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sinning-on-a-sunday · 5 years

Note

Could I ask for a smutty oneshot of yandere prince/king Taehyung x servant reader. Maybe he finds where y/n hides in the castle, or they're (he's more so) playing hide and go seek in the garden, or something about a punishment. Whatever you wanna do.💖 Thank you 💖

you should see me in a crown

- warnings: yandere behaviors, sexual content, obsessive behavior

- a/n: sorry this took so long, i am also sorry that is a whole 3.5k words

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The only way a person survives working for the Kim family is by being as inconspicuous as possible. Good servants were docile, diligent, dutiful. They worked harder than they were supposed to and never placed blame on anyone but themselves.

The only reason you’d lasted so long at this job was because you were an exceptionally hard worker. You’d served the Kim family ever since Taehyung was a prince. He’d always been a spoiled brat, cruel and narcissistic, born with a silver, jewel-encrusted spoon in his mouth. But when he became king, his ego only became that much more self-inflated.

Staff started getting fired left and right, fear engulfed the castle like a plague, and you quickly found yourself at the top of the metaphorical food chain. A servant had to bust their ass every single day just to keep up, but unlike the rest of them, you hardly ever made mistakes. It wasn’t beauty or wit that captured Taehyung’s eye, it was your tenacity.

You’d never wanted his attention, you’d never asked to become his favorite.

You memorized his schedule until you knew it like the back of your hand, you knew when he took his tea and how many sugars he liked, never messing up his order or forgetting to serve it in his favorite cup. You knew his morning, afternoon, and evening routines better than you knew your own.

One of Taehyung’s favorite things about you was that you solved problems before they became problems, like restocking his art supplies before he had a chance to run out, or ordering the latest fashion statements from his favorite luxury brands before he even requested them. He would ask you to do something only to find that it had already been done.

You never spoke unless spoken to, and whenever he needed something you were already by his side, ready and willing to do whatever it took to make him happy.

You didn’t even know he was aware that you existed until that one rainy day in November. It was one of your few days off, and you were spending it in the castle library, curled up in the windowsill like a cat. However, it was cut short before you had a chance to enjoy it.

In the throne room, Taehyung sat in his golden, diamond-studded chair, eyes scanning the room lazily. He twirled his blue hair between his fingers as he grew more and more bored by the minute.

Movement at his side made him look up. He narrowed his eyes at the woman leaning over him, a steaming cup of tea in her hands.

“Who are you?” He snapped, making her tense.

“I-I’m…” The servant girl began before being cut off.

“Where’s Y/N?” Taehyung spat out, irritation sharpening his tone.

“I-It’s her day off. She’s not working today.” The servant stuttered out.

Taehyung just glared at her.

“Well, go get her then. At least she knows that I prefer Earl Grey over fucking Chamomile.”

She scurried away before he had a chance to fire her.

You had a book sprawled open on your lap when you heard the commotion in the hallway. When you opened the door, servants were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, shouting and chattering incoherently.

“What’s going on?” You called out to the nearest person.

She froze upon hearing your voice, turning to stare at you with eyes blown wide.

“Y/N! There you are!” She lurched forward to grab your arm.

“I found her!” She shouted, causing everyone in the hallway to whip around and crowd around you. Hands invaded your vision, pushing, pulling you forward, leading you down the hall faster then your feet could carry you.

“What the hell is going on?” You shouted, letting them drag you along.

“The king is demanding your presence. He’s on a rampage, he’s already fired three people.”

Your blood ran cold. This is bad, this is really bad. When Taehyung throws a tantrum, at least one person gets beheaded, and you were certain that person was about to be you.

But what did I do? Your mind scrambled to think of a reason justifying his behavior. You didn’t recall pissing him off recently. In fact, the last time you saw him, he was in a better mood than usual.

You reached the throne room before you could think of a logical explanation. The only thought you had in your mind was that you had done something wrong and were about to be sent to the guillotine because of it.

The thick oak doors were pushed open, and you were shoved inside.

You’d been in the throne room a million times, being Taehyung’s favorite servant required it, but for some reason it looked different this time. Maybe because you thought this was the last time you’d ever see it.

The light from the twinkling chandelier overhead was dimmer, casting shadows against the walls and across the polished marble floor. Your footsteps seemed to echo like gunshots in the silence, and your hands trembled as you approached your imminent doom.

Taehyung was dressed in rich blue jacket with gold embellishments, tigers embroidered on each lapel. He had one jeweled hand held up to his mouth, flashing the giant sapphire ring on his middle finger. His eye shadow-lined eyes flickered up to meet yours when he heard you coming.

“Ah, Y/N! Finally!”

You were startled by the tone of his voice. He sounded almost…happy to see you?

“Go and make me a cup of tea, will you? Since apparently you’re the only one who knows how to do it right.” He ordered.

You furrowed your brows in confusion. Wasn’t he going to yell at you? Wasn’t he going to fire you?

“Y-Yes, your Majesty.” You said after a pause, hurrying into the kitchen to fix him his tea.

You returned in record time, far quicker than any of the other servants, and offered him the teacup in shaking hands.

He raised it to his lips, closing his eyes in delight as the warmth cascaded down his throat.

“Perfect.” He whispered to himself.

Your face was furrowed in confusion, watching him, waiting for him to deliver your death sentence on a silver platter.

But he just sat there sipping his tea, humming a cheerful tune. Several minutes passed before he spoke again.

He raised one ringed finger in the air.

“Get me a—” He began, only to be cut off by you already at his side, offering him his favorite pastry.

“Yes, exactly.” He didn’t say thank you, he never did, but he flashed you a small smile. To say it took you by surprise would be an understatement.

You waited and waited for him to say something, anything, but he just licked his fingers clean of the flaky bits of dough, staring ahead blankly.

“Um, Your Majesty?” You said timidly, deathly afraid that he would punish you just for speaking.

“Yes?”

“Why am I here?” You asked, genuinely curious.

Taehyung looked at you, his brows knitted together.

