety harness, and guides for a belt as well.
That all pretty much made sense. He understood the functionality. Above the beltline, on the other hand, was not as understandable. It looked mostly she was just wearing the smallest daman possible and a very short jacket as well - it looked like the same leather-like material as her boots, and even sported some matching armor. Despite that, it didn’t go past her rib cage, and appeared to stop at her elbows. Left pretty much the entire middle of her body exposed, which seemed a bit counterproductive.
There was a lot of technology integrated into the jacket. Sensor clusters around the collar glowed softly, and there were a few holographic emitters sitting dark dotting the area. Her antenna rested in slots around the back to interface with the built-in computer and any nearby networks.
Out of all of this, the most notable thing for Alex was that she looked so at ease here as she wrapped her arms around his torso and squeezed the life out of him. She looked happy in a way that she hadn’t until now.
“I hope you have slept well?” Carbon looked up, not a hint of tiredness in her face or voice despite having gotten up in the middle of the night to work.
“I actually did, yeah. Feels like I haven’t done that in awhile.” He did not bring up what he and Neya had talked about. Not standing around here in the open - he wasn’t up with the ins and outs of their culture, let alone the entire Zeshen thing, but it felt like the wrong place. They would have that talk once they were back at the cabin.
“Good.” Her smile was sublime, eyes squinting with an easy delight. She gestured at the package in his hands. “And what is this?”
Alex was pretty sure she had never looked this relaxed before. Maybe communing with the ship really was something she needed to be doing. “Gloves. Well, gauntlets. Sergeant Zenshen brought them over as I was heading out. She’s my military liaison now, I guess. Per Eleya’s orders.” His gaze kept dropping back to her exposed midriff for some reason.
Even mention of her aunt didn’t phase her, though her eyebrows did come down with a hint of chagrin. “She was acting as Colonel Lehnan’s liaison, and has just been attached to you? Though... They are already attached to the project concerning the artifact.” She had her phone out, tapping away at the screen.
“Yeah, she didn’t seem bothered by it?” He shrugged. In his estimation, the Sergeant had been having a pretty good time, except for that little hiccup in the corridor. It was probably a pretty easy assignment, all things considered. Most of the time. “Just keeping me from stepping on the wrong toes.”
“Be that as it may, I have asked Neya to look into how this was done - I do not want to leave the Colonel sitting on the riverbed.” She slipped the phone away into her entirely too short a jacket and looped her arm around his, a sly smirk on her muzzle as she directed them both off the tram platform. “Now, on to more pressing matters?”
“Sounds good. Where are you taking me?” His knowledge of the ship ran out just as soon as they walked through the archway, into a slightly busy corridor. These people were at work. They moved with purpose and many were carrying equipment he didn’t recognize, or pushing antigrav carts with large equipment he didn’t recognize, save for one poor duo trying to hover the biggest impeller press that he’d ever seen outside a dry dock through the crowd.
“There is a place here that is, I believe, much like your Noonan’s.” She had to speak up a little bit over the background noise here, but still very much in her preferred environment. “It is... The Hammer’s Rest, I think is a good translation. A place for crews who are on breaks or may be called up.”
“Oh neat.” It dawned on him that this was the first time he was seeing the actual crew of the Sword. Several wore powered environment suits in an eye-catching shade of red, but most were clad in the nearly the same outfit that Carbon wore. Some had long sleeves, others full length jackets. Anything that looked like leather was colored coded on theirs, as well. Blue, red, orange, purple... “Ok, honest question here - what’s up with the coat? Yours doesn’t seem very safe.”
“My coat?” She looked down at it, realization filling her eyes as she laughed. Carbon grasped the hem with both hands, thumbs resting on a subtle pair of buttons, and just pulled it down like a curtain. She let it go at her hip so it slightly overlapped her pants. “Adjustable, but it is common practice to have the sleeves and hem raised when one is off duty.”
“Hang on, does that extrude material?” His gaze fell on her abdomen again, now framed. Looks like he was learning something about himself this morning.
“Very good, it does. Allowing the user to adjust their equipment to their body and protective needs without custom tailoring or changing gear for different tasks.” She gestured at a passing crewmember in one of the red environment suits, helmet retracted and focused on whatever the holographic display before him was showing. “Though particularly dangerous tasks still require more.”
“Well damn, all right. It changes color too, right? All networked together?” Not a big jump, if they were stacking that much technology into protective gear.
“Correct again.” Carbon nearly sang it as she tugged him down a side corridor. “In Engineering they are for teams, though in other parts of the ship they may have specific jobs.”
“Like flightdeck crew.” The most obvious group who used color coding, off the top of his head.
“Exactly.” Their path turned again, this time through another archway that rivaled the size of the one into the tram station, holographic letters in the most garish colors possible stretched overhead.
Alex wanted to call it a restaurant, at first. It was huge compared to the other places he had been on board, about thirty meters to a side, and actually dim. The walls were lined with long tables, clusters of color-coded workers spread out around the place. The center of the room was taken up by a big square bar, though, which made it more of a pub or tavern - very much like Noonan’s.
Also like Noonan’s, everything was made of dark wood. The floor, stools, chairs, tables, the bar, all a sort of dark red-brown that occasionally dipped into black, metalwork done in gleaming steel. The walls carried a wattle and daub pastiche, wooden beams running floor to ceiling and horizontally from corner to corner, filled in with a checkerboard of dark green and blue stucco. While it didn’t have the big screen Noonan’s sported, there were a dozen or so smaller screens with a plethora of information about who was needed where.
“This feels like my kind of joint.” Even the curious glances being tossed his way felt normal. Like that’d be what any dumbass rolling in wearing a fancy jacket would get. The din of conversation was far and away the most surprising part - his translator was catching at least half of it, the banality of people waiting for something to happen crystal clear. “Tell me they sell t-shirts?”
“Wh- no, they do not sell t-shirts.” Carbon sighed with a smile and pointed out a door halfway down the far wall, their destination.
“Not yet.” He wouldn’t have minded a heads up about the overall casualness. Any excuse to dress down, honestly. Beyond the door was just a smaller, but similarly themed room with a fraction of the people in it. A bar ran halfway down one side, the rest of the floor containing smaller tables for two or four. The change in dress was noticeable, going from the engineering gear to stuff more like what Aena from the novel he’d been reading had been wearing - pants and a sleeveless vest. Manager clothes, though matching the colors everybody else outside wore.
