#2002.wrt

[devilsskettle]

dinner in america is such a “take what you want from it and leave the rest” movie for me because i do think it’s very cute and i can buy into some of the wish fulfillment nature of the story but admittedly there are some parts that really don’t work for me, there are some parts that fall a little flat either in terms of the characters or humor, and the pacing is a bit of a challenge tbh. but it’s unbelievable what the human brain can overcome by virtue of simply Just Liking That Guy

[prettyboysdontlookatexplosions]

one of the key points that emily hanford makes in sold a story is that as a result of the politics surrounding no child left behind, reading pedagogy itself wound up regrettably politicized. the bush administration’s “reading first” initiative was intended in part to bring american classrooms up to date with what was known about the science of reading, including a “back to basics” angle that involved systemic phonics instruction; because this fell under the banner of Bush Education Policy, and also because (as is literally always the case in education) the roll-out was poorly managed, many teachers (as per hanford) rejected it.

what this means is:

(1) if you attended kindergarten through second grade after 2002 and are glad you went to school in the era of phonics, unlike these misbegotten youth, no you didn’t; as the podcast highlights, the initiative failed at scale (although she notes that some teachers in the few districts where implementation was handled with care found the professional development around it useful)

(2) if you attended kindergarten through second grade in the 90s and are glad you went to school in the era of phonics, unlike these misbegotten youth, no you didn’t; the rise of phonics as a battle in 2001 onwards indicates that it was not in fact settled practice at that point, as indeed does the resistance practicing teachers mounted to being asked to incorporate systemic phonics instruction. balanced literacy, the approach sold a story spends much of its time critiquing, is typically said to have arisen in the 90s.

(3) if you went to elementary school before the 90s, tbh you’re also on thin ice wrt these claims, because whole language, the pedagogical model to which balanced literacy is in theory a more phonics-friendly update, is based on a set of theories originating in the 60s & 70s and probably hit its peak in the 80s, with the balanced literacy of the 90s being seen as a “compromise” between whole language and a more traditional approach.

(4) the traditional approach featuring phonics doesn’t mean that it taught phonics well enough for all students to succeed. hanford early on in the podcast includes the story of an adult who never successfully learned to read in school. this person was a vietnam veteran.

remember: some kids can in fact learn to read without much instruction in phonics, or with essentially a basic overview. tbh unless you received remediation/support for a learning disability, i would not draw any conclusions from your fuzzy childhood memories and the mere fact that you can read about whether or not your school was teaching reading right. (to give one example from my fuzzy childhood memories - if your first grade teacher taught you “when two vowels go a walkin, the first one does the talking,” as mine did in 1994 or so - that was teaching phonics poorly! that’s not a rule it’s recommended to teach, because it’s not reliably true! if it was enough for you, that says more about non-classroom factors in reading success than it does about your first grade teacher, who may have been lovely in other ways.) on the other hand, teachers certainly have always existed who have been more proactive than the field at large about incorporating science into their practice (or, alternately, recalcitrant about change in ways that sometimes have benefits lmao); having lucked into one or several of those doesn’t mean you grew up in the era of phonics, because, like, there are so many fucking teachers in this country.

[mzannthropy]

Anne of the Island Chapter 26

A remarkably short chapter. (Still I had a lot to say about it, lol. I think there was a lot packed into not many words.)

I like it, bc it has the things I would want more of in this book: girls dressing up for an event, exchanging confidences. (Reminds me of that chapter in AOGG when Anne and Diana are in her gable while she's dressing for the concert.) Not that I necessarily like everything they have to say wrt Jonas, but *shrug* whatever.

Anne, this is certainly your night for looking handsome. Nine nights out of ten I can easily outshine you. The tenth you blossom out suddenly into something that eclipses me altogether. How do you manage it?

I love this. Phil's aware of her own beauty but also compliments other women. No jealousy detected. This is abundant thinking, ladies and gentlemen! Someone else's beauty doesn't negate your own.

The dialogue about flowers is very interesting. I know it would seem that Roy sending Anne orchids means he's not the one, but she says he knows what flowers she likes, and that he doesn't usually send orchids, so on some level he does get her. Yet he still sent her orchids. I don't know much about flowers. I wish I did bc I like photographing them and it's maddening not knowing what they are and then having to post them online with "idk what flower this is but it looks pretty so here you go" or "some white/pink/whatever colour flower, enjoy!". Anyway, "he knows I like flowers I can live with. Orchids are only things you can visit with"--it's brilliant, isn't it? Can she only "visit" with Roy?

“Who is Christine Stuart?” “Ronald Stuart’s sister."

