#most of the space police are also actively working with the pirates and murderers to be fair

[reading-while-queer]

Confessions of the Fox, Jordy Rosenberg

Rating: Great Read Genre: Historical, Literary Representation: -Trans man protagonist(s) -Intersex protagonist(s) Trigger warnings: Murder, state violence, police, execution, graphic injury, surgery (graphic), slavery (not in scene), child abuse, self harm, plague Note: Not YA; features very graphic sexuality

I gasped in delight when I realized, several pages into Confessions of the Fox, what I was reading.  I had known beforehand that I was picking up a historical fiction story about the infamous 18th century London thief Jack Sheppard reimagined as a transgender man.  What delighted me was the frame story, which is what truly makes the novel something special.

The fictional Dr. Voss is a historian of the 18th century at an unnamed university; he stumbles across an old manuscript at his university library’s book sale, and the student running the sale gives it to him for free.  This manuscript touts itself as an extant narrative about Jack Sheppard, previously undiscovered.  Voss throws himself into the work of transcribing the document, increasingly fascinated as he discovers that this narrative is alone in several claims it makes about Jack and the characters of his life. First, that Jack is transgender and intersex, and second, that his lover, Elizabeth Lyon (Bess) is Southeast Asian, identifying herself as “Lascar” on her father’s side.

The enormity of this manuscript’s discovery is not lost on Voss’s university, who, holding Voss’s job hostage, demand he editorialize the manuscript so that it can be copyrighted and sold via partnership with a pharmaceutical company purporting to sell “organic” Testosterone.  Voss is transgender himself, and while the university doesn’t outright admit that they want his mark on the manuscript for that reason, it is implied.

Thus, Confessions of the Fox becomes two stories in one: the tale of Jack Sheppard and Bess, their jailbreaks, heists, love affair, and run-ins with pirates, mollies, and mutineers; but also the tale told through Dr. Voss’s footnotes on the manuscript, a convincing facsimile of academic commentary. That is, until Voss starts connecting the manuscript to his own life, going “rogue” as he realizes that the manuscript is not what he had first believed it to be (but no spoilers).

The framing, reminiscent of The Princess Bride, is convincing, well-executed, but not so entrenched in research as to be a slog.  In fact, I enjoyed the footnotes more than the Jack Sheppard story.  Voss’s ruminations on the manuscript, on transgender life in the 18th century, on real documents, such as Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and real historical events, such as the draining of the Fens, make this novel something really special.

The Jack Sheppard story itself, meanwhile, is straightforward, well-written in its own right, but needs the scaffolding of Voss’s footnotes in order to stand.  I was somewhat disappointed by the shape of the plot, which unfolded all at once at the end.  There was little space for Jack or Bess to be more than reactive as the plot happened around them. The main reason for the disruption of the pacing was probably the slow on-ramp; Jack’s transition and how it is accomplished takes up the lion’s share of the beginning of the novel, only then moving into the plot with Jonathan Wild and the mutineers, which by comparison, moves much too quickly.

However, issues of pacing that would have made another novel unpleasant to read were ameliorated by the frame story’s focus on the active discoveries about the text Voss shares with the reader as the novel progresses.  The slow unravelling of Voss’s revelations about the manuscript, and his conflict with the university over it, keep the reader’s interest even while the “manuscript” itself drags or moves too quickly in parts.

I cannot recommend Confessions of the Fox enough, although there are parts that are very graphic, and might ruin someone else’s reading.  Though I wouldn’t necessarily list this as a trigger warning, discerning readers may want to be aware beforehand of the astounding prevalence of urine in the equally prevalent and graphic sexuality of the Jack Sheppard manuscript.  Confessions of the Fox is very squarely adult fiction, with little room to be enjoyed as a crossover with YA audiences.  I would even go so far to say that Confessions of the Fox has toed the line over into erotic fiction, though it has happily managed to secure its seat as a critical darling anyway, perhaps by nature of its literary qualities and truly thoughtful musings on gender, academia, capitalism, the over-policing of marginalized communities, and most of all, questions of who is permitted to author history, and who must be content to editorialize. 

For more from Jordy Rosenberg, visit his website here.

[gffa]

Master and Apprentice | by Claudia Gray I said to myself, okay, don’t go on about this anymore, move on to something else for awhile!  But, at the same time, I still don’t feel like I’ve full articulated what I wanted to say, how I wanted to present everything, so it still itched at me.  (Also, I really like talking about what I like talking about, as do most nerds!  XD)  So, I have the audiobook on in the background, I’m enjoying Jonathan Davis’ reading, his Qui-Gon voice with the Space Irish accent is a delight, and I’m just casually enjoying hearing the story over again and I come to the above. There’s also an interesting bit not long before it, The original scheme must’ve been to report the two Jedi “missing under unknown circumstances,” in order to cover up their assassination. But not even the Hutts were brazen enough to openly kill Jedi Knights.  We’ll come back to that. Now, I’ve done a fair amount of talking about this book, for establishing meta:

The Jedi’s role in the galaxy and why they can’t just ignore context.

Qui-Gon’s statements and why they’re so hypocritical in this book.

Qui-Gon’s actions are part of a bigger pattern of behavior.

And there are some interesting Dooku parallels and connections.

The Jedi are fucked no matter what they do.

Further meta that also establishes what I’m talking about here:

Padme trying to make effective change in the Republic while it’s her full time job to be a politician is incredibly difficult in Queen’s Shadow.

The Republic is a place just waiting for people to abuse their power and many just cannot understand intrinsically motivated people, from Mace Windu: Jedi of the Republic.

The Galaxy Far, Far Away, really doesn’t get what the Force is, why people would be devoted to it, and really kind of fears it.

The state of the Jedi’s position in the GFFA is hella complicated.

Force-sensitive children are in danger in the galaxy just for existing.  Jedi stuff attracts pirates just for being Jedi.

Trying to serve the greater good doesn’t always make you popular.

Playing vs Not Playing The Game isn’t so simple.

