#ben���s daily motivation

[longwuzhere]

Some cool Easter eggs I caught watching My Adventures with Superman that I want to show to people so they can be in on it with comic book readers

Episode 1 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 2 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 3 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 4 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 5 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 6 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 7 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here and here

Episode 9 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 10 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

Apologies for the late posts, A LOT happened like Arleen Sorkin's passing and Kamen Rider Geats ending. So I needed to take a break, but I am back. SPOILERS if you havent seen episode 8 obviously.

We start things off with the captured villains letting out of their prison. We got Silver Banshee, Roundhouse, Heatwave, Livewire, and then eventually we seen Ivo/Parasite and Mist who luckily escaped and is trying to get his friend and sister back. I talked more about in their respective episodes so if you want to read up more about them click on their names.

Task Force X/Suicide Squad is known for exploding the heads of their prisoners teammates if they fuck up a mission (you might have seen it in the live action movies, animated movies, or even read the comics) and MAwS solution to not have it be so gory is to use shock collars.

Cut to Clark who developed super hearing and has not slept for a few days and is on caffeine so he can help the people of Metropolis. The idea of Superman 24/7 has been thrown around in the comics for a while usually saying no Clark deserves a break. He needs to be Clark and not Superman when he can get the chance. If you want to check out the comics that does it I recommend reading Superman #296 to 299 (1979), Who Took the Super out of Superman by writers,Cary Bates, Elliot S. Maggins, penciler, Curt Swan, inker, Bob Oskner, colorist, Carl Gafford, and letterer Ben Oda.

We see in the hologram projector/data sphere thing that Lois took from the League of Lois Lane's displaying Overman wrecking the city. I talked more about him here

We then see Perry asking Lois to help out with Vicki Vale who is asked to be a guest writer on the Daily Planet, we later see in the ep that she's got ulterior motives for this. I talked a bit about her here. In the comics Vicki is usually a journalist for the Gotham Gazette and is sometimes in a relationship with Bruce Wayne. Her comic counterpart is usually very ethical when it comes to journalism much like Lois Lane, but here in MAwS, she's very conniving. Never meet your heroes sometimes I guess, huh MAwS Lois?

Lois talks about the things Vicki wrote for the Gazette and name drops Queen Industries. If you know your DC universe, that is the last name of Oliver Queen aka Green Arrow.

Oliver Queen and Roy Harper aka Speedy, make their first appearance in More Fun Comics #73 (1941) co-created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp who did the panel here. Robin Hood was an obvious inspiration for Oliver in terms of design but also his ethics in a sense. Despite the wealth, Oliver would be left wing and fight for the people arguably more so than Bruce Wayne. You can see in the panel that Oliver doesn't have his signature goatee you'll see that happen later when Neal Adams pencils Ollie in the Brave and the Bold #85 (1969)

who also redesigned Ollies costume too. Check out Green Lantern/Green Arrow series to see Oliver's liberal stances on what was going on in the world in the early 1980s. Nowadays, Oliver's been redesigned to to wear a hood instead of the Robin Hood cap, but he's still the left wing hero that we adore

Fantastic cover to the 80 years of Green Arrow hardcover book by Jim Lee, Scott Williams, and Alex Sinclair.

The Falcones get a mention as one of the stories Vicki Vale wrote about. The Falcones make their first appearance in Batman #405 (1987) created by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli in the Batman Year One storyline.

The man with the pipe in the second panel, by Frank Miller, David Mazzucchelli, Richmond Lewis, and Todd Klein, is the head of the head of the Falcones, Gotham's biggest mob family, Carmine "the Roman" Falcone. He and his family gets expanded explored in Batman: The Long Halloween. Both it and Batman Year One are fantastic reads, highly recommended.

The Gotham Gazette, and in a roundabout way, Gotham, gets a name drop from Perry White. The paper make its first appearance in Batman #4 (1940) and Vicki Vale is employed by them as the photojournalist.

Perry asks Lois and Jimmy to help Vicki out with a story about smearing Superman and they decide to interview people. First up is Captain Immonen who Clark saved in episode 3. The captain's last name is a reference to...

comic book artist, Stuart Immonen. He's worked on various Superman-related titles like Action Comics or the Adventures of Superman.

Probably the Superman book I enjoyed his work in, and highly recommend checking out for everyone who reads this is, Superman: Secret Identity (cover art here by Stuart Immonen) with writer Kurt Busiek about a teen who happens to be named Clark Kent in his world where there are no superheroes, only in the comic books, but somehow slowly develops powers on his own. Very cool non-canon story that is a fresh take on the Superman mythology.

The next interviewee I have to assume based on the credits at the end of the episode is, Mrs. Quietly who is a reference to...

comic book artist, Frank Quitely. You may know his name on the New X-Men with Grant Morrison, but in terms of Superman, he was the penciler for All-Star Superman (cover by Frank Quitely and Jamie Grant)...

the comic series that got an animated movie adaptation and will be the inspiration for the upcoming Superman: Legacy live action movie. The book has Superman dying thanks to Luthor and has Clark live out his final days saving the world and the future in a sense one last time. It's a great read! And speaking of Grant Morrison...

Grant Morrison got their reference through the name of a pawn shop in Metropolis.

Grant Morrison, fantastic writer, has worked on a lot of comics. As mentioned before Morrison worked with Frank Quitely on New X-Men but in terms of Superman, is best known for writing All-Star Superman with Quitely. Both have also worked on Batman and Robin together and equally great series if you want to see Dick Grayson as Batman try to wrangle in Damian Wayne as Robin.

We see Lex Luthor Alex here as the final interviewee who says Superman is a menace for ruining his job and destroyed the building he worked in. Will he lose his hair and go into business? I don't know, but when Alex gets a confirmed last name, most likely Luthor, I'll take more about him.

Later in the episode we seen screen names, LoriLemaris59 and Bibbo87 streaming videos of Superman getting his but handed to him by Task Force X. Both names are references to characters in the Superman comics.

Lori Lemaris first appeared in Superman #129 (1959) by Bill Finger, Wayne Boring, and Stan Kaye. She and Clark met in college where she posed as a wheelchair-using student and both took interest in each other, however when they're out on dates, Lori would cut the date short because of her mermaid nature. Clark tried to propose to her, but she turned him down because both are from two different worlds and it wouldn't work out. She also knew Clark was Superman because her people could read minds but she's totally cool with keeping it a secret for him. Jimmy, in MAwS, mentioned mermaids, but I did not want to point it out until we get a Lori Lemaris reference in and lo and behold it came true! The other name is a reference to Bibbo Bibbowski one of the supporting cast for Superman.

Bibbo Bibbowski makes his first appearance in the Adventures of Superman #428 (1987) by Marv Wolfman, Jerry Ordway, Tom Ziuko, and John Costanza. Superman arrives at the Ace O' Club's bar asking for information on Perry White's son, Jerry who was kidnapped. Bibbo, thinking Superman is just some guy in a costume punches Superman, gets his hand busted, and finds a new respect for him.

As mentioned before Task Force X is out to capture Superman as he and Mist try to save his sister and friend, but it turns out they are more than willing get revenge on Superman for their freedom. Even though in this universe they are Task Force X, a majority of the team is made up of Superman villains so in a sense you can make an argument that this is a Superman Revenge Squad. The first use of the team name is from the silver age, in Superman #94 (1961) where the squad was a group of aliens. The Superman villains teaming up together to get revenge on Superman first appeared in the Adventures of Superman #543 (1997). Parasite (Rudy Jones), who was part of that team, shares names with a Superman villain in MAwS here.

I think someone on the MAwS team is a fan of the X-Men arcade game cuz Livewire flies the same way Magneto does in that game.

Again very sorry for the delay in this, but if you made it this far down, be sure to check out my other posts about the easter eggs in My Adventures with Superman:

Episode 1 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 2 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 3 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 4 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 5 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 6 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 7 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here and here

Episode 9 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 10 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

[roguelioness]

Year End Writer’s Round-Up: 2020

I was tagged by a lot of wonderful people - @noire-pandora, @luzial, @thevikingwoman and @galadrieljones - thank you all so much!

Tagging @ma-sulevin, @wickedwitchofthewilds, @idrelle, @iarollane, @shannaraisles @charlatron, @a-shakespearean-in-paris, @laraslandlockedblues, @kagetsukai and anyone else who’s interested :)

Word count for 2020 [published and unpublished]: ~180,000 words

I don’t have a comparison for previous years, because I’ve never been diligent about word tracking, but this has been a good year for me as far as writing goes. this is the first year out of my major depression that I feel like I’ve been quite productive. My goal was to write, and complete, three stories this year - which I hit, and is something I hugely proud of.

New things I tried this year:

Quite a few new things! I stepped out of writing in past tense and I’ve started writing in present, which is quite the change. I also branched out of my usual Solasmances and tried my hand at writing a Cullen romance! The Inquisition Job was also my first attempt at writing an AU - and though it proved to be challenging, it was a challenge I enjoyed. This was also the year I broke out of Dragon Age fanfiction and posted my first Mass Effect fic, Deja Vu\\Jamais Vu. 

I also started using a word tracker for the first time, courtesy of @ma-sulevin, and it’s been surprisingly effective at getting me to write. I’m a sucker for tables and graphs and charts, so tracking my monthly writing goal through those is immensely satisfying (and will be something I continue doing in 2021). I started the year with the idea of writing 100 words a day, but I’ve soon come to realize that it’s better for me to have both a daily and monthly goal. As much as I’d like to keep writing everyday, sometimes my brain just wants a break - and so monthly goals help me stay motivated.

Fic I spent the most time on:

For Goodness Bakes, my Solavellan Bakery AU. At ~65K words, it took several months to write and edit, and it has to be the story I’m most proud of writing this year.

Fic I Spent the Least Time On:

I think I wrote Succumbing in the span of a week in October - the spooky season got to me and I just adored the idea of Solas as a vampire :D If we’re counting one-shots, then it’d probably be Eidolon, which was the result of the new DA4 trailer.

Favorite Thing I Wrote:

It has to be a tie between For Goodness Bakes and Succumbing.

For Goodness Bakes, as I’ve mentioned before, is the fluffiest piece I’ve written (and also has the honor of being the one fic that’s made me have all the sweet cravings, holy shit). It honestly started with the idea of Solas in a suit and took on a life of it’s own. Thalia is one of my favorite OCs to date; she has a special place in my heart :)

I have a huge, mega soft spot for Succumbing because not only am I a vampire fucker on main, but the idea of Solas being said vampire is, well... *fans self*. It was fun delving into the mind of a character whose willpower is constantly weakening, and who ends up on the grey area of the moral spectrum. It’s also the first time I’ve tried my hand at writing something horror, which surprised me, given how I don’t like horror myself.

Favorite Thing I Read:

I’ve come to the realization I read a lot of  fanfiction and not nearly as much published fiction. That being said, here are a few:

@ma-sulevin‘s Steady and Strong, and Appetite. The first is a Stardew Valley/Mass Effect crossover which is so dang sweet, I can’t even. The latter, well... there’s a reason ma-sul is the mistress of smut :)

@thevikingwoman‘s Temporal Arrangements. Time travel AUs are hard to write, and many of the ones I’ve read tend to be heavier on the angst, but this one is sweet and hopeful and honestly so refreshing to read. Viking is amazing at depicting scenes and emotions with few words, and she writes Solas so well. Iwyn is one of my favorite Lavellans ever!

ladygekko on AO3′s Dear Par Vollen is a very fun, heartwarming read. The Ben-Hassrath agent in charge of handling Iron Bull’s reports finds her world opening up. It’s very funny and touching and very unique.

foolishgames on AO3′s To The Least Of His Children features a kid Inquisitor who’s chaperoned by Varric and Cassandra. This was fantastically written, and so moving. Well worth the read, if only for the interaction between Cassandra and Varric.