She settled in at a shorter table in the corner, handing him a menu from the stack waiting there. “Everything they make is pretty good.”
“All right. No warnings about the chicken fingers?” He said, recalling the last time they’d been in a pub.
Carbon laughed. “No. Probably no drinking - it is a bit early in the day to start.”
“Yeah, not drinking before noon has treated me pretty well.” So far, anyway. “But now that you got me thinking about it, I kinda want a Mimosa.”
“A what?”
“Orange juice and champagne.” He perused the menu, the translations an unhealthy mix of generic terms for food items and nouns that left him with no idea what anything was. Shoreline Broth with Root Vegetable left so much to the imagination. There were plenty of ways to interpret that which didn’t strike him as appetizing. Was it fish based? Did it remind one of low tide? How far into ‘alien taste sensation’ were they getting here, and what was the sensation he’d be feeling? “You usually drink them with brunch, which this is probably not.”
Carbon laughed and set her menu down with a bemused smile. “And what is brunch?”
“It’s a meal that’s later than br-eakfast, but before l-unch.” Alex split the words up into what was hopefully a clear explanation of the portmanteau, and set his menu down too. Time to go to the old standby. “Mostly breakfast food, though, and focusing more on socialization than a meal specifically. Hence a little morning drinking.”
She perked up as he explained it, ears shifting a little to focus on him. “That sounds... it sounds interesting.”
“If you want to go, I know a few places in Berkley, though I suppose anywhere in-system is accessible right now with a little planning.” He didn’t miss that she was interested. More interested than he’d seen her in human stuff since they had gone shopping. Maybe a bit of relaxation in her own culture was giving her the space to be interested in his... Though, brunch seemed a bit superficial. Whatever. It was interest in him and his culture, and it felt good.
Made him really want a Belgian waffle, too.
“I would enjoy that.” Carbon petered off, turning to look at the waitress as she approached the table.
She had dark red fur, and was bundled up to an extent that Alex hadn’t seen yet on any Tsla’o outside of a powered suit - a blouse that actually closed around the neck and matching slacks in light weight, natural colored materials. Long boots, and gloves that ran up to her elbows, and an apron tied around her waist. There was a forced seriousness to her, staring straight at the green square of wall at the end of the table. She set a teapot down between them, shaking hands distributing a cup to each of them before she started speaking way too fast. “Hello we are ready to receive your order.”
Alex couldn’t put a finger on it, but she was familiar looking. A little on the short side, and he was pretty sure fairly young. Late teens, maybe. Her eyes seemed proportionally larger than an adult, which according to the massive peepers on Adana last night was a neotenous trait on the Tsla’o as well. Wait. “Oh- Akai, Haraya!”
Carbon looked from their stressed out waitress to Alex, and then back to Haraya. Then back to Alex, eyebrows raised in confusion. “How do you know her?”
“She’s the one who gave me directions last night. Thanks again for that, by the way.” He gave her a little nod. Looks like she knew who she was standing in front of this time. Probably expected him to still speak fluent Tsla, too, because she clearly didn’t understand what he was saying in English. That was a problem he had not foreseen last night.
She still made a strangled little sound that was in the general vicinity of positive and bowed deep enough to make the bartender look over.
“Oh. Yes, that was very appreciated.” Carbon spoke in Tsla as she looked back to Haraya, who was still staring intently at the wall. “Please, such formality is not required, or sought. I assure you.”
“Of course Princess.” Haraya replied, catching herself before she got too deep into another bow. Her eyes darted to Carbon with nervous energy. “What would you care to order?”
“Ah, just a bowl of simmered grass grains with fruit mash, please.” She favored the young woman with a friendly smile as the translator brutalized her language for a solid two seconds after she stopped speaking.
Alex balked. “Isn’t that what you always have?”
She switched languages without missing a beat. “Yes, it has served me well.”
“Ok, so I was just going to have what you’re having. Translator really does a number on food names and I kinda figured, you know, restaurant. We wouldn’t just be having something we make at home.” His expectation of that wasn’t panning out to be very interesting. After the ‘lace crackers’ and that sausage yesterday, breakfast was feeling like good territory to explore their cuisine. “So uh... Can you recommend something for me?”
“Mh. You make a good point. They have many ingredients we do not normally keep at home.” Carbon pondered the menu on the table for a moment while Haraya continued to look nervous. She had switched languages again when she looked up. “We will both have the Shoreline Broth with burnt noodles and chef’s decision.”
“Sounds.” Well that was an interesting hole to have stepped in. “Great.”
“Of course, thank you Princess. Prince. It will be ready soon.” The waitress gave them both little bows and walked away as fast as she could.
Alex waited until Haraya had gone through the doors to where he assumed the kitchen was. “She wasn’t like that when she gave me directions.”
“Most youth do not... Have any experience with us. Nobles used to be rare, but they are truly scarce now. The number of Royals has increased recently, though. ” She smirked and lifted the teapot, pouring first into Alex’s cup, then filling her own. “I suppose they have not met many Humans, either. But that was not the nerves of meeting a new race on display.”
“I don’t think she thought I was actually, you know. Real. Which, given how I was dressed at the time, is completely understandable.” He scanned the bar, the only three other people there sitting at it. None of them seemed nearly as concerned about their presence. They all had signs of aging, silver gray fur standing out clearly on two, and nearly wreathing the head of the other.
Him and Carbon were the youngest people in here by years, at least.
“I think it may have been more that a Human appeared before her, on the flagship of the Tsla’o Empire.” She laughed and reached out to cup his hands. “How did you manage to get so lost on your adventure, anyway?”
“Ugh, all right.” He launched into a cut down version of events, where he spent way less time actually being lost and glossed over the fact he was just opening up electrical and communications closets. Very quickly getting to the interesting part with Adana finding him standing there in the hall, considering his options.
“He does sound very cute. By your description, I would say three to four years old. Perhaps he did not wish to speak to a stranger.” Carbon replied to his inquiry about how old the kids he’d just told her about were. “Haraya is probably sixteen. A little young to be working, but this area is quieter, less likely to be rowdy. And you say there were six children?”
“Six and Haraya, yes.” It did seem like a lot of kids. He knew of one family back in Berkley that had four kids. But seven? Parents must have been busy in a couple of different ways.
“That is... unusual for Tsla’o families. It is rare to have more than three.” She hummed softly, eyes turned towards the ceiling as she leaned back in her chair and pondered. “Deck 60, below the Stronghold complex, port side... I do not understand, there should be a frigate bay there. Not ‘civilian’ housing.”