Okay, who is Ronald Stuart?

So Gilbert is hanging out with a music student named Christine. I mean, why not. It's his right to spend his own time with whomever he chooses. Anne refused him, so he's looking elsewhere, sorry not sorry. *shrug*

“Get off that cushion instantly, you cat, you! Why don’t you stay down where you belong?”

I'm like that sometimes. When us humans get annoyed, it's cats who receive it all.

The Sarah-cat did not approve of him. She always turned her back on him.

A warning sign? Anne is not specially attached to Sarah-cat. If it was Rusty who didn't like Roy, that would be a red flag. IIRC Sarah-cat was described as regal, so it might just be the case of a cat looking down on a lowly human. (My next door neighbour had this cat who thought he was an emperor, he didn't let anyone pet him and he had a look of utter disdain for humans. Upon seeing me, he would wag the end of his tail and I found this the highest form of honour. Sadly, he has now gone to where all the good cats go... but he will never be forgotten.) We've not been told how Sarah-cat reacts to visitors, so we can't draw any conclusions.

And so we meet Christine Stuart.

“Rose-leaf complexion—starry violet eyes—raven hair—yes, she has them all. It’s a wonder her name isn’t Cordelia Fitzgerald into the bargain!" 

I posted this before, but since we're doing the book club--I think the actress Dagmara Dominczyk represents that:

(On the left it's her as Mercedes in the 2002 film The Count of Monte Cristo.)

Anne comforts herself with the fact that her nose and her figure are better than Christine's.

One's got to wonder why she's so bothered, what do you say, readers?

[llycaons]

what's mtefil... 👀

Hi! mtefil stands for Make the Exorcist Fall in Love (Japanese title Ekusoshisuto o Otosenai, often abbreviated as Ekuoto). It's a battle shonen/romance manga with comedy and horror elements that started in 2002 and recently released chapter 84. I read most of it on NovelCool, but the latest chapters are on MangaDex.

This is the official synposis of the manga

As the strongest exorcist, a boy chosen by God was engaged in mortal combat with the Demon Kings. Although he bears the fate of humanity on his shoulders, he actually wants to make sweets peacefully. One day, he meets a girl... This is a story of love and hope growing in the midst of a holy war.

So...like most official summaries...it gets to the gist but not the good stuff. In this world, Satan and the seven deadly sins are real and concrete threats to the world, and the Catholic church as an institution trains priests who fight them with the power of miracles. One as-yet-unnamed child was born with incredible power (granted by God??), and the church has been using him as a child soldier for years despite the toll this takes on him, and despite the fact that he's happier doing domestic chores and living quietly. Father, or Priest, takes his duties seriously, but he's deeply unhappy and isolated from the rest of the world. This story is essentially his emotional journey after he meets someone he likes, how he grapples with that, and how that relationship develops, along with the drama/action of the rest of the war as he and other side characters must battle each of the seven demon lords before their confrontation with Satan.

More exhaustive overview and tws under the cut.

In chapter one, the priest is saved from a suicidal spiral after an extremely traumatizing attack by the demon lord of lust, by his mentor telling him that to find something worth living for, he should find someone to love. A few years later, he's sent to protect a young woman from Satan, who he comes to really like. Unbeknowest to him, she's really a succubus sent by a demon king to corrupt him...but she turns out to like him too! And she wants to love someone and be loved too! The romance is sweet and quite funny, and even tho I'm not much into romance I found their developing relationship really interesting, as they mirror each other in a lot of ways, but the lie between them must eventually come out.

It's a much more character-driven work than plot-driven - they literally have a beach episode -but there's always some type of battle each arc through which the Priest and/or another character undergoes character or relationship development. The pacing is incredibly quick and the plot moves right along - with the exception of a few slice-of-life flavored chapters, I was never bored.

What I really like is the emotional story we go on with this priest as he falls in love, deals with his trauma, grapples with the world around him, and struggles to find a reason to go on despite the suffering he's experienced both from the church and the demons, and the weight of his own responsibilities to the world. He's under an enormous burden from a very young age, and he's constrantly thrown into violent and dangerous situations that leave him with psychological scars. This story deals heavily with religious trauma/guilt, sexual repression, child abuse, suicide and suicidal ideation, and sexual trauma, and that's just for the main character/couple.

Besides those topics, I was reminded very frequently of mob in mp100, and of the loneliness and hardship he experienced at his young age. I also got shades of hxh, particularly in the child soldier aspect and in the pov switching briefly to the antagonists during a raid. I think fans of those two series would enjoy this as well. It's darker than mp100 and more explicitly gay than hxh, at least in the anime. RGU fans will probably like it too for its themes of sexual violence wrt with patriarchy and other social forces, as well as how textual and subtextual gay characters respond to this and other violence.

