#michelle is actively antagonistic

[hannahssimblr]

In the early evening once the dishes have been cleared away, I wait in Michelle’s room. Downstairs, she speaks to Jen and Hazel for a while, their voices soft and solemn, until eventually Hazel goes home, alone. 

“They couldn’t find him?” I ask her when she sweeps into the room, though I already know the answer.

“No,” she rolls her tights down her legs to start changing into the sweatpants she prefers to spend the evenings in while I fidget my hands in my lap. She’s trying very hard not to look at me, her shoulders have that tense line about them that I know so well. With anxiety slowly unfurling inside me I decide I would much rather get this over with than prolong the inevitable horrors.

“I didn’t let him escape on purpose. You realise that, right?”

She can’t hold back the tremble in her voice, “I just can’t believe you left the door open.” 

“It was an accident, I didn’t mean for it to happen.” 

“Accidents don’t just happen, Jude,” She says, her tone rising with each word, “You were supposed to be watching him, Hazel said that he could escape if we weren’t careful.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry.”

My guilt and remorse only irritates her more, “You were just standing there like some kind of fecking eejit with the door wide open, how could you not notice?”

“Because you were picking on me over the wine, I was distracted.”

“Oh, so it’s my fault now?”

“Oh God, please.” 

“What?”

I hold my head in my hands and exhale a frustrated laugh, “Nothing.”

“Do you have something to say?”

“Let’s focus on Goose, okay? I’m going to do everything I can to find him. I’ll search all over Clontarf, I’ll knock on doors, I’ll put up posters...”

She scoffs, “Goose is probably under the wheels of a train by now.”

The violent imagery of that is enough to make me rear back in shock, “How could you say that?” 

“Because that’s probably what happened. Nobody wants to say it to Hazel, but we’re all thinking it. The tracks are right there, and it’s probably the first place he went.”

“I wasn’t thinking it, God, Shell, what a horrible thought to have.”

“Well,” she shrugs, “that’s reality. This is what you’ve done, so, I hope you know.” 

I watch her, speechless as she casually steps into her grey jersey sweatpants, casually picking bits of lint off her thighs. “Why are you being like this?” I manage. 

She pulls off her sweatshirt to switch it for a vest, “like what?”

“It’s like you’re trying to punish me, I already know it was bad, but it was a mistake-”

“Yeah you don’t have to keep saying that. We all know it was a mistake, but it was the kind of mistake that only you would make.” 

“What does that mean?”

“You know what it means.” 

“Why don’t you just say-”

She whirls around and flings her jumper at me, “Because you’re an idiot!” She explodes, “You’re a fucking idiot and this is the kind of shit you do!”

This is the kind of shit she does. She starts screaming out of nowhere, and then inevitably gets louder and louder and shouts over me until the room shakes and I have to shout back to be heard. I usually skip the foreplay these days and escalate it immediately. “Oh,” my voice scrapes my throat, “you think that’s helpful? Just throwing shit?” 

“Please, shut up!” she’s digging through her chest of drawers for something else to wear, and her movements are tense, jerky with anger, “and stop looking at me!” 

“Why? I’m talking to you.”

“Because you don’t get to look at me in my underwear when I’m mad at you.”

“My God, what? You think I haven’t seen it all before? Do you really think I’ve got that on my mind right now?”

“Yeah, because that’s about all you think about isn’t it? That’s all you want me for.” She wiggles into a vest and crosses her arms, “Sex, sex, sex, when am I getting it? Where are we doing it? You’re an animal.” 

“Oh please, you think about it all the time too.”

It’s almost inconceivable to think of now, that first time we ever did it right here in this room, on this bed, and the shadowy shape of her beneath me as she revealed to me how often she’d secretly imagined this, how long she’d wanted me. Sometimes I don’t recognise those people at all. It’s like I’ve stolen from someone else’s memories.

“Yeah, and then sometimes I can’t think of anything worse.”

“And you think I’m gagging for you at this moment? That I lose my fucking mind when I see you standing around in a bra? When you act this way?”

“This way? What is this way?” 

“Fucking annoying. Annoying and irrational.”

She puffs her chest out like a boxer, like she’s rounding on me, and if I wasn’t so furious with her I might laugh, the sheer confidence of my girlfriend, squaring up to a man a full foot taller than her. Sometimes, on smoother days, her moxy is what I love most about her.

“Oh really? That’s what I am?” She says. 

“Uh huh. Yeah. You’re actually the most annoying, irrational person I’ve-” A notebook comes spinning right at me, whipped right from her desk and I duck quickly, head to knees as it wallops against the wall behind me, sending a burst of loose papers flying over the carpet.

“Jesus!” I cry, “What are you doing?” 

“That’s how much you piss me off sometimes!” 

I hold my hands up in surrender before she can reach for something else, crashing back into myself as my anger dissipates, overtaken once again by the rational part of my brain, “Look, let’s stop this, okay? I don’t want to fight anymore. I don’t want to hurt you, I’m sorry.”

“We are in a relationship,” she explains, as if spelling it out to an infant, “that’s what happens. We hurt each other. It’s impossible not to.”

“Can’t we avoid doing it on purpose?”

“I’ll stop it when you stop being such an arsehole.”

“God, Michelle,” I grit out, “why do you make everything so hard?”

“Hard?” She repeats witheringly, “Being with me? Well imagine what it’s like being with you. The most self-involved, shallow, selfish person I have ever met.”

“Selfish?” I echo as my spine stiffens, “Selfish?”

“Uh huh! Yeah!”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I feel like I have had a glass of ice water tossed at me, and though I have stopped shouting, Michelle keeps it up.

“I know well enough! It’s all about you all the time, you go on and on about how hard your life is, how sad you are. Meanwhile your dad bought you a fucking car for your birthday and you weren’t even grateful for it. Look at you! Strutting around with your little Ralph Lauren T-shirts and your ten thousand euro teeth! Who do you think you are?”

For some reason, her dragging my composite bonding into this feels like the biggest betrayal of all. A low blow. My teeth were weirdly short for my mouth until dad fixed them. It felt like the easiest, most obvious solution for a cosmetic issue without doing drastic work, yet revealing it to Michelle late one night as we murmured our secrets to one another in the dark felt so incredibly intimate that I’m momentarily lost for words at her treachery. 

“My teeth have literally nothing to do with any of this.”

“They prove that you’re spoiled.”

“It’s so obvious that you’re jealous of me.” I say. I’m not usually the kind of person to choose their words solely for the damage they can inflict, but something horrible within me feels a twinge of satisfaction when I see the stricken look on her face. 

“Jealous?” She splutters, faltering, “What the hell is there to be jealous of?”

I just look at her, because it’s all I need to do. I know, and she knows, and I feel disgustingly satisfied and contemptuous in my knowledge of it. I already know how she can’t bear to hear about my achievements, to see me hanging out with other friends. It is agony for her to hear about my grades or to look at my artwork, knowing I’ve worked harder than she has. She won’t come to parties with me anymore, because people laugh at all my jokes, and them crowding around to talk to me is hard on her self-esteem. Even cats like me better. I sense it in her every molecule, the atoms around her vibrate with envy. 

Fresh rage shimmers in her eyes as she stares at me, fists clenched as though she’s wrestling the urge to wrap her hands around my windpipe and squeeze. “You can get out if you’re going to be like this,” she seethes. 

“Oh, I’d love to leave.”

“Then do!” she stalks towards the door and yanks it open with such ferocity that I fear it will escape its hinges. “Get out!” Her voice echoes through the whole house, bouncing off the ceiling, reaching a frequency I am surprised doesn't rattle the glass free from the windows, and I have brief concerns about what everyone else in the house must think before remembering they’ve heard it all before. In fact they’ve lived this for years. 

So I do, I get up and walk out, turning toward her at the last moment, facing her stinging hot face to say, “you know what? I think it’s a good idea if we talk about taking a-”

“No! Fuck you!” she spits, and slams the door in my face. 

Beginning // Prev // Next

[likealittleheartbeat]

One of my most reblogged posts says, “ ATLA asks whether you can actually be friends across these lines if society refuses to be equitable. Friendships and romance depend not on conflict to deepen them but an active peacefulness.” I think a lot of people relate to the post’s critique of the kyriarchy (all those damn interwoven -isms!) and the ways it limits the formation of relationships. It describes how violence shortens lifespans, squashes nuance, and forces people together into exploitative rather than mutual dynamics. It’s easy to read my post as condemning the possibility of real connection across lines of oppression. I think that’s what I believed when I wrote it even. I’ve always had a certain gifted grace when I reread my writing, however, to discover that I’ve left a window of opportunity open. In this case, the window is within a few words in those sentences: “ATLA asks whether you can,” and that word, “active.”

The show doesn’t merely ask, but it answers its questions with that concept of active peacefulness. Wtf does that mean, tho??? Our boi Aang is so notably avoidant as to be a stereotype of his culture within universe. If it were up to him alone at the start of the show, peace would be a completely passive state. But if that were the case, he’d still be in the big ol’ ice cube. It’s Katara and Sokka’s dynamic and conflicted communalism that frees the avatar unto the world again. Katara demonstrates how disagreement and rage need have nadda to do with assault or abandonment. They can be the features of closeness and trust within a healthy growing relationship, peaceful even as they exact major shifts in the world. Sokka’s misogyny isn’t anything to imitate, but its the first instance we see in the series of a relationship strong enough to accept critique, discourse, and change. Just in this first episode, Sokka illustrates receptivity, Katara models productive and honest emotion, and, soon enough, Aang is introduced to spur on the expansion of these healthy communal practices beyond imposed borders, with all of them learning and growing in relation to one another.

This has profound implications for what comes in the finale regarding Azula and Ozai. These two powerhouses depended on order to stabilize their relationships rather than the bitchy discursiveness that constitutes real friendships or the meaningful arguments and compromises that make for a healthy romance. Importantly, neither gets the comeuppance they’d prefer: domination. Instead, they’re forced into relational dynamics. Azula is frozen alongside Katara, while Ozai’s energy is melded with Aang’s. If they are bested, it’s not in the arena of power; it’s in mutuality. They’re forced to be closer to the people they’ve oppressed and abused, held together rather than apart, and they come out of that encounter cowed but uninjured, the way a friend’s censure pains a soul so much worse than an enemy’s assault that cripples or kills. And the show’s not idealistic about the consequences of these symbolic gestures. It imprisons the antagonists, who are still not friends or even allies--only horrific equals who have a long way to go before any kind of trust is possible.

One person knows that long road, though. Zuko. His relationship to the gaang, and most of all Aang, reveals best that friendships across the constructed lines of oppression are possible and, in fact, a model for the most transformative relational dynamics. I’ve gotta block quote Ramzi Fawaz’s shit on friendship in Queer Forms, cuz it’s game-changing in concepts of friendship, and subsequently, why we feel so delightfully charged by Zuko’s ‘redemption,’ as its been called. 

Friendships of the kind I am describing, then, ones that carry the spirit of inventiveness and experimentation described by [Audre] Lorde and [Michel] Foucault, are exceptionally capable of handling conflict, because a genuine equality between the parties (that is nothing like sameness but has to do with two people equally valuing one another) means that both are actively engaged in the construction of the bond. This is why friendship can never function as the application of a rule (you must care for me in this predetermined way as a condition of our speaking) but rather takes shape in the doing of it, as the mutual creation, and continual renegotiation, of shared criteria for dialogue (we will speak, again and again, in order to figure out what conditions best enable our mutual growth). This model of sociality leaves far less space for victims and perpetrators, accusers and accused, because of a sense of mutual involvement, a complicity of the best kind not unlike Lorde’s conception of ‘the erotic’ as a force that animates a shared creation or ‘invention’ of new social forms between two people. It is also a description of the kind of interaction that incites people to change, to relase destructive or oppressive logics like homophobia, sexism, transphobia, and racism, not under ideological duress, shame, or demand, but in the surprising encounter with others who shift the ground beneath one’s feet.

We can see these kind of steadfast and contentious dynamics with lots of pairings as they develop on the show : Toph and Katara, Suki and Sokka, Aang and Teo, Katara and Aang, Mai and Zuko. These relationships go beyond simple alliance. While the empire’s violence might force these people together or apart, its their own abilities to face their differences, stick it out, and build something mutually beneficial (rather than the easier option of antagonistic) that connotes these relationships, even as it forces them to vacate the ideologies they held at the beginning of each episode in order to create more expansive visions of understanding. Zuko’s arc, of course, is the clearest answer atla offers: he goes from a villanous relationship, to a stance of confusion, toward a final state of loyalty and dedicated friendship. 

Relationships are possible within the sphere of violence and across the hierarchical lines the violence has implemented and enforces. Those people in positions of power, upheld by the violence and neglect of others, are actually equals (in the existential sense) to the most marginalized individual, and are therefore capable of all those tenets of humanity--embarrassment, sensitivity, loneliness, evil, empathy, etc. It’s only that the domain of oppressive conflict makes the tensions, betrayals, and metamorphoses that are a necessary part of the best kinds of friendships terrifying because those experiences feel so similar to abuse. In abuse, though, only one person is forced to change. In a reciprocal relationship, everyone is surprised to find they’re not entirely offended that someone else finds them imperfect--and somehow that’s endearing and engenders changes that neither person necessarily even demands. This is active peace: joking, judging, hugging, arguing, confessing, bitching, breaking rules, trusting, dancing, loving within a deeply imperfect world with deeply imperfect people for whom you, nevertheless, still want the best and who seem to want the best for you (which is why you wanted the world to change for the better in the first place).

