#i also think this take strains credibility

[cantsayidont]

December 1986. In the wake of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, John Byrne plainly expresses the ugly nativist foundations of Superman's new post-Crisis origin. Contemplating the history and culture of Krypton, which he's just received as a massive telepathic info-dump from a hologram of Jor-El, Superman unequivocally rejects as "ultimately meaningless" every single aspect of his Kryptonian heritage, from language to art to religion. Moreover, he expressly denies that he himself is an immigrant. This is not simply semantic; in Byrne's version, the starship that carries Kal-El to Earth is a "birthing matrix" — an in vitro womb in which Kryptonian embryos are grown — so he's not technically born until he lands on Earth and is decanted by his human parents on American soil:

This is actually Byrne's kindest take on the post-Crisis Krypton in this period: His horrifying 1988 WORLD OF KRYPTON miniseries, drawn by Mike Mignola, presents Jor-El's world as a fallen, postapocalyptic society, ruined, both environmentally and morally, by the degeneracy (a word I use advisedly) of Krypton's last Golden Age. Only Jor-El is presented as having any moral worth, and only because of his interest in the traditions and history of Krypton before the fall, which his father and peers (including Lara) consider distasteful. This questioning of modern Kryptonian culture ultimately gives Jor-El the wherewithal to save his (unborn) son from Krypton, both from its actual destruction and from its soulless corruption of natural human values. Yikes!

It's also worth recalling the status quo that MAN OF STEEL erased. Since 1958, Superman had been part of a diaspora of Kryptonian survivors: Besides himself and Krypto (with whom Byrne later dispensed very harshly), there were the millions of inhabitants of the Bottle City of Kandor, stolen by Brainiac before the destruction of Krypton and later enlarged on the distant planet Rokyn; Supergirl, born on Argo City after Krypton's destruction; the prisoners in the Phantom Zone; the Kryptonian bully Dev-Em and his parents (who later traveled to the 30th Century); and Supergirl's Kryptonian parents (who survived the destruction of Argo City and later settled in Kandor). In his Fortress of Solitude, Superman kept a private journal in Kryptonese. His intimates often referred to him as "Kal," not Clark. He observed, to at least some degree, certain Kryptonian customs, and in moments of stress, he would invoke the name of the Kryptonian god ("Great Rao!"). He was, like many members of real-world diasporas, a man of two worlds — neither wholly of Krypton nor entirely of Earth, but part of both, and an interstellar hero.

The Byrne/Wolfman reboot erased almost every facet of that, and very deliberately. Part of this, of course, was a desire to shake things up for commercial reasons, while part was DC's editorial conviction (mistaken, I think) that allowing any Kryptonian survivors other than Superman himself weakened and undermined Superman as a character. However, as the pages above make clear, it was also a desire to slam the door on the idea of Superman as an immigrant — and, by extension, on the Jewish coding that had been a central feature of the Superman comics mythos for nearly 30 years.

[psychotrenny]

There's a real unearned confidence to the way that Social Democrats talk about their ideology, like they've cracked the code and found the perfect way forward and the only reason people disagree is because they're misguided or evil. Like they'll correctly point out problems within Neoliberal Capitalism before spouting some absolute nonsense about how uniquely evil and dysfunctional Communism was (nearly always in the past tense too; they take it for granted that the end of the USSR was the end of all Communism) and then going "Don't worry though, there's a third way; a mixed regulated economy. We can have a free market in consumer goods while making sure that corporations pay their fair share in wages and taxes that can fund the welfare that looks after everyone". And like putting aside the fact that such a model relies on the super-profits of imperialist exploitation to actually function, and the inherent instability of an arrangement where the Bourgeoisie make concessions even while maintaining ultimate control of the economy, there's the simple fact that much of the Imperial Core did indeed had Social Democracy but does not anymore.

Like these Social Democrats never think about why that might be, why their ideology failed and what they can learn from it going forward. They just act as though some dumb individuals (i.e. Ronald Reagan, Milton Friedman etc.) managed to slip into power and make bad decisions and like the best way to fix this is to vote good people in who'll change it back. Like hell a lot of these people take the previous existence of these policies as like a good point, the whole "We had them before so we aren't being radical by wanting them back. We don't want anything crazy we just wanna bring back The New Deal or Keynesian Economic policy or whatever". There's never any thought about why those policies failed (how often do you hear these people even talk about "stagflation" or "the oil crisis" let alone the impact of the fall of the soviet union) and what implications this might have on the viability of bringing it back. They also love talking about how Social Democratic institutions are still largely intact in the Scandinavian countries, but rather than even consider what specific factors in their political-economic situation led to this these people just go "Damn isn't Sweden great. Why aren't we doing exactly what they do?"

And sure some people might compare this to Marxism-Leninism, the whole "trying to bring back a defeated ideology", but for one it's stupid to treat the dissolution of the USSR as the end of Communism as a global political force. It may have been a major blow, but even if you write off like Cuba and Vietnam as too small and insignificant to matter you can't just fucking ignore that over 1/6 of the world's population continues live under a Marxist Leninist party. Whatever concessions these countries may have made to global Capitalism, it's just plain ignorant to act as though Communism suffered anywhere near the humiliating loss of global power and credibility that Social Democracy has. Sure the latter may be more politically acceptable to toy with in "The West", but "The Western World" ≠ The Entire World. Also, nearly every ML on the planet is painfully aware that Soviet Communism collapsed and that it collapsed for a reason. There might be plenty of contention about why exactly it died and what exactly we can learn from this, but nearly everyone agrees that we need to learn and ideologically grow. No serious Communist wants to "bring back the USSR" in the same way that many Social Democrats want to "bring back The Welfare State". Far from being a form of "best of both worlds" mixed economy, Social Democracy is nothing more than a flimsy tool to stabilise Imperialist Capitalism at its moments of greatest strain. And if people are still gonna promote it wholeheartedly as the best possible solution, I wish they'd be a little less arrogant about it. It's not as though they have history on their side

[rederiswrites]

Look, I think if you're a US citizen you should go on Youtube and watch the debate, or at least some of the chunks of it where the topic matters most to you. You can't counter the arguments if you don't know what arguments they're making. And no, I don't mean arguing with your aunt that drank the conspiracy koolaid. I mean that there are genuinely a lot of people out there hearing what Trump is saying and thinking, "I don't know. That sounds really scary."

So know what he said, and know not just THAT he lied, but HOW he lied.

Sometimes, it's easy. There are no "abortions" after a baby is born. That would be uhhh let's see MURDER and it's already pretty illegal everywhere and absolutely no one is trying to change that. The comment Trump attributed to former VA governor Ralph Northam is completely misrepresented. Northam (whom I am not defending as a person, by the way) was commenting on the subject of *non-viable* pregnancies that represented a health risk to the mother. Nobody was talking about killing babies. Nobody. Not even Mr. Blackface.

Sometimes it's so addled that I'll leave someone else to unpack, for example, what the FUCK he was on about with the giving illegal aliens in prison forced "trangender surgery". Personally I'm assuming he just used the random word generator in his head to say something that sounded scary to him.

There is NO credible evidence that anyone, much less Haitian immigrants, is eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. Both government officials and the police say there's nothing to it. Springfield has had a huge influx of Haitian immigrants, and this is causing infrastructure strain and racial tensions. But again, people who would rather believe that a) legal immigrants are okay with *stealing your pets and eating them* and b) the entire police and gov't infrastructure of a town and the surrounding county want to cover this up, are not worth our energy. It's the people who don't know the truth and are worried that we want to reach.

And my guy, my man, Cheeto Benito, that is not how tariffs work. Tariffs are not magical free money that other countries just HAVE to give you. They're...they're not that at all. Look, I'm lazy so I'm just gonna quote CNN:

Here’s how tariffs work: When the US puts a tariff on an imported good, the cost of the tariff usually comes directly out of the bank account of an American buyer. “It’s fair to call a tariff a tax because that’s exactly what it is,” said Erica York, a senior economist at the right-leaning Tax Foundation. “There’s no way around it. It is a tax on people who buy things from foreign businesses,” she added. Trump has said that if elected, he would impose tariffs of up to 20% on every foreign import coming into the US, as well as another tariff upward of 60% on all Chinese imports. He also said he would impose a “100% tariff” on countries that shift away from using the US dollar. These duties would add to the tariffs he put on foreign steel and aluminum, washing machines, and many Chinese-made goods including baseball hats, luggage, bicycles, TVs and sneakers. President Joe Biden has left many of the Trump-era tariffs in place. It’s possible that a foreign company chooses to pay the tariff or to lower its prices to stay competitive with US-made goods that aren’t impacted by the duty. But study after study, including one from the federal government’s bipartisan US International Trade Commission, have found that Americans have borne almost the entire cost of Trump’s tariffs on Chinese products. To date, Americans have paid more than $242 billion to the US Treasury for tariffs that Trump imposed on imported solar panels, steel and aluminum, and Chinese-made goods, according to US Customs and Border Protection. [link]

Also though you should watch the debate because Harris was an absolute savage and it was genuinely HUGELY entertaining to watch her mercilessly bait Trump in every answer she gave, and watch him take the bait every. fucking. time.