There are some great side characters, including sympathetic and even likeable antagonists, with their own motivations, backstories, and goals. I liked to see how critical of the institution of the church the series is, and how sympathetic it is to characters who fight against it. Even some of the demon lords had emotionally complex backstories that made you think.

Probably the most popular side characters - and the ones I like the most - are Dante and Vergilius. Yes, like from Dante's inferno. Dante is the Priest's sometime mentor, a...compassionate if unstable priest with the church, and Vergilius is a witch fighting against him on the side of the demon army. They're childhood friends with a painful cat-and-mouse dynamic in the present, and they're pretty explicitly canonically in love but in like a desperate hopeless way where they're obsessed with each other but also it's doomed because of like...the situation. And Dante is trying to kill him bc he thinks all hope is lost and Verge is like 'hehe! better luck next time!' and he's trying to destroy the church bc of his history of abuse w it...it's crazy. Their scenes are so funny but also so sad...they compel me they do. They are insane about each other in deeply deeply dysfunctional ways that I can't elaborate on for spoilers. But the way the manga touches on homophobia in the church and explores corruption and power abuses relating to csa is really good.

As for the demon lords themselves, the manifestations/tempations of the seven deadly sins, I was impressed by how in-depth and thorough they were thematically. Every sin had a unique and thought-provoking spin on it that related either to the priest, to the suffering in the world, or to both. I find the social commentary and the writing really hard-hitting and sophisticated for a manga like this.

The only issue I really have is the artstyle. You get used to it, but it's a little cutesy and bland for my taste, though it does have some great body horror and gore. I also find it hard to follow the action flow in some of the fight scenes, but the demon lords look really cool and emotion/horror is conveyed really well.

Hopefully this answered your question! It's a very small fandom but the writing really is good so I do hope more people get into it. Full list of trigger warnings here.

Main TWs

religious trauma/religious guilt

csa, mentions of rape/attempted rape, sexual repression, sexual trauma

child abuse/neglect (whipping, strangling, starvation, and beating)

PTSD related to the above three points

suicide, attempted suicide, and suicidal ideation

body horror/gore/blood/violence

child soldiers

misogyny

TWs for side character plots, or one-offs

self-harm and eye trauma - not recurring but graphic and happens in ch1

pregnancy horror in ch1

grooming

underage sex work (implied but like. you know what's happening)

maggots/decomposing bodies (while alive)

ableism/murder of a disabled child

child death/cannibalism

depression

homophobia

[jeevasworld]

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Pm Modi and Tech PM Tech President Unm etc R S D Unnithan at awards till 2099ad published:::https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15ghihENL9/

[perpetualdreamruin]

Valentino Rossi: A Legend of Motorcycle Racing

Valentino Rossi was born on February 16, 1979, in Urbino, Italy, and raised in the small town of Tavullia in the Marche region. He is the son of Graziano Rossi, a former motorcycle racer, and his early exposure to motorsports deeply influenced his career path. Initially interested in kart racing, Valentino soon turned to motorcycles, where his natural talent quickly emerged.

Rossi made his debut in the World Championship in 1996 in the 125cc class with Aprilia. A year later, in 1997, he clinched his first world title, marking the beginning of a legendary journey. After dominating the 125cc category, he moved up to the 250cc class, again with Aprilia, and secured the world championship in 1999. These early achievements confirmed his status as one of the brightest young talents in motorcycle racing.

In 2000, Valentino stepped up to the premier class—then known as 500cc—riding for Honda. After finishing runner-up in his debut season, he won the 500cc World Championship in 2001. The following year, MotoGP replaced the 500cc class, introducing more powerful four-stroke bikes. Rossi adapted instantly, winning the MotoGP titles in 2002 and 2003 with Honda, dominating the new era of racing.

In a shocking and bold career move, Rossi left the dominant Honda team in 2004 to join Yamaha, a manufacturer struggling for success at the time. His decision proved historic: he won the opening race of the 2004 season in South Africa and went on to win the championship, demonstrating that his success was not just due to superior machinery but also to his exceptional skill and determination. He continued to dominate, winning more world titles with Yamaha in 2005, 2008, and 2009.

Rossi’s career was not only marked by victories but also by fierce rivalries that defined modern MotoGP. His on-track battles with Max Biaggi, Sete Gibernau, Casey Stoner, and Jorge Lorenzo captivated fans worldwide. However, the most controversial rivalry came with Marc Márquez. In 2015, tensions peaked when Rossi accused Márquez of interfering with his title hopes, leading to a highly controversial final race in Valencia that cost Rossi the championship.

