I think this is some of Hydra's issues from the unicorn rearing their heads. I'm glad to see she has acknowledged this to Sally-Anne, but I think that Siz is also one of the wrong ones to be angry at. Siz hasn't initiated contact with Dolohov, nor has assisted him like Sally-Anne did.
I agree re: the unicorn. And while Siz hasn't done either of those things, she also cares for him. Even after what happened to Justin, I don't see Siz getting shouty and calling him a bastard as Sally-Anne did. She openly says she'll miss him- and while she might not be happy about that, it's still there.
I don't see her hurting anyone to help him, but I think she is still attached enough that he could probably manipulate her if he wanted to.
Except Siz hasn't done anything except not really speak against him. She has acknowledged his evil. He hasn't really even tried to manipulate her since May (that I recall. I may be wrong). He certainly didn't in this last goodbye message.
I see where Hydra is coming from, but she is lashing out somewhat indiscriminately.
ETA: I also think that there may be some resentment towards Siz for not putting herself in the actual line of fire. Yes, what she was doing and has done was vitally important, but except for Rookwood and that battle, she was mostly safe. I remember someone commenting on how during the battle of Hogwarts she 'hid' in her tower. Of course, she was protecting many, many students there, but it was a comment.
Edited (adding possibly related, but probably random musings) Date: 2015-08-31 09:08 pm (UTC)
I think the conversation between Hydra and Sally-Anne is why I'd have to agree to disagree. I think that Siz sees him as a person and therefore believes, at least in some small way, that he can be redeemed. Like with Raz, she looked to the source of his behavior- his terrible family, his emotionally neglectful upbringing- and accepted he'd made bad choices but he could turn himself around and be better than that. Which... I'm a fellow Puff and I can understand that.
But on the other hand, Hydra had that terrible family, that emotionally neglectful upbringing, and the only thing she blamed on that was her pain. She made the hard choices to be better, without making excuses for herself, so why would she make excuses for anyone else?
Siz wrote to Raz again. Her comment echos what you said, with a dash of self-loathing included as well.
I also agree that Hydra is justified in feeling the way she does. Sally-Anne, while she made a mistake, acted from a selfless place (trying to save Justin). Siz's relationship with Tosha has been for more selfish (and cerebral) reasons. I understand why Hydra would have no tolerance for that, after everything she's been through.
The bit about Hydra having many people to talk to about Justin (when and if she's ready to), and Siz not having anyone to talk to about Raz is quite interesting. Siz has often been isolated.
It's hard being a widow. And then so much on top of it.
I wonder if Siz's relationship with Tosha is a bit like her stars, thinking about it.
It's considered normal to be afraid of the dark. The dark is often associated with the unknown, with evil, with everything scary. But for Siz, it's a misunderstood necessity- without it she wouldn't see the beauty of the stars. And even when other people see the stars, few see them like she does. They don't see the patterns, the consistency, the stability.
I think with that kind of mindset, it'd be easier to ...compartmentalize, I suppose, Tosha's misdeeds. Perhaps the line between Dark Arts and other magic is less defined than others say, maybe the fear that surrounds them is just the fear of things they don't understand. Maybe his love of tea and languages and everything else are the shining stars that give her stability, even if (and maybe especially if) no one else can see it.
It doesn't change the fact that he's a psycopath, of course. But different perspectives see different things.
(I may or may not have been so upset by Daphne's death that I wrote 'her' into my novel, only it's her bastard of a husband who dies shortly after the vows.) (By which I mean I totally did.)
I have no idea when that will happen, but as it currently stands, it's a historical fantasy set in NYC during the mid 1920's. Prior to the novel, Daphne Benoit was a celebrated stage actress, who worked as a nurse during the Great War; she became good friends with an American patient, Jack Dalton, and later fell in love with his younger brother, Charles. Publicly, Charles was charitable, charming, and exceedingly popular; privately, he was sadistic, deceptive, and manipulative, using verbal abuse, gas-lighting, and magical memory modifications to control Daphne (as well as various girls-on-the-side.)
Less than an hour into the wedding reception, Jack witnessed his brother verbally berate and magically inflict significant pain on his new wife; after Daphne returned to her guests, Jack flipped his brother off a balcony ledge, where he fell five stories to a very unpleasant death. It was ruled an accident, as numerous guests reported seeing Charles inebriated and unsteady on his feet.
As of the novel, Daphne Benoit-Dalton resides at 270 Park Ave and remains very close to her brother-in-law Jack, as well as her father- and sister-in-law, who all reside in the same building. She has entirely eclipsed her late husband's reputation for charity, and has made more than a modest showing in the emerging silent movie industry.
I've gotten the impression from the kids that many of them are in a place where they can't respect the contributions of those people who aren't combatants. Which makes perfect sense for teenagers in a horrible warzone, you know?
