"Pride of the kalitz"

I am jumping on the moicy train SO goddamn late... but I have Many feelings about these two. M A N Y. Gimme a hello if y’all are still around!

I’d like to say a big FUCK YOU to all the little-dick Twitter bitch men that said the movie made the women less hot and sexy to “appeal to the female gaze.” It appealed to the female gaze AND made me wanna get RAWED by Huntress and Black Canary every time they appeared on screen.

A little bit of a rant here.

That scene in Odyssey? Is one of the most amazing scene in the entire game and no I don’t take criticism.

Because no matter if you play as Kassandra or Alexios, this scene holds both very heavy symbolics in the aftermath of one of the most difficult bosses of the game. (Man, that Medusa fight was hardcore.)

Think about it. You just fought the Writhing Dead that was terrorizing the whole island of Lesbos after finding out that the “Writhing Dead” was, in fact, only a name, since this condition is a curse passed down to the first one who touches the artifact (Apple of Eden?) once the physical state of Medusa is destroyed. The Eagle Bearer even wonders “How many people have become the Writhing Dead over the centuries”.

And then you think about Bryce and Ligeia; how Bryce was ready to go into the Petrified Temple even though it is known that those who wander there never return; she’s willing to go back for her lover, moreover a huntress of Artemis who’s clearly the most fitting out of the two to fight back the Writhing Dead (and we later learn that she was, in fact, strong enough to kill the monster, since she is the one who picked up the artifact and got turned into Medusa). And there’s this dawn-breaking realisation that Bryce was turned to stone by her Ligeia, who couldn’t be saved anymore. It was too late for the both of them. Bryce is doomed to stay still forever in the Temple where Ligeia was lost.

And all that’s left of the both of them is a single rose. (The rose which made Bryce late to her meeting with Ligeia; the rose that prevented her from seeing her dearest ever again.)

And then the Eagle Bearer kneels. And they quote Sappho.

Now bear with me. If you’re playing as Kassandra, obviously there is a lot of feels to break down in this scene. Because you’re playing as a woman whose sexuality isn’t defined in the game and which you can choose. If you played Kassandra as a sapphic woman this hits very close to home. (Especially if you’re a queer girl yourself because, hey. Sappho quotes am I right.)

If you played Kassandra as a sapphic woman AND romanced Daphnae (because at this point in the game, the level required to do the Medusa quest is high enough for you to have slain all the Legendary Beasts) this hits even closer to home because Daphnae was a huntress of Artemis, too. (And you lost her, too.)

BUT if you played as a strictly straight Kassandra, this scene still holds a very heavy emotional feeling. There is a silent women’s bond there. Kassandra is one of the very first playable women of the franchise– yes, I know Evie & Aveline were there before, and I’m all for them too, but let’s be real. Evie shared the game with her brother, and Aveline was in a game created for PS Vita which is, well, not a console as big as a PS4 or an Xbox One. Kassandra is the first female protagonist to be the only one in her story in a big Assassin’s Creed game– she’s the “canon” protagonist. So, yeah. Big wahoo for female representation. And as she kneels down for Bryce & Ligeia, there is this silent prayer she’s making: “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you both”. She honors them both by quoting Sappho, and then she leaves. Because she’s being, for us players, an embodiment of female empowerment.

Now, if you played as a strictly straight Alexios, that’s kinda the same thing, but it bears so much respect there. Because a straight man kneeling for lesbians is rare in media and in real life. Straight men are usually predatory for sapphic women (male gaze, fetishism, yay) but Alexios? Alexios kneels. Alexios tried to save them. He couldn’t do it and now he’s doing the best he can to leave them at peace. That’s such a powerful move.

And if you played as a queer Alexios, this respect evolves into solidarity. (Yeah, that legendary mlm/wlw solidarity!) Alexios, who may have had a thing with Alkibiades; Alexios, who melted for Lykaon; Alexios, who shamelessly flirted with Thaletas, understands in some kind of way. Of course this is Ancient Greece and mindsets weren’t equals at the time (straight wasn’t even a word yet) but again, for us players, it bears this symbolic. For a game out in 2018 it bears this meaning.

But if you asked, “Would you let the statue of liberty burn in order to save your child? your spouse? someone you loved a great deal?” the tune abruptly changes. At the very least, there’s a hesitation. Even if they deny it, I’m willing to bet that gun to their head, the answer would be “yes.”  

