#this can be read as Pre-Upheaval

[chimpukampu]

Miss Zelda can be forgetful sometimes

[southwest-pottery-bracket]

Round 1, Match 1: Northern Polychromes

I call these the "Northern Polychromes" because they are only (in Fourmile's case) or predominantly (in Salado types' case) found in Arizona and New Mexico.

Salado Polychrome

Left, Gila Polychrome oval bowl (AD 1300-1450); Right, Tonto Polychrome olla (AD 1340-1450). Arizona and New Mexico.

vs.

Fourmile Polychrome

Fourmile Polychrome bowls, AD 1325-1400. Arizona.

More information about each type below the cut:

Salado Polychrome

Cliff Polychrome bowl, southeastern Arizona, AD 1350-1450.

Am I biased because this is what I'm writing my dissertation about so I've been thinking about Salado polys nonstop for about 3 years straight? MAYBE. But that's because they're interesting!

Salado polychrome is a collective name for various black, white, and red types of Roosevelt Red Ware. Pinto, Gila, and Tonto polychrome are the three main types, but there are a lot of described type variants.

Around AD 1275, there was a huge drought that lasted 20 years and impacted the whole Southwest. People moved out of the northern Southwest (Mesa Verde, the Four Corners area, southern Utah, northern Arizona) en masse. If you've ever heard of the "mystery" of the "disappearance" of the Anasazi - it's not a mystery, and they didn't disappear. There was a drought, crop failure, social/political instability, and they moved south to where there were population centers and perennial rivers. Some of these immigrants integrated into pre-existing towns; others formed their own enclave settlements.

And right around this time, a new style of pottery became popular in central/southern Arizona and western New Mexico. Like, really popular. Rapidly widespread, all but replacing the previous black-on-white and red-on-buff painted pottery. Gila polychrome (the most common type of Salado polychrome) is notable for being the most widespread decorated ware in the archaeological Southwest. Why?

Archaeologists debated this for decades upon decades. Were the Salado an immigrant group who brought this ware from the Tonto Basin, from the Sinagua, from the Colorado Plateau, from Mexico? Was it a Hohokam development? Was it Mesoamerican influence? You can read the debates back and forth in the 60s-80s and FEEL the palpable frustration!

Modern scholars basically agree that there's no "Salado" culture, that rather Ancestral Pueblo immigrants from the Kayenta and Tusayan regions of northeastern Arizona developed it after they moved to the south. These Salado polychrome pots weren't centrally made and traded widely, they were predominantly made locally to where they were found. But does it represent a retention/renewal of a Kayenta immigrant diaspora identity, or an integrative ideology that brought together immigrants and locals? And where do the Mesoamerican motifs come from?

I'm arguing more from a Kayenta immigrant diaspora identity marker cohesion-after-migration perspective, but it's a super interesting time of upheaval, reorganization, and social dynamism in the Southwest that really set the stage for the modern Pueblos and tribal groups we know today.

Salado polychromes themselves are defined by a red-slipped exterior, a white field, and black designs on white. The black does not touch the red. The exteriors of bowls are usually left plain red, with all the elaborate decoration on the inside. Sometimes there's so much white you can barely see the red. Two- and four-fold rotational symmetry is common; twinned elements are common, but each twin is usually slightly different from the other, not perfect mirrors. Abstracted representations of feathers and feathered serpents are really common too (the Mesoamerican connection). The black paint is organic, relying on a pigment called beeweed - which may have been sourced from back up in the north, a long way to go but clearly important to the people making these pots!

Fourmile Polychrome

Fourmile Polychrome bowl, AD 1325-1400, central Arizona.

Fourmile Polychrome is a type within White Mountain Red Ware. It's basically contemporaneous with Salado Polychrome, but was made in a different, more northern distribution, by Ancestral Pueblo people who didn't move so far south and congregated around Zuni and east-central Arizona.

Dynamic and bold and more likely to be asymmetrical, Fourmile polychrome is defined by designs in black glaze paint (manganese-based mineral paint with lead in the mix, to make it glossy when it fires and melts) outlined in white.

Both of these types were made by the coil-and-scrape method common to Ancestral (and modern) Pueblo potters (though a small percentage of Salado Polychromes were made by paddle-and-anvil, an argument for the type as an integrative practice...)

[full-on-sam]

New WIP Intro

Since I finished outlining the first act of this WIP, y'all deserve a formal introduction. Especially because I am going to blabber about it a lot.

You might like it if you like...

Lgbt/queer or disabled characters

Healing magic

Polytheist religions

Themes of life, death, balance

Pirates

Detailed worlbuilding

Battles

Travelling across lands

If any of this sounds like your cup of tea, read under the cut!

The Basics

Genre: medieval fantasy, LGBT/queer, low fantasy

Setting: the universe of U'nyon-he that is divided in five islands. Wassermund, inspired by medieval Germany. Tijara, ispired by the 13th century Maghrebi area. Yue Weifeng, inspired by Ming Dinasty China. Velstand (also known as Iskald), inspired by Scandinavia. Fluye, inspired by pre-colonization Mexico.

Language spoken: the five languages, and Common language. The names of gods and the universe is in Common.

Plot

Five islands. Five gods. Four people who meet death, and get sent back with a mission. Only one, to which the mission is gifted from higher powers.

In theory it is very simple: find the Staff of Time, free the gods, reunificate the islands who have grown apart centuries ago. In practice, no one is very enthusiast about the idea of dying, serving the gods, and going back to be dead again once they are done. Especially not in a time of such upheaval.

Plus, Katz has her own way of reuniting the islands. Souad, needs to stop a war first. Jiang would like to become a famous mage before going, and Haakon has a nation to rule. Nayeli on her part, would like to understand why the gods seem to target always her.

They have been given an opportunity to do all that again, there is no way in hell they are wasting it!

Characters (the mortals)

Katz (she? they? who knows. certainly not Katz.) : A young pirate from Wassermund. Katz's main goal: joining the rebellion to make all islands more similar to Velstand, with freedom to choose more than one path in life.

Souad al-Halabi (she/her): An extremely capable merchant from Tijara who can also be an amazing on the spot diplomate.

Lin Jiang (he/him): He dreams to be a famous mage. For now, however, he is being held back a grade at the magic school in Yue Weifeng. Maybe if only he understood what is the true essence of magic, he would succeed.

Haakon Ari Holderburg (he/him): The crown prince of Velstand. He was admired and beloved by all, until his vision. Now that everyone believes him to be crazy, he has to recover his reputation as well as lead a war against Tijara. All while coming to terms with his newly acquired disability, and heavy mobility aids.

Nayeli al-Saghir (she/they): the preferred by the gods. She has been found as a baby in Tijara, now she is an estimated priestess and oracle in Fluye. They are deaf, often experience visions, and have a very developed spirituality. Her main problem, a part fetching the damn staff, is figuring out why the gods seem to only bother them.

Characters (the gods)

Ylan: God of travel and water

Elaij'ah: God of all things dying

Etris: God of all things living (twin of Elaij'ah)

Xira: God of magic

Gador: God of trades

All gods are genderless

[vesemirsexual]

Is there a biological reason for the cats being crazy? Like from mutations? Or is it just a group thing?

I feel like the average Witcher has potential for a breakdown, not only because of mutations but because they're an outcast group who experience significant childhood trauma, repeated physical, emotional and social trauma as adults, and then don't...really have any good outlets? Varies between individuals clearly but it's not as if they have therapists up in the Worlds Worst Boarding Schools (who also both directly and indirectly reinforce a lot of negative self-belief).

I've said before: I personally headcanon that the Cat mages sucked at what they did. Changing mutations between each group is an odd choice, because if you had a solid base plan you really would want to stick with that (because you'd have to be mutating genes, and they're absolutely bastards who like to surprise you with downstream changes/links to other functions). I'm thinking that either a) when the Cats split from the original Witcher Order, someone did not take the full instructions or anyone senior enough to know them in-depth with them or b) they really are just taking the bottom of the barrel magic practitioners to do this.

