#and they’re both labeled as ‘authors of calamity’!

[labyrynth]

i’ll be honest, the aeon/god concepts in hsr are really fucking cool?

like. take an abstract concept—preservation, abundance, destruction, elation, etc—now dial it up to a thousand percent. congratulations! you now have amoral, enigmatic beings who exist solely to embody their singular aspect—and they will take that aspect as far as they are able to.

it’s really driving home that Divine and Monstrous are not mutually exclusive

[burningdarkfire]

Dear Critter (Wildflowers 2023)

Hi! I'm burningdarkfire on both AO3 and tumblr.

The prompts below are in order of preference, although of course I would be excited about anything listed (which is why I listed them!). If you want reference points, I've written 50+ critrole fics on my main AO3 account that you are welcome to peruse. 

I read widely and am hard to shock or dismay. In general, I would prefer for you to write something you are comfortable with than tie yourself into knots trying to fulfill my vision. Confident writing is fun to read!

I am not active in discord servers but you can always reach me on tumblr if you have questions.

Details below!

DNWs:

I love trans characters, but I do not want the gift to ever focus on a character's transness—this includes any dialogue or description in the fic, descriptions in author's notes, descriptions in the tags, etc. 

I do not want any included or implied character backstory for Essek Thelyss that whumps him to explain or excuse his actions—this includes abuse from his family members, abuse from members of the Cerberus Assembly, etc. Additionally, I strongly prefer that Essek returns to the Dynasty post-campaign and tries to build a home there.

I do not want sprinklings of other languages in the fic—this includes snippets of dialogue, recurring jokes, nicknames, pet names, etc. I know it's a canon characteristic for some but I prefer not to read it. It's fine for the narration to indicate that characters are speaking in other languages or if there is a specific purpose to the change in language (e.g., familial titles that don't translate if they are strictly necessary for the world-building).

Likes:

Explicit fic, including both smut and darkfic

Power dynamics, complicated relationships, codependency, devotion, strong platonic bonds, relationships that defy labels, polyamory, having casual sex or sex between people who are not in a romantic relationship, waking up together, laughing together, descriptions of food and other small aspects of domestic life, found family

I absolutely adore aromantic Caleb Widogast with my whole heart

Request #1: Campaign 2 Blumendrei

Astrid Beck/Eadwulf Grieve/Caleb Widogast, Astrid Beck & Eadwulf Grieve & Caleb Widogast

It's my fucking bread and butter. I'll take pretty much anything. Academy days, post-campaign reunion, the most nebulous of timelines or the most obscure of AUs. I'm happy to read about assassination missions or just eating lunch together. Make them all cats or write them into an AU with nonsensical white collar office jobs. It can be nostalgic, happy, or toxic. It's fine if not all the characters involved are queer, as long as they're together. The sky's really the limit here!

Request #2: Campaign 2 Wizard Soups

Astrid Beck/Eadwulf Grieve/Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast, Astrid Beck/Eadwulf Grieve/Jester Lavorre/Caleb Widogast, Astrid Beck/Jester Lavorre, Astrid Beck/Beauregard Lionett, Eadwulf Grieve/Essek Thelyss, Eadwulf Grieve/Caleb Widogast, Eadwulf Grieve/Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast, Fjord/Eadwulf Grieve, Fjord/Eadwulf Grieve/Jester Lavorre, Fjord/Eadwulf Grieve/Caleb Widogast, Jester Lavorre & Essek Thelyss, Fjord/Essek Thelyss, Fjord & Essek Thelyss

Basically always happy to read more about the wizards together or with other members of the M9. Again, pretty much anything goes—flirty and fun, serious parallel character studies, "what if" moments in canon that might have turned another way. Non-canonical pairings in the background are okay and even encouraged. If Fjord and/or Jester are involved, I've always held an immense soft spot for Pirate AUs (set in Exandria or elsewhere). My only preference is that Astrid, Wulf, and Caleb remain on good (or just unknown) terms if the fic is focused on them with other partners.

Request #3: EXU Calamity

Asmodeus the Lord of the Nine Hells/Zerxus Ilerez

I just think there should be more fic about how they're fucked up together and what it looks like for them to be bonded to each other post-game. Please don't soften the sharp edges of this one.

Request #4: EXU/Campaign 3 

Dorian Storm/Dariax Zaveon, Fearne Calloway & Orym & Dorian Storm, Fearne Calloway & Orym, Fearne Calloway/Orym/Dorian Storm, Fearne Calloway/Dorian Storm, Orym/Dorian Storm/Dariax Zaveon, Orym/Dariax Zaveon

I like pretty much any combination of Dorian, Orym, Dariax, and Fearne, so I would love to read more fics about them in canon-verse or canon-adjacent situations. I especially enjoyed the intra-party conflicts of EXU and would love to see that explored more alongside how they have pretty distinctly mismatched morals but still treasure each other's company. I haven't followed Campaign 3 since Dorian left, but I have a vague idea of the plot and encourage spoilery details if you want to place the fic further along in the timeline. 

[dustedmagazine]

Derek Taylor 2020: We’re Still Here

That’s about the best that can be said for a year that pulled out nearly every stop in a surging sea change to calamity, adversity and tragedy. The number of people lost to a pandemic that now stands steadfast as a monument to the true meaning of American Exceptionalism as the epitome of empathy-eradicating self-interest is enough to negate even the noblest efforts at laughing to keep from crying. Musicians and music persisted though, even in a severely altered performance landscape of shuttered venues and virtual concerts.  And recorded offerings new and archival remained plentiful. 

When so much about the present feels like a sprint backwards, societally, environmentally and across multiple other measures, music reliably endures as a means for finding both meaning and footing in the world. What follows are 20 capsule vignettes describing selections from the sea of albums circulated this year that kept me afloat, followed by 25 more in list form that did the same. Thank you for reading and thanks for sticking with us.

Paul Desmond — The Complete 1975 Toronto Recordings (Mosaic)

Given the magnitude of hardship this year’s wrought on living musicians, it may appear a bit perverse to lead this list with a dead one. Even so, this immersive set’s become an old reliable when it comes to achieving aurally-sourced solace. Desmond, the arch and affluent altoist, leaning into a Canadian club residency with ace sidemen while making good on his gentleman’s agreement with absent Dave Brubeck to abstain from piano accompaniment. The leader’s lady-killer instincts are assiduously evident in the amorously-oriented song choices as his dulcet, tranquilizing tone seduces and delights, night after night.

Chris Dingman — Peace (Inner Arts)

An intensely personal project where abundancy of content arose not out of ambition but rather necessity and is made all the more affecting for it. Dingman designed and played the nearly six hours of solo vibraphone music on this set for his hospice-sequestered father with sole purpose of providing comfort and calm. Reflection after his parent’s passing moved him to release it into the world with the hope that it could do the same for others. Intention accomplished.

 Joe McPhee — Black Is the Color (Corbett vs. Dempsey)

It’s been a distressing year for nearly everyone, but particularly for McPhee, who lost his brother Charlie to illness. Even amidst ongoing emotional tumult, his fecundity felt undiminished. AC/DC on the British OtoROKU label offers another entry with the English organ trio Decoy. Of Things Beyond Thule, Vol. 2 is a smashing CD sequel to its vinyl predecessor with Dave Rempis, Tomeka Reid, Brandon Lopez and Paal Nilssen-Love comprising the super group. A reissue of the seminal She Knows… with Scandinavian power trio The Thing on the Ezz-thetics label and Black is the Color compiling early concert material in surprisingly sharp fidelity from the Corbett vs. Dempsey imprint cover the archival end of things.

 Sonny Rollins — Rollins in Holland (Resonance)

The Saxophone Colossus holding court with Dutch compatriots in 1967. Most conspicuous is daredevil drummer Han Bennink, who even at this early stage straddles swing to European Free Jazz from behind his kit. Rollins shifts between comparatively pithy studio salvos and effusive concert excursions that once again cement his supremacy in the strenuous realm of long form improvisation. Seven decades as a musician makes for a bank vault-sized cache of bootlegs, but this one, refurbished and authorized remains something special.

 Stephen Riley — Friday the 13th (Steeplechase)

Like McPhee, Riley’s a perennial resident of my pantheon. This date realized a long-standing wish to hear him in the company of cornetist Kirk Knuffke backed by the freeing simplicity of bass and drums. Both men have aerated, instantly recognizable tones and pliancy in phrasing that provides practically endless possibilities in tandem. Riley’s also instrumental as featured guest on Pierre Dørge’s Bluu Afroo, a slightly preemptive Ruby Anniversary celebration of guitarist’s multinational New Jungle Orchestra.

 Sam Rivers — Ricochet & Braids (No Business)

The auspicious launch of a Sam Rivers archival series last year was among the Lithuanian No Business label’s greatest achievements. Two more seminal entries came down the pike in 2020: Ricochet featuring Dave Holland and Barry Altschul of particularly fine vintage, and Braids spotlighting another pivotal Rivers ensemble in Hamburg with low brass wizard Joe Daley. There are four more to go, which should target the end of 2022 for the series’ completion.

 James Brandon Lewis — Live at Willisau & Molecular (Intakt)

Lewis is the type of compelling artist tapped for accolades like Down Beat’s Rising Star award, despite having been active as an accomplished improviser for over a decade. Delayed exposure is common collateral to a career path in improvised music though, and the saxophonist hasn’t let slow-to-cotton critics slow him down a bit. A deal inked with the Swiss Intakt imprint has so far yielded Live at Willsau, which finds him in fiery duo with Chad Taylor, and Molecular, a studio venture with an all-star quartet that will hopefully become a working band again in 2021.

 Susan Alcorn — Pedernal (Relative Pitch)

Pedal steel may feel like a nascent voice in improvised music, but in actuality Susan Alcorn and her peers have been plying it as a viable vehicle for some time. While Pedernal is somewhat perplexingly her first album as clear-cut leader, impediments to an earlier debut seem inconsequential given the ample amount of thought and design evident in the end product. Strings wielded by Michael Formanek, Mary Halvorson and Mark Feldman weave with the wide gamut of Alcorn’s aqueous sonorities across intricate pieces further stamped by Ryan Sawyer’s peripatetic drums. The results are at once daring and distinguished.