Between 2011 and 2012, Rossi made a high-profile move to Ducati, but it turned out to be the most difficult chapter of his career. He struggled to adapt to the bike and failed to achieve a single victory in two seasons. In 2013, he returned to Yamaha and showed remarkable resilience, remaining competitive and fighting for podiums well into his late 30s. In 2015, he came agonizingly close to a 10th world title, finishing second in the standings after leading much of the season.

After an extraordinary 26-year career, Valentino Rossi retired from MotoGP at the end of the 2021 season. By then, he had accumulated staggering numbers: 432 Grand Prix starts, 115 victories, 235 podium finishes, and over 6,300 career points. He remains the only rider to have won world titles in four different classes: 125cc, 250cc, 500cc, and MotoGP. His legacy extends far beyond statistics—Rossi transformed the sport into a global phenomenon. Known as “The Doctor,” he became an icon of modern motorsports, famous for his charisma, colorful celebrations, and his number 46, which became legendary in racing culture.

Following his retirement from two-wheel racing, Rossi seamlessly transitioned into automobile racing. He began competing in GT and endurance series, including the GT World Challenge Europe, the 24 Hours of Spa, and the World Endurance Championship, driving for Team WRT and later for BMW. His performances in these events have been respectable and show his continued passion for motorsports.

In addition to racing, Rossi plays a major role in developing the next generation of riders through his VR46 Racing Team and VR46 Riders Academy, based in his hometown of Tavullia. Through this initiative, he has helped launch the careers of several top-level riders, including Franco Morbidelli, Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia (MotoGP World Champion in 2022 and 2023), Marco Bezzecchi, and Luca Marini.

Valentino Rossi’s story is one of genius, longevity, and reinvention. From his first race to his final lap in MotoGP, he has redefined what it means to be a racer—combining talent with showmanship, strategy with passion. Even after leaving the MotoGP paddock, his influence endures through the teams, riders, and millions of fans he has inspired. More than just a champion, Valentino Rossi is a cultural icon, forever etched in the history of motorsports.

[werthersbignaturals]

sorry one thing reddit really does have over tumblr wrt "fandom" is theory threads sooo much more organized and easy to find and you don't have to sort through five million x reader fics or gif sets that make my phone wheez and whirr like a dying desktop from 2002

[cbrownjc]

Well, I can say they've been popular at least since 1995 which is back when I was first in the VC fandom. It was very much the second most popular ship after Lestat/Louis back then -- which might have something to do with the fact that there were only 4 books back then when I first joined VC fandom: IWTV, TVL, QotD, and TotBT.

So back then, the fact that we only had the Devil's Minion chapter of QotD to go by wasn't so bad. Yes, people were desperate to hear/learn more about how Armand and Daniel were doing (as we got no word or glimpse of them at all in TotBT), but people were still okay with that back then at the time. Mostly because many people hadn't even expected the books to go past QotD anyway back then. So everyone was still pretty chill about not seeing them in TotBT, just one book later.

People didn't really start getting angry/disappointed by the lack of Armand and Daniel in the books until Memnoch the Devil and Armand seemingly killing himself toward the end of that book. And no, people were not happy when we finally got The Vampire Armand book and got a one and a half paragraph explanation that they'd broken up sometime before that.

We didn't see Daniel in the flesh again until Blood and Gold, when he was now with Marius after having gone mad. And, you know, for some of us, we were at least happy we actually got to see Daniel again finally, as it were, even if he didn't do much.

But fandom was kind of a mess at this point by the time that book came out anyway; between the fanfic crackdowns and the book right before Blood and Gold being Merrick which was super hated -- especially by Lestat/Louis fans -- because of David.

So, you know, Devil's Minion fans weren't the only ones going through it at that time wrt the books. Lestat has been asleep since Memnoch and even after he woke up again in Merrick, he still wasn't the main POV character of any of the books anymore after that (until Blood Canticle -- the most hated book in the entire VC series btw); Louis was being sidelined even more -- even in books that many thought should have been from his POV, i.e. Merrick; Armand had seemingly killed himself and then, when he came back, brought two kids with him that most of the fandom thought were flat and boring -- and then didn't really tell us his backstory so much as he dictated it to David; and Daniel -- in all that time -- only made a minor appearance in one book between 1988 and 2002.

There is a reason I consciously chose to stop reading the books after Blackwood Farm back then.