[nightsinfoxx15]

FOXX15 Character lineup pt.3

Lineup 7

John

Out of all "John's" that was in the series, I manage to keep him in the series

He didn't really go through any redesigns, he stayed like that before I scrapped him and brought him back

Water and Fire manipulation

Silver Fox gay man

Featured in Shattered Nights and Nevada War

Josephine

Justine's mother

She gone through a lot of redesigns in the past once I introduced her along with Marisol

at first, her occupation was a city marshal until I changed it to a business owner

average bible reader

Abuser and secretly working for Michele on the sidelines

Featured in Elementals and Madame Carolyn briefly mentioned (or shown) in Shattered Nights or Nevada War

Justine

Avid Swordswoman

Owner of Dixie's Arcade in the historic westside

She gone through a lot of redesigns personally (especially her adult design as shown in the picture)

Featured in Elementals, Madame Carolyn, Shattered Nights, and Nevada War (Including Next Gen)

Cerena's bestie along with Vivian and Raya's

Secretly likes Country rock music (She listens to Sly Teton)

"The Dark Moon Knight of Las Vegas"

The god granddaughter of Oscar, Carolyn, and Debra

Kyla

Christopher's girlfriend

She gone though a lot of indecisive redesigning (Along with Christopher)

Featured in Elementals

Leilani

The daughter of Azenith and Jamie

featured in Elementals (for a good moment) and Next Gen

I had a plan for her to take after her mother as a superhero

Kpop fan (Big LOONA, Astro, SKZ, and MONSTA X Fan)

Has a crush on Elijah (But they're besties)

Training with her mentor as a superhero and a swordfighter (Justine and maybe Carolyn)

Lineup 8

Lusty Michele [Stormy]

Featured in Elementals, Madame Carolyn, Shattered Nights and Nevada War

Former lead singer, songwriter, and lead guitarist for her infamous band Sly Teton

Mafia Donna for her own mafia (There isn't really a name for her mafia but in the story they refer her mafia as 'Michele's Mafia')

Las Vegas' #1 Wh0re (She's one of the infamous Lust demons to have a body count of 1000+ since she moved to Nevada)

Her design has drastically changed as she was introduced into the series as the main antagonist

She had a plan to take over Nevada just to become a powerful sin demon (Take over the governor spot)

She can grow her height in her demon form (or without it) it really doesn't matter with her

Joey's love interest

Madame Carolyn

Featured in Elemental, Madame Carolyn, Shattered Nights, Nevada War, and potentially in Next Gen.

She was going to be the mafia donna and be the main antagonist but then I changed her whole character around after meeting the actual person based off of her

She the underboss for Michele's mafia (She was forced to be in her mafia)

Her whole existence to be the main antagonist was due to be the April 2020 Covid interview with Las Vegas Mayor and Anderson Cooper (Which pretty much killed her popularity and made me interested in doing more research on her during that time lol)

Married to Oscar, dating Debra (Polygamy)

Raised 4 kids (Clara, Carter, Donnie, and Oscar Jr.) and then adopted god granddaughter (Justine)

Michele's main target for everything

Her wrath demon had some changes but some are still preexisting prior to elementals. (It's not a curse, she just appeared to have it one morning when they moved to Las Vegas in '64 with Oscar) Stress and anger are two factors to cough up blood and be in a pent up mood. Impulsive anger can caused her to do these activities such as first degree murder and destruction of property (Mainly because Michele is her main predecessor of her anger)

Maddie

Featured in Elementals (Potentially Shattered Nights and Nevada War)

She gone through a lot of redesigns but I came to the punk rock outfit which finalized her design in 2022.

Her main weapon is an axe guitar that turns into an axe.

Now that I got into her character more, I took a little inspiration from Marcelline from Adventure Time

Marisol

Cerena's mother and Domingo's wife

She's the first Sun goddess of Las Vegas

She only went through like three redesigns (along with Domingo)

She was going to be a marshal like Josephine but I thought that didn't fit with her style at all

Mike

Featured in Shattered Nights, Nevada War and potentially Next Gen

He was going to be featured in Elementals along with two more people but i had to limit some characters and he had to be one of them

has a crush on Azenith (they actually got together)

He was also suppose to be the "guardian of the Atlantic ocean" but I changed it as I gone through and start deselecting characters off the roster

lineup 9

Monica

Featured in Elementals

before I changed her design to a dragon. It was going to be a human but in the Air Force (Nevada has a Air Force base called “Nellis Air Force” located in North Las Vegas)

Her backstory kind of became a tragic accident after waking up from recovery in the base hospital but I changed it because I have no experience in experimental horror stories

Nkiruka

Featured in Shattered Nights and Nevada War

can speak three languages, French, English, and Igbo (Nigerian)

She was supposed to be a warrior Princess but I changed her to be a warrior

She didn’t go through much but like two redesigns

Olivia (Díaz)

featured in almost ever story

city councilwoman for Las Vegas

The first rose witch dragon demon of Las Vegas

Friends with Marisol and Domingo

god aunt and trainer to Cerena

she gone through a lot of redesigns until I ended up changing her a rose based design of a Quetzalcoatl dragon from the Hispanic Mayan history

Olivia (Fierro)

Featured in Shattered Nights and Nevada War

She the mother of Elijah (adopted)

Olivia gone through of changing. I actually scrap her before I brought her back.

her powers changed from nature to earth powers (involving rocks)

Oscar

Featured in every story

the husband of Carolyn, close friends w/ Debra (Polygamy)

father of 4 adopted kids (Oscar Jr, Clara, Donnie, and Carter) and 1 god granddaughter (Justine)

he’s the first known powers tier Angel as a private civilian in Las Vegas

former criminal lawyer

He’s just there in the background helping Carolyn as she goes through a lot of shit (✨supportive husband 101 ✨)

Martini enthusiast 🍸

his sword is based off his signature Bombay sapphire martini that the person that I based off of him drink (The martini sword)

him and Carolyn gone through a lot of redesigns for both their forms and human forms as well throughout the years

Part 4 coming soon

[ribcagecarnival]

NO. 4 (Obama the Gleek)

Glee premiered in May 2009. I was about to transfer to a new middle school and Obama was four months into his first term. At just shy of 12 years old, I considered that pilot episode to be the best episode of television I’d ever seen. In seventh, eighth, and ninth grade, my mother and I watched the show religiously every week. In 2010 and 2011, we attended the concert tours—at one of them, we foolishly purchased VIP tickets that gave us virtually no perks, but through a cracked door, we saw Cory Monteith, and he waved at me before security shuffled him away to what I presumed was the actual VIP room, where he would participate in a real meet-and-greet. Monteith died in July 2013, the same day that George Zimmerman was acquitted of killing Trayvon Martin. By 2015, when the show ended, I hadn’t watched for years, and Donald Trump was entering the presidential race. And now, in early 2021, two more members of the original cast have died, Trump went from joke candidate to fascistic president to twice-impeached private citizen, and the entire world is in the throes of the worst viral pandemic in just over a century. Obviously I spent part of 2020 rewatching Glee. All art is a product of its time, either reflecting it back to us directly or functioning as a vision of what’s to come. Glee belongs firmly in the former camp. The progressive aspects of the show would not have been possible in the conservative pre-Obama era of American media, but plenty of premises and plot lines that passed for merely transgressive at the time would be shut down by contemporary cancel culture. Kurt’s coming out storyline in season 1 was a heartfelt, tender portrait of teen sexuality and coming-of-age that felt unprecedented and nuanced in 2009. But having an able-bodied actor play a wheelchair-bound teen (Kevin McHale) would have brought the full force of the online mob if it happened a decade later. A moment that has come under scrutiny on Twitter and TikTok comes from season 1, when Mercedes (Amber Riley) asks Mr. Schuester (Matthew Morrison) if the club can perform more Black music, to which Rachel (Lea Michele) snaps that it’s “glee club, not krunk club.” There are countless memes joking that in spite of the dizzying number of romantic pairings on the show, the OTP of Glee is Mr. Schue and jail—his bizarrely intimate relationships with his students were only ever called out by the show’s antagonist, Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch), and it was always played for laughs. The most heartbreaking episode of Glee is Season 5, Episode 3, “The Quarterback,” which is a tribute to the late Cory Monteith. But it is arguably more difficult to watch a moment from the following season, in which a group of McKinley alums crash an adolescent Tea Party Patriots meeting in order to recruit members for the rebuilding glee club. The episode is from 2014, but the remarks made by the student attendees are downright depressing when you know that 2 years later, Donald Trump would be the president-elect of the United States. In season 4, when a new cheerleader named Kitty (Becca Tobin) is introduced, she makes remarks about the “lame stream media” that are snuck into a litany of insults as rapidly as machine gun fire. The audience never has a moment to meditate on the significance of these jokes, because pre-2016, we didn’t have to. At the time, having characters parrot the fringe commentary of Sarah Palin and Fox News commentators was a shorthand meant to indicate that said characters would either undergo a change of heart or be permanently vanquished. Glee’s run spanned Obama’s time in office, and the Hope & Change candidate’s ascent did not make room for the victory of villainy. We had entered the Liberal Gilded Age. One thing I forgot about Glee was how often it mentioned the failing economy. As we all know, Obama inherited a broken economy from his predecessor, and the entire country was wracked by home foreclosures and unemployment. But as a preteen, all those references were lost on me in favor of glittery show choir competitions and the Finn/Rachel romance. The constant mention of budget cuts seemed more like an arbitrary plot device than a grasp at historical accuracy. Watching the show as an adult, however, the economic currents underpinning the show are impossible to ignore. Sue Sylvester often mocked the glee club for having a warped, rosy, show-biz view of reality, but they always prevailed. Even when they were temporarily down, they would rebound, and they would eventually win. But Sue, the comically evil opponent to the superficially valorous glee club, was right. You could not fix the evils of the world by simply celebrating diversity, accruing celebrity guests, and singing a feel-good song. Yet this has been the Democratic establishment’s strategy since 2009. And it hasn’t worked for a long time. The secondary characters, much like real American citizens of the time, were desperate for real change and real solutions. This is not an Obama Exposed essay—of course, he made progress on certain issues. But most of what the country got were charming late-night appearances, secret concessions to conservativism as the Democratic establishment shifted further to the right, and an increasingly divided populace that left both the progressive wing of the Democratic party and the growing alt-right movement increasingly agitated with the state of the union. I loved Barack Obama when I was a teenager. But over the course of the Trump presidency, I became radicalized. I saw the flaws in his administration that wreaked havoc both domestically and internationally, and that ultimately enabled Trump to carry out much of his hateful agenda over the last four years. Just as I have outgrown the version of myself that watched Glee uncritically as an adolescent, I too have outgrown the fractured politics I parroted before I was of voting age. Glee characters are prone to flights of fancy, acts of supposed altruism that often wind up harming themselves or others, and inspirational speeches that are ultimately meaningless. Mr. Schuester is offered the opportunity for a transgender student to have private access to a single-stall bathroom in exchange for a moratorium on student twerking. At first, he refuses. It takes the full length of an episode for him to realize that this thing is not worth fighting for. And even then, it’s seen as some huge sacrifice for the club! This, to me, is a perfect allegory for the Democratic party—an institution that is purportedly invested in betterment and equality, but in reality was more concerned with optics and symbols. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Mr. Schue would have wept seeing BLACK LIVES MATTER murals being unveiled, and likely would have said that instead of looting the protestors should’ve just knelt and sang a Journey medley to the cops. Rachel Berry would have gone to a protest for a photo op while carrying a sign that said IF HILLARY WON I’D BE AT BRUNCH RIGHT NOW. I know this as deeply as I know that Spongebob Squarepants is gay and Daffy Duck is Black. Some things are just TRUE. In 2009, simply having queer and PoC characters centered on television was groundbreaking. In 2020, this is no longer enough. Simply acknowledging that marginalized people exist is not sufficient activism. In media, we deserve nuanced and complex stories that don’t subject them to even more of the stereotyping we’ve been experiencing for decades. And in politics, we deserve more legitimate structural change—reparations, secure voting rights, anti-discrimination laws, a livable minimum wage, universal healthcare that includes access to safe abortions—and less empty virtue-signaling. Glee is a tremendous way to escape from the horrors of our current state of affairs. But it is not merely a camp masterpiece. It is a cautionary tale. The circumstances that gave us Glee—an Obama presidency, decreasing voter turnout, the rise of the social internet, increased representation for queer and PoC and disabled people—are the same circumstances that gave us Trump. We don’t merely need our lives to be visible, we need them to be viable. We need to weaponize our passion and empathy against tyranny. We need to rebuild the world for the versions of ourselves that first loved Glee, without reverting back to who we were when it first aired.

[judgmentofcorruption]

Episode 6–The Sinking Story; Scene 1

Judgment of Corruption, pages 172-181

Yo, long time no see!

…Yes. It has been quite a long time.

Because over fourteen years have passed since then.

.

Gallerian was doing alright.

He had finally managed to reach the top.

This was the birth of USE Dark Star Bureau Director Gallerian Marlon.

.

At the same time as he was inaugurated into the position, he announced the formation of a new special organization within the bureau.

Given the antagonistic relationship that they’d had with the world police that was a concern before, and the people’s dissatisfaction with them—

This organization was created as a result of that.

Its name was “Police Neutrality”—meaning a neutral police force, in essence. It was a name loaded with cynicism towards the World Police. It went by “PN” for short.

The position of its leader was taken by a commissioned officer of the USE allied forces.

Shiro Netsuma…The white-haired woman who had once shot Gallerian, and delivered the killing blow to Loki. She had not retired from her role in the USE united army, and held her post there concurrently with her position as PN’s leader.

Only, Shiro had the weakness of being poor in normal communication. In order to combat this, Hel Jaakko was appointed her vice-commander, as someone who could be well-versed in the internal state of affairs within the Dark Star Bureau.

Part of the Yarera Zusco Conglomerate’s private army was dispatched to make up PN’s forces. They already had a strong relationship with Gallerian, and on top of that had no connection to the World Police at all.

Leading these forces was Feng Li. Having worked for a long time as Gusuma Yarera’s bodyguard, he was not one to be treated like a simple tiger. He was a fine human being, and had a great deal of respect among his unit as their commander.

.

The fact remained that the Freezis Conglomerate was a massively powerful trade organization, but its power had begun to weaken compared to how it had once been.