“Don’t you know? You’re the best servant in the castle, everybody else just fucks things up. You belong by my side.”

~~~

Over the next few weeks, Taehyung and you grew closer. He promoted you to head of staff, and you became his official personal servant, fulfilling his every whim and need. There wasn’t a time when you weren’t right there by his side.

If you were telling the truth, it was exhausting. Taehyung would throw a fit if anyone besides you tried to serve him, which meant you were responsible for literally everything. His meals, his laundry, his meetings and royal duties, even his recreational activities, you had to take care of it all.

As time passed, Taehyung got to know you more as a person. He stopped seeing you simply as the help and thought of you as more of as his own little plaything. He derived a great amount of pleasure from teasing you and watching you erupt into a fit of stuttering and blushing.

He started to notice all your little quirks and habits, like how you always avoided eye contact when you were flustered, or how you became extremely embarrassed whenever someone complimented you.

It took a few months for him to start viewing you in a romantic light, but once he did, there was no turning back.

You were delivering his breakfast one morning when he made an advance for the first time.

“Come in.” Taehyung called after you knocked on the door. He sat up in his gigantic four poster bed, hair disheveled and sticking up at odd angles, watching as you walked towards him with a silver tray in your hands. You set it down on his bedside table, trying to ignore the way his eyes were following your every move.

“Is there anything else I can do for you, Your Majesty?” You asked, hands clasped in front of you.

The corner of his mouth tugged up in a smirk as he scanned you up and down.

“Why don’t you join me?” He said, raising a suggestive eyebrow.

You nearly choked on your own spit.

“W-What?” You stuttered out. He only smiled wider at your taken aback state.

“I said, why don’t you join me, Y/N. You must be exhausted after all your hard work.” He reached out to take your hand, trying to pull you closer. The movement made the sheets rustle and shift, revealing his smooth chest as you realized he was shirtless.

“I-I, um…I need to-I should really get back to the kitchen.” You pulled your hand out of his grasp and hurried out of the room before he could get another word out.

Every day after that became your own personal nightmare. He made his affection for you painfully obvious, touching you at every opportunity, constantly complimenting you and making suggestive remarks. You tried to ignore it as best you could, but after a while, Taehyung grew impatient.

One day, Taehyung was taking a bath in his magnificent white marble tub, when he requested that you bring him more towels. When you entered the room, your cheeks immediately turned red.

It was dark, illuminated only by candles and the low light of the sconces on the walls. The tub, which was big enough to comfortably fit four people, was surrounded by stone columns and a ring of rose petals on the polished floor. Taehyung was sitting inside of it with his arms propped up on the edge, wearing nothing but a smirk, the rings on his slim fingers, and a sapphire around his neck the size of the Hope Diamond.

He gestured you over with a curl of his bejeweled fingers, and your body obeyed on instinct.

You came to a stop and stood there next to the tub, arms tightening around the bundle of towels in your arms. Thankfully, the water was cloudy, bubbles and cherry blossoms floating peacefully, and everything below his rib cage was hidden from view.

Taehyung looked up at you, tilting his head to the side in amusement.

“You got here quick. Was someone excited to see me?” He asked in a high, teasing voice.

You swallowed the lump in your throat and moved to set the towels down.

“Ah ah ah, hand me one.” Taehyung commanded.

You pursed your lips but did as he said, extending your arm towards him and offering the piece of fluffy material.

Instead of taking it, he grabbed your wrist, the metal of his rings biting into your skin, and yanked you forward.

You fell into the tub with a splash, scrambling to sit up, facing away from him.

“I’m sorry!” You immediately choked out. You tried to climb out, but Taehyung wrapped an arm around your waist from behind and pulled you closer so your back was flush against his chest.

He chuckled as he rested his chin on your shoulder.

“Shh shh, calm down.” He whispered in your ear. One of his hands was gripping your waist, and the other was wrapped tightly around one of your wrists, effectively keeping you in place.

You felt his fingers drift up to the back of your dress, plucking the buttons loose one by one.

Your breath caught in your throat.

“W-What are you doing?” You asked, dreading the answer.

Taehyung nuzzled into the side of your neck, planting a soft kiss to your earlobe.

“Take it off.” He ordered.

Your stomach dropped.

Now, you had two options. 1. Tell him to fuck off and storm out, which would undeniably end in termination, or 2. Give in and allow him to do whatever he wanted with you. You were understandably leaning towards option #1, but on the other hand, you had no idea what he would if you rejected him. Would he fire you? Would he blacklist you so you could never find work again? Would he send you to the dungeon? Would he have you killed for disobeying him?

The possibilities were too risky, too dangerous, so, with a heavy amount of reluctance, you reached down to pull your dress up over your head with shaking fingers. Tossing the wet fabric aside, you shivered as Taehyung’s fingertips brushed your bare shoulder.

“Good girl.” He murmured, quickly finding the latch of your bra and unclasping it. He helped you scoot out of your panties until you were sitting there completely naked.

Your heart was pounding in your chest as you felt a stream of warm water fall over your head, looking back over your shoulder to see Taehyung holding a pitcher. After your hair was completely wet, he started to lather a handful of shampoo into your scalp.

“I knew you were the right one for me, look how well-behaved you’re being.” Taehyung praised as he washed your hair.

You sat there completely silent, frozen with fear. You weren’t exactly sure why you were being so willing, maybe you’d been a servant too long, your brain was practically hardwired to blindly follow orders.

You found it very strange that Taehyung was washing your hair for you. In all the time you’d known him, he’d never done a single thing for another person. Everything he did had a selfish reason, so why was he the one serving you when he was actual royalty?

After Taehyung had rinsed your hair clean, his arms came to snake around your torso once again.

A bowl of red grapes and a bottle of wine with two glasses was sitting on the edge of the tub, and Taehyung reached over to pluck a grape from the bunch and press it to your lips.

Your parted your clenched teeth, letting him slip it inside, but his fingers lingered in your mouth.

You knew what he wanted you to do.

Your lips wrapped around his digits, sucking obediently. Taehyung hummed in satisfaction.

“Look at you, you even obey the silent commands.”

The two of you sat there for what felt like hours. Taehyung didn’t try anything other than letting his hands roam all over your body, but you still felt irreversibly exposed by the end of it.

When Taehyung finally allowed you to escape from his grasp, you quickly hopped out of the tub, wrapped a towel around your body, and hurried out of the room.

His eyes followed you as you left, that smug smile never once leaving his face.

He wasn’t done with you yet.

~~~

You’d started hiding from him. The library was by far the best spot, since it was one of the only rooms Taehyung never entered. It worked for a while, avoiding him, that is, until he found your hiding spot.

You were scanning the shelves, devoting every ounce of your attention to the words printed on the leather-bound spines, so much so that you didn’t hear the door creak open. You didn’t notice the quiet sound of his footsteps as he tiptoed over to where you were standing against the wall. You didn’t even notice as he stood there watching you, smiling to himself as you read the summary on the inside of the book jacket.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding.” Taehyung finally said, breaking the silence.

You audibly gasped and dropped the book you were holding.

Taehyung chuckled, bending down to pick it up and place it back on the shelf. He shook his head at you, clicking his tongue.

“I’m disappointed, Y/N. To think, you’ve been up there this whole time, denying your duties, when you should’ve been by my side where you belong.”

You felt your fists clench at their sides. How dare he, how dare he claim that I’m not doing my job. I’ve been working my fingers to the bone ever since he made me his personal servant and now he claims that I’m the one in the wrong?

“Feed your own ego, I’m busy.” You spat, turning back to the shelves and resuming your browsing.

Taehyung raised his eyebrows in surprise. Did he finally break you? Did he finally make you snap?

The king took a step forward and placed his hand on the beam of wood next to your head, caging you with his body. His face was inches from yours as he stared down at you with narrowed eyes.

“What did you just say to me?” He practically growled.

You turned to face him, blood boiling under your skin, and returned his glare with equal ferocity.

“You may have everyone else here bowing down to you, but not me. I see through your little facade. Everyone else may think you’re a king, but I know better. You’re just a spoiled little boy who thinks he owns everything and everyone. You may be able to get whatever you want, but you can’t have me. Not now, not ever.”

You waited for his reply, you waited for him to yell at you, fire you, grab you and throw you in the dungeon, but it never came. Instead, Taehyung only smirked. The gesture made goosebumps rise all along your skin.

“It seems to me that you’ve spent too much time by yourself, Y/N. I think you need to be punished.” He said.

You ground your teeth but stayed silent.

“Tell you what, sweetheart. Since you like hiding so much, we’re gonna play a little game.” Taehyung began, a smug edge to his deep voice.

“You are going to hide anywhere you want in the castle, and I’m going to try and find you.” He explained.

You narrowed your eyes, scanning him up and down.

“What do I get if I win?” You asked.

