#Hi marcelly ^__^

[kiramaizin]

🍦

ICE CREAM!!!!

[just-late-roman-republic-things]

Thinking about how an author's opinion on the end of the Roman republic shapes how they portray Romans in fiction:

If you like Peter Brunt's theory that the Senate failed to respond to people's needs, and thus large groups of people became alienated from the state, and willing to support leaders like Sulla or Caesar instead, the Senate (and especially optimates) will probably be portrayed as hostile, selfish or incompetent. The Gracchi will probably be portrayed positively. Generals like Caesar may or may not be sympathetic, but their followers will probably get at least a sympathetic passage.

If you prefer Christian Meier's view that nearly everyone genuinely believed in the republic, but their very efforts to sustain it (or what they thought it was) prevented them from reaching much-needed compromises or implementing reforms, then that lends a tragic air to it all. Good if you want to humanize multiple sides in a morally gray conflict.

Erich Gruen's view that the republic was not in irreversible decline prior to 50 BCE puts more blame on individuals than on systemic forces. Cato, Metellus Scipio, and the Marcelli play a bigger role, and not in good way. But Caesar and Pompey may also be judged more harshly, since this view implies that their civil war was the turning point for the end of the republic.

Robert Morstein-Marx argues that the general public and Plebeian Council played a big role in political legitimacy, and that who was "right" takes on a different meaning through this lens. In particular, Cato, Bibulus et al look more like radical obstructionists while some of Caesar's actions seem more justified.

Gruen and Morstein-Marx also describe the First Triumvirate as much less dominant in politics than pop history books usually portray.

Morstein-Marx and Nathan Rosenstein have also pointed out that Romans during Augustus' time don't seem to have viewed his regime as an end to the republic, but a continuation/restructuring of it. A novel following this view will likely portray that regime more sympathetically or as morally gray. (Although you could still write Augustus himself as a villain with good publicity.)

The time that you think the republic started falling apart - or if it was - influences who you think caused the damage, and who you think was reacting to it.

Lots of people have a strong opinion on who was better, the optimates or populares, and some books will portray them as opposing political parties. Many folks also tend to side with either Octavian or Antony, even now.

So, we end up with a lot of different plausible characterizations for these guys, depending on which books you read, your own political views, and what kind of story you want to tell.

It's impossible for a novelist to be accurate or objective in a way all historians agree with. At some point, you have to interpret the data into a narrative of what you think happened, based on your own opinions and ideas. You then turn that narrative into a story, choosing what to include or exclude, whose points of view you portray, and how.

In historical fiction, your present self acts upon the past, as much as the past acts upon your writing process in the present.

[ohwynne]

TIMING: Early April PARTIES: Emilio @mortemoppetere & Kaden @chasseurdeloup & Wynne @ohwynne LOCATION: Worm Row SUMMARY: Kaden helps Emilio and Wynne get a passport. They half-succeed. WARNINGS: None.

Kaden didn’t know the details of why the hell Emilio needed to convince Nora to come home from another country but those didn’t matter too much. Despite the issues Monty may have with the guy, Emilio was another hunter – one who seemed to have similar enough values to his own which was rare to say the least. He was going to help out. It’s what hunters did for one another, that was how you survived. And however annoying he might find Nora, the connection Emilio had with her was clear. If the situations were reversed, if it had been Alex, he knew the slayer would do whatever he could to help him. It was an easy choice to connect him and Wynne to Buzzy to get whatever papers they might need fast, no matter what that meant he might owe the guy this time.

The office in question wasn’t too far from Axis, funny enough. Kaden waited a few doors down from the entrance for the others, he knew Buzzy liked to keep it discreet. “This way,” he said when he saw the pair of them. He’d seen Wynne in and out of the cabin a few times and knew they were a good kid. If they were willing to put themselves out there for Nora, too, he had to believe Nora was worth going out on a limb for after all. Kaden approached the door of Marcelli & Associates Ltd. and rapped on the door in a pattern that was probably morse code for something that he never bothered learning. Two hard knocks back and he knew they were cleared and everyone was on the same page of what kind of business they were here for. 

Once they were all shuffled inside, Kaden shut the door and addressed the man at the desk. “Long time no see, Buzzy,” he said with a nod. “Got a favor to ask you.”

“And you brought the whole gang with you to do it,” the man replied. Buzzy looked up from whatever notes he was scrawling and got a good look at all of them for the first time, his face souring in a way that Kaden didn’t get a good feeling about. “You know I don’t hand out favors, Langley. Even to you. And especially not to him.” His eyes narrowed as he stared down Emilio and it was clear that this wasn’t the first time they’d met. Putain de merde, what the fuck had the slayer done to piss this guy off already? Besides being himself. “Anyway, you,” he said to Wynne. “Who are you, kid? You a hunter, too? You must be some kind of special if Langley’s daring to drag you in to see me. What do you need?”

—

Citizenship had never been a particularly big concern for Emilio. It was the last thing most hunters worried about. When your ‘life plans’ included dying a violent death before you were forty, entering into a long, drawn out process for the grand prize of paperwork wasn’t really high on your to do list. He never thought it would bite him in the ass like this, though. Nora, in another country, in a community he had more than just a bad feeling about, and Emilio trapped an ocean away with no way to get to her… It wasn’t something he wanted to experience. So, when Langley mentioned knowing a guy who could get him papers good enough to land him on an airplane, Emilio hadn’t hesitated. It would cut the time involved in the process for Wynne in half, too.