But almost all of the face characters are at some level a warrior, which also makes sense for the narrative? I think it also skews the read narrative; there's Siz and Evelyn and Linus off in the tower doing Essential Nerd Things, but Essential Nerd Things don't get points and aren't flashy.
There's Arista for our view into the younger set, and nobody expects her to be a fighter at least, so nobody snarks on her for not.
Who else? Pansy, who has been hugely, hugely absent from the public face of game since it turned to 'we're doing the final war' because she was on logistics and support; she has basically been absent from the plot for ages. Jeremy too. Never mind that basically Pansy took responsibility for making sure there was something after the war was over, and thus is probably one of the most actually important current members of the Order.
Basically, the non-fighters are marginalised voices. (Including, I feel, Sally-Anne.)
FWIW, as Sally-Anne's player, I have not felt like she's been marginalized. I want to just note a couple of things, because there are factors in the storytelling here that aren't visible to readers.
1. I play multiple characters. One is Sally-Anne; another is Rachel. I was posting a lot as Rachel this summer, and there are only so many hours in a day to post.
2. Especially as I spent five weeks on an extended trip to France this summer. (Yay! It was awesome! But also meant that I was out of synch with everyone else! If you ever noticed a Rachel post that inexplicably was time stamped 11 p.m. even though it was afternoon for you...now you know why.) Player availability does some weird things to how characters are perceived. Sometimes we come up with a plot to explain an absence, other times we just hope no one notices.
3. When I sit down to play, I post in part based on who's got something going on that makes for interesting reading.
Sally-Anne totally did stuff this summer. She worked in the hospital wing, providing the secure Order alternative to St Mungo's, treating both the people living at Hogwarts for everyday problems (some of which are pretty chronic when you're a rebel base full of the recently traumatized) and emergency care for people injured in the field. However, during earlier parts of the story, she was sometimes the only available Healer-ish person other than Poppy. But then the Order had an influx of people that included a lot of healers, at which point she had a senior person to report to and fewer exciting stories like the time she had to impersonate Poppy and treat Acton's menopausal symptoms...
Rachel, on the other hand, was running Albion MLE. So there were an endless number of interesting things for her to talk about.
4. I also pick characters to post as based on who else is online and able to play with me. That got way weirder when I was 7 time zones away from all the other players.
So. Now you know. I felt that the characters respected Sally-Anne's contributions, and I always felt like she has interesting things to do during the big battles / other enormous turning points of the game. Not too bad for someone who has exactly one line of existence in canon!
I didn't realize how much I missed their interactions until I read that thread!
I'm also glad Arista's back. Her begging to babysit was adorable, and I've always enjoyed reading her and Ron's threads. He's got such a sweet big brother relationship with her.
So earlier this evening I commented, "It's not 'Never change, Padma', it's 'Never gonna change, Padma'" but boy was I mistaken. Hooray for getting the brain going at last.
I don't know, it doesn't seem like it went very far. Realizing Lana is a self-absorbed bitch is not rocket science, and she doesn't seem like she's gotten nicer about anyone else.
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winterfish
no subject
Date: 2015-08-31 03:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-08-31 08:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-08-31 08:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-08-31 08:24 pm (UTC)I don't see her hurting anyone to help him, but I think she is still attached enough that he could probably manipulate her if he wanted to.
no subject
Date: 2015-08-31 08:30 pm (UTC)I see where Hydra is coming from, but she is lashing out somewhat indiscriminately.
ETA: I also think that there may be some resentment towards Siz for not putting herself in the actual line of fire. Yes, what she was doing and has done was vitally important, but except for Rookwood and that battle, she was mostly safe. I remember someone commenting on how during the battle of Hogwarts she 'hid' in her tower. Of course, she was protecting many, many students there, but it was a comment.
no subject
Date: 2015-08-31 10:04 pm (UTC)But on the other hand, Hydra had that terrible family, that emotionally neglectful upbringing, and the only thing she blamed on that was her pain. She made the hard choices to be better, without making excuses for herself, so why would she make excuses for anyone else?
no subject
Date: 2015-09-01 12:17 am (UTC)I also agree that Hydra is justified in feeling the way she does. Sally-Anne, while she made a mistake, acted from a selfless place (trying to save Justin). Siz's relationship with Tosha has been for more selfish (and cerebral) reasons. I understand why Hydra would have no tolerance for that, after everything she's been through.
no subject
Date: 2015-09-01 12:24 am (UTC)It's hard being a widow. And then so much on top of it.
no subject
Date: 2015-09-01 01:21 am (UTC)It's considered normal to be afraid of the dark. The dark is often associated with the unknown, with evil, with everything scary. But for Siz, it's a misunderstood necessity- without it she wouldn't see the beauty of the stars. And even when other people see the stars, few see them like she does. They don't see the patterns, the consistency, the stability.