Not mine, but a fan-fucking-tastic breakdown of the Jedi’s role in the galaxy that lays it out so well.

Dooku: Jedi Lost contains a scene where the Jedi are trying to get the Senate to do more and it goes exactly as well as you think it will.  He directly says that they don’t have enough Jedi to police the Outer Rim!

This is in addition to how we see the Jedi try to resist things Palpatine and the Senate want, but get slammed back down for it, in the comics like Obi-Wan & Anakin and in The Clone Wars itself.

That’s a lot of reading, I know.  But this is a book where multiple storylines are winding together, that not much exists without context, and I’m linking the above because it’s all part of the background for why this specific moment is sort of the epitome of what I’ve been yelling about, in addition to that the GFFA is a complicated place. Why the above quotes?  Basically, I’ve been yelling a lot about how these three books--Queen’s Shadow, Master and Apprentice, and Dooku: Jedi Lost--may, on the surface, seem to be showing how the Jedi failed or lost their way or whatever, but in actuality when you read them all together and consider the consequences of what some characters are calling for, it paints a rather startlingly detailed picture of how there was no real way out of this and stepping too far to the right or the left would have left people utterly fucked. Add in other elements from the comics and you realize why the Jedi were in an incredibly precarious position just by the mere existence of their abilities, even beyond what others were.  And that, ultimately, trying to burn down the current system was not the answer and Qui-Gon himself knows it.  He doesn’t leave the Jedi--despite that he could take his own advice, could just run straight at the Czerka Corporation on Pijal, he could run straight at Watto on Tatooine, but doesn’t.  Because the numbers aren’t on his side and it would ultimately, in the grand scheme, fail.  In this book alone, he saves the day through the might of the Republic, that being part of it and working within the system is what allows for a lasting happy-ish ending for the people there. Let’s say the Jedi did what Qui-Gon wanted, that they just went in lightsabers blazing.  What happens then?  (And I want to pause and say, consider it in this vein:  Imagine the US Army just unilaterally deciding, without oversight of the people they’re under the jurisdiction of, just completely on their own, to invade another country to go do whatever they wanted there.  They can’t negotiate with them, because it’s not backed up by legal authority.  They have to go in with physical might.  Imagine the US Army just deciding, on their own, to go invade North Korea because they decided they didn’t like something that was happening there.  Even if we agree that the thing that justifies the invasion absolutely bad, the thought of going in without checks and balances is fucking terrifying.)      - Queen’s Shadow shows us that the Senate would blacklist anyone who went around them, would make anything they tried to do ten times as hard.      - Queen’s Shadow and Age of Republic - Qui-Gon Jinn both show us that the Senate and the galaxy at large doesn’t trust anyone who does things with genuine intrinsic motivation.      - This is double for those with a connection to the Force that the rest of the galaxy doesn’t understand why they’re not misusing that ability for personal gain. I mean, Revenge of the Sith also shows us that the galaxy was very willing to stand by while the Jedi’s Temple burned and their children were murdered. What would happen is that the Jedi, who are under the jurisdiction of the Senate because that’s the only way they’ll actually have the authority to do anything, because no way is anyone trusting them not to abuse their powers if they don’t have oversight, would at best be kicked out from their granted authority to go around helping people, and at worst the rest of the galaxy would band together to hunt down the Level 100 Psychic Space Wizards They Don’t Understand And Instead Fear Them and murder them/lock them away for “safety”. But, hey, maybe they could run and hide, take their children with them (because they couldn’t keep their Temple or stay on Coruscant) and hide from literally the entire galaxy that would either turn their backs on them or outright hunt them for sport or auction them off to experiment on or torture, but, as Qui-Gon notes, the Hutts don’t openly come after Jedi Knights.  You take away the weight behind the Jedi?  Where they’re 10,000 in a galaxy of quadrillions?  Where there is one Jedi for every seven to twenty billion people?  It’s suddenly going to be open season on Jedi and they can’t take on an entire galaxy. And the salt in the wound is that it wouldn’t even do any good, because, as Qui-Gon notes, it would just be replaced with a new set of crime lords in a few months.  And then the Jedi wouldn’t even be there to help anyone else at all ever. The only way to effect any real change is to do so with a system of government in place to support it so that, even when you’re not actively right there, those who would oppress and hurt others know that they couldn’t get away with it.  The Jedi do not have the numbers to police the entire galaxy themselves.  Any change they make has to be Republic-approved or it’s just going to be undone within months (or less).  They’d love to go in with lightsabers blazing, but it wouldn’t change a single thing, they’d be fucked, and Qui-Gon himself knows it, that’s why he stays and tries to work within the system.  Even if it’s an uphill battle to try to work within the system (and we see that the Jedi do try to talk to the Senate, talk to Palpatine, etc.) that’s the only way forward, because burning down the system wouldn’t work (at this point, it’s still better than every other feasible alternative) and going around it would fuck them all over, very much including the people they’re trying to help.

[crimethinc]

Update from the Nicaraguan Insurrection: Horizontal Organizing vs. Left Neoliberalism and the Pitfalls of Nationalism

Two weeks ago, we published a report from the uprising in Nicaragua that began in April. Since then, the situation has only intensified. Here is an update from our comrades in Nicaragua, describing the most recent developments and the stakes of the struggle. In Nicaragua, we see an uprising against the neoliberal policies of a “left” government in which a movement is attempting to resist right-wing cooptation in the absence of an established anarchist or autonomous movement. We are concerned about the prevalence of nationalist and rhetoric and imagery, but we believe that it is important to support revolts against authoritarian governments in order to generate dialogue that could open up a revolutionary horizon. Just as it will not benefit leftists to support unpopular and oppressive “left” governments, it does not benefit anarchists to refuse to engage with insurgents whose goals are still evolving.