“I dunno what to tell you. A lot of it looked new. Still smelled like a print forge.” Frigate bay? Damn this ship was big. He was sure Human carriers sported large launchable escorts as well, but it was weird to hear about them actually having internal storage.
Carbon activated the holographic emitters on her jacket and projected a schematic of the ship over the table between them, zooming in on the area he’d been in. “Did it smell greasy or acrid?”
“Greasy, why?”
“That is what a Human forge smells like. Ours produce a more astringent scent.” She manipulated the hologram further, isolating a subsection of the ship. “Hm. Removed both bays under the Stronghold entirely and refit them with self contained residential... communities. Most of it is housing, but there are a few public spaces. Power is mostly off the ship grid, same with the other utilities. Dedicated food production. Schools.”
So it had just been built, with parts from a Human sourced forge. Based on the doors and access panels, it had then been finished with Tsal’o technology. Alex leaned in, inspecting the cross section of decks. Most of it was turned inward, the doors opening to corridors that did not run to the rest of the ship, with a few small clusters of exceptions that seemed to be tacked on to fill out space. “The layout really reminds me of an arcology. Industry at the bottom, more livable space above. Just a continuous eighty decks tall.”
Carbon’s ears twitched and the hologram shut off just as Haraya emerged from the back with two large bowls on a tray.
Their waitress was more comfortable now, though her gaze remained steadfastly anywhere other than them as she delivered the steaming soup. “Thank you for your patience.” She said this at a much more normal speed as she laid out a setting of chopsticks and spoons for them.
Carbon replied first. “Of course, thank you for your efforts.”
“Thank you.” Alex echoed, in English. He thought about it for a second and realized that she wasn’t going to pick that one up. “Sa meha.”
Haraya bowed again, departing swiftly.
“Already getting tired of that.” He mumbled, picking up his chopsticks and inspecting the Shoreline Broth with burnt noodles and chef’s decision. It was mostly noodles and decision, the broth barely visible under the pile of... food items. It did not smell like low tide, so that was a point in its favor already. The scent actually reminded him of saimin. Salty, savory, very much with a seafood origin. The burnt noodles were thick tan disks that had a little crinkle of black scorch around the outside, a hole in the middle indicating they had been on a stick and grilled or broiled, then sliced after the fact. Had a nice bite to it, but no real flavor aside from the broth and a hint of sweet ash.
“I think she is reacting based on how she has seen Nobles presented in media. They usually start as aloof and quick-tempered.” Carbon had tucked in without delay, pausing to talk with a bunch of shredded vegetables gripped in her chopsticks. “Though by the end of those stories they have learned humility one way or another, and are on their way to becoming good people.”
“Sounds like we started at the end.” Alex found a piece of that spicy moss he liked and picked it out. He could do with a dab of Chinese mustard in the broth to add another layer of flavor, but otherwise he was a little annoyed that this monstrously named dish was starting to grow on him. Maybe not as a breakfast, but he could see having it for dinner. “Is it rude to add seasoning to food? Wouldn’t mind a little more heat in this.”
“If there are spices on the table, it is acceptable.” She slid a little jar at the far end of the table over to his bowl before reactivating the holographic display. It was a little dimmer this time and at a smaller scale, rotating slowly as she ate. “This is based on our community towers. Largely self-contained buildings with shopping, restaurants, utilities and work areas on the lower floors, and apartments of varying sizes above them. It is very much like your arcologies, on a smaller scale.”
“Alright, that answers that.” The pot was split into three segments, a little spoon resting in each. He carefully tasted all of them, a drop of each onto his chopsticks so he could determine what he was getting into. One salty, one a sort of sweet vinegar, and the third a gentle warmth with no discernable flavor. He heaped a few spoonfuls of the third into his bowl.
“It does.” She reached over and added a spoonful of the vinegar to her own bowl.
“Looks like... Six hundred apartments of varying sizes?” There was nearly as much of a weird shredded vegetable in the bowl as there were noodles. It was like a cabbage and a potato had been combined into something Alex couldn’t tell if he liked or not. “So they added... what, two thousand people in each tower? Four thousand people total.”
“If they are putting seven children into one larger home... Hopefully with at least two adults, it could be closer to five thousand.” She idly stirred her bowl, zooming back out to the entire ship again, shuffling through something that changed which section of the ship was being highlighted. “Renovated several areas into senatorial offices. One floor of the Stronghold seems to contain a parliamentary chamber now, as well. I believe Eleya has had the Sword of the Morning Light converted to act as a mobile capital.”
“So it’s an actual capital ship now?” Alex tried to hide the smirk that came with that pun but failed miserably as it turned into a broad grin. “Does explain why there’s so many senators on board.”
Carbon glared at him for a second, a sigh shifting into a quiet laugh. “And why she brought it to Sol.”
He chewed on some more of the cabbage-potato abomination that he was rapidly leaning towards not liking, sussing Eleya’s reasoning out. “Defense?”
She nodded in agreement. “How far into Sol do you suppose an unscheduled ship could get?”
“Wouldn’t even make it through the Oort cloud. That’s where the first layer of interdiction is.” He lifted what was clearly some kind of larva out of the broth and ate it, a burst of umami and the warmth of alcohol on his tongue. How did they get it to do that? “You guys have an interdiction system too, right?”
“Of course. Nearly as large as the one around Sol.”
The puzzle was starting to come together for him. “If she is legitimately concerned about the Empire fracturing, the threats to the Sword wouldn’t necessarily be coming from outside your home system. It could be coming from another ship in their own carrier group.”
“Here they will need permission to enter Confederate space, and Sol itself. I would not be surprised if Eleya was in communication with the Confederation about which Tsla’o ships should have access.” Carbon poked around in the bowl, searching for something particular. “Even one of our stealth craft would find making the trip undetected difficult, or extremely time consuming.”
“And for the time being it’s under the guise of further exploration of the artifact, not just taking advantage of the distance and local security to keep threats at bay.” Alex poured himself more tea and topped off Carbon, thinking about Eleya’s request of him last night. To take Carbon and request asylum in the Confederation should the Empire fall. Being right here at the seat of power would make the trip to ask real quick.
“Gives intelligence more time to work on those threats, as well.” She picked her tea up and nodded in thanks before taking a long sip.
“Alright, gotta give her credit for that.” He set about separating all of the cab-tato from the rest of the selection of items in the broth. Maybe he’d revisit it with different vegetables, but that part really wasn’t working with the flavor of the broth for him. “That’s a pretty good plan.”
 
