#Gonna bring pollution down to zero

[deadsetobsessions]

Sea Cryptic! Danny AU- Pt.1

[Pt.2] [Pt.3] [Pt.4] [Pt.5] [Pt.6] [Pt.7] [Pt.8] [Pt.9] [Pt.10]

As someone who lived in the middle of nowhere, Amity, the ocean both terrified and enthralled Danny Fenton.

The first time his parents took him to the beach, it was the middle of the day and he’d been stuck in the prototype GAV for hours upon hours on their “quick, ghost rumor hunting field trip.”

It wasn’t quick, and they caught exactly zero ghosts. When Danny saw the expanse of sand underneath the summer sun, he and Jazz both bounded out of the van like feral little monkeys. Danny and Jazz sprinted down the sand, their parents ambling behind them with their arms loaded up with towels, a first aid kit, and an ungodly amount of mildly ecto contaminated food that they already fought before getting onto the beach.

Danny had splashed into the water, yelped at the freezing temperature, and then promptly found a shell to keep. His mom taught him how to swim with the waves, having come from Surf City herself, and his dad taught Jazz how to dive.

It was a day full of fond memories, especially the memory of the Great War of Sand-Castle Crushing he and Jazz waged against each other.

They stuck around for the sunset, the ripples of colors and peacefulness that swept across the vast waters caught Danny in its hold.

He hadn’t forgotten that moment. Not even when he died.

After a particularly hard day as Phantom, Danny would fly to the coast and loose hours just sitting on the sand and watching the waves lap against the shore. And when those nights were clear? It felt like a slice of his own personal heaven, with the stars shining on his shoulders and the encompassing crash of the waves sheltering his heart.

And on some days, when being Danny left him frustrated, Danny would fly out to the coast and use his intangibility to walk beneath the waves. Near the coast, it’s cloudy with swirls of moving sand and disturbed waters. He walked, and walked, and floated and floated beneath the waters, taking contentment from the way the moonlight of his stars filtered through the water. He admired the way light would glint on the scales of fish and crustaceans alike as he floated beneath the surface. On those days, Danny would pick up trash and polluted things and bring them to shore, to place in the trash cans and all of the recycling cans. He picked up shells and decorated the beaches he frequented, because if it were decorated, perhaps people would refrain from chucking their waste into the sea.

Well, usually, it’d be trash.

Danny watched speechlessly, jaw cracked open just a smidge, as an explosion happened right over his head. The distortion of the water did not hide the fact that there were large chunks of plane pelting down at him, a different figure flying away from the explosion. Danny went invisible and intangible as large metal pieces plunged into his current water space.

“Gosh, people these days,” he huffed. “This is gonna take forever to…”

Danny trailed off, seeing a humanoid shape crash into the water, clearly unconscious. Danny didn’t hesitate before shooting towards the drowning person, glowing green and fully visible again. The stranger’s eyes- holy shit, that’s Batman- turned towards him before closing behind cracked open lenses. Batman slumped falling unconscious. That’s not good.

Danny rocketed out of the water with the vigilante in his arms. If it weren’t for his supernatural strength, there’s no way lanky teenage Danny would have been able to carry Batman’s grown ass built like a tank self to the shore. Likewise, if it weren’t for his strength, Danny wouldn’t have been able to start chest compressions through the layers of armor.

Danny leaned back with a sigh as Batman coughed out only a bit of water, because Danny hadn’t taken all that long to get to him, and held up his hands in a “I don’t have weapons” way as Batman whirled to him.

“Hi. Are you alright?” Danny asked, ectoplasm and instinctive ghost speak fuzzing his words a bit. Damn, Batman must have nearly died a lot. He’ll freak out about meeting Batman later.

“You saved me,” an awkward pause. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. The other guy went that way.”

Danny waved vaguely.

“…What are you?”

“Oh my god, Batman, you can’t just ask someone what they are!” He immediately replied, inwardly smacking himself for the joke. He watched Batman’s face, watching for any sign of discrimination against ghosts, or any sign the man had a sense of humor.

“…”

Neither, apparently, was the answer.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just here to clean up the beaches. You humans really like to pollute the beaches. It’s quite rude, you know. That plane of yours, well, it’s not your fault,” he amended. “But it’s gonna damage sea life. And I don’t know if you’re in the habit, but please don’t litter on the beach or in the water, especially with your unconscious body. It’s tedious to clean.”

“…I see.”

“Stay. I’ll take out your plane. Make sure it doesn’t stay on the sand, alright?”

With that, Danny stood. Unaware of the way the moonlight lit up his hair like white flames and accentuated the sharp points of his ears, Danny turned away and flew back to the plane site, dragging the pieces up with ease.

Batman sat on the sand, likely exhausted from his fight, and watched him carry the pieces of the aircraft up.

“Here. All done. I gotta get going,” because Danny has school and this just lost him two hours. “Will you be alright?”

Batman nodded once, sharply.

“Good.” Danny went invisible, watching Batman sat up straighter, glancing around in a suddenly visible awareness. Oh, well. Tucker’s gonna freak out.

——

Three years later, Danny’s moved to Gotham for university.

And after midterm season, Danny went for a ghostly walk, but this time, in the waters surrounding Gotham.

When he surfaced, Batman was crouching on a lamp post, waiting for him.

“Oh, it’s you,” Danny said. “Hello. Did you know that people are polluting these waters with bodies too?”

“Yes,” Batman said, graveled voice resounding on the shipping containers around them.

“You should do something about that. Do you like places that are polluted?”

Batman sighed. “What are you?”

Danny hears a small, tinny voice by Batman’s ear, coming from a comm.

“Oh my god, B, you can’t just ask someone what they are!”

Mind flashing back to the night Danny drug a waterlogged Batman out of the ocean, Danny cracked a smile.

“Phantom,” he said, decisively. And, because this isn’t Amity anymore, “the Beach Clean Up crew from the flip side.”

——

Bruce, waking up on the sand: wtf

Bruce, seeing a child next to him who probably saved him: wtf (in “adoption”)

Bruce, seeing Danny’s skin glitter like stars, hair aflame, and pointy ears: wtf (in “I can adopt fae folk, right?”)

Bruce, seeing that Danny doesn’t leave any footprints: wtffff (detective mind goes brrrr)

——

Bruce, after Danny leaves: *donates 20 mil towards beach clean up efforts and anti-pollution causes*

——

Bruce’s Goggle Search History, documented by Oracle:

Sea spirits

Sea vampires

How to parent supernatural kids

How to thank your sea child

Are shells a good gift?

Ocean conservation efforts

Sea spirits that glitters under moonlight

Sea spirits that cleans up beaches

Wayne corporation waste disposal

Companies that dump trash into the sea

*outgoing call to Lucius Fox*

What is “mean girls”

——

Bruce, learning “current pop culture” from his kids:

Bruce, remembering the kid who saved him and realizing he’s probably as old as his own kids are: *adoption tendencies intensifies*

[charliechaotic]

hii this is smth for me but i hope anyone would like- I have zero clue how to write batfam or gotham stuff, so please dear gods give me advice if possible <3 (my only reference is tumblr writing prompts, reaction videos, and the Dark Matter fic lmao- this is uh. basically the concept is my oc ending up in Gotham- So far thats all this is gonna be, but I hope you enjoy <:):

When Wren awakes, it is in pain. Agony agony agony agoNY AGONY AGONY-

It feels like he's drowning. Burning? Both? His memory feels so fuzzy. Where is he? ..What happened?

Everything goes dark again.

When Wren awakes again, he finds himself laying on a rooftop, staring up at the night sky- cast over with a deep pollution unfamiliar to him. It was a rare night in Relsia to not be able to see the stars.

He is quick to sit up, coughing up nothing but his own breath, tears welling in his eyes as he takes back in the memory of the feeling.

That color. So vivid in his mind, surrounding him- it matched that of his eyes, should he not have had the flakes of gold in them. It unsettles him to think about.

His body aches as he pushes himself up, hugging his well worn hoodie close- when had it gotten so torn up? It looked like he'd been in some big fight while wearing it, but he cant quite pull the memory up. He tries to keep himself steady, shortening his staff to use as a support. He has to work out where he is, despite the pain gnawing at him. Had he used his power too much? It felt like he'd been torn apart and pit together a million times.

He brushes his hair back with his hands, fixing his glasses on his face. "Id almost kill to see Merc right now."

He finds himself speaking aloud, discomforted by the silence around him. Maybe he could get himself to the Northeast end of the city and stop by. He had promised to stop by sometime soon. He made no promises he wouldn't be in incredible pain. If he could make it that far across the city, anyway. He manages to get himself to about two rooftops away from his starting point before the aching starts to bring him down. He needs to rest, unfortunately. Maybe he can find somewhere alright in the streets below- he can't seem to recognize the area. It looks worse than the worst part of Relsia he's seen in his life. He studies the streets below, trying to work out a normal way to climb down and get a look around- maybe he could sneak a ride on a bus or something. He's willing to risk getting attacked on one today. He sways ever slightly as he thinks, before a voice startles him out of it.

"Hey, buddy. Could you step away from the edge for me?"

He flinches at the sound, immediately turning his gaze to the voice, glaring with distrust at the source- making eye contact with a man around his height, but with a lot more muscle. He appears to be wearing a costume- some kind of 'super suit' probably. His outfit is mostly black, he exception being the streaks of blue- one being centered on his chest. If he were able to think any clearer, he'd say it looked like the way you add birds in the background of paintings in fourth grade. He'd find it a little amusing if he couldn't hear his heart pounding in his chest, still glaring.

The man raises his arms a bit, giving a reassuring smile.

"Hey, its okay. My name is Nightwing. Are you alright?"

Wren feels the mans gaze flick between his hair and eyes, taking a slight step back- further towards the ledge.

"Your name means nothing. I dont know who you are."

His voice comes out in a sharper tone than he intends, his words distorted in a way that almost sounds like a glitchy phone call, on top of the buzz of a voice modulator. He seems a bit surprised by his own voice, a hand reaching up to his throat out of confusion.

uhhhh thats the end lmao- i genuinely Just wrote this so uhm. hope someone sees it? and enjoys? <:) you can probably see some obvious inspiration from Dark Matter, which I completely accept drbrh- I really liked the concept! though how Wren got in the pit water is VERY different heheh

[official-megumin]

Warning: I'm sorry

Spoilers

 Chapter one: PreCurrent Day/Hive bullshit 

Okay so it's [BEFORE CURRENT DAY (BCD)] and this weird fuckin prosper orb is helping a planet very poorly and the shit worm tells someone named Savathun that that the traveller is gonna leave and to eat him to save her species.

 She goes ahead and brings 2 moochers who also eat worms and now they're gods. Savathun, the god of cunning. Oryx, the taken king. And the third most dangerous one I don't remember the name of. Then they feed the species with worms and now the Hive is born.

Also the Vex are time traveling robots that can predict the future and came to save their species, the Cabal are people who fought the Hive and lost and some of them maybe have Void or something. Eliksni/Fallen are people who thought Communism Sphere was a Great Machine and then it left and ruined the species and now some are pissy about it (Fallen) and others are chill (Eliksni). Okay time for-

 Chapter 2: Current Day/The Greater Depression/FUCK LIFE KILL US ALL

 Don't need to explain this bit up till the Commie Ball rocks up and slaps its Magnum Dong on Mars. Humanity scuttles up and we get the Traveler to jizz on the planet and fix all the problems. Can you tell the writer doesn't know what she's talking about that much?

 Chapter 3: Golden Age

 We get Siva (all consuming nanotechnology that build with zero pollution), RA RA RASPUTIN (Warmind connected to every weapon in the solar system probably Silva and maybe he nuked the Commie Ball) exoskeleton made with Vex water (revised later) on Europa (we'll get there in like 7 chapters) by a piece of shit grandfather named Clovis Bray and everything is good.

 AND THEN ALONG CAME ZEUS(The Witness and The Darkness) and something happened to save us. Either Commie Ball failed to kill itself or something else did it.

 Either way this is where ghosts are born. And where we eventually get blue people so net positive.

 Chapter 4: dark age/everything goes to shit

 Not every reanimated corpse was good so someone formed the vanguard. And now a blue person leads it (I'll get there).

 Every enemy learns the one weakness of guardians (ghost cores lol (yes this is important)), and now they're scared kinda not really guardians are maniacs.

 Also fun fact: the Hive Gods all hate each other, also you can only truly kill a Hive God in their Throne World.

 OKAY, blue people. Space magic rift + ball died= temporal rift and space radiation which made them technically a different species. Idk it's a human saiyan thing but closer.

 Chapter 5: destiny the oneth

 Vanilla: kill shit.

 Next thing I remember: fireteam leader unplugs his lan cable and forces Crota to kneel infinitely and get killed by sword spam.

 Next raid:"HAHA KILLED YOUR KID" followed by "HAHA KILLED YOU HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" also queen mara Sov is gone.

 That's all I remember.

Chapter 6nd: Destiny 2 year one

Vanilla: kill shit

Red war: The light has been taken! Retreat! Okay we got it back. Kick their AAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSS (read sentence in super kami guru's voice, because please) Forsaken: Invade the Prison Of Elders with Cayde-6. Cayde-6 kicks ass. Cayde-6 rides down to the bottom floor. Cayde-6 kicks more ass. Cayde's ghost gets obliterated. We're too late. Cayde is lying on the ground, dead after being shot point blank by Uldren Sov, brother of Queen Mara Sov, and corpse to be. Cayde did get a joke in at the end though so it's kinda balanced out. Uldren also released the SCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORNNNNNNN. Anyway the rest of forsaken is revenge. For Cayde, our chicken loving, probably a criminal, friend. Then we murder a bunch of people, and it turns out an Awoken Wish Granting Dragon named Riven is alive and she was behind it all.

We kill(?) her and shoot Uldren Sov in the head with Cayde's revolver. Oh yeah riven doesn't die until the last wish raid.

 Shadowkeep: idk there's a pyramid ship on the moon, nightmares of things you've killed, I didn't go past the first mission on this one honestly.

 BEYOND LIGHT: TIME TRAVEL, ROBOTS, STASIS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Okay so we missed one person involved in Cayde's death, Variks. That's not important though because Eramis is mad and has stasis so now we gotta kill 'er. Then we do. Also Elsie Bray!!!!!!!!!!!!! This dlc was fun. Also Elsie is a time traveler trying to stop this world from falling like hers.THE WITCH QUEEN: Savathun infiltrated the vanguard acting as Osiris, and then I think she got her worm removed. She was also the taken queen.

 Anyway Mars is back, funky time shit, shoot yourself out of a cannon to prove your ass is indeed fat. Infiltrate Savathun's ship and steal this blade, fight these light bearing hive. Oh this one's a bit tougher- is that a ghost? Shit that's a gho- HE'S BACK. And then you crush the ghost. You actually kill a light bearer. Move forward more, oh dear lord Savathun's degradation I mean GET THAT BITCH. you kill her. Oh no you're trapped. Oh no there's three of her now.

 And then you fall face first onto Mars. And then you make the glaive. I named mine Mr. Stick. I don't own this dlc.

This has been my recap of destiny.

Ok so Yea That’s about the story but told very loosely.

The hive god you forgot is named Xivu Arath

Rasputin did NOT try to stop the traveler. However he did consider it.

The worm was also helped by a guy named Rhulk, who fuckinh bodied the giant beast that kept the worms submissive. He also inslaved their mom.

Also the traveler wasn’t doing it poorly, in fact. It was gonna choose the hive to empower, and the worms lied.