Biologically? Well, you're mutating children (violent medical trauma) who are going into puberty (important developmental stage not just physically, but also mentally) so yeah, conceivably you could be seriously causing damage beyond what we already know the Trials cause. In terms of the Cats, it seems to be emphasized they suffer from psychosis - I've read papers before that suggest massive hormonal upheavals and changes can induce it (off the top of my head, I can think of a case where a man suffered from an acute sudden onset, late stage for presentation, no prior history, no drug catalyst, turned out he had an adrenal tumor which was massively altering his cortisol axis).

So technically, yes. We know that mutations alter neuroendocrinological systems, and if the Cats were deviating from what everyone else was doing, it could lead to a pre-disposition. Paired with childhood trauma, medical trauma, frequent physical injury, use of stimulants (i.e potions) and on-going traumatic events could then act as a trigger.

(Note: @t4tlambert has a very good post I'll need to rediscover, but I also think we should be careful because a lot of the time when people discuss Cat Witchers and in-canon associations with 1) psychotic episodes and 2) violent events, it's done in a way that while be completely unintentional, is still perpetuating ableism).

[gffa]

Hey Lumi! I've been loving your Bo-Katan commentary and have appreciated the way you make connections to previous content from Clone Wars and Rebels, pointing out lots of things I would have missed otherwise! So I hope you don't mind a lore question. Has Bo-Katan ever been referred to as a "princess" before this episode? I was confused when she said that, since Satine was a Duchess, and I hadn't ever gotten the impression that Mandalore was a strict hereditary monarchy, but that the houses would rise and fall. I got nothing from reading Wookiepedia so I'm hoping you can shed some light!

Hi! Thank you, I'm glad the Bo-Katan commentary has been entertaining! I have to admit, I've fallen back in love with Mean Wife, she is so mean and so great! Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to help much with the Mandalorian stuff because there's really not a lot about it in canon. Legends probably covered a bunch of stuff, but The Mandalorian is not part of the Legends continuity, so who knows what Favreau is going to do with this. I'm not sure we really know how Mandalore's royalty situation worked out, why Satine was Duchess instead of Queen, if there's a functional difference, if it's one of those situations like where Padme was Queen of Naboo, but it was an elected position, that maybe terms don't mean the same thing in Star Wars as they do in our universe, and "Duchess" means "Queen" to them, etc. All of that is speculation! I did get the impression that Satine's position was hereditary because she came into that position when she was very young, given the age she and Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were on the run, but if she'd been elected, she wouldn't still be Duchess and she probably would have been more popular at that time. But also because House Kryze was established as a thing (like House Vizsla) in TCW, which is hereditary as well, if we're going by how long House Vizsla has history all the way back to at least Tarre Vizsla. But a lot of that is based on the vibes I got from how characters acted and how there was nothing mentioned of rises and falls or elections, like Pre Vizsla didn't become the Duke of Mandalore, instead it fell to the Prime Minister that he was puppet mastering, despite that Pre was from House Vizsla, which has a long, long history with Mandalore. So, the "Princess" line threw me, but I'm just assuming that, yeah, the Kryze family was royalty and that we're not meant to take "Princess" super literally in a 1:1 relation to our own world or that maybe she was Princess of Kalevala, but Duchess/Duke was a separate role that a person from House Kryze inherited. (And should have passed to Bo-Katan on Satine's death, but the political upheaval on Mandalore was too chaotic and they weren't willing to rally around Bo-Katan at the time.) Really, though, it's impossible to say, we don't know nearly enough about canon to say what the term "Princess" means or if Favreau doesn't care and just threw it in there because it sounded good. Never underestimate the power of something sounding good. XD

[pttucker]

⸢D-21⸥ – Arrest warrant has been issued for 'Lieutenant Lee', suspected of stealing a large cache of firearms from the military base… – The sudden propagation of 'apocalypse theory' in the internet recently has caused some experts to… ⸢D-14⸥ – The 'apocalypse theory', expected to fizzle out as a passing fad, still shows no signs of abating after two weeks. – The apocalyptist 'Selena Kim' urges people to prepare supplies for the sudden upheaval that will happen in two weeks' time… – Several famous individuals from the world of finance have sympathised with the apocalypse theory, causing the public to criticise… ⸢D-7⸥ – Many ampoules containing microbes earmarked for research have been stolen from a prominent pharmaceutical company… – Recently, the frog egg collection craze has swept across children in their teens…

Lee Hyunsung. 😂

Oh man but this is giving me such anxiety. I'm just so stressed at the thought that they're doing all this and the scenarios won't start. I know that's never happened, not in all the lives Joonghyuk has lived so far, but the fact they started so early and basically went on a rampage and have "ruined" their pre-scenario lives is making me go "but what if...". 😰

Anyway, I do like how much emphasis they put into saving as many people as possible. It really feels like they're really making the most of it as if to say "if we have to go against Dokja's wishes and regress and lose our happy ending that he worked so hard to give us then the least we can do is save as many others as possible while doing it."

And, once again, Dokja seems so passive? Again, it's not from his POV so I know that makes a huge difference, but it really feels like he's just...there. It's weirding me out after reading like 5000 pages solely focused on what a scheming little squid he is 24/7. It really does make me wonder if the avatar skill was used incorrectly because both Sooyoungs have never felt like anything less than Han Sooyoung.

Or maybe I really am projecting since we've been following 51% and haven't heard a peep out of 49% POV-wise.

[benmakessentences]

Ayo!

EMPIRE OF THE FEAST, my erotic (small 'e'), sci-fantasy novella with a queer main character and a horny/spooky premise, comes out on October 25th via Neon Hemlock press and here are three reasons why I think you should read it.

🖤 IT'S A WEIRD ONE 🌌

I'm not going to lie to you: the book is about an orgy that fuels a magical sex ritual that keeps a monster in the sun from breaking out at eating all life in the universe. Somehow there's also a reincarnating empress/emperor, political upheaval, and funny, concise banter. Gotta love a good banter. (Oh, and there are tendrils. 🦑)

🍰 IT'S COMPACT 🍶

Have you felt like your attention span has been cleaved in half, then quartered, then fed into a vitamix and turned into mush in the last few years? Yah, me too. The book is a quick read, and it'll leave you hungry for more weirdness. 😵‍💫

📚 IT'S BY AN INDEPENDENT AUTHOR AND A SMALL PRESS 💪🏾

Neon Hemlock is a tiny, but buzzy press run by a rad dude. I'm a very gay author, putting out the weird queer books I want to see in the world. Your dollars will directly sponsor interesting, outré work that traditional publishing wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. 🤑

You can read some advance praise and pick up the book here:

[kalevalakryze]

Vod'ika

For Bo-Katan Week Day 3: Bo-Katan & Satine Pairing: Bo-Katan Kryze & Satine Kryze Characters: Bo-Katan Kryze, Satine Kryze, Mentioned Pre Vizsla, Mentioned Adonai Kryze Warnings: I feel like Pre Vizsla Admiration should be tagged asdfghjkl. I live for the ways the ship can be taken, and I just know Bo admired him so much, but fuck, that’s toxic as hell. Other than that, it’s just some sisterly fluff, and Bo-Katan being a cute kid before the wars can take their toll. Notes: I wasn’t happy with the first fic I wrote, so I wanted to throw together something smaller to make up for it asdfghjkl Word Count: 999 Summary: Before Satine could stop her, Bo-Katan was rising to her feet and tugging the comforter off of Satine’s bed to wrap around her small shoulders, a comical sight, truly, which had Satine stifling her laughter politely behind her hand as the girl started strutting around the room, dramatically throwing the corner of the blanket to the side each time she stopped and jutted her hip out. AO3 link: Here!

"Satine!" She could hear the sound of small feet hitting carpet as the young girl ran into her room. The blonde's head rose just in time to see her vod'ika crash through her bedroom door, a paper helmet with too much tape sitting on top of her head. "Satine!" Bo-Katan called once more, excitement palpable. "I'm boooored!" Bo drawled as she moved further into her clean room.

There was a quick glance back at her data pad.. studying the rise of government on Mirial could wait, Bo-Katan always knew the best ways to drag out everything in her room and make an awful mess. Turning in her chair proved to be the right move, as the redhead threw herself into her ori'vod's lap the moment she was facing her.

