#Derision in a nutshell

[itsemsie]

Astruc writting Chloe in Season 1: A regular school bully, pretty much harmless.

Astruc writting Chloe in Season 6 probably: Chloe Bourgeois is actually the one who broke the peacock miraculous in the first place and is thus the reason why Emilie died, I mean got sick and thus caused Gabriel to siral and become Hawkmoth which of cause causedd the entire series to happen and eventually lead to Gabriel sacrificing himself to bring bakc Natalie and forced Marinette to lie to Adrien and so Chloe is actually the reason why they haven't had the reveal yet. Don't you hate her enough? Did you also know she's the reason why Juleka and Rose haven't gotten together yet, or why Rose has her illness which he can't say. Did you know that Chloe actually broke-

[amuseoffyre]

I was reading the interview with Jes Tom about the trans allegory of Ed dropping his leathers overboard and my brain latched onto it and started gnawing :D

It got me thinking that this definitely vibes with feelings I had back in 1x10 with Izzy keeping this emotionally vulnerable version of Blackbeard safely hidden from public view ("you will not speak of what you see on pain of death"), Lucius encouraging Ed to express himself and the whole "this… whatever it is that you have become" scene.

Ed says it there himself "I am still Blackbeard" and Izzy flat-out tells him he's not unless he presents himself a specific way, dresses and acts a specific way ('this is Blackbeard'.) Simply being "Edward" and expressing himself and his emotions means that Ed faces hostility, derision, implicit threat and "I should have let the English kill you".

Ed pulls on his leathers again again because he's been threatened by someone close to him, but this time it's different - the intent is different. No more "I am still Blackbeard" because apparently his version of Blackbeard isn't enough (and this is already on the back of Stede saying "you can't be Blackbeard without your black beard"). Now it's "the kraken" or "the fucking devil".

More importantly, when he puts the clothes back on, he does it based on one of the propaganda pictures distributed by the English. This isn't his choice of presentation anymore. I find it fascinating that his look at the beginning of S2 is some kind of hybrid of the Mad Devile Pyrate Blackbeard and the image that Izzy shoved in his face in 1x10. (Also love the detail that Izzy's image has elements that appear in Black Pete's fantasy of Blackbeard, to confirm that this image isn't accurate either)

It's a defensive pushback, escalating to the 'viking vampire clown' aesthetic, because if he's being threatened by someone he trusted and he's had past experience of people being nice to him then turning on him ('it's a fickle crowd'), he'll have to go to another extreme to make sure no one will get close enough to hurt him or threaten him again.

The clothing is only a surface element. It's part of an armour to protect himself with his presentation. Stede's line in 1x03 explains it in a nutshell - "It's a power move - make people feel underdressed and suddenly, you're the one in charge". People don't know him/aren't afraid of him when they see him without it (the party ship - "do you know who I am?") and this carries over into S2 as well (the people at the fish shack).

It only hit me now that every scene where he expresses his emotions when he's in his leathers includes some kind of hiding - his hair loose around his face, hiding under a robe in Stede's bath tub, standing at the back of the ship where no one can see his face, closing himself away to cry in an empty room, hiding under a blanket at Mary and Anne's. He's been forced to hide his vulnerabilities when he's in his armour for decades.

Even when he's talking to Stede (and others), he doesn't express his real intentions. It's all skirting around what he actual wants and feels. The "run me through", the "next adventure" - Ed doesn't feel he can express what he wants directly, because he always has to keep his guard up.

The beginning of 2x07 is Ed wanting to shed the need for that surface armour, that visible shield for Edward. He drops them overboard and immediately goes and talks to Stede about his emotions and his feelings for the first time.

The fact that Izzy saw the leather-drop and this time says "maybe you should listen to it" instead of tearing him down shows how far they've come. Ed feels safe with Stede and wants to just be himself, but when faced with the idea of staying in the world where that armour - that presentation and the expectations that come with it - is necessary again, he panics and runs.

Then their entire world is burning and as far as he knows, Stede is injured or dead.

Once again, the leathers come back, but this time, Ed is the one who chooses to put them on. He's taking this piece of himself that he has hated for years and turns it back into the armour that has protected him for this long to get back to Stede. Him having that choice, making that choice, is key.

I think the biggest thing is him realising he can be Blackbeard and Ed and whoever he wants to be without cutting off pieces of himself. So much of the Blackbeard presentation has been code-switching and hiding his real self. This time, he doesn't hide. He finds a letter and has a cry over it and the instant he's back at Stede's side, he drops his weapon and, for the first time, kisses Stede out in the open in front of people and tells him he loves him.