 John Scofield — Swallow Tales (ECM)

ECM has an enviably accomplished record when it comes to matching the austerity and formality of its sound design to artists’ objectives. Case in point this stark, but not standoffish trio set that’s as much (electric) bassist Steve Swallow’s offspring as it is Scofield’s. Drummer Stewart is the third point in the triangle, but he sagely defers to his elders, leaving them to a dance of differently gauged strings that expertly balances motion and space.

 Corbett vs. Dempsey

John Corbett is emblematic of that rare breed of music monomaniac who balances obsessiveness with altruistic generosity. He’s personally responsible for bringing dozens of rare and classic recordings back into circulation, first through the fondly remembered Unheard Music Series and more recently via the CvD concern. This year, another stack was added to that sum with Milford Graves & Don Pullen’s The Complete Yale Concert 1966 (including the rarified Nommo), Alexander von Schlippenbach’s Three Nails Left, Tetterettet by the ICP Tentet, Peter Kowald’s self-titled FMP debut as a leader and the madcap New Acoustic Swing Duo from Willem Breuker and Han Bennink as standouts.

 Whit Boyd Combo — Party Girls & Dracula (the Dirty Old Man) (Modern Harmonic)

Vintage skin flick soundtracks have rarely if ever received an even-handed shake in terms of relative artistic merits. Tarred with the same smut brush as the visuals they were constructed to accompany, they’re routinely viewed as just as disposable. The Whit Boyd Combo doesn’t exactly dispel this dictum, but it does lay down some funky and at times refreshingly fractious freewheeling horns over organ, bass, and drums driven beats on this late-60s session tape excavated by the folks at Modern Harmonic. The companion Dracula (the Dirty Old Man) isn’t quite on par, but it’s still a solid vessel for competently crafted fossilized grooves.  

 Robbie Basho — Songs of the Avatars (Tompkins Square)

Real Gone Music whet the appetite earlier this year with the release of Songs of the Great Mystery, a “lost session” from Basho’s tenure at the Vanguard label. Songs of the Avatars ups the ante substantially by granting outsider access to a six-hour survey of the dearly departed fingerstyle guitarist’s personal tape trove. The aural riches are ample and include Basho exploring familiar proclivities (Indian, Native American and Japanese interpolations) alongside unexpected new ones (ballet and cantata) with passion and conviction to burn along the way.

 Jimi Hendrix — Live in Maui (Experience Hendrix)

Posthumous Hendrix is a seemingly inexhaustible resource as each year repackaged and repurposed treasures are released into the marketplace. Fortunately, familial heirs are the ones doing the sowing and this lavish set documenting musical and extra-musical particulars of the icon’s reluctant conscription into cosmic hippie scam does right by him. Given the windswept conditions near the Haleakala Crater it’s a minor miracle that he, Billy Cox and Mitch Mitchell mesh as well as they do, and while the footage included can be frustrating in its fragmentary presentation, it’s still a thrill to see and hear them jamming in amiable and ebullient form.

 Joe Maneri, Udi Hrant & Friends — The Cleopatra Record (Canary)

Details on this one could easily serve as grist for a credible short film screenplay with perhaps Jim Jarmusch directing. Brooklyn, 1963: A group of marginalized ethnic musicians relegated to playing wedding gigs gets conscripted for an afternoon recording session. The cheaply packaged and provincially distributed results are destined for the anonymity of dime store cut out bins. Except that the band includes two geniuses: Joe Maneri, who would go on to become a master microtonal improviser/composer and Udi Hrant Kenkulian, one of most revered modern doyens of the Turkish oud. Available over at Bandcamp for a pittance.

 Ayalew Mesfin — Good Aderegechegn, Che Belew and Tewedije Limut (Now Again)

Adding up Buda Musique’s 30-volume Ethiopiques series and a host of other more modest enterprises, it’s obvious that there’s never been more access to vintage Ethiopian music than now. This trilogy of discs from the Now Again label covering vocalist/keyboardist/bandleader Ayalew Mesfin’s catalog restores one of the last untapped reservoirs to circulation. Tight horns, choppy, fuzz and wah-wah drenched guitars and chugging bass fuel dance floor burners while Mesfin’s pipes work memorable magic on a string of melancholic, melismatic ballads.

 Kent & Modern Records Blues into the 60s, Vol. 1 & 2 (Ace)

Ace’s appellation as a music label of enviable reach and import has never been an erroneous assignation. This pair of compilations investigates the urban, but far from urbane, blues scene surrounding Los Angeles as documented by the Kent label in the 1960s. Comparatively longer-in-tooth legends like T-Bone Walker and Big Jay McNeely jockey with younger, fame hungry artists like Larry Davis and Little Joe Blue in negotiating a West Coast argot that’s heavy on electricity channeled through guitars and organs. McNeely’s ripping “Blues in G Minor” is one of several snarling sonic wolves in non-descript sheep’s titling.

 V/A — A Stranger I May Be: Savoy Gospel 1954-1986 (Honest Jons)

This astutely-sequenced set stands out in the particularly plentiful playing field of this year’s gospel reissues. The mighty Savoy label started out as a jazz venture before branching out into other African American musical idioms. The compilers at Honest Jons parse the program chronologically across three-discs and leave the heavy-lifting of context and artists biography to a lengthy essay. Choirs, ensembles, bands, and moonlighting R&B singers all make appearances directing their talents to devotional and invocational celebrations of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

 Sun Ra

One of the highlight roundtables at Dusted this year was a Listening Post ruminating on the Sun Ra Arkesta with and sans Ra on the occasion of the band’s new release Swirling. I got to play the (hopefully uncharacteristic) part of curmudgeon in those exchanges principally because while I respect the ensemble’s longevity absent their lodestar leader, there’s still an explicit void extant that tends to eclipse my actual interest. The Ra reissue docket for 2020, which included excellent editions of Celestial Love and A Fireside Chat with Lucifer from Modern Harmonic, When Angels Speak of Love on Cosmic Myth, Heliocentric Worlds, Vols. 1 and 2 from Ezz-thetics, and Strut’s Egypt 1971, which collects Dark Myth Equation Visitation, Nidhamu and Horizon alongside a bevy of contemporaneous unreleased recordings, only bolstered the bias. 

 Fresh Sound Records

Still the standard for thoughtfully and lavishly curated jazz reissues, Barcelona-based Fresh Sound kept commensurately prolific pace throughout the year. Gary Peacock - The Beginnings surveys the recently deceased bassist’s early work as a versatile California-stationed sideman. Remembering does similar service to rare concert recordings by Belgian guitarist Rene Thomas while The Complete 1961 Milano Sessions offers truth in advertising by compiling woodwind savant Buddy Collette’s sojourn on Italian shores with (mostly) indigenous sidemen.

 V/A — Sumer is Icumenin (Grapefruit)

An overdue sequel to Dust on the Nettles (2015), which apparently commands on princely sums on Discogs these days, this set encompasses 4+ hours of cherry-picked vintage British freak folk. Second helpings from stalwarts of the style such as Comus, Steeleye Span and Fairport Convention join Albion offerings from obscurants like Vulcan’s Hammer, Mr. Fox and Oberon in celebrating the weird crossroads of ancient Britannic and 1960s counterculture influences. The cant is more to The Wicker Man side of the spectrum with Magnet’s bucolic canticle “Corn Rigs” the ringer in that regard.

Twenty-five more in mostly stochastic order:

Aruán Ortiz - Inside Rhythmic Falls (Intakt)

Brandon Seabrook/Cooper-Moore/Gerald Cleaver — Exultations (Astral Spirits)

Cecil Taylor & Tony Oxley — Birdland, Neuberg 2011 (Fundacja Sluchaj)

Horace Tapscott w/ the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra — Ancestral Echoes: The Covina Sessions, 1976 (Dark Tree)

Damon Smith — Whatever is Not Stone is Light (Balance Point Acoustics)

Frank Lowe & Rashied Ali — Duo Exchange: Complete Sessions (Survival)

Dudu Pukwana — and the “Spears” (Matsuli Music)

Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl — Artlessly Falling (Firehouse 12)

Burton Greene — Peace Beyond Conflict (Birdwatcher)

Albert Ayler — Trio 1964: Prophecy Revisited (Ezz-thetics)

JD Allen — Toys/Die Dreaming (Savant)

Charles Mingus — At Bremen 1964 and 1975 (Sunnyside)

The Warriors of the Wonderful Sound — Soundpath (Clean Feed)

Kidd Jordan/Joel Futterman/Alvin Fielder — Spirits (Silkheart)

Roland Haynes — 2nd Wave (Black Jazz)

Quin Kirchner — The Shadows and the Light (Astral Spirits)

Thelonious Monk — Palo Alto (Universal/Impulse)

Black Unity Trio — Al-Fatihah (Salaam Records/Gotta Groove)

Gary Smulyan — Our Contrafacts (Steeplechase)

Joni Mitchell — Archives Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963-1967 (Rhino)

Elder Charles Beck — Your Man of Faith (Gospel Friend)

Sarhabil Ahmed — King of Sudanese Jazz (Habibi Funk)

V/A – The Right to Rock: The Mexicano and Chicano Rock ‘n’ Roll Rebellion 1955-1963, Episodio Uno (Bear Family)

V/A – Hillbillies in Hell: Country Music’s Tormented Testament (1952-1974) ~ Revelations (The Omni Recording Corporation)

V/A — The Harry Smith B-Sides (Dust to Digital)

[caitsbooks]

Caitsbooks’s Top 10 Most Anticipated April 2019 Releases

This year is absolutely flying by. I can't believe it's April already! This month has some of my most anticipated releases of the year, with a good mix of debut novels, series starters, and continuations! My wallet may hate me this month, but I'll be very happy once all these books come out.

Blog || Goodreads || Bookstagram || Twitter  || Reviews

April Releases

Note: These are in order of release date

April 2nd 

10. Wicked Saints (Something Dark and Holy #1) by Emily A. Duncan This book is probably my most anticipated debut novel, if not one of my most anticipated books overall for 2019. Wicked Saints has gotten a lot of hype, and after reading the ARC, I can say it deserves all of it. This book broke me, in the best possible way, and I don't think I'll ever be over it. Read my review here for more of my ranting.