“If you win, I’ll leave you alone. You can continue to work here without any pestering on my part.”

“What do you get if you win?” You asked him suspiciously.

Taehyung’s expression darkened, and he leaned forward until his nose was almost touching yours.

“You.” He said. “If I win, you will give yourself to me completely. You will surrender to your king like any good servant would.”

It was risky, but Taehyung was an idiot if he believed that he knew the castle better than you. You’d lived and worked here for years, you knew every inch of this place.

You extended your hand for him to shake.

“Deal.”

~~~

The clock started at 2:35, and Taehyung had until 3:00 to find you.

You immediately ran towards the garden. The outside of the castle was almost as big as the inside, and with all the foliage and twists and turns in the path, you were confident that you could effectively stay out of sight.

You took off your shoes so you would leave less tracks and make less noise when walking, you tied up your skirt so you could run without it getting tangled, you even left a false trail for Taehyung to unwittingly follow.

There were plenty of lush trees and hedges to hide behind, and you jumped from spot to spot to keep Taehyung on his toes.

Your heart was pounding in your chest the entire time, ears straining and eyes searching for any sign of movement. As time passed, you were quite sure that you were going to win, but then you heard a rustle.

The sound of footsteps and snapping twigs assaulted your ears as you closed in on yourself, trying to make your body appear as small as possible.

“I know you’re out here, Y/N.” Taehyung’s voice called out over the silence.

Your heart nearly stopped.

“Come on out, sweetheart. I’ll go easier on you if you surrender now.”

You bent down even further, ducking your head down. You heard leaves crunching under his boots, the sound fading until it had disappeared completely.

You waited a solid few minutes before moving, pulse thundering. You figured it would be a good idea to switch spots again, after such a close call. Emerging from your hiding spot, you turned to hurry in the opposite direction, when you collided with something hard and warm.

A pair of hands gripped your wrists, yanking you towards them.

Your stomach dropped as you looked up at your captor.

Taehyung smirked at you.

“Gotcha.”

#yandere bts #yandere taehyung #yandere v #yandere oneshot #yandere taehyung x reader

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armorbirdpress · 6 years

Text

Armor Bird Reviews: Black Panther

Heyo, it's been so freaking long since I've done a movie review! But in the wake of all the positive reactions, hype, and feels surrounding the Black Panther movie, I knew for a fact that I HAD to give it a review after seeing it this past weekend. I’ve already posted this review on the PPC Board, so if you want to check it out, the alternative link is here!

Black Panther is a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, and is the eighteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Directed by Ryan Coogler, and written by Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, it stars Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa/Black Panther, alongside Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis. As with any MCU movie, a lot of fanfare and attention has been drawn to this film, and I was dying to see it to determine if it lived up to all the hype; I am so very glad that we got tickets in advance to watch this movie, because otherwise all the seats would’ve been taken by the time we got to the theater - there were just that many people who wanted to see it. And just as well, because good golly, it is an absolute masterpiece. Spoilers under the cut!

Starting things off with the writing and characterization, I have to say that almost all the characters in the film were enjoyable and engaging to watch, and there were plenty of great moments from everyone concerned. T'Challa, despite being the obvious star of the show, actually feels kinda stoic compared to the liveliness of quite a few of the secondary characters which I'll get to a bit later, but he still has a compelling storyline, and while I was worried that he'd remain somewhat static throughout the movie, there were quite a few gut punches that ensured that he'd grow as a person and also as a ruler. The movie did a good job of demonstrating that he had big shoes to fill in a metaphorical sense, and also that even if T'Chaka had tried to be the best example that he could be for his son, his past mistakes would still come to light eventually and force T'Challa to reevaluate his worldview. This is especially apparent when it becomes known that T'Chaka, when he had donned the Black Panther suit, had been forced to kill the Wakandan traitor whose son would grow up to become Killmonger. It was a split-second decision driven by the impulse to save the life of the other Wakandan spy present, but the urge to keep up appearances for the sake of the nation ended up having far-reaching consequences that would've resulted in far more unnecessary casualties if T'Challa and later M'Baku and his tribe hadn't intervened. That kind of split-second decision is mirrored in the story in general, when T'Challa's lack of information regarding Killmonger's origin story almost costs him the throne and even his life, only being saved by the intervention of M'Baku and his remaining allies' delivery of the last Heart-Shaped Herb. Eventually, after fighting his way back to his own kingdom, he's forced to deal with Killmonger using the only remaining option left after the failure of diplomacy and civility, through violence and possible death. This history essentially repeating itself is one of the biggest contributions to T'Challa's character growth, and also his decision to make Wakanda a more publicly open nation willing to use its resources to aid the world at large in the end. It shows that he's realized how much impact even very short-term decisions can have in a sort of ripple effect, as well as the major setback of trying to lock Wakanda as a whole behind figurative closed doors: that sort of isolationism prevents you from interacting with the world around you and, like it or not, making the kinds of mistakes needed to move forward.

Naturally, since T'Challa sets a pretty high bar, the secondary characters and antagonists kinda have to settle for being second fiddle, but they all have traits of their own that help move the plot forward. The main antagonist, the aforementioned Killmonger, is interesting among the other Marvel villains in that instead of the typical "KILL EVERYTHING" or "take over the world" MO (or sometimes both) without many reasons other than "MWAHAHA I'M EVIL", he actually has a rather valid and understandable reason for his actions. The recent instances of black people being persecuted simply for their color, even in the modern day and age, are a strong force of motivation grounded in a sad reality, although the means by which Killmonger was planning to achieve that goal - by waging war on every other race - were undoubtedly going to cause as many problems as they'd solve if not more. Another interesting factor is how Killmonger's rule essentially divides up the entire nation; while Shuri (whom I'll get to later) is loyal to T'Challa through and through, and goes out of her way to help him and his cause, other characters like Okoye (initially) and W'Kabi simply serve the man in the throne whether or not he's truly fighting for the force of good. This actually threatens to tear the nation apart during Killmonger's campaign, and again, it's only because T'Challa and M'Baku's tribe join forces to stop him that things don't escalate into all-out carnage. As a wise man once said, hate begets hate - whether you think it's justified or not, the total extermination of people who are different than you, even if a few gave you grief in the past, is the wrong way to act, and only makes you like those very people who attacked you first. I have to give props to T'Challa for not falling into the same trap that his father did and offing Killmonger directly; instead, he attempted to show mercy, as well as a Wakandan sunset like in the tales Killmonger had heard as a child, but rather than spend life in prison with his reputation in shambles, Killmonger chose to essentially commit suicide and end the cycle. Even if he nearly caused an all-out civil war within the Wakandan borders, Killmonger is still a tragic figure, and that makes a big impact on all of us.

My favorite character by far, however, has to be Shuri. It's established very early on that she's not only a child prodigy, but also a youthful, spunky teenager with a wholesome sense of humor (and in at least three instances, a penchant for memery, trolling, and cringe-inducing puns on almost the same level as Chibi Yang). While she seems to be a light-hearted comic relief, though, she also plays one of the most critical roles in the story - rescuing the Heart-Shaped Herb that would later be given to T'Challa for his second wind - and her humor is offset by a dedication to her responsibilities as well as her intimate knowledge of the ins and outs of the Black Panther role as well as his loyalty to T'Challa regardless of the situation. It's probably this that leads to her being so important in helping T'Challa recover, and I'm proud of her for being both the heart of the movie (T'Challa, of course, being the soul) and a nuanced and lovable character in her own right.