A war had started in the Republic of Maistia over liberation of its slaves—and thanks to that, the conglomerate had lost their footing in the continent.

One could argue that, now, the position of top organization in the Evillious region had shifted from the Freezises to the Yarera Zusco Conglomerate.

.

Contrary to the enrichment of Gallerian’s professional self, his private life wasn’t especially satisfactory for him.

He made sure that no one could tell from the surface, but his marriage with Mira had completely fallen apart. They hardly ever talked in the house anymore. They had added three more servants to their staff outside of Bruno, and Gallerian’s estate was fairly bustling, but with Gallerian and Mira there was always a cold atmosphere between them.

Gallerian devoted all of that affection to his one daughter, Michelle. It was a level of doting that exceeded words like “spoiling” and “over-fond parent”, to where even Bruno would be amazed at times.

At sixteen years old, Michelle had grown into a beautiful girl, with the same pretty green hair as her mother and the graceful features of her father.

There were times when one of Bruno’s fellow servants, Rennert, would idly grumble, “I shudder to think about what’ll happen when she gets a boyfriend.”

That was because Gallerian was liable to go half-mad no matter what kind of man it was.

Michelle herself always seemed to be worrying about the poor relationship between her parents, but she never let those feelings come forth publicly. For she knew that could be scandalous to her father as the director of the Dark Star Bureau. She was a kind, intelligent girl. And she was slated to enroll in Levin University that upcoming spring.

.

The doorbell rang through Gallerian’s home.

“Just a secooond,” replied Larisa, one of Gallerian’s servants.

But at that moment she was in the middle of roasting a Rollam bird in the oven, so she couldn’t leave to answer the door.

“Could someone get that for me! Katerina! …Wait, I think she’s out shopping. Rennert! Bruno!”

But she received no reply from the other two servants who should have been in the house.

“Good grief. Those men are as unthoughtful as always.”

Just as Larisa was growing more flummoxed, Michelle appeared, cheery as can be.

“I’ll go get the door for you, Larisa.”

“Miss Michelle! …No, it would be a disgrace for a servant to make the young woman of the house do such a thing. Just get Rennert or Bruno to—”

“They both seem busy--Rennert is trimming the grass in the back garden and Bruno is helping Papa with his work in the study—Don’t worry, you just focus on cooking the Rollam bird, ha ha.”

“Thank you kindly, young miss. Well then, with my apologies, I leave it to you.”

The doorbell rang again.

“Got it, I’m coming!”

Michelle lifted up the ends of her skirt and delightedly ran to the foyer.

When she opened the door, she saw a tall, thin man standing there next to a white-haired woman. Both of them were wearing USE army uniforms.

“Hey, Uncle Tony! And you have Miss Shiro with you.”

“My my, as precious as ever, little Michelle.”

Gallerian’s friend Tony Ausdin smiled as he greeted her.

Shiro Netsuma silently bobbed her head, a shy smile on her face.

“Is Gallerian in?”

“Papa’s with Bruno in the study right now…Papa! Uncle Tony and Miss Shiro are here!” Michelle yelled, racing further down the hall.

Tony gave a sarcastic laugh as he watched her go. “…She’s healthy, that one!” Then he glanced over at Shiro, standing beside him. “—You could stand to be a little bit more like that.”

“Um…Uh…Sorry.”

“…Well, whatever.”

The two of them stepped inside and headed for the study.

.

After managing to graduate without much trouble from university, Tony Ausdin enlisted into the USE allied forces as planned.

Though at first he had merely seemed a poor student, he had come to show more alert, active behavior, as though having awakened since gaining some experience in small-scale warfare.

He had offered up great military gains such as in the suppression war against the Asmodean guerillas and in the sixteenth search and destroy operation against the dead soldiers, and was soundly promoted through the ranks as a result of that—

Currently, he had somehow managed to achieve the rank of major general in the USE army.

“That you could achieve such distinction despite your youth…Frankly I could never have imagined it when we were students,” Gallerian said in honest praise of Tony.

“Hey now. Didn’t you say that I was a ‘future general’ and all that nonsense? Was that a lie?”

“Did I? …I must have been trying to spare your feelings back then or something.”

“Ha ha ha—Well, we’ve both moved up in the world, Mister Dark Star Bureau Director.”

Gallerian and Tony had seen each other frequently over the past few years.

There was the fact that they were childhood friends. But more than that--there was a great deal of meaning in a companionship between two people who stood at the core of two components so essential to the USE as law and military. The foundation of PN by Gallerian likely wouldn’t have been possible without Tony’s cooperation.

“By the by…What business do you have here today that Shiro would bring you along for?” Gallerian asked Tony, getting down to business.

“Ah, well there is an issue. We have a favor to ask of you. And given Shiro’s personality she’s not liable to get to the point.”

“…?”

“—It’s ‘Ma’. I…or rather, the USE allied forces, requires her aid now.”

“…”

Upon hearing that name Gallerian’s expression clouded, as well as Bruno’s beside him.

“Ma, huh…As I remember she was a collaborator of mine. Not just me, but for Bruno and Shiro here as well. But nowadays I have no idea where she is or what she’s doing. One day she just up and disappeared. Around the same time as Hanma Baldured went missing.”

Gallerian looked to Shiro. She shook her head, as though to say that she didn’t know either.

“Bruno…What about you? Do you know anything of her whereabouts?”

“No—It’s been fourteen years since she vanished. During that time I have not heard so much as a rumor of her. I don’t even know if she’s still alive…” Bruno replied somewhat uncomfortably.

He had not told Gallerian that he was the one to drive Ma away.

“Sigh…So even you don’t know…”

Tony’s shoulders drooped in disappointment.

“Tony. Why are the USE allied forces searching for Ma?”

“…It’s the ‘dead soldiers’.”

“You mean those corpses that have risen from their graves to attack people. That’s one of the more dangerous occurrences amidst all the changes in the world.”

“They’ve been carrying on their activity for a while now, and each time the army has suppressed them. …But they aren’t decreasing in number. After all is said and done, they were originally human corpses. And as long as humans aren’t immortal, as long as there’s still corpses being made, then the dead soldiers will continue to increase without end.”

Hearing that, Bruno’s brow furrowed.

“You can’t mean…you intend to get the secret of immortality from Ma?”

“If she knows such a secret I would certainly want to ask her, true. But that’s not it. Though they’re called dead soldiers, their battle potential is frankly not all that impressive. Their movements are sluggish, and it’s not all that difficult to fell them just by sustained attacks—Until now.”

“So then…you’re saying that’s no longer the case?”

“We now have ‘dead soldier mutants’. These creatures have begun to appear lately that have different powers from the rest. Some are excessively strong, some are fast like a monkey—Fortunately they are few in number at present, but whenever they show up on the battlefield our casualties go up immediately.”

“That—sounds dangerous.”

“The worst of the lot is a variety that we’ve come to call the ‘Worldeater’. We’ve only seen it once, on the eastern front, but according to reports its height is estimated to be over four meters tall…There are some people saying it was larger than that. At such a height, it’s doubtful that it was ever originally a human being. This one was able to drive back the entire battalion before it could be destroyed.”

“…This sounds like something out of a fairytale.” Gallerian leaned forward with great interest. “Then—how did you repel that one?”

“We didn’t. It returned to wherever it had come from on its own. Under the persuasion of another variety of mutant that’s appeared.”

“Persuasion? But I’d always heard the dead soldiers had no intelligence.”

“That’s right. But this one is different. Its body isn’t all that big, but this dead soldier—it can speak like a person. Among the top brass there’s murmurs that this may in fact be the leader of the dead soldiers…. At any rate, thanks to the existence of these mutants the USE allied forces are stuck in a hard fight. And so we want to borrow Lady Ma’s wisdom, given she distinguished herself during the witch trial reforms.”

Gallerian folded his arms and thought.

“Hmm…It’s true that Ma has a great deal of magical knowledge. But what would she know about dead soldiers?”

“There’s documents that claim that dead soldiers appeared in the Beelzenian Empire centuries ago, around the time of the Retasan Coup. Legends says that the woman named Gumillia who opposed them was actually a sorceress.”

“And so you think Ma could have that power too…I see. That’s a very vague prospect. There was a theory long ago that the dead soldiers were being controlled by magic, but that’s been definitively disproven nowadays—by none other than Ma herself.”

“Even so, there’s still a slight possibility. As we have no other options, we have to pursue that slim chance that it can be done.”

“…Whatever the case may be, you still don’t know where she…”

At that moment, someone knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

The person who entered then was one of the servants, Katerina.

“Ah, Katerina. Have you finished shopping?”

“I have—and at the entrance I met with our mail carrier. Though they weren’t the normal person who brings it over. They gave me a letter for you, Sir.”

Katerina held out a letter for him. Gallerian took it and cut the seal with a pair of scissors.

“This is…” After looking at the contents, Gallerian’s expression turned to one of mute amazement. “Speak of the devil—what excellent timing.”

The letter was from Ma.

<<prev------directory------next>>

[fyrapartnersearch]

looking for partners

Hi there! I'll be short and straight to the point, any other details I can give via PM!

My name is Michelle, you can call me Mi or Purple or whatever works for you. I'm female, 28 years old looking for RP partners that are at least +18 for interactions with characters that are also +18! (btw I'm from Brazil)

I mostly play on sites but I'm also active on discord! I'm not picky with plots and I don't mind the wait, I know everyone is busy and especially this time of the year! I hate how sites are dying and I don't like to keep looking for random people to plot at servers so I'd like RP partners that are willing to play on sites with me and bring characters over but I'm also accepting people to RP 1x1 on Discord to kill some time!

Recently I'm playing on an original mutants site and I'd like to get people to play my plot ideas: -Complicated romance with a F assassin and my existing M cop character. They were childhoodfriends and dated for a long time when they grew older. Their professions and past stuff caused a divide so expect a lot of angst.

-Frenemies with a M kingpin and again my cop character. They were as close as brothers when they were young and same as the above they grew apart due to their life decisions and now are almost at each other's throat. This is strictly platonic/antagonistic.

- Bromance with another childhood friend. This one is more like the little bro of the group and is always getting himself into trouble but he is the first one to jump in when they need help. He is kinda of a mooch since he always fucks up and ends up crashing at the first couch he can get access to. Strictly platonic.

-Forbidden Romance Yep you guessed it, for my cop character again. She is a rich girl that is used to getting her way and is the classical spoiled brat trope. They were an item for a while but she had to break up with him because her family wouldn't approve of her dating a nobody. Fast foward sometime and he becomes somebody in the city when a video of him stopping a bank robbery is leaked. The media goes all over him and he gets so overwhelmed that he has to hire a PA. That is where she comes back in his life, her family needs her to convince him to support them publicly during the elections but they still forbid the relationship.

Aside from this I also got a few ideas we could try on 1x1! I'm pretty open to running plots and I can play either M or F characters!

Between those ideas there is:

Harry Potter OCs and Canons Supernatural Marvel/DC Mutants/superheroes OC Dungeons and Dragons Game of Thrones Percy Jackson Anime roleplay

If I managed to hold your interest this far, my discord is Purpledragon#2539 There we can discuss stuff in more detail. Have a nice day and merry christmas!

[starfleetdoesntfirefirst]

how about some meta about Jett Reno/Tracy Pollard, if you feel like it?

OKAY SO my thing with this ship is that. Both of them are both very sarcastic and very open/earnest at the same time. Specifically, as well as being fairly straightforward about who they are and what they want to do and what they believe, they each place a high value on life, human and otherwise, in this very...I guess I would call it a very sincere way.

In what I think of as Tracy’s defining-character moment, the sickbay scene with Michael and Chris in the ep in which the Sphere is introduced, Michael characterizes the Sphere’s interference with their systems as a “virus,” prompting Tracy to tell her, “You’re attaching a known medical diagnosis to an unknown entity”—a medical-division counterpart to Michael’s science-officer reminder to Chris only hours before that “it is premature” to characterize the Sphere as a malevolent “spider” without knowing more about it. 

It’s an incredibly Star Trek-y characterization of Tracy, but also a complex one. In context, she isn’t being “woo” about the sphere being potentially not as malevolent as it seems, but rather the opposite—the topic comes up because of her grim reminder to Michel and Chris that “life support’s down to 60% percent, but who’s counting?” which prompts Michael to argue that “it is not logical for a virus to kill its host” and Tracy to deliver her attaching-a-known-medical-diagnosis-to-an-unknown-entity rejoinder. In other words, Tracy is urging caution, and potentially an adversarial viewpoint, towards the current threat to the lives of her crew—but doing so through a framework that suggests an underlying openness to observation, discovery, and resisting easy assumptions about the universe around her.

Meanwhile, Jett has a similar balance of being simultaneously pragmatic, sarcastic, and sincere in her integrity. She stays behind to care for the critical-condition patients on the Hiawatha, and jumps into dangerous situations again and again on the Discovery, from the engineering explosion to the time crystal, putting herself at risk to protect the people around her (and, unlike say MICHAEL, seems to be doing so as someone fully able to fairly consent to risking herself, rather than being unduly influenced by guilt/depression/the attitudes and sometimes coercion of those around her--but, ahem, anyway.) And, in true Trek fashion, she even forms a bond with a lifeform much different from herself—aka Paul Stamets—as they navigate their annoyance with and deep care for each other (the “I still don’t like you” “it’s mutual” hand-clasping scene before Jett stays behind have her brain blasted by the time crystal? I WILL NEVER BE DONE HAVING FEELINGS ABOUT IT). Jett cares deeply about the lives of the people around her. But she isn’t about to be, like, gooey about it.

In addition, Jett and Tracy are both very competent, and clearly value and respect competence in others. Not to mention that they’d have a lot to talk about on a professional level re: Jett’s foray into field medicine. 

And, last but not but not least, as that one gifset points out (linking in a reblog so Tumblr doesn’t auto-hide this post from the character tags)... they can bond over being partners in one of the noblest pursuits starship crew can undertake: taking the piss out of their commanding officer when he gives them gratuitously redundant instructions.