[lurkingshan]

Things That Have My Attention in 4 Minutes Episode 5

If you watched this on iQIYI you missed a few scenes! A couple of which I think were actually important. Gaga has the full cut.

The show did a nice little montage summarizing the core theory (that is clearly correct): Great is in the midst of a NDE and is experiencing a mix of things during the 4 minute window: memories, perceptions, rewinds and do-overs, and a new start with Tyme who he purportedly had a relationship with in the original timeline.

Also as theorized, the NDE seems to have begun at 11:00, so Great has until 11:04 in this limbo space. We saw the clock advance to 11:03 in today's episode.

We still know very little about the original timeline, including how Great and Tyme got involved the first time around and what happened with their relationship there that might inspire the desire for a fresh start.

Re: the cold opens with Tonkla and the murders, I do not think we're being shown those events in chronological order given Title was still alive in today's open.

Speaking of, only a brief appearance in the open from Tonkla before he sat the rest of this episode out. Interesting after several weeks of him dominating the story.

I am still trying to make sense of the way this romance is advancing in the redo timeline, and it only works if both Great and Tyme are in this 4 minutes limbo together and coming with pre-existing knowledge of and inclination to trust each other. Otherwise, their instant closeness and partnership in this situation with Great's family really doesn't make sense. Why would Tyme tell Great everything and trust him to handle his family after just meeting him and having sex one time? That goes beyond straining credibility unless he is also reliving things.

The smartest thing Tyme could have done was to take that bribe money and run. If he wanted to be decent, he'd have given Nan a cut and helped her run, too. But he seems preoccupied with Great in a way that doesn't really track unless he also knows him already.

Speaking of Nan, that poor woman has been through it. I was yelling at Tyme when he told her nothing and expected her to just accept that he was not going to take action. As fucking if, dude.

The rewind/do over in this episode felt different than the others. When Great went back, he didn't actually relive the same scene, he and the shooter were just suddenly in different positions. And all he accomplished was getting himself shot along with his mom.

I liked the way the lady from the initial accident came back around this episode to cause that, BUT it also just opens up more questions about the timelines because if she died in the original timeline, she would not have been able to set up a hit on Great's family. So, did saving her cause new bad shit? Did Great's mom also die in the original timeline, but differently? And will anything that happens in the redo actually stick?

We saw in this episode that when Korn is actually in trouble he goes to Fasai, not Tonkla. I get the sense that he has been with Fasai for years and likely the entire time he's been messing around with Tonkla; I was not surprised that she's always known. They are not a love match but they need things from each other. He never intended to be with Tonkla for real.

By the way, I was dying at Korn's little motivational speech to Great. He has to help his father do evil shit so their family can "survive." Survive what? Not being filthy rich, I guess. Great's mom was similarly desperate to cling to the status and wealth she clawed and scraped for. Nobody in this family has any true morality.

And yet I find it weird that they are letting Great run around causing a ruckus and not putting a stop to it or even punishing him. He is remarkably spoiled and pampered compared to Korn. Is this their dad's feelings about his two wives being acted out on his sons? If so, why does Great hate his dad so much?

LET'S TALK ABOUT THE FINAL SCENE. As Tyme was running through the tunnel, lights flickering around him, there were bruises appearing and then disappearing on his face. Are we seeing his NDE??

This show is still so much fun to watch and think about even if I am scratching my head at some of what happens.

[howtofightwrite]

Speaking of martial competence, do you have any examples of characters that are actually written with this in mind?

Loads. Some actually even make good on that.

So, there's different kinds of martial competence. There are characters who are proficient in combat directly, there are well written strategists, there are characters who excel at military leadership, and when they're written well, you can actuallylearn some things from them.

I'm going to give some examples, and at least one cautionary example.

For, just, raw combat prowess, I still go back to Robert E. Howard's Conan short stories. It's easy to meme on the character, especially 90 years after the fact, with the cultural persona that's grown around him, but Howard's original writing is excellent. The character would not have survived Howard's early (and, frankly, tragic) death if it was just the one note gag you might expect, if your only exposure to the character was through cultural osmosis and the films.

Howard's fight scenes were shockingly well written. To the point that it is still absolutely worth reading if you want to write a fantasy fighter.

For strategists, three characters come to mind, but only two are literary, and all are Science Fiction.

Grand Admiral Thrawn is probably one of the best villains Star Wars has ever produced, it's part of why he's one of the few characters that's migrated from the original EU to the Disney era. My personal take is, as a character, he's lost a lot over the years, but the original incarnation from the early 90s novels is a very solid model for a strategist. Particularly in how he takes time to understand his opponents while looking for potential weak points to exploit.

His practice of studying a culture's art to understand their psychology might sound a bit goofy, but the concept does have a real basis. (At least, until it metastasized into a superpower, in later adaptations of the character.) Being able to psychologically assess your foe is an incredibly valuable element of strategy, and one that you probably want to consider when you're writing a character who is supposed to be a “strategic genius.”

When writing fiction, you want to consider all of your characters as if they were people, rather than as hollow, plastic toys. And, yes, the obnoxious villain who knows exactly what your heroes will do because of authorial fiat is going to be a more compelling character than the ambulatory goldfish villain who exists as a prelude for your heroes showing off how badass you think they are.

Granted, even in Heir to the EmpireThrawn was already drawing strategic insights that strained credibility, but understanding your foe is an element of strategic thinking that is often forgotten in literature. So, even as a villain in a tie-in novel (we're not done with tie-in fiction yet), he is worth looking at. At least when written by Timothy Zhan, Thrawn was a well written character, and even if he bordered on a Mary Sue at times, he escaped a lot of that stigma by justifying his competence.

It's also probably worth mentioning in passing that he's one of the few Imperial leaders in Star Wars who isn't also criminally incompetent.

The non-literary example of a strategist would be John Sheridan from Babylon 5. Unlike Thrawn, Sheridan's main strategic focus is on situational exploitation. A little of that comes from his knowledge of enemy procedures and psychology, but at lot of it comes from a rather ruthless approach to technical limitations. An alien race is using technology that blocks human targeting systems? Set up a nuclear mine and then send out a fake distress single to lure them in. Need to deal with a significantly larger, more dangerous ship? Lure them into a gas giant and and let the planet's gravity well drag them past crush depth. Bruce Boxleitner's performance helped sell the character, but Sheridan is a really solid science fiction strategist, who really exemplifies how technical limitations can have enormous strategic considerations.

I'm not citing Sheridan as an excellent example of a leader per se,it's certainly there, but it is harder to unpack from Boxleitner's performance. It does have some good payoffs much later in the series when he starts making some orders that cause his subordinates to sit up and stop what they're doing. And that is a consistent theme even back to his introduction, but, it's a tangible consequence to an intangible cause.

The last example is a negative example, both for strategy and leadership. And, as much as it pains me to say this, at least Orson Scott Card understood that Ender was a bad leader. At least in the original novel. To be blunt, Ender is a mediocre strategist at best. His highlights in the book involve, “inventing armor,” and creative movement in micrograv. That's setting the bar exceptionally low, and while it is reasonably within the range of what you could expect from a pre-teen, that's not much of a justification.

Again, I'm not a fan of Card, and I'm reallynot recommending Ender's Gameto anyone. However, if I didn't mention it, you know there'd be a reblog going for twelve hundred words about how Andrew Wiggin is the best strategist in literature, which, yeah, no.