Bo-Katan was still her little sister, but her growth spurts were finally hitting, soon, her little sister wouldn't be so little anymore. Gangly limbs wrapped around her immediately as the redhead got herself comfortable. "Bored? How can you be bored?" Satine questioned with laughter in her tone. "I thought you were training with Buir to be a verd?"

The young girl nodded her head quickly. "I am, but it's no fun without you anymore," Yellow-green eyes peered over her shoulder, to the datapad. "What're you doing in here that's more important than training, anyways?"

“Well,” Satine shifted to adjust the younger girl in her lap. Satine had taken her creed, and her entire life had faced an upheaval. It had been a sudden, grinding change in the way her training shifted from combat and focus on her physical abilities, into learning the ins and outs of politics. She hadn’t been allowed to join Bo for her training for weeks, now, and she truly did miss her little sister. “There is a wide variety of different governments all across the galaxy, it is our duty to learn to navigate the different species peacefully,”

Bo-Katan’s brows furrowed as she read over the datapad on the desk. “Peacefully?” Satine’s smile twitched at the confused conviction in which the eight year old spoke, her buir had made the… executive decision that Bo-Katan would not need to learn these things, and Satine had known better than to question it externally, but there was always a wonder on if Adonai expected Bo-Katan to fit into the New world they were manifesting.

“Yes, peacefully,” The blonde clarified as she guided Bo-Katan’s interested hands from the device as she’d started to scroll and tap around. “How has training been going?” The question succeeded in diverting her attention, as the young vod’ika bounced in her lap with a burst of excitement.

“Buir’s friend came to visit! Pre Vizsla!” She exclaimed, Satine’s arms wrapping around her waist and pressing into her back to stop her from tumbling to the ground. “He taught me some of his moves, too!” Bo squirmed until Satine let her back down, reenacting the moves she’d been taught against imaginary enemies.

“He’s been fighting in the war, too! So you just know he has so many cool stories!” Bo-Katan gushed, giving up on showing Satine her new cool moves in favor of sprawling out against soft carpet, hands folding over her stomach with a leg raised in the air. “I wanna be just like him one day,” The dreaminess in Bo’s tone did not go unnoticed by Satine, who had winced at the small child’s admission, hopefully she would grow out of it, and soon.

“That is quite impressive,” Satine agreed with a small smile playing on her lips. Bo wasn’t aware of the larger plans at play, didn’t know that they may enter a new world where she would never be able to don their parent’s armor, that there would be no need to keep fighting. “I am glad you are taken with him, he is the textbook example of mandokarla,”

Bo nodded her head as she stared up at Satine. “He really is, and his armor is so cool, I can’t wait to learn how to use a jetpack,” Yellow eyes flickered to the transparisteel window to the view of mountains of Kalevala, already imagining herself flying through the spires. “Do you think Buir will let me have a cape when I get my armor? Or d’ya think it’ll be too flashy? I think I wanna be dramatic,”

Before Satine could stop her, Bo-Katan was rising to her feet and tugging the comforter off of Satine’s bed to wrap around her small shoulders, a comical sight, truly, which had Satine stifling her laughter politely behind her hand as the girl started strutting around the room, dramatically throwing the corner of the blanket to the side each time she stopped and jutted her hip out.

Bo-Katan strutted all throughout the room, before once again coming to her Ori’vod, clambering in her lap once more without preamble and dragging the blanket up with her. Satine shifted to wrap it more securely around the both of them now. “Are you tired?” The teenager questioned as Bo’s head settled against the crook of her neck.

“mhm,” A small yawn, stifled by a small face turning to press into her shoulder. “Don’t tell buir, I’m ori’verd,” The time of naps was only a few short years ago, but Satine wasn’t about to deny her vod’ika the luxury after she’d spent all morning and afternoon out in the training yards.

“You are ori’verd, a sleepy ori’verd,” Satine agreed, raising her fingers to card through soft red hair, brushing out tangles with her fingers as deep breaths eventually evened out. It was always so amazing how fast the child could fall asleep after ‘the zoomies’ hit. Satine kept her fingers carding through her hair while she returned to her data pad with her free hand. As much as she wanted to drift into the calm embrace of sleep with Bo, it was safer to continue her studies, especially if their buir came looking for either of them for their respective training.

Translations: mandokarla - Having the ‘right stuff’, showing guts and spirit, the state of being the epitome of mando virtue vod’ika – little sibling ori’vod – older sibling Ori’verd – big warrior buir - parent

[syrma-sensei]

Moon's Scarab → Ch. 1: Welcome to Egypt, again.

Marc Spector x Layla El-Faouly.

pre-canon fic; based on the Marvel comics and Disney's series Moon Knight.

warning: violence, cursing, angst, smut maybe in the future (?), the majority of spoken Arabic in this story is in Egyptian dialect.

word count: 1.9k

beta-read by the awesome: @kesskirata

series masterlist | next chapter

° Author's note:

okay, it's been a very very very long time since the last time I fangirl-ed over a canon and straight couple. Fuck, Marc and Layla are my favourite OTP now; despite the shit they've been through, their couple dynamics are just freaking awesome, they got me screaming in the last episode, and had me in bi panic. Just fucking amazing, I just adore power couples. And now we have the Scarlet Scarab in throughout the process... Chef kiss to Marvel. So, I figured that, especially with the criminal lack of fics for this amazing ship, I decided to do something and write a long fic about them; how they've met and got married. Yep, as it's said up there, this is gonna be a pre-canon fic.

And remember, feedbacks, likes, and reblogs are always appreciated!

Enjoy~

Marc Spector

The image of a fuchsia scarf with scarab details spurts into Marc's head as a female flight hostess instructs the passengers to tighten their belts, for they're about to land in Cairo International Airport. It hasn't actually left his mind, really; it hunts him almost every night ever since that night in the Egyptian desert close to the borders with Sudan, depriving him from sleep.

Marc feels nauseous, the urge to vomit is becoming stronger and stronger, lurching and tugging at his stomach as the plane descends within the air. It's very much unlike him, he never had this before. He notices his grips tightening on the armrests of the chair; his jaws tick.

Fuck, he almost hisses, but the vile word reverberates only through his head. He can't allow past memories to freak him out, and lose control now. He can't afford to. Khonshu's current mission, which has led him right back to Egypt, is critical; the country isn't at its best times.

After the military upheaval of Abdelfattah Elsisi, the previous defence minister, against Muhammad Morsi and overthrowing him, a great majority of people weren't pleased with the result. So, multiple protests have emerged, again. The people are enraged and pissed, for Morsi is the first elected president of Egypt since the royal family has been dethroned. However, Elsisi is a military man, and solving problems with peaceful negotiation isn't on the table.

And now, almost two years after the coup, Elsisi is the country's president despite the people's grouse; riots are rising, and the situation is unhinged, or Ala kaff ifreet [On a Jinny's palm] as the locals say. On one hand, Marc thinks, it may be in favour, he can easily carry on his god's wishes without much trouble, since the country is already in chaos, he can deal with and use it to his advantage, all he needs to do is to keep himself in check, and bury his emotions inside his consciousness, he's pretty good at that after all. He can do it — he must.

Marc flinches a bit as the plane sinks harder, and he sneers. Yep, definitely gonna hold it. He snickers.

“Heya awwal marrah as'ab marrah,” [The first time is the hardest one.]

Marc's head turns around, his adjacent traveller looking at him with concern. A kid girl, an elementary school student, fifth grade maybe. She has a dark and curly hair, her tan skin is revealed by the sleeveless top she wears.

She extends her hand to him, smiling so innocently, a window between her teeth is apparent, ready to cradle the permanent ones. “Feek temsek edy law awez,” [You can hold my hand if you want.]

Marc nods and swallows, surprising even himself when finds his hand reach out to hers. His large hand engulfs her tiny one, and oddly enough, he finds something sedating about the whole act.

“Sh-shukran,” [Thanks.] He tries to smile, but his lips curl into a grimace instead, the girl giggles.

“Enta mush masri?” [You're not Egyptian?]

Marc shakes his head, “No.”

The girl's smile widens, “No?”