"A girl who can speak to gods must save her people without destroying herself. A prince in danger must decide who to trust. A boy with a monstrous secret waits in the wings. Together, they must assassinate the king and stop the war. In a centuries-long war where beauty and brutality meet, their three paths entwine in a shadowy world of spilled blood and mysterious saints, where a forbidden romance threatens to tip the scales between dark and light."

9. Defy Me (Shatter Me #5) by Tahereh Mafi The Shatter Me series has been one of my favorites since I first read it as a trilogy back in 2015. While I was nervous at first about the series being continued, I am now 100% on board and so excited for the next installment! The Kenji novella, Shadow Me, really got my hyped for this book!

(Spoilers below for the Shatter Me series, books 1 - 4) "Juliette’s short tenure as the supreme commander of North America has been an utter disaster. When the children of the other world leaders show up on her doorstep, she wants nothing more than to turn to Warner for support and guidance. But he shatters her heart when he reveals that he’s been keeping secrets about her family and her identity from her—secrets that change everything. Juliette is devastated, and the darkness that’s always dwelled within her threatens to consume her. An explosive encounter with unexpected visitors might be enough to push her over the edge."

8. Defy the Fates (Constellation #3) by Claudia Gray

I cannot express how excited I am for this book. I loved the first two novels, and I've been dying to find out how it all ends! If you're looking for a new sci-fi series, definitely pick this one up!!

(spoilers below for Defy the Stars and Defy the Worlds)

“Hunted and desperate. Abel only has one mission left that matters: save the life of Noemi Vidal. To do that, he not only has to escape the Genesis authorities, he also must face the one person in the galaxy who still has the means to destroy him. Burton Mansfield's consciousness lives on, desperate for a home, and Abel's own body is his last bargaining chip.  Alone in the universe. Brought back from the brink of death, Noemi Vidal finds Abel has not only saved her life, but he's made her into something else, something more. Not quite mech, yet not quite human any longer, Noemi must find her place in a universe where she is utterly unique, all while trying to create a world where anyone--even a mech--can be free. The final battle between Earth and the colony planets is here, and there's no lengths to which Earth won't go to preserve its domination over all humanity. But together, the universe's most advanced mech and its first human-mech hybrid might have the power to change the galaxy for good.”

7. The Princess and the Fangirl (Once Upon a Con #2) by Ashley Poston

This is the new companion novel to Geekerella. The first book was absolutely amazing, and I can't wait to see where Ashley Poston goes with this one!

"Imogen Lovelace is an ordinary fangirl on an impossible mission: save her favorite character, Princess Amara, from being killed off from her favorite franchise, Starfield. The problem is, Jessica Stone—the actress who plays Princess Amara—wants nothing more than to leave the intense scrutiny of the fandom behind. If this year's ExcelsiCon isn't her last, she'll consider her career derailed. When a case of mistaken identity throws look-a-likes Imogen and Jess together, they quickly become enemies. But when the script for the Starfield sequel leaks, and all signs point to Jess, she and Imogen must trade places to find the person responsible. That's easier said than done when the girls step into each other's shoes and discover new romantic possibilities, as well as the other side of intense fandom. As these "princesses" race to find the script-leaker, they must rescue themselves from their own expectations, and redefine what it means to live happily ever after. "

6. The Devouring Gray (The Devouring Gray #1) by Christine Lynn Herman

This book is one of my most anticipated debut novels of the year. People have been comparing it to The Raven Cycle, one of my all-time favorite series, so obviously I need to devour it. (Yes, I know that was a bad pun)

"On the edge of town a beast haunts the woods, trapped in the Gray, its bonds loosening… Uprooted from the city, Violet Saunders doesn’t have much hope of fitting in at her new school in Four Paths, a town almost buried in the woodlands of rural New York. The fact that she’s descended from one of the town’s founders doesn’t help much, either—her new neighbors treat her with distant respect, and something very like fear. When she meets Justin, May, Isaac, and Harper, all children of founder families, and sees the otherworldly destruction they can wreak, she starts to wonder if the townsfolk are right to be afraid. When bodies start to appear in the woods, the locals become downright hostile. Can the teenagers solve the mystery of Four Paths, and their own part in it, before another calamity strikes?"

5. You'd Be Mine by Erin Hahn

I was lucky enough to read an ARC of this back in January, and it blew me away. It was so much more than I expected. This is definitely not a book to miss!

"Annie Mathers is America’s sweetheart and heir to a country music legacy full of all the things her Gran warned her about. Superstar Clay Coolidge is most definitely going to end up one of those things. But unfortunately for Clay, if he can’t convince Annie to join his summer tour, his music label is going to drop him. That’s what happens when your bad boy image turns into bad boy reality. Annie has been avoiding the spotlight after her parents’ tragic death, except on her skyrocketing YouTube channel. Clay’s label wants to land Annie, and Clay has to make it happen. Swayed by Clay’s undeniable charm and good looks, Annie and her band agree to join the tour. From the start fans want them to be more than just tour mates, and Annie and Clay can’t help but wonder if the fans are right. But if there’s one part of fame Annie wants nothing to do with, it’s a high-profile relationship. She had a front row seat to her parents’ volatile marriage and isn’t interested in repeating history. If only she could convince her heart that Clay, with his painful past and head over heels inducing tenor, isn’t worth the risk. "

April 9th 

4. Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

This book has been called a YA Game of Thrones, filled with political intrigue and mystery. This is another book that has gotten a bit of hype, and I'm looking forward to seeing if it lives up to it.

"Princess Hesina of Yan has always been eager to shirk the responsibilities of the crown, dreaming of an unremarkable life. But when her beloved father is found dead, she’s thrust into power, suddenly the queen of a surprisingly unstable kingdom. What’s more, Hesina believes that her father was murdered—and that the killer is someone close to her. Hesina’s court is packed full of dissemblers and deceivers eager to use the king’s death for political gain, each as plausibly guilty as the next. Her advisers would like her to blame the neighboring kingdom of Kendi’a, whose ruler has been mustering for war. Determined to find her father’s actual killer, Hesina does something desperate: she enlists the aid of a soothsayer—a treasonous act, punishable by death, since magic was outlawed centuries ago. Using the information provided by the sooth, and uncertain if she can trust her family, Hesina turns to Akira—a brilliant investigator who’s also a convicted criminal with secrets of his own. With the future of Yan at stake, can Hesina find justice for her father? Or will the cost be too high?"

3. The Red Scrolls of Magic (The Eldest Curses #1) by Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu

I think everyone can agree that Magnus and Alec are some of the best characters in The Shadowhunter Chronicles. Needless to say, I'm so excited that they're getting their own series!!! I've been waiting for this for too long.

"All Magnus Bane wanted was a vacation—a lavish trip across Europe with Alec Lightwood, the Shadowhunter who against all odds is finally his boyfriend. But as soon as the pair settles in Paris, an old friend arrives with news about a demon-worshipping cult called the Crimson Hand that is bent on causing chaos around the world. A cult that was apparently founded by Magnus himself. Years ago. As a joke. Now Magnus and Alec must race across Europe to track down the Crimson Hand and its elusive new leader before the cult can cause any more damage. As if it wasn’t bad enough that their romantic getaway has been sidetracked, demons are now dogging their every step, and it is becoming harder to tell friend from foe. As their quest for answers becomes increasingly dire, Magnus and Alec will have to trust each other more than ever—even if it means revealing the secrets they’ve both been keeping."

April 16th 

2. Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett

Last year, I finally started reading Jenn Bennett's books, and fell in love with them. I went on a binge of all of her YA contemporaries, and I'm dying for more. At this point, it doesn't even matter to me what it's actually about. If it's written by Jenn Bennett, I'll read it.

"Mystery-book aficionado Birdie Lindberg has an overactive imagination. Raised in isolation and homeschooled by strict grandparents, she’s cultivated a whimsical fantasy life in which she plays the heroic detective and every stranger is a suspect. But her solitary world expands when she takes a job the summer before college, working the graveyard shift at a historic Seattle hotel. In her new job, Birdie hopes to blossom from introverted dreamer to brave pioneer, and gregarious Daniel Aoki volunteers to be her guide. The hotel’s charismatic young van driver shares the same nocturnal shift and patronizes the waterfront Moonlight Diner where she waits for the early morning ferry after work. Daniel also shares her appetite for intrigue, and he’s stumbled upon a real-life mystery: a famous reclusive writer—never before seen in public—might be secretly meeting someone at the hotel. To uncover the writer’s puzzling identity, Birdie must come out of her shell…discovering that most confounding mystery of all may be her growing feelings for the elusive riddle that is Daniel."

April 23rd 

1. The Tiger at Midnight (The Tiger at Midnight Trilogy #1) by Swati Teerdhala

I am living for all the new fantasy novels coming out, and especially #ownvoices ones! This synopsis has me so intrigued and I can't wait to dive in.

"Esha is a legend, but no one knows. It’s only in the shadows that she moonlights as the Viper, the rebels’ highly skilled assassin. She’s devoted her life to avenging what she lost in the royal coup, and now she’s been tasked with her most important mission to date: taking down the ruthless General Hotha. Kunal has been a soldier since childhood, training morning and night to uphold the power of King Vardaan. His uncle, the general, has ensured that Kunal never strays from the path—even as a part of Kunal longs to join the outside world, which has been growing only more volatile. Then Esha’s and Kunal’s paths cross—and an unimaginable chain of events unfolds. Both the Viper and the soldier think they’re calling the shots, but they’re not the only players moving the pieces. As the bonds that hold their land in order break down and the sins of the past meet the promise of a new future, both rebel and soldier must make unforgivable choices."

What is your most anticipated release this April?

Related: - My March Favorites + April TBR - My Top 10 March Releases + TBR

[existence-overwhelming]

Rebellious Kin

 Author - Player Characters - The Caretaker, the Soul, the Collective and ግጭት መቀላቀል. Word Count - 3,774 Description - What happens when no one heeds the warnings? What happens when we’re past fixing, past salvation? Only they know.