Do you want a goofy, tie-in fiction, literary suggestion for the best leader in sci-fi? Too bad, because I'm pretty sure Ciaphas Cain is not that person. The Ciaphas Cain novels by Sandy Mitchell are unusual as leadership recommendations, because of how much Cain internally processes the social manipulation involved in military leadership. He's not a great leader, but he is exceptionallygood at explaining to the reader how he's creating that illusion to motivate the soldiers around him. In fairness, some of that is an intrinsic character flaw, he is incredibly insecure, and desperately trying to hide that fact. And the difference between being a great leader, and effectively creating a comprehensive illusion of a great leader is: There is no difference. As a serious complement, it is one of the few times I've seen an author treat leadership as an actual skill, and not simply an extension of a character's charisma. Which is why I'm singling this one out. It might sound like a joke inclusion initially, and the books are quite funny in a Warhammer 40k kind of way, but there is quite a bit of  value to be had.

-Starke

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[the-owl-tree]

reading the star excerpt (link here)

i quite like the prologue. i like curlfeather taunting splashtail, i like his insecurity being exacerbated. i think it actually hammers in how young and out of his depth he is

which....sucks the rest of the books portray him as this manipulative mastermind. he's much more fun of a villain when you can see him scrambling for power (and losing it)

which makes the whole riverclan as poor victims kind of suck. icewing rightfully calls out her clanmates for being cowards for uh- *checks notes* using mothwing as target practice?? sorry we're going over the top evil i see. anyways, my point is....yeah, riverclan IS complicit in this, they DO have a choice to say no. splashtail doesn't even have enforcers like brokenstar and tigerstar did, it's literally just one guy - heck the warriors themselves are the enforcers.

fear becomes a limp excuse at this point. you guys gotta unionize or something.

i think the book is really struggling to make splashtail's NO MISS OHKO X9999 ULTRAKILL ATTACK an actual credible attack. look i get it they think he has nine lives, but the three of them could take on a teen i believe it.

i think because this arc won't acknowledge that riverclan is complicit in letting this fester, that they wanted this kind of leadership, it makes him fall flat. how much scarier would it be, more gray it would be, difficult, and so and so on if the clan rallied behind their leader because of the prior events? i get it, they're playing into the fear angle, but there NEEDS to be some more willing participants or this doesn't work.

the closest we get is this exchange but like. guys. the gathering exchange was stupid as hell.

also, you'd think every brit was the worst dog owner in the world LMAO these boys are screaming and straining on their leash while the owners chatting away. every dog in brit is some cat mauling beast i guess.

i was so ready for repetitive "why should we do X??" let's fight about it for the next few pages that it was a fucking relief that cloverfoot was just "yep bring them in!". fucking uh flashbacks from bramblestar's leadership lmao

the phrasing on this made me snick. "behaved so badly" makes it sound like she was kind of unruly, not plotted to overthrow her leader lmao

i dont wanna nitpick, i am actually enjoying that the plot is moving and that things are happening but like....minor waste of a shadowclan pov. you'd think with how often they like to make references to past events, sunbeam being a shadowclan cat could absolutely come in handy in this situation (considering they once had nightheart explain shadowclan history to a shadowclan cat) but when she wonders if riverclan can ever repair itself, it really doesn't come up. idk, i guess i think she could've had a more optimistic perspective but ultimately it really isn't the biggest of deals.

uh oh guys something ELSE happened?? wanna know what happens??? well go buy IVYPOOL'S HEART ONLY FOR 25.99 AVAILABLE NOW AT RETAIL OUTLETS CLOSEST TO YOU. BUY NOW BUY NOW BUY NOW BUY NOW. DON'T YOU WANNA KNOW WHERE ICEWING IS GOING???? OOOH BUY OUR BOOKS!

Oooh the Gathering trap is actually good, ignoring how a lot of them get thrown the idiot ball a little bit to make it work. I figured it out quickly (even though this arc loves having shit happen offscreen), it's nice to see some trickery for once! only real drawback is the books once again going "what did splashstar do to riverclan??" as if he's mind controlling them. I'm gonna actually hold out on hope that this is a set up to Frostpaw realizing her Clanmates haven't been mind controlled or whatever, they're doing this because they want to, because splashstar's ideals appeal to them after everything.

it probably won't happen but i wanna hold out hope.

tentatively interested! preparing for status quo disappointment!

[morganmnemonic]

Hazbin hotel songs rated by whether or not they happened diegetically

Always chasing rainbows

While this is background music, it does not strain credibility to think that this song exists and has been sung before by Charlie in the hazbin universe.

5/10 not diegetic but not entirely metaphorical

Inside of every demon is a rainbow

The singing for sure happened. Some of the visuals strain credibility for what could have happened in a news room.

7/10

Inside of every demon is a lost cause

This literally happened.

10/10

Happy day in hell

Charlie is for real just like that.

10/10

Hell is forever

It's possible that Charlie did just start singing to Adam, and if that part is diegetic than Adam's lyrics are too. The visuals do get pretty metaphorical, however.

6/10

Stayed gone

Vox spent 7 years writing a disstrack for alastor, only for alastor to come up with a cutting rebuttal in all of 2 minutes. They are iconic. The metaphorical parts of the visuals happen in clearly marked metaphorical spaces.

8/10

It starts with sorry

I'm at a point where I'm assuming any singing done by Charlie is literal. The background strays from the world of the show, but the characters never do.

9/10

Respectless

For the songs that we know for a fact to have happened to have happened, one of the givens of the world is that there is musical magic in hell. With this in mind, there is no reason why this song couldn't have happened.

10/10

Whatever it takes

They are having a duet from miles away. No matter what magic is in play, I just don't buy that that is a thing they can do.

3/10

Poison

The only way this song could be diegetic is if Valentino spent all night filming an erotic music video, and the idea the song didn't come from angel diminishes it's impact.

2/10

Loser, baby

An outside observer comments on the song

7/10

Hells greatest dad

The singing happened. Absolutely none of the visuals did.

4/10

More than anything

Charlie takes after her father, who will also appearantly just start singing. Where the visuals differ from reality, it is flashback, not a metaphor. The singing is still happening in physical space, the audience just doesn't get to see it.

9.5/10

Welcome to heaven

This happened, and it's interesting because it implies that heaven might have the same song magic. But at the same time, it almost feels like a rehersed routine.

10/10

You didn't know

What the hell. Heaven has song magic too. That might as well be true.

10/10

Out for love

It adds meaning to say that this happened. Carmine is dancer. The rhythm is part of her characterization.

10/10

Ready for this

We are explicitly told that this happens several times.

11/10

More than anything 2.0

As a couple, this is just how they have important conversations.

10/10

The show must go on

Ok so if the spatial distance broke my suspension of disbelief in whatever it takes, and the timespan the song takes place over broke it in poison, there is no way this song can get a pass. It takes place over at least several days, between characters that are miles apart, and it happens out of chronological order. This did not fuckin' happen. Like at all.

-1000000000/10

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

I thought Fauci was hospitalized with the WEST NILE virsus? "Fauci wants to bring back MASKS after contracting COVID (despite being vaccinated SIX times)"

12 Aug 2024

By Alexa Lardieri U.S. Deputy Health Editor Dailymail.Com

The number of infections is increasing as part of another summer surge - even though hospitalizations and deaths from the virus remain at historic lows.

On Monday, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease said: 'The message is that if you are in a risk category you have got to take this seriously.'

The 83-year-old told people with comorbidities and seniors 'you should be wearing a mask' in crowded places.

He also revealed he had contracted Covid about two weeks ago. It was his third Covid infection and he has been vaccinated and boosted a total of six times.

The above shows weekly Covid deaths (blue bars) and percent positivity of Covid tests (orange line)

The above shows the percent positivity of Covid tests in the past week by region in the US

According to the CDC, the weekly Covid test positivity for the week ending August 3 was nearly 18 percent, compared to 16 percent the prior week and 10 percent one month before that. 

Test positivity is the share of Covid swabs taken that come back positive. 

World Health Organization officials warn that if the virus continues to spread, it could lead to new mutations and severe infections that evade vaccine protection and therapeutics. 

Deaths have been generally on the rise since May, but began declining the week ending July 20. They currently hover at around 500 per week, compared to more than 25,000 in the fall of 2020.

The elderly, people with compromised immune systems and those with comorbidities are more at risk of developing severe Covid, being hospitalized and have a higher risk of death from the virus. 

New documents 'credibly show' Covid DID leak from Wuhan lab, say House Republicans

Dr Fauci told MedPage Today Editor-in-Chief Dr Jeremy Faust: 'You don't have to immobilize what you do and cut yourself off from society, but regardless of what the current recommendations are, when you're in a crowded closed space and you're an 85-year-old person with chronic lung disease or a 55-year-old person who is morbidly obese with diabetes and hypertension, then you should be wearing a mask.