For the past month, Nicaragua has seen daily protests against the government of Daniel Ortega. This is being called La Insurreccion de Abril (“the April Insurrection”). Over the last two weeks, these protests have escalated to countrywide blockades and urban barricades. Organized students are occupying three public universities (UNA, UPOLI, UNAN). Nicaraguans in every major city have taken to the streets to demand complete systemic change, including the resignation of Daniel Ortega. Riot police and Sandinista Youth continue to carry out pro-government repression, although this has died down in Managua, Masaya, Matagalpa, and Jinotega.

“It’s been amazing to protest in the streets of Managua without government or Young Sandinista repression. We’ve been able to do this for ten days now. It’s the first time since Ortegas came to power that we’ve been able to take the streets in this way. I truly feel as if the city is ours. We’re witnessing amazing street art, art projects, and interventions. We don’t know what’s going to come out of the dialogue. Government reform, police reform, new elections, autonomous regions?

I feel good, but it has been exhausting. We have good days and bad days. I feel emotionally drained, just working and working and working. Not really taking time to think. It’s been exhausting to live on a day by day space and time. So many doors have been opened!

Classes began at UNAN, the largest public university in the country, on Monday, May 7. Students organized a protest inside the university campus, staging a sit-in and then spending the night. This continued until the university shut down. UNAN is now occupied with an estimated 500 students inside. The students are organized as a commune with rotating personnel guarding the barricades, receiving aid, maintaining communications, re-painting old murals, and staffing a medical center. All the major roads towards the UNAN are barricaded and defended by students, causing major traffic congestion. Nevertheless, drivers cheer the students on as they pass the barricades.

The demands of the UNAN student groups are comparable to those announced by other student organizations: justice, peace, the completely restructuring of student unions, an immediate end to the repression carried out by police and Sandinista Youth, and university autonomy. Other universities, like UNA (the agrarian university), have already created their own student governments outside the state’s framework of legitimacy.

The student representatives of the Coalition of Students have announced that the students of each university should organize as best fits their local conditions, whether that means through the UNEN [the government-sponsored student union] or outside of it—whatever path will lead towards educational autonomy.

During the second week of May, police and Sandinista Youth carried out periodic attacks on UNAN each night, but people protected the entrances to the universities with cultural activities like music and singing; people spent the night at the gates of the university to secure the safety of the students inside. It’s now been about two weeks since the last major confrontations at UNAN involving police and Sandinista Youth.

In discussions with comrades who work and operate inside of UNAN, they report that they’ve never experienced this kind of togetherness and collectivity. They describe a union that transcends class, gender, and race, people united around the cause of justice and autonomy.

“Several contacts inside of UNAN advised me not to enter to conduct interviews, since it is likely that there are infiltrators from the Sandinista Youth inside the campus who would recognize me and might harass me outside.”

A map of the blockades around Nicaragua.

Managua experiences about fours marches every day, organized in different parts of the city. Each march has a different theme and a corresponding location. Marches have been connecting new historic places, like Camino de Oriente (where the revolt started) and Rotonda Jean Paul Genie (the new roundabout, which is not a memorial site) to places like UCA and Rotonda Ruben Dario that are in the center of the city.

We have witnessed marches organized by diverse sectors of the population: various colleges and high schools, alumni marches, marches of teachers and professors, marches organized by the private sector. Mothers and family members of the victims murdered by the police have also led their own marches.

At the same time, taxi drivers have created their own protests, mobilizing around the spike in the price of gasoline. You can see the phrase No + Alza (“stop the rise”) painted on windows of taxis, buses, and cars.

Nicaragua pays the most for gasoline despite having the strongest relationship to Venezuela. There is no transparency in this transaction. A general boycott of PETRONIC, the State-owned petroleum company, is also taking place.

Revolt in the streets.

The confrontations are now predominantly occurring outside Managua in smaller cities like Masaya, Sebaco, Matagalpa, Estelí, and Granada. These confrontations have led to looting and chaos in the streets as families try to protect their homes and businesses. Since the police and state officials are doing the absolute minimum, in some places there has been a push towards self-government and local assemblies. We have seen several small business sectors organize themselves to prevent looting and crime; at the same time, we have seen groups making deals with the local police to protect neighborhoods.

Most of these confrontations occur when the police disrupt protests, creating a state of emergency in a given locale. This gives looters an incentive to attack gas stations and supermarkets. Pro-government news sources then report the looting, blaming the protestors for everything. It is well-documented that the police have used live ammunition on protesters.

We can see the response to these confrontations on the walls of the city streets. Sin Justicia no hay Paz! “There is no peace without justice!” No eran delincuentes, eran estudiantes. “They were not thugs, they were students.” Se busca asesino with an image of Daniel Ortega: “Wanted Murderer!”

Fue el Estado (“it was the state”) is one of the most popular slogans we see spray-painted in every corner of the city. This slogan conveys the popular idea that the Orteguista government has corrupted the state, and the state is responsible for all the violence, destruction, and death. In this narrative, the solutions that are implied are oriented toward restructuring the state so that it will cease to be affiliated with a political party and more “neutral,” catering to the needs of the whole population, not just the Orteguistas. Obviously, this is not an anarchist analysis.

Solutions outside of the state are slowly emerging, but the process is not complete. Neighborhood assemblies, community patrols, student unions, trash collection schedules, and pirate transportation have emerged as necessities in practice: short-term solutions. As anarchists, it’s our task now to demonstrate that these can offer long-term possibilities for autonomous community-run participatory structures.

Live ammunition.

On Monday, May 14, it was announced that the “dialogue” between the state and the student movement plus the private sector and “civil society” [various NGOs and other groups] would occur on Wednesday, May 16. The student movements originally stated that they were willing to engage in dialogue, but that the ongoing police repression made it impossible. Nevertheless, a day later, a part of the student movement agreed that they would be at the dialogue table.

So far, two sessions of this dialogue have taken place; the next session is scheduled for Monday, May 21. Everyone expected the first session to turn out to be a trap against the students, but it turned out that it was a trap for the state. The church (the mediators of the dialogue), “civil society,” the private sector, and the campesino movement all supported the students in their demands that the government put a stop to the repression and recall all police personnel. For the first time in Nicaraguan history, a student interrupted the dialogue, stood up to face Daniel Ortega, and attacked him on account of his authoritarian and violent government. Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo never give interviews to the press, so it was amazing to see them so vulnerable.