Ed is no longer afraid to be seen and expressing himself. He's letting himself - all aspects of himself - be seen. The clothes aren't him. They just happen to be there while he is himself.

My expectation is that S3 will see him finally being able to leave that armour behind for good and I can't wait for it.

[theytistic]

Do you already have the whole script of your AU or are there still some things you need to figure out?

In a nutshell, I still need to define a few things, such as: I'm still seeing the powers of the miraculous, I need to see who the other holders will be, I only have 4 defined (disregarding the 2 main ones), most of them are in the clothes and character designs, like: they are 2 years older (except Max), and the clothes are a slight mix of the style of the person who switched, but keeping the essence of the character. But also the hair, I'm still not sure whether to do Juleka with natural hair, or keep it dyed (she swapped places with Chloe), or Adrien with dyed hair (he swapped places with Luka). There's also the personality of the characters, there's a slight change in their personality, like: Kagami is no longer centered, she's looking for hobbies, since everything she learned to do in life wasn't something that gave her pleasure, apart from dishonor and fear (she gave up fencing). Or Luka, who met his father as a child and instead of being inspired, was "disgusted" with who he was, never entering the world of music, becoming a model from a young age, with his mother's permission and his will. Many have changed personality due to a small change, Marinette isn't even in Paris; The timeline is set, but in things to happen rather than set episodes, as I may end up changing the order at any moment, but I think 47 chapters (counting the separate parts of the origin), so a lot can change until I start drawing. Not to mention that some events are canonical, even if the original episode is bad or poorly executed, the case of Derision, and unlike Canon, the actions of this ep will have consequences, and so much so that Chloe is in rehab and doing community service, because due to one event, the joke post, ended up becoming something more tragic.

[tryalittlejoytomorrow]

     you hit me with a plot twist, ch.4

Fandom: Six of Crows / Shadow and Bone (TV)

Pairing: Nina/Matthias

Tags: modern setting: college AU; enemies to lovers; meeting on the internet; slow burn

Status: in progress

Summary: Nina and Matthias regularly clash against each other at Debate Club. They might find some common ground if they could stop yelling at each other for more than one goddamn minute.

Extract:

"I don't get it."

Nina burrows deeper into the cocoon of blankets she's buried herself under, willing herself to disappear. Kaz only narrows his eyes at her. "Which part?" she asks with a derisive snort. "I thought my tale was pretty graphic and self-explanatory."

Kaz shakes his head. "Yeah, no, I don't need any more details," he says, mouth pulled in a tight line. To his credit, Kaz did sit through her reading three months' worth of secret correspondence and a retelling step by step of everything that happened the night before without a complaint. "I just don't see what the problem is."

"You don't see the problem?" Nina frowns. "How much did you drink last night?"

"Definitely less than you, as I'm not the one who almost had sex with Matthias Helvar."

"Kaz..." Inej's voice is laced with a warning, but there's a definite twitch at the corner of her mouth that betrays her amusement.

What a gloomy morning for treason, Nina thinks. "You do realize you guys are totally not helping, right?"

Inej rolls her eyes. "Babe, Kaz has a point," she starts, shifting on the couch from her half-tucked position against Kaz to fully face Nina, elbows on her knees as her eyes meet hers. "What's so wrong about finding out that Matthias isn't half as bad as you thought he was?"

Nina sighs. That's Inej in a nutshell: better terrible truths than kind lies. And this is a terrible truth, no matter what Kaz and Inej say - that for the past three months, she's been getting to know the man behind the big, blond, blind Fjerdan she loves to hate in Debate Club and that somehow, she's fallen in love with him.

Read the rest on AO3!

[sebastophanes]

(pictured: Publius Ovidius Naso reciting the Aeneid for Augustus Caesar and his wife Octavia)

It’s a strange thing, this.

It is not a disservice to my beloved Emperors to say that the times have not been kind to Them. For centuries Their cult in particular has been maligned. They and Their worship have been mocked by their satirist contemporaries, attacked relentlessly by Christian polemics and given pride of place in the hagiographies of countless martyrs, subjected to the slings and arrows of a thousand clever secularists and witty historians, before coming to rest at the current status-quo: at a time when the Senate and People of Rome have risen afresh — many times over — the mighty heroes which built and reigned over the Roman nation have been shafted once again.

The engine of the Roman pagan world is, and has always been, Nova Roma. The Societas Via Romana and the Roman Republic are memories by now, the latter having folded into NR, Roma Aeterna continues to only scrape by on Facebook, and the much-heralded debut of the Imperium Romanum went over like a lead balloon — barely garnering 30 citizens (as of this writing) after months of hype. This isn’t to say that things haven’t changed since I first entered Roman paganism around 2010-2011, then still in the halcyon age of the Republic: it is far less unusual now to find Roman pagans and/or cultores Deorum who aren’t even citizens of NR(!), or those outside a strict recon format; but even today the res publica of Nova Roma is the largest, oldest, and wealthiest community in the Roman world.