'And you should be careful to avoid crowded places where you don't know the status of other people and you should get vaccinated and boosted on a regular basis.'

Dr Fauci's face mask guidelines have long been criticized as people claimed they did not work to prevent the spread of Covid. 

The educational and social effects of face masks on children have been well documented, with one NIH study calling the impact of mask use on students' literacy and learning 'very negative.' 

Another NIH study also found that social distancing caused 'depression, generalized anxiety, acute stress and intrusive thoughts.'  

And in testimony to Republicans in June, Dr Fauci admitted he didn't remember reading anything to support that masking kids would prevent COVID.

When asked if masking kids was an effective way of preventing Covid transmission, he said: 'I still think that's up in the air.' 

Despite the mixed guidance, experts are still concerned about the rapid spread.

Dr Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University's School of Public Health and former White House Covid response coordinator, told NBC: 'If you just talk about infections, this is probably going to end up becoming the largest summer wave we’ve had. It’s still not as big as the winter waves, but it is starting to get close.'

Dr Anthony Fauci recommended that the elderly and people with comorbidities wear face masks to protect against Covid

Dr Jha said she expects this surge to peak in the next few weeks and subside in September, just as updated vaccines to target the KP.2 strain of Covid become available.  

Additionally, in a briefing last week, World Health Organization officials said 84 countries are experiencing a rise in the percentage of positive Covid tests over the last several weeks. 

WHO officials said: 'Covid-19 infections are surging globally... and are unlikely to decline anytime soon. The UN health agency is also warning that more severe variants of the coronavirus may soon be on the horizon.'

And wastewater surveillance suggests the spread of the virus is two to 20 times higher than what is currently being reported. 

WHO officials added that new waves of infection could spur mutations and more dangerous strains of the virus 'that could potentially evade detection systems and be unresponsive to medical intervention.

The health agency is urging countries to ramp up their vaccination efforts and promote yearly Covid vaccines for high-risk individuals. 

Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist and lead of the COVID-19 response at WHO, said: 'As individuals it is important to take measures to reduce risk of infection and severe disease, including ensuring that you have had a COVID-19 vaccination dose in the last 12 months, especially, if you are in an at-risk group.

'I am concerned with such low coverage and with such large circulation, if we were to have a variant that would be more severe, then the susceptibility of the at-risk populations to develop severe disease is huge.'"

[duhragonball]

I like to think that part of the appeal of Dragon Ball is the fact these random martial artists keep on taking on world-ending threats, because they are the only ones strong enough to do it. For that reason, do you think Dragon Ball would have gotten as good as it did if none of it's villains could blow up the world?

No, I don't think that would have affected the quality of Dragon Ball.

To be sure, blowing up the whole world is a cool way to raise the stakes. It's awesome how Vegeta tried to ragequit his invasion of Earth, and Goku had to stand his ground because the entire planet would have been destroyed if he didn't try to repel that world-ending Gallick Gun. It's also awesome that Frieza tried to destroy Namek because it was easier than fighting a Super Saiyan. It's awesome that Cell had a self-destruct feature, and the only way to foil it was to take him to a different planet with a smaller population. And of course, it's awesome that Majin Buu just went ahead and destroyed the Earth, and no one could stop him, and the story just kept on going anyway. Those are all big impressive story beats, and Dragon Ball might be poorer without them.

All that said, I don't think taking them out would make the story worse. The Red Ribbon Army arc was great, and the height of their power was that they could probably conquer the Earth with the right leadership and resources. The King Piccolo stuff was great, and the most he could do was to subjugate the Earth and perhaps wipe out its population.

I think it says a lot how the Piccolo Junior arc was such a classic, and yet the stakes were basically the same as the arc before it. Piccolo is back, and if Goku can't stop him then he'll just repeat what he did before. It works. The only real difference there is that Piccolo Junior was stronger and laser focused on eliminating Goku.

Radditz threatened to kill everyone on Earth and sell the empty planet to the highest bidder, which is cool because it goes beyond even what Piccolo had planned for it, which reinforced the notion of Piccolo and Goku teaming up to stop him.

Now you could stop right there, and continue the story with that same limit on "How bad could it get?" and things still work. Frieza planned to destroy Namek after making his wish, so that no one else could use the Dragon Balls, but he needn't have bothered, since killing Guru and the other Namekians would settle that just as easily. Cell's self-destruct could have just been some sort of biological agent that would kill everyone without damaging the planet itself. Kid Buu could have just fought Goku and Vegeta on Earth, though admittedly that's a tough call. You set this guy up as a planet-destroying monster, so it strains credibility that he's stuck on Earth for two days and never goes through with it.

Still, I think there's more to the story than just blowing up planets. Look at Super Hero, where all the major players are much, much stronger than the "planet busters" of Z, and yet it never comes up. Nobody in the story wants to destroy the Earth, so the fact that they can doesn't come into play. Cell Max seems to be nearly mindless, but he also knows how to fight pretty well, so he must have some rudimentary control over his power, which keeps him from wrecking the earth every time he goes berserk. I assume his self-destruct is designed the same way. It's contained to destroy whatever killed him, but it doesn't blow up the whole world because Dr. Hedo isn't as nihilistic as his grandfather was.

"The whole world might be destroyed!" is just a tool, one of many that Akira Toriyama had in his toolbox. The fact is, once he introduced that level of power, he couldn't really raise the stakes much higher. Villains like Buu or Zamasu could destroy every planet, but it basically amounts to the same thing, so Dragon Ball has been on that same level of stakes ever since Vegeta fought Goku for the first time 35 years ago. And if the stories have been all right over those past 35 years, then there really isn't a need to raise the stakes any higher, is there?

Likewise, if he had kept that notion off the table, and the worst Vegeta could do was to render the Earth uninhabitable or something, then we'd have 35 years of that being the worst anyone could do, and I don't think it would make that much of a difference.

To come at it from a different direction, I don't think "villains who can blow up the world" is what made Dragon Ball good. It was already good well before that came into play. And if Toriyama could tell a great story without that angle, then he's no worse off with or without it.

I was thinking the other day about how irritating it gets when fans argue over whether "O.G. Dragon Ball" is better or worse than "Z". They're the same story, after all. It's like arguing over which half of a movie is better. But it struck me that this is a big part of Toriyama's legacy. Dragon Ball is such a classic that fans talk about it like he made two classics and debate which one is the best. That's pretty damn impressive.

I think it proves that there's not some single "special ingredient" that makes the story work. Way back in the beginning, it was made clear that martial artists have a duty to use their special skills to help people, and that's been the through-line of Dragon Ball. Saving the entire planet from some world-busting menace is taking that idea to the extreme, but the idea still works, even if it's just Goku helping a sea turtle get back home, or tackling the Red Ribbon base to wish Upa's dad back to life.

[i-write-sometimes-maybe]

Aliferous- Lady Lesso x NeverTeacherFemReader!

Aliferous: Having wings; Winged.

Synopsis: You have some difficulty hiding your pain after a while, and to your dismay it doesn’t go unnoticed. Lady Lesso comes to you to find out more about the situation, and finds out more about you than she thought possible. Lesso comforts you through the pain.

Warnings: (none?) Implications of feelings for one another

Word Count: 3.1k

A/n: This is my first work posted on Tumblr! I hope you guys enjoy it! I usually post onto AO3 but when I had read all the work for Lady Lesso on AO3, I started reading on Tumblr. I loved this community and I decided that I’d post my work here too! Also, I can't even tell you guys how long this was in the works. Reblogs, likes, and comments are all welcomed!

©️This is my work, you have no right to repost my work for any reason without my explicit permission, all rights reserved.

☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎

Lesso had heard enough, the last two students walking passed her made her realize it, in fact, was of her concern.

She had heard some whispers about something being off with you, about how you were clearly in pain or uncomfortable. She wasn't too bothered by the murmurs, you can take care of yourself and have proven it, so when she heard the students near worries about you, she just brushed it off.

Until it got to be quite a few students talking about it. She knew something was off if multiple students not only noticed it but were discussing it.

That's what led her on her current mission. Your classroom. You taught Villain Talents, fitting for you for various reasons.

You were the daughter of Maleficent, yes the Maleficent. You inherited her stunning and nefarious powers, as well as having a pair of magnificent wings like hers. Of course, they were no match to hers, but they still had a nearly seven-foot span with shiny charcoal feathers, elegantly finished with horns at the top of them. They were a near duplicate of your mother's.

And they were the cause of your current predicament.

