#title analysis

REGENT: Whoo-, yeahp, that is a longer one. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; never apologize for these longer ones. With Titles being so intrinsically tied to our personalities, more information is always good information.

Seers are the passive comprehension class, who are given knowledge of their aspect, often through ‘another’ power. The knowledge of their aspect is a ‘standard’ understanding, though it is often easier to apply to others because of that fact. Where a Mage makes the breakthrough and documents it, the Seer is both teacher and student, using the second-hand knowledge. They can see the path of their aspect, but not the end result. Seers are the passive counterpart to Mages and the inversion of Witches.

Space is the aspect of literal space, creation, beginnings, action, and the present. If you wanted to call Time doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, Space is like never doing the same thing twice and still expecting the results to be the same. Space is the inverse aspect of Time. Both Space players with known dream moons (I haven’t found any information on Porrim’s) dream on Prospit, so it is possible Space as an aspect favors Prospit over Derse.

This Seer will have a lot of general knowledge about things like action and creation, but might have a hard time applying it. Being a passive class, and one of the comprehension classes, could make them less prone to action and more in favor of giving orders. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but sometimes everyone has to get their hands dirty. They would likely be able to see many, if not all, possible paths forward, though interpreting them isn’t necessarily their strength.

If they can’t see possible paths forward, they can at least see the actions available to take in the present. They don’t have a knack for predicting the consequences (that’s more a Time or Doom Seer’s forte), but they’re a master at in the moment decisions, life or death situations. That could make them an incredibly good fighter! I don’t remember which one exactly, but I remember some TV show depicted someone outsmarting a (psychic I think?) enemy by reacting purely on instinct, so their thoughts couldn’t be predicted. That’s the kind of thing I’d think when it comes to this Seer!

Space is an active aspect, for lack of better words. The more hands-off nature of a Seer may conflict with this, leading to some issues before they grow into their title. (This doesn’t necessarily have to mean when they ascend, that’s just a common point.)

Definitely don’t let them head off on their own until they’ve matured considerably. Space as an aspect doesn’t deal with consequences in any way, so without someone to temper their instincts, they might make poor decisions just because it seems right in the moment.

In-game, of course, the first thing people think of with Space players is frog breeding. Traditionally, a Seer should be great at this- they can literally see where the frogs are! Of course, it depends on the individual person, but exercise caution. This may be your aspect, but the fates of an entire other universe, and even your coplayers, rest in your hands.

Going god tier would give this Seer the other half of the coin they didn’t have before. If they could see chains of actions, now they can see possibilities in the moment and vice versa. They would gain complete knowledge of Space- so I would recommend having them ascend before completing the Genesis Frog if possible. Being able to trust themself and others not only in the moment that they’re so focused on, but in the future, would give them a better sense of security and help them a lot.

Space as an aspect has a lot going on, but I believe in you, Seer! Make sure not to take everything on yourself just because you have one of the critical aspects, trust your coplayers, and take things slow- you’ll be fine!

(Wha doing one on my own classpect? maybe. Fight me)

Witches break the rules of their aspect, manipulating them to their liking and possibly beyond normal measures. Rage represents negative emotions(duh), possibly sanity or madness and loosely is tied with Anarchy. The EZ expanded that Rage also stands for casting doubt on beliefs.

So what would a Witch of Rage do exactly? They are the Boogeyman of god tiers. Able to manipulate someones fears to extreme measures. Possible effects of this ability on the victim, could be that their greatest fears become hallucinations. Heightening their anxiety to the point where they could die from it alone.

The witch could also use their words alone to try and coax others into their way of thinking. They could be really convincing, hard to ignore even... Going beyond expectation, and possibly talking someone into the impossible.

That being said, this witch could be a terrifying manipulator of sanity. Sending anyone into a fit of unbridled anger and fury.Blind rage is this Witch’s specialty.

Thats not saying this witch is inherently evil. They could be the glue in their session. Manipulating the team’s doubt on a really bad idea that they might go through with. Minimizing anger between some of their friends, so that they don’t go apeshit and kill each other. They could keep their team mate’s anxiety and fears at a calm level, being like a mediator.