But… the closer they got to the guy’s ‘office,’ the less confident Emilio felt. The streets were familiar, obviously — this was close to his apartment, after all. But the building Kaden led them to was familiar, too. “What did you say this guy’s name was again?” Emilio asked lowly as Kaden knocked on the door. Before the ranger could answer, said door was swinging open to reveal an unfortunately familiar face. Emilio tensed, jaw tightening. Right. 

Of course Kaden’s contact was someone Axis had once screwed over. He could still remember the case — some trembling twenty-something who’d had her identity stolen, begging for a solution in a way Emilio was never going to be able to say no to. He wasn’t sure what the end result had been for Buzzy’s business, but he knew it had taken a hell of a hit. And, given the look the other man was giving Emilio, he hadn’t exactly forgotten about it. Maybe if Emilio stayed quiet enough, he could still get what he needed out of this. He glanced to Wynne, figuring their odds were better here if he let them do the talking.

—

They wondered if there was such a thing as a chronically nervous person in the field of psychology. If there was, they probably were one. Wynne walked into Marcelli & Associates Ltd. with a tightness in their stomach, even if they were with two strong and capable hunters. At least, they assumed that Kaden was strong and capable. It seemed like a fair assessment, up until now, especially considering his willingness to help with this very illegal thing.

That was one of the sources of their discomfort. Though they didn’t always agree with the law and especially not the government, they didn’t enjoy breaking rules. But no longer were they as passive as they had once been and it was simple, really. They needed to help their friend in need, who would do the same for them. So they tried to stand straight and tried to make polite eye contact with the man called Buzzy. (Was that his real name?) Buzzy did not like Emilio, which was a red flag, even if Emilio was very good at making enemies. Wynne tried not to jump to his defense.

They were asked a question, after all, and they were good at answering questions. “I’m Wynne and I need a passport. It’s not — it won’t have to be a favor,” they clarified, “We will pay for it, of course.” That was something they had grown more used to, over this past year. The power of money. How it could make many things happen, even if they hadn’t quite figured out how to do that. “And oh, no. I’m not a hunter. I’m just –” They weren’t sure. “I’m Wynne.” They remembered themself. “Please.”

Buzzy’s sour expression had a hint of confusion to it as he took stock of the stranger in the room, looking up at Langley for an explanation. “The fuck.” It was half-question, half-statement. A finger pointed at Cortez without addressing him. “And I reckon he’s in need of one too? Don’t have a falsified document growing tree in my backyard.” Heaven knew it wouldn’t grow in Worm Row, anyway.

—

Kaden raised a brow and looked at Emilio. How the fuck had he screwed this up before he walked in the goddamn door? He waited for some kind of explanation from the slayer, but none came. Putain de merde. 

“Cut the crap,” Kaden said to the guy. “I know you can get a passport or two in your sleep. It’s not like I’m asking for a social security number or five.” As much as he hated leveraging his last name in this town, there were some times that it came in handy. It was risky running around in hunter circles, considering half the people he cared about weren’t exactly human, but sometimes the risk was worth taking. 

“Oh, do you?” Buzzy said, shaking his head. “You know how this works, Langley, but let me explain to yous two.” The man leaned back in his seat as he addressed Emilio and Wynne in turn. “Money is great. Love it. Big fan. But if you ask me for special favors, I ask special prices, got it?” Kaden was hoping he wasn’t going to say that but he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t expected it. “Frankly, Cortez, I don’t think you can afford my prices. Not after the mess you and your little detective agency got me into. I have to applaud your audacity, though, I’l give you that. Try and shut me down for identity theft then waltz on in here for forged papers.” He burst out a laugh to punctuate his point. “So for now, let’s talk about the kid. You need a passport? And you need it quick, ey?” Kaden shifted nervously. He didn’t know if his “good” name was going to be enough to swing this deal, but it was worth a shot. 

“Now, pardon my French.” There was a moment’s hesitation as his eyes darted to Kaden. “No offense, Langley, but what are you, then? If you’re not a hunter, I’m assuming there’s some other kind of reason you’re coming to me and not the good ol’ US government. So what is it? You some kind of supernatural? That it? Or some kinda criminal?” Buzzy held up his hands in a mock surrender. “No judgment here, kid, none at all. Just need to know the truth of things so I can get the fakes right.” He laughed at his own joke. “You know I’m a little less inclined to help on account of you being with him,” he said pointing to Emilio, “but a gig’s a gig. And I have a few favors I could use taken care of so depending on the complexity, I’ll entertain it.” 

—

He was practically biting his tongue at this point, just trying to keep the smart remarks from slipping out. Axis’s policy tended to be more or less the same as the one Buzzy boasted here — a job was a job, and money was money. There’d been nothing personal about the job Emilio had done that had landed Buzzy in hot water but, roles reversed, Emilio doubted he’d have been bending over backwards to help Buzzy, either. And it wasn’t like he could afford a lot here; Buzzy was right about that. When it came to cash, Emilio was always scrambling. And with Teddy out of town and Nora having made off with their credit card to Ireland… Emilio was cut off from his usual cash flow. 