But yeah, to answer the original question, Devil's Minion really was the #2 most popular ship in fandom even back in 1995 when I first was in fandom. And even when the books were doing . . . what they were doing, I didn't really see that change much.

Hi! So I was hoping you could shed some light on a question I have had for a while now. I have heard people say that Armand/Daniel is the second most popular ship in TVC. I just find that so interesting because from my understanding this couple's entire story is told in the DM chapter. I have become obsessed with this ship but from what I know about them in the book I feel like the show is giving me so much more to work with. So I guess my questions are Is it true there really isn't that much material about this ship after the DM chapter? In your experience has this ship always been popular been? Were they popular from the start or did they become popular later on? I hope this makes sense! Thanks!

I'm not sure at what point this relationship became as popular as it is now... but yes, it is mostly in that one chapter in QotD, yes.

There are a few hints and mentions later on. Armand and Daniel are together (again) last Daniel is mentioned in the books.

But the show has already elevated them - a lot.

It will be quite the slow burn for us to watch, and personally I love that^^.

Maybe someone else knows how long DM has been popular?^^

[fivelittlebirdies]

So. 19 years ago on a new year's eve I got so very very drunk. And I was in a mood because dude thought just because I was making out and grinding on him, we were gonna have sex. And I was like no. And he made some rude insinuations. And like maybe making out is fun in & of itself???

Anyways 19 year old me was very dramatic. So I'm drunk and pissed off and decide I shall vent my frustration by stabbing metal bottle caps with a steak knife.

And that was such a dumb idea. Because my hand slips.

And I cut myself. There is so much blood everywhere. I go into shock. My friends are like holy shit, what the fuck did you do!!!

My being in shock consists of cussing a fuckton. Like, more than I already do. So I'm cussing out my friends as they're trying to help me. They're trying to stop the bleeding (which as I am drunk is a lot of very watery blood), and freaking out because I can't make a fist to keep pressure on my palm. My friends have my hand over the bath tub and I can't move my ring finger or pinkie. And they really just want me to stop fucking cussing.

And finally an older sister is called to take me to the closest ER. And I am in such shock I can't even spell my name once there. Can't i just use my middle & last names?? I remember trying to justify it by repeatedly telling everyone my first name has nine letters and anyone would struggle. It's not all because I'm underage, drunk, and did something stupid.

I swear I cut my sober hand slicing lemons. True story I tell the nurses.

Who's drunk here? Not me. This is just the shock. And my friend is just whispering to me, for the love god please just shut up.

I'm evaluated and my hand is poked, and once I'm given a block they look into the would itself. It's decided.

At like 3AM I call my mom & leave a drunk voice mail telling her what's the what please don't be mad at me everything's totally under control.

Emergency plastic surgery proceeds.

And I ended up severing two tendons and a nerve.

Ahhh reminisces.

So happy anniversary to me. LOL, oh god! And to learning some lessons the hard way.

[susandsnell]

You're so right about Katniss! Her feelings for Peeta always felt like obligation - because he was kind, because he loved her and he deserved to be loved back, because he was what she was supposed to want and she'd be crazy not to - and she had mad vibes with Joanna. (The Katniss thing is also why I hated all of the MCU Natasha ships with guys. She's my second pick after Nina for character I am convinced is a lesbian.)

Thank you so much for articulating all this and sending it my way because I've felt nuts for years reading it this way (+ it's a pleasure to hear from you)! And that's with Joniss as a relatively popular ship, lolol.

I won't deny that him saving her from starving and later all they did for one another during the Games isn't meaningful, but you put it perfectly; the text keeps telling us he deserved to be loved back, he's what she ought to want. It makes a point about why she doesn't owe Gale, but wholly kind of sells us on her owing Peeta. The text makes a point of how Katniss, very realistically, has hang-ups about debt, and how the nature of Panem's totalitarianism is such that all kind acts are viewed as transactional rather than genuine, but then completely undermines this by providing little to no meat to how Katniss' real feelings developed from the ones staged for the Games. It's one of those cases where even if the guy isn't a Nice Guy, there's textual Nice Guying going on lolol. (I do also acknowledge that these books were products of the aughts and queer characters in YA were almost nonexistent, but having recently read Moth Diaries from 2002 which actively engages with comphet, I'm feeling spoiled lol.)