The writing of the movie is also quite well done due to the points noted above and much more. Racism, prejudice, loyalty, and the impact of even the smallest things are themes that are prominent throughout the entire movie. I was very concerned that the sole major white character, Everett Ross, would turn out to be a villain (though thankfully that wasn't the case, and he gets an awesome support role in the climax that Han Solo would be proud of), and Ulysses Klaue IS a secondary antagonist, but it's interesting that ultimately, the conflict is waged by blacks, among blacks. This ties into the concept that there is no such thing as reverse racism - even if it's blacks persecuting whites, it's still way over the line if it isn't in self-defense. The conflicting solutions proposed by T'Challa and Killmonger - coming to terms with the outside world and reaching out to lend aid to it vs. only looking out for your own and forsaking all others to keep them from harm - are an uncomfortable mirror to a lot of real-world politics in recent years, but in true MCU tradition, it's the idealistic approach that wins the day in the end, although as expected for a conflict as intense as this, there are still quite a few casualties at the end of it all, and unlike many other instances in the MCU and beyond, most of these are impactful and placed tactfully enough to move the story forward.

I dont' even need to say that the graphics and visuals of this movie are absolutely gorgeous. Wakanda as a city is stunning, the various African landscapes breathtaking, and the vehicle design and choreography as masterful as a Star Wars movie. The costume and character design as well are splendid, and it is at this point that I'd like to call attention to the costume designer for this movie: Ruth E. Carter, who's also done work for such films as "Malcom X" and "School Daze" - plus she's African, and has done extensive research for this movie's designs, drawing from a wide variety of African cultures. Really, this entire movie is a feast for the eyes and absolutely worth seeing for that fact alone. My one gripe is that the war rhinos seen early in the movie and then in the climax are notably CGI, and could've been improved with some animatronic work like in the first Jurassic Park movie (or heck, they could even have used real rhinos, but IDK how much hassle that would've resulted in), but that's a minor quibble that doesn't detract from an otherwise spectacular feature.

I'm well aware that complaints about this movie have had to be filtered extensively on RottenTomatoes to prevent Internet Racism(TM) from marring the reviews unnecessarily, but that's a can of worms I'm not going into for the sake of my dignity. On my own terms, however, I do have one suggestion for improving the movie: instead of murdering Klaue just halfway through the movie, Killmonger could've just as easily pounded him into submission and forced him to work for him as a sort of Dragon (in TV Tropes lingo). T'Challa and Ross vs. Killmonger and Klaue would've been interesting to see, especially considering how threatening Klaue was with his cyborg arm and what it could do to both T'Challa and those poor innocent vehicles involved in the car chase in Korea. He'd have made an interesting secondary antagonist that could've opportunistically interfered with the warring parties and stirred up tensions just to tear down Wakanda out of spite. I'm not about to suggest an "Everett vs. Klaue" scenario - which was actually what Everett was planning in the first place when he entered this movie - but giving Klaue a bigger role before he gets offed would've made said murder more impactful and karmatic after all he's done. That's largely splitting hairs, though - I'm sure there are people who instead feel that Killmonger getting rid of Klaue early prevents competition. Who knows?

On a final note, here are two things I really want to see in future MCU films: 1) a movie with a predominantly Asian cast and setting, and 2) a movie starring Devil Freaking Dinosaur. I'll admit that both of these are kinda self-centered, but the first one in particular is probably more desirable at large because there aren't that many Asian characters at all in the MCU (Mantis from Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 and Colleen Wing from the Iron Fist TV show are probably the only ones I can think of off the top of my head, though I may have missed a few more), but one of the big things I'm noticing from the Black Panther release is that African-American and black children have come to look up to him as a hero in the same way that a lot of girls look up to Wonder Woman with the number growing since her own film release - so if the same thing could happen with an Asian superhero, that would be amazing. A quick look at the Marvel Comics online archives presents me with Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu, who has actually joined the Avengers in the comics and would make a very interesting and cool addition to their MCU incarnation. As for Devil Dinosaur, I don't even need to explain why he'd become beloved if he ever shows up in a MCU movie, even as a minor character... just keep him away from the palaeo-discourse and he should be fine.

All in all,

Black Panther

isn't a perfect movie, but it's very close to being one and I'm so happy for its success. While there are a few minor things I feel would've been worth fixing here and there, I don't see any obvious faults and certainly none that detract from how amazing it is. Do yourself a favor and give it a spin - I can promise that you'll be in for a visual and auditory treat from start to finish.

Grading Scheme:

96 - 100: A+

93 - 96: A

90 - 92.9: A-

87 - 89.9: B+

83 - 86.9: B

80 - 82.9: B-

77 - 79.9: C+

73 - 76.9: C

70 - 72.9: C-

67 - 69.9: D+

60 - 66.9: D

Below 60: E

Grades:

Writing: 9

Characterization: 9

Pacing: 8

Creativity: 9

Consistency: 9

Cinematography: 10

World Building: 9

Music and Sound: 10

Effects: 9

Engagement: 9

Final Grade: 91 (A-)

#Armor Bird Reviews #Black Panther

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dunkmasterkyouko · 6 years

Text

The Role of The Player Protagonist: What Fallout 4 Got Right and What it Got Wrong

Some reflections on the good and bad parts of the “player character” experience of Fallout 4.

There are many ways to approach to the main character of an interactive narrative. Not all game narratives are changed by the player’s actions in particularly meaningful ways, but for a large percentage of games, the player is at least advancing the narrative if nothing else. In doing so, often this entails controlling the protagonist of the narrative.

It’s worth noting that I’m couching my statements a lot. Gaming is a diverse medium, and even the definition of what is a game will change from person to person. Obviously, in some genres such as an RTS, you may not embody a particular protagonist. In some narratives, your level of interaction with the story may be essentially non-existent, and you’re merely piecing together a story from outside of it. For this piece I’m referring to a more specific kind of games where you control a single person for the majority of the experience and push forwards a story of some kind where that single person plays a large part in events.

That established, even this has many branches. There is of course, always the option of giving the player limited control of an already defined character. It’s hard to argue that someone like Lara Croft or Tidus is a meaningful reflection of the player, or that they are particularly defined by the player. Another approach is simply to make the main character so generic that they are easy to relate to for huge numbers of people, simply by never exhibiting particularly strong personality traits that would cause a player to go “I’d never do that!”

Games such as Mass Effect push it one step further. Instead giving you preset character, they give you a choice of two obvious general characters, but allowing you to mix and match a little. Shepard has a last name and some general constraints to their backstory, personality, and appearance, but the player is allowed customization to some degree. Players will often refer to “their Shepard”, and there is uniqueness to each person’s Shepard, but the fact of the matter is that there are marked similarities between them that makes them quite recognisable. One important component of that is the shared voice, which we’ll come back to later.

However, many games prefer to take an approach closer to pen and paper RPGs- you are given constraints in the form of what the system can model, and are encouraged to create your own character within that mold. In fact many of these games originate from pen and paper- Fallout itself was originally intended to be based on the GURPS system.