“Ana amriki.” [I'm American]

“Oh! Amriki wo betetkallam arabi? Helow awy!” [American and you speak Arabic? So cool!]

The girl laughs in zealousness, “My name's Shahd, and you're...?”

“Marc,”

“Ammo Marc,” Shahd says, “Enta jay ala Masr leh?” [Why did you come to Egypt?]

Ammo? Marc raises an eyebrow, does he look that old to have a young kid calling him uncle? He's only freaking twenty nine; he scowls a bit.

“Uhhh...” Marc regards the young girl's face, discombobulated.

Of course, he'd not tell an eleven years-old why he's really here, and most certainly, he can't tell anyone, obviously. But looking at her grinning face unsettles him more than he already is. Wait, maybe she's one of those young spies who are trained to ensnare people who are like he's used to be. He's encountered many of them before, when he was still a soldier then a CIA agent, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and many other places, child recruits who work for certain groups and systems. Fuck, he even told her his real name.

Way to go, Spector, way to go...

“To see the pyramids?” She asks him, still giving him that toothless grin.

Damn, why is he so tense and suspicious? She's just a kid, a fucking kid, he can deal with her, he can deal with much worse.

Marc nods, flexing his brows, “Oh, yeah, to see the pyramids,”

“Ya'ni enta tourist?” [Means you're a tourist?]

“Exactly,” He hisses unintentionally when the plane dips down and the landing gear meets the ground. Shahd squeezes his hand for assurance, still smiling at him.

Marc gazes at their clasped hands, hers is so small compared to his, so soft and delicate compared to his calloused and rough one. He closes his eyes for a moment, seeing a blurry image of Randall's hand clutching into his desperately as he tries to push himself up to save himself from drowning, he sees his little brother crying and begging for help, panicked and scared to death, his only hope in his big brother to save them both, which he terribly failed at.

Marc yanks his hand from Shahd's. They look at eachother awkwardly for a moment, Shahd's blinking and Marc's swallowing hard. He throws a quick scan around before asking, “Howa feen babaki wo mamtek?” [Where are your parents?] He clears his throat and adds, “Akeed mush betsafri lewahdek, mush kida?” [Surely you don't travel alone, right?] He tries to grin playfully at her.

Shahd giggles, “Akeed la ya ammo Marc!” [Of course no, uncle Marc!] Then she points at the chair two lines in front of them to the left. Marc traces her finger to see a man watching them both, a proud smile on his face.

“Da babaya!” [That's Daddy!] She exclaims, “Baba bus! Ammo Marc amriki wo beyetkallam arabi zayina!” [Look, daddy! Uncle Marc's American and speaks Arabic like us!]

Marc tries to smile cordially, his qualms rising again in his chest, “She's lovely,”

“Thank you, sir,” The man smiles back, something truly genuine haloes his presence. Marc feels a bit more relieved.

The plane's movement hauls to a stop, then another stewardess' voice echoes through, in Arabic then English, politely informing the passengers of the safe landing they just had, then she courteously instructs them to keep calm and to not jostle among eachother, then wishes them a happy trip.

Marc loosens his belt then waits for several minutes before he moves and grabs his bags from the cabin baggage. He then puts his cap on his head, and takes a gum into his mouth and starts chewing on it. And before he walks down the aisles, a small hand tugs on his shirt.

“Nice to meet you, Ammo Marc,” Shahd extends her hand with confidence.

Marc smiles, “Nice to meet ya, kid,” He shakes her hand. She giggles and Marc's smile softens more. He offers her a gum which she delightfully accepts.

When he sees her father he nods at him in acknowledgement. Shahd's dad smiles back as he says in Arabian-accented English “Enjoy your stay in Masr, sir!”

Marc is already past him, he scoffs at himself, “Yeah, sure I will.”

•••

“Yeah, I'm in, Frenchie,” Marc's head rests against his right shoulder, while holding the phone in between, and unpacking his stuff. He sighs, grabbing the phone with his hand now, “Told ya I need a man to watch from afar, and can't trust anyone but you, Frenchie,”

It's a conversation he and his friend have had before. His co-worker and right hand, Jean-Paul Duchamp, has insisted to come along and help Marc in Egypt by being at the latter's side.

“Oui, oui, you did make it clear, Marc,” Duchamp's French accent answers from the other side of the line, “But let me remind you, shall I sense anything off, I'd certainly come for the rescue,”

Marc chuckles, “Yeah, counting on that actually,”

Duchamp guffaws, “You rascal,” Marc can see a very clear picture of his friend twirling his mustache playfully. “Anyway, sent you the info you might need on this case, if you want anything else, just gimme a call, d'accord?”

“Yeah, sure,” Marc scratches his eyebrow with his thumbnail, “Anything else?”

Duchamp clears his throat before he adds, “Well, actually yes, Marc,” He stops for a moment, “You're surely aware that, after the huge amount of investigation we've had, this is most likely has a link to what happened that day, aren't you?”

Marc tries to sound unaffected, unfazed, “Your point?”

“Are you ready to face it again, Marc?” Duchamp's usual sarcastic tone disappears as he asks, “Are you ready to—”

Marc cuts him off, “What happened that day remains in the past, Frenchie,”

“We have yet to locate him as you know,”

Marc cards a hand through his hand indignantly, “Doesn't matter,”

“You sure? Last time you underestimated him, he made a hole in your stomach and left you to die in the desert.”

“Yes,” Marc snaps, exasperated, “But I came back alive, didn't I?”

“Oui, somehow,”

“Then there's no need to worry, Frenchie,”

After they bid eachother goodbyes, Marc starts to set up his computer supplies, wires and devices have soon covered the entire room. From a year onwards, Marc has been careful when it comes to use Khonshu's armour, he doesn't summon it until the situation grows critical and too serious, he can handle many situations depending only on his skills and talents, obtained from years of experience, as a warrior against evildoers and sinners. He couldn't risk drawing the attention of the intelligence and the chance of being arrested; an international fugitive, uses superpowers and act as a vigilante. He either would be dragged to acquiesce to the bullshit they name "Sokovia Accords" or they're going to throw his ass in prison if he refuses to submit to it, which he certainly will do, like they did to many Avengers members.

Moon Knight doesn't work like that, he doesn't submit to anyone's wishes but his god, which in this case is Khonshu. The world is indeed going into deeper shit, with the Avengers split, and two of them are off of the world, crime has been increasing around the globe. That's when Moon Knight must act, maybe that what motivates him to keep doing this even though he hates it. It's his way to atone for his misdeeds.

“You know I will protect you with everything I have; you are worth protecting.”

Marc closes his eyes, trying not to startle, whipping his head to face his master. He nods silently, craning his head up to gaze at the deity, the one who saved his life two years ago. He still remembers every bit of it, every moment of it. Marc still feels the cold steel of his gun pressing against his chin ready to end his misery underneath the god's statue, still feels his blood life gushing out of his stomach, streaming and smearing the white sand he crawled upon, still hears his choked apologies for the people who'd met their demise because of his actions.

“You shall face your fears, Marc Spector,” He remarks, “And by my name you shall crush them underneath your feet and by that, you're going to protect the travellers of the night.”

[patricia-von-arundel]

I need new books to read this year... can you recommend your favourite history books? Any era/subject pre-1900!!

Oh, boy! Fun. Okay - !

One of the best historical writers I've ever read is Barbara Tuchman. Not only is her research top-notch, she can also pull you along like a story. A lot of her books are about the 20th century, but A Distant Mirror is about the 14th century, an absolutely wild 100 years of warfare and social upheaval and - of course - a heaping helping of Yersinia pestis.

One of my professors when I was working on my first degree (in history) was Dr. Carole Rawcliffe. She is one of the experts on the history of medicine, and her Medicine and Society in Later Medieval England is an excellent read despite the rather dry title.

Another absolute classic along those lines is by William Manchester. Like Tuchman, he's better known for his books on the 20th century, but he wrote an excellent book about the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. A World Lit Only by Fire is considered a historical classic for good reasons!