BANANA FISH EPISODE 12 TITLE ANALYSIS: TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT

To Have and Have Not is the title of Episode 12 and is entitled after the second novel of Ernest Hemingway. To Have and Have Not is a novel by Ernest Hemingway with Harry Morgan, the protagonist, a fishing boat captain living in Key West Florida. His character is depicted as a good man who is forced to work for black market activity due to the economic issues of their society. This novel portrays Key West Florida and Cuba in the 1930's and is heavily influenced by the Marxist ideology where there are social classes and divisions.  

 To Have and Have Not Structure:

The structure of “To Have and Have Not” is strange because of the use of “have not” instead of “not to have.”

 Although, if we try to look more closely and taking note of the context of Hemingway’s story, it may be intentional.

 To Have: The “haves” are people who have monetary value. To have money, wealth, power etc.

To Have Not: People without money are called “have-nots” which is why it could have been phrased as “have not” instead of “not to have.”

It can also be easily confused with the phrase to have naught which yet might be an intentional play on words. Naught means nothing, therefore, to have naught means to have nothing just like “to have not.”

So in the novel, it clearly differentiates two kinds of individuals born in different classes. The protagonist, Harry Morgan fights and kills in order to survive whereas the powerful kill and fight for profit and wealth. Yet Morgan has courage, independence and strength that contrast the debauchery of the upper class who are idle.

Morgan simply admired skill for what it can do. This skill may be anything that helps him survive the hell that he lives in every day. It implies that the “doing” is its own reward and that the rich will never understand this for they only rule and order but they never work or do.

Going back to Banana Fish…

Ash says this: “It’s not about reasoning. Power is everything. That’s the world I live in.”

Power is everything. In his world, reality is harsh and full of bullshit. You can see that the rich or influential individuals such as Dino Golzine can control anything when money is to be talked about or even when an order comes out from the senile man’s mouth.  Even politicians abuse their power in the government through their positions, abuse children of young age for pleasure and will resort to using harmful drugs such as Banana Fish for their own goals and desires. Therefore, power is everything.

The politicians and wealthy entities are the “haves” whereas people like Ash are the “have-nots”, in other words they are those who are under those who are above. Although, later on in the episode we see Dino’s trembling hands after meeting Ash again. Why is it that the Dino, the “have” is scared of Ash, the “have-not?”

It is because Ash is not only a “have-not” but also a “have” as well. But what he has is neither wealth nor governmental power…he only has himself to survive. Ash is dashingly beautiful, full of intellect and skilled like an assassin. This then brings us to what Eiji said: “But not everyone is gifted with a talent like you.” He simply states how Ash is strong and holds the capabilities needed to survive the world he lives in. He has power in the form of his “skills” which makes him a “have.”

But being gifted as Eiji mentioned, is not a privilege but a nightmare for Ash. Him being a “have”, hinders him from having any normal emotional attachment to anyone therefore never having anything he can call his. He has nothing just like a “have-not.”

Ash has something not all have which is skill, yet he lacks something that most do have and that’s love.

References:

REGENT: To start with, never apologize for lengthy questions or the like. Minute details help piece together a better understanding of an individual, so honestly, the longer-slash-more-detailed the question, the better.

REGENT: Secondly, I’m flattered. .)

REGENT: As to the question at hand, I think you’ve probably got a good read on them from the get-go, but just saying “yeah sounds about right” would be anticlimactic, uncharacteristic of me, and would honestly sound like something Dirk would say. So, I’m gonna do as we Seers are wont to do and take something simple and answer it in a more complicated way than it deserves to be said.

BANANA FISH TITLES: THE BEAUTIFUL AND DAMNED

Can we just appreciate that the title for Episode 11 is another reference from one of F.Scott Fitzgerald’s works? The Beautiful and Damned is his second novel published in 1922. Meanwhile for Episode 10, it was entitled Babylon Revisited which was the title of one of Fitzgerald’s short stories. I am really liking the implications of these titles on each episode and the symbolism that they likely carry.