It had been a long shot, anyway. There’d been a moment of hope when Kaden said he might have a way to get Emilio and Wynne to Ireland, but hope wasn’t the kind of thing Emilio banked on. He’d been prepared already for it to be just Wynne and Regan’s friend, even if he hated the idea now just as much as he had when it had been introduced. It was far better than Wynne making the journey alone… even if the loss of control over the situation had Emilio’s skin crawling.

“Fine,” he ground out, exhaling shakily. “Just them, then. If we do the favors, will you get them what they need to fly somewhere?” He resisted the urge to add that he was more than happy to beat the necessary documents out of Buzzy’s vault; something told him that wasn’t the most effective strategy here.

—

Some of the talk went over their head and Wynne wasn’t sure what to say, so they kept quiet when it came to transactions and special favors. They didn’t have a lot of favors they could offer besides making meals and maybe fixing a leaky faucet, but they doubted the other wanted that kind of favor, or the one people at gas stations had asked for when on the road. They tried not to shiver at the thought. 

They nodded. “Yes, I need it quick,” they said. “I’m – human. And not a criminal.” Not convicted, anyway. They had condemned a man to death, which was probably not great. “But I …” Wynne swallowed. Maybe they should use the word they hated. “I escaped my commune that’s like a cult, so I don’t have much paperwork. And it will take a long time to do it officially, probably longer considering …” Well, the aforementioned not-a-cult. “Because of the nature of the place I left. They’ll want … answers and questions and everything, right? It will be a whole thing that’s best avoided.” They weren’t sure if that was true, but it seemed about right. “And I just —” They grit their teeth. “Don’t have the time.” Or the energy. Maybe the government would want to see their parents for this. Maybe it would lead to more and more things spiraling out of control now that the demon was no longer capable of protecting the Protherians. They needed to go get Nora, not bring bureaucracy to their former community. “I have a birth certificate, if that helps.”

They were looking at Emilio, wondering what the favors could be, but tried to focus on Buzzy. The idea that Emilio might not get a passport was concerning, but it was better to get one than none. It was also not their place to argue right now. “We will do it.”

—

Kaden was practically screaming his mind for Emilio to not fuck this up and to just keep his fucking mouth shut. Not that he had any delusions otherwise, but it was clear that neither of them were telepathic since the slayer just had to fucking chime in. Kaden gave his leg a small kick, hoping it wasn’t the one with the busted knee, to tell him to cut it out since the telepathy clearly wasn’t coming anytime soon.

“A cult, you say?” Buzzy asked, raising a brow. “I feel like I should be asking yous which one so I don’t accidentally ruin a business opportunity or two.” He waved his hand like he was swatting the notion away. “Actually don’t tell me, then I’m not lying when I say I don’t know shit. But sure, if you do the favors and if you don’t interfere with my business again, I get them a passport in a few days. Kapeesh?” Buzzy looked directly at Emilio as he answered the question. “Anyway, birth certificate helps plenty. Makes my job easier, one less thing to forge and a few more things to use for inspiration. Now, I’ll let yous g—

Kaden held up his hands to cut the guy off. “Before we agree, what kind of prices are we paying, Buzzy?” He was more than willing to pay them but he wanted to know what kind of shit he was getting into before they jumped off that particular cliff. 

“Langley,” Buzzy replied, putting a hand to his heart as if it were wounded, “do you really not trust me after all this?” The look Kaden shot him seemed to be enough of an answer for him. “Fine, fine, I’ll tell you. See I know you’re a ranger and I’ve got a siren that could use a shake down. Figured like something that would be up your alley. Hell, I bet that’s your typical Tuesday night, am I right?” Kaden’s face remained hardened, not as amused by the joke as Buzzy. “You hunters, are you all this sullen all the time? Geeze. I’d hate to go to one of your parties.” He said, shaking his head. “Anyway, got a few odd jobs like that for the two of yous. Shouldn’t be a problem.”

Kaden nodded, it was about what he expected. He didn’t love it but it would be worth it. At least, it better be. Buzzy shoved a contract to them to sign and the ranger had no intention of reading it all line by line but he skimmed it. Looked pretty similar to the one he signed last time for his own papers so he went ahead and signed, handing the pen to Wynne and Emilio in turn. 

“Perfect,” Buzzy said with a grin. “There’s one more thing, though.” With that, he reached down to pull out another piece of paper. This one was also full of legalese that Kaden couldn’t and wouldn’t parse through.

“The hell is that?” Kaden asked, brows furrowed. “If this is some kind of—”

This time it was Buzzy who held up his hands to silence Kaden. “Not a trick but you want a rush job, I need a little extra.” His eyes fell back to Emilio. “I’ve got a feeling Cortez in particular could be useful. What with that little detective business you got there. I’ve got some people I could use off my back.” He shoved the paper and pen towards the slayer. “What do you say?”