And that’s fine! I don’t mean to bash NR, because they have done and still do wonderful things for the Gods; but when the central engine of Roman revivalism is aggressively dedicated to the Republican era it naturally sets the tone for the wider community as well. Having strenuously avoided connection with the Imperial era Nova Roma has no sacerdotes of the Divine Emperors and never has, nor will you find any shortage of citizens who will contend that the Imperial Cult was just politics — religious showboating divorced from the ‘real’ Cultus Deorum and unworthy of reconstruction or revival. This latter attitude is in fact the typical one. Occasionally one will find a devotee of some specific Emperor such as Julian, Marcus Aurelius, or Augustus Caesar, but even this is relatively infrequent. Altogether, where the Imperial Cult is concerned, the preference seems to be derision and/or ignominy.

And so, for over a decade, it’s pretty much been just me and Them. I have been fortunate to find a space accepting and encouraging of the Imperial Cult: the Empire of Byzantium Novum and the Classical Church thereof. For almost the entire run of my relationship with Them I have served Them in the context of priesthood for the Empire and her welfare, and I am proud to claim the title of Byzantine Pagan — and to note that last year I was finally joined by another sacerdos of the Imperial Cult. The nature of my relationship with the Emperors, exactly, is something to be examined in later posts; hopefully to some interest. In a nutshell, however, I hope this suffices as a brief appetiser to what I’m about.

[slow-burn-sally]

Favorite headcanons for: johnsquared, childercelles, johnlock, ineffable husbands

Buckle up! 

Johnsquared:

PIGEON!! I love this pet name for Segundus so much. So you know it made it onto the list. 

I just want to take a minute to recognize how cool it is that so so so many fics adopted the HC that Segundus gets his school, and that Childermass visits it periodically and falls in love with Segundus at Starecross. Any number of things could have happened after the book. It was an open playing field, but we collectively (or rather, writers that came before me collectively) decided that that lovely man gets to have his school! 

I HC that Childermass is very protective of Segundus and sort of watches out for him from the sidelines, and that (at least before they get together), Segundus is sort of blissfully unaware of this being the case. Either that, or he thinks “Oh that Childermass! I used to think he was imposing and intimidating, but now, he’s ever so nice to me!” Meanwhile, Childermass is just a pile of pining-yearning-heart eyes as he brings Segundus little presents from his travels and gives threatening looks to anyone who is short with Segundus, and helps Segundus lift heavy piles of books. 

I have adopted the HC (maybe with the help of a couple of authors?) that Segundus prefers bottoming, but every once in a while, he gets bold and shyly asks Childers if he can top, and Chilers is always thrilled by this. Childers prefers to top, but something about Segundus’ shy little way of asking, and how much fun he has just turns him on so so much. 

Childercelles:

I HC that they both thought the other was super hot when they first met, but then Childermass realizes that Lascelles is an asshole and suppresses those feels. Lascelles is horrified at himself for finding someone so low and filthy so fucking hot and so he suppresses it too, behind a wall of derision. But they both, deep down, want to fuck really really bad, and that only fuels the fire of their mutual contempt. 

I mean, not sure if this a personal HC, or just the entire ship in a nutshell?

I HC that Childermass adores torturing Lascelles sexually, just to watch him fall apart, to watch that uptight, in-control facade slip and see the real person underneath and that Lascelles is a total whore for humiliation and bondage. 

It’s a total dom/sub relationship with Childers domming. Lascelles loves being choked, slapped, held down, jizzed on and called names. But he’s a total brat, so he enjoys fighting back, making Childermass angry and seeing how far he can push Childermass to be even more violent. 

My guilty secret is that I want to take Lascelles from being a horrible, murderous, probable sociopath to just an epic asshole so that they can fall in love and cuddle. I am so soft for soft Lascelles. 

Johnlock:

I HC that John takes care of Sherlock. I mean this is sort of canon anyway, and John is a doctor to start out with, but he takes extra pleasure in caring for Sherlock. Making him eat more regularly, dragging him to bed at appropriate times. Or just making him lie back and accept a massage or a blow job. He wants to take Sherlock from a place of being pale and overworked and way too up in his head, to a place where he’s warm and loose and well fed and happy. It is his mission!