Writing Goals For Next Year:

My goal next year is, much like this year, write and complete three stories. I’m hoping in 2021 to continue to branch out into other fandoms. I hope to complete some of my current WIPs, specifically A Whole New World, and Deja Vu\\Jamais Vu, and to finish some of my older works.

One of my biggest challenges is keeping a story to a manageable limit. Most ideas I have tend to be massive, 100K+ stories, which is challenging (not in a good way) and exhausting. I want to be able to refine my plots so that I can keep them to a manageable word limit, so I can try writing different stories.

Overall, I’d like to think I’ve grown as a writer this year, and hopefully I can work on my weak areas in 2021 and make them stronger :)

[evesbeve]

How do you feel the minority characters in umbrella academy have been treated? Klaus (Pan & non binary i think?), Ben (poc)? Allison (poc)? Diego (poc)? Vanya (gay) ? 3 out of the 7 are poc, one of which is dead & 2 sisters out of the 7. This is just an observation not hate but I’d like to see less Vanya causing the apocalypse & more developing the siblings individually & as a group INCLUDING Vanya. Like klaus never gets to be happy can we fix that too

Oh yeah, definitely agreed

A thing I noticed that like,,, happens a lot in this fandom is how, because of the Ben-Klaus and Allison-Vanya dynamics, people tend to constantly treat Ben and Allison as if their only motivation in life (or death) and personality trait is helping the other two. Which is a bit hmmmm considering they're both poc, and Vanya and Klaus are white

Like... the show tried to give both Ben and Allison other personality traits + motivations, however!! It gets translated very badly in fandom language (because a huge part of the fandom is overlooking core personality traits and just sticking with the relationships) which is why I'm a bit :/ on these two being ""obsessed"" (hard quotations on that one) with helping the others (white), if that makes sense??

With Diego the situation is a bit better, cause he's more independent than the other two, but still. We need more poc representation in the media, without their story being dependent on a white character's arc

And then with the lgbt representation, I'm so so so happy they gave us Vanya in s2, but it would still be neat if we had a bit more of it (without that necessarily leading to a relationship!! again, give us independent characters pls)

There's also more need for trans representation, and there's literally zero ace and aro rep in the media either, so that would be very 👀 I want that

But anyway, about the representation we did get, I'm really grateful, HOWEVER

In S2 we got to see a lot of like,,, homophobic themes (which made sense because they were literally in the 60's) but I'd like to see myself represented as happy. I want a character that's gay without a big deal being made out of it. I already struggle with all these problems in my daily life, I don't want to see my fave characters be hurt too, you know?

And the thing about 2/7 siblings being women... I just hope we get more girl characters in the sparrow academy

Anyway, I'm not trying to bash tua or anything!! I love the show, it's literally my favorite, and they're doing way better than most shows out there. These are just some general thoughts I have, and they can apply to any piece of media

[spacedikut]

(book anon) AHHH ok my fav of the crow gang would have to be either kaz or nina ! i just love how witty and snarky they are and THE AMOUNT OF LOVE THEY HAVE FOR THEIR S/O IS SO 😭 i’m so excited for you to get through the whole duology bc it’s genuinely one of the best series i’ve read. also the SHOW?? ben barnes is so,,,chefs kiss. i have so much faith in you to get through it! i still haven’t finished my little women book from like 4 months ago LMAO i have like 30 pages left and can’t do it😭

YOU HAVE SUCH GOOD TASTE i can’t sort them into an order but inej is my absolute favourite and i think about her daily ♥️♥️♥️🥺🥰🤠

im about halfway through now! i love it so much but im SCARED the heist is A BIT FUCKIN INTENSE??????!!!! they’ve all already almost died once…………

the show is so GOOD jesper is so fantastic in it and i can’t wait to see who plays wylan!!!!!!!!! I HOPE U GET THE MOTIVATION TO FINISH LITTLE WOMEN i know that feeling of like. oh it’s only 30 pages!! but it’s 30 pages :///

edit: guess what the answer was in my drafts im a moron

[kisses-holland]

Don’t Give Up On Me (Teaser)

Summary: Y/N tries her hardest to make sure she has enough money to help her five year old brother with his chemo. She lands a job as an assistant for a well known company. Only problem is? The CEO doesn’t like her very much.

Pairing: Enemies to lovers! CEO! Tom x reader, Enemies to friends! CEO! Harrison x reader

Warnings: Mentions of cancer, swearing, Harrison and Tom are mean, angst

Prompt (location): Office

A/N: This series is for @uglypastels writing challenge! Congrats on 2.5k baby! You deserve it and I’m so proud of you ❤️ this will be my very first series and i hope you guys enjoy it! This series is also inspired by the song “Don’t Give Up On Me by Andy Grammar. If you have not listened to it, I suggest you do. The song is beautiful and goes well with the story. Also, thank you to @uglypastels once again for the amazing mood board she created for me! I love it and she’s so talented :)

You sighed as you walked out of your apartment. You were tired. No, not just tired. Worn out, Hopeless. This was the fourth job you were trying out in a month, that could hopefully pay well.

As you were walking to the bus stop, you made a mental note to bring Ben’s favourite food to the hospital for him.

Your brother was only five years old when he was diagnosed with Leukaemia. You found out when he had lost an unhealthy amount of weight within the week, and noticed his frequent nose bleeds. Some nights, his bones started aching and he would wake up sobbing in pain. You couldn’t stand the feeling you had in your chest every night after comforting him to sleep, so you took him to the emergency room. The doctors immediately ran some tests and here you both were; Ben in the hospital, and you working full time to make sure Ben gets the proper treatment to survive.

You wish you had parents who could support the two of you. Your parents had passed away shortly after ben was born, resulting in both of you being put into a foster home when you were 17. as soon as you had turned 18, you found a full time job and saved up money for an apartment so you could have custody of Ben again. Here you are, 23 years old, and Ben six years old.

And now, you have to take care of Ben’s treatments and medicines, as well as pay for rent and utilities on your own.

It was very tough for you to find a job. with the hours that you could work, No one seemed to want to hire someone with the hours you were asking. Early morning shifts is what you needed, so that you could stay with Ben the rest of the night.

Your most recent job was a pizza deliver, but you had to leave because the job relied on commission and tips, which didn’t help pay for Ben’s necessities.

The job as an assistant came up out of the blue, when you saw a flyer for help wanted taped to your apartment door. You thought it was fate, maybe destiny? Because the interview went really well and you were on your way to the company for your first day. The woman who had interviewed you took a liking towards you immediately, and hired you on the spot. You get paid the starting wage, $23/hour, which was more than any other company could give you. Hopefully, if you worked well, you would get a raise.

Of course, you told her about Ben’s situation. She immediately told you that everything was going to be okay. When she asked what motivated you to get this position, you didn't hesitate. Not one bit. Your responsibility was to make sure Ben got to live his life without having to worry about any more treatments. The woman gave you a hug, after wiping a few tears of her own, and sent you your way. 

Taking the train to the company, you nervously walked in, and headed to your boss’ office. You never met him, you didn’t even know his name. All you knew about him is that he’s one of the wealthiest men in the city of New York, and that he was about the same age as you.

Knocking on his door, you straightened out your uniform, which consisted of a pencil skirt, a polo shirt, and a blazer. It was the most professional clothing you had. Not wanting to waste any money on clothing, you chose some old clothing you had, washed it, and worn it. You could tell that the clothing was old, but hoped no one noticed.

A gentleman with ice blue eyes and golden hair opened the door. You smiled, but it instantly faded when he looked you up and down and scoffed.

��She’s here, Tom.” he yelled back. He turned to you and smirked, “Couldn’t have found a better choice of clothing?” Immediately, your face flushed and you looked down, a feeling of insecurity taking place instead of nervousness. His tone was taunting, and you didn’t expect to feel like you were gonna throw up within five minutes of your first day.

The man made room for you to enter, and you took small paces towards the desk.

He was turned towards the windows, looking outside. The name tag on his desk read “T. Holland.” As soon as he saw you, he smirked.

“Look what the cat dragged in.” You frowned. not even the people in the foster home were as mean as they were, what was up with them? “You must be Y/N Y/L/N. I’m Tom Holland, your new boss.” He stuck his hand out for you to shake.

“Nice to m-meet you.” You stuttered. As soon as you were ready to shake his hand, he took his hand back.

“Now where’s our coffee?” He asked, arms folded and eyebrows raised.

You looked at him in shock. Coffee? No one told you about coffee. What was he on about?

“No one informed me about t-the coffee, s-sir.” You said. You could feel the embarrassment in your bones. You didn’t want to get fired on your first day. Especially when this was the job you needed.

“Well then what are you waiting for? I like mine black, Harrison likes his the same. Get to it. And don’t forget next time.” He scoffed, and turned back towards the window.

“But sir, the coffee shop is all the way across town, it’ll take me an hour to get them with transit. I-“

“I don’t remember asking. you don’t want to get fired the first day, do you? iI didn’t think so. We’ll be waiting for our fresh, hot coffee.” He said, not looking back at you.

You looked down as tears welled up in your eyes. Quickly, you blinked them away as you made your way to the door, the blue eyed boy named Harrison smirking back at you as you did so.

What the hell did you just get yourself into?

Taglist:

@fanficparker @your-daily-dose-of-fangirl @magiclolipopqueen @organicpurplepants @delicately-important-trash @butterfliesinthenightsky @redstrawbbaby @shayke-and-bake @olivia1112 @lazymarvelfan @karlitabi-rrito @green-lxght @babylsn @sincerelyfan @awesomeaugustina @joycesld @xxr-88xx @czygrlm @ixchel-9275

[aaronmaurer]

Music I Liked in 2020

Every year I reflect on the pop culture I enjoyed and put it in some sort of order.

I can’t say I discovered a lot of new artists in 2020, but I did find a lot of solace in new records by familiar voices. During days of intense isolation and lonesomeness, music provided support, hope and the occasional semblance of peace. I’m especially grateful for the musicians who found new ways to perform live from their home studios, once the entire touring industry completely shut down. I’m sure we all found our own rabbit holes, but live-streamed sets from the likes of Ben Gibbard, Jimmy Eat World’s Jim Atkins, Better Than Ezra’s Kevin Griffin, Geographer’s Michael Deni and Ben Folds kept me sane during April, May and beyond. As did all of these albums, which I highly recommend.

15. Serpentine Prison – Matt Berninger

The National frontman’s first solo record is a slow-burn that may not reach the heights of his work with his main group (or sideproject El Vy), but still has signature moments of poetic beauty. The title track is a clear standout (and when it gets stuck in your head, you can have fun brainstorming your own alternate non-sequitur couplets; examples: “Tripping on Molly / Salvador Dalí”, “Praying to Jesus / Ramona and Beezus” / “Sell it on Etsy / Heavens to betsy” / “Patio tables / Anne of Green Gables” It’s fun! Try it out!)