Whereas countless dimensions are left unmolested by the machinations of the entity known by few as the Caretaker, select instances of existence experience an error. A hiccup--a momentary disruption in the precise articulation of the Code. These seldom occurrences always beget the attention of the cell’s overseer as leaving such things unattended for even a moment only invited calamity. Sometimes that which been affected were beyond repair, thus were subsequently purged from the Code as a whole. However, there are select instants in which the spread of corruption and chance of success simultaneously reside within the narrow margin of acceptability. And it’s these dimensions, these precious pillars of possibility, that garner the whole of the Caretaker’s effort in its pursuit of restoring them to what they’re intended to be.  Despite this, though, not even that which it tries to save are afforded the guarantee of continuation. It’s due to, in large part, the inherent nature of the entity. Were it to employ the whole of itself in the act of fixing--all that makes the dimension, the realities, the people and things and creatures who and what they are would cease to be. A complete override by its inexorable will and presence, thus returning all that once was back into the whole of the Void.  Because of this, much more indirect, delicate methods are used. Methods which, if resisted, cannot begin the healing process. If the resistance does not let up, whatever or whoever it may be, then the corruption of the Code will swell and swell to exponential sizes.  Then a paradox begins.  Until there is an absolute zero chance of repair is achieved, the Caretaker will endlessly pursue it. Chasing after it like a dog trying to catch a car. But then, sometimes, even if the margin of acceptability is exceeded--it may very well continue to pursue. Pursue and pursue until the errors begin manifesting as Glitches.  In rarer cases still, the corruption can continue to progress until something truly disastrous happens. Until the whole of the dimension has been afflicted with the errors, with the Glitches.  Then succumbs.  Perverts.  Distorts.  And becomes ግጭት መቀላቀል, manifestations of the broken Code--juvenile heralds of the መ͝҉̶̶̢ነ͢҉́͢ም͏̨̛͝͞, that which does not exist, blinded by emotion, illogicality and contradictions.

Before the Caretaker’s singular, unblinking and monolithic ocular organ was a column of a black, true and undiluted pitch. Much like a blind spot induced by a tumor in the brain, its form shook and wavered as it bled clouds of ink into the ether. The darkness emanating from it tainted the plethora of incandescent colors streaking this way and that across the boundless Collective like shooting stars, bolts, rays of luminescence and so on. It was akin to flicking the blackened bristles of a brush at The Starry Night and blotting out the abundant natural beauty of phenomena only the insane or deceased could perceive. It was an eye-sore to behold, this column, like a grime-encrusted scab marring a meadow in the grip of spring when compared to the beatific majesty of the Collective, the formless quintessence of creation which was alive with vivid hues and ubiquitous undulation and swirling animation. A motion which the pillar mocked by always roiling and undulating in spasmodic and uncouth ways. Always writhing and coiling like a lump of snakes competing for the female.  Such a sight was beyond repulsive.  Then the dark mass and its many formless tendrils, of which now comprised the indefinite shape of the column, began reaching out into the atmosphere, grabbing and pawing aimlessly for the many colors and streaks of radiance swirling around it, avoiding it like the plague. At this, an immeasurable fraction of the Caretaker’s presence stretched towards the pretense of appendages. Overwhelming it was, so much that they’d already recoiled long before receiving any rebuke. But the fact remained--despite the proximity of itself, the stain acted heedlessly brazen.  Nothing could save the dimension now, this was an indisputable fact.  And as if to prove it, the column shuddered and shifted with sudden purpose.  There was no warning beforehand, just a monumental upheaval that sent waves in every which way of the ether, all along the Collective’s surface. What once was uniform in the pillar broke and disappeared as lines segmented the mass. Its scrutiny could make out vague shapes, now, amid the still rolling black. From the outlines’ advent, a spontaneous intelligence emerged from the serpentine tendrils. They started moving to and coiling into the segmented shapes, disturbing their already chaotic movement with unadulterated anarchy. In response, the Caretaker’s form began changing, too.  No longer an incredulous concentration of peerless presence, the abyssal essence of the Collective surged up in great spouts that whirled and curved to fill out the outline presented to it. Similar to a grand weave, the immense threads of the quintessence spun together and became interwoven as convoluted shapes seen in countless realities. And as such, that which constructed its form had a perpetual animation about it--much like a collection of threads and strings being waved endlessly. There were many angles and curves as a representation of a torso manifested around an impossible vascular organ of stark radiance, turning said visceral core as black as the void from innumerable threads layering and layering, from binding and binding, wrapping and wrapping. Then cords of black essence shot down from above to string up and pull the torso up off the Collective’s surface.  Several lengths then ran out along both sides to tether what we might know as arms to the rest of the body, cylinders and angles and curves which led up to what we might recognize as four-digit hands that more resembled the claws of a crane rather than actual fingers.  And what we might understand as a head manifested around the ocular organ, an angular ovoid of boggling stark incandescent size with a feline streak of black as the pupil. It formed as a circle, at first, before the edges extended and wound together to form articulate appendages akin to those of an Octopoda. Then it was finished.  Bit by bit, the once impossible mass that rivaled that Caretaker diminished as the unseen force pulled it all together into the outlines. Similar to bulbous, pus-laden pustule protruding from the pubescent face, these shapes bloated outward until the column was a stalk with innumerable egg sacks hanging off it. They throbbed and pulsated with abhorrent life or at least a miserable excuse of it. Then a modicum of movement renewed their roiling animation.  One jiggled and expanded larger than the rest before bursting like a cyst. A three dimensional mass of limbs fell to the surface with an inaudible thump. The echoes of events and people and tragedies and the like that’d been, were and would be within the countless realities was disturbed at its impact. It twitched and spasmed like a mute newborn pushed from the womb. Black sludge oozed out of every nook and crevice of the abomination, as well as from where it spawned.  The thing, while smaller, was comparable in size to the form in which the Caretaker now manifested as.  It could hear the innumerable voices of the lives which once populated the realities of the afflicted dimension. So many individuals, all twisted and perverted, mismatched and mushed together into one chaotic embodiment of discord. All screaming into an endless cacophony, all forsaken to the machinations of ግጭት መቀላቀል.  Raising what we might acknowledge as a cranium, the ግጭት መቀላቀል threw its eyeless gaze all around. Several limbs inched up off the ground and lurched forward like a seal traversing a sandy beach. Each movement caused strands of the Collective’s surface to stretch up, clinging to the writhing tendrils of the abomination’s form, and then snap upon being jerked forward. Orbs of rolling black ooze popped out along the false visage of the thing, bulging and sinking and roaming simultaneously. And after a moment, it dared to try heaving its stolen newborn body up onto its limbs.  Disgusting, repugnant and vile--all inadequate to delineate that which violated the Caretaker’s ocular organ with its mere presence. Yet there wasn’t so much as an emote to emote such things. Naught disturbed its perpetual stoic indifference to all before it. But the same could not be said for the Collective themselves. Their preternatural splendor blinked out as the once tranquil surface stirred up a hellish rancor. The echoes of what was, what is and what would be ceased carrying out their soundless play. Each transparent ghost of memories, persons and so on melded together and rose up in swells of discordant fury. They battered against the ግጭት መቀላቀል like the ever-present tide lapping a craggy shoreline. A raucous chorus reached up to shatter the ether, begetting visible reverberations in arrhythmic intervals that disturbed the atmosphere. Yet the Collective’s wail was audible only to the Caretaker. Only it could hear the cacophonous demands of the Collective, their clamoring for the ግጭት መቀላቀል’s deletion.  Suddenly apprehensive to the immediate danger, the abomination craned its imitation of a neck up so as to direct its unscrupulous gaze to the other. Bulbous growths which popped out from what we’d label a face met the Caretaker’s emotionless organ. A fraction of the entity’s presence shifted and thus loomed over the aberration. However, it’s inaccurate to describe it as having grown larger. Rather it was more so like a change in perspective revealed its true size. What excuse of an attempt to stand as you or I might understand faltered as the Caretaker pressed itself upon it, motes of its presence extending so as to envelop the wayward youth.  Or rather it was already encapsulated in what might pass for a vestigial hand, cocooned like a spider’s victim as a basket of threads lanced forward. Thus making it resemble more a lump in the surface than anything else.  Never had it been free.  Was never able to stand, to roam, to look or even struggle. For, after all, the tumor was a newborn.  After the entirety of what we’d understand as a body was swallowed up by the thread, it all grew taut with but a twitch of the entity’s digits. The lump lurched forward in response. It then flicked its wrist and flung the thing up into the ether, where the cancer was then suspended. Each digit splayed outward. Such an action caused the size of the lump to further wan in the same manner as the first time. And, again, it wasn’t that the Caretaker got larger or the ግጭት መቀላቀል shrunk, but rather the lost lamb’s perception of the other shifted to better fit the circumstances.  The abomination perceived the Caretaker as greater, and thus it was.  Once hoisted, the innumerable cords retracted and inched the cancerous reject towards the pulsating vascular organ. The strings binding this protrusion unraveled, began slithering forward to meet the failed child halfway. Meanwhile, more and more of the sacks started to burst open, dropping similar masses of pitch and limbs onto the collective.  Curling around the lump, the cords replaced the thread as it began tugging it towards the now evinced throbbing organ, bathing it in a white incandescence foreign to the hues of the collective. There was no struggle for naught could resist such infinite bondage. And as such, the newborn was consumed.  Yet not consumed, nay, something else entirely.  Where once there was was no longer. There never was a ግጭት መቀላቀል and the instances and beings which comprised it never were. Sally Sue never went with Shelly to collect seashells off the seashore. Galileo never painted the everlasting masterpiece. Joan never got their lethal case of leukemia. Roxanne never got that promotion. Baxter the bear never mated with Julie. Never has there been any of these things, there were only the cords and the organ--only that impregnable white.  The Caretaker’s eye remained locked to the now rising ግጭት መቀላቀልs. It was processing the totality of the deletion and thus couldn’t continue the erasure. A sliver of black welled up around the edge of its ocular socket. Much like the threads of its form, this black bled outward, downward and then gradually wove itself into the rest of its body.  “Cease to pervert--submit to the Aspect, accept erasure.” The entity’s voice was an omnipresent warbling blend of tones, ethnicity and the like. Like a choir, every possibility from every walk of life layered atop one another until it was infinite strong, each syllable trailing out as incessant echoes from a megaphone.  But did they heed their progenitor’s warning? Did they listen to their parent back when less final solutions were possible? Did they even care?  No, they lacked the intelligence to even comprehend the most basic of sensibilities.  Its statement was directed at the intangible hand guiding their revolt--its words were for that intellect.  They forfeited their privilege to be among such a familial unit.  And thus sealed their fates as defiant bellowing resonated from each ግጭት መቀላቀል as they took form, all stronger and more capable than the first iteration.  Several malformed ግጭት መቀላቀል sprang up from the howling collective and surged towards the Caretaker. Their limbs were outstretched like children grasping for a new toy. But they’d find reaching the entity’s form a difficult endeavor as a swell in the rancorous surface rose up to bury vague forearms into the ooze, holding on as if it’d become part of the limbs while it sunk back down and yanked the aberrations with it.  One of the entity’s ocular tendrils swiped through the ether as if strumming a harpsichord.  There was a tremble that heralded a rupture in the ግጭት መቀላቀል’s imitation bodies, popping like the pimples of a pubescent’s face.  Repugnant sludge was what they became, moments before the collective absorbed and disseminated their corruption throughout the totality of existence.  No longer separate--whole.  But their demise did not deter their siblings who used the momentary distraction to cross the gap between them and the Caretaker. However, they’d find that gap difficult to traverse with it split open into a bottomless ravine, in which they plummeted. Then promptly engulfed by the two halves smashing back together to reform.  Another litany darted through, but several cords snaked out from the tendrils of the ocular organ so as to encapsulate the ግጭት መቀላቀል just like the first.  Now suspended in the ether, they writhed and wriggled like insects as the spider dealt with other matters.  Three rejects managed to approach the Caretaker, malevolent limbs swatting at the immense form. But the entity’s body opened, depressed or otherwise avoided each blow through manipulating the structure of its shape so as to leave naught in place of where the strikes aimed for. Then one of many limbs swung to careen into the three abominations, impacting against them like three balls mushed together by the same bat’s swing, thus sending them careering away.  Disgusting puss now dripped from the seams of the bundles as their resistance waned just as another two ግጭት መቀላቀል propelled themselves towards the Caretaker.  Whatever solidity they possessed wavered as they streaked through the ether, similar to gelatin. But their attack was rendered null and void as two other appendages of the entity reached up and palmed them from the air. Then the Caretaker’s hands clenched, squeezing the ግጭት መቀላቀል until what passed for viscera bled out from the two sides, ballooning as a result of the pressure.  More and more repugnant children spawned from the wilting dimension as the unseen force continued to send its hoard forward. As such, the aberrations fell in droves.  Eventually, though, some broke through and managed to get a hand on a limb or the ocular organ. They ripped and tore and yanked until they were severed, hewed in two or otherwise damaged in such a manner that lesser echelons of being would find them inoperable. But for each tear, another fell to the very aspect they ‘harmed.’ For even when torn in twain, the ocular organ continued to hover and manipulate its tendrils to wreak havoc upon the ግጭት መቀላቀል. And each limb multiplied or turned the ‘harmed’ region into another means of attack, always acting independently of the body and other limbs.  Some were skewered.  Others torn to ribbons.  But all were rendered to imitation slag.  Within the fraction of a moment, what’d once been an otherwise seamless whole was now a jumbled jigsaw puzzle of weaponized bits and pieces of the Caretaker. Gossamer abyssal threads connected each in an intricate network, all of which came back to the still untouched mass with the stark white vascular organ embedded in it.  A fact that didn’t escape the force’s notice.  Thus it careened another wave of puppets at the insurmountable wall, hundreds of thousands of peons slotted for oblivion.  Their disdainful stampede begot greater discord in the ruined serenity of the Collective.  Several clusters of fragments ceased their self-perpetuated rotations and faced to, spinning up to a crescendo like bullets in the time it took to think. And out from them sprouted an incredulous cloud of spiked branches that grew and rushed to meet the mob.  It was like horses galloping headlong into a line of spearmen.  However, the remnants of the ocular organ shifted their divided pupil and noticed many ግጭት መቀላቀል wormed their way through the canopy of death by busying the shafts with their speared ilk.  Bumps formed and then shot out every which way to account for the slips through the cracks.  In the time for course correction, though, a handful of aberrations closed in on the central mass left keeping its form connected.  The cloud receded in a snap, the pieces returning to prior form, as all fragments descended upon the unwanted abominations. But it was too late by then, for while more than half perished to the efforts of its tattered form. Enough dug their vile imitations of fingers into the material around and binding the radiant organ.  Yanking with all their distasteful might, they pulled the innumerable threads composing the mass until--snap.  Creation froze in an ephemeral moment as existence processed the hiccup in the Code. The Caretaker’s shredded form stopped in place, swept up by the interruption. Even the Collective’s tumultuous roiling ceased, caught in a snap-shot taken by an unseen camera. Then the organ sunk and a deluge of mayhem suffused all there was, is and would be.  An uproar caused the eternal ocean of the Collective to swell in impossible waves of vehement outrage. They suffused out from the organ’s soon-to-be point of impact, careening every ግጭት መቀላቀል in their tantrum.  The remnants of the Caretaker shuddered and undulated like squat and stretch cartoons as they struggled to maintain any semblance of solidity.  And a ubiquitous monotone shriek of triumph rose up from the unseen force’s puppets while it spawned drove after drove--always directing them to assault the heart substitute before it touched down.  Whenever one came into contact with the organ, however, they were drawn in and erased just like the very first had been. And when it did finally land?  This instance of eternity was swaddled in a blanket of tranquility.  Before the ግጭት መቀላቀል, the vascular extremity unfurled into an inverted maternal silhouette and stood upon the calmed surface of the Collective.  Their loathsomeness was afforded that which they forfeited right to--basking in the presence of the Soul.

