2024-05-26 5:02:21 ¶ ● ⬀ ⬈

rileyrose31:

> douglysium:

> > # In Defense of Smirke’s 14

> > This is an exerbt from a larger article discussing episode 13 of TMAGP. So if you want to understand the full context you can do so here- https://docs.google.com/document/d/12_bKOpD_Ffic1yTDNEJGb2UlN2oUnSQn5lLKKnDCtMU/edit#heading=h.uwedvf2nuk5c

> > ## Why Smirke’s 14?

> > I’ve seen more and more people asking why people such as myself have been deferring to, or even adamant about, Smirke’s 14 still being applicable, and to be honest I don’t think I’ve done the best job actually sitting down and explaining all the logic in a cohesive way. Considering Lena mentioned balance and opposing forces in episode 13, and how that rings similar to Smirke’s original philosophy of balance among the Entities, I figured now was a good time to mention it.

> > Keep reading

> Great points all around! Adding on to this, I’ve yet to find a list of “new fears” that doesn’t seem a bit…underwhelming? They feel more like attempts for a “16th fear” than any sort of new system. Honestly, it’s hard to imagine just how you do divide the fears into new categories without just merging a few together (say, deciding that instead of a rainbow having purple and indigo, it just has purple). I think Smurke’s 14 do a good job at running the gammit of human emotion in a way that doesn’t feel arbitrary. I see the list and go “yeah, that’s probably how fear would be divided irl”

Weirdly, there’s actually a lot of room made in canon for different ways of organizing the fears and people like Gerry talk about Smirke’s 14 like there might be other ways of dividing them. I think the reason why a lot of fan-made Entities miss for me is for a couple of reasons. First off, a lot of them are trying to make an objectively better list instead of a side grade that other people or cultures might use. Smirke’s 14 (while helpful) isn’t objective and if someone approached it from the angle of characters having different opinions (like Dekker adding The Extinction or Angus Stacey trying to make his own categories). I could see a culture or person who maybe divides the fears into something like “the fear of the self, the fear of other beings, and the fear of the environment” due to how they see the world even if that would be more vague than Smirke’s 14. The second reason is what I said about the “checkboxes” people go through. I think a lot of people get caught up in specific manifestations as opposed to trying to understand what the Entities represent in a broader sense.

Some people just see The Buried as “the dirt one” and so they sit back and think “I’ll make an Entity that manifests as ice because none of the other Entities are "the snow one”.“ However, The Buried is in actuality just the fear of not having enough space not just the fear of dirt or earth. The reason it often manifests as earth is because you’re probably not going anywhere fast if a bunch of dirt is dropped on you or you find yourself trapped in a cave. The Buried could just as easily manifest as snow if doing so generated the right fear (think a snow day trapping in your house or an avalanche burying you alive). They makes the same mistake Jon did when talking to Leitner and take the manifestations too literally despite all the fun there still is to be had with creating other category systems besides Smirke.

Plus, a lot of people miss the fact that Entities tend to have multiple names and can manifest differently. Maybe you really want that Entity of ice and snow called "The Frozen” revolving around the fear of being unable to move due to being frozen in place but why not just make it an aspect of The Buried for example? Some people refer to The Eye as The Beholding and others The Ceaseless Watcher so one or more people (especially if they live in a cold climate) could easily lean into or tap into some of The Buried’s other aspects or believe it is some other force. Things get even weirder when you remember even people worshipping the same Power(s) don’t always get along and people and manifestations can be tied to more than one Power at once for a variety of reasons (even if it’s described as a bit rare). So there’s actually a surprising amount of room to mix and match if you really wanted to. Just because you made your own Desolation Cult that does not mean they have to agree with the Cult of the Lightless Flame or have the same abilities. There’s a lot to play around with and not every little fear stands on its own as a whole Entity or even needs to.