—

Kaden kicked his leg (the good one, thankfully), and Emilio shot him a glare that was far more half-hearted than what he might usually deliver. He’d been on edge since the moment Nora made her big announcement that she’d snuck along to Ireland to hang out with a community of banshees, and the fact that Wynne would soon be joining her, that Emilio would be an ocean away with no control over the situation… It only made things worse. Already, he could feel the shadows swirling in his mind, shrouding him in a darkness he didn’t quite know how to get out of. He kept going back to Mexico, to all the things that could happen when you were only a street away. How much worse could it be with an ocean blocking your path? 

Buzzy was speaking again, and it wasn’t politeness or self preservation or Kaden’s hard glare that kept Emilio from interrupting. He could barely hear the guy at all, could barely make out the sound of his voice over the sound of blood rushing in his ears. By the time he unpacked and translated Buzzy’s words, it was too late to make any dry comments, anyway. Any other day, he would have hopped in to help Wynne, or made a remark about how hunters didn’t really have parties, or told some bad joke at Kaden’s expense that no one but him would find funny. But not today. Today, Emilio was more of a shell than usual. And wasn’t that saying something?

A paper was put in front of him, and he signed it. There was no time to read it — it would have taken ages, anyway. Then, there was another paper, and Buzzy was looking at him. Emilio forced himself up to the surface enough to look back, to actually listen. This is important. His mother’s voice was a harsh echo in his mind. How can I expect you to learn when you don’t listen? When you can’t sit still, when you won’t pay attention? I expect better from you. He swallowed, setting his jaw in a hard line. Buzzy didn’t know him well enough to notice anything off about the expression. He wasn’t even sure if Wynne or Kaden did. Maybe there was no one left alive who knew Emilio with any kind of clarity.

The request was vague and fuzzy and not something Emilio would have said yes to in any other situation. He didn’t get into things with people like Buzzy without knowing exactly what he was signing up for. Any other day, he’d have told Buzzy to give him more information or fuck all the way off. But this was for Nora. This was to get Nora home safe. There was nothing Emilio wouldn’t do to achieve that goal. If it cost him his soul, that was fine. It wasn’t like he got much use out of it. “Fine,” he agreed, holding out a hand for the paper. “Whatever.”

—

They winced as Buzzy called their former commune a cult, even if they’d described it as one. “It’s just kind of like one. And it’s not close. It’s far from here.” Wynne said the lie with relative ease, as it felt like Moosehead was lightyears away, even if sometimes it felt like it was in their backyard. They felt around in their bag, took out a slip of printer paper. “Here is the copy of my birth certificate.” 

It was dizzying, what was transpiring before them. The man named Buzzy spoke to Kaden and Emilio about prizes, hardly paying them any mind. Wynne would prefer to also pay, but they also figured they weren’t very good at what it was Buzzy was asking for — shaking down a siren sounded like something they’d not be able to do convincingly. Or at all. They glanced nervously between the two hunters and the strange man and hoped they wouldn’t hold it against them. 

Emilio and Kaden both signed the contract without much thought and so they did too, following them and their expertise blindly. Wynne hadn’t signed many contracts before and so far most of them had done well for them, as they’d been for jobs and their former apartment. They didn’t fully understand their concept, though. As if signing your name was going to make you properly indebted to someone. For that you should ask demons for help, they figured. Not just a pen.

There was another one, signed by just Emilio. Their stomach felt tight. At least Emilio was part of this more than Kaden was, even if it seemed like he wasn’t going to get a passport. They swallowed and remembered what the slayer had told them. Their eyes were big and their voice a little meek. It didn’t require a whole lot of acting. “Are you sure you can’t get one for him too? He’s …” They glanced at Emilio, whose face was set. “Sorry.” He did not look sorry.

—

Kaden glanced over, watching Emilio as Buzzy pulled out the second contract. He couldn’t tell if the distant look he had was to keep himself from punching the guy sitting at the desk or if he was actually failing to pay attention. When Cortez realized it was his turn to sign his own paper, the ranger tensed, worried that the man was going to grab the thing and rip it in two. Not that he would blame him — Buzzy was a pain in the ass. 

A cackling pain in the ass, too. He threw his head back and chortled at Wynne’s remark. “Is that so, kid?” He had to contain more laughter. “That bastard ain’t sorry about nothing. Are ya?” he goaded. Kaden was ready to step in between the two men, worried that someone (Emilio) was about to lunge across the desk and strangle their forgery guy before he could get the passport needed. 

“Come on, Buzzy,” Kaden said, rolling his eyes. “You survived and you have him on the hook. At least consider it.”

The man sighed as he sorted his stack of newly signed contracts. “I’ll consider it.” There was a spark of hope that lit in Kaden’s chest, stupid as that was. “But it’ll take me a while to consider. And I’ll need that favor first. Then I start considering if I’ve changed my mind.” Right, should have remembered it was foolish to hope around these sorts of folks. 

“It’s fine. We just need the one for the kid right away. Right?” Kaden looked over to the other hunter, hoping he wouldn’t fucking argue. For once.

“And you’ve got it,” Buzzy said with a smug smile. “Come back in a day or two and I’ll have something for the kid and marching orders for yous twos.” Kaden knew he wasn’t going to enjoy whatever those fucking marching orders were but at least he didn’t have to do this shit alone this time. “See, was that so hard?”