Of course, given the limitations of computing compared to a human game runner, your options are a little more limited than that. There’s only so many dialogue options they can program in. There’s only so many talents, abilities, and solutions to problems that can be accounted for. You are still in many ways picking from a list still, but it’s a collection of interconnecting lists rather than a set of fully independent stand alone options.

Whatever the particular methods, the end result is a game designed around the assumption that the main character could be any number of people who might have any number of dispositions, skills, personalities, and motivations.

The first way that Fallout 4 goes wrong is a point that I’m far from the first one to make. The main story of Fallout 4 is almost completely devoid of diversity in how it plays out character-to-character. That isn’t to say that there are no choices, but that the player’s role in the story and their character as represented by their actions are almost identical. No matter which faction you choose, no matter what choices you make, no matter who your character is or how they behave, in the main story of Fallout 4 the Sole Survivor is a distraught widow or widower who is desperately searching for their son. They are also passive, stupid, and gullible.

Firstly, it is essentially impossible to establish a character unique motivation for your involvement in the main quest. Using an example that I won’t touch on for the last time, in Fallout New Vegas, you could have any number of reasons for engaging with the main quest at first. Petty revenge for being shot. A search for answers about why you were shot. Simply because you encounter events relating to as you travel the wastes, since the enemy placement and geography funnels you towards the main quest locations. Once Benny is dealt with, which can be done a variety of ways for a variety of reasons, your character still isn’t locked into any one driving motivation. Maybe they’re siding with the NCR because they value stability, or maybe they just want to be on the winning side. Or maybe they just hate the legion. Or think that the NCR is most likely to pay well and not backstab them.

Meanwhile, in Fallout 4, there is one and only one reason to engage with the main story: maternal or paternal instinct. You engage with the main story because you want to save your son, and you are forced to assume that Shaun is alive and forced to decide that it’s logical to bumble around asking people if they’ve seen “a baby”.

This also touches on what I said about the main character always being passive, stupid, and gullible. It is not ever an option to have the sole survivor consider that the first unfreezing did not happen right before they were unfrozen for good. You can occasionally pick a token dialogue option about “maybe Shaun wouldn’t be a baby”, but the Sole Survivor will always behave and speak with the underlying assumption that Shaun is a baby until the child Shaun concept is introduced, at which point they will always act with the assumption that Shaun is about ten. The second I left the vault in Fallout 4, knowing nothing about the plot, I immediately realized that I had absolutely zero idea how old Shaun would be. It could have been a hundred years ago and Shaun was already dead. There was absolutely no way to communicate this as the Sole Survivor. You have to make stupid assumptions because the plot is written that way. Deal with it.

Once you follow the main quest, you are confronted with another problem: you are never allowed to try and solve anything on your own. You go to where people tell you, and follow the leads you are directly handed. You are never given a chance to make any deductions or decisions. You simply go to the next person who might solve things for you randomly. Once again, you’re forced to follow the plot thread of this one mercenary you have a fairly generic description of being definitely 1) still alive 2) infamous enough that people would know he is and 3) still a link to Shaun rather than “I don’t know, someone hired me to steal vault babies”. You are not ever given any option to search in another other way. You describe Kellogg, and you get the dog to track him.

Meanwhile, going back to Fallout New Vegas, you can track Benny however you want. You can follow the breadcrumb trail, asking about a far more noticeable person who you know did something recently rather than an unknown period of time ago, or you can make the logical deduction of, say, going to where you were delivering the package, or going to the central hub of the world, or learning early on that Benny is from New Vegas and making a beeline to him that way. In the original Fallout, you can follow the trail the game sets up for the water chip, or you can simply walk in a direction and find settlements, search for vaults in the mountains, or ignore the quest entirely and focus on exploration until you feel that you’ve met people that might actually know where the water chip is.

I don’t think it’s necessary or called for to go over the main quest step by step criticizing it. The main points are already evident. There are a few more things to mention, however. Firstly, you are never allowed to not fall for the android Shaun. Secondly, you have absolutely no agency over your response to Shaun. You cannot not believe him that he’s your son. You cannot feel no connection to him given that he grew up completely separate to you and there’s no emotional connection to this old man when you were looking for your baby child. You are always emotional to see him and fully believe first that the android is real, and then that Shaun is actually your son, neither with any real evidence other than your magical ability to know what your child would grow up to look like.

The last point on the main story is to revisit the passivity I mentioned earlier. You are fundamentally incapable of making enemies except by allying with their enemies, are completely unable to explain things to people. You cannot ever tell the railroad that you control the institute and that you don’t need to kill them to free the synths. You cannot ever tell the institute that you won’t kill the railroad, and that you’re in charge so they can sit down and shut up. You can tell the brotherhood that you don’t agree with them, but they will continue to treat you like you do. Your character is only ever capable of picking whose orders they follow, even when they’re supposedly the leader of multiple factions.

But, Fallout 4 is not a game that consists of only a main quest. And that’s where Fallout 4 does some things right.

I, like many others, was worried at the announcement of a voiced protagonist. The skeptics predicted- correctly, as it turned out- that this would mean that dialogue would become much less varied and less options would be available. It also made your character less unique- as I mentioned with Shepard earlier, having someone deliver a line in the exact same tone and inflection with the exact same voice makes them seem more identical to another character than just choosing the same text dialogue option. Two couriers can seem completely different, but any two Sole Survivors of the same gender will speak identically.

Generally, in a game like that, it’s troubling to erode a player’s unique identity. However, there is one instance where the uniqueness of a character’s identity doesn’t need to shine through for your to feel like you’re playing your own character.

And that’s when you’re pretending to be someone else.

One of the main draws of the Fallout series for me, and the Elder Scrolls series to a lesser extent, is the appeal of the Kung Fu style wanderer. Travelling to communities that you’re not a part of, experiencing the local flavour, solving problems and then moving on. It’s a fun fantasy, and allows things to seem more alive than they really are. When you’re living in the same city as someone, and you hear their four lines of dialogue ten thousand times, how flat and unreal they are is obvious. But when you’re just passing through, you only see a slice of them, and don’t see that that slice is all that’s there. Fallout 4 presents a number of quests that allow you to seamlessly slip into a place where you don’t belong and merely enjoy the ride for a little while. The two best examples of this for me are the Silver Shroud questline and the Last Voyage of the U.S.S. Constitution quest.