I think with that kind of mindset, it'd be easier to ...compartmentalize, I suppose, Tosha's misdeeds. Perhaps the line between Dark Arts and other magic is less defined than others say, maybe the fear that surrounds them is just the fear of things they don't understand. Maybe his love of tea and languages and everything else are the shining stars that give her stability, even if (and maybe especially if) no one else can see it.
It doesn't change the fact that he's a psycopath, of course. But different perspectives see different things.
no subject
Date: 2015-09-01 01:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-09-01 01:31 am (UTC)(I may or may not have been so upset by Daphne's death that I wrote 'her' into my novel, only it's her bastard of a husband who dies shortly after the vows.) (By which I mean I totally did.)
no subject
Date: 2015-09-01 04:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-09-01 03:06 pm (UTC)Less than an hour into the wedding reception, Jack witnessed his brother verbally berate and magically inflict significant pain on his new wife; after Daphne returned to her guests, Jack flipped his brother off a balcony ledge, where he fell five stories to a very unpleasant death. It was ruled an accident, as numerous guests reported seeing Charles inebriated and unsteady on his feet.
As of the novel, Daphne Benoit-Dalton resides at 270 Park Ave and remains very close to her brother-in-law Jack, as well as her father- and sister-in-law, who all reside in the same building. She has entirely eclipsed her late husband's reputation for charity, and has made more than a modest showing in the emerging silent movie industry.
no subject
Date: 2015-09-01 03:25 pm (UTC)-Daph's player
no subject
Date: 2015-09-01 03:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-09-01 04:43 am (UTC)-Daphne's player
no subject
Date: 2015-08-31 11:02 pm (UTC)But almost all of the face characters are at some level a warrior, which also makes sense for the narrative? I think it also skews the read narrative; there's Siz and Evelyn and Linus off in the tower doing Essential Nerd Things, but Essential Nerd Things don't get points and aren't flashy.
There's Arista for our view into the younger set, and nobody expects her to be a fighter at least, so nobody snarks on her for not.
Who else? Pansy, who has been hugely, hugely absent from the public face of game since it turned to 'we're doing the final war' because she was on logistics and support; she has basically been absent from the plot for ages. Jeremy too. Never mind that basically Pansy took responsibility for making sure there was something after the war was over, and thus is probably one of the most actually important current members of the Order.
Basically, the non-fighters are marginalised voices. (Including, I feel, Sally-Anne.)
no subject
Date: 2015-08-31 11:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-09-01 12:49 am (UTC)1. I play multiple characters. One is Sally-Anne; another is Rachel. I was posting a lot as Rachel this summer, and there are only so many hours in a day to post.
2. Especially as I spent five weeks on an extended trip to France this summer. (Yay! It was awesome! But also meant that I was out of synch with everyone else! If you ever noticed a Rachel post that inexplicably was time stamped 11 p.m. even though it was afternoon for you...now you know why.) Player availability does some weird things to how characters are perceived. Sometimes we come up with a plot to explain an absence, other times we just hope no one notices.
3. When I sit down to play, I post in part based on who's got something going on that makes for interesting reading.
Sally-Anne totally did stuff this summer. She worked in the hospital wing, providing the secure Order alternative to St Mungo's, treating both the people living at Hogwarts for everyday problems (some of which are pretty chronic when you're a rebel base full of the recently traumatized) and emergency care for people injured in the field. However, during earlier parts of the story, she was sometimes the only available Healer-ish person other than Poppy. But then the Order had an influx of people that included a lot of healers, at which point she had a senior person to report to and fewer exciting stories like the time she had to impersonate Poppy and treat Acton's menopausal symptoms...
Rachel, on the other hand, was running Albion MLE. So there were an endless number of interesting things for her to talk about.
4. I also pick characters to post as based on who else is online and able to play with me. That got way weirder when I was 7 time zones away from all the other players.
So. Now you know. I felt that the characters respected Sally-Anne's contributions, and I always felt like she has interesting things to do during the big battles / other enormous turning points of the game. Not too bad for someone who has exactly one line of existence in canon!
no subject
Date: 2015-09-01 01:34 am (UTC)I'm glad you had an awesome trip though. :)
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Date: 2015-08-31 10:53 pm (UTC)I'm also glad Arista's back. Her begging to babysit was adorable, and I've always enjoyed reading her and Ron's threads. He's got such a sweet big brother relationship with her.
no subject
Date: 2015-09-01 12:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-09-01 01:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-09-01 01:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-09-01 01:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-09-01 04:16 am (UTC)http://alt-justin.dreamwidth.org/1590.html?thread=813622#cmt813622
no subject
Date: 2015-09-01 01:44 pm (UTC)My, it's awfully dusty in here this morning, and somebody seems to be chopping onions...
no subject
Date: 2015-09-01 10:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-09-01 03:33 pm (UTC)Edit: of course it's a family affair. Hee. :D