And I HC that Sherlock is totally weak for John. He’s an arrogant arse to everyone else in his life (and to John of course sometimes too) and while he’s a little bit soft on Molly and Lestrade and Mrs. Hudson, he is a mess for John. John is his weak spot and his blind spot. Before they got together, Sherlock had to use all of his epic powers of self control to not grab John and kiss him fifteen times a day because John just AFFECTS him like that. Something about John calms him down and centers him, and John is the conduit through which Sherlock can access feelings of empathy and care and softness for the world around him because John is so very caring. 

Sherlock enjoys thrilling John by turning him on with whispered promises in his ear and subtle touches during the day, until John is a complete mess and drags him to bed.

Ineffable Husbands:

So so many HCs! Many of which are shared by a lot of other fandom folks.

Aziraphale is massively strong and can lift Crowley off the ground with one arm. He just refrains from doing so because this turns Crowley on too much and he knows that if he picks Crowley up, the next stop is the bedroom.

Crowley wears black nail polish. I am ON BOARD with this hc. 

They fell in love instantly up on the wall of the Garden. 

Aziraphale has a large collection of boxes of tea. Like two cabinets full. 

Crowley loves teasing Aziraphale about being old fashioned just to see him get all ruffled and indignant. 

Aziraphale loves turning Crowley on by eating dessert in a very sensual manner and making significant eye contact while they’re out at restaurants until Crowley is squirming in his seat. 

They are both demi for each other. There’s never been anyone else

Or alternatively

Crowley is pan and a total slut and Aziraphale is demi and a total virgin. 

Or alternatively

Aziraphale is a total sexual hedonist and Crowley is a nervous virgin pretending to be a big bad sex demon. 

Honestly, I haven’t met a sexual hc about these two that I didn’t love (unless it’s a super intense kink I’m not into). 

[chatblancofficial]

Derision in a nutshell

“Kill them with kindness” wrong. CATACLYSM 🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾💥💥

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z 118

Trunks Saga!    This is where Dragon Ball goes from great to excellent.    I don’t want to be too hard on the sagas that came before, but I’m pretty jazzed to be finished with them so that I can finally get to the really good part.  

So it’s been about a year since Goku went Super Saiyan and beat Frieza.    About four month after that they wished Krillin and Yamcha back to life.    Eight months after Goku went Super Saiyan, they wished Tien and Chiaotzu back to life.    Ten months after Goku beat Frieza, the Garlic Junior Saga happened.    I’m just laying that out for my own benefit, mostly.  

So it’s been a year, and Goku still hasn’t returned from outer space.    Everyone knows he’s still alive--Porunga said so--but no one knows where he is or what he’s doing.   This episode mostly checks in on what the main cast is up to while they continue to wait.   

At Goku’s house, Chi-Chi has hired Mr. Shu to be Gohan’s private tutor.    Mr. Shu is a dick.   All you really need to know about the guy is that he literally uses a bullwhip as part of his teaching method.     I think it’s safe to say he’s one of the most reviled characters in the entire franchise, although I think that’s only because people forget about Master Daltaki from Dragon Ball GT.  

Shu barely conceals his contempt for the family around Chi-Chi, and she’s the one who’s paying him.   He calls Gohan stupid several times, and later blames his poor scholastic aptitude on Gohan’s absent father.    Gohan only puts up with the guy out of respect for his mother, but eventually he talks smack about Goku in front of Chi-Chi, and she loses her patience.  

That’s right, Mr. Shu is such a stern disciplinarian that he actually pushed Chi-Chi too far.   Really, she only has herself to blame for this.   In the dub, there’s a part where she insists that Gohan’s a very intelligent boy, and Mr. Shu derisively replies “Yes, I’m sure he’s a prodigy.   That’s why you hired a tutor.”    It encapsulates Chi-Chi’s problem with raising Gohan in a nutshell.   She’s so obsessed with making sure he doesn’t fall behind in his studies that she fails to appreciate how far ahead he is.    I don’t think there’s anything wrong with pushing Gohan to do even better.   Gohan’s clearly capable enough.    But you don’t hire tutors for six-year-olds who can do high school-level stuff.  

During the Mr. Shu portion of the episode, Gohan has a dream about Goku finally coming home, only for it to suddenly turn into Frieza out of nowhere.   

Also, Icarus is in the dream.    I’m pretty sure this is Icarus’ final appearance in DBZ.   Good riddance, I say.  

In West City, I guess Yamcha is still living with Bulma?    I’m pretty sure there was a long period where she had kicked him out.   On the other hand, I was never 100% sure that he ever actually lived at Capsule Corp. to begin with.   Even now, for all I know, he and Puar just dropped by for some of Bulma’s mom’s homemade Tang.  Same deal with Oolong, I have no idea where this guy lives.    He just seems to show up wherever the others go.  