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*****
Just having a nice hot breakfast. Nothing huge happening, just sussing some stuff out. A moment to breathe.
To save you the google: Saimin is a noodle soup from Hawaii. Sorta like ramen, but using a very clear dashi (kelp and bonito) broth.
Art pile: Carbon reference sheet. Art by Tyo_Dem

A boy with a magic book that can create and change things, giving them nouns and so on. The graphics are cartoonish, the game is 2D and I remember that the haiheaddress (I can't say which one it was due to the artistic style) were red. The story involves saving your sister who, if I remember correctly, was turned to stone. Does anyone think they can help me with this one?

I want to hear some interesting things that happened in your worlds
Please specify proper nouns when commenting. Also don't write an entire essay, I'm not asking for your life's story.
I will say mine. The year is 2967. In 2417, or 550 years ago, humans developed interstellar space travel and terraformed mars and venus. After that. They fixed earth of its climate changes and restored its former state to an overgrown planet with a lower sea level. The people decided to leave earth thinking it was worthless and travel to different exoplanets. Those who could afford it left and those who couldn't stayed behind. They also brought all governments and knowledge with them leaving earth without countries and 1950's to 1990's technology. Kingdoms have been established and the world is waiting for a person to help them leave the planet and reach the people who are on the other planets. For now, there are no signs of hope.

Fear /fIUH/
noun: fear; plural noun: fears
An unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm.
“It’s only natural to feel fear in a situation like this.”
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And without fear holding you back, it’s only natural to flirt a little bit with danger~

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Welcome to Dante’s Paradiso! The hotel where you will be confronted with your deepest, darkest secrets… and some secrets are worth killing for. 7 deadly sins, 16 participants. A fearless protagonist, a bellboy, and the janitor… Who will make it out alive? And who will take their secrets with them to the grave?
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Devil’s Paradise: Sinner’s Respite will release on AO3 on May 10th!
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Kotinos University houses a diverse group of students from all over the world. Their ages range from 18 to 27. From a Detection Dog to a Rocket Scientist, all the way to a Fire Breather and a Whistleblower… We have it all!
(Let me know if you’re interested in learning more about the characters prior to the debut. I might make a separate post later.)
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^{Disclaimer: There is a heavy focus on mature, adult, and even explicit themes. Therefore this story is not meant for anybody under the age of 18. All characters are 18+. I won’t be giving individual trigger warnings on the chapters, please check the tags on AO3 for what you can expect once it’s uploaded.}

A Stockbroker Dreams A Story, by Charles H. Webb

He sits to write his story down, but can't remember all of it. There were Clydesdales and albinos, he's sure, and action verbs—escalate and vault and terrorize and decompose—as well as nouns like brethren, cistern, Boraxo, grandmother, cement mixer. And the phrase Telegram for Mr. Nosehair—how did that fit in?

From the The Sting. Collected in Dictionary Stories, by Jez Burrows.

"I'm a bit muddled, I'm not sure where to begin." He looked around to see if anyone was listening. "You must promise not to breathe a word of what I'm about to tell you."
"I am the very soul of discretion."
She leaned forward, with her elbows on the table, and he whispered in her ear. Her eyes widened with feigned shock.
"Don't think you can fool me; I wasn't born yesterday."
"Oh, I'm not joking, I promise you."
Her laughter stopped as quickly as it had begun. Her face became as hard as stone.
"Are you absolutely certain about this?"
"Would any man in his senses invent so absurd a story?"
She sat back and exhaled deeply.
"Burned to death?"
He nodded vaguely.
"Half a billion dollars?"
"That's about the size of it."
"A xylophone?"
He nodded, barely able to speak.

Webb's passage was originally part of the post in A Dream. A Poem. A Tale.

