#i really liked the idea of going into the new year not with moralizing edicts | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

danwhobrowses · 4 years

Text

Ghost of Tsushima: Thoughts, Ideas and Hopes for DLC and Sequels

So I recently Platinum’d Ghost of Tsushima, I finished the story last week after 30 entries of livestreams which saw a whopping viewership of at most 2 people including one asshole that decided to spoil the end of Act II before I got there because I was playing stealthy and the way I wanted to play. But then wrapped up the Achievements on my own time. After a bit of stewing I’m ready to talk gush about it, including what I liked, a small bit of stuff I disliked and stuff I would suggest for future DLC and Sequel(s)

Spoilers for the Game, unlike that Commenter on my Stream I will not Spoil you on this, it is truly something you should experience for yourself

Because Good Lord, What A Game. Easily my Game of the Year, which compared to all the big hitter titles released is amazing, I mean Crash Bandicoot could still blow me away and Cyberpunk, Watch Dogs, Godfall, AC Valhalla and Miles Morales in waiting but probably not in this way. It is a magnificent game, one made with fantastic care and beauty, but before I go all out, let’s get the negatives out of the way 出る杭は打たれる。: A Flawed Masterpiece Ghost of Tsushima is brilliant but not without its faults. Most of these faults are admittedly minuscule and fixable, but until they are fixed they remain flaws. The biggest disappointment for me with the game was the lack of Japanese lip syncing. I loved the Japanese track, it also highly appealed to me to hear One Piece’s Roronoa Zoro voice Jin, but you have to kinda avoid looking at the mouths because it doesn’t match up, the models still speak in English and it’s a heavy shame that can kill some immersion. I guess they didn’t have the finances for it, because they could’ve done the lip syncs at the same time as they did the English ones if they had the Japanese track too. Combat for the most part was great, aiming could be wonky at times and Jin’s attacks didn’t carry on to a 1 foot ledge, but my main gripe with combat was the Camera getting in the way. It was adjustable most times, but other times it was not. Doing standoffs in the tall grass was night impossible at the later stages without the knees giving us a tell, one standoff I had was completely obstructed by a tree - I’m not making it up, a tree was literally all I saw for the Standoff. You lose so much health for failing a standoff too, bit harmful in later levels. The remaining issues are probably more personal, I didn’t quite like some of the sword kit designs - the ones with fluffy sleeves and I didn’t really like the armor dye you get for 100%ing the achievements, some weapons seemed to lose their luster in later parts of the game (particularly the half bow and Explosive Arrow, the former was only good for killing the angry doggos and the latter only killed Mongols if near another explosive to stack), that one Masako quest mission where you have to follow and pick off Straw Hats one by one without being seen, but will fail if you pull a triple assassination before the outpost where Masako’s lesbian lover was leading them all to so there’s more Straw Hats to blow my cover! (it wasn’t difficult it just annoyed me that it failed me for killing them all early) and the completionist in me hates that there are empty slots in the arrow and blowgun sections, but they can be worked in what I’ll talk about a bit later down the line, alongside some minor loose threads. Also you killed my horse man!

Your horse will accompany you on your entire journey - Ghost of Tsushima UI Message

Don’t you dare lie to me like that again Sucker Punch! Just because you’re named that doesn’t mean you can live up to it, we already lost one horse at the beach! Had to spend the final act with Not-Sora and Kaze with a hole in my heart never to be filled. But with that dealt with, let’s talk about some things I loved about the game

花は桜木人は武士 : Living into a Legend With these games it is very easy to fall into the Elder Scrolls prototype of an array fun side quests and exploration and a so-so main story. Ghost of Tsushima though decided to have both the array of side quests and exploration and a great, complex and partly tragic story. There were many times I wanted to get back to the main story but held off because I wanted to be prepared. Long distances didn’t feel too bad to travel when the roads were uncharted either thanks to radiant battles, new settlements, vanity gear and side missions to ease you on the way. Additionally, the characters are for the most part fantastic, I cared for the safety of most of my allies and Jin himself, I wanted the Khan dead in a cerebral villain (albeit one whose final battle fell into cowardice) and I was open to the complexities of Ishikawa and Tomoe. I did feel that Shimura was being a tad ungrateful but I think it was intended for us to be frustrated to the edicts of the Samurai code - my frustration led me so much to deep dive to prove myself justified since the code was subjective and many agreed to aspects of ‘win no matter what’ and ‘do what protects the people the most’. Along with the main quest was paired with the character journeys of our allies as well as the Mythic tales which granted some extra strength and challenges to overcome in order to expand Jin’s arsenal. I particularly liked the observation and killing of leaders to learn new stances, as well as the widely acclaimed Stand-Off and the duels. The Arkhamverse fan in me did appreciate the focused hearing for stealth and that assassination speed could be upgraded. The idea of collecting vanity gear, armour dyes and equipment that are remains of the conflict showed that SP had completely immersed their plot into the world of Tsushima, with a great amount of exploration and nuances nodding to Japanese folklore And Tsushima is certainly stunning, it’s amazing that the PS4 can hold this much when we know how the PS5 is meant to be with ray tracing. The landscapes are beauteous which makes exploration and travel much more fulfilling, as well as the photo mode and the scenic builds to some of the major battles. What’s also wonderful is the calligraphy cutscenes for Mythic Tales and the loading screens, some wonderful artistry. Artistry which is added to by the brilliant uses of Haiku spots, Bamboo Strikes, Lighthouses, Shrines, Altars which you bow to, Fox dens where you can pet the Foxxos and even the Hot Springs for some ‘Man-Butt Action’, each positions that fit to Japanese media in soaking in a moment without killing any pace, especially added to the fact that each one contributes to a purpose. I will admit, I chose wrong at the end, I was thinking more of Shimura (said ungrateful uncle)’s honour rather than what Jin would what, feeling that Shimura would’ve done it himself had Jin not. But seeing the spare ending made me wish I chose that one and it’s something I’ll touch on later. But both endings are fitting and tragic for Jin’s journey from Samurai to the Ghost, being inspired by his allies and his connection to Yuna, there has been conflict throughout regarding the line of protection, honour and vengeance explored through other people’s tales that blend together perfectly with the main plot. It is pretty political as well with the argument presented by Jin and Shimura’s conflict. Samurai while still romanticised were still shown to be bound to the blind loyalty towards the Shogun and Jito, you did not defy because it inspired others to think freely. Jin became a champion of a people by defending the people rather than listening to the jito - represented by the shogunate - and their stringent ideas that the Samurai who failed on the beach would be able to out-muster the force and brutality of the Mongol invasion regardless of the collateral and yet still call that honour. In the current climate in 2020, that hits a chord a little closer than expected. And the main story certainly has their stellar moments, the ups and downs really hit you - like killing my freaking horse! I had to lose Yuriko, Taka and Sora in a single playthrough. Losing Taka was inevitable, but still heartbreaking because of how much we struggled to save him and how much we want to still be Yuna’s friend, but then the highs just blow you away from the opening act, Ghost Stance, raiding Castle Kaneda and Shimura and the final raid at Port Izumi. Also did I mention that you can pet the Foxxos? Because that’s very important, also NPCs walk at your pace most of the time, which is a fantastic addition. I could probably go deeper but there’s other stuff I want to cover, but understand that the world and the story is wonderful and if you’re a fan of Assassin’s Creed, Arkhamverse and just Japanese culture in general this should tick your boxes. And hopefully there’s more to come.

石の上にも三年 : Strait to DLC The sad thing that happens when a good game is over is the void. Even if its days, having nothing left of the game to play is still a shame, and I know that Legends DLC is announced, but multiplayer involving fighting Oni as mythic legends isn’t my pace, I’m still not done with Jin and I feel like there are things we could still do. There are still 3 conflicts Jin’s story never resolved that could still be resolved now, each as multi-layered quests. The first is this ‘Ghost Army’ mentioned by the wagon guy in Omi, we are not leading this so who is? We may not be able to stop them but we could reduce the amount of people thinking we’re leading them to fight. The second is Daizo, if you don’t know that name it’s because the guy is never seen in the game, you only read about him in the Records of ‘Conversations with the Khan’. This Japanese Monk clearly has a thing for the late Khotun and he feels that the Ghost is being a dishonorable monster, this Khan lover is still at large and a confidant of Khotun, we could link with Norio in a quest to ensure he doesn’t rally or try to spread his appreciation of the Khan to others to try and complete Khotun’s work. The final conflict is one that eats me up: How did the Mongols Know About the Poison? Yuriko died showing me how to make the poisons, made more potent from her own herbal poisons which were crushed down, if she didn’t tell and I didn’t tell, who told? Because the Mongols drank the evidence and we could make a story of an Omi village traitor or even someone from Shimura’s camp leaking the info to the Khan to try and preserve ‘honour’. On top of these loose ends I’d very much like to see our allies again, even if they’re just at their home doing their own thing, as well as some other minor side characters like the Tadayori descendant Kaede, Flame Swordsman Bettomaru (who would’ve both been mighty useful with this Mongol affair beyond their sole missions) and the Yarikawa Archer Daikoku, I also would like to see confirmation on Jin and Yuna - there is clearly something there but that could be just me. What is also just me would be the suggestion of a shrine that can let you redo the Shimura decision, it’s not a too ‘out-there’ thing to do either considering we fought a Tengu. The shrine could be for Omoikane, Kami of wisdom and intelligence or Ame-no-Koyane, the ‘First in Charge of Divine Affairs’ which’d subject the player to a gauntlet of bosses past; Ryuzo, Kotun and Shimura, if the player goes against their initial decision, they will trade their ghost armour dye for the other and get a Charm of Pondering, if they stick to their guns they get both ghost armour dyes and a Charm of Strengthened Stance. In similar vein we could have a master Mythic Tale that stacks the duels of those tales into one for another special attack, weapon or armour. It’s also possible that we could add more duels, some remnants trying to avenge Khotun or even some Samurai sent by the Shogun in promise of becoming Jito. Likewise we can use this to complete the weapons set; for the Half Bow, take the Mongols’ poison arrows (which can be a reward for finding who leaked the poison to them) which can just eat at lesser enemies’ health and take a chunk of stronger enemies’ health before resolving out of it, as well as a sticky arrow that could slow enemies or weaken their armour, or a perfume arrow that can mess with the falcons and angry doggo’s senses. For the Long Bow we could have...okay I’m drawing a blank here but I’m not meant to do all the work XD For the Blowgun at least you could have a Blinding Dart to aid in stealth and a Panic Dart to increase chances of Terrify. We could even have a few more upgrades to our ghost weapons and stance combats, even increase the amount of kills Ghost Stance can yield. In addition to more Fox Dens, Shrines, maybe new resources to bolster upgrades, Sword Kits, Haikus, Banners, Flute Songs, dyes and so on. But I know what you’re thinking, we can’t put that all in Tsushima? We’ve covered the entire island and it’s unlikely that SP would make a fictitious island. And to that I say, I have that covered. In the Tsushima Strait between the island and the mainland there is Iki Island, part of the same prefecture and equally ravaged by the Mongols during the invasion, it’s also the base of pirates which can offer a stop point for a Tomoe reunion or simply travel via Umugi Cove. A small bit of expansion wouldn’t hurt, as long as Iki isn’t planned for something else that is.

能ある鷹は爪を隠す : Hopes for a Sequel Now part of me would be content if this was a one and done, the game shines perfectly on its own. But I would not turn one down. Though many would feel that Jin’s journey is done (I even heard a suggestion of Tomoe, I could see that but not right now, maybe for a third) but not me, there’s still a few glaring issues at hand. For one, the Shogun now wants you dead, new clans are moving in on you and there will probably be a new Jito regardless of the ending choice because of Shimura’s failure, Adachi will also need to look at another clan taking its land. There’s also the vacuum left behind by the clans’ subsidiaries; Nagao particularly but also Adachi’s rival clan Kikuchi, there’s easily possibilities to use canon Sō, Abiru, Shōni and Imagawa, there’s also room for Kikuchi Takefusa, who survived both Mongol invasions . A sequel could offer some clan territorial tensions in that regard as the people of Tsushima side with the Ghost over the mainland. That conflict is one we have touched on in the end of the first, Jin has fought for his country’s safety so how will he act when his country wants him dead? The first was a story of sacrifice perhaps the next can be a story of maintaining his legend, inspiring the mainland Samurai and even redeeming himself in the eyes of the non-Tsushima natives. It’s also worth remembering that Komoda was the beginning of the invasion, and there was a second invasion 6 years later where Tsushima was attacked once more, the death of non-canon Khotun could spark other higher ups of Kublai’s ranks to avenge or clean up for Khotun, Kublai also had counsel from different nations to understand his enemy so we could have an even more vicious and cerebral enemy be made, or even a group of enemies led by advisors like Liu Kan or Yao Shu, maybe even Marco Polo if we move the time after the first invasion. In terms of gameplay we could also see Jin expand from Tsushima to Iki and maybe some more naval warfare, growing in his equipment (like Caltrops, Kusari-Fundo and Suntetsu) and maybe even his weapon, an Ono, Jitte or a Naginata to rotate with his not-yet-made Katana to combat with Samurai or the army of a Mongol threat, maybe even use the Bo-Hiya for ranged fire archery learned from the Hwacha. And like the Mass Effect games (or Dragon Ball Xenoverse if you wanna pick a franchise that didn’t end in a bitter aftertaste) you could have the option to transfer over some data from the PS4 save to the next one, which’d inevitably be on PS5 at the least - also don’t be surprised if this gets a PS5 remaster too, especially if it does win Game of the Year. What I suggested for DLC could be used here too, if there is a sequel with Jin I really, really hope that SP don’t opt for the route of killing Jin (or Yuna) off for effect, I was nervous about the current game ending with Hara Kiri and I’d rather not have that or a downer of a death for the legendary Ghost (I am a happy endings guy after all). An alternative route to go (other than following Tomoe to the mainland to rip off the Ghost) is to work backwards, call it ‘Ghosts of Tsushima’ working towards a story of a more ancient time, where a thief could become a samurai clan. A clan Sakai or Shimura origin would sell in that way too and avoid the idea that we have to start again from zero but still have the more ‘dishonorable’ stealth tactics.