They discuss Vegeta, who stole Capsule 3 and went off in search of Goku back in Episode 107.   In the manga, Vegeta never did any of that.   So it’s possible that the manga version of Vegeta stayed at Capsule Corp. the entire year.   But this is the anime, so they’re sticking to their filler.    The others aren’t too fond of Vegeta, but Bulma says she admires his guts.   And Yamcha gets a little jealous.   It’s almost like they’re trying to foreshadow something....

By sheer coincidence, Vegeta returns, having exhausted the fuel in the ship he stole.    He couldn’t find Goku in space, and he’s somewhat disappointed to see that Goku isn’t back on Earth either.   Bulma tells him to hit the showers, and he sort of sullenly plays along.  

So, whether you want Vegeta to have stayed on Earth the whole year, or whether you want him to have run off to space for about eight months, he was still living at Capsule Corp. for at least the 130 days it took to wish Yamcha and Krillin back to life.   My personal take is that Bulma must have developed some sort of working relationship with the guy in that time, which is why she’s able to handle him so effortlessly now.  She gets him to cooperate because she’s offering him something he can’t argue against.   Smelling bad isn’t going to get Goku to show up.    He wants a shower, so there’s no point giving her lip when she tells him to take one.  

Likewise, when he complains about the change of clothes she left for him, she suggests that he strut around nude.   What’s he gonna do?   Blow up the planet because he doesn’t like wearing Earth-style clothes?  He really could walk out of the bathroom naked, but Bulma already made it clear that she doesn’t care.  

He does threaten to kill everyone when they laugh at him, but Bulma defuses the situation by offering him a place to stay.   This is kind of odd, since she already offered him a room before, but I guess it’s been eight months, so it’s worth inviting him back.    As she points out Vegeta doesn’t have any money to stay anywhere else, and this way he’ll have an inside track on when Goku gets back.  

Later, everyone senses a huge power approaching the Earth, and it doesn’t take long for them to figure out who it is.  

Everyone’s pretty worked up about it.   The guy who actually faced Frieza aren’t looking forward to fighting him again, especially without Goku on hand.    And the guys who didn’t fight Frieza are bewildered that they should even have to deal with Frieza once.   He’s supposed to be dead, right?  

Well, almost everyone is worked up.   

So Gohan pulls out his Saiyan armor and sneaks off to go back into action. 

Because, yeah, Frieza really is still alive, and he’s a cyborg now.    Also, he brought his dad along for this.    Hoo-boy.

[howhow326]

Derision in a nutshell

Does Party Crasher mean nothing to you, Kim!?

[ellestra]

One bright point

Mordis was the stand out character for me. The one with actually interesting and emotionally resonating arc. And it’s a character that underlines all the ways Inhumans was a horribly writtenshow.

Mordis’ plot is the shows problems with telling instead of showing in a nutshell. We are told that he is too dangerous to let out because both Royals who imprisoned him and Auran who is against them say so. But what we actually see is that despite being kept in solitary confinement for who knows how long he is neither deranged or evil. He follows orders and only uses his powers when necessary and shows his dissatisfaction by just using words. It seems that everyone who told us different was unreasonable. What we are told about him being evil and his gift uncontrollable and what we are shown is not compatible at all. So just like with the rest of the show the dissonance is too great to believe or care about anything the shows tells us. It feels like it always lies.  

The Mordis we see is fun, his problems with the treatment he got are reasonable and the fear of being imprisoned again is heartbreaking. He barely got screentime but in it they managed to convey the unfairness of his treatment on Attilan when Blackbolt got to be King with his destructive gift and he got imprisoned for life. It gives him the proper motivation to join Auran’s team to gain his freedom. If he could prove he was trustworthy and not abuse his gift he could be allowed to live among other Inhumans. He stays loyal to his side but they get defeated. He gets captured when Karnak lies to him playing on his fears and hopes. But we know Kanak was creeped out by his gift as everyone else and advocated his death so we know Mordis is being betrayed (I think it was to show Karnak was cleaver and ruthless but it just makes him cruel monster just like all the other Royals). And then they want to take him back to the solitary confinement he was condemned to for just being himself so in a moment of realistic emotional reaction so rare on this show he panics. This was the most heartbreaking scene in the whole miniseries for me.