(Reposted per Mod’s request)
I did not finish Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. I know, I know, its actually called The Final Empire. The name Mistborn has stuck with so many readers for a reason, so I'll continue to use it as a shorthand. The book didn't work for me, but I think WHY it didn't work for me might be interesting to read about, especially for fellow authors.
If you have read and enjoyed the Mistborn books, or any work by Brandon Sanderson, I'm delighted. I want to applaud any work of fiction that brings people joy (so long as it or its author is not reprehensible in some way (he said, covering his ass)). I don't want you to think this is me taking shots at you or at Sanderson. I'm just talking about a work of fiction and what it did to my brain.
Believe me when I tell you I have no delusions about being some high-handed minister of good taste. You should see some of the anime I watch to destress at the end of a long day trying to be a self-published author, editor, and, well, just an ordinary semi-functioning human being.
I've read many, many books and loved them, only to come back to them later and find they were … less deserving of my matured tastes. Sometimes books meet us at the right time. If Mistborn was, or is, one such book for you, I would be a jerk and a fool if I tried to tell you that you were wrong for liking it. That isn't what this is. But, if you're at all curious why I didn't like it the way you did, here are my thoughts.
Instead of trying to construct some long elaborate essay, I've decided to present my reading notes as I was writing them. If you're at all familiar with my SPFBO9 opening reads thread, this is in a similar, though much protracted style. This is my travelogue of the first few chapters. If these notes are rough or feel stilted in places, I'm sorry. I DNF'd the book a few months ago, and I found in trying to clean up my notes that I was making up commentary to fill in gaps and I don't think that's fair. I've tried to provide some context where I could.
Pages referenced are from the first mass market edition, published August 2007 by Tor
My Notes: Starts well enough. Interesting introduction to the fantastic elements of the environment (the ash fall) and the enslavement of the skaa. Some neat 2nd world titles “obligator,” etc.
Not great, not riveting, but competent introduction of world and one protagonist, Kelsier. He doesn't know what to do with Vin, though. Disconnect between the characters as we're told they are and their actions. Lacking coherent motivation.
(P.5)The slave that stands and stares defiantly sending a chill through the lord so-and-so is a bit melodramatic. Both actions struck me as over the top.
(writing note)…too many “of courses”
The writing is competent and descriptive. The Mist at night is another interesting setting detail.
(p.6) I immediately dislike Kelsier. “I’ll have to cure them of that (fear of the mist) some day.” This is has an unsympathetic arrogance about it. If this is also the man who stared defiantly at lord-so-and-so, hes blasé about endangering these people, and seems to look down on them, much like lord-so-and-so. I suspect this impression is not intentional. I suspect I’m supposed to think him strong and clever. We’ll see.
(7) rolling his eyes at these people. This seems intentional. But it’s also annoying.
(10) beatings beatings beatings. These “peasants” and their daily beatings. Did I mention the beatings? Their lives are harsh! There are beatings!
(‘) what is this talk about Tepper “leading” the skaa? Leading them how? They’re slaves! What decisions are they making? No, really. What is this forced little conflict? It’s pointless.
(‘) “How do you do that?” “What?” “Smile all the time” - there’s no reason for him to ask this. It’s unmotivated dialogue. How do you smile all the time? How? No. Why, sure. “You keep smiling. Is something about our home funny to you?”
(19-20, ch.1) I’m having trouble with Sandersons storytelling. This is coming across as heavy handed and simplistic. Here’s Vin. She was betrayed. There are betrayals. This boy who came to get her who’s nice enough will also betray her. But the ash is free…
I wonder if we’re going to slowly work through the alphabet section by section. Ash, then beatings and betrayal… who knows what could be next? Crime? I bet it’s crime.
Also - Reen’s sayings and betrayal. I think in general I find it a bit affected when we meet a character and they’re immediately thinking of their backstory … but that’s probably not fair of me. I think what comes across as affected is Sandersons execution. There’s a very light fiction - YA quality about Vin’s angsty introduction. I might have loved it if I read it at 14, but not now.
I’d like to think of an example of what would be more appealing to me - the introduction of a character with similar enough circumstances… Actually, Gideon the 9th might be a good example. We get to hear Gideon’s voice in the prose and the dialogue and get a strong sense of her character as well as the specific and very interesting world building details of how she got into the 9th house. Here, Reen’s betrayal is left completely unexplored, and so I wonder why bring it up at all except for that cheap YA punch in the gut of “my brother betrayed me and now I’m here.”
Maybe Sanderson felt some necessity to move faster here. He wanted to get to the city theiving … but it isn’t working for me, so obviously I think it was a mistake. Obviously he was hoping this would create a sense of anticipation that we would eventually find out HOW Vin’s brother betrayed her, but because he leads with it and then doesn’t explain it, it makes it seem like it doesn’t really matter HOW Vin was betrayed, what’s important is that she was betrayed and now she doesn’t trust anyone. It’s just a bit weak.
THE HEAVY HANDEDNESS (People being mean to Vin - her hard life) (21) the slap in the face (23) Theron looking Vin up and down - “eyes lingered on her … running down the length of her body. … She was hardly enticing (didn’t even look 16); some men preferred such women, however.” (24) “what do you know?” “Enough” - Vin hurts her, expositional dialogue about her brother’s debt and selling her to a whorehouse.
(25) fearing Vin would disappear in a scene she doesn’t have much to do during, we get these unnecessary interjections of her watching the interaction, followed by the explanation of Camon thinking Vin is his good luck charm. This should have been presented earlier, because it just interrupts the dialogue here. But also, it feels inaccurate after Vin made such a useful critique of Camon’s servants. She seems much more useful in other ways than a luck charm, and comfortable offering her criticism without the slightest hesitation.
This chapter ends rather abruptly and without much Go to it. Vin uses her Luck and gets our stuffy official to consider her boss’s mundane business proposal.
The notion that Camon brings Vin along because he thinks of her as his luck charm feels really thin, especially on a job like this where everyone has to look the part. Which raises an important question: what was Vin doing there? I mean literally. Why didn’t Camon have SOMETHING for her to do. Camon didn’t dress her up in any part, she didn’t have any kind of cover story as his daughter or nurse or anything. Just some kid in the room dressed … who knows how while important official business is discussed. She just floats somewhere, doing nothing, as far as anyone is concerned.
VIN’S MOTIVATION Where is it? What does she get out of making this work for Camon if he has no idea what she’s doing? Why is she avoiding him if this is such an important job? Why is she helping him at all?
The pieces are there, but Sanderson doesn’t put them together.