-

Putting a divider here because all of the above is meta about canon, and the following is a headcanon, but: I will also mention that the backbone of my personal Tracy fanon is that she is innocent-until-proven-guilty of the Strap Michael To A Chair And Torture Her To Death Plan, and, as such, a big part of how I write her in fic is as someone who—like Culber with Lorca’s captaincy in s1 — is willing to be critical of systemic issues within Starfleet (or, at the least, to not take an active role in enabling them).

As well as being innocent-until-proven-guilty simply by virtue of not appearing in 2x10, I think this is a plausible extension of her canon character—no way would this thoughtful woman who cares so much about her patients and her colleagues and life in all its forms enable a plan to literally STRAP MICHAEL TO A CHAIR AND TORTURE HER TO DEATH—erm, sorry, still not over it. 

(Which, in fairness, is equally true of many of the characters who did appear in the ep going along with the plan, which is why I have to informally decide when writing any given character whether I’m writing something that is/is not consistent with tHE JOKE OF AN EPISODE THAT IS 2x10–okay, okay, I’m done now.)

Anyway, that headcanon is a big part of my own interpretation of Tracy’s character. I will go to the mat about Tracy having gotten as much canon characterization, by the end of season 2 as, say, Ellen Landry or Keyla Detmer did (said characterization is just less overtly noticeable because it’s largely professional and compassionate rather than antagonistic, and, in fiction, non-antagonistic characterization easily fades into the background as a default/non-characterization, despite the fact that—especially in a social setting as flawed as dsc’s Starfleet—it is anything but.) However, she is still very much a background character, so any major headcanons I come up with for her make a relatively large splash in how I individually write her.

As such, in my fanon, Tracy’s integrity and unwillingness to go along with the Time To Just Frickin’ Kill Michael plan is something that I see Jett being very attracted to/relieved by. Given that she’s someone who spent most of the war isolated away from Starfleet, I have to assume that Jett got one hell of a culture shock when she heard about what Starfleet had become (and/or had been revealed to be, depending on your interpretation—that degree of systemic violence and corruption Does Not Spring Up Overnight) by the time of her rescue. So, finding someone who sticks to what Jett thinks of as Starfleet values—compassion, integrity, openness—AND is extremely competent, AND is sarcastic? Jett probably has bluebirds fluttering around her head and little pink hearts in her eyes.

-

(Send me a meta ask!)

[frasier-crane-style]

“It’s the most perfect Spider-Man movie ever!” (FFH spoilers)

I’m just going to count down a few deal-breakers here, stop me whenever.

-Spider-Man’s classic red and blue suit is a high-tech armor gift from Tony Stark, complete with an AI. Peter had no hand in making it.

-Spider-Man ‘upgrades’ from it to a red and black suit reminiscent of Miles Morales.

-Flash Thompson is a snobby rich nerd who dislikes Peter because they’re in an intellectual rivalry.

-Peter does not work at the Daily Bugle and is extremely unlikely to ever do so.

-Likewise, Peter is extremely unlikely to ever wear a symbiote and he certainly won’t have the bitterly antagonistic relationship with Eddie Brock/Venom that he had in 616. If they were to meet, they’d really have no more personal connection than Spider-Man and Hawkeye.

-J. Jonah Jameson is the host of an ‘Info Wars’ type show (that, uh, airs on the Times Square Titantron) rather than the editor of a major newspaper. 

-Hydroman, Sandman, and Molten Man do not exist, but are just illusions created by Mysterio.

-Mary Jane Watson does not exist. Instead, Peter seems to be endgame with Michelle, an OC (shut up, you know it’s true), meaning it’s extremely unlikely we’ll see a romance with Mary Jane, Gwen, Betty Brant, Felicia Hardy, or any of his canon love interests.

-Aunt May has a ‘big sister’ dynamic with Peter rather than being a wise matron or a doting aunt. She’s also much younger and more attractive than any traditional depiction. (Yes, the actress is the proper age to be Peter’s aunt, but did they have to cast both an actress who’s aged extremely well and make such a big deal of men wanting to fuck her? It’s like casting someone to play the Kingpin and giving him a chiseled six-pack because they ‘couldn’t find anyone heavyset.’ Then writing Elektra and Karen Page to drool all over him.)

-Tony Stark is Peter’s father figure and wanting to be like him is what motivates Peter to be Spider-Man. His relationship with Uncle Ben is so nebulous that the director will not even confirm that Ben Parker is dead. (There’s even talk of him having died in the Battle of New York, rather than being killed by the Burglar.)

-’With great power comes great responsibility’ does not exist--Peter leaves his costume behind to go on vacation. In fact, Peter largely seems motivated by wanting to join the Avengers and be famous.

-Peter has a best friend who knows his secret identity and helps him over the radio a la Oracle and Black Canary.

-Liz Allan, Betty Brant, Ned Leeds, Ganke Lee, Gwen Stacy, and Mary Jane are all mixed together to form a hodge-podge of seemingly random character traits in Peter’s friend group. (i.e. Betty looks like Gwen, Ned is Peter’s bestie, et al).

-Aunt May knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man. (This happened in the comics, but after Peter was married and had even conceived a child, not in his high school years.)

-The Vulture knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man, but apparently is motivated to keep it secret based on a code of honor, despite being the kind of villain who executes his underlings for defying him. (You could say villains in prior movies have had this problem too, but at least they’re usually characterized as sympathetic antagonists who wouldn’t bear a grudge. Even Harry Osborn in ASM2 is actively plotting revenge.) (Also, if Nick Fury and Tony Stark know Peter’s Spider-Man, and they know Toomes knows, why the hell is he in gen-pop where people are literally walking up to him and asking him who Spider-Man is, instead of locked away in a CIA blacksite somewhere? Hypnotized to forget his secret? Something?)

-Nick Fury, the Avengers, Dr. Strange, the Guardians of the Galaxy--basically every superhero and their assorted ensembles know that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, because Peter will literally take off his mask and introduce himself by name. And remember, this Peter is introduced in Civil War, a movie where he thinks Captain America and half the Avengers go rogue and have to be stopped. Why should he trust any of these people with the safety of his loved ones on the line? Sorry, just had an outburst of logic there, had to get it all out.

-As of FFH, Peter has a public ID. (Happened in the comics, but only as a plot device to justify OMD--even Quesada never intended for it to be the status quo. I guess we’re going to get six or seven more movies where everyone knows Peter’s Spider-Man, based on only a year or two of comics? Is relatable working-class Peter Parker going to live in a safehouse with his loved ones between Spider-Man missions? On dates with ‘MJ,’ is he going to be interrupted by autographer seekers and selfie-takers, as we’ve seen happen with the Hulk? I’m sorry, does that sound like Spider-Man to anyone?)

-Peter has access to Tony Stark’s fortune and thus no real money troubles unless he wants to make things difficult for himself. 

-The Vulture and Mysterio both are motivated by hatred of Tony Stark rather than a feud with Spider-Man or even just the usual desire for loot and public validation, making them more Iron Man villains than anything else.

-Peter has deliberately murdered at least one sentient being. (Should we consider the Chitauri creatures to be basically alien Rottweilers or sapient in their own right? If they’re basically trained animals, does Peter know that? Or for all he knows, when he activates Instakill Mode in Endgame, is he orphaning dozens of alien babies? Sorry, logic again...)

-In general, it’s like they’re dropping all the familiar Spider-Man tropes in the name of realism or modernity or something, but then the new tropes they replace them with don’t bear the scrutiny of being anymore realistic than the old ones which were at least fun and interesting. I’m not a huge fan of Ultimate Spider-Man, but it at least kept the modern, realistic Spider-Man thing relatively consistent instead of mixing it up willy-nilly. 

In 616, I buy Peter never asks for a couple million dollars from Tony because it’s like Batman never asking the Flash to destroy all the drugs in Gotham on a slow Thursday. In the MCU, they have Peter getting Iron Man armor and such, so it makes it stick out like a sore thumb when they go “oh, yeah, this is a Spider-Man story” and have him just send the Vulture to jail like he doesn’t have the resources or allies to do anything else.

Did I miss anything?

[duchessofostergotlands]

I’d be able to stomach Jameela’s activism better if she wasn’t so much of an antagonistic hypocrite. Her arguments with Sara Sampaio and every Kardashian to exist, those tweets about Kate and even the Queen, do not mesh well with her “women need to stand up for women!” defensive diatribe. You don’t need to answer this, and I feel uncomfortable discussing/discounting people’s illness, but if you look at @Traciemorrissey and her JJ saved insta stories, you’ll find a rabbit hole there indeed. (1)

(2) In that rabbit hole, I found it disturbing how much Jameela attacked random civilians for perceived thinness. I have Graves Disease. I have sallow skin, I’ve lost a lot of hair and a lot of weight, despite eating normally. There are lots of reasons why someone might be thin, and I do agree that thinness should never be idealised or pushed or forced, but it shouldn’t be attacked either. I hate it when people look at me oddly. It’s like when someone tried suing Keira K for “looking anorexic”

Hey :) I did see the stuff about Jameela. It reminded me of the Lea Michele can’t read theory. It’s wild. Anyway. I think her heart is probably in the right place. I expect she genuinely wants to help people. I personally have found a lot of issues with her. There have been lots of discussions about her issues with targeting black women by people who are much more eloquent than me! I would say my issue with her has been that she’s quite militant about this body positivity idea. I get it but lots of women have complicated relationships with their body and they don’t always feel great about their weight or their appearance. They should feel comfortable being open about that. I wouldn’t feel comfortable saying that around Jameela because I feel like she’d take that as me being a bad role model or not focusing on being positive about my body 

[nikunjjain132-blog]

Nikunj Jain Introduced Top 10 New Action Movies List of 2020

Activity motion pictures are flexible, and Nikunj Jain has presented the best 10 new activity motion pictures released for the current year. In this centre of this worldwide emergency, it will consistently be a superior decision to watch activity motion pictures. It will help the film sweethearts to take a break.

 Activity film fans are as yet longing to see their dearest commando groups battling trouble makers. The new activity motion pictures haven't changed that much. In this way, how about we see the best 5 activity films of this current year.

 https://www.americadailypost.com/nikunj-jain-introduced-top-10-new-action-movies-list-of-2020/

Top 10 New Action Movies Listed by Nikunj Jain 

 1. Mulan

 Nikunj Jain has put this one in the first position.

 Date of release: 24th July

 Featuring: Liu Yifei, Jason Scott Lee, Donnie Yen, Gong Li, Yoson A, Jet Li.

 As per Nikunj Jain, the film Mulan is one of the most successful in the field of activity motion pictures. The rundown of no-frills enlivened works of art by Disney won't end too early. The film was really booked to show up in the venues on 27th March.

In this form, you may not see a talking mythical beast or different move or melodies. In any case, you will be getting a charge out of the appearance of Mulan in considerably more boss structure than before in 1998.

 2. Miracle Woman 1984

 Nikunj Jain has put this one in the second position.

 Date of release: 14th August

 Featuring: Gal Gadot, Kristen Wiig, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen.

 Nikunj Jain puts this movie on 2nd position. After getting a massive accomplishment in the Wonder Woman film released in 2017, Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot have jumped back. It will be in the market later this late spring. You will see Wonder Woman will be on the straight on with the contemptible Cheetah of Kristen Wiig. At the end of the main film, the job of Chris Pine reached a conclusion. Presently, he will make an appearance.

 3- The Eternals

 Nikunj Jain has put this one in the third position.

 Date of release: 6th November

 Featuring: Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Gemma Chan, Kumail Nanjiani, Salma Hayek, Kit Harington, Brian Tyree Henry.

 In Nikunj Jain’s hit list this movie comes 3rd. On the off chance that you imagine that Marvel can no longer discover any stars, at that point you are incorrect. Stars like Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek are contiguous the Avengers now. They will be the individuals from the main outsider kind. They will be filling in as a group to shield the planet from Deviants. These Deviants are the sworn foe of the Eternals. You can utilize the rundown of Nikunj Jain to know all the new activity films and appreciate these astounding motion pictures.

 4 - Black Widow

 Nikunj Jain has put this one in the fourth position.

 Date of release: 6th November

 Featuring: Florence Pugh, Scarlett Johansson, David Harbor, O-T Fagbenle, Ray Winstone, William Hurt, Rachel Weisz.

 Nikunj Jain has placed the most awaited Marvel movie (for fans of the Black widow) in the 4th position.

Natasha Romanoff was the Black Widow of Scarlett Johansson. Black Widow previously entered in Iron Man 2, which is from the Marvel Universe. Presently, the fans are holding their breath for another enchanting film. Their fantasies are going to materialize on the sixth of November, 2020. Presently Black Widow will be on an uncommon crucial settle a couple of incomplete assignments covered somewhere down in her initial life.

 5 No Time to Die

 Nikunj Jain has put this one in the fifth position.

 Date of release: 25th November

 Featuring: Rami Malek, Daniel Craig, Léa Seydoux, Ana de Armas, Lashana Lynch, Ben Whishaw, Jeffrey Wright, Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Christoph Waltz.

Nikunj Jain says by the end of the year all the action lovers will love to watch this movie.

On the off chance that you are searching for new activity motion pictures, at that point, Nikunj Jain has accompanied this another perfect work of art of 2020. It is said that James Bond has a sexism issue. Yet, the 25th portion in that British government operative arrangement is by all account’s miles in front of the forerunners. It is on the grounds that Phoebe Waller-Bridge was the co-author, who additionally made the Killing Eve. The fans can hardly wait for a really long time to see their 007 go overflowing Fleabag. The inquiry is – who is going to play the Hot Priest?

   6 - Birds of Prey

 Nikunj Jain has put this one in the sixth position.