14. Local Honey – Brian Fallon

Speaking of Matt Berninger (and solo projects from alt-rock frontmen), I hear a lot of his influence on the latest from Gasoline Anthem’s Brian Fallon. This largely stripped-down affair has quiet splendor to spare and provided a balm in the early days of the pandemic.

13. Gigaton – Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam’s latest record finds the band operating in a variety of different modes – head-on rockers, balladeers, experimentalists – yet doesn’t quite gel into a whole the way their very best work does. That said, it’s an energetic album with many songs I look forward to hearing live, someday…

12. George Clanton & Nick Hexum – George Clanton & Nick Hexum

A vaporwave collaboration between electronic artist George Clanton and 311’s Nick Hexum? Really? Somehow it works, and its chill vibes were a perfect backdrop for lonely summer malaise this year.

11. Petals For Armor – Hayley Williams

Paramore’s Williams branched out on her first solo record this year, allowing her to operate in a variety of styles without losing her powerful voice. Moments of slinkily seething electronica (“Simmer”) share space with pop smarts (“Dead Horse”), quietly pretty harmonies (“Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris”) and all points in between.

10. Mordechai and Texas Sun EP (with Leon Bridges) – Khruangbin

Houston psych-rock trio Khruangbin did double duty this year, first releasing a collaborative EP with Leon Bridges then following it up with a new full-length a couple months later. Both records hang in the air like hazy, languid summer heat, in the best possible way.

  9. RTJ4 – Run the Jewels

RTJ4 is just as rollicking and propulsive as Killer Mike and El-P’s previous collabs, but with a greater sense of socially conscious urgency and righteous anger, giving it an even rawer power. Tracks like “Walking In The Snow,” “JU$T” and “a few words for the firing squad (radiation)” are just the tip of the iceberg on this incendiary record.

8. American Head – The Flaming Lips

American Head returns the Flaming Lips to the melodic soundscapes of The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, which is my preferred mode for the band, and thus is my favorite thing they’ve done in at least a decade. The record is a bit more dreamily melancholic than those earlier releases though, creating atmospheres of contemplative beauty.

7. Punisher – Phoebe Bridgers

Coming after collaborations with boygenius and Better Oblivion Community Center, it’s hard to believe this is only Bridgers’ sophomore album. Punisher takes the winning palette of Stranger In The Alps and mixes in more colors and texture. This is an album that rewards repeat listens; tunes that I had initially dismissed have ended up becoming my favorites as they get their hooks into me. The most immediate tracks like “Kyoto” and “ICU” don’t lose any impact over time, but the likes of the quietly devastating “Chinese Satellite” sneak up on you and gradually reveal their layers.

6. Imploding the Mirage – The Killers

I was done with The Killers. My interest always ran hot and cold anyway, but after 2017’s Wonderful Wonderful, no thanks. So imagine my surprise when I gave Imploding the Mirage a shot and found I LOVE it! It may be my favorite of their records yet, at least the most consistent, where they most fully realize the confluence of their Springsteen-tinged Americana fetish and electro-rock sensibilities. Bombastic 80s arena percussion and over-the-top synth flourishes combine in the best possible way. There’s not a dud on the album for me, but I’m especially fond of “My God,” “Lightning Fields” and “Dying Breed.”

5. The Ascension – Sufjan Stevens

The Ascension hits with similar energy to 2010’s polarizing Age of Adz, but with more easily accessible songs. It’s a dark and introspective record about disillusionment with America and oneself, but also highly danceable – if a bit overlong. Standout tracks like “Goodbye to All That” and “Lamentations” provide transcendent moments of soaring beauty like calm in the storm. And the brilliant title track plays like a self-interrogating rejoinder to Adz’s pep talk “Vesuvius” in which, instead of cheering himself on, Stevens probes and calls into question his motivations and beliefs.

4. Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez – Gorillaz

The latest record from Damon Albarn’s ever-evolving cartoon collective is its most engaging since Plastic Beach, with a spirit of musical exploration that reminds me much of 2001’s self-titled debut as well. The project was introduced as a series of one-off singles, so what really surprises is just how well they cohere into a full record, featuring a plethora of A-List guest artists and Albarn holding down the fort with some of his best songwriting yet.

3. 10 Songs – Travis

Travis are a band that I’ve casually enjoyed (2001’s The Invisible Band is great) but never followed all that closely. I certainly wasn’t expecting much from a latter-day record from them, but 10 Songs is one of the 2020 releases I have returned to most. The songs are the audial equivalent of a warm blanket, with a lovely wistfulness permeating through. Standouts include “The Only Thing,” “A Million Hearts” and “Kissing in the Wind,” but all ten songs are great.

2. Devastator – Phantom Planet

Phantom Planet’s first record in 12 years doesn’t miss a beat, finding a sonic middle ground between their early indie-pop leanings and their later punkier direction. The hooks are plentiful and the lyrics poignant (this is basically a breakup album about the end of frontman Alex Greenwald’s relationship with Brie Larson), with highlights including the up-tempo “Only One” and the elegiac “Time Moves On.” Return of the year.

1. folklore and evermore – Taylor Swift

Top 40 Pop Music is not really my thing and while I’ve certainly appreciated some of Taylor Swift’s work before (Red has jams!), I wouldn’t have called myself a fan. 2020’s pair of surprise release records are a different mode of songwriting for her and right in my wheelhouse, with indie-leaning production courtesy of fun./Bleachers’ Jack Antonoff and The National’s Aaron Dessner. While my impressions of Swift’s past work have been navel-gazy and self-mythologizing (not a problem, but not that interesting to me), folklore and evermore broaden her storytelling to paradoxically become more specific in its universality and/or more universal in its specificity. The moments that are autobiographical (“mad woman,” “invisible string”) have an authenticity and self-assuredness that make them all the more accessible. This is romantically nostalgic poetry with the power to reopen old wounds and maybe also start rehealing them at the same time. While I still give folklore the edge (I love “august,” “exile” and mirrorball,” to name just a few), evermore is steadily growing on me with each listen.

Here’s a playlist songs from each of these records for your sampling pleasure:

Bonus! 2 Unexpected Cover EPs:

Switchfoot – Covers EP and Death Cab For Cutie – Georgia EP

As society grappled with lockdowns and concerts were uniformly cancelled the world over, many artists kept occupied with livestreams from their home studios. Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman and Death Cab’s Ben Gibbard were among those who posted daily songs or shows during the early days and their bands would each end up releasing EPs of cover songs during the year. Switchfoot take on a range of songs from the likes of Vampire Weekend, Frank Ocean and The Verve and Death Cab honor Georgia artists like R.E.M. and Neutral Milk Hotel for a Bandcamp fundraiser for voting rights. Both efforts provide some unexpected reinterpretations that elevate them above the average covers album.

[aion-rsa]

Gina Carano Was Fired from The Mandalorian, But Should Cara Dune Live On?

https://ift.tt/2N0IeiI

Gina Carano deserved to be fired from The Mandalorian after months of posting dangerous online rhetoric that goes against everything Star Wars should stand for. After Carano used her Twitter bio to mock the common practice of users listing preferred pronouns, denying the gravity of the Covid-19 pandemic, posting election fraud conspiracy theories, refusing to show support for Black Lives Matter, and implying that being a right-wing conservative today was like being a Jewish person during the Holocaust, Disney finally did the right thing.

“Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors…even by children. Because history is edited, most people today don’t realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views,” read her now-deleted Tik Tok post.

While Carano did return for The Mandalorian season 2, which wrapped just before the Covid lockdowns that seemingly triggered the actor’s toxic views on social media, Disney decided that it had seen enough. In a statement released on Wednesday night, a spokesperson for Disney said that Carano’s “social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.” The spokesperson also confirmed that Carano “is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future,” effectively putting an end to her time on The Mandalorian and Star Wars. Deadline also confirmed that Carano and her agency UTA have parted ways.

Two days later, Carano doubled down, announcing a new movie project with alt-right pundit Ben Shapiro’s conservative website The Daily Wire. She will develop, produce, and star in the movie, which will release exclusively to the site’s members, according to Deadline. Carano dubiously framed her next move as “a direct message of hope to everyone living in fear of cancellation by the totalitarian mob.”

But while Carano may see herself as a rebel fighting for the right to claim “freedom of speech” no matter how hateful or downright false her posts, there are also plenty of Star Wars fans who are relieved to see her jettisoned from the universe they love. While Disney should still be held accountable for how it failed John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran, actors of color who faced racist attacks upon being cast in the Sequel Trilogy, and who were sidelined as the trilogy progressed, the company has done a much better job of late of showing where it stands on the issues. The company stood in support of The High Republic show host Krystina Arielle after she faced similar attacks. By firing Carano, Disney and Lucasfilm have taken a clear stance not only against bigotry but the kind of dangerous rhetoric that has become pervasive among a small but loud minority of the fandom (although I’d hardly call them actual “fans”).

THR learned from a source close to Lucasfilm that the studio had been “looking for a reason to fire her for two months” and that Carano’s Holocaust post was “the final straw.” According to the outlet, Lucasfilm had previously planned to have Carano star in her own Mandalorian spinoff, potentially Rangers of the New Republic, and considered making the announcement during its investor’s day event in December before that idea was scrapped due to her social media posts.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Does Carano’s firing mean that this is the end of her character’s time in Star Wars? While the end of Cara Dune’s storyline in The Mandalorian season 2 teased that there would be more to her journey as a mercenary turned New Republic marshal, for the moment, that adventure seems to have been cut short. That said, some fans are already wondering whether Cara’s life in the galaxy far, far away could continue without Carano.

A few people on Twitter have suggested that the character should simply be recast, with Lucy Lawless already positioned as a frontrunner among fans. The Xena: Warrior Princess and Battlestar Galactica actor and activist would be more than a suitable replacement for Carano and the kind of talent the Star Wars brand should want to work with. Not to mention that Lawless would bring the energy, grit, and physicality needed to play a tough-as-carbonite brawler like Cara.

Let's make #LucyLawless the new and improved #CaraDune! #TheMandalorian @Jon_Favreau @dave_filoni pic.twitter.com/xuqqM3SOea

— 𝕂ℝ𝕀𝕊𝕋𝕀𝔸ℕ 𝕆𝔻𝕃𝔸ℕ𝔻 (@kreshjun) February 11, 2021

But as nice as it is to dream of Lawless or another fan-favorite performer taking on the role of Cara Dune and continuing her story, Star Wars has traditionally been averse to recasting its characters to the point where the franchise would rather paste a questionable CGI version of Mark Hamill’s face on another actor’s head than cast someone new to play a younger Luke Skywalker. (Sebastian Stan, for example.)

Not that Lucasfilm hasn’t tried recasting before, such as when it brought on Alden Ehrenreich and Donald Glover to play pre-Original Trilogy versions of Han Solo and Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story, but that movie was a box office failure for the studio. While there are many reasons why that film failed, a few fans might tell you it’s because Harrison Ford and Billy Dee Williams weren’t in it. If history tells us anything, it’s that there’s a section of this fandom that does not like change.