Camon should know about Vin’s ability to “smooth things over” in some capacity. This would give him a serious reason for her being there on this crucial job. Vin should be motivated to help him because if this lucrative job works out, it will go a long way towards paying off her brother’s debt. Now suddenly there is a sense of urgency for her instead of just having a bad time owned by a “crew leader” getting slapped around. The scam itself isn’t enough. Frankly, it’s kind of boring at this point. It’s a slow moving beurocratic swindle.
(32) Kelsier. Sanderson is doing a good job introducing some thieves’ cant here as Dockson and Kelsier are planning their job, talking about how they need a “Smoker.” Someone is a good Tineye. The loss of a man to the Steel Ministry underscores the mortal risk these men are taking. But … there’s something about all this crime play that feels a bit cute, like Sanderson had only a passing, generic understanding of (fictional) gangs/criminal organizations. He’s spent his world building energy on the fantasy aspects of the story - the dystopian Tolkien Lord Ruler and Steel Ministry, skaa, ashfalls, mist - but not on developing the criminal world of the characters, linguistically speaking. They’re all crews working on a job headed by a crew leader. This is the world we’re living in, most immediately, and yet it feels the most underdeveloped.
“Kelsier shook his head. ‘No. He’s a good Smoker, but he’s not a good enough man.’ Dockson smiled. ‘Not a good enough man to be on a THIEVING CREW … Kell, I have missed working with you.”
This stopped me dead. I laughed at the book and put my hand over my eyes. “Thieving crew” is just silly. It’s sixth grade D&D language, but even more ridiculous is the sentiment of Dockson’s statement: that character is somehow a moot point because they are criminals. It’s as if he’s saying: we’re breaking the law, so we’re the bad guys, and bad guys don’t work with “good men.”
Here we see Sanderson’s shallow understanding of the characters he’s portraying. They are stealing from slavers who exist in the service of a brutal, oppressive dictator. But put that aside, and consider we’ve just been told one of their ilk had been caught and beheaded by the Ministry. The risk these people are facing couldn’t be higher. Working with people they can trust, a stand up guy or a “good man,” would be one of the most important things to them. From their point of view a “good man” doesn’t mean a patron saint of the poor, but it means a hell of a lot. If a guy is a drunk who cheats on his wife, you can’t trust him not to turn on you. If he gambles too much, you can’t trust him not to gamble on your safety. He doesn’t keep his apartment clean, how can you trust him to be conscientious about keeping you alive. It all matters - even more so because he’s on a “thieving crew.”
Now, Sanderson probably didn’t give this line more than a moment's thought. He was writing fast and sailed right over it. But that’s exactly the problem. It gives the book a kind of childish, YA feeling.
(33) “Kelsier turned with curious eyes.” I’ve written lines like this, but I almost always revise them because I write about eyes too much. The point is his eyes aren’t curious, Kelsier is, and it shows on his face. I can’t picture curious eyes, and I’m sure you can’t either. And I would cut the next line of dialogue - going to chastise my brother … we already know he was going to do this because he said so, and the line just isn’t very good anyway. A look of curiosity from Kell, and the promise from Dockson “it’ll be worth your time,” gets us out of the section better. Sometimes the best repartee between characters is a look.
(33-34) the scenes with Vin remain heavy handed, and affected. This section adds almost nothing to the story accept for the disappointingly narrow view of a fantasy underworld that the women in it are only ever whores. This from a world crawling with Smokers and Tineyes? I think not. The clumsy presentation of Vin’s awful life is what makes these sections particularly affected. With her particular ability to use her Luck, I can’t help but wonder why she’s even still here. That seems to be the story to me. Not the abuse, but why she remains when she clearly has the power to get out. She can smooth over deals with reps from the SM, but she hasn’t thought to calm some member of the crew and then just … walk? Go literally anywhere in the city and use her Luck to get work where she won’t be whipped and slapped. It seems like the easiest thing in the world, so why hasn’t she done it? This is what the story here could have been, and it would have been so much more interesting.
Obviously she has to be there so Sanderson can have terrible things happen to her so she can be saved by Kelsier just like he saved the other raped scaa girl (let’s all take a moment to roll our eyes) and then her character can have a trajectory from passive victim to active hero - but that’s an excuse, and excuses don’t make good stories.
That said, as is, these two pages could be cut entirely and with very minor revision to the next session, nothing would be lost. It introduces a hideout we don’t need to know about, abuse that is redundant, over the top and unmotivated, and then Camon says “it’s time.” It’s just a prelude, in which nothing happens, before the actual scene. So just cut to the actual scene.
(36) we finally find out what the Camon job was supposed to be, I suspect because Sanderson finally decided what the details were. It would have been much more interesting to know this earlier, just like it would have been more interesting to understand about the particulars of Vin’s brothers betrayal earlier, so we could understand the context of the story being told.
But a LARGER ISSUE continues to emerge. First Camon tells Vin nothing about his plans. She says she is apparently the only crew member who didn’t know what was going on. Then, as they sit in the waiting room, in the vey belly of the obligator beast, he tells her everything. Why? Because Sanderson wants us to know even though he never decided who this character was.
He wants her to be a passive victim of inordinate abuses by a group of irredeemable villains, who only avoids constant sexual assault through the exhausting use of her secret magic so she can be saved and then learn how to be powerful later. But he also wants her to be a smart, capable member of Camon’s crew who is considered as such, because he knows passive protagonists aren’t interesting and because he wants us, the reader, to know what’s going on, and also think that Vin is cool. She can’t be both at the same time. She either needs to be less of an abject, pathetic victim, or she needs to be less involved in this big important scam - and that means she knows less about it and does less to make it work. As is, he’s done too little with either idea of her character and both Vin and Camon are an unmotivated mess.
(42) steel inquisitor. Cool, creepy, disgusting - something straight out of hellraiser.
(43) “Besides, I’m not about to let a possible Mistborn slip away from us” Ah!
Ch3 (45) after the meeting with the obligator (that was a trap), is the first time Vin ever expresses any interest in getting away. Much too late Sanderson gives us a much too thin reason why Vin hasn’t run away (considering the conflicting versions of her character as mentioned before). It’s little more than an afterthought.
(47) in no more than 2 pages Vin goes from never thinking she could make it on her own to leaving for good, telling herself she’d survived sleeping in alleyways before, she could do it again and - “Reen had taught her how to scavenge and beg. Both were difficult in the Final Empire … but she would find a way, if she had too.”