There’s so much lore revealed in the past Year. It’s crazy, so get the witch Queen if you can

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Michael After Midnight: Captain Planet and the Planeteers

You knew it was coming. No series of reviews of cheesy 90s environmental movies would be complete without the crown jewel of such things, Captain Planet and the Planeteers. This show is legendary for being the cheesiest, corniest bunch of heavy-handed moralizing you could ever hope to see on television, filled with dorky puns and blatantly evil villains… and for that, it is without a doubt one of my favorite cartoons ever. And might I just say it also has one of my favorite end credits songs ever?

So what is this show about? So five multinational kids are selected by Gaea to gain magical rings of power to defend the Earth. The rings correspond to an element – Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, and Heart (which is not technically an element) – and allow the kids to have cool-ass powers. But even better, when all of the kids combine their powers together, they can summon forth the ultimate guardian of Earth, a blue man with a green mullet who spouts puns named CAPTAIN PLANET! Basically it’s like if FernGully and Power Rangers had a baby and said baby was forced to watch nature documentaries 24/7. Anyway, these kids gotta go fight the evil villains and shit and stop them from doing everything from polluting to selling drugs to kids to selling actual nukes to Hitler. Can they make the world a better place? I mean, they sure made my world a better place, this shit is hilarious!

Okay, honesty time: as much as it’s easy to snark at this show for the terrible morals it sometimes espoused (they did two episodes on population control, and the morals there are some of the most botched morals you will ever see), this show did generally speaking have its heart in the right place and it really did deliver some solid messages. For instance, there was an episode centered around AIDS, something that wasn’t really a thing people were educated about at the time the show came out thanks to everyone’s favorite senile moron Ronald Reagan and his mess of an administration. The episode’s moral, that people with the disease are just normal people in need of help and not freaks to be shunned, is frankly an important one, especially for the time period. This isn’t the only tough subject the show tackled; it tackled a lot of gritty issues like this that other animated shows of the time wouldn’t dare go near. There’s episodes on drug dealing, four on gang violence, hell people even actually die in some episodes! And there a re plenty of solid environmental issues along with social ones. For every poorly-handled message, there’s always a couple of really well-done or ballsy messages to make up for it.

The diversity of our heroes is also a nice touch. We got the Eastern European Linka, the Southeast Asian Gi, the African Kwame, the South American Ma-Ti, and the American from New York, Joey Wheeler (No, not that one)… the fact they’re from all around the world really does kinda drive home the series’ point that we all gotta contribute to make the world a better place. They aren’t too shabby as characters, either; sure, they can be corny and cliché, but none of them are too unenjoyable or anything.   And then we come to our final hero, Captain Planet himself, and I just gotta say it: I love this fucking doofus. Every line of dialogue is the cheesiest pun you can imagine to suit the situation, his style is so obnoxiously, goofily 90s, and he’s just an absolute blast. It helps he has a really pleasant and heroic voice and that despite his numerous weaknesses and the sheer cheese factor of the character, he is pretty cool.

Now we have the villains! No superhero show is complete without a robust rogues gallery, and boy oh boy do we have a rogues gallery here! Let me just list off some of the villains we have here, along with their celebrity VA: Hoggish Greedly (Ed Asner), a pig-man who is the embodiment of overconsumption of natural resources; Looten Plunder (played by James Coburn, who you’ll likely know as Waternoose from Monsters, Inc.), an evil poacher and corrupt businessman; Sly Sludge (Martin Sheen), a lazy waste disposal specialist who is the living embodiment of careless, thoughtless waste disposal; Verminous Skumm (Uh, Jeff, uh, Jeff Goldblum), an evil rat man who seems to do evil for shits and giggles; Dr. Blight (Meg Ryan), a wicked scientist with an evil computer sidekick named MAL who was played by Tim Curry (Not the first time he’s played a villain who is not eco-friendly as you may recall); Zarm (Sting, of The Police fame), an evil former guardian spirit of Earth who now murders planets; and Duke Nukem (no, not THAT one), a radioactive mutant. It should be noted a lot of these celebs were replaced with more typical VAs in later seasons; for example, Maurice LaMarche took over Skumm and Nukem, Mary Kay Bergman took over Blight, stuff like that. Zarm’s third VA was Malcolm McDowell, which is cool as hell, and Asner stayed the whole series, so it wasn’t all around that things changed, and I believe Tim Curry was actually a replacement VA. So yes, this rogues gallery has great voice actors all around, whether they be big celebs or famous professional voice actors, they’re all hilariously hammy and cheesy, and they all do what needs to be done to impede the Planeteers and drive the plot along. As absolutely stereotypical, cartoonish, and blatantly evil as all these people are in looks and name, you’d be hard pressed not to have picked a favorite after a few episodes.

This is some of the goofiest, dopiest, most anvilicious animation you could ever hope to see, but goddamn if I don’t love every dopey minute of it. Maybe it’s nostalgia, maybe it’s the Earth Day marathons I watched on Boomerang, who knows, but I have a soft spot in my heart for this show that will never die. I’ll be the first to admit this show is cheesy and silly, but you know, it did a lot of things other cartoons didn’t dare do, talked about shit no one else wanted to talk about. Yeah, it fucked up sometimes, but you have to give it credit for trying to be more serious than other cartoons of its kind. Call it a guilty pleasure, call it so bad it’s good, but you can never call Captain Planet unwatchably bad.

THE POWER IS YOURS!

[ckret2]

GVK spoilers below, about conspiracy theories

I’m gonna get around to posting all my GVK reactions but this one got long so I’m putting it in its own post.

The Monsterverse series, in both KOTM and GVK, has some pretty interesting things to say about conspiracy theories and ecofascism; but, unfortunately, it doesn’t REALIZE that it’s saying any of them, so it keeps dropping the ball and missing opportunities to explore them.

Starting with KOTM, “there’s too many humans so we’ve just gotta let some die and that’ll fix pollution 🤷” is like false ecofascist claim #1 but at no point in the movie was it challenged as unfactual, it was just presented as a sad truth that people have to do morally ambiguous things about. Except that it’s just literally mathematically not true!

Emma could be such a GREAT, believable character—especially in this world with, like, frigging QAnon nonsense getting such widespread traction—showing a compelling, realistic tragedy of how this normal, intelligent, well-educated white mom who otherwise is likely left-leaning (pro-environmentalism, pro-nature conservation, got a doctorate and generally more academia correlates with more liberal ideals) got sucked into a far right ecofascist doomsday militia that combines hokey pseudo-environmentalist propaganda with “in balance with nature” semi-religious mysticism, because she was exploited at a time when she was emotionally vulnerable (when her kid had just died) and was lacking healthy emotional support (when her husband turned to alcohol and then ran off).

... Except the movie never says that her “overpopulation” beliefs are WRONG. It says that they’re RIGHT, and she was just forced to choose between two losing scenarios—deliberately kill most of humanity to hopefully save a few, or watch humanity kill itself.

Nobody bothers to mention that the size of the population isn’t the problem, it’s the disproportionate pollution coming out of first world countries. Nobody bothers to mention that when Emma talks about “overpopulation” and shows a screenshot of an overcrowded neighborhood, it ain’t affluent downtown skyscraper condos in Europe or America that she’s highlighting, but large masses of poor people whose neighborhoods look “dirty” to the white woman’s eyes, despite the fact that they’re contributing the least to humanity’s carbon footprint.

Emma’s beliefs are empirically wrong, and if KOTM had ever demonstrated that, it would’ve been brilliant. Instead, it tries to say “she was right, she just went too far,” and in doing so loses an opportunity to make Emma a deeply believable, timely, realistic, well-meaning but wrong villain.

And now we’ve got GVK, which has swerved away from the ecofascism but doubled down on the conspiracy theories. Here, Emma’s daughter, who was raised for five years with what amounts to a survivalist doomsday cult’s beliefs, when faced with the grief of her mother’s death and the struggle of trying to reconnect to her estranged father, turns—again—to conspiracies to make sense of the world around her. Because that’s what Madison’s been raised with, and even though she got disillusioned with the particular “we know something special that the normal people can’t handle” beliefs that she was raised with, that kind of thinking is still what she knows. She’s still doing what her mother raised her to do! She’s still pulling the “hypercompetent highly-trained lone wolf ‘survivor’ saves the world” shtick that Jonah’s gang taught her to do—but it’s never brought up that it was screwed up to raise a child like that and it’s screwed up for her to still be interacting with the world like that.

At least THIS conspiracy theorist isn’t literally advocating for global genocide. Bernie’s focus largely seems to be on “this corporation is trying to screw people over and screw up the environment—” (because in Monsterverse, as in Toho monster movies as a whole, kaiju/titans and the environment are symbolically conflated, so if a corporation is messing with Godzilla then they’re messing with nature as well) “—so I’m gonna find out what they’re up to and be a whistleblower.” Which is great! Solid start! We’ve got a guy taking aim at big business and who says “when the weather Godzilla acts erratic, it’s not random chance, it’s because a big business is doing something it shouldn’t,” so it looks like we’ve got a leftist conspiracy theorist, that’s different, could be interesting to explore.

Except then he starts talking about governments serving a “global elite” and facilities built by “lizard people” and then we’ve swung right back around to the far right by casually dropping in a couple of antisemitic conspiracy theories.

Add that in with the whole “hollow earth” thing and damn, we’re namedropping a lot of antisemitic conspiracy theories, aren’t we? Granted, most conspiracy theories ARE antisemitic—but like, they could have dug around for some that aren’t. Have him talk some more about Roswell. Have him bring up things that we’ve actually got documentation happened and theorize that MKUltra research was used in Apex’s development of their pilot’s psychic mind link to Mechagodzilla. Have him bring up tailor-made-for-the-Monsterverse conspiracy theories that don’t exist here, “Monster Zero is actually the secret weapon of a nearby ‘Planet X’ that’s gonna invade,” whatever. Instead, nah, we went with the antisemitic ones.

Now, do I think the writers behind KOTM and GVK intended antisemitism? Do I think they’re closet alt-right trying to dogwhistle the fascists in the audience? No, I think they think they’re making fun of—or playing around with—what they see as harmless, unbelievable, way-out-there conspiracy theories. I think they know just enough about “hollow earth” and “global elites” and “lizard people” to make references to them, but not in a way that promotes the common antisemitic understanding of those theories as true. (Monsterverse’s hollow earth, a weird underground jungle where King Kong lives, sure doesn’t resemble the usual conspiracy theory.) To me, the way they were used suggests the writers didn’t deeply understand (or at least, didn’t deeply think about) what the theories really mean—nor what they imply about the beliefs of the characters who espouse them. Which is the crux of my issue with how the movies deal with conspiracy theories and ecofascists and so forth (beyond the fact that, hey, I just don’t like seeing likable characters casually referencing antisemitic beliefs): the writers didn’t think about the implications.

Because these things do imply a lot! For example, if, say, Josh, total newb to conspiracy theories, had asked about lizard people, I would have grimaced to hear it but I would have believed that he’s a teen boy that picked up the term at school and doesn’t know anything about what’s behind it. But on the other hand, I can’t believe a guy so deep in the conspiracy theory world that he bathes in bleach doesn’t know exactly what those conspiracies mean—or, even if he does somehow staunchly refuse to believe that “lizard people” is a code for “Jewish people,” that whatever circle of conspiracy theorists he runs with doesn’t use it as a code. Bernie didn’t pick up those beliefs in a void. I really doubt that’s what the writers wanted to imply about the goofy likable underdog with a podcast.

And sure, the “global elite” and “lizard people” references are presented like a “haha look how far out his beliefs are” joke—the same as the fluoride reference, which is basically Hollywood code for “bogus nonsense only complete lunatics believe” thanks to Dr. Strangelove—but at the same time, they’re never really disproven. Nothing he believes is challenged. Nor are any of Madison’s beliefs that she’s picked up from him. Everything they both believe is either a “wow that’s wild” throwaway joke, or else they’re presented as totally right, e.g. about Apex being up to dubious crap that’s irritating Godzilla.

Just like Emma, who was presented as in the wrong not because she was incorrect but because she WAS correct but took the wrong actions. And just like Rick in KOTM, who kept bring up the hollow earth theory like a running joke but then the joke was that he was right.

And that’s at the root of the issues with both movies’ portrayals of conspiracy theories. Aside from the jokes that are never explored (and therefore, never disproven), the movies say that, every time it matters, the conspiracy theorists on the fringe are correct, the heroes that need to be believed. Even though all (excluding Rick) are characters who have suffered deep loss, who have been hurt, who you can imagine as passionate but grieving people who turned to dangerously wrong extremism in their search for meaning... the movies don’t portray them as people who have been led astray by their pain, but enlightened by their pain. Which is what they themselves think they are, sure, but that doesn’t line up with reality.

The movies never forces them to grapple with how far they’ve gone astray from reality—and I think they should. I’d like to see them processing the revelation that their beliefs are wrong. Whether it’s as big as somebody trying to convince Emma that killing half the population doesn’t fix the pollution caused by corporations rich enough to weather a global hurricane, or as small as Bernie looking at Apex’s financial records and realizing the company’s money is going to the CEO’s vacation home rather than a reptile government and deciding to rethink those beliefs after they’ve checked out Hong Kong.

“Conspiracy theorist is right about everything” is already a common enough trope that Monsterverse isn’t breaking any new ground with it. And in a franchise like Godzilla, whose movies are rife with messages both allegorical and literal about environmentalism, corporate exploitation, the futility of military action, international politics, war crimes... letting the conspiracy theorists be wrong and showing that they’re wrong and what that wrongness can lead to would mesh far better with the themes of Godzilla.

Think about Jonah and Emma unleashing Ghidorah (who emerged from a destroyed ice cap and immediately caused devastating hurricanes—a perfect metaphor for climate change), and what that could say about how ecofascists who purportedly joined the movement because they support environmentalism are actually far more in bed with the destructive industries really at the root of environmental damage... if the movie acknowledged them as ecofascists.

Think about how Jonah collected Ghidorah’s head at the end of KOTM and by the time of GVK it was in Apex’s hands, and how this exchange demonstrates that “I want to unleash titans to destroy humanity to save the environment” Jonah the ecoterrorist and “I want to beat the titans to protect humanity” Simmons the billionaire CEO actually have far more similar ideals beneath the surface of their opposed goals—ideals that have less to do with the environment or with humanity and more to do with securing personal power and control... if the movie had explained how this exchange took place.

Think about how Madison’s mother died trying to mitigate just a little of the damage she did under the thrall of a doomsday cult’s skewed beliefs, how even though Madison broke free she found herself embroiled in similarly skewed beliefs just three years later, and how powerful it would have been if she recognized that she herself had walked right back into the kind of fringe beliefs her mother had led her into as a child, and if she had then resolved to learn how this kept happening to her and break this pattern... if the movie had ever let her realize that she was making the same mistakes, or even acknowledged them as mistakes.

There’s so much potential there, so many things you can see happening right beneath the surface... but the movies never touch on them. And so it looks like, in Monsterverse, all fringe beliefs are either right or harmless. And we never get the “disillusioned conspiracy theorist” story that could be so brilliant and that, right now, would be so relevant.

[swaggydaisy]

little ways you can save the environment

 It makes me so gosh dang sad and terrified for the future because of what’s happening to our planet today. I wanted to make this blog because I know there’s at least something on here that you can do. DO ME A FAVOR YALL AND SHARE THIS PLEASE!! It takes one person to make a HUGE impact and it takes so much more to help save our planet. Here’s a list of ideas that you can do that will make a beautiful contribution to mother earth. :) Feel free to add on in the comments if you have any ideas!

