#his official reasoning for the symbolism is a lot more politically neutral

[akechiguro]

how hogwarts legacy boys would react to meeting your parents 💗

headcanons / imagines

Synopsis | various of Hogwarts Legacy’s boys reactions and scenarios to meeting your parents for the first time.

Included | sebastian sallow, ominis gaunt, garreth weasley, amit thakkar.

Word Count | 1217.

Content Warnings | gender neutral reader.

Author’s Note | please let me know if you would be interested in a female version <3

sebastian sallow:

“Hello! I’m Sebastian Sallow. I’m sure you’ve heard of me?”

-he’s very respectful and makes a point to show up with some sort of gift. he believes flowers are too impersonal, so he makes a point to get something that feels more homey than flowers that will inevitably die.

-he brags a LOT, not obnoxiously, but to prove to your parents that you’re in good hands. your father is very proud that you’re dating Hogwarts’ best duelist and your mother is very impressed that, despite being from Feldcroft, he’s a very polite boy.

-he offers to help with cooking dinner. solomon usually cooked for him and anne, but after she was cursed, he helped as much as he could— meeting your parents is no different. if all worked out, these would hopefully be his parents by law in the future, he needs to show them that he’s capable of more than dueling and adventuring.

-if you have little siblings, he’s very kind to them, even playful. after helping with dinner, he offered to watch the little ones, despite not being…amazing with kids. he showed them Levioso and Revelio as long as they promised not to tell anyone, and continued to answer any questions they had about magic; granted, with a bit of an exaggeration.

-after dinner, he bid farewell to them and brought you out of the house for a bit of late-night fun. an adventure was due after such a big event, even if it got his nicest suit dirty.

“Your parents are lovely! It’s no wonder you turned out to be such a gem.”

ominis gaunt:

“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. [L/N]. I’m Ominis Gaunt of House Gaunt. It’s lovely to meet you.”

-contrary to Sebastian’s beliefs, he insisted on bringing a magnificent bouquet of flowers. his parents have money and he’s fully making the most of it. the flowers he chose consist of daffodils, yellow roses, sunflowers, and yellow tulips. all to symbolize the new, positive relationship between him and your parents.

-he keeps his conversation respectful and professional. he doesn’t ask anything too personal of your parents and tends to deflect any questions regarding his family. they’re apprehensive due to the rumors of the dark arts they use, but his silver tongue eases their worry.

-though his disability prevents him from being able to help with anything around the house, he still entertains any requests your parents make— within reason. if whoever is cooking needs an ingredient they forgot, he’ll grab it for them. same with any tools or miscellaneous items they may need.

-he’s very awkward around little siblings. they’re too high energy for him, but he still makes an effort to keep them entertained. his near-sentient wand fascinates them, so he plays it up like there is a wizard trapped in his wand and he’s just keeping him hostage for his own service. he also tells them about the mermaids outside the Slytherin common room, in the event any of them get sorted into it. they find this all very, very entertaining.

-his parents are so sad to see him go, and make a point to tell you how lucky you are to have him after you leave, saying that inheritance money is going to be life-changing. you roll your eyes at this and leave to hang out with ominis before he officially has to go home. he says he loves your parents, and that you won’t love his; but he’s enjoying the moment while it lasts.

“I adore your parents. I’m looking forward to what the future may hold for us.”

garreth weasley:

“Hey, I’m Garreth! Garreth Weasley? Have they talked about me at all?”

-he brought sparkling cider for dinner after you convinced him not to bring a potion of his own concoction. he explained to you that the potion was supposed to make any food item taste better than anything you’ve ever eaten in your life, but after he said he’d never tested it, you concluded it was a bad first impression present.

-your parents fell in love with him immediately. they’re obsessed with his charisma and his overall energy and listen very attentively to his tales of potionmaking. they do worry about your safety, especially after hearing about how many of his potions end in disasters, but he assures them it’s nothing to worry about and he would never do anything to harm you.

-he’s actually very bad at cooking! he tried his hardest to help whoever is cooking with dinner, claiming he knew a “probable shortcut” (his words), and almost burned your house down. he lost favorability with your parents but made up for it by covering the cost of buying dinner from a local market…his aunt Matilda was not happy about this.

-this boy is a wizard with kids. your little siblings are naturally drawn to him and he’s excellent with them. he has a whole bag of tricks and treats to entertain them with if his already childlike personality isn’t enough. your siblings argue with you about sitting next to him at dinner because they like him so much.

-your parents invited him back home as soon as he left. your little siblings cried and begged him to stay. he came back after 10 minutes because he forgot his wallet. all is well.

amit thakkar:

“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. [L/N]! I am Amit Thakkar. I have heard so much about you!”

-like Ominis, he also brought flowers, but rather than fully putting thought into the bouquet, he brought stargazer lilies as an immediate icebreaker; “I’ve brought you stargazer lillies because my favorite hobby is stargazing!” your parents love his dorky charm right off the bat.

-though his initial conversations with your parents are very awkward, he doesn’t say anything to make himself look bad. your parents were mostly interested in his story of how you met and asked to see the famed telescope that brought you two together. they’re entranced with the thought of him being fluent in gobbledegook, and since neither of your parents have had an authentic encounter with the language, they’re very impressed.

-he cooked beforehand and brought a side dish, Scottish Rumbledethumps. he was so nervous to make a good first impression that he didn’t want to overcrowd your kitchen while cooking that he went ahead and made his own. your parents, once again, fell in love. your mother told you that this boy is a keeper immediately after he revealed he brought food.

-your little siblings do not like him. he’s far too awkward to do anything that will make them like him and they’re far too ruthless to even try and get along with him. putting them in a room together led to a couple minutes of excruciating silence followed by panicked screaming from your boyfriend and the distinct sound of war-cries from your siblings. you had to go in there and save him– though, some relationship between them was salvaged when he started to point out constellations.

-of the boys, your parents love him the best. he’s very respectful and very smart, and absolutely adorable, ultimately just the perfect boyfriend. before you left to finish the date with a bit of stargazing, they joked that if you didn’t marry him, one of them would.

[cutesilyo]

let me tell you a story about political history, the subtle art of throwing shade, and the power of the dress. it’s centered on a filipino fashion designer named mak tumang. 

don’t recognize the name? well, you might recognize his work.

his most famous dress, the one that pushed his name into national acclaim, is the dress catriona gray wore when she was crowned miss universe 2018. inspired by the mayon volcano, the most popular feature in the hometown of catriona’s mother, the dress was an absolutely stunning fit for an absolutely stunning lady. he went on to design even more beautiful dresses, as seen from his instagram:

now that last one, that’s a little unsettling, isn’t it? not as grand as the others, but it’s still a nice dress, certainly. yet the red in the ombre also definitely makes it look like it’s a dress drenched in fresh blood. surely, a great and respected fashion designer like mak tumang would understand how this design would look like. surely, he knew what kind of image that particular shade of red evoked. surely, there was a message that he wanted to say with this.

here’s some context: it was a dress commissioned by imee marcos.

imee marcos is a current senator. she’s also the daughter of the infamous dictator, ferdinand marcos, whose 21 years of presidency are characterized by opulent wealth for his family and the ruling class, extreme economic disparity between the rich and the poor, and the deaths of many activists, students, and innocents at the hands of state police, among many other atrocities. it was a dark time in filipino history, and a relatively recent one; the nationwide protests that pushed him out of power were only in the late 80′s. imee is no better than her father, though she tries her damnedest to hide it now; in 1977, she ordered the torture and execution of a college student just for daring to ask if she was qualified for her political position at the time. 

so, that brings us back to the dress. gold tainted with blood red, an incredibly astute metaphor for a woman whose family wealth is built on the deaths of her countrymen. 

just to add salt on the wound, yellow is a color heavily associated with the aquino family. i won’t get into how the color association came about, so here’s an article that explains it. the important thing to know is: when marcos was finally ousted, cory aquino rose to take the presidency after her husband, a liberal senator who was strongly against marcos, was assassinated.

putting it simply? mak tumang had made imee marcos, daughter of a bloody dictator, wear a dress that not only symbolized her family’s ill-gotten fortune and various human rights violations, but was also in the color of their greatest political adversary, the ones strongly associated with the end of the marcos dictatorship.

and he made her wear this for the presidential state of the nation address, the most televised political event of the year. 

talk about making a fashion statement.

[nientedenada]

This series of questions go together as they are about the Summerset Isles and the Altmer from 4E 0 to 4E 30.

How did the Thalmor depose the king, queen, high kinlords, and high kinladies of the Summerset Isles and completely took it over? How did it go with the nobility while all of this is going on?

I know from reading your stories that the High Kinship of Shimmerene supports the Thalmor after the death of the princess of Shimmerene, and they support the Thalmor even more of the Oblivion Crisis. Meanwhile High Kinlord Reman, his wife, Morgiah, and their children would dislike the Thalmor. The Sapiarchs supports the Thalmor if I remember correctly.

What would be Dusk's stance on the Thalmor? They have a port for the East Empire Company. What would be Lillandril's stance on the Thalmor? They have the College of Sapiarchs and the Sapiarchs lost a lot of power after Tiber Septim forced the Altmer into the Empire. What were all of the other towns and cities' stance on the Thalmor? What does the High King Coreriil of the city of Alinor think about the Thalmor?

So, to be clear, most of these details are stuff I made up for my fanfic. I think it's reasonable that anti-traditionalists Morgiah and Reman in Firsthold would not be fans of the Thalmor, or vice versa. And there really was a murder of the Princess of Shimmerene, allegedly by the Beautiful. My invention is how the murder was used as Thalmor propaganda and even possibly arranged by Thalmor operatives.

Now on to my fictional takes on these questions. You do remember correctly. There were definitely Sapiarchs who aren't pro-Thalmor, since there are a lot of them with different scholarship focuses. But overall, as a body I have them as positive or neutral towards the members of the Thalmor Council. Altmer society puts a high value on tradition and the Thalmor at least claim to respect those traditions. As the Thalmor grew in popularity, especially with the Oblivion Crisis, more neutral members of the Lillandril College would move to their side.

I don't have many headcanons or names for Lillandril's kinship, except that they have probably been trying for centuries to balance their authority with living alongside one of the most prestigious bodies of opinionated scholars in Tamriel. Tiber Septim's invasion would have lessened the College of Sapiarchs' political power, but by the time of the Oblivion Crisis, there have been centuries for the College to bounce back. The Late Empire was losing control over its provinces so the Lillandril Kinship would have no Imperial back-up to assert control. I figured that in practice the city slipped out of the kinship's control even before any official Thalmor government took power. I haven't figured out what happened to the family, but they were irrelevant when the new Dominion was founded.

Dusk I don’t have anything figured out, though I think it’s a full city and always has been, ESO to the contrary.  I have Alinor’s ruler as pro-Imperial because I think the Empire would have kept the tightest control on the symbolic seat of the historical High King/Queen of the Isles. Their last King in my fictional canon commits suicide after a short, violent clash with the rebels who quickly overpower his last loyal forces. Then they declare the New Dominion under the Thalmor.

Coreriil is the name given for the King of Alinor in Arena. It’s a nice enough name that I think I’ll say he’s still King as of the Thalmor coup. However, your question sent me on a deep dive to find out of if any of the Arena monarch names (other than Uriel) carried over into later games. The suprising(?) conclusion: No. I can’t find one Arena monarch name that was used in Daggerfall, Morrowind, or Oblivion. Daggerfall and Morrowind both have examples of monarchs with totally new names, reigning at the time of Arena! 

I might post a list of the Arena names vs. later canon names later. It’s pretty funny how no one was wed to any canon back then. I don’t feel bound then to use the Arena names when we don’t know a canon name. Coreriil I’ll keep because I like it, but I have Shimmerene’s High Kinlady as Erranil rather than Shashara, the Arena name. Shashara was only used after Arena as a Khajiit name in ESO!

The other Altmer city state I’ve given some thought to is Cloudrest, home of the Welkynar Knights. The kinship there is completely out of touch with politics and didn’t even try to assert any power when the Thalmor came along to take over. They’re resentful over their estates confiscated by the government, but as they have little political clout, that just means a lot of grumbling. They still have some wealth, but the main family lives beyond their means, trying to recapture the old glory days of the late Septim Empire aristocracy. I’ve a one-shot in my drafts about a scandal that involves the kinships of Shimmerene and Cloudrest. In which Elenwen’s younger sister gets pregnant by a married Cloudrest kinlord and the Thalmor have to mediate and end a kinship feud in Third Dominion Summerset. But since I write a little bit every month and it’s been a few years now, I don’t know when it’ll come out. 

[ellynneversweet]

Curious English person here. Is republicanism common in Australia? I'm wondering as it sure doesn't feel common where I live. Especially with Labour desperately trying to prove it can do patriotism in order to make its self electable.

‘Lol what’s a political opinion, sounds wanky’ — old Australian proverb.

This gets long, because I can’t leave well enough alone. Short summary of what you probably wanted to know first, and then some history.

Theoretically, a republic of Australia (especially post-Elizabeth II) is generally understood to have the support of the majority of the population. Our last Prime Minister was and is a vocal supporter of a Republic who led the pro-republic campaign in the 1999 referendum, but didn’t bring it up again in the course of his term, and the Prime Minister before him (same party) re-established knighthoods so he could give Prince Phillip an extra title, so there’s a spectrum. In practice a republic of Australia is unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future, because it would take a lot of money and work to bring about, and would be largely a symbolic gesture rather than a practical one. Actually getting rid of the royals would require a referendum and constitutional amendment, and that’s not on the political table for a variety of reasons.

The general Australian opinion of the Windsor family can be summed up as follows: the Queen is a nice old grandma (depends how recently she’s been seen with Andrew), and it would be cruel to fire her in her twilight years; Charles is a useless tosser whom no one likes, although his wife is funny (depends on whether there’s a Diana retrospective trending on Netflix); the Cambridges seem stylish and wholesomely functional and are about as interesting as pro tennis players; ten years ago it was a quasi-serious joke that Harry would make a good Governor General, because he knows How To Drink Beer And Talk Shit Like An Australian, but then someone realised we’d have to pay him a bigger salary than the usual parade of retired lawyers and army officers and now it’s not funny. They get crowds when they do a tour, and the unofficial tourism advertising of having some pint-sized royal maul a wallaby at a petting zoo is considered a fair return on the cost of security when they travel here, which is the only time they cost Australia anything.

To give you some more detail:

The first thing that needs to be clarified is that that Parliament and Monarch of the United Kingdom have no official legislative power over the Commonwealth of Australia, and haven’t since 1986. The Monarch of Australia is, technically, legally seperate from the Monarch of Canada, the Monarch of New Zealand, and the Monarch of that other place off the coast of France, although by some weird coincidence all those seperate executive persons reside in the body of some old English woman. That’s bullshit, I hear you say, and, yeah that’s true, but consider this: she doesn’t actually do all those jobs. Functionally, the Head of State of Australia is an entirely different unelected executive, the Govenor General, and the office of the Governor General is careful to preserve their public position of political neutrality and independence.

There’s a bit of history here. The federation do Australia as a country happened in 1901, but between then and roughly 1930 the Colonial Office of the British government had considerable legal sway if they chose to use it, and the GG was appointed on their advice. The Australian National identity of the pre-WWII period was very much that of proud (white) sons of empire etc etc, but in 1930 the Australian Prime Minister insists on ‘advising’ the king on the next GG, and the next year the Statute of Westminster 1931 is passed, which establishes the legislative independence of, among other countries, Australia (but, because Australia is a federation of states, there is still some doubt about who has the power to do what exactly at which level of government).