You've kept them hidden from the moment you arrived at the School for Good and Evil. You weren't ashamed of them, in fact, you were quite proud of them, but you needed to protect them.

You weren't risking a damn thing after what happened with your mother, you trusted no one but yourself with your wings.

Keeping them hidden for so long had caused them to strain, the lack of use and minuscule stretching only making it worse. You could handle pain relatively well, you were a Never after all, but this was an entirely different pain. It was both internal and external, becoming quickly overwhelming. Not to mention it was constant and lasted, up to this point, every day.

You tried your best to keep it within you, not showing just how much pain you were truly in but you also tried to not succumb to it. Not until you absolutely have to.

Now, you were sitting at your desk and staring in the direction of nothing while your students were doing some work, but you didn't care about what they were (or likely weren't) doing. You tried thinking of anything and everything but the pain you were in.

You were pulled from your thoughts as your classroom door swiftly opened, slamming loudly against the stone wall. Upon seeing who it was, you straightened yourself. You certainly didn't want the Dean of Evil to catch you in a time of weakness. You just barely hid your wince at the straightening of your spine.

"Lady Lesso, to what do I owe the pleasure?" You watched as she stalked toward your desk.

With one look, you knew she saw right through you. You had no idea why, but she was able to, the only one that was ever able to. That helped contribute to you having a certain attraction toward the Dean, amongst a plethora of other things as well, but you never showed it.

"I have heard a few things from students and I came to check the credibility of such things." Her tone was nothing short of its usual fierceness and dominance, but it was a level quieter.

"I'm not quite sure I know what you mean." You didn't falter, even as she approached your side.

That was one of the things the Dean was fond of about you, you never faltered in her presence. It was the first thing she noticed about you, the fear she usually saw in people's eyes when they saw her, it was never present in yours.

"There is something going on. What is it." She didn't ask but demanded.

You thought about it for a split second. Were you truly about to do this? Yes. It was becoming too much for you to handle.

"Everyone out! Now!" You snapped as you dismissed the students, your eyes only straying from Lesso in the moment it took for you to dismiss everyone.

They wasted no time rushing out of the room, hardly caring about grabbing their things. You knew what was about to take place and you certainly didn't want more witnesses than needed.

"What is going on?" Lesso's tone shifted to concern, her face softening.

She'd never admit that she had a soft spot for you, but she did. She adored watching you teach, seeing the same passion for teaching and evil as she has. She took to you quite quickly, whether or not she noticed it.

You stood from your desk, leaving her question unanswered as you circled to the front and pulled off your blazer. You were only able to look at her for another second before you allowed your face to contort freely. You pulled off your undervest next.

"What are you doing?" Lesso's question changed as she saw you unbuttoning your white blouse.

It was the last thing standing between you and stretching your wings. And you'd be damned if anything was going to stop you now, let alone having Lesso seeing you slightly exposed. Showing your wings is the most exposed you can get.

You didn't notice Lesso looking at you in shock, and trying to not make her gawking obvious, from the pain being almost too much to concentrate on anything but it.

"You just have to trust me," You practically ripped off your blouse and threw it to the ground, standing in front of the Dean in just your bra.

She stayed unmoving and silent so you continued, "Promise me you won't run or freak out?" You all but begged, your voice coming out just shy of a whimper, not only from the pain but also fear she'd find you disgusting.

"There's no way I-"

You interrupted her with the expansion of your wings, a shadow casting over your desk as well as Lesso seeing that she hadn't moved from her spot beside your chair. You nearly cried out when they stretched to their full expansion, falling onto your knees in front of your desk.

Lesso was cemented into her place from confusion, not knowing of your wings, but only for a moment before she became mesmerized. She couldn't help but think your wings were magnificent.

You braced yourself on your desk, resting your forehead on your arms, and your wings twitched as you released a sigh. You didn't realize your breathing had sped up until you spoke.

"I couldn't contain them any longer." Your wings fluttered, creating a breeze in the room that blew a stray strand of hair out of the Dean's face.

"They're beautiful,"

Your head snapped to Lesso, "What?" You never heard anyone refer to them like that.

You could see the intrigue in her eyes as they wandered across every part of your wings, the many curiosities swirling within her.

"They're beautiful. Why do you hide them?"

"Because no one has ever seen my wings and thought of beauty. It wasn't just fear when they looked at me, it was disgust. So I hid them, to protect them."

You began flexing your wings, trying to get them used to the movement again. You did your best to hide your groans and looks of discomfort but you knew you weren't successful. Yeah, they were out in your quarters but that doesn't do much, not like fully extending them.

You finally managed to calm yourself, standing once again, you pulled your wings back to their relaxed state. You could hardly believe you just broke down like that, let alone in front of The Dean of Evil.

"Can I- can I touch them?" You saw her fingers twitch at her question.

You looked at her curiously, wondering why she would possibly want to touch them, but ultimately allowed it. You slightly turned so she could see them better, extending them out just a little more.

Your wing flinched away from her light touch on instinct, and slight pain, the feeling being entirely foreign to you. You didn't have to be looking to know her hand flinched away from you in response.

A part of you still wanted to fulfill her request, "Sorry, you can still feel them if you'd like."

It was a strange sensation, feeling a caressing hand on your wings, but at the same time, it was nice. A sigh came from your lips as her fingertips brushed the length of your right wing.

"Does it hurt to keep them hidden?" Lesso was being uncharacteristically kind, but it was a welcomed part of her.

"Usually, not really. But when you keep them hidden and unused for as long as I have, eventually they will."

"Why didn't you say anything to professor Dovey or me?" You turned back to face her.

"I won't risk losing them. My mother had hers brutally taken from her, I don't want that. Of course, she did end up getting them back, but that's not the point-"

Her curiosity was clear when she interrupted your sentence, "Why'd you allow me to see them then?"

"Because, Lady Lesso-"

"Leonora, you can call me Leonora."

A smile came to your face, "Because, Leonora, there's something about you. And I don't know what it is but I feel as if I can trust you with anything."

Leonora tried to ignore the goosebumps that arose on her skin when you spoke her name. She paused for a moment as if contemplating her next move or what to say without the risk of saying the wrong thing.

An unfamiliar look momentarily flashed on her face, "I'll ensure you won't regret it."

"Showing you my wings?"

"Trusting me."

"Oh, my dear, there's no way I could regret trusting you."

She tried hiding her blush at the pet name, trying to remain unaffected she raised a brow, "You seem sure of that."

Truthfully, you were partially afraid, but not of losing your trust in her. You knew long before this that she was the exception to most of your fears, but in turn, she created a new one. You weren't particularly close with Lesso but you knew you didn't want to lose her, and you didn't want to risk doing anything that would cause her to push you away. That's the exact reason why your desires to know more about her, to be with her, were left unvoiced.

"It's because I am." You playfully winked at her, catching on to slight reactions that she tried to ignore herself.

It took you a moment of silence, a comforting silence that was shared between you two, before realizing the exact situation you were in.

"Shit-" You scrambled for your blouse, trying to cover yourself.

You were still standing bare in front of her. And if anyone were to walk into your classroom right now, they'd have a list of questions that you don't feel like answering.

As soon as you had your blouse in your hands, you rushed to get it back on. Your wings, though still slightly painful, retracted back to the state they were in just 10 minutes ago.

You paused as you saw Lesso walking toward you again, grabbing each side of the unbuttoned top and pulling you a little closer to her.

You wouldn't admit what that move just did to you, "You don't have to hide anymore, especially not from me."

A soft smile came to your lips at her words, but then you took this opportunity to be yourself once more.

You raised your brow, "Oh, so you'd be perfectly content with just anyone seeing me topless?"

"No, that is just for my eyes to see." She replied with her signature smirk.

Her admission caused you to have a heart palpitation, instantly and helplessly thinking what that could've possibly meant, but it was another thing you didn't let on to, "Is it now?" You slowly licked your lips, keeping your bottom lip tucked between your teeth.

You could feel your breath getting caught in your throat as her eyes glanced down to your lips and lingered for a second, "Indubitably."

When her eyes flicked back onto yours, a silent question waiting behind them, you leaped onto your moment of courage. Moving your hand to the back of her neck and pulling her in, wasting no time in connecting your lips with hers.

The hum that came from the redhead solidified your choice of the action. Your lips moved together harmoniously, everything around you becoming entirely drowned out and irrelevant at that moment. The kiss only ceased when the need for air became too strong to ignore. You pulled back only as much as needed, the bridge of your noses brushing together as you both tried to catch your breath.