SAVING THE BEES.

So I don’t know if you guys noticed but there are less and less bees each year for some reason. I’ve done some research and you guessed it... it’s because of us. Lots of pesticides, global warming, and droughts are causing the bees to disappear. Bees are necessary for plant life because they distribute pollen and help produce 90% of our foods. No bees= no food. 

What can you do to help:

-PLANT SOME FLOWERS BABY. Attract bees by planting flowers that produce nectar and helping them provide a food source year round! check out this page to know what kind of flowers you can grow. 

https://www.planetbee.org/plant-for-pollinators

-GO ORGANIC. Pesticides are making bees super sick and humans too. Next time you’re going grocery shopping, try finding organic items. It seriously makes a difference.

-DANDELIONS AND CLOVERS IN YOUR BACKYARD. Don’t pull them out! Bees love those.

-DONATE AND SUPPORT! Help beekeepers by buying their beeswax products, (soaps, lotions, and candles) and buy organic or local honey!! If you wanna know how else to save our honeybees, here’s a link: https://thebeeconservancy.org/10-ways-to-save-the-bees/

AIR POLLUTION.

Now I know that pollution has become a regular thing and people don’t care about it so much, but uh first of all you should. Pollution is the reason why for global warming, which is destroying a bunch of habitats for a bunch of animals necessary for the food chain and possibly human life. And it also sucks breathing in disgusting air that causes other health issues. Alrighty let’s start this list. 

-LESS DRIVING AND MORE WALKING. I know, cliche. If you need to visit your neighbor, literally walk it. If you need to be somewhere less than a mile, walk it. Or bike it. hover board it. skate board it. scooter it. The less driving you do, the less carbon dioxide emits to the air and less greenhouse gases the earth traps. And more exercise baby.

-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. Buses, carpooling, and trains helps reduce air pollution!

-SHOP WISELY. Next time when you go to the store ask yourself this: Do I need it? Are there better options than this item? (like “100% made from recyclable blah blah”) Cause if you’re going to end up throwing this item away, then you’ll create more waste which emits more CO2 in the air.

- TURN OFF LIGHTS OR USE SOLAR PANELS. this is pretty self explanatory.

-PLANTS. Now instead of saying plant trees, cause it’s lowkey kind of unrealistic for some people including me to plant a whole dang tree in my yard, I’m going to simply say plant plants that absorb air pollution. Here’s a link for some ideas of which plants you can buy:

https://www.gardencentreoxford.com/news/how-to-beat-air-pollution-with-

plants

ECOSIA. Orrrr if you still wanna plant trees you can download this extension & app called Ecosia! It’s basically like google but so much better. Basically it makes money off ads when you search something up.  And here’s the awesome part, every 45 searches they PLANT A WHOLE DANG TREE. Not only you’re helping the environment, but you are helping people who are in third world countries or live in extreme environments where its hard to find food, good water, education, and jobs. Ecosia supports all of that. DOWNLOAD IT YALL!!! I’ve planted probably about like 5 trees!

PLASTIC POLLUTION.

This is probably one of my biggest concerns. We create and throw away SO much plastic. Okay story time. literally a year ago, i was hiking with my friends and we sat down on this bench. We saw this like tiny chipmunk probably the size of my hand and he was running towards this huge grocery walmart plastic bag. And all of a sudden he shoves that whole entire bag into his mouth and we sat there with our mouths wide open. It was kind of tragic and that chipmunk probably died. And there’s a bunch of animals that consume plastic and die because they are trapped in plastic. Anyways there’s a bunch of ways that we can reduce plastic use, so let’s get on with it.

RECYCLE. Imma say it over and over again. Recycle, recycle, recycle. A lot of plastics have recycling labels on them, so recycle them as much as you can!

PICK UP YOUR JUNK. If you litter, you better change your ways my dude. If that piece of garbage travels somewhere and an animal finds it, what is the likelihood that they will eat it or get stuck in it? That’s not the only case of course, but your trash also emits CO2. Also remember this if you see any garbage that’s not yours, pick it up. It may not be your junk, but it is your planet. 

 BUY A REUSABLE WATER BOTTLE. If you guys can’t remember anything else, PLEASE REMEMBER THIS! There is more than 8 million TONS of plastic water bottles are in our oceans. An average person uses 167 water bottles per year. That is unacceptable my dudes. As you may know, plastic don’t break down easily but instead turns into micro plastic items that animals consume.  It causes starvation, and kills animals. So buy a reusable water bottle. I’ve noticed that when I have a water bottle, I drink more water and save more money. If there’s ever a chance you forget a water bottle and need a plastic one, try reusing it as much as possible.  

SHOPPING FOR REUSABLE AND COMPOSTABLE PRODUCTS. I’m probably going to make another post for this, cause the list is getting long. There’s a lot of eco-safe options to reduce plastic. Like toothbrushes, tooth paste, and toiletries. 

BEACH CLEAN UPS. If you live next to a beach, try researching about ways you can help your beach, or bring your friends to help clean the beach up. You can also help by donating to beach cleanups!

FOODS

Now don’t get my wrong, I love meat and dairy. But it’s also important that we don’t eat too much meat, cause meat and dairy emits a lottt of greenhouse gases. Transportation of this food, producing it, and then wasting it is a no no for mother nature. 

LIMIT YOUR MEAT AND DAIRY INTAKE. I’m not saying become vegan and vegetarian. Like honey, keep eating meat and dairy! It can be good for you. But maybe have a plan like oh I’m only going to eat meat twice a week now instead of everyday of the week. Or try being more considerate of a healthier diet.

SUNSCREEN.

Now, there are some arguments of whether sunscreen is affecting our coral reefs or not. But it’s always better to be safe than sorry. Studies have shown that there are chemicals called titanium dioxide, oxybenzon, octinoxate, and others are harmful to humans and coral reefs. It bleaches the corals into this ugly gray color. Coral reefs are essential to ocean life, and it’s gonna suck if the ocean is dead. 

WHAT TO LOOK FOR. Try finding sunscreens that say “Reef safe” or “reef friendly” sunscreens. sunscreens such as Coppertone, equate, and sunbum are NOT safe. Mineral sunscreens ( i don’t tend to like them cause of the white cast) and banana boat are safe. You can research this more if you want! 

okay there are plenty of ways that you can do to help the environment, but these are some of the ideas. I hope this encourages you than overwhelm you. You don’t have to be perfectly zero waste or feel the need to do all of this. We’re never going to be perfect but we can be and do better. Share this please! Please consider doing at least 1 or 2 of these. Because YOU can make a HUGE difference to our world. 

[twindoodle]

About ML, I have an idea about the Miraculouses and Elements: Ladybug is the Light; Black Cat is the Darkness; Fox is the Earth; Bee is the Fire; Butterfly is the Air; Turtle is the Water; BUT I have NO idea to which element associate the Peacock... What do you think?

Peacock could be Air, maybe. And then Butterfly could be like, Support or something? Or Nature? Like the Fox can be the Earth, but Butterfly can be plants? Does that make sense? Either way, this makes me thing of the Temples in Legend of Zelda, so I want to put one of them in a Spirit category lol. 

[darkestwolfx]

Up From the Depths P.2 - Re-Review #33

Look at that scenery! It gets me every time, I will be honest.

“This is Thunderbird One in immediate pursuit of The Mechanic.”

“I’ve got you Thunderbird One. Thunderbird Five is tracking you at a thousand metres and closing.”

“The TV-21... I haven’t seen it since I was a kid. It’s just as cool as I remember.”

“Please use caution, Scott. The Mechanic must be piloting remotely. That means he’s got nothing to lose.”

“Except Dad’s old plane he’s carrying.”

“Scott, there’s a safe area up ahead. You could knock out the TV-21 and bring down the plane with zero civilian causalities.”

“No way, Thunderbird Five. That plane belongs to us and I’m going to get i back in one piece.”

And that decision causes a load of problems - but had Scott not made that call, the episode would have been quite a bit shorter, and Scott probably wouldn’t have met Ned - and I wouldn’t have been able to write a fic about called ‘When Scott met Ned’, so I’ll go with it.

“Scott, when I designed the TV-21, you’re Dad wanted all the thrust I could give him. That booster is the most powerful I’ve ever built.”

“More powerful than Thunderbird One?”

“Well... yes.”

“Thunderbird One is going down!”

Grandma being able to give Scott those instructions makes a lot more sense now the whole series has aired. When we first saw this episode, I was a little bit like.. explanation please? (Because based on TOS Grandma; she didn’t seem the type to fly). But, it’s okay, they came through and gave it to us.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let the TV-21 out of my sight.”

We know you won’t John.

“Thunderbird Shadow moves fast and quiet. He won’t hear me coming.”

And another Kayo ‘I can totally manage a solo mission moment’. Yeah, remember one of the last ones? As in the nearly dying part (’Touch and Go’)? Clearly not. Is it just me, or is that getting a little bit repetitive and annoying now? I really found that Kayo had an attitude in this two-parter.

I for one, am very glad Grandma called in some assistance.

“Hello, Dear? Are you busy?”

“Never too busy for you, Mrs Tracy.”

“How would you like a second chance to get The Mechanic?”

“I’d enjoy it more than Parker likes complaining about the weather. Scotland, Parker.”

“Right haway, M’Lady. hOf hall the places to ‘ide hout ‘e picks the rainy hone.”

Parker, I’d like to claim that such might actually be me, down here n the South West coast. Hello, always rains down here... except it’s actually really nice right now. I claim it’s the lack of pollutants affecting the air quality and atmosphere. But’s that’s just one girl’s theory.

Look at his face, his poor little face. Thunderbird Four really is in a state though...

“What do you think?”

“I think we have a lot of work to do.”

Scott looks so sad, sat back at his dad’s desk, bless him. Knowing him he’s probably reliving the fact that he failed to get the TV-21 back. He’s always too hard on himself. Anyone else remember the events of ‘Recharge’? Virgil, come give him another talking to, please.

“I get that everybody loves the TV-21, but it’s just a plane.”

“It’s also a symbol of your Father’s determination. Ever since he was a boy, your Father dreamed he’d be the fastest pilot who ever flew.”

“So he and Brains built the TV-21?”

“It was beautiful! Dream come true!”

“Until The Hood crashed it.”

“But he didn’t crash his dream. Your Dad didn’t care about being fastest anymore. He only cared about being first. First on the scene when people need help. First to act when someone’s in trouble. And instead of one ship to do it all, he built five. The TV-21 was the beginning of International Rescue.”

“We need to get that plane back!”

That’s the spirit, Alan!

I’m loving all these scenes on Tracy Island in this episode just to say. Definitely another reason why it makes it into my favorites. It’s an episode which really succeeds in making the boys both human and heroes and I will endlessly love how well written this family was in this two-parter.

“What’s the situation, John?”

“The Mechanic’s craft has stopped over the GDF’s high security iridium vault. The GDF are responding now.”

Because we all know how well that will go down...

“All personnel have been evacuated, Colonel Casey. Except one.”

“Well get him out of there.”

“He said he won’t leave. He’s afraid of losing his job. Oh, and he told to say ‘Gladys won’t go either’.”

“What’s his name?”

I think we already know the answer.

“A crewman. Tedford. Ned Tedford.”

“Oh boy.”

Called it!

“No one’s stealing the world’ supply of iridium, Gladys. Not on our watch!”

That’s right everyone! It’s our favourite gold member of the Rescue Club! Ned Tedford and Gladys!

“Phew, Gladys. I thought we were in trouble there for a second.”

Yeah, Ned you kinda are... See I told you, never leave the GDF to handle things. I bet Colonel Casey is really regretting allowing Virgil to convince her to give Ned a “nice cozy desk job” with the GDF.

I love how Colonel Casey just says “there’s a worker inside” - she knew it was Ned, she could have told them it was Ned - it’s even more comical that she chooses not to.

“It’s never even been tested!”

“Brains, whatever it is, will it help us stop The Mechanic?”

“Conceivably.”

“Then we’ll take it!”

Good choice.

Maximum Max is a brilliant new development and one I think Alan really loves - it was like giving the kid more video games to play with. And it gave Scott a chain to go and rescue Ned! Hooray!

“It’s game time!”

Yeah it is! And just look at them go.

In my opinion, this goes down as Scott’s best ever entrance to a rescue.

“It’s International- Arrgh!”

*Has iridium thrown at him*.

Definitely the best entrance.

 “Keep your dirty hands off this iridium!”

“Ned Tedford?”

“Oh, it’s you! Sorry about that!”

I think that was meant to be Scott’s line. And the fact Scott can reognise Ned (when we know Colonel Casey didn’t give a name - well, that we heard), means he must have been told a lot by his brothers. Or, that’s the assumption I’ve always made.

“Why am I not surprised? I need you to climb into the airlock.”

“No way! I was told to watch this iridium. I won’t let it be stolen!”

“Uh... it’s already been stolen, Ned. You do realise you’re in space, right?”

I mean, I would hope the floatiness gave that away...

“Hmm... That does explain the floatiness.”

Or apparently not. I am proven wrong. Again.

“But it does not change anything! I’m not going anywhere without this vault!”

And there is another decision that sets the path of the episode. If they could have just rescued Ned and Gladys... I can’t help wondering if they would have stood a better chance at recovering the TV-21, or if it still wouldn’t have made a big enough difference.

“Alan, we’re gonna’ have to retrieve the iridium as well.”

“Scott, that isn’t the mission!”

“It wasn’t, but it is now.”

Always listen to your field commander, Alan, and today that is Scott, and he’s made the call. Whatever you and I may think of it.

The International Rescue theme played on bagpipes was absolutely wonderful!

“hIt’s been cloned! That’s hone hof the ‘ood’s hold tricks!”

“Where do you think he got it from?”

That is a new one... Another thing to add to the list of connections between The Mechanic and The Hood, because that implies a more long term connection than we might have first thought.

And all I have to say here, is poor hAlice! May she rest in peace.

“But it’s Dad’s plane!”

“I know, Alan, but it’s not Dad.”

That quote, will always get me.

Remember what The Mechanic said about taking what he wants? Yeah, well he very nearly took Thunderbird Three down with the TV-21.

“Sorry Dad.”

I think he would always have rather had his sons, than his old plane, sad as it is to have been so close.

“The TV-21 was so close!”

“Dad really loved that plane.”

“Ah, in the end the TV-21 was just a bunch of steel and rivets. Your Father would never have risked failing a mission just to save it. What he really loved was us. All of us. His family.” 

So, after all that, Thunderbird Four is fixed, and everyone has gathered together (even John) for a bit of well earned family time. Yep, there are hundreds of reasons to love these last two episodes.

[arinmelnikov]

      ❝𝕴 𝖉𝖔𝖓'𝖙 𝖈𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖎𝖋 𝖎𝖙 𝖍𝖚𝖗𝖙𝖘 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖋𝖚𝖈𝖐𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖋𝖊𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘.❞

                   – – an Arin Melnikov playlist.