Likewise, the having children thing is like -- I get it, people can change their minds and her not wanting to be a mother was a product of the dystopian society they subsequently rebuilt as well as her own experience of maternal neglect, but given what the real world has always been wrt reproductive rights and just in general treating female queerness/nonconformity as a "phase you'll outgrow"/"you'll find the right guy and want kids eventually", I don't think I'll ever not feel gross about a character who does not want kids eventually ~embracing motherhood~ lmao. It could happen, but when the characters are fictional and hence in the author's control...it feels like propaganda, especially coupled with her repeatedly stating she didn't want a husband. And the quote from the epilogue is literally "It took five, ten, fifteen years for me to agree. But Peeta wanted them so badly." Which. Ew.

Contrast with Johanna, where things felt a lot more organic, less based on a sense of debt and more on some classic rivalry tropes that evolved into a sweet balance between an organic camaraderie and Stupid Sexy Flanders (I mean, the elevator scene? Straight girls do not react like that! "Johanna's motivational insults" and the relationship shift?)

Anyhow, thanks again for the message and sorry for the mini-essay/rant this turned into, haha. I'd be mega interested to hear your MCU Natasha thoughts, though, since your Nina tags were so accurate! (Equally biased because she was an early sapphic crush for me, haha.)

[rathologic]

helloo rathologic how does it feel to always be so based.....i have an actual question: since there were originally meant to be 7 playable characters in p1, three of them being the ones we have and also the planned alexander block and aglaya, who do you think would be the other two characters? or just overall which characters do you think would be interesting to play as?

Benedict from the 2002 techdemo! since he did largely get developed into the person we now call the bachelor, it's hard to say how he fits into the original seven wrt: none of the healers really existing at this point. but an intriguing guy he "knows nothing about medicine" and is making it up as it goes which would be SO fun in a healer... if I had to guess any other "unique" npc from that demo it'd be kuron, who was at least relevant enough in the writers' heads that his name was reused as a mythological figure in p1

it's not a big chance at all but the techdemo including maria kaina makes me wonder if they'd conceived of letting us play as her-- with 7 playable characters incl. the emissaries you can't have em all be healers right? She's very different from the maria we have in the final game but in any case maria route would be fascinating :-)

[imaginedsoldier]

Wrt that last article, its a well-disseminated fact that American protestors, particularly BLM, and Palestinians have an ongoing exchange of advice, tactics, and solidarity. I think famously there were some twitter exchanges of how to deal with tear gas that were passed around on here that sort of brought attention to this ongoing collaboration.

I think slightly less well-known (particularly among the more liberal sectors out here) is that this communication channel is more than a coincidence and more than an act of solidarity in two distant group's affirmations of humanity against a violent, oppressive force. BLM and Palestinians exchange advice because American cops and Israeli troops have similar tactics, due to the fact that the IDF trains American police.

A big fear in larger cities post-9/11 was the notion of follow-up, guerilla-style attacks and acts of insurgency which the local police forces were not trained to handle. In 2002 the LAPD led the charge by sending a representative to Israel to learn counterterrorism tactics, followed up in 2003 by 33 delegates from various police departments across the US for a meeting on "Law Enforcement in the Era of Global Terror," alongside the establishment of a special DHS office to render official the exchange of information between Israeli and American security sectors.

This ongoing exchange has led us to this point- an estimated ~10k American officers trained by the IDF, a holdover of the "War on Terror" which continues to accelerate the incredible violence the police force is capable of and willing to carry out.

To be sure, American police didn't need any help in being a violent watchdog for corporate interests, in overpolicing Black communities, and in the ongoing militarization of American policing. They have exchange programs with British and German police departments as well. But to ignore the connections between American imperial war, American support for the ongoing razing of Palestine, and the hyperviolent, military tactics employed against protestors in Portland and beyond would be dangerously shortsighted.

[chiefofboatwatsonstittymug]

2020 (Fanfiction) in Review:

tagged by @boasamishipper! Thanks :D

Fics written this year:

Resolutions

Slow

The Right Sort

What's Left of Us

Reaching Towards Dawn

Takeaways from reflecting on your kick-ass writing, or kick-ass lack of writing, during a year more focused on survival than perhaps any other:

Sleep more, consume a maximum of one energy drink per day. I continue to have a brief period in winter where I'm more productive than the rest of the year. Most of my, like, artistic focus for the first half of this year was on physical art, now I'm finding a balance between that and writing again.

I need to get better with deadlines as I've ended up defaulting on more exchanges than I've managed to finish. Next year I think I'll probably just stick to Darkest Night and one other. Hurt/Comfort Ex maybe.

Most surprising fic you wrote this year:

Probably What's Left of Us because I have no real idea how I got so emotionally invested in Minority Report (2002).

How you’ve grown as a writer this year:

I'm about to finish the first multi-chapter fic I've finished since like 2016! So I'm getting better at sticking to things again. Other than that I've been trying to get back into my good habits wrt writing but this year has been a fucking beating to my brain.