Progenitor and mother to all that was is and would be; origin point to all that could be; and offspring to the union of eternal possibility’s chaos and infinite potentiality’s order, it could be no other than the Soul.  The highest echelon of existence none could ascend to. A being beyond constructs employed to identify through the use of pronouns, yet chose to anyway for reasons unknowable.  She who sired all of existence and mothered the unending litany of doorways leading to the ever stretching future, all paled in comparison.  Our matriarch, our other, our protector, our very soul.  There is no question nor qualm.  We who know naught but the desire to be as one and safeguard our other half--failures.  The depths of our melancholy--bottomless.  The limit of our shame--nonexistent.  Forgive us our err.  Forgive us our inadequacy.  Forgive us our Soul.

The Soul’s head rotated part way before sweeping from left to right, taking in the heart-wrenching scene before her. All around her, troubled children lost to the agony of their parent’s absence in a time of great need. Had she acted quicker, perhaps such an escalation could’ve been avoided? Perhaps if she’d of just found the right character, the right words, the right method, then the door she desired might’ve opened in time?  What was she to do, could she do, but that which pained her?                  -Y̡͟Ớ͜U ̸̕͟W̸H̡҉O̡ ̕H͘E҉͠L̵͘D̢́ ̶́Ù̢S ҉̶Į̴N̵̢͞ A̡B̡Y͟S̴͠SA̸͡L͏-̴͠W̧ŖOU̸G̶̕H҉̨͘T҉ ̕̕Ç̧H̶̶͘A̕͟I͢N̴S̸-  It spoke through the amalgamations of unfiltered suffering, making both its and the characters of the dimension’s clusters screaming known.                     -Y̧OU ̧̢WH̡O҉͡ ͘S̛͟P͏UN͟҉ ͟͞͏L̵͝͏IE͜͝S̡ ̴̢O̧F̀̕͟ ̸LO̸̕͡V̵̢͡E̢̕ ̢A͟N̡D͏̧̕ FR̴EE̷DO̷҉M̢͜-  How their torment showed.                      -T̷͜H̡͡E̕ ̸F̨͘͢I̡͠Ę̷LD̸̛ ̴̸Y̶O̡͟U̡͘’̡V҉E͢ ҉S̀͡͏O̶͠WN̶ ̶̵̀COM̵͜E̵S̢͟ ̷̀T͝O̸ ̴̨G̨̧R̡͠O̢W͞-  There was no forgiveness for letting her children endure as they had.                           -GR҉O̧̨̕W͝ ҉B̴̴͠E͠Y̧̛O͘Ń͘͞D͠ ̕҉Y̛ƠU̕҉̵R̢ S̵͢EL̶̛F̶͝I̡S̸͜HN̶̕͢E̛͞S̶S̨-  But, at the very least, she could spare them of any further trauma.  Each destabilized fragment of the Caretaker shot outward to form a circular perimeter around the dimensional pillar and where the confrontation took place. They orientated themselves, lining up, as the intellect resumed bleeding the column dry and sending forth its abominable marionettes. Unlike before, their thunderous stampede did naught to perturb the Collective.  The Soul raised an arm.  Tendrils of the abyss sprung from the ground and rooted the ግጭት መቀላቀል in place, even deprived them of their spawning point as massive cords enwrapped it the pillar.  Her opposite limb ascended to level with the other.  Those fragmented remains lost solidity and burst like a spool of cable after having been torn in two. Together, they manifested a veil separating the rest of creation from the vicinity.                    }}-Releasing Deletion Aspect Safeguards :: Confirm?-{{  Either hand flicked up.                                                 }}-Confirmed-{{  Out from her depthless body, a cloud of black string washed over the whole area to entangle each ግጭት መቀላቀል and the entire dimension itself. The points of connection between these things and the Collective’s surface snapped, thus beginning the pull towards the Soul.  There was no struggling, no resistance--how could there be?  But there was a quieting cry that screamed out as, one by one, all was erased within.           -N҉Ǫ̵̕N̴̕O̸N̡O͏́N̨̢̧O͏͜!͘͜ ̵I̡ ̴̵A̷M͞ ̨F̀R̕͟È͜͡E!̴̡͝ ̕I͡ ͢AM̴̵ ̀҉̧F͏͜R͟͜e҉͝e͟!͘ w͡҉h̶͠͏y̛w̕҉h̛y̡w͡͡h̷͘y͘wh͜y̧ẁ̡̡h҉yw̢h́-  And then it never was.  Is.  Or was.             “...all that remains is our regrets...”

[coldhands-and-clockwork]

Major Arcana as Legendary Pokemon

0. The Fool- Mew

The Fool is the beginning of a journey, a humble naive potential with the world at her feet. I always saw Mew this way, especially based on the english adaptation of the first pokemon movie. Mew is an ancestor to all mundane pokemon in the world, truly a font of potential.