So far, this is all based on a bad feeling. More motivation conflict - Vin has no problem telling Camon directly how his plans won’t work and that he should change the way the servants are dressed, helps him succeed with her luck in both plans, but sees no reason to tell him “I have a bad feeling about this. That was too easy. Why did that obligator suddenly agree. Doesn’t this seem weird to you?”
Sanderson has many of the right pieces, but he hasn’t been able to put them together coherently.
(45)(And, just as an aside, I’m not sure why a girl who has spent to book so far reiterating to herself that EVERYONE WILL BETRAY ME is going out of her way to tell Ulef she has a bad feeling and to get him to come with her. Sanderson says “if he would go with her, then at least she wouldn’t be alone.” But he has also up until this point defined her character by a near constant desire to be alone - when she is introduced sitting in the window of the hideout thinking her brothers word “Vin wasn’t on duty; the watch-hole was simply one of the few places where she could find solitude. And Vin liked solitude. ‘When you’re alone, no one can betray you’- (37) at the “It’s just another betrayal, she thought sickly. Why does it still bother me so? Everyone betrays everyone else. That’s the way life is … She wanted to find a corner - someplace cramped and secluded - and hide. Alone.”
(47) "Bringing Ulef was a good idea. He had contacts in Luthadel." These after the fact explanations are no good. This isn't Vin thinking this, it's the author coming up with more justification for Vin's action, but in order for her character to seem active and motivated, this needed to be revised into the section where Vin decides to bring Ulef. Now it's just tacked on - oh, yeah, and, by the way, if you weren't sure it made sense for Vin to do this, Ulef probably knows people. So, there.
It doesn’t wash. Who is this girl? Can she not stand the idea of being alone, or is it the one and only thing she wants? Is she strong and resourceful in spite of her circumstances, or is she a passive victim? Does she believe everyone will betray her, or does she desperately want to believe otherwise because she can’t live in such an unkind world? Sanderson doesn’t seem to have been able to make up his mind. Maybe some of these details were added in revision on the suggestion of beta readers and the result is a checkerboard character. I’ve seen that before where you make a suggestion to a writer and they add your suggestion but they don’t make the necessary changes to the rest of the book so that the new material earns its place, they just throw it in and dust off their hands - job well done, gotta stay on schedule to publish! But now I’m just writing fan fiction about Sanderson’s process. I don’t know.
(55) Vin’s “weakness” - the contradictions/inexactitude of characters seems to be an ongoing issue for Sanderson, at least for Vin. Is she weak and has to pretend to be strong, or is she strong and often chooses to pretend to be weak (so far she has seemed to be weak and act weak, other than her Luck).
Well, that's as far as I got. Kel shows up just in time to be the wrath of justice for Vin. He's the superman who will make everything alright for this feckless girl. Our hero. Did Sanderson lay it on thick enough? Did you get that these people were all so irredeemably and stupidly bad? Aren't you so glad this strong man has shown up to be Vin's vengeance, just like had been telegraphed all along?
Sorry, I don't mean to be sarcastic. This part of the narrative really isn't so bad, its just been so heavy handedly and clumsily lead up to that there's no thrill in it for me. It isn't a bit satisfying. I'm just glad I don't have to read about any of these shallow side-characters anymore. Except, I have no intention to read on, so I don't have to read about any of them anymore.
Is this book bad? Yes and no. I don't want to read any more, and only read as far as I did as an examination of storytelling, so for me its bad. You only get so many eyerolls before I have to say that. The sentences are very clear and coherent. On their own, they are coherent. Together, they fail to paint of picture of coherent characters who drive the action of the story. If you don't have that, at least in my book, you've got nothing.
The images work. The setting, in its broad strokes, is eveocative. I'd love to set a DnD campaign in a world of ash and a dark lord and all that (I'm not the least mad about the cliché of the dark lord, by the way. Who doesn't love archetypical stories?) But, as near as I can tell, there are no human beings in this book. No one is real. The characters are just that, only characters in a book. They are paper cutouts. They fall flat when the hand of the author isn't pushing them around and making them do things.
Fans often hold Sanderson up as the gold standard of a fantasy author who produces work fast. And having read this far into Mistborn, I can say this about it: It reads like it was written fast.
Yes, Mistborn was an earlier book of his, so I can't judge him by it alone. But it is a work that is so often held up as a favorite by his readers. That's why I picked it up, to see what all the fuss was about. There were many things I enjoyed, but what I enjoyed wasn't the narrative. The story and the characters who moved it were the thing that I enjoyed least. The unique magic and broad setting details and description of places and creepy Inquisitors were what I liked best. The proper nouns were fun.
But proper nouns don't make a story for me. So I did not finish Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.
If I were looking for a light fantasy read that I didn't have to take seriously and I could pick up and put down whenever I wanted because it was never that exciting or particularly witty or clever, but managed to string along one event after another and kept them going, more or less, whether it made much sense or not, until the end, I think Mistborn would be a fine book to dip into. Lots of people have read it. But then, that seems to me to be its major appeal. It’s a book you can talk about with other people.
It's not enough for me, though. There's lots of fun fantasy books out there that feel more coherent, and, well, INTERESTED in the story they're telling. Interested in violence and revolution and crime in an oppressively totalitarian, dystopian world. Interested in the plight of a young girl who only wants … well, what does she want? To be safe? But the only way she finds she can be safe is to go toward danger and realize how very strong she is? Maybe this story would like to be that, but it hasn't been for the first 60 or so pages.
Sanderson's novel felt more interested in the large and vague story shapes around the characters - a city, a dark lord, slavery, soot snow, bad mist, some kinds of magic, and (I cringe to say it) rape and thieving and beatings - but not in the world of their lives.
I've heard good things about The Way Of Kings from people who did not like Mistborn either, but its safe to say at this point that I have reservations about my reading tastes being a good match for Sanderson's work, at least at this point in time.
If I'm looking for fun I'd rather read another swanky, noir fantasy by Douglas Lumsden any day, or the next gothic gaslamp fantasy mystery by Morgan Stang, or discover my next favorite author, indie or otherwise.
I don't think Mistborn was terrible by any stretch of the imagination. Sanderson has delighted readers for over a decade now! He's prolific, hard working, and he delivers what his fans want, and he and they continue to be richly rewarded for his efforts. He is a Name in the genre, often listed alongside the greats. And why not? Isn't pleasing readers what this is all about? Taylor Swift has oceans of adoring fans, and she's no less deserving of her accolades. Brandon Sanderson is the Taylor Swift of fantasy, you could say. I just don't like her music either.
Thanks for reading! TOM MOCK Fantasy Authoeditor
What should I read next?