義は険しい山よりも重く、死は大鳥の羽よりも軽い : Conclusion In the end, this game was worth the wait, worth the delays and worth the price tag. I feel like this will be one of the games I’ll fondly remember when thinking of the PS4, which has truly had a stellar library of awesome games like Spider-Man, God of War, the Crash, Ratchet & Clank and Spyro Remasters, DMCV, Jedi: Fallen Order and more. This truly ticked the boxes for the anime nerd within me and the history buff, even the Haikus spurred the poet in me a little too. If anyone hasn’t played this game, they should, and I hope that Sucker Punch realises that people like me want to see more. If it stands alone so be it, but I’m not ready to leave Jin or Tsushima just yet. いってらっしゃい

15 notes · View notes

drivingsideways · 6 years

Text

Episodes 33 & 34

In which Chang Yuan continues to be A Worthy Foe, but the Emperor (and Xin Ziyan) have weapons of their own...

So, the polo game concludes with Ning Sheng winning it- but the Emperor’s comment “You play like a young Lord Minhai” probably turned the taste of victory to ashes in Ning Sheng’s mouth. DON’T YOU HATE IT WHEN YOUR PARENTS PULL THAT PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE SHIT? I KNOW I DO.

Anyways.

Most of episode 33 is about the Emperor and Chang Yuan facing off in the most passive-aggressive way possible. Wei Zhi has been recruited by the Emperor to help him. The Emperor officially gives Ning Qi a title (Prince of Wei), and announces that he will NOT be making an announcement about who will be Crown Prince. Instead, he has an edict stored in a Golden Box, that can only be opened after his death after he turns 100 years old (WOW).

Well, as expected, this REALLY puts the cat among the pigeons, with all factions wondering how to proceed.

Ning Yi and Xin Ziyan have yet another disagreement.

oh no, trouble in paradise!

Ziyan wants Ning Yi to marry one of the Court Officials’ daughters to expand his influence. Ning Yi, on the other hand, is more interested in figuring out how to figure out what it is the Emperor really wants right now.

When Ning Yi says that if he can take one “fake wife” then he might as well take three, Ziyan is !!!!!

ME: MMMRPPHHMMPHHHH

me: WHAT IS HAPPENING HELP ME

WELL, ANYWAYS, AFTER ZIYAN IS DONE TEASING NING YI ABOUT BEING A 27 YEAR OLD VIRGIN

I WANT TO SAY “CONTEXT WHAT CONTEXT” TO THIS SCREEN GRAB EXCEPT THAT THE CONTEXT IS CANON I DON’T MAKE THE RULES

Ok, fine, the serious stuff is that Ning Yi flatly refuses to make a marriage of convenience, and Xin Ziyan knows who’s to blame- Feng Zhiwei.

Then of course, Ziyan, being a schemer, arranges to have Wei Zhi sent to Qingming as Director of Studies- without consulting Ning Yi about it.

Feng Zhiwei tries to figure out what is going on, but Xin Ziyan, as usual, fends her off, only reassuring her that he will do whatever is in the best interests of Qingming.

I find XZ’s interactions with Zhiwei so interesting! There’s a flavour of combativeness, mistrust but also respect for each other’s intelligence and smartness. XZ enjoys that she can match wits with him, but on the other hand, she is so fucking inconvenient to his Plans. On Zhiwei’s side, she’s wary of his morals, for a better word. I think she sees that he will always perhaps, choose what is right for him and his own (i.e.Ning Yi) , rather than for the general good, and while he hasn’t done anything that she knows to be outright harmful, she can’t trust that he won’t. It is the same quandary that she has regarding Ning Yi, except that she has gotten to know Ning Yi much better, I think, and senses that he could probably be swayed to a better path, if someone took the pains to do it?

Meanwhile, Ziyan returns to the Prince of Chu’s residence, where Ning Yi is weaving (Poor baby! Again, weaving as a way of self-comfort...)

Ziyan perhaps expected Ning Yi to fight with him, but instead Ning Yi only gently teases him, saying that he’d like to be Director of Studies at Qingming, wouldn’t that be great?

It’s an indirect acknowledgement that Ning Yi knows that Ziyan was behind Wei Zhi’s transfer, and also that Ning Yi knows he’s the reason Ziyan did it. The fact that he did it without consulting Ning Yi isn’t referred to- for now.

You get the sense that he’s just quoting things that Ziyan has said to him, gently mocking him.

Ziyan retorts that if Ning Yi thinks it was a mistake, he’ll bring Feng Zhiwei back- into the dangerous Palace, where she might get caught in the cross-fire of imperial politics.

That’s such a TYPICAL Ziyan argument, it makes me laugh- OF COURSE, HIS HIGH HANDED ACTIONS ARE GOOD FOR YOU, THE VICTIM, AND EVERYONE SHOULD JUST ACKNOWLEDGE JUST HOW SMART AND GOOD HE IS.

It’s an interesting difference between Ning Yi and him- both of them are ruthless, but Ning Yi is often more honest about it than Ziyan. Ziyan wants things to go his way but also to occupy the moral high ground. Ning Yi can usually admit that he just wants things to go his way (except with Feng Zhiwei- her very strongly held and felt sense of right/wrong means that he’s constantly afraid of doing something that will be completely irredeemable in her sight. He spends most of the series fighting his feelings for her just for this reason! She’s one of the few people to whom he will offer an actual justification for his actions, ie a justification that is rooted in a moral and/or emotional argument rather than a rational one )

Meanwhile, back at Qingming, Wei Zhi attempts to establish herself among students who are not inclined to treat her respectfully/ seriously, and of course succeeds because she’s just that good.

she’s also a fucking cutie when she plays hockey, so jot that down.

Meanwhile, back at the Palace, the Emperor successfully stops things with Chang Yuan from reaching crisis point, and Chang Yuan will depart for Minhai soon.

However, the Emperor knows that he can’t let things stand as they are. Having sent off Chang Yuan, he needs to break Ning Sheng-so he enlists Ning Yi. The idea is that they will put out the news that it is Ning Yi’s name in the box...and let events take their course.

Ning Shizheng, you are piece of shit parent, so jot that down as well.

UGH.

Later, Ning Yi tells Ziyan how he feels about it: pretty awful, as you can imagine.

OH NO!

HE BREAKS THE FAN, HE’S SO UPSET.

Me: Let me stab your father for you sweetie, no charge, I swear.

Of course, Ziyan is the absolute WORST at this moment. In the face of Ning Yi’s distress, his “consolation” is to say , “Love is not fated for Emperors” .

They have the old argument again- Is their dream worth the sacrifices? Ziyan’s unequivocal answer is “Yes”. Ning Yi asks him whether, if one day, he used Ziyan as the sacrifice, would it still be worth it-

POOR NING YI

LOOK AT HIS DEVASTATED FACE

And so he decides to go along with the Emperor’s plan, and uses a conversation with Director Wei Zhi to manipulate Princess Shaoning into thinking that the “Golden Box” contains his name.

And so, once more, Feng Zhiwei is dragged back into palace intrigue: despite what Ning Yi might wish for her, the path he has set himself on- to be a weapon in his father’s hands- means that Feng Zhiwei must continue to be “useful” to him as a pawn, even if it means that she’s once more in danger.

#the phoenix pit #phoenix drama #there's a bit about literary censorship #that i didn't include here #but that was an interesting note #i'm wondering how they got that scene/dialogue past the censors

5 notes · View notes

marcjampole · 6 years

Text

In light of Trump’s remark about “animals” here is a new definition of human beings: “Animals who kneel.”

Whether Donald Trump meant his “they’re like animals” remark to refer to all immigrants or merely to members of the MS-13 gang, everyone understood his intent: To say that a group of human beings of a certain ethnicity are less human than we full-blooded Americans, and perhaps not even human beings at all. In this sense, even if Trump really only meant MS-13 gangbangers, MS-13 served Trump as a synecdoche, which is a figure of speech in which a part represents the whole. Just as we understand that “a strong arm” or a “piece of ass” refers to an entire body, so do we realize that Trump was saying that all immigrants from Latino (and African and Islamic) countries are animals.

The essence of racism involves the belief that certain human beings are better than others—by virtue of their skin color, DNA, family history or whatever factor is being used to distinguish individuals by race. In the West at least, humans have traditionally considered animals to be lesser forms of life put on earth for the benefit and use of human beings. To call someone an animal is virtually always used in a pejorative sense, except when referring to football players or boxers, and even in the sporting context, our admiration for an animal is for her/his less than human qualities.

To call a group of people animals is always racist.

Of course, most Americans nowadays would be appalled if we treated animals, especially dogs, how we treat immigrants and refugees. Far more was made in the news media of Michael Vick killing dogs he trained to fight than in the separation of families by the Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE). Without a doubt, America loves its pets more than we love the human beings whom we have defined as “others.” In the mass media and advertising and in our streets and living rooms, we see dogs pampered and treated as members of the family, referred to as children, given holiday gifts, preferred over human beings for companionship. The composite message we should infer regarding the totality of television advertising for food and what are called food products is that human beings give their pets a healthier, more nutritionally balanced diet than they themselves eat.

Thus many, if not most, of the people who embrace Trump’s demotion of groups of human beings to animal status routinely elevate animals to the status of “human beings.”

Defining people as less than human makes it easier to treat them badly. It used to justify slavery, segregation and Jim Crow laws. Today, it justifies an ungenerous, mean-spirited immigration policy—to use violence when dealing with them, to turn them away even though they are suffering refugees, to split families, to send people well-established in this country to the countries of their parents.

Trump’s animal comment is one set piece in a large campaign he and his allied are waging to divide America into “us-and-them” armed camps, with ”them” defined by color and ethnic background. Another theme in this long-term propaganda war is Trump’s constant labelling of behavior by blacks, Hispanics and Muslims as horrific while condoning or remaining silent about similar white behavior. The most obvious example of the Trumpite double standard is Trumpty-Dumpty’s reaction to mass murders involving whites versus people of color. When whites go postal, mental illness is to blame; anyone of color and it’s terrorism.

Contrast, too, Trump’s comments about “the good people” marching with the Nazis in Charlottesville versus his condemnation of Colin Kaepernick and other professional athletes for taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem before sporting events.

Which brings us to the unfortunate decision of the National Football League (NFL) to fine players and their teams when the player genuflects during the anthem. Like Trump and his minions, NFL owners have decided that taking the knee is inherently unpatriotic and thus antisocial, even if the players are asserting a right that defines Americans to protest a flaw in the American way of life that supposedly makes the United States a superior place to live—the unfair treatment of African-Americans and other minorities by the criminal justice system. The NFL owners put themselves on the side of Trump and his minions, which is why Trump is praising the announcement.

In attempting to explain why NFL owners didn’t decide to affirm the right of all Americans to engage in peaceful protests by doing nothing, we face another set of bad options, caught between a symbolic Scylla and Charybdis with no ship to navigate us safely between the two: Either pressure from rightwing politicians and the large numbers of NFL fans who are racist or Trumpite has coerced a craven NFL to submit to their un-American, and covertly racist, agenda OR the NFL owners sincerely believe that saluting the flag is more important than a basic civil right.

Or maybe they just like the idea of controlling the players, like a sheep herder controls the flock.

Let’s keep in mind that the NFL, more than any other professional sport, has maintained the plantation owner attitude towards players that all sports used to have before the days of free agency. No other league is as preoccupied with its public image as the NFL, and the owners insist on that image being corporate, conservative and dedicated to the values of small-town white America. No other league has as many rules of behavior that have nothing to do with playing, e.g., the extensive regulations dictating proper behavior after scoring a touchdown. Now the NFL wants to take away the player’s right to free speech, or at least make them pay for the right through fines (which is in keeping with the essential rightwing idea that people with more property should have more of an influence on social policy, as if the NFL is saying, “If you want a say, you have to pay.”). The racial makeup of the NFL reinforces the plantation metaphor: The league is about 70% black, but there are few blacks in management and no black owner.

In organization and physical infrastructure, the old slave plantation had many similarities to contemporary immigration collection centers, Japanese internment camps during World War II and German concentration camps. Moreover, in all these instances of herding people into confined quarters and controlling their every movement, the people in charge openly expressed a superiority to those under their control. The evidence of that superiority was and is racial in nature and usually color-based.

Thus the NFL’s decision to try to prohibit political protest during the national anthem and Trump’s “worse than animals” remark are profoundly connected, not only as different arrows in Trump’s quiver of racism, but as manifestations of the continued persistence of the belief that whites of European decent are superior to others. Both Trump’s comments and the NFL action are highly calculated moves meant to exploit the virulent racism that still distorts American values.

During the last few centuries, science has undercut the notion that certain groups of humans are superior to others, or that all humans are superior to animals for that matter. Science’s inexorable refutation of revealed religion removed our inherent superiority to other creatures as much as its dismissal of inherent differences between the races has refuted racism. Moreover, over the past 40 years, anthropologists and paleontologists have found evidence of all kinds of behavior in animals that humans once cited to assert our superiority, including the development of language, use of tools, social organization and hierarchy, altruism, morality and even religion. The more we learn about the natural world and ourselves, the more like other animals we seem. Even as American whites wrongly believe that they are losing their status economically and socially to “others,” all humans are losing their status of uniqueness among the animal kingdom.

While respecting all life (except maybe rats and cockroaches), I still believe that humans are different. Other animals may use tools, but not to the degree we do. Other animals may communicate, but they haven’t built the widespread and sophisticated communications networks we have. And while altruism and morality exist among other animals, none have yet banded to together to protest the mistreatment of others. Your typical alpha male or alpha female among social animals doesn’t threaten its own existence by trying to raise awareness about how creatures in other groups suffer. And that’s what Kaepernick, the quarterback—the quintessential human alpha—did. In standing up for the civil and judicial rights of people of color, Kaepernick performed a uniquely human act. He could have defined himself as a privileged football player or a member of the economic elite, much as Trump and the NFL owners do, but instead he chose to identify with the downtrodden, and by implication, the entirety of humanity.