Onward to 1975 and The Dismissal. Gough Whitlam of the Labor Party is the Prime Minister, and, the left having been out of power for some time, is moving quickly to institute a bunch of social reforms (RIP, sir, thanks for introducing public health care and treating the aboriginal population with a modicum of decency). The right-leaning Liberal party is seething over this, and, because they control the Senate, block supply for expenditure in an attempt to force an election in the House Of Reps. Whitlam counters with an election for the Senate and goes to the Governor General for his approval, because elections are called by the PM with the authorisation of the GG. The GG informs Whitlam that he has been dismissed as the PM, and the GG has invited the leader of the opposition to be acting PM instead. This is TECHNICALLY something the GG can do as the queen’s representative, but it’s against the spirit of democracy. It becomes a huge scandal the periodically bubbles along for years, and the reason this is relevent to the question of republicanism in Australia is the Palace Letters — correspondence between the GG and the Queen/their various offices and staff. The Queen claimed that these letters were private or personal correspondence, and thus not able to be released as a matter of public record, which caused a lot of speculation as to whether Whitlam had been dismissed on the orders of the Queen. This went on for years, and last year they were released. Long story short, the Queen did not explicitly know or authorise the dismissal, but there’s a lot of ‘theoretically, if’ in the letters, and it certainly seems like the Queen and her office were keeping closer tabs on Australian politics than was thought at the time. There’s also a conspiracy theory that the CIA staged the dismissal because Whitlam was making overtures to China, buuuuut if that’s the case then no evidence has come to light. In any case, no one wants that sort of scandal, and there are efforts made to distance the role of the GG from that of the monarch, and both from any practical power.

Onward again to 1986, the Australia Act 1986 is passed in both Australia and the UK, confirming that Australia is legislatively independent from the UK, and that the Queen of Australia is a legally distinct position from the Queen of the UK (see: James VI and I, etc). This is very similar to the 1931 Statute, but clarified that this independence exists on a state level as well as a federal level, in order to prevent states from appealing to the UK to overrule the federal government (as with Western Australia’s attempted succession in 1933).

Onward again and most recently: the 1999 Republic Referendum, aka my earliest political opinion. Labor proposed a referendum in honour of the centenary of federation. The Prime Minister in power was a Liberal (you may remember them as the party who stole the government in the dismissal). There was A LOT of debate over how, in the event of Australia becoming a republic, we would resolve the issue of the powers of the executive. Would we have an American style presidency (the Clinton impeachment was happening around this this time, FYI) or something more like the supposedly-detached monarchy represented by the GG? The proposal that eventually went to the people was a president appointed by the Prime Minister + 2/3rds of both the Senate and the House of Reps, who could be dismissed by the PM. This was a fairly unpopular take for a bunch of different reasons, not least because it managed to give the Head of State an implied mandate without actually being elected, and it was defeated by 54.4%. So, no Republic, and unfortunately, for those of us who do favour revisiting the question, it’s mostly seen as either unimportant or settled, or both. Whomp-whomp.

For my part, if we’re getting a referendum any time soon, I’d prefer it to be on section 44 of the constitution, which bars people with (potential) foreign allegiances from standing for election, which is frankly ridiculous in a country where nearly 30% of the population was born overseas and something like half the population potentially has at least dual citizenship.

[code-blue992]

“America” Doesn’t Understand Captain America By: Daniel Medrano

           During World War 2, America officially had a neutral stance in the actions of the axis, passing the Neutrality Act of 1939 (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC). In Captain America Comics in March 1941, the inaugural issue of Captain America had the star-spangled soldier-boy punching Adolf Hitler in the face… I guess Cap didn’t get the memo?

           The cover is celebrated to this day as one of the most famous in comic book history. Do you remember hearing people complaining about that cover being “political”?

           Let’s jump ahead to today with the release of, Captain America Number 1, released on June 30th, 2021. This is after the storyline done by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Cap lost his shield, his freedom because of a murder plot, all to just destroy his name. All part of the fallout of Secret Empire, where Cap was replaced with a Captain America loyal to Hydra (who were literal Nazi’s in the comics). Cap’s relationship with America is fractured, they see him, they see the totalitarian who destroyed so much for a regime that won’t seem to die.

           But, in trying to fix his reputation he begins to wonder about America, he questions the “American Dream”, stating that it’s nothing but that, a dream. He muses on the nature of it, how angry people can be when the dream is “taken away”, but never admit to themselves that it never existed. Stating the “White Picket Fence Fallacy”, and accurately stating how that fallacy can be a slippery slope, leading towards nationalism and jingoism.

           “That dream isn’t real. It never was.” (Christopher Cantwell, Captain America #1, Marvel, 2021)

           Accurately stating that the dream doesn’t get along with reality, other cultures, immigrants, the poor, the people who suffer and are only seen as “different” or “unamerican”. “The white picket fence becomes a gate to keep others out” (Christopher Cantwell, Captain America #1, Marvel, 2021). A complete contradiction to the words that are written on the Statue of Liberty. Turning away the tired, the poor, and the huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

           When that happens, “The American Dream”, becomes “The American Lie”.

           And what happens when you even imply that America is less than perfect?

           That’s right, suddenly the “fans” appear, bemoaning Cap for being too “political”. Accusing the writer, and Marvel itself of being “woke”, and “pushing an agenda”.

           …

           Okay, so this is gonna be a lot to unpack.

           To keep it brief: These people are the reason the Ultimate Universe lasted so long.

           I say this because the Ultimate Universe version of Captain America is an entire microcosm of the issues surrounding Cap, and that sole issue is simply that America doesn’t understand Captain America.

           Well, I say “simply”, but, I’ll admit, it’s a bit more than that.

           In truth, it’s a certain type of America, a very vocal, sensitive side of America, the ones that ignore the faults of the country, and then rave about how much better it is than others.

           They are what I call “America”; at least for the sake of this argument. The proponents of an image of our country that is often mocked.

           When someone, or something challenges this image, they become enraged, defensive, and very VERY loud.

           “America” represents the ignorance and fragility that drives the worst of the country.

           “America” clings to people and symbols, and when the subject of the clinginess goes against what they believe, “America” lashes out; blaming everyone, accusing others for preventing what’s “theirs”.

           The problem isn’t that someone changed anything about Cap. They’re finally seeing what Cap really is.

           Captain America, since his inception, has always stood in question of the actions the government decides.

           The government was neutral in WWII? Cap knocks Hitler in the face in his first comic cover.

           America becomes increasingly isolationist, taking extreme measures against those who want part of the great “American Dream”. Cap points out the fallacy of it all.

           Cap is never against America and defends its ideals, but in no way does Cap represent any specific administration to blindly follow.

           This is in no way emphasized than when Cap, as many followers would know, took on the identity of Nomad, The Man Without a Country.

           Nomad was made in response to Steve Rogers, Cap’s real identity, no longer felt connected to his country, but still wanted to defend those who could not defend themselves.

           This was just one example, but it’s part of a pattern showing that he’s not bound by any government, he’s bound to the people he’s sworn to protect.

           “America” doesn’t see that. “America” sees a soldier turning his back on his country. “America” attacks people telling a story that is inherently tied to such a character.

           “He’s Captain AMERICA, he should represent AMERICA, properly!”

           He does, that’s what they don’t understand. They want Cap to represent their America, the one that they believe in. The America that openly bullies others because of where they may come from and kick them out when they don’t fit what they believe is America.

           Steve Rogers was the child of Irish immigrants, Steve Rogers was frail, sickly, and despite that, wanted to fight bullies. Steve represented what “America” doesn’t want.

           And it’s because “America” doesn’t want it, “America” doesn’t understand it.

           So, where does that leave us? Honestly, no where different. Because, while “America” may be loud, brash, and destructive, it’s more akin to a child throwing a tantrum. You let them get it out, then continue on.

           Some may stop reading, and that’s fine. It’s what they want to do. But, some may keep reading, and if they do, that’s great. If they do, then “America” may really understand Captain America.

           They may be part of “America”, but they’re still Americans, and Cap would never stop protecting them, and, just like Cap, we shouldn’t give up on them.

[rainbow-scarab]

This is my take on Asgore (with a healthy side of Chara).

Obligatory disclaimer that you are free to have your own take, and I enjoy seeing other takes! In the end he's just a fictional character, and people have all sorts of life experiences that lead them to different interpretations.

Also warnings for discussions of difficult subjects found in Undertale, such as suicide, guilt, grief, psychological trauma, death, war, genocide, etc.

Asgore rates pretty low on my scale of UT character morality XD Though I find him an interesting character.

Asgore has both good and bad points as anyone in UT. He's a gentle soul at heart who likes bringing joy to others. But he is very reluctant to wield responsibility. And I believe this inaction is what's behind most of his other negative points, especially when it comes to making decisions.

When Chara came to the Underground, there was renewed hope. Asgore called them "the future of humans and monsters". For a time they all were a happy family, Asgore, Toriel, Asriel, and Chara. Or mostly. Chara was a very troubled child.....

Chara and Asgore were close, as were the rest of the Dreemurrs to Chara. But I don't think they quite knew how to help Chara. Chara must have had such a horrible life among humans to hate them so much...and then just decide to leave where they would never return. They found a loving family, and loved monsterkind. But they were still quite disturbed and probably had a lot of self-hate, both for being human and for their problem behavior. Being designated "the future of humans and monsters", they may have felt a lot of pressure.....and took what actions they thought would help monsters. Already hating humans, and humans being the cause of the monsters' imprisonment underground, on top of the self-hate, killing themselves and going on to kill six more humans in pursuit of monster freedom would feel like the best way they could contribute to a family, and species, that they loved so dearly.

Though I don't think being designated "the future of humans and monsters", a symbol of hope to the kingdom, ended up being healthy for Chara, I don't blame Asgore for this. The kingdom really needed that hope. And the Dreemurrs themselves would have been overjoyed both for that species-wide hope, and for the place Chara had in their family. It would be near impossible to be able to guess what Chara would ultimately do. It seems Chara did not open up about what had happened to them to Toriel and Asgore, and only partially to Asriel. But I think they would have been able to provide an environment of love and support to help Chara heal had they been there longer.

(Check out this post for a thorough analysis of Chara. It talks about and give evidence for Chara and Asgore's relationship. Also explains the "Chara is the narrator" theory I'll reference later)

But once Chara and Asriel took action, and both died.....Asgore became enraged. He declared war on humanity, completely reversing tone from before. Toriel left, and Asgore was alone.

In the years that followed, Asgore's declaration was followed. Monsters had great prejudice towards humans, and the royal guard kept a lookout for humans. Humans would either be killed by the guard, or Asgore himself.But at least by the time we get to him....he doesn't seem to be angry with humanity. He doesn't pretend that he will try to be friendly with Frisk the same as he does with other monsters, but...he wants to be. And he will give Frisk all the time they need before their fight. Doesn't even seem to care if it's years down the line. He just won't let Frisk pass in the end.

Once you fight and defeat him, he expresses how much he hates all the stuff about war, and just wishes for everyone to be happy and hopeful again. And perhaps...it could all just be over, and Frisk could leave the Underground with his soul. (More on this later)

To me, Asgore's big flaw....is not his declaration of war. Though that is definitely bad. One does not just declare their intention to not just kill humans to free monsters, but to destroy all of humanity, while in a position of power and influence...for that to be dismissed as nothing.

But....he was also very angry, for a very understandable reason. And....at some point....that anger subsided. And yet, he continued on the same path.

To me Asgore's biggest flaw is that he avoids responsibility and making decisions. The only time he ever is shown to make a significant decision...is his declaration of war, and it took extreme emotion for that to happen. But once back to more reasonable levels of emotion, he wouldn't even take action to reverse his own declaration. He felt duty-bound to kill humans, or else they would lose hope. Mmm...I'm not sure if that's just what he was telling himself to avoid decision, and perhaps the feared consequences of changing course were overblown. More on this in a minute.

In the past, it was Asgore and Toriel ruling together, even if Asgore seemed to the be official one in charge. As far as I can tell, they worked well together. Toriel on most of the details of running a kingdom, and Asgore, keeping up the spirits of monsterkind. Once Toriel was gone....no one really replaced her role.

(pic from Alarm Clock dialog)

Asgore did not develop the skills to run things well, and did not find anyone to help as far as I can tell. Undyne became head of the Royal Guard sometime after Toriel left (Undyne does not recognize her when they meet), though it's possible the Royal Guard itself appoints their own leadership. At the very least, Asgore appointed Alphys into the long-vacant position of Royal Scientist.

Though as seen by this bit of dialog from one of the neutral endings, merely having people in official positions doesn't mean his role as king is supposed to be over. Proper oversight would have certain made the amalgamate situation different anyways.

(There's the question of Sans possible working for Asgore. But since there's no hard evidence that I know of for this, I'm not really using this in my analysis)

Asgore still wants to get help. I think...to be unburdened from some or all of his responsibilities. Even if he doesn't know much about who he's asking help from. Like Frisk.

Ambassador is a huge responsibility to place on a young kid. Granted, there aren't other human choices, and even a child with no political skill would be a great symbol to bring humans and monsters together. And this child is the one who just saved everyone pretty much. Okay, I’ll grant him that.

Once defeated in a neutral run, he asks Frisk to take his soul and head to the surface. He would pass on the fate of monsters and humanity to someone he knows nothing about, not even their name, only that they came and defeated him in battle. But perhaps he just was...tiring of even trying anymore. Perhaps he was filled with guilt and grief and just...didn't want to live anymore. Okay. Spare him, and he entertains the thought of living a peaceful life together as a family, before Flowey kills him.

If you complete a neutral ending, then go back and defeat Asgore again on a neutral route, you get some special extra dialog. On choosing to spare him, Flowey doesn't come as quickly to kill him. He thinks again of life as a family, before dismissing it as fantasy. He identifies you with Chara (for having hope), with the prophecy of the angel, and then asks you to find a way to free monsters without really giving you a choice. ...again, he knows nothing about Frisk, their name, where they come from...only that they would give them mercy. And yet he is willing to make them in charge of the fate of all monsters. He kills himself, offering his soul up (before Flowey destroys this possibility).

(Side note...this or my analysis do not have the message that suicide is avoiding responsibility. I analyze his stated motives. It's quite possible that he had additional feelings of guilt and grief that led him to chose this. Even if not, it can't and shouldn't be generalized for other suicides)

Asgore is so reluctant to act...not even in genocide will he do anything special to save his people.

When you reach Asgore, clearly he has not heeded the warning and absorbed the human souls. I considered that perhaps Alphys did not call as she hates phone calls. But... there's a Queen Alphys ending, an aborted genocide ending. In it she pushes aside her fears and steps up, saving her people, implied that she hides them in the True Lab. I think this Alphys would have called.

He even gets a second warning here. But...he still tries to reason his way through, and speak with kindness. He is promptly killed.

In addition to his reluctance towards taking action, the other half of why Asgore wouldn't change...is that he was afraid that the people would lose hope.

...but I agree with Toriel. Through Asgore's lack of leadership, and continuation of the anti-human policies that came about when he was angry...the hope in the future that Asgore gave his people was dark.

In reality, though Asgore didn't want his people to lose hope...he himself had already lost hope. Perhaps that's why he couldn't bring true hope to his people.

In the Queen Toriel neutral ending, Asgore and the six human souls are gone. Toriel has instated a new policy to treat humans as friends. The people's hopes have taken a blow....but I don't think all is lost. It is possible to have a new vision and policy going forward, without Asgore or hoping for humanity's destruction.

