#material analysis

Word of the day from my research: "unguentaria"; bottles that usually contained perfumes that were often poured on relics during ceremonies. The smell of relics were (are???) so strong and recognizable as real, true relics, essentially a mixed vat of perfume, that Venetian thieves used stinky pork to cover up the fragrance coming from their stolen Santa Claus bones.

Renaissance people believed that bodies (dead or alive) anointed with sweet smelling, floral perfumes conveyed how pure and immaculate they were. Smells that were sweet = Christian, goodness and smells that were spicy, rich, musky, or anything else suggested that someone was impious, not Christian, or just physically ill.

I'm going to buy an unguentaria to carry my Cheirosa 62, but I am curious to see if the custom fragrance boutique in the fancy part of town could whip up a mock sample of this Filippo Sorcinelli scent for me...

Obviously, as a feudal monarch, he is condemnable, but it is a very shallow study of history to condemn all past figures of power in the broadest of strokes.

It is far more engaging and informative to actually try to answer the questions:

Who was on the side of the progress of history, intentionally or not? Who was battling against the progress of history?

It is worthwhile re-examining all of history and knowledge, not simply things since 1945, 1917 or 1789.

The pivotal event of interest in John's reign was the revolt of the barons, the event which led to the Magna Carta.

The only reason the Magna Carta appears is because John taxed the nobility. The nobility, in attempting to avoid the taxes John imposed upon them to rebuild the kingdom's treasury after his wars, but primarily the much-lauded Richard the Lionheart's wars and adventures, placed the weight of these taxes, as always, upon the serfs and drove them into rebellion against the king.

Who was on the side of history in this struggle?

As odd as it may seem, it is definitely John.

Why? The interests of the progressive class, the artisans in the cities, lay with the king, against the regional nobility.

The king's interests coincidentally sit with those of the artisans for the simple fact that he is the lord of the cities.

The development of the king's cities is the development of city capital, the development of city capital is the weakening of rural stagnation, the weakening of rural stagnation is the march of history.

Until the bourgeoisie has the power to form a republic, the king is unwittingly leading the charge of history against his vassals.

John had no intention of being a historically progressive force, but he was by the very nature of his actions.

And finally, on the topic of the Magna Carta:

The Magna Carta was simultaneously a step forward and a step back.

And like… as I was just listening now, Fjord feels similarly. That his personal goals and quests and whatever have taken a backseat in order to deal with, you know, Stopping The War and Stopping Theresdune etc.

And Jester, too?? I think feels this way?? Like… she’s sort of had the… “kindest” relationship with her family, and the nicest home life out of the group. Nott was bullied, Caleb loved his parents but also killed them, Fjord doesn’t Have parents, Beau’s parents kinda suck, Yasha… well either we don’t really know her home life or I forgot it, so either way ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, Molly had the circus but also was Dead before that with Who Knows what kind of home life, Caduceus seemed to have a nice(?) one but he’s Super Lonely… so like, by comparison, growing up sheltered and Super Loved by her mother is like, the best situation of the group. And if i recall correctly, she’s sorta voiced that herself - that she feels sad that everyone had such sucky lives growing up while hers was, like, Nice.

So it’s all just sort of… idk, just like - the Parallels. I think that’s the word for it. They’re all a bit similar in that way, thinking that their personal issues don’t matter/are less important compared to other people in the group or compared to like, saving the world from Theresdune or whatever. I just… think that’s interesting.

To be clear, there are also ways in which Biden is worse (e.g. he’s been more effective at ginning up anti-China sentiment for his new cold war than Trump ever was), and the whole issue of who is worse on the whole is rather moot when the two political parties that have a stranglehold on power in the US both take their marching orders from the propertied class. And I also don’t know what kind of arguments this person has been getting--perhaps they have been getting nothing but idealism. This is just a demonstration of a principle, okay? Don’t take it too seriously.

Now, then: where do anti mask mandate mandates come from? This particular expression of the partisan games the parties play over COVID-19 isn’t a random outgrowth of the Republican party--they have material reasons for doing this. Ones that they occasionally even speak aloud: mask mandates do, in fact, slow the spread of COVID-19 somewhat, and therefore if “blue” counties are allowed to impose them they might lose fewer people to the pandemic than “red” counties and thereby “flip” some of these states Republicans won on razor-thin margins.

So the question becomes, does this incentive still exist for Republicans on the national level? Yes. Obviously. Even more so, as mask mandates in “swing” states that went blue in the election will put them further out of reach in the next one.

Which means that if Donald Trump were still president, we would in all likelihood have a nationwide anti-mask-mandate mandate by now.

The Magnus Archives

*spoilers*

~

“They say we are what we are/but we don’t have to be”

Avatars of the Entities are monsters lacking humanity, the human extremes of what they represent. They are what they are; but Mr. “the Archives” Sims doesn’t have to be.

Johnathan Jarchivist Sims may be turning into a monster or whatever, but he doesn’t wanna be inhuman like the rest of the avatars. He doesn’t have to lose his humanity while becoming inhuman.

“I'm bad behavior but I do it in the best way”

Picture: Martin setting fire to the statements

“I’ll be the watcher (watcher) of the eternal flame/I’ll be the guard dog of all your fevered dreams”

The watcher - Mr Jarchivist Sims

The eternal flame - the Desolation? Idk

The guard dog - Daisy? Was she the one marked by the Hunt? Her.

“'Cause we could be immortals, immortals/Just not for long, for long,”

Elias has been immortal for awhile (but not for long, ‘cause hopefully he’ll get what he deserves in season 5)

“And live with me forever now,/You pull the blackout curtains down,/Just not for long, for long”

John and Martin in the bunker - John wants to stay and not leave the safety of this space, but Martin wants to go out and put an end to the apocalypse

“Sometimes the only pay off for having any faith,/Is when it's tested again and again everyday”

Picture: the cult of the lightless flame, raising little Agnes

“I'm still comparing your past to my future”