The Silver Shroud quest is not only a lot of fun, but it’s both a reflection of things players do organically and a chance to define your character’s motivation and approach. People will often dress up as things just for fun in these types of game- putting on the Grognak outfit and hitting people with Grognak’s axe is just something you do, not for any in game reason but just because it’s fun. So letting you dress as the Silver Shroud at having it mean something is great. Additionally, you’re allowed to pick how much you want to get into character. You can just interact with the people in the quest normally, but you’re given the option to do silly impressions of the Shroud’s voice and pretend to be the character completely. It’s a rare moment of doing a quest differently than another player in a way that isn’t “oh, I did the evil option”. And you could have any number of motivations for acting like the silver shroud- maybe you’re doing it because you’re trying to bring the legend to life to scare people, maybe you’re humouring the old man, maybe you just find it fun to pretend. Since you’re playing the role of the shroud, all these motivations are plausible even with the same options, because you’re not acting like yourself.

The Last Voyage of the U.S.S. Constitution is a slightly different take, but it’s a similar thing- when the robot announces that you have been drafted, as a citizen of the US, simply saying “oh yeah, of course, lead the way” has room for all kinds of different motivations. And like I said, it’s genuinely fun to just see where whatever strange person you’ve run into is going with this and take a walking tour of a miniature community.

In the end, I still don’t much like Fallout 4 for a variety of reasons. But for all the issues the plot has with giving the player the chance to actually play things out the way they want to, those two side quests are genuinely fond memories that I deeply enjoyed. Sometimes the best way have a quest that any number of different people would do for any number of different reasons is simply to hand someone a costume and whisper “play along”.

#fallout #fallout 4 #my writing #yeah that's right jerks I did some more rambling about video games

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rosedavid · 7 years

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Stiles has been having a particularly bad day where nothing has gone right. He's clumsier than usual and he's so snide to his friends that by the end of the day no one will talk to him. He's managed to almost seriously injure himself several times. When Lydia comes by later that night for dinner, having forgiven him, Stiles asks the question that's been on his mind for a while. Why does she love him?

Thanks so much for the prompt!!!

Theentire pack has noticed Stiles making more snide remarks than usual that day,some of them extremely bitter. Scott shot his best friend many warning looks,but Stiles just continued on, driving everyone insane. Of course, it just sohappened that the pack is heading to investigate some strange symbols in theforest that night, and Stiles has to tag along.

By thispoint in time, almost all of the pack is ignoring Stiles. Hayden and Liamstarted first, both furious at him for mocking insults about theirrelationship. Next came Mason, who Stiles constantly kept referring to as a“useless human.” After that,Malia stopped talking to him when he joked about their past relationship.

Scott,although obviously angry, still manages to look Stiles in the eye. Lydia also hasn’tstarted ignoring her boyfriend yet. Actually, she’s interested in his behavioras of today. Although Stiles constantly makes snide remarks toward people, heusually doesn’t make them nearly as often, or as harsh. Despite the mean thingshe’s been saying, Lydia knows he doesn’t really mean them. Something is wrongwith him, and she has no idea what it is.

So thepack reaches the grouping of symbols etched into pine trees. They’ve trekkedpretty deep into the forest so far. Even the light from the moon and stars isobscured by the thick branches and needles. The symbols are no language thatany of them recognized, and Deaton claimed he needed more information. Hence,they are copying down every symbol they can find and plotting the location inorder to figure out what they mean. Mason waits back at the entrance to theforest, in case something happens.

"It’skind of pathetic, honestly,“ Stiles jabbers on, "I mean, you two arejust constantly sucking face everywhere. Are you that needy?” He’sreferring to Liam and Hayden, who are linking hands while they behind Stiles.

Liam’sfree hand clenches into a fist. Lydia can see the blood dripping from his palm,but Stiles keeps going. “Stiles,” She warns.

But hedoesn’t stop. If anything, the comments get more and more brutal. And soon,Liam wrenches his hand from his girlfriend’s grip, and tackles Stiles to theforest floor. He lands with an oomph, knocking the breath out of him. Scottrushes forward, prying the beta off of Stiles. Interestingly enough, Stilesdoesn’t need the help. He forces Liam off him, shoving the werewolf in thechest, causing him to also fall to the ground. Liam growls, fangs extending.Now, Scott butts in.

"Hey!Stop it,“ Scott orders. "Both of you! We’re here to solve problems,not make more.”

Liamhisses, “Well maybe if Stiles wasn’t being such a bastard…”

"Maybeif Liam wasn’t being such a wimp,“ Stiles interrupts.

Fullyinvested in the argument, no one notices the figure slinking behind the trees.Scott stands between the two, keeping them apart, while Hayden stands by herboyfriend protectively. Meanwhile, Malia watches, interested to see what willhappen. Lydia, meanwhile, notices something off in the air. A small shift offeet from behind them.

"There’ssomeone here!” Lydia whispers urgently. Right then, a figure leaps out ofthe trees, snarling. Scott growls, and the two werewolves meet each other inthe middle, fighting violently. More jump out from the shadows, a lot more.They all have yellow eyes. No Alpha.

Lydiascreams, sending one werewolf smashing into a tree, temporarily subdued. Maliaslashes at another as it comes toward her. Hayden and Liam team up to battleone together, taking turns swiping at her.

Stilesalso fights one, swinging his baseball bat across his head. But tonight, forsome reason, Stiles is acting more careless and angry than usual, his swingsand defenses messy. The werewolf is able to claw him on the shoulder, rippingthrough the fabric of his jacket and slicing through skin. Blood flows from hiswound, but he continues through the pain, eventually managing to slam thewerewolf into a tree, dust flying everywhere. The werewolf’s claws get stuck inthe bark, and it’s just enough time for Stiles to slam the aluminum baseballbat across his head, knocking him unconscious.

"Stiles,“Lydia calls. He realizes he’s swaying slightly on his feet. "Oh my god,Stiles. Are you okay?”

Hepulls away from her grasp, snapping, “I’m fine.” And it’s true, hewill be fine, with some stitches back and home.

"Maybeif you weren’t so focused on your sarcastic comments,“ Hayden challenged.

Scott,as always, acts as the mediator. "Hey, everyone, calm down.”

"Alwayshave to fix everyone else’s problems, don’t you Scott?“ Stiles spits."Maybe I don’t need you to fix mine.” He stalks back toward hisJeep. Lydia sighs, running a hand down her face. What’s going on with him? Shewatches his figure until he blends into the darkness. Of course, Lydia isn’tgoing to let this go. She needs to figure out what’s wrong. Scott places a handon her shoulder.

"Helphim,“ He says. She will.

__________________________________

Thenext day, she goes to his house for dinner, as they planned. It’s a Saturday,and she hasn’t seen him since last night. She figured that she would give him achance to cool down, hoping that it might help. That night, Lydia rings thedoorbell, waiting for an answer. Footsteps pad down the stairs, and a secondlater the door is flung open, revealing Stiles. He looks like a ghost, with a translucentface and dark circles under his eyes.

"Youcame?” Stiles asks with confusion.

Lydiarolls her eyes, gently pushing her way indoors. “Obviously. Is dinnerready yet?”

"Abouttwenty minutes.“

Sheclutches his hand, leading him upstairs past the Sheriff. They head to hisroom, where they both sit tentatively on his bed. Sighing, Lydia turns to lookat him.

"What’sgoing on with you?” She questions. “Why are you being so snide andreckless recently? Honestly, Stiles, I don’t mind your sarcasm, but this isjust going way too far.”

Stileseyes darken, and he shuffles away from her a bit. “Why do you care?”

"Becauseyou’re my boyfriend, stupid, and I worry about you. Please, I’m really notangry, just tell me what’s going on? Let me in.“

Heflops back on the bed, eyes casting up toward the ceiling. Lydia also fallsback, turning on her side to face him. He doesn’t move, simply glares up at thetop of his room.

Suddenly,out of nowhere, Stiles says, "Why do you love me?”

Thequestion surprises Lydia. Her mouth opens but no words echo out. Why would heask something like that. At the lack of response, he sighs, and shifts to get up.Lydia touches his arm, silently asking him to stay. He complies.

"Whatdo you mean, Stiles?“ She wonders, confused.

"Imean, why do you love me? Obviously I’ve been driving everyone crazy recently,and I’m constantly in danger because I don’t have any powers. I’m reckless anduseless and an all around shitty boyfriend. So why do you love me?”