 Date of release: 7th February

 Featuring: Margot Robbie, Jurnee Smollet-Bell, Ella Jay Basco, Rosie Perez, Chris Messina, Ewan McGregor, Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

 Nikunj Jain has placed this masterpiece on the 6th position stating that Birds of Prey can be very intriguing. We know Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad. Thus, we are very much aware of her badassery. In this film, the super-antagonist of Margot Robbie will shake from her ongoing separation, yet she will be constrained rapidly to wake up from the reality since she will have gone head to head against an unhinged foe, who will be sponsored by the female crew.

This choice of new activity films made by Nikunj Jain will without a doubt settle on you value his decision. Be that as it may, Birds of Prey isn't accessible on Netflix and Amazon Prime yet no compelling reason to stress, this film is accessible on a free web-based gushing stage – Putlockers and right now one of the most drifting motion pictures.

 7 - The Gentlemen

 Nikunj Jain has put this one in the seventh position.

 Date of release: 24th January

 Featuring: Matthew McConaughey, Henry Golding, Charlie Hunnam, Michelle Dockery, Hugh Grant, Colin Farrell.

 Nikunj Jain indicates that the job of Matthew was discovered enchanting enough. Matthew McConaughey will assume his job as a Maryjane boss at the center of various burglary, death, and typical normal restitution plans of adjusting levels of progress. This piece can be entertaining. This one is coordinated by Guy Ritchie.

 8- Top Gun: Maverick

 Nikunj Jain has put this one in the eight position.

 Date of release: 24th June

 Featuring: Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, Jon Hamm, Val Kilmer, Ed Harris.

 In Nikunj Jain’s list, this movie has been placed in the 8th position. Most likely, there is not at all like "excessively long" to hold up between the correct portions. It has been roughly a long time since the first form of Top Gun. Tom Cruise will rehash his brilliant job as the Navy pilot Maverick. In light of the official plot synopsis, Tom Cruise will confront phantoms and fantasies from his initial life while directing his group of tenderfoot pilots on a risky crucial. Due to its exciting rundown, Nikunj Jain has set it on his rundown.

 9-Free Guy

 Nikunj Jain has put this one in the ninth position.

 Date of release: 3rd July

 Featuring: Ryan Reynolds, Joe Keery, Jodie Comer, Utkarsh Ambudhkar, Lil Rel Howery, Taika Waititi

 Nikunj Jain placed this movie on 9th place, he this movie shows up to increase an attractive appearance to an indistinguishable plot: Ryan Reynolds will play a computer game character and become aware. From that point forward, he will endeavor to be a game saint before the entire game goes in disconnected mode.

 10- Genius

 Nikunj Jain has put this one in the tenth position.

 Date of release: TBD

 Featuring: Melissa McCarthy, Bobby Cannavale, Brian Tyree Henry, James Corden, Jean Smart

 This movie manages to find a pace in Nikunj Jain’s list. McCarthy will play Carol Peters, who is chosen by the state government to be analyzed by hyper-genius man-made reasoning. In the rundown of the new activity motion pictures, and as indicated by Nikunj Jain, the job of Carlos Peters was justified, despite all the trouble to have a watch. With the voice of James Corden, the A.I. will be watching McCarthy

 Nikunj Jain says this list is on the basis of their research and Nikunj Jain is liable for all this.

[freewheelen]

Slow Ride (Take it Easy)

Sometimes you need to humble yourself before God does it for you.

I went for a ride with my girlfriend a few weeks ago. It was Memorial Day morning and we hadn't ridden together in some time.

Just days before, I was bragging to her about my latest hooligan antics. That week, I reached 95 mph on a surface street (with a speed limit of 35) on my commute and broke 120 mph on the highway. 

“I don’t know why I even tell you,” she said, unamused by my trivial boasting, “you don’t listen anyway.”

That morning, we hit the road just before 8:30 am. The streets were as crowded as church on a Friday night. If you ride a motorcycle, you know this is the best time to to take a ride - and the best time to speed. It’s just you, the road, and that throttle. 

But on this particular morning, I got the creeping feeling that I needed to slow it down. That I should relax and enjoy the idyllic Southern California weather. That I needed to humble myself before God did it for me.

However tempted I would be to open her up, to wring her out, to crank the throttle, for some reason, I didn’t. We coasted along the meandering route of Sunset Blvd without reaching 5th gear once. Instead of waking the neighborhood with a roaring exhaust, per usual, we took it easy, gliding past Beverly Hills, Bel Air, and the Palisades with a purring engine.

Once we reached the Pacific Coast Highway, my decision to slow my roll started to pay off. Turning onto HWY 1, we pulled up right behind a police cruiser. But unlike any other time I’ve stumbled upon a patrol vehicle, I didn’t have to check my speed. I didn’t have to downshift and try to play it cool. I just carried on at 50 mph. 

There’s no feeling like riding alongside a cop and knowing that they have no reason to stop you. It’s free of anxiety. It’s liberating. It’s just as good as the feeling you get from speeding but it requires a lot less - and risks a lot less too.  

As we approached the next intersection, we filtered past the cop and continued our carefree cruise. But the first officer was just the tip of the iceberg. Soon, we came upon two motorcycle cops writing tickets on the side of the road. Not long after, a fleet of 4 other Highway Patrol motorcycles zoomed passed us. 

It seemed like the entire police force was monitoring the activity on the PCH this morning, exacting revenge on those with jobs that allowed them to enjoy their Memorial Day. As fellow motorcyclists passed in the opposite direction, I tapped the top of my helmet more than I flashed the peace sign. Often times, they returned the gesture. 

Despite the unwanted attention of the authorities, Michelle and I rolled along. The sun warmed our backs. The wind kissed our cheeks. The sweet, briny scent of the sea filled our nostrils. I tucked my hand behind Michelle’s left thigh and leaned back, content to let everything the road offered to meet me, not the other way around. 

Out of nowhere, the sight of flapping wings caught my eye. 

“Oh, shit!” I blurted, remiss to find an expression that suited the moment.

“What?!” Michelle replied, taken aback by my non-descript exclamation.

“Look, it’s a hawk!”

A Harris Hawk soared into the cloudless sky, a snake dangling from its clasped talons. Michelle and I gasped at the grace of it’s beating wings as it moved skyward, ultimately perching at the top of a nearby telephone pole.

“Pull over,” Michelle commanded. 

I complied without protest.

We rolled the Harley into a plaza parking lot and placed her on the side stand. With our gaze locked on the hawk, we lowered ourselves to the curb and waited for it to dig in. Instead, it stood still as a statue, staring into the distance with an austere repose, unphased by the meter-long snake clenched in its grip.

“Why isn’t it eating it?” Michelle asked, breaking the long silence.

“I’m not sure. Maybe she’s trying to get it back to her nest,” I hypothesized, no closer to the truth than if I would have kept my mouth shut.

That’s when a pair of crows, attracted by the scent of the kill, started harassing the hawk. From 30 ft above, they divebombed, aimed straight for the hawk, only pulling up inches from the raptor’s head. But the hawk proved unphased, failing to flinch at the provocations of the petulant crows. 

That’s when I realized how lucky we were to see this interaction, how happenstance witnessing a hawk catch its prey is, how we would have never seen this if I would have been riding any faster that morning.

Without eliciting a reaction from the hawk, the antagonistic crows moved on, and soon after, the hawk would take off as well - with its catch in tow of course.

Michelle and I would take the same route home, passing the same speed traps and the same plotting police with the same carefree demeanor we arrived with. After passing another 5-6 cops (we probably encountered 12-15 in total that day), but with our easy-going pace, it was like we came across none.

Now, my commute is a bit different. Instead of doing 95 (mph) in a 35, I do 50 (ie. speed of traffic). Instead of revving at cars to move aside, I’m content to sit behind them. Instead of running the yellow/red light, I slow it down. Now I can brag to my girlfriend about the miles per gallon I get and discovering a library  on my route to work that I never noticed.

You could say I’m getting older. You could say I’m maturing. But I think I’m simply becoming a better motorcyclist. Just because you have all that power doesn’t mean you have to use it every chance you get. 

There’s something to say about situational riding. Whether it’s the commute, a cross-country trip, or a quick ride to the store, each situation calls for a certain style of riding, and it usually isn’t full throttle. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m gonna send it from time to time. I’m going to open her up and put as much power as I can to that back wheel. But, if I’ve learned anything, it’s that speed is much more fun after you take some time to enjoy the scenery. 

As the wise Ferris Bueller once said:

Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

Take it easy, y’all, don’t miss it.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

The Thief and the Samurai OCs [More Six Shot OCs, kind of]

Episode list here

In the world of Six Shots there is a TV show that is a joint animation project between British animators and Japanese animators. That show is The Thief and the Samurai, which tells the story of a young, blind wandering samurai girl and her unlikely friendship with a scarred, eyepatch-wearing middle aged thief. Together the two wander a bizarre Earth with elements of fantasy and science fiction thrown in, fighting evil and finding treasure as well as learning a great many things along the way.

Currently there are four seasons of 26 episodes each. Every other season is divided into two separate arcs, with seasons 1 and 3 being fully devoted to their stories while seasons 2 and 4 have two seperate storylines of 13 episodes each that come together for a grand conclusion.

The show is basically the equivalent of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure mixed with Samurai Jack in-universe, as neither show exists.

The show is filled with elements that would piss off the British regime, including positive portrayals of homosexuality and the Irish.

The time the show is set is very ambiguous, but it is similar to worlds such as Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI in that there is technology such as guns and robots alongside more magical elements such as demons and witches.

The arcs are as follows:

Season 1 – The Adventure Begins

Season 2A – Strange Eons

Season 2B – Wrath of the Demon King

Season 3 – Sakura and Michelle’s World Tour

Season 4A – Ghosts of the Past

Season 4B – My Master’s Keeper (currently airing)

THE SHOW

Seasons 1, 2A, and 3 are the most popular seasons of the show so far.

Season 2B is the most reviled arc, as many fans found Camazotz to be a far inferior villain to Doboro and they did not find the demons who went after Sakura and Michelle to be particularly entertaining, with the exception of Thot.  Doboro’s return in the finale of season 2 was met with great praise.

Season 4A was not well-received until season 4B began to air, as season 4B has so far provided more context for Jet’s actions in the first half of season 4. 

While very popular in Japan, season 3 has more mixed reception in other parts of the world, as it is very monster-of-the-week. However, despite this it still manages to consistently progress the plot, so many are more forgiving.

The show is most popular in America, Japan, Ireland, and Portugal. 

The show is banned entirely in Britain.

MAIN CHARACTERS

Sakura Miror

The daughter of the British pirate queen Rhiannon Miror and the ninja Hiro Hayabusa, Sakura was fascinated from a young age by stories her father would tell her of brave samurai warriors. At the age of eight she was blinded in a freak accident aboard her mother’s ship, and fell into a depression, until her powers developed. After that, she found a teacher and trained for years so she could become a great samurai and travel forth to protect the innocent.

Sakura has abilities very similar to Daredevil, in that she has a sort of radar sense. Her remaining senses are also enhanced.

She is 21 years old, six feet tall, and has red hair. All of these are traits she gets from her mother.

She wears sunglasses all of the time.

Michelle Kitt

A mysterious thief who saved Sakurra’s life during an ambush. She is completely covered in scars and has an eyepatch from some accident she can’t recall; all she knows is that said accident cost her the life of her husband and child, and since then she has turned to a life of plundering and picking pockets. However, since meeting Sakura she has tried to turn over a new leaf, and has more actively tried to help people.

She is 41 years old, five foot six, has dark hair, and has an eyepatch over her right eye.

She prefers to be called a “treasure hunter” than a thief.

She doesn’t have any superhuman capabilities like Sakura; she is just really incredible at stealing, picking pockets, and breaking locks. She could steal a wallet right out of your pocket while looking right at her and you wouldn’t notice until later.

She feels a bit insecure about her looks as she feels her scars make her ugly.

Rhiannon Miror

Rhiannon “The Red” Miror was one of the most feared pirate queens to ever sail the seven seas, known for her ruthlessness towards her enemies as much as for her kindness and graciousness to those she considered a friend. She fell in love with Hiro Hayabusa after a failed assassination attempt, and together the two produced a child: Sakura. She became semi-retired due to a freak accident on her boat blinding her daughter; racked with guilt over it, she decided to retire from piracy for the time being.

She is six feet and six inches tall.

Hiro Hayabusa

Sakura’s father. A renowned ninja, the only failed assassination in his career was when he failed to kill Rhiannon, instead impressing her so much that she took him as a husband. He is a kind, noble, and soft spoken man who very much loves his daughter and feels nothing but pride for her.

He is five foot six inches tall.

ALLIES

Brother Moon

A mysterious priest who runs a church in the British countryside. He may or may not be an alien. He first appeared during the “Wrath of the Demon King” arc of season 2.

Lady Kali

A four-armed woman from India who is seen as a holy figure there, Lady Kali is a super-strong master of hand-to-hand combat who dedicated her life to protecting her  people from evil spirits. She first appeared in season 2, before getting a major part in the India section of season 3.

Master Ishida

Sakura’s master, who trained her as a child. He appeared early in season 1 and had scant appearances until his major role in season 4, which featured him heavily and greatly expanded his backstory, revealing many other students he had taught over the years.

Kurtwood Armstrong

An American tavern owner with insane physical strength. He is incredibly loud, brash, and patriotic, and does not take well to insensitive and cruel people. Michelle and Sakura aided him in freeing his town from the wiles of Cyrus Lovelace in season 3.

Kristopher Kross

A gay German man with the power of magnetism who Sakura and Michelle helped escort through a perilous mountain pass during the German portion of season 3.

Lesedi

An African villager with the ability to shoot blasts of light. Sakura and Michelle aided her in saving her village from the wicked powers of Morrigan Maro.

Talia Ishtar

A young Egyptian woman with the power to make sand duplicates of herself. Sakura and Michelle helped her plunder an ancient tomb and fight off an undead pharaoh while searching for information on Orochi Overlong during season 3.