In a profound sense, then, those who protest and work for human, civil, judicial and economic rights are the most human among us. That’s certainly what Christ and the early Christians thought. They knelt before the concept of a god who helps the poor. Kaepernick knelt before the secular concepts of equality, equity and human solidarity. Either way, they elevated themselves—made themselves more human and less like animals—through the devotional act of kneeling. Perhaps when considering definitions of human beings, we should simply say, “animals who kneel.”

My hope is that the NFL edict will incite more football players and other professional athletes to become “animals who kneel.” I would like to see entire teams either stay inside the locker room for the national anthem or all take a knee in unison. I would like to see fans stay seated during the national anthem to protest this new restriction on civil rights. I would like to see a class action lawsuit by the players that upends this obnoxious new regulation. In short, I would like to see Americans collectively tell Trump and the NFL owners that we are not animals, but human beings.

#trump #nfl #anthem #immigrants

6 notes · View notes

wtf-skittens · 7 years

Text

Okay! I want to get myself back into writing a bit more regularly, but I need a bit of a kick in the pants. XD So! I’m gonna chuck up a list/brief description of a bunch of my Thousand Son/Shadowed Sun characters here, and ask you all, dear followers, to ask me stuff about whoever catches your attention! :D

A bit of backstory/context for the whole Thousand Son/Shadowed Sun thing: the core group of them were part of a company on board a vanguard cruiser the Aten, back in the 30k Crusade days. The Aten and some accompanying support ships were seconded to a Word Bearers Expedition fleet, to help out with the whole crusade thing. At some point they got news of the Edict of Nikea, but heard nothing specific from Magnus or the rest of the XV legion about it, so they obeyed the Edict as best they could (despite the WBs trying to subtly manipulate them otherwise).

Long story short - the Word Bearers ended up opening fire on the Aten and her supporting ships. The Aten and two destroyers managed to escape into the warp while the rest of their support ships sacrificed themselves to shield them, but the rushed jump combined with exploding warp drives too close to the translation point pushed the Aten and her two destroyers too deep into the warp, trapping them there. They were trapped for what seemed about nine years to them, and daemonic incursions were a regular problem - so much so that the company captain rescinded their adherence to the Edict, at least for while they were warp-trapped. Also during that time in the Warp, the Rubric happened, which rubricae’d about 75% of the Thousand Sons company aboard the ship, much to the remainder’s distress and confusion. It was a really shitty nine years for everyone involved.

They finally escaped the warp - approximately ten thousand years later in realspace, though they didn’t know that at the time. They found Prospero a burnt, blackened husk, and were trying to figure out wtf was going on when a small warband of chaos Thousand Sons found them. Recognising them as long-lost brothers, the Chaos TSons were all “HEY BROS man you’ve missed out a lot, come hang with us!” The Aten’s remaining TSons felt like they had little choice, at least until they’d learned a bit more about when the hell they were and what the hell was going on.

They didn’t like any of what they learned of the Heresy or the past ten thousand years, though, especially regarding the Chaos TSons use of daemons (which the Aten’s crew hate, loathe and despise after their time in the warp). So eventually the Aten’s lot launched a surprise attack on the small warband, wiping them out and blowing up their ship.

More stuff happened, but to summarise - they helped out a small group of Grey Knights and Imperial Guard fight off a tyranid splinter fleet, and in return, the GKs scrutinised the hell out of them for a while, then eventually decided that they were sufficiently loyal to Emperor and Imperium - but a squad of the GK still hang around them a lot to keep an eye on them. They’ve made some allies along the way, including a few other Space Marine chapters (one of which being Blood Ravens XD), and after some discussion and negotiation (and the help of an Inquisitor who really likes the idea of some Astartes Owing Him a Big One), the remaining Thousand Sons aboard the Aten renamed themselves the Shadowed Suns chapter, modified their insignia to match, and came up with a suitable backstory for their chapter to help stave off suspicion from other Imperials who aren’t in the know.

The Shadowed Suns are now slowly rebuilding their numbers and working on strengthening their bonds with their allied Astartes chapters, the other Imperial planets/forces in the sector, and the local chapter of the Deathwatch.

So! Here’s the actual character list! XD

Sefu: Original captain of the TSons’ company aboard the Aten. Pavoni biomancer, was suffering from the flesh change when the Rubric hit and somehow stabilised it, but now he’s stuck looking somewhat like a winged daemon prince even though he’s absolutely not one. Now acts in an advisory role, but is kept securely hidden away so Imperials don’t get the wrong idea.

Akil Amari: Corvidae diviner whose future-seeing is instinctive and not under his own conscious control. Was the main Archival librarian aboard the Aten, but was promoted (despite his protests) to acting-captain after Sefu stepped down because of the whole flesh change thing. Akil is now (again despite his protests) the official Chapter Master of the Shadowed Suns. He is very protective of both his battle-brothers and the human crews of the Aten and its two surviving destroyers, and works hard both at rebuilding his chapter and strengthening the ties of alliance and friendship with other chapters and Imperial forces. Even though he’s relatively young, as Astartes ages go, he’s already getting silver/grey streaks in his black hair at his temples.

Zuberi & Jabari: Both Athenaean telepaths, they’re twin brothers despite looking nothing alike, and their twin status is not revealed to anyone outside the chapter. Zuberi is huge even for an astartes, and often plays the role of big silent brute muscle in his role of Akil’s bodyguard, despite being an otherwise friendly, gregarious person. He also acts as Akil’s Honour Guard and/or the chapter’s First Captain, depending on situation. In contrast, Jabari is the smallest astartes in the chapter, with a lean, wiry build and a cold, calculating personality that’s almost the exact opposite of Zuberi’s warm geniality. Jabari is the chapter’s Scout Master, and also plays the role of spymaster, infiltrator and saboteur. Both twins use their telepathic abilities for information-gathering in their various roles, and also act as back-up astropaths/long range communication. Whatever one twin does, hears, or feels, the other knows about - which can sometimes backfire in combat due to feedback whiplash.

Asim: Born on Terra, Asim is the oldest astartes aboard the Aten, and is one of the original members of the XV Legion, from before the Emperor first found Magnus. A Raptora telekine, he’s sturdy, stoic and rarely speaks his opinion, but when he does, others listen. He acts as the chapter’s Drillmaster, training the neophytes and scouts in all forms of combat.

Runihura: A Pyrae pyromancer/technomancer , Runihura was mortally wounded/mutated during the fight to wipe out the traitor TSons. Refusing to abandon his brothers by dying or mutating into a mindless spawn, he hurled his consciousness/soul into an empty Defiler shell that the Traitor Sons were intending to bind a new daemon to, taking it over instead. His flesh body is now kept in stasis, while his mind/soul remain in the giant metal walker. Despite this, his cheerful optimism and cheeky humour has never waned, and though he rarely leaves the docking bay where his defiler shell is housed, he is still a source of comfort and morale-boosting to his battle-brothers.

Kamuzu: Pavoni biomancer. Originally a simple field apothecary, Kamuzu ended up as the Aten’s chief apothecary when the original chief apothecary was killed during one of the many daemonic incursions. His gruff, sardonic and sarcastic behaviour is a cover for a healer who is very good at their job. He takes his new role and responsibilities very seriously, and views injuries to his battle-brothers or the ship’s crew as a personal insult. Much of his time is dedicated to the implantation and monitoring of the chapter’s neophytes and scouts, ensuring the future of the chapter. But he will often also spend some time attempting to heal Runihura’s warped, ruined flesh - with almost no success, much to Kamuzu’s frustration.

Nassor: A Pyrae technomancer/pyromancer, Nassor specialises in heavy weapons and their payloads. Whereas Kamuzu’s sarcasm is (mostly) a cover, Nassor is straight up just a generally unfriendly, combative and argumentative person. He’s more interested in weapons and explosives than people, or even most of his battle-brothers. His preferred type of force is overwhelming.

Niu: A Corvidae diviner, Niu was gravely injured during the fighting on Kamenka Troika against the greenskins, many years before the Aten was trapped in the warp. As a result of those injuries, Niu was interred in a Contemptor Dreadnought. Before his interment, he was a very quiet, observant person, with a dry sense of humour that really only made itself known around his closer battle-brothers such as Sefu or Runihura. Now, he spends much of his time asleep, woken only for battle or some other dire need. Due to damage to the links between his sarcophagus and the dreadnought shell, he sometimes loses track of current reality, and re-lives past battles - or future ones - fighting foes that don’t currently exist.

---

Okay yikes that got longer than I thought it would, and this is only the old guard, so to speak. I still have a bunch of other, younger Sons/Suns, but I’ll cover them in another post, I think. XD

So yeah, if any of them catch your interest, please let me know! Whether it be questions/requests for more detail, possible short writing prompts, whatever! Hit me! :D

#wh40k #warhammer 40000 #thousand sons #shadowed suns

19 notes · View notes

neuxue · 7 years

Text

Wheel of Time liveblogging: The Gathering Storm ch 14

Good things may come in small packages, but bad things come in boxes.

Chapter 14: A Box Opens

WHAT THE FUCK??? NO. THAT TITLE IS UNACCEPTABLE GET IT AWAY.

NO BOXES.

Boxes are bad for dragons.

Okay so we start with Sorilea, Cadsuane, and Semirhage. No boxes yet.

Cadsuane anticipated finding many things among the Aiel who followed Rand al’Thor. […] She had been right. One thing she had certainly not expected to find, however, was an equal. Certainly not a Wise One who could barely channel. And yet, oddly, that was how she regarded the leathery-faced Aiel woman.

And at this point, like other Wise Ones, Sorliea can’t have much respect for Aes Sedai on the whole, but from the first time they met, she and Cadsuane have shared this mutual respect. Surprised respect, and sometimes wary respect, but they do treat as equals.

Cadsuane certainly still has her blind spots regarding the Aiel, and the Wise Ones, but I do like that she can acknowledge Sorliea as an equal. Cadsuane is largely set in her ways and her views, but she is aware of this, which affords her a modicum more flexibility than she might otherwise have.

I wish Verin were here, though. I really liked the potential for a Verin-Cadsuane-Sorilea alliance.

Semirhage is being kept forcibly awake with weaves that make noise and light, and I’m pretty sure that can be categorised as ‘torture’ but maybe Cadsuane would justify it to Rand as ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ so as to avoid breaking his edict.

She had likely mastered some kind of mental trick to help her stave off exhaustion.

Well she did have a three-thousand-year nap before this all started, so that might have helped.

I have a hard time imagining one of the Aiel using the phrase ‘delicate Aiel questioning’ but whatever, that’s nitpicking.

“Rand al’Thor is twice as stubborn as any clan chief I’ve known. And twice as arrogant too. To presume that women cannot bear pain as well as men!”

Drag him.

I mean, that’s not exactly his reasoning – at this point, it’s no longer a matter of reasoning even – but she has a point. It’s an absurd distinction for him to make.

Though Cadsuane also has a point in saying that pain is probably useless on Semirhage, so in this case it wouldn’t matter if Rand let them hurt her or not. It might not be a bad idea to let them kill her, before she causes problems, because there’s no way she won’t cause problems, but what can you do.

“Ah,” [Semirhage] said. “Aiel. You were such good servants, once. Tell me, how strongly does it bite, knowing how you betrayed your oaths? Your ancestors would cry for punishment if they knew how many deaths lay at the hands of their descendants.”

Wow.

She sure knows how to hit where it will hurt.

And with pure truth, in this case. Which of course is why it hurts. It’s also interesting to think about how, for Semirhage, it’s only been…what, a year? She didn’t watch the Aiel change. She was imprisoned when they were still the Da’shain, and when she was released, they were…this. So she’s almost more able to wield their past as a weapon against them because she must remember it so clearly, and must be able to see sharply the contrast between what they were and what they are.

“She seems so much more human than I anticipated,” Sorilea said to Bair.

It’s an impressive response, especially combined with the lack of reaction to what Semirhage just said. But then, Sorilea is a Wise One, and already faced her people’s past.

Semirhage’s eyes narrowed for just a moment at that comment.

I wonder if Sorilea meant it as a counterstrike, or just an observation. She’s canny enough that it could well be the former. Semirhage is cold and cruel and infamous; she can’t like the ‘primitive’ people of this age – especially a woman who can barely channel – dismissing her as disappointingly human.

“Tell me, how far do you think I would have to push before one of you [Aiel] would kill a blacksmith and dine on his flesh?”

Well she certainly wasn’t shaken for long. She gets a slight reaction from Sorilea this time, at any rate.

“If I were to choose,” Sorilea continued, “I think that I would have her throat slit and her corpse laid out on the dust to dry. Keeping her alive is like keeping a snapwood blacklance as a pet.”

I’m with Sorilea on this one.

“You’re right about the danger, but killing her now would be worse.”

Are you sure of that? Really sure? Absolutely certain? The longer you keep her, the greater the risk she will find a way to make you regret it. And you’re gaining virtually nothing right now.

“Al’Thor cannot – or will not – give me an accurate count of the number of Forsaken he has slain, but he implies that at least half of them still live.”

Well, see, it’s complicated.

Though…Rand doesn’t actually know that it’s complicated, does he? So why won’t he give a number? Is it because he still doesn’t know what exactly happened to Asmodean, and doesn’t want to come anywhere near that topic lest he reveal that he held him captive rather than killing him? But he seems to assume Asmodean is still alive, and has betrayed him, so he could just list him among the ‘probably still alive and plotting my downfall’ and leave it at that. Why not tell Cadsuane about Ishamael and Lanfear and Be’lal and Sammael and Aginor and Balthamel and Rahvin?

“And the item?” [Sorilea] asked. “May I see it?”

Please don’t let this be what I think it is. Then again, I don’t know what they could really do with it, given that killing it with fire didn’t work when Nynaeve and Elayne tried, nor did dropping it in the ocean.

Though…she did also have Semirhage’s momentary look, that hint of anger, displayed at Sorilea’s comment. When you could control a person’s anger, you could control their other emotions as well. That was why she had focused so hard on teaching al’Thor to rein in his temper.

That’s an interesting perspective on it. ‘A rage in him fit to burn the world, and he holds it by a hair…’ I don’t think her method is working, exactly, but I can see where she’s coming from. Rand is barely holding everything together, and the world needs more than ‘barely’.