Another I thoroughly enjoyed - and then I'll leave the Middle Ages, I promise! - is Chris Wickham's The Inheritance of Rome, about the first 600 years after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

Thomas Cahill - who unfortunately recently died - wrote a ton of books on lesser-known people/places in the historic record, but my favorite by him is Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea, a wonderful little glimpse into Ancient Greece. His other books are good as well (the ones I've read, anyway), but that was the one I liked most.

Robert K. Massie is probably best known for his classic Nicholas and Alexandra, but he also wrote an amazing book about Peter the Great (literally called... Peter the Great) about the tsar who dragged Russia kicking and screaming into being a more "European" culture. St. Petersburg, the city he founded to be closer to European neighbors, is named for him.

Late Victorian Holocausts by Mike Davis is a very rough read, but also an important one. It looks at how colonial rule in the late 1800s impacted the colonized lands, particularly India. It's brutal, but well worth a read. Along the same lines, King Leopold's Ghost, by Adam Hochschild, looks at the impact of colonial rule in the Congo.

John Keay has written extensive books on the history of China and India. I haven't read the one about India, but the one on China is superb.

A History of Private Life (various authors) is a 5-volume set covering the Classical period up to the modern day. It's more academic than the pop history I've mentioned so far, but fascinating. I love thinking about everyday lives far more than a list of important names and dates, y'know?

A People's History of the United States (Howard Zinn) and Lies My Teacher Told Me (James Loewen) both well earn their reputation as the books criticizing the way American history is learned in the US. They cover a lot of ground before 1900, but do go into the 20th century. I'm not super into US history, but The American West and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (both by Dee Brown) are very good. (If you're familiar with the fictional Lonesome Dove, the Goodnight-Loving trail covered in The American West is the inspiration.)

The Eternal City by Ferdinand Addis is one of the few English-language books that covers Rome beyond the ancient empire and WWI. I'm a little biased towards Rome these days (and spend a whoooooole lot of time there 😅), but I promise the book is good! 😉

After the Ice (Steven Mithen) and Eve's Seed (Robert McElvaine) are both looks at truly ancient history, and well worth a read. (Full disclosure, McElvaine was also one of my professors.)

Rabid by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy is a history of - you guessed it! - rabies. It's both eminently readable and terrifying, as you could probably guess. Plagues and Peoples by William McNeill more broadly covers epidemics through the years.

Some interesting and more obscure topics: Death by Drama and Other Medieval Urban Legends (Jody Enders) is more academically dry than the title suggests, but still very interesting! Madame Blavatsky's Baboon (Peter Washington) is about the rise of spiritualism in the 19th century. Lucy's Bones, Sacred Stones, and Einstein's Brain (Harvey Rachlin) looks at the history of culturally-important artifacts. And along those lines, there's always learning a little more about the people who dealt with such artifacts, like Gertrude Bell in a book by Georgina Howell (literally just titled Gertrude Bell).

A few other favorites: The Victorians (A.N. Wilson), A Gentle Madness (Nicholas Basbanes; it's about the history of book collecting), The Tudors (G.J. Meyer), Medieval Lives (Terry Jones), and Blood and Roses (Helen Castor, using the Paston Letters as a central theme in a broader history of the Wars of the Roses). (When I was in England, I lived where the Pastons did.) And just thought of another: Nabokov's Butterflies (Rick Gekoski) is a nice little collection about authors and books.

Oh! And The Lion in the Living Room (Abigail Tucker) is great fun - it's a history of cats!

With a few exceptions, these are pretty broad overviews. If you'd like anything more specific, let me know!

(For fascinating, well-written-but-not-always-factually-sound takes on history, Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything and At Home are both great reads, but... don't accept everything he says as fully true and accurate. The same is true of Daniel Boorstin [The Discoverers, The Creators, The Seekers] - really great reads, but flawed.)

(If you want fiction that gets the history right: The Daughter of Time [Josephine Tey; covers late 15th century England], The Crimson Petal and the White [Michel Faber; covers the 1870s in England - but be warned, there's some graphic sex in it], Doomsday Book/To Say Nothing of the Dog/Blackout/All Clear [Connie Willis; cover - in order - the 14th century, 19th century, and WWII in England), Pachinko [Min Jin Lee; it's 20th century, but about Koreans in Japan, which I knew almost nothing about before reading], The Luminaries [Eleanor Catton; 19th century New Zealand], and the aforementioned Lonesome Dove [Larry McMurtry; 19th century US] are all excellent reads as well! Oh, and Hilary Mantel's books about Thomas Cromwell in 16th century England [Wolf Hall/Bring Up the Bodies/The Mirror and the Light] well deserved the awards showered on them, including two Booker Prizes. The Inquistor's Tale [Adam Gidwitz] is a book for kids and has magic, but it's super cute, well-written, and fun. Plus it has Guinefort, the only dog to become a saint! [Well... unofficially a saint.] I've recently gotten The Books of Jacob [Olga Tokarczuk], so haven't read it yet, but it's set in 18th century Poland and the author won the Nobel Prize in Literature! Speaking of good research and heaps of awards: Adam Johnson's The Orphan Master's Son is phenomenal. It's set in modern North Korea, but I'd still count it, especially as it covers a place many people know little about. In the same vein, Anthony Marra's A Constellation of Vital Phenomena does the same for modern Chechnya.)

Hope something piques your interest! Happy reading! 😁

[aixxriston]

Biswap (BSW), Terra Classic (LUNC) Holders Buy More Chronoly (CRNO) As It Launches on 6 October

The highly volatile crypto market still boasts of a token like Chronoly (CRNO) that has managed to weather the crypto waves without losing its value. The duo of Biswap (BSW) and Terra Classic (LUNC) have witnessed massive dumps by their holders in recent times due to the bearish posture of the crypto market. These two projects are backed by reputable individuals and influencers and offer exciting use cases.

Since the market is highly volatile, it is a no-brainer for investors to jump ship in search of projects that can beat the bear market, and that's why they are purchasing more Chronoly (CRNO), even as the latter's pre-sale has completely sold out.

Read on to find out the reason behind the ship jumping and other developments on the market.

Will Biswap (BSW) Get The Momentum Back?

The constant crypto crashes have taken a toll on not only Bitcoin, but also on smaller projects like Biswap (BSW). The market downturn has made token holders dump the project for a viable alternative like Chronoly (CRNO). However, the developmental team is working round the clock to reverse the narrative. First, it has partnered with reputable influencers to promote the brand and generate more younger leads/investors. Secondly, the team plans to list the native token, BSW, on multiple decentralized exchanges. The essence of the listing is to encourage massive adoption by investors from across the world.

At its core, Biswap (BSW) is a decentralized exchange that's built on the Binance Smart Chain to help crypto users easily swap tokens. Biswap (BSW) has a low crypto trading fee of 0.1%. As of the time of writing this piece, Biswap (BSW) trades for $0.263081 USD with a 24-hour trading volume of $5,945,816 USD.

Can Terra Classic (LUNC) Reach $1 By 2023?

Terra Classic (LUNC) experienced a boost from new users in the first quarter of 2022, and then the bear market struck the global crypto market. As with Biswap (BSW), Terra Classic (LUNC) holders have also joined investors jumping ship to join the Chronoly (CRNO) bandwagon. The reason for this may not be unconnected to the massive growth experienced by Chronoly.

Luna Classic (LUNC) is the original Terra Luna coin left behind following the launch of a new Terra chain after the recent UST/Luna collapse. Despite the move by Terra Classic (LUNC) holders, the project's CEO has assured the remaining investors still in the network that the bear market is temporary and that LUNC token will recover once the market breaks support.

At press time, Terra Classic trades for $0.000297 USD with a 24-hour trading volume of $286,803,165 USD.

Chronoly (CRNO) Launches On October 6 After a Successful ICO

Despite the dip in the global crypto market, Chronoly (CRNO) has been more successful than the duo of Biswap (BSW) and Terra Classic (LUNC). The reason for the success is not far-fetched: Chronoly (CRNO) is a project that is backed by real assets. Timepieces or luxury watches have been proven to be a hedge against inflation.

Timepieces usually shine during government upheaval and war, and the Chronoly team decided to invest in this space. Chronoly (CRNO) is an Ethereum-powered marketplace that's scheduled to launch on October 6. The marketplace will allow traders and investors can buy, sell, and trade in rare luxury watches from popular brands like Rolex, Patek Philippe, Richard Mille, and Audemars Piguet, with as low as $10.