In the King Papyrus ending, things are not quite as bright. There's a new policy to treat humans on a case by case basis. Papyrus tries to keep everyone working and fed. Sans does...a lot of paperwork. Productivity is up. But.....things are really hard. Papyrus is a great candidate to keep people's hopes up, kinda like Asgore (...Sans functions like Toriel too taking care of a lot of the details lol). But the Underground has lost many of their most beloved in this ending.

Yes.....I don't think Asgore, despite having lost hope, was only a detriment to monsterkind. His presence still brought some hope to the people, and his death was something to be mourned. But the loss of Asgore and his vision forward is just one factor in the outcome. Ultimately, I think Asgore's fears were not very true. If he changed course, away from his declaration of war...the people would adjust.

....Through all this.......

There was still one person still filled with Asgore's original hopes.

Chara never forgot Asgore's words as they lay dying. Even though they didn't heed these words....Asgore was an important figure to them in life.

Chara sticks by you the entire game, giving narration. In a few parts of the game, they share their memories with you, like when they fell into the Underground and were found by Asriel. And.....

When you die....they relay Asgore's own words to you. A message of hope to keep you going. A message that repeats to you the entire game, as many times as you need it upon death. Determination...the will to keep living...the resolve to change fate.

When you reach Asgore...he sees it. Maybe it doesn't mean anything special. A child may be full of hope for many reasons. I just kinda...want to believe that the same message of hope he gave to Chara...encouraged Frisk to make it this far, and it shines through on their face.

Through Frisk, Asgore's hopes come back to him. It's come full circle. He believes in a bright future again. A future with both humans and monsters.

You meet Asgore at the very end of the game. You've known him all of five minutes before Flowey shows up, and the final battle begins. Perhaps this is why he didn't have time to grow beyond this. Maybe, once on the surface, he'll work on himself further. Or not, I dunno, he stayed the same for a long time. We don't know.

Honestly....in the course of writing this my perspective on Asgore has changed. I expected to mostly write about his flaws, and why I thought of him poorly. But I didn't want to be unfair. And well...in Undertale.... When you dig a little deeper, you can find so much more about them than your assumptions and initial impressions. That the whole beauty of the game.

While I still think that Asgore is one of the most flawed people in the game...he has his good points too. And those actually turns out to be pretty important. Stay determined ❤

Screencaps from the Undertale Text Project (the work of squishing many textboxes in one image done by me)

P.S. One of the funnier lines in the game to me:

Thank you for reading!

[purplesurveys]

809

1. Has a boy ever asked your parents for permission to date you? No and I don’t feel like this is necessary; it’s a tad too traditional for me. Once Gab and I became legal to her parents though I did feel the need to come to her house and shake her dad’s hand out of respect and officially acknowledge the fact that I’m seeing his daughter. Over the years I’ve also been kinda courting her parents by buying them stuff, getting them Christmas presents, going to parties they invite me to, etc. so that we can bond more and they can get the chance to know me better.

2. Do you often get stuck behind a tractor driving somewhere out where you live? No, definitely not here in the city. In the province, you’re more likely to get stuck behind either a tricycle OR an eight-wheeler or something bigger, than a tractor. Tractors would be easy to overtake - it’s the long trucks that are bitches to drive past. Dad is an absolute master at overtaking and he has never gotten us in an accident, but I always have to squeeze my eyes shut every time he overtakes in a two-lane highway. 

3. Have you ever hidden alcohol, had a parent find it, and DRINK it? No. There’s really no point in hiding anything, really, from my mom. She’s a witch and would find out anything. It’s much better to give them a heads-up that I have alcohol because they have no reason to refuse it anyway.

4. Do your parents tell you that if someone starts a fight with you, you can finish it? We don’t get to have this kind of conversation. I don’t know what they’d prefer me to do if I get into an argument.

5. Where you ever in 4H club? If so, for what? No, and I’ve never heard of that before.

6. Has your father ever belonged to a sportmans club? I don’t know what this means either. Man it really bugs me when surveys ask question only a certain audience would understand.

7. Is there a band in your state that’s really big, but not big anywhere else? Duh, I live in the Philippines. Yes, we have TONS of bands that are huge here but probably wouldn’t get a cheer anywhere else which is a big shame because we have an insanely talented pool of artists. We have Ben&Ben, IV of Spades, December Avenue, Munimuni, Silent Sanctuary, Autotelic, Orange and Lemons, Over October, She’s Only Sixteen, Lola Amour, The Ransom Collective, etc. The local music scene has always been bustling.

8. If you have siblings, was there ever a tradition your family had when you all turned a certain age? We all had grand 1st and 7th birthday parties. Other than that, not really.

9. To what extent do you think abortion should be legal? Simply put, I wish it was available as an option everywhere. It’s still mostly illegal here and it’s taboo enough of a topic for me not to know what options women here have, simply because the information isn’t available; and I wish that wasn’t the case.

10. Have you ever stood right up against the stage at a concert? No, the concerts I’ve been to have barriers everywhere since I only ever go to shows of big artists. Even Paramore had a certin distance from the audience to the stage, and I was already in front row.

11. Have you ever forgotten to put on an oven mitt before you took something extremely hot out of the oven? No. I’m incredibly scared of hot things and burning my skin so I’m always careful.

12. Do you own one of those airwick things that automatically sprays every few minutes? Nope. I don’t think I’ve encountered one, either.

13. If you are taking (or took) an elective foreign language in high school or college, what level did you make it to? No, we didn’t need to take it in my degree. I’ve always felt kinda jealous about it because it turns out other degrees in my college – broadcast communication and film – do require foreign language classes, so there’s people in my college learning Spanish or Korean or Italian or whatever, and us journ majors apparently don’t even need those skills. Sigh.

14. How many light bulbs are on in the room you are currently in? There’s one main light but it has three lightbulbs.

15. When was the last time you felt extremely out of place? Sometime in April last year when Gab’s school was holding some mini-concert event type of thing. I didn’t know she and her org were going to be doing documentation throughout the event, so we stayed in one of the classrooms which served as backstage while they were working on photos, publicity materials, etc. in real time. Everyone knew each other and everyone didn’t know me, and I got a lot of stares which made me incredibly uncomfortable. Eventually I felt super antsy and I had a silent breakdown that evening. Annoyingly it was Gabie who got mad at me and told me I was wasting her time and that I shouldn’t have come, which was just fabulous to hear when I was having a breakdown as it was.

16. On Election Day, Did you have school? Elections usually fall on Mondays and I don’t have school on that day, so I was always able to go vote with no problem.

17. Have you ever had your phone taken away at school before? Nope. I use my phone if I’m bored/have to answer an important message, but I make sure it’s under my desk so that it’s not distracting to the professor. In my old school we weren’t allowed to bring gadgets, so I never brought my phone.

18. Do you look better with or without glasses? I dunno, I honestly like how I look either way haha. You’d have to ask other people.

19. What is your favorite type of pet bird? We’ve only ever had lovebirds and they were a delight to have. I wouldn’t mind having a pair again.

20. If you dye your hair; Can people tell? If you don’t; Do people think you do? No, they have no reason to think that I do. My hair has always remained black.

21. When was the last time you had a fruit flavored snack? One of the last few days before lockdown. Andrew brought a jar of fruit-flavored gummies to Skywalk; it was a part of his payment for a recent hosting gig he did. 

22. Do you speak with a slight stutter? Nope. I usually have an idea of what to continue saying as I speak.

23. Does your school lean more towards ghettos tendencies or hic tendencies? Noooooooo idea what this means.

24. Is your state a swing, republican, or democratic state? Philippines doesn’t do any of these things. All political parties generally stand for the same things; the only thing separating them is the political color that symbolizes their party. It’s a sorry state we live in here, as if I haven’t talked about how miserable it is here enough.

25. Does your state have any good sports teams? I don’t really follow local sports. And we don’t have states.

26. Are your parents work-o-holics? I’d say my dad is, since over the years I’ve seen him rise up the ranks. I’ve never seen my mom work at home.

27. Do you find yourself wearing more bright colors or neutral colors? Throughout my college years I wore A LOT of black and white. But during my last year I realized how boring that looks like, so I’ve recently upgraded my wardrobe with a whole lotta color. Now I mix up my black and white with olive green, mustard yellow, maroon, etc.

28. Do you REALLY think Bush is the worst president we’ve ever had? I mean he was never my president per se because I am not American and I was too young during his term, so I honestly don’t have much of an opinion on him. I do know he’s not the worst though, considering the garbage bag America has as president now.

29. Did you go fishing a lot when you were younger? Do you now? I have never gone fishing.

[jeaneybean]

So I haven’t done a recap in a while

TL;DR previously on this campaign we broke into a vampire’s house, murdered him, looted it, the gang dug up a body and ‘let’ her brother take her somewhere that wasn’t a mass grave, and Vera lied like no other to a vampire’s major domo.

Last episode left off with Vlad’s father tearfully greeting Fyodora, asking the group why they’d came and how they met and whatnot. And that’s when Havilah failed his first control shape check of the full moon, turning into a wolf right in that great hall. He instantly grabbed his wolf and went outside to sulk, despite Vlad’s father Valery being like ‘no that’s just something that happens’. Werewolf dad is pretty chill with puppy problems.

Vlad and Valery go out hunting to get meat for the table and everyone except Havilah have dinner in the great hall. Introductions are made around the table, Vera giving a very diplomatic telling of how the party met up with Vlad. Jake does his normal Jake stuff after popping out of the necklace and Magnolia starts throwing rolls at him. Wolff Wolf skitters behind him and snaps up the rolls every time they hit the floor. Valery tries to figure out how Nitahn got his affliction, mostly trying to see if it was Vlad doing it. Vera doesn’t confirm or deny this, stating that it was necessary and bringing up how Juno would’ve turned him int he great hall anyway and they got to one up her. The entire party confirms that Nitahn is a big ol puppydog.

Valery offers the party sanctuary for however long they need, and Oz def makes a note that Vera mentions nothing about taking it despite being into her sixth months of being preggers. After dinner Vera brought Nitahn some Venison and talked to him for a bit, squooshing his face and wiggling his nose because he’s a cute wolf and also because ‘I can’t mess with you like this when you’re a human’ before heading back inside.

Jake also bothers Nitahn, using his newly gotten suggestion spell to have Nitahn fetch. This annoys Nitahn severly, and pisses off Oz pretty bad because Oz doesn’t like the entire Enchantment school. Oz scolds Jake pretty badly for taking away their friend’s free will before being like ‘yeah it’s probably best we don’t talk for a while’. Oz then goes to Nitahn and tattles on Vera for not asking to stay despite her state and puppy Nitahn is like ‘thank you for bringing this to my attention, boof.’. After that, Oz goes to Magnolia and again tattles on Vera.

Meanwhile Vera is having a time up in her room, finishing letters and getting herself real upset. This follows down to breakfast, where she’s very quiet. The mail carrier shows up to the distrust of everyone but Vera, and letters are passed out. Nitahn got a few from his family and three from Jasna, Vera got three from her husband and two from Nik, Oz got one from his mom and one from Vera’s husband. Vera sends off four letters: one to her husband, one to Nik, one to Jasna, and one that it takes her a bit to hand off. She instructs the carrier that it isn’t to be delivered to the Medvedev house, that it is to be left in care of either Mishti Isha or Vera Medvedeva. It’s a letter to her brother. After that Vera excuses herself from breakfast and goes up to her room, where she stays. Her letters get her caught up on city goss and Nik’s scrounged up every bit of werewolf/vampire politic information that he can.

Jake goes down to town and tries to get a loan from the bank, going with all of his usual chaos. He tries to get a loan to open a pancake shop, turning into a short copy of Vlad when the banker says he’d need a voucher. He also tries to use suggestion, leading the banker to realize that he’s tried to alter his mind but still is super confused about what’s going on. He tells Jake to come back tomorrow and Jake happily leaves.

Vera doesn’t show to dinner, citing not feeling well. Valery visits her in her room where she is hiding behind Bear and offers to let her stay in the keep until after she has the baby. Vera’s mostly dead to the world and is like ‘yeah, whatever they decide on I’ll do’. Which is good because Vera’s normal reponse would be basically ‘aw heck no’ to the idea of staying in one spot.

Valery repeats this offer to the group and Oz tattles on Vera to Valery, and Valery’s like ‘yeah no she’s very pregnant’. Magnolia spends another meal chucking rolls at Jake and Wolf-Wolf gets more snackums.

Jake heads back to the bank the next day to fuck with him more, and Vera tracks down Oz to ask him about something he’d mentioned during the great hall, about how dying wasn’t so bad. Mostly she just wants to tell him that should he need help in Spee, Selina isn’t that far away. Oz advises her to forget he said that, as he’s not legally allowed to discuss it. Vera is like ‘cool. Just remember if you need help I’m a lwayer.’ and Oz also realizes that Vera is looking bad. He inquires if she’s okay and Vera’s like ‘yeah, no, not really’ and eventually admits that now that they have downtime she’s got time to think on stuff. A year ago she was in the capital dressed in nice things going to parties, and now she’s out here up to her elbows in blood of terrible people. And she really, really prefers the second to the first. Oz tries to comfort her by saying that it is the blood of awful people, but Vera doesn’t seem to comforted. 

She also finds Magnolia and brings up the idea of silvered claws for bear. Magnolia agrees to the idea, and also brings up that Vera looks pretty wrecked. She offers to spend time with Vera, and Vera’s like ‘yeah I’ve been crying a lot and I don’t like people to see me cry’ and Mags is like ‘well, I can look away’ and Vera admits that’s what her husband does. 

They have a bit of downtime, and one day Fyodora comes up to Nitahn and is like ‘so there’s someone talking to my father and i am not cool with them, come with me?’ and they go to eavesdrop on official business. Nitahn, however, recognizes the voice: Anton Bellek. He instantly bursts into the room and is like YOU.

Meanwhile, Vlad knocks on Vera’s door and is like ‘So there’s someone here to meet my father on offical business and I don’t think he’s good. We should get the group together?” And vera’s like “Fine, help me put on my armor” “I think his name was Anton Bellek?” “-sounds of Vera scrambling across the room, throwing her door open- Okay let’s fucking go.’

They go down and vera’s like ‘so will you be okay heading in there?’ to Vlad and he’s like ‘Yeah, no, it’ll be fine.’ “He (Valery) wont’ hit you?” And that’s when Vlad learns something about Vera he probably didn’t want to get confirmation on and is like “Yeah, no. That’s not the kind of person he is.” And they initally hold back, but they hear Nitahn inside and Vera’s like ‘oh goddamnit’ before breaking in themselves.

Anton greets everyone pleasantly. Vera holds onto her temper for a bit and apologises to Valery for bursting in before turning to Anton. Anton’s looking for allies! Anton is also still super evil, though not enough to knock Vera unconcious. Magnolia’s hiding behind Vlad, making sniping comments whenever she can.

Anton gives a grand speech and he’s good at it, and Jake’s like ‘yeah no he sounds legit’ and the whole fucking time Vera is grinding her teeth and quickly losing any composure she has. She starts calling him out on about every point, adding in there the whole ‘hey, I’m a paladin, I can literally see you’re evil’ and he tries being like ‘I kill people to eat, I have to drink the blood of living creatures’ and Gremlin Oz is like ‘what about getting concent first’ and Vera’s like ‘Can’t you eat animal blood? I’m not evil because I eat meat’.

She goes on her own rant about understanding the desire of being up to your elbows in blood and she admits: She wants a war too. She all but begs him to fight against whatever nature he’s got from being a vampire and offers out her holy symbol as kind of a peace offing. Anton doesn’t take it and curls his lip up at it.

Anton departs, making some dark comments about Vlad and Valery as he goes. The enitre party sees shadows detach from the walls and go to him, and Oz passes a knowledge arcana to know there’s a preestige class that lets you summon shadows. Vera’s like ‘yeah, that tracts’.