The second session of the dialogue concluded with an agreement that the government would have their police and paramilitary forces stop attacking protestors in return for the students calling for the road blockades to be lifted. The road blockades have completely paralyzed the economy. Despite this agreement, the Agrarian University was attacked on the night of Saturday, May 19 and four students were injured. Consequently, the deal is off and the blockades are back up.

A key player in all of this is the CIDH (Commision Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, “Inter-American Commission for Human Rights”). They are currently compiling evidence and testimony to present a report on whether there have been human rights violations in Nicaragua. They will present this report later this week. This report could trigger international repercussions against the Ortegas. The CIDH, of course, is essentially a neoliberal organization answering to the Organization of American States.

The immediate demands presented to the government include justice for the 63 people who have been murdered in the course of the repression. This would involve a trial of the government and police officials responsible for their deaths. Through such a trial, there would also be a push towards separating the police from the Orteguista party, as originally stipulated by the constitution. A more far-reaching reform of the police could also happen. Through this reform, people will also push for a complete change in the system of government, including educational autonomy and separation between the Orteguista Party and public institutions.

The Autoconvocados (“Self-Assembled”) movement controls the streets with the power to mobilize hundreds of thousands in Managua, enjoying the freedom to protest for the first time in over ten years. Any negative response or suspicious activity of the government will be received with public demonstrations.

No justice, no peace.

Improvised munitions.

On Horizontal Organizing

The Autoconvocados movement is an umbrella term that can be used by everyone, but only some events are approved and legitimized by the Autoconvocado committee, a group of about 10 organizers that run the official Autoconvocados Twitter account, among other things, to which they post official events. This group operates through consensus and has no leaders.

The Student Coalition is the group representing the students in the dialogue with the rest of the State. This coalition includes representatives of major universities all over the country. It is a coalition of five different student groups, operating horizontally and through consensus. According to the media, two leaders have emerged; this is how the media attempts to create leadership. In fact, the organizing is very much horizontal. This student coalition has the capacity to rally hundreds of thousands of people, setting the tone for the discussion and reaction. One part of the coalition is the Coordinadora Universitaria Por la Justicia y la Paz; out of those with delegates in the dialogue, they have been the closest to a feminist perspective.

All the other public affinity groups that have emerged, like the Artistas Autoconvocados and Arquitectos Autoconvocados (artists and architects), are basically different sectors that are organizing themselves non-hierarchically to set up actions and promote events. There are no public leaders in these movements, only delegates and representatives.

Overall, the most obvious aesthetic of the opposition is nationalism. It is under this banner that all the solidarity and direct action has happened.

All the same, there is a lot that is horizontal about this movement. Small affinity groups organize through social media to deliver medical supplies, food, and resources to communities that have suffered from rioting and looting. Basically, these horizontal organizations are promoting a culture of participation and consensus. A culture of listening and suggesting. A culture of face-to-face politics. A culture of solidarity and inclusivity. A culture of direct action. All things we would have never learn through “party system” politics.

In terms of the future, it is this practice that is creating the theory for the short-term goals. Practices come first. First, we need people in the streets to react to the immediate actions of the government. But in this situation practice cannot create long-term goals. For that, we will need theory.

Text Messages from the Uprising

“Today was the happiest day of life.”

“I’m at the safehouse making bulletproof shields out of garbage cans.”

“They are killing us with snipers, send help send help”

“I’m on my way to Costa Rica. There were people outside my house telling me that they were going to burn down the house and kill me.”

“A tree of life fell on top of E——!”

“There are barricades surrounding your neighborhood, you can’t get in.”

“I have a group of 70 gang members ready to fight, just let us know where to go.”

“We need to occupy the Central American University.”

“Your meme made the national newspaper!”

“Friends, just got out of a meeting, our TV show has been canceled, it was too radical.”

“They’ve burned two trucks in front of my house. And the house behind mine is on fire. I need to get out of here.”

“I’m outing pro-government supporters on Tinder.”

“Don’t, worry V—– sent a drone to check out the situation.”

“Friends, I made this new group because I think there were infiltrators in the other group.”

“VICE wants an interview, what should we tell them?”

“To go fuck themselves.”

A roadblock.

Further Reading

Nicaragua, Ortega, and the Student Movement

Capitalist Development in Nicaragua and the Mirage of the Left

[drabble-roll-repeat]

Maeg Mell

Core: Anarchist Settlement Trouble: Might makes right Interest: Reality Bending Ruin Interest: The Null Market Problem: Under Violent Occupation

Violent Shift

At 10am & 11pm the place violently shakes and is ejected from physical space for 5 minutes. Then, it’s returned to a new location.

History

Founded as a mining outpost by Claddach Craig LLC. to pull precious metals and other minerals, things changed when the Claddach ruins were discovered. It’s unknown if something was done to activate the ruins or if simply opening the ruins led to the problems but shortly after discovery, the asteroid performed it’s first Shift.

Interest was high among Claddach Craig because they owned the exclusive rights to the asteroid and had hoped to find an artifact or something causing the shifts. What they seemed to have found was gruesome death. After suffering many losses of personnel to the ruin and being unable to reliably transport supplies, the company dissolved it’s holdings and sold them to Lazarus Archeology Inc.

Lazarus Archeology sent several teams of contractors to map the ruin and thus have full claim but most of them faced gruesome death. Interest would wane on the asteroid as it was decided as simply not worth the expense of upkeep. Eventually, it was abandoned.

A few of the employees of the various companies, along with those who had set up businesses to support their efforts chose to stay behind. They’d grown used to the shifts and admired the level of freedom that they could have on the asteroid. It came to be called Maeg Mell (plain of joy). New materials were mostly acquired through the use of leftover mining equipment, salvage operations, and small scale transport.