—

Wynne was trying, that much was clear. And if Emilio were smarter or better, he’d try, too. He’d pretend to be something he wasn’t, he’d put on an apologetic mask. But there was no real point to it, was there? Buzzy made up his mind the moment they walked through the door. They were lucky he was helping Wynne — there was no way in hell he’d help Emilio. This would end the same way everything always did, and Emilio knew it. He wondered if explaining the situation more would help matters, if admitting that him not getting a passport could mean the difference between life and death for Wynne and Nora and Elias and maybe Regan, too, would change Buzzy’s mind. But, deep down, Emilio knew the answer. He always had. 

“I’m not sorry for doing my fucking job,” he ground out, doing his best not to take a swing at the guy standing in front of him now. “I’m sorry you don’t want to do yours.” It wasn’t the right thing to say, but was that a surprise? Emilio never said the right thing, never made the moves that needed making. He was a goddamn mess on his best days, and today was one of his worst. There was never any chance of him swallowing his anger well enough to grovel. Everyone in this room knew it. 

Maybe Buzzy would get him the passport someday, after he’d held it over Emilio’s head long enough to satisfy. But it would be too late then, and everyone in the room knew it. What was the point in getting a passport when he no longer needed one? Who did it serve? It wasn’t as if Emilio was the sort to take a vacation.

His jaw was tight as Kaden turned to look at him, blood rushing in his ears as the anger warmed his chest. Kaden needed him to agree, but he didn’t trust his voice. He nodded his head instead, curt and tense. 

It took everything he had not to take a swing at Buzzy. If they hadn’t been doing this for Nora, to help Nora, he probably would have. Even now, knowing the stakes, he felt like he was physically holding himself back to the point of aching muscles. The moment Buzzy agreed, Emilio turned on his heel, shoving by Kaden and moving a little more gently past Wynne towards the door.

—

Emilio didn’t look sorry, and even worse, he confirmed that he was not sorry. Wynne felt a rush of frustration that made them feel ashamed of even feeling it. They worked their jaw, averting their gaze from the three men in the room. They were afraid they’d cry if one of them looked at them wrong. Emilio not getting a passport was bad news, after all.

They remained quiet as the conversation fizzled out, save for their, “Appreciate it,” to Buzzy. It was accompanied with a respectful nod, even if they thought him a very bothersome man. Sometimes you had to deal with bothersome people to get what you wanted, that was something they knew by now. It was a frustrating and hard lesson to learn, but it was one that stuck.

And so they all went out, Kaden at the front and Wynne at the rear. They closed the door behind them with a softness that the others would probably not have afforded Buzzy. Their eyes moved between Kaden and Emilio now, big and still teetering on the edge of crying. “You could have —,” they began at Emilio, but they shook their head and left their sentence unfinished. Then, at Kaden: “Thank you. And … if I can ever do something for you to make it up to you …” They didn’t have a lot of skills. Maybe they’d just bake him some bread, they could do that. Kaden was good at cooking himself, they recalled, so maybe he’d appreciate that.

The trio moved down the street, back to where they’d met before the fiasco of a meeting. A strange feeling took hold of Wynne as they considered the strangeness of life and these two hunters, willing to do an ugly job on their behalf. Despite the strangeness, they decided they didn’t mind the feeling. 

[apieters]

The Movement of Conclusion

In This Scene

Chris: And that’s why they called it a movement of conclusion—because it concludes the fight!

Simba: I see…

Chris and André, the Swashbucklers of the Magic Kingdom, are the fight choreographers for all the Disney films, but they also do a lot of stage choreography for the Pridelands Shakespeare Company, which was founded by the brothers King Mufasa and Prince Taka/“Scar,” and is currently headed by Mufasa’s son, King Simba. Simba continuously tries to put a different spin on each production, and that means a continuous need for new fight scenes to fit his latest vision. Chris and André don’t mind at all—the PSC is their biggest contract and their working relationship has become a close friendship, a friendship that survived the Reign of Terror and weathered Scar’s turbulent Regency, and which may be Prince Kopa’s only hope of surviving the present storyline.

Here, Chris demonstrates the Spanish Movement of Conclusion, or grappling with the left hand. As Simba has just learned, this can be used to disarm an opponent, which means Simba needs to learn it in order to play Hamlet in The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act V, Scene 2, where the stage directions specify: “Laertes wounds Hamlet. Then in scuffling, they change rapiers, and Hamlet wounds Laertes.”

Behind the Scenes

Chris is canonically skilled in all styles of rapier combat, but I wanted him to have a specific style as a base. Originally, I wanted it to be Fabris, but then I decided on the Roman-Neapolitan style of the Marcelli family, to suit his cup-hilt rapier and turn-of-the-18th century aesthetic. But I’ve finally decided that I ought to write what I know, so now it’s Word of God that Chris’s base style of fencing is the Spanish school of La Verdadera Destreza, which is my main fencing style.