Al’Thor seemed almost eager for the Last Battle. Or perhaps just resigned. To get there he felt he had to force his way through the petty squabbles of people like a midnight traveller pushing through banks of snow to arrive at the inn. The problem was, al’Thor wasn’t ready for the Last Battle. Cadsuane could feel it in the way he spoke, the way he acted. The way he regarded the world with that dark, nearly dazed expression. If the man he was now faced the Dark One to decide the fate of the world, Cadsuane feared for all people.

Her obseravtions are rather excellent and usually accurate, even if her methods aren’t necessarily the ‘right’ or most effective ones.

She’s right, here. Rand is…both eager and resigned, pushing his way towards the Last Battle because that is his task, because that is his sole focus, and because it will at last be an ending. (But there are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time, and actually this sort of ties into what he has lost sight of; he doesn’t see it as an ending to allow a new beginning, but simply as…an ending).

And he’s not ready. Even if he were to win, with the mindset he has now, it would be a hollow victory at best, because he has lost sight of or pushed away from himself everything he should be fighting for. He has lost laughter and tears; Cadsuane can see that, but the difficulty is in knowing how to help him find them again. She’s trying, and she knows how desperately important it is, but neither she nor anyone else at this point actually knows what to do. All they can do is try. And unfortunately, sometimes their failures may only do more harm.

It was strange to her how few Aes Sedai learned to innovate with the One Power. They memorised time-tested and traditional weaves, but gave barely a thought for what else they could do. True, experimenting with the One Power could be disastrous, but many simple extrapolations could be made without danger.

Is it really all that strange to you, Cadsuane? But this does fit rather well into how Cadsuane is both traditional and also… not. She’s enough of a pragmatist that she won’t reject potentially useful things out of hand just because they’re new, or not what she expected. And while she absolutely has her biases, and tends to think her way is the right way, she is better than many at responding to unexpected situations. Rand pulls out the Choedan Kal and says he’s going to cleanse saidin and Cadsuane doesn’t waste time telling him all the reasons that’s a terrible idea or can’t be done or shouldn’t be attempted, but simply asks him where and starts coordinating defences. For a more morally questionable example, she considers Alanna’s bonding of Rand to be a crime, but also makes use of it. Rather than rejecting the Asha’man as an abomination and/or attempting to pretend they don’t exist, she arranges for them to be bonded by Aes Sedai, and incorporates them into her plans. She initially dismisses the Wise Ones as ‘wilders’, but quickly recognises Sorilea and some of the others as a force to be reckoned with. She can look at change, or at something that goes against tradition, and instead of fighting against it, she finds a way to make it useful. It may not always be the most morally exemplary of traits, but it is an impressive one. She has her ideas of how things should be, or should be done, and she’s not free from all prejudice, but she also tries to face reality as it is.

Anyway, it’s not at all surprising that the White Tower as it has been for the last few centuries or so does not exactly inspire innovation.

The weaves –inverted to be invisible – sprang out in twisting threads of Air and captured anyone in the room when the box was opened. Then another weave set out a large sound, imitating a hundred trumpes playing while lights flashed in the air to give the alarm. The weaves would also go off if anyone opened the box, moved it, or barely touched it with the most delicate thread of the One Power.

See that all sounds good, and it’s good that she’s taking the guarding of this seriously, but SOMETHING IS GOING TO GO VERY WRONG HERE.

And yep, there’s the male a’dam. I can’t remember what I called it. Evil collar of doom? Anyway, it’s BAD NEWS.

They had not tested the collar. Al’Thor had forbidden it.

On the one hand, WOW I WONDER WHY. On the other…there is something to be said for testing dangerous things in a controlled environment so that you’re not later surprised by them in a very un-controlled environment.

“It may have been used as a pattern by the Seanchan.”

Oh WONDERFUL.

“This is unsettling to see,” Sorilea said. “If one of the Shadowsouled, or even one of the Seanchan, captured him with this…”

“Light protect us all,” Bair whispered.

Yeah, I’m thinking this is not so much a matter of ‘if’ as of ‘when’. You have all the components of this exact disaster right here in this house, after all. One of them kept in a box, no less.

“And the people who have these are the same people with whom al’Thor wishes to make peace?” Sorilea shook her head. “Creation of these abominations alone should warrant a blood feud.”

Yeah, well, you know what they say – the enemy of apocalypse at the hands of an entity of destruction and entropy is my friend.

Cadsuane’s given the actual a’dam and also Callandor to ‘some acquaintances’. Huh. I’m inclined to agree with her, though, that Callandor probably has a few more secrets. Not to mention undoubtedly more of a role to play.

One of the first things Cadsuane had done after capturing those female a’dam was put one on and practice ways to escape from it. She’d done so under carefully controlled circumstances, of course, with women she trusted to help her escape.

Credit where it’s due. She also linked to test whether saidin was clean. Cadsuane doesn’t shy away from tasks she considers important, even if they’re distasteful or dangerous.

If your enemy was planning to do something to you, you had to discover how to counter it. Even if that meant leashing yourself. Al’Thor couldn’t see this. When she asked, he simply muttered about “that bloody box” and being beaten.

I mean. Yeah. This is one where they both very much have a point. Trying to find a weakness in a weapon that could be used against you is a very good idea, even if that means unpleasantness – though in this case, it’s hard to see what that weakness might be.

But that’s…not something Rand is going to be able to do. He could barely stand being in the small cabin of a boat for more than a few minutes, and he trusts almost no one – certainly not Aes Sedai – and even in controlled circumstances, being leashed and controlled like that would be absolute torture. So he may not see the validity of Cadsuane’s point, but I think here she also fails to see the extent to which this is impossible for him.

“We have to do something about that man,” Sorilea said, meeting Cadsuane’s eyes. “He has grown worse since we last met.”

“He has,” Cadsuane said. “He’s surprisingly accomplished at ignoring my training.”

So…maybe try something different? Sorilea’s right, though; he is getting worse. We’re in pretty steep downward-spiral territory here (and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t enjoying watching it).

“Then let us discuss,” Sorilea said, pulling over a stool. “A plan must be arranged. For the good of all.”

Again…I wouldn’t say she’s wrong, and it’s true that if things continue as they are it will likely lead to disaster, and Sorilea and Cadsuane are both genuinely focused on the fate of the world here. But I also don’t know that this plan will end well, whatever it is. In part because I think that no plan could end well, really, so long as Rand himself doesn’t…allow it to. Some of it is going to have to come from him, and how to make that happen is not a question anyone really knows how to answer at this point.

Next (TGS ch 15) Previous (TGS ch 13)

#how to make a disaster:#add all the above ingredients to a box and wait #Wheel of Time #neuxue liveblogs WoT #The Gathering Storm

33 notes · View notes

rantsaboutsuperheroes-blog · 7 years

Text

The Problem with Spider-Man

Despite Marvel’s success in bringing Iron Man, Captain America, and the rest of the Avengers to a much wider audience than ever before, the company’s most profitable hero by far continues to be Spider-Man. The character was absent for the first three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (instead having his own movie series starring Andrew Garfield), yet he took in quite literally three times as much profit as the entirety of the Avengers team, all of whom have had recent solo outings and merchandising lines. Of course, that only seems absurd if you ignore the past 50 years of mainstream exposure Peter Parker and his alter ego have gotten. He’s reached a level of ubiquity only matched by DC’s marquee superheroes, Superman and Batman. Hundreds of thousands of comics all over the world, cartoons, movies, even the occasional stab at a live-action TV show (Thank you, Japan) have acquainted every continent in the world with Spider-Man.

So, Spider-Man’s absurdly popular. There’s always going to be money made on Spider-Man merchandise. That’s a given. But the sales and popularity of his ongoing comic series have not always been as rocksteady. In recent years, sales of the main Amazing Spider-Man title have been declining. Since the comic’s 2015 relaunch (as part of Marvel’s increasingly desperate rounds of biannual relaunches ever since “Marvel Now!” back in 2012) sales have declined by a little over 50%, dipping as low as 72% in late 2016. Other entries in the Spider-Man publishing line such as Spider-Man (Miles Morales), Spider-Gwen, Spider-Woman, and Venom have also suffered sales slumps. So, why is this happening? Because if Spider-Man, Marvel’s most lucrative character by far can’t sell issues, the rest of Marvel’s publishing line is probably in similar trouble. And, unfortunately, it is. But while Marvel does have massive problems regarding its current direction for its characters, Spider-Man and his supporting cast pose a separate, but equally difficult problem.

Teenage superheroes might seem like a common enough concept idea by this point, but it’s important to remember just how instrumental the story of Peter Parker is to the creation of practically every superhero that came after him. More than any other superhero that came before him, Peter was relatable. He wasn’t a super-strong alien or billionaire playboy, he was nerdy teenager. He got picked on, girls ignored him, his family wasn’t that well off, and he didn’t have a dazzling personality or anything. In fact, he was kind of an asshole. Even after he got his powers and learned his lesson about the relationship between Great Power and Great Responsibility, Peter continued to act like a stupid teenager, both without and without the mask. Which, once again, is incredibly relatable to teenagers and young adults such as myself. But what really set Spider-Man’s story apart from other superheroes at the time was the fact that he got older. He graduated high school and went to college. His longtime girlfriend Gwen Stacy was killed. He graduated college. He eventually got married to Mary Jane Watson. Sure, the rest of the Marvel Universe progressed with him in some ways, but remained static in so many others. It’s incredibly hard to replicate the anxieties and heartaches and triumphs that a person experiences when they’re becoming an adult. There’s no other period of our lives quite like it (said the 22-year old college student). But the thing about becoming an adult is, you can’t really ever be a teenager again. I’m not saying this like it’s a bad thing, being a teenager is a pretty shit deal most of the time.

The reason I bring this up is simple: Spider-Man graduated college and got married, but ever since the 2007 Spider-Man event “One More Day”, the character feels like he’s regressed back to his teenage personality and supporting cast. Marvel referred to the status quo following this shift “Brand New Day”. For those of you who know what One More Day is, you can probably guess the direction this rant will be taking. For those who don’t, let me give you the high concept: Peter and Mary Jane sells their marriage to Satan (or at least Marvel’s resident Satan stand-in, Mephisto) in order to save his dying Aunt May. If you think that sounds unbelievably stupid, you’re not alone. If you’re wondering just how the hell a storyline like that could be proposed by a writer and not instantly shot down by the editorial, it’s because the writer of the AMS series at the time, J. Michael Straczynski didn’t suggest it. Instead, the edict came down from on high, sprung from the mind of Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief at the time, Joe Quesada. But why would he want to do something like that? Why set back the company’s marquee character’s personal progression by over 20 years? And in a literal Deal with the Devil no less? Mr. Quesada’s reasoning can be summed up in two statements:

“If I’m going to live by the theory that I’ve always believed in –that a Peter being single is an intrinsic part of the very foundation of the world of Spider-Man — then the same can be said about mechanical webshooters vs. organic.”

“If we keep Spidey rejuvenated and relatable to fans on the horizon, we can manage to do that and still keep him enjoyable to those that have been following his adventures for years. Will everyone be happy with the decision? No, of course not, but that’s what makes it a horserace. At the end of the day, my job is to keep these characters fresh and ready for every fan that walks through the door, while also planning for the future and hopefully an even larger fan base.”

Now, I’m going to say right now that I am mostly of the opinion that the above statements are bullshit. But there is a logic to them that is also hard to deny. Well, at the time that is. After all, it is true that the character doesn’t belong to any one generation. Younger fans should have an access point to these characters that isn’t guarded by 500 issues of required reading. I absolutely agree with that sentiment. In fact, I would assert that in some regards One More Day and the subsequent Brand New Day status quo did help breathe some fresh air into Spider-Man’s corner of the Marvel universe. It is wackier, there is more outlandish stuff happening, and yes, there have been some damn fine stories that have come out of this direction. But I also think that by going in this new direction, Marvel editorial erased something much more valuable from Spider-Man: a feeling of growth and change and investment to see how Peter Parker’s life plays out. But luckily for Marvel, there’s a way they can have their cake and eat it too: legacy characters. Namely, a kid by the name of Miles Morales.

For those of you unacquainted, Miles Morales is the current star of the adjectiveless Spider-Man series written by Brian Michael Bendis. Originally starting off in the Ultimate Universe (an attempt at creating an edgy, youthful universe to counteract exactly what Quesada was talking about), Miles made the transition to the mainstream Marvel Universe to interact with the rest of the company’s stable of characters. So herein lies the problem: Miles Morales exists as a successor to the mantle of Spider-Man, and to recreate the teenaged high-school feel of the original AMS issues written by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. That’s well and fine, except Peter’s entire status quo over the past ten years has been an attempt to do exactly the same thing. They’re trying to occupy the same niche, and as a result neither of them are fitting in well. Peter, like Miles, is perpetually single with relationships and love interests only really teased at, or existing as short term relationships at most. They try their best to keep their secret identities hidden from their loved ones. Of course, there are obvious differences. Miles is a high schooler, Peter is currently the CEO of his own megacorporation, Parker Industries.

You might think that sounds like character progression. Rest assured, it’s not. Peter is now an emotionally stunted manchild, but also a cut-rate Tony Stark. Unfortunately, lampshading that fact within the series itself did nothing to make the new status quo feel organic or even interesting. He’s had the company for less than a year and the tie-in to the next big Marvel event, Secret Empire, will see it all get torn down around his ears, returning Peter to his more well-known status quo of a single guy down on his luck.

So, my solution to this problem is actually very simple: Marvel needs to revisit the One More Day storyline in an arc written to undo the changes brought about by the event. Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage should be restored, Aunt May should either be allowed to die like the original storyline tried to avert or have her knowledge of Peter’s identity returned to her to more accurately recreate the status quo the character had before One More Day. Let Miles be the down-on-his-luck teenager that has to go through all the trials and tribulations of getting older. Let Peter be the adult that’s already gone through all of that, and deals with his own adult problems. Because ultimately, Spider-Man isn’t a story about being a teenager. It’s a story about growing up. And Peter, like it or not, has already grown up. There’s no point in trying to reset his characterization to his teenage self when there’s a teenage character ready and willing to take over that mantle. All that keeping the current narrative direction will do is push Miles further and further into irrelevance, and keep Peter from actually changing and evolving as a character. And frankly, neither Spider-Man deserves that fate.