Propaganda: noun; (2.) Material disseminated by the advocates or opponents of a doctrine or cause.
— The American Heritage®️Dictionary of English Language, 5th edition.

China

China is a nation founded upon the ideologies and principles of communism.

United States

A Democratic Republic founded upon the ideologies and principles of democracy.

The American Way

When many Americans hear or see the words “communism,” they actively begin associating communism with corrupt authoritarian regimes that leverage a totalitarian system to control, undermine and(or) manipulate the very people it’s intended to serve. From that perspective, all that’s required is an onslaught of corrupt regimes to gain control long enough to form a dictatorship that devolves into an oppressive oligarchy; so… I understand why Americans don’t like communism. After all, America was founded on a rebellion against an oppressive regime(Great Britain).
Communism has the potential to threaten the American individual’s liberties, rights and infringe upon their freedoms. The constituency base of the United States are typically aligned with preserving their right to exercise autocratic power over the greater population, through self-serving initiatives that align with their own personal values and interests, rather than the collective interests of others or, utilizing their power and influence to achieve a common cause that the collective of constituents align on. Checks and balances keep individual autocracy intact whilst preserving the interests of other individual citizens and their interests.
In a Democratic Republic, one bad president is kept in check with a limitation on time served and the checks and balances system. This prevents the President (or any Federal governing individual/entity) from being omnipotent enough to make changes in such a capacity that it could ever lead to The United States devolving into a socialist dictatorship.
Communism is the Democratic Republic’s antithetical concept that negates autonomy.
So, yes — for Americans Communism is bad news. So is China bad news? The short answer, no.
China and communism are not synonymous, communism is simply an attribute of the Chinese society; therefore, believing China is bad due to your pre-disposition towards communism is nonsensical. China isn’t simply bad because their communistic way of governing is antithetical to those of The United States… in fact, many people in China love China and communism (not everyone obviously) because of what communism helps them achieve — when communism is done right.

The Chinese way

Communism in China (disclaimer: I’m not Chinese and have never visited China so this is relatively speculative) revolves around the concept and idea that all people are created equal and are treated equally. A rich person is no better than a poor person vice versa; a poor person has access to what a rich person has access to.
There’s typically no class system in a communist society and everything essentially belongs to the public and redistributions may be made on an as-needed basis to those in need. The people subject to communistic regimes often rely on a well managed governing body to provide for their basic needs: housing, food, transportation, jobs and services. Communistic regimes essentially take full responsibility for ensuring their citizens are provided for. Hard to see communism as a bad thing from that angle, right?
Everything works out until some authoritarian dictator gets elected and refuses to accept the end of his term. You end up with a Kim Jong, who does nothing but prevent the growth of a nation, stagnating it so much that a third-world country outperforms its entire economy; tanking the GDP, flattening the educational band so much that the citizens can’t obtain a proper updated education leaving them behind the educational curve, innovation is practically non-existent because the people are sterilized and forced to only do what one persons limited imagination can conceive. Communism is great, until it isn’t.
Irrespective of the pitfalls of communism, China has done a great job at protecting its people against tyranny. China is arguably a fairly decent example of how communism can work out positively.

China and U.S. debacle

China (seemingly comprised mostly of proletariat’s and bourgeois’s engaged in some form of manufacturing) is responsible for ensuring that their exports and products are delivered to their respective markets at a reasonable cost to them, for the sakes of: ensuring their is a large enough capital spread across a transaction to engage in mutually beneficial trading.
The United States is a capitalist society and capitalist societies tend to exploit developing economies and countries (hence why everything is outsourced in the U.S. to countries with poor GDPs). The latest exploitation? Arguably the raise on tarrifs related to Chinese imports, which is essentially taking advantage of China but there’s a catch.
Chinese manufactures have been flooding the U.S. market with D2C (direct-to-consumer) products leveraging large e-commerce platforms, essentially funneling USD right out the U.S. economy, further growing the Chinese economy. Making the U.S. a big piggy bank just asking to be drained from because of their obsession with cheap labor and products.
As China penetrates the U.S. market it will become easier for China to overtake the United States as the leading global economy because China has a stronger foot hold in the U.S. than the U.S. will ever have in China. The U.S.’s exploitation will seemingly backfire, leading to the U.S. possibly falling to number 2.
China recently banned all imports on semiconductor products from the U.S., this prevents U.S. based manufacturers from being able to leverage Chinese products to improve their competitiveness and sales. If China is the world’s leading producer of goods and they don’t rely on U.S. based producers and are able to freely sell in the U.S. market, well… guess what? The U.S. is in its way to seeing China put them in checkmate since all the U.S.’s money would be entering China with no reason to return it. As the U.S. economy collapses thanks to the idiots making decisions , you may notice things like the U.S.; printing more money, raising the debt ceiling and increasing taxes. Wait? We’re already doing that?
Long story short the U.S. is kind of fucked and outsourcing is a huge problem. Outsourcing puts the longevity of the U.S at risk and it’s U.S. citizens. The U.S. is doing nothing to build itself but continues to build other countries and invest money in other nations. Good job, China and India exploiting the U.S.’s filthy greedy capitalist society. The U.S. employs foreign nationals instead of their own citizens to make a quick buck of their own people.

The Propaganda

“China is bad [blah,blah],” the U.S is just looking for something to blame for their mistakes. China isn’t bad, they just made smarter moves.
The logical solution for the U.S would be raising tariffs so high that in order for Chinese products to be shipped into the U.S. it would put the manufacturers at a net negative per transaction, slowly brining money back into the U.S. This would possibly put pressure on Chinese manufacturers to reduce their prices to remain profitable. Logically it would make sense to keep increasing tariffs(without straining the relationship, supply and economy) until a reasonable market between the two countries established. Chinese based e-commerce sellers would have to pay an additional tariff, in addition to taxes for selling foreign products in the U.S. market — these increased tariffs would be the opportunity cost, which may either reduce the amount of sellers or increase federal revenue from foreign suppliers.
Did you enjoy reading this? Leave us a comment or share our post with your favorite people! We’ve glossed over some things because typing an essay on redits mobile app is an unbearable experience. 🥹

I’ve recently read two nonfiction books, one about slavery specifically and the other about post-slavery racism. Both of these books have used the term “Blacks” when talking in general about a Black community or group of Black individuals. An example being “a white mob descended on the Blacks”.
The book about slavery was written by a Black woman in 2019 and used “Blacks” infrequently while the post-slavery book was written by an older white man in 2008 who used the term multiple times a chapter. Both authors are lauded academics.
Every time I hear “Blacks” it’s almost like a nervous system shock. I lose my focus on the story and have to consciously check back in to listening (I do audiobooks mostly). To me, it feels like listening to my great grandma call someone “colored”.
My question: is referring to a group or community as “Blacks” considered insensitive or out right racist? If it’s not, I’ll try to temper my reaction to it even though I would never be comfortable using it myself.
ETA: specific examples from the second book
Now that I’ve looked at an actual print version instead of just looking at the audiobook, it does seem the author uses “whites” along with “blacks”. But I know in at least the portion I’ve listened to so far, there are instances where in the same sentence where “white” is used as an adjective while “blacks” is a noun (with neither being capitalized).