This ends with everyone on the show mourning Gorgon but I only felt sad about Mordis. He is the one with relatable motivation and goals. Royals are just the oppressors who cannot be trusted. Just like with the rebellion the only reason this situation went bad is because the Royals made it this bad. It felt like the show was trying to tell us everyone’s derision was deserved because he killed Gorgon but if they didn’t treat him this way from the start and punish him without cause and basically threatened to torture him again (solitary confinement is torture) this wouldn’t have happened. They created a bad situation and then blamed the outcome on someone else. Just like with the revolution on Attilan they don’t realise their own complicity. And I know this is common in people of power, especially hereditary power, but it makes it very hard to root for them.  When they win it’s heartbreaking not triumphant. It just makes them even more unlikeable. The show want us to see them as heroes but all we can see is villains and then show has to go extreme lengths to make their opposition seem even worse but all it accomplishes is losing the audience.

And the worst part is that I just wrote all of this about character who was barely in the series because he was the only one I cared about (well, him and Lockjaw obviously) and that’s how bad Inhumans was.

[ousamma]

Cashing the Czech

Whether Robert Maxwell committed suicide or was murdered may never be known to the public ...

Suffice it to say the disgraced publishing magnate cheated so many people and financial institutions to such an extent that there wouldn't be a paucity of suspects if it was the latter. Born in Slatinske Dòly to poor parents as Jan Ludvick Hoch and Anglicizing his name when he migrated to Great Britain during World War II, Maxwell used the fog of combat to his advantage, picking off a scientific journal distributorship at a bargain rate. He soon parlayed that into more literary acquisitions and doing so with such aplomb, he even gained election to Parliament.

However, a trail of deceit began soon thereafter, which led to a High Court censorship, then to possible war crime allegations and, ultimately, to an amazing web of falsified balance sheets and deceptive bank loan collateral which masked Maxwell's mass looting of his own publishing empire's coffers. When all was about to come crashing down upon him, Maxwell was reported to have fallen overboard while yachting along the Canary Islands. His extensive double-dealing earned him the posthumous title of The Bouncing Czech.

Maxwell's bombastic ego, though, was authentic. He ached to be larger than life and to outdo any perceived rival, such as Australian billionaire Rupert Murdoch, whose own publishing empire spans the globe. Ironically, Maxwell tried to seize any opportunity to portray Murdoch as a low-life, casting himself as a higher-minded alternative to the conscientious consumer. Thus, to counter Murdoch's titillation-themed, Tory-leaning tabloid, the Sun, Maxwell ran his Daily Mirror as a seemingly kinder, gentler, Labour-oriented purveyor of similar stories.

Maxwell always ran a distant second in the United Kingdom's tabloid wars, so he was constantly looking for an edge with which to tweak Murdoch's operations and further convey the image --- however cynical --- of his holding the higher social and ethical ground. I can attest that, at least once, a blend of this obsession and his blowhard personality got the better of him.

It was a summer day in the mid-80s, and the prospects of secondary smoke being a health issue in the workplace were beginning to be accepted as fact. It was surely noble for Cap'n Bob --- as Maxwell was derisively known --- to be among the first to attempt an office-wide smoking ban. The Mirror's headquarters was no doubt better served, but it was clear his motives were for self-promotion rather than a genuine concern for his employees' welfare.

The first clue that this was the case was the boisterous manner by which Maxwell arbitrarily enforced the policy. Specifically, he loved to make a scene if it showed him in an authoritarian and positive light. Thus, when Cap'n Bob proclaimed a ban, he did it for maximum effect. In this instance, he decreed that anyone caught smoking in his building would be fired on the spot.

On this day, Maxwell was holding court for visitors of some dignified nature. He was guiding them through the Mirror facilities when a man hunched over a nearby photocopy machine caught his attention. The man had a cigarette dangling from his lips.

Cap'n Bob summoned his guests to follow him over there. Puffing his chest as he approached the man puffing away, Maxwell began his diatribe within steps of his quarry and gained decibels with each successive step.

"Sir!" he exclaimed, "How much do you make a month?"

The target of his wrath was caught off-guard. It took him a moment to confirm that Maxwell was speaking to him; actually, 'at him' would be more accurate.

"I asked you a question," Maxwell pressed, making sure that his guests totally understood who was in charge of the moment, "And I expect a prompt answer. How much do you make a month!"

"2000 quid," was the nervous response. "Why do you ask?"

"You're smoking!" was the roared retort. Cap'n Bob then reached into his pocket in preparation for the coup de grace. He pulled out a wad of bills, quickly sifted through £2000 and jammed it into the surprised man's shirt pocket.

"There's a month's wage! You're fired! Now, get out!"

Maxwell then stormed away, his cotillion of impressed guests following dutifully behind. A strong boss had surely made a firm point.

Left in the wake, the stunned man retrieved the stash of cash from his pocket, looked at it and then shook his head in amazement.