That’s not to say Disney should go out of its way to pander to viewers who are resistant to change. Big franchises like Star Wars need to embrace change to stay fresh and better reflect audiences. And Disney certainly shouldn’t prioritize people who would be mad if anyone but Carano played Dune on The Mandalorian or Rangers of the New Republic. My point is that Disney would likely save itself a lot of grief by not doing anything else with the character at all. There’s no doubt that the path of least resistance for Disney would be to phase out the character completely, giving her a quiet off-screen exit, perhaps coupled with some brief exposition in season 3 regarding where she went. Done.

Is that fair to Cara Dune and the fans who see themselves in her? Cara quickly became a fan-favorite after her debut on the Star Wars live-action series as a fierce gun-for-hire who’s not quite a hero and is as prone to violence as Din Djarin but who will ultimately choose to do what’s right. Many have lauded Cara for the ways she breaks away from the “traditional mold” of female Star Wars characters who have come before, both in terms of her morally gray motivations and her buff appearance, which, as fans of The Last of Us II‘s Abby will tell you, remains a rarity in our entertainment.

Read more

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How The Mandalorian Gave Fans a Different Kind of Star Wars Story

By Lacy Baugher

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Why The Mandalorian Was Always Destined to Meet Luke Skywalker

By Ryan Britt

Unlike Leia, Cara is a former Rebel shock trooper from Alderaan who didn’t immediately fall in line with the New Republic, preferring the chaos and danger of living in the Outer Rim than joining up with the new galactic government, which she felt wasn’t doing enough to quell the ever-present threat of the Empire that had destroyed her home planet. She preferred to brawl in cantinas and make her own way in the galaxy sans an official allegiance or badge, a lifestyle rarely lived by Star Wars‘ women — at least on screen. (In that way, Cara has much more in common with breakout Marvel comic book character Doctor Aphra.)

Sure, some of these traits began to change, but the show took its time developing Cara’s character, and by the time she did join the Republic’s law forces in the Outer Rim, it was after she’d witnessed many of the atrocities committed by what was left of the Empire. And even with the badge, she did some things on her own terms, like helping Mando and friends rescue Grogu from Moff Gideon.

To many, Cara has been a unique character worth following for years to come, whether it be on more seasons of The Mandalorian or in an eventual spinoff. Fans could perhaps still get that opportunity off-screen were Lucasfilm to continue Cara’s story in the books or comics, as it has with many other characters for over 40 years. It might just take some waiting.

But the mere fact that many fans want to see Cara’s story continue without the toxic presence of the actor who originally brought her to life is a testament to the power of the character herself. Like the best Star Wars characters, Cara seems to have staying power, and perhaps she deserves to outlive Gina Carano’s time with the franchise.

To The Mandalorian‘s credit, there are many other great female characters to look forward to on the show, including Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff), Koska Reeves (Mercedes Varnado), and Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen), who will actually star in The Book of Boba Fett later this year. (Please bring back Frog Lady, too.) They’re fantastic characters with their own motivations and stories, and I’d love to see more of them in season 3, but not all female characters are interchangeable and the other women in The Mandalorian’s world cannot replace Cara’s unique contributions to the show. They cannot simply “fill a spot” left behind by the last female hero, a character who was one of our first introductions on the show.

There’s perhaps no obviously right answer or course of action when things are still so raw and production is moving quickly on the next year of Star Wars stories. Does keeping Cara in Star Wars also ultimately mean that Lucasfilm is acknowledging Carano’s legacy with the franchise? Maybe. But should a great character that people look up to and relate to be allowed to exist beyond the bad decisions of an actor or its creator? Probably.

We only know this for sure: if you never see Cara Dune again in Star Wars, you only really have Gina Carano to blame.

The post Gina Carano Was Fired from The Mandalorian, But Should Cara Dune Live On? appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[dailybuglenow]

WEDNESDAY, 5 AUGUST 2024. EDITED BY J. JONAH JAMESON.

BACK & BETTER THAN EVER, OR, A TALE OF REALITY WARPING & RESURRECTIONS 

Gone, but never forgotten. That’s what we’ve repeated to ourselves time and time again in the six years since the Mad Titan Thanos snapped his fingers ( an act we call the Cleanse ) and half the world dissolved into ash. It wasn’t until five long years later that a group of brave heroes reversed what he had done and restored the world to a shade closer to what it once had been. This was, of course, not without great costs having to be paid. When Thanos was finally vanquished for good two founding Avengers were laid to rest: Natalia Romanova, the Black Widow, and Anthony Edward Stark, aka Iron Man. News of their deaths were confirmed by a representative for the New Avengers the day following the New Avengers Facility battle against the Black Order that culminated in the largest hero team-up we’ve yet to see.

Natalia Romanova, more commonly known by the alias Natasha  Romanoff started her career in Russia’s infamous Red Room academy, which turns young girls into trained assassins. Romanoff’s ledger was made public in 2014 following the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the revelation that the Nazi organization H.Y.D.R.A. had been embedded in the agency for years. After being recruited to S.H.I.E.LD. by fellow Avenger Clint Barton ( Hawkeye ), Romanoff worked as an agent for years before becoming a founding member of the Avengers in 2012, where she continued to serve until 2016 when the Sokovian Accords were passed and stricter international restrictions were put in place. Although she originally sided with Stark and the government, following the Clash of the Avengers in Berlin Romanoff dropped off the map. She was spotted once in Russia before going on the run with the former Captain America, Steve Rogers, and his associate Sam Wilson ( the former Falcon who has recently taken up the Cap mantle -- for more, on this please see Christine Everhart’s article on page 3 ). Despite two years as an international fugitive, Romanoff fought in the Battle of Wakanda against Thanos and acted as the representative to the public during the Cleanse. One of the more vocal Avengers dead set on righting Thanos’ wrong, a New Avengers spokesperson confirmed that Romanoff died on April 26th, 2023 securing the Soul Stone from a classified location alongside Barton. She was laid to rest in a private cemetery with the Romanoff Scholarship for at Risk Girls being created in her honor shortly afterwards.

Anthony 'Tony’ Stark was always in the public eye due to his father, Howard Stark, being an inventor, scientist, engineer, businessman and movie director. The elder Stark created Stark Industries, which his son later inherited after his untimely passing. As an arms dealer Tony was taken hostage in Afghanistan in 2008 but freed himself by creating a suit of armor. Living with an arc reactor in his chest, Stark became the first superhero with a public identity as Iron Man and became a founding member of the Avengers. After nearly sacrificing himself in 2012′s Battle of New York, Stark remained active even though it was his actions that led to the creation of the villainous robot Ultron and the untimely destruction of a large part of the European nation, Sokovia in 2015. Many considered Stark’s actions to be an apparent disrespect to life and property and urged him make amends. As a result, Stark sided with the Sokovian Accords and urged other heroes to sign as well.  Because of this he and Steve Rogers had a falling out that lasted years as Rogers went on the run and Stark started the Stark Internship, whose inaugural recipient was high school student Peter Parker ( who was recently unmasked as Spider-man ). After going to space in 2018 to try and stop Thanos, Stark came home after briefly being presumed missing and largely vanished from the public eye. The failure of the Avengers to stop Thanos from the Cleanse was something not commented on by Stark, who chose to move Upstate with his wife, Stark Industries C.E.O. Pepper Potts, and their daughter, Morgan Stark. He came out of retirement to help retrieve the Stones and was the one to don a specially created Infinity Gauntlet to kill Thanos once and for all. Following his passing Stark was buried a few days after and the Stark Foundation for the Rehoming of those Disrupted by the Cleanse was created.

For the last year, the world mourned the losses of both Stark, Romanoff and other deceased heroes, such as the synthezoid known as the Vision who was killed by Thanos in 2018 when the Titan stole the Mind Stone from his forehead. Rumors began flying recently, however, when Avenger Wanda Maximoff ( the Scarlet Witch ) appeared to be spotted with a man who resembled the Vision. This set in motion what appears to be a new era in which what we lost has been returned to us. The New Avengers were able to confirm that it was, indeed, the Vision returned by means not yet confirmed. Mutants have been known for their resurrections as of late, but that seemed limited to their nation of Krakoa. It never seemed like something that we’d see in our world at large. Not until recently, that is.

On August 3rd, 2024, President Norman Osborn held a press conference that promised a sign of hope and change. Osborn’s Avengers, known as America’s Avengers, have been received with various degrees of public support. Along with him Osborn brought team member Star, who was recently revealed to be reporter Ripley Ryan. A controversial member, it has been revealed that Ryan possessed the Reality Stone from her home world of Earth-616 in her chest. “I don’t want to dip into the cliché and say that I live to serve,” she stated at the press conference. “but my goal is to be an Avenger for the people, and that means doing everything in my power to make the world a better place. Thankfully, I happen to have a lot of power.” This sentiment was echoed by Osborn, who pointed out that in the past the Avengers had failed as public servants and had instead caused more harm than good. He went on to add, “Instead of trying something futile like banning them once more, we’ve taken a new route. We’re leading by example, making good of our gifts. We’re making America a place you can feel safe and secure in. Consider this the first step.”

The ethics behind President Osborn’s following announcement have already been debated on popular social sites like Twitter as the public weighs on that which was once considered impossible: resurrection. That’s right, folks. You’re hearing it first here from the Daily Bugle that President Norman Osborn along with the help of Star has resurrected Natasha Romanoff and Tony Stark. The two were present at the conference and expressed gratitude for their return but remained, for the most part, silent and let Osborn speak. A call to the New Avengers confirmed that they were unaware of the President’s plans or the return of their teammates. We have reached out to Stark’s widow, but so far Ms. Pott’s has been unreachable.

“The last thing we wanted to do was dishonor Stark and Romanoff’s respective sacrifices, but this was a wrong that we knew we could right. Under careful supervision Star was able to achieve a great feat and there’s no ulterior motive or fear that reality will crumble. We’ve  worked with multiversal experts to see what it’s possible to achieve. We also won’t be pushing Iron Man or Black Widow to join America’s Avengers. They’re welcome to rejoin their old team or retire and enjoy the world they helped save. This is the power that heroes who work in the best interest of the people possess. This is a world that we can live in, and America’s Avengers are dedicated to continuing this notion. We hope you accept this offering and remember that we live in a world of possibility.”

As soon as the dust clears the Bugle plans on reaching representatives for Romanoff and Stark to try and get individual statements. Osborn spokeswoman Lily Hollister, who handles statements for America’s Avengers, has promised that more details will soon be revealed and that an exclusive interview with Star will take place. In the meanwhile, sources have reported that Stark and Romanoff have been taken to the New Avengers Compound in Upstate New York to reacclimatize. The Bugle will continue to update the story as it unfolds, but in the meantime we wish the best to our fallen heroes and hope they’re happy to see the world they died to protect. If we live in a world where the dead walk again, what will we become when life is no longer fleeting?

— Ben Urich, Daily Bugle News Senior Reporter

TOO MANY COOKS IN THE KITCHEN: CAP’S, THOR’S AND MORE. OH MY.