Vinny Pagliacchi

An Italian man with dwarfism and a bad temper who has the power to phase through objects. He enlisted Sakura and Michelle to help him take out some criminals during season 3.

MAJOR ANTAGONISTS

Lord Horatio Blackmore

An evil British inventor and criminal mastermind, Horatio Blackmore sought revenge against Michelle for stealing from him. While he has no powers to speak of, he has a brilliant mind and a massive airship which he uses to travel the world.

He has an eyepatch and a monocle. He used to wear glasses before he lost his eye.

He is a snappy dresser and also has a curly mustache.

He is a redhead.

He has several specially made canes, though he favors his cane sword and cane rifle most of all.

He was the villain of season 1. While he was defeated, he was not killed and has appeared several more times in the series.

The Triad

Three mysterious women named Faith, Hope, and Serenity. They seek Michelle, and serve the Man in Black.

Serenity is very ditzy and is a brunette. Hope is short, blonde, and irritable. Faith is extremely tall and strong, and has dark hair; she also is rarely seen with her eyes  open and without a smile on her face.

The three seem to have a wide array of powers, from incredible strength, speed, and stamina. As the end of season 1 reveals, this is because they are supernatural beings who serve the Man in Black.

They are not outwardly malevolent, and ease up towards the heroes at the end of season 1. Since then, they have even occasionally aided them, though their work requires they never stick around long.

The Man in Black

A mysterious man who seeks out Michelle for one reason or another. At the end of season 1, it is revealed  he is Death himself, and he was seeking Michelle out because he believed she cheated him; as it turns out, she beat him fair and square, and her family’s killer used some power to distort the truth. He forgave Michelle and allowed her to live to seek vengeance on her family’s killer.

He dresses in an all-black cowboy getup and resembles an older gentleman.

Camazotz

A demon king who resembles a giant, monstrous vampire bat. He was accidentally summoned forth in Professor Doboro’s attempts to awaken the Old Ones, and when he was banished before he could fully materialize by Sakura and Michelle, he vowed vengeance upon them, sending demonic forces to attack them. He is the villain of season 2B.

Hojo Doboro

A mad scientist who was kicked out of the university he once taught at due to his illegal experiments on the dead. He vanished for years, eventually coming back with an army of reanimated dead to seek the five keystones so he could summon forth ancient beings known as the Old Ones to re-write reality as he saw fit. He was the main villain of season 2A.

He supposedly stole a lot of his best ideas from other researchers. However, he is still incredibly brilliant.

He is heavily based on Herbert West and the Cthulhu Mythos. He also gets his name from one of the antagonists of the game Final Fantasy VII.

Orochi Overlong

A strange, lizard-like man who is also a powerful sorcerer. As is revealed towards the end of the season, he is actually the Yamata no Orochi trapped in a physical, human-like form, and his ultimate goal is to reclaim his original form so that he may rule over Japan once again. Using his considerably powerful magic, he blasts Sakura and Michelle halfway across the world and makes them travel across the planet to get back to him, with them only having 44 days to return to Japan before his plans are realized. He is the main villain of season 3, and the leader behind all the villains they end up encountering on their journey.

Jet

A former love interest of Samus from when she was a teenage student of master Ishida, he seemingly died when he fell off of a cliff during an assassin attack on the monastery. However, in season 4 he returned, and he returned seeking revenge against Master Ishida for failing him. He was apparently trained by a master known as “The Black Phoenix,” and with his newfound dark strength Jet seeks to destroy Master Ishida and all who stand in his way.

Akuma Kokuho

The Black Phoenix, an evil martial artist who was said to have made pacts with ancient demons so that he could be unstoppable and unkillable. He is the main antagonist of season 4. particularly part 4B where the full extent of his plans became revealed as well as his connection to Master Ishida: he was a former pupil who was rejected for his inability to reign in his violent tendencies, and became a disgrace to his family, who abandoned him. It was revealed that much of the mythology surrounding Akuma was nothing more than urban legend, but as it turned out he did have the ability to enhance his strength with dark fire and he also had a knack for coming back from supposed death.

MINOR ANTAGONISTS

Gemini

A creation of Professor Doboro, she was created when he stitched the halves of two twins killed by a serial killer together and brought them back to life. She serves as his bodyguard for much of his arc, though she ends up turning on him at the end.

Their original names were Sunny and Luna. Sunny was a platinum blonde, while Luna had black hair.

There is a line of stitches going directly down the middle of her body, from her forehead down.

Her stitches bleed if she becomes too stressed out. They are incredibly durable otherwise.

She has the powers of both sisters due to having both of their brains, or parts of them at least. From Sunny, she has fire powers; from Luna, she has ice powers.

Freya Darke

A young French woman who was turned into a steampunk cyborg by Horatio Blackmore. She acts as his bodyguard and the muscle for him for much of season 1. She abandons him after his airship crashes and goes off on her own; she has appeared antagonizing and helping out the heroes in equal numbers since then.

Morrigan Maro

A cannibal witch from the heart of Africa. She was tormenting a village with her black magic during the events of season 3. Sakura and Michelle were able to take her out with help from Lesedi.

She had the ability to absorb the power from anyone she has consumed. She had amassed quite a lot of power over the years.

Thot

A horny incubus and one of the many demons sent by Camazotz to kill Sakura and Michelle. He acted more as a minor nuisance than anything, and was easily dispatched almost every time he appeared on his own. By the end of the season, he had become smitten with Michelle and vowed to make her love him. He has appeared on a few more occasions to be a nuisance.

Kirk the Killer

An assassin with regenerative abilities from Romania. In his home country he is considered incredibly deadly, but he seems to frequently be on the end of absurd levels of abuse whenever hee appears. Debuting late in season 1, him getting comically slaughtered became a running gag in each of his appearances, save for his starring role in the Romanian episodes of season 3.

Cyrus Lovelace

A racist, homophobic preacher from the South who appeared in season 3. He had the power of a compelling voice, and could command people to do his bidding even against their will. He was a short, fat, mustachioed man.

Rika Ainia

A young warrior woman who was cursed by a witch whose husband she accidentally killed while sparring. The curse causes her to need to fight to the death with an opponent or else she will have to harm herself to ease the pain a bit; as her innate ability causes her to enter into a berserker rage when fighting, she more often than not would emerge victorious, having ended an innocent life. She ended up running afoul of Sakura and Michelle during season 4; however, as of the current episode her role has not entirely been revealed.

Giorgio Fuso, Dee Comporre, and Mr. Viticcio

The three deadly criminals who Sakura and Michelle helped Vinny take down. Fuso had the ability to generate magma; Comporre had the ability to shoot corrosive acid out of her mouth; and Mr. Vitticio could transform his arms into extending, flexible tentacles. All three were extremely dangerous foes.

Chicken Wire

An odd, cowardly man who appeared alongside Jet in season 4. Apparently Jet saved the strange man from dying; he gets his name because his mouth is wired shut as well as due to his cowardly nature. He seems to have some degree  of control over wires wrapped around his body, but to what extent is unknown. To all the world he seems rather unassming and buffoonish.

[thebestoftimes]

50 QUESTION BOOK TAG FOR WORLD BOOK DAY

By me, Jess. I made this for world book day but then got depressed and didn’t post it on time lmao but here ya go kids be warned though it’s a long one. Also the numbers thing got fucked up and I couldn’t fix it.  I got a lot of these questions from other tags I’ve seen and google so if something sounds familiar... that’s why.

Who or what sparked your love of literature?

Aw my parents fueled my book habit when I was a kid and took me to the bookstore all the time and since then all my teachers have always encouraged me and made me love books even more than I thought possible.

Do you have an ‘odd’ book habit? (page sniffing/never leaving the house with a book)

It’s true that I never go anywhere without a book. I got one in my backpack or purse or reading on my phone but it’s always there.

Do you have a book that you think has changed your life? How?

A lot of books and series have made significant impacts on my life (like I can’t picture elementary school without Percy Jackson being in my life) but like as a person I can’t think of any one book that has changed who I am. It’s been a team effort.

Which book have you reread most frequently?

I think I reread Hush Hush every year lmao idk why

You can meet any author and ask one question. What author would you chose and what question would you ask?

I’d want to meet Shakespeare and ask him if all his characters really were just that gay or if we’re all reading too much into it.

Best book published this year so far?

It’s only March but The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

Imagine you’ve started a book and don’t like it. Do you see the experience through to the bitter end, or are you able to talk away from it mid story?

I used to always finish what I started but now that I’m in college and have a mountain of a TBR I’ll just stop.

What book is top of your wish list/TBR pile?

Uhh A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Dabos  is on top rn

Favourite place to read?

My bed. Boring but a classic.

If you buy books, do you lend them out? Ever had a bad experience?

Of course. No all my friends respect my stuff and return them promptly.

What fictional character do you ship yourself with?

So many but I think Gansey and I from The Raven Cycle would make the best couple.

Weirdest thing you’ve used as a bookmark

I use whatever near me so I might have done something weirder but lately I’ve been using tissues because I have a tissue box by my bed and never real bookmarks. But I’ve used graded homework, a toy car, a crayon, earbuds, etc.

Favorite quality/qualities in a protagonist and antagonist

Wow this is s hard okay for protag I am a sucker for like stubborn, smartass with a martyr complex. Sad but true. Antags I love a good morally grey character or anti-villain. Tragic backstory but smart as hell. The worst (the best). Characters like the Darkling from The Grisha Trilogy, and Warner from the first Shatter Me book (I know he’s a good guy NOW but back then we all thought he was a sadistic and sexy villain).

Favorite genre and favorite book from that genre.

YA Urban Fantasy babyyy and that’d be City of Bones by Cassandra Clare or Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare:)

  Best/worst movie adaptation in your eyes

Best: Harry Potter and The Hunger Games | Worst: Percy Jackson

Do you prefer reading your own books, or library books?

My own.

How do you choose your next book to read?

Literally whatever I’m feeling like at the moment.

Your favorite word.

I love many words but I have a soft spot for “lively” and “lilt”.

Book that got you hooked on reading/how you got hooked.

I’ve always been obsessed with reading but The Peter and the Starcatchers Series was like my shift from nicotine to heroine.

Opinion on dog-earing, margin writing, ect.

I only write in the margins of books I have to read for class/textbooks. And that’s for studying and active reading purposes. For any other situation: no.

Top 5 immediate to read in no order

A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Dabos

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

The Wicker King by K. Ancrum

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E Schwab

Most underrated book you’ve read

Definitely The Foxhole Court/ All for the Game series. Fairly small fanbase for some of THE most amazing books I’ve ever read. And the memes will have you in stitches.

What is the first book that catches your eye when you look at your bookshelf?

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell because of the exceedingly bright cover/spine haha

How do you arrange your books on your shelves?

LOL I do not have a system at all. I keep series and authors together and that’s it. Everything is placed where there is room.

You have the power to change a book’s ending. Which ending would you change and what would you make happen instead?

I’d change the end to Allegiant and SPOILERS SPOILERS not make Tris fucking die over her shitty ass brother. I know why she did it but like Veronica girl wyd with that. And I’d want the entirety of Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins to be rewritten into a book that just focused on the domestic life of Finnick and Annie and no one dies.

Favourite book cover?

This is SO HARD. Either The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin or Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

Which book from your childhood has had the most impact on you?

My entire personality was shaped by the Maxmimum Ride series by James Patterson. For better and worse.

When reading, what do you value most: writing style, characters, plot, world building, pacing, etc?

Characters. I think all of those things are essential and as I read more and more, the pickier I get, but I find myself leaning towards being a fan of a book when I become obsessed with the characters. Like hey!! New friends!!! For my brain!!!

Do you prefer buying books or borrowing them from a library/friend?

Buying them even though I shouldn’t. It’s a real problem.

What books/sequels that are being published this year are you most excited for?

SO MANY OH MY GOD

Okay some of these already came out because it’s March right now but I’ll include them anyways.

SEQUELS/ SPIN-OFFS AND SHIT

The Wicked King by Holly Black; King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo; Dream by Natalia Jaster; Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare; The Red Scrolls of Magic by Cassandra Clare; Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco, Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater; Defy Me by Tahereh Mafi; The Shaw Confessions #3 by Michelle Hodkin

FIRST BOOKS

The Binding by Bridget Collins; Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan; The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi; A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer; Romanov by Nadine Brandes; The Infinite Noise by Lauren Shippen; The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh

Which fictional character would you want as a sidekick?

Percy Jackson because he’s my firstborn son and one of my favourite characters of all time. He is talented, smart, hilarious, an amazing friend, and the sweetest of boys (when he isn’t the sassiest of boys).

How many books have you read so far this year?

Only 15 I am so behind :(

What’s been your favourite read so far this year?

Oh man. Gotta be Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo :)

You’re stuck on an island with a suitcase big enough to hold five books. What books are they?

I probably shouldn’t cheat and say How to Build a Boat huh

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

The King’s Men by Nora Sakovic

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

If you had to go out to dinner with any character who would it be and why? What would you talk about?

Will Herondale and we’d talk about books

Is there a book you have such a hatred for that you would throw it off of the highest tower knowing that the last copy of it will be destroyed so that not another living soul can read it or would you rather keep it and give it to someone else who might actually enjoy it?

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne or After by Anna Todd

Do you believe books make nice decoration?

I mean. I think they should be read before used as decor but I love showing off my books so I guess both. But I don’t believe in buying books for the purpose of decoration instead of reference or reading lol

Do you listen to music when you read? Or do you need complete silence? 

I need silence or low amount of white noise. I used to read and listen to Taylor Swift when I was a kid but I can’t do it anymore.

Do you have a favorite book? If not are you in the group that believes there are too many great books out there to just choose one?

I tell people it’s City of Bones by Cassandra Clare but in all honesty no I don’t have a favourite.

Do you sleep with books under your pillow.

Nope

Do you go to the library or do you have a book buying addiction or are you one of those lucky people who is able to do both?

I do both. Mostly bookstore though.

Own any book inspired clothing?