Then,Lydia understands. She understands why Stiles has been so cruel to everyone. Acoping mechanism. He’s worried that he’s not good enough for Lydia, and theonly way he could think of fixing that problem (for some stupid reason) is bydegrading others and making them seem more inferior.

"Stiles…“Lydia whispers, shuffling closer. She cuddles into his chest. "You don’tneed to put others down to raise yourself up. You’re already perfect. I loveeverything about you. Your smarts, your looks, your boisterous personality,your sometimes over the top humor, your love for your jeep, your lacrosse, yourinvestigative skills…you. Listen, you don’t have to worry about anything. Ilove you already.”

Hefinally turns his head, soft brown eyes meeting her own. “I love you too.And I’m sorry. I guess I was just in a really terrible mood. I just see theseboys staring at you in the hallways, and it gets especially bad before dances,and I guess I just got jealous.”

"Iforgive you,“ Lydia promises, pressing a delicate kiss to his lips. Hewraps an arm around her shoulders to pull her in closer, when his father shoutsthat dinner is ready. Stiles groans as Lydia moves off of him.

"Comeon, he can wait,” Stiles pleads, beckoning her back.

Lydiashakes her head, “Be patient, Stiles.” There’s a twinkle in her eyesas she heads out the open door and down the stairs.

"Tease,“Stiles mutters to himself, before hopping off the bed to join them.

#stydia #teen wolf #stydia fanfic #tw fanfic #teen wolf fanfiction #stydia fanfiction #stiles stilinski #lydia martin #fanfiction #Anonymous #fluff #angst

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professorblind · 7 years

Text

Hate is a very strong emotion, but if I hate anyone, I really really hate Ronald Reagan.

- 8 reasons why Ronald Reagan was the worst president of our lifetime

“If you ever happen to come across a Republican on television these days, chances are that you will hear the name Ronald Reagan. Recent Republican debates are the perfect example of the love fest that the current Republican party has for Reagan as each candidate name drops the former president at every turn. If you only listened to conservatives you would think that Jesus Christ was the only person above Reagan on the totem pole of conservative love. They talk about his love of low taxes, less government and conservative family values. The problem is that when you step out of the conservative dream and come back to reality, you find that not only was Ronald Reagan a bad president, but he was one of the worst presidents we've seen in modern times. Reagan's policies have destroyed the United States for three decades, and for the eight years he was in office”

- Was Reagan a bad president? Why?

“Frankly, the Reagan Era is likely only 'fondly remembered' by those who did well economically during his Presidency or by those who have only read positive accounts of his terms in the White House.”

- Why do some say Ronald Reagan was a bad president?

“Reagan pursued policies as President that were short-sighted, reckless and, for many, hurtful. His economic legacy is one of deplorable disregard for the consequences of his actions, and the ramifications of Reagan's decisions remain with us to this day.”

- Ronald Reagan was the worst president in our History

“Yes, he was worse than all the rest because his legacy of deficit spending and amassing of national debt to this day is crushing our ability to deal with the short-term and long-term world crisis. Bush I and Clinton both tried to get Reagan's deficit down, Clinton with with some success only to have Bush II add even more shit to the pile. Even today, much of our national budget goes to servicing Reagan's debt and reassuring our debtors. For the past 25 years we have continued to pay perhaps hundreds of billions just in interest because Reagan decided the wealthy shouldn't have to pay so much in taxes. Those tax cuts for the wealthy were simply passed on to all the rest of us with the crippling debt they created and may take decades or even a century for you and I to pay off. When it's all said and done Reagan's debt and all the interest we have had to pay on that debt could add up into the tens of trillions. It's not much different than a poor person running up their credit card to $10,000 and then only paying $10 a month to pay it off because that is all he has left to pay on the card. By the end of the poor person's life he may end up paying the credit card company $100,000 or more for a $10,000 loan. Think of Reagan and Bush II's debt as being on your current credit card statement even though it doesn't show up, because the fact is we will be paying for it out of our own pockets probably for the rest of our lives. “Keep in mind the so-called Reagan boom was in fact a rather middling episode of economic growth. The economy grew much more slowly in the 1980s than during the 1960s, more slowly than the postwar average of 3.6% annual growth, and no faster than in the 1970s or the 1990s. This is absolutely terrible when you think of all the debt he saddled upon us. We got no bang for one hell of a lot of bucks that we are still fucking paying for! Clearly the tax cuts had very little impact on stimulating the economy. Most of the other economic numbers from the 80's were below par compared to other decades. In a nut shell, if you did a cost benefit analysis of Reagan's economic policies he would get not just an F but a ZERO because he did much more damage than good.”

- The Irony and the Ecstasy

“Things were pretty dire when Reagan took office back in 1981, as Ryan remembers it. But Reagan ‘was not defeated or deterred. Instead, he proposed a plan to get America back on track.'

“Well, yes, in his speech to a joint session of Congress shortly after becoming president, Reagan presented his 'plan'—a reasonably detailed discussion of proposed tax cuts and spending cuts, pursuant to his vision of smaller government. The thing is, almost none of these changes ever happened. The tax cuts went through in 1981 but were partially repealed in 1982. In his 'plan,' Reagan promised to cut two Cabinet departments (Energy and Education). Instead he added one (Veterans Affairs, now the government’s second-largest). Ryan chooses to remember the Reagan of 1981, when anything was possible. This allows him to take Reagan’s promises as some kind of reality. Thirty-four years down the road, it’s too late for that.

...

“Reagan inherited a federal budget of $599 billion in revenue, $678 billion in spending, and a deficit of $79 billion. He left office with a federal budget of $909 billion in revenue, a little less than $1.1 trillion in spending, and a deficit of $155 billion.”

- 6 Ways You Didn't Realize Ronald Reagan Ruined The Country

“If we're talking pure numbers, there really isn't anything to argue about when it comes to which administration oversaw this country in the shadiest manner. Reagan wins that hands down. During his time in office, an astounding 138 members of his team were investigated, indicted, or convicted for their roles in various scandals. You could argue that merely being investigated shouldn't count, but that would be a stupid argument. Of course being investigated counts. Plenty of people live their entire lives without being the subject of an investigation of any sort, you know?

“Even if you did take that part out of the equation, the number of Reagan administration officials who were convicted of wrongdoing of some sort is astonishing, especially when compared with the statistics of famously "corrupt" presidents like Nixon or Clinton. This list on DailyKos.com just references those who were convicted of crimes that related to the jobs they performed as part of the administration. There are 21 names on the list. A similar list about the Nixon presidency would only produce eight names. Clinton's would have just one.”

- 5 Terrible Things Ronald Reagan Did As President

“After his tax cuts devastated the federal treasury, ushering in the era of giant deficits we’re still mired in today, Reagan raised Social Security taxes, ostensibly to protect Social Security for future generations. Instead, he dumped that money into the general treasury fund to reduce the deficits he had created.”

- 5 More Terrible Things Ronald Reagan Did as President

“Deinstitutionalization of mentally ill patients began before Reagan was president, and in fact it was already recognized as a policy failure by 1981. But that didn’t stop the president from cutting funds for treating and preventing mental illnesses. The result was a big jump in the homeless population, a large percentage of whom suffered from serious mental illness. It’s a legacy that remains to this day.”

- 21 Reasons Why Ronald Reagan Was a Terrible President

“After several Americans were taken hostage by terrorists in Lebanon, Reagan provided weapons to Iran in exchange for their release. Despite this concession, ultimately more hostages were taken.

“After Reagan sent Marines to Beirut for a peacekeeping mission, a terrorist’s truck bomb killed 241 U.S. Marines. Reagan responded by immediately doing exactly what the terrorists wanted, pulling all the troops out of Beirut.