What’s coming in 2021:

More Red October fic, more Mission Impossible fic (I want to populate that Ethan/Luther tag, heh), at least one Oblivion fic in mine and @academicgangster 's Auroraverse, because she's done all the actual work for that so far. Also Boa's Extremely Belated Trick Or Treat Gifts 😅😅😅

I'm also gonna try and get back in my POI and Avengers bullshit to finish off a couple of long term WIPS. These include Until The Light and two short multi-chapter fics called Best Case Scenarios and The Plan for POI, and the rewrite of Monsters I started a long while back and No Good Deed for the MCU fandom.

In general, I have two documents full of half finished one shots and I need to get some of those finished before I start another ten.

Tagging, uh, @academicgangster @top-jj-rights @livenudebigfoot @argylepiratewd and @problemwithtrouble

No pressure though!

[racemarketnet]

Subaru Impreza WRC 03, driven by Petter Solberg in WRC Monte Carlo 2003. The rally car offered here for sale, chassis PROGDA03004 was assembled at Prodrive in late 2002, being road-registered in the UK in December. The car was assigned the registration ‘S40 WRT’, with which it is still UK registered today. Driven by Petter Solberg at Monte Carlo Rally in 2003, where he went on to win the WRC title. Now perfectly rebuilt to the same state as it was when it left Prodrive.

[blazichu]

So I was thinking about the reboot again (I know, I know, why would I do that to myself) and while I can't remember the specifics of the newer version, there's something I think really highlights what went wrong with it.

It's Qwark.

Not in the sense of him being the narrator-- because other games have done that, too-- but his weight in the story. It's disproportionate to what it was/should have been, and that's because of how badly Ratchet and Clank were sanitized, and how boring their dynamic ended up being.

(And yes, I realize people argue that it's because Qwark is the narrator, and he's just like that/focuses on himself to the detriment of others, but if that's what was going on, the framing worked against the story to a massive degree.)

Neither of the title characters were allowed to have flaws, and so there was no way to spark a proper conflict between them. Because of that, the conflict had to start somewhere else-- hence Qwark's betrayal being blown up into something way bigger than it should have been.

I'm invoking the original not to compare unfavorably, but to demonstrate what story is being told. In R&C 2002, Qwark is a galactic hero, yes, but he's introduced to us in a blase way. Oh, that guy on the poster? That's Captain Qwark. He's on TV. He's not a role model to Ratchet, and so their opinions on him are allowed to differ. Clank thinks he's a hero who can help him wrt Drek. Ratchet recognizes him as someone famous and successful, and it's Qwark's appeals to his ego that make him go along with it. He doesn't want to be a hero, he wants to be famous.

So Qwark's betrayal isn't a personal affront to 02 Ratchet-- he was already suspicious-- it's just the straw that broke the camel's back in regard to his rocky friendship with Clank. That's where the drama and forward momentum comes from: the conflict between characters and how they grow/patch it up.

The reboot can't do that. There's no interpersonal drama because the characters are so idealized, so they had to invent new problems-- like Ratchet lying about knowing Qwark, Nefarious as a whole, and trying to make the betrayal an emotional beat.

Here's the thing, though. In this version of events, both Ratchet and Clank idolized Qwark to an extent. They're already on the same side. So shouldn't his betrayal unify them as a team? For some reason, though, it still splits them apart instead, when there's barely any bad blood between them-- and that's resolved almost instantly, because the game can't progress with them apart, so what did we gain from this?

I don't care that Captain Qwark betrayed us. It's Captain Qwark. Of course he's pulling that shit. We don't have that kind of emotional connection to him, because, from the get-go, he's established as comic relief. So now, instead of a conflict to gradually work through as we press toward our goal of stopping Drek-- because if we don't do it, there's nobody else who can/will-- we're just traipsing from planet to planet doing fuck all. I legitimately can't remember the latter half of the game/movie, save for a couple of plot points with Drek and Nefarious, and something that sounded like it should have been the payoff to a conversation that never happened. ("What are you doing?"/"Improvising!")

...I'm full-on griping about '16 now, so I should probably stop. I was just thinking about Jim Ward's retirement and what his last role in the series would be-- and while I'm glad he got such a spotlight, I just... wish he'd had better material to work with, you know?