Going Home

Those who had been through several of the shifts discovered a new, strange property of Maeg Mell; they had an innate sense for where it would appear next. Something about the asteroid resonated with those who stayed in such a way that even when they left, if they waited long enough they would begin to “feel” where the asteroid “should be.”

This meant that those who lived on the asteroid could leave and return with very little issue but it limited how much one could move to or from the asteroid. If a resident stayed away from Maeg Mell for too long, they would find that they could no longer feel where it should be.

In this way, the people of Maeg Mell were cut off from the wider Elysee but were also pulled tighter toward each other.

A Cultural Blender

The level of closeness, combined with the anarchic nature of Maeg Mell meant that issues of folk, cultural clashes and the like were minimal at best. Romances between the races and even half-breed children, while still exceedingly rare, aren’t seen as quite so anomalous here. What kind of folk you are (your race) is of such reduced importance that those who venture out are often struck by the strangeness of the divisions beyond.

That isn’t to say that there are no differences here or that culture means nothing. Olephemi have left a large and noticeable imprint on the local culture. The names of places, many people’s accents and even beliefs can easily be traced back to the Olephem people. That Said, Zephran people have managed to make a heavy mark as well. Their beliefs have interwoven with the Olephem into a syncretic system that is practiced widely. The other folk have made their own mark in more subtle ways. Deimos’ rugged self-reliance is greatly respected and encouraged. The phrase “get your horns in” is in the common vernacular, meaning to work with great effort. This is said casually to anyone, even Pacmasino.

Getting Around

A tram runs in a circuit from each general hub of the settlement. The tram is often slow or even out of order, due to needing constant repairs and lack of resources. A series of elevators carries folk up and down among the different hubs. Within the hubs themselves, it’s common to build pulley lifts to be able to move through the structures better. It is possible to charter a rickshaw to get around with a little more style but, most residents don’t bother.

Portside

There is a huge opening leading to the main hangar. This is where you can buy and sell ships, parts and hire mechanics who can make a ship flight-worthy using nothing but a welder and old cans.

Tenma Rasheed Human who runs a “restaurant” of questionable means called the “Greasepit.” The “food” that they serve is largely organic.

Kae Westaal Daughter of the legendary Zephran engineer Erasmus Westaal. Kae has quickly made a name for herself as the best engineer in Maeg Mell.

The Sunken Market

A cavernous, excavated section of the asteroid made of cut up cargo holds. Long ago, there was a massive leak that flooded most of the area. The lower part is made up of salvaged rafts, parts of starships, and other floating structures. All around the section are residential structures made up of modified shipping containers. Lifts made up of ropes and pulleys allow residents to get to the maze of walkways on the higher levels.

Ragnar One-eye Loud, friendly and boisterous owner of the arena that hosts a weekly “Bloodsport.” Ragnar lost his eye in a battle to prevent the UPU from establishing a hold in Maeg Mell. Ragnar stands against D’arnel but can’t move against him because D’arnel will murder him. At the same time, Ragnar is too popular and knows too many people to be killed without provocation.

Velo the Lion Legendary treasure hunter and one of the few who have spent time in the ruins and survived. Velo sells various scrap and materials that he’s acquired over the years. He settled in Maeg Mell because he truly believes in the place. Current events have left him deeply saddened.

Zakariah ibn Nakra “Ibn Nakra” means child of ‘zero.’ He takes that to mean that he is a child of no one. Zakariah is a firm believer in the mystery cult that D’arnel has built up around himself. He will turn in and screw over anyone.

Nagrindr

The original mining facility, run by Claddach Craig LLC. Nagrindr means “gates of the dead'' and is the only way of getting into the ruins. It’s also a fortress for D’arnel’s cult of personality, the Sluagh.

D’arnel ibn Nakra “Returned” leader of the Sluagh, ruthless pirate, thug, and Force Touched. D’arnel is brutal and has taken over with an iron fist. Anyone who openly opposes D’arnel is publicly executed.

Ameenah ibn Nakra Zephran returned as a follower of D’arnel. She is the “priestess” of sorts for the Sluagh.

Tyrell ibn Nakra Tyrell is the “secret police” of sorts.

Upper March

Oldest residential area. Was built around the mine.

The Dream

M.C. Escher-style Ruin

Core: 4 Dimensional Ruin Trouble: Might makes right Interest: Space is an Illusion Interest: Floating giant corpses Problem: Find Manifold Keys

Dimensional Shifts

At a regular period, the whole place shakes violently and shifts. Either the rooms shuffle, gravity changes direction or time shifts. This is represented by 4 tables with 6 different aspects each. The dungeon is actually a search for the 4 “Manifold Keys.” These keys are basically the control system to the entire place. Each key fits into the other keys like a 4 dimensional puzzle.

Once a key is found, that table becomes under the control of the party. Once all keys are in the party’s possession, “Room Zero” is able to be reached. The room collapses into the keys (the entire ruin is the manifold keys) and the players must battle the ruin itself in order to claim mastery of it. After that, they are now able to manipulate where Maeg Mell shifts to.

[starsailorstories]

awesomesquirrelstuff replied to your post: Hey it’s nanowrimo eve and I really wanna talk...

Number 9 pls!!

Omg so @awesomesquirrelstuff

Crime is a weird business because of the ridiculousness of what is and isn’t covered under imperial law like

Basillans have a long proud completely off-the-wall history of settling things with duels and any kind of reasonable regulation on this gets denounced as an attack on their very culture. As a result it’s a bit out of control, and they haven’t managed to make literal, actual murder 100% illegal yet. 

There’s a bunch of different little things that are charges they can get you on if you murder someone important, like, it’s illegal to attack someone unawares (which in the case of crimes of passion often leads to people trying to prove in court that she should’ve known she had it comin’1) and it’s illegal to bereave a spouse and/or children, which really just means that people try to get most of their dueling out of the way quickly before they meet the right person and also that sending your older teen/adult daughter to duel in your stead is a common practice (it’s illegal to force her to go by threat of harm or disinheritance, though that doesn’t tend to be a problem for a people who are All About Honor Duty and Loyalty). 