"I was just called here to repair the copier," he shrugged. He put the money in his pants pocket, flicked a few ashes to the ground, headed toward the front door and proceeded to his van. Perhaps he had more calls to make that day, but he probably opted to cancel them and make his way to a pub, instead.

The incident capsulized Cap'n Bob's act in a nutshell. He was all show, with little attention to detail. It was a harbinger that whenever someone paid close heed to his affairs, he'd be sunk.

I just didn't think it would happen so literally.

[indomitablemegnolia]

I am tired to death of the theys, the them, the nattering naysayers with only their derision; theys never add, thems never create; all that is ever hears is the ripping and ball teeing they perpetrate in their negativism. You crushed me earlier this month; I am done listening to any and all of you; in this world there is enough room for both of us, you stay away and I will climb into a nutshell and call myself the queen of infinite space.

[arcenciel-par-une-larme]

Concerning liberal Christianity

Random commenter on an article concerning homosexuality posted by a liberal Christian page (on Facebook): "I still believe that homosexuality is a sin, but no graver than all those described alongside it in Romans 1. That said, I am in no place to judge anyone but to merely speak the truth. Each person's journey with Christ is primarily their own and I am not here to judge them."

Gets 2 upvotes.

First commenter replying to him: "Translation: 'God hates fags'. You, sir, are part of the problem."

Gets 11 upvotes.

This is liberal Christianity in a nutshell, at least as I have experienced it. I can willingly give a benefit of doubt and believe that their most extreme are also being the most vocal, but these attitudes are worrying nonetheless.

Do you know what I usually see in conversations involving them?

>These nigh-radicals of the movement think that hypersensitivity towards certain issues will help solve them instead of aggravating them and pushing "outsiders" further away. Which is, ironically, pretty much the same as SJWs' way of thinking.

>They think that every conceivable opposition to their ideology (especially their positions on sexual morality and social justice) can only be on grounds of hate and intolerance. Just like SJWs do.

>They think that intellectual dishonesty and misrepresenting their opponents' positions will help solve problems and also make the opposition weaker. Just like SJWs.

>They think that love and tolerance mean being unloving and intolerant towards people you deem a threat to the Narrative. Just like SJWs.

>They think that mockery towards their intellectual opponents is justified by virtue of being right. Just like your typical internet atheist.

And...no big surprise here:

>They sincerely believe that, whenever they see fit, it is right for them to resort to scorn and derision and forgo Jesus' commandment to love our enemies and pray for them, by virtue of having the "right" understanding of God and/or the bible. Just like fundamentalists do.

Once again proving themselves that opposite ends of an ideological spectrum are more like each other than they'd ever imagine.

Now, does anybody perchance want to argue to me that this kind of attitude brings glory to God and his Church? I hope not.

Friends, if any one of you is a liberal Christian opposed to such ways of thought and action, I am sorry that such people tarnish your reputation. Come let us pray for them and for each other. And come let us reason together!

[backintime]

“There are two halves to me and this half doesn’t like you.”

“And the other?”

“The other half? The other half loves you.”

Forsythe snorted with false derision, laughter dancing behind his dark eyes.  “You’re so dramatic.”

Jordan frowned, leaning back against the diner booth.  “I was being serious.”  She fiddled with the straw in her milkshake, tapping short fingernails on the scratched tabletop.  “I can’t believe you’d do something like that.”

Forsythe shrugged, turning his gaze away and nodding at her tray, heaping with the remains of a burger and fries.  “Are you going to finish that?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.”  He ducked his head, a sliver of a grin lightening his face.

“Don’t change the subject.  You really shouldn’t have put yourself on the line like that.  I can take care of myself.”  Jordan shook her head.

“I was defending your honor.”

“Defending it all the way into the Emergency Room,” Jordan shot back.  “Eddie is a bully, and a football player.  Sticking your thick head into my business is just gonna get it bit off.  He wasn’t going to do anything to me.  You on the other hand….”

“He wasn’t exactly going to thrash me in the middle of South High,” Forsythe pointed out.  He propped his elbow on the diner table, resting his chin in the palm of his hand as he watched Jordan pick onions off of her burger.  “Are you going to eat those?”

The brunette made a face at him.  “Is all you think about your stomach?”

Forsythe shrugged.  “Nobody else does.  Someone’s gotta look out for it.”

Jordan rolled her eyes, dropping the ketchup-covered onions onto his tray.  “You poor thing.”

She couldn’t see his eyes through the curtain of black hair that covered them, but she was quite sure they were lit up with the same expression that turned his lips upward as he turned his attention to his plate, stabbing at the onion slices with a fork.

“Besides,” he murmured.  “It’s not like I’m losing any friends.  I’m not exactly Peter Popular.”