Since its inception, Chronoly (CRNO) has grown by over 690%, attracting the attention of both institutional and retail investors from across the world. The Chronoly team recently completed and sold out its ICO. With the milestone recorded in the just concluded ICO, the Chronoly team will redouble its efforts to provide users with the opportunity to earn membership benefits and lottery prizes.

[transmutationisms]

btw, if you read my initial ask clearly, i explicitly stated that technology doesn't constitute any sort of "sole causal force." in fact, nearly half of the ask is clarifying that, so i find it a little annoying that you chose to read that claim into it and accuse me of "crude techno-determinism" easier than taking me in good faith though i guess. we agree more than you think

ok let me try to address all of your points in one answer. i agree that you and i are not wholly in disagreement here, and i apologise for the points in the initial post that lacked clarity. where i do still disagree with you, though, is on the suggestion that "relations of production had to shift to accomodate the new technology". the history of technology is littered with examples of technologies that were never adopted widely, or were adopted and then phased out, for numerous reasons that sometimes include but are not at all limited to 'were replaced with something more complex or efficient'. it was very much not inevitable that new technologies are adopted; people have to actively push them into use and choose to change working conditions and so forth in order to make use of them. the IR was not pre-determined; it was very much a contingent event, and this sort of thing is partly what's meant by the criticism that history is contingent and non-teleological. additionally, you and i certainly agree that industrialisation has occurred since the late 18th century. however, a persistent problem in the historiographical literature has been the attempt to apply the specific model of industrialisation derived from the north british textile industry in the late 18th century to local and temporal contexts where conditions simply were not the same, and industrialisation occurred differently and looked different. this is another issue at stake in the use of the phrase "industrial revolution" and a reason that people who do still use it tend to heavily footnote or caveat it. in regards to the development of technologies: no, i don't deny that some technologies are more complex, efficient, &c than others. however, a larger historical narrative doesn't follow directly from the comparison of a handful of specific tools/technologies. for one thing, techniques and technologies are lost all the time; also, industries and economic sectors may rely on a certain technology for a long time, even if better ones come to exist. for example, you can see this happening with a phenomenon like planned obsolescence, though it also happens for reasons less obviously driven by blatant profit-seeking and waste generation (eg, technologies may be lost in linguistic or cultural translation, or after political upheaval/regime changes; or, because a part or material becomes hard to source, or simply because people may not know or agree that a certain technology could be more effective for their purposes, or may not be able or willing to make painful short-term changes to their established mode of business/production). also, fundamentally, you and i absolutely agree that the technologies constituting the means of production are, to use marx's terms, the material base. but i think you and i also agree that you can't extrapolate directly from the existence of a technology to the social relations, conditions of labour, &c in existence. you have to be attentive to questions like: is the technology actually in use, where/by whom, who owns and operates it, what sorts of social and economic conditions allowed it to be theorised/developed/widely produced in the first place, &c.

[pantalaiimon]

Talk about your thesis! What was it about?

Thank you kindly for taking an interest! My blog has been dead for years, I must say I'm surprised I still get anon asks :)

My thesis (not sure if it's the right word in English? in this case, it's the research project one has to pursue to get one's master's degree) was in clinical psychology.

My theoretical frame of reference was psychoanalytic in nature, but doubly so, as I tried to use both Freudian and Jungian perspectives and have them not only coexist but also answer each other, for some extra fun. That means it's theoretically quite dense, especially for the profane. I'll try to make it more accessible here.

I applied those psychoanalytic theoretical models to perinatal psychology, in which I've specialised. The subject matter was differences in psychological functioning right after having given birth, when one is a first-time mother vs not so. A number of very specific and seemingly abnormal phenomena take place in women's psyche surrounding pregnancy and childbirth - which are actually not abnormal at all when put in that context. Still, that mental upheaval is quite something, lots of stuff from early childhood can come back up, and women are more vulnerable. It can actually help bring about a lot of change in their general mental health, and doing psychotherapy in that time period can be very beneficial and effective. So I was basically trying to map out various unconscious dynamics in mothers and how they differ between it having been their first pregnancy or not.

I found that after just becoming a mother for the first time, the unconscious mind is quite busy trying to deal with the new layout of transitioning from daughter to mother, and that there is little availability for relationships, and sense of identity is quite hard to maintain. For second or third time mothers, that upheaval is less massive, they've already gone though those changes the first time around, but they now deal with even older stuff as well as figuring out the ins and out of sibling rivalry. Outside of those very specific topics, their sense of self is stronger than first time mothers, and they have more psychic energy to invest in relationships.

On the more Jungian side of things, I've found that pregnancy appears to be potentially quite initiative and transformative for the feminine psyche, and that symbols emerging from the unconscious at that time can have a significant impact in furthering one's knowledge of oneself, and could be useful in therapy around that time.

I think that about covers my almost 200 pages long dissertation in layman's terms, and I sure hope I managed to make it understandable!

I'll just copy and paste the abstract I had to write in English, to give my answer that extra scientific and pompous flair, but feel free not to read any further lol:

"The aim of this study is to analyse the differences in psychological functioning between primiparous and multiparous parturients in the immediate aftermath of childbirth. To this end, qualitative methodology was employed through the projective TAT test, which was administered to six primiparous and multiparous parturients, following a semi-directive pre-interview. Formal analysis of their TAT narratives revealed a greater emergence of the primary process in the primiparous women, who regressed to a paranoid position in the face of representations of oedipal triangulation and the maternal imago. Their identity and object markers are confused, unlike those of multiparous mothers, who nevertheless regress more easily into the archaic. Dream analysis should enable us to preferentially investigate their collective unconscious."

[mollusken]

okay i'm like a good amount of time into TOTK I'm gonna talk about it so read on at ur own risk

Right now I've got the entire overworld map filled out, I've done the Rito and Zora temples, and I have found all the Dragon Tears (including the 12th) . I don't have a lot of knowledge of spoilers rn other than like, some items that exist in the world.

I am actually enjoying it a lot right now, I feel like it's been pretty engaging trying to find the pieces of everything and follow up on little things, and just see what's changed. I feel like I've forgotten half of what the BOTW overworld looked like but the general shape is in my mind so it's been cool to run into things that feel familiar but are also fresh. It's also cool to see the progression of the world and how time has changed it, how the towns have grown, how the Upheaval affected them... With Tarry's daughter being able to like, fully talk it feels like it's been a good 5ish years since the end of the last game. But like thank fucking god characters like Paya and others that people were fucking weird about Are and Look like adults now.

NGL I might have missed why the Shiekah tech is completely gone, maybe they disassembled it for safety? But it kind of saddened me not to see any remains of it, although I get that they were going for different aesthetics with the Zonai stuff and I do really like it. In terms of it being a sequel I like the way they're going with Flesh Ganon being the main villain, which I wasn't sure I would. Calamity Ganon in retrospect seems like the First Form of the Boss since it was boar-shaped, and was only made up of the Ganon's malice/pre-gloom that seems to be what he could muster before being released by L+Z. I want to see more Ganon before I can Really formulate an opinion but it's kind of the same old Big Evil Guy… Mostly I just like the fan interpretations around the cycles of reincarnation and Ganon's rebellion being more about the Gerudo's status wrt being under Hylian rule & wish canon gave him more depth than He's the Power Guy… I have no hopes but we'll see if they surprise me. I knew Zelda wasn't going to be an actual character considering their stance on playable Zelda but I do like that she's Doing more and kind of has her own thing going on in the past similar to Skyward. They've never been super precious with putting Zelda in Situations but I REALLY like the idea of her sacrificing herself to make it back to her own time, whether that was a decision she needed to make like that or not. I think it was a little obvious it was coming but I really like her dragon form and the dragon theming in general that comes with the Zonai..... I know she's gonna be able to be saved but like can you imagine if that was it. How delicious that would be. Also think about how fucked up she's gonna be after she just had to live thru millenia. What did she see bro. But also who the fuck are the other dragons then. THE CHASM is fucking scary but I LOVE the vibes of what I've seen because it especially reminds me of Twilight Princess. Like the curly little ferns and how the roots of the trees are swirly in the same way that the ones in Faron Woods are.... And how you clear the darkness like you did the mist in Faron!!!!!! Seriously I don't give a fuck about timeline and if it's connected, I don't think it is, but I just love that they chose a similar tone. The powers you get from the temples are kind of fun it's cool to mix it up and also have some battle support lmfaooo but god do I miss Revali's Gale. Instant jump my beloved come back....