A chuckle emitted from Lesso, causing you to pull back further in question, "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do that."

"Really?" You tried to hide all the emotions you were feeling, making it come across as a teasing prod, though you weren't entirely sure how successful you were.

"Of course. I mean, have you seen you?" The blush that irrupted across your cheeks was entirely involuntary.

You were about to speak, albeit you were about to disagree with Lesso, but you were cut off before any sound escaped your lips. A sudden jolt of discomfort went through your wings, and you didn't hide your reaction. You briefly closed your eyes as a shaky breath came from you. You opened your eyes when you felt Lesso put her hands at the base of your neck, your eyes instantly met her concerned ones.

"What can I do to help?"

Lesso hated seeing you in pain, she usually quite enjoys others in pain, especially when she causes it. But not you, and not now. She wants to be the one to rid you of it.

"Uh, well-" You trailed off, feeling foolish about what you wanted.

"What is it, Dove? I can tell there's something you're thinking of." Again, she saw straight through you.

The blush returned to your cheeks, only darker, possibly from you sheepishly asking about your desire and definitely from the pet name she gave you, "Could you- uh, could you just touch them the same way you did earlier?"

Her eyes lit up just enough for you to notice, "Of course, if that's what you want."

Of course, it's what Lesso wanted too. She yearned to touch them again, something about the silky soft touch of them being something that can only be described as you. You can see the excitement that she tried to hide, but you certainly didn't mind it.

At this point, you couldn't tell who wanted this more, you or her. You took a step back, pulling your blouse off once again and letting it fall to the floor.

The glance Lesso stole wasn't lost on you, but you just decided to store it away for later.

You turned slowly, allowing your wings to reveal themselves once more. Another groan came from you once they were fully visible, the sensitivity of them still overwhelming.

It was just a mere moment from when you slightly spread your wings to when Lesso came into contact with them, a sigh instantly being emitted from you on instinct.

"Is this okay?" She questioned as her fingers ran down your left wing.

"Yes, it is. I don't, understand..." You didn't mean for that last part to be said aloud.

Your wing twitched a little, unconsciously trying to follow her touch.

"Understand what?" You withheld your whine when her touches ceased.

"I don't understand how this could feel so nice."

"Has no one ever done something like this for you before?" You could hear the incredulousness in her voice.

"No... I've never let anyone else touch them, and I can't really touch the outer parts of my wings."

A sense of pride filled Lesso, her being the first and the only one to touch your wings. And knowing that from now, she'd be the only one that gets to, filled her with great gratification too.

"Thank you for this, by the way." Your voice was small, but you weren't sure why.

"There's nothing I wouldn't do for you, Dove."

You should be accustomed to the blush that comes to your face when it comes to Lesso, but you haven't yet, "And I-" You were cut off when there was a knock against your door, almost instantly followed by a jiggle of the doorknob.

Panic filled you immediately, but you hadn't noticed Lesso's subtle panic too. Instead of wasting time trying to redress yourself, and probably failing, you snapped your fingers and your magic redressed you. It appeared as if you were never undressed to begin with, your wings instantly being hidden once more.

"You may enter." You spoke toward the door, unlocking it with a wave of your hand.

One of your students walked in just a moment later, nearly freezing with evident fear at the sight of the two most powerful people in the school being in the same room together. They divert their eyes as they silently find their seat and wait for other students to arrive.

It was then that you remembered it was time for your next lesson, a sigh of disappointment escaping you at this realization. Why couldn't the day just be done already?

Lesso glanced back at you, seeing the frown that unconsciously clouded your features.

"I believe you have a class to teach." Both of you knew that neither of you wanted this little interaction to end but at least this saved you both from an awkward attempt at ending the conversation. "And I have things to do, villainy to attend to. And if I'm lucky, I might get to see a few terror-stricken expressions too!"

You both shared a smirk at her excitement, "Then who am I to impede on such marvelous plans?"

She flashed you a wink as she began walking toward the classroom door.

She turned back just before she exited, "I'll see you in my office, tonight." She said with the intoxicating smirk of hers.

She turned out of your room before you could answer, leaving no room for any possible denial. Not like you would've said no anyways. Her turning out of your room allowed for your surprisingly bashful smile to go unseen, the giddiness already overtaking you.

You replaced your horrifying persona once more students entered the room. It took no effort due to your pain being completely gone, almost as if you hadn't felt it to begin with.

You stood at the front of the room as all your students poured in. You did your best to make it seem like you were present, that your mind wasn't elsewhere focused on a certain redhead, the task being relatively simple seeing as she occupies your mind quite often. To them, it was another day just all others before it. But to you, it was the start of so much more.

☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎

@v3nusxsky as promised I tagged you so you can read it :), again thank you for inspiring me to share my work on Tumblr too!

[immabethehero]

A Jolly Holiday (WDTAJN - Song)

Finally have them all done! Here’s my last entry for @wdtajn! The song? Jolly Holiday from Mary Poppins!

(So a bit of context: I made a boyfriend for Bruno. His name is Matias, he’s an inventor who showed up in the Encanto after the events of the movie. His inventions are unpredictable, to say the least. They don’t always work and often end with an explosion. Think Dr. Doofenshmirtz, but if his parents were actually supportive and loving. He was kicked out of his hometown when his parents died, and has been hopping from town to town since. Until he ended up in the Encanto.)

PS. he also owns a grey cat named Alegria ^u^

*******

Bruno spends an extra hour in the bathroom this morning, washing his hair and shaving as much as he can. Thirty minutes are spent on teeth alone. He throws on his prettiest ruana (with extra embroidery by Mirabel) over a new green and white striped shirt and purple pants. A corsage tucked over his heart, he dashes downstairs.

His cheerful presence is not lost on the family, who watch him intently.

“Wonder what’s got him all cleaned up,” Camilo says.

“Matias is coming over,” Isabela answers as she walks out. Camilo blanches.

“Not with a new machine, right?” he whispers to his sister. Dolores simply stares at him.

“Not with a new machine, right?” Camilo squeaks.

Dolores rolls her eyes and strains her head to listen. “It’s definitely not his typical machine… it does sound awfully loud. Sort of like… instruments crashing together.” Camilo weakly whimpers.

“Don’t worry, Papá and I have been teaching him to play,” Mirabel says as she passes.

“Play?!”

Mirabel ignores her primo and runs out. “I’m going for a walk, see ya!”

Bruno picks up a small parcel wrapped up in a custom wrapping paper with little drawn gears shaped like hearts on them. He approaches his sobrinos and twirls. 

“How do I look?”

“Better than usual,” Camilo admits. “I can’t even smell your breath from here.”

“You look muy guapo,” Dolores says. “What’s the occasion?”

“It’s our anniversary today!” Bruno squeals. “A whole year! I can’t wait to show Matias my gift-”

Bang! Crash! Bang! Crash! True to what Dolores said, whatever invention Matias has brought this time, it’s going to be a very musical, albeit noisy one.

“That’s definitely not what I had in mind when he said he would surprise me today,” Bruno says. “Camilo, what do you see out there?”

Camilo peers out the window. Matias has put on a lovely suit, no doubt tailored by Agustín. His black dreadlocks have been tied up into a bun. However, his silver vest and new purple shirt hide underneath a shield of musical instruments. A horn hangs across his chest, a trumpet is strapped to his chest, an accordion is fastened to his belt, and on his back is a large bass drum, with crash cymbals on top of it. When he moves, a mallet bangs on the drum and the cymbals crash together. Mirabel stands beside him, trying to suppress her amused smile.

Camilo turns back to Bruno. “Do you remember that movie we watched together? The one with the magical nanny?”

Bruno nods. “Yeah?”

“That’s your surprise-”

Bruno dashes out before Camilo can finish his sentence.

“Good morning, hermoso! Happy anniversary!” Matias yells over his instruments banging together.

“Hey Matias! I heard you were coming,” Bruno says. “Literally. What are you wearing? What is all this?”

The inventor twirls around. “Do you like it? I thought I’d take a page out of the moving picture you showed us the other day.” He picks up the accordion and begins to play.

“You didn’t strike me as an accordion player,” Bruno admits as he listens to Matias. He’s actually holding the instrument correctly! And not butchering any notes! It’s a miracle!

“That’s because I’m not. Mirabel had to teach me,” Matias admits. 

“I did offer to play with him, but he wanted to do the whole act,” Mirabel adds.

“I’m dating an actual soap opera star. I need to have some credibility to my name,” Matias says. He takes a deep breath and begins to sing.