“I’m not either.”  Jordan cocked her head, pursing her lips as she watched him eat.  She sighed.  “It was brave of you.  Stupid, but brave.”

“That’s me in a nutshell.”

Jordan threw her napkin at him.  “I’m being serious.”

“So am I.”  Forsythe raised his head, eyes darkening as he fixed her with a piercing gaze that almost seemed to go through her.  “Nobody deserves rumors told about them like that.  Getting ostracized over something that isn’t true.  I would know.”

Jordan reached across the table, wrapping her slim fingers around his pale ones.  “I know.  And I’m grateful.”

“I thought you didn’t like me,” he teased.  The hint of a smirk played at the corners of his lips as Jordan chuckled.

“Only half.”

“Ah of course.  Only half.”  He nodded wisely.  “And the other half….”

Jordan smiled, withdrawing her hand as she pointedly focused her attention on her burger.  “You heard me the first time,” she murmured, picking it up, ignoring the heat rushing to her face.

Forsythe grinned, stabbing at the second onion on his plate.

The other half loves you.

[thegeekherald]

Entire Country had Internet down: Optus Breakdown

Optus is one of the leading telcos around the globe and the second largest telco in Australia. It’s internet was down during the midday on Wednesday. It’s an ancillary brand, with Singtel being its parent company. Optus provides reliable internet and telecom facilities to its staunch customers. On Wednesday, out of the blue, it went out of service for some of the customers. Streaming services such as Netflix and various other global websites are currently inaccessible.

Outrageous customers took to twitter and various other social media platforms.

Internet down: Netizen’s Backlash

Optus users have come out full force and taken to twitter and other social media platforms. They are expressing their rampant and boisterous outbursts, addressing this travesty.

The ‘Telco’ failed to do so during its nascent stage of outage. Enraged customers deluged Twitter with their derisive tweets. These tweets at last impelled the Optus Tech team to come out with a prompt reply on Twitter.

World’s leading streaming site, Netflix, went down in the outage.

Optus Retaliates

Optus finally gave a compendious reply to its customers. Seemingly, they stalled the situation for almost five hours. It said its personnel are apprised of the predicament that is being faced by thousands of customers across the nation.

The tech team is currently trying their best to restore everything to working order. Optus has promised to give an update as soon as possible and also expressed a heartfelt apology to its beloved customers.

Summarizing the scenario in a nutshell

Though the streaming websites and some gaming platforms are non-functional at this point; mobile data, call and SMS facilities are still at their full utility. Some broadband users at home have divulged their dissatisfaction and acrimony over a rough connectivity.

The prime telco has not been specific regarding the date and time by when everything will be resolved, but they do have given an assurance to us that their elite tech team is fastidious in its metier and will not disappoint. Optus’ customers, though having led a full-fledged attack on the company, have also been very patient and deferential in their minds.

The post Entire Country had Internet down: Optus Breakdown appeared first on The Geek Herald.

[shuaybganatra]

Freedom!

I shared the following quote on my social media:

The moment you declare a set of ideas to be immune from criticism, satire, derision, contempt; freedom of thought becomes impossible. - Salman Rushdie

One of the learned friend commented and asked me; Is there any limit for this freedom? Freedom of thought becomes freedom to abuse many time. There should be a limit.

I responded:

The answer to this question in a nutshell is that; 'There's no limit to individual thoughts. One may ponder over on any subject'. But there cannot be two opinions about that profane utterance regarding anything or anyone held sacred and venerable either by millions of people or even by one individual, is nothing but mere indication of hurting sentiments, inciting violence and abusing freedom of speech. Although everyone is entitled to have an opinion but it should only be expressed in most cultured manner or else may he be mute. Unlike; 

"On every utterance of mine, you say “Who art thou”? You tell me what kind of conversation interchange is this?" [Ghalib] 

I believe intolerance and ignorance begets arrogance, and he who fathers it, is destined to doom. The civilized and educated people can debate on any topic in the world without disrespecting or degrading each other, it is only one should be equipped with etiquette and eloquence. As very well versed;

"It requires substantial reasoning and not misconduct to enlighten others of their errors." [Ghamidi] 

We should use rather not abuse this God given birth right to think and be free. But unfortunately we live in a world where we are not free to even think. I do concur the notion of Jimmy Wales that;

"I'm a big advocate of freedom: freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of thought."  As "H-Indus" (dweller of Indus River) and as "Ummah" (Muslim Nation) regardless of our glorious history of love for wisdom and freedom in spite of cast, creed and color, we've become a brainless society. Now it just not requires  knowledge but also nerves to speak of taboos in our society i.e religion, sexuality and human rights.