1. “Trashed And Scattered” Avenged Sevenfold

Trashed and scattered again, I’m feeling so low You waste your breath while fucking with me, my blood is so cold My destination’s always unknown, I’ll find my way there But you goddamn motherfuckers always wasting my time

I wont be the a victim, but the first to cast a stone Sedated nights to the bar room fights as metropolis takes its toll And don’t you try to stop me, it’s a place you’ll never know Don’t try to judge or take shots at me, I’ll never let you seize control

Play your game and walk away, your integrity don’t mean shit Crawl on me, you fucking parasite, and I’m gonna take you out

2. “Spit It Out” Slipknot

Did you never give a damn in the first place? Maybe it's time you had the tables turned 'Cause in the interest of all involved, I got the problem solved, and the verdict is guilty Man nearly killed me, stepping where you fear to tread Stop, drop, and roll, you were dead from the get-go Big mouth fucker, stupid cocksucker, are you scared of me now? Then you're dumber than I thought Always is and never was, foundation made of piss and vinegar Step to me, I'll smear ya, think I fear your bullshit? Just another dumb punk chomping at this shit Here’s another way to break through the noise Was it something that I said that got you bent? Gotta be that way if you want it Sanity, literal profanity, hit me

Spit it out All you wanna do is drag me down All I wanna do is stamp you out

About time I set this record straight, all the needlenose punching is making me irate Sick of my bitching falling on deaf ears Where you gonna be in the next five years? The crew and all the fools and all the politics Get your lips ready, gonna gag, gonna make you sick You got dick when they passed out the good stuff Bam, are you sick of me? Good enough, had enough?

Fuck me, I’m all out of enemies Fuck me, I’m all out of enemies Fuck me, I’m all out of enemies

3. “Dust To Dust” Misfits

Hate you, father, for you have sinned Why did you let this life begin? I’m not your savior, I’m not your son A forgotten boy, abandoned creation

Oh, mother, father, answer me Your soulless son, your thing that should not be A brilliant demon, a monster god You gave me life, but took the soul away

With these final words, I pull the switch, we turn to dust Dust to dust My name is like the kiss of death And we embrace, we turn to dust With these final words, I pull the switch, we turn to dust Dust to dust My name is like the kiss of death Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

4. “Walk” Pantera

Can’t you see I’m easily bothered by persistence? One step from lashing out at you You want in, to get under my skin and call yourself a friend I’ve got more friends like you. what do I do?

Is there no standard anymore? What it takes, who I am, where I’ve been Belong You can’t be something you’re not Be yourself by yourself Stay away from me A lesson learned in life Known from the dawn of time

Respect, walk, what did you say? Respect, walk, are you talking to me? Are you talking to me?

5. “Lights Out” Mindless Self Indulgence

Who the hell said any of you get a taste? Do you ever wanna get up all in your face? And nothing you can do could ever make me go away Poor baby, I’m gonna make it all okay

Punch your lights out, hit the pavement That’s what I call entertainment Causing problems makes you famous All the violence makes a statement Punch your lights out, hit the pavement That’s what I call entertainment Causing problems makes you famous All this violence makes a statement

6. “Dead Ringer” Des Rocs

Oh, my reflection's from a time when all the worst was a game Nothing like the shake of life Stuck up in a race, race, race, race, race Hell caught a shadow of a guy Can’t find him one little break See, there’s a gap in his smile For fitting all his pain, pain, pain, pain, pain

Oh, lady I’ve got my hand on the trigger And it’s pointed at the dead ringer

Hold my cigarette while it’s lit And let it burn you, baby Oh, dead ringer, you’re so sick But you look amazing

7. “Are You Dead Yet?” Children Of Bodom

I kiss the ground with love beyond forever Flip off the sky with bleeding fingers till I die

Enemy, take one good look at me Eradicate what you will always be Tainted flesh, polluted soul Through a mirror I behold Throw a punch, shards bleed on the floor Tearing me apart, but I don’t care anymore Should I regret? Or ask myself Are you dead yet?

8. “Blood On My Hands” The Used

You felt the coldness in my eyes, and something I’m not revealing Though you got used to my disguise, you can’t shake this awful feeling It’s the me that I let you know ‘Cause I’ll never show, I have my reasons I hate to say that I told you so, but I told you so

There’s blood on my hands like the blood in you Some things can’t be treated, so don’t make me, don’t make me Be myself around you

9. “Absolute Zero” Stone Sour

The bloody angle, the symmetry Your cheap adhesive isn’t holding me My mouth is a gun I can shoot, I can show you the truth And I don’t need a reason to lie to you

No pun intended, no punishment If I offended you, you needed it Ideas are the bombs in your mind A fissure in time If you don’t have a weapon, you can’t have mine

I can bleed if I wanna bleed I can fail if I feel the need This face is my last confession This life, it feels like a prison

I am not afraid I’m giving in to grievances again You’re looking at an absolute zero I’m not the devil But I won’t be your hero

No fucking quarter, no premiums The world is stuck in delirium Man is a four-letter word, it’s really absurd The hate isn’t fake It’s just inferred

10. “Thank You For The Venom” My Chemical Romance

You’ll never make me leave I wear this on my sleeve You wanna follow something? Give me a better cause to lead Just give me what I need Give me a reason to believe

So give me all your poison, and give me all your pills And give me all your hopeless hearts and make me ill You’re running after something that you’ll never kill If this is what you want Then fire at will

11. “Rather Die” Barns Courtney

I can touch the planets through the roof of my car You’re reaching for the heavens, only bark at the stars Now, all your hundred thousands best remember my name I’d sucker punch an army if it got in my way

I came to kill ‘em Now I’m wiping the spit from my eyes I’ll take a beating But I, I’ll never give up I, I, I think I’d rather die I think I’d rather die I think I’d rather I think I’d rather die

12. “Burning Flag” Marilyn Manson

I’ll join the crowd that wants to see me dead Right now I feel I belong for the first time Multiply your death, divide by sex Add up the violence and what do you get?

We are all just stars and we’re waiting We are all just scarred and we’re hating We are all just stars on your burning flag

You can point your gun at me And hope it will go away But if God was alive He would hate you anyway

13. “Bitter” Anarchy Club

I’m sick and tired of the sick and tired Because what it is just ain’t the thing it was before You’ve heard the stories all before But they’re all true What’s in the mirror, clearer Staring back at you

Set it, set it, set it Set it, set it, set it Set it, set it, set it Set it, set it, set it Set it off

14. “Bang” Empires

Well, I’m sick of banging with your skeleton You were gorgeous till you gave out all your skin Now I can never really take it to the heart again I still got yours blowing up inside my head

At least I’m waking up At least I’m waking up with you hiding in my bones At least I’m waking up I’m waking up You’re dying a legend, darling And I’m dying to touch you, baby

Oh wait, oh wait, before I let you go There’s a thread or two still left between our souls But you went messing with the gods and never fell away You’re still burning off the angel on your face

Oh, this is love Bang up my heart to get your love Bang in my heart to feel you, love Bang, bang up my heart to get your love Bang in my heart to feel you Gonna bang, bang up my heart to get your love Bang on my heart

15. “Flames” R3HAB, Zayn, Jungleboi

Well, well, you better run from me You better hit the road You better up and leave Don’t get too close

‘Cause I’m a rolling stone And I keep rolling on You better run from me Before I take your soul

If I go, let me go Don’t you follow me, let me go I will let you down, let me go Even if your heart can’t take it Light me up in flames

16. “Die MF Die” Dope

I don’t need your forgiveness I don’t need your hate I don’t need your acceptance So what should I do?

I’ll be sorry, so you’ve said I’m not sorry Bang, you’re dead

Die, motherfucker Die, motherfucker, die Die, motherfucker Die, motherfucker, die

17. “Bodies” Drowning Pool

Push me again This is the end

One, nothing wrong with me Two, nothing wrong with me Three, nothing wrong with me Four, nothing wrong with me One, something’s got to give Two, something’s got to give Three, something’s got to give Now

Let the bodies hit the floor Let the bodies hit the floor Let the bodies hit the Let the bodies hit the floor Let the bodies hit the floor Let the bodies hit the floor

Skin against skin, blood and bone You’re all by yourself but you’re not alone You wanted in, and now you’re here Driven by hate, consumed by fear

18. “No Money” Kings Of Leon

Won’t you give me something I need? Won’t you peel me off of the street? Go and wet my tongue Or spit me up and break me a fever

Give me something I can believe in Give me something to walk me away I’m a waste of time And all in all a waste of a living

Can't you see me walking alone I've been down to the haunts and back And I'm way too tired Of blowing out the burning candle

And all this pissing around Cut loose in this fucking town I ain't coming back I got my ticket on to the next one

19. “Parasite Eve” Bring Me The Horizon

I heard they need better signal Put chip and pins in the needles Quarantine all of those secrets in that black hole you call a brain Before it’s too late

Really we just wanna scream something Only pretend to believe something I know you’re baying for blood I wanna turn you around

You can board up your windows You can lock all your doors But you can’t keep washing your hands of this shit anymore When all the king’s horses and all the king’s men Don’t know their asses from their pathogens When life is a prison and death is the door This ain’t a warning This is a war

It’s a parasite eve Got a feeling in your stomach ‘cause you know that it’s coming So you leave your flowers and grieve Don’t forget what they told you When we forget the infection Will we remember the lesson? If the suspense doesn’t kill you Something else will

20. “Dig” Mudvayne

I would love to beat the face of any motherfucker that’s thinking they can change me White-knuckle grip pushing through for the gold If you want a piece of me, I broke the motherfucking mold

Dig Bury me underneath everything that I am rearranging Dig Bury me underneath everything that I was slowly changing

Let me help you tie the rope around your neck Let me help to talk you the wrong way off the ledge Let me help you hold the glock against your head Let me help you tie the rope around your neck Let me help to talk you the wrong way off the ledge Let me help you hold the glock against your head Let me help to chain the weights onto your legs

21. “In Waves” Trivium

Do I end this all for the world to see? Do I take everybody else down Everybody else down with me?

I know that death approaches fast What’s the purpose if this life won’t last? Pulling everyone down with me

Perpetually Perpetually, we’re igniting it in waves Incessantly Incessantly, we’re sinking in flames

[fuchsiagrasshopper]

Vicariously

Benjamin Poindexter x reader

AN: This is an answer to an anon request about the reader who is sensitive to others emotions including Dex, and helps him to feel better. This was such a wickedly original idea and it took me down an interesting road. I feel this is something I never could have come up with on my own, so thanks to you anon. Enjoy everyone!

You had a strong sense of empathy, always had. It made you good with people because you knew exactly what to say in correspondence to what they were feeling. Sometimes it could be a hindrance, especially when the emotions were negative. You would get beaten down by the overwhelming magnitude that another person could feel. It wasn't a special power or anything, at least you didn't think so. Not like the Hero of Harlem that you had heard about.

Sometimes you would be in a room full of people and would only be aware of your own emotions. It took one person who radiated strongly to get you to feel as they did. You had gotten good at deflecting the connections, but on occasion, one would come along who would not be ignored. As you sat in the bar that evening, one such man could not be spurned.

You hadn't noticed him when he came in. He was alone at the corner of the bar and had probably arrived that way. He was nursing a beer, but it wasn't holding his interest. If you had to guess, you'd say he wasn't even a drinker. His eyes kept skirting towards the red-headed bartender. Old girlfriend maybe? No, he wasn't giving off those feelings of affection. He was lonely, but he seemed more in need of guidance. The confusion and anxiety he was throwing off were suffocating. It made you want to crawl into bed and have a long cry. Maybe that's what he ought to be doing instead of ruining your evening. He had put you off of your whiskey sour with his welter of sensations.

It became a game of chicken, unbeknownst to him, of who would get up and leave the bar first. You watched him with impatience, while your fingers twitched with the desire to reach into your purse and bring out some money to pay your tab. The game ended the moment he stood up from his seat, throwing down change before sidling to the door. You took a deep breath as he slipped out of the bar, all of your emotions becoming your own again.

What could be going on in his life that caused him to be such a wreck? It wasn't for you to question, but there was a magnetic force pulling you towards the answer, and you were on your feet after him within a moment's notice. Another thing about you was your curiosity towards others. Most of the time they were more interesting than you.

The night was warm, and the air was foul with the city's pollution. You searched around for your mark and spied his blond hair across the street. He was moving fast, and you picked up your pace as you Jay-walked across the road.

“Hey,” You called before blowing out a sharp whistle with your fingers. “Blondie.”

His speed immediately went from ten to zero as he halted, turning back towards you as you cut in front of a cab.

“Sorry,” You said, waving to the driver who shook his head in disapproval.

You made it the rest of the way, leaping up onto the sidewalk ahead of the stranger. His previous emotions flooded back to you, along with a blend of curiosity as you stood before him breathless. You hadn't got a good look at him before because of the dim bar lighting. He had pointed features and a severe manner that didn't give off an approachable vibe. You wondered if it was ingrained in him from whatever job he held. He had red, angry looking scrapes on his cheek and forehead that looked like they were made recently.  As you studied him, he studied you right back.

He closed his eyes and shook his head as if clearing his mind. “Sorry, do I know you?”

You hesitated a moment before speaking. “No.”

“Then what do you want?”

“I've seen you around the bar before.” Okay, that was a lie. You didn't even know if he had been there before. Hopefully, he had or else this was going to be a short conversation.

“I go there sometimes after work,” He supplied, while still wearing a guarded expression.

“Me too,” You said, smiling to try and ease his suspicions. His emotions had lessened somewhat and it wasn't taking so much of a physical toll on you. “Anyway, I saw that you were alone, and so was I, so I thought why not introduce myself? No one wants to drink alone, that's how alcoholism starts.”

He looked quizzical as you let out a nervous laugh. He probably thought you were crazy. Hell, you had chased him across the street after watching him; you were crazy.

“I like to drink alone,” He said bluntly, taking a step towards you threateningly. “Goodnight.”

You stood stupid with your mouth agape. For someone who felt so much isolation and rejection, he wasted no time in pushing people away. Well, you weren't about to let that beggar be a chooser. “Liar, you go there because you're lonely,” You blurted out before he was too far away.

That got his attention. He rounded in on you fast, and you could find no trace of patience left for you. “What, have you been following me?” He grasped you by the shoulders and pinned you to the wall of the nearby building. “Who the hell are you?”

You let out a gasp. When he touched you, you were overcome by everything he was feeling. It made your knees weak, and you would have sat down if his strength wasn't already holding you up.

“I'm a florist. My names Y/N,” You sputtered.

He let go of you and took a step back. The way he looked at you, it's as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. “You're a florist?”

“Yeah, that's about it. Not very exciting, I know. I'm sorry. I followed you with the best intentions, but now it seems I've only managed to annoy you or freak you out. Frankly, I wouldn't judge you for either. I'm gonna go.” You adjusted the strap of your bag and started to turn back when he stopped you.

“Wait,” He said. “What were your intentions?”

“You were feeling stressed and in need of company. I thought I could help,” You said, looking down at your feet nervously. “I can't explain it, but sometimes I can feel what someone else is feeling. It was like that with you. I've never tried to intervene before. Maybe I should stick to that habit.”

“What am I feeling now?” The way he asked, it sounded almost desperate, like he didn't know his own emotions.

You reached for his hand, not surprised when he held it back in hesitation. “It will help me to feel only what you're feeling if I'm touching you.” You explained, and he relented as his fingers wrapped together with yours.

Your brow furrowed, sensing the restraint he had built up to keep his emotions back. He was wound up like a spring. Despite his best efforts, his more prominent feelings were getting through.

“You're anxious and tense. I'd say work-related, but I don't know what you do. You're also curious, probably about me. I'm flattered by the way.”

He cleared his throat, looking to the side in embarrassment as he broke the connection with your hands. “That's...amazing. How do you so that?”

“I don't know,” You said with a shrug. “It doesn't work with everyone. Guess you just have strong emotions.”

“Really?”