Yes. Several items :)

Have you ever read a book in another language?

I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Tristan and Isolde, and Beauty and the Beast in French. And parts of Les Mis.

Strangest book you’ve ever read?

John Dies at the End by David Wong. Still not sure exactly what was going on. 

Favourite type of non-fiction?

Memoirs babey

Favourite non-fiction?

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Favourite subject to read about?

History

Favourite book you’ve read in school?

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Favourite work of Shakespeare?

Hamlet

Character you’d love as a mom or dad or guardian?

Hmm Sally Jackson, The Women of 300 Fox Way, or Tessa and Will (they totally count because The Last Hours Series)

I tag literally whoever wants to do this and @fangirl-daydreamer97 @acleeds12 @iviisastrawberry @221bdoom @bicycles-bees-bisexuals @betterthanapit @dippindots126 @vlctorvale

[almostarchaeology]

Archaeotrolling the Wall

By Adrián Maldonado

There’s been a lot of commentary over the weekend on the effect of two years of the Trump presidency. One overlooked aspect of this is the surprising amount of archaeology-related activism that has arisen over the same period. From peer-reviewed takedowns of populism to fact-checking Trump’s theory of ‘wheels and walls’, archaeology has become one of the most consistent methods used to troll Trump.

The most interesting part about this is that it is not only archaeologists who are archaeotrolling Trump. The best example of this is the way journalists have begun reading up on the famous border walls of history. They have not done so of their own volition, of course, but because of Trump’s repeated misuse of ancient monuments to lend justification to one of his signature campaign promises. It is one of the most obvious ways in which archaeology is being dragged into current events, and thus deserves comment as ‘pop culture’ archaeology.

Trump’s argument for the wall has increasingly relied on citing historical walls, both specific (the Great Wall of China) and nonspecific (“medieval”), as precedent. It is the kind of ‘common sense’ argument that sounds legit as long as you don’t think about it. In response, several news sources have found themselves rushing to slap together short pieces on famous historical walls (usually just the ‘big three’: Great Wall, Hadrian’s, and Berlin), in which some light Wikipedia research is dressed up as fact-checking. But even a cursory reading of past border walls quickly allows journalists to troll Trump’s intentions. Archaeology is powerful this way.

Famous walls of history

Notably, several scholars of archaeology, anthropology and history have also taken part in this trend, whether by being cited in these pieces, or having original pieces published in news outlets. Denigrating Trump’s Wall using facts and a long-term perspective is now a whole subgenre of political commentary and is allowing archaeology to take centre-stage in matters of global import.

However, it should also be clear by now that the combined heft of these pieces have not remotely dissuaded Trump or his base from believing that the Wall is a good idea. So this subgenre of journalism is due a bit of source criticism. Here follows a preliminary, non-scientific survey of online news and commentary on ‘famous walls of history’ in light of the Trump Wall.

I am choosing here to divide the genre into two groups – those led by journalists (including some with academic credentials, but whose main output is through an online periodical) and those led by academics (whether in a blog or periodical). This is to roughly distinguish between public archaeology (in which experts share knowledge for public benefit), and the reception of archaeology by the public (in this case, journalists).

Journalist-led

History via Google search (source)

Much of this work consists of little more than going through the ‘big three’ in turn, conflating three very different times and places in the assumption that a wall is a wall.

Why Trump’s comparison of his wall to the Great Wall of China makes no sense 

8 March 2016 – early in 2016, when Trump was by no means the frontrunner in the Republican primaries, he began making outlandish comparisons between his wall and the Great Wall of China. In response, Michelle Ye Hee Lee put together a fact-checking piece for the Washington Post highlighting some unsavoury aspects of the famous world wonder. “Labor conditions were so appalling that some 400,000 people are estimated to have died building the wall…through most of Chinese history, the wall was a negative symbol of oppression, cruelty and death…the wall as a symbol of strength and resourcefulness is a part of the myth and misconception of its true history.”

The walls before Trump’s Wall

11 December 2016 – long read by Thomas de Monchaux (design and architecture critic) for the New Yorker. Shows he’s accessed good scholarship on Hadrian’s Wall, pointing out all the ways its design shows it was not meant as a hard border. Concludes with some incisive archaeotrolling: “some distant Anglo-American memory of [Hadrian’s Wall] may help to explain the political power behind the idea of a wall—even as theories suggest that this wall’s purpose may have been very different, perhaps directly opposite, from that of the wall evoked by our President-elect.”

How Trump’s Wall compares to other famous walls

25 January 2017 – Cheap rundown of the ‘big three’ for BBC Newsbeat, featuring embarrassing graphics about which is the longest and the tallest with barely hidden phallic undertones, which I’m sure Trump would actually retweet.

Trump’s Wall vs the Great Wall of China, Hadrian’s Wall and the Berlin Wall

29 January 2017 – off-the-shelf roundup of the ‘big three’ again for a history news blog, including howlers like “Hadrian’s Wall was built as a defensive measure to keep out nomadic tribes, in this instance the Picts of Scotland”. (Fact-check: Scotland did not have ‘nomadic tribes’, nor was the wall built as a defensive measure against nomadism, nor did the Picts exist in the second century.)

The history of walls is long. Here’s where Donald Trump fits in

30 January 2017 – Time correspondent Olivia B. Waxman provides a very hazy history of no specific ancient walls, but does better in modern times. Notes that walls attract and bind communities of their own, as seen in the afterlife of the Berlin Wall. Sadly ends on the facile lesson that walls are some kind of inevitable social logic: “one thing is certain: walls are not going anywhere…it’s an impulse that’s only human.”

What can Scotland teach Donald Trump about walls?

2 Feb 2017 – featuring yours truly. I was approached by a reporter during this wave of wall histories for a lighthearted feature on BBC Scotland. The focus was on the lesser-known Antonine Wall, and marks its only appearance in this list. Abandoned by the Romans after little more than a generation, “The Antonine Wall is the epitome of a symbolic victory.”

The (anthropological) truth about walls

7 February 2017 – In a post for the Anthropology in Practice blog on Scientific American, Krystal D’Acosta uses a few ancient walls, but mostly Hadrian’s Wall, to troll Trump’s vision of a wall as a hard border. “As a concept, the idea of a wall suggests permanence, security and identity. Physical boundaries help define people by establishing a shared experience of place and time. But this is a very simplistic view of national barricades. It overlooks the ways in which these monuments function as sites of exchange, and the ways in which they generate their own experience of identity and place.” Negative points for, again, mistakenly making the Picts into Hadrian’s antagonists.

The fears that fueled an ancient border wall

26 April 2017 – decent history of Hadrian’s Wall by Carly Silver for the Smithsonian, with Trump slotted in as the lede. Featuring guest appearance by wallchaeologist Rob Collins, but despite expert advice still manages to make the mistake that Hadrian was fighting the Picts, who, again, did not exist yet. Valuable observation that it was fear, not strength, which fueled Hadrian.

What walls mean from Hadrian to Trump

2 May 2017 – another flying survey of walls through time from the BBC, but does well to cover the modern wall-mania sweeping the world beyond Trump. “Of course, walls remain practically rather useless barriers, rendered increasingly obsolete by new technologies like drones. Yet they clearly retain their psychological value as demarcations of a dream of purity, keeping out all those threats to self-identity.”

Building walls may have allowed civilization to flourish

5 October 2018 – National Geographic featured this interview with David Frye, author of Walls: A History of Civilization in Blood and Brick. Judging solely from this summary, it is clear the author equates wall-building with ‘civilization’, splitting peoples into ‘wallers’ and everyone else, denigrating those who didn’t build empires as the uncultured losers of history. In doing so, he ends up parroting the propaganda of emperors and autocrats through time.

via GIPHY

Academic-led

Undergirding all the above commentary were the archaeologists and anthropologists who have weighed in, producing new pieces rather than waiting to be approached by journalists. Notable here is how early these voices began to weigh in, many well before Trump was elected president. Here in the ‘expert’ column I am including early career and student voices which have joined the fray.

How Trump’s Wall would trample hundreds of archaeological sites

21 March 2016 – One of the first to enter the field was public archaeologist Kristina Killgrove in her widely-read Forbes column. Here she drew attention to the violence the Wall would perpetrate upon indigenous heritage, a symbol of the ethnocentric agenda that embodied the Trump campaign.

The Wall: a monument to the nation-state

17 April 2016 – Maximilian Forte, Professor, Sociology and Anthropology, Concordia University, for his Zero Anthropology blog – the densest academic tone of the pieces reviewed here, a rebuke against those that rail against Trump's 'fascism' while ignoring the forces of globalisation and neoliberalism that brought us to Trump. Some alarming rhetoric about 'globalists' and George Soros, though, and the 'Let’s watch and see' conclusion certainly did not age well.

Hole(s) in the wall: Trump’s implausible solution to the problem of immigration

22 July 2016 - Rosemary Mitchell, Professor of Victorian Studies at Leeds Trinity University, punctures the myth that Hadrian’s Wall separated civilisation from barbaricum, but in fact acted as an “economic magnet for people and goods”, similar to the way the actual southern border in America currently acts. Negative points, and I can’t believe I have to say this again, because the wall is said to border onto the Picts, which, how many times can I say this, did not exist for the first two centuries in the life of Hadrian’s Wall.

For five millennia, politicians have proposed walls like Trump’s. They don’t work

29 July 2016 – Adam T. Smith, Professor of Anthropology at Cornell University, takes us straight back to Mesopotamia for some top-notch fact-based archaeotrolling, where “walls were spectacular failures…Barrier walls are not simply clumsy, imprecise solutions to problems of population movement, past and present; they also represent a catastrophic failure of political imagination endemic to totalitarian thinking.”

Archaeology in Trump’s America: borders, immigration, and revolutionary remembering

10 November 2016 – a fiery call to action from PhD candidate Patricia Markert, published on Binghamton University’s public archaeology blog, just days after the election in 2016. “Contemporary archaeology of the border opens spaces to critically engage those who fear undocumented migration in new conversations that include real people rather than abstract villains, foster empathy rather than hate, and lead to constructive conversations about immigration policy in our country…Trump’s discourse is one of forgetting, and a dangerous one at that. Archaeology is a discipline of remembering, and that may be one of the most revolutionary tools we have for the fight ahead.”

Trump, Brexit and the archaeology of exclusion

10 November 2016 – across the Atlantic, PhD candidate Cait Scott also submitted her take on the catastrophic politics of 2016 for her blog Archaeology Stories right after Trump’s election. Linking Trump’s unsubtle wall with Brexit’s conceptual walling off of Britain from Europe, she notes their symbolism is directed inward. “Imagined safety, though, is a seductive idea; the election of Trump and the Brexit referendum results demonstrate its power. The manipulation and misuse of immigration narratives by politicians legitimises and reinforces the desire in everyday people for this imagined safety.”

The Trump Wall in archaeological perspective

14 November 2016 – An archaeological volley written soon after the election in November 2016. Howard Williams, Professor of Archaeology at the University of Chester, argues that we can use history to understand Trump’s Wall, but we can also use Trump to help us understand archaeology. Extra credit for introducing the early medieval Offa’s Dyke, which rarely makes it into the discussion but may be one of the closest archaeological parallels to Trump’s Wall. “Was Offa’s hegemonic project incomplete or subverted once it was realised just how unsustainable it was as an enduring frontier work?” One of the few blogs cited here that has crossed over into academic literature, cited by Gardner in his archaeological reflections on Brexit.

Clovis anthropologist challenges Trump’s Wall

7 April 2017 - Manuel Peña, in an editorial for the Fresno Bee, argues that we forget the past when we wall it off. "I happen to be a descendant of the colonists who first settled the Texas side of the river. We did not immigrate to this country: it migrated to us… the promotion of the wall is at base a symptom of the historical amnesia that defines a surging neo-nativist ideology. Besides denying the diverse origins of our nation, this nativism is of a piece with the ethnocentric/racial intolerance that rages through several European countries at this moment."

How walls like Trump’s destroy the past and threaten the future

24 October 2017 - Andrew Roddick, Associate Professor of Anthropology, McMaster University submitted a post on The Conversation on the problems that come with walls throughout history. Archaeological perspective advises us “to carefully think about the material impact of fear and xenophobia…anthropologists and archaeologists working with contemporary migration issues demonstrate that the costs of such walls can have long-term unintended consequences, including an increase in violence and insecurity.”

Crossing between the Great Wall of China and the ‘Great’ Trump Wall

14 November 2017 – the only journal publication I’ll mention here as it is open access. Mimi Yang, Professor of Modern Languages and Asian Studies at Carthage College goes far beyond the usual explainer about the Great Wall of China, producing a meditation on the fundamental difference between the Great Wall as the violent establishment of a new empire, and Trump’s Wall as the dying cough of an imperial era. “The Trump Wall has its foundation cemented on fear, bigotry, and above all, fundamental intolerance for difference.”

How do the walls around the world function differently?

2 December 2018 – This is a student blog submitted as part of coursework for ANTH 100 at Vassar College, but credit for being one of the few to discuss the anthropology of modern walls. “Hungary and Slovenia are two countries with the region’s largest expanse of fences. …It is revealed that people living near these barriers often find that they serve little purpose and can be psychologically damaging.”

Hadrian’s Wall, education and the heritage presenced in US ‘security’ and immigration policy

5 December 2018 - A short case study by Chiara Bonacchi, Lecturer in Heritage at Stirling University. This snippet text-mines 1000 tweets mentioning Trump and Hadrian’s Wall, showing that the public forges links between them, even if only as defensive barriers and not as “places of encounter” as wallchaeologists might prefer. Notably, these tweets often refer to Brexit as well. “It is a wall that divides, but also connects regions and peoples who are experiencing populist nationalism today… it remains a powerful but contested image and heritage site, of great resonance in today’s world.”