Vlad is goaded by Magnolia to talking with his dad for the first time since they first arrived and he’s like ‘listen laws are there for a reason, but Anton’s right. We have to change. We can’t be a neutral party or we’re going to be targeted by everyone. We can’t stick to the old ways when there’s almost no one left here’ and Valery seems to be ackwnolaging this.

Vera makes a parting note to everyone to watch the shadows, and goes to Vlad’s room and is like ‘hey can I stay here tonight and make sure you don’t get eaten by shadows’ and he agrees. She spends her night laying on bear and quietly praying, because vera doesn’t afraid of anything but herself, and she just admitted to everyone that she wants to start a war and she really likes being covered in blood.

Things are chill for a while, until one day at dinner Oz hears a crash int he kitchen. Before we can prepare, but with enough time to make sure there’s no sneak attacks, nine werewolves storm the room. Three enter from the kitchen side, six from the main entrance. One wolf goes for Jake, two go for Valery. On the other side, one goes for Vlad and two go for Vera, while all three archers take shots at Valery. They hit him in the shoulders, and one in the face directly in his eye. He reacts by hulking out into a werewolf. Y’know. Like you do. Vlad doesn’t turn into a werewolf, choosing to instead swing his axe at one of the werewolves previously attacking Vera.

Magnolia and Oz take a quick second to talk about Vera, who has neither armor nor arms on her because she hasn’t been wearing them. Oz assures Magnolia he can protect Vera, and Magnolia encourages Vera to climb up on the table. Vera’s like ‘yeah, that was my plan’ as she climbs up on it and summons Bear in her place. Bear responds to this by going for the wolf that Vlad attack, full round attacking and killing it. Magnolia climbs on the table and reaches out to tap Valery with a Bear’s Endurance. Oz blocks Vera in from the other side and casts Slow on the remaining five werewolves on our side because Oz is an unholy terror. Jake hits himself with mage armor like a good boy. The werewolves with their crossbows drop them and draw short swords before slowly starting to move towards the group. 

Valery slashes at a nearby wolf and Vlad turns into a werewolf for the extra beef. Vera slaps bear with Divine Sacrifice and turns him loose on the werewolves, where Bear starts to just slap them the fuck around. Werewolves have DR. Bear doesn’t care. Bear overwhelms it. Magnolia casts Foundations of Stone on everyone on the ground. Oz casts stoneskin on himself.

A few other highlights: Bear did what I’d been hoping he’d do forever, crit on a Divine Sacrifice blow. 46 damage in one hit, he turned one wolf to mush. On our side of the room he tore through everything. Oz got hit once and shrugged it off thanks to stoneskin. He also cast haste on the party, and flesh to stone on one of the werewolves. Valery dragged a werewolf that pulled a silver dagger on him into a melee with Nitahn climbing in. Vlad offered Vera his axe to protect herself and Vera very unhappily had to turn it down because she’d probably fucking use it. Mags cast Balor Nimbus on herself and went to join the scrap of werewolves.

A vampire droped from the ceiling and hit Jake with a sneak attack for 46 damage, killing him. As Jake died, he felt himself pulled somewhere else. Death appeared before him, and as Jake watched, the skeletal form shifted until Death looked like him. The not Jake tipped his head and was like ‘fascinating’.

Meanwhile, as everyone starts to freak the fuck out about Jake, he pulls off of the sword, looks down at himself, and was like ‘Fascinating.’

[ayano008]

Ikerev College AU Prompt

. .

This prompt is up for adoption for anyone to write for.

. .

PROMPT

An AU where Alice arrives in Cradle when everyone is in that elite boarding school in Central Quarter. Canonically, this means they're still in high school. But this an AU, so we're all going to pretend its college age instead. High school AUs dont sound as great as College AUs (plus the whole teenager age thing is a bit of squick for me).

Since Alice appears on campus and has nowhere to go, the Headmaster decides to enroll her to this school

Anyway! This is all just trimmings! The important thing, the reason why I made this convoluted prompt:

I would love to see a Luka x Alice x Edgar fic. The whole reason I was inspired was the idea of Alice meeting them when they were still in school and befriending them. And maybe she has a big crush in both and somehow it all ends in a threesome, poly relationship thing

Edgar and Luka dressed in school uniforms and being best buds sounds like a dream come true, and I just would love to see how they were back then. Zero is there too and Edgar is like his tutor or senpai/sunbae. (Isnt that cute???) I need to see this so bad, he followed Edgar like a puppy at some point, how did Edgar react to this?? Inquiring minds must know!

I like the idea of seeing the other officers in this au too, though.

I mean Harr, Lance, and Sirius are canonically best buds. Roughly around this time, Harr has just been assigned to be Loki's sunbae and he's not sure what to do with the idea of being anyone's big bro figure lmao. I'm interested in seeing what Harr was like when he was younger though. They say he was bratty and rebellious once, I think??

. . .

Anyway!!! Onward!

. . .

Non-shippy Headcanons I have!!!

. . .

+ The college will have houses like Hogwarts. Three houses but you can choose which one you enroll in. Spades, Central (represented with circle symbol), and Hearts. Sounds obvious and un-fun but, Cradle's hostility btw Black and Reds is 500 years old. And some citizens just dont want to mingle with other territories. That said.

+ Hearts House is invitation only. And typically, only Red Territory citizens get invited. If you choose it but dont have an invitation, that's social suicide and be prepared for an un-fun time. Invitations usually go to Red Territory Nobles but there's special exceptions made to those who show promise. Hearts House is also a very hierarchial house and a lot of special privilidges are extended to those who come from Noble families. Or the Wealthy. (Typically nobles are wealthy but not all the time. Reds are more concerned with bloodline then money, but having both does open doors.)

+ Spades House is open to anyone. But typically, only black territory residents choose this house. Invitations to this house are sent to anyone in Black territory. But anyone is welcome, invitation or no. Red territory residents will be treated warily until they gain the trust of everyone. (Luka is an example of a Red who chose to go Spade.) Special privilidges are extended based solely on merit. Like academic, athletic, extracurriculllicar skill, etc.

+ Neutral House is also open to everyone, but invitations are usually sent to those who live in Neutral territory. If you choose it without being invited, its commonly seen as unusual and interesting and awesome. But typically its chosen by citizens who want to stay neutral and dont want to pick a side. They usually live in Central Quarter and other purely neutral territories. However, it is not uncommon for Red Territory or Black Territory resident to choose this quarter. Especially for ambitious Red Territory commoners uninterested in a military/political career. Everyone is equal in Central House. No special privilidges to anyone, regardless of bloodline or skill. Leaders are chosen through election.

+ The college is actually just called the Academy of Cradle (AOC) because I'm inventive. Its super elite boarding school, which means typically, only rich people attend. But there are scholarship students who can get full ride scholarships. Usually, these scholarships are very competitive. AOC is considered the Ivy League of Cradle.

+ AOC is not an all boys school. But an AOC education is expensive. Many nobles send only their sons. 25% population of AOC is female. Finishing schools for noble ladies and public schools for commoners are more popular in Cradle.

+ AOC is known as the go to school if you intend a career in politics and the military.

+ Alice appears on campus and she can attend this school for free until she gets home. The reason for this has everything to do with her anti-magic ability. AOC is considered a college for the special, the geniuses, the nobles, and (of course) the wealthy. Alice is considered a person of special ability so she gets a scholarship as soon as her ability is known. (Basically, the Headmaster wants to protect her from the Magic Tower. But more on that that later on.)

+ Oliver, Harr, and Loki are also considered people of special ability and also are scholarship students. Mages who are not enrolled in the Magic Tower are invited to attend AOC. Headmaster is a Neutral Citizen and is notoriously hostile to Magic Tower officials.

+ There are rumors that the Headmaster is descended from Alice the 1st or connected to her in some way. the headmaster neither denies or confirms the rumors

+ also, the headmaster is female and a powerful mage. She wears a mask and no one has seen her true face. She's mysterious, shrewd, and known for being eccentric.

+ there are also rumors that Harr is relative of the headmaster because both wear masks. Both are amused by this rumor but haven't denied or confirmed this either.

+ the Headmaster will always protect any mage that comes into her hands by giving them a scholarship to AOC. Its a way of preventing them from joining the Magic Tower. This is also why she wants Alice in AOC. She doesnt want her to be a guinea pig. Of course, the Headmaster would never just say this plainly.

+ the Headmaster has considerable political power. Partly because she's a genius, partially because she's a rich bastard, partially because she's a powerful mage, partially because she's a mastermind. She's like a female Dumbledore. I kinda see her as beautiful as Lady Galadriel and just as old.

+ in another note, the Headmaster is definetely a lesbian. In honor of Dumbledore. She's also my OC and I kinda love her.

+ Also, it kinda just occurred to me that i should have maybe made 4 houses for 4 suits of cards (hearts, diamond, clover, and spade), but I am kinda attached to the houses I made already. (There's no neutral house, for example.) However, maybe someone else can do something with this... Actually, now that I think some more. You can keep as is, and have:

Hearts = Red House Freshmen/Sophomores

Diamonds = Red House Juniors/Seniors.

Clover = Black House Freshmen/Sophomores

Spades = Black House Juniors/Seniors

[mst3kproject]

Elves (1989)

Christmas is a weird holiday.  We all talk about joy and generosity and love, while it’s actually a season full of stress, greed, and hate.  We hate our politically incorrect grandparents, we hate our in-laws asking why we’re not pregnant yet, we hate the expense, we hate the crowds, we hate the traffic, and most of all we hate anybody who doesn’t partake in this flaming bag of holiday. Partly because how dare they actually relax and enjoy the season while we go festively mad, but mostly because we’re white people and we just hate everybody.

That brings us to Elves, a Christmas movie about Nazis.

Three ditzes meet in the woods for a dark ritual in which they officially swear off Christmas.  In the process one of them cuts herself – the blood falls on the ground and naturally awakens some primal horror sleeping below. It follows her home in a POV shot, and then we spend a little time getting to know Kirsten and her abusive family. There’s her German grandfather who slaps her around and enforces weird rules, her mother who steals her money and drowns her cat, and her perverted little brother who spies on her in the shower. All right, these people definitely need to die.  Bring on the evil elves!

But no, instead we follow her to work at the department store, where she gets hit on by a drunken Santa Claus.  This guy at least dies quickly, stabbed to death by the elf while trying to do a line of coke without getting it in his beard (is this a Santa Claus and Coca Cola joke?  I hope so).  Later, the evil elf digs up the body of the cat and leaves it on Kirsten’s windowsill, which gets Herr Grandpa thinking.  He meets up with some of his old Nazi friends, and learns that after forty years, their terrible plot is finally coming to fruition.  It seems that Kirsten is the last pure Aryan virgin, who is destined to mate with the evil elf on Christmas Eve and give birth to the Antichrist!

Are you going wait, what the fuck? at this point?  Don’t worry, so am I, and this is only the first third of the movie.

Meanwhile, we’ve also been following a homeless guy who gets hired to replace the murdered Santa Claus and decides to play detective.  The girls invite some of their boyfriends for an orgy sleepover in the department store, but the boys are killed by Herr Grandpa’s Nazi buddies who are here to offer Kirsten to the elf.  Replacement Santa saves Kirsten herself but her girlfriends get killed, and the elf (and the Nazis) decide to follow her home.  Herr Grandpa tries to atone for the mistakes of his past while Replacement Santa consults some scholars to find out what’s up with the Nazi Rape Elf.  The elf was the product of genetic engineering.  Kirsten was the product of incest between her mother and grandfather. A car blows up for some reason.  The elf has a gun.  My brain hurts.

The upshot is that with Herr Grandpa dead and Santa Claus neutralized, it looks like Kirsten’s got to save herself.  I don’t give that good odds.

There’s quite a bit of foul language and a few boobs in this movie that MST3K would have had to cut or cover, but it would have been worth it because god damn this movie is bad.  The summary above probably makes it sound weird and incoherent but trust me, it’s a vast improvement on actually having to watch this thing.  There is no entertainment value here whatsoever.  Thirty minutes in I felt like I’d already been watching it all day. Not even my incredulity that I was watching a Christmas movie about a Nazi Rape Elf could carry me through it.  This is the Manos: the Hands of Fate of Christmas movies.

Most of the time you can barely tell what’s going on.  An awful lot of important scenes take place in various levels of darkness, and then they pile the distorted elf-cam on top of that.  There are bits where you can’t hear the dialogue and when you can it doesn’t make any sense.  The characters aren’t likable and nobody can act – the nearest thing to an exception is the Santa Claus guy.  The character seems like a really decent person who doesn’t need to get involved in this but does, simply because it’s the right thing to do.  Dan Haggerty occasionally tries to give a performance, but mostly he just stumbles through the film in the same dead-eyed how did it ever come to this? haze as Graham Greene in Atlantic Rim.

Kirsten and her two friends are annoying bimbos.  The friends’ names are Brooke and Amy but I don’t remember which one is which… one of them’s the horny one and the other one is the stupid one, and that’s the extent of their personalities.  Maybe they’re both horny and stupid.  Their boyfriends are absolute assholes, who are thankfully only on screen for thirty seconds total before they get killed.  Kirsten’s mom is a sadistic bitch (I guess at least she’s got a reason), her bother’s a brat, and the bad guys are a bunch of German accents distinguishable only by the fact that Herr Grandpa is in a wheelchair.

The elf is made of disconnected puppet parts so ugly and immobile they almost wouldn’t be out of place in Troll II.  It moves about as fast as the Creeping Terror and kills people by stabbing them repeatedly with a fruit knife.  There is nothing remotely threatening or scary about it.  The only emotion it inspires in me is an urge to punt it across the room.  It looks like a cheap, shitty Hallowe’en decoration that isn’t sure how it wandered into this cheap, shitty Christmas movie.

Every so often the movie tries to be funny, but it never succeeds.  The thing with the tape on the door seems like it’s setting up a wacky misunderstanding, but it’s a joke without a punchline.  The guy explaining the history of Nazi Rape Elves while his children sit there waiting for him to carve the turkey is probably supposed to be a joke, but again, it never goes far enough to get a laugh. The closest we get is with little details that are often more clever than funny, like Santa and his coke – or my favourite, a shot of a rack of guns with a sign that says gift ideas for mom.

I understand the urge to make a Christmas-themed horror movie.  Christmas is, frankly, just begging to be ironically subverted, and plenty of film-makers have tried to rise to the challenge.  Not all of them have succeeded, but Elves doesn’t even try.  A movie that has, say, a serial killer dressed as Santa Claus (examples are numerous) is commentary.  It’s saying something about how we tell children to put complete trust in a guy in a weird outfit who breaks into our houses every year. The Christmas imagery in Elves is completely irrelevant.  If this were a movie about one of Santa’s elves snapping and killing people, it could be about holiday stress and taking advantage of the working class.  It’s not.

The movie can’t even keep its own mythology straight.  One of the scholars tells us that the elves were on Noah’s ark and are supernatural beings that have been around since the beginning of time – that’s why the offspring of an elf and a human will be the Antichrist, and why it must be conceived on Christmas Eve.  The other one says the elves were genetically engineered by the Nazis to be the fathers of the master race… so which is it?  The fact that Kirsten has had visions and the elf is so desperate to get the deed done before midnight speaks for version one, while some of the stuff the Nazis say seems to point to version two.  If this ambiguity is intentional, they could have made that way clearer.  The elf draws a rune by each of its victims but these don’t seem to serve any purpose besides being creepy and giving Santa Claus a clue.