“Definitely.” You smiled, watching him disguise his nervousness. “You know you could tell a girl your name. Usually, that comes before hand-holding.”

“It's Dex,” He said.

“Dex, huh? Short and to the point, I like it.” An awkward pause followed. The street noise continued around you, and you felt the first of a cold raindrop on your arm. “Hey, want to grab a coffee? You can tell me all about your job that I assume is the reason for the marks on your face.”

It was a bold move, but you reached your hand out and cupped the side of his jaw, running your thumb over the cut on his cheek. Dex took a deep breath, closing his eyes while leaning into your touch.

The sky opened up, and the sparse drops that had been falling began to turn into a downpour. You took a step back from Dex and let out a gasp at the cold rain on your skin. “Or maybe somewhere dry.”

“My apartment is close. If you still want that coffee, I can make us a pot,” He offered, and you could feel he wanted your company.

Your heart bled at his loneliness, and you found yourself giving in. “Deal.”

You threw your purse up over your head in a vain attempt to protect you from the shower. Dex led the way with you keeping close to his side. Puddles had already started to form along the pavement, and cars were rushing through them in a push to get someplace. At one point Dex pulled you close when you were nearly sprayed by a passing cab.

You were already drenched through your clothes when you came to Dex's building. He hadn't lied when he said it was close, and you wondered if he had picked the bar because of the close proximity or vice versa. It was a well-maintained complex in an upscale area, and you were suddenly aware that you were just a florist.

The two of you were silent as you rode up the elevator to his floor. You were shivering from dampness, while Dex was radiating the nervousness that had returned. His floor was quiet, and you fell behind a moment to admire the delicate crystal light fixture that hung from the ceiling.

“Y/N,” He called, catching your attention. The door to his apartment was already opened and he was halfway inside before noticing you weren't behind him.

“Oh, sorry,” You said absentmindedly, scurrying inside after him.

When you surveyed his apartment, only one thought came to mind. My God, is he neat! The color palette was black and white, and everything was in perfect placement like an Ikea showroom. It was hard to believe the space had been lived in with how stiff the furniture looked.

“I'll get us some towels,” Dex said, stepping down the hall for a moment, leaving you dripping at the front door. You didn't move, making the assumption that he wasn't the type who would appreciate a mess.

Everything was well cared for and had a place, but you couldn't see any personal effects with sentimental value. It was an empty display, and you didn't know where Dex fit in in his own home. The more you tried to make sense of him, it caused you to feel like you were losing grasp of the situation. It was late, so why had you agreed to come here?

As you tried to find an answer, Dex returned with a towel around his shoulders and a spare in his hand that he held out towards you. It was crisp white.

“Here,” He said, passing it to you gingerly.

“Thank you.” You took it while watching his every move.

His wet hair had been ruffled through with a towel, and it caused him to look more carefree. You would have said innocent, but it just didn't quite fit with Dex. He set to work on brewing that promised pot of coffee, and the idea of something warm put you at ease. You took a seat on one of the stools across the island of the kitchen while finishing squeezing the last remnants of water from your hair. You didn't notice Dex looking at you, but you felt a shift in his emotions. It took you by surprise and nearly knocked you down from the stool. He was aroused by you.

“How do you take your coffee?”

You blinked, staring blankly at him while certain your face was red. “Black with sugar,” You managed, setting the towel down in your lap.

“Here, I'll take that,” He said motioning to the damp towel. “I'd offer you clothes, but I don't think I'd have anything that would fit.”

You could stroll around naked and he'd probably be just as happy. He knew you could sense his emotions, but he gave no indication he was embarrassed, and it occurred to you that he probably didn't even realize what he was feeling.

“I'll be alright. I shouldn't stay much longer anyway. I have an early morning, and you probably do as well, doing whatever it is you do.”

“I work for the FBI,” said Dex.

He wasn't kidding. “Jesus, that really is much more exciting than being a florist. The most I'm at risk of is a prick from a rose.” You leaped down from your seat, taking a step towards Dex. He unconsciously took a step back from you. Maybe he wasn't so unaware of his attraction after all. “So what's the story behind these marks?”

“I'm sure you'll hear about it on the morning news tomorrow. This city is going to turn against us,” He said, frustrated. “We lost people tonight.”

Now you were getting somewhere. His pent up stress and agitation made sense. You placed a hand down on his arm, his eyes shooting to that spot while you led him to the couch.

“I'm sorry, that must have been awful.”

He let out a breath. “It was hard, very hard.”

You searched for it, but the empathy in that statement couldn't be found. He needed help to navigate his emotions, and who better than you if it wasn't too bold to say.

“I'm sure you did all that you could. Sometimes all we have is to trust in our own capabilities, and figure out the rest as it comes.”

His eyes found yours, and you forgot all about the storm outside, drawn in by his gaze. “How do you do it, Y/N? I've only just met you, but you get me.”

“Guess you're just lucky you decided to go for that drink.” The coffee machine let out a beep, and Dex made a move to stand before you stopped him. “Wait a moment, I want to try something first.”

Maybe it was a spur of the moment decision or his heightened arousal had fogged your mind, but you leaned forward and planted your lips tenderly on his. You couldn't play it off as a drunken mistake. Both of you were pathetically sober coming from a bar.

Dex's shyness ended the second you leaned in and he had caught the scent of your perfume. He wrapped you in a stronghold with one arm around the waist, and the other hand tangled in your hair. It had curled from the rain. You let out a squeal as he lifted you up with his strength and your back met the sofa with him above you. He let out a shiver as your hands traced up his back under his shirt. Your fingers were still cold from exposure, but you were considerably hotter with Dex's body on top of yours.

He broke the kiss, both of you panting heavily as you stared at one another. His eyes were blown near to black, and yours were surely similar. Your chest heaved, pressing up into him as if starving for contact.

“Coffee?” Dex asked. His hand was still in your hair, massaging the spot at the base of your skull.

Your eyes fluttered and you smiled. “Oh no, I don't need it. I'm warm now.”

Dex grinned back, and he put his lips to yours once more. You continued to explore each other on his couch while the storm raged on outside. Inside the apartment, your emotions formed together in coalescence. Every touch or tease of Dex's body on yours made it impossible to know where his emotions ended and yours began. The thought was far away, and all according to Dex's design.

If you hadn't have been so preoccupied with his emotions when you first entered his apartment, you might have noticed the small, grey vase sitting on his mantel. The yellow tulips had since perished, but he kept the vase as a memento. He had purchased it weeks ago from your flower shop.

[oliverzafar]

CHANGE WILL COME FROM THE CHILDREN

Oliver Zafar officially announced his bid for the presidency in February of 2019, doing so as a left-leaning Independent candidate. His core values are based on progressivism and looking towards the future, ensuring a better America for both its present and future citizens.

Read more below about where he stands on the core issues facing Americans today!

CLIMATE CHANGE. Incredibly vocal about doing everything possible to stop climate change and vouches that the Green Movement can boost economic growth and create millions of new careers for those in the fossil fuel industry worried about losing their jobs. Launch a 10 to 15-year plan to transition to 100% clean energy and net-zero greenhouse gas pollution. Remove subsidies and tax breaks for the fossil-fuel industry and implement a Carbon Tax. Ban fracking and all fossil fuel exports. Require plastic bags in stores only be given out at a price. His own campaign is incredibly clean, offsetting all carbon emissions produced from travel activities and events by investing in renewable energy and carbon reduction projects.

GENDER AND RACE ISSUES. Mandate a universal paid parental leave policy for either or both parents. Fight the gender and race-based pay gap by requiring businesses to report salaries, promotions, and dismissals as broken down by gender and race to the public. Codify Roe v. Wade to continue ensuring safe and legal abortions. Conduct regular random, unannounced investigations into police officers to ensure no race or gender bias takes place. Work to decrease the disproportionate amount of women of color affected by infant mortality.

LGBTQ+ ISSUES. Describes the murder of black trans women in America as a “national crisis”. Include members of the LGBTQ+ community in the Equal Housing Act. Remove all legal loopholes that allow individuals to lose their jobs due to their sexuality in twenty-two states. Ban conversation therapy. Repeal the FDA’s policy that disallows gay men from donating blood.

HEALTHCARE: Work towards “Healthcare for All” by: a) sponsoring a buy-in program for Medicaid so that not only low-income individuals have the option to use public healthcare, and b) expanding Medicare by allowing people ages 50 to 64 to still buy into it. Have the government manufacture cheap generic drugs if prescription drug costs rise too high to stop excessive pharmaceutical price-gouging. Allow Americans to purchase medications from other countries as a way to lower consumer costs. Push to pass the Affordable Medications Act in the Senate to allow the federal government to negotiate drug prices with insurance companies under Medicare.

FOREIGN RELATIONS. Build a public and private international coalition against China’s intellectual property theft and compete against China in Asia with a TPP-style trade deal. Limit drone strikes, if not discontinue them completely. No military intervention in Venezuela’s current political climate.

ECONOMICS. Cut taxes on small businesses and farmers, raise them on corporations. Incorporate a VAT Tax to pay for many of his proposals, which he loves to emphasize is a tax already used by every developed country besides the US. Encourage more union-positive thinking throughout corporate America (he’s very proud of the fact that his own staff is unionized!). Stronger anti-trust regulations to break up monopolies and encourage companies to invest profits in their employees and communities.

IMMIGRATION. Repeal criminal penalties for people crossing the border. Reexamine the current immigration process and try to expedite/ease the process so that families are not forced to enter illegally. Conduct a comprehensive review of current ICE procedures and implement serious retraining based on federally approved security protocols. If this is still unsuccessful, abolish ICE and redistribute its responsibilities to other agencies. Increase foreign aid to Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and other countries in crisis to thus reduce the flow of asylum seekers to the U.S.

STUDENT DEBT. Expand access to college by providing interest-free federal loans. Allow employers to make tax-free contributions to pay off their employees’ student debt and help those in work-study programs graduate without owing anything.  

EDUCATION. Introduce a free universal pre-K program to ensure all children have the same successful start. Introduce initiatives to increase the US’ advancement in science, technology, and mathematics when compared to other much more advanced developed countries. Research the amount of homework and schoolwork given at public schools and whether or not it’s the most productive to produce actual results.

DEFENSE. Lower military spending by ending regime-change wars and reducing the acquisition of nuclear weapons.

GUN REFORM. Enact the Disarmament Act with some modifications. Invest into research and development of “smart gun” technology and other technological preventative measures.

PACS: Reform campaign finance laws so that representatives don’t answer to donors, they answer to voters. Force every company that wants government contracts to disclose every campaign donation. Outlaw superPACs and overturn Citizens United.

— Please specify their target voter audience [age, ethnicity, region, income, etc]

Young, young, young! Oliver’s support is distributed between 18 to 44 years old, with very few older generations outside of his home state of Massachusetts willing to even hear him out. The quintessential Oliver voter is a grad student – high in education level but low in income. He’s also attracted a lot of support from people who are fed up with the two-party system that seems to permeate American politics and would instead prefer a more Independent candidate who doesn’t need to preen to Democratic powerhouses to make a decision. He polls very favorably among members of the LGBTQ+ community and people of color, especially Asians, Middle-Easterners, and Indians who want to see their region represented through either him or his fiancé. Both sides of the coast are the areas that his support is most concentrated in, especially Northeastern intellectual elites, while his spouts of passionate progressivism are lost on most of Middle America.

— What do their supporters love and believe in when it comes to their persona and campaign? AKA. What’s people’s reasoning for voting for your character?

The first thing Oliver’s supporters will cite as the reason that they vote for him is his passion. He speaks and campaigns with a kind of fire that most politicians lost before they even became elected. They love his youth after having grown up with generation of old white dirtbags ruling the country, and believe that as the first Millennial presidential candidate he understands the problems plaguing America’s most indebted, most stressed, and most socially conscious generation better than anyone else running. Progressives also appreciate how incredibly vocal he is about his experience as a gay man and a person of color who experienced an incredible amount of discrimination following 911.

— What does the opposition hate when it comes to their persona and campaign? AKA. What points are brought up when trying to convince others your character isn’t a good choice for the seat?

Take a seat y’all, this is gonna take a while: His youth is usually the first criticism people bring up, because it’s the one that’s least controversial as opposed to his sexuality or race (but we’ll get to that too). Even though he’s got over a decade of experience in politics, people hesitate to endorse someone who’s just a few years above the legal age to even run for president. His opposition will also bring up the hypocritical nature of his marriage, since Oliver’s this stalwart progressive while his fiancé writes for Republicans. Democrats and moderate Republicans usually stop there in terms of his personal life, but of course conservatives will reference his homosexuality as something “the country isn’t ready for” or bring up his Arabic roots as “something a post-911 USA shouldn’t trust”.

Aside from just personal issues, Oliver’s also received a lot of backlash for running as an Independent. Though he’s doing it for the sake of proving that a divisive two-party system is only going to ultimately hurt America (he’s got Madison 10 like… framed twice in his office), people are harsh to point out that he’s only going to take votes away from Berkeley and essentially hinder a Democratic victory. Oliver also doesn’t know how to just give no comment when asked questions by reporters (much to the exhaustion of his staff), which while seen as “endearingly passionate” by some is seen as “an inability to keep his goddamn mouth shut” by others. He’s also incredibly uncompromising on his key issues (climate change, healthcare, gun control, and student loans most prominently), which doesn’t resonate well with moderates who aren’t 100% committed to his radicalities. And as much as Oliver claims to fight for the people, he suffers from a chronic syndrome of Northeastern Elitism as a result of being an intellectually-raised, Harvard-educated, I’ve-read-The-Republic-in-its-original-Greek kind of guy that doesn’t hold Middle America at too high of a regard.

[robronsecretsanta]

Under Atmospheric Haze, Just Some Stratospheric Strays

Aaron and Robert spend their Christmas Eve-Eve together at Leeds’ German Market.

Merry Christmas, @aarondingel 🎄

All it took was some gentle persuasion. Well, if you can call a quick fumble in-between meetings and a sex sated, raspy grunt of “suppose I’ll have to say yes now, won’t I?!?,” persuasion.

It doesn’t take much for Aaron to give in to Robert’s extroverted propositions. Especially when he’s flashing that famous winning smile with Aaron’s sparkly, satisfied eyes reflecting right back. The same was happening, now. 50ft in the air in the centre of Leeds. High on overpriced German beer, frankfurters in a bun too big to even fit your mouth round, fancy festivities, and a pre-snog in the back row of the Everyman Cinema like lovesick teens - because of course, on Robert’s agenda, it had to be the place with the plush, leather seats and a hefty price.

“You’ve enjoyed yourself tonight, haven’t you?” Robert proudly pried, slightly turning to the side where his spent husband had his red hood covered head leaning against his shoulder.  

Although he’s already wrapped a new novelty jumper for Aaron to open on the morning of the 25th and is internally screaming with giddiness just thinking about it, Robert had insisted he wore the Santa hoodie for the occasion. It carries bittersweet memories but it’s also a damn good garb in the name of all things Christmas and it’s no use stuck at the back of the wardrobe kept safe and collecting dust.

(Robert also sussed Aaron had clung to that hoodie as a way for him to privately recollect and draw comfort from it for a year straight, and that brought him double the bubble of warmth and contentment.)

“How did you guess?!”

Aaron met his eyes with an undeniable smirk painted on his face. There was no getting past this one.

“Hmm, not sure. Could be the fact I’ve not seen you this relaxed in a long time. Or could be your competitive streak I had the pleasure of witnessing during a game of ruthless Hook A Duck with a ten year old kid.”