I haven't done all that much exploring all things considered. I was mostly just grabbing shrines for warp points so I'm only at 6 hearts. Also barely got items or figured out how to make any good contraptions lmfao still not sure how I should be spending Zonai charges. I want to get more into the Depths but I might finish the other 2 temples first.

ok that's it I will be playing more at work tomorrow GOOD NIGHT

[alexsbrain]

Unpopular Opinion: Star Trek is at a Crossroads

*Spoilers: Please do not read unless you have seen all episodes of season 3 of Picard*

With the culmination of the final season of Star Trek: Picard due to land next week, it seems that Star Trek and the fandom are at a critical juncture. A quixotic crossroads. Since the relaunch of the franchise on the small screen in 2017 with Discovery, the fandom has become more fractured. This rift is not a simple one which can be explained along lines of age, gender, race, geography, politics, or sexual identity. The newer shows have been dragging the franchise forwards in many ways. With the nostalgic callbacks in season three of Picard packaged in more modern aesthetic and narrative tropes, many fans seem torn between this schism. What the Borg queen might call “those who live like shattered glass.” Through reactions and events surrounding Picard’s third season, I hope to delineate this schism. The essence of Star Trek is currently being debated among fans. Can the franchise heal this rift, and should it?

There are four eras of Star Trek. The original series and subsequent films (1966-1991), the Berman era (1987-2005), the Kelvin timeline (2009-2016) and NuTrek (2017-present), which arguably begins with Discovery. Usually, everything pre-Disco is lumped into Legacy Trek, but the rift between Original Series and Next Gen fans in the late 80s or the vitriolic hate spewed at DS9 in the 90s offers a case study into the various rifts that exist within the fandom.

Star Trek fans are not a monolithic group. Unlike ethnocultural groups, Trekkies have much in common with the Queer community. Only bound through their shared love of something, their identity as a Star Trek fan, as opposed to a shared location, language, or lineage. What unites the fandom is their love of Star Trek. Although many fans might share similar reasons for their love of Trek, everyone’s journey into it and their love of it is unique. 

Unlike other franchises, Star Trek has a set of ideals, or guiding principles, that can be used as a moral code in interacting in the real world. However, not all fans adopt these moral codes or philosophies of peace, dignity, equality, respect, understanding, and collectivism. Some fans seem oblivious to the very message the franchise has been exposing for over fifty years.

Many fans, both long term and new, were looking forward to season one of Picard back in 2020. It would be an understatement to say the show has been divisive during its run, with many fans settling into various camps of the validity of the show either as a whole or through a seasonal rankings system. The absence of Patrick Stewart’s co-stars from TNG, save for Spiner, Frakes, and Sirtis's small contributions, was seen as a wasted opportunity. “We want reunions and cameos,” quipped the fandom, and so for the third season many fans got what they wanted. A re-uniting of the magnificent seven, the crew of the Enterprise D. Older, wiser, and ready for one last mission before they ride off into the proverbial sunset.

When Enterprise went off the air in the spring of 2005 the television landscape was vastly different. Not only was broadcast/cable TV still the predominant delivery of the format, but shows were still mostly episodic in nature and American series still produced over twenty episodes a season. The big-screen relaunch in 2009 with Star Trek seemed to jettison much from Legacy Trek and this is where the rift between the fandom starts to widen further. 

To not update Star Trek to modern storytelling conventions would have been absurd.

During Star Trek’s small screen fallow period not only were there formatting upheavals in television, shorter seasons, serialization, mystery boxes, and the habit of killing off beloved characters but the delivery system of television changed. Broadcast/Cable TV was being usurped by streaming services and the funding model of TV drastically changed. Within this time span of twelve years, the essence of the medium changed, so that when Discovery launched in 2017 the show not only radically altered the Star Trek format familiar to most fans, but it started driving another wedge within the fandom. To not update Star Trek to modern storytelling conventions would have been absurd. Star Trek is set in the future and has always been pushing the boundaries of narrative storytelling. 

Not only did the format of Discovery upset swaths of the fandom but the inclusivity of the show and darker tone, reminiscent of DS9, continues to ruffle feathers. Picard and Strange New Worlds were thought of as a bridge between this rift within the fandom, yet early in season one of Picard it became clear that the trappings of Legacy Trek were dead. What many loved, Berman-era storytelling was never coming back. Strange New Worlds blends episodic and serialized storytelling but has been described by one podcaster as the “Vegas” version of the planet-of-week model. Devoid of the hard-hitting humanist stories science fiction is known for.

It would be too simplistic to define this rift as generational, or Legacy versus NuTrek, and not fully capture the nuances of the divide. There are several good-faith critiques of the newer shows by fans. Many feel the newer iterations of Trek are too dystopian as they lack the optimistic utopianism present in Legacy Trek. Some argue the high-minded science fiction stories are missing, serialized storytelling is not working for the franchise, and some simply think the new shows are visually too dark. With the relaunch of the Enterprise D, many fans shouted praise as they could finally see the interior of a starship again. The inclusion of the Borg this season seemed like a no-brainer, considering they were the baddest of the bad on TNG, and tie into Picard’s trauma and identity, his last hurdle, but some fans rolled their eyes with aplomb at their return decrying, “not again.”

The dialing down of Seven’s and Rafi’s relationship seems to be the heteronormalizing of season three. It might just be that a breakup or strained relationship was better for dramatic purposes, but it seems like we’ve really returned to 90s Trek when Queer stories and identities were heavily bubble wrapped in metaphor. Yet if, as one Tweeter commented, the Borg stand partially as a metaphor for the Queer/Trans journey/identity through Seven of Nine, then the mass assimilation of the youth by the Borg is rather a tragic and regrettable statement on how Gen Z is perceived further dividing the fandom. Gene Roddenberry’s vision was one of unity and if Star Trek cannot seem to unify the fandom in some fashion, then perhaps it’s failing. Or perhaps us fans are failing it somehow.

Others say the franchise was already in tip-top shape before season three of Picard which points towards Discovery’s torch-baring, its popularity and revamping of the franchise.

While season three of Picard is seen as a return to form for the franchise by many, there are fans who think the season is mediocre at best, riddled with cliché, that when you strip away the nostalgia and critically analyze the show it appears full of holes. Others say the franchise was already in tip-top shape before season three of Picard which point towards Discovery’s torch-baring, its popularity and revamping of the franchise. Disco gave birth to five new series after all. This points to an identity crisis of the franchise that plays out within the fandom. What is Star Trek actually? And where the heck is it going?

Again, there is no monolithic answer. Some fans love the totality of the franchise, others are here because they love space and science, for others it’s optimism, some the philosophy and moral tales, others the exploration of humanity, the diversity both on screen and through IDIC, and some simply for the starships and space battles. For instance, the lack of a weekly Federation saucer-type starship in seasons one and two of Picard was remedied for season three and we got the Titan-A, but again, some fans are sick of staring at its dimly lit bulkheads.

A small quadrant of the fandom will never seem to be satisfied with the franchise at present. These keyboard warriors range from the anti-progressive, subtle plot hole decriers (if one thing is off it throws me out of the narrative types), toxic misogynists, and retcon/canon inconsistency haters. There is probably nothing the franchise can do to appease this small yet vocal segment of the fans. For the anti-progressives the answer is simple, turn back the clock. In a small manner the third season of Picard has managed to do that. Not only has the old TNG gang reunited on the D but the two Queer characters have been heteronormalized for most if not all, of the season and the youth have been co-opted by an interconnective hivemind hell-bent on eliminating the unassimilated. Yikes.