The most common criminal thing that actually gets actively prosecuted is, of course, piracy--with Basilea being a multi-planetary/orbiting nation, the empire being spread out over the galaxy, and the Via Galaxia...existing in all its relatively lawless glory (it’s “international waters” and way too big to really police), space is just far and away the best place to steal stuff. Entire remote moons and asteroids are populated by pirates/smugglers/the black market. Privateers and bounty hunters are also all over the place of course. (I’m definitely taking a page from the Star Wars book here but if you’re looking for the overall feel of this subculture I’d say Pirates of the Caribbean is your megamillion dollar blockbuster franchise, it’s more that feel of technology level and whatnot just...on spaceships).

A lot of planets are known for being host to one type of criminal operation in particular, but honestly, these tend to be direct results of the local culture + whatever the Aula is doing to them that’s unfair. 

Like, Caesura has a reputation for having a lot of organized crime in its cities. But those cities are directly occupied and being depleted to the point of social collapse because of the impositions of compulsory military service and heavy production quotas. So, being an extremely family oriented species where many cultures uphold an idea of being able to protect one’s own as a marker of competence/adulthood, a few of them are of course going to a) be assholes and b) take that to a desperate-times-desperate-measures sort of conclusion and more or less go to war with both the imperials and the other people trying to get the last crumbs of resources left over. (Cepheid eventually talks some of the crime families into allying with the rebels because she sort of gets where they’re coming from.)

Other dickish things the Aula has done re: law and order in the general galaxy include using their own military as an interplanetary police force to keep an eye on all their holdings and generally do cop things when they decide the planet’s myriad local law enforcements aren’t doing enough cop things (and they do tend to look at it planet wide, so the amount of tact and nuance here is about what you’d expect) and putting the Imperial Judiciary on Altamai, so if you get arrested for anything serious (whether or not you’re guilty) in the rings or in officially Basillan space (so, on any ship within the limits of the Seven Suns System) you’re responsible for getting there to have your day in court--and it has to be a legitimate booked transport, you can’t just have your friend who works in space give you a ride. Because of this a LOT of poor people are basically prisoners and are living their lives as prisoners without ever having been charged with or tried for anything...and a lot of them are put to work in space, where they have ample opportunities to get into more trouble, with or without the rebellion.

This was a RAMBLE and there’s really a lot more to say but it is My Bedtime so...more as soon as I can get to it!

1And yes there’s legal precedence for this being accepted as a defense. They’re that petty.

[howtohero]

#007 Team-Ups

Superheroing can be a lonely endeavor. Long nights alone, patrolling the streets, busting skulls, taking names, stargazing, other superhero stuff. It’s no surprise then that superheroes have been known to join forces with other like-minded do-gooders. Having another superhero around means having someone to watch your back, someone to trade witty banter with, someone to stay up late with you tracing new constellations in the stars.

To be clear, I am by no means advocating taking on a child sidekick (*sigh*). Under no circumstances should you have a child or teenage sidekick, even a really clever one who cracks wise. Not your son. Not the local homeless acrobatic orphan. Not your kid nephew that your sister pays you to hang out with because he’s a little socially awkward and doesn’t have a lot of friends and for whatever reason she thinks the grown man that runs around in costume punching other grown men who are also sometimes in costume will be a good influence on him. No teenage sidekicks. At all. None. Not allowed. Onay Ennagetay Idekickssay. The reason for this is simple. Bringing a teenager to fight crime with you is just an incredibly boneheaded thing to do. Like, come on, I shouldn’t need to spell this out. What if they get kidnapped? Have you thought about that? Are you gonna negotiate with terrorists to get the child you willfully endangered back? I certainly hope so bucko! Why would you even want a child out there with you anyway? What help is a child going to be? What if they get injured? How do you even explain that to a doctor? “Uh yeah, he tripped… and as he was falling he cut his face… on a pirate themed villain’s hook hand… which just kind of appeared out of nowhere, it was crazy, anyway, you never saw me!” A child is literally the worst thing to bring to a gun fight. Even worse than knives. [Don’t bring a child to a knife fight either.] If you’re going to insist on having a teenage sidekick for, I dunno, publicity reasons? The focus groups made it sound like a good idea? Whatevers. They need to stay in the base. They can be like mission control or something. Or even better, give them a fake job and title. All the important superhero support jobs can be done better by adults and I feel like you know that so why are we even having this conversation?

It is far better to work with another fully-grown-pays-their-own-bills-and-everything adult. Just don’t try calling them your sidekick though. Adult people hate being called sidekicks. This is just scientific fact. It’s rude. You should never be rude to another superhero. It’s important to always be cooperative with one another. Not only because lives are most likely at stake, but also because you have literally no moral high ground over them. You both look ridiculous and you’re both saving lives so you have no right to be a butt.

When approaching another superhero to work with you it’s important not to seem too eager about it. Beat around the bush, play hard to get. Suggest a casual team up, a one-off superpower hour adventure. Eventually maybe the two of you will be able to work your way up to the point of fighting each other’s nemeses or revealing your secret identities to one another. But until then just appreciate the company of having someone by your side as you foil bank heists and prevent bad guys from carving their faces into the moon. (Really if we would just all sit down as a planet and agree on a face to carve into the moon I bet people would stop trying to carve their own into what is essentially a giant blank space canvas.)

You can’t just pick any superhero to approach for a team-up. I mean sure, in an emergency situation just grab the nearest costumed super-fella, but if you have the time it’s important to do some research. You’re going to want to join forces with someone who operates under a similar code as you. If you’re one of those no-killing heroes, find someone who also avoids brutally murdering criminals. If you’re one of those leave-no-survivors heroes, then you should turn yourself into the police! Murder isn’t cool yo! Nah, but seriously, find someone who will gleefully murder criminals with you. You do you. And remember superhero team-ups aren’t lifetime commitments, if you don’t enjoy working with a hero all you need to do is fake your death and completely reinvent yourself, new costume, new name, maybe some tinted contact lenses, a voice changer… Anyway, you’ll never have to work with the guy or gal again!