That earned Robert a light slap to the stomach followed by Aaron cuddling inches closer, one hand let loose and the other nestling against his husband’s knee. Robert’s teasing always ended up being more endearing than insulting, that he can vouch for.

Aaron chose to overlook a witty remark back and that had a lot to do with Robert reciprocating his hand movement with a gentle thumb rub. He swore he lost control of a steady heartbeat in that standstill second. After all these years and marriage signed on paper, it still feels like the first time. It still feels so right he can’t focus on anything but the way their tips touch, the solid connection moulding his senses, the overbearing scent he’s grown to harmoniously depend on.

“Yeah, alright, it’s been nice.” He opted for a flippant eye roll and a blasé attitude. “Summat different innit?! Better than being at home dealing with teen problems and dodgy business when we should actually be prepping for our first Christmas in our family home in two days time.”

Miles better in fact. It’d been the most carefree and genuinely chipper he’d felt in weeks. Yeah, okay, walking hand in hand with zero inhibitions around a crowded winter village full of fairy lights and wooden stalls, finished with a cosy indoor log fire retreat reeking of stale ale and a ride on the big wheel, had been a whole lot of light fun and a boost to the ole spirit system - both the festive and the self-credibility kind - but he wasn’t gonna let Robert know that. He didn’t want to give him the benefit of the doubt and make his self righteous ego any bigger than it already was.

A soft stare and a lopsided smile was what Aaron was faced with when he lifted his head back up. Robert’s eyes had always been Aaron’s uttermost favourite feature for as long as he can remember - the mesmerising sapphire sea green shade setting his soul alive, stamping on his beating heart and rapid pulse - and now, beneath the electric hues of purple and muted lustre shadows, he recalled the intoxicating thrill washing through him when he first realised there was no other visual he’d rather wake up to for the rest of his life.

“Remind me to bring you back here next year,” Robert simpered with a hint of unabashed adoration flashed across his entire face, bringing Aaron out of his brief daydream. “If it’s gonna bring out this soppy side of you I’m already booking the taxi.”

“Shut up,” Aaron scoffed. Failing to hide the spreading flush of his cheeks even in the now moonlit sky.

“No, I’m serious. I’m glad you agreed to it, in the end,” Robert’s voice lowered and his expression earnest. “It’s rare we get to spend proper quality time together now. What with you running the scrapyard whilst I con Graham for all he’s worth. Plus, it’s our first Christmas as a married couple so we’ve gotta start it the right way.”

A mediocre market filled with tacky mementos, sickly sweet air pollution, and rowdy groups of work do gatherings wasn’t the imagined idea of the most high class, romantic Christmas Eve-Eve celebratory date. It wasn’t exhilarating but it worked, because he had Robert beside him. Robert with his windswept hair and goofy grin and gangling limbs and ability to make anywhere feel like home.

“Yeah,” Aaron delicately whispered.

To an outsider, the audible silence weaved between them could be misjudged as awkward but to them, it was laced with meaning. Responsive words weren’t always needed. Especially here, in their own intimate bubble; both metaphorically and legitimately. (They were lucky to bag a carriage of their own on a hustled and bustled Sunday.)

This moment here, so placid they were able to drown out the rest of the world as though they were the only two to exist; even above the noise of jingling bells, booming kids, and classic renditions of songs, was worth its weight in gold.

“So, family home, ey?” Robert’s the first one to break the quiet; nudging Aaron and raising his brows with a light chuckle as though his brain’s been overriding with deep thoughts and he’s attempting to disguise it. “Never thought I’d get to hear that.” Yeah, he definitely had.

“Mad innit?!” Aaron met his eyes for the second time. “Bit different compared to last year.”

“What, when I embarrassed myself in front of an entire pub and then almost met my fate in the hands of a car bumper?”

Aaron didn’t answer, again. Just shook his head frivolously. He knew it probably still affected Robert. He knew he still reacted sensitively and this was a chance for him to momentarily mull over the weight of the situation. How it played a pivotal part to where they are currently, in the here and now.

“You know, I was thinking. Maybe we’d be able to bring our own family here one day. Use the little ones as an excuse to have a go of the swings and the carousel without looking deranged.”

That cheeky demeanour with a hint of hushed emotion had returned. Robert tended to change the subject once he’d evaluated and moved along the lines of his thought pattern. Only now Aaron was the one to be stirred. A shudder travelling down his spine all the way to the forefront of his mind where he instantaneously imagined Robert holding the waist of their toddler, faces radiating with infectious glee and laughter as they waved to the video camera Aaron was holding. Protecting and nurturing, just like the brilliant dad he’d seen him grow to be.

“Maybe. But first can we just savour the peace and quiet whilst we still have it.”

“Good idea. As long as you can admit I most definitely made the best decision of having a night here and I was right to convince you all along.” Robert really wasn’t going to let this one go.

Aaron still wasn’t going to profess the truth, but he was right. Tonight had been a dream. A dream that had somehow converted to real life. Real life he’d have never panned out for himself. The PDA. The gorgeous husband. The aimless yet wholeheartedly significant conversation. The state of serenity and security allowing him to let loose and lap up the jovial atmosphere. The plans for the future. The man he desired and was unconditionally devoted to, returning that with twice the emphasis; looking at him like the stars had gravitated towards his entire being. Having everything he ever needed, right here.

Robert drew Aaron even further towards him so their proximity had reached its pinnacle. Aaron couldn’t help but notice just how perfectly well their bodies fit together as he leaned into the arm wrapped around his shoulder. Their bonded torsos was like a moth to a flame. Like a drug he couldn’t ever get enough of.

“Maybe I can convince you to spill with a trip upstairs when we get home,” Robert was still rambling on in the depths of defeat.

That caught Aaron’s attention, an unavoidable lip bite and a blood rush to the top of his skull right down to his toes, but he still wasn’t giving in.

“You really are a stubborn git, you know that?” Robert accentuated every last syllable. “Good job I love you.”

And with a puckered kiss to his temple, a smooth thumb running over his knuckles, Aaron breathed a sigh of ease with a soft snigger. “I love you too, idiot.”

Maybe, just maybe, he could get used to every Christmas being as traditional and timeless as this.

[xxamorxexmortexx]

You heard him, Shane. Daniel and Rowan are the planet's heroes. Gonna bring pollution down to zero

[ombreecha]

City Lights

Clerith Week 2018 Day Four: Free Choice Fandom: Final Fantasy VII Pairing: Clerith Prompt: Cloud is on his bike texting when he notices that suddenly lots of people are running and Aerith is one of them, crashes into him gets Cloud and his bike on the ground. confused and mad. bloody nosed Cloud wants to yell at her but she pulls his bike up and pushes him to drive and run away with her and he does. but not sure what she did to run away Maybe a demo against shinra polluting the environment and it got ugly. ///  Prompt courtesy of @moldin

The cities louder than normal. The mass of individuals isn’t too far and can’t be missed as smaller groups stand upon the corners yelling for any willing to hear them. Fingers cradle the cigarette allowing another exhale as he leans against his motorcycle. He’s finished his last delivery for the day and it’s almost time to wrap up and head on home. There’s a distaste for the abundant mass of individuals—their protests had costed him time during his routes. Time was money, and they were costing him money with their picket signs, and march through the city.

He’s never put much thought in the headlines accusing Shinra of polluting the planet. That’s none of his business—he’s not interested as long as they keep paying him. The deepest of inhales has his ashes falling from the tip of his cigarette. Smoke fills his lungs and drifts from his nose as he leans his head back choosing to focus on the sky than those wasting their time in protest. Even now he wouldn’t consider himself a fan of the city. He was born in a small town—it wasn’t in the country, but it definitely wasn’t something as large as Midgar. The air held a musky scent and it lit up the skies at night.

The vibration in his pocket has him bring his eyes back down and his free hand that had sat upon the handle bars to make their way to retrieve the device. Another drag of his cigarette comes—he’s sure the text he’s received is work related—and he lingers for just another moment more before pulling the cellphone from his pocket. The exhale he lets out this time produces the smallest of smirks as his cigarette sits with his mouth. It’s not a work text, but one of his coworkers requesting a bar night.

Fingers tap away at the screen ready to accept the invitation. Ears perk at hearing a louder than normal holler and then the thundering of feet. A second is all he’s given to see people spilling down the street passed him—there’s fear, and panic across their faces—and suddenly he feels like he’s in a whirl wind as people fly from all directions. Standing firm his head can’t stop it’s whip from those that have made their way past him to those making their way towards him. There’s zero explanation for the sudden panic—and then all at once he feels a solid form collide with his. He’s falling back—cigarette already tossed away from him at the force against his chest and his footing becoming lost as he stumbles against his motorcycle. This crash is gonna hurt—and by fucking god whatever just hit him better have a good excuse because the sound of his bike against the pavement sounds expensive.

Cloud Strife doesn’t do expensive—he also doesn’t deal with people toppling over him.

Lightheaded but still coherent he lets out a groan not yet taking in what actually hit him hard enough to fall down with his bike. His nose hurts like an absolute bitch though—Jesus Christ is that fucking blood? There’s a scowl across his lips as his fingers come into view after having touched his nose. Bright read covers the tips of his fingers and the longer he gazes at it the more flushed he feels himself become. Azure drag themselves up from his fingers as they take in a woman—she’s petal pink with an impressive smaragdine. One second, and then two pass—impressive or not what the hell’s her problem?

His mouth dips getting ready to spill his vexation but she’s moving quickly and pulling up his bike—struggling to a point but she’s got the job done nonetheless. He feels his frustration escalating in how she thinks it’s okay to just touch his property—lets be honest he’s more pissed she didn’t help him up and apologize first. It’s all happening too fast. She’s moving quickly and grabbing his hands to pull him up from the ground.

“We’ve got to go! Come on!” panic rolls off of her in waves as she pushes him towards his bike.

He barely has time to look back at her and see the panic in those impressive smaragdine, and the raised up warm chocolate brows. It’s enough to get him to comply. He’s being carried away by her pace and he barely has time to even think let alone refuse. Fingers pull out his gloves from his black leather jacket sliding them on, and take his sunglasses from the collar of his jacket. Just as he’s brought his bike to life he feels her arms wrap around his waist. His foot kicks the stand away and it’s no sooner he’s pulling out and in the direction the masses make their way for.

There’s too many running and too many to weave through. Fingers tap upon his leg seeking his attention. He can barely catch her voice over the sound of his bike, and the wind passing by them. There’s no missing her intention as he makes a turn heading down a side room, and working his way through the city. There’s no time for questions or embarrassment at first. She’s nestled so tightly against him that it makes him question if she’s ever been on a bike before. He has a million things he wants to ask—what happened, who was she, where did she want to go exactly, and—oh fuck, he lost his goddamn phone.

Weaving between cars is far easier than behind people. The further they get from the protests gone wrong the more this woman seems to physically relax. Those thing fingers never lose their tight hold, but she’s far less rigid than when they took off. She’s no longer burying her face between his shoulder blades, but choosing to lean the side of her face against him instead. There’s a touch of protectiveness as they take the entrance to the highway. His fingers come to grip her hand as he speeds further. The squeeze of his hand against hers makes her give a squeeze around his waist.

There’s heat on his cheeks at this small insignificant motion from her. Uncertain of where to take her all he can think is to take her to the outskirts. The feel of her chest against his back tells him she’s letting out the smallest of laughs around a turn—he can’t hear her over the engine nor the cars heading the opposite direction. Taking the next exit he slides to a stop at the stop sign. At no point does she ask him anything, nor does she tell him if she has a destination in mind. All she does is simply slacken her grip to let her hands rest upon his lap setting his cheeks ablaze once again.

All of these things are insignificant but they’re also things he’s not expecting. —this whole evening has been one big ball of what the fuck after all.

His bike slows to a stop finally making it to the cliff viewing over the city. Fingers slide up his sunglasses, and his foot sets his stand in place. Sitting up he dares a glance over his shoulder. She’s let to release him fully and seems completely immersed in the city lights that glow against the sky that’s started to fall into night. Those impressive smaragdine glow as the sky paints her in hues of orange, and purple. He feels words forming at the base of his throat and before he even has a chance to speak one of them those smaragdine come to take him in.

The flex of her fingers can be felt against his leg, and then all to quickly she’s removing them and apologizes are spilled forth, “I’m so sorry—oh my god we need to fix your nose.”

Oh—that’s right his nose is a bloody mess. Wonderful. Absolutely. Fan-fucking-tastic.

She’s off his bike not even a moment later and just like how this all started he finds himself being swept along with her pace. Those fingers once wrapped around his waist grip the soft petal pink dress before pulling and tearing at the bottom, “H-hey! What’re you doing?” he suddenly feels far to conscious of the distance between them.

“Oh shush. Don’t start putting up a fuss now.” her lips purse together before shifting in obvious displeased.

Her fingers dab at his nose working to remove the dried blood staining his upper lip. The pain is still there sharp and tender. The hum she lets out is soothing though, keeping him from speaking as he continues to digest this woman before him, “What happened?”

The protests against Shinra aren’t something he’s interested in—but he’s definitely interested in what her part it in all is.

“Shinra sent out their security and they started attacking protesters.” the scowl across her face isn’t like the displeased look from before. This ones filled with a distaste far stronger, “They kill our planet, and then attack those of us just wanting the pollution to stop. It’s disgusting.”

He’s not even sure what to respond with—Shinra was technically one of his employers. A hum rolls of his tongue as those brows of hers begin to ease themselves. Those fingers of hers, long and slender, grip his jaw and that’s more than enough to make him stop breathing with wide eyes unable to look anywhere but her.

Those fingers of hers tilt his head one way then another. All these motions are soft, and there’s no missing the way her eyes run over every inch of his face, “It’ll probably hurt for a few days. I’m really sorry I just ran into you like that. I was looking back and then just ran right into you.”

“It’s fine.” he wants nothing more than for her to let go of his face as his eyes flicker from her to the city daring to light up the evening sky.

“I’m Aerith.” her tone is light as she lets go of his face, “Though, I guess it’s a little late for proper introductions.”

Azure can’t help but watch as her hands slide over her arms, “Cloud. Cloud Strife.” he gives a nod of his head as she takes a seat beside him. She’s settled for nestling her hands within her lap, and that’s all he needs to see before he’s sliding the zipper of his jacket down, and nudging it off.

It’s a single glance her direction before he slides it upon her shoulders. That heat takes over his cheeks and daring just one more glance her way he can’t help be unable to take them from her face. Those lips of hers are spread wide and there’s a warmth behind those smaragdine.

He’d give this stranger his jacket every time if she looks at him like that again.

There’s no explanation—maybe it’s those impressive eyes, or that smile wide and bright that’s got him hooked. He’s just a simple man who does deliveries, and she’s a woman who participated in the protests. He doesn’t know her from anywhere but here and now, and she likewise doesn’t know him at all. There’s an interest there though. There’s a desire to get to know her. He wants to know how to get her to look at him like that again.

“What do you do for a living, Cloud?” she tugs the front of the jacket seeking more of its warmth, “I’m a florist.”

“I run a small delivery business.” he suddenly feels self-conscious as he tells her this.

“I see.” she’s humming as if amused by something, and all too sudden he realizes it’s probably because his cheeks are on fire by every little thing she’s doing.

He’s not sure what she’ll say if he tells her he does deliveries for this company she holds such a passionate hate for. There’s a desire to keep in from her—he doesn’t want to offend her. Would finding out he was doing a delivery for Shinra make her hate him just the same? It’s enough to make him swallow thickly. That even voice of hers has his attention. She’s talking of such little things. Nothing of real importance. These things are so small and insignificant but he welcomes it all.