Trump says medieval walls worked. They didn’t

10 January 2019 - In late 2018, Trump began mentioning nonspecific ‘medieval’ walls as proof that walls always work, prompting medievalists to enter the fray. Matthew Gabriele, Professor of Medieval Studies at Virginia Tech went straight to one of America’s leading newspapers. “[C]alling the proposed 700 to 1,200 mile border wall ‘medieval’ is deeply misleading because walls in the actual European Middle Ages simply did not work the way Trump apparently thinks they did. If anything, their true function may speak to Trump’s intentions: Poor tools of defense, medieval walls had more to do with reassuring those who lived inside them than with dividing self from other.”

The Wall isn’t medieval

11 January 2019 – Gabriele was soon joined by David Perry for CNN, reinforcing the point that Trump’s use of the term medieval is not just lazy, but shows how wall-logic appeals to those with the least historical awareness, and along the way, gets in some exquisite fact-based burns. “[T]he wall won’t work – not because it’s a throwback to imagined medieval barbarism, but because it’s a con.”

What works, and what doesn’t

It is clear from the above charts that the academic-led responses largely preceded the journalists’ interests, and have carried on continuously, responding dynamically as Trump shifts his narrative. It shows that archaeologists and anthropologists are actively fulfilling their responsibility for public education. In comparison, journalists really began to take interest when it was too late, in response to one of Trump’s first acts as president, the Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements executive order which formally directed the government to seek funding and design proposals for a physical barrier along the southern border.

And while this survey begins in 2016, archaeologists and anthropologists have been trolling the impulse to build border walls for years. For instance, on this very blog, I wrote an exasperated piece bemoaning the abuses of Hadrian’s Wall in the run-up to the Scottish independence referendum of 2014, as did Britain’s eminent wallchaeologist, Richard Hingley, for The Conversation. Long before 2014, the work of Laura McAtackney and many others around the Belfast ‘Peace Walls’ has shown the value of recording the human effects of walling people from one another in real time.

On the other side of the Atlantic, archaeotrolling the Border Wall takes us much further back to its first major fortification (fencification?) during the xenophobic Cheney presidency. No discussion of archaeotrolling is complete without mention of Jason de León’s Undocumented Migration Project, with its devastating revelations of the violence perpetrated by fortifying borders. Similarly, the Migrant Quilt Project materialises the human costs of a fortified border, promoting cooperation and understanding. David Taylor’s photography has documented the border’s transformation from imaginary line to irrational severing of living communities since 2007.

All these projects put the focus squarely on the people and communities terrorised by the Wall, but also their continued resistance to it. As activist archaeologist Randall McGuire put it in 2013, the wall unintentionally “enables agency that the builders did not imagine or desire, and crossers continually create new ways to transgress the barrier.”

‘Walled In’ by John Cuneo (source)

So what hasn’t worked? It is clear that despite decades of archaeotrolling border walls, dating back to the days when Trump was known only as a walking reminder of failed 80s economic policies, the urge to build them has not abated, and has in fact increased. Despite demonstrating “A Wall Is an Impractical, Expensive, and Ineffective Border Plan” way back in November 2016, here we are, still debating it two years into the Trump era.

The problem lies with walls’ own brutal physicality. We can academically deconstruct these ancient walls all we want, but we are at the same time always told that they are wonders to be marvelled at. The way they remain standing after millennia gives them an obviousness that is blinding. Their recurring role in history makes them seem inevitable, as several of the pieces listed here concluded. And even those with the best intentions, even a fair few of the experts listed above, are hoodwinked by the mythical quality of the stories that grow up around these walls – like the notion that Hadrian’s Wall was ever seen as the end of the Roman Empire, and that it was put up against Pictish aggression, when it would be more accurate to say that Roman frontier policies created the Picts.

In his Myth of Nations, Geary called ethnic nationalism the 'poison' of modern history, but these famous walls seem to exude the same venom. Border walls are the toxic waste of empire, spread around the globe by short-sighted regimes with no regard for the future, which continue to poison us and cloud our view of the foibles of the human past by their stubborn monumentality. If Trump gets his wall, it will not only be his legacy, but all of ours. Don’t pollute the future with another one.

***

Follow us on @AlmostArch 

The title image is not my creation, but an unwitting self-parody by the president himself; I’d rather not link to his Twitter account, so read this instead.

[ink-logging]

Random Comics Read Recently 2/10/19

Down Memory Lane, Steve Ditko, Robin Snyder, others: Not actually a comic, though published in stapled comic book form - it’s the 27th (and probably final) installment of what Robin Snyder and Steve Ditko dubbed “The 32 Series”. Each book in the series was a 32-page stapled item, and most of them served as a means of publishing Ditko’s newest comics, though the very first one, 2008′s “The Avenging Mind”, was mostly text. “Down Memory Lane” is also mostly text, and is therefore a bookend of sorts - though you might also call it a supplement, in that most of its space is dedicated to publishing correspondence between Ditko, who died in June of 2018, and Snyder, who had worked as an editor, co-writer and co-publisher with Ditko for decades. Much of the content is concerned with the nuts and bolts of putting together The 32 Series, with the occasional amusing detour into the cluelessness of goofball critics and the contemporary goings-on in comics (NEWSFLASH: someone told Steve Ditko about the infamous Spider-Man-erases-his-marriage-via-satan storyline “One More Day”, and he did not like it), but gradually the asides become somber, as 2017 dawns and Ditko finds himself physically unable to draw. “You outlive me, all the material is yours to use as you think best,” Ditko remarks just months prior to his death, and what Snyder has fashioned is a requiem, comprised mostly of Ditko’s own words. It can be purchased from the postal or email addresses found here. 

*

G.I. Joe: Sierra Muerte #1 (of 3), Michel Fiffe: The next in IDW’s series of solo auteur takes on franchise comics with artist biographies on the back cover (see also: Tom Scioli’s “Go-Bots”) is also the newest reflection by “Copra” creator Fiffe on team-based action comics (see also: “Bloodstrike: Brutalists” at Image). I’ve never been much into the team comics Fiffe likes, and as a result I often feel like I’m at a remove in these projects, which roar through the activities of a dozen or so characters across many, many pages of action, with themes of death and revival offering light punctuation: it does seem very much like a sibling work to “Brutalists” so far. But, of course, I love Fiffe’s drawing, and he is one of the fascinating thinkers on this era of comics. 

*

Lady Death: Apocalyptic Abyss #1 (of 2), Brian Pulido, Mike Maclean, Dheeraj Verma, Ceci de la Cruz, Marshall Dillon: So - I spent the whole week preparing a long and very silly twitter thread for the 25th anniversary of the first Lady Death solo comic, and, having committed each and every one of my precious words to memory, I bet you’re all wondering “gosh, I should read a new Lady Death comic and see what it’s like!” Did you know the last Lady Death Kickstarter campaign made nearly $300,000.00? There’s probably a lot to say about how these books are marketed -- packaged as serial one-shots for crowdfunding backers, with lots of incentives, then re-packaged as two-issue stapled miniseries-that-are-actually-an-ongoing-series for the benefit of comic book shops and casual browsers -- but “Apocalyptic Abyss” is a pretty normal superhero comic on the inside, with the ivory-skinned anti-heroine battling alongside a Defendersesque motley crew of supernatural beings against various antagonists, one of which I think I recognize from the 1990s comics. I definitely recognize the artist, Dheeraj Verma, who drew many zombie comics for Avatar Press back in the ‘00s, though he’s been active in India’s pop comics scene since the early ‘90s; the colorist, Ceci de la Cruz, adds a painterly digital gloss to the proceedings, which, again, amount to super-beings socking and blasting one another at the moment, though at least they can all say “fuck.” 

-Jog   

[yasuda-yoshiya]

They don't seem to get much coverage, discussion and popularity in Fata Morgana AFAIK, but what do you think of Nellie, Pauline and Maria on their own, or even their relationships with the other characters? I personally liked the lonely nuance behind Nellie's 'rambunctious' behavior and Maria's bluntness while still having the capacity to care those around her, but also capable of being vindictive, and it kind of saddened me when someone dismissed Nellie as 'whiny' and Maria as 'evil bitch'.

Hm, this got a little long, sorry! At some point I just totally lost the ability to write quick responses to these things apparently.

Oh, I really like Nellie! She’s definitely my favourite Fata character outside of the main four, no contest. It actually makes me really sad that that one scene at the end of door 1 (you know the one) is so horribly cheap and tacky and impossible to take seriously, because the basic core of the emotions behind her arc and her characterisation in general honestly always felt heartbreakingly real and relatable to me. Underneath the very tropey surface layer, I think she’s a surprisingly good portrayal of a really lonely and miserable person desperately clinging on to the only person who actually seemed to care about her, even as it becomes increasingly obvious that he doesn’t actually care that much any more, because her memories of him are the only source of happiness she has. It honestly really hurts for me to read a lot of the scenes in door 1 where she’s just incessantly badgering Mell to give her any kind of compliment or recognition or validation, because it feels like something I can uncomfortably relate to and recognise in myself, especially when I was younger. I appreciate that the game really allows her to be actively bratty and spiteful and self-absorbed in a genuinely ugly ways - she doesn’t hesitate to use gross classist insults against the WHG, and her constant demanding clinginess absolutely comes across as something that would be difficult for anyone to deal with - but is still ultimately very sympathetic to her as a person and to the ways she’s been wronged on the whole, especially in door 8.

I feel like her characterisation acknowledges something important in the sense that, yes, she can be a brat, but that kind of self-centered bratty behaviour can often partly be a reaction to genuinely bad circumstances and have legitimate grievances behind it (being forced into marriage at that age would be absolutely horrific), and that there can be sympathetic reasons for people being that way - especially people like Nellie who is literally still just a child. It feels important to me to be able to say that Nellie genuinely can be a brat but is just as genuinely a victim who absolutely did not deserve to be in the awful and lonely situation that she is, and absolutely deserving of sympathy and help all the same; she’s definitely a very self-absorbed person who doesn’t really give much real thought or consideration to the people around her, but I also feel like she kind of has a right to be that way since none of the people around her ever paid any real attention to her either. She’s honestly a character I feel really defensive of in that sense.

And yeah, it seriously makes me legit angry when people dismiss her as just being whiny or overly dramatic about her problems, because it feels a lot like the same thing Mell did - off-handedly dismissing her as just a petulant child because of the WAY she expresses herself, rather than actually paying attention to WHAT she’s expressing and why (because the pain of her situation is honestly something he’d be perfectly capable of understanding and relating to if he actually tried putting himself in her shoes for five seconds, but he doesn’t). I do think it’s genuinely important for children not to be dismissed for expressing themselves in childish ways, even legitimately problematic ones (which Nellie’s absolutely can be, for sure). So I think the way the game sets up Nellie’s arc in terms of putting most of the emphasis on her surface “spoiled brat who’s just way too clingy with her brother” persona in door 1, and then totally peeling that back in door 8 to emphasise that she’s ultimately just a very lonely kid who just needs affection and understanding, really worked for me. I think both versions of her character really complement and enrich each other in that way. (And her friendship with Michel is just totally darling, awwwwww!! Their interactions made me really really happy for both of them. I really think those two actually have a lot in common with each other when you look beneath the surface.)

I like Maria a lot too! Like you said, I think they did a good job of portraying her being super blunt and pragmatic while also absolutely caring a lot and being fiercely protective of the people she sees as her “family”. She really does strike me as a very cool and admirable person! I think I had trouble really connecting with her initial portrayal in door 3, personally - her actively delighting in her cruelty even to an innocent victim like the WHG sort of pushed her a bit too much into over-the-top villain territory for me - but I thought she was absolutely fantastic in door 8 and Requiem. (I’m sort of interested in going back to door 3 with that added context, though, because I feel like there’s probably some more nuance to that which I’d be able to better pick up on with a fuller perspective of the character; I can certainly see a sort of dislike and resentment for the WHG’s optimism and naivete actually making some sense in retrospect, and Maria sliding totally into anger and bitterness as a result of her family being killed does feel like something I could see as a legit darker take on the character.)

I generally appreciate the portrayal of her blunt, cynical attitude actually translating into being aware and attentive to people’s human flaws and weaknesses in important ways; her being the only one to really see Michel as a regular person rather than a saint in door 8 and trying to persuade him to stop pushing himself so hard was really nice, and it made me sad to see that she was the only one to immediately predict that Jacopo becoming the lord would totally ruin him too. It’s a kind of skepticism and realism about how much her friends are really capable of that honestly makes her a much better friend than all the people just taking for granted that Jacopo and Michel are amazing heroes that can totally do anything, in a lot of ways. It generally makes me really happy that Nellie and Maria were pretty much Michel’s strongest allies and friends in door 8, in contrast to how they both had such explicitly “antagonistic” roles in their original stories; I think they definitely both deserved it! I’m really glad that they’re pretty much the only two people in door 8 that Michel doesn’t hate, hahaha. Excellent judgment, Michel.

Pauline is, uh…I have a hard time caring about her, let’s put it that way! I kind of forget she exists a lot of the time. Her arc in door 8 about her suppressed desire for a “normal life” and trying to overcompensate through charity was decent enough, but I didn’t really feel like it really connected much to her portrayal in door 2 in any meaningful way (maybe I missed something?). And her main character traits of being overly trusting and blindly believing in people, while perfectly well portrayed and addressed in the text, didn’t really feel like they had enough individual nuances or exploration for me to really get invested in her on a personal level. I think, for a character trait as common and familiar as that, I’d really need some more in-depth exploration on how she rationalises that sort of blind faith to herself and where it comes from and what she gets out of it for me to really invest in it, but I didn’t feel like much of that was there. Her relationship with Yukimasa doesn’t really do anything for me, either; it feels very shallow and superficial to me, and that’s sort of okay when the game actually emphasises that and focuses on Pauline’s reasons for wanting to latch on to a relationship like that despite its superficiality (which it does a little in door 8), but when it’s played straight as something we’re supposed to actually feel invested in (like in door 2) I just sort of fall asleep. She’s just not a very interesting character to me, sorry!