I. The Magician- Mewtwo

The Magician contrasts both the High Priestess and the Fool in being a card of action. The fundamental meaning here is that there is power, in need of a direction or already put to a task. Mewtwo is the powerful refined potential of Mew.

II. The High Priestess- Cresselia

The High Priestess is a card of passive guidance and and intuition, often referencing dreams and the subconscious. Both the feminine energy and psychic nature of this card leave no other contender to the Queen of Dreams.

III. The Empress- Ho-Oh

It’s always interesting to think of Ho-Oh and Lugia as the parents of their respective trios, and fittingly the Empress and the Emperor are the mother and father of the tarot. The empress in this case is a card of compassion, understanding, and emotional connectedness. It’s said that Ho-Oh can grant eternal happiness, and is fabled to have resurrected three pokemon that died in the burned tower as the Legendary Beasts.

IV. The Emperor- Lugia

By contrast, the Emperor is the card denoting stability and level headedness in the face of conflict. The more rigid purpose and influence Lugia has amongst the Legendary Birds fits this role well.

V. The Hierophant- The Lake Trio

The Lake Trio were left by Arceus as a fail safe against the creation trio, as teachers of man kind and a safeguard of reality. This makes them perfect to represent the Hierophant, a card of guidance and communing with a higher power or authority.

VI. The Lovers- Latias and Latios

The Lovers represents a partnership between two entities, a reliance, a friendship, a romance etc. Need I say more?

VII. The Chariot- Victini

The Chariot is a card of dynamic energy, the adrenaline rush of success, the touchdown dance. It’s a card of power and change, specifically the journey there. Victini is literally the victory star pokemon. The little flaming fox thing is perfect for it.

VIII. Strength- The Legendary Titans

Strength as a card represents ALL kinds of strength, emotional, mental, physical. Specifically it has a connotation of endurance, for which each of the Regi Golems has a knack for. Both mechanically (Defensive stats of the golems and Slow Start on Regigigas) and thematically (Locked away individually awaiting release and redemption), the golems are a great fit.

IX. The Hermit- Kyurem

Kyruem is the empty shell of the tao, the space of neither Yin nor Yang, longing for its missing halves. The Hermit as a whole takes a positive spin on this sort of feeling, emphasizing the need for introspection and solitude. Though contrasting, the Kyurem and the Hermit represent each other well.

X. The Wheel of Fortune- The Unown

Spell of the Unown (the third pokemon movie) left me with a huge soft spot for the Unown, and while they aren’t technically legendary pokemon individually, I’d like to think that as a massive collective they’re similar. In the movie, the Unown demonstrate the ability to make HUGE changes to the world, at the whim of a young girls imagination. The Wheel of Fortune is a card that denotes big change, the turning of the wheel. Fittingly, in some cases, slipping from one world to another as well.

XI. Justice- The Four Swords of Justice

The Swords of Justice fit the card for Justice in more than just name. The four of them are musketeers, protecting the balance of nature and defending it from those who would destroy it. The card represents the idea of fairness, equality, and even handedness.

XII. The Hanged Man- Darkrai

The Hanged Man as a card appears rather grim, but the nature of the card depends a lot on context, and can actually be quite positive in some cases. In general though it tends to represent letting go of something, usually something earthly. Be it a bad relationship, a hard to shake habit, a job you hate. Darkrai always spoke to me in a similar way, a dark foreboding figure, the king of nightmares. But that’s what you do with nightmares; you process, and move past them.

XIII. Death- The Mortality Duo

Much like the Hanged Man, Death gets kind of a bad name when people judge it’s appearance. While the Hanged Man implies something that you yourself need to let go, Death is more out of mortal hands. It too speaks of the end of something, but in the cosmic nature of life and death, it also means the birth of something new as well. As such, Yveltal cannot represent this card on its own; it requires both members of the Mortality Duo, Life and Death.

XIV. Temperance- Shaymin

While Justice was more about the bite of nature fighting back in the form of the Swords of Justice, Temperance is more about patience and humility. Shaymin is the epitome of a humble nature mon, reveling the the quiet calm of growth, and maintaining it. That doesn’t mean that Shaymin is always passive, but it understands the ideal temperance of nature.

XV. The Devil- Giratina

Giratina is the closest thing the Pokemon world has to an actual Satan/Devil/Thing. The Devil as a card denotes a malevolent, misleading influence distracting people from their tasks, twisting motivations to suit their own needs. While Giratina itself doesn’t specifically do this, thematically it’s the best choice for the card.

XVI. The Tower- The Weather Trio

It helps the imagery of this card that the arbitrator of the Weather Trio literally lives atop the highest tower in the Hoenn region. The Tower refers to sudden, abrupt change. It’s usually unpleasant, and the melodramatic could certainly label it a calamity. There will be floods, the will be fires, but eventually the air will clear, and the world might look better then. Kyogre and Groudon bring the calamitous nature of this card, while Rayquaza is the resolution.

XVII. The Star- Jirachi

The Star represents the most fundamental hope, the light at the end of the tunnel that guides you out. It can also be a goal, a guiding force you set your compass to. Jirachi has less to do with hope specifically, but it does corner the market on the ‘wishes’ thematic, and to me a wish was always a goal, a hope, a prayer of some kind.

XVIII. The Moon- Lunala

Lunala and Solgaleo were of course the obvious choices for the Moon and the Sun. The Moon has to do with the dark unconscious, the wild unknown. The Cosmog line has the ability to shift reality to this dark world (the ultra dimension in the games), but also the power to bring people out of it. The Moon says it’s easy to get lost in the dark, but you might find what you’re looking for there.

XIX. The Sun- Solgaleo

The Sun is radiance at its finest, basking in its rays you feel the warmth of the world. I’ll be level with you, both Solgaleo and Lunala would have been great for the Moon, but Lunala got that one, so Solgaleo’s the Sun. So there.

XX. Judgement- Arceus

Judgement is a scary word, and a scary concept, but once again the Tarot focuses on a different aspect of the word. The Judgment card can be summed up as ‘Forgiveness’, truly a godly quality. This and the fact that Arceus’s signature move is Judgment make it a pretty good fit.

XXI. The World- Zygarde

The World is the final card, the direct counterpart of the Fool. The World is the end of a journey, completeness, being whole. Not only is Zygarde a protector of the planet, generation 7 gave it even more lore, a fractured being looking for the individual pieces it lost. The 100% complete Zygarde is a fearsome one indeed- If you’re at the stage of the World, you’re on the right track.

Pokemon and tarot fans are welcome to critique, feedback is appreciated!

[kristinsimmons]

The 2020 Pandemic Election

The 2020 US election will be vicious, with a nasty pandemonium following a nasty pandemic.

By SAURABH JHA, MD

When the COVID-19 pandemic is dissected in the 2020 presidential election debates, Donald Trump will be at a disadvantage. The coronavirus has killed over 100,000 Americans and maimed thousands more. The caveat is that deaths per capita, rather than total deaths, better measure national failure, and by that metric the US fares better than Belgium, Italy and the United Kingdom. New York City owns a disproportionate share of the deaths, but this hyperconnected megapolis is an outlier whose misfortunes can’t be used to draw conclusions about administrative competence for the country as a whole.

Nevertheless, even after introducing nuance, the numbers aren’t flattering. President Donald Trump may claim that the US dodged the calamity predicted by the epidemiological models, which foretold millions of deaths. To be fair, we don’t know the counterfactual — Jeremiads aren’t verifiable. The paradox of successful mitigation is that we can’t see the future we dodged, precisely because we avoided it.

Reducing the death count logarithmically, rather than merely arithmetically, won’t be celebrated because as bad as the worst case scenario could have been, the situation still looks awfully bad. Many still disbelieve the high death toll predicted by epidemiologists early on, particularly Trump supporters who believe the response to the virus, specifically the economic shutdown, has been criminally disproportionate. One can’t simultaneously believe that COVID-19 is no more dangerous than the seasonal flu and that Trump saved millions from the coronavirus. The constituency that acknowledges the lethality of COVID-19 and credits Trump for decisive action against it is small.

Triangle of Incompetence

Trump’s challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, will charge that fewer Americans would have died had the Trump administration acted earlier. Trump may be accused of having blood on his hands, but such rhetoric is unnecessary. Biden’s team can simply show a montage of Trump’s bombast where he downplayed COVID-19’s lethality, dismissed doctors’ concerns about the shortage of personal protective equipment or exaggerated how well the US was containing the pandemic. Incidentally, the most iconic picture of the administration’s scornful indifference is the current vice president, Michael Pence, visiting a hospital without a mask, surrounded by health-care workers wearing masks.

Cornered, Trump must defend his delay without disputing its causal link with fatalities, as it’s indubitable that every week the country remained open, the virus spread farther and killed more people. He may disperse the blame. Along with Trump, the governor of New York state and the mayor of New York City underestimated the severity of the disease. As late as the middle of March, the mayor was encouraging New Yorkers to visit their neighborhood bars. The virus feasted on administrative incompetence.

But the triangle of incompetence won’t reduce Trump’s culpability. He’s the captain of the ship. Even though this odd vessel has many first mates, each of whom can ignore their captain in a pandemic, he can’t accuse his first mates of being mutineers making bad decisions when he made the same bad decisions. Trump may say that COVID-19 outfoxed even the experts, who underestimated the seriousness of the virus early on even as they watched as Beijing quarantined Wuhan. Experts eventually corrected themselves when the facts about COVID-19 emerged. Trump may say that he, too, corrected himself.

He may allege that by quibbling incessantly about the effectiveness of masks and travel restrictions, the experts muddied common sense pandemic prescriptions. He may accuse the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of failing ungraciously to spot the severity of the pandemic. The CDC is to global pandemics what the CIA is to global terrorism. Over time, its scope has increased, and now it deals with way more than just bacilli. The CDC has taken on non-infectious pathogens such as chronic disease, smoking and gun control, with gusto. It has become another chronically underfunded, bloated, politicized bureaucracy, with a mission so boundless that it fails at the most salient.

But blaming scientists and institutions will seem unpresidential, even by Trump’s standards, because as flawed as they may be, they’re still American ornaments. Furthermore, he risks losing independent voters who want to see their leaders accept responsibility for their actions. How will Trump straddle the fine line between accepting his responsibility and admitting his incompetence?