This woman is different. She holds an air entirely of her own. She came colliding into his world, and she’s swept him in her pace more than once since this began. Those city lights have nothing on her. He’s not a fan of the city, but he could be.

He doesn’t know where this little chance meeting will go. All he knows is he doesn’t want it to stop here.

[douglashonorscollege]

The Tesla Titan

research paper by David Wacker  ⌂

Part I: The Tesla Titan

“Tesla Titan, he’s a hero! Gonna bring emissions down to zero!” Now that may be a clear rip off of the classic Captain Planet theme song, but the Tesla Titan deserves the same recognition as the beloved pollution fighter. The Tesla Titan is not only stopping the crimes of fossil fuel overconsumption and outdated automobiles, but also making space travel less environmentally destructive. Reusable rockets have decreased cost and waste by a big margin. He has also promised that moving to Mars in the future is possible. Though he wouldn’t be able to do all of these amazing feats if it weren’t for his infinitely smart Artificial Intelligence by the name of OpenAI (needs a better nickname). It is said that Tony Stark himself went to the Tesla Titan for pointers on how to be a world-saving superhero. The Tesla Titan keeps giving more and more to our wonderful planet; he is a true hero and spectacle.  

His only flaw would be that he hasn't done a good job at keeping his identity hidden. Just about anyone with a WiFi connection knows the Tesla Titan’s real name which of course is Elon Musk. Musk is one of the richest people on the planet, and he has been doing his best to use it for good! The Tesla Titan’s Origin Story begins in the country of South Africa, where he began toying using computers at a young age. At the young age of twelve he sold a video game he had developed to a magazine company. It was a space-themed “shoot-em-up” called Blastar, and it made the future billionaire a cool 500 dollars. You can actually play it in your browser now with a little digging.

At the age of seventeen, while continuing to get more adept with computers, Musk decided to get a Canadian passport. His reasons were based around not wanting to support apartheid—a segregation order in South Africa—with military service as well as chasing better economic opportunities in North America. He first attended Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, but then transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, where he earned two bachelor’s degrees. From there, Musk went to Stanford for graduate school, quitting after a mere two days. He thought that the future was with the internet, and he was correct; in a relatively short amount of time, Musk sold his first online company, Zip2, for 309 million dollars (Gregersen).  

Elon Musk, aka the Tesla Titan, has become a dominant figure in the tech industry over the past decade, and for good reason, too. He has brought about paradigm shifts in many different fields with relative ease. This is a result of his influence that he has gained over the years. He has the capability to alter public thinking quicker than it would otherwise change. A paradigm shift is comparable to a scientific revolution, something that generally requires a lot of marketing, money, and, usually, time. Throughout this essay I will compare his ability to sell products to the abilities of the Marvel character Tony Stark, aka, Ironman. Both have helped invent and create amazing pieces of technology. They also have much success selling these technologies, and the similarities go on and on.  

The Tesla Titan gets his name after the electric car company he co-founded and where he continues to hold the title of CEO. The car company was founded in 2003 with the idea of fun-to-drive electric vehicles in mind. They launched their first full electric vehicle in 2008, named the Tesla Roadster. The Model S was launched in 2012, becoming the best in its class in every category. The company has released many more vehicles over the years, and just last year, it announced the Cybertruck, which currently has over 650,000 orders. Tesla is also close to releasing a self-driving semi-truck, which promises a 500-mile range on a full charge. From Tesla’s beginning right up to today, “Elon leads all product design, engineering and global manufacturing of the company's  electric vehicles, battery products and solar energy products” (Tesla).  

Recently, Tesla became the highest valued car company in the world, reaching an estimated $208 billion value in July of 2020. It is now being valued at $387 billion by Yahoo Finance today, with the possibility of another jump in value after it was announced that Tesla is joining the S&P 500. In its seventeen-year lifetime, Tesla became the forefront of electric vehicles, and it has reached farther than any other car brand before it.  

Although Tony Stark never released his own brand of vehicles, he is known to be the owner of many expensive sports cars. He also created the Model 52 Iron Man Armor, which could fully transform into a flying car, equipped with two circular jets on the bottom to keep it off the ground. So there’s some comparisons to be made between these two men. In the movie, Spiderman: Homecoming, a Stark Cargo Plane is robbed. Where this might not be the best example of its abilities, it still has the capability to cloak itself and stay off radar. So they both have their experience in transporting goods.  

The Tesla Titan’s highest reaching feat is SpaceX, which he founded just a year before Tesla. SpaceX has also reached the forefront in its field of sending rockets to space and, now, landing them back on earth. Falcon 9 was the first ever successful landing of an orbital rocket booster back in 2015. Since then, there has been nowhere to go but up! Following the Falcon 9 was the Falcon Heavy in 2018 and then the revolutionary Super Heavy Starship System this year. The Starship System can carry a total of 220,000 pounds. It is designed to travel quickly to different cities around the globe. It doesn’t stop there, though; the System was also built with the idea of transporting supplies  and people to and from the Moon and Mars. It does all this at a fraction of the cost of SpaceX’s closest competitor, Boeing. SpaceX has even transported multiple astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) with its Dragon spacecraft (Gregersen). Just recently, four astronauts were successfully transported to the ISS in association with NASA (Wattles).  

A clear paradigm shift occurred when Falcon 9 became the first booster to land itself back on Earth. A mere thirteen years after its founding, the company managed to break a barrier no one had come near breaking before. The main thing that Tesla and SpaceX have in common is their fearless leader, The Tesla Titan. With the amount of success that Elon Musk has had over just the past two decades in these two fields, a connection has to be made with his influence. After so many successes, it would be hard for the world not to believe in his hero-like abilities being behind some of  today’s paradigm shifts.  

Connecting this to Tony Stark comes a little easier than comparing a single transforming car suit. Stark Industries has connections to the creation of the original Helicarrier that is used by the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization. Tony proposed the original idea to S.H.I.E.L.D., and with the help of Dr. Reed Richards and the former Xman Forge, they were able to design and eventually build the aircraft. Not that readers are able to see much of it, but there has also been a mention of the Stark Industries Aerospace Division, which supposedly created the first spaceship capable of space travel. It was first brought up in Iron Man, Vol. 1, #60, back in 1973, but not much has been said about it since.  

Finally, the last evidence I will provide for The Tesla Titan’s ability to perform paradigm shifts in a single bound comes in the form of Open AI. He founded the company alongside Sam Altman and others with a beginning pledge of one billion dollars. Since its inception, the company has worked on many different AI-related projects, from a fully AI Dota 2 team that regularly beats the best of the best human teams, to slightly less impressive—when it comes to competitive gaming—but still impressive bipedal AI simulations that learned to sumo wrestle one another. Moreover, Open AI developed an AI-trained robot hand that can solve a Rubik’s Cube. Then there’s the music generating AI, Jukebox, that has its own Soundcloud. But maybe the most impressive use so far is GPT-3, a unique text-suggestion software that can gather data in split seconds and fill out a full Excel sheet with data after a simple topic search and a few button presses.

In 2018, Musk left the company’s board but still remains a donor. He left the company because of possible future contests between it and the AI that runs his Tesla vehicles’ self-driving. While he might not be with the company anymore, the amount the company accomplished while he was associated with it is still nothing to scoff at. This is another great example of how someone of his status and income can significantly increase the rate of technological progress.

These accomplishments provide the easiest area to find similarities between The Tesla Titan and Iron Man. Both have their hands in the super intelligent AI basket. Tony Stark, of course, has his AI-assistant Jarvis with him wherever he goes, whether it’s in a pair of super fancy Heads-Up Display Glasses, in his massive super smart home, or of course while he’s in his trademark Iron Man suits. Jarvis is used for instant information, hacking, and even controlling certain aspects of the various Iron Man armors.  

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Jarvis ends up inhabiting a Vibranium-based body that eventually leads to him becoming Vision. The body was constructed under the instruction of another super AI, Ultron, who intended on using the body as his most powerful form yet. As some will know, Ultron turns out to be an evil Artificial Intelligence with the classic, “exterminate the human race” mindset. Thinking quickly, Stark puts Jarvis into the body so it cannot be inhabited by Ultron. Vision is “powered” by the Mind  Stone (one of the six world creating Infinity Stones) which gives Jarvis full sentience.

My claim earlier about Tony Stark going to Elon Musk for inspiration was not that far fetched. Robert Downey Jr. did in fact go to Musk for tips on how to play the super-rich, tech playboy that is Tony Stark. And this completely makes sense, as The Tesla Titan is very comparable to Marvel’s Iron Man. It is a good thing that The Tesla Titan is on the good side, as it would be quite dangerous if he suddenly turned evil. He would have all the money and equipment he could need to possibly take over the world…  

Part II: Neuralink The Nefarious  

Neuralink The Nefarious, comes from a different timeline than The Tesla Titan, a timeline where the man behind the mask chooses to use his influence for evil rather than good. Neuralink The Nefarious sees the world as being infected by the parasite that is the human race, and he plans to use whatever resources he has—and he has plenty of resources—to expel the Earth of its sickness. But he won’t stop there—why conquer one planet, when you can conquer two, plus a moon? He develops spaceships with the cover story of cheaper space travel and commercial use for everyone. Behind the scenes, though, he schemes in the shadows. Along with his plans for stealing worlds, he is developing his mode of extinction for the human race in the form of mind-altering brain implants, which he markets as a possible cure for previously incurable diseases. The idea of self enhancement can drive practically anyone to madness, and he feeds on that desire. The implants are said to also provide information to the user just by thinking. While he’s at it, he has also sold “Not Flamethrowers” to the general public, another tool in his master plan. Neuralink the Nefarious will stop at nothing to become the Earth’s one true owner.  

This section of the essay will go over how not only does Elon Musk have similarities to those of Superheros, but he is also very capable of becoming a super villain. I will also go over the idea that when paradigm shifts do happen so quickly because of his influence, Technological Disjunction is rarely part of the equation.  Technological Disjunction is what happens when society doesn’t fully agree with a new technology that is being developed. For example, the use of drones by the public—many people worried about personal privacy. This has led to many regulations, including the requirement that the operator have a license to fly their drone over another’s property. Without a lot of technological disjunction, products that maybe should not be put on the market become available. Throughout this portion of the essay, I will compare Musk’s projects to multiple villains spread across pop culture, comparing their views and evil plans with those of Neuralink the Nefarious.  

Once again, Neuralink the Nefarious gets his name after one of his evil companies. Elon Musk founded Neuralink in July 2016, with a goal of solving paralysis and improving the human being by tampering with neurons in the brain. The “link” will be implanted into the person’s head with very thin “neural threads” reading interactions between the neurons that are used for movement in the brain. Their plan is to begin by creating a wireless link between users’ brains and their mobile devices: “The Neuralink app would allow you to control your iOS device, keyboard and mouse directly  with the activity of your brain, just by thinking about it” (Neuralink). As Neuralink learns more from its different iterations, the ability to help those with paralysis and other disabilities comes next. Or so they say.  

I believe that Neuralink the Nefarious got this idea straight from the 2014 Action  Film Kingsman: The Secret Service. The film’s antagonist is Richmond Valentine, a rich tech mogul looking to provide the world with “Free Calls, Free Internet, For Everyone, Forever.” He does so by implanting a chip directly connected to the brain. Sound familiar? It is later revealed that Valentine had an ulterior motive with his fancy Wi-Fi chips; not only do the chips provide said services, but they can also be used to make everyone who has one go into a murderous rage. So he markets and sells the chips around the world, and most of the first world ends up with one within a matter of a few weeks. He then activates their murder function and anyone with a chip begins doing whatever they can to hurt and kill everyone around them. Then of course the protagonist saves the day, but that’s besides the point. The point is this: if Neuralink the Nefarious really is inspired by Valentine—or vice versa—who knows what else these “links” will do to us.

A few months after founding Neuralink, Musk founded the Boring Company whose primary goal is to devise and create new methods of transportation. They plan to market underground tubes made for getting places quicker. However, for this essay, I will be focusing on one of the Boring Company’s previous products: in 2018, The Boring Company sold “Not a Flamethrower” to anyone who had a 500 dollars to burn. The 20,000 units sold out, generating ten million dollars for the company. Selling items similar to a flamethrower to the public doesn’t sound safe, obviously, as there is always the distinct possibility of someone wielding one with evil intentions.

I was not able to find a villain that specifically sold flamethrowers to the public. However, there is Norman Osborn, a prominent figure in New York, who is the head of Oscorp, which is a leader in various technologies. Behind the scenes though, Norman is the Green Goblin, one of Spiderman’s oldest foes. After taking an intelligence- and strength-enhancing serum, Osborn ends up going insane, which spurs his liking of destruction. I wouldn’t put selling flamethrowers off the radar for Mr. Osborn, whatever it takes to drive the city to the ground. Neuralink the Nefarious was pretty unique with this one, selling flamethrowers to almost anybody is something not many super villains have thought of, perhaps making him more villainous than the most evil of super villains.

These two companies of his are prime examples of technological disjunction being forgotten. Through vigilant marketing, economic class, and a wide influence, Elon Musk and his reputation have survived, even thrived, where others would have found themselves in the proverbial doghouse. Of course there will always be articles about how what he is doing is wrong, but they haven’t been impactful enough to keep Musk from continuing his work. He has accomplished so much that it has become hard to stop his Neuralink the Nefarious side—if it exists.    

Conclusion

Whether we are in the Tesla-Titan or the Neuralink-the-Nefarious timeline, Elon Musk has made major strides in whatever line of work he steps into. His companies have accomplished more in under twenty years than many have accomplished in over 100. There are so many more examples from his life to support both sides of this  argument, but I ultimately align myself with the Tesla Titan, not only because he’s the good guy but because there is more evidence for Elon being “good” rather than “bad.” I appreciate his thoughts on renewable energy and his efforts to save the planet from climate change. While I was writing this, my dad sent me an article about the announcement of ZETA, a group of electric vehicle manufacturers, including Tesla, arguing for no more sales of fossil fuel-powered vehicles by 2030, moving our world  closer to the electric vehicle paradigm.  

To reiterate, Elon Musk is in a special place in the science world. He is highly intelligent and very well known, giving him the power to trigger paradigm shifts in pretty much every industry he touches, which so far has been for the positive. But if he continues to avoid Technological Disjunction, he could potentially turn toward evil, which could negatively impact all of humanity. It’s the job of the public to keep figures like Musk in check, to make sure they remain the Tesla Titans rather than become Nefarious Neuralinks.