I think some symbolism may be intended by having the guy investigating all this be a department store Santa Claus.  Santa Claus is a lover of children and a giver of gifts.  When he catches the girls sneaking into the store after hours, he allows them to stay and have their fun as long as they don’t steal anything – this might metaphorically be considered a gift for good children.  Later he gives another gift, when he passes the ‘elfstone’ to the little brother to pass on to Kirsten.  This isn’t really developed enough to accomplish anything, though.  It’s more of a motif than an actual theme.

And of course, there’s the ‘it’s not over!’ ending, where the credits begin to roll over a shot of a fetus.  What?  There was definitely no rape scene in the movie, nor any implication that one had occurred and the film-makers, showing more restraint than usual, didn’t show it. While Kirsten waited injured in the woods for her brother to bring her the elfstone, the elf was distracted eating a toad.  Did it impregnate her by passing a hand over her stomach, like the guy in Abraxas: Guardian of the Universe?

Man, do I ever hate this movie.  What a boring, stupid waste of my time.  Who makes something like this?  Who decides to put the words Nazi Rape Elf in that order and then thinks the result would make a good Christmas movie?  I dug this piece of shit up in search of something to watch and review besides The Star Wars Holiday special and I’m actually sorry I did.  I’m not even joking.  Elves is that fucking bad.

[quillandinkjournalism-blog]

| @wrathful-red @pragmatic-purple |

Jamie was, admittedly, quite nervous. He had almost a full story on the Membrane case, thanks to Zim, Keef, and Dib's first-hand accounts - all that was left of the story was to discover the truth of the Foundation's dealings with Membrane and how far their reach was. They were suspected of many atrocities done to animals, humans, and now aliens. Had they had other alien contact? How deep did those schemes and experiments go? Was it just Membrane? Jamie couldn't say for sure, but he intended to find out.

For now, however, he'd collected all data he could in that front. Until they decided what to do with Nightmare Keef, he was stuck on the Massive, and he had full intentions to find out as much about these people and other alien races if possible.

Tallests Red and Purple had seemed quite willing to be interviewed, and so Jamie was on his way to Red's lounge where the interview would be conducted. He did, unfortunately, have to stop and ask directions - in sloppy half-English half-Irken. Luckily, the Irk had English installed in his translator and quite kindly led Jamie to said office.

Jamie stood at the door as the Irk departed, with another messy thank you, and rose his hand to knock on the door.

The Tallests were inside the lounge enjoying a glass of wine before the interview. It was a moment of peace and quiet that had become rare in their lives and it was thoroughly enjoyable. As soon as they heard the knock Red called out, “Come in, Jamie.”

They had brought in a small couch for the human to sit beside the fire and Red was actually quite looking forward to an interview that was a bit less chaotic than the first one had been. As the human stepped in the Tallest asked, “Would you like a glass of wine or are you one of those that does not drink while you work?”

Jamie entered the room with both his recorder and notepad in hand, looking around in awe at the room. It was stunning, and the sort of space you would expect an emperor to conduct business. He was almost surprised there was no cigar smoke near the lounge, but he supposed the wine suited the atmosphere just as well.

“Ah, no thank you. I prefer not to drink. May I?” He asked, pointing to the couch across from Red and Pur, sitting down comfortably. “And thank you so much for agreeing to do this interview today.”

Red gave a nod in response and mused, “It was quite opportune. It isn't often that Tallest Purple and I have free time simultaneously.”

Pur gave a small laugh and added, “It is not often that I have free time at all.”

Jamie laughed softly. “I understand you two must be incredibly busy. From my understanding, you govern unprecedented numbers of other planets and communities. How do you manage all of that?”

He looked up from his notebook, placing his voice recorder on the table between them and hitting record. Always best to dive in, he figured.

Red was the first to answer, which was fairly typical for their interviews together, “We divide duties between the two of us. On top of that we have a council and an amazing team of beings that work incredibly hard to make sure everything runs smoothly. Many planets function with little to no input from the Empire itself, other than paperwork.”

Purple then added, “We are very heavily involved with planets that are struggling and require aid but for the most part, planets function with their own systems of government, economy cultures, etcetera- but choose to remain part of the Irken Empire.”

“So you do quite a lot of relief aid as well? Taller Dib has mentioned some of that,” Jamie nodded, opting for Dib's official title during the interview. “Tell me more about that. I understand that, up until quite recently, you have had an incredibly violent and sordid history. Are things different now?”

Red gave a nod and expounded, “Yes, we offer aid to any planet in need. This includes medical aid, food, environmental clean up, rebuilding of infrastructure and sometimes relocation, if the planet is in bad enough shape that it is no longer habitable.”

The Tallest took a drink of his wine and then continued, “Irk's past, even under our rule, has been, historically, incredibly violent and merciless. This has changed. We are moving forward in the hopes of creating a future for the universe where Irk is seen as a symbol of strength and compassion, not as the hive mind it has been up until this point.”

“I see. So relief aid is part of those efforts to change the image of Irk others might have, an image that you yourselves have continued to perpetuate? How else are you combating that image? And why the change of heart?” Jamie looked Red in the eyes then, his expression neutral, although he was admittedly excited - these sorts of complex interviews had always been his favourite.

Pur answered chipperly, “Some of our other efforts have been eradicating unjust taxation, abolishing slavery, redefining our prison system, doling out pardons where they due, renegotiating our trade systems so that planets are fairly compensated, issuing back credits for some of our less mutually beneficial deals.”

Red took another sip of his wine as Pur spoke. When he was done Red cleared his throat, “And the reason for these changes… Well, Tallest Purple has always been far more compassionate than I have been and it was truly my mind that needed to be swayed to initiate any real change. And my mind was swayed. While it may be, quite possibly, the happiest answer I could give- I met my mate. A human. And he showed me there was a better way.”

Jamie couldn't help but to smile a bit. Dib had always been very passionate, so he wasn't exactly surprised that if anyone was able to convince an Emperor to change his ways, it would be Dib.

“Love can do many things for us, and almost always for the better. I do wonder, however - Tallest Purple, if you had differing thoughts to your co-leader, had you not vocalized them? Were they simply ignored? Or were you both equal perpetrators regarding the merciless character of Irk? And Tallest Red, was one human really enough to sway an entire worldview that has spanned so many centuries?”

Pur let out a soft sigh and replied, “Sometimes saying nothing in the face of injustice is worse that being the one holding the sword. And my conscience is not clear. I have given the order for many atrocities and I have done many things that I am not proud of, many of which simply to maintain my own comfort and lifestyle. We, the both of us, are the Tallests of Irk. Any crime that Red is guilty of, I am equally so. Just as we are equally responsible for the changes being made.” After a moment he added with a grin at his brother, “Though, I may have, on occasion expressed a certain level of dissatisfaction with our way of running things.”

Red chuckled and mused, “Perhaps once or twice. But as far as my change of worldview, my human mate is not just one human. He is perhaps the most compassionate, courageous and kind person I have met. And yes, he in conjunction with my Irken mate, who spent a great number of years on Earth and was swayed similarly, were enough to show me that I was wrong and that things needed to change.”

“Well, it will certainly be exciting to see these changes begin to truly take effect. From what I have seen so far, things are already quite different. What are the next steps for you and for your people? And has it all been quite a smooth shift do far?” Jamie asked, flipping pages in his notebook. This was definitely far more than he'd been expected. They were both being quite candid.

Purple gave a smile and listed off, “Some of the things we have been working on are the ability for irks to once again take mates, raise smeets of their own if they choose, doing away with compulsory coding and job assignments. Redefining the Invader program.”

Red gave another nod, “It has been rather smooth. There are those who have been opposed, but overall, the reception has been quite welcome.”

Jamie continued to nod lightly as the Tallests spoke. “Wonderful start, but I'd like to switch gears a bit here from political to, say, cultural and biological. Why don't you tell me a bit about your people as a whole? What do you think would be important for other societies to understand?”

The Tallests exchanged a look of slight confusion, never really having been asked about the culture of Irk in interviews. Typically it was merely policy and that was the end of it. But, of course, this was a human interviewer. Red pondered for a moment and then replied, “Irks are fierce and competitive, passionate and loyal. They are also incredibly affectionate when given the chance. They are not mindless drones as they have been made out to be, but rather, the whole of the race is full of brilliant artists, scientists and many Irks who are fully embracing the changes we are making. I would say that the most important thing for the universe to know about Irks is that they deserve the chance to prove themselves and to not let the transgressions and thought processes of the past prevent someone the opportunity of a better life.”

“And what might you say are some of the most important values to your people, generally? And what do you most expect out of partnerships with other planets, particularly these days, while you are trying to foster a much more positive image of your society?”

Jamie adjusted his position slightly as he spoke, crossing one leg over his knee and flipping another page in his notebook. He might have to interview some of the other humans on this ship, too, get their impressions as well to bring back to Earth.

“Loyalty, honesty. Irks hate being lied to, it tends to not go well. Though I feel that is a fairly universal trait among races,” Red mused thoughtfully as he poured another glass of wine and continued, “As far as our partnerships- the greatest thing that we are looking for now is that a planet simply wants Irk's involvement. Of course, those that are mutually beneficial are wonderful additions to The Empire, but we also have many dealings with planets that have nothing to offer Irk, but that simply need our assistance to stay afloat and to rebuild.”

Pur chimed in happily, “We do have a soft spot for planets that make good snacks though. Irks love snacks.”

“Snacks?” Jamie mused, turning slightly to face Pur. “I think almost all of us can say that we love snacks. Then again, I have not seen much other than snacks on this ship. Although with its size, admittedly, I haven't had the chance to see much of it.” He laughed slightly. “What sort of diet do you have? Is it fairly universal?”

Purple shook his head, “Not really universal. Irks have a delicate biology. We primarily only eat sugars and carbs. There is a fair amount of fruits and vegetables we are able to eat, but sugar is our primary nutrient.”

Red added with a smile, “Though The Massive's kitchen staff has expanded the foods we stock due to the amount of non-Irken races now living aboard and in our employ.”

As the Irks finished speaking both of their collars flashed and the sound of the Commander on duty in the bridge sounded, “Many apologies, my Tallests. Your presence is requested on the Bridge. We are being hailed by a Vortian ship.”

Pur lifted his hand to the device and tapped the insignia, simply stating, “En route.”

He looked back to the human and offered a polite incline of his head, “I do apologize to cut this short, duty calls. Please do not hesitate to reach out, however. Taller Dib has our contact information, of course.”

Red extended his hand to give the human's a shake as he stood, but then paused for a moment and said, “Come along. You will get to see the bridge and a negotiation with one of our allies. No better way to see how we conduct business than to watch us do it.”

Jamie was startled at first by the flashing of their communicators, but he stood as soon as the Tallests did, shaking Red's hand with a wide smile. “Thank you. It has truly been a pleasure to speak with you. I am looking forward to discovering more and speaking with more of your crew here on the Massive.”

At the second comment, his brow furrowed momentarily but his eyes then lit up. What an opportunity. “Of course. It would be a pleasure to see that,” he said, quickly collecting his tape recorder before following the Tallests out of the room and toward the bridge.

[opedguy]

France Gives U.S. Cold Shoulder at U.N.

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Sept. 22, 2021.--France continued its beef with the U.S. and Australia to the U.N. General Assembly, with 74-year-old French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian giving 58-year-old Secretary of State Antony Blinken the could shoulder.  Le Drian told the U.N. General Assembly that there were strange similarities between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, in another slap, all because Australia decided to cancel a $48 billion diesel-powered submarine deal.  “I, myself, do not intend to meet the secretary of state, Blinken,” Le Drian told the press.  “Of course, I might see him here or there in a corridor, but I will not be the first point of entry,” holding a grudge over 53-year-old Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s decision last week to scuttle a 2016 $48 billion submarine deal.  Morrison said he told French President Emmanuel Macron in June the deal was in jeopardy.    

         France hasn’t got over its temper tantrum over the U.S. agreeing to supply Australia with long-range nuclear-powered submarines, needed to patrol the South Pacific all the way to the South China Sea, where China has illegally built a series on military installations on shallow reefs in Spratly Islands archipelago.  “There is a crisis of trust beyond the fact that the contract is being broken—as if Europe itself doesn’t have an interest to defend in the particular region,” Le Drian said.  France was slapped in the face when Morrison decided to terminate the submarine contract.  France prides itself on being a world-class ship builder but can’t produce nuclear-powered submarines due to European Union restrictions.  Macron’s government was embarrassed by Australia prompting 53-year-old opposition leader, far-right Marine Le Pen to slam Macron’s government as incompetent.      

       Le Drian used his time at the U.N. to brow beat the U.S. and Australia, playing victim, when, in fact, Macron was given by Morrison plenty of advance notice but chose to ignore the issue until it surfaced.  Le Drian said France feels like “it was stabbed in the back” but only Macron failed to inform French government officials that Australia planned to back out of the deal.  “What is at stake is not just trust with the transatlantic relationship, and the reason why I am mentioning it in the context of UNGA, it is because it’s a matter of capability of defending multilateralism—it requires use to be able to work together,” Le Drian said, saying a lot of nonsense over Australia’s decision to buy U.S.-made nuclear submarines.  Le Drian talks as if the EU would be fully behind any effort by Australia to deal with a renegade China through multilateralism, not making special deals with the U.S.       

      Le Drian tries to sell other EU members on the idea that the U.S. acted unilaterally by agreeing, without French approval, to scuttle a $48 billion submarine deal.  So far, no other EU country has condemned Australia’s right to buy submarines from the best source available.  President Joe Biden hasn’t helped France understand that despite the U.S. preference for mulitlaterialism, it still must conduct its national security in the best interest of the United States and its allies.  It’s not enough to hear Le Drian lecture the U.S. about how multilateralism with the EU solves the China conundrum, where President Xi Jinping has thumbed his nose at international law, violating the 2016 ruling at International Court of Justice at the Hague, for China to cease-and-desist violating international rules of the sea to build out its military installations in international water, violating sovereignty of Pacific Rim nations.   

          France, or the EU for that matter, does not have the military budget of the United States or capability to confronting China or Russia when it comes to criminal activities on the high seas or elsewhere.  As an EU country, France spends a tiny fraction of the U.S. $715 billion military budget, investing most of the EU’s Gross Domestic Product in social programs, not defense.  Biden campaigned in 2020 against Trump’s “America First” foreign policy, saying the “U.S. is back,” meaning back to multilateralism.  But any U.S. approach to mulitlaterialism or coordination with the EU is only symbolic in nature because the U.S. provides for its own defense and is not part of Brussels.  Biden confuses at more consultative approach to foreign policy as mulitlaterialism when, in fact, the U.S. calls its own shots when it comes to national security.  Le Drian is clearly embarrassed that the U.S. exposed France’s weakness.    

         Blinken tried to smooth out Frances ruffled feathers but found himself digging into a deeper hole.  “We understand the French position.  We don’t share their view in terms of how this all developed, but we understand their position,” said an unnamed State Department official.  “And we look forward to the phone call between President Biden and President Macron once it’s time is fixed on the books.  We think that will be an important moment and opportunity for the two leader to speak directly with one another,” hoping the call mends fences.  But clearly Macron has exploited the situation for political purposes, selling the French Public on how Australia and the big, bad United States stole their submarine contract.  Biden needs to explain to Marcon that he U.S. believes in multilateralism but doest cede its national security to the EU and makes deals that benefits U.S. national security.

 About the Author 

 John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.        

[votingisnotenough]

What’s the Plan?

I’ve been volunteering for Democratic Campaigns lately, I’ll post links on the variety of ways this can be done later (even from home). It still doesn’t feel like enough. I don’t want to just get candidates elected to try and stop this administration, I want to prevent it from EVER happening again. To do this we need to stop the spread of misinformation, not just from Russian Hackers, but from our own media! That means calling out their lies and keeping an easy to reference guide on their hypocrisy. We need to destroy their credibility so even their own base will understand that they are being fooled.