Wild Card

Trump’s wild card is China. How astutely he plays his hand will determine how easily he extricates himself from the coronavirus pit. One needn’t cite conspiracy theories about the Communist Party of China (CCP) deliberately setting the virus free to usher in a new economic world order, to acknowledge that China’s behavior was suspicious from the start. Beijing silenced the whistleblowers who tried alerting the world to human-to-human transmission. The Chinese authorities knew much more much earlier than they shared with the world — at worst deceitful, at best opaque.

China’s actions make the origin of the virus, whether the laboratory or the wet food market, irrelevant. That the provenance of the virus was China could be considered unfortunate and of no fault of the CCP. Trump could make his criticism precise: that CCP’s fault isn’t that the virus originated in or spread from China, or the time it took to control the virus, but that they could have warned the international community much earlier about its severity but chose not to. He’ll say that their delay cost lives and wrecked economies.

Trump could turn his nemesis — the lack of timely response — to his advantage. Biden may be flat-footed on China. The Democrats haven’t pursued the China angle because blaming Beijing for America’s woes exculpates Trump. Though no law of conservation of incompetence exists, for a political narrative to succeed, either Trump or China can have blood on hands, not both.

Instead, the Democrats have framed China-bashing as racism. For instance, they have labeled those who allude to the virus’s provenance by calling it the “Chinese virus” or “Wuhan virus” racist — a transmogrification of taxonomy since viruses are often named after their places of origin, like Ebola, named after a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Trump unapologetically refers to COVID-19 by its Far Eastern roots, earning the now standard epithet, “racist.” Recently, New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo called COVID-19 the “European virus,” likely more to troll Trump than signify the virus’ peripatetic nature.

“European virus” sounds debonair but could backfire if the anger against China swells. Anger could rise both nationally and internationally if the global economy doesn’t recover and high unemployment becomes chronic. It’ll be easy making the case that blaming the CCP isn’t blaming the Chinese, or indeed that the Chinese people can’t be blamed for the actions of a government they neither voted in nor can vote out.

Another Schism

Another schism in politics is that Republicans and Democrats disagree on which communist country to court. Formerly, both agreed that the former Soviet Union was the enemy. The elections were a contest of who could flex more muscle against the Soviets. Latterly, the Republicans in general and Trump in particular have become partial to Russia. For the Democrats, Trump’s fondness for Russia isn’t a geopolitical strategy but the natural affinity of a boorish, immoral president for a crooked regime. Russia has transformed from Evil Ming to a habitually lying, chronically drunk, Dickensian recidivist. Vladimir Putin is viewed as Trump’s Fagin.

China shouldn’t be different. The Democrats should call out the CCP for its treatment of Uighur Muslims, exploitation of workers in sweatshops and contribution to climate change. But they don’t, partly because Trump is anti-China but mostly because they’re envious of what the autocratic CCP achieves. Many American academics have ties with China. Chinese buy American bonds and indulge American expertise. In return, America overlooks Beijing’s abuses.

Ironically, a Republican, President Richard Nixon, first courted China. But reversals are common in politics. What one side thinks is often determined by what the other side is thinking. Trump baited China long before the pandemic. He imposed trade tariffs, in line with his protectionist policies. In the midst of a trade war, many manufacturers have since left China. Trump may argue that his policies were prescient and should be extended so that the US relies less on China for its supply chains, that given the pandemic it’d be unwise placing all the eggs in one basket.

Trump will make China public enemy number one. He could demand reparations. Whether Beijing complies is immaterial. The angry rhetoric will soothe those who would have seen lives, jobs and freedoms disappear because of COVID-19.

Biden must decide between joining the anti-CCP chorus and out-Trumping Trump on China, or focusing on America’s own failures. If Biden doesn’t up the ante on China, Trump could accuse him and the Democrats of being Beijing’s apologists. China could be to the Democrats what Russia was to the Republicans — a chronically asphyxiating noose around their necks. Trump’s China pivot depends on the public mood in November. If the people are angry, but not very angry, they may hold the incumbent, not China, responsible for their travails. What’s certain is that this will be the most vicious election ever. A nasty pandemonium will follow a nasty pandemic.

Saurabh Jha is an associate editor of THCB and host of Radiology Firing Line Podcast of the Journal of American College of Radiology, sponsored by Healthcare Administrative Partner. This post originally appeared on Fair Observer here.

The 2020 Pandemic Election published first on https://wittooth.tumblr.com/

[lauramalchowblog]

The 2020 Pandemic Election

The 2020 US election will be vicious, with a nasty pandemonium following a nasty pandemic.

By SAURABH JHA, MD

When the COVID-19 pandemic is dissected in the 2020 presidential election debates, Donald Trump will be at a disadvantage. The coronavirus has killed over 100,000 Americans and maimed thousands more. The caveat is that deaths per capita, rather than total deaths, better measure national failure, and by that metric the US fares better than Belgium, Italy and the United Kingdom. New York City owns a disproportionate share of the deaths, but this hyperconnected megapolis is an outlier whose misfortunes can’t be used to draw conclusions about administrative competence for the country as a whole.

Nevertheless, even after introducing nuance, the numbers aren’t flattering. President Donald Trump may claim that the US dodged the calamity predicted by the epidemiological models, which foretold millions of deaths. To be fair, we don’t know the counterfactual — Jeremiads aren’t verifiable. The paradox of successful mitigation is that we can’t see the future we dodged, precisely because we avoided it.

Reducing the death count logarithmically, rather than merely arithmetically, won’t be celebrated because as bad as the worst case scenario could have been, the situation still looks awfully bad. Many still disbelieve the high death toll predicted by epidemiologists early on, particularly Trump supporters who believe the response to the virus, specifically the economic shutdown, has been criminally disproportionate. One can’t simultaneously believe that COVID-19 is no more dangerous than the seasonal flu and that Trump saved millions from the coronavirus. The constituency that acknowledges the lethality of COVID-19 and credits Trump for decisive action against it is small.

Triangle of Incompetence

Trump’s challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, will charge that fewer Americans would have died had the Trump administration acted earlier. Trump may be accused of having blood on his hands, but such rhetoric is unnecessary. Biden’s team can simply show a montage of Trump’s bombast where he downplayed COVID-19’s lethality, dismissed doctors’ concerns about the shortage of personal protective equipment or exaggerated how well the US was containing the pandemic. Incidentally, the most iconic picture of the administration’s scornful indifference is the current vice president, Michael Pence, visiting a hospital without a mask, surrounded by health-care workers wearing masks.

Cornered, Trump must defend his delay without disputing its causal link with fatalities, as it’s indubitable that every week the country remained open, the virus spread farther and killed more people. He may disperse the blame. Along with Trump, the governor of New York state and the mayor of New York City underestimated the severity of the disease. As late as the middle of March, the mayor was encouraging New Yorkers to visit their neighborhood bars. The virus feasted on administrative incompetence.

But the triangle of incompetence won’t reduce Trump’s culpability. He’s the captain of the ship. Even though this odd vessel has many first mates, each of whom can ignore their captain in a pandemic, he can’t accuse his first mates of being mutineers making bad decisions when he made the same bad decisions. Trump may say that COVID-19 outfoxed even the experts, who underestimated the seriousness of the virus early on even as they watched as Beijing quarantined Wuhan. Experts eventually corrected themselves when the facts about COVID-19 emerged. Trump may say that he, too, corrected himself.

He may allege that by quibbling incessantly about the effectiveness of masks and travel restrictions, the experts muddied common sense pandemic prescriptions. He may accuse the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of failing ungraciously to spot the severity of the pandemic. The CDC is to global pandemics what the CIA is to global terrorism. Over time, its scope has increased, and now it deals with way more than just bacilli. The CDC has taken on non-infectious pathogens such as chronic disease, smoking and gun control, with gusto. It has become another chronically underfunded, bloated, politicized bureaucracy, with a mission so boundless that it fails at the most salient.

But blaming scientists and institutions will seem unpresidential, even by Trump’s standards, because as flawed as they may be, they’re still American ornaments. Furthermore, he risks losing independent voters who want to see their leaders accept responsibility for their actions. How will Trump straddle the fine line between accepting his responsibility and admitting his incompetence?

Wild Card

Trump’s wild card is China. How astutely he plays his hand will determine how easily he extricates himself from the coronavirus pit. One needn’t cite conspiracy theories about the Communist Party of China (CCP) deliberately setting the virus free to usher in a new economic world order, to acknowledge that China’s behavior was suspicious from the start. Beijing silenced the whistleblowers who tried alerting the world to human-to-human transmission. The Chinese authorities knew much more much earlier than they shared with the world — at worst deceitful, at best opaque.

China’s actions make the origin of the virus, whether the laboratory or the wet food market, irrelevant. That the provenance of the virus was China could be considered unfortunate and of no fault of the CCP. Trump could make his criticism precise: that CCP’s fault isn’t that the virus originated in or spread from China, or the time it took to control the virus, but that they could have warned the international community much earlier about its severity but chose not to. He’ll say that their delay cost lives and wrecked economies.

Trump could turn his nemesis — the lack of timely response — to his advantage. Biden may be flat-footed on China. The Democrats haven’t pursued the China angle because blaming Beijing for America’s woes exculpates Trump. Though no law of conservation of incompetence exists, for a political narrative to succeed, either Trump or China can have blood on hands, not both.

Instead, the Democrats have framed China-bashing as racism. For instance, they have labeled those who allude to the virus’s provenance by calling it the “Chinese virus” or “Wuhan virus” racist — a transmogrification of taxonomy since viruses are often named after their places of origin, like Ebola, named after a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Trump unapologetically refers to COVID-19 by its Far Eastern roots, earning the now standard epithet, “racist.” Recently, New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo called COVID-19 the “European virus,” likely more to troll Trump than signify the virus’ peripatetic nature.

“European virus” sounds debonair but could backfire if the anger against China swells. Anger could rise both nationally and internationally if the global economy doesn’t recover and high unemployment becomes chronic. It’ll be easy making the case that blaming the CCP isn’t blaming the Chinese, or indeed that the Chinese people can’t be blamed for the actions of a government they neither voted in nor can vote out.