It’s probably best to avoid forming long-term large superhero teams. Sure for the occasional world-threatening crisis or alien invasion or massive supervillain alliance then yeah, get a bunch of heroes together and get your group world-saving on. But on a day to day basis it’s better to break off into pairs or at most groups of three (or maybe four, four is a pretty fantastic number). The last thing the world needs is for all of the world’s heroes to be taken out by a single attack because they all live together in one building or something. Supervillains are famous for building giant-building-destroying lasers. And do you know what giant-building-destroying lasers are famous for doing? Destroying buildings! Obviously! So avoid that.

Once you’ve found the perfect partner-in-crime-fighting you’re sure to enjoy your day-to-day criminal beating activities a helluva a lot more. Plus just imagine how efficient you’ll be? I had my crack-team of super-accountants crunch the numbers and guess what? It turns out four fists are better than two so get out there and start super-teaming up! And remember, no child sidekicks.

[prinzenhasserin]

Fandom5k - Dear Author!

This letter is just in case you might want to poke at some more of my prompts/likes. 

I’m not married to any of them, feel free to subvert them to your heart’s desire. I’m not so much a fan of darkfic, except for when there’s a hopeful resolution to all the dark stuff, but feel free to write me any rating, I love all these ships and combinations!

Feel also free to include other characters or OCs as side-characters, if they are necessary because of plot reasons.

Things I Love:

fake/pretend relationships 

arranged marriages turning into supportive partners 

loyalty

odd couples 

found family, dysfunctional families that nevertheless love each other

cultural differences, age differences, height differences 

heists, rescue missions 

dragons, fairy tales, magical realism, urban fantasy

competent characters 

people not realising they’re the most competent at their job/hobby

people failing their way to success

happy endings, earning your happy ending, open yet hopeful endings

cynical humour 

mutual pining 

suits, corsetry, fancy dresses 

Identity shenanigans (secret identities, mistaken identities) 

Blatant Lies 

Enemies becoming friends and/or lovers 

outsider POV 

epistolary 

people not usually found in law enforcement solving crimes 

non-verbal expressions of affection 

Kinks:

sex in weird places (hard no on libraries, though)

Sexual Tension (bonus, if in inappropriate places or situations)

I like my anal sex with lots of lube and preparation, and also not before any strenuous activities. Lot of foreplay basically :D

women knowing exactly what they want from sex

multiple orgasms

I like switching (especially for practical reason), and changing power balances

weapons kink

semi-public sex with nobody actually watching

sex toys

hate sex

dirty talk (also: teasing)

Things I Do Not Want (DNW):

relentless angst

a/b/o

Infidelity

pregnancy

rape (totally fine with dubcon, though)

Wynonna Earp (TV) —Xavier Dolls (Wynonna Earp)

If you want to include other canon characters — that would be awesome, too. Lowkey I ship Dolls with both Wynonna and Doc Holiday, separately and together, but I’d be thrilled with friendships or ambiguous relationships also.

How did he join up with Black Badge? Is there a recruitment program you have to go through -- how did that look like? Was it more like boot camp? (Was it like the Police Academy Movies, and poor Dolls the only sane man?) Was torture a thing -- how did they deal with it?

Did he join Black Badge before or after he became someone different? Does he have family/friends, which he left for some reason? How did they influence him? Do they come and visit him in the Ghost River Triangle? Are they also special, or are they completely baffled by what he does?

What exactly is he? Was he always such a deeply repressed person? Does he ever let go?

What happened to him after the Season 1 finale? Did he get rescued (by Wynonna, Doc Holiday, someone else)? Does he rescue himself? Does he even need to be rescued, or is he being recalled to fight the tentacle monsters invading L.A., or the lizard people beneath New York? I mean, the kidnapping at the end seems pretty involuntary, but his supernatural thing could just be very territorial.

Would also absolutely enjoy if it turns out Xavier Dolls is the reason the Earp’s family curse exists — and now he’s trying to break it but can’t. This could be because maybe he’s immortal, maybe he’s a relative of the original curse-making witch, maybe he tried to conquer the world once and now Black Badge has him under a geas to fix anything they want him to, maybe his family died because of a similar thing.

That said, I would also read a version of his life that is fluffy bunnies and sunshine, and everything goes right for him :D

DNW: major character death, graphic depictions of torture

Original Work — Group: Pirate/Pirate; Group: Crossdressing Regency Lady/Regency Lady; Group: Male Noir Detective/Male Mobster

Crossdressing Regency Lady/Regency Lady

Why is there crossdressing? Is it something mundane, like it being easier to ride in mens clothing (people sell you rooms/horses/land with less of a fuss), or is there some dramatic reason, like inheriting an estate or an earldom? Maybe it’s easier to pretend to be a man than an unmarried woman? Studying at university! Working in the lawyer’s office of their father because he’s sick, and the bills need to be paid, and there is no work for a female lawyer…

Some other plot ideas:

They meet at a ball, and flirt. Then they meet again at the next ball (or the theatre, or gambling halls) and their relationship continues. The crossdressing Lady is very worried about being actually a woman, and pretending to be a man, but the other Lady found out the very first night and is totally cool with it.

Would also enjoy a mystery about the young man that pops up in the neighbourhood, conveniently while the very pretty cousin of a cousin is visiting. Highway robbers! Pirates! Pretending to be her own brother because he’s off to Gretna Green (or wherever) to get married! There are no tropes that could make this bad for me :D

One Lady writes novels under a pseudonym, the other starts a letter exchange. They decide to meet — and that man looks suspiciously like one of the other lady’s childhood friends who definitely did not have brothers.