The basic problem here is that people have a hard time seeing outside their own sphere of influence, and empathizing beyond the few people who are right in front of them. You’ve got your immediate family, whom you love; your friends, your acquaintances, maybe to a certain degree the people who share a status with you (your religion, your race, etc.)–but beyond that? People aren’t real. They’re theoretical. 

But a national monument? That’s real. It stands for something. The value of a non-realized anonymous life that exists completely outside your sphere of influence is clearly worth less than something that represents freedom and prosperity to a whole nation, right?

People who think like this lack the compassion to realize that everyone is in someone’s immediate sphere of influence–that everyone is someone’s lover, or brother, or parent. Everyone means the world to someone. And it’s the absolute height of selfishness to assume that their lives don’t have value just because they don’t mean the world to you. 

an example: so, as the nazis began war against france, the staff of the louvre began crating up and shipping out the artworks. it was vital to them (for many reasons) that the nazis not get their hands on the collections, and hitler’s desire for them was known, so they dispersed the objects to the four winds; one of the curators personally traveled with la gioconda, mona lisa herself, in an unmarked crate, moving at least five times from location to location to avoid detection.

they even removed and hid the nike of samothrace, “winged victory,” which is both delicate, having been pieced back together from fragments, and incredibly heavy, weighing over three metric tons.

the curators who hid these artworks risked death to ensure that they wouldn’t fall into nazi hands. and yes, they are just paintings, just statues. but when i think about the idea of hitler capturing and standing smugly beside the nike of samothrace, a statue widely beloved as a symbol of liberty, i completely understand why someone would risk their life to prevent that. if my life was all that stood between a fascist dictator and a masterpiece that inspired millions, i would be willing to risk it. my belief in the power and necessity of art would demand i do so.

if, however, a nazi held a gun to some kid’s head (any kid!) and asked me which crate the mona lisa was in, they could have it in a heartbeat. no problem! i wouldn’t even have to think about it. being willing to risk my own life on principle doesn’t mean i’m willing to see others endangered for those same principles.

and that is exactly where the conservative hard-right falls right the fuck down. they are, typically, entirely willing to watch others suffer for their own principles. they are perfectly okay with seeing children in cages because of their supposed belief in law and order. they are perfectly willing to let women die from pregnancy complications because of their anti-abortion beliefs. they are alright with poverty and disease on general principle because they hold the free-market sacrosanct. and i guess from their own example they would save the statue of liberty and let human beings burn instead.

but speaking as a leftist (i’m more comfortable with socialist tbh), my principles are not abstract things that i hold aside from life, apart or above my place as a human being in a society. my beliefs arise from being a person amidst people. i don’t love art for art’s sake alone, actually! i don’t love objects because they are objects: i love them because they are artifacts of our humanity, because they communicate and connect us, because they embody love and curiosity and fear and feeling. i love art because i love people. i want universal health care because i want to see people universally cared for. i want universal basic income because people’s safety and dignity should not be determined by their economic productivity to an employer. i am anti-war and pro-choice for the same reason: i value people’s lives but also their autonomy and right to self-determination. my beliefs are not abstractions. i could never value a type of economic system that i saw hurting people, no matter how much “growth” it produced. i could never love “law and order” more than i love a child, any child, i saw trapped in a cage.

I have a friend wasp named Queeny. She built her nest on a really inconvenient area where I often dump my birds’ uneaten seed or shake towels out. She would come out angrily and buzz at us, ready to defend her home from the strange giants.

Queeny didn’t know that it was our porch she built her home on, she saw a nice ledge and decided that it was a suitable spot to begin her life as a lone female.

So instead of removing the nest and poisoning her with bug spray, you know what I did? I moved the area where I dump my things and started feeding her. I would tap three times on the railing before leaving a treat like fruit, honey, dog food, or pesky beetles I find in my garden, then move away to give them lots of space. At first she would buzz out, wings spread and ready to fight, but after doing this for just a few days…she stopped!

Now when she comes out, it’s slowly and non-threatingly. She tilts her head at me before gingerly inspecting the offerings. She doesn’t threaten my mom any more either, she’s learned that we mean no harm. We’ve started using that ledge to shake sheets out and dump bird seed and she doesn’t mind at all! She just watches quietly.

She even has a family now! Five daughters and one lad- a husband or son, not sure which lmao -who greet us the same, she must’ve taught them that we’re not enemies (or they just grew up used to us). They even protect my garden, since Queeny’s family has grown the invasive Japanese beetle population has plummeted! They really are delightful neighbors.