This needs to be addressed from a number of angles, read below for some strategy ideas:

Trump:

1. List of Sins: We need to have a comprehensive list of every evil Trump has committed before and after his Presidency. Everything that makes him unworthy of his position. Every crime, lawsuit, policy breach, disgusting character flaw, example of ignorance of the world at large, and abuse of power needs to be accessible to the public with numerous sources. With it all laid out it is hard to ignore just how awful he really is.

2. History Review: So many people have pointed out how Trump’s actions and speech are strongly reminiscent of Fascist Regime Leaders. We need to collaborate to actively compare his actions with that of previous leaders of Fascist take overs. We need to educate on how these take overs come to be, to show how slow and insidious they are in nature. We can compare this with his love and admiration of Dictators. People need a reminder that we are not friends with Russia, and that we SHOULDN’T be for good reason. Putin is a monster, we don’t want him running our Country into the ground. The Cold War isn’t over. We are losing. Russia is still attacking our elections.  

Media:

1. The FCC has recently turned down the Sinclair Merger, but we should stay vigilant to future attempts to consolidate the media. It’s not 100% dead, but has been tabled for now. We should also keep watching for further influences of Net Neutrality’s roll back that happened officially in June. 

2. FOX probably our biggest spreader of Misinformation. Fox News is a giant and has a long history of brainwashing it’s viewers. We need to ruin it’s credibility for good. I think the way to effectively do this is to use it’s own coverage against them. Many on the right have taken Fox’s lead on completely flip-flopping on policies and behaviors they demonized during Obama’s years in office. It’s time they be held accountable for the lies they spread and the agenda they push, trying to get a new Fairness Doctrine would be a good start.

3. Alex Jones and the like, individuals who spread conspiracy like it’s fact and call for violence: Jones has already admitted his persona is an act, but we have to find a way to keep people for falling for these fear mongers. These people are vulnerable and easily led astray. How do we get people to think critically and recognize propaganda? 

4. Youtube, Twitter, and Social Media Accountability: Many sites are not doing enough in the way of fighting propaganda or Bot Assaults. How do we force them to take further measures? Taking away advertisers through boycotts?

GOP:

1. Accountability. Stop with the nepotism, gerrymandering, pandering, straw-men, bribery, corruption. Stop making every thing partisan and attacking the other side. We are not supposed to be a one party government (hell two parties is pretty shitty too), but they keep trying to make out for number 1. Putting party over country. We need to have a List of Sins for every member, and likely for Democrats too. Everyone needs to be held accountable for their actions. No more lies and misdirection, no more misappropriation of funds. No more kickbacks and bribes, no more trips to Mar-A-Largo Trump.

2. Overturn Citizen’s United. We need to see who is making donations and where money is flowing from at all times. Get money out of politics, supporting O’Rourke who only accepts small public donations is a great step in the right direction. We need to support candidates that support getting money out of politics and voter reform.

3. Voter Reform as I said above this is a big one. Everyone should be registered the moment they turn 18, given a voting ID Number, AND information about when elections take place, who is running, and where to vote needs to be mailed to every home in America. No one should be out of the loop and voting should be a convenient holiday.

Physical Action

1: We need to take to the streets in mass protests. Day long chains and marches. The only we can do this is if we unite. We need a symbol and ideals we can all unite behind. We need to come together and start a new movement that appeals to all who feel lost and broken by this administration.

I said a lot tonight and I’m getting tired. Sorry for any typos, I am getting drowsy. I don’t know if anyone will see this, but please if you are interested in helping with any of this contact me. I want to eventually set up a discord to collaborate with others and consolidate all research. I’ll try to keep doing research on my own and posting relevant articles and news here. I’m just getting started so please follow me and communicate with me about what concerns you about this administration. 

[greetingsfromeboncreek]

In my defense, I was literally asked.

So, I have actually been asked about my LGBTQ+ headcanons for Suppression. I shall now recite from my massive, ancient textb- ok no, I’m kidding, Iggy was my most detailed one, but here’s some others I’ve been kicking around under the cut:

So first and foremost, I want to be clear: There doesn’t have to be a REASON to make someone gay or transgender of asexual or whatever. There is no reason for these things in real life after all, people just are. You can be a rocket scientist or a wrestler or a pigeon breeder and just happen to be someone who was assigned a different gender at birth as well. It happens. That’s not to say that there isn’t a culture and some common trends that go along with it, but the point I’m trying to make is that just because I’m noting my favorite characters to think these sorts of things about here, you could literally make ANYONE LGBT. There’s no checkboxes you have to tick before you get your lesbian license.

...but if there was, Sam would have like 3 of them.

ANYWAY so yeah that’s the first one: 1. Everyone is gay and transgender. All of them. All at the same time. Figure it out.

Also, even if any of these WERE canon, I wouldn’t expect it to come up very often either? Suppression is a very action based comic, I don’t think there’s a lot of downtime for characters to be like “ANYWAY, I’m going on a date with ANOTHER GUY this Wednesday because that’s HOW I ROLL.” Because that would be. Weird. Still, sometimes an offhand mention can go a long way.

To organize this a little bit better though, I’m going to split it into “Characters who I think could or should be X, Y, and/or Z” and “Characters where I wouldn’t do that unless a lot of effort was put into pulling it off well.” Personal dos and don’ts, pretty much.

For characters who I think are or could be LGBT, well, like I said, it’s fun to imagine just about anyone, and I think making a character some type of LGBT can add a really fun element to someone that ordinarily would be a little bit boring. In this case though, I’m expressing only my thoughts on the ones that either have some sort of written element that could be taken as supporting my headcanon, or ones where I think it would play well with their pre-established traits and desires. So, without further ado:

1. Samantha Wight is a lesbian, in both continuities but ESPECIALLY the reboot, god. I think this one is most obvious when you compare the version of her that existed in the preboot timeline in comparison to the reboot. And for that, I’ve got to talk about the Wights a bit, or at least as how they were in the preboot. 

They come off to me as… well, deeply repressed, unhappy, and (let’s be honest, most likely) very conservative people. They all want something out of life and want to be proud of themselves and their family, but are so deadlocked in trying to “maintain the family tradition and honor” and whatnot that they end up dragging each other back down into that depressive pit. There’s plenty of examples of this; Alaster is very proud of being a Wight and their traditions of burning and pillaging, but hates what his family has become and how they treat each other. He tries very hard to be a good role model for his younger relatives even though he’s unable to get out from under his father’s thumb himself. Meredith is incredibly enthusiastic (and gifted!) about her family’s magic traditions and history but is constantly facing snotty, belittling remarks about how airheaded she is from Samantha. In addition, it’s clear her dad and uncle don’t understand her in the slightest, let alone have a shred of respect for her (or if they do, it's for her use as a resource or tool and not as a person with her own merits). Jericho thinks the Wights are already great, but is increasingly frustrated with the fact that his beliefs mean absolutely nothing in the wider world and he doesn’t actually have the power to do anything about it. Heck, even Arthur had a line that implied a LOT about how he and Max were raised- how he didn’t really want to be a necromancer, but picked it so he could “get out of what Dad had (Max) doing”. It gives off the impression that no matter how powerful a Wight you are, your life gets set in stone at birth and you aren’t changing it, no matter how hard you try, and those traditional roles are HARSH. I wouldn’t be surprised if Alaster wasn’t the only Wight that got quietly offed when they stepped out of line, that’s for sure. 

Needless to say, I would imagine it would be pretty much impossible to come out as anything in that sort of environment… provided that you managed to get out enough to learn about that stuff to start with. And Sam definitely appears to be one of the worst victims of this. She died really young. While Meredith and Alaster might have gotten to go to a public school or at least hit the mall every once in a while, she probably spent every second since the day she died locked up in the mansion because… well, zombies aren’t supposed to exist. Unable to go anywhere, do anything of value, make any friends… it’s really no wonder her nihilism cranked up to 11 in just a decade or so. Not to mention (especially in comparison to the reboot), there’s no way she can buy her own clothes, so she’s literally just a Wight themed dress up doll. She has the Wight family logos literally all over her- bones in her dress, the skull on her head and shoes, a Wight crest on her necklace, most of them oversized for her stature. Literally weighing her down in a poofy dress that makes her look adorable instead of practical. Heck, she’s even drawn in a way depicts how she’s had her agency removed. She’s a Wight, so she definitely HAS the sharp pointy teeth, and yet unlike everyone else in her family you barely ever see them. (If at all- I’m pretty sure you don’t, but I’m not going to go through every page she appears to check.) She’s literally defanged and weighed down by family expectations. It’s no wonder she lashes out at Meredith, who is capable of actually expressing herself to a degree. 

(Also, a smaller side headcanon- I’ve noticed that while the red eyed fangy icon is the Wight family crest, those simplified skulls on Samantha and Meredith’s heads appear a lot as well. I like to think that those were the family crest of Nora’s now extinct bloodline from when she married into the Adigard family. Even though they aren’t the official Wight crest, they’re now considered a sort of secondary crest that’s still carried around out of respect to the maternal lineage, which is why you see it more prominently on the women of the family as well. Is there any textual support for this? No, none, but it’s still fun to think about.)

SO YEAH, Sam in the reboot, wow. Goes by a (notably more gender neutral) nickname instead of the longer and more formal “Samantha”, with her clothing following. Jeans and a t-shirt. Square glasses. Very short hair. The family symbols are now not dragging her down, but smaller accents that she wears to go with her outfit instead of defining it. She’s finally free! She has a job she likes. She takes pride in her skills. She has a favorite sandwich spot and a college education and friends. ...And like, maybe a girlfriend? It would be nice. This is admittedly because her style of hair and dress is… well. Kinda butch. But like I’ve mentioned before, physical appearance is one of the last indicators I like to go for with this. Instead, I prefer to look at it in terms of her personality- outside of the deathgrip of outdated family tradition, Sam can afford to be herself more, and yeah, maybe that involves dating folks with the same gender and wearing blue jeans. This is also kinda supported to a degree by how her siblings haven’t changed that much since the old timeline. Merry’s outfit is pretty much the exact same. Jericho doesn’t have the biohazard suit, but his new outfit still kinda evokes it in the hat, long coat, and boots. He still seems to prefer the same styles, at least. Alaster is pretty different, but that’s more because he’s wearing a uniform more than anything, and with the bandages it’s clear he’s still putting his own personal spin on it. Sam is COMPLETELY different, and it’s a change for the better and happier. So yeah. It would be really fitting if part of that new access to personal freedom was in getting to explore her sexuality as well, and eventually settling down into being a lesbian. It would be a happy ending to Samantha’s story, even Sam’s is only getting started.

2. Arrie is bisexual! What? Who do you think it is that Sam’s dating? But yeah, I ship them pretty hard. Like Sam, Arrie has some pretty big personality differences between her preboot self and current self, Parrios vs. Tinderbolt. Old Arrie seemed to be well versed in politics, able to negotiate and take charge easily even if she was a bit overly formal and her interpersonal skills weren’t QUITE up to snuff. That’s not to say that she couldn’t have been bi, but I also didn’t read her as vibing with anyone all that well. 

Not to turn this into a massive shipping discussion (as that’s not really the topic I’m trying to cover here), but I saw her most interesting potential romantic foils as Trevor and Sally… but neither of them were very likely in practice. She and Trevor were good friends but the last time they spoke in the comic he stuck his own foot in his mouth with her and they never got the opportunity to work things out after that (and even then, there was no sort of… spark implying that they would make each other better as a couple. Seriously, just friends.), which leaves that ship on a particularly sour note. And while she and Sally were FANTASTIC counterparts to each other (rough and tumble demon girl and overly formal and technical elf princess? Sally getting her to slowly loosen up and have fun with it a bit while also reminding her how much her one liners suck? Arrie coming to impress her and earn her respect with fancy spellwork? Hell yeah.), but they only spent maybe an hour tops with each other and didn’t have any opportunity for deeper conversation. Also, that would mean that Sally and Bael wouldn’t be a thing and I refuse to break that couple up.

But Arrie in the reboot? Oh man. Her social awkwardness and getting stuck on details have really been dialed up now that she’s essentially been raised in a classroom and in private study instead of being trained as a politician and dignitary.  She’s no longer a princess, but a magic computer programmer. She’s anxious, stubborn, and definitely has a lot of room to grow. But, that’s where Sam comes in. They’ve known each other since they were little- they definitely know each other’s baggage and have accepted it. They know each other’s hopes and dreams. They spend a ton of time with each other. And yeah, they bring out the best in each other. Sam gets Arrie to leave her room once in a while, and Arrie’s attention to detail means she no doubt always listens to Sam complain long after anyone else would have tuned it out. And yes, you could easily interpret this as mere best friend territory, but wouldn’t it be interesting if it was something more? After all, Sam is really touchy-feely with Arrie even though she’s normally standoffish. She drapes herself all over Arrie in the early pages of the comic, and Arrie barely blinks. Sam threatens to drag her and Arrie is suddenly done with her work, but they’re both smiling about it. Similarly, when Arrie finally pries Sam off of her with magic, Sam just lets Arrie toss her around midair even though they both know she could use it offensively (which Arrie does when tussling with Sally later.). But they both know Arrie would never do that- they trust each other implicitly. Again, could just be friendship, but it’s not difficult to read into it and see a bit more intimacy than that. Additionally, it would really be neat to see them together just from an angle of “Their families used to be bitter enemies, but… well, not for these two, I guess.”

Also, it’s really funny to imagine a copy of that first scene but Sam’s in fancy clothing trying to drag Arrie to their anniversary dinner. For god’s sake Arrie, you’re already in the dress. The runes look FINE. You’re going to miss your reservation, get UP.

(And on another headcanon side-note- If I was going to cosplay as anyone in the comic, it would 100% be Arrie, if just because I have blonde hair and blue eyes and none of her outfits look too crazy to sew and it's not that hard to find elf ears online. With current circumstances though, I don’t think I’ll be doing anything like that any time soon.)

3. Charlie is agender or genderfluid, at least in the preboot timeline. This is less “it just feels right” and more “this is probably the inevitable conclusion of having hundreds of souls with conflicting gender identities stuffed into one body.” He is made up of boys, girls, and people who never got to have enough of a personal identity to make a decision about that sort of thing. Just a big bag of angry ghosts. Considering what happens in the approximate… like… what, six to nine months or so? That he gets to exist, I don’t think he really thought about what gender he was all that hard and probably only went with “he” because that’s what everyone who met him assumed he was. Which, let’s be honest, he’s canonically very emaciated, has long, probably matted hair, and probably has heavily stunted growth due to his upbringing- I think it would actually be pretty hard to figure him out on first glance. I’ve just noticed that people tend to default to “this is a dude” if they don’t know right away. If he had time to think about it though, I think he either a. Honestly would not give a crap, or b. Would just switch his pronouns around depending on how he was feeling that day. Heck, while “Charles” is definitely a guy’s name, I’ve definitely seen “Charlie” used for both. So he wouldn’t even have to change anything there. Still, if you asked him what he identifies as, his answer would probably something like “An Avatar Of Vengeance”, which, while accurate, isn’t the answer most people are looking for. (He knows this. He does it on purpose.) That being said though, I still have no clue what reboot Charlie’s deal is or how many souls he’s got stuffed up in there, but hey! Like I said, anyone can be anything so who’s to say Charlie ISN’T still genderfluid in the current timeline? Could have just been a “dude” day when we met him the first time around.