The Movement of Conclusion is the third and closest-range of the three canonical defenses in Destreza, and since it can be used as a disarm it becomes a plausible means of performing the sword-switch in Hamlet. As this article demonstrates ( https://www.cassidycash.com/hamlet-laertes-rapier/ ), Shakespeare and his audience knew swordsmanship, and they knew that disarms were common in the fencing system of their day. Therefore, when the stage directions say, “…they change rapiers…” Hamlet is meant to be portrayed as intentionally seizing the poisoned sword so he can kill Laertes with it, not flying into a mad rage and accidentally grabbing the poisoned blade. He doesn’t know it’s poisoned, but the swords should be blunt (they are referred to as “foils”) and the fact that he’s just been wounded by a sharp blade means Hamlet’s suddenly figured everything out—Claudius is trying to assassinate him with Laertes’ cooperation. After waffling the whole play, Hamlet finally acts and takes the revenge he was charged to take at the beginning of the play, even if his indecision has cost him his own life (and several others). Laertes now has no choice but to seize Hamlet’s blunt rapier to defend himself, and thus, “…they change rapiers…”

Also, Simba was hard to draw. I had to study a screenshot of The Lion King’s final fight for a while to figure out what Simba would look like standing on his hind legs for fencing.

[self-shipyard]

"As long as you love me so, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!"

Happy Holidays from the Marcellis to all of you guys! We hope you're spending the holidays with lots of love and with the people you love (fictional or otherwise)!

Last Christmas was the first Christmas we spent together, and that was the year I first told Gh.ia about the tradition involving mistletoe, which led to me coming home one evening to find he had decorated our entire home in mistletoe, and he did it again this year (you can see them in the artwork hanging over our heads) and...

Aaaaaa Gh.ia always makes my heart simply melt into a puddle... He and his love keep me warm all year round🥺💕

[nefariouscryptid]

Marcellious loves lobsters.

Sure he was disappointed to learn that Lobsters aren’t actually immortal like science used to say, but they still have incredible regenerative properties that allow them to live much longer than their other crustacean friends.

They make him feel less alone. They’re relatable. He loves his crustacean brothers.

[amarim6]

Chapter 13: Migration Fieldwork

Amari Marcelli

11/29/22

Dr. Angela Howell

For this assignment, I have decided to interview my long-time friend who is from Nigeria, Africa. He took me through his experience being an immigrant. However, he couldn’t get into too much specifics because he was very young, so “everything is like a blur to me now”. “ I do remember the ice cold showers, hard beds, and my blanket that my grandmother made for me back home.” “It was hard but I’m glad my mother made the decision she did because life is definitely better here compared to what I remembered before we moved.” “My mother never told me much leading up to the day, everything seems so sudden and I didn’t really know what was going on since I was so young.” Talking to him about this sensitive subject opened my horizon to the hardships that other nations face that we have no idea about. There are numerous nations in the globe where people are battling to survive. There are only a few issues, including job and education. So many families opt to leave their home nations in search of better opportunities and a better quality of life. This approach is the basis of the "American Dream," the belief that all Americans should have equal opportunity to succeed; nevertheless, many developing nations can adopt this way of thinking. This idea of a richer and more fulfilling life has been the driving force behind many immigrants' decisions to leave their own nations. Immigrants are more versatile in terms of job opportunities since they possess a range of skills that many locals might not have. They also help to create a more diverse environment by introducing the host country to new traditions and foods that they possess. Immigration is a subject that has generated a great deal of discussion. “Due to their lack of English study opportunities, my parents were unable to converse with and comprehend English speakers.” this is one thing that stuck with me from speaking with him because how are you supposed to get home, job, or even receive proper health care if you can’t communicate with others. Nevertheless, I’d say I learned more about who my friend truly is as a person and why he’s molded into the great humbled friend I know today after listening to him and his family story.

[policeaccountability]

JUSTICE FOR MARCELLIS STINNETTE

On October 20, 2020, 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette and his 20-year-old girlfriend Tafara Williams were parked outside of Tafara's mother's house, when their vehicle was reported to police as "suspicious." A Waukegan police officer pulled up beside them without activating his car light's or siren. Tafara opened the window and turned on her car's interior lights to indicate that the couple had no weapons and were not doing anything illegal. The officer, however, recognized Marcellis, and verbally harassed them. When Tafara asked if they were free to leave, the officer took a few steps away from the car. Taking that as her cue, Tafara drove away slowly. The officer did not follow them. A short time later, however, another police car started to chase them. After about 20 seconds, Tafara tried to pull over and hit a telephone pole wire. The officer pulled up next to her car when she tried to reverse. Upon seeing her reverse, the officer immediately opened fire, wounding them both and causing Tafara to crash into a building. The couple was dragged out of the car by officers and were left bleeding on the ground without any medical assistance for eight minutes. Though they were taken to the local hospital, Marcellis died soon after. Marcellis did not deserve to die. The officer should have never fired at their car. Tafara and Marcellis were unarmed throughout the entire encounter, and they never tried to hurt the police. The Waukegan Police Department has fired the foremost offending police officer, but this is not enough. The police officers should be named and charged. (Waukegan, Illinois)

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[despisydraws]

He will never stop reaching for what lies beyond, even with the entire universe already embedded right in the palm of his hand.

[beckmessering]

What are your favourite non-opera classical music pieces?

uhh. excluding oratorios, here's a non-exhaustive list of shamefully little instrumental-only music and some smaller vocal works.