Captain America. Thor. Captain America. Thor. The names are likely to be familiar to anyone who follows the Avengers, but lately things have become a bit convoluted. Following the final battle against Thanos on April 26th, 2023 our beloved Captain America, Steve Rogers, retired and passed the shield off to friend and former Falcon Sam Wilson. In the year since we’ve reported the trajectory of Wilson’s attempt to get his footing as the public pushed back with the unfortunately popular hashtag #NotmyCaptainAmerica. Some have accredited the hesitation to embrace Wilson as Captain American as a racist statement due to Wilson being an African-American man, while others attribute it to an inability to let go of the old and embrace something new. Rogers, meanwhile, has voiced his support for his friend but has remained out of the debate for the most part. Old rumors have placed Rogers and the deceased Romanoff in a romantic relationship, and his withdrawal from the spotlight could be a direct result of her death and the two years he spent on the run as an international fugitive. An issue some have had with Wilson is that appears to be too ‘bipartisan’ to be Captain America, and they prefer the United States Government’s option to #takebacktheshield: John Walker. Walker stated that he was flattered to be considered but doesn’t step on any toes. Still, if Rogers picked Wilson as a replacement he must see something in him that the rest of the us should believe in.

Similarly, there’s a new Thor in town. Although we love Thor Odinson whether he’s rocking long hair or short, he seemed to fall on hard times during the Cleanse and has only recently resurfaced as a hero. In the meanwhile a new blonde, helmeted, Mjölnir wielding Thor has made an appearance. Although dubbed the Mighty Thor by some, public reactions to a female Thor has been mixed as preciously repeated. Despite this she has served as a New Avengers as of late even though it appears that no one knows her true identity. When asked if she had any inclination of who it could be, Asgard’s current King, the Valkyrie, scoffed and stated, “No, but she’s worthy so that must mean something. Asgardia needs the help she can get, and we seem to have a preference for beautiful sparkly blondes.” It not the most illuminating statement, and while it may be concerning that their leader doesn’t even know the name of one of their champions the Asgardian’s need a break after all the sorrow they’ve faced between Thanos and the mutants during the Avengers v X-Men conflict of last year. As for our original Thor, he’s been spotted in both Norway where Asgardia is located and around New York with a very large axe. As it stands we’re not totally sure of the relationship between the two Thor’s and why they share a name, but it only seems like a matter of time before some answers come to light. Some wonder if Thor Odinson will try to take the throne back, especially as reports about the Valkyrie’s drink continue to pop up. Welcome to Earth, Asgardians. Hope you like speculations.

I’m sure everyone has their preference on which Avenger they prefer, but I personally am open to trying something new. After all, we as people aren’t stagnate beings. Some things change and people do as well. It’s natural to see mantle passed from one hero to another as time goes on. Hero work is, in a strange way, a job and sometimes positions need to be filled. Of course, time will only tell how well these new faces hold up against the daunting legacies of those who came before them. If it counts for anything, they have the good luck of this reporter.

— Christine Everhart, Daily Bugle News Senior Reporter

IN OTHER NEWS:

Despite the passing of Kamala’s Law within the last few months, underaged superhero activity has remained at an all time. The black-suited web crawler Spider-man was recently spotted with his team, the Champions, in Brooklyn despite the fact that their teammate, Ms. Marvel, remains at large for her part in a recent incident at Coles Academic High School that left civilians injured. Recently registered underaged heroes include Ghost Spider, the two children of Reed and Susan Richards ( Franklin and Valeria Richards ), Billy Kapplan ( Wiccan ) and Nadia Van Dyne ( the Wasp ). The majority of the public has so far responded positively to the idea of underaged heroes requiring some form of accountability but response from the heroes has been negative. 

Go away, Guardians of the Galaxy! Not really, but most are scratching their heads over the fact that the intergalactic team that consists of aliens, talking trees and raccoons are still residing on Earth a year after Thanos was defeated. Members Rocket Raccoon and Nebula acted as honorary Avengers to help reverse the Snap, and when the Cleanse was undone their teammates Drax the Destroy, Groot, Mantis and Peter Quill ( Star Lord ) were returned to life. They are joined by former Daughter of Thanos Gamora and seem quite comfortable on our planet. Maybe it’s just part of our apparent alien invasion as the Shi’ar, Skrull and Kree still have dignitaries present. Looks like Earth is getting a little crowded!

[jobsearchtips02]

Meet billionaire Expense Ackman, who made billions off coronavirus crash

REUTERS/Richard Brian.

Billionaire hedge-fund supervisor Bill Ackman made $2.6 billion off a questionable bet that the coronavirus would crash the stock market last month.

Ackman was accused of making inflammatory remarks throughout an appearance on CNBC with the intent of moving the markets to increase his earnings however denied it in a press release

Ackman, worth $ 1.6 billion, has a history of making controversial bets.

While most of the world saw their nest eggs decimated as the stock exchange entered into a free-fall over coronavirus worries last month, one hedge-fund supervisor was raking in billions.

Costs Ackman, the chief executive of Pershing Square Capital, made $2.6 billion off a $27 million bet that the pandemic would tank the marketplace. Ackman has a history of controversial bets that earned him a $ 1.6 billion fortune and an examination by the New York District Attorney’s Office.

A representative of Ackman at Pershing Square Capital did not right away respond to Service Expert’s request for comment on Ackman’s profession, net worth, residential or commercial property holdings, or domesticity.

Keep checking out to find out more about Costs Ackman.

William Ackman, 53, was born and raised in a wealthy suburban area outside of New york city City.

Bill Ackman.

Reuters/ Allen Fredrickson.

Ackman was raised in Chappaqua, the wealthy New york city suburb of north of New york city City, according to The Daily Mail Chappaqua is likewise home to Costs and Hillary Clinton, Ben Stiller, and Vanessa Williams, according to The Daily Mail

Ackman’s father, Lawrence Ackman, owned an industrial real-estate financing company, according to The Minneapolis Star Tribune His mom, Ronnie Posner Ackman, serves on the board of New York’s Lincoln Center, according to The New York Times

Ackman made a bachelor’s degree and MBA from Harvard, according to Forbes Quickly after graduating in 1992, Ackman established an effective investment company with a former schoolmate called Gotham Partners at age 26, The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. The company achieved success however Ackman chose to wind it down in 2002, mentioning a series of lawsuits.

In 2003, Ackman was investigated by the New york city State Attorney General Of The United States over Gotham’s trading practices.

Costs Ackman.

No charges were ever submitted, Ackman said the extremely publicized investigation was difficult on his household.

” Individuals look at you amusing,” Ackman told The Minneapolis Star Tribune of the occurrence in2008

Ackman went on to found Pershing Square Capital Management with $54 million in 2004.

The cash was a mix of funds from his individual fortune and a loan from Leucadia National, according to The Minneapolis Star Tribune The firm was a near-instant success. In one of its finest years, 2014, Perishing Square posted 40%returns compared to the S&P 500’s 13%gain the exact same year, according to Investopedia

Pershing Square has large stakes in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Starbucks, and Hamburger King owner Restaurant Brands International Inc., Bloomberg reported. The value of its overall possessions tops $6.5 billion, according to Forbes

In a 2014 interview with Bloomberg, Ackman stated his guidelines for investing are to be bold, do the opposite of what everyone else is doing, and do lots of research study.

A Wendy’s junk food dining establishment is seen in Los Angeles, California U.S. November 7,2017

Ackman’s hedge fund made the majority of its money by purchasing stakes in big corporations, lobbying management to make changes to increase its stock rate, and after that quickly unloading their shares at an earnings, The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported in2008 Pershing Square purchased a large stake in fast-food burger chain The Wendy’s Company in 2004, pushed it to offer off its effective Canadian subsidiary Tim Hortons, and went on to cash out its financial investment at a profit, according to Investopedia

” His video game is to increase the stock and go out– quick,” Howard Davidowitz, then-chairman of a New york city investment banking and consulting company, told The Minneapolis Star Tribune of Ackman in 2008.

However Ackman is extensively thought about to be an activist financier, according to Markets Insider.

” What we provide for a living, purchasing stakes in business and working to make them better, more effective, more efficient, I think it’s excellent for the shareholders, I believe it’s terrific for the workers,” Ackman told Bloomberg “I think I can do some great with that, and it’s likewise extremely rewarding. I like my day job.”

Pershing Square’s success made Ackman a billionaire. He first appeared on Forbes’ billionaire’s list in 2013.

Source: Markets Expert

Ackman’s strong bets have made Pershing Square a lot of cash– but they have likewise cost the hedge fund billions too.

Bill Ackman.

Ackman’s 2012 short versus multilevel marketing supplement maker Herbalife was one of the most prominent mistakes of his career, according to Investopedia Ackman wager $1 billion that the company would fail, while fellow billionaire investor Carl Icahn made a long-lasting financial investment in the business, Organisation Insider formerly reported. Ackman publicly implicated Herbalife of being a pyramid plan whose stock cost was bound to hit absolutely no, according to The Wall Street Journal

Icahn and Ackman entered into a public battle over the business’s prospects that was called “the hedge fund equivalent of Stalingrad” by The Journal, with Icahn eventually emerging victorious. Ackman lost hundreds of countless dollars on Herbalife, Business Insider reported.

Ackman likewise made a questionable investment in near-bankrupt drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals that led to a contentious Senate hearing over Valeant’s practice of purchasing existing drugs and offering them at inflated prices in 2016, Service Expert reported at the time. Valeant has since been renamed Bausch Health

Pershing Square also lost money on bets on now-defunct bookseller Border’s Group and big-box merchant Target Corporation, according to Investopedia The losses put the hedge fund into what Bloomberg called a “three-year losing streak” in 2019, prior to Ackman’s bet against the stock exchange.

Ackman’s hedge fund made billions of dollars when coronavirus fears sunk the stock exchange in March.

Costs Ackman (left).

Pershing Square invested $27 million in credit security on investment-grade and high-yield bond indexes earlier in 2020, when the market was widely perceived to be healthy, according to Markets Expert

Ackman has considering that used the revenues to strengthen Pershing Square’s financial investments in Berkshire Hathaway, Hilton, Lowe’s, Dining Establishment Brands International, Starbucks and Agilent, Markets Insider reported.

Ackman was implicated of actively sinking the marketplace to increase his profits.

Costs Ackman.

Ackman made an look on CNBC on March 18, declaring that “hell is coming” since of the outbreak, after tweeting comparable beliefs previously in the day. Ackman’s remarks sent the already unpredictable market down, triggering allegations from various news outlets and on social media that Ackman went on television with the intent of making his bet versus the marketplace more profitable, Forbes reported.

Markets plunged so dramatically that the market struck a so-called circuit breaker, stopping trading for 15 minutes, Markets Expert reported.

The billionaire defended himself in a declaration to Pershing Square financiers, writing that “By Wednesday, March 18 th at 12: 30 p.m., when I appeared on CNBC, we had actually currently sold a little over half of the notional amount of our CDS, realizing a gain of more than $1.3 billion, with the unrealized part of our hedge having a market value at that time of $1.3 billion for an overall of $2.6 billion,” Ackman wrote in a news release “Importantly, our hedge had currently settled prior to my going on CNBC.”

Ackman also ruffled plumes by safeguarding a fellow hedge-fund manager who has been connected to Bernie Madoff.

Ezra Merkin privately invested his customer’s cash with Bernie Madoff, losing billions after the Ponzi plan was exposed, according to Bloomberg Merkin was investigated by the New york city Attorney General Of The United States as a potential coconspirator of Madoff’s however settled his case in 2012.

” I’ve known him for 15 years,” Ackman stated. “I believe he’s a truthful individual, a smart person, an interesting individual, a smart financier. People don’t want to hear that since if you invested with Ascot you lost all your cash.”