Another Schism

Another schism in politics is that Republicans and Democrats disagree on which communist country to court. Formerly, both agreed that the former Soviet Union was the enemy. The elections were a contest of who could flex more muscle against the Soviets. Latterly, the Republicans in general and Trump in particular have become partial to Russia. For the Democrats, Trump’s fondness for Russia isn’t a geopolitical strategy but the natural affinity of a boorish, immoral president for a crooked regime. Russia has transformed from Evil Ming to a habitually lying, chronically drunk, Dickensian recidivist. Vladimir Putin is viewed as Trump’s Fagin.

China shouldn’t be different. The Democrats should call out the CCP for its treatment of Uighur Muslims, exploitation of workers in sweatshops and contribution to climate change. But they don’t, partly because Trump is anti-China but mostly because they’re envious of what the autocratic CCP achieves. Many American academics have ties with China. Chinese buy American bonds and indulge American expertise. In return, America overlooks Beijing’s abuses.

Ironically, a Republican, President Richard Nixon, first courted China. But reversals are common in politics. What one side thinks is often determined by what the other side is thinking. Trump baited China long before the pandemic. He imposed trade tariffs, in line with his protectionist policies. In the midst of a trade war, many manufacturers have since left China. Trump may argue that his policies were prescient and should be extended so that the US relies less on China for its supply chains, that given the pandemic it’d be unwise placing all the eggs in one basket.

Trump will make China public enemy number one. He could demand reparations. Whether Beijing complies is immaterial. The angry rhetoric will soothe those who would have seen lives, jobs and freedoms disappear because of COVID-19.

Biden must decide between joining the anti-CCP chorus and out-Trumping Trump on China, or focusing on America’s own failures. If Biden doesn’t up the ante on China, Trump could accuse him and the Democrats of being Beijing’s apologists. China could be to the Democrats what Russia was to the Republicans — a chronically asphyxiating noose around their necks. Trump’s China pivot depends on the public mood in November. If the people are angry, but not very angry, they may hold the incumbent, not China, responsible for their travails. What’s certain is that this will be the most vicious election ever. A nasty pandemonium will follow a nasty pandemic.

Saurabh Jha is an associate editor of THCB and host of Radiology Firing Line Podcast of the Journal of American College of Radiology, sponsored by Healthcare Administrative Partner. This post originally appeared on Fair Observer here.

The 2020 Pandemic Election published first on https://venabeahan.tumblr.com

[kristinsimmons]

The 2020 Pandemic Election

The 2020 US election will be vicious, with a nasty pandemonium following a nasty pandemic.

By SAURABH JHA, MD

When the COVID-19 pandemic is dissected in the 2020 presidential election debates, Donald Trump will be at a disadvantage. The coronavirus has killed over 100,000 Americans and maimed thousands more. The caveat is that deaths per capita, rather than total deaths, better measure national failure, and by that metric the US fares better than Belgium, Italy and the United Kingdom. New York City owns a disproportionate share of the deaths, but this hyperconnected megapolis is an outlier whose misfortunes can’t be used to draw conclusions about administrative competence for the country as a whole.

Nevertheless, even after introducing nuance, the numbers aren’t flattering. President Donald Trump may claim that the US dodged the calamity predicted by the epidemiological models, which foretold millions of deaths. To be fair, we don’t know the counterfactual — Jeremiads aren’t verifiable. The paradox of successful mitigation is that we can’t see the future we dodged, precisely because we avoided it.

Reducing the death count logarithmically, rather than merely arithmetically, won’t be celebrated because as bad as the worst case scenario could have been, the situation still looks awfully bad. Many still disbelieve the high death toll predicted by epidemiologists early on, particularly Trump supporters who believe the response to the virus, specifically the economic shutdown, has been criminally disproportionate. One can’t simultaneously believe that COVID-19 is no more dangerous than the seasonal flu and that Trump saved millions from the coronavirus. The constituency that acknowledges the lethality of COVID-19 and credits Trump for decisive action against it is small.

Triangle of Incompetence

Trump’s challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, will charge that fewer Americans would have died had the Trump administration acted earlier. Trump may be accused of having blood on his hands, but such rhetoric is unnecessary. Biden’s team can simply show a montage of Trump’s bombast where he downplayed COVID-19’s lethality, dismissed doctors’ concerns about the shortage of personal protective equipment or exaggerated how well the US was containing the pandemic. Incidentally, the most iconic picture of the administration’s scornful indifference is the current vice president, Michael Pence, visiting a hospital without a mask, surrounded by health-care workers wearing masks.

Cornered, Trump must defend his delay without disputing its causal link with fatalities, as it’s indubitable that every week the country remained open, the virus spread farther and killed more people. He may disperse the blame. Along with Trump, the governor of New York state and the mayor of New York City underestimated the severity of the disease. As late as the middle of March, the mayor was encouraging New Yorkers to visit their neighborhood bars. The virus feasted on administrative incompetence.

But the triangle of incompetence won’t reduce Trump’s culpability. He’s the captain of the ship. Even though this odd vessel has many first mates, each of whom can ignore their captain in a pandemic, he can’t accuse his first mates of being mutineers making bad decisions when he made the same bad decisions. Trump may say that COVID-19 outfoxed even the experts, who underestimated the seriousness of the virus early on even as they watched as Beijing quarantined Wuhan. Experts eventually corrected themselves when the facts about COVID-19 emerged. Trump may say that he, too, corrected himself.

He may allege that by quibbling incessantly about the effectiveness of masks and travel restrictions, the experts muddied common sense pandemic prescriptions. He may accuse the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of failing ungraciously to spot the severity of the pandemic. The CDC is to global pandemics what the CIA is to global terrorism. Over time, its scope has increased, and now it deals with way more than just bacilli. The CDC has taken on non-infectious pathogens such as chronic disease, smoking and gun control, with gusto. It has become another chronically underfunded, bloated, politicized bureaucracy, with a mission so boundless that it fails at the most salient.

But blaming scientists and institutions will seem unpresidential, even by Trump’s standards, because as flawed as they may be, they’re still American ornaments. Furthermore, he risks losing independent voters who want to see their leaders accept responsibility for their actions. How will Trump straddle the fine line between accepting his responsibility and admitting his incompetence?

Wild Card

Trump’s wild card is China. How astutely he plays his hand will determine how easily he extricates himself from the coronavirus pit. One needn’t cite conspiracy theories about the Communist Party of China (CCP) deliberately setting the virus free to usher in a new economic world order, to acknowledge that China’s behavior was suspicious from the start. Beijing silenced the whistleblowers who tried alerting the world to human-to-human transmission. The Chinese authorities knew much more much earlier than they shared with the world — at worst deceitful, at best opaque.

China’s actions make the origin of the virus, whether the laboratory or the wet food market, irrelevant. That the provenance of the virus was China could be considered unfortunate and of no fault of the CCP. Trump could make his criticism precise: that CCP’s fault isn’t that the virus originated in or spread from China, or the time it took to control the virus, but that they could have warned the international community much earlier about its severity but chose not to. He’ll say that their delay cost lives and wrecked economies.

Trump could turn his nemesis — the lack of timely response — to his advantage. Biden may be flat-footed on China. The Democrats haven’t pursued the China angle because blaming Beijing for America’s woes exculpates Trump. Though no law of conservation of incompetence exists, for a political narrative to succeed, either Trump or China can have blood on hands, not both.

Instead, the Democrats have framed China-bashing as racism. For instance, they have labeled those who allude to the virus’s provenance by calling it the “Chinese virus” or “Wuhan virus” racist — a transmogrification of taxonomy since viruses are often named after their places of origin, like Ebola, named after a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Trump unapologetically refers to COVID-19 by its Far Eastern roots, earning the now standard epithet, “racist.” Recently, New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo called COVID-19 the “European virus,” likely more to troll Trump than signify the virus’ peripatetic nature.

“European virus” sounds debonair but could backfire if the anger against China swells. Anger could rise both nationally and internationally if the global economy doesn’t recover and high unemployment becomes chronic. It’ll be easy making the case that blaming the CCP isn’t blaming the Chinese, or indeed that the Chinese people can’t be blamed for the actions of a government they neither voted in nor can vote out.

Another Schism

Another schism in politics is that Republicans and Democrats disagree on which communist country to court. Formerly, both agreed that the former Soviet Union was the enemy. The elections were a contest of who could flex more muscle against the Soviets. Latterly, the Republicans in general and Trump in particular have become partial to Russia. For the Democrats, Trump’s fondness for Russia isn’t a geopolitical strategy but the natural affinity of a boorish, immoral president for a crooked regime. Russia has transformed from Evil Ming to a habitually lying, chronically drunk, Dickensian recidivist. Vladimir Putin is viewed as Trump’s Fagin.

China shouldn’t be different. The Democrats should call out the CCP for its treatment of Uighur Muslims, exploitation of workers in sweatshops and contribution to climate change. But they don’t, partly because Trump is anti-China but mostly because they’re envious of what the autocratic CCP achieves. Many American academics have ties with China. Chinese buy American bonds and indulge American expertise. In return, America overlooks Beijing’s abuses.

Ironically, a Republican, President Richard Nixon, first courted China. But reversals are common in politics. What one side thinks is often determined by what the other side is thinking. Trump baited China long before the pandemic. He imposed trade tariffs, in line with his protectionist policies. In the midst of a trade war, many manufacturers have since left China. Trump may argue that his policies were prescient and should be extended so that the US relies less on China for its supply chains, that given the pandemic it’d be unwise placing all the eggs in one basket.

Trump will make China public enemy number one. He could demand reparations. Whether Beijing complies is immaterial. The angry rhetoric will soothe those who would have seen lives, jobs and freedoms disappear because of COVID-19.

Biden must decide between joining the anti-CCP chorus and out-Trumping Trump on China, or focusing on America’s own failures. If Biden doesn’t up the ante on China, Trump could accuse him and the Democrats of being Beijing’s apologists. China could be to the Democrats what Russia was to the Republicans — a chronically asphyxiating noose around their necks. Trump’s China pivot depends on the public mood in November. If the people are angry, but not very angry, they may hold the incumbent, not China, responsible for their travails. What’s certain is that this will be the most vicious election ever. A nasty pandemonium will follow a nasty pandemic.

Saurabh Jha is an associate editor of THCB and host of Radiology Firing Line Podcast of the Journal of American College of Radiology, sponsored by Healthcare Administrative Partner. This post originally appeared on Fair Observer here.

The 2020 Pandemic Election published first on https://wittooth.tumblr.com/