- beethoven's rage over the lost penny. it carries bittersweet memories for me because it was the last piece i learned on the piano before i essentially quit and i loved the melody to pieces but my stage fright had gotten really bad at that point so i never performed it in public.

- thomas tallis' spem in alium. <3

- palestrina's missa papae marcelli. i delight in palestrina and definitely need to listen to more.

- mozart’s exsultate, jubilate. despite my personality flaw that is my difficulty with mozart operas, i do like his sacred music!

- various bach cantatas (favourites are: no. 51, no. 29, and no.147)

- fauré’s requiem

- allergi’s miserere (u could almost think i’m catholic by now)

- something i’m exploring just now: tosti’s songs - i’m liking them so far!

[zaltynn]

✨here they are✨

rblgs hella appreciated!

below ill talk about each of em 🥺💚

part 1: here part 2  part 3

this is rylan! weve seen him before :3

whole story basically follows him thru his life as he deals with being outcasted, getting zombified, becoming immortal, and making and losing friends along the way

hes got player status, as i play him in the actual game and stuff! big softi

rylan grew up in a bastion in a crimson biome, before he caught rot, which slowly turns piglins into zombie piglins. when he started to show green, he was thrown out in order to protect the rest of the bastion (they believed it contagious) and he was forced to live on his own for a while.

he had settled on the edge of a few biomes and was making himself a good life when he was run off from his home and ended up in the overworld. he learned from these old books in an abandoned cave home, and later moved into a desert village. this is where most of his story takes place, mainly cuz its where im at in my survival world!

(left is cave home, right is desert home which was a wip)

heres dereck- hes a brute at rylans original bastion. he had been taken in by rylan after his old bastion was wiped out due to humans letting loose a wither on them. dereck managed to defeat the wither, but it left his body weak. he takes a very 'big brother' approach to things

these two are kaisa(left) and marcelli(right) theyre part of rylans bastion. kaisa is a retired warrior and a jeweler and marcelli is a tailor and kaisa's caretaker

this is keagan, someone rylan met after he was outcasted. being used to living with others, rylan was pretty lonely and unsure how to adjust, not to mention care for himself as a zombified piglin. he met keagan, who showed him how to help make sure his skin doesnt waste away lmao

this is heath and harley, two traders that rylan worked with frequently during the time he lived with keagan. heath is pretty protective and weary

[just-late-roman-republic-things]

Excellent question! It might sound straightforward, but it's actually very fuzzy.

Optimate and populare were not ideologies, like "socialist" or "monarchist," and they weren't political parties, like "democrat" or "Tory." So what were they?

Depends on who you ask - and when. In the Pro Sestio, Cicero defined the optimates as decent, honorable people, and populares as demagogues who tried to appeal to the masses because they couldn't hack it in the Senate. But in his Fourth Catilinarian Oration, he uses popularis in a positive sense, more akin to "one who serves the popular will." He applies that word to himself and Julius Caesar(!), and contrasts it with politicians who talk a good game but haven't the guts or integrity to follow through.

Muddling things further, most Roman writers don't use either word in the same way as Cicero. They use populares to mean "countrymen" or "fellow Romans," and optimate is a rare synonym for aristocracy. Sallust never refers to them as distinct factions, even when he's talking about class conflict and political movements.

So, we're left with asking whether optimate and populare are useful concepts at all. Erich Gruen and Henrik Mouritsen reject them entirely, arguing that it makes more sense to divide Roman politics along family lines and personal rivalries. Andrew Lintott and T.P. Wiseman believe the terms could be used for describing ideological trends, albeit not for discrete political parties. Robert Morstein-Marx redefines them as methods for gaining influence - optimates networking with elite senators, populares appealing to the crowds - which weren't mutually exclusive.

Personally, I think it's useful to be specific. To speak of the Catonians and Marcelli, for instance, rather than lumping them both into optimates. And it helps to remember that political factions were time-bound: you can identify Marians and Sullans in 80 BCE, but the groups break down by 70 BCE. There weren't many organized groups or movements that lasted for multiple generations of the republic.

[kiramaizin]

hi noelle hru ^_^ i feel like i havent seen u around much lately. hope ur doing okay ily✌️❤️‼️

hii marcelly i'm well :) i just haven't been on tumblr totally often recently.. but now that schools out i think i'll be on here lots more. so i'm okay! i hope youve been good ily2 ^__^

[96thdayofrage]

The officer who shot Williams and Stinnette — a Hispanic, five-year veteran of the Waukegan police department who remains unidentified — was fired late Friday, according to Waukegan Chief of Police Wayne Walles. The shooting is being investigated by the Illinois State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation is also reviewing it, according to a statement from the local prosecutor, Lake County State’s Attorney Michael Nerheim.

The federal investigations were called for by demonstrators led by the Stinnette and Williams families, who have also demanded that local authorities release footage of the incident to the public.

“The police cannot police the police. They cannot investigate. And they cannot give us fair justice if it’s one of their own. And yes, we are seeking justice for Marcellis Stinnette,” Satrese Stallworth, a relative of Stinnette, said at a rally in front of the Waukegan city hall Thursday afternoon.

The shooting of Stinnette and Williams took place just 16 miles south of Kenosha, Wisconsin, where local protests reignited national unrest in late August, after 29-year-old Black man Jacob Blake was left partly paralyzed when a white police officer shot him seven times in the back. Multiple members of Blake’s family attended Thursday’s rally in Waukegan.