I would enjoy this in a world without homophobia, just as I would enjoy this if they had to pretend to be a heterosexual couple forever (though I would enjoy it more if they had the support of at least one of their friends/family, or a community behind them)

DNW: gender dysphoria for the character crossdressing

Pirate/Pirate

I would love pirates absolutely anywhere, Scottish smugglers, piracy on rivers,  Mediterranean pirates of pre-Roman Empire, Egyptian pirates, Chinese pirates, privateers, pirates of the Caribbean, pirates in SPACE.

f/f pairings would be great, just as m/m pairings, or f/m, whatever floats your boat (heh)

Some plot ideas:

(All prompts are gender neutral, which is intentional. All prompts are also terribly fluffy which is by no means an indication of preference — I just can’t seem to write deep and dramatic things.):

Two different pirate ships try to stop a ship of loot/weapons/high profile people from arriving at its location. Two of the opposite crew fall in love along the way.

The First Mate oils their muscles, and it’s the best thing that ever happened to this bosun (or the worst, depending). There are various bets about the futility of this most obvious crush.

This one country keeps trying to invade these particular islands, and so the entire nation has taken to piracy whenever that happens. When that country catches on, they send undercover people, who turn out to like piracy after all.

The smuggling cave is only accessible during low tide, and it’s only known to the pirates, yet their stash of high-grade alcohol/sauerkraut/sails/unobtainium  keeps vanishing, and so they set out a trap, and it turns out to be another pirate who needs it to help heal some other dudes.

The captain is so throughly annoyed by two of his crew members, he makes them sleep in the same cabin (or the hammocks nearest to each other) for the entire voyage, and they keep falling into the wrong bed because of reasons. (Optionally, hate-sex — or they are united by their hatred for this clearly unreasonable captain and overthrow him.)

Please no modern pirates, or rape

Male Noir Detective/Male Mobster

How does this relationship start? Are they childhood friends? Does someone get murdered, and they team up to solve it? Is the mobster in the way of an investigation and obstructing it, while trying to solve it himself?

I'm not sure from the tagset if the former is a police officer or a private eye, either would be fantastic. I don’t have a preference for the place or time setting!

Do they hate each other? Is it a slightly antagonistic relationship?

Do they like each other? Reasons for why criminals and law enforcement people could like each other: one is running the only speakeasies in town, the other really likes to get drunk; crapshot government, and the mobster provides a much needed service (maybe schools, needle exchanges, safe abortions, soup kitchens)

Or is it just because they are the only smart person in their respective business?

Would love some exploration of moral justifications of differing view-points.

Also here for pure smut: hate sex, switching power dynamics, ill-advised drunken one-night stands, sex for blackmail reasons

Crossover Fandom — Group: Cher Horowitz (Clueless)/Elle Woods (Legally Blonde)

Do they meet in law school? Or before, or after? I want them to be competent, and brilliant, and dazzle each other with their excellent taste in clothes. I want them to be besieged by terrible human beings, and persevere. I want them to cuddle on a sofa, and inspire so many girls to do great things. I want them to grow as human beings, and be kind and positive, and succeed. (And I want one of them to be President.)

Also excellent would be: Elle does criminal law, Cher is in charity work, and they need to solve this embezzlement case.

But I'm also here for the porn, because that would also be amazing. Or like, buying a house together. Getting married. Deciding to adopt a puppy together.

Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch — Group: Thomas Nightingale/Alexander Seawoll, Group: Thomas Nightingale/Varvara Sidorovna Tamonina

I love the ambiguous relationships Thomas Nightingale has with people. For all his stand-offish personality, he seems to have a great empathy, next to his principles that have clearly change with the times.

Thomas Nightingale/Seawoll

Is the negotiating about cases a sex thing? If so, is it hate sex, or the "I really like the way you look but the bullshit that comes out of your mouth"-sex? Is there going to be a romantic relationship? Is Seawoll secretly into the whole magic thing, and super delighted by the simplest things?

Would also love canon style cases — maybe they at first think magic plays a part, but then it turns out the solution to the case lies with mundane police work?

Also a thing I would read: An accident turns Seawoll into a genius loci, a being of magic which he’s entirely sceptic about. He goes to Nightingale for help.

Or: Seawoll needs to explain to some government official why they have a department of two people, and Nightingale swoops in to save him — now Seawoll makes it his personal mission to have Nightingale explain each and every of their necessary budget points to the appropriate people.

Thomas Nightingale/Varvara Sidorovna Tamonina

Maybe Nightingale is attracted to ethically challenged witches? Do they get into intense discussions about magic? How does it feel to have an unexpected contemporary, but a foreign-educated one?

Does she help solve a case, and Nightingale shows his appreciation? Does she meticulously torture him with her feminine wiles, while she's technically their prisoner and Thomas won't touch her — except he does so she'll share her information?

Psych — Group: Burton Guster/Shawn Spencer

These are the fluffiest prompts ever, and I’m sorry.

Gus has Shawn on his insurance plan, he's doing Shawn's income taxes, and they own a house together. I want people assuming they are married. I want them to get offers to hold "representation speeches" or "sensitivity training" for the police officer they are working with, people wanting to know if it was difficult finding work after coming out, and Shawn hilariously missing the point, and Gus being quietly embarrassed.

Or a "waking up married" scenario where it's easier to just stay together, because that way Gus has to only do one set of paperwork.

Or anyone quietly investigating if the two of them are together and coming to the wrong (right?) conclusions. (Shawn's dad? A potential date?)

Or a murder happens at Gus place of business, and Shawn comes in to investigate, and apparently all of Gus' colleagues think he's the husband? And of course Shawn plays it up.

Also great: Gus and Shawn have a huge fight, and they don’t speak to each other for a month, and the people around them are tip-toeing around if they have broken up — while the fight was about leaving the socks lying around, and they aren’t even together, wtf — but then they have make-up sex, and everyone is relieved.

Smut is also very welcome! As are other canon characters, and OCs.

DNW: darkfic

(Please feel free to anon me if there’s anything confusing and/or wrong. Sometimes I confuse myself!)