“After the bombing of the US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Reagan promised to track down and punish the terrorists who committed that horrible act. He never followed up on that promise.”

- 8 Reasons Ronald Reagan Was One of the Worst Presidents Ever

“Before being elected President, Reagan said that being a member of a union was a ‘basic right’ all workers deserved. But oh how Washington corrupts. The air traffic controllers went on strike when salary negotiations failed. If they didn’t return to work, Reagan said they would be fired. Of those workers striking 11,345 were officially fired and banned from working for the federal government for life. His arrogance not only hurt families it also caused airline problems for several years to find and train new air traffic controllers. According to Michael Nolan’s book Fundamentals of Air Traffic Control, the FAA assured Washington the problems would be solved in just two years, but it took nearly ten years for staffing of air traffic control to return to normal. In 1993 President Bill Clinton lifted the federal service ban.“

- Ronald Reagan cared more about UFOs than AIDS

“Reagan talked about this alien threat all the time, to the apparent consternation of his staff. When his 1987 U.N. assembly speech didn’t include the alien story, he wrote, 'and toward the end perhaps I still would like my `fantasy’ — how quickly our differences world wide would vanish if creatures from another planet should threaten this world.'

“If Ronald Reagan was a genuine UFO nutter or simply in thrall to a simplistic sci-fi plot makes no difference to me. But the fact remains that he spent a lot of time talking about spacemen. Spacemen killed, according to my estimates, no Americans, at all, during Reagan’s presidency.

“Reagan never mentioned AIDS until he was directly questioned about it in his second term, and he never gave a public statement on the epidemic until 1987, when 20,000-30,000 people had already died from it. When it came up in press briefings, it was, at first, a subject of humorous cajoling. Later, the president was advised not to say that children couldn’t catch AIDS from casual contact. Members of the Reagan inner circle attacked Surgeon General C. Everett Koop for encouraging sex education and condom use. The Centers for Disease Control was underfunded and there was never a comprehensive plan for dealing with the epidemic.

“The president mentions in a 1985 diary entry, in passing, that Rock Hudson was rumored to have AIDS — and the topic doesn’t come up again for two years. (And for some reason, late in his term, he begins consistently misspelling it, as 'Aides.') There isn’t much evidence that he devoted much time at all to even thinking about AIDS, which was killing a frankly staggering number of Americans throughout his entire presidency. Edmund Morris recalls him wondering if 'the Lord brought down this plague [because] illicit sex is against the Ten Commandments,' which does not sound like the statement of a man who’s given the disease much thought.

“Whether he himself was an anti-gay bigot who thought that the disease was a punishment from an angry god or simply a callous old man (surrounded by Christian right ideologues) who didn’t concern himself with what was killing so many homosexuals hardly matters. People died either way, because the government didn’t make fighting the epidemic a priority.”

[...and this should be horrifyingly familiar to anyone awake this past month]

- Behind the Ronald Reagan myth: “No one had ever entered the White House so grossly ill informed”

“At presidential news conferences, especially in his first year, Ronald Reagan embarrassed himself. On one occasion, asked why he advocated putting missiles in vulnerable places, he responded, his face registering bewilderment, 'I don’t know but what maybe you haven’t gotten into the area that I’m going to turn over to the secretary of defense.' Frequently, he knew nothing about events that had been headlined in the morning newspaper. In 1984, when asked a question he should have fielded easily, Reagan looked befuddled, and his wife had to step in to rescue him. 'Doing everything we can,' she whispered. 'Doing everything we can,' the president echoed. To be sure, his detractors sometimes exaggerated his ignorance. The publication of his radio addresses of the 1950s revealed a considerable command of facts, though in a narrow range. But nothing suggested profundity. 'You could walk through Ronald Reagan’s deepest thoughts,' a California legislator said, 'and not get your ankles wet.'

“In all fields of public affairs—from diplomacy to the economy—the president stunned Washington policymakers by how little basic information he commanded. His mind, said the well-disposed Peggy Noonan, was 'barren terrain.' Speaking of one far-ranging discussion on the MX missile, the Indiana congressman Lee Hamilton, an authority on national defense, reported, 'Reagan’s only contribution throughout the entire hour and a half was to interrupt somewhere at midpoint to tell us he’d watched a movie the night before, and he gave us the plot from War Games.' The president 'cut ribbons and made speeches. He did these things beautifully,' Congressman Jim Wright of Texas acknowledged. 'But he never knew frijoles from pralines about the substantive facts of issues.' Some thought him to be not only ignorant but, in the word of a former CIA director, 'stupid.' Clark Clifford called the president an 'amiable dunce,' and the usually restrained columnist David Broder wrote, 'The task of watering the arid desert between Reagan’s ears is a challenging one for his aides.'

“No Democratic adversary would ever constitute as great a peril to the president’s political future, his advisers concluded, as Reagan did himself. Therefore, they protected him by severely restricting situations where he might blurt out a fantasy. His staff, one study reported, wrapped him 'in excelsior,' while 'keeping the press at shouting distance or beyond.' In his first year as president, he held only six news conferences—fewest ever in the modern era. Aides also prepared scores of cue cards, so that he would know how to greet visitors and respond to interviewers. His secretary of the treasury and later chief of staff said of the president: 'Every moment of every public appearance was scheduled, every word scripted, every place where Reagan was expected to stand was chalked with toe marks.' Those manipulations, he added, seemed customary to Reagan, for 'he had been learning his lines, composing his facial expressions, hitting his toe marks for half a century.' Each night, before turning in, he took comfort in a shooting schedule for the next day’s television-focused events that was laid out for him at his bedside, just as it had been in Hollywood.

“His White House staff found it difficult, often impossible, to get him to stir himself to follow even this rudimentary routine. When he was expected to read briefing papers, he lazed on a couch watching old movies. On the day before a summit meeting with world leaders about the future of the economy, he was given a briefing book. The next morning, his chief of staff asked him why he had not even opened it. 'Well, Jim,' the president explained, 'The Sound of Music was on last night.'”

Editorial: Nearly every problem of the 1990s, 2000s, and even into the 2010s can be traced back, not to the 70s of Nixon, Ford, and Carter, but to the 1980s. Yes, even 9/11 [Reagan’s CIA armed & trained Bin Laden].

The Cult of Reagan and the myths about the efficacy of his policies haunt us to this day. Every time a GOP congresscritter makes noises about how spending and deficits are some kind of exclusively ‘Democrat’ failing I have to wonder about their willful blindness to the true Reagan legacy.

Basically, every good thing to come out of the Depression era and WWII - all the economic and social advances of the mid 20th Century, were either slowed, halted, or rolled back starting with Reagan and gleefully perpetuated by his acolytes.

The challenges we currently face all started in the 80s: automation of manufacturing, global trade facilitated by massive changes in shipping logistics, the transition from paper-shuffling to computerized records, and the move from full-service to self-serve - not just at the gas pump, but also things like ATMs, self-check out at the register, voice menus instead of operators & receptionists, and even internet retail. Technology has changed the nature of employment, white- and blue-collar both (and also changed the education needs of future workers) but we’re stuck with “tax cuts will solve everything” fantasies and nostalgia-mode economic policies that look back to the 50s, or 20s (or 1880s) for solutions.

I also have to wonder where our planet might be if the initiatives for solar and green energy that barely got started under Carter had been encouraged and expanded, rather than immediately rolled back - would we have started the transition to renewables 30 years earlier?

I guess we’ll never know.

#Reagan was a terrible president

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