And the Waukegan shooting comes just days after the third-degree murder charges for Derek Chauvin, the police officer whose killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked this summer’s national wave of protests, were dismissed.

“All of our families are standing together — we are one family and we are united,” Letetra Widman, Blake’s sister, said at the rally Thursday. “We will not allow you all to just treat them like they’re nothing, just because they didn’t have a viral video, just because their name isn’t in lights. We’re going to share this spotlight.”

What we know about the shooting

While the Waukegan Police Department has confirmed that body and squad car camera footage of the shooting does exist, they say it will not be released to the public until after a full investigation takes place — a process that could take weeks or months to complete. Most of the information available about the shooting comes from the police department, the surviving victim, and a handful of witnesses.

According to the Waukegan police, the encounter began at 11:55 pm CT on October 20, when authorities received a report of a suspicious vehicle (according to the victims’ families, the couple was sitting inside their car outside Williams’s mother’s home). Williams was behind the wheel, and Stinnette was in the passenger’s seat. Police say an officer attempted to investigate the car when the vehicle unexpectedly fled the scene.

Shortly afterward, a different police officer spotted the car about half a mile away. The officer exited their patrol vehicle, and began walking toward the car. At that point, the police say the couple’s car reversed toward the officer, who, “in fear for his safety,” opened fire into the car with his semiautomatic pistol. The police did not describe how far the officer was from the car, how fast it was moving, or any other details of the shooting, except the fact that no weapons were found inside the car.

Stinnette and Williams were both shot and rushed to a local hospital, where police say Stinnette died shortly thereafter. Williams, who was shot in the stomach and hand, did not sustain life-threatening injuries and continues to receive treatment for her wounds.

Darrell Mosier, a witness to the shooting, recounted a somewhat different version of events, suggesting that Williams had no intention of harming the officer, and that she was merely panicked.

“The police officer got out of the car,” Mosier recalled. “When he told them to stop, he told her to stop, she was scared. She put up her hands, she started yelling, ‘Why you got a gun?’ She started screaming. He just started shooting.”

Mosier continued, “I heard the girl. Her hands went up. She said, ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean it. I didn’t try to run you over. We got no guns or nothing.’”

The families of Stinnette and Williams, and Williams herself, have also challenged the police department’s account of the shooting.

“Why did you shoot?” Williams, asked in a video taken from her hospital bed. “I didn’t do nothing wrong. I have a license. You didn’t tell me I was under arrest. Why did you just flame up my car like that? Why did you shoot?”

[daviddshiki]

The Adventures of David Dashiki-African America Hero- A Memorial...You Are Not Forgotten

DAVID DASHIKI-HERO

  WHITE PRIVILEGE

WE honor you today, the fallen. We remember your sacrifice and will use it to unite America. Death has purpose. Death is a direction. Death is an opportunity to reflect and make course corrections. Death informs. 

Matthew Williams, Marvin Scott, Kurt Reinhold, McHale Rose, Xzavier Hill, Frederick Cox, Patrick Warren, Carl Dorsey, Dolal Idd, Andre Hill, Joshua Feast, Maurice Gordon, Rodney Applewhite, A J Grooms, Sincere Pierce, Walter Wallace, Marcellis Stinnette, Jonathan Price, Deon Kay, Daniel Prude, IAN Daniels, Dijon Kizzee, Trayford Pellerin, David Mcatee, Sean Reed, Finan Berhe

What I and every person have learned in this epoch of murder is the meaning of WHITE PRIVILEGE...White privilege is legislators like Manchin and Sinema. They have time. They can waste ours. While we are being slaughtered in the streets by the police, they can wait, have discussions and deliberate some more for the measures at hand do not personally effect them. It is not an issue that they would lower themselves to debate. As Washington awaits a decision about its statehood, they can wait for those impacted by the ruling are predominately people of color. No damn it, they are mostly Black. I have not heard them spend one second in discussion on the criminality in the killing of George Floyd. It is beneath them. Heaven forbid if they would demand that the state of North Carolina or its police department to release to the public the tape of the body camera footage in the assassination of Andre Brown. No ! White privilege grants them the opportunity to wait.White privilege allows these congressmen to introduce laws which violate rights guaranteed by the Constitution. I have not heard one word from them regarding the voter suppression in some 43 states. Forty three states!!! That is unconscionable. Now the president has introducted his plans to bring the country to the 22nd Century and they have a problem.White privilege permits them to step away from the party’s agenda even when it benefits the entire nation but runs afoul of their particular plans. They are not statesmen for police reform, voting rights or statehood for D.C, ending the filibuster or minimum wage for working class families..These laws would give hope and a better life to all people in the republic. They , these white advantaged narcissists, parade around as patriots who want the best for the country. They truly want the best for themselves. They are the real criminals...We have to vote them out or have them change their ways. We don’t have the luxury of waiting for them to decide our fate. We will lose our country if we so do.  

[nefariouscryptid]

Marcellious doesn’t know where he was born, what his parents names were, or really the exact year he was born he just knows it was like the 1500s ish and that he’s Asian.