4. Junior is genderfluid! Or, well, would have been in the future. This just feels like a logical progression of the worldview Junior had going. He seemed very into transhumanism and just changing yourself to who you want to be instead of sitting there and waiting for it. I certainly can’t imagine him going “Hm yes. I have all these options, but I think I’m just going to stick with being a Regular Dude until the day I die.” when he was so gung-ho about getting his hands chopped off and replaced with giant claws. Therefore I could see a “I think, therefore I am.” sort of philosophy with regards to his gender developing as he gets older. “I think I want to be a girl today, so I am a girl! That’s all there is to it!” Unfortunately, considering he was being raised to be a weapon (or at least a lab rat) of some sort, I don’t know how much his identity would be respected, but I’d imagine there’s at least one or two people in his life that would nod and swap over to what he was feeling that day. 

5. Lexi as a nonbinary woman. To explain a little bit, most people who imagine nonbinary genders for the first time think of gender as a slider with “dude” on the left side and “lady” on the right side with nonbinary genders somewhere in the middle. And for some people, that’s how they feel… but for others, its not that simple, with their gender being somewhere “off the grid” so to speak, or aligning themselves with one gender but… not.. QUITE all the way with it, or picking and choosing the parts of it they like, etc. So a girl or a guy, but… a nonbinary girl or guy. I could see Lexi as this, using she/her pronouns or they/them pronouns, just kind of being blase about it. 

I talked about the Wight’s general culture a little bit and how it came off to me, but not Thal’nasia’s. To put it simply, I don’t think Thal’nasia is NEARLY as bad as the Wights, but I do think it has its own troubles. Between Trevor’s comments about how the humans shouldn’t trust anyone (which is probably in reference to the politicians, but it also implies a “the walls have ears” sort of vibe for the kingdom in general) and the fact that the elves are several years behind human culture in general, I could imagine being different in this way wouldn’t be… necessarily frowned upon, but there would certainly be a lot of gossip. Not to mention, it’s not like anyone who lives there can just move away if coming out doesn’t go so well. So I’d imagine things would be a little awkward for anyone who’s off the beaten track in terms of gender identity or sexuality, getting a lot of gritted teeth smiles and hesitant “Uh-huhs”. And then getting a lot of whispers and giggles as soon as their back is turned.

With that in mind, I think Lexi would have some trouble getting people to take her seriously, but in some ways I think this meshes well with what we saw of her in the preboot setting. She’s already a pretty counterculture person, working in a store that explicitly sells things that are edgy or in poor taste. And she’s already used to secluding herself to a degree, considering that she had been able to hide her plague markings for a while by the time we saw her for the first time. So for people she doesn’t know too well, I could see her introducing her gender in a half-joking manner similar to how she runs her shop in general, and gauging their reaction to see if they’re cool about it or not, at which point she’d either double down on the edgy performance or relax a bit.

6. Cerene is polyamorous! This one’s mostly for fun, and mostly because it was implied that Cerene had to pick either Morris or Charlie, and… why not both? Neither Morris nor Charlie seemed to dislike each other, and neither seem like the jealous type. Morris is super chill and reasonable, and as I already mentioned up in #3 I really don’t think Charlie’s the kind to care about traditional relationships. And who’s to say they wouldn’t like each other as well? Not to mention Cerene’s certainly capable of splitting her attention and dedicating the time needed to maintain a relationship that’s… bigger than most peoples’. I’m just saying, if anyone could make a polycule work, it’s probably Cerene with her insane networking skills. Bael’s downplaying her skills by just assuming she sleeps around a lot. Oh no- she’s asking multiple people about their day, keeping notes of their personal preferences and wants for birthday gift reasons, and plotting out multiple sweet date ideas to take place simultaneously. She has this shit ORGANIZED. There is a day planner. Also she gets to bang a lot but that’s, like, secondary.

7. James Narron is gay? Perhaps? Granted we only barely know him, but still. He seems like a nice guy with a tendency to scoop up and mentor outcast children. Perhaps due to a history of being a bit of an outcast himself? Not enough to damage his career- he’s still head of the scholar’s society after all- but something that makes him feel a little different in the crowd. I just think it would be neat!

8. Mara is a trans girl. This one’s a bit harder to explain, and considering I have no idea how she’s translated over to the reboot timeline (if at all, seeing as the circumstances of her backstory and personality have been completely erased.) Buuut I think this meshes well with her once you take into account her various motivations. She’s determined to be taken seriously. People try to brush her off due to being very young and not mentally fit for the position due to the whole “child soldier” thing. So she’s used to people not taking her seriously at best and at worst finding the fact that she’s in her hard-earned position at all to be disgusting. Not to mention that folks don’t exactly trust the red army to start with. This… surprisingly parallels a lot of what transwomen have to go through, both being taken seriously as real women and as not being seen as a “threat”. This is probably even harder for younger trans girls who no doubt constantly get the “Okay, but can you really be SURE at your age?” treatment. 

You could also link this, surprisingly, into her hairstyle. Mara has boxy cut bangs in the front, but has a long twist braid in the back, far longer than most other characters in the comic. You could argue its a sense of personal style, but there’s a reason people in the military cut their hair so short (and even women in the military keep theirs in tight buns.). So you could handwave it as “it helps differentiate the character and looks like a vine, which is her whole shtick.”, which is a completely valid reading! But it’s known that a lot of trans women grow their hair out as a point of pride in transitioning, and its heartbreaking if they have to get it cut off again. So while it might be more convenient and strategic for Mara to cut her hair, she could also have a very good reason for keeping it as long as possible,

9. Dr. Grenner is bisexual. Or just questioning? Something like that? This has zero textual support and is just kind of fun to think about in terms of the personal conflict it would bring up for him. First and foremost- not everyone figures out that they’re LGBT right away. It’s not a “kids these days” sort of thing, anyone can learn something new about themselves at any time. It would be nice to see a character that has this experience, just for fun and interest! That being said, Grenner as we know him would be an interesting choice for this, considering that until very recently in the preboot’s storyline, he was likely happily married to a woman. (I mean. Iggy had to come from SOMEWHERE, and I doubt he was plucked out of a cabbage patch.) And it ended… badly. 

As a result, I could see him being really conflicted due to his grief and the fact that he’s now single for the first time in decades. And, well. Santris is the only guy who really seems to stop and have any in depth conversations with him who isn’t a coworker or a patient. (Also, he’s kinda pretty. And Grenner finds that he can’t really stop looking at his eyes? That’s. Weird. Hm.) This leads into mental conflict between “It’s fine! Plenty of people figure this out at your age, and let’s be honest, there WERE some signs for it back when you were in college.” and “This isn’t anything, you’re still heavily grieving and you have a monster living in the back of your head and you’re heavily projecting onto the one person that actually treats you like a person. Get ahold of yourself.” Which one is it? Well, that’s what storytelling is for, you figure it out. But I could easily imagine himself just sitting there and psychoanalyzing himself endlessly to try and keep the issue at arms length, treating himself like a patient to avoid having to confront the emotional reality of his grief, guilt, and weird crush.

Not sure how Santris would feel about all of this because who even knows what that guy thinks, but I’m pretty sure he would definitely notice. And maybe milk it just a little bit so he doesn’t have to stretch and grab things on tall shelves anymore. Or pull out his own chair. Or make his own coffee. It’s a nice change of pace.

Is this piling too much on poor Grenner when he’s already such a guilt driven person? Yeah, probably. But what is fiction but a chance to torment fictional people with weird crises about their sexuality.

10. The old Wights? Are probably a lot of things? I’m not necessarily referring to the old Wights we’ve seen already, just the culture and atmosphere for the old clan in general. I definitely noticed how the old Wights and Adigards definitely don’t have the same culture as the new ones. There’s no need to prove themselves to be great- they ARE the greatness that the modern Wights are trying to live up to. So there’s not as much of an issue with trying to “fit in”. They’re the ones setting the standard to start with. Not to mention the old Wights are so far modified from their original human bodies already, does it really matter what they identify as after a certain point? That guy has 50 arms with flesh ripping claws and you’re saying he’s not a guy because there’s also a set of boobs involved? How do you know he didn’t put those on himself anyway? Let’s be honest, most people are going to refer to you as “OH GOD, WHY WON’T IT DIE!” anyway. Might as well call yourself whatever you want.

There’s also at least a little bit of historical support to this as well. The old Wights are vikings, or at least rather viking-inspired. In comparison to a lot of peoples that were living at the same time, vikings were surprisingly chill? It’s pretty well known that viking women could own property and demand divorces, etc. Who’s to say the Adigard family couldn’t take that an extra step further? 

And then there’s the characters I WOULDN’T make a particular thing, whether it REALLY doesn’t make sense for them story-wise, or would just be stumbling into a bad stereotype for a particular group. I don’t think it’s impossible, but you’d definitely need to have more members OF that group in the story to make it clear that that’s just what that particular CHARACTER is like, and not an assumption of what that group of PEOPLE is like.

1. It could look bad if Sally was a transwoman. Don’t get me wrong- I love Sally a LOT. Like, SO much. Her personality is so much fun and I just love big, kinda dumb brawler characters. She has interesting twists to her personality (like how she loves being strong and having cool powers but is also aware that she didn’t use to be quite this aggressive and violent and finds it difficult to know where the line is and know when to stop.) and makes an excellent foil to the characters that have a tendency to ramble on. But… let’s be honest, having the explicitly beefy, aggressive female character be the only transgender woman would be a really bad look. Trans women are very frequently under a large amount of scrutiny for how they present themselves, and overly muscled and aggressive individuals are one of the negative stereotypes for that group. Does that mean I think Sally is a bad character? No, absolutely not! I’m aware she has depth, and for a cisgender woman I think her power set is a breath of fresh air. God knows I’d love to have the ability to throw someone across a city block when a guy’s been following me for a little too long when I’m walking home at 2 am. But I do think that, in the absence of other trans women, making her transgender would be choice made in poor taste as it hews too close to stereotypes that have been made to insult and belittle these women.

2. Max and Arthur as… well, anything. This is in regards to the preboot setting. We have known Arthur for literally one page in the reboot and he’s already clearly pretty different from the old version of him so I’m withholding all judgement there. Still, this one’s a little harder to explain. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of a young Maxwell feeling absolutely nothing for all of the girls dragged in front of him as potential suitors and eventually picking one for no reason other than “Dad liked her”. Max assuming its normal to feel this way because being asexual isn’t an option when it’s your literal job to carry on the family bloodline. I like the idea of Arthur waking up from an accidental nap in front of the TV to find that it’s moved on to some sort of documentary about trans women and how relieved they felt to be able to reflect on the outside how they felt on the inside and sits there watching it blithely for a little bit too long before he identifies that feeling in his chest as something close to pain and scrambles for the remote a little too fast while grumbling something about kids these days ruining their bodies for shits and giggles. (Hey remember how I mentioned that those skull motifs are usually only worn by girls? I say usually because Arthur is the only dude who wears them. Funny, that.)

It could definitely be interesting to interpret them as something else, but… I think it would have to be in an AU or timeline just to the left where they’re. Mmmmore tolerable as people. Look let’s be honest, in the original Suppression timeline, Max and Arthur are some of the biggest… well, evil people we see. The younger Wights have their sympathetic traits (or are just hilariously outmatched such that they aren’t really a threat. Sorry Jericho.). Grenner wasn’t even trying to be a villain. Kolt is creepy as hell and I try to forget he exists. William… isn’t really traditionally sapient, it’s hard to hate an evil Siri. We don’t know much about Santris, and we were really only getting started on Maggie and Bartleby. But Max and Arthur kill innocent people, kill their kids, kill each other because they’re canonically selfish, miserable people. If you wanted to redeem either, they’d have to be… well, not those people. So like I said, you’d need a different version of canon.

This is because, well. While I’m sure there are evil people that are… let’s pick one and say gay. 1. Gay-coding villains is a well known negative stereotype. And 2. Saying that people who are against LGBT rights in real life are totally just repressed gay people is both harmful and… idk, annoying. For point one, there’s plenty of villains where they’re presented with traits associated with LGBT individuals. Think how Ursula in The Little Mermaid was based on a drag queen, Scar in The Lion King is a sort of effeminate gay stereotype, Raoul Silva in Skyfall and his… weird homoeroticism. Don’t ask me why those were the first three examples that came to mind. In and of itself, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Everyone loves Disney villains, they’re the most fun characters! But in settings where they’re the ONLY characters that are LGBT, it suddenly creates the stereotype that… all LGBT people are inherently evil, deviant, or corrupt in some way. Which is a nasty thing to say. For a lot of the other villains, it could be fun! But these two are just so unavoidably (if amusingly) awful that it feels… weird to pin this stuff on them.

Which leads me into the second point. It’s fun to poke fun at say… a pastor saying all gay people are going to hell by going “Man, he has sure been talking about gay guys and their gay sex for a really long time huh? Makes you wonder, huh?” Because unfortunately at the end of the day… statistically, they aren’t. They just want to hurt those people (or “help” them in their own minds but again, let’s be real here.) And even if they ARE, they’re doing so much damage that it’s hard to feel sorry for them. It feels similar to my own experiences where I’d be bullied by a guy at school and the adults around me would be like “Oh don’t worry, he just has a crush on you!” Great! Awesome! That helps me out a LOT and makes me feel so much better. Really unrips up the homework he stole from me. That’s definitely a behavior we should be encouraging in guys too. Just fantastic. Yeah, I don’t think that mindset really helps anyone, and frankly feels like it would be a shallow addition to these guys.

And let’s be honest, with these two it feels like part of the fun that they’re so irredeemably awful because when they lose it feels just that much better. It was so, SO funny watching Max get squished by a demon falling several stories, or watching Sally deck Arthur in the face and Arrie blind him temporarily. It was fitting watching Arthur drink Max’s phylactery, wrapping up both of their character arcs as selfish people who inevitably only had each other but couldn’t even trust each other- and shouldn’t have. And then Sin Arthur got thrown around like a ragdoll by King Law like five minutes later. It was GREAT. If it turns out that deep down they felt differently but didn’t feel like they could say or do anything about it, it would make them more sympathetic and thus make me feel… well, worse about watching them get beat down on. Which would inevitably make those moments I mentioned fall a little flat. 

So, uhm. Yeah. I think that’s everything? Just about everything? Holy crap, I was NOT expecting to write this much. Maybe a few notes for each character, but nothing huge. And it did get huge, that’s. That’s a LOT of words. I’d apologize, but I’m not THAT sorry about it- it was really nice to get the opportunity to put to words some of the feelings I’ve been having on this stuff for a while.

[xtruss]

Why Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov’s South Asia Trip Is Crucial

In addition, unlike in years past, there’s nowadays a tangible reason for President Putin to visit Pakistan

— Andrew Korybko | April 05, 2021 | The Express Tribune

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi pose for a photograph prior to their talks in Islamabad on Wednesday April 07, 2021. (AP PHOTO.)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Special Envoy to Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov are visiting India and Pakistan this week. The visit is extremely important because it concerns much more than just the Afghan peace process and preparing for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s planned trip to India sometime later this year like most media have reported. Although those two topics are of course very significant, the real purpose of the visit is to advance Russia’s vision for a Greater Eurasian Partnership (GEP). South Asia has an indispensable role to play in this framework by virtue of the fact that it constitutes roughly a quarter of the world’s population, which in turn imbues it with promising economic potential across the 21st century.

To bring the reader up to speed, the GEP envisions the economic integration of the supercontinent through peaceful means. It perfectly aligns with what China is pursuing through its complementary Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), though the primary difference is that the GEP foresees Russia playing a comparatively greater role in this process. The Eurasian Great Power has recently leveraged its impressive diplomatic capabilities to “balance” between the landmass’ various pairs of rivals such as Armenia and Azerbaijan, China and India, Iran and Saudi Arabia, and Syria and Turkey, among others. In the South Asian context, this has seen the revival of the Russian-Indian Strategic Partnership in parallel with Russia’s rapid rapprochement with Pakistan in recent years.