Fellow hedge fund supervisor Michael Steinhardt of Steinhardt, Fine, Berkowitz & Co. likewise publicly defended Merkin, according to The Street

Ackman credited his new household for motivating his earnings.

Bill Ackman and Neri Oxman go to The New York Stem Cell Structure Gala And Science Fair at Jazz at Lincoln Center on October 7, 2019 in New York City City.

” Possibly it has something to do with being liked and getting married?” Ackman stated of his successes at an investor conference in April 2019, Bloomberg reported.

Ackman and his partner, retired Israeli Flying force lieutenant and MIT teacher Neri Oxman(who is best known for being a reported ex-girlfriend of Brad Pitt), invited a child in the spring of 2019, according to Bloomberg

The couple got together in 2017, after being introduced by both Ackman’s previous teacher and a college good friend following a contentious divorce from his very first spouse, landscape architect Karen Ann Herskovitz, according to Page 6

Ackman and Herskovitz have a “civil, however not warm, relationship,” an unnamed source informed Page 6 in2017 The former couple share three daughters, according to Page Six

Ackman promised to give a minimum of half of his fortune to charity.

Ackman has given more than $400 million in grants to organizations focusing on cancer research, education, economic advancement, and social justice, according to his structure’s site

Ackman and his wife also offered $26 million to Harvard in 2014, according to Philanthropy News Digest

He spent a big portion of the rest of his money on an extensive portfolio of luxury realty.

The Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Ackman bought a $225 million penthouse in the neighborhood, The Wall Street Journal reported in2018 Ackman also owns two other systems in another luxury pre-war building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side that cost nearly $221 million combined, The Journal reported.

They also own a six-acre estate in the Hamptons.

An aerial view of beachfront mansions in Bridgehampton, New York. Ackman’s house not visualized.

Ackman bought the properties, which are located in the town of Bridgehampton, for $235 million in August 2015, according to The Real Deal

The combined value of Ackman’s real-estate portfolio is more than $165 million, according to The Daily Mail

In his spare time, Ackman is a passionate tennis player.

Ackman has actually been playing considering that youth, according to Forbes

Ackman also has an interest in politics.

Costs Ackman.

We now have a business owner as president,” Vanity Fair reported Ackman said.

Ackman hasn’t always been a fan of Trump. In 2016, Ackman penned an essay in The Financial Times asking Bloomberg LP CEO and former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg to run for president.

.

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[catgirlxox]

Exploring Ben 10′s Reality

I feel like, sometimes, some things are so obvious that they’re overlooked.

Do you realize that the Omnitrix wasn't even created to be a weapon, or rather a tool to use in battle?

It is simply a device which contains the DNA of a large quantity of different alien species, each which happen to have their own naturally occurring special abilities, which can then also transform the one who wields it into any of those alien species. 

According to Ultimate Alien's "Solitary Alignment", Azmuth's original reason for creating the Omnitrix was an apology for the creation of Ascalon, a weapon which was previously described as “irresponsible” because of how powerful it is. 

Azmuth: “It could cleave right into reality. Tap into the primal energies.”

Zennith: “it’s irresponsible to create things without thinking through the ramifications.”

Ascalon was later stolen by a Warrior who hoped to end the eons-long civil war between the many factions on the Incursean home world. The result, however, was the destruction of the planet, which rendered the Incurseans scattered.

Azmuth: “Zennith was right after all. I swore to hideaway to sword, and dedicate myself to peaceful sciences.”

The Omnitrix was then created with the intention of this “peaceful science” bringing the universe together rather than causing destruction like it’s predecessor. 

Gwen: “And you developed the Omnitrix as a way to promote interstellar peace and unity.”

Ben responds to this, saying:

“And I turned it into a weapon.”

Even though Ben says this, I have to disagree. It is because of Ben’s work, using the Omnitrix, that there are aliens and humans living in harmony in Bellwood near the end of Omniverse. He has shown people that you can trust those who have abilities different from yours, contrasting the obvious Xenophobia existing throughout the previous series. Being different can bring us all together if we embrace it and defend each other. Probably without even realizing it, Ben promoted diversity, interstellar peace, and unity. 

I don’t think we give Ben enough credit for literally turning himself into a hero.

He was presented with an opportunity to do so, and through his own creativity and good heart, lived out his dream with the benefit of saving the Universe multiple times.

Ben claimed that he “turned the Omnitrix into a weapon”, when, from the moment it first attached itself to his wrist, he already had the idea in mind to use it to help others with the abilities it provided. He absolutely could have rebelled and used it as a weapon, or to do whatever else he wanted to with it since it was stuck to him, not giving him a choice whether he wanted to keep it on or take it off. 

Regardless of what he wanted, because it was stuck to him and could not be taken off without a specific procedure, he would have still become a target for dangerous aliens, such as Vilgax, who will stop at nothing to retrieve the watch. 

Because of this, I realize it is not a job that will benefit him in every aspect. 

For instance, we all have the luxury of resting assured that those slightly absurd things we may be afraid of do not exist in our reality. Although we may not always willingly admit to it, there are many of us which fear the dark, or whatever other nightmarish entities haunt our dreams caused by the common fear of the unknown, undiscovered, and unexplored. 

In the hypothetical instance in which entities such as these would exist, however, we can still find comfort in the idea that there are too many individual people on the planet we share for ourselves to be their specific target. Why, out of everyone, would our insignificant selves be the one chosen to endure such horror?

As you may know, many of us also seem to take interest in the paranormal or unexplained. We seem to have a morbid curiosity regarding these nightmarish creatures and entities. And, we are curious because we do not fully understand why these types of being would exist, and what their motives would be, if any at all. 

Because we do not know the answers for certain, it is quite easy for us to be desensitized to this material. That ease lies in the fact that we may, at any moment, just turn away from that which is portrayed as scary and return to what is normal and mundane. We are safely out of the reach of the terror inducing science fiction, and, subsequently, not in any particularly bad or lengthy state of terror at all. 

Ben, however, does not have a choice. 

He has literally chosen to give up that sense of security to be the hero. 

Those nightmarish entities which we may childishly fear are not only real in his reality, but they specifically target him, and sometimes his friends and family, as shown in episodes such as Ultimate Alien’s “Hit ‘em Where They Live.” 

As I said, it is easy for us to be desensitized to disturbing concepts because they are fiction. However, in the Ben 10 Universe, Ben and his team are often thrown straight into these nightmarish scenes. And, in most of these scenarios, Ben and his team do not seem particularly disturbed as they deal with the usual alien criminals causing trouble. 

You might infer that constantly being exposed to these types of criminals and their schemes which vary in level of horror might desensitize you to further atrocities. However, the off-screen slaughter of a Lucubra in “Solitary Alignment” exemplifies exactly the part of their reality which may leave our main heroes quite squeamish. 

Azmuth: “After defeating the errant knights and the Lucubras, St. George stood alone against the Diagon. He cut out its heart and left the sword buried in it. I'll show you. 

Kevin: “No!”

Gwen: “I - I can't watch. I'm gonna be sick.”

Ben: “Azmuth, get us out of here now!”

It should not be considered a show of weakness to express how much these true horrors affect oneself when this is your everyday life. 

Ben canonically suffers from nightmares. This is also something the fandom often includes in their own works of creative writing, often followed by Ben not being willing to share any details of the terrors he may suffer during those nights. 

Interestingly, fan fiction writers also often include Ben having a similar approach towards pain. Ben’s reasoning for this seems to be that, because those defined by words such as “brave” and “strong” should be capable of handling these traumatizing situations, whether they are occurring before your eyes in real life or inside your mind while asleep, they should not turn to others to “burden” them with such things. 

It is the hero’s job to carry that burden, apparently. 

This is exactly the kind of thing that is heavily overlooked in Ben’s case because it is something that really should be obvious. Likewise, it should be obvious that this kind of rationalization of mental or physical suffering should not be deemed okay, and nobody states that it is. But, nobody admits that this is a mature outlook to have, either. 

It is mature because it takes into consideration the reality in which he lives in so much so that he does not wish to allow others to be exposed to the full extent of the parts of the hero life which cause suffering towards the one who is burdened with the responsibility of easing or preventing the suffering of others. In simpler terms, the hero. 

Although the series has never really gone into the specifics regarding what it is that haunts him at night, we can infer it has to do with the threats he faces on the daily, and most often involving enemies which are particularly dangerous.

"Sometimes when I eat late at night, I have nightmares so real, I wake up hitting the Ultimatrix. One time, I thought I saw Vilgax hiding in my closet. It was one of Grandpa Max's extra shirts." (Ben, Ultimate Alien - "The Big Story")

There are many possibilities which are explored and discussed regarding what Ben may have to face as a cause of his position. One of which is the idea that the arm or wrist on which he wears the Omnitrix is in danger of being damaged or injured, in the form of something such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, or worse, losing the arm completely. Multiple of Ben’s enemies have attempted to remove his Omnitrix arm, therefore this is a dangerously plausible possibility. 

In the case of something such as this, I would immediately assume that Azmuth, a being who is deemed the smartest in arguably five galaxies, has already premeditated issues such as pain or injury to the user and, subsequently, would have installed a protection or prevention function. However, it may also be argued that Azmuth built the device based on his own idea of what purpose it will serve and how it will be used. 

As I stated in the beginning, the Omnitrix was not built to turn the user into a superhero. That was Ben’s doing. So, whatever side effects come with rapid and consecutive transforming into aliens, as well as activating this ability in the physical way Ben does is a cause of his own desire to continue to be the hero. 

A less often explored concept is the idea that using the Omnitrix in this way would cost him so much that he would no longer desire to continue being the hero. If the hero work would not only take from him his sense of security and privacy, but also an essential limb, it seems only just that the unfairness of the circumstances would push someone into a loss of desire to do what they once loved. Keep in mind, there are even individuals who believe that the Universe would be better off without his efforts, namely Will Harangue and Pakmar. The truth is that, even in these circumstances, the universe would still need him against his will. And, in that case, should he still be burdened with that responsibility?

As I have mentioned, unlike regular people, Ben has an extremely valid reason to fear things we don’t have to. Ben’s choice to become a hero is what puts him in the position to be that target. And, undesirable circumstances such as losing a limb do not erase the fact that he is still the target for dangerous, and to normal people, scary alien creatures with nightmare inducing intentions. 

Obviously, continuing to do this job with one arm would not be the same. It may be more difficult depending on what would be put in place of the lost limb. And this is something that those enemies of Ben’s would probably realize. To them, it may make him an even easier target. 

And, in the hypothetical situation in which he does not only lose the arm, but also the Omnitrix, they may think that it is the perfect time to take their final revenge on him in this unarmed state. Which, returns the discussion regarding what contributes to Ben’s nightmares and very valid personal fears. 

Yes, Ben has friends and team mates to back him up who have their own abilities and skills. But, even so, Ben is often the last man standing in dire circumstances - the one which they all depend on. 

Who, then, will defend the universe if the last man standing can not defend himself? 

This not to say that there is any doubt in his capability to prevent the situation from going this far. That is precisely why I praise him for being so quick and reliable. When all of the above is not only a hypothetical, but truly your reality, it is crucial that he has these characteristics. It is only unfortunate that all of this is also heavily over looked and glossed over, especially in the case of many of his canon love interests who don’t seem to take any of this into account at all which leads to their disconnect and misunderstanding of his person. 