[perpetualdreamruin]

Valentino Rossi: una leggenda del motociclismo

Valentino Rossi è nato a Urbino il 16 febbraio 1979. Cresciuto a Tavullia, nelle Marche, è figlio d'arte: suo padre Graziano fu a sua volta un pilota motociclistico, e fin da piccolo Valentino fu immerso in un ambiente fatto di motori, officine e corse. Dopo un iniziale interesse per i kart, Rossi si orientò molto presto verso il motociclismo, dove iniziò a correre nelle categorie minori italiane già negli anni '90.

Il suo esordio nel Motomondiale avvenne nel 1996, nella classe 125cc, in sella a un'Aprilia. Già l'anno successivo, nel 1997, conquistò il suo primo titolo mondiale, mostrando un talento precoce e una personalità carismatica. Il salto alla classe 250cc fu immediatamente fruttuoso: nel 1999, Valentino si laureò campione del mondo anche in questa categoria, ancora una volta con Aprilia.

Nel 2000 passò alla classe 500cc, il massimo livello dell’epoca, con la Honda del team Nastro Azzurro. Dopo un primo anno di ambientamento chiuso con il secondo posto dietro a Kenny Roberts Jr., nel 2001 conquistò il suo terzo titolo mondiale, entrando nell’élite assoluta del motociclismo. Nel 2002 la classe 500 venne sostituita dalla MotoGP, una nuova era tecnologica con moto più potenti e sofisticate. Rossi dominò la scena, vincendo il titolo MotoGP nel 2002 e nel 2003 con Honda. Nel 2004 fece una scelta rischiosa e storica: lasciò il team ufficiale Honda, vincente e dominante, per passare alla Yamaha, una moto in quel momento molto meno competitiva. Sorprendendo tutti, vinse al debutto in Sudafrica e poi il titolo mondiale dello stesso anno, dimostrando di essere il miglior pilota del suo tempo anche al di là della superiorità del mezzo tecnico.

Con Yamaha vinse altri tre titoli: nel 2005, nel 2008 e nel 2009, portando il totale a nove titoli mondiali, di cui sette nella classe regina. La sua carriera è stata caratterizzata non solo dai successi, ma anche da rivalità epiche: quella con Max Biaggi nei primi anni 2000, con Sete Gibernau, con Casey Stoner, e soprattutto con Jorge Lorenzo e Marc Márquez nella fase finale della sua carriera. La rivalità con Márquez culminò in una controversa stagione 2015, dove Rossi perse il titolo mondiale all’ultima gara tra mille polemiche.

Dopo due anni difficili con Ducati (2011-2012), in cui faticò a ottenere risultati di rilievo, Rossi tornò in Yamaha e visse una sorta di seconda giovinezza, lottando per il titolo fino al 2015 e restando competitivo fino a quasi 40 anni. Ha disputato la sua ultima stagione in MotoGP nel 2021, chiudendo una carriera lunga 26 anni nel Motomondiale. Ha collezionato 432 gare, 115 vittorie, 235 podi e oltre 6.300 punti complessivi, record assoluti o vicinissimi ai primati in tutte queste categorie. È l’unico pilota nella storia ad aver vinto in quattro classi diverse: 125cc, 250cc, 500cc e MotoGP.

Ma Valentino Rossi non è stato solo un pilota: è stato un'icona, un personaggio amatissimo in tutto il mondo, capace di unire competenza tecnica, talento naturale, ironia e una grande capacità comunicativa. Il suo soprannome, “Il Dottore”, è diventato celebre tanto quanto la sua moto numero 46, che non ha mai cambiato durante la sua carriera. Con i suoi gesti celebrativi dopo le vittorie e la sua rivalità teatrale con altri campioni, ha saputo rendere ogni gara un evento.

Terminata la carriera nel motociclismo, Rossi non si è fermato: è passato alle auto, correndo in diversi campionati di GT, endurance e gare di durata con il team WRT (Audi e successivamente BMW), partecipando anche alla 24 Ore di Le Mans. Inoltre, ha fondato il team VR46 Racing, che milita in MotoGP e Moto2, coltivando nuovi talenti italiani come Marco Bezzecchi e Luca Marini, suo fratellastro.

Parallelamente, la VR46 Academy, sua scuola per giovani piloti, ha contribuito alla crescita di una nuova generazione di motociclisti italiani di alto livello, come Franco Morbidelli, Francesco Bagnaia (campione del mondo MotoGP nel 2022 e 2023) e altri.

Oggi vive tra Tavullia e il paddock delle corse automobilistiche, ma resta una figura di riferimento assoluto nello sport italiano e mondiale. La sua storia non è solo quella di un campione, ma quella di una trasformazione: da ragazzo prodigio a leggenda dello sport, da pilota a mentore, da icona del motociclismo a simbolo di passione, dedizione e spettacolo.