Works Cited ~Brockman, Greg. “OpenAI API.” OpenAI , OpenAI, 28 Sept. 2020,  openai.com/blog/openai-api/. ~CB Insights. “8 Industries Being Disrupted By Elon Musk And His Companies.” CB Insights Research , CB Insights, 21 Sept. 2020, www.cbinsights.com/research/report/elon-musk-companies-disruption/ ~Chandler, Simon. “Elon Musk Is 'Distracting Us' From Real Tech Issues, AI Figures Warn.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 19 May 2020, www.forbes.com/sites/simonchandler/2020/05/18/elon-musk-is-damaging-te ch-and-the-tech-industry/?sh=6206e5e19b8d. ~“Elon Musk.” Tesla, Inc , www.tesla.com/elon-musk. ~Evannex. “A Transportation Paradigm Shift Is Coming Thanks To Tesla's Elon Musk.” InsideEVs , InsideEVs, 22 Feb. 2020, insideevs.com/news/400142/tesla-elon-musk-transportation-paradigm-shift ~Fandome Contributors. “Iron Man Armor Model 52.” Marvel Database , marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Iron_Man_Armor_Model_52. ~Fandome Contributors. “Norman Osborn (Earth-616).” Marvel Database , marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Norman_Osborn_(Earth-616). ~Fandome Contributors. “S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.” Marvel Database , marvel.fandom.com/wiki/S.H.I.E.L.D._Helicarrier. ~Fandome Contributors. “Stark Industries Aerospace Division/Appearances.” Marvel Database , marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Stark_Industries_Aerospace_Division/Ap pearances.  ~Gibbs, Samuel. “Elon Musk Sells All 20,000 Boring Company 'Flamethrowers'.”  The Guardian , Guardian News and Media, 1 Feb. 2018, www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/feb/01/elon-musk-sells-out-boring-c ompany-flamethrowers-fire.  ~Gregersen, Erik. “Elon Musk.” Encyclopædia Britannica , Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 27 Aug. 2020, www.britannica.com/biography/Elon-Musk.  ~Hern, Alex. “Elon Musk: the Real-Life Iron Man.” The Guardian , Guardian News  and Media, 9 Feb. 2018, www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/feb/09/elon-musk-the-real-life-iron- man. ~Klebnikov, Sergei. “Tesla Is Now The World's Most Valuable Car Company With A $208 Billion Valuation.” Forbes , Forbes Magazine, 1 July 2020, www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2020/07/01/tesla-is-now-the-worlds- most-valuable-car-company-with-a-valuation-of-208-billion/?sh=6d99944f5334 ~Neuralink , neuralink.com/. ~“Not A Flamethrower.” The Boring Company,  www.boringcompany.com/not-a-flamethrower.  xxx Peterson, Andrea. Even Elon Musk Knows He's a Good Supervillain Candidate . 25  Apr. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2015/04/17/even-elon-musk- knows-hes-a-good-supervillain-candidate/. ~“Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) Valuation Measures & Financial Statistics.” Yahoo! Finance , Yahoo!, 18 Nov. 2020, finance.yahoo.com/quote/tsla/key-statistics/?guccounter=1. ~Vaughn, Matthew, et al. Kingsman: the Secret Service . 20th Century Fox, 2015. ~Wall, Mike. “Wow! SpaceX Lands Orbital Rocket Successfully in Historic First.” Space.com , Space, 22 Dec. 2015, www.space.com/31420-spacex-rocket-landing-success.html. ∎

More on David ~ Minerva’s Owl Homepage

[roominthecastle]

There's been much debate about the identity of the Incomplete One but so far not much concrete info to go on, so we are still just speculating. Which is what I am gonna do behind a read more, too, and a lot of it.

I know the "Wendigo view" is a popular one and for good reason. This "Naphil/Bastard Spirit view" is actually quite close to that interpretation and (given the similarities of the two entities involved) could be regarded as a "religious remix" of it.

There are several interpretations concerning the identity of the Nephilim, too, but I am going with the "angel view" here, according to which they are semidivine beings born of the sexual mingling of fallen angels and mortal women.

"Nephilim" can be interpreted as "the Fallen Ones", "the Violent Ones" or "giants". They are stuff of legends, the "warriors of old". They and/or their possible descendants are variously referred to as Elioud, Anakim/Anak, Emim (“Terrors”), Rephaim ("Shades"), Gibborim (“Giant Heroes”), Awwim (“Devastators” and “Serpents”).

They are mentioned and alluded to in various sources including the Old Testament (e.g. Genesis, Numbers, Ezekiel), the New Testament (e.g. Peter, Jude), and the apocryphal Book of Enoch, the content of which is echoed/reinforced in the Biblical books indicated above.

More on these behind the cut:

Genesis 6:4:

"The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown".

Enoch elaborates:

And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.' …  And they were in all two hundred; …

[They] took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms and enchantments and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants. And they became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells. Who consumed all the acquisitions of men.

And when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against them and devoured mankind. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and fish, and to devour one another’s flesh, and drink the blood. … And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways.

So, 200 rebel angels ("sons of God") took mortal women ("daughters of man") as wives, and from their unholy unions powerful half-breed giants were born who later on developed a terrible appetite.

The angels' (Watchers) original mission was to protect and tutor mankind. They, however, deviated from the original plan and began sleeping with mortals. Then, to add insult to injury, they also started teaching them about sorcery, warfare, weapon making, herbalism, astronomy, astrology, meteorology, and even the wicked arts of cosmetics. Most of this knowledge was not meant to be revealed this fast and this early, some never at all, and so it was blamed for the eventual deterioration of mankind. The fallen angels and their offspring came to be viewed as a corrupting, polluting influence that upset the cosmic order, necessitating a "divine correction" to reset the world.

We can find this "demigod connection" in several flood narratives (e. g. Mesopotamian or Greek traditions) where the deluge primarily serves to correct/punish an imbalance caused by human sin, overpopulation, and overstepping of bounds. Boundary breaking, forbidden knowledge, and sin also go hand in hand in the Garden of Eden or Tower of Babel stories where mortal and divine mix in the human desire to "be as gods." Let's just say that this never goes down particularly well with the Lord.

The fallen angels (or “spirit beings who disobeyed”) were cast down into Tartarus ("pit of darkness") to await their fiery destruction with zero chance at salvation. The punishment for mankind came in the form of the Flood that was meant to wipe out their sinful existence and with it the halfbreed Nephilim as well. But some were spared.Their "flesh" died in the deluge but some of them were left to dwell on Earth in the form of dark, disembodied “bastard spirits” until Judgment Day. They have a sort of “divine decree” allowing for their continued earthly presence. Some equate these spirits with the first demons and while they are v similar, I’m not convinced they are exactly the same. Whether these “bastard spirits” are eligible for salvation is left unclear, but the Flood did not finish them off. There is also a direct reference to the Nephilim in a post-Flood era report given to Moses about fearful giants living in fortified towns in a "land that devours its inhabitants" (=Canaan). These are eventually driven out but, once again, some of them survive. What we can conclude for sure is that they are v difficult to eradicate.

How does all this fit into the mixed mythology of The Ancient Magus' Bride (TAMB)?

TAMB draws on various sources for its worldbuilding, and the Bible is one of them. God and the Church hoover on the periphery of the main story, and there are also characters who evoke actual biblical figures.

Characters reference God and Jesus in a manner that signals their existence is not in question and are forces in play, albeit in the background.

Simon is the local priest/preacher who's assigned to observe and report on Elias to his superiors. He has yet to take a more active role but it's clear their relationship is an uneasy one necessitated by lingering concern over Elias' past actions that has nothing to do with him practicing magic: "Why does the Church care so much about you?" "I... did a few things a long time ago. So now they are keeping an eye on me. Confronting them would be a pain for both of us, so sometimes I take care of little errands for them, and they turn a blind eye to me." (Chise and Elias, Chapter 9) "It's the price you pay for your freedom. If it had been any other magus, maybe it wouldn't have caused such a hubbub. But think about it. There has been nary a peep form you for years, and now you suddenly take on an apprentice? I've done my best to hide your actions from the higher-ups, but I can't afford to look the other way this time" (Simon, Chapter 3). "I don't know if you'd count [God] as an ally, but... I'll send up a prayer for you and yours" (Simon, Chapter 39).

Chise names her familiar Ruth which is undoubtedly inspired by the title character of The Book of Ruth who suffers a great personal loss and is the symbol of utmost loyalty and friendship: But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me." (New American Standard Bible) "From now on your home is also mine" (Ruth, Chapter 12). This familiar bond "is the strongest of oaths, a pledge to share anything and everything with the bonded human. Senses, emotions, power, even time. … When you die, he will die, too" (Elias, Chapter 12).

Cartaphilus is none other than the Wandering Jew of Christian legend who is doomed to live until the end of the world because he taunted Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion. According to one version of the story, he struck Jesus and urged him to move faster, to which Jesus replied, “I go, and you will wait till I return.” He was later baptized as Joseph and lived a pious life, hoping for salvation (Encyclopedia Britannica). While TAMB's Cartaphilus is talking a much, much darker approach, he too is ultimately looking for the same thing: "What must we do to find salvation?" (Joseph, Chapter 33)

Rahab also appears in the Bible as an innkeeper/prostitute who helps Joshua's spies. Lindel's master shares her name but we don’t know enough yet to tell what else they have in common.

These examples show that the Bible and its ilk have a clear foothold in TAMB, which opens up all sorts of possibilities, one of them being the Nephilim theory. We don't know much about Elias, but what we know appears to line up with (the similarly limited) information about the Nephilim:

(1) The Nephilim are half-breed giants born from the unholy union of fallen angels and mortal women.

Elias in his "natural form" qualifies as a giant. He is also referred to as "incomplete" or "half-formed", an "abomination", and a "failed creature". His half-breed status is repeatedly emphasized, the Spriggan going as far as calling him a "cur" (Chapter 41).

Another curious detail pops up in the 3-part OVA where Chise is gifted a book titled The Lonely Little Star. Miura tells her,

"You might see nothing but pitch-black darkness right now. But you have to keep trying and trying, looking into the dark world. And off in the distance you'll surely find some light. … like the child of a star. And when you find the child of a star, they will surely find you, too. And you'll shine light on each other. And then your world will no longer be pitch-black. ... I truly believe you will meet a child of a star who will light your world."

If we accept that Elias is one of the Nephilim, then he was fathered by a fallen angel. Angels are associated (often identified) with stars, so it follows that he would be called "a child of a star". Him meeting Chise brings light into her life and vice versa. His dual nature - commented on by Alice in Chapter 11 ("sometimes we were allies, and at other times enemies.") -, however, means that there is also considerable darkness in him. He is a curse (darkness) who is also a blessing (light) when it comes to Chise - an odd duality that’s also touched upon in the manga when Rahab remarks, “Curses and blessings are fundamentally the same thing. It all depends on how you receive them” (Chapter 16). Chise has been nothing but kind and accepting of Elias, which is beginning to transform him.

(2) The Nephilim came to be regarded as a curse, a pollution. Most of them perished in the Flood but some survived as disembodied "bastard spirits" that wander the Earth until Judgment Day.

Elias himself confesses to Chise that his nature is shadow and, as a result, he is not good at e.g. cleansing magic. He is repeatedly accused of being destructive and in Chapter 41 he actually takes the form of a dark black cloud. The Spriggan then reprimands him, saying that he defiles the land and pollutes the world when he loses control over himself like that. He also seems to hold Elias responsible for an event or events involving the disappearance of many spirits and humans (Chapter 8).

The fae remark that Elias has a stench. When Chise falls victim to the dragon's curse, she is also told by an aerial that she has a stink about her now (Chapter 39). If cruses smell bad to fae, then it's likely that Elias carries a curse, too. Bastard spirits are cursed to walk the Earth until the end of days. Walking is one of the three things Elias can (or lets himself to?) remember from his still unknown past. He is also associated with thorns. Thorns signify grief, suffering, tribulation, mockery, sin and the curse of/punishment for sin (cf. the crown of thorns).

(3) The Nemphilim's chief sin was unnatural, unrestrained appetite. They devoured humans, animals, then "one another’s flesh, and [drank] the blood."

We don't yet know what happened to Elias, but we know that when Lindel first encounters him and asks what he is, Elias only replies, "I’m hungry," then promptly collapses. Later he says the only thing he remembers before his long walk is "red". He also confesses to having eaten humans before and to still having that urge from time to time.

Rahab, Lindel's master, describes Elias as follows:

He's got the feeling of a spirit or a faerie all over him, but at the same time, there's definitely something human about him, too. If he was just a human who'd botched a dark spell, then things would be simple. But no. This is actually more like the opposite" (Chapter 16).

The opposite would be a curse that's botched being human. This matches what Renfred says about him earlier, that he is a "filthy abomination, unable to become fully human, unable to return to being a spirit" (Chapter 6), and also how Elias describes himself to Chise: "I'm incomplete, you see. I'm not human but I'm not faerie, nor a spirit" (Chapter 7).

Bastard spirits are cursed and can be considered curses themselves (see above about pollution & corruption). They are alternatively called "shades" and are associated with death. In Chapter 21, a dying Joel asks Elias if he is Death, to which he replies, "Something like that." (having a skull for a head is also a nice visual clue here). If Elias is a dark spirit looking to end his cursed, incorporeal wandering, it makes sense that he is trying to rebuild what he's lost: his humanity (which is also the likely key to salvation).

He's already attempted to do this by crafting a "a shell of flesh" for himself, but it is rather flimsy/unstable still and, as it turns out, not the way to become human. Chise already told him that his meticulously crafted full glamour looks fake, and most recently Elias himself realized that the change actually needed was never external. Unlike his "human facade", his internal development is genuine, and if the story doesn't stray from its Beauty and the Beast roots, then we will likely see true love break yet another curse.

Oberon comments on this "project" in Chapter 8:

"Your change is truly splendid to behold, Incomplete One. Once you only watched from the shadows, but now you have a human at your side. You're trying to leave the colourless path you've walked all this time. It is more amusing than you can imagine, watching you play at being part of a pair. But I must wonder, how long can you maintain this facade of warmth for just one person?"

Not exactly a vote of confidence from the King, but the Queen nails it when she refers to Chise as the Other Half of Elias - she is the one who triggered genuine development in him which helps him rebuild his lost humanity.

What both the Queen and King of Fae share is a sympathetic view of Elias. Titania has a pronounced dislike for the Church and its representatives - all those who consider the fruit of paradise evil. The fruit is knowledge, which the fathers of the Nephilim dispensed among humans (sorcery included, so the first magi would have been tutored by them too). It wasn't knowledge that corrupted humans but humankind used knowledge for evil. Oberon also points to human sin when Spriggan blames Elias for an event that claimed the lives of many spirits and humans. Was it a war? Was it the Flood perhaps? There is no way of knowing for sure yet, but Elias definitely has a vicious reputation among fae and human alike, which makes him an outcast walking alone in search of salvation, just as Rahab described:

"Gods and spirits dwell at your side. Though none may look kindly upon you, though you may know hurt, and sorrow, and loneliness, know that they are always there, watching over you. And with that knowledge in your heart, be at ease. Seek your own salvation."

This already sounds like a “penance walk” of sort which folds nicely into the thorn imagery mentioned above. Rahab urged Elias to endure this fate in relative peace and Lindel relaxed his ingrained reflex to kill without consideration: “Take what you need, but only as much as you need to survive. If you have to kill a living thing to eat it, make its death quick and painless” (Chapter 16). If these “taming measures” were necessary, then it’s unlikely that Elias led a tranquil life before.

(4) The Nephilim are referred to as "warriors of old" and at some point were reported to live in large fortified towns.

(source)

Elias is sometimes addressed as Pilum Murialis (the Spear Wall), which evokes similar images to those above - war and fortification. It also has a duality - spear=offense, wall=defense - that's inherent in Elias. There are brief mentions of "great wars of before" where many magi and wizards were killed and their wisdom and knowledge were lost with them, but it is still unclear what exact role Elias played in these events.

Last but not least, Titania remarking that Elias is "our kin in a way" is a small detail that's potentially relevant. There are various theories about the origin of faeries and one of them says that they used to be angels who either got stuck between heaven and hell, or were cast out, i.e. fallen angels. If we accept this and the idea that Elias was born of a fallen angel/mortal union, then they are indeed kin in a way. Sort of half way.