[taule]

Well here’s some good news: twitter.)com/viwiwrites/status/1134565650767261696?s=21 the tweet is google search trend comparing reylo, fi**rey and da**rey. Reylo is so mainstream compare to the other two even during TFA. It’s sad the minority antis could gaslight and manipulate the whole fandom to think reylo is minority reylo is controversial and GA wouldn’t like it. The fandom’s victim of gaslight and manipulation so it feels so surreal to see the actual comparison.

That is good news. I was personally never concerned with Finnrey or Damerey, nor was I under the impression that they were particularly popular, even though the former seems to get more attention. As many people have already pointed out, these ships are often like a weird byproduct, rarely ever rooted for for the sake of the ship itself (I mean as far as ships go, Finnrey could be pretty damn wholesome imo). But half the time I see the ships it’s more of a reaction to like… “well, if they aren’t gonna make Finn, Poe and Rey gay…”. Not only do they completely ignore Rose and the fact that Rey and Poe have had like 2 seconds of shared screentime, but when the 10 year age difference between Ben and Rey was a dealbreaker, the 13-14 year difference between  Rey and Poe suddenly isn’t? What a mess.

I just love cold, hard facts. Putting all these unfortunate takes and misunderstandings to rest is the best. I do see how it’s really easy to use any sort of isolation against people and fuel these fears. And I hope that this info gets around and eases at least some people’s concerns.

But there’s still so much anxiety in the air which is why it’s pretty gross to me on an emotional level how some people on here are offering their hot takes about how some Reylos need to stop seeking validation and expressing that anxiety. Like that’s a bit rich coming from people who were airing their own concerns all the damn time before they somehow got over it and simultaneously forgot all about it. And congrats to anyone that has the time and motivation to keep up with the daily cycle of fake leaks, hot takes and debunks, but I would have expected to see more understanding for how people are affected by this rollercoaster they’re chained to by their emotions. Apparently it’s become cool to be unkind and shame people for their fears? And there’s no AU in which that’s cool to me. A little ironic as a lot of these big blogs that this is coming from have gained much of their following through what people have started coming to them for. And people certainly speak carrying that authority which is why I don’t get what expectation this is not living up to? And if someone is tired of answering asks on certain topics, surely they could just say so? But what do I even know *shrugs*

[all-hail-the-witcher]

the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell

some Original Content by yours truly eeee

I had to write this for school, its like a send off speech cause were seniors and stuff and I thought you guys might appreciate it cause it talks about memes and stuff

______

As a member of Generation Z, my mom often complains that I seem to speak in “code.” There have been countless occasions where I have had to explain the meaning of words such as  “same,” “mood,” and “me,” what a vine is, the notion that yeet is in fact a verb and not a noun, and, of course, memes.

As you are all aware, there are memes for virtually anything and everything you could possibly experience on a daily basis. From being stuck in traffic to stealing other peoples food, the internet and, by default, our brilliant minds, have created relatable images that oftentimes distract us from doing, say, our math homework. Obviously, we all want to pass our math classes, but when the homework consists of 48 problems saying “if Bobby has 16 apples and Susan owns a car that runs on vegetable oil, how many ice cubes will it take to cover the surface area of Norway” you can probably see why I procrastinate it until the last possible second.

It seems that schools teach us unnecessary things most of the time. If I were to ask something useful, for example: “What are taxes and how do I pay them?” it is almost certain that the school system would respond with: “Worry not. The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.”

What do we need school for anyway? We already know everything, just ask our parents. We cram study for all of our tests and promptly forget the information right after, just look at our midterm and final grades. We write all of our essays and speeches mere hours before they are due, just check our turnitin receipts. Add in sleep deprivation, an unhealthy dose of anxiety, three cups of coffee, a slightly dark sense of humor and you’ve got an average high school senior. From our perspective, we have every reason to wish graduation were tomorrow. And yet, some of us are still apprehensive about leaving, even if we don't want to admit it.

Why have we grown so attached to the place that has been the cause of our self proclaimed demise? It is because shoved in here, in this massive cell, we have all become mitochondria. Whether we like it or not, we have all become accustomed to being around each other everyday, and now that must change. Cells are constantly renewing themselves, and now it is time for this cell to let us go so that it can begin training the next batch of brains. We must now become the mitochondria of our own cell, wherever that may take us.

Now, this is the part of the speech where I tell you all the sappy stuff like “just be yourself,” “you miss one hundred percent of the shots you don't take,” and “don't let anyone dull your sparkle.” I’m also sure there are many motivational memes you could look at that would probably do a much better job motivating you than I can.

But if you haven’t tuned me out by now, remember this: above anything else, high school taught us how to survive on a daily basis in a place full of lunatics and still get decent grades. So, if you survived this, you can take whatever the world throws at you, using your own mitochondria worthy brain. That is what high school was meant to teach us.

And if you still wanna know how to pay taxes, just youtube it. I’m pretty sure some bored millennial made a how-to.

_______

idk everyone laughed in class when I read it today and the teacher died when I started talking about the mitochondria so

also gonna tag list cause why the heck not

hmu to be added

tag list @fairly-awkward-trashcan @well-the-kids-do-too @racetrackcook @bouncyscreamingnewsboys @ughwaitwhat @aw-jus-let-em-try @ben-cook-can-cook @the-woild-is-my-what-now @tommy-s-s0cks @voice-foundshoe-lost @galaxy-trees13

@stopthe-presses @ridin-in-style @pinecovewoods @i-got-no-clue-what-im-doing @bencookisagod @be-more-chill-evan-hansen @hellasoulless @stellar-alpaca @saxoph-ella @smolcanadiankid @disney-princess-sized @the-newsies-justice-for-zas-blog @insane-tomato @spot-conlon-king-of-brooklyn @have-we-got-news-for-you @thatfancyclam @myidkwhatmynameisblog @legoflambwrites @that-one-newskid @not-a-scab @albertdasillva-deactivated20181

@entschuldigung-bitches

@thebroadwayaesthetic

@tea-and-theater

@thomasbeingthomas

@seasickdolphin

@auspicioustarantula

@newsies-of-ny

@mrs-higgins

@sunshine-e-cigarettes

@spot-me50-papes

@santafe-cafe

@papesdontsellthemselves

@king-of-new-yoirk

@deathcast-s

@the-poodles-of-pulitzer

@hopefully-not-the-ghostbusters

[cosmo-gonika]

Songs of Innocence, Songs of Wisdom, Chapter 13 - Downfall

Songs of Innocence, Songs of Wisdom, Chapter 13 - Downfall (read on AO3)

Summary: At the height of his hubris, Kylo has to face the consequences of his acts and grip on power...as he forgets that there is one powerful motive for betrayal: jealousy.

Quote:

“No, Ben what are you doing?” she cried out and tried to wrench herself out of his grasp. She was not going to let him go alone.

His grip tightened about her as he led her into the office, shutting the door behind him. He whirled her around toward him as she tried to free herself.

“Ben, there is no --” Kylo silenced her by pressing his lips to hers, steadying her by holding her firmly in place. She kissed him back, and their tongues circled each other again. Soon, he deepened the kiss with a groan while putting his hands through her hair, and she grunted under the maddening sensation of his hot mouth all over hers once again.

As he felt dizzy with lust again, and afraid he wouldn’t have the strength to resist her, he broke their embrace, but his hands never left her face. He bore his dark gaze into hers.

“Please. Wait for me. I have to go,” Kylo told Rey, even though he burned with desire.  

“Ben, don’t!...or let me go with you!” she demanded.

“No, I have to do this alone; it’s my business,” he retorted without hesitation.

“I have a bad feeling about this, please, Ben! Don’t leave me here waiting!” She begged him, eyebrows creasing painfully.

His gaze fixed intensely on her beautiful hazel irises.

“Rey, listen to me. I have to do this alone. And besides…Vrieska hates you. I don’t want you to get hurt. She’s a fearsome killer, strong with the Dark Side,” he explained quickly, pressing the point.

Rey opened her mouth to plead her case, but she was left speechless as she remembered that if it hadn’t been for Ben, Vrieska would have killed her when she and Ransolm had been captured. She nevertheless chased the thought away immediately. It didn’t matter.

“I’m not afraid of her!” Rey insisted.

“I know you aren’t. And I know you are stronger than Vrieska. But I won’t let you go. Please understand me,” he stressed in a soft but pleading voice.

Rey was left unsure of what to say. She silently searched for a way to convince him, but there were none. Through the bond, she felt what he felt, and she knew then that she had no choice.

She let out a sigh of resignation and Kylo sensed she understood. Nevertheless, his fears kicked in, and panic got the best of him. He pressed his forehead against hers, stroking her hair.

“I beg you, don’t go. Don’t leave me again. Wait for me here,” he supplicated in a desperate whisper.

“I’ll wait, Ben…” she murmured weakly and then swallowed hard.

His hands lowered to her face, and he caressed her cheek gently while she put her hand over his broad one, stroking it tenderly, closing her eyes under his warmth. “Thank you,” he said, visibly relieved of his inner turmoil. Tears spilled down Rey’s cheeks before her eyelashes fluttered open again. She noticed then that his eyes weren’t dark…they had light in them, a deep chestnut color.

“And when I come back… I will make love to you,” Kylo quipped with a faint grin, his sad demeanor revealing how much it cost him to leave her.

Had he just thought about sex in such a moment? A rosy blush swept across her face as she peered at him shyly under his heated gaze. But before she could ask, Ben locked his mouth once more with hers. He dragged his tongue over her lips, in a desperate attempt to carve in his memory her taste, the way her lips moved under his, her scent, the softness of her skin…

Releasing her was torture. He left her lips with a sucking sound as his black eyelashes flickered open again. He lowered his hands from her face and took a step back toward the door.

“Please, be careful!” Rey pleaded as her heart swelled with an unknown feeling.

Why did she have the unshakable sensation she would never see him again?

"I will. Shaia will be with you," he replied, his voice almost cracking with emotion. His gaze was soft...almost loving. He gathered his strength and opened the door. “I’ll come back, Rey, I promise,” he vowed before disappearing through the door.

I’ll come back …I promise…

Rey’s stomach twisted into knots.

Those words. That voice.

It had been him. It hadn’t been the past. It had been the future.

She burst out into tears, burying her face in her hands. All this time, it had been Ben

(read on Ao3)

It’s finally here! This chapter has been such an intense process!

First of all, I want to thank @mrsvioletwrites for being my beta on this chapter, in which I gave her such a hard time! She’s an amazing editor and writer, please check her blog and fics!

Second, I want to thank @reylocalligraphy for her amazing talent and collaboration with this chapter! (I’m not saying more...go check the update!)

And third, I also want to thank the incredible @reyloship82 for making the fic’s astonishing Covert art!