#Marvel #Spider-Man #One More Day #Miles Morales

1 note · View note

greyias · 8 years

Text

FIC: The Fruitcake Menace

Title: The Fruitcake Menace Summary: Lana Beniko faces down a grave threat to the Alliance–the Commander’s wretched Life Day treats. Pairing: Mostly Gen (maybe some background/implied Theron/Outlander) Genre: Humor/Crack Spoilers: Some for KOTET, especially the LS path Word Count: 4600 Author’s Notes: So I made the mistake of making my main Jedi Knight in Sims 4, and she has a habit of making fruitcakes for all of her new neighbors. I was talking to @mjaydesw about it… and then this… happened…

Had Lana Beniko, Dark Lord of the Sith and second-in-command for the Alliance, realized the far-reaching implications of allowing the traditional holiday celebrations on the base, she would have nixed the idea in the bud. Having been raised in a proper Sith household, she saw more prudence in respecting Imperial Edict GR-1NC4 than the silly traditions of an alien holiday. But as self-appointed morale officer, Vette had argued for the need to raise spirits of all those around the base who couldn’t return home to their families after joining the war against Zakuul.

Never had she imagined that the Alliance’s commander would get so drawn into the celebrations so thoroughly. She had been such a traditional Jedi, things such as celebrating holidays had never been a normal part of her life. It was likely that a five year sleep in toxic carbonite had affected the mental faculties of a once sharp and pragmatic mind. That was the only explanation that Lana could come up with when the Commander presented her with the small, plastic-wrapped package during the drunken celebration in the cantina.

Over the Commander’s shoulder, she saw Theron Shan hide his laughter behind a long drag off his mug of spiced Arkanian sweet milk. She would have tossed the spy a glare, but the Commander was watching her expectantly.

“I… don’t know what to say,” Lana said diplomatically, palms still turned up where the innocuous package sat.

“Kaliyo said it was a Life Day tradition to give friends and family one of these.” She rubbed her chin thoughtfully as Lana tried to figure out the most diplomatic way to retreat. “I didn’t have access to the traditional Kashykkk ingredients, so I just made it from some dried fruit and nuts the mess staff had found here on Odessen.”

“You… made this?”

The Commander nodded brightly, and over her shoulder Theron was giving Lana the most shit-eating grin she had ever seen on the man. “Isn’t that nice, Lana? The Commander made one for all of us.”

“Bowdarr said that on Kashykkk these celebrated friendship and fellowship,” the Jedi continued on, apparently oblivious to the byplay between her two senior-most staff members, “and that it means the most when it’s handmade.”

“I’m… touched,” Lana finally choked out.

“Go on,” Theron goaded, “try a bite. It’s delicious.”

This time she did shoot a glare at the SIS agent. “I thought I might enjoy it in private later.”

“Everyone keeps saying that.” The Commander frowned, brow crinkling in deep thought. “I don’t understand why they can’t be consumed in public. I’m sorry, I’m not used to this tradition. Was this an inappropriate gift? I didn’t mean to offend anyone.”

“No, no,” Theron was quick to assure her, and gave the Sith a stern look, “of course not. I’m sure Lana would love to try some right now.”

Lana was about to respond that she most certainly would not, and had no intention of eating the abomination that their commander had crafted with such care and devotion. The withering glare directed her way by Theron, joined by the Jedi’s confused and crestfallen look unfortunately made the decision for her. With a quick prayer to the Dark Side of the Force, Lana pulled the ribbon off, and pinched off a small portion of the edge of the supposedly edible dessert.

“Make sure you get some of the dried muja fruit,” Theron put in helpfully. “It really brings the flavors together.”

When he least suspected it, Lana was going to make sure the spy got captured and interrogated by enemy forces again. She’d make sure there were vibroblades and Force lightning involved this time. Maybe an invasive probe too.

Steeling herself, Lana brought the crumbling, dry mass of foodstuff to bear, and delicately took a bite. The dried fruit stuck to the roof of her mouth, and the hard, roasted nuts were not ground very fine and nearly choked her. At the expectant expression from her friend, Lana forced down her initial reaction and was able to summon a smile. “I see what Theron means…”

“You do?”

“It’s,” Lana nearly choked on the lie as much as she did the cake, “delicious.”

The Commander’s face brightened, the wide smile almost blinding. Theron handed over his mug of Arkanian sweet milk as a conciliatory gesture so she could wash down the vestiges of the vile thing that she had just consumed. It wouldn’t save the spy from Lana’s future wrath, as even the small bite she had consumed sat like a lump in her stomach for at least two evenings thereafter.

The Commander was pulled away by a drunken troop of soldiers before anything else could be said about her gift. Theron just kept leaning against the wall, watching her with an overtly fond smile plastered on his face. Lana wanted to make some sort of scathing comment, but was still too busy trying to wash the horrid flavor from her mouth to be able to get a word in.

She made sure to tuck the little brick of horror away in her cloak so she could dispose of it properly once no one was around.

And thus, began the Saga of the Alliance Fruitcake.

Life Day came and went, and sadly Lana’s chance for vengeance against her coworker never arose, as she had more pressing matters to attend to, like conducting a war against Zakuul, first with Aracann, and then later Vaylin.

She should have made an exception, though, because apparently her slip into sentimentality over the holidays had somehow emboldened the Commander, who made a point to welcome all of their new allies into the Alliance with one of her fruity blocks of death. Lana would have attempted to put a stop to it, but she didn’t even find out about the Alliance’s Official Welcome Basket until several months later.

“Oh, Minister Lormen!” The Commander had paused following Empress Acina’s departing form to face the Minister of Logistics. “I wanted to thank you for your hospitality.”

“I am merely doing my duty, Commander.”

“Please, accept this gift as a token of friendship from the Alliance.”

She handed over the tiny package, the expertly tied ribbon giving Lana horrible flashbacks to the holiday party. Gelmid Lormen stared at the tiny fruitcake in his hand, not bothering to hide his revulsion.

“This was completely unnecessary,” he said.

“A token of friendship might not be necessary, but it’s still given regardless.” She bowed to him in true polite Jedi fashion. “I hope we can continue working together, Minister. It sounds like there’s much to talk about.”

“Thank you,” Lormen said sourly. “And Commander, please do enjoy your flight.”

The Jedi nodded amiably before following the way that Acina had left. Lormen watched her go, not bothering to hide his disdain for the gift that had been bestowed upon him nor its giver.

“Hey, Lormen,” Theron called out, “make sure you take a nice big bite. It’s got all the best Odessen has to offer!”

“It’s Minister Lormen!” the Imperial snarled. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to!”

Lormen stormed away, pausing on the way out to unceremoniously shove the fruitcake into one of the waste chutes. Lana was pretty sure she heard the words “impertinent Republic pig” growled as the uptight man left them to their own devices.

“Damn, I was hoping he’d choke on it,” Theron muttered. “Well, let’s go find us a data access point, eh?”

“Theron,” Lana said, managing to keep her composure, “what was that?”

“You heard the man, that was ‘Minister’ Lormen.”

“I was talking about the package she gave him.”

“Oh, that.”

“Yes, that. The Commander is still handing out those wretched things?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” he looked away guiltily, and then quickly made a line for the nearest computer bay. “You’ll keep guard while I do this right?”

“Exactly how many of those things has she given out?”

Theron shrugged noncommittally, as he hooked into the system. “Haven’t counted. Anyway, let me know if you see anyone coming. I should really concentrate on getting as much data while we’ve got the chance.”

Lana scowled, but let the subject drop for now, as there were much more important matters at hand than the Commander’s damn fruitcakes.

Now, it couldn’t be proven that the Commander’s ill-timed gift to Lormen had anything to do with him teaming up with Saresh and hiring the galaxy’s best hit squad to take out her and Empress Acina — but Lana wasn’t ready to completely rule out the possibility either. She had been ready to go into detail with the Commander regarding the delicate intricacies of intergalactic relations, but things just kept happening. Like Vaylin taking over the Gravestone, and then the whole crew getting kidnapped by a sentient planet filled with killer droids.

“I’m starving,” Kaliyo complained, “please tell me one of you has something to eat.”

“Sorry, I left all my rations back on the Gravestone before I was pulled here against my will,” Jorgan snarled. “You want to go back for it?”

“Cool it, Kitty.” She gave him a look, before looking across the way. “Hey, Chuckles, you got anything?”

“Is she talking to me?” Torian asked, confused.

Theron was too busy wearing a trench in the ground as he paced the length of the room, glaring at the door that Vette and the Commander had disappeared through to weigh in on the proceedings, so it was up to Lana to answer.

“Why don’t you ask her?” she managed with some modicum of patience.

“I don’t really want to.”

Lana massaged her forehead, wondering how she had gotten mixed up with this lot.

“Hey, I’ve still got a bit of the Life Day fruitcake,” Koth volunteered, “if you’re desperate.”

“Oh, god, pass!” Kaliyo stuck out her tongue. “Remind me never to joke around with Little Miss Literal again. I can’t believe she’s still making those things.”

“I guess you’re not really that hungry then.”

“No one’s that hungry! Why are you even carrying that around in your coat? Do you ever clean out your pockets?”

Koth shrugged. “Sometimes.”

“Can we please stop discussing the Commander’s questionable taste in pastries?” Lana asked, before turning to Theron. “And can you be still for one second?”

“There’s no rope to tie me to a chair with here,” he shot back.

“I’ll use the Force,” she bit back. “You’re making me dizzy.”

“Should we go after them?” Theron shook his head immediately. “What am I saying? We should definitely go after them.”

“They’ve been gone five minutes!”

“It’s been forty-five!”

“Are you actually counting?”

“Of course I am! You know what happens every time she leaves our sight these days! First it was the sabotaged shuttle, then the league of assassins. Then she had to go diffuse a quantum bomb!”

“Yeah, sorry about that by the way,” Koth said sheepishly.

“I helped disable that bomb,” Lana reminded the spy with more than a hint of impatience.

“So I guess you’re off babysitting duty.”

“The Commander’s a big girl, Theron, I think she can handle—”

“Get that away from me!” Kaliyo growled.

Lana let out a long sigh as she looked over to see that Koth was shoving a plastic wrapped bundle of disgustingness into the Rattataki’s face. The Sith gave Theron one final look before swiftly marching over to the two feuding children, snatching the deadly dessert away with one swipe.

“Hey, that’s mine!” Koth protested.

“Well, then you shouldn’t go torturing others with it.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re no fun anymore?”

“Are any of you capable of acting more than five years old?”

Torian raised his hand, but Lana just gave him a look, and he slowly lowered it without a sound. Jorgan just snorted and crossed his arms, but kept standing sentry near the force field. She turned back to Koth, still keeping the plastic package out of his reach.

“Why do you even still have this thing?”

“It was a gift! Even if I’m not going to eat it, you just don’t throw things like that way.”

Lana slid a guilty look away, but he caught it, and gave out a harsh laugh.

“I guess some of us do,” he corrected.

“No need to throw it away,” Kaliyo added. “Mine makes a perfectly good door stop. Works great when you need to keep one wedged open while stealing things.”

“I don’t need to hear this,” Jorgan muttered irritably.

“You didn’t just eat yours?” Torian frowned.

“You weren’t even here at Life Day,” Lana said exasperated. “How did you even get one?”

“The Commander brought several to Darvannis. We assumed that it was some sort of initiation rite to finish them. Our best warriors took on the challenge.”

“You crazy Mandalorians ate that thing?” Kaliyo asked in awe.

“Not everyone was fit for battle the next day,” he admitted quietly.

“Oh, this is absurd!” Lana cried and threw the hated confection back at Koth, who barely managed to catch it before it gave him a concussion. “Exactly how many of these things did she make?”

Koth stowed away his precious Life Day present before Lana confiscated it again. “There’s a lot stowed away on the Gravestone.”

Over on the other side of the room, Theron paused in his glaring contest with the door long enough to try and disguise a cough.

“Do I even want to ask why?”

“Something about giving a token of friendship to anyone joining the Alliance. I don’t know.” Koth shrugged. “I just have to keep the storage closets locked up tight, it seems to attract wildlife otherwise.”

“That seems like an unusually large amount of fruitcake.”

“Hey, I just do what I’m told.”

“By who?”

“That guy.” Koth pointed at the unusually quiet SIS agent trying to blend into the background. “He’s the one who keeps throwing more at me to stash away.”

“Theron,” Lana said warningly.

“Hmm?” Theron pretended to look up from deep in thought. “Did you need something?”

She crossed the room again, dropping her voice this time so the rest of the crew wouldn’t need to listen to them arguing. “Do you mind explaining why the Gravestone has become a giant traveling pastry shop?”

“Would you believe the Omnicannon was hungry?”

“No,” she said flatly. “Please do not tell me that the Commander has been giving out those things to everyone we’ve been trying to recruit into the Alliance.”

“Okay.”

“Okay what?”

“I won’t tell you.”

Lana snorted angrily. “Do you enjoy testing my patience, or is it just a natural talent?”

“A little of both,” he shrugged. “Was there a point to this?”

“Yes, we’re trying to build alliances here, not tear them down!”

“I really don’t think that some homemade baked goods is going to kill any political ties.”

“I’ve tasted those things, don’t even try to tell me that!” she spat. “We have to make her stop. You know those things are taboo on some planets!”

“Oh, come on, it makes her happy to give those things away.”

“But we could start a war!”

“Nah, I’ve got that covered.”

“How do you have ‘that covered’?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “I just swap it out when she’s not looking.”

“You do what?” Lana asked in disbelief.

“You know, I always have a backup on hand. And like a spy, when everyone’s distracted,” Theron mimed a confusing series of actions that Lana had no hope of deciphering, “I make the old switcharoo.”

“You just always have a backup cake on hand?”

“It pays to be prepared,” Theron said. “Also Bowdarr makes a mean forest-honey cake. He keeps me hooked up.”

“Isn’t Kashykkkian forest-honey ungodly expensive right now?”

“Gault gave me a discretionary confectionary budget, on the condition I make sure the Commander never bakes for him again.”