Thus far, Russia’s geostrategic “balancing” act has largely succeeded, but it requires regular recalibration in the face of changing circumstances. Foreign Minister Lavrov’s visit is occurring against the backdrop of several exciting developments. The most prominent of these are of course the latest progress that’s been made in the Afghan peace processes following the recent talks in Moscow, February’s near-simultaneous clinching of a synchronised de-escalation deal between China and India and the surprise ceasefire between India and Pakistan, and last month’s tepid detente between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. The latter also coincided with Pakistan unveiling its multipolar grand strategy during the inaugural Islamabad Security Dialogue.

Having expected that Russia would inevitably incorporate South Asia into its GEP, I co-authored two academic articles last year about the most optimal means through which it could simultaneously engage with India and Pakistan to this end. The first related analyses was published by the official journal of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO, which is run by the Russian Foreign Ministry) and concerns “The Prospects Of Russia And India Jointly Leading A New Non-Aligned Movement” while the second was released by the prestigious Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) think tank and is about “Pakistan’s Role In Russia’s Greater Eurasian Partnership”. Both should be read in full by those who want to learn more about this.

File Photo: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov welcomes Shah Mehmood Qureshi during their meeting in Moscow, Russia. PHOTO: AFP

With these complementary visions in mind, it’s anticipated that Foreign Minister Lavrov will discuss several concrete topics during his trip apart from the Afghan peace process. In India, Russia’s top diplomat will likely brief his hosts about his recent visit to China as well as praise New Delhi for synchronised de-escalation deal that it reached with Beijing in February. The purpose is to explore the viability of reviving the Russia-India-China (RIC) framework. In addition, he’ll probably seek India’s reassurance that it’ll go through with its planned purchase of the S-400 air defense systems despite the US’ sanctions threats. Lastly, the two sides are expected to discuss the Vladivistok-Chennai Maritime Corridor (VCMC), especially its energy dimension.

While in Pakistan, Foreign Minister Lavrov will almost certainly seek to learn more about the country’s newly unveiled multipolar grand strategy because of how closely it dovetails with Russia’s GEP. He’ll probably also be interested in seeing whether February’s PAKAFUZ railway deal could become the core of a more comprehensive Central Eurasian Corridor (CEC) for connecting the Arctic and Indian Oceans like President Putin first envisioned in October 2019. If progress can be made on that front, then it might be worthwhile exploring whether the Russian leader could visit Pakistan later this summer right after his planned trip to India to sign a relevant agreement as well as inaugurate the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline. That would perfect Russia’s “balancing” act.

Nevertheless, expectations about the aforementioned scenario should be tempered, but they shouldn’t be completely dismissed either. It’s because of very close Russian-Pakistani diplomatic coordination that Moscow has been able to make progress on the Afghan peace process, especially when it comes to its recent cultivation of ties with the Taliban despite still designating that group as a terrorist organisation. This achievement has in turn solidified Russia’s status as a neutral peacemaker in Eurasia, which greatly advances the diplomatic dimension of its “balancing” strategy. It wouldn’t have been possible without Pakistan opening the doors to Russia in this respect, which Islamabad did out of its sincere desire for regional peace and rapprochement.

In addition, unlike in years past, there’s nowadays a tangible reason for President Putin to visit Pakistan. The planned commencement of the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline’s construction this summer serves as the perfect opportunity for the Russian leader to finally pay a visit to the South Asian state. The multibillion-dollar deal represents one of the largest energy-related ones that Russia has reached in recent years. It also stands to become a flagship Russian project in the region and the symbol of rapidly improved relations with Pakistan. More Russian investments into the Pakistani economy might therefore be forthcoming, especially if progress is made on the Central Eurasian Corridor as was earlier discussed.

In any case, even if President Putin doesn’t end up visiting Pakistan later this summer right after his planned trip to India, Foreign Minister Lavrov’s trip to South Asia this week is still extremely significant because it shows how eager Russia is to incorporate the region into its GEP. It also represents the pragmatic recalibration of Moscow’s strategic “balancing” act in the face of recently changing circumstances such as India’s dual de-escalations with China and Pakistan and the latest progress that’s been made on the Afghan peace process. It can therefore be said that Russia has returned to South Asia after a several-decade-long hiatus, but in a much more constructive way than before since this time its approach is a lot less partisan and all about peaceful Eurasian integration.

— By Andrew Korybko: The writer is an American Moscow-based political analyst specialising in the relationship between the US strategy in Afro-Eurasia, China’s One Belt One Road global vision of New Silk Road connectivity, and Hybrid Warfare.

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This Week Within Our Colleges: Part 14

A Princeton student believes that the radical progressive groups Antifa and Black Lives Matter are merely “organizations that stand for equality” who “bravely face off” against Neo-Nazis. Writing in The Daily Princetonian, Cox alleges President Trump intentionally endorsed Nazis, and openly supported fascism. “Institutions like Princeton should be expected to be functioning parts of The Resistance... White silence is white support for the wrong side. If one who is white remains silent, then they give the KKK a non-vocal stamp of approval... To my fellow white students and peers, we are not forced to walk amongst statues that glorify individuals who killed our ancestors. We are in a position of privilege regardless of how we look at it and remaining complicit at times like these only puts us in a position of support. This is not the time to remain neutral.” 

A woman’s studies professor at Clark University, attending a baseball game at Fenway Park declined to clap as a veteran was honored, cringed when the American flag was unfurled, and would not stand when the rest of the crowd did so to sing “America the Beautiful.” This was her personal way of protesting the patriarchy and what she calls “militarized, masculinity-heroism patriotism.” Trust me, it gets worse. Cynthia Enloe goes on to claim that these displays of honoring our service men and women, or as Enloe puts it, "militarized, masculinity-heroism patriotism,” only exists to remind women in the audience that they are inferior. “Women are popularly expected to be grateful to men and to the masculinized state for offering them militarized protection. Sentimentality, entertainment, appreciation and gratitude, each are routinely gendered to the extent that all four can be mobilized to serve masculinized militarized patriotism and patriarchy will be perpetuated.”

The University of Texas-Austin removed statues of three Confederate figures in the middle of the night as their continued presence would run “counter to the university’s core values,” UT President Greg Fenves said he was excited to show off his statue-free accomplishment to the incoming students, providing them with an “open, positive and inclusive learning environment.”

A University of Michigan fraternity announced that it canceled a “Nile”-themed party after a student from the school’s Egyptian Student Association criticized them for cultural appropriation. The event’s facebook page said students could come to the party as a mummy, Cleopatra or King Tut. ESA president Yasmeen Afifi lambasted the fraternity, repeatedly signaling them out for their skin color. “I am the president of the Egyptian student association and these whites don’t know what they got themselves into,” she said. “I will not allow my culture to be appropriated for your entertainment. White people have invaded, stolen, erased, and defaced numerous ancient Egyptian symbols and temples in attempt to claim one of the greatest civilizations as their own. This is much larger than just a party, it is the privilege that led them to think it was remotely okay.” Subsequently the fraternity released a statement apologizing, “We sincerely apologize to anyone who was hurt by the theme choice. We have learned our lesson and will take more precaution in the future when deciding themes for events.” 

A group of female high school students wearing “Make America Great Again” hats were repeatedly harassed and threatened with violence while visiting Howard University. The students were on a class trip to Washington D.C, and decided to stop at Howard University for lunch along the way. Howard students quickly took to social media to shame the high schoolers and alert other students of their presence, saying, “who told these lil yt girls they could come to the HU like it was about to be some joke.” In response, another student suggested asking the visitors to “meet you behind south” so she could “beat the f*ck out of them.” The university itself released a statement warning students that “there were visitors on our campus who were wearing paraphernalia that showcased their political support.” Multiple organizations affiliated with the university eventually responded to the incident, though only to soothe and reassure students that the female high schoolers had left campus. “We will take any action necessary to ensure that HU students feel safe and comfortable. This group is no longer on campus.” Meanwhile, the university’s NAACP chapter harshly rebuked the two high schoolers, writing that “Howard University students have no time for white supremacists and neo-nazi sympathizers on campus.”

A dean at George Washington University has a clear message, “Either you challenge the president’s blatant racism, or you are an accomplice to his repugnant views and a detriment to your own sense of personal honor.” “Events in the aftermath of the violence in Charlottesville have made this abundantly clear. For the first time in our history, a Nazi sympathizer occupies the Oval Office,” says dean Reuben Brigety. “If anyone continues to serve Trump without denouncing him, he or she will “have to explain why you chose to silently serve America’s first Nazi-in-chief.”

Students at the University of Pennsylvania have published an open letter calling upon the university to adopt numerous measures to combat “hate speech” on campus. “We are not satisfied that all reasonable preventative action has been taken to protect the wellbeing and physical safety of students at Penn who are not white,” reads the letter. The outrage stemmed from a op-ed co-authored by University of Pennsylvania law professor Amy Wax, who made the reasonable argument that single parenthood, antisocial habits, thug culture and anti-assimilation ideas - prevalent in all races - shouldn’t be embraced in a first world, 21st-century environment. The students replied with numerous demands for the university to censor this “hate speech,” saying if the university does not comply, they will be held responsible for “harming” and “dehumanizing” its “vulnerable students.” 

Brown University has announced it will be the recipient of a $30,000 grant from the Association of American Colleges and Universities to address “racial justice.” Two of the initiatives the university is planning are discussion groups for female Muslim students and another for black students. The latter will focus on - wait for it - “issues of colorism.” Well that’s a new one. Initiative leader Janet Cooper Nelson said she hoped to create an “intimate setting” which would provide Muslim women “hospitality, healing and empathy” and holding a dinner for black females will allow participating students to “discuss issues of identity, race, gender and colorism within communities of color.” 

Sam Houston State University will offer a course this semester called “Understanding Whiteness” to help students understand “white privilege” and develop “white racial literacy.” “How might white people better understand white privilege and their potential role in dismantling systemic racism?” the description asks. “What is white privilege and how does it apply to you?” ... Let me guess, if you’re white, it applies to you? The many topics the course aims to cover includes “the role of race in one’s life; examination of white racial identity; how whiteness operates within institutional structures; systemic privilege and oppression; key historic events advancing white privilege (global colonization, holocaust); and current dialogues about whiteness in the US.” The course pledges to students that by the end, they will be better white allies, having “developed white racial literacy in acting upon systemic racism.”

Yale University censored a stone work of art on campus depicting an armed Native American and Puritan side by side. The stone carving was edited to cover up the Puritan’s musket, while the Native American’s bow was left as is to spare the students from being exposed to a “hostile environment.” The censorship of the school’s historic stone carving marks one of the first major accomplishments of the newly elected art committee and a win for their “A More Inclusive Yale” campaign. It is unclear why officials decided to cover the musket while leaving the bow untouched, or why they deemed the artwork inappropriate in the first place as there’s been no recorded student complaints.

A Clemson University professor went on quite a rant to voice his contempt for Trump supporters and Republicans. “All trump supporters, nay, all Republicans, are racist scum,” Assistant Professor of Human-Centered Computing Bart Knijnenburg wrote. “This society is aggressively structured to make cis white males succeed, at the expense of minorities.” Additionally, Knijnenburg explicitly endorses the Antifa slogan of ‘punching Nazis,’ “I admire anyone who stands up against white supremacy. Violent or non-violent. This needs to stop, by any means necessary. #PunchNazis”

Students at Stanford University can join a “Disrupting Whiteness” club in an effort to end the “white liberal apathy” and “white privilege” of their peers. “White students must step up to educate themselves and those around them,” the club description states, adding that “white students can and should do a lot more than we currently do in when it comes to race education and anti-racist action.” The group recently attracted attention after they published a document following the Charlottesville riots in which they sought to teach white people how they can “step up,” and to give money “to actual black, brown, and Jewish people.” Micaela Suminski, the group’s leader, says that “every white person can do things to disrupt whiteness and work against these skewed systems,” such as “talking with coworkers, relatives, and friends about implicit bias or the dangers of white supremacy; buying from POC-owned businesses; or donating money.”

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Tuesday protested against a confederate statue on campus known as Silent Sam, chanting “tear it down” and holding signs reading “White People-We Must Own Our Racism.” At one point the event became heated when a male protester was detained by police, prompting the crowd to chant “cops and Klan go hand in hand.” Protesters then surrounded the police van the man was held in, chanting “let him go” repeatedly. As the protest continued into the night, it migrated to streets near campus, and the loonies chanted: “Hey hey, ho ho, this racist statue has got to go.” They finally gave up, not before vandalizing the statue first, of course. 

San Francisco State University plans to launch a “Black Unity Center” this fall to provide black students with an “intersectional, afrocentric environment.”  The creation of the center stemmed from student protesters who “were feeling unsupported on campus,” according to the director of the center. Black students protested and accused the school of “failing to address their needs” and ultimately listed a set of demands, one of them was creating a Black Student Center. As a result the administration along with faculty did as they were told, now the demands have been met, the university’s president, Les Wong, proudly affirms a “commitment to diversity and social justice.”

Two professors, one from Purdue University and the other from Stanford University, are assembling a "Campus Antifascist Network" (CAN) to serve as a “big tent” for “anyone committed to fighting fascism” with the goal of confronting groups it considers fascist and “driving racists off campuses.” “Since Trump’s election, fascists, neo-fascists, and their allies have used blatantly Islamophobic, anti-semitic, racist, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, and ableist messaging and iconography to recruit to their ranks and intimidate students, faculty, and staff,” the professors write, adding that CAN will “build large, unified demonstrations against fascists on campuses.” “The time to take action is now.” 

A professor at the University of Massachusetts-Boston wants business professors to engage in more “intellectual activism” to promote “social justice.” Alessia Contu urges business professors to join the fight by adopting an activist stance in the classroom, which she calls a “form of political work” inspired by “black, feminist, critical race scholars.” This activism, she explains, calls upon professors to fight against “white supremacy, hetero-normative patriarchy and environmental exploitation.” While she acknowledges that business schools aren’t exactly known as a hotbed of progressive politics, Contu argues that there are still opportunities for professors to engage in this activism while on the job, such as infusing “intersectionality” into syllabi and asking “radical questions.” 

A professor at the University of Minnesota states the concerns of people over illegal immigration’s impact on the U.S are rooted in “racist nativism.” According to Bic Ngo, “As these immigrants are positioned as outsiders and scapegoats for the disorders of US society, whites are constructed as the native population with a legitimate place in the country.” Ngo then takes her argument a step further, claiming Trump’s proposal to build a wall along America’s southern border and improved vetting of visitors from terror-riddled countries, apparently shows Trump “aims to revive the American Dream through an instantiation of whiteness and global isolation.”

Students at the University of Virginia have issued a list of demands that includes racial quotas and mandatory “education” about Thomas Jefferson’s connection to white supremacy. The ultimatum was issued Monday during a rally to “send a message to the university that we demand more from them.” The list begins with a demand that UVA remove Confederate plaques and change the plaque on a Jefferson statue to refer to him as an emblem of white supremacy. They also insist that buildings “named after prominent white supremacists or slaveholders should be renamed after people of marginalized groups.” Other items on the list demand explicit racial quotas for both the faculty and the student body and here’s the funniest one of them all: They demand that the school spends $13,000 on minority students, because - wait for it - one hundred years ago, the KKK gave the school $1000, which would be $13,000 today, so to prove that the school is sorry for its racist history, it must spend the KKK money on its non-white students.