You three are amazing, thank you so much!! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ I appreciate every reblog, also to promote @reylocalligraphy‘s gorgeous work!

s @nite0wl29 @daxwashere @reylorobyn2011 @reylofic @darcyfitz @daily-reylo @pandoraspocksao3 @michellestarswept @phoenixsolo @seavici @raven-maiden @sw-daydreamer @clairen45 @reylolujah @dorelei80  @monharki  @black-diamond96 @enjoyallneednothing-blog @greyforceuser @kcmarsala @shaara-2 @reylo-convert @disparatepeace @pacificwanderer  @meredisthedragonborn @mysonkylo @helena28blog-blog @mamajo76   @monsterleadmehome @dancingmicrobes @nubikitty @sassen88 @tellcassiopeia @usakopunch @amandaanime99 @galatians4-6 @inanutshelle21 @red-rose-queen @tintaglia3  @reyloship82 @reyloreblogged   @rivernight12 @chaiwithhoney @riaria84 @the-sparrow-and-the-nightingale @13-is-myluckynumber @loliliana @ikkivikkistikki @kkfangirl56 

[wits-writing]

Comic Power Picks of the Week (10/4/2018)

[Help support this blog]

[See past Power Picks]

Justice League #9 (Writer: Scott Snyder, Art: Jorge Jimenez, Colors: Alejandro Sanchez)

Scott Snyder’s Justice League is a book I have been waiting to have a good reason to highlight here since I started Power Picks. The main reason for that so far has been the way the story in this book has been structured so far. After its relaunch in June, Justice League has been a dense read. The first arc introducing the Justice League and Legion of Doom’s conflict over the guiding powers underlying the universe in the aftermath of Dark Nights: Metal features so many moving parts and cosmic ideas that the moon getting blown up at the start was barely a footnote. Villain motives within the Legion of Doom have gotten the most space to breath so far with the League as a reactive force to their grand scheme. It’s been helped along with the Legion’s two headlining issues by James Tynion IV going into Lex Luthor’s point of view especially.

Highlighting this issue feels appropriate in light of that, since the focus is entirely on the League dealing with the aftermath of the first arc, namely Superman working to put the moon back together. It’s the first indication we’ve been given since this series started of what daily operations are like for the League at the Hall of Justice. Snyder uses the League members’ conversation to find a way to naturally weave in exposition by having what the team discusses build up how they’re currently operating. Wonder Woman and Aquaman turning their discussion while repairing parts of the Hall to how the team have personalized on-site living quarters then using that to reflect on how Wonder Woman hasn’t finished her section yet. This example shows the friendship between these two and provides an opportunity for some visual story development from Jorge Jimenez’s art. My favorite example from the League’s personal quarters (or “domains” as they’re referred to) is Superman having a dog bed inside his section for Krypto.

How the League interacts with the public, as well as the rest of the hero community, through the museum and food hall section of the Hall gives the sense of this team working to be more approachable in times where they don’t know what’s coming next. It’s an appropriate touch since the Hall’s design is based on a real museum. That approachability creates a tone that goes through the entire issue, showing heroes as people prepared to stand together through whatever unexpected thing comes their way next.

Shatterstar #1 (Writer: Tim Seeley, Pencils: Carlos Villa, Flashback Art: Gerard Sandoval, Inks: Juan Vlasco, Colors: Carlos Lopez)

Seeley starts this series with Ben Gaveedra, looking to leave his life as Shatterstar behind, working as a landlord for an apartment building catering to people who have been displaced from their native realities and need a fresh start. He’s built up a routine by this point in his life as he goes through the regular duties of his job and building as much of a personal life for himself as possible. The best part of this book comes from the narration describing something that has become a part of Ben’s weekly routine, going to plays. He’s using the plays to distance himself from his traumas on the entertainment obsessed Mojoworld. Reminding himself how far he’s come from there by focusing on the structured and plainly spelled out lives of characters in these plays and how it’s no different than the motions he got forced through in that dimension. His distance from his old life as a costumed fighter also appears to have distanced him from his ex-boyfriend and former teammate Rictor.

Gerardo Sandoval’s art in the flashbacks to Shatterstar’s life on Mojoworld is excellent at invoking the tone of the time the character was created in without dipping into parody. Mojoworld here gets presented as a bleak, violent world to be trapped in with harsher shadows and emphasizing Shatterstar’s musculature in contrast to the brighter present-day Earth segments with a more realistically proportioned Ben Gaveedra. Villa’s art, aside from providing that contrast, fits with the initial presented tone of the main story giving a lived-in and comedic tone to the sequence of Ben checking in on his reality displaced tenants. His body language communicating how he’s gotten used to dealing with their personal business in addition to his responsibilities as landlord, even if he’s more willing to put up with some of them than others.

The hook of this series comes into focus at the end as Shatterstar’s old life comes crashing back in on him and he’s forced to get the swords out once again as his tenants are threatened by characters I don’t want to spoil. As a place to begin the first solo journey for this character, it’s a great look into his mind. Definitely give it a look if you want to know something about the character beyond his appearance as a throwaway punchline for one of Deadpool 2’s weakest jokes.

[dracosollicitus]

Hello, you have been identified as An Awesome Fic Writer™. Congrats, you rock! So that all of your readers can shower you with some extra love today, please tell us your favourite five stories of yours and why you like them and then send this to another five fic authors you think deserve this title!

Ahhhhhh thank you @leaiorganas​ !!

I’m going to limit this to Damerey b/c this is primarily a Damerey blog (but god, I love writing for Rebelcaptain and Stucky, too)

Of the 47 fics I’ve posted to the Archive since late January (God, what’s wrong with me), My Top Five (in no particular order) are:

A Droid and His Damerons: (Rated: G) I wrote this one weekend morning, and I really loved telling Poe and Rey’s love story from BB-8′s point of view. I always have fun writing droids in my in-universe fics (and changing what they would be in AUs), but there was something so stinkin’ charming about being Beebee the whole time, and his natural misunderstandings as a droid. (Also, the sequel is in the works - the next chapter is called BaBysitter-8, and it follows Beebee’s missteps as Hana Dameron’s babysitter and self-appointed guardian - and his eXtreme distrust of her Uncle Ben)

From Cradle to Grave: (Rated: M) I love the idea of Rey Andor (pry it from my cold dead hands), and Jyn would have been an incredible mother to Rey (and Cassian an incredible father). It was fun to shift her personality slightly to match having two dedicated, loving parents. And it was fun to age Poe down and Rey up and have them be childhood best friends. The dynamic came so easily while I was writing it, and Poe pining after her, not realizing she returned his feelings for years - it was soooo evil but great to drop little details where it was obvious Rey loved him too - ugh, it was writer’s catnip! Throw Ben Solo in the mix as an angry third leg of that triangle, and it was sheer angst and longing.

Force and Fortitude: (Rated: T) My Austen/Regency AU of Damerey. I’ve seen a lot of Reylo fics with a Darcy-esque bent (but I mean, come on people, Kylo would more likely be Rochester, and Rey would be a great Jane in that dynamic, where she demands equality and respect but ends up gettin’ a little betrayed - he’s even physically mangled by the end!), and I wanted to expand that AU into Damerey territory. Poe made a wonderful, devoted sea captain who falls in love with his best friend’s adopted sister. I had just re-read Persuasion and P&P, and the prose was so enjoyable to play with to make it sound more 1800 (phrases for days, y’all). I wrote it at the end of a stressful work week, and it really cheered me up!

Bound to the Light: (Rated: M) The first full-length fic I ever wrote - before that, I had written a Frank Castle/Karen page one-shot (I just had to, after The Punisher) - and I wrote a longer post a few days ago about my motivations for writing BttL. But what I liked most about this fic (novel, honestly) is that it got me to write daily - I wrote it in about six weeks, and it was roughly 150k words by the end. By the end, I had gotten weirdly in sync with Poe Dameron’s thought process/voice, and now it’s hard for me to separate my HC of his character from what’s probably a more realistic canon version of him, but ohhhh well, they’re both great! (And, wildly enough, I started the fic more than disgusted with Ben Solo after his craptacular proposal at the end of TLJ, but after writing in his POV for that long - I have scenes of his I never published - I had so much sympathy for him! Ah! Writing!)

Take What the Water Gave Me: (Rated T, about to be M, WIP) This all started when @supremequeenofthenerds sent me a prompt she found on tumblr, and something clicked in my brain. I was at an art museum, and I sat down with my sketchbook and started writing - I rarely draft by hand - and drawing about Rey the selkie and Poe the fisherman (an early page has Poe as the Selkie, and whoooo that’s something I’ll probably explore later). I’m having so much fun writing it, and people’s response has been lovely. It’s been an absolute pleasure and honor to write this because DameRey is a smaller fandom, and the variety of AUs available in it has been limited - a dark Fairy Tale romance (I think) is a little new to the ‘ship, and it’s honestly been a joy to craft the story so far. An update on that one should happen soon - and it’s about to get a lot darker, per fairy tale norms - but it’s been fun to make it cozy and vaguely (soon to be less vaguely) rooted in horror at the same time. 

So, friends, did your favorite make the list? Anything you’re surprised to see not make it?

[f1]

It's not about money insists FIA president

FIA president, Mohammed ben Sulayem insists that the sport's governing body's hesitation in rubber-stamping the approval of six Sprints in 2023 is not about money. Following last month's meeting of the F1 Commission it was revealed that while supporting the principle of an increased number of Sprint events in 2023, the FIA was still evaluating the impact of the proposal on its trackside operations and personnel, and would provide its feedback to the commission. With F1 bosses seeking to increase the number of Sprints from three to six, it was subsequently claimed that the FIA's hesitance to agree to the move was motivated by money. According to Sky Sports, its sources claimed that "unjustifiable financial requests" were at the root of the FIA's prevarication. "The word 'greed' was actually used to me," Sky Sports Craig Slater told Sky Sports News. "And a couple of teams said that, in their view, the FIA do not incur significant extra costs by replacing a practice session with a sprint event. "They're shocked that the FIA has taken this position," he added. "What we've had at this meeting is a very significant split at the very highest level of Formula One. "Among the subjects discussed was increasing the number of sprints to six next year - the sport's commercial rights holder, was in favour of that, there was unanimity among the 10 teams in favour of that as well, but it has not happened because the FIA cannot support it at this point. "F1 and the teams have seen how the sprint increased TV audiences and view it attractive to younger fans. They hope it could gain independent sponsorship and become an even bigger revenue stream. "A number of senior figures at the meeting also told me they were bemused at FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem's general attitude. They felt he was more interested in talking about issues like drivers wearing jewellery than some of the major concerns confronting F1. There is growing concern he is not aligned with F1's direction of travel." Speaking to the Daily Mail, ben Sulayem was keen to dismiss the claim. "I did not ask for more money," he says, "but if I had I would have wanted to use it in the right way, to invest in the proper regulation of the sport. "We say Formula 1 is the pinnacle, and it is, so we at the FIA need the resources to govern the technical and financial side of a billion-dollar sport in a manner that respects that," he adds. "We need the capability to observe those standards. "So, specifically with regard to the sprints, I have to see whether my team on the ground can absorb the extra workload the races would entail. "After Abu Dhabi people said we should change this or that," he continues. So I don't understand why we would suddenly ask the FIA team to do more. An incident happens in the future, such as one involving a safety car, and then what? "We need to look into all this and make a sensible decision. Let us run our operation. We are going to fix it. "I support the races if it is the right thing to do," he insists. "I'm not saying it is the wrong thing. I am saying there is time to decide. This is for 2023, not this season. Our house isn't on fire. "We have what is called a democracy, Formula 1 has a vote, the teams have a vote, I have a vote. If you then say I can't abstain or take time to study the proposals then you are not allowing me the freedom of democracy." via Pitpass - the latest hottest F1 news http://www.pitpass.com/