“So let me get this straight,” Lana said, stretching out the words as she tried to calm her rising frustration, “for the past several months, you’ve been diverting Alliance funds to purchase expensive decoy pastries to swap out with the Commander’s paltry excuses for dessert, in an effort to save our political partnerships, rather than just politely ask her to stop?”

“Well, if you phrase anything like that it’ll sound ridiculous.” He crossed his arms.

“At least this explains why you’ve been tagging along with her everywhere lately.”

“What did you think I was doing?”

“I just thought you were getting clingy!”

“Hey! I’m not clingy!”

“You were ready to go track her down after she’s been gone for ten minutes!”

“It’s been an hour!” he corrected. “Who knows what she’s got trying to kill her at this point? It could be a droid the size of a building! You just know she’d go after something like that with just her lightsabers without a second thought!”

“You’re being ridiculous. There are no giant killer droids here!”

“I hate it when Mommy and Daddy fight,” Kaliyo stage-whispered to Torian and Koth.

“Button it!” Lana pointed a finger at the grinning Rattataki, before turning back to Theron. “We’re having an intervention when we get back to Odessen.”

“That’s not necessary. I can stop worrying any time I want.”

“I’m talking about the Commander and her baked goods problem!” Lana threw her arms up in the air. “Please, Theron, try and keep up.”

“Don’t you think you’re overreacting a little bit?”

“You’re filling up all of the Gravestone’s cargo holds with the damn things, and starting a minor zoo in the process from what it sounds like!”

“Pest duty gives HK-55 something to do,” Koth put in helpfully.

“Not helping,” Lana pointed at the pilot without looking at him, still glaring at Theron. “And don’t you have other duties other than being a glorified pastry delivery boy?”

“It takes like maybe five minutes out of my day. I can keep everything running smoothly and swap out a few cakes when no one’s the wiser.”

“Can’t you at least dump the excess waste into the vacuum of space?”

“But I’ve finally found a use for them,” he said cheerily. “I make sure to give one to Saresh and Lormen once a week!”

“I thought cruel and unusual punishment was against Republic law.”

“I make exceptions for people who try to take over the Alliance via assassination.” Theron’s smile was sharp. “Besides, we’re not in the Republic, are we?”

“Remind me not to get on your bad side.”

“Too late. And the pastry runs are continuing indefinitely! If you’re not careful, I’ll start stashing them in your closet.”

“All right, fine,” she ground out, “since you’re being so stubborn about this, I will have a talk by myself with the Commander when we get back home and put a stop to this nonsense.”

“Fine.” Theron gave her a dark look. “And the next time you get a soul devouring monster stuck in your head, I’ll make sure to take away the little things that bring you joy in life.”

“That is not fair!” Lana bristled. “I think there are happier things in the Commander’s life than baking wretched Life Day treats and handing them out to strangers!”

Before they could delve into that subject any deeper, a heavy groan drowned out their argument, and a tremor that seemed to shake the ground. Very distantly, it almost sounded like a deep thrum of lightsabers bouncing off metal. Both Theron and Lana cursed in unison, as an even deeper tremor and crash of something shook the ground on the side of one of the sealed doors. It took some of Jorgan’s conveniently stashed explosives, but they finally met up with their wayward leader, her Twi'lek companion, and the building sized robot they had taken down with just a pair of lightsabers and blasters.

“Told you,” Theron grumbled and crossed his arms.

“Oh, shut up.”

At this point, Lana really should have come to expect this. She stood in the back of the Alliance’s war room next to Theron, who was watching the Commander interact with their latest recruit with more than a good deal of skepticism. From his glare, it’s almost as if he expected at any moment Arcann would pull out a can of carbonite and douse the Commander with it. Lana couldn’t exactly blame the former spy, as she had her own doubts about the man’s deep seated desire to change, much less the ability of everyone else on the base to welcome him with open arms.

The Commander, of course, welcomed him in what was apparently now the official Odessen tradition, which was with a homemade fruitcake.

“This is for me?” The former prince of darkness asked in awe, as if he had never received a present before in his life. “Really?”

“Welcome to the Alliance, Arcann,” the Commander smiled warmly.

“I… I don’t know what to say.”

“I do,” Lana whispered. “Run. Before it consumes you alive.”

Theron elbowed her firmly, but didn’t want to stop glaring at the former Emperor long enough to really share his ire with anyone else.

“Can I open it now?” he asked.

“Of course!” she beamed.

He reverently opened up the package, and took a large bite from the cake. Lana wasn’t able to completely suppress her gasp of horror, while Theron just nodded approvingly. Of course, seeing as he used the weaponized baked goods against his enemies, it was hard to tell if this was due to an acceptance of their new ally, or his anticipation of Arcann’s imminent demise. Being the dark spawn of Valkorion, Arcann was apparently made of sterner stuff than most, because his eyes just widened in delight as he wolfed down a full quarter of the cake.

“This is AMAZE-ing!” he enthused.

“I’m so glad you like it!” She clapped her hands excitedly.

“Is there more?”

“Let me go grab some!”

As she disappeared down the hallway, Theron exhaled an angry breath through his nose. Lana gave him a sidelong glance. “What’s your problem?”

“I didn’t get that reaction.”

“Please tell me you’re not jealous. I don’t have time to deal with that and the Commander’s never ending supply of fruitcake.”

“I don’t get jealous.”

“Or clingy.” Lana rolled her eyes. “Yes, you’re truly the model of upstanding honesty, clearly demonstrated by your elaborate pastry scheme that I’m sure you’ve let the Commander in on by now.”

“You know, Lana, they say sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.”

“You’re getting upset that the Commander is happy that someone enjoys one of her horrid baked concoctions. Wasn’t making her happy the point of you hoarding them away on our premiere warship? Or were you just building up a stash in the hopes of forcing our political enemies to choke on them?”

“I’m just saying, I pretended to eat that thing! I didn’t get a delighted clap.”

“You pretended to eat it?” Lana asked, voice growing suddenly cold.

“Yeah.”

“And then you forced me into that awkward situation where I had to eat that abomination?”

“Oh, right,” he said awkwardly. “I kind of forgot about that.”

“Well, I didn’t! I still can’t get the taste out of my mouth! It’s been almost a year, I still have nightmares about it!”

“Surely you’re exaggerating.”

“How do you know? You didn’t even eat it!” she tossed back. “And you’ve been enabling this stupid behavior for who knows how long. She gave one to Lormen, for crying out loud!”

“Lana,” a small voice interrupted, “what are you saying?”

Both she and Theron whipped around to see the Jedi standing a few feet away, looking at them uncertainly from where she had deposited a tiny mountain of fruitcakes at Arcann’s feet. Lana looked around, trying to see if there was a convenient hole she could go dive in, but apparently the maintenance crew was very good at their job, as the only route of escape was either the elevator, or the underground stream trailing underneath the metal platform making up most of the room.

“I…” Lana stammered. “Um, that is…”

She looked at Theron for help, who just folded his arms stubbornly. “I’ve got no clue, Commander. I think she needs some sleep.”

“Oh, for Sith’s sake!” Lana gave him a rough shove as she stalked over to the Jedi. “This has gone on long enough!”

“What has?”

“The fruitcakes, Commander. You need to stop giving out the fruitcakes!”

“I don’t understand.” She shook her head and looked to Theron for guidance. “I thought it was a kind gesture. Are you telling me it’s not?”

“Look, Commander,” Lana said gently, “I’m not saying Lormen tried to have you brutally murdered because you handed him a fruitcake—logistically I’m sure he’d already hired everyone at that point.”

“Oh, come on,” Theron said, “he didn’t even try the fruitcake. I don’t think it’s very fair to blame it.”

“He threw it away?” The Commander looked not unlike an akk dog puppy that had just been kicked by a cruel master. “I feel like there’s something no one’s telling me.”

Lana shot Theron a glare. “I’m sorry to have to explain this to you, as I guess some general knowledge apparently never made it to the Jedi Temple, but… no one likes fruitcake, Commander.”

“No one?” She frowned. “But you said you did.”

“I lied.”

“Why would you lie about that?”

“Because your eyes were about doubling in size when it looked like I didn’t. Kind of like they are right now. Please don’t do that—”

“But Theron said—”

“He lied too!” Lana interrupted. “He’s never even tried one!”

“You traitor!” Theron snapped. “What did I ever do to you?”

“You made me eat the damn thing in the first place!”

“And I’d do it again in a heartbeat!” he snarled.

“Theron’s been swapping out your fruitcakes behind your back,” Lana told the confused Jedi triumphantly, “and storing the others on the Gravestone. It’s why we’ve had an uptick in wildlife infestations on the ship.”

“This is… a lot to take in,” she said quietly. “No one likes them?”

“This is amazing!” Arcann enthused from the other side of the room, lost in his pile of fruitcakes.

“Okay, almost no one,” Lana conceded. “But seriously, Commander, you need to stop. Both of you need to. This is getting out of hand.”

“I… suppose. If that’s what best.”

Lana couldn’t decipher if the Jedi was just confused, or very depressed by the sudden revelations. Either way, her downcast expression was almost making Lana want to take back the last few minutes, as wonderfully freeing as they had been.

“Come on, Commander,” Theron threw his arm around the Jedi’s shoulders and began to lead her from the room, “I was trying to keep it a surprise, but Dr. Oggurobb’s been working on a nice big walker just for you.”

“How big?”

“Well, it’s no giant Iokath war droid… but still pretty tall.”

“Can I step on Skytroopers with it?”

“You can stomp on so many Skytroopers with it—”

Lana watched them go, the feeling of victory over the horrible fruitcakes ringing hollow. Perhaps it was the bitter taste of dried fruits and nuts that lingered to this day, or maybe it was it was the dejected look her friend had carried as she left the room, or maybe the fact that somehow that damn spy had gotten off scot-free in this whole thing without so much as a betrayed look.

“Lana!” Koth’s voice rang over her comm piece. “I need you to send me backup, and a lot of flame throwers, like right now! Bring your lightsaber too!”

“Koth, what’s the matter?”

“It’s the sleens! They’ve caught the scent of the closet Theron’s been using for the fruitcakes! There’s too many of them—we can’t hold them off!”

Or, perhaps, it was that. Lana let out a heavy, burdened sigh, and trudged off toward the elevator so she could go deal with the chaos wrought by her nemesis one last time. As she strode away, she didn’t even notice the lone figure still in the room, curled in on himself as even his unnaturally strong digestive system finally lost the battle with the Commander’s fruitcake.

Heedless, he lifted one last bite to his mouth. “This is… amaz…ing…”

#swtor fanfiction #fanfic #lana beniko #theron shan #crack #SWTOR #greyfic

80 notes · View notes

trendingnewsb · 7 years

Text

Trumps War on the Press Follows the Mussolini and Hitler Playbook

Beneath the madness and the lies of The Year of Trump there remains a constant drumbeat, unyielding and determined. It broke cover on Jan. 22, 2017 when Kellyanne Conway introduced the term alternative facts.

The abasement of language by Donald Trump and his assorted flacks began long before, but this concept was so naked, so novel and so unblinkingly forthright that it established the rules for the assault to come, just as the first salvo of an artillery barrage signals the creation of a new battlefield where there will be many casualties.

And lets face it, the English language has taken a real pounding since then. Lies have poured forth from the White House at an astonishing rate: The Washington Post estimated that in Trumps first 355 days he made more than 2,000 false or misleading claims, averaging five a day.

Trump has spent two years vilifying the dishonest media (including The Daily Beast), even invoking the Nazi chant of enemies of the people. Aided by the alt right zealots at Breitbart, he has successfully persuaded millions of Americans that The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, and MSNBC are seditious forces bent on denigrating and destroying the man they elected.

It is dismaying that it was so easy for him to do this, dismaying that independent journalism of quality is so easily discredited and dismaying that none of this seems to trouble the Republican Party.

And lets be clear: The protection of independent journalism isnt something that a lot of politiciansor a good number of the populationreally care about. Yet, in the end, it has really been a strong year for journalism. In particular, two papers, The New York Times and Washington Post, have re-established themselves as bulwarks against abuses of power, as they were at the time of the Pentagon Papers and Watergate.

Why have these two newspapers in particular once more demonstrated the best of American journalism? Its partly luck. The Post was basically saved by Jeff Bezos whose deep pockets have restored the resources of the newsroom. Under the editorship of Marty Baron they were positioned to seize the Trump moment and rediscovered the art of investigative reporting. Similarly the Times passed through a period in which it struggled to find a new business model for the digital age and eventually found it, enabling its Washington newsroom to become competitive again.

This underlines the fragile dependency of journalism on enlightened patronageon who owns a newspaper and particularly who owns the two papers that are regarded as national in prestige and potency together with the editorial independence and authority that that position requires. For all its fine reporting over the last year The Wall Street Journal does not have that kind of reputational backbone because it is owned by Rupert Murdoch, blatantly a Trump stooge.

But the battle is not yet won, and will not be without eternal vigilance. To realize the gravity of where we are now we need more context than is provided by recent history, we need to look at the history of Italy in the 1920s and Germany in the 1930s. In both nations tyrants arose who on the way to seizing power found it remarkably easy to denigrate and destroy independent journalism.

In Italy, Benito Mussolini came to power in October 1922. At the age of 39 he was the youngest ever prime minister, charismatic and full of energy. He was also careful to move slowly as, almost by stealth, he built a new illiberal state. In a country that for years had lacked unity he proposed a new focus for nationalism: himself. He was Italy. He described a parliament made impotent by its own factionalism a gathering of old fossils. Parliaments powers and the rights of a free press were stripped away.

The people, Mussolini said in July 1924, on the innumerable occasions when I have spoken with them close at hand have never asked me to free them from a tyranny which they do not feel because it does not exist. They have asked me for railways, houses, drains, bridges, water, light and roads. In that year the fascists won more than 65 percent of the vote in national elections.

Mussolinis absolute hold on power was made clear on Jan. 3, 1925, when he said: I and I alone assume the political, moral and historic responsibility for everything that has happened. Italy wants peace and quiet, work and calm. I will give these things with love if possible and with force if necessary.