Ain't it a glorious day?

Right as a morning in May

I feel like I could fly

“Isn’t this from Mary Poppins?” Bruno asks.

“Shut up and please let me do this.”

Have you ever seen the grass

So green, or a bluer sky?

Oh it's a jolly holiday with Bruno

Bruno makes your heart so light!

“You have too much faith in me, mi vida,” Bruno says with a laugh.

When the day is gray and you feel low

The sky suddenly darkens before the sun breaks through once more.

Bruno makes the sun shine bright!

Bruno spies Pepa peeking out from behind a tree. How many Madrigals did Matias plan this with?!

Oh, happiness is blooming all around him,

The daffodils are smiling at the dove

Right on cue, daffodil petals shower Bruno. He catches Isabela high–fiving his sister.

When Bruno holds your hand

You feel so grand

Your heart starts beating like a big brass band!

Matias jumps to the beat, the instruments a rhythmic discord. Mirabel winces, but Bruno laughs.

It's a jolly holiday with Bruno

No wonder that it's Bruno that we love!

Matias grabs Bruno’s hand and pulls him through the town. Isabela showers flowers in their direction and Antonio stands by a fence with animals lined up. Matias joins them.

“We practiced on this all week! Take it away guys!”

“Baaaaa!” an older ram sings. Interesting.

“Baa! Baa!” a trio of lambs respond.

A horse whinnies the next part, followed by a cow mooing. Are the animals supposed to sing along? Bruno raises an eyebrow.

“You know this part sounded better in my head,” Matias admits. Bruno snorts. “Antonio said they sounded like a choir.”

“They do!” Antonio exclaims.

Donkeys bray the next line, and a large pig finishes the verse with two loud snorts. Mirabel and Antonio sing the translation, hoping to save the last verse of the song.

When Bruno holds your hand

You feel so grand

Your heart starts beating like a big brass band!

It's a jolly holiday with Bruno

No wonder that it's Bruno that we love!

Bruno applauds the “musician” and the animals (who honestly did their best). “Asombroso! Wonderful playing!”

Matias attempts to bow, the accordion pushing into his stomach. “Note to self: it’s hard to bend over when you have instruments strapped to you.”

“Need help getting all that off?” Bruno asks, gently knocking on the drum.

“Yes, actually, the local band needs all of these back before their next gig.”

Bruno freezes. “Seriously? How did you even get them to give you these instruments?”

“Your sobrina is a very persistent young lady,” Matias answers, nodding to Mirabel. She winks.

“He’s my best pupil! I’ve never seen anyone learn the accordion so quickly before,” Mirabel says. “Other than me, of course.”

“Your whole family is quite musical, so I thought it would be smart if I joined in,” Matias explains.

Bruno’s eyes widen. “Oh! I’m actually not that musical myself, you didn’t have to go through all that trouble.”

“Really? I always took you for a pianist, especially with those hands of yours.”

Bruno’s cheeks burn hotter than the sun. He shoves Matias playfully. “Come on, let’s get these instruments off you. That way I can show you the gift I got you…”

*

If Camilo hears the discordant cymbal crashing as he walks through town, he does not acknowledge it. He doesn’t hear the drum occasionally going thump. And he certainly doesn’t hear the rhythmic squeezing of a dying accordion squashed between two people. No. He won’t acknowledge the sound of the One (well, Two) Man Band!

*

Matias holds up his new notebook, running his hands over the pretty cover. Illustrated rats play with kittens, no doubt inspired by Alegria, Matias’ grey cat. “This is a wonderful gift! I definitely needed a new sketchbook! You have no idea how many new ideas I’ve got.”

“The last one looked like it was bursting at the seams. And look-” Bruno flips through the pages. Little sketches of cats appear, along with encouraging messages in Bruno’s handwriting. Matias freezes.

“My writing looks more like chicken scratches, so I hope you can actually read them,” Bruno rambles. “I did try looking for inspirational quotes from the future… but I don’t think you’d get any references, so I just stuck to basic stuff. Cheesy, right?” He stops when he sees Matias wiping away tears. Bruno winces.

“It’s bad, isn’t it? You can always rip those out or draw over them or-”

“My first notebook was a lot like this. Full of little motivational quotes written by my parents.” That catches Bruno off guard. In all their time together, Matias had never really mentioned his own family. Hell, he even arrived in Encanto alone!

“I think it’s still in my green toolbox. I always keep the most important stuff in that toolbox,” Matias says.

Bruno moves closer to Matias, motioning him to talk. From what he knows from the small tidbits Matias has told him, the inventor hopped from town to town, never settling in one place. He doesn’t think Matias has ever lived in a town for a whole year.

“After my first few ‘village incidents’, I started to keep all my precious things, stuff I didn’t want to lose, in that toolbox. Just in case I ever needed to get out of town quickly. I didn’t need to worry about a heavy suitcase.”

Bruno fidgets with his ruana, struggling to think up any comforting words. He finally decides to just put his hand on Matias’.

Matias turns to Bruno, smile slowly returning. He grasps Bruno’s hands. “But this time, I… I think I want to stay. I’ve never felt so welcome here! Everyone is so welcoming and encouraging. I’ve never felt more at home! So, if you’ll allow it, I want to live in Encanto permanently.”

No sooner has Matias finished his sentence does Bruno shower him with kisses. Matias chuckles. “Is that a yes?”

“Of course! You’ll always have a home here!”

[theinconvenientlifestyle]

Analysis: CPS prosecuted at least 27 people – and as many as 38 – running post offices during Horizon scandal – it strains credibility to claim he knew nothing

Labour has claimed that none of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prosecutions of innocent sub-postmasters went ‘to [Keir Starmer’s] desk. Starmer himself has now told reporters that he knew nothing about any of the cases:

I wasn’t aware of any of them. I think there was a small number within a 20-year window, that’s all I know. I don’t even now – I think the CPS are helping with inquiries – how many of those may or may not have involved Horizon.

There were at least twenty-seven and as many as thirty eight cases.

One such case that definitely happened under Starmer’s tenure as CPS head was the prosecution of Seema Misra, who was jailed for fifteen months in 2010 – on her son’s tenth birthday – for fraud that she never committed. She was pregnant when she was prosecuted and jailed – and her conviction was only quashed in 2021. The prosecution did not disclose to the court that the Post Office knew the Horizon system was faulty and had at least forty examples of the system causing shortfalls at Post Office branches.

When the scandal of serial rapist Jimmy Savile broke and Starmer was attacked for not prosecuting him, Keir Starmer did not personally deny he had been involved in the decision not to prosecute Savile, instead allowing mouthpieces – including Tory MPs – to say he was not aware of it, insisting that we believe that he ran the CPS and was never asked for his view on whether to prosecute the offender who was, at the time, Britain’s highest-profile entertainer.

Starmer boasted of his role in prosecuting former government minister Chris Huhne and promised the US he would ‘do everything’ to secure the extradition of autistic hacker Gary McKinnon – yet supposedly was not consulted by his subordinates about Savile.

he CPS claimed it had destroyed all records relating to the decision not to prosecute Savile. The CPS also claimed that it had destroyed all records relating to prosecution of Seema Misra.

We are asked to believe that Starmer was not involved in the Savile decision, was not involved in or consulted on any CPS Post Office cases – was not even aware of their existence – despite them taking place while he ran the CPS and despite revelations, a year before the Misra case, in the press about the known, widespread issues with the Horizon system causing false ‘shortfalls’ in Post Office branches.

As Labour leader, Starmer has covered up a whistleblower’s allegations of ‘sadistic’ and ‘criminal’ exploitation of vulnerable domestic violence victims by a Labour staffer who was the lover of the MP she was working for. That MP, Khalid Mahmood, did not dispute a victim’s sworn evidence in whistleblower Elaina Cohen’s successful tribunal for wrongful dismissal – and confirmed under oath that Starmer and Labour general secretary David Evans were fully and repeatedly aware of the allegations.

Starmer also sheltered at least two alleged sex pests in his Shadow Cabinet and re-admitted racist and sex harasser MP Neil Coyle back into the parliamentary party, as well as Mike Gapes, the right-wing former MP who defended fellow right-winger Ian McKenzie after McKenzie tweeted about the rape and beheading of Thornberry herself, and former MPs who defended him. He is a creature of the Establishment and sides with it every time.

What the hell was he doing while he was boss of the CPS if he didn’t know about the highest profile cases and wasn’t consulted on the widest miscarriage of justice in British legal history? This site does not believe it is credible.