What outsiders might not understand about the fandom is its unrelenting discourse on the thing they love. Respectful heated arguments are par for the course, yet since the relaunch in 2017, the occurrence of a more toxic discourse has intensified. This coincides with the assholing of humanity through social media. 

Some fans announced Star Trek is “back” much to the chagrin of fans who said the same thing in 2017.

What should have been the bridge between this rift in the fandom, season three of Picard, has simply increased the schism. Some fans announced Star Trek is “back” much to the chagrin of fans who said the same thing in 2017. Additionally, Discovery fans are often positioned in a defensive stance when talking about the show on social media. Coincidentally, many of these fans are BIPOC and/or Queer. Discovery represents to them the olive branch of inclusivity that was merely nascent, or missing, in Legacy Trek. The quiet announcement of the show’s cancellation seemed like a slap on the face. However, in the current streaming world five seasons of a show point towards its success rather than its failure.

Of course, days later a new series was announced in the Disco 32nd-century timeline, Star Fleet Academy. In gestation in one form or another since the 80s a Star Fleet Academy show is long overdue. The initial reaction to the announcement and its setting, Disco’s timeline, was divisive amongst the fans. Some fans are not content with the branching out of live-action instalments, trying to appeal to different fans identities, they seem to want all the series to speak to them, often in a white cis-gendered heteronormative voice. 

Ever since Gene Roddenberry decided to create a new show in the 80s without the original series cast members Star Trek bifurcated. Each new installment has further split the fandom. Time has created a strained community that is both inclusive and exclusive, content and discontent, grateful and unappreciative, progressive and conservative. By definition, Star Trek is now contradictory. The fandom is mostly an enjoyable experience, but fans still have to block and mute each other, defend their show and their identities, nay their mere existence to others, and many face harassment.

If Star Trek is many things to many people how does a franchise appease the vast majority of the fans? With Strange New Worlds' future uncertain after season three, its lack of abundant representation for marginalized groups within series regulars, and the eventual launch of Star Fleet Academy in the 32nd-century there will be a chance for the franchise to create a new live-action series in the next couple of years. One targeted at the adult audiences of Discovery, Picard, and SNW. The answer to these questions might lie in Matalas’s pitch for a Star Trek Legacy show. A chance to bring back characters/actors/storylines from Legacy shows and mix them with newer characters and possibly dare I say, new enemies and antagonists. However, the progressivism of Discovery and its inclusivity has delighted a large swath of the fandom, they finally felt seen and heard and not bringing that forward to an adult-targeted live-action Star Trek outing could spell the death of the franchise by abandoning the very ideals of Roddenberry-ism.

Everyone who blubbered like a baby at seeing the Enterprise D again and said “There’s no crying in Star Trek” needs to take a long overdue look at themselves in the mirror.

How can a show set in the future not be progressive? This is one of the key issues facing the fandom. In a perfect world, a Legacy show would combine the best of NuTrek with the best of Legacy Trek. The show would resemble all peoples of the world, have kick-ass starships, and have fabulous storytelling with old and new friends. With one episode left to go, Picard has been both a huge success and something of a step backwards. Everyone who blubbered like a baby at seeing the Enterprise D again and said “There’s no crying in Star Trek” needs to take a long overdue look at themselves in the mirror. Star Trek provides hope to many, hope that we as a species are going to survive, prosper, and learn to celebrate our differences. When the fandom cannot even celebrate differences within the fandom there is a serious problem. To quote Cassius, “The fault…is not in our stars, but in ourselves.”

[trickstercaptain]

@thecodekeeper sent: Random headcanon time: What are Jack's feelings on his grandmother? How did the year spent living at her place effect him (short and long term). What is his understanding of generational trauma and how did it effect his desire (or lack of) to have a family of his own?

       alright buckle up everyone we’re about to delve deep into Jack’s fucked up treatment at the hands of his grandmother as a child thank u Ace :)))))) i will put this under a read more but triggers will abound for child abuse and other unpleasant subjects:

        so for some background, myself and Ace have essentially cherry-picked what we want from the young Jack Sparrow series and how it establishes Teague’s family and the dynamic with Jack. Jack’s grandmother ( who is awful by the way, I just want to state this right at the very start of this ) is present throughout Jack’s childhood and adolescence but there is a specific period of his life, between the age of 7 - 8, immediately following the death of his mother, where Teague in his grief leaves Jack with her for the better part of a year. so Jack is effectively just abandoned, very shortly after losing his mother, with no real explanation as to why Teague leaves and ends up in the company of a very violent, abusive, unstable woman for a whole year.

         I have my headcanons as to what happened during this year period, but they are based in incidents that actually happened to Jack and that he references in the Legends of the Brethren Court series and Sins of the Father. it is mentioned that, when grandmama’s cousin prophesises that Jack will burn her ship down, she locks him in the brig of her ship. by the time of the Legends series ( which is set post EITC, pre-mutiny ). Jack also claims that she has tried to kill him on three separate occasions, and says that the ruby in her tooth gave him nightmares as a child ( hence why he doesn’t get one prior to DMTNT, thank you ). I don’t think I really need to elaborate much on how a year period spent with her as his sole caretaker and guardian would go fgksdfsd, we can all use our imaginations.

            but if we’re talking specifically about the effects that this year had on Jack, the most significant one is that Jack cannot remember any of it. this was so traumatic for him that he literally blocked it out of his memory in order to cope. he can remember flashes of his treatment at her hands to know that it was bad, but he cannot recall specific incidences or moments. a lot of the abuse simply blurred together. the scar that Jack has in his right eyebrow was caused by his grandmother throwing something at him but, if asked, Jack cannot remember exactly what was thrown because it happened so frequently, this just happened to be one of the times when he wasn’t able to successfully dodge out of the way in time.

             this year period also very much contributes to Jack’s abandonment / commitment issues, and also his issues in dealing with his emotions too because this happened almost immediately after Jack lost his mother. he was not allowed any real time to process what had happened and grieve before he was thrown into this very unsafe environment where he very much had to enter into and operate in survival mode from day to day. in modern verse, he also started school at this time too ( after being homeschooled by his mother up until her death ), so it was a lot of sudden upheaval and change that I really think feeds into the issues Jack has with expressing his emotions and dealing with them in a healthy way well into adulthood.

             as for his feelings on his grandmother? he absolutely despises her. there is nothing ambiguous about the way he feels towards her which I think is because he ( fortunately ) didn’t spend enough time in her company for her treatment of him to become normalised, which is arguably what differentiates his feelings towards her abuse vs. Teague’s abuse ( and how he feels about her vs. what Teague feels towards her ). he’s still afraid of her, too, although a lot of those memories as to why are very much buried and repressed and remain that way. you would really have to dig deep in order to pull that trauma out for him to deal with, so for the most part it is just completely blocked out.

             generational trauma is an interesting one because I think Jack is definitely aware that this abuse has been passed down through the generations of his family, although considering that Teague’s abuse of him is not as extreme ( not to say that it wasn’t damaging still, because it was ) as that year spent with his grandmother, Jack sometimes struggles to reconcile the idea that it was abuse even though it was only sometimes physical. but he recognises on some fundamental level that this is not how you treat a child, or at least that this is not how he would treat a child --- but naturally there is a lot of anxiety over whether he would still become like Teague were he to have a family. he is not convinced that he would be a good father at all.

              he specifically says in TPOF that “Shipwreck Cove is no place to raise a child” in reference to his own childhood, and his attitude towards childbirth is that it is “dangerous, messy, and it took away one’s freedom” so, y’know, he doesn’t want kids we know this lmao. but I think to say that the only reason he doesn’t want a family is because he doesn’t want to be like Teague is definitely simplifying things. Jack has zero interest, like the idea of having kids is just not even on his radar regardless of verse. in many ways, he is much too selfish in his own lifestyle ( particularly in canon ) to think that having children is a good idea, so while he can be talked around, there has to be some real pushing involved to make it happen. in canon too, he just doesn’t want to become one of these sailors who marries and then leaves his wife in port to have children while he goes pirating. that is not the kind of life he wants for himself, his would-be wife or his would-be children in that situation. so in many ways, not wanting children is just as much about avoiding his kind of lifestyle and the danger and unpredictability it brings as much as it is avoiding having him for a father.