As the editor, successively, of two newspapers in Milan and with a talent for populist polemic Mussolini had skillfully used the press for his own ends. Now he made sure nobody else would follow his example. Within a few years most of Italys newspapers were suppressed or put under party control. Some smaller newspapers claiming to be independent were still tolerated to give the appearance of freedom of opinion but they were a fig leaf to cover the end of press freedom. Without any effective challenge Mussolinis megalomania flourished. The crowds who gathered for his speeches cried Duce, Duce, Duce! We are yours to the end.

None of the ministers, officials and party secretaries around him were safe from his caprice. He was always right and anyone who contradicted him was fired. Mussolini was, simultaneously, prime minister, foreign minister, minister of the interior, commander in chief of the militia, and minister for the whole military, army, navy, and air force.

Some smaller newspapers claiming to be independent were still tolerated to give the appearance of freedom of opinion but they were a fig leaf to cover the end of press freedom.

These flagrant excesses of the founder of European fascism were later to seem buffoonish against the cold-blooded terror machine that Adolf Hitler built, just as rapidly, in Germany. But there was nothing comical about the 1920s for Italians: they had succumbed very readily to a maniac, and a maniac who understood that the state should control all propaganda (which is, after all, an Italian word) down to details such as decreeing that the national tennis team should wear black shirts.

In Germany the man who would go down in history as the evil genius of alternative facts, Joseph Goebbels, was appointed Minister for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda on March 14, 1933little more than a month after Hitler came to power in Berlin.

Goebbels said he wanted a ministry that was National Socialist [Nazi] by birth.

To staff it he was smart enough to tap into one of the most corrosive influences on the national mood at the time: a grudge, widely held, that Germanys descent into economic chaos had left many of the countrys best educated young people out of well-paid government jobs. From this group Goebbels recruited party zealots who were notably younger and smarter than other Nazi officialshe specified that he wanted those who displayed ardor, enthusiasm, untarnished idealism. (Watching the instant classic encounter between CNNs Jake Tapper and Trumps senior adviser for policy, Stephen Miller, suggests that Miller would have been a perfect recruit.)

Goebbels priority was to exert immediate control of the pressthe press, he instructed his staff, had to be a piano, so to speak, in the hands of the government. Germanys newspapers had been messengers of decay that were harmful to the beliefs, customs and national pride of good Germans.

Within a year all of Goebbels goals were achieved. Three previously independent news services were merged into one state-directed national news agency, the German News Service. All journalism was subjected to the policy of Gleichschaltungmeaning that they had to toe the party line on all issues.

A piano, so to speak, in the hands of the government.

Joseph Gobbels on the press

Previously newspaper publishers had been the legal entity responsible for everything that was published. Goebbels issued the Editor Statute that made editors equally accountable and any editor who resisted Gleichschaltung could be removed and, if particularly recalcitrant, would be sent to a concentration camp.

However, as had Mussolini, Goebbels recognized that the German press should be left with a fig leaf of apparent independence. One great liberal newspaper that happened to have an international following, the Frankfurter Zeitung, was allowed to remain publishing until 1943. Its editors grew expert at a kind of coded reporting with a semblance of neutrality that allowed experienced readers to sense what was really going on.

Two new and growingly important news outlets, radio and cinema newsreels, were put totally under Goebbels control: We make no bones about it, he said, the radio belongs to us, to no one else! And we will place the radio at the service of our idea, and no other idea shall be expressed through it.

The collapse of media independence was rapid and complete. But, as with all historical comparisons, this one can be pushed either too far or too little. Plainly America in 2018 is not the Europe of the 1930s and liberal paranoia in itself is not a sound basis for assessing just how dangerous an assault on journalism may turn out to be.

In 1933 Hitler was at the threshold of creating the instruments of a terror state. We are nowhere near that point. But what is striking now is how friendless the press was. Nobody fought the Goebbels takeover. Mussolini had identified and seized the same opportunity, finding it easy to issue edicts that closed down critical newspapers on the grounds of sedition.

This might seem astonishing in a country like Germany that had one of Europes most deeply rooted intelligentsias. But the universities were quiescent, the bourgeoisie, the aristocracy and the barons of industry were all tired of the Weimar Republics violent polarization between the fascists and the communists and for them press freedom was secondary to personal interests like jobs and, for the industrialists, to the fortunes to be made from re-armament.

Of course Trump has little if any grasp of European history and probably only the vaguest idea of who Goebbels was but his use of tweets reflects one of Goebbels basic tenets about propaganda: Berlin needs sensations as a fish needs water. Any political propaganda that fails to recognize that will miss its target.

So it happens that when it comes to news management Trump has pulled off something that Goebbels would applaud. He has made himself the Great Dictator of the news cycle. To do this he didnt need to knowingly emulate anyone in the propaganda arts because he is directed by his two dominant personal traits: narcissism and paranoia.

Almost every event is refracted through his own response to it, its media lifespan no longer than can be held in his own gnat-like attention span. His tweets are so bizarre, unhinged and frequent that they effectively confuse and distract much of the competing daily coverage. What seems aberrant at 6 p.m. suddenly seems the new normal by 7 p.m. (As Ron Rosenbaum powerfully demonstrates writing in the Los Angeles Review of Books, getting people to readily accept the aberrant as normal was one of Hitlers most effective early tactics.)

He has made himself the Great Dictator of the news cycle. To do this he didnt need to knowingly emulate anyone in the propaganda arts because he is directed by his two dominant personal traits: narcissism and paranoia.

And when Trump faces a news narrative that he cant derail, like the Mueller investigation, he sees it as a violation of his own powers, as he imagines them to be rather than as they really exist under the constitution.

Mussolini, very early in his rule, did the same thing, equating himself with the nation and regarding any insult to him as an insult to Italy. In Trumps mind it his base that exclusively represents the nationa belief constantly reinforced by Fox News for whom that base is a ratings gold mine. Trump and his lackeys on Fox have succeeded in equating respect for the kind of truth-telling that is built on learning and the ability to marshal facts with a simple demographic: its the exclusive province of metropolitan elites.

This tactic is based, at least in part, on a condition described by Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Prize-winning psychologist. He calls it cognitive ease in which humans tend to avoid facts that are uncomfortable or require work to understand.

Goebbels understood that the reinforcement of prejudice was an intoxicating weapon of propaganda. Fed the right message, aggrieved and resentful minorities could be made to coalesce into a critical mass of activists. The Trump base has been built on this principle, and feels grateful to be led by such a man with whom they readily identify, even though his real interests (personal enrichment) are the opposite of theirs.

But perhaps the weirdest side of Trumps perception of his role and office is that in his mind his fate and that of the mainstream media are locked together in a life or death embrace. This is new. No demagogue in recent history has seen the effectiveness of his role being interdependent with a force that for most of the time he purports to despise.

Consider how he framed this belief when Michael Schmidt of The New York Times recorded one of the most bizarre interviews with him in the Grill Room of his West Palm Beach golf club during the holidays:

Were going to win another four years for a lot of reasons, most importantly because our country is starting to do well again and were being respected again. But another reason that Im going to win another four years is because newspapers, television, all forms of media will tank if Im not there because without me their ratings are going down the tubes. Without me, The New York Times will indeed be not the failing New York Times, but the failed New York Times. So they basically have to let me win. And eventually probably six months before the election theyll be loving me because theyre saying, Please, please, dont lose Donald Trump.

Most of the rest of that interview was delusional drivel that provided an alarming insight into his mental processesin fact, it served as a kind of impromptu warm-up for the revelations of Michael Wolffs book, a kind of journalistic bomb cyclone.

What Wolff delivered between the covers of a book was an explosive concentration of reporting that isnt achievable through the daily news cycle. His method is really no different than that used by Bob Woodward in his books, notably on the origins of the Iraq war, where whole scenes are reconstructed with dialog without attribution, but carry the ring of authenticity. The difference in public impact is that Woodward was reporting after the event whereas Wolff delivers as, so to speak, the crime is still in progress.

Some sniffy journalists, David Brooks surprisingly among them, have complained that Wolff doesnt operate according to their understanding of journalistic standards. Well, for one thing he doesnt have the resources of a paper to support him. And he also demonstrates another vital point about the scope of journalism: sometimes the force of one is equal to the force of hundreds. At this moment we need both kinds of consequential reporting, the collective effort of a newsroom and the disruptive brilliance of the loner.

Calling out the lies hasnt stopped Trump. His motives may differ from those of Mussolini and Hitler. Hes not ideological. In his case autocratic instincts come as a psychological motor in the pursuit of greed and the protection of his unbridled and ludicrous ego. The lack of ideology doesnt make him any less dangerous, though.

Trump has no time for scruples. With his lawyers unable to kill Wolffs book (can book burning be far off in his mind?) he once again threatened to ramp up the libel laws to prevent the defamation of people like him. Hes trying to block the merger of AT&T and Time Warner in the hope that Time Warner will be forced to divest itself of his bte noir, CNN, hoping that someone more sympathetic to him will take it over, although Rupert Murdoch, the obvious candidate, says hes not interested, and he has been clearly looking for ways to punish Jeff Bezos for his re-arming of The Washington Post in changes to the tax code that would hit Amazon.

No demagogue in recent history has seen the effectiveness of his role being interdependent with a force that for most of the time he purports to despise.

All this should be very alarming, but Trump is operating in a worryingly permissive arena. There isnt, it seems, a stable public standard of truth in todays America. This is a culture where scientific truths are dismissed if inconvenient and ignorance is nourished. (Forty-three percent of Republicans believe that climate change is not happening.) One of the foundations of secular Western polities is that truth can be sustained only by honesty in language, that language must be used to interrogate information critically, no matter what its source.

In this struggle journalism is our last dependable line of defense. Its no exaggeration to say that the health, security, and integrity of the republic is at stake. History is an unforgiving judge and, just as the history of Europe in the 1920s and 30s reveals shameful failures in democratic institutions Americas current crisis will be judged by how effectively, or otherwise, the institutions designed to protect democracy worked.

No institution can achieve this without being able to operate on a generally agreed foundation of facts, of which the single most consequential fact is that the president is patently unfit for office. The second is that he is being kept in office by the obsequious Republican leadership who remain supine even after the outrage of the shithole outburst.

Principal among these are toadies like Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina who, rather than pursue the investigation of Trump would rather pursue the whistleblower, the British former spy Christopher Steele. Other Republicans are calling for Muellers investigation to be purgedusing a term that Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin all employed to protect themselves. Then there is Ayn Rands posthumous wrecking ball, House Speaker Paul Ryan, who delivered a groveling encomium when Trump signed the so-called tax reform bill, thanking him for exquisite presidential leadership.

There is a word for people like these. Its a word that needs to be revived from earlier use: Quisling. It was first used as a general pejorative early in 1933 as Hitler came to power, identifying a Norwegian fascist named Vidkun Quisling who modeled his party on the Nazis and, when the Nazis invaded Norway in 1940, urged collaboration with them.

As is so often the case it was Winston Churchill who gave it a permanent meaning when, in 1941, he said: A vile race of Quislingsto use a new word which will carry the scorn of mankind down the centuriesis hired to fawn upon the conqueror, to collaborate in his designs and to enforce his rule upon their fellow countrymen while groveling low themselves.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-war-on-the-press-follows-the-mussolini-and-hitler-playbook

from Viral News HQ http://ift.tt/2GHOeVF via Viral News HQ

#IFTTT #Viral News HQ

0 notes

oldguardaudio · 8 years

Text

Rush Limbaugh on the Obama Shadow Government vs. Trump

rush obama shadow government against trump at HoaxAndChange.com

Rush USA Flag at HoaxAndChange.com

45th President of The United States Donald Trump wins HoaxAndChange.com

Feb 21, 2017

RUSH: We have two pieces today, one by Victor Davis Hanson, the other by Michael Walsh, both of which confirm and agree with my contention that there is a shadow government made up of many different types of people in different places in the government that are actually trying to sabotage the Trump presidency and get rid of him. Now, both these guys document this. Victor Davis Hanson goes further and explains why he thinks it’s happening. And it’s interesting to me because I have said something similar.

Now, don’t misunderstand. I’m not bragging. I just I love finding out that things that I think are shared or being thought of in the same way by other people I have profound respect for. And Victor is certainly one of those, as is Walsh. Let’s do Walsh’s piece first. Walsh is writing in PJ Media. I’m just gonna give you excerpts of these. Victor’s piece is long. Victor’s piece, without the editing that I did, would print out to like eight pages. So I can’t, obviously, share all of it with you. Folks, hang on here just a second. (silence) I had to turn on the cough switch there.

The title of Michael Walsh’s piece at PJ Media — and his stuff as appeared at National Review; it’s appeared at the New York Post, any number of places — is “Enough with T.his ‘Spy Game‘” And his thrust here is on the intel community and who, what, where, why regarding Trump. “With the resignation of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn in the face of a howling media mob, the knives are now out not only for other administration officials, but for President Trump himself. Make no mistake about what’s happening here.”

His piece is headlined, by the way, “The Empire Strikes Back.” That’s the actual title of his piece. “Make no mistake about what’s happening here: this is a rolling coup attempt, organized by elements of the intelligence community, particularly CIA and NSA, abetted by Obama-era holdovers in the understaffed Justice Department (Sally Yates, take a bow) and the lickspittles of the leftist media, all of whom have signed on with the ‘Resistance’ in order to overturn the results of the November election.” Walsh, I think, is a spook, former spook, in addition to everything else he is.

So right up front he’s admitting that this is “a rolling coup” made up of various players here in order to overturn the results of the November election. He goes on to talk about Mike Flynn as “a good man who saw the enemy clearly, and had the courage to name it, saw Russia not as an enemy but a geopolitical adversary with whom we could make common cause against Islam…” That upsets the apple cart in the intelligence community who want Russia designated as an enemy with whom we have nothing in common.

“As for the media, having previously failed to take down Trump aides Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway, Flynn was the next best thing; their joy today is unbounded” at getting his scalp. “Is this what you thought you voted for in November? Is this how you thought American democracy worked? Is this the country you want to live in? Welcome to the Deep State, the democracy-sapping embeds at the heart of our democracy who have not taken the expulsion of the Permanent Bipartisan Fusion Party lightly.”