[nyxofdemons]

OOH OKAY OKAY. NEW OBSESSION DROPPED

i can't believe i didn't realize this sooner!! i'm back on my Blitz' Scar Speculation bullshit and this time i come bearing posts about it

so, i think it's possibly canon - or at least for now, the primarily agreed-upon fandom take - that Blitz (and Fizz) both got their scars/disabilities from an alleged circus accident; one that was likely Blitz's fault, and that's why Blitz harbors so much resentment for his past (the guilt he refuses to show or admit he carries) and why he and Fizz have so much animosity between them (among other reasons like Fizz's success and Blitz's constant failures).

when s2e1 dropped, i figured that Blitz's scars (and Fizz's as well) were going to be from Paimon, when he inevitably found out that kid Blitz had stolen all his shit and went and trashed the entire circus with them inside as revenge. (This would also explain Blitz and Fizz's hostility to one another - while it's generally agreed-upon that Blitz hates Fizz for his success and Fizz hates Blitz for being the reason he lost all his limbs - i always felt that it was kind of straining credibility in the latter? Fizz seems more... amused by Blitz than anything. he just makes fun of him and embarrasses him in front of crowds. and i know he's on a stage and has to keep up appearances, but i also feel like he's just a bit too casual to be harboring hatred over something so intensely traumatic and life-altering. if Paimon is the one who burned down the circus, then while it is technically Blitz's fault, it's so much more the fault of Blitz's dad, which would then make it completely understandable if Fizz was resentful to Blitz for what happened, but not putting the whole of the blame on him.

i also feel like this might have been set up just a little in the beginning of the episode:

the show makes a point of telling us that Blitz, even at this age, knows exactly how bad it will be if he's caught, and even argues with Cash about it after the point of Blitz helping his mother out is made. he wants to help his mama so badly and he's still deterred.

coupled with the fact that Fizz's accident was foreshadowed heavily not just in the same episode, but in the very same scene:

lends some credibility to this idea!

(it would also put into perspective the fact that Blitz and Stolas didn't see each other for twenty-five years. the way Stolas talks about it - "you could have asked to visit, you know" and "over two decades since i last saw you" - gives me the impression that Blitz did just sort of disappear on him. i highly doubt there was ever a goodbye, and there's no way Stolas could possibly know about it if Paimon is the one who gave Blitz his scars, otherwise apologizing profusely for it would have been the first thing Stolas would have done upon seeing Blitz, no matter how long it'd been.)

BUT THEN. SOMETHING ELSE OCCURED TO ME.

this photo.

they're much older in this picture (i'd peg them at about 16-17 here) than they were in e: The Circus (where i'd put them at anywhere from 6-8).

and so,,,,, what the fuck happened, then?

because Blitz doesn't have his scars, and if he was six in The Circus, and about ten years older in the photo, then he can't have seen Stolas in at least nine years before this photo was taken (because when they meet as adults it's twenty-five years after meeting as kids, and Stolas confirms they haven't seen each other since then).

so what gives? because i find it hard to believe that Paimon wouldn't have noticed all his shit got stolen for nine years, would have gone back to the circus and burned it down all that time later, and - most importantly - that if the scarring happened that recently because of Paimon, that Blitz would have been okay going back to Stolas not even ten years later - with the memory that fresh, and not only that, but having happened when he was a teenager. the perspective shift is just so different. i can't imagine kid Blitz holding a grudge the same way teen Blitz could.

all of this to say: i literally don't have an answer. i have no fucking idea what happened to Blitz and Fizz and this circus and i am SO curious to find out how this shit went down. girl what did they do to my babies

[tobiasdrake]

2-3 had serious problems with Magical Mystery Bullshit. The intrigue and mystery of the case was driven by the killer deciding to take their time and do all kinds of ridiculous and unreasonable things to theatrically stage the crime. Despite having someone walk in on them mid-murder at the start, which you'd think would instill a sense of urgency in any human being ever.

2-2 had a bit of a stretch at one point that was justified by the killer's particular Talent, while 2-1 had some questionable timing claims about the length of time it would take for multiple things, happening simultaneously, to occur.

But despite being one of the most bizarre cases in the game, beaten out only by 2-5, 2-4 is also the most believable. The intrigue here is derived from puzzling out the labyrinthine complex that Monokuma's prepared for them.

This allows for a level of head-scratching WTF that feels satisfying to puzzle out. This place is a doom fortress built to confuse, and the precise nature of the doom fortress never strains credibility. The elevator might be a bit much for some people, but personally, I don't think so.

It all fits together without ever verging into the territory of, "Hold on, fucker did what next? Are you for real?"

[agoddamn]

I just can't figure out a throughline on this guy. He's clearly positioned like he has special personal regard for Veyle, but then why would he do that to her?

In fact, his support text with Veyle contains startlingly little apology for helping gaslight her and supporting her brainwashing. If you want to say that Mauvier was one of the Four Hounds, you have to say that he supported the brainwashing--it's basic character agency. He is the one to dump her background on Marni--he clearly knew.

Instead, their support paints them as both sinners looking for repentance. And while it's clear that Veyle initially wanted to please her father to some degree, it's also clear that she literally did not know where she was or what was happening to her! Mauvier is the one who had agency in that situation, not her.

Like, if this were a "he's drinking the kool-aid and ignoring his morals because he thinks the cult is worth it" setup, that's a sensible character arc. But he specifically says that he never believed in the Fell Dragon. Which is it?

The way that he's presented as a reasonable guy also strains the credibility that it takes the events of 21/22 to turn his heel. What exactly did he think was going on until now, if he didn't realize it was harming Veyle?

[albertonykus]

Doraemon Movie Review: Nobita's Chronicle of the Moon Exploration (2019)

What is Doraemon? The title character of the Doraemon manga and anime is a blue robotic cat from the 22nd Century who keeps an array of high-tech gadgets in a portable pocket dimension on his belly, and has traveled from the future to improve the fortunes of a hapless schoolboy named Nobita. Although relatively obscure in the English-speaking world, Doraemon is a Mickey-Mouse-level cultural icon in East Asia (and some other regions, too). The Doraemon franchise was a big part of my childhood, and there are still elements of it that I enjoy now.

Doraemon has released theatrical films almost annually since 1980, most of which involve Nobita and his friends (kind Shizuka, brash Gian, and crafty Suneo) getting swept into adventures thanks to Doraemon's gadgets. Despite being of potentially broad appeal to fans of science fiction and animated films, there are very few English reviews of the Doraemon movies, so I'm embarking on a project to write about all the films that have come out so far. Good luck to me…

Movie premise: Doraemon helps Nobita create an alternate reality where rabbits live on the moon.

My spoiler-free take: Out of the non-remake movies to come out of the 2005 Doraemon anime reboot, this might be the one that comes closest to feeling like a “classic” Doraemon film so far, and I consider that a good thing.

POTENTIAL SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT

Review: If one were to boil this movie down to its individual core elements, I think they’d find very little that hasn’t been done in previous Doraemon films. (Okay, having one of the movie-only characters pose as a transfer student and actually interact with Nobita’s classmates outside of the main cast is new.) However, that actually works to its benefit, in my opinion. After so many of the post-reboot Doraemon movies have felt experimental in one way or another (with varying degrees of success in my book), it was nice to see one that replicates the vibe of a classic Doraemon story without being a straight-up remake of an older film.

I also thought this movie does a good job of introducing potentially convoluted plot points without feeling bogged down, especially the main gadget that allows the story to happen: the Fringe Theory Club Member Badge, which can create alternate realities that are only perceptible to people wearing it. The effects of this gadget could have easily been overly confusing, but the film manages to establish how it works quite effectively.

I suppose there are a few things I could quibble about: maybe it strains credibility that the villain’s second-in-command would think that someone named Diabolo was working with good intentions all along, and maybe the final battle against the villain’s minions gets a bit too slapsticky to take seriously. Otherwise though, I’d say this is pretty solidly one of my favorite non-remake movies to come out of the Doraemon anime reboot.

Not to mention, Shizuka gets to save everyone here, nice! It’s been a while since the last time. I’ve lamented this before, but it seems that many recent Doraemon movies (discounting remakes) don’t know what to do with her. The fact that older entries in the series have a better track record of portraying Shizuka is honestly kind of sad, so anytime in the new movies that she gets to do something important instead of standing in the background or playing the damsel in distress can only be taken as a good sign.

Shizuka-saves-the-day count (cumulative): 8

Star rating: ★★★☆☆