That is a key point.

He’s asserting here that what really exists in Washington is an establishment made up of people who say they’re Republicans and say they’re Democrats, but they’re actually one party, a fusion of all the other political parties, both parties and stragglers who have a singular purpose, which is self-preservation and the growth of the establishment. “They realize that the Trump administration poses a mortal threat … and so have enlisted an army of Democrats, some Republicans, the ‘neverTrumpumpkin’ conservative die-hards, leftist thugs, Black Lives Matter and anybody else they can blackmail, browbeat or enlist. They mean business.

“We’ve come to a pretty pass when Wikileaks now makes more sense than the New York Times, the Washington Post and other Democrat mouthpieces and house organs. Or when fugitive Julian Assange, holed up in London … appears to have more insight, integrity and curiosity than the entire Beltway media. … We are in the midst,” writes Michael Walsh, “of a rapidly moving spy game here, adrift in the famous Wilderness of Mirrors, and with the major players switching — or appearing to switch — sides in a flash.” Now, get this next line.

Look at me here. “The CIA has never forgiven Ronald Reagan for taking down the Soviets and spoiling its extremely cozy relationship with the KGB.” Now, before you huff and puff and say, “Wuh? W-w-w-what was that all about? What was that?” Remember that it wasn’t just CIA… When was the first time you learned that the State Department was not the patriotic bunch of people you thought? I can tell you where I was when I figured it out, that the State Department really — in terms of solving problems of the world — felt, no, we’d rather have the problem so we have a reason to exist.

The CIA, the KGB “had long since worked out a modus vivendi, under which rules they both did their best to keep the Berlin Wall standing, Eastern Europe locked away, and the postwar status quo in operation; it was only when one side or the other broke protocol that civilians ever heard” of a problem. “So let’s cut to Main Narrative, as retailed by the MSM, with timely encouragement from the CIA and Democrat operatives masquerading as journalists: Trump is unfit to be president.

“Plus, Hillary is unbeatable, so give up already.” This is the timeline. This is the mindset. This is what was planned. “Oops — Trump wins. The Russians stole the election. Trump is too cozy with the Russians. Trump’s people are too cozy with the Russians. No wonder the Russians stole the election for Trump. Flynn called the Russian ambassador — and lied about it! The coverup is always worse than the crime! Flynn must go! Flynn’s gone — but here comes the ghost of Howard Baker — ‘What did the president know and when did he know it?’

“Trump is doomed.” That’s the thinking in the deep state. That’s how they’re looking at this, and all of this is upsetting their applecart. “Enter now the usual sycophants [men such as] John McCain, his lovely sidekick Lindsey Graham and various other useful idiots, adding their capon voices to the leftist choir: let freedom ring! “So what must Trump do now” in response to this rolling coup? “First, complete his cabinet. Second, fire every fireable federal employee in the leak-prone agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency. Third, start taking operational security seriously.

“Fourth, assume everything you say will leak to the media and be spun as malevolently as possible. Fifth, trust nobody. Finally, fight back, with all the powers of the presidency. And take every friend you can get … Because, if you don’t, you’re going to get a lot more of this,” and there’s a picture of rioters and protests and so forth. That’s just an edited version, but the point of his piece is that there is an absolute provable rolling coup made up of spooks, intel people, Republicans and Democrats, inside this one organism called the establishment — “Fusion Party,” if you will — and their entire world has been turned upside down by Trump winning.

And they’re not comfortable with it, they don’t want to get behind it, they stand too much to lose because Trump said what he was gonna do and it’s nothing they want done and so they’re taking it upon themselves to sabotage him and undermine him.

Now to Victor Davis Hanson. And I’m picking this up at the conclusion where he details current circumstances and the reasons why all this is happening. Under the subhead: “What has the often boisterous Trump done in his first month to earn calls for his death, forced removal, or resignation?”

And, by the way, on the reference here to his death, Mr. Hanson cites the three or four published articles on how to assassinate Trump, the beauty of assassinating Trump, the necessity to assassinate Trump, and the morality of doing it. Documents it. Quotes the people saying so. Quotes others with their own ideas for forced removal or making Trump resign. So after documenting all of what Walsh has just pointed out here, what’s Trump done to earn all this?

Well, first let’s look at current circumstances. “The stock market is reaching all-time highs. Polls show business optimism rising. The Rasmussen poll puts Trump’s approval rating at 55 percent. Compared with Obama in 2009, at the same point in his young administration, Trump has issued about the same number of executive orders.

“For all his war on the press, Trump has so far not ordered wiretaps on any reporter on the grounds that he is a criminal co-conspirator,” as he did James Rosen at Fox News, “nor has he gone after the phone records of the Associated Press,” as Obama’s Justice Department did. To little notice, people in the media. They didn’t care that James Rosen was wiretapped; he’s at Fox. And gone after the phone records of the AP, the AP said, “Well, he must need ’em, he’s Obama.”

“Trump’s edicts are mostly common-sense and non-controversial: green-lighting the Keystone and Dakota pipelines, freezing federal hiring, resuming work on a previously approved wall along the Mexican border, prohibiting retiring federal officials from lobbying activity for five years, and pruning away regulations.” All these things he said he was gonna do.

“His promises to deport illegal aliens with past records of criminal activity or gang affiliation have, by design, sidestepped so-called DREAMers and the illegal aliens who are currently working, without criminal backgrounds.” He’s not deporting everybody, is the point.

“In his executive order to temporarily suspend immigration from seven war-torn Middle East states, Trump channeled Barack Obama’s prior targeting of immigration trouble spots.” Same states, same countries that Obama targeted. Nobody had a cow over it.

“On more substantive reforms, such as repealing Obamacare, reforming the tax code, and rebuilding infrastructure, Trump awaits proposed legislation from the Republican congressional majority. By all accounts, Trump’s initial meetings or phone calls with British, Israeli, Japanese, and Russian heads of states have gone well.”

But many of those phone calls have been illegally leaked and lied about. Every phone call, the Japanese phone call, the Australian phone call, every one of these phone calls, the people in the deep state reported that people hung up on Trump, that Trump was this or that. None of it was true! And the media didn’t even care. The media didn’t check whether it was. They just eagerly reported these things.

“Trump has had fewer Cabinet appointees bow out than did Barack Obama. Most believe that the vast majority of his selections are inspired.” Conservatives who will be honest with you will tell you that they can’t believe how good Trump’s nominees are.

“Clearly in empirical terms, nothing that Trump in his first month in office has done seems to have justified calls for violence against his person or his removal from office. What then accounts for the unprecedented venom?”

Victor Davis Hanson identifies four things.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Now, I mentioned that Victor Davis Hanson has four reasons to explain this unhinged effort to take down Trump. And, folks, you know, we’re having a mixed program today — some of it jocular and lighthearted — but I opened with a serious assertion. There is a serious effort to get Donald Trump out of office. As Michael Walsh calls it, “a rolling coup.” You are familiar with how it’s happening because you see the media reporting. It’s all about Russia and how Russia hacked the election and Trump and these people were talking to the Russians during the campaign.

And all of this is to undermine legitimacy of Trump and at best get him out of office, and at worse, stymie and stall his agenda. Victor Davis Hanson documents all of these things and sources them and then offers four reasons why. Reason number one: “Trump’s unconventional bluster … fuels the animosity of elites who seek to delegitimize him and fear that their reputations and careers can be rendered irrelevant by” Trump’s success. “He also has reminded the country that some of the mainstream media and Washington-New York elite are often mediocre and boring.”

Now, this business about them “fear[ing] their reputations and careers could be rendered irrelevant,” I’ve made that point from the get-go, and a lot of people have pooh-poohed it, and a lot of people have been offended by it. The way I’ve put it, these people derive a very good standard of living as members of good standing in the establishment. They have permanent employment. They make much, much more than most people. Their kids go to great schools. They are close to power. The whole networking thing.

It’s a position for life.

You’re there because it really isn’t determined by party. The hierarchy is, but membership isn’t. The establishment, this group has Republicans and Democrats and all kinds of people in it. And their agenda is not what the agenda of the people in this country is. These people have gotten fat, dumb, and happy in the last 15 years while most people’s incomes have stagnated, while a lot of towns have been overrun with illegal immigrants, while the federal government’s gotten bloated with more and more handouts to people who aren’t working in hopes they’ll become Democrat voters.

We have situations where the health care system’s in an absolute mess. But none of that’s true for any of these people. Their health care is provided for them. With they don’t live where illegal immigrants are running roughshod. They don’t have any of the concerns. And therefore, as far as they’re concerned, they’re happy and everything’s fine. And Trump, with his nationalism and populism, threatens them. If he comes in and succeeds, guess what replaces the establishment? Trump does! And they’re out. And it really is no more complicated than that. It certainly…

Look, it’s not just this. Some of these people are very concerned about policy and ideology, but a lot of it is personal. A lot of it is just selfish personal. They live off donors. They live off lobbying. They live off all of these things where the money is flowing and all you gotta do is grab your share of it now and then. And if that money flow is cut off, if the ability to grab that money is prevented, well, it’s panic time! And that is clearly a large part of the threat Trump poses, and I’ve always thought that.

The second reason it’s happening is because the Democrat Party has bombed out. “The Democratic [P]arty has been absorbed by its left wing and is beginning to resemble the impotent British Labour party. Certainly it no longer is a national party. Mostly it’s a local and municipal coastal force, galvanized to promote a race and gender agenda and opposed to conservatism,” but they have no “vision.” They have nothing that they can win elections on. The establishment is really worried. Their primary vehicle for remaining in power, the Democrat Party, is floundering!

The Democrat Party proved ineffective in stopping Trump.

The Republican Party proved unable to stop Trump.

And so the establishment has to get in gear now that Trump has won and try to get rid of him for the self-preservation of everybody else.

And it’s a key element here that they can’t depend on the Democrats to win elections. I mean, everybody can look out to 2018 and see that the Democrats are gonna lose even more seats in the Senate, particularly if Trump gets a lot of his agenda moving and in action. They’re gonna be in heap big trouble, and there’s panic over that. Reason number three: “Usually conservative pundits and journalists would push back against” these activities from the shadow government and the deep state “to delegitimize a Republican president.” Normally conservative media would be up in arms over what’s happening to Trump.

“But due to a year of Never Trump politicking and opposition, and Trump’s own in-your-face, unorthodox style and grating temperament, hundreds of Republican intellectuals and journalists, former officeholders and current politicians … find themselves without influence in either the White House or indeed in their own party, over 90% of which voted for Trump. In other words, the Right ruling class is still in a civil war of sorts.” This is unmistakably true. This is true from the beginning words of this paragraph: “Usually conservative pundits and journalists would push back against” whatever is happening to Trump because he’s a Republican. But they’re joining in it because those who oppose Trump are “find[ing] themselves without influence.”

They never thought Trump would win, they didn’t want Trump to win, and now Trump won’t hire ’em and they’re fit to be tied. And so now they’re members of a party that won, but they have no place in it. Conservative journalists, conservative pundits, former Republican Party appointees, bureaucrats and so forth. This is right on the money, too. And folks, it all goes back to power and money. The loss of power and the threat to the standard of living. And, man, when you say that, some of them just go batty with anger, which must mean it hit the nail on the head.

And then Victor Davis Hanson writes this. “It is no accident that many of those calling for his resignation or removal are frustrated that, for the first time in a generation, they will have no influence in a Republican administration or indeed among most Republicans.” That’s a pull quote. That’s one to highlight. For some of these wayward Republicans, “the best pathway to redemption is apparently to criticize Trump to such an extent that their prior prophecies of his preordained failure in the election will be partially redeemed by an imploding presidency.”

Meaning, all of these Never Trumpers who lost their minds during the campaign, who have had it jammed down their throats now, their redemption is to join this chorus of criticism of Trump so that their prediction that he would never be elected would actually come to pass in the form of him being ineffective. So these Republicans Victor Davis Hanson’s talking about, in the interests of self-preservation, are oriented to joining the deep state and Trump critics.

They’ve got no place in the Trump administration. The best thing they can do is to help get rid of him so that they can then hearken back to their original prediction and say, “See? We told you the guy was never gonna amount to anything. You should have listened to us all along.”

“In private, they accept that Trump’s actual appointments, executive orders, and announced policies are mostly orthodox conservative — a fact that was supposed to have been impossible.” These Never Trumpers are out there saying, “Trump, he’s not a conservative. You people on the conservative side are falling for this Trump stuff, you’re betraying conservatism, you’re committing a great sin against what you’ve always believed in.” And yet you look at Trump’s appointments, such as Judge Gorsuch and others, and they’re as good, if not better than what any great Republican conservative would have nominated, and these people are beside themselves.

“For now, ending Trump one way or another is apparently the tortured pathway his critics are taking to exit their self-created labyrinth of irrelevance. … Chic Trump hatred and sick talks of coups … hinge on economic growth. If Trump’s agenda hits 3 percent GDP growth or above by 2018, then his critics … will either shift strategies or face prolonged irrelevance.”

So they must do what they can to keep that from happening. This is straight up right on the money. Victor Davis Hanson at National Review.

Rush Limbaugh on the Obama Shadow Government vs. Trump Rush Limbaugh on the Obama Shadow Government vs. Trump Feb 21, 2017 RUSH: We have two pieces today, one by Victor Davis Hanson, the other by Michael Walsh, both of which confirm and agree with my contention that there is a…

#Barack Hussein Obama SHADOW GOVERNMENT

0 notes

trendingnewsb · 7 years

Text

Trumps War on the Press Follows the Mussolini and Hitler Playbook

Some smaller newspapers claiming to be independent were still tolerated to give the appearance of freedom of opinion but they were a fig leaf to cover the end of press freedom.

Goebbels said he wanted a ministry that was National Socialist [Nazi] by birth.

A piano, so to speak, in the hands of the government.

Joseph Gobbels on the press

No demagogue in recent history has seen the effectiveness of his role being interdependent with a force that for most of the time he purports to despise.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-war-on-the-press-follows-the-mussolini-and-hitler-playbook

from Viral News HQ http://ift.tt/2GHOeVF via Viral News HQ

#